#she keeps the six on her back covered because if she doesn't the new kind of vision disorients the hell out of her

[mountainofhistory]

👑 + Also, and throwing... Eirin :D

WOULD I: YES / MAYBE / NO HAVE I EVER BEFORE: YES / NO  ICON & WRITING SAMPLE (IF YES TO EITHER PREV. QUESTION):

"Once again, Eirin, thank you for being willing to help me out with this. It's really not something I'm comfortable with normally, so... it means a lot."

"Think nothing of it. Besides, I won't deny I'm interested for a few of my own reasons as well. Now, I'm guessing you're already wrapped up in preparation, correct?" At a nod from the teacher, she'd continue. "Well, you said you hadn't tried this in years, but it's probably going to be disorienting just like it was the first time. So take this." Without explanation, the doctor reaches into a bag she had taken with her and pulls out a small pill bottle with a single pill inside.

"...Huh? Aren't you going to at least tell me what it does first?" Despite saying that, she's already working the cap free to take the pill, just as ordered.

"I thought it would be obvious! It's an anti-emetic. So you don't throw up on yourself when you inevitably get all dizzy." Very matter-of-fact, and lucky for her, Keine's used to that... most patients aren't. "Ah, sun's set. The transformation should be starting shortly, and... ah, there it goes. Wow, it really is fast, isn't it? I felt like I'd have missed it if I looked away."

"Ugh... come on, Eirin, take this more seriously. It's really important to me, you know? I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't."

"Yes, I am aware. And trust me, Keine, I am taking this seriously. But that doesn't mean we need to be dour. Anyway, let's not waste any time, we only have the single night to practice, after all." Only now would she stand up, walking over to join the teacher. "You're going to have to take off your dress now. I'll handle the rest, okay? I'll make sure you have something to hold onto as well. You're probably going to need it."

[octopiys]

I've been listening to Lord Huron recently

human!John MacTavish, who grew up in the Scottish Highlands, raised by his grandma who was highly superstitious.

human!Simon Riley, who, as a young teen, moved to the highlands with his mother, and younger brother, after his father was arrested.

Neighbor!John who meets his quiet neighbor down the street, and talks his ear off on the way to schools every single day, and doesn't question the fading bruises on his new friend's skin.

Neighbor!Simon, who doesn't find John annoying in the slightest, and enjoys listening to John's stories of his grandma's wild tales of how her younger brother was apparently "snatched by the fae", or the stories of the horses that live deep beneath the waters, and seeing the little cottage down the road and feeling comfort and safety reverberate through the trees that separated the two of them.

Friend!Johnny who goes home "sick" one day after a rather nasty.... altercation between two larger students and himself, but comes back the next day, and none of those students were messing with him anymore.

Friend!Simon who, after Johnny went home, found those two kids after school and beat them senseless, the only time he's ever felt that violence was a good solution to something.

Young Simon, who goes to check up on Johnny, and sees the boy smiling through a black eye, behind a large woman who appeared as if she was going to salt him, then beat him with a wooden ladle. Luckily, Johnny boy stopped her from doing that, and introduces him and he sees the woman's eyes soften the slightest bit.

Johnny, who's house is full of wards, and hanging herbs, and salt, and cinnamon, who's known nothing else, who's friends with bugs because they're easier to talk to, befriends Simon, who comes from the suburban cities, who prefers to listen rather than speak, in a neat home, and a dreadful silence that is anything but warm.

After school, they explore the woods, and Johnny tells him more tales, of how not to step in certain areas, or follow shaking leaves, and to leave mushrooms alone. Simon believes he's never felt more at ease in these woods.

They happen across a fallen deer, who was long gone for the world, it's antlers and pale skull glinting through the muck it was covered in.

It whispers wordless sounds through lipless mouths.

Johnny calls for him to keep on the trail, and Simon gets up to follow him off.

Give me late teens Johnny, who's yelling at Simon for not telling him sooner. Give me Simon who feels guilt in the pits of his stomach for not telling his best friend sooner. But enlisting was the only thing he could see him doing with his life. He could be used for good, he could do something good with himself.

Johnny tells him he was good enough for him.

Simon leaves the next morning.

Nature conservationist!Johnny, two years later, finds Simon's mom at his doorstep. By the look on her face, she had bad news.

Simon went missing in Mexico.

Nature conservationist!John, who, for another six months, has dinner at least once a week with Simon's mum. She was from a further part of Scotland, but they understood each other well enough, and bonded over different memories of her son. It seemed to keep them both afloat.

Simon who returns after seven months.

Nature conservation officer!Johnny, who is busy trying to figure out why the red deer population is dwindling in his area. Not to mention the fact that the investigations office is on his back about missing people, and Simon comes back.

Something is wrong.

John knows what shell shock looks like. He knows what the horrors of war do to people.

This is not shell shock. This is not that.

Simon came back, but he came back wrong.

His honey eyes were muddy, and he blinked too hard. His head turned too smoothly when he responded to his name too late, like he was getting used to being called something new. The curve of his lips was off, his jaw too sharp. His kind eyes are.... the favorite part of Johnny's Simon is different.

It was unsettling. His skin prickled when he watched, the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck rising when Simon entered the room too silently.

Changeling!Ghost, who does not enter Johnny's house. Johnny doesn't know why he refuses the offer. He feels like he's being watched. He misses his friend. Obviously, his friend lives down the street, rationally, he knows that person is Simon Riley, the kid who beat up bullies, who fell fifteen feet out of a tree and got up unscathed. Simon Riley, who was afraid of scorpions and worms, who went to war and survived, and came home.

His instincts told him the opposite.

Johnny feels like he's being watched at night. He thinks he can catch whatever it is, lurking at the treeline of the woods. He sets harmless traps to catch and release, believing the creature is small.

When he finds the cage completely trampled, crumbled until it was no longer recognizable, he no longer believed this thing was small.

Nature Conservationist Officer!Johnny MacTavish who sees the creature looming from the trees, it's tall antlers tangled in muck and weeds, body slightly warped in the darkness, claws and all. It was tall, much taller than him, with scarred skin stained with the dyes of berries and dirt and clay. Moss grew off of the massive deer antlers, and the greenish eyeshine of a deer blinking from almost human eyes.

Honey colored and kind, and completely unrecognizing.

Johnny drops his flashlight in shock, the lens shattering, scaring the creature off.

Turned fae!Simon, who had no memories other than blood and war and pain, only wanted to figure out where the feeling of familiarity came from, in a world so unknown, and loud, cruel.

(this is inspired by Meet Me In The Woods by Lord Huron)

Ask box is open!

Find part 2 here

[afewproblems]

Season Two Halloween AU Part Ten (Final Part)

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine

Synopsis: What if Eddie had been at Tina's Halloween Party in Season Two? Featuring Steve!Whump, Stancy Breakup, and Eddie just trying to keep up with all these new revelations about who King-Steve actually is...

Thank you to Jess @strangersteddierthings for your encouragement and kind words, and to all of you that have been following along with this story. Thank you for your patience, I hope you enjoy the final installment!

***

It doesn't take much to get Dustin on board, especially given the little shits ego.

Nancy and Eddie manage to catch him outside during lunch period the following day, next to the bike racks. With Hawkins Middle just a block away from the highschool, it's easy to make their way over.

"Called it, I totally called it," Dustin preens with a wide grin, Eddie holds back the urge to roll his eyes.

Nancy levels Dustin with an unimpressed glare as she crosses her arms.

"It's not too late, we could make this work without him," Nancy says dryly, and Eddie has to bite his cheek to keep from laughing at the way Dustin's mouth drops open as he looks between Nancy and Eddie with a stricken expression.

"No, wait!" Dustin says, his voice pitched high with panic, "I want to help!" 

"Steve is a good guy, he helped my mom with the groceries last week because she had to work late," the kid continues, his voice softer now.

"I can tell he's sad, when he thinks you aren't looking at him, mom had the same thing after my dad left". 

Dustin looks up at Eddie now, a wary suspicion in his eyes, "he's been like that since the last time I covered for you," he throws long exaggerated finger quotes around the word, 'covered' as he openly glares at Eddie.

"What did you say to him before the tunnels?" Dustin demands fiercely, and even Nancy turns to look at Eddie with a questioning tilt to her head.

Frustration courses through his chest now, hot and bubbling, he has to take a deep breath to keep from yelling. 

As if Eddie hasn't been asking himself that very question, as if he hasn't been turning that moment over and over in his mind, trying to find the moment, the words, responsible for Steve's distance.

"Dustin," Nancy says sharply, "this is not the time--"

"What are you talking about," Dustin turns to Nancy, gesturing at Eddie who bristles, "we're making a plan and that should include what not to say this time."

"This was a stupid idea," Eddie bites out, turning on his heel, his ears are warm under his hair and he can feel the angry flush slowly make its way down his neck, he takes three steps before a hand catches his elbow, halting his path.

"Okay Dustin knock it off," Nancy says quietly, her head on a swivel, watching for any lunchtime stragglers lingering around them or teachers on supervision. 

Satisfied that no one seems to be watching their conversation, she turns back to Eddie and squeezes his elbow one last time before letting her hand drop away, "and you, calm down, we're all here because we want the same thing".

"Well, some of us more than others," Dustin pipes up, wiggling his eyebrows at Eddie who wants to sink into the concrete. 

"Dustin," Nancy bites out between her teeth, "Mike said the Snowball is in two days, think you could get Steve to take you?"

Dustin scrunches his nose as he looks at Nancy, "are you kidding," he scoffs, "all I have to do is tell my mom Steve offered to take me and she'll call him to thank him, he'll have no choice but to agree like it was his idea". 

Nancy blinks once at Dustin and Eddie can't help but stare at the little monster's face as he grins up at the two of them. It's honestly a good plan given what Eddie knows of Steve, and even Nancy begins to nod slowly.

"Okay, then your job," Nancy turns to Eddie now, "is to surprise him here when he arrives at the dance, Dustin's right".

Nancy doesn't look at the little twerp as she says it but nearly rolls her eyes at the triumphant laugh that bursts forth from the kid.

"An ambush is probably the best way to catch him, and Eddie," Nancy turns to fully face him and reaches out to squeeze his arm with small hands, "just…be gentle with Steve, as much as you can".

"Are we all clear on the plan then?" She asks, taking a step back towards the sidewalk path leading back to the school. 

"Yes mom," Eddie huffs, shooting Dustin a matching grin as Nancy sighs loudly.

"Just be here for seven," she says tightly before turning in her heel and stalking off towards the highschool.

"She's pretty intense hey?" Eddie says, turning back to the kid, he trails off at the scowl Dustin gives him in response.

"Nance is cool and has a gun, I wouldn't mess with her and I wouldn't mess with Steve if I were you," Dustin scoffs, taking a step closer.

Eddie swallows roughly at the sudden proximity, looking around the school yard for any stragglers making their way back to class. 

"Keep your voice down you little shit," he hisses, reaching out to pull Dustin farther away from the bike rack and the double front doors. He tries not to let the news of Nancy's weapon cache fluster him but Dustin must see something in Eddie's expression if the sudden smug grin is anything to go by.

"I'm just saying, you're new to the party and we protect each other, so if you're just looking to mess with him--"

"Jesus Christ," Eddie hisses, bringing his hands up to his eyes. He presses his fingers in until his vision explodes in a kaleidoscope of stars and counts to five, breathing deeply through his nose.

"I'm only going to say this one more time, so tell your little party because I ain't doing another shovel talk from someone whose voice hasn't even dropped".

Eddie ignores the squawk Dustin makes as he lowers his hands, "I just want to talk to Steve and see where this goes, I am not getting my hopes up that this is all gonna be 'Happily Ever After' or some shit, and you shouldn't either".

Eddie watches as Dustin frowns skeptically and has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from rolling his eyes.

"But I swear, I'm not messing with him, okay?" 

Dustin stares at Eddie for what feels like an age, saying nothing. His gaze is anything but warm, it feels like he's being analyzed and he wishes that Nancy were still here to absorb some of the strange attention the kid has focused on him.

Eddie is about to tell him to forget it, to storm off back to the highschool when Dustin finally utters a simple, "okay". 

It throws Eddie off for a moment, he stands in the patchy November worn grass, shivering in the harsh wind, mouth opening and closing in surprise.

"That's it?" He asks faintly, watching as Dustin swings his backpack off his shoulder and unzips it. He reaches in and pulls out a bright yellow walkie talkie and holds it out to Eddie expectantly.

"The party frequency is 467.5625," Dustin says as Eddie takes the device. 

He looks from the walkie in his hands to Dustin and scoffs, "you expect me to remem--"

"Channel eight then, Jesus," the kid huffs out, "don't make me take it back, this is a big deal Munson, you're one of us now". 

Eddie holds back a smile but it's a near thing. 

It feels strange, the warmth in his chest at the words. It shouldn’t feel as big as it does, but the heavy walkie in his hands feels like acceptance, something Eddie has always insisted that he never needed. He had Wayne, he had Hellfire, and Corroded Coffin, what did it matter if the other teens gave him a wide berth in the halls, or if teachers assumed the worst of him without evidence. 

But as Eddie taps the walkie onto the palm of his left hand, that feeling of warmth grows until it travels up his throat into a sudden lump that chokes his words. 

Fuck. 

Eddie blinks away the burning sting in his eyes once, twice, before lowering himself into a bow to hide the moisture he knows is just a split second from becoming a very evident problem. 

Dustin steps back in surprise as Eddie coughs to hide the waver in his voice.

"I uh, humbly accept your invitation and will endeavor to assist with all future quests, even upon pain of death or dismemberment oh noble bard".

Eddie lets a small laugh loose as he stands back up to his full height, grinning at the delighted giggle Dustin makes, even as the kid loudly insists that he's actually an Artificer, duh.

"Could've fooled me with that inspired speech dude," Eddie shakes his head and begins making his way back towards the highschool, letting gravity take him down the small hill towards the trees with heavy steps. He feels lighter now than he has in a while.

Absolutely nothing could go wrong.

"Wait!"

The sound of quick steps and crunching dead leaves announces Dustin before Eddie can even turn to face Hawkins Middle.

He skids to a stop at the bottom of the hill, breathing heavily with a wild grin on his small face.

"I know we have a plan already, but I think I have an even better idea," he breathes out, nearly vibrating in excitement.

"Better than Wheelers?" Eddie says, raising his eyebrow and slowly crossing his arms over his chest, careful not to drop the walkie in the grass.

"It's genius," Dustin insists, "trust me".

***

It was not genius.

It is in fact the stupidest thing that Eddie has ever done.

Including the time he skipped school to climb the tallest tree in Mirkwood on a dare and ended up breaking his collarbone after falling ten feet.

But, Eddie supposes, this is exactly what happens when one listens to a thirteen year old.

Maybe this was how all urban legends started, as unsolicited advice from snarky little pre-teens with more confidence than common sense.

All of a sudden, you end up stowed away in the back of a car trying your damnedest to keep quiet so as not to tip off the driver.

Who you happen to be eavesdropping on. Again.

Fourth time's the charm after all.

Eddie tries to stay as still as he can, crouched down in the back of Steve's Beemer. How the hell did those Urban Legend serial killers make this seem so easy, Eddie thinks as they manage to hit yet another pothole, jostling his position behind Dustin's seat. Eddie's heart beat feels incredibly loud in his ears as he holds his breath between his teeth.

He wonders belatedly just what Hopper would do if he drove past them now and tries to swallow the sudden anxiety that clings to his throat.

"Remember," Steve interrupts Eddie's thoughts with his insistent tone, "you don't care, you're as cool as a cucumber, you let everything roll off your back," Steve says as the sound of the turn signal begins, the rhythmic tick tock keeping pace with his words.

"Like a duck?" Dustin asks from the passenger seat and Eddie has to fight to keep the snort that threatens to break free from his nose.

"Uh, I guess, just, look," Steve sighs as they slow down for a light if the red glow is any indication, "you don't want to come on too strong, what happens when you come on too strong?"

"It blows up in your face," Dustin says quietly as Steve speaks in unison with him, slapping the steering wheel once with the flat of his palm, making Eddie flinch in the back. 

God. Is that what Steve thinks he did?

"Exactly, Henderson, you got it! So what are you?"

"Cool as a cucumber," Dustin repeats, this time with more conviction in his voice and Eddie hopes the kid is a better actor than he thought because that is not the lesson he wants him taking away from this evening.

"Because you don't care," Steve says again, tapping the steering wheel with each word for emphasis and Eddie can hear the grin in his voice as he shifts in the driver's seat. 

"I don't care," Dustin repeats again, though in a much colder voice than before, and suddenly Eddie knows if Dustin could see him now, he'd be staring daggers at him.

Eddie rolls his eyes, he's not going to take the blame for every single word and feeling coming out of Steve's mouth and it isn't fair of Dustin to heap all of it on Eddie.

"You look like a million bucks, go get em tiger," Steve says gently as the car comes to a gentle halt. There's a fondness in his voice that Eddie hasn't heard before. 

He's never had a sibling either, but Eddie imagines that this is exactly how it would feel, witnessing their firsts, cheering them on as they head into the unknown. Being their protector from the things that go bump in the night, even if that thing was as small as a first heartbreak. 

God. King Steve just had to be a secret sweetheart didn't he?

Not that it was really much of a secret, Eddie thinks as Dustin opens the passenger door and hops out of the car--

Oh shit. 

Oh shit.

He had been so engrossed in the conversation he'd been eavesdropping on, yet again, that Eddie had forgotten to sneak out.

He had even kept the back passenger door open, ever so slightly, to avoid the sound of it alerting Steve when he made his escape at the same time as Dustin. Then all they had to do was line up their doors closing at the exact same time and Steve would be none the wiser.

Oh God, he really did it, Eddie really listened to a thirteen year old and expected the plan to work.

And what's worse, he's the one that had fucked it up and now, he's trapped.

Eddie takes a deep breath through his nose and releases it as slowly as he can through his mouth. It feels as though an elephant is seated on his chest and his lungs can't quite keep up with the weight as his ribcage slowly begins to cave in. 

He has to get out, he has to run, he has to get out, he can't be caught in here, he can't ruin this again.

He starts at a sudden tapping on the window and holds his breath as Steve leans over from the driver's side towards his passenger door.

"Dustin?" Steve huffs as he moves back into place, his arm stops to rest on the passenger door just above Eddie's legs hidden in the darkness of the back seat.

"Steve! I, uh, forgot something, in the back," Dustin's voice is slightly strangled as he stumbles through the explanation for his sudden reappearance, "uh, my backpack!"s in days with their plan in place.

"Okay," Steve says slowly, drawing out the second syllable as he drops his hand from the passenger seat, "let me look--"

"No!" Dustin barks out, leaning further into the vehicle, from the new angle Eddie can see the panic on his young face. 

"Dustin? What--" Steve huffs as the kid climbs back into the front seat, grabbing Steve's arms and forcing him to continue facing forward.

And perhaps it's the absolute ridiculousness of the situation that makes Eddie laugh, the look on Dustin's face, or the confusion in Steve's voice, but he can't help but contain the loud snort that bursts forth from the back seat. 

Shit.

Eddie's heart drops into the floor of the vehicle beneath him as Steve and Dustin both freeze. 

It's like time stands still for an eternity, though snow begins to slowly fall outside the Beemer and the far off buzzing of music and laughter continues to emanate from the school gymnasium. 

Eddie moves first, lifting his hands to cover his face as he slowly sits up. He presses his fingers harshly into his eyes until a kaleidoscope of stars and fireworks appear in the darkness, before lifting them slightly to move into his hair and pulling at the roots. Eddie keeps his eyes closed as he hears a sharp intake of breath and movement from the driver's seat. 

"Eds? Dustin, what is going on, what are you doing here?" Steve says, his voice growing louder with each word until Eddie opens his eyes. 

Steve is staring at him, his large hazel eyes are wide and his brows have pinched in the middle, cutting creases across his forehead. He looks at Dustin before turning back to Eddie again, the frown on his face slowly morphing into a sneer. 

"Figures," Steve breathes out before turning to Dustin once more, "you two planned this?"

Dustin has the decency to at least wince at the accusation, "it's not like that--"

"Just," Steve cuts the kid off, the word harsh, almost a snarl before Steve deflates, sinking back into the driver's seat and letting his head drop back onto the headrest. 

He breathes out long and slow through his nose before continuing in a much softer, tired voice, "go to the dance Henderson". 

Dustin opens his mouth to rail against the dismissal, to stop whatever train of thought has run through Steve's mind, but Eddie beats him to it.

"Dustin," Eddie sighs, dropping his hands away from his hair to his lap, "let me take my lumps man, go".

Dustin makes a noise that seems to be a cross between a curse and a growl, his expression venomous, before he steps back and closes the passenger door with a loud metalic bang.

Eddie vaguely remembers Dustin and Nancy's threat and the guns she supposedly owns and suppresses a shudder. 

One problem at a time.

Eddie hauls himself into the back seat and groans at the rush of pins and needles dotting along his arms as he moves into a normal position once more. He rubs his hands along his arms and legs, wincing at how loud he is in the absolute silence of the car.

Steve isn't looking at him, his face pressed in between his hands at 11 and 1 on the steering wheel. 

"So," Steve mutters after a beat, startling Eddie as he sits back up from the wheel, "you were listening to me. Spying. Again." 

"Steve," Eddie starts, only for the other man to continue on as though he hasn't heard him.

"The only thing I can't figure out is why?"

Steve turns in his seat to look at Eddie, his face carefully blank now but for the slight downward pull at the left corner of his mouth. The bruises from Billy's recent beatings have faded to a sallow yellow and even the collection of cuts from the shattered ashtray have begun to scab over. 

The sight makes Eddie ache.

"Did Tommy put you up to this?" Steve interrupts Eddie's thoughts, his stare unwavering.

"What?" Eddie whispers, horrified, "what are you talking about?"

"You, you keep," Steve's voice rises slightly, a hysterical edge begins to creep in as his breathing quickens, "inserting yourself into my shit, you--I told you that I," Steve swallows heavily and blinks, his hazel eyes shine in the glow of the streetlight.

"Tommy is the only one who knows about me, so--so whatever he's got you doing," Steve sucks in another short breath, it's wet at the edges and Eddie feels his chest tighten as Steve's voice wavers.

"Steve--"

"You know what," Steve hisses as he reaches down to tug the keys out of the ignition, his breathing still slightly erratic, "just don't".

Eddie watches, frozen, as Steve wrenches the driver's door open and throws himself out of the vehicle, slamming the door shut behind him.

Eddie sits in silent shock for a moment, as though his limbs have filled up with sand, holding him in place, before he manages to scramble towards his own door.

"Steve!" He shouts, wincing as he slams the car door behind him, prompting several kids and parents walking into the middle school behind them to look in curiosity.

He catches a glimpse of a maroon sweater darting into the trees. 

Gotcha. 

Eddie hurries after him, cursing Dustin's insistence that, 'with this plan you won't need a coat, there's no waiting outside at all!'

He tamps down the hot feeling of irritation creeping up his chest and into his throat. It's a ridiculous night, first spent crouched into the back of a car and now traipsing through the woods to what? 

Chase after someone who clearly wants nothing to do with him? Who has been purposefully avoiding him since that night in the tunnels. 

Nancy and Dustin had it wrong, this was stupid. 

What was he thinking going along with their batshit plan --not that Nancy deserved credit for the car thing, that was all Henderson. 

Eddie pushes a branch out of his path and steps over a snow covered log, cursing the fact that he can feel the chill creeping into his toes through the thin canvas of his converse sneakers. The shoes also have little traction in the fresh snow that seems to be coming down even harder now as the night goes on.

As if to prove a point Eddie slips on a wet patch of leaves and swears at the sudden pain in his back as he struggles to keep upright.

He's breathing hard, puffs of frozen breath billow out and away from him in the cool night air

'Be gentle with him,' Nancy had said, as if she knew this would happen. As if she knew Steve would run the first chance he could and Eddie would follow.

He shakes his head and takes a deep breath, letting it in and out, allowing the frustration and anger from the last few days flow out with each breath.

"Steve," Eddie shouts as he finally catches a glimpse of maroon and tawny hair through the thicket, "just stop, man!"

Steve halts, halfway over a fallen log, but doesn't turn around.

Eddie ducks under another branch and into the small break in the trees that Steve is in. He can see the way the other man's shoulders rise and fall rapidly in the meager moonlight but whether from panic or exertion, Eddie can't tell.

"Steve," Eddie says as he takes another wary step forward, as though approaching a wild animal.

"You promised we'd talk," Eddie tries to swallow around the sudden lump in his throat, "was that a lie?" 

Steve says nothing still, though he turns his face just enough that Eddie can make out his profile in the low light.

Eddie sighs heavily, sliding a shaking hand through his hair, "what would Tommy want with the town freak anyway, he'd be more likely to put sugar in my gas tank than talk to me about anything, Steve".

"So," Eddie breathes out slowly, feeling his heart rate begin to climb as he prepares to take the leap, "rewind a bit, and catch me up on just what is going on in that head of yours sweetheart".

He sees the moment the words register in the way Steve stiffens, the way he slowly turns towards Eddie, his face pale and his eyes wide.

"You…you've called me that before, in the car," Steve says slowly, in fits and starts, "I thought it was a dream". 

Eddie takes another step closer, watches as Steve traces his movement with wary eyes.

"I think that was the most scared I have ever been in my life Steve, I thought you were dead, and it made me realize something," he swallows heavily, it feels like glass all the way down. 

"I was an idiot," Eddie whispers, his breath floats away in the cold November air as he shivers, "and didn't understand what you were trying to tell me at the Byers".

Steve winces slightly and nods, he opens his mouth to say something but Eddie beats him to it.

"IthinkyourNonnawasontosomethingSteve," the words tumble out in a long nearly unintelligible string, "I want to be in your life, whatever that means, however you'll have me," his lungs stutter slightly as Eddie takes a deep steadying breath.

Steve's head tilts slightly to the left as he regards Eddie with a infuriating black expression, his eyes searching Eddie's own.

"As friends?" Steve says slowly. There's a leading note to his voice that Eddie tries not to wince at.

He can't quite help the way his shoulders drop at the words though. Of course, of course he'd been right the first time. Steve was straight and, despite his better judgment, Eddie had gone ahead and gotten his hopes up for nothing.

"If that's what you want," Eddie agrees, forcing a wane smile that doesn't meet his eyes.

Steve's expression betrays nothing still as he moves through the thicket in two steps, his gaze never wavering from Eddie's own as he crosses his arms over his chest, still guarded despite how close they are.

"And if I wanted something else?" Steve speaks softly now, the words travel in between them through gentle puffs of frozen breath.

They're nearly the same height, Eddie might be a half inch taller or so, but from this close it doesn't matter. 

Eddie can see the flecks of green in his eyes, the collection of freckles and moles across his nose and cheeks; if Steve is an Autumnal King in a sunset, he's absolutely otherworldly in the moonlight. The pale snow falling around them almost makes it seem like he's glowing.

"Glowing huh?" 

Fuck.

Steve's face splits into a soft smile, his eyes crinkle at the corners, pulling at the yellow bruised skin. He breathes out something resembling a laugh through his nose as he says, "well, you're not so bad yourself Munson".

Eddie takes another step closer, his heart racing at a mile a minute, "s'that right?" he asks, lifting his hands to grip at Steve's arms.

He lets his ungloved hands run up and down, reveling at how soft and warm the sweater Steve's wearing is before settling at his elbow.

Steve's eyes slowly trace over Eddie's face, before his expression morphs into the determined one that Eddie recognizes from that horrible night in the tunnels.

"I'm sorry," Steve swallows roughly before clearing his throat. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head as Eddie opens his mouth to speak, "please, just let me explain first, and then you can," he bites at the inside of his cheek as his hazel eyes move beyond Eddie's gaze into the trees. 

"You can, make your decision or whatever".

Eddie hesitates for just a moment, squeezing Steve's arms once more before he lets go. 

Steve gives Eddie a tight smile, before closing his eyes, "I've known Tommy since we were like six, sandbox kids right?"

"Our dads were friends, they worked together, so it just made sense, and we were close, we did everything together," Steve opens his eyes but doesn’t look at Eddie, "Tommy knows a lot about me, stuff I've never told anyone, not even Nance".

Steve sighs, kicking roughly at a cluster of leaves and snow on the ground, "not that she hasn't figured a bunch of it out, she's smart like that". 

"I remember talking about girls for the first time when we were Dustin's age, Tommy had a crush on Linda Holloway, he liked her red hair," Steve smiles faintly, but it quickly disappears as he finally meets Eddie's eyes once more, "and I didn't think anything of it at the time, I just thought we were sharing who we thought was cute so I--"

He stops speaking, his breath stutters for a moment as he shakes his head once and curls his arms even more tightly around himself.

"Steve--" Eddie tries, reaching out once again with one hand before he curls his fingers away as though afraid to touch him. 

Eddie wants to tell Steve that he doesn't need to continue, that he understands, but Steve has regained his voice, soft and unwavering.

"I told him about Mary McKinney, she let me borrow her pencil whenever I needed it and always wore her hair in braids," Steve licks his lips, his eyes flitting between Eddie now and the ground, "and, about Brian Donovan, he was on our little league team and he had the best dimples I'd ever seen".

Steve's lips twist into a shy smile this time as he looks at Eddie, "maybe second best now".

Heat rises in Eddie's cheeks, his heart thrums in his chest and he can't stop the pleased grin from taking over his face at the words. 

God, he's so fucked.

Steve continues on, if he notices Eddie's blush in the low twilight he doesn't mention it.

"Tommy said that was weird to think of boys like that, the same way I thought about Mary, and not to talk about it again. That didn't stop him from bringing it up after that," Steve sighs heavily now, "I couldn't so much as make eye contact with another guy at school without Tommy telling me off". 

Anger ignites in Eddie's chest, spreading up his throat and curling around his hands which suddenly long to meet Tommy Hagans stupid face. 

He'd never cared for the guy. Too far up his own ass over the years with a mean streak a mile wide. Add to that a penchant for making other kids' lives absolutely miserable and you have a recipe for a douchebag that Eddie based nearly half of the Munson Doctrine on. 

The other half, well, that had also been influenced by Steve, but if Eddie was being honest, he had no clue who the real Steve Harrington was. 

No one did. 

Hopefully, in time, Eddie could change that. 

"I'm sorry for not trusting you," Steve whispers, his face tipped down to the ground, "I think I've had his voice in my head for so long that I couldn't stop myself from listening to it".

"You want to know the worst part?" Steve asks quietly, he scoffs, not bothering to wait for Eddie to reply, "he acted like he was doing me a fucking favour, like he was protecting me". 

He shakes his head, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as his voice wavers suddenly, "maybe he was, in his own way--"

"Nope," Eddie barks out, startling them both with the sudden volume filling the trees, "that rat was trying to save his own skin by trying to control you, you owe Tommy nothing". 

Steve looks at Eddie with wide shocked eyes. He's standing so still that Eddie wonders if he's stopped breathing.

"Maybe he thought he was doing you a favour," Eddie laughs, it's a cold bitter thing that hangs low amongst the tree roots and plant litter, "and in public sure, I get it, but honestly if he could only be friends with this version of you, then he wasn't really ever your friend, Steve". 

"If someone doesn't like you just as you are, then they aren't worth it".

Steve is still staring, he hasn't blinked the entire time that Eddie has been speaking…it's a little unnerving.

"So," Steve asks, hesitantly, halting Eddie's train of thought, "what about you?" 

He's even closer now and, when the hell did that happen.

"Me?" Eddie says faintly, his eyes drop once to Steve's lips, they're slightly chapped but have never looked so God Damn kissable.

Eddie takes a deep breath, and smiles softly as he lifts his hands to grip Steve's elbows once again, squeezing gently before sliding them down to take his hands. 

They're large and warm in his own, callused along the palms from where the nail bat had sat in his hands. Eddie lets his thumbs run along his knuckles, lingering on the healing scabs from his fight with Billy.

"You weren't what I was expecting," Eddie says, watching as Steve's head tilts again at the nonsequiteur, "especially after the party when I tried to give you back your sunglasses".

"You care, about the kids --even when they are being self destructive little shits, about Nancy even though she broke your heart," he traces his thumbs over the tops of Steves hands when his fingers twitch, "and you care about me, enough to put yourself out there even though you had no idea if I felt the same". 

"You are brave, crazy brave to the point where I'm a little worried about why you're so quick to just throw yourself in front of danger, but," Eddie shakes his head as Steve bristles this time, ducking his face away from Eddie's watchful eyes, "we'll unpack that another day". 

He takes a deep breath and slowly lets go of one of Steve's hands, shaking as he reaches up to cup Steve's jaw, tipping his face up until his eyes are level with Eddie's once more.

Steve's hazel eyes trace over Eddie's face, wide and glassy in the moonlight. They are close enough that Eddie can feel the shallow puffs of air against his lips as Steve's breathing quickens.

"Did the doctor say anything about your face," Eddie asks, gesturing at his own with his one free hand, "recovery time?"

Steve shakes his head with a confused frown.

"Good," Eddie takes a deep breath, allowing a wide lecherous grin to bloom, "because I like you, Steve Harrington, exactly as you are, and I'm going to kiss you," he lifts his other hand now to cup the other side of Steve's face, "but I only make it hurt if you want me to, big boy".

Eddie freezes as the words he just said register. 

Oh Fuck.

Who pulls out Big Boy like five seconds after confessing their feelings? 

Eddie groans lowly and shuts his eyes for a beat, only opening them at the tentative sound of Steve's voice.

"Eds," Steve laughs, his face flushed a deep scarlet, giving Eddie a sly smile of his own, "that was really bad, like really bad".

Eddie sighs, embarrassment beginning to curl, hot and heavy, in his chest as he removes his hands from Steve's face, "I know…"

He startles at the feeling of warm fingers wrapping around his own, drawing his hands back to where they had been on Steve's face, "it's a good thing I like you, so you can get more practice".

"Yeah?" Eddie whispers, his voice hoarse as though he can scarcely breathe. He watches as Steve smiles, counting the crinkles at the edges of his eyes and the way his scarlet flush has faded to a soft pink.

He wants to freeze this moment, burn it into his memory so he'll never forget the soft happiness in Steve's eyes.

"Yeah, Eds," Steve breathes against his lips as their noses brush, "exactly as you are".

Eddie's not sure which of them moves first, it's only the faint brush of chapped lips against his own that sets off an unhinged chorus of, 'Kisskissingkisswhatthefuckyou'rekissingSteveHarrington'.

Eddie's fingers tighten against Steve's face before his hands begin to move on their own, one along his jaw until it has wrapped around the back of his head, burying his fingers in thick soft hair. His other hand shifts slightly lower, his thumb presses into Steve's jaw until his head tips back. 

The noise Steve makes against his lips as Eddie moves him sends a thrill down his spine. He feels two hands slide up his chest, over his shoulders, and around his neck as Steve presses himself even closer. Eddie's fingers tighten in Steve's hair, almost involuntarily, as the pulse under his thumb climbs even higher. Eddie hums contentedly and smiles into the kiss.

It's…God.

Kissing Steve is everything he's ever wanted. He tastes like peppermint, like the candy canes Dustin had brought Steve as a thank you for the ride to the dance, and Eddie can't help but wonder if the little shit had done so with this in mind? 

No, nope. Definitely not thinking about that right now.

He tugs his mind away from the thought and opens his lips more to brush against Steve's with purpose, pulling a sweet moan from the other as he nips at his bottom lip.

He pulls back begrudgingly after another moment, relishing the heat, the softness of Steve pressed against him. They're still standing in the middle of the ravine just a few steps from the middle school and it would probably be best to continue this sort of thing in private. 

Eddie shifts away just enough to run the tip of his nose down Steve's own, his heart fit to burst at the soft sigh Steve releases at the touch. His eyes are closed, but from the new blush that has spread from Steve's cheeks, to his ears and all the way down his neck, as well as the soft grin that pulls at his lips, Eddie can tell the feeling is mutual.

Eddie wonders just how many different shades of pink he could make Steve turn? 

A thought for another day, Eddie thinks with a mischievous smirk, brushing his thumb along the crest of Steve's cheek. 

"We should probably get back sweetheart," Eddie murmurs as he reluctantly removes his hands from Steve's face, "I can think of somewhere warmer we can go to talk". 

Steve nods with a snort, knocking his shoulder into Eddie, "talk huh?" 

"Is that not what the kids call it these days?"

Eddie drapes his arm around Steve's neck, tugging the other man closer. He comes all too willingly with a pleased grin stretched across his face.

"Besides," Eddie hums as they begin to make their way back the way they came, "my Uncle Wayne's been asking about when he can meet you --well after he weaseled it out of me, what was making me mope so much these last few weeks, he's already making Thanksgiving plans--"

They jerk to a halt, half slipping in the leaves and snow, he turns to Steve to meet his wide fearful eyes.

"You--your uncle knows, about me, about you?" Steve asks, the words stopping and starting as he speaks. 

Eddie reaches out only for Steve to take a step back into the trees, "why would you tell him--"

"He doesn't know about you specifically, Steve, I would never do that," Eddie insists, he keeps his voice level now with how close they are to the school again, he can hear the sounds of teens yelling and laughing in the short distance.

"Okay, but he, he doesn't care about…"

Steve trails off, his teeth closing down on his bottom lip and though chewing on what he wants to ask.

Your uncle doesn't care about you being gay, being different?

Eddie sighs, resisting the urge to lift his hands and press his fingers into his eyes, "Uncle Wayne took me in a few years ago when my parents kicked me out for that so, no, it's pretty safe to say he doesn't".

"Oh," Steve says faintly. His arms come up around his chest as he begins to hunch in on himself yet again.

Well shit. 

Now, Eddie isn't a hundred percent certain, but based on things that Steve has said, the warning that Nancy gave him, and what happened at the hospital, he knows that the Harrington house hasn't been the happy home he had assumed it to be.

And now, given the stricken look on Steve's face and the pinch in his gut, the doubts are fading even further away. 

Eddie takes a deep breath, stepping onto the tightrope between them, he'll have to be careful about how he plays this, or Steve could bolt again. He's seen Steve run track at school, he knows the other man could easily outrun him.

Best not to give him a reason to.

"You know, not all parents, um, deserve to be parents sweetheart," Eddie says slowly, carefully, watching Steve's face as he speaks, "especially if they're never around".

He feels the rope between them wobble as he takes a step closer, holding out his hand.

"Especially if they don't love us for who we are Stevie," Eddie whispers, watching as Steve looks away sharply, his shoulders tense.

Eddie takes another deep breath before taking the leap, hoping that his feet will meet the ground beneath them.

"Wayne isn't like that, he's safe, and he wants to meet the person I've been mooning over for weeks now, if you're up for it". 

Steve swallows once, twice, his jaw moves as though grinding what he wants to say between his teeth, his nose begins to redden as his eyes grow damp at the edges.

"Yeah," he manages to choke out, his voice cracks down the center as he draws one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, "maybe not, right, right now but --fuck, I'm sorry, I don't know why this keeps happening".

Eddie takes the last step and pulls Steve into his arms again; he stiffens at first before finally relaxing, almost boneless, against Eddie's chest. He feels Steve release a long hitching breath and squeezes him gently, rubbing his cheek against the slight stubble on Steve's own.

"Probably because it's been a really hard couple of weeks sweetheart," Eddie pulls back enough to look into Steve's eyes, they're red rimmed now and his lashes have begun to clump together, but even like this Steve still looks beautiful.

"Yeah," Steve says, he sniffs, wincing at the sound of his stuffy nose, "I think I could use a proper…talk, and a rest, if you're still up for it?"

Eddie feels a smile pulling at his lips as incandescent happiness glows in his chest. He pulls Steve closer once more, relishing the feeling of being able to hold Steve again, without the scent of blood and terror in the air. 

"Lead the way then sweetheart," Eddie says softly, knowing he'll follow Steve wherever he goes. There's a lot more for them to talk about, but for now, he'll be there for Steve as his person, for as long as he can. 

Forever if he can swing it. 

Tag List:

@eriquin @luvinthefreaks @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @goodolefashionedloverboi @ellietheasexylibrarian @bambibiest @sadboislovebeans @howincrediblysapphicofyou @coleys-a-nerd @whycantiuseunderscore @airconditioning123 @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @corrodedbisexual @starman-jpg @ilovecupcakesandtea @yoriposts @clumsiluni @pelinelin @phantomcat94 @lololol-1234 @anaibis @steveshairspray @hellfireone @eddielives1986 @sunswathe  @tentativeghost @robin-not-batman @estrellami-1 @manda-panda-monium @tinyplanet95 @perseus-notjackson @queenie-ofthe-void @rainbowsaw @sp0o0kylights @littlebluejane @hi-im-eff  @phantypurple @just-ladyme @thoroughlycollected @justrandomfandomstm @swimmingbirdrunningrock @finntheehumaneater @dynamic-powerm@nightmareglitter @genderless-spoon @zaddipax @thebiblesays @pyrohonk @emly03 @geekymagicalpotato @sidebarre @lemon-astra @cipounette @discreetapple @starlitlakes @saphhicwitchbitch @marvel-ous-m @lingeringmirth @honorarybrit81 @bookbinderbitch @finntheehumaneater  @lololol-1234 @eddie-munsons-missing-nipple @monsterloverforhire @gaydrieeen @starlight-archer @homosexual-having-tea @devondespresso @rennnnon @my-hyperfixations-hell-blog @carlprocastinator1000 @0o-queendean-o0 @emly03 @paintsplatteredandimperfect @louismeds @fruitmix

@lizzicleromance @fairy-princette @eddiethehunted

And a few people I think may be intersted!

@steddierthings @steddie-there @stevesbipanic @henderdads @bramble-berries @flowercrowngods

[sinful-mind-joyful-thoughts]

ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴍɪꜱꜱ ᴘɪᴘᴇᴅʀᴇᴀᴍ (J.M)

*vision bored doesn't describe readers' looks it describes the vibes of the story*

Pairing: football-player!Joel Miller x golden-girl!Fem!Reader

POV: This story is told through the POV of high school senior Joel Miller

Summary: Joel's girl lives in his dreams and in the house next door. He's always known her, and he's always wanted her, but in ApplePine, whose dream does she not haunt? Now He has a chance that He's been looking forward to all his life. This can't fail. He won't let someone like her slip away.

Warnings/tags: Kind of toxic undertones, mentions of a bad home life (reader), church, idolization, nerves, kissing and making out, small Texas town with very traditional values, climbing and watching people through windows, Joel is a Lil bit of a stalker, BAD American football talk. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT YOU CONSUME

WC: 4.5k

On most Saturdays and after church on Sundays, she could be found working at the local ice cream shop. Occasionally, if there wasn't a football game, she would also work on Fridays. She was a well-known figure in our small town - being the girl next door, head cheerleader, and leading member of the student council. Her many accomplishments included winning the title of Little Miss Apple Pine, which only added to her popularity. Many of us admired her from afar, watching her ride her bike with friends, interact with the little kids in the neighborhood, or simply be in her element with a book in hand and a Walkman playing some music.

It was difficult to tell what music she listened to, but I'd like to think it was hard rock, maybe Guns N' Roses. However, her sweet nature suggested it was more likely to be Bon Jovi or AC/DC. Despite her bright persona, we all knew that she had a tough time at home, our houses were right next to each other too It was sad but there's only so much a loud TV can cover.

We attend the same school and ride the same bus together. We have chemistry class as well as lunch B together. Additionally, we share gym and math classes. I have noticed that she is quieter in math class and doesn't answer questions as quickly. In math class, she sits three seats ahead of me, and during lunch, she sits six seats away from me. Her round lunch table is located ten tables away from mine, and it's always occupied by a few cheerleaders and jocks who are considered acceptable, unlike me who often gets thrown off the field for hitting refs because of not knowing if  I'm coming or going. Compared to them, she seems to be in another world, like a cool autumn day in the middle of a hot Texas summer.

As the chemistry class began, Mr. McMory walked into the classroom with his glasses resting on the tip of his nose. He had only undone the top button of his shirt, showing some long curly grey chest hairs — utterly gross if you ask me. We all watched as he walked to the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. He clasped his hands together behind his back and stopped before turning to face the class.

"Now, as most of you probably know, we will need to form a new set of lab partners for this semester. However, to keep things fair so everyone gets a chance of getting matched with whom You would prefer, I've decided to have you all write your names on a small piece of paper and put them in this box. Once I've finished passing them out, I will draw two student names from the box at random, and those two will be your partners for this semester."

Without having to pause, Mr. McMory spoke clearly. This routine was something he did every marking period, four times a year, for 30 years. The memories of the previous marking period memories flooded my mind, where Jason Duly and Billy Holiday tried to bribe Gaby Michelle to give up her seat so that they could sit next to our classmate, the charming "I trust that you all understand the process now?" Mr. McMory continued. Once no one raised their hands to question what he said, he walked back to the front and handed out the small pieces of paper to everyone. "Now you have two minutes to write your names on the paper, then place it into the box. Once you are all finished, I will begin the randomized selection."

Chaos began to take place across the room with various bets being placed and trades being arranged like a market in the middle of a jungle, I wrote my name on the slip of paper without a thought. It was a meaningless task to me, as I would have been fine with getting anyone as my lab partner. In the middle sat our Pipe Dream, seemingly clueless to it all, while these students scrambled like mad to gain the favor of their desired partners, and the professor seemed unaware of all the action taking place in the classroom.

The chaos of the class was suddenly drowned out by Mr. McMory yelling out to have students start putting their slips into the box. As the box was quickly getting more and more full, the class started to become more and more silent and calm as no one wanted to be one of the ones not getting the partner they wanted even if they all wanted the same one our darling Miss pipedream isn't only perfect in every way but she's also incredibly smart.

Mr. McMory walked to the front of the classroom and stood in front of the whiteboard. He held the box and a red whiteboard marker. "No changing partners unless both parties are in agreement," he said as he paused and placed the box on a stool in front of him. He then pulled out the first two names. "Gaby and Hannah," he announced, causing a small gasp from some students. Mr. McMory placed the paper down and wrote the names on the board. There was a moment of silence before a low murmur began to spread throughout the classroom Mr. McMory then pulled out another two slips from the box and announced the next pairs of names: "Billy and Jillian, Jason and Cory." As each pair was announced, the two people were immediately surrounded by cheers of excitement or groans of disappointment. Some students could be overheard saying things like "no way!" and "I can't believe this!" and "Are we sure it's fair?" There were a few complaints here and there that their partner was not who they wanted, but Mr. McMory quickly cut them off, saying, "No changing partners unless both parties are in agreement, understood?"

As I stood watching the chaos break loose behind me, I couldn't help but chuckle at how quickly everything was unfolding. However, my laughter came to a sudden halt when Mr. McMory announced me and a stranger as partners.No, not a stranger, It was the girl who seemed to have it all, the girl who had effortlessly made her way through every aspect of the school and had become something of a legend. She was the girl next door, the one every boy wanted, and the only one I was enamored with at the slightest glance in her direction. My heart skipped a beat as I looked over the crowd and saw her smiling brightly at me. Time seemed to slow down as the rest of the world faded away. It was as if the universe was just waiting for us to get to know each other. My nervousness quickly turned into an adrenaline rush as I became more and more excited. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, a chance to turn my dreams into reality and finally figure her out.

On the bus, I noticed her again. We made eye contact but didn't speak. She sat with her friend Sally Handson until she got off at her stop. However, I didn't expect her to move over and sit in the same seat as me.

"You're Joel, right?" she asked me before kindly offering her hand to shake.

"That's me," I smiled as I gently took her hand in mine and shook it. Our skin connected, and I felt a slight tremor in my hand before letting go, not wanting to make the situation any more awkward. I looked back up to see her, and she seemed to be just as nervous as I felt. The silence seemed to linger on for a moment before she spoke again.

"I just wanted to ask if you've had a chance to look at the assignment yet?"

I took a moment to gather my thoughts before speaking. "No, actually, I'm not very good at chemistry. I was probably going to copy off of you, to tell you the truth," I said, trying to make a joke, but struggling to hide the fact that it was true.

She smiled brightly, showing off her pearly white teeth. "Like all football players. It's okay though, I can help you study sometime if you'd like?"

As she spoke, my heart skipped a beat and my cheeks flushed. The offer of her help flooded my mind with different scenarios, from spending time with her after school to studying together at the library or even hosting study groups at our houses. I chuckled nervously and nodded my head.

The sudden stop of the bus snapped me back to reality, and a thought raced through my mind. Should I ask to walk her home? The offer seemed so appealing, and I was filled with possibilities of getting to know her even better. It was time to take the chance, but I had to fight the nervousness building inside me.

"Hey, are you walking to your house? Because I was just going to ask if...if I could walk you home?" I spoke the words carefully, fearing that I might mess up and ruin the moment. I fiddled with the straps of my backpack, feeling my heart pound in my chest as I waited for her response.

She smiled kindly at me. "Yes, and I would love that. Do you know which house?"

"I do," I said with a slightly more confident tone than before. I felt myself calming down as the idea of walking home together became more real. She began to take in the neighborhood around us, and I thought it was a perfect time to start a conversation.

"So, this is where you live?"

She giggled, and her laughter was infectious. I couldn't help but smile. "Joel, you and I have lived in the same neighborhood since we were newborns. We're neighbors for goodness sake, no need to be so formal with me."

She was right; I was overthinking our interactions. We had been neighbors for as long as I could remember. "Oh yeah...I suppose you have a point. I guess my nervousness made me go blank like that. I'm just not used to seeing you when you're not out on the field with your cheer squad." I chuckled, feeling my nerves die down even more as I looked over at her and relaxed a bit more.

"I understand it's hard not to picture me like that, and you as well, Joel. You're violent on the field. I'm pretty sure that referee from Tentown had a broken nose," she tries to make conversation. 

The mention of the game in Tentown makes me chuckle a bit. That was the first game in the league where I was allowed to play, and I suppose my desire to prove myself ended with me getting a bit carried away. The thought of the ref's nose makes me chuckle a bit more as I couldn't help but feel bad for the ref. 

"Yeah, I think you're right about that. But that's just how it is, right? The game is pretty brutal. I can't play without getting a little carried away." 

She thinks for a second and then says, "Maybe that's why you're always benched, along with Tommy? Speaking of your brother, where is he? Oh, and how are poor freshmen? I heard the older football players are being a little mean."

The question about my benching for games suddenly brings back my nervous energy, and I immediately feel uncomfortable talking about it. "That's probably one of the reasons for it, yeah..." I sigh as the mention of my brother and some of the team's hazing of the freshman brings a frown to my face.

"It pisses me off how they treat some of the freshmen like that. I don't see why they can't just treat them like the rest of the team..." I pause mid-sentence as the thought comes to my mind.

"I feel so bad for the poor freshman. They do the same thing on the cheer team," she said. We stopped at the crossing signal, and I was surprised by how well she could relate to what I was describing. It dawned on me that she may have experienced it more than I had considering how involved she is in cheer. We waited for the light to turn green, and I smiled at her.

"We should set up a study date sometime soon. After all, you said you're not that good at chemistry?" she said as we got closer to her house. I was thrilled at the possibility of spending more time with her.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I'll certainly need the help," I chuckled. She walked ahead of me with a sweet little glide in her step, making me have to catch up to her as we continued walking.

"Which days work for you?" she asked, opening her backpack and taking out a pen and paper. "Oh, and write down your landline number." I replied, "I'm pretty much free all week, so just let me know what works for you." Her request for my landline number made my heart skip a beat as it reminded me of when she offered to help me at her place.

"How about Friday after school since there's no game? We can meet at my place," she suggested as we stood outside her front gate. "That works great for me! We can discuss our study plans and maybe even study together if you're up for it," I replied excitedly. "Your place sounds perfect, and I just want to say thank you," I added, feeling grateful for her help. She smiled and said, "Of course, Joel." Then she walked into her yard and house, waving goodbye.

Friday couldn't come any quicker in my mind. I couldn't get Miss Applepine, Cheery Pie, Pipe Dream out of my head at all. The more we talked in class, the more I fell under her spell and the more I wanted to know... She was a mystery, and I wanted to be the first to hear everything she was willing to tell.

now stand at her front door. I rang the doorbell eagerly waiting for her to answer. She opened the door; she looked so pretty. "Come on in, Joel," she opened the door to let me in. In all my years of being neighbors, I always wondered what her house looked like, and to be honest, her house is less organized than I thought.

"Sorry about the mess. You know, it's just me and my dad, and I'm a little behind on chores... um... studying," she began to ramble but stopped herself. It was rather cute; it made me smile even more.

"Come on upstairs to my room. I have all my books and everything up there," she led me up to her bedroom. It was so normal - band posters, photos of her family, school items, her numerous awards, and her window looked directly into my room.

As we entered her room, I couldn't resist glancing over to her window again. It felt like this was the closest I could get to seeing inside her home for A Long time and now I'm inside the looking glass. I took a seat right next to her bed as she went to her bookshelf to collect her textbooks. As we started reviewing the material, a wave of butterflies fluttered in my stomach. I occasionally stole a glance at her while she flipped through different articles, but I couldn't hold my stare for long.

"Are these all the books we're going to be using?" I asked as she placed her biology and chemistry books on her desk. I watched her lean over, her eyes almost glued to the books as she read through them. "Yeah, these are the ones. I just want to make sure that we're both prepared for this project. It's about how we think the universe began, so lots to cover" she replied with a soft smile that brought me back to reality for a moment as I gazed into her eyes.

"I'm ready to start studying. So, what do you want to start with?" she asked as I sat down. She looked at me with a sweet smile and thought for a moment before responding, "Do you think we should start with chemistry? I know it's the one you struggle with the most."

"Sure, that works," I replied excitedly she remembered that from the walk my cheeks got a little pink as I opened the book and looked over her shoulder to find the section she had mentioned. I was determined to pay close attention this time, feeling more relaxed thanks to her calm and collected presence.

Every little gesture or movement she made caught my full attention like a spark in my head. Her adorable smile and the way she played with her hair made it difficult to resist complimenting her. When she asked if she could ask me something, it snapped me out of my trance for a moment. I replied with a simple "Yeah, sure."

As she playfully hit my shoulder, her touch felt light as a feather. I couldn't help but smile, sitting up and crossing my legs like she was doing. Moving my book from my lap, I placed it on the end of her bed. "Why can't you focus?" she asked, and my heart started racing. I didn't want to tell her the truth, so I lied, "No reason..." Trying to act casual, I could feel myself blushing as she hit my shoulder and called me out. It was because of her - her sweet smile, small gestures, and the way she sat cross-legged on her bed - that I couldn't focus. But I couldn't just outright admit that I had a massive crush on her.

"We can take a break?" she offered, and I felt even more nervous. The idea of taking a break meant a chance to talk about things other than studying and a chance to just hang out with her. I was hoping that she felt the same way and that she also couldn't help but notice the tension that was building between us. I sat back up and joked, "You're saying that as if I would deny the offer." My heart was racing, and I couldn't help but wonder if she could feel the same tension I did.

As we continued to talk, I made sure to continue moving closer to her every chance that I could get. The heat coming from her body filled me with a new sense of boldness as I tried to make my actions more noticeable. "I mean who can blame me, when I'm sitting across from someone so charming..." I said as I leaned forward a little, making the distance between us almost nonexistent.

"Have you been studying for long?" she asked me as she laid back on her bed, making it clear that she had no plans to get up anytime soon. As the conversation shifted towards more flirtatious topics, I started to blush slightly. "Do you mean studying?..." I replied to her, but even I could hear that my voice had taken on a flirty tone.

"Yes, studying, or are you just as brain-dead as the other football players?" she joked. "Hey now, what are you implying?" I responded teasingly as I moved closer to her. As we talked more, the tone of the conversation became increasingly flirtatious, and I struggled to hold back my blush. "You're the one who keeps saying we should take a break. Sounds like you don't want to study..." I said, trying to pretend to focus on a book.

But even as we continued discussing the material or pretending to, I noticed her eyes drifting toward me as she glanced up and down my body. It made me feel a little uneasy, but also excited as I wondered what she was thinking. Could she feel the same tension between us that I felt?

"Hmmm, maybe I don't. But you're the one who said yes to the break." she grinned mischievously as I scooted slightly closer to her, looking up and staring into her eyes. "You make it kind of hard to pay attention..."

As we continued to talk The heat coming from her body filled me with a sense of boldness as I attempted to make my actions more noticeable. "I mean, who can blame me when I'm sitting across from someone so charming?" I said as I leaned forward a little, making the distance between us almost nonexistent.

"I'm flattered. I'll take that as a compliment since you're also very kind with your words," she said as I moved even closer to her. We were almost too close for comfort, but I couldn't resist getting even closer. "I thought I was charming, but you are even more charming than I imagined," I told her, leaning in even closer until I was practically touching her. I felt like I was crossing a line, but I couldn't help myself. Her eyes seemed to be blushing, and I felt a sudden burst of confidence. I brought my hand up to her side, almost touching her waist. "You are an interesting girl," I whispered.

"You find me interesting?" she asked, smiling shyly and looking down. I could tell she was blushing and feeling a little embarrassed, but I decided to take a risk and leaned in even closer. Our faces were almost touching, and I could feel her breath on my face. I looked up at her and felt a rush of emotions.

"I didn't know you were so easy to read," I said as I leaned even closer to her, this time the tiny distance between us was nothing but air. I couldn't help but feel that feeling building inside me again as I watched her face grow redder and redder as it appeared to be a little closer every time. "I'm sure most guys would be more than happy to take advantage of a beautiful girl like you.”

“Are you most guys? Should I be worried? I'm not a one-and-done girl, Joel…” she said, showing insecurity for what seems to be the first time. As she asked me if I was 'most guys', I couldn't help but feel my heart sink for a brief second as I heard her insecurity, but I quickly recovered and smiled as I looked down at her. My hands slowly wrapped around her waist as I leaned even closer. "Oh please, you think I'm going to leave someone as beautiful and kind as you just like that. You aren't a one-and-done girl, you're... you're an angel." I slowly leaned forward so our faces were just a hair's width apart. I gazed into her eyes, lost in the moment, when she suddenly exclaimed, "An Angel?" Her voice was soft, yet full of wonder, as if she had just seen something magical. She was so close to me that I could feel her breath on my face, and I couldn't help but notice the way her face immediately flushed up with red. Her eyes quickly looked down, as if to distract herself from her sudden burst of emotion.

I kept looking at her, waiting for her to look back up at me. I leaned down just a bit more, my heart racing with anticipation, as my lips were barely an inch from hers when she finally decided to look back up. I couldn't help but feel the surge of joy rushing through my body as I saw the way her eyes slowly opened and she looked back up to face me.

The way her cheeks were still flushed and the shy, but happy look on her face was exactly what I needed. It was the perfect moment as I leaned in for the kiss. Our lips met in a sweet and simple embrace, and I felt a warmth spread through my body. It was like time had stopped, and nothing else mattered in the world except for that moment. I held her close as we kissed, and I knew deep down inside that this was the start of something special.

The kiss started gentle but with each second that passed it started to become more intense. The heat of her body and the way her hands ran through my hair was making my heart skip a few beats as I started to wish I could pull her into an even deeper kiss. I didn't want to overwhelm her though so I tried to keep it simple, although it was hard to keep my hands from finding every part of her body that I could. She's not someone who wants a one-time thing and I'll do everything I can to make sure she doesn't think all I want is sex.

We disengaged when we heard her front door slam shut. "That's my dad!" she exclaimed, her urgency evident. "He can't know you're here." She swiftly rose, pulling me up with her, both of us breaking away from the kiss as she hurried us along. Her pace was so brisk that it took a moment for me to catch on before I scrambled up. "Why can't he know I'm here?" I whispered, trying to avoid any noise as her dad ascended the stairs.

"Because he'll flip if he finds a guy in my room. Though, it's not like it's the first time I've had a guy over," she rushed, steering us towards her bedroom window. "Seriously? You've done this before?" I questioned? but that conversation could wait as we reached her bedroom window, which she promptly opened, urging me outside.

"Well, there was this one time Dad caught me, and he nearly lost it. I promised I wouldn't do it again, and he dropped it," she explained hurriedly, her insistence on getting me out the window starting to concern me. I trusted she knew what she was doing, but I wasn't quite prepared for what came next.

"Are you seriously making me climb out your window?" I protested.

"Don't be a wimp. You'll be fine. You're not the first guy I've had over," she reassured, though her words didn't ease my nerves. The distance from her window to the ground seemed to grow as she tugged me closer to the edge.

As I began to climb out, my foot slipped, and I fell with a hard thud and a loud squeak.

Despite the throbbing pain in my ankle, the walk home afforded me ample time to ponder, and my thoughts continuously circled back to her. I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right, as if she was keeping something from me. If she's had numerous guys over before, why the sudden worry about her dad catching her? Was I just another casual fling to her? My mind brimmed with inquiries for my elusive "little miss pipedream."

[nyctophiliq]

Hi mossy moss!! Ive been so down bad for Ashe lately so id like to ask for something for her! can be nsfw or fluffy stuff, or both, whatever your little heart desires :))

and ofc pls continue to take care of yourself! eat your meals and drink lots of water!! kisskiss🫶🏽🫶🏽

✮ —SUGAR MOMMY! ASHE ; elizabeth caledonia ashe

minors dni. afab! reader, both sfw and nsfw ! — lowercase writing intended, sugar mommy! ashe, modern au, warning for any nsfw theme

moss’ notes. HI CELESTE 💗 thank you for requesting, hope this is something that fulfills your request, have a nice day kiss you too drink lots and lots of water :)

— 𝐒𝐅𝐖

ashe did whatever any successful woman would- lead a company, pocket all the money she could, make herself rich, then give back to the community that deserves it in her eyes. she had more than enough money to splurge on, all those generous men who were out to wife her and have her shares of her own company were more than willing to sign a check as high as the tallest mountains and then six extra zeros after it.

your run-in with her wasn't accidental, she had her eye on you for a while, mostly ever since you moved to the town that was not so far away from her hideout. you had something that she couldn't quite put her fingers on, she just knew she wanted to have you. conveniently, a time and place presented itself for her to ask you to be her sugar baby.

elizabeth likes to keep in touch with you, to know that you're safe and well. sometimes she'll call you at night while sprawled on her sofa with a bottle of scotch just to talk to you about all sorts of things. she'll ask about your day if you have eaten and if there's anything she can do to help you, sending money, getting bob to do your shopping- she got you covered in every aspect you could think of.

do you feel neglected? she hasn't been taking you out in such a long time? expect the most luxurious dinner date that night. she is fond of pricey restaurants, having the candles lit, expensive alcohol, and little plates that cost more than they should.

you don't have a dress for that kind of dinner date? done. shoes, bags, clothes, jewelry, perfumes, cars, money... whatever you need just ask her and she will get you as soon as. you see it, you like it, you want it, and she gets it for you.

there is no argument about if you would like to wear that costume-made necklace/bracelet with her initials on it or 'property of elizabeth caledonia ashe' carved into the gold plate, you will wear it.

whenever it was a fundraising gala for any kind of charity you were present, on ashe's side with one arm around your waist at all times, showing you off and offering you the better drinks from the top shelf.

any kind of break she has you will have ti too because she is taking you on an extraordinary trip to a surprise destination. if you don't like it she can change plans one minute to wherever you'd like to go.

— 𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐖

elizabeth is a busy woman, holding an empire up all by herself and filling out all those papers, going to those meetings, and having to listen to everyone's needs and wants, she had very little time on her hand. but that doesn't mean, however, that she doesn't need to have her needs met and this is where you come in.

driving with her anywhere never fails to be exciting. she drives idly, her hand on your knee while she makes small talk, with each passing minute her hand lingering upwards until she has the car pulled over in the night with you in the back seat, under her.

she likes gifting lingerie- the pretties sets for her prettiest darling, every day a new and different set. whenever she can, she delivers them herself discreetly wrapped up sometimes with a little bow on the tip if it's a rather eye-catching one (but all of them are, really) and there is also a note, signed by her with her lips pressed on the paper with that dark shade of lipstick you like so much. she likes when you wear them the whole day so when she decides to drop by or you visit her in her office and asks you to sit on her lap, her hands coming to undo some of the buttons of your shirt so she can stare at your pretty chest in her present. when it's late in the day, when there are no employees dropping by her office, her hand would slip up your thighs, up under your skirt to playfully snap the panties back on your skin a few times.

ashe prefers giving rather than receiving under any cirCUMstances. she is a generous lover too, put her aching needs after yours, no matter how bad she needed release, your pleasure was first for her.

if there's a toy you like you better tell her about and if there isn't and you are up to experimenting she will show you everything and anything she knows to spice up your bedroom life.

tag list ; @darlingmisa @soffisalive @sevikasangel @pixiegirlz @gonegonethankyouuu @orang3-ish

[p5x-theories]

P5X Second Arc Summary

(last updated 5/17/24)

With the confirmation that this is the actual release of the game, I realized it makes way more sense to break these posts up by story arc, heh!

Usual disclaimer: Please keep in mind this game still has no official English translation, so this summary uses a mix of what happens visually, what I understand of the Japanese dialogue, and Google translate for the Chinese text, in order to get the broader picture here. This will be focused on summing up everything that happens overall, without getting into a line-by-line translation.

Contrary to this blog’s name, this post is going to have as little speculation as possible, and stick to confirmed facts.

This post (and its reblogs) will cover the Miyazawa Arc. Several scenes in this arc have been distinctly changed since the beta tests!

Picking up where the first arc left off, Wonder, Motoha, and Ruferu take the train to Shinjuku.

Motoha looks at Kiuchi's Treasure, and mutters to herself about how this is just a regular rubber ball, like anyone has. Does that mean they could develop Palaces like Kiuchi if they made the wrong choice?

Ruferu reassures her that it's not impossible, but they've already awakened Personas, meaning they faced the embodiment of their desires, their own Shadows, already. They also changed Kiuchi's heart for the sake of others, not their own selfish gain, helping to protect others' dreams and hopes. He firmly believes their desires won't get out of control... well, probably not.

This flusters Motoha a little.

Ruferu continues that they were even able to influence Kiuchi a bit more than he expected, because they were able to convince Kiuchi to keep living even after stealing his Treasure, even when Ruferu thought there's no reason to be kind to someone like Kiuchi.

Motoha explains she thinks that everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even Kiuchi, and even herself. She believes that Kiuchi was really the one who'd given up on his desires. She then credits this realization to Wonder, who reacts with confusion, and she says he's the one who helped her and Tomoko cheer up.

On the topic of Tomoko, Ruferu asks if she's going to tell Tomoko about the news, and Motoha expresses excitement to tell her that the criminal was arrested when she visits the hospital tomorrow.

She then asks Ruferu if any of his memory came back when he touched the Treasure, which he confirms, although it was just a fragment. That's the information he wanted to share with them later (and he clarifies he didn't want to say it in the moment because he didn't want to ruin the mood right after they'd won). He says there are six more Treasures out there, making seven total. Motoha, surprised, asks if that means there are six more bad guys like Kiuchi that the police can't catch, which Ruferu also confirms.

Their train arrives in Shinjuku, cutting the conversation short.

When they reach Shinjuku, Motoha says they should continue their conversation at the restaurant, and it’ll be her treat since they helped Tomoko. Ruferu asks for the egg topping.

As they continue on to the restaurant, however, Chihaya Mifune calls them over, and warns them that a disaster awaits them if they continue with their plans.

Motoha kind of brushes her off awkwardly, saying she’s hungry and they’re in a hurry. They proceed on to the restaurant, Ashouken. Motoha explains the main store is a popular Chinese restaurant, while Ashouken is a branch of it specializing in ramen. Ashouken's reputation went down for a bit, but she's heard the taste improved after it was renovated.

Inside, they order food (both Motoha and Wonder order shoyu, with eggs and chashu pork on the side for Ruferu) then get back to the more serious conversation- Ruferu admits that he did only tell them about Kiuchi’s Palace, so it’s up to them if they want to continue working with him for the other Palaces. He doesn't want to force them and ignore their own desires. Wonder recalls Igor's advice from before about preventing ruin, honing his own desires, and connecting with others.

Motoha seems to need to think about it, and suggests they eat first as their food arrives. They start to eat, though Motoha notices something different about the ramen- the flavor's different than she remembers, and the soup base is lighter- which catches the attention of the Kokatsu student sitting at the table next to theirs. She brushes it off, saying maybe she just remembered it better than it was, and the Kokatsu student goes back to eating.

Ruferu asks if he can have some of his food, since he can't get to it himself. Motoha's briefly concerned whether owls can eat eggs, but Ruferu stresses that his form is just for stealth, and he doesn't have any dietary restrictions from it. He says the eggs will be his appetizer, and the meat is the main course. Motoha tries to give him an egg, but it slips, hits Ruferu’s face, and falls into Wonder’s ramen, splashing him with the hot broth. (Link to a frame by frame post)

Wonder recovers pretty easily, and Motoha apologizes and asks if they’re okay. Ruferu realizes this may have been the disaster they were warned about.

The Kokatsu student at the table next to theirs, who Wonder previously has seen on the school roof, tries his ramen, before muttering "… wrong". He gets up, and addresses the chef behind the counter as "Masa-san", asking if it's really okay to do this.

Masa only replies "Shun...", catching Motoha's attention. Shun insists that he can't taste the soup base flavor that the boss was so particular about at all, and at this rate...

Masa says it hurts him, too, in a defeated tone. Shun apologizes, bows, and leaves.

Motoha recognizes the student as Shun Kanou-kun from Tomoko’s class, Class D. As she and Wonder start to eat again, someone walks into the restaurant accompanied by a cameraman, and greets Masa. Masa apologizes to him, saying the store's still open, which irks the man, asking if he's going to make him wait, in a threatening tone.

Masa apologizes profusely to the customers, saying Ashouken is now closed. He and the other employees bow. When people start to complain, he says they’ll refund them for the food.

Wonder, Motoha, and Ruferu exit the restaurant, and overhear some of the other customers as they also leave. One comments that while he didn't get to finish his food, the flavor's definitely a restaurant worthy of Miyazawa's perfect rating. When the other seems less sure whether the food was all that good, the first one insists it is, because Hiromu Miyazawa said so.

This makes Motoha realize that the man that walked in was Hiromu Miyazawa, a famous food reviewer that she's seen on TV who has the nickname "the Flavor Swordsman". Still, she thinks the original Ashouken was better...

Shun says he agrees, and approaches them. They exchange introductions, and Shun correctly identifies that if they're in Class C, they're in Katayama's class. Motoha asks if he knows the owner of Ashouken, and Shun brushes off the question, and asks what they thought of Ashouken's ramen instead.

Motoha thinks for a moment and says it was “average, I guess.” Shun, seeming troubled, says that's indeed the case, then apologizes for asking a weird question, and leaves.

Motoha's confused, but then realizes she's still hungry, thinks back on everything that just happened, and apologizes for picking this restaurant, realizing the fortune teller was right about the disaster. She suggests they just go home, since at least they'll be able to eat there. Ruferu agrees, but insists that Wonder stop by the supermarket to get some meat first.

Before she leaves, Motoha asks if it’s only terrible people that have Palaces. Ruferu confirms this. She then asks if they’ll all have changes of heart if their Treasures are stolen, which Ruferu also confirms. Motoha apologizes that she said she'd leave but then asked more questions, and says she’ll see them tomorrow.

Ruferu asks if it's okay if he stays with Wonder at least one more night, whether he chooses to continue being a phantom thief or not, to which Wonder agrees. As they leave, the Cyler Eats person from the train bikes past them, but doesn't visibly react to Wonder in any way.

Once Wonder and Ruferu make it back home, Motoha calls them, and says Kiuchi’s on TV. Wonder and Ruferu rush inside to turn on the TV, where sure enough, the news is talking about how Kiuchi turned himself in.

Still on the phone, Motoha murmurs that it’s just like Ruferu said would happen- he had a change of heart. An interview with another woman that was a victim of his plays, and Motoha comments that she doesn’t know her, but she’s happy. As phantom thieves, they can help people. Wonder nods.

The news also reports that letters addressed to Kiuchi signed by the "Phantom Thieves" were found around Shibuya station- Motoha realizes he's talking about the calling cards- and witnesses reported a wild bird was the one distributing these letters. However, the police believe there's no connection between the two, and it was a coincidence.

Ruferu mutters he wasn't cautious enough if he was seen, and they'll have to be more careful next time- or, no, he's not sure if they'll be with him next time. Motoha asks Ruferu if they'll be able to help more people as phantom thieves, and Wonder holds his phone up for Ruferu. He replies that if they continue, they'll be able to steal back more people's desires, and make the phantoms more nervous to act.

Motoha then asks what Wonder thinks- can they be phantom thieves? Wonder agrees, and Motoha says she thinks it'd be pretty cool to be normal students by day, then phantom thieves by night.

She loudly, enthusiastically asks Ruferu to let them continue working with him as phantom thieves, then apologizes for saying that so loudly into the phone, bids them goodnight, and hangs up. Ruferu complains that if they were in the Metaverse, an enemy would have found them, but then a bit more fondly adds that sometimes humans choose the difficult path. He says he looks forward to working with Wonder in the future, and his Confidant ranks up.

Back at Ashouken, we see Miyazawa giving a glowing review of Ashouken's ramen to the camera, describing it as the true taste of Ashouken.

He reminds the audience that this taste was almost lost forever, as the shop's previous owner fell ill, and the quality of the food dropped, leading to Miyazawa having to give it a bad review, as he didn't want to see the flavor lost. Because of this, some people called him a phantom! But he didn't care if it meant he could help protect the true taste. He worked with the other employees to bring the true flavor back, and improve it, even!

Miyazawa seems to get emotional, and thanks the audience for watching this episode of his show. Signing off, he swipes his pen through the air like a sword, and says "Cut off the banal evil of taste with a pen that is stronger than a sword... The flavor swordsman Hiromu Miyazawa reports for you. Good night, everyone!"

As soon as the camera cuts, Miyazawa gets up and stretches, losing the more emotive demeanor he had during the recording, saying it's tiring acting that stupid, and more flatly asking his agent about their plan for tomorrow. The agent confirms it'll be a restaurant in Zoshigaya called Toraiken, which Miyazawa recognizes as the restaurant that Ashouken branched off from. He says it doesn't matter how the food there tastes, he's already planning to "kill" it.

Masa, standing nearby, reacts to this with alarm.

Miyazawa turns toward Masa and grins, saying he'll probably get called a phantom again, and it's so hard for someone like him with a vicious tongue. Miyazawa then asks for him to show his thanks for the review.

Masa sighs, and presents an envelope for Miyazawa, who gleefully takes it, saying they'll protect Ashouken together.

Masa pleads Miyazawa to stop doing this, it's deceiving the customers. Miyazawa replies that he's the one who helped give them dried bonito for the ramen, bringing Ashouken publicity, customers, and praise. Masa protests the method for the bonito, saying you can only get the boss' flavor by using another method, but Miyazawa dismisses him, calling it outdated, and says the cheap bonito he bought is fine.

Miyazawa threatens to "kill" Ashouken again, and Masa reluctantly backs down. Miyazawa then asks if Masa fired the brat that threw water at him, because Miyazawa just saw the kid walking out of the store when he came in earlier. Masa says he's still allowed to come as a customer, and Miyazawa is displeased, reminding Masa that he still has final say in what happens with Ashouken.

The next morning, Wonder receives some more texts from his mother, asking if it's morning there, then if everything's okay, then if phantoms are still causing a commotion, then reminding him to eat well. Once again, Wonder encounters Kayo on his way to school. She asks about his health, and mentions her Darling hates being sick.

Wonder thinks about how he has to get to school and bows, evidently trying to get out of the conversation politely, but Kayo mentions a clinic in Yongen-Jaya run by a Dr. Takemi. From the bag, Ruferu whispers that medicine might be useful for fighting shadows.

Kayo says he should have medicine, with those phantoms around, but then wonders if medicine even works on phantoms, and laughs, admitting she doesn’t know much about them. As she walks away, she passes a restaurant, and complains that it's closed today, saying she wanted to take Darling there for dinner tonight.

On the train, people gossip about how Kiuchi turned himself in, the fact that he's a phantom, and the calling cards that were scattered around the Shibuya train station.

As Wonder walks to school from the Shimokitazawa station, Motoha calls out good morning to him and Ruferu, and the three walk together. She reiterates that she wants to keep working with them, and when Ruferu calls her another business partner, she says that's too formal, especially given Wonder and Ruferu live together, and they're all just partners. She adds that her parents would never let her have a pet owl.

Ruferu agrees that his "solemn posture" is too bright and eye-catching for an ordinary family, which reminds Motoha that she wanted to ask him to stop using such difficult words while he talks. It seems like he's trying to be cool, but it's not working. Ruferu is immediately flustered, saying he's not trying to be cool, and when he touched the Treasure before, he remembered he's known humans for a long time, and was influenced by them in the past.

Motoha laughs this off, saying he can say whatever he wants since they're friends. She declares the three of them are a phantom thieves group (this is the same term that’s just translated as The Phantom Thieves in P5’s English translation) from this point on. She then remembers with alarm that today is her duty day, and first period is PE, and says goodbye, running ahead. Ruferu comments, exasperated, that she’s a noisy phantom thief.

Shun sees them walking ahead of him, and mutters something about the two of them walking together.

Meanwhile, at what appears to be the back area of the TV station, Miyazawa's agent congratulates Miyazawa on his latest review, saying he was so intense the part-time workers ran away. As expected someone worthy of being an officially recognized phantom! Miyazawa complains that that makes him sound like a villain, but he just needs to figure out how to use that influence.

He says the restaurant he "killed" today was Toraiken, and all he needed to do was give a few fake bad reviews for people to stop patronizing the store, revealing his bigger plan is to force the boss to give him ownership of Ashouken so he can turn it into a chain.

The agent questions whether lying so much is really okay, and Miyazawa turns cold, asking him what's really true. Nowadays, people don't care about the truth, they just care about the trends. And Miyazawa told them it's genuine. He then threatens to have the agent replaced, and the agent apologizes, then leaves as Miyazawa receives a call and waves him off.

Miyazawa's speaking tone switches to something soft and placating, almost ingratiating, as he answers the phone. He confirms he saw the news, and that the person on the news was an "alternative "officially recognized" candidate, right?" It's such a shame. He talks about filling the vacancy, and promises to think about candidates.

After hanging up, his tone returns to normal, and he mutters it's not easy to deal with a topical candidate like the "Collision Man".

In their PE class at school, girls fight over who gets to have Motoha on their volleyball team, while the boys are told to pair up for stretches. Shun catches Wonder's attention, and tells him to sit, suggesting they pair up without really giving Wonder a say.

As Shun helps Wonder stretch, he asks him about Motoha. He asks what their relationship is, and Wonder can reply "friends" or "partners". Wonder can then ask if he cares or if he likes Motoha, which either way causes Shun to insist that's not the case, and push Wonder way too far forward.

He says she noticed that Ashouken's flavor changed, then clarifies he used to work there, and it's amazing that she was able to notice where most people just say it's delicious. He says he can't speak very well, but when he sees her, he feels that she's completely different from him.

After a moment, he finally realizes what he did to Wonder, and apologizes, leaning back again. He stands up, and mutters that whenever someone has something to do with him it ends badly, and walks off.

While Wonder’s gone, Ruferu and Motoha seem to have been talking back in the classroom. Two students nearby gossip about Magatsushin updating to mention Miyazawa giving bad reviews again, and saying he's closed down a lot of restaurants. Wonder slides the classroom door open, visibly exhausted.

He returns slowly to his seat, sitting a bit hunched over like he’s sore and/or tired. Motoha asks what Wonder and Shun talked about in PE, where the player has the option of responding "He said Motoha knows the flavor well" or "He said he used to work at Ashouken". When the former is picked, she realizes he's talking about Ashouken's flavor, and says Shun must like ramen. Wonder then explains the rest, and she reacts, "He worked at Ashouken? He really likes ramen..."

Ruferu switches the conversation to a more important topic- he and Motoha were talking about their next job. They’ll have to look for the next Palace, and also visit the doctor that Kayo mentioned. The bell rings, and Motoha awkwardly asks Wonder if he's going to go change out of his PE clothes before class, which he sheepishly does.

After class, Wonder and Ruferu plan to visit Takemi's clinic, while Motoha says she wants to visit Tomoko and tell her about Kiuchi. Just then, she gets a text from Tomoko, apparently saying she's being discharged from the hospital today. Ruferu encourages her to go visit Tomoko, following her own desire, while they check out the clinic. Motoha thanks him, immensely relived Tomoko cared enough again to message her, and sends Wonder the directions to Takemi’s clinic that she apparently looked up. She leaves, and Wonder and Ruferu head back to Yongen-Jaya.

At the clinic, Takemi notes Wonder is new here, and asks what problem brought him here. Presumably whichever is picked from the dialogue options, she invites him back to the exam room.

She says it's probably an issue of too much pressure, and suggests prescribing sleeping pills. Wonder asks for something stronger. Takemi is unsurprised that's what he's really here for, mentioning the rumors about her. She agrees to prescribe him more medicine, but only things that will restore physical condition. Takemi's shop is unlocked.

After leaving Takemi’s clinic, Motoha texts Wonder, checking in after taking Tomoko home. Wonder tells her they finished at the clinic, and she says she's ready to start looking for the next Palace any time.

Ruferu asks to talk to Wonder for a moment. He mentions that that fortune teller’s prediction of a disaster at the restaurant was true, and suggests she might be another valuable service to look into when they get a chance (unlocking the side quest to go back to her, which unlocks her fortune-telling ability).

Later, in Mementos, Closer asks how they find the next Palace, and Cattle says he was able to listen to the inner voices of humans to find it. He says it's difficult to hear the voices of the next path from here, and clarifies that Mementos is made up of several areas. Closer guesses that means the other Palaces are on other paths of Mementos, which Cattle confirms. He leads them to the door at the end of the first path.

He touches it, and it opens, the MetaNav informing them a new area has opened up. Closer and Wonder check their phones, and sure enough, a new area has appeared on the MetaNav. Cattle explains that people with "excessive desires" are considered troublesome and excluded from the group, and they now have excessive desires because they have Kiuchi's Treasure. Closer wonders if this means the door is opening less to welcome them, and more because it's sort of passively kicking them out of the current area.

Once they’re in the new area, Cattle says he's sure the next Palace is here, but he can't locate it yet. He explains that it's because he understood Kiuchi's actions in the real world, and they were very straightforward, but they don't know much about the next Palace ruler yet, and Closer guesses their actions are less publicly obvious, which Cattle thinks is likely. Cattle suggests they leave for now, and try to get some more information in the real world.

When they return to the real world, Motoha exclaims that being in the Metaverse always makes her hungry, and they should have another celebratory meal at Ashouken. When Wonder asks her why, since she didn't really like it last time, Motoha says maybe one of their other kinds of ramen will be better. Shun, walking by at the moment, warns her not to bother, it's all the same.

Motoha asks him about working at Ashouken, and the flavor change. Shun explains that the current Ashouken has given up its dedication to flavor, though it's not the fault of the employees. Motoha laments that means she'll never get to have the delicious ramen from the past again, and Shun reacts, walking over to them. With a smile, he asks if she really wants to have Ashouken's original ramen again.

Confused, she says yes, and Shun invites both of them to come to Toraiken in Zoshigaya tonight. He then walks off, and Motoha excitedly says she's looking forward to having that ramen again. Ruferu wonders something about Shun, but brushes it off, and says that while he can't eat with them tonight, they better not forget his chashu pork.

That evening, Wonder and Ruferu meet up with Motoha in front of Toraiken, but Motoha starts to wonder aloud if maybe they have the wrong place, as Shun still isn’t here, the restaurant has a sign saying it's temporarily closed, and it has bad reviews. She thinks she's heard the name "Toraiken" before, but can't remember where...

To her surprise, though, Shun then opens the door and invites them in, saying he knows the owner.

Once they start eating, Motoha exclaims in amazement that the food is delicious.

This pleases Shun, who says that their smiles make all the effort he put into making the soup base worth it. Motoha, shocked, asked if he's the one who made this, rather than an employee. Shun says he's still just an apprentice. Motoha replies that's amazing, and it tastes just like Ashouken used to! But... why does Toraiken have Ashouken's ramen?

Shun explains that Ashouken branched off from Toraiken, and even thought it's a Chinese restaurant, the ramen's very popular, and some people actually come here to study. Toraiken's owner liked the idea of helping young people learn, so he opened Ashouken. Shun's also very fond of the ramen here.

As he talks, a man comes down the stairs in the back, and over to their table. He asks Shun to stop saying such "embarrassing things", and Shun reacts with surprise, referring to him as "Yamagoshi-oyassan".

Yamagoshi apologizes for the poor reception he gave Wonder and Motoha, and welcomes them to the store. Shun stands up and helps stabilize Yamagoshi, asking if he's alright, and suggesting he rest more. He says he's feeling better, and it's so rare for Shun to bring friends over for him to say hello.

He then clumsily asks something about mobile phone friends, to Motoha's bewilderment, and Shun asks him what he's saying. He laughs, and says this is how young people exchange contact information now, isn't it? Shun tells him no one would ask that now.

Yamagoshi turns back to Motoha and Wonder, and says Shun's a good kid, but he's bad at communication, so they should contact him if they ever have any questions. He pulls his own cellphone out, and shakes it, to Shun's embarrassment, but Motoha laughs, and says she will. Wonder does as well.

He then asks if they liked the food, and Motoha answers very positively, to Yamagoshi's delight. He congratulations Shun, although Shun doesn't really accept the praise. Yamagoshi can identify just from the smell of the food that Shun still hasn't quite perfected his skills, and Shun agrees.

Yamagoshi starts to say something else, but is overcome with a coughing fit. Shun insists he should go back and rest, but Yamagoshi explains Miyazawa came by earlier and scared off all the part-time workers, to Shun's anger. Toraiken will have to stay closed, because there's no one to run it.

Yamagoshi leaves the room (presumably with Shun's help, though it cuts to black for a moment). Shun thanks Wonder and Motoha for coming by, saying he'll close up shop here and then help Yamagoshi get home, and Motoha thanks him as well for the food.

Outside of Toraiken, Motoha worries about Yamagoshi, then wonders what their history with Miyazawa was. Ruferu pipes up, finally popping out of Wonder's bag (Motoha congratulates him on staying so quiet in there the whole time), and says there's the residual smell of stolen desires here. Motoha asks what the connection between the next Palace and Toraiken is, and then Masa walks up to them.

Motoha recognizes him as the person running things at Ashouken, which prompts Masa to recognize them as customers from the other day, which he apologizes for again. He expresses frustration at Miyazawa.

Ruferu, hidden in Wonder's bag, suggests that they try asking Masa about Miyazawa, since he seems to know him and shows signs of his desire being stolen.

Masa recognizes their uniforms, and says they used to have students from Kokatsu working at Ashouken. Motoha takes this chance to ask him about Shun, saying they're his friends.

Masa explains that Toraiken is his master's shop, and Masa got worried after hearing about Miyazawa's terrible review earlier today, so he came to check on it. Miyazawa puts on a show with his excessive reviews, and will review even good restaurants negatively for the sake of trying to take ownership from them after tanking their popularity. No one can do anything about it because they won't believe it, and even if they do, he's an officially recognized phantom. He also has extensive connections in the catering and entertainment industries to back him up. The only way to stop the bad reviews is to give him what he wants.

He also says Shun apparently thinks it's his own fault that Miyazawa's going after Ashouken, after an incident while he was still working there. When Miyazawa came in and started making fun of their soup stock, Shun got mad and threw water from a glass at him. After that, the bad reviews started. But none of the staff blame him, as he just did what they couldn't.

Motoha suggests he talk to Shun himself, as Shun's still in Toraiken behind them, but Masa says he doesn't want to remind Shun of everything, and heads home instead.

Ruferu says everyone they've talked to related to these stores has had their desires stolen- Yamagoshi, Masa, and Shun- so it's extremely likely the Palace ruler they're looking for is related to all this, too. He suggests they investigate more tomorrow.

The next morning at the train station, Wonder sees Tomoko, who greets him.

She says she was cleared to return to school today, although she suspects everyone there is gossiping about her being targeted by the Collision Man.

She also says that baseball was the only thing she's good at, so she's not sure what to do now, and even briefly lost the strength to live, but Motoha's been encouraging her this whole time, and she heard a lot about Wonder from her, too. When she heard Kiuchi was arrested, she felt "a "power" welling up from the bottom of [her] heart, as if saying "I want to live"", and then laughs, thinking she's a simple person for Kiuchi's arrest to be enough to lift her spirits again.

Ruferu comments the change of heart helped, but it was particularly opening up the new area of Mementos that had this effect on her.

Tomoko admits she was still a little scared coming to the station, and says she's glad Wonder's here. Their train arrives.

After school, Motoha says they should go to Mementos and look for the Palace, but Ruferu thinks they should visit Toraiken again first, since they know it's related to the Palace. When they get there, Ruferu smells desires being stolen inside, and suggests they learn from their mistakes with Kiuchi, and act now.

Inside, Miyazawa is trying to convince Yamagoshi to give up Ashouken to him, though Yamagoshi keeps turning him down. When Wonder and Motoha walk in, Yamagoshi recognizes them, while Miyazawa dismisses them with "The adults are talking".

He tries to get his agent to escort them out, but Yamagoshi denies him this as well, saying the kids are his important guests.

Miyazawa warns that Yamagoshi that he's sick, and his restaurant is going to shut down. He's already discussed this with Masa, so Yamagoshi should just stamp the papers to transfer ownership to him with his seal.

Yamagoshi gets increasingly worked up in his refusal, and his illness gets the better of him for a moment. Miyazawa grins, and says he shouldn't force himself like this. This store holds memories of him and his late wife- wouldn't it be better to give it to Miyazawa than see it close down? Miyazawa believes in the authentic flavor of the restaurants, and he doesn't want to see it lost.

This time, as Yamagoshi tries to verbally fight back, his illness causes him to collapse (dropping his seal in the process), and Wonder and Motoha immediately move to help him. Miyazawa lightly suggests the "little girl" call an ambulance.

Motoha, angry, tells him he doesn't need to tell her that, and exits Toraiken to make the call. While she's gone and Wonder is occupied with Yamagoshi, Miyazawa picks up the dropped seal, and uses it to stamp the papers.

Miyazawa declares the contract settled, much to Wonder's shock. Miyazawa says his eyesight isn't very good- didn't he see that Yamagoshi stamped it himself?

At that moment, Shun comes in, and sees the scene in the restaurant. Furious, he grabs Miyazawa by the collar and demands to know what he did.

Miyazawa asks if he's going to use violence again, and his agent takes out a phone to record.

Yamagoshi weakly tells Shun to stop, and Shun immediately lets go of Miyazawa and helps Yamagoshi up with Wonder.

Miyazawa asks his agent if he got that, and after he nods, immediately threatens to ruin Shun's future with the video. He advises Yamagoshi to stay calm, for both his and Shun's sakes.

This only makes Shun angrier, but Yamagoshi urges him not to let himself get provoked and play right into Miyazawa's hands. Shun apologizes, and says he's always dragging others down with his actions.

Yamagoshi reassures Shun that he likes seeing his energy, and how he's honest, straightforward, and informal, but cares deeply about cooking. He reminds him that making guests smile is the "pride" of cooks. As he's talking, he starts coughing again, to Shun's dismay.

Miyazawa comments that this is like an episode of a soap opera, but he hates it, because it makes him look like a villain. This prompts even Wonder to get mad at him (both response options seem to be angry), but he mockingly asks if all young people act like this these days. They look more like the phantom than him.

He then says he'll give Shun a chance, and challenge him to a Flavor Fight. When Shun doesn't know what this is, Miyazawa seems mildly offended, asking, "Haven't you seen it on my channel?". All Shun has to do is make a dish that can satisfy Miyazawa, and he'll win, and Miyazawa won't cause trouble for Ashouken or Toraiken anymore. But, if he's not confident, then forget it.

Wonder tries to warn Shun this is a trap, but Miyazawa says he's being too suspicious, and Miyazawa's lost a Flavor Fight several times, so there's a chance Shun could win. Shun accepts, and Miyazawa gleefully tells him that the time and place will be announced later on his website.

Motoha runs back in, and announces the ambulance is here. Miyazawa casually takes his leave. Down the street, his agent asks why he's bothering with a Flavor Fight when he already has the restaurant.

Miyazawa explains that Shun is always frustrating him and getting in his way, talking about "genuine flavor", so he wants to return the favor. And, if he can control how the story is told on the internet afterward, he might be able to solve the problem of "filling the vacancy". His agent asks what that means, and Miyazawa says it's not his problem, he should just focus on preparing for the video.

Back in Toraiken, Shun tells Wonder and Motoha that the ambulance took Yamagoshi, and his neighbor went along with it. Motoha says his breathing stabilized, so he should be fine, and then asks Shun about the Flavor Fight.

She says she's seen an episode of it, with another chef that had a problem with Miyazawa. When he lost, his reviews got even worse, and everyone was on Miyazawa's side. And it's not broadcast on TV, just Miyazawa's personal channel, so he's in full control of the editing, too. It has to be a trap!

Shun says that might be the case, but he has no other choice, he has to take the gamble.

Motoha says Shun should just tell people the truth about Miyazawa and the cheap ingredients he's forcing Ashouken to use, but Shun says that won't work, because Miyazawa will explain it away. The only way it'd work is if Miyazawa admitted it himself.

Motoha then points out that winning the Flavor Fight might not even do anything, and Shun agrees that he doubts Miyazawa will keep his promise, but if Shun, a fool, loses the fight, he only embarrasses himself, and it won't affect Ashouken or Yamagoshi. If he's the only one who has to bear the burden, it's fine. He then says Wonder and Motoha should leave, before they get too involved with him and Miyazawa targets them, too. He'll figure it out himself.

After leaving Toraiken, Ruferu says he's almost certain Miyazawa is the next Palace ruler, as he's the only one benefiting here; even the customers themselves are having their desires stolen. Motoha agrees that after she lost her desires, she felt like there was just nothing she could do, and she just had to put up with it. The only way to stop Miyazawa is to make him have a change of heart. They decide to head to Mementos next, to finally locate his Palace.

To be continued in the next reblog!

[ranchracoon]

Ch. 1 A New Assignment

The large glass building looks menacing in the early hours of dawn with minimal sunlight and dew covering the ground only adding to the aesthetic. The large Umbrella Corp logo sitting in the center of the building like a hypnotic red and white eye. Numerous people enter, wearing business casual or business formal depending on their level of importance. They each scan their ID badges to gain entry, then take the elevator to their respective floors to start on their work. Only a handful have access to the basement where rows of individual laboratories are stationed like those little glass boxes they keep the rats in. Before one can enter, they must go through a lengthy decontamination process, mask up, suit up, and go through a final trial to make sure their suits do not have any punctures. Any kind of defection could be deadly considering the severity of specimens they work on. 

One of these scientists is Dr Faekah Kahlil, one of the nations leading pathologist doing what she always dreamed of doing; making the world safer. She's been there since before the sun, working on her newest batch of frozen diseases sent straight from the arctic. Little does her bosses know that sometimes she loses track of time, and often sleeps in the company break rooms. She may or may not use the flushing system to give herself a quick rinse, and keeps a change of spare clothes in her locker. Add a little spritz, cup of coffee, and some makeup, no one is the wiser. Except Francis the nightguard, who has on more than one occasion found her passed out on the couch. She frequently butters him up with homemade dishes and baked goods so he looks the other way. 

Last night was one of those nights, she makes sure she's in her respective area before anyone arrives and they just think she has specialized access to come in early. As her colleagues trickle in she's already started on her work. Studying these new found diseases and the impact they could have on humanity. Should a single speck of one of these diseases get out, it could cause a world wide black plague 2.0 and she's not going to be responsible for the death of millions. So she moves slowly, cautiously, and takes her decontamination ritual seriously. The other perk to working with deadly diseases that need to be kept in minus Celsius temperatures, is she gets to work entirely alone. A blessing and a curse. She doesn't get to talk to anyone unless on break, but she also gets to listen to music she likes and can be completely absorbed into her world. 

A knock on the glass shatters her from her concentration, luckily she wasn't transporting something fragile and simply examining under a microscope. She looks over to see another scientist, Dr Cooper, waving at her and signaling for her to listen. Faekah reaches over and mutes the music currently playing quietly through the speakers, Cooper pushes a button making the speakers crackle and whine. 

"Hey, Mr. Moore wants to see us."

That's all he says before he releases the communication button and leaves her line of sight. She sighs. It'll take her at least an hour to clean up, then another fifteen minutes to properly decom. This better be important and not like last time where she was promised an expedition to the arctic to study these specimens, and wound up doing glorified secretary work. She did not spend eleven years of schooling, six years of active duty, residency, and competitive interviewing with backed sources just to be a glorified secretary. She takes her time, she gets a little satisfaction from making Mr. Moore wait. He constantly referrers to her as Miss Kahlil or some wildly inaccurate nickname because he can't pronounce her first name. Nothing irritates her more, so she gets off by making him wait longer than he needs to by taking her sweet, sweet time. By the time she does arrive with Dr Cooper, Mr. Moore is impatiently pacing back and forth in his office and his irritation is evident on his face. 

"It's about time Miss Kahlil."

"Dr" she retorts. 

"Not today" he grumbles before walking around his desk with two large stacks of papers, "I have a new assignment for you and Mr. Cooper."

"Dr" he says casually. 

Faekah looks up at him, Dr Cooper gives her a wink and a cheeky grin, making her smile back before returning her gaze to Mr. Moore. Mr. Moore rolls his eyes and shakes his head, he would ask anyone else if he could, but he needs the best of the best to work on this new assignment. He hands the large stacks to each of them, letting them take a moment to read through the assignment details and view all the legal paperwork they have to sign. 

"So you want us to study...mold? This seems like Dr. Coopers area of expertise. I'm a pathologist not a mycologist." She states.

"If you agree to the terms laid out in the packet, I can answer any questions you have." Mr. Moore answers.

"Can we at least know what we're getting into?" Dr. Cooper asks.

"That is all I'm legally allowed to disclose unless you agree. This is a big job that requires my best people and the utmost secrecy. No one else can know what you two are working on, and you'll be given special clearance to our sister site where you'll be working together. It's a secondary location located just outside the city."

"Can we have some time to think about it?" She asks. 

"I need an answer now."

Faekah looks down at the stack of papers, every instinct inside her is telling her this is a bad idea. If she were in an animal form, her hackles would be raised in defense. Yet, a smaller, deeper part of her wants her to take the opportunity. This could be the key to realizing her dream or could be the key to even more paperwork and a worldwide outbreak. 

"I'll do it" she answers. 

"Well, if she's doing it, I'll do it too."

"Excellent! I just need you both to sign those papers, pack up your things, and you'll start tomorrow."

Faekah couldn't sleep that night. She hovers over the folder of information given to her about this new assignment. She keeps reading the headlines of the incident report over and over again about this Baker House incident. She's never heard of mold being capable of turning people homicidal to this degree. Her mind is running a million miles a minute on what could be so secretive of this new assignment. Part of her thinks there may be something illegal behind it, wouldn't be the first time Umbrella got caught in a scandal. She loves her work, what she does, but now she's regretting this choice. What if she gets caught up in something and can't back out? 

The next morning does very little to ease her concerns as she arrives at the sister sight only to be escorted through the unmarked building by an armed guard. The guard guides her to an all glass room where she goes through a lengthy decon process, and dawns brand new protective gear. She carefully positions the mask on and the safety glasses fit over her own, as she steps into the glass chamber like she's prepared for surgery. She waits for Dr. Cooper before beginning anything, while waiting she takes inventory of everything made available to them and makes a handwritten list. Dr Cooper arrives shortly before she's done, and by the time she's finished he too is geared up and ready to examine the specimen. 

"I've never seen anything like this" Dr. Cooper states. 

The following days bleed into weeks and eventual months with no clearer answers than before. This mold is different, it acts as though it's alive in the sense a mammal is alive; it looks as though it's made from tar rather than mold. Feakah spends a lot of time researching how pollution might impact the mold and its spores, with nothing so far. As she looks through another slide of samples she narrows her eyes, seeing the mold indicating properties similar to common parasites. There's something they're not telling her. She looks up toward Dr. Cooper then glances over to one of the glass walls, seeing two armed guards standing at attention with their backs toward her. She watches for a moment, then sees two more guards patrol pass. 

"Hey Cooper" she whisper yells. 

"What's up?" He answers, poking his head up. 

She motions with her head, "have you noticed there's more armed guards lately? I thought there were only the two at the gate."

"Oh yeah, I saw them on the way in this morning. You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

Cooper looks around the room then pushes his rolling chair closer to her, leaning over the desk. 

"There was a huge breach last night. Some files got leaked from inside Umbrella Corp. Of course they're blaming H.C.F but, I think it's bigger than that. All these soldiers are from B.S.A.A. Smells a little suspicious to me."

She rolls her eyes, "you and your conspiracies."

"I heard it from the big boss himself. He was having a very heated conversation the other night before I left. I don't think he knows I heard."

Faekah looks at him for a moment then shakes her head, she's not getting into this debate again. For a scientist and a doctor, he believes in some crazy things. She's fairly certain half the things he says are made up just to get under her skin or see what she reacts to. However, she continues to look over at the guards, growing weary and suspicious about the amount of them and by the specimen. Something is up for sure. 

That night when she arrives home she flicks on the light to her apartment and stops dead in her tracks upon seeing a folder lying on her counter. She looks around quickly and locks the door behind her, her gun is in the safe by her bed. Luckily for her she has a backup plan. She squats down and shifts through one of her shoes, grabbing a knife she keeps stashed away before she creeps around her entire apartment. Once she's certain that the apartment is clear, she hesitantly approaches the folder, seeing her name on the tab marker. She swallows thickly and flips the folder open, looking it over. 

It has all of her information in it; her full name, her birthday, her hometown even the full names and information on her immigrant parents. She flips the page and her blood runs cold, seeing pictures of her as a preteen in Racoon City. Next are the articles of the city being destroyed by the president. She had blocked those memories, the horror she faced of people being infected and the sounds of their screaming. Sometimes those screams still haunt her. It's the whole reason she wanted to do what she does, so that no one has to face such a trauma again. 

She flips through the pages, the second to last page has a screening of her parents genomes and the discrepancies between their genetic makeup and that of a normal human. The next page is her with the same notes and pictures of her midshift. So they know. They know she's not human. Down in the farthest corner she sees in bright red stamped letters: INFECTED. 

[streaminn]

Here guys, my Enid x Tara premise :)

To the peeps who don't know shit abt scream six, the guy here is one out of two dudes who were originally going after Sam and tara before getting killed by the main ghostface in the movie!

"psst, hey" is the last thing the man hears before he got a fist to the face.

Enid blinked down at the passed out person infront of her before staring at her knuckles.

Whoops.

She forgets that normies are alot squishier than most.

A pained groan hits her ears and Enid shifted because she didn't think this far. The wolf scratched at her hair, pursing her lips as she grasped at his hood and dragged him deeper into the alley.

He was a rather short dude, with a moustach and brown skin. Enid would think he was just a guy, so obviously she doesn't go punching willy nilly but he totally had bad intentions.

Enid stared harder. Are stalkers a normal thing in new York?? She honestly got no idea.

Bah, whatever.

She pulled out her phone to quickly snap a pic.

To think this was the fucker stalking Tara. She expected someone more, maybe a thin lanky person with no life but he seemed okay enough. She shakes her head, it's always the normie dudes.

So with the irritation of someone who had to fight a normie dude last school year, Enid smacks the guy awake.

Immedietely when he grumbles to the living world, she coughed as her voice shifted to something all the more gravelly. Bless being a werewolf with vocal chords that can make her pitch the good ol normal head tone to corpse husband. To think she was using her growling powers to cover up her crime.

God, Wednesday is such a bad influence.

Oh wait, she should probably keep this guy from escaping.

Enid looked around before finding an empty trash can bin. She stared for a moment, wondering just how unsanitary that thing must be before sighing and pulling the guy up and into it.

She watched as he kinda folded in, ass first. It was a tight fit so the guy is definitely going to have trouble getting outm She would pat her back if she could, she so resourceful!

Aight enough dilly dallying, time to get this show in the road.

Enid pulled out a ghost mask, having bought the thing a week ago. It was pretty cheap and it included a voice changer too so that's cool. But as an all natural girl, she tossed that part away and situated the mask over her head. Cheap plastic is all she smelt and she scrunched her nose.

Ew, maybe that Jason Voorhees mask would've been better but rubber might smell even worse.

"whuh- what?" said the person she was going to beat up.

Oh hey, he's awake.

Enid reached forward and shoved him deeper into the bin, watching as he scrambled against the glove she wore.

"he- what are you doing!?!" damn, he's kinda noisy.

Luckily it was night and in a time where nobody sleeps, hopefully the buzz of cars were enough to drown out one person's scream. Like come on, it's new york.

Once she was satisfied with how deep he is with the rest of his kind, Enid slapped him again. Damn was it satisfying to see his head snap back.

"now," Enid starts before blinking, pleasantly surprised at the smooth purr in her voice. Holy shit she should start an asmr channel.

"what the fu-" before he could shout once more, Enid gave up in theatrics and just shoved her palm into his mouth.

"now," she starts again, tightening her grip along his cheeks and smiling when he froze. Ooo, he must've felt her claws dig through the glove. "what're your intentions with Tara?"

He doesn't answer, instead staring with this sort of wide look as he paled. He looked sweaty and worried and irritated at the same time. That's an impressive amount of emotion, people never fail to amaze her!

She waited patiently for an answer.

When a second passed and none came, she began to feel that familiar prickle of irritation. Seriously? Was this guy all talk and no game?

Maybe she got the wrong person, a part of her panics. Then she tosses that thought right off the window. No she did not. He stunk of that disgusting stench, the same one that trailed after her and Tara.

She still remembers how the shorter girl moved. While she was friendly, it was not surprising to think that she may have gotten stalked before.

Tara didn't like alleys. She didn't like people in dark clothing sculking nearby and she really appreciated being in places with people she knows.bThere's also a knife wound through her hand, so it wasn't hard to put two and two together.

Eugh, people can be so disgusting at times. It pisses enid off, to see someone that should be enjoying life to be so scarred.

"I was going to let you off with a warning," Enid drawls, making sure he understood everyword. The wolf patted his cheek, making her hand heavy with every touch. "but you're kind of pissing me off!!"

She steps back, clapping her hands together before pointing at him with a cheer. "so let's play a game instead! You try to get away in five seconds and I'll play fetch, sounds easy right?"

Still no answer and Enid sighs, about to throw her eyes to the back of her head with the amount of times she's done it. People are so unreasonable at times. Here she was, trying to see his damn intentions but nooo nothing goes her way.

"sounds easy, right?" she grits out.

He nods.

Finally some reply.

So she turns, cheekily putting her hands over her eyes as she counts.

"one," she starts and she couldn't stop the giddiness from curling in her gut at the immediete sound of struggling.

"two," she purrs, absolutely delighting at that panic. That's right mother fucker, you get to feel what Tara felt. Not so fun being the hunted now is it?

"Three."

Immedietely, she turns to find him one leg out the bin.

He gaped at her before heaving as he all but throws himself off. It didn't work, leaving him on his side with the bin. He looks absolutely pathetic and she walks up to him with a skip.

"it hasn't been five seconds," he breathes. "that's- that's not how this works. You're not playing by the rules!"

Enid smiles, finally allowing her nails to fully pierce through her glove. Who gives a fuck about playing by the rules?

"I've always been an exception."

[quirkless-accident]

Runaway/ homeless Danny saves Eri (with or without his sisters)

Danny could only go near to her only in ghost mode

(cant bring the dead back to life but she may revert him to before he got his accident)

Danny honestly doesn't know how he ends up here.

He's been on the run from months. The Guys in White are relentless. As soon as they found about him, kicking the door down with way to much force, he went along with them to keep his family safe.

The look in his mother's eyes still haunts him. Her cries, her grip being broken by agents in white, as she's separated from her baby boy. It hurt both of them.

After a couple of new guards had been assigned to him, it wasn't hard to get out. Well, it was because he was held together with nothing but hasty stitches and luck, but overall, it wasn't the worst experience he's ever had.

And now they're after him.

He escaped nearly four months ago. He managed to get the inhibitor collar off, and therefore is fully healed, at least physically. He's spent all of his time running from one end of the country to another, trying the skies and the roads and even the seas. The only place where they can't follow, he's found, is the ground.

He usually hides out in small pockets that are just big enough for his lean frame, or the sewer system, but that's more open so he tries to avoid it. He travels with his flight and intangibility, and if he's in the sewers he uses his invisibility as well. It makes covering ground-literally-a hell of a lot easier.

Or, at least it was supposed to.

He's lucky he's invisible when he flies into this new place he's found himself in. It's not a sewer or compacted earth. It's an underground base, with tall ceilings and narrow halls, and if the purple bird guy is anything to go off of, it's also run by bad guys.

His metaphorical kryptonite, if you will.

Bad guys mean danger, and danger means he has to protect, but before he can do any of that he needs to figure out what the fuck they're even planning.

He follows the bird guy. He's quite prideful, and he talks about his plans openly to his direct underlings.

"The test was a success against Suneater," bird guy, Chisaki, is telling someone. "However, it seems as though the effects were only temporary. If we want to make any kind of change, we need to adjust the formula to make the quirklessness permanent."

"Do you want me to receive the girl for you?" Chisaki's assistant asks.

"No, her body is too exhausted to do anything. I'll have to continue my tests tomorrow. But do get her something to eat."

Danny's core hums in discontent. He's only gotten a few pieces of the puzzle, but he can't put them together quite yet. If there's a girl here that they're using for this permanent quirkless bullshit, he needs to find her.

He follows the assistant to the kitchen where he picks up a plate of something pretending to be food, and then to a large, locked door. Inside is dark, with nothing but a large bed, a million unopened toys, and a small, small girl, trembling in fear as the assistant comes in. She can't be older than five or six, and her arms and legs are covered in bandages.

I'll have to continue my tests tomorrow, Chisaki had said.

Danny understands what kind of tests they are.

The flash of metal. The burning just beneath his skin. The feeling of his skin being pried apart, and the way the tools poked and prodded at his muscles, his tendons, his core. He'll never forget the tink tink tink sound that Agent O's tweezers made as he poked Danny's core. The painful sensations going down his spine, so painful he couldn't even scream.

The door closing brings his attention back to the present. Right. Girl. Tests. Quirklessness. He has to get her out of here and get her somewhere safe.

He pokes his head back outside, and once he's sure nobody is coming back in, he pulls the rest of himself back in and takes a deep breath.

"Hi there," he whispers. The girl's head shoots up from the slop that was given to her, eyes wide and terrified. Danny drops his invisibility, and she scoots away from him.

"Hey, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just-I'm...A hero? I'm gonna get you out of here."

"You can't," the girl tells him. "No way out. Or they'll-they'll hurt the nice hero..."

"I promise I'll make sure the nice hero is safe, too. What's your name?"

"I'm...I'm Eri..."

"Eri. Such a pretty name. My name is Danny. And, look. I don't-I know what they're doing to you is wrong and scary. And I get it. Tests have been run on me, too."

"Really?" Eri asks, voice full of childlike innocence as well as the world weariness he's only ever heard from adults.

Danny doesn't want to freak her out, so he pulls his sleeve up to his elbow and shows her the bright pink surgical scar running from wrist to elbow instead of the autopsy scar on his chest. She puts her hands out, and gently touches the raised skin, before looking up at Danny with something that looks like hope.

Danny gently pulls away and pulls his sleeve back down.

"I can get us out. But if I'm gonna do that, I need you to be very, very quiet, okay? Can you do that for me?"

Eri nods, and with her permission, Danny gently scoops her up. He pressed a long finger to his lips, and she mirrors him as she nods her head.

"Okay, this is going to be a little cold, okay? Now, shut your eyes, and hold on tight."

Eri shuts her eyes and hugs Danny's neck, burring her face in his shoulder. He slowly, as to not startle her, turns them invisible and intangible before lifting them up through the ceiling, through the dirt, and into the fresh air. When he's high enough he looks down and makes a mental note of where they are before flying away.

"Okay, you can look now," Danny says when they're far enough away. Her face moves, and he hears a small gasp. He drops the intangibility as well, letting the warm night air flow through her hair. And though she's not smiling or laughing, she does relax more in his arms.

It's the middle of the night, so they probably won't notice her gone until the morning. He thought about taking her to the police, but he also just doesn't rust them. Not after they ignored complaint after complaint about the abuse he went through when he was quirkless. And he's not going to touch the Hero Commission as long as he lives.

But he does know one safe place. He had applied, but because of reasons he never had a chance to actually take the test to get in. It's full of heroes and hero students, and if anybody is going to take care of this girl it would be them.

It takes a little while to figure out exactly where he is, but when he does he's quick to change his course and head to the only safe place he knows.

U.A. High School.

When they get there the sun is just peaking over the horizon. He doesn't want to waste time or energy with whatever security system they've got going on, so he turns them both intangible once more. he flies over the gates, and through the halls of the school before he eventually finds what has to be the principal's office.

When they arrive, said principle's head shoots up. He sniffs the air a couple of times before offering Danny a sharp toothed grin.

"If you're going to sneak in here you're going to have to try a lot harder than that," Nezu says, eyes the general area of where Danny is.

"Sorry, sir," Danny says as he drops his invisibility and intangibility. "I wasn't trying to sneak. Well, I was but not-anyway, never mind. This is Eri," he says, bouncing the sleeping girl on his hip. "I found her waiting to be experimented on by the Yakuza."

The explanation takes a while. Danny is protective and hasn't let go of Eri, but Nezu doesn't seem to mind that at all. At one point another hero joins them, and then two hero students who are interning under the guy who's spearheading the operation against Chisaki and the quirkless bullets he's been trying to make.

"This is all well and good, and we're thankful that you've rescued her," the older, dark haired hero says. "But what exactly were you doing there anyway?"

"I was just looking for a place to crash when I came upon them."

"In their underground base," the hero bluntly states, face emotionless except for the single, raised eyebrow. "Why not crash at home?"

"It's not safe. Not for me, anyway. I've been running from the Guys in White for months, and that's the first place they'd think to look for me."

The organization doesn't ring a bell for this new hero, but the principal sits up a little straighter. The hair on his back rises, and the smile he had been sporting is gone completely.

It opens up another line of questioning from the principal, who apparently has some personal beef with the organization. At some point Danny tentatively gets up to show him the surgical scars they've given him, as well as the autopsy scar on his torso. The hero students are sent out before that, though.

Danny sits back down, careful not to jostle Eri too much, but she ends up waking up anyway.

She doesn't recognize him. At least, not at first. But the panic takes over before her brain can stop her, and her quirk activates. Her horn is glowing, and Danny is trying to calm her down. It's affecting him. He can feel his body changing, but he ignores it in his attempt to get Eri to calm down.

And then, after what could only be a few seconds, it stops abruptly. Eri falls forward, exhausted from her quirk, and crawls back into Danny's lap before falling asleep again. When Danny looks back up, he's met with the glowing red eyes of the older hero. And, well, it doesn't take much more than that for a fanboy like Danny to figure out who he is.

"What was that?" Eraserhead asks.

"I have no idea," Danny answers. "This is the first time I've seen her use it. I feel...Better though. Not brand new, but not as tired as I've been lately."

"I have a theory," Nezu says, clapping his hands to get Danny's attention. "Danny, if you would please show us your chest scar once more?"

Danny once again gently puts Eri down on the couch before standing up and lifting his shirt.

"How fascinating," Nezu says. Danny quirks a brow, before looking down himself.

He's still got all of his ghost hunting scars. The burn from Skulker and the stab wounds from Technus, but the newest addition to his chest is gone. No more autopsy scar, as if it had never happened. Danny checks his arm, a little sad to see that that surgical scar is still there, but relieved altogether to find that he doesn't have to be reminded of what happened to him every time he looks in the mirror.

He pats his face, too. It feels less angular than it had been a few minutes ago. He hasn't been able to eat properly since being on the run, and he was only fed granola bars while under the custody of the GiW. But this, this saves him months of physical recovery. He's almost back to a healthy weight.

"It appears to not be a quirkless quirk, necessarily," Nezu says, "but some sort of rewind quirk. How interesting." Nezu turns to Eraserhead. "I'll contact Sir Nighteye. Please escort these two to Recovery Girl and have Lunch Rush make them something warm and hearty."

For the first time in months, as Eraserhead leads them both down the labyrinth of U.A., Danny allows himself to relax.

He knows, somewhere deep down that as long as he's under their care, he and Eri will be okay.

[rachelsshowerthoughts]

Aware AU thought but, https://www.tumblr.com/tumblingxelian/754631895572267008/justanotherpersonsuniverse-i-didnt-watch?source=share

This very much gives the idea that Lila's mother is the intensely absent, IE neglectful parent who compensates by saying sweet things but doesn't back it up with any action.

Which likely also made it harder for Lila to really communicate her issues because her mom says nice things, she makes sure she has food, & sometimes spends time around her.

Who would believe her mom is anything but a bit busier than Lila would like? Don't be spoiled Lila, your mother works so hard for you!

With her likely internalizing her mothers sweet nothings as lies & lying herself to trick others to get by a little easier, to get a little attention she so craves, to cover for problems or mistakes.

I think the song Our Word would sum her up very well, either just the first portion as here here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y3DVFF0spY Or the full song here, which could also maybe represent a sort of, "This is what I could have become" angle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9RHJTpLOVk

so, first off, the first thing I thought when I heard the song in its entirety was "Musical Lila!Akuma", so that’s going to live rent free in my head all day.

yeah, I think the implication is definitely supposed to be "absent mom" (though I think this is before the "multi-mom" nonsense) and I always took it as, the one thing Lila DOES tell the truth about is her mom's job. Ambassador is up in the air, but definitely works for the Italian embassy, which would actually go a long way to explaining a lot about Lila.

If Lila's mom is an Italian ambassador, Lila probably is well travelled, and probably has met SOME important people, at least by proxy. The best lies have a kernel of truth in there somewhere, after all. It’s plausible she could have met most of these people. She's also probably never in the same place longer than a year or so. She moves to a lot of new places, many of which may or may not have a language in common with her. She probably never shows up at the start of a school year, but partway through, when everyone's already formed their friend groups. She’s always "the new girl", either seen as a weird foreigner, or a shiny new toy with fun stories of other places. But how many people stick around when the stories dry up? Better make more stories, better stories, so you aren’t alone - and then it doesn’t even matter, because you'll be gone in six months, and eventually all your "friends" have steady lives to get back to, so they stop calling, stop texting, and you're right back where you started.

Plus, how much time do you think she's actually spent in Italy, in her own house, since she was little? Does she see the rest of her family?

Also, I find it interesting we don’t see her dad. Mostly cause the other kids have either really well established home lives, or we ignore them, with the implication they are "normal". If there are single parents, we eventually do get explanations - Anarka either never told Jagged or he decided he wouldn’t be a good dad, Mylene's mom sucked, Felix's dad died (and also sucked), we won't even get into Gabriel and Emilie. I think the only other "Sir-Not-Appearing-In-This-Show" parent we get no info on is Kagami's dad. So, where's Mr. Rossi?

Sick? Died? Missing? Divorced? Was he a nice guy? Equally neglectful? Did he know about Lila's lies? Did he encourage it? Ignore it? Is Mrs. Rossi acting like this cause of something to do with her husband? Is she mourning him? Did he cheat on her? Was she even ever married? Is Lila technically a bastard baby? Or is her mom truly a single mom - wanted a kid, went through IVF?

(I mean, I have similar questions about Kagami's dad, but if we keep the Sentimonster stuff, along with everything else, then it does actually make sense that Tomoe never had a romantic partner of any kind, she just wanted a kid/heir, no partner was involved at any point)

@tumblingxelian

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the Comics: Like a Drugged Up Business Man (Issues 4-7)

Marc Spector - Moon Knight: Issue #4: Wild Midnight

Written by: Charles Dixon

Art by: Russ Heath

ALRIGHT. Let's get back to our new writer, Chuck. 

So Chuck wrote issues 1-24 and issue 34. Apparently he wasn't too keen on it. It was a job. A job at Marvel. And it was an in to get into the comic writing big leagues. 

Now, issues 1-24 is nothing to sneeze at. It's a good number of comics. However, there is some criticism that he left the series on a half hearted cliff hanger. He introduced plot lines then left before he finished them. 

Never a nice thing to do to a series or to the next writer (Ask Star Trek TNG how they felt about that with the borg writer that tried to leave. Seriously, ask. I love Star Trek.) 

Why am I bringing this up on issue # 4? We'll get to that. Just keep that in the back of your mind as we go along. 

You guys see probably looking at that guy on the cover and going "HEY! That guy looks familiar! And Midnight? This is obviously a play on the name. Is this Midnight man?" 

And I'm here to tell you that: You are paying attention. Good for you. 

We open on Atlanta Georgia! 

We see a glass building with a man climbing up the side with classic 1990s suction cups on his hands and knees. I can't tell you how many movies I saw with these. 

Also? 

“Heh heh heh” (this always gets me laughing.) 

"VERY scary, Mr. Spector!" 

"Marlene! I thought I locked that door." 

"You didn't." 

"I thought that rough guy talk came naturally. I didn't know you practiced." 

"I WASN'T! I was just trying on my new kevlar costume and kind of got in the mood.

The last one got pretty shot up when I was getting you out of Burunda. I thought I'd look into something more bullet resistant." 

Yeah... Marc would need something more bullet resistant since the man doesn't know how to DUCK. 

Marlene doesn't like him joking about Bushman. She is still upset that Marc didn't kill him. 

"He's never going to stop hounding you. You should have kiled you." 

Marc laughs at her blood thirsty attitude. 

Marlene is still not impressed. 

"You were a MERCENARY, Marc. You traded in death every day. But after your original run-in with Bushman you put on that goofy costume and all of a sudden you became a Choir Boy." 

(No, that's Dare Devil.) 

My argument that Marlene is a toxic partner continues. She always wants him to be something different. In the original run she just wants Steven and for him to settle down with her. Here, she has 'accepted' him as Marc, but she wants him to be what her idea of him is: A brutal killer. 

She is not having any of Marc's silly ways. And this just kills me because Marc, under all that angst and trauma, is a silly guy. 

Marlene is not having his silliness. 

"I hope you get a chance to grow up before somebody kills you!" 

And she storms off. 

A little later, Marc goes looking for Marlene and comes across Chloe. The new 'cook'. And there she is cooking in her bikini top again. 

He asks if she's seen Marlene. 

"Not lately, Marc. She took the porsche and went to her apartment in the city. She said that she would see you again when you grew up and stopped playing cowboy." 

"Her exact words?" 

"I would not repeat her exact words, Mr. Spector." 

Frenchie interrupts the two to tell him that Marc's accountant is there to see him on urgent matters. 

"On the last six Friday nights, six different businesses in six different cities were broken into and valuables stolen. A real pro. He only skimmed the best stuff. Cash... Paintings... Securities... Anything that wasn't nailed down." 

Turns out Marc is a major stockholder in every one of those businesses. 

Turns out, this makes Marc a suspect because his name keeps popping up in the investigation. 

Poor Marc. "Paper rich but cash poor." 

(Steven sure did know what he was doing with investing and things as a way to plan for the future. Too bad Marc has no idea what he's doing.) 

Marc asks more about the burglaries. 

Turns out at each robbery, a clock was smashed with the hands at midnight. 

And I give you a close up of Marc’s reaction to that bit of news. 

“Midnight?!” 

This man... 

Elsewhere, we find some thugs trying to offload some fur coats. 

They are arguing about price and things are starting to escalate when BLAAM. 

Moon Knight literally blows a hole in the ceiling and busts in. 

He'd like to talk to one of the thugs. 

"You guys don't mind if Winslow and I talk privately, do you?" 

turns out Winslow used to fence Anton Mogart's stolen items. 

You all remember Aton Mogart, right? The original Midnight Man. 

Winslow is interrogated and declares taht Anton is dead. 

Moon Knight declares that Anton is alive and that "I'll be back. If you've heard from him, I'll find out and I'll burn you down. Kapish?" 

(Awww Marc, I love that Yiddish). 

And then Moon Knight leaves back out the hole he made.

I mean... At least he's actually using the same exit now. 

Back at the mansion, Frenchie noted that Marc was "wound up so tight over Mogart." 

"It's personal. He's goading me. I made a mistake thinking he was dead and now he's rubbing my face in it. Not only is he stealing from me, but he's making it look like I have something to do with it." 

Frenchie tells Marc that it's a shame no one can tell him anything. (Where's Jake when you need him?). 

"Too bad you can't just invite him out for a beer?" 

And I kid you not. Marc and his amazing bad decision making skills everyone: 

"You're just shy of being indicted, you're under investigation by every federal agency but the department of agriculture and you want to throw a bash?

Half of the guests are going to be feds. You're wired for sound better than a David Bowie concert. A low profile would be best." 

"You want me to act guilty, right, Hal? It's Friday night and a week since his last job. The wealthiest stiffs in three states are here. Our thief won't be able to resist." 

"I heard that you were some kind of adventurer in your past. But this kind of stunt is stupid." 

"You're a hardcase, Hal, but you're still an accountant You know your Jungle and I know mine." 

Pretty smug there Marc. 

And at the party, we find a platinum blonde making her way around. Oh look at that! Felicia Hardy! 

For those not in the know, she's an on again off again love interest for Spider-Man and also a cat burglar, and also Black Cat! 

Wonder what she's doing there? Hmmmmmm. 

Meanwhile, Frenchie is also displeased at this whole affair. 

"I hate this whole idea, Marc. There're too many people around. It's a bad situation." 

"Stop worrying, Frenchie. This apartment is unapproachable from anyother building and the basement is locked up tight." 

Marc explains that they've left no option but for the Midnight Man to be drawn out. The place is a 'fortress'. 

"Just like the Alamo." (oh Frenchie how I love you). 

And then Marc notices "the blonde". Marc no.

Marc. Marc no. No Marc. No. 

Lucky for Marc, he's interrupted by a gushing lady about how generous he is with his donations to the local children's hospital. 

He's ushered up on stage to start the pledge drive just before midnight. 

Marc stars by donating One Hundred Thousand dollars. 

He's informed that someone else has donated Half a Million Dollars. 

Out done at his own shindig, Marc askes who donated the check. 

"A mister Anton Mogart." 

Side note: This art style is reminding me of early Spider-Man art with all the handsome but reactive close up faces of Peter Parker and it is sending me. 

It's at this time that smoke bombs go off in the ballroom. 

Considering that the party is full of FBI and various investigators... We see several of them spring into action, pulling out weapons like it's the 50s. 

Ms. Hardy also springs into action, making a break for it. 

And then we see a figure clad in all black running through the crowd snatching up all the fancy jewelry. 

And then Moon Knight also runs by in the gas. 

Which... now you have two figures in a cloak and hood running through a gassed up room. Good job Moon Knight. 

The feds mistake him for the bad guy and open fire. 

Marc Spector, Everyone:

Our Mystery Moon Knight makes a run for it, sucker punching Frenchie and slipping down a hall. 

He's got a game planned and Moon Knight is invited to play. 

"C'mon, Moonie! You can't win if you don't play!" 

He tosses more gas bombs and makes to escape only to run face first into Moon Knight's fist. 

"You should have stayed dead, Mogart. I don't know where you've been holed up all these years..." 

Midnight man rolls away and runs for an open window then dives out, landing in "One of those slide tubes for high rise rescues." 

I'm glad I'm not the only one that has no idea what those things are called. 

Moon Knight watches as Midnight Man slides away in the tube. 

"But I'm not stupid enough to follow him down this thing..." 

"Then how stupid are you?" Black Cat!

She sucker kicks him. And I gotta say, that had to hurt. 

Little History of Black Cat, AKA Felicia Hardy! 

First appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 1979! Daughter of a world renowned cat burglar. 

Depending on how she's being written, she also has the ability to cause bad luck to anyone that comes up against her. Sometimes love interest, ally, and enemy to Spider-Man. Too bad she has no interest in his alter-ego Peter Parker. 

Something else about her? She has superhuman strength. She packs a punch! Along with agility, balance, and expert knowledge in fighting styles and gymnastics. 

I was honestly surprised to see her in this. There was no indication of a ‘special guest appearance’ on the cover. Usually there is when you bring in a pretty face like this. 

Especially in a two parter because this is the end of the issue! 

But we certainly see her on the cover of the next issue!! Interesting choices being made here. 

Marc Spector - Moon Knight: Issue #5: Rockin’ at Midnight

Written by: Charles Dixon

Art by: Sal Velluto

Another change in artist. In a two parter. That’s pretty weird, honestly. What the heck was going on at Marvel at this time? (aside from the mass exodus to DC that took place followed by a new editor and chief, and Stan Lee leaving New York for LA to start up Marvel studios to start producing cartoons and shows, leaving a void in creative control that was filled by the editor in chief and big wigs. You know… all that.) 

Alright, we open up on Moon Knight not having a very good time. 

We start with Black Cat mistaking him for the other hooded figure that stole all the jewels. 

Moon Knight tries to reason with her. 

"It's Anton Mogart we're after. He calls himself Midnight." 

"And what do you call yourself, Caspter the un-friendly ghost?" 

"Uh... Moon Knight?" 

Yeah she's never heard of him. 

Poor Marc. 

They fight a bit and Marc tosses her in the closet and locks the door to chill for a minute. 

He turns to give chase to Midnight and comes face to guns with the FBI. 

They think he’s the thief and they try to arrest him. 

….Marc that’s not how you… 

So he beats them up and runs off. 

Black Cat bursts through the door and also runs off.

He instructs Frenchie to get them airborne quickly. 

"I ran into some bad luck. It started when a black cat crossed my path." 

Black Cat catches up in time to watch them take off in the chopper and she manages to somehow attach a line and get pulled along without them noticing. 

They manage to spot Midnight Man getting into his car just before he takes off. 

At this point, Black Cat jumps on top of the chopper to say hi. 

"Who is she, boss?" 

"Uh... Someone I met at the party. Keep your eyes on Midnight, Frenchie." 

Yeah... Just...ignore the lady in the literal cat suit sitting on top of the plane. Good plan. 

They zoom off after Midnight and of course he looks up and notices the moon shaped plane chasing him. 

They zip across the bridge and Black Cat is impressed with their gumption. 

"You are WAY crazy, Casper, climbing down a ladder from a chopper doing at least seventy. But, I haven't been to Queens in ages. Not since Parker and I called it finito. Y'know, Casper's costume's not much... But with a build like that... What did he say his name was? Moonbeam? Moonshine? Moonraker? 

Get serious, Felicia. Why would a guy name himself after a James Bond movie. Especially a Roger Moore James Bond movie. ICK!" 

LOL What's great about this is that as a fan of the 90s Spider-man cartoon growing up, they all had fast talking monologue thoughts and I can hear this in that style. 

It's just wonderful to hear how the writing style was back then.

Alright a lot is about to happen and fast talk is only the first half of it! Welcome to the end of the 80s and early 90s! 

Moon Knight drops from the chpper to land on the getaway car. 

"Moon Knight! My main man! You come to see the USA in my Chevrolet?" 

(Midnight man suddenly sounds like Lobo from DC comics who is the MOST late 80s early 90s character I've ever come across and the reason why I still to this day still will randomly call someone "My main man".)

"When did you develop a sense of humor, Mogart? A stupid sense of humor." Marc's just mad he's not the one cracking the jokes. 

"Oh, Lots of things about me would surprise you, Moonie." 

Black Cat is close on their tail as she leaps car to car through traffic. 

She notes that Ol' Moonie was telling the truth after all and seems to be the good guy. 

Moon Knight demands that Midnight pull over. Midnight politely declines. 

And welcome to Marc continuing his string of bad luck. 

I don’t even know where to start. 

It's okay. The car lands in the water. 

Black Cat is sad to see all the stolen diamonds sinking down with the car. 

Frenchie flies in and drops a ladder. 

Luckily, Marc surfaces. 

He's unable to locate Midnight man. 

"No sign of him. ....Huh. You always were a lousy swimmer, Mogart." 

This is a hilarious call back to the first time Mogart fell off a cliff into the water and 'drowned'. Then again later when Mogart kidnapped him in the sweres and 'drowned' again. He uh... He's got a problem with water. 

Moon Knight has another concern. 

"Lost another cape. That's getting expensive." 

And with that, Moon Knight flies off and Black Cat watches him go. 

"Catch you another time, Moonbug. Maybe we'll get to party again. I'll bet he's cute under that creepy mask. What IS it about a man in a mask tha tmakes me melt?" 

Black Cat certainly has bad luck when it comes to men. 

Frenchie and Marc return home. Frenchie remarks about the fuel being on E because Marc was so insistent on searching up and down the river looking for Midnight, just in case. 

"I wanted to make sure he's really dead this time. No more unpleasant surprises." 

"Your entire life is a series of unpleasant surprises, Marc." 

Frenchie, you hit the nail on the head real hard there, buddy. 

Speaking of unpleasant... 

They land and Marlene is there to greet him. A little desperate. 

If you recall, the last we saw her, she had stormed off after picking a fight with Marc. 

Now she's back and she throws herself into his arms. 

"I wanted to apologize for the way I acted yesterday. I have no right to try and change you." 

And then she finds a platinum blonde hair on his outfit. (Black Cat brings all the bad luck) 

"A little disagreement and you run off with the first tramp you can find! You disgust me, Marc!" 

And she storms out again. 

Marc's pretty pissed off. He goes and has an argument with the Khonshu statue as usual. I'm glad to see that remains from the original days. Is it even Marc if he doesn’t have a moment or arguing with and blaming all his troubles on a statue? 

"What are YOU looking at, Khonshu? If it weren't for YOU I wouldn't have all these complications in my life. I'd be happier and things would go a lot smoother with Marlene. Sure. 

If it weren't for Khonshu, I'd be DEAD and so would Marlene. Both of our lives were saved the night that I took on the cloak of Khonshu and became Moon Knight. I just have to learn to live with an Ancient Egyptian GOD in my life--And the guilt over my less-than-moral mercenary days. 

Could be worse. Some guys have to live with their in-laws. Where'd the water on the floor come from?" 

Marc…. 

Window exit! Do I count this? Also, he’s constantly trashing his own mansion. 

Marc.... Marc.... 

He refuses to listen and Midnight puts up a fight. 

"If I have to kick your butt to get you to listen, I can do that!" 

And then Marc's new 'cook' Chloe shows up, distracting Midnight. 

Moon Knight manages to punch him out

Moon Knight unmasks him to find.... "It's just some kid." 

He picks up the unconscious man and starts to carry him inside. 

"What should we do with him?" 

"This kind of situation wasn't covered in your maid job description, but could you get me a bottle of asprins and a couple of beers to wash 'em down, Chloe? We'll BOTH need them." 

Marc, you are just filled with bad ideas. 

Now with the new Midnight man tied up to a chair, he regains consciousness and Marc starts his interrogation. 

"Now maybe you can tll us who you are, Kid." 

"Sure thing. You can ditch the mask though. I already know all about you. Spector." 

“What’s the use of a secret identity if everyone already knows it? How do all the other guys do it?” - Marc who is so bad at keeping his identity that he stopped trying later. 

Yeah, totally called it. It seems any time an old villain shows up and isn’t the old villain, it’s always the son or something. I’m…Just surprised that Mogart had a kid, to be honest. 

Jeffrey Wilde, the new Midnight man, goes into his story. 

His mom didn't marry Mogart. He was a fling baby. 

That makes sense, knowing Mogart. 

Mogart sent money for support "when he thought of it". 

He met Mogart for the first time when Mogart was dying in a hospice of cancer. 

Turns out the chemicals that deformed him also gave him cancer. 

As a kid, he had collected newspaper clippings of Mogart's special activities. While visiting his dying father, Mogart had disclosed his techniques and asked his son to stay on the right side of the law. 

Marc is surprised to hear that Mogart really IS dead and that he isn't the one that ended up killing him. 

He asks the kid why he's been bothering him and framing him and all that business. 

"To show you what I picked up from my old man. To show you how good I am. That I can be your partner." 

Oh boy, this is going to end well. 

Marc is just as incredulous as I am. 

"Say WHAT?!" 

The kid wants someone to show him how to "learn the crimefighting game" and he figures Moon Knight is the best there is to do that. 

(LOL I Love you Frenchie). 

Marc reads him the riot act, telling him to run home to his "Mama". 

"...Stay off my back and stay away from anything to do with me." 

He has Frenchie send the kid home. 

This is not the last we are going to see of Jeff Wilde. 

A product of the late 80s and early 90s when everyone felt like all the heroes needed some sort of protege or to work with younger kids wanting to become heroes. And, spoiler here: It doesn't end well, as most things don't end well when it comes to Marc Spector. 

Alright.... So now we go elsewhere and pick up a completely different story plot. 

Just, out of the blue that's going to leave off on a cliff hanger and lead into the next issue. 

I find this sort of story telling deeply unsatisfying. There's ending on a cliffhanger, then there's just dropping plots and deliberately setting up another issue. 

Not to mention Marvel did that thing they always do that I hate where you have a whole "LOOK AT THIS CROSSOVER" with Black Cat who then just goes "Yeah, I'm not interested" and leaves. 

It's just such an obvious ploy for readership and money. 

That's my two cents. Anyways.... On to elsewhere. 

We find ourselves in a subway station with a big guy and a bunch of rowdy teens. 

The teens point out that the big guy in a suspicious trenchcoat and hat smells really bad. 

The guy exits the subway (not at all suspicious) and makes his way down town. 

More punks give the big guy a hard time until the big guy pulls out a huge machete. 

The punks pull out their guns and open fire on the guy. The guy gets shot in the head and all over but keeps coming till he stabs one of the punks. 

The big guy goes down while the other punks freak out. 

Then we get a close up look at the guy's face. 

It's actually pretty grusum and I'm not going to post it, but he's pretty decayed looking with yellow and red eyes and gnarly teeth. 

The caption: ZOMBIE FRIDAY NIGHT. 

And that's where the issue ends. 

Now, if you were with me in the Moench run break downs, you’ll remember we already covered zombies with Brother Voodoo. 

.....Taking a peak at the next cover we get "Brother Voodoo comes to town!" 

Yeah... Apparently Brother Voodoo only covers zombies... Hmmm... Only this time he's not in the jungle, but in the big city. 

I'm going to be honest here: I'm not going to cover every issue. There's no way. The late 80s and early 90s were ROUGH. 

You are going to find a lot of themes of BUSINESS and DRUGS and PUNKS and JUNKIES and YOUNG TEEN VIOLENCE. These were all the major hitters for the late 80s or early 90s. 

They did everything to make the comics seem exciting and relevant and were often written by new arrivals to big comics that were trying to attract readers. 

So I'm going to skim this one real quick for you guys (because you're also going to get a lot of stereotypical black man jive stuff in this and it's painful to read through). 

Marc Spector - Moon Knight: Issue #6: One Hand in the River 

Written by: Charles Dixon

Art by: Sal Velluto

We start at "Spector Enterprises Inc" (What the heck business does he do? No one knows. Some complicated business stuff I'm sure) where Marc is pulled in all sorts of directions for his business needs. 

You see, Marc isn't used to business. This isn't Marc Spector's bag. This is why he needs Steven Grant. This is why I don't understand why the writer decided to get rid of Steven and Jake. It makes no sense. 

Marc has placed himself as the president of Spector Enterprises Inc. and he has no idea what he's doing. 

Oh look. Midnight returned all the stolen property to the FBI offices in Brooklyn. The FBI has decided Marc isn't worth looking into....

But the IRS is suddenly VERY interested in Marc's business practices. 

He's being Audited. 

Marc heads to his office to sulk and finds Brother Voodoo waiting there for him. 

Marc points out that Brother Voodoo looks a bit rough. 

He sure does. 

Jericho says he needs Moon Knight's help. 

Marc ones more complains that someone knows who he is. 

"I think I'm going to take out a full page ad in the times and tell EVERYBODY my 'Secret Identity' and get it over with." 

Turns out a cult is in New York. The same cult they fought way back in the day that likes to play with Zombies. 

At this point Brother Voodoo takes off his snazzy sunglasses and reveals that he too has been made into a zombie! 

We cut to outside where Moon Knight's biggest fan is waiting in a car. "Well if it isn't Marc Spector, AKA Moon Knight. Thought you'd shake me, didn't you, m'man? Well Midnight's no brush off I wonder who his creepy amigo is." 

We see Marc walking to a cab with Brother Voodoo. 

Brother Voodoo is apparently fighting off being controlled by the cult by eating salty snacks. The salt does some chemical mumbo jumbo to give him control. 

He can also sense when other zombies are near and look! our trench coat friend is walking by. 

They follow the zombie into a building. Up on the top floor there is a fancy restaurant where some mafia sort of guys are having lunch. 

They talk a bit of shop about paying people off and yadda yadda yadda... 

We see two heads talking about turf and disputes. They start talking about new guys in town that come from some 'kinda cult thing'. 

And boom! Trench coat zombie man busts in! 

And Moon Knight busts in. (When and where did he have time to change?!?) 

If I had to put money on this... I'd say this was the same fancy resturant that was previously featured in an earlier comic where the big violent guy went on what he thought was a date and then tried to blow the place up. 

Moon Knight and Brother Voodoo fight the gangsters for some reason. The gangsters all dealt with, they turn to confront the zombie to find... He's got a bomb strapped to his chest! (this poor resturant). 

The zombie is ready to detinate and Brother Voodoo tells Moon Knight that "No one can sway him from the spell he is under." 

Just when all seems lost, Midnight swings in (literally) and tackles the zombie. 

He kicks the zombie out the window (hitting him square in the dynamite) and the zombie explodes, blasting out the window and causing some damage to the side of the building. 

"That stupid kid. That stupid, stupid kid!" Moon Knight is not pleased. 

"You've been following me! I told you to back off, Kid! I don't need a partner! I don't want a partner!

Why are you still tagging along behind me, kid?" 

"Could it be your winning personality?" 

Moon Knight is stunned speechless. (I like to think it's because he isn't used to being addressed like this and the jab at his personality hits home since Steven and Jake are apparently being suppressed or just flat out denied). 

Pissed off, Marc storms off with Brother Voodoo. 

They all pile into Midnight's car where awkward introductions are had. 

They head back to the mansion. 

Meanwhile, in South Bronx, we find ourselves in a slum where a bunch of zombies are watching.... THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. The zombies appear to appreciate it. 

And now we got zombie cult guy making deals with south american cartel gangsters that wanted to wipe out the mafia guys. (I told you this was going to get complicated) 

Back at the mansion, we find Jericho trashing a room while Marc and Jeff are waiting outside the room while Jericho 'gets his head in order' before they storm the zombie cult location. 

Oh look! Chloe shows up to demand to know what's going on. 

And Jeff CLEARLY has the hots for her. Hmmm. 

The room inside is getting trashed, but it's better than the time he brought home Jack Russell the werewolf and locked him in his room... Marc...needs to make better decisions. 

ANd Brother Voodoo has his head in order now and pops out to tell him that the zombies are located in the South Bronx and they have work to do! 

End issue. 

Oh boy... A multi parter... I can’t help but think back to Moench’s time when each issue had the ability to tell the story and stand alone. Sure, we got a few multi part stories, but they flowed together so well. 

Thena gain, they didn’t really have standard volumes that told one story like comics do now. In today’s comics, you have Volumes that contain roughly 5-6 issues that all connect together. Sometimes you have a stand alone issue mixed in, but usually it still has a way to lead into the story. In the original comics, each issue stood alone and didn’t end until a massive change in writer and direction of the comic was needed. We moved from Moon Knight to Marc Spector Moon Knight and got a new set of volumes. 

And while, sure, it’s interesting to see them telling longer stories… These aren’t ALL connected stories. These are special guest cross-over stories. Collect them all and put them in a volume and you still get the most random stuff. And each ending of the issues just feels like they are cutting the story in half. 

I’m starting to see why Ol’ Chuck Dixon isn’t a well known Moon Knight writer and why his run in particular was criticized like it was. Interesting. 

Marc Spector - Moon Knight: Issue #7: Zombie Saturday Night

Written by: Charles Dixon

Art by: Sal Velluto

Alright... Now... We uh...

We got the gang all here having breakfast in the kitchen and...

What the hell is going on in this picture...

That GIANT plant up there (I guess Marc’s love of giant potted plants goes back to 1989). The kitchen looks tiny compared to the GIANT mansion we know it’s in. 

Why is Frenchie getting manlier and manlier every time he’s drawn in these issues? Why is he casually oiling all his guns at the table? 

WHY IS MARC DRINKING OUT OF THE BLENDER?!

MARC. MARC NO. 

Well... despite what's going on in that picture...

Brother Voodoo is getting a good breakfast with plenty of salt to help his synapses fire or something. 

He remembers what happened to turn him into a zombie and he regales the group with his... Hey wait... 

....Where's his brother? That's his whole schtick! Brother Voodoo can see the ghost of his brother, who possesses people and helps him! 

Anyways... He tells the group how he was hunting down the zombie cult when he was captured and forced to drink the poison that turned him into a zombie. They also stole his Magical Medallion that was "the focus of my own voudon powers". 

He was then locked up in a ship and taken to New York. 

He tells them about the Slum where the zombies are being trained to kill (and watch Andy Griffith?) 

Frenchie asks how Jericho got away. 

"With the help of my brother, Frenchie." 

See, Frenchie out here asking the important questions. 

Alright, all that out of the way, they decide to head to the Bronx. 

He tells Jericho to take teh van and the rest of them get the chopper (it really only comfortably seats 3, after all). Jeff is excited about the chopper. 

But before they leave, Marc gets a phone call from his really pissed off Accountant. 

It's about the IRS Audit. The accountant is understandably nervous and needs to go over things with Marc. 

Marc blows him off and they leave. (see? There's so much business at stake in these comics.) 

We enter into the typical Moon Knight landing on a roof and rolling into action scene. Only now we have the kid, Jeff, stumbling around because he's not used to Marc's hard hitting take the punch and glider style of fighting. 

Inside, we have the Drug cartel arguing with the Zombie cult about what's going on. With Moon Knight making his way in, the Cartel boss gets antsy and makes a run for it. 

We see more Zombies watching tv and...Oh. I get it. It's the early 90s hysteria about how watching TV makes you into zombies. I remember that. It's a commentary. Hm. 

Brother Voodoo make his way through the building and faces off against the cartel guys. 

Moon Knight makes his way down from the roof, fighting zombies and trying to keep track of Jeff, who reveals his costume is just spandex and not Kevlar like Marc's is. 

Marc... Not everyone can afford Kevlar. 

Marc's fighting zombies, trying to protect Jeff, and trying to deal with Jeff bumbling around. 

At one point Marc gets mad and resorts to his old style of just punching things till they go down. ....Problem is, you can't just punch a Zombie down. 

....So Marc punches him out the window. 

I see Marc's moved from jumping through windows to just throwing things through windows. 

They eventually meet up with Jericho and find themselves surrounded by zombies and the leader. 

Jericho calls for his brother. A little possession here, a little spell chanting there, the zombie leader loses his power and all the zombies go down. 

Jericho manages to get his Medallion back and it restores his power. 

We cut to the Cartel leader calling someone saying he's done with zombies and they need to get their gig up and running again. But outside, another zombie (or the same zombie, it's not clear) in a trench coat has a gun and his picture, clearly there to eliminate him .

And that's the end of this issue and FINALLY the end of this cliffhanger run. 

WHEW. 

Look, some stories are harder to get through than others. Even Moench had a couple of issues that were difficult to read, but they were difficult because sometimes the story just didn’t click with me. I still appreciated the art and the little side bits and nods and fun Moon Knight moments. 

The Marc Spector Moon Knight is difficult for a LOT of reasons, that unfortunately have a LOT to do with the age, the comic style, and the art isn’t as pretty either. 

You got a lot going on and they sacrificed art style for getting as much in as they could to keep the action GOING. It’s rough. There’s a reason why a lot of things from the late 80s and early 90s feels like you’re talking to a coked out business man. And boy howdy do these feel like we’re talking to a coked out business man. 

There’s just so much at stake ALL of the time. And Marc is so bad at managing things. I’d say it’s fascinating to watch Marc crash and burn without Steven and Jake, but the writer CLEARLY has no intention of including Steven and Jake and honestly, would probably prefer to remove all the mental health issues that Moench so lovingly included and dealt with in the creation of Moon Knight. 

So am I going to do a breakdown of ALL the comics in Marc Spector Moon Knight? …I’m going to burn out if I try. So I’m going to find a way to get through them, because I want to read it. I know I skimped it the first time I laid my hands on it, and now I want to see where our Moon Man has been. (plus the next issue includes the Punisher!)

Most likely I’m going to do big long posts that are a summary of multiple comics at once with some pictures to highlight certain aspects, art, or just Marc being MARC. (he’s so bad at everything here). 

Let me know what you think! The 90s were rough people! 

[ofhowlingxs]

[ alexa demie | she/her ] Another face is seeking safety in New Orleans. Make sure to welcome GABRIELLA GARCIA to the home of the resilient. Rumor has it that they are an 26 year old WEREWOLF, who is one of the SURVIVORS but we’ll keep that a secret. They are said to be CONVULSIVE, but that’s all a façade to cover up their EMOTIONALLY ABUNDANT nature. We’ve heard that they can be found listening to JAWS by SLEEP TOKEN, which sums them up pretty well. Let’s hope that they can find a way to survive this harsh new world.

Basics .

Name: Gabriella Arelli Garcia

Age: Twenty six

Pronouns: She/her

Species: Werewolf (No pack)

Birthday: October 30th

Zodiac: Scorpio

Hair color: Dark brunette/black

Eye color: Brown

Relationships .

Isabella "Bella" Garcia (Sister)

Marie Garcia (Mother - estranged)

Emillio Garcia (Father- estranged)

Emillio "Mel" Garcia II (Brother - deceased)

Antonio "Toni" Garcia (Uncle - mother's side)

Personality .

Positive traits: compassionate, empathetic, protective, loyal, intuitive, brave.

Negative traits: untrusting, stubborn, impatient, indulgent.

History .

It started from a young age, Gabriella has always seemed to let her emotions get the better of her. Being the youngest of her siblings, they said she'd grow out of it. The truth was, as loved as she was in her childhood, there always seemed to be a sense of strain between the Garcias and their youngest.

The curse wasn't something that was spoken about. Her parents being immigrants from another country, she spent most of her childhood being told they came here for something new, something better than before, not because they were running.

Despite the bleeding heart that Gabriella wore on her sleeve, she was compassionate and kind, and empathetic towards others. And yet, she was always found somehow in the middle of things when they went bad. Destined to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and the center of it all.

** tw: death, drowning. She was only ten when the curse triggered, it was an accident. It all boiled down to one afternoon. She shouldn't have been on the docks, they were old and the water had sunken through the wood over the years- they were told constantly to stay away. And yet, she's leaning over the edge, small arms flailing for the doll that had dropped into the darkened pool. Her brother found her first, before she was able to slip forward, caught by the back of her elbow as she cried for the doll. In her attempts to yank back her elbow, begging her brother- crying that his arms were longer, he could reach! She'll replay the moment time and time again, her smaller frame shoving him away from his grasp, and the moment the dock crumbled.

It happened so fast, she was so young- she barely remembers it other than the smell of mold and splashing water. Her screams got louder, more frantic. Her brother's frame was trapped under the water by the broken planks, holding him beneath it's murky grasp as he tried to grasp for air, or anything to pull him up. Gabriella is running into the water now, by the banks alongside the docks, dress and shoes now soaked in water from the knees up, when she's hurdled backwards, her sister hearing the commotion from inside the house, only to get there too late. She's pulling him out of the water, wading through until she's able to get his body to the shore. In the frantic movements, neither of them had realized the water had gone silent moments before.

Pain like she's never felt before, coursed through her body. And to this day, she doesn't know if it was the sight of her brother's lifeless body being pulled onto the mud as her sister tried her best at reviving him.. or the curse that rippled through her, sealing itself with the flicker of yellow eyes, staring back at them.

** tw ends. From that point on, her life had changed. The curse had been set, and she would barely survive the change being as young as she was. her parents would resent her, in ignorance to the curse they so desperately tried to escape from. It'd been years since anyone in their family had turned, aside her uncle she'd learn later on, was part of the reason her family had fled from Mexico. Her mother blamed her for their brother's death, her father held too much sadness to look at her the same again. And eventually, Isabella was the only family she had. The only one who would lock her up when the moon was full, and the only one to care for her after the accident. Due to this, she spent the entirety of her life in her parent's denial. They refused to send her to schools centered around helping those with supernatural abilities. This of course led Gabriella to fend for herself, remain hidden and keep her abilities in check, despite the arise of her emotions.

She's never had a pack, never felt like she really belonged after that moment. All she knows is from her own accord, still finding herself in the middle of things- one way or another. In the end, part of her wants to belong to something more, while there will always be a side of her afraid to show it all. The good, and the bad in it's abundance.

When she was fifteen, her uncle had reached out. He was not a man of wealth, not a man or morals and if there were any- they were grey at best. he was a drunk. An alcoholic, her mother would snub her nose and scoff at. And he only seemed to care about his niece, when he found out she bore the same curse as he did. Through him, she would learn that pack mentality is real, drawn to him by blood and understanding. She'd then learn that their family had woven the curse into secret, after the great grandfather promised to lock himself away forever. That they would never understand, that even one day, Isabella would may grow tired of being her keeper.

Gabriella would go on to try to live a normal life. She'd try to keep her emotions under boil. She'd try to keep the full moon from hurting anyone she cared about. She'd tried to be a normal, regular, everyday person. And it never seemed to work in her father. She's confined herself to a box, and still it always seems to break, one crack at a time. Recently, she worked as a paramedic for several years, finally getting a source of normalcy. That was, until she was made to go on leave, an outburst caused by the lingering effect of the last moon cycle.

[tabletopmayhem]

B A S I C S

Full name: Tabitha Concordia Vittoria Sangiovanni, but call her Tabby

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian

Pronouns: She/her

Clan: Mekhet

Bloodline: Sangiovanni

O T H E R

Birthplace: Krakow, Poland

Family: Her human family is meaningless, as she was kidnapped at six years old and raised by the Sangiovanni family of necromancer vampires. She was chosen by the Matriarch to become her daughter's ward, as the family line was dying out and needed new blood to intermingle with their mortal children. They tried to marry her off to her foster brother. Tabby wasn't thrilled, and jumped on the chance to go to America instead to aid the family overseas. She was embraced as a vampire once she reached the New World.

Job(s): As a loyal member of the Sangiovanni for many years, and perhaps the most personable of her twisted brethren in New York City, she was their...public relations with other vampires.

Phobias:  The madness of age, losing her own morality, her own habitual inaction and the consequences of it. Small dogs.

Guilty pleasures: Classic cars, vintage pearl jewelry, intricately plotting the demise of people she hates in bed at dawn, comforter tucked under her chin. She claims it helps her stay positive.

Hobbies: Gardening, cultivating her Rose Wives, zombies of her murdered lovers that host living, thriving roses she carefully hybridizes in her greenhouse. Playing piano. Puzzles.

M O R A L S

Morality alignment: Chaotic Good(ish), which is odd for a necromancer, but she's very singular.

Sins:  lust / gluttony / pride / envy / wrath / sloth

Virtues:  charity / diligence / kindness / patience / justice

She's the type of person who has to be pushed to the edge to do anything, which hasn't been good for the people who love her. One could make the argument that she's more neutral than good, but her intentions are generally good.

T H I S   O R   T H A T

introvert / extrovert / in between

organized / disorganized / in between

close-minded / open-minded / in between

calm / anxious / restless / in between

disagreeable / agreeable / in between

cautious / reckless / in between

patient / impatient / in between

outspoken / reserved / in between

leader / follower / flexible

empathetic / un-empathetic / in between

optimistic / pessimistic / realistic

traditional / modern / in between  

hard-working / lazy / in between

While on the surface, again, she's very kind and personable and gets along with everyone...that's her job. Her family is strange, and the more modern the world gets, the more they're looked at in askance. Necromancy seems a bit medieval. Her patience and caution, and her pleasant facade got her justice for the wrongs she silently suffered in the end, so who can say she's wrong? (probably all the people who died because she won't take action)

R E L A T I O N S H I P

OTP: Tabitha has had five wives, all mortal. What she really wants is to find someone suitable to be a member of the family, someone she can make Nonna happy by marrying and embracing. Nonna isn't concerned with the lesbian thing, but hell help her if she brings home someone who acts weird around the zombies. So far she hasn't had much luck (also cuz her wives keep getting murdered) One day she'll find someone, if she's patient.

BroTP:  Tabby likes the coterie fine, but they're not locals of course. Her closest confidant is Marchesa Hannah Rosso, but they also do not like each other much. Hannah is very brusque and ambitious, and Tabby is very passive and calm. They had a common enemy, but now he's gone.

NOTP: The Barone Luca Rosso, the guy that kept killing her wives because she wasn't interested in him. It was a bone of contention between them, understandably. She couldn't do anything to him because her wives were just humans, and no one would support her. But now the coterie encased him in concrete and dropped him in the ocean, so she's happy.

It doesn't bring back her wives, but she's a necromancer, she's got that part covered.

[rockgyu]

WAKE UP CALL #3— [she laffed (we're getting married)]

After running the top to chorus comfortably a few times we get a short water break as the groups separate with immense quickens. "I swear idols are so uptight these days." Yuna sighs folding her arms. "Can't blame them, fans are crazy." Hyorin shrug drinking your water. Though you barely listen as the feeling of Heeseung's hand on your waist lingers.

Your palm slowly reaches for your lower back as you stare into space. "Earth to Y/n!" Sakae snaps her fingers in your face as you blink and look down at her. "She's been put under his spell." Yuna nods impressed. "I knew it!" She fists the air. "Guys we might seriously get into trouble if we keep talking like this." Valarie reminds and your heart races a bit.

How were you supposed to stay professional when all Heeseung did was talk to you in between and stare while and after practice? You had to blame him, because fucking look at him! "Break's up! Let's learn the second verse." The choreographer claps as everyone returns to the center.

"We last left Heeseung and Y/n center, come kiss me and bite me~" you get into position and as you do the neck tapping motion your fingers graze his lips on accident. "Walk walk walk to the back." She continues placing Niki in the center as the rest of the dancers learn the new part. "Sorry." You whisper as you both walk barely making eye contact.

He chuckles as you both kneel. "It's okay. I didn't mind. You have really soft hands." You blink and laugh a bit. "Thank you," "Okay, then Heeseung comes out.." he does exactly that following the choreographer. "Y/n follows like this," she gets behind Heeseung and shows what you'd do as the boys make hushed remarks. "Again let's try it, five six seven eight." You follow his hands then trails your fingers down his body watching yourself in the mirror.

"Yes, Y/n then you let go." She reminds you and your hands fly behind your back as the guys laugh. "Sorry," you press your lips together and find your way to your pre-chorus position. Heeseung looks back at you with a smile as Hyorin nudges you. "Perfect, with music!" Everyone shuffles to their places as you start again.

As the group learnt more of the choreography, there was little time to joke about anymore. Everyone became very serious and focused on applying corrections, polishing dance moves and the girls worked on synchronizing on the sides. Soon practice came to an end and you feel your heart weigh a bit heavy.

Dancing with Heeseung was refreshing, and he had a very unique kind of rhythm. He adapted well to new people and made you feel all the more comfortable by him being comfortable. "Do you think you'll eat after this?" He asks before you can turn away. "I would, but I'm on this really hard diet. I can't eat anything from the meal plan." You explain.

His eyes glint as he forces himself to think of a fast solution. "You really don't have to diet. Even as an idol, if I don't want to diet I don't. It's not easy I know, but I can buy you some steak! Cows it grass so it counts." You laugh and he swears the whole room stills, he watches your eyes form crescents as you don't bother covering your face like most people do.

You didn't have any dimples of any sort, yet he was still mesmerized by your beauty in that moment. "That's a good excuse to use. Thanks Heeseung, I'll catch you later." You wave ending your conversation promptly. But he doesn't care to overthink it. He made you laugh. Not an awkward one, not one out of pity or confusion, a genuine belly laugh that lasted all of 1.5 seconds.

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Madonna - Like A Prayer

After establishing a persona of material excess and precision vapidity Madonna just went ahead and released an emotionally honest personal album. The fact that it not only works but ranks as one of her best albums is a testament to her skills as a performer and songwriter. Funky danceable tracks and slower tender ones mingle side by side without ever resulting in mood whiplash. I think that all of Madonna's 80s output has significant merit, but Like A Prayer is my favorite.

The Rolling Stones - Aftermath

Rolling Stone wants me to listen to the US version of this album. The US version replaces Mother's Little Helper with Paint It Black and cuts several tracks to bring the album's length down. I will not play along. I'm gonna review the UK edition. So anyway this album really hates women. It starts Mother's Little Helper, which berates housewives for having pill addictions and then goes into Stupid Girl, a song that just hates women for existing. Under My Thumb is about dominating a woman until she lacks any autonomy. Just wretched stuff I really love it. Why'd they write these? They're so unnecessarily mean. The Stones were experimenting with some psychedelic sounds in the first half but from Goin' Home onward they really just default back to being a wannabe American blues rock band. Btw I'm being harsh because you probably already know if you really love or really hate this kind of music, but for the record I love it. The mysogyny is so comically extreme that it genuinely makes me laugh. Stupid Girl could be an incel anthem. It should be.

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing.....

This album transcends everything. It exists out of time out of genre. Endtroducing..... stands alone as a human achievement that is only paralleled by the sublime geometry of Islamic art, the elaborate architecture of gothic cathedrals, the surreal beauty of German expressionist film. In case you can't tell already, I'm not gonna be normal about this one. The album comes from the hip hop and turntablist scene of the 90s with the ethos of plunderphonics and an atmosphere that draws equally from funk, soul, and R&B as it does from ambient, tape music and drum & bass. It doesn't sound like anything else I've ever heard. Hypnotic bass grooves will transition into frenetic drum loops and back before picking up a melodic element from three tracks ago and turning it into a new drum solo or bass groove. It moves so smoothly and with such deliberation. Every sound is irreplaceable. I don't have a singular favorite record, but this one has a particular Enigma Of Amigara Fault effect on me. Like this is my album, it was made for me.

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires Of The City

I don't mind Vampire Weekend, but they are little more than a generic indie rock band with futile aspirations towards art rock and baroque pop. Many of the songs keep up enough energy to not leave me totally bored, but they never really capture my interest. I'd be much happier if Ezra Koenig focused his efforts where they belong, convincing Netflix to give him another season of Neo Yokio.

The Who - Live At Leeds

There are at least four versions of this album out there. The original only contained six songs out of the 30ish played during the concert and the version I have is the 95 cd release that contains 14 tracks. The expanded version has some tracks from Tommy and a real nice version of B-side Heaven And Hell, but I will focus on the six original tracks, Young Man Blues, Substitute, Summertime Blues, Shakin' All Over, My Generation, and Magic Bus. I love the choice of tracks. Three covers and three older singles. Nothing from their recent album Tommy. And all the songs are performed so much rougher and heavier than their album counterparts. My Generation goes on for 15 minutes and includes interpolations of songs from Tommy and extended guitar solos. It ends on a seven minute version of the objectively lame Magic Bus and they make it kick ass. The who gives a shit energy of this concert is apparent and the fact they released this at all is great, it's one of the best live albums because it actually sounds like a live show.

Prince - Dirty Mind

Prince was so fucking good. This is the horniest album. Every song is about sex, even his breakup songs are really fucking horny. And what the fuck is up with Sister? What maniac would write that? What a legend. This is such a funky danceable album, but it's over so fast. You can basically listen to this and his debut back to back and that would equal a full length album. Unfortunately we don't get to see much of guitar god Prince on this one, but every prince album from the 80s is good so who cares?

Jerry Lee Lewis - All Killer No Filler

Oh fuck off. Jerry Lee Lewis couldn't maintain a rock career after he married his thirteen year old cousin so he became a mediocre country musician because that was the only crowd that would have him. So why the fuck would I want a compilation? He has like three good songs and then most of his career sucks ass. Here's an alternative. An album that definitely isn't on this list but should be. Mustt Mustt by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Ali Khan was an amazing vocalist who sang Qawwali, which is Sufi devotional music, and Mustt Mustt was his first attempt to develop a Qawwali fusion style. This album is an amazing combination of traditional Qawwali and alternative rock styles. Don't listen to Jerry Lee Lewis, listen to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan!

Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Coldplay are not Radiohead. This is so sad because they really want to be Radiohead. If you like this album then I'm sorry. But also you should listen to OK Computer by Radiohead because that is what they were trying to make here.

[c-is-for-circinate]

I love how fucking cinematic EXU Calamity is so far.

You know how much I love stories that fuck with genre. Stories that KNOW their genre, that are willing to lean into it, to pull bits and pieces from a wealth of fiction that's come before, that treat tropes and signals and allusions like a common language that enriches the conversation they're having with their audience. Stories who take those expectations, that language, and twist it.

Last night played like the opening to a movie, except not quite, because it played like the opening to six different movies, with six different genre-savvy protagonists already in their elements. Six main characters, all knowing that they're the main character, because of course they know (they're so sure they know) the shape of the story that's about to come their way.

They're genre-savvy! They know! Cerrit knows that this case is the start of a mystery-thriller. Laerryn knows she's about to embark on something huge. Nydas doesn't have time to notice that he's starting a new movie, but also, he's hip-deep in money troubles and now there's this new guy sniffing around his business. Loquatius is deeply aware that he's obviously the main character in his own life, at all times, always. (He's on TV every single morning.) Patia is already in the middle of the political intrigue TV show that's meant to see her rise to her ultimate and deserved seat of power.

They're genre-savvy. They know something's about to go wrong. They know that's how it works.

Every single one of them has spotted hints and portents of the end of the world, entering into their own spheres of power and attention. Every one of them knows that they're about to be In A Story, and maybe even the kind of story where someone dies (Loquatius would be very surprised and confused if someone died in his story, unless it was the darkly, irreverently funny death of a minor character that provided a great dramatic backdrop for other meaty scenes between the main characters.) Every one of them knows, or the narrative and the world around them knows, the way that stories work: there's an inciting incident, and things go sideways, and the characters have to keep up and make it through.

They know this. They know this, but they are all so, so sure that they know the genre they're in. They see the portents and they don't think about true fear, don't think about the end of the world. They mistake the symptom for the entire disease. They see the rising smoke and think, oh no, a house fire. They don't think it's the Great Fire of London. They don't think the entire horizon is about to be ablaze. They don't think it's Pompeii.

Zerxus does. Because that's the kind of movie he's in, the one he just started: a sci-fi thriller, where dreams have meaning and the world is about to change very irrevocably indeed. And he knows it too, but he still thinks that, maybe. Maybe this is a story where the heroes end the day beaten, bloody, covered in dirt and soot and ragged from head to toe, but triumphant as the sun comes up over the horizon. Maybe standing on a pile of rubble, child held on his hip, exhausted from the climactic fight scene, smiling because the worst was averted and now other people can rebuild, off-screen, something bright and shiny for the epilogue. Maybe he's even in the kind of movie that ends with his son reconciled back to him again, although of course he'd never ask to see his son in the sort of danger that always seems to spur such things on, in movies like this.

Everyone, every single one of them, believes deep in their bones that whatever happens next will ultimately turn out okay. Even Zerxus knows it can, if he talks to his friends, shares his concerns, musters all his strength to stave off the coming (one-off, avertable, if we prevent it then we can move on with our comfortable lives) disaster.

And it won't work, obviously, which is beautiful, glorious tragedy. It won't work because character is destiny and Laerryn is about to try to rewrite ley lines and planar geography. It won't work, because if Vespin Chloris hadn't, somebody else would have, sooner or later, you can't just spot-react to individual people. Because Aeor is already testing weapons of mass destruction, and wars happen for thousands of reasons woven into the fabric of cause and effect stretching back a hundred years, and they're not averted so easily. Because the gods are so vast. They're so vast, and the slights have been many, and they will not conveniently forget.

Brennan made a joke in an interview about how Matt said, if the players got four nat 20s in a row, they could avert the Calamity. It's possible to picture a world, in an alternate timeline, if we didn't know what was coming, if Avalir's fate wasn't inevitable, where they do. A bit. Avalir lands safely and takes off again. No gods claim it; no gods fall. Vespin Chloris is contained. The Betrayer Gods are chained again. The Calamity as we know it is stopped.

It's possible. It's possible, and it still wouldn't save the Age of Arcanum, because this one city, this one battle, this one choice, isn't why the Calamity happened. It's not why the entire world fell to apocalypse. Laerryn is not about to single-handedly end the world.

Somewhere in Aeor, the Somnovum are plotting in the Cognouza Ward. Somewhere in the Shadowfell, Vecna is already a lich craving godhood. Ruidis already hangs in the sky, and someone, somewhere, is already inventing dunamantic Beacons and all of this, all of it was going to fall sooner or later. Soaring cities are built to crash. The inevitability doesn't come from knowing the future, it comes from knowing what the world actually is right now.

Man this is going to be good.