#she was held up as great and really sticking it to the Heroes and their corrupt society

[problemswithbooks]

the fact that spinner doesn’t care more about his fellow mutants like why tf would you even introduce this plot

Yeah, I really don't get why Hori wrote this sub plot like this.

Like I see people mad at Shoji, saying that he's not listening to Spinner and his grievances, but he literally hasn't said shit about the mutant discrimination stuff. Spinner can barely talk as it is, or think and only screams about getting Kurogiri back. Shoji isn't shutting down his or really any of the mutants issues, he's just pointing out that they're being stupid and violent for zero reason.

Getting Kurogiri back has nothing to do with their cause and will not help them what-so-ever. The only one it helps is AfO--a guy who has never shown any care for mutant discrimination and has not promised these people anything. Spinner hasn't promised to help them either--they just latched onto him because...idk, they like his face, I guess.

It's honestly a little insulting to write this sub-plot this way because it presents the oppressed people as stupid and looking for excuses to be overly violent. Their arguments for standing with Spinner are weak or even non-existent and they literally have no reason to storm the hospital the way they are.

I get what Hori was going for, but it's so clear he's out of his depth and didn't put in the work to research how to write this storyline. He put it in because X-Men did it and because it added to his worldbuilding, yet he didn't put in the time to actually have it be more then surface deep.

And I think that's why some of the takes on this chapter bug me because it's just people gushing about how good it is and how it makes the villains so deep and the kids/Heroes horrible people, yet it's written so poorly. Hell, Hori putting Rock Lock of all his Heroes in this part of the story is by itself questionable. Having you're stand in racial allegory tell an actual black character that he doesn't get their pain is ridiculous and if Hori had spent any time researching for this story he would have realized that was a bad idea.

I get that people want a story that takes the system to task and has this sweeping narrative about oppression, but BNHA, if that is it's end goal, is still terribly written. Yet, I don't see anyone who thinks this chapter is good admitting Hori has made mistakes with this plot point. They're just to focused on how it could make their favs look better and owning the Heroes, rather then if the story makes sense.

[mc-lukanette]

"You want me to patrol?" Luka asked, staring down at the snake miraculous being held out to him.

Ladybug nodded. "Yeah! Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be great at it!"

That wasn't what he'd been thinking about, actually. Taking the miraculous from her hand and putting it on - something she looked oddly pleased about - he pressed, "I don't mind, but why do you want me to do it?"

The miraculous shifted into its disguised state, a light coming off to bring Sass back into existence. The kwami reclined back like he was lounging in an invisible chair, then waved a paw and replied, "Public opinion."

Luka stared, still feeling lost.

Ladybug tilted her head in Sass's direction, continuing, "It's hard for snake heroes to gain any favor from the public. Real snakes are scary for people and no one can understand your power more than you can."

He vaguely understood that. To everyone else, the snake's powers weren't particularly flashy and the only one who got to experience the reset timelines was him. He'd never particularly considered how people thought about it as he didn't really care, but he acknowledged that the two were making sense.

"I care about all my heroes," Ladybug added, putting her hands on her hips, "and I want the public to care about them too. I'm sure all you need to do is go out there, put on a little snake charm, maybe tell a few stories about your timelines, and everyone will get that Viperion does great work just like everyone else, if not greater."

He couldn't be sure if she'd added on the end because she meant it, or because she could only gauge his success rather than his time and effort. The thought that she considered him a hard enough worker that he could outpace others made him smile.

"I'll do it. Thank you, Ladybug."

She beamed. "No, thank you." She took his wrist with the bangle in both hands and lifted it to her chest level, as if reciting a prayer to it. "I have my own things to do, but I know you'll do a good job with or without me!"

He nodded obediently. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"No! Or—" She paused, pursing her lips. It was the face of someone who felt like they were forgetting something. "Mm, not know, but..."

She pulled out her yoyo, popping it open and slipping her hand inside. Her tongue stuck out to the side as she searched for whatever she was looking for, at one point putting her whole forearm in. When the movement stopped, she lit up with a delighted, "Aha!" and lifted out a folded sheet of paper. She unfolded it to give it a quick check, then happily handed it over to him.

It was a map of Paris, lines snaking across with numbered indicators and circled locations. He would've assumed it was Ladybug's that she was letting him borrow if not for the "Property of Viperion" written in the corner, both 'i's dotted with hearts.

It was cute.

Ladybug sidled up next to him, pointing to the various parts of the map to explain, "This is the quickest way to get around the city while still making sure you're being thorough. The circled spots are where you can meet with a lot of people at once; great for public image. Even Chat doesn't know these."

"Really?" Despite the teasing tone in her voice, he knew she wasn't lying.

"He doesn't need it. He's a cat and people love cats." She rolled her eyes in faux exasperation, then nudged him with a playful smile. "We snakes and ladybugs have to stick together, right?"

He smiled back. He had no idea where this whole conversation of hers had come from, but he nodded and agreed, "Right."

And with that, she was ready to go, stepping away and waving him goodbye before heading off. Luka waved back, but felt eyes on him and turned his head to see Sass staring at him with a knowing expression.

"...What?"

He learned that day that Sass hissed when chuckling.

——

Patrolling was entirely different from fighting akuma, Viperion learned. There wasn't any real tension so long as he didn't find anything, and it felt like it served a nice role in getting him further acclimated to his hero self. He could jump and travel around easily enough when he was called upon, but it didn't escape him how his jumps grew more confident and his landings more solid as time went on.

Whenever he came across a circled area on the map, he would do as Ladybug had recommended and talk to the various civilians he'd find there. Unlike what he imagined would happen with Ladybug or Chat Noir, he had to check on them first rather than being called over for pictures or comments. It didn't bother him beyond the concern that he wasn't doing as much as Ladybug asked, but he couldn't verify until he went back to her.

Time passed smoothly enough, Viperion mentally checking off the map's numbers as he went. Near the end of the patrolling path happened to be around Marinette's house too, so he was in a good mood.

He was within eyesight of the place when someone suddenly called out, "Hey, Viperion~!"

He almost faltered, looking out towards the familiar voice to see Marinette on her balcony and excitedly trying to wave him down. He smiled unconsciously, feeling the natural pull she always had on him that urged him closer, but snapped out of it when he remembered that he was Viperion at the moment. He was supposed to be a stranger to her.

Taking one more look at his map, he noted the circle - oddly enough - right around the bakery. He supposed it could've been referring to the park nearby, but regardless, he was meant to be talking to civilians and Marinette was indeed a civilian.

If it wasn't what Ladybug had in mind, he'd twist the rules just this once.

Giving Marinette a look to convey his intent, he waited for her to step back before leaping towards her, allowing him enough space on the balcony to safely land. It was equally helpful that some of the various things on the surface had been moved in such a way that he'd had a clear place to drop onto.

"Hey... citizen." Wow, that sounded bizarre. "Can I help you?"

She giggled - cute - and nodded at him. Beckoning to him, she stepped back towards the entrance to her bedroom. "Yeah. Come with me for a minute."

She was so forward about it that Viperion genuinely wondered if this was just something that happened with heroes, or only with Marinette specifically. Perhaps Ladybug had even been invited inside before?

He couldn't bring himself to refuse her, so he followed her down onto her bed, then down the stairs to the main part of her room. He watched her walk across and bend down to the chest near her chaise lounge, her hands fiddling with the latch to open it. She reached inside and pulled out something teal, but he couldn't quite see what it was with her body obscuring it.

Marinette, careful not to show him what was in her arms, walked over to a full-body mirror nearby. Finally turning to him, she held up the object and asked, "What do you think?"

Viperion's jaw dropped. There in her arms was a Viperion plush and, judging from his own reflection in the mirror, she'd even gotten the smaller details right. He got the distinct feeling that she had looked at him more than he'd looked at himself just to ensure that the plush was accurate.

"Wow, it's..." He approached, reaching out but not feeling able to touch the plush, as if he wasn't worthy of it. At Marinette's encouragement, he gingerly held one of the little arms and gave it a squish to test its softness. "This is incredible work."

"Thanks." She beamed, swaying her hips and looking pleased with herself. "I try to make one of everyone, but this one's my favorite."

He looked at her questioningly, touched yet confused, but she wasn't meeting his eyes anymore. Her gaze turning back at the chest, she gently placed the plush in his arms and returned to her collection to start pulling more of her work out.

Viperion glanced at the stuffed imitation of him, unsure of how to handle it but doing his best to give it support. Marinette must've seen him at some point while setting out plushies, given the otherwise random giggle she'd let out.

After roughly a minute, she'd finished, sitting in the middle of the two groups she'd set out and spreading her arms out above them. Indeed, there was a group of plush superheroes to one side of her and even a group of plush akuma to the other. If he really eyed their details, he could tell which had been made when she was just starting out and which she'd done recently once she had experience, but it was all equally impressive to him.

Bringing the plush with him, he sat down in front of her and let it sit on his lap. He couldn't care less what he'd looked like, too busy admiring her work. His face must've shown it without him saying anything, as she puffed her chest out like she was basking in the unspoken praise.

Then, his eyes locked on something purple, black, and out of place amongst the heroes. In any other circumstance, he probably wouldn't have focused or commented on it, but it was also of him: specifically, Silencer, his akumatized self who had relentlessly chased down Bob Roth and stolen the voices of multiple people, including Ladybug herself. Bitter memories rushed back to him of waking up after the fact and fearing what might've happened while he'd been under someone else's control, the worst being if he'd hurt Marinette in some way

"That's an akuma," he said flatly. His own tone caught him off guard, but Marinette either didn't notice or didn't mind his disdain for that particular plush.

She followed his gaze to the mini Silencer in question. Rather than realizing that she'd made a mistake, she smiled, picking up the plush and setting it on her lap. Hand resting on the soft helmet on its head, she looked at him and explained, "Yeah, but... he's a hero to me."

She couldn't keep saying things like that to him without elaboration. He could only take so much without letting his civilian self show.

Thankfully, she elaborated this time, "People at my school get akumatized all the time; sometimes right in front of me. I have to run away from them as fast as I can, because even if they're not after me, I'm still another potential target for them." She turned the plush so she could look at its face, her eyes going soft as she continued, "Silencer was the first time someone got akumatized to protect me; when I felt honored to be protected. He didn't want my attention either, he wanted to get revenge because of what Bob Roth did."

Viperion hadn't known that. He'd had a brief discussion with Marinette about something he'd apparently said, but he'd been needed on stage and couldn't finish any sort of conversation with her. It warmed him greatly, knowing that she appreciated him even as an akuma.

"Sure, he was still another one of Hawk Moth's akuma, so Ladybug had to take care of him," she acknowledged, "but I think he's a little misunderstood, like you."

"Like me?"

She nodded, bringing back her point from earlier. "That's why the Viperion plush is my favorite. You're the least popular out of everyone, but I bet you do so much work during your Second Chances. Even though you should be getting more credit for it, no one notices until you're going around—" She gestured between them, indicating their current situation. "—like this."

He grew quiet, already seeing the connection. His heart sank at the thought.

"...It's relatable," she whispered with a sad smile, her fingertips trailing across the top ridge of the plush Silencer's helmet, "not being noticed for what you can do, people seeing you at your surface level..."

Shifting, Viperion held his plush self to his chest and moved within arm's reach of her. With his free hand, he reached out, cupping her cheek to tilt her face up to him.

Quietly, but firmly, he told her, "For what it's worth, I think you deserve to be noticed for all of you, not just the part that people decide to see."

It was definitely pushing the boundaries of what he should be "allowed" to do as a hero, but at its core, Viperion thought that that's what a hero was meant to do. Saving Paris was only the surface level of what people saw heroism as: the deeper, more important part was to care for the emotional well-being of the civilians.

He'd already gone through akumatization once and he'd never wish such an experience on Marinette. Keeping her happy was a top priority for him, both before and now, regardless of how she felt about him.

Her mouth curving back into the smile he'd missed in its short time away, Marinette reached up and placed her hand over his. "Thank you. Sorry if I brought the mood down."

"This is my job—" It wasn't, not in the way she'd be thinking of anyway. "—and it's not much compared to what you did. Thanks for appreciating me."

She nodded, eyes shining with her own gratefulness. There seemed to be more that she wanted to say, but she dropped his hand and shook her head to rid herself of it. Regretfully, she admitted, "I shouldn't keep you any longer."

He nearly blurted out that she could keep him forever if she wanted, but he held back. Equally as regretful as her, he returned the Viperion plush to her waiting hands.

Marinette took it, taking the plush in her free hand and scooting out of the way. The movement left a Marinette-sized space where she'd been, which is where she decided to set the plush down. Putting the Silencer plush back where he was before, she also took the Ladybug plush and let it settle next to the Viperion one.

It left the two as the only ones in the once-empty spot.

"They look good together," she commented, looking over her shoulder at him.

He stared, not sure how to feel about his crush having an opinion on his relationship with someone else, but he didn't express it. She clearly thought highly of his partnership with Ladybug in a way no one else did, which he considered a positive.

"...Yeah." He grinned at her. "I think so too."

——

"So?" Ladybug clasped her hands together, curiosity in her eyes. "How'd it go?"

"I got to talk to people," Luka replied vaguely as he handed the miraculous back to her. His visit with Marinette had made everything else fuzzy by comparison. "There was no trouble, but there was only one person who wanted to see Viperion."

"I'm sure that'll change!" she assured, her blinding confidence thoroughly astounding him. Leaning in and grasping his shoulders, she insisted, "You deserve to be appreciated, whether that's as a civilian, a hero, or an akuma."

He went to thank her, practically overflowing with all the affection he'd received at that point, but he paused when her words truly registered with him.

Ladybug, however, didn't give him a chance to respond. She stepped away, stashing the snake miraculous into her yoyo and making her escape back out into the city with her usual wave of good-bye.

Luka was certain that he'd heard properly: she'd said akuma. He supposed it could just be a coincidence that Marinette and Ladybug had both happened to reference his akumatized self, but Ladybug's expression had hinted to him that it was more than that. It had been strange to him that Marinette's balcony had been open for him, and even more so that Marinette happened to be there like she was waiting for him. If both she and Ladybug had wanted him to feel appreciated (mission accomplished on that one, obviously), then it was possible that they'd teamed up to give him a double dose of gratitude.

Or at least, that must've been the reason, because the only other option was—

Ah.

Just like that, Luka blushed a deep shade of red, the memory of Marinette placing the Ladybug and Viperion plushies together burning itself permanently into his mind.

[g0lden-diety]

How abouut…. Bakugo with black reader grumbling about getting dragged to the club but you try to convince him that it’ll be fun bc he’ll be with the guys while you stick with the girls and it’ll be a cute lil outting for y’all. he gets irritated but figures he should go bc you’re looking like 🔥sin🔥 in that black dress and he would want to be around just in case anyone tries it but he honestly gets more than he bargains for when he sees u throwin it back w the girls and it’s over when he sees someone approaching you and now he’s tight bc he’s gotta drag u out the club and show youre his 👀👀, just a thought 👉🏽👈🏽🥺

Oh...oh hell yeah, this is perfect!!! Like this was my face when I read the request:

Little Black Dress ┆ K. Bakugou

Pairing : Katsuki Bakugou x Fem!Black!Reader

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!

cw: alcohol mentions, unprotected sex, choking, cockwarming, oral (fem. giving), overstim, fingering, impact-play, slut-calling, some aftercare, praise, some degradation, smut (obviously) MDNI

All characters are aged up!!

Author’s note: soooo, this was originally gonna be a headcannon/drabble post, but I REALLY liked this request so I decided to turn it into a short fic, I hope you enjoy‼️<3

Minors Do Not Interact // 18+

“Why the hell are we even going?” Katsuki uttered loud enough for you to hear, causing you to sigh from the bathroom.

“Katsu, c’mon! Mina invited us out so we could finally get a fuckin’ break. You can hang with the guys, I hang with the girls, we all can drink, dance, get lit. It’s gonna be fun,” you said as Katsuki made a ‘tch’ sound from your shared bedroom.

Mina had invited you, Katsuki, Kirishima, Deku, Ochacco, Kaminari, Jirou, Hagakure, and Sero out to the club to get sort of an escape from the day-to-day hero life. Obviously after tonight, and the morning after you nursed your hangovers, it would be back to business.

“Ok, how do I look?” Katsuki’s eyes almost bulged out of his head when he saw you. Your curves filled out the silk, black dress, it stopping at mid-thigh, dipped low in the front, backless, and only held up on you by a few strings.

Katsuki looked at you like you were straight up sin, and goddamn, did he wanna be a sinner right now.

“Still don't wanna go?” you asked cockily, leaning against the doorframe, resting your hand on your hip. You could see him subtly shift in his seat as his eyes flit from your chest, to your hips, then slowly up to your face.

“Tch, c’mon n’ let’s go, ya cocky lil shit,”

So there you all were, the smell of sweat, sex, and alcohol wafting through the air. You and the crew stood in front if the bustling club, live with energy. You and Mina we're going to practically buzzing with excitement. Glasses of sickly sweet drinks were poured, making the person who ingested them feel light and airy, like they were on top of the world.

“Alright ladies n’ gents, let's go get some shots cause I'm tryna drunk n’ nasty,” she spoke, sending a wink to Kirishima, making him wink right back.

“Do not make babies on the dancefloor, I beg of you,” Sero mumbled as you laughed, grabbing Mina’s hand, then she grabbed Ochacco’s, who grabbed Hagakure’s, who then grabbed Jirou’s as you all head to the bar, leaving the guys stuck.

Soon, drinks were poured, music was bumping, people were dancing and having a good time, as they should. The honey-colored liquid made your head float as you moved your body with your friends to the bass thumping through the club.

You were feeling the music, the fun, having a great time, but there was one issue. Katsuki hadn’t been paying you attention all night. He only really conversated when you stopped at the bar to get another drink, or whenever you and the girls took a break from dancing. The thought made you subtly pout in frustration.

You began to move your hips provocatively, wining and twisting your lips, hypnotizing anyone who looked. This caused a bit of an uproar, seeing as more and more people began to crowd around you, hyping you up. Katsuki heard the commotion on the floor, eyebrow raising as he wondered what the hell was going on. He moved past the people, subtly not-so-subtly shoving past people. Once he saw, his eye twitched in irritation.

You, his girl, his woman, was in the center of the floor putting on a show for everyone to see. You were throwing ass so disrespectfully in that dress, he was surprised the cops weren’t called for disrespectful-ass throwing. Katsuki watched silently, feeling his blood boil while perverted eyes watched you, lusted for you. How dare they? You were his, and his only.

His final straw was when someone, a man, slinked closer to you. Katsuki couldn't tell who he was, or what he looked like, due to the lighting of the club. He watched as the guy stuck out a hand, reaching for your ass.

“Oh, hell no,” the blond thought to himself, angrily trudging over to you. You glanced, seeing Katsuki getting closer.

“Kats-”

“Shut up, we need to talk,” you couldn't even get a word out, you were too busy being dragged to the back of the club, down the dark hallway, and into the bathroom, the door licking behind the both of you.

“Have you lost, you're fuckin’ mind?!” he exclaimed as you winced at his tone, it making your head pound.

“Shhhhh, you're so loudddd. Besides, don't even know why y’ care. Y’ haven't been payin’ me no attention allllll night. What, cause I put on a little show, it's an issue?” you asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shut as he breathed out deeply.

You scoffed, rolling your eyes, obviously being over this bullshit.

“Mmkay, while you're in here havin’ your bitch fit, I'm gonna go out n’ continue to par-” his hand slammed up, blocking you from the doorway. You looked at his hand and arm like it was a foreign object, wondering what the hell he thought this was.

“Uh, excuse me? I don't know who the hell you think you blo...” you sentence trailed off as you looked into his eyes, them darkened with lust. He looked down at you, the way your brown skin looked in the red lights of the bathroom, the way that little, black dress fit tightly in all the right places.

“You,” he gripped your waist, turning you and pinning you against the sink counter.

“Ain’t goin’ nowhere. You wanna put on a show for everybody to see what's mine? Fine, I'll show you why you're mine,” all of a sudden, your hands were being pinned on the counter, hissing as a shooting pain going up your spine, asscheek throbbing.

“Katsu-”

“Shut it, slut. I obviously gotta remind you who you belong to since you wanna act out,” he bent you over farther, smacking your ass again, earning a shocked gasp from you. There was something different in his eyes, something feral. It made your thighs mush together as you felt your core pooling with heat.

He smacked your ass again, a slight moan escaping your mouth from the pleasurable pain. His hand trailed down your spine, flipping up the back of the dress, seeing your panty-less behind.

“N’ you got the nerve to not wear panties either? Oh, baby,” he leaned down, close to your ear while grabbing your hair to pull you back.

“I'm gonna fuck you nice and good,”

Katsuki’s hand tightened around your neck, forcing you to look at yourself in the mirror. You squealed loudly as you felt Katsuki’s fingers plunging into you, curling and hitting against all the right spots.

“Ngh! Kats-shit!” You exclaimed, biting your lips as Katsuki’s fingers moved faster and faster.

“Look at you, takin’ these fingers like a fuckin’ slut. Show me how good it feels, baby,” he commanded in your ear as your eyes rolled, letting out a loud moan, clutching his hand that was placed on your waist.

He bit his lip at the sight of you, his lover, melting at his touch and begging him to slow down. It made his bulge throb against the fabric of his pants.

“Mmm, look at you babygirl, look at how pretty you look,” your head hung low as you breathed deeply, your legs shaking and your core throbbing as you juices ran down your legs and onto his fingers.

“You heard me, slut,”

Suddenly, your head was yanked up by your hair, Bakugou forcing you to look at yourself.

“When I tell you to fuckin’ do somethin’, you take orders like a hood little slut, you hear?” He asked as you mumbled something unintelligible.

“Oi,” he smacked the side of your face, yanking you back roughly and then gripping around your jaw, holding your face class to his.

“You should know, I don’t like fuckin’ repeatin’ myself. When I tell you to fuckin’ do somethin’, you do it. You fuckin’ understand?” He asked, gripping around your neck.

“Yes!” You cried as Katsuki smacked your ass with thunder hard force.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes daddy!” You exclaimed as he chuckled menacingly, licking his lips mischievously.

“Good, goood girlll, such a good girl. In fact,” you heard the sound of a zipper unzipping and something, thick, hard, and throbbing against your asscheek.

“You feel what you do to me, slut? Hmm?” He asked, smacking his shaft against your ass.

“Answer me,” another hard slap to your ass.

“Fuck! Yes!” You exclaimed.

“You want me to fuck you? Hmm?” He asked, biting his bottom lip as he rubbed the tip against your swollen, wet folds.

“Yes,” you muttered, barely audible.

You yelped out in pain as he smacked your ass.

“I can’t hear you, slut. Say it again for me, you want me to fuck you?” He asked.

“Yes,” you spoke, a little louder this time.

Another smack, a burning hot sensation that brought tears to your eyes.

“Louder, baby,”

“Yes!” Another hard slap again.

“Louder, slut,” he smacked your ass roughly as you choked back a sob, feeling your ass throbbing.

“Yes! God, fuck me!” You whined loudly as Katsuki chuckled, subtly rubbing your abused ass.

“Of course I’ll fuck you, babe. But first,” you were forced on your knees, gripped by the back of your neck, and forced to look up at Katsuki.

“You’re gonna take care of the shit you caused,” he said, smacking his tip against your lips.

“Open,” you obliged.

“Get to it, and if you stop, I’ll face fuck you until you’re fuckin’ crying,” you immediately got to it, working both your hands, mouth, and tongue around his shaft, teasing his tip and gagging around his length.

“Ahhhh, fuck, baby. That fuckin’ mouth,” he groaned, his head falling back in pleasure as he held your hair back in a makeshift ponytail. You moaned around the base of him as you deepthroat him, not helping but to touch yourself as the faces and noises he was making.

“Yeah, that’s it bitch, c’mon. Suck that dick like your life fuckin’ depends on it,” you gagged again as you pulled back, globs of spit and precum dripping down your chin.

“C’mon, sexy bitch, keep goin’ until I cum all over that mouth and those pretty tits of yours,” you began to suckle his balls, jerking him off and massaging the tip of him, his head falling back as he let out a loud moan.

“Yeahhhh, baby, c’mon, c’mon, just like-AH!” Katsuki felt himself throb in your mouth, him hunching over you and letting out a slight whimper as he came down your throat, pulling out of your mouth as cum came spurting out onto your lips and chest.

“Get up, ‘n turn the fuck around, I’m not done with you yet,” you stood, turning so your back faced him and he bent you over, the cool ceramic porcelain of the sink making you nipples hard because of the cold.

Without warning, Katsuki slammed into you, making you scream. He pulled you back by your neck, choking you as he thrust roughly into you.

“Ahh! Katsukiiii!” You whined as your ass clapped and jiggled against him.

“Yeah? That feel good?” He asked as you moaned, nodding.

“Tell me,”

“Feels so good! Your d-dick ‘s so good!” You moaned as he bit his lip, groaning lowly in your ear.

“Yeah? I’m the only one who can give you dick this good, huh?” He asked.

“Yesss! Only you-FUCK!” You yelled as he hit that spot, making you take it.

“Mmm, you’re the only one I want, the only one I wanna give this dick to, the only one who I know can take it like a good girl,” Katsuki praised as you moaned, feeling a knot in your stomach building up.

“K-Kats! ‘M ‘gna cum!” You mewled as Katsuki tilted your head back, kissing you sloppily.

“Cum for me then, baby. Keep takin’ that dick, just like that. You take it so good, baby, I’m so proud of you. Cum, cum for me,” he gently coaxed as the knot in your stomach finally realeased, your vision scattering with white dots and your voice leaving your body as you began to orgasm, Katsuki still stroking in and out of you.

“Take it, take it baby, ‘cause I’m not stoppin’ til I cum in that sweet, pretty little pussy of yours,” your eyes rolled back as you begged him to slow down but he kept the pace.

“Ahhhh! Katsukiiiiii!” You cried, feeling your legs shake as you creamed down your legs and all over his dick.

“Yessss, yes baby, fuck!” He hissed, leaning forward and pressing his chest against your back, holding you close, massaging your tits as he came inside you, shooting his load into you as he groaned in your ear, catching his breath.

“K-Kats,” you slurred, feeling drowsiness overwhelm you.

“I know…I know. Here, lemme clean you,” Katsuki then grabbed a few paper towels and wiping up the mess on your legs, face and chest.

He then kissed your swollen ass, softly rubbing the abused flesh. He then stood up, kissing your softly.

“You ok?” He asked as you slumped forward, breathing deeply against his chest. He chuckled, kissing your forehead. He slipped off your heels and fixed himself, picking you up bridal style as he carried you out of the club bathroom.

“Where have you guys be-ohhhhh,” Denki wiggled his eyebrows as Katsuki knowingly as the blond mouthed ‘shut the fuck up’, and his ignored all of the playful taunts towards him.

“Jeez, Bakugou, knocked her out, huh?” Kirishima asked as the blond scoffed.

“Yeah, yeah, but it just lets all these other fuckers know that nobody can have her, also,” Bakugou smiled smugly.

“Nobody can beat the pussy up like me,”

[writeshite]

Good Natured

Summary:

There are a great many mysteries in this world; some are solved by the advent of science, others remain secrets of the universe, but without a doubt, perhaps the greatest mystery known to humanity is how you willingly dated and continue to date the Homelander.

Pairings:

Homelander x Gender Neutral!Reader

Tags:

Magic!Reader | A Little Bit Of Flower Language | 5+1 Things (Sort Of) | Fluff | The Tiniest Wee Mention Of Violence

Words: 4584

Author's Note:

The original ask is here, requested by @ayamethewitch I spent three hours reading up on flower language, mainly cause I got sidetracked again. This turned out way longer than I thought it would, and idk how 😭

There are a great many mysteries in this world; some are solved by the advent of science, others remain secrets of the universe, but without a doubt, perhaps the greatest mystery known to humanity is how you willingly dated and continue to date the Homelander.

Every child dreams of becoming a superhero, flying through the sky, saving people from dangers, fame, fortune, and adoration. Annie’s looked to the skies and the heroes that came before with admiration and plastered her bedroom walls with their merchandise; she’d run around the house like she was flying, arms out and smile on her face. Now, as she stood in Vought, the newest member of the Seven, it was safe to say she was far more than just ecstatic.

Though it wasn’t really like anything she’d imagined - the Seven and various other supes stood around the room; the public had had their fill of her, so now, she mingled with her fellow heroes. She’d been nibbling on the same cookie for the past thirty minutes - Stormfront and Homelander were the big no-nos; the two were in the midst of showing off - Queen Maeve had spoken to her for a bit before moving on. Annie was now standing by the Deep and Black Noir, half-listening to whatever the topic of conversation was.

“Hey,” a new voice called out softly. Annie turned, and you held out your hand, “Bloodroot, lovely to meet you.”

“Bloodroot….” Annie says the name cautiously, shaking your hand, and examines you. You’re, for lack of a better term, perhaps the oddest one in the room - your witch hat resembles a mushroom, and your loose pale green shirt has various flowers threaded on the sleeves. It dips down on your chest, exposing the multiple necklaces you have; your pants are a dark color, as are your shoes. Annie notices the necklaces and rings you have all have some form of star-like symbol; if not gold, they’re either red, blue, or white. ‘Reminds me of Homelander,’ she thinks to herself.

“Yeah, it’s a dramatic name, but it does the trick,” you wink. A few petals bloom from the corner of your eye; they drift to the floor and melt into the ground. Annie gawked at you, and you shrugged, “It’s kind of on point, though.”

“That was amazing,” she says, and you wave her off.

“Not really, making petals’ a parlor trick, although….” you trail off, taking off your hat, you shove your hand in it and stick your tongue out, fishing for something, you pull a whole bouquet of yellow roses, and hand them over to her. “Yellow roses to brighten up your day.”

When Annie takes them, the petals open, twisting out to become butterflies that flutter around her, leaving a trail of golden sparkles. The sparkles fall on her, leaving a slight glow and bringing a smile to her face; the stems unravel, and the leaves burst into birds, settling on her shoulders. The unraveled stalks shoot up, then burst like fireworks, Annie’s smile gets wider as she marvels at your magic, “Holy shit….”

“Welcome to Vought, Starlight,” you say. 

The others around had stopped their conversations and joined Annie in marveling, some reached out to the butterflies as they drifted away from her. A few looked just about ready to rush towards you and ask for more magic marvels but resisted doing so. John hated the attention you gave new supes, but it helped them feel less nervous and brought a smile to their faces. Granted, it also meant that a few would latch onto you for a few days before John would threaten them.

“Don’t I get any flowers?” Kevin pouted.

“No.” You almost groan at the sound of John’s voice; he’d gone from his little show-off to your side at the mere mention of flowers from the Deep. He placed his hand on your waist and frowned, glaring daggers at the other hero, “Sorry, Guppy, but my partner’s not some charity.”

“John —” 

“Partner?” Annie questions, and John takes your hand, turning it over to showcase the various rings on your hand; he points to one in particular - the band resembles a vine, twisting towards the center and around three diamonds in the middle. The band wraps around the jewels like a branch would emerge from a tree, “Wow.” It’s all she can say; she’s only been around for a few hours, but from the little she knows so far - you and Homelander are on two ends of the personality spectrum. 

You shake your head as John proudly displays the ring; he doesn’t let go of your hand, instead keeping it in his hold as he stares down the Deep. You’d given him flowers once, and John had thrown a right fit about it, Annie gulps nervously, and you elbow John. “Starlight, is it?” he turns to the newest addition to the team, and she anxiously nods, shaking his hand with a tight smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to welcome you properly.”

Her tight smile loosens when you toss her a reassuring smile, “So…” she starts, “how long….uh….have you been married?” 

“We’re not married, well, not publicly,” John responds, “as far as the public’s aware, we’re recently engaged. Vought likes the opposites attract story, and I like showing off my partner.” 

“How did you meet?” Annie asks; she directs the question at both of you but looks to you.

“I tried shoving my hat down his throat,” you reply, almost deadpanned, it brings a snort out of Annie, “Course, it didn’t work, so I settled for almost turning him into a tree.” She laughs, then reigns it back when John glares at her, “...sorry, sorry….” but then you laugh, and she takes that as a sign that she’s safe to do so again. 

The party’s died down since your welcome gift as people mill about, and the excitement settles down; John grows weary of the conversation, tapping his foot impatiently. When you and Annie’s laughter dies down, he starts to steer you away, footsteps slow as you bid goodbye to the new supe, “Don’t hesitate to find me if you need help,” you say, elbowing John again when he shakes his head sternly, eyes tinted red.

Annie watches you get swept away, now, just you and John; she notes how the supe’s figure nearly wraps around you as if to block anyone from laying eyes on you. It’s not just her; it seems; the other guests all wait for Homelander to direct his attention  - however brief - elsewhere before looking at you. Some practically avert their gaze when you pass by, and Annie has to take a moment to grasp the soft (?) look Homelander gives you.

“Strange aren’t they?” the Deep remarks, “Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who wonders how Homelander got them to date him.” He assures her, “By the way, his hearing barely registers when they’re around, so nothing you say will have him ripping your lungs out.”

Yeah, nothing quite like she imagined.

Every day, the damage control department at Vought sends kisses towards the photo they have of you. The picture hangs framed in the back corner, tucked away in a tiny cubicle, where the tired department has set up their offerings - see before you, they had it tough, cleaning up after one supe was hard enough, but cleaning up after Homelander was a nightmare. Then, like an angel, you graced this world, and their jobs became easier, Homelander’s damage rate decreased, and they could rest easy, knowing they wouldn’t have to sacrifice countless nights to fix things.

Various other departments had their own altars, but damage control was the main one - it was well hidden, polished daily, and sometimes prayed to as well. This was all, of course, on a need-to-know basis; Homelander didn’t quite appreciate anyone so much as looking at you for too long; Anika shuddered to think what he’d do if he found out. Security had personal altars, all tucked away by their stations - hers consisted of a vase of sweet peas and yellow lilies, a subtle way to convey gratitude. The combo was very common around security, and some had even gone as far as to wear it on their person.

The higher-ups were none the wiser, and no one felt inclined to inform them on the matter. “Your flower’s drooping.” The silent worship you received from the Vought employees also brought about superstitions - letting flowers die on Vought grounds could bring misfortune or, worse, Homelander (somehow). As if Anika didn’t already have enough to fear from this godforsaken job.

She tended to leave her flowers till the day they were shriveled before replacing them; her coworkers all shook their heads at her as she dumped the old flowers. She’d already had her last break of the day, so she’d have to wait and come back tomorrow with new flowers. She shook off the nagging feeling, focusing on her work; just when she thought she was home-free, low and behold, Homelander comes charging into the room, eyeing each and every one of them as he lays out his demands - she prays he just waltzes past her, but he doesn’t. Choosing her to find what he needs and to find it now.

Her hands slightly tremble as she works; the supe stands over her, arms collapsed behind his back - she thinks she can feel the heat of his laser eyes as she takes what he deems as too long. He’s almost fed up with her slow progress when salvation appears; you waltz into the room - your iconic hat gone - you don a classy suit-like attire, with a waist cape and fingerless gloves, you look every bit the witch Vought market you out to be. 

“There you are,” you say, coming up to them. Anika’s coworkers try not to seem too nosy, but some have their heads slightly turned in her direction. “John, you’re bothering the poor dear.”

“I’m not bothering her; am I bothering you?” John asks in a demanding tone. Anika’s not sure what answer he expects, but she shakes her head, a strained smile on her face, “See.”

You roll your eyes, “You’re bothering her, John; come on, if you’re that bored, I’m sure we can find you something else to do.” You grab his arm, tugging lightly; he takes a step, then turns back to Anika, “You can get the report sent up to you; now come on.” You tug a few more times, and he finally turns to leave; you move to follow but pause, hand reaching out to Anika’s vase. Sweet peas and yellow lilies sprout from nothing, “Should last you longer than the last ones,” you tell her. 

Her head snaps to you, as do the heads of everyone else, but you just chuckle and leave them with a wink. Anika leaves an offering at every altar in the building for a whole week after, a grand gesture of thanks that she’s still breathing. She’s on her way to damage control when she bumps into you; she steps back and thanks you profusely.

“No problem at all,” you tell her, “feel free to come to me if you need any help.” 

She nods, watching you as you go by, then averts her gaze when Homelander rounds the corner. You take one of his arms, disrupting his perfect posture, threading your fingers through his; you almost skip in the corridor - Anika leaves extra on that offering.

Whatever Ashley did in a past life to deserve this, she’d like to repent for now at this very instance.

Of course, you happen to fall sick on the day of a major interview, and of course, the doctors forbid you from leaving the bed until it's passed. The first wave of get-well-soon flowers get returned when your sneezing makes them explode; Homelander practically bars anyone aside from the doctors from stepping foot in your shared suite. 

“John, I can’t get better if you chase away the doctors.” You try to sit up, but John pushes you back down, wrapping you to your neck in blankets. It wasn’t anything too serious, most likely just a cold; a week’s worth of bed rest should do you some good. The doctors had been sent to double-check and make sure the diagnosis was correct; you wrangle your hands from the cocoon you’re in, taking John’s hands in yours. “Dear, I don’t need to be buried in mountains of blankets.”

“Yes, you do,” he insists, “that’s what people do when they’re sick.” 

Ashley nods her head to herself, he’s not wrong, but she thinks he might be smothering you - not that she says that aloud. Homelander hasn’t left your side since you woke up with the cough; he’d thrown out all the flowers when someone had commented on pollen allergies - not that he knows if you’ve got them - you’re decked head to toe in cozy clothing. An hour ago, the heating had been up to the max, but you’d put it back down after Ashely had shown some discomfort. 

“Homelander, sir,” she interrupts, gulping when Homelander turns to her with crimson eyes, “the interview starts in —” she ducks, barely managing to dodge the laser from his eyes. 

“What did I say about the interview?” 

She whimpers, “The executives said….” her eyes dart away, “....they said it’s not an option.”

Your coughing fit draws his attention away from her, and she sighs in relief; he speeds off, returning with a glass of water. He puts the edge of the cup by your lips, you manage half the glass, but Homelander doesn’t move, insisting you finish the rest. He pushes your hair back, shirking off his glove, and placing the back of his hand on your forehead - your running temperature is running almost as high as he usually does. The medicine they’d given you had been sickeningly sweet, and even now, John could still smell it in your breath - you’re eyes droop, and you’re on the verge of nodding off, yet stubbornly, you refuse to sleep until this matter is resolved.

“Sleep,” John demands, but you shake your head.

“Not until you promise to go to the interview.” Your voice is raspy, and you’re quite literally hanging on a thread; your mind is foggy, and your limbs feel heavy; the plush comfort of the bed lulls you further and further from the waking world. “John,” you persist until he groans, agreeing to it; once you’re sure he’s not just saying it to get you off his back, you give in to the fatigue. John tucks you in bed, a kiss on your head; he switches off the lights and drags Ashley out of the room.

“You don’t leave them alone for anything,” he seethes, “I don’t care if the building catches fire; you stay by their side until I’m back. Got it?”

Ashley nods, eyes wide as she tries not to wince at the tight grip the supe has on her forearm; Homelander straightens back to his signature posture, and she tries not to quiver at the way he scrutinizes her. She walks back into the room where you rest, grabbing a chair; she puts it close to the bed but moves back when the room takes on a scarlet glow. Homelander’s footsteps echo as he leaves; your face is half hidden under the blankets, and she doesn’t reach out to touch you - on the off chance your maniac’s using his x-ray vision to spy on her. She takes back what she’d been thinking earlier; she’d obviously been lucky enough not to be stuck with Homelander in this life.

Channel One prided itself in being the first at everything; over the years, they’d been the first to interview Vought and give the public the best of what journalism had to offer. Today, they had the luck of interviewing the it couple at Vought - Homelander and Bloodroot - the opposites that attracted the title’s still in work. Jennifer prided herself in being the one to catch this interview - the last interview hadn’t been a bust per se, but you’d been sick, and Homelander had been on edge the whole time.

She’d gotten a double couch for you and Homelander to sit on, and an armchair for herself, an assortment of flowers had been arranged for you - anthuriums for hospitality and heathers for admiration - not the usual combo they’d pick for guests but anything vaguely romantic like a rose might have her losing her arm to the Homelander. The live studio audience sounded excited; they murmured among themselves as they anticipated your arrival. They quieted down when you entered the room, followed closely behind by Homelander. You and the supe sat close together on the double couch, his arm draped behind you on the back, his other hand holding one of yours in his lap.

She held out her hand to introduce herself but pulled it back when Homelander stopped you from reaching out. She smoothed down her hands on her skirt, the director signaled, and the cameras started rolling, “Good evening and welcome; tonight, we return with Homelander, accompanied by his partner, Bloodroot.” 

The audience clapped, and she handed you the flowers, “From everyone in the studio, we’re happy to see you up and about this week,” she said, ignoring the slight eye roll from the other supe.

You thank her, fingers thrumming on them, the vines twisted around themselves, and they went from bouquet to flower crown; the audience gasped, “So, tell us about your upcoming engagement party, what should we expect for the future of Bloodroot and Homelander?”

“Well, you can expect a lot more of this,” Homelander kisses you; it’s short, but it tugs at the heartstrings, “and a big wedding,” he adds on.

“That’s sweet,” she comments. The interview is a lot easier than the last one, Homelander’s still the egotistical bastard he usually is, but he tries to reign it in - barely. The flower crown on your head remains as elegant as it was when you’d made it, Jennifer has a blast, and the audience has fun chiming in with their own questions. She remembers the first time you and Homelander had an interview with Channel One - it had been at the beginning of your relationship, and the number of proposals you received was astounding. 

“So, aside from all that, do the two of you plan to start a family?” Jennifer asks.

You scoff, “Doubt it.”

“I prefer to have my partner’s undivided attention,” Homelander replies, shuffling closer to you. The audience is split in answers; some sigh in disappointment, others cheer - the interview ends with applause; when the cameras stop rolling, and the lights go out, Jennifer watches backstage as Homelander piles treat atop treat, mostly sweet, the two of you stand off in your own little corner, the supe devoted to listening to every word you said.

Hughie would like it on record that this had been Billy’s idea, not his, Billy’s. Because who else would think of kidnapping the world’s most overpowered psychopath's partner - though how they managed to get the jump on you is another matter entirely. Annie had helped; well, as soon as she’d made them all promise nothing would happen to you, screw what happened to Homelander; she wanted assurances you’d be safe.

“They’re not as bad as Homelander.” She’d been arguing back and forth with Billy; the subject of what to do with you had been the hot topic for the past few hours. They couldn’t step foot outside the lead shielded basement without a foolproof plan - Homelander had been rampaging across the country looking for you. “If we try, maybe we can convince them to help us.”

“You’re talking about the same bloke who stood by that fucking cunt,” Billy argued, “They’re married to him for fuck’s sake; what makes you think they don't know about him?”

Annie hesitated, “They’re not like that —”

“Just cause they helped you on your first day doesn’t mean they’re not gonna turn you to mush at the first chance.” Billy points at the wedding photo from last year; it had been as grand as Homelander had said it would be, “They slept with the cunt, they kiss the cunt, they married the cunt, they’re as bad as the cunt.”

“Well, at least I’m trying,” Annie says, “all you’ve come up with is making this a hostage situation as if we have the muscle to handle that.”

“Oh yeah, and what if your friend in there goes back and blabs about us to their husband? What then? You know how Homelander gets; you willing to have your head blown off?”

Hughie turns away as the timer goes off, he opts to hand you your food to avoid getting dragged into the argument again. You’d been placed in the most lead-shielded area of the hideout - Annie had fitted it to be more comfortable than its usual concrete flooring, she’d also brought miscellaneous books from your suite, and you’d been rereading those for the days you were trapped here.

“Any chance you’ll let me walk out of here today?” you ask, but Hughie shakes his head. “Worth a shot,” you shrug. 

Hughie doesn’t quite understand you; you’re not as malicious as the other people at Vought, or even most of the supes, so why on Earth did you choose to marry Homelander? Annie had said it was for genuine love, Frenchie had morbidly remarked that maybe you suffered from some form of Stockholm Syndrome, Billy had scoffed - the answers varied and against his better judgment - and the strict rule of not making conversation with you - he asked. 

“Oh, well, because he asked,” you replied, glancing down at the ring on your finger; you twist it with a small smile, “and I’d already gone through the trouble of falling in love with him.”

“But he’s —”

“A murderous cunt with the emotional intelligence of a three-year-old on steroids?” you provided, and he nodded, “Yeah, I’ve gotten my fair share of concerned letters from fans and anti-Homelander fans alike. He’s complicated, and —” 

There’s a crash upstairs, and Maeve’s voice carries through, she’s just arrived, and no doubt joined the argument. “Any chance you’ll divorce him and help us put him down?”

You shake your head, “Not likely,” you reply, “but I can agree to possibly holding off his murderous tendencies long enough to have you escape in one piece and hopefully making sure he doesn’t hunt you down after.” You smile, but it doesn’t quite reach your eyes.

“You know then,” he mutters, “about….” he gestures to nothing, in particular, hand waving around in the air.

“It’s hard to miss, especially when he comes to bed with bits of human still in his hair.”

Hughie leaves you; he finds Annie and Billy have stopped arguing, but they occupy opposite ends of the room, Maeve in between, rubbing her temple and no doubt nursing another headache. “This plan was a mess from the beginning,” she mumbles, “did either of you even think this through?” 

“Well, I was thinking we could use them to get Homelander to heel,” Billy voices, “Miss starshine over there wants us to hold hands and sing kumbayah with ‘em.”

“That’s not what I said —”

“ —might as well have.”

“Enough,” Maeve yelled, “Homelander’s been plowing his fist through people’s chests looking for them, he’s burned abandoned lots looking for them, and he’s getting crazier and harder to predict by the second.”

“How bad is it?” M.M asks, finally feeling the need to join the conversation. 

“His costume’s more red now that it is blue,” Maeve responds, “We’ve gotta take them back.”

“How? Homelander’s been circling the planet 24/7; he so much as hears their voice outside these walls, we’re dead in a heartbeat.” Frenchie laments.

“Unless,” M.M. chimes in, “what if we leave and then have Maeve respond to an anonymous tip.” He accentuates the last two words with air quotations, “At least a couple hours after we high tail out of here.”

“That’s a stupid idea,” Billy says.

It’s their only idea, at least the only one that doesn’t involve any of them getting killed; they pack up everything and make it look like a construction company moving out and about. They don’t go too far - a lone truck driving speedily away from where Homelander’s partner is found a few hours into the morning would no doubt be suspicious - they park just behind one of the other buildings nearby, hiding away on the second floor of one of them. As planned, Maeve shows up first, Annie and the remaining Seven behind her; they step aside at the sound of a crack in the sky as Homelander lands upfront. 

 The ground isn’t perfect when he lands, shattering like glass; some of the concrete flies up as he rushes in, and the lead door flies through one of the walls a few minutes later, followed by a frustrated scream, then nothing. There are a few moments of silence, and Annie and Maeve share an uneasy look. Just as they were about ready to follow, the doors swung open, and out came Homelander, you carried bridal style in his arms.

“John, I can walk fine,” they could hear you insisting, but the supe was resolute, flying off before anyone could utter a word. 

The Deep lets out a sigh, doubling over on his knees, “Oh, thank god, we found them; I don’t know how much longer I could survive with Homelander that hopped up and manic.”

John doesn’t leave your side even when you get back to Vought towers; the doctors have to work around him as he glares down at each and every one of them. He doesn’t trust the food brought to you and has several of the humans who do bring it to taste it first, waiting to see if any of them pass out or die. You haven’t told him about Annie or Maeve, and you’re not going to; judging by how close he is to punching a hole through the wall, you opt to keep that little nugget of information tucked away.

It’s just the two of you now; John’s bloody uniform is lying in the corner of your shared bathroom, and you’re sitting between his legs, leaning back on him in the bathtub. The bathtub. is spacious enough, but he’s tucked himself in one end with you. You’d already helped him wash off the blood, and he’d taken his time running the soap down your body, reassuring himself you were, in fact, real. 

The water’s lukewarm now, so you pat his hand, but it takes a few more pats and a knock on the door to get him to move. You stand from the tub alongside him, but he guides you out, hand on your lower back, as the other grabs one of the robes; he has it gathered up to your neck; he wraps one of the towels around your neck and then opens the door - Ashley goes over a few more details, then leaves you and John to your evening.

“I’ll find them,” John mutters on your skin, “....make sure they die painfully.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

He doesn’t say anything, eyes void as he helps you change into sleep attire, “I’m serious, John, promise me you won’t do anything rash.” He nods stiffly, hugging you so as to hide his face as he mentally plans the demise of your kidnappers.

End Note:

This has been a rather long fic, and I have no idea where it started or where it ended 💀 Stay Hydrated.

[brittle-doughie]

Can you do the NPCs in Odyssey CRK, like the Pearl legion or the crème soldiers?

At Your Beck and Call (Pearl Legion/Custard Soldiers)

A round to the soldiers of the Republic, lads.

Pearl Legion

Being active commander of the Pearl Legion was no easy task, but you’ve worked hard training for this moment, a long way from originally being a guard for House Oyster

Your loyalty to your fellow Legion members and to Lady Oyster Cookie knew no limits, willing to put down your own life for their sake.

In return, Lady Oyster Cookie held a great deal of admiration for your dedication to her House. The Legion follow your orders with no second to hesitate and execute them to great effect.

Your presence already brought them more inspiration and courage that will lead you all to victory, nothing can get past your shield and your enemies will be struck down by your spear! Clotted Cream Cookie won’t undermine the effects you have to your Legion.

They would shield you from any further attacks if you became injured during a fight, a few would shield you from the front while one dragged you to safety. They couldn’t be as strong as they are without you, so tending to you was top priority!

On a lighter note, during downtime, your Legion would lowkey gush about you in the House quarters, seeing you handle those foul monsters in your own, ah, it was making one of them swoon!

Of course, once you enter the room, they stand up at attention! You had to tell them on more then occasion that you were all off-duty for today, so they can chill out in your presence.

“Sir!/Madam! What shall you have us do?”

You tell them to be at ease. Please, they can call you Y/N Cookie during break time!

Oyster Cookie is lowkey about it, but if anyone was pushing their luck with you and the Legion, she won’t hesitate to proclaim your immense loyalty to her!

Custard Soldiers

While your fellow troops wielded their rifles, your status as Captain among them meant you dual wielded pistols and wore larger pauldrons on your shoulders, making you stand out amongst them.

In comparison to Oyster Cookie, while you loyal to Lord Custard Cookie, you did find yourself question this orders more often. He had you follow right beside him as his bodyguard, fully expecting you to protect at the slightest hint of danger.

You were a father/mother to your troops, sticking up for them if any Cookie was giving them a hard time and sticking by them during combat. Of course, you were also willing to discipline them if they acted out in any way.

You were steadfast when you and troops were tasked to safeguard the Soul Jam, they…were planning on returning them to the Ancient Heroes, right? You confided to your troops when you arrived at the Institute, was this really what you all should be doing?

The bootlickers were offended by your concerns, while the other soldiers were willing to share their thoughts too. Discourse was common among the troops from this point that you had to break up on more then one occasion.

Lord Custard Cookie did reprimand you in more then one instance about questioning his authority. Yes, he did ultimately have faith in your capabilities, but he didn’t like how your sense of morality was conflicting with your duty as his prime soldier.

So imagine your surprise when Custard was revealed to have bailed on your platoon during the Dark Enchantress attack. You had your mounting doubts about the man, but to have essentially abandoned you and your team of Custard Soldiers…it was clear now where you stood.

You fight harder then ever now that the weight of commanding your troops was now all on you until Clotted Cream Cookie can reach out to you. Until then, you swore to protect your troops with all you had and they did the same. Soldiers that previously doubted you were quick to apologize and from now on will trust your judgment!

You now hand your loyalty to Clotted Cream Cookie, who vowed to never take you and your troops’ service to House Custard for granted.

[deconstructthesoup]

Fantasy High Adventure Time AU

And I am back at it again with the self-indulgent nonsense...

Okay, so, yeah, this started with my post where I noticed the stark similarities between Marceline and Fig. Which, of course, sent my ADHD brain spiraling, and I decided to actually COMMIT to this.

Also, fair warning, this isn't gonna be neat and organized like my others, this is just gonna be *wall of incoherent text*. If I could draw, this would be entertaining, but, uh... YEP!

*clears throat*

So... Fabian and Kristen are the only two humans living in Ooo, and while they both arrived on its shores in different circumstances, the two of them were both taken in by a goblin family who'd left the goblin kingdom and taken up residence in one of the destroyed cities. Eventually, the two set off on their own, along with their adoptive brother Riz, to pursue a life of adventure and heroism just outside of the Candy Kingdom.

All of them have pretty different motives for going into the hero business, though it mostly comes back to just wanting to stick with each other. Fabian's in it for the adrenaline rushes and the glory, Riz is in it for the detective skills and putting bad guys away, and Kristen's just in it to help others out. Riz is, of course, the braincell amongst the three of them, and he's usually there on the sidelines rubbing the bridge of his nose while his siblings are getting themselves tangled in romantic subplots.

The three of them mostly answer to Adaine, aka Princess Buttercream---a girl who was mutated into a candy person after nearly dying in the aftermath of the Great Mushroom War, and has since built herself a kingdom dedicated to peace, learning, science, magic, and sweets. She's incredibly intelligent (and, unlike Bonnie, actually has a lot of interest in magic) and a very capable ruler, but she does occasionally get herself into scrapes---so, it's a good thing she's got three intrepid heroes watching her back.

Not too far away from where Fabian, Kristen, and Riz live is the Thistlespring residence, where their friend Gorgug lives---a shy half-giant who has a passion for tinkering and dreams of adventuring, but is held back by his fear of his giant fury taking him over. The heroes still visit him constantly and encourage him to try as best as he can, eventually giving him the confidence he needs to start making his own path---and to finally ask out the girl he likes.

Another close friend of the heroes is Figeroth the Demon Queen, a devil-may-care rock star with powers that come straight from the Nightosphere. She, too, remembers what life was like before the Great Mushroom War, but she doesn't really think back on it as much as she maybe should. Fig and Adaine are best friends, and have been since they met in the wastelands of the ruined planet... though their relationship's been a little bit strained as of late, mostly due to Fig's long-ago breakup with the former princess of the Fire Kingdom and the current librarian of Wizard City. Adaine's been trying to get them back together, and while Fig and Ayda are talking again... there's still a while to go.

The Candy Kingdom is constantly under attack by the Ice Queen, who at the start of the story just appears to be a wicked witch who plans on imprisoning Adaine and taking over Ooo... a witch that, unfortunately, Fabian has a bit of a thing for. But after some digging, Fabian, Kristen, and Riz find out that the Ice Queen is actually Adaine's older sister Aelwyn, who's been driven mad by a crown that their father had uncovered in the days of the Mushroom War. Aelwyn has forgotten almost everything---including her best friend and girlfriend, Sam Nightingale---but she still dimly remembers her connection to Adaine, even if Adaine was too young to fully remember her. (Oh, yeah, also, Aelwyn's, like, twelve years older than her in this.)

This is all I really have so far, though I've got a couple other snippets---Ragh also starts out as an antagonist but grows into a solid ally and Fabian's love interest, Tracker and Jawbone are part of a group of werewolves who are descended from some of the original humans, Ostentasia is an LSP equivalent---but, yeah, this is all I can get out right now.

...I gotta go to bed.

[geminixevans-stan]

Found Ch. 1

Pairing: Lloyd Hansen x Female Reader

Words: 1.8k+

Summary: After a precious bundle changes reader’s life, she does everything in her power to leave the life she left behind. That is until her luck runs out and everything she once knew comes back all in one person. 

Warnings: 18+ Minors DNI, mentions of past life, mentions of gun use. 

A/N: I told you all there would be more Lloyd coming from me! Now in series form and I pray that I can stick to it! I hope that you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Like, comment, & reblog! ♥

Divider by @firefly-graphics

I do not consent to my work being copied, plagiarized, or translated in any way >:P

Another late day. Another day filled with meetings that half of which could have been an email. The mundane droning of quarterly outputs and fake promises from co-workers to do better was starting to get boring.

The meeting room filled with a mixture of eagerness and boredom lasted for another 30 minutes, feeling your phone buzz as you already knew what that meant. 

You missed pick-up time again…

Luckily, you had help in that department. The deal was always that if you were going to be late coming home Lula would be in charge of pickup. 

She would always make sure to text you that she successfully picked up the tiny person that drove you to sit in these boring meetings in the first place.

Liana, your precious baby girl changed your life in so many ways that you would forever be in her debt. Like her birth, the knowledge of her was a surprise to you. 

The minute you heard the strong heartbeat on that monitor, you knew the life that you once had was over. She was the priority and you did everything in your power to change your life for the better. 

Your previous life was no place for her to grow up. The fear that her father would take her under his wing was something that you feared. 

And you feared nothing…

Not until you held all 8 pounds and 9 ounces of pure perfection in your arms. The second those two-toned eyes met yours, there was no turning back to what you used to be. The only fear that you had was one day she would learn who her father really was. 

You were a mother and a mother only. Liana Skye was your whole entire world and you dared anyone to come within a foot of her. 

She softened you in ways that you didn’t know you could be. Gave you the will to be patient, and compassionate, and whenever she laid eyes on you and that toothy grin came into sight, you were a goner. 

Never did you want someone’s approval so bad until her. No one else mattered in the world and you did everything to make sure she was well taken care of. 

Vetting the best nannies around, making sure she went to the best school that the city could offer — you were that mom. There wasn’t anything that she couldn’t ask for that you wouldn’t get for her. 

Except…

You knew that the day would come when she would ask why she didn’t have a father like the rest of her classmates. To your reply, he was away… always away. Deep down you knew that was a lie. 

But there was no way that you were going to crush your 4-year-old’s heart and tell her that she would never see him. You made sure of that.

You left your previous life behind, making sure that there was no lingering trace of you ever existing. It was like your old self never existed and you liked it that way. 

Liana could never know who you were before you became her mommy. Her hero. Who you wanted her to know was the woman that you created. A character that you wrote all on your own. 

This facade that you played so well was working for you and although you didn’t need to work, you had to keep up the appearances. No one in that city knew just how well off you were. 

Thanks to your previous life, you racked in enough money to take care of you, Liana, and the generation after her. It definitely came with a great cost and there was no way that your precious baby would ever know what you had to do to make sure she would be set for life. 

The sound of the laptop shutting signaled that the last meeting of the day was over and you were more than ready to drive home, take a hot shower, and snuggle with your whole entire world. 

She was the spitting image of you, always amazed you at how you created such a beautiful little girl. Yet as you look into her eyes, you see you and her father combined and it sent a pang in your chest like no other. 

You didn’t want to stay in the building any longer than you had to, gathering up your folders and depositing them on your desk as you grabbed your purse and keys to head out of the 128-floor building. 

The sun had already begun to set, shades of oranges and purples filled the sky as you walked out of the building in the search for your car that always sat in the same spot every day.

The walk to the garage felt like hours but in reality, were minutes, you couldn’t wait to kiss those chubby cheeks that rose whenever she saw you. 

Luck was on your side as you drove down the busy road, noticing the light traffic at that time of day. The universe knew that you needed to see your baby, making sure every traffic light that you met was green as the garden in your backyard. 

You make a quick stop at the gas station, half a mile from home to fill up the almost empty tank, shooting Lula a text that you would be home in as little as 3 minutes. 

Usually, you would get a fast text back but, not this time. It wasn’t of importance and you were sure that she was probably busy with Liana to answer right away. It didn’t matter to you in the slightest because she was the best at what she did. 

You pumped and paid, getting back in the car, eyes focused on the straight road before turning the corner to get to your house. It was a community, one that you felt safe in. 

Liana had friends that she had play dates with and you would be the best hostess to a group of kids almost every other weekend. Your little girl was quite the social butterfly, reminding yourself of you when you were her age. 

But life had a funny way of changing a child no matter what age they were. Call it puberty or trauma. Each played a significant role in the path you chose before becoming a mother. 

The lights outside were lit, smiling as you saw the inside of your house lit up like Christmas. Lula’s car was parked right beside your designated spot as usual. 

Nothing was out of place… No reason to be alarmed at all. You take your belongings out of the car, taking two steps at a time to get to your front door. With ease you unlock the door, only when you emerged inside were you met with silence.

Your eyes scan the front room, not a piece of furniture was out of place. Could you have missed something in the communication with Lula? Checking the unread messages on your phone, you see the messages that you missed. 

One stating that Liana hadn’t been feeling well and would be more than likely sleep when you got home. That alone caused a slow panic to arise. How didn’t you pay attention to that? 

Quickly you toe off your heels, stepping more into the house as you begin to call out for Lula.

You begin to check the living room first, feet padding the wooden floor, “Lu?” Silence. 

Turning towards the kitchen, there was something that was off. The smell of chicken noodle soup permeated the air and for the first time in a couple hours, you were famished. 

Your stomach grumbled at the aromatic smell, knowing that Lula cooked everything just right. Making it further into the kitchen, relief washed over you as you see Lula sitting in the chair with her back facing. 

Blowing out a breath you being to walk towards, “There you are. Is Lili okay?” the question lingering as you get closer. Usually, Lula would have turned around to see you by now but… nothing. 

“Lu… You okay?”

It was apparent that as you got closer that something wasn’t right at all. Your eyes dart to every secret compartment, taking another step towards Lula. 

Placing a hand on her shoulder, you call out to her again, “Lu?” concern lacing your tongue the minute you became face to face with her. 

You shake her unconscious frame one.. Twice, before she slumps over. Panic courses through your nerves and that is when you knew something was entirely wrong. 

Without hesitation, you grab at the kitchen drawer, pulling out a custom-made 9mm, not even stopping to see if Lula was breathing. 

All you knew was that Liana could be in trouble and god help the person dumb enough to come in here. 

Taking two steps at a time again, you wasted no time getting to her decorated door, one that she was proud to decorate herself. Except it was slightly cracked and her night light shone through. 

Pushing open the door, you’re met with an image that would have warmed you in normal circumstances. In a perfect life, this was what you wanted. 

But your life was less than perfect. 

The arms wrapped around your daughter shouldn’t even be near her. He shouldn’t even be here. For the first time in — ever, fear as cold as ice ran through your veins. 

“Hi cupcake,” his whispered tone reached over to you, your eyes looking over at Liana as she didn’t stir one bit. 

The hand holding your weapon trembled, anger and fear lacing your nerves, “Whatever you want… let’s deal with it,” your breath rising and becoming deeper, keeping your eyes on him, “But not in front of her… not in front my baby”

“You mean our baby sweetie,” he smirks at your sharp intake of breath, chuckling softly as he keeps his voice low, “Didn’t think I would find out? It took me a while and well… You’re good.”

If it was one person you could never hide from… It was Lloyd Hansen. He knew your next move before you did. You knew his next move before he did. 

But this… This move you didn’t think he would make so soon. 

“Lloyd… Let her go… now”

“Not a chance sweet cheeks. You thought you could keep her from me?”

“Just let her go!” you spat between clenched teeth, almost raising your weapon. Lloyd had your world in his hands and you had no idea what he was going to do next. 

Call it luck again or the universe. Lloyd looked down at a sleeping Liana, anger and conflict racing through his own veins. Those ocean green eyes looked at you, a frown on his face as he slowly laid Liana back down, making sure to cover her back up. 

Just as carefully as he tucked her in, he carefully rose from her bed, making it over to you, “Lead the way cupcake, we have a lot to discuss…” 

[creweemmaeec11]

A Serrated Cage Key

TW: Captivity, Talk of Suicide.

Guys I wrote whump I did it!

The hero tried not to flinch at the sound of the small metal capsule that hit the floor of their cell.

It was a cell. No matter how many times the villain tried to call it "their room," it was their cell. The hardwood floor, wallpaper, comfy bed littered with plush pillows, full bookcase, and other nonsense didn't make it any less of a cage.

"Happy Birthday," the villain said, but their tone held no joy, not even their normal attempt at friendly civility or faked happiness. It sounded tired if nothing else.

"It's not my-" the hero bit their tongue, eying the villain up and down. Something was off, different.

The criminal had spent the past 3 months trying to be friendly, to convince the hero to just sit down and accept this. Claiming they needed the hero out of their way, and this was the only way around killing them.

As if that was supposed to make the hero grateful!?

They seemed to go to such lengths to make the hero comfortable, asking what the hero's favourite foods were, hobbies, promising they'd provide any and all that they could. As if that would make up for holding them against their will.

The villain even went as far as seeming exasperated when the hero continued to be "hostile"!!!

But the hero would never just sit and accept this, ever. They had family. They had friends. They had a job to do! They weren't going to just give it all up!

They couldn't...

God... they missed them so much...

They missed the way their best friend annoyingly ruffled their hair, and the way their mom called every time she saw them on the news to congratulate them. The hero even missed their voices.

The only voice they ever heard now was villains.

It had been a few days since the villain had visited, which was strange, considering they usually came by at least once a day.

The last time they'd visited, the criminal brought a guitar and a book with them, suggesting perhaps the hero would like to learn a new skill. The hero had faked being interested, saying they'd always wanted to learn to play the guitar, before hurling it with all their might right back at the villain with a shout.

It made them sick, the genuine light that had found the villain's eyes when they faked being interested. Like they really cared.

The criminal had finally snapped, losing their facade of kindness. They told the hero they were tired of this, and they were trying their best to make the hero comfortable but that they weren't exactly helping!

The hero fully lost it, then. They yelled every single profanity they could think of, and told the villain they could stick that guitar where the sun didn't shine. They told the criminal they were sick, and that they would never ever be comfortable being held captive! They said they would rather be dead than this.

By the end of their montage, they realized they were crying, but weren't sure when they'd started.

"I would rather be dead," they reiterated through tears, "gods just-"

They wanted this to be over. They just wanted to get out.

"If you think you're tired, imagine how I feel," the hero cried wiping angrily at their tears that wouldn't seem to stop. "I hate you! I hate this! I miss my family! I miss my friends! I miss the great view of my bedroom window and my mom's cooking. I miss..." they choked a bit, realizing what had started as them screaming had slowly grown quieter in volume, "my sister's boyfriend was planning to propose. I'll never know if she said yes. I won't get to see her wedding. I missed my mother's 50th birthday. I-" They sunk down onto their bed, hugging their knees to their chest, "I wish you would have just killed me. It would have been kinder than this,"

The villain had stayed frozen in the doorway for a few minutes, then without another word, they turned around and locked the door behind themselves, leaving the hero crying in their room alone.

Which brought them to now.

"What is it?" The hero asked bitterly, eyeing the capsule on the ground warily, "Because I swear if it's another attempt to-"

"Nope," Villain cut them off, "No, I'm done. I think you made your feelings on the matter quite clear,"

"Then what is it?" the hero replied sharply.

"It's what you wanted," they replied, gesturing at it with one of their hands before crossing their arms and leaning against the doorframe.

The hero squinted suspiciously, slowly getting up to pick up the small metal cylinder. The outside was blank, so the hero popped the lid off, and tipped the item into their hand. They weren't expecting two large pills to fall out into their palm. They looked up at the other in confusion.

"Cyanide Pills," the villain stated plainly.

The hero's eyes widened, "What..."

The villain made a shrugging gesture with their shoulders, "You told me yesterday you would rather be dead than trapped in here, so. If that's what you truly want..." they hesitated for a moment, "Those should be painless..."

The hero clenched their fist around the pills in their hand, "You're a bastard," They sneered, "Do you think I don't realize exactly what this is? What you're doing?"

The criminal tilted their head questioningly.

"This is you're way of keeping your hands clean!" The hero shouted, anger rising, "If I take these, I didn't die by your hand; it was my own. You can keep your filthy conscious a little cleaner. Then if I don't take them, you can frame it like it was my choice. Like I chose to be in here! But then you can say at least you gave me the option, right!?"

The villain gave a half-hearted shrug again, "Now you've got the choice. I did tell you I'd get anything you wanted that I could. If this is what you want, then..."

The hero started laughing out of sheer disbelief, "I'm sorry, are you trying to frame this as you doing something nice?"

"No," the villain replied, "I'm not trying to frame it as anything, period. It is what it is,"

"What it is, is ridiculous," the hero replied, "If you make a prisoner choice between the electric chair or a life sentence, you are still sending them to death, just at different speeds. You don't to get to feel good. At least in prison, it was their own actions that got them there. If I do take these, then my hand was forced by yours,"

"I warned you that you would force me to take you off the battlefield if you didn't stop. It was your actions-" the villain tried.

"Oh, screw off with that bull!" hero snapped, "Your actions forced me to act in the first place!"

"I'm a villain," they snapped, "My men also have families to feed, and every time you screw up one of our plans, there are kids that go hungry. I put my own first,"

They turned to walk out, but something stopped them, and they slowly turned back around with a sigh, "By the way... your sister said yes,"

The hero's eyes went wide, "What!?"

"She said yes the day before I kidnapped you. She planned to tell the whole family over your mother's birthday dinner, but there was no celebration because they are stressed about your disappearance. She told a friend last night over text that she won't start planning the wedding until they find you,"

Hero's heart instantly felt like it broke. They didn't even have the energy to scold the villain for hacking into their sister's phone. They just stared, a devasted look on their face while an emptiness bottomed out their gut.

The villain took a deep breath, before sighing, "so..."

With that, they turned around to leave again, opening the door, but before they could step through, the hero called out.

"Wait!'

Villain froze in the doorway, back still to the hero, but their head turned to listen.

"If... if I did take these. Would you at least... tell my family? That I'm..." the hero muttered.

Villain's entire body seemed to stiffen for a moment, before they let out a breath, "Yes," they said in a way that sounded absolute, "if that's what you want,"

Then, they were gone, before the hero could say anything else. There was a click of the lock, then the room fell to silence.

The hero put the pills back in the capsule, collapsing back onto their bed.

They spent the rest of the night torn between sleeping or giving their sister that spring wedding she'd always wanted.

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "A Princess On Lothal"

Mini Leia is here to lift everyone's spirits, and provide some much-needed hardware to the Rebellion.

Right, so going to have to be careful about the new photo limit, but just one quick cap from the beginning here because awwww the Loth-cat was comforting Ezra!

Oooh the deep glockenspiel adds some interesting texture to this music cue here.

And cue the Hammerhead corvettes. Good thing Leia dropped by when most of the blockade was still sweeping up on Garel.

(They'll be back soon, Lothal and Garel are practically galactic neighbors.)

Lol Lyste sighing in aggravation about "Another delegation from Alderaan." I'm certain Bail and Breha have cultivated quite the bleeding heart reputation as cover for their covert Rebel activities.

I don't think the voice actress they chose is that great. She sounds... way older than 15/16 and I can tell she's trying for the cadence of Carrie Fisher's snark but... I dunno it just lands weird for me. I think they could have gotten away with having her voice sound younger and it would have been okay.

Chopper sticking by Ezra's side. :((((

A slow, mournful version of Ezra's theme. Fitting, as he's going to be grieving the whole episode. Which is a nice bit of continuity. I love it when shows allow time for characters to grieve and adjust to losses they've sustained.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The way Ezra idly thumps the cadet helmet to the side of his head. Just a nice little gesture that adds character and flavor.

Oh shit, that was definitely a Dies Irae in the score there.

(A refresher for those of you just joining this rewatch: The Dies Irae is an old Latin musical sequence that has been used basically since the Gregorian chant days to denote the specter of death in a work of music. Composers from ages past up to the present have referenced it in their compositions. Think of it as like the world's oldest music meme.)

Lot of OT score references in this part, no surprise.

Ezra is noticeably more surly and pissy than usual this episode, at least until his pep talk from Leia. Also no surprise, the boy hides behind his sarcasm and snark like no one's business.

"I don't get to give orders!" Just wait, Ezra, lol. You'll get your turn.

Leia playing Lyste like a damn fiddle lolol.

Mini Leia is really pretty. They did a great job with her design.

Alderaan sits pretty in the "plausible deniability" section. I'm sure the Empire suspected the planet of harboring secret Rebel sympathies but they were never able to have concrete proof of it. Bail, like Mon, probably held out hope that he could stem some of the Empire's tyranny from within, and so that's why he didn't want to lose his seat of government power, not as long as there was a chance he could effect some kind of change, which meant Alderaan had to avoid being directly tied to the Rebellion.

There's some commentary there about the need to work within the system in order to fix it, versus when it's time to break off and burn it down, but I'm not going to go into that right now.

Hngh, Ryder's resignation when the Stormtrooper mentions "termination".

"Hera's here." Hhhnkgjhn that's the happiest we've heard Ezra sound this episode Imma cry.

Luke's theme used per the standard as a bold Big Damn Heroes leitmotif with the Ghost's appearance.

"I'll warn Sabine." Lol how does Ezra know Sabine's the one who's going to be paying attention?

Zeb enjoyed this entirely too much lololol.

Ha ha those two Stormtroopers who are like, "They take prisoners now???"

This man has zero shame lol.

RIGHT, SO THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE UNDERRATED SABEZRA MOMENTS RIGHT HERE AND I HAVE BEEN A VERY GOOD GIRL WITH THE PHOTO LIMIT WHICH MEANS I GET TO CAP THE SCENE IN FULL.

That soft hand on his arm. The way her eyes linger on him as he turns away.

*sobs*

I love it so muuuuuuuuch!

Leia being, well, Leia, immediately discerns that something's really bugging Ezra. I love that the Kenobi show leaned into the inner sixth sense she displays here, that she can pick out a person's thoughts and feelings with the Force just by looking at them.

Kanan discerning that Leia might be able to comment and help Ezra, aww.

Friiiiiiiiick his face.

Leia's theme follows right on the heels of Ezra's theme here, in the score.

"I feel like because I can fight, I have to, for those who cannot." Boy is that isn't the quintessential Jedi and Rebel Alliance motivation right there...

I do like the dynamic between Ezra and Leia. It's very sweet. They bond based on their shared Hero Complex motivations, their mutual desire to fight on behalf of the helpless. Ezra shows off a little bit for her, later, in the way he usually does around girls he likes (the boy has A Type, let's be honest), but it never quite reaches the overtness of his crush on Sabine, so it hits even more quasi-platonic.

I think Leia thought he was cute tho.

Back to the plot, Leia's embarrassing Lyste all over the place here lol.

Ah, wow, the Rebel Alliance theme, haven't heard that in a while.

There is quite a bit of tension in how slowly the Hammerheads take off. The show plays that tension for all it's worth.

Oh you know I gotta comment about this part right here where Ezra goes feral.

For a moment we had all forgotten about the fact that he was clearly grieving, and this outburst caught us off guard. The way this is staged it's framed as concerning, with an edge of danger, Ezra leaping onto the Stormtrooper and clashing beats sounding along with his punches in the score, Kanan reaching towards him with an almost hesitant body posture.

But! Ezra lets out his anger and then contains himself, standing up and just putting his helmet back on. He breathes, regains his composure, and returns to neutral.

*weeps* He's such a good Jedi.

Kanan whipping out his lightsaber to be awesome against the AT-ATs aaaaaah!

(And that implied to be the reason Ryder stayed on Lothal and started up a new Rebel cell there, ONCE AGAIN CATCH ME CRYING ABOUT HOW THE JEDI REPRESENT HOPE TO A HOPELESS GALAXY.)

HHmmmmmmgggh I wanna say this is a recurring leitmotif but I don't know, I love it either way, it's beautiful.

Swish swish and return to first position, aaaah lightsaber choreography is so cool sometimes.

This whole sequence is just... *chef kiss*. The orchestration, the tension, the rapid shot choice...

Lolol Lyste getting thoroughly embarrassed by Leia.

Fun fact: One of the Hammerheads they gathered here in this episode would later go on to be the one that landed THE decisive blow to one of the Star Destroyers guarding the shield gate at Scarif.

PIECE BY PIECE, REBELS SHOWS THE MINUTIA OF SACRIFICES NEEDED TO PUT EVERY ELEMENT INTO PLACE FOR THEIR ULTIMATE VICTORY.

Ryder enters with Ezra, did Ezra have any kind of hand in convincing him to fight for Lothal?

HE LOOKS DIRECTLY AT EZRA I THINK THERE'S A CASE TO BE MADE HERE.

The Force Theme soaring into prominence here as we close out.

This episode is just the kind of break we need to process the events of the previous episode. Leia is almost flawless, willy deflecting suspicion off herself while playing the Imperials all for fools, compassionate and empathetic when she senses someone in pain and turmoil.

Ezra is allowed to grieve throughout the episode, and displays a myriad of conflicted and complex emotions from scene to scene. Kanan almost takes a bit of a backseat to comforting him, letting all the others express sympathy in turn, giving him the space he needs and offering up the distraction of the mission. He handles Ezra really well, all things considered.

It helps that Ezra, unlike Anakin, chooses to deal with and channel his grief in a productive way, rather than destructive. (I have the tag "#ezra is the anti-anakin" for a reason.)

This is a fun episode. Lighter than the previous one, lower stakes, but needed to let the characters breathe and process through the revelations of the plot. I really like it.

We're about to hit the Golden Streak, so stay tuned, I will have more to say later.

[thatruperson]

I'm Glad It Started Raining

Happy Holidays to @hananono !! I was your Secret Spirit gifter this year! I hope you've had a great year and an even better one next year! You asked for for tft SeriRei, happy/silly Serizawa and fun outfits! I tried to combine them. I hope you all enjoy this little ficlet. :) Thanks for hosting @mp100secretspirit ! ~~~~~~~~

The rain came on unexpectedly and they ducked into a shop, cursing their luck, not really paying attention to what it was. He looked around curiously. Odd clothes and accessories littered the place, along with rolls and rolls of cloth stacked atop each other and photos of families and couples. Before he could ask Reigen what he thought the place might be, an employee appeared and gave them her best customer service smile. “Welcome to Photopalooza! We’re having a Rainy Day sale, 20% off all our photo packages! Would you be interested in looking them over?” She hands them each a pamphlet. 

“Er…” He says as he blinks down at the shiny laminated sheet in his hand. He’s five seconds away from apologizing and saying they’re there by mistake when he sees Reigen bouncing on his toes. “Ooooh, Katsuya, check this one out!” And then there’s a pamphlet that is way too close to his face. He pushes Reigen’s hand back a bit so he can see the one he’s pointing at. “Fantasy Playplace Package: Be the Hero or Villain of Your Own Story!” He reads it off dutifully. He blinks. “What?” When he meets Reigen’s eyes he has that gleam that tells him he’s excited by whatever this place is and the man waves a hand around dramatically. “Forget the movie! We can see that anytime. This is fate, Katsuya! We don’t have any photos of just the two of us! Let's fix that here and now!” That is true…Most of their photos together included the kids or clients or his Mother. He takes another look around the shop with new eyes. He smiles, warming up to the idea. “Yeah, sure, why not!”

Ten minutes later a very pleased employee, happy for her sales commission, shows them to a room. There are a few heavy looking trunks and she explains that they’re filled with various costumes and props. She then cheerfully explains how to change the backdrop and the various buttons to press to change the camera settings and timer. “Just call for me if you need assistance, sirs. And remember, if you break anything it gets added to your bill.” With that said, she’s gone. 

“I’ve never done anything like this before.” He says, thrumming with excitement as he pulls out a costume from one of the trunks and looks it over. “Neither have I!” Reigen says, holding up a pink, flouncy princess dress to himself with a grin. “I definitely want to see you in one of these.” He snorts a laugh. “I haven’t worn a dress since I was seven, ‘Taka, that’s all yours. Besides, I don’t think they’ll carry one of those in my size.” “These things don’t count as dresses.” Reigen scoffs. “It’s a costume! Theater!” He strikes a dramatic pose. “Is the size thing the only thing holding you back?” He chuckles at Reigen’s antics. “Well, when you put it like that, I suppose so…” “Great!” The blond replies and is sticking his head out the door and calling for help before he can change his mind.  Soon enough, the employee has brought them an equally pink and somehow even frillier dress than the one Reigen had held up earlier. “Wow, you really do have one in my size…” He says in surprise. She laughs and hands it over. “Of course! The only demographic that rivals little kids in wanting to wear one of these for photos are grown men having a good time!” His smile broadens as Reigen says, “See? What’d I tell you!” He places one hand on his chest and throws the other up in the air. “Theater knows no gender boundaries!” They quickly pull the dresses on and help each other zip up. They take one good look at each other in the cheap, plasticky dresses before collapsing on each other in laughter. “Oh my gosh, we look like off brand Barbies.” Reigen wheezes against him and they spiral into laughter again. They complete their looks with conical hats that strap beneath their chins and take a few pictures like that, acting regal in one, undignified in another, before he tosses his off and puts on a dragon suit and chases Reigen around the room, the other man shrieking in as high a pitch he can manage. Things quickly devolve from there.  “Oh my god, ‘Taka.” He pulls out a lightsaber from one of the trunks. “We gotta do this one.” They bicker for a while over who is going to play the sith and who will play the jedi. Katsuya refuses to play rock, paper, scissors as he still hasn’t figured out how Reigen always wins that game. But Katsuya wins in the end with his superior puppy eyed look and gets to play the jedi like he wanted. They don their robes and set the camera to take multiple pictures as they recreate their favorite scenes, yelling and whacking each other with the cheap lightsabers. It turns out Reigen is scarily good at laughing like Emperor Palpatine and he feels justified in making him play the sith. After that they take a stab at being mimes, completely failing at being silent. “What are you doing?!”

He laughs at Reigen’s exasperated face. “I’ve lasso’d you and I’m pulling you in, obviously!” Reigen rolls his eyes but grins and pretends to be pulled into him. Katsuya rewards him with a kiss that would have continued longer had the timer signifying the end of their booking not gone off. They stand at the front of the store in their normal clothes once again, the sun shining in through the window as if it had never rained at all. They laugh as they browse through the photos they took and choose their favorites, adding silly special effects before printing them out to keep. They choose one of the classic photobooth strip layouts, and print out three copies. One for each of them and one for the office. He thinks the professionalism of them dressed as princesses and things is debatable but Reigen disagrees and says it adds a fun element to their office and well…he can’t really deny that. He can still feel the residual joy bubbling up inside him as they leave the shop hand in hand. He brings their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to Reigen’s knuckles. “I’m glad it started raining.”

[eriquin]

Steddie Superhero AU part 2

Here's the second part of what I've outlined/written for the Steddie Superhero AU. This is what I would consider an outline but I know I'm not going to write it in any more detail that I already have because I have too many other WIPs.

(part 1) (you are here) (part 3) (part 4)

Warning tags: injuries, blood, secret identities

...

In his day job, Eddie is a barista in Steve’s neighborhood and recognizes his face. He’s chatted with him before, but when Steve comes in the next day for his usual morning coffee and pastry, he turns up the charm. Steve is looking bruised and battered, as he always does. The surface level stuff sticks around the longest, like his body gets tired of healing and doesn’t want to do the last mile. Eddie gives him an employee discount on his order and makes a comment about EMTs being the real city heroes. Steve’s a little taken aback by the attention but rolls with it and thanks him for keeping him awake. 

They continue to flirt a little bit every morning, even though the coffee shop is busy. Steve comes in on his day off just so he can wait for the rush to be gone and talk to Eddie when it’s calm. Eddie is dialing the charm up to eleven, talking to him about music and books and whatever else strikes his fancy. He asks about the bruises that Steve was sporting the other day, and if it’s job related. Steve handwaves it away as sometimes the job has to deal with people in bad situations, and how they still need help so he does his best. 

They start dating, casually. Robin figures out who Eddie is because she’s good like that and confronts him and tells him that he needs to tell Steve what he’s doing. She does this when he’s in costume as Hellfire but she has evidence that she knows who he is and what’s going on and says that if he doesn’t come clean, she will tell Steve. He kind of brushes her off. There’s a general rule against compromising secret identities, and Steve doesn’t even seem to have one. He’s just Steve. 

Eddie is trying to determine if Steve is a dick all the time or just to capes, and he’s chagrined to find that Steve is actually a great guy. Sometimes he can be a bit of a dick, but mostly he’s just sweet, especially to Eddie. But it’s definitely not far enough along in their relationship for Eddie to tell Steve who he is, and he definitely doesn’t trust whoever hero-Steve is. He can’t really tell what the difference is and he has his suspicions about the Regal Heroes and their missing Prince, but he can’t prove anything. And if he is that Prince, Eddie really doesn’t want him knowing who he is. So he doesn’t tell him and spends an awful lot of time justifying why it’s okay. It doesn’t keep him from making bad jokes that are plays on his former superhero name, calling him “prince charming” and things like that. It makes Steve feel weird about liking it. 

It’s a double life. Steve and Hellfire interact more around the Party, because they’re both training them. They get into nasty arguments about the way they’re both training these kids. Steve wants them to be ready for whatever gets thrown at them, and thinks they can’t be held back from being heroes. He says they’re idealistic and he’s there to make sure they get patched back up. Hellfire wants them to lay low and use their powers to stay off the radar, but goes with them to take care of anything that might be too big for them. Steve never does this. He has no hero alter ego or mask to put on. They have fights (arguments) about each of them considering what the other is doing cowardly. 

Eventually, things in their relationship get a little more serious and Eddie and Steve are back at Eddie’s place. It’s an apartment in a warehouse. He shares it with his uncle, who is the night watchman of the warehouse, and it’s very isolated. They talk a bit about having some time alone together and not getting interrupted, but right as they’re getting handsy, Steve’s phone goes off. It’s one of those emergency signals that he can’t ignore, and he apologizes and rushes off. Eddie knows that it’s almost certainly not the EMT thing, and he goes to spy on where Steve rushes off to. He sees Erica appear and teleport him away, and then he goes back to put his gear on and catch up with the group. 

Meanwhile, they’ve brought in Steve because Nancy has gotten shot pretty bad and they’ve been patching her up but need his help. He has El take the bullets out with telekinesis and is stitching her up the best he can, but it’s not going well. He doesn’t think she’ll make it if they try to move her to a hospital. 

Hellfire has shown up because he knew it was a Party emergency (and he’s got a basically open invitation because the kids, Dustin and Will especially, like him)  but didn’t expect it to be like this. The kids are all just panicking about what happened with Nancy and Hellfire is trying to get the story out of them. No one is sure if they’re still in danger. He starts circling them up like they need to move or be ready for an attack. 

Steve is still working on Nancy, with some help from the others. He’s annoyed by Hellfire trying to figure out what to do to help, and says something like “unless you can use your powers to summon a doctor, you’re useless.” 

She starts going into cardiac arrest. Steve yells at El to get the bullets out, now, because they’re preventing him from healing her even more so than a stopped heart. There’s a spray of blood where El rips the bullets out and Steve jumps in to do his wound-absorption thing before anyone can stop him. His internal reasoning (if he has any) is that he’s dealt with gaping bullet wounds and a stopped heart so he’ll probably be fine. Robin is already predicting that he’s going to do this and preparing for it. Possibly the other adults are, too, because they’re used to his self-sacrificing ways to the point that they’re mad at it, but Hellfire has not seen him do this before and is freaking out as Steve collapses. 

They then have to switch from dealing with Nancy’s issues to dealing with Steve’s, but it helps that he heals so fast. His heart restarts on its own and he is conscious and bleeding and in pain but realizes that Hellfire is holding onto him. He’s like “S’fine. S’what I do, man,” while they haul him into a hospital bed. 

The kids have never seen him do this for someone who was dying before and it’s terrifying to them. They don’t know what’s going to happen. Dustin is just putting together that they didn’t call Hellfire in and he just showed up, and now he’s cradling Steve like they’re close. He wants to know what the hell is going on. Hellfire is freaked out as they bandage Steve up but don’t do much more than get him hooked up to IVs and machines for monitors. Nancy’s mostly recovered again and angry about Steve having done this. 

The kids (and Hellfire) want to know what the hell has happened. Robin explains that Steve does this as a last resort if someone’s dying, because he heals so fast. Nancy is chiding herself for having been hurt so badly to have this happen, because it’s awful to watch Steve have to recover again. Hellfire wants to know if that’s what happened when he went to see Steve alone, and Robin confirms that it was. 

Hellfire: So he really just healed me? I mean... Why? He barely knew me. Robin: And you came to him for help and Dustin likes you. Besides, he said you weren’t hurt all that bad, you were just being a baby about getting stabbed.  Dustin: You still haven’t told us how you knew to come here. We didn’t call you Hellfire, trying to get his freakout under control: And that hurts, you know. You called Steve, but not me?  Dustin: ... How did you know we called Steve? 

Hellfire realizes that he’s a little caught in this and he can’t think of a good lie because he’s got Steve’s blood on him and Dustin isn’t the only one who looks suspicious. Nancy, who knows him pretty well but also knows Steve even better, is looking angrily at him. Robin’s the one who breaks the tension. 

Robin: He knows because he and Steve were on a date when we called.  Hellfire hisses at her: Damn it, Swift Robin, shrugging: They’re gonna find out eventually. Steve’s not that good at keeping secrets from this group. Hellfire drags her aside: He doesn’t know Robin, flabbergasted: I’m sorry, what? You said you were going to tell him.  Hellfire: Well, I didn’t! It just hasn’t come up.

Robin is now furious and grabs his arm to drag him to the room where they’ve got Steve bandaged up and recovering. "Well, now’s your chance, loverboy."

She shuts everyone else out of the room and tells them that Hellfire needs privacy so he can be there when Steve wakes up. The Party accepts it, but the older group needs more information and Robin isn’t willing to spill it yet. 

Steve wakes up with Eddie sitting next to his bedside. He doesn’t register what Eddie’s wearing, only that he looks nervous about being there. He’s just coming back to consciousness slowly and thinks that Robin must have brought him here, or someone had. He grabs Eddie’s hand and squeezes it and says he can explain, but he’s also a little loopy and says that he’s so very, very glad to see him. 

Steve: I’m not in a hospital, right? Eddie: no, you’re not Steve: Okay, this has happened before. I can explain. I just... I’m glad you’re here.  Eddie: Oh, Stevie Steve: No, I meant to tell you about this, eventually. I didn’t mean to hide it. I just... 

He finally focuses on what Eddie’s wearing and stops talking for a second. Eddie realizes that he’s putting it together. 

Eddie: Look, I’ve got to tell you something Steve: You’re wearing... That coat is... That’s Hellfire’s suit.

He gets a look on his face like he’s come to another realization about what it all means and what the last couple of weeks have meant and how Eddie has been lying to him. He goes from confused to hurt to angry in the space of about five seconds. Then he’s just glaring at Eddie.

Steve: What do you need to tell me, Eddie? Eddie: Yeah... Uh. Robin didn’t bring me here. I was here already. 

Steve keeps glaring until Eddie admits that he is Hellfire and then there’s yelling about lying to him and seeking him out and how he already knew who Steve was and how he must’ve started flirting deliberately the day after. Steve is beyond angry and wants to know if Eddie was actually going to tell him if this hadn’t all happened and then it comes out that Robin knew and made him tell Steve because now everyone knows. Steve is angry and exhausted and hasn’t recovered enough to actually get out of the hospital bed so tells him to get out of his sight. Eddie puts his masks back on before he leaves the room, and says something snide to Robin as he makes a quick exit from their base.

Robin goes in to talk to Steve and bring him some pain meds, and he’s still furious but now he’s mad at her for not telling him. They yell at each other a little bit and the rest of the kids are peeking in and worried. Nancy and Jonathan have figured out what just happened and are trying to do damage control with the kids and get them all home. Steve’s going to stay there overnight and Robin is going to call him in sick to work and make sure his shift is covered, all of the stuff she usually does when he risks his life like this, but he’s still mad at her. She understands that but says that she needed to at least give Hellfire the chance to tell Steve himself, and he said that he would. She’s disappointed that he hadn’t yet, like she misjudged him. 

Steve recovers after a day or two and goes home. He wonders if he should look into moving, but realizes that Hellfire already knew where he lived somehow. He’s annoyed that he’s going to have to find a new coffee shop now, because he really did like the coffee. But he goes on with his life as best he can, trying not to admit that he’s a little heartbroken. He refuses to talk about it to the Party and doesn’t ask them if they’re still working with Hellfire. He just doesn’t want to know. 

Meanwhile, Hellfire has quit his job and moved out of his uncle’s place because he doesn’t want Steve or anyone to find his real life persona. He’s even more sure that he’s figured out who Steve was even though it’s mostly conspiracy theories and rumors around the Prince. But he knows that Steve Henderson used to be Steven Harrington and it all seems to add up for him. Even though he doesn't think Steve would be vicious, he doesn’t want to attract the attention of superhero royalty.

...

There's a part 3 written up, too. And possibly a part 4. I need to figure out how to break it up.

Taglist: @kedreeva, @whydamnitwhy, @fiore-della-valle, @captainhaterade

[hipsterteller]

The great sevens past

Now Enma Yuuken knows the Disney classic, but meeting them in person...is awkward...

Why? Simple...

Doctor Ludwig Von Drake had invented a machine that could help Enma and Aeryn back home, by looking through the past.

The machine has a helmet with cords and wires sticking out, like a retro sci-fi film. Right now, Doctor Von Drake had to use the house of a mouse since everyone, even the great seven want to see his past.

"Are you almost done?" Aeryn called out from Horrace place since Von Drake is there.

"Almost done!"

And with a single click, Von Drake got rocket out as sparks blew him off and landed on the table were Aeriel was.

He sat up and cough a bit of smoke out from his mouth and said "it's ready!" He collapsed and Enma held a brave face, Aeryn held his hand. She had looked up to him as an older brother and Enma turn to her and smiled.

"You got this Yuu..."

Enma nodded, as Idia flipped the switch...the projector began to play revealing Enma's past.

Everyone gasped and awwed at this as Aeryn is too pleased at this..

It worked...it really...really worked...

They watched as Enma is shocked and slowly recall his past, then he watched as one day he helped one of his club memeber for an upcoming tournament.

That was the night he was transported to Twisted Wonderland, transported to Night Raven College.

"Wow...you weren't kidding when you said you met a horse with an ugly face." Ace commented and it brought some chuckle here and there.

"No kidd..." Enma could only respond as he then recall meeting Grim then working...but they fast forward it to Riddle first Overblot...

The moment they saw it...The Disney heroes and villains had seen this but NRC did...and wish to forget it, Aeryn is shocked and comfort Riddle.

They watch as Riddle reveal his childhood past and seeing how his mother did just made the queen of hearts blood boiled in rage.

Sure she's following the rules and wants her child to be perfect but that doesn't mean to be like that, a child must have a positive childhood and healthy life. Not being a puppet...

Riddle looked away as he hugged Aeryn more, the queen of hearts tapped Aeryn's shoulder for her to past Riddle, she did and the queen of hearts hugged him.

"My dear child, it's okay to break the rules and be yourself...if your mother makes you do those things...I won't hesitate to cut her head by myself..."

Hearing this made Riddle hugged more.

After seeing Riddle Overblots, Leona's next...seeing this upset Leona a lot...Scar understand his motive and spoke calmly

"I know you are eager but if that girl thought me one thing is being a second helper or patience..."

Leona just nodded not wanting to respond, Ruggie snicker seeing his tail wagged more.

After that was Azul, now Azul is ashamed for his body appearance but Ursula knew he hated it even she but she respond.

"Don't think about it too much kid, sure people laugh at you but now look at you! Your a fine man to woe over"

Azul blushed embarrassment while Floyd grin and cooed him since he likes how Azul was when they met being chubby and cute.

Then Jamil Overblot came, Jafar understood his pain and hated being shadowed but seeing Kamil telling him that he changed even he too changed.

After Jamil, it was Vil's turn, Grimhilde was about to tell him when she saw him being comforted by Aeryn, his cheeks turn a bit red, and smiled follow by her kissing him on the cheeks and Neige was planning to be take the role as the villain next time.

Grimhilde smiled as Vil find himself in love with the girl, next is Idia. Anna and Elsa understand that death are not easy to handle…they went into 5 stages of grief.

Hades notice this and sighed, even he too knows grief are not easy to handle. Whenever his at underworld he would find souls that had died…especially children’s.

As Malleus stories next, everyone is still shaken by the incident. In fact, they nearly died if Enma hadn't stopped the fight and Aeryn talked him out.

Maleficent watched as his past is similar to hers, she clutch onto her staff tightly as her pet crow, Diavolo. Comfort his queen. She turned to Malleus as she turned to him seeing that Malleus is embarrassed and shame at that.

After that, Enma pull the helmet away as he sighed, the projector stopped and he relaxed feeling his brain had went through some long history.

"You okay?" Aeryn helped him up as Enma nodded "yes, I'm alright..."

Deuce pick up the helmet and turned to Aeryn then back to the helmet, to Aeryn then helmet. And just like that a light bulb pops above his head as he just got an idea...

"Hey Aeryn why not you try?"

Everyone turned to him as if he just said something unusual...Ace is jawdropped and commented.

"Deuce...you just said something smart..."

Deuce raised an eyebrow "I did?"

Ludwig Von Drake spring back after a long napped and snapped "yes you did my boy! Aeryn my dear why not you sit down and let us see your past?"

Aeryn wanted to say something but scarred...

Will she try it on?

[npcemi]

The long road of how starting a fight with superman over clone parenting eventually lead to Danny Phantom become God Part 4.5 and 5: Aftermath + Promotions and Shattering Mirrors

Superman collapsed to his knee as the other members of the justice league went to his side. Superman couldn’t believe what he just experienced. The league had never faced a threat this powerful. To summon both a black hole and create a star out of nothing. His eyes still hurt from even looking at whatever that thing was-- He knew they couldn’t let a threat like that go unchecked.

Constantine appeared through a portal, “Oh now you show up!” Superman said in an incredulous breath.

“Oh, I’ve been here since King Phantom kicked your ass out a window, I’m just not so cotton headed I’d try and fight the King of the Infinite realms.” Superman scoffed at Constantine’s words and turned to Batman, “Bruce we need to figure out some kind of contingency…” The leader of the Justice League Dark cut him off,

“Oh, fuck no mate, you’re benched. You stick to Metropolis !”

“You have no right!”

“Actually this contract you lot signed when you begged me to be the leader of your precious little supernatural branch says I can!” Constantine summoned a roll of parchment that unrolled revealing the document with the original JLA member's signatures.

“That’s only if one of us angers a celestial angel or some higher-level entity.” Wonderwoman pointed out as the blonde occult detective pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Who do you think is the King…”

“Just because he is the ruler of his own dimension doesn’t mean he…” Constantine really was starting to get what Phantom meant when he called the man of steel an obstinate dick.

“All of the realms, High King Phantom rules over all of the realms. Ours and any in existence. In all of Anu, there is no realm that King Phantom does not have sovereignty over.

Do you really think any of the ancients have time or care to mess about in random realities?

No, they normally have nothing to do with them, do you have any idea of how bad things have gotten? Between the GIW and you Clark, I am honestly surprised our reality still exists. So yes, you are benched!” At the end of Constantine’s rant Superman stood up.

“You really think a piece of paper will…AH!” The man of steel screamed as electricity overcame his body. When it was over he once again collapsed to his knees. Constantine walked over to tower over Superman,

“And you thought the contract you all signed wouldn’t be magically binding, are you daft ?” Constantine then turned to look Bruce directly in the eye. Constantine knew the man too well.

“And you, no looking up or into anything about Phantom!” Batman held his hands up in surrender,

“I promise I will not look up or into Danny Phantom.” Constantine’s eyes narrowed before he turned and left through a portal muttering something about attempting to salvage this situation.

_____________________________________________________________

Jazz Fenton was in a great mood. Her degree was almost finished and she just got a paid internship that would turn into a full-time position once she graduated. She would be a liaison for any cases that involved the infinite realms. Her new org worked with a lot of supers and villains. It was headed by Dinah Lance and Harley Quinn. Most people thought it was a little weird, but she knew that heroes, villains, and even the dead needed help with their mental health.

She was just finishing organizing her desk when her boss called to her and told her to follow.

“Yes, Miss Lance.” She said,

“Dinah, we aren't too formal around here.”

“Right, Dinah.” Jazz said as they both took a seat in Dinah’s office,

“Look, Jazz we have a special case coming in today:” Jazz was surprised they were already letting her work on cases.

“What is it?”

“One of the main league members is being brought in, he’s having some trouble adjusting to the fact he was cloned and according to the leader of Dark, he also angered some supernatural entity and is according to Constantine, the aforementioned leader,  is acting like a stubborn fuckwit who needs to pull his own dick out of his arse.” Dinah read off of the referral form she got.

“I’ll help however I can, when are they coming?”

“Right about now,” Dinah said as a portal opened and John Constantine walked in followed by Clark and Conner Kent. John introduced himself and his tagalongs.

“And this is my associate, Jasmine Fenton,” Dinah said as Constantine’s jaw dropped and he failed to take a puff of the cigarette he had been smoking. “Did you say, Fenton?”

Jazz was about to respond when she looked at Clark. There was something off about the man in glasses. Something that was resonating with her being, like his very soul angered her, and then she remembered who Clark really was under the glasses.

The man who had caused such a bad PTSD episode in her brother that he cried in her arms for over two hours. The man who broke multiple taboos of the infinite realms. The man who hurt her brother. Her movement was faster than anyone had expected and came with more force than would be possible for even most metahumans. In that instance of realization, Jasmine Fenton closed the distance between the man of steel and herself and struck him so hard in the face that he collapsed to the floor in pain, hands to his face. Which was now gushing blood from his broken nose.

“How dare you!” She screamed. Conner and Dinah pulled her back as she continued to scream.

“How dare you ask a ghost about their death, how dare you make the King re-live that pain!” She was about to attack again when she was interrupted when Constantine asked, “Sweetheart, you know you’re glowing green right?”

“Shit!” The redhead calmed as much as she could, she took a device out of her pocket. She turned it on and saw her ambient ecto plasma was higher than normal. She clicked a button and a sensor popped out the side of the device.

She cut her finger with one of her fangs and dropped some blood on the sensor. She was thankful her blood was still red, but it was darkening into a muddy colour with a slight greenish glow. The device told her her blood ectoplasm level was at 8%, way lower than normal. The machine also indicated her heightened emotions and that if she didn’t calm down she might die right there in the office.

“What is that?” Conner asked not caring if his original was still on the ground trying to stop his nose bleeding.

“It’s a device that measures ectoplasm levels. Ambient levels, levels with a particular signature, and blood ectoplasm concentration.” she sighed and calmed down.

“Why do you need it?” Conner asked curiously despite Constantine's glare telling him he was being rather rude.

“I’m a death-leaning liminal, the smelly blonde man can explain later.” She said as there was a flash of flames.

“Jasmine, are you alright?” Everyone turned to see a nearly seven-foot Dracula knockoff with red eyes.

“Yes, I just let my anger get ahead of me, I'm fine.” She said, trying to waive off the ghost who then pulled out a vile of a green glowing liquid and attempted to hand it over to her.

“Vlad, I’m fine.” She said as he put the vial in her hands.

‘I’m sure our loving patriarch would love it if you died because of all of your ectoplasm burning up and became a full ghost before he did.” Jazz begrudgingly drank the vile, knowing how much shit Danny would give her if she died.

“Honestly I don’t know what would cause a normally level-headed young woman to lash out like her feral niece.” Jazz pointed over to Superman who was now in one of the chairs. Vlad scowled,

“Do you want me to take care of that for you?” He said in disgust. Everyone’s eyes went wide at the implied threat, Constantine prepared a portal to run, Dinah prepared to fight and Conner was right behind Constantine. After what he saw in Dani's mirror, he didn’t want anything to do with an angry ghost.

“It’s fine you can leave.” Jazz said.

“Can I expect you all at the Keep this weekend?’ he asked.

“Yes,” She said as Vlad teleported in a flash of flames and was gone. Jazz looked up to see Dinah looking at her wide-eyed. The realization she had just punched a client finally settled in,

“I’m fired aren’t I?”

_______________________________________________________________

Danny heard a knock at the door and went to open it and looking at him was Bruce Fucking Wayne.

“What do you want.”

“I wanted to talk to you about something, and make sure you and Danielle are safe.” Danny immediately moved to shut the man up.

“Shush, don’t say her name or talk about her here, my parents don’t know about her!” Bruce's face softened. Danny led them out of the house and brought them to a more private alleyway, which made the dark knight feel more at home.

“I’m not sorry about what I did to Superman,” Danny said getting down to business.

“I’m not expecting you to be. Both Constantine and I have tried to talk with him before, but now we’re forcing him into therapy. I think you did exactly what he needed.” he was shocked by Bruce's words. Even the Observants yelled at him about what he did, all the clockwork said in his defense was say “Everything is as it should be.”

“Oh, what do you want with me then?”

“My associate oracle looked into Danny Fenton, and we found you live with ghost hunters and were concerned about you and your daughter’s safety.”

“We’re fine.” Danny snapped and Bruce held his hands up defensively before handing him a small card.

“I just wanted you to know if there was anything you need, or if you have to escape we can provide assistance.” Danny looked at the man skeptically,

“So this isn’t like some crazy scheme to adopt me?” Bruce had to rip his earpiece due to the collective volume of the snickers.

“No.”

“Good because that wouldn’t turn out how you think it would.” Bruce gave him a look that told him to explain and Danny sighed.

“A fruit loop named Vlad Plasmius was college friends with my parents. He likes my mom. There was an accident, he was hospitalized and got ghost powers. Many years later he tried to kill my dad, marry my mom, and make me his son. It never worked.” Danny shook his head and continued.

“After I became King, I was able to learn of his obsession with family and love,” Danny remembered how he learned of Vlad’s true obsession, realizing that he must have been alone and abandoned in the hospital room when he died.

“After he shot me in the chest because he was mind controlled. I decided as the more powerful ghost to give him what he desired in a way.” Danny snickered.

“I ghost-adopted him, effectively making him my son as far as ghosts are concerned, he’s much happier now, but he is still a little salty.” Bruce looked at him dumbfounded, Danny was glad Vlad could fulfill his obsession even if it did make him a bit of a mother hen.

“But yea I wouldn’t recommend trying to adopt me.” The rest of their conversation went smoothly and no offers for adoption were made. When they got back to Fenton's works, Jazz and another red-headed woman were sitting at the table. She introduced herself as Barb. They engaged in a basic conversation about ghosts. Until Danny asked,

“How was your first day of your internship?” Jazz sighed with a dejected look,

“I got promoted.” Before Danny could ask why she sounded like that was a bad thing, Jack and Maddie came bursting in showing off their latest captured ghost with proud grins. They were testing out a new time of large containment device that would allow them to study ghosts in real-time.

Jazz’s hands went straight to her mouth, her eyes wide, glowing, and dripping tears of rage. Bruce turned to look at Danny who was wide-eyed as his eyes began to change, his hair whitening as he looked at the small white-haired ghost in the container. He was breathing to try and calm himself down.

“Daddy help!” Danielle screamed as the containment device shocked her.

All light ceased to exist in that room all anyone could see was an endless black.

[oswlld]

oswlld's monthly wrap up: january

note: i am trying something a bit different this year, so bear with me as i figure out how i want to format this. i wanted to spend more time sharing what i consume, beyond what i rb, and put my thoughts in one place. these posts are okay to rb

--

The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin [started 11/03, finished 01/23] This was originally a dnf from 2023 that i decided to pick up again. My entry point into her work was The City We Became and fell in love with her voice. With Fifth Season, however, I felt like I loved parts of the story but didn’t fall in love with the sum of the whole. I will go more into why in the tags because it will touch on spoilers (mildly!) I still gave it 4⭐️ in storygraph. — The Moth Presents: All These Wonders, Catherine Burns [started 01/05, finished 01/31] I bought this collection from Half Price so long ago, I’ve forgotten what drew me in. Probably because of the Neil Gaiman foreword. I had not heard of The Moth so I went into this blind. Some of the stories made me wish I heard it live and feel the story breathe and beat with the audience. 4.25⭐️ in storygraph.

Flavorful Origins, Netflix [started: 09/28, finished 01/04] I watched s1/s2 in 2023 at various pts of the fall/winter. Finally wrapped up s3 in January and caught up. Unsure if its a complete series or ongoing, but I do hope to return to the series in the future if they do upload more seasons. This series reminds me of the YT channel Liziqi, where they take one ingredient and unravel the techniques and related dishes by region. A great palate cleanser amongst all the other shows I typically gravitate towards. — Last Twilight, GMMTV on YT [started 11/10, finished 01/26] The only show I watched in real time, as it premiered week by week. If I solely focus on the January episodes, for the sake of this post, I can’t say I was happy with the way the final act was handled. If I look back on the whole of it, it’s still really special to me. In fact, there are episodes that still stand as the very best in television, THE BEST. Still licking the wounds inflicted by the finale, though. — Moving, Hulu [started 01/08, finished 01/30] This lured me in by process of dash osmosis, which is the very best brand of entry pt. I am O B S E S S E D with this show, I am singing its praises! It soothed the scars left by the show Heroes. Amongst all the action sequences, espionage, and high school drama is this huge heart beating loud and strong. Lee Mihyun, the way I love youuuuu, the character you are 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼 Guys, she saved January for me.

Chevalier, Hulu [watched on 01/14] The short runtime (well, short for the current landscape of cinema) did give me pause. I think some of the emotional beats could have been deepened if given 20 more min of his involvement in the rebellion. I think I wanted the betrayal to really cut me to the bone, but it felt like a papercut. — BlacKkKlansman [watched on 1/31] At this point, I would follow John David Washington’s career to the very end. I love his natural charisma. I want to see him go thru alllll the situations and wish this movie gave him a lot more room to breathe. Laura Harrier took me by surprise, portraying the BSU president Patrice. The story came to a very mild end and felt very tame, but the suspense held its own.

Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), Noah Kahan [first time listening] I originally learned about him when I was in my Lizzy McAlpine hyperfixation last year and heard she was a feature in one of his songs. And then I discovered a duet Noah did with Hozier and knew I had to spend time this month to sit down and really digest his album. WHOA MAN, this is one of those formative moments when music perfectly aligns with my current state of being. Take that as you will. Current top 5: Come Over, Strawberry Wine, Northern Attitude, Halloween, Your Needs My Needs — Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 [relistening] what else is there to say, this is a mandatory yearly listen when it becomes below 0 outside. When I saw this show live, it was a January date as well so this relisten really got me spiralling. These two albums got me Feeling 🧍🏻‍♀️ on my walks.

Minecraft [game, on Switch] I got this game as a christmas gift and was where I spend most of my waking hours outside of work. I enjoyed watch MC streams on twitch and knew I would enjoy playing on my own. I get it now, I am soooooo late to this game. I think and dream Minecraft. My mountain house and harbor builds? Immaculate. They basic, but immaculate. Now I’m in my fishing era, esp when I have Stick Season playing in the background (nothing else mattered when the sun was rising and the song The View Between Villages played in the bg, it was a religious experience). — Lethal Company [game, on Twitch/YT] My entire month has been hopping from one stream to another, lobby after lobby. This game is so fun to watch and witness how all the mods evolved as time went on. I don’t think I myself would play the game myself, as I am a bit of a scaredy cat, but watching my fav groups play has been a highlight.

[atwas-creations]

Rose Petals

Warning: Sonic Frontiers spoilers.

“Hey, Amy,” Sonic said as he approached her.  Amy had her bag in her hand, and she was just locking the front door of her house.  “You all set to go?”

Amy looked down at her bag.  “Yes, I am.”  She sighed sadly.  “I guess this is good-bye for now.”

Sonic held out a hand.  “Take care, Amy.  I’ll check in on Cream and Big for you from time to time.”

“I appreciate that,” Amy said as she shook his hand.  “Cream and Cheese agreed to take care of my flowers while I’m gone.”

Sonic nodded.  “Great.  Oh, by the way, you did let Sticks know you’re coming, right?  Cuz you know how she gets when people drop in unexpectedly.”

Amy chuckled.  “Yes, I let her know.  Good thing Tails was able to convince her to at least get an email account.  I can’t wait to catch up with her, really, see how things are going back on Seaside Island.”

“You’re sure you wanna do this?” asked Sonic.  “I’m not even sure what it is you plan to do.”

“I’m not sure, either,” Amy said.  “But I made up my mind on Kronos Island.  I just know that this world needs love, and I want to show people what love really is.  You understand that, don’t you?”

“Mmm…” Sonic shook his head.  “Not really.  Freedom, I get.  Love… eh, that’s more your thing.”

“Hmm…”  Amy regarded him thoughtfully.  “Sonic… um…”  She took a breath.  “Look, I- I know I was kinda weird when I first met you…”

Sonic raised an eyebrow.  “‘Kinda’?”

Amy frowned.  “I’m trying to say something, here.”

Sonic raised his hands defensively.  “Okay, okay.  Go ahead.”

Amy continued, “I want to thank you for… for sticking with me through all that… weirdness.  You’ve helped me to grow up a lot, and your kindness and friendship have shaped who I am in ways I can’t even begin to express.  I…” She closed her eyes and sighed again.  “Look, my feelings for you, they never changed.  I don’t know if they ever will.  But I’ve been able to accept that our relationship… is what it is.  Being with you has taught me that love isn’t just romance.  It’s more than that.”

When she paused, apparently expecting Sonic to say something, he just shrugged and said, “Well, I can’t say that I understand what you mean.  Like I said, ‘love’ really isn’t my thing.”

“I think you do understand,” Amy said.  “You just don’t call it ‘love.’  Sonic… do you know why I’ve always been so crazy about you, so…”  She chuckled.  “So desperate, at times, to be by your side?”

Sonic crossed his arms behind his head and gave her a cocky grin.  “Sure, I can think of lots of reasons: my good looks, my athletic build, my speed, my sharp wit, my winning smile-”

“Your heart, Sonic,” Amy cut in.

Sonic just looked at her, brows furrowed, not understanding.

Amy laughed.  She put her suitcase down and put her hands on her hips.  “You really don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?  For all your self-assured, arrogant conceit-”

“Hey!”

“-you don’t see in yourself what the rest of us do.  Sonic, you are the most loving, kind, compassionate person I have ever met.  You give of yourself freely, every day.  You would do anything for anyone, just because they asked, and you’re always the first to notice whenever someone needs something, whether it’s food, protection, or just a kind word.  You really are a hero, Sonic.  And maybe the best thing about you is, however conceited you may be, you often don’t even think of yourself as a hero.  You know you are one, but you don’t let it go to your head.  It’s not something you are, it’s something you do.  You may not be good at telling people how much you care, but you show it every day.  Love isn’t just a word to you- it’s an action.”

“Uh…” Sonic scratched behind his ear.  He looked embarrassed.  “Gee, Amy, I… I really don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Amy said as she picked her suitcase back up.  “Just keep being who you are.”

“Hey, that’s what I’m best at,” Sonic said.

“And that’s what makes you so cool,” Amy said.  She started to leave, but she noticed Sonic wasn’t looking at her.  He was focused on a spot on the ground, a hand on one hip, brows furrowed.

Amy leaned in quickly and pecked his cheek.

Sonic looked up, startled.

“Just for luck,” Amy said, although she was blushing just a little.  “Take care, Sonic.  I hope to be able to see you again soon.”

Sonic nodded.  “Yeah.  Y-you, too.”

He watched her leave, unconsciously putting a hand up to the warm spot on his face where she had touched him, and surprised to find himself hoping she wouldn’t be gone too long.

[luckyshotwrites]

Chapter 1 - Kidnapped by The Hero

Contents (Warnings/Mild spoilers): Introducing Matchbook and how he became a sidekick to one of the strongest heros in the world... (Unwilling prey, willing pred, observer, safe soft vore, goofy shenanigans)

Wordcount: 2,500+

Side note: ENJOY!

_______________________________________________

No one knows how or why, but one day, everyone gained unique powers or appearances. Some believed it was the next step in evolution, others that it was a lab experiment gone wrong and spread through people like a virus, the result of aliens, meteors, and gods. The theories were endless. 

And whatever caused it sent the world into chaos. It took so long to get where we were now...still filled with turmoil, yet we at least had great and mighty heroes watching over the city. They saved us when regular officials like police, firefighters, and others couldn't. 

And I-

"Hey, Matchbook, can you give me a light before you go?" His coworker held out his cigarette.

Match sighed. This one was the fifth he was asked to light today, "Sure."

He snapped his fingers. It created a small flame at the end of Match's middle finger. He tipped it forward to light the cancer stick.

His coworker raised a brow suspiciously at the gesture and chuckled. It was the easiest finger to light.

It'd light the tip like a match. He technically could do any of his fingers as long as he could snap them. Hence the name, Matchbook.

He couldn't make his flames any bigger unless they caught something, and once they caught onto something else, he no longer controlled them.

The caramel brown-haired male shook his hand a few times. He felt blessed he could put it out and that his body was fireproof. Something he found out the fun way when his youngest sister, a fire-breather, sneezed and caught his clothes on fire.

He walked along the sidewalk. A few construction specialists worked on the richer buildings destroyed during a villain attack.

It took him an hour before he saw his apartment complex in sight. If he had his ride, it would have been faster. Though his bike ended up a snack for a jelly villain, he waited on the collateral claim to go through for a replacement. I wish I lived closer to the sandwich shop. 

Match had worked there for a year now and though it was mindless work, he loved the simplicity of it. An easy and calm system that gave him plenty of time to think about-

"HEY!"

The feminine voice shouted from behind him. He opened his mouth to respond, yet the RuuMmbBBleEe of the destruction nearby made him shut his mouth back up. He picked up the pace subtly. He wanted to pretend he didn't hear them.

"HEY, SIR!"

Sir. I'm barely 20. 

A hand firmly gripped Match's arm.

He turned himself around and was almost face-to-face with a woman. She was a little shorter than himself. Up close, he could hear her huffing, her collar was loose, and she was clearly sweating with her blonde bob haircut sticking to her forehead.

Did she just run a marathon? Was she chasing me this whole time?

He noticed the notepad in her hand. She smiled at him. A spark of determination glistened in ruby-red eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded and held up her notepad, "sorry to bother you, sir." Do I really look that old?! We look about the same age. "I wanted to know, have you see The Hero?"

"Which one?" He asked. I don't see why I said which one. I hadn't seen a single one today.

She shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose, "this always happens. Why would he pick such a stupid name?" She let her hand fall and repeated her question. "The Hero is their superhero name." She started to do a heroic pose. It allowed me to see her muscles past her rolled-up sleeves. She looks in pretty good shape for a journalist. If that's what she is. 

"He's one of the strongest in the world, the one who..." she curled her fist and shook it up at the sky, "SOMEHOW HAS A NONEXISTENT BACKSTORY AND REFUSES TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT."

"Do you have a vendetta against-"

"YES." She held up her notepad, "I have been chasing that idiot all over the city! I know he's around here somewhere. So again, have you-" There was another loud bang, and they could see the furrow of smoke. It looked and sounded closer. "seen him?"

Her attention looked drawn to the smoke. He assumed she might start running toward it if he said no.

She's going to get herself hurt, isn't she... He shook his head, "I haven't. It does sound like you should get to a shelter, though." If she's willing to run into danger, she most likely has the power to back herself up.

"No way, it might be linked to the hero!"

He lifted his hand to wave her off, and the next eruption stole his chance. On the fifth floor, overhead, an object crashed straight through the building and into the one next to it. They only partially went through the second building. Instead, it hit the bricks, broke some of them, and landed in the middle of the alley.

Her arm whipped up and clenched around his shirt. She yanked him into her. They both stumbled back to avoid some of the falling pieces of an apartment. They crumbled into the sidewalk where he once stood. Their dust exploded out and near his running shoes. That wouldn't have been a good trip to the hospital. 

The few people on the streets started to scatter. Match went to take off too. He also expected the woman to evacuate and noticed she didn't follow him.

He slowed down, "Hey, we got to get to a shelter. Let a hero handle it!"

She squinted, fascinated with the alley. She pulled me out of the way. He whipped his head back to her.

"Which hero is that?" Match heard her whisper as he got close. He went to reach for her himself. His eyes suddenly tracked an object darting at them, or more so, a person wearing a torn wrestling uniform with a cape.

The being tackled by the woman before Match reached her. They tackled her into the street, and she whined out.

Match turned his head to see the man over her. His muscles looked to grow.

He cackled as she twisted in his grasp. "Give up, little girl, you're gonna be my hostage," the hefty man in the skin-tight wrestling leotard started to lean toward her face.

I can't fight him. He's huge. He looks like he could bench me. He tensed up as he heard a faint whistle behind him. Is that another villain? He didn't want to turn around and find out. If anything, he wanted to leave her.

I don't know her. He snapped his fingers and went to the villain's back while distracted by the woman. He put the tiny flame on the villain's black cape until it caught fire.

He threw himself back and shouted, "OH NO, Your cape's on fire!"

The villain's attention was pulled from the woman and to the flames that spread up most of his cape. It allowed the journalist to finally land a solid blow to his crotch.

The man hollered out, weakly undoing his cape while he rolled on the ground. Ouch. The whistling got louder, and Match ran to her, "Come on!"

He grabbed her wrist and did not expect the man to get up quickly, "YOU BRAT'S!" He shouted from behind. They barely started running, and the man was up and after them.

His feet pounding on the streets, he got bigger and bigger like he fed off their fear. And Match had a ton of it.

"TO YOUR RIGHT!" A voice yelled. Another being slammed into the concrete, seemingly face-first into the road. The three of them stopped including the villain. The helmet-clad individual in full black stumbled up, his costume snug, showing off his toned shape, rippled with strength.

He also stood much taller than the average Hero, the size of most villains. He dusted off the visor of his helmet. It was unscathed from the fall. His mouth was uncovered. He walked to them calmly.

"Are you two alright?" His voice carried sweetly to their ears. He held as much care as a grandma wondering if they were well-fed.

Match nodded.

The woman said, "The Hero, I need to talk to you." She went to him, and his face grimaced. As much as Match could tell with his mouth.

The villain's arm wrapped around Match's neck. "You-you stay back." It didn't seem as strong as before. "I'll kill him."

The Hero held his hands up. "Put him down; he's not involved."

Match snapped his fingers again and put the flame to the man's arm. He cried out at the heat and dropped him. And in that second, The Hero grabbed Match and moved him to the sidewalk out of the street.

"Is your throat okay?"

Match rubbed it while the man didn't squeeze too hard. "I'm okay."

Though, Match saw The Hero's attention was elsewhere. The man had gotten skinnier; his outfit barely fit.

Suddenly, everything stopped. It was like not a single person's heart took a beat. The Hero walked ahead calmly. Match saw the smile rise on his face. It showed the sharp incisors that normally didn't show when he spoke.

"You've destroyed property, attempted robbery, and now you've threatened a civilian's LIFE." He boomed with laughter when the man tried to move, and he fell back onto his Kester.

"I'm sorry-I'll go quietly."

The Hero grabbed his helmet and took it off. It bounced on the floor like a toy, and increased in size.

Match watched, seeing the blue of his eyes bursting with hunger and excitement.

The fear-stricken villain stumbled to get to his feet, and all The Hero did was sway like a drunkard.

"You will go," his hand reached out and grabbed the loose uniform's front. He yanked up the man with very few muscles left.

His hands pushed weakly, and he couldn't even plead.

Match couldn't turn away. The Hero's mouth opened wide, and he muffled the man's whimpers with his tongue. It twisted partially around the man's head before bringing him inside his mouth.

His mind went blank as he watched the villain flail helplessly in the air, simply nothing more than a bulge traveling further into The Hero. It reminded him of a snake, slowly, surely, and efficiently forcing its prey down their bodies. Except this man was very much alive, it was apparent from every little twinge he saw from The Hero's body's reaction to the slow-growing stomach.

Match didn't know how long he watched. It felt like seconds before there was a final swallow and a satisfied exhale from The Hero. His tongue traced his lips, and he smiled.

He patted his middle, "Secured. I'll take you in soon."

Villains eat people. Not Heroes. He thought. The smiling Hero walked to Match.

The woman's voice interrupted them, "Hey, the hero, YOU'RE GOING TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS THIS TIME!" She walked up to him even though she was the same height as his thigh and stood back to look at his face without his stomach obscuring her.

He put up his hands and stared down at her the best he could. "I think you have me mistaken for another hero. I'm not the Hero; I'm heroooo."

He's a terrible liar...His thoughts refocused on the giant. How can she talk so close to him like that?! I have never seen HIM eat a villain. Now that he considered it, he rarely saw media of The Hero even though he famously stopped a lot of villains.

"You can't keep avoiding me!" She followed him as he moved again.

He walked until he stood over Match and dropped into a squat, almost tipping from the weight and struggling inside him. Yet he wore a harmless smile.

Match's eyes struggled to stay on Hiro's face. They continued to trail down to the very active gut he sported. There's a living person in there.

"Great job on your heroics! I saw them when I was coming down!" He cheered to Match.

His hand came out the best it could at their distance. He tried to pat Match's head. Rather, he tapped it with his fingertips. "Are you another hero's sidekick in training?"

Why is she okay with that? She's willing to tug on the back of his costume, which doesn't even look stretched with his increased size. Match couldn't find the words quite yet. I've heard about others eating each other but never seen it...

"HELLO?" The Hero waved his hand in front of Match's face. His eyes then widened, "did you get hurt?!"

The concern shoved Match from thought. "N-no," everything The Hero said finally processed fully. "To both questions."

The bright smile widened with childish glee, "THAT'S PERFECT!" He grabbed the front of Match's black graphic T, "I'm in desperate need of a sidekick!" The Hero tugged Match into himself and pressed him close to his side under his arm.

He faced the other way and at least didn't face his abdomen. He could feel it at his hips, though.

"Huh?" Surely he doesn't mean...

He could feel The Hero's body tighten, explicitly the tenseness at his legs, "Stand back, miss." The Hero said to the journalist. She begrudgingly had no choice as he pushed her back.

"HOLD ON, I didn't agree to be your-"

"LET'S GO!" The next thing Matchbook knew was that he was shot upward into the air. It made him scream as they rose higher and higher above the city.

It would have been beautiful if Match didn't have a fear of heights, more specifically, FALLING! Everyone and everything looked so small. Please, please, please PUT ME DOWN NICELY!

Soon, they went out past the docks, finally starting to slow down, but now they were over the water.

"Shoot, I overshot the docks again!"

"Overshot! You can fly!" Match exclaimed.

The Hero laughed, "Ha, you're right!" They started to fall toward the water. "I simply have to remember how I do that again."

"WHAT!" I shouted.

The Hero let Match go from under his arm. It allowed him to fall slower with the push The Hero did.

Match could see the smile that spelled out 'oopsie' moments before The Hero's back struck the water followed by Match.

To Be Continued...eventually.

_____________________________________________

THANK YOU FOR READING AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

Next Chapter

Catch up, see some maps/art, or check the latest release dates down below  ↓ ↓ ↓ 

I Get Roped Into Being A Hero! (Synopsis/Chapter List) - In Progress