#they’re all so so good but I think my favorite is electric touch

[hecksinki]

Who would I have become if I had grown up with these vault tracks

[nexusnyx]

No One Like You

#NightSkyChallenge: Prompt 2 — The night your lips touched mine for the first time. “Wait. Come back here. Do that again." Eddie Munson x Best Friend!Reader; [3.2k]

⚠️ Smut (explicit depictions of sex), drug consumption (weed), mentions of death, depression, nightmares.

SUMMARY: The electricity in the air was not a creation of your desires, it turned out. When Eddie looks at you, there's something there. You might have been absent for a couple of years, but you've known Eddie Munson almost your whole life. He's looking at you the way he looked at Sweetheart when he first laid eyes on it, and being under that gaze is... nothing like you expected. More than anything you could've dreamt.

It rained outside of Eddie’s room—a heavy pouring with only a handful of thunders, but no loud lightning startling to shake the earth and startle the air in electricity. Only the sound of water falling on the soil outside, and the occasional notes as Eddie dribbled his fingers on the cords while you two spoke. Rain had always been your favorite sound, the one that spoke to your soul the most, but now, after not seeing Eddie for two years, you think his voice is on a battle field for that first place.

You’re high on drugs and the smell of him, your heart is louder in your ears than the shower outside right after he speaks and everything falls quiet sometimes, and electricity shooting from the sky is unecessary when you can feel every inch of air that separates the two of you.

It started because the conversation descended down there. To the thing.

“I was a wreck after you left, Y/n.”

It hurt to hear it. You had to, but it hurt.

“I know it wasn’t your fault,” Eddie adds, seeing the look on your face. “We just go where our folks go. What else we can do but follow, right? But—I was. You were the only real friend I’ve ever had.”

Two years apart from him, and now it was back to how it was. “You think I wasn’t a mess, too?” Only Eddie Munson could make you talk this easily. Not keep shit bottled up on the inside. “Eddie, I didn’t make any friends there. Not a single one.” You were happy he had—not so happy about the circumstances, but it thrilled you to know he wasn’t alone all this time because you were. Leaving Hawkins left an Eddie-shaped hole in your chest, and he could see that in your face, too. “And I promise I tried. But everyone fell… short. I kept expecting them to get my jokes, or get what I’m talking about, and I’d get so fucking disappointed when they didn’t. Took me almost a year to realize I was just hopinh somebody would be you and how fucking shitty is that?”

Because you’re you and Eddie is Eddie, he leans in to whisper, “That’s the best fucking thing I’ve ever heard,” like a confession. His smile is deprecative when he adds, “I just deemed nobody would ever be you, never in their fucking wild dreams, and then accepted what came.” He slides his fingers through the cords of the guitar. “Guess that’s why I managed to gather Hellfire. They’re really nice boys,” he adds, softer than ever.

Happy Eddie makes you happy. “I bet they are.”

“You’d eat them alive, though,” he adds like it’s a shame, then opens a blinding smile. “I can’t wait for you to meet them.”

“I’m really happy you found them,” you say, voice only a whisper. Spending these last three days almost glued to Eddie’s side had been good—educative, and worrying, and a roller-coaster of emotions, but good.

Suffocating, too.

You’d forgotten what his eyes do to you.

If before you wanted them on you at all times, now it’s become a problem that could evolve into an addiction.

He verts his eyes to the guitar.

"I'm happier I have you," he chuckles lightly.

The words dance around your head, bringing havoc to every inch inside of you.

Eddie keeps talking through your silence. "I don't know what sort of odd stroke of fate led me to have that luck, and I'm happy for it. But... I missed this. You." He looks up, smiling so softly that it should calm you down, but it only raises your heartbeat. "No one sits with me in silence and watches me practice. I mean—I don't think I can sit in relative quiet with anyone else. I've been waiting for the gong to go off and for me to wake up out of nowhere, but..."

Here we are, it goes unsaid.

"Ever since you told me that you almost..." you're unable to say the word. It'd make it too real, and you're trying to keep your hands off of him—if you admit to yourself you almost lost him, you're never letting him go. "I wait, too," you finish with a whisper. "For you to just—not be here. Out of nowhere."

Eddie takes a good look at you before placing Sweetheart on the floor in front of the bed with care.

You watch him move—watch his fingers reach for the half joint on the ashtray, his lighter inside his front jeans pocket, his waist inching closer to yours until your sides are touching, bodies pressed next to each other.

Your eyes travel up until they find his gaze on you. Breathe, you remind yourself. In and out, shuddering, you manage it. He's never been this close.

There's a palm of air separating your faces.

His body's heat is solid, almost palpable as it touches yours.

A flame appears in your peripheral version, and Eddie lights up the join, inhaling slowly.

If this were two years ago, you two would be laughing and coming up with the craziest topics to make the high even better.

As a clap of thunder crashes outside, you're reminded that it's now.

Eddie's changed.

He passes you the joint after a couple of puffs, but none of you seem able to let go of the silence. It covers you both like a blanket fort hides you in the living room when you're a kid, in plain sight for everyone to see and, yet, somehow still in its own world.

He noticed, you think.

It must've shown in your face the sea of feelings that's been keeping you underwater since arriving at Hawkins.

Wave after wave, Eddie drags you under.

I missed you, and the taste of salt.

Please don't freak out, but, I did some shit. I've got some stuff to tell you, and there's not enough air before you're pulled under.

I almost died. And you embrace the blue surrounding you.

You pass him the joint back, feeling the telltale signs of the flood in you wanting to pour just like the one outside.

If there's one thing you know Eddie hates, it's to see people cry. Averting your gaze to his lap, you look at the hands you wanted to hold for so long, and watch as they come up in your direction.

His left-hand cups your face, and you want to let it all out.

"Hey," he calls your attention. Once your eyes are on his, Eddie looks at you, open and waiting. "Talk to me, sweetie."

It does something to you. The nickname, it pulls at your strings, and it's new and terrifying. "Eddie," you breathe out. "What would I've done?"

His brows furrow in confusion, and you're no longer trapped. You're floating, and if he's this close to you, he won't mind if you reach out to him.

Tentatively, your hand reaches to cover his wrist. You keep his hand there on your cheek, and your eyes close when you ask. "If I'd lost you." I would've gone back to the sea. "I... I wouldn't have it made it, Eds." You're the only one who makes all of this bearable. "I can't think of—"

The words are cut off from you, but not because of another crash of thunder, or the fear in your guts—no.

Your lips are closed shut by another pair of soft, plump lips pressed against yours, and everything else is white noise.

Your whole mind is taken over by the tunneling feeling of Eddie's lips on yours, and there's no air in your lungs or movement in your body.

Whether it takes two seconds or minutes for him to pull back, you're unsure. All you know is that one second his lips are on yours, and the next, you feel the chill air replacing it and that's what pulls you back to the moment.

With open eyes, you see Eddie pulling back slowly, his face an open book that you've read many times by now—fear is written around his wide eyes, that dread that paints his eyebrows whenever Eddie does something wrong and is unaware of what, exactly.

He's pulling his back even further, and that unfreezes your body. "Wait," he can't back away now. After years of only dreams, he can't take this away from you after giving it like that. Your hands are on his t-shirt in a second and you ignore how breathless and shaky you sound at what you say next. "Come back here. Do that again."

Eddie looks at you and the fear leaves.

"You sure?" he asks.

You nod, pulling him by his shirt.

When his body presses on yours again, the need swirling in the air, crashing your mouths together, it could rival the sky's anger when lightning follows thunder.

Your heart starts beating so fast you worry it might try to run away from your body, and the weed only highlights every part that's in contact somewhere.

Eddie's mouth is on you, and it's nothing like you dreamt.

When he pulls back for air, the words spill out of you. "I dreamt about this." It's a confession, and his smile to it is blinding.

Both his hands take a second cupping your face, and you're taken over by the feeling of safety of being held by them. They're big enough to cover a good portion of your face, and you want all of your body to be covered by Eddie.

He laughs, inches apart from you. "I think I'm dreaming," he mutters under his breath.

It's nothing like in your dreams because it's better.

Because in here, when you lean your face in search of his lips again, Eddie grants them to you. There's nothing pulling you two apart, and he doesn't laugh in your face or gives your a sad, pitiful look.

It takes you a few moments to realize it, but Eddie wants you.

The realization pulls a broken moan from your throat, and his response is immediate.

Eddie holds your face tighter, and you nibble on his bottom lip as he pulls back this time. "You're such a good kisser, sweetheart."

Sweetheart.

"Thought only that thing over there got the honor of that nickname," you tease, feeling surprisingly lighthearted under the weight of his eyes. You nudge your chin towards where Sweetheart is by the side of the bed.

Eddie's scoff is only made hotter by the fact that his eyes stay on you. "That thing's got nothing on you," he tells you.

You breathe out, shakily.

One of your hands leaves his clothes and you lift your fingers to his face, the tips stroking around his eyes, his cheeks, running down to his lips.

Eddie kisses them as they pass by, and that creates a hunger you never felt before.

It's similar to the one in your stomach after spending many hours without a single drop of water or any food—it grows in the center of your chest, warm and alive like someone planted a special item there.

When you and Eddie are pulled close again, it's by a newfound gravity.

He kisses you with so much intent that you lose all notion of the room surrounding you.

The sound of the rain hitting the windows and the fog in the room due to the smoke make you whimper when your eyes open, when his lips start kissing on your neck and your core begs you to spread your neck for him.

It's you who lays down on the bed, pulling him on top of you, and Eddie goes willingly.

The kisses are more desperate than the hugs you two gave when first encountering each other.

Running across the parking lot, through the same trailers you knew and some you recognized of two years ago, all you could think about was touching him—no regards for what it would look like for everyone else watching when you jumped on his arms, wrapping your legs around his waist as if you two had been separated for a decade or something more.

Eddie kisses you like he gets it.

He kisses your neck with soft, deliberate kisses, and you notice his hand is shaking when they get underneath your shirt.

You're both shaking.

Eddie pulls back when you grab his hair and call his name, "Eddie," and having those breathtaking eyes set on you as fire blazes behind them—you want to cry. Instead, all that comes out is a watery smile. "I—I really..." I've loved you since I learned what love is. I'm terrified of everything you make me feel half of the time. "I love you a lot. You know that. Right?"

Eddie looks like he's hearing the words for the first time.

He adjusts his body on top of yours, shaking his head to himself as he closes his eyes and his hands stroke your neck and sides.

When he opens his eyes, Eddie crowds your face with his curls. He rests his forearm next to your head on the pillow, and keeps looking at you before he says,

"I knew I was lucky, but... not this much—no." Eddie's dimples pop as his signature happy smile opens up. "I love you too," he adds, smile softening.

That's good, you think.

I can live knowing that. I can swim in it. I can let it take me over like a current because it's where I've always wanted to be.

After that, there aren't many words, but you learn that the body talks in more than one way.

You knew the empty, hot, and messy kind—the body talk where two people use each other until there's nothing left but pleasure and white noise.

This is none of that.

Kisses with Eddie are shared languidly until they're not anymore, but even in their lusty haze, you and Eddie are not seeking the peak of pleasure in one another.

All you want is to taste him, and that's all he wants from you, as well.

When your skin starts burning under his ministrations, Eddie pulls back to ask with a nod if he can remove the clothes creating a barrier between him and your body, and they all fall to the floor, piece by piece.

Yours, his, all of them, until you two are staring at each other with faces painted red and that momentary hesitance—a pause before the major note, before—

lightning.

Eddie's touches on you can be felt all around you.

From the tip of your toes to your neck, your chest; when he reaches between your legs with his hands and starts running the tip of his fingers on your inner thighs, you're whimpering.

"Is this good?" He asks you as his fingers brush over your outer lips, coating themselves in the wetness coming out of your cunt. "Tell me how you like it—tell me how to make you feel good."

"You can definitely keep talking, for one," the joke comes out strained—Eddie's fingers are thick. "Fuck."

Everything he does feels good, but that's not what he wants to hear.

Eddie laughs when you complain, whine, and slap his sides, just writhing your body against his hand, and it feels surreal to laugh in the middle of all of this, but he looks the happiest you've ever seen him.

"Hm? Harder? Or... deeper?"

Not only does he want to hear exactly how you like it, but he delivers it how you ask him to once it's out in the air.

Eddie keeps his kisses coming, and when you find the motor skill to push a hand between your bodies and grab his cock in your palm, both of you groan at the same time.

Time truly means nothing when it comes down to it.

Eddie pushes his fingers in and out of you, swallowing every sound that comes out of your lips while you stroke him until he's leaking at the tip, and it feels like a lifetime.

A lifetime where you learn that you like the taste of his sweat — or at least you do when you're the cause for it — and that Eddie is a whimpering mess in bed, just like you dreamt that one time.

He's strong, too, but when you beg him to get inside of you, Eddie turns his open gaze to you and asks in an almost embarrassed tone, "Can you—you can say no, but—go on top? Please? I—I'm trying really hard not to make this end a lot sooner than we'd both like and if I get lost in the momentum when on top of you, I might not—"

You turn him around with a leg hooked around his waist, and both of you laugh at his look of pure surprise when his back hits the mattress.

"Fuck—you're hotter than Hell, sweetheart," he groans, pulling you in for a kiss.

He gets the condom, but lets you slip on it, and when he lays down again, you're the one who stops to admire it this time.

The messy, wild hair, glued to his forehead and cheeks with sweat, the way he looks flushed and blissed out.

It's a little bit of torture to feel him like this for the first time, but not in a bad way.

More like—your mind running thousands of miles an hour as it tries to wrap its head around the fact that he said he loves you, too, and no, this isn't just a dream or an experience.

It's electrifying when Eddie plants the heels of his feet on the bed and meets your waist with a thrust, then holds your waist with both hands to guide you two into a rhythm.

As a musician, that's something Eddie has.

Rhythm.

Maybe it's one of your heartbeats or one with the rain, or maybe there's a song playing in his head as his hips make sweet movements when meetings yours.

It's bliss, either way.

It's his hands slapping at your thoughts, it's one of them coming to wrap and hold around your neck, it's the way Eddie starts grunting and dropping your name like a plea the closer you two get.

Being with Eddie is not a mindless search for that white noise, but there's something more powerful than just pleasure, you find out that night.

Something about the way he holds you close and looks straight into your eyes as you two cum, because he wants to see and feel you, and that's all you needed, truly.

The rain pours outside, and you sleep to the sound of it, laying in the hold of Eddie's warm, body sedated and marked in purple and red bruises.

The sun will shine tomorrow, and there'll be more love to come.

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[prolix-yuy]

HELLO I'm here I've made it, don't mind me running in with my little pocket watch like the White Rabbit. Ahem! For the position, I got missionary with a pillow. For the man, I'd like to request Ezra. And for you, I have many kisses for your cheeks.<3 Ok love you byyeeeeee

Birdieeeee I will accept all of the cheek kisses and oh so many nights with Ezra. I hope it's filthy enough for my favorite Ezra writer.

Pairing: Ezra x F!Reader

Position: Missionary with a Pillow

Word Count: 1584 (hELp)

Warnings: Explicit, 18+ MINORS DNI, unprotected PiV sex (don’t be a fool, wrap your tool), little bit of oral (f receiving), fingering, allusions to sex toy use, mentions of bad past sexual experiences, Ezra's filthy fucking mouth.

Notes: This has gotta be one of my favorite positions and I love it for Ezra because there's a kind of care that comes from this that gets me all swoony.

Ezra’s expression blooms from curiosity to confusion.

“You would like me to…take you to bed?” he asks, bionic and flesh arms folded over his broad chest. The henley he’s wearing stretches over his biceps, tapering to loose work trousers cinched at his waist. His tongue peeks out to wet his lower lip, confusion beginning to morph to contemplation, all while you try not to wring your hands too nervously. 

“It’s just…I um,” you try to say, the sudden mortification of how you’ve come to this conclusion weighting your tongue. “I’ve…heard about you. With others. They’re always, uh, very satisfied.” You don’t dare to extrapolate on that, or touch on how his voice carries across the hall and into your small room on the Pug. The few times you ventured to listen at his door, you burned over how expertly he took his partners apart. But beyond all that, you hated to admit why you wanted to ask him. 

“And you would like to be satisfied?” Ezra says, just a little smirk at the corner of his mouth as he tilts his head down at you. Face burning, you nod. He uncrosses his arms and braces them on his modest desk, giving you a full view of his muscled body and soft stomach. “And what would you offer me for that gift?”

Your stomach drops, and you bite the inside of your cheek to keep tears from coming to the surface. Bad enough that you had to humble yourself for this request, but to be so bluntly asked what he’d get out of it only amplifies your anxieties.

“I, ah…I can…I could…shit, I’m…I think I’ve been stupid about this, I’m sorry, I’ll…” you stammer, backing towards the door. Quick as electricity Ezra pushes off and closes the gap between you, hand coming up to cup your chin. You still as he studies your face, deep lines etched between his brows and under his dark eyes.

“Have you never laid with another before?” he asks in a soft voice he only reserves for speaking to his ward. It makes your throat clench.

“I have, but it’s never been…good.” You hold his gaze, willing your boldness to return. “And it sounds like it’s always….good…with you.” Ezra’s eyes dance over your face, thumb stroking along your cheek. “I’d like to see what it’s like when it’s good, if you’ll have me.”

Ezra purrs darkly, the cool plastic of his prosthetic hand drifting to your hip.

“That is quite a gift you’re offering me. Are you sure there’s no other who would want to share in your first taste of ecstasy?” Before you answer he tugs at your waist and you follow his lead, swaying steps leading you to his bed. 

“I’d like a sure thing,” you reply, giving him a smirk of your own that he greedily enjoys. His thumb swipes over your lips before pushing inside, scraping the pad over your teeth to press your tongue. Saliva floods your mouth. 

“Take off your clothes,” he says firmly, stepping back to pull his henley over his head. The lines and planes of his chest are littered with scars and faded pink burns, noticeable redness where his prosthetic attaches. You rid yourself of your tunic and slide your pants to the floor, shedding your underwear in one fell swoop. This pleases Ezra, who groans and palms his crotch at your nude form.

“Lie down, I’m going to stretch you out on my fingers first,” he husks, stalking towards you as you sit on the edge of the bed. 

“You don’t…have to, I made sure I was ready before I came,” you said quickly, making Ezra’s head cock and eyebrows pull together.

“You…prepared yourself? Without me?” he says slowly, sinking to a crouch and parting your knees with broad, hot palms. Your core is puffy from the toy you worked yourself up with, shiny with the lube you generously used in case Ezra was larger than you were used to. His eyes flick up to your face, now anxious.

“You did not need to do this. I take great pleasure in making you cum on my fingers and in my mouth before finding myself in your tight heat.” You try to shut your knees, embarrassed that your forethought seems to be in bad taste, but he slots his hips between yours and pushes you back on the bed. The sudden intimacy of his body so close makes your heart flutter. “Did you even make yourself cum?”

You shake your head, which he follows with one of his own. “Next time you’ll let me take my time with you, pull two screaming peaks from this sweet pussy before I bed you.” The promise of next time rushes blood to your head so quickly you fear you’ll faint, but Ezra’s thick fingers sliding through your folds to press inside makes you snap into sharp focus. As he coats his fingers, pressing a spongy spot that zings pleasure down your spine, he deftly unbuttons and shucks his pants to join you nude and scorching hot.

“Since you wish to get to the main event so efficiently, I’ll do my best to make it worth your while,” he says, and one hand urges your hips to lift as he tucks a pillow under your bottom. The height tilts your hips, your cunt suddenly empty as he pulls his fingers out to wrap around his cock. “I find if the act is not as pleasurable for you, this position helps.” 

“Thank you,” you blurt out, his motions stilling as he looks down at your pliant body. There’s a flicker of something hungry on his face, the harsh squeeze he gives his cock echoing your observation. 

“You may thank me when you’re cumming on my cock,” he plays it off, circling the tip of his cock at your entrance. A deep breath, then he presses in inch by sumptuous inch. Throwing your head back, you clutch at his biceps as he leans over you, harsh little pants blowing out of his nose. He stops in his journey to shallowly fuck, tiny movements that pinch your brow and drop your mouth open. Finally, after what feels like whole minutes, he’s seated deep and full inside. 

“Oh, wow, Ezra, that feels…” you pant, opening your eyes to find him inches from your face. He’s draped down over your body, elbows planted on either side of your head, watching you so closely it makes you want to close your eyes again. The veins in his neck bulge, lips parted with his teeth clenched behind them.

“How many men have had you and not satisfied you?” he asks, strain in his voice as he drags back out.

“All of them. Never…fuck, never knew how to tell them,” you gasp, fisting Ezra’s close-cropped hair. It’s softer than you expect, sweat curling the strands at the base of his neck. 

“Tell me everything,” he rasps out, then snaps back into your cunt.

Ezra’s pace and power curls your toes and rolls your hips against the mounting pressure. The angle is perfect, cock pressing into a place that makes stars explode on the edges of your vision. He watches your face for pain, revels in your pleasure, and when he begins cursing colorfully he drops his forehead to your shoulder. The rough pants and drag of his lips and teeth drive you to wrap your arms around his shoulders and pull him flush with you.

“Is it good? Is it what you needed?” he asks, arching over you and shifting his weight to find your clit between your sweaty bodies. Fanning his fingers over your abdomen, he strums his thumb over it. Your cunt clenches, legs trembling as the telltale signs of your orgasm rumble into your body.

“Yes, Ezra, thank Kevva it’s so good, please…” you beg, clamping your body around him as he speeds up, humid mouth finding your ear. 

“I would fuck you like this and any other way you desired. Every night. Would have done it every night before this, since you told me your name. To think you’ve been suffering so long and I could end your torture. Cum for me, and you’ll never want again.” 

You let go with a ragged shout, the profound ecstasy of cumming full of Ezra and surrounded by him thrashing you through the best orgasm you’ve had of late. He pins you down with his hips and hands, arms above your head as he mouths at your jaw and throat. Finally your body relaxes, sticky sweet with endorphins and dumb with pleasure. When you can peel your eyes open enough to watch him, the smugness you expected is well tamped by an affection that catches in your lungs. 

“Can you move?” he asks, your agreement preceding his gentle movements to roll you on your stomach. Pillowing your hands under your head, you sigh and prepare to thank him even more properly. You’re beaten by his large hands tilting your hips, and his hot tongue sliding into your pussy from behind. The gasps you choke out elicits a chuckle from Ezra’s throat.

“I’m going to take my reward now,” he teases, kneading his fingers into your generous ass. 

“What’s that?” you manage to get out before he slaps one cheek enough to spike arousal back in your cunt.

“Every orgasm I can pull from your body before the sunrise.”

Night cycles on the Pug last 16 hours, and Ezra uses every minute.

END

LJ’s Bangathon 2023

[xiaoao]

ok so like I just finished “Bocchi The Rock” just recently and

i started thinking ab how the haikyuu teams would react or smth like that

im prbly gonna make this a series but yeah 

lets start with our all time favorite, Karasuno !!

ENJOYYY

Words : 2.1k

ʸ/ᴺ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴿᴼᶜᴷ! ♪♫

KARASUNO

♩ - They’re overjoyed!! To hear that their heavily introverted manager has FINALLY found people to talk to

♩ - it’s a great thing that they all share the same interests!!

♩ - even they ( Karasuno ) can’t make y/n speak or do something like that, let alone perform in front of people!!!

♩ - they’re extremely proud, ESPECIALLY Kiyoko and Sugawara

♩ - “they’ve grown so much…. (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)” “they have.” - Sugawara and Kiyoko

♩ - Tanaka and Nishinoya almost cried in joy and almost tackled you ( Ennoshita grabbed them by the collar before they did )

♩ - everyone was so supportive!!

♩ - when you said that your first gig will happen soon and you had to sell a specific amount of tickets, you had to get more from the manager so that everyone could come

♩ - then a hard weather struck, despite putting up paper dolls to fend off the storm

♩ - you and your bandmates were DEVASTED, only a few ppl showed up

♩ - the bassist you met that helped you promote your band and had a street performance came though!!!

♩ - then suddenly, they came!! Even Yachi and Kiyoko came!!

♩ - your bandmates were pleasantly surprised, but was happy that a bunch of people came to watch anyways ( even if the large group came for you specifically )

♩ - at the end of the gig, the third years cried ( Kiyoko shed a few tears, after all, you were improving as a person. )

♩ - even though you still had room for improvement to look at the crowd when performing, everyone believed that it was worth walking in the heavy storm ( “Tsukki liked the performance! I can tell because he was really focused on you!” - Yamaguchi )

♩ - all in all, everyone love you dearly and is very proud of you

ᶜᴴᴬᴿᴬᶜᵀᴱᴿ ᴴᴱᴬᴰᶜᴬᴺᴼᴺˢ! ♪♫

#¹ ᴰᵃⁱᶜʰⁱ ˢᵃʷᵃᵐᵘʳᵃ! ♪♫

♩ - when he first met you as Karasuno’s manager training for Yachi’s support in the future, he was reaaaal hesitant

♩ - but when everyone learned that you played the guitar, everything went batshit ( positively )

♩ - but he’s supportive, your number one supporter absolutely 

♩ - watches you play cs he wants to make sure you arent injured

♩ - he isn’t aware that you’re THAT guitar he sees on his feed

♩ - thinks you’re very good at the guitar !!

♩ - he thinks your personality is a very big contrast into what you play ( rock )

♩ - thought you were a completely different person when playing the guitar ( partially true ig )

♩ - will continue to support your future gigs!! 

♩ - if you go professional one day, he says he’d go to every gig he can 

#² ˢᵘᵍᵃʷᵃʳᵃ ᴷᵒᵘˢʰⁱ! ♪♫

♩ - was so surprised when he learned you played the guitar

♩ - was probably thinking ukelele BUT NOOO

♩ - his eyes widened when he saw that large ass case and when you opened it it was an electric guitar

♩ -”????” was written all over his face

♩ - thinks ure still a cutie tho

♩ - he LOVES looking at your focused expression when trying to learn a new song

♩ - is so overjoyed he’s losing his mind

♩ - “MY Y/N IS SO TALENTED (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)” - Sugawara

♩ - when he learned you can play acoustic, he visited your place and listened to you play

♩ - he had SUCH a big grin it was so cute

♩ - not that u noticed since u were too preoccupied with the guitar

#³ ᴬˢᵃʰⁱ ᴬᶻᵘᵐᵃⁿᵉ ♪♫

♩ - You didn't expect he'd be so nervous when you touched the guitar

♩ - tbf you threw the guitar in your hands ( js shows your bond w the guitar 🤲 )

♩ - he, too, was also “????”

♩ - he worries for your ears 

♩ - and fingers, he noticed that they had scars and looked rough

♩ - he sees you as a talented person though!! 

♩ - he had a hunch you were THAT popular guitarist but just thought he was hallucinating

♩ - is willing to go to your gigs to support you!! Even if the people there are intimidating!!

#⁴ ʸᵘᵘ ᴺⁱˢʰⁱⁿᵒʸᵃ! ♪♫

♩ - His eyes went BRIGHT.

♩ - As if there were stars in his eyes!! Really!!

♩ - He was really amazed when he heard from Ennoshita that you play the guitar

♩ - Same as Sugawara, he was expecting something small like a ukelele or something like that based from your personality

♩ - Seeing that electric guitar in your hands, he smiles so brightly it shows his extroverted energy

♩ - will go to your gigs no matter when and where, LITERALLY.

♩ - in his timeskip, he travels around the world, and if he hears any news that you're gig is somewhere around the world, HE WILL AUTOMATICALLY GO THERE.

♩ - ALSO your number 1 supporter behind the 3rd years !!

#⁵ ᴿʸᵘⁿᵒˢᵘᵏᵉ ᵀᵃⁿᵃᵏᵃ! ♪♫

♩ - Was the most interested one honestly

♩ - since he was a “punk” or “gangster”, I feel like he'd be interested in punk music

♩ - it just so happens you cover punk music in secret!!

♩ - the first to find out that you were THAT guitarist, but didn't tell anyone for obvious reasons

♩ - he's actually pretty quiet whenever you're practicing with Karasuno

♩ - again, is willing to go to every gig you have if he's not too busy

♩ - ( the timeskip ) at one gig, he came with Kiyoko as a way to celebrate their wedding, and Tanaka cried at the amount of people who came to watch you

♩ - “Y/N HAS IMPROVED SO MUCH. (´༎ຶ ͜ʖ ༎ຶ `)♡” - Tanaka, Kiyoko was rubbing his back as you awkwardly stand there.

♩ - after the gig, he learned that a lot of people came specifically for YOU and he cried in Kiyoko's arms again

#⁶ ᶜʰⁱᵏᵃʳᵃ ᴱⁿⁿᵒˢʰⁱᵗᵃ! ♪♫

♩ - The sweetest 🥹

♩ - First to find out you played the guitar

♩ - he spotted you in one of the classrooms, on the brink of tears cs your guitar's string wouldn't tune well, so you thought it'd break ( since the guitar was given by your father, you didn't want to break it of course )

♩ - helped you calm down, even helped you fix the guitar

♩ - just watched you the whole time you practiced

♩ - LOVER BOY.

♩ - helped you patched up your fingers too when they had cuts and blisters

♩ - if the 3rd years are you number one supporter, then he's your number 1 fanboy

♩ - similar to Tanaka, he literally broke down due to the improvement.

♩ - “I feel so proud (´ ͡༎ຶ ͜ʖ ͡༎ຶ `)” - Ennoshita

♩ - safe to say, you'll always see his face during gigs and concerts.

#⁷ ᴴⁱˢᵃˢʰⁱ ᴷⁱⁿᵒˢʰⁱᵗᵃ! ♪♫

♩ - lord bless his soul

♩ - when he saw your hands all blistered and covered in some tape he full on panicked

♩ - when you explained, his eyebrows raised

♩ - he stood there awkwardly and went like “oh.”

♩ - but despite everything, he was really invested whenever you'd practice with Karasuno

♩ - he sees you as someone ambitious, talented, and gifted

♩ - when he received the news you were in a band, he was skeptical due to your very Introvertedness

♩ - but in the end, he believed you

♩ - during your first gig, he was as nervous as you for some reason!!

♩ - but before the song you and your band created start, you hear him audibly whispered “You can do it!!” Together with Yamaguchi

♩ - Is still super nervous when going to your future gigs

♩ - he saw your improvement and is super proud and happy where you are at!!

#⁸ ᴷᵃᶻᵘʰⁱᵗᵒ ᴺᵃʳⁱᵗᵃ! ♪♫

♩ - he was also quite shocked, but one of the people to have expected you had a hidden talent

♩ - at some point, he wanted to ask you if you could teach him, but brushed it off

♩ - is super duper supportive!!

♩ - one time during one of your gigs ( a future gig ), he persuaded his family to come

♩ - they did NOT regret, his family said they wanted to come to the next gig

♩ - you were still very awkward that time, so you just awkwardly bowed as a thank you

♩ - mans great at persuading people cause bro got a lot of people into your music

♩ - ( time skip ) he still listens to your music even if he doesn't physically go to your gigs and concerts

♩ - he streams and shares your music to a lot of people he knows!

♩ - your number 1 moral support 🥹

#⁹ ᵀᵒᵇⁱᵒ ᴷᵃᵍᵉʸᵃᵐᵃ! ♪♫

♩ - when he first heard your skills in the guitar, he was so stiff

♩ - it's like that one time where he couldn't compliment Tsukishima

♩ - when he praised you, it was so awkward.

♩ - but, Sugawara came in to save the day and clear up what Kageyama meant

♩ - he.. Surprisingly listens to your music on an mp3 player ( back then )

♩ - during timeskip, he listens to your music, whether it'd be rock / punk music, soft music, solos, collabs, etcetera, he'd listen to it before volleyball matches

♩ - in all honesty, you were the second person Kageyama was close to, so he wants to support you in any way possible

♩ - not that he'd admit anything..

♩ - even when he doesn't go to your concerts and gigs, he's there virtually watching your concerts and gigs through the screen together with his other teammates in the Adlers

#¹⁰ ˢʰᵒʸᵒ ᴴⁱⁿᵃᵗᵃ! ♪♫

♩ - Was literally SO HYPED when he learned you played the guitar

♩ - “can you play something?! Pleaseee?!” - Hinata

♩ - thinking back at it, Hinata was probably your best hype man

♩ - he persuaded you to perform in one of the events in Karasuno, and it was a success

♩ - same as Narita, he invited his whole family ( except Natsu cause she wasn't allowed ) in your first gig, and you gained a lot and a lot of praise

♩ - Hinata is always, ALWAYS present when your practicing

♩ - he'd always be near you, sitting beside you, in front of you, etcetera

♩ - he's hyperfocused!! If only he can be this focused during class

♩ - he asked if he could be taught one day

♩ - he retracted that statement after learning his hands can get affected bro did not want to sacrifice it for the sake of volleyball

♩ - same as Kageyama, due to being a professional volleyball player, he doesn't have much time in his hands

♩ - but he'd listen to your music the night before a match, and just a few minutes before a match

♩ - he'll always support you!!

#¹¹ ᴷᵉⁱ ᵀˢᵘᵏⁱˢʰⁱᵐᵃ! ♪♫

♩ - bro looked like he expected it

♩ - well, actually he did, after seeing how rough your fingertips are, he had a hunch

♩ - also one of the few people that knows you're THAT guitarist ykyk

♩ - as much as he seems uninterested, he was actually invested during your first gig

♩ - he personally believed that you carried the second song after the first song being so untuned

♩ - but he won't say shit.

♩ - since you both are quiet, you two bond quite well

♩ - at some point you two were alone in the classroom, you were quiet as you strum the guitar

♩ - you can assume that's the time where Tsukishima started tolerating you better

♩ - he doesn't seem like a fan of your music, but during your high school days??

♩ - he had every song downloaded in his mp3, no one knew even Yamaguchi

♩ - that was his lil secret hehe

♩ - up until now, he listens to your music ( your solos and the soft music ) during studying, and the other music ( your punk / rock music ) before matches

♩ - it's his personal “hype man”

♩ - he'll always secretly support you from the shadows

#¹² ᵀᵃᵈᵃˢʰⁱ ʸᵃᵐᵃᵍᵘᶜʰⁱ! ♪♫

♩ - sweetie 🥹 (2)

♩ - he was the first to point out your fingers, that's how Tsukishima found out actually

♩ - whenever you'd leave your guitar alone and he's near the guitar, he'd always guard it just in case someone wanted to hold it

♩ - he even cleaned it once!!

♩ - when he could play music, he'd play your soft ( kind of lofi vibe ) ones on the speaker, or one of your solos where you sing and your voice is really comforting

♩ - he loves listening to you hum when you're practicing

♩ - Yamaguchi would share his mp3 playlist with other Karasuno members, or other people in general HAHAHA

♩ - loverboy. (2)

♩ - your number 2 fanboy. 🥹

[rebelspykatie]

Rushin’ through me like a fire Part 3

A Steddie Club AU

AO3 | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

“You bought a bar, but you don’t like people?” Steve tilts his head curiously. 

“I’m an enigma, I know.” He flaps his hands around. “My Uncle Wayne always told me I’m as crazy as a rainbow trout in a car wash.” He laughs at the face Steve makes and scratches the back of his head. “Yeah, I never really understood what that meant either until I bought this place. Got in over my head with it all and it takes a lot of work to keep it running. Should’ve known better than to buy a bar when I barely graduated high school.”

“Seems like it all worked out for you, though,” Steve looks around appreciatively, as if he’s not already well acquainted with these fours walls. “Robin and I love coming here. It’s our favorite place. Unless we count our house.” 

Eddie cheeks flush a pretty pink color that looks delicious under the twinkling lights. “Such high praise from one of my best customers.” 

Now Steve’s blushing, ducking his head to hide his smile. He swirls his drink around in the glass. Deciding to be a bit bold, he says, “If I had known you were out here on slow nights, maybe I would’ve come in earlier in the week.” He takes a sip of his drink to stop himself from saying more.

“Are you saying little old me is enough to bring you in on a slow night?” Eddie leans forward, closing some of the space between them. It feels wholly different from when Austin did it, butterflies kicking up in his stomach and palms perspiring, instead of cold dread. The people sitting around the bar or dancing behind him have completely disappeared, his focus only on Eddie and the adorable way he’s biting his lip, playing up being coy but still looking secretly pleased at Steve’s attention. 

“I think you’d be enough to bring me in any night.” And Steve gets to watch his cheeks blossom a bright cherry red as a delighted zing of pleasure wraps itself around his heart. Perhaps he hasn’t lost his touch after all. 

“Aren’t you just a charmer?”

“Guess my lines do work, then, huh?” Steve asks, unable to wipe the goofy grin off his face. Pushing his luck, he asks, “Is the owner allowed to dance, or are you too busy?”

Before Eddie has a chance to answer, Gareth leans over his shoulder and says, “He’s not too busy.” Eddie elbows Gareth in the ribs. Gareth ignores him. “Go on, boss. Have fun for once.” 

Steve hesitantly adds, “It’s ok if you don’t want to. The rejection won’t crush me or anything.” And so what if he’s lying through his teeth and it would definitely crush him completely if Eddie backed away from him after all the electricity he felt between them? He’ll keep that to himself.

“No rejection here, sweetheart,” Eddie sheepishly grins. He drags Gareth away with him by the arm, both of them whispering feverishly to each other as Eddie rounds the end of the bar. The hairs on his neck stand at attention knowing that they’re definitely talking about him, but he tries to stay focused on Eddie agreeing to dance with him. 

With one last exasperated look, Gareth turns Eddie around by the shoulders and frog marches him over to Steve, who has hopped down from the bar stool to wait patiently along the edge of the dance floor. 

“He’s all yours, Steve,” Gareth smirks and pushes Eddie forward with a little shove, then runs back behind the bar to continue helping customers. 

“We really don’t have to, if you’re that uncomfortable,” Steve says once more, making sure that Eddie doesn’t feel pressured into anything. 

“It’s not you,” Eddie glances at the dance floor, eyes nervously darting around. “I wasn’t kidding before. People make me nervous. I’m not used to anyone touching me unless they’ve known me since I was in diapers.” He rubs at the back of his neck. “I’m afraid I won’t be very good at all of that.” He gestures towards the bodies moving together. 

“It’s not really about being a good dancer. At least, not for me,” Steve shrugs. “I like the release I get when I just let the music take over and it drains all of the stress out of my body.” 

Eddie has turned away from the crowd, staring intently at Steve’s face. “You’re still a good dancer, though.” 

“Are you admitting that you’ve watched me on those cameras of yours?” Steve can’t help the way his heart races at the thought. He wants to be the center of Eddie’s attention.

“I saw you earlier with that idiot,” Eddie tries to argue, but his cheeks are rosy and he looks a little skittish. Hard to tell if that’s a lie or if he really is that nervous. 

Steve reaches out to grab Eddie’s hand, keeping eye contact and hesitating for a second, waiting on Eddie to give him an approving nod. He wraps a hand around Eddie’s and takes a step closer. “You know what else I love about dancing?” 

It’s almost too dark to catch, but Eddie’s eyes flick down to his mouth. He runs his tongue over his bottom lip and Eddie’s eyes track the movement, giving Steve a rush of confidence. 

“What?” Eddie asks, a bit dazed, like he barely heard Steve. 

“How it lets you get close to someone.” He takes another step closer. “You can feel heat passing between bodies.” Another step. “The way the beat runs through your veins down to your hips.” He places a hand on Eddie’s hip and can actually see the full body shudder run through Eddie. “You can pretend like there’s no one else in the room.”

Eddie nods along, eyes glazed over and focused on Steve’s mouth, like he’s hanging on every word.

As the song changes, the beat switches to something softer, a little slower. A sensual jazzy undertone that makes him want to turn off the lights and move his body in time with someone else. It’s exactly the opening Steve needs.

AO3 | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

[okay-j-hannah]

Episode 4: The New Heir

Doctor Who : Multishot

Eleventh Doctor x Reader

Word Count: 3790

Warnings: the spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and lots of references to characters in Downton Abbey - I apologize if you’ve never seen the series but I would highly recommend it 🤩

Request: This just came from my own head 😊

A/N: Follow the lives of the Crawley family and their servants in their Edwardian country estate as they search for the next heir, who will be asked to learn from the Lord and will be encouraged to be friendly with the eldest daughter.

Episode 3: As You Wish

Episode 4: The New Heir {You Are Here}

Episode 5: The Unknown Subject

The sound of tinkling forks and knives sang throughout the dining room. The rich mahogany table was bedecked with a number of alluring dishes and delicious scents. The guests were all alight by candelabras and the newly installed electric light.

(Y/N) cut a piece of the roasted chicken, tasting the rosemary instantly. The kitchens never disappointed in Downton.

Nor did the company. Seeing as life on the estate was frightfully dull without the people, (Y/N) took pleasure in the conversation. She enjoyed recognizing each of them as people from her own life.

Most of all the Doctor.

He sat beside her, taking on the persona of John Smith once more. “Please send my compliments to the kitchen,” he said politely, “You’re quite right – jammie dodgers are my favorite. I appreciate the homemade touch.”

The table rounded with laughs. (Y/N) looked over and eyed his plate full of desserts. He was lucid like her. Truly the Doctor playing the part just like her.

She turned back to the guests. “How have you enjoyed our gardens, Lady Cassandra?”

The heavily laden woman pursed her lips. She was covered in furs and feathers, practically getting in the way of the food she was pecking at. It was a surprise she could move her eyelids at all with the amount of makeup packed there.

Clearly she was a woman desperately holding onto her beauty as she fell out of her prime.

“I prefer roses over your tulips. But they’re beautiful, nonetheless. I didn’t expect the grounds to be so sunny in the country. It’d dry me out if I didn’t have my butler with me.”

(Y/N) held back a snicker thinking about her sniveling little comrade, Chip. The Doctor cleared his throat, apparently thinking back on the troubles the Lady Cassandra had caused in their own reality.

“You must visit our Downton Village Flower Show,” Lady Crawley said. She was the one supposed to be (Y/N)’s mother – she was one of the few (Y/N) didn’t recognize from her own world.

“I made a report on that,” Sir Octavian recalled from down the table, “And I will say the Lady Cassandra has a point about roses. They were the flower that won the show.” He played the local head of the newspaper in this reality.

(Y/N) took a sip of her wine, “If I’m not mistaken, you have a likeness for gardens, Sir Octavian.”

The man nodded, “I rather enjoy taking strolls. Particularly through statues and fountains as well. I’ve recently acquired a set of stone angels for my own garden.”

The Doctor spoke suddenly through a full mouth, “Weeping angels?”

“Yes, fascinating, aren’t they?” Sir Octavian remarked.

(Y/N) swallowed her chicken. If only the Sir remembered what the weeping angels did to him in the real world.

Mrs. Smith spoke, “I would be interested in seeing a piece about the local hospitals in the newspaper – if you don’t mind me saying so, Sir Octavian.”

“Mother, please,” the Doctor spoke quietly, “You can engage in your advertisements aside from the dinner table.”

His mother was being played by Harriet Jones.

“I apologize – Mother can be rather headstrong about the good causes.”

“I do believe you inherited that trait,” (Y/N) mumbled his way.

Lady Crawley spoke loudly to change the subject, “How have your tours of the village gone, (Y/N)?”

The Doctor responded, “Splendid, really. You’ve got countryside that will last for hundreds of years. Just imagine how they’ll grow and be preserved as national parks one day. An honorable way to preserve the ancient grasslands of England.”

The table had gone silent, forks and knives still.

(Y/N) kicked the Doctor beneath the table.

“Forgive me – just voicing silly antics Lady (Y/N) and I came up with on our adventures.”

“Adventures?” Lord Grantham, (Y/N)’s father, spoke, “Is that what you’re calling your daily outings?”

(Y/N) smiled, “That’s what they are more or less. The latest included a picnic overlooking the village. We tried to attract the rabbits with leftover salad clippings,” she snickered.

The table now shared their fondness for each other. It was no secret they were all in support of the pair to end their friendship in marriage. John Smith was the new heir to Downton and would inherit the title and estate from the family.

Should (Y/N) marry him, the family would have proper cause to remain at the house.

It was peculiar to play a part in a story where they should end up married. (Y/N) certainly didn’t mind, but she wondered what the Doctor thought.

He lifted his glass of wine, took a rather large sip, and spit the entirety of it back into the cup.

~~~

Amy was undoing (Y/N)’s hair, braiding it into a style to sleep in. “I’ve heard some wonderful things about your time with Mr. Smith.”

(Y/N) smiled, “I’ve heard similar things about you and Mr. Williams.”

“The valet?” Amy said with forced surprise, “Heard what things?”

“That you’re to be married,” (Y/N) eyed the woman through her vanity mirror, “That Father has starting searching for a cottage you two could stay in near the house.”

Amy sighed heavily, “Who told you?”

“I was the one who asked for cottage advertisements from Sir Octavian today on Father’s behalf.”

“Fine,” Amy grinned, “Now you share. I’ve noticed how Mr. Smith watches you when he thinks nobody is looking – if you don’t mind me saying.”

(Y/N) turned in her seat, “I rather like your forward nature, Amelia. Just don’t let Mother hear you speak like that.”

There was a knock at the door and a whispered voice, “(Y/N)?”

Amy was frozen and hesitant as she neared the door that was already opening. There stood the Doctor.

“Oh, hello,” he said in an animated voice. “I mean, I’m sorry – could I have a word with Lady (Y/N).”

“Let him in, Amelia,” (Y/N) spoke softly, “And I’d rather you keep this event to yourself, please.”

Amy nodded, letting the Doctor in and shutting the door behind her. Not before she shared a smirk with (Y/N).

The Doctor strode in, rubbing his hands together. (Y/N) took a relieved breath every time she saw him act like himself now. It was comforting after spending a couple realities of him not knowing the truth.

But it was still peculiar with how different he looked. He was still wearing his dress clothes – a suit with an ironed collar and shiny brass buttons – and shoes polished to see your reflection in them. His hair was combed and styled in a professional manner; it made her miss seeing it bounce about as he got into his usual eccentrics.

“Right,” he said quickly, “Splendid work playing the part. I thought a few times there we’d been spotted for being frauds but thankfully we were spared an immediate time jump.”

“You mean the times you ate nothing but jammie dodgers, spit back up the wine, and prattled on about the future national parks of the England grasslands?”

The Doctor threw a hand in the air, “Not important. I only meant to congratulate you on keeping up appearances.” He made to exit the room, but (Y/N) grasped his arm.

“What, that’s it?” she said with sudden anger, “You haven’t been cleverly thinking of some escape plan?”

“We’re surviving with the plan we have.” He held onto her head and planted a kiss in her hair. “Enjoy the fun while we’re stuck here!”

And he bounced for the door before she could lash at him with something more harsh. She still had yet to say something about her mysterious conversation with River Song. She very much wanted to hear from her again.

Not that she didn’t mind the luxury of Downton in the meantime. It was rather enjoyable going on rides or picnics with the Doctor while being treated like royalty on the estate. But that didn’t stop her from wanting to be just (Y/N).

(Y/N) and the Doctor. Companions traveling through time and space.

~~~

It was shaping to be a rather dull weekend as (Y/N) walked the grounds. Looking towards the skies she noticed incoming storm clouds. Clouds that were abnormal for the current season.

The Doctor had gone to meddle in the cottage affair with Mr. Williams and Amelia.

It left (Y/N) with a sense of boredom as she wandered. That was until she heard strange sounds coming from the estate.

She flew around, pebbles scattering around her feet. It sounded like… well, it sounded like the tardis.

She ran for the house, finding herself the staircase immediately and following the sound as it grew louder. She reached rooms that only the servants dealt with. Running through corridors and bumping into footmen and maids.

“Pardon me, Miss.”

“Sorry, Miss.”

“Lady (Y/N), is everything all right?”

(Y/N) ignored them all, hearing the wheeze of the tardis louder and louder until she reached a tearoom. She stood against it, catching her breath and hearing the sound warp.

She braced herself and opened the door. There in full glory was the tardis. It stood glowing and ominous as the day she saw it concealed in the trees.

Closing the door behind her, she whispered, breathless, “River?”

There was no answer.

“River, please,” she pleaded, reaching the box handle and pulling. It remained locked tight. “Hello?” (Y/N) knocked.

“Hello?”

“River!”

“(Y/N), finally!” River laughed, “I’m sorry our last conversation was cut short.”

(Y/N) sighed, leaning against the police box, “We don’t have much time. The dream doesn’t like us asking questions… or making escape plans, for that matter.”

“Have you gotten the Doctor to see the truth?” she spoke within (Y/N)’s mind.

“Yes, though I don’t think he sees the entirety of it.”

River grumbled, “What’s he going on about now?”

“Well, he refuses to think of another way out other than playing our characters assigned to us.”

“No, no – that’s just a mode of survival,” River said, “We can’t talk here. I can already feel the connection getting severed. You need to be somewhere away from the place you woke up.”

(Y/N) nodded, “Somewhere away from the estate.”

“Get somewhere far as soon as you can. Then I’ll try and reach you again – good luck, sweetie.”

(Y/N) felt a tug in her heart. River became silent and when (Y/N) blinked, the tardis was gone. She was left alone in a tearoom.

It was imperative that she got to a faraway location. Feeling out of breath, she ran for the staircase once more, the house slippers dainty on her running feet. She had to lift the hem of her dress as she ran outside, noticing how the grumbling clouds ahead seemed closer, and angrier.

Not trusting herself to remember how to ride a horse like in the last reality, she took off for the tree line on foot.

Trying to convince a chauffer to drive her would be impossible, besides she had to be alone when she sought after River Song. The delicate hairstyle that Amelia braided was coming undone as she fought against the hills and grass and incoming wind.

If the Doctor wasn’t going to do anything about an escape plan, then she was going to have to step up. She didn’t want to be stuck having to pretend in each new existence. She wanted the Doctor back. The Doctor and their old life.

Finding cover under a grove of trees, the light became considerably darker as the storm clouds sat heavy above her. She was far enough from the house now that perhaps the dream would be preoccupied with trying to locate her.

Then there was the wheeze of the tardis again.

“River!” she shouted, unafraid in the sanctuary of the woods. Quite like in the last reality, the tardis appeared nestled between the trees.

“(Y/N)? Brilliant, you were able to get away.”

“But I don’t know for how long,” she replied, running to the blue wood and placing a hand there. “Tell me how to get out of here.”

The tardis warped as River’s voice came through like a static walkie-talkie. “I told you there’ll have to be a big shock. (Y/N), I think you have to scare yourself awake. Like waking from a nightmare.”

(Y/N) leaned against the spaceship, ignoring the light spackle of rain that began to fall. “How am I supposed to scare myself awake?”

“I have my theories,” River continued, the metallic sound of buttons being pressed could be heard through the trees. “But none of them are pretty.”

“What can I do?”

“You’re going to have to die.”

(Y/N) felt the breath stick in her lungs, the smell of damp soil and rain filling her quickly emptying brain.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s the natural survival instinct. Like if you were trapped underwater, your body has a natural self-preservation instinct to get air back in your lungs. In this case, your body will wake itself up if your dream state is compromised.”

She soaked up the information, “And the Doctor?”

“I can imagine finding you dead would be enough of a shock to wake himself up.”

(Y/N) now leaned her head against the tardis, the rain beginning to fall more forcefully, “How do you suggest it happens?”

“For the last couple hours I’ve been working on how I can manipulate the conditions of your dream. I could make something plausible happen to you – something realistic to the reality you’re in so the dream isn’t suspicious.”

“Seems a little farfetched.”

“I’ve been manipulating the atmosphere from inside the tardis. Has the weather changed at all since we’ve been talking?”

(Y/N) gave a choked laugh, “It started to rain.”

River sighed, “Excellent. You should expect to get sick in the next day or so.”

“By your doing?”

“Precisely,” River said, “I hear the Spanish flu is all the rage in this time period.”

(Y/N) grimaced, “That doesn’t seem like a pleasant way to go.”

“But it’ll wake you up,” River urged, “We’re running out of time. I’ll see you soon, please keep the Doctor in check.”

The tardis was beginning to fade beneath her fingers, “Sure, thank you River,” she said, backing away and under the full deluge of rain. “You better make it quick.”

The spaceship was fully disappearing now, and the massive droplets of rain were feeling colder by the second. Being drenched in the cold would surely weaken her immune system. And then all River had to do was put someone with the flu virus in her vicinity.

With so many members of staff and incoming guests at Downton, that part was simple.

The trek back to the estate was much more grueling than running from it. With the combination of the rain and the slip of her soaking slippers, she was a mess upon entering the house.

Having fallen in the overflowing hills, the white of her tights were torn and muddy. The delicate soles of her shoes were compromised and left her toes wet and cold. Her hair fell from their braids, left damp and curled against her face.

She resisted the shivers as a lady’s maid gasped at the sight of her.

“Lady (Y/N)!” It was Amelia, “What happened to you?”

“Good evening, Amelia,” she replied, “How was your house hunting?”

The lady’s maid ran over to grasp her arm, “Abysmal – the rain ruined the fun. We just returned. My lord, you’re chilled to the bone.” She pulled on her arm, towards the stairs, “Let’s get you warm. There’s a cold going around and I’d hate for you to catch it.”

(Y/N) smiled ironically at her maid. The year was 1918 and the Spanish flu pandemic was fully on its way. River knew what she was doing.

“I hope Mr. Smith hasn’t returned,” Amelia continued, guiding (Y/N) into her bedroom. “I’d hate for him to see you like this.”

“Would you now?” (Y/N) sighed, the forward nature of her maid – gossiper that she was – could be just what she needed now. “Why is that?”

“Well, on our ride today…” Amelia began, gathering dry clothes and stoking the fireplace, “I told you of my suspicions of his affections toward you. Now there isn’t a doubt in my mind.”

(Y/N) waited for the maid to help her into her nightgown. “Quite the spy you are, Amelia.”

“I beg your pardon, miss. But it’s true – that man has got his heart set on you something fierce.” She fixed the buttons on the nightgown and got a towel to dry (Y/N)’s hair. “I know he’d fret over you if you fell ill.”

“Kind of him,” she said quietly, seeking the softness of the bedsheets. “I’m terribly tired, Amelia. Please send apologies to my family. I don’t believe I’ll attend dinner tonight.”

“Of course, M’lady,” Amy bowed, “I’ll ask that they don’t disturb you.” She made sure the fireplace was full and hot before exiting the room.

(Y/N) laid there trying to get warm. A headache was already growing, and a tickle residing in her throat.

~~~

River worked fast.

Within the next three days a fever grew to exponential degrees. She was wracked with insomnia and coughing fits. She was prone to nosebleeds and sweating through the sheets.

A medical doctor listened to her lungs and met with the group of people waiting for the prognosis outside the room.

With the door ajar, (Y/N) could just barely make out the conversation.

“She’s entering respiratory failure,” the doctor whispered, “Pneumonia has ravaged her lungs. I’d expect things to get a lot worse within the next day.”

Other worried mutterings filled the space. “How long?” came the determined voice of John – the Doctor.

“It’d be a miracle if she made it through the night.”

And that’s why the pandemic was so historic. People would catch the flu and a few days later would die. It killed them quick.

The family thanked the doctor, but John was quick to request time alone with her. The door was shut and (Y/N) could feel the pressure of someone leaning in beside her.

Nimble fingers found her clammy hand, “(Y/N)…”

Her feverish head rolled on the pillow, rasping when she said, “Doctor?”

“I don’t understand,” he said quietly, holding her hand more fiercely. “I didn’t think this would be a part of our script.”

“It’s just a dream, Doctor,” she coughed, “I’ll be okay.”

“You don’t know that,” he said darkly, “We don’t know what’s keeping us here.”

She fell victim to the pneumonia, coughing savagely. The Doctor grabbed her arm as if he could pull her to him and make it all better. He felt hopeless. He felt angry.

“We need to change the reality,” he ground out. “We need to leave this script.”

“That won’t change anything,” she rasped. “We have to let this play out.”

“I can’t,” he said quietly.

The fever was making her delusional, but it sounded like the Doctor was teary.

“Stop,” she said breathlessly, her eyes closed against the heat in her head. “Leave it be.”

“I can’t,” he repeated, “I won’t.”

She was fading, about to succumb to another bout of terrible, sickened sleep. She weakly wriggled her fingers within his grasp. “This is how we escape.”

The Doctor froze beside her, the wetness developing behind his eyes stalled. “What do you mean?”

“River…” she whispered, falling deeper in her sickness.

“River?” he said, “You’ve contacted River Song?” He stood from where his was kneeling, “What has she been telling you?”

(Y/N) had fallen under, the wheeze of her breath the symphony of her bloody lungs. The Doctor leaned over her, furious at being left out of a conspiracy. He was shaking, unable to look at the speckle of sweat against her temples, unable to look at the bluish tinge of her lips or the dark circles under her eyes.

Was it River’s doing? Was she the reason (Y/N) became fatally ill? She was smart enough to trick the rules of the dream state.

“Oi!” he suddenly yelled, “Hey!” He left (Y/N)’s bedside, screaming up at the ceiling, “You’re being manipulated. This was a revision of the dream. Someone is trying to invade. Please…” he breathed heavy, looking towards the sky. “Please don’t let her die.”

~~~

(Y/N) woke up sitting in a rolling desk chair. She was dressed in a professional women’s cut suit and a brown file folder was on the round table in front of her. She was in a meeting room with glass walls and a flatscreen tv.

She rubbed at her temples, the last remnants of the Spanish flu fading away. “What the hell…” she grumbled.

The door suddenly flew open, a group of people all similarly dressed in professional attire coming in with their own file folders.

Jack Harkness, Donna Noble, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Jack winked, sitting beside her, “Did you sleep here?”

“Must’ve,” she said, massaging a crick in her neck, “We’ve been swamped with the press.”

Donna scoffed, sitting down and kicking her feet up, “You’re telling me! Those scavengers will pick our bones clean to get the tiniest detail on this case.”

“Hey, you’re the best liaison we have,” Amy nudged her friend, “I just can’t believe they asked the DAU to help with the case.”

(Y/N) scrunched her brow, finally reading the ink stamp on the front of her file folder.

DAU: Disaster Analysis Unit.

“This is a high profile case,” Rory said, opening his side bag to find his glasses, “They need as much help as they can get.”

“I don’t fancy the world ending because of some lunatic in a cocktail dress,” Donna said, flipping through the folder, “I mean who decides to be on the run from international governments in four-inch heels.”

“Classy,” Jack said with a grin, “If I was a criminal, I’d want to do it in style too.”

The door opened again, and (Y/N) had to consciously keep her mouth shut. The Doctor came walking in, file folder in hand. He was in a clean, pressed suit, his hair combed to the side and the lightest bit of scruff growing on his face.

He looked so un-Doctorish, but terribly attractive.

“Good morning, team,” he said with a commanding tone. He must have been the head of the DAU team. “We’ve gotten our next case and have pressure from all sides to apprehend her before a doomsday occurs.”

He went to turn the tv on, “Previously our unknown subject, she’s been identified after her last attempt to devastate England. She was caught trying to plague major cities with vials of disease she developed at her university. She tried to cause a worldwide pandemic.”

(Y/N) gulped, already guessing who their unknown subject was.

The tv flickered on and plastered to the screen was a picture of the suspect:

Professor River Song.

~~~

Tag List:

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[electrictouchtvftv]

okay. i just landed a gold mine. i cant give too many details but basically i found someone who was selling unreleased Taylor stuff, and I bought a few songs. I’m not willing to share them just yet as I paid a pretty penny, but I’d love to share them one day. I wanted to write out descriptions for each song I received to give everyone a glimpse into Taylor’s unreleased stuff! I can see why most of these songs were left behind (not that they’re bad! But the stuff she released during this era is definitely mostly better in my opinion), but they’re still great songs and I am SO overjoyed to be able to listen to them. (side note: i was told these are all Fearless/Speak Now rejects, I can’t really confirm but they’re definitely around that time, i’d say the latest one is probably Bother Me, it almost sounds like it could fit on Red. But i’m not sure, I wasn’t told when EXACTLY these were written, just that they were early!) ALSO i don’t really use tumblr, but i figured it was the best place to share this!

Bother Me - Taylor’s frustrated with someone who isn’t respecting her space. They think they know her better than she does herself, and feels entitled to her business. In the final chorus, she finally puts her foot down and confronts them. It has more of a rock vibe, kinda similar to The Story of Us and Electric Touch.

Someone Just Told Me - This one describes Taylor having trust issues because she’s been betrayed so many times in her life. But she’s learning how to let people in in spite of that. It explores the fear of trusting somebody new and the vulnerability that comes with giving someone your heart

Wonderful Things - This one is interesting, it’s kind of like a grown of version of the older song Live For The Little Things. Taylor reminds herself to take time to appreciate the little “wonderful” things in life. She tries her best to find the joy in everything even when she’s in a rough patch. She wants to see the beauty and magic in every moment. Incredibly beautiful, I have no idea why this was left off of any of the re records.

His Lies - On the opposite side of the coin, this song is a stark contrast from SJTM. Taylor trusted a boy with her whole life, only to find out she’s been lied to the whole time. It’s sort of bittersweet though, as in the end it touches on forgiveness and learning from her past mistakes. She won’t let his actions keep her in the past. I think this one may be the earliest

Too Beautiful - This one is a super fun, upbeat song. It’s about falling in love and realizing that you’re in way over your head. Taylor wanted to take things slowly, but she can’t resist the urge to spend every last second with the one she loves. She can’t get enough of them. This is one of my favorites of all time, it’s just so feel-good and happy. It has a similar production style to Superman, but in my opinion is a much better song!

[why-so-serious-lucifer]

K-pop Discography Deep Dives: Dreamcatcher (Part ONE)

A Disclaimer: I was planning, when I first started Tumblr, to be a lurker, but then I began an office job and needed something to listen to to keep myself occupied. And then, I started going through entire K-pop groups’ repertoires, album by album, and jotting down my thoughts. And then, I stumbled into K-pop tumblr and decided, you know what, there’s at least four people on this hell site who would read in depth rants about these discographies and at least five who wouldn’t read it and then get mad because it’s kind of our job as K-pop fans. My lukewarm takes should be taken with an entire silo of salt and the knowledge that this is completely for fun and occupying my very bored, very neurodivergent brain. All this to say, for the love of god, I’m a sleep-deprived student and I don’t have time for internet hate, so don’t kill me. With that being said, enjoy!

Here are my credentials: I’m a HUGE fan of Dreamcatcher, and have been an Insomnia since mid-2021 or so, just after the release of BEcause. They were actually the first concert I’ve ever been to, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience for that. They totally gave their all for those two hours and I ended up loving them even more afterward. I’m even considering going again if they have another tour.

Dreamcatcher debuted in early 2017, so they’re nearing their 7th anniversary (breaking K-pop’s infamous curse), with 7 members: JiU, SuA, Yoohyeon, Gahyeon, Handong, Dami, and Siyeon. Handong was not involved in their 2020 comebacks due to being in her home country of China when COVID broke out, but she’s since returned. They have very complicated storylines which I won’t be going too deeply into here besides when I think a specific song’s meaning in context is important to mention.

Their first single was Chase Me, which starts with a deceptively lovely piano and very typical for-late-3rd-gen-vocals. I was surprised by how k-poppy the song sounded, at least in its early stages and verses, but this was their debut after all. A lot of their early work is slowly stepping out of k-pop convention, one step at a time, although a sound all their own wouldn’t come for a couple songs. Any worries I had were assuaged by such a strong chorus, especially the combination of the bridge just before the last one.

Good Night immediately stands out from the often overly-bubbly, aegyo-filled 2017 k-pop landscape with its creepy ticking clock, marionette-like dance moves and an almost violent electric guitar riff. This time the guitar continues through the whole song, so there’s no fear of it sounding same-y. I’ll probably say this many times in this review, but I just can’t get over how well-suited DC’s vocals are to this rock sound, which isn’t always the case for other groups I’ve seen with a rock concept. The distorted voices in the bridge are a nice touch too. The b-side Lullaby is actually quite lovely, and is a good showcase for their voices in a more soothing context.

Fly High is a poppier sound for Dreamcatcher, although still with more of a rock base than is usual in k-pop, which does make sense as it’s supposed to be a prequel to their much darker storyline. I’ve heard it described before as a bit like an anime theme song, and I’d have to agree, especially the “I can make it!” combined with the strings, lighter electric guitar, and super high power note. Even with a bit of a sound change, Dreamcatcher never slows down their energy, which is something I really appreciate. They always sound like they wholeheartedly believe what they’re selling.

From the EP, Prequel, there are a few great b-sides I could choose (like the off-beat Sleep-walking), but I’m gonna have to say that Wake Up is my favorite. I’m totally biased, but I’ll just never forget the experience of watching them have the absolute best time performing this live for their encore and jumping into the stratosphere while waving a pride flag back and forth. It’s an anthem that needs an audience, first and foremost, and there’s really nothing more exciting than screaming “Wake up, wake up!” at the top of your lungs.

Full Moon is a special single for their first anniversary, and I won’t spend too much time on it, but I really like how it combines that anime-esque energy from Fly High, a harsher electric guitar, EDM, and some ballad elements. It’s a style that DC returns to later in their career, and it’s fun to see a slightly less complicated version here. I never gave this song much of a chance before so I’m glad I did now.

You & I is next in the “Nightmare” saga, and is probably both the most popular of that arc and the most similar to a lot of mainstream k-pop (which I do like, I want to be clear about that. This is not an attack on mainstream k-pop, guys, I run a blog about it.). Maybe it’s a product of that, but in such a strong catalogue it doesn’t really stand out to me. All of DC’s songs add other elements to their rock sound like EDM, pop, metal, or even a flute (we’ll get to that), but You & I is pretty straightforward, as are its lyrics. The chorus and the opening hook are both pretty good, I will admit, and always get me at least nodding to the song. Again, I in no way even dislike this one, and I’m not going to skip it if I’m doing a re-listen or if it comes up on shuffle, but I just never find myself going out of my way to listen to it.

Though the title isn’t my favorite, I quite like the EP Escape The Era. Which a Star may be an average b-side but it's really elevated by their voices and its twinkling instrumentation, while Scar takes some lovely strings and some crushing electric guitars and somehow turns itself from a rock song into a ballad and right back again. Mayday, meanwhile, is much like Wake Up with its anthemic answer, and immediately gets me headbanging to its hook.

WHAT starts with a tense energy right out of the gate with those strings, and in what may be DC’s best first 20 seconds of a song, it culminates in an excellent electric guitar riff that would feel right at home in a BabyMetal song. When the song returns to “normal” after, it only adds to the sense of “wrong” and foreboding…until the chorus smashes through a brick wall with perfect metal anthem energy. In case it wasn’t clear, I love this song and it’s tied for my favorite. You just can’t do much better than a song encouraging people to wake up, fight their nightmares, and live another day, which is one of my personal favorite song subjects.

In a switch from Escape The Era, I love What but Alone In The City is one of my least-favorite of their albums. That being said, I do like the contrast between acoustic and electric guitars in Trap, and its build up is pretty great. But I usually have more than one liked b-side.

Over The Sky is another special single and returns to the softer, more string and pop-rock led base (or “anime theme”, I suppose). It feels much happier than a lot of Dreamcatcher’s singles, and is a nice break in between their very heavy discography. I especially like the twinkling quality of its background piano.

PIRI is the end of their nightmare saga, and is a continuation of the defiance seen in What. It’s named after a traditional Korean flute that the song uses to say “sound the alarm (piri), emergency, emergency.” This is the first time rap is incorporated in its own (albeit short) verse, and I think the combination works quite well. The inclusion of the flute in the background is something I’ve never heard in a song before, but its shrillness provides a good contrast to the very low guitar and drums and Dreamcatcher’s voices sitting in the middle, perfectly capturing the song’s whole idea of being stuck in between light and dark. Overall, a fitting finale.

From PIRI’s EP The End Of Nightmares, while I do really like the sweetness of the ballad Daydream, Diamond was an easy choice for me. It has quite a minimalistic chorus, which normally I’m not the biggest fan of (for evidence, look at any review I’ve ever written to hear me decry the existence of anti-drops), but here it’s to let the great guitar hook and electronic background have some time to be appreciated and its fuller pre and post-choruses make up for it.

Deja Vu is a special single made for a game collaboration, so perhaps one would assume it to be a usual ballad or easily-overlooked piece of a great discography. One would assume very, very wrong. I assumed this, when I heard the first, very slow verse and the backing piano. Deja Vu definitely leans more into melancholy than most of their singles, but it's really at the end of the pre-chorus where the band comes in and DC goes full-on rock ballad that it begins to sound like them.The song is a slow burn, definitely, but the incredible catharsis at the end is totally worth it. Just go watch the music video itself, which is full of delightful drama and betrayal, and can best be described as “Macbeth, if it was gay, Korean, and magical.” You’re welcome.

Raid Of Dream, the EP, was also produced for the game, but the mix of metal clashing and delicate vocals in Silent Night, the backing piano for the full-on ballad Polaris, and the return of the anime theme (plus guitar solo!!) in the call-to-action that is Curse Of The Spider render it quite a strong album in their greater discography.

I don’t normally dive too deeply into Japanese releases, but, like with Taemin, Dreamcatcher’s offer an interesting expansion on their work. Endless Night starts with much harsher rock than most of their singles, while Breaking Out features a surprisingly chill tropical beat, and No More goes full now-or-never nu metal with guitar riffs that would make Babymetal proud.

R. o. S. E. BLUE is another special single produced for a game, and does lead into the more ballady side of k-pop soundtrack songs, but without sacrificing Dreamcatcher’s rock edges. It, like Deja Vu, is a slow burn that doesn’t seem to have much energy at first, but builds up to it through its great pre-choruses. It’s definitely not as good as Deja Vu (few things are), but does remind me of later-stage Gfriend’s more dramatic and celestial sound, and the music video follows JiU attempting to rescue her friends from the magical prison their minds are trapped in, at the expense of herself.

So that’s where we’ll end it for now, being around halfway through. I mentioned last time in my TXT review that this was supposed to be a one-parter and became two, but the second one is basically done and will be coming out in a few days (after I listen to the new album), not a week from now, and I won’t be doing supplementals. Apologies to the five people who actually read those, lol. So, I’ll see you next time for Part Two. Tschüss!

[rkn001]

two of my mega man fcs! the former, patch woman, whose full design i just finalized after eight years of just having her head down, and the latter, pilot man, who i’ve drawn quite often on this blog but never explained what his deal was

(more info about them under the cut)

Patch Woman (DWN-419)

(they’re laughing over the one time mega man slipped his ass and fell into a pit of spikes)

Well-trained with handling private information, Patch Woman can somehow wiggle into everyone’s business underhand, intercept any life-threatening affairs with saccharine prevarications, and make deals with the baddies (or the goodies!) over the information she has collected. That’s her thing—being the “reconnaissance” girl.

Her weapon is a cutlass that can activate her main attack: Thunder Slash. One slash of her weapon can generate an electric field in the form of a wave, which not only stuns her opponents, but it also neutralizes any energy-based attack made towards her. (It’s a better version of the Mirror Buster but without the mirroring effect lmao)

Patch mostly lives her life in the seas—off radar, where no one can catch her. She’s a dedicated sailor in her own little ship, and finds the seas a freeing place beyond boundaries. The ocean is her oyster, and no one can take that away from her.

Patch does have a mysterious past that only Wily knows...and prefers not to touch it when asked. Not that even she would know what she was like before Wily came into her life—it’s that she doesn’t care, and she prefers that this part of her life would remain untouched. Patch knows that whatever this previous life was, is sensitive info that she would not bear to be responsible over protecting, for her own sake. Information is information, and she recognizes how much of a big deal it is, so she does what she can to protect that and ensure no one exploits her for that. (Unfortunately, whatever her previous life was bleeds into what she does now, but she does a good job of using her network to deflect the attention away from her.)

Patch is very thankful to Wily, for reawakening her, for giving her some freedom, for maintaining her privacy of her previous life and never providing the details about it (by her own discretion), and most of all, for kindly asking her what she wants to be in this second life. Part of the reason why her favorite activity in collecting old toys and refurbishing them is that it gives a gentle reminder of her own existence and becoming. She strongly believes in invention and reinvention of the self, and it angers her when robots are given an expiry date.

Although her fashion sense is sharp, Patch’s sense of interior design is downright dreadful. Nobody has ever entered her quarters, but rumors have circulated that there is one thing on her walls where, if anyone looks at it, it would deconstruct their sense of decoration. (She thinks it’s funny though—there’s nothing innocuous on her walls except for one lone #LiveLaughLove canvas board.)

Otherwise, not much else is known about Patch, and she keeps to herself for the most part. But if anyone catches the whiff that she has a crush on Splash Woman, she will rip and tear.

Oh, and she hates mayonnaise. Why anybody would think whisking egg yolks into some weird awful tasting condiment is beyond her.

Pilot Man (DLN-097)

(the tiny robos are new recruits in his airport and Pilot made all of them watch Top Gun together as an exercise in bonding)

This man will take on any aircraft and fly it—no matter the size or age of the model, whether it’s the Queen of the Skies, your favorite vintage Piper Cub, or even the barebones Wright Flyer. (Or whatever the Mega Man universe’s variants of aircraft are, I guess!)

Except...he can’t really freely fly anywhere and anytime, because he’s always busy transporting goods (and the occasional curious customer) everywhere and running his airport. It’s all for a debt to catch up, in the form of several installments made over the years to the government, that he needs to pay off. (That will be explained later.)

During his free time, he likes to revamp and build new models of planes (although he keeps that a secret). What else is there to do with the accumulated information of all the aircraft hydraulic systems that he knows? And, it’s a fun, light bonding activity for him and his robo-underlings, after working constantly for hours on end. :^)

His weapon is the Pigeon Missile. It’s a heat-seeking explosive projectile based off of the very thing he loathes. It’s not a very powerful weapon despite that it can cause some concerning damage; the sensors of the Pigeon Missile can be easily thwarted with some flares or lasers, and their precision in aiming isn’t solid.

It’s a little ridiculous, and maybe even a bit extreme, that he would absolutely hate birds to the point of having a weapon based on them...but it’s related to his debt.

The company that made him entrusted a lot of faith in his abilities after observing his performance as a working pilot for a month since his activation. Since he was doing extremely well, they thought it might be a good idea to overload him with more duties as an on-site air traffic control (ATC); the idea was that he can also help out stressed ATC people with handling their jobs, while flying. Dr. Light didn’t think this was a good idea, but they proceeded on with it anyways, and a month after modifying his programming to handle those additional duties, a frazzled and an almost burnt-out Pilot accidentally mishandled a bird strike incident that caused a lot of causalities in the process.

The plane that had bird-striked before colliding into another turned out to be one of his own, from which he was automating, which prodded the Mega Man universe’s version of the FAA and the government to open up an investigation on this incident. The company pinned the blame on Pilot, Dr. Light had no clue how to handle this, and it ended up with Pilot getting sucked into a class-action lawsuit from the victims’ families and having to owe a ridiculous sum of zenny; he ended up being reprogrammed (again) by the company to handle this situation by himself. The whole thing traumatized the young bot, who had to grow up quickly and learn about the workings of the wonderful world that is capitalism. The only thing that was lucky for him was Dr. Light and his reputation, who vouched for his existence and prevented his early retirement. And because of this, it causes him to be extremely demanding and careful about his job, perhaps to a fault.

The one thing that keeps him alive, both spiritually and physically, is flying, and because of this he’s still an upbeat and passionate bot.

(I should note that he does have two designs and I like them both, even though the second is more based on actual pilots haha)

ok lol that’s all!

[aadagio]

Speak Now TV First Impressions

I do this thing with every new Taylor release where I go through the album, track by track, listening to one song at a time via the YouTube lyric videos and then pausing for a few minutes to jot down my initial thoughts and first impressions. I started doing it with Lover back in 2019, and I've done it with every album since.

I usually just post these as a thread on Twitter, but since I'm back being active on Tumblr again, I thought I'd also share here. I did listen to Speak Now TV out of order, with the Vault tracks first, so I'm just going to list everything in the exact order I played it below:

Electric Touch: I got chills all over my arms. All I kept thinking was, "This would have been KILLER to listen to in high school!" I did feel that Patrick's voice felt subdued by the production here, which wasn't my favorite, but the way he and Taylor sing "to-o-ou-ouch" together and their alternating vocals on the bridge are fantastic. Also excited to have a new Taylor Time! I want to see this one performed live SO badly.

When Emma Falls In Love: Still not 100% sure how I feel about this one yet. Probably the least exciting one from the Vault, for me personally. I absolutely love the line “like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town” though.

I Can See You: So sultry and sexy. I loved it immediately. I got strong 60s spy movie vibes. I also really want to know who this is about? I know what it makes me think of (April/May 2013), but what about Taylor??

Castles Crumbling: Oh my GOD. Possibly one of my favorite TS collabs of all time??? The way Hayley and Taylor’s voices harmonize with one another is hypnotic. This felt so ghostly and morbid, like a sister to Haunted and even a forefather to Nothing New? Biggest stand out to me so far.

Foolish One: Everything about this, down to the title, feels like a direct attack. There was absolutely a point in my life (in 2010, no less) when I would have played this CONSTANTLY. Maybe I should still do that now 🙃

Timeless: I started sobbing as soon as the first chorus hit. I recognized Marjorie in the lyric video thumbnail and knew that this one would probably make me emotional, but I wasn't expecting just how quickly it would reduce me to tears. My boyfriend overheard me crying and came out to the living room to hug me. Completely devastated me, but I love it. An even bigger stand out than CC!

I had to take a break to collect myself, and iced some cookies I made to celebrate the album release. My biggest thought with the Vault tracks was just, "Damn, I wish these had been out in the world back in 2010 because I really could have used them in high school." At least they’re here now though.

Superman: Listened while icing cookies because I knew that it would be the last song in my listen-through otherwise, and I didn't want to end the session on a sour note, because I do NOT like Taylor's intended subject on this song, or the person I used to personally associate it with when I was younger. It’s a good song! Just not one I gravitate toward anymore.

Mine: I immediately noticed the lack of earnestness, youth and twang in her voice on this recording. I don’t know why, but it was hard to get past. I just know this song SO well after all these years, and this version felt almost jarringly different.

Sparks Fly: This was better. Still not the same as the original, but a better mix of old and new, in my opinion. Also loved the inclusion of the Speak Now World Tour footage in the lyric video.

Back To December: Another one where I just know it so well that I can notice every single difference. Some of the vocal inflections were not my fave, but overall it’s another good mix of old and new. (Also I hope Taylor Lautner is having an incredible day, as he deserves.)

Speak Now: Right out of the gate, I hated her vocals on this one, which crushed me. This song was one I had been looking forward to hearing the most. As I kept listening, I was trying to reserve my judgement, but by the end I had to accept that I just do not like this version. The lack of youthful exuberance in her voice was extremely noticeable, and I felt that was to the detriment of the song. I'm so upset to say I don't like this one.

Dear John: Who else up wanting back their girlhood? Vocally, this was beautiful. This one transcends time, and actually hurts more to hear sung at 32. You can feel how her voice has changed from utter sadness to bitter anger. I loved how she completely capitalized, "OVER YOUR SAD EMPTY TOWN" in the lyric video.

Mean: THANK GOD THE TWANG IS BACK!!!!! If ever there was a song we needed it on, it was this one!! (Please can we keep this energy for Debut TV????? 🙏🏼)

The Story of Us: The whole time I was just thinking, "Okay!!!! Yes!!!!!" Vocally, this is exactly what I was hoping for. Killed it.

Never Grow Up: Had me sobbing again. I remember listening to this for the first time at 17 and thinking, “Is this going to be life one day?” and now I’m 30 and my friends have kids and I’m in my grown up apartment and it IS all so much colder than I thought it would be. This is another one that hurts more to hear sung at 32 than at 19. I feel like I can remember my whole life when I listen to it, which just makes the tears come harder. I had to stop and grab tissues from my room and hug my boyfriend for a bit before coming back to finish the album.

Enchanted: PERFECTION. So good. I adored the lyric video transition from her Speak Now World Tour performance of the song into her singing it at The Eras Tour.

Better Than Revenge: NO. Nope. I could write a dissertation at this point about why I think the lyric change was a massive, massive mistake, but y’all already know. This was NOT the move at all and it will never hit as well as the original. I'm so disappointed.

Innocent: So good. Again, another one that hits different with age, especially hearing her sing, “Thirty-two and still growing up now.” I was remembering watching her perform it live at the VMAs for the first time as I was listening. Such a special moment that KW then came out and absolutely ruined with Runaway. I still firmly believe that this song is way, way too good for the person it’s about.

Haunted: Right off the bat all I could think was, "Uhhhhh what the FUCK happened to the production here????" That new echo-y layering effect is NOT IT and ruined the song for me.

Last Kiss: Immediately noticed different, sharper instrumentation with the harp, and I did not like it. Vocally it just didn't hit the same either. Instead of deeply sad, it just feels sort of lifeless. I probably put too much stock into this one because it means so much to me, but even still. I fully gave up on expecting the shaky breath to get a repeat feature because I just don’t think you can recreate something like that, but damn. This version just does not feel right to me and I’m sad about it.

Long Live: Tears AGAIN, this song always always gets me. This version is perfection, another timeless one. I think they made the right move by having the lyric video be comprised completely of footage of Taylor performing it on the Speak Now World Tour.

Ours: This was my absolute favorite song on the album back in the day. I always loved how you could hear the smile in her voice as she sang, and unfortunately I didn’t really feel that at all on this version. At least we still had the giggle toward the end! Overall I think it’s still solid, just not the same, and that was disappointing.

My final thoughts after just one listen-through feel so up and down, which I was not expecting at all! I feel so conflicted and disappointed.

With Fearless TV, it took me a little bit to come around fully to the vocal changes. You just can't recapture that same youthful earnestness that she was singing with as a teenager. But when I got the vinyl in the mail and put it on, I don't know, something just finally clicked for me, and now I love it.

With Red TV, I was fully on board from the jump, and I consider the TV to be the definitive version of the album. But with Speak Now, it's nowhere close. I feel like half the original songs I really loved the new versions of, and half were huge let downs. That makes me so sad to say.

I know it's only been one listen, and if there's anything I've learned from tracking my first impressions over the past 5 years, it's that my opinions will absolutely morph and change as time goes on and I listen more and more. I just never expected to feel disappointment like this.

[goatsandgangsters]

shadow and bone episode 7: suddenly the kudos emails I’ve been getting from ao3 make a lot of sense

also you know what was NOT on my bingo card for this season? getting CONTENT for my TINY LITTLE RAREPAIR DOMINIKOLAI HEART?? 

previous liveblogs should you require more thoughts yelling flailing etc

……okay one more belated comment on episode 6, because I was so floored by the existence of dominik and the intense homoerotic eye contact that I forgot to process dominik calling young nikolai a “quiet wisp.” dominik. dominik he has undiagnosed adhd. they hired you as a whipping boy because it was the only way they could think to make him sit still or shut up dominik. dominik he merrily chattered your ear off for your entire childhood dominik. he recreationally caused explosions with you dominik.

OKAY! HOLD ON! THAT INTRO! A BODY OF WATER BEING FROZEN AROUND A ROCK??????? HAVE MY DEMON IN THE WOOD PRAYERS BEEN ANSWERED? DID I JUST NEED TO BE PATIENT??????????? are we perhaps going to tie the destruction of Keramzin into his own childhood trauma, thus linking together these two events as a loss of innocence and commentary on the cycles of violence wrought from the desperation Ravka creates? is that too much to hope for?

“The tracker is not to be touched by anyone other than me” oh is THAT why my ao3 email every day has a SIZABLE CHUNK of kudos on my Malarkling fic? I’ve been wondering at that one getting more attention than I expected, I really didn’t think it was gonna have much readership

I really like the costume design for his grisha, the richer gem tones are really nice

I knew I’d have to see it based on the episode title, but oh my godddddd do I really need to see this flashback again? it was in THE FIRST FOUR EPISODES of season 1! every single episode! burn it down aleks I have seen this meadow way too many goddamn times

OH OKAY. MALARKLING TETHER SCENE????????? I understand the kudos emails, I understand the kudos emails. “I knew there was something I liked about you,” he said, like a liar. or maybe he’s not lying, we all saw that electricity in season 1. oh my god. the wheezy fucking laugh of disbelief I just made. “DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT YOU’RE THE ONE IN CONTROL HERE”???????? I understand why I’m getting so many kudos now on my kinky Malarkling smut, I understand it.

Ben, I think this is more than 10 book lines you squeezed in. anyway, “you have a bad habit of acting the fool and calling it heroic” IS an underrated book line, thank you Ben for your service and your post-it note covered books and your list of favorite quotes

stop calling each other cousin, it’s weird. IF YOU HAVE TO GO BACK LIKE 40 ENTIRE GENERATIONS UNTIL YOU HIT YOUR COMMON ANCESTOR, I DON’T THINK IT ACTUALLY COUNTS AS COUSINS. I THINK MOST PEOPLE ARE RELATED IF YOU GO BACK THAT FAR.

like obviously we know his prime motivation is not wanting alina to have enough power to tear down the fold, but I DO actually like that he’s arguing from the angle of “what’s going to happen to her without you” because. like. yeah. it’s good, it’s that thing he does where even when he’s arguing for his own ends, he’s NOT WRONG about what he’s saying. he’s using something totally true to make his point. he knows exactly what losing someone important will do to a person. let’s revisit those mal luda parallels we were making in season 1 with this new content/context

I really just don’t know why, of all the people on this show, Archie and Ben have more sexual tension than any other pair of characters. none of the canon ships can hold a candle to …. whatever these two are doing anytime they’re on screen together

RETROACTIVE PREFACE TO THIS BULLET POINT: I wrote this whole spiel about Appreciating The Ambiguity Of Nikolai and Alina’s Relationship, only for that to immediately dissolve a scene later, BUT WHATEVER, HERE WERE MY FEELINGS: I’m really pleased by how they’re doing Nikolai and Alina’s relationship this season. I love that the exact nature of their dynamic is sort of open to interpretation with what/if there are Feelings Feelings, but the trust and warmth and genuine friendship between them is still palpable. like, I have A LOT of feelings about these two and I’m in the “queerplatonic soulmate” camp with them, the “love has many forms and sometimes love is stronger if it’s not romantic” camp, but in a very adamant THAT ISN’T LESSER THAN IF I SHIPPED IT ROMANTICALLY way, like I am DEEPLY FEELINGS about them, because I think they see through each other and understand each other intrinsically. they’re both characters who have been given A Role To Play as a figurehead and I think that when they’re together that’s the one space where they can set those roles aside and find comfort with the only one who really understands the weight of Being A Figurehead (and I think too much emphasis on romantic pining would get in the way of allowing them that vulnerability with each other, and I like The Vulnerability Space more than I like Romance). I’ve never Queerplatonically Shipped something this passionately, but god I have feelings in my hEART about them!! and I like that canon sort of…. lets you go shippy if you want to go shippy, and it lets me go Queerplatonic Soulmate because I want to go Queerplatonic Soulmate

I’m Fucking Feelings About This Scene, they’re both so good, THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER SO MUCH EVEN THOUGH THEY’VE ONLY KNOWN EACH OTHER A SHORT WHILE!!!

me, writing an entire paragraph about how I like that the show kept the nikolina relationship ambiguous. dominik, five seconds later: sO THOSE ROMANTIC FEELINGS YOU HAVE. me: god fucking dammit. you two, kiss instead. it’s time to make nikolai lantsov canonically bisexual. the people have waited long enough.

okay well as long as I’m paused to tell you My Many Many Headcanons About The Delicate Ambiguity of Nikolai’s Love Life: despite me yelling KISS, my actual default interpretation of Dominikolai is not childhood sweethearts but that there was either a) pining that never got acted on, and then it was too late, or b) nikolai not even realizing until he’s older and dominik’s long dead that in retrospect, Those Were Feelings, bc I think that’s a very first queer love mood. anyway, I will be choosing to interpret dominik asking after alina as being infused with some jealousy, because poor dominik has been quietly carrying a torch for Years  

DOMINIK IS CLEARLY IN LOVE WITH HIM, LOOK AT THIS EXCHANGE. “a king who won’t shut up.” feelings about it, thank you!! much as I have fun with nikolai’s self-aggrandizing humor, I do love that the self-aggrandizement is covering for his very self-deprecating inner monologue

Mal fixing the thing that’s clanking by retying the rope is SUCH a good quiet character moment, it’s the kind of quiet character moment I love, it’s one of those small little actions with a character alone that tells you so much about them, I LOVE THAT WE’RE TAKING MORE TIME FOR QUIET CHARACTER MOMENTS THIS SEASON, I LOVE THAT DESPITE DOING THREE ENTIRE BOOKS WE’RE GIVING THE STORY MORE BREATHING ROOM

this long shot of mal’s face while hugging nikolai has got me like ;____; ARCHIE IS REALLY GOOD, he’s doing “man heading willingly to the gallows” SO fucking well!!!!!

“then I met you and for the very first time I thought this is the life”? oh, we’re even feeding the malolais this episode (malolai? is that accurate? sounds better than nikmal). crumbs for ALL the multishippers of Ravka!

nikolai’s face like “iiiiiiiii also envy Sturmhond’s life. oh god, mY PATH IS ALSO SET. OH GOD.” you can watch in real-time as Mal’s talking that Nikolai is having a whole-ass realization that he’s actually king now oh god

THE “DESERVE HER” HITTIN REAL HARD NOW THAT I ACTUALLY LIKE MAL. god, I will say, “you can’t win unless you kill your love personally” is one HELL of a fucking trope. that is narratively delicious. that is juicy as fuck. but the question remains: do we actually follow through on this emotional set up? or will it all be a convenient bait and switch? Will We Be Brave Enough To Stick To Our Narrative Stakes?

David is So Fucking Cute

oh don’t stop his heart for two minutes, that’s CHEATING! it’s ALWAYS BEEN CHEATING! if you set up emotional stakes and then TAKE A SHORTCUT AROUND THEM, you are SHORT-CHANGING THE WEIGHT OF YOUR OWN NARRATIVE!

“SO WHAT SHOULD WE AMPUTATE” oh david. you’re iconic.

hm. turning Epilogue Narration into Dialogue. that’s Suspicious. are we….. are we perhaps………. making the brave writing choice?

OHHHHH WE’RE TURNING NIKOLAI’S INNER MONOLOGUE INTO A DRAMATIC ROUSING SPEECH, I’M HAVING FEELINGS ABOUT IT!!!!!!

god there are truly SO MANY book lines in this season, WAY MORE than season 1. it’s making me glad I have as good a memory as I do for Sentences. because I’m constantly like AYYY THAT LINE. AAYY!! THAT LINE!!!! AYYYYYYY THAT LINE!!!!!!

my boy my beautiful boy my beautiful perfect boy, I love him so much

also are we gonna have time to volcrafy him? is that coming soon?

“that your religion would deny you satisfaction” “there is other satisfaction” and on that day pekkathias was born and everyone felt confused about it

“HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED” kjshdfgkjhfdg god Archie’s comedic timing / dark humor is SO good this season

“fOR REAL NOW” how is this scene simultaneously so funny and so Deeply Uncomfortably Emotional

AND THE STAKES ARE RAISED

Dominik helping an injured Nikolai along :3333333

YOU KNOW, WHEN I WOKE UP THIS MORNING, “DOMINIKOLAI CONTENT” WAS NOT SOMETHING I EXPECTED I’D BE EXPERIENCING. DID NOT SEE THAT ONE COMING. I know Nikolai mentioned a Dominik a couple episodes ago but I was like “don’t put your clown shoes on, it’s just a guy with the same name” but for once! for ONCE! the shoes were not clown shoes. and here I thought I was gonna have to use that guy from the WWI period drama Paddy did in order to make a very niche Dominikolai gifset. NOPE, I CAN JUST GIF THE GODDAMN SHOW! insane! this is insane to me!

Vladim having an amplifier tattoo instead of bone is a really cool concept

also cool concepts: 1. expanding the fold to cover your battleground, THAT IS A FUCKING STAKE THAT YOU ARE RAISING, I’m extremely excited about it 2. the nichevo’ya popping up and grabbing the volcra by the throat, I love it. this escalation is exciting as hell.

[Volcra munching] OH I LOVE NETFLIX SUBTITLES. NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS [TENTACLES SQUELCHING WETLY] OR [OMINOUS SYNTH MUSIC] BUT YOU DO LOVE TO SEE IT

that now that was an ENTRANCE Inej!!!

“BIG FAN” I love Nina

“NO NO NO NO NO! NO HEROICS!” have you ever seen a man more in love than Dominik I-didn’t-catch-whatever-last-name-the-show-gave-him?

TAMAR AND NIKOLAI HUG!!!! one of my beefs with the later books is that there’s not enough…. friendship between Nikolai and the twins. BUT THERE SHOULD BE. THEY HAVE A LOT OF HISTORY.

Zhaban siblings Squalling together with each of them having only one good arm is Really Good, and I might have to finally forgive Adrik for the crime of being super annoying in King of Scars

Dominikolai shooting together is Really Good, and I don’t know what crime it’s going to make me forgive, but I’ll find one and assign that as my recompense. lack of Oncat, maybe.

me every single time Dominik does Literally Anything in this fight sequence: no don’t be a hero, you’ve already been doomed by the narrative from the start!!!! I know I’m going to watch you die in Nikolai’s arms, I just don’t know WHEN

has anyone in the history of storytelling ever said “cover me” in a heterosexual way? I Think Not

watching Lewis Tan do stunts is EXACTLY as beautiful as I’ve heard. he really does have a beautiful fluid way of moving

THIS COUNTRY GETS YOU IN THE END BROTHER!!!!! SOLDIERS DID NOT CRY, PRINCES DID NOT WEEP, NIKOLAI KNEW THIS, BUT THE TEARS FELL ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you’d allow me to put on my literary analysis hat for a moment, I will say that I do think it’s thematically more important that Dominik was originally killed on the Fjerdan front, because it taught Nikolai the ordinary everyday ongoing horrors of Ravka, and the casual violence and loss of life that everyone is subjected to. It’s important that Dominik represents the “every man” killed in the mud and bleeding in the snow, as so many have. That he was just one more death of many—on a regular day, in a regular war, not even particularly noteworthy except to the one person who cared about him—in an endless and ongoing war that treated the entire country as cannon fodder. if you’d allow me to take off my literary analysis hat for a moment, I will say I CANNOT BELIEVE I GOT A MINI-DOMINIKOLAI ARC ON MY ACTUAL TV SCREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…………david what ARE you doing DAVID YOU DON’T DIE UNTIL RULE OF WOLVES, DAVID WHAT ARE YOU DOING DAVID DAVID DAVID DAVID DAVID

if you’d allow me to put on my literary analysis hat for a moment, I will say that I do think it’s thematically more important that David was originally killed BY FJERDAN BOMBERS, THUS DEMONSTRATING THE SENSELESS ONGOING VIOLENCE OF RAVKA’S WARS—

I am actually going to give props for the camera lingering on Enemy Inferni dying and the other two being gutted about it. most things don’t usually show The Bad Guys mourning their losses, I am going to give a point for that

okay Jesper taking Sankta Neyar’s advice and using his buttons as bullets is Very Good

alright well Dominik’s dead, time to shift into Kazolai mode

augghhhh Nikolai casting that finally look at where Dominik’s lying as they leave, even though he’s out of frame of the camera

we don’t have a lot of time left in this episode, are we going to follow up on the very Demon in the Wood intro sequence, or have I been BAITED AGAIN. hAVE I BEEN DECEIVED. LIED TO. TRICKED. are we not doing that thing I said about the loss of innocence and the cycles of violence, because like, I had a point with that. they need to listen to me, because I have POINTS about THEMES and how to dO STUFF WITH THEM

The visuals on the firebird light streams is VERY good with the red and the wing-like formations

oh god the silence on the end credits oH GOD

anyway, that was some genuinely incredible extended fight choreography that didn’t skimp on the emotional moments in favor of the action, I had a good time

[rottentick]

Short 1: Birthday

Summary: A “short” story based on events before Act 0; Zeck is enjoying his 25th birthday.

             “Hey, hey! Look at this! Apparently when the electric eel is excited, the little sign on the tank is supposed to turn on! Isn’t that neat, that the eel can control when it turns on its electricity?” Zeck rambled as he looked happily at the tank in front of him before raising his phone and taking a picture of the eel. The brunette woman next to him was staring down at her phone, typing away but let out a low hum.

            “The keepers said that they were going to feed the little guy in a few minutes! Do you wanna stay and see it, Victoria?” Zeck turned towards the woman, who still hadn’t looked up from her phone, her brows furrowed a bit.

            “Uhm, not really Zeke,” she grumbled something under her breath, “Why don’t you show me something else?”

            Zeck felt slight disappoint in the pit of his stomach, but his energy immediately bounced back as he thought of a great tank to take her next. “I know! The otter tank should be nearby, come on, come on, we might get a good spot to see them playing!” Zeck excitedly grabbed onto her hand, which she allowed as he led her off. It didn’t take too long to reach the otter tank, but much to his dismay there was a group of people rather gathered, ooo’ing and aw’ing the little critters as they played around. He could hear a disappointed noise next to him, actually seeing Victoria looking up from her phone to see the crowd with him.

            “Aw, shoot,” Zeck clicked his tongue, “Ha, guess we didn’t beat the crowd after all. Oh, maybe we can go look at the stingrays? I think we can actually touch them—”

            “Ewww, you wanna touch a stingray?”

            “Well yeah! They’re like sea puppies! Uh, flat sea puppies anyways!” Zeck smiled at Victoria, who rolled her eyes slightly, before letting out an amused huff.

            “Okay Zeke, take me to your weird flat sea dogs.”

            ----------

            Zeck watched the giant pacific octopus that sat in the tank in front of him, seeing it’s eye move a bit. Was it wondering about him, just as he was about it? How alien he must have been to the creature, and how alien it was to him…

            “I wonder how it’d be to see things from your side…” Zeck mused out loud, before he heard someone clearing their throat and had him looking up from his spot. Victoria had returned from the bathroom, after being splashed on by one of the stingrays. There was a bit of a wet spot left on her shirt, but it wasn’t really noticeable, still she didn’t see too pleased.

            “Ha ha, hey~! I guess the little guys were too excited, that was crazy though, seeing it do that little jump huh?” he chuckled a bit nervously, which caused her to let out a low groan and sit down next to him.

            “It splashed all over my favorite dress Zeke, the fish smell is gonna stay on it,” she pouted

            “Aw, it wasn’t anything personal Victoria! Besides we can just get it washed once we get home! Then we can order some food and have some of the cake I got!” Zeck said, trying to cheer her up.

            “Mhmm? Can we get sushi?” she asked, causing Zeck to pause and let out another chuckle.

            “Ha-- That’s kinda morbid considering we’re like, sitting around some fish right??? Especially in front of an octopus-- But sure! I don’t see why not, I got birthday money to blow on sushi anyways!” he said happily, which he could see caused her to smile back.

            God she’s so pretty. She’s so perfect. I’m so lucky to have her in my life. Lucky she came with me on my birthday-- 

            “Oh! Make sure to get enough for all three of us Zeke, we don’t want to leave Bailey out too,” she chimed up, halting Zeck’s thoughts.

            “Oh.” he blanked slightly, before pulling out his phone and looking excited again as he started looking through his phone’s contact list, “Yeah, yeah, of course! I wouldn’t forget him, I should text him to ask what kind of sushi he likes!” 

            Mmm, I don’t really want sushi but… They probably both do. I can’t be a bummer, it’s my birthday after all!

            … Ugh, this fucking sucks.

            Blowing a strand of black hair out of his face, he focused on texting away to Bailey who he had nicknamed ‘Bailer’ on his phone.

            [You: heyyy dude, im gonna order sushi! Do u want something?]

            [Bailer: Nah man it’s cool.]

            Well… One less mouth to feed.

            “Bailey didn’t want anything,” Zeck said before shoving his phone in his pocket, “So I could just get sushi for the two of us?”

            “Awww come on Zeke, at least get him something too? Even if it’s not sushi?” Victoria pleaded. Zeck could feel a slight twitch in his eye.

            “Oh yeah~! No worries, I’ll just ask him again in a bit what he may want!”

            God… Dammit.

            ----------

            So here he was at home, having ordered some fried tempura sushi and pizza for his girlfriend and roommate in their apartment, Victoria and Bailey sitting on the couch having put on a movie Zeck was nowhere near interested in, as Zeck set up his cake, pushing down a 2 and a 5 candle onto it before smiling down at his cake satisfied. It was a rather small cake he had gotten for himself as neither of his roommates had been interested in cake so he had gotten his favorite; A simple caramel turtle ice cream cake, all for himself. Sliding himself into a seat, Zeck used the matchbox to light up his candles, small lights illuminating his space in the darkened apartment.

            “Big 25… Coolio, time to make a wish,” he mumbled lowly to himself, closing his eyes for a moment.

            I wish for… Hm, happiness? No uh, maybe money??? Eh, oh, maybe a—

            “Hey man! Blowing out the candles without us?” Bailey’s voice cut through Zeck’s causing, causing him to yelp and grip onto the table, startled. Bailey laughed a bit as Zeck dug his fingers into the table, a strained smile on his face.

            “Uh—You two were busy so I at least wanted to get this out of the w—”

            “Oh sweet, is this a caramel turtle cake? Can’t wait for you to cut into it then man!” Bailey interrupted Zeck, and Zeck just stared at him, before back at the cake.

            The cake was small. For a single person.

            “Zekeee, you can’t just blow out your candles before telling us! Come on, let me at least get a picture!” Victoria came over to, phone held up, causing Zeck to nervously push his hair behind his ear.

            “Uhm, I, I don’t like pictures being taken of myself you know…?” Zeck’s quiet went softer at the end, before Victoria tsk’d him.

            “No no! That won’t do, it’s your 25th birthday Zeke! Come on, just one pic, okay?” she asked. 

            “... Okay. Fine.” Zeck resigned, shifting in his seat again, before closing his eyes and trying to focus.

            What I wish for… Big ol’ 25th wish huh? 

            … Does it even matter?

            Zeck blow out his candles, wincing slightly as the flash hit his eyes, before he lifted up his glasses to rub his eyes. He heard a low hum from Victoria. 

            “I could work with this, just gotta edit the lighting…” She mumbled, before walking off, meanwhile Bailey had gotten a knife to hand off to Zeck, which he begrudgingly took, gripping the handle a bit too hard.

             Happy birthday to me, I guess, Zeck thought, before bringing down the knife on his cake, slicing it in half.

[northwestofinsanity]

for 'the three songs ask': 3,4, 29 and 30!

Hi, thanks for asking!

3 Three songs you were recently obsessed with:

“Wonder” -Natalie Merchant.  I had the pleasure of discovering this one back in December.  Very soothing tune, lyrics deeply touching, especially in context with the backstory.  Makes me tear up, but in a good way.

“You Deserve Love” -White Reaper.  This one, I’ve known awhile.  They’re like, one of the only bands formed post 2000s that I have wholeheartedly liked.  “You Deserve Love” came into my head back in February when my class at school caught a case of contagious grumpiness that brought everyone down, and it’s just a great song for dealing with that.  The title isn’t actually in the lyrics, but I read that they made it the song and album title because they believed it’s a message people need to hear -and I love that from them!

“The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite” -R.E.M.  I tend to forget about this one, and then I catch it and can’t stop listening to it for at least a week.  It’s a bit silly, with some interesting symbolism to it -and the comical cramming of fast syllables into the chorus!  (Actually, in my mind, it achieves what “Shiny Happy People” was meant to, except in a much better way -and as such, I actually like playing “…Sidewinder…” on loop).  Love the moment when Michael Stipe audibly giggles over one of the choruses -makes the silly lyrics and upbeat tune feel so much more human.

4 Three songs that you know thanks to your parents:

“Floating” -The Moody Blues.  One of my favorites as a kid, hands-down.  So glad I knew The Moodies growing up, because if I’d had to discover them myself, I’m not sure how long it would have taken to find this sweet, innocent little track!

“In the Passage” -Dan Fogelberg.  I’m even more glad to have been introduced to Dan’s music as a kid, because it would have really been hard to find without that.  This one made me decide to take up piano, too.

“Sign On The Dotted Line” -Gerry Rafferty.  Not one of his I see going around much, so I’m glad to have been shown this deceptively upbeat little tune over a tragic tale about how twisted the music industry and record labels could be.

29 Three songs that influenced you most (some songs change or save lives):

“Into the Fire” -Dokken.  A chronic, recurring earworm that was exactly what I needed it to be for me in 2017. It also kicked off the process of becoming less shy about liking the things I do, despite what other people might think about it.

“Passion Rules the Game” -Scorpions.  This one was also a long term earworm, which with its upbeat little chorus and positive underlying message, kept a string of optimism alive in me getting through lockdowns and very intense roommate drama in 2020, and trying to hunt for a job through it all.  The music video is very serotonin-boosting, too, with the guys just having so much fun performing together!

“Foreplay/Longtime” -Boston.  That was the gateway song to my classic rock obsession really taking off on the level it’s come to.  First song I had heard, loved, and didn’t know the title of that I successfully tracked down on YouTube on my own by searching a section of lyrics.  That led to researching the band itself -and many more would then follow.

30 Three songs you really want your followers to know (for reasons other than all those above):

“Empty Cages” -Dan Fogelberg.  It is my mission to spread awareness of the truly talented guitarist Dan was, and just how hard he could go with an electric guitar when he wanted to, as he did throughout that song -which is just good in general, too.  Not that his radio hits aren’t good in my mind, but I can totally get why some would hear only those soft ballads and have no idea, and why some might not look beyond those.

“Nothing Changes” -The Moody Blues.  It’s really more of a spoken poem over instrumentation by the late, great Graeme Edge, but I think it can be quite comforting to hear when there’s a lot of uncertainty and chaotic world events and it all gets to be too much… which is often these days.

“Back On The Road Again” -REO Speedwagon.  Great driving song for anyone who likes those!  Also representing a different side of them than what the radio usually shows, out of their many, many, vastly different sides

[lex-munro]

[Suicide Squad Scrap] Princess pt. 21

self-indulgent batjokes-flavored SS/BvS/JL, installment 21.

the piece as a whole is rated Mature for pervasive language, varying degrees of violence, use of controlled substances, sexual references, questionable ethics, and themes of mental illness.  set from Flag’s POV, with references to Birds of Prey, but not compliant with The Suicide Squad.

p.s. Gotham!Strange is one of my favorite versions of him.  love me some quiet menace.

***

They split up again when they get back off the island, taking Croc’s directions to surface at different drains.  Bit by bit, they trickle over to the VIP room at the Jokers Wild (Harley’s batch stops by her place to grab Brucie, Digger, and Harley’s ‘business partner,’ who turns out to be a latchkey pickpocket named Cassandra).

Mike has brought Lawton’s daughter, as ordered—the assassin hugs her tight and kisses her cheek and introduces her.

Joker beckons his henchman over, has a whispered conversation, sends the guy away again.

Flag realizes they’re all looking at him.  “Well, ladies?  What’d we get?”

The Latina (Montoya?) pulls out a sleek little tactical computer.  “This baby was a present from a contact at the GCPD—Canary cracked that shitty Arkham mainframe like a fuckin’ egg with this thing.”

“Language, please,” Lawton warns with a significant look at his thirteenish kid.

Montoya smiles at Zoe.  “Sorry, honey, ignore my crotchety self.”  She boots the thing up.  “Staff profiles were easy to find, but the files on experiments were a little obfuscated, so we didn’t get a good look earlier, just kinda downloaded all of it.  Something about an experimental toxin, tuning it for use as various compliance measures.  Anyway, this piece of sh—work is Professor Hugo Strange, the new director…”

She shows them the profile, side by side with what looks like police case files.  It’s all pretty vague and circumstantial…but those circumstances coming up over and over is pretty suspicious.

“The Bat says he’s calling himself ‘warden’ of Arkham,” Flag puts in.  “Said lobotomies went from two to twenty-seven in Strange’s first week.  Covering up?”

“Easiest way,” Harley says.  “Nobody listens much to the lobbies—ones who still talk, anyhow.  You find a patient who’s a ward of the state, or who’s got a history of aggression.  You do whatever you want.  Then either electrostim or the needle, and poof, all their problems are gone, and so’s yours.”

“Speaking from experience?” Canary asks, looking at Harley askance.

“Whaaat?  You know how hard it is to get the big thumbs up for clinical trials?”

Joker giggles.  “Doctor Quinzel has a real touch with electricity.”

“Oh, please, you gave me more juice than I ever gave you—”

“You stole the only memories I still had, you thieving—”

“It’s a proven treatment regimen for manic-depr—”

“Lalala, not listening—”

“SHUT UP!” Flag shouts.  “Both of you, Jesus!  Like fu—fricking six-year-olds.  So, we have some data to sift through.  Ladies, you want any help with that?  I’m a blunt instrument, but Arcee’s pretty handy with all types of surveillance, and despite his massive personality flaws, Jay’s brilliant.”

“Personality flaws?” Joker echoes with a hand to his chest.  “Boy Scout, how could you say such a thing?  Didn’t you guys go to all this trouble for little old me?”

“I’m here because Waller sucks and I didn’t want her to give me whatever drugs she gave you,” Digger says.

“I’m here for your boyfriend’s autograph, ell-bee-arr,” Arcee says with a shrug.  “Nah, I’m just playing, you know you’re my bro, Mister J.”

Joker flashes Flag a dangerous grin.  “And you…Rrrrick.  You’re just thinking about what I said when we first met, aren’t you?”

“No, actually,” Flag dismisses.  “I didn’t lie to you, and you got your visitations like you wanted.  Nah, I was just thinking about those promises you made to the Bat.”

Joker’s grin slowly fades.  “Yeah?  Where’d you hear about that?”

“You’re pretty chatty when you’re high as a kite.”

Flag’s expecting it when Joker climbs into his lap with one of his murderous shark-grins.  “Let’s just keep that a secret between you and me, hmmmm?”

Flag isn’t impressed.  “Anybody ever tell you, you’ll make a lot more friends if you don’t constantly threaten them?”

“Nope!”

“Well, I’m not sure what you think you can threaten me with, anyway, since we’ve always got along fine and, as you said, I know your secret.”

Joker actually growls at him.

“Don’t do it, beautiful,” Lawton calls lazily from where he’s settled down to not-quite-doze in a luxurious leather armchair (next to Cassandra and Brucie, who are fully asleep).  “You’ve been so well behaved—it ain’t worth spoiling that.  The satisfaction won’t last long, and Daddy’s gonna be disappointed.”

With a slow breath and a roll of his neck, Joker stands back up.

“Shame,” says Harley.  “Woulda been fun to see him bite you.  Maybe take yer nose off.”

“Ah, shhhish-kebab,” Montoya says, glancing sidelong at Zoe.  “Buncha this is encrypted.  Don’t suppose anybody has a supercomputer handy?  I hate to bug Oracle about it when we got so many…extralegal coworkers right now…”

“How about an Arkham employee-issue decryption device?” Harley asks.  “Should still work.  I mean…like, eighty percent of my other credentials never got revoked, and they ain’t got the funding to change ‘em out.  Otherwise, I guess we could work on that ass—”  She eyes Zoe and quickly finishes with, “—scerbic doctor who tried to poison my Pammy.”

Huntress stands up.  “Canary and I can start working that angle while you get the device.”

Ratcatcher scoots closer to Montoya and says, “And me ‘n Monty can keep going through the non-encrypted stuff.”

(“Don’t call me Monty.”

“Sure thing, Mama Bear.”)

“All right,” Flag agrees.  “Quinn, me ‘n Jay will come along as backup, since he’s the one with all the resources and reputation.”

“Then I’m coming, too,” Ivy says firmly.  “These two need professional babysitting when they go anywhere together.”

Flag drives, mostly because he doesn’t trust Harley’s driving and Joker keeps drifting.

It looks somehow more run-down with the lights and TV off.

“Home, sweet home!” Harley says brightly.

Ivy’s mouth twitches slightly, like she’s trying not to make a bad face at the ‘broke bachelorette with almost no sense of hygiene’ vibe.

“Just gonna use the little clowns’ room,” Joker says, sauntering through a door.

“Don’t steal my Fenty lipstick,” Harley warns, already poking through disorganized piles of junk.  “Know it’s around here somewhere…”

“Should—can we help?” Flag asks, eyeing a disgusting old takeout container perched atop a stack of magazines.

“Ehhh, prolly better not.  I got a system.”

A ‘system.’  Her mental roadmap must look like a demented habitrail, if the carnage she calls a living room is a ‘system.’

“Oh, that’s where I left that…Playboy issue with the Justice League cosplay shoot.  The chick in the Martian Manhunter getup is pretty hot.”  She pauses to wiggle her eyebrows at Flag.  Then she goes back to digging and unearths a Flash-themed rubber duckie, which makes a sad squeaking noise as it hits the floor next to Ivy.

So Flag leaves her to it, occasionally grimacing at the things she finds in her search.

Almost ten minutes pass.  More than enough time for anyone without a smartphone to be in a bathroom.  Lawton said he’d collapsed in the shower, and he almost dropped twice during the Arkham run…

“I’m gonna go make sure Jay didn’t fall in or something,” he says, and ducks through the bedroom door.

The light is on in the en suite, and it does look like Joker perused the makeup on the vanity.

The clown himself is standing in the shadows of the unlit bedroom, back to the door with something in his hands.

“Harley’s gonna be pissed if she finds you going through her shit,” Flag says.

Joker glances at him distractedly, then looks back at whatever he’s found.

It’s a rusted little tin lunchbox with photos and pieces of paper in it.  Some of it’s to be expected:  Polaroids of them as a couple, sketches of tattoo designs, Joker headlines, articles, a cover of Time that dubs him ‘America’s most interesting inmate’…

But some of it’s…a little sinister.  There’s tabloid shots of a pretty guy with Bruce Wayne, speculative headlines about a ‘mystery date’ and a ‘bisexual billionaire.’  There’s a sheet of lined notebook paper where Harley practiced signing ‘Harley Napier’ or ‘Harleen Napier’ a few dozen times.

“What’s that?” Flag asks, seeing the corner of some kind of plastic card or badge in Joker’s hand.

“I…I think it’s…it was…me,” Joker replies in a small, numb voice.  “I think I found this before, but ever since Ace Chemical, my memory’s always been…”  He trails off with a half-shrug.

The card is a partially-melted Jersey driver’s license featuring the pretty guy from the tabloid clippings.  And…yeah, take away the eyebrows, turn the skin white…

“Holy shit, it is you,” Flag agrees.  “Napier, J-something.  Wow, you look great for your age.”  He remembers that little note in Fries’ dossier:  Jack Napier, alias Jack White, alias Mister J, alias The Joker.  Joker’s dossier had said ‘alias Jack Napier (unconfirmed),’ like maybe his file wasn’t as current.  Is Harley the reason ARGUS knows Joker’s old name?

Joker’s breathing is getting shallow and erratic, edging toward either an angry tantrum or a panic attack.  “Why does she have this?  Why would anybody want—I don’t know who this is.  He’s just some—some boring nobody.  I don’t—I can’t remember—”

Flag takes the card, shoves it back in the lunchbox, snaps it shut.  “Jay, don’t worry about it,” he says quickly but quietly.  “Don’t even think about it, all right?  It’s ancient history.  You’re the Joker now, the craftiest bastard to ever rule Gotham’s seedy underbelly, and the Batman is head-over-heels in love with you.  It’s pretty rare and special to find somebody who cares about you even when they’ve seen the worst of you, and I don’t see him asking for picket fences and soccer-mom vans.  He’s not her.  He doesn’t wanna change who you are—he just wants you to change a behavior.  Stop killing people, right?  He didn’t make you promise to get a nine-to-five, or stop breaking the law, or sell off your club.  He didn’t make you promise to put on a suit and shake hands to get a big enough bonus for a family vacation.  He doesn’t want you toothless—he just wants you trained, like any good Daddy would.”

If pep talks are out of Flag’s comfort zone, having a mass-murderer hugging the breath out of him is like setting foot on the moon without a space suit.  Is this how Lawton felt when Flag hugged him in Midway?

“Uh,” he says, perturbed and unpleasantly squished.  “Kinda need to breathe.”

Joker lets him go abruptly, nodding.

A stray thought wiggles its way to the front of Flag’s mind.  “Waitasecond—you told Harley earlier that you don’t lie…”

“Hm?  No.  Make shit up if I don’t know an answer.  Kid around sometimes, but I always give it away within a couple of minutes.”

Flag’s brain derails slightly.  “So you really, actually have ‘Daddy’s Whore’ tattooed across your ass.”

Joker laughs at him, a simple, relieved sort of sound, and all his anxiety has vanished.  “Yep.  You shoulda seen the look on his face when he saw it—he threw me outta bed.  And then he couldn’t stop laughing for five and a half minutes.”

“Oh, you timed him?”

“Yup.  Woulda been longer, probably, but I started sucking him off.”

“TMI.”

“LOL,” Joker retorts, holding his left hand over his mouth and wiggling his brows.  He grabs the lunchbox and makes for the door.

“Jay,” Flag tries.

“No.  I need to do this.”

So Flag gives himself a three-count to enjoy the silence of the tiny bedroom before going out to keep the peace.

“Did you go through my stuff?” Harley demands, teeth bared.

“Did I find it before?” Joker counters.  “Is that what set me off?  Why I ditched you?  Is it why I have more blanks in my fucking memory?  A fucking dissociative manic episode from finding out you had some deranged fantasy of grooming me into a briefcase-lugging middle manager with your love and understanding?  Did you even see me, or just that guy who was dating Bruce Wayne?”

The way Harley’s face crumples says everything.

With a wordless snarl, Joker opens the lunchbox and starts to tear things apart.

“Stop it!” she shrieks, grabbing for the lunchbox.  “That’s mine!”

“I’m not yours!” he screams back.

“Ugh,” says Ivy, rolling her eyes but not bothering to interfere as the spat goes on.

When they stoop to scratching and hair-pulling, Flag and Ivy step in and pull them apart.  “That’s enough,” Flag says while Ivy dries Harley’s tears.

Joker sits down in the middle of the floor, giggling to himself amid shreds of paper.  And then he stops, all bloodthirsty seriousness, and says, “Jack’s dead.  There’s just me, now.  But I guarantee I can put a smile on your face, if you wanna put a leash on me so bad.”

Flag watches Harley and deeply pities her; she’s clingy by nature, looking for someone to follow, and that usually leads to addictive codependency.  She needed Joker’s strength, so she covered up her bruises with a fantasy until it all came tumbling down.

She takes a long breath, sniffles, licks some snot off her upper lip.  “We’re bad for each other, Mister J.  The worst.  I try to please you, it feeds your narcissism; I try something new, it comes across as fake; you lash out, I bleed.  So I get hurt and you feel lied to.  And it’s awful lonely, I know, especially with the amnesia and the dissociative blackouts.  It must be scary, feeling so alone.”

Joker looks up at her.  “Only two things scare me:  my Batsy when he’s truly angry, and being in love with him.”

She raises her eyebrows.  “That’s ‘cause you’re afraid of being alone when he either dies or dumps you,” she says with the wisdom of experience.

Joker just stares at nothing—either he’s thinking it over, or he’s gone away inside his head again.  He looks lost, and tired, and so much like Junie…

Flag clears his throat.  “Quinn, you find that Arkham decryptor?”

She holds up a thumb drive.  “Let’s go crack Strange’s top secret bullshit.”

“Let’s go, Jay,” Flag says, offering a hand up.  “You need some downtime while our revenge percolates.”

Joker looks at him blankly.

“C’mon, let’s get back to Floyd,” Flag tries, knowing that both of their pet psychos have latched on to Lawton’s dominant, decisive personality.  Harley wants to be a sidekick, Joker wants to be a princess.  Can’t do those without someone willing to take responsibility instead of just authority.

“You’re going to have to be more forceful about it,” Ivy tells him.  “You don’t want him staying like that, or he’ll kill someone…maybe one of us.”

Flag straightens up and readies his rifle.  “Get your ass up off that floor.  We don’t have time for this shit; we got a devil to catch and a Bat to save.”

Joker blinks hard, squints up at him, staggers upright.  “What’d I miss?  Why the serious faces?”

“We gotta get the decryptor back to the club.  And you need to sleep off the rest of those drugs before you collapse again.”

“Oh.  Kay.”

“I’ll drive,” says Ivy.  “You babysit the clown.”

Ivy drives like a racer, it turns out.  She’s all tight clearances and high speeds, in control the whole time.  It’s not unsafe…but it is unnerving, especially with Harley twisted around to talk to Flag.  She’s asking about Ratcatcher, of all things—filling silence per her usual, but genuinely interested, too.

“Nice enough kid, if you get on her good side, but she took two fingers off a guard after her first mission.  She’s a biter, like her little friends.”

“What’s up with that, anyway?  Are they just trained real well, or what?”

“That was my first guess, too.  No, she honest-to-God can talk to ‘em and understand ‘em.  Some kinda meta-human super power.  They don’t understand a lot of human speech except from her, and not all of them can read, but they’re smarter than you’d think.  They can tell her all kinds of shit.”

“Huh.  Well, that’s worth investigatin’ for sure.  She could be a spy, or a private detective!  She could join the Birds of Prey!”

“I dunno…it took a month to really get her playing nice with others, and that’s only because she thinks Jay’s funny and she likes to troll Digger.”

Joker rouses from staring out the window to half-heartedly protest, “I am funny.”

When they get back to the club, it turns out that the whispered conversation with Mike was to arrange for the opulent sofa in Joker’s office to be made into a temporary bed for Zoe, with four armed guards outside.

The place is quiet and dimly-lit otherwise, just a few heavies at strategic points.  In the VIP room, Croc and Digger have fallen asleep over a drinking game, it seems; Ratcatcher has some kind of mobile device plugged into the hacking laptop so that she and Montoya can double-team the easy-access data; Lawton is still lounging, but watching the door with his rifle over his lap and a cup of tea (maybe?) in his hand; Cassandra and Brucie are still snoring away on a loveseat near Lawton.

Harley flounces over to the girls with the decryptor (Ivy trails after).

Lawton’s brows furrow when he sees the roughed-up state of their two crazies.  “What the hell happened, Flag?”

“What, like it’s my fault these two are as catty as a pair of high school girls?”

“Harley started it,” Joker says loftily.

“Fuck you, you went through my shit!” she retorts.

“I’m not yours!” he roars again, and the whole room stills (Cassandra peeks open an eye, Brucie sits up with a confused little growl, and Digger startles awake with a yelp).  His chest is heaving, his eyes are wild.  He looks like a starving wolf about to strike.

Lawton stands slowly.  “Come here.  Now.”

Joker takes a step and stops again, trembling.  Flag wonders if that fear toxin is still making him see shit…

“Don’t make me repeat myself, princess.”

Haltingly, step by step, Joker diverts to Lawton, on the other side of the room from Harley.

“Good boy,” Lawton says solemnly.  “You’re not hers.  You’re his.  But you ain’t gonna belong to nobody if we can’t get Waller’s claws out of him.  So you’re gonna sit your pretty ass down, I’m gonna clean up these scratches, and you’re gonna sleep until those drugs have run their course.  And when you wake up, you’re gonna put your eyes on the prize and stop letting yourself get distracted by your crazy ex-girlfriend.  You’re supposed to be the big badass here, right?  So boss up.”

Once it’s done and Joker is curled up asleep under a fuzzy green blanket, Lawton stalks over to the girls and puts his hands on his hips (Flag is sitting at a nearby table with a cold glass of beer).  “Baby doll, I’m gonna need you to stop picking fights,” he says to Harley.  “His mind ain’t been right since we left the Bat with Waller, and if he snaps, he will kill each and every one of us.  Straight-up murder us.  Possibly cut our faces off and wear ‘em for Halloween.”

“Might not kill us,” Flag corrects.  “He promised the Bat he was done killing.  That’s why he didn’t kill that scumbag, Vince.  But clearly mutilation is fair game.”

Harley makes an apologetic face.  “If he has a dissociative episode, he might kill us all without even realizing it.  It gets bad sometimes, like he’s a different person with zero self-control and a boatload of violent urges.  I was actually making good progress on that with meds, but obviously I couldn’t get him his pills while I was locked up, so…”  She shrugs.

“Promised not to kill, huh?” Montoya says.  “We’ll see how long that lasts.”

“He’s kept it through a lotta shit so far,” Lawton admits.

“Well, it was for their anniversary,” says Ratcatcher.  “Wadn’ it?  Right before he went to Arkham this last time.  Twenty years is a big deal—you don’t stick with somebody that long unless you’re serious or you never see each other.”

An hour later, Montoya says, “Aha, here we go, ‘fear therapy serum.’  Wow, what the fuck?”

Everyone still awake gathers around her to watch a collection of videos documenting the fear toxin experiments (Joker is sleeping soundly, Harley has cuddled up with Cassandra and Brucie, Lawton has nodded off, and Croc is still snoring away).  The entries involve a lot of screaming and twelve-inch needles.

They’re all just…staring.  Horror, fear, anger…

“Shit’s fucked up,” Montoya says in a small voice.

“They woulda done that to Mister J,” says Ratcatcher.

“They kinda did,” Digger points out.  “But only once, so that’s an improvement over…”  He squints at the screen.  “John Dee.  Twelve exposures, three lobotomies, six applications of electrical therapy.  Seems like overkill…”

Flag grunts and says, “All in the name of fine-tuning this ‘fear toxin’ and its delivery.  For wide-area pacification.”

Montoya stands up and walks away a few steps.  “None of this is gonna stick on its own,” she says.  “They’ve apparently got at least limited government sanction through this ‘ARGUS’ agency, and definitely deep pockets, and all the subjects they’ve abused are wards of the state.  With lobotomies all around, I doubt they’ll be complaining about their doctors’ choice of treatment plan.”

“So we go public with it,” says Ivy.  “Make the Agency deal with donors who don’t like bad publicity, so that they cut Strange and Crane loose.”

“Good call,” Flag says with a nod of agreement.

“What about that reporter from Metropolis?” says Montoya, holding out a hand.  “The one who does all Superman’s interviews?  She nailed Lex Luthor’s reputation to the fucking wall.”

“Lois Lane,” Digger sighs with a faraway look.

“Dude,” says Ratcatcher.

“What?  Have you seen her?  She looks like a Disney princess with nice boobs.  And she’s proper sassy, too, not the ball-busting kind like Harls.”

Ivy scoffs at him.

Montoya makes a face like she’s decided to ignore Digger’s bullshit.  She tells Flag, “I’ll have Oracle get us in touch with her.”

.End.

[deinonychian]

Lucky egg, apricorn, volt switch?

Lucky Egg - Gym theme/team

sat here for like an hour last night thinking of what to do a gym theme/team for and it mostly boiled down to “what are my favorite types and what are my favorite guys of those types” so there was like. a ghost team and a dragon team. bc unsurprisingly those are my favorite types. but then I had an idea that was infinitely funnier and more cohesive as a theme and that’s a psychic type gym but with the theme of what I like to call Little Freak Bitches That Hover Ominously Over Your Bed

each of them just appeared in my house one day and we decided to start a gym about it. could be swept by a single bug type but we’re having fun and that’s what matters.  Also an excuse to give some love to some underrated faves

beheeyem - just an all around excellent little freak bitch with psychic powers. 10/10 at hovering ominously over the bed

musharna - mostly just bc i love that one post of the guy waking up to one at the foot of his bed. i think theyd be soft to the touch and the smoke would feel like silk and tastes like nostalgia

claydol - the baltoy line has a special place in my heart bc i found a shiny one in my sns playthrough. so this one would be shiny too

bronzong - was always drawn to this guy+bronzor and im not really sure why? could be switched with lunatone for extra ominous hovering action

sigilyph - THEE MOST OF ALL TIME. its just so strange looking its like a windchime and i bet it hums ancient songs from within its clay body. i want to hug one. excels in beam attacks and staring. this guy would be my main.

solosis - is less of a freak bitch and mostly just little. the heart of the team. he sits in my lap while i work and doesnt participate in gym battles

Apricorn - Favorite fossil pokemon

hmmm solid tie between archeops and tyrantrum. For the longest time when I was a kid archeopteryx was my favorite dinosaur, and so when archeops came out of course I was all over that guy. I had one in b/w and he was a BEAST. i just gave that guy acrobatics and he swept everything. hes so cool. i love his fluffy feathers and his goofy flying animation. 

and tyrantrum is just cool as Fuck. its a dragon type t rex what more could you want. i like when pokemon look cool and this one is Very cool

honorable mentions to aurorus and the anorith line. love those guys <3 (also when are we gonna get a real spinosaurus pokemon. I’m Waiting.)

Volt Switch - Favorite electric type

EASY. TOXTRICITY NO QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE TOXTRICITY ITS MY FAVORITE GEN 8 GUY!!!! ITS A PUNK ROCK ELECTRIC GUITAR POKEMON!!!!!!!! i had two in my sns playthrough one amped named bellamy and one lowkey named ampersand. i heard its in s/v too so im so psyched about that im gonna get one on my team >:) they’re just soooo cool theyre like creatures to me

honorable mentions to galvantula and kilowattrel and rotom all really good and very cool guys

[pearls-place]

ooh Bennie and the Jets is a favorite of mine too! Some other favorites would probably be I’m Still Standing (it’s what got me into Elton so it’s very special to me) and Curtains. My favorite albums are Too Low For Zero & Madman Across the Water. I do also really love Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and I have not yet listened to Caribou!

For George - I’m not sure if you’ve given a listen to his All Things Must Pass album, but if you haven’t, I would recommend to start there! It’s such a beautiful album and every song is so so good I’ve listened to it more times than I can probably count haha. But if you have listened, another recommendation would be Cloud 9. It’s my second favorite of his and again, all songs on it are so so good.

I’m listening to Rubber Soul as I’m writing this and so far I really enjoy Norwegian Wood & Nowhere Man. Do you have a favorite song off that album? I’d definitely understand if you can’t pick just one LOL. I’ll give Srg Peppers & Get Back a listen over the weekend. :)

I actually don’t play the violin, but I would love to learn since it’s my favorite instrument. I’m currently learning how to play piano and harmonica, so adding a violin to that list would be a bit of a learning overload rn lol. Do you play any instruments?

-🎻

Hello :D

Oooo yeah I’m Still Standing is a good one! I actually hadn’t listened to Curtains before, so I did and I like it! It reminds me kinda of Someone Saved My Life Tonight…but that might be because they’re both slower ballads. The electric guitar towards the middle was a cool touch, and the whole thing felt very heroic like a sunrise or flying or something idk haha. Both of those albums I think are really good too! I have Madman on vinyl, but not Too Low for Zero…do you collect records?

I’ve listened to a few songs from All Things Must Pass, but I haven’t listened to it all the way through so I’ll have to do that this weekend! I’ll also have to look into Cloud 9, because I’m not familiar with that at all. I’m excited to now hearing all of the goods things you say about them!

Oh nice! I like both of those a lot and I also would say Norwegian Wood is one of my favs along with Michelle! I’m excited to hear your thoughts on the others!

Yeah, violin is a really cool instrument and I can’t even imagine the work it takes to learn it! Piano and harmonica are cool to! How long have you been learning? I play the piano and I’ve been playing for around 8 years now! I love to play live, and I actually have a gig tonight (my second ever, last night was my first so I’m super excited to go back) I have a side blog where I post piano stuff if you’d like to check it out: @pearl-plays-piano

I hope you have a good day!

Pearl :D