#But it's also a problem to me when the baby and adults look barely any different. The lullaby dragon has that problem | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

theredcuyo · 5 months ago

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Huh

You know those AU/fics where the kids met earlier?, like, Dick is just old enough for Damian to be a baby kind of situation and somehow they all met and get adopted within no time from each other and all that

Well, i think the perfect dynamic for a fic will be this one:

Dick

He wasn't happy at first. At all. He went from a life of a single child to older brother of like 4 or 5 now?? In like, less than a year.

He didn't even have time to adjust to Jason before he found little Tim following him around in patrol. Not time to get around that little stalker child before Jason found a lost girl in need of help who couldn't talk. No time to even get a hold of signs when Talia came to drop a baby on Bruce.

The worst part? While he can't get around it, because he's still dealing with his grief, and anger, and why does it seem like B gets tired of his last child every week, where does that leave me, And why do this kids that i barely know look at me with eyes that say they'll follow me to hell and back-

That's the thing, his new sibblings follow him like newborn duckies, they observe and copy, and do everything he does except to leave him alone. And he's not sure how to feel about it.

He's overwhelmed with all the attention, with how this house that used to be silent has become anything but that.

And also, he can't go up to the chandeliers now. The babys try to follow behind him and he knows that non experienced people shouldn't do that. That also sucks.

Wally is making fun of him. That's one sibbling for every time you complained about not having any, he says.

He gets used to them as time goes on tho, he couldn't imagine a day without Jason coming to his room to tell him an over the top sight into the book he mentioned to have to read for class.

He can't imagine not to see tiny Tim bright up every time they see each other in the hallway.

He even forgets to actually talk sometimes instead of signs because Cass just wants to spend so much time with him and they both practice the signs a lot.

Damian is the weirdest baby ever, but he's the only member in the family who doesn't complain about being hugged for long times, at least not yet, so that's cool.

Jason

He's just happy to be here.

He didn't knew what exactly a family was, and when he found out there was another kid there, he felt a bit more safe, they could team up if it was necessary to protect themselves against the adults.

The closest thing he had to sibblings before where other kids in the streets that helped each other out, the older kids got jobs at convenience stores and sometimes they'll leave out food for them, you had to protect the youngest.

He was happy to have an older brother, and Dick clearly knew what he was doing, so everything was good.

And then he found Tim inside a trash can when he was allowed in a recon mission. He was so, so tiny, like the other kids he had met, and he knew the little thing needed protection from the world. He also had a camera with pictures of B and Robin, and that was probably important.

But whatever, two sibblings instead of none now had to be a jackpot! He did feel bad sometimes about B getting tired of him because of Tim, but, at the same time, he loved that little gremlin so much he could forget about it.

Until he wasn't so sure when Tim found a lost girl wandering around town. (He isn't Even allowed to go out alone, whats wrong with him?) don't take him wrong, Cass is great, she joins them in pranks and in spying on Dick, but she also doesn't let him forget that she's older than him (just a few months damn it!) but it's just-

She's just so much better than him too. She can't read, he has her on that, but that's all. She's stronger than him (she beated his ass in training at least twice now), she's faster, she doesn't cause problems, She's smarter than him for fucks sake.

So, why-

Why would B still want him around with this kind of upgrade?

It's not like he can ask tho, B is been very busy since that lady came to give him a baby. Literally.

And, sure, Damian is a weird ass baby, the only one he's seen that doesn't cry for most things. But he likes the little guy, he just hopes he'll still be here by the time he learns how to walk.

Tim

Tim didn't expect to be caught. He also didn't expect for it to be the new kid who found him, and as if there was anything else to surprise him with, said child auto proclamed himself as his big brother from now on.

He didn't knew if his parents will like that, because the didn't like children, not even him sometimes, but when they came back the next week and the police arrested them for working with black mask and tax evasion they didn't even ask to see him, or tried to when he reached out, so he couldn't ask.

Jason did become his brother tho, when Mr. Wayne adopted him after that, the same Mr. Wayne he knew was Batman. Huh.

Well, anything was better than an empty house, and now Robin was his-

OH GOD ROBIN IS HIS OLDER BROTHER NOW.

FUCK HIS PARENTS. HE LIVES WITH HIS HERO NOW. HE WILL OUT AS MANY CRIMES OF THEM AS NECESSARY.

Tim was overjoyed to know this. Everything was nice, Dick was cool, he didn't talk much with them, but he's Robin, nothing's cooler than that.

And Jason does spend time with him, he loves beating his ass in maro kart.

And then he found Cass when he went out to buy a new camera, he wasn't allowed to go out alone, but it wouldn't be for long, they wouldn't notice surely.

They did notice, but the good thing was that it saved him from taking Cass home on his own.

She's nice too. He never had a sister (or brother too) before, but he likes her, she helps him find hide spots around the manor.

Who he doesn't like a bit is the baby. That Demon spawn.

First he appears out of nowhere. Second, he only seems to cry when someone is talking to Tim.

What is wrong with that thing.

He also follows him around for some reason, and grabs his shirt, but if Tim tries to look at him or hold him he cries. Really, what's wrong with this baby?

Like, sure, Bruce did have him by accident, and so did Tim's parents, but the fact that Damian's did want to keep him around and pay attention to him didn't give him any right to be like this.

It's not like he's better than them, B adopted them all out of a sense of duty.

Cass

Suddenly, communicating is a thing.

If she has something to say it's that she's happy. She got a baby brother, two actually. And a Big brother. And then a very baby brother.

And a Dad that loves her. And a granpa that feeds her anything she wants except for burgers. But dad buys her a burger in the secret if she tells him.

She likes spying on Big brother. She likes learning to read with baby brother big, and to hide with baby brother tiny.

She likes to stare at very baby brother. He stares back.

So everything is good.

She's happy.

Damian

Baby Damian tolerates his family. He let's Dick hug him, and Jason carry him around talking about who knows what until he falls sleep.

And gets into staring contests with Cass.

But the one he really likes is Tim. He likes to have his attention, and he doesn't like when he doesn't have it.

But he also doesn't like to fully have it, he gets overwhelmed.

Basically, baby Damian wants Tim's attention but not too much.

The family also makes a bet on who will make Damian laugh first.

They all lose when it's Tim, even Tim loses because he had all his money on Dick.

Because apparently, his presence comforts him when he misses Talia.

#batman #batman au #batfamily #good dad bruce wayne #bruce wayne #dick grayson #robin #jason todd #tim drake #damian wayne #cassandra cain #alfred pennyworth #so #this #may write it in the future #may not #someone else can if they want to

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onlyjaeyun · 9 months ago

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can i talk my shit for a moment?

i've been thinking about enhypen a lot, i actually do on a daily because i have a problem but that's a story for another time, and every time i think about certain types of "engenes" i get so, so mad and just as sad and frustrated because we're literally witnessing the way enha as a whole are slowly losing the recognition and attention for their talent because the focus is slowly shifting towards their visuals and their fan service.

i can't even explain why this makes me so mad and maybe i'm just a baby engene who's a little sensitive and protective but it's just so frustrating to see people praise enha for their visuals and fan service only when they're so, so much more.

don't get me wrong, PLEASE praise your fave for their visuals, they're the hardest on themselves and the kpop industry is so visual focused, it'll do wonders to their self confidence and esteem to hear how much their fans love their looks and styles and visuals.

it's the fact that at this point i barely ever see anyone praise any member for their actual talent. maybe i'm on the wrong side of the fandom but whenever the boys are done with a performance, they go viral for their visuals and not the actual effort, energy, time and attention they put into that performance.

seeing the comments being full of people who only praise one thing about the members is just so..heartbreaking considering just HOW hard they've worked to be where they are.

they have received titles during i-land and are still standing up to those and the high standards everyone has set for them, so seeing their fan service being what gets people into the fandom makes me so sad.

heeseung is a fucking ace, mans can sing, dance, produce, rap – he's literally known for his immense talent yet his biggest headlines somehow always included his visuals, especially with the whole nose implant shit. yes, his fan service is top tier but he's more than that short flirty moment and i hate seeing people praise him for it.

jungwon keeps on showing everyone what a good lsader he is, that he actually deserves his title as the hidden ace but people never ever give him credit for what matters. that guy loves his fans so, so much he spends hours on weverse to chat and respond and always updates us on what's going on. he's so csring and sweet and yet ever since he's become an adult its yet again, just about his looks.

i don't even wanna talk about sunoo because his situation makes me SO mad in a way i can't explain at all. that fucker is so fucking talented and so gifted, he's literally worked his ass off all these years just for people to go around and go omg he's so pretty!!! and that's it. he's not just your little mlm projection since most engenes love to label him as such, he's so much more and deserves to be treated like the talented idol he is.

sunghoon is also of that category because tell me why people have made his visuals hs only personality when he literally was told he was born to be on stage. every single performance, every single song, every single tour night he gives his everything because he knows he's good but he wants to show the world that he's more than a pretty face. i wish people would just see his talent and dedication for once instead of his eyebrows.

jay is also a topic i dont even wanna talk about anymore because the treatment he's been receiving all these years from his own "FANS" is so embarrassing and heartbreaking. i have never, ever watched a performance where that fucker didn't give 150% of his energy and power, his dedication is so impressive and something to admire. he's not just your fashion icon with a pretty face and a sharp jawline, i might upset some of y'all, but he's just as much of an ace as heeseung to me and i wish people saw that.

riki literally left his home country when he was a child and was called the dance prodigy, became a member in the official line up at the age of 14 and yet people will literally do nothing but praise his visuals. that fucker came okt of his mama dancing and people dare to argue whether or not he's as good as engenes make him to be what the FUCK? ppl need to stop focusing on his face and actually look at him as a whole when they watch him bc how could we ever argue about his talent???

jake had a dream and an opportunity and that fucker took. it. he literally only trained for six months and now his dance challenges with other idols are some of the most viewed ones on social media. he's a pretty face and the biggest flirt ever, he loves his dans and doesnt hesitate to show it but i wish people would actually see how hard he works and how far he's come. he was never bad but he's literally at such a high level right now when it comes to his skills and stage performances, i feel like people just love to ignore that aspect of him bc of his intense fan service.

i can't believe i spent 10 minutes writing this but its been on my mind for so long and i really hope we as engenes can actually sit our asses the fuck down and start showing those boys and their talent the love and appreciation they deserve. they are a group of visuals, yes. no doubt. but they were also chosen to be in this group bc of their talent and their skills.

#enhypen #enha #heeseung #jake sim #sunghoon #park jongseong #sunoo #ni-ki #jungwon

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prettypinkporkchop · 3 months ago

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-3 years ago-

Jake groans while standing up from fixing the new engine in his old red truck. "So, who is Bella?" You ask, picking up a tool and examining it. He smiles at you, grabbing it from your hand. "Just a childhood friend. She hasn't been here or really with Charlie in a long time." He sighs. "Is this someone I should be concerned about?" You raise an eyebrow. He shakes his head and then kisses your forehead. "Nope." He walks away.

---NOW---

Oh, but you should have been worried. He was up her ass. You went from a teen and in love to an adult and watching everything fall apart. All of his friends have separated. Jake and Quil are the last of them. The others joined Sam's gang. That's the last you've seen or heard from them. You moved away for a job that did not feel right.

You park your car in the driveway to your old house. Your eyelids are heavy, considering you've been driving for nearly seven hours. You barely slept the night before because of anxiety. The front door opens, and it's your old guardian.(can be anyone for you).

After settling back into your old bedroom, you climb in the bed and attempt to rest some more. "Y/n! You have a visitor!" You groan and push yourself up.

You walk towards the open front door.

Of course. It's Jacob Black. Short hair and a tattoo. You're not so surprised. You're not even mad about the teenage love drama anymore. You just hope the dude isn't in any drugs or gang related shit because of Sam.

You look up at him and lean on the door frame. "Long time, no see, Black." You smile. He just stands there, staring. It seems like he's in shock. His eyes are wide open, and his eyebrows are raised. "I know. I'm still super hot." You joke. Saying this brings him back, shaking his head and then smiling. "Hey y/n. Small town noise, ya know. I heard you were back, and I just wanted to say 'hi'." He tucks his hands in his pockets. "Thank you? I mean, not that I mind you being here, but why is it important to say hi to me?" You giggle awkwardly. "Also, I'm not mad. We were kids. But, how's your lady, Bella?" He sucks in a breath. "Uh, yeah, about that. She's with the weirdo Edward Cullen. They're married now." He chuckles.

"Oh, I'm sorry." You awkwardly say. Deep down, you're singing JoJo Siwas Karma. But, at the same time, you're over all of it. But truthfully, you don't care. "It's not a problem. I've learned some lessons."

"Yeah, which made you join Sam's gang?" You raise your eyebrow with a smirk. "It's not a gang. It's a lot more than that. No drugs like we thought. We are just helping people and each other."

You don't respond. "Well, how about we catch up? I'm sure my people would love to see you again." He smiles. "Eh, I mean, it'd be nice to see your dad. I just don't want to bring back memories I've worked so hard to let go of." He frowns, and you can see the guilt wash over him. "I have some things to say. I really think it'll be worth your time. Everything will make sense."

You think and then nod, "Okay. When do you want to go?"

He perks up with a grin. "Now, I mean, whenever you are ready!" He pipes up.

"Look who's back. Couldn't stay away from Jake, could you?" Embry nudges you. You roll your eyes. "You haven't changed a bit." You laugh. "Hey! That's the joys of being an imprint. The universe always brings you back."

"Embry." Jacob glares at him. "Imprint? What?" You look at them. Embry raises his eyebrows. "Oh. My bad, cuh." He runs away. "Damn it."

A couple weeks later:

"DAMN IT!" You scream and drop the knife in the sink. A stinging pain runs through your whole hand even though the cut is just your middle finger. Blood drips into the sink. You try to keep it away from the food you are cooking. "What? What is it?" Jacob runs to you. He grabs your arm and looks over your hand. "Oh, baby." He wraps a paper towel around your finger. He kisses the top of your head. "Are you going to be okay?" He anxiously looks over your face. You nod through the pain. It's not deep enough for medical attention.

"Come on." He brings you over to the first aid cabinet. He wraps your finger and kisses your forehead. "I'll finish cooking." He presses a quick kiss to your lips. You lean up and press a lingering kiss on his lips. One that he melts into. He presses your back against the counter and has his hands on your waist.

His phone starts buzzing on the table. "UGH. What the hell." He goes to see who it is. "Bella." He groans and declines the call. "She's been blowing up my phone. Something about Edward getting her pregnant. I don't know. I don't care. It's not my problem." He laughs. You smile at him and walk up to him. You grab onto his shirt and pull him down, attacking his lips.

He groans and bites your bottom lip. "You trying to tell me something?" He breathes out before kissing your neck.

"Mhm."

#twilight #embry call #jacob black #jared cameron #paul lahote #quil ateara #sam uley #seth clearwater #twilight wolfpack #leah clearwater #jacob black x reader

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writingquestionsanswered · 10 months ago

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Hey! I was just wondering if you have any ideas of how I can display the fact that a character has aged (not necessarily from adult to elder but just in general) without describing appearance. I’ve tried searching it up but they never really want into detail or they simply advised on changing the character slightly as in giving them old fashioned hobbies. I’m sorry if this has already been answered or does not simply have a direct way and must be decided by the author. Again I am very sorry if this has already been asked I really don’t mind if you either direct me to the answer or copy and paste it if so :)

Showing a Character Has Aged

When it comes to illustrating that someone has aged, you basically have four choices: describe physical characteristics that illustrate age, describe physical activities that illustrate age, indicate the passage of time, flat-out state that the character has aged.

The problem is that aging isn't a wildly specific thing. People don't take on certain physical characteristics, appearance, or activities at exactly the same age. While there are certainly some activities and behaviors that are broadly specific to age categories, age is not accurately defined by behavior, thought process, personality, etc.

If I say, "The last time I'd seen my nephew he was barely crawling, and now he was not just walking, but climbing on everything..." that's a pretty good indicator that this child has aged. But how much? Because babies don't all learn to crawl at the exact same age, or learn to walk at the exact same age for that matter. Some babies skip crawling and go straight to walking. Other babies seem like they'll never go from crawling to walking and suddenly do. This child could be two weeks older than last time or two years older. It isn't clear at all.

Complicating things is the fact that physical appearance is also not a good indicator of age. I mean... as I've pointed out in the past, Paul. Rudd:

Carrol O'Connor (on the left) is the same age in that photo as Paul Rudd is in the photo on the right (both are early 50s here). And while things like hairstyle and fashion do have an impact on how we view someone's age, some people just get wrinkles/gray hair/gain weight/lose muscle tone sooner or later than others.

And, the advice to "give them old-fashioned hobbies" is terrible. "Old-fashioned hobbies"? What, like candle-making and churning butter? What does that even mean? Maybe these people view hobbies like knitting, stamp collecting, and wood-working as "old-fashioned," but I guarantee those are hobbies that are broadly enjoyed by young people to this day.

If I write, "She sat on the couch lovingly knitting a sweater," that tells me nothing about her actual age because:

And, again, the woman on the left could be sixteen or thirty-five, and the woman on the right could be sixty-two or eighty-six.

So, outside of flat out stating that a character has aged, your best bet is to use a combination of these methods to get the point across...

"It had been over ten years since I last saw Mr. Smith. At the time, he'd recently returned from hiking in the Alps. Now he was hunched over a walker, his formerly salt-and-pepper hair now stark white. The deep grooves that had once made his face look handsome and worldly now made him look wizened and tired."

Between stating the amount of time that has passed (over ten years), physical activities (hunched over a walker vs hiking in the alps), and physical appearance (white hair and tired wrinkles vs salt-and-pepper hair and handsome lines), it is very clear that Mr. Smith has aged quite a bit in the decade since the POV character last saw them.

I hope that helps!

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csuitebitches · 1 year ago

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Hi! You're amazing and your page is amazing. I'm a girl who's really interested in growing and building my life. My mental illness has taken so much from me, so I feel I am starting life over this year like a little baby while everyone else is an adult. I often feel VERY insecure around friends who are normal and have achieved so much and have not made the many mistakes that I have.

I now have been isolating myself because I usually feel so ashamed of myself when I'm with them. I barely have any cooking skills as a female, I've never held a real job, I never network or connect with anyone, I have felt so miserable with a scowl on my face everyday, and I barely know what I'm doing with my life now in college.

As I am now working on my character flaws, how do I still feel I am loveable to my friends, stop pushing everyone away, and stop feeling like hiding when I'm with them?

everyone was once in your shoes. Were your friends born with their job? Were they born accomplished? Was Gordon Ramsey born with a knife in his hands? Have you seen the video of him crying because of his mentor Marco Pierre White?

Ive lightly burned my fingers, my food, set off the university dorm fire alarm because of my initial cooking skills. I’ve melted a spatula. I’ve burned countless toasts, broken glass bottles, had a whole bug infestation because I forgot to close the fridge tightly when I left uni for summer. Then I learned. I watched more YouTube videos. I practiced cooking. I can objectively say I cook better than my mom today because I made the effort to learn.

A master was also an amateur once.

“I never network with anyone” it’s good that you can admit the things you need to work on. The way you address problems like this is:

a) are there networking opportunities near you?

b) can you look up conferences and opportunities near you?

you assume that your friends have not made as many mistakes as you have. Do you go on a radio show and tell the whole world about every mistake you’ve made in your life? Even with close friends, one does not always reveal every single thing or sometimes, doesn’t feel the need to.

your journey is your own. The exam paper of your life does not have the same answers that your friends have written.

you’re not going to magically wake up accomplished, you’re going have to work towards it. And the best part is, you’re in college! That’s such a great stepping stone because you’re in an environment that’s programmed to help you grow if you can use your cards right.

can you join any extra curricular clubs or activities? Or ask your professors or the counsellor for internship opportunities? Can you organise an event like a bake sale or something for the local charity? Can you take up volunteering opportunities?

your insecurities are holding you back. You’re not any less lovable than the friends and family in your life. You have control over your own life. When you choose to actively put yourself out there, start socialising, engaging with people - which can be difficult for some people but always rewarding - you’ll start seeing change.

unfortunately the world doesn’t revolve around us. If you’re unhappy with how things are, the remote control of your life is in your hands.

you’re already working on yourself which is great. That means you have the intrinsic motivation to do something. It’s time to stop moaning and whining and start creating a plan of action.

tackle things one thing at a time. Don’t start with 10 things.

From your message it seems like:

You need help with adulting - cooking.

job - ask your college counsellor/ professor of your favourite subject for internship opportunity, on campus or off campus.

purpose -find a hobby, sport, volunteering cause, something that you like that you actually enjoy.

look at these three problems in the best positive light. It means you get to learn all these things you didn’t know! It means you’ll be able to meet new people who could become really good connections!

make your life simple. Progress doesn’t mean going from burning the kitchen down to cooking a three course meal. It means taking one week to learn how to fry an egg. It makes taking a week to learn how to make a decent pancake or some rice. It means screwing up 10 times and then finally getting it right on the 11th.

allow yourself to make mistakes. Acknowledge to yourself about them and move on.

Do not let your shame hold you back from living your life. We torture ourselves in imagination more than we actually suffer in real life.

I’ve felt embarrassed countless times in my life. I’ve slipped up, messed up, forgotten things, done what I wasn’t supposed to, held my tears back, been scolded, full blown cried, scribbled aggressively in my diary, ranted to my mom, had dramatic fights with my imaginary boss in the shower, woken up late, screwed up royally in important meetings. These are not original experiences. These are universal experiences. Anyone who is telling you that they have never felt this is a dirty liar.

I wouldn’t exchange those mistakes for the world.

How do you think I’m able to give you advice on this if I didn’t go through those similar experiences?

If you want to make changes in your life that badly, start today. Set three simple goals that are achievable. Set deadlines. Be your own parent. Get your life together.

#Q/a #you’ve got this

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fabulous109 · 1 month ago

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Hey!! Could I please request a Paul x reader where she just had a baby and he’s being super protective and not letting anyone near her or the baby until she finally tells him to knock it off when we won’t let Emily come see her

Thanks for the request!

Author’s note- I never had a problem with the imprinting on minors AS LONG AS it is understood no romantic feelings can develop till they are an adult, if at all. If mentioned it is in the loving brother or protector way. If you don’t like that Anon, just rewrite that part in your head! 🙂

Protectiveness- Paul x Reader

“The rules are as follows.” You rolled your eyes as Paul set out the conditions of the wolves meeting your newborn little girl. You knew he was being protective, but he wouldn’t even let the pack or imprints come see you in the hospital. Granted you did have a hard, almost disaster of a delivery. You and your new baby girl were both healthy now, but you had to have an emergency c-section. Because of that, Paul claimed it was too dangerous for the pack to come see you both until discharged. He wouldn’t even let Emily in the hospital room to help you learn how to take care of a baby seeing as how this was your first. The lady who half raised you by letting you stay in one of the guest rooms since Paul imprinted on you when you were both teens was not allowed to come in, much to your disapproval. You let it go at the time due to your blood pressure being watched, and you did agree that the wolf pack might be too rowdy after all you had went through over the last three days. The condition for you agreeing to Paul’s condition was that the day you came home you had dinner at Emily’s house with everyone.

You and Paul were staying at her home while yours was being built. Your little girl was such a surprise that there was barely time for planning. Finding out you were already five months pregnant at the time was a shock, not to mention the fact that your very own house was not built and you had not even been married a complete year yet then. Paul’s anxiety about keeping you both safe multiplied due to not being able to watch over everything about you and the baby the first half of your pregnancy. You knew he felt like if something went wrong it would be his fault, although you and Emily tried to explain how sometimes this happens with periods that come randomly. He kept you shielded from everyone, and had been laying out these rules since the day he found out that not only was there a baby, but it was a girl.

“Rules are- no rough housing or yelling around the baby, don’t let Y/N use the stairs by herself until the doctor clears her- or do anything really, when the baby asleep shut up seriously, don’t touch my girls, and don’t even look at my girls, especially not my baby girl. If any one of you idiots imprint on her it will be the last thing any of you do- also no..” you knew now would be the proper time to stop him before he claims that breathing, blinking, and being alive are off limits around you two.

“Paul, I think they have had enough threats. Can you help bring the baby in? I want to sit down.” You saw him glare at several people who tried to stand to help you out.

“Dude how can we help her if we can’t touch her?” Quil looked at Paul with confusion and frustration written in his expression. “You ask Emily to help. Or me.” Paul replied with a duh look as the guys all had a grunt or gripe to say under their breath. “If you’re nice you might get to hold her…one day.” Paul couldn’t help but smirk at the way they looked hopeful for about two seconds.

“Okay lay off Paul and come help me.” You were getting annoyed at him, even though you promised to let him say his new dad speech on the way home from the hospital. He has been planning it for a while, and he only got to have this experience as a brand new and shiny first time dad just once. You were sympathetic to that part.

Emily started coming forward to help after hearing the warning and strain in your voice, also knowing you likely needed pain medication and to get comfortable after walking with your surgery. The baby was a great baby, but she didn’t sleep much at all in the past few day after the scary labor. Actually, she was the most peaceful in the car leaving the hospital.

Emily was trying to give you a break to get a few moments rest without any worries. As she walked to you Paul jumped in front of you and the baby to grab Emily away, further provoking Sam to give him a warning look. With that action you were done. “Paul, either let Emily get this baby so I can sit down or you will be sleeping outside all furry tonight.” He knew he had crossed a line, but decided to apologize to Emily and Sam, while asking her to be careful with his little girl. Emily took the baby and Paul helped you to the reclining chair. He kissed your forehead and saw the look in your eyes. At that look he shuddered and turned around to face the pack. “Alright I’m sorry. It’s been a rough few days but thank you guys for being supportive. Emily thank you for all your help.” Paul sat beside you to grab your hand. You kissed him on the lips, a little longer than you normally would after finding his protectiveness incredibly attractive. “It’s alright I feel very safe now. Boys don’t hurt my baby.” Paul’s snickered at the fact that you still didn’t trust the boys either. After seeing Emily and Sam smiling at your new little bundle of joy, Quil spoke up to claim his turn next.

You looked at him and laughed claiming “Sorry Quil. The new dad in the room gets to decide that one.” The guys groaned together knowing that it would be quite a while before they actually got to hold the baby if ever. Paul pulled you close to him carefully, peppered your face with kisses, and whispered in your ear again about how proud he was of you for all the hard work you put in to give him his little girl. You squeezed his hand and smiled watching Emily with your baby. Finally you felt at home and could rest.

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serenelystrange · 3 months ago

Text

At AO3, or under the cut!

Buck opens the door an hour after downloading the Handy-Helper app, revealing a man about his age with a backpack slung over one shoulder. He has closely cut dark hair and big brown eyes that look up the few inches between them in open curiosity.

“I’m looking for a Mr. Buckley?” the guy says, eyeing Buck. “I’m supposed to help moved some furniture.”

“Yeah, of course,” Buck says, moving back to open the door. “Come on in, the stuff in the living-room needs to be moved to the bedroom.”

The man follows, letting Buck close the door after him and stepping to the side, waiting awkwardly.

“You’re Mr. Buckley?” he asks, clearly trying to hide his skepticism.

“Buck,” he introduces himself, giving a half-aborted wave. “But yeah, I’m the one who hired you.”

The man gives him a contemplative look before sighing and shrugging.

“Well, you already paid through the app, so I guess I can’t complain. But please at least tell me you’re an actual adult, we’re not supposed to be in the houses alone with any underage people.”

“Relax,” Buck laughs, “I’m 21. Maddie says I’ll grow out of the baby face eventually, but for now I’m stuck like this.”

The guy cracks a smile at that and reaches out to shake Buck’s hand, appeased.

“I’m Eddie,” he says. “And we’re actually the same age, so I feel way less creepy about this whole thing now.”

“You look older,” Buck says, wincing as the words tumble out. “Not like.. not in a bad way. Just older than me, I guess.”

“It’s the beard,” Eddie says, eyes crinkling as he laughs good-naturedly. “I probably look 15 under it. Which is why it stays.”

“I’ll have to give that a try,” Buck says, before gesturing towards the other room.

“It’s this way, it shouldn’t take long, I just put together a few things and realized too late that I didn’t buy a moving dolly, and couldn’t lift them by myself.”

“I brought some tools,” Eddie says, raising his shoulder to gesture to the backpack, “just in case something needed adjusting.”

“Thanks,” Buck says, “but I think we’re good. Just need to get the wardrobe and the dresser moved into the bedroom. I underestimated how heavy oak would actually be.”

Eddie just nods in understanding and lets Buck lead the way.

It only takes about a half hour of careful carrying and inching along until the furniture is set up inside Buck’s spacious bedroom, and he offers Eddie a quick smile as the man prepares to leave.

“Thanks again,” he says as they head towards the front door.

“No problem,” Eddie says, reaching for the door just as Buck remembers the cash in his pocket.

“Oh wait,” Buck says, offering Eddie the folded bills in his hand.

“Oh,” Eddie says, before looking down at them, “thanks, man. You didn’t need to tip, I barely did anything.”

“No take-backs,” Buck says, closing Eddie’s hand around the bills awkwardly before stepping back as Eddie opens the door. “Have a good one.”

“You, too,” Eddie says as he’s practically ushered out the door, Buck locking it securely after him.

He just hopes Eddie doesn’t notice how much he tipped until he’s already home.

You can’t tip me $100 for 30 minutes of work.

The text comes through the Handy Helper app several hours later, and Buck frowns at the screen. He didn’t think they would be able to communicate after the job had been completed.

Shrugging at the latest in technology failures, he opens the chat and responds.

Can and did. Deal with it Mr. … whatever your last name is.

Nothing happens for a few minutes and Buck figures Eddie is just taking the win, when the phone buzzes again, three times in rapid succession.

You’re insane.

But also thank you? No, definitely thank you. But also also, what the hell, man.

It’s Diaz, by the way.

Buck grins down at his phone.

It was nice to meet you, Eddie Diaz.

Eddie doesn’t reply, but Buck doesn’t mind. For once, he’s had a really nice day.

Buck decides to repaint the living-room a few weeks later, the bland cream color depressing him the longer he looks at it. The hardware store has everything he needs, including the moving dolly he finally remembered to buy, but by the time he gets home, he realizes he absolutely doesn’t want to do this alone.

He pulls up the Handy-Helper app and starts typing up a post of what he’s looking for, when he sees the little icon for messages and pauses, thumb hovering over the spot. Before he can talk himself out of it, he clicks on the messages, surprised to see he can still chat to Eddie weeks later. He’ll have to send them a message about security…after Eddie responds.

Hey. It’s Buck, from a while back? You helped me move some furniture. I know this is kinda out of nowhere, but are you available to help me paint my living room? I tried to find a ‘request helper’ option or something but couldn’t find anything.

He waits anxiously, hoping he doesn’t sound like a weirdo. He really does want the help, and maybe the completely platonic company, and Eddie seems like a cool guy. And ok yeah, he’s possibly the prettiest man he’s ever seen in real life, but that’s besides the point.

Sorry, man. It’s my kid’s birthday party today.

Buck frowns at the phone thoughtfully. Eddie hadn’t mentioned a kid. Or any kind of significant other. He hadn’t given too much detail at all, now that Buck thinks about it. But he had listened to Buck ramble with an encouraging smile, not looking bored or annoyed even once.

Don’t be sorry, your kid is obviously more important than my sad beige walls. Tell them Happy Birthday. Eat some cake for me!

He puts the phone down on his kitchen counter, sure that Eddie won’t respond since he’s obviously in the middle of things, but is proven wrong only a minute later.

He says Happy Birthday back. Which doesn’t make sense, but he just turned two, so.

Buck smiles down at the message fondly, imaging a tiny boy with a mop of dark hair and Eddie’s warm brown eyes. Before he can devolve further, the phone buzzes again.

He’s with his mom tomorrow, if your walls can wait. I can be there any time after 10.

Surprised, Buck finds himself nodding along, before remembering he has to actually respond.

Sounds good! Show up around noon, it should only take a few hours.

Eddie sends back a single thumbs-up, and Buck stares at it with a dopey grin longer than he probably should.

“He has a kid with a mom,” Buck mumbles to himself. “He’s probably straight. Don’t get your hopes up, Buckley.”

Eddie shows up at 12pm on the dot the next day, dressed in paint spattered jeans and a Green Day band tee that has definitely seen better days.

“Didn’t want to get paint on good clothes,” Eddie says, as Buck opens the door and chuckles at the outfit. “Here.”

He shoves a plastic container into Buck’s hand, and Buck peers inside it as he lets Eddie into the house.

“Is this birthday cake?” he asks, noting the remnants of swirled frosting.

“My Tia made it,” Eddie confirms, “it’s really good. You allergic to anything that could be in a birthday cake? Because I’m not actually sure what’s in it.”

Buck shakes his head and holds the container to his chest, touched by the gesture.

“Unless she put kiwis in it, I’m good,” he says.

“I think you’re safe,” Eddie says, grinning. “So, what are we working with here?”

Buck finds that he and Eddie work surprisingly well together for people who have barely met, but he’s not about to argue with results. By the time 5 o’clock rolls around, all the walls are painted and well on their way to dry, the furniture is back into approximately the right places, and the cleanup is done.

“This looks really nice,” Buck says, standing in the middle of the room and looking around appraisingly. “Medium-sage was a good choice, I think.”

“The green looks good with the sectional,” Eddie agrees. “It definitely looks, I don’t know, warmer?”

“Way less depressing,” Buck says. “Let me grab your pay, my wallet is in the other room, gimme a minute.”

“Nothing crazy!” Eddie calls out after him from where he’s standing by the couch. “The app only charges like $20 an hour.”

“I didn’t hire you through the app,” Buck says, coming back and handing Eddie a stuffed bank envelope. “And you did way more work this time, you should be paid for your time.”

“Buck..” Eddie says, clearly torn between taking the money and taking advantage of some guy he barely knows.

“If it helps,” Buck says, “it’s twenties in there, not hundreds or anything.”

Eddie hesitates, but then shoves the envelope in his jeans while nodding.

“It still feels like too much,” he says, “but I’m not gonna argue with you. You must be doing alright if you own a nice house at 21.”

“Trust fund kid,” Buck explains, face flushing. “God, that’s embarrassing to say out loud. But no, you don’t have to worry about bankrupting me.”

“Good,” Eddie says, relaxing a little. “Here, let me see your phone. Next time you need help, just text me, in case they ever fix that message thing on the app.”

Buck hands him the unlocked phone and Eddie adds his info before handing it back. Buck texts him immediately to make sure Eddie gets his number and Eddie pulls out his own phone to read the message, smiling at the little “hi :-)” message.

“Oh is that your kid?” Buck asks, noticing Eddie’s lockscreen is himself and a small child.

“Christopher,” Eddie says, turning the screen to show Buck fully.

The toddler on the screen has a mop of blonde curls, and what looks like blue eyes beneath his rubber eyeglasses. He’s looking more at Eddie than the camera, but the wide smile on his face is adorable all the same.

“Look at his little glasses!” Buck practically coos. “He’s adorable.”

“Thanks,” Eddie says, smiling at the picture before he locks his phone and puts it back in his pocket. “I should get going. See you around, yeah?”

Buck nods, trying not to appear too eager, and follows Eddie to the door like last time, intent on locking up behind him.

“See you.”

Buck tries not to be the guy that lusts after a probably-straight guy he’s only spent maybe six total hours with, but as the weeks go on, he finds himself spectacularly failing. Particularly while in the shower, or in the late night hours when the darkness of his bedroom hides his shame.

It gets to the point where he stalks through the entire house looking for anything that might need building or updating, feeling stupidly disappointed when he can’t find a thing. Realizing what a weirdo he’s beginning to sound like, Buck shakes himself out of the thoughts and resolved to stop obsessing over a man, even one as beautiful as Eddie Diaz. He just needs to get laid.

The club is obnoxiously loud when Buck finally gets in, the bouncer having inspected his license way longer than he needed to. He makes a beeline for the bar, wanting nothing more than to get so drunk that his brain turns off for at least one night.

He’s two mixed-drinks deep and working on the third when the space beside him is filled by a petite woman with red hair and a low cut dress.

“Look at you,” she says, turning and looking him up and down approvingly.

She has sharp blue eyes outlined in smeared eyeliner, and an admittedly attractive smirk on her pretty face.

“Look at you,” Buck replies, as he does just that.

“Want to go hook up in my car?” she asks him, and Buck is slightly taken aback by her bluntness.

“Do you want to have a drink first?” Buck asks, more out of ingrained politeness than anything else, and the woman’s smirk turns into an amused grin.

“Oh, you’re adorable,” she says. “I definitely don’t need to be trashed to climb you like a tree. If you’re into it.”

And well, when it’s put like that. He’s bisexual, not stupid.

“Lead the way,” he says, letting her grab his hand and downing the last of his drink before following her out.

“What’s your name, anyway?” she asks later, when they’re sweaty and catching their breath in the backseat of her surprisingly roomy sedan.

“Buck,” he says. “Evan, really, but I uh, I go by Buck.”

“Cool,” she says, not asking for further details, which Buck is just fine with in this case. “I’m Taylor.”

“Nice to meet you?” Buck says, never quite sure how he’s supposed to act with someone he doesn’t know but has just been inside of.

“It was fun,” Taylor says, grinning and holding up a hand for Buck to high-five. “Ten out of ten, would ride again.”

Buck, bewildered but amused, slaps his hand to hers and laughs.

“Do you want to go out some time?” he asks as Taylor cleans herself up with some tissues and tugs her dress back down into place.

“No offense, babe,” she says, holding out a paper bag for Buck to throw the tied-off condom into, “but I was just looking for a good time. Not a boyfriend.”

“Can I kiss you goodbye, then?” Buck asks, internally cringing at how needy he must sound. But Taylor just shrugs and tosses the paper bag to the floor to deal with later before letting Buck pull her back in for a few slow kisses.

“Do you need a ride home?” she asks when she gets bored of the kissing. “You shouldn’t drive when your eyes are still so glassy.”

“Nah, I took an uber,” Buck says, “I’ll get one home.”

He doesn’t have the heart to tell her the shiny eyes have nothing to do with the alcohol at all. Instead, he finishes putting himself back together and stumbles out of her car, moving aside so he can watch her drive away.

Buck gets home somewhere after 2AM, still kind of drunk and somehow even sadder than he had been when the night started. Stripping off everything but his boxers, he flops down onto his bed and holds his phone open on Eddie’s contact page, just staring.

I’m drunk and did something stupid.

He regrets texting Eddie the moment he hits send, but it’s too late now, and Buck watches in horror as the speech bubbles pop up as Eddie responds.

Bad hookup stupid, or might end up in jail stupid?

Buck laughs at the message as he responds.

First one, he says. It was good, actually. Just stupid. She called me adorable.

Doesn’t sound that bad.

Buck is trying to figure out how to word his thoughts when Eddie texts again.

And I mean, you are kinda adorable.

And well. Buck has no idea how to respond to that at all.

Why are you even awake? He asks instead, ignoring the fact that he’d been the one to start the conversation.

Couldn’t sleep.

Buck snorts a laugh at the incredibly vague reasoning.

Thanks for answering, he texts. He wants to ask Eddie to come over, or maybe to call and talk to him until he can fall asleep, but he knows both options are unreasonable.

No problem. Get some sleep, Buck.

Buck doesn’t think it’s likely to happen, but he drops his phone and closes his eyes all the same.

It’s only been a few days since the club when Buck is staring into his fridge, trying to muster up the energy to make something for breakfast, when his phone buzzes in his pocket.

Eddie, in what Buck is learning is just his style, has texted him several times.

Hey

It’s Eddie

This might sound kind of weird, but, do you want to go to the zoo with me and Chris? We were gonna stop at IHOP or something to get pancakes on the way, if you’re interested.

Buck has to stop himself from responding instantly, instead giving it a full thirty seconds before he starts typing.

That sounds like fun. Just tell me where to meet you guys.

He’s already planning on how quickly he can get showered and dressed when Eddie responds.

I can pick you up if you can be ready in 30?

This time Buck doesn’t bother holding off his reply.

Sounds good

He plugs his phone in to charge and heads towards the shower, feeling a million times lighter than he had.

Chrisopher is, predictably, the cutest little thing he’s ever seen, and he takes to Buck immediately, demanding little pieces of Buck’s pancakes even though he has his own in front of him.

“Chris,” Eddie scolds him softly, “leave Buck’s pancakes alone.”

Chris ignores his father and instead gives Buck the full force of his puppy eyes, and Buck crumbles like a house of cards.

“It’s fine,” he tells Eddie, letting Chris grab the piece of pancake from his fork and shove it into his mouth. “Sharing is caring, right?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Eddie says with a teasing laugh. “You’ve known him twenty minutes and are already whipped.”

“Look at his little face, Eddie,” Buck says, melting again as Chris smiles at him, face covered in syrup.

Eddie just laughs again.

“You don’t have to carry him all the way back to the car,” Eddie says when they’re done at the zoo. “I brought the stroller for a reason.”

He’s carrying the folded up stroller, having barely needed it all day since Chris refused to be parted from Buck for long. Buck feels probably more smug than he should about it, but it feels nice to be liked.

“He’s comfy where he is,” Buck says, rubbing Chris’ back soothingly as the boy sleeps against his shoulder. “I don’t want to wake him up.”

“You’re really good with him,” Eddie says instead of arguing, which Buck appreciates. “I’m pretty sure he’s going to have a fit when he wakes up at home and his giant personal chauffer is gone.”

Buck grins, pleased.

“We’ll just have to all hang out again, then. I hear Lego Land is fun.”

“The kid does love Legos,” Eddie agrees. “It’s a date.”

And then he’s scooping Chris out of Buck’s arms and buckling him into his car-seat securely, seemingly unaware of the tizzy he’s just sent Buck’s mind into.

He doesn’t mention it the entire ride home, so neither does Buck.

It feels like a very long drive.

It becomes a thing, after that. Nearly every weekend that Eddie has Chris, Buck finds himself tagging along on whatever they’re doing. Sometimes it’s just the park, or on various errands, but Buck doesn’t care. The weeks melt into months, and before he knows it, he’s known Eddie half a year, and is no closer to making a move than he had been when they met.

“Can I ask you a kind of rude question?” Eddie asks.

They’re in Buck’s kitchen, leaned up against the counter as they wait for the frozen pizza to finishing baking in the oven.

“Go for it,” Buck says, turning and leaning his side against the counter instead so that he can look at Eddie.

“Do you have a job?” Eddie asks. “I know you probably don’t need to work, but I have a hard time imagining you don’t get bored with nothing to do. But you never talk about work.”

Buck shakes his head and gives a little shrug.

“I haven’t figured out what I want to do yet. And my shitty parents’ money might as well be used for something until I do, ya know?”

Eddie laughs and nods. “Fair enough. It just sounds like maybe Chris and I are your only friends, unless you just never talk about anybody else around us.”

“I don’t actually know anyone else here, besides casually,” Buck confirms, looking down. “I only moved to L.A. a month or so before we met. And uh, I guess I’m not the best at making friends. It’s a lot harder than it was in high school.”

“Hey, don’t look so sad,” Eddie says, reaching out and placing a warm hand over Buck’s shoulder. “You’re a great friend. I was just wondering. There’s nothing wrong with not having a giant social circle. If I didn’t have relatives nearby, I wouldn’t have friends either.”

“You have me,” Buck says, looking back up at Eddie.

“I’m glad I found you,” Eddie says, giving Buck a soft smile. “Seriously. I don’t know much about your life or your family, but I get the feeling that they weren’t the best.”

“My sister was good,” Buck says, “great, really. But she got married and moved away and I only hear from her once in a while now.”

“Well then, your parents sound like they fucking suck,” Eddie says. “Because you’re so… good. You’re just a really good guy, Buck. And I just need you to know that.”

“Shit, Eds,” Buck says, eyes welling up with tears against his will. “You can’t just say nice things all sincerely and expect me not to cry.”

“Can and did,” Eddie says, grinning in a way that Buck knows he’s been waiting months to throw those words back at him. “Deal with it.”

“Happy Birthday, Buck.”

Eddie nearly sings the words as Buck opens the door, confused but pleased to see him standing there.

“I didn’t tell you my birthday,” Buck says, moving on autopilot at this point to let Eddie in.

“You have it on your Instagram,” Eddies says. “And you were just gonna let the day pass without saying anything, what’s up with that?”

“Guess I didn’t feel like celebrating,” Buck says, moving into the living room and plopping down on the couch.

Eddie nods, oddly quiet, and follows him. Buck notices the bouquet in one of his hands then and looks at them curiously.

“Did you bring me birthday flowers?” he asks.

Eddie nods again, stepping closer until he’s standing in front of Buck, and hands him the flowers, a dozen red roses.

“These are beautiful,” Buck says, smelling the flowers before placing them gently on the coffee table. “Thank you.”

“Figured maybe the flowers would get my point across,” Eddie says, staring down at Buck with an inscrutable expression. “But maybe I have to be more direct.”

“What are you talking about?” Buck asks, seeming to notice finally just how close they are to one another.

“I want to celebrate you,” Eddie says, giving him a crooked smile. “I was trying to be all cool about it, but really, I just want to spend your birthday with you. Because you deserve to be loved and celebrated, especially today.”

“Loved?” Buck asks, eyes wide.

“And celebrated,” Eddie repeats. “Keep up, sweetheart.”

“Sweetheart?” Buck asks, voice going raspy around the word. “Am I having a stroke?”

“I really hope not,” Eddie says, “because I want to kiss the fuck out of you, and I probably shouldn’t do that if you’re having a medical emergency.”

“You want to kiss me?” Buck asks, the slightest feeling of hope creeping in as he takes in the besotted look on Eddie’s face. He’s not sure how he’s missed it until now.

“Can I?” Eddie asks, and Buck is pulling him down by the t-shirt with enthusiasm the moment the words are out of his mouth.

Eddie slides down onto his lap, bracketing Buck’s waist with his knees and linking his fingers together behind Buck’s neck to tilt his mouth up into the kiss. Buck loses himself to the feeling, whole body buzzing from Eddie’s touch, the skin around his mouth scratching under Eddie’s beard, his own hands gliding under Eddie’s shirt to run across the smooth skin of his back before gripping his waist and holding on. He thinks he understands finally, when people talk about sparks flying. He’s pretty sure he could power an entire city right now.

“Fuck,” Eddie says, as he pulls away to breathe, eyes wild and achingly beautiful. “I’ve never kissed a guy before. Does it always feel like this?”

Buck shakes his head, staring at Eddie adoringly and reaching up to trace his reddened mouth with his thumb.

“It never feels like this,” he replies. “Pretty sure you’ve ruined me now. I’ll never be able to kiss anyone else without being disappointed.”

Eddie grins and tilts his head just enough to press a kiss into the palm of Buck’s hand.

“Well then I guess we’ll just have to never break up. Deal?”

Buck sighs happily as Eddie leans in again, and meets him halfway.

“Deal.”

The End

#buddie #buddie fic #buck x eddie #evan buckley x eddie diaz #911 fic

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duhragonball · 11 months ago

Text

Dragon Ball Super Manga ch.88-90

The 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypa Liveblog concludes with the DBS manga's adaptation of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero motion picture.

First up, we have this three-chapter prologue/prequel thing starring Goten and Trunks in their lankey teen bodies. It's well-made, but I'm not impressed. Find out the reason why... inside!

Okay, as the image above shows, this is all about the boys' playing superheroes while they're in high school... just like Gohan did way back in Dragon Ball Z. The main difference seems to be that there's two of them doing it this time, and their motives are a little more frivolous. Gohan came up with Great Saiayaman because he just couldn't help but foil crimes, and the costume allowed him to save the day without giving away his identity. Goten and Trunks also want to keep a low profile, but they mostly seem to be doing this shtick because they're on a superhero kick lately. They call themselves "Saiyaman X1 and X2", but their act mainly imitates their hero, Cleangod, who has a franchise of movies, video games, and so forth.

The added wrinkle is that they're also trying to keep this thing a secret from their families, as Bulma and Chi-Chi wouldn't approve of the boys screwing around like this when they should be studying. I guess it was okay when Gohan did it, but times have changed, and Trunks in particular isn't doing so hot on his report cards.

That does keep things mildly interesting. For example, you'd expect the boys to use costume changing watches like Great Saiyaman had, except they don't want Bulma to find out. So Trunks asks Pilaf to make them instead, and Pilaf can't make them as quickly, so Trunks doesn't get his until chapter 88 is half-over, and Goten's isn't ready until chapter 89. And you know, it probably would make things a lot simpler for Goten and Trunks to avoid the Saiyaman stuff altogether if they don't want their moms to find out, since they've seen this trick before. But they're doing it anyway, I guess because they're just that deep into the Cleangod fandom.

However, this still feels like a retread of a storyline we've already seen. Reading this, I feel like I've gotten too old for Dragon Ball. I know that isn't true. I'm looking forward to whatever happens in Chapter 101 onward, and Daima seems promising, even if it wasn't what I had in mind. There's always something interesting around the corner... but I see stories like this one that are more interested in rehashing older material, and it just feels tired and stale. Younger fans may not mind at all, but I see this and wonder if all we have left is just rehashing ideas we've already seen before.

Besides all of that, I'm not a big fan of high school stories, and there's a healthy dose of Trumai... and let's just get this out of the way before we go any further: I'm not that interested in the whole "next generation" thing.

I know there's a lot of fans who really dig the whole idea of exploring what happens to Goten, Trunks, Marron, Uub, Bulla, and Pan. I respect that, but I've never been very invested in any of them. I liked what we got out of them in DBZ, but that's about it. Let me kind of single out Goten so I can discuss this more easily. For the sake of argument, let's just call the "next generation" concept "Big Goten", since it features the teenage or adult version of the character, as opposed to the little guy in the Buu Saga and most of Super. Trunks, Marron, and the rest can be lumped into this, but it's easier to just refer to one character.

Basically, this 3-chapter arc is probably the best "Big Goten" story by default. Your other options are the End of Z episodes which barely do anything with him, or that one GT episode where he fights Baby and gets possessed. Or the Super Hero movie, where he's barely in it.

And yet, we have this 3-chapter arc, and Goten's basically playing sidekick to Trunks. That's not a huge problem in itself. You'd expect these two to be side-by-side, but it's mainly a Trunks story. He's trying to get Mai to go out with him, but she's part of the Pilaf gang living at Capsule Corp, and they have to be useful or Bulma will kick them out. So she's too busy repairing these "helper robots" that malfunctioned recently. Trunks thinks he can investigate the case as Saiyaman X-1 and get Mai the weekend off so she can date him. Goten's just sort of along for the ride. He enjoys the superhero bit, and he likes goofing off with Trunks, so it's all good.

And honestly, you could probably switch these two around and have Goten be the one trying to solve crimes to go on a date, while Trunks is the supportive wingman. But that's the problem. We have this one story, and they both kind of have to share it, and it really doesn't matter which one of them gets the lead.

Like, in this arc, we learn a little more about Teen Trunks. He's not doing well scholastically, he lacks Bulma's talent with computers or science, and... he's still carrying a torch for Mai for some reason. Oh, and he's afraid of ghosts now. It's not much to go on, but at least he gets something. All we find out about Goten in this thing is that he likes Cleangod, just like Trunks. Oh, and Teen Marron has a brief appearance where it turns out she really likes Cleangod too. Also several of Goten and Trunks' classmates enjoy Cleangod. And Dr. Hedo likes Cleangod. You know, that's how you develop your characters, right? You make them all like the same thing.

The point I'm getting at is that for years I've heard that Big Goten is this untapped well of great story ideas and this arc finally gets around to that and... it's pretty underwhelming. That's the big idea? Superheroes? Again? It worked for Gohan because it was a fresh idea when he did it. And it worked for Dr. Hedo because it helped set him apart from Dr. Gero. But all it does for Goten and Trunks is give them another set of clothes. Trunks is still pining for Mai and Goten is still just happy to be here. It's not enough. It's not nearly enough.

So let's move on. The boys head into town one night to investigate the Helper Robots that are mysteriously disappearing. Turns out they've been hijacked by Dr. Hedo's Alpha series androids. Strictly speaking, the Alphas are just corpses stolen from a morgue, reanimated with cybernetics. Remember those goons working at the convenience store in the beginning of Super Hero? Well this is the same group of guys. Hedo's problem is that he's fare more brilliant than Gero ever was, but he lacks the resources and funding to make the kinds of androids that he wants to make. The Alphas are functional, but only just. Their brains are defective, and you can probably only steal so many bodies from the morgue before the cops get wise to you. So Hedo's big idea is to hijack the Helper Robots and use them to manufacture sushi packages for profit. He could build something more efficient for this, but this will have to do until he gets the cash.

Oh, I forgot to talk about how Pilaf built the Helper bots. I'm not clear on what they do, but there's a lot of them in the city, and apparently Pilaf pitched the idea to Bulma and she okayed it. At first I was surprised to read this, but then I remembered that Pilaf had his own Dragon Radar way back in the day. It wasn't as sophisticated as Bulma's, but it goes to show that Pilaf knows his way around technology. This isn't some new thing they slapped onto his character, like Trunks suddenly being afraid of ghosts.

For a second, it looks like Goten and Trunks are discovered by the Alphas, but it turns out Trunks' pals from school have snuck into the production floor, and they're the ones who get discovered, so Trunks has to go in and save them. Except his superhero wristwatch malfunctions, so Goten has to take out the lights to cover for him.

Trunks cleans house, even defeating Alpha 12, who was the strongest guy on Hedo's team. When Hedo himself arrives to find his base wrecked, his only clue is that it was trashed by someone who goes to "Blue Hal" High School. It's a major setback for Hedo, but what really upsets him is that Trunks took an important disc from his safe. Hedo wants to recover it above all else. Ironically, Trunks isn't even that concerned about the disc, since all he really cares about is disrupting whatever Hedo was doing to the Helper Robots. That way he can get his date with Mai, except it won't. Even more ironically, Mai still has to work on Saturday night, because she and the Pilaf Gang have to repair all the Helper Robots Trunks smashed in Hedo's base. Whoops!

Later, Trunks tries to use Bulma's computer to access the data on the disc he took from Hedo's sushi packaging shop. He briefly sees information related to Cell, but he doesn't recognize its significance, probably because he only knows Cell from hearing about it through his family. Anyway, the disc gives the computer a virus, which Bulla removes because that's her big character defining moment in this story. She's basically a carbon copy of Kid Bulma from the Jaco manga, but at least she's not another Cleangod fan.

Anyway, Bulma had decided to start sending Mai to school along with Trunks. Apparently she realized it might be awkward if anyone noticed Mai working for Capsule Corp. and not going to school. This just now came up? I mean, the Pilaf Gang have been here for a few years at least. If anything, it would have been more awkward when Mai was younger, right? I mean, I get it, this is just a way to get Mai involved in the story, but still...

There's also another new student in Trunks' class: Baytah. Trunks' friend Rulah takes an immediate liking to him, but this is pretty clearly a new android created by Dr. Hedo. The Alpha series was no match for Saiyaman X-1, so he created a new Beta class to infiltrate Blue Hal High School and find out who X-1 really is. Beta begins to suspect Trunks, since he displays some above-average performance on the basketball court, but he can't find a way to prove it without giving himself away.

So here we have this weird scene where they're getting soup for lunch, and Trunks is sad that he can't get extra. Then Beta pretends to trip or something, and throws his soup into the air. I guess the idea was that Trunks would have to use super powers to dodge it, or he'd get it all over his nice school clothes. But instead Trunks just sort of shifts to one side and the soup miraculously lands in his bowl. And he's happy because he gets extra soup? How does it all fit in one bowl, though? Is the lunch lady only filling them up halfway? This whole bit is really contrived, is what I'm trying to say.

Somewhere along the way, Mai figures it out and explains it to Trunks, so they know Beta is looking for Saiyaman X-1. So he knows to be careful about showing off his powers, but Goten just picks up a truck during recess to get a tennis ball back for his classmates. See, Trunks, this is how you get the ladies. Mai is like 55 years old. She doesn't care, but if you pick up a truck or two, all these teenage girls will go wild. Right now, these two girls are thinking about how much they wish they were trucks, being held in Goten's mightly-yet-gentle hand.

Anyway, now Beta is convinced that Goten is the one he's after, and Hedo tells him to attack and get the disc.

So Beta reveals he has a goofy superhero suit of his own, but Goten can't fight seriously because he doesn't have a transformation watch yet. Fortunately, Trunks does, so he shows up as X-1 and quickly slips Goten the new watch Pilaf must have made last night.

I'm not thrilled with Beta's design, but I like the concept. Faced with both Saiyamen, he deploys Beta 2, which is a robotic exosuit that can separate and fight in two modules. The Betas are here for the disc, but neither Goten or Trunks has it. Mai does, because Trunks gave her his bag while he ran off to pee or whatever excuse he had to switch costumes.

So Trunks has to save Mai from the Betas, and as he catches her, she briefly mistakes him for Future Trunks, the only version of Trunks Mai seems to have any interest in. The Saiyamen clean house, and the day is saved. Trunks very nearly tells Mai that he was X-1 all along, but Goten stops him before he can spill the beans in front of the whole school.

Okay, but what's the point? I mean, Goten just lifted a truck with one hand a minute ago? More importantly, Great Saiyaman was revealed to be Goten about ten years earlier. Not that I expect these students to remember that, but that's my point: Gohan was worried about everyone finding out he had super powers, and in the end no one cared.

I mean, there's still the matter of not wanting Bulma and Chi-Chi to find out what they're up to, but that sort of doesn't matter? I mean, the moms just want their kids to study more and screw around less. It doesn't really matter if they're playing superhero or going fishing. Their moms know they aren't studying, because they've got the report cards to prove it.

Back at Hedo's (other) base, he realizes he underestimated the Saiyamen, and realizes that he'll have to build even better androids to defeat them. And he's taken a liking to the Saiyamen's costumes, particularly their capes, so the implication here is that the Gammas' designs were inspired by Goten and Trunks' antics in this story.

Later, we finally get to that convenience store we saw briefly in Super Hero. Hedo still needs money, especially if he plans to build something to defeat the Saiyamen, so he puts three of his Alphas to work at the "Mammal Mart". It's Krillin who makes the bust, and for some reason Mai is there too.

Despite his lofty plans for better androids, the best Hedo can manage is to send more Beta series androids after Goten and Trunks. Beta 7 looks like an Elvis impersonator, and he intercepts Goten's school bus, but Goten changes into X-2 and beats him. Apparently this sort of thing has been going on for a while now.

Mai takes Goten aside and reveals to him that they're being watched by a tiny spy-robot. After the Beta-1 incident at school, Mai investigated and learned that Dr. Hedo is a famous scientist in the area, and she believes he's behind all of this. Apparently he's already figured out Goten and Trunks are the Saiyamen, since he's been sending Beta androids to harass them.

Mai's plan is to defeat Hedo by using the school dance to lure him into a trap. The organizers have arranged for a live appearance by Cleangod at the dance, which... seems kind of odd for a high school dance, but nothing about this super-hero business really makes any sense to me.

Like, okay... I've been a comic book fan for over thirty years. I just read a bunch of Golden Age Captain Americas a few months ago. I think I know the genre pretty well, and nothing Dragon Ball Super does with the concept really rings true to me.

In the first place, the Dragon Ball characters are already superheroes. I went from Batman to Superman to Marvel to Dragon Ball Z, and it was a pretty smooth transition. I never stopped liking the other stuff that came before, so it's not like my tastes changed all that much. I just see DBZ as a natural extension of the same stuff I liked in Marvel and DC.

It made sense when Gohan became Great Saiyaman because the only trope he hadn't done yet was the secret identity thing, and the only reason it had never come up before was that he'd never needed one before then. Once he got into high school, he suddenly had friends he wanted to keep secrets from, so he did the same thing Clark Kent did in 1938.

But then you have Goten and Trunks doing it because they think it's neat, and they're fans of Cleangod, who is a fictional character to them. And this is probably because Hedo was doing the same bit in the movie, where he would wear a costume and do the poses because he was imitating other fictional superheroes. So the idea seems to be less about the superhero genre as I know it, and more of this ironic "Let's be comic book nerds and do cosplay, and also we have super powers so we can do more than just pose in the suits."

Which... fine, I guess. The thing is, I don't understand the fascination with Cleangod. I mean, it makes sense for Hedo to be an enormous fanboy, because he's a nerdy scientist. I'm a nerdy scientist, so I can relate. He wants Cleangod's autograph, and I'm running an anime blog in my late 40's.

But Goten and Trunks are not nerds. Neither, it seems, are most of their classmates. They all seem like fairly normal teens, mostly interested in dates and school stuff and snooping around abandoned factories or whatever. But this high school dance is going to feature a live appearance by a man in a superhero costume. That's the sort of thing a circus would do to get small children to show up.

Is this an ironic thing? Like, did Goten and Trunks start out thinking Cleangod was cringy kidstuff, and they just kept getting deeper into the fandom until they started liking it for real? Is that what's happening?

Sorry, I was explaining Mai's plan. Okay, so Cleangod will be doing a meet-and-greet at a high school dance party. Okay. Dr. Hedo is a huge mark for Cleangod, so Mai is certain he will crash the party just to meet Cleangod and get his autograph. And she plans to be there when he does, so she can shut him down once and for all.

And she gets to go to this dance, because she's attending with...

...Trunks. He wanted to ask her to this thing, but she asked him instead, so he's all a-flutter over this, never realizing that she's just using him to get at Hedo. Except.... she's attending this school now. She doesn't need a date to get in. Hedo is the one who has to find some way to get access to the building, because he's not a student.

I like Mai's armor in this scene, although it really never comes into play. Also, Trunks brought Hedo's disc with him, because.... I have no idea. Maybe he doesn't want to risk losing it?

As expected, Hedo does show up for this thing, and I guess it's because Beta-1 is still registered as a student? I'm more confused about this signing event in the middle of a dance floor. This just feels like a hot mess. Trunks and Hedo bond over their mutual love of Cleangod... wait, I thought Trunks was excited about getting to go on a date with Mai? Priorities, Trunks!

Anyway, Hedo confides to Trunks that he had a Cleangod autograph before, but it was stolen, so he's here to get another one. Hold on, doesn't Hedo know Trunks is X-1? I mean, he was sending androids after Goten, so he must know he's X-2, right?

Mai tries to get Hedo, but then Beta shows up, and Rulah explains that he got back into the school, so she asked him to the dance. I really like Rulah. She doesn't know what's going on, but there's a new boy in town and she's gonna make time with him. She's like an Archie character.

Then the cops show up. Yeah, just draw your guns in a big crowd of children, Krillin, that makes a ton of sense.

Hedo uses a smokebomb to escape and everyone chases after him. By the time Cleangod comes out to make his big appearance, everyone is gone except Mai, who isn't impressed. That's the thing I can't square with all of this. The running gag seems to be that superheroes are both cool and uncool at the same time. People were lining up to see this guy, but the punchline is that he totally sucks? I guess? Characters will praise Goten and Trunks' costumes and then later characters will call them corny.

Like, which is it? That's the thing about superhero comics, at least from my perspective. In the real world, you either think Batman's awesome or he's a giant dork in a fursuit. Fine. But in the Batman mythos, just about everyone takes him seriously because he's a mysterious badass. I get it, Cleangod's basically Adam West working car-shows in the 1970's, but Saiyaman X-1 and X-2 are the real thing. They fought robots in the middle of the football field in front of everyone. I mean, no one called Goten corny when he lifted that truck.

Oh, by the way, Dr. Hedo's jalopy is awesome.

Krillin (reluctantly) brings Goten and Trunks along to chase down Hedo, and he fills them in on the situation. The cops have been after Hedo because they think the Red Ribbon Army is trying to stage a comback and they want to contact him. That.... doesn't quite square with the movie, but we'll talk about that later.

Anyway, they get to Hedo's (third?) base and he's got a dinosaur android to stop them. This is the biggest, strongest one he's made so far, but it's still not very sophisticated, simply because Hedo lacks the resources to build anything better.

It gives the Bio-Broly Buster Crew a little trouble, but Krillin disables it with a kienzan, and then Goten and Trunks take it out with a double-team move. And Hedo's going to jail.

So what about that disc? Turns out it never mattered. Hedo memorized all the information on it a long time ago, so the disc itself had no value to him. What he wanted was the case, which contained, in addition to the disc, his prized Cleangod autograph. Remember? The one he told Trunks got stolen? They didn't know it at the time, but Trunks was the one who stole it in Chapter 88.

And that's really dumb, because Trunks did try to investigate the disc in Chapter 89. He didn't get very far, but he still had to open the case it was in, so you'd think he would have noticed the Cleangod autograph inside. I mean, another character might not have paid any attention to it, but Trunks is a huge fan of Cleangod himself.

And if Hedo truly had no use for the disc, why didn't he throw it away a long time ago? In this scene, he says he discarded it, but he must have only done that in the last few minutes, before Krillin showed up to arrest him, since Trunks had the disc before the dance. This whole thing is supposed to be clever, but it's kind of dumb.

Anyway, this whole caper explains how Hedo got sentenced to prison at the beginning of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. He could have been given a longer sentence, but according to this story, he agreed to return some of the Alphas back to the families of the corpses he built them out of. This is supposed to be funny, but it's just kind of bizarre. Like, are we saying Hedo resurrected the corpses? I thought the idea was he just used a dead body to build Alpha 12. But this seems to suggest Alpha 12 remembers his former existence. That's kind of fucked up.

Like I said at the beginning, there's a lot that is well done here. Toyotaro's art is on-point as usual, and there's some great action scene with Goten and Trunks. I think the big highlight of the arc were all of the side characters we see at their school, like Rulah and the others. Trunks' math teacher looked pretty cool. The problem is that they were never going to be the focus of this or any other story. It's taken years for Toei or Shueisha to do anything with Goten or Trunks, so their pals may never see the light of day again.

And that's what disappoints me about this arc, because it may have been the one chance of getting a good teen Goten and Trunks arc, and they blew it on this. Did we really need a backstory on Hedo's prison sentence? Did anyone leave the theater not understanding why he was in jail? Was anyone confused as to how he came up with the designs for Gamma 1 and 2's costumes? No. We didn't need this.

One of these days, there will be an official Big Goten story that gets it right. But this ain't it, chief.

#dragon ball #dragon ball super manga #2023dbapocryphaliveblog #goten #trunks #mai #bulma #emperor pilaf #shu #bulla #dr hedo #rulah #beta 1 #beta 7 #cleangod #alpha 12 #i forgot the names of goten's friends sorry

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aangelbabysworld · 1 year ago

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what is this? i don't know. what i do know is, i got home from a long day at work, tried taking a nap, couldn't fall asleep, smoked, and opened my laptop.

also, this is my first time writing so bear with me

18+ (but no smut)

“I don’t want you anywhere near him, understand?” your father scolds you.

he had just caught you with none other than rick grimes, the only man brave enough to fix the problems going on in alexandria or better yet, the only man in alexandria.

you two weren’t doing anything wrong, you didn’t think so.

rick was teaching ron how to shoot, you had just so happened to be going on a walk at the time, and when you saw the pair they seemed like they were just finishing up.

you walk over to them, and just as you approach, ron leaves you and rick alone.

“hey, sweetheart.” rick smiles brightly at you, looking you up and down smoothly, you don’t notice. too busy trying to restrain yourself from whimpering when rick calls you sweetheart.

he always calls you sweet names, you’re not sure if he’s ever called you by your real name, it’s always “sweetheart, baby, angel.” and so many more.

it makes your head spin and your knees buckle. you let out the cutest whimper when he called you angel once, it made him so hard.

“hi.” you finally greet him back after a minute of being lost in your thoughts.

“how was your day, baby?” rick asks you, genuinely sounding like he wants to hear all about your day. you’re not used to people caring how your day was or how you spent it.

“it was okay, i helped olivia re-organize the pantry and now i’m just taking a walk.” you smile as you tell rick about your very boring day.

as rick listens carefully to you he picks up the gun he had been teaching ron to shoot with and he smoothly puts it back into his holster. before rick gets the chance to respond to you, you say something else that catches him off guard.

“can you teach me?” you ask in a whisper.

“teach you what?” you can tell rick is holding his breath as if you just asked him to teach you how to kill someone but that's not what he was thinking, far from it.

“to shoot.” you're still whispering, almost barely able to hear yourself. you ask almost as if you don’t really want to learn but you did, you always have, but anytime you asked anyone like your father or spencer they told you that you wouldn’t need to learn and they doubted that you would even be able to pull the trigger.

rick exhales the breath he had been holding in and chuckles to himself. he looks you up and down again, this time you do notice and it makes your skin hot.

“think your dad would be okay with that, baby?” rick asks, in a teasing voice. he knows your father is very protective over you. protective is an understatement.

“i'm an adult.” you're not whispering this time, your voice is clear and stern as you say this. “i can learn how to shoot if i want you.”

rick is surprised at your sudden confidence, but it makes him smile. ”alright then. let's teach you how to shoot.”

rick takes the gun back out of his holster, so effortlessly.

rick gestures for you to take the gun, you hesitate for a second before taking the gun from him, your hand brushing against his. that makes you shiver, and any little touch from him makes you feel weird inside and out.

rick gets close up behind you as you stand there unsure of what to do, once he's close enough he lifts up your arms to point the gun directly towards the wall that has kept you safe all this time.

you forget that you're supposed to be learning how to shoot, too distracted by the way rick’s body is pressed up against you.

you feel ridiculously small right now, you assume you weren't holding the gun right as rick moves his hands from your arms to your own hands and fixes your hold on the firearm.

“you already know not to put your finger on the trigger ‘til you're ready to shoot, good girl.” you jolt back when rick calls you a good girl, but you barely move him an inch, instead your ass pushes against his crotch.

“sorry.” you apologize, quickly moving your ass away from rick’s crotch but before you can he holds your hips down on him.

you don’t try and move away again, you let rick hold you down on his crotch, you can feel his hard cock stirring in his jeans, and you can’t help yourself as you squirm against him, earning a groan from him and his grip tightening on your hips.

you stay like this for a moment, until you hear footsteps from behind you. you push rick away and look to see who it is walking towards you two.

your father angrily walks towards you and rick, you put the gun back in ricks hands quickly and smile at your father.

“hi, daddy.” your father doesn’t even look at you, he’s staring down rick like he wants to take that gun from his hands and shoot him and rick looks like he’s challenging your father to try so.

your anxious as you watch the two stare at each other like they’re waiting for someone to throw the first punch.

“daddy,” you say to try and get your father's attention, but instead of your father looking at you, rick does.

he gives you a cocky smile. “why don’t we make tomorrow another lesson?” rick suggests and you quickly nod.

he takes a step towards you and whispers in your ear “bye, sweetheart.”

you don’t have time to say bye back as rick starts walking off, you watch as he does. wishing he could’ve stayed and taught you more.

“I don’t want you anywhere near him, understand?”

you want to ask why, but to save yourself from an argument, you only nod.

“understand.” but you know that’s a lie and as soon as you wake up tomorrow you’ll be looking for him. for that lesson.

#rick grimes x reader #rick grimes x you #rick grimes x y/n #rick grimes imagine #rick grimes blurb #ari’s work

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dwobbitfromtheshire · 1 year ago

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To Keep Fighting Epilogue

Part One Part Two

@estrellami-1 @goodolefashionedloverboi @wonderland-girl143-blog

A FEW MONTHS LATER. . .

It was still a long road ahead, but Hawkins was slowly recovering. The physical scars were healing, but it would take a lot longer for the others to heal, and some may never. To go through something as horrible as they did, one couldn't expect to come out the other end the same. . .

"Eddie, what did I say about narrating at three in the morning?" Steve asked sleepily.

"I am also journaling, Stevie, and it's supposed to be therapeutic," Eddie said.

"And you can't do it without the narration?" He asked sleepily.

"Nope!" Eddie said cheerfully.

"You should come back to bed. I'm a little cold, and the Buckleys are coming over for breakfast in the morning," Steve said.

"In a minute, dear," Eddie said as he scribbled away. "Hey, have you noticed that Robin's parents and your parents are spending a lot of time together?"

"What are you implying?" He asked.

"You know what I'm implying, baby," Eddie said. "Now, hold onto your boxers. I'll be there in a minute."

"Hmm, let's get rid of these. Oops, I seem to have lost my boxers, and there's nothing between me and these sheets. I also, I seem to have a little problem. I guess I can take care of it myself. . .," Steve said.

"I'm still a vampire. . .blah, blah, blah! Okay, done!" Eddie slammed the journal closed and pounced on the bed. "Precious blood bag, naked you are very."

"Please, tell me that you are not going to speak like Yoda while you fuck me back to sleep?" Steve asked and Eddie grinned. "Your accent is terrible."

The next morning, Steve and Eddie woke up early. Steve, who didn't mind waking up so early, was grinning. Meanwhile, Eddie was scowling and mumbling under his breath as he leaned heavily against Steve while they walked downstairs.

"Steve, why did you let me stay up so late?" Eddie grumbled.

"I told you to get some sleep. Don't make me slap you," Steve said.

"I'll just have Hopper arrest you for domestic abuse. We have an in, I used to sell him weed," Eddie said.

"Yeah, right," Steve said, slapping him on his ass.

"I'm awake," Eddie jolted up.

They stumbled into the kitchen to find John and Maggie moving about the room, already preparing breakfast.

"You need any help?" Steve asked.

"No, thank you, love. We figured we'd cook and then leave the cleaning up to you kids," Maggie said.

"Seems fair," Eddie yawned.

Steve pulled up a chair and smiled when Eddie plopped down in his lap.

"Besides, it looks like your boy there might need some extra sleep," John said in amusement. "He's looking a little dead."

"He is not a morning person," Steve said fondly as he rubbed his back.

Eddie slumped down and buried his face into Steve’s neck.

"It's too early to mock me," he mumbled.

"You two are rather adorable," Maggie laughed.

"I think you might be a little biased there, Maggie. You did make the very lap that I'm sitting in," Eddie said, lifting his head.

"I didn't make you, dear, and I still think you're very adorable," Maggie said, pinching his cheek.

"I think I'm going to need more convincing, Mags, if you want me to be your son in law," Eddie said, smirking, and she laughed.

Moments later, the Buckleys entered the kitchen with Robin bouncing in front of her parents. She bounded over to Steve and Eddie while her parents greeted the older adults.

"Oh, Steve, you have something on your lap!" Robin exclaimed.

"What is it?!" Eddie shrieked and jumped off his boyfriend's lap.

"Oh, it was just a metalhead vampire. It's gone now, though," Robin said.

"Oh, very funny, Buckley," Eddie hissed, baring his fangs at her.

"Ooh, I'm scared," Robin said, deadpan. "I'm shaking."

"Steve, tell her how scary I am," Eddie said.

"You're very scary, baby," Steve said, and Eddie preened proudly.

"Told ya," Eddie said.

"Breakfast is done. Robin, go set the table," Melissa Buckley told her.

"Why me?" Robin asked.

"Because you're being a menace," Richard told his daughter.

Once they settled down to breakfast, Steve made note of his parents' interactions with Robin's, trying to see what Eddie saw. He did notice that they seemed more inclined to talk with each other than the three young adults. Melissa seemed to make sure that she was always touching his mother's arm. Richard, meanwhile, seemed to pat John's shoulder, letting it linger longer than necessary. He also seemed to lean in to his father's space a lot. Steve shook his head. No, he didn't see what Eddie was talking about.

"I don't get it, Eddie," Steve said.

Breakfast was now over. The parental units had retired to the living while the others cleaned up in the kitchen.

"Get what?" Robin asked as she dried a dish.

"Early this morning, he said something about how our parents are spending a lot of time together," Steve said. "I still don't get what he meant."

"Come on, Stevie," Eddie grinned, tilting his head at him.

"Oh my god!" Robin gasped.

"Someone gets it!" Eddie exclaimed.

"I didn't tell you yet, but I came out to my parents. They were perfectly fine with it, and guess why?" Robin asked.

"Because they love you?" Steve questioned.

"No! Well, yes. Apparently, I just missed it because, of course, I did. Before they got together, they dated other people. My mom's ex was named Alex, and my dad's ex was named Jamie. They didn't use any pronouns. How was I supposed to know that Alex was a woman and Jamie was a man? Apparently, they've always been very open about their sexuality and I just didn't pay attention very well. Also, they told me that they're open to polygamy. . .if they met the right couple!" Robin exclaimed. "Oh my god!"

"Oh my god!" Steve exclaimed. "Do you know what this means?"

"That there's a lot more queer people in this town than we thought?" Robin asked and Eddie snorted.

"No! I mean, yes, that too. If this works out, not only are we going to be sort of siblings, but we're going to have four parents!" Steve exclaimed, grinning.

"Well, five, if you illegally marry me, then you get Uncle Wayne too," Eddie winked at Steve.

"You didn't count the other parents that we also have," Robin said.

"Oh. Yeah. Sue, Charles, Claudia, Joyce, and Hopper," Steve said. "How many is that? Ten! That's ten!"

"You're not going to count the Wheelers?" Eddie asked.

"Their daughter is his ex-girlfriend. Plus, Ted, blaugh!" Robin exclaimed, making a gagging noise.

"Our family is not only large but a weird mixture of people," Eddie laughed. "I love it!"

"There is one thing that we all have in common. . . We're all freaks!" Robin exclaimed, and they all laughed. "Thank God!"

"What are you guys laughing about?" John asked as the other three parents followed behind him.

"We're just laughing at our ever expanding family," Robin said, grinning.

"Edward. . .," John said, his voice deep with a warning tone.

Eddie blinked at him. John had never spoken to him like that.

". . .Did you get my son pregnant?"

"What?! No!" Eddie yelped and then turned to Steve. "I didn't, did I?"

"What?! No! Eddie, we're both guys!" Steve exclaimed.

"Well, I don't know, Steve! I'm a vampire! Our town almost got swallowed up by an evil wizard! Anything's possible!" Eddie exclaimed.

"That's true!" Steve exclaimed, looking thoughtful.

"Great, now you've got his hopes up," Robin glared at Eddie.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try," Eddie wiggled his eyebrows at Steve.

"His parents are still in the room, son," John said. "It's bad enough that we heard you this morning. We don't need the image of you railing our son. Happy for you, though."

"Dad!"

And so this weird, intermingled but loveable family live happily ever -

"Eddie! If you ever want to have sex with me again, come back to bed!" Steve yelled.

"I haven't finished the sentence, Steve! You can't end a story in the middle of a sentence!" Eddie shrieked.

"Bed!"

"Steve, do you know how fucked - "

THE END. . .

#stranger things #eddie munson #stranger things s4 #joseph quinn #eddie stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson lives #steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steddie fanfiction

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lea-andres · 2 months ago

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Okay so @iamapoopmuffin I will try to really boil this down into layman's terms for ya but let me know if I lose you anywhere lmao. But here's my FNAF OC!

So... I'm the most fascinated by the FNAF series in its later years (2030s according to the timelines I was looking at last night), when it's got fucking pizzeria complexes and training simulator programs and it's after William and Henry are in charge of the company and alive(ish... you know what I mean) so at that point I imagine Fazbear Entertainment has a corporate board running it up at the top who are sure dedicated to finding the line between "the bare minimum" and "absolute jack shit" lmao.

So... it's no surprise Fazbear Entertainment is a fucking dangerous company to work for. Murders, Bites of varying years, malfunctioning animatronics, fruitshark has a series on mostly TikTok (some on YT too) where she finds all the OSHA violations... These guys suck lmao. Also there's been a long history of dismantling, setting on fire, and leaving animatronics to rot so... They're not happy either lmao. (And that's ignoring the ones that had corpses stuffed in them or the child souls possessing them, but we'll come back to child soul possession shortly)

So Fazbear Entertainment went "We totally hear you guys and all of your issues! Look, here's our new Human and Animatronics Resources manager! Take her issues to her, and she will do the best she can to solve them! :)"

Enter Lydia DuPont. I don't know where Fazbear Entertainment found her, but this stupid bitch (/aff) missed EVERYTHING. She knows nothing about Fazbear's history. The murders, the Bites, none of it. Combine that with the extremely limited budget FE gave her to work with, and... Lydia's trying to fix deep seeded psychological trauma with pizza parties and stickers. She MEANS well, she sure wants to help, but... Most of the employees and animatronics find her annoying and off putting lmao. They side eye her while she's running "wellness questionnaires" at best, worst case scenario they're fucking with her by bringing up the terrible things that have happened and watching her squirm with the knowledge she can't fix this with smiles and sparkles.

Lydia's only made progress with one person so far. Well, animatronic really: Helpy.

Ya know, this guy (skip to about :50 to watch Mark abuse the shit out of Helpy lmao):

youtube

So... Helpy is very puntable lmao. I could've sworn I saw SOMEWHERE that employees abuse Helpy on purpose for funnies. I can't find it now, but I do what I want lmao. Helpy's puntable, and doesn't like being puntable. Only Lydia is nice to him and uh... That's starting to turn into its own problem with Lydia. Helpy has declared Lydia his mother (we've seen lots of instances of animatronics latching onto kids in various manners, I think it'd be fun to explore the reverse and have one latch onto an adult), and is DEFINITELY too clingy with her. And Lydia is... encouraging the behavior. Probably too much. So NOW anytime you have a "wellness chat" with Lydia, Helpy's there too! STARING at you while Lydia holds him (he wanted uppies and gets upset when she puts him down lmao). So yeah, no one likes Lydia all that much. They want her to take her weird robot son and take a long walk into the trash compactor. 💕 (Also definitely no hurt feelings floating around regarding the child soul possessed animatronics watching Lydia baby fucking Helpy instead of like... any of the actual children lmao RIP)

@doomzday-zone helped me decide last night what horrors I wanted to subject Lydia to (because I wanted to but *gestures at FNAF* there's so many horrors to subject her to lmao). Vanny seems most appropriate considering FNAF timeline era AND *checks notes* maximum amounts of evil toxic yuri attainable. Anyway, so TL;DR Vanny thinks fucking with (in... multiple senses of the term 😏😉) the loser clueless hr manager would be really funny actually, but there's uh... Helpy sized elephant in the room preventing that. And it won't GO AWAY-

If I possessed the power to make a game of this (maybe I'll dust off the text adventure game maker someday)... it'd be a Tattletail/FNAF blend style of the Horrors™ are trying to separate Lydia and her Shit Son™ so Lydia can be subjected to the terrors. 💕

But yeah, that's Lydia DuPont. I love her, I love her awful relationship with Helpy, and I want her to experience the horrors.

#lea's a dumbass #fnaf oc #lea's ocs #lydia dupont #Youtube

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officialgleamstar · 1 year ago

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also... penny for ur jodie thoughts ?

turns on immigrant song and sets it to loop. of course ^-^ I WAS GONNA DO A FRESH POST but i barely started typing it so i will answer on here instead! shout-out to @nutria--oscura as well because they also asked me for my jodie thoughts on my initial post

im gonna do a tl;dr as well as the full ramble, so! tl;dr first

canonically (in his fabricated human memories, not reality), jodie's mom, dee, was a singer and jodie didn't see her growing up because of this. i think the parallels to glenn here are obvious: glenn's dad, bill, was always on the road due to being a roadie/session musician, and dee was always on the road due to being a rock singer. the difference between them is that glenn spent consistent time with bill whenever bill wasn't busy, while jodie didn't (presumably he lived at home with his dad, but this isn't really clarified on), and i think this explains why they have such different adult lives despite their similar upbringings. glenn grew up involved in the rock scene, while jodie saw it more as something he could never be included in. however, once she appears in the podcast, dee is shown to be an extremely loving mother who has done everything in her power to find her son again, which is... really sweet, mostly, i love dee, but also its really sad because jodie has all these issues not from his actual life, but because he was used as some punishment against glenn for being a bad dad LMAO

now the full ramble with screenshots from the transcript and more headcanons/interpretations of how it affected him LOL

firstly, the part of the podcast that explains jodie's human memories, from SWAP (SWitched Ass Papas)

for simplicity's sake, for now, i'm gonna talk as if this is all true. we are taking jodie's human memories at face value.

jodie grew up without his mom in his life at all. i think "you never met her" was an exaggeration, based on the line "you don't have too many memories of them from your childhood", but she still is clearly not someone jodie spent much time with. her presence was always there, there were people in his life keeping him updated about her, he knew what she looked like, etc, but he didn't really know her. even when he did see her, jodie's memory is bad, he likely doesn't fully know what he experienced first-hand and what he was just told. it's a bit of ADHD projection, but i know that due to my memory problems, i've often had issues with being unsure what from my childhood was real and what was just something i made up. i think it's fair to say that jodie has similar issues based on these lines. he doesn't know his mom, she isn't a real person to him really, she's just this idea of a "cool mom" that was drilled into his head as a kid.

as i said, this parallels glenn's backstory in an interesting way. both bill and dee weren't home, but glenn still saw bill regularly. not a lot, but he always knew he would see bill again and generally considered him a positive influence in his upbringing (now, glenn's conflicting feelings about bill is a whole OTHER post i could write and have written before but-). okay tbh i was gonna get more in depth about bill and glenn's relationship but then i was rereading episode 29's transcript and started thinking too much and couldn't find any words, so we're just sticking with this screenshot from glenn close's damages:

THE POINT I WAS MAKING BEFORE I SPACED OUT FOR 20 MINUTES THINKING ABOUT MY BABY GIRL BILL CLOSE. glenn got to spend time with his father and was often looped into his nonsense, which led glenn to being far more involved in the rock and roll scene. in contrast, jodie barely ever saw his mother, and its reasonable to extrapolate that that is why he went so far in the opposite direction as glenn. he rejected this world that his mom was a part of because if his mom didn't have any time for him, then that entire scene as a wider space didn't have any time for him either. jodie is shown to be a character that does not get over things: his deep yearning for morgan, his long-standing anger towards glenn, he doesn't know how to move past things that upset him. i think it's reasonable to assume his feelings towards his mom could fall into this group of long-held feelings. he is completely the type to throw himself into something rigid and consistent and soulless such as the police force to separate himself from his mom, who he's been told is a rock and roll singer who's cool and edgy.

and i think the reason why this makes me so sad is that it's completely... unnecessary might be the best word, because dee loves him.

dee absolutely adores jodie, she misses him, she did everything in her power to get him back to her. but as i said, jodie is a character that doesn't let things go. despite the way he says that he's a demon now, as if that eradicates his very human feelings, it's obvious that he never really got past his fabricated life - again, his desperate attachment to morgan is evidence of this. no matter how much his mom loves him, jodie is probably always going to have a part of him that looks at her as the human woman who abandoned him as a human child. and she didn't, she didn't at all, and isn't that just devastating?

i feel like there's so much more i could say, but it's already been an hour and a half since you sent this ask LMAO i just think, behind his pathetic exterior, jodie is an absolutely fascinating character and people often undervalue how devastating the back half of season one was for him. jodie is never going to be like, a good guy. i don't want to make people sympathize with him or anything, i get it, he's not a likeable person and i don't want him to be ♡♡ i love my bitchy pathetic demon king of hell ♡♡ but there's a lot more depth to him than people tend to sit down and think about

anyways do you guys think, pre-demon reveal in the jodie foster timeline, jodie just assumed the omega daddies didn't recruit his mom because they were misogynists

#jodie foster dndads #dndads #cookies over yonder #ask #sorry that this took over an hour to answer i was just having a lot of thoughts #can you guys imagine if i got the mental fortitude to update the dndads wiki #it would be This information may only appeal to a specific audience. tags all over the place

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swan-orpheus · 6 months ago

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finale:

noun

noun: finale; plural noun: finales

the last part of a piece of music, a performance, or a public event, especially when particularly dramatic or exciting."the festival ends with a grand finale"

Did it feel like that to anyone? Because I feel like they were unclear on the concept. It was not devoid of excitement, but it was far from being "particularly dramatic or exciting". It took a rather safe course with a bit of lackluster window dressing and one or two gut punches that end abruptly before we can properly process them or respond emotionally, to get the characters to the confrontation with the villain which winds down in much the way that you'd expect, and all of that after swiftly and perfunctorily solving various problems/tying up some loose ends that were pieces of story to be told rather than distractions to be sorted and discarded without pause or a second thought.

Hemlock doesn't even try to prolong things by talking or justifying his attitudes and behavior in a way that might have made him more compelling. He just tosses out the empty-ish threat of taking Omega down with him (as desperate villains often do in this situation) and Omega , who at all times need to be in control in this ep, cheekily retorts. They make the shot, they go home. And there is some perfunctory dialogue in there about making amends or finding one's path etc. I would even go so far as to say that a bit of the dialogue in the finale felt akin to small talk-underwhelming and space filling. I was waiting for someone to Say The Thing or to Go There and it rarely winds up happening, that moment where you punch the air and go, "Yes!".

There is not very much emotional payoff and when we did get any, I felt kind of numb, usure how to react. We don't get to see Crosshair react to having his hand amputated, we don't get to see Emerie get angry because she's been a victim, or Hemlock lose his all pervasive cool as he's about to die. Jax doesn't start to freak out as they are climbing or seize up because one motivational sentence is enough to allow him to climb an absurd amount of rungs up a vertiginous shaft.

As somone who is terrified of heights, I can tell you, that is not what happens. I tried walking across the Golden Gate Bridge as a child and I started to panic. I still cannot do it as an adult. I feel weird all over and "bad" and my legs stop working.

I would have liked it if Omega and company had had to help him there and they all had had a chance to acknowledge being afraid rather than tossing in a joke about the baby sleeping through the Zillo. It would have made the danger feel more immediate. As it was, I did not for one moment feel afraid for the kids. In fact, I rarely felt afraid for anyone in the finale. It felt rather devoid of stakes for the issue that I think I've outlined of the tone being off. I ought to have been afraid for Wrecker but he keeps getting hit over and over again and gets up every time which signaled to me that they were not serious about making good on their threat to kill him. The same thing occurs with Crosshair when Hemlock threatens to recondition him for good. We pan away and then it is never even brought up again which felt like part of the scene was missing. (Not that I would have wanted the cliché scene of Crosshair fighting his brothers and struggling against it after he's already completed an entire arc where he defeats his demons so to speak...) Was this supposed to be the followup to Rampart's remark doubting that Crosshair has changed? Do not even get me going on that dropped thread.

We speed past logistical issues in a way that is incongruous in order to arrive at the happy ending, and then once we get back to Pabu, it feels like a relief but also oddly underwhelming. Echo looks over at Omega but they do not exchange words after their mutual ordeal or so much as hug. He's been stabbed in the back/shoulder but barely flinches.

I was so caught up in what never got explained or addressed or commented on that I was having a hard time connecting with Omega and Hunter in the epilogue, which also had my brain going, "Okay, but where is everyone else? And what about this thing and that thing and...."

If something resonates emotionally and you get recognition of and closure on the urgent bits, then you are not left in a muddle by the conclusion or wondering how certain things were apparently magically solved or why they are glossed over.

The happy ending actually feels earned in that case.

#the bad batch spoilers #the bad batch finale #alex bitches some more #rantrantrantityrant #rantolicious #jfc

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dandunn · 2 years ago

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Oohh these prompt writings are so fun to read, how about this for a prompt... de-aged Lupin and the gang (with/without Zenigata)

I was going to skip this ask honestly because I thought it wasn't my kind of thing but I did it and ended up being surprised. Uh. Also this is only part 1. Enjoy???

Lupin is losing his shit. As in 'holding in his sides trying not to die' laughing. It's the funniest thing he's ever seen.

"CAN IT SHIT FOR BRAINS! IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Jigen bellows, the insult would be as intimidating as the throaty roar of a lion in any normal situation. But this isn't a normal situation. It comes out as the high-pitched squeak of a kitten.

Because Jigen is six years old. And adorable!

Jigen's protests only cause a fresh lunatic howl of laughter to burst out of Lupin. He wipes tears off of his face, dabbing his cheeks with the sleeve of his pink jacket. Little Jigen stamps his foot and pouts. His hat is too big for his head now and keeps sliding off.

"Oh I'm gonna die!" Lupin says breathlessly, "Where's Goemon? Did he get hit too?"

From out behind the hefty piece of machinery comes the most shell-shocked little boy Lupin has ever seen, his robes wrapped around himself like a blanket and his now far too big sword dragging behind him.

"Ohh." Lupin coos, his eyes filling with tears again.

"Cease." Baby Goemon murmurs, his chubby cheeks turning red. "Do not say what I think you are going to say."

Lupin can't help himself. His face twists up in an effort to hold his squeal back, but it's too late, "You're so…. Cuuuuuute!"

Goemon attempts to draw his sword, but his arms aren't long enough and it catches halfway in its sheath. His feet get tangled in his robes and he falls on his ass.

Both of his partners turned children stare up at him.

Why'd it have to be me that gets stuck as the only adult here? Lupin thinks, I'm not exactly a role model!

"This is gonna be a problem if we get attacked." Lupin says, scratching the back of his neck, "Unless the guys who made this machine have a weakness for being kicked in the shins."

"Lupin when I get back to normal I am going to kill you!" Little Jigen meows again, struggling to pick up his combat magnum with his tiny hands. "How do we change back?! The controls on the machine-?"

"Do you really want me to go messing around with unknown technology, what if I press the wrong button and you both end up eighty years old?"

"Point."

Unfortunately for Jigen and Goemon someone else makes the decision for them.

They start being shot at.

"No time to figure it out, off we go!" Lupin cries as he scoops up both of his partners and bolts. Jigen tries to cover Lupin's back as he dangles under one of his arms, the knockback so severe with his underdeveloped muscles that the entire gun almost flies back and knocks him upside the head.

This isn't good.

They barely get out of the laboratories in one piece, and Lupin's arms are not built for carrying two deadly little children at once. He's wheezing and has had to dodge more than a couple of bullets by the time they escape.

Back at the hideout, Lupin drops the two kids before heading out to buy them some clothes (making them promise not to use the stove or stick forks in electrical sockets until he gets back. Jigen throws an ashtray at him but it falls short).

Once they aren't drowning in their adult clothes anymore they all sit down to take stock.

Unfortunately tailored suits and kimono robes for six year olds aren't easy to find, so Jigen gets a shirt with a dinosaur wearing a cowboy hat and Goemon gets Kamen Rider.

Lupin couldn't find a miniature borsalino either, so Jigen gets to keep his ludicrously oversized hat. The sight of it keeps making Lupin snicker so much he can barely stand to look at his poor gunman.

"So, what happened, what was it like?" Lupin says, enjoying this a bit too much despite how grumpy his partners are.

"You mean what it was like going through puberty in reverse? Not fun!" Jigen says, the couch practically swallowing him up. He reaches for a cigarette out of habit but Lupin stops him.

"I may be a lot of things but I'm not someone who allows a baby to smoke."

"Fuck you."

"That machine." Goemon says slowly, "we were lured into the room with it on purpose, this was done to us to take away our strength."

"Makes sense. Everyone knows how awesome and unstoppable we are." Lupin preens, "They probably think I'm helpless without you two."

"It is true." Goemon snipes.

Jigen folds his tiny arms, grumpily staring at the cigarette box in Lupin's hands like a regular kid would look at a box of candy. "So we break back into the facility and threaten them into changing us back!"

"What's your rush, Jigen?" Lupin muses.

"What do you mean 'what's your rush?' Of course we want to get back to normal!"

"You just want to smoke." Goemon clips, and Jigen looks like he's considering getting in a baby fist fight with him.

"I'm thinking practically! What if we end up stuck like this?! What if we have to grow up all over again; voice cracking, high school - zits!"

Lupin shrugs, waving a hand, "Something something a chance to relive your youth?"

"Why on earth would we want to do that?" Goemon deadpans. "I wish to be restored to my true age as soon as humanly possible."

Lupin tries not to start giggling again, hearing Goemon's darkly formal serious voice coming out of such a cute little package. He gets a hold of himself. "Look, when we broke into the facility I had help from both of you and now I have to think of a plan to get us back in without Jigen's shooting or Zantetsuken. Just… make the best of it you can until I do that. Did either of you even have childhoods?"

The two boys turn to look at each other, Jigen lifting up his hat to shoot Goemon a quirky look from underneath his bangs.

"My point exactly." Lupin stands up to go back to the drawing board. "Play with some blocks, take a nap or something. Don't pee your pants. I'll be as fast as I can."

Before he goes to shut himself in his room with his planning desk, he remembers something. He turns back quickly to grab Jigen's cigarettes and puts them on top of the highest wardrobe in the room. "And no smoking!"

If Lupin had a dollar for every time a six year old had flipped him off he would have about two dollars. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

#sorry for being a memey little shitlord i couldnt resist #i know you said lupin and the gang de aged but i thought loop still being an adult was funnier #part two zenigata??? idk lmao #lupin the third #jigen daisuke #goemon ishikawa xiii #arsene lupin iii #long post #jesse's writing #ask a cowboy #🐇

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