#I dunno- at the very least I’m going to entertain the thought of going if only to get myself to start working on this damn cosplay again

[inga-don-studio]

I’m not seriously going to fool myself into thinking I can get the headcrab zombie cosplay ready for the anime/manga con in a couple weeks. Surely not. Rational thought would never.

And yet … 👀

[3terna15unshin3]

Rockstar

Matty won't shut up about Este's success

1103 words

—

a/n: Once again this was not requested but I looooovveeee the idea of Matty being Este’s biggest supporter through big moments in her career so here i wrote about it🥰🥰 it’s a bit short but lmk what u think!

(I wrote an entire 15 chapter fic of this universe! Read it here if you want more Matty and Este😌)

—

“A 35,000 person capacity festival is just unfathomable to me. I can’t even picture that many people—let alone going up and performing for them. Being present in the crowd at your headline set back in 2019, where I specifically remember being impressed by you and your rockstar-esque poise and confidence, I can’t help but wonder if these crazy performances are an easier pill to swallow now? With that experience?”

Matty humbly shot down the ‘rockstar’ comment.

“That’s very kind, but I mean the festival crowds are something I really will never get used to. The pure size of them is one thing, but there’s also this energy of needing to win them over. Keep their attention. It’s a lot of pressure, so I don’t think I can say that I find it easy.”

The interviewer nodded their head in understanding, comfortably sat on a chair across from Matty and asking him a few questions before him and the band took the stage at Big Weekend 2023 in Dundee.

“Yeah, totally. And I’m sure it’s interesting going straight into a summer full of these big festivals straight after the break you’ve just been on, right?” They asked.

He draped one leg over the other before answering. “A bit. It’s always nice to warm back up with a headline show since that’s where we feel the most comfortable. Also—as silly as it sounds—three weeks was a long fucking time. For me, at least. When we’re in an album cycle and touring the shit out of it, it’s so rare for us to stop for that long.”

“What do you get up to when you’re off nowadays? I can sense a workaholic vibe from you, so is that time spent in the studio? Jumping to the next thing now that Being Funny has been out and heard and loved?” The interviewer said in a thick Scottish accent, shuffling their cards as they spoke.

“You sensed the vibe correctly,” Matty confirmed, “though it’s not entirely ‘work’ to me, I guess. It’s just the way I make sense of the world, sort of dunno what else I’d do. So yes, I did write and I am working on the next album. But I didn’t get around to it right away, since I spent some time celebrating first,”

“That’s a very artistic answer, Matty. That writing isn’t work and is ‘the way you make sense of the world’,” They joked, earning a sheepish chuckle from Matty. “May I ask if you were celebrating anything in particular? The success of your UK tour?”

“It wasn’t that self indulgent,” he explained, “I was hoping you’d ask because I love talking about it. My girlfriend is a writer for The Guardian, and she just had a huge piece of hers published. She’s the real rockstar out of the both of us, to be honest.” Matty’s face immediately lit up at the chance to gush about Este, figuring she wouldn’t mind.

He thought back to moment she gave him a call to break the news with a fond smile.

“Hi, love.” he said after he picked up.

Este was bursting at the seams with joy to say what she said next. She couldn’t even bear to greet him a ‘hello’ back.

“It’s going to be on the front.”

He dropped the chopsticks once gripped in his hands. “You’re fucking joking.”

Her smile was so wide it hurt her cheeks as she paced around the small office she shared with a few other writers she worked with. She giggled, nodding even though Matty couldn’t see her.

“17th of May. They chose mine as the Culture spotlight,” Este explained, “So there’s a snippet headline on the cover, and then you’ll flip to Books & Entertainment and my name will be the biggest one. Not just in my usual column.”

“You’re fucking joking me!” He repeated himself, audibly joyful with a volume so high she had to pull her phone away from her ear.

“Matty, you’re screaming. I hope you’re not in public,”

He was, and didn’t care. “I’m at a very nice and small Japanese restaurant that is so quiet that every single person here is looking at me like I’m crazy, for your information. Este’s on the fucking cover!” Matty exclaimed equally as loud.

She heard busy and happy commotion in the back, making out a few congratulatory remarks from the guys and the touring crew. Blush crept onto her cheeks, trying to squeeze a ‘thank you’ through to them between Matty and his continued rambles.

“I’m just so fucking proud, baby. Every time I get to read the newest thing you write it somehow tops the last—I don’t know how you do it. Actually, it’s quite annoying. Seems too effortless. It’s about time they print your name all big!” he endlessly complimented.

“I love you so much.” Este shortly said.

He could hear the grin in her voice. “Can’t be that much if I love you more,” Matty argued, “Sorry that was a bit cringe. Hann is rolling his eyes. You’re in love too, bro! Don’t act like I’m weird for it!”

“Her name’s Este Manansala, by the way. M-A-N-A-N-S-A-L-A,” Matty spelt out her surname to make sure they got it correctly, “She writes on books and literature, so it was an article about Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, a new novel out. A really, really thought-provoking conversation about white vs. minority authors—the nuances of being an author of colour. From a great perspective, too, since she’s Filipino and a woman and an immigrant. You should go read it,”

He stared down the camera lens to the hypothetical viewers, as if he could say it straight to them.

“But hell, check out all of her past stuff as well. Genuinely the most humble and intelligent human I’ve ever known. Plus I’ve written pretty much every love song of mine since like 2019 about her, so if you like my music then you have her to thank as well. Anyway—I’ve just overtaken this interview to talk about my girlfriend—sorry, mate.” apologised Matty, though he wasn’t all that apologetic.

“Don’t be sorry! I love it. She sounds incredible,” The interviewer beamed, matching his energy and feeling the admiration Matty had for her through the air.

“She is.” He smiled wide.

“If she really is the rockstar like you described, I feel like I can say that you’re her groupie.”

They belly-laughed together. Matty pictured Este’s smug expression and the way she’d definitely use that line to tease him in the future.

“Oh—I’m telling her you just said that. She’ll love it. Because you 100% can.”

[jackiebrackettt]

ermmm hello i am here for writing prompt what about this :

late night conversation between gill and chip, maybe about how gill wears his heart on his sleeve and chip both admires that about him and think its stupid, wishes he was more like him but also knows he couldnt get away with it cuz hes not gill, just has a lot of conflicting emotions about gillion and doesnt like how vulnerable that makes him feel. something like that.

(Prefacing this with i haven’t been caught up on riptide for a while now so this is ambiguously set somewhereeee around whatever era you think it works best thumbs up emoji)

Chip can’t sleep. An annoyingly more frequent occurrence he’s been dealing with. And he knows that lying there will probably be better for him in the long run—at the very least, no one will ask him questions about why he’s awake in the middle of the night—but he drags himself out of bed, anyway.

He’s antsy. His legs aching like they need to move. So, he does.

He heads to the kitchen first. Picks up a snack to entertain himself with while he mopes around on deck. Maybe he’ll go to the crow’s nest, and stare out at the sea—try to spot their next destination, even though it’s far from being in eyesight. Or maybe he’ll climb out to sit on the figurehead. Dangle his legs over the water.

Or—

Or maybe, he’ll go talk to Gillion. Who’s leaning against the railing, staring down at the waves below them. Huh.

“Hey, Gill.” He keeps his voice quiet, and decides not to comment on the way Gillion makes an aborted movement to reach for his sword. “Couldn’t sleep, either, huh?”

“I suppose so.” Gillion sighs.

“So,” Chip sits up on the railing, and takes a bite of his snack, “what’s got you up?”

“Just… thinking.” Gillion shrugs. “You?”

“Oh, I was just hungry.” Chip lies. And, well, he didn’t actually consider it a lie until he realised he was saying it to Gillion. “I mean… I dunno. Just felt like I had to move. And why not grab a midnight snack, huh?”

“True,” Gillion sighs again, “very true.”

“Do you, uh, want some?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Do you… want to talk about it?”

“There’s not much to talk about. I think…” Gillion hesitates. “I think I’d rather talk about nicer things now, you know?”

“Yeah, sure, I can do nice.” Chip wracks his brain for anything light-hearted. “It was, uh, sweet how you bought that kid that book back at port. Or, well, used my money to buy it.”

“Thank you.” Gillion smiles, but it’s a tired thing. “The ability to learn is a great thing. I wouldn’t want to bar anyone from that if I can help it.”

“Yeah, yeah, always the hero.” But even as he rolls his eyes, it comes out much more fond than he’d want. “Someone’s going to exploit you for that, you know? Well, again.”

“Maybe.” Gill’s eyes catch his now, and something nervous scrambles around in his chest. “But it’s worth it.”

“Yeah. I guess.” Chip darts his eyes away, and coughs. “It’s—it’s good. Yeah. And even though I think it’s kind of stupid! I… I do admire you for it… I guess.”

“Thank you, Chip.” The smile on his face is a little more lively now. “And, you know, since you’re well versed in scamming people, maybe you can help me notice the difference.”

“Oh, I’ll try.” Chip promises, with a false bravado. “But once you’re on the path of honour, and doing good it’s, like, impossible to drag you off it, man.”

“Well, I promise I’ll listen to you.” Gillion rests his hand on Chip’s knee, and despite the coolness of his skin making its way through Chip’s pants, he feels warm. “I know you like doing good, too.”

“Well, I don’t know about—I mean, I’d like to, but—” Chip bites his tongue—trying to stop the meaningless rambling so he can gather his thoughts. “Well, I’m not you. I don’t do all that… hero crap.”

“Oh, don’t say that! You’ve helped a lot of people, Chip!”

“Shut up, you know what I mean.”

Gillion laughs a little. Squeezes his knee, before withdrawing. Chip kind of misses the touch.

For a moment, they both lapse into silence. Thoughts swirl around Chip’s mind, none of which he’s particularly interested in entertaining.

He finishes his snack, and claps Gill’s shoulder.

“C’mon.” He jumps back onto the deck. “Let’s go try and sleep, yeah?”

“Okay.”

Gillion sends him another smile that he has to look away from. Too much for the complicated tornado spinning through his brain right now.

He remembers when he wanted to get Gill to laugh at one of his jokes. Properly laugh. He used to think Gill was so uptight.

But kindness, and all the associated emotions come easy to Gill in a way they don’t come to Chip. And maybe he’s a little jealous of how easily Gillion can express his love for his crew without wrapping it up in anything else.

They say goodnight to each other. Chip checks on Jay, but she seems to be sleeping fine—didn’t even wake up when their conversation drifted closer to her.

And Chip tries to fall asleep.

[louisisalarrie]

Ooh, please tell me more about how Shiall today might relate to Larry? I’ve been keeping an eye on Niall, and I have so many thoughts, but I’m mostly just confused!

heya anon, and welcome to the show!

now, I want to start this off by saying I haven’t had much to do with the Shiall stuff, so I’m not an expert on it. But, here are a couple of my thoughts as to why this is an interesting turn of events, and what this means for larry.

so, it’s been pretty interesting seeing all the Shiall stuff online since the show happened. And well… I’ve seen a lot of larries/ziams also now start shipping Shiall, which is interesting, and while Shiall has never been as big as Larry or even Ziam, it blew up the fandom and even got headlines in the press. So… let’s have a deeper dive.

Now… people have believed in Shiall or at least entertained the idea of them together since at least 2017. It’s not a new thing whatsoever. But since the show of them performing together, it has become pretty huge. And there are a lot of solos reaaaaallllyyyy hating that, and it’s becoming a bit beefy between the niall girls and the shiall believers (which is yikes because can everyone just be nice to each other for a god damn second Jesus Christ) so it’s now dividing nialls otherwise pretty chill fandom. Which is new for him, and will be interesting to see how it’s handled. But so far in the press? It’s going well for him.

He’s gotten a write up in a few outlets which all have a similar headline of “Niall Horan Surprises Fans by Bringing Out Shawn Mendes at London Concert” (US Weekly). But, Rolling Stone really went all out here:

Now, I dunno about you… but adding “fellow lover boy” and “that’s my boy” to a headline 100% grabs attention and maybe implies a bit more than just pals. In my marketing and journalism experience/study, this would absolutely fall under seeding and somewhat subconsciously sways the reader into further curiosity about Niall and Shawn’s relationship.

What’s funny about this, is 1 week prior to the show, Elle posted this article out of quite literally nowhere. Shawn and Camila haven’t been spotted together since (to my knowledge) April of 2023 when they were photographed kissing at Coachella. So… why was this dropped a week prior?

Anyway, Niall is still signed to Modest mgmt, who we’ve watched control narratives and PR ops for the last 13 years. So, it’s safe to say we can see a bit of a pattern here, but it feels different this time too… right?

Niall’s mgmt would 110% know about the Shiall rumours. They’ve been around for over 6 years, and have continued to grow in popularity over the past couple of years particularly. It’s very obviously a topic that the fandom talk about, and that a lot believe in. So, to allow niall to bring on stage someone who his fans believe he’s actually dating as opposed to his “gf” who was also in the crowd that night (not that literally anyone cared lol) feels very freeing. Do modest and Niall not care about the rumours? Is it actually true and he managed to convince his team to let him do it in exchange of staying with his gf for longer? Or is it something entirely different?

Well… it’s a tricky one.

Modest have been well known to closet artists for years. We’ve seen it with larry, and other young men too. So, why the change of heart? Essentially encouraging rumours by giving this the go ahead, and rolling stone weirdly quickly posting that article with those particular words in the headline, why now?

It’s good PR, sure. It’s beneficial for Shawn to get back into the headlines more after not performing for 12 months, and gives nialls tour a bit of a boost. But i would argue that it’s encouraging Shiall. And I would also argue that modest have actively tried to squash gay rumours for years with larry (we will talk about the Union J shit show another time and just stick with larry for this) so it’s interesting that they’re encouraging it. But it’s been a pretty nice little test drive for larry, hasnt it?

In no way has Shiall divided the fandom to the same point as Larry, but the love we all saw for shiall (whether we believed in them being romantically linked or not, it was incredibly wholesome) from around the fandom was very loud. I saw a hell of a lot more positive chats than negative (and I looked deeper than just my timeline) and so it was pretty safe to say that it went well for the most part.

People are saying that niall might have done it behind his team’s back because Shawn was placed in Paris hours earlier, but that’s just a reminder of something we already know that we can’t trust photos to be released on the same day at the same time they are taken, but I think he’d get in a hell of a lot of trouble for that. So I’m not on board with that idea.

So I guess to put it down to a couple of options to sum this up:

a) modest has flipped the script and is okay with Shiall because they’re actually not dating (unlike how they handled larry because they were) and it’s all just rumours and niall and his gf aren’t bothered from it so it’s fine because it’s some good publicity

b) niall and Shawn actually are dating and his team is seeding a coming out, testing the waters with the fandom, perhaps try to encourage larry to sign with them again due to how “free thinking” they are now

c) nialls contract allows him to have more control over different aspects of his career so he was able to just invite him up there no matter what narrative is being pushed in his personal life

So… what’s this mean for larry and why have I rambled on for 3-5 business days?

Well…

Niall is dealing with the same rumours with Shawn as H and L do with each other. He is actively showing the fans that believing in a relationship between two dudes in fact doesn’t ruin their lives and families and their girlfriends are crying all the time, and he’s also showing other mgmt teams that you can do this shit without the world falling to pieces (aka the V*nes and Az*ff losers) whether or not it’s true. It’s a very small step in the right direction, but it’s a really good one. So I think yeah it’s important to see what this means for Larry and their next steps, because niall has made it look pretty simple. But I think we should keep watching this all very closely.

[blueikeproductions]

So another EarthSpark thing that came to my attention was Ratchet and Drift were pitched into being in EarthSpark.

Neat.

They were pitched as having trying to look at the Cyber Sleeves the kids had, with Ratchet and Drift having scientific and philosophical thoughts on what they are despite not having a solid answer.

Also neat.

They were also pitched as being married.

Not neat.

This stranglehold IDW has over Transformers needs to end yesterday. I liked IDW, but it’s clear Hasbro wasn’t feeling it anymore, and the attempt at a reboot didn’t help. Not to mention, toys made with the IDW cast in mind don’t appear to sell well. Tarn appears to be the exception, because it’s Tarn, and he’s awesome, but I’ve also never personally seen him in person in stores. Fellow comics original Jhiaxus yes however, so take that as you will. It’s also why so many people were surprised two nobody IDW2 robots, an Autobot and an Acenticon, were getting toys. Even hard core fans have no idea who they are or much desire for these two, and I say that with my open fondness for Autobot Scrounge.

The couplings in IDW always felt kinda forced… I’ve often viewed them as crack ships, some working slightly better than others. I thought Chromedome and Rewind was handled the best, and I’d be very open to seeing them in EarthSpark as (one of) the gay couple(s) in the show.

Drift and Ratchet being a couple comes kind of out of nowhere. I get there was this opposites attract thing going on with an atheist and religious guy, but the joke got old quickly. Besides some implications Drift and Rodimus were more of a thing, age differences are a sticky point for me. A lot of the main couples amounted to twenty something kid hooking up with grandpa or grandma. I know age is more of a suggestion in TFs, but it always bothered me. Tailgate Cyclonus also fall into this for me, but I also preferred their dynamic being a plucky son and stand offish father learning to care for each other. The moment it became romantic I lost interest and felt kinda creeped out T’be honest. Same with Drift and Ratchet. Ratchet’s said to be super old, not quite Kup or Alpha Trion old, but he’s up there. Drift in comparison is about Hot Rod’s age, and met Ratchet at a clinic on Cybertron when Ratchet was already older than dirt… The two being a crusty grandpa who loved his grandson but doesn’t quite get his interests was a dynamic I liked.

I just think there’s better options romantically for Drift and Ratchet. Closer in age too. I imagine in the interest of fairness the EarthSpark versions would be closer in age. RiD15 Drift, to me at least, seemed a bit older than Bumblebee and was more of a stern but well meaning uncle/father to Sideswipe, Jetstorm and Slipstream. Prime Ratchet felt married to his job meanwhile…

Admittedly I’m surprised Drift was entertained at all. A lot of the IDW original characters seem to have been benched in media for the time being, and Drift’s role in Cyberverse was lauded as the most idiotic thing the show did for both supporters and detractors that even the writers regret using him that way. It kinda feels like that particular instant sorta sullied the character for some frankly…

If we do get Ratchet back in particular, since we have Steve Blum reprising Starscream, I say let’s get Jeffery Combs to reprise Ratchet. Drift I’m not sure. It’s easy for me to say Eric Bauza should return, but maybe there’s a better alternative for a potential EarthSpark Drift.

I don’t think you can really do the proposed plot anymore since that ship has sailed, but there’s a role for Ratchet and Drift, just not as a couple. Ideally, just make a new couple. Gears having a boyfriend would be funny, someone who can see through his sourball antics, or give Pipes an aquatic mode boyfriend he was wanting. -checks- Hmm I dunno have it be Pipes and Waverider, that could be fun.

[cq-studios]

⛓️Remus/Freya:

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

23. Favorite picture of this character? (Or 14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.)

(For this)

12. So disclaimer, there is not enough scenes of these characters for me to make many interesting headcanons at this point (especially with Freya… I’m sorry girl but all you’ve done so far is give exposition) but I’ll give you the thoughts I’ve had so far… which again isn’t much lol

For Freya’s headcanons first up is that she’s a nerd, a dweeb some might say. She sounded very enthusiastic explaining pieces and the Astral Plane to Player, and she must’ve explained that about 100 times before considering her job (or well, at least however many times drifters show up and choose to wield Keyblades I guess). My other one is that she could be a furry? I dunno man, it looks like she has cat ears?

For Remus he obviously collects trash that washes up on the beach (and that trash is probably from the massive drowned city, thats under the water, and probably has bits a pieces of itself stolen by the tide) so maybe he’s interested in old technology, or just relics from Daybreak Town in general. I also think he’s going to be an incompetent keyblade wielder or something. Like just sucks at his job, or at least doesn’t care enough to do it well lol

23. Either the GIF I found somewhere of Remus getting slapped across the beach or Remusmemus… which is also him getting slapped across the beach lol

I’m just wildly entertained by this kid getting slapped across the beach I guess

[gorogues]

Fictober 2023

Prompt number #4 Fanfiction Fandom: Flash Rogues Rating: G – General audiences Warnings: None Notes: Science doesn't work that way, shhh.

Day Four: “Do you even know what this means?”

Roscoe had been hard at work in his lab when Axel flounced in -- which was odd, as he was certain he’d double-locked the door.  Either way, he ignored the youth who was literally dancing around his worktable as he soldered.

“Dude, it’s time to get up and do stuff, you can’t sit here all day,” the kid said after ten lonely minutes.

“Watch me,” Roscoe replied without looking up.

“Come on, I want you to show me some cool tops or whatever it is you do all day.  Mark told me you made a machine gun top once, which is way more interesting than one that spits glue.  I wanna see it shoot something!”

Finally Roscoe got up, heading out of the room to look for any other member of the Rogues to babysit the toddler; he found nobody.  The entire building was oddly deserted, seemingly leaving him as the only adult around.  Strange.

Somebody will pay for this, he brooded to himself, and resumed his work with a distinct scowl on his face.  Axel, of course, was still around and in search of entertainment.

“C’mon man, just show me your coolest stuff and I promise I’ll be quiet for a while.  Just one of the absolute coolest weapons!”

“Have you thought about playing in traffic?  I hear that’s pretty cool,” Roscoe snapped, but Axel just smiled and pulled out a strange blob from his satchel, which he held in his palm.  It glowed a bit and hummed, and even changed colours as the two of them watched.

Curiosity finally got the better of the older Rogue, against his more reasoned judgment.  “What is that?”

“Dunno!  I got it from Alchemy’s lab.  It was labelled 'methyl-glyceryl trinitrate'.  Looks neat, huh?”

Roscoe went pale.  Chemistry wasn’t his field of expertise, but he understood explosives very well.  “Do you know what that is?  And do you know what this means?”

“Gonna guess by the look on your face that it’s bad,” Axel replied, though he didn’t seem overly concerned.

“Levelling the entire city block is frequently bad, yes, unless you’re observing from a safe distance.  We are not, and based on the increasingly rapid colour changes it’s probably extremely unstable.  I cannot say it was nice knowing you.”

“Same, same.  You’re weird and mean and you remind me of my dad, but at least we’ll go out with a blast!”

“Your…dad..?!” Roscoe exclaimed with bewilderment, but he didn’t have time to finish the thought.  Alchemy’s blob suddenly enlarged itself and shone with a blinding light and—

--and it soon ended.  The blob abruptly went inert, turning a sickly pale colour and remained that way as they stared at it.

“That’s it?!” Axel demanded incredulously.  “What a complete rip-off!  I wanted a huge explosion!”

“I…suppose Al’s experiment was a failure,” Roscoe concluded, relieved but at a loss to explain what had just happened.  “I will have to let him know, for his notes.”  And perhaps kick his ass for leaving explosives for the toddler to find.

“I’m gonna go find something else to do,” Axel announced sullenly as he left the room, and it was quietly blissful for a moment but Roscoe quickly realized he’d better not leave the kid unsupervised.

“Wait, ah, give me a moment and I will demonstrate the machine gun top for you,” he said hurriedly through gritted teeth.  Then he paused, frowning.  “And just what did you mean by ‘remind me of my dad’?”

[rondo-of-blog]

Holy Seven Subscriptions, Batman!

So I’ve been reading a lot of comics lately. Like, a lot of comics. I’ve been going out on a limb, and honestly? It’s paid off! Yes, I’ve gotten to read solid comic book storytelling recently - and lots of it. And what do I have to show for it?

Seven different subscriptions to DC comics series, and one to a Marvel comic series. :’)

[Spoilers for various comics! If you see the title of a book you don’t wanna get spoiled on, leave!]

If you’ve been following me for the past several months, you’ve probably heard me rave about the current ongoing Catwoman comic series as it’s been written by Tini Howard. You’ve probably also heard me blab about the latest Harley Quinn series since Tini Howard took it over. Both comics are absolute delights that I’ve had a blast with, but that I’ve also talked at length about, so… won’t be going into that. Not this time, at least.

And that includes you, Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain, also written by Tini Howard!

So what does that leave us? Well, why don’t we start with Batman! Written by Chip Zdarsky. At this point I really should start expecting it, but I keep being surprised by just how dang much I’m enjoying myself with this series! It’s got action, it’s got Batman coming down from the Moon to land back on Earth, it’s got it all!

With stories as convoluted as the series has been telling, I really would’ve thought it all would’ve come unraveled several issues ago—after all, how the hell could a story take Batman to the Moon, back to Earth, into another damn dimension, rapidly jumping through several damn dimensions, and then back to whatever we call main Earth??? By doing it all very well, apparently!

Next we have Poison Ivy, which I read on the glowing recommendation of my partner in life and in love, Cluster! I spent weeks telling them I’d get around to reading it eventually, then one day this past week I went and read all 13 issues that’re out right now. And what’s there to say about them? Well…

They’re great! They’re all fucking great! I’ve never blown through 13 issues so quickly, but G. Willow Wilson had such an impressive story to tell that I couldn’t stop for anything. Pamela’s great in it, so is Harley when she eventually shows up, and so is… Batman! Didn’t know he’d be part of this series, but it works!

G. Willow Wilson is another writer, like Tini Howard, where whenever I see her write a character I just want to see her write them all the time. I dunno, if perhaps they could just hand the keys to the whole damn DC Universe to these gals I think we’d be onto something!

Besides that, Cluster and I finally said “what the hell” and read through all 9 issues that’re currently out of The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing. The verdict?

It made us laugh~

To be more specific, Matthew Rosenberg does an excellent job of making a hilarious and entertaining Joker comic series that features a metric fuck-ton of Joker in it. There’s so much of The Joker, there’s actually two men called The Joker in it!… Or three. Well, the third one was impersonating the first one. Or is it the second one?

It’s these sorts of questions that any Joker series worth its seltzer would have readers asking! I’m really glad we’ve taken a chance on this series, after spending months joking about its very silly title that doesn’t seem to actually tie into the story itself so far. We’ll see if there’s any further developments on that front later!

Last month and this month, however, I started on two brand new limited series! Limited series that I wish were ongoing series, and that I hope end up becoming ongoing series when they hopefully do ridiculously-well! I am of course referring to the latest volume of Cyborg, and Steelworks!

For Cyborg, I’m really interested to see where it goes. Morgan Hampton made known his intentions of taking Vic in a direction we’ve not seen before, ahead of issue #1’s release, and the sudden death of Vic’s father Silas proved he meant it.

While Silas died very early on in the original continuity Vic lived in, his presence after the New 52 reboot was used to great effect in David F. Walker’s Cyborg issues. Lots of work was done expanding on their fraught relationship, but it looks like we’ve closed the book on that before it could reach a happy ending… or have we???

There’s a lot to take in, a brief appearance from the Titans that made my heart swell, and overall I felt like the first issue set us up nicely for a damn good story—one that, again, I’d love to see turn into an ongoing series, but we can’t have everything all the time.

Steelworks had another strong beginning with issue #1, which came out… this month! I’d been anticipating it since its initial announcement, and Michael Dorn did not disappoint in the writing department. I’d also like to give a special shoutout to Sami Basri and Andrew Dalhouse for their contributions in the art department (line art and coloring, respectively)!

It’s not every day I get to read a comic that just looks as good as comics used to back when I was taking good comic art for granted, but Steelworks #1 is a damn good-looking comic! With art this solid, there’s nothing interrupting me from getting sucked into the story - and damn if this isn’t the beginning of a story that immediately grabbed me!

Something that’s easy to take for granted, but that not every comic manages to pull off, is telling a story that wins you over on its ideas. Maybe this is just me being picky, but I’ve read a comic or two in the past year that’ve gone really hard on the moral core of a story that I just… really can’t relate to. You’d think superhero comics wouldn’t have such a hard time being relatable to someone who doesn’t want people to spend the rest of their natural lives rotting in prison or whatnot, but you’d be surprised.

Steelworks #1 starts with a bang. With ideas that’re bold, and probably outside the realm of what people usually look for in a superhero comic, but that I can honestly sympathize with. No one comes off as a two-dimensional cardboard cutout, everyone feels real and able to be connected with at least on some level.

It’s a limited series, but if it does well enough? Who knows what could happen. In this case, I don’t know that they could’ve gotten Michael Dorn for longer than just a limited series’ run, so there are benefits to the format!

So yeah. That’s now seven subscriptions to DC comics series, to only one that Marvel’s been able to put out.

Does DC know it doesn’t have to be winning so hard at comics? It would’ve been fine if they were just putting out a couple good series here and there, which I thought they were before I gave these other series a try. Turns out, they’re really putting out some quality shit!

And I still have Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor to start picking up next month! Geez!

I’m a very happy camper when it comes to comics, nowadays. Right now, I only have one comic series I pick up every month that routinely and utterly disappoints me. I may end up writing about it on this blog, in lieu of tweeting, what with how its fanbase just loves to tank my mental health with threats & harassment!

Until next time!

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By the way, you can now read the blog on my website, at https://feliciarondo.com/rondo-of-blog. Check it out! :)

[creatorofuniverses]

Gt July Day 14 – Instrument

For this prompt I decided to work with characters from a WIP I haven’t actually shared anywhere, titled Prisoners of Fate. Hopefully there’s enough context in this little drabble to make it entertaining!

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“Hey, Professor!”

Druin blinked and looked up. The moniker was, despite not describing him at all, instantly recognizable by now. The goliath – or human, as they were apparently called – had decided that Druin looked like one of their esteemed educators. Since Druin was not, in fact, an educator (he was a thief, mostly) and had not been in control of his current outfit, which apparently made him appear to be something he wasn’t, he was forced to take the nickname as an amusing epithet this particular human insisted upon. It wasn’t like Druin was going to tell somebody tens of inches tall that the nickname was erroneous; and it really wasn’t the worst, all things considered. The assassin he was stuck living with these days called him worse names on the daily.

So Druin said, “Yes?” and waited to see what the fuss was all about this time.

“You said you played an instrument, right?” BJ, all six foot three of him (absolutely ridiculous, who on earth needed that much height) looked down at Druin where he sat on the kitchen table (all five and three quarters inches of him). A smile split the human’s tan face, his ice-blond hair hanging down into his blue eyes a bit, and he had the air of somebody with a secret they were about to break.

Druin wasn’t going to be the one keeping him on a line. “That’s correct,” he replied, “I played the wyndiwere, it’s a string instrument. Eight strings.” He had learned, since living in the part of the world populated by humans, that they had a plethora of instruments of their own. Nicky, the human they were – prisoners? Guests? Reluctant companions? – of played a guitar. Druin’s old instrument was closer to a lute, or perhaps a gourd banjo with a shorter neck and more strings. He missed it, as with most aspects of his lost, normal life, on the daily. “Why do you ask?”

BJ’s grin grew a little wider. “Becaaaaauuse,” he teased, drawing out the word to an abominable length, only to follow it up with a quick, “I have a present for you!” He drew his hand out of his jacket pocket and reached over to deposit something near Druin. Druin stood even as the hand – big as he was, if not a bit more – withdrew once more. What was left was a relatively small wooden instrument, a little less than the length of Druin’s arm span. Its shape was newly familiar, and Druin soon recognized it as a miniature version of the acoustic guitar Nicky played. “Found it at some fancy toy store downtown, thought you might like it. It probably doesn’t play very well but, I dunno, maybe you could rebuild it? I figured it was worth a shot at least.”

As BJ rambled, Druin picked up the instrument and looked it over. The feeling of smooth wood beneath his russet brown hands soothed something in his soul he hadn’t realized he had missed quite so much. He adjusted the guitar, holding it like he had seen Nicky do before, and experimentally plucked one of the strings without bothering to press down on any of the frets.

The string made an unpleasant, tinny little twang and he and BJ both winced. “Ah,” said Druin. He examined the top of the neck, fiddling with the metal knobs inserted there. “This may need tuning. Or re-stringed.” The current strings seemed to be made of plastic, that strange, semi-solid material that humans so loved using whenever they could. This was not a good material for them. Druin had seen Nicky’s strings on his much larger guitar, and they were definitely not made of plastic. Perhaps he could borrow some of the thinner ones. He turned the pegs on the neck experimentally once more and said, “But all told, I’m impressed that humans made an instrument this small. I can work with it.” That was more than he had expected from a goliath creation, given that their fingers alone were nearly as long as a regular faefolk was tall.

“Yeah, it was one of the nicer ones for sure,” BJ agreed. He set his chin on the table to be closer to Druin and grinned. “But I thought you might like it! Glad it could work.”

“Likewise.” Druin was almost surprised to say so. His circumstances weren’t exactly within his control, and if he had his druthers, he wouldn’t be here at all; but he was here, and it was objectively rather nice of BJ to buy an instrument for Druin, no matter how small and in need of fixing. So, he held the guitar in his hands, and let the comforting weight of an instrument fuel his gratitude. “Thank you.”

[ashacadence]

Baldur’s Gate 3

This is just my impression so far and why I’ve been not so active. Yes I like the game and having fun with it. Or at least to a degree. I can see the replay ability with it but I’ll get to that in a second.

The game in on itself is addicting. I get the itch and I just fall into that hypnotic grind of wanting to explore, look through stuff and bring the maps to life the more pockets and paths I find. It’s nice and there’s neat fights or really cool places to see. All very beautiful scenery. The environment stuff and the interactions of discovering hidden treasures or characters noticing something as filler info. Super cool. I’ll find myself just trying to look for hidden paths to navigate or spot something that catches my eye to go and look.

The fucking camera is annoying. Also the movement/pathing tracking or whatever can sometimes be it’s own worst enemy. I dunno if it’s better to play on the controller or not but I doubt it with how complex and easier it is to simply stick with mouse and keyboard. I just wish the camera pan and zoom was better instead of fighting it.

The characters in on themselves are entertaining and each are unique in their own special ways. Now, I’ve only been limited to the main three with mine but I’ll get to that in a sec. Lae’zel I’m still ehhhhhh on. I get why she’s prickly but oh boy she tests my patience some times. Also she hit on me at some point that had me sputtering and cackling.

I didn’t choose option 3. I chose 2. The screenshot had my mouse at that third one.

But y’all should have heard me laughing. Even if she was turned down she took it well but still with that confidence of “pssh you’re missing out.”

Girl…I’m trying to bang the vampire man okay. Maybe Halsin. Dunno yet. Haven’t gotten that far.

Shadowheart and I are good friends. She’s a little cinnamon roll but oh so blinded by her religion. Shadow babe hun you are so much more if you let yourself be more.

Astarion, I love his sass. We will either be best buds or friends with benefits or more. Don’t care. Happy to chat with him and have him around. His sass is great.

I would love to talk about more but here’s the thing. This is all the active people I have besides wyll who just doesn’t have enough for me to engage all that much with and I blame the writing for the game. He’s a very nice guy who’s in a bad situation but just doesn’t have that oomf for me personally just yet. Halsin I’m just now starting on his quest so I can get him in my party.

I missed my chance to get gale and karlach. This is where the start of my frustrations go where the game is unforgivable in making it obvious or segues on hey you should find this person like gale for one. Didn’t realize he was a random thing that’s seemingly dangerous and my instinct was oh let’s avoid this. Like come on. Karlach apparently was timed and I couldn’t get her after wyll gets his first punishment. Very unfair I thought. I been hearing karlach is an amazing character but nope. Won’t get that chance unless I restart back to wherever and/or replay the game entirely. BS

I’m trying to be vague as possible from spoiling and not giving too much big story info away so forgive me on the wyll part but that made me irritated. Because I wanted the whole deck of characters and be in on the know.

Also I think it’s BS of the game to only be four members when traveling. Should be 5-6 at least. Dunno if it’s just game coding and all that where that can be potentially be harder to process the different character AI and whatnot but man.

Extra members would be super helpful especially in big fights that are literally meant to beat the shit out of you. Some fights I had to redo two-four times. Some I had to weasel around and not just go in. Don’t care as this may be a subjective debate on how you play the game or how the game is but honestly it’s a bit counter intuitive. One of the big boss fights I won’t say I spent nearly three hours on. I was thinking omg am I even going to be able to continue because the game is that big of a jerk to players. I’m playing on balanced. Medium essentially or normal. Not that it matters but I also heard story teller or previous difficulty is not that much different either. There have been moments of progress I would make only to get knocked back an hour’s worth some times that makes me head desk. I try to save as often as I can.

But ya some of the fighting I just dread knowing it’s somehow going to be ass in some way because there’s hardly much of a means to prepare for everything unless you do. Then of course you retry with a different set up and the game may still be a absolute dick. It’s a matter of luck in a fight.

Like common sense at least to me hits with up close combat. Lot of the times my characters will miss on some swings that’s completely dumb in my book. You have this giant monster three feet in front of you and you miss a arc swing?? How?? I get that’s just how the spirit of dnd is but this is where computer vs tabletop comes into play on this scenario. It’s just how it’s coded and gotta live with it. Save a lot. Retry.

But ya some of the scenarios in or out of combat and just even the dice rolls will sometimes be absolute garbage on occasion. That’s just how it is on that too.

It’s a love hate with this game and there’s just some cases and things above like I wish the game was a bit more straightforward on like gathering more members and where and how to find them and time frames. Hell even one part in act one to do a certain something was on a time frame that I didn’t know about. So I’m just always anxious that everything is pretty much timed.

I do enjoy the game but I just have criticisms on it. I’m not hating on the game don’t raise pitchforks at me. It’s very entertaining and taking up my time because I’m fixated on it.

[livelaughlovekageyama]

Hey >< can I request pre-relationship, middle school Oikawa x tsundere reader (where she is iwa-san's little sister (2nd year) . You know hits him like iwa-san and all). But the reader's favourite kouhai is Tobio and always hugs him and kisses his chubby cheeks everytime (since he is cute af :)) (she and tobio doesn't have feelings for each other just are like that and Tobio always flushes cutely) Oikawa is so jealous, he is about to rip everything. But. Finally he asks her out. Hope you make this!! If not it's okay, don't worry!! Remember to sleep and eat properly!! ❤️

Hello!! Its been a hot second, but ask and you shall receive!

oikawa x fem! tsundere! reader

~~~

warnings: very jealous oikawa, swearing, a hint of angst, but ends up being very fluffy

~~~

“Ughhh Iwa are we almost there?” You groaned, leaning into your brother's shoulder as the Sejoh bus continued towards the opposing team’s school. “Mm, I dunno. I’m sleeping. Leave me alone.” Your brother groaned as you rolled your eyes. “Idiot I know you’re not asleep. Besides, I’m bored.” You huffed, as your brother showed no interest in what you had to say. “Well how about you go sit with Oikawa then. Let him entertain you.” Iwa muttered before shaking you off his shoulder. You sighed before finally giving in, turning towards the seat behind you.

You looked over to see the brown haired boy half asleep against the window. He had earbuds in and was still slightly bopping his head to the music. He looked absolutely adorable and you felt yourself begin to smile before mentally slapping yourself in the face. Idiot y/n. You can’t think these things about your brother's best friend.. You thought, until your brother broke the silence.

“Oi. Stop gazing at him like that. You look like a dumbass.” You snapped your head towards him in shock. “What??? NO! I wasn’t gazing idiot, I was just…” “Enjoying the view?” Iwaizumi stifled a laugh. “Yea-NO! NO I wasn’t idiot.” You buried your head in your arms. A gente laugh sounded from the seat behind you. “I don’t mind if you stare, y/n. I find it rather flattering if anything!” You looked back to meet a set of gentle brown eyes staring at you. “Shut up, Tooru.” You said, reaching over to ruffle his hair. He quickly swatted your hands away to fix his hair before looking back up and smiling at you again. “Yeah, okay. Can you at least come back here so maybe I can gaze at you as well?” The pretty boy asked as you felt your face heating up. “I really hate you sometimes.” You grumbled, before stepping back into his seat. He shifted over to make room for you before playfully putting an arm over your shoulder. “Yeah yeah, I love you too.” He said as he pulled you so your bodies were pressed together in the small bus seat. Ignoring the blush on your face, you quickly jabbed him in the side as he let out a noise that was either a yell or a laugh before reaching to tickle your waist. You started laughing uncontrollably as the brown hair boy had the biggest grin on his face. “TOORU- STOP DUMBASS…IM GON…HAHHAHAH..IM G-GONNA KILL YOU” You said through laughter before your brother whipped around the seat and looked at the two of you. “You idiots better shut the hell up or I’ll beat both your asses later.” He said before turning back forward. Oikawa rolled his eyes slightly at him before turning back to you. “Yeah whatever. I think I’m gonna listen to music again, do you wanna share?” He asked, handing you one of his earbuds. You nodded and gave him a slight smile. “Just this once.” He smiled back. “Mhm, sure. We have a bit longer of a ride so I’m gonna try to get some sleep, ‘Kay?” You nodded once again, before deciding to rest as well. 

Once the team’s bus finally arrived at the school, everyone began to get off the bus. Oikawa rubbed his eyes, finally awakening from his sleep, and just as he was about to get up he felt a weight on his shoulder. He looked down to see you in a deep slumber with your face nuzzled into his neck and your arms loosely wrapped around his arm. The boy smiled softly, filled with warmth at the sight of you being so content in his presence. He brushed your hair out of your face gently as he took in all your features. This girl is going to be the death of me… He thought, before deciding to wake you up. “Y/nnnnnnn. Wakey wakey sleeping beauty.” You groaned before finally opening your eyes to see him. “Sleeping beauty? Really?” You sighed. “Yup. Your prince is here to wake you up. I need you to cheer me on for my match today anyways.” He smiled as you finally got up. “Alright alright, I’m up. But I’m gonna beat your ass later for calling me sleeping beauty…” He laughed, leading you out of the bus with a hand on your lower back. “Yeah whatever. But you’re still gonna cheer for me, right?” He asked, causing you to roll your eyes at how annoyingly cute he is. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll see.” 

The two of you walked into the Karasuno gym to be greeted by the team. “Woah! It’s the great king!!” The short middle blocker gasped, as Oikawa just laughed at the nickname. You began to look for a seat before you spotted the raven haired setter you were hoping to see. “Kageyama!” You yelled, before running to him to engulf him in a hug. The boy nearly malfunctioned, before pulling back a bit to see your face. “Y-Y/N..” He stuttered, as you just laughed at his cuteness. “You’re so cute, Kags.” You held his face, giving him a small kiss on his nose. His eyes went all big as you continued to coo about how cute he is. You always found him to be so adorable, and loved to tease him a bit to see him get all pouty and blushy. You had no type of romantic feeling for him, but you always made sure to get him all flustered when you saw him. 

As you continued giving him hugs and squishing his cheeks, Oikawa was fuming. He has always wanted you to show him affection like that, and seeing you give it to his rival made him wanna rip someone's head off. Once you finally unlatched yourself from Kageyama, Oikawa made sure to catch your eye. He quickly plastered on a smile before trying to “win you over.” “How about a good luck kiss for me, Y/N?” He winked, as you rolled your eyes, before looking back at him with a teasing smile. “You wish.” Normally, that comment would be enough for him, but seeing how eager you were to pepper Kageyama’s face with kisses earlier made him feel a sharp pang in his heart.

The game finally started, and Oikawa just couldn’t think straight. His sets were sloppy, blocks were timed wrong, and he just couldn’t seem to do anything right. His blood began to boil as the image of you kissing and hugging Kageyama flashed through his thoughts.

That should be me.

Once Oikawa was up to serve, he still couldn’t think straight.

She should be kissing me.

He hit the ball against the ground, the power of each hit increasing as he felt his anger grow.

What does he have that I don’t?

He looked up to the bleachers and found you. You made eye contact with him and gave him a small smile. Instead of flashing his usual smile back he looked away and glared at Kageyama.

She’s mine.

The whistle blew, and without thinking he tossed the ball in the air and served it.

Hard.

But the ball didn’t hit the ground. Instead it hit Kageyama square in the face.

Shit!

“Shit!” Kageyama yelled, as the whistle blew, calling a timeout. His nose was dripping blood and his whole team surrounded him to help him.

Shit. 

Oikawa felt his jealousy being replaced with regret as he realized what he had done. He looked to the bleachers to find you, and finally spotted you running down to Kageyama. 

“Oh my god! Kags, are you okay??” You held his face gently, pulling out a tissue to wipe the blood off. As if that just flipped a switch inside of him, Oikawa felt the jealousy growing back. He began to stomp over to you, ignoring the yells of his teammates.

“Y/N.” He said, almost growled, your name, causing you to turn to him, eyes filled with anger. “Tooru, what the hell?? What is wrong with you?” You snapped before Oikawa grabbed your hand and began to drag you outside of the gym. You tried to resist, but the boy had a firm grip on you.

He finally dragged you outside and you wasted no time before yelling at him. “What the hell is wrong with you Tooru? Why are you being such an asshole?” You growled at him, before he put his arms on either side of you, pining you to the wall. You continued to question him angrily, before he had enough. The chocolate haired boy eagerly slammed his lips onto yours, engulfing you into a deep kiss. Your eyes widened, but you barely wasted a second before closing your eyes and kissing him back. Oikawa wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing your bodies impossibly closer. His kisses became more needy as you tangled your hands into his hair. “Love me, Y/N..” He mumbled between kisses. “Love me.” You felt a burning passion growing inside of you as the setter continued to kiss you. “I can treat you better than him.” He mumbled. “Please, let me have the chance to show you that.” You trailed your hands to his cheeks, surprised to find a tear trailing down his cheek. You pulled away gasping for air, as the setter stared at you. “Tooru… are you crying?” you asked. The setter released the grip he had on your waist as he looked into your eyes. “What does he have that I don’t?” He whispered. You stared at him, urging him to continue. “I just… what does he have that I don’t?” He repeated, starting to feel more tears running from his eyes. “Tooru..” You started, but he kept talking. “Everything in my life has been lost to someone new, someone better, but I just…” he looked into your eyes. “I can’t lose you.” You feel your face heating up before holding his face again. “You’re not gonna lose me, Tooru. You’re like my best friend.” You said, but he shook his head. “No. I want more. I need more than that, Y/N.” He took in a deep breath, before leaning in closer to you. 

“I love you, Y/N. I have since we first met.” You gasped at his words. You never in a million years expected him to say that to you. Sure, he has always flirted with you, but isn’t that just how he is? 

Oikawa began to back away from you sadly, but you grabbed his hand to stop him. “I love you, Tooru.” You said, causing the boy’s eyes to widen. “I’ve always loved you.” The boy stepped back closer to you. “Then what about..” “I don't like Kageyama. I just find him cute, but in a different way.” You explained, causing him to grin. “Really?” He asked. “Really.” You placed a small kiss onto his lips, causing him to smile more. “But that doesn’t mean you get to act like an asshole.” You said, making him nod. “I know, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” You smiled at his apology and pulled him into a hug. “Good. And next time you want affection from me, just say it. I know I can be a jerk sometimes, but I really do love you.” You mumbled the last part, feeling your face burn up, causing the boy to laugh. “Okay, thank you Y/N.” He pulled back to look at you, and you both smiled. “Of course. But don’t think I’m letting you off the hook that easily. You still have to apologize to Kags.” Oikawa playfully rolled his eyes before leaving the hug to hold your hand. “Fine. I guess I can do that for you. But after that, I’m gonna kick Karasuno’s ass.” You laughed at his comment, before placing a final kiss on his cheek. 

“I know you will, dumbass.”

~~~

[cyberrat]

62nd Batch Of Fics: 6th Fill

Hanzo/Cole – Trucker AU – Part 17 – mmmhh competency kink

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Hanzo doesn’t know this particular guard, but he knows the look in his eyes. There is no compassion in it, just the cool calculating stare of someone wondering if they get paid enough for the trouble they’re put through.

While he can understand it on some level and wouldn’t have cared otherwise, being on the receiving end of it does make him feel chilled to the bone. He can only imagine what will happen once he is back in Japan and his father’s… care.

There won’t be any other excursions like this one. Sojiro will make sure of it. Hanzo stares at the gun pointed at his forehead and wonders how much it would be worth to provoke the man shooting him and getting all of this over with.

As if seeing his thoughts written over his face, the man says in an approximation of a soothing voice: “Easy now. This doesn’t have to be hard. Just come with me and in a few days you’ll be back home. It’s been a long journey, hasn’t it? You miss Japan, I am sure. I know I do.”

Hanzo does. He really does. But… he can’t go back. Not without have righted some… wrongs.

“Dunno what you’re tellin’ the kid, but you should be nice an’ quiet now and listen real good to what I’m tellin’ ya.”

Hanzo inhales sharply, insides going hot and cold at the deep drawling voice that sounds so out of place right now. Where did Cole come from? Where had he been hiding? Hanzo had not seen hide nor hair of him until this very moment that the fat bastard is standing behind his father’s guard, a disturbingly large gun pressed against the back of his head.

Where did that come from? Hanzo had looked through the whole truck and he hadn’t seen-

The guard has become eerily still the second he’s heard the voice and felt the press of the gun against his skull.

Upon Cole telling him in a conversational tone to lower his weapon, he does so; nice and slow until his arm is dangling at his side, back ramrod straight.

“Who are you?” he asks in strongly accented English. As far as Hanzo can tell, he is not particularly worried. He must be one of his father’s… special men which sends cold shivers down his spine.

“Cute. Ain’t gonna tell ya shit, though, bud… other than: this kid’s mine. Dunno what role he played in your little family but now he’s on my soil an’ I put too much damn effort into him to not make the most use of it. Don’t s’pose a li’l cumdump like him is worth all that money and effort y’all are puttin’ into chasin’ him around. So just let it go, huh? Just some friendly… advice.”

Hanzo can see the man’s lips twitching but in the next moment Cole pulls his arm back just far enough to deliver a harsh hit with the butt of the gun against the man’s skull. In the blink of an eye, his facial features get slack and his eyes roll into his head before he crumples to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Hanzo mutely stares down at him, then up at Cole who is looking at the man with a weird, calculating expression on his face before he finally lowers his gun wielding arm and sticks the weapon into the back of his pants. Stepping around the man, he grabs the handle of the door behind Hanzo who can only mutely step to the side, feeling like a meek little princess.

He’s never entertained the thought of being someone who would need a rescue. The notion makes him want to sneer, but he barely can manage to stay up on his own two feet as he watches Cole sticking his upper body into his truck and rummaging around for something.

While he searches, Hanzo has time to gather himself somewhat and get a grip on himself. He really needs to get his hands on a gun. Being held at gunpoint by one of his own father’s men has been not a particularly good feeling… especially considering that he’s sure had he put a single toe out of line, he’d have gotten his knees blown out.

At least the experience completely shocked him out of focusing on his ass and the ache from getting fucked dry by this goddamn bastard Jack. The anger flooding him as he remembers is very welcome in that moment. It gives him something to focus on.

Like the fact that he’s got a new bullet point on his list now:

- Find Genji and get out of this hellhole

- Find Jack and wring his neck until he’s blue in the face

“...Yeah-” Hanzo looks up, startled. For one weird, long second he believes that the fat bastard somehow read his mind or that he must have spoken out loud, but then he sees him coming back from his search with his mobile phone pressed to the side of his head. “-it’s me. Sorry for the early wake-up call.”

Hanzo can hear a voice answering but not the actual words of it. It sounds very deep, though.

“Listen, I got another favor to ask of you… got my hands full right now- wait a sec.”

He turns to Hanzo and jerks his head toward the lit inside of the cabin. “Get in there. We need to be off before any of the staff come outside.”

He doesn’t need to be told twice. Ducking his head a little, he hurries to crawl up onto the driver’s seat and immediately back to the one he had vacated just a few hours ago with the understanding that he would never see it again.

Well… how times could change.

Cole pulls himself up behind him. Hanzo can’t help but stare; for some reason it is impressive to watch the fat bastard pull his weight up so fluidly, the muscles in his forearms flexing as he does so.

As he watches, Cole grunts the moment he sits down and reaches for the gun he had pushed into the back of his pants. He then leans forward, tucking it somewhere beneath his own seat. Hanzo’s mouth opens slightly in surprise and dismay. He had not thought of looking there when he snooped around.

“Alright, listen. I’ll put you on speaker. No word about that other favor, alright?”

He pulls the phone back and pushes a button. A second later, Hanzo can properly hear the voice; it sounds like it is coming from a chain smoker; deep and wheezing like every word was a fight for air.

“Really hope it’s worth all the effort. This is turning out to be a pain in my ass, Cassidy.”

“It’ll be worth it. Believe me.”

The guy on the other end of the line makes a chortling, grunting sound. Hanzo has no idea what it is supposed to mean. Maybe Cole does, but he isn’t paying much attention to it as he carefully maneuvers his truck out onto the road.

It eases the anxiety in Hanzo’s chest once they move forward along the highway.

[wil-is-done]

When You’re A Mystery Kid - Chapter 47: Obsidian

Summary: The defenders of Amity Park join the fray.

Word Count: 6.331

-

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a repost.

Disclaimer: I only own the story and my OCs.

Danny was bored, and boy does he feel like a douche for admitting that. 

Yes, it’s great and all that Amity Park was safe and sound from any supernatural threats, ghostly or otherwise, and had been so for the past week. In fact, he’s glad that folks could go on their daily business without fearing for their lives for once. But, also, it’s been a whole week since anything happened. Nights spent on patrol really dragged on when all he had to entertain himself with was his thoughts and the occasional petty thievery, and that’s if he’s lucky. Even that he could wrap up in about ten seconds, tops.

So, when he heard a police transmission of four cloaked individuals racing through the city on ‘demonic horses’, Danny practically jumped with joy.  

He wasted no time to fly straight towards where they were last spotted. What he found there, floating above the rooftops, were a ruined stretch of road, a few dented cars that had swerved onto the sidewalk, and a smattering of civilians, rattled and mumbling to themselves, but no sign of any cloaked individuals riding demonic horses. 

Frowning, Danny raised a finger to his earpiece and rang his friends.

“Tuck, I’m at Stoker Street and I’m not seeing anything. Gimme an update.”

“Uh, yeah, about that,” Tucker started, his voice doing that high-pitched whine that he does when he’s nervous, “you might not wanna jump into this headfirst, dude.”

“Oh, come on! I’ve been hanging dry for, like, a week!” Danny moaned. “I am horny for some real action.”

“Danny, say that again, and I will turn you into a full ghost,” came Sam’s indignant response. Danny barely held back a giggle. “And… we’re serious. These… four horsemen are real bad news.”

Sam sounded serious. So serious, it might even count as grim. Maybe it’s time to switch gears. “How so?”

“We just got a call from the Mystery Kids. Apparently they know these guys,” she explained. “They’re a group of vampires calling themselves the Crimson Conclave. They’re ancient, powerful, and don’t take kindly to anyone getting in their way.”

“Vampires, huh? That’s new.” The two long years he spent fighting the supernatural tended to blend together in his head, but he’s pretty sure he’d never fought vampires before. The Disasteroid really did open the floodgates for all kinds of weird shit. “How’d the Mystery Kids know about them?”

“I dunno. They hung up before we could ask any follow up questions.” Sam huffed. Danny could practically see the scowl on her face. “They warned us to use extreme caution dealing with them. If we choose to deal with them at all.”

Danny couldn’t help but frown at Sam’s choice of words. If? Not dealing with the vampires was not an option. 

“Then I’ll be extremely cautious. Promise,” he said, laying it down as gently as he could.

“Daniel Fenton, you are not going after those vampires alone!”   

Ah, great. Jazz’s sharp, know-it-all voice was exactly what Danny needed tonight. He blew a mix of a groan and a sigh. 

“Jazz, come on, have a little faith in me. Been at this for two years.” He understood where she’s coming from, but still, come on. Plus, she’s been aware of what he’s doing for at least one of those years. “Whatever these vamps can dish out, I’ve been through worse.” 

“No, Danny, you don’t understand. You weren’t here when Raz made that call. He sounded like he’s freaking out.” There was a pregnant pause, during which Danny almost felt bad for her. “I still have some doubts about the Mystery Kids, but if this really is the ‘bigger threats’ they talked about, then I won’t let you face them on your own just because you’re feeling restless!” Her tone changed from demanding to pleading. “At the very least, wait for Danielle and Valerie.” 

“This isn’t just about me getting stir-crazy, Jazz. Right now, there’s a bunch of vampires tearing through my city. Our city.” Danny casted a glance at the darkening Amity Park skyline, lit up by a million lights. This place sucked in a lot of ways, but it was still his. “Every second that I waste waiting for backup, the bigger the chance of someone out there getting hurt. Or worse.” Danny shook his head, abruptly cracking a smirk. He got a bit too serious for his own liking there. “Dani and Val can catch up. I’ll make sure to leave some vampires for them to handle.”

“Now, Tucker, where are they?” Danny asked, and all she got was more of Tucker’s nervous, high-pitched whine. “Tick tock, Tuck, come on.”

“Dude, I would tell you, but your sister looks like she will kill me if I do.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “She won’t. You’re off-limits.” Tucker’s not. Not at all. 

“You so owe me for this,” he relented after a beat. “They’re uptown, at Blackthorne Estate.” 

“Blackthorne Estate. Got it.”

Danny took off once more, flying northward this time. Before long, the opulent skyline of uptown Amity Park came into view. He never really liked this part of the city. It looked, and felt, too different from the rest of Amity Park, with its rows and rows of lavish manors constructed by middle-aged fat cats riding the wave of late stage capitalism. Among the many, many mansions, Blackthorne Estate wasn’t the largest one by far, but it still stood out by stubbornly sticking to its gothic Victorian design, while the buildings around it had gradually shifted to a sleeker, post-modern style. Gentle lights spilled out of some of the manor’s windows, but a majority of them were eerily dark. The black-tiled roof and the four jutting spires at each corner of the main building were covered by a thin coat of white, probably from the light snowfall earlier in the day. The same could be said for the gardens and most of the courtyard, save for a few footpaths where the snow had been cleared out. But, details like those are not why Danny started paying attention to the courtyard. 

What caught Danny’s eye were four suspicious individuals, standing under the moonlit shadow of the main building of the estate. They had just dismounted from horses that, in his opinion, could definitely be described as ‘demonic’. One of them waved their hand, and four shining, mystical triangles suddenly came to life underneath each of their horses. With a series of unsettling neighs, the horses sunk into the triangles, before the triangles themselves vanished into thin air.

Danny’s going to go out on a limb here and assume those are Crimson Conclave he kept hearing about. 

Danny touched down at the courtyard behind them, keeping a safe distance. So far, it seemed they hadn’t noticed him. Now, a good strategy would be to take them from behind, and deal as much damage as he could before they even realized what’s happening. However, Danny had a different plan in mind, one that was way, way more fun. 

“You guys here for a Halloween party?” he announced, wearing a restrained, yet decidedly smug smile. “Hate to break it to ya, but you just missed it. By a few months.”

The Conclave stopped dead in their tracks. They turned to face Danny, slowly, almost like they’re in disbelief. One, cloaked in black and crawling on all fours for whatever reason, licked her lips and grinned. One, with a flowing emerald half-cape hanging from one shoulder, turned up his nose in apparent disgust. One, covered almost head to toe in a cerulean hooded coat, drew her rapier, her glowing blue eyes gleaming with interest. One, a grandiose crimson mantle hanging from his shoulders, barely showed any reaction at all to Danny’s appearance. As no one offered a reply to his remark, Danny allowed himself to continue. 

“I mean, I get it, I’m not a huge fan of Christmas either, but still wearing your spooky costumes when it’s only a week away? That’s just… sad.”

“You will watch your tongue when you speak with us, boy,” the man with the emerald half-cape spoke, clearly insulted. 

“No, no, Rodrigo, let him keep talking.” The cerulean hooded woman waved the man off with her rapier. “This is… interesting.”

Danny eyed the rapier the woman wielded, watching her handling the weapon with practiced ease, while still keeping up his devil-may-care bravado. “Oof, shoulda listened to blondie there.” He crossed his arms. “Once I start, it’s hard to stop.”

“Exactly. I’d like this to last,” the woman in blue said. “It’s not every day that we are graced with the presence of a half-ghost. To think that this is only our third night out.”

Danny’s smug smile fell. “Y-you know what I am,” he muttered. He’d expected a lot of things, entering this encounter. That was not one of them.

“We do. We know a lot of things.” The woman briefly glanced back at the man in red, for whatever reason. “Though, I’m afraid we don’t know who you are.”

Alright. Enough messing around. “Name’s Danny Phantom,” he answered, his palms glowing green with ecto-energy. “And I’m gonna guess you’re the folks calling themselves the Crimson Conclave.” 

“One and only!” the woman in black barked, spittle flying out her mouth.

“If you know who we are, you should know better than to meddle in our business, boy,” the man in green - Rodrigo - spat. 

“Your business becomes my business when it involved tearing through this city.” Danny pounded a closed fist against his chest. “My city.”

Rodrigo scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I’ve seen your type before.”

“A hero!” the woman in black sneered.  

“A half-ghost hero.” The woman in blue twirled her rapier. Danny could practically see the grin forming beneath her hood. “You’d make a worthy prey.”

The hooded woman advanced, taking eager, yet practiced steps, the rapier in her hand poised to strike. Her companion, the woman in black, crawled forward erratically, tongue lolling out of her mouth and drool dribbling onto the cobblestone. Her dark, wild eyes were unsettling, more so than anything else about her. Danny shifted his footing into a fighting stance. His attention flitted between the two women, wary for a sign of which one would strike first. Both looked equally dangerous, equally ready to mess him up in different ways. Whoever struck first, with his glowing fists raised, Danny was ready for them.

“Nina, Circe, stand down.”

Danny blinked. The man in extravagant red, the one Danny had mostly ignored so far, had suddenly spoken. To Danny’s surprise, the two women - Nina and Circe - did exactly that. Nina backed away, and Circe lowered her rapier. The two looked so eager, and yet, at the man in red’s word, they stopped, just like that. Though, Danny could clearly tell both of them were disappointed at the order.

The man walked forward, stepping past Rodrigo, stepping past Nina and Circe. He carried an authoritative air about him that rubbed Danny the wrong way. That, plus having just seen how easily and quickly Nina and Circe obeyed his words, and Danny’s pretty sure he’s now standing before the leader of the Crimson Conclave. 

“We are here to retrieve something that belongs to me, to Marduk, the Blood Lord. We care not who we have to harm, maim, or kill to achieve that goal. Consider this your final warning.” The man - Marduk - growled. “Stay out of our way, or perish.”

Danny was unfazed. As far as final warnings go, he’d heard better. “Hard pass on the first option. Second one, I already crossed out on my bucket list. ” He shrugged. ���Well, half-crossed.”

Marduk was hard to read, but Danny caught a hint of irritation behind those burning, red eyes. 

“Nina.”

Nina perked up, her lips curled into a too-wide grin at the mention of her name. Marduk narrowed his eyes at Danny. 

“Kill.” 

Without another word, Marduk turned away, his crimson mantle flaring out behind him. Circe sheathed her rapier and fell behind him as he passed her. Rodrigo shot Danny a knowing, mocking sneer, laughing quietly to himself as he turned to follow after Marduk. Nina crawled to where Marduk once stood, still wearing that unsettling grin. Danny gritted his teeth, his eyes following the three retreating vampires. He antagonized all four of them at once for a reason, dammit, and it wasn’t to lure only one of them to fight him.

“Aw, we’re not doing a fivesome?” Danny called out to the three vampires. None of them graced it with a response. He huffed. It was worth a shot.

His attention returned to Nina, which was harder to do than he’d like to admit. Whether or not she noticed, Danny couldn’t tell, but he felt more comfortable convincing himself she didn’t. Every one of the Conclave gave him the heebie-jeebies, but Nina’s a breed of her own. From how she moved, how her mouth hung open and her fangs were bared, how her wild eyes - especially her wild eyes - followed him, there was something so deeply unsettling, so alien about her. Yet, at the same time, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d sensed something like this, like her, before. He just couldn’t place it. 

“Looks like this is a dance for two, huh?” Danny asked, his cocky persona returning. He couldn’t let her know what he’s really feeling, after all, and other questions can wait. His goal now was to defeat her as fast as he could, and move on to the other three. “Though I’m guessing you’re more into dinner than a show.” 

Nina licked her lips, which Danny took as a yes.

Danny changed his footing and raised his glowing fists. Nina dug her fingers like claws into the ground, leaving cracked grooves on the cobblestone.

“Make this fun,” she hissed. 

Danny grinned. “Lady, fun is my middle na-”

Nina lunged. In a blink of an eye, she crossed the length of the courtyard, her fist connecting with Danny’s gut with a resounding boom. Danny’s grin shattered, his mind suddenly blank with nothing but pain. He damn near blacked out for a second, and as scraps of his conscious thought barely pieced itself together, he found himself flying, spinning out of control through the air, down the streets of the uptown district. A distant part of him reached him somehow, reminding him that this block only goes on for so long, and a building stood at the end of this street. He’d collected himself enough to hastily turn intangible, and just in time. Marble walls and ivory rooms rushed past him in a split second. He emerged out the other side, turned tangible once again, flew over a garden into a different street, and skidded to a halt on the concrete. 

Crumpled on the ground, Danny wheezed and coughed. All the coughing definitely would’ve been accompanied with blood too if he wasn’t in his ghost form. He gingerly placed a hand on where he’d been struck, and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through his body. He had to clamp his teeth down to stop himself from crying out. At least, his scattered mind finally had a chance to piece itself together, and for what happened to fully sink in. To say that he’s not happy was an understatement.

A single punch from Nina just sent Danny flying by half a mile. 

Still wincing because damn that lady could throw a punch, he forced himself to look around. He’s lying in the middle of the street, in that weird transitionary district between uptown and downtown. No cars running, thankfully, only a few parked on the sides. A few pedestrians, maybe a dozen from what he could see, had stopped to gawk, mumbling to themselves. After two years, you’d think the sight of Danny getting his ass kicked wouldn’t be all that interesting anymore. And, of course, some of them even had their phones out already. As much as he’d like more embarrassing videos of him online, those people really need to leave. This place won’t be safe for long. 

“Everyone, clear out! Run! It isn’t safe here!” Danny croaked out. He hated how strained he sounded, but at least it made his order come across as more urgent than it already was. Most of the pedestrians complied, though how they took off was less of a run and more of a power walk. A few stubbornly stayed. 

Danny nearly belted out a second warning, when he’s interrupted by a deafening, inhuman, banshee shriek, the kind that could shatter glass on its own. His heart leapt to his throat, while the slightly perturbed citizens fell into immediate panic, sprinting away from the area. The shriek echoed off of the buildings, but Danny could still tell the source came from the sky. His eyes scanned the dark expanse for anything amiss. It was difficult to spot in the frantic moment, but her gangly, pale limbs were a dead giveaway, even with most of her body covered in black.

It was Nina, hundreds of feet directly above him, and descending fast. 

Danny gritted his teeth and leapt, putting as much distance as possible between him and where he once was. Mere moments later, Nina’s impact sent a shockwave that left snaking cracks across the concrete, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Danny landed on his feet, and almost immediately doubled over. Pain pulsed through his body from his stomach. Despite that, he forced himself into a fighting stance, fists glowing. He’d worry about bruises once the night had passed.

The dust settled, revealing a massive crater that spanned the width of the road. At the center of it, was a grinning vampire cloaked in obsidian. 

“You don’t do foreplay, do you?” Danny asked, forcing a smirk on his lips. 

As if to answer, Nina leapt from the crater towards Danny, her hand reared back and her fingers curled like claws. Danny’s going to assume that’s a hard no. 

Her move was the similar to before, and this time, he’s ready for it. He might have only seen one attack so far, but it had already taught him one important lesson. Keep her at a distance and steer clear from her fists at all costs. 

A beam of ecto-energy shot out of his fists. Nina took it point blank, the beam sending her crashing against the rim at the other side of the crater. Danny didn’t relent. He took to the air and crossed the crater after her, the torrent of energy from his fists never breaking. The rim Nina’s pinned against crumbled under the force, and any other day Danny would’ve worried about damage to public property. She screamed, whether out of anger or pain, Danny didn’t know, and he didn’t care. The beam scraped her, squashed her, dragged her against yards and yards of concrete, leaving behind a ruined stretch of road. At one point, she somehow found grip and started fighting back, but with a scream of his own, Danny doubled the power of the beam, and Nina quickly lost that fight.

The street ended before Danny was anywhere near satisfied. There was an empty car parked by the roadside, though, which gave him an idea. He diverted the beam to force Nina against the vehicle, and gave the beam his all. After only seconds of concentrated fire, the car erupted into a fiery explosion. Only then, he ended the stream of ecto-energy and floated back. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips as he watched the flames dance, and only mildly concerned that some poor schmuck had just lost their car. He still kept his guard up, though. If she could send him flying by half a mile with a single punch, then one explosion wouldn’t do jack to her. Things had never been that easy

There was movement, a flicker of the flames among the wreckage, just like he thought. When two burning slabs of metal shot out of the flames, Danny was ready. He easily dodged both with more flair than necessary, and was not the slightest bit mad when his hubris was punished instantly. 

He barely caught sight of a third shape leaping out of the flames from the corner of his eye when cold, bony fingers suddenly clamped around his neck like a vice. Unprepared, disoriented, Danny found himself involuntarily sailing through the air for the second time tonight. This time, with the added benefit of having Nina’s horribly gaunt, grinning face only inches away from his. As the arc of her leap passed its apex, Danny realized she intend to chokeslam him against the concrete. A token effort to release himself from her grip amounted to nothing. With the ground coming fast, he countered Nina’s grin with a hardened glare, before turning himself intangible. 

The momentum sent him a few dozen feet underground before he could stop himself. He never liked phasing underground, it’s just too easy to lose track of which way was up or down in the dark, but right now, he had a feeling it’s better than the alternative. From somewhere above him, he heard a series of muffled booms, and he even felt the tremors of the ground passing through him. 

Yeah, going down here was a good choice.

He couldn’t stay here forever, though. Not that it was ever an option. Making a rough guess of where Nina was based on what he could hear, Danny made sure to give that spot a wide berth as he soared to the surface. 

He emerged inside the lobby of an office building - completely empty, thank god - with large windows giving an open view of the street. There, among the rubble of the ruined street, was Nina. She growled and snarled, stalking the street for any sign of Danny. Lucky for him, she had her back to him. It’s an advantage he’s more than willing to take. 

Still intangible and invisible, Danny flew up behind her, held his hands out, turned tangible, and muttered, “Boo.”

Nina whipped around, only to get a face full of ghost ray that sent her crashing against a lamppost. The metal bent, the lamp shorting out, and she fell into a crumpled heap on the concrete. She recovered quickly though, snarling at Danny. Or rather, where she last saw Danny. In the brief moment that Nina was down, Danny had turned intangible again, dove into the ground, and emerged behind a furious, yet oblivious Nina. He shifted his state-of-being back to tangible, raised a hand, a ghost ray charged and ready, and unloaded it against the back of Nina’s head. The blast sent her flying face-first to and through a pane of glass of the building where Danny first emerged. Her body skidded across the ceramic floor until she came to a halt in the middle of the lobby, face down and ass up. 

The sight was honestly kind of hilarious.

It was almost a shame Danny couldn’t spend a little more time to enjoy it. He turned intangible once more, and quickly sunk into the ground. When he emerged behind Nina, she had risen to her feet, and was in the middle of throwing a loud, destructive shitfit. 

“No! Fair!” Nina roared, emphasizing each word with a stomp. To a certain level, Danny agreed. He’d been pulling some really cheap moves, but they’re moves that work. Hell, if Sam was here, she’d probably call it ‘pragmatic’.

Her words sure didn’t stop him from driving her neck to the floor with an ecto-charged dropkick. With enough force to leave a small crater, too. 

Danny didn’t dwell on it, as much he wanted to. He turned intangible and retreated to a safe distance, half submerged into the floor. Nina rose up again, visibly shaking, angrier than ever, but - and this was the part that got Danny worried - without a single scratch on her. Danny gritted his teeth. The beating he gave her should’ve left something.

Danny glanced over his shoulder, in the direction of uptown Amity Park. He hadn’t forgotten about the other three vampires, doing god knows what in the Blackthorne Estate. Those guys still need to be dealt with, fast. But he couldn’t exactly just bounce out and leave Nina here to take a big old dump on his city. Thing was, he couldn’t see himself finishing her off anytime soon, either, seeing how durable she was. 

Or, maybe, he didn’t need to. If taking her out was too tall of an order, maybe he could try knocking her out, not for good, but at least for now. A powerful enough strike at the right spot should do the trick. It’d buy him some time; hopefully long enough for him to go take care of her troupe, long enough until Dani and Valerie could take over handling her. 

His plan decided, he whizzed through the air and ducked behind a pillar. With Nina still throwing a shitfit, he’s got some time to prepare. He made only his right hand visible and tangible, clenched it into a fist, and pumped it full with every bit of ecto-energy he’s got. Only a single visible fist meant there’s less to notice compared to his entire body, which should help since the intent here was to blindside Nina with a strike to the head. If he landed it, awesome. If he whiffed it, he could think of worse body parts to lose. 

Once he’s satisfied with the glow emanating from his fist, Danny sprang into action. He darted out of cover, skirting just outside of Nina’s line of sight. Her shitfit had more-or-less ended and she’s properly on the lookout for him once again. Not a second left to waste. Danny rushed forward, full speed, wind rushing through him, and threw the strongest punch he could muster.

His fist stopped inches from the left side of Nina’s face.

Danny blanched.

Nina’s cold, bony fingers clamped down around his wrist. His intangible wrist. 

She whipped her head, her eyes locking with his, an act that should be impossible. He’s still invisible, intangible, and yet he knew the fact that her eyes found him wasn’t because of luck or a guess. She knew where he was, because she’s seeing him right now. He knew she knew, and fear suddenly gripped his heart. The sensation of something actually touching him while he’s in this state sent his thoughts screeching to a halt. The notion that he should wrench his arm free and fly away very fast in the opposite direction never even crossed his mind. He floated there, frozen, while Nina cracked a toothy grin that showed off her red-stained fangs.

Danny would’ve cried uncle at this point, if his mind hadn’t been turned to mush, but since the universe decided that everything that’s happening wasn’t enough, he sensed a sudden surge of energy bursting forth from Nina’s core. The energy felt so bizarre, so alien, ringing alarm bells in his head and kicked his nerves into overdrive, and yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’s familiar with it somehow. He watched dumbly as the energy flowed from Nina’s core to her shoulder, then down to her elbow, then to her wrist, then to the fingers she’d wrapped around his wrist. For a split second, he saw tiny flecks of red arcing from her fingers. 

In that split second, Danny realized where he’d sensed this energy before. In that split second, he was reminded of a skirmish a few weeks ago, against Freakshow and his minions. In that split second, a name flashed across his mind.

Norman.

Not that he had time to do anything with the information. In the next split second, his world became nothing but overwhelming, excruciating pain. 

Dark red streaks of light snaked forth from Nina’s fingers and consumed his hand, his arm, his entire body in a speed impossible for the human eye to follow. He screamed, and screamed, and screamed, until his throat hurt and his voice was gone. A second became an eternity. Terrible, terrible memories suddenly flooded the forefront of his mind. The portal accident. Hunted by his own parents. Vlad. Dark Danny. Was this his train wreck of a life flashing before his eyes? 

The onslaught miraculously, mercifully, ended. His body went limp, maybe even numb, stopped from falling into a heap on the floor only by Nina’s fingers keeping an iron grip on his wrist. The smell of burnt flesh overwhelmed his nostrils, and he would’ve hurled if he hadn’t lost control of his body. His vision reeled and went blurry, then patchy, then dark. He had no idea how long he passed out, but when his eyes fluttered open, he had been raised to eye level with Nina, who greeted him with a sadistic grin that put her sharp fangs on display.

A distant, lucid part of him was surprised to not feel those fangs piercing the skin of his neck. Instead, he felt the now familiar sensation of being flung through the air.

He was not surprised when he suddenly collided with something solid and painful. The force of Nina’s throw actually forced his form through whatever it was that he hit, only to collide into something equally solid and painful on the other side. Again, and again, and again, the same thing happened, in rapid succession. In the end, he crashed against something that he heard shatter into a million pieces, before he flopped onto the floor, like a dying fish. He sure felt like one. He could barely move. His whole body throbbed and ached, so at least he’s not numb anymore. 

Danny’s vision slowly came into focus, so he took this chance to look around. It seemed he had landed inside a flower shop, judging from the bouquets and arrangements on display, lying amongst splinters of wood and glass. He strained to look ahead and saw a building across the street with a hole on its side. Apparently those solid and painful things he’d been hitting were walls. He’d just been thrown through a block’s worth of buildings. Plus a glass window for good measure.

That would help explain the unbearable amount of pain he’s in. 

He looked down on himself, and saw his red and white shirt, jeans, and a distinct lack of ghostly aura surrounding his form. He’d been knocked out of his ghost form. Did that happen before or after he got flung? Probably after. A normal human spine couldn’t have survived ten concrete walls and a pane of solid glass.

Nina emerged from the hole he left, still grinning like the madwoman that she is. Dark red streaks of lightning covered the length of her arms. It snapped at the air and lashed against the concrete, hissing and crackling, like they’re just as hungry as the vampire wielding them. Except, she’s not just a vampire. She’s… like Norman, whatever the hell that meant. And she’s getting closer. And Danny could barely wiggle his toes. He couldn’t go ghost, no matter how hard he tried. He’s helpless. Alone. Afraid.

Danny let his head fall and his eyes close. 

Guess that’s it. He had a good run, all things considered.

The urge to sleep nearly overwhelmed him, until he heard Nina suddenly crying out in pain. His eyes shot open, he looked ahead just in time to see the last traces of a purple beam piercing through Nina’s shoulder from above. 

Nina buckled to her knees, clutching her shoulder. A figure descended from the sky, clad in black and red armor, riding a sleek hoverboard with a matching color scheme. The hoverboard retracted into her suit as she landed with a roll, putting herself between Danny and Nina. She rose to her full height, wrist cannon forming out of her suit, and aimed the weapon at Nina. Danny genuinely would’ve rushed to up to her and hugged her if he could move, but he settled with a smile for now. He’d never been so glad to see her in his life - his knight in shining armor. 

“Not a step closer, Bella,” Valerie warned. 

Nina glared down the barrel of Valerie’s wrist cannon, and growled, “Nina.”

“Sure, whatever.” 

Valerie looked over her shoulder. The scowl behind her red glass face shield shifted into something approaching genuine concern. Danny offered her a half-assed smile. 

“You look terrible,” she said. And she’s not wrong.

“Trust me, it feels a lot worse than it looks.” Danny forced a chuckle, but it just came out as a series of pathetic coughs. 

Their attention quickly returned to Nina, rising to her feet with a grunt. The small hole in her shoulder didn’t seem to bother her. “Meddler,” she snarled, stepping forward, red lightning flaring out from her arms. 

“I said, stay right where you are!” Valerie barked. Her wrist cannon whirred as it charged to full power, glowing purple. 

Danny, coming down from the relief of Valerie’s arrival, finally realized something was amiss. “Wait, if you’re here, where’s-?”

“Shush.” Valerie’s eyes never left Nina. And she’s trying very hard to hold back a smirk. 

Nina was not deterred in the slightest by Valerie’s threat. She looked delighted, actually. The flurry of red lighting around her intensified, scorching the road beneath her. Her eyes were laser-focused on Valerie, and absolutely nothing else. And that, if Danny had to guess, was exactly what Valerie wanted.

Emerging from the ground behind Nina, Dani rammed into the vampire’s back with a burst of ecto-energy. Caught off guard, Nina was blasted through the air, and straight towards Valerie, who didn’t even flinch. Her wrist cannon reformed, new parts materializing into place, to add a long, red, serrated blade below the cannon’s barrel. She thrusted her arm and impaled Nina through the gut. Nina shrieked in pain, only to be silenced by Valerie unloading the charge of her wrist cannon, sending her flying across the street, and slotting perfectly into the hole Danny made on the opposite wall.

God, what Danny wouldn’t give to show off his middle fingers to that vampire right now.

Dani quickly rushed to him and knelt by his side, so at least he still had something to smile about. 

“Dani! It is so great to-” Danny stopped when he realized Dani was scowling. “Oh. You’re mad.”

“I thought the point of this whole team thing is that we never have to fight alone ever again,” she scolded. And she’s not wrong.

“Sorry, sorry. I thought I could handle it.” He cringed inward at his earlier assumption. Boy, was he proven wrong. “Plus, tonight’s my shift.” 

“Just get your ass up, Fenton,” Valerie said, eyes still trained at the hole Nina disappeared into. All business when she’s on the job, as usual. “This ain’t over yet.” 

He didn’t need to be told that. Dani helped him rise up, first to a sitting position, before he slowly, awkwardly got his feet under him. The paralysis had mostly worn off. Bits of his arms and legs would occasionally lock up, but that was more annoying that painful. At least now he could stand up straight on his own. 

Just in time, too. The opposite wall was suddenly obliterated by a blast of red. From the dust, Nina emerged, furious, and practically surrounded by a storm of red lightning. 

“Don’t get hit by those red lightning,” Danny warned. Just remembering it triggered phantom pains along his body. 

“No, duh.” Valerie rolled her eyes.

Danny narrowed his eyes at her. “I mean it.”

“Are you sure you can still fight?” Dani asked, brows furrowed in concern. It’s really sweet. 

“I’m still alive, aren’t I?” Danny put on a confident smile for Dani. Worrying about him in a fight wouldn’t do her any good. She still looked wary, doubtful, but nevertheless shifted her attention from him to Nina. He did the same. 

Standing in the middle of the street, Nina roared, the storm of crimson around her sending out a shockwave that cracked the concrete. It was a challenge - one they had no choice but to accept. Dani clenched her palms into fists, ecto-flames bursting to life from them, and shifted into her battle stance. A trio of cubic cannons detached from Valerie’s suit to float behind her, while the rest of her arsenal hummed as they charged up to full power, and all of them trained upon the vampire. Danny transformed into his ghost form - a feat easier than he thought - and held his glowing fists at the ready. 

Hell yeah. Now this is a team. 

“Team Phantom, let’s kick ass!”

“Still don’t like the name.” 

“Let’s hope we can hold out until the cavalry arrives.”

Danny blinked, turning to look at Dani. 

“The cavalry?”

-

And then Winnie bursts through the door, shrieking, “Cheers, love! Cavalry’s here!”

So! I feel like a lot of chapters I write tend to get away from me, this one included. The scene at the beginning with Danny and his buddies went on longer than I thought, the confrontation with the Conclave also went on longer than I thought, and suddenly I’m 2k words in and I haven’t even gotten to the fight yet. And wow, did that fight stretched on. Can you believe this was supposed to be a short chapter?

Anyway, with this chapter, that means it’s officially been a little over a year since I started writing again. Which is honestly pretty crazy to think about. Back when I wrote The Initiative, it was really just me getting really fucking hyped for Infinity War. And now, standing in a post-Endgame world, this fic has spiraled into 200k+ words of really self indulgent crossover bonanza. It’s fucking nuts. I’m not sure what else to say. It’s just been super surreal.

I dunno, man. I’m just gonna go see Endgame ten more times.

Hope y’all have a good one today!

[hauntedlibrarian2222]

Part 1.A

October 6th, ####

I work in a haunted library.

Take it as silly as you want to, but I’m telling you it’s haunted. Or, at the very least, extremely paranormal. I don’t even really think ‘haunted’ is a good word to describe it. I don’t know, and I don’t really care either. But it’s a running theme, here, with ‘running’ being a big part of it at the end of the day. It’s like Scooby Doo, but a lot more HD and a lot less pulling off masks to see they, too, are human at the end of the day. I don’t believe anything that walks through these doors is human, anymore.

I live up North, vaguely, in a tiny, crummy town, and in this town is my library. Keeping it vague, since, y’know,.. privacy, or something. When it comes to the library, through, I’m just about the only person who really runs it. It’s decently sized, but still kinda small— or maybe I’m just not used to libraries. Dunno. I’ve lived in this crummy town for the majority of my life, so maybe I’ve just got a bad scope. At the end of the day, it’s just a large space, and although it has a second floor— that’s cut off from the rest of the library due to some accident I don’t know about. Well, more so just taped off. Nothing really stops anyone, just.. no one wants to go up there. I ask them, sometimes, because even some rowdy kids will come in, and a lot have said it makes them feel cold? I dunno. I don’t feel that, maybe my nerves are finally dying off.

Not many people visit, leaving just me and the books for a majority of the day. Save for when someone, or something, does come in. Usually, stuff coming in sucks, but sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve grown very accustomed to most things that walk through the door, whether it be a group of kids from the school a few blocks away (they come on ‘field trips’ sometimes); just a person looking for a quiet space; or something on all fours with eyes bigger than they should be with an oddly humanoid shape; I’ve grown used to it. It freaked me out at first, don’t get me wrong— I’m sure most people would at least pause if they saw a person with a deer head walk in and, formally, request a book on a bear hibernation’s cycles— but I’m just not affected by it anymore. At some point, weird stuff blends in with the normal and just becomes a different genre of normal if you see it enough. Most things that walk through the doors aren’t hostile, anyways, so I just help them find what they want and help them leave. Or, I help them find a nice spot in the library, which actually feels.. kinda nice, sometimes. Most of them don’t care to try and hurt or intimidate me, surprisingly enough— going solely off of appearances and how most people would call them ‘monsterly’. But maybe that’s just because there isn’t much valuable here other than the books— nothing to rob, so why put in the effort? It makes me feel kinda nice, though, like if someone were to come after me— I’d at least have the back of a handful of odd creatures who really like their books. Like, really— really like their books.

With all of this, though, I’ve got a good few stories crammed up in my head— and I thought it’d be interesting to share them. Whether you believe they’re true or not, it’s still a story, it’s still entertainment at the end of the day, right? That’s the whole point of reading. Plus, it finally gives me a place to, uh,.. write it down. Journal it, store it, whatever. Who needs a therapist when you have a Tumblr blog, huh?

So, I work in a ‘haunted library’, and it’s given me more tales than the books on the shelves (that sounds insanely cheesy but my friend really wanted me to write it down, sorry). I hope you enjoy your read.

Previous | Next

[dishtothedeath]

Yet mad I am not...and very surely do I not dream || manqian || trial 6.1 || re: Bruh

"...I guess that explains the chumminess with Skull..."

Somehow, somehow he was still here.

Somehow, he found himself in this strange situation, still feeling, still thinking, still able to hear his own heartbeat drown out all the other voices around him.

Somehow, he stayed alive long enough to witness the people who put him here. Bad luck? The curse? A coincidence? It was hard to tell. It all was too overwhelming anyhow, that he could barely bring himself to speak, despite having made it here. Somehow.

But as the angel spreads her wings, and as a brother collapses into bones, for some reason, he feels like... he doesn't have to worry as much at this point.

There's still hope, as clumsy as it is... maybe. As seen by all the efforts to stop the game, anyway. Or maybe it wasn't hope, but resignation to his fate regardless of what it may be-- it was hard to tell, even for him.

All he knows is that he would just like to go home... No more death, killing, entertainment or robots. To be treated like some sort of toy to be played with and discarded after their usefulness was used up, not only by his family but by these shmucks as well--

He wants to be mad, he knows he should be mad, and he knows it's bubbling up inside him, but at this point, especially almost getting executed, all he could muster up is...

Exhaustion.

He wants to yell, but just being home would be nice.

It's not himself he's concerned about in the end, anyway. His eyes drift off towards Tsuki briefly. Just when he was hoping Yukari would be there to support him if Man couldn't...

So, he thinks. He takes in what Ides says and ponders. The faster they get through all of this... the faster home will come... and the faster he can comfort...

...Well. Anyway.

"Something's missing...

T-that's right. We have the CEO, the Director... Um-- that leaves just the producer then, right? Uh... like... everyone's been revealed except... them."

"Someone still-- eheh-- among us, since... Well. The onboarding notes said there will be another cast member, AKA another one of us, to be Producer to accompany the Director, or Araceli. Yukari? Kamikita. Sure. What I'm trying to say is that we're still trying to sniff one more person out in here I think..."

At least, that's what Man thinks what Ides meant, and if not, then. Well. It didn't really matter, Man was already used to making a fool of himself. If he was wrong, then someone else will just have to get it right.

Though, if he were being honest, he wanted more to ask what the hell and why the hell first, instead of looking for the next hidden person...

And speaking of, a thought crosses Man's mind as his nose crinkles.

"They were told to take over in regards to me in the notes. What the fuck does that even mean? Is the Producer a chuunibyou wrangler or what? But anyway... I dunno... they've talked quite a bit in these... bits of clues. Maybe their tone of voice is a hint? Fuck if I know... I would really prefer if all the answers were fed to us already all villain-monologue style..."

It'd be a lot cooler, he thinks... He wonders if he can get away with stealing Araceli's dress design too for an NPC too. If he lives past this, that is.

He probably will, whether he likes it or not. So while he can't escape the curse, he can at least try to escape the game.

[despairandregretentertainment]

I'm not a fighter, But- | Chris | Trial 5 Post Reveal 2 | Re: All that

Upon hearing Sorano’s complaints, Chris just gives a snort of amusement, though listens to the answers to them intently, head tilted as he takes everything in.

They could share anything now though, huh? Chris gives a nod to that and the confirmation that it was likely no longer being televised, that was good to know. His eyes flick over to Rafe and the mentors as well, also trying to figure out how much they knew about anything.

“In that case, yeah, okay. We didn’t ever really let you in on shit before, Rafe, but I’m sure even you realize that it could have been a risk to what was going on if you decided it’d be better for yourself to out it on air before it could happen. The rest of us found some unrecordable areas and shit back in chapter 3, got in contact with someone calling themself the ‘Stranger’ anonymously. I figured most recently it was just Tomo with what we learned, honestly. Dunno for sure though.

The information we were getting was incredibly vague as fuck and I basically had to do all the legwork of figuring out what the fuck is going on myself with all the shit I’d been keeping track of instead of just being told it. So it’s not like you missed too much, but we knew there was someone out there trying to bring this shit down at least.

Their goal was to weave outing the fucked shit that the TE Board’s been doing into the game so that it’s impossible not to air some chunks of it, and the transcripts that got put in this last invest plus this vote result were the finale. I know it seemed pointless to you, but the rest of us knew it was our best shot to fuck with TE, and that’s something we actually care about.

Also though, we were told in this last investigation that if Nobuo or his men capture us then our safety can’t be guaranteed, so even you should probably try not to let that happen for your own sakes if nothing else.”

His eyes narrow at Willow though as she goes into much more detail than was necessary about her uh. Activities in Ayumi’s room CHDISUH

“Not something I want to hear about. I was already trying to forget hearing about the other half of it from the texts.” He really, really didn’t want to know more. But to her comments to him in particular, he sighs, relenting a little.

“And… Thanks, I guess. Self preservation’s important to me, but I know when there’s higher things at stake. Also, I wasn’t lying when I said it was partially out of spite for TE. I’m glad it worked out for everything though, ‘s a lot easier than an argument about who to vote for would have been, and I didn’t wanna risk the vote landing on Sorano or Jun in case it actually went through and we couldn’t be helped. Or Kei, obviously.”

Sorano for very practical reasons, and Jun for more sentimental ones HICUds Honestly, it would have been very possible for him to just stick it on Rafe, but he'd decided to not play things like that already since the third trial, so mercy was had instead. If he was going to gamble anyone's life, it'd be his own.

And finally… Kei. In particular, he nods to Kei for her last comment about that, that they might need to fight. He figured, though he’s not particularly looking forward to it. It’s also a nod for the rest of it too, honestly even he’d thought how aggressively Kei was jumping on the Willow defense train early on was weird, so it was good to know there was an actual reason for it. Sticking up for a friend is one thing, but that was sure a step beyond.

“I figured about most of that, and I’m glad that me stealing all the votes was good for something in the end. Good to know you weren’t the ones to actually want to do a season two of this shit too, though, if what you say’s true.” He’d meant it back when he said it was not fucking worth it to try and take down the board by spilling so much unrelated blood for entertainment, after all.

“And legally… Yeah, I know it’s not your preference either, but if it’s what we’ve got then it’s what we got. I’ll trust that you actually know what you’re talking about since you know more of the behind the scenes workings then we do. If you think they can actually wind up in jail with how this’ll play out, then good.”

  “Do you have any advice for how best we might be able to either fend people off or get the fuck out of here? Do we have time to prepare shit? I’m best as a strategist more than anything, honestly, but knowing if you have any suggestion’d help.” Either now or when it was actually time.

“Also, our backup instruction was to download that version of Teai after this to distribute shit ourselves, and Sorano probably has the best means to do all that. If we can make sure that shit doesn’t get destroyed though, that’d be ideal.”

My god his health wasn’t good enough or a full fledged fight, but he’d sure do his best HIUDSCIDU