#I wanna observe them like little lab rats

[jamandjazz]

I wanna see the type of friendship Dally and Two-Bit had

[getonite]

(𝟎.𝟗𝐊+) 𝐌𝐒𝐆: (OH) I DON'T GET IT, YOUR THE ONLY THING THAT I LOVE

ayanokoji kiyotaka/fem,reader ; no prns r stated, however, through desc it feels like it was meant for fem readers, kissing, cringe confession, 'ask what it means + realization' trope, reader finessing a kiss from him, + me heavily projecting my aroaceness on him.

despite his percieved outward appearance and demeanor, ayanokoji's mind is quite different. he has some semblance of the ability to feel, though he can't outwardly express it. he doesn't and has never craved human warmth or affection since his infancy.

its unnecessary, there's simply no place for it in his life. though, there are times where he wishes he could feel what others do, where he could smile like others do.

though no one has ever prompted him to start that journey. not kushida, not horikita, not even karuizawa. he wonders if he'll forever remain behind the doors of those polished white walls. that is until he feels the warmth of your hand on his arm.

those dehumanizing walls of class where he was observed like a lab rat remain fresh in his head.

reminders that his father would do anything to get his most successful product back in his grasp.

though when you give him that sweet dimpled smile he pushes it to the back of his head. never forgetting, though still on the forefront of his mind.

when you stand on the tips of your toes to reach his height, releasing him that cute little giggle. he can't help but give in . . . just a little. after all, how could he stand on his word when the person he's against is too pretty.

despite how intelligent he is, he can't seem to pick up that he feels diffrent towards you.

the reality of differential feelings towards others was a bit foreign. even when he stepped into the social atmosphere of high school, his view didn't quite change. no matter the girl, no matter the boy, he felt the same.

until you whispered the nickname you made up for him. “kiyoookoji!” in your cute tone, you dragged out the beginning of his name, to end it with the end of his last name. he finds it a bit cute? that you've crafted a nickname for him.

one only you are allowed to use.

nothing changed until you ( forcibly ), dragged him to your dorm and happily explained the anime he had missed out on during his previous 16 years.

kiyotaka ayanokoji hadn't quite realized how he felt, despite the way he leaned in closer to hear you better. despite when his eyes immediately snap to your form. despite the wave of warmth he felt when you hugged his arm, cheek pressed to his shoulder as you look up at him with those pretty doe eyes.

“kiyoooo-o!” you smile and drag his name out per usual. your body is tilted towards his as you lean on the rail of the cruise balcony.

it was another island exam, not very surprising.

though the luxury, the beautiful seas, and the atmosphere is something you could never get over. “hm?”

“whatcha thinkin’ bout?” you smirk and lean in, “im guessing that's your thinking face considering ive never seen you frown like that . . . or ever” normally, people would smile at your teasing, though in his mind he wants to, his lips don't move.

“can i ask you something?”

“course, what is it?”

“. . . i think im feeling something, towards someone.”

“oh?” intrigue fills you, “do tell.”

“. . . something about them is different. i feel different when im near them, like im letting my guard down instinctually. i want them.”

you hum, a finger playfully tapping against your chin. “diffrent? how?”

“like . . . i feel warm around them. they grab my attention whenever they walk in. and i like listening to them. no matter how ridiculous it sounds. i just think it's—i feel different around them. and i don't know if i want it to stop . . . i think i do?”

ayanokoji's eyes drift to you. his eyebrow raises slightly. “what?”

“kiyo,” you smile, “you've developed a crush. normal people get that all the time.”

“huh,” he mumbles.

“care to tell me who's caught your eye? i wanna know what your type is,” you tease and lean towards him.

ayanokoji feels a sense of amusement at your actions. he takes a breath before looking at you, his eyes locked on yours. “your smart, i think you already know the answer to that question,” he whispers.

your lips twitch into a smile, “cute.”

you hum and stand up straight, taking steps to be right in front of him. “would you care to test my theory?” you smirk, mischief in those pretty eyes he loves to drown in.

“and how would we do that?”

“kiss,” you whisper and stand on the tips of your toes, your lips hovering over his. you feel his breath against your lips and you lock eyes with him once more. “care to tr—”

before you can finish your words, his hand finds purchase on your hip and he presses his lips to yours. his eyes flutter closed as he takes in the feeling he gets from you. your voice, your smile, your touches.

after a moment he breaks away, his hand lingering on your hip. his eyes open and looks into your eyes, not uttering a word.

. . .

“wellllll, was i right?”

he presses his lips to yours once again, holding you a bit closer this time. you chuckle and cup the side of his face. you break away, only for him to lean in for another.

“hey you,” you whisper, causing him to pause, “that's a lot of kissing for someone who isn't my boyfriend.”

ayanokoji's lips twitch at your words, “then would you date me?”

a hum leaves your lips. your eyes travel to his, your thumb running along his bottom lip. a smile grows on your face. “since you asked so nicely, yes.”

[anonymocha]

[ LONG AHH POST ]

Proud to announce that the first revision of the half-serious full-insane Kaalaa Baunaa Wall is done… I haven’t seen an intensive Kaalaa Baunaa character analysis so I decided that I will do it myself. But feel free to correct me on stuff since, again, it’s half-serious and full-insane.

PDF:

Text version of the important stuff I wrote in case you don’t wanna zoom in or open the PDF under the cut. I won’t be pasting the event story takeaways because they are very long and full of unhinged Mocha jumpscares.

Personality

The following points are derived from here:

Methodical and steady in her approach to tasks.

Known for her soothing presence and being reliable in accomplishing tasks. Very punctual.

Has a contemplative nature, often preferring solitude and observation.

Friendly but rarely intimate.

Maintains a practical outlook, prioritizing efficiency over aesthetics.

Demonstrates a sense of conservationism, as seen in her choice to mend her glasses rather than replacing them.

Character Story Takeaways

Grew up with an astrological background but chose not to believe in its prophetic accuracy. “To hell with it!”

Kaalaa Baunaa was an abandoned child. She was found by Vaquini. her foster parent.

She often engages in misbehavior and fights as a kid. Vaquini would defend her.

She refused her destiny prescribed by her astrolabe, and doodled over it.

She emphasizes the importance of understanding the underlying causes behind events rather than accepting them at face value (or just seeing it as fate).

Voiceline Takeaways

She thinks that people focus too much on linear time and notes its subjective(?) nature. But she has a good perception of time herself.

Prefers Indian food.

Enjoys observing the night sky. She feels connected to it. Human society is complex, ever-changing, and influences her identity in ways she isn’t content about. But the constant nature of the night sky comforts her.

Is humble about her martial arts capabilities. This girl can hit……..

Delulu Corner

Interpretations + Summary of Takeaways

Keeps a steady and level-headed front despite often being anxious and full of doubt towards herself. It pours out when things get truly rough, with dismay and desperation.

Tends to overwork herself and struggles with self-care. She has the incentive to wind down but the guilt would take over her and lock her back into her lab. It is even implied to manifest as an illusory monster that stalks her down.

She held considerably little value towards aesthetics or cleanliness, prioritizing practicality above all. She easily brushed off rat feces in her lab this woman won the idgaf war. She cares more about research routines than things like that, or even more, rules imposed to her.

She may be enabling Kumar... She knows when Kumar is wrong or when Kumar is trying to mess with her but she doesn't necessarily call her out on it. Yes she is very observant towards stuff related to research and the arcane, but can be fooled/lead on otherwise. She may know it but she won't voice it.

She talks and contemplates to herself a lot. Probably a pace-around-the-room-lost-in-thought enjoyer.

Based on her past, she has a tendency to be rebellious and turn her back on certain systems despite being dependent on one herself

For some time, she is quite dependent on Kumar's presence and guidance. She puts a lot of trust in Kumar despite the many questionable things she did to her and the people around her.

(My Insanity) Her tendency to conserve, paired by her predisposition to methodical routines makes it difficult for her to move on from Kumar. And she struggles to properly open up about it or confront it. Kumar left her mark in her way of doing things. The constant nature of her approaches in work/life makes the echoes of Kumar also constant. She would love to break free from the cycle of remembering Kumar by doing things differently, or taking a long deserved break from work... But at the same time, she feels like throwing herself off this 'orbit' is unreasonable, unproductive, and unbecoming of her. So it Rots.

She probably keeps Kumar's glasses, Kumar's bullet, what else? :))

[veinsfullofstars]

hey just wondering, how do you draw daroach? i wanna figure him out for myself but dont feel like i get down how he looks well enough. thanks for the help if you have any, if not then thanks for just answering

Thank you for the question! And, yeah, I totally get it - that rat can be a nightmare to draw sometimes, haha. I definitely struggled with him a lot at first (you can kinda tell if you compare my earlier works to my recent ones). I think it’s because so much of him is obscured by his outfit in official art? The way the brim of his hat dips over his face or how his cape likes to defy physics - all in service of a cooler silhouette, sure, but taking away a lot of readability and foundation to work from in the process. I’ll try to offer some tips that work for me (though I’m hardly an expert on this, and teaching's not exactly my strong suit, so please bear with me if things get muddled, haha).

The main piece of advice I can give is gather and study as much reference as you can. Official art, concept art, promotional stuff, sprite sheets - whatever you can find, just grab ‘em and put ‘em somewhere you can easily pull up when you’re drawing. I get most of mine from Wikirby, Spriter’s Resource, and official sites like the Kirby JP Twitter, as well as screenshots taken directly from the games (a great way to get in-motion poses and back views, I’ve found). Here’s what my ref sheet for Daroach looks like (I also have a separate one for color swatches):

Kind of a mess, yeah, but very worth it, I assure you. The more visuals you have to work off of, the easier it will be to detect consistencies in design. Which brings me to my next point: shapes!

Most Kirby characters are, at their core, just a buncha simple shapes. It can be hard to tell sometimes when they wear clothes (like with our rat buddy here), but they still have similar foundations of circles and other rounded features. A way I've found that helps with this is to try redlining (that is, take a piece of reference and trace over it for the purpose of study, learning where lines connect, how silhouettes look, how different parts overlap, what shapes are used, etc.). Here’s an example:

This is a great way to find those design consistencies I mentioned before. I did these a bit messy for a better sense of movement (and ‘cause I’m practiced enough to sketch a little quicker), but you can always start slower and cleaner if it helps you see the shapes and layers more clearly. You can even do them multiple times to familiarize yourself with the design and eventually try copying them without tracing, like doing gesture drawings or life studies.

In Daroach, I’ve found that his head isn’t a perfect circle shape, but more like a rounded diamond, with his ears connecting at or just above the “points” on the sides. His body is a bit smaller than his head, and his snout smaller still, each having sort of a teardrop-like shape. His eyes are bigger than I expected them to be, half circles tilted down slightly, often cut off by his snout and hat to create a shaper angle (meant to make him look more intimidating perhaps?). His ears are taller than his hat, though they can tilt back to look shorter. There are also a lot of arcs and triangles present in his design, especially in his cape when it sits across his form or flares out, and the brim of his hat pointing down from just past his ears to right over his snout. Also, unlike many Kirby characters, he does in fact have a neck - it's just hidden behind his collar and bell most of the time (don't ask me why I spent so long verifying this, no I don't have ulterior motives, don't look at me).

Of course, these observations aren’t set in stone. Kirby characters rarely stay perfectly on-model (see Dedede for proof of that), and Daroach is clearly no exception. I mean, just look at these official pieces (all collected from Wikirby):

Even the folks at HAL Labs are not immune to style inconsistency. And that’s not a bad thing! We love a little personal flair in this house. There’s nothing wrong with altering the design a bit to fit your own style - in fact, it’ll probably happen naturally the more you practice, especially once you’re comfortable enough to work without a guide. Here’s some studies I did recently, no tracing, just observation (with different colors used to help me figure out layering):

I’ve seen other folks take their own designs even further than this, adding more fur or sharper shapes or even realistic rat features to our favorite thief. Nothing like stretching those creative muscles once you’ve got the basics down! On that note, don’t be afraid to be inspired by unofficial sources as well. If an artist you like draws Daroach (or any character) in a way you find appealing, ask yourself what it is you like about it, study it as you study official works, and find ways to incorporate elements of that into your own art - “steal like an artist” as the saying goes.

Another thing I recommend for Daroach specifically is studying how real top hats and capes look, especially from various angles and poses in motion. I find it helps to see exactly how fabric sits on a figure or what sides show at different positions. It might seem weird to use human reference for a cartoon rat, and it might take some finagling to get proportions right, but it’s surprisingly effective. I do this with fighting and athletic poses all the time to help figure out weight distribution and line of action. Don’t be afraid to expand your art repertoire into other fields - you never know when it might come in handy!

And, of course, the key thing to hammer home here is practice, practice, practice! Do studies, do gestures, draw with and without references, build muscle memory, do sketches you show to no one, draw memes, draw angst, take your time, fill pages with messy doodles or just drop one in a corner and call it a day. The more you draw this smarmy rat, the better you’ll get. That’s the long and short of it with any skill, creative or otherwise. You gotta try in order to get good, you gotta make mistakes in order to improve, you gotta be kind to yourself in order to do what you love.

Anyway, I think that’s all I got for now. Forgive me if this got a bit rambly or incoherent - I have trouble putting my thought process in words sometimes, haha. I sincerely hope this helps, and I wish you the best of luck with your own future rat-creating endeavors!

Sketch started and finished 06/14/24.

[firstdivisiongirl]

OH MY GAH HIIII !! I SAW THAT YOU DO MATCHUPS SO I WAS WONDERING IF I COULD A REQ FOR THAT BUT W TOKREV CHARACTERS ??? :DDDD i dont mind anyone tbh so dw abt choosing :33

ok i'll just drop some background info abt myself here :33

i'm aromantic + nonbinary, i am an entp 7w6 and i'm a pisces !! i like to draw, listen to music (either metal or just mainstream music i listen to whatever atp) and dance in my freetime !! :3

based on my personality ::

my friends tend to tell me that i'm the embodiment of the quote "dont judge a book by its' cover" cuz on the outside i act like a full on metalhead and really passive aggressive but at home i sleep next to a whole tower of plushies 💀🙏 and i collect stickers of silly little cats and otters (not my fault that they're so cute oml) i'm usually the clown of the group !! i tend to be hyperactive but my emotions change a lot- one second talking to me is like trying to get a toddler to pay attention to your teacher and the other is like trying not to get bitten by a rabid dog (my friend's words not mine). i tend to be a loud mouth srry . . . i do try to be quiet if necessary but if i get excited when talking i am a walking speaker . . . i get rlly excited if my favorite things are mentioned ?! like i would get rlly happy, smiley and would talk about it until i forget to breathe !! i like to consume horror media ?? idk if i can say that without sounding like an edgelord sobsob im sorry . . . i just love consuming those types of media (as a former kid w unsupervised access to the internet-) and i tend to ramble abt them along w other philosophical topics !! i like to discuss abt meaning of life, whether there are other universes, abt the capabilities of the human mind, etc. they're just so interesting!!! :] i guess im proud to say that my best trait is my humor 😋 maybe im overconfident abt this one cuz i just have pretty dumb sense of humor if im being honest frfr i tend to say things out of context . . . i like terrorizing my friends by saying the most outrageous things and overexaggerating them for the fun of it :333 though sometimes i kinda mean what i say

for my ideal partner ::

i'd say i would like someone who's fun to be around but at the same time they gotta be interesting for me to find them fun . . . like they gonna have smth to them that makes me wanna observe them like they're a lab rat being experimented on and being put under observation :33 ppl like that make me wanna see whats inside them and how they see the world around them !! i just love those kinds of ppl aaaaa ik im overdramatic for this one but like . . . i need someone who can handle me- as in my emotions and sometimes my way of loving . . . cuz if i did love someone, i would obsess over them and would dream of dying w them out of euphoria cuz being w my partner is the only thing that keeps me alive and human 😞 i wanna feel genuine happiness and pure bliss w my partner so thats why after that i think we should die together, that way we both know that finally we lived our life to the fullest (in my pov, 'the fullest' means you finally reach the climax of ur happiness/u live to the moment where you're the happiest you've ever been) (idk if that makes sense but that has always been my fantasy LAWD IM RAMBLING) need someone whos as crazy as i am :333 if he aint insane i dont want him fr i need to make him worse /j

i think thats all abt me :333 pls take ur time and make sure to put urself first btw !! aside from that, its ok if you ignore this one cuz at the end of the day its up to u <333 have a wonderful day/night mwah you're super cool

Hello! Of course you can have a matchup. Thank you for the kindness. I would like to warn you that I picked a somewhat controversial character. I hope you like it!

You Got...

Tetta Kisaki!!!

If boy can handle the chaos the is Shuji Hanma, he can handle you!

You wanted crazy...

Would love to see you smile when you get super excited about something! His favorite thing is to see the person he loves happy.

He is really really smart. So you would have very intellectual and philosophical discussions.

Would love that you aren't all you seem. Because he is the same way. You two can be badasses when out, but totally different when it is just the two of you (and Hanma sometimes when he is being Hanma and not leaving you all alone.)

Movie date nights. He'd let you pick it. If you're happy, he's happy.

[kindheart525]

So much was still unknown about Prophecy’s power. Even a unicorn as powerful as Starlight Glimmer hadn’t experienced anything like it. She might have seen this before in her own mother, but that didn’t mean she understood it. Plus, Prophecy’s powers were unique; she might have had similar powers to her Savta, but she wasn’t her Savta. 

There was still so much to learn about Prophecy, and Starlight made it her mission to find out as much as she could.

“Now Elysie, Uncle Sunburst is here to help! We’re just going to try out a few things to see what causes these prophecies so we can help you manage them.”

Starlight reassured her daughter sweetly, still pretty worried considering how her own mother ended up and how sudden her daughter’s past visions had been. But Sunburst had assured her that doing it in a controlled environment would be as harmless as possible, so at his suggestion she was willing to engage in some scientific inquiry to get to the bottom of this.

“It’ll be super easy! It’s like going to school except we’re not grading you, you’ve aced it no matter what our results say!”

Sunburst turned to Starlight.

“She does like school, right?”

Prophecy stared up at both of them blankly, not sure what to make of this. Her powers were pretty cool and maybe she would get to help ponies like the ponies in her life said, but it hurt a lot whenever she got a vision. She didn’t want that to happen all the time. How were they going to test it?

She had no time to ask any questions before Starlight slipped a monitor over her horn and Sunburst passed over a newspaper.

“We just want you to read a few of these articles and see if any predictions come to you. A lot of them are developing stories, it’s rather intriguing! I’m especially interested in the one—“

Starlight nudged him to silence him, not wanting to tamper with the results in any way. They had both vetted the news to make sure there were no murders or the likes (not that those were common), so as not to traumatize her. But still she was eager to see how this played out.

“Start whenever you’re ready! If this goes well you can watch us play chess next.”

“And then we’ll take you and Luster out for ice cream!”

Prophecy quite liked the idea of that. She supposed she’d give this a go, as weird as it felt to be a test subject. So she opened the newspaper and started reading.

The first headline her eyes met was about a robbery in town. Some mare had her jewelry stolen, but she and her family were safe. But as Prophecy read on and studied more of the details, she started to feel queasy.

And then she got a vision. 

It was sudden, so fast that she didn’t see it coming. A flash of pain shot through her head so sharply that it practically blinded her.

“Elysie! What do you see?”

The two adults knelt down to observe her like she was some sort of lab rat, but she was extremely distressed as she recounted her vision.

“The news said there was a robber! They’re gonna rob a lot more houses and maybe even the bank! And somepony’s gonna get really, really hurt!”

The image was so disturbing that she tried her best to push it out of her mind, but the beeping monitors and nosy adults made all attempts at calming down impossible.

“Yes! What else? What are they gonna steal? Who’s gonna get hurt? What dates will these things happen? Tell me everything you see!”

Starlight was getting so invested in this that it was almost disturbing, like she wanted to know all the details so she could exert control over the situation before it happened. Those were noble intentions, but at this point she seemed to be paying little mind to the child she had vowed to help.

Even Sunburst felt like it was going too far, noticing the increasing panic on the filly’s face.

“Starlight—“

“No! Stop!”

Prophecy cried out, ripping the monitor off her sparkling horn. She started to sob from the pain, backing away from the adults out of fear that they’d try to do more tests on her.

“I don’t wanna do this! It hurts! Please don’t make me do any more!”

“Elysie, honey—“

The filly ignored her mother and broke into a trot, trying to get as far away from them as possible.

“I don’t wanna be a prophet!”

Starlight and Sunburst watched her go, quickly feeling a pang of regret at how hard they’d both pushed her. But Starlight wasn’t ready to admit it, instead turning on Sunburst.

“This was YOUR idea! I told you I didn’t want her to get hurt!”

She grabbed his cape and used it as a curtain despite Prophecy being out of earshot at this point, glaring daggers into him.

“You’re the one who kept pushing her!”

Sunburst sassed in response, yanking his cape right back. 

“I know you always want to solve every problem right away but this clearly didn’t work out. I can always look through my books some more but ultimately, you and Trixie are going to have to find another way. One that doesn’t hurt her.”

Starlight’s pride crumbled away upon hearing this, a sickly feeling settling inside of her at the thought of her daughter so hurt and scared. She didn’t even want to be a prophet anymore! Not that she had to, but it still pained her to think of her daughter feeling ashamed of her gift.

“Well how? I don’t know that much more than you do!”

“Maybe not about oracle,”

Sunburst admitted. 

“But you do know Prophecy best.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Previous: Nothing At All Next: Overthinking It

Background by EStories Starlight Glimmer’s cutie mark by KyssS90

Collaboration with @gelidponies

[thingsarenotgoinhwell]

giving every st character a adventure time best friend

will-finn

i think will and finn would get along really great i think finn would help will come out of his shell and little and be a really good friend for him . they also share the fear of growing up and being able to have someone sharing that would be beneficial to them both. theyd be super chill besties and just play games all the time will would teach finn dnd and he would love it

mike-marcy

mike and marcy i think would be the best pair. nobody can convince me that mike doesnt play guitar so they would make make music together and work though their shit together. i think marcy would serve as a robin for mike helping him realize his ✨homosexualness✨cuz she is dating pb and would totally try to set will and mike up

lucas-jake

lucas and jake would vibe so fucking hard. they’d chill 24/7 being besties and goofing off. they would make eachother laugh alot and i think jake would give lucas great advice on everything. and help him ask max out

dustin-pb

they would 1000% be science buddies like just sharing a lab doing experiments. dustin would love science the rat. idk they vibe

el-bmo

el deserves a chill supportive bestie! and bmo is so perfect for that like they would be so sweet el would love bmo so much! and theyd play fun games and just be kids together✨

jonathan-prismo

dont even try to tell me you dont wanna see jonathan a prismo get high together like try your very hardest. i know they would get along so well they both are kinda loners and observers so i think they would ahve really interesting conversations. i see it sm i cant

robin-huntress wizard

they would make music in the woods like proper lesbians

nancy-susan strong

they are just the baddest bitches they would just slay all day together doing random shit and being hot badass ladies

steve-tree trunks

ah being a mother✨ lol but i think they would be the very best of friends and would have like weekly tea time where they would mom talk. then after awhile tree trunks would tell stories about her past and steve would like damn my bestie used to be a pirate who played guys and went on adventures i like her so much more now

erica-lsp

do i need to elaborate? like they would be best friends and they would bitch all the time but deep down they would have a really nice and strong friendship. and they would gossip like theres no tomorrow

joyce-lady rainicorn

imma pretend either joyce speaks korean or lady speaks english but i think they would be cute and have tea and talk about motherhood and life just like a causal comfortable sweet friendship.

max-flame princess

again do i have to elaborate? like they would have the best time ever crackin wise and being sarcastic. they would make raps all they time like fr they would totally vibe all day long

👌bonus👌

001-magic man

the mayhem✨ its be so funny they would argue like an old married couple and take over the world together

eddie-pep butt

while dustin and pb are doing science they are chillin doing dark magic

[jojothembo]

MARIS AQUARIUS K!NKTOBER DAY 3: cioccolata (medical k!nk) Give me Novacaine  TW: (s*xually explicit, EXTREMELY NSFW, mention of dr*ging, rough s*x, slight voyeurism.)  *also reader has nipple piercings*

18 + UNDER THE CUT

Give me novacaine 

Cioccolata hovered over your body which was strapped down to the operating table.   You watched the doctor wrap a tourniquet around your arm, pushing your veins to the surface.

You wince as you feel a needle enter your veins.

“ just some anesthesia my little pet.”

You barely had half a mind to pay attention to Secco who was setting up a camera at the end of the table to get the best view of you and the doctor. You were already writhing against the cold slab holding you up.  Cioccolata spread your legs exposing the vibrator he had inside you. You squirmed at the feeling of his latex gloves. He squeezed your thigh while observing the toy buzzing inside of you. “Secco bring the camera closer~”

 your head snaps as you see secco come closer, the camera dangerously close to your sex before panning up and down your body.  A scarlet blush painted your face as you looked down in embarrassment. Ashamed of how good the doctor made you feel. You shouldn’t like this you thought before the vibrations sent your body into shock. He had turned up the settings to get your attention 

“ don’t turn away now I wanna see that pretty face of yours.” 

Ciccolatta is Unlocks the straps holding your arms to the table as steps back pulling you up by gripping your jaw forcing you to look down at your arousal as he begins to pump the toy in and out of you. Your legs still strapped down you let out a pathetic moan as he used your body

 “I want your legs shaking before I fuck you, I wouldn’t want you to run away from me my little lab rat!” 

He twists his hands to bring your twice the amount of stimulation causing you to wrestle against your restraints. You could feel your orgasm approach as the doctor squeezed your throat. 

“Get desperate for me! I want you to crave this fucking!”

 you cum harder than ever before arching your back into the deranged lunatic that held you captive. He lays your back of the table shooing secco back to his previous spot 

“ I can’t wait to destroy you”

Your legs were finally freed. You tried to move your body only to realize you were paralyzed from the waist down, you look up at the half-empty I.V bag as Cioccolata grabbed your ankles pulling them towards him you let out a shriek as the needle was ripped from your vein he forced you on your hands and knees. 

“Such a good little pet” he praised you for your your compliance as he ran his fingers up and down your body which was becoming more and more sensitive thanks to the aphrodisiac of DMT and morphine in your veins. Cioccolata ordered secco to come around the table to “get a better look at you” he circled around the table as the doctor began to pless his throbbing cock against your entrance, slamming into you causing you to yelp, he let out a dark spout of laughter as you clenched around him. he relished in your sedated screams , turning and twisting into hedonistic moans letting him continue to drive his cock deeper inside of you

  “You’re a tailor-made fuck” his words echoed through your entire body overwhelming your mind with sadistic overindulgence . The rattling of the operation table filled the empty room. elbows banged into the cold metal of the table as he relentlessly fucked up into you. Your forearms against the cold metal slab holding you up as Ciccolata pulled and tugged the bars on your nipples. You shrieked as his movements became rougher.

 “Oh, baby that’s it! Ah, fuck your gonna drive me insane!” 

His hand slapped your ass one more time watching the flesh jiggle as you took your lashings He pressed your face into the table as he slammed into you. Pounding you with his entire length. You felt so good. “Milk me! Milk my cock like a good little slut won’t you!” your body was folded up digging into your hips and hammered inside of you.your eyes meet the camera as your body is being defiled as he poured his cum inside you claiming you as his cock twitched inside your body. his hand came down to strike your ass one last time. 

“I might have to keep you around”

[legoes]

ninjago for the ask game

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

cole or garmadon (specifically sensei garmadon),,, i love them a lot 👉👈

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

lloyd and also lil harumi. cuties,,, love them ← ignoring the horrible atrocities

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

clancee my beloved,,, he’s so sweet i wanna give him a lil kiss on the head

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

skales jr once again. he’s just a feral little guy but i have so many hcs about him so don’t get me started. also his mom selma too lmao

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

krux my beloved 🧡

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

jay. i want to observe him like a scientist with their lab rat that they’ve been putting through every experiment imaginable

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

misako. fuck you fuck you fuck you you’re a terrible mother i hate you

[animeloversworldsblog]

Ok im tired of all this things so im gonna started

Guren ichinose is a child, an innocent child, how he should be at his age, well knows from all hiragis and the rest of the houses. So mahiru knew well who he was at the age of 5, she went for him for one reason: make his father angry because he killed her mother, she was right to get angry? Yes she was, but that give you the right to goes after a kid where his family were dealing with their garbage for 500 years? No, of course not. And is not just that, she analyzed him and observed him, she ordered him to do whatever she wanted it, she observed his personality and even used him to become strong to be free of her family, and it didn't matter if that was  him or other boy. She left that her family interrogate guren and his family bcs she was going to see him. If she was a sweet innocent girl why she let her family tortured them, she always run away bcs nothing was more important than her. She even say that she hate hiragi family bcs her mother was killed so she wanna go after what hiragis hate the most. So sweet and innocent never was. She even called guren and his family ichinose trash. She needed guren to fall for her first yet she ending up falling for him (with actually never was, she just need a tool) .Being the manipulative person she is , mahiru used all the pawns ( which is her own family guren and his friends) to complete her plans.People may say that she had goals and ambitions but there are ways you can do things and she completely went of the rail and lost her damn mind. Mahiru only goal in life was to use guren as her puppet and make him feel the pain she feels which is loneliness, and guren being a "perfect" target cause nobody respected or like him so he was the perfect lab rat / pawn / victim for her. Misery loves company and unfortunately guren was chosen.    

 So her personality was selfish since child, if you are angry because you have an abusive and shitty father don’t go and screw a little kid for your own selfish reasons, why goes from him in the first place? Because she saw him just like the rest of her family, rat ichinose, scum ichinose. So since child wasn’t different from her family was the same, Because from hiragis and the rest of the houses is better screw a family for unreasonable ridiculous hatred to proof that “because I have power or I belong to a powerful family I’m going to show you I can do whatever I want with you” even guren said it that he learned he don’t have to defy hiragi house because they can smash people however they want. But then again, if she grow up in a cruel environment what make her the right to do whatever she wants with people bcs she was suffering?  What make her less cruel that the rest of her family? She become in the same as them bcs power was all to them. Even she want to get free of her destiny why screw everybody life on the process?. We forget that she wants guren just to be free and ask him kill all his family and friends? She wants to fulfill her wishes even if that meant hurt someone on the process.

Shinya well people think that hate her is bcs she rejected shinya and wasn’t want to be with him, that is so wrong. She wasn’t suffering any pain, she has 10, and she was treated normal even if she grow up around an abusive and cruel family, but shinya? He was yet another child that suffered at the hand of another form of child abuse. Maybe he also force himself to like/love mahiru because he life was on the line ... what people may not realize or care about is that when your life is on the line alot of the enemies words or ideas start to make since after a while. Shinya was a child that wanted a true family but ended up the joke of the family (so it's a mixture of what he wanted for the family aspect but got treated like the family pet). I'm pretty sure of shinya had the option to choose what he wanted he would never go with the hiragis.. his morals and standards are way to high he wouldn't lower himself to thier level.                                     She was selfish, egotistical and treated shinya like garbage acting like a good girl yet she felt disgusting about him. More she goes to meet him just to tell him back off, more of that she not even care about a lot of kids being death, she doesn't love him?  Good, she hasn't to accept him? Good. Yet, why do you think not be able to love someone is the worst thing that can happened to you?  She did lose something? Yes her mother, but even so She is suffering any pain?  She was lock up and mentally abused?  No at all. She even is disgusting bcs shinya treat her nice and hate people prize her yet she prize herself. And who are you to obligated to a boy that you even met a few months and not even seeing him for over 10 years to love you? (She force guren to like her) She pretend to be nice with shinya and then making him fight after all what he through like if his effort would mean nothing. She is rotten since the beginning so don't give me with the crap that the demons influence her. We forget about shinya . Can we compare him here with her? Yes a lot, she was lonely so she  hasn't other choices to became a demon why? Shinya was sold for his parents,  was in a cage with 5 damn years old killing others kid, killing each others, can we talk about how many kids here lost everything and died like if they were an old object disposable garbage. And shinya lost his childhood. And was COMPLETELY LONELY. Yet he still grow up around hiragi family and try to be a normal kid surviving. Now  her grow up around the family and even with just 5 had bad intentions with people that she not even know like guren?  Being lonely doesn't became you an a monster are your action what define you. That thing you don't have anything so you just don't have a choice to became a demon is pure garbage, bcs if that would be the case every person in ons world that are lonely could be a monster and is not the case much people grow up to became better. Look kids that grow up without parents, lonely around even parents that destroyed their life. And fight and try harder to became in good persons. If you think this girl hasn't choices BCS BORN WITH A DEMON that is wrong  and see what is being a lonely child with problems and not have anybody that care or love you. Even shinya could became in a monster but he didn't he choose to be the way he is,( even guren could became in a monster bcs has saito blood, demon noya, and mahiru who possess him)  even could be kill in any moment from hiragi family and shinya knew it and could follow them and even so he didn't . She CHOOSE her own path for her own egoistic value point of view of life (as much as her family) , don't give me with the "thing" she hasn't other option to became in demon that is crap We all have our own behavior, unequivocal, not susceptible, nor vulnerable, even if it is the most submissive person in the world, nobody forces anything to anyone.              About Shinoa that she did care for her and did all what she could to protect her.. Then why she wants just go away with the "love of her life" and abandoned her sister, why let her alone, why used her like messenger, why let kureto tortured her? Why took her demon for power. She saw shinoa like a tool more on her plans, not bcs she care about, she even on manga wants shinoa became like her. She used shinoa as a shield to make atrocities with a lot of people. And that is care for shinoa? Saying she did all for shinoa when since child was already greedy as much at her family? She not even see values in others people life.       So my point is that demon thing about her bcs born with one ok valid but that make her a good girl when since child has evil intentions?  And even if she was possess when she had menstruation still was able to do things for her own free will she wasn't possess all the time she was conscious majority of the time( actually was conscious using the demon)  and use her demons when she need it bcs if the case is her influence and possession then the same is with guren he was able to not let possess he fight against that all the time and more he hate that part but she?  In novel when she shows that she care about others? That doesn't want to kill? And cry for herself not for hurt or kill others. She goes with the aren't other choices.  Lies there are manys ways to do things. She even say that life is useless so she doesn't give a crap about other people life. She wants to be a normal girl. Valid. But that give you the right bcs there aren't other choices to make genocide and don't give a crap about others life. Everybody wants a normal life in novel. Everyone. Even guren, even shinya but they did all what she did bcs there wasn't other choices? Even if she was a victim from her family. Why for 1200 years they enjoyed have power more than anything?  Why bcs were  manipulated from shikamadoiji? shijamadouji put their personalitys there? Is they want to get out of this bastard who controlled them why enjoy so much what his creator give them? Even if they were created to be used they love the power that someone else offer to them. They wants to be the kings or queens from the world. They have the hiragi pride. So how these people is victim when for years make so many genocide bcs love power more than anything. Guren, even if his destiny was mark, even has the blood of a crap bastard like saito, always fight against all of that, he didn't want any of this.(and you can see guren in novel and manga how much guilt and remorse feels and even is willing to let anybody kill him for his acts). Now her destiny was mark and a victim?  Good, valid, but in the end choose that bcs she want it that way all the time.  she is not a victim much less her family they choose follow the same path as his creator. We forget that kureto wants world dominations actually? We forget that  she doesn't  give a crap about the world? what about people they killed bcs is necessary for humankind? (Even guren on manga cried after what happened on nagoya that was mahiru plans and she did not care)  She wants that guren became exactly like her and he still having 24 is fighting and feel guilt about all what is happening but she?  Even being posses,  when she feel remorse about what she was doing?  Kureto don't feel remorse for what he is doing. Her family never feel remorse for what they did. Guren does all the time, he is scared.                                                        

People choose to be what they want to be regardless of where they come from .. people aren't forced to be nice or mean or evil .. they choose that path and will continue to walk it .. for those people who chose to walk the path of destruction with end with destruction until something in them changes but how often does that happen ... most people who has an impure heart tends to blame others around them then themselves cause its easier...people with shitty / horrible attitude tend to treat other people bad casue that's the way they are treated but with these people (mahiru and her family) who we are talking about is completely... she is evil from and already had a motive so she's completely out the question for any ethically or logical reasoning.

She is not a savoir. Kureto, mahiru and their family  don't feel nothing about kill people even if they get free that still going to be the same kill people and had them under their control, even if they kill the bastard shikamadouji you think they gonna became good like if shikamadouji would put their personality there? They still gonna make whatever they want with the world and people, shikamadoji is a monster a supernatural piece of crap but  is ridiculous think that mahiru or even kureto care for humanity even so guren still be an slave and everybody else. Shikamadouji is a horrible bastard selfish, egoist, monster but hiragis are equal as him. And even if she was alive and eliminate shikamadouji ( that is what she wants) she would be a good innocent girl that could be free having "what she loved the most" that was guren all for herself? . Do you think even so, she would let guren had friends and subordinates? When in novel she wants guren elimated all his family and friends. The only thing she wants from guren was that could make her free. She even said that if it wasn't bcs he is strong she would lost interest in him. Why kagami is saying that is not good or bad characters? Nonsense. Shikamadoji,  Hiragis and mostly of vampires, even without shikamadouji would be the most horrible humans and monster that could exist. Guren shows that he don't want any of what is happening and WANTS TO SAVE THE DAMN WORLD (yet he has to do it even he is scared bcs mahiru have him as prisoner and his family as hostages) kureto didn't care, much less her sister wouldn't care. Not shikamadoji. Not vampires. Not even hiragi family care. Mahiru, the human mahiru is as much as worse as her with demons and being a vampire all was her own free will, the same goes for her family. Shikamadouji is a shitty bastars that screw everybody life for pure egoist, selfish desire but they choose to follow their own selfish desires as much as his creator. We forget how hiragis use the word LOVE  to control other people, and how see love like lust to gain power?                                                                                

Victims here are all the people that shikamadouji, hiragis and vampires used, manipulate and killed over so many years to gain more and more power. even if "they were created to be used Aren't victims not even mahiru, kureto, tenri and sheishiro hiragi. They aren't saviors they just want to be free of their creator and even so they still would be the same shit as shikamadouji .

Selfish people often  mistakes selfishness for strength. It takes no talent. No intelligence. No self- control.and no effort to sacrifice other people for their ego.                                                                                                           The egoist is Fooled by no ideals. They discard them or used them as may suit their own interest.                                                                                    You can never force someone to change. Everyone is how they want to be, act as they want to act, lose what they want to lose.  

Guren ichinose is a good man, with so many flaws, and mistakes yet always is questionable about his actions but shitty characters like mahiru, tenri, kureto, shikamadoji, vampires, etc are not? Guren as much as shinya were victims from the same monster: mahiru. Shikamadoji. Hiragis. Bcs that is what they are. All of them are pure egoist, selfish and don't give a crap about the world or other people just about their own interest. Guren is trying to save the world he care about people and feel guilt, remorse, pain and suffering yet he has to deal with their shit bcs they are not to blame bcs were created for shikamadoji, i mean yeah this bastard is the worst but the rest are the same crap bcs always gonna blame others instead of themself how much hipocrasy they can show.? Even kagami trying to say on manga that hiragis are all good over the years and they are poor victims which is not. They have not redemtion bcs there isn't to any of them bcs shikamadoji is the big master. And where is the redemption? When even IF THIS BASTARD DIE, NOT HIRAGIS, NOT VAMPIRES, NOT GONNA CARE ABOUT A SINGLE LIFE THAT IT WASN'T THEMSELF. where is the people that suffered for them for all over the years, now bcs mahiru protect shinoa( wich is a lie bcs was other pawn) is a victim? Kureto and tenri are?  Guren is the only character that is trying to save the world even shinya wants to help. The rest are fighting for their onw selfishness but oh guren is a bastard that deserve to die. Which in reality The world would be better without hiragis, guren would be dealing with so many crap if it wasn't for the monster of mahiru. So every character is good except if it is guren and shinya right?

[laukora1030]

Captain America: The First Avenger pt. 1

First off, spoilers if you’ve never seen the movies and you want to. And, english IS NOT my first language, so excuse me if I make mistakes.

I guess I should start by saying that this is my favorite movie of the trilogy. Steve might not be my favorite character, but this is the perfect origin story for the character he was supposed to be before the Russo brothers destroyed his character arc. 

Before I go head first into the movie, I should talk a little bit with what I already know and remember of both Steve and the movie.

It angers me that people made Steve to be some type of saint when he’s always been quite the selfish guy. And I don't mean that in the “I’m the only one that matters and everything I want I should have” type of way, I mean it mostly, centering on this movie, with how everything he wishes he could have he does illegal things to get it. Looking at you, Steve lying on his application forms several times. And the problem is, he gets what he lied for. I will not take it away from him, he is extremely persevering, but I don’t think getting a reward after doing illegal things to get it, is the best thing that could happen to him, because after that he believes that he can do anything without repercussion. That’s not how the real world works for most of us. Now, onto the movie.

I love the beginning scene. I don’t really know why, I just happen to love it. I mean the scene where they find the plane. It's eerie, I think that’s why I love it so much. I enjoy this scene so much because of this phrase: “This one’s waited long enough.” When they find the shield, I like to believe it was a light of hope for humanity. I’m talking about that universe. It’s sad to know that Howard was already dead when they found the one thing he spent his entire life searching for, but I like to believe that, at least to the people who knew he was alive (aka SHIELD) finding Captain America’s shield was, hopeful, for a lack of better words.

I really like the scene in Norway, where we first see the villain of the story, Redskull. I think he is perhaps one of my favorite villains in the MCU, because he has ambitions, and he’s not a fucking idiot (looking at you, Thanos). Johann Schmidt was a well written character, in my opinion, and to learn his fate for such ambition, I think it was both a good ending and a good punishment. This scene shows how intelligent he is, and not only that, how much he knows about the universe, which, admittedly isn’t much as it could have been in the present, but it was so much knowledge to have in the 40s. I wonder though, how did he find out about the Tesseract, and how did the Tesseract end up on Earth. Isn’t it supposed to be something of incredible power? He was observant and analytical, and no one can take that away from him. Sometimes I wonder what would have happen of he was a Nazi double agent, or if he worked for the Allies, because he was such an intelligent person. 

One thing I NEED to mention before anything else is that I loath HYDRA’s symbol. That’s not a fucking hydra you dweebs, that’s an octopus with two extremities. Who exactly was the dumbass who designed the logo? I just wanna talk.

Meeting smol Steve is fucking hilarious to me, because he has such a thick(?) voice, and you have this tiny thing that, with just one look, makes you wonder if he can actually walk more than just 10 meters. And then they go and tell you every single way he can die, and, damn, I’m surprised he lived that long before getting the serum. He could have died in 12 different ways (I count them) and still wanted to enlist. Gotta give it to Tiny Steve, he was one persisting motherfucker, but God, I hate it sometimes. 

I get that Steve wished to serve just like his father did, but didn’t he understand that trying to get on the Army was just pure selfishness? I’m talking about how, had he’d been accepted, he could have gotten an asthma attack in the middle of the battle, putting everyone else in his battalion (I have no idea if that’s what they’re called, please correct me if I’m wrong). He wanted to be part of the battle, to be able to help, but fighting wasn’t everything. I really think it’s incredibly selfish to do something you know will put others in danger. He’s one brave motherfucker, and I have to give him that, but putting others in dangers crosses the line between brave and stupid. His “I can do this all day” used to be so endearing to me, if I’m being honest. I thought it was brave that he would fight for what he believed in, blame the Russos for my hate for it. 

James Buchanan Barnes was a hot piece of shit. Look at him in his military suit, gorgeous. I love the Jersey slander. Why do people hate Jersey? That’s a legit question, I’d love an answer. I think Steve, as much as he loved Bucky, was at least a bit envious of him. Steve wanted to be in the Army, on the 107th, on the front lines, fighting for the innocents, yet he couldn’t because he was born a weakling boy. Yet here you have his best friend, James Barnes, a tall strong man, who clearly got accepted in the Army, who was stationed on the 107th, and was being sent to England. Bucky was everything Steve wasn’t at the moment, and I can’t help but think Steve was jealous of his best friend, no matter how much he loved him. 

Howard Stark is a bitch and y’all can’t change my mind. He was a genius in his time, that much is obvious, and the flying car is extremely cool, even if it didn’t work, but he, unlike Tony, loved the spotlight, he loved to be seen and noticed. And yeah, he came from a poor family, and he became a self made millionaire, but his entire life he was what Tony used to be. I’m glad Tony changed, even if it was because he almost died. I guess I cannot blame him, because there’s a part of me that gets that need for attention and for the spotlight when I do something that might change my life. 

I pity Tiny Steve. He wanted to be so much more than he was, and he knew that it would probably not happen because of his medical conditions. I, once again, get why he was so stubborn with getting into the army. When you want something so hard and realize that you will definitely not get it because of the conditions you were born into, it becomes an obsession and there is a deep desire of doing what you can’t. I guess we’re the same that way. 

I know he says that his wish of being part of the army isn’t about him, because “there are men laying their lives down”, but it is about him. His entire personality up to this point in the movie is “I cannot be what I wish to be, so I’ll do anything, and I mean anything, in my hands to get it.” Steve is not a bad man, he just wishes he was so much more than he is, and I guess that’s exactly why Erskine chose him. A young naïve man, who would do anything to get what he wants? It was way too easy, and if I had been looking for the same thing Erskien was looking for, I would’ve definitely gone for Steve. But Bucky knew. He knew that Steve was so manipulable, that he would do anything to get what he wanted, even stuff that wasn’t good for him. I think that’s where the “Don't do anything stupid until I get back” phrase comes from.

Erskine knew how easy it would be to manipulate Steve. He knew exactly what words to choose, how to act like a “nice man” to get him to open up. I don’t doubt that Erskine was a good man, but this was war, and we just tend to forget that at war, everything is legal, even, apparently, pardoning 5 illegal enlistment forms because the man who did them was the perfect rat lab for an experiment that by all means shouldn’t have gone according to plan. I believe that is the only reason Steve didn’t end up in jail. 

Just a comment, I like the change in audio when Schmidt took the Tesseract out of its box. I feel like it’s the perfect way to show you that this thing is really something from legends, not just a mere object created by mortals. 

I wonder how similar Zola’s and Erskine’s investigations are? Do they say it in the movie later on? I guess I’ll find out. 

Unlike every single scientist in SHIELD, Zola was a complete genius. I guess that’s why he could infiltrate HYDRA into SHIELD for years before Steve realized. If you remember Avengers, no one was able to both understand and stabilize the Tesseract, meanwhile Zola wasn’t just able to stabilize it, he was able to use it to power every single one of his weapons. It wasn’t really a surprise when the SSR recruited him.

Peggy Carter is a motherfucking queen, and whoever says anything slightly different can come fight me behind a Denny’s. She is one of my fictional role models because she just won’t take shit from men, especially assholes like Hodge. She’s beauty, she’s grace, she’ll punch you in the face. I thank God for the creation of Peggy Carter and Hayley Atwell, everybody please say thank you. Awoman. But no, seriously, Peggy Carter isn’t only a badass, she fought for her place in the Army, she knows she deserves to be there, and she won’t take shit from others because that is her rightful place. We stan.

Just stating something. Phillips reaction to Steve is fucking hilarious. He was expecting the “best man” and he got a child who is clearly 4’11. 

One thing I will never take away from Steven Grant Rogers is how persisting he is. It’s admirable how he doesn’t let anything get to him. Not the other idiots bullying him, not Phillips clearly not believing in him, not his boss (how is that guy called? Like, what’s his title?). He keeps on fighting, because he knows he can do it. I like that of him. He is also extremely intelligent. Not Howard Stark or Arnim Zola intelligent, but he looks for a creative way out of problems. I love that way of thinking. The whole flag scene is perhaps one of my favorites in the MCU, and definitely my favorite in the movie.  And I love how proud Peggy is of him. 

Can we please talk about how quick Peggy was to go to the fake grenade? Like, of course Steve was gonna go for it, he made it very clear in the end of this movie that he is willing to lay down his life to save others, so I wouldn’t have expected anything less than throwing himself at the grenade. But we tend to overlook how Peggy was just as willing to do so. I honestly had forgotten how much I admired Tiny Steve. Like, yeah, his need to go to war was kind of selfish, but he still was ready to just die to save others, and not everyone is. I love the Steve from this movie. I honestly think this was the exact moment Peggy Carter understood the value of Steve Rogers. Like, of course she knew he was intelligent and persistent and persevering, but I think it’s this exact moment when he sees him as more than a soldier. 

Erskine chose the perfect person for the experiment. I’m not talking about the manipulative bit from before. I seriously mean it. The serum was supposed to enhance everything, and he chose a rather selfless, amiable man, who would not hesitate to use his newfound strength to save others from death and destruction. Steve was the perfect person, no doubt. 

I wonder what Steve felt in Avengers when he was fighting gods. I wonder if he remembered Erskine talking about how Schmidt thought all these myths were real.

“Not a perfect soldier but a good man”, said by Erskine to Steve, reminds me deeply of “Do not waste your life”, which is what Yinsen said to Tony. In the end, Steve went back to being a good man. (I’m not even gonna touch the whole time travel thing).

Schmidt was supposed to be the head of the research “branch” of the Nazis. Then how did he become the head of a whole organization. We know, or at least this is what I was told in world history some years ago, that Hitler was great giving speeches and convincing people, which is how he won so much power to begin with. So, does that mean that Schmidt is way better at that than Hitler? Or did he kill enough people to make others join HYDRA, and when they saw all the power they could have they stayed there and gathered more people for the group (is that a correct word to use?)

Steven Grant Rogers has no fucking idea of how to talk to women. I’m honestly not surprised, the only woman he interacted with before Peggy was the girl Bucky set him up with at the beginning, but bitch, ya kidding me? Really gonna tell Peggy you’ve no idea why she joined the army because “she’s beautiful”? Poor choice of words. At least Peggy didn’t get completely mad. 

The code to get in is stupid as fuck. I’m sorry, I had to say it. Sounds like they watched a movie and that was in it and they were like “you know what would be a great code for a secret lab? Talking about the weather and saying you always carry an umbrella.” Pure genius, who’s idea was it? They need a raise. Morons. 

I like how everyone is surprised with Steve when he gets in. And of course, the senator saying “somebody get that kid a sandwich” is a whole mood. 

This experiment should not have work. I have no idea how long it took Erskine to perfect it, but by all means this looks impossible. Then again, in the future Steve will deal with gods, but still, his chances of survival were really slim to none. And, we saw it with Banner, this should not have gone as good as it did. But it did. I really wonder why. 

So, the serum is supposed to enhance everything, right? It enhanced his height, his weight, his muscles. But what exactly happened to his diseases? Shouldn’t they have been enhanced too? Or was there something on the serum that was created precisely to erase every sort of disease or create an immunity to each one of them? There is no physical way someone as weak and sick as Steve could have survived that. 

Hot reveal, hot reveal, hot reveal!

Erskine’s death scene is a big parallel to Yinsen’s death scene. I will not take criticism. Let’s be real for a moment. Tony and Steve have a lot of similar traits, they just let them drive them in different ways. This scene specifically is one of the ways they’re the same. The pure anger Steve feels in this moment is what drives him to follow the other man, because Erskine died in his arms. Same goes to Tony, but I’ll get into that when I get to Iron Man (at this pace I’m never gonna make it). But yeah, Steve was driven to fight even harder because of the death of a friend. I guess this is what makes him break the rules and go for Bucky later on, because he is not willing to lose another friend. 

In other news, I cannot believe Peggy Carter is the only person in the army to have a nice shot. Like, what the fuck? But also, we stan a queen.

Note to self, I hate HYDRA, but I love the small one-person submarine the spy uses. It’s cool. 

I still hate whoever designed the HYDRA logo. Who was it? I just wanna talk about your stupidity. It makes me irrationally angry. 

Going back to Schmidt. Erskine mentioned that him and Hitler were friends, but Hitler was the face of the Nazis, so Schmidt, full of envy, jealousy and ambition, had to become The Red Skull. He wanted everything, and he betrayed his friend to do so. Still better reasons than Thanos. 

I never really did like Phillips. He was an ass. He wasn’t mean or condescending to Peggy, which is a lot because, after all, Peggy is still a woman in the 40s, but he always treated Steve like he wasn’t a valuable asset, and that is not good. I get it, he wasn’t his first option for the experiment, but he didn’t have to be such an ass. 

Something completely out of topic. Why is it written Colonel but pronounced “kernel”. America, explain. 

I find it hilarious that Big Steve was so desperate to do something with his life, especially now that he had the physical strength to do so, that, in that desperation, he accepted something he didn’t even want. This is what I mean when I say Steve is manipulable. His desire to be someone in life gets him to extremes such as becoming the government’s monkey. 

Another question. Was Steve ever really made a Captain? Like, I don’t even know if he completed bootcamp, let alone become a private. So how, pray tell, did they make him a Captain when he didn’t have a training for it? Or was the title of Captain just for his shows? Please, if someone has answers, I would love to hear them. 

Steve is the most awkward human being in the 40s. Also, love the song, whoever wrote it, I salute you. Honestly I feel a little bad for him. He was doing something he didn’t like, and while it was for a good reason (bonds, for those who’re wondering), it’s never nice when people make you do stuff you’re not comfortable with. I love the dancers’ suits, they’re beautiful and the girls all look gorgeous. But Steve, oh dear, he looks hilarious. 

He was doing something good, perhaps not what he expected to do, but he was making the Americans livelier, and children looked up to him. I don’t know you, but if that wasn’t good I really don’t know what is. Also, can we notice how, the longer he did it, the more elaborated his show became? I have no idea how long he did this, but clearly it was at least a year if he got to have confetti and bikes and all the paraphernalia.

Who’s idea was to send him to perform in front of soldiers? Like, really, who went “you know exactly what will make soldiers happier? A dancing man with a pretty title”. No one can be that stupid, yet people always surprise me. 

Note to self, buy red boots like Steve, cause they’re not only emblematic but extremely cool. I need them.

Going back to the movie. I love Steve’s drawing, because it’s the perfect representation of what he is at the moment, a dancing monkey. Peggy Carter is more than just a physically strong woman. She’s intelligent, capable, courageous, and not only that, she is a damn great friend. She knows exactly the words Steve needs to hear, and I believe she knew they’d have more impact if they came from the one person who didn’t judge him in the past. 

For the longest time, it was always Steve and Bucky. Their friendship went on to the 2020s, and his face when he learned that most of the 107th, Bucky’s platoon (is that the word? Am I using it right?) had been kidnapped or killed, well, I would have done something illegal too if I’d just found out that my best friend was kidnapped or killed. I get his pain. 

I had not forgotten about fondue, but the scene is so freaking ridiculous I love it. And yes, that’s all I’m gonna be talking about the plane scene, because the rest is just me wondering how they didn’t get shot down the moment they got into enemy territory. 

Steve Rogers, if you see this from the underworld, were you really made a Captain, or was that just your show title? I need answers!

Zola impresses me. There is no other way of putting it. To have mastered what SHIELD couldn’t, to have made the Tesseract work at his command, basically, it’s impressive. I need a peak at his mind. I need to know more.

The scene of Steve in the cargo truck gave me big Natasha in Civil War vibes, when Crossbone tosses her onto a truck. And basically yeeting someone with just one shield hit, gold. Steve Rogers isn’t a stupid man. He is actually extremely intelligent, and such a gifted strategist. I would trust this Steve to save me if I’m ever kidnapped. (I’ll talk about future Steve later).

I’m leaving it here, dears. I’ll continue in the next part, because this is gonna be longer than I expected it to be. If you read it up till here, I love you and thanks for reading it.

[takadasaiko]

Midnight Oil (a Captain America: First Avenger era one shot)

FFN II AO3

Summary: "Stark took a swing at him right there in front of his men. You'd think a guy as smart as Stark wouldn't hit someone twice his size." - Agent Carter 1.05 

Steve and the Howling Commandos are called in to come collect their pilot after Howard lands himself in some trouble over a stolen invention.

Midnight Oil

No shouldn't be a difficult phrase for a person to understand.

It didn't mean yes. It didn't mean maybe. It certainly wasn't an invitation to break into his lab and take it without permission.

Howard had been woken in the earliest hours of the morning by one of his techs pounding at his door and shouting incoherently about a break-in. It had taken a moment longer than it should have for him to understand that it had been his lab that had been broken into - the one that he'd only been away from for about an hour and a half at that point, leaving him more sleep deprived than usual after three straight days of the same - and that things were missing. It hadn't taken long to find out what. Not that he hadn't had a good idea even before he got there.

He hadn't told them why Midnight Oil wouldn't work, only that the design couldn't perform the way they wanted it to. He needed more time if he were going to concoct something that could safely keep soldiers awake and alert for days on end - had they tried coffee? Coffee worked well for him. Coffee and an addictive personality that he focused in on for his work - and apparently General McGinnis had taken that to mean that it worked, but wasn't perfected and had decided to send his goons in to relieve Howard of his creation.

That's how Howard Stark found himself on a plane from London to Finow, Germany. McGinnis wasn't taking his calls. If the calls weren't reaching him or if he was intentionally ignoring him, it was difficult to say in the middle of war-torn Europe, but the general had no idea what he was getting himself into if he tried to use the Midnight Oil. To be fair, neither did Howard. He'd only seen what the gas had done to the rats in the lab he'd doused with it and that had been more than enough. The idea of what it would do to soldiers was… unconscionable. The idea made his stomach turn, and he had a pretty steady constitution.

He put the plane down not too far from the camp, but he had to be driven out to the site after arguing for far too long and threatening things he wasn't actually sure he could make good on. They didn't tell him it was too late. They were likely too afraid to. They dropped him off and ran as if they didn't want to face him or be outed as the ones that had brought him in.

Howard stood frozen in place for a long moment, dark eyes wide and lips parted in an awkward gape. Bodies littered the field, stretching out in every direction. Men in American uniforms moved between them, and despite all that they had seen in the war, even they looked squeamish as they worked to clear the field. Not that he could blame them. It was a horrific scene.

A terrified yelp sounded across the field and Howard barely had time to look over before a shot followed immediately after it, downing one last soldier. The American - the shooter - stumbled back, eyes wide as he scrambled back and Howard rushed over to him.

"What happened?" he demanded, his voice drawing the haunted blue gaze towards him.

"I thought he was dead, but he… got up. He was… he was coming for me. I had to -"

Howard cleared his throat and waved him off. Empathy had never counted very high amongst his many talents, even in the moments where he wished it would. Bumbling around and failing to comfort the kid wasn't going to do anybody any good, though, so he dropped to his knee next to the newly dead man, observing. That much he could do at this point.

He was Russian, if the tattered and bloodied uniform was anything to go by. There wasn't much left of it. It was like a wild animal had gotten ahold of him, shredding cloth and skin in vicious, angry strokes. He wouldn't have been long for the world even if the young soldier hadn't put a bullet in his chest. From the looks of him, Howard wouldn't have guessed that he could have made it to his feet before being shot. Deep, terrible gashes were visible through torn cloth and what looked like teeth marks - human, he metallurgy filed away with a shudder - on his left forearm. Blood was smeared and dried all along his face.

The young inventor drew in a trembling breath as he shifted his weight to take a look at a fallen body near that one. Also Russian, as was the one next to him and the one next to him. Not a nazi in sight. Just a bunch of Russians that looked like they'd clawed, bitten, and bludgeoned each other to death.

They'd been gassed with Midnight Oil and now McGinnis' people were cleaning up the scene. Once the men here finished there'd be no proof of what happened. Howard's word would be matched up against a general. One star, sure, but as healthy of an opinion of himself as Howard kept, he was still a twenty-seven year-old scientist whose work with the military was often so deeply classified that only a few could get their hands on it. There'd be no repercussions for McGinnis. It'd just be swept under the rug and sold off as a losing battle. There were plenty to go around, afterall.

Truth was that might happen anyway, but if Howard had proof, he could have some sway against the man that caused this. He glanced around before slipping what looked like a pen out of his breast pocket. He hasn't tested it fully yet, but no time like the present. For several long, painful moments he snapped a photo of the damage inflicted, forcing himself to look at the brutality that his invention had caused.

"Stark? Who the hell cleared you to be here?"

Howard startled at the sound of the unexpected voice. He had only spoken to John McGinnis once. Every other request or follow up on the Midnight Oil had come from men that answered to him, the general far too busy to be bothered with the scientists that he had so little regard for.

He knew that voice though, somehow. It bit through the horror and set deep like burning embers ready to fuel a rage like he had never known. And it only grew as he stood, pocketing his pen smoothly, and turned to face the man that had sent his lackies in to steal what had caused this. He stared for a long moment, a half dozen angles on how to best handle the situation running through his mind with statistics calculated for each outcome. In the end, they didn't matter.

"What did you do?" he breathed out and McGinnis snorted.

"Fought a battle, Mr Stark, though I suppose you may not recognize what that looks like from your comfy seat back in London. Lieutenant, escort Mr Stark -"

Howard loosed a trembling breath and swept his hand out towards the carnage. "You killed them."

McGinnis blinked at that, but then waved at the approaching lieutenant as if he didn't want to repeat himself. He turned to leave without bothering with another word and Howard lashed out. He caught a handful of the general's sleeve, pulling him back around and taking a swing with the momentum. The man was a walking mountain, thick and tall with a jawline that might have even put Cap's to shame. Howard had to angle the punch upward to connect at all. Even as he did, he felt the pain of the blow shoot through his knuckles, into the small bones of his hand, and up through his wrist. He stumbled, the opposite hand instinctively going to cradle the one he'd thrown the punch with, and looked back to see that he hadn't even caused McGinnis to stumble. By the looks of him, all he'd managed to do was piss him off.

The larger man lunged forward and Howard steeled himself as best he could, but every ounce of breath driven out of his lungs by the blow to his middle. He folded over, a sputtering cough barely escaping as he did, and a hard blow that felt distinctly like an elbow to his upper back - some sensations you never forget, no matter how many years it'd been - sent him crashing down to the ground.

"You just took a swing at a general in front of his troops, Stark. I thought you were supposed to be smart."

He was pulling air into his lungs in painful, shallow gasps, but somehow managed to look up at him. The larger man didn't say anything, nor did anyone around them move as Howard slowly stumbled to his feet. "You sonuva bitch," he managed. "Just couldn't wait. Couldn't ..."

Howard took another swing, but stumbled, falling into McGinnis who pulled him in close so that he was trapped there. That booming voice rumbled in his ear. "This doesn't have to be on either of us. Let it go."

The inventor shoved backwards, only breaking free because McGinnis allowed him too. He shook his head, the words not quite finding their way off his tongue.

McGinnis snorted. "You lab rats really should learn your place in this war."

And then he was moving. His punch landed hard against Howard's cheekbone and whipped his head around, the rest of him following. He was out before he hit the ground again.

                                                ____________

"Cap, how close are we to Finow?"

Steve glanced over from where he'd been poking at the dying fire, trying to urge it back to life with little success. He tilted his head as he did the mental math of where they were versus the general area Dugan was referring to. "Maybe about eighty klicks, give or take. Why?"

Dum Dum waved the radio in the air. "Just heard from Phillips. Something 'bout Stark getting into some trouble?"

Blond brows drew together and Steve stood slowly, brushing his hands off. The fire could wait. "What kind of trouble?"

"No clue. All they told Phillips was that he was being held and he should send someone to come get him first chance he got. Phillips wasn't exactly in the sharin' mood."

"Right…"

"How much you wanna bet Phillips just didn't want to admit whatever Stark's gotten himself into?" Jim Morita chuckled as he looked up from his card game with Bucky.

"Bet she's blonde," Gabe Jones added.

Bucky snorted. "And leggy. Wish I could get into some of that trouble."

Dugan broke into a wide grin under his mustache. "You and me both, brother."

Steve resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he pulled his compass from his pocket, Peggy's photo staring up at him as he flipped it open. "We should be able to get there… maybe a day and a half?"

Falsworth finally sat up from where he'd been attempting to doze. "That'll put us behind."

"Not too bad, and not all of us need to go get Howard. Dugan, Bucky, and I can go get him while the rest of you keep going. That way you can get the scouting done by the time we get back. If Howard's not in too much trouble, we'll have him drop us over the zone."

"Don't worry, boys. We'll bring the blondes with us," Dugan offered, laughter the overwhelming response.

Steve shook his head, his lips quirked are the corners, but no matter how light the others made of the situation, it couldn't be good if Howard needed an escort back. They just wouldn't know how bad until they got there.

                                               ____________

No one seemed to want to acknowledge them when they first arrived, much less meet their eyes. That was the first sign something wasn't quite right. They finally found someone that passed them off to someone else, and they made the rounds from rank to rank until a Lieutenant Piper finally seemed to know where Howard was being kept.

"I still don't get why he needed a lift," Bucky mused in the lieutenant's direction. "He had to get out here somehow."

"The plane he came in was redirected."

Steve turned at that one, catching his friends' equally confused gazes. That didn't make sense. "Stark tends to fly his own plane in. How -?"

Piper shrugged. "Above my paygrade, Captain. Sorry."

"So who can give us some answers?" Dugan asked gruffly, receiving an irritated look from the officer. Ranks didn't mean a lot in the Howling Commandos, but they did in this company. Obviously.

"General McGinnis. But he's…" He looked over and Steve followed his gaze to a tall, broad man who immediately turned in the opposite direction. "The general is otherwise occupied. You're welcome to take Stark and go."

"Any of this sound fishy to you?" Dugan asked quietly and Bucky nodded in agreement.

They followed Lieutenant Piper to the furthest corner of the camp and into a tent marked with a red cross on white background. The uncomfortable feeling that had settled firmly into Steve's chest began to tighten and twist with each step until Piper stopped where a group of nurses had circled around a cot. He cleared his throat loudly and they scattered, revealing a grinning Howard Stark that had been at the center of their attention.

That should have eased at least some of the worry right there, but as the nurses retreated and gave him a clearer view, Steve could see why Howard had been relegated to the - strangely empty, now that he looked around - medical tent. His left cheekbone was showing signs of bruising that was just a little over a day into forming and the accompanying brow was split. His shirt hung open to reveal bandages around his ribs and his right hand was also secured in them. Somehow he'd managed to land in the middle of a fight. How or why, Steve had no idea. The lack of injured soldiers around them should mean that there hadn't been a battle anywhere nearby, even if the inventor had been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Cap," Howard chuckled, standing slowly from his cot. "Would have thought you'd have more important things to do than come pick me up."

"We were relatively close by."

Bucky stepped forward. "What happened?"

"Huh? Oh this?" He motioned with his injured hand to his injured face. "Nothing we need to get into."

"We're gonna need a little more than that, pal," Dugan said lowly. They all knew there was more to this story than they'd been told. If anything, they had thought that Stark would be eager to fill them in. Apparently not.

Howard straightened his shoulders a little, dark gaze flickering over to where Piper still lingered off to the side. "It's nothing. I do think I need a ride though. Sounds like the Army decided to put my plane on their tab."

"We brought the jeep," Bucky offered.

"Good. Not sure I'd be great on foot too far." Howard's tone was light as he awkwardly worked the buttons of his shirt back into place and grabbed his tattered suit jacket off the back of the chair, slipping it in stiffly. He tilted his chin up as he started past Piper.

"Stark-"

"Yeah yeah. You can tell 'im I got the message loud and clear," he growled as he passed the young lieutenant.

Steve exchanged confused looks with both Bucky and Dugan before taking off after the engineer.

                                               ____________

He had gotten the message loud and clear. That's what Howard had said as they left. The loud and clear reared its ugly head not just in the visible bruises that lined his cheekbone and jaw along the left side of his face, but in the stiffness that lingered in his movements and the quiet way he folded into himself in the back of the jeep once they started out of the camp. Howard Stark was a lot of things, but quiet wasn't one of them.

The part that Steve didn't understand was exactly what the message was.

Howard was in Europe with the SSR, but his company was responsible for multiple government contracts. It wasn't unusual for him to work on special projects that took him out into the field, but unless he was slipping off to fly the Howling Commandos on a particularly difficult mission that they couldn't get an Army pilot approved for, he wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the actual fighting at the time it was happening. Even if he'd been caught up in the battle there, though, there was no reason he'd be so locked down about the whole thing. Something else was wrong.

They had stopped for the night on their way up to an airstrip where Howard could catch a ride back up to London. Any other time he would have been teasing and joking and laughing with the others. The Commandos had a fondness for their resident designer that made sure all of their equipment could withstand whatever Hydra would throw at them, even if they gave him hell. This time, though, even Bucky couldn't pull him out of his own head.

"Never thought I'd see the day Stark didn't leap at being the center of attention in any way possible," his oldest friend mumbled as he moved close enough that Steve was the only one that could hear him.

"Did you get anything from him?"

"Nope. Neither did Dugan. Whatever happened, he's locked down tight."

"But why?"

Steve looked over as Bucky pushed a thoughtful breath out through his nose. "I know a beatdown when I see one. Whoever he went toe-to-toe with was bigger than him. Stronger than him."

"Not hard."

Bucky shot him a long-suffering look. "Says the man that was actually shorterthan him just a couple of years ago." Dark blue eyes fixed on him. "Go talk to him."

"Neither of you could get anything from him. What makes you think I can?"

"'Cause it's you."

Steve shot him a confused look and Bucky rolled his eyes.

"Stark practically idolizes you. If anybody's got a chance in getting him to open up about what happened, it's you."

He didn't give Steve the chance to argue, but brushed past him with the mumbled comment about getting more wood for the fire. With all of the subtlety of a bull in a china closet, Dugan followed, leaving Steve to make his hesitant way over to the brooding scientist.

Sometimes it was hard to remember that Howard was only a little over a year older. Steve had sat in the lab listening him go on and on about the path that had landed him with the SSR while the Manhattan-native had pieced together his upgraded uniform and shield. He had waved off questions about his family, but he'd happily gone on and on about the connections he'd made at MIT which had led him to starting his own business by the time he was twenty-two that eventually led Phillips to recruiting him to the SSR - because he was bored, Howard had told him flippantly, and Steve still wasn't sure if that had been a joke or not - and eventually to Project Rebirth. He'd done so much in his twenty-seven years of life that sometimes it was hard to remember that's all he'd lived.

In that moment, as Howard sat alone with his spine curled and his shoulders crumbled forward under the weight of whatever he refused to talk about, he looked older too.

"How're you feeling?" Steve asked after a long moment, startling the dark haired man from the thoughts he looked like he was drowning in.

A pair of dark brown eyes blinked owlishly up at him, catching the glimmer from the fire just a few feet away. "Huh? Oh. I'm fine. It looks worse than it feels."

Steve motioned to the open space next to him and Howard shrugged gingerly, giving him the go-ahead to take a seat. "I've been there. It usually feels about as bad as it looks."

Howard snorted at that, the sound mostly amused. "Never did run from a fight, did you Cap? Me, I don't jump on the grenade. I just find a way to stick the pin back in."

"So what happened this time?"

"Sometimes there's no way to stick it back in," the other man said softly, his voice shaking just a little.

Steve caught his gaze. "Howard, what happened?"

A beat of silence stretched into another and then another, leaving Steve with the feeling that he was going to get the same silent treatment as the others had. Finally, Howard pulled in a breath, the first words riding out on its release. "What I say doesn't leave us. It's gotta….I can't win this with fists." He looked over, quirking a split eyebrow. "As you can see."

That pulled the softest of chuckles from Steve. "It stays between us," he promised.

"The general there - McGinnis - asked me to come up with something that could keep soldiers awake longer. Days was the goal."

"Can't see how that'd go wrong," Steve grumbled.

"And it did. A lot of men died. A lot of Allied men died. They... " Steve waited, watching Stark curl a little more into himself, his hands moving anxiously as he tried to come up with the words. "It was like an animal got loose and ripped them all to shreds. It was my fault."

Steve swallowed hard. An empty med tent was unheard of after a battle with the nazis. They hadn't fought the nazis though. "Did he know?"

Howard's gaze snapped up at the question. "I hear that tone, Cap. You said this would stay between us."

"And it will. I'll keep my word, but, Howard, if he knew it wasn't ready and used it anyway…. That's not your fault."

For another long moment Howard simply sat, dark eyes reflecting the flames dancing in front of them, and he shook his head. "I knew what it'd do and I didn't protect it. Not gonna make that mistake again."

"What are you doing to do?"

"No putting the pin back in. That grenade's already gone off, but maybe I can keep him from doing any more damage with it. Taking a swing at him was, uh… not one of my brighter moments." Steve couldn't help but snort a laugh at that and Howard's lips tugged just a little at the corners. "There are other ways to take a dangerous man outta play."

Steve watched him for a long moment. "Just be careful, okay?"

Howard finally looked up at him and he burst out laughing, the sound startling the blond man. "Careful's not really my style."

"No it's not," Steve chuckled, shaking his head.

"I just gotta fix this, best I can. Best way I know how." He pulled in a breath and his tone was a little lighter. "Don't worry, Cap. I'm not abandoning you guys." His dark gaze flickered past Steve to where Bucky and Dugan were doing a terrible job at pretending to mind their own business. "Someone's gotta drop you crazy bastards in the middle of the firefight when no one else will."

"Takes one to know one," Dugan laughed and Howard flashed a grin that almost seemed real.

The others joined them and they settled into a more comfortable conversation for the rest of the evening, no one daring to turn the subject back around to what had happened.

They dropped Howard off at the airstrip the next day and he turned down the offer for one of them to go with him to London, saying that he needed to get some things done on his own. From what Steve heard he didn't stay in London long, returning instead to New York. A little over a week later the news spread that General John McGinnis had resigned from his post and just a few days after that Howard cut ties with one of his biggest Army contracts, sending a wave of uncertainty through the ranks. An expensive decision on all sides, from what was being said, but Steve was willing to bet it had more to do with trust than money.

Promises made or not, the Howling Commandos had no idea what to expect when they got back to their London base. Stark's men, for the most part, worked for the SSR rather than him directly, so at least in theory they would still be equipped for their missions. Getting there might be a bit more difficult if he'd decided to pack it up and go home.

"Well look at that," Bucky chuckled as they made their way into the labs to find Howard Stark working away like nothing had happened.

"Had you not heard?" Peggy Carter's voice drifted in, drawing their attention over. "The SSR has Mr Stark's full attention again. Lucky us."

"You know you love having me around more, Peg," Howard chuckled from where he was leaned in, examining something under his microscope.

She rolled her eyes good naturedly at the tease. "There's never a dull moment, certainly. Good to see you back in one piece, Captain. Boys."

"Agent Carter," he greeted as she moved past him towards the door, hoping that his smile didn't look nearly as dopey as it felt. He pulled in a breath and turned back to Howard. "We hadn't heard if you were coming back or not."

"Told you I was." He turned, the bruises faded and all that amusement finally back in those dark eyes. "Where's the trust, Cap?"

"About seven hundred feet in the air over Hydra-occupied territory, if you're up for it."

"Going in?"

"We've got a pretty tight turn around this time and can't seem to find a pilot willing to take us."

"Guess it's a good thing I brought a new plane back with me," he said lightly as he slipped off the stool he'd been perched on and started for the door.

                                               ____________

Notes: I came across the story that Dooley's reporter friend tells him about how Howard's Midnight Oil was used in WWII during the first season of Peggy Carter and couldn't shake the idea of Howard Stark trying to go toe-to-toe with someone twice his size and failing miserably. The Stark men are much better at fighting smarter.

It definitely took a whole lot longer to write than I was expecting... I guess that's just the way when I'm first dipping my toe into writing in a different part of the fandom. I got hooked on writing Howard in my Endgame fix-it fic that brought him forward with Steve and Peggy and now I have all these plot bunnies running amok for WWII era Howard, Peggy, Steve, and the Howling Commandos. Hopefully there will be more. :)

[baconsoupforthesoul]

The Ink Demonth- Day 2- Growth

Forced Growth

A/N: Have I ever mentioned that I love the BATIM Bioshock au? Cause I do, a whole heck of a lot. Alpha Henry belongs to @inkspottie. I don’t know everything that’s planned for this au so I hope this one-shot is alright. I had way too much fun writing it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy~

Norman stared at the operating table as his fellow scientists bustled around him. He felt disconnected, as if he was observing from the outside as he filled a new syringe with another dose of their newly-patented age accelerating drug. How did he end up working in a place like this? When did his haven, the only place that would offer him legitimate scientific work, become his own living hell? Everyday he felt his own humanity slowly drain away as he committed atrocity after atrocity for Mr. Joey Drew. It was days like this that Norman was almost glad that Henry wasn’t alive to see the things he had done. He would be too ashamed to look his old friend in the eye. However, while Henry might be dead, murdered at the hands of his ‘best friend’, his gaze still haunted Norman, in the form of a child, strapped down on the table as his colleagues pumped him full of drugs and chemicals.

Norman’s eyes drifted to the boy in question, seeing him wince as another needle pierced his skin. Despite sporting blue eyes instead of the original Henry’s green, the clone’s gaze was still unsettlingly similar to Henry’s. His stare seemed to go right through him, leaving Norman feeling hollow and exposed. Mr. Drew had named the kid Alpha, which only caused Norman’s dread to grow, knowing that he would most definitely not be the last clone to be made from Norman’s long dead friend.

And if being haunted by the visage of Henry wasn’t bad enough, there was what Mr. Drew had ordered him to do with the boy. The head of Rapture Studios was furious when his first attempt to clone Henry had emerged from the INK as a child. However, he decided to use this ‘failure’ to test their new method of age acceleration, as well as other new and potentially dangerous drugs. Mr. Drew took one look at this boy, this child, and saw only a lab rat, something to be used for his own gain. It made Norman sick to his stomach, especially as he watched poor Alpha struggle against the straps securing him to the table and cry out from the tremendous pain of having one’s body forced to grow faster then it was ever intended. As Norman approached the operating table, syringe in hand, Alpha’s gaze returned to him, eyes wide and glistening with tears. The boy let out a soft whimper, no doubt anticipating more pain to come, and Norman’s hand tightened around the syringe.

“Enough.” Norman’s voice was strained as he dropped the syringe on a side table. “That’s… enough for today.”

“What are you talking about Norman?” One of the other scientists asked. “Mr. Drew gave us specific instructions to…”

“I know what Mr. Drew said.” Norman seethed. “But I say we’re done.”

“But we’ve only managed to age him up to about an eight year old. What are we gonna tell Drew if we fall behind schedule?” Another scientists piped up.

“Don’t you worry about it. Just… go take a lunch break or something.” Norman sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “If Mr. Drew has any questions just send em my way, got it?”

The other scientists all agreed, especially after the mention of lunch, and quickly filed out of the room. None of them even spared a glance at poor Alpha, not even bothering to remove the straps that confined him. Norman let out another exhausted sigh. “Good to know I work with such compassionate folks.” He grumbled quietly before turning back to Alpha. “Now, let’s get these here straps off you, alright?”

The boy stayed quiet as Norman unbuckled and released the straps that held his wrists, chest, legs and ankles. Alpha slowly sat up and rubbed at his wrists. His shoulders were still tensed and a few stray tears fell down his checks. “Alpha? Are you still hurting?” Norman asked and the kid nodded. Norman had hardly ever heard the boy utter a word since he first emerged from the INK, but he knew the boy was a keen listener and understood what was going on around him.

“Okay, sit tight, I might have something that’ll help.” Norman walked over to a different table and filled up another syringe with a painkiller to help ease the child’s discomfort. As he approached Alpha with the syringe though, the boy flinched, scooting away from Norman his eyes wide with fear.

“No nonono, hey, easy there Alpha.” Norman stopped in his tracks and held up his hands as he tried to soothe the boy. “This here’s a different drug. It’s medicine, it’ll make you feel better.” Alpha still seemed unsure, eyeing the syringe nervously. “You don’t have to take it if you don’t want it.” Alpha looked up at Norman, his mouth wide with shock. The poor kid had probably never been given a choice before in his life, everything decided for him by either Drew or the other scientists.

After a moment’s hesitation, Alpha nodded and held out his arm. Norman smiled as he gently took Alpha’s arm, swapping the injection site with an alcohol swab. "This'll only take a second Alpha. I promise, it'll help you feel better." Alpha closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the syringe pierced his skin, his face pinched in discomfort as he felt the liquid enter his arm.

"There. All done." Norman removed the needle and swiftly placed a piece of gauze over the injection spot and secured it with medical tape. “Heh, it’s just too bad that I don’t have a sucker to give you.” Norman chuckled, remembering his own kids getting lollipops from the doctor when they got their shots. Alpha just gave him a confused look. That’s right, this poor kid had probably never even had proper candy before. The only things Alpha would remember from his tragically brief childhood would be labs, injections and pain. Unless… Norman rubbed his chin as an idea started forming in his mind.

“Hey Alpha,” The boy’s head perked up as Norman addressed him. “I got somethin’ I wanna show you. It ain’t too far from here. Did you wanna come with me?” Norman asked, determined to give this child as much choice in his life as he could. Alpha still looked a little nervous but gave a small nod before letting himself down off the operating table. “Alright then, stay close to me.” Alpha took Norman’s outstretched hand as the scientist led him out of the room. The two of them navigated the hallways swiftly but quietly, Norman occasionally pulling Alpha behind a corner to avoid the other scientists and researchers. While he wasn’t violating any rules per say, Norman was pretty sure that Drew would not approve of what he was doing. He didn't like to be bothered by the likes of these researchers anyway. They’d only ask questions that Norman didn't have the time or the patience to answer. Alpha remained silent the whole trip, his eyes darting back and forth nervously as he clutched Norman’s hand tight. The pair of them finally made it to an elevator which Norman ushered Alpha into before hitting the button for the top floor. The scientists gently pushed Alpha behind him to hide him from view as the elevator ascended but thankfully it didn't make any stops until they reached their destination.

As the elevator doors slide open, Norman was relieved to see that the floor was completely deserted. It was a rare sight, as the top floor of the laboratory was a popular spot for people on break. Smooth jazz emanated from a nearby radio as Norman stepped out of the elevator. “This here’s the viewing deck Alpha.” Norman explained, gesturing to the large windows in front of them. It took up most of the room, allowing them to look out into the sea and across the entirety of Rapture Studios. “Mr. Drew had this built to be a sort-of place of inspiration I guess. Let folks look out at the entire city as they dreamed up new ideas and inventions or something like that. Either way it’s a dang beautiful spot.” Norman turned around to see Alpha stare wide-eyed all around him. “Come on Alpha,” Norman took the boy’s hand and lead him right next to the window. “Why not get a closer look?”

Alpha looked out at the studio, his hands pressed to the cold glass. It didn't even look like a studio anymore, more like a city, with neon lights from various shops and business lighting up the dark ocean floor. Glass tunnels stretched from building to building and bathysphere's shuttled the studio's inhabitants from place to place. A dark shape suddenly appeared out of Alpha’s peripheral vision, causing Alpha to let out a yelp as he backed up from the window.

“No need to be scared Alpha.” Norman assured him. “Look, it’s just a squid. He can’t get to us in here anyway.” Alpha cautiously approached the glass again and stared in wonder as a giant squid slowly drifted by, it’s tentacles trailing lazily behind it. Alpha’s face broke out into a rare genuine smile as he watched schools of fish swim by and luminescent jellyfish float up through the ocean depths. Starfish clung to the window and seaweed and aquatic plants seemed to grow all around, hugging the windows and sides of buildings. Alpha gasped as he saw a whale gracefully swim over one of the glass tunnels before flicking its tail to ascend higher towards the top of the studio’s buildings. Alpha’s face lit up with wonder as the massive creature went right overhead as it moved higher towards the distant surface. The boy had never seen anything like this before, spending most of his days cooped up in a lab. He pressed his face right up against the glass, squishing his nose and no doubt leaving hand prints all over the clean glass but Alpha wanted to take in everything that was out there in this strange yet beautiful place.

Norman looked down at the child and smiled as he saw his genuine happiness. “What do you think Alpha? Real pretty out there, isn’t it?” Alpha nodded his head frantically, before turning to Norman with the biggest smile he had ever seen on the kid’s face.

“Thank you.” Alpha finally spoke, in a soft voice, barely louder than a whisper. Norman suddenly felt like his heart was caught in his throat as memories flooded over him. Going out for drinks with Henry, having the poor man rant about Drew for hours on end, showing the man his latest invention, Henry inviting him to the premiere of his latest cartoon shorts, letting the man sleep in his office as he often worked himself to the bone, confiding in Henry all his ideas, and his worries for the future of Rapture Studios, introducing his friend to his wife and kids…

Norman took a deep breath as he tried to suppress the memories of his old friend, the man whose face this child shared. “Don’t you mention it, Henry.” Norman’s voice quivered with repressed emotion but his words were genuine. If he could bring any joy or comfort into this boy’s life, it was the least he could do for all that was left of his dead friend. Even if he hadn’t been Henry’s clone, Norman would do everything in his power to make sure this kid could experience life beyond being just a mere test subject. It suddenly occurred to Norman that he had slipped up and called the child Henry rather then Alpha. His gazed down at the boy but he didn't seem to notice that he had called him by a different name, still too enraptured by the view. Norman smiled and placed a hand on the kid’s shoulder. Alpha glanced up at him briefly, offering him another smile before turning back to the sight before them. The two of them stood there in peaceful silence, before it was rudely interrupted.

“Now where the hell did that sorry excuse for a-” None other then Joey Drew himself stepped out of the elevator, grumbling to himself before he spotted Norman and Alpha by the window. “What the hell are you doing all the way up here, Polk? You’re supposed to be working, not lollygagging and enjoying the sights!” Drew’s gaze drifted downwards and he finally spotted young Alpha, who was now clinging to Norman’s leg and shaking like a leaf. “Why. The Hell. Is he all the way up here!” Drew yelled, gesturing angrily at Alpha who hid his face in Norman’s leg, whimpering quietly.

“Would you lower your voice? He’s just a child!” Norman hissed angrily, holding a protective hand in front of Alpha.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Drew seethed, glaring at Norman.

“I was just taking him to have a look around the place. That won’t interfere with all the goshdarn experiments you want to put him through.” Norman glared right back at his boss, his temper slowly rising.“He needs to get out sometimes. How are you expecting him to grow up properly if he stays in a lab all day? He can’t stay cooped up forever!”

“Why can’t he?” Drew asked. “I told you before this one is a failure. His only use to us now is as a lab rat. While he may be a botched attempt at cloning, he’s the perfect tool to further our research here.”

“He’s a human being, Mr. Drew!” Norman shot back, his eyes ablaze with fury.

“WELL I DON’T GIVE A DAMN!” Drew yelled, causing Alpha to yelp and squeeze tightly at Norman’s leg. “I told you when you came to Rapture, Norman, that Rapture wasn’t held down by petty morality. You can’t say you weren’t warned.” Drew sighed as he straightened his jacket before glaring down at the crying child clinging to Norman. “Now enough of this. Alpha, would you kindly return to the lab? I believe Mr. Polk has some experiments he hasn’t quite finished.” Alpha stiffened at the words, before his whole body relaxed. He let go of Norman’s leg and slowly walked towards the elevator as if in a daze.

“No, Alpha wait-” Norman reached out to the boy but Drew stepped in his way.

“Uh, uh, uh.” Drew wagged a condescending finger at him as Alpha stepped into the elevator. “We’re not done talking. You can return to your work in just a moment.”

“Mr. Drew, you know as well as I do how screwed up this whole thing is.” Norman seethed. “I don’t give a damn what you told me when I came here. This is wrong, and you can’t expect me to-”

“Do you remember what your life was like before Rapture?" Drew suddenly cut him off, walking around Norman like a predator circling its prey. “I believe you had trouble finding work, and you were stuck fixing projectors. I know it was so hard supporting your family with such meager funds, was it not?”

“Just what are you hinting at, Mr. Drew.” Norman growled, keeping an eye on his boss as he stepped idly past him.

“I’m just pointing out that you owe Rapture quite a lot. It would be a shame if you were to lose what you gained here? How is your family by the way? Happy and healthy I assume?”

Norman’s blood ran cold. Drew didn't have to say anything out right. His sugar-coated tone could not mask the underlying threat to his words. Norman was already in too deep and there was no going back now. Not if he wanted to keep his family safe.

“I-I understand what you mean, Mr. Drew.” Norman’s shoulder’s fell, as Drew’s smile grew, sharp and pointed.

“Good, good. I hate to be misunderstood. And you are a valuable asset here at Rapture, we would hate to lose you.” Joey crooned. “Now, I believe you have some work you should be getting back to, hmmm?”

“Yes Mr. Drew.” Norman replied, moving past his boss to the elevator. Drew let out a quiet chuckle as he turned to look out at his studio. Norman stepped into the elevator, and as the doors closed he rubbed a tired hand over his face.

“Oh Henry. Please forgive me.” Norman sighed, not even sure if he was talking about his dead friend or the poor boy waiting downstairs.

[lumen-tellus]

(SCREAMS BC I JUST WANNA PROCRASTINATE)

.

.

.

Take one - you cling to your mother’s dress and tell her not to go. Beg and beg and beg, throwing a tantrum even. Mother was distressed, of course, in part because money is good but you never cried and wanted something to the point of being a complete brat about it. So of course, with a forced slouch of her shoulders, she closed the door and hung her coat back on the hook.

Easy peasy, you think, delightfully. You should have known, even as a seven year old, that the easiest things never turn out as planned.

The next day, your mother went out to go groceries. She didn’t come back.

Take one - or rather, the first of your second chances, of your many lives relived - unfolds like take zero, after all. Things happen, things happen, a lot of people die unnatural and early deaths around you. You’re not sure whether you’re sighing from relief or apprehension when take two rolls around and you blink awake to summer and memories streaming into your old childhood bedroom.

You get up, and resolve to get it right, no matter what. Chances are chances and ought to not be wasted.

So take two - you follow around your mother at all times. Your mother becomes a bit worried over your behavior, but you refuse to admit anything because anyway, if you succeed, your concerns won’t matter. You wonder, though, if you should have said something at least. She died trying to protect you, even though she was the real target all along.

Then, take three - you tell your mother. She’s hesitant to believe you, but says she will do her best to be attentive and careful nonetheless. Doesn’t stop her from dying anyway, to a mundane and almost mocking push down a series of unsafe stone steps. No one saw who killed her because of the crowds, but you know who it was.

And now, take four - you tell everyone. Rally every hand and help you find and deal with. Mother is much too flustered and a bit irritated over how overprotective everyone is being, but Aunt May just clucks her tongue and says underestimation is what truly kills. You wonder if your aunt underestimated the situation all the same, or if you were the one who did so; yet again, more unnatural and early, this time far too early deaths occur around you.

It seems people will just die no matter how many times you do this. You just try, at this point - you try to fix things. Try, because just when you think you’ve got the perfect plan in motion, heaven sure likes to tear it apart with their hands-on criticism. You don’t resolve for certainty anymore, and just hope for a better outcome.

It’s a numbing experience. That’s what you begin to truly struggle against, once you give up and shift your priorities. Try, but don’t treat this as a mere experiment. Each relived life is not just a centuries-long scenario of observing and manipulating variables and jotting them down for later. You have to remember, these are real people.

These are real people.

They’re real, they’re real, you love them and hurt over them and that’s why you’re doing this at all.

If you forget that, then you’ve lost so much more than purpose or meaning.

Thus, take seventy three - you wake up to summer and memories streaming in, unpleasant and sluggish. You just lie there for a long while and keep staring at the ceiling, wondering what the hell you’re doing, ultimately.

You get the feeling this is what heaven is actually aiming for. Besides the general eradication of your kind - that’s a requirement for everything they do, so it doesn’t count. You’ve become a particular kind of lab rat for a particular kind of curiosity, most likely.

You pull up the blankets a little more, sighing under them. Father peeks his head in and knows, without much doubt, that you’re awake. You don’t need him to tell you that Aunt May made your favorite kind of cheese omelettes for breakfast today - you always wake up on the fifth of March, on a Saturday, at a quarter-past nine in the morning while the smell of food being cooked fills the apartment. Still, it’s nice to hear his voice again, you think.

Slowly, reluctantly, you get up - and try again.

[michaelmyersmalewife]

DYAD | ii. contact

words: 2k+

ship: venom symbiote/reader

warning(s): none

you can also support this fic on wattpad & ao3

"You'll be staying here with our other volunteers for now."

You struggled to keep up with the dark-haired woman ahead of you, barely being given the chance to observe your surroundings. It was obvious that you were in a lab somewhere beneath the Life Foundation's main building, but other than numerous people donning lab coats scurrying throughout the room, you had no idea what to expect. They had already stripped you of what little clothes you were able to keep, favoring to put you in a mildly uncomfortable hospital gown. Now you were trailing after a particularly talkative doctor, though your attention wavered after the first five minutes.

The woman (Dr. Skirth, you remembered her brief introduction from earlier) lead you to a room separate from the larger lab. It was almost maze-like, the numerous glass cells acting like a hall of mirrors. You could see that some of the cells were already occupied by three - maybe four - people, their forms roused by your sudden entrance. Your attention lingered on them until Skirth stopped a few feet in front of you, almost causing you to crash into her had you not been careful. She whipped around to face you, the hair that was held in a loose bun nearly falling out of place. A small, joking smile appeared on her face, hand facetiously shielding it from outside view.

"It doesn't give you much privacy but it'll be your home for the next few months."

You gave a halfhearted snort.

She cleared her throat, scanning the card attached to the lanyard that hung around her neck and quickly punching in numbers into the cell's door.

"We'll be coming back for you in the next half hour to take some initial diagnostics so go ahead and get comfortable."

You nodded, taking a seat on the surprisingly soft bed. She seemed nice.

The cage-like "room" in front of you is more than a little simple - a clear, glass box with a notably frame-less mattress on the side farthest from you. It felt...sterile. Even your old cell back in the ward came with more than this. But it was clean and not meant to be shared, which was a definite improvement. But you couldn't help flinching internally at the sound of hearing the door lock itself shut. Somehow, it felt as though you had gotten yourself trapped again.

Take a chill pill, won't you? You're not there anymore. He doesn't know. you thought to yourself.

He doesn't know where you are. And that's enough for you.

~~

When Dr. Skirth said half an hour, you didn't think they would be so on the dot. You didn't do much - though there wasn't much for you to do to begin with besides watch your fellow recruits be taken out for examinations.

You were on the verge of falling asleep when Skirth returned. She looked a little more disheveled from when you last saw her, this time flanked by three other official-looking scientists (at least, you assumed they were from the stark white coats they wore). There was something unnerving in how silent they were. Looking around, there was probably one other person in the cells that seemed to catch the vibe. They said nothing as they brought you out, leading you once again through the labyrinth of a facility that was the Life Foundation.

So far you hadn't passed by anything telling you what exactly you'd be doing here. The lab seemed disappointingly generic. They hadn't even bothered to answer your questions on the trip to the lab, but you didn't expect them to anyway. You just wanted out, and if this was your ticket to a place where nothing - no one - could find you, then so be it.

The entourage of scientists had taken you to yet another overwhelmingly sterile room. The fluorescent lighting was almost blinding but you could tell that you were in some sort of examination room a doctor would have, only much larger. It had the usual - a long padded table, a weight scale, and a height chart. But to one side was a treadmill and an MRI scanner. But that wasn't what set you on edge. One wall was a huge mirror - a one-way mirror no doubt. If you hadn't already felt like a lab rat, you did now.

Behind you you could hear chatter from the group of researchers, Dr. Skirth among them. You couldn't hear what they were saying, but the woman quickly parted from her colleagues, gripping the clipboard in her hands as she entered the room.

"Alright so before we get started on the tests I have to ask you a few questions. Nothing serious but answer truthfully, please." She said, setting the clipboard down on a nearby table in favor for a thin stack of papers. "We just wanna get a good idea on where you are in terms of health."

"Sounds good." you nodded.

"Are you currently taking any drugs? If yes, for how long?" she paused for a second before quickly adding a "Prescription also count, by the way."

You had been sober for over a year, (not entirely by choice, but it was for the best) and it was one of the few things you prided yourself on.

The rest of the questions went about the same route. You didn't really do much during your time in your previous confinement. It was the first time you genuinely tried behaving, and this time around you were glad it actually paid off.

After putting away the papers, Skirth handed you a long band, instructing you to place it just below your chest.

"Don't worry, it's just heart monitor."

In the back of your mind, you thanked yourself for making it a point to use the prison gym when you had the time. The tests weren't particularly grueling, they were fairly easy - if not basic. After measuring your height and weight, the real tests were only comprised of jumping jacks, push-ups, and about 20 minutes on the treadmill. It was a test you couldn't mess up, yet the thought of scrutinizing scientists (and although this was a small possibility, Drake) being on the other side of that mirror distracted you. Thankfully, not distracting enough to make you slip, only enough to make you all the more determined to do your most. That entire time Skirth had seated herself in front of a monitor, taking brief glances at the monitor in front of her while scribbling down whatever data appeared on her clipboard. About an hour had passed before she declared the "test" over. You were tired, but only just a little out of breath, gladly taking the bottle of water Skirth handed you.

"You did good! Definitely better than the ones we've gotten so far."

You couldn't tell if it was a thinly veiled compliment or not, so you opted for a shy smile.

"There's showers in the room over there so if you wanna clean yourself up, be my guest."

You gladly took the offer. You could feel the thin layer of sweat sticking to your skin, and you hated it. The water wasn't particularly warm, but it wasn't freezing either. You didn't care anyway. You just focused on the feeling of water running down your exhausted body. The extent of your exhaustion hadn't hit you until then, but the feeling of your tense muscles finally being able to relax was more than welcome.

~~

Before you knew it, a week had already passed.

You hadn't done much, you and the other subjects were subjected to daily exercises (though, only you and maybe one other person were handling it without complaints) and psychological examinations (those went about as well as you expected). You still didn't know your real purpose as a test subject, and asking the others had gotten you nowhere. They knew about as much as you did. Not even Dr. Skirth was willing to give you a hint, and she was by far the most easygoing researcher in the lab. You didn't want to think much of it, but the situation rubbed you the wrong way.

You were about to exit the communal showers when you heard muffled chatter from outside the room. You hoped the sound of the water running would mask your eavesdropping but at the same time your ears strained to make out what they were saying. You recognized Dr. Skirth - she didn't sound too happy, as she was trying to talk over the voice of a man. It wasn't until she quieted down that you realized the voice belonged to Carlton Drake.

"It's been six months at least, I think it's about time we introduce the symbiotes to the subjects."

"And I'm telling you they aren't ready! You saw how they reacted to the -"

"An unfortunate setback but that's all it was."

A minute passed and the gap in conversation would've felt far heavier had it not been for the cascade of water.

"We've had this talk before, Dora. You know my reasons."

You were really starting to hate him.

You hadn't heard anything after that, but you didn't exit the showers until you were sure you heard the door to the other room click shut.

Skirth was sitting at one of the tables, running a hand through loose strands of hair and staring at a corner of the room with an empty gaze.

"You okay?"

She flinched, quickly turning around to face you.

"Y-Yeah, yeah..uh, just wait for me outside, okay?"

You couldn't sleep that night.

It was rare for you to get so worked up so easily but it was nagging at your brain for the rest of the day. There were about a million questions popping up in your mind as you tried to get just a minute of rest. Why was Drake so insistent on borderline harassing people in the name of this "experiment" of his? But more importantly, what the fuck is a symbiote? A new drug or something equally questionable? With a company like the Life Foundation, you couldn't begin to fathom what they were planning.

You sighed, turning over once more in your bed, staring at the blacklights that lit up the room in a dim, blue glow.

~~

The next week isn't any better. If anything, it felt worse.

The physical tests continued on as normal, only this time you noticed there would be..exceptions. The first one they took was a tall, thin man with long stringy hair. You hadn't spoken to him much in your time in the cells, but you and the others had formed a strange solidarity in knowing you were each subjected to these secretive circumstances. When he didn't return one day, everyone noticed, and none of you were in the least bit comforted no matter what excuses the scientists gave you.

You thought it couldn't get any worse until it kept happening. By the end of the week they had replaced half of the old subjects with new ones, one being a particularly feisty woman with long black hair that nearly always fought back the men that would take her away for her tests.

You dreaded the day your turn would come - it was inevitable. It was only a matter of time before they carted you off to who-knows-where to supposedly dispose of you somewhere. And when that time came, you were quiet, calmly trailing after Dr. Skirth and two other men that accompanied her. She said nothing, but she held the same solemn - almost fearful - expression you had seen her with a few days ago. It made your stomach turn.

You entered a different room from the main lab you had grown used to.

It was fairly large, still keeping with the theme of smaller rooms made from clear glass. Monitors and tanks littered the space, though you couldn't see what they held. You would've been a little more than nervous upon being led to one of the rooms and left there by yourself. But the fact that Carlton Drake once again appeared in the room along with a larger group of scientists made your pulse quicken. You didn't trust him at all, and after the past week's events you didn't have a reason to. You scowled, leaning against something that looked like a small, horizontal tank. Drake approached the glass wall you faced. He smiled, though it seemed genuine, the smile wasn't reflected in the look in his eyes.

"So we meet again!" God he sounded like a comic book villain.

You shrugged. "So you gonna tell me what I'm really doing here now?"

Drake chuckled. "Patience is a virtue."

You drummed your fingers against the tank impatiently. The tank tapped back.

You shot away from it, swallowing a yelp as you tried to recover from the surprise. Drake still held that amused expression that was quickly becoming annoying. Your head twisted to the glass, frantically hoping someone could tell you what you were trapped in a room with. This couldn't be that thing he mentioned earlier, was it? You gathered your composure as best you could but you couldn't hide the nervousness growing in your gut.

"Wh-What is that?"

"That," he smiled "is the future."

[power-rings]

Growing Pains

Chapter One: Senses

Tap. Tap. Tap.

This was followed by an oddly familiar voice. His ear twitched, struggling to understand the meaning behind these words. As he is trying to wake, his eyes refused to open just yet, but his hearing was becoming sharper by the second. He could not only hear voices, but now the sound of the machines humming, and beeping.

“Maria, honey, don’t tap on the glass please.” This voice sounded tired, but when he spoke to the curious little girl he spoke with kindness and a faint stern tone at the same time. Maria looked up at her grandfather who towered above her as she laid on the floor inches away from the tube that hosted grandfather’s new creation.

“Sorry.” She smiled innocently, and then looked over at this creation who was curled in a ball. “Where’s that green stuff?”

“They were nutrients, my dear.” The scientist corrected softly, leaving her side to punch in something on a computer across the room. “I drained it. It appears to be growing rapidly, than expected.” He squinted at the computer screen as he read the wall of text.

“I wanna name him!” Maria jumped up, rushing over to the tube protecting the creation from the outside world.

“....Name him? Oh, it’s-”

“I like Shadow.”

The scientist finally turned and faced the six-year-old, his eyebrow raised slightly. “Why Shadow, my dear?”

“Because of his black fur, silly!” She looked at him with those pure blue eyes that would make him give her the whole world, if possible. “Don’t you like it?”

Honestly, he couldn’t disagree. However, the sponsors, and G.U.N may scoff and roll their eyes at Prof.Gerald growing soft and actually naming his creations rather than giving them numbers. He could hear them all now: “it’s like it is your damn pet!” or “what’s next? a leash?!” something along those lines. Tch, if only they knew the real reason why he created Shadow in the first place. He exhaled “it’s just fine, sweetie.” At his approval, she embraced the adult.

“Aren’t you gonna let him out, grandpa?”

No doubt she’s looking to play some games, and form a friendship with Shadow at least. She was always like this with any creation, even if they eventually died. Although, she wasn’t a big fan of the lizard that he had in his lab. “It’s not time yet, Maria.” Gerald walked over to the machine where this hose was connected to the the tube, while some Shadow was hooked up to some IVs. Not exactly the most comfortable way to live. Gerald could read the disappointment on her granddaughter’s face. “In due time, but first he needs to open his eyes. And I have to double check on his vitals.” The rest of his explanation Maria couldn’t quite understand at such a young age, but anymore questions his granddaughter may have had were dropped.

                                                         **

The next few days Shadow was making incredible progress. All of his senses were clearer, he could smell things that made him feel kinda sick to his stomach, and although his vision was blurry he could actually make out his creator’s figure whenever he stood before him. There were other beings in the lab every day, they would only give him a glance, before talking to Prof.Gerald. Shadow eventually uncurled from his tight ball, trying to roll over onto his stomach and perhaps sit up. Before long, Shadow was asleep again due to the strange liquid flowing through his IVs, and into his veins. He slept for approximately the rest of the day, until he was awaken by a familiar tap on the glass however, it wasn’t as persistent as before. He blinked, and then closed his eyes tightly. The lights in the room were hard to get use to after being asleep for so long, so he strained to keep them open without feeling them sting. He managed to roll over onto his stomach, and crane his head to see a young girl resting her hands against the glass that blocked any physical touch. She smiled at him, and waved. Whatever was spoken, it was muffled because of the thick glass, just like the rest of the noises outside of his “home”. She would linger for hours and hours throughout the day, showing him pictures she drew, some of her favorite books eventually reading a couple to him.This continued on for weeks and weeks. His creator didn’t act like he minded any of this, and would continue on with his business. Later, Maria was escorted out of the laboratory when more beings in lab coats came in. They talked among themselves, before crowding around Shadow. Gerald nodded to them, and walked over to the machine connected to Shadow’s tube. There was a lever, a code that Gerald punched in, and soon a loud hissing noise that made Shadow shiver and curl up in a ball. His quills were not much protection being a “newborn”, leaving him vulnerable.

“Never understood why you picked Hedgehog DNA, Professor.” The tallest gentleman scoffed, slightly.

“They have feisty personalities.” Prof. Gerald calmly answered, and ventured toward his creation, trying to encourage him to uncurl. He witnessed Shadow’s ear twitch upon hearing his voice, and his footsteps. “It’s okay.” It was as if Gerald was trying to coax a shy child to introduce himself. Slowly, as expected, Shadow uncurled - looking at his creator first before looking at the other strange figures. His pulse was elevating when he realized that was he no longer behind a thick glass. The judging looks from the humans weren’t exactly helping. Where was that sweet girl that read to him?

“So, is this suppose to the Ultimate Weapon?”

“...Did you hear it has a name, like a pet?!” One of the shortest men whispered to the other, he glanced at the creator. 

“Is that true?” Another spoke up, eyebrows narrowing. “Sir, with all due respect but when it comes to our creations we -”

“Funny how I’ve never seen you create anything.” Gerald stood tall, “when you create a lifeform we can have this talk.” Immediately, the men fell silent and this subject was never to surface again for many years to come. Gerald cleared his throat, “if my figures are right, he will grow much quicker than the average hedgehog. Over that time, these special abilities will develop.” It was gibberish to Shadow at this time, of course. Honestly, he just wanted them all to leave - except for his creator. “When he reaches a certain age, and I see that he is capable of proceeding with combat training. But we will discuss that another time. He needs quite some time to develop. I assure you, gentleman, you will not be disappointed.”

“Hope our sponsors will feel the same, Professor. Otherwise, they will force the whole Space Colony ARK crew to abandon the project... “

Gerald frowned. Quite frankly, Gerald didn’t care what their opinion was concerning his creation. He wanted to find a cure for Maria’s sickness, and he believed wholeheartedly his creation was that cure. He wasn’t just going to be a weapon for the government - like they had requested, and sponsored for. He may be up in age, and not the healthiest man, but he sure wasn’t gonna be their puppet and just simply hand over his creation for their own wishes. “No one can force me off the Space Colony Ark, I designed and oversaw the construction of this place. “

One of the men nodded, “and so they shouldn’t, sir.” He shifted upon his weight. “Now, along with this ‘secret’ DNA implanted that you’ve mentioned, it will guarantee your creation’s immortality, is that correct?”

The scientist was hesitant when this topic surfaced, simply because of what he had to go through to achieve such DNA. He didn’t like it, nor did he care for the very one who sent him the sample. “That is correct.” Now the four other men seemed at peace. Finally, no more questions, the older scientist thought. A few more words were exchanged between the men, before they dismissed themselves, leaving Gerald alone with his creation. “They almost make you go mad.” Gerald scoffed before looking at Shadow, and kneeling. “Not the most pleasant thing to wake up to, huh? Hmm...you seem to have calmed down now, though.” He observed his creation’s body language. Shadow finally inched further away from his “safe area” that use to be surrounded by the thick glass. Instead of judging eyes looking down upon him, Gerald’s gaze were much softer, with a hint of pride seeing that his creation’s development was going along smoothly in comparison to those failed projects before him. Another thing will be different too, from years to come the two will share a strong bond that no one ever imagined. However, it will be a long and bumpy ride for the both of them.

                                                 ***

About two weeks old, Shadow was having the first two hellish weeks of his life. He was being poked and poked constantly by needles, lights were being shined in his eyes, blinding him temporarily, and he went from trying to stand upright to walking without wobbling the following day. Oh, and let’s not forget... more needles, and even more tests. He really did start to feel like he was just simply like that lab rat across the room running in circles with no purpose.

Shadow was bruised from the injections, tired, and quite cranky. He fell asleep curled up. Whether or not they tested him while he slept, or poked him with even more needles, he did not know or even care anymore. The next thing he woke up to was no fresh bruises, instead he lifted his head he saw that familiar blonde haired girl. He studied her. That was when she smiled, and pressed her hand against the glass. Oh. Wait, he was in that stupid tube again. Shoot. He started to really hate that thing. He got to his feet, walked over and pressed his hand on the glass. Their hands almost matched in size.

Maria was surprised. Was she really kept out of the scene for that long? Not that it mattered anymore. She was finally making some sort of connection with grandpa’s creation. If only she could get him out of that stupid tube. “Hi Shadow, are you okay? You look tired, and - are you hurt?!” Shadow’s ears simply twitched in confusion. “Grandpa should really let you out more... there’s so many things to see, Shadow! I want you to see them with me...” That was when Maria came up with this clever but risky idea. She knew that grandpa would pull that lever to open the tube. She also knew the code. Hey, don’t give the girl a hard time. She’s in her room a lot with just stuffed animals, and books to entertain her (that she borrows from Grandpa)... and well she happened to stumble upon some private information; like that very code. Smart girl.

Before wasting anymore time, Maria pushed a stool near the computer and pulled on the lever, confirmed the request, and then there was that familiar hissing sound once more. Shadow looked at her, very skeptical about this plan. She grabbed his hand, and rushed out the door. Shadow stumbled slightly from her tugging. When they reached the corridor, Maria looked left and right before tugging him to the right. Further along, passing some private chambers to each individual that resided here, they soon heard footsteps. Maria panicked before grabbing a blanket from one of the carts in the hall. She scooped up Shadow and covered him in a blanket like a baby. The passerby glanced her way then smiled. Thinking she was simply playing with her dolls that day. Phew. The coast was clear.