#It literally hit me while I was listening to Monster | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gotstabbedbyapen · 29 days ago

Text

I have very complicated feelings for the Vengeance Saga (after the first listen)

Disclaimer: I will only criticize Epic the Vengeance Saga as a work on its own, not for its inaccuracy or deviation from mythology and The Odyssey. There are more knowledgable people who can point out and analyze the changes in Epic the Musical, but that is not what I'll be tackling here.

To put it bluntly, I'm not being angsty about it as I should. The whole saga just... didn't feel right with me.

Now, first off all, I'm a big fan of Epic and had been following it since the Cyclops saga (first version). I've been in love with many songs and hyperfixed it for months on end. But when the Vengeance saga came along, I didn't feel that same bubbling love rise in me.

Even as a fan, this isn't my first time having peeves with Epic. I didn't jam with the re-release sagas for a while, I'm underwhelmed with the Circe VS Odysseus fight and other issues, very unpopular opinion but "Monster" wasn't too impactful to me, and also the God Games (especially Zeus' attack).

The Vengeance Saga though? Well, they say we gotta do the Bun-Meat-Bun (or whatever the hell its name really is) technique when giving criticism, so I'll start with the good parts.

I love that Odysseus looked so done with Calypso in "Not Sorry For Loving You". They're basically this meme:

Like sorry you're a sad but you're still an abuser 😒

Then Odysseus starts singing the reprise for "Full Speed Ahead" but there's no one to back him up. That one hits me hard. To whoever on Tumblr said that after the Thunder Saga we will never hear the crew's back-up again and Odysseus' singing will be answered with silence, Apollo really blessed you with the red ball.

Hermes and the Winions' part was really cool too! I really like them being mischievous helper! The warning about the wind bag and the changing scene of Odysseus fighting off sea monsters while Hermes just vibing with the beats is 👌👌👌

But after that the hype started to sizzle out for me. You might want to skip this part if you're not comfortable with harsh criticism because I WON'T hold back.

It's really backward but I like the Odysseus VS Charybdis draft more than the final production. Charybdis' roars and music are somehow less intimidating, which is a shame because I thought this would be one of the biggest struggles Odysseus will face. Even with awesome illustrative animatics, the scene wasn't as thrilling as I've expected.

The other songs got massive improvement from its draft version (on top of my mind I can think of "Thunder Bringer", "There Are Other Ways", "Little Wolf"), but I don't get why "Charybdis" didn't get up-graded as much like them. It's like a cake that was throughly baked but half decorated and it just didn't taste as good as I've hoped.

Then we have the Odysseus VS Poseidon part in "Get In The Water" and "Six Hundred Strikes". The first thought I had for GITW is this song sounds like all the draft snippets were mashed together without a smooth transition/connection between them. Jorge and Steven's performance is great, but there's not enough tension for me to dread for Odysseus. When Poseidon first met Odysseus in "Ruthlessness", the whole opening was terrifyingly good! And we didn't even have any illustration animatic back then! (that's not to say the GITW animatics were bad, they just can't salvage much when the song itself was already weak)

I wasn't impressed with Poseidon's Shatter The Ocean move either. It's supposed to be the Strongest AttackTM but it's less scary than when he and the Laestrygonians destroyed Odysseus' eleven ships with probably 1% of their power. It didn't even help when Poseidon looked like he's having a seizure with lights pouring out of his eyes and mouth during the transformation.

Odysseus being literally on the brink of death with the souls of his loved ones pulling him into the abyss is a gem in the rough, but because we've seen Odysseus almost drowning before in the end of the Thunder Saga, it's not as shocking as it should be. Furthermore, Poseidon could have instant-killed Odysseus right then and there but didn't really annoyed me. But I guess he just wanted Odysseus to slowly suffer while dying.

Right when I thought the progress will get better, it... gets down. I can go with Odysseus using wind to escape the water, but him wearing it like a jetpack is so comical it ruined the drastic of the situation. And I'm officially let down when Odysseus FUCKING ATTACKED Poseidon in "Six Hundred Strike".

What? Just... why with that choice?

Look, I'm not gonna fault Epic for making creative liberties from the source material (as said in the disclaimer), but I will criticize if that change contradict itself in the transformative work. And this is one of them.

Poseidon and the gods have been proven time and time again in the musical just how powerful they are. Their ominous and grandiose entrances, them striking fear and inferiority in our hearts just by singing. Even Circe, a low-level goddess, poses a constant threat to the crew and Odysseus had to get help from Hermes just to get a chance to corner her (and Hermes even joked that he can still die!)

Poseidon easily destroyed almost all of Odysseus' fleet. Odysseus was very avoidant of him, opting to go to the literal Underworld to find instruction on how to dodge him and sailing through Scylla's lair + willing to sacrifice six men for safe passage. And when Poseidon said he can drown all of Ithaca, it's not just bluffing, he would and could have done that. Yeah, the King of the Sea is THAT BIG of a treat.

So no, Odysseus isn't cool to attack Poseidon, he's being stupid. I'm not even cheering for him the whole him he fight, just groaning at how ridiculous the whole thing is. If Epic is more believable and sticks to WHAT IT HAD ESTABLISHED BEFORE, having a sudden burst of anger and choosing ruthlessness won't save Odysseus from one swipe of Poseidon's trident. Odysseus stood no chance against a one of the most powerful deity, even if he's the protagonist and love his family.

Not only that, Poseidon didn't even defend himself and was wounded by a mere human! And he just sat there and took all the blows and insults from Odysseus??? And he actually begged Odysseus to stop and agree to quell the storm to let him get home??? I'm not buy that bullshit. I'm more upset that a literal Olympian god was nerfed down than Odysseus having a Gary Stu moment. Give me a break, that try-hard moment to be cool and edgy just show how badly written the scene is.

What's the fucking point of hyping up how dangerous the gods are if a human can take one down? Tell me this isn't some Wattpad-y Greek myth retelling fanfic where the teenage Y/N sass her way to defeat an entire pantheon. Epic really traded its opportunity to be better for some cheap and out-of-the-blue dramas in this saga, dare I say it's even worse than Zeus' OOC attack on Athena. I'm very disappointed with that decision.

On an end note, the saga did have one saving point with the "After everything you've done, how will you sleep at night?" - "Next to my wife" lines. Odysseus knew he could be the most horrendous man ever and Penelope would still choose his side, that just show how powerful their love and faith in each other are.

But not enough to excuse all the terrible cinematic choices.

#epic the musical #epic the vengeance saga #jorge rivera herrans #song analysis #song review #my reviews #my ramblings #Spotify #Youtube #The Pen explodes with ink #after being let down with Zeus and Poseidon's OOC thing #i now have lower hopes for the Ithaca Saga #i guess at least there aren't any more “evil gods” to be ruined #let's just see how it goes #but seriously what's happening to Epic??? it was so good until Love in Paradise #and i feel like the musical is now on a downward slope #am i expecting too much?!

98 notes · View notes

im-totally-not-an-alien-2 · 2 years ago

Text

Bruce crashed to the ground.

The bright green portal that brought him here snapped shut above him leaving him stranded in an unknown location. He had just managed to stand up when he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey!" A boy with black hair and blue eyes came running up to him, "Are you okay?"

Bruce grunted, glaring at the small creature trailing behind the child through his cowl, "I'm fine. Where am I?"

"You're in Unova, smack dab inside the Pinwheel forest." The kid said, "What an unlucky place to land."

"Unlucky how?"

Aside from giving him a disapproving look, the child was unfazed by his tone. "The Pinwheel forest got its name because its a natural maze. The monsters here are weak but you might find yourself going in circles if you're not careful."

Batman thought for a moment, "monsters?"

The child smiled and Bruce thought he looked like his other children before the boy excitedly introduced his "partner pokemon": Aron

The Aron in question made happy little noises as it approached and nuzzled its metal face into the side of Batmans boot. Cute.

"Oh, by the way, my names Danny. Do you want me to take you to town? There's a professor there that you can talk to. She might not be able to help you get back to your home world but maybe she can find someone who can."

Batman narrowed his eyes at him, "How did you know I wasn't from this world. Thats not usually the first conclution people jump to."

For the first time since Danny had met the Batman he actually squirmed a bit. "Anyway, let's get started! It's a long trek to town!"

It took them about two days to get out of the forest. Danny had thankfully lent him use of his equipment and food. It was nice having a tent to sleep it when the rain hit on the first night, even if it was a little cramped. Aron curled up between them to soak up thier body heat like a housecat.

It was also a relief that Danny could cook, though Bruce had no idea where the child was storing all of this stuff.

Danny ran off into town, saying that people were going to ask a lot of questions if a guy dressed as a bat came strolling into town and if he was going to be staying in this world for a while it was probably best to get him some normal clothes.

Bruce reluctantly agreed and after telling him his sizes the kid ran off to the store, leaving Aron behind to "protect him". Bruce hated relying on a childs generosity to get by.

Soon enough the kid came back with an all black outfit, saying something about it suiting him. Bruce left to change and came back to Danny giving Aron and his other pokemon Staryu some Oran berries.

After that they finally set off to town.

The professor was nice, if infuriatingly calm about giving literal monsters to random children. The professor even offered Bruce a pokemon egg since he was probably going to be in this world a while.

Bruce accepted the gift, wondering what he was getting himself into when Danny got excited.

The child explained that he was a treasure hunter/explorer by trade that survived by finding things he could sell in shops but he wasn't a very strong trainer and had to be careful where he went due to the presence of powerful pokemon.

Danny then asked Bruce to travel with him to be his bodyguard.

Bruce was very displeased to discover people set thier kids loose into a monster infested world around the age of ten and horrified to know the actual survival rate of this stupidity.

Bruce agreed to protect him and got registered as a pokemon trainer and was given the egg and some pokeballs. Danny offered to teach him how to catch pokemon as Bruce planted a listening device somewhere.

They set off back into the pinwheel forest to catch Bruces first pokemon and to start thier journey.

Meanwhile, Dannys excited to travel with someone who seems like a proper dad.

It couldn't hurt to pretend, right?

#dp x dc #fanfiction prompts #prompts #danny phantom #danny fenton #batman #bruce wayne #dc x dp #pokemon #dp x dc x pokemon #danny has an aron and a staryu #bonus points if Bruce somehow gets a fletchling cause he always gotta have a robin #and this is one damian isnt going to complain about #bruce gets pseudo reverse adopted and doesnt even realise it #danny wants a family #imagine bruces face when he learns Danny got dropped from a similar green portal in Johto

2K notes · View notes

fluentmoviequoter · 8 months ago

Text

You Invite It

Requested Here!

Pairing: Dominique Luca x fem!reader

Summary: Despite your sunny and smiley personality, Luca and another man get angry with you during a night out with 20-David. When Luca comes to apologize, you shy away from him, and he has to tell you how he feels before you will accept his help.

Warnings: angst, arguments, alcohol consumption, drunk man gets pushy with reader (none of the SWAT men, of course!), fluff, comfort at the end

Word Count: 3.7k+ words

Masterlist Directory | Luca Masterlist | Request Info\Fandom List

“There she is!” Hondo cheers when you walk in.

You smile and do a dramatic spin before bowing. Every member of 20-David smiles in return, as their day is instantly brightened just by your presence.

You’ve known the team for a while but becoming friends with them was easy. They are some of the nicest people you have ever met, and your constant good mood draws them in day after day. Luca is actually the reason you met the team because you were drawn to him, and once you became friends with him, the rest of the team followed suit. Thanks to Luca, you now have some of the best friends you could have ever asked for.

“How are you?” Luca asks as he pulls you into a side hug.

“I’m good,” you answer. Luca’s eyes drop to look over you quickly, and your smile grows as you add, “I promise I am perfectly fine. Safe and sound, see?”

Luca nods and turns his attention back to Hondo, but he keeps an arm around you. While he doesn’t always succeed, Luca tries to hide the depth of his feelings for you. He’s felt a unique connection the moment you met, a persistent desire to be close to you. Most likely, Luca will not admit it to anyone, but he is in love with you and knows it. He constantly checks on you because his love and care cause him to worry about you. Your safety is important to him because Luca sees the cruelty and monsters in the world daily and wants you far away from that. So, he hasn’t told you how he feels.

“We’re going to Jumbo’s tonight,” Street says. “You wanna come?”

“Sure!” you answer. “But I’m not playing anymore games with you.”

“I did not cheat!” Street argues.

“Yes, you did,” you and Luca say together.

“Thank you,” you tell Luca as you lean against him. “See, Luca said you cheat, so it must be true.”

“You would say that,” Street huffs.

“What does that mean?” you inquire.

You take Luca’s hand because it’s easily accessible where his arm hangs over your shoulder. He sends Street a warning look as you link your fingers with his.

“Nothing,” Street answers after a moment. “Just that you like Luca more than me.”

“No argument there,” you retort with a wink. “Maybe you could even the field if you’d stop cheating at darts.”

“It is literally impossible to cheat at darts!”

You laugh, and Luca smiles as you turn against him. His arm wraps around you, and he wishes you would stay with him forever. But even though he is looking forward to spending time with you tonight, he hates that it’s at Jumbo’s. Going there for a drink with his team is one thing, but they aren’t the only ones who notice your sunny and welcoming personality. He doesn’t know if he can handle watching you get hit on for much longer.

Street mouths, “Just tell her,” while you’re tucked against Luca’s chest, yet he is too concerned with you rejecting him to take the chance.

✯✯✯✯✯

It starts before you even get inside. Someone in the parking lot calls out and asks for your number, but your smile doesn’t falter as you rush inside to see your friends. 20 Squad just wrapped up a big case, so you are excited to celebrate with them. Spending time with them is a reward, but knowing they accomplished something amazing makes everything more interesting.

Street yells your name when you enter, and you quickly make your way through the crowd to join them at the usual table. The seat next to Luca is open, and as the team expected, you slide into it without hesitation. After hugging him and saying hello to everyone else, you listen to them recount the details of the raids they completed for the case. Your hand slips into Luca’s when they mention his exemplary driving, and he smiles at your attention.

“Hey, I’m going to go get refills. Everyone want more?” you ask as you stand.

Hondo reaches for his wallet, and you lean forward to hit his shoulder.

“My treat,” you add. “For keeping LA safe.”

“I’ll go with you,” Luca offers.

“I got it,” you promise.

You bump your shoulder against Luca’s as you pass him, and he turns to watch you. His protectiveness comes from a good place, but situations like this, when you’re out in public and men have no issue coming up to you and doing what Luca wants to do, are different.

“Why don’t you just tell her?” Deacon asks Luca. “It’s clear to everybody that you have feelings for her, and we all know you want to settle down.”

“With her,” Hondo adds. “And she clearly likes you, too. What are you waiting for, my man?”

“I just… I can’t risk being wrong,” Luca explains.

✯✯✯✯✯

As you approach the bar, you step around a group of guys to wedge in. One of them looks up when you brush against him, and you apologize before asking the bartender for another round for your table.

“Hey,” the guy beside you says after you finish. “I just wanted to let you know that I wasn’t, like, upset or anything. I turned around because you’re beautiful.”

“Oh. Thank you,” you reply.

Even though you turn back toward the bar, hoping to cut the conversation short, the man takes your happy look as an invitation to continue.

“Let me buy you a drink,” he offers.

“No, thanks. I’m here with friends.”

“Surely they can spare you for a few minutes. I’m sure they have before.”

“I’m really not interested. Thanks for the compliment, but I’m good.”

The man’s jaw drops slightly as you accept the tray of drinks with a smile and balance it in your hands as you return to the table.

✯✯✯✯✯

When you turn toward the guy, with your best smile on, Luca’s jaw clenches. He always keeps an eye on you but hates witnessing moments like this. Luca turns back toward the table as you approach, and only mumbles a thank you when you pass him another drink.

“What did the quarterback up there want?” Street teases.

You roll your eyes, unseen by Luca, and answer, “To tell me I’m beautiful.”

Luca picks up his drink and downs it quickly, too quickly, before excusing himself to take a call. You watch him walk out and then return to your conversation with Street and Hondo.

“Sorry,” someone says as they bump into the back of your chair.

“No problem,” you reply. “What’d she say then?” you ask Street.

“Um, excuse me,” the guy behind you says.

You turn and look up at him, and Street looks over at Hondo, who shakes his head in amusement. None of you notice Luca walk back in and freeze at the sight of a man standing beside his chair and talking to you. As if Luca wasn’t in a bad enough mood after the first one, now there’s a man in his spot flirting with you. He is used to being upset by other men taking your attention, but the anger building in him is new.

“I said no,” you repeat, finally dropping your smile.

“That means leave,” Street adds seriously.

“Sorry,” the man says, though you know he doesn’t mean it.

He knocks into the back of your chair again as he walks away, but you keep your attention on Street. You gesture for him to continue his story, and your smile reappears as he picks up where he left off. Unfortunately, all Luca sees is a man talking to you, and a smile on your face when he gets back. Luca drops into his chair without a word and gives his attention to the game on the TV over Deacon’s head.

“You alright?” Hondo asks.

“Fantastic,” Luca answers.

“Make a decision about that thing we were talking about?” Deacon asks.

The reminder that Luca has feelings for you that he hasn’t acted on does not help to improve his attitude or calm him down any. He wants to tell you, he does, but he’s scared. And right now, he is angry that you so openly accept the flirtations and advances of strangers but seem totally blind to how well he treats you.

“No,” Luca tells Deacon.

“Ten bucks that guy at the bar is buying you a drink,” Street says from your other side.

You groan and tip your head back.

“Getting tired of all the attention, pretty girl?” Hondo jokes.

“Yes!” you answer with a chuckle. “I think I’ve been flirted with and hassled enough tonight to never go out again.”

“Well maybe if you wouldn’t invite all the attention and learn to drop the smile and say no, it wouldn’t be an issue,” Luca snaps.

His eyes are still on the game, so he doesn’t see how quickly your smile falls at his comment. You look over at Street, but he, Hondo, and Deacon seem just as shocked at Luca’s outburst. Deacon tries to pick the conversation up again, but no one is quite as excited or willing to talk now.

“I’ll be right back,” you tell Street as you stand.

Luca sighs once you’re gone, simultaneously mad at himself for hurting your feelings and still upset with you because you can’t see his attachment to you. Street watches you go, and when Luca looks over, he can tell that he undoubtedly ruined the night. Luca assumes you’re heading to the bar for another drink and to let another man flirt with you, and he can’t take it.

“I’m calling it a night,” Luca says.

He stands and walks out of the bar without even looking for you, something he has never done before. Luca always takes you home, or at least offers to, after a night out. On the rare nights that you turn down his offer, he makes you promise to call him when you get home safe. So, when he leaves without a glance in your direction, the rest of his team knows that whatever caused him to snap is going to be a bigger problem than anticipated.

“Where’s Luca?” you ask when you return.

“He left,” Street answers quietly.

You look toward the door, but he’s already gone. Although you should probably be upset with him, you’re more concerned than anything. He’s acting out of character tonight, and that worries you.

“What did I do?” you ask as you sit.

“Nothing!” Street assures.

“He had a rough day,” Deacon adds. “And he’s not dealing with it very well.”

“It’s not your fault,” Hondo reiterates.

You nod, but it is clear to everyone at the table that the night is over. Whatever happened to Luca to make him snap, a long day, or maybe it's your fault, but he ruined everyone’s mood in an instant.

“Let me take you home,” Street offers as you stand.

“I- it’s fine, Street. I think I need to be alone right now,” you reply.

“Seriously, let one of us drive you,” Deacon implores.

“I’ll call a cab. It’s fine. Thank you, though.”

They nod and you hug each of them before stepping outside to wait for your ride. After watching the timer on your phone tick down, your vision grows blurry with unshed tears, and you turn the screen off and put it away. As you sit against a bench outside the bar, you nearly miss the man who ran into your chair earlier as he approaches.

“You wanna tell me no again without your boys to back you up?” he asks, slurring his words together.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you reply.

He stumbles as he steps toward you, and you can smell alcohol all over him. There’s no drink in his hand, so you know the strong scent is simply evidence that he is drunk. When he leans into your personal space, you stand and try to put some space between you.

“I said I wasn’t interested,” you remind him.

“Everyone is interested,” he argues as he raises a hand to your waist.

You try to push his arm away, but he tightens his grip and pulls you close as his other hand raises to your shoulder.

“Get off of me,” you demand.

“You told me no and now I’m returning the favor!”

You raise your hands to his chest and push as hard as you can, but his hands remain on you as he tips back. As he falls and pulls you to the ground with him you regret turning down Street’s offer for a ride. You didn’t want to talk about Luca, but now you would have that awkward conversation in a heartbeat.

The man pulls one of his hands from your skin and pushes you onto the sidewalk. He begins mumbling as he pushes you, but you have coordination in your favor. As you maneuver away from him, you look down the road and hope to see your cab approaching.

“No,” the man says while he grabs your hair.

You turn quickly and try to push him off again, but you can’t get any leverage before he pushes you against the brick wall. Leaning over the bench, you can feel warm blood running down your face, but even as the ground spins beneath you, you feel his hands move against your sides. Turning quickly and resisting the urge to be sick, you slap your hand across his face. He stumbles just as your cab approaches the curb. You rush into the backseat and lean against the headrest. The driver asks something, but you focus on staying conscious rather than answering her. She passes you a box of tissues, and you press a few against your head and try to breathe.

✯✯✯✯✯

Luca has been home for over an hour but hasn’t sat down yet. As he paces across the living room again, the anger dissipates, and he has the clarity to realize what exactly he said and did. Luca needs to apologize, and soon. After pulling his phone from his pocket, he calls you but doesn’t get an answer. Luca sends a text, but it goes unread for nearly five minutes. Next, he calls Deacon, who hasn’t heard from you since he left the bar after Luca. Luca ends the call with Deacon and begins to panic. If they left soon after he did, no one has heard from you in nearly an hour. When the door opens, Luca turns quickly.

“Street,” he says before asking about you.

“She wouldn’t let me take her home,” Street answers. “Why?”

“Because she’s not answering my calls,” Luca says quickly.

“I hope you were calling to apologize.”

“I was, and I will let you give me the whole speech later, but I need to go check on her.”

Luca picks up his keys and rushes to his truck. He could drive to your house with his eyes closed but forces himself to pay attention as he worries that he ruined everything with you and now truly doesn’t have a chance to show you how you make him feel and how much he loves you.

You don’t open the door after too much knocking on Luca’s part, so he pulls his keys out and uses your spare key to get inside. If you’re not here, Luca will call the entire team back to Jumbo’s to help look for you. There’s no sign that you got home from the bar, but Luca decides to search the house anyway. The kitchen, living room, and bedroom are empty. When Luca is prepared to start an all-out, city-wide search for you, he remembers he didn’t check the bathroom. His hope is low, but when he sees the bloody towel lying on the sink, his heart drops to his stomach.

✯✯✯✯✯

When the light turns on, you groan and turn your face away from the brightness. Your thoughts aren’t clear, but you know the light is hurting your head. When you force your eyes open, someone is kneeling beside you.

Luca sees the blood on the towel and on your face before noticing how dazed and confused you seem. When you open your eyes, Luca recognizes the distracted, cloudy look in them and decides you are likely concussed. He wonders if you were tipsy by the time you got home and fell, but he needs to tend to your head wound before he asks how you ended up in this situation.

When Luca raises his hand toward you, you shrink away from him. You push yourself into the corner and make yourself as small as possible, terrified that the man from the bar somehow followed you home and came to do what he started.

Luca, however, freezes at your blatant display of fear. A bruise spans your shoulder, and a darkening splotch surrounds your wrist. Because you moved, those marks are now on clear display for Luca. They look suspiciously like handprints and Luca’s guilt about leaving you multiplies tenfold.

“Hey,” Luca says quietly. “It’s just me. Luca, Dom, whatever cute little name you feel like calling me today. I know you’re probably mad at me, but I need to help you. Can I come closer?”

You look up and stare at him for a moment before nodding. Slowly, you move back toward him and offer your injured wrist.

“I got you,” Luca murmurs as he twists to look at the gash across your hairline and forehead. “And I’m so, so sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it. I was just jealous that all those guys were approaching you and saying those things when I have real feelings for you. When I’m in love with you.”

“Love?” you mumble against his arm.

“Hey, stay awake for me,” Luca requests.

He cleans the wound gently, then places a few butterfly closures over it before bandaging your forehead. After pressing ice to your wrist, Luca helps you up and into bed.

“Stay,” you request as you lay on your pillow.

“I’ll be close,” Luca promises.

He stays in the living room when he isn’t checking on you and ensures the guys know you are okay. None of them know what happened, but Luca promises to ask you when you wake up. If you're willing to talk to him.

✯✯✯✯✯

When you wake up the following morning, you have a headache and a disjointed memory of a dream in which Luca showed up and helped you. You exit the bedroom after changing and stop suddenly when you see Luca in your kitchen.

“You really came,” you say aloud.

“I am so sorry,” Luca says again. “I don’t know if you remember what I said last night, but I didn’t mean what I said at the bar.”

“I remember pieces,” you admit as you tug on your fingers.

“Do you want me to leave?”

You shake your head and move closer to Luca. “After you left, I was really upset. So, when I left I called a cab because I didn’t want to have to talk to Street or Deacon about what happened…”

“About me?”

“Yeah. While I was waiting for the cab, that guy I told to leave me alone, the second one, I mean, came out. He was really drunk and started telling me that it was his turn to say no. He grabbed me, and I tried to fight back like you showed me, but I just couldn’t get the upper hand.”

“He grabbed you?”

Luca carefully takes your hand and frowns as he looks at the bruise on your wrist. You nod and move even closer.

“He pushed my head against the wall, and I slapped him, he tripped, and I just jumped into the cab without thinking. I- I would have called you once I was safe, but you clearly weren’t happy with me when you left.”

Luca closes his eyes as you continue.

“It hurt, Dom, what you said. I don’t try to invite it, you know. Whenever those guys make passes at me, I turn them down. So, when you basically said it was my fault that they don’t listen or respect me, I was really surprised, and it hurt my feelings.”

“I’m sorry. I- I didn’t even mean it. You don’t invite it, I know that. Trust me, I know that.”

“What does that mean?”

“That I know firsthand what it is like to be pulled in by you. I fell in love with you,” he admits. “And I didn’t have a bit of say in it. You walked into my life, and then I wanted you in it all the time. I care about you, so much, and seeing all those men close to you, where I want to be, made me angry or jealous. But taking it out on you was- should have never happened, and I’m truly sorry.”

Your brows furrow as Luca speaks, and when he finishes, you ask, “You- you didn’t know I turned them down, did you?”

“No.”

“I always do. Not just because I don’t like it, but because I have feelings for you.”

Luca’s eyes drop away from yours, and he feels worse upon hearing that your actions were at least in part done out of care for him.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats.

“Stop,” you request.

Your wrist is still in his grasp, so you raise your other hand to cup his jaw.

“You said you fell in love with me,” you mumble. “Which is great, because I love you.”

Before Luca can react, you close the distance between you and kiss him. Luca’s hands move to either side of your neck, mindful of your pain as he kisses you. The memory of the hurt he caused drifts further from your mind with each movement, and knowing that Luca loves you, too, brings your smile back for a whole new reason.

Luca’s phone rings, but he doesn’t stop kissing you. When your phone rings immediately after, you pull back and answer it.

You hide your smile as you listen to the person on the other end. “It’s for you,” you tell Luca as you pass him your phone. “Just remember I love you.”

“Hello?” he asks.

“Dominique Luca!” Street begins.

#hanna writes✯#dominique luca x reader #dominique luca #swat x reader #swat cbs #requests #fem!reader

271 notes · View notes

kittykatthatbitesback · 9 months ago

Note

Hey! I love your beach head canons, and I would love to see your take on the Hazbin Hotel characters on a road trip/maybe a trip to a theme park? I feel like that would be cute lol.

Yes of course! This sounds so fun but I decided to make it a road trip to wherever the reader decides (Theme park, wherever)! This actually works perfectly as a prequel/sequel to my Beach Trip! Headcanons I've posted. Hope you enjoy!

Hazbin Hotel Road Trip! Headcanons

Characters: Charlie, Vaggie, Alastor, Angeldust, Husk, Sir Pentious, Vox, Lucifer, Adam, and Cherri Bomb

Charlie 🐐🫶

Originally wanted to be the one to drive, but Vaggie figured her inclination to be distracted by anything on the side of the road would cause everyone to crash, so Vaggie refused to let her drive at any point

Doesn’t even have her license so she wouldn’t be able to drive anyways so

“Ugh fine! Well, then, I call shotgun!!”

Went from Princess of Hell to passenger princess hehe

Was upset at not driving but got over it quickly as realizing she enjoys the view more than driving

“Oh my gosh look at those deer! Wait there’s more over there! Wait. Did we just drive past the rest area, I need to pee again!!”

Constantly nags the driver by chitchatting to them, regardless if they’re listening

A bad habit of hers is playfully hitting others when Charlie talks, but she forgets to not do this when driving

A couple of minor accidents nearly occur but she is unfazed

Is so pumped and asks to stop and look at any roadside attraction

It begins to become a bit annoying after a while

Vaggie ❌🥀

Is the one who drives for the most part on this road trip

Is a bit grumbly because she was woken up so early by an eager Charlie to go on this trip and needs her beauty sleep

Is the only one who can handle Charlie’s constant nagging and pushing, and is also the only one with a license out of the whole group, so logically the ex-Angel is the one who drives

Only pays attention to the road and not Charlie unfortunately for maximum safety

Is sipping on a large Circle K cup that she filled with Monster Energy prior to the trip

This just barely wakes her enough to watch the road

Has a bit of road rage but these guys are from Hell, what can you expect

Refuses to waste gas so only stops for gas when the car is literally empty

Empty like everyone else had to get out of the car and push it to the nearest gas station that was three miles away, empty

“Come on guys, we’re almost there.” She’ll say smugly sipping her Monster from within the car in the AC

Alastor 🦌📻

Was invited on this road trip, but ended up driving on his own to their destination

Yes, he doesn’t have a license, but he’s the Radio Demon he does what he pleases

Mainly decided to drive separately so that he could listen to his radio in peace without complaints or extra unnecessary noise

Is listening to jazz, and keeps on repeating the songs: “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Sing, Sing, Sing”

Also prefers to be alone, he vibes better that way and is more in his element

Drives the coolest, red, vintage pick up truck ever

All the girls and guys at the stop lights are just fawning over him but the Radio Demon can’t see anything past the road in his shades

Drives super fast and only stops for gas, which considering the age of his truck, ends up happening often

Angeldust 🕷️❤️‍🔥

Wanted to get one of those party buses with the strip poles inside but now has to make do with the crew’s giant van

Enough space to do lines of coke so it’s okay

Obviously snuck in drugs and alcohol, this is a given, it’s Angeldust come on

“I call aux!!” and plays his playlist titled Cunty B*tch

It’s a bunch of Ayesha Erotica, Kesha, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, etc.

Screams all of the songs at the top of his lungs while hanging out of the window

“HE MIGHT NOT LOOK LIKE HE GETS BITCHES, BUT HONEY THAT DICK WAS ELEVEN INCHES!”

Husk has to pull him inside but he’s just having the time of his life

Loud as Hell but provides the entertainment, and Vaggie appreciates his music taste

Has to get Vaggie to pull over and proceeds to violently throw up all the alcohol he chugged earlier on the side of the highway as Cherri films laughing from inside the van

Immediately falls asleep after this embarrassing moment as the aftermath of his “fun” takes a toll on him

Husk 🐈‍⬛🥃

Was planning to catch up on missed hours of sleep by dozing through this entire trip, but Angeldust made this quite hard

Is wrapped up in a blanket, eye mask on, earplugs in, headphones on, neck pillow propped, and stuffed toy snuggled (HE SLEEPS WITH A STUFFED TOY OMG)

It’s a miniature Pegasus he named after his favorite drink: Whiskey

Angeldust, Cherri, and Adam won’t stop making fun of him the entire trip

This, plus Angeldust’s music, Charlie’s nonstop talking causes Husk to EXPLODE

“IF YOU ALL DONT SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR A SECOND!”

But his geared-up sleep ware makes him look a bit goofy as he shouts this, so everyone instead bursts out laughing

The feline just grumbles to himself as he decides to just stare out the window depressingly for the rest of the ride

Gets bored and ends up practicing Poker and Solitaire with the cards he brought

Is also keeping an eye on Angeldust who at first was off the wall

Once Angeldust passes out, Husk covers him with his blanket so he’s not cold (aww)

Sir Pentious 🐍🥚

Actually was the one who designed and crafted the van

The original van wasn’t big enough for the whole crew after Cherri decided to join in last minute, so of course the snake is going to build an ENTIRE new vehicle for his Cherri Bomb <3

Engineered the van for maximum comfort and refused Angeldust’s pleads for strip poles inside; “Thossse would be ssso uneccesssary!”

Instead, he included luxurious feet space, and AC and heater system throughout the whole van, seats with massaging for backs and feet, mini TVs on the back of each seat, and a fancy mini fridge for food

Also built miniature seats for his Egg Bois with built-in heating pads in case they get too cold in the AC

These Egg Bois have a really specific temperature range they can survive in, so those same heating pads were engineered by Sir Pentious to also work as cooling pads

“Anything for my babiesss”

Came extra prepared and was the only one to bring snacks and drinks to put in the cooler

Is constantly offering Cherri a water or coke whenever she is “looking a bit dehydrated”

Which happens to be every 2 minutes according to him

Is trying so hard to flex on her the fact that he built the van

“Ssssoo Cherri, how are you enjoying the back masssssage? I programmed it to perfectly meet the needsss of a beautiful lady like you”

Bro with 0 rizz somehow ends up charming her

Vox 🖥️⚡️

This TV ignores the mini TVs Sir Pentious built arguing they’re “not of top Vox quality”

Tries to hijack them to prove his point, but Sir Pentious is smarter than that and even his mini TVs are Vox-resistant

Ego bruised, now tries to hijack the radio to turn off Angeldust’s loud ass music, but Sir Pentious ALSO came prepared for that

Sir Pentious even shaped his seat and headrest to fit Vox’s big ass TV head perfectly, so Vox isn’t able to complain about anything

Now an upset Vox is left to sit in silence for most of the trip

Will chime in occasionally to the conversations but you can tell his pride was hurt

Spends his hours of silence to brainstorm ways to defeat Alastor

Lucifer 🪽🐤

Brought his rubber duckies to play house with them on the ride

To everyone’s surprise, knows all the lyrics to all of Angeldust’s songs

“What! I enjoy these too!” Proceeds to lip sync them in the most fruity way

Is Lucifer straight or gay? Bi? No one knows.

Is definitely that one person in a car ride to try to start a game of “100 bottles of beer on a wall” or the game of concentration

LIVES for these games

“20 questions” is his favorite

Tries to get everyone involved and yells at Husk once he sees he’s playing his own game of Poker

Husk suggests that Lucifer should play the silent game

Will try to convince the others to play by reciting them old dad jokes

This does not work

Adam 🎸🤘

Will definitely pig out on all of those snack Sir Pentious brought

“YO WHERE THE FUCK IS THE BEER”

Forces Vaggie to stop at a gas station 5 minutes into the trip to buy 3 twelve packs of beer

Is absolutely in his happy place with the massage chair, vast feet space, TV playing “Too Hot to Handle”, chips, and beer

Is the only one who manages to trash his space with wrappers, spills, and crumbs

Does not give a fuck

Has his window down, sunglasses on, and wind blowing in his face while he just yells

Shouts and catcalls to every hot chick they pass by

Brought an air horn to do that more efficiently while on the highway

Is seated next to Vox so is taunting and teasing him about the whole incident earlier

“Hmm not so tough anymore huh? Even these mini TVs are doing a better job than you!”

Is a bit of a menace

Cherri Bomb 🍒💣

Only joined last minute for the trip because she thought it would be lame at first

But Angeldust promised to bring along drugs and alcohol so she agreed

Made a certain snake sooo happy that she decided to come

Is constantly nagged by him throughout this whole trip but she has grown used to it

She even starts to think it’s cute how much he cares

Has to stop to go pee so often because of all the beverages Sir Pentious keeps offering her

Doesn’t wait for a rest area, will pop a squat on the side of the road

Sings along with Angeldust (and Lucifer??) to all the songs

Actually she’s the one who made the playlist and shared it with Angeldust ;)

“Ooh ooh skip this one, the next one’s even better!”

Brought an Erotica novel to read (she usually just skips to the good parts)

Is glad to be sitting next to Angeldust but still films him as he throws up so that they can joke about it later

Passes time with him playing, Fuck, Marry, Kill

She ends up answering Fuck to all the options

172 notes · View notes

drawnfamiliarfaces · 8 months ago

Note

Okay, I'll continue talking! So as we all know, RC9GN frequently involves characters being turned into rampaging monsters through no real fault of their own. And then there's Evil Julian, who was a whole thing. What I'm saying is, the Ninja cast are not strangers to the idea of people being forced into evil the way Chase was... but I don't think Chase goes around telling people about his tragic backstory unless he's trying to make a point. So, like, do any of them know Chase is technically under the influence of a mind-altering substance? That he didn't want to be like this, he just didn't want his best friend to leave him behind? Under what circumstances might the First Ninja find out? Under what circumstances might Randy find out?

Of course, what happened to Chase is definitely not the same thing as what happens to people under the Sorcerer's influence. For one, it's a lot more permanent. It's pretty clear in Xiaolin Showdown that Chase is too far gone and can't be cured at this point, if he ever could have been. The only way to stop him from ending a haughty, self-centered dragon would be to stop him from drinking the soup to begin with. And he's still himself on some level. As you said, he still has honor, he can still care, he's still capable of independent rational thought. It seems less like possession and more like very targeted (evil) brain damage. At the same time, this does mean it's technically possible for Chase to turn his back on what he's become. He may never be who he was again, but he can still change, as Omi believes he can. Though jury's out if he believes he can change. Anyway, there's a lot of drama to be wrung out of this, especially if the First Ninja realizes he probably would have liked the man Chase used to be.

Also, I'm just saying, the First Ninja denying that he chained up his evil husband to stop Chase from hurting people while he searches for a cure to the curse that makes Chase evil would be very funny.

OKAY OW HANG ON LISTEN The idea of First deciding to chain up Chase not just because he is an evil menace, but also in order to find a cure for his transformation, hit me so unexpectedly hard in the feels, like FR DUDE???? OW???

(Even if it is a bit of funny mental image AND the wording 'targeted evil brain damage' made me snort so hard, oh my god im so sorry.)

There is an argument/theory about how technically Chase doesn't need to constantly drink the Soup (based on how in alternative future, captured by Jack, Chase didn't drink it in captivity, and as soon as he was released he was kinda bordering on 'feral' lizard mode - Soup helps him keep in control AND keep ahold of his human form, rather that he is absolutely dependant on it), but he does it because he is, well, basically addicted to it.

SO it would be more of First chaining his Evil Brain Damaged Addict of (totally not a) Husband in order for to find a most likely nonexisting cure to his cursed (????) transformation. The ANGST POTENTIAL of it.

And your first points are so interesting and absolutely valid! Chase's situation can be compared to Stank-ification, but you know what would make an even more interesting comparison? The Sorcerer himself.

I think we often forget that technically, Sorcerer situation is him being separated from his humanity and twisted into an immortal monster by Chaos Pearls, because he - as the Peddler - made one decision, one mistake, after being seduced by power greater than him. Sounds familiar doesn't it?

Of course there are a few key differences here:

Sorcerer is literally separated with his human self (soul perhaps??) that is trapped in Land of Shadows, while Chase's humanity seems to have been surpressed and/or muted by his Draconic Self. (or perhaps stolen with his soul by Hannibal, which is a popular theory about how exactly Roy Bean/Soup turned Chase.)

Chase's change is permanent. While Sorcerer situation is possible to fix - it literally happens in the finale.

BUT!!! no one actually knew it was possible to fix before. At least no one gave any indication that it was a known fact about Sorcerer's humanity still existing somewhere in Chaos Realm/Land of Shadows.

I'm pretty sure First/Norisu Clan believed that the Sorcerer was a human changed and twisted into an immortal by chaos. Impossible to kill and impossible to return to normal - that's why he was imprisoned. To keep him contained.

I mean, couldn't First Ninja, after capturing The Sorcerer, try to get his human self from the Land of Shadows himself, if he knew? After all he had access to a Chaos Ball! But he didn't know there was anything to be recovered, that the Sorcerer could be actually unmade just by reuniting him with his human half.

(At least thats my personal HC, but im pretty sure the canon show just retconned/fumbled a bit the whole Sorcerer resolution lol.)

SO just imagine. First learns about Chase's past. And he is freaking aghast. Here is another twisted by evil, but while he and his brothers failed to save those changed that they first encountered (the 'killed first stanked monsters' theory tie in!), they managed to save those that came after. And if First could, he would have tried to save The Sorcerer, no matter how much he hates him. But... Chase is different. There is still something of humanity left in him. Perhaps he can save Chase.

And from Chase's pov? He sees how Ninja saved Stanked people, and he doesn't even consider those situations as similar to his. Sure, people are turned into monsters, but he was turned into a monster by his own choice, there is nothing to save him from. (Isn't there?)

But he watches as First releases those people from the clutches of chaos, watches as he tries so hard to save them... And maybe it makes him yearn, that someone tried just a little bit harder to save the 'him' before he made that choice.

And if First cages Chase and says: "I want to help you. To Cure you." It will certainly enrage Chase - because who does this man think he is, tryin to contain and cure THE Heylin Prince of Darkness, like he is some halpless trapped commoner??? He came to be long before this man's Clan existed and he will be there long after this man will become dust.

But also... maybe deep deep deep inside, Chase is... confused? and pleased? - that someone like Fist Ninja grew to care enough for him to try and save him, even if there is nothing to be saved.

So they would be at this standstill, where First is trying to help a cause that isnt quite possible to fix, and Chase is... well, being Chase.

But, yeah, certainly another amazing thought process from you Anon <3, I've been trying to answer this ask for so long, because every time i start to write i get overcome with emotions about those scenarios like...damn. It's funny, but also the possible drama of all of this... hnnnfgggg

#que?#ninja showdown #chase young #first ninja #my immortal soul #this is one of the asks that pushed me to try and write for NS/MIS because DAMN i want some of those ideas in actual fanfiction...#making notes for my Hidden Chapter AU... maybe i will write an one-shot xD

124 notes · View notes

sofiareidings · 1 year ago

Text

Date Night 🦇🦇🦇

Summary: You take Spencer on a date to a haunted corn maze. Warning: Some fluff.

A/N: Sooo...I know I haven't update for like a week. I do have that stereotypical fanfic excuse I was at the hospital for a sleep study Friday & Saturday but that isn't the only reason. I've been a little burn out writing one-shots so I needed a break. Lastly, this is a submission for @masterwords Halloween party!

Word Count: 1.1k

Song Suggestions: Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley

"I cannot believe you dragged me here." Spencer grumbled, holding on to your hand tightly. He was obviously scared. "Why do we have to do this?"

"It's October, and It's Friday the 13th. That means we have to do this." You smiled and looked up, reading the sign 'HAUNTED CORN MAZE'. A moment of hesitation flashed over his face before pushing the gate open and muttering under his breath. "Are you scared?"

"What? Me? No." He laughed anxiously and squeezed your hand. You nodded and stayed quiet looking around, the maze looked just normal at the entrance, with the exception of the spider web decorations.

"Our job literally figuring out who's lying and that's the best you could do?" Letting your laugh die out, the two of you got to a turn in the maze. He went ahead slightly and as you went around the corner a scare actor in a pretty realistic zombie costume jumped out at you. You jumped then laughed whereas Spencer yelped and grabbed your arm for a second before laughing nervously.

"Hah! Yeah, didn't scare me that bad." He exclaimed, almost yelling at the poor actor who had started to retreat back to their hiding spot.

Spencer wasn't good at being calm but he was good at the maze, you had hit five checkpoints already. "Have you relaxed now? The scares are predictable."

"We deal with real monsters every day. This is what you wanted to do on your day off?" Since that first scare he had held on to your hand, swearing it had been to protect you. Not himself. "You should have brought Emily with you, she'd have liked it because you're both weird."

"You say that as if you aren't weird yourself." Scoffing, you two continued down the maze. The sky was pitch-black now and luckily you two were already three-fourths done. "And to answer your first question, maybe I just wanted to have normal people fun. You should try it sometime." Poking his side and laughing a little.

"You know that most corn mazes generally follow the same pattern? Once you do a few you can navigate them pretty well," Changing the subject, he continued to explain corn mazes. "and at the end most exits at a right turn-" Another scare popped out of a large area of corn. Scaring both of you this time.

"Oh my God, so how close is the end now?" You said, breathing a little fast moving past the jump scare. Spencer laughed then continued rambling about corn mazes while you walked through a calmer section. Slipping your hand into his again while listening to him you looked around, the sky was oddly clear and you could see dozens of stars. The decorations out here were less detailed, must've run out near the end of the maze. It was quiet out here and even though it was supposed to be scary you were finding it kind of…romantic?

"The last checkmark!" You exclaimed, pointing at a large empty area. In the middle was a fountain, water dyed red. "That means we're almost done." Smiling, you looked around to see and listen to the quietness, Spencer doing the same.

"It's nice here," He smiled, looking over at you. Around the fountain was the cheesy spider web decor that's been throughout the whole place. Other than that there were a few haystacks stacked with pumpkins and seasonal flowers placed on top. Just off to the side a scarecrow dressed to look like a witch. "Well, it's scary but nice. And quiet."

"Yeah it is." Beaming, looking around and squeezing his hand and turning in front of him. "You know…" Letting the words drag on while you walked your fingers up his arm. "We don't have to leave just yet."

"What do you mean?" He chuckled nervously then looked around to see if any people were around. Only to get the response of crickets hiding in the corn.

"Well you know, it's been a busy couple of weeks at work, we haven't had time to ourselves." Smiling, you hoped he had caught on. After a couple seconds he finally got it and leaned down, grabbing your face and planting a short, sweet kiss on your lips. Not even a second later he kissed again, longer and more passionate. Your hands wrapped around his neck, making you stand up on your tiptoes.

"You look gorgeous today," He spoke in between a kiss, rapidly and breathless. "I've been trying to say that all day." His one hand moving away from your face and then to your waist. Grabbing it and moving you closer.

"You normally don't like PDA." You said, moving away to catch your breath. As you leaned in to kiss again quiet footsteps came from the corn and you peaked over his shoulder. Seeing the silhouette of a person. Stepping back in fear of getting caught the person finally jumped out to scare the both of you, looking disappointed when you barely flinched.

"We should probably go now…" Grabbing his arm you laughed out of the embarrassment from the actor seeing you. "What way do we go?"

"Two lefts and then a right. Most likely." He pointed and shook his head, clearly just as embarrassed. You moved your hand down to his again. Putting it in his. "That was close."

"Oh really? I didn't know." You rolled your eyes and pushed his side while laughing. You made the first turn and saw what seemed to be lights as well as the same playlist from the start of the maze. Almost at the end.

The last turn, you could see the archway that led out of the field and back to the rest of the farm the maze was placed on. With only a few more seconds still in the maze the last actor popped up and screamed. Making you scream and dig your nails into Spencer's hand. Which then made *him* scream.

"Congratulations! You two made it out!" The actor yelled, holding out some coupons if you were to come back. "I hope I didn't scare you too badly."

"Oh yeah, not at all." You scoffed and brushed off the comment. Spencer laughed then reached for your hand again, starting to walk back to the car.

"I love you, you know that?" He looked at you, smiling and you blushed. A little surprised by how upfront he was tonight.

"Yeah. I love you too." You kissed his cheek then pulled the car keys from your pocket. Still grinning to yourself and thinking how damn lucky you were.

Even though your Friday the 13th wasn't that scary in the end.

#criminal minds #spencer reid #sofiareidings #fandom #criminal minds fandom #fanfic #bau #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x gn!reader #spencer reid x you #halloween party

141 notes · View notes

entomolog-t · 8 months ago

Text

The Shadow We Cast - 4

Two guys and too many beers leads to more shenanigans.

- - - -

Previous Chapter: Chapter 3

Next Chapter: Chapter 5 (Coming Soon)

Word count: 2998

CW: Adult language, substances (beer/drinking), animal death (fishing/hunting)

It was beyond crazy to me that the most normal I’d ever felt was drinking beers with a weird little man who stood no more than, what, 6 inches tall at most? How many years had it been since the last time I had this much fun? The last time I felt like I could talk and laugh this freely? It just felt so… normal? The thought seemed ridiculous- I mean, the situation was anything but… and yet here I was, thoroughly buzzed and listening intently as if we were old friends.

Sal paraded around the table, reenacting some grand adventure I could only wrap my head around with the help of however many tallboys I’d downed over the past few hours. Tales of hunting monstrous beasts and climbing unfathomable heights. He wove wild stories of a world so foreign yet so familiar… quite literally a world in my backyard.

As I nursed another drink, Sal set the scene, recounting a day-long trek he'd made out to the lake. Mist rose off the water as loons called to one another, their haunting voices echoing off the calm water. He watched intently as they slipped under the water, barely even a ripple disturbing the surface of the lake.

As if he was painting a picture in my mind, I sat enthralled, feeling as if I could feel the crispness of the water washing away the heat of the sun as he spent the day swimming in the shallows. The way he spoke… It didn't feel like I was imagining his retelling from my perspective- but his own. His perspective felt like something … almost fantastical.

"I tried to lure some of the minnows, but I couldn't get close enough to spear them without them darting off.” As if still wielding a spear he eyed the non existent minnows, patiently following some unseen motion as he remained poised to strike. “The bigger minnows seemed slower, but they wouldn't come near shallow enough. I ended up using some of the dried grub rations I'd brought with me as bait, and boy did it work like a charm. I swam I bit farther out with the bait and-"

Spear raised, I could practically see the imaginary impact- watching as the massive fish- or minnow, thrashed against the sharpened twig. I was enthralled- the way his muscles moved with the motion was almost… intimidating, bringing forth thoughts of him human sized, spearing a monster of a fish while swimming in some dangerous Amazonian river.

“The damn thing was a bitch to swim with,” he groaned, annoyance clear on his face, “For one- it was heavy. But worse,” Sal huffs, “It was still moving.” Despite the exasperation on his face in recounting the ordeal, the man’s face couldn’t help but return to grinning.

“So then I’m swimming back, right? Honestly more like flailing with the stupid minnow in tow, but I’m keeping above water for the most part… but I keep hearing this clicking… almost squeaking noise? Weirder yet- it's coming from below me.” He pauses, lowering his voice and I’m quite literally reeled in by his story, leaning forward on the edge of my seat.

“Then- whoosh!”

Sal grabs at the air. My heart jumps in my chest as the man’s hand lashes out just inches from my face.

“This monstrous bastard of a creature - absolutely huge,” He pauses, shooting me a cheesy grin, “Second only to you, big man.” I snort and Sal picks right up where he left off, “It was all murky brown with thick these thick… whiskers? And it just sucks me into its mouth with this horrific gulp. Next thing I know I’m being dragged underwater, half in its mouth, pounding on its head just hoping it’ll let me go if I hit it hard enough.”

My breath hitches, a shudder running through me as I make the connection- A catfish.

“With nothing to lose, I stab it. The spear goes right through its eye and-” Sal pauses, making sure he has my full attention.

“And?”

“Nothing!” Sal laughs as if it was hilarious and not down right horrifying, “That stupid thing didn’t even flinch! I don’t know if it didn’t go deep enough or if I just missed any vital enough part, but it did absolutely nothing!”

He leans forward, no longer laughing as his face takes on a grim expression.

“At this point I start to get worried.”

“Start?!” I scoff. Sal dismisses my interruption with a wave of his hand.

"My lungs are burning, and the thing’s clamped down hard on my stomach. I'm stuck holding that stupid spear for life as it keeps doing this.. this…” He shudders, face twisting in disgust, “-weird gulping thing,” Sal shakes his head as if banishing the memory, “So I ripped that spear out and using everything I had I-” His fist came down, “- drove that spear right back into its head.”

Sal pantomimed a gruesome show- stabbing again and again in the world's most horrific display of charades as he brutalised the memory of the catfish.

“Finally,” He says, voice filled with a mix of relief and exasperation as if he’d just relived the whole ordeal, “it dies.”

I, stupidly, sigh in relief, as if somehow I couldn't have predicted the outcome with him quite literally standing in front of me.

“My lungs are on fire as I swim to the surface- and man, air never tasted so sweet.” Looking down at Sal, he's beaming, laughing like a kid as he recounts his victory over the massive fish. “And then it hits me- tasted!”

I furrow my brow, not quite following. Sal continues, frustration returning.

“No spear- and no fucking minnow! As if, after all that, air was gonna be the only thing I’d be tasting!”

After a brief pause I couldn't help but laugh. His smile grew even wider as he raved on, swinging his hands as he continued on about his harrowing ordeal.

“I refused to swim back empty handed after that shitshow- So I spent the whole afternoon dragging that giant bastard back to shore!”

Fuck. I stare at him, eyes wide. I can’t shake the disbelief as I try to think of what would be the equivalent feat- Dragging an orca back to shore? …Something bigger? I’ve never been an avid fisherman (nor did I have any plans to start) and really had no concept of how big the catfish in the lake got aside from the notion that they were definitely bigger than Sal.

“I get that monster to land- spend about 30 minutes on a fire that just won't start, until I'm finally able to start cooking that beast!”

He paces along the length of the table, his steps not nearly as sure footed as they had been a few hours prior. Even with his tiny frame I can easily make out the sheer rage simmering behind his eyes.

“And y'know what?” His voice, now starting to slur, is teeming with all the theatrics of a man at his absolute limit. I swallow, desperate to hold back a laugh I know is coming.

“What?”

“That fucking thing tasted awful!” Each word was spat with such ferocity it was as if he was trying to spit out the memory of the creature's taste.

There was no helping it.

With my inhibitions long since drowned, I laugh. I laugh louder than I have in years. I laugh until my sides ache- until tears prick at the edge of my eyes.

And he laughs with me.

“Pond scum! Tha' shtupid thing tasted exactly how pond scum smells!”

My vision blurs, tears threatening to spill over as he continues to rant and rave, but the sound of my laughing completely drowns out whatever critical opinions he was espousing on catfish edibility.

Wiping at my eyes, my brain takes a few tipsy seconds to focus back on the little man. Still shirtless, Sal had sat back, reclining with his back against one of the many empties as he lifted up what was arguably the equivalent to a very generous pitcher to his mouth with little effort- the relative ease of the action catching me by surprise as I imagined myself fumbling at doing the same.

He… he was built.

Quite literally a brick shithouse, if said shithouse belonged to Barbie.

Broad seemed like a fitting word. Broad chested, broad shoulders, broad smile- Hell, even his legs had a width to them. Sal looked as if he had stepped directly out of an instagram fitness post, with his … excessive biceps flexing under the weight of the shot glass, the act a paradoxical effortless display of effort. Even at his diminutive size, I could tell this man was anything but small. He-

He coughs.

My eyes dart away from his body in an instant, snapping back to his face… accompanied with heat rising in my own. As my eyes meet his, I’m again struck with the absolute absurdity of the situation.

I'm here… getting drunk… with a tiny man… He’s right there- arms reach in front of me…

And yet he still doesn't seem real.

My hand twitches at my side.

Touch him.

As my hand slides towards him, his gaze quickly flicks from my face to my hand and back to my face again. Confusion flashing across his features for a brief moment before his lopsided grin reappears. My finger tips barely graze him as he sidesteps my hand, shoving my fingers away.

Huh. There's a surprising amount of weight behind his push.

“Hands t'yourself, Big Guy.” Sal laughs, “You gotta take me to dinner first.”

It takes a moment for my brain to follow his words, and I snort.

“Is that not what I did?”

Sal blinks.

His own brain seeming to lag as realization dawns on him. After a moment's delay, he laughs.

Sal takes an unsteady step forward, the sway in his weight more noticeable than before. He’s still smiling, but a look of concern crosses his features as he stares at the ground in front of him.

“I feel weird.”

“You’re drunk.”

He looks back up towards me and I point to the drink. After a moment', Sal nods, seemingly cluing in. Maybe? I really couldn’t tell. For all I know, that nod might have been him nodding off with how stunted the gesture had looked.

“It…” He starts his sentence and seems to forget it half way through, taking a long blink in between words “... makes you dizzy?”

I lean forward to rest my head on the table, starting to feel all too alike.

“Mmm- yeah, when you’ve had a bit much.”

With that, I slid the shot glass away from him- An act which was apparently the most egregious party foul ever to have been committed. Shouts of protest erupt beneath me, as he trails after the glass.

With a laugh, I try to shoo him away, but man, the little guy can move. Despite the sway to his stride, Sal ducks my hand with ease.

“Dude,” I laugh, opting to pick up the glass, “You.. uh, you’ve had 'nough- you're gonna get sick.”

My words feel thick, almost sticky, in my mouth, and the thought crosses my mind that I should probably be taking my own advice.

“'m fine.”

I snort. The man didn't even know what beer was all of two hours ago, and here he was thinking he knew his limits.

“'s if you’d know,” I chuckle. “You're stumblin' 'round.”

Sal narrows his eyes.

“I am not!”

“Oh really?” My words slur together, thick with condescension and alcohol as a smile down at him. I shove a finger to his chest, I give a little push. Sal shoots glare as he staggers back.

“See?” I chuckle, “You're totally shtumbling!”

Eyes wide, he stares up at me, brain seeming to short-circuit for a moment before a goofy grin plasters itself across his face. I feel my own face mirror his expression as we break out into drunken laughter.

The laughter hit me hard.

I laughed at Sal's near cartoonish drunkenness.

I laughed at how he stumbled with a push from a finger.

I laughed at the strangeness- the reality shattering strangeness- of his very existence.

This... this is really strange...

As our collective laughter died down I took in a deep inhale. I needed to know more. I couldn’t keep up the half assed charade of normalcy.

“Sal-”

In the brief moment I’d let my guard down, the tiny man quite literally pounces. I yank my hand away a fraction of a second before he lands, Sal stumbling as his weight falls forward. Before his face makes contact with the table, Sal seemingly just… goes with it? Just flowing with the momentum as if stumbling forward had been completely intended. With surprisingly little effort, his would-be fall morphs into a drunkenly graceful forward roll, carrying him to a stand- albeit, an unsteady one.

For a moment, I’m at a loss for words, and before I’m able to react to whatever odd show of athleticism I’d just witnessed, he’s already at it again, eyes locked onto the shot glass like a cat locked onto a mouse. I move to shoo him away with my free hand, yet I’m met with nothing but empty space as Sal scrambles underneath the gesture.

Again, he tries for the glass.

Launching himself at my hand, I feel his hands graze my own before I lift the glass out of reach. Sal lands with a stumble, a lopsided grin sitting smugly on his face as he looks from the glass to me.

Sal lowers his stance, looking something between a sprinter at the blocks and a mountain lion set to pounce.

Seeing the gears in his head turning (albeit, slowly), I clue in. Before he gets the chance to scale me for the beverage, I make a grab for him.

And yet, despite my efforts, somehow Sal winds up on top of my hand. It was like trying to grab at water- with him just flowing out of my grasp. Abandoning the shot glass, I grab at him with my free hand- watching dumbstruck as he drunkenly pivots, turning to jump at my in coming hand.

I freeze- Trying and failing to keep my hand steady as Sal hangs off my fingers.

With my lack of reaction, Sal takes the opportunity to climb my fingers like some sort of rope ladder.

To my horror, he climbs all of them, heaving himself to a shaky stand on the side of my index finger- Hands on his hips and grin on his face.

I meet his gaze and he laughs, his expression smug as he wags his finger at me.

“Too shlow.”

Arms out in a stumbling balance act, Sal begins walking across the edge of my hand looking oddly similar to a failed roadside sobriety test. Pausing, he frowns, pouting in frustration before bending over. For a moment, I think he’s about to throw up. Instead, he plants his hands firmly on my forearm.

My stomach drops.

With no effort whatsoever, Sal switches to walking on his hands- somehow just as drunkenly. Swaying side to side, every “step” seemed to overcompensate for the last, looking as if he was perpetually on the verge of tipping over.

And then he did.

In a split second, I’m sober.

My hand darts out, closing awkwardly around his form with all the grace and fine motor skills of a man marginally less drunk. Unmoving and unblinking, Sal stares up at me, a strange sound escaping him… almost as if a hum got caught in his throat. I could have almost been convinced he was nothing but an action figure with the way Sal went rigid- if not for his heart beating wildly beneath my fingertips.

My own heart drummed in my ears, and for a moment, just a single moment, it didn’t bother me that he was sticky.

He swallows. The tiny, but very human action feels uncanny at his size. The rise and fall of his chest, the strangely sizable weight of him in my hands… all of it is just so… strange. He feels solid - tense beneath my grip. Fuck- even at his size he felt strong. My eyes trace over the myriad of scars that marred his skin, gaze lingering over the clear bite mark that covered his shoulder and chest…

I hadn't even noticed my thumb tracing over it until I felt him try and push the digit away.

“Mark-”

“Oh- sorry.” I adjust my grip into something I assume is more comfortable, opting to hold him in a way that left him semi-seated in my palms rather than awkwardly dangling from a first.

It's a weird sight, seeing a grown man sitting in your hands. Every small movement I make has him sway, his head drunkenly lolling back as he slurs a few indistinguishable words with a chuckle. Up close like this he looks just about as drunk as he sounds- red in the face and eyes struggling to stay open.

Adjusting my grip, I cringe.

He was more than just a little sticky.

His pants clung to my skin, peeling off as I moved like a Band-Aid being removed. The mental image sends a shudder down my spine.

I consider taking the opportunity to wipe off the concerningly sticky little man while I have the chance, though a more rational voice in the back of my mind argues that a good host doesn’t assault their “neighbor” with wet wipes.

Below, Sal grumbles something unintelligible, clearly displeased with me as he swats at my fingers. Though despite his attempts, my fingers lingered.

Ugh- He left a stain on my hand!

I glare at the dark smear of sauce he’d wiped off onto his pants, silently reconsidering the option of dousing the man in dish soap, let alone wet wipes, etiquette be damned.

Instead, I opted for another drink.

#WE'RE BACK BABY #Things are about to get interesting #Sal is and will always be a menace #Mark is fighting demons to not toss Sal in the sink #The Shadow we Cast #TSWC #SalOC #MarkOC #g/t #giant/tiny #g/t fluff #g/t writing #entowrites #size tumblr #size difference #gt #gian/tiny #macro/mirco

58 notes · View notes

imongkoneho · 2 years ago

Text

𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐔𝐋| 𝐁𝐚𝐤𝐢 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐦𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐗 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧.

Let us forget all the menacing things that Yujiro has done, and give him a sprinkle of humanity. The relationship with him in this is either romantic or platonic, you pick, reader. Cuz idgaf <33 🥰

Life hasn't been that fair to me. They hit me with the worst luck possible and give me a chance, then hitting me again. My father wanted a son, a strong, brave one but he received a daughter. Of course, he disliked that. So, he would force me to do 'boyish stuff' such as: Basketball, football and more 'boyish' activities.

At the age of 20, he forced me to go to the army and train there. He was...proud, swaying pictures at peoples face of me in my uniform, saluting.

After training, i then decided it was enough and wanted to lead my own life, of course my father was upset, but i couldn't care less. At 24, i left the army and moved to Tokyo, Japan.

I was jobless and was staying at an apartment which was small but comfortable and had everything i needed. Japan is a unique country...i would say. '5 death row convicts escaped and are on their way to Tokyo, Japan.' the lady on the TV said, showing pictures and info.

"...Did God send me here to die?" I mumbled and opened my laptop, deciding to look for a job, while listening to the news. Japan is a unique country..they have 'Yujiro Hanma, the strongest and most feared man alive'. "Strongest? Well he definitely looks strong alright." I looked at pictures of the man.

He looked Intimidating, large and muscular. On one of his pictures, he had an ear to ear smile, i blinked. "...he looks like it." I scroll more. "...5 death row convicts...another death row convict...dead person... boxing match gone wrong...death row convict escap- ugh, since when did the world become so messed up!?"

"Yujiro Hanma looking for a... bodyguard? Why would he need a bodyguard...oh." The pay was BIG, so big that i can buy this whole building. Mr. Hanma looks like he could kill. Why would he want a bodyguard anyways?

I hesitate and ponder my decisions for a minute, glancing at the pay every now and then. I groan and slap my cheeks. I need money. And so, i contact the number.

A few seconds passed by. He picked up! "...Hello?" "A woman huh?" Yujiro spoke, amused. "...uhm, yeah. I would like to-" "Do you know how to fight?" "..yes." "You're hired." "O-oh?....Is the pay really for real?" "It's a fair pay. Your are protecting the strongest man in earth."

------

It has been a few months since you have been a bodyguard for The strongest man...creature on earth. It has been... exhausting. This man is literally a child inside a monster like mans body.

I think this man doesn't know what a bodyguard is, because he would make me fold his clothes, buy him food and throwing the money at me, orders me to threaten the president to do whatever.

But, the pay was large and made me live so much better than the time i lived with my father. I could afford more better clothes, food and make my apartment not look like a dump.

I had many experiences with this man, i wonder what his son is like.

-------

I stared at the tracker on my phone, Yujiro has a phone (which he barely use) where i downloaded a tracking app in it. 'Yujiro is in a motel again.' I thought, 'he's probably banging another girl. Damn. How does he even fit?' i shake my head, removing the thought out of my head.

I walk in and used the elevator, making my way on the floor where his room is. 'Room 23...24...25, okay.' i stood there, looking at my phone, gazing at the time.

'11:56' it read. 1...2...3. A woman came running out, crying while struggling to wear her heels. She looked at me for a second and ran away, sobbing.

Yujiro came out, half naked. "Your lunch." I faked a smile, due to my tiredness. "What happened?" I pointed with my thumb to the girl running away.

"She was too noisy. She sounds like a chew toy." He said harshly, taking the paper bag from my hand. "...of course, it's a normal human reaction." I mumbled.

"I'm not eating here, let's go." Yujiro said walking away, leaving the room open. "..sure." I quickly entered the room and saw the woman's earrings, along with a few pieces of jewelry that Yujiro left behind.

"Mr. Hanma isn't that bad after all." I hummed in delight, stealing the shiny jewels.

-------

I sat in my apartments rug, laptop in my lap, with Yujiro doing exercising stuff in the corner, breaking the wooden floor, leaving foot marks on it.

"You have a Gmail? I didn't know.." "Yeah. The government made it for me." He grunts, as he exercised. I made a disgusted sound as sweat rolled off his body. I scrolled through his Gmail "..You don't read your emails." "It's a waste of time."

Looking at the time, I notice that the news is on and reached for the remote, turning the TV on. On the news, the news reporter explained the prisoners who escaped.

I glanced at the man, feeling his murderous aura. His smile, amused. "You going to do something about it?" "Maybe." I hummed in response.

The door bell rang and it caught my attention. I stood up and walked to the door and opened it. "[Y/N]." "Father?" "Come home. Enough with this silly nonsense of yours, you can't live without me, look at this shithole you're living in!"

"...This shit hole, is my home. I'm more happier here than living in yours." I replied, eye twitching in annoyance. He came all the way here just to control you again? He could've asked how you've been doing all these years, like a good father would.

"That is no way of talking to your father! Come. Home. [Y/N], whether you like it or not, You still have my last name." "Fuck your last name!" I pull my hand away from him when he grabbed it, looking at him with disbelief and tears threatening to fall from my eyes.

He was much more stronger. I couldn't run away.

Then, he froze. His face turning into anger to fear, his eyes widening and his hands slowly quivering. He backed away, "W-w-who the fuck are you..?" "Who are you?" A voice from behind me spoke, his voice deep and menacing, almost like he wanted to kill my Father.

I gazed at my back, to see Yujiro. He had his hands crossed, with an eating-shitting grin. I can feel his aura, an aura that can kill. His eyes looked like it was glowing, his grin getting wider, more threatening.

My father was a soldier too, he was pretty strong, a large man with muscles, littered with scars all over his body. He scared people with his looks. But this time, he was scared. Maybe scared isn't the right word. Petrified, he was petrified.

Even if they were the same height, it was obvious whos much more stronger. "F-fuck." He backed away like a scared puppy and ran. "Such a shame. He ran away already." He said amused, keeping his grin.

"Pussy." He said, walking away while scratching the inside of his ear with his pinky. I blinked. Did he just.. protect me from my father?

----

Why do I keep watching animes with dead fandoms?

#baki hanma #baki son of ogre #baki the grappler #yujiro hanma #anime #anime and manga #baki x reader #x reader

333 notes · View notes

kix-mm · 1 year ago

Text

Dusty’s letters

Terrifying tantrums

Previous - Next

We saw eye to eye, literally. My mother was an average human, while I was already an inch taller than her at just six years old.

To most people, it would be an absolute nightmare to deal with. Just imagine the temper tantrums of an average child. Kicking, biting, screaming, and sometimes even throwing stuff around. Kids that age didn’t always listen either, and I was no different, except my tantrums were dealt with in a very particular manner.

I still remember the look of distress she gave me when I began my tantrum, tipping everything over, throwing whatever I could lift, flailing my arms around while screaming at the top of my lungs. It all happened in a blur, I remember her grabbing my arm and yelling at me to stop, only for her to be violently smacked… I never meant to hurt her like that, I was just so angry, I knew no better way to express it…

When she flew back and hit the floor I suddenly stopped. She tried to hide the pain she was in by looking away from me, holding her red cheek as blood slowly began dripping from her nose. She was just as shocked as I was. I think that was the first time she felt fearful of her own son, me to be specific. I could tell by her shivering voice and her chocked breath that she wasn’t okay. “Mommy..?” I asked in a sheepish tone. “Andy… go to your room.” She replied, she tried to sound stern and almost got away with it if it wasn’t for a soft sniffle.

It was then that I realized that I had hurt her. Badly. Mommy’s bleeding, I thought. I immediately began to panic and shuffled closer, wanting to hold her, or rather, I wanted her to hold me. “Mommy I’m sorry…” I spoke again, feeling more and more worried as she continued to keep her face hidden from me. I held her arm and tried to make her face me, I was unaware at the time, just how strong I was compared to a human, and that made things unintentionally worse between us.

She looked at me with frantic eyes, quickly wiping her tears off her cheeks and smudging the blood on her white sleeve, I never heard my mother cuss before, but I could hear her whisper in a frustrated tone when she saw the blood stain. "shit..."

I gasped, and my expression only became more worried when I saw my mother's state, her cheek was red, and was already beginning to bruise, her nose had smudged blood under it and her eyes were puffy, worst of all she looked scared... my mom... scared... I was the one she was afraid of, I was the monster that scared mommy... I hurt mommy too, like real bad monsters do...

She pulled away from my grip, but I tightened it "mommy-" my plea was cut short as she pulled away from me once more. "Andy... please... go to your room..."

I hesitated, trying to piece together what I could possibly do to avoid being sent away. But ultimately, I came up with nothing and hung my head low as I slanted to my shared room. I made the effort to make sure none of my brothers were there, reading or having a nap, and I pulled my blanket over myself and hugged my pillow as tight as possible before I let myself cry. It was an unsaid rule in our household, tears were something you didn't show, it just made everyone around you uncomfortable and it drew unwanted attention.

I continued to cry for what felt like half an hour until I felt a familiar weight on my bed, it was Jacob. My eldest brother, the voice of reason and at that particular time, the man of the house.

He rests his hand reassuringly on my back, rubbing ever so gently in an attempt to console me. I sat up and rubbed my puffy eyes. It seemed that every one of my brothers was there.

"W-was I too loud?" I said while still sniffing and rubbing my eyes. "The whole house heard it," Roy said sarcastically, but Jacob shook his head. "Branch, did you hit mom?" He asked in a warm and calm tone, yet his expression was rather serious.

I quickly hid my face in the already soaked pillow and started whimpering again. "I d-didn't mean to!" Jacob rubs my head. "We know, calm down, Branch. We know all too well what you're going through... it happens to all of us." He explained, he was right about that. I wasn't as small as I once was, I couldn't be carried like I was before, and now my strength was catching up to me too.

I'd have to start being careful. Or I could hurt mom again, not just mom, I could hurt anyone, anything... it was all so daunting to think about for someone my age.

Eventually, I built up enough courage to go back to my mother, she sat in the kitchen with an ice pack against her cheek. The dark, puffy bags under her eyes made her look restless, her expression was hard to read at the time, but she looked defeated as a mother.

As soon as my mother noticed me her expression drastically changed, hiding her tired eyes, her broken expression with the same warm eyes I was familiar with. Had she always done that? I worried for her... and she noticed.

"Andy... are you feeling better now?" She asked and gently rubbed my cheek. I immediately melted into her touch, hugging her tight. "I'm sorry, Mommy... I'm sorry I hit you... I'm sorry I hurt you..."

She staggered back as I leaned on her, a habit I had yet to break, but one she didn't mind, no matter how old I got. "Oh Andy... my sweet boy... I forgive you, I did so long ago..." he sighs, her body relaxed. The familiar peace had returned between the two of us...

But from then on out, I made an effort to become more self-conscious in my actions. My brothers were a big help with that. They taught me different ways to let off my steam, and that if things ever got too bad for me that I could always just walk away. Roy said it best, what would they do? Stop me? Unlikely unless they were the same size or taller.

Things... weren't always perfect between mother and I. I did still have my moments, and that wasn't my last tantrum... that wasn't even the last time I hurt her... but that was the biggest stepping stone in my life. And I'll never forget that day.

"Thank you, Branch," the neighbor said as they closed their book and took off their glasses. "It was a pleasure to have you back here again." Just then, a little timer rang, right on the dot.

Branch looked over at the clock that was hung up to the right of him. "So this is it for today, then?" The neighbor nods. "Our next appointment will be the same time next week, as usual, i expect you here on Friday at 6 pm." They said as they got up from their chair and stepped over to the door leading to their terrace.

Dusty was playing outside while waiting for her brother to finish his weekly session. Branch smiled as he watched his sister amuse herself with not a care in the world. "How has school been for Dusty?" The neighbor asks as they push the large doors open for Branch. "She's been well, top of the class in art, actually," Branch said with pride as he pushed his way out of the small office. He called for Dusty, who looked over. Oh boy, she had mud in her hair again. Branch sighed. "I guess tonight's another bath night." The neighbor chuckles. "Does she still hate them?" They ask. "Not as much as she used to, unless I forget the rubber duckies and bubbles." Branch said with an amused smirk.

Before the two left, Dusty handed the neighbor the letter, despite her being able to go over to the neighbor whenever she pleased. She seemed to prefer writing instead, and truth be told, the neighbor loved it just as much.

175 notes · View notes

gofancyninjaworld · 9 months ago

Text

Thinking about Garou

Question: "Compared to the first season, which draws attention to Saitama's exhilarating punches, the second season focuses on story development. Did you have any specific goals while drawing the story?" Murata: "There was one thing that I requested from ONE Sensei before drawing my re-illustrated manga. At first, there were plans to cut out Garou's childhood with the bully in my version, but that scene really left an impression on me. I thought it was a vital part of understanding Garou's position, so I discussed it with ONE Sensei and requested that I be able to leave it in for y version. And it was paced so well in the anime! I believe it ended up being a very high-quality scene." -- From the liner notes of One-Punch Man Season 2.

I'm including this because I feel it's fundamental to really talk about Garou with any depth. Garou without context does not make sense. He is a kind, sensitive, and thoughtful young man who wants to do good in the world. Yet, he caused a horrifying amount of harm, both directly and indirectly, and ultimately undermined his own goals.

I'm glad that ONE listened to Murata about keeping Garou's childhood flashback. Without it, he'd just have been a thug attacking heroes for no reason to us (pretty much as the heroes saw him). Not only that, but ONE has gone a lot further in the manga in showing us the context in which Garou grew up that's been very helpful for understanding who Garou is, what he saw, and making some sense of his powerful yet contradictory desires.

Ultimately Garou is Garou. He's his own person and the buck for his actions firmly stops with him. No matter what, I can't imagine him not being an independent thinker with the determination to put his thoughts into action.

But...

...the tragedy of his thinking becomes clear when we see his thinking of monsters as metaphors for what is misunderstood or unacceptable in ourselves (a popular enough one IRL where monsters aren't real) and compare it with the reality of his world in which monsters have won, successfully restricting humans to one continent, and people like heroes because they are reminders that sometimes, even apparently overwhelming evil can be defeated. Nothing good happens when you deny the reality around you.

You know Garou's rant about uniting the world with fear? It's a standalone rant in the webcomic. The manga gives us a snapshot of the context in which he came to this conclusion. As this is a place that is no stranger to natural disasters -- forget the monsters -- Garou has no doubt experienced at least one big storm, or flood, or earthquake, or volcanic eruption in his life. In those days and weeks that follow, he's no longer an outcast. Nobody cares about where you come from or who you are: people help each other. At least until normalcy is restored. That's something he's directly experienced.

That's just human nature: even in individualistic societies, for every report of looting in the wake of a natural disaster, there are hundreds of people trying to help. And this is a much more collectivist society that has to deal with disasters semi-regularly. That's the sense of looking out for each other in the face of a tragedy bigger than any person he wanted to recreate—only permanently.

Then we get bits of Garou through the people around him. We got nothing about his parents in the webcomic but in the manga, his parents refuse to see him or get him out of custody. They've given up on him. To make it worse, the audience ONE is writing for understands that Garou is a minor until he's 20 (the law recently changed in Japan but it wasn't even up for debate when ONE started writing OPM). So they've done the equivalent of washing their hands of a 16-year-old. That's got to have hit Garou very, very hard, even if he was estranged from them. He'd have liked it if his father cared enough to tell him what to do.

We see how Bang has literally taken on the role of in loco parentis. It's been interesting to see that the reason Bang has chased after Garou so relentlessly is because he sees himself in the young man. However, we also see that he deeply misunderstands Garou too. Bang beat up people because he was an extremely selfish young man who felt he was entitled to everything.

Garou beat up people because he is an extremely thoughtful young man who sees himself as bringing a great good into the world at the expense of some heroes.

It's definitely going to cause trouble but that's okay -- nothing in life is smooth and such differences are inevitable. With love, such struggles are worthwhile.

Garou's an object lesson in why the energy to do things in the world rarely comes with the power to make those changes. His overly simple solutions were disastrous. But one thing we can also say about Garou: he's a fast learner. He's literally rebuilding his life little by little in the webcomic by rebuilding the world around him. In the manga, he's been given the opportunity to sift through his thinking and find what's genuinely good. We'll see how it all shakes out.

#OPM #meta #Garou #manga #webcomic #the road to hell is paved with good intentions has rarely been truer when it comes to Garou #I am glad the manga has drawn out more context for us to understand him better #and also given him more opportunity to confront his way of thinking

57 notes · View notes

running-with-kn1ves · 1 year ago

Note

Hi! Can I request a Officer x female!Nurse reader during a zombie apocalypse? The Officer would be the stalker-ish, possessive type who’s made it clear he’s protecting her from the others because she’s one of the best at her job. But in reality, he’s just making excuses to be close to her—always hovering when not patrolling the hospital. Could you possibly add like…non-consensual touching/kissing, definitely power imbalance, manipulation in the form of comfort. Maybe nsfw if you can?

A/N: started this a while ago but only just now got around to finishing it in a... "semi-decently" way.

Synopsis: you're a nurse healing those still alive after the start of the apocalypse; unfortunately for you, a certain annoying guard has made it his mission to have your undivided attention.

TW: noncon kissing, touching, feeling up, etc., intimidation, power imbalance, general sexual assault warnings, zombie apocalypse/infected theme

WC: 3600

“Oh come on now, I didn’t hit him that hard.”

“You literally pummeled the man to the ground!” The underwhelmed attitude of the guard trailing behind made you dig your fingers into your temples. “He lost his front tooth, Kain. And the guild wants MY head for it.”

Pacing through the halls of the abandoned hospital, you make your way to the opposing wing, Kain following quickly on your heels.

“Don’t honestly tell me you’re worried about the ‘guild’. " Kain speaks, creating quotes with his fingers. “You’re the only nurse they got who’s actually qualified enough to do a damn decent job.They can’t get rid of you, they need you too much.”

You make a sharp turn into an old hospital room, throwing Kain off. He stumbles over himself to follow, while you quickly distract yourself with the limp body resting on a raised bed in the middle of the room. You hurriedly picked at the bloodied bandages of one of your fellow survivors, the mangled man out cold under the wool sheets as you began to inspect him. The process was like clockwork, being what most of your job had become now that you were stuck with flesh-eating monsters and a third of the human population left, most of which was crippled in some way or another.

Kain peeks up from behind you, irritated yet curious as to what was more important than responding to him. His head popped up next to yours as he looked at the bandaged man, giving a bothersome frown.

“You shouldn’t have been talking to anyone about me, period. This all could’ve all just been avoided, Kain.”

Kain opens his mouth to speak, looking like an awed fish as you berate him.

“Who in their right mind cripples one of their own men?” You mumble under your breath, hoping he wont hear lest he throws a fit. "Now, can’t you see I’m working here? You’re getting in my way.”

You push past him to throw away the old gauze and stained bandages.

Kain’s constant look of mild amusement faded.

“Ya should’ve heard what he was sayin’ about you. Then, you might not feel that way.”

You avoided Kain’s sharp stare, pretending to not listen as you pulled open a drawer beside the hospital bed.

Lifting his eyebrows in suggestion, Kain rested his hands on the front of his patrol vest, continuing to chew his gum with feigned nonchalance. “Like a piece a meat…” He muttered.

Clearing your throat you ripped open a new package of gauze with your teeth, avoiding Kain; Maybe it’d be best if you changed the topic.

“Well… What are you still doing here in the first place? I thought you were supposed to be at your new transfer by this morning…”

You remembered primarily because you thought it’d be your first day of freedom.

Kain rubbed his nose with his thumb, trying to hide a wide grin that showed his dimples.

“I’ve been stationed to protect the hospital for another six months.. Just found out this morning. Some other guy wanted to go and…the guild commander thought my talents would be better off here.”

Your face dropped. The sliver of fragile hope you held onto, shattered. Finally, you thought, you’d be rid of the overbearing coos and humiliating social teasing, his invasive bullying-- the dream seemed to fizzle out like the end of a candle wick, slow and sad. You began to rewrap the survivor’s wounds, hands on autopilot while your stomach sank.

And like a switch, your annoyed tone was spat back at him.

“Okay?” You shrugged.

You had been Kain’s prime victim when picking meaningless fights for the past eight months, his presence like a wall of muscle in your path. But no more, you wouldn’t sit and entertain his bullshit for another half a year.

“If that’s true, then nothing’s changed. Don’t you have better things to do than annoy me?” You swat Kain away with your hands like a fly. “Go stand guard or something. Be useful.”

You pinned the end of the final bandage, rearranging the patients scratchy bedsheets. Without another word you began to walk away.

Kain grunted in annoyance, watching you turn into the adjacent room across the hall to leave him in the dust.

“Well, you never know,” Kain shouted, running after you across the hallway. “You might come up against a stray infected. I know you haven’t had this set up for long, the doors hardly do anything to keep a draft from blowing through. What happens if I’m not there quick enough? You’d need someone much bigger, and much… stronger than you, to protect you.”

You let out an exasperated noise, recognizing the insult in his words. But Kain didn’t mean it as an insult; he was thinking of other… things.

“Besides, you need protecting just from the things in here you can’t handle, and I decide to offer my assistance-- at a zero cost.”

You scoff again. “What do you mean ‘things I can’t handle’?” You copy his previous quotation movement, half distracted by rummaging through a large cardboard box of old medical supplies.

Kain follows you inside the room, seeing your back turned to him next to an empry hospiral bed. A lightbulb went off over his head, his printless fingers grabbing the privacy curtain and pulling it. The curtain surrounding the bed, you, and him-- clouding the fluorescent lights from the hallway. The ones inside the hospital room flickered, barely making the guards face visible.

“Something like this.”

An arm traps you from behind, one of Kain’s scarred palms leaning on the wall next to your head. You turn around to look at him with a scowl, not yet realizing what he was trying.

From the corner of your vision you saw the mean glint in Kain’s eye.

A smug, egotistical smirk rested on his face.

“I can see it now…. some band of other survivors coming in, raidin' what they could and stumbling across you,” He pushed his dirty blonde hair back with his free hand, calloused fingers sticking out his glovelettes. “So helpless in your dirty scrubs, scared and alone….What would you do? Would you even be able to defend yourself?”

He watched as your eyes shifted, trying to avoid him as you attempted to shove your way out. But he was a wall of muscle and pheromones, a light slap telling him to knock it off wasn’t going to cut it this time.

And this, was exactly what you were trying to avoid.

Kain shoved your shoulder against the wall, pushing his nose against the sensitive front of your neck; it nearly made you grunt from surprise.

“Ah…” You felt him exhale, licking his lips against your jugular. “What a cute bitch…You smell so fresh, So different than all the rotten corpses in here. Maybe we should take this one to go, huh boys? I’m sure they’d all like a turn.” Kain said to himself.

You try to swat at him again but he catches your other arm, wrenching it back behind you. "That's not funny, asshole!”

Kain gave an angry laugh, your stubbornness testing the edge of his limits. His harshness and your violent panic ruined any playful mood left.

“You know, you really don’t understand how lucky you are; how much I care about you. Just trying to-- protect you.” Kain struggled to keep you compliant, and to keep his urges at bay. his eyes wildly flit between staring at your lips to your soft exhausted body, the one now in his hands, bulging from his fingertips. For a moment his attention seems to linger on the shallow movement of your chest, falling and rising with each worried breath. But it soon pulls back to your rageful glare, a harsh swallow coming from his throat.

“Why won’t you just take my help? I want what’s best for you, Don't you understand that...” He couldn’t stop looking at your sweet lips, downturned into a frown-- a frown he wanted to kiss away.

In his mind, when he imagined kissing you he thought you’d be stunned at first-- but would quickly fall into his arms, holding onto him as if he was your lifeline.

“Fuck it..” Kain murmured under his breath.

He didn’t spare any time, knowing you'd put up resistance no matter how well he tried to swoon you. Leaning down to get his first taste of you, sweet kisses lapped at your lips before you came to realize what was going on. The curious, self-interested pecks to your lips were so cautious at the start, until Kain’s mouth began to grow lewd. He took your slack jaw as permission to greedily devour your tongue to the fullest. His mouth seemed to fit like a puzzle piece against yours, twisting upward to savor your mouth. You were surprised but not all shocked-- though, this was the first time he had tried to kiss you directly.

“Kain,” He let go but swiftly kissed again under your chin, gliding down your jawbone to your ear. “For the last time-- don't make me fucking hit you--!”

Kain drug his tongue up your skin, pinning your arm behind your back to shove you further against the wall; any closer and you'd be a part of it. He took in deep whiffs of your homey smell, of the sensation of your warm skin and its smoothness on his.

"What're you going to do about it? Gonna fight me off?" The thought made him give you a cheeky grin; it was almost too easy.

When was the last time he touched something so plush… so calming compared to the flesh wound that was what was left of the world? Even the sounds of your labored breaths made Kain…excited. When it came to your body pressed and aligned with his, he couldn't help but feel overly eager in wanting to push and press you flush against him.

“Stop-! You can’t do that here-- ”

But with your writhing body and fingers digging into his scalp, he realized that doing such a feat would be harder than he imagined. Your days of carrying injured survivors into their beds and helping unload traincarts of medical supplies made you nearly a worthy rival in strength.

"Can't stop now…" you heard him mumble, a big, warm hand coming to grip your chin. He was above you, caging you in with the biceps you mocked were more well-formed than his brain. Your hand was still pinned behind you as he pushed his squishy chest against yours.

You dug in your pocket for one of the two needles you always kept on hand. You pulled out the one with a peeling sticker-- its purpose for telling the difference between the two. This particular syringe held enough to sedate a horse-- which, you complemented to Kain’s large size.

You held it up like a knife, test-squeezing a little bit of the serum out.

Kain was busy nestled into your neck one moment, and the next he wasn’t. You were so sure he had forgotten about the hand you were raising, that you paid little attention to the one pinned behind you.

Without notice that he had even caught you, the guard tugged at the wrist behind your back, twisting it against the wall unnaturally. Your breath caught into your throat, body tensing as your forearm let out a crunched pop. A weak moan of agony came from your mouth, Kain’s hand that was once petting you possessively, now slowly taking the needle from your shaking fingers.

You tried to fight him, attempting to stab him then and there. But you were no match, not when your right arm was continuing to be crushed, the longer you tustled him for the syringe.

Kain lets out a triumphant laugh, throwing the needle behind him.

“Nice trick; I didn’t know you were such a flirt, nurse. How did you know I liked a little fight?”

Kain doesn't hesitate to dig both hands into your back pants pockets, allowing you the grace of cradling your throbbing arm. He felt up what he could while removing the other syringe, and keys from your pocket.

“Now,” He started, pulling your head back toward the wall with a grip on your hair. “Let’s see this pretty mouth do what it was meant for.”

Kain practically suffocated you with his body, pinning you back as he slowly pushed his thumb into your mouth.

"Ahh-thole!" You tried to sound out.

Kain watched your plump lips open around his finger; you attempted to bite the digit invading your personal space, but Kain yoinked down on your lower jaw first. The officer pushed the pad of his finger against your tongue, sensations of the muscles smooth wetness making him shudder; your startled sounds of awe only spurring him on, the glint of drooling interest in his eyes shifting to one of excited admiration.

Your stomach sank as you saw the shift in his expression, the peak of his interest making him look like a dog in heat. You were afraid he might miss your lips and smash straight into your cheek. Kains thumb was quickly replaced with his tongue, slowly gliding against your lips as he bit their fullness. He tasted bitter, like thick smoke and faint tobacco.

Kain on the other hand, was finally…finally, getting to experience the sensation of your arousing mouth, the one he had fantasized about so many times. He fantasized about how they'd taste during your first kiss, while he ran his fingers against the dip of your back, how they'd look around his c--

Your relentless teeth made blood trickle from his bottom lip, surprising the guard as he let out a pained groan. But Kain was too stubborn, he wouldn't let you go just like that! He had gone too far now, he couldn't go back to the way things were-- he needed you, needed this.

But you felt so lewd, Kain’s forced kisses making a slew of wet sounds as he occasionally slowed to pull at your lips with his teeth for payback, leisurely grinding against whatever he could press up against. Lord, it was like a high from the heavens for him; your body, your smell, it was enveloping him in a joy he hadn’t felt since... Well, since he could last remember.

Your knee came to push deep against the officer’s crotch. You could feel the shift in between his legs as you shoved as hard as you could.

Kain let out a muffled groan, separating from you for a moment. But he only returned with a bitter laugh, kissing you between revengeful bites.

"Sweet little nurse," Kain singsonged, looking at how you winced at the burn of raw bites left on your lips. Your feet shuffled underneath, twisting and turning to wriggle your knee deeper into his crotch. "How're you gonna fight off the big bad officer? Hm?"

Kain’s leg rammed between your thighs, forcing them apart. He dug the toe of his boots into the wall, positioning so you were practically sitting on his leg.

"Fuck you," you spat, hating the way he pulled at the back of your collar to lift your head back, making it easier to kiss you. "Eat shit and die, Kain. I'm not your fucking toy-!"

The officer giggled like a schoolboy, feeling a painfully intoxicating sting from your words. The anger and yearning made it harder for him to see straight.

"We'll see about that…!" He huffed, lifting your jaw to the sky. A long, wet stripe made its way down from your chin to your ear, a shudder leaving Kain’s mouth as he swallowed the salty tang of your skin.

You heard low chatter from the radio attached to his hip, his name repeated by a deep voice.

“Officer K..ain.. four..… intruders…4--” The voice was cutting in and out, static making the message hardly discernible.

“Shit…” Kain huffed, kissing through words as the corner of his lip became smeared with blood. “Why now-- for mm.. fuck’s sake….”

Kain’s head fell low as he left your lips, hanging in frustration. You were gasping for breath as you turned your head to the side, dizziness coming in a small wave.

The surface of your skin felt hot, a sharp taste left in your mouth from Kain. The officer was currently licking over his lips, tasting the remains of your sweat and his own blood.

Your head throbbed; the sterile stench of the hospital clung inside your nostrils, thick coughs coming from the room over, your 'patient' likely still feeling the twinge of his insides bleeding out. How could you still be dealing with Kain's bullshit, while the world around you was continuing to be mauled and raped by the disease plaguing your species?

The officer was an effective distraction from your nursery duties, his grating voice interrupting your thoughts as he still clung to you.

“Nurse, help me out,” He whined. “I can’t go out there looking like this!" Cain threw his hands down, letting you go to your surprise. "C’mon what do I do? You're the expert.”

You saw what kain was referring to, his hand covering a bite of retaliation you left on his neck, and the crotch of his black pants billowing out in a restrained fashion.

“Dear g-- Kain!” your immediate reaction was to shove kain back away from you, But the guard held a hand to his forehead, hardly lurching backward from your assault. You hit him afain, repeatedly punching at him to get him back for all thar had transpored. But kain merelt pushed his hair back to show his glistening forehead, barely holding up a palm to protect himself.

Kain chuckled wryly, groping at himself in a futile effort to make his erection less noticeable.

“This is all your fault--! Fucking…Asshole--” You grunt, mumbling curses as you pushed at the man again. “You don’t have the time, anyway. Get out of here, go do your damn job.” Wiping your mouth, you look at his radio.

You were tempted to chew him out as he stood still, but Kain got to you first. Rubbing at your neck to get rid of his love bites, you fell prey to Kain’s harsh shove of your shoulders against the wall. He seemed to throw you around like a stuffed animal, his strength

Kain grabbed your shoulders, shoving you against the wall again. You let out an involuntary “umph”, as the officer pressed his flushed forehead against yours. His fingers reached for your chin again as you tried to jerk your head away.

“Look at me-- before I go,” His voice grew low and harsh as he whispered, the clear stomps of other officers clicking outside the patient room. “I suggest that if you don’t want to be reprimanded by the guild--” Kain stopped momentarily, grinning as he imagined in his head. “Come to my room. Tonight.”

“...Room?” You questioned. Ah right, all the officers got rooms to stay in, while the rest of you measly survivors had to sleep close together in tight quarters. "Like hell I'll do that. You're the reason they're on my ass, they think I told you to defend me!"

Kain frowns, dissatisfaction making him furrow his eyebrows.

"What was I supposed to do? Let that guy practically violate you with his words? I couldn't stand letting him do that." he clicked his radio off, annoyed by the continued static call of his name. "You, wouldn't have allowed that either. I know you, you would've unleashed far worse than I had; but, I saved you the trouble, and the ass beating."

"But--"

"I know i know, you're still being 'reprimanded'," Kain gagged as he scrunched his fingers. "However, i could easily sway the guild council's opinion as a leading officer… in return for something, of course."

Your eyes narrow.

"And how would you do that? You're the one that caused this whole mess in the first place!"

Kain’s mouth was left lingering open against your cheek as he tried to hold himself back.

"A few of the council members owe me some favors… I wouldn't mind cashing one in if it meant, a night with you."

The guard’s breath hitched, his damp cheek pressing against yours as you winced in disgust.

“Seriously? You're willingly playing into their corruption; disgusting.”

Kain dug his hand into your hair, taking a deep inhale of it, ignoring your criticisms. He tried to press you up against him, as if your body wanted to give him physical affection.

"Take it or leave it. It's a much better choice than the tunnels, hm?"

That made you shudder. You doubted they'd throw you to the tunnels and catacombs of the city for something like this, but who's to say you're not one mistake too close to being zombie bate.

You were too stuck in the dread of what he was asking for. You knew he wouldn’t be satisfied if you let him have you, even if it was just for a night; he’d always come crawling back for more, until he completely consumed you. But did you really want to deal with his bullshit if you didn’t show up?

The radio chimed again, and Kain caught himself before he lashed out again, merely letting out an annoyed grunt.

“Got it?” He asked, pressing his knuckles against your jaw.

The guard didn’t wait for an answer, instead squeezing your face with one hand and pushing a multitude of kisses on your bruised lips. You tightened your lips shut, trying to turn and grunting as he kissed and kissed and kissed, not a thought of pulling away-- until the radio snatched his attention again.

All of a sudden Kain’s hands were off of you, his bulky body had pushed past the privacy curtain, leaving it closed. You heard the door shut as he stormed out; shutting the door with a tight firmness that irked you. Letting out an exasperated sigh, you listened to his heavy military boots trudge down the hospital corridors, waiting for them to be completely silent.

That silence was quickly filled once again however, your mind snapping back into work mode as the dying man in the adjacent room’s hospital bed began another violent coughing fit.

You shut kain out of your mind-- but in the back of your head, you mentally played what you felt would happen tonight if you took up his offer. Hell, what were you going to do with him?

Murder was starting to sound real tempting.

146 notes · View notes