#Last Zap Larry

[the-zapped-part-timer]

[octuscle]

How to become the fuck whore (remake)

Lawrence was ruined. Really broke. He had lost his job. He had lost his apartment. And the suitcase containing the last of his belongings had been stolen. Now he was standing on the street in the rain, waiting for lightning to strike him. That would have been the best solution. He was now in his late 50s, had never had any further training and was unathletic. He saw no prospects for himself.

Just as he was considering whether he should really throw himself off a bridge, a group of obviously drunk partygoers came by. "Dude, you look like shit!" said one of the young lads. "Do you need help?". It didn't matter now, his dignity was already shot to hell. So Lawrence began to cry bitterly and told his story. The boys around him were embarrassed at first. But then one of them started grinning and whispering with the others, interrupting Sebastian's lament. "Mate, come and join us. One of our roommates is abroad for a semester. You can have his room for a few days."

A few minutes later, Lawrence was sitting in the kitchen of the shared student flat. He had grabbed a jogging suit from the wardrobe of the guy whose room he was staying in. A little tight in the waistband. A little loose at the top. The boy obviously had a sporty figure. It felt a little strange to be an old man sitting among all the young guys. The boys all knew each other from the sports college, two were assistants there and three were still studying. They were all well-built and handsome alphas! He didn't fit in here. But Lawrence had no other choice.

After three beers and a joint, his eyes closed. He apologized and threw himself on his bed. As he fell asleep, he noticed the smell of sweat from the bedding. And he wondered why such sporty young people drank, smoked and smoked pot. But he didn't care. He had already fallen asleep.

When he woke up, the sun was shining. He had to orientate himself for a short while until Lawrence knew where he was and who he was again. In any case, he was well rested. And he felt better than he had for a long time. In his borrowed jogging suit, he went into the shared bathroom to pee. And a glance in the mirror confirmed it: the night had done him good. Maybe everything really was going to be okay. The bathroom looked just as he had imagined the bathroom of a shared student flat would look. Dirty, untidy. So he made himself useful. The others still seemed to be asleep, at least he didn't hear a sound. When he had finished with the bathroom, he continued in the kitchen, where there were still dishes from the week. And while he was washing up, two of the boys came into the kitchen. They had obviously both been jogging, sweat shone on their bare torsos and they were breathing heavily. Sebastian handed them both a glass of water and asked if he should make breakfast. The two boys grinned at each other and exchanged a fist bump. And ordered scrambled eggs and coffee.

For the rest of the day, Lawrence cleaned the apartment until you could have eaten off the floor in any room. He'd also been to the laundrette and neatly folded and put away the laundry that didn't need ironing. He had planned to iron the rest of the laundry that evening. The boys had come and gone, had food made in between and had no problem leaving a trail of devastation each time. But Lawrence thought it was only fair to tidy up and clean again. He found himself getting a hard cock more and more often at the sight of the boys. Why did they all have to walk around the apartment bare-chested? Or completely naked.

Larry was allowed to come into the living room of the shared flat to iron. The boys lounged on the sofa and zapped through various series. Every now and then they jerked each other off. Every now and then someone would ask for a beer or a sandwich. Larry then interrupted his ironing to go to the kitchen. It was already late when he was finally able to go to bed. But he wanted to tidy up the last remnants of the TV evening before he went to bed himself. He had already taken off the top of his tracksuit. And while he was cleaning the bathroom mirror, which was already smeared again, he realized that he didn't look so bad with his naked upper body. And as he lay in bed, he noticed that his room was the only one in which the beds hadn't been freshly made. And it hadn't been cleaned yet.

When Larry got up the next morning to get bread rolls and make breakfast, something was different. The top of his tracksuit was stretched across his chest. And he had difficulty pulling his pants up over his thighs. Maybe he would have to rummage through the closet later to find something better to wear. But now he had to hurry. The first of his masters were about to leave for their morning jog. He had to have breakfast ready by the time they got back.

As soon as he got back from the bakery, he had to take off his sweatshirt. It was far too tight. Besides, it was rude to cover his tits when he was allowed to see his masters'. And his tits were something he was proud of. He was proud of his whole body. But as his masters' cleaning slave and fuckwhore, he also had a duty to do his best.

[toasteraaa]

Sup! I am back with more art.

I literally started posting daily here, huh?

Anyhow I present you new characters I added in the whole Blaise and Dash's story pipeline.

Meet Tihomir, Genki and Zaila. They are Dash's teammates and friends! They form a very successful competitive team.

Now onto the characters.

Tihomir

He is a cis male who is Demisexual, and mains Ballpoint Splatling. He dates Iris who hangs out with Blaise, Ivy and Mis. Tihomir is very quiet and reserved in comparison to his teammates/friends who are often loud and obnoxious. He is the voice of reason and most of the times serious. He may joke around at times, but he prefers to stay quiet most of the times. He is into mechanics, he likes reading and riding a motorcycle. He loves making upgrades to his motorcycle. He would often be asked to help to fix someone's vehicle. He never declines, but ofc asks for money in return. He often posts scientific facts and theories on his social media, like Matpat for instance.

Genki

He is a cis male who is polyromantic and mains N-ZAP '85. He is very flirty with people. Imagine Larry Butz from Ace Attorney, yeah, Genki is like that guy, but more wild, and in the end gets his ass beaten up. Zaila often punches him in the face when he won't stop talking nonsense. Him and Dash tend to do destruction in their free time. Going to bars, partying etc, Tihomir and Zaila often have to babysit them. At one point Genki had a crush on Dash, but once Blaise came into his life, Genki started to challenge Blaise and measure power and strength. Blaise thought that this was unnecessary and stupid, leaving Genki teasing him. Genki is a wild card. He likes to do pranks on people, and he actually films that kind of content.

Last but not least Zaila!

She is a cis woman and a lesbian she mains Squeezer. She is the other voice of reason, but she doesn't mind joining Dash and Genki's nonsensical activities. She has an aesthetic blog, and often talks about fashion. She loves styling her friends and giving them advices on how to dress properly, except she gets annoyed when Genki wears his worn out clothes, when Zaila has given him so many new fashionable clothing. He sticks to his own clothes because they are comfortable to him. Aside from fashion and aesthetic, Zaila loves the nature and likes exercisesing outside. She likes spending time with her friends and likes helping Tihomir with the mechanical work. She also acts like a sister figure to Dash and gives dating advices to help him get with Blaise.

Together these fellas form the team "The Veracious Prowlers". (I may change the name in the future if I come up with something better...)

After so much yapping, here's the team teasing Dash for his height.

Well that's all I've got for these fellas...

As for the next art.

It's YAOI day! So I drew a Blaise and Dash art, you are welcome!

That's all!

Bye!

Stay safe!

[batty4steddie]

Can I Keep It?

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and on AO3 see full cw's there. Written with @spicycinnabun ❤️️ We have a playlist. 🦇

Chapter 8: The Prince of Demons’ Offspring

Once the car was parked in a shaded area beside the fence, Eddie grabbed the walkie from the glove box and practically jumped out of the car, shaking his limbs out and rolling his neck with a groan. He put the walkie on the hood so he could shrug out of his jacket, holding it out to Steve. “For your head.” 

He’d need as much sun protection as possible and could use it like an umbrella. It was a bit of a chilly morning to wear just a Ghostbusters t-shirt, but Eddie was a bit hot under the collar anyway, and the cold air was doing wonders for his fragile self-control.

“Who’s got the partner to that walkie?” he asked. He spat his gum out in the trashcan and opened the wrought iron gate for them, which was rusty from poor maintenance and squeaked on its hinges. Was it one of the kids? Dustin? 

“Dustin. It’s his perpetual lifeline to me,” Steve said. It was convenient when they needed to get in touch, like now. 

Steve wasn’t afraid of the sun, but he wore Eddie’s jacket over his head until they got to the shade tree, then gave it back. Eddie looked visibly cold. Steve could totally see his nips poking through the thin fabric of his shirt. 

Steve snatched the walkie-talkie back from him, sat down under the tree and extended the antenna. He pushed the sunglasses up to rest in his hair while he looked at which button to press to get it to work. “Dustin, it’s Steve. Are you there?” 

When Eddie’s butt hit the soft grass, which was dewy and cold, all his energy seemed to zap out of him. The tree bark at his back wasn’t even uncomfortable. He huddled under his jacket and tried hard to focus, but every part of his body felt heavy. It was impossible to keep his eyes open anymore. They fluttered closed as he and Steve waited for Dustin to come through.

Dustin’s voice came over the line. “Steve! Where are you? How’s Eddie?”  

Steve laughed. Of course, Dustin was still concerned about Eddie.

Eddie smiled a bit. He didn’t understand why Dustin idolized him. That starry-eyed worship would wear off pretty damn soon when he realized who Eddie really was, but it was nice to have a little brother from another mother for now. Eddie had always wanted a sibling. If he made it out of this, he hoped he got to see the little squirt graduate and go on to do great things.

Steve shook his head but pressed the button down to answer. “In his own words… He’s just dandy.” Eddie had said that about Larry last night, so surely, he was doing about the same as Larry right now. 

"Not dandy, just peachy fucking keen," Eddie mumbled as he slumped tiredly, unheard by both.

Steve continued, “In case you’re curious about me, though…”

Since they were talking over the walkie, he couldn’t get into everything that had happened—just the basics, like they didn’t have to worry about Jason anymore—without elaborating on why. He told Dustin where they were and asked if he could get Nancy to bring the whole gang there. Dustin agreed since he was determined to come and help. 

Steve ended the conversation by saying, “Watch out for zombie vampires,” and tossed the walkie in the grass.

Eddie was asleep. During Steve’s conversation, his head had slowly fallen sideways until his cheek met Steve’s shoulder. He looked so peaceful. Steve didn’t want to disturb him, but he could make him more comfortable.

Carefully lifting his arm, Steve let Eddie slide down and pillow himself against Steve’s chest. Steve wrapped his arm around him securely, and Eddie snuggled right in and immediately started snoring. Steve wished that he could sleep, too. He didn’t feel tired, but he missed being able to turn off his mind and body. All his senses were on high alert.

While he could hear Eddie’s heart beating and blood flowing strong and steady, he could also hear leaves rustling and animals scurrying around them. He hadn’t felt this peaceful in so long. He couldn’t even remember the last time.

Steve looked down at Eddie, who looked equally at peace. He hadn’t seen Eddie without a worried brow since their encounter at the video store. From this angle, he looked so pretty. Steve’s gaze lingered over his features, and he felt a tiny ache in his chest. 

He stopped and rested his head back against the tree trunk. Steve looked out over the cemetery and thought about how actually fucked he was over Eddie. Then, he thought about how glad he would be for some backup for whatever was coming for them next.

Eddie suddenly moaned. Steve looked down, concerned, but Eddie was smiling. He looked ridiculously happy for someone who had been completely traumatized. Maybe Eddie was having the kind of fun in his dream that Steve had wanted to have in the car. He was mid-huff, wanting to continue his pouty party, when his ears picked up on a noise. 

Someone was coming. 

*

Robin was the first to arrive. Nancy Wheeler had called her, of all people, to tell her that Steve and Eddie were at the cemetery and they needed to meet them there now. Which, okay , was not alarming in the slightest. And the fact that she could hear Nancy’s heartbeat over the phone, and it kind of sounded like it was playing her a little song? That was not alarming either.

Robin had gotten over all the alarming things hours��ago. She was so ready for whatever had happened to Steve and Eddie. (Yeah, right.)

Carrying her mother’s floral umbrella like a parasol since, apparently, the sun was out to get her now, she shot from street to street. Then she jumped the cemetery gates, already well-acquainted with her new abilities. She actually would have enjoyed them if they didn’t come with murderous blood-sucking urges.

She heard the boys’ heartbeats long before she physically found them.

“Hey, dingus,” Robin said, appearing at their feet. Her nose twitched, and her eyes flared red, the bite mark on her shoulder where the bat fangs were lodged pulsing with hunger.

She’d never wanted to eat a guy before, but Eddie smelled kinda good. Steve, on the other hand, did not. He smelled like… Her nose wrinkled. God, he smelled terrible.

Her eyebrows shot up at their intimate position, but she couldn’t say she was too surprised.

Steve felt caught and probably would’ve blushed if he could’ve. He discretely loosened his grip on Eddie when Robin gave him judgy eyebrows but then tightened it again when he got a whiff of her scent. 

She was a vampire, too. Paler than usual, veins dark and dilated. She stank badly. Part of him wanted to bury his nose in Eddie’s hair because he already knew it smelled good. Their collective vampire stench was probably so pungent to let them know that they shouldn’t fuck with each other. 

“Hey,” he said.

“Man, what a cuddle monster.” Eddie really was clinging onto Steve like a limpet. Robin tilted her head, watching him nuzzle into Steve’s chest with a dreamy little smile. He looked so happy.

“So, uh, something happened last night, and I’m kinda a gross bloodsucker now?” she said in a rush. She followed the direction of Steve’s gaze. There was a red stain on the collar of her shirt. “Oh, this? Not human, no, just a mess from a chipmunk.” She grimaced. “God, poor little Alvin. You’re not gonna believe this, but a bat flew into my bedroom…”

Steve had to laugh. He pulled his collar to the side and showed her where he’d gotten bitten, then flashed her his fangs, eyes going red briefly, too, before the fangs retracted and his eyes went back to normal. “The same thing that bit me must’ve come and bit you. Last night, the Upside Down opened a gate at my house, in my parents' bedroom. My dad got wrapped up in vines, and it swallowed him whole. I don’t even know if he’s still alive.” 

“Fuck. I’m sorry, Steve,” Robin said. She knew Steve wasn’t that big of a fan of his dad, but still, he probably hadn’t wanted him to be killed . 

“My mom's safe, but all these… bat things came into the room from the gate. Me and Eddie tried to fight them off, but one bit me. It died, but the rest of them flew out the window before the gate closed.”

“Great. So, there must be a lot more of us now. At least it only seems like they make one vampire per bite. The one that bit me died, too. Like a bumblebee.” Robin snorted. “A really fucking ugly bumblebee.” 

*

Eddie was dreaming of being on the beach. He was lying on a warm towel decorated with bats, and Steve was sitting in a red lounger, his skin smoking.

“I think you’re burning,” Eddie said, sitting up.

Steve didn’t seem concerned. “What are you talking about, Eds? You’re protecting me.” He lifted his hand, and Eddie’s ring caught the sunlight, showering them in ruby glitter that danced around the sand.

“Oh yeah,” Eddie replied. He gulped. “ You’re just smoking… hot.”

Steve smirked, his fangs extending. He grabbed something from beside the lounger—a coconut. He pierced the coconut with his right fang and used it like a can opener. It smelled so good that Eddie swayed forward. Once Steve was done, he held the coconut out to Eddie and poured the water down his throat until he got his fill.

Eddie licked his lips and knocked the coconut away, feeling intense desire.

The world shifted, and he had Steve underneath him, arching up from his touches and panting as Eddie moved inside him. Steve’s legs locked around his hips with supernatural strength and drove him in harder, forcing his hips to move faster. His eyes were bright and focused on Eddie.

“ I want you.”

“Fuck, Stevie,” Eddie moaned, “is this real?”

“No.”

The world shifted again, and they were at prom. Class of 1986 was written on a banner hanging up. In the real world, Eddie knew Steve had graduated, and there was no way this was possible, but in the dream, Eddie didn’t question it.

Steve and Nancy were spinning around the gym floor, a crown on Steve’s head and a tiara on Nancy’s.

Eddie was part of the crowd surrounding them. Everybody was cheering them on except him.

Something didn’t feel right about this. Neither looked as happy as they should have for being Prom King and Prom Queen.

The truth was that Steve should have been dancing with him .

Eddie parted the crowd and walked over to them with purpose. His dress shoes were pinching his toes, and his tie was too tight around his neck, but this was important.

Steve and Nancy stopped spinning and broke apart. Steve looked at him wide-eyed, and the crowd stopped cheering.

Eddie offered him his hand, heart pounding.

Then he opened his eyes.

“Hey, Edwardo,” said Robin, saluting him. She was hanging upside down from a thick tree branch, watching him with amusement. Her smile looked like a frown.

Eddie lifted his head from its comfy resting place and froze in horror when he realized his position, who he was on top of, and whom he was holding. He scrambled away from Steve, who looked way too calm for someone who had just been treated like a human teddy bear. “Sorry, sorry, man. I fell asleep.”

And Eddie’s dream. Jesus Christ, had he done anything? He knew he talked in his sleep sometimes. He sleepwalked fairly regularly, and Wayne told him he’d had full-on conversations with him multiple times.

There went his cuddly Eddie bear. Steve sighed, “I know. It’s alright, man. Nothing to apologize for.” Steve got up and dusted himself off.

Robin cracked up, and Eddie shot her a look before he noticed her fangs. Well, and she was hanging like a fucking bat, all casual-like. “You got turned too?”

She nodded. “‘Fraid so.”

Eddie was saved from the continuation of his flusterfuck when they heard car doors slamming. He stood up, too.

Dustin ran up to them first. He had a few cuts on his face, but apart from that, he looked no worse for wear. “Man, am I glad to see you guys.” He panted. “A Demovambat attacked us and got Max! She’s a vampire!”

“Demovambat?” asked Eddie, taking in the news.

“Yeah, we believe this bat is a mutant descendant of the Demogorgon, so I named it a Demovambat.” Dustin looked incredibly proud of this name.

It sparked Eddie’s attention. “The Prince of Demons’ offspring?”

Dustin nodded excitedly.

“Interesting.”

Suddenly, Steve didn’t feel so alone. Robin and Max were vampires, too. He felt bad that they had been attacked. As badly as he wanted to contain it, the whole situation was out of his control. Both of Steve’s bites had created vampire zombies. He didn’t want that for the others. Steve only wanted to nom on Eddie because he was horny and Eddie was cute, not because he wanted to kill him and turn him. Together, maybe they could defeat Vecna, especially if they agreed not to bite their friends.

When Nancy approached them, she had a clear effect on both vampires. Steve and Robin both breathed in deeply, like her smell was intoxicating. Eddie tried not to feel jealous, but he failed.

“Thank God you’re okay,” Nancy said, wrapping her arms around Steve in a rush.

Evidently, they were still on good terms. Eddie averted his gaze, smoothing some invisible lint from his jacket until they let go of each other.

Nancy’s familiar scent was amplified ten times by Steve’s new senses. He wasn’t expecting her to be happy that he was okay. He thought she didn’t care about him anymore. When he returned the hug, Robin looked at him with daggers in her eyes. Steve knew that Robin had a massive crush on Nancy, and he was sure that she wanted to bite her as badly as he wanted to bite Eddie. They’re off-limits, he mouthed to her over Nancy’s shoulder. 

They stepped back from each other, and she gave Steve a stern look, all softness gone as quickly as it had come. “Dustin said you took care of Jason. What the hell does that mean?”

Steve didn’t want to answer. He was feeling bashful about it. He ran his hand through his hair and looked down. “He was out looking for Eddie and found us. He was going to hurt him. I had to protect… us. I bit him.” 

Steve still wasn’t comfortable saying that he’d killed someone. Technically, he had killed twice , but he had to stop Jason and had done it the only way he could as a vampire.  When he looked up, afraid of what he would find on her face, Nancy didn’t seem that troubled by the news. She just nodded and said, “Good, one less thing to worry about.” 

A question from Dustin tore Eddie’s attention away from Steve and Nancy.

“What happened to your hair, man?” Dustin’s nose wrinkled. He made a shrinking motion with his hands. “It’s all… tamed and stuff. And shiny. ” He leaned closer to inspect it, thoroughly invading Eddie’s personal space.

“Hey,” Eddie said, pulling Dustin into a rough noogie that made him cry in both complaint and laughter. “What happened to your hair, Dusty?”

“Ah, stop!”

Eddie released him once his hair was thoroughly disheveled, stepping back with an eyebrow lift and a grin.

“That was rude,” Dustin said.

“No, that was called for.”

Max shuffled forward. She was wearing a baggy hoodie with the Hawkins High emblem that looked like it belonged to Sinclair, hood pulled over her head, and hands shoved deep in the kangaroo pouch. She didn’t say a word to them, keeping her gaze on the ground as she went to sit in front of a headstone a few feet away.

It was William Hargrove’s grave. Billy’s grave.

She pulled out a piece of notebook paper, unfolding it. The skin of her fingers started to burn in the sunlight, crackling pops of smoke trailing up into the sky. She shot Lucas a hot glare when he made like he wanted to stop her.

 “Back off ,” she said, fangs piercing her lower lip.

He backed off.

Max leaned forward, pressing her forehead to the top of the stone as she read the letter in a soft murmur, ignoring them all. Her hair was loose and cascaded down the side of her face, hiding it.

They moved away to give her some space, except for Lucas, who stayed closer by but still at a respectful distance, sitting on a bench while he waited her out.

“Dude, can you show me your fangs?” Dustin said, cutting the tension and laughing in delight when Steve rolled his eyes and extended them, letting out a half-hearted hiss. “You’re really getting the fang of those, aren’t you?” Dustin quipped. “Awesome.” He backpedalled, “I mean, not awesome because we gotta get you turned back, but do you think you’ll get to keep them?”

“I don’t know, Dust,” Steve answered, exasperated. He attempted to retract his fangs, but they stayed put when he heard what Max was saying. His head whipped in her direction. 

She was trying to communicate with Billy, and fuck no. He didn’t want Billy to come back and take over his body again. He would hurt everyone around them and use him to do it. Not again. 

“ No ,” Steve growled.

One second, Steve was showing them his fangs –

– and by the next, he was halfway across the yard in front of Max.

Dustin gaped. “So cool. He was just a blur!”

“Shh,” Eddie said distractedly, watching the exchange between Steve and Max. Alarm bells went off in his head as he took in their expressions.

Steve ripped the paper away from Max, and that stopped her mumbling. It was some sort of spell she was reciting. He started to tear up the paper, but it was too late. 

The ground began to shake. 

Eddie and the rest of the group ran over to them. Eddie almost lost his balance on the way, grabbing Steve’s shoulder to stay upright. He had to yell to be heard over the rumbling noise. “Please tell me this is a regular fucking earthquake!”

Not that that was any better than something else making the world shake.

Steve’s eyes were glowing blood red. If Dustin hadn’t distracted him, he could’ve stopped Max sooner. “No such luck,” he responded. 

What was happening wasn’t a natural disaster, although it sure seemed that way. Steve looked reassuringly at Eddie as they all braced themselves. 

“What did you do?” Lucas asked Max, panicked.

Max stood up, hands balled into fists at her sides. Her eyes were flaming, fangs out. “I did what I had to do to bring Billy back. I can get him to reverse this. I need to talk to him.”

Lucas shook his head. “He’s not Billy anymore, Max!”

Max gave them all a furious look just as the sky clouded over and Billy’s headstone broke in half. The weather seemed to be going in fast-forward. Thunder boomed, and then rain pelted from above, soaking them all.

The earth shook hard, and they all held on to different things to keep their footing. A deep crack formed right where Billy had been laid to rest, opening wider and wider with each tremor. When it finally seemed to stop, there was a deep, crater-sized hole.

They all stepped backward as a giant, dark red tentacle slithered out of the darkness. It looked exactly like the tentacles on the Demovambats but about thirty times the size. Seven more followed the first, gripping themselves on each side as the creature ascended from the hole.

“Ugh,” Robin said. “ Disgusting .”

It said something about her character: she didn’t seem too phased, just grossed out. This group had really gone through some shit. 

Billy rose so slowly that Steve had time to get the sword out of the car. He returned like the wind, nearly knocking Eddie over from the breeze he’d created. Steve handed it to Eddie since he was confident he could handle Billy without it. Eddie needed something since he didn’t have vampire powers. 

Billy emerged. Despite the oozing spaghetti-like appendages, the creature looked like Billy Hargrove from the waist up. A bit on the demonic side, what with the pulsating black veins and the black eyes, but still half-humanoid. Two gigantic bat wings emerged from his back, their span so wide it plunged the group into shadows. Steve couldn’t have dreamt up a more repulsive form.

While they all stared in shock, Billy’s black lips curled into a smirk. His tentacles rippled, moving like they each had a mind of their own. “Thanks for the lift, Maxine.”

His voice made them all shudder. It sounded staticky, like a damaged recording.

Due to how he’d reacted the first five times something terrifying had happened, Eddie should have been scared this time, too. This wasn’t just a nightmare or a hallucination. This was a real, live monster right before his eyes. And while his heart was pounding like a jackhammer again, his feet didn’t immediately turn in the opposite direction and start running for the hills as he stared at Billy.

He felt a stab of vindictiveness, instead, because this pile of haunted spaghetti had mind-raped Steve, God damn it.

Steve, who had handed him the sword. Eddie wrapped his fingers around the hilt and gripped it tightly. He wasn’t going to drop it. He wasn’t going to cower this time.

“Billy, you can stop this! Put Hawkins back the way it was,” Max pleaded. “Turn me, Steve and Robin back and defeat Vecna. He’s the one who killed you and turned you into this. You and everyone can regain their lives if you decide to make everything right again. I know you want to!”

Billy stared at her. “Max, don’t you get it? There’s nothing I can do.” One of his tentacles betrayed his emotions, flicking erratically, the movement reminding Eddie of an upset cat. “The plan is already in motion.”

Max’s intentions were understandable. Pure. Steve would even go as far as to say noble. She missed her step-brother and wanted his help—for him to use the good she knew he had deep inside—the good that had made him sacrifice himself at the mall. Steve had just escaped Billy’s control at Skull Rock, but deep down, he’d known Billy would be back. 

“Billy,” Max repeated. She stepped closer, right up to him, and his tentacles thrashed warningly. “You can do it. I know you can. I know this isn’t what you really want. Come back to our side. Please .”

Her eyes were shining with tears of blood, her expression open, desperate, and painfully hopeful.

Billy’s face froze for a moment before it suddenly crumpled, and he turned away fast, tentacles coming up and enshrouding his upper body from view. He convulsed a few times before his tentacles slammed down on the ground, and he let out a huge, staticky roar.

“It’s too fucking LATE for that! I belong to him. I can’t come back.”

Before Max could say anything more, one of the tentacles lashed out, lifting her and pinning her to the tree. Leaves and branches rained down from the force. She screamed, fangs extending and eyes turning red as she struggled.

“Max!” Lucas yelled. Eddie held Dustin back when he made like he was going to pounce over there, too.

Eddie guessed this was his moment to intervene. He was the one with the sword. Fuck.

Taking a deep breath and not considering the consequences, Eddie charged forward with the sword above his head. With all his might, he axed the blade down onto the tentacle holding Max.

Billy let out a pained growl that was mostly static as the tentacle sliced in half, but as Max fell to the ground, he started laughing again. His wings, huge, dripping masses of blackness, lifted and spread even higher into the sky. Each wing had to be about as big as Eddie’s van. “You think that’s enough to defeat me, cafeteria food?”

Again, Eddie was reduced to cafeteria food. Steve disagreed. He thought Eddie was a damn good snack and was offended on his behalf. 

Two more tentacles shot out, whip quick. One wrapped around Eddie’s neck and started dragging him forward. The grip was so tight he couldn’t scream, and his breath was lost. He choked, free hand scrabbling at the slippery appendage and his other hand still determinedly gripping the sword. The tips of his toes dragged along the ground until Billy lifted him in the air. He kept fighting, black spots dancing in front of his eyes.

To the group’s horror, the same thing was happening to Nancy a few feet away. 

Steve quickly looked from Eddie to Nancy, his heart nearly beating out of his chest. 

Robin gave Steve a look, one that told him Chillax, I got her and also, Go save your metalhead, dingus.

Steve nodded at her, then he ran and leapt, latching onto the slimy tentacle choking Eddie. Steve locked his arms and legs around the tentacle, but it was so slimy and slippery that he had to use his nails to climb up it. “ Harrington, I can’t believe you’re risking your life for this freak! What about your one true love, Nancy Wheeler? You’re really making me think I would’ve had a chance. Maybe after all this, I still will .” 

Steve cringed as Billy taunted him. “Shut up ,” he growled, continuing the climb. 

Billy cackled and swung the tentacle they were dangling from, making Eddie gag harder, and Steve nearly fall.

*

Robin may have had a huge lesbian crush on Nancy that prevented her from talking to the woman like a normal, sane human being, but thankfully, it didn’t stop her from coming to Nancy’s aid when Billy was strangling her half to death.

Being into her best friend’s ex was a very guilty pleasure, but they had been broken up for a while now, and it seemed like Steve was moving on to geekier pastures with Eddie Munson, of all people.

Using her vampiric agility, Robin took a running start and jumped, grabbing onto one of Billy’s appendages and swinging from tentacle to tentacle like she was Jane of the Slimy Jungle. When she reached the one where her dream girl was hanging, somehow Nance (was Robin allowed to call her that yet?) looked pissed as hell, even partly unconscious.

God, she was beautiful. And Robin had to save her, stat.

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna get you down,” Robin told her while Billy was busy goading Steve.

Hanging upside down from the end of one tentacle, Robin tried not to vomit when it whipped her around a few times. When it whipped to the left, Robin managed to grab hold of the tentacle that had Nancy.

Letting out a roar of her own, Robin wrapped both hands around the thing and extended her claws to their full lengths, gouging them deeply through the tentacle until it began to break apart. Nancy started falling to the ground as the tentacle snapped from the weight.

“Crap!” Robin panicked—but then remembered she had fucking super speed and dove to the ground first.

She was impressed at her own reflexes as she landed on her feet like a cat and caught Nancy in her arms. Robin gently lowered her to the grass and unwound the tentacle from her neck. It was already greying up and turning into dust.

Nancy was frighteningly silent for a few seconds as she caught her bearings, and Robin could hear her heartbeat palpitating as blood flow returned to all the necessary places.

Finally, Nancy groaned, eyelashes fluttering. Robin sighed deeply in relief.

*

Eddie was going to free himself, get back to fighting, and protect the kids and everyone.

The likelihood of that happening was dwindling by the second. His grip on the sword was weakening, and whenever he thought he had the strength to lift it up, his fingers went slack.

Eddie was just about to drop it when Steve—Sir Harrington, knight in shining armor—appeared and grabbed it from him. With mixed emotions and little air in his lungs, he returned Steve’s gaze.

Eddie braced himself for impact when he was cut free, but Steve caught him by the hand first, stopping him from plummeting to the ground. Eddie looked up at him and let go. 

He didn’t land very hard, but since he was barely conscious, as soon as he landed on his feet, he was on his ass. Dustin ran over to him and crouched down beside him. “Eddie! Dude, shit, you’re okay. You’re okay.”

He sounded panicked and scared. Eddie tried to reach out and ruffle his hair. He wanted to reassure Dustin that of course he was okay, but he could only keep sitting on the ground for a full minute while his body recovered.

Tentacle pieces were falling all around them. Steve was going full-on monster barber with Billy until he had the tentacle equivalent of a bowl cut. He couldn’t use them anymore, but Eddie knew it was probably just a matter of time before Billy regenerated them.

Eddie forced himself to stand, with Dustin’s help, as Steve came over. Somehow, he’d lost his jacket and ripped his shirt. His hair was mussed from fighting, his cheeks were flushed with (Jason’s) blood, and the muscles in his arms were standing out from being flexed so hard with the sword. He was also covered in monster slime.

“Sorry… you have to… keep… saving… me…” Eddie said, struggling through each word. His voice was barely more than a wheeze.

He was the most useless hero. Well, he wasn’t a hero at all. Just the sidekick who kept fucking things up and getting himself into trouble. Steve was the real hero.

Steve started to shake his head. He went over to hook his free arm under Eddie’s since he still seemed weak and hadn’t caught his breath yet. He didn’t understand why Eddie was apologizing. “You saved Max,” he pointed out. He was proud of Eddie. He didn’t know why he was beating himself up.

Loud music started blaring from the gates. It was coming from Steve’s beemer. 

Had Eddie left the keys in there? Jesus Christ. Steve looked up at the dark sky so he didn’t give Eddie the dirtiest look he could muster. While he was doing that, the song's lyrics hit him right in his heart. 

“Max, what are you doing?!”

They all turned their heads at Lucas's yell. Max was standing in front of Billy again. She ignored Lucas, which Eddie noticed seemed to be a trend with them.

“Do you remember this, Billy? This cassette. You used to play it in your room when you thought nobody was listening to you, especially track number seven. Over and over again.”

Billy looked furious but also like he was about to cry. His wings shuddered, beating behind him. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Turn that off!”

Max moved closer to him, imploring. “Your mom used to listen to this, didn’t she? Remember who you were before, Billy. I know you can.” 

Billy let out a roar, black tears streaming down his face. It nearly broke all their eardrums. He turned ashen grey and then exploded. Viscera flew everywhere, and black smoke blanketed them. 

The song continued to play, the only noise in the ensuing silence. 

Steve took that as a sign that they needed to get the fuck out of there, “Let’s fucking go. Now .” 

He handed Dustin the sword and was about to help Eddie to the car when Max cried Billy’s name and dove into a large pile of ash that had formed once the smoke had cleared. She came out of it, pulling a coughing, very human form of Billy out of the rubble. He was covered from head to toe with ash. 

Billy pawed at his face, and Max dusted off his clothes before embracing him in a tight hug. “Billy, you’re back! I can’t believe it, it worked!” 

Steve looked at Eddie. He felt queasy; all his vampire energy had gotten zapped. He felt his knees buckle. 

Everyone was in shock over Billy's reappearance. Billy looked like he’d just been used as a chimney sweep, but other than that, he looked like his typical self. His eyes were no longer a demonic black, and he seemed almost small, at least in comparison to what he was before.

Eddie was so distracted by the transformation—Billy was like a literal phoenix who had risen from the ashes—that he didn’t notice Steve looking at him until he was collapsing against him.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asked him sharply. He wrapped his arms around Steve. By now, he had regained enough strength to be relatively steady.

“Thirsty,” Steve groaned.

Of course he would be, after all that hero-ing he’d been doing.

“Okay,” Eddie said, feeling his heart thud. “I can fix that.”

Even if it meant turning himself into a blood buffet, he owed it to Steve, especially after he had saved his life not once or twice but three goddamn times.

Steve wasn’t stable enough to walk on his own. He probably wouldn’t appreciate being carried like a bride, so Eddie half-turned, bent his knees and leaned forward. “C’mon, you’re about to topple over.”

When Steve relented and climbed onto him for a piggyback, Eddie straightened and secured his arms under Steve’s legs, taking him to the beemer. Steve held onto his shoulders. Eddie could feel the poke of his claws through his jacket and Steve’s nose pressing against his neck. He told himself the noise he made was because Steve had touched his bruises.

He let Steve down and opened the passenger side door for him, holding his clawed hand so he didn’t fall. The song ended right then, much to their relief. The volume was probably killer on a vamp’s eardrums. Eddie waited until Steve was settled. “Be right back, okay? I’m going to go talk to the others,” Eddie said. 

After one last look at Steve, he shut the door gently and returned to the scene.

Most of the dust and ash had cleared from that epic explosion, but there was still a light coating all over the grass, giving the already bleak graveyard an even more depressing ambiance.

Billy wasn’t looking at any of them, his head hung low and his eyes on the ground. Eddie guessed he had a lot of feelings going on inside right now after everything he’d done.

“He needs to be taken to the hospital for observation,” Nancy was saying, diplomatic towards the situation even after the guy had tried to kill her. “Or at least somewhere safe where he won’t be able to hurt anyone.” Her eyes flashed, and Billy flinched. “We don’t know if he’s really human. This could be another trick. We need to make sure he’s not dangerous.”

There was a murmur of agreement from the group.

“Billy’s room has a lock on the outside,” Max piped up. When widened eyes followed her statement, she squirmed a little. “I know where the key is. Neil set up all the bedrooms that way so he could…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but everyone had a similar, uncomfortable reaction to it. Especially Billy.

“Max,” Lucas said softly.

Max shook her head, but she let Lucas hold her hand. “Neil isn’t there. He’s been staying with us at the trailer park, trying to win my mom back.” Her expression darkened, showing just how happy she was about that. “We can take him there.”

“Fine,” Nancy said.

Some of the others nodded.

“Is Steve alright?” Dustin asked, brows pinched in concern as he looked at the beemer.

“He will be soon,” Eddie answered. He didn’t know if that was true, but he was optimistic that giving the guy a good feed would perk him up again. I know we were all hoping this would reverse the curse,” this being destroying Billy, “but it looks like it didn’t.”

Robin rubbed one of her fangs, sighing. “Unfortunately, no. I don’t feel cured. I am starving .”

“Same,” Max said.

“Right,” Eddie agreed. “So, I’m going to help Steve out, and once he’s feeling better, we’ll meet you guys at Hargrove’s.”

“How are you going to help?” Dustin asked before a lightbulb went off in his shrimpy little head. “Oh, gross , dude. Don’t tell me you’re going to let him—”

“Time to go!” Robin interrupted. She herded them towards Nancy’s car, casting a glance at Eddie that told him she knew exactly why he was going to let Steve slurp him up like a juice box.

Nancy gave him a shrewd look of her own that made him feel like a bug under a microscope but didn’t comment, turning on her heel and heading directly for her car.

Eddie bristled a little bit as Billy walked past him, but Billy didn’t do anything, shoulders hunched like he was trying to disappear. He didn’t even jostle Eddie or shove him like he did with everyone he considered beneath him.

Frowning slightly, Eddie returned to the beemer. 

[jvpw]

'WCW POWER HOUR' 01.02.93 Recap + Review - Bagwell & Armstrong vs. Windham & Pillman, Big World Title Announcement

AIRDATE: January 2, 1993 COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone & “The Living Legend” Larry Zbyszko

WCW begins their New Year with Power Hour, featuring a tag team main event pitting Brad Armstrong & Marcus Alexander Bagwell against Barry Windham & Brian Pillman, plus some big news as a new World Champion has been crowned…at a house show in Baltimore during the week.

CHAMPIONS

WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: Big Van Vader

WCW UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: “Ravishing” Rick Rude

WCW WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPION: Scott Steiner

WCW/NWA UNIFIED WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat & Shane Douglas

LINEUP

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Joe Cruz (SQUASH)

Scotty Flamingo vs. Keith Cole (*)

Brad Armstrong & Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. Barry Windham & Brian Pillman (**1/2)

*****

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Joe Cruz

Right at the bell Schiavone announces some huge news: Big Van Vader is World Champion once again, having defeated Ron Simmons on Wednesday in Baltimore. More to come later today on Saturday Night. Cruz has the weight advantage but not much else and Scorpio easily dispatches him with various aerial moves, including a skin the cat into a slingshot splash and finally a 450 Splash to win.

2 Cold Scorpio defeated Joe Cruz via pinfall (2:44)

JON’S THOUGHTS: Scorpio out here casually busting out 450 Splashes in 1993, turning the crowd into that exploding head guy from Scanners. Love it. (SQUASH)

–

-Schiavone and Zbyszko hype the next Clash of the Champions, scheduled for January 13th, which will feature an Arm Wrestling contest between “Heavy Metal” Van Hammer & Tony Atlas.

-CLIP (12/19/92 Worldwide): Van Hammer defeats Ron Simmons to win WCW’s Strongest Arm competition put on by Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Hammer’s ceremony is interrupted by Tony Atlas, who says he was too late to enter the contest but HE’S the one with the strongest arm in WCW. 

-PROMOTIONAL CONSIDERATION PAID FOR BY THE FOLLOWING: Zap Pack’s video game trading cards, GI Joe action figures, and Predator 2 for Sega Genesis and Game Gear.

–

Scotty Flamingo vs. Keith Cole

Cole overpowers Flamingo to start, keeping control with a side headlock until Flamingo finally stuns him with a belly-to-back suplex. Cole counters an abdominal stretch with a hip toss, Flamingo goes back on the offensive with a series of kicks and a bearhug. Cole won’t stay down though, kicking out of Flamingo’s  pinfall attempts and fighting back with lefts and a clothesline. Flamingo catches a charging Cole with an elbow and finishes him off with an airplane spin into a Samoan Drop for the 1…2…3.

Scotty Flamingo defeated Keith Cole via pinfall (4:46)

JON’S THOUGHTS: Flamingo may have gotten the win but Cole looked like the stronger man here, kicking out of every other pinning attempt in rapid fashion. Also it has to be said: Keith Cole has the GREATEST mullet I have ever seen on a human being. It is amazing, the perfect level of trash. Knowing the trajectory of Flamingo’s career in the 90s I have no idea what he’s got left to do in WCW under the gimmick. Could be a Michael Wallstreet circa 91 situation where he just suddenly…vanishes. (*)

–

-Teddy Long hypes up the 8-Man ThunderCage scheduled (SCHEDULED) to main event January 13th’s Clash of the Champions special. Clips aplenty play showing the major feuds going into the match (Ron Simmons/Rick Rude, Sting/Big Van Vader, Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham, Van Hammer/The Barbarian, the final grouping having no real beef with each other but we paired everybody else off so whatever).

-Schiavone and Zbyszko discuss January 13’s scheduled (SCHEDULED) Bounty Match between Erik Watts and Cactus Jack then take it to footage from Jack’s match at last year’s show, a Falls Count Anywhere contest against Van Hammer from the 1.21.92 Clash. It’s a helluva thing mostly thanks to Jack’s bumps but sadly the show does not give us the whole thing, instead cutting to Missy Hyatt mid-move for the next segment. Booo.

-Missy Hyatt wants Erik Watts to make her his manager, as he needs someone to guide him. Cut to a clip from Saturday Night in 1992 where Rick Rude snaps off a Rude Awakening on the concrete floor. Watts makes it to the apron and Rude suplexes him back in…and now we’re back to Hyatt who continues pleading her case for becoming his manager.

–

Brad Armstrong & Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. Barry Windham & “Flyin” Brian Pillman

Windham muscles Armstrong into the corner, Armstrong quickly fights his way out to reset. Armstrong drops Windham with a shoulder tackle followed by a dropkick into a side headlock takeover. Windham counters with a headscissors, Armstrong kicks his way out and a shoving match breaks out before the ref is forced to intervene. Schiavone brings up Armstrong & Windham’s history, the two having battled over the U.S. Heavyweight Championship at the second-ever Clash of the Champions. Pillman, Armstrong’s former Light Heavyweight Championship rival, tags in and gets dropped with an enzuigiri. Pillman misses one of his own, Bagwell tags in and goes after Pillman’s leg to ground the high-flier. Windham tags in, Bagwell surprises him with a dropkick and back body drop. Bagwell brings Windham to the canvas with a side headlock, Windham escapes but eats a pair of dropkicks followed by an armdrag into an armbar. Pillman sneaks a tag in and traps Bagwell in a side headlock. Bagwell catches a flying Pillman with a shot to the midsection followed by a dropkick and armdrag. Pillman sends Bagwell into Windham’s knee, Windham tags in and drives an elbow to the back of the neck. Bagwell fires back but misses a clothesline and Windham puts him into the canvas with a DDT, popping the crowd.

Windham connects with a belly-to-back suplex, Pillman tags in and comes off the buckles with  an elbowdrop for the 1…2…Bagwell kicks out, Pillman settles into a chinlock. Pillman tosses Bagwell to the floor behind the ref’s back, avoiding a DQ. Bagwell catches Pillman with a crossbody but Windham ties up the ref too long and only ends up with a one-count at best. Pillman traps Bagwell in an abdominal stretch, Windham pulling on the arm for extra leverage just out of the ref’s view. Bagwell escapes with a hip toss and crawls under Pillman’s legs to make the hot tag to Armstrong. All four men battle in the ring, ref forces Bagwell out and Windham & Pillman hit a proto Total Elimination (Pillman clipping the knee, Windham connecting with a lariat), Pillman covering Armstrong for the 1…2…3!

Barry Windham & Brian Pillman defeated Brad Armstrong & Marcus Alexander Bagwell via pinfall (9:22)

JON’S THOUGHTS: Having jumped from 1991 to 1993 in my WCW lookback I was a little surprised to see Pillman & Windham as a heel tag team given how heated their feud was back in the day, taped fist matches and the like. They worked really well together and I liked the finish a lot. Schiavone bringing up Armstrong’s history with Windham was a nice way to give some flavor to this one and I want to go back and watch that match now. (**1/2)

–

-Schiavone and Zbyszko hypes tonight’s Saturday Night, where a tournament will begin to get a shot at Rick Rude’s United States Heavyweight Championship.

*****

FINAL THOUGHTS

Disappointing that we didn’t get the full Van Hammer/Cactus Jack match from last year’s Clash, but besides that Power Hour was a breeze to get through. Main event tag team match was fun, loved seeing 2 Cold Scorpio in action, and the tease about Big Van Vader regaining the World Championship during the week did a good job hyping Saturday Night for later in the day.

[anterocash]

Boss Call.

It’s easier to make a phone call than to get on a plane and sit for fifteen hours, going through the customs hassle, just to have a conversation with the manager of Bean Through. 

(Cash doesn’t know what’s left in Korea for him, so why bother going back?) 

Zoom or FaceTime would be cute if his hair weren’t in that awkward stage and his beard just as difficult Cash doesn’t feel like being distracted by his face for an hour. 

He’s sitting at his desk, AirPods in and ready. At the same time, Cash types away on his laptop; he might as kill two birds with one stone – Cash hadn’t realized he had started two utterly different Sci-Fi series a year ago, one document for the Clifford Park books – a series set in a world where humans and androids co-exist as two races and another document open for his Sci-Fi book for the girls – a slow burn romance about teenage supernaturals: a witch coming into her powers and her male counterpart; the broody werewolf consumed with self-hate it’s filled with twists and turns – also dragons. The prequel for A Manufactured Heart has already finished. It is poised to be released in March to coincide with the premiere of the Hulu drama. 

Riding off the high success of the first book: The End of Fog, Cash quickly got to work on the sequel, much to Larry’s urging. Cash has the bulk of the following two books already written, and if he gets high enough? Could write another one before it’s even due. He always has his reservations until the direct deposit hits. Then the shame of enjoying the money settles until the sheer happiness that takes over Ashley’s face when he’s bought her a gift zaps the cold from his bones, and a fist takes his chest. Lily Lee is the absolute bane of Cash’s existence, but it’s worth it when needed. 

Cash finds it somewhat ironic that his readers can accept a detective chasing after a robotic serial killer but not the precious seventeen-year-old heroine simply trying to do her best at the end of the day. Cash knows how he cultivated his audience, and while his past attempts to derail his future, he won’t let that stop him from getting paid. Never. 

It feels like years have gone by when the line finally clicks over, and Cash shakes his head with a huff, totally fucking with the other man, “about damn time, did I interrupt something?” 

“Won,” the coffeehouse manager greets sagely; the sound of Cash’s quick fingertips tapping away at his laptop should bring a familiar comfort to the rat owner. It’s not when they have pressing matters to discuss.

“Yes, boss?” Cash still has a jovial hint to his voice when he responds. 

“Why didn’t you tell me the two weirdos that sit in the back of the shop were drug dealers?” 

Cash immediately laughs, even if it’s not what he wants to do. “You think Minho is weird? Me too, Jay is just an asshole –” 

“Answer the question.” 

“Because it wasn’t my idea,” Cash explains with a sigh; he isn’t even typing anymore. Leaning back into his chair, he sighs again and takes his glasses off to rub his eyes wearily; not even there, and those two knuckleheads are twisting the thorn in Cash’s side. It’s not guilt he feels – it’s technically still his business – he’s still signing checks for it. Cash feels worried and presses his fingers deeper into his eyes. “What happened?”

“They have my employees doing deliveries when they go on their routes.” 

“Oh, that’s so smart –” Cash mutters, impressed. That explains the sudden jump in delivery sales, almost at the same volume as their foot traffic inside the shop. Cash doesn’t know why he didn’t think of that himself while still in Korea. “Let me guess, lots of to-go orders?”

“He’s paying them good money, I can’t lie. If you weren’t so giving… Maybe I would be doing those drops as well. Why didn’t you tell me they were doing that in the shop, Won? I’m the last person you should keep in the dark about something like this.”

Yikes. 

Cash hates when he’s rightfully called out. It adds insult to injury in his mind – he holds his tongue for a beat. Do not be an asshole to one of the few people you can trust. 

“I have no idea, I just… After all the bullshit with Hwan and how they didn’t tell me until I caught them, I didn’t want to think about it… dude, if you want a cut, ask them.” Cash sits up and starts typing again, “Bean Through is yours,” Cash says quietly as the words leave his fingertips, “tell them to either give you what you’re due or get out, and if you don’t want to confront them –” the guy has a mean right hook.

“I don’t need to speak for me, Cash.” 

He can’t see Cash, but the writer still puts his hands up, “hey – I’m not trying to – c’mon dude, you know me.”

“Yeah, I do. That’s why I’m not angry with you; a little peeved you didn’t tell me after the OD, but Hwan is okay. All that matters.” 

It’s still a touchy subject; Ryuhwan is well on his way towards a healthy recovery from his accident (Cash likes to call them accidents because usually, it’s not on purpose except when it is.)

Cash nods thoughtfully before putting his fingers on his laptop once more. “He uh –” Cash clears his throat, “he texted me the other day,” things have been awkward between Cash and Ryuhwan since he’s been back home. Maybe, they spent too much time together right after the incident. The younger man hadn’t taken to Cash telling him he was moving fifteen hours and a different time zone away. 

The offer lingered in the back of his throat; he never said it, and Ryuhwan was too hopeful.

“Other than that, what did you want?”

Cash snorts at the man’s words, shaking his head in amusement. “Jeez – since when was it a crime to call a friend on the telephone?” 

“Won, you hate talking on the phone.” 

“Yeah… but…” Cash sighs for what feels like the millionth time since they started this conversation, adjusting his glasses to get the pressure of the arms digging into the back of his ears, “I miss knowing what’s happening in real-time, don’t get me wrong, I love it here, miss you like crazy, but I’m happy where I am at the same time,” he tries to explain when he’s cut off.

“What has Seulgi told you?” 

Cash relays all the juicy information he’s managed to get from his former slash current Korea base assistant – she’s still on the payroll and attends to different affairs in Korea that regard Cash. She also clears out the foul air in the home above the shop and dusts it when needed. 

Seulgi is great, Cash thinks.

“Well… that was only the tip of the iceberg.”

Cash loves to gossip. He gets comfortable in his chair.

[fangirl-creates]

ZERO OVER YONDER (FULL FIC)

(Likes and Reblogs are appreciated!)

1 - Banjo Pluck

“Look, all I’m saying is—would it kill Rippen to just have a little chill once in a while?” The red-headed boy vented to his friends as they walked to the movie theater.

“Penn, Rippen is Rippen. Of course he’s still gonna be rude to you when we’re not saving the Multiverse.” Sashi commented, wanting desperately to hear the end of these complaints spilling out of Penn’s mouth.

“Well yeah, obviously. But today, there was just no end to it! Like even when I was eating lunch, BAM! There he was!” He folded his arms, his face turning about as red as his hair at this point.

Rippen had definitely been more annoying than usual today. The reason? Probably having a bad day and picking on Penn was the only thing that would bring him ‘joy’...if you’d even call it that. And even though Penn had learned to ignore Rippen during times like these, today was one of those ‘impatient’ days for Penn Zero—considering the fact he had stayed up till 3am last night on a count of The Chinchilla bothering him again.

“Don’t worry about it, dude.” Boone put his arm around his friend, patting his back. “I’m sure beating Rippen again will put you in a good mood. Think of it as a way to get back at him.”

“Yeah!” Sashi chimed in. “I’ll even let you kick him in the face this time.” She smiled.

Penn felt a little better, the red from his face fading away. “Thanks, guys.���

The trio stepped onto their usual spots on the zap platform, Penn cracking his knuckles.

“I’m really gonna let him have it today.” He grinned between his teeth.

“Violence must wait till tomorrow!” Phyllis called from her spot on the balcony.

Penn titled his head. “...I don’t understand.”

“You will see.” She pulled the lever, the trio levitating as they were forced into the portal. “GOOD LUCK!”

After the brilliant blue flash, Penn opened his eyes. Space. He saw Space. Below him was the material of some kind of smaller planet he stood on—“Purple-colored dirt” in his Earth vocabulary. But that wasn’t the thing that surprised him...it was the body he was in. It was weirdly insulating, like a very thick fur coat—that’s when he realized he was covered in it. Orange fur coated him from head to toe. The only articles of clothing he was actually wearing were white socks and some slightly worn blue sneakers. He felt..uncomfortable.

“Penn?” Sashi’s voice made itself known.

Penn looked up, a bit surprised she was taller than him now. “Sashi! You’re a—uh….” He studied his friend’s new look. She was blue with a pink mane—yet her body itself was a cross between a horse and a dinosaur. He shrugged it off. “Never mind.” He looked around for the Wiseman. “Where’s Boone?”

“Right here!” A confident voice called, Penn searching for the source.

“Boone? Where are-” He noticed Sashi pointing above his head, to which he realized he was wearing a hat as well. He took it off to find the rather large green hat staring back at him. “Oh.”

“Oh yeah. I definitely feel like a wiseman now…”

“Cause you were on my head and you feel like you can give me knowledge that way.” Penn raised a brow.

Boone did what was an attempted shrug. “Who knows...maybe I’m magic.”

Penn rolled his eyes, placing Boone back on his head. “Okay Sash, check the specs.”

Sashi pressed the side of her glasses, which were now a dark purple to complement the colors of her new form. The holographic image showed up in front of them. “You are a wandering Do-Gooder, and I am your trusty steed and best friend.”

“What about me?” Boone asked, feeling a little left out.

“You’re his hat.” ….She didn’t add anything else.

“Well, I still think I might be magic.” He looked away. “You two just don’t know it yet.”

Sashi rolled her eyes. “Annnnyway, the evil Lord Hater is planning to conquer another innocent planet with his army of Watchdogs. It’s up to us to stop him before he manages to leave the planet successful.” Normally, this was the part where the hologram would disappear, but it lingered.

“All right! Sounds easy enough.” Penn pounded his fists together. “I’ll admit, this body is a little on the weaker side, but I can still give Rippen a good fi-”

“Actually, you can’t use violence at all. I’m the one who can fight them. You stop bad guys by...being nice.” Now the hologram was gone.

Penn suddenly understood what Phyllis meant earlier...and he hated it. “I...I can’t fight him?! Seriously??” His face was turning red again, yet it was hard to tell with the orange fur. “So not only does Rippen get away with all the stuff he did to me today, but now I can’t even GET HIM BACK?!”

“No one said you can’t get him back—you just can’t beat him up.” Sashi folded her arms.

“...Can I at least punch him?”

“No. You’ll ruin the hero’s image.”

Penn covered his face with hands, a muffled scream. He then took a deep breath, calming himself. Thankfully for him, this body seemed to have a very calm mindset...that, and really cheerful one. “Okay...okay, I’ll do my best…for the sake of the mission, and because I don’t want to accidentally break something.” He hopped onto the saddle on Sashi’s back.

“Good choice.” Sashi nodded. “Now how do we get out of here?”

“Don’t look at me—what the??” A small bottle fell onto the ground. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a container for bubble blowing, but it read ‘Orbble juice’, with instructions on the back. Penn shrugged and pulled the wand out, blowing as a large air-tight bubble formed around them, lifting them off the ground. “Now we’re talking!” He yelled out into the bubble, cheerfully. “HEIGH-HO, SYLVIA!”

Sashi and Boone both looked at him.

Penn blinked, not sure what came over him. “S-Sashi...I meant Sashi. Oh, that was weird.”

Thankfully, it was quickly forgotten by the trio, heading on their way to their next destination…

—————————-—————————-—————————-—————————-—————————-————————

2 - A Hero’s Image

Rippen looked at himself in the mirror. In all his years as a Part-Time Villain, he had only been a skeleton once. And even then, it was only for a couple minutes. The complete lack of skin made him feel...exposed. But at the same time, the bone seemed hard as nails, so there was that.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted, however, by the rambles of his cheerful minion—who was in the body of a Commander with the exact opposite personality. But that didn’t affect Larry in the slightest. “Isn’t this eyeball head weird? I mean I’m talking, but there’s no mouth! How crazy is that?” He laughed. “How do people even know when I’m speaking?”

Rippen rolled his eyes. “Your pupil moves, Larry.”

Larry looked in the mirror, expressing a smile as much as a watchdog could to the best of their abilities. “Heh, it’s kinda funny how it bounces like that.”

“Can we get on with it, then?” He was having an exceptionally good day...as far as Rippen’s standards go. And he didn’t want this good mood to go to waste.

“Right, right...sorry.” He laughed softly, pressing the side of his glasses, which were now yellow and only one square instead of two. “Okay, you are the evil Lord Hater and I am your Second in Command. Our Mission is to conquer another poor innocent planet before Penn stops you with-” Larry paused, unsure he was reading this right.

“With what? Come on, spit it out.” Rippen pestered.

“Um...friendship.”

Rippen blinked, a bit stunned by what Larry just said. “Maybe it's the lack of ears that makes it hard for me to hear you, but did you say…‘Friendship’?”

“Yep. He’s supposed to be nice to you.” Larry nodded.

Rippen was silent for a moment, then he burst out laughing. “Penn Zero’s forced to be nice to me!” He laughed again. “If we’re lucky, he’ll break under the pressure, completely ruining the hero’s image! And then I can finally become a Full-Time Villain!” When he laughed a third time, however, green lighting shot from his fingertips as he made a ‘rock n roll’ gesture with both of his hands.

Larry narrowly avoided it, but some watchdogs down the hall weren’t so lucky; loud yelps followed by groaning were heard after getting zapped.

“Wait..what just happened?” Rippen looked at the gesture he was making, a bit confused.

“Oh yeah, you got cool lightning powers! I forgot to tell you that…” Larry attempted a smile again.

For once in his life, Rippen was filled with the absolute confidence that this time...this time, he could not only win...but finally annihilate Penn Zero. He laughed one more time, green lighting sparking around him. “This is it, Larry! Victory is finally at hand!”

Friendship...of all the things. He had been nice to Rippen before, sure, but that was often out of pity...or on rare occasions, when he genuinely felt sorry for him. But this was the first time he was forced to do it. And that fact made him upset. Heck, even the phrase ‘Kill em with Kindness’ was starting to sound not understandable anymore. He glanced at Sashi. “Soooo, this whole ‘friendship’ thing…”

Sashi’s eyes met his, despite being focused on the destination.

“Is he like...allergic to it or something? Is he gonna melt if I hug him??”

“No. You’re just being nice to him...for the 100th time.” She mumbled under her breath.

“I know, I know...it’s just...what’s the point of being nice to your enemy if they’re just gonna continue to do you harm? How is this furball even still alive after constantly clashing with this guy?”

It Never hurts to Help. A little voice said in the back of his mind.

Penn blinked. “Boone, did you say something?” He glanced up.

“Uhh no?”

He scratched his head, thinking. If he was really gonna do this, he was gonna do it right. But how?

As if on cue, Boone jumped up, a Banjo seemingly appearing out of nowhere, landing in Penn’s hands. He stared at it. “Uhhh Boone...where did this come from?” He looked up.

Boone just gasped in response. “I AM magic!!” He said triumphantly.

Penn rolled his eyes, holding the banjo awkwardly. When it came to music, Penn considered himself more of a singer than anything else. But Instruments were not his strong suit...still, this Banjo didn’t look unimportant. He held it the right way, his fingers dancing along the frets. And then, as if on command…he started playing. It wasn’t a specific song or anything too complex, just a simple melody that made his friends smile as he continued. It was so strange...he had never played the banjo before, and here he was; playing it like he’d had years of practice. He was so lost in song, that he didn’t realize he was moving around while he did so. Luckily, they had found their destination before Rippen did, so Sashi was able to land on the ground, giving Penn freedom to do...whatever he was doing.

Sashi was amused by this. She had seen Penn dance before, but this was nothing like how he normally did it. This kind of dancing was silly, almost...cartoonish. What was even funnier was that not only did he dance in tune to the music, but he sang along to it as well. Well...more like sing-talking gibberish. Regardless, he seemed really into it. In fact, he got faster with each ‘verse’. It got to a point where he was strumming so fast, one would think the banjo was going to catch fire.

Penn’s chest went up and down as he breathed heavily, stopping finally. The sound of Sashi clapping caught his attention and he immediately realized what was going on. “O-Oh...yeah I didn’t mean to do any of that….” He blushed.

“It was cute.” Sashi commented. “But, you know, like in a funny kind of way.”

“Yeah, But not so good for me…” Boone managed, feeling a bit dizzy from Penn’s rapid dancing and spinning.

Penn cringed. “Ohh oh no. Do you need a minute? Do hats even get sick??” He thought about it for a second. Unfortunately, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud THUD.

All three turned to see a giant Skull Ship land on the planet’s surface. It opened its mouth, a large tongue landing down as watchdogs began to march in formation, chanting ‘Hate’s Great, Best Villain!’ as they did.

Penn watched, standing proudly as he held the banjo close. “Alright…” He took a deep breath. “Time to go to work.”

—————————-—————————-—————————-—————————-—————————-————————

3 - Never Hurts to Help

It didn’t take long for Rippen to get the Watchdogs out, the inhabitants of the planet already running away in fear. The Do-Gooders were behind a rather large rock. Not the best hiding spot, but a good temporary one.

“Okay, Sash. That’s your cue.”

Sashi cracked her knuckles, but glanced at her friends before she ran off. “I know you can do this, PZ.” Then she was gone—charging into a group of Watchdogs.

Penn watched, taking a deep breath.

“So what are you gonna do?” Boone asked.

Penn hesitated. “Honestly, I have no idea.” He remembered what Sashi had said earlier...No one said you couldn’t get back at Rippen—you just can’t beat him up. Penn remembered how annoying Rippen was earlier...and for some reason, the mindset of this body seemed to know exactly how to annoy him back. A smirk appeared on his face as he ran to find his enemy.

Rippen was having the time of his life, blasting back at forth. What felt even better was that the creatures feared him the closer he got. He didn’t even care Sashi was punching the Watchdogs left and right—as long as he got his reward, he didn’t care what else went wrong.

“Havin’ fun, Rippen?”

And there it was.

Rippen turned to face the orange ball of fur, a cackle at how tall he was compared to the do-gooder. “Well, Well, Well! If it isn’t Penn Zero!” He raised his hands, pointing them at him as green lighting charged between his fingers—the soft glow illuminating on everyone close enough to see. “I know all about this little requirement of your’s to not hurt me-! So now I only have one thing to say to you—!”

Penn’s heart pounded in his chest. Best case scenario, the plan worked. Worst case scenario, Rippen blasts him into the next dimension.

“—Are you ready to meet your demise?”

Penn cleared his throat, standing casually. “Actually, Rippen ol’ Buddy, I’ve got a question for you.” He sounded so calm despite the fear inside of him.

Rippen raised part of his brow, staring down at his enemy. This day had been going so well for him. And if he destroyed him without hearing the question at all, it would haunt him forever. Rippen shrugged, not letting his guard down. “You know what? Ask away!”

Penn breathed a small sigh of relief, taking a step back. “Well I was just thinking...you must be hungry after this...invasion thing.”

Though he didn’t want to admit it, Rippen was starving. He didn’t understand why, but this body had the need to consume every junk food imaginable. And everything it craved, Rippen had never touched in his life. He made a slightly annoyed face at Penn. “Why would it matter to you?”

“Oh no reason…” He pulled out two sandwiches from behind his back. “Just that...uh..got some sandwiches here. Hate for them to go to waste…” He mocked, waving the scent around Rippen’s nonexistent nose. “Truly...truly a shame.”

Rippen’s stomach made probably one of the loudest sounds a stomach was capable of making—strange, considering Skeletons didn’t even have stomachs. He tried to keep his eyes off the two sandwiches, but it was impossible. “Ugh! Just give them to me—!” He tried to reach, but Penn jumped back.

“What’s that? You do want these?” He grinned. “Well, would you prefer—” He threw the first sandwich at Rippen’s face. “Mustard-?” He jumped over Rippen, throwing the other sandwich on his face when he turned around. “-or Mayo?!” He laughed, landing on his feet.

Rippen angrily wiped the sandwiches from his face, staring at Penn with a piercing glare.

Instead of a rude gesture, Penn stuck out his tongue in a playful manner, his legs speeding up. “Come and get me!” And he was gone.

Rippen didn’t know why, but every voice in the back of his head screamed ‘GET HIM!’ no matter what. And that’s exactly what he did. He ran, screaming at the top of his...lungs? Whatever skeletons have.

Penn pulled out the banjo as he ran, turning around as he was now jogging backwards. “How about a little chase music?” He smiled, strumming rather fast. The music seemed to be annoying Rippen even more, which meant it was working.

Meanwhile, Sashi had already beaten up all the Watchdogs while Rippen was distracted. Larry was too busy watching Rippen chase Penn around to notice. Something about it made him want to sigh. He was...disappointed in Rippen?? He shivered, hoping he’d never get that feeling again.

At this point, Rippen was exhausted. He clawed at the ground, now laying on his stomach. Penn, however, didn’t feel tired at all. He felt as though he could run a marathon in seconds. Eventually, he stopped running and walked right over to Rippen, bending down so they were at eye level once more. He put his hands behind his back, a smug look on his face.

“You uh..you doing okay?” He raised a brow.

Rippen wheezed, trying to stand. “W...Watchdogs! Get him—!” It wasn’t until he yelled that when he realized they were all defeated, Sashi standing there triumphantly. “NOOO! I WAS SO CLOSE!!” He wheezed again, his face lightly hitting the ground.

Penn felt a little bad for him. He wasn’t sure why the feeling was so sudden, but he didn’t question it. “Look, you seem pretty exhausted, so I’ll just leave this here for you.” He placed one of the mustard sandwiches and a bottle of a soda labeled ‘Thunder Blazz’ in bright yellow bubble letters on the side.

Rippen stared at the food, standing up as he wolfed down the sandwich. He glared at Penn, pointing at him. “This doesn’t make us friends!” He spoke between bites.

Penn made a face. “I uh...I never said that.”

Rippen blinked, shaking his head. “Oh never mind!” He grabbed the soda and angrily trudged back to the skull ship, Larry patting him on the back as they headed inside.

The inhabitants cheered once the skull ship took off, Sashi running to greet her friends. “You did it, Penn!”

“Yeah!” Boone chimed in. “I’m not exactly sure what you did...but you did it!”

Penn’s eyes watched the skull ship fade from view. Why did Rippen retreat? And why did he think he was trying to be his friend? Even with all these questions, Penn still couldn’t help but feel good about himself…

With another blue flash, the trio was pulled back to the movie theater, landing safety back onto their original spots. Penn looked at himself, no longer feeling uncomfortable, but a bit disappointed the cheerful feeling was gone. “That was probably one of the strangest missions ever...but in a good way.” He managed.

“Yeah, wonder what was up with Rippen after we won…” Sashi added, hand on her chin.

“Sometimes,” Phyills started, coming back down from the balcony. “Enemy is just a friend you haven’t made yet.” She looked at Penn. “Remember that, Penn Zero.”

Penn put his hands in his pockets, a smile. “I will.”

—————————-—————————-—————————-—————————-—————————-————————

4 - Epilogue

Later that evening, the space duo set up camp for the night. Sylvia was still trying to process exactly what happened earlier. Her fists were sore from punching Watchdogs, when she hadn’t even done that today? Or had she??

Wander, on the other hand, seemed to be in a particularly good mood. Normally, that wasn’t a surprise in Wander’s case, but it definitely was after the events of today.

“I swear,” Sylvia put some wood on the fire, the flames grasping onto it. “My head’s buzzing like a swarm of bees. The whole thing was so weird…” She sat down next to her friend, who was casually resting, playing a happy tune on his banjo. “How are you keeping it all together, buddy? Doesn’t your head hurt?” She asked, concerningly.

The Nomad looked up at her, smiling. “Because I helped someone.”

Sylvia blinked. “So...you remember what happened today?”

“Nope.” He cheerfully responded.

“...then..how do you know if you helped someone or not??”

“Just a hunch.”

Sylvia rolled her eyes, playfully, rustling his fur. “Okay, buddy…”

Deep within the stars, they saw the skull ship pass by, the voice of Lord Hater screaming into the night sky…

“I CAN’T BELIEVE I ACTUALLY ATE ONE OF WANDER’S STUPID SANDWICHES!!”

Wander chuckled, yawning as he got into his normal sleeping spot. “Yep, not a bad day…”

Sylvia still couldn’t remember what happened, but regardless of that, she was happy Wander still got to help out someone. And in the end, that was all that matters...

END

[jorgemoctezuma]

Days 30 Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero Season 2 Disney XD Latinoamerica!!!

Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero Season 2 September/Penn Zero: Casi Héroe 2da Temporada Septiembre Disney XD Latinoamerica México. Penn Zero, Sashi Kobayashi, Boone Wiseman, Rippen and Principal Larry. Phyllis and Phil. Penn and Sashi Penashi kiss!!! At the End of the Worlds Part 1 and Part 2 Sam PZPTH the heroes, the Saves of Worlds!!! Zap One!!! The Last Mountain Beast Friend Hug Penn and Sashi Penashi!! The Kobayashis!! Thank You/Gracias Sam Aka Phyllis @samakaphyllis

[violetnuisance]

Superhero/villain au

I’ve been working on a hero/villain Sal/Lar au fic for months now, entitled Kill Me Slowly. The first chapter will drop right after whenever ch. 5 of Sally Face drops. Until then, here are the character’s powers and mask designs.

Killing Me Softly Character Powers:

Heroes:

Sal - Electric type

•Ability: Can erupt purple/blue electricity from any area of his body

•Pro(s): Easily immobilizes opponents, can keep it up for as long as he wants

•Con(s): While the power has ‘infinite’ use, it drains from his own energy. If carelessly used for too long, it can completely fry his brain, resulting in permanent damage. It’s also a lethal power, meaning, without proper care of execution, he could accidentally kill his opponents instead of rendering them unconscious. He could also zap other heroes.

Travis - Shield Type

•Ability: Can put up a translucent pale pink force field up anywhere and in any shape (dome, rectangle, etc)

•Pros: Easy to capture targets without risk of endangering them, can protect other heroes

•Cons: The force fields can only stay up while he recites bible verses. For a shield to last longer than two hits, the verses have to be from the New Testament.

Maple - Music Type

•Ability: Can invert an instrument’s bassline so low and loud that it’ll render her opponents immobile

•Pros: Easy, harmless capture of targets

•Cons: Can also render other heroes immobile, needs an instrument with her to use her ability

Villains:

Larry - Mental Type

•Ability: Can read other’s emotions, and change their emotions towards the situation they’re currently in/himself

•Pros: Able to easily manipulate victim’s emotions (turning disgust to love) and getting them to follow him

•Cons: They must feel at least an ounce of romantic attraction towards him for his ability to work

Neil - Mental Type

•Ability: While not able to actually hear people’s thoughts, he can see any images/videos that flash through people’s minds

•Pros: He’s able to interrogate people very easily and getting them to create a mental picture of their answers, so he can get the answers he needs.

•Cons: While viewing someone’s mental images, he’s completely oblivious to the world around him.

Chug - Mental Type

•Ability: Chug can hypnotize his victims and get them to say/do what he wants

•Pros: If the cops show up, he’s been able to hypnotize them to forget everything they saw and commit group suicide.

•Cons: He can only use hypnosis if they’ve eaten food he’s offered.

Yes, I know Ash and Todd aren’t on this list.

Here are the mask designs. In this au, none of these are prosthetics. The masks only serve the purpose to protect the character’s identities.

Sal’s mask design is his prosthetic’s canon design.

Travis:

Maple:

Larry:

Neil:

Chug:

**All these photos are edits of the og photo. Og photo belongs to Steve Gabry**

[the-summers-rebellion]

GI Joe: A Real American Hero Issue 10, Vol. 1, April 1983 A Nice Little Town Like Ours Scripter: Larry Hama Penciler: Mike Vosburg Inker: Chic Stone Letterer: Joe Rosen Colorist: Christie Scheele Editor: Denny O’Neil Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter Featured Joes: Snake Eyes, Zap, Scarlett, Clutch, Hawk, Stalker, Grunt, Breaker, Flash, Rock n’ Roll, Short-Fuse Featured Foes: Baroness, Cobra Trooper, Cobra Commander Featured Vehicles and Playsets: VAMP, MOBAT, MMS A botched raid on a Cobra facility leads to the capture and aerial abduction of Snake-Eyes, Scarlett, and Zap. They awaken, dosed with hallucinogens, in a cell deep below a seemingly normal American town. A town now entirely under the invisible thumb of Cobra! Debriefing Larry is back and so is his technical and military jargon. I learned about Mechanical Ambushes today! I’m glad to see Christie Scheele back on colors, too. The color pallet for this issue is excellent. The purples, pinks, oranges, yellows, and blues are used in perfect compliment throughout to make the foreground action really stand out. Mike Vosburg seems to have outdone his performance on the last issue’s pencils, too. Character faces look more like they ought to and the facial expressions are great. This whole story ends up sounding like the inciting incident for a documentary about Scientology or NXIVM taking over a small town using multilevel marketing techniques. I like the lack of resolution at the conclusion. The three Joes making their escape can’t do anything to help the town on their own and are, hopefully, going to return in a later issue to rescue everyone. “The Kid” is a great supporting character. At no point I can find did they ever give him a name, though. We get our first look at Snake Eyes’ mysterious past, discovering he’s been in multiple armed conflicts across the world, was disfigured in a helicopter crash, and that he’s a classically-trained ninja. I’m only vaguely aware of how much the comic goes on to expand on this background story and even I know it ends up being the center of some very popular stories. You can usually count on Snake Eyes to be the center of some great action panels, and he still is, but he is such a badass in the interrogation scenes that I think those kind of redirected his own spotlight to highlight him in a different way. I really enjoyed this one, but it’s a lot of set-up for something cool and if they don’t end up coming back here I’ll be disappointed.

[the-zapped-part-timer]

[jaysterg5]

Tales to Astonish #37

Writers - Stan Lee & Larry Lieber

Pencilers - Jack Kirby, Don Heck, and Steve Ditko

Cover - Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

Ant Man responds to a police call from a local jewelry store. The injured store owner explains that he’s being extorted for weekly “protection” payments by a super-strong man with a disintegrator gun. When he couldn’t pay, the Protector zapped a display case of jewelry and assaulted the owner. Can even Ant Man defeat a crook with the power of disintegration?

I had fun reading this story in spite of some pretty silly moments.  Ant Man is taken out of action by things as mundane as a water pistol and a vacuum cleaner!  I really do enjoy the idea of the ant network that keeps Pym apprised of crimes and other information, and the fact that the last few issues are sort of mysteries is also fun. It sets this feature apart from the others in the book and also other Marvel heroes at the time. But it does seem that Lee & Lieber have a pattern to their mysteries which, if it continues, won’t make them very surprising!

Kirby’s artwork is pretty good this issue.  There are a couple of really stand-out panels, but he doesn’t really have an opportunity to shine here.  There isn’t a lot of big action or fantastic locales for him to really dig into.

There are two other stories that are typical of the Twilight Zone scenarios that were popular at this time.  The most notable thing about them is artwork by Don Heck and Steve Ditko.  Again, nothing really amazing, but it’s nice to see early Marvel work by these guys!

Decent, fun Ant Man story.

[stashholeforfic]

Things from the Adam and Eve script I fucking loved

 Part 1. We learn that Larry. Is. The. Devil. 

1. Larry’s attempts to get Eve to eat an apple becomes an homage to Green Eggs and Ham.

2. “That was delicious!” Eve proclaims licking her fingers.

“That is the best thing I’ve ever eaten. What was it?” Adam asks.

“Oh, just a French recipe for…apple pie!” Larry says letting out a sinister laugh as lighting strikes behind him and dark clouds form.

Part 2. Sass, quips, and other funny things

1. “No. Look man, your harshing my mellow.” Eve says authoritatively. Suddenly the hackey sack comes from off screen and nails Larry in the face. We cut to Tuddrussel standing off to the side.

“Yeah, don’t harsh her mellow. Larry!” Tuddrussel yells. Larry takes the apple and stomps off.

2. “I’m gonna choke you with that vine!” Otto said that.

“Aw, look at them. All full of anger and rage. It’s beautiful.” Tuddrussel says with a sentimental smile.

“Let’s go home guys.” Otto says.

“I hate you Larry.” Tuddrussel says as he puts his arm around Larry.

“And I hate you Tuddrussel.” Larry says as he gets choked up and smiles.

Well damn!

3. “Well, It couldn’t be any worse than getting shocked twice by this walking cattle prod.” Tuddrussel says eyeing Larry.

4.Larry insisting that he has allergies and Otto has to ask if that’s even possible.

5. “Well, well, well, I guess Larry wasn’t so dumb after all.” Larry starts.

“We never said you were dumb!” Otto protests.

“Yeah, I just said you were a terrible cook.” Tuddrussel says.

“Aha! The truth comes out. And now what do you think.” Larry asks.

“I’ll eat all the snails you want when we get home!” Tuddrussel pleads.

“Apology accepted.” Larry says as Tuddrussel kisses his hand.

6. “Garden? (shivering sound) Sounds awfully organic.” Larry says in an irritated tone.  That line was WAY AHEAD of its time.

7. “Everywhere I look is a tree or a flower. If I have to see one more rainbow I’m going to scratch my eyes out! Uh oh.” Tuddrussel says in a fit of paranoia as he grabs his left arm and falls over. Otto looks down at him.

“I miss TV.” Otto proclaims. We fade out.

Part 3. Silly, Amusing or Weird things that get a category of their own.

1. We pull back to reveal the three of them sitting on a large zebra.

 2.  “I think I’m going to have to zap him!” Larry says as his hands begin to glow with electricity.  Larry has the ability to electrocute people using his hands!? Like he uses his hands as defibrillators on Tuddrussel and I feel like gives Larry a new edge.

3. Tuddrussel and Otto ride dolphins through the water.

 4.  Larry has to explain what a vacation is to Tuddrussel because apparently not only Time Squad isn’t allowed vacation time (as we know later in Out with the In Crowd), the whole of humanity is just doomed to work until death. Which would totally explain why in Old Timers Squad the guys are still working beyond their elderly limits.

5. Also Tuddrussel has grown a beard and Otto’s hair is long. 

6. The space station has a vending machine.

7. Adam and Eve. The whole premise of them hanging with two Biblical figures like Adam and Eve is so outrageous and I enjoyed every moment.

8. Last we see the gang all petting a monkey. We pan over to Larry approaching at a sinister looking monkey to the side. He tries to pet it but as soon as his hand meets the monkey’s head it attacks him. Adam and Eve and the gang laugh at his misfortune. 

 9.  The sound of a zipper being pulled up is heard as Larry rises.“There isn’t even a decent place to dump my oil. I’m already starting to chafe!” Larry says in an annoyed tone. Oh my god.  What. 

10. Larry says as he opens his metal mouth and puts the apple in and we hear a sound like an apple being dropped into a bucket. “Mmmmm!” Larry says with a fake smile. He then removes the apple from his hollow chest by opening a lever door in his front and tries to hand it to Eve.

[krinsbez]

GI Joe: Remixed, Other Special Mission Forces and Lesser Megaterror Groups

(be aware that we haven’t done as much work on some of these as I’d prefer, so they’re often quite barebones)

Other SMFs: ACTION FORCE (EU+Commonwealth): -Utilizes both codenames and costumed personas. -Unlike other SMFs, incorporates law enforcement and intelligence types as well as military. -Led by General Pax and Madame Europa. -Named after "Action Man", the codename of Alex Mann, Britain's one-man answer to Joe Colton's Adventure Team. -Battlecry is "They Shall Not Pass"/"On ne passe pas!"/"¡No pasarán!"/etc. -Includes Big Ben. One member is Kalistani and is a mole for SKAR PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY SPECIAL MISSIONS FORCE (China): -Does not utilize codenames, but does use costumed personas. -The second largest SMF after GI Joe. -Commanded by General Peng (a version of the Colonel Peng character introduced in Larry Hama's GI Joe: Special Missions #14, and the subsequent issues of the "Chomo Lungma" arc) -Includes a version of Wong (the cowboy cosplayer who was a member of the Oktober Guard in the Sunbow cartoon) OKTOBER GUARD (Russia): -Does not uses costumed personas. Some personnel have code-names, but others do not. -Commanded by Colonel Brekhov (a version of the character who has been seen in multiple media). -Relatively small. -Battlecry is "Ну Погоди" ("Nu Pogodi!") which translates to "Just You Wait!" -Comprises the standard canonical team, minus Wong, with the addition of Pale Peony (the Russo-Japanese ninja from IDW's ARAH continuation) MU'AQQIBAT (Egypt and the Gulf States): -Uses equipment purchased from a variety of sources, including (somewhat ironically) MARS Industries, although the last is mostly second-hand via Darklonia (the small Central European principality ruled by Destro's cousin, who bears the hereditary title-name Darklon) -Rotates leadership, so each constituent nation gets a turn. AS YET UNNAMED ISRAELI SMF -Commanded by Ibraham (a version of the Moroccan-Israeli Mossad operative seen in Larry Hama's GI Joe: Special Missions #2) MONGOOSE (India): -Exists Lesser Megaterror groups: SKAR -Acronym for Soldiers of Kaos, Anarchy, and Ruin. -Operates mostly in Europe and West Asia. -Led by Iron Klaw, a masked man who is secretly Count Von Rani, world-famous diplomat, playboy, philanthropist, and ruler of Kalistan, a small Eurasian nation. -Officially, Nihilist Anarchists that wish to burn down the world order rather than replace it like Cobra, SKAR is actually a means to increase the power and influence of Kalistan in general and Count Von Rani in particular. -Personnel consist of maniacs who think Cobra isn't hardcore enough (such as the mad scientist codenamed Inferno), mercenaries (such as Destro's rival Rampage), lost souls who think they have nowhere else to go or believe they owe Iron Klaw a debt (such as the super-soldier Wreckage), or Kalistani nationalists pretending to be one of the former (such as Iron Klaw's right-hand woman Steel Raven) -Of the megaterror groups, probably the most inclined to traditional terrorist activities; bombings, skyjackings, etc. -Fighting strength a mix of plainclothed operatives, uniformed SKAR troopers, heavy combat robots called Zaps, and flying combat robots called Skyrenes. IRON Army -First word is an acronym for International Robotic Operations Network. -Operates globally, provides advanced technological support to other criminal and terrorist organizations; "the Microsoft/Apple of Global Crime". -Founded and led by General Blitz, a Nazi mad scientist and war criminal who spent decades experimenting with various forms of bioengineering before concluding that flesh was weak and the true ubermensch would be made of silicon and steel. -Radical Transhumanist Neo-Nazis. Concerned primarily with improving robotics technology, and obtaining the funds to do so; believe world domination will come after the robotic true ubermensch is created -Fighting strength comprised primarily of robotic IRON Stormtroopers Revanche Robotics -Operates several seemingly legit robotics companies as fronts. -Operates globally, provides mercenary support to other criminal and terrorist organizations. -Breakaway from IRON Army; less Nazism, more interested in making people better via cybernetics and brain-uploads than creating advanced robots. -Includes several former members of the now-shattered Arashikage Ninja Clan. -Fighting strength comprised primarily of knockoffs of Cobra BATS, and "Blue Ninjas", combat cyborgs with some degree of Arashikage training. Red Shadows -Operates primarily in Western Europe. -Originally founded in the '60s as a Soviet-backed Communist terror group ala the Red Army Faction, operating in Britain. Was taken over by the brilliant and charismatic Baron Ironblood, who turned it into a personality cult dedicated to making him ruler of the world. -By the '80s, thanks to Action Man, the Adventure Team, the Oktober Guard, and various conventional law enforcement and military organizations, was largely defunct, with Baron Ironblood imprisoned, and his top lieutenant, the Black Major, in hiding. -Owing to some kind of weird science, the Black Major is still youthful and in good health today, and was recruited by a Cobra, who convinced CC to rescue and recruit the Baron...who then schismed off a chunk of Cobra as a new Red Shadows. -Fighting strength comprised primarily of uniformed Red Shadow soldiers, assorted unique vehicles. Terror Gang -Operates solely in Central Europe, primarily Germany. -Is actually a purely profit-driven criminal organization pretending to be a megaterror group. -Utilize various vehicles and equipment purchased secondhand from actual megaterror groups. Broken Star Liberation Army -Operates solely in North America, primarily the United States. -Initially trained and funded by Cobra, both to increase general fear and to discredit the far-right, eventually snowballed and became a minor megaterror group in it's own right -Far-Right Libertarians; your classic "Sovereign Citizen" militia. -Fighting strength comprised primarily of classic militia fighters and stolen standard American military vehicles. (note: the BSLA has a far-left counterpart, that we haven't come up with a name for yet.)

[ticklishfanfictions]

The Tickle Monster - Supernatural

“Hey, Dean, I think I found us a case,” Sam said. He threw a newspaper down on the table and pointed to the headline. “Fredericksburg, Texas. Woman was killed, but nobody knows how.” “Probably just another accident,” Dean replied, completely uninterested. Sam sighed. “That’s not all. Three more dead in the past week. All of them were found dead... smiling.” Dean looked up from his laptop. “Huh. That’s weird.” “Yeah, and nobody knows what killed them. I say we drive there.” Dean nodded. “Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever.” “You okay, man?” Sam asked. Dean shrugged. “Just didn’t sleep well last night. Let’s go check it out.” AT FREDERICKSBURG “I... I don’t know why I have to answer these questions,” she said, nearly in tears. “I already talked to the police.” “It’s, uh, a private investigation,” Dean responded. “Mrs. Wellington, did you notice anything odd or out of place the night your sister was killed?” Sam asked. Alyssa Wellington shook her head. “No. She was normal. Everything was normal.” “When did you last see her?” “She got home from work at 6 PM,” Alyssa, who couldn’t have been more than 25 years old, replied. “We had dinner.” “What did you eat?” Dean asked. “Why does that matter?” “We just want to know all the details,” Dean said. “We had chicken noodle soup,” Alyssa replied. “After dinner, she said she was going out with Larry for ice cream.” “Who’s Larry?” Sam questioned. “Her boyfriend,” Alyssa told them. “That was the last time I saw her.” “Did Larry and Rachel have a happy relationship?” Dean knew this was a personal question, but he also knew it could be a lead. “Yes, they loved each other,” Alyssa responded. “Rachel would always come home from her dates all happy and excited... to be honest, I’d never seen her so happy.” The young woman wiped a tear from her face. “You are her older sister, correct?” Sam asked. Alyssa nodded. “And... and we loved each other, too. More than anything.” “Did Rachel have any enemies?” Dean questioned. Alyssa’s face hardened. “No. Nobody I know would do this to her.” She sighed. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave now.” “Thank you, ma’am,” Sam said. Him and Dean walked out of her house calmly. “So what are you thinking?” Dean asked once they had walked for a little while. “I don’t know. I mean, smiling victims? And Alyssa said everything was normal.” “You think it was the boyfriend?” Dean wondered aloud. Sam shook his head. “No. I have a feeling it’s something I’ve never seen before.” “Hello, boys,” a voice said. Dean and Sam spun around to face a young girl. She looked about sixteen years old. Her hair was short and straightened. She was carrying a black purse. “Uh... hi,” Sam replied. “Can I help you?” “I think so,” the girl said. “You’re the Winchesters, right?” Dean and Sam looked at each other for a minute, then looked back at the girl. “And who might you be?” Dean asked. “What, you don’t recognize me?” She sighed. “Of course you don’t. That stupid demon never told you anything.” Sam exchanged a look with Dean. “What are you talking about? What do you know?” “I know what you’re hunting. And I can help you,” the girl said. “What’s your name?” Dean asked after a moment’s pause. “Kennedy. Nice to meet you,” she said. Sam nodded. “Yeah. So, uh, you mentioned a demon...” Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Trust me, I’m nothing like him.” “Nothing like who?” Dean wanted to know. “I’m forbidden from saying his name. He is my father, and he punished me one time with a curse. I cannot say his name,” Kennedy said. “But I can give you a hint.” She turned to Sam. “Moose.” Turning to Dean, she said, “squirrel.” Sam and Dean stared at each other with wide eyes. Kennedy sighed and looked down. “Look, I told you I’m nothing like him,” she repeated. “I just need you to trust me. I can help you.” “Oh, can you, now?” Dean asked threateningly. “You tell you father to burn in Hell.” “Dean,” Sam warned. “I hate him as much as you do,” Kennedy explained. “As I got older, I wondered what he did all day and why he was never home with me. When I was about... eleven or twelve, I found out what my dad was doing as a job. I disapproved. He killed a lot of people... especially hunters. I need to avenge their deaths.” For once, Dean had nothing to say. Sam looked into the teenager’s eyes. “Alright. You can help us,” Sam said. “What are we hunting?” Kennedy sighed. “You won’t like it. How about we go back to your motel first? We can talk there.” Sam nodded in agreement. “Are you crazy?” Dean exclaimed. “This is Crowley’s secret daughter!” “Dude. Trust me on this one,” Sam told him before getting in the front of the Impala. Kennedy sat in the back. Dean rolled his eyes before getting in the car and driving, blasting the radio as always. AT THE MOTEL “So what is it?” Sam wanted to know. He sat down on the bed next to Kennedy. Dean sat across from them both. “Which one of you is older?” Kennedy asked. Sam pointed at Dean. Dean smirked and nodded. “Means I can kick his ass.” “Well, you’re screwed, Sammy,” Kennedy told him. Sam narrowed his eyes in confusion. “It goes after the youngest sibling first,” Kennedy said. “Then, if it needs more, which is unlikely, it’ll go for the older sibling. If there’s an only child, it leaves it alone. It feeds off of laughter.” “What is this thing?” Dean asked. “A tickle monster,” Kennedy replied calmly. Dean chuckled. “Yeah, right. Come on, Sam, let’s get her out of here.” Sam looked at Dean expectantly. “Dude, all the victims were smiling.” “The tickle monster isn’t real,” Dean claimed. “I’m the only one you’ll ever know, Sammy.” He smirked and winked at Sam, who groaned as he looked back at Kennedy. “You don’t have to believe me,” Kennedy said to Dean. “But your little brother here is probably next on the list, so I would either gank this thing or get the hell out of Fredericksburg.” “How do we gank it?” Sam asked. “Silver hurts it. Fire kills it,” Kennedy responded. “How do you know all this?” Dean questioned. “Cause I’ve come in contact with one myself. Unfortunately, I’m also the younger sibling,” Kennedy admitted. “Rachel was the youngest,” Sam said. “How do we kill this thing before it hurts anyone else?” “Easy,” Kennedy replied with a grin. “Bait.” THAT NIGHT IN THE WOODS “You guys know the plan?” Kennedy asked. Dean nodded. “I’m ready if you are.” Sam rolled his eyes. “Why can’t you be the bait?” “Aw, is wittle Sammy afwaid of a few wittle tickles?” Dean teased. “Must be nice, being the oldest,” Kennedy sighed. “Sam, it’s time.” “See you on the other side,” Sam said before walking into the woods and disappearing from our sights. About a minute of silence later, Dean started walking in the general direction that Sam was going in. “Hey! What are you doing? This isn’t part of the plan!” Kennedy whisper-yelled. “Sam needs us. I feel it,” Dean replied. Nothing could prepare them for what they saw next. Sam Winchester was tied with vines to a giant oak tree as a terrifying tickle monster dug into his underarms. Sam let out a loud screech before bursting into unmanly laughter. He yelled through his laughter to them. Kennedy giggled and watched as Sam kept laughing. Suddenly, the tickle monster changed tactics and launched a full-on tickle attack on Sam’s knees. This being his worst spot by far, the youngest Winchester literally screamed before guffawing in laughter. Sam’s entire body jerked around, desperately trying to escape the sensations that felt like tickly electric shocks to him. Sam knew he couldn’t take it much longer. After about thirty seconds, his body went limp and he went into silent laughter. It was then that Dean whacked the tickle monster with a silver pole. The monster yelled out in pain before sprinting towards Dean, leaving Sam tied up and helpless. Dean shouted out in surprise as the scary tickle monster quickly tied him up. He didn’t waste a second and attacked Dean’s ribs, making him squeal like a girl and hold his breath to hold back his laughter. The Winchesters had always been extremely ticklish. They got that from Mary. This trait didn’t benefit Dean, who nearly broke when the tickle monster found that one spot on his upper ribs right below his armpits. Dean barely managed to keep his laughter inside when the monster dragged his claws over his ribs, focusing on that one spot. That is, he controlled it until the monster dug into his ribs with a newfound strength. Dean screamed in surprise and sensitivity as the tickle monster zapped that spot on his upper ribs. He hadn’t been tickled in so long that he’d nearly forgotten what it’d felt like, and he was not at all used to it. No, this felt like electric shocks that made Dean jerk to the left when his right rib was squeezed, and jerk to the right when his left rib was squeezed, and the torturous cycle just kept repeating itself. “SAHAHAHAHAHAHAM!” Dean screamed. “Kennedy!” Sam yelled, struggling to get free from the vines. Kennedy didn’t respond; she was busy rolling around the floor laughing. “Just wait... till I tell my father... about this...” Kennedy wheezed, slapping her knee as she burst into laughter. “You bitch,” Sam muttered. Kennedy smirked as she stood up. “I knew you boys had a weakness besides family. So did Crowley. He just didn’t know what. But I’ve finally figured it out.” “Please,” Sam begged, turning his head towards Dean, who was in hysterics. “You have to help him. Crowley doesn’t want us dead.” Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Oh, alright. Shurale, leave him.” The tickle monster suddenly stopped tickling Dean and walked towards Kennedy. The little girl wasn’t the least bit intimidated. “You control that thing?” Sam gasped. This was the last thing he’d expected, even if the girl had been Crowley’s daughter. Dean was just as shocked, but he was still recovering from the tickling. “Of course I do, Sammy,” Kennedy said with a grin. “How else would I know exactly where he would be? Oh, and iron doesn’t hurt him any more than it hurts us. Of course, whacking anyone with silver will be quite painful, and he’s easily angered.” Kennedy gently stroked the creature’s skin. “Okay, well, can you at least untie us?” Sam asked. “Please?” “Aw, he begs!” Kennedy chuckled. “What do you think, Shurale?” All of a sudden, the tickle monster let out a loud shriek and sprinted straight towards Sam. Sam yelled out in surprise as the tickle monster started tickling his stomach. He instantly started laughing, not able to hold it back. “Hey, hey, Kennedy...” Dean panted. “I know there was some truth to what you said earlier. About disapproving what your dad was doing.” Kennedy was silent as she stared at the ground. Sam, on the other hand, suddenly screamed as the tickle monster went for the kill, digging into his stomach with no mercy. Sam desperately tried to escape. “Crowley’s not a good person. The things he does aren’t right. And you don’t have to be like him. You should make your own decisions,” Dean continued, trying to ignore his brother’s shrieks. Kennedy glared at him. “Shurale, GET HIM!” As the tickle monster ran towards Dean, he jerked around in his bonds. “No, no, no. Kennedy, we can talk about this.” “Already talked.” The tickle monster dug its fingers into Dean’s overly sensitive hips, making him yelp and go completely limp. “H-hey...” Sam managed to say through his rapid breaths. “You don’t have to follow Crowley’s orders.” “Shut up, Winchester!” Kennedy shouted before hurrying over to Dean, who was nearly dying of laughter. “Shurale. Armpits. Now.” Dean gasped as the tickle monster attacked his armpits. He was still laughing, but now he actually made some noise, proving that he could breathe. Kennedy leaned towards Dean’s ear and whispered quietly. Sam struggled to escape as he saw Kennedy squeezing the older Winchester’s hips, making him squeal and kick his legs out like a little kid. To Dean, it felt like a series of electric jolts. And he was completely helpless to the feeling. There was nothing he could do except listen to Kennedy’s words in his ear. He could barely focus on them because of her devilish hands tickling his hips in the most ticklish way possible. Dean has been shaking his head, trying to escape the sensations, but by the time Kennedy had leaned away from his ear, Dean was rapidly nodding. Kennedy grabbed one of the vines and pulled it ever so slightly. Sam was relieved when Dean managed to get one of his hands free and punched Kennedy in the face. It was a little messed up, considering she was a child, but Sam couldn’t care less at this point. Dean yanked at the vines, still laughing from the tickle monster. All of a sudden, the Shurale reared up with a howl and ran towards Sam. He started attacking Sam’s feet, making him yell and squirm. Sam’s entire body shook, even though the Shurale’s fingers only ran lightly over Sam’s feet. He couldn’t stand it and threw his head back in laughter. In the next five seconds, Dean got free from the vines and sprinted towards Sam. He grabbed his hunting knife and stabbed the Shurale in the back. “Backstabber,” Sam muttered, still panting as the tickle monster faded into the abyss. Gone. Dead. Dean chuckled. “Bitch.” “Jerk.” Sam jumped down from the tree. “Where’s Kennedy?” “Gone,” Dean responded. “What? How... she couldn’t have gone far. We have to go after her!” Sam exclaimed. Dean shook his head. “No. Dude, that thing was going to kill me. She saved my life.” “Oh, really?” Sam said, cocking his head to the side. “When was that? While she was tickling the crap out of you? While she was tickling the crap out of me? When?” “Sam, just listen, alright?” Dean started. “You know my hips are my worst spot. That thing would have killed me. She made it switch to my underarms, which aren’t nearly as bad.” “I beg to differ,” Sam muttered under his breath. Dean rolled his eyes. “She told me I was right. She hates Crowley’s guts. She doesn’t want to be like him. But Sam, he’s threatened her. He’ll kill her if she defies him.” “Seriously?” Sam gasped. “How do you know she’s not lying?” “I don’t,” Dean said. “But it’s messed up. She’s sixteen. She’s being threatened by her father, who is the King of Hell.” “Crowley’s dead,” Sam argued. “No, he faked his death again,” Dean told him. Sam rolled his eyes. “Can’t say I’m surprised.” “We have to help her.” Sam laughed. “After what she did to us? Hell no.” “Fine. I’ll help her myself. You’re just too damn ticklish,” Dean said with a chuckle. Sam shook his head. “You’re one to talk. Within thirty seconds of your hips being poked, you were done for.” “Same with you and your knees. Be glad I saved your ass,” Dean replied. “Bitch.” “Jerk.”

[victorluvsalice]

We come to Wednesday in The Chill Save with Smiler Always, and Smiler had themselves a busy day, both on and off campus! After coming home from work and finishing their Mixology homework, they spent a bit of time watching TV (the “Moonlight Massacre III” movie, which they found so unengaging they got up and got the clay lump to play with halfway through) before gathering the latest from their garden. Including from their Sixam Mosquito Trap plant, which I never really noticed was animated before? It genuinely has little bugs fluttering around it all the time, which it will periodically chomp. I dunno, I just thought it was kinda cool. :)

Anyway, freshly showered and with household chores taken care of, it was time to head back to Larry’s Lagoon! After a brief interlude to use some of their powers and earn that precious vampire XP, Smiler promptly went up to the robotics lab to finish off work on their computer chip (avoiding getting zapped this time) and to start on a Chatter Bot! This lasted until I finally didn’t catch them trying to go downstairs to play basketball in time (I thought they had FIXED the bug of Sims being obsessed with the basketball hoop?) -- which ended up being fairly close to their first class time, so I decided they might as well hang around the class building instead.

Which led to me noticing that the campus statue had gotten pranked! Well, Smiler did go and knit the Britechester Book a sweater, so I guess it only stands to reason the Britechester students would TP the Foxbury Spiky Thing in return. :P Smiler went and cleaned up the statue, earning the praise of one passing Shingo. Smiler, pleased, promptly went in for a hug --

And was REJECTED! Apparently Shingo, being an Unflirty Sim, automatically assumed that was a flirty action? Granted, I don’t know what KIND of hug Smiler was going for, but it looked like the bog-standard “Friendly” one. . . Embarrassed, Smiler ended up casting Hallucination on them --

And then going to class. Shingo ended up standing out there the entire hour and a half Smiler was learning about psychology, chatting to thin air, because apparently this effect does not wear off on its own. XD Smiler dispelled the effect once they emerged from their studies and apologized by the way of a funny story, but I don’t think Shingo was impressed. XD Can’t win ‘em all, Smiler! This is why you need to use your Personality Detection more often.