#and dex is taking his shot

[fitzvackertheritzcracker]

Fitz Vacker's Christmas Performance:

[chevvy-yates]

[NC_RES]-31102049-EUR-GER scharfenberg_g_portraits_033_CC_GBM.file ///core:_ryder_von_scharfenberg.file\\\

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⚠️ READ: Please do not repost/reupload any of my art here or to any other platform, or I will be forced to do anything to get it annihilated.

[briefinquiries]

Tyler Owens x Reader: No Hesitation

Request: From anonymous: “I had an idea for Tyler Owens!! I feel like Tyler would be the type of guy that if a girl came up to him and said ‘this guy is creepy, pls pretend to be my bf’ he would be like ‘hell yay’ and scare the guy away without making the girl uncomfortable?? Maybe you could do a scenario like that with reader?? Thank youuu!!! Lots of love!!”

Word count: 3.1k

Warnings: none

A/N: guys.... i'm down bad for tyler owens, pls send help (or requests so i can keep writing about him). anywayyy, enjoy!

“You comin’ T?” Boone asked as he peered into Tyler’s motel room. 

Tyler glanced up from where he sat on the edge of his creaky, double mattress and nodded. “Yeah, I just need to grab a shirt that doesn’t smell like pig shit.”

“Good luck with that,” Boone chuckled. “We haven't done laundry in almost three weeks– just about everything in my bag smells like pig shit.”  

“Maybe it’s time we popped home for a bit,” Tyler muttered as he continued digging through his bag. Finally, he pulled out an unused, plain, T-shirt that had been folded at the bottom of his duffel. “What kind of place is this, Boone?” he asked as he pulled the shirt over his head. 

“Just a bar, man. Nothin’ fancy. They got darts though, and a pool table. Which, by the way, I bet you fifty bucks I can smoke you at.”

“Boone, you don’t even have fifty bucks,” Tyler replied, shaking his head. He stood up from the bed and joined his friend in the hallway, shutting his motel room door behind him. 

“Do too,” Boone said defensively as they began walking towards the parking lot to join the rest of the team. 

“Oh you mean the fifty bucks I gave you to get the van’s oil changed last week? Which now I’m assuming you never did–” 

“An honest mistake,” Boone said, putting his hands up in surrender. “They were closed the day you gave it to me, then I’ll be honest, I forgot about it. But my point is, beat me at pool and that money is yours again.” 

“I don’t want the money to be mine again, I want the van to get an oil change.”

“Well you get your fifty bucks back and you can use it for whatever you’d like– oil change included.”

Tyler shook his head, knowing there was no use arguing with his friend. 

“What’re you two love birds arguing about now?” Lilly asked. She was perched on the hood of Tyler’s truck looking at footage she’d taken from her drone earlier in the day. 

“T’s too scared to play me in pool,” Boone answered before Tyler could. 

“Aw,” Lilly said teasingly. “Nothin’ to be scared of. We’ll still love ya, even if Boone kicks your ass.”

“Yeah, T,” Dani added from the front seat of the van. They had the door kicked open and their feet resting out the rolled down window. “There’s no shame in losin’. Only in never trying.”

“I oughta just leave the lot of you behind. Me and Dexter can take things from here. Isn’t that right, Dex?”

“Sure,” Dexter said casually. “But I’ll have you know I can also beat your ass at pool.”

“Unbelievable,” Tyler muttered to himself. “Who’s ridin’ with me?”

Lilly and Boone’s hands shot up. “Shotgun,” Boone announced. 

“You always get shotgun,” Lilly muttered as she climbed into the backseat of his truck. 

“We’ll meet you guys there,” Dani said as they pulled their feet into the van and started it up. Dexter climbed into the passenger seat and then the group of them were off. 

It took about fifteen minutes to get to the bar Boone had been going on about all day. He insisted they served the best chicken wings in all of Tulsa. Tyler would be the judge of that. 

The parking lot was relatively full– but not surprisingly so for a Saturday night. 

“If you have more than three drinks, you’re ridin’ back with Dani, you understand?” Tyler said to Boone as the five of them walked into the bar together. “I’m not havin’ you get sick in my truck for a second time.”

“Whatever you say, Dad,” Boone said sarcastically. “I’m gonna mark my territory at the pool table– let ‘em know we’re next. Grab me whatever’s on tap, will ya?”

He didn’t even wait for Tyler’s confirmation before darting off, Dani and Dexter on his tail. 

Meanwhile, Tyler and Lilly made their way to the bar to order for everyone else. “Man, he’s full of it today,” he muttered once they reached the counter. 

“Yeah, well. We’re all a little restless,” Lilly admitted. “It’s been a long few weeks without much action. Boone’s kinda like a puppy. Except instead of walks he needs adrenaline rushes and excessive fun. Tonight’ll be good for him.” 

Tyler chuckled as he turned to check where the bartender was at. Except, as soon as he did, his elbow collided with the person beside him. 

“Sorry–” he said quickly, eyes wandering down. 

His words caught in his mouth at the sight of an unfamiliar, but beautiful girl. You were gazing back up at him with equal surprise, mouth hung open slightly. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. 

“That’s okay,” you answered quickly. “I was standin’ too close.” 

“No other way to really do it in here it seems,” he said. 

You smiled sweetly. “I know– it’s never this busy here, even on the weekends.”

“You come here a lot?” he asked, just trying to keep the conversation going. 

“I wouldn’t say a lot, but enough. Any time I have a hankering for some wings.”

Tyler adjusted his body so that he was facing you entirely now. He was boxing Lilly out– but she’d understand. Especially after she got a look at how gorgeous you were. “You know, my buddy said they were good. I didn’t entirely believe him. But if you say so…”

“You’re gonna trust a total stranger over your buddy?” you asked teasingly. 

Tyler tilted his head to the side. “If you met my buddy, you’d understand why. You know we’re all gonna play some pool in a bit if you wanted to–”

“Hey Y/N, there you are!” Tyler heard someone say, cutting him off. He watched as your head snapped around. A man– tall with broad shoulders and black hair, was pushing through the crowd towards you. 

“I gotta go,” you said to Tyler quickly, instantly causing his shoulders to fall. “Have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too,” he grumbled. He turned back towards the bar to avoid seeing you reunite with who he supposed was probably your boyfriend. 

“Don’t sweat it, T,” Lilly said, clapping him on the back. “You’ll get the next one.”

Tyler rolled his eyes, kicking himself for letting himself get his hopes up over a stupid, two minute conversation. 

Once he and Lilly got everyone’s drinks, the pair of them made their way back towards the pool table which Boone had successfully taken over. No time was wasted before Boone was insisting the pair play. 

To Tyler’s absolute dismay– he really did suck. 

He lost three games in a row before finally calling it quits. He opted to sit at a high top table with Dexter, watching Lilly and Boone compete instead. 

Tyler was just about to throw down the last of his beer when suddenly, he felt an arm loop through his.  He turned to tell who he assumed was Dani, that they’d had way too much to drink, but before he could, a voice (that certainly didn't match Dani’s) rang out. 

“Hi baby, there you are!”  

Dexter, who was sitting across from Tyler, glanced at him surprised. 

Tyler looked to his left and locked eyes with the same girl from the bar earlier. Except now, she was gazing at Tyler desperately. Without warning and before Tyler could even react, you leaned closer to him. 

In a hurried whisper, you spoke so that only Tyler could hear. “There’s a guy over there. I keep asking him to, but he won’t leave me alone– can you just pretend to know me so that he’ll go away?”

Then, you press your lips to the side of Tyler’s cheek quickly, like it was a gesture the two of you had shared thousands of times. You continued holding on to his arm, your eyes wildly trying to communicate how terrified you clearly were, as you looked pleadingly at him to help you. 

Tyler’s face broke out into a huge grin as he, with absolutely no hesitation, took on the role of boyfriend for a complete stranger. He wiggled his arm out of your grasp and instead wound it around your waist, pulling you tightly into his side. 

You were taken aback by how secure and safe you suddenly felt. 

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” Tyler replied.  He could visibly see the look of relief that washed over your face once you realized he had decided to play along. 

Tyler tugged at your hip, indicating that he wanted you to lean in closer. You took his hint and tilted your head towards him.  

“Which guy is it?” he asked discreetly. 

“Red shirt, black hair,” you mumbled quietly. It was only then that you notice the other man sharing the table with your rescuer. You offered him an apologetic smile, hoping that he was intuitive enough to pick up on the cues you’d been dropping.  

Next you noticed the rest of his group scattered around the pool table. Initially, they were in the middle of a game when you came over, but now, their attention had shifted. You glanced at the beautiful girl with tanned skin and long, braided hair, holding a pool stick. She offered you a small, but cautious smile. You hoped it wasn’t her boyfriend you were currently draped over.  Then, there’s another guy– with messy black hair topped with an old, worn ball cap. He had a confused look on his face, but when the girl leaned over and whispered something in his ear, his eyes lit up in understanding. 

The man you were clinging to rubbed your hip bone gently with his thumb. The sensation sent sparks across the entire surface of your skin. You wondered if he even realized he was doing it.  

You’d seen him at the bar earlier and had gotten a good, gut feeling about his demeanor. He seemed genuine and kind– even though you’d only managed about a two minute conversation with him before the man who’d been following you around all night came back. It wasn’t until after you darted off that you realized you should have just explained what was going on right then and there. 

You’d realized he was handsome earlier, but this was the first time you’d gotten a good look at him up close, now that your nerves had calmed down and you felt like you were able to breathe again. You wanted to give yourself a pat on the back, because it seemed like you’d chosen the best looking man in the entire bar, if not world, to be your pretend boyfriend. He had distinct features– a strong jaw, tanned skin, and eyes so green, it made you feel like spring was blooming. His brows were furrowed into a firm line as he scoured the bar nonchalantly, looking for the man who had led you to him. You felt grateful that this complete stranger cared enough to help you out.  

“That him?” he asked, nodding in the direction he wanted you to look. 

You turned your head and watched in dismay as the creepy man from earlier approached. 

“Shit– yes.”

“I got ya, don’t worry,” he murmured gently. “Can I help you?” he asked, turning once the man was within earshot. 

He stopped in his tracks, eyes glued to you. “I was jus’ lookin’ for her,” the man said, words slurring together. 

“And what use do you have for my girlfriend?” he challenged, grip around your waist tightening. 

“Sorry man– she didn’t tell me she had a boyfriend.”

“But she did tell you to leave her alone, right?”

“Yeah, jus’ thought she was playin’ hard to get. You know how these girls can be–”

“No, I don’t actually,” Tyler said. “I think if she said leave her alone… you should probably leave her alone.”

The man put his hands up in surrender. “Easy man, I didn’t mean any harm by it. Like I said, I didn’t realize she was taken.”

“I don’t think you’re getting it–” Tyler said, standing up from his chair to face the man. You were surprised by how cold you felt without his hand around your waist. 

“You don’t get to just choose to respect her now that you know she has a boyfriend.” 

“You tryin’ to start something here, man?” The guy narrowed his beady eyes. 

“Why? You offerin?” Tyler took another step forward, anger surging in his chest faster than he anticipated.  

“Might be,” the man said, meeting Tyler halfway. The two were face to face now– things were escalating. 

But before things could get out of hand, the guy from behind the pool table hurried over. “Easy, T–” he placed a hand on his shoulder before facing the guy. “Why don’t you just back off, man? Get outta here.”

“Yeah, c’mon–” two more people from his group stepped forward. Like a small army, you thought. All stepping up to protect you– a total stranger. 

There was a brief moment where the man studied the scene before him. Then, like he realized that taking on the four people defending you was a bad idea, he backed off. 

“Whatever, she’s not worth it anyway,” he said, throwing you one, final nasty glare before turning and stalking off. 

You didn’t realize you’d been holding your breath until you saw him walk out the front door. Only when it snapped shut behind him were you able to exhale a shaky sigh.  

That guy’s been following me all night. I thought I could handle it, but then he got really mad when I wouldn’t let him give me a drink,” you said shakily. 

“What a creep,” one of them said. 

“Thank you so much–” you said, utterly relieved. Then, you introduced yourself to the table of people you’d abruptly intruded upon. 

“Don’t mention it, glad we could help. I’m Tyler.” 

The others had gathered around the table now and each introduced themselves as well. 

“You were right to trust your gut,” Dani said, offering you a reassuring nod. 

“Yeah, who knows what that creep might’ve stuck in your drink.”

You shivered at the thought. 

“Well, I guess I’m glad I crashed your table then,” you smiled, turning to Tyler. For more than one reason, you thought, taking in the sweet laughter lines around his eyes and full lips. You caught yourself staring and forcibly looked away. You weren’t even drunk, but Tyler made your head spin.  

“Anyways, I should go,” you said quickly. You had to remind yourself of the circumstances.  You’d practically mauled Tyler in front of his friends and forced him to get into a brawl in the middle of the bar. And no matter how breathtakingly attractive you found him, there was no denying the fact that this entire situation was awkward and uncomfortable. You cleared your throat. “I’m really sorry for intruding, thank you again.”  

Tyler was still entirely dumbstruck, even as you walked away. It was like his brain couldn’t keep up with whatever the hell just happened. He watched as you disappeared through the crowd of people. 

“Dude, what the hell are you doing?” Dani spoke up.  

“Huh?” Tyler turns towards them. 

“She was into you, Tyler.”

He wasn’t sure he heard them right. The bar was loud and Tyler’s mind wasn’t working properly tonight, thanks to you and whatever perfume you’d been wearing. 

Lilly nodded her head in agreement, “And if I had to guess by the drool on your chin, I’d say you were into her too.” 

Feeling a little ganged up on, Tyler just stares at his team in disbelief. “I don’t– I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Boone shook his head and chuckled as he walked back towards the pool table. “Man, I have never– in our entire ten years of friendship, seen a girl leave Tyler Owens speechless– this one might be special folks,” Boone chuckled. 

“Go after her, you dummy,” Lilly said. 

“And do what?” Tyler asked. 

Dani scoffed, “Talk to her– invite her back to the table– literally anything but let her just walk away, you idiot.”

Slightly offended, but more motivated, Tyler stood up from the table and finally took the last sip of his beer. It was warm, but he used it as a final attempt at some liquid courage, before striding off after you. The crowd of people was thick, but he was confident that no matter where you were, you’d stand out.  

Sure enough, he spotted you across the bar. You had left your glass on the counter and were currently shifting through your bag, looking for something. Tyler took a deep breath before walking over.  

He called your name, which he was proud to now know, causing you to look up from your things.  

“Tyler, hey,” you said, unable to hide the surprised smile that crept across your face.  

“So that was pretty weird, huh–” Tyler tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but all he did was realize how dry his mouth was. 

You bit your lip, “Yeah, I’m really sorry about that. I didn’t mean to make it weird– I just– I was scared. He was so creepy, and you just looked like you’d make a good fake date…” 

Oh my god, what were you saying? You were rambling, like you always did when you were nervous. You took another sip of your drink, wishing it was something stronger. 

But a smirk crept up on Tyler’s face, like he could tell you were floundering. 

“Oh yeah?” His voice was playful. “And how do you think I’d be as a real date?”

Butterflies ran rampant in your stomach as you clenched down on your jaw, trying to play it cool. But it was hard to remain casual when you were pretty sure Tyler was asking you out. 

Your voice was hitched slightly higher than normal when you responded, “I think I’d like to find out sometime.”

Tyler flashed his white teeth in a stunning smile before nodding back towards the table he’d just come from. “How about we start now? I got a hankering for some wings, what do you say I get us a plate to share?”

With no hesitation, you reached for his outstretched hand. 

“Should we eat before or after I kick your ass at pool?” you smiled sweetly. 

[chufflepop]

The winners garden

This was inspired by my emerald rogue run (the old one), with my pidgeot whom I have named Victory after the run ended (or caught a pidgey in the safari and pretended it was her)

This'll be long because it affected me that much. I didn't expect to win this run- I thought I was a goner after Wallace. I swear this run felt like a movie sequence because my god it felt so climactic (to me)

Victory was a random pidgey I caught at before the first or second gym, and I was originally going to trade her off but I just felt like I lacked flying types. Eventually, I thought she was actually a really valuable member and kept her in. It also helped alot that the pidgeotite appeared the next time I got into the battle stop store, so it felt right keeping her around-

My team had a latios, thunderus, sylveon (who died but I managed to get him back because of the random lab encounter, thank god it was just a species curse), serperior, dracovish and mega pidgeot. Pidgeot with hurricane spam is so good I kept her around even more

It was a really solid team until I accidentally stumbled into a trainer battle while getting an item, and due to an unlucky crit, my latios goes down

At this point, I got mad because "AH, MY BEST TEAM MEMBER". He had a choice specs on and his job was to spam, but unfortunately, his psychic didn't kill the mega kanghaskan we encountered. It was unfortunate, I didn't level up because I thought I could avoid the trainer, but oh well

Caught a random alolan ninetales that did good aurora veil blizzard (after buying an ability patch) and I thought she'd be fine and for awhile, it was

Until I reached the champion. Wallace killed 3 of my team members, down went my serperior, my newly caught alolan ninetales, and my dracovish. And there was also an unskippable trainer when I moved on to the next route which killed my sylveon, leaving me with only my thunderus and my dear pidgeot

Remember the species clause I said earlier? That thing screwed me over when it only had 3 available pokemon (and worse, it was a water route so the surf point also had staryu, maybe I was just impatient and maybe another mon is in the surf point idk). I caught a starmie, a toxapex and a jellicent in that route. With the species clause active, I was handicapped to fight the REAL champion. I only had 5 pokemon instead of 6

The last poke stop. The trader was there, so I took a gamble with him and traded my starmie. And what came out of it felt right- It was a victini. At this point, I was giggling to myself like "I might win" because of victinis dex entry and such, about how it being with you is basically a guaranteed victory.

After I prepared my team to the best that I could and with some small confidence growing, I pressed on.

At this point, I only remember the pidgeot battle so I'm just trying to remember here and I'm probably wrong in some details

Red was the final champion and my victini took the lead. Victini died first, he was scarfed and spammed bolt strike until he MISSED. But it was still good enough, it was now a fair 4v4. Jellicent didn't have much, but he had will o wisp, which helped alot. He wasn't trained as well as the others so he was frailer than he was supposed to be, but he weakened one pokemon enough for thunderbolt range and died. 3v4 now

Thunderus tbolt, he goes down. Thunderus had a z crystal and it one shotted I forgot who immediately after.

It's now a 2v2

Terrakion. Easy enough for toxapex to take down (and spam recover)

2v1

Final pokemon was a giratina. Shadow force. Didnt want to switch out because tox was in good health and I wanted to knock off, but it critted and tox was lower than anticipated. Knock off did alright damage and I was sure it was a clear 2 hit ko if pidgeot lived. One outrage and tox was down

1v1.

My pidgeot, the pidgeot who's been with me since the start, the pidegot that I was going to trade away, the pidgeot that I doubted. From a little helpless pidgey to now facing Satan head on

She megas and hits her first hurricane but it doesn't kill and an outrage hits her and SHE BARELY LIVED. SHE WAS CLINGING FOR HER LIFE. AND THERE I KNEW, I KNEW I WON. ONE LAST HURRICANE AND DOWN GOES GIRATINA, AND MY SOLE SURVIVOR WON ME EVERYTHING!

IT FELT SO PERFECT. THE SPECIES CLAUSE, THE VICTINI, THE TOXAPEX, THE STRESS I BUILT, THE IMPORTANT POKEMON DYING JUST BEFORE RED, THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP TAKING DOWN POKEMON SATAN, IT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE MUCH VISUALLY AND SOME PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY THINK IT'S CHILDISH, BUT I IMAGINED MY PIDGEOT ABSOLUTELY LOOKING COOL AND GOING HAM ON THAT FINAL BATTLE. THE FINAL BATTLE WAS COOL IN MY HEAD OKAY

After we won, I caught a female pidgey on the safari zone and named her Victory. It's the same pidgeot now pidgey that in my heart. And that's literally why I made this drawing. And also I significantly love pidgeot more now. I would also make an essay about my thought process when making this, but I think this tumblr blog is long enough (it was so corny ngl). Too bad I can’t bring her over but the newer game is fun too

I'm sorry this was long guys, I enjoyed talking about this way too much ahshsh

[beefrobeefcal]

Let's Get Physical! feat. Marcus Pike & f!Reader

a Marcus Pike one shot | Rated: 18+ | word count: 3,883 warnings: swearing, rougher p in the v unprotected sex, fingering, talk about weight gain, belly appreciation, self esteem issues surrounding weight, reader is assumed to be shorter and lighter than Marcus, reader has long enough hair for Marcus to grip,

A/N: Okay y'all... here's the mam himself! Thank you to @rebel-held for their dedication and holding vigil for his arrival, and for @yahtiwakitakos for their love of Marcus! Thanks to @strang3lov3, @noxturnalpascal & @neverwheremoonchild for their eyes & thoughtful insight.

As soon as you’d gotten the desk next to Marcus, he knew you’d be friends. He’d transferred out of being on the field and to the home office in your state after a personal matter had him decide to transfer. Since that point, you’d worked closely together, learning almost everything you could about one another.

You’d taken to him almost immediately, but his kind and aloof manner kept you from pushing further to see if there was something more. You’d eventually fallen into a content and friendly rapport that turned into a work-based friendship.

Marcus learned about your love of reading, allowing you to collect obscure information, and you’d learned that he did not cook, opting for take out at every meal.

You’d even earned nicknames from one another. You called him Pickles after a long-forgotten joke about his last name, and he called you Dex, short for Poindexter, given you aptitude for Trivial Pursuit.

You worked side by side for four years, and in that time, you’d noted that Marcus had gained weight, but it wasn’t that noticeable – it was gradual. His clothing had always fit. He'd never had an ill-fitting suit or a too-tight dress shirt or jacket. Yes, you'd notice his weight fluctuate and increase, but he camouflaged it well with his clothing.  Sure, he’d developed a bit of a softer jawline under the scruff on his face - it enhanced his pout with those big brown eyes; and yeah, his middle looked less trim, as did his thighs…

You’d told yourself that you really didn’t notice or care – Marcus was your friend.

You repeated those lies every time he’d look up at you and ask if you were ready for lunch or pat your shoulder as he said you’d done a good job. You did notice his waistline increasing and you thought it was sexy and hot, but your own internal battle with self image and weight had tarnished your ability to admit you liked heavier men and watched to help them get heavier.

You so badly wished he was more than a friend. He was kind and sweet, and never swore, even going so far as to tell you to ‘behave’ or ‘watch your mouth’ when you left an f-bomb slip. The way his big brown eyes watched you, you wished they were imagining you naked and crying out for him, and as you’d lose yourself in this fiction, he’d bring you back to earth, asking if you’d read the latest case file.

You’d told yourself that you really didn’t notice or care because Marcus was your friend.

*****

“Morning, Dex!”, he called as he meandered to his desk. He had two coffees in his hands from your favourite coffee shop… the one that was out of the way for him to get to on his way to the office… the one he only stopped at when he either needed a favour or had bad news.

You narrowed your eyes at him and motioned to the coffee with a pointed finger. “Stop. What’s that for?”

“Just wanted to get my best girl a coffee. S’that a crime?”, he smiled, trying to force as much innocence from his eyes as possible.

You didn’t move from your position and raised your brow. He sighed and put the coffees on the desk and slumped his shoulders, letting his work satchel drop to the floor.

“I need your help.”

“I knew it.”

“But you can’t laugh.”

His last statement made you freeze. Looking up at him, his face looked slightly pained as his winced, waiting for the sign to continue.

“Out with it, Pickles.”

“They want agents to be in the field. I saw the sign last night as I was leaving, so I looked into it. Don’t get me wrong – love the office but I miss field work.”

He paused, eyes searching your face for approval. You could see the worry on him, the fear of rejection to his idea. You nodded, arms gently moving from their crossed position, and you reached for the cup closest to you on his desk and took a sip. It was good coffee and you hummed in approval.

Marcus let out a breath he more than likely didn’t realize he was holding and continued. “There’s a catch thought – I have to pass a physical.”

You just about spat our coffee out and swallowed it funny, causing you to start coughing. You waved him off, sputtering an ‘I’m okay.’ as you motioned for him to keep talking.

“Yeah… uh – so the physical.”, he said slowly, watching you carefully with a bit of worry.  “I have to pass the one I did when I was a rookie… the one we all had to pass. You sure you’re okay?”

You nodded again, trying to get the image of Marcus huffing and puffing on a treadmill, sweaty and just a plain mess… the same way you’d imagined he’d be on top of you… rutting and jack hammering you into your mattress…

“Yeah! Just peachy, Pickles!”, you croaked, the rasped out a laugh. “You want to go in the field and leave me behind? Be Mister Bigshot and meet some other prettier coworker to bring coffee?”

You were trying to tease him, but your words and the sharpness of your tongue sounded like they aimed to wound, and it wasn’t lost on Marcus.

“Well, why not come with me? We could be partners.”

Your heart fluttered at the thought of travelling with Marcus to different art crime scenes. You’d never been able to shake the stories he told about the weird things he’d investigated in the field. Yeah, there were the big things, but you were more intrigued by the obscure things he’d investigated, like the unnamed famous actor who’s inadvertently bought stolen vintage clown pornography, or the weird old grumpy suburban guy who cluelessly had a priceless - albeit mundane - horse painting hanging in his bedroom, or the time some government worker was caught at the airport with illegally imported erotic art from South America that reeked of cigarettes.

The idea had merit and you nodded, cautiously optimistic.

*****

"Look, I know what I said, but maybe...", Marcus called out from behind the bathroom door. "...maybe I am a little more out of shape than I thought." You stopped your advancement down the hallway and chuckled with a smile.

"What are you talking about?"

"It... it-uh... it fits... different."

You paused and as the cogs in your head turned, trying to decipher what he meant. It hit you and you felt heat bloom in your core and on your face as your smile exploded into a wide-eyed grin.

If what you were thinking was true, the gym clothing that was standard issue for all new FBI trainees - and would be the required outfit for his upcoming physical fitness test - would give you an eye full of how pudgy he'd really gotten. While sitting in your thoughts, your silence made Marcus nervous.

Deciding to just rip the band-aid off, he opened the bathroom door and stepped out.

Your jaw dropped.

You’d seen the pictures of him during training. The clean-shaven sharp jaw and trim toned body clad in a too big t-shirt and knee length shorts.

That was not who stood before you. His shorts, while tighter, still looked like they fit. But that poor t-shirt was pulled tight across his broad chest and shoulders, and the hem was unable to traverse his ample middle, exposing about an inch above his belly button down to the curve of his underbelly and giving you a full view of his love handles.  

His face was flushed, and his eyes pleaded with you. You cleared your throat and smiled, trying to hide the fact that your core was clenching on nothing.

“It fits!”, you managed to squeak out and Marcus look at you stupefied and held his hands open to his sides.

“Really?”, he asked in exasperation, raising his eyebrows. “You think this – “, he motioned to his middle. “- qualifies as fitting?”

“I mean, you got it on? That means it sort of fits?” You winced as you spoke, trying to keep a pleasant smile.

“Fuck!”

You jumped as he let out one the loudest ‘fuck’s you’d ever heard, and your eyes grew wide that it was him who yelled it. He threw his hands up in the air and stood with his hands on his hips, knee popped. His jaw tensed as he looked away, stuck in thought, and you took the opportunity to gaze over his body, noting the way his stomach moved with each frustrated breath and the way his shoulders pulled the absolute life out of the shirt’s seams.

You were lost in thought ogling him and didn’t notice that he’d turned his attention back to you. When you finally looked up at him, both feeling your faces heat up slightly and an awkward silence sat heavy between you.

You decided to break the silence first, clearing your throat again. “Pickles, you… you look great.”

Marcus stated to laugh, and you couldn’t help but join him.

“I know I look like a busted overstuffed sausage – “

“Oh, stop it!”, you hushed him, stepping towards him. “Okay, sure, it doesn’t fit quite the same, but nobody stays the same size their whole life.”

He rolled his eyes with a smirk and nodded. “Fine.”

*****

So far, all the equipment in his apartment complex’s gym were now Marcus’ sworn enemies. The last three hours had been filled with Marcus angrily sweating and using every curse and swearword under the sun. He was so focused on being angry that he forwent any self consciousness about his clothes not fitting.

After another failed attempt at trying to navigate the elliptical, he yelled “PISSING SHITTING FUCKING COCK SUCKING MOTHER FUCKER!!”  and stormed out of the gym. You quickly grabbed the things he left in his departure and followed him.

*****

“Fuck it! I’m not fucking doing this!”, he boomed, furiously ripping open his refrigerator and grabbing the carton of chocolate milk and chugged it.

You quietly tried to get him to water to hydrate, and contemplated asking why his swearing sounded so natural when you’d never heard him use anything harsher than ‘fiddlesticks’ prior to this. “Marcus… maybe some water would – “

He finished the chocolate milk then tossed the carton haphazardly into the sink, and his eyes aggressively looked you up and down. You closed your mouth and stood, light a deer in headlights, nervously fidgeting your hands as you felt heat bloom in your core and on your face.

“Don’t look at me like that! I know what you’re thinking!”, he barked at you, making you jump. “God dammit! You think I’m too fat and out of fucking shape to pass that physical! And you know what?”, he yelled, grabbing one of the giant pretzels he’d picked up yesterday from the kiosk in the mall. “You’re fucking right!”

He angrily bit into the pretzel and chewed, then huffed and ripped open the fridge again and grabbed a king-size can a beer. You watched, bewildered and bewitched, as he maneuvered between chomps and gulps of the pretzel and beer.

You’d never seen him this enraged and you couldn’t take your eyes off him. Sure, you’d seen him get snide or lippy when he was frustrated, but you had no idea he could turn his temper up to eleven and he had such a vast array of foul words in his vocabulary – and find it so hot. You were staring at him, seeing that once he’d finished the pretzel, his hand went to his underbelly, pitching and kneading it slightly as he downed the rest of the beer. Your eyes were then pulled to his crotch in the almost too-small shorts and the noticeable bulge that had developed there.

Your lips parted and your brows tented. Marcus kept his eyes on your face, seeing the reaction you were having to his meltdown. It egged him on, knowing that you were getting something out of this. He’d longed for the chance to get to hold you beyond the occasional side hug or shoulder bump, wanting to touch you and make you feel as beautiful as he saw you. But he’d assumed you were completely fine being friends, given the way his weight had creeped up. He didn’t want to lose you by making a move and wrecking the chance to get the pieces of you that you allowed him to have access to. He’d stayed respectful, and courteous, and friendly, all while desperately wishing he was yours. But all that went out the window the moment he felt rage course through his veins and saw you look at him like that. He wanted you to be his.

He threw the empty beer can aside, hearing its tinny landing by the sink, and stalked towards you. Taken slightly aback at how aggressive his body language was, you stepped back and were stopped by the counter behind you. Marcus crowded you, standing over you, his belly moving against you with every ragged, angry breath.

“Marc – “

His name was cut off in your mouth as his collided with yours. He roughly grabbed your waist with one huge hand while the other held your face. He dominated the kiss, his tongue pushing for entrance again your lips, and you let him in, tasting the hoppy beer and salty yeast of the pretzel. As the passion built between you, the kiss deepened, becoming more fervent and urgent. His hands roamed, pulling you closer, his fingers tangling in your hair. There was no rhythm to this kiss; it was him exploring and dominating and you submitting to him and your desperate needs.

You finally parted, panting and breathless. He looked beautiful; his eyes were dark with blown pupils and his lips were reddened.  The hand that had held your waist moved down to the crux of your thighs and pressed against your Athleisure legging-clad core. Your mouth opened and a soft, breathy whine barely sounded out. The fury in his eyes had ebbed and morphed into an aggressive and possessive need, but he watched you, looking for any sign to stop. You gave nothing but green lights.

He leaned his face closer to yours, his nose nudging your cheek. You let out a small whimper and nodded, tilting your head, and he grazed his teeth along your cheek to your jaw, then bit down softly. With his mouth on you, he growled through his teeth, “Mine.”

He pulled back and turned your around, pushing your palms onto the counter, and he stood flush with his front to your back. As he grinded against you and bit and kissed your neck, he pushed your leggings down over your ass with one hand, the other pushed between your legs in the front.

“Oh fuck… you’re soaked, baby…”, he growled, biting the back of your neck. His middle finger ran along your seam, pulling a mewling whine from your mouth.

“You want me? Tell me you want me.”

When you didn’t answer beyond a frantic nod, he said your name in a low snarl and his grip on you tightened. “I asked you a question.”

“Mar-Marcus! Please!”, you cried out, feeling his finger circle then tap your throbbing nub repeatedly. You felt him smile against your neck, his other hand palming and squeezing your tit, and he started fucking into your wet heat with his pointer and index fingers.

“You’re so gorgeous… so funny… so smart… and you’re letting this fat guy finger you in his kitchen…”

His thumb caught your clit in the haste of his hand’s movement, and you let out a surprised yelp and your body jolted. The hand gripping your breast came up your sternum and secured itself around your throat gently, forcing you upright and flush against him.

“Juicy little snatch… just gripping my fingers, baby… you - you gonna cum for me, Dex baby?”

You whined and nodded. His hand moved up and he pushed two fingers into your mouth, exerting the power he had over you. He did it because he could, because you let him. You were both learning more about the other: he wanted to dominate, you wanted to be dominated.

You came as he pressed your tongue down, almost eliciting a gag from you. It felt filthy and raw and everything you’d hoped but never thought Marcus could be.

“There is it… Good girl… You’re mine… I’m gonna fuck that into you.”, he grunted and pulled both sets of fingers from your wet holes, shoving you down flush with the counter.

You’d barely finished cumming, let alone gotten through the aftershocks making your cunt flutter as he shoved his shorts down and lined up his cock with you and pushed in.

“Jesus fuck…”, you groaned. “You’re s’fucking big!”

“You like me big… say it. Say you like me being a fat desk jockey…”

“Yes… god yes…”

“Like seeing me eat, too, huh?... like watching me get fat?”

“Yes! Please… Marcus, please!”

You felt the beginnings of another orgasm as he pounded into you from behind and filled your mind with the images of him stuffing himself stupid on take out at work while you sat on his lap and helped feed him. It was a guilt-filled fantasy that you’d never allowed yourself to fully process and accept until this moment.

Marcus pulled out of you suddenly. Fearing you did something wrong, you made a frantic and breathless ‘huh?’ sound. He picked you up, tossing you over his shoulder.

“Wanna watch your pretty face while you cum, Dex.”

You couldn’t help but smile; Marcus was ever the romantic.

He tossed you on the bed and crawled up to you, pushing your legs apart. He took a moment to look at your pussy, smirking with a smug head shake, then locked eyes with you. He leaned forward, one hand landing beside your head and his other hand grabbed your hips, pulling you closer to him, guiding his cock back into your desperate, wet cunt.

“Look at you… just gorgeous… “, he marveled with smug satisfaction as he pounded into you, watching your eyes close, brows furrow, and lips part to let out a soft pant.

His thumb came down on your clit, rubbing harsh, fast circles. “Come on, Dex… gimme one so I can watch… lemme see…”

“Marcus… I’m close…”

“I know, pretty girl… give it to me… come on… gimme one I can see…”

“Yes… right there! Right there!”

His thumb hit just the right angle and you fell apart as he pistoned you on his cock. Your hand reached up, gripping the arm above your head, and you arched your back in pure bliss.

“There it is… there you go… fuck, good girl… look at you… so god dammed pretty…”

The noises you made sounded alien coming from your mouth. You’d never heard this cacophony of whines, cries, mewls and moans come from your body before, and Marcus was revelling in it. He removed his thumb form your oversensitive nub, and he brought him body down onto your as he continued to thrust into you. His weight felt amazing; it was everything and ore than what you could have hoped, and you needed more of it on you. You hooked one leg on his hip, then brought the other one up, trying to lock your ankles. Marcus was too big, his love handled waist too wide and his thrusts now to frantic to get a good latch.

You raised your head and captured his mouth in a messy kiss, and he interlocked his fingers into yours. He panted into your mouth as you made eye contact; gone was the ferocious and angry man who’d fucked you in his kitchen and back was Marcus: sweet, funny, soft Marcus.

“Come on, Pickles.”, you whispered against his lips with a wry grin.

The surrendering groan that tumbled out of him matched perfectly with his out of rhythm thrusts.

“You gonna let me cum in you? Please?”, he panted, hips stuttering.

Nodding, you desperately whined, “Yeah… yes, please… please… c-cum in me!”

Marcus dropped his forehead onto yours. With a few more snaps of his hips with corresponding grunts, he let out a string of groans and panting breaths, then stilled in you.

You were both breathing hard, and his fingers flexed and relaxed repeatedly in yours as he came down from his high. Your mouth found his again briefly, then he pulled back and looked you in the eyes. His brows furrowed and his eyes softened further, as if the weight of what had just happened suddenly dawned on him and he was worried this was it for the two of you.

“Hey… hey hey hey…”, you soothed, hand coming up to cup his cheek, a soft smile on your face. “It’s okay… I’m okay.”

He nodded, still unsure, the blurted out, “I like you so much, Dex. I wanted this for so long…and I wanted it to be special, and – “

“It was special!”, you beamed with a smile, loving how adorably flustered he looked in contrast to before. “You hulked out and railed me in your kitchen!”

He stopped and looked at you, dumbfounded. Slowly, a smile peaked out on one side of his mouth. “You liked that.”, he huffed out in a laugh. “Dex, you kinky girl!”

You laughed and playfully slapped his arm. “Knock it off, Pickles!”

He pulled his softening cock from you and kissed you, both of you giggling.

Marcus pulled away and teased, “You liked getting railed by a fat guy… in the kitchen…”

“Yeah, I did!”, you challenged with a smile. “And I hope that fat guy does it again!”

His breath hitched and he swallowed, looking away for a moment. “So, you’re okay with…?”

He couldn’t finish saying what he wanted to. Years of poor self esteem and heart-breaking moments with other women wouldn’t let him, nor did that part of him want to hear your answer in case it was rejection. Your hand guided his face back to you.

“I wouldn’t have let you if I wasn’t.

His smile softened. “How about a date first?”

You couldn’t help the heat and shy smile that bloomed on your face, and he watched as you melted into his words.

*****

Marcus walked into the office the next Monday, carrying another two coffees from your favourite place. You were preoccupied with one of your coworkers but shit him a smile before returning your attention to the file before you.

He placed the coffees down, hung his coat and bag, then noticed the collection of tupperwear containers with a sticky note on them.

Getting takeout is fine, but this is a sampling of what I can do for you. Xoxo Dex.

He opened a few of the containers and in them were homemade versions of his absolute favourite take out meals. He brought one to his nose and inhaled, just as your coworker left the room. You walked up behind him and wrapped your arms around his middle, patting and squeezing his belly.

Marcus deciding he wasn’t ever going to need to pass a physical again.

No more tag list! follow @beefnotes for fic updates!

[wiserodin032402]

Kobeni from Chainsaw Man is a D&D Fighter

Okay yeah crazy people make dumb shit in D&D all the fuckin’ time, you can just say what the fuck on the internet. Some idiot made an article on how to play Cyberpunk Edgerunners characters in D&D what’s the big deal?

The big deal is that the D&D Fighter isn’t really...well represented in actual fiction. Controversial take, I know, but most uh...most mundane characters in fiction don’t really fit the bill of ‘Only good at combat but in a mostly superficial way that’s completely outclassed by the real shit of the setting’.

They’re not this:

This unique blend of...hell on earth that just isn’t present in actual fiction. One could say completely fucking unplayable. For those not in the know, this is D&D 3.5′s iteration of Fighter. For those who play 5e, this is basically the widely-mocked Champion Fighter subclass.

They’re proficient with all simple weapons, all martial weapons, all armor, and all shields including tower shields. They also have the following class skills: Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str)...with a grand total of 2 + Intelligence bonus skill points per level. That’s right, if you’re a Fighter of Average intelligence, you get to be okay in...2 skills.

And their saves are atrocious. If something even slightly scary shows up, the average Fighter is shitting themselves and running for the fucking hills.

This is obviously wildly fucking unrepresentative of any character in fantasy fiction. Too many demonstrate the ability to do more than just fight, and the characters who are famous for focusing on fighting are in series where being good at fighting means you can cut mountains in half or blow up the moon. And they’re all so...brave. Immune to fear even.

Enter God’s Chosen Failwoman

She’s a Public Safety Devil Hunter from the hit manga Chainsaw Man. She does this because her family made her, and it was either killing devils or prostitution.

Kobeni is a massive coward and in the first arc she’s introduced in with The Eternity Devil, she’s all too willing to simply kill Denji and give his heart up. When something scary is happening, Kobeni is the first to coward out.

Kobeni also isn’t very skilled. She quits public safety to go work fast food, and she can barely do that. Fast Food, considered entry-level work in this hellish economy due to how easy it is to teach someone to do it.

And yet, something curious.

When it comes to completely normal, completely mundane, completely comprehensible violence, Kobeni is unphased, and is insanely good at it. Sure, her partner got shot, but her reaction was to simply kill the shooter

and then go find the perpetrators

And when confronted by a frankly mundane demon attack, it doesn’t even touch her:

She’s also good enough with that knife, which for all intents and purposes is a completely mundane kitchen knife to slice clean through bone:

It’s groundbreaking. I’ve searched far and wide, but I’ve never found a character in fiction who perfectly lines up with everything that D&D 3.5 and even core Pathfinder 1e Fighter sets out to emulate. Someone who’s only good at violence, who’s insanely good with only one weapon, but can never break out of being completely mundane with their violence. Who, no matter how strong they get, how hard they work, is only human, with entirely human limits.

Here’s how you build Kobeni.

You need a high Strength and Dex. You need to be a Human. You need Weapon Finesse. You need to take Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization, the full featline, with whatever knife of your choice (Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization, Melee Weapon Mastery). Take Lighting Reflexes. Take Light Armor Specialization.

Hell, if you want to more closely emulate how Kobeni functions, take the Combat Focus featline, which puts you into a sort of battle trance once you make a successful attack that lasts for about 10 rounds, which gives a bonus to will saves and other effects. Effects you can only get in Combat.

And guess what? You’ll be getting the genuine Kobeni experience. Being only good at completely mundane violence in a world that dramatically ramps up in stakes and moves past you.

[scisetforever]

can we take a sec to appreciate the colours in “one day”?

in every shot in “one day” there is either a combination of blue and yellow or turquoise and orange OR just plain orange and plain blueish turquoise. i have absolutely no idea what it means but my guess is it’s a tool to show dexter and emma’s closeness and tension. During scenes where there’s lots of tension, these complementary colours are more vivid and abundant in the shots. but when there’s less tension between the two, there’s usually one prominent colour.

here when dex brings his girlfriend to emma’s work there’s obviously tension between the them cuz emma is just in love and doesn’t say SHIT. the orange and turquoise colours in the scene are soooo overwhelming and enhances this which is amazing. also when they both meet after the whole maze thing, there’s blue and yellow on the train, as well as green and orange in emma’s house and the whole part is suuuuper awkward so, great use of colour there.

contrastingly, when things are really good and happy in the show, there’s usually an orange wash over the frame. whereas when dex is using drugs and it super depressed and also after emma dies, the lighting and colours are really dark and blue/torquoise. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BLUES OH MY GOSH.

overall the colours in this show actually blew me away to the point where i wasn’t even following the story anymore and i had to pull myself away from analysing the colours cuz they’re just SO BEAUTIFUL!!!

[thecreaturecodex]

Zap Kraken

Image © Turtle Rock Studios

[Sponsored by Soluman Blevins. The second of the Evolve monsters I've done, other than the warpwraith. Mechanically, the Kraken is interesting, but design wise, it's a little drab. Because it's just a Cthulhu. The lightning bolt wings are a cool touch, but otherwise, it's very much a Cthulhu. And in a game that already has Cthulhu and his star-spawn, I wanted to differentiate it a bit. So I tied it to one of my favorite one-shot weirdo monsters from the 3e era.]

Zap Kraken CR 16 CE Aberration This immense creature has a roughly dinosaur-like body and the head of a colossal cephalopod. A vertical maw stretches between its beard of tentacles, and two large jointed appendages grow from its back and crackle with electricity. Its long tail is segmented like the vertebral column of a great beast.

Zap krakens are rare aberrant creatures that use electrical energy for both offense and mobility. Although they are enormous, they fly with surprising grace by manipulating electricity, essentially creating wings of lightning that hold them aloft. They are remarkably stealthy for their size, and can sneak up on prey from above before dropping to melee or merely blasting away with channeled lightning bolts.

Zap krakens are territorial, and maintain their territory by creating banshee mines, so called for the shriek of their explosions. These mines home in on creatures that get too close, and the zap kraken can also visit them to see what it has seen, similar to a prying eyes spell. Although zap krakens typically view other creatures as prey first and foremost, they have a mutual fondness for zeugalaks. Both species have tentacled maws and an affinity for electricity, and sages speculate that they are related to each other. A zap kraken often views zeugalaks the way a nobleman views their prized hunting hounds, using them to flush out prey or occupy melee combatants. 

Zap Kraken CR 16 XP 76,800 CE Gargantuan aberration Init +7; Senses blindsense 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +17

Defense AC 30, touch 14, flat-footed 22 (-4 size, +7 Dex, +1 dodge, +16 natural) hp 225 (18d8+144) Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +15 DR 10/magic; Immune cold, electricity; SR 26

Offense Speed 50 ft., fly 100 ft. (good) Melee 2 claws +18 (2d6+8), tentacles +17 (4d4+8), 2 wings +16 (2d6+4 plus 1d6 electricity) Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft. (30 ft. with tentacles) Special Attacks banshee mines, lightning strike, shock pulse

Statistics Str 26, Dex 24, Con 28, Int 11, Wis 19, Cha 19 Base Atk +16; CMB +28; CMD 46 Feats Blind-fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Hover (B), Mobility, Multiattack, Stand Still, Weapon Focus (claw) Skills Acrobatics +20 (+28 when jumping), Fly +21, Intimidate +17, Perception +17, Stealth +16, Survival +17; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth Languages Aklo

Ecology Environment warm hills Organization solitary or band (1 plus 1-4 zeugalaks) Treasure standard

Special Abilities Banshee Mines (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can create up to three animated mines. Treat these as the eyes generated by the prying eyes spell, only when a creature approaches within 30 feet of them (all creatures or of a type set by the zap kraken on creation), they fly towards that creature and explode. Treat this as a ranged touch attack using the zap kraken’s modifiers (+19 for a typical specimen). If it hits, the creature struck takes 4d6 points of electricity damage and 4d6 points of sonic damage. Whether the mine hits or not, it explodes, dealing this damage in a 5 foot radius (Reflex DC 23 halves). A zap kraken knows when one of its mines has detonated as long as it is within 1 mile of the mine. A zap kraken can create up to nine mines a day, but can have a maximum of three in existence at a time. The save DC is Charisma based. Lightning Strike (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can call down a bolt of lightning within 160 feet. It fills a column 60 feet high with a 20 foot radius, dealing 16d8 points of electricity damage to all creatures in the area (Reflex DC 23 halves). A zap kraken can use this ability once every 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma based. Shock Wave (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can release an electrical pulse in a 60 foot radius centered on its body. All creatures in the area take 16d4 points of electricity damage and are pushed back 10 feet. A successful DC 27 Reflex save halves the damage and resists the knockback effect. A zap kraken can use this ability every other round. The save DC is Constitution based.  Tentacles (Ex) The tentacles of a zap kraken are treated as a single primary natural weapon

[roennq]

Finally finished episode 13. I have questions...

Where were the rest of the Defenders during the entire season? I was half expecting Danny (at the very least) to check up on Matt (or who he would have thought to be Matt) when Dex started showing up in the Daredevil suit (since Danny was watching over Hell's Kitchen at the end of The Defenders).

Matt said something before he told us to leave. He said, "Protect my city." – Danny Rand [The Defenders 1x13]

Especially once the KILLING started? That alone would have been a lightbulb moment... as in hey, I don't think THAT'S Daredevil (or even... oh, the guy finally snapped, we need to stop him before he hurts anyone else), and the three heroes band together once more.

(Okay, that would have made Daredevil a completely different show altogether but some continuity would have been nice. Name-dropping Jessica Jones in one episode does not count!)

Continuity issues aside, it was great watching our boy make catwalk his way into the hotel after he'd cleverly goaded Dex into doing all the heavy lifting for him (and the final three-way showdown). Nicely done, Mr Lawyer Vigilante sir.

“I’m coming for you, Dex. And my suit.”

(Perfect soundtrack for this scene: Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. Trust me on this.)

I was also genuinely surprised that Dex left Fisk’s pre-ballroom security alive, since he tends to kill indiscriminately when he's angry. Then again, they are fellow agents and he can be pretty focused. Dex didn't take out Matt when he had the chance the first time they fought, mostly because killing the Man in the Mask wasn't his main objective. (A decision I'm sure he sorely regretted seeing that he did try to end Matt during their fight at the choir loft.)

[On that note, a special shoutout to Mr Potter: Holy horns, Melvin, that's one heck of a suit upgrade!

Except for the final battle, Dex basically walked away from most of his fights with barely a scratch (unlike poor Matt).]

I still have questions... but Season 3 rocked, including that shot of Matt and his signature rooftop crouch at the end of the Kingpin’s storyline.

Fantastic series. 10/10 would recommend. Favourite season: Season 3, followed by Seasons 1 and 2.

[thesassypadawan]

The Jedi and The Waitress (Master Obi-Wan x FemReader)

Summary: It feels like forever since you’ve seen your “jedi boyfriend” and you’re missing Obi terribly. What started out as a sweet reunion, quickly turns into something just a tad more heated…better get back to your apartment fast for that week full of “fun” activities.

Warnings: A little bit of the fluff, and a bit of the smut.

“You, my dear, are the most ravishing creature in the whole galaxy,” he muttered, cupping your cheek. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” you whisper, pulling him down for a kiss.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seemed like it had been forever since you last felt his soft lips on yours. His large, calloused hands caressing the curves of your body. His thick –

“All right, missy, you can head on out for the day.”

Your head shot up at the sound of Dex’s booming voice. “Oh!” You squeaked, trying to hide your very apparent blush. “Is it that time already?”

The besalisk gave you a knowing smile from the kitchen window. “Thinking about that jedi boyfriend again, weren’t ya?”

Your eyes went wide, and you began to stutter. “I, um – well, I -”

Dex shook his head and laughed. “Go punch out and round up your things. I’ll walk ya to the shuttle stop.”

“Yes, boss; thank you!” You awkwardly replied, before swiftly escaping to the back.

You had been waitressing at the diner for just over a year now. All your coworkers were absolutely wonderful. Dex, your boss, was the kindest soul you ever worked for. Plus, you got to encounter all sorts of very interesting individuals.

That’s how you met him. The jedi master was apparently one of the diner’s regulars and an old friend of Dex. He would pop in usually about once a week for a cup of caf and a slice of whatever cake you had on special. Sometimes he would even stay well after closing time, catching up with Dex and getting to know you better.

When your shifts had changed to the lunch rush, you were worried that you wouldn’t see him as often. Your concerns only lasted for a week or so.

He began showing up early afternoon and stopping by more frequently. He would still converse with Dex, but it was very clear that he came only for you. Your dear boss reserved a special seat at the counter just for him.

You found him to be very charming and he thought you were ‘absolutely delightful’. One thing quickly led to another and soon something beautiful had blossomed between the two of you.

It had been a difficult path to navigate at first. The jedi code was the biggest obstacle, it wasn’t easy going against centuries old rules. And now this whole war business had not helped either, taking him away for long periods of time. Despite all of this though, you both made it work.

Opening the door to your employee locker, you couldn’t help but smile at the oversized brown cloak that hung inside. He had given it to you before his most recent mission. Saying he hoped you would wear it and think ‘fondly’ of him.

You could feel your face heat up once more, as you hastily pulled it on. Instantly you were enveloped in his scent, wood with faint traces of leather and caf. Bringing a long sleeve to your nose, you inhaled deeply. A small sigh escaping you.

“Let’s go, missy! The shuttle is gonna be coming soon and this new driver doesn’t wait around long for stragglers!” Dex hollered, standing by the alley door. One set of hands on his hips, bemused look on his face.

“Coming!” Snatching your bag, you hurriedly ran to meet him. Silently cursing to yourself when you nearly tripped on the cloak’s hem. Hoping it went unnoticed.

“I think ya might want to consider dating a shorter jedi!” He laughed, placing a hand on your shoulder to help steady you.

You gave Dex an appreciative nod and mumbled a small thanks.

Dex just shook his head and laughed again in response.

A thought occurred to you as he began guiding you outside. “Hey, boss, how do you know this new driver so well?” You asked, glancing over your shoulder.

“Suppose ya could say he’s a good friend of mine.”

“And you certainly have a lot of those,” you giggled. Turning your head back around, you suddenly stopped stunned in your tracks.

Standing before you… Leaning against a speeder bike… Looking as dashing as ever was… “Hello there.”

“Obi!” You cried out, running to him and throwing yourself into his open arms.

Holding you tightly, he smiled down at you warmly. “It’s good to see you, darling.”

Tilting your head up, you took a good look at Obi-Wan. Your heart ached as you noticed the still healing bruises and cuts on his handsome face. And fluttered when you saw the mischievous glint in his blue eyes.

You lifted your hand and gently cupped his cheek. “I missed you,” you whispered.

He happily leaned into your touch, nuzzling affectionately against your palm. “I missed you as well.”

Standing on your tiptoes, you boldly captured his lips in a searing kiss. One that you poured all your need and love into.

His lips moved passionately against yours. Hungry and desperate. Obi slipped a hand under your cloak, slowly sliding down –

“All right ya two, time for ya to be heading off!” Dex interrupted loudly.

Immediately breaking the kiss, you buried your face into Obi-Wan’s chest. So grateful to have your back turned to the besalisk.

Obi gave you a comforting squeeze. “Thanks, Dexy!” He laughed. “I’ll be sure to have her back to work in a week!”

“Yeah, yeah! Just don’t go too crazy!”

Hearing the door slam shut, you peeked up at Obi-Wan. “What do you mean in a week?” You asked meekly.

“Surprise!” He chuckled. Lifting you with ease and placing you on the bike. “I have some downtime between missions, and I am going to spend every minute of it with you.”

Your eyes lit up. “Really?! I get you all to myself?!”

Slotting his much larger frame between your legs, he caged you in with his arms. “Yes, sweetheart, all yours,” he muttered huskily, his mouth inches away from yours. “To do whatever you want.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him even closer. Just barely brushing against the growing bulge in his pants. “What are we waiting for, General Kenobi?”

He rolled his hips in response and pressed a quick, heated kiss to your lips. Obi then gave your butt a good squeeze and sat himself on the speeder in front of you.

“Shall we continue this at home?” He wickedly grinned, placing your helmet on your head.

Holding on to him tightly, your body firmly pushed up against his, you purred. “Yes, let’s.”

Not wanting to waste another moment, the two of you sped off into the evening sky…heading to your shared apartment for a week full of ‘fun’ activities.

[petertingle-yipyip]

WORLD CLASS SINNER- FRANK CASTLE

four - we’re not alike

three // five // masterlist

Pairing: frank x reader (exodus), billy x reader

Word Count: 4,350

Summary: A confrontation that was meant to end it all fails, but that tension snaps in an unexpected way, leaving two allies in a short standoff.

You didn’t blame Dinah for her obsession with taking down Billy. You were sure if he had shot you in the head and you survived that you’d have one hell of a bone to pick with him, too. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t hold grudges of your own. Daredevil, Fisk, Dreykov, Dex. But you never obsessed over any one man enough to lose sleep, to torment them day in and day out.

You tried to chalk it up to trauma but it was more than that. A vendetta at the very least. It made you worry but not enough for you to spring into action.

Curtis gave Frank the information he knew and sent him on his way to track down Billy Russo. You told him to call if he wanted or needed help. Until then, life would continue.

Billy Russo may have stopped Dinah’s world from spinning but you’d be damned if he got that power over you.

You spent the day doing one of the many things you’d neglected since you got back. You were unpacking your apartment. You washed and put away dishes, arranged the furniture in your living room, unpacked your decor, and organized your clothes. You went through your case and found the broken mask, chipped edges and stained lens. That mask had seen two of your more brutal fights in New York and you wanted to both frame it and burn it.

Frank and Curtis called you that night and asked you to come on their stakeout, something about a bar they knew Billy and his new crew frequented. At that point, most of your belongings were back in place and it was almost as if you had never left.

The nostalgic feeling didn’t last long, especially once you caught a glimpse of yourself. Your shorts left you with bare legs,  littered in scars varying from just faint discolorations even you hardly noticed to still raised lines across your skin or divots where your body just couldn’t replace it. You didn’t want to think of the marks across your back, chest, or stomach.

You didn’t go with them that night, but that didn’t stop them from reaching out the next day. No calls or words, just an address.

You dressed in fitted pants, high top shoes, and a black compression shirt. Your vest fit neatly over and you covered it all with a pullover. You slipped a knife under each sleeve and a gun at your back, mask in your pocket just in case, and left.

“…SERE course. Bad news is I took it too. It ain’t gonna work, not today.” Frank explained as you made your way inside the small apartment.

A man sat tied to a chair in the center of the living area while Frank stood on the opposite side of the room. After a few more words, Frank brought up Billy.

They spoke some more and you moved further into the small space. It was then when you noticed Dinah and Curtis on Frank’s other side. Subtly, you reached under your sleeves and pushed the blades up higher.

“I know who you are.” The man, Jake, told Frank.

“Do you know me?” You spoke, allowing your voice to change to the accented, slightly deeper tone Exodus used. “Or… Do you know what fear does to a person?”

You moved closer, gesturing as you spoke while the yellow fog collected across your palm.

“Fear, it can choke you. Freeze you. Enough of it can break you.” Your hand pushed forward and the fog acted accordingly, slithering around the man’s neck and creeping up his skin like a snake. “You know the expression about choking on fear? I can make it very real for you. One way or the other, Jake, every man has his limit… And I think yours isn’t as far as you want to believe.”

Frank put a hand on your arm and pulled you back a few steps. The calm contact was enough to snap your focus and your fog dissipated. Jake made a few smart mouth comments about Dinah and Curtis being there, mouthing off that you and Frank wouldn’t be so tough if he was untied. You scoffed and when Frank looked at you, you nodded.

He moved to cut the tape and you shook your arm to let a blade fall. You watched Dinah’s eyes drop to your hand before she met your gaze with an expression you didn’t quite understand. Before you could dig deeper, you heard the scrape of the chair.

You turned and saw Jake coming at you. He drove his knife towards you but you easily controlled his wrist and spun him back to face Frank. You kicked out a knee and he fell to the ground, just before Frank slammed his foot against the man’s chest. He doubled over and you moved in a slow circle, flipping your blade as you moved.

“Это тот парень, с которым бежит Билли?” You laughed slightly before you kicked the knife away from Jake’s reaching hand. “Как упали могущественные.” You clicked your tongue in disappointment. (This is the guy Billy runs with? How the mighty have fallen.)

You hauled Jake up by the back of his shirt and threw him over the small table. You grabbed a hand and flattened his palm against the table. You glanced over your shoulder and Frank nodded as he moved closer. You gripped the knife firmly and drove it through the back of Jake’s hand. You kept your grip on the knife handle, twisting it to add on to the pressure Frank was putting. Your head cocked as you watched the man’s eyes grow wide until Frank backed off. Dinah yelled for you both to stop and you yanked your blade out. You wiped the blade across Jake’s sleeve to clean it before Frank gently pushed you out to follow Dinah.

She nagged that you two were out of control, that you were going too far. You said nothing while Frank told her to walk away. He told her she couldn’t do it and she needed to let whatever would happen happen. You didn’t care to listen to what she said next.

You went back into the apartment and pulled Jake to his knees. You took your blade and pressed it against the soft skin of his jaw, balling up his shirt with the other. You trailed the tip along the bone and down his throat until it sat at the small vulnerability at the base, right where the collarbones met. You looked at him for a moment, seeing the fear in his eyes and you willed it higher. The tip of your blade broke skin and as the yellow covered his eyes, he broke.

“They’re hitting the ReadyQuick check-cashing spot.” He confessed and you withdrew your blade while he spilled the information like a broken faucet.

You hummed to yourself in satisfaction and concealed your blade.You pushed yourself to stand and led your group out once you had enough.

“Wait. I can’t let you do this.” Dinah tried and you tilted your head up and muttered to the sky.

“Not asking for permission.” Frank shot back and opened the car door for you.

“I felt bad. I did, okay? Everything that was done to you.” She continued and you leaned on the open door with raised brows. “So I swallowed a mountain of shit because I felt like I owed you. But I owe myself, too.”

She came closer but you put yourself in front of her.

“When I met him, I felt I owed him, too.” You said pointedly, head nodding as you spoke. “I tried to help him, too, and it blew up my goddamn law firm.”

“Get out of my way, Y/L/N.”

“No.” You laughed.

“I took an oath.”

“Yeah? So did I. A few, actually. You wanna know what oaths get you? Knives in your stomach, bullets in your wrists, men cutting into your body to place trackers or remove your reproductive system or initiate pheromone blockers.”

Every example was another step closer, backing her up a good distance.

“The only oath I ever took that was worth a damn was the one to myself… And maybe to Daredevil.”

“I’m calling Mahoney. Let him take Billy down.” She continued and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “Frank, you need to get out of New York before they come looking for you.”

“Do what you need to do, Madani.” Frank said flatly. “You coming, Princess?”

“The law didn’t stop Wilson Fisk. Daredevil and I did. It didn’t stop the Punisher. No one did. It didn’t stop Ben Poindexter or Billy Russo or the Yakuza or the Russians. I did… It won’t stop him now either.”

You backed away as Dinah scrambled for a response. You shrugged slightly and climbed into the backseat.

Thanks to your little disagreement of morality with Dinah, the three of you missed the caravan leaving the warehouse. Meaning you had to take it to the ReadyQuick if you wanted to get him. And you’d have to dawn the mask.

You slid it into place on the drive over and pulled your hair out of your face. You tapped the side and it hummed to life, small icons and messages flashing quickly before regulating the usual idle display. You pulled your sweater over your head and you reached for your wrists instinctively but the joints were bare.

You left your Bites.

You sighed to yourself and shook your head in annoyance. You tucked your blades between your pants and your belt. You tightened the strap of your vest and focused back on the drive when you realized you were pulled over.

Frank and Curtis went back and forth quickly but it was ultimately decided Curtis would stay.

“I’ll look after him.” You promised before you got

out. “And if she ends up going to Madani, call Matt Murdock. Tell him I sent you.”

Frank revealed himself first while you were crouched behind one of the parked cars and there was something from Billy’s that wasn’t there last time you spoke to him. There was an edge, an uncertainty that bordered insanity. You knew that you cultivated an aura of unpredictability as Exodus, but what you could hear and feel from Billy was the only thing you thought could ever compare.

The thought sent a chill down your spine, a twitch at your scarred wrist.

You groaned to yourself in frustration and grabbed the joint firmly, allowing your own anger to soak your palm and you let it sit on the scar. You forced the heat to burn out the twitch and instead, the anger took its place. Anger that he had the audacity to live after what he’d done. Anger that he had left a permanent mark on your body. Anger that he didn’t know who you were or what you were.

Death was your shadow, ghosts and wraiths were your teachers. And Billy Russo would do good to remember that about you, if nothing else.

You came into view when the gunfire rang out, despite Frank trying to pull you out of the way. You maintained eye contact with Billy, and lucky for you, his men were more worried about the Punisher. You palmed a blade when a bullet whizzed past your head, causing your attention to snap upwards. You saw the sniper on the roof and your lip curled into a slight snarl.

You couldn’t hit him with your blade. The height of the building left too much time for him to dodge your blade, no matter how hard you threw it. You could shoot out the scope, maybe take his eye out with it, but he had a perfect shot at you. He’d likely clip you before you could get your gun out.

“We gotta move, Ex!” Frank yelled and it pulled you back into the fight. You heard tires screeching and turned to see Frank climbing into a car.

You jumped in the passenger side and the chase began. You had to duck and evade the sniper’s bullets coming through the window, once having to reach over and push Frank down. Rounding a corner led you straight into Billy’s gunfire and you had to drop to the footwell. You rattled around as the car crashed and you felt a hand on your shoulder. Frank looked at you with wide, worried eyes as Billy was yelling something.

“I’m fine.” You said sharply and pushed yourself up to climb into the backseat.

You opened the rear driver side door and climbed out, now feeling a growing ache in your ribs. You scooted further down to allow Frank to follow you out. The sounds of sirens filled the silence before Billy spoke again.

“Did you do this to me?” He yelled, seemingly more confident in the idea.

“You’re goddamn right I did!” Frank yelled back and you slipped around the car. Your pistol was gripped in your hand as you maneuvered the crashed vehicles and kept your body low to avoid the next round of automatic gun fire.

The incoming sirens grew louder and it felt like the timer was ticking down at the same time. You were able to get behind Billy and you had to act quickly if you wanted the chance before the NYPD got too close.

Move, Exodus. You thought. If you don’t, you’ll miss your chance.

The incoming officers served as a perfect distraction.

You forced yourself to vault over the hood of the car you were crouched behind. You landed softly, soundlessly even, and reached out. You yanked Billy back by the hood of his jacket and his bullets immediately ceased.

You threw your arm around his neck and pressed your gun under his chin.

“Скучаешь по мне?” You said lowly in his ear. (Miss me?) “You should’ve died.”

“Should’ve done it yourself then.” He growled back and grabbed your arm.

He pulled you over his shoulder and your back hit the ground. He quickly put a knee on your chest and reached for the gun in your hand. You searched for the foot he had against the ground and slammed your elbow against the ankle. His foot skidded and he was thrown off balance so you could roll away.

You planted one foot on the ground and turned to slam the opposing heel into his kidney and he fell to his face. You rolled him to his back and used your knees to pin his arms down at the shoulders. Your gun had fallen away so you pulled a blade instead.

“Say my name.” You ordered, accent dripping off the simple syllables.

He stared at you with no fear. Either he didn’t care if he died or he didn’t believe you’d do it.

“Say it!” You commanded again, your anger heating the knife in your hand. 

“You’re just a Mask.” He taunted and your lip curled. “Without it, you’re nothing.”

“Without it, I owned you all the same.” You spoke plainly.

You raised your knife overhead, pushing his head to the side with the other hand, when the bullet grazed. The knife clattered from your hand and the metallic sting burned a line against the back of your hand. You clutched the injury and turned quickly to find the shooter. An NYPD officer. If it wasn’t just a man doing his job, you would’ve fired back.

The second your attention shifted, Billy threw you off and ran. You collected your discarded weapons quickly and saw Frank motioning for you to follow.

A new car had arrived and the driver dragged Billy away. You slammed a hand against the ground before you ran after Frank. He waited for you a few blocks over and took off again once he saw you’d match his stride.

You dared one look over your shoulder and saw Mahoney a few paces behind you.

You rolled your eyes slightly and faced forward. You knew Mahoney was a good guy but you wished he’d chase someone else for once.

You and Frank ended up cornered in an alley. Before you could get the lock off, Mahoney had found you.

“Drop the gun, Frank.” He ordered and you kept your back to him. “Drop your weapons, too, Exodus.”

You felt Frank tap your arm in reassurance so you lifted your already empty hands. You looked over and saw Frank was moving closer to Mahoney and you followed suit. He fell to his knees as Brett ordered and you did the same.

“Been a while from either of you.” Brett said carefully. His gun never wavered.

“Nothing big enough after Fisk.” You answered, intently letting your accent coat your words.

“Explains the downgrade in outfits.”

Your neutral expression shifted to a glare at the comment.

“How is his little Bullseye, by the way? Shattered spine is no joke. Shame he still lives.”

“I thought you only come out when Daredevil’s around.”

“He’s not my keeper:”

“Yeah.” He scoffed slightly. “Didn’t think you had one.”

You shrugged as a bullet hit the wall behind Brett. Your eyes darted over and saw Curtis with a rifle. You quickly pieced together that he had taken out the sniper from the rooftop. You nodded in thanks and stood carefully, allowing the boys to talk.

“Сожалею об этом.” You said with a sharp nod. (Sorry about this.)

When Brett looked your way, you threw a hard roundhouse that sent him slamming into the dumpster behind him before collapsing to the ground. You grabbed Frank’s hand and you two took off behind Curtis.

As you were leaving, you felt the wave of emotions coming for you. It was from the direction of the warehouse you had checked before going after Billy. He was remembering that night in better detail. He was remembering you and Frank. You liked that he was tore up about it. You wanted to make that worse, to drive him insane, but two things stopped you.

One, he was too far. Your influence likely wouldn’t reach or it would impact someone else. Two, you didn’t know exactly how he’d react if you truly broke him. It made you think of what happened to Dex, the way he attacked you and Matt at the church, the knife - your knife - burying itself to the hilt in your stomach.

No, you weren’t convinced you’d survive that again.

So you sat in the backseat of Curtis’ car and took off your mask. You hid your vest under your sweater and simply looked in the direction of the waves while your hand sat on the scar on your stomach. The burn seemed to shift to the back of your hand and you finally turned focus to the bullet graze against the bony area.

You brought your hand closer to your face and examined it. You took a deep breath and willed it to hurt. You forced that emotion nagging at the back of your mind to move across your skin and mend the shallow wound. It caused you to clench your jaw as you saw the imaginary bubble of pain sitting on the back of your hand, waiting for its job.

For a moment, you let it hurt.

Then you clamped your other hand down on top and popped the imaginary bubble. The skin under it was warm but the wound had healed. Now it was just another scar.

When Curtis got you and Frank back to the trailer, you stepped out first. You put yourself in front and whistled the two notes you had taught Amy. You waited a second but got no reply. The potential made your stomach drop but you pulled a blade either way.

You tried your whistle again and were met with another silence. With worried eyes, you looked to Frank.

“Kid!” He tried. “It’s Frank!”

Silence.

“Kid!” 

Frank turned to you and you simply shrugged. Both of you had given your indicators and yet there was no response. You glanced around and saw no footprints. No tire marks. There was no blood or bullet holes or any signs of struggle. Has she gone that easily?

“Open it.” You said lowly, letting the blade flip over your knuckles to face the other way.

Frank gave a quick nod and opened the door. He stepped in first and you were right behind him. Your brows furrowed as worry gnawed at your stomach. You gripped your blade tighter just as a tennis ball came over yours and Frank’s shoulders.

You turned and lifted the other hand defensively. The figure went for Frank first and when he flipped the attacker over his shoulder, you realized it was Amy. You dropped your knife instantly and then regretted it.

“What are you doing?” Frank yelled as he kneeled over her. “You out of your mind?”

“Get off of her!” You shouted.

“You think it’s a game?” He ignored you. “How about now?” He put his gun against her jaw.

Suddenly, for a split second, you were a scared little kid again. You were training in the Red Room. One of your teachers, a man with a cold hand and an empty look in his eyes, had his cold hand around your throat while he slammed you to the ground. 

At that, something inside you snapped.

You reached forward and grabbed his arm. You twisted it towards you and pulled his hand towards the floor. You leaned into it and swung your legs, letting your knees collide with his chest. The move took you both to the ground and you heard the small whimpers as Amy clambered away in a panic. Vaguely, you heard Curtis’ voice either trying to console Amy or get you two to stop.

Frank tried to shove you off but you kept a firm hold of his jacket. His other hand grabbed at the back of your sweater and he rolled you two so he would pin you down. You shoved a knee between your bodies as the position changed and flattened the other foot against the floor. You kicked off the ground and then extended the knee to flip Frank over your head and you followed suit.

He landed with a heavy thud and you pulled your second blade. You yanked the excess fabric of his jacket and slammed the knife through it and into the floor. You knew it wouldn’t hold long, but it was enough for you to get to your feet and hurry to Amy’s side.

The girl was practically vibrating with panic and you felt it jolt through your own bones as she threw herself into your arms. You dropped all your walls and let her panic seep into you. She cried against you and you said nothing, just gently rubbed her back while you glared at Frank.

He angrily stared back with your knife in one hand and his gun in the other. You were hyper aware of your own handgun waiting at your back.

“She’s gonna get herself killed.” He said lowly.

“She shouldn’t have to worry about it from you.” You shot back, wrapping your arms around Amy a bit tighter. “What the hell were you thinking?” 

“Don’t give me that shit. You see how close I came to killing her?” He fired one shot into the wall and Amy flinched. “That’s her head all over that wall.”

“Enough.” You said sharply.

Another shot. “Just like that!”

Amy yelped but the sound was muffled by your sweater.

“I was just-“ She hiccuped. “I was just practicing the move you showed me!”

“Bullshit!” Frank continued. “Bullshit! Quit your goddamn crying!”

You moved Amy behind you and reached your hand to rest on your gun. Neither you or Frank backed down. He threw your knife at your feet and you planted your foot on top of it. You knew your other discarded blade was somewhere between the two of you, but looking away to find it wasn’t an option. Not when Frank seemed so erratic.

“She’s. A. Kid.” You said firmly. “You can’t talk to her like that. You can’t treat her like that.”

“This isn’t a goddamn game, Y/N.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“She needs to know that. We make mistakes and people die. They die!”

“I know!” You shouted. Elektra, Sam Stein, Father Lantom, Matt - or so you thought, at least - other Widows you grew up with.

“A man died today because I dropped the ball, and you did too.”

You scoffed. “Some dickhead guy running with Billy. Is that supposed to make me feel bad?” You offered a mock pout.

“She needs to know she could wind up dead.”

“You pinning her down and pointing a gun at her isn’t going to teach her that.” You continued and Frank rolled his eyes.

You gently removed Amy’s hand from your sweater and took a couple steps forward. You made sure you slid the knife further behind you as you did so.

“You try that again, and my knife won’t go through your jacket.” You warned quietly. “Get your fucking head on straight or I do this without you.”

“You think you’re that goddamn tough, huh?” He asked in the same low tone, standing toe to toe with you.

“If that cop didn’t graze me, it would’ve been over already. I’m not afraid of Billy or the man from Ohio. And I’m damn sure not afraid of you. I don’t think you really want to see what it looks like from the other side when I go after someone.”

Frank shoved past you and went outside. Curtis was right behind while the two bickered about the keys. You collected your second knife and went after them.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Amy panicked and grabbed your hand. “You’re coming back, right?”

“I promise.” You nodded. “Just stay here and don’t do anything stupid. Call me if something happens and remember that shotgun.”

She nodded vigorously as the tears welled in her eyes. You patted her cheek and shut the door behind yourself.

[stick2sherlock]

batfam as dnd players

Bruce: Doesn't really want to play, and when forced is absolute min/maxer. It does not even occur to him that he could play differently. He read the books, skimmed internet for best combos, and sticks to that. The backstory of his characters somehow always has something to do with masked vigilanites a'la Zorro or Grey Ghost.

Dick: Takes magical support characters like druids or bards, just to do some fun magic stuff and score very creative kills. He's the kind of a player that will make a plan to infiltrate a fortress by turning the team into elephants and flying them in (by means of conjure woodland beings) . He's not a min-maxer, but his creative use of wierd spells and abilities make his character super useful. His characters have simple but effective backstory, often connected with Babs's characters'.

Barbara: Plays basically only gnome barbarians, becuase she thinks its funny. She often makes INT the dump stat, and the rest of the players have to constantly remind her that SHE might have figured out the riddle, but her character with INT 8 would NOT. Loves combat and 3D-prints minis for her characters.

Jason: Lives to RP. His characters have deep and rich backstories, usually extremely dramatic and with many possible plothooks. He WILL try to talk to everyone in the tavern. his turn during the fight is the longest because he insists on describing in detail everything his character does. He often gets angry at the dice, becuase they spoil the 'great scene he had planned'. He often makes very supoptimal characters to fit the backstory (wizard with low INT, rogue with 10 in DEX, etc.) and gets pissed when they get killed easily. Will sometimes DM, and those scenarios are usually very, very light on combat.

Tim: Rules lawyer nr 1. He knows the rules by heart. He remembers half of the statblocks of monsters and complains if they are changed. Takes careful notes, and makes 100 theories on everything in game. His characters ALWAYS check the ceiling when coming into a room. He has a tendency to metagame. Often DMs.

Cas: Doesn't really like to play, similarily to Bruce, but when she does she usually plays support (usually clerics), so that she can heal the party. Enjoys exploration, and is more likely to play in scenarios with a lot of ruin exploration, dungeon crawling etc.

Steph: Makes joke characters like Dildo Swaggins the lustful bard, but somehow always ends up with the most dramatic story developments for her character and most heroic, tearjerking deaths. Like Jason she loves to RP more than fight, and their character often have scenes of sitting by the fireplace and talking during short rests. Has several sets of dice and tracks their 'luck'. Sometimes DMs wierd but higly creative one-shots.

Damian: Pretends not to like to play, but after first (frankly quite disasterous) session, he got sucked in. He loves making characters, and has a whole folder of character sheets of his OCs, with drawn pictures and everything. Makes tokens for the whole group, and can be (easily) convinced to draw maps for the sessions. Rules lawyer nr 2, but unlike Tim who does the lawyering to keep the game clean and running RAW, Damian will try to give himself as much advantage as possible. No one lets him DM, because he is not yet ready for such power.

Alfred: Does not play. He hates DND with passion and wishes they would play something less rule-heavy so that he could play with them and roleplay in peace without those pesky dice... and why are there so few social skills for a character! This is not his cup of tea, thank you very much. Jason sometimes convinces him to stand in for the important NPCs, and he always knocks it out of the park.

[dr-futbol-blog]

Condemned, Pt. 2

While they don't know it yet, the island on which they landed the jumper is a penal colony and their attackers are the inmates, predominately men. The team all run to take cover as instructed by Sheppard, and note that McKay follows directly behind him. Probably without any conscious thought he wants to be where Sheppard is. As hard as Sheppard is working to keep him safe, McKay also has an interest in protecting Sheppard, and so he takes his six here.

They take defensive positions and seem to move well as a team, there seems to be a practiced quality to how they arrange themselves -- at least insofar as Teyla, Sheppard and McKay are concerned. Ronon, who was hit by one of the arrows, starts taking shots at the attackers with his blaster, and it is McKay who notices that he's taken an arrow to his leg:

McKay: You alright? Dex: I'm fine. Sheppard: You know, this is not a good way to make new friends! But we'll leave if you want us to! I'll take that as a yes. Let's go back to the jumper. Teyla, you're on point; I'll take the six; McKay, help Ronon. Dex: Don't worry about me. Sheppard: I'm a worrier, let the man give you a hand.

This is interesting. Another reference to making friends is made, and we are told this is not the way to do that. But then Sheppard self-identifies as a "worrier" and to be sure, we have seen him worry about a lot of things. Those may be the truest words he has ever spoken, the safety and security of the people he cares about being at the top of that list. We can see how he arranges them around the most vulnerable target and while Ronon is now injured, he is still not the most vulnerable target or most important asset for Sheppard to protect. He puts Teyla in front, he takes the back position himself, both of them the more perilous positions, and he puts McKay and Ronon in the middle. But what's more, by telling Ronon to let McKay help him (which he was going to do anyway), Sheppard is actually using Ronon's body to shield McKay from the arrows and slings (of outrageous fortune).*

It's also not insignificant, considering the reason Sheppard seems to have recruited Ronon, that even though he is injured, when there is another wave of explosives flung at them Ronon pushes McKay down and shields him with his own body. And this he does without conscious thought, out of pure instinct. Because the thing is, while Ronon tells Sheppard not to worry about him, Sheppard hadn't actually said that he was worried about him. He says that he is a worrier. He worries about a lot of things. And while he might be concerned for Ronon, his worry is for McKay. He says that he worries and hence Ronon should let McKay give him a hand. And this, helping Ronon get a move on (that he might not even have needed; Ronon has surely been in tighter spots than this), places Ronon's much bigger body right next to McKay's. With his hand slung over McKay's shoulder, he is like a mantle.

The way they are arranged here, McKay is so snuggly covered you can barely see him. And just to emphasize this: it has nothing to do with McKay being cowardly, as he barely had a hand in how they ended up in this configuration and he seems to be none the wiser that Sheppard is doing this. McKay was merely doing what Sheppard told him to do, and what Sheppard told him to do ended up with Ronon covering him with his body.

Also note how while McKay and Ronon are looking at the unknown alien flight craft suddenly above them, Sheppard takes one look at the plane and two looks at McKay. He looks up at the plane and his eyes come down to McKay, and then he has to take another look at McKay and Ronon, who still seems to be shielding McKay's body, as he tries to determine whether the thing that is hovering above them and tossing the natives hither and tither is going to be a problem. And all the while, McKay thinks that he is taking care of Ronon.

As they take off, they go by Sheppard's original plan of Teyla taking point, McKay and Ronon in the middle and himself taking the rear. And the leader of the prisoners seems to be observing them keenly as they make their exit, his later assessment of their characters largely based on what he saw them do right here.

Now, McKay is not a damsel in distress and while Ronon does not really understand his importance to Atlantis when it comes to his professional contributions yet, and it's unclear whether Ronon ever understood how important McKay is to Sheppard on a personal level (or rather, the nature of their involvement), his instinct is still to protect McKay even with his own life.

And he is not the only one, as when they return to the jumper, we see that they have all kept McKay in their middle, with Sheppard walking in after him. Sheppard's body, that is, was between McKay and anything at all that might have come for him. He does care about all of them but his priority is clear. None of this is to minimize his many and various concerns, only to point out that this is a consistent pattern of behaviour for him. McKay is important to him.

Sheppard: Everyone in one piece? Dex: Yeah, thanks to that ship. Teyla: Be still. Sheppard: Yeah, I like their timing. McKay: No kidding! Did you see that thing?! Sheppard: Yeah, I saw that thing!

Sheppard asks whether they are all in "one piece" and while this is literally the case in the sense that no one left any parts behind, Ronon very much was injured. But the fact that he poses this question when he knows that it's not actually the case, that someone was injured, tells us that for him "everyone2 being in one piece translates to McKay being unharmed in particular. While Ronon is the one to answer his question (rather naturally, being that he was the one injured), when Sheppard quickly glances over his shoulder to make sure "everyone" is in one piece, it is McKay he takes in. He seems to take a quick look at McKay to calm his own nerves.

McKay, however, seems to be concerned for Ronon, clearly wanting to help him but not knowing how. He's glad when Teyla takes over and starts treating his injury.

But for this brief moment, as McKay and Sheppard both seem distracted and preoccupied by other things, they both seem to forget and we get to see the connection between them. They are both excited about this alien flight craft, McKay because of the technology it seems to contain and Sheppard for the fact that it is a thing that flies and probably goes over 200 mph. While their interest is differently motivated, they both love the same thing, and their admiration and excitement of this thing connects them. This is a brief glimpse into how they are when they are alone and unguarded together, how they were before all the hurt. They are both giddy like school boys.

What's more, McKay looks at Sheppard with the same adoration that he has for the alien vessel. He leans into Sheppard's space, using looking out of the window at the flight craft before them as a pretext to get closer to him. And Sheppard too, even as he is bewitched by the vessel, turns to look back to McKay because no matter what wonders of the world they may be looking at, they pale in comparison to the marvel of having someone next to him who just gets it without preambles or explanations.

One of the reasons we never got to see this before on their away-missions is because Ford was a marine and Earth military, so while Sheppard had chosen him for his team and he was fond of the kid, they were forced to always maintain a pretense around him. But Ronon is not Earth military, as Weir pointed out in the previous episode ("Not any military on Earth"), and so while Sheppard can't be sure how Ronon would react to the truth about them (and later, in Sunday S03E17, we see Sheppard try to fish this information out of Ronon with little success), it doesn't really matter if he knows. With Teyla and Ronon both natives of this galaxy and with no military personnel on his team, he is able to relax about that, at least. On this alien planet they are quite literally out of the reach of the US Air Force and its regulations. Here, there is no one to condemn him and the sense of relief he seems to feel is palpable.

They are hailed by the alien ship and you can hear all of this in Sheppard's tone as he responds:

Poros: Unidentified ship. This is the security vessel Poros. Follow us immediately and we will lead you to the city. Sheppard: That's good, Poros. Thanks for the help back there. That's how you make new friends!

This as the way to make friends and the previous attack as a way of not making friends are contrasted here. You make friends by aiding someone, not by getting on the offensive needlessly. And this seems to be something McKay is currently doing toward Ronon, and this is by no means something that comes to him naturally. For him to have taken on this approach, and the fact that Sheppard explicitly references the strategies here as something he may have mentioned to McKay previously, suggests that he has indeed had a conversation about Ronon with McKay somewhere between the episodes. He has had the talk, and it seems as though McKay had listened to him. McKay seems to be trying real hard.

They follow the alien craft to what they called a city and meet with a welcoming committee headed by a beautiful woman. As we have seen previously, it is Sheppard who does the introductions, and we can note that he uses titles for himself and McKay, emphasizing again the fact that Ronon and Teyla are unconnected to Earth and Earth politics:

Sheppard: Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. Teyla Emmagan, Doctor Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex. Marin: Please, follow me. I sent a security detachment as soon as we detected your presence on the island. The prisoners there can be quite hostile. Sheppard: Yeah, we definitely got off on the wrong foot.

While Sheppard is perfectly polite with the woman, turning his charm on halfheartedly, we once more find him blocking his crotch from this strange woman. McKay greets her with a wave of his hand and seems to smile politely, further indicating that he and Sheppard have had a talk about treating other people better following the events of the previous episode where, although under attenuating circumstances, McKay certainly could have treated everyone around him a little bit better. As they move on to follow the local woman, Sheppard turns to look back seeming to check that Ronon is securing the rear. He wants to make sure that there is something between McKay and these members of the local military. Even if he doesn't suspect anything (yet), it never hurts to be cautious. He keeps one hand securely on his P-90, too. He also exchanges a glance with McKay as they take off, something communicated between them, probably their shared excitement over having come across a civilization that seems technologically advanced.

Undoubtedly this is one of the scenes that make some people interpret Sheppard as some kind of a space mack where he's actually perfectly neutral, if not entirely comfortable given the way he is feeling up his weapon.

While Teyla is walking next to Sheppard we actually see McKay between them, and he seems to want to keep himself close to Sheppard. If Sheppard is making sure McKay is safe without McKay necessarily even realizing this, McKay himself is looking after Sheppard. As far as he's concerned, he has Sheppard's six here and he's keeping a keen eye on it, too.

Teyla: Prisoners? Marin: Yes. The island is a penal colony. The prisoners usually don't cause much trouble, as long as you don't try to land there. McKay: Well, you could put up a sign! Teyla: The stargate is on the island. Does this not affect your ability to trade with other worlds? Marin: Yes, of course. As a result, we have needed to be almost entirely self-sufficient. Sheppard: Then why put a prison there? Marin: I believe the Magistrate is better suited to answer these questions. He is very eager to meet you.

And speaking of sixes, in all fairness, Sheppard's eyes do seem to drift downward as they follow the local woman while other people are talking. It seems like his focus is not entirely on the conversation as he seems to be distracted by the odd way she is walking. Whether or not he was checking out her rear or just trying to figure out why the clothes seem to be restricting her movement like that, it's noticeable that the moment McKay pipes up from behind him, his head snaps up. And not just a little but almost comically, like he had full-on been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. And just as suddenly, his eyes are scanning the tops of the decorative columns and the birds up in the trees. Fascinating local features.

Like, what he was doing was probably mostly innocent because the woman does have a really weird way of walking but it's also pretty telling, all things considered, that the sound of McKay's voice has this effect on him. And after McKay's voice snaps him out of it, he does not look back at her at all, his eyes seeming to drift to the skies just not to look at her. These are small lessons in visual story-telling.

While Teyla is the first one to clock that something is off about this planet, just as soon as he manages to return his focus onto the discussion Sheppard's heckles are also raised. He is open to making new friends but he does not trust anyone blindly without getting to know them first. Not when he has something to lose. Not when he has someone to look after.

Continued in Pt. 3

-* There is definitely a visual reference here to the speech from Hamlet (Act III, Scene I) that the show explicitly returns to in season 4 by naming several episodes with lines from it. The soliloquy must somehow be important to the overarching narrative.

No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd.

[tealmaskmybeloved]

So when thinking about Kieran's corrupted team, I was trying to see more abstract thoughts, basically the inner desires of his pokemon being brought to life. As well as other things. SO :

Shiftry, The Ruthless Avian (Poison/Flying) (Ability: Toxic Chain + Wind Rider) (Moves: Poison Jab, Brave Bird, Tailwind, Sucker Punch) (Item: Black Sludge) (Nature: Adamant) (Perfect IVs) (EV spread: 252 Att, 252 Speed, 4 Sp.Def) (Desire: Wants to be able to fly again)(<-Based on its Kitakami dex entry where it states that Shiftry in a legend was a bird who had its beak and wings replaced)

Poliwrath, The Savage Amphibian (Poison/Ground) (Ability: Toxic Chain + Storm Drain) (Moves: Sludge Wave, Earth Power, Scald, Shadow Ball) (Item: Life Orb) (Nature: Modest) (Perfect IVs) (EV spread: 252 Sp.Att, 252 Defense, 4 Sp.Def) (Desire: Wants to be able to battle on land longer)(<-It's still a tadpole, so I don't think it lasts longer on land than Politoad)

Krookadile, The Patient Gharial (Poison/Water) (Ability: Toxic Chain + Opportunist) (Moves: Gunk Shot, Liquidation, Earthquake, Swords Dance) (Item: Sitrus Berry) (Nature: Adamant) (Perfect IVs) (EV spread: 252 Att, 252 Speed, 4 Def) (Desire: Wants to be able to swim without taking damage)(<-It's a crocodile, need I say more?)

Runerigus, The Chaotic Serpent (Poison/Dragon) (Ability: Toxic Chain + Merciless) (Moves: Sludge Wave, Dragon Pulse, Scale Shot, Crunch) (Item: Salac Berry) (Nature: Rash) (Perfect IVs) (EV Spread: 252 Att, 252 Sp.Att, 4 Spd) (Desire: The spirit wants to take control of the stone slab) (<-Galarian Yamask's dex entries talk about how the spirit's vitality or something is getting drained and later controlled by the slab, so, the slab most likely takes control of Runerigus but the spirit is still there and now wants payback. Also references Apep, the Egyptian god of chaos who's a serpent and a serpent painting is carved into the slab)

Hydrapple, The Satanic Overlord (Poison/Dark) (Ability: Toxic Chain + Parental Bond) (Moves: Sludge Wave, Dark Pulse, Fickle Beam, Trick Room) (Item: Leftovers) (Nature: Quiet) (Perfect IVs) (EV Spread: 252 Sp.Att, 252 Def, 4 Sp.Def) (Desire: Wants to become more intimidating and scary) (<-References how Satan in the bible, Satan, disguises as a snake, tricks Adam and Eve to eat an apple in the garden. So, I had to reference something demonic to a corrupted Hydrapple)

Ogerpon, The Tragic Victim (Poison/Grass) (Ability: Toxic Chain + Defiant + Mold Breaker + Water Absorb + Strudy) (Item: Toxic chained Mask(Corrupted Teal Mask)) (Nature: Quiet) (Moves: Ivy Cudgel, Horn Leech, Spikey Shield, Swords Dance) (Perfect IVs) (EV Spread: 252 Att, 252 Spd, 4 Sp.Def) (Desire: Wants to have the power to protect its friends) (<-References all of Ogerpon's masks, also, she is forced, you'll see soon ;) (And as for the other masks, you'll see in a bit)

Well I took the fun liberty of drawing these guys based on your ideas! And also because I was not proud of my previous designs

Here's Shiftry, except now he's BIRB

I changed their fans to actual wings but also gave him a kind of retractable leaf blade that Shiftry can use to strike opponents. I still kept some of the wood elements just for fun.

Here's Poliwrath!

I wanted to make it more frog-like (hence the webbed feet) and since it wanted to battle longer on land, I also took a page out of Machoke's Dex entry where its muscles are splitting open due to its strength.

Good ol Krookodile! Except now he swim

I gave this boy some fins, a nice blue covering, and a tail for efficient for swimming. I also gave him some glowy spots for when he's under da water and needs to see

Here's Runerigus!

I took some creative liberties with this one, and eventually decided to have the spirit emerge from the slab as its the one in control now. Since the pattern on the slab is a snake creature, I made the spirit into a snake! I also made the pattern on the slab darker and less vibrant, since the spirit is out and doing his own thing, but if it were to go back to the slab, it would glow again

The boy himself, Hydrapple!

I was REALLY torn on whether or not to keep the Toxic Chain as its neck, but eventually decided to just have it as a scarf. As for the tail, I was inspired by the whole Garden of Eden thing and made the tail longer with a vine and an apple. The tail part was partly inspired by 9's creature the Seamstress (where it lures victims with the thing attached to its tail and then attacks with the rest of its body.)

Now for Ogerpon!

I just altered her cloak/arms thing to be Pecharunt/Dokutaro's colors and made her eyes soulless and empty. I also made her tip of hair/fur(?) down and limp as she's probably very upset to be controlled by the evil peach gremlin.

Teal Mask version:

Made the Teal Mask similar to Pecharunt/Dokutaro while having some differences.

I didn't do the other masks yet, as I still need to work on designs for them

But yeah, those are my designs based on your ideas! What do you think?

[epic-kotlc-crossover]

Suffering & Different Beast

KotLC EPIC crossover (Fitz is Ody and Keefe is Eurylochus)

Fitz heard a splash from the side of his ship. He held up his hand to signal the crew. Stop. 

“Fitz? Is that you?” a voice called from the water. It couldn’t be…

For a moment, almost sounded like his first mate, Keefe. But surely he was imaging it. “Sophie?” Fitz’s voice cracked as he raced to the side of the boat. He leaned over and saw his wife sitting on a rock jutting out of the waves. Her long golden hair billowed out behind her in the salty ocean wind.

“Fitz, after all these years, don’t you miss me?” She asked, hurt in her striking brown eyes.

“Of course I do.” His voice shook as he reached out to her. 

“Then jump in the water and kiss me,” she said, smiling playfully.

“Sophie, I’ve told you so many times: I’m afraid of the water.”

“Oh, darling, I’ll make sure you remain safe. Now come play with me and our son!” Sophie laughed. Fitz couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard that sound. It was amazing.

“I really would love to, but you know I’d prefer my feet on solid ground.”

“I would keep you from suffering.”

“I don’t doubt that you would.”

“Then come into the water!” Fitz heard the urgency of Sophie’s voice.

“Okay, fine. But first, can you answer a few questions?”

Sophie batted her lashes. “Of course.”

Fitz sighed his relief. “Okay, so, let’s pretend I was on the run from Poseidon. And let’s say he blocked the way home with massive storms and giant waves. Which route should I take to avoid him? How do I get home?”

Sophie’s face fell. “The only way home is through a place he’d never dare to go… It’s through the lair of Scylla.”

“No,” Fitz whispered, leaning back in shock.

“It’s your only way.”

“But.. Scylla has a cost.” Fitz's mind was whirling. Scylla, Scylla, Scylla. Greet the world with open arms, Fitz. The last voice was Dex. His friend, his brother in arms… He shoved the thought away.

“Well, you asked me and now you know, so jump in the water, Fitz!”

“Sophie, I would die for you, but can’t you let me stay dry on the boat?” 

“Just, please,” she pleaded, “come into the water.”

Fitz sighed and straightened his back, shaking his head. “The things I do for you, Sophie.” Just as he was about to jump, he stopped, a glare marring his features. 

“Let’s cut this charade, you aren’t my wife. You’ve been trying to kill me this whole time. I know underwater there are more of you hiding. That’s right, I know you’re a Siren.” He spat the last word with disgust.

“How do you know that?” Sophie asked, fear making its way onto her face.

“Well, for starters, my real wife knows that I’m not scared of the water. And my real wife knows I don’t have a son!” Fitz shouted.

“And,” Fitz added with a smirk, “you didn’t notice your friends got captured.”

“WHAT?” The siren yelled. She whipped her head to the side, eyes widening as she noticed the empty waters beside her. 

“Since the Underworld, I’ve decided: I’m done suffering.” He gestured to his crew behind him, and then added, “We are a different beast now. No more us will die because of you. We are the manmade monsters.” He finished in a low snarl.

Keefe stepped forward and handed Fitz his bow and arrow. When Fitz took it, his fingers brushed his first mate’s hand. Keefe cleared his throat and said, “Captain, what are your orders?”

“Kill them all.”

Screams rose from the waters as his crew murdered the packs of sirens ruthlessly. Fitz helped, aiming his arrows at the siren disguised as his wife. She dodged, hissing and splashing salty water at his eyes. 

While she was frantically dodging his shots, Fitz said, “When we were trying to escape Poseidon, we found a ship with no crew and figured out it must be sirens. We put beeswax in our ears and I played along when you pretended to be my wife. I read your lips and you were very helpful, but now that I know how to get back to Ithica, we don’t need you anymore.” He grinned evilly as the siren gasped. He used her momentary distraction to aim an arrow right between her ribs.

Aim.

Pull back. 

Fire. 

Athena’s mantra rang through his ears as blood spilled from the siren. Her scream was drowned out by all the others.

All I hear are screams.

[amberlynnmurdock]

hi everyone! i had to take a mini hiatus from writing because of LIFE reasons so i am sorry for the lack of updates on the fics. i see your messages and comments and im going to reply to all of them now! im writing tonight and will hopefully update at least ONE fic!! the fics i plan to update:

the good in you

neighbor

new love, new haven

dex one shot request

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR MESSAGES AND STAYING WITH ME <3