#as if i do not know that he is actively driving

[tender-rosiey]

lock jaw — gojo satoru x f!reader

a/n: when I said silence, I meant it literally btw <3

it starts the way it always does—with him talking.

satoru loves to talk. he thrives on it, really.

his voice fills every space he enters, a mix of cocky and teasing remarks, words tumbling out of him like they were just waiting for an audience.

he has no problem being that audience himself, either, monologuing even when no one’s listening.

and right now? right now, he’s very much talking at you.

“—so obviously, I had to step in, because nanamin was totally going about it the wrong way, y’know? I mean, the guy’s got skill, sure, but zero flare. no pizzazz. no—hey, are you even listening?”

you are. technically. but you don’t give him the satisfaction of confirming it.

instead, you tilt your head up at him, one brow raised in that way that always makes his grin twitch wider.

satoru doesn’t like being ignored. that’s why you do it.

and, sure enough, he scoffs. “oh, I see how it is. you think you’re cute, huh?”

you hum, noncommittal.

his fingers drum against the table, restless energy leaking into movement. “it’s a good thing you’re married to me, ‘cause—”

you lift a hand.

it’s not much. just a simple flick of your wrist.

the moment your fingers move, his words catch, cut off like someone pressed pause on a song mid-verse. his mouth is still open, brows furrowed like he can’t quite believe it.

oh, but he believes it.

your technique has always been a thorn in his side. you don’t know what makes it work, just that it does.

no one else can silence him like this—literally silence him, rendering every word, every noise, completely null the second you decide you’ve had enough.

it drives him insane.

you let a few beats of silence pass before you drop your hand. his voice snaps back into existence, mid-word.

“—ain’t no way you just did that again,” he grumbles, like this is somehow the first time.

his mouth pulls into a pout, the corners twitching with the threat of a smirk. “y’know, most wives enjoy hearing their husband talk.”

“I do,” you say, because it’s true.

satoru leans in, one hand propped beneath his chin. “so? why do you keep shutting me up, then?”

you lift your fingers again, just slightly, and watch the way his whole body stiffens in response. he goes silent before you even activate it, eyes narrowing.

“I swear—”

your fingers twitch.

nothing.

his mouth slams shut anyway, like muscle memory has kicked in. his whole face scrunches up, torn between irritation and reluctant amusement.

it takes him a second to realize you never actually used your technique, and when he does, his eye twitches.

“oh, you suck.”

you smile. “I know.”

satoru groans, dragging a hand down his face. “how’d I get stuck with you?”

you just hum, pretending to think. “bad luck?”

he snorts.

and just like that, whatever annoyance he was pretending to have dissolves into something else—something warmer. his head tilts, his voice dropping into that low, teasing hum. “or maybe good luck.”

you don’t let yourself react, but a wave of warmth rushes through you anyway. his eyes gleam behind his glasses, sharp and knowing. he feels it, too.

it’s always been like this with satoru—this push and pull, this game of who can get under whose skin first. he hates being shut up. but he loves being shut up by you.

that’s probably why he keeps trying.

the next time he catches you alone, it’s in the kitchen.

you’re getting water, half-distracted, when arms loop around your waist from behind, a chin dropping onto your shoulder.

“whatcha doin’?”

“getting water,” you deadpan.

“oooh. riveting.” his arms tighten just slightly, like he’s trying to keep you there. “y’know, I was thinking.”

“that’s new.”

satoru gasps, scandalized. “rude!”

he nuzzles closer, all dramatic offense and fake hurt. “as I was saying—I was thinking about how unfair it is that you get to shut me up whenever you want, but I can’t do the same to you.”

you sip your water, unimpressed. “sounds like a you problem.”

“exactly! and since we’re married, your problems are my problems—so really, we should fix this together.”

you know where this is going. you don’t like where it’s going.

“…no.”

“but I didn’t even—”

“no.”

his arms squeeze tighter, his voice dropping into that saccharine lilt. “c’mooon. just one little pact—no more silencing me, and in return…”

“in return what?” you ask, humoring him.

“in return, I’ll—uh—” he pauses. “I’ll try not to annoy you as much?”

you turn your head just enough to squint at him. “you could just not annoy me in the first place.”

“pfft. impossible.”

you roll your eyes, setting your glass down. “then no deal.”

satoru pouts. “you’re no fun.”

“I’m plenty fun.”

“not to me.”

you lift a hand.

his mouth clamps shut instantly.

“…I hate you.”

you drop your hand. “no, you don’t.”

his pout deepens. “no, I don’t.”

and because he’s satoru—because he’s infuriating—he suddenly dips forward and presses a kiss to your cheek.

it’s quick, but deliberate, with his lips lingering just enough to tease you. by the time you turn to scold him, he’s already slipping away, whistling like nothing happened.

the sneaking doesn’t stop.

if anything, it gets worse.

he tests you in public now, dropping snarky comments just to see if you’ll silence him mid-sentence.

he tries to get the upper hand, too—kissing you without warning, murmuring things low enough that only you can hear, things designed to throw you off balance.

and it works. sometimes.

but the thing about satoru? he talks a lot.

he always has.

and that’s exactly why you win.

it happens in front of his students.

which, really, is something he should’ve seen coming.

you’re standing off to the side, arms crossed, watching as megumi practices his stance. nobara is stretching. yuji is bouncing on his feet like he’s ready to fight someone on the spot.

it’s peaceful. quiet.

and, naturally, satoru can’t have that.

he claps his hands together. “alright, kiddos! who’s ready for an essential, life-changing lesson?”

yuji perks up immediately. “ooh, what kinda lesson?”

“the most important kind,” satoru declares, straightening his posture like he’s about to reveal the secrets of the universe. “a lesson in style.”

megumi exhales sharply. nobara groans. you don’t even have to look to know they’re both already tuning him out.

but he’s not done.

“you may think you know fashion, but you don’t. not like me. there are levels to this—depths of drip, if you will—like an expertly curated wardrobe of absolute perfection.”

he gestures grandly to himself. “and lucky for you, I am both your teacher and your fashion icon.”

nobara shoots you a look. “this is every day for you, isn’t it?”

“unfortunately.”

satoru hears it. of course, he hears it.

he places a hand over his chest like you’ve wounded him. “unfortunately?” he echoes, all faux devastation. “sweetheart, you wound me.”

yuji chokes on a laugh. “wow, sensei. that was fast.”

“you don’t get it, yuji.” satoru points at you, sunglasses slipping down his nose.

“this woman right here? my beloved, my precious, my better half? she is cruel.” he sighs, tilting his head dramatically.

“every day, she shuts me up without a second thought. do you know how unfair that is? the strongest sorcerer in the world, silenced—just like that.”

megumi, who has absolutely witnessed this before, doesn’t even look up. “sounds like you deserve it.”

satoru gasps. “et tu, megumi?”

“yeah,” megumi deadpans. “et me.”

satoru clicks his tongue, shaking his head. “see? this is what I deal with. betrayal. disrespect. my own wife using her technique against me at every turn.”

yuji raises a hand. “wait, wait—so she actually can shut you up?”

“oh, she can,” satoru grumbles. “and she does.”

nobara perks up, eyes gleaming. “no way. prove it.”

satoru freezes.

you see the exact moment realization dawns on him—what he’s just done, the challenge he’s issued on your behalf.

you see it in the way his jaw shifts, the way his weight shifts ever so slightly on his heels.

you raise a brow. “you want me to prove it?”

satoru narrows his eyes. “don’t you dare.”

you lift your hand.

“don’t you—”

silence.

satoru’s mouth is still open, but no sound comes out. nothing. not even the beginnings of a protest. his lips move, forming words you can’t hear, before he snaps his mouth shut entirely.

the silence stretches.

then—

“oh my god,” nobara breathes.

yuji loses his mind.

megumi simply nods. “good.”

satoru’s eye twitches. he points at you, accusing, but there’s nothing he can do. you smile sweetly.

after a long beat, you drop your hand.

“—believe you just did that in front of my students,” he huffs, voice returning in the middle of a sentence.

his sunglasses slide down his nose, revealing wide, scandalized eyes. “my own wife, betraying me in front of my kids.”

“they asked me to.”

“yeah,” nobara pipes up. “that was amazing. do it again.”

satoru splutters. “hey! whose side are you on?”

yuji is grinning. “I mean, sensei, that was kinda cool.”

“it was humiliating!”

“you deserved it.”

“I did not!”

you hum, faux thoughtful. “you kinda did.”

satoru stares at you, horrified. “et tu, my love?”

“yeah.” you smirk. “et me.”

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do not copy or plagiarize or i throw cat hair on your black clothes

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[reptilian-rapscallian]

Right I usually only talk about the marauders but I need to talk about Dan and Phil for a second because the fan response to the livestream ticketing is ridiculous.

I'm going to quickly preface this by saying that yes, the hidden service charges were INSANE and unfair, but they've since stated that starting today they're going to do partial refunds and lower the prices so that they're balanced better. It's very clear that they didn't know about the service charges, and people suddenly trying to imply that it was a malicious decision are driving me up the wall.

Since that initial issue, people have taken it as an opportunity to not only be overly critical, but to just insult them???

Firstly, £12 as a starter price for a livestream ticket is reasonable. Literally every theatre livestream ticket I've ever seen has started at £16-£18 and gone up from there, so realistically this is a reasonable price!! Chances are they did their best to get it as low as they possibly could without losing money. Tours are fucking expensive, with most people who tour either making minimal money or breaking even (something not even that), and running under the assumption that they're absolutely LOADED when they've been very open about the fact that they've got a mortgage to pay is WILD. They need to make money to be able to make content!!

Also, the vast majority of their content is free. They have far more free and readily available content than most other influencers out there. People are acting like it's insane to briefly put the tour behind a paywall, like wad didn't get ads blocked STRAIGHT after it became free and readily available. Also, it's not just access to the tour that you're paying for? There's a preshow/'red carpet', and then an after-party q&a if you've opted for the £16 or any of the merch bundles. If you don't want to pay, the tour will STILL be available to you at some point, and I think it's wild to act like it's unfair that they need to make money? I'm sorry, but they need to be able to pay their bills.

One thing I feel like it's most important to acknowledge is that you're not being forced to buy it. People are acting like they were held at gunpoint and forced to check out with the service fees. If PayPal checked you out without showing you the service fees (which is a PayPal glitch, not an issue from Dan and Phil), then you can get a refund pretty easily. If not, you can email and chances are you'll get a refund (if you want the whole cost back and not just the service fees because those are getting automatically refunded). However, acting like you saw the service fees, had the money and checked out anyway, means that Dan and Phil forced you to do it is WILD. Dan making a joke with a fan about skipping work (in which they called their job one of the most important in the world) is NOT Dan forcing everybody to miss life events for the livestream and I'm so confused about why people are seeing it that way. You're not obligated to do anything, and being mad at Dan and Phil for releasing merch bundles at all after buying one is genuinely unfathomable to me as a thought process.

Also, acting like they're not taking it seriously enough when they're actively doing what people asked and resolving the issue is wild??? If they had released an overly professional "statement" you guys would have jumped to call them cold and uncaring. This was easily the best way they could have resolved the issue, and I'm genuinely so confused by everybody being so willing to insult Phil's response as if he didn't do EXACTLY what people wanted them to do??? Also being mad at them specifically for the merch not being available internationally (which is definitely an issue) is insane because they don't actually control the merch shipments??? Like why are they suddenly expected to change something that chances are they don't know how to change???

Suddenly jumping to insult them personally, or going out of your way to accuse them of being hyper-capitalists is uncalled for and just plain rude. It was this shit that kept me from taking part in the online communities pre-hiatus, and I'm genuinely really frustrated to see it coming back. Acting like they're the biggest depiction of capitalism is insane. Have you ever shopped at Amazon? Literally any major supermarket? Any name brand ever? They're bigger examples of submitting to a capitalist regime than Dan and Phil!! As much as we can all (rightfully) criticise our capitalist society, we all have to feed into it to survive because it's so deeply ingrained into our lives. They need to eat, they need to pay their bills, and they're doing their best to make it fun for their audience.

Yes, the hidden service fees were insane. Yes, the merch bundles not being available internationally is upsetting. However, they're literally doing everything in their power to fix it, and were clearly unaware of these things before the tickets went on sale.

There's a difference between rightfully pointing out issues and just insulting them personally and being really shit about them??? They haven't forced you to buy anything and they're resolving the issue. Calm tf down.

[currentfandomkick]

Pt2 reincarnated Tim gets the Wail aka Phantom Shrike

Part one here

Virgil let Tim in, leaning against the wall as Tim looked about his room, clearly searching for where to start as his head looked everywhere, largely at the walls and floor, but not directly at Virgil.

“So," Tim began as he wrung with his hands awkwardly. "I’m going to guess you noticed the early reflexes thing and flinching when you use your powers or Nightwing lights up his escrima sticks?”

Vigil raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t need to be a detective to see that a mile away.”

Tim took a seat at last, settling the urge to scream as the beanbag chair engulfed him. “So, Dick told you all about the uh, JJ incident, or do i get to explain that?”

Virgil moved back to his desk, moving his project to the side. “Just that it was bad.”

“It was.” Bad enough to revive a former lifetime and activate his meta gene. “Kind of shot him, but not me? He’s still in a coma from it.”

Tim waited for Virgil’s reaction. Virgil merely turned to face Tim again, sitting backwards in his swivel chair with an unusually neutral expression.

“I, uh, always had a thing with electricity before that.”

Tim fiddled with his hands again. Counting taps in twos and threes. Dad mentioned it after his last anger management session as a grounding technique. Tim found it… useful. For other things. Largely subduing shrieks, and kicking his trauma triggers in the nuts—when he was certain it was rude to break out tetris anyways.

“Mom called it ‘soul memory hugs’, and not to look into it when I was a kid.” Tim continued, tapping out one of his favorite songs in a modified version of morse code.

He remembers going to Janet in the middle of the night, asking where the nice red head girl went, and why she was crying when he got shocked in his sleep and everything went green. Janet just soothed his concerns and reminded him that the Talons don't go for society kids, but maybe the little girl lost someone and Tim reminded her of him. That he was not responsible for the girl and to let her come to him on her own terms, but to keep a few back ups prepared "just in case" and had him sleep with salt in hand and an iron bracelet.

“Didn’t stop the flashes of," he still couldn't adequately describe the flickers of his pre-Tim life. Of a realm made of ectoplasm the way theirs was made of carbon. The sentient food, watching people walk off injuries that should have crippled them, or the Fenton Driving Watch for the weather. Tucker's laugh and his varied PDAs, or Sam's smile promising someone pain. Dani's joy when she stabilized and befriended Val. Val's everything. "Of something,” he finished lamely.

It'd all been so difficult to pin down back then, as it was too vague without the rest of his memories giving context. A hand holding his. Someone protecting him, other times being punched in the arm or patted on his shoulder almost in condolence of some sort.

“Usually just a warm feeling that uh, stuck if it was static, no pun intended!”

Virgil shook his head with a smile, leaning into the cushion of the chair. “Sure thing Rob, keep going.”

“But when I started going out as Robin," it began a bit before, when he was gathering more evidence of Bruce as Batman to validate his threat of exposing Bruce's secret identity if that was the only way to the man to stop and get help. The sense of dejavu and the stray thought of 'Wes is rolling in his grave' that he never could explain away…

"As Robin," Tim repeated after a beat of silence. "and got hit anytime? It, it changed." his taps stopped being to any song at all. Mouth pulled to one flat, Tim continued. "Flickers of something," he leaned his head to one side, before moving it to the other as he spoke. "Became more and bits of something else.”

Virgil leaned back minutely, face starting to tinge with pinches of worry. “Do any of the Bats know about that?”

Tim shook his head. “B wasn’t, uh,” Tim fiddled with his hands more, not taps or morse code. More hand wringing and flexing phalanges. “In any state to even recognize I wasn’t Robin the Second when I started,” he confessed.

Virgil seemed frozen, like he was mentally recoiling as he moved from his chair to perch on his bed to see Tim and be closer to him for some reason. And now far more attentive than the earlier lull.

Tim shrugged off his concern, as it wasn't like anybody was unaware of how badly Bruce took losing Jason, or how badly Batman took flying solo. People are excellent at ignoring inconveniences to them. and a compromised bad was inconvenient to the GEL.

“No one noticed in the field as Robin was still who he called. My job was to deescalate him, not the other way around.”

Virgil pinched his brow. “So your mentor was violent, and you mentored him rather than mentoring you.”

“Yeah, for most of the three years I pieced him back together. He had me go through the ringer and work under a lot of mentors for combat. Some villains too.”

Tim briefly wondered if Lady Shiva’s offer would extend to helping him take out Joker… And if he could live with himself if he did. Joker killed Jason and was a contributing reason to his parents' hesitation to letting him take up a mantel again in Gotham.

Tim ran a hand through his hair, trying to push that thought aside and the relief of it out of his mind. “Didn’t really tell B things until it was mandatory or necessary. And I wasn’t Robin like Dick and Jay were. I wasn’t and won’t be his son. Just the kid pulling his ass out of his own head and enforcing his old code on his ass. With whatever weapon I need to keep others safe.”

“Hey, Rob?" Virgil interrupted. "You do realize what that sounds like out loud, right?” Virgil's form radiated tension.

Tim could only give a strained smile in return. “Dad and Step Mom lectured me on it and not sacrificing myself for someone that can’t even see me, not the people they wish I was.”

Virgil shook his head as he leaned back. “No wonder you’re off patrol in Gotham.”

Tim let out a long exhale through his nose. “Yeah. Dad sort of wasn’t around until after Mom died, and uh, fixed his priorities.”

“Deathlike do it,” Virgil muttered to himself bitterly.

Tim tactfully ignored that as he knew it was something for Virgil to reveal to his family (not being dead) not Tim’s brand of meddling.

“So uh, Dad always knew about the memory hugs, and more recently the uh, flickers? I've been calling the longer and more detailed memory hugs that. A lot of people get flickers of previous lives and shit, so no need to tell Bats when he frankly couldn’t tell ass, elbow and knees apart.”

Virgil whistled long and low. “Cool, cool… so what does that have to do with the Joker Incident and the extra sensory shit you’ve clearly got going on.”

Tim took a deep breath. “Joker uh, used electric shock repeatedly as a way to torture me. Tried to re-write my memories to be his kid, not B's."

Virgil froze.

“Which is ridiculous. If anything, B was my kid." Tim curled his toes as the memories tried to creep back in. He wished that etiquette allowed him to play tetris right now—to distract him from the phantom sensations.

"Same thing happened in the last life and it," he struggled how to articulate the change of impressions and images to the meshing of time and emotional intermingling. "It stopped being flickers."

He bite his inner cheek and could feel the barely noticeable mouth scars pinking as he bit down. All while Virgil's eyes watched his every move. "More, more like flashbacks, I guess. A lot of time being tied down with an asshole demanding I kill my dad and join him as his evil apprentice. Sometimes it was bleeding memories and superimposed images of people I knew then onto people I know now. And it uh, kicked my meta-gene into activating.”

Virgil finally moved, visibly tabling most of what he said. The tension in his own shoulders dropped when he realized he wouldn't have to go back to that horrid laughing place in his mind . “What kinds of activating, and how’d they emerge?”

“A few my step mom clocked—I could hear better and had a larger pitch range that my voice cracking couldn’t hide. Mostly on their own but the uh, scream one is uh, a work in progress on emerging still.”

“So you can hear people coming from further away?” Virgil surmised.

“Not exactly. Its uh, complicated<" Tim let his shoulders and hands do the talking again. "A local eco-terrorist and meta is helping me with where it overlaps on her turf. Apparently plants can hear a lot more than we thought and have opinions on my singing skills. Mainly, that they suck.”

Virgil took a deep breath and looked up. Tim waited for him to give the okay to keep going.

Virgil waved him on once he was done pleading to the ceiling for something to make this more bearable.

“So uh, Ivy is teaching me how to understand plant languages, in exchange for beach cleanups and something I already planned to and had in the works.”

“A rogue is teaching you about your powers, and the adult who you were monitoring in hindsight has no clue.” Virgil rubbed his face before looking up. “And Dick, he looped in?”

“Not yet, I uh, want to know more before becoming a pet project for the extended Bats, you know?”

Virgil conceded that much.

“And its only one aspect the rogue knows! She helps a lot of metas hide their abilities and teaches them how to cope and work with it on their terms. B knows about her doing that and doesn’t interfere with that part of her work. Everyone knows about her doing it.”

“But not regarding you?”

“Its," Tim scrambled to find the right word. "Its complicated.”

“A lot of things with Bats are.”

“Look," Tim held his hands up in surrender. "My dad will go down for attempted murder, if not murder one, if B is around me anymore. I don’t know what they said, but Dad found out about Robin a few weeks after I escaped the JJ incident…”

Virgil paused, face loosening as something clicked. Shoulders slack, he muttered, “you almost died, didn’t you?”

Tim bit his inner cheeks and scars, tapping a littler harder than before. “Legally dead a few times during it, and uh, got to relive the times I died in my last life.”

“How Bad?”

Tim could feel Maddie cutting into him, could see her comparing his insides to Ember’s.

“Mad scientist parents found out I stopped being fully human. It, it was, it was bad.”

“Shit.”

Tim swallowed dryly. “Yeah. Uh, I was hoping, no pressure or obligation, if you’d be okay helping with exposure therapy with electricity. Yours doesn’t sound the same as, as,” Tim felt that urge to scream grow in his throat. He clamped his hands over his mouth and used that trick from Fear Toxin.

“Tim?!”Virgil stood up.

5 things he could touch. His mouth, shoes, ground under his feet, the chair he was sitting on, his clothes.

4 things he can see. Virgil, door, poster, desk.

3 things he can hear. His breathing (too quick), Virgil’s static field, hum from the lights.

2 things he can smell. Stress and BO.

1 thing he can taste. His teeth.

Tim dropped his hands as his throat loosened to safe speaking levels as he repeated the steps. “Sorry, just uh, some stress requires screaming now and it, its not safe to be in the blast radius.” Tim ran a hand over his face. “Learning pitch control still and the screams tend to uh, level things. Missions are fine, the, the flashbacks…”

Virgil nodded slowly. “Not far off from Canary then. Talking about JJ triggers it?”

Tim nodded with a hard swallow. “Talking about the, the memories from the life where my parents uh, killed me and the dying by them after half dying from fixing an invention of theirs and having multi-dimensional portal kill and revive me simultaneously multiple times does it too.”

Static opened and shut his mouth. “Flashbacks frequent?”

“Yeah, kinda. Telling my body we’re not being strapped down and vivisected is uh, not something it likes to believe. And survival first, questions later. Fear gas is so much easier to handle,” he complained.

Virgil nodded slower this time. Tim knew it was a lot to take in.

“So, a Canary Cry?” Virgil began once the silence began to stretch to uncomfortable.

“Kind of?” Tim read her file enough before just in case, and he had clear add-ons she didn’t have. “Enhanced hearing too, but I can use infra sound and hear it if I tune into it. Also can hear the weather more than usual.”

“More than—you could hear the weather before?” Virgil stared at him.

“Assumed it was the autism,” Tim dismissed. “Could be both now.”

Virgil shook his head, possibly grumbling about 'white boys' under his breath. “Any other metas in the family?”

“Not that are still around. Dad’s cousin had a similar voice ability,” Tim talked around the issue of Black Canary Senior being his disowned cousin. “But never met her. Fled long before I was born on Dad’s side. Mom’s is a mystery in general unless you ask for someone specific about a specific event or topic.”

Virgil shook his head. “Okay, but are you sure nothing else has gone on, anything unusual?”

“Not that I can think of off the top of my head. Broke down Batman’s resistance to me being Robin using what Mom taught me about destroying my enemy’s mental fortitude, so… I don’t think so.”

“Think on it. And I can help with the exposure therapy thing if you want, but getting any help for all of this besides me?”

“Step mom, Dad, and Ivy. Robin’s supportive but doesn’t know any specifics… I think. She caught me during training on a surveillance mission, only knows some powers. Dad, step mom and me are the only ones that know about all of them.”

Virgil sighed. “Bats can’t know?”

“Not if we want my dad to stay out jail.”

Virgil looked up at his ceiling. “Planning to your tell your friends?”

“…When I have a better idea of how to control the screaming part. They were already convinced I’ve been meta since we met.”

“Might have been.”

Oh, Tim had not thought that part through.

“…maybe? I’ll have to work that out at home… and thanks. I mean it.”

“No problem man, just try not to mix me with anyone you knew last life, or not too bad.”

“You’re safe. More worried about mixing current friends with my dead ones.”

Virgil shooed Tim out.

Tim relaxed, just a touch, before going back to cases in the commons and catching Stephanie up on Titans BS with everyone chiming in.

It was good to be home.

—

Tim knows, logically, he can tell his team about being murdered by his parents in his last life. He also remembers meeting Greta and knowing she wasn’t truly Dead, which is something he can’t explain fully still…

Virgil might have had a point about being some sort of meta (or maybe magic?) long before the JJ incident. Most kids can’t evade Batman and Robin for years just to take pictures of them mid-flight.

Maybe a sound nullification ability or something to that effect… he can bribe Ivy to help experiment with it later.

The problem is he doubts Kon wouldn’t lead the charge with his dad to summon and beat up said former filicidal parents. And he knows that the whole team would be on board if they knew.

He would rather not see Maddie or Jack again. Especially while awake. Jazz showing up a bit different in his dreams and complaining about his broken sleep schedule making it harder to visit was something he remained on the fence about telling anyone.

Possibly harass Captain Marvel about it as that guy said nothing about people’s shit unless it becomes a game of which plane of existence you can stay on… but even then, tracking him down without bat-tech is a game of whackamole.

There’s also the complication of Tim being very aware he likes Kon, and not necessarily as a friend alone. Which. He doesn’t have time for the additional sexuality crisis on top of his varied identity crises at the moment and the media’s questions about the two Robins and if Robin was gender fluid, flux or only out as a girl in Gotham and a young man elsewhere. He cannot add ‘crushing on a teammate’ to his list when he and Stephanie only broke up a week before the JJ incident and are just now easing back into their old friendship. He doesn’t want the amputated feeling of losing a friend again because he keeps catching feelings for them, and is 10,000% certain he should not touch romance until he’s in a better mental state.

He has Problems on his plate, and it’s already overflowing. He’d rather not break.

And he loves his friends. But he has no doubt that Cassie would set up the pitchforks rather than stop any of the retribution his father was undoubtedly planning. He can’t gift-wrap his friends as minions in his dad’s crusade to fuck over the Fentons across dimensions, spacetime and afterlife status.

He did manage to make a small list of oddities for himself about his capacity to do things that were vaguely ghostly or similar to powers he’d pieced together.

So far potential intangibility or density shifting, invisibility, faster recovery rate than non-metas yet slow for a meta—speed seems dependent on how likely the injury is to kill him. His high tolerance for the cold was making sense the further in Winter he got and the more he’d see flickers of Frostbite training him in his last life.

Whatever an ‘ice core’ is, seems cool. He may have taken to playing with discarded freeze guns and be reworking them to be smaller and more compact. Possibly to add to his future vigilante ID, or to be a general weapon as a civilian given non-lethal status and his ability to add a melting rate adjustment knob of some sort, and call 911.

Bart saw him with it, grinned manically, and joined in helping him improve and adjust it. Slobo joined them both.

Cassie took one look at them and declared it ‘not her problem if they freeze themselves’ while Kon was out on another press tour thing.

Tim pretended not to note those had increased lately only on days Tim was staying with Just Us for non-mission things and Kon’s increase in excuses to avoid him in general.

If Kon wanted distance, then he’d get it. Even if it stung. Kon’s time and his life to spend as he pleases. And clearly, Tim displeases him. /worthless. Monster. Failure. Stand-in. No wonder you’ve always been a loser—/

“So, for Robin time or outside the mask?” Greta asked when she caught the three near the end of a schematics debate.

“Not sure yet,” Tim admitted. “Rogues are weirdly chill with me in civvies lately. But that could be Ivy being Ivy.”

Bart and Slobo’s debate died at that. “Ivy?”

“Uh, Poison Ivy’s plants outted civilian me for something i was dealing with. She’s decided she’s helping with fine-tuning my control on it and gave me one of her ‘protected by’ pins.”

Greta hummed, floating nearer while Bart was buzzing in his place.

“and its a good thing?”

“Other than her shipping me and my ex? Parents approve of the additional support and it’s made intel gathering easier. She was right about the hearing range increase being a bitch to deal with daily.”

Cassie came in with their takeout then, and everyone dispelled to their usual nonsense.

“So, Ivy ships you and your ex?” Greta began with innocently enough.

Tim debated banging his head against the table.

“My civvie self and Gotham’s Robin,” he clarified. “And only enough to throw cuddle pollen on her and lock us together in… varied situations. And laugh about it.”

Cassie blinked at him slowly. “You are being teased by a Rogue who ships civilian you, with a vigilante.”

“… to be fair I am getting plant speak lessons, but yeah.”

“Rob, what the fuck,” Cassie shook her head.

Tim shrugged. “Its Ivy. A safe distraction for the minors she fights is her preferred MO. if it’s just Bats she can and will use sex pollen. If kids or unclear on minor status are involved, cuddle pollen galore.”

“Uh huh.” Cassie and Greta share a look. “So you dated girl Robin, before she became Robin?”

“She was Spoiler first, and I gave her tips on managing Bruce’s ass when I uh,” Tim still didn’t know how to explain ‘forcibly removed from vigilante activities as his dad worried about him dying in a cape like the last Robin, so Tim was forced to pass the buck of Bruce’s mental instability onto his ex-girlfriend and close friend, Spoiler, and coaches her in Bruce Wrangling at a distance’.

“Forced semi-retirement?” Cissie suggested as she stole a slice of pizza, cringing at Tim’s. Which was all his as Bart didn’t care for it. Sucker’s bet on keeping their slices safe from speedster snatching. Amateurs; clearly they never went to boarding school.

“That,” Tim took a bite of his Canadian bacon and pineapple goodness. “And also she’s officially Oracle’s Robin," he swallowed. "Just B’s for combat scenarios. Dad has decided to threaten B’s living status for her too.”

“Rob,” Slobo interrupted. “The fuck.”

“…in my defense, she asked me out a week after almost killing me the first time.”

“Your dad, not other Robin!”

“First time?!”

“She prefers bricks as her projectiles.” Tim wiped his hands clean after his first slice, humming as he went over the blueprint… how should he compensate for his screams and Wail?

“Oh, and she aimed at my head. She’s into three section staffs lately which is a lot less deadly.”

“Rob. She asked you out after almost killing you?” Bart clarified.

“… not on purpose but yeah.”

“She asked you out by accident?”

“No, almost killing part. She’s gotten better aim since, and is following the no killing until you’re not a bat-affiliate rule.”

His team shared looks he didn't bother to check. The urge to analyze could spiral into another screaming attack if he didn't nip it in the bud.

“So not getting back together with her?” Greta clarified with a smile that screamed Gossip Detected.

He let her have either way, even with the looks Cissie, Bart, and Cassie shared.

———-

Let me know if i missed any tags ^^

[deluforlulu]

Soon You'll Get Better

Summary: Luigi comforts you during a hospital visit to have an iron infusion

Word count: 2,206 words

Pure fluff and perhaps the sappiest fic I've ever written.

It had been a few weeks now since your anemia diagnosis. The signs were all there and your boyfriend, Luigi, had been the first to show any notice. Your fair skin was paler than normal and mysterious bruises started to appear on your body. When the two of you went to the gym to work out, you had to cut your exercises short due to you feeling short of breath and as if your heart was going to pound out of your chest. Every activity in general though seemed to take a lot out of you. Not even caffeine helped. You just wanted to sleep. 

After much encouragement from Luigi, you gave in and decided to go to your doctor for some blood tests. To your shock, it turned out that you only had a ferritin of five! Your doctor had even commented that he didn’t know how you were leading a normal life with such a low ferritin level. Almost immediately after the anemia diagnosis, your doctor had put in an order for you to get an iron infusion. Iron pills weren’t an option at this point. It would take several months for your levels to go up if you were to go that route. The doctor wanted immediate results and so did you.

It was a Sunday when Luigi drove you up to the hospital for the infusion. He had the heater on to keep the car toasty enough for your comfort and some music softly playing on the radio. You could feel him sneaking some concerned glances at you as you gazed out the window, observing the people and buildings that you passed by on the drive there. “You okay baby?” he asked, bringing you out of your thoughts. You turned and tried to give him the best smile that you could to reassure him. “Yeah, Lu. Why?” you asked. “I don’t know. You’ve been quiet most of the ride here. So, I just wanted to check.” he replied before taking your hand, wrapping his fingers around it gently.

 A genuine smile came onto your face this time as you felt his fingers delicately caressing your palm. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just don’t know what to expect I guess” you replied as you intertwined your fingers with his. “It’ll be okay. You’re in good hands, you know? The doctors won’t let anything happen to you and neither will I.” he responded before looking right at you, giving you that usual ethereal smile of his. 

Your heart warmed at just the sight and you remembered again just how much you loved this man. “I love you” you told him softly. You hoped he knew it too. Guilt had washed over you lately as you had worried that he thought you were taking him for granted. You had a tendency to push others away when you were going through something as trying as this and you had found yourself doing it with Luigi. He never seemed phased by it though and only pushed his way in to be there for you. He had taught you what it was like to be truly loved. “I love you too, y/n” he replied, kissing the top of your hand while you were at a stop light.

A heavy exhale slipped from your mouth after he had parked the car in the hospital parking lot. The medical anxiety that you have had for over a month washed over you while you viewed the large, gray building. “Lu, I don’t wanna do this. I-I can’t.” you declared, your voice cracking. You made the mistake of going online a few days before the infusion, discovering that it was possible to have an allergic reaction. Even anaphylaxis. You wished you never did as the possibility had been sitting in the back of your mind ever since then. Luigi turned to face you in the car, putting his strong hand on your cheek to get you to focus into the void of his honey brown eyes. “Y/n, yes you can. I know you can. Look how much you’ve been through already. This is just 45 minutes of your day then we can go. Also…” he drifted off. 

Your eyes followed his movements as you watched him reach over the driver’s seat, grabbing a bag. “I brought this for you. I put a coloring book in here and some colored pencils. I also brought a blanket and sweater in here in case you get cold. See? You’ll have a distraction now.” he explained. Your eyes widened in surprise at the sweet gesture, not knowing what to say at first. “When did you do this?” you asked him. “When you were in the shower before we left” he replied, giving you another charming smile. You giggled, leaning him to kiss his lips. “This is so cute babe” you said, looking down to see his UPenn sweater sitting at the top of the bag. He leaned in this time and captured your lips in another kiss, savoring the moment for a while. “You got this y/n. I know it. Now let’s go.” he told you.

After making it up to the 5th floor of the hospital, Luigi and you were escorted from the waiting room and into a small, white room with a curtain. He sat right beside you in a nearby chair while the nurses moved swiftly to check your vitals and insert the IV into your arm. Although you tried your hardest to remain composed, your vitals showed quite the opposite with a raised heart rate and blood pressure. The nurses were also struggling to place an IV as you appeared so nervous that your veins kept spasming.They left temporarily after removing the previous IV to get some new equipment, leaving you with Luigi. He has his fingers wrapped around your arm that you had laid out on the arm of the chair, tracing random patterns along it. 

The action soothed you, but you were starting to feel a little nauseous just now. It was no wonder though. You had not had anything to eat since you woke up. Just then, a nurse had opened the curtain, prepared to try another IV on the opposite arm with the new equipment that she had required. To your luck, this one managed to be successful. Finally, the two of you were in silence, minus the faint hums of the infusion monitor. Your arm felt stiff from all of the tape wound around to secure the needle inside it. Luigi leaned forward, resting his toned arms on his knees as he reached out, caressing your leg. “How are you feeling baby? Anything I can do?” he asked. 

You groaned softly. “Nauseous” you replied, looking down with your eyes closed as you tried to center yourself. Your boyfriend’s broad shoulders stiffened as he straightened his stance. “From the infusion?’ he asked you. “I don’t think so. I just..I didn’t eat anything before we left for the hospital” you confess. Luigi’s thick eyebrows furrowed as he carefully cupped your chin and tilted your head up, looking at you with worry. “Y/n, you need to eat. Your body needs the fuel” he spoke. “Yeah, I know. I just felt stressed for the infusion and was not very hungry.” You sheepishly responded even though you knew he was not actually scolding you. He playfully made a tsking noise and reached into the bag he prepared, bringing out a snack pack of peanut butter and crackers. “And this is exactly why I brought these. I know you well, don’t I?” he smirked, causing your cheeks to become a tint of pink as you smiled. “Yeah yeah” you replied, feigning annoyance with your tone.

Luigi walked over to the chair he was in and moved it so that he was sitting in front of you now, taking a cracker out of the plastic baggie to feed you. You slightly leaned forward, taking a bite out of the cracker he was holding. You giggled after a moment from how endearing the act of Luigi feeding you was. “Lulu, you don’t have to feed me. I have hands” you teased him. You reached to take the cracker from him and froze when the infusion monitor made a loud beeping noise. 

A nurse came in shortly after the beeping started and pushed a few buttons on the monitor to halt the beeping. “All better now. The monitor can be a little sensitive to movement. So, just be careful” she politely told you before leaving the room. Luigi turned back to you, giving you a satisfied look. “Looks like I got my wish. I’m gonna have to feed you.” he stated. You jokingly rolled your eyes, but complied and sat there comfortably while he fed you the peanut butter and crackers. 

Once you felt satiated enough, Luigi tucked away the plastic bag.”Need anything else baby? Water? Are you warm enough?” he asked. You smiled with your eyes half lidded shut from exhaustion, heart fluttering.You looked at him admiringly, running a hand through his thick, dark curls. “You’re such a golden retriever” you teased him. He tilted his head to the side and grinned. “Golden retriever?.. What?..” he asked you, perplexed. “Yeah, you know. Golden retriever energy. Loyal, attentive, positive. It’s a good thing” you assured him and leaned in, tenderly kissing him. He returned the kiss, smiling against your lips. “Mm, you know me. I just like taking care of you” he explained between kisses. 

After the infusion was over, you felt silly for being so worried. Overall, you felt fine minus an ache in both of your legs. According to the hospital staff though, that was to be expected. Once you arrived at the apartment Luigi and you shared, that was when the true fatigue had consumed you. Your legs felt like jelly while you changed out of your day clothes and switched into a silky tank top and matching pair of shorts you wear to bed. A soft moan escaped your lips once you closed your eyes and felt the blankets of the bed consume you like a cloud.

Your eyes flitted open after about an hour of sleep and you looked up, seeing Luigi walking into the room. He smiled as soon as he saw that you were awake. He was in a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt that he frequently wore to bed. You could tell that he must have gotten out of the shower from how his wet hair was clinging to his neck in heavy, glistening strands. “Hey princess” he greeted as he towered over you. "Mm, come to bed baby” you responded with a hand around his wrist, eyes barely open.

A lazy smile spread across your face when you felt the weight of the bed shift as he got into bed with you, scooping you up into his side. You fit into him perfectly like a missing piece. His skin was still warm from the shower and he smelled like the familiar zest of his cologne. His heartbeat steadily thumped beneath you as he landed a kiss to your forehead. “Mm..Can we stay like this forever?” you muffled against his chest. A genuine laugh reverberated off his chest at your question. “Sounds good to me..and do what?” he asked, amused. You shrugged as another smile teased at your laps. “I don’t care. Whatever. As long as it’s me and you and we don’t leave this bed” you declared, earning another laugh from him. “I could get used to that real fast” he purred.

You lifted your head and saw that he was starting to fall asleep. He looked so peaceful with his eyes closed and lips pursed together. His long lashes fanned out finely against his cheeks. “Lu?” you whispered. “Hmm?” he asked, opening one eye to look at you. “I just wanted to say thank you.. Like not just for today, but everything. You take care of me better than anyone else ever has” you answered, pressing a kiss into the nape of his neck. He smiled down at you, running a hand through your hair. “What brought this on?” he asked. “I don’t know. I worry you think I take it for granted cause I can push you away when I’m stressed out. I hope you know that I don’t and that I’m always here for you too.” you emphasized. He cradled the back of your head and leaned in, kissing you deeply. 

“Y/n, I know. You’re silly. Don’t worry. I don’t ask for anything in return either. I just want you to be happy and to know that I love you. That’s all I care about.” he assured you. “I love you too” you returned, giving him another passionate kiss. With those words, the two of you fell into a comfortable silence. The world outside faded out as you drifted into a deep slumber with Luigi, his arm snaked around your waist and holding you against him. Life could be hard and throw some of its toughest battles at you. As long as you had each other though, nothing could truly break you.

[bartywinter]

number · @rosekillermicrofic · rosekiller · word count: 661 · cw: angst

Barty dialed the phone number with trembling hands and dropped it next to him on the mattress after activating the speakerphone. Evan would probably want to kill him for waking him up so late at night, but he didn't know who else to tell that his mother had passed away.

It hadn't come as a surprise when his father called to break the news. His mother had been ill for years, and in the last year she had gotten so far worse Barty almost preferred death would take her away rather than further her suffering. He had visited her in hospital every week —she had been a patient in a specialised clinic two hours’ drive from the big city—, and yet he had not had a fair chance to say goodbye as Barty Crouch Sr told him of her passing only after the funeral. His mother had been buried and he had not been able to see her for the last time. Did his father hold that much resentment to deprive him of something as precious as his mother's farewell? Fuck him and his twisted, rotten way of punishment.

The call was picked up at the last ring.

“Barty,” Evan groaned on the other end of the phone. “I hope someone died, because why the fuck are you calling me at three in the morning?”

Bless Evan and his ill-timed crude sense of humour.

“Actually, my mother died.”

There was an awkward silence in the call that was eventually interrupted when Evan sat up in bed.

“Where are you?” His voice sounded much softer than before. “I'll come and get you.”

“That fucker buried her without telling me.” He was staring at the nickname he had saved his best friend's contact number under. Rosie. “I hate him. I fucking hate him so much.”

Barty heard what sounded like hurried footsteps on the floor.

“Baby, can you tell me where you are?” Although Evan tried to hide it so as not to upset him, his concern was evident in his tone. “Are you home?”

The pet name distracted Barty for a few long seconds.

“Yeah, I’m home.”

Around thirty minutes later, a motorbike engine was audible next to the building where he lived. He listened as the noise was replaced by the ringing of his doorbell. He hit the open button directly and opened the front door to await Evan. When he appeared from the lift, he walked quickly and stood before him, his hair dishevelled, his breathing heavy and his gaze worried.

“Hi,” Evan whispered shakily. “I couldn’t come earlier.”

Barty had to repress the urge to kiss him.

“I know.” He stepped aside. “Come in.”

After Evan entered the flat, Barty closed the door and they stood watching each other. It was unusual for the atmosphere to be awkward between them since they always knew what to say. There was an exception, particularly for Barty: feelings. One of the few emotions he was able to express was anger, which poisoned the poor capacity for reasoning he had in such a state and drowned any other possible emotions that struggled to come to the surface. However, he felt something new, a great hollowness in his heart that distracted him from all other feelings. His mother, with her death, had carved a big hole in his soul and had left him to deal with it alone.

Except he was really not alone. Evan was right there.

“We could kill him, you know.”

Barty nodded.

“Not today, though. I’m tired.”

Evan closed the small distance between them and took one of Barty’s hands gently.

“Do you want to go to bed?”

Barty shook his head.

“I won’t sleep.”

“You don’t have to.” Evan smiled beautifully at him. “We can watch a film.”

As the butterflies fluttered in his stomach like a blissful nightingale in the early hours of the morning, Barty realised he was going to be okay.

[tobiasdrake]

hello. odd question: if you were given the choice, what sort of post buu sequel would you personally want to see? you don't have to write a whole story or anything, just, what kind of story would you want to see told if it were up to you? in terms of basic premise, tone, or "gimmick" if you'd like to see one.

Probably unpopular opinion but my ideal vision of a post-Buu Dragon Ball sequel would be to retire Goku and Vegeta after the Buu arc for good. Goku's story ended very satisfyingly with the Cell arc and I don't think Vegeta could ever go out on a higher note than what Buu gave him. I think Dragon Ball has a lot of potential for future storytelling beyond Buu but if we're working from scratch then these two characters, specifically, I'm ready to be done with.

What Dragon Ball needs to give it that shot in the arm is to have the courage to do what it wanted to do post-Cell: to start over and reinvent itself.

I do understand why that fell apart with Gohan. Gohan doesn't like martial arts. He never has. He enjoys it as an activity he can do with the people he loves, but he isn't a martial artist at heart. He has no drive for it as a hobby; His only relationship with it is as a necessary evil he sometimes has to engage in to protect his loved ones.

That's not a spark that can drive a Dragon Ball protagonist down a road of self-discovery and personal improvement through a deep, personal relationship with the art. And all the attempts to make Gohan relevant again just amount to giving him free power-ups and browbeating him into doing things that, on a fundamental level, he just hates doing.

Gohan doesn't want to be a Dragon Ball main character. He has never wanted that, and we shouldn't force him to. It's better for him and better for the story to just move along.

So where does that leave us?

I think the Buu arc gave us all the tools we need to reinvent Dragon Ball already. I think the characters who have the most potential in telling new Dragon Ball stories are the ones the franchise kinda just... wants to sweep aside. It's Goten, Trunks, and Marron. Pan and Bra. And our new green god Dende. The next generation of Dragon Ball heroes.

It's Goten and Trunks looking at their fathers' backs and knowing that these are the mountains that they are meant to climb. To become more than Goku and Vegeta ever were. And questioning if that's even what they want for themselves. What is their relationship to the art, independent of their fathers? Independent of each other?

Who even are they to each other? Are they to be a reflection of their fathers? Are they to be their fathers' mirror opposites? Or are they to be something else, something independent of their fathers, something only they can identify?

And what does the art mean to them personally? When it stops being "I'm doing this because my family does it," what is it to them? Is it even what they want or, like Gohan, do their destinies lie down another road?

Who is Marron? Who will she grow up to be? What does the art mean to her? In this world of Saiyans and Namekians, what are the limitations that her humanity imposes on her? And how can she break those limits and become something super?

These are the questions that I think could fuel a really interesting sequel series. I think the key to Dragon Ball's artistic future is in allowing someone else to go on a martial arts journey of their own, so we can watch them grow from a wide-eyed child to a wizened master as we once watched Goku.

[chrisnewbie]

Just A... : A Sim Song Story

♪♪♪

Her name is Noelle O-phelia

I have a dream about her

She rings my bell--

I got gym class in half an hour!

Oh, how she rocks

In Keds and tube socks

But she doesn't know who I am

And she doesn't give a damn about me

'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby!

Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby!

Listen to Iron Maiden, baby, with me!

Ooo - ooo - ooo - oooooo

♪♪♪ *

Her boyfriend's My brother's a dick

He brings a gun to school He sucks the fun at school

And he'd simply kick

My ass if he knew the truth:

He lives on my block

And he drives an IROC a big truck

But he doesn't know who I am

And he doesn't give a damn about me

'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby!

Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby!

Listen to Iron Maiden maybe with me?

Ooo - ooo - ooo - oooooo

Oh yeah! Dirtbag!

No, she doesn't know what she's missin'

Oh yeah! Dirtbag!

No, she he doesn't know what he's missin'

♪♪♪

Man, I feel like mold

It's prom night and I am lonely

Lo and behold

She's walkin' over to me

This must be fake

My lip starts to shake

How does she know who I am?

And why does she do they give a damn about me?

"I've got two three tickets to Iron Maiden, baby.

Come with me us Friday, don't say 'maybe';

I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby, like you."

Ooo - ooo - ooo - ooooo

Oh yeah! Dirtbag!

No, she doesn't know what she's missin'

Oh yeah! Dirtbag!

No, she he doesn't know what he's missing

--iinnngg aaahhoouuwwwoaaaaah

♪♪♪

Credits and notes...

First, the obvious: lyrics are borrowed from "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus with some minor changes by me. :) Since this is very obviously Ripp Grunt's theme song I initially hesitated writing it at all, but a certain someone inspired me recently (keep reading)...

Strangetown high school is @yandereplumsim 's Paul D. Strange School. This lot is so perfect that it is now a permanent addition to every future Strangetown I explore! Thank you for sharing!

A few of you might remember my embarrassing panic over the 30-picture per post limit lol. I was able to rearrange my vision with minimal disruption (yay) but there was still plenty of footage that got cut (nooo), including a key transitional picture that I just couldn't squeeze in. I marked it with a (*), and I'll post that along with other fun outtakes soon.

I'm dedicating this one to @strangetomato -- I'm so happy you're active again. :') Hope you enjoy it!~

[adverbally]

Full Disclosure

Written for the @stmarchmm prompt “bitching/studding” | wc: 1,431 | rated: M | cw: nonconsensual studding, parental abuse and neglect, anxiety and panic attacks, vomiting | tags: studded Alpha (formerly Omega) Steve, Alpha Eddie, Steddie, early relationship, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending

———

Eddie likes to think that he knows Steve pretty well after a couple months of courting, well enough to notice the odd things that form a pattern of behavior over time. He tries to dismiss them as quirks at first, or just a bad day, but it’s gotten to the point where he can’t ignore the red flags that are flapping in his face.

Like, maybe it makes sense that a big shot Alpha like Steve prefers to take the lead in their relationship. Even though Eddie is an Alpha, too, he doesn’t have much experience and he’s content to let Steve be his guide. So he lets Steve drive when they go somewhere together and open doors for him and press him against the wall to kiss him breathless.

He gets that Steve can be a little nervous, prefers to stay in control whenever possible. That’s why Eddie has only ever asked to fuck him once— the obvious discomfort and anxiety that had marred Steve’s face is burned into Eddie’s memory, and he remembers it every time he wants to suggest switching things up. There’s no point in pushing when Eddie is perfectly happy to let Steve fuck his brains out.

But the alarm bells really start to ring one afternoon in late August, when Steve comes to the trailer and has the worst panic attack Eddie has ever seen.

It’s not the first time he’s seen Steve like this, shaking and gasping for breath as he kneels in front of the toilet. There’s a certain routine to it by now, much like the one they use when Steve has a bad migraine. Eddie rubs his back while he heaves, talks to him softly, wets a washcloth to wipe the sweat and bile from his face. Steve usually comes back to himself within a few minutes, quieter and paler than before but still willing to enjoy some quiet time with Eddie.

Today, though, everything Eddie tries seems to make it worse. Steve is sobbing when he isn’t actively puking his guts out, and he physically flinches away when Eddie reaches out with the washcloth to help him clean up.

“Just go!” Steve shouts. The sound echoes since he’s still head-first in the toilet bowl, but Eddie can see his face in profile: eyes scrunched shut in misery, sucking in air through his clenched teeth.

It stings but Eddie obeys, even if he doesn’t know what he’s done wrong. He slinks back to the kitchen, not wanting to go too far in case Steve suddenly needs him again. There are a few dishes to be done, the remains of his lunch to clean up, just enough to keep him busy. He’s just wiping down the countertop, cleaning up any remaining juice from the peach he scarfed down earlier, when Steve shuffles out of the bathroom.

“Can we, um.” He scrubs a hand over his mouth. “Talk outside?”

“Yeah, of course,” he agrees, drying his hands on a dish towel before following Steve out the door.

In the warm afternoon sun, Steve looks awful. His face is pale and waxy, the hair at his temples damp with sweat, and he’s swallowing hard every so often, like he’s still choking down nausea. When he sits on the front steps, he drops like his strings have been cut.

Eddie sits beside him, moving slowly enough for Steve to stop him if he doesn’t want him that close.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Steve begins, kicking the toe of his sneaker into the dirt.

“I get it. You were feeling shitty and I was making it worse.” He wonders if Steve can hear the unspoken question between the lines: what did I do?

Steve nods, still not looking up from his feet. “I have something to tell you. Something nobody else knows, not even Robin. It’s… I don’t know how to say it, really, but I’m gonna try because I think I owe you an explanation.”

Dread settles in the pit of Eddie’s stomach. If this is something that Robin doesn’t know, it must be seriously bad. Like, forced into an arranged marriage, dying of some crazy disease, apocalypse-level bad. But he can hear Steve take a deep breath, steadying himself before he dives in, so he stays quiet and listens.

“I presented the summer before junior year. My heat was miserable. Like, I know they’re not fun for anyone but it was especially bad because I was alone. My parents were out of town so it was just me, trying to make a nest on my bedroom floor with any blanket I could find.”

Eddie’s heart breaks for him at the scene he pictures– Steve aching, sweating, crying, with nobody to help him through it. He can’t think about it too hard, though, because the implications of Steve having presented Omega, gone through his heat and everything, but being so confidently Alpha now…

As if reading Eddie’s mind, Steve continues. “Of course I couldn’t hide it from my parents once they got home. They could smell it all over me. My mom just cried, probably because she knew how my dad would react.” He pauses, shuts his eyes. “I don’t know how long he screamed at me. All that shit about how his only son couldn’t be an Omega, how this was just another mess of mine that he would have to clean up. Then he locked me in my room for two days.”

“Stevie,” Eddie whispers. He can’t help it, smelling the fear and anger coming off Steve as he relives his trauma. He needs to comfort him. Thankfully, Steve takes his hand when he offers it, squeezing Eddie’s palm with clammy fingers.

“He drove me to Chicago, to some clinic where he knew the chief of designation reassignment. I was there for a month. A whole month of hormone therapy and rehabilitation to ‘fix me,’” he sneers, “turn me into the alpha my parents wanted.”

Now Eddie feels nauseous. “You were just a kid. Studding is… it can’t have been legal for them to do that, not to a minor who couldn’t consent.”

“Like they cared.” He huffs a humorless laugh. “My dad got what he paid for, didn’t he? Never mind that they basically had to torture me for weeks, pumping me full of drugs, suffocating me with my own slick, making me–” He cuts himself off suddenly, clapping his free hand over his mouth like he thinks he might be sick.

“Baby–”

“It was the peach from your lunch,” Steve confesses, voice trembling as he holds on to Eddie for dear life. “When I walked in, it was all I could smell. That's what I– my scent before, it was peaches. It was like being back there.” He sniffs and scrubs at his eyes. “I’m sorry I yelled.”

Frankly, Eddie wants to yell, too, at Steve’s shitbag parents, at everyone at that facility who hurt Steve, but that’s not going to help right now. Instead, he strokes his thumb across the back of Steve’s hand and murmurs, “Thank you for telling me.”

“Are you mad?”

Jesus. Eddie takes a breath. “I’m mad that that happened to you, but I’m not mad at you.”

Steve nods, still not looking at Eddie. “It felt like I was lying to you, you know? You were with me but you didn’t know. And I know you’re probably gonna say something about how it doesn’t matter to you whether I’m an Alpha or an Omega–”

“It does matter,” Eddie insists, “if it matters to you.”

“I don’t know yet. It’s taken me this long to tell someone, let alone figure out how to feel about it.” He shrugs. “I’m not unhappy as an Alpha but… well, who knows how I would’ve felt if I’d stayed an Omega. Maybe I would’ve hated it. But it should’ve been my decision, not theirs.”

Eddie squeezes his hand again. “Yeah, but you still have choices. If you wanted to, like, explore that part of you, try something new, I could help.” He thinks Steve gets his meaning, since a flush starts climbing up his neck. “But nothing has to change unless you want it to.”

With a deep sigh, Steve leans over to rest his head against Eddie’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

He rubs his cheek against the top of Steve’s head. Not his most subtle scent marking move but Steve needs the obvious reassurance right now. It’s gonna take time for him to heal from this, Eddie knows, and he’s gonna be there every step of the way.

[playedcrowd5610]

10 of My 'Haunting the Nemesis' - Canon Headcanons

Because I am the author, and I have a lot of headcanons for this series that I never managed to bring to fruition or didn't seem very clear in the series, I'm posting a bunch of them here! I hope you like it.

Also, because I am the author, these HCs are all now 100% canon! But please share your own headcanons for this series as well. I would love to hear them. <3 (I might even end up making them canon as well.)

-

1.Knockout has Danny's phone number saved in his com-link contacts as "Scratch Magnet."

2. Danny, Knockout, and Breakdown go to a drive-in theatre every Friday night, and they each take turns picking the movie. (This was shown a little bit in the 'KO Drive-in' Chapter, but because that series is non-canon, I wanted to make it clear this movie night is, in fact, canon.)

3. Danny grabbing Jack's face to check on him in chapter 7 of 'Falling Stars' was Jack's Gay/Bi awakening. (I saw this as a few comments and could not stop laughing at the mental image. And I also got fan art of it. So sure, it's canon now. It won't have a part in the story, though, because it is not a ship, just an awakening. - Though if someone wants to make a work off of that, it's fine by me)

4. Danny can sense how old Cybertronians are in their maturity through their sparks. Which is why he calls Bumblebee "kid" in that one scene in 'Crushed Bug.' In comparison to Cybertronian age, Danny would be just older or the same age as Bee.

5. Danny is the king of the dead, and even though he doesn't actively rule, he has the right to the throne. Also, because of this, he has the ability to learn any language very quickly because, as king of the infinite realms, he needs to be able to learn the languages of thousands of universes as new ghosts keep popping into the zone. (I have covered this in a previous response post, but I also wanted to put it here.)

6. Danny is, in fact, immortal. He is not sure of this fact yet, but it is true. He will age naturally until he reaches his peak, and then he will simply stop ageing. Whether that is by his human form dying and him becoming a full ghost or if his human form stays with him as well is still being decided. (It was touched on in the Jazz chapter, but it wasn't confirmed. But Danny gets to live with his Cybertronain friends for much longer now!)

7. Ghost cores and sparks are almost identical in how they work and feel. This makes it very easy for ghosts and Cybertronians to connect and feel each other's emotions just as they would for their own species.

8. Danny calls Laserbeak his brother and calls Soundwave dad jokingly often, especially when Laserbeak calls him out when he's hurt. "Oh, come on! You snitched on me to Dad! Not cool."

9. One day, Knockout dumped a bunch of energon on Danny just to "See what it would do," and Danny ended up glowing like a glowstick for 3 days afterward. - Now, Knockout believes this is how all humans react when exposed to energon. XD

10. Soundwave did originally have his other mini-cons at the beginning of the war (Rumble, Frenzy, and Ravage), but after the years of fighting and war, only Laserbeak is left. This is one of the reasons he has gotten so over-protective with Danny; he doesn't want to lose another baby.

-

These apply to Haunting the Nemesis only and not Adopticons.

Thanks for reading my headcanons! If you want more, I may make another post. Love you all! Let me know if you have any of your own. Have a good rest of your week. <3

Ao3: Haunting the Nemesis

[mysticbby2009]

red blue lights(rafe cameron oneshot)

you and rafe get pulled over and you know exactly how to get out of this

warnings - teasing , reference to sexual activities, jj being jj , sweaing , you flashing your boobs (not really but enough to make rafe mad)

You were sitting in Rafe’s car, music playing low, your legs crossed as you absentmindedly twirled a strand of your hair. It was supposed to be a quick drive, nothing major—until the flashing red and blue lights lit up behind you.

“Shit,” Rafe muttered, gripping the steering wheel.

You? You were sitting there with your top unbuttoned just enough to show way too much cleavage—and, of course, you weren’t wearing a bra. It had started as harmless teasing, watching Rafe try (and fail) to keep his eyes on the road. But now? Now, you were about to get out of a ticket.

“Fix yourself,” Rafe grumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

“I got this.”

Quickly, you popped open your lip gloss, swiping it across your lips, letting them shine under the dim streetlights. Then, you fluffed your hair, letting it fall over your shoulders in that effortless, just-rolled-out-of-bed way. And, for good measure, you took the tube of gloss and shoved it right between your boobs.

Rafe stared. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Do you want the ticket or not?” you smirked.

The officer knocked on the window, and Rafe rolled it down, clearing his throat. “Evening, officer.”

You leaned forward just enough, resting your arms under your chest to push them up. The officer’s eyes dropped instantly.

Bingo.

“Do you know why I pulled you over?” he asked, but his tone had softened.

You blinked up at him sweetly. “Was it something serious? We weren’t speeding or anything… right?”

Rafe’s jaw was so tight he could crack a tooth.

The officer coughed, clearly flustered. “Just a routine check. Can I see your license and registration?”

Rafe handed them over, but the cop barely looked at them before waving a hand. “You know what? Just—just drive safe, alright?”

You beamed at him. “Thank you so much, officer. You’re so kind.”

Rafe waited until he walked back to his car before turning to you with a deadpan stare.

“Take. The fucking. Lip gloss. Out.”

The second Rafe pulled onto the road, his grip on the steering wheel was tight, knuckles turning white. His jaw was locked so hard you swore he was about to crack a tooth.

You, on the other hand, sat back smugly, reapplying your lip gloss like you hadn’t just practically given a free show to a cop.

“You good over there?” you asked innocently, glancing at him through your lashes.

Rafe let out a sharp laugh, but it wasn’t amused. “Am I good?” He shook his head. “No, I’m not good. What the hell was that?”

You popped the cap back on your gloss and shrugged. “I was just helping us get out of a ticket.”

His hand suddenly left the wheel, gripping your thigh so tight you gasped. “Helping?” he repeated, voice dangerously low. “You call flirting with that cop helping?”

Your stomach flipped. “Oh, please. It wasn’t flirting. It was just… persuasion.”

His grip on your leg tightened. “Persuasion,” he echoed mockingly. “Right. So what, you just flash your tits and expect me to sit there and be okay with it?”

You bit your lip, trying to hold back a laugh. “Rafe, don’t be dramatic.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

The car suddenly swerved to the side of the road, tires kicking up dust as Rafe threw it into park. Before you could react, he was on you, one hand gripping your jaw, forcing you to look at him.

“Dramatic?” he hissed, his breath fanning over your lips. His thumb pressed into your chin, holding you still. “You think I like watching you bat your lashes at some guy while your tits are practically spilling out of your top?”

Your breath hitched. “I—”

His other hand slid up your thigh, dangerously close to the hem of your dress. “You wanna act like a little tease?” His fingers squeezed. “Then deal with the consequences.”

Your heart pounded in your chest. “And what exactly are the consequences, Cameron?”

His lips brushed your jaw, your cheek, your ear. “Oh, you’ll find out soon enough.”

The second Rafe pulled into the driveway, he was out of the car, rounding the hood like a man on a mission. You barely had time to get out before his hand was on your wrist, dragging you towards the house.

But it was too late. The front door swung open, and there was your brother, JJ, and John B all chilling on the couch.

“Oh, hey, man,” JJ greeted Rafe lazily, beer in hand. “You look pissed.”

“Oh, I am.” Rafe threw an arm over your shoulder like he was keeping you in place. “Guess what your little sister does to get out of a ticket?”

Your eyes widened. “Rafe, I swear to God—”

Your brothers brows furrowed. “What?”

Rafe’s grip tightened. “Takes her lip gloss, shoves it between her tits, shakes her hair out, and then, oh—” he mocked your voice, tilting his head with a fake innocent smile, “‘I’m so sorry, Officer, I had no idea I was going that fast.’”

JJ choked on his drink, coughing as John B burst out laughing. “Holy shit,” John B wheezed.

Your brother, however, did not look amused. “You did what?”

You shrugged out of Rafe’s hold. “I got us out of a ticket, okay? It’s not that deep.”

He blinked at you, then turned to Rafe. “And you just let her?”

Rafe scoffed. “Let her? I almost ripped the guy out of his damn car.”

JJ wiped a tear from his eye. “This is the best thing I’ve heard all week.”

“I hate all of you,” you muttered, rubbing your temples.

“I just wanna know,” John B said, grinning. “Was it the pink lip gloss?”

JJ nodded knowingly. “It’s always the pink lip gloss.”

You groaned, turning to Rafe. “youre acting too pissed for a guy who just saved 350 fucking dollars".

Rafe arched a brow, unimpressed. "Oh, I’m ecstatic, babe. Really. Just thrilled that my girlfriend has a whole side hustle flashing cops for discounts."

JJ snorted. "Damn, maybe I should start doing that."

John B grinned. "Yeah, but I don't think the cops would care about your hairy-ass chest, dude."

JJ put a hand over his heart. "You don’t know that. Maybe Officer Miller’s into that kinda thing."

your brother, however, was still stuck on one thing. “Wait, hold the fuck up. 350 dollars? How fast were you going?”

Rafe sighed, rubbing his temples. “Fast enough that she had to pull a whole ass magic trick with her tits.”

JJ burst out laughing. “Oh my god, it’s even better when you say it out loud.”

You rolled your eyes, turning to him. "Would you rather I let him get the ticket? Because, spoiler alert, we both know Rafe would’ve bitched about it for weeks.”

your brother opened his mouth, then closed it. He pointed at you. "Okay, fair. But also, never say ‘magic trick with your tits’ in front of me again. I almost threw up.”

Rafe shook his head. "You're all missing the point. She's not getting away with that shit."

JJ smirked. "Oh? And what exactly are you gonna do about it, Country Club?"

Rafe shot you a look, a slow, knowing smirk tugging at his lips. "You'll see soon enough."

Your stomach flipped, but you kept your face neutral. "Great. Can't wait."

JJ leaned back, nudging John B. "Man, I love when they're fighting. It's like watching a live-action rom-com."

John B grinned. "Yeah, except way more threats and possible arrests."

you not realizing what you're saying said, "you all are acting too pissed I've literally been doing this since 16."

Rafe froze. "You've been doing this since you were sixteen?"

The entire room went silent.

JJ let out a low whistle. "Oof. Yeah, you're dead."

your brother blinked at you, then at Rafe. "Wait. Wait. You mean to tell me this isn't the first time she’s used her tits to get out of a ticket?"

You instantly regretted saying anything.

Rafe looked like he was about to combust. His jaw tightened, his fists clenching at his sides as he inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring. "Since. You. Were. Sixteen?"

John B snorted. "Oh, he's gone. We've lost him."

Kie and Sarah were straight-up cackling.

"I take it back," Kie wheezed. "This is better than a rom-com."

Rafe dragged a hand down his face, mumbling to himself. "I'm gonna fucking kill her. I’m gonna—”

JJ patted him on the back. "There, there, buddy. Just think, some lucky cop out there probably still remembers her as ‘The Girl That Flashed her tits to get out of a ticket’”

your brother whipped his head toward you. “I swear to God, if I ever hear about you pulling that shit again—”

You groaned. "Okay, okay, I get it! I messed up, I overshared! My bad!"

Rafe grabbed your wrist, yanking you up. "Upstairs. Now."

your brother jumped up. "Oh, hell no. Where do you think you're taking her?"

Rafe didn’t even stop. He just threw a smirk over his shoulder. "To go discuss her poor life choices, obviously."

JJ grinned. "Oh, that’s definitely not what he’s about to do."

your brother lunged for him. "I SWEAR TO—"

Tell me if yall want a smutty part 2 hehe

[deathpactagainn]

Pencil and Pen, two sides of the same coin.

My personal analyses of Pen and Pencil

I wanted to take a crack at looking into these two's back to back lash out's. Firstly, I'd like to cover these two's obvious parallels seen in both the writing and visuals. As seen in the picture, they both have very similar scenes of which they both respectively begin to lash out at someone, both due to built up anger. They both share the similar mindset of "I can't lose this challenge", however, for completely different reasons.

Pencil is very clearly traumatized by her 6 years in the exit, being mortified by just the presence of Four. She sees challenges as no more than obstacles she must get through in order to win, but not just to win the game, but for immunity, for her guaranteed survival. She disregards her teammates and have little to no care for them due to this fact, but also due to her 'isolated' mentality. She believes she has no allies in this game and that people don't care for her, even when she quite literally has people shouting otherwise in her ear. All of this combined just drives her further to do anything to win, and that is where she is similar with Pen.

Whilst Pencil has (arguably) selfish motivations, Pen has selfless ones. He believes he needs to win the challenge's to guarantee his friends are safe, not him. After losing his closest friends (Blocky, Eraser, Needle) he is terrified of the possibility of losing more. He see's it almost as his responsibility to keep his friends safe, and it leads to so much repressed anger inside of him (but we'll get back to that later). Pen is angry at Pencil due to believing she was the reason Eraser got out (at the time his only friend in the game), and once he finally finds something to put his anger towards, he snaps. We quickly see how even when he's mad he tries to keep his cool, like how he still tried to save Pencil, but I think his anger is a new side of him they should touch on more (again, we'll come back to this).

Now, I also would like to touch on the topic of friendship between these two, because I think their respective relationships with other characters are very important to them as individuals. This is mainly prominent with Freesmart and the Blocky, Eraser, Pen trio.

Pencil still tries to hold onto Freesmart, despite everyone else (for the most part) letting it go. It's her only sense of normalcy in this game, especially considering how she was a late joiner in TPOT. She cannot bear the idea of someone else caring for her due to her character, so she chases after people she already knows, however, these are people she's actively hurt. Book and Ice Cube actively try to leave Freesmart in the past, seeing it as a toxic environment (and rightfully so) but which how much Pencil is attached to the concept of Freesmart being back in their prime (example; her getting back the freesmart supervan) she can't let the two go, even if they've already let her go. Pencil is not evil, of course, but that doesn't mean she isn't flawed. She's careless to the people she loves until it's too late yet turns away any sort of care from other parties. She's almost stuck in her ways, what with how badly she want's Freesmart to come back despite the ways in which she's hurt them.

Now, juxtaposed to how Pencil chases friendship's she actively diminished, Pen chases relationships diminished by others. I would like to preface this by saying that I don't inherently believe Blocky or Eraser are bad people or even bad friends, but rather they've done bad things. Moving on, we see in TPOT 1 that Pen doesn't even know Blocky is gone. Isn't that a little.. strange? Considering how close the two are, it's so weird to me that Blocky left without saying a word, even knowing that they'd be separated for not only months, but years. It's such a small detail but something I can't help but point out. Onto Eraser, I think their relationship is a little more complicated. Again, this isn't to say that Eraser doesn't like Pen, but it's always so obvious who puts in more effort towards their relationship, and it's not Eraser. Pen is always giving 110% with his friends whilst he just doesn't get the same in return, which I believe should be turned into somewhat of a plot point. And now Pen's anger is back (told ya). I think it'd be interesting if rather than Pen turning his anger into something to mourn his friends, he'd turned into something against them. I feel like he lets them off the hook too easily just for simply being his friend, and I'd like to see this be brought up in an episode rather than just throwing a plot point of Pen being mad at Pencil for whatever reason.

I might've gotten a little sidetracked but whatever. My point is that Pen and Pencil have many parallels with their relationships and the way they're almost obsessed with their friends, with them obviously differentiating with how they treat their friends and also with the way they treat new possible friendships, such as how Pencil turns away Cloudyay to protect herself but Pen instead embraces BAGGED and tries to protect them.

That's all I really have to say I guess. Sorry if any of this doesn't make sense, I'm just spitballing here lol. Feel free to share any thoughts of your own of gaps in my writing :p thanks for reading

[salternateunreality2]

Concept I CANNOT get out of my head: Lucretia ends up pregnant with identical twins. Sephiroth has a brother. How does this change the story?

Thanks for the ask! Lots of possibilities here, so there's a sad/likely one up top and some happy crack ones if you scroll down.

Angst answer (CW: major character death, Hojo shenanigans)

Hojo pits them against each other to encourage growth and competition. Fear of punishment plus natural ambition (they have 3 very ambitious parents) drive a wedge between them.

They bond a bit over shared trauma, but Hojo is invested in severing that bond every chance he gets, to make them more dependent on him.

Wutai falls almost immediately. Rhadore is wiped off the map mercilessly. Shinra's power grows at an even more alarming rate.

Due to their fierce competition, they don't spend time getting to know anyone. The saving graces that could have been in their lives (FS trio, Banora Boys, Zack) are shoved aside. They are very, very lonely men, or even boys because the plot progresses so much more quickly.

They are bitter, spiteful, and sharp. Cadets and underlings fear them.

Only one gets sent to Nibelheim, and Hojo knows what's there. The other is kept at home as a control.

He falls, of course. If he is younger because of the accelerated conquering, then Cloud doesn't stop him and dies as a child in the fires. Zack hasn't made rank and is probably just a trooper, and it's one of both of the Banora boys who tries to stop him.

Let's go with both for maximum angst!

Crazyroth wounds Angeal severely and Genesis manages to stab him and kill him while getting severely wounded himself and sliding down to meet Angeal. Zack is either killed in the river or by Crazyroth as a trooper.

Angeal and Genesis are picked up by Hojo for experimentation. Tifa's also dead because she was a younger child too and hadn't advanced enough in training yet.

Hojo is furious Crazyroth died, but he still has Normalroth...well, Jenova got activated somewhat during Crazyroth's rampage and is now in the lifestream with him...so Normalroth is getting constant migraines.

Angeal wakes up and breaks himself and Genesis out, following Zakkura's path. Thanks to Hojo's experimentation, they don't suffer degradation and thanks to their prior enhancements, Genesis wakes up sooner than Cloud did.

Genesis is furious and convinces Angeal to go to war against Shinra. Unfortunately, with no bond to hold him back and no clones to help GenGeal, Normalroth obliterates the pair, but does get wounded.

Meanwhile, Aerith is haunted by the planet's screams as Jenova taints the lifestream, just as Normalroth is haunted by his brother's voice echoing his mother's.

Avalanche proceeds as normal and the president drops the plate. Aerith is spared by the Turks, Hojo finds out, kidnaps her to make her make babies with Normalroth.

The only thing that saves her from that fate is Normalroth snapping after all his headaches and killing everyone, including her, in the tower.

The Turks sensed danger and got Rufus away, but now a planet-level threat is roaming around all rabid and there are no plucky teams of young adults to band together, collect friends, and stop him. Plus, Jenova+Twinroths starts from a stronger position with a living body.

Jenova gets her way, eats everyone on the planet, and uses it as a vessel to see the stars.

Twinroths are finally at peace, doing one activity they both always loved: stargazing.

As they fly, conquering worlds and living freely, they meld together more and more into one entity with Jenova, and enjoy it immensely. At long last, the connection they longed for ❤️😺😺🐙❤️

Precious boys:

Them riding Mother's coattails:

Crack answer 1:

It's Chadley. Chadley and Sephiroth.

In the most likely scenario, this just results in Hojo letting Chadley skip some torture as long as his scientific progress is beneficial to Hojo, but the boys both still get trained in war and end up in the angst case above.

Sephiroth cracks first, then Chadster.

In a more hopeful situation, both boys spend more time on science and the angst above is delayed by a few years! Woo!

In the best case scenario, they band together. Sephiroth wants to protect his "baby" brother and Chadley wants to protect his naive older brother and they work together to kill Hojo and Shinra and run off with Glenn and co. and live happily ever after as accomplished astronomers and maybe astronauts.

Crack answer 2:

They are gremlins of the highest order and enable each other in escape attempts, eventually finding Vincent, who falls for their chaotic charm immediately and protects them with his life.

[merrybloomwrites]

Ready to Run

Summary: Harry reaches out to you and the boys to support him for his first ever Ultramarathon.

Word Count: 1.6K

AN: Obvi inspired by Harry running the Tokyo Marathon yesterday. It's also inspired by one of my favorite youtube channels. Last year, Nate from the channel Kara & Nate did the Leadville 100. This story is based on that. Since my story Build You a Boat is also based on their channel, I put this in the same universe at that. Hope you enjoy!

Quick heads up that this is all platonic, there's no romantic relationship in this story!

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

“You’re doing a what?”

“An ultramarathon,” Harry answers from the other end of the phone call. He’d called you nearly twenty minutes prior, saying he watched to catch up, that he missed his friend. But it’s clear that this is what he was most excited to talk about. 

“And what exactly is an ultramarathon?”

“100 miles in 30 hours,” he states, like that’s a totally normal amount of miles to run. 

“You really caught the running bug, huh?” He’d completed his first marathon just a month prior, and you were proud to see it. It’s been a dream of his ever since the One Direction days, so you’re glad he finally took time to accomplish this goal. 

“Yea. Remember that YouTube couple that helped us with canoeing the boundary waters? Well the husband did this race last year, it’s where I learned about it.”

“I’ll have to check out the video,” you say. You’d been on your own tour last summer, and were pretty busy so it’s no surprise you missed some things. 

“You should, it’s awesome!”

“Where is the race?” You ask. 

“Leadville. Colorado,” he replies. 

“Wait, so it’s 100 miles, at altitude?”

“Yup!”

“Harry, I’ve seen you need oxygen to perform a one hour concert at altitude,” you say worriedly. 

“Yea but that’s because I always fly in and perform like, the next day. I’m planning to get there at least a month prior to train and get acclimated to the elevation,” he explains. 

“So you’ve really thought this out, huh? Well, it sounds amazing, and I’ll support you the whole way.”

“That’s the other thing,” he says, somewhat timid. “Every runner needs a support team. I was wondering if you’d be on mine? Possibly lead it? The boys are on board too.”

“Wait, you’re actually getting the band back together?” You ask jokingly. 

“I am. Figured anyone at this race will be actually focused on the race, not on celebrities. Louis, Liam, and Zayn have agreed to be pacers. Niall says he can’t run with his bad knees, but he’ll be part of the crew.”

“Alright. I’m in. Just tell me what you need and I’ll be there.”

“Thank you so much! I’ll send an email with all the information I have so far and then we’ll coordinate closer to the race.”

“Looking forward to it!” 

The two of you talk for a few more minutes before saying goodbye. As promised, you receive an email from Harry later that day. You read through everything, then watch a few videos of people’s journeys running this ultramarathon. It’s highly impressive, and while it’s not something you could see yourself doing, you know that with Harry’s determination and healthy lifestyle, he can absolutely pull this off. 

Harry puts you, Liam, Zayn, Louis, and Niall in a group chat to start planning. It’s nice being in an active chat with them again, and it leaves you feeling nostalgic for the old days. 

As the support crew leader, you get to Colorado almost 2 weeks prior to the marathon to start really planning. You go with Harry when he trains so you can learn the route and where you’ll be parking the van throughout the run. 

The rest of the boys arrive a few days beforehand, and it’s so good to be reunited at last. You all catch up, talking about how the past few years have been. But the main focus is clearly preparing for Harry’s run. 

And then the day arrives. Bright and early, 3:00 in the morning to be exact, you load into the van and drive to the starting point to drop Harry off. It’s dark, and chilly, but all of you are excited and hyping Harry up. 

At 4 in the morning, the starting gun goes off, and Harry begins the run. The five of you get back in the van to drive to the first meeting point, and then, you wait. 

Harry has created a spreadsheet of all his plans, including what time he’ll be at each aid station. After a few hours, the first runners appear. You can track Harry, and when you see him getting close, you prepare the snacks and hydration that he had requested for this mini break. It takes a bit more time, and finally, you see Harry. You all start cheering him on as he approaches your group. 

He’s officially run the length of a full marathon. You can tell he’s focused, but he sits for a moment to refuel. As he snacks, you and Niall make sure to rub a layer of sunscreen on him. After a few minutes, he gets back up and continues on his way.

As he runs the next section, you drive to the next aid station to prepare. When he reaches you, he’s run 38 miles over eight hours, and it’s clear he’s starting to feel it. He eats his lunch, and Louis and Zayn help him cool down and rub his legs to help keep them from getting too sore. 

By the time he leaves again, his mood has raised, and he runs off smiling. 

Once again, the five of you simply have to wait. It should take him roughly eight hours to get to the top of Hope Pass and then come back down. You all attempt to get some rest so that you can support him later. It’s hard, since you’re all so amped up, but you each manage to get a little nap in. 

Louis starts warming up, since he’s the first pacer to run alongside Harry. When Harry gets back to the aid station, he’s surprisingly cheerful, even though you can tell he’s really feeling it. He grabs some more snacks, and takes a few minutes to lean on you as you tell him how proud you are and how impressive he is for doing this. 

He meditates for a moment and then he and Louis begin to run. It’s strange to see Louis set out to run 10 miles, as he’s more of a sprinter than a long distance runner, but he’ll do anything he can to support Harry. 

You and the others drive to the next aid station to wait for them. They end up taking the last mile or so a bit slowly, since Harry is ahead of his schedule and they want to bring his heart rate down for a little while. 

Liam goes with him next, and after they head out, Louis updates the rest of you.

“His knees are bugging him, but he gets a lot of speed on the downhills. He’s a damn beast, I’ll say that. I couldn’t do this.”

They meet up at the next stop, Zayn switching out for Liam to run the next few miles. As you track them, you see that the pace is slowing down but still going fast enough to finish in time. 

Mayqueen is the final aid station, and Liam goes to run with Harry again, him being in the best shape out of your whole support group.

Twelve miles left, and you see the excitement come back in Harry’s eyes, and the determination written all over his face. 

You drive to the finish, anxious to cheer him over the line. He’s going slow and steady, and Liam calls to update when they’re four miles away, letting you know what time they estimate to be there and that Harry wants all of you to run the last bit with him. 

You spend that last hour watching and cheering for everyone who crosses the line. Finally, you see Harry and Liam, and you, Niall, Zayn, and Louis run out to meet them. With thirty minutes left before the cutoff, Harry officially finishes the Leadville 100.

The five of you surround him in a group hug, and support him once more as he becomes overwhelmed with emotion.

“That was the hardest thing I think I’ve ever done,” he says. “But at the same time, one of the most exhilarating and worthwhile things.”

He’s given a medal and the finisher belt buckle, and takes pictures with countless other runners. But soon you see the exhaustion in his eyes and you lead him to the van. He manages to stay away until you get back to the house, and Louis and Niall help him get a quick shower so he can be clean when he crashes in bed.

He sleeps pretty much until the next day, waking only to use the bathroom and have a little food.

When he’s recovered enough to leave his room, the six of you sit down for lunch together. He thanks you all again for being by his side once more for this endeavor, and you all tell him how proud you are of this accomplishment. 

Later that day, he posts a picture that the six of you took together at the finish line. After years of social media silence, the fandom loses their mind over Harry posting. They go even crazier seeing all of you together for the first time since the hiatus began. 

You know that the fans want a reunion tour, but for you guys, this is the reunion. The chance to be together, to be a friend group again, without the pressure. This feels right to you all.

And you have Harry and his crazy ideas to thank for bringing you together once more.

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

AN: Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a great week!

[little2nerdy]

i think we need to talk more about the fact that jean is doing exposure therapy

like he’s going before he even really acknowledges that he didn’t deserve everything what he went through (he’s going to exposure therapy in ch.11 and his breakdown/conversation with rhemann is in ch.17)

it also shows that he’s been talking to betsy. he talked enough with bee to tell her about his aversion to water and expressed some kind of drive to want to be able to swim again (even if it’s just practice related, it’s a step in the right direction)

he’s taking an active role in his healing journey

(i know it would be unrealistically fast but i hope we see at least like stick his feet in the ocean or something in book 3, go for a walk on the beach with jeremy and jabberwocky)

[heartcircus]

ngl i feel like it lowkey has to be planned? like, i feel like ros doesn’t want her character to be in yellow for some reason. and a lot of stuff over the last couple of days has slowly been pushing her out — i think she might actually attempt to redo her factionless arc since it was intended to be something longer if it wasn’t for sneeg and clown being so quick and active in helping her.

her conversation with aimsey where she said she values their and bad/pangi’s ways of emotionally validating her feelings more compared to clown and sneeg’s practical problem-solving — the creation of the ball with no help from yellow, noted multiple times by other factions, except for foolish getting the froglights — the null and ros losing her memories therefore losing some sort of connection/dedication to the kingdom — her becoming even closer to pangi and aimsey and naming them the most important to her — her returning and being upset that no one cleaned up the ball and her feelings being once again validated by aimsey and pangi who reaffirm that yellow take her for granted — pili joining yellow … it all feels like it’s piling together in a very purposeful way so that ros can revisit that arc

sorry if this doesn’t make much sense. i’m trying to get into tr!ros’s head and like. wow, if i was in her position, i’d leave too. i wouldn’t mind if she did either, i think she really does need a break. but i want this to extend to everyone. she really needs to get her thoughts and feelings together and evaluate what exactly she wants or what she wants to do at the very least. and even though pangi and aimsey are her very close friends, they are definitely biased and ros is very much easily influenced so. think it’d be best if ros also took a break from them (i don’t think she will because she’s likely become codependent on them … but that’s why she needs to get away from them even more. i need her to heal so badly please…)

it probably is to some degree . unfortunately (<- believer of improv lore)

. anyways rant below ↓ ^_^

i don't think pili joining yellow was necessarily intentional for the reason that foolish is the type of person to keep his enemies close. he knows full well that pili might betray and is ready to be stabbed in the back, i don't really think it's something intended to drive ros out. i think it's just average foolish behavior.

my main issue with this arc is the fact that it is so frustrating to sit there and see her character be put through the wringer time and time again when the latest and most pressing issues currently contributing to her despair are literally some of the easiest fixes ever. ros' problems are, as you said, mostly in relation to her factionmates not being there for her. however, it has an extremely simple solution that requires little to no effort being.. you'll never guess... communication!!

which, i understand, ros has struggled with this entire time. she doesn't want to feel like a burden and ask too much of her friends when she already feels like she cannot repay them for all they've done up until this point. But, again, the solution is as clear as day and has even been suggested by people she's now come to rely on such as bad and aimsey, making it seem like she'd be more inclined to considering it.

it's not that her teammates are unwilling to help her, it's that ros does not and will not ask for Any help from anyone except bad, aimsey, and now pangi. therefore, resulting in her relying on them instead of her once closest friends because she feels she has this debt she cannot repay. yk, despite them literally telling her they are not "keeping tallies" because that's not how friendship works. her leaving the kingdom would be a result of her slowly pushing these people away and leaving them on the back burner while instead getting closer to their once enemy team that literally stalked her down for weeks.

it's also not fair to say sneeg and clown are the type to immediately problem-solve instead of listen when both of them have spent hours listening to ros and just talking with her. when clown was training to fight pili, they talked for Nine whole hours. Nine. ros told him soooo much about how she felt regarding certain people and factions and everything in between that it's a disservice to disregard all the time he spent just Listening to what she had to say. sneeg has acted similarly in the past as well, namely the day they decided to boot owen from yellow, but there have been other times in the past as well. literally the Only reason they decided to have that confrontation that day (aside from prior planning if there was any) was likely due to the fact they were A. all around at the time and B. owen was still online.

i don't care if she leaves the kingdom, at this point i'm over it, but i care about ros pushing away the people closest to her because she feels indebted to them somehow. she does not see all the little things she's done for them as "payment" or equal to their actions in terms of worth and cannot bring herself to ask more from them because of it. if she properly sat down and talked with sneeg or foolish or that other guy if he was around and truly, wholeheartedly, spoke her mind, then this muddled confusing mess that makes up her head rn would be so much clearer.

sorry i got off topic . main point here is she's digging her own grave here and making herself lay in it when she definitely doesn't have to and there is certainly an out. i'd understand and be more cooperative with her leaving due to external pressures (owen, pili, stress, wanting a break, etc.) but when its something like this it becomes soooo goddamn frustrating at times

[myheartlovestheview]

@ofbreakingofflimits

You're just that kind of guy, Troy... Your charisma, talent, and incredibly big heart... The kind of guy who's born for the spotlight. {I smiles. Meaning it entirely as a compliment to Troy. He was the kind of guy that others just wanted to know and adore. I thought with a lingering smile as we ultimately exited the school and started the walk toward my car} You know... I might just know of the perfect place. {Knowing how small and crowded the frozen yogurt place was, and also very cold too, we typically left there and went somewhere else} I mean, it's no garden on the school roof, but I have a feeling you'll like this place. {It wasn't one of the usual spots Troy and I went to after we left there, but I knew if we went back to my place, our moms would undoubtedly catch us, so our chance at some alone time would go straight out the window. The place I had in mind though could be perfect for the occasion} Do you want to drive or do you want me to? {I offered holding my keys up in the air. Figuring Troy could either drive my car or we could take his since it was close by. I'd leave that decision up to him; especially since us skipping out on the alumni activities was his idea. I felt like it was only fair that he got to choose the driving arrangement too}

@ofbreakingofflimits

{First love. It’s one of those feelings you’ll never forget. People tell you that, no matter how much time passes, that first love will always hold a special place in your heart. I didn’t really know just how true that was, but for me, I don’t think I’ll ever forget mine.

For me, my first, and only love, has been Troy Bolton. He came into my life at a time that I needed him the most, and no matter where life takes us, I’ll never forget how he made me feel, or the person I became simply by having him in my life. It’s funny when you consider I was so mad at my mom when her job transferred her to New Mexico. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have anything against Albuquerque, but it was just the fact that I was tired of moving around. You finally make a few friends, and you get adjusted into a new school, and suddenly you’re packing up and moving again. Needless to say, I became really good at goodbyes. Fortunately for me, my mom made it clear to her bosses that she wouldn’t accept another transfer, after that last one, until I graduated from high school. I was lucky because it was in Albuquerque, or more accurately, at East High that I finally figured out who I am. It was my season of firsts… First love… first kiss… first time singing in front of an audience without passing out… first time in a school musical… first time that I had a whole circle of really great friends… And the list goes on. I loved everything about East High, especially Troy Bolton. Then college happened and I didn’t know where that would leave Troy and I. Sure, just like any high school couple, you make the promise to give it your best shot, but with distance and the busyness of college, it starts to weigh on a relationship. At least that’s what people like Taylor, Chad, Kelsie, and my mom warned me. I don’t know, though… When it came to Troy and me, I knew if anyone could defy the odds and make our relationship last, it was us.

For our parts, we did give it our best shot. We went strong through our first year of college, even the second-year defied expectations, but as it continued, I could feel us starting to drift apart. It made sense, though. I mean, we both made new friendships at college, we both had heavy loads with our classes and assignments, and we were both also involved in extracurriculars at college, too. All that to say, it didn’t leave much time for each other. Our weekend meet ups and dates gradually dwindled to once a month, if we were lucky, and over time, it just became one disappointment and canceled date after another for us. In the end, we decided it was best just to end our relationship. It was nobody’s fault, really. Just reality became a bit too much for us to continue holding on to our “kindergarten fantasies,” you could say.

My senior year was wrapping up at college, and I was still undecided on what I wanted to do next. Sure, I had job offers lining up, but nothing had really stuck out to me yet, regarding which path I wanted to choose. My mom had since been transferred back to Albuquerque and was living in our old house, so I had strongly considered taking a position that I had been offered at a law office in Albuquerque, but I still wasn’t sure. I mean, maybe a change in scenery is what I needed. Still, Albuquerque was the place that still felt most like home, so maybe that was my answer. I silently considered as I left the dining hall and started back toward my dorm room to continue packing up. I had no sooner reached my dorm room when I got a text from Taylor asking me if I was returning for the alumni event being held for our graduating class back at East High. Sure, I recalled reading the email a few times… Going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to do this, but in the end, I was still undecided, at best. Don’t get me wrong, it might be really nostalgic to be back at East High again, and it would be great to see my friends, but I was admittedly nervous about seeing Troy} Maybe… {I texted back in response as I continued packing up my dorm room; stacking my packed bins in the corner of the room, so they would be ready to load into my SUV once I finished finals later this week.

Days passed, graduation happened, and I found myself back in Albuquerque. I was still undecided on which job I was going to take, but for now, I was indefinitely moved back into my mom’s house. After going back and forth for weeks, Taylor managed to convince me to attend the alumni event at East High this weekend, so I now found myself in front of my closet door mirror trying on one outfit after another in search of just the perfect outfit. I was never this indecisive about what to wear, but I don’t know, I guess the possibility of seeing Troy today left me feeling nervous} “The one you’re wearing is perfect. Now put those shoes on, and let’s go.” {I heard Taylor’s bossy voice ringing out from behind me; prompting a bright smile to my face. Squealing softly in excitement while rushing over toward her to greet her with a hug} I didn’t know you were coming here to get me. {I said as we exchanged a long overdue hug with each other. She chuckled lightly and replied} “I figured if we’re both going into that school with the chance of having to face our ex-boyfriends, or worse yet, Sharpay Evans, we’d need each other for moral support.” {I nodded in response and smiled as we broke the hug. I took one last look in the mirror after slipping into the shoes Taylor suggested for me to wear. I still wasn’t a hundred percent convinced that this was the right outfit to go with, but it would do. I thought with a silent nod as I grabbed my purse and keys. Not a moment too soon since I felt Taylor grab my hand; tugging me out of my bedroom, downstairs, and ultimately out to her awaiting vehicle. A nervous sigh leaving my lips as I got situated in the passenger’s side seat of her vehicle} “We’ve got this. I mean, we’re all in this together, right?” {She said with a knowing smile and a giggle as she started up the vehicle and then with an exhaled breath, she pulled away from my house; taking the familiar drive to East High School for what could potentially be an unforgettable weekend for us both}