#axel crop top

[ink-witch111]

Outfits Lea would wear; crop top edition.

Feat. Isa

I will not be taking criticism, thank you.

[maa-riiee]

NEW MAXEL CONTENT OMG!! the way i missed them so much 😭

also maxence wearing a crop top PLEASE YES 🔥

[lizeon]

watching axel's second outfit reveal and he called the first prediction with a crop top "good taste"

if his second outfit has a crop top im going to scream

[veiledfox]

He smiles and nods hearing her response, before she mentions sweets which gets his eyes wide and at attention. Watching her retrieve the container, he almost immediately starts sniffing at it to gauge what was within. Holding his hands out like the polite, patient Chimera he is. "Pastry. Icing. Donut! Filled... what inside?"

'That's because real friends don't make you spend hundreds on lavish gifts on them. You buy them things because you like them. 'Oh, that reminds me! You like sweet stuff, yeah?' From her handbag she pulled a package containing a custard-filled donut. 'I got this earlier but, like, I'm not gonna eat it.'

[gingerlurk]

Lovers' Crest | Epilogue

Din Djarin x f!Reader

Masterlist

Summary: It's the epilogue.

Word count: 3k

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, slow burn, non-canon (the Razor Crest never gets destroyed, it also gets upgraded with a cabin), post season 3, home on Navarro, Reader is described having worn heels, foot rubs, Mandalorian lore nonsense, she flies the Crest, smut: oral sex (f!receiving), face-sitting, cockpit smut ❤️

A/N: Annnnd we're done. Oh my god, thank you. I mean it more every time I type it. I can't believe such lovely folks enjoyed this story and took the time to tell me so. It's watered my crops etc. and motivated me to work on new stuff, which is a joy. So yeah, x.

And with heartfelt thanks to the gif creators. Ya'll the MVPs.

--

Some months later...

Your feet are killing you. 

Last night’s mission had gone so smoothly and Din had loved your ensemble so… feverishly, you’d worn those cursed stilettos for the rest of the evening. Walking the bounty in and then strolling over to Greef’s to collect Grogu before searching for some place to eat.

And even later, once you were home, with Din insisting the heels stayed on until he was done taking you apart.

Now, lounging outside the villa door, you’ve got each foot propped on the warm piping in front of you, flexing and pressing the soles into the metal, willing away the soreness.

Grogu wanders back and forth in the little patch of grass out across the yard, hunting a weird bug-like thing. You stare hard at him for a moment, but don’t sense anything off. He doesn’t seem at all nervous about what the day is bringing him, content to just wave his arms and burble into the air.

Your arch-focused ministrations hit a sore spot and you suck in a hiss. Din appears in the doorway. Cocks an eyebrow.

‘You okay?’ he asks.

‘Ugh, feet. Kill,’ you groan. You cross an ankle over your knee to massage at the tender bit of muscle.

He chuckles as he sits across from you, taking up the offending foot and working a large thumb across its underside. The other hand wraps around the top of your toes to flex them back and forth. You hum with appreciation. 

‘You didn’t have to stay in those all night,’ he says, unconvincingly. 

‘Liar,’ you smirk, raise your brows back at him. ‘You loved them.’ 

Din puts his palm flat to your sole and pushes, stretching your ankle and calf. It’s delicious. He leans down to press a kiss to your shin, then takes up the other foot. Begins anew.

‘True, but,’ the hand working your inner arch slides quickly up your leg and gives your thigh a squeeze before returning to its task. It took only a second but you feel breathless. ‘I’d happily have you limit your wear of those things to just our bedroom.’

He lifts your foot and plants it against his chest, leans in so your leg bends back toward you. The hand returns to your thigh and you have to suppress the urge to gasp.

‘Din,’ you whisper, eyes hooded. ‘Kid’s right there.’

He releases your foot but keeps leaning in, rising off the pipe to take you in a kiss. He twists around to drop into the seat next to you, then looks out into the light at his son.

‘Not long now,’ he says with pride, and more than a little sadness.

The ship glides into the empty field behind the house to park a little ways off from the Razor Crest. Din, now fully armoured, and you, now with sensible footwear, follow Grogu. The three of you approach the craft as it settles on its landing axel.

You’re holding back tears, wondering if the dark and stoic statue beside you is doing the same. Grogu isn’t helping, standing in front of you looking so calm and attentive.

He just looks so brave.  

As you think that, the child – the apprentice – turns his head to look over his ear at you. You give him your brightest, most reassuring smile – forcing it to reach every part of your face.

He’ll be fine, you're telling yourself. Every apprentice does this.

The hydraulics of the ship engage and begin to drop the ramp. The way it dwarfs the tiny trainee in waiting batters hard at your resolve to put on a brave face.

The ramp settles and Ari Wren steps down from the ship. She nods to Din, and to you, but focuses her helm on Grogu.

She’s here for him.

Din had explained it to you and you’d just been forced to face facts, no matter how terrifying it sounded to your non-Mandalorian sensibilities.

Every apprentice, after a certain period of training, must join two other students to navigate a set journey from a remote asteroid cluster back to Mandalore itself. The pilgrimage takes several moon turns. When the students arrive, they are celebrated and graduated to a journeyman of sorts. A new status of pedagogy – the next step on their path. 

You and Din will meet Grogu there when it’s time. It’s not that long. You’ll keep yourselves busy. He’ll be fine. They all have to do it. Din had decided Grogu was ready. He’ll be fine.

‘Din Grogu,’ Wren says, all formal and accentuating. ‘You have been tasked by your mentor and father with undertaking the Pilgrimage of the Warrior. Are you ready?’

Grogu doesn’t hesitate. He gives one resolute nod.

That does it. You clap your hands to your mouth to keep back a sob, tears stinging and blurring. You hear Din’s heavy exhale beside you – that same emotional mix of pride and sadness.

‘Very well,’ she says. ‘You may say your goodbyes, then join me and I will take you to the source point to begin your journey.’

As Grogu turns and moves back to you, you do your best to make your buckling knees look like a natural descent to the ground, where you sit cross-legged and open your arms to the child. He hops into your lap and lets you fawn over him, purring in appreciation. 

‘You go trek those stars, kid,’ you say, voice quivering only a little. ‘Show ‘em what your dad taught ya.’

‘Ah!’ he replies, squeezing your hand and sending a wash of warm, affectionate light across your consciousness. You let the love sweep over you and feel your tears drying and heart soaring.

Holding onto him, you stand and turn to his father. Din has removed his helmet and you gingerly swap – cradling the beskar in the crook of an elbow as he takes Grogu in his arms. Feeling the need to give the two of them some privacy, you step away and approach Wren.

‘Hey,’ you say. She nods, greets you by name. You dither about whether to ask, whether you’re overstepping or not honouring the traditions or whatever, but you can’t help yourself. ‘He’ll be okay, right? You’ll look out for him?’

You needn’t have worried.

She replies with a smile in her voice. ‘It is my solemn duty to ensure his safety. The same goes for the other apprentices. They are the future.’

You nod with a relieved sigh, look over your shoulder at father and son murmuring to each other. Grogu has a claw pressed to Din’s chin. The Mandalorian’s eyes are closed tight while a smile plays on his lips.

‘They’re the future,’ you say.

Wren banks and her ship sails over the rocky landscape. Just as it begins its climb to atmo, you give in. Turning to Din, you press yourself into his form. Large arms encircle you and pull you close. You hug his helmet between you and try to let his warm solid presence bring calm.

‘It’s okay,’ he murmurs into your hair. ‘Let it out.’

You’re crying before he finishes the sentence – a quiet, despondent cry that tugs at a grief you’ve felt all too much, not that long ago. 

‘I just—’ you huff on a hard, reluctant sigh. Be open with him. ‘I just know how badly I’m gonna miss him.’

‘Mm, I know. I know. But you’re not alone this time, remember? You have me,’ he says, rubbing your shoulders. He leans into your ear, lips just brushing the delicate shell. ‘And ‘m not going anywhere.’

That drags a full-bodied sob out of you – it’s a battle of emotions. Deep gratitude and an overwhelming love warring away with facing the prospect of time apart from your little green wonder child. With how impossibly lucky you are to have the two of them. 

Din just holds you tight, sways with you a little until you can get your breathing under control. When you release a hefty sigh, he tilts your face up to look at him and swipes the tears from your cheeks with each thumb. You stare into his warm gaze and try to hold your composure. When he leans down to plant a gentle, soft kiss on your lips, you let it wash through you, right down to your feet, where you start to feel a little grounded. 

But still, you just know you’re gonna be a weepy mess for hours, wrangling with a storm of feelings. Din, on the other hand, has a different idea.

‘Ready for another flying lesson?’ he asks.

You sniff, huff out an incredulous sigh. Drop your head to speak into his chest, ‘Just tryin’ t’distract me, aren’t you.’ 

‘Mmhm,’ he murmurs. ‘How ‘bout it? It’ll distract me too.’

That small acknowledgement that he’s feeling it as well piques you. Settles you a bit more. But you’re still upset.

‘S’not gonna work…’ you mumble.

‘Well let’s see okay?’ he says, turning you into his side and starting to walk you back in the direction of the Razor Crest.

Still uncertain, you acquiesce. ‘Okay…’

‘It can’t be done!’ You’re on the verge of yelling. The Crest groans in protest as you tug the control back and climb again, away from the tiny outcropping where you’ve been trying to land it for over an hour.

‘Yes, it can,’ Din tries to assure you. You shoot him an annoyed look. He’s maddeningly calm – a small smile and sparkling eyes telling you he’s enjoying this. He’d pointed out the spot as you’d cruised by. You were dubious to begin with, but now you’re furious. ‘Just bring it in a little sharper.’ 

You bite back the urge to mock his directions and steer the craft over the high ridge, tilt the control’s grips just a touch more to the side for a tighter approach. But the rocky little ledge is coming up too fast, the Crest is going to collide with the overhang, you’re sure of it.

At the last second, you reef it back once more. 

‘Fuck!’ You smack your head into the back of the chair as the ground shrinks away again. You know you’re tilting, each attempt getting sloppier and more rushed as your exasperation grows. Why is Din messing with you like this?

You’d asked Din to continue teaching you to fly. Your brief solo escapades still haunt your dreams as you wonder how you didn’t make a slip and meet your demise is some spectacular crash. You had so much more to learn from him, you’d said.

So why is he messing with you?

‘You can do this,’ he says. 

‘No, that verge is too narrow,’ you insist. ‘It’s gonna fuck the landing gears if I set down there.’

‘It’s not going to—'

‘Are you really going to sacrifice your ship just to make a point?’

‘I’m not sacrificing—’

‘What even is your p--?’

‘Alright, scoot,’ he nudges your shoulder and slides into the pilot chair as you stand. Frustrated, you flop into your passenger seat and watch him even out the boat. His cool demeanor is almost as irritating as him setting you up to fail. He won’t be able to do it either, you’re certain.

Especially, hmmm, especially if you throw him off his game.

‘Din Djarin,’ you announce, with a hostile smirk. ‘If you land it on the first pass… I’ll sit on your face.’

His head whips around and you get a singular second to enjoy his look of shock. But then his features settle into an intense focus and he turns back to the controls, pulling back and maneuvering the ship to an angle with the yaw just slanted into the vertical rise of the ridge. His huge hands on the grips move with a minute precision. He cruises toward the rock-strewn shelf with ease, there is no hesitation at all.

The slant of the boat allows the Crest to clear the overhang and he brings the thrusters over power with gradual intent, slowing it all down so it feels like the ship floats onto the spot. 

At the very last moment, he adds a flourish by giving one quick turn so the ship settles with a perfect view back over toward the distant city and an approaching sunset.

You gawk. All annoyance gone. That was simply stunning.

Smugness cascades off his shoulders. He tips the controls into standby, locks the gears, braces a forearm on a knee and looks back up at you.

‘Think we’re done for the day?’ he asks.

You’ve risen from your chair and are taking little steps back, making to edge out of the cockpit. A playful grin tugs at your mouth.

‘Now Din,’ you start, but in one swift movement he’s out of the flight seat and advancing on you. You laugh and make a break for the door, but there’s no hope. He’s got arms wrapped around your waist before you take a step and you’re hauled into him. Back flush to his front, the beskar armour isn’t the only rock hard thing you feel digging into your flesh.

‘Here?’ you yelp as you’re pulled to the floor.

‘Mmhm,’ he murmurs into your ear, giving it a gentle suck. ‘Right here. Now.’

He lays back on the cool flooring and begins to work at your clothes, yanking the garments of your top half off first and giving your breasts open-mouthed attentions as he urges your pants down. You have to flip off him for a second to kick them free and, the second they clear your ankles, he’s pulling your body back onto him and guiding you up.

He arranges his cloak up around his head and shoulders so your knees are more cushioned, and wraps two strong hands around your thighs to push your already dripping cunt to his face. 

‘Gods, perfect,’ he mutters. ‘So fucking perfect. So good for me.’

Your knees slide on the fabric and you can’t get any purchase on your toes to try to hold yourself up, but he doesn’t seem to care as he urges you to sink down, down.

He starts strong, and stays that way. Tastes and teases and takes. Dragging his tongue through every millimetre of you. Hands wrap right around your legs to open you wider, reach down to spread your slippery folds apart, giving himself all of you.

When you tilt your hips forward to grant him deeper access, your clit grazes his nose and the sensation has you arching and jerking upwards. Like a hot spark making you jump. He lifts his head to follow your movement, never breaking contact and squeezing your thighs again to encourage you to grind down. To rock and ride against him.

Gods, how is he even breathing?

You look down to find him locked onto you, pupils blown out and gaze intent. The sight makes your clit throb and causes a gushing release of juices from within you. His eyes roll back as he tastes it. His tongue delves into you to draw it out, swallowing and moaning.

And that’s fucking it. You plant a hand in his hair and the other behind you on his abs and gasp and whimper as you feel the pleasure intensifying, rising up to meet its peak. It sends you soaring into a symphony of wet bliss, singing from your quivering cunt up through your chest. 

Din plants his feet to prop his knees up behind you. You gratefully collapse back against them, staying completely open and exposed to him. You think dimly about rolling off his face and straddling his hips to give him a show, but you can’t move. And you don’t think he’s going to let you just yet anyway.

So you just close your eyes and revel in the feeling of the light little bites he’s leaving on your inner thighs. He moans softly.

‘Gods, I love you,’ he murmurs against you.

You huff a light laugh. Eyes still closed and head back, ‘You talking to me or just my pussy?’

‘Hah, both, mesh’la,’ he says, licking a delicious path through your soaking folds again. ‘Both.’

‘Ss, hah, hahh. Love, love you t— ah!’ You yelp as he closes his lips around your clit and sucks. 

He doesn’t let up as you buck and cry with abandon – hips jerking of their own volition. It shifts into overstimulation when his tongue sets up a relentless circling on your pulsating bud.

‘Nuh, huh-- too much, too muh!’ You try to make a break, but he’s having none of it, a vice-like grip keeping you in the thrall of a buzzing pleasure that rises again, keeps rising, finds new impossible heights. You’re senseless save for the firebomb in your lower belly about to detonate.  

The scream rips its way out of you and makes itself known to every corner of the cockpit, the rest of the ship, the rocky ridge outside. It makes your own damn ears ring. Or maybe that’s just the blood coursing heavy with your climax. 

Once time and space return to you, you’re a quivering mess. Panting heavy, thinking of all the ways you’re going to get him back for this, when you get the chance. But he’s shifting you gently off him and reaching for your clothes. 

‘Wanna make you cum, Din,’ you whimper. You flop forward to kiss him, tasting yourself with a lick across his lips, his beard, the bridge of his nose. He lets you devour him for a moment but then pulls back.

‘Later, cyar’ika,’ he whispers, pulling your pants across the floor to you. ‘There’s a sunset I want to watch with you, and it will become cold soon.’

In the golden light, you sit together facing out onto the shimmering landscape of home. Mirages form and fade as Navarro’s sun sinks into the horizon. A swirl of breezy air makes its way into the entrance of the Crest.

You do shiver a little in the evening air, but you don’t need to move anywhere. Din shifts and the cloak tightens around you, as do his arms. You never want out of this moment. Neither does he.

The last slivers of daylight are just golden shards piercing the encroaching night, which you’ll spend here – perched on this high outcropping, warm and safe inside the Razor Crest.

You smile. The growing darkness encloses your little patch of light as you and your companion hold onto each other.

--

Prev | Next

And that’s the story of how Din Djarin caused a seismic shift in his religious doctrine just so he could smooch you, among other things.

So I thought for a long time about how to end things for these two and decided this was a good stopping point. I think, ultimately, it’s for you to decide where they go from here. Whether Reader takes a vow or they go on like this, whether they wed, give Grogu siblings, or stay rowdy bounty hunters for years to come. Or all of the above. Or none of it. It’s all valid. The whole overarching theme here is the importance of choice and agency in life, so it’s only fitting to me that the reader – you! – gets to make those choices and hold that agency. The future is yours.

Just know that they will continue to have adventures and grow together, they’ll raise Grogu (and any other little warriors you may wish to add in), and – if one thing is absolutely certain – they will be happy.

[whataboutsimple]

Hey 🥺I saw your confession 🥺for mcsm

I'm the Olivitra anon 🥺

HA! It took me time to get here, I'm so sorry.

Take some sweet Olivetra HC as apology:

Olivia is a shortie, so usually she just climbs onto Petra's back and says Petra where to go so she can grab items from top shelves.

Olivia is a morning person, meanwhile Petra is a night person, but they both try to stay awake as much as possible for each other (Olivia goes to bed later, Petra gets up earlier. Or other way around, Petra goes to bed earlier with Olivia, and Olivia cuddles in the morning with Petra)

Petra once accidently brought home a small harmless slime in her backpack, and they adopt it since than. It's name is Browse.

At some point Axel stopped pulling up pranks on Olivia, because each Petra's revenge was too much to handle.. now Olivia pulls up pranks on Axel, because she knows she's safe doing this:)

Olivia created some sparring mannequins with redstone functionality for Petra.

Petra always brings redstone for Olivia from mines.

They have lots of jointly drawn arts, usually it's something like beautiful landscape of plains and silly cartoon sun above it. Yeah, Petra can't draw and Olivia is a master.

They do each others make up each morning.

Petra has black bracelet with redstone on her wrist, while Olivia has white bracelet with lapis on her ankle.

Petra can't tie a tie or bow tie. Olivia always does it for her.

After some time, Olivia left Redstonia, deciding it's not for her, of course leaving after herself a good ruler. Petra was worried after hearing the news, but also relieved her gf will be with her.

As soon as Olivia left Redstonia, they built a small, but cozy house in the woods, pretty far from any civilization.

They went to advanture together, though Petra was choosing less dangerous, so Olivia won't get hurt.

When Petra goes to dangerous adventure, Olivia stays home and leads her experiments with redstone.

One day she made something similar to PAMA, a little friendly computers, who's only purpose to remember information it was told and maybe talk with Olivia from time to time.

When Petra got back, she had a small panick attack from memories of PAMA. She never told before what happened there, not it Olivia at least, and never shared how much it traumatized her.

Olivia suggested to get rid off the computer, but Petra refused, saying it's a big accomplishment for Olivia, and she can handle with it.

It took her some time, but she got used to little guy and even started talking to it.

Sometimes they get back to BeaconTown, Olivia meets up with Axel and Petra with Jack. It always ends up with them both getting home happy.

When it comes to crops, Petra always the one doing the work, and Olivia silently watches, adoring her gf strength.

Living in the woods has it's advantages, like a chance for lots of lazy days. They cuddle with each other, while Olivia reads some books out loud.

That's it I guess.. I love these girls<3

[miamochi-writes]

Daycare Snacks Vash AU Part 6

“Hey y/n! Cancel whatever you have going on this weekend. I did a little something for you,” your friend Cora said excitedly.

“Cora…what did you do?” You asked dreading what she did this time.

“Well…I may have set you up with someone,” she started.

“YOU WHAT?!”

~*~

Here you were dining at a nice restaurant in one of your best outfits on a Saturday night, but with the worst company possible.

Your friend Cora managed to set you up on a blind date that she found while visiting her boyfriend. She did your hair, made you wear one of your green velvet crop tops with a black skirt and black heeled ankle boots. Cora then gave you a lecture about trying not to bail out on your date or trying not to leave midway since she worked hard on finding someone and getting his number. You loved her, but you wanted to choose who you date at your own time. This date was one of the main reasons why you wanted to pick and choose and not her.

You tried to stay open minded when you met your date at the restaurant, hoping that maybe this was the one time your friend actually helped you. Your date looked decent. He was a tall brunette with curly hair and a slight muscular tan build with green eyes. He wore a denim jacket with a white v neck and black denim pants with sneakers.

“You must be y/n?” he asked.

“Yes and you must be Axel?” you asked.

“Yes, Cora told me a bit about you, but I must say you’re much more attractive in person,” he remarked.

“Thanks, you look good too,” you complimented.

“A gentleman always has to look his best,” he added.

You don’t know why, but something about that comment made your stomach do knots, but you brushed it off.

“Come on, let’s head inside,” he said as you followed along. The waiter brought you to your table and sat you down while handing you the menus.

“Have you ever eaten here before?” Axel asked.

“No not really, but I’ve been wanting to. I head it’s hard to get a reservation here. Like you have to reserve it months in advance almost!” you explained.

“Well, I know some people and they kinda owe me some favors,” he explained.

“Cool! So what do you do?” you ask.

“I work at a bank, but I model on the side if the Nike’s shoes didn’t give it away,” he commented as you looked at him.

“Oh...nice, I work with kids at a daycare,” you commented.

“Hm, not something you hear every day,” he remarked as he looked a the menu.

“Yeah, but it makes me happy. Especially when they grow up and start learning how to read, write, or inspire them to do what they want in life, you know?” you explained.

“Okay, I see where you’re going. Tell me more after we order. It’s on me,” he said.

“Oh okay,” you replied as you looked at the delicious food they had to offer. Honestly you wanted to try one of their steaks or their house special pasta.

“I think I want one of the pastas if you don’t mind,” you told him.

“Sure,” he said as the waiter came up to your table.

“How are you two doing? May I get you anything?” he asked.

“Yes, we’ll have 2 glasses of your best wine, and I’ll have the steak while she’ll have the salad,” Axel said.

“Wait a minute, that’s not,” you reasoned.

“We’ll let you know if you need anything else,” Axel added as he shooed the waiter off.

“Hey, that’s now what I asked for,” you mentioned.

“Yes, but you look good right now. It’d be a shame if we got too full,” Axel remarked as you instantly started regretting showing up.

Turned out Axel came from a slightly well off family, and happened to meet Cora and her boyfriend at a party. He said he was open to dating, but apparently he was very picky.

“I like someone who can maintain themselves physically.”

“Oh you like playing video games? I didn’t take you for someone to be so child like,”

“Maybe those kids are rubbing off on you, and not in a good way,”

“Why don’t you get a more serious job?”

You practically didn’t eat much of your salad since Axel’s comments ruined your appaetite. Plus you practically finished your wine with how the date was going. You couldn’t take anymore of this.

“Excuse me Axel, I gotta use the restroom and touch up on my makeup,” you said heading to the table with your phone.

You went into one of the bathroom stalls and messaged your only lifeline right now.

“Hey, remember how I told you I was busy? My plans went downhill, I’m not having a great time,” you messaged.

“Where are you? I can pick you up as soon as I can,” he said with a running emoji

“Thanks Vash, you’re a lifesaver! Sending you my location!”

“Okay, give me 15 minutes! :)” he replied.

Hey, at least you stayed this long throughout one of your blind dates. You sighed and mentally prepared yourself on going back to Axel. As you walked back, he was on his phone, but once he heard you come back he put it away.

“So where were we?” Axel said as you fought the urge not to roll your eyes.

“Something about you?” you half joked.

“Oh right! Yeah since I model, why don’t you? You got the looks, besides you don’t need that dumb daycare job anyway,” he commented.

Before you could answer, the waiter came back with the bill.

“No desserts?” Axel asked.

“No I’m ready to go,” you sighed as he paid the bill with his card.

Axel then led you outside as you kept checking your phone on the time.

“But yeah, think about it y/n, you wouldn’t really be wasting your looks and potential if you thought about modeling. I’m just saying,” Axel continued.

“Uh Axel, thanks but no thanks. I actually like my daycare job since I feel like I’m actually doing something. Plus I want to be known for more than my looks,” you replied with a bit of growing frustration.

“You know, I was going to overlook your job and give you another shot, but clearly you’re not worth it. Good luck finding another better date than me y/n, because I highly doubt it with that attitude of yours,” Axel said as he got a little to close to you.

Before you could do or say thing back you felt a hand on your shoulder.

“There you are, hope I’m not interrupting anything,” a cheery voice said.

You looked to your side and there he was with the unforgettable smile.

Vash was wearing his usual orange glasses while he was wearing a slightly loose gray top with a red leather jacket and black pants with some brown combat boots. He did a pose where he stood by you and had his other hand slightly pull down his orange shades as he was trying to get a good look at the situation unfolding.

“Hi there, and no you just came right in time,” you told him looking up and flashing him a smile.

“Ugh, whatever, she’s your problem now,” Axel said as he walked away.

“What’s his deal?” Vash asked as he pointed his thumb at him.

“It’s a long story, but I want to get out of here so bad,” you complained just thinking about what Axel said.

“Sure, but for the record, you’re not a problem. Any guy would be lucky enough to have you as a date,” Vash complimented as you felt your face getting hot all of a sudden.

“Thanks, I can say the same to you. You're a much better option than him. Plus, you even dress better than him,” you told him as you slightly looked away.

“Well I’m glad you messaged me. Hopefully I can try to make your night a bit better,” he added.

“Trust me, you already are,” you mentioned.

~GROWL~

Of course, your stomach just had to embarrass you in front of Vash in front of a nice restaurant that you didn’t really get to eat at.

“I’m so-” you tried to apologize.

“DID HE STARVE YOU?” Vash asked as he grabbed your shoulders with his eyes widened.

You were startled by this as you tried to speak.

“He said he would cover dinner. But when I tried to order what I wanted, he ordered a small salad for me. He told me I should keep my figure and not get too full,” you explained as Vash let go of you.

He was beyond horrified at what you told him as he pulled out his phone and looked at you with his orange shades hiding his eyes and showing your reflection.

“What do you want to eat?” he asked dead serious.

You looked at the time and realized it was getting late to where most food places were closed.

“Uhh I wanted something Italian earlier,” you shyly answered.

Vash was going through his phone and then pulled out his car keys.

“I know just the place that’s open late enough for us to go eat at,” Vash said as he beckoned you to follow him.

Vash drove you to a modern Italian restaurant that was short of a drive. The place was in the middle of a shopping strip that had a modern brick exterior. Inside the place was dimly light with vintage bulbs that emitted warm colors with off white wallpaper. The ceiling had dark wooden beams holding the top together while the booths were black and comfortably cushioned with a dark table accompanying it. Oddly enough, the place had a bar in the middle where two workers were behind running the cashier.

“Hi Vash! Haven’t seen you in awhile! And who’s this pretty girl?” one of the guys asked.

“Hi Chad! This is my friend. She had a rough night and needs something good to eat,” Vash answered as he waved.

“Well take a seat and we’ll be right with you!” Chad said as Vash led you to a booth.

“You’re a regular here?” you asked looking around.

“Yeah, I would come here alot while in college. Especially if I was celebrating. This place has the best Italian food,” he said as Chad brought the menus.

“So what would you like to drink?” Chad asked.

“I’ll have some soda,” Vash said.

“I’ll have some too please,” you asked.

“Okay and Vash I assume you want your usual?” Chad asked.

“You know it,” he replied.

“Actually, I think I know what I want too. Give me your pasta special,” you added.

“Good choice, you can’t go wrong with it,” Chad said as he went to the kitchen to bring your drinks.

“Okay, so what happened?” Vash asked.

“The longest and worst date possible,” you began as Chad brought your drinks.

You told Vash about how Axel was the complete opposite of a “gentleman” that he was. You told him how he thought the daycare job was dumb, that playing video games was childish, how he emphasized looks over everything, and that the daycare kids were a bad influence. Each time you told Vash something, his face either looked disgusted or just shook to the core.

“Like thanks for taking me on a date where I couldn’t even order what I wanted at a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try and then just insult me and my job,” you finished as you took a sip of your soda.

“What a jerk, I still can’t believe he did that,” Vash said.

“I know, but I can’t thank you enough for showing up so last minute. I’m sorry, if I disrupted your plans,” you added.

“You don’t have to apologize over anything. I was just chilling at my apartment. Besides, now I get to introduce you to this place,” he continued.

Soon Chad brought out your meals. Vash’s pizza was steaming at the core and looked extra good with how thick and cheesy the dough was. Your plate looked delectable as you could practically smell the ingredients and felt your mouth watering with how good it looked.

“Enjoy!” Chad cheered as he walked off.

“Oh and y/n, you’re more than welcome to try a slice of my pizza,” Vash offered.

“I’ll take you up on that after I have a few bites,” you said as you grabbed a fork and ate some of your food.

You let out an “mmmm” as you closed your eyes and enjoyed the savory taste of your meal as you practically melted with how good it was.

“This is so much better than that dumb salad that jerk ordered,” you commented as you went in for another bite.

Vash chuckled at your reaction, yet he kept gazing at you with his ocean eyes and adored your little reaction. He loved that he could bring your mood up as he introduced you to one of his favorite places to eat.

“Told you it was good,” Vash said as he tore off two slices of his pizza and handed a slice to you.

“Thank you! Yours looks and smells good too!” you mentioned as you grabbed your slice.

“Cheers to a better Saturday night?” Vash offered to toast with his food.

“A better Saturday night with you,” you chimed and tapped his slice with yours and began eating.

“This is also really good! The texture, the flavors, and it’s fresh from the oven” you commented smiling ear to ear.

Again, Vash just smiled at you fondly as he took a bite of his food.

“Glad it’s not too cheesy of me to offer,” he joked.

You chuckled so hard that you had to hold your side and look down.

“Vash, I can’t believe you did not just- you’re such a goofball,” you couldn’t help but laugh. As corny as it was, it was too good with the way he timed his delivery. Vash tried to stifle his laugh along but failed miserably. He liked that we was able to get you laugh.

“So does this mean I’m the better option than your date?” he asked half jokingly yet half serious.

“Ugh, enough about him. He probably would have thrown me another insult about how carbs are bad or something. You’re clearly a much better date than him,” you replied as you kept eating.

That caught Vash off guard as he got flustered and scratched the back of his neck. Oh how his ego was growing slowly.

“The audacity that he would pick something else for you when you clearly told him what you wanted,” Vash said.

“I know, and the whole video games thing. What a killjoy,” you added as you ate more of your food.

“Oh speaking of video games, I got a copy of House of Ashes this week,” he mentioned as he took another bite.

“Oh really? I think I heard about it. What’s it about?” you asked.

“It’s a survival horror game where you try to keep the characters alive while the story plays out. The game is part of a series but you can play them in any order since they don’t really need to know or play any of the previous games to play this one,” Vash explained.

“Oh that sounds cool! Kinda sounds like something I would play,” you mentioned.

“Well if you’re not doing anything after this, want to play the game with me? It has a co-op option,” he suggested while looking at you.

“Sure! I’d love to if you don’t mind me,” you replied as Vash looked like he struck gold.

“Perfect, well no rush in eating. I want you to enjoy your meal,” he said as you nodded and kept eating.

You enjoyed Vash’s company and how easily you could be comfortable with him. Even with his corny jokes and puns, you were having a much better time than earlier. Plus, you got to have amazing food that you actually wanted.

By the time you were done, both of you managed to finish your meals while getting to try each other’s dishes a few times. Chad came to your table and picked up your plates.

“And just a little something extra, here’s some of our tiramisu cake. It’s on the house,” Chad said as he brought out a plate from behind him.

“Wait what?” you asked looking at Vash.

“Don’t worry there miss, we overheard how bad your date was. We’re just glad Vash brought someone who would appreciate our food. And know that you are always more than welcomed to eat here,” he added as he both gave you forks and walked away.

“Oh my gosh, this is so sweet,” you commented.

“No pun intended?” Vash asked with finger guns as you slightly kicked him.

“Nice one joker,” you playfully told him as you grabbed a bite.

“Wow, that’s one of the best I’ve had in a while,” you noted as Vash took bite.

“Again, you can’t go wrong with the food here. They make things fresh by hand every day,” he added as you enjoyed the sweet coffee flavor. Chad came back with the bill as you pulled out your card. As you put your card down, Vash’s hand was already down on the bill with his card. You noticed his fingertips were barely touching your hand as you felt yourself blushing.

“Sorry y/n but you gotta be quicker than that,” Vash commented as Chad took his card while you put your card away with a pout.

“Just let me treat you,” Vash insisted.

“But you’ve been treating me since the cafe,” you pouted trying to get your blush to go away.

“You will, you just gotta be quicker,” he teased as he closed his eyes and flashed a smile.

“I’ll get you one day Vash, you won’t see it coming,” you remarked.

“I look forward to it,” he replied as Chad came back with the card and Vash signed off on the bill.

You both stepped outside for some fresh air and did a small stretch where part of your lower midriff showed. Vash noticed and had to look away as he was starting to turn red from the neck up.

“That was so good Vash, thank you for taking me here!” you told him.

“Sure! So now that you’re well fed, now we can play that new game together,” he said as he walked you to his car and drove you to his place.

~*~

“And here we are, this is my place,” Vash gestured you inside as you looked around.

By the entrance he had a coat rack where you noticed some of his hoodies and other red coats were hanging on. You decided to hang your bag on the rack and remove your shoes. His living room was neatly decorated with a coffee table that had a few books. he had a wide tv that looked moderately expensive with a Playstation 5 cubby within the TV stand. Across from it was a nice gray couch with a blanket neatly made on the side. His white walls were decorated with some band posters you sorta recognized while he also had some fan art of games and shows that you talked about like Persona, Avatar the Last Airbender, Pokemon, and some framed photographs. Connecting his living room was the kitchen that had a black wooden dining table with a red paperweight, 2 chairs, and the kitchen necessities next to it. Overall it looked really neat and organized.

“Nice place you got here,” you commented as you took a seat on the couch.

“Thanks, it’s nice to have some company every now and then,” he commented as he went to the tv stand. He pulled out the game he mentioned and two PlayStation controllers. He turned on the PlayStation and walked towards the couch

“Here you go,” he handed you one controller after he pushed the logo so it can start up.

He then sat next to you and booted up the gaming console and controllers. He inserted the game and you noticed it gave off a mysterious vibe.

“Okay you can be player 2, I’ll be player 1. It’ll be story first, but I’ll teach you on what you need to do,” he explained.

The game started off with setting the scene in a desert area back in the day. You noticed you controlled one of the characters while Vash controlled another character. The game then prompted you to make a decision on saving a civilian or hurting her.

“Okay, I’ll save them,” you mentioned as you made your choice.

Later in the scene, you had a timed decision on whether you escaped or not.

“Y/n, you have 3 seconds to pick,” Vash mentioned.

“Wait what? Just 3?!” you said as you panicked on whether to click the button or not to perform the action. You didn’t make it in time as the scene played out and you saw how this decision will affect the game later.

“Wait, my decision is going to come back and affect me later? I did’t know it was this kind of game?” you told him as he chuckled.

“Don’t worry, it’s your first time. Just do what you think is best,” he advised.

After a cutscene, the game brought you to the next setting where everything was modern and took place in the year 2003. You got to know the characters but they weren’t really too likeable, but your main objective was to save them all from these weird monsters. Throughout the game you had quick timed events where you either had to press the right button, perform a repetitive action, or make a decision in less than 5 seconds. For the most part this is what the night consisted of:

“Wait I have to press the button multiple times? It looks like they’re heart beat!” you mentioned.

“Yeah, you have to calm the character down or else something happens,” Vash said.

“What happens if I don’t follow?” you ask.

“Mmm why don’t you find out?” he teased.

You stressfully followed the action prompt as you were nervous not to mess up. You almost slipped up, but managed to follow everything as you let you a huge sigh of relief.

“Glad that’s over, that was stressful,” you commented as you slightly slumped over.

“Oh you’ll have to do it again,” he added.

“Are you kidding me?!” you asked.

~

“Hey y/n, what are you going to do?” Vash asked.

“Ugh, I kinda don’t want to save them but...” you trailed off.

“Y/n, that’s my character,” Vash explained.

“That’s you right now? I thought you were the other character?” you asked as you instantly chose to save him.

“We switch characters from time to time remember?” he asked.

“Thank god you’re here because I’m lost,” you told him.

~

“Come on y/n! You can do this! You just have to button mash!” Vash cheered.

Your character had to escape one of the monsters as you were getting nervous on pulling this off. Your thumb was practically pushing the button constantly as Vash kept encouraging you until your character finally made it through.

“I DID IT! I didn’t die! Did you see that?!” you asked as you jumped up and down while Vash cheered and hyped you up.

“There you go! I knew you could do it!” he said as he gave you a high five.

~

The next scene you had another monster coming after you, and you had to aim one of the weapons at the monsters.

“Vash I can’t do this, I’m not good at shooting like you are,” you mentioned already dreading with how this was going to end.

“Do you need help?” he asked.

“Yes,” you begged him as you shot him a worried look. He scooted closer to you and held your hands on the controller.

“Okay deep breathe. You’re going to aim and the game is going add some resistance, so keep trying to lock them in,” Vash guided you as you tried to lock in.

“Now, once the mark lands on that monster, you’re going to shoot by pushing the R2 trigger here okay?” he continued and tapped on where your right index finger was resting so you knew what to push. You were concentrating for dear life as you tried to get the cursor to land on the target. Once it did, you immediately pushed the trigger and got the monster as it screamed.

“It worked!” you cheered as another quick time event came up, but for Vash. Vash grabbed his controller and pressed the right button as he helped kill off the monster.

“We got him! Thank you Vash!” you exclaimed happily as he paused the game to see you get excited.

“Teamwork makes the dream work,” he commented as you sat back down next to him as you let out a small yawn.

“How long have we been playing this?” you asked him.

“It’s a little past 2am,” he checked the clock as you were surprised at how long you were playing the game.

“Wow that long? It felt like 30 minutes, and we're not even done with the game,” you told him.

“Well, we can pause right here and continue another time if you want?” he asked.

“Yeah, let’s meet up another time when you’re free! I’m available next week,” you mentioned.

“Perfect, now let’s get you back home,” he said as started putting on his shoes while you followed after him.

When he opened the door, he noticed how chilly it was and looked at you as you were getting ready with your shoes and bag.

He went to the coat rack and grabbed one of his red sweaters and handed it to you.

“Here, its cold outside, and I don’t want you getting sick,” Vash insisted.

“Oh, are you sure?” you asked.

“Yeah, I rather you be warm. I insist,” he added as you put on the jacket.

You both walked down to his car and sat in the passenger seat. Vash’s Spotify started playing, “There is a Light That Never Goes Out,” by The Smiths as you got lost in your thoughts with everything that happened today. You had a horrible date, but Vash managed to salvage your night with what he had to offer and you felt yourself smiling at him on the way back while he was focused on driving.

By the time you made it back to your apartment, Vash walked you up to your door as the moon was shining brightly in the night.

“Thank you for coming to get me Vash. I had a really great night with you, even after everything that happened before,” you told him as you looked into his blue eyes.

“Anytime, I’m glad I could see you and have fun. Now I’m looking forward to seeing you again so we can finish that game together,” Vash added.

“Me too, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” you mentioned. You honestly had no idea what came over you, but you walked up to Vash and gave him a hug. You were just happy to spend time with him after tonight, you felt your heart race. You then felt him reciprocate the hug as he gave you a quick tiny squeeze as you smiled from ear to ear. Once you felt him let go, you did as well as you stepped back and got a good look of him. He looked beautiful with the way he was smiling fondly at you, and maybe there was something on his cheeks that you couldn’t quite make out. 

“Good night y/n, I’ll see you again soon,” Vash waved.

“Good night Vash, I’ll see you soon. Drive safe and message me when you get back home safely,” you waved.

He went down the stairs as you watched him leave. You then opened your door, and put down your bad and removed your shoes. You walked straight into your room and landed on your bed. Your mind was recalling everything that happened and you couldn’t wipe off the smile that plastered your face. After 10 minutes, you felt your phone vibrate to see Vash messaged you.

“Made it home safe! Good night y/n :)”

“Good night Vash :)”

You held your phone to your chest as you noticed your heart was racing slightly just thinking about him and the next time you see him. He was definitely one of the best dates you had so far.

Hi everyone! Thanks again for reading! I apologize for taking so long with this! I’m finally feeling better now, and I’ll be posting the other oneshot I have later this weekend! Again this was based off of one my experiences (yes, one of my dates very much didn’t listen what I had to say and ordered for me in the worst way possible). Hope you enjoy and have a great weekend! :)

@marydragneell​

[gofancyninjaworld]

Webcomic Chapter 143 Review

Fetch yourself a cup of tea or beverage of choice: this is a long one.

Story Summary

In brief, we are staying with the scenes of the last chapter, and have moved our viewpoint to take in the responses of various heroes from the two organisations as they try to deal with the influx of killer robots as the latter scythe down civilians and pulverise buildings.

Straight away, we see very different fates play out. Lightning Max cautiously sizes up a single robot and tries to work out who best to tackle one that shrugs off his blows nonchalantly, but soon a sea of robots approach, driving before them a wave of panicked civilians. Max's feet are shot out from under him and he is surely at the end as a robot takes aim at him, but...

No lie, when I first saw these panels I felt so ill I had to stop reading for a few minutes

... the shot is absorbed by an armoured figure and Mumen Rider -- no Neo Mumen now -- protects him. He carries Max off to safety.

Around the various locals, it is a similar story of pro-heroes struggling to make headway against the robots, only to find Neo Heroes sweep in to make short work of them. Even former pro-heroes (we met this lot suffering in chapter 138) who've taken up with the Neo Heroes are finding it easy.

Who needs courage or skill when you've got tech?

The situation reaches its apogee with Tank Top Master. He finds it easy enough to destroy the robots, but is prevented from ploughing through them by needing to defend his comrades who were felled after mistaking approaching figures for escaping civilians. He's desperate to fight back but moving means abandoning his comrades to die.

what a bind!

Relief arrives in the form of the Neo Hero Hunter group, but with it comes real ugliness. The Hunters start mincing up the robots and are hailed as the true heroes of the day by the present civilians. Fair enough, however, when Tank Top Master asks for help moving his comrades to safety so he can join the offence, only to be so rudely rebuffed the man is left stunned into silence.

Tank Top Master is really too nice

The chapter closes with Axel's thoughts as he and his team destroy the robots. He sees this as the start of a society kept safe from monsters by universally-worn power armour from the Neo Heroes. If the world has changed, then so must mankind.

And he will permit no one to stand in the way of this vision.

Oh. Dear.

Much more below the cut!

Meta: Roundup Ready

A: So this is how you kill an organisation

Unless something big and wonderful happens, today is the day the Hero Association dies. Its destruction has been as systematic as watching a once well-unionised trade be dismantled.

The Neo-Heroes didn't do it all on their own. They've been aided by a press that has highlighted every scandal and flow of the Hero Association (ably aided by data breaches -- cough McCoy cough) while fawning uncritically over the Neo Heroes. The government has been persuaded to dilute the Hero Association's position by giving the Neo Heroes the same rights once only entrusted to the HA.

They have then stolen away sponsors and enticed away pro-heroes with lavish salaries, equipment, free housing, and even clothing and food. They've run a slick public relations campaign the HA can't hope to match and have stolen public approbation from the HA.

And then they've gone a lot further. At some plausible remove, someone has been systematically unleashing cybernetically-enhanced monsters (and now robots) onto the populace. These threats have been marked by their ferocity and destructiveness when faced by pro-heroes, and their willingness to lie down and die when confronted by Neo Heroes, making even inexperienced fighters feel powerful and leaving an impression on the public. [1]

RoundUp Ready is the Monsanto trademark for its patented line of genetically modified crop seeds that are resistant to its glyphosate-based herbicide, Roundup. By deploying a cybernetically-enhanced campaign of terror, pro-heroes are being culled like weeds [2].

It is no accident at all that the three S-Class heroes who succeeded in defeating the dragon-level threats sent simultaneously to several cities, Tatsumaki, Flashy Flash, and Genos, are precisely the heroes sent on special missions when they are most needed on the front lines.

In Genos's case, he's been sent on the sort of mission designed to finish off whatever lingering credibility the Hero Association has. At the very best, deadly infighting is a foul look on any organization. At the worst, his destroying Metal Knight's arsenal (and maybe Bofoi too) will remove the only source of systematic mass defense the Hero Association has. No matter how things turn out between Genos and Metal Knight, only the Organization wins.

This is how the bad guys win. There are more ways to defeat a hero than engaging them in head-on combat. [3] The bad guys don't care in the slightest about the value of the human lives they've destroyed to achieve this. For Tumblr readers, I've spoken about it here.

B: Brave New Techno World

On the one level, a conflict like the one between the Hero Association and the Neo Heroes was always going to come. We've learned that monsters have long been part of the Earth, and so long as humans aren't being excessive, they're happy not to attack humanity.

In a world where monster attacks were sporadic, the Hero Association, with its emphasis on finding and supporting exceptional individuals to be heroes, was a brilliant innovation. In a world where monster attacks have become endemic, there was always going to be pressure to move away from dedicated amateurs to a more standardized, professional response.

However, as we've seen, the magnitude of the threat has been artificially worsened. Also, as we've noticed, the ultimate goal of the founder of the Neo Heroes, Mr Fuzzy, is control.

World Dominion: an oldie but goodie. And damn is he being clever about it.

Once the actual heroes are gone, with the politicians and businesses bought, there's little preventing the Neo Heroes (or more precisely, the powers behind them) from becoming an oppressive force keeping the populace in line.

Any protests from within can be silenced by cyborgization. Any protests from without... Ah, remember when Raiden tried to take in Puri Puri and his men for forcible thought correction? Remember the stupid people cheering the prospect?

This is the note-perfect way to introduce unjust laws: inflict them first on those society does not respect, not thinking that laws apply to *everyone*, not just the ones we don't like. There will be no wrong thought in this brave new world.

All the bits are in place: the satellite surveillance, the instruments of terror, the legal right to act with impunity, the conspiracy of other powerful organisations working in the shadows.

It'll be a brave new world all right. You may be alive and tech-savvy, but you won't be free. And you'll like it.

Or else.

The only question is: How is our titular hero going to deal with this? Against an evil that seemingly has no form? I guess we'll have to pray ONE is minded to give us more soon!

Asides

[1] We see what happens when the Neo Heroes face non-nobbled opposition. It often doesn't go well, not even against regular monsters:

[2] This development puts a much more sinister cast on the delegation that sought Mumen Rider to press on him a specially-modified Neo suit. It's as if they knew the cull was coming.

[3] Yes, there are wildcards such as Saitama, Garou, and even Sonic, but the enemy knows something that the Hero Association understands well: without credibility, a hero is just a weirdo ranting in the street no matter how strong they are. A discredited hero is no threat.

[ohshy]

Just so ya know you’ve asked for it

WHO’S YOUR TOP 3 FAVORITE BOXERS

MAY WE SEE THE WOMEN’S CIRCUIT AND WHOSE DESIGN ARE YOU MOST PROUD DOF FROM THAT

And finally who would be trusted to watch your kid to watch your children most to least with both men and women circs (hypothetically)

(Giving an anon emoji sign off bc why not statue of litterby )

-🗽

ALRIGHT BUCKLE UP ANON AND THE REST thisll b a long one

king hippo (Duh)

von kaiser

hmmmm thats a tough one uhhhh probably either bear hugger, disco kid, aran ryan or soda popinksi !! but id i had to pick, rn itd b (joe biden voice) SODA !!!!

and now for the womens circuit !!!!

Ok so... starting with the challenger, Cassidy Cornfield !

hailing from farley, iowa, shes a little off her rocker. She believes she was put on earth by aliens to box. Though, this is likely just smth she made up as a result of a vivid dream she had when chowing down one too many corn nobs! Speaking of corn, she WILL talk your ear off about all the supposed ‘’proof’’ she has of alien existence, like the crop circles that show up frequently around her hometown. That being said, she IS determined to prove herself for her alien overlords, so prepare for a challenge!

She's modeled after glass corn, which looks like this (thanks to charlie for that idea !!):

Other details include...

her full name is Cassidy C. Campbell (she won't tell what the C stands for)

she's of irish/cherokee descent

they are a tiny straw weight standing at 5'2 feet and weighing 90 lbs, and an adult little mac trains her !!

Speaking of little mac, unlike him, she had to wait a year to get her boxing license for her 18th birthday. She simply doesn't look old for her age😔 Poor girl still gets handed the childrens menu at restaurants as well!

Her gimmick is that when charged with enough punching power, she can unleash a painful series of punches known as the ‘’Glass corn combo’’. think hondo rush, except like the star punch, it cant be countered, only avoided.

Next up, Beauty Bling !!!

All bling and no brawn !

I've posted her bio before, so i'll keep it brief; basically shes macho man's fame monger younger sister, and unfortunately for her, shes all bling and no brawn! Despite herself though, she's no quitter! She once pulled many all nighters trying to figure out computer science, and now it's one of her biggest hobbies !

other little factoids about her are...

her full name is Brittany Anita Jones

Cis woman, she/her

shes mixed white/native hawaiian (i hc macho to be white/native hawaiian as well).

She's modeled after 00s/y2k fashion

talks like a valley girl

talks on her phone during intermissions. will either b calling her dad or her friends.

Gimmick: Similarly to glass joe, she has poor defense and rarely attacks. Her special attack is her stepping back, moving a hand through her hair, and saying ''Ready to be punched in style?'' and releasing a very easily avoidable uppercut.

Will also say ''rude!'' when you avoid her punch

Next... Axelerator !!!!

The Mighty Mechanic!

This Welsh wrestling-watching mechanic from Cardiff packs a meaner punch than his predecessor ! Too bad this motor mouth gets so excited he can’t resist calling out his attacks every time he throws a punch ! But hey, gotta put on a good show, just like those cool wrestlers on tv !

other factoids about him...

his full name is Axel Cadogan

21 years old

hes a cis woman but goes by he/him pronouns bc hes swag like that

stands at 5 foot tall and weighs 220 lbs.

he wears a mechanic outfit as his boxing uniform.

Gets flustered really damn easily. Especially around hot women. 

Gimmick: Basically a huge motor mouth (haha geddit) who calls out all of his attacks, and gives you plenty of time to avoid them. You do gotta watch out which way you dodge, though. Next up, Silver Hook and Scallywag !!!!!

The Meanest Hook Of The Seven Seas !

Ever since she was a little girl, she wanted to be just like the pirates from the stories she read all the time. This of course, includes having a parrot, which she affectionately named Scallywag. Unfortunately, Scallywag keeps running her mouth and telegraphing her owner’s moves ! Despite this, however, Silver can’t stand the thought of not having her emotional support parrot by her side. 

Other factoids about her:

Her real name is Maria Bermudez

Cis woman, she/her

shes 29 years old

stands at 6'2 feet and weighs 200 pounds

from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Her parrot is a Black-legged parrot. She’s had it since she was 5 years old.

Brings her parrot literally everywhere

Gimmick: Sure, she might be faster than Axel, but she's still a rather predictable fighter who telegraphs her attacks very clearly. You do gotta watch better which way you dodge, though. When the parrot says ''left!'', well, you better watch your left.

Up Next, the minor circuit champion, Dancing Queen !!!!!

Lay All Your Gloves On Me ~

A huge fan of ABBA, if that wasn’t already obvious, veteran Queen’s entire gimmick is based on that of 70’s pop and disco. She’s also by far the happiest person of perhaps the entire WVBA, despite being arguably the lowest ranking champion of all circuits. Some even theorize that she’d be happy, even if she was THE lowest ranked boxer. That’s because everytime she gets in the ring, she’s 17 again. That’s just how happy those Swedes are !

Other factoids:

Her real name is Heidi Karlsson

She's a trans lady, she/her

shes's 45 years old

she stands at 6'4 ft and weighs 215 lbs.

From Jönköping, Sweden

Always seen smiling. Always.

Became a boxer partially to let our her frustrations about disco fading away as a trend

Gimmick: she has a special move called the criss cross punch, where she diagonally raises her fist to punch you and then the other, similiarly to that iconic disco dance.

____________ Now for the major circuit !!!

Disclaimer: I do Not have designs or certain info for the majority of the characters from here on out. Please bare w/ me

Next up, Black and Bunraku !!!!! (props to charlie for the name)

A Boxer based on the japanese art of bunraku, Black and Bunraku actually consists of ''two fighters''; A puppet who hits you, and the puppeteer who controls the puppets movements, covered from head to toe in black. As a result, the woman's identity is a real mystery.

Other factoids:

Refuses to say her real name, age, height and weight, instead letting the puppet do all the talking.

From Osaka, Japan. This is also where the biggest bunraku theatre is located.

Gimmick: Hitting the puppet won't do anything. Once you figure out the trick to hitting her in the head, she's a fairly easy opponent to take down.

Next up: Nike the Great !!!!! A threatrical tirant and a complete history and art geek, Nike longs to be a wise philosopher slash theater actor like the ancient Greeks, with a boxing twist. Her stage name ‘’Nike’’, meaning victory in Greek, is one she holds because she is sure to be the victor, despite only being in the lower major circuit. Oh well, confidence is a stepping stone to success, right?

Other factoids:

Her real name is Nikki Ioannidis

She identifies as a nonbinary woman, she/he/they

27 years old

She stands at 6'0 feet and weighs 220 lbs.

From Athens, Greece

HUGE rivals with Narcis Prince. only ONE can wear the V for victory and that's HER.

Huge rivals with A Lot of people, including Monarch Mayhem (keep reading to see her bio !!)

During her intermissions and fights, she'll show you some of the art she's made, like painted vases. If you punch it out of her hands, she’ll get REAL mad though, so watch yourself !

Gimmick: Pretty clean fighter, outside of the fact she brings art into the ring. Hey, she's an artist after all !

Up next, Moto Mauler, The Electrifying Biker !!!!!!

This biker chick loves nothing more than the rush of the road and the wind in her hair ! and a good tussle of course. She will make sure to knock you out with the great speed she feels on her motor cycle.

Other factoids:

Her real name's Nguyen Lihn

She's a trans woman, she/her

24 years old

She stands at 5'9 ft and weighs 170 lbs.

From Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

During her intermissions, she'll talk about how beautiful the sights are and how you oughta be quicker on your feet.

She gets along swimmingly w/ Axel bc duh. mechanic x biker chick, cant go wrong w/ that right?

Gimmick: Clean fighter, outside of entering the ring on a motorcycle. Will try to exhaust you with quick jabs, and when you're tired, releases a series of punches to take you down.

Lastly, Monarch Mayhem, The Monarch of the Major Circuit !!!

Formerly known as Butterfly Bash :3

An unsuccesful artist turned boxer, Monarch Mayhem brings her frustrations into the ring, and with success! She is the crown jewel of the Major Circuit after all. That being said, she will NOT let you forget she's an artist! She will try to hypnotize you with stunning butterfly patterns on her sleeves made by herself of course, and dodge equally elegantly. At least the boxing crowd appreciates her !

Other factoids:

Cis woman, she/her

She's 31 years old

She stands at 6'1 ft and weighs 175 lbs.

From Calabar, Nigeria

Gimmick: Like i said, she'll try to stun you with hypnotizing patterns on her sleeves. The way to avoid this is to block your face, otherwise you'll get dizzy and become incapacitated ! Additionally, she does a lot of fake-outs, making her a formidable champion.

_____________

Now for the world circuit !!!

First off, Scarlet Fever, The Bad Omen !!!!!! Clad with arguably the most unorthodox boxing wear, a robe with a plague doctor mask, Scarlet Fever serves as an omen that the next opponents you’re about to face are the real deal. Other factoids:

Trans woman, she/her

She's 55 years old

Stands at 6'7 ft and weighs 210 lbs.

From Florence, Italy

Doesn’t speak, but does speak in Italian sign language.

Also does plenty of hand gestures in the ring

Secondly, Flossin' Fury, The Mental Dental Case !!!!!

After getting her medical license revoked for malpractise, she's now a dentist turned boxer. Got any cavities? Let's find out!

She's my newest addition to the OC roster, so i. Don't have much apart from a basic premise. She'll get developed soon though dw dw ! Thirdly, Sunny Gunny, The Granny with Guns !!!!!

After becoming tired of being bullied all the time, she trained to defend herself against bullies. Don’t let her old age fool you, she’s still a tanky old lady who can deal quite the mean punches ! That being said, whether you win or lose against her, she’s a nice old woman who’ll bake you some delicious goods !

Other factoids:

Her real name is Sondra ‘’Sunny’’ Seydoux

Cis woman, she/her

She's 80 years old

Stands at 6'5 ft and weighs 180 lbs

From Tallahassee, Florida

Of Haitian American descent

Of course brings baked good in the ring during intermissions. Also Oft seen knitting as well.

Balls of yarn spin around her head when she’s stunned

Gimmick: She just loves hugging her grandchildren, and this bleeds over in the ring as well; she's a real powerful hugger to the point you can b immediately incapacitated when you're hugged. During title defense, She will protect her body with her knitted blanket that can be removed in a certain way. Next up, Butch Diamond, A Girl’s Best Friend !!!!!

An Australian football player turned boxer, Butch has a robust body and an near impenetrable defense, making her a formidable fighter ! She puts her skills she learned from football into good use, so be quick on your feet ! Albeit somewhat cocky, she mostly just hams it up in the ring, and is a kind soul outside of it.

Other factoids:

Her real name is Desmond Kelly

GNC cis woman, she/he

He's 39 years old

He stands at 6'0 ft and weighs 235 lbs

She's from Melbourne, Australia

She's of Aboriginal Australian descent

Very sociable and friendly

Gimmick: Your Glass corn combo won’t work on her stomach! In fact, if you try it, you will lose HP! Instead, try stunning her and hitting her in the face with it! During her title defense, she’ll train harder, and somehow become even more robust. Now, your hands will be incapacitated for a short while if you try to hit her in the stomach repeatedly, longer if you try to do a glass corn combo.

And lastly but not leastly, Nessie,

The Shadow Champion !!!!

I've talked ab her before too, so again will keep it brief.

Gimmick: She's called a shadow champion for a reason ! Somehow, her surroundings become all dark whenever she enters the ring. During title defense, its as if you get pulled underwater. Does she use magic? Is she just that powerful? Nobody knows.

_____________

As for who would be good w/ kids...

Cassidy Cornfield: Not good with kids. Keeps scaring them with stories about aliens.

Axelerator: Axel co-runs his dad's mechanic shop, so hes definitely used to the responsibility.

Silver Hook and Scallywag: Makes kids laugh with her parrot, so pretty good with kids !

Dancing Queen: She has a couple kids of her own ! She's a great momma :3 Loves dancing with them

Black and Bunraku: Nah. Has made kids cry with her puppet. On her own, she's kinda awkward.

Nike the Great: Loves kids ! She loves telling them all kinds of stories ab ancient Greece and myths and being all theatrical about it.

Moto Mauler: Cool big sister type figure. Has a tendency to be too lenient towards kids though.

Monarch Mayhem: Think's kids r alright. Despite how difficult her path as an artist has been, she'd 100% encourage kids to follow their dreams.

Scarlet Fever: Same w/ Cassidy and Bunraku, she scares kids (albeit unintentionally).

Flossin' Fury: She's a dentist. and a scary one at that. So no, kids dont even get close to her vicinity.

Sunny Gunny: Has grandchildren, so naturally adores kids. Would bake delicious goods n spoil them rotten.

Butch Diamond: Also loves kids ! Loves carrying them on her shoulders n letting them climb all over her.

Nessie: Again, scares children, although she finds it funny.

[my-neuro-pathways]

ღ꧁༺Axel ༻꧂ღ

[pt. Axel]

Welcome to my intro to Axel!!

Axel is my Para

They are ~25 years old

He is a gay bigender man and uses all pronouns but prefers they/them

They are hypersexual and have C-PTSD

He is an angel dust fictionkin

Her favorite color is purple

Died their hair purple

They only wear black stuff! Prefer cropped tops with long sleeves

She has a Medusa tattoo on her upper right arm

They are dating Milo and prefers the terms boyfriend and partner

Calls Milo "Mo"

Has a child he considers his child and one she considers her neice (and that tiny gremlin Theo)

[totaldramamarching]

This isn't like a proper return or anything but. Here's what instruments I think the new cast would play based on their looks alone:

PRIYA - definitely giving clarinet vibes.

MILLIE - I want to say saxophone just purely because she reminds me of my sophomore HS section leader lol

RIPPER - this man is a trombone and he is insufferable

DAMIEN - he's giving the one person on drumline who actually watches the drum major

AXEL - I am in love with her. She plays sousaphone purely to spite people

CHASE - he really wants to be on drumline but is put in pit (front ensemble) instead

ZEE - he's giving goofy i-only-know-strands-tunes trombone player

SCARY GIRL - i really wish they had given her a name :( anyways she plays flute

CALEB - i'm going to go ahead and go trumpet for this guy

NICHELLE - she's giving "i grew up playing piano so i know everything about music" vibes. honestly probably french horn/mello but she is a twirler.

JULIA - she is on guard for sure. flute player in band.

BOWIE - i'm super scared for his character actually lmao pls do not be as stereotypical as you look. fire crop top tho. trumpet(?) or clarinet tbh

WAYNE and RAJ - these two are trombone players and you cannot change my mind.

EMMA - homegirl oozes clarinet energy

MK - saxophone. doesn't she just looks like she would kill some jazz improv?

[aylaaescar]

3-5 for your body count mc from the ask

thank you! 🖤

3. How did their family react to the sudden decision to be on reality TV?

their twin brother, Axel, just laughed. and laughed. and laughed some more. Lyn told him to shut up. typical sibling stuff.

I don't think they would have told their fathers? both of them would have some reservations about the idea, which is... probably why Lyn didn't tell them, really. they can have an awkward conversation when Lyn gets back from the island.

4. Reality TV ain't all Reality.... what's a trope that describes your MC the best. (Villain, Girl/Boy/Person next door, airhead...)

probably "The One Who's Here to Win", in terms of reality television tropes specifically lol. while romance is nice, they signed onto the show more for the sake of fame than anything else.

in terms of general TV tropes? they're very much the Intrepid Reporter, or at least they're trying to be. I imagine that particular attitude will come in handy during the whole "there's a killer out here" thing. :D

5. Describe their style! I mean hair, tattoos, piercings, the WHOLE NINE YARDS.

no tattoos that I can think of, but they totally would if they found something they wanted! more of a concealable one, though. they have their ears pierced, and go with silver or gold depending on the day and mood. in terms of hair, they keep it their natural dark brown, save for some purple streaks in it.

in terms of fashion, I'd call it... artistically professional? usually in black and white, since they like the aesthetic of it, but there's plenty of color in their wardrobe too. (also, pretty into overalls and crop tops when they're just chilling in the house.) I feel like this would be a pretty standard Lyn look:

[death-by-cringe-whitman]

@angrygremlin840 I tried finding pics of outfits that matches what he Ushualy wears but-- ack

Basicly masc stuff sometimes a tank top (tho less likely) sometimes his old Letterman jacket or a simple tee or hoodie that's a bit to big

Theise are his bfs sage and ring for their outfits (if you wanna add them with Axel)

Rin wears a binder

The mushroom sweaters and the space hoodie match his vibe as Rin is fascinated with galactic stuff and loves cottage core

For pants Ushualy sweats

And sage wears Gothic stuff Ushualy with a bi pride pin

He also wears a turtleneck with a bodysuit over top (I can draw it if that helps)

And also Ushualy ties his sleave around his severed arm to blend in

He wears mostly goth and emo stuff here's some I def see him in (muscle crop wrap around) or (newchic men top) and here's a more fancy dress he's worn or if he's snoozeing prolly something like the (I'm not rude hoodie)

Primarily wears black

Likes chockers chains and tall boots or platforms and Ushualy wearing a skirt with his outfits! And occasionally makeup

And if you so choose to have them all together!! I have a base perfect for them

M3 j1 l2 and m1 fit them well! Hope this helps

(I would love to see them as humanss btw! Lol you draw them so well aaa) annyways- if yas planning to draw them as humans they have specifics of human form if you'd like them nothing major but if it helps give an idea just @ me and lemmie know

Ps. Their bodytypes

Sage: somewhat skinny pretty advaradge build and a verry feminine structure shorter then Axel taller then Rin

Axel: somewhat buff or strong looking masc structure taller then both his bfs

Rin: short and chubby!

[ayuna-petals]

MISS.MARY

Sorry if this is bad, this is my very first story so i will try my best to make it as good as possible.OC'S BEING USED:

Priya: 12 y/o,she/her, Short wavy black hair, pale skin, yellow/ golden eyes. Blue shirt with devil print, black and white striped shirt underneath, blue skirt, black and white socks, black shoes.boney skinny.

Abby: 12 y/o, she/her, Long straight blond hair, light brown skin, blue eyes. Pink crop top short sweater , blue ripped jeens, green frog hair clips, yellow & blue mismatch socks, purple shoes.chubby.

Kevyn: 11 y/o, he/him, Undercut straight short black & dark brown hair, tanish paleish skin, dark brown eyes. A little oversized black hoodie with red at the ends, black jeans, black short socks, black shoes.a little bit chubby.

Irene: 13 y/o, they/them, Short length straightish & wavyish flffy at the ends boyish haircut red hair, white & pinkish skin, black eyes (or just really dark brown eyes). Blue sweater, black jeans, black short socks that show their ankles, black shoes.skinny

(Y/N): 11 y/o, y/p, y/h/c & h/l, y/s/c, y/e/c. Your choice. B/t.

Miss.Mary: 43 y/o, she/her, medium wavy brown hair, pale & kinda wrinkly skin (but not to much) dark green eyes. Black dress with a gray flower pattern on it, black heels.skinny.

Axel: 12 y/o, he/him, straight white hair, very very pale, blue eyes. Dark blue shirt, dark blue shorts, black shoes, has bandages all for him. Boney skinny.

⚠️WARNINGS⚠️: Gore, violence, short story, (Y/N)!

Summary: you and your friends are playing uno but decide that you guys are now bored of it an ask your friends mom to go and play outside then while playing tag one of your friends go a bit to far away from you guys then you guys hear a shriek from in the distance and then you and your other friends decide to go and check it out then see you guyss friend on the ground/floor amd then see miss.merry lying on the floor dead with a strange boy with white hair looming over her.

Abby sighed while saying "uno", "Guys im bored, staying inside feels like being in a prison, can we like go outside or something?" Abby said in a whiney voice, "Sure ill ask my mom if we can go outside today." Kevyn said in a bored tone and walked over to the kitchen were his mom was. Kevyn's mom was in the kitchen cooking us hamburgers for lunch, Kevyn tapped his momther on her arm, "Hey mom can me and my friends go outside today?", Mrs.Garcia looked over at her son and smiled. "Ofcourse Kevyn just go in the backyard, it has more space back threre, and also stay close to the house, it can be dangerous if you go to close to the woods.", "Ok mom, i promise ill stay close to the house." Kevyn said while smiling back at his mother, his mother leaned down and gave Kevyn a kiss to his forehead, "Now go on sweetheart go and play with your friends, have fun!", Kevyn nodded his head and walked back over to the living room, to tell his friends the good news. "Hey guys! My mom said that we can go outside but just to not go to far away from the house." "YAY!" we all said in unison, and then ran outside to go and play.

You guys decided to play tag over hide n seek and duck duck goose. "Tag! Your it!" Said Irene they tagged Priya, Priya you were to the left of Priya, and the closest so Priya ran at you and tagged you, "Tag! Your it now (Y/N)!" She laughed. Kevyn was right beside you so you quickly tagged him and then ran away, "Tag! Your it!" And as Kevyn was aboug to tag abby, Miss.Mary, Kevyn's neighbor walked out of her back door, "Hey Kids!", Miss.Mary said "Hi Miss.Mary!" You all said in unsion.

Its been about 30 minutes of you guys playing tag outside, when your friend Irene ran a bit to far away from the house, and a bit to close to the woods. Irene was very fast and tall and so none of you guys could keep up with her long legs. You guys were far behind from Irene, but you guys could still see and kinda hear her, once you guys made it to her you all froze. Lying there on the ground was Miss.Mary's bloody corpse. You guyz started to cry. While crying you looked up and you saw a strange looking boy with white hair an DC blue eyes he was Miss.Mary's grandson Axel, and he was holding something....A KNIFE, HE WAS HOLDING A BLOODY KNIFE! "GUYS LOOK!" you said an sc everyones heads shot up and then suddenly Kevyn yelled "RUN!" and then all of you sprinted away running twards Kevyn's house.

Once you guys made it to his house Kevyn ran up to his mother and started to say "MOM MOM PLEASE YOU HAVE YO COME SEE THIS. MISS.MARY'S DEAD!" Kevyn's mother didn't believe jim since they lived in a nice neighborhood and pretty much everything and everyone was harmless so she said that she'd go and check it out herself.

Once you guys made it to were you guys had found the Miss.Mary's body. But once you guys looked. There was nothing there...no sign of Miss.Mary..and no sign of Axel....

"See son i told you that there would be nothing there! Now come on guys lets go on inside food is ready." "BUT MOM YOU HAVE GOT TO BELIEVE ME, WE SAY HER BODY RIGHT THERE!!!" "ENOUGH LITTLE MAN WE LIVE IN A HARMLESS NEIGHBORHOOD AND ONCE WE MANE IF.BACK TO THE HOUSE THAN YOU ALL ARE GONNA GO NEXT DOOR AND SAY SORRY TO MISS.MARY!" "BUT MOM WE-" "NO BUTS LITTLE MAN YOU WILL SAY SORRY TO MISS.MARY AND THAT IS FINAL!" "But Miss.Mary isn't even alive for us to say sorry." Kevyn mumbled.

While walking you looked back, only to see Axel he was holding Miss.Mary's head and smiling at you while waving you goodbye...

Only if Kevyn's mom had known what had actually happened to Miss.Mary....

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

Thank you for reading this and if there's anything that you think that i could improve on or stop doing please tell me i would really appreciate it. And also if you have any requests my requests are open for any new ideas! And also in very very sorry if it got bad twards the end i got lazy and i might make a remake of this in the future but not now. Anyways thank you so much for reading and stay hydrated and i hope that your having a wonderful day/night/afternoon wherever you ar bye!!!

[dancingfoxrocks]

[ID: Axel from Kingdom Hearts attempting stoicism with eyebrows pulled low, a green bomber jacket, a purple crop top, and black trousers. End ID.]

sadboy ™

[j-graysonlibrary]

Heartbeats; Paradise XX

Title: Heartbeats; Paradise

Author: Jay Grayson

Word Count: 112K

Genres: Psychological thriller, drama, sci-fi, LGBT+

Available on: Kobo and my website

Synopsis: Melvin Hardy and Kade Axel appear to be a match made in heaven. After a meet-cute in the rain, the two quickly find themselves in a burgeoning, wholesome relationship.

Yet, things feel…off. It isn’t the ghosts of their pasts that resurface to test the strength of their partnership—no—it’s something nebulous. Something indescribable. Melvin can’t put his finger on it but, the more time he spends with Kade, the more he starts to wonder what’s real and what’s pure fiction. 

XX:

“Kendra?!” Starla is the first to speak and move.

As she pulls herself from the heap, I fall back onto the floor and I guess that she was the one I landed on top of. I’m glad I didn’t have her pinned too terribly since she squeezes out from me with relative ease. Oz gets pushed to the side as well as she rushes over toward the woman in the middle of the room.

“Is it you…?” Starla’s voice trembles as she kneels in front of her, reaching her hands out toward her face but not committing to the touch. It’s as if she’s afraid that she’s mistaken but I can’t imagine who else she could be.

“I told you I don’t look like Bree,” Kendra replies, sounding rather sheepish. “This is me…”

There is a big physical difference—I’m able to see better now that my eyes have adjusted and the computer screen has also switched to a brighter, white light that illuminates Kendra’s form more clearly.

Her skin is a medium brown with her eyebrows and shaved head being a slightly darker shade. She’s a large woman—a body type that didn’t exist in our closed off world but one I became more familiar with through my memories. My own body, as Liam, got bigger as I got older and Gavin was always larger than I.

Starla, however, has had no exposure to people who look like Kendra (unless she’s had old memories crop up for her, which I doubt). She looks over the woman with a furrowed brow and I genuinely start to worry she’ll reject her for her appearance.

But she throws her arms around Kendra’s neck and, to my surprise, kisses her on the lips.

I’m nowhere near as shocked as Kade is though. He jumps up, finally getting off of me, and shouts, “What the hell?! You two are seeing each other?!”

Oz shoves him in the arm, sending him back on me in the process. “Shh.”

Kade’s elbow just barely misses my crotch but it does dig into my thigh. I wince and try to reposition him but he squirms away from me. I get a slap on my arm as I attempt to scoot away and, at some point, Oz involves himself again and, in his effort to help, just makes Kade more volatile.

I hope the women are having a nice moment in the meantime.

“I’m so glad to see you all,” Kendra mentions, making us all look over at her. Starla is at her side, still clinging to her. “Don’t get me wrong but…how did you get here?”

We exchange glances, even checking in with Starla.

How do we explain what happened?

I’m still not sure myself.

But, of course, Kade doesn’t take long to respond. “No fuckin’ clue, honestly. We got sucked into this weird tropical forest and a big flower guy tried to kill us but, when he realized he couldn’t, he said he’d ‘give us bodies’ and then we fell here.”

Kendra’s face contorts with the expected amount of confusion.

Oz sighs loudly. “That’s a very…basic explanation, yes.”

“We’re not sure what exactly happened,” Starla adds on, “But that thing that brought us here was what killed Melvin’s past life. It’s why he was in IVAR, I’d guess.”

“No shit?” Kendra looks to me for more answers.

I don’t know if I have much to contribute, however. Starla pretty much just said all that needed to be said on my part and Kade, while leaving out a lot of details, covered the key points. I’m sure Kendra would like to know more but I’m not sure what giving her details will do other than paint a better picture.

We’ll still have all the same questions at the end.

I take a deep breath. “My husband and I found a weird object that I recklessly touched. We were sucked into that place Kade described and the flower killed us.”

Kendra rubs over lips with her index finger and stares past me as she thinks. “Hmmm…Well, when IVAR was invented it was more like it was discovered. The guy that found it said he came upon a spot that reacted oddly with technology. He and his team studied the phenomenon and, eventually, were able to replicate it and implement it into a system. Before IVAR came to be, the phenomenon was referred to as the ‘God particle’. Though, since IVAR, it’s become less interesting or mystical.”

“Wait…” Oz holds up his hand, “IVAR was created from a natural phenomenon? Not something purely technological?”

“Yep.” Kendra smiles but doesn’t hold it for long.

I feel like there is an answer right on the tip of my tongue but I’m just not smart enough to get it. Although, if Oz isn’t piecing it together then I probably have no hope of doing so in the first place.

“What’s it matter?” Kade asks with a groan, “We’re out, aren’t we? We’re in the real world?”

Kendra laughs quietly and shakes her head. “Yeah, you are. I can’t be too upset about this freakishly powerful threat you faced since it saved me the trouble of having to figure out how to get you all out.”

“Did you have any idea how you were going to do that?” Oz questions as he sits up onto his knees.

“Um…not really, honestly.” She chuckles breathlessly as she wrings her hands together.

“You would have figured something out,” Starla defends her and rests her head against the woman’s shoulder. It’s a sweet gesture but I can’t say I have the same faith that she does.

No one says anything for a moment so I take the reprieve to observe my new surroundings. Mostly, I’ve just seen Kendra and her immediate area which is quite bleak. Other than her computer, there isn’t much of note. But, behind her, still covered in some shadow, is the outline of something long and smooth. I’ve never seen anything like it before but the sinking sensation in my gut tells me exactly what it is.

It’s large enough to fit a person inside and the closest comparison I have is to say that it looks like a tanning bed. A very technologically advanced tanning bed, that is. A few lights occasionally blink on the side of the device but it’s not so bright as to be distracting.

Kendra’s IVAR pod. I can’t look at it for longer than those few second so I turn my attention back to the group and decide to break the silence, “So, where are we, exactly?”

“My university apartment. But where isn’t nearly as important as when.”

My brow pinches together. “What does that mean?”

Kendra softly pushes Starla off of her in order to retrieve her computer. She stares at the corner of the screen and sighs. “According to this, it’s been two years since I went into IVAR. Now…maybe it’s wrong because I can’t imagine my laptop lasting two years and then just booting up without a problem after so long. But…I don’t really know for sure.”

“Your IVAR pod stayed on though, right? So someone must have been paying for your power,” Starla points out. Right after Kendra, she really does know the most about this stuff—I never would have considered that.

“Not necessarily,” Kendra counters, “unplugging an IVAR pod that’s in use can get you a manslaughter charge in some countries. You can plug in an external source to let the person in the pod know that they need to come out but just unplugging it can lead to death.”

“I feel a loophole in there somewhere,” Oz mentions with a face of intense concentration.

“Some people trying to evade the law will hop into an IVAR pod or people who are just trying to get away from financial troubles. It’s…a bit of a problem back home.” Kendra scratches the back of her head. “But, as I was saying, I haven’t been able to access the network on my laptop so I can’t verify what year it is.”

“We can just go out and ask around, can’t we?” Kade asks and we all look at him. I don’t know if anyone will say it but I’m sure we’re all thinking it.

Is he in any state to be talking to real people?

“If you let me take the lead, sure,” Kendra says it in a much nicer way and offers a smile.

She stands up and pulls back the blinds on her window. I see a faint light but it’s from a streetlamp. It’s pitch black otherwise.

“We can travel to a convenience store down the road. I need to get us some food too…” Kendra mumbles but her words fill me with urgency as I realize something that I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to think of.

I sit up straighter. “How could you have survived for years in that pod without food and water?”

Kendra laughs. “Oh—a lot of pods have life support functions. It’s…well, some from the states are being made without them to prevent the issues I mentioned earlier but all the old models have them.” She jerks her thumb over to the pod in the room. “I could spend the rest of my life in there if I want. And some people do.”

It sounds like a pretty bleak existence to me. Sure, IVAR might have every kind of entertainment one could imagine but what’s the point of wasting a very real, very fleeting life disconnected from others?

Just as I start to think this is something I would definitely never agree with, everyone else starts to stand. I guess we’re headed out.

Oz offers his hand and helps me to my feet. I’m still a little sore but I do suppose stretching my legs might do me some good.

Kendra leads the way out and we follow her down a couple flights of stairs and into a parking lot. It’s only half full and there is some trash scattered across the ground. I look around and only half pay attention to the conversation happening at my right.

“Think there will be an axe for me to pick up somewhere?” Kade asks and darts off, acting as if he’s actually about to search for one.

Oz chases him. “Kade, you cannot break more emergency glass here!”

They’re having fun—whether either of them will admit it or not—so I don’t worry myself over them any. My eyes, instead, find what I can only guess is an art piece on the grass beside the parking lot. It’s twice as tall as me and many times as wide, thin, and reflective. It’s in the shape of a wave and I’m drawn toward it.

Though, as I approach, I notice my reflection staring back at me.

It’s mildly distorted due to the curves in the structure but I see myself well enough.

I could have guessed that I still looked like Melvin but I still feel nothing but disappointment upon seeing that face on the surface. All those beautiful features have been replicated perfectly for this human body but I don’t want perfection.

I don’t want this body at all.

“Not feeling it?” Kendra’s voice at my side doesn’t really surprise me.

I just glance down at her and, for a second, I stare past her to see that Kade and Oz have been joined by Starla. They are actively talking and laughing. I’m sure they’re beyond excited to have succeeded in leaving IVAR. I can understand that to an extent but I don’t feel free at all.

“Um…I guess not,” I answer as I fix my eyes on her. “It might sound weird but I wish that flower had given me my old body instead of this one…”

Kendra shakes her head. “It doesn’t sound weird at all. I hated being in Bree’s body.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

She smiles at me and her deep brown eyes squint in the process. “Yeah. Bree was very hot, don’t get me wrong, and I think I’d always wondered, in a way, what it would be like to be someone who looked like her. I’ve always been a big girl and, for most of my life, I hated my body. So, being someone like Bree would be ideal for me, right? It’s like wish fulfillment.” She sighs. “But that wasn’t my body. I didn’t think I ever would but…I missed this. My body.”

While Kendra and I’s issues with our bodies might be different, I still understand. As Liam, I spent years and a lot of money changing my body so I could be happy with myself. And, while the final outcome wasn’t some perfect, chiseled male physique, it was still my body. It was who I could finally be happy inhabiting.

I know Liam is dead and I’m just his ghost living in a manufactured shell but that doesn’t mean I can’t miss what I once had.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it,” I say as I stare at the reflection.

I don’t know if I want to either.

“What are you guys doing?” Starla asks as she, Kade, and Oz approach us.

“You’re supposed to be leading the way,” Kade mentions, staring specifically at Kendra.

She gives him a faint smile and nods. “Right. Let’s go.”

Like before, she steps to the front and Starla keeps close by her side. Kade falls in line after them and Oz lingers by me. He’s looking at me like he wants to say so many things but can’t decide where to start.

I worry what will come out when he finally opens his mouth.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

Mentally, I sigh, but I keep myself together on the outside. The corners of my lips twitch in an attempt at a smile and I nod. “I’m fine. Just…getting used to everything.”

We start to walk as well, keeping some distance between us and the rest of the group. Not too much to where we can’t keep up but enough to where we can have our own, private conversation in peace. Though I don’t really want to talk right now, I can appreciate the space.

“It is a lot,” Oswald agrees with me after a lull. He sighs as he looks out at the three ahead of us but then focuses on the ground directly under his feet. “I’m happy to be out of that cursed place but I still have so many questions. Questions I don’t think Kendra can answer…questions I’m not sure anyone can.”

That is just what he’s like, I’m tempted to say. Oz could be given the answers to the universe and life itself and he’d still have follow ups.

“I’d like to know who I was still,” he continues, “Even if I had nothing to do with your old life, I still want to know. I want to know about Kade too. And Starla. I want to know what that flower creature really is and how this ‘God particle’ came to be. Do you think there will be books about it here?”

“The God particle you mean? Yes,” I answer with certainty. The way Kendra spoke of it left little to doubt that there is copious research on the matter. When things settle down, I’m sure Oz will be in heaven with the amount of knowledge at his disposal. I don’t have to strain hard to imagine what he’ll be doing with his new life.

“It’s fascinating,” Oz whispers and I catch him rubbing along his chin from my peripherals. “Though, it all takes a back seat to getting things settled immediately. As much as I’d love to sit down with all the information I can find and start piecing things together, we have to acclimate to our new surroundings first.”

“Acclimate?” I repeat without really meaning to but it’s out of my mouth before I can stop it.

“You know, get used to everything. Find our place—”

“I know what it means, Oz,” I snap but immediately feel guilty due to the look on his face. I shake my head and let out a slow exhale. “Sorry,” I mutter, “I just don’t really know what I’m feeling right now.”

Oswald doesn’t take my lashing out personally which is a minor relief but he does set his hand on my shoulder. He squeezes with care and asks, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Part of me wishes he would just take offense to my distant and stand offish nature right now. I swallow down a lump in my throat and answer, “No. Maybe later.”

I doubt I’ll feel up to it later either but, maybe by then, he’ll forget that he even asked. It’s a foolish and, largely, self pitying thought but I also wonder if he’ll forget he even cared…

My head snaps up when a loud thumping sounds overhead. I (and everyone else) watch several helicopters pass over us. Just as they cross the horizon, a siren begins to blare and it’s so close and so loud that I have to clamp my hands over my ears.

We all look toward Kendra, hoping for answers but she seems just as upset by the commotion as we are.

And then the ground begins to shake.

My heart flies into my throat.

What is happening?