#bones being the hero here is amazing

[hornyverymuch]

so I thought I was prepared for Amok Time, but holy shit I was not-

[major spoilers for that episode (S2E1) and S1]

I still haven't made a post about S1 finale and, that one was a lot as well let me tell you that

I heard about Amok Time even before starting Star Trek and spoiled myself like 70% of it, but still, watching the full episode was so much gayer than I ever could've imagined holy fuck-

but seriously now, the James Kirk, the same one who follows orders no matter what (not even giving himself time to mourn his brother when he found out he's dead, and well, he had a mission with millions of lives at stake) but what I mean is he always wants to follow orders and be the perfect captain everyone sees him as, so it's amazing seeing him being "fuck that meeting, Spock's life is far more important than that" and even though it's obvious, Kirk still would probably suffer repercussions, because superiors can be dicks like that (no greater than Spock's dying, but still good to see Kirk having his priorities straight, as straight as you can have while not being one)

Funny enough, even though Bones' comments or remarks towards Spock can be mean and hurtful at times, he cares greatly about him (defended him against Kirk of all people in The Menagerie, and was worried for him in Operation: Annihilate!) and yet here Kirk is the first one here to spit out facts first

also about Bones, it's so amazing that Kirk is alive all thanks to Bones' quick thinking, he saved their gay asses and I absolutely love that

it's an important episode when it comes to Spirk, but honestly, this ep also perfectly highlights how strong the friendship between all 3 of them is, Bones won't let these chaotic bitches die and I love him for it

also just... this fucking scene, I don't even know how some people have a heterosexual explanation for this

bonus: since it's a post about Amok Time, here's the obligatory top surgery scars wounds pic

probably gonna make more posts about Amok Time, I could post most scenes as screenshots there's so much happening, what a fucking start to the second season holy shit-

[kayceecruz]

Ok, here's why I didn't have a problem with Colin in Part 2. He was processing so many emotions.

1. This man is so in love with Pen, has been by his own admission, for a long time that he was completely blindsided by her secret. Colin is unhinged with his love on good days. Their confrontation was heated, but his devastation more than his anger was the focus. He loves her, and she's been lying. So, he lashed out and said things he didn't even believe because he couldn't process his feelings.

He gets to feel this way, imo. Penelope of all people knows him best and what he was going through, which is why she was so gently firm and understanding with him.

2. Once he processed the lie, then came the feelings of fear for her and them if Lady Whistledown was unmasked. It's a big deal if not handled right. (Book made a point of this, too) She doesn't quite have that fear, which pisses him off because anything could happen to his wife, and Colin is not having that shit. So they fight, and she stops him cold with her yelling her love at him, which leads to heavy petting session and his beginning to thaw.

3. He honestly can not understand why Penelope loves him. This one is really his own self-worth, which he has been wrestling with his whole life, but he looks at her, this amazing woman who apparently is one of the most influential people and he cannot grasp why she loves him. He doesn't understand that she loves the bones of him and he is afraid she can't love him they way he does her.

4. He wants to be her hero so badly because she is his. He doesn't realize he already is by just being him because he has never been enough before.

5. He literally wants her always, and no matter how mad he is, that doesn't change, so he needs to reconcile that.

Imagine you are Colin and having to process all of this in the span of like a week? It's a lot, friends. It's why Pen gives him so much grace but forces him to confront those feelings.

From where I was sitting, they handled all that really well.

[evanpeterswhoresblog]

Guilty as Sin?

James Potter x f!reader (mentioned), Remus Lupin x f!reader

warnings: smut, protected p in v, lots of descriptions of what ifs (you’ll understand with the song), underage smoking, if you squint it may just be cheating but oh well, this is so good to me

summary: someone once told you, there’s no such thing as bad thoughts… right?

word count: 3k

a/n: i’m in love with this song from taylor’s new album!!! sorry if this characterization isn’t what you like but this concept has been eating me alive. i love remus tho. might be a part two if you guys want !!!

part two is here!!

~~~

Drowning in the Blue Nile

He sent me “Downtown Lights”

I hadn’t heard it in a while

~~~

“Oi y/n!”

You turned on your heels at the sound of your name being called. Down the hallway, you could see James Potter striding toward you. Despite the bodies of other students that filled the hall, you could see he was holding something in his hand. It looked big, and as he came closer and closer you could see more and more of what it was.

“Hello James, something I can help you with?” You asked once he was close enough to hear your normal tone. You looked down at his hands, you could see what he was holding clearly, it was a record. And from the cover of it, it looked to be a muggle one. “What’s that?”

James smiled his intoxicating smile and held the record up. “Something for you.”

You gasped and one of your hands moved up to cover your mouth. In his hands, he held the latest album of your favorite singer, Heroes by David Bowie. It had come out in October, and every time you searched for it, it was sold out. You traced your eyes over the beautiful shining black and white cover, you were practically speechless.

“How did you- when did you- James...”

“I have my ways, don’t worry about it,” the black-haired boy replied with a small laugh.

“It’s not close enough to be a Christmas gift, and you know my birthday isn’t till spring,” you observed out loud. Your eyes met his again and you blinked. “So, what’s this for?”

He shrugged. “For the past few weeks, I haven’t been the only one to take notice of how much you’ve been playing Bowie in the common room. And I heard you talking to Moony about how you haven’t got the new album yet... so here it is.”

He held it out to you and with delicate hands, you accepted the gift, still amazed. “James, you didn’t have to.”

“I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to,” he said as he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m surprised Moony didn’t already get it for you.”

“Yeah...” You looked down for a moment before meeting his eyes again, and you smiled. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Play it tonight, put it to use. Anyway, I’ve got to run, I’m supposed to be helping Peter with his Charms homework. See you at dinner.”

He gave you another smile before turning and walking back the way he came. You were too preoccupied with the flawless record in your hands to say goodbye. For a split second, you felt your heart flutter with a feeling you knew you shouldn’t have felt. So, you pushed it away and restarted your walk to the dungeons.

You knew better than to let those thoughts linger in the open hallway.

~~~

My boredom’s bone-deep

This cage was once just fine

Am I allowed to cry?

~~~

“James got that for you?”

You had just put the record on, and the sound of David Bowie's voice began to fill the Gryffindor common room. Your cheeks almost hurt from how much you’d been smiling. On one of the couches, your boyfriend Remus sat, his typical book in his lap. You turned and flung yourself on the open spot next to him, nodding your head to the beat of the song.

“Yeah, he gave it to me earlier, isn’t it wonderful?”

Remus nodded; his eyes locked on his book. “It’s definitely something.”

You rolled your eyes. “You like Bowie too last I checked.”

“You play him so much I’m surprised not everyone likes him,” Remus replied. Suddenly he shut his book and turned his head to look at you. For a split second, you felt hope that he was going to just listen with you. But of course, that wasn’t the case. Instead, he rose from the couch. “I can’t concentrate with it playing, I’m going to go read in my dorm.”

“But we barely spend any time together Rem, unless it’s a shag,” you protested, anger suddenly taking you over. “When’s the last time we went on a proper date? Or anything at all? I’m so bored of this.”

Remus as usual, kept his composer and showed no sign of any emotion. “If you’re so bored you’re welcome to leave me.”

“You know that’s not what I want,” you said.

“Then I’m not sure what to tell you. You’re welcome to join me, you know where to find me.”

He left before you could say anything else.

You ran your hands over your face in frustration. How did your relationship come to this? You started dating Remus in fifth year, and it had been the happiest moment of your life. He was your first love, the boy you shared almost all of your firsts with actually. You loved him more than anyone, yet it never seemed to be enough. So, you began to give up.

After all, it was your last year at Hogwarts, after it ended, you’d never have to see him again. Because really, was so much pain worth a moment of happiness? You didn’t believe so anymore.

Instead of following him up to his dorm as you would have the year prior, you simply laid back on the couch and enjoyed the first listen of the album.

~~~

I dream of cracking locks

Throwing my life to the wolves or the ocean rocks

Crashing into him tonight, he’s a paradox

I’m seeing visions, am I bad?

Or mad? Or wise?

~~~

The first time you ever thought of James in the way you knew you shouldn’t be was about a year into your relationship with Remus. After he had begun his distant behavior, his cold manners, and all those awful things. Previously, you had only ever felt attracted to the one Marauder. You saw Peter as a sweet little brother, you saw Sirius as an older annoying brother, and you saw James as well, a friend. That was until one late December night.

You and Remus had one of your arguments and you went outside for a smoke to help with your anxiety. For a few minutes, you sat in silence, the cold air and smoke in your lungs a great distraction from the boiling fears that consumed your mind. You were afraid to lose Remus. More than afraid. So, you inhaled a deep puff of the cigarette to focus on something else.

“You’ll catch a cold out here you know.”

You jumped at the sudden sound of a voice. James sat next to you, and you were perplexed at how he managed to sneak into the spot so quietly. You were also confused as to why he was there in the first place.

“If that’s the case then why are you out here?” You questioned as you let out a cloud of smoke.

He held up his hand and you passed it to him. “I had a... date anyway Filtch was in the corridor, so I ran out here. I doubt he followed, he and Mrs. Norris hate this time of year.” He inhaled a deep breath and passed the cigarette back to you. “Why are you out here?”

“A date? Is that what they call a shag now?” You laughed for a few seconds before your frown resurfaced. “Remus and I had a disagreement. We both said some nasty things, I needed to clear my head.”

“Ah, lovers quarrel. Are you all right? Remus can say some pretty nasty things when he’s mad,” James said as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

You stared at him in silence for a moment. Never before had you realized how attractive he really was. Sirius was known to be the most attractive of the Marauders, but his crude personality, at least in your opinion, always outshined his natural features. James, however, since the start of sixth year, had matured. That meant he was no longer solely physically attractive; he also had an attractive personality. He was funny, caring, outgoing, and a leader. And of course, he was six feet tall with curly black hair and a perfect smile. Who wouldn’t be attracted to that?

You swallowed away the tingly feeling that shot through your fingers as you passed him the cigarette again.

He’s your boyfriend's best mate, stop thinking like that. You thought to yourself.

But as you watched him exhale another breath of smoke you couldn’t stop yourself from thinking about how his perfect lips would feel against yours.

“I’m sure you two will make up by the end of the night, he really loves you,” he spoke. His eyes caught yours, you could see the small smirk on his all too good-looking lips. “Who wouldn’t fancy a girl like you anyway?”

“A lot of guys actually,” you responded.

His hazel eyes were practically glowing. “They’re blokes. Have you seen yourself y/n? You’re pretty, smart, funny, and you have a fascinating music taste. And anything Remus might’ve said to make you feel less than perfect well... he didn’t mean it. Trust me, that wouldn’t be possible.”

You laughed. “What? Me being less than perfect or Remus meaning what he said?”

“Both,” James answered.

He must’ve felt it too. That pull. You almost considered moving closer to him, but before you could make the decision James stood. You were relieved, the spell was broken. Your senses came back. You shouldn’t have even thought about what it would feel like to kiss James Potter.

“Let’s get back up to the tower, it’s pretty fucking cold,” he said.

You only nodded and threw your cigarette to the ground, crushing it with your sneaker after you stood. “All right.”

The two of you walked back up silently and you were greeted by an apologetic Remus. As he held you in his arms though, all you could think about were the thoughts you had previously thought.

~~~

What if he’s written “mine” on my upper thigh only in my mind?

One slip and falling back into the hedge maze

Oh, what a way to die

My bedsheets are ablaze, I’ve screamed his name

Building up like waves crashing over my grave

~~~

You gripped the red sheets of Remus’s bed so hard your knuckles turned white. Your breathing was heavy and unsteady. You tried to lean your head up to kiss him, but he wasn’t paying attention. It was something you’d grown used to. He liked to fuck you hard, not soft, not lovingly. No. He liked it intensely. You did too, but you also liked being gently taken care of.

Too bad he didn’t enjoy that anymore.

“Rem I-”

“I’m- almost done.” He cut you off, his breathless voice which once made you squirm now made you angry.

It was despicable, it was so wrong. And yet, you couldn’t stop yourself from doing it.

You closed your eyes and began to imagine someone else on top of you. Instantly, you felt a rush of heat to your cheeks at the picture in your mind. He would be so much more careful, and considerate. You’d heard from many girls how good of a lover he was. All of them would dote on how much he liked pleasing them. With his fingers, his mouth, and his...

You tried to squeeze your thighs together.

You should’ve stopped, you knew that. But your mind kept going.

You pictured him on top of you. His curls would be so soft. His hands would be callused from Quidditch. He’d use them on you, make you cum over and over again. You imagined how he’d curl his fingers so perfectly inside you.

“That’s it, my perfect girl,” he’d whisper to you as he went on with it. “You’re so good for me, aren’t you?”

Suddenly, without warning, you felt yourself reach a peak you hadn’t reached in a while. You squeezed your eyes shut and came at the thought of how good James Potter's praises would make you feel.

When Remus was done, he lay next to you on the bed breathless. “You came?”

You only stared at the top of his bed. “Yeah.”

~~~

These fatal fantasies

Giving way to labored breath, takin all of me

We’ve already done it in my head

If it’s make-believe

Why does it feel like a vow we’ll both uphold somehow?

~~~

There was something so exhilarating about being around James. Especially when the two of you were alone. It was as though every time the two of you had a moment alone, he gave you another reason to keep your fantasies going. Often, it made you wonder if he knew of your terrible thoughts.

The two of you sat by the black lake, the rest of your friends were further away playing a game of football. It was funny watching Lily get frustrated trying to explain the rules to Sirius, but it was even funnier when James commented on it from beside you.

“Oh no, he picked it up again. Evans is almost turning as red as her hair, I worry for her health,” the boy with glasses joked.

You snorted. “She’s going to have a heart attack from that boy mark my words.”

“I believe that. ‘Suppose it’s a good thing she’s thinking about becoming a Healer,” he replied.

You threw your head back as you laughed, one of your hands flying up to grip James’s arm. After a few seconds though, you composed yourself and pulled your hand off him as though it had been burned. Your eyes immediately found Remus across the field. He paid you no mind.

“Y/n can I ask you something a little personal?” James asked.

Your eyes met his and you didn’t hesitate to nod. “Sure.”

“You and Remus, things aren’t good between the two of you.”

“What gave that away?” You faked a smile. “But that’s not a question love.”

He really smiled. “I know. Sorry. My question was why are you still with him if things between the two of you are like this? I understand being in love, Merlin I tried to get Evans to go out with me for ages. But you and Moony... You used to be in our room all the time, you guys used to be so happy and I dunno around each other. Do you guys even go out anymore? I haven’t seen a snog between the two of you in a while.”

You inhaled a deep breath, your attention moving to the blade of grass between your fingers. “I suppose I’m afraid.”

“Afraid?”

“Yes, afraid. Rem he- he's my first everything and I dunno. If we broke up the friend group would be torn, and everything would be complicated. I suppose it’s just easier this way,” you answered. You hadn’t been this honest about how you felt in a long time. It felt good. And it felt even better when you caught James’s caring eyes.

“Do you love him?”

His question caught you off guard. “I did. I still think I do.”

You watched him look across the field for a few seconds before he did something you never would’ve expected. Ever so gently, he placed his hand over yours on the grass. All you could do was stare wildly into his eyes. Was this supposed to make your heart race and your face red?

“I care about you y/n, and I care about Remus as well. I want what’s best for both of you and if I’m being honest, I don’t think that’s with each other,” he said softly.

“Have you said this to him then?” You questioned, you found it hard to breathe with the feeling of his rough hand on yours.

James nodded. “Of course I have. He doesn’t like advice that much though.”

“He really doesn’t does he?” You mumbled.

“No, he doesn’t. But either of you can talk to me about anything. You know that right? You don’t have to be afraid of anything y/n. Even if you do break up I’ll be here for you, you won’t be alone. Course you have Lily and Mary and Marlene as well but...” You watched his face change as he trailed off. “I dunno. I thought it would be different with me.”

“Different?” You held your breath. “How so?”

His thumb moved across your skin; you bit down on your lip.

“You know...” he trailed off again, his voice quieter than before.

All you could think about was how good it would feel to pounce on top of him and kiss him till you couldn’t breathe. You’d do it, even out there in the open. You imagined how intense and fast it would be. A few minutes at most but a lifetime of pleasure no doubt. He’d make you feel things you hadn’t felt in ages, he’d do whatever you asked. That’s just the person he was.

“James, you don’t even know the half of it,” you admitted softly.

“Love, I think I do.”

You could’ve fainted right then and there. His eyes were so mesmerizing, his voice sent goosebumps all over your body. It was terrible, despicable, and tragic. But oh, how fucking good it felt to be seen again. And as it seemed, James really saw you.

“James we can’t-”

“We aren’t doing anything.” He leaned closer to you. “And besides there’s no such thing as bad thoughts. Only your actions talk.”

“So you-”

“Yes, yes I do.”

“James...”

“I know I must sound like a god-awful prat but believe me I don’t want the two of you to break up so we can... No. I want you two to break up because both of you are miserable. And I do really care about the both of you, you’re my mates.” He explained quickly.

You turned back to the field and saw Remus slowly approaching. Without thinking you ripped your hand away from James’s as fast as you could and stood up. You took a few deep breaths before you looked down at James.

“If Remus and I do break up, I want you to know it’s not because of... all right?”

“All right.” He nodded.

“Good,” you said before turning and making your way out to Remus.

You knew what he wanted to do, and you would oblige.

You had about ten thousand more fantasies to think of during it anyway.

[cherllyio]

The Hypocrisy/Irony of Li Jing

Li Jing is an antagonist who quite literally dresses himself up as the "Hero", and whom is a weird mix of both the Lady bone Demon and Azure Lion.

First of all his colour scheme turquoise, is a colour often related to The Celistial Realm.

Notice how in the monkie kid crews "celistial realm outfits", the only colour they all have in common is turquoise.

Not even The Jade Emperor dressed himself in that much turquoise (he didnt even wear it at all). Which just goes to show how Li Jing views himself.

He even plans to become The new Jade Emperor, and will not have ANYONE stop him. (even if they arent even trying to stop him in the first place-)

Hell, as i talked about in my theory of how he might have impriossoned Nüwa, he and the rest of Celistal Realms biggest flaw is their intense focus on order.

Nezha's intense work habit in season 3 - 4 is big example of this, mixed with how accurate Azure was about the whole celistial realm system.

But honestly Li Jing just takes it to another LEVEL.

I swear, if he starts talking to Nezha about how he has: " Left his job in the Celistial Realm for the monkie kid crew"(aka leaving his "destiny"), we can very well perspectiv it back to THE LADY BONE DEMON, and her intense focus on "ORDER".

But as @lunamikobrony2 mentioned in my theory mentioned earlier:

The villians (aka. LBD and Azure Lion), have this way of wanting a "new and perfect order".

But as we saw with espically Azure Lion: Power corrups.

Azure Lion turned so quickly from: " The Jade Emepror is a fraud" to "Kneel before your emperor", in a matter of MINUTES.

Li Jing is very clearly going to do the same thing. He might even kill things he viwes as "imperfect", if we really want to make it 100% clear, that this man is A LOT like LBD.

And thats just the Hypocrisy.

The thing that honestly first caught my attention was how ironic his characther was set up VS the actual villians of the show.

Because even though both the 9 headed demon, and the 100 eyed demon were both shown in the trailer, LI JING, was the one clearly shown as the most "villianous", or atleast "antagonistic"

He is literally shown WORSE than two DEMONS. And some demons with some quite horrifying designs too i must say.

It honestly reminds me of how Belos, from the owl house, was also set up this way.

If you dont know, The Owl House takes place in quite literally the closest thing we got to Hell.

But is the scariest monster a demon, or a powerful evil witch?

No, the scariest guy is white cishet man from the 1600, dressed in the gold, who also thinks he is quite literally the messias. But in the end he becomes quite literally "The King of Demons."

(Watch a video about Belos it here, its amazing)

But, what is my point with this post? What do i want to tell?

Well my entire point with this is to point out how their is such a faint line between good and evil in this show.

And this is just scratching the surface of it. Because if this keeps being proven right in season 5, I will make an entire analysis video about this after the new season is out.

Where I will also be looking at Wukongs journey from an anti-villian to a hero.

The Celistial Realm VS The Mortal Realm VS The Underworld.

Nezha's philosophy vs Li jings philosphy and their entire relationshsip.

And a lot of other stuff, and how this is the reason for why this show is so amazing.

[seiwas]

hi, sel! i hope you’re doing great <3 for your little exercise, can you do bakugou + vulnerability 🤔 thank you so much!

hi, zee! i'm doing very well, thank you! i hope you're doing amazing too 🥺 thank you for sending in a lil prompt ����

contains: aged up papa bakugo, mentions of a baby, mentions of past near-death experience

bakugo + vulnerability

it hits him all at once.

bakugo goes back into the field after eight months of paternity leave and instead of the pumping in his veins, all he feels is fear―unlike anything he's ever felt before.

it rings deep in his bones, crawls up his spine and into the back of his head; it rattles around his heartbeat. he didn't feel this at 15, with no pulse, near death with blood splattered all over his chest.

yet here he is now, at 35, standing face-to-face with a villain not any larger than he is. there's no real threat besides the explosives strapped to the pillars of this evacuated building; the worst that could happen is that the entire structure could collapse if they're set off.

―which, he can avoid; could hightail out of the area using cluster easily. but the pressure feels bigger somehow, the possibility of a failure weighs heavier. his first thought is you and the baby. his little family.

"you should start going back to the field," you whispered one night, your arms wrapped around his waist as he cradled his little girl to sleep.

he'd wanted to take the whole year off, just until she would start walking. just until you were more rested. settled.

but, you know bakugo and what makes him who he is, you know being a hero is more than just his job; how he misses the thrill of it, sneaking looks at his phone every time he hears anything from the news.

so he's here now, a few months too early, and it terrifies him―how he doesn't feel the same way he used to. it's paralyzing; one wrong move, one reckless mistake and it could all be over.

there's so much more to lose.

help me get back into the writing groove! send me a character + any word and i'll write a short blurb about it!

[afternoondreaming]

No Business Like Show Business (4/?)

What is goody my gang! Welcome back to the show! The next chapter should be a real fun one, you’ll get to bond with Mr. Puzzles~! But, for now, we build up our beloved slow-burn. Thanks for waiting, dear viewers~!

Mr. Puzzles, as massive as he was when he was in Channel 99, looked down upon you with worry. It had to have been an act, right? There was no way you passed out from the pure overwhelming feeling of confusion. Maybe it was from… Adoration! Being so absolutely impressed with his genius! …No, even he couldn’t fool himself into thinking that. However… This could be an amazing opportunity. It’d be so, so easy to hypnotize you right now. Then, he could just keep you here! Have you write day in and day out, fully loyal to the studio. But, perhaps that would stifle the creativity he so needed out of you… A shame. He sighed and with a snap of his fingers, thrust both of you back to reality. And, yup, you were still asleep on top of the layers and layers of dust the studio had accumulated over the years. That couldn’t possibly be healthy for you, and he needed you in tip top shape for creating your first big hit for Puzzlevision! “My apologies for the intrusion, Starlet, just being a hero at work~!” He stooped down low, putting his arms under you and lifting you up high into a princess carry. Some fresh air would likely do you good, so he took the initiative to take you both outside. He’d have to get his designer clothes dry cleaned to properly remove all that dust, but a dry cleaning bill was worth the eventual returns in the form of ratings. An old bus stop bench was right outside the entrance- however abysmally kept it may be, it was better than hot asphalt. He’d lay you on it, returning inside to grab your portfolio to bring back out with him. He might as well go over it, after all. You could be here for a while.

Slowly, you began to regain your senses. Sunlight fluttering behind your eyelids, you rubbed a hand to your head and decided to open your eyes. You were… Outdoors? Sat on an old, dilapidated bench just outside of the studio. Had all that TV dimension nonsense been a dream? Did you bomb the interview so badly that your brain just overwrote it with complete and utter nonsense? You looked to your side, seeing the titular TV man standing by the entrance to the studio next to you. He hadn’t noticed your awakening, flipping through one of your screenplays. That bastard had gone through your portfolio bag…! Sure, that’s what it was made for, but he could’ve asked when you were conscious! Annoyed, you cleared your throat, bringing his attention back down to you. “Excuse me.” You said, obviously irritated. “It’s impolite to go through others’ possessions, you know.”

“Excuse you.” He retorted, not even looking down your way as he flipped another page. “It’s impolite to enter another’s studio without knocking, but you already did that. I simply thought that, as my sidekick, such civil courtesies had been thrown out.”

“I hadn’t realized I was applying for the sidekick job position and not the screenwriter one. Silly me.” You stretched out your sore bones, coming up on your own two feet. “Now, about those apartment listings?”

“Ah, yes, I prepared them during your little nap. No need to thank me~!” His face switched to something akin to smug, obviously wanting thanks that you would refuse him on principle as he waved a paper at you. You jumped to snatch it from him, looking it over. “And, as you have applied for the sidekick position, I will gladly help you move. A good mastermind takes care of their own, after all~!”

“Sidekick, really? We’re going with that…? Bruh…” You decided to ignore that little tidbit, looking back up to his screen. “Thanks, Mr. Puzzles. I honestly don’t have much to move, so it shouldn’t be too hard once I sign with the landlord.” You took your screenplay back from him, not bothering to ask for it kindly as you packed your portfolio bag. “I guess I’ll see you around then…!”

“I’ll be seeing you soon, Starlet.” He replied, a smile coming back to his face as you got on your phone to hail a taxi. “I think we’ll be making a wonderful team~”

The days after your interview were certainly stressful. You sorted out severance pay with your old studio, and Puzzlevision was kind enough to finance the penalty for backing out of your lease early. All that was left was actually packing everything up into a moving van and make the long trek back to the oddly colorful land that Puzzlevision called home. Sure, it had been a long drive, and you had all of your furniture to unpack after it… But, hey, at least you had your new boss’ help for that. With his gangly arms, it was sure to be a cinch. Speaking of gangly-ass arms, there was the devil himself. Waiting in the parking lot of the complex, sleeves rolled up and ready for some good old fashioned manual labor. The sun was already starting to lower in the sky, so you’d have to get it all done with the little sunlight you both had left.

“Ah, starlet! The rising star of the hour— Your benevolent boss is here to help~!” He called out, waving at you as you hopped out of the box truck.

[kairiscorner]

(reblogs are greatly appreciated, it helps get my content out there! if you guys like what you see, please reblog it too <:D)

man... he's so annoying. and yet, so fucking dreamy.

summary: you were lauded as the only serious junior in the entire spider society. you did your work and loved doing it, you made no exceptions for any rules, not even for yourself. you loved order and civility, you fought hard in your universe to earn it, and you believed you deserved it here in the spider society and tried your hardest to uphold it. but when he showed up... you were gonna have a problem.

word count: 1,222 (crazy)

a/n: might be part 1 of something, or a oneshot, who knows !

you loved being a spider person, though of course, you'd never show it. you were looked up to by anyone who was anyone, everyone wanted to be like you. you upholded the law and ideals of society as a spider person, who'd've thought for your city to be civilized, all they needed was a spider-themed hero and they'd all bow down and listen?

it was because of your amazing abilities, tireless determination to serve and protect the people of your hometown that you were sought out by the spider society and became one of theirs. and you were the damn best at it. you found a new pleasure and hobby in beating up bad guys, being spotted over roofs of abandoned buildings, being pointed and gasped at by onlooker civilians, and saving the day as a friendly neighborhood spider person.

life was great like this, it followed one, linear path that everyone else did. it was the perfect pastime, the perfect job for you. you made a few friends and got along real well with jess and peter b, you had dibs on being jess' kid's mentor when it'd be born, and mayday absolutely loved you. you were peter b's go-to for a babysitter if he had to leave for a mission or go on a date night with mj. you were a trusted kid at the spider society, the adults had never met a kid as serious, responsible, and hard-working as you.

it was pure bliss, being part of the spider society.

until he showed up.

the moment he came in, you swore you heard a loud electric guitar strum reverberate throughout the halls. you felt the vibrations of it in every bone and muscle of your body, this guy couldn't have bothered you any worse. you groaned at the noise, asking others around you who that was. they shrugged, must've been some newbie, not that you cared, you just hoped they'd keep it down.

you cared for order and civility, and you found that in the spider society. despite there being some rogue ones and rebellious folks, you found yourself getting along with most of them. but you had a feeling that this newbie who made himself known through his flashy one note show might get on your nerves a little if he keeps that behavior consistent, but you digressed.

as you went over to the lobby to see what all the fuss was about, you soon heard another ear-piercing noise. it wasn't just one note that was playing now, it was a whole metal song. to make matters worse, some drummer girl joined him in, contributing to the noise.

"who the hell?" you asked yourself as you spotted a spiked spider man masked person with a black leather vest, buttons and pins adorning the lapels of it, with dark spider-doodled pants and long black boots with mismatched laces, yellow on the right and blue on the left. his mask had what appeared to be a runny look to it, the lenses of their mask ran down a little by the ends. their entire apparel screamed anarchy and chaos. and you loathed it.

"who's ready to overthrow an oppressive regime with me? an oppresive regime of boredom in this whole building!" the newbie's voice exclaimed. it was deep, yet smooth; it had a fluidity to it, almost as if he could say anything, and one would immediately listen, no questions asked. soon, everyone around you who was watching was buzzing as the guy played a loud metal song for all to hear. many were cheering for him and encouraging him to keep playing, but you soon noticed many of these people were on patrol duty. and many of them looked like they were more invested in this nutcase's impromptu performance over work, work that saves the multiverse, you thought as you reminded yourself.

"okay, people, this is cool and all, but we have work to do." you said as you tried to get the onlookers near you to listen to you, but it was for naught. none of them heard you over the incessant cheering, howling, and music in the air. you huffed as you shook your head, put your mask on, and swung over to the makeshift stage they had that was made of wooden crates and cardboard boxes laying around.

as the guy was strumming away on his electric guitar, showing no signs of giving out, you took the mic away. "okay, this was a good show and all, but we have work to do." you announced yet again, which earned the groaning and disappointment of a lot of people.

"yeah, yeah, groan as much as you want, that won't stop mr. o'hara from freaking out at us the minute he comes back and sees this whole... gathering." you say, trying to quell the audience's thirst for more excitement.

"well, aren't you a prissy one?" asked the newbie with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. you rolled your eyes. "what you did just hindered a whole lot of people from their responsibilities here, newbie." you told him in a stern voice as you frowned at him, expecting him to be mature about this if he was recruited as a spider man.

he laughed as he thanked the drummer girl for her performance as she was packing up to leave, and turned to look back at you with a smirk from underneath his mask. "you're real cute for that, upholding orders from higher-ups you so badly want to please. that's not being a spider person, though. more like being... an obedient little dog." he teased as he bent over a little to look you in the eye.

up close, he was much, much taller than you, much bigger in nearly ever aspect. you gulped a little, but your frown and angry expression remained. "say what you want, my judgement stands. i'm also more experienced than you here, so if you want to survive, you listen to me." you whispered as he leaned in closer to you, smirk widening.

he took off the mask, and you were surprised to see just how many piercings he had, you didn't even have any piercings for earrings at the bottom of your ears, yet he had... so many. he grinned at you as he ran a hand through his thick hair in wicks. "i think i can manage on my own, little doggy." he teased as he ruffled your hair and chuckled a low chuckle.

"i mean it though, it's cute. if you wanna be more than just a little dog for the higher-ups, though... you'll know where to find me." he said with a wink as he put the mask back on and swung away.

you were left alone now, thinking about who you just met. he was, of course, rebellious and disorderly, everything you weren't aspired never to become. you knew nothing good came out of a discordant lifestyle like his, no matter how little you knew of him, you knew one thing.

"man, he's so annoying..." you complained aloud as you took the mic and hopped off the makeshift stage, ready to clean it up before the adults got back. 'and yet, so... dreamy.'

oh dear, looks like he's gonna be quite the pain in the ass for you.

lmk if i should keep this going babes, i loved this idea sm, thank you to my friend on the dc server for the idea :DD

tags !! @thecoolerdor @miguelswifey04 @pixqlsin @k4tsu3 @nokkihy @fictarian @bivivivii

[star-redfiles]

nice to meet you again

miguel o’hara x spiderperson!reader

content: dead characters (mentioned), reader is a variant of miguel's spouse and vice versa

word count: 2k

summary: finding out that the multiverse is real and that there are other versions of you is shocking. finding out that there’s a team of hundreds or thousands of spider-themed superheroes just like you in the multiverse is even more shocking. finding out that another version of your husband, who was dead in your universe, is alive and well and even leading said team? harrowing.

though you had speculated the possibility and theorised of a multiverse, you would usually brush off the idea for more urgent matters. such as saving the city. but now that you had been pulled into spider society, a nearly infinite group of people just like you, it wasn’t something you could set aside so easily.

entering spider society was already an immense shock to your system. you fought a strange villain that just didn't seem to blend with the background and encountered a similarly suited hero while doing so. though you were wary of her at first, she instantly proved herself by helping you capture the villain. after that, she gave an all-too-brief explanation along with absolutely no time for you to process and pulled you through a colourful portal, into a futuristic world.

in that futuristic dimension, you were met with even more individuals (aptly dubbed 'spider-people') with powers and suits that looked like yours. finally, the other spiderperson allowed you time to process when you stopped by the cafeteria on your tour of the facility. then, you were being thrust into yet another new situation when she stated that the big boss and leader of this entire operation wished to see you. something about this made you nervous, despite the confidence you had built over a decade of vigilantism.

–

meeting miguel chilled you to the bone. your newly-made spider friend led you to his office for your introduction and you were already unnerved by the dark reds and blues of the area which contrasted the much brighter lighting in the rest of the building. however, when you saw the figure standing at the high platform ahead, you immediately froze. a tingling sensation ran through your body and it wasn't your usual spider sense. you knew that it was him. the all-too-familiar shape of his body wasn’t exactly like one you had memorised through years of being together. he had a stronger, more defined musculature, but you still recognised him. his posture and the way his hair was slicked back was identical to that of your husband. your miguel.

but your miguel was gone. your miguel had been gone for five years. so who was this?

the other spider began to introduce him, but everything she said was tuned out. all your senses were hyper-focused on miguel, and he could feel that. he felt your stare burning into his back, but he stood still, eyes wandering the screens and fingers tapping here and there. he refused to turn back at you until anyone mentioned anything. he couldn’t bare it.

miguel had actually been watching you for a while now. he refused to let you on the team, despite pleas from jess and peter b about how good of a spider you were. yes, you were highly experienced, and yes, your skills would be an amazing addition to the team, but he couldn’t do it. he couldn’t risk losing another one of you. he feared even seeing another one of you face to face. he had already lost his version of you, the mother of his child and the love of his life, twice. he was terrified of doing that again.

and he knew you would be shaken by seeing him.

at least, that’s what he said to reason with himself. even though it had been a few years since you lost your miguel, his defence was how hard it is to get over losing a loved one. which was partially true. which was partially true. he would know, because he himself hadn’t gotten over losing you and gabriella. but the others kept calling his bullshit until, one day, an anomaly was pulled into your universe. after encountering a very persistent jessica drew, he allowed the spider in charge of the mission to make contact with you. that same spider introduced you to spider society, which led to the situation at hand.

the spider with you was enthusiastic, as most other spiderpeople are, and frantically waved to miguel. “hey miguel! i’ve got that new recruit you wanted to see!” she yelled up to his platform as she waved with her entire body. miguel grunted, so softly you couldn’t hear despite your enhanced hearing abilities, when he heard her exclaiming. on the other hand, a part of you lit up hearing that he wanted to see you. that he personally asked to. though he did ask to see you, he was secretly hoping you wouldn’t come, just to spare him the emotions of seeing your face and seeing you alive, moving around and living. he wasn’t alone in that fear. you were also a bit scared, but you swallowed it and pushed it far, far down.

“hi… miguel,” you spoke up hesitantly.

once he heard you speak, his name especially, miguel immediately turned and jumped off his platform. it was moving too slowly for his liking and he hated to leave you waiting, no matter how scared he was of meeting you. miguel landed in a striking pose right in front of you, standing a bit too close for comfort.

“miguel o’hara. welcome to the team.”

you almost couldn't hear his mumbled words as he extended a large arm to shake your hand. you reached out your hand and met him in an awkward handshake. it was weird, feeling the touch of one another after so long. it was so foreign, yet so familiar. you were two strangers, yet you had also known each other for ages.

you introduced yourself to him as you shook, stuttering out how much of an honour it was to join the team. he then instructed the other spider to leave before turning back to you. miguel cleared his throat before starting, “i’m the spiderman of this world. and as you may know, i started this task force of spider-people.”

you slowly nodded. “so i’ve heard.”

the air between the two of you feels thick. you feel too close to each other where you stand right now. and you think he feels it too, because he steps back slightly. when he does, you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. “have you heard why i started it, though?”

your ears perked up at that. you figured it had something to do with the villain you were fighting earlier, a villain that looked out of place in your universe.

“as you've probably figured out, we exist within a multiverse. that multiverse is connected by the web of life,” he began. miguel stood silent, as if he was waiting for something to happen. when nothing did, he cleared his throat and repeated in a booming voice, "the web! of life!"

once again, nothing happened. in frustration, he called out for LYLA, a small hologram-like woman, seemingly artificial intelligence. you waited, standing by and watching the two of them banter until a large projection showed up. the image grew slowly, starting as a bright light that branched out and eventually became a giant red web which seemed to encapsulate the entire room. miguel sighed in relief as it appeared before pointing around. “the web of life.” 

you took a look at the details of the web, walking around and tracing the lines while he continued to explain. “the multiverse also has a set of rules: the canon. things that have to happen and things that aren’t allowed to happen. every spider-person has to go through certain canon events.” you watched as the projection showed clips of different spider-people, each one experiencing a very similar event. events that you yourself were familiar with. the memories pierced you, yet it gave you an odd sense of warmth knowing that you weren’t the only one who went through all that.

“if anything messes up this canon – anomalies – it can tear down an entire universe.” in the projection, one of the webs broke and faded away. you stiffened. you realised at that moment just how much higher the stakes were now. you were used to threats of planetary destruction, but the downfall of an entire universe was a huge deal in comparison.

as you watched the projection, a thought formed in your mind. a conclusion. “…if enough universes are destroyed, the whole multiverse could disappear.” 

miguel nodded. “exactly. our job is to prevent and fix anomalies, protecting the canon in order to stop the multiverse from collapsing in on itself.”

that sounded like a terrible job. the thought of what could happen if you failed was horrible. you knew the struggle of not being able to save everyone, of losing lives just because of one measly mistake. but how could anyone live knowing they failed to save an entire universe? “so what’s our success rate?” you asked, half as a joke.

“we manage to save most universes. as long as the canon events occur as normal, the universe is fine. sometimes, we save universes from collapsing even after their canon events were disrupted. not always, though,” replied miguel, answering your question with an unexpectedly serious tone.

an “oh” was all you had in yourself to say. unsure of what to say or do next, you stood in silence as the projection around you slowly faded away. miguel stood with his eyes trained on you as if asking for a response, anything to keep the conversation going. as if begging you to keep talking so he had an excuse to continue existing within this space with you. a thought came into your mind, then.

“how did you figure all this out?”

that seemed to strike a nerve in him. he stiffened up even more – if that was even possible. he hesitated to answer. miguel didn’t want to have to tell you about how he knew you. another you, in another universe, in another time. he didn’t want to have to explain how he had lost you once before. so he didn’t. “all this,” he began, voice catching in his throat as he spoke. “everything that i’ve built to protect the multiverse… it all started because i broke the canon once myself.”

your eyes widened as the new information you were receiving hit you like a truck. thousands of questions ran through your mind. what happened? why would he do it? when you spoke to voice out your concerns, you were immediately cut off by miguel.

“i didn’t know any better.”

you could hear the pain in his voice as he spoke. you could sense that he didn’t want to tell you. you fiddled with the gloves of your suit but before you could say anything, he kept going. “i found a universe where i had a family. where i was happy. at least, a version of myself. and that version of myself was killed. so i replaced him.”

he turned around as he explained this, not being able to face you while he told you all the crazy things he did. it hurt him now when the words left his mouth, understanding that what he did sounded insane. it made him seem like a psychopath, taking over a dead person’s entire life like that. and that’s exactly what you thought, as well. your heart stopped at this revelation and you slowly took a step back, not even sure why. 

“i know it sounds messed up, i realise that now. but at the time, i thought it was harmless. i was wrong. because of me, an entire universe collapsed. and i lost my family again.”

‘sort of like karma, huh?’ you thought. you were too scared to say it out loud, though. you could only stay silent, unsure of what to say next. but deep down, you could feel it. you could feel there was still something he was hiding from you; a part of the story he wasn’t telling you. but when he dismissed you from his office, you dismissed that thought.

your hunch was right, though. he had omitted some large details about his family. like how you were a part of it.

[gay-dorito-dust]

Can i request headcandons of the spiderverse Boys with a shy nurse reader who is constantly tired? Being nurse and spider person is a physically and mentally demanding job and i think that would be nice see more spiderverse content, but if u don't want to make this request i understand

A/n: I’m sorry Most of these are either short cuz I didn’t know what to put for them or come across as a carbon copy of the other in due to me not knowing what to put there instead🤣

Miles sympathises with you wholeheartedly.

Trying to find a healthy balance between being a nurse -an intensive and highly demanding profession- and being a hero was definitely a challenge that had detrimental affects upon one’s mental and physical health.

Miles would affirm you with his words of praises and encouragement all the while holding you tightly, wilfully being your personal pillow/recharging station that often times he’d catch you fall asleep against him because his presence was that warm and comforting to you that it lulled you into a peaceful sleep.

Miles deeply admires your dedication to saving people not only as hero but also within the medical field. But he often does worry that you work yourself to the bone trying to find a way to perform both tasks without having them overlap one another.

There do come days where it all becomes a bit too much as your body grows sick and tired of your constant negligence and choose it’s way of rebelling by refusing you any sort of mobility of your limbs. Your mental state also tanks which only made your want to move even harder as you didn’t even have to willpower to make it so.

Miles would be a major source of comfort during these moments as he would remind you of all the achievements and accomplishments you’ve made during your tenure as both hero and Nurse. He’d probably have his music on as background noise whilst he’s taking the time and effort in making sure you’re as comfortable as possible.

Things he most often says are;

‘You have done so many amazing things and your only just getting started! How cool is that?!’

‘You’re an inspiration to not only the people you save on a daily basis but your also an inspiration to me as well that I even made art about you. Here, take a look!’

‘Don’t beat yourself up over this, you always get back up and hit them twice as hard because that’s what my y/n does, for my y/n ain’t no quitter, they’re a fighter.’

‘Bad days come to pass because the better ones always remain.’

‘Rest, I’ll take over from here.’

‘You’re not alone in this because I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be right here to catch you when you need me to.’

Pavitr would, If you let him, smother you in affection and cuddles but to the right amount so it doesn’t cross the border where it could potentially get annoying.

Which with Pav, it never does because his hugs and cuddles were the best and yet to be topped by anything or anyone because they are superior.

Plus they brought you warmth and comfort that you can’t help but bury yourself into his neck after a shit day in hopes of forgetting all about it as his hand rubs your back soothingly whilst also fighting the urge to just fall asleep then and there.

Also this lad would just spoil you with small gifts as to show his appreciation for you even though he does so quite eloquently enough with his words and his actions that this was merely the cherry on top.

Due to Pavitr being more able to read people then most, he’d notice the indicators within you that told him you weren’t feeling your best and he would make sure to take you to his favourite places within Mumbattan in hopes that it’ll help you by even just a little bit. After all he’s aware of the concept that fresh air and a change of pace were beneficial to a better mental health, and all he wants was for you to feel better, even if it was by a little that would mean a whole lot to him.

Hobie would want you to have a change of scenery from the hustle and bustle you subjugate yourself to on an daily basis to somewhere less noisy and loud within any aspect.

Sure it’s not his kind of scene but for you and how much work you put on yourself just to come home, looking as though any minute you were going to collapse? It was worth seeing you gradually become more relaxed and at peace to the point you fall asleep against his shoulder and he has to carry you back home.

again Hobie didn’t care since he knew how much sleep you missed out on and would not hesitate to get you a few days off if he feels as though you workplace was taking the piss out of you by thinking you were expendable.

He ain’t having none of that shit when it came to you.

Hobie wasn’t about to let you work yourself to the bone and not get a single thanks nor your flowers for busting your ass.

You tell him that it doesn’t bother you as you were doing what your job entails but Hobie more or less your backbone within these sorts of situations because he didn’t want you being taken advantage of just because you were ‘hard working.’ Not to say you aren’t but Hobie was more then well aware that this was often the excuse given when some shit stain wanted to offload their work onto someone else for personal gain.

It was always the ones who worked the least or didn’t work at all that got the appraisal and the promotions.

So Hobie would always and I mean ALWAYS praise you for everything you’ve done for he doesn’t believe you hear it enough for his liking.

Also he’s great with advice so when the days were particularly rough, he’d probably drop a bit of sage advice in regards to any aspect that you were finding hard to cope with like; ‘while the aspiration to save everyone is admirable; it’s unrealistic. For you’re setting yourself up to traverse down a road where instead of pointing out the problem, you are made to believe that you are the problem. Instead of trying to save everyone, focus on saving one person at a time for that one person could be someone else’s everything.’

Being the absolute secret sweetheart that he is, Miguel would try and help take the weight off of your shoulders and make your life a whole lot more easier by performing small acts of service that he knows you’ll greatly appreciate.

Even if it was the minuscule things such as; making you your favourite beverage, setting up a relaxing bath/ shower. fluffing up the pillows, smoothing the creases out of the duvet, cooking your favourite food since you always tell him that one of the things you always loved coming home to was the smell of his cooking. Hell do it all if it made you happy.

Miguel defiantly pampers you on the days where you felt more fatigued from your dual jobs. He doesn’t want you to do anything for you’ve already done enough to warrant yourself some much needed rest.

He lives to serve his beloved and would reject your requests to help him by planting kisses to your lips until you ultimately accept his pampering with little to no complaint.

If you were in the spider society, he’d give you time off because he’s the boss and all and if you were to go against his request for you to take time for yourself, he’d threaten to double it even though he was seriously considering it with how obvious tightroping two jobs was negatively effecting you.

Miguel doesn’t want you to overwork yourself but will overwork himself…what a hypocrite.

Soft Miguel is only soft with you.

[elina-bnhagirl4]

Not me starting my first post with my first husband. It's an example of my current writing.

Abbreviations here:

N/N: His nickname for you

Y/N L/N: Your official name

H/N: Your nickname for him

F/I: Favourite Ice Cream

F/B: Favourite Beverage

B/S: Body size (All of you are beautiful no matter what size you are, remember that 🥰)

Bold! Izuku Midoriya Boyfriend Headcannons

• He'd definitely pray to God that he got a girlfriend/boyfriend/Significant Other as youself.

"Oh heavens, I pray to thy self..."

You raised a brow at his kneeling figure, having head bowed to the ground, "Izuku, what're you doing?"

"Praying to whatever deity is out there who have blessed me"

"With what?" "You"

• He won't believe that he'd get a gorgeous/handsome/amazing partner like you. Even though, he knew you'd retaliate saying otherwise.

"Like, how did I get so lucky to have you? Maybe having a bad past was worth it after all"

You chuckled nervously feeling the stares around you due to his continuous rambles, "Izuku, sometimes your mentality makes me question myself"

• He'd everything in his power to make you happy such as weekly dates, late night calls and even skipping his plans if you'd ask him to.

"Izuku, are you sure you don't have any plans?"

He replied back sweetly as if he didn't had his one hand covering Denki's mouth to stop him from making fake kissing noises, "It's no worries, N/N. I didn't have anything to do all day"

• If you're in the same high school as him, he'll immediately introduce you to his friends and even invite in their sleepovers, parties or just in general.

"Hey guys, this is my partner Y/N L/N"

"Wow, you look so cute!"

"It is my pleasure to meet the significant other of our fellow friend"

"Hi"

• He'd tell you about his past after he got to know you a lot better. And I mean very very well. It's a very sensitive topic afterall.

"Izuku, are you sure you want to tell me about this now?"

He raised an eyebrow at your worried look, "Do you want to talk about yours?"

"No... I don't think it's the right time"

He shrugged and held you closer while continuing, "So, you know these guys, they made me..."

• He'd do his best to cheer you up when you're feeling down. He'd also immediately know when you are sad, depressed or in a bad mood.

"Hey, are you okay? Do you want to talk about it? Who made you sad? I just need a name. I think I have F/I and F/B in the mini fridge. Do you want them?"

He quiet down feeling your body slump on his. He held you close feeling your murmur, "I need peace and quiet"

He hugged back gently before laying on his bed comfortably, "Okay"

• Even though you warn him about not being self sacrificing, he exactly does that.

"H/N, I told you to not be so reckless everyday!"

"But N/N, this is the only way to improve myself to be the hero I aim to be"

"Izuku, getting admitted in the hospital three times a week is not in the quota of being a hero!"

• If someone both of you may or may not know implies to leave the other, you'd get defensive to prevent the other for being self conscious.

"Hey, cutie~ How about you and me ditch your plain boyfriend and spend quality time together"

The person began sweating feeling the invisible daggers digging in the body from your stare, "You got a lot of nerve to insult my boyfriend right in front of me. If you want your body intact, I suggest you leave right this second"

"Hey, handsome~ What do you even see in that B/S person, anyway? I bet I can make you feel much better"

She got a nasty glare with deep voice oozing in hatred, "One, get your chest away from me. Two, I dare insult my partner one more time and you won't have any less than 5 bones to be mend after I'm done with your B.S."

The girl flinched back before scurrying away without a glance.

• If he's sure, you're his one and only, he'd introduce you to his mother after the 3rd date.

"Mom! Look who I brought!"

"Sweety, is that you?!"

"Yes, Aunty Inko"

• He'd propose to you after 3 years of becoming officially together, which is 1 year after debuting as a Pro Hero. He's sure in his life that there is no one else for him other than the love of his life.

"Y/N L/N, will you make me the happiest hero in the world by being my Mrs. Midoriya?"

You stood speechless staring at his sheepish expression while he held a small box having the most beautiful emarald ring in it.

Your eyes watered and you nodded not finding any words in your brain right now, just the grin on his face and him putting the ring on your figure.

Ignoring the clapping sounds echoing around you, you knelt down and hugged him tightly while sobbing quietly.

He hugged back just as tightly while murmuring soft words of how gorgeous you look right now. He definitely knew he made the right decision by choosing for a life together with you.

(⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ⊂⁠(⁠・⁠﹏⁠・⁠⊂⁠) ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

[mogamuncher]

Heeeey I'm back again with another tidbit of the Slay the Knight AU (AKA: the Re:Zero and Slay the Princess crossover au)

Anyways due to some of y'all's amazing suggestion, I think I have a lot more ideas to rave about rn, mostly about the voices, but also some about the different Barus that this au would have!

Ok so, first the voices:

Voice of the Hero - Voice of the Noble: Julius.

Voice of the Contrarian - Voice of the Opposed: Ram

Voice of the Opportunist- Voice of the Cunning: Anastasia

Voice of the Cold - Voice of the Shut-in: Beatrice

Voice of the Paranoid - Voice of the Troubled: Otto

Voice of the Stubborn - Voice of the Proud: Priscilla

Voice of the Hunted - Voice of the Protector (shield, get it?): Garfield

Voice of the Cheated - Voice of the Wronged: Felt

Voice of the Skeptic - Voice of the Cynic: Pick

Voice of the Smitten - Voice of the Devoted: Rem

Voice of the Broken - Voice of the Selfless: Reinhard

I think that's all the voices but I might be wrong. . Uhhh anyways here they all are! Again a lot of these are from suggestions, but I really liked them! Some names are still iffy (Felt and Garfiel could definitely be improved upon I think) but I do like the character placements!

My favorite thing to think about is which route these voices will interact with, since all the Barus will be very. . . Interesting.

Speaking of the Barus, here's some ideas I had for their princess equivalents, with pictures!

So, first, to get it out of the way: The Witch

100% Wrathbaru, there's not a single bone in my body that says otherwise. The Witch route is all about distrust, it's all about how you betrayed the Princess and so she betrayed and beat up you, there's even a reference to the Frog and the Scorpion fable in her route, a fable all about trusting someone only to get hurt in doing so. Hell, the characteristic voice for her route is Voice of the Opportunist, who's singlehandedly the voice that should be trusted the least

Meanwhile in the Wrath IF route, Wrathbaru was specifically incredibly paranoid and distrustful to the point where he stopped seeing color, only ever seeing color in people who he fully trusted, mainly because he knew for certain where they stood emotionally when it came to him either through consistency across loops (Beatrice and Emilia) or because he knows that they just hate him (Ram and also kinda Emilia)

The point is, Wrathbaru absolutely would be the Witch equivalent, if only for the themes alone, though he's a lot somber than the very playful Witch.

Also, catboy Wrathbaru, enough said.

Though if Wrathbaru is The Witch then The Thorn will definitely be really interesting

I like to think that Wrathbaru in the Thorn would still be very jumpy and paranoid, instead of the gentle show of trust in the og game, Emilia (The Long Quiet) would have to drag Wrathbaru out of those vines kicking and screaming

Having Rem, Julius and Anastasia harassing Echidna (The Narrator) about describing a kiss with Wrathbaru would be absolutely hilarious though, absolutely peak fiction

Now, let's please talk about The Damsel

So, we can like, all agree that this is arc 1-2 Baru, right? Just straight up that Subaru, but with more bimbo energy

Rem here would be fun, though she probably wouldn't say things in the exact same manner the Smitten does, she can still be really funny with her Subaru crush, as seen in the snow special

Ok, so like, we got the Damsel figured out, cool.

Now, Happily Ever After, on the other hand

Ok so this is pristine cut content, so definitely some big spoilers, but:

Greebaru. Just, 100%, 1000% Greedbaru coded. There's not a single princess that could ever rival the Greedbaru-ness of this princess in the entire game

Just, him and Emilia being literally controlled the entire time, the idea of Echidna slowly growing disillusioned as the route goes on as she sees where her meddling will take her, the constant repetition and Subaru's desperation that doing things again and again will fix it, the fact that REM I would be the one orchestrating all of this???

Just, how utterly miserable everyone is inside of this route, it's simply Greed IF core. Everyone knows that Greed IF is the IF where no one gets to be happy despite everything technically being "alright", which is exactly the vibes that this route has!

Also, going from Arc 1-2 Subaru to Greed IF Subaru would be such a drastic jump, I love it

Greebaru would be a lot calmer than the og princess in this route, think lots of fake smiles and call insistance that slowly becomes hysterical desperation

Also, dancing with Greebaru under the stars, enough said

For other standouts:

The Den

We get to have a full monster Baru!

He'll probably be a chimera type beast that's a ground dragon (Petrasche reference ayy) mixed with a rabbit (hah) with a big horn on his forehead and Cappella-esque wings

There's no way to really stick his iconic slicked back hair on a rabbit head without it looking a bit goofy, so I propose we let Subaru grow his hair out and have it down for this one

The Razor:

For some reason I cannot possibly describe to you, I keep thinking of her equivalent being Pridebaru. No seriously do not ask me why, I don't know either

Maybe it's because she's the most affably murder happy one? Then again there's the Adversary. . . Anyways if she were to be Pridebaru then I suggest an added fire motif, along with the blades

The blades can mainly stay due to the association with Elsa, in fact, maybe this Baru can specifically only ever target Emilia's guts when he goes to skewer her

Also Mutually Assured Destruction

That entire interaction will be hilarious now. Rem finding this beautiful, Priscilla saying it's the perfect man, Ram wondering if he can be thrown out of a window??? Mwah, perfection

I also would like if there was a fire motif there, maybe he can also he on fire

The Nightmare

My beloved, because he would mean we get to hear Otto do the "Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves" chant, but also I have no clue what Baru he would even be

Maybe Gluttony??? A Moment of Clarity would make Gluttony an interesting pick here, but I don't know for sure

Other than that I'm still brainstorming ideas, and ofc taking suggestions, so feel free to tell me what y'all think!

[summertimemusician]

Linktober 2024, Day 1, Mirror (Self)

Alright here we go again.

Technically a sneak peak of a bigger thing to come in the future that I'm repurposing, and the result of my final playthrough and readthrough before EoW dropped being Four Swords Adventures and that made me sad about Shadow Link again.

Note that this is for the Four Swords Adventures iteration of Shadow Link that might evolve into an LU Shadow, not Dark Link in either LOZ or LU, I have other plans for him.

This one shot was brought to you by Scars by The Crane Wives, Ribs by The Crane Wives, Ruin by The Amazing Devil and Two Minutes by The Amazing Devil because the author's playlist decided to be incredibly cheeky when they blacked out to write this like an ancient seers being cursed with visions and then called mad and hearing they've been put up for execution.

As always the nature of the relationship can be romantic or platonic, mostly due to the author's time constraints and further plans.

Anyway enjoy the reading!

It was cold.

The sort of cold after a wildfire, when everything's turned back to ash, the sort that left burned your vision white after the flames licked through your veins and left an ache in your bones. He shuddered, coughed black onto the stone floor, shaking with a muffled whimper.

It never got any easier, being dragged from the Dark World and into the Realm of Light, the goddesses' world itself revolting against an intruder, wanting the wound torn asunder into their oh so precious realm cauterized. To purge the intrusion and smite it where it stands.

Too bad for them (and for him), his master didn't particularly care about what the world wanted. Didn't particularly care that he hadn't grow accustomed to the pain or the cold, he had to stand up. There was work to be done.

(Shadow gritted his teeth, willed himself not to think about the prophecy of a golden haired princess- because whether he liked it or not, it was prophecy. As those with divinity running through their veins are wont to spill from their throats so carelessly- of violet eyes and a smile a third moonlight and hands holding a hammer.

It always hurt more, after one of the heroes liberated one of the maidens, or the jewels, the pain lingering for days afterwards and carving a home in his metaphorical bones. But just this once he'd take the cold bite of the Four Swords over the pain in the hole in his chest that Vio's betrayal had left, something that felt so much worse than every other time before.

Just this once he wished that maybe, just maybe, the hurt would be too much to bear, that he wouldn't wake up again-

Why? Why does it hurt so much but he's still here? He already knew the Light was uncompromising and unforgiving, but he thought them at least above curses.)

His ears twitched as soft, almost silent footsteps came up to his side. Someone crouching by his fallen form, setting a cautious hand over his own that Shadow couldn't help but draw away from with a hiss, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the world again, to your face, carefully blank as you guided him to lean against your side, a silver choker with a crimson gem winked mockingly at him, the shade closing his eyes and going boneless against your side.

Shadow was so, so tired.

He heard you quietly sigh, plucking his cap from his head and running your fingers through dark amethyst, smoke and mist made hair. "I told you so."

"Shut up." He grumbled, nuzzling further into the crook of your neck. One clawed hand curling against your free wrist, digging into the skin. Absentmindedly noting there were new scratches just above the metal.

It was routine by now, the warmth of your existence against his own a welcome balm, not quite of the Realm of Light where it's unpleasant, not too close to the Dark World where he felt like melting back into the embrace of the darkness, only to howl in agony at being dragged out.

Memories not quite his own bled into his mind all the time. How you'd shape ice into flowers for the princess in winter with nary a though, of blinking and from one second to the next you'd have whatever sword he had hostage if you though it was time for a break with a smile brighter than the sun.

His master had changed that though. It took months for you to stop trying to claw the collar out and to stop trying to fight Vaati.

(Funny how holding a mage's dragon as a bargaining chip is just as effective as kidnapping a ruler.)

Your gaze flicked to the polished obsidian of the Dark Mirror, to the gold, ornate frame. "The offer is still open, you know. Let me take the suffering from you."

"No." He scowled, leaning back to glare into your eyes, a hint of fangs poking out from a maw struggling to keep the shape of a human jaw, "You helped him. Helped them." Shadow spat, there is that hurt again.

You shrugged, a movement that's just slightly awkward as you flinch, "That I did." You confirmed simply, it almost made Shadow see red as he leaned away, knocking your hand from his head in the process, but if there's anything him and the heroes shared, was a lack of a desire to hurt you. It was a little grating to be honest, "Vio even offered to take me with him, to be honest."

"Then why didn't you leave?" He demanded.

Why did you stick around?

Your eyes shuttered, a hint of conflict in your pursed lips. Before you found your words, they come out softly, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you why. You'll just have to find out yourself."

You tug your wrist from his grasp, and Shadow lets you go.

(Stubbornly pushing down on memories and emotions that arearen'tarenotanymore quite his.)

You stand and turn away, pushing the curtains away from your sight, you turn your tired eyes to Shadow with an emotion he can't put a name to. "Just keep it in mind that there's more than one way to end this. Nothing is truly inevitable."

Shadow watches you go. 'There's nothing that can be done. He tells himself, hand hesitating above the Dark Mirror, briefly, it curls into a fist. The hero's original self stares back at him.

'… Does he really believe that?'

He shakes his head, and focuses on willing the Dark Mirror to show him his counterpart.

His chest still hurts.

[babalu3rd]

Agatha All Along finale spoilers

Okay wow, this was a rollercoaster of emotions. Honestly I was most afraid we wouldn't get a hopeful ending but we did and for that I'm happy. Biggest downside to the ending is that we didn't get the AgathaRio origin story we wanted but I'm hoping against hope that they'll make it a mini series or something or that they plan to use it at a later time. Perhaps in a 2nd season of AAA? There's enough meat on the bones for a few flashback scenes in between the Agatha and Billy shenanigans we'd get from a 2nd season of AAA. I need need need to see how AgathaRio met and fell in love and then their rift. (And how they will go forward from here on. They obviously love each other but their hurt and anger is still not completely solved). Agatha as a ghost gives me the hope that she'll at one point get her body back, anything is possible at this point! Agatha and Rio's story is far from over.

The Billy/Agatha scene in the last trial was so heartwrenching, when she helped him guide Tommy to a body. "Sometimes...boys die" Just take my heart and stomp on it why don't you Jac. And Kathryn Hahn's delivery??? Give her all the awards right now!

Or the unbinding of Jennifer Kale (the worst type of vegetable hahaha).

Also Agatha saying to Billy he wasn't the one to get her out of Wanda's spell, hinting at it being Rio's doing! Shivers!

The good thing about the finale in my opinion is the amazing AgathaRio kiss we got! I've seen people speculate it was their first kiss because of how it ended but I believe it ended the way it did because Agatha was draining Rio's magic knowing it would kill her, something she wouldn't have done in the past.

All their delicious dialogue;

Agatha calling Rio: "My love"

"Power looks good on you" -"Honey, everything looks good on me"

"Congratulations my love" followed by an insane cackle

Blowing a kiss to disrupt Agatha's spell lol these dramatic hoes I swear

Just realized they both call each other "my love" Kill me now guys

Agatha ordering Rio :"Now put my yard back. Why don't you plant a few azaleas on your way out" Woof it's like they've done this a million times, fighting/foreplay rinse repeat.

The tears in Rio's eyes as Agatha sacrifices herself/found a loophole to her deal with Rio.

They way Rio flicks Billy away like he's a pest while they are flirting I mean fighting.

Other highlights; it was Billy All Along by making the road manifest and of course it was Agatha All Along making up the Witches' Road myth to murder witches!

Nicky and Agatha's backstory was so sweet and heartwrenching.

The fact that Death gave Agatha six years with her/their son before collecting his soul.... kick me while I'm lying down...

The Witches' Road being Agatha and Nicky's song truly ripped my heart to pieces.

And how gently Rio took Nicky with her to the afterlife while holding hands...

Conclusion

Agatha All Along was an amazing series, full of intrigue, worldbuilding, found family in the shape of a coven, heartbreak, complex lesbian relationships and a compelling and flawed main hero.

And while it didn't deliver on everything I wanted it as close to a perfect series as it gets in my opinion. It will remain as one of my favorite series for a long long time.

Some questions I still have

When and how did Agatha get the Darkhold

Why was Rio so angry with Agatha

How did they meet and fall in love

What happened in Salem and what was the power/knowledge above her station as stated by Evanora

Where's Wanda

Why couldn't Rio kill Agatha in the first ep? The "It's not allowed!" Line

Now that Agatha is a ghost does that mean she can go pester Rio and then finally get back together?

Or will the fact that she helped Billy get Toby Tommy a new body mean they will face off again?

[quitealotofsodapop]

Updating Masterlist of "The Monkey King and the Infant" au posts;

Official Fanfic (ao3): "The Monkey King and the Infant"

Outline/Concepts:

"#The Monkey King and the Infant" Au Tag Original Post (may be outdated) Spotify Playlist (may contain spoilers for story) + with a general outlin of pre and current story events Details: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Assorted answered details

Shadowpeach being parents/mortal:

●"#shadowpeach being parents" - for all posts shadowpeach being parents. ●"#freenoodles being parents" - whether by themselves or co-parenting with shadowpeach. ●"#spicynoodles being parents" - ideas for future spicynoodles family stuff. ●"#sandy being the best uncle" - Sandy is just the Best Uncle. ●"#shadowpeach parental debuff" - posts relating to or explaining why these two are stuck on earth. ↳A (hopefully) clear outline of how the "Soul Energy Transfer" works. + Mortal Debuff ●"#dad bod sun wukong" + "#mom bod macaque" - posts about these two and their mortal bodies. Includes unrelated fanart I adore. ●"#pregnancy tw" - for all things preggers related cus I know some people ain't about that. ↳"childbirth tw" tag - you know why. Why Xiaotian? Macaque is the LMK world's version of Nicole Waterson + Fanart! "Qi Sun Wukong/Qi Wu" & "Qi Liu'er Mihou/Qi Mihou" + Now with Fanart! MORE FANART!!! Mortality/Aging Crisis + Now with really sweet edits that made me cry

Other Characters:

"#lmk character ideas" - more so for characters from chinese mythos/Journey to the West that have yet to appear in LMK. ●"#lmk bai he" - my version of Bai He/The Lady Bone Demon's Host ●"#lmk liu chenxiang" - for my version of Sun Wukong's student from The Lotus Lantern fairytale. ●"#lmk eclipse twins" - tag for Rumble & Savage, Macaque's little shadowclones in the au. ●"#lmk yuebei xing" & "#lmk lunar nodelets" tags - for my version of Yuebei Xing, and Jidu & Luohou from the non-canonical 1580-1590s "Journey the South" book. ●"#lmk sun luzhen" & "#sun luzhen" - for my versions of Sun Luzhen, Wukong's mini-me/biggest fan from the 17th century book "Later Journey to the West". ●"#lmk the four stalwarts" - for my version of the Monkey King's closest compatriots; Ma, Ba, Beng, and Liu. ●"#lmk guanyin" - for my version of Guanyin. ●"#lmk xiwangmu" - for my version of The Queen Mother of the West/Xiwangmu. ●"#lmk fan children" + "jttw inspo fan children" - for fan children of different pairings Princess Jade Face aka Auntie Jade Star Lord of Fire of the South aka SWK's Lawyer Spindrax aka the team's mean biker Mozhi the Ink Demon Babs and Gibs: The Other Celestial Primates

Events in Au/Story (may be unorganised):

●"#lmk tmkati au story events" - tag for straight forward story events in the au. Some older posts may be outdated. How does MK happen? (a little outdated but has the basic details) McCaque :3 aka "Why nobody tell me that food is amazing now!?" "A Hero is Born" changes, "A Hero is Born" changes Part 2 + Now with fanart!! What happens when you possess someone with a living debuff Diyu had two free babies The Wedding + the Proposal + Wedding Vows Azure Lion is trying to do the math here?

World Details/Non-Story Specific:

●"#lmk backstory hcs" - for backstory headcanons not particular to any aus. ●"#lmk character hcs" - character headcanons not particular to aus but may intersect. ●"#jttw inspo character ideas" - for ideas for Jttw characters who don't appear in certain other Jttw-inspired media (ex; a version of Six Eared Macaque in Smash Legends to contrast their Wukong). ●"#jttw inspo ocs" - for new characters made for my Jttw-inspired media ideas. Ie; Xiaoshi for my Netflix Monkey King idea, or the Fruit Babies in my Reborn idea. ●"#lmk gender hcs" - includes personal hcs. ●"#lmk theories" + "#jttw theories"- for theories. ●"#monkey facts" - monkey facts :)

Other Aus/Theories:

●"#Celestial NATO" - goofy idea where the LMK cast interact with other pantheon gods. ● "#wukongverse" - crossover ideas between different JttW inspired characters. ↳Different verses SWK and LEM Nicknames ↳Different verses SWK/LEM ship names/tags +Look at this amazing Smash Legends! Six Earred Macaque art ●"#born grown stone monkeys" - based on the idea that Sun Wukong and Macaque were both born "fully formed" as adults, but were mentally still kids pre-Journey. ●"#Reincarnated!lbd au" - a collection of mini-aus where after her defeat, the Lady Bone Demon's soul split off to reincarnate immediately. In the main version it splits four ways into different fan children (including a version of Yuebei Xing). ●"#lmk penumbra au" - Before Macaque got canonically ded'd, he left behind a pair of shadow clones to "watch the fort" at FFM. Wukong can't bring himself to destroy them, and donates his life energy/dao to the shadows to keep them around. The shadows decide to transform into Rumble & Savage after a few centuries of this, and now Wukong is a proud dad/mom to a pair of chirpy Macaque-looking babies. Macaque is confused when he gets back. ●"#stone egg talk" - ideas about Stone Monkeys being able to reproduce asexually under desperate means through a form of very-risky Parthenogenesis that creates a slow-cooking Stone Egg in their body. Sun Luzhen is created this way in some aus + in the main TMKATI au. ● ↳"#century stone egg au" aka "#SWK is MK's stone egg dad theory au" - exactly what it says on the tin. SWK inducing the process out of loneliness/desire to be a parent = MK's egg. The modern gang hangs out on the island with him once he gets unburied. Has vibes of a flipped TMKATI au. ●↳"#jttw stone egged au" - Turns out being trapped under Five Point Mountain is the perfect trigger conditions for SWK's body to create a Stone Egg. He spends the Journey pregnant and very pissed off. ●+↳"#slow boiled stone egg au" - an Au of an Au. In which Wukong's stone egg-pregnancy during the Journey is extended by many years from him deciding to isolate himself after the Samadhi Fire incident + the death of Macaque. By the time of the canon LMK series, SWK has been pregnant for many, many years, and still is. MK is very confused and horrified. ●+↳"#soft boiled stone egg au" - Au of Slow Boiled in which Yuebei XIng is born during the events of the Samadhi Fire Ritual. Wukong retreats from the public eye after the Journey to settle down and raise his daughter. Yuebei has spent most of her life recieving treatments and learning on Guanyin's island, and at the time of LMK has finally hit her rebelious teen phase. ●++↳"#marbled stone egg au" - au of an au of an au; Slow Boiled but Wukong keeps MK when he gets dumped on him. Gets a bunch of friends within the Noodle Gang early.

Memes & Misc Addons:

●"#memes" - main memes tag. ●Love Dodecahedron Chart (spoilers) ●POV: You just said you were hungry within 10 miles of Pigsy ●Nezha: Ultimate Babysitter

Be sure to send in asks about any details that may be unclear, I've only just gotten back into fic-writing, and it's my first time dedicating some blog time to one.

Update: May create a new pinned post for a general overview of my blog, rather than solely LMK works.

[ellephlox]

Embers and Ashes

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: It's not easy to keep a low profile when you've got the power to heal, but you've managed to carve out a home for yourself in Hell's Kitchen. By day you're an assistant at a literary agency, and by night you mend broken bones and bloody cuts. It's a double life that constantly forces you to question your morality, because the wounds you seem to magically heal don't vanish forever — they've got to eventually go somewhere.

But after you make the mistake of healing the wrong people, you become Daredevil’s next target, and suddenly your double life becomes far more tangled than you could ever have predicted.

Set post-S3. Slow burn Matt x Fem!Reader. Chapter one will be posted here on tumblr, but ensuing chapters will be uploaded to AO3. You can read Ch. 1 on AO3 here, if you'd prefer.

Warnings: Description of injuries and profanity.

Most normal people in the city dreamed of being an Avenger. 

You overheard them at work constantly, ever since it became increasingly commonplace for people to crop up with super-strength or freakishly accurate aim with a bow and arrow:

“I actually ran into Spider-Man this morning — the real Spider-Man! I begged him to sign my arm, obviously, because there was no paper around, and he actually did it! Look, right here. I'm going to get it tattooed after work.”

“Well, last night I had a dream that I was recruited by the Avengers. It was absolutely amazing, Debbie — Tony Stark wanted me to be his girlfriend! God, it was fantastic. He even let me try on his Iron Man suit.”

“Oh, I’d give anything to be enhanced. I’d want to be able to fly. Or teleport. Any power, really, if it could get me a one-way ticket to fighting with them.”

“But did you hear my friend got threatened by Daredevil the other night? That red horned suit is gone, though. He’s in that black suit from the days when we called him the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. I’d love to run into that guy — he’s so strange, isn’t he? Handsome, in a mysterious way.”

At this point in these types of conversations you always tried to tune them out. Their rosy idea of enhanced ignored the things that you saw whenever footage of the Avengers was shown on the evening news. After the battle in New York, they raved about Captain America’s strength, that magic hammer of Thor’s, and the way Dr. Bruce Banner metamorphosed from a man into a monstrous hero, as though it were the best thing in the world to have super-powered abilities.

But when you had watched that footage on the news, after the battle was over, all you saw was the blood. The bodies. The expressions on the Avengers’ faces, of the anguish and turmoil they had witnessed. Being enhanced was a curse, not a gift, and you came to resent the word itself — not for the political controversies it provoked, but for its connotation. In the mouths of anyone else, enhanced was a good thing. 

But you knew. 

As you held the temples of the man lying in front of you, his skin burnt severely from his fingers to his wrists, you knew. 

He writhed, his hands flopping like gasping fish. They were scorched as though in a paisley pattern, leathery and swollen. Second-degree, if not third-degree burns, you thought, as the man jerked away from the light emanating from your own hands, but you kept your grip steady. Slowly the skin began to return to its normal color — splotches fading like they were diluted, heaves of scars sinking back and reshaping as though they had never been there, the energy of his wounds transferring into your hands and through your bloodstream. 

You knew, better than anyone, that every gift had a price.

 

TWENTY-ONE HOURS LATER

It was snowing, yet your hands were blistering. 

The plows hadn’t come through yet, and there wasn’t much foot traffic on this side of Hell’s Kitchen, so the sidewalks were thick with snow. Despite your best efforts to hop in the few existing footprints, snow kept falling down into your boots. Your toes were numb, and your ears felt like they were about to get frostbite; you weren’t dressed for the weather. There hadn’t been time to grab a hat and thicker socks when you left your apartment, because you were more preoccupied with the searing burns that were popping like budding flowers on the palms of your hands. They weren't yet to the severity of the burns you had healed on Lynch's hands the previous night, but it was only a matter of time before they began to worsen. 

Only one more block. 

It was past midnight, and all you wanted was to be in bed, curled up with your pillows and quilted blanket, but just before falling asleep, you’d felt the skin tear open on your hand as though someone were holding a blowtorch to it. It was unnerving. You'd estimated another eight hours, until morning, before the energy you had taken from Lynch's wounds would make itself known.

Clearly I was wrong. You seethed with irritation at yourself and at the fact that Lynch had burned his hands in the first place as more snow collected in your boots. A warm pair of socks would be really, really nice right now.  

But situations like this came with the job, even if most people didn't realize it. Whenever people discovered you were able to heal — and they never truly knew it was you, because you were careful to keep your identity obscure — they assumed it was simple. As though you could just lay your hands on someone’s bleeding wound and it magically stitched itself back up. Poof, problem solved! Sort of like all those Avengers your coworkers persistently chatted about. Yeah, if only healing were as easy as doing a few fancy finger movements to open up a portal into another dimension. Doctor Strange doesn't know how good he has it.

Because fancy finger movements definitely wasn't how it worked for you. It wasn’t even close. 

You inhaled sharply as another burn made itself known, this time higher on your hand. A quick handful of snow against the welt soothed it slightly, but not much, and you picked up your pace down the street.  Your destination was an unassuming brick building, wedged between a hardware store and auto repair shop. LYNCH FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATORIUM, read the sign outside, underneath a layer of graffiti. It was one of your closest friends who owned the funeral home, and the previous day he'd sent you an emergency call for help, though you still hadn't heard the story of how he'd burned his hands in the first place. Not that it mattered much. You didn't ask questions very often; healing was your only responsibility. 

There was no one else on the street. There wasn't even much light, because most of the street lamps that weren’t burned out had been buried in a pale coating of frost. Your thoughts turned abruptly to the reports of the so-called vigilante Daredevil, who had reportedly been back on the streets lately. With what you had done in the past, and even with what you were doing now… well, you hoped you never crossed paths with him. Quiet streets like this always made you wonder if today was the day you’d run into him, but it had never happened. Sometimes you wondered if the media simply made him up as a fear tactic to keep crime off the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. 

You hurried inside the funeral home, searching for the only person who you knew would be up and about. Please, be here, please, please…

He was. “Grey,” the man at the desk said, surprise crossing his face when you burst into the crematorium. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

Grey . Just like the word itself, it was ash on your tongue. It wasn’t your real name. Years ago it had been bestowed on you as a code name, a way to keep your identity impersonal from the people you worked with. But it stuck, and now you could count the number of people who knew your real name on one hand. 

“Emergency visit, Thato,” you said, showing him your hands. “I’m sorry. I thought I could manage it until tomorrow, at the very least, but—” You cringed as another burn blistered forth, erupting on the pad of your thumb. “Ow. Shit.”

Thato got to his feet, wincing in sympathy. “Never apologize for this. It’s not your fault.”

You shook your head. “I should be getting better. Improving… this . And I’m not.” It was true. For years, you had been at this same level. If you healed someone — which wasn’t really healing , if you were being technical; it was more like taking their injury and transferring it elsewhere — you could only hold onto it for a short amount of time. 

Option One was taking that energy from the injury and transplanting it onto someone else — typically, a corpse. You had a strict policy for yourself to never inflict a wound from someone else that you’d healed onto someone who didn’t receive the wound in the first place.

Option Two was just holding onto that energy until it began to manifest itself on you instead. And that was never pleasant. 

Case in point: the damn burns on my hands right now. 

You glanced at the door to the morgue. “Please tell me you’ve got bodies in for cremation?”

“As a matter of fact, one arrived tonight,” Thato said, and he put his hand gently on your back to steer you inside. “Let’s go.”

The morgue was cold. Goosebumps pricked up your arms. Thato worked quickly, and within a minute he was pulling out a storage drawer. A woman, her body pale and lifeless, slid out in front of you. 

Even when the bodies were dead, this was never easy.  You averted your eyes, opting instead to look at the ceiling, and placed your freezing hands on the sides of the dead woman’s head, against her temples. Gradually, after a minute, your hands began glowing — not the yellow glow of the man the newspapers called the Iron Fist, nor the red glow of that Avenger you’d seen on television, Wanda Maximoff. Instead, it was a pale slate color, as though smoke itself had become a source of light. It was this color that earned you your nickname. 

“Grey,” your brother had told you, lifting your chin up roughly to stare you down. 

He wasn’t really your brother, but he might as well have been. You’d known him as long as you could remember. Kane was the one who raised you, who had been with you since... for a long time. “Got it? Here with us, that’s what you’ll answer to.”

“But my name is—”

“No. When you’re with us, you don’t use your real name,” Kane said. Of course, just like your name wasn’t really Grey, his name wasn’t truly Kane. “You use Grey instead, okay? Grey Arztin, if anyone ever asks for a last name.” He handed you forged identification papers. 

“Why Arztin?” you asked, reading the name, and fumbling over the pronunciation of the word. 

“It means doctor, in German. Come with me. I have people for you to heal.”

“But I’m not very good at it.”

“Then you need to practice that ability. It’s going to be your greatest gift someday, Grey.”

The energy pulsed in your own temples as it transferred to the corpse, and slowly you began to feel it drain out of you. There was no comparable feeling to this moment, when the build-up of pain was finally relieved from your mental storage space — your cache, you liked to call it.  And, suddenly, burns just like the ones on your own hands bloomed across the white hands of the dead woman — raw, fiery welts, discolored in the center and streaking from her wrist bones to her fingertips. They were identical to the burns that had stretched across Lynch's hands the day before, down to the charred bit of skin just below the thumb knuckle. When the energy was gone, you dropped your hands, and the smoky glow faded.

The few burns that had already marked your own skin were still there, of course, because your healing abilities could never fix what had been done to your own body — yet another shortcoming of your power — but they wouldn’t get any worse. It was over. 

The corpse was rolled back into her drawer. The family would never know that her hands now bore severe burns that hadn’t been there at her time of death. She’d be cremated tomorrow, Thato assured you. It would be as though you had never even touched her. Guilt curled in your stomach at her desecrated hands. Maybe she had been a pianist. Those hands might have been held by someone else, once upon a time — a mother, a lover, a child. She could have used those hands to climb mountains or type out a novel on a laptop or serve plates of food at a restaurant. 

Now, because of you, they were mottled and burnt. 

“She’s dead,” Thato reminded you quietly, once you were outside of the morgue and back at the funeral home desk. “She’ll be burned anyway.”

“I know.” You played with the edge of the desk. “I just always feel bad. It feels like I’m… spitting on her memory, or something.”

“It’s a price you have to pay,” he agreed. “But it’s in exchange for the good you do, each time you use your skill. You even bore some of the price yourself.” He nodded at the burns scattered across your own hands. “I don’t like to see you feeling bad, Grey. Anything I can do?”

You smiled. “It's okay. You already helped me. Thanks, Thato. Really.” 

I don’t want to keep doing this, you wanted to add. I’ve had enough of all this. The healing, the transferring of the injuries and scars and bruises, the role I’ve played in Hell’s Kitchen. I’m done.

You wanted to tell him, so badly that it made your chest feel tight. Thato had been your friend for as long as you could remember. But if you told him, then your brother would find out, and if your brother found out…

Well, Kane wouldn’t be very pleased with you. He'd see it as a failure on your part, or worse, a betrayal. But it didn’t matter anyway, because you couldn’t leave the organization. Not after everything Kane had done for you, and especially not while you were the one thing that stood between him and death every night that he risked his life. 

You tightened your jacket around your shoulders before heading back out into the night, towards your apartment. You took your time; your earlier exhaustion was gone, and with your hands bandaged now, you were able to appreciate the falling snow as it amassed silently, insulating the streets from the sounds of the city beyond. 

But you might not have had such a leisurely walk back if you’d happened to tilt your head upwards and look at the roofs — if you had been able to hear the footsteps above as someone followed you in the shadows, if you had known the man they called the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen stalked you, having listened to every word of the conversation in the crematorium.

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

I have to start this one with the sad news that the hero who saved others by stopping the terrorist yesterday, despite being stabbed in several places (including in the neck), has passed away. His name was Uri Moyal, he was 51 years old, he leaves behind a wife and three kids. Yesterday, the number of wounded was still not fully clear, today it's confirmed that in addition to Uri, the terrorist managed to injure 2 more people. In the pic below you can see Uri holding up a lifetime achievement award. At his funeral today, his daughter Sapir mourned him: "Thank you for being a dad, who was also a teacher for life. There is no one who knew you and didn't fall in love with you."

The German press has reported (so far I've only managed to find this English source) that this week, the antisemitic, genocidal slogan "From the river to the sea" has been found painted in Arabic on the site of the 1972 kidnapping and massacre of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists. I'll point out that recently, the grandson of one of the murdered athletes was attacked (he had several bones in his face broken) in Berlin by an Arab anti-Israel activist.

A terrorist attack was prevented from happening, when two Palestinians, carrying a big knife and a sword, were arrested on their way to a Jewish community in the middle of the night. They're currently being questioned.

After Canada and Sweden, now Australia has also announced that it will renew its funding of UNRWA. I may sound like a broken record, but this is morally broken. They KNOW that UN agency is complicit in countless crimes of helping anti-Jewish hate and violence, the IDF evidence uncovered thanks to the war are just the tip of the iceberg when we're actually talking about decades of complicity, and resuming the funding without any changes, without even an investigation into this being completed, means these countries don't even care about looking as if they care about Jewish and Israeli lives. It's beyond ccontemptible. So. Canada, Sweden and now Australia, whenever these countries' heads tell you that they care about human rights, know that this includes, "but not for Jews."

And because I mentioned the long, long complicity of UNRWA (and many in charge of or dealing with it), here's the CEO of the NGO UN Watch explaining it better than most can, because they have been working for years on calling attention to the wrongdoing of UNRWA:

There's this common lie spread by the anti-Israel crowd, that everything was just peachy between Jews and Muslim in the Middle East, until Zionism came along. This is a blatant erasure of repeated discrimination, persecution, forced conversions, expulsions and massacres perpetrated against Jews living in Muslim majority countries for centuries. The ethnic cleansing of the entire Middle East of Jews (other than in Israel) is only the climax of that long history of antisemitism under Muslim rule, exactly like the Holocaust is just the climax of the long history of antisemitism under Christian European rule. And yesterday, I came across another reminder.

I was listening to an interview with Rabbi Abraham Cooper, an American rabbi, about the discrimination he had recently suffered during a trip to Saudi Arabia. I'd read the headlines, but hearing him tell it in his own words (in amazing Hebrew, might I add) really drove it home. He was heading a US delegation meant to inspect the state of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, when he gets a phone call from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, telling him that the Saudis have laws which must be respected, and which dictate that no one but "the members of our religion" (meaning, Muslims) can walk around publicly displaying signs of their religious identity. In other words, Rabbi Cooper was told to remove his kippah (the head cover religious Jews wear). Rabbi Cooper asked the official on the phone, whether he was sure, and tried arguing against this decision. When the demand was reaffirmed, Rabbi Cooper responded that he wouldn't take off his kippah for the Soviets decades ago, and he wouldn't be taking it off for the Saudis, either. That meant he had to leave, and so the delegation had to end its visit. This isn't a small incident of anti-Jewish discrimination in the 1930's, in an Arab country where no one would even bat an eye at that. This is a Saudi official, speaking to an American Jew, in 2024, during an official visit, meant to check the state of religious freedom in that country, while Saudi Arabia is doing its best to present a more tolerant, modern and progressive image for the world. And this still happened. There is a long tradition of antisemitism in the Middle East, it doesn't simply disappear even when Jews were forced to, and the attempts to deny it with the excuse of "But Zionism!" are antisemitic, too.

This is Hadar Gadol.

He's an Israeli author, a practitioner of alternative medicine, and as a reservist, he serves as a casualty officer (an army official who lets a family know that their loved one was killed in combat, in Israel a casualty officer also continues to work with and support the family after the initial notification, kind of like a social worker appointed by the army). In January, IDF soldier Mark Kononovich was killed. A few weeks ago, as party of taking care of the family, Hadar took Mark's dad Alex on a tour of the last army post where Mark and the friends who died with him had slept. In the middle of that, Hadar got a heart attack. Alex happens to be a doctor, he recognized the signs, administered some first aid, and made sure Hadar would be taken to the hospital to receive the treatment he needed. This is Hadar after being released from the hospital, visiting Alex to thank him (you can also see Mark's younger brother in the pic):

During this visit, Alex told Hadar, "You took our case as very close to you, you felt it like we do, very close to the heart." I have no doubt their bond is gonna be there for years to come. Hadar is actually not the first Israeli casualty officer I've heard of, who collapsed and was in need of hospitalization since Oct 7, just the latest. I think that in a way says something about how acutely Israelis feel the pain of the massacre, whether we personally lost someone or not.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)