#but it’d be weird to just say that outta no where so here’s will saying it

[sorrowfulwill]

Tw: stuff like blood and guts and cleanliness being talked about. And also a mental crisis (sorry I don’t know how to correctly label tws)

projecting like a projecter

[fireinmoonshot]

resting your head on their shoulder with hangman please

“I can’t believe there’s still so many people here this late,” you say, sitting down on the couch beside Jake after coming back from the kitchen, a glass of water in your hand. “I would’ve thought it’d be a lot quieter by now.”

Jake looks between you and the party – a birthday party for Natasha, attended by everyone she knows, which is a lot of people, apparently, and then a few plus ones. It’s a different atmosphere to what you’re all used to at the Hard Deck or the other few bars you all frequent. Natasha’s apartment is much nicer than some of the bars, for example, and her couch is much more comfortable and probably more sanitary.

“If you’re considering sneaking out so she doesn’t notice, now’s the time,” Jake chuckles. He can’t even see Natasha from where the two of you are sat on the couch. He has a beer in his hand but it’s barely been touched and he’s not sure he has it in him to finish it.

You shake your head. “No, I told Nat I was gonna stay until it’s over to help clean up.”

Jake looks at you, trying not to smile. “Well, aren’t you an angel?”

You fix him with a look and take a sip of your water. 

Jake Seresin is, in your opinion, one of your closest friends, along with the rest of the dagger squadron. But there’s always been a little something between you and Jake, some added chemistry that made your friendship a tiny bit stronger. You’re more comfortable around him than you are around the others. You’re not entirely sure why.

“What about you? You thinking of heading off?” You ask. You don’t really want him to leave, especially since you’ve only really just sat down beside him and you haven’t seen him much all night.

He shakes his head. “Nah, I’m gonna stick around for a bit longer. Wanna sober up a bit before I make the trek home, y’know?” That’s not the entire reason. He’s also wanting to know that you get home safe, if you even decide to go home and not stay the night at Nat’s.

You offer him your glass of water and he laughs a little before politely declining. 

It’s silent between the two of you for a few minutes before Jake feels your head gently rest on his shoulder. The movement startles him, but not so much that it’s noticeable to you. Jake looks at you out of the corner of his eye and notices your eyes are closed.

“Did you fall asleep?” He asks, confused. His heart is beating faster. Weird.

“Shh,” you whisper, voice barely even audible over the music and noise of the people around you. “It’s past 1am, I’m tired.”

Jake chuckles. “Then go home and go to sleep.”

“Don’t say stupid things,”  you reply.

He sighs, feigning his irritation at you. “You’re annoying the heck outta me, Firefly.” He uses your call sign.

You roll your eyes, though he doesn’t see. “Don’t care. Not moving.”

Jake shakes his head. Since he was going to stay a while longer and sober up anyway, he figured he may as well stay sitting here and let you rest,  though how you can sleep with the noise of the party, he has no idea. But he feels better knowing you’ve chosen him to rest on and not some random stranger.

“Fine, but I’m pushing you off when I decide to go home,” he says. 

The following morning, Natasha comes downstairs, wiping her tired eyes, to see you and Jake fast asleep on the couch together. His head is resting on the top of your head, yours is still on his shoulder as you’re curled up beside him. She smiles to herself and shakes her head. The sooner the two of you stop being oblivious, the better.

[cosmicjoke]

This is an excerpt from my story "This Life, After" on a03:

Damn, you are one ugly fuckin’ brat, ya know that, boy?”

Levi ignores him; doesn’t say nothin’. He thinks that’s best. Mama always told him so. Ignore bullies and soon they’ll go away, she always said. Kenny was a bully. Levi thinks so. He was mean, like the bullies back home. The other kids who always used to make fun of Levi for being so small. Used to beat him up for it.

He can feel Kenny’s eyes on him. He knows Kenny don’t like him. Kenny always looked at him like he was lackin’.

So he ignores him, and he hears Kenny grumble.

“Unsociable little brat, too.” He says.

Levi don’t know what unso… unsoci… don’t know what that word means.

Kenny was always usin’ big words like that. He talked rough, but he sounded like Mama too. Liken’ he came from someplace better. Liken he knew stuff. Mama sounded real refined, like. Sounded like a… a real lady, Levi figures. Not that he knew what a real lady sounded like. Most ‘a the ladies down here, they was… well, they was whores, like his Mama.

But Mama didn’t sound like them, none. When she talked. She… she sounded real refined, like.

Levi frowns down at his doll.

He misses Mama, so much. Misses her so much, it got him to cryin’, sometimes. Kenny got real mad, when he got to cryin’. Would hit him upside the head. One time… one time, he hit him upside his head so hard, Levi had gone to sleep, and when he’d woke up, everythin’ was all tilty and weird, and it’d stayed that way a long while, too.

Levi’d been scared, but he hadn’t said nothin’ to Kenny, ‘cause he knew Kenny wasn’t like to care, either way.

Sometimes… sometimes Mama’s men would hit him too. Real hard like that. Hit him ‘till he’d go to sleep. They was meaner, even, than Kenny. Sometimes. Sometimes, they’d beat on him so bad, he’d go all black and blue, all over his body, and his mouth would fill up with blood, and he’d scream and cry. And Mama… she’d scream and cry also. She’d try sometimes to make her men stop, but all she ever got for it was a bloody mouth too.

Well… that was before.

But Mama’s gone now.

She got to bein’ sick. She just kept getting’ worse and worse, and after a while, she didn’t have the strength to even cry no more, or throw up a fuss when one ‘a her men got to wantin’ Levi, ‘stead ‘a her.

Levi don’t like to think ‘bout that time, too much. So he tries not.

Mama made him this doll. It was his. His doll.

He’d took it with him, when Kenny came and made him leave his and Mama’s home.

She’d made it outta’ rough cloth and filled it with straw. And Mama… Mama had been real good with a needle and thread. She’d stitched a little face on it, and hair made outta’ yarn, and she’d told Levi it was his, and he could name it whatever he liked.

Levi named it Mama, ‘cause he didn’t know no other name that felt suited. Mama had laughed and smiled at him when he told her. Had put her hand on his head and mussed up his hair.

Levi likes to think ‘a that. He likes those thoughts.

“Hey, brat… you listenin’ to me?” Kenny keeps talkin’ at him. “You deaf now, too?”

“… Mama said I was hands… handso…” can’t say the word.

“Handsome.” Kenny says it for him. And then he laughs. “Dumb brat. All mothers say shit like that to their kids. It’s practically a prerequisite for motherhood. Don’t mean it’s true.”

Levi frowns again. Somethin’ in his chest hurts, like it sometimes got to when Kenny said stuff like that. Stuff like… like his Mama was lyin’ to him.

“… I think you’re ugly.” He mutters.

“What was that?” Kenny asks. Levi hears him get up from where he was sittin’. Comin’ closer.

Levi feels himself lock up, a sick tickle through his tummy. He cringes away when Kenny’s shadow falls over him.

“… N-nothin’.” He stammers.

Kenny grabs him up by the shirt, lifts him off the floor.

“Didn’t sound like n-nothin’, boy. Wanna’ say it to my face?”

Levi turns his head away, tears burning his eyes.

“… No.”

“Didn’t think so.” Kenny spits. “Ugly and soft. Fuckin’ pitiful.”

Levi hangs there and hopes Kenny lets him go soon. Hopes Kenny leaves, ‘least for a while.

He hates bein’ alone, but Kenny was so mean.

Kenny don’t let him go.

“Look at you. Playin’ with dolls. The fuck’s wrong with you? You a faggot or somethin’?”

Levi don’t know what that is, ‘neither.

Kenny gives him a hard shake. And then he’s rippin’ his doll outta’ his hand, and Levi cries out, tryin’ to grab it back.

But Kenny drops him to the floor, then, and Levi don’t come up past his knee, and Kenny’s so tall, there ain’t no way… no way he can reach.

Tears fill his eyes, makin’ everythin’ fuzzy.

“Give it back.” He tries, grabbin’ hold of Kenny’s pants. “I-it’s mine.”

Kenny ignores him, holds the doll in his big hand and turns it this way and that, starin’ at it like he sometimes stares at Levi. Like it’s lackin’.

“The fuck you get this thing, anyway?” He asks. “You been draggin’ it ‘round the whole time I’ve had ya.”

Levi’s throat feels tight, his lip trembling.

“M-Mama… Mama made it for me.”

Kenny finally looks down at him, frown deepening.

“Did she, now?” He says. “That makes sense. Damn woman. All that softness you got in you, boy, you get it from her.”

Levi don’t know what he means by softness. Don’t care. He wants his doll. He tugs at Kenny’s pants again.

“Give it back. I-it’s mine.”

“Heh. Naw, don’t think so, brat. You ain’t gonna’ make it down here, you keep up with that faggoty shit. Little boy shouldn’t be playin’ with dolls, no how.”

And he turns, his long legs striding across the room, and Levi don’t even got time to react before Kenny throws Mama into the fire.

“NO!” He cries, running forward. But it’s too late. Mama’s on fire, burnin’ up quick as paper, gone in an instant.

He stands there, starin’ at the embers as they flare up, then die down, the loud, crackling pop filling the room.

Tears burn down his cheeks, his hands numb. He starts breathin’ funny. Fast and hard, head all light and dizzy.

“Watch’a gonna’ do about it, boy?” Kenny asks beside him. “I just burned your little dolly up, nice ‘an crisp. Don’t it make ya mad?”

Levi blinks, barely hearin’ him. Can’t move. He starts shakin’, numbness spreading to his lips, breathin’ faster.

“Well? Come on, Levi! Don’t it make ya mad!?”

And suddenly there’s a powerful grip crushing round his arm, yanking him up from the floor.

“Huh?! Come on! Get mad at me, boy!”

Kenny shakes him viciously, Levi limp and helpless in his grasp, chokin’ on his own spit. He gasps desperately, and Kenny sneers at him.

“Fuckin’ useless. Why won’t you do nothin’!? You ain’t gonna’ make it down here. I ain’t gonna’ keep stickin’ around for this shit. Show me somethin’ boy, or I swear, you’re on your own!”

Levi doesn’t… he don’t… don’t know what Kenny wants from him. He burned his doll. Burned it up. The only thing he had left of her. The only thing.

The back of Kenny’s hand comes against his face, and Levi starts to scream.

“Shut up! SHUT UP!” Kenny shakes him again, hits him again, and Levi just keeps screaming. Screaming and screaming until Kenny throws him to the ground.

Levi covers himself, arms over his head, voice high and loud in his own ears.

“Mama…” he cries. “Mama, Mama…”

“Fuckin’… You dumb bastard. She’s dead! Don’t you get it? Didn’t ya tell me so yourself? She’s fuckin’ dead and she ain’t comin’ back! You better toughen up, boy, or you’re gonna’ end up just like her!”

Levi thinks ‘bout tellin’ Kenny he wishes he would. He wants to go where Mama is. Wherever that is. He knows Kenny’ll just hit him again if he does.

He can’t stop cryin’, now, loud, gasping sobs, and he thinks Kenny’ll hit him anyway.

But Kenny just spits at him.

“God damn hopeless. Fuckin’ trash. Don’t wait up for me, you little shit. Makin’ me god damn question why I even bothered takin’ ya.”

He hears Kenny’s heavy footfalls across the floorboards. Hears the door open and slam shut behind him.

Levi’s fingers bury in his hair, tearing hard at it, pain burning through his scalp.

He wants his Mama.

He misses her so much.

He doesn’t know what he’s gonna’ do without her.

He doesn’t know what to do.

[jujumin-translates]

[A3!] ★ Main Story | Act 14 - DREAM CATCHER | Episode 16 - “Challenge”

Tenma: “If he’s a wizard, then maybe he knows something about the fantastical paradise oasis.”

Yuki: “Still haven’t given up on that, have you? Whatever. As your wife, I’m worried, so I’ll come with you.”

Misumi: “If you’re going on a journey, I’ll go with you too. Or rather, I ask that you take me with you.”

*Misumi jumps*

Tenma: “Hey, don’t just hop into my bag without my permission.”

Izumi: Tenma-kun, can you put a little more emphasis on that last line?

Tenma: …

Izumi: Tenma-kun?

Tenma: Ah, yeah, my bad.

Izumi: Alright, that’ll be it for today then.

Tenma: Okay… Good work.

*Door closes*

Yuki: What’s his deal… Still jet-lagged?

Muku: I haven’t seen Tenma-kun looking like that in a long time.

Kumon: I wonder if something happened.

Kazunari: But he was so hyped when we got the script~.

Misumi: …Actually, I saw Tenma talking on the phone last night and he was acting kinda weird.

Yuki: Jeez… He’s bottling things up again, isn’t he?

Kazunari: Hm~, and for situations like that we need--.

Kumon: Huh? What?

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Kazunari: TenTen, c’mon. c’mon!

Tenma: It’s about rehearsal time, right? We’d better go and get r--.

Muku: We have today off.

Tenma: Hah?

Yuki: C’mon, let’s go.

Kumon: The car’s already here!

Tenma: The car…?

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Misumi: C’mon, c’mon~! I’m driving today~!

Tenma: Wait, where are we going!?

Yuki: Just hurry and get in!

Tenma: --Gh.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Waves crash*

Tenma: The ocean…?

Kazunari: Bingo!

Misumi: We’re taking a break today, so let’s have as much fun as we can~!

Tenma: …I’m not really in the mood for that right now.

Yuki: Ughh~. --Tch.

*Yuki pushes Tenma*

Tenma: UWAGH!?

*Tenma falls into the ocean*

Tenma: Pfph, don’t just push me outta nowhere!

Yuki: If you’ve got something to say, just say it. It’s a real pain in the ass when you don’t.

Yuki: Rehearsing with you when you’re in this state isn’t gonna get us anywhere. Do you really think we have a chance of winning the New Fleur Award when you’re acting like that?

Tenma: --.

Kazunari: Yukki, dontcha think you’re being a little dramatic~?

Kumon: We’re all worried about you, Tenma-san.

Misumi: Cheer up, Tenma~.

Muku: As Summer Troupe, we really do have to do our best for the sake of the company, but…

Muku: I’m sure you’ve got something other than that on your mind, don’t you, Tenma-kun?

Kazunari: …We’re friends before we’re Summer Troupe, right?

Kazunari: And if a friend’s feeling distressed, it’s only natural to ask them what’s wrong, so don’t worry about it too much and just say whatever you wanna say~!

Tenma: …

Tenma: …Actually, when we went to the U.S., that director I was introduced to offered me a part in a movie.

Tenma: I’ve been overseas for filming before performances before, but it’s a bigger role than I’ve had in the past, and the filming period is longer too.

Tenma: I’ll have to devote more of my time to the movie.

Tenma: But it’s such an important time for the theater company to all come together and put the New Fleur Award first…

Tenma: I know I should’ve refused, but I wanted to give it a shot because I thought it’d be a chance to get one step closer to my dream of winning the Best Actor Award…

Tenma: I’m not qualified to be the leader of Summer Troupe. Sorry.

Yuki: It’s not like someone as full of himself as you to apologize so honestly like that. Well, I guess you really have grown.

Misumi: You don’t have to apologize, Tenma. We’re friends, aren’t we?

Misumi: And everyone wants to support their friends’ dreams, right?

Kazunari: Exactly. You don’t have to give up. You can do both.

Kazunari: ‘Cause that’s who we are, right?

Kumon: I’m sure that everyone in the company would agree that challenges like that lead to growth!

Tenma: You guys…

Muku: If you’re going to do it, then why don’t we all do it together? Take on a “challenge”.

Yuki: Huh?

Muku: Actually… I’ve been kind of thinking about something like that too.

Muku: When I saw all those different kinds of actors performing in the U.S., it made me think that I also would like to be on a bigger stage.

Muku: I thought I wasn’t good enough to be on a big stage, that I wasn’t ready for it yet, but…

Muku: I feel like if you’re free to take on that challenge, then we all deserve a chance to take on on too.

Muku: It’s scary and I’m not that confident in myself, but I still have to take that first step to get started.

Muku: Tenma-kun, I think you should also do it “now” rather than “someday”.

Kumon: …Then I’m gonna do it too!

Kumon: I was inspired while we were in the U.S., of course, but…

Kumon: When I saw Sumi-san’s performance, it made me wanna become a better actor so that I can perform on lotsa stages like that!

Misumi: I’m sure you can do it, Kumon.

Kumon: Hehe. Thanks! I wanna “challenge” myself more so that I can grow as an actor!

Yuki: …Since we’re on the topic, I got an offer at my part-time job, too.

Yuki: I wanna try to “challenge” myself with the chance to work with a world-class designer.

Yuki: I just feel like I need to do it now. I’m sure there’s something I can bring back to the theater company.

Kazunari: Then I wanna take on my own “challenge” too. I wanna go to Europe to study design again and get inspired to do lotsa things.

Misumi: I wanna take on a “challenge” too! I wanna do a performance at Syu’s ‘cause he worked with Gramps on stage!

Misumi: That way I’ll get even better-er at performing!

Yuki: This time, we’re not just gonna wait for you to get back, but we’re gonna take on our own “challenges” with you, Tenma.

Yuki: That way, you don’t have to overthink anything.

Tenma: …H-Hmph. So you guys have grown, too, huh?

Yuki: Excuse me?

Tenma: That’s what you just said before.

Kazunari: It’s like Ibukichi said, you only live once, so you don’t wanna waste even a second of it.

Kumon: Yeah, yeah! Let’s do all the things we wanna do!

Muku: Right. These “challenges” will be good for both Summer Troupe and the company.

Misumi: That’s why we’re gonna chase our dreams together, right, Tenma?

Tenma: …Thanks.

Yuki: We’re not doing it just for you, you know.

Tenma: You know, it’s okay not to say things sometimes!

*Tenma splashes Yuki*

Yuki: --Don’t splash me!

Muku: Ahaha!

Misumi: I wanna do that too~!

*Misumi splashes Kumon*

Kumon: Whoa! My turn--!

*Kumon splashes Misumi*

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[loftylockjaw]

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Downtown PARTIES: Wyatt (@loftylockjaw) & Maggie (@woveninstardust) SUMMARY: Wyatt spots Maggie in town, then hurries to her defense when he realizes she's being bullied. She's upset, but grateful. CONTENT WARNINGS: none!

—

While some people looked fondly upon high school days, Maggie grimaced. Elementary school was easy- friends were easy to make at that age, and when you could play make-believe like it was your profession and draw better than most, it was easy to win other kids over. You could close your eyes on the swings and jump, and if you said you were flying, the other kids might just believe. But people grow up, and when they do, they often discard their imagination because they become self conscious of it. They shed it. Bury it. And will scoff at the things they once found joy and wonder in. 

Maggie had clung to that sense of wonder like it was a life raft. It was not a bad thing to believe in something wondrous. But it put a big neon target on her back while she roamed the halls of good old WR High. Which was, decidedly, not good. It was easier now to avoid those who had been the cruelest. There were no classes to hold her captive, and lunch tables were a thing of the growing-distant past. But every so often, she heard a too-familiar voice, and she would get pulled back into that scared young girl lost in her sketchbook. 

She had been sitting outside downtown, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine and fixing some rough sketches- adding detail where there had been nothing, smoothing out lines and curves; maybe, just maybe, she might add a little color work, some shading… - when she heard someone snickering. Multiple someones. Just one quick look was enough to make her want to shrink back, close her sketchbook, and go. A cluster of old classmates. Whispering. Pointing. Laughing. 

The girl looked back down, trying to disappear back into her drawing like she’d never even noticed. But Maggie heard footsteps, saw shadows in her periphery, and knew this would not be fun for her.

Actually having managed to snag several uninterrupted hours of sleep, Wyatt was feeling less batshit than usual, which was good. It was a nice break, even if those tendrils of fear still lapped at his heels, threatening to catch up again once the sky grew dark. Until then, the lamia was celebrating with some well-earned sunshine and human interaction, even if it was just with strangers. 

A familiar head of hair caught his attention as he walked down the street and he did a double take, recognizing the girl from the creek immediately. He grinned before remembering that he was not very ‘Mister Gator’-y right now, and his enthusiasm faded. It’d be weird for him to just approach her out of nowhere, especially when he wasn’t about to let her know that he was her alligator friend. Oh well. About to turn and leave, he paused when he saw a group of kids her age lingering nearby, looking… problematic. His instinct was correct as he watched them walk up to Maggie and say some things he couldn’t hear, then rip the sketchbook from her hands and start ripping out pages and throwing them in the air. 

Oh hell no. 

Wyatt surged forward, running across the street and grabbing the boy that had her sketchbook in his hands by the back of his neck. He shouted some choice expletives as Wyatt snatched the sketchbook from his hands, handing it back to Maggie without looking at her. 

“What the fuck is your problem?” he snarled, shoving him roughly into his other friends, who looked equal parts pissed and freaked out. 

“My problem?! What the fuck is yours!?” the kid shouted back, and Wyatt rolled his eyes.

“Ain’t you kids a little old to be bullies? How old are you?” One of the girls in the group puffed up like an annoyed chicken, thrusting her fists against her sides in an attempt to look… bigger? Tougher? 

“We’re adults, you clown,” she snapped, and Wyatt grinned. 

“Oh, that so? Coulda fooled me. Get the fuck outta here n’ leave this girl alone, all of ya.” 

“Yeah? What’re you gonna do about it?” Wyatt shook his head, lifting a brow at their presumed ringleader. 

“Don’t think you wanna find out, beanstalk. You’re adults, yeah? Means I can punch you just like I can punch any other bitch harassin’ someone, n’ the bluesuits ain’t gonna have much to say about it.” That probably wasn’t true, but they didn’t seem to pick up on his bluff. The chicken girl dropped her hands back to her sides, her eyes wide. 

“... come on, Matthias. Let’s just go.” 

Allison Beckett and Matthias Ford (or, as they had been in their high school days, Ally and Matty) had been the ring leaders of Maggie’s high school tormenting. They had been an average level on the popularity scale- just enough that they could float above the quiet kids. And make their lives miserable, if they so chose to. Which, with Maggie, they did. Somehow despite their being removed from the hallowed halls of Wicked’s Rest High School for so many years now, Ally and Matty and their little flock of cronies had not grown up. Not even a little. Sure, they might have jobs that paid better than hers, they might be living as adults- maybe their IDs finally matched their actual age. But in terms of maturity, they were still the bullies they had always been.

“Magnooooooliaaaaaa….” Allison’s voice rang out, syrupy sweet as she sauntered over in her perfectly matching athleisure. “What’s in your little book Magnolia? Still drawing your imaginary friends?” The group of them leered over the girl, casting shadows over the quickly shut notebook. Maggie wondered if she could treat the girl like a bear and simply not make eye contact. Maybe pretending like she didn’t exist would send her, Matty, and their gaggle of little minions away. So she stared at her feet, not uttering a word. 

Unfortunately, it did not. 

Matty whispered something- she couldn’t tell what- and suddenly the notebook was wrenched from the young woman’s hands before she could think to hide it. The tall boy held the notebook high above her head, turning through pages and pages of animals and creatures, real and fake. He snorted and showed it to one of the minions- Vanessa- before crowing. “We’ve got a walking crocodile! She doesn’t know that crocodiles don’t walk on two legs-” 

The pages were crumpling. Some were tearing as he flung the book around from side to side, showing his friends and mocking her. All the while, Maggie’s eyes burned. Her pulse roared in her ears, muffling their jeers. The words she wished she were brave enough to say sat like a stone in her throat. 

Suddenly, the shade Matty cast over her was gone, replaced by sunlight once more. Her notebook- a bit worse for wear- was held out just in front of her. Immediately, she took the book into her hands and took a few steps away. Maggie flipped through the pages to survey the damage. She could not conceal the little whimper that escaped her lips when she got to the page of the alligator she’d been working on. Ripped. Crumpled up and torn right down the middle. 

When she looked back up, Ally was yanking Matty away, and the rest of their group was quick to follow. Standing alone in the place they had been was a stranger. Maggie quickly wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, forcing a smile back onto her face. It didn’t matter that she wanted to go home and crawl under the covers and cry. She could pretend for a few more seconds that everything was fine and at least thank the stranger for their intervention. “Uh... thanks… for that. You didn’t have to…”

Watching them go for a moment (making sure they didn’t gain courage to do something stupid the more distance the group put between themselves and Wyatt), he eventually turned back around to see Maggie smiling at him, teary-eyed. “Ah! I'm so sorry—” He quickly ducked down to gather the pages that had fallen to the ground, handling them carefully as he picked them up, straightening them in his hands as he moved back toward her. His gaze dropped to the sketchbook she was clutching, and he recognized more art of himself on the page, art she must have drawn after leaving the creek that day.

“Hey, that's really good,” he remarked, passing her the loose pages. “I mean, all of it is—seriously! D'you do art professionally? You should.” He was wearing a warm smile as he said it, shrugging with one shoulder. “Easier said than done, I know.” He pointed at the drawing of himself, a knowing smirk passing over that wide grin. “You see that guy ‘round here?”

Loose pages with footprints, scuffs, tears… how much work had they wrecked? Just in a few minutes of their stupid taunting? The girl wanted to scream. She hated that she could never force herself to be brave enough to tell a bunch of peaked-in-high-school bullies that she didn’t care what they thought. She hated that instead of grabbing her sketchbook and whacking one of them upside the head with it, Maggie’s eyes burned with tears and her body froze in place. Most of all, Maggie hated that even now, looking up at some stranger who had helped, she couldn’t convince herself to believe his kind words and compliments. 

Dark brown eyes dropped their gaze, unable to keep the forced smile up in the man’s direction. Maybe if she pretended to look over her art, Maggie thought, he wouldn’t notice. “It’s just doodles and sketches…” Dammit, even her voice sounded defeated. When he pointed at the drawing of Mister Gator- the one that was half-watercolored, the one that was now ruined- she had to swallow hard to keep from losing her shit and simply bawling on the sidewalk. Maggie wished she were with Mister Gator now. She could cry in front of him, and he wouldn’t judge her. She could be herself in front of that alligator, and those bright intelligent eyes would smile at her and then everything wouldn’t seem so shitty. 

She tucked the sketch up against her chest, hugging it tight. As if that might fix it. “I did- you don’t… you don’t have to be nice just because they were mean. I appreciate you stepping in… they would’ve wrecked more of my stuff- but…” The girl’s voice trailed off, words abandoning her. 

“Hey, c’mon now. All my friends will tell you, I ain’t a nice guy unless I mean it,” Wyatt drawled with a chuckle. “I’m bein’ honest! You wouldn’t call a stranger a liar, wouldja?” This poor thing was in desperate need of cheering up, and as endeared as he was to her, he knew one thing at least that ought to do the trick, if their previous interactions were anything to go by (unbeknownst to her). 

Sitting down on the bench where Maggie had been before those idiots had come along, Wyatt patted the empty space beside him. “You got a minute to tell me more about that fella you been paintin’? I wanna hear about it.” He gestured vaguely at the town around them, giving a shake of his head. “I mean, it’d hardly be the weirdest thing to be spotted ‘round here, right? Give me the benefit of the doubt, kid. I’m curious.” Yes, he was asking about himself, and yes, someone would probably call that vain, but he knew this girl had bonded with the creature she’d been drawing. And the way her face had lit up by that creek in the woods when he sat down beside her, he knew she had to want to tell someone, if she hadn’t already. His only goal was to help her feel better, he’d insist. 

But maybe also he did want to hear someone say nice things about the beast he felt was the real him. Maybe. There’d be no admitting it.

He was right. Maggie would not call a stranger a liar. It wouldn’t be fair- especially when he had already gone through the trouble of being menacing enough to get rid of her tormentors. Big brown eyes finally looked up a little, just enough to see the man’s face. He said he wasn’t a nice guy unless he meant it. But she knew that wasn’t true just from one look. She didn’t know why, but something in his eyes was comforting. 

Her fingers brushed across the torn page of her notebook, across the mostly finished illustration of Mister Gator. It was starting to feel like the alligator she’d found down by the creek had become one of her best friends in town… “I… I need to come up with a better name for him,” The girl sniffled as she flipped through to find a less damaged drawing of the creature. “But he’s real. I call him Mister Gator, because I think he’s a gentleman.” Maggie landed on a page with a detailed sketch of the alligator-cryptid’s face. She’d watched Mister Gator for as long as she could in order to drink up every little line and curve that made up the creature’s countenance. “He’s gorgeous… and can do things I’ve never seen an alligator do. And he’s smart. So smart. It’s like he knows what I’m talking about when I go to visit him…”

The artist’s fingers trailed along the picture, seeming lost in contemplation for a moment before very carefully ripping the page out of her sketchpad and handing it to the man. “Here... For helping me out.”

“I dunno, I think Mister Gator is pretty spot on,” Wyatt chuckled. It was nice that Maggie thought he was a gentleman of all things, but then she’d not really seen what that body was capable of, had she? He’d only ever been gentle with her, happy to receive the praise and attention offered without judgment or any other understanding of who he was and what he was like outside of that moment clouding it. It was a pure thing, and Wyatt didn’t want to do a damn thing that might damage that purity. So he and his alter ego, Mister Gator, would remain separate. For both their sakes. 

“Maybe he does, cher, maybe he does.” Of course he did, but he couldn’t talk back. That would ruin the purity. Wyatt’s gaze dropped to the drawing he was offered, and he felt his heart swell a little bit as he looked at it. It was easy to see the care in each stroke, and coupled with the girl’s words, it made him feel appreciated in a way he wasn’t sure he’d ever been appreciated. “Thank you,” he answered softly, unable to pull his gaze away from the drawing just yet. “This is incredible. It’s for sure goin’ up on my wall.” Finally, the shifter dragged his attention up from the page to meet her gaze again, his heart breaking for her. “You tell this friend of yours I said hi, yeah? And, hey… if those couyons give you any more trouble, maybe you enlist this guy’s help, ah?” He gave the sketch a small shake. “Bet they’d be a lot more scared of somethin’ like him than a fool like me!” 

Mister Gator would have liked this stranger, the girl decided. If he could appreciate a simple drawing of such a wonderful creature, then surely the man would think the living, breathing, better-than-an-alligator was the most incredible thing in the world… And yet, Maggie felt strangely protective of her reptilian friend. Humans had a terrible habit of fearing and destroying things that did not (in their minds) belong. And a bipedal alligator in coastal Maine was unusual indeed. A drawing would be more than enough. And maybe, hopefully, this stranger was just being nice. And he wouldn’t go hunting for her alligator friend. One look at his face told her all she needed to know. The story of Mister Gator was safe with this man.

“I’ll tell him,” Maggie didn’t offer the words ‘I promise’, but the sentiment was there, hidden in three little sincere words. “I’ll tell him you’re a friend… just in case you run into him, too.” That way, perhaps her gator would be safe and so would the man who shooed away the couyons as he’d called them. “Thanks, Mister…” She didn’t know his name, she realized. Yet, given the situation, it felt strangely appropriate. 

There was a pause while Wyatt considered offering his name — too many people in this town would make a pretty fast connection between Wyatt and a giant alligator, but he also didn’t feel right just letting her sentence hang in the air. Less would know him by his surname, he figured. 

“Barlow,” the lamia responded with a soft smile. He held out a hand to her to shake, then got to his feet. “I’ll leave you to it, miss. Thanks again for the drawin’. You take care, now. And hey, you know the best way to get back at a bully? Remind ‘em of what they’re real insecure about.” He ought to fucking know, after all. “You’re young, bet you can sleuth social media for that kinda thing pretty easy.” The man dipped his head and gave Maggie a lazy two-fingered salute before turning away and moseying down the sidewalk. He made a mental note to remember the names he’d heard and see if he could figure out who exactly those idiots were, and where they lived. If a spicy comeback from Maggie didn’t deter them, he’d take care of them himself. No one was gonna mess with his biggest fan on his watch.

[therealbeachfox]

Myths of Gotham: Batman & The Two Cities

Ever wondered what the DCU looks like for all those people who aren't privy to the what's and why's of the multiverse shattering events they live through? I sure do. That's melded with my "The Completely Normal Adventures of a Crime Alley Kid" series into this: An exploration of the stories the kids of Gotham would create to explain the world around them. Featuring a foul-mouthed homeless Crime Alley kid vending an education to the younger set, and one Bernard Dowd adding his historical and cultural commentary on the side.

Also available on Ao3, but I'm posting it here because I think it works just fine as a standalone without the 160k+ words of Henchman-In-Denial shenanigans on the side.

Or ignore that link and read it below the cut!

Myths of Gotham

Supplemental Document 3

Harris (Age-12, Male, Irish/African) [[1]]. “The Origin of Batman and the Robins” Interview by Bernard Dowd. 14th August 202X. BDOH #009, Myths of Gotham Project, https://BerDProductions.net/MythsofGothamProject/bdoh-009.html. Accessed 21st November 202(X+2)

[[1. No further information given, even after being told it’d be for proper attribution. "Harris" is also most likely to be pseudonym. Sorry, researchers of the future.]]

Transcript has been mildly edited for clarity and to remove vocal disfluencies. It is otherwise presented in its entirety without any attempts to correct grammar and other verbal slips. Additional notes by the transcriber may be found in the footnotes.

========

     Alright, everybody needs to settle their shit down, it’s education time. If you don’t wanna sit here and listen to me explain shit, this place has got like twenty other rooms you can go hang out in, k? This aint school, no one’s keeping you here. ‘Xcept you, Carlos. Yeah, well you tried to go chasing after one of the Exquisite Birds the other day, so you obviously need to learn why you shouldn’t be doing that shit.

     Okay, so. We’ll be talking about the Bat Man, but there’s a lotta other stuff we gotta talk about too, first. He didn’t just show up outta fucking nowhere, you know. Now settle down, thank our slumming Posh Boy over there for tonight’s food, and watch what your tongues wag cuz he’s recording all this shit.

     Alright. The Bat Man. Where the fuck did he come from? Why the hell is he here? Why do other cities get flying muscle-men in bright colors and we got a living shadow that breaks bones? Why the hell is our shithole of a city like this? Well sit back and listen a learning, cuz unfortunately it all ties together.

     Alright, so. The first thing we gotta make clear is that we don’t live in the first Gotham. We’re the second Gotham, the johnny-come-lately Gotham, the weird mirror shadow of the first Gotham. Not saying the other Gotham’s the “real” one and we’re some sort of fake, just that there are two Gotham’s and the one we live in aint the original.

     And an important side-note cuz I can see some of you squirming to ask and someone always asks here, I’m not talking about the False Gothams you sometimes see from between buildings or in the reflections of broken windows or stuff. [[2]] Those things aren’t real; they’re just illusions and traps, spun up by something that wants to lure you in with the promise of there being a version of the world where everything didn’t go to shit. It’s all lies. Most kids who go hunting after False Gothams never come back, but there’ve been a few who have, and they’ve got wild as shit stories to tell. But we’re not getting into all that tonight. Basic point is, you don’t get to The Other Gotham by going down weird alleyways. Nah, you just gotta go down.

[[2. Harris appears to be referring to Gotham’s ‘Mirage City’ phenomenon where heated air trapped in narrow gaps between skyscrapers can sometimes warp the light enough to appear to show an altered city skyline between them. The implications of the fact that this phenomenon is most often reported near sites of Justice League confirmed inter-dimensional fracture points is beyond the scope of this project and will just be noted as a point of further study for the reader.]]

     So the way it was told to me by the kids who knew shit back when I was among you all listening was like this: Gotham, that is to say, our Gotham, is The Black City, The Gotham Above. The Other Gotham, the original Gotham, is The White City, the Gotham Below, and it was here first. [[3]] The way it’s told, it’s not just the first Gotham, it’s the first city ever, built (or carved) out of the rock way back before people had figured out things like writing shit down instead of remembering it all, math, or how to build something more than two stories high.

[[3. There have been urban legends of an underground city that exists as a mirror of Gotham since the late 1600s, barely a decade or two after the city’s founding. The two main versions either say that it was some ancient city that sank beneath the swamp and bogs before the arrival of the Europeans, or that it’s an inverse mirror of Gotham that’s formed from all our wickedness and corruption. No evidence of either version of such a city has ever been officially recorded. It’s usually assumed that people who wrote of such things, especially in the earlier centuries, had stumbled upon some of the vast cave networks that extend beneath the breadth of greater Gotham and their stories of giant chambers with rock formations that rivaled the tallest buildings in size were misinterpreted.]]

     So you know those whacked out monsters and aliens and weird-dicked demon things you have the Justice League out there beating the ass of every other week? They had all that shit way back in pre-history times too, but they didn’t have any cavemen in capes and spandex to punch them in the face. And they were everywhere. Big creepy monsters, fucked up demons that crawled out of the earth or shadows or fires and might not actually be from Hell, but acted like such murderous shits you could see how humanity got the idea of Hell in the first place. You had twisting shadows that would infect people’s own shadows and turn them into evil twisted things like them. You had monsters that only existed as silent whispers that’d get in a guy’s brain and tell them all sorts of shit till they honestly believed that wearing other people’s skin and dancing under the moon was a totally normal and not at all fucked up thing to do. You look back at the earliest stories humans ever wrote down and you can see they were remembering all sorts of fucked up shit we don’t got around anymore. Or at least, didn’t have around anymore until recently. [[4]] And it’s because of The Other Gotham.

[[4. Like with many aspects of Gotham’s unhoused youth culture’s mythic cycle, the timeline of this all doesn’t line up with actual history except in the vaguest of sense. It is interesting to note however that Princess Diana of Themyscira’s speech about ‘The Return of the Mythic’ (end note (i)) has somehow gotten incorporated here, and in a way that almost perfectly aligns with with current historical consensus.]]

     So, the way we figure it must’ve happened was like this: Just because they didn’t have superheroes back then, it doesn’t mean they didn’t have magic. Like, we don’t got a lot of it now, but you can’t argue it doesn’t exist, and pretty much everyone agrees that there used to be a lot more of it way back when, whenever that when was. And that when was here. This is the Way Back When. So a bunch of the smartest most powerful magicals [[sic]] got together to try and figure out a way to get humanity on more of an even standing against all these fucking monsters and evil spirit shits everywhere, and what they came up with was the idea for a great big fuck-off prison for the lot of them.

     So they went and found the one place on the planet that had the most Fucked Up energy possible - guess where - and set to work carving it out deep underground. At the bottom of the biggest cavern there was under the three islands and surrounding swamps, they dug out a pit. Not a giant wide pit, but a long deep one. As deep down as they could dig with whatever magic and tools they had back then. And down there at the bottom, they carved out a great chamber in the rock and covered it with all the runes and magic writing and iron and silver and whatever the fuck else you need to keep giant millipedes that eat souls in check. Then, somehow - and if anyone knows how, it sure as shit aint gonna be us - they managed to lure or suck in or capture just about every evil nasty messed up thing on the planet and locked them down in it.

     You can tell when this happened if you know enough history cuz it would’ve taken place right before humanity got its collective shit together and started doing things like building cities and writing stuff down and everything else that they count as ‘civilization’ these days. [[5]] But like I said, none of the cities everyone topside were building was the first. The first city was built right here, under our feet. They started out by carving out the insides of the biggest stalag-whatevers hanging down from the cavern roofs to live in while they did the original work. Then, once they figured out how that sort of thing worked, they started building their own towers, hanging down from above where they could keep an eye on their monster prison. All spires and guardian statues and skyways and at the center of it all, a giant hole drilled straight to the middle of the whole fucking planet.

[[5. ‘The Great Binding’ and it’s coinciding with the beginnings of known civilization (end note (ii)) is one of the newest theories out of the field of metahistory. Notably, UC Berkley’s article on the subject referenced in the end notes came out seven weeks after this interview took place. And as a side note to the footnote, even proponents of The Great Binding have no concrete theory on where such a prison might’ve been placed. A giant pit right on the Eastern Seaboard seems incredibly unlikely, however.]]

     So yeah, the Gotham Below. Sure, it wasn’t being called Gotham way back then. Not sure they even would’ve given the place a name to begin with. If you’ve never had a city before, would you even think it was something that needed a name? Anyways, Gotham Below. And they didn’t have shit to burn down there, but they did have magic. So, as the story goes, they kept the place lit with magic instead of fire. And all that rock remained as white and untouched by soot and ash as they day it’d gotten carved out. So Gotham Below, the White City. And even with all their magic, those people still eventually got old and died, so it was their kids left watching over the great pit prison. Then they grew old and died, and it was their grandkids left watching. And so it went for centuries and centuries and centuries, for however long it took for humanity to start building cities, then for Europeans to develop to the point where the felt like being assholes, and then for them to decide to go fuck up the rest of the world, and then landing on these same islands and decide that this abandoned remote hellhole was the perfect place to build a brand new city cuz there weren’t enough of those yet or whatever.

     Now, this should be obvious, but you can’t keep a thousand million monsters and demons and evil alien ghosts all trapped in one spot and not have shit kinda bleed out over time. When those pilgrims showed up to start building shit here, shit got weird. Now, I haven’t read any of this myself, but the kid who told me all this did, and according to him, if you go back and read through the journals and writings of those guys responsible for building up Gotham originally, you can see that they were fucked in the head. They kept writing about dreams they’d be having, silent streets of gleaming white they’d walk through while they slept and how the visions of great towering spires and skyways and a billion fucking gargoyles filled their pages whenever they tried to draw up designs. [[6]] So that’s what they all wound up making, one bridge and building and road at a time. A perfect mirror of the City Below, but reaching up in the sky instead of down into the earth. Each stalagamitite tower hanging down in one had a tower reaching up in the other. And smack in the middle of original Old Gotham stood the tallest building of all, right over where the pit was drilled far far below. [[7]] The Clocktower aint the tallest building in Gotham anymore, but it used to be. And while the Gotham Below remained pure and gleaming white, up here they hadn’t even finished putting up the first medieval porta-potties before shit was stained with soot and ash and coal smoke and whale oil residue.

[[6. Harris overstates things, but the base assertion is correct here. The writings of Cyrus Pinkney are infamous for their frequent reference to ‘dark and shadowy dreams’ (end note (iii)) and his open acknowledgment of how much those dreams influenced his designs. Not to the extent described here, though.]]

[[7. The Great Gotham Tower. Known better these days as The Gotham Clocktower or just The Clocktower. It was placed at the center of Gotham as it existed in it’s original state, with the rest of Old Gotham laid out around it in expanding circles connected by thoroughfares at each of the eight cardinal directions.]]

     And that’s how we got to where we are: With the White City, Gotham Below, and the Black City, Gotham Above.

Now, you can’t go building an entire fucking city without the downstairs neighbors hearing the noise and poking their heads out to see what it’s all about. This is another case where you can find references across all that early writing stuff they keep in the libraries. People started seeing ghosts. I mean, they were calling them ghosts, but they really obvious weren’t. People up high, watching people below. They’d wear big white robes that looked like wings when they moved. They wore strange masks with big smoke-glass eyes. They moved through shadows like they were part of them, they could climb a building as easy as walking, and anyone who tried to climb up to one would either find them gone, or would next be seen falling off the tallest building in the neighborhood.

     As the history goes, the masks they wore looked vaguely birdlike. A specific type of bird. But it quickly became obvious that whoever these people were, they really didn’t like it when people called them… that specific bird species. So we don’t. Adults still do sometimes, but that’s because they’re fucking idiots. [[8]] If you need to talk about them, call them the White Birds. Or, even better- They’re vain, these White Birds. If you flatter them, they’re less likely to decide to kill you for talking about them at all. The term that tends to get used a lot these days is Exquisite. [[9]] Not sure who came up with it, but we’ve barely had any kids go missing since we started. Still, it’s best to wait until the middle of the day, and talk about them someplace out in the open where you can be sure no one’s lurking in any shadows.

[[8. Beware the eyes of owls

Who watch us all the time

From lofty perches up on high

To the deepest pits of grime.

They watch us as we work and play

They watch us in our bed

Speak not a whispered word of them

Least talons strike you dead.]]

[[9. “Exquisite” is recorded as being Gotham street-kid slang for ‘untrustworthy john/rich person/official’ in the early 1980s (end note (iv)). An article in The Gotham Gazette from 1954 quotes a homeless kid as saying “We all always knew you couldn’t trust him. He was a full Exquisite Bird type through’n’through. None of us is surprised they found all those bodies up’n’in his place.” (end note (v)), and a stylized EXQU was used as hobo code for a place that seemed nice but must be avoided at all costs along the mid-Atlantic coast during the 1930s. (end note (vi)).]]

     So throughout all of Gotham’s history, they’re just… there. Watching from up high in the shadows, the Exquisite Birds. If you see one, no you didn’t. If someone asks you about them, you don’t know what they’re talking about. They don’t like it when people admit they see them, and they’re as quick to slice open witnesses as any other two-bit gang.

     So that’s where shit stood for a few centuries. Then something happened. We really don’t know what, and no one who would is the sort who’d tell us, either. We just know what resulted. Grownups call it the Cataclysm, or the Big One. [[10]] One day, the earth just turned over in a giant earthquake, split open, and half of Gotham fell down. Then, suddenly, there were monsters. Monsters everywhere. Gotham had always been shit, but now you had people dressing up like insects and murdering people with giant roach traps, or gangsters turning from murdering assholes to mass-murdering assholes who’d torture you for five hours then pull out your eyeballs for their collection, or giant piles of toxic mud coming to life and eating people.

[[10. It goes without saying, but at this point, Harris’ version of events deviates radically from the known timeline. The first recorded footage of Batman was taken eight years before the Great Gotham Quake, with the first rumors of his existence being almost twelve years earlier. This condensing down of timelines and assuming all events from more than five years ago took place at around the same time is a known phenomenon with children-created mythic cycles. (end note (vii))]]

     It was chaos. Everything broke down, no one knew what was going on. The rest of the country looked at what was happening in Gotham and flipped out and shut it all down. They blew up the bridges, put mines in the rivers and blockaded the entire city to try and contain whatever the hell this all was. [[11]]

[[11. No Man’s Land did take place, but if it was because elements of the US government were concerned about an outbreak of mythical monsters in the city, that fact remains undocumented.]]

     Now, like I said, we don’t know how everything kicked off, but we know how it ended. Somehow, whether on accident or on purpose, someone broke open the prison buried deep under out feet. Not all the way; none of the truly giant world-ending shit has gotten out. But all those twisted shadows and invisible whispers and nasty spirt ghost fuckers? They slid out just fine. We don’t know if the earthquake cracked it, or if the cracking of it caused the earthquake. We don’t know if the Exquisite Birds did it on purpose, or why if they did. We don’t know if they didn’t stop it because they didn’t care, or they just couldn’t.

     End result, though? Chaos in Gotham and monsters killing and corrupting and twisting everyone they could get their semi-visible claws into. And the Exquisite Birds just sitting there up high, watching and doing jack shit about it.

     These days, we know what to do when shit like that goes down. We know how to feed wishes to the gargoyles and how to call out for the Bats and the Robins, but people back then, they didn’t know any of that. Hell, there wasn’t anything to pray to or to collect those wishes yet. So you had a whole city of people hoping and praying for something to come save them, and nothing for all that power and energy to ground itself in. And there was a whole lotta power in the air. That ancient magic prison had just busted open after all, so along with all the evil smoke demons and monsters and shit, you also had all that raw protective magic leaking out at the same time. And it got mixed up with all those unanswered wishes and pleads as it coiled up through the spires of a city that was the mirror of its own. And there, at the top of everything, it all found it’s lightning rod and grounded itself and WHAM! Just like that, everything changed.

     Now, I’ve seen the old photographs, from back when you got pictures of city skylines from giant blimps and stuff. And the resolution on them is never great, but you can see it all the same. Back when The Clocktower was the tallest building in the city, it had a big fuck-off gargoyle on top of it. Big swept back wings and these curved back horns, and hunched all over looking out towards the ocean for anything that might be sailing in to do harm.

     It’s not there anymore. Supposedly, it fell off during the Cataclysm, but I’ve never heard of no reports of it getting dug outta the rubble. [[12]] We know what really happened to it, though. All those wards on the monster prison had failed, all the watching guardians of Gotham Below had failed, and Gotham Above was filled with unanswered prayers. It all came together at the highest point of Old Gotham, and the Bat Man statue sitting there was imbued with both the power and the motive to protect us. All of us. Bam! Batman!

[[12. The Sentinel of Gotham was an actual statue that stood on top of Gotham Tower for over 150 years. It was an angel-winged figure standing ten feet tall with a sword at its side and a shield held facing out to the bay. It fell off the top of the Clocktower in 1967 along with a significant portion of the north-western corner. The damage would remain until the revitalization of Gotham at the end of No Man’s Land. What happened to the statue is unknown. It was recovered for restoration and assumed display in one of Gotham’s museums, but I can find no further word about it after 1968.]]

     I mean, we all know about the next parts, yeah? Lots of punching, lots of asskicking. Big giant monster with glowing eyes descending from above to kick the teeth in of anyone who’d given in to the whispering shadows, to the monsters wearing human skin, to the demons and their shadows and all the rest. And it was awesome.

     But the kids at the time, the kids like us, they had it rougher. I mean, the way it’s like today isn’t like it was back then. Batman’s been alive for a lot longer now; he’s had time to learn how to be a person and not just some sort of monster-fighting gargoyle. But you can still see it. He talks like most of his throat’s still rock, and he moves like it too. He’s got a punch that sends people through walls, and bullets only make him bleed when he remembers they should and they never keep him down for long. And he still doesn’t really get what it means to be a person, or how to deal with humans. Like, you can tell he tries, but he’s an ancient protective guardian powered by even more ancient vengeance magic and there’s only so much that can do. To the kids of those early days, he was even worse. He didn’t understand that they’d be hungry or lost or alone. He didn’t understand why something like him would be terrifying, and he didn’t get why sometimes you had to steal to eat and survive.

     So some of the smart kids of back then got together and worked out a plan. There was still a lot of that protection magic in the air from the prison getting busted wide open and they got the idea to try and channel it all, but on purpose this time.

((The wishes!!))

     Right, the wishes. This is when that started. They spread the word. When you needed something, when you’d lost something, when you needed someone to help, you would write down your wish and what and who you needed to fix it, and you’d feed it to a gargoyle. Wish by wish, paper scrap by paper scrap, we taught the gargoyles what sort of protector the city’s children needed. There were attempts to get kids to feed them all to one specific gargoyle or another, but it didn’t really work out, everyone just wound up stuffing them into whatever gargoyle they liked best, or was easiest to reach, or was safe to get to. Turns out, you don’t need to feed the wishes to any specific gargoyle, they all talk to each other. What you wish to one gets picked up by all the others. [[13]]

[[13. This tradition appears to have started a year or two after Robin first premiered. It’s unclear exactly how it originated, but it’s now city-wide knowledge, especially among the kids, that you can feed wishes to gargoyles if you want them to come true. Previous writers have compared this to wishing on a star and have suggested that it’s how Gotham’s youth have adjusted for the fact you can rarely see any stars to wish upon in the city. (end note (viii, ix)). ‘Wishes for Gargoyles’/’Wishing on a Gargoyle/Gargoyle Wishes’ is often used by older Gothamites – particularly parents, teachers, and other caregivers – to refer to young foolish wishes, but with a positive connotation (similar to the phrase ‘puppy love’ meaning young foolish love, but with a positive connotation). (end note (x)). And despite what some city officials have worried, there’s never been a need to invest in going around and clearing years of paper pulp out of gargoyles across the city. What exactly is happening to the wishes instead is unknown.]]

     And it worked, is the thing! It barely took a year before there was a second shape following behind the Bat at night. And it wasn’t like the Bat at all. It wasn’t a soot and ash-stained version of the Exquisite Birds, carved out of stone and one with the shadows. It was small, and bright, with the colors of Christmas, Halloween, and the circus all in one. He laughed and told jokes and understood the difference between kids who were crying because they were scared, or tired, or lost, or had just too much happen to them too soon. He knew how to talk to kids and how to help us. He stood between kids who just needed money to eat and the Bat Man’s strict ethics. We’d done it, we’d made a protector of our own. Warmer, more real, more human.

     Kind a little too human, it turns out. Robins aren’t eternal like the Bat is. Robins grow up and grow old. Robins can die. Turns out, Robins aren’t made by a gargoyle coming to life like the Bat Man did. It’s more like, the gargoyles sort of push out the essence of all those stored wishes into a form that’s shaped after themselves, but made of our wishes and hopes and needs instead of just stone and rock. We don’t even know exactly which statues most of them came from.

     We know the Second Robin’s gargoyle. But we’re Crime Alley kids, so of course we know. He went back to it whenever he needed to rest and heal. There are kids who still climb up there to tend to it and feed it offerings. We’re never gonna get Our Robin back, but it doesn’t feel right to let his gargoyle sit abandoned. And there are some kids who think, or hope, that if we can feed it enough wishes and offerings and positive vibes, maybe someday Crime Alley’s Robin will be able to reform to protect us again.

     Until that happens, though, we keep feeding wishes to all the others. The first Robin evolved into Nightwing and became the protector guardian of Bludhaven. Kids who were smarter than me figure it’s because that protective magic is still leaking out of the broken prison and spreading out like a fog. It’s spread far enough out that it can feed them the next city over. Which means they also have those invisible whispers and corruptive shadows and all the rest, which, if you’ve ever talked to a kid from there, you know they absolutely do.

     The Uptown Robin dyed himself Red and moved in closer to us here in the Alley. Personally, I figure it’s because he’s been getting all those wishes and offerings we’ve been giving to Second Robin’s gargoyle. It’s sort of merging the two of them a little. Hell, if it wasn’t for that Red Hood guy showing up, he probably would’ve become the Crime Alley guardian fully by now. I always kinda wondered if the Uptown kids have a gargoyle they keep up like we do ours, they just don’t tell anyone about it. I mean, we scarcely do. We sure as hell don’t tell anyone who doesn’t need to know where it is, that’s for damn sure. [[14]]

[[14. I only asked after the second Robin’s gargoyle’s location once. When I told that information wasn’t shared, I didn’t peruse it any further. All the extra glaring here was just really unnecessary.]]

     Oh shit, good question, yeah, no, the Bat Girls totally come from the same place. Why some go by one and others go by the other is beyond me. There’ve been girl Robins, and it wouldn’t surprise me if there’ve been guy Batgirls. I think it’s because Gotham’s kids feed so many wishes into the system? There’s a lot of need out here, and so Gotham keeps birthing out new protectors for us. For awhile, I thought it was just a case of there were usually two ‘new’ ones at any given time, so one would get called Robin and the other would get called Bat Girl, but then we had two Bat Girls for awhile, and then Red Robin went back to being Robin while the other Robin was also Robin, but then they kept changing names, and…

     Look, I’m sure there are kids out there who have a better grasp on this stuff than I do. I just know where they come from, not what sort of weird rooftop pack/hive dynamics they got going on these days, you know?

     So, couple of other points before we close this all up. First, on the nature of wishes. I know it’s real cathar- ceth-. Fuck. Real good feeling to wish death by a thousand cuts on those fuckers who beat you up and stole all your food, or wish that the dad who beat you has his arms chopped off and whatever, but we’re all, all of us kids, city-wide, we’re really pushing that everyone cut down on the violence level of the wishes. The latest Robin we got came out with a sword. He’s straight up merc’ed a few guys too, and it didn’t work out as well as it feels like it should. We don’t want the next one to be even worse. Robin is supposed to be our protector, not our vengeance.

     If you want someone to wind up stabbed, you learn how to use a knife and take care of that shit yourself.

     We’re pretty sure the one extra invisible Bat Girl was formed out of the Bat’s shadow. She doesn’t talk much because they have to share the same voice, and she’s usually happy to let him use it, but this way the Bat’s able to properly Bat at two different places in the city at once. So she’s like the born wish of a born wish. It’s no wonder she’s so slippery and invisible half the time. Unless she’s actively punching something, she barely physically exists at all.

     And no, no one’s exactly sure what’s up with Signal. I mean, yeah, obviously he was formed out of the Bat Signal. Skin’s the same color as the metal, outfit’s the same color as the light, and he actually shines and glows and all the rest. And he says he’s The Signal. This is like obvious base level shit.

     We just don’t know who’s wishes he was born from. I mean, it’s possible that somehow the Bat Signal’s gotten tied into the gargoyle network, but that seems kinda implausible to me. Some have said maybe he was born out of the wishes of the police for Batman to show up and help out during the day for fucking once, but he’s way less violent and murdery than you’d expect from something born out of cop wishes.

     Buddy of mine who’s pretty damn smart and is usually better at these things than me thinks Signal might’ve been born from the police commissioner’s wishes specifically. Which kinda makes sense. He’s like the one cop who actually gets upset when someone gets shot twenty times in the back for no reason, and he’s always the one turning on the Bat-Signal and talking to the Bat under it for years and years and years.

     Kid I knew a year back actually managed to ask Signal who’s wishes he was born out of, but Signal just laughed and said something along the lines of “Doesn’t really matter who wished for me. What matters is they wished for everyone to be safe, so that’s what we’re here to do.” Then he blasted apart these giant shadow-bat things with bat-light beams and it was awesome.

     So yeah. That’s where Batman and the Robins and the Bat Girls and all the rest came from, and why they do what they do. Give thanks to Poshkid for the food, remember to put out your fires before you sleep, and if anyone wants to talk about the EBs, track me down tomorrow and we’ll go hang out in Leeds’ Park around noon so we can be sure nothing’s listening in.

[bigsoftmarshmallow]

Okay, here it is (warning, it's a bit long, but I felt that it needs to be in order to get the point across):

I thought of this narrative device that I’m calling the “Haunted Jukebox,” which pertains to a specific object that plays the “Playlist of the Soul.” (Something else I made up, but it’s basically just the explanation that I’ll be giving you, but specifically refers to the actual playlist rather than the device.)

Both are based on a couple of fanfics that I remember reading a very long time ago. The first one that this idea takes the most prevalent inspiration from, was a crossover between Supernatural & Undertale where Grillby had this magic jukebox that would play the song in a person’s soul or something like that. So, for Papyrus, it’d play "Bonetrousle" & for Sans, it’d play "Megalovania." Then, when the Winchesters came walkin’ in, the song “Wayward Son” by Kansas came on.

The other one was this Naruto fanfiction on Fanfiction.com. I don’t exactly remember what it was about, but I do remember a plot device in it. Itachi apparently left Sasuke his iPod & I guess it was cursed or enchanted or haunted or something because it would always just suddenly start playing a song at any given moment that would fit immaculately with the current situation.

For the moment, I’ll explain it by using Danny Phantom as an example.

Imagine that there’s an old diner, Imma call it Heartsong Diner, in Amity & it has a supposedly haunted jukebox with a similar thing going on to the above.

If you press ‘random,’ it will just play whatever’s pertinent at the time & the songs change depending on what’s happening (if something very significant is happening in the middle of a song, there will be a record scratch sound & suddenly a new song is playing that fits what’s happening to-a-T), but if you push the ‘personalize’ button, it’ll create a playlist full of songs that matches your soul or personality & the circumstances surrounding your life right now.

Now, the songs can result in comedy, or pump you the heck up, or scare the crap outta you, or cause you to become introspective.

Regardless, costumers love it, though there are plenty of times when people get uncomfortable because the songs reveal things to them that they hadn't realized before or just didn't want revealed. Or put words to things that they hadn't been able to describe or were simply not spoken about. It's also been the source of a lot of people discovering aspects about themselves that they hadn't before. There are even times when it'll play exactly what a person needs to hear most when they're having a difficult time. Or even in certain situations, warnings of consequences that fit a bit too well with something they planned to do later in the case of particularly bad people, which I’ll call “Cautionary Ballads.” At times even almost seeming to respond to conversations. Like, imagine that someone was talking about someone’s mom (maybe Paulina’s) who just so happens to be… a bit of a slut, when the jukebox busts out with "She's a freak -Aaw!"

And at some points even seeming to be able to predict the future. Though, by & large, depending on whether or not it has a sense of self of its own, it ultimately just seems to want to help.

There's even a usb port & if you put one in, it'll download your personalized life playlist. If you do so again later & some things in your life have changed or you have changed, the jukebox will alter the playlist it created before to better suit your current situation. Some people even consider it a form of musical therapy as it can often instigate deep self-reflection.

Weird thing is, it wasn't always a usb port. Before that, it was a CD player that would just pop out a CD full of songs & give them to people. And before that, it gave cassettes & before that, vinyls. It's super weird because the owners say that one day the port just changed. As if it changed magically to fit the new technology. But no one actually saw it happen.

Like, let’s take for instance, if this jukebox appeared in the world of Danny Phantom. The first time Danny walked in there after deciding he was gonna protect Amity, "I Need a Hero" turned on. Danny initially tensed up, but when he realized that no one seemed to be looking at him, he relaxed. The song later changed to "Ghost" by Mystery Skulls & Danny internally freaked out.

There was one time when the trio went there & Sam was having gushy feelings for Danny, then suddenly Katy Perry's "E.T." comes on & Sam freaks the fuck out demanding that someone change the song with a face as red as a beat while Tucker's laughing & going, "No! Turn it up!" The song couldn't be changed, but Danny didn't really react & spent the song being really nice to Sam. Sam is sure he's just being clueless, but the truth is that he'd known about Sam's crush on him for a long time & was just waiting for her to get to a point where she's comfortable telling him on her own because he's into her too.

Another time, the Fenton family were out for dinner there (mostly to see what the jukebox was all about) when Vlad showed up to try & woo Maddie. Next thing they knew, "Every Breath You Take" by the Police starts playing. This was after Maternal Instincts, so Vlad & Maddie are hella uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Jack comments how there must be some sorta stalker nearby, Jazz is trying to stifle her laughter, & Danny is absolutely busting his gut, smashing his fist against the table & crying tears of laughter.

Yet another time, the Fentons confront Phantom in the parking lot of the diner & from the open door they hear a male cover of "Diamond Jack: The Villain I Appear To Be."

One time, Danny was fighting Spectra & Bertrand nearby & when their fight moved to the diner, the song "Invisible Touch" by Phil Collins began to play. Bertrand could be seen bopping along to the music, obviously liking it, while Spectra just rolled her eyes.

During Reign Storm, "Hail to the King" by Avenged Sevenfold played during the battle against Pariah before eventually playing "Storm the Castle" as played by Jonathan Young. Like, literally, it was playing in the background as the battle was raging, the diner had been destroyed at the time & it’s like the thing just decided, "Might as well have some epic boss music."

After Reign Storm & the diner was rebuilt, the next time the Golden Trio go there, the jukebox starts playing "Ceaser" by the Oh Hellos as well as several other songs about heroes being crowned king. The entire time, Danny felt anxiety sinking into his stomach but wasn't entirely sure why.

When Dan was masquerading as Danny & the Trio went there, "Monster" by Skillet came on & Dan went quiet. He seemed to be deep in thought about something as he listened before snapping out of it.

The day after Urban Jungle, the Golden Trio went to the diner & as soon as Danny stepped foot inside, Natewantstobattle's rendition of "Let It Go" started to play. Danny was like, "Really?" & Tucker was losin' his absolute mind. Sam couldn't stop snickering either.

In a more angsty timeline when the Fentons are eating out there again (having determined they can't make the jukebox stop what it was doing & that it wasn't hurting anyone), the Fenton parents begin talking to their kids about something regarding their work. Whether it was what they plan to do to Phantom or something they've done that crosses a line for their kids regarding ghost hunting. Jazz tries to tell them it's wrong, but Maddie goes on a tangent about how ghosts aren't people, so it's perfectly moral. "I Have Questions For You" featuring Jacob Lee suddenly starts playing in the background. And Danny almost seems to have a breakdown.

The jukebox itself appears to be damn near indestructible too & no one knows how it has access to so many damn songs that don't even appear on the available playlist. Forget figuring out how it can play songs from the internet or has a usb port when it's been there since the 60s. Hell, half the songs it plays are from the effing future!

From what I’m seeing, this idea appears to be a mix of a whole bunch of music-centered tropes. Including but not limited to, the ‘Source Music’, the ‘Suspiciously Apropos Music,’ ‘“I Am” Song/“I Want” Song’ or ‘Image Song’ (songs that are specifically meant to more deeply explore a character, therefore adding more depth), ‘Mocking Music’ TV tropes. Also includes ‘Dark Reprises’ when pertinent. Explanations of these tropes can all be found on TV Tropes.com.

So, yeah. I just really like this idea.

One thought I had was basically a Dorf with their Wives when either the song "God Bless The Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts or "Love Like You" as sung by Caleb Hyles, comes on & he can't help but find himself resonating with them.

Sorry for the lateness! I didn't really get on Tumblr at all during my days off. I... got consumed by Echoes of Wisdom, as well as assisting with deep cleaning the house. I... really want to be home still playing. >_>

Very interesting device you made there! I really like it. As someone who loves and is often surrounded by music, I would love this Jukebox, especially if it would be spooky and tell me of the future, of fates, of possible outcomes, etc.

************************************************************************

For each of the Ganondorfs and Demise, here are the songs that would play when they interact with the "Haunted Jukebox," reflecting their fates, personalities, and struggles:

Wind Waker Ganondorf:

Song: "Mad World" by Gary Jules

Why: This Ganondorf is deeply melancholic and reflective on the loss of his people, the desolation of Hyrule, and the futility of his quest for power. His desire for peace within a dying world contrasts sharply with his violent methods, and the haunting tone of this song echoes his tragic narrative and the broken world he inhabits.

Ocarina of Time Ganondorf:

Song: "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones

Why: Ocarina of Time Ganondorf is consumed by ambition, vengeance, and a desire to conquer Hyrule. The dark and aggressive tone of the song matches his mindset as he manipulates the kingdom and corrupts the land. "Paint It Black" resonates with his intention to dominate, reshape, and darken everything around him.

Twilight Princess Ganondorf:

Song: "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones

Why: This Ganondorf is regal, charismatic, and cunning, viewing himself almost like a god. The song captures his dangerous charm, his belief in his own righteousness, and the way he relishes manipulating others. It reflects his embodiment of evil with a flair of sophistication, as he believes himself beyond reproach.

Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf:

Song: "Monster" by Skillet

Why: Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf is unrelentingly powerful and thrives on his monstrous persona. The song aligns with his acceptance of his inner beast and his embrace of his role as a force of destruction. It taps into his unyielding hunger for power and his self-acknowledged status as a villain.

Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf:

Song: "The Sound of Silence" by Disturbed (cover of Simon & Garfunkel)

Why: Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf is a character marked by loneliness and isolation, driven by ancient pain and resentment. The slow, sorrowful melody mixed with raw, powerful vocals symbolizes his internal darkness, the centuries he has spent waiting, and the silence that has consumed his mind during his long imprisonment. The deeper meaning reflects the decay of the kingdom and his quest for revenge.

Demise:

Song: "I Am the Fire" by Halestorm

Why: Demise is a raw, primal force of destruction and power, embodying the very essence of wrath and conquest. The song speaks to his nature as a relentless flame, burning everything in his path. Its fiery, intense lyrics reflect his quest for domination, his hatred for the gods, and his inevitable legacy of hatred that transcends generations.

Each of these songs encapsulates the essence of their personalities, their ambitions, and the fates they either carve or endure.

BONUS:

Here's a song that captures the emotional and relational dynamics each Ganondorf and Demise might evoke in a romantic relationship:

Wind Waker Ganondorf:

Song: "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri

Why: This version of Ganondorf carries deep sadness and regret from his past. A romance with him would be a tragic but enduring love, filled with unspoken words, distance, and longing. The song captures the melancholy and timeless nature of a love that persists through hardship and separation, reflecting his internal loneliness and yearning for something better amidst his destructive actions.

Ocarina of Time Ganondorf:

Song: "Toxic" by Britney Spears

Why: A relationship with Ocarina of Time Ganondorf would be intense, dangerous, and all-consuming. The pull between attraction and destruction would be strong, with manipulation and dominance playing major roles. "Toxic" captures the feeling of being irresistibly drawn into something harmful but thrilling, reflecting his dangerous allure and the toxic power dynamic in the relationship.

Twilight Princess Ganondorf:

Song: "Take Me to Church" by Hozier

Why: Twilight Princess Ganondorf is regal, arrogant, and darkly charismatic. A relationship with him would be passionate but deeply spiritual in the sense of devotion and control. "Take Me to Church" speaks to the intensity of love, worship, and the sacrifices one makes for someone who exudes overwhelming power and authority. It reflects the almost godlike presence he maintains in a romantic connection.

Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf:

Song: "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots

Why: A romance with Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf would be wild, unpredictable, and possibly dangerous. "Heathens" reflects the sense of venturing into forbidden territory, loving someone who exists on the edge of morality and civilization. The song’s dark, rebellious tone aligns with the nature of loving a man who thrives on chaos and destruction, with a relationship that feels like you're always dancing with danger.

Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf:

Song: "Demons" by Imagine Dragons

Why: In this version, Ganondorf is haunted by centuries of isolation and darkness. A romance with him would involve trying to love someone plagued by inner demons, constantly torn between affection and the weight of his own bitterness. "Demons" reflects the complexity of loving someone who is deeply scarred and might not be able to fully escape their darker nature, despite the love they feel in return.

Demise:

Song: "Animal" by Neon Trees

Why: Demise embodies primal, untamed energy. A romantic relationship with him would be raw, intense, and dominated by passion. "Animal" reflects the unrestrained, almost feral nature of loving someone so powerful and destructive, where the connection is more about raw desire and overwhelming attraction than anything soft or sentimental. It's about giving in to a love that is as dangerous as it is irresistible.

Each song reflects the unique challenges, intensity, and emotional tone of a relationship with these powerful, dark figures.

[baronaliswritingcorner]

Tales of Symphonia Stray Thoughts #10: Sybak/Fooji Mountains Revisit

-I know Zelos’s womanizing hasn't exactly aged well, but the Gigolo quirk is one of those little Tales of Symphonia details that speaks to just how dense this game is. Even if said title drives us insane when we miss one or two women. (Heaven forbid in Ozette or Palmacosta!)

(Now I'm reminded of that one age-old comic where a woman gives him a cucumber, lol. Anyone know what I'm talking about?)

-Zelos: Listen and be amazed, bumpkins. This is the greatest drawbridge in the world.

It’s the only one, ya dolt!

-“It connects the continents of Altamira and Fooji.”

…you know, I never stopped to pay attention to this line before. There’s nothing else in the game mentioning the continent names, right? Funny how Altamira’s just a resort city yet there’s a big ol’ landmass named after it. There’s a story there.

Also, if Meltokio’s located in Fooji, then…wait. That whole detail with Mizuho being chased out…and the Japanese-sounding name…mmm…

-“That’s a pretty sobering story. Is that really true?”

What’s important to remember here is that Zelos’s affiliation with Cruxis means he’s already in the know about everything, so he's just feigning ignorance here. One of the many cutscenes I'd have preferred voiced to add another layer to this deception.

-The Zelos nickname skit is an all-time classic, lol. A shame he never follows through with "Hey, you" for Lloyd. Alas.

-Y’all ever slow walk with Presea? Y'know, when she gets all rapid-fire with those heels? It's like she’s like a robotic aide or something. “Here is your coffee, sir.”

“This is the variety goods shop, Student Supplies. We sell fucking swords and axes and shit.”

goddamn, that's some school. sign me up

-Junk Collector: “Well, have a look around. There’s a lot of good stuff to be found.”

What is this, Dr. Suess? Get outta here.

-“This academy was turned into a royal facility two kings ago.”

I wonder how long ago that was. It’d be cool if they ever made an in-depth timeline of the Symphonia world.

(no dotnw junk pls kthx)

-That one kid talking about solving pollution. Pollution is TOS canon. The two worlds already have enough going on with the whole "REGENERATE OR DIE" business. Don't pollutel, or Lloyd will get all Woodsy Owl on your ass.

-Lloyd: “I didn’t think I’d be giving you your birthday present like this.”

Oh, the tragedy when it doesn’t work! although the school lobby's kinda a weird place in retrospect lol there's a giant fucking dinosaur fossil behind them.

You know how Colette's neck is all crooked here? Reminds me of this other DeviantArt comic from the long, long ago where she was in the same pose, lol. I'd look it up if I wasn't so lazy.

-“How about asking Dirk for help?”

Uh, that was an uncharacteristic lapse of memory for Raine there. Her line should've been switched with Genis.

-lol I like how they couldn’t be bothered to model actual shackles/syringes

-Lloyd: "What did you say?! The Professor and Genis are much better people than you! Who cares if they’re half-elves?!"

Zelos: "I don’t know what it’s like in your world, but over here, half-elves are at the bottom of the caste system."

Papal Knight: "Half-elves guilty of crimes are all executed without exception."

Lloyd: "That’s insane!"

The initial trip to Tethe'alla bombards poor Lloyd with injustice after injustice, all smartly paving the way to Lloyd's big speech in Mizuho. We see birth of Lloyd becoming Martin fucking Luther King Jr. right here. (Minus the creepy adultery)

-that freaking professor snitch. look at him. and way later he doesn't acknowledge his complicity at all. asshole

-“Criminals…if you’ve had the good fortune of being born human, don’t throw it away like that.”

Yeesh!

-Lloyd: That’s the same way the Desians made Exspheres!

Kate: What? What are you talking about?

Lloyd: I’m saying, how can you treat people that way?!

Kate: …I could ask you the exact same thing. How can you humans treat half-elves the way you do?

Yes, yes. This scene. So great. Lloyd realizing how the Desians' legacy carries over to the other world, him correcting course when he recognizes Kate doesn't know the first about Desians and attacks with a more general accusation, Kate justifiably leaning into her own injustices in accusing Lloyd of bigotry, her disbelief that he'd save a half-elf -- let alone have one as a best friend...

We learn more about Kate as the game progresses -- in retrospect, she's one of the better-realized NPCs (without even a voiced line to her name! -- but we're immediately rendered sympathetic to her outburst here and know not to judge. She and her other two fellow prisoners don't even have any beds down in that cold dungeon -- and all thanks to those cruel humans. Who could blame her for thinking Lloyd's full of shit?

Two proponents of social justice, pitted against each other by millennia-old systemic injustices -- all correctly framed within the tragedy that is Presea's Theme.

Mm! This part of the game’s just so GOOD.

-Having indulged in so much Sheelos over the years, it’s funny how Sheena just…doesn’t react to Zelos being with the party at all. You’d think there’d be SOME acknowledgement – even the expanded media in anime/manga touches upon their history together!

-The Colette prayer skit seems....poorly timed? lol. Save it for after the bridge.

-“Curiosity towards the unknown” was a favorite of mine as a youngin’, but uh, now? That’s just sexual harassment, dawg. Not the last time we'll see this, unfortunately.

-slowwalking as presea on da bridge…majestic

-why do the papal knights sound like Wallace Shawn lmao

-THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF LLOYD’S THEME YEEESSS

Have I mentioned how much I love this theme? You can just feel the serotonin flood throughout your body the moment it graces your eardrums. Doesn't it just exude positive energy? Convey how he's just the goodest boy? Great, because this song always plays whenever he's rousing the party together by giving this great big speech -- or, as seen below, affirming their value just by being himself.

"But…we’re half-elves."

"So what’s your point?”

Man. Man.

Just listen to the line from Raine when she says "you came to rescue us" -- that alone says so much. Having borne the full-brunt of half-elf discrimination, she clearly resigned herself to her fate here, thinking Lloyd and co. would abandon them, and he just...candidly leaps over the wall carefully layered from years of discrimination, roaming from place to place looking for somewhere to call home, all the while hiding her deepest darkest secret in her identity-- all just by saying "who cares what you are? You're my friend."

It's 10:30 over here and I lack the eloquence/time to dive into a full analysis, but I consider Lloyd a personal hero of mine and could just gush about him all day. Just blast that theme on your iTunes or whatever and I'll get started.

-"Zelos: Knowing that, but still being unable to shake the feelings, is what discrimination is all about, though."

Oof. Zelos's route gets into his justifications here, but his backstory isn't entirely necessary to understanding the reasoning in this skit. I wonder how many players took some introspection here.

-Sheena: "So monsters really started to appear… But the regeneration ritual wasn’t complete, so what’s going on?"

Raine: "…If it’s not caused by a decline in mana, then it may be the work of Cruxis."

Hold up! Hold up. How does that work? Can Cruxis make monsters? How? Wouldn't they part of the ecosystem too? I—oh, I’m thinking too much about this again.

-Zelos’s "secret weapon" is evidence he’s working with the Renegades, too. Hence the trap. Shoulda seen it coming after "just in case something like this happened". Kinda specific there, aren't ya??

-THE SCENE WHERE COLETTE COMES BACK IS...hmm, I dunno. I mean, it works, but I think the anime did it best. Obviously they couldn't put it off for that long (Rodyle's flying base? Yeah, no), but "Unsatisfied desire" doesn't exactly spur feelings of an emotional reunion, so it kinda loses its punch.

Now, them tying it to the birthday present? One that absolutely shouldn't have worked and defied all logic? Fantastic "right in the kokoro" writing right there. Do they ever explain why it worked? No, but who cares -- IT’S THE POWER OF COLLOYD AND YOUNG LOVE BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

-“No, it’s the toxicosis.”

…do they already know Colette's sick? Hmm.

-Kratos subtly encouraging Lloyd every time he pops up…the feels…

man I am so on the TOS train right now -- if only the fandom wasn't so teeny-tiny right now!

[despairing-disaster]

16, 20, 23,28 for whit n david?

Gonna combine these for convenience and since it’s a lot of the same characters. Also sorry this took a while, it was a lot of numbers and I'm a chronic procrastinator - -;

David

3. A song that reminds me of them

Save Yourself by Stabbing Westward. I definitely think it fits a different character slightly better, but it works with the idea of him being a motivational speaker who hates his job.

12. Sexuality hc!

Gay

Not really much else to say on that.

16. A childhood headcanon

He was really quiet as a kid. Like, insanely so, to the point that him becoming a public speaker was something nobody really expected from him. 

20. A weird headcanon

David absolutely cannot handle spicy food for the life of him. It’s like a nuclear warhead for his entire GI tract. Given what the creator has said on food preferences, it kinda makes me wonder how he’d react to Xander’s cooking.

23. Future headcanon

I don’t think I can see David surviving the killing game. I see him as a character who isn’t really intended to “grow” so much as reveal more about themselves, and it’s really difficult to keep these characters interesting enough to justify leaving them in the story for 6 chapters (unless you’re linuj). I could realistically see him dying any time between chapter 2 and chapter 4, but I’m leaning more towards chapter 3. I don’t think he’s secretly evil or something, but it’d be the point where, if anyone is gonna just snap (again), it’s gonna be then, and it really seems like David in particular holds a lot back. 

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

It’s not even the fact that he accused Teruko of killing Xander, it’s the fact that he pressed it so hard for so long when everybody else already moved on. I understand that every trial needs its skeptics in the face of new evidence, and I will say that the writer did a pretty good job at not making him hair-pullingly irritating with it, but like... it was pretty unnecessary from a watsonian perspective. 

Whit

So glad you asked me about him bc I love him so much.

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

I think the moment he had with Teruko in the laundry room where he said he just wanted to see her smile. I didn't really think much of him beforehand beyond him being a fun-loving jokester who didn't really take things seriously, but I think that scene really added a much-needed degree of depth to his character. Gonna absolutely shit my pants if he starts getting even more character development at the beginning of chapter 2 tho.

5. My favorite ship of them

Hate to be literally every other person in the fandom, but lets be real here, it's him with Charles. They've had really good chemistry thus far and Whit's interactions with him are where he really seems to shine as a character. Despite being a hardass, Charles really seems to bring out the best in him. Although I'll also throw in whitruko, charwhitruko and whitrei in as honorable mentions.

7. A quote of them that you remember

"Charles, you *do* know what sex is, right?"

Idk. It just kinda came outta left field, even by Whit standards.

16. A childhood headcanon

Whit was one of those kids who asked a million questions. “How do planes fly? Is water wet? Why do male seahorses give birth?” or merely the simple “why” over and over again until whoever he’s talking to realized he’s fucking with them.

20. A weird headcanon

Ik I’ve joked about it before, but he wears those heart-print boxers you always see in cartoons. Not always, but he has quite a few pairs of them.

23. Future headcanon

If Charles doesn’t kick the bucket next chapter, it’s gonna be him. Otherwise, I could easily see him making it to chapter 4, but not likely further than that. I said this with Charles, but I think these two are going to get more development and interaction with each other going forward (and I mostly say this based on speculation around the ch2 previews) though I’m curious to see where it goes from there. I mark chapter 4 as his maximum longevity since it seems that’s the chapter where the characters who get put in the role of being uplifting seem to go to die and that seems to be his role to at least someone in the cast.

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

I don't know how much Whit really did that was unnecessary beyond his typical in-character teasing. It could be argued that he pushed his limits with Charles a few times, but I personally feel like he made up for it later. A lot of his jokes in the first class trial were also a bit questionable given the circumstances. Not that I hate humor in a class trial and all, but having that super serious moment with Charles followed immediately by Whit implicating himself (and Charles) and then not just joking about it, but running that joke into the ground was peak "can you just take things seriously???" for me.

30. The funniest scene they had?

Hard to say since being the funny guy is kinda his schtick. I think his intro was pretty amusing and did a really good job at setting him up as a character, what with all the jabs he was making towards Xander. He had a lot of other good moments, but many of them were followed immediately by more serious ones or involved someone not reacting super well to him in some capacity.

[pinkseas]

naur but everytime i word vomit into ur inbox i literally cant remember 70% of it than the core details and the ones you answered the next day so it's kinna funny i wish tumblr lets me save my anon asks than eating it up cus i ain't drafting it like ANYWAY TO UR BESTIE THAT MENTIONED US >> I LOVE GOING INSANE WITH ALY PINKSEAS TOO ur friends are so real!!!!!!! youre insane are you single IS SUCH A FUNNY ASS LINE I WISH I WAS HIT BY IT AND I'D SAY YEA WHAT ABOUT IT

"twitter scares me so bad" as you should it's a shithole for genshin altogether with discourse and mischaracterization and you'd literally cannot stop seeing any of them once you get genshin in ur algorithm and yknow what i realized my only Best fandom experience came from tumblr with undertale Despite its discourses bc its got effective filters and the people are genuinely Good so now i'm thinking of yeeting outta twt and spectating my way here like last time (i am already doing it)

"if i read soulmates it has to be done Right [...] they can’t depend on one another they cant need one another they have to Want. they have to Choose" LIKE NO YEAH THIS IS SO TRUE SO REAL THIS IS WHAT BUGS ME ON SOULMATE AUS when it's almost not by choice and they have to work on accepting it like they're forced into needing it's like,.. a very complicated method here in changing their minds toward the other person Because of the cursed bestowed on them- the point of Choice is so fucking important to me especially when it comes to xiao specifically bc in my rendition of his he's unfamiliar with such things for a long time,.. and even in canon he's a lil troubled about deciding things for himself in the presence of higher beings until he's allowed to IT JUST HURTS HE LOST HIS FREE WILL AND THEN UR SOUL BOUND LIKE WHAT (AND FR specific soulmate tropes where the two ARE given the choice for it are. acceptable 2 me)

"lumine handling intensity well and being much better at identifying her emotions suits her SO well imo" yeah like yea!!EVERYTHING ABT THIS and i think it follows up all the traveler's sass in-game bc she's so fuckin hilarious for delivering lines super well despite having Less lines cus aside paimon taking over the talking she does have her moments and i lov her for it I DO WISH THEY HAVE HER TALK MORE EVEN WITH THE USUAL TEXT CHOOSING i just want her sick ass lines conversing

FKSDFHJSKDFJ ENDEARING IS SUCH A GODLIKE WORD TO ME I WILL KEEP USING IT FOR XIAO EVER its the way you can use it like. subtlely. a lil hidden a lil not Much about his cuteness without explicitly calling him cute its Big Word for the small boy!!!!

your thoughts on qpr makes me feel so much better abt thinking this way bout r/s like YEAH its all abt communication and open with boundaries and there really is something stifling about established r/s BUT IT'S COMPLETELY FINE FOR THOSE WHO PREFER THAT ANYHOW!!

AND YES SO MUCH ON LUMINE AND XIAO'S SHOW OF ATTRACTION TO EACH OTHER i wudnt even call it attraction i think anything that indicates a romantic tension between them is something i'm not gonna entertain like 'craving' or 'desire' (this word in particular is used very specific) and stuff like that, and it's a big fact that lumine's attachment feels like its the same to everyone Except aether,... even after she discovers his abyss persona she still begs for them to go back home too. it's unbeatable even to xiao, or at least, xiao has a different treatment to kindness for being so Similar to her (breaks down) "i feel like seeing each other constantly would be a detriment i think it’d make them both feel really weird." like RIGHT????? IT JUST FEELS OFF THIS WAY and it's not a good portrayal of xiao's desperation not wanting to lose someone else anymore. but even then, idt he shows that notion much or at all than his self-sacrifice tendencies, which is an entirely different topic. this thing about xiao's attachments and morals is a complicated thing to tackle altogether...;;,,

"no bc i characterize lumine as LOVING nature so bad" and u are absolute fucking RIGHT to think that, and for me she just likes exploring in general and is a bit of a reckless daredevil so long she has her glider and its the only condition. its stupid it's silly BUT IT MAKES SENSE shes just a constant headache to xiao in looking after her testing through the terrain but /pos

"i am So Grateful to you for sharing your thoughts i am so giddy over us being on such similar wavelengths" AND ME TO YOU TOO IT'S BEEN SO GOOD TO JUST SPILL EVERYTHING I HAVE IN MIND and get comfortable even on stuff im shy to reveal on unpublished asks cus ur reactions even if not agreeing there's still some reassurance anyway and i dont mind that or feel rejected at all when 98% others is what we just. have connected brains on KDJFHSDKJFH AND JEEZ I RLLY DO CAN'T HELP MYSELF WHEN THE BRAINWORMS INVADE WHEN I REPLY UR RESPONSES TOO it takes over my fingers like a parasite i gratefully let em

and ouuouh ur interpretation of the two's development starting in inazuma is so sweet and it makes sense bc of how dangerous the region is bc in my silly lil bran it made sense to have it After the chasm since it's the quests centering his arc AND I STILL CANT BELIEVE HE HAS HIS OWN ARCHON INTERLUDE,.. this made me loving all the peeps of the chasm gang too and i wish they did Something after the quest ended like UEUEUE TRAUMA SHARING SESSION FOR PPL WHO ONLY MET FOR 3 DAYS LETS GO

so like i start from sumeru bc of the points bc of this and bc i love slow development So Much im practically immune to slowburn did u know. all those fics do Not affect me even if i reach its 30th chapter of them being reluctant to opening up. ""zhongli encouraging him to take more time to himself, lumine taking him on little trips guiding him out more and more and more often" is THE CONCEPT EVER YOU HAVE ZHONGLI INVOLVED idk if you dig this but parental zhongli has me on the floor so id like to think he's another important figure in xiao's life aside lumine too he's just that warm hand on his back encouraging Out of his comfort zone and obligations and lumine's the hand that pulls him Along to see the new things of the world. like zhongli is such a dad,.... doing dad things a grandpa to liyue but i also cant help but have him having an attachment to xiao knowing they share a life even as a master-subordinate r/s (cus in my interpretation zhongli never felt that way than thinking he just wants xiao to Live, too,.. sobbing crying shitting)

"taking baby steps in leaving that part of his life, never quite letting go but letting the ties that hold him to liyue loosen, never forgetting his contract and his duty but understanding that there’s no longer an obligation to fulfill it, that he does it out of his own wish instead. i just. idk. idk !!!!!! at the core of it i think im obsessed with them learning how to live again and doing it together" i got no words. i ran out of brain fuel but my body is convulsing folding in on itself liek MY LIEGE YOU ARE!!!!! U R SO,........ LIKE OSBFGKJFGHDKJGH YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA this is THE XIAOLUMI AND METHINKS,....... THE XIAO ARC IN ENTIRETY AS WELL CUS I BELIEVE IN HIS INDEPENDENCY (with a little help and support from ppl who cares bout him) i just akjdhaskejjksfhsdfkjhdsjfhkjdsbvadhvbjhkv

using a read more thingy just for the sake of anyone on mobile

NOT REMEMBERING ASKS IS SO REAL i forget what i say so often even when i Can go back and check how the fuck am i supposed to know what ive said when i Can't

MY BESTIE THAT MENTIONED US >>> SO REAL i think its been more than a few at this point actually which is very funny to me. shan if ur reading this i am holding u so close to me in my little arms. youre insane are you single is the best line ever especially when you are Dating The Person Who Says It my response every time is "no but i could be😏" i find myself far too funny its awful

we are Shaking Hands in terms of being on tumblr experiencing the undertale fandom that's so real of us undertale was the reason i got a tumblr in the first place all those years ago... you should ABSOLUTELY spectate here i literally never see anything i don't want to see i live in my perfect little echo chamber it's so <333

"even in canon he's a lil troubled about deciding things for himself in the presence of higher beings until he's allowed to" GODDD YEAH YEAH YEAH YEA H YEAH YEAHY HEA YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!! do NOT force this boy into situations he does that enough by himself thank you very much

"even after she discovers his abyss persona she still begs for them to go back home" no bc its just. On Another Level Genuinely. they've been traveling together with no one but each other with god knows how long especially depending on personal headcanons, they're used to going through entire worlds and moving on theyre used to not getting super attached !!! its a little different in teyvat i think because theyve lost most of their power and they're trapped and alone for the foreseeable future but. that still doesnt change the past and their habits yknow ?? its something i try REALLY hard not to think about actually because (with the exception of a very specific au which i am currently writing for) unless they're just. trapped on teyvat Forever i CANNOT imagine lumine staying there once she has the ability to leave and i CANNOT imagine xiao ever leaving. it makes me So Sad genuinely i simply refuse to acknowledge its existence

"xiao's attachments and morals is a complicated thing to tackle altogether" SO REAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IM SO GLAD U THINK IM RIGHT ABT THE NATURE LOVING it just feels right tbh and "shes just a constant headache to xiao in looking after her testing through the terrain but /pos" also so real <33333333 lumine and her silly little glider. god. i love them both so bad

i do like to think of the chasm as post-inazuma but thats because in my head w/ their development inazuma is like. The Next Step almost, where they're close enough in liyue but the fact that they continue to be close even once lumine has left really hits. and then they've been a bit closer and become familiar with one another in quite a few ways by the time the chasm happens and then i get super self indulgent with the chasm because i am so silly like that <3333 in terms of slowburn and the way you've described their growing closeness it does make SO much sense to swap it tbh i love the thought of the chasm being like the start of things and the way that'd bring them closer before inazuma and. mfgnmhfnmf god. GOD.

"i wish they did Something after the quest ended" no bc in my little brain they get together once every month or two just to have a meal together and talk and keep up with each other they are Friends Now

"parental zhongli has me on the floor so id like to think he's another important figure in xiao's life aside lumine too he's just that warm hand on his back encouraging Out of his comfort zone and obligations and lumine's the hand that pulls him Along to see the new things of the world" this is the most perfect accurate thing i have read in my entire life for starters i LOVE parental zhongli like. idk not FULL parental not too much but def him being a more parental figure in xiao's life especially compared to other interpretations of their dynamic i just. god. it is So Important to me that zhongli cares for him and looks after him just in those little ways. the warm encouraging hand on his back vs the hand pulling him along is PERFECT thats such a fucking amazing way of putting it i love everything abotu that the image is so clear in my head

o(-(

^^^ me dead on the floor thinking about zhongli and lumine being such important figures in xiao's life... i like to think that a Lot of the characters in liyue are important to him in different, small little ways i just don't know their characters well enough to fully describe how but like. idk baizhu qiqi yanfei ganyu yknow ?? i know next to nothing about yanfei but i might have to try and write her for this honestly we'll see how it goes but i REALLY want there to be at least one character other than the few i have now who he ends up talking to even if its just smth rly simple... if nothing else the chasm crew is getting an honorable mention on god

idk i just. xiao has done so much for liyue for so long i really love to think of those very few who know him trying to do little supporting things for him, too it's so important to me

okay and now !!!

i am also gonna answer the Other Ask but without publishing it naturally it will simply live comfy cozy in my inbox <333

THAT ONE SHIP "it mischaracterizes Both characters in the pair altogether for the sake of romance" you're so real for this idk i dont MIND seeing it but it has never felt in character to me and i feel like this describes exactly why ?? idk maybe its just the xiaolumi brainworms eating away at me but like. i Get It

what you said about like. your personal hcs for him in regards to that trauma and how he processes it that is SO fucking valid, i def understand getting anxious about certain self-indulgent hcs im the same way both with the sillier ones and heavier ones but i can promise you that if nothing else i will Never judge you for even the most self indulgent ridiculous shit EVER. like the way you described it all is so valid and so easy to picture and a really good way to interpret/believe he'd deal with everything but even if you were to have the most ooc headcanon or anything ever just for fun just for the sake of it i simply would never judge having fun is the Most Important with these things im so srs

we have diff interpretations of how he'd deal with things like the yaksha's deaths and zhongli dying but i think a lot of the points we both have are still pretty similar, ESPECIALLY with him not knowing how to handle it and ESPECIALLY especially with the shock factor. the way i write him or would write his reaction to that would definitely be him just sort of Shutting Down emotionally because its too much and too overwhelming and so he kicks into like. i cant call it work mode its not really a job. but he fully focuses on fighting and finding out who couldve killed rex lapis and like. he turns his attention to things that are familiar and easier to deal with and he buries himself in them the way one would bury themselves in their work to ignore emotions yknow? and then there'd be the shock factor of "oh he Is alive" and then there's this massive pit of grief with nowhere to go because logically, reasonably, rex lapis is alive, there's nothing left to grieve. he shouldn't still be upset <- man who refuses to let himself process and feel his emotions when the emotions dont stop existing just bc he ignores them

that being said that's definitely a Pattern With Me Specifically like in the barbara fic ive been working its built off of canon but i take it SO far just bc i can :sob: and i enjoy it way too much to want to Not do that yknow? girls who struggle to process and Actually Feel their emotions writing characters strugglign to process and Actually Feel their emotions so that she can process and feel them vicariously through them <3 or something along those lines idk at this point its less that and more "wow this is really fun to write and its smth im familiar with so its easier to write as well"

my cat meowed and i stepped away for like 2 seconds to pet her and immediately lost every train of thought ive ever had in my life hopefully i wasnt gonna say anything else LMAO but no yeah self indulgent hcs and ways of interpreting characters >>>>>>>

i keep reading and rereading the way you described xiao's response to grief i am OBSESSED its so easy to imagine its so easy to see like oh my god. ohhhh my god. based as hell it suits him so well

i cannot think of anythign else to say back to the trenches i go <- finding scenes where i started in the middle or left out the endings and filling those parts in now that i dont know what else to write. its been really nice actually ive gotten a lot done just with that LMAO

[saltyztuna]

fun bits abt ser list

has a shelf with human teeth in her home.

they were acquired with consent dw, they were donated or given to her by friends/family or villagers as offerings. since in her world healing magic has evolved to a point to where if needed teeth and even limbs can be regenerated(to some degree) if your from one of the magic inclined races or just have a lot of exposure to the stuff.. it can’t really help with wounds made manifest from mental scars but for most people it works.. so long as you gotta enough like living stuff that got ur dna in it. like teeth are fairly easy since they’re tiny and medics can just use transfiguration on a small amount of genetic material.fair portion of the teeth she has are either baby teeth or teeth lost in skirmishes by friends. think it’d be fun once she makes new friends or when she gets in a serious romantic relationship- she’s all like

“I’m about to ask you a very strange question but I need you to bear with me here- if you have any spare teeth hanging around that came outta your mouth, Can I have them?” “Haha that’s a very… weird joke my love..” “I’m being serious Argenti ..”

Probably has a tiny box with just Lieve’s Teeth since she does mainly close combat and deals with pugilists alot, so she jjs keeps giving ser her teeth, at least in return she can get healing magic and blood transfusions from ser whenever she needs it!

post rebirth ser saves up money by doing a bunch of side gigs

so she can go adventuring for a few years and she works at a fun themed cafe for a bit and gets to work and serve orders in roller skates

once she earns enough money to travel for a few years she goes adventuring and revisits some of the places she once visited with her adventurer group back in the day, whenever she ends up in one of their hometowns- she visits their graves and just sits and chats with them for a bit.

During these years she also spend time exploring her romantic life and sexuality. It’s a time she spends discovering who she is after years of spending her life in service of others..

Despite believing her mentor abandoned her in her youth and harboring a grudge against him for many years in her youth, she visits his grave yearly and considers him a second father. The weapons she wields true base form are twin blades that she received from him when she was under his care and working as a bandit. She modified them sometime after his death with magic and fervor cores, so now they are able to adapt and adjust to their wielder battle style. They can also serve as a beacon for summons and Seraphina uses them regularly to call upon her familiars to aid her in combat. They are a very archaic form of the gear system current the world of my ocs use. which is similar to dress spheres from ffx-2, people carry a portable wardrobe that stores the magic used to form the gear and the instructions to make the gear inside and then forms them on the wearer when it’s needed.

The actual device most people carry was created by one of Ser’s Incredibly Innovative adventurer friends, which was based on the re-equip glamour lucent magic ser uses..

Ser is a lucent, I say this a lot but I don’t ever explain what exactly that is.. basically they are humanoid creatures that have slight animalalistic traits. Their appearance always varies based on clan and origin. All lucent are descended from the maiden goddess. Who is the patron deity of the City of Cecilia. Depending on the amount of the blood of the goddess flowing their veins, their animal traits and magic gets stronger. How much they have really depends on whether the residual authority of the goddess resonantes with them. Sera specifically is of felis-draconian origin. and her specific clan gain power from a crystal in their home village. Since Sera didn’t spend a lot of time in her home village due to being taken away from her family. Her Lucent magic isn’t practically strong or stable until she moves back home which happens sometime after her adventure.

Sera in her very early youth appeared very catlike with fuzzy paws and clawed peats. She had some scales and a chunky tail too. and some slight fuzzy fur on her body. and cat nose shape… she was very cat like🥹

Bb ser below

Sadly though nowadays she doesn’t have a lot of these qualities. She was harassed a lot because of her appearance and general demeanor.. so she started over correcting herself and forcibly started suppressing a lot of those behaviors. She also uses glamour to hide a lot of her lucent traits.

They can still been seen and noticed slightly if you’re familiar enough with her and look closely enough.

Like she walks on her tip toes a lot and her footsteps are silent because the way her feet are built in her true form are to optimize hunting and climbing.

If something moves too quickly and flits about or runs with their back turned, she will get entranced and will attempt to chase it.

She also has very sensitive senses. Strong smells and noises or particularly bright lights, unnerve her.

Her hair fluffs up when flustered or excited. and horny..

Uh moving on

Ser in her proper form is rather large, which is why when she is glamored into her more human like appearance her hair is so big. she transfers the extra mass into hair, it’s considered a very lazy way to do glamour though. it works for ser though! As to what happens when she has short hair- big weapons is what happens..

[fallingangeltl]

Main Story Volume 4 Chapter 3 - The Lecture Room's Curse

Tis: Take that! Get outta here~. (Purifies)

Cursed Angels: ……… 

Kai: A cursed voice…… But, I can’t make out what it was saying. I’m sure it’s saying dark things like me……

Tis: Where do these curses even come from?

Kai: Well. It doesn’t matter. …… Fu! (Purifies)

Tis: The curse comes from someone’s grudges, right? I wonder if humans can reach Heaven? It’s weird~.

Kai: Move your hands not your mouth, Tis. I’ve been doing all the purification this whole time.

Tis: Gotcha, gotcha. Then, leave that curse there to me! (Purifies)

…… Heehee, that’s how it’s done.

Kai: Watch your distance from the curses, Tis. Don’t approach them carelessly.

Tis: ‘Kay, ’ka~y.

Well, I don’t care about the reason behind the curses either. This curse is my ally.

Kai: Your ally? What are you talking about…… All curses are bad.

Tis: Becauuuuse, thanks to this curse, Mere-sama’s lecture was ruined for once!

Kai: But in the end, we’re still being corrected in this way, though.

Tis: Still, I think this is better than a lecture! I can also chat with you like this at the same time.

Kai: …… You’re an idiot. Tis, look carefully at your feet. There’s a curse there too.

Tis: I know, I know. It’s okay if it’s this far away.

Kai: ………

Tis: Huh, are you angry? Why have your vibes been awful for a while now.

Kai: It’s the same as usual. I’m just tired of being your companion.

…… If you want to play, then just play. I’ll clean up the rest.

Tis: Look, you’re totally sulking.

Kai: I’m not sulking or anythi—Ah!

Tis: Hm?

Kai: Tis, get out of the way!

Tis: Uwah! The curse from a sec ago spread……!? That was a close call.

Kai: Haaaaa!! (Purifies)

Tis: You saved meeee! Thanks, Kai!

Kai:...... Fuu. That’s why I told you. You have to be careful.

Tis: Hey, kai. No matter how bad I act, you always protect me.

Kai: That’s because you aren’t doing things properly—

Tis: If you’re gonna say that then I’ve gotta show you I’m doing things properly too, don’t I. Look, behind you!

Kai: Eh? ……!

(Tis purifies the curse)

Tis: This time I’m the one who saved you. Hehe, now we’re even!

Kai: It’s not a competition……

Tis: Ah, that would be good! Let’s have a competition. Who can purify the most curses? It sounds fun, right?

Kai: I don’t like it. No matter what kind of competition it is, It’ll never be possible for me to win.

Tis: Ahaha, I knew you would say that. There’s nothin’ I can do about it, so I guess I’ll just have to finish purifying things at a steady pace.

Kai: That’s why I’ve always said that.

…… Actually, while we were talking about this, we’ve already become surrounded by curses.

Tis: Ah…… Seriously. Well, it’s alright! Because it’s the two of us.

Kai: You’re too optimistic. If we keep going like this, then we might get overwhelmed by the curse here.

Tis: We totally won’t. Look, I’ll clean it up, so you can go there. We’ll have our backs facing each other so there’s no blind spots.

Curses multiply quickly if left alone, so it’d be best if the two of us purged them all at once, right?

Kai: …… Got it. Then, let’s do it at the same time.

Tis: Ah, why don’t you try imitating Mere-sama from earlier? It was a super cool line!

Kai: Haah…… Fine, I’ll compromise there. The voice of a pitiful soul trapped in its hatred—

Please embrace the mana so you can disappear peacefully. One and two and……!

Kai and Tis: Haaaah!!

Previous | Next

[babyboibucky]

Elevate Thy Hate

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Not a day goes by that you and Bucky don’t argue.

Word Count: 4,642

Warnings: Cliché plot but slight angst, self-doubt and Bucky being a loveable idiot who sucks at communicating

A/N: Surprise one-shot because I just remembered I wrote this like...last year lmfao

MAIN MASTERLIST

-

You woke up feeling great and excited. The mission was finally finished, debriefings were done and reports have been submitted. Everyone was given an entire week to get some rest and since rest days were pretty rare, you truly looked forward to this day.

Before you could even saunter in the kitchen, you had already heard the chatters from your fellow Avengers. One particular voice irked you though but hell no, you weren’t going to let one Bucky Barnes ruin your day.

A chorus of good mornings greeted you as soon as you walked into the kitchen. Nat and Steve were on one side of the counter sipping their coffee while Sam and Wanda were finishing up their food. Tony and Bruce were out of sight, probably holed up in the lab doing experiments as usual. Bucky didn’t acknowledge you and quickly headed out of the kitchen, thankfully. You weren’t in the mood to pick a fight.

Walking up to the cupboards, you quickly grabbed you favorite cereal and proceeded to pour it out on your bowl. None came out though. You peeked inside bag and saw that only crumbs of it were left.

“Who the—“

Everyone was already pointing at Bucky when you turned around to ask. And of course, Bucky did it on purpose because he stood there at the end of the hallway, watching you with smug grin on his face.

“I hope your day sucks.” He said and flipped you the bird before turning around to walk away.

You groaned out loud, ignoring the amused chuckles from everyone else in the kitchen.

“I’m not stooping down to your level, asshole! I hope your day is average!”

The day was fortunately uneventful, except for your ruined breakfast care of Bucky. You were determined not to let that annoy you for the rest of the day. So far, so good. You could only wish it’d continue that way for the rest of the week.

-

“I told you not to rush!” Bucky snapped.

“I had him already! If you didn’t throw that goddamn smoke grenade I would’ve killed him!” You explained.

You could see Sam shaking his head in frustration. Bucky always had to blame something on you even though you weren’t the one at fault.

Bucky snorted, “He had a sniper for fuck’s sake! One shot and you’re dead.”

“Oh wow, says the one who got shot before I did.” You rolled your eyes at Bucky.

The two of you continued to bicker until Nat and Steve walked into the living room looking confused as you and Bucky exchanged insults while Sam remained sandwiched between the both of you on the couch.

“Who got shot?” Steve asked, glancing at you and Bucky alternately.

“Did we miss out on a mission or...?” Nat continued.

Sam chuckled, “We were playing Call of Duty and we lost.” He explained, taking the opportunity to get up from the sofa.

Steve still looked lost, something that Nat immediately picked up. “It’s a video game.” She explained.

“You two are fighting over a game?” He asked you and Bucky.

“They fight over everything.” Nat shrugged and walked out of the room with Sam tagging behind her.

“I’m outta here too, I’m so done babysitting the kids.” He muttered under his breath.

-

It was past midnight when you were in the living room alone, watching television while eating a Whopper. The lights were turned off and it was absolutely quiet in the compound, setting the perfect ambience for the crime documentary you were watching.

Not long after, you heard someone walk into the living room. It was only when your heard the familiar grunt that you realized who it was. Of course, it had to be Bucky.

“Are you eating a burger?” He asked incredulously.

“No, it’s popcorn. Of course it’s a fucking burger, are you blind or just dumb?” You snapped, your eyes still glued on the television.

“Dumbfounded that you’re eating that at this hour. No wonder you suck at cardio.” Bucky said as he sat down on the other end of the sofa.

“Are you body-shaming me?” You gasped.

Bucky snickered, “I didn’t say anything, I just said you suck at cardio.” He said, not looking at you.

You chose to ignore him and brought your attention back to the television. It was quiet for moment. You almost forgot about Bucky’s presence until of course, he decided to annoy you yet again.

“Can you pass the remote?” Bucky asked monotonously.

“No.”

Silence.

“This show sucks.” He commented.

You were focused on the show but noticed that Bucky was staring at you.

“Can you please pass the remote?” He asked again.

“In case you didn’t notice, I’m watching. I was here first. I hold the rights to control the remote.” You deadpanned, refusing to look at him.

There was a flash of black and gold right before your eyes. Everything happened quickly and the next thing you knew, Bucky was hovering above you, trapping you between his body and the arm rest of the sofa.

“The fuck, Barnes?! Get off of me!” You protested and started pushing him away.

“You gotta work on your reflexes, darling.” He said, finally leaning away from you, remote now in his hand.

He grinned triumphantly and switched the channel before placing the remote inside his sweatpants, “Want to switch the channel? Come and get it.” he taunted as he leaned back on the couch, opening his legs wide as he showed off how the remote created a tent in his sweatpants.

That was the remote...right? You mentally slapped yourself for actually thinking about what Bucky was packing beneath those pants and frowned.

“You’re an asshole and a disgusting one.” You told him.

“God, I hate you.” You muttered and crumpled the wrapper of your burger before throwing it at Bucky.

Deciding that you didn’t want to argue any further, you got up and left the living room, but not without telling Bucky again how much you hated him for making your life miserable.

“The feeling is mutual.” You heard him say.

-

The petty fights with Bucky went on and on during that entire week of rest. Despite the arguments, there were small moments of kindness shared between you and the soldier.

“Where are you going dressed up so nicely?” You asked Bucky upon seeing him walk into the kitchen wearing a leather jacket on top of a black shirt, dark, tight-fitting jeans and a pair of Doc Martens.

It was meant as an insult, of course. You took every opportunity to tease Bucky and his newfound sense of fashion. Said fashion meant his taste for very millennial outfits despite his old age.

“Grocery.” He replied as he went over to the fridge to pour himself a glass of water.

“Ooh, can you buy me Starbucks on your way back? I’ll pay.” You asked kindly.

Bucky just stared at you as he drank from his glass of water. He slammed it on the counter before walking past you.

“Not a damn chance.”

He did buy you Starbucks though. It didn’t shock you that much considering that the both of you didn’t hate on each other all the damn time. But what surprised you was that he brought you your usual drink and your favorite pastry too.

Steve must have forced him to do so, probably told his best friend your usual orders as well so you made a note to thank him as soon as they got back.

And thank Steve you did, but you didn’t expect the reply that you got.

“Oh was that the reason why Bucky kept bugging me about stopping by Starbucks?” Steve asked.

You narrowed your eyes at him, “What do you mean? I thought he told you I asked him to buy me Starbucks.”

Steve chuckled, “I guess now I know why he wouldn’t shut up about it.” he said, amusement laced in his tone.

“I don’t understand, Cap.” you said.

Steve just smiled at you in response before squeezing your shoulder, “Maybe you will understand soon.”

And with that, he left you feeling even more confused. You honestly didn’t understand the context of the conversation so you decided to just ignore it. Steve sometimes would say weird shit that none of the Avengers knew about. You dismissed it and thought that maybe it was Steve being a decade old, it was probably an old man thing.

You decided to make coffee for Bucky the following day, as a simple gesture to thank him for the Starbucks. He didn’t ask you to pay him back so you felt obligated to do a little something for him. You were an asshole to him sometimes, yes, but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to give credit where credit is due.

Okay, so maybe you didn’t really hate Bucky. If you did actually hate him, the entire team would probably do something about it. Maybe force the two of you to talk things out. The hatred was all fun and games, everyone seemed to be amused by it too.

You still considered Bucky your friend despite the constant bickering. You had to admit, the arguments were pretty fun.

Although, you were wondering whether Bucky felt the same about considering you as his friend. Sometimes, his attitude towards you confused the hell out of you.

One day he’d eat the chocolate you’ve been saving up for cheat day just to spite you. And it definitely did because you ended up cursing him out loud when you saw him munching on it. The next day he brought you a new one. You were watching Netflix when he waltzed into the living room and threw a bar of chocolate at your lap before walking out without saying a word.

These exchange of small yet kind (and confusing) gestures remained unacknowledged. You didn’t know why but you also didn’t feel the need to talk about them. You weren’t going to lie but Bucky’s random acts of kindness would always put a smile on your face.

-

The vacation unfortunately came to an end and everyone had to go back to saving the world. All of you were gathered in the conference room with Fury for a briefing about the next mission. It wasn’t as big as the last one but it still required a lot of planning.

After explaining the mission, Fury let Steve take over the meeting to strategize.

Some were assigned to do surveillance around the parameter while some were appointed to do all the groundwork. Steve of course, just had to partner you with Bucky to do the actual infiltration given that your skills complemented each other’s.

You grinned and was prepared to roast Bucky’s ass when you turned to him and was met with a scowl. He shook his head with what you assumed was disappointment and turned away from you.

It was the first time he ever dismissed you like that. Sure, you were rude to each other but the look that Bucky gave you wasn’t a teasing one. He wasn’t mocking you nor frustrated. Bucky seemed to really hate the idea of being partnered with you. It was the first time that the two of you had to work together without anyone else. Usually, Steve or Sam joined but for this mission, it was just you and Bucky. Concluding that he must have woken up at the wrong side of the bed, you chose to ignore your gut feeling and focused back to Steve.

After the meeting, everyone else exited the room and started with the preparations for the mission. As you walked down the hallway leading to your bedroom, you heard some soft chattering coming from Steve’s bedroom.

You were supposed to ignore it until you heard your name, making you stop in your tracks.

“I can’t be partnered with her, Steve.”

Bucky.

“Buck, just go with it. I can’t be changing assignments at the last minute.” Steve explained.

Bucky sighed, “You know I can’t function properly when she’s around, let alone be partnered with her. She distracts me, Steve. Her skills distract me and I swear on our friendship, I would end up dying on this assignment.”

“You’re being overly dramatic, Buck. Just suck it up, pal. Do the mission and get it over with.”

“Steve, you don’t understand. I really can’t deal with her. Especially if it’s just the two of us. You know how much I fucking—“

“Hate me?”

You couldn’t help but interject in their conversation. How could you not? Bucky was complaining about how he couldn’t deal with you. It really hurt hearing Bucky say all those things about you. Sure, you were somewhat new to the team and you didn’t have superpowers nor years of training like the rest. But you worked your ass off to be in this position. And for him to say that he couldn’t function with you being around struck a nerve. The last thing on your mind was to hold back your teammates, that’s why you train twice, thrice as hard.

Steve and Bucky stared at you as if they’ve seen a ghost. It’s as if all their blood was drained out of their body when they saw you step inside the room. Bucky was about to say something but you decided to cut him off, not wanting to hear more about how he doesn’t want to be partnered with you.

“We don’t get along that well, I get that. But I honestly thought that our arguments were harmless. Hell, I consider us friends. I didn’t think that you actually hated me.” Your voice quivered because you were truly, deeply hurt.

“That’s not what I meant.” Bucky insisted.

“You literally said that you might end up dying because of being partnered with me, Bucky! Look, I know that I don’t have a super serum running through my veins. I can’t move things with my mind and I can’t come up with life-changing tech. I wasn’t trained since childhood nor have the perfect aim. But I worked hard to be in this team. I trained hard not to be a burden to anyone and I’m sorry if my skills aren’t up to your standards.”

What did you even do to Bucky for him to hate you this much?

“Don’t worry, I won’t burden you. Once this mission is over, I won’t bother you anymore. Ever.” You said before walking out of the way, ignoring Bucky when he had repeatedly called your name.

-

The ride to the location was filled with tension. Although everyone else had no idea what happened, they somehow knew that the tension had something to do with you and Bucky.

Thankfully, the quinjet was big enough for you not to end up sitting beside Bucky.

“You okay?” Wanda asked, noticing how restless you were.

What you heard definitely affected you in more ways than one. You kept on double checking your weapons, your gadgets and you even ended up doubting yourself. Were you really equipped to be an Avenger? Steve said that Bucky was merely overacting but what if he was right? What if you weren’t skilled enough to protect him or your teammates?

“That’s not true.” Wanda said out of the blue. “I didn’t mean to read your mind, though. Your thoughts are coming off too strong, kinda hard to ignore.” She said apologetically.

You softly laughed, “I should really be staying away from you.” You joked.

Wanda smiled and placed her hand on top of yours, “I mean it though. You’re amazing at what you do. I don’t understand why you’re doubting yourself about being an Avenger.”

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you offered Wanda a grateful smile. You noticed that Bucky had been staring at you the entire time but simply ignored him. You weren’t going to let him snap you out of your focus.

-

Once on location, everyone started to split up and listened for Steve’s orders through the comms. You and Bucky managed to get inside the base, all thanks to Nat and the Hulk who handled all the guards.

The building was completely empty when the two of you walked around in search of the hidden quarters where all the intel were kept.

Bucky whistled to get your attention, you turned and saw that he was motioning towards what seemed to be a regular brick wall. However, there were a few bricks out of place and upon examining it, you realized it was some sort of a secret door. You managed to figure out which bricks to push and thankfully, it didn’t take you long enough to open the door which revealed an old, steel elevator.

“We found the entrance, Steve.” Bucky said into the comms.

“Careful in there, there were suspiciously a few guards within the parameters. They all might be in there.” Nat warned.

You heaved out a deep breath before stepping into the elevator with Bucky trailing behind you. There was only one button in the elevator, a red one.

“Can someone scan the elevator and make sure this button won’t set off any boobie trap or something?” You asked nervously as you inspected the elevator for any hidden traps.

The comms cracked with Sam’s voice. “Button is safe although...” he trailed.

“Although what?” Bucky asked, examining the elevator as well.

“You’re in for a long ride.”

You frowned, “How long?” You asked.

“Can’t see. It’s way too deep.”

Sam was able to scan the entire base and true enough, the elevator would lead deep down into the hidden laboratory. How deep into the ground it was, none could tell. Neither Sam nor Tony’s technology could see through due to the lack of signal. Steve said it might be dangerous to proceed given that there were no other ways into the lab except for the elevator.

The lack of signal down there meant no communication.

“Guys, I don’t think it’s a good idea to continue with this mission.” Steve said.

“But we’re so close, Steve.” You said.

“I think Steve is right. It’d be hard to call for back up when things go south.” Bucky interjected, not even sparing you a glance.

You snorted. Bucky sure wasn’t overacting when he was complaining about your skills. He definitely didn’t trust you. You weren’t going to settle for that.

“We won’t need any back up.”

And with that, you pressed the red button and completely ignored everyone’s warnings through the comms. Bucky looked at you with disbelief and tried to press the red button again in hopes of halting the elevator. However, the brick wall had closed and the elevator started its descent.

“Why the fuck did you do that?!” He yelled and tried to search the elevator for some sort of stop button.

“We’ll follow soon!” Steve’s voice was the last you heard before your comms completely lost its signal.

“Christ, we don’t even know whether it’s the lab that’s down there!” Bucky said, continuing his search for anything that would bring the both of you up to the ground floor.

“I’m not as stupid as you think I am. All secret doors lead to a top secret room and no, we won’t be needing any back up because I am totally capable of taking down anyone who gets in the way.” You stubbornly replied and leaned against the wall.

You wondered how long the elevator ride was going to be. At the speed that it’s going, it wasn’t impossible to take at least fifteen to twenty minutes if the lab was really far down into the ground. Bucky’s frustration was evident from the way he kept on inspecting the elevator walls. At first it was easy to ignore but Bucky was becoming more and more desperate to find a way to go back up.

“Your desperation to stay away from me is just...astounding.” You said with a bitter chuckle.

“I’m finding a way to get out of here, not away from you.” Bucky explained calmly.

You shook your head, “You don’t trust me to keep you alive, I get it. But can you tone it down even for just a bit?” You spat at him.

Bucky pressed the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated sigh, “You don’t need to keep me alive.”

“Of course not, you don’t need me to do so ‘cause you’re so capable. How did I not think of that?” At this point, you couldn’t stop the word vomit.

You had tons of things to say to Bucky to prove to him that you were totally good at what you do, that he didn’t need to underestimate you just because you were a new addition to the team.

“That’s not what I mean.” Bucky explained again.

It was starting to annoy you that the more you were becoming agitated, the calmer he was becoming. And he kept on telling you that he meant differently with his statements but he never really attempted to further explain his side.

“Then what do you mean, Bucky?” You pressed. “What did I ever do to you for you to hate me this much? Did I say something offensive? Do I have to train 24/7 for you to think that I deserve to be working alongside the Avengers?” You kept on babbling on and on and on.

Bucky rubbed his face with his hand, “I don’t hate you, okay?” He doesn’t even spare you a look.

All this time, he was looking at anything but you and it was really getting on your nerves.

“See? You keep on telling me that you don’t hate me but you can’t even look at me! I mean, if you really loathe me then own up to it! It hurts me more that you keep on denying it when you can’t even explain a damn thing. At least tell me why!” You were never an emotional person and Bucky knew that, so when he finally turned to look at you, he was surprised to see you on the verge of tears.

“Hey, hey...” Bucky coaxed and tried to hold you but you stepped away from him.

“Just please tell me why, Buck. Tell me and I promise to stay away. If you think I suck at being an Avenger to the point of irritating you, tell me so I can train my fucking ass off until you deem me fit to be an Avenger. If my jokes offended you, I’m sorry. If I—“

“It’s because I like you.”

“...what?”

Bucky Barnes...likes you? It’s as if the silence went on forever inside the elevator that seemed to keep going. How long were the two of you inside it anyway? You couldn’t tell anymore and you didn’t know whether Bucky was simply fooling around with you.

“That’s not funny.” You said.

Bucky shook his head, “It’s not a joke.”

You stared at him doubtfully, “Explain.” You demanded.

Bucky licked his lips and let out a soft chuckle, “I’m an idiot.” He said.

“That doesn’t explain anything. If any, I’d think you’re simply fucking with me.” You pointed out and crossed your arms over your chest.

That seemed to urge Bucky to finally explain. “What you heard in Steve’s room was correct.”

“So you really hate me.”

Bucky groaned, “Let me finish, please?” He pleaded. When you remained silent, he continued to explain himself.

“You really do distract me during missions. Because you’re so amazing and I never doubted your skills. But I also get worried and I hate it when I see you in pain or wounded and it fucking distracts me. I didn’t want to be partnered with you because when I see you, I just...fuck. I like you that much. You kick someone’s ass and I’d end up watching you with awe that it’d cause me my own demise. That’s what I meant. That I’d probably end up dying because whenever you’re around, you have my full attention.”

The anger within you dissipated just like that. You could feel your face heat up from Bucky’s unexpected confession.

“But you’re an asshole to me.” You pointed out.

Bucky laughed, “Because that’s how I get your attention. You walk into a room with a kind-hearted super soldier, a witty bird brain and a few more intelligent men and yet I’d be the first one you’d acknowledge. With a snarky comment but still, attention is attention. It’s the only way I get to interact with you without feeling awkward. I suck at conversations, I mean, you heard me and though I was hating on you when I was merely blabbering to Steve about how much I like you.”

This time, you couldn’t hold back your laughter. All along, Bucky was finding a way to talk to you even though it meant constant arguments over the pettiest things. To be fair though, he really did suck at communicating.

“I’m sorry that it came across like that.” Bucky apologized sincerely. “I hope this doesn’t change anything between us.” He admitted.

You shrugged, “Oh but it does. In fact, it changes everything.”

Bucky’s face fell.

“Because I think I like you too and I kinda want for things to change. For the better of course.” You grinned.

Bucky chuckled and scratched his forehead bashfully, “You think, huh? Not sure?” He asked and turned to you just as the elevator doors opened.

Indeed, it led to the lab where almost all of the targets stayed. The man nearest the elevator had his gun pointed at Bucky but before he could even pull the trigger, Bucky had thrown his knife at him without even sparing a glance and choked the next guy to attack with his metal arm before throwing him towards a group of armed men. He was just gazing at you with a smittened smile.

“Still not sure about liking me back?”

Impressed at his gesture, you smirked.

“Now I am.”

-

By the time Steve, Nat and Sam walked out of the elevator, the mission had already been done. You walked towards the trio and handed Steve a USB.

“All their data is already saved there. Wiped out their entire system clean too.” You told him, voice chirpy and all.

Bucky was right behind you, a couple of folders in his hands before handing them to Sam, “Lotsa confidential info in there too which includes our next targets.” he said and walked past Sam with a certain jump in his steps.

The three exchanged glances before looking around the entire lab. Men were scattered on the floor, most were dead and others heavily injured.

“What the hell happened here?” Nat asked, avoiding the injured men on the ground as she walked around.

“The mission happened, Nat. All that matters now is that everything has been resolved. I mean, everything.” You said meaningfully and threw Bucky a flirty smile before walking into the elevator.

He followed suit and saluted at the three before pushing the red button. The doors weren’t even closed yet when Bucky couldn’t hold back and quickly leaned to press a soft kiss on your lips. An action that definitely didn’t go unnoticed by the three. You couldn’t help but chuckle when you noticed their reactions before the elevator closed.

Said trio stood there dumbfounded and confused as hell. Early on, the tension between you and Bucky was felt by everyone. The kind of tension then wasn’t even a sexual one. It was so intense that Nat was actually expecting to see you and Bucky at each other’s throats when they got down to the lab.

“Guess that the long ass elevator ride did something. Whatever was in that elevator seems interesting. Wanna go check it out, Nat?” Sam asked suggestively.

Steve chuckled and shook his head.

Nat simply smirked and walked past Sam, “In your dreams, Wilson.”

-

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[toothlesshat]

It happens during Rogue Leo and Casey is like "So what do you do for fun, Leo?" Just making conversation cuz he isnt all that cloae to Leo at that point and that's when Leo realizes that... aside from training and watching Space Heroes he doesn't really do much of anything for fun! Casey is "Well thay won't do" and drags him into the ice rink after hours to try to teach him hockey

I don’t have the time to write out a full ice skating session, but take this instead :)

…

Patrolling without the guys is… weird, Casey thinks. Actually, it’s weirder to do it with only one of them, and for it to be Leo of all people. Honestly, he doesn’t know why Leo came to him after the fight. They’re friends on a basic level, but if he thought anyone was going to come to him after a huge family blow up, it’d be Raph, or even Mikey. Leo was the last person he was expecting.

That doesn’t mean he’s upset about it, or that he doesn’t want to be closer to Leo, because he absolutely does. He’s not afraid to admit the turtle is fucking cool! He never fails to impress Casey in battle, always pulling new stunts and moves he didn’t even know was possible. Outside of battle? Well, he doesn’t really know what to make of Leo there. He knows he’s a bit of a sci-fi nerd, but that’s it. It seems like Leo’s brain is hardwired to only care about leadership… so what does he do now?

“Hey,” Casey turns to face him on the rooftop where they stand, his arms behind his head. “What do you like to do for fun?”

Leo freezes, unintentionally confirming Casey’s suspicions that he has no idea. Fiddling with the straps across his chest, Leo shrugs, “watch tv, play video games… Normal stuff. Why?”

Casey frowns, “what, that’s it? Lame.”

Leo also frowns, though with more offense. “I can’t exactly go out and ‘live it up’, Jones,” he waves quotations marks in the air.

“Live it up? What’re you, 80?”

“What- people say that!”

“Yeah, if they’re 80.” Laughing, Casey swings his arm around Leo’s neck, pulling him uncomfortably close and ignoring his grunts of protest. “But you absolutely can ‘live it up’! You’re with Casey Jones now, buddy.”

Leo snorts, wiggling his way out of the human’s hold. “So what, you’re going to make the world accept mutants in a few hours so I’ll stop being boring? That’s pretty ambitious.”

“Nope! We’re gonna go ice skating!”

Now that catches Leo off guard, almost more so than being asked what he does for fun. He gives him a look of bewilderment, “I can’t skate. They wouldn’t even have shoes that…” he trails off, instead wiggling his oversized foot to finish the sentence.

“You’re like, 90% scales, dude. You don’t need skates.”

“Isn’t that just ice… walking?”

“Does it matter if it’s fun?”

Leo considers this. He huffs, then smiles. Can he really argue with that logic?

“Alright, we’ll go, but I better not crack my shell.”

“That’s the spirit, Blue! Let’s get outta here!”

[warmsol]

transcript below.

Jas: Ari, you’re growing up too fast. Your auntie can’t keep up!

Kai: Hell, her dad can hardly keep up. She’s already a handful.

Jas: Wonder where she gets that from.

Kai: Her mom, obviously.

Jas: As if her dad wasn’t a troublemaker straight outta the womb? I can’t wait to indulge her in all the stories I have of you.

Kai: Please, no. If there’s one thing I want for her, it’s to be the complete opposite of me. 

Jas: Well, she’s far ahead. She’s already cuter than you’ve ever been.

Kai: Fuck — Frick off. 

Ari: Fuck!

Kai: Ari! We don’t say that, okay? Daddy just had a slip up. (sighs) Go on and play, little bee. 

Jasmin: (laughs) Man, she does have a lot of you in her. If it gets too much to handle and you need a live-in nanny, hit your ‘sis up. I could use a pay raise.

Kai: Don’t bullshit me, you’re living it up in Sulani. You’ve got a decent job —

Jas: That’s it. 

Kai: No girlfriend?

Jas: I haven’t touched a woman in months. It’s been Sahara dry.

Kai: Uh, well…  Don’t stress. You’ll find someone.

Jasmin: I hope. I’m tired of everyone else around me getting married, having babies. (rolls eyes) Like damn, when will it be my turn? 

Kai: Everyone as in? 

Jas: You didn’t hear?

Kai: What?

Jas: Elia is getting married.

Kai: To that prick?! When?

Jas: Soon, I assume. 

Kai: Wonder if I’m invited.

Jas: Pfft. You serious?

Kai: What? We’re friends now.

Jas: With Makoa too?

Kai: Does it matter? I wanna be there for her. (smirks) And maybe to annoy him, just a little. 

Jas: I could totally bring you as my plus one. 

Kai: Show up without an invite? Makoa would fucking rail me. I mean. (clears throat) He’d kill me.

Jas: But it’d be like an olive branch, you know?!

Kai: I guess? I’d still hate the guy though.

Jas: You can’t hate him, at least not publicly, you’ll only push Elia away.

Kai: He’s just so.. Okay, look. I’ll start here. I won’t finish that sentence. 

Jas: Good practice.

Kai: (mumbles) He’s nauesting. Cocky. Full of shit. Stupid, irritating. Okay, now I’m done. 

Jas: You sure? Got another dig you wanna throw out while you’re at it?

Kai: I mean, I have a list. 

Jas: I don’t think you can do this. 

Kai: Oh, yeah? I can totally be the bigger man. 

Jas: ...It’ll be entertaining to watch you try.

Kai: I mean, I am anyway. Literally. He’s short, I think. I don’t really remember. Every time we saw each other we were throwing fists. (pauses in thought) Yeah, he’s a small guy. 

Jas: Uh. He’s an actual giant. 

Kai: No way. I’m taller than him. He’s a few inches shorter, for sure. 

Jas: God. Want to measure dick sizes while you’re at it? 

Kai: We all know who’d win that. 

Jas: Stoppp. I suddenly need to vomit. 

Kai: Too much Makoa talk? He does that to people.

Jas: You’re so obsessed. Y’know what, I don’t think you hate him. I think you have a secret crush on him.

Kai: Fuck off.

Jas: (teasing) Defensive much? 

Kai: Yeah. I’m offended you’d think so low of me, I have standards.

(phone dings)

Kai: Weird... It’s Elia. 

Jas: (smiles) Speak of the angel. 

[marauderundercover]

This Side of Normal Chapter Four

Previous

AO3

Technically, it was an accident. Well, more than technically. It was definitely a legitimate accident that Jason figured out their secret identities only a month after meeting them. Chat Noir’s should’ve been the easiest, given the fact that he saw the boy on nearly every billboard in Paris. However, it wasn’t the billboards that gave it away. It wasn’t even the ungodly number of times the kid’s perfume ad came on the tv. No, it was the shocked “Jason” that the boy spluttered out when he bumped into him in front of the school. Without a mask. Yeah. Not subtle at all. Ladybug’s just fell into place after that. What with the tiny dark-haired girl shooting him worried glances as she patted Chat’s back. Chat Noir. Adrien Agreste. Agreste. Gabriel Agreste. Hawkmoth- fuck. That’s why the kid seemed so down every time they worked on a plan to prove Gabriel was Hawkmoth. Shit. Well that settles it. Hawkmoth was going down, and he was going down soon. The kids could handle themselves, and with Jason willing to fight with them...Gabriel won’t know what hit him. 

----

“Oh god. Oh god. I messed up. He’s not gonna help us anymore and I messed up and-” Adrien rambles, a panicked expression taking over his face. 

“Adrien, it’s okay. Please breathe, it’s okay.” Marinette says lowly, gently rubbing his back. 

“He knows who Hawkmoth is, Mari. He’s gonna think I’m a bad guy too.” Adrien whispers, his eyes filling with tears. Marinette’s heart breaks as she looks at her best friend and the crushed look on his face. 

“Jason’s a good guy. He’s always making sure we eat enough and take care of our injuries, and he always asks if we’re getting enough sleep. He’s like….he’s like our big brother. He’s not going to abandon us just because he knows your dad is a major jerk.” Marinette says matter-of-factly. Adrien frowns, but nods. 

“What do we do?” He asks. Marinette scrunches her eyebrows, not understanding the question. “I mean, what do we do about him knowing? Do we ask him to leave Paris? Or do we just act like we don’t know that he knows who we are?” 

“I think we wait, see if he brings it up. I trust him, Adrien. I know that we haven’t known him for long, but he’s always had our best interest in mind. He cares about us, and as much as it hurts to say, I think he cares more than Master Fu did.” 

“Why do I feel like everything’s gonna change?” Adrien asks, his voice small as he curls in on himself. 

“Because it is. But it’s not necessarily a bad change.” Marinette says, hoping her voice sounds cheerier than she feels. She’s also felt the shift coming for awhile, felt the way the air seemed to spark with energy. Adrien frowns again and Marinette wraps him in a hug, knowing that no matter how good the change would be for the majority of Paris, her best friend would be hurt. He would suffer, and there was nothing that she could do to take away all of the hurt that is sure to come. No matter how badly she wanted to. 

----

Jason paced the length of the roof, trying to figure out a way to broach the subject of identities with the kids. He didn’t want them to stop trusting him, but he also didn’t want them to feel like they <i>had<i> to confirm it. He also really didn’t want them to ask him to leave. How was he supposed to be there for them if he wasn’t allowed to <i>be<i> there? Thinking back to earlier this afternoon, Jason huffs in annoyance when he remembers how young both of them looked. Three years. For three goddamned years these kids had fought something bigger than themselves, and they had done so alone. Alone, with no one but other kids to help until even that was taken away from them. Taking a few shaky breaths, Jason tries to calm himself. There’s no way in hell he’s gonna let himself be controlled by some asshole in a butterfly costume. No way he’ll let that asshole use him against those kids. Someone clearing their throat makes Jason’s eyes shoot open as he looks over where he heard the noise. He grins, hoping the kid isn’t overthinking too much.

“Chat may be a little late tonight. He got caught up with something in his civilian life.” Ladybug says, dressed in her usual training clothes and domino mask, her arms wrapped around herself like she’s trying to hold herself together. 

“You okay Pixie Pop?” Jason asks, frowning. She purses her lips and Jason can tell she’s weighing how much she should say. Taking a chance, Jason says “I saw you guys today.” The girl sucks in a deep breath and nods. 

“Yeah, yeah I know.” She says, and Jason gives her a minute to collect herself and decide if she wants to say anything else about it. “How much do you know? I know you saw us, but…”

“I know his name. And I know what you look like behind a mask.” Jason says, and the girl nods before she starts pacing. 

“I trust you, Jason. I really do. And I told Chat that it would be okay and that you care about us, but if there’s even a small chance of you being akumatized you’ve gotta go because even though I trust you, I can’t risk my identity and his identity and I’m sure you understand that. Especially with who we think Hawkmoth is because it’s already bad but if he found out it would be even more bad and now Chat is worried that you’ll hate him because of you know, everything, and that’s why he’s not here yet because he’s scared that you’ll look at him differently and-” Ladybug rants, stopping as Jason kneels down to be eye level with her. 

“Hey Pix, I’m gonna need you to breathe okay. I told you that I would help you guys, and I’m not gonna leave just because Chat Noir got the short end of the stick. I don’t hate him, and I’m sure as hell not gonna let myself be akumatized. I’m here for you, both of you. And I’m not gonna let some jackass in a butterfly costume chase me off from helping you guys.” He says, talking in the voice he used when he was talking to street kids as Red Hood. The voice that was meant to be calming, but not patronizing. The voice that was laced with concern, and the reassurance that whoever he was talking to didn’t have to run away. That they were safe. 

“You’re really not gonna leave?” She asks in a small voice. Jason shakes his head. 

“No, I’m here. And I’m not just gonna ditch you guys. If anything, finding out who he is just made me wanna get this done quicker. Get him outta that house.” Jason says, and Ladybug nods. 

“Did you- did you want to know my name?” She asks, and Jason instantly sees the worry in her posture. She’ll tell him, but he can tell that she doesn’t want to. At all. Not that he blames her. A lot sits on her shoulders. Jason shakes his head. 

“You can tell me after, if you want. But you don’t have to say anything now, okay Pixie?” Jason smiles softly as Ladybug’s shoulders instantly relax. She grins and pulls out her phone, probably to tell Chat Noir that it’s safe for him to come. The two wait in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before a soft thud announces the kid’s arrival. 

“Hi Jay.” The boy says quietly, curled in on himself as he obviously prepares to be yelled at. 

“Hey kiddo. I’m not mad at you, you know that, right?” Jason asks, making sure to keep his body language relaxed despite how much he wants to go and beat the shit out of Gabriel Agreste. 

“You don’t think I’m a monster?” Chat asks, and Jason shakes his head. 

“I’ve met monsters, kid. And you’re sure as hell not one.” He says. 

“But my father-”

“I don’t give a damn about that piece of shit. You’re not him. You’re the kid who thought he could fit twelve marshmallows in his mouth. You’re the kid who cheers on LB no matter what. You’re the kid who makes god awful jokes, seriously the only one with worse jokes is my brother. You’re the kid who stepped up and helped to protect Paris when no one else would. You’re a lot of things, but you’re not your father and you’re definitely not a monster.” Jason says. Chat- no, Adrien lets out a choked sob and rushes forward, wrapping his arms around him. Jason freezes for a minute, before wrapping his arms around the kid, watching for butterflies. It’d be just their luck for Gabriel to akumatize Adrien when he was finally letting himself cry. Jason glanced over at LB, noting that she was also watching the skies. After a few minutes, Adrien’s cries slow down to sniffles before he takes a step back, his cheeks bright red under his mask. 

“Uh, I- um, sorry about that.” He apologizes, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. 

“Don’t worry about it kid. What’re big brothers for?” Jason asks with a cheeky smirk. He snorts when he sees the kids’ eyebrows shoot up in surprise. 

“Did Buginette tell you about that?” Adrien asks, and this time it’s Jason’s turn for his eyebrows to shoot up. He glanced over at Ladybug, surprised to see her entire face bright red. 

“I er, um, no I didn’t.” She stammers out, looking everywhere but at Jason. 

“Tell me what?” Jason asks, still confused why the two were acting so weird. 

“Well, I, um, you see-” Adrien cuts off Ladybug. 

“She says you're our big brother.” Adrien says with a grin. Jason’s confused face is instantly replaced with a wide grin. 

“Well of course I am.” Jason says, unable to wipe the grin off his face. Jason snorted at the thought that Bruce was gonna have to get two more rooms ready at the manor (it was safer than Jason’s apartment and he was not about to put these two in any more danger than they’ve already been in for three years). 

“So big bro,” Adrien starts, his wide grin still stretched across his face. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re gonna get Hawkmoth’s miraculous. Tonight.”

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