#caught in two ways

[ask-icancraft-it]

Caught (Extended)

(( An extended version/different perspective of the ‘Little Moment’ I wrote titled ‘Caught’. It’s been a long time since I sort of dove in to how nasty and controlling I feel Gene can be, particularly towards Felix, who doesn’t know how to handle it. This has potential to be a multi-part fic, but we shall see! )) -----

“Has anyone seen Felix?” Gene raised his tiny arms in exasperation. The Nicelanders bustling around him shook their heads and shrugged.

“Oh I’m sure he’ll turn up soon! Don’t you worry,” Mary plastered on a smile, carrying a freshly baked pie.

“No, something is wrong. I can feel it,” the mayor wiggled his mustache after polishing off his morning martini. “I’m going to check on him.”

Gene had knocked a total of three times on the superintendent’s apartment door, which was uncharacteristically locked. Luckily for him, as the landlord, he had a copy of the keys. Flipping through his ring, he inserted the correct key into the knob and opened the door to a quiet living room.

“Felix?” Gene huffed as he searched the area. His eyes narrowed as he turned to the closed door into the handyman’s bedroom. Determined to get to the bottom of things, the tiny man burst in through the door, his anger growing when he spotted a sleeping lump in the bed.

“Felix!” he shouted. “What’s gotten into you? The arcade opens in five minutes!”

The handyman shot up, shirtless, slowly followed by a second figure; a tall, blonde woman with hardly anything on.

“What the—Who the?!” The mayor could barely string words together, his face turning red.

“Gene!” Felix squeaked, hopping off the mattress, just in his boxers as he attempted to usher the Nicelander out the door. “Please! Let Miss Calhoun and I get decent!”

“You?!” Gene remembered that name, having briefly met the sergeant at a party a week ago. He’d hardly recognized her without all that ghastly armor on.

“Nice of you to remember me,” Tamora smirked over her shoulder, pulling up her camo pants.

“Her?!” the mayor spat at Felix. The handyman’s face soured and he pushed Gene through the bedroom door, locking it.

Felix's face glowed bright red as he turned around to face his lady. Grabbing two fistfuls of his light brown hair, he let out a long, tapered whine as he suppressed a scream.

“I knew this would happen,” he berated himself. “I mean, I didn’t know. But I did.”

“Deep breaths, Fix-It.”

“How are you so calm?” the 8-bit was beside himself. “You were half naked in front of a strange man!”

“Being one of the very few women in the corps, you get desensitized to that pretty quickly,” Tamora explained. “Sorry to tell you, but you’re far from the only man I’ve ever undressed in front of. Besides, who cares what that little squeaker toy thinks?”

“I do!” the handyman lamented as he pulled up his jeans. “Tammy, I live with these people. I work with them and for them every single day. For thirty years I’ve been their perfect, dedicated and trustworthy hero. And now that pretty picture they’ve painted of me will forever be tarnished…”

“You sure know how to make a girl feel special,” the sergeant quipped.

“I’m serious, Tammy,” Felix whimpered. “You don’t know what they can be like, how Gene can be when he disapproves…”

Tamora’s wry smile withered, but before she could reach out a fevered knocking rapped at the handyman’s door.

“Three minutes!” Gene shouted from the other side.

“Save yourself, my lady,” Felix whispered, throwing open his window that led out to the fire escape. Handing the sergeant her cruiser as she ducked through the opening, he gave a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll see you at quittin’ time.”

“I’ll be waiting,” she smiled, grasping his white shirt collar to give the handyman a proper parting kiss. He couldn’t help the pang of uncertainty as she took off.

Turning around, Felix grabbed his work shirt, slipping it on before thrusting open his bedroom door.

“Uh-huh,” Gene huffed, zoning in on the open window behind the hero. “Sneaking off like a two-bit criminal. You sure know how to pick ‘em.”

“Do I?” Felix spoke impassively, brushing past the mayor and finishing buttoning up his uniform.

“Oh you sure do,” Gene insisted, shadowing the handyman as he walked to the entryway where his toolbelt hung on the wall. “First Pauline, and now…this woman!”

“Tamora,” Felix corrected, exiting the apartment with the mayor at his heels. “And as I recall, you all did the matchmaking when it came to Pauline and I…”

“Biggest mistake I ever made,” Gene huffed, bumping into the handyman when he turned around.

“Can I remind you that the major problem you had with Pauline is that she had an amicable relationship with Donkey Kong, and advocated the concept that ‘good’ and ‘bad’ went beyond our programming? And now we all know that she was right.”

His point made, Felix continued down the hall and to the stairwell, ignoring the tenants that peeked out of their apartments curiously as the arguing pair strolled by.

“She was a troublemaker, and a bad influence,” Gene huffed, trying to keep up with the handyman as they descended. “And clearly this Tamora is no different.”

“I’m starting to think that you just don’t want me to be happy,” Felix said in an eerily calm tone.

“That’s ridiculous. We just want the best for you. We’ve done nothing but love and support you all these years!”  

A pit formed in the handyman’s stomach, all too familiar with his turning point in their arguments. Face flushing and heart beat rising, Felix wished for an escape as he burst through the double doors to the outside. Tucking in his shirt and pulling the rest of himself together, he made for his starting position.

“It’s always like this with you,” Gene wagged a stubby finger, barking at the handyman’s ankles still. “One little thing doesn’t go your way, you act like a petulant child!

Felix stood on his mark, brows furrowed and heart crumbling.

“Arcade’s opening,” he murmured, hesitant to say more. He unconsciously held his breath until the mayor left his side to enter the building. Letting it out with a shaky exhale, the handyman steeled himself, eager to get through the day…

“Uh, hey–” a welcomed voice approached gently.

“Ralph,” Felix spun around, struggling to tamp down his agitation as he put on his gloves. “Do me a favor and please throw our dear mayor as hard and as far as you can today.” He took a moment to look up into his friend’s wide, unblinking eyes. “Just chuck him, please.”

[goddidntdothis]

YOUR FATHER || A PATHOLOGIC FAN COMIC

[dollopole]

“But we need to find you some kind of disguise, you’re too conspicuous in those clothes.”

“Whatever you say, I’m entirely in your hands.”

Okay.

This is their reaction after, btw.

[paperfen]

BPD Torbek hehe @r0b0t-j0n3z you fueled me to make this <3 And yes, Torbek slipping out of using the third person was no accident :3

I sent this to my boyfriend before posting it and they fucking instantly clocked it as me projecting and that is SO funny to me oh my god. They said me and they were right, it was literally meant to be me. Bestie how did you know (I say, with clown makeup on because it was literally so obvious)

And heres some comfort for your hurt <3

[thelilylav]

And you never knew

How much I really liked you

Cause I never even told you

Oh, and I meant to…

angst feat. my favourite three person lesbian disaster throuple (they will never know happiness as long as I’m in charge of them)

[not-kayvalencourt]

Let's all put on our thinking caps and see that there is no actual evidence that iskall didn't do anything but his own word. There is, however, massive amounts of evidence that he did.

If you follow me and support iskall (or stress), unfollow me. The bullshit tantrum he just had and the amount of people there are supporting him is actually disgusting. If you genuinely believe him, you need to look up manipulation tactics. He is going to use his fame to get people to trust him, just like he did to his victims.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hi! I hope this is okay but I would love to hear more of ur thoughts about the Yunmeng siblings because they are important to me and your tummy hurt comic hasn't left my brain as just,,, such good immediate characterization! ^^ Thanks!

I have too many thoughts on the Yunmeng siblings to fit into a succinct post, but I can offer you a Jiang Yanli addendum to the tummy hurt alignment.

[lovesickeros]

popping in randomly after almost an entire month just to talk non stop about the tsaritsa again everyone sit down.

specifically just thinking about the implications of tsaritsa's ideals originally being about love + the abandonment of those ideals to complete her goal of, presumably, destroying Celestia or whatever she's cooking up. to the point even her people don't love her and I probably don't even remember a time her ideals were of love. now it's all just ice and snow and cold.

which makes romantic fics w her even funnier because she's purposely removed this part of herself and suddenly reader walks into teyvat like they own the place (they do) and I can only imagine her reaction. angry, probably. because why you? what are you doing to her that's caused her hundreds of years of strict adherence to rejecting "love" both from others and to others to just. collapse. absolute shattering of her world and you probably don't even know it bc if nothing else she's good at hiding it. a lot of denial. tries to pick you apart and see what's makes you so different.

and oh she just hates it. she loathes it.

basically one sided enemies to lover trope because she can't stand you for a while but if you stick around she starts warming up to you and it makes it WORSE. so much worse. tries to distance herself but your just everywhere and it gets on her nerves because why does she love you? she isn't capable of love, not anymore. she thought she was.

g-d forbid one of the harbingers or PIERRO notices she'd never live it down. might even consider the implications of just killing you (she doesnt). worse if you know about it and act like a brat she will lose her damn mind

just the tsaritsa being an absolutely horrible mess internally.

[myokk]

💘

[canisalbus]

You mentioned before that the people who would have access to Machete's bedchamber would likely already know about Vasco. How did that come up in your mind? Did they get caught in the act or was the subject broached with enough trust? How did those people handle it? Sorry if this is a bit vague but I thought about it today and I'm very interested. :)

I think it just has to be the case, I can't imagine how they could manage to hide the fact Vasco is bunking with him from everyone, for years and years. Machete doesn't live alone, he has staff and servants who do his housekeeping and run his errands. Even if Vasco didn't stay there for any extended periods of time and snuck out the back door to avoid attention, I'm assuming at least the people who do his laundry and change his sheets would eventually detect that some sort of funny business had happened. But the number of people who are in on it is still very very small and tightly controlled. His assistant Vittorio definitely knows and helps to manage this situation, so does his personal doctor, and on top of that maybe a handful of most trusted high-ranking emplyees, which he has vetted extremely carefully and pays handsomely for their discreetness and prudence.

[genesis-quoi]

My big-brained friend @nortedwayfinder and I like to imagine that food shortage is a prominent part of aosth. Sometimes the children are on the run for a while and can’t stop safely, or simply run out of money or friendly faces to rely on for charity, and that means they sometimes go days without eating.

Angsty, right? Haha (kinda) WRONG !!!

Because Sonic and Tails are masters of improv and being public nuisances alike. Tails gets nabbed?? He’s actually in the kitchen the whole time robotnik is busy monologuing, stuffing his face and stealing snacks to save for Sonic when he arrives.

Because if some dude is gonna burden you with the weight of growing up super fast and make an 11 year old and a toddler the sole guardians of the peace then you should be able to clean out his refrigerator. like fuck you and ur stupid shrink ray ivo im taking the thin mints

[darkurgediaries]

Mentally, I am here.

[splickedylit]

Can't believe I thought I was almost ready to start posting this GamKar winter soldier pastiche like two years ago on halloween it's grown by several hundred pages and 100,000+ words since then. Current count is 325 pages, 167,000 words, 15 chapters. fukkin UNIT of a fic

EDIT for my own personal satisfaction:

10/25: 167,000

10/29: 174,700

10/31: 180,460

11/7: 185,775

11/18: 189,500

[riddlemearose]

Phoning a Friend

Warriors watches the two Champions blearily, forcing his eyes to stay focused on them. He knows one is the Shadow but he can’t let himself entertain the possibilities of who the other one is. For now, he has to think of it nothing more than another potential enemy.

The one with the odd spear that gleams gold, its green gem ornaments clinking softly against the shaft as he twirls it, keeps himself between Warriors and the twisted Champion. The golden spear spins and spins, batting away a sickening dark blade every time the bloodstained, withered Champion tries to break through his guard.

Watching the spinning spear is actually making Warriors feel nauseous. Well, he mentally amends that to ‘more nauseous’, glancing down at the blood spreading across his tunic.

And this weird noise, whatever it is, isn’t helping! There’s something heavy weighing the clearing down, pressing into Warriors’ skin.

All he can hear is this pulsing loud tick tick tick in his ears, accompanied by an odd warping sensation in his limbs.

It’s magic, he knows that much, but he’s never felt it before and has no idea which Champion it may be coming from, if it even is either of them casting the spell.

He turns his head to spit out a mouthful of blood and it feels like the movement takes an eternity to complete.

So either his blood loss is more severe than he thought, or there’s something else going on.

The spear-wielding Champion darts backwards, his grip along the spear finally shifting into a proper stance, grinning wildly.

Ha, Warriors is hilarious.

A large shining gem sitting at the dip of the first Champion's throat lights his face up from below, all deep shadows and softened edges. He’s breathing heavily, a slight tremble visible in his fingers as he readjusts his grip.

The other Champion across from them makes a sweeping gesture with its withered arm and something red and alive spurs into life, lunging forward. The shape twists, absorbing what remains of the rotted flesh, and large, monstrous fingers stretch into existence. They reach through the darkness for the first Champion, wicked under the moonlight.

The first Champion raises the spear slightly in response, his grin vanishing as it's smothered under a blank, smooth expression that Warriors refuses to recognise. The fingers, the vile magic, get closer to his face, closing the distance rapidly—

And Time shoots out of the bushes, the Biggoron sword catching the moonlight as it arcs through the air and severs the arm from withered Champion's body. The arm hits the ground and melts into a writhing pool of furious magic, thrashing around that Champion’s feet.

The ticking in Warriors’ ears stops so abruptly he's thrown off-kilter, reeling at the sudden silence left in its wake.

Time glances at him, a quick look filled with concern and worry, then shifts his gaze to the spear-wielding Champion — Wild, Warriors lets himself finally acknowledge.

Dozens of micro-expressions fly rapidly across Time's face before he finally decides on grim determination.

“That,” he says in an almost wobbly tone of voice, taking up stance next to Wild, “is loud.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told. Sorry about that.” Wild agrees, still focused on the withered copy of himself standing in front of them. He shoots Time a small grin, barely there but blindingly obvious if you know what to look for. “Worked though.”

Time lets out a quiet huff of laughter, his own small smile twitching across his face. He shifts, sword held tightly in both hands. "You're definitely not wrong about that, Wild. When we get back to camp, you'll have to tell me how you managed to make your magic even louder than it already was."

[karkatbug]

Looks like mumbling his thoughts out loud finally benefited Dave

Day 7 of @davekatweek: Fluff

page 1/2-3/4/5/6/7-8/9-10

[Thanks for reading! Hopefully Dave wins Karkat a cute plushy or something on their first date.]

[shih-coulda-had-it]

teenage menaces

wc: ~850; context: set a few months into the last year of Aldera, Toshinori baits Bakugou into a fist-fight and they got in trouble with admin. this was mostly me testing out whether or not I could write Bakugou without stepping into the bashing zone. izuku pov.

//

The three of them wait outside the classroom: Kacchan impatiently, Izuku anxiously, and Yagi cheerfully.

“Yagi-san, what if you get expelled?” Izuku hisses, weaving his fingers together to stop them from twitching.

“Then I’ll get homeschooled? Honestly, Midoriya-kun!” He laughs under his breath, grinning way too big for a boy who got in trouble for beating up the star pupil of Aldera. Kacchan—looks small, next to him. Small and furious, like he doesn’t know the right way to get Yagi to shut up and sit down. Izuku prays that Kacchan never finds out that Yagi is actually All Might. Something might really break.

“Shut the hell up,” Kacchan snarls. “I can’t hear what they’re saying.”

“Ah, if I know my old man…”

“I told you to shut up!”

“You don’t want to place a bet on it, Bakugou-shonen?”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING ‘YOUNG’?!”

The door swings open to reveal a pale-faced principal and a deeply unimpressed Gran Torino. The latter is out of uniform, but the clean-cut fashion of the button-up and slacks does an effective job at communicating Torino’s professionalism. He swipes the end of his cane at Yagi’s ankle, and Yagi yelps and jumps in surprise.

“Who are you calling ‘old man’?” Torino snaps.

“Sorry,” Yagi says unapologetically. “What’s gonna happen, jii-san?”

“You’re suspended for three days,” the old man announces, and because Yagi looks delighted at not having to attend school, meaning Kacchan looks furious at this apparent light sentence, the principal valiantly steps in.

“You’ll obviously have assignments over this period, to reflect on your actions. And Bakugou-kun must have an apology made to him.”

“I don’t want his stupid apology!” Kacchan spits.

“Fujita-san,” says Torino, “I believe I told you what was going to happen. I’ll get the parents’ permission. They might even be happy about seeing their son in action, if the boy wants to be a hero. Just get me two teachers.”

“Torino-san, this is a deeply improper way to handle the situation—!”

“The entire way you’re running your school is improper,” he drawls. “Don’t worry, it’s not an issue unique to your administration. I know what I’m doing, and I know my boy. He won’t be the one hitting below the belt.”

Izuku connects the dots faster than either Kacchan or Yagi. He blurts out, “Are you having them fight?”, and two blond heads whip around to stare (or glare) him down, then back at each other. Yagi’s grin widens. 

Torino says mildly, “In martial arts classes, they call it a spar. Clears the head, knowing the hierarchy… of who’s better.”

The principal’s distress is palpable. “It’s not legal,” he protests.

“I’d win,” Kacchan declares, bristling. Izuku bites his tongue to stop himself from trying to intervene. This is not a fair fight that Torino is setting up; however Quirkless Yagi is, he hasn’t lost the experience of his time as All Might, and with all the training that Torino’s put them through, his muscle memory and reflexes are sharp. Just because Torino is promising to get parental and teacher supervision—god, it’s a whole trap. Kacchan can’t beat Yagi unless Yagi overestimates him. It would take a legitimate miracle for Yagi to lose.

“I don’t know, jii-san,” Yagi says playfully. “Isn’t that a little mean to Bakugou-kun? He won’t be able to use his Quirk in the fight.” Unlike today, his smile says. 

“You need a Quirk to punch someone down?” Torino responds, and he rolls his eyes at Yagi’s tone. “That’s when you cross into villain territory. No. This is going to be good old-fashioned fisticuffs.”

Does Kacchan sense it? He must. He’s never been an idiot. The way his eyes dart down to Torino, assessing, attempting to reassess the old man’s threat level, to so casually propose arranging a fight between two fifteen year olds—Kacchan knows the shape of the trap, then. It just depends on whether he believes he can win.

And Kacchan, Izuku knows, believes in winning.

“Midoriya-kun,” the principal suddenly says, and Izuku flinches at the sheer hope in the man’s tone. “You’ve known Bakugou-kun for a long time. Did he start the fight?” 

The weight of all their eyes is overwhelming. His loyalty is being torn two ways, and he doesn’t know who to save. If he stops this fight, and denies Kacchan the chance to show off his skills and heart, Kacchan will hate him. If he stops this fight, and affirms that Yagi threw the first punch, then—All Might won’t hate him. The wry twist to Yagi’s smile is basically a blessing to disavow his fellow Quirkless classmate.

But Izuku doesn’t want to disappoint All Might, or even Gran Torino.

He trembles, breathes shakily, and says, “Kacchan would never miss a fight he couldn’t win,” and in the time his audience takes to process, Izuku quite deliberately sides with Yagi. Not hiding. Standing elbow to elbow, in solidarity.

Kacchan’s face twists. “Deku,” he hisses.

“Focus, boy,” Torino says, and his cane clacks against the linoleum flooring. “Your fight’s with Toshinori. That is, if your parents agree to supervise.”

“What if they’re too busy?” 

“We’ll find a time.”