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genderqueerdykes · 16 days ago

Note

Having read what y'all have said, I'm going to add a few things.

1. You're right, it's not all cishet men, it's specifically the bad ones that I hate, I do however, have a distrust of specifically *White* cishet men (though at this point I feel like most people do) who have declared themselves to be just that, which brings me to my next point -

2. It's only the people who have flat out said they identify this way that it effects for me. I'm actually married to a non-passing trans woman. I see her struggles, mostly with, you guessed it, white cishet men, and white cishet women. I love her a lot, so no, I don't immediately just assume.

3. Aro, Ace, intersex, Etc are all Lgbtq+ last I checked, no? I personally wouldn't group those folks in with cishet folks, but I do appreciate this take as well. For me, in my opinion, being aro is enough to be queer if someone wants that space. If they tell me they don't, I won't force it, but I've yet to have someone say "oh no thanks" being so fr right now, Even if they are Cis, and Hetero, they are still Aromantic. They are still Asexual. Those are still valid identities in the community. So is being gay? Intersex by default means you're not cis, unless I've been misled on that. So.. No I'm not including those groups when I say I hate cishet men.

4. I know it wasn't you who brought this up, but I'd geuninely appreciate a deeper explanation on how hating white cishet men (or, Bad cishet men specifically) is racist? Idk maybe I'm an outlier here but I'm way more comfortable around cishet men of color than I am white cishet men. I just didn't think it would immediately jump to "You're racist anon" or I would've clarified that intially.

The reason for all of this, is personal. It is because of hurt. But it is also because 97% of women. Statistics back that right now, in society, the most dangerous people are also the ones who try to take up the biggest space. Who shout the loudest. Who punch down most often. So yeah, I do hate them. Would I say that I hate someone who is Amab but hasn't flat out identified that way? No. Would I say I hate white cismen's socialization more than them? Yeah absolutely. I absolutely challenge how we raise our kids on the whole because look at how that turns out.. and that's just the numbers we have. Would I say that I hat every white cishet who's proudly proclaimed that to me? Yeah. Honestly. I think I would. Whether they have personally wronged me, or not, their socialization and actions are a part of them, one they could change if they wanted to, but the stastics don't lie. The people who cause the most damage are, cishet, white, men. I recognize maybe that makes me bitter, but.. I can't really afford to be sweet, with how much hurt I've been put through, my wife has been put through, my friends and even just strangers get put through.

If they're not white, and they admit they're cishet, I'm still cautious. But I don't automatically jump on the hate train without getting to know them.

I don't go up to children still trying to figure things out and loudly proclaim that I hate them because.

Hell I don't even do that to adults. My feelings are my own, and my responsibility. I just make a point of being precautious, and I do my best to protect my wife, where I can, and others.

It's all good and dandy to make room for cishet men, queer men, men in general - and I definitely think it needs to be done more on the whole, and advocated for, but at the same time, aren't we allowed to be angry about how things have been? About how difficult to bring that change in is? (Note, because other things got misunderstood, Being angry /=/ Attacking other people. Hatred for me, at least /=/ Attacking other people. It's not outward. Those are actions. Not feelings.)

I'll stay to see any responses if this is answered, because I do think open dialogue is the only way to learn and to challenge one's views (which I'm not opposed to doing. Maybe one day I'll realize y'all were right or maybe even after the response to this who knows right?) Because that's how growth happens. That's how real change gets started. But, I think in general, me sticking around would probably make you feel uncomfortable, which is valid, so I'll take off afterwards & bear in mind that it *does* include me for others going forward. I do appreciate an answer on that, even if it seems like we have different opinions and perspectives. Maybe I just wasn't clear enough? Maybe this'll be seen as worse not better. Idk. Either way. Thanks for giving me an answer, and for the emotional labour that went into the initial replies, and any replies if they happen to this. If no one is willing to put more into this, I do completely understand that too. I'm not gonna push. It's a lot, and it can be exhausting and cause burn out so like. You gotta take care of yourselves too.

I probably won't feel the need to respond again, but, I might if I see y'alls point more clearly. Otherwise, I don't want to cause any more problems for anyone so I'll take my leave!

no, your hatred is not justified, and it never will be. no part of that is justified whatsoever. what you hate is patriarchy, not cishet men. you hate the system that we've built around cishet men and how we force everyone to uphold it. your talking points are heavily steeped in rad feminist ideals and i highly recommend trying to divorce yourself of that. it's always bad praxis to hate an entire group of people.

you said you specifically hate "cishet men." aro cishet men are cishet men. ace cishet men are cishet men. genderqueer cishet men are cishet men. intersex cishet men are cishet men. cishet men can be queer. insinuating that "cishet man" means "not queer" is dangerous thinking. of course these people are queer.... but they're still cishet men. you don't get to rob a cishet man of their cishet manhood just because they are also ace, aro, intersex, and so on. that doesn't just erase the fact that they're a cishet man and automatically make them 'safer' to be around than any other cishet man.

i would highly recommend on not talking about intersex identities until you learn more. being intersex doesn't make someone inherently trans, it's actually very intersexist to state that being intersex makes you basically trans. there are loads of cis intersex people out there, so you were right in not being informed well on that issue. this spits in the face of every intersex person who has fought to be seen as cis to insinuate that being intersex makes you trans. these wouldn't be two distinct experiences if they meant the same thing.

also i never called you racist. the comment made about racist behavior was from another blogger. no one ever called you racist for saying you hate white men. please re-read this portion of the addition:

you have been hurt by specific men, the general concept of cishet men. to automatically assume someone is dangerous just because how they identify will lead you down a path of extreme isolation. random cishet men walking down the street aren't hurting you. random cishet men in the same community as you aren't hurting you.

i'd recommend giving my initial response a re-read because a lot of this is totally out of left field. it's your choice whether or not you interact with me! you're not obligated to follow my blog if you genuinely think and feel that you need to hate cishet men in order to survive. keep in mind that hating men will not keep you safe from being hurt again in the future. you will never be completely safe from abuse by pathologically avoiding and hating men

shift your hatred to patriarchy, not cishet men who have not hurt you. many men are chewed up and spat out by patriarchy for not being a perfect man. it's not racist to talk about how men of color are treated horribly by patriarchy and how certain racial traits are seen as more "manly" by whites than others. this part of the discussion is extremely important to talk about. no one called you racist, they called the behavior of stereotyping certain physical traits as masculine racist. racist behavior can be changed

i'll leave you with this: you've been hurt by cishet men, but you've also been hurt by cishet women. you cannot in good faith say you have never, ever been hurt by a cishet woman. whether directly, or by virtue of having a cishet woman in a position of power over you, such as an employer or governor, you have been hurt by a cishet woman in some point in your life. people really love to downplay how much cishet women can hurt people.

this question is for you, not for you to ask me, or respond to: is it okay to hate all cishet women because of the likes of JKR? chew on that for a while. women are not inherently incapable of abuse. by asserting that men are inherently abusive, you are asserting that women are inherently defenseless and can only be abused and never hurt anyone else.

hope that gives you a few things to think about. good luck out there

#asks #answers #man hating #antimasculism

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ryo-apologist · 9 months ago

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Shiggy's Slutty Lil' Waist

Shigaraki Tomura x Reader

CW: Smut, Minors DNI, I will block your ass, talk about crop tops on men and gray sweatpants. Don't like? Bully me it'll be foreplay <3 /j

AN: I saw a picture of Johnny Depp in a crop top. We all know the one. And yk what? Shiggy has the same slutty lil waist. And so far all three of my posts have been about Shiggy. Will that change? Idk ask me next week. It's my comfort character and I can seek toxic comfort WHEN I WANT-

~Darling XOXO

☾ Shigaraki Tomura has the sluttiest fucking waist.

☾ That's it. That's the post.

☾ No, I'm kidding. I'll elaborate for thirsty whores like me. And Barbie. Shout out to them.

☾ Shigaraki obviously has the fits going for him. Name one outfit he wore that didn't slap. Exactly. You can't. So contrary to what people think, I think Shigaraki takes a bit (Not a lot, do not get me wrong) of care in how he looks. He has an image to maintain after all. How can he be expected to be the big, bad leader of the LOV if he doesn't look like it.

☾ That being said, I think at some point it just comes naturally to him to dress in ways that suit his body.

☾ And we all know he has the body to do so. After he left that big ol' test tube? Did y'all SEE his arch? Fuck man I couldn't arch better if I TRIED. Like,-

☾ Okay before this post turns into a tiktok comment section on the thirstiest of Gojo Edits, let me continue.

☾ My point here, is he probably doesn't dress like we see in the anime all the time. That would get tiring. Drain his mana level if you would. And he needs time to recharge.

☾ So, In this essay post, I'm here to argue that Shigaraki Tomura wears crop tops that barely brush past his nipples to show off his slutty little waist.

☾ You know, the shirts that had a hole in the front? Instead of sewing them like a reasonable man, he rips them from that hole all the way around. Which means his crop tops vary in length. Every single one of them.

☾ And that leaves perfect access for you to wrap your hands around his waist and just hold him like that. He hates it. No, he doesn't.

☾ In all truth, Shigaraki loves the feelings of your hands on his midsection because it's such an intimate place to him. He loves feeling you touch him with no fear, even though he knows the second he's done with you, he's taking those hands and dusting you.

☾ Y'all didn't think I was about to turn my greatest number one villain into a *gasp* nice person, did you? /lh

☾ Sorry, not here. Shigaraki does not do love. Only with me, dw guys I'll treat him right :). He's a man with needs that get in the way of his bigger plans. Sorry, not sorry.

☾ Anyway, trail your hands up his ribs and play with his nipples. Pinch them and roll them between your thumb and forefinger. It buys you another day. Additionally, you get to play with his fat tits.

☾ He has one shirt that he outgrew after his transformation that absolutely hugs his double dee, mommy milking, calcium cannon, honga-bazongas, dippin dots, whatyoudoingouthere withallthattiddies, boinga boinga, bouncing bangers.

☾ This one magically turned into a crop top. It was crazy. Shoutout to whoever put it in the wash to shrink it. They a real one.

☾ It was me.

☾ And it's like that one meme of the guy looking at something with his pecs right there and the lady is just O-O at them. Which...Yeah me too.

☾ Anyway, he wears it all the time because he's convinced it still fits.

☾ Play with his...pecs... through the shirt. He has the most sensitive nipples and it just brushes against them just right and...He likes it is all I'm gonna say.

☾ Now, I know what we're all thinking, 'Darling, what about the pants?' And Darling's got you, baby cakes.

☾ I only tease in the bedroom :)

☾ Grey sweatpants season is EVERY season for this man. He's got like three pairs he cycles through. Kurogiri HATES them. He tries to throw them out and replace them with sensible jeans or slacks.

☾ Never works. He's like a raccoon with stocks of them EVERYWHERE.

☾ Anyway, so he's got his gray sweats and his slutty little crop tops. Let me paint this picture for Y'all.

☾ Shigaraki Tomura wearing a tight white t-shirt that's shrunk into a crop top, clinging to his chest as he stretches his arms above his head, biceps straining against the fabric. His toned abdomen is constricting with his every breath of his, on full display along with the angles of his slutty lil' waist. Your eyes follow down to his belly button and following the trail of white hairs that lead to his v-line, the waistband of his pants just barely clinging to his hips but hugging the delicious outline of his cock, which, while even flaccid, is enough to make anyone drool.

☾ Y'all seeing the vision now? Because I do.

☾ I'm seeing the vision. I'm salivating over the vision. I'm ready to turn into a Gojo fan girl at this point. Like I'm drooling. No lube. No protection. No-

☾ And if you start playing with his tits like this? In this outfit?

☾ He's trying to swat you away, you're getting in the way of his game, but your hands are feeling too good. He's only half paying attention to the pixels anyway, but it's about the principle of letting you get your way.

☾ But you can see you're winning with the way his cock twitches in his pants, throbbing in plain sight.

☾ Your lips trace along his neck and suddenly the pause screen pops up. There's a dark patch already soaking through his pants and they're lose enough your fingers can dip right past the band and trace along his shaft.

☾ He's already groaning, debating if this is worth his time. Worth the distraction.

☾ When your pretty little fingers wrap around his cock and give it a firm tug, he decides it is.

☾ Do not think he rolls over and let's you do as you please however.

☾ No, no, no. He's pulling you over the couch and pinning you as he gets rid of the bigger distractions stopping from doing exactly what he wants.

☾ If he leaves you a dripping, drooling mess on the couch, that's your own fault really.

☾ But who really cares at that point, because in the end, you won anyway <3

☾ But FUCK does Shiggy have a slutty lil' waist.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #boku no hero acedamia #boku no hero academia x reader #darling writes #mha #mha x reader #my hero academia x reader #tomura shigaraki x reader smut #tomura x reader smut #tomura x reader #tomura shigaraki x reader #tomura shigaraki #shigaraki x reader #shigaraki x reader smut

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genderkoolaid · 1 year ago

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(different person than last anon) can you give us like actual scientific papers that "nonhumans" are real and not just ppl that need a lot of psychological help? bc like while gender + sex can be very diverse and change w the individual, species is extremely specific and thats why shit like making crossbreeds is so insanely hard and they usually end up infertile bc the genes arent meant to be combined. n also the only example i can think of of any other species having "i am not the species i was born as" thoughts is that one female monkey that was raised so close w people she thought she was a person and she would refuse to breed w any of her primate species bc of it. you would call that mental illness in that monkey because she cannot be a person in a monkey body, just like someone can't be a dog or angel or horse in a human body, so why do you not consider being "nonhuman" also a mental illness?

can you please explain about alterhumanity? I don’t mean to be negative, I don’t understand… “there are only two sexes” is wrong because biology knowledge we have today actually doesn’t support that. did modern taxonomy find out something similar about humans? that’s very interesting, I don’t know a lot about it! but if you do I’d love to read that research!

So I think "there are only two sexes" isn't the best example; the comparison is more like "people can't change their gender because gender is whats in your pants"

Yes, we can look at chromosomes and hormones and sexual organs, and that stuff is related to gender. But to say "gender/sex is a construct" does not mean "chromosomes/hormones/sex organs don't exist." Its pointing out that our relationship to those things is culturally dependent (I wouldn't say "unnatural" because humans making social constructs is natural).

Similarly, we do divide up species based on reproduction and common ancestors. But "humanity" is also a construct. What it means to be human & who is defined as human can and does change depending on our culture. Not only can some people be excluded from humanity (for example, people of color and neurodivergents), but some people believe they are spiritually nonhuman (whatever that means for them). Some people who have been rejected from humanity identify as alterhuman as a way of saying "you don't want me, then I don't want you" (voidpunk is related to this although not inherently alterhuman). Some people are delusional and identify with alterhumanity as a way of coping with their delusions (and also, yes, you can be self-aware about your delusions). Some people believe in reincarnation or alternate universes or have some other spiritual belief related to being nonhuman. Some people just feel like dogs and enjoy being a dog and it doesn't matter why because they just like it.

Honestly, the monkey does sound like a monkey-version of alterhuman, because (if I can get a little anthropomorphize-y on y'all), it sounds like she did not feel apart of "monkey culture." Obviously we can't know if monkeys have a concept of monkey-hood like we do with humanity, but if they did it would not be hard to imagine how a monkey raised with humans would feel more human than monkey. But regardless... we don't need other species to have alter-species-hood for the same reason we don't need snails to crossdress for trans people to exist. Other animals probably don't have the same complex. abstract social constructs we do.

Why can't someone be a horse in a human body? For the same reason someone can't be a man in a woman's body- because "science says"? Both trans-denial and alterhuman-denial emphasizes biology over sociological investigation, which leads people to just keep shouting "but science!!!!!!!!!!" at people who are more invested in questions of culture and constructs and what it means to be [man/woman/human] in society.

(Also, I'm kind of uncomfortable with how the first ask talks about mental illness. Specifically "person believes harmless weird thing, so they must need Psychological Help for their Wrong Thoughts")

#m.#ask box

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mariaofdoranelle · 2 years ago

Text

Look at Us Now — Ch. 3

Fic Masterlist

Sorry I ghosted last week! This chapter is (unintentionally) twice the usual size, though, so I’m forgiving myself. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster, just remember that it’ll get worse before it gets better.

Warnings: NSFW, cursing, mentions of bullying, anxiety attack, bitter exes.

Word count: 5,9k

Aelin’s whole body startled before she gained consciousness of what was going on.

She didn’t know what woke her up, her classmate’s hurried taps or Rowan’s intense eyes on her.

The last thing she remembered was one sergeant telling their next instructor couldn’t make it, so they’d have an hour free. Aelin had woken up at 3 am to study Military Law today, so she thought it’d be a good idea to set a timer for 50 minutes and take a nap.

Rowan‘s class was scheduled for later, what the fuck was he doing here this soon?

His gaze lingered on her for a beat that felt like a month. Maybe like the month and a half since that night. Then it landed on the guy in front of Aelin.

"What happened with your beard?" Was the first thing he said. His voice alarmed the whole class, it sounded like a threat one is barely trying to hide.

Aelin couldn't see the recruit’s expression, but she had a good view of the way his shoulders tensed. He looked around. "I- um-"

"Don't look around, look at me!" Rowan shouted, making many eyes go wide. "What the fuck happened to your beard!?"

"The- the razor was a little dull, so I-"

But Rowan wasn't listening. Probably because he didn't care.

No, he was slowly, threatengly walking around to examine each person in the room and pointing out the ones with something wrong about their uniform. Anything, really. He must have a hawk eyesight to notice some of the mistakes he pointed out.

He looked angry, she thought. Aelin didn’t know which state was the class when he walked in, since everyone was already frozen in place when she woke up.

When the people he selected were out of their perfectly aligned rows, Rowan crossed his arms and roared, "ON THE FLOOR, NOW!"

A few jumped to a plank position, ready to start. Others just stared, gawking.

Rowan rested his hands on his hips and stood face to face with one person who didn't move.

"Did I fucking stutter? ON. THE. FLOOR. NOW!"

Everyone followed suit this time, so he started to count.

"One, two, three, four..."

He stopped counting when he noticed someone in the wrong position. He was not in a straight line, so his butt was sticking out. Aelin held on a grimace while Rowan was going his way.

"Do you call that a push-up?"

On the man's side, Rowan's boot pressed against his low back to correct his position.

"How do you expect to be in the Air Force if you can't to a fucking push-up!?" He barked at no one in particular. "The body stays in one line." He poked at someone's arm with his boot, only enough to bring attention. "And watch those elbows! You're not a frog!"

He was still looking around, searching for any flaw in those push-ups. "Pathetic," he spat. "Spineless and pathetic." Rowan rested his foot on another person's back and announced, "I'm starting again! Until y'all stop training like teenagers! One, two, three..."

Aelin could only blink, trying to process this.

Then she forced herself to snap out of that shock. Her great-uncle was a brigadier, for Mala's sake. She knew better than to be surprised. Besides, what did she expect? A little love letter from hot lieutenant saying that he also couldn't forget their night together? Absolutely not.

If Aelin was there to learn the basics of military life until she could work at the hospital, so be it. She was going to kick basic training's ass.

"But we can't keep all the fun to ourselves, right?" Rowan snarled. He looked around the ones with the correct uniform, that kept only watching chaos unfold. "Everyone else on the floor!” He restarted counting, ”One, two, three..."

She was so ready for this. She'd absolutely nail this.

Except that it didn't take long for her to grow annoyed at Rowan's voice counting and barking orders non-stop.

And after Mala knows how long, Aelin came to one conclusion.

She was so fucked.

That was the only thing in her mind as she trained. Even when she felt like her lungs would give out or her legs would soon turn to ashes, Rowan’s scolding was still flawlessly echoing through her ears.

When he wrapped things up, her shoulders almost dropped in relief. They would, if Rowan wouldn’t give her a hard time about posture. This class was longer than usual because he was using the missing instructor’s time along with his own. Also because she started feeling like dying around the fourth minute of so, so many.

“Who’s today’s class leader?” He asked before dismissing everyone.

Aelin’s spine went rigid. Every day, a different recruit was picked to be the class leader. They said it was to learn about leadership and how to cooperate together. In practice, it basically meant she’d lead the class while marching.

Everyone looked at Aelin, and she raised an arm. “It’s me, sir.”

Rowan sighed, as if he couldn’t believe he had to deal with her more than he was obligated to.

“You have 15 minutes to show up at my office.”

Which meant she had 15 minutes to get her things, take a shower, get in another uniform and find his office.

She did it in 13 minutes, though.

Rowan’s office was simple and neat, but at least the chairs were comfortable. After she knocked and he told her to come in, silence took over. They sat one in front on the other, the only sound in the room being Aelin testing the squeak of the chair by repeatedly leaning against it. Annoyingly, by the stiff expression Rowan wore.

“I think you already know what I’m going to say to you.”

She shrugged. “You’ll tell me to pretend it never happened?”

“Excuse me?” His tone was sharper than she predicted. Was he that eager to fuck her again?

Aelin leaned back and suppressed a smile when the chair squeaked again. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind a round two, but I understand that things just got complicated.”

Oh, she definitely wouldn’t mind hitting that again. Besides, she’d work at the hospital in ten weeks. It’s not like they’d need to see each other every day after.

He sighed. “I’m talking about what just happened, Aelin. You were today’s class leader.”

Aelin frowned. “Which means I’m in charge of the drill commands while marching—“

“It means you have to lead them throughout the day. When there’s no instructor, you don’t just take a nap and let everyone run wild!”

When she crossed her arms and glared, trying to think of a retort, Rowan looked up for a second and took a deep breath.

“I know you must struggle being one of the few women in your class, but—“

“Struggle?” She cut in, eyebrows raised. ”Why would I struggle?”

“It’s a common issue among female officers—“

“That’s not an issue, sir.“ Aelin leaned closed and lowered her tone of voice. “I’m more alpha than most of these men, you probably know that already.”

“Then act like it.“ He didn’t look impressed.

Aelin got up and slowly rounded his desk, until she was standing on Rowan’s side. “You’d really like that, wouldn’t you?”

He looked at her up and down, swallowed, then looked away a second too late. “That’s inappropriate behavior, Galathynius.“

Positioned between him and his desk, she tilted her head. “And what? You’re gonna punish me?”

“I’m not afraid to,” he immediately answered, but his tone had an edge to it.

Aelin’s eyes sparkled. She had no idea if he was answering to her innuendo or talking about her relations to his superiors, but she was horny enough to jump to conclusions. She knew he was hesitant, though.

Anything happening between them wouldn’t be exactly against the rules, even though it would be frowned upon.

But having sex inside a military base? They’d be fucked if anyone found out.

Aelin was beyond caring by now, and she had a suspicion Rowan was holding tight to whatever shreds of conscience he had.

She held both hands on the desk behind her, thrusting her chest out. Rowan’s gaze was shameless as it burned through her, his eyes darkening every inch. He looked at her as if he remembered everything she had under that uniform, and just the thought of it made her press her legs together.

“You know, I thought it’d be easier to get you to fuck me after you got your cock that deep into my throat.”

When Rowan finally looked into her eyes, she knew she’d won. He placed a hand on her knee and caressed the inner part with his thumb, but it was enough to send a spark through her body.

“Can I touch you?” He quietly asked. However, the intense look on his green eyes betrayed the strained politeness on his tone of voice.

How gentlemanly of him. Didn’t even sound like the man who climbed her uncle’s fence to fuck her until dawn.

“Oh, you definitely can’t.” Aelin had a triumphant grin on. “But I want you to.”

Rowan’s eyes combusted into hers, and her smile grew. In that millisecond, Aelin knew she had just ripped off his conscience with her teeth.

He got up from that chair in a swift motion, standing just one breath away from her.

“Let’s see how much you want me,” he taunted before taking her pants and panties down all at once, so roughly one button flew away.

Without wasting a second, he inserted two fingers between her folds and plunged in, making her choke a sob. Rowan’s thumb started working on her clit to soothe her from that sudden move, but he scooted closer and whispered, “You were already soaked when I started, baby. I could put a third finger and you wouldn’t even feel it.”

Aelin whimpered. He made her taste herself in his fingers, then kissed her when she licked his index and middle finger the way she’d to another member of his. Rowan cradled her head in a commanding, bruising kiss. He kissed like he could unravel her whole with his lips. He kissed her like he thought he’d never see her again. Aelin pressed her hips against his, moaning, and he moved his mouth to the shell of her ear.

“Were you thinking about me?”

Aelin nodded.

“Use your words, baby. Were you thinking about me?”

She looked deep into his eyes, smirking like the devil. “Yes, sir.”

Rowan’s gaze burned into her while he brought his hand to her neck, squeezing just enough to make her ache for him even more. “Is that why you came to my office begging for my cock like the little slut you are?”

“Yes, sir,” she whimpered.

Before she could think, he turned her around and pressed her against his desk, laying on her stomach with her ass up. The sound of his zipper was the only warning she got before Rowan pushed himself inside her all the way, stretching her whole in one swift motion.

Aelin cried out, cursing. It was the most delicious kind of pain.

He gave her a few seconds to adjust and muffled her cries with his hand, probably afraid someone would hear from the outside.

She bit his hand to speak when he started on a languid pace, but Rowan spanked her ass before she could open her mouth. The pain from that smack spread under her skin, making her wiggle her hips against him even more.

“Don’t bite me,” he warned.

“But you loved it last time.”

He gave one ruthless thrust as a warning, and that sweet ache made her sob. God, she loved Rowan’s punishments.

“Condom,” she rasped, finally remembering what she was going to say.

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back until he was close to her ear. “I don’t bring condoms to work, baby. You think I fuck every slut that comes into my office?”

Rowan started thrusting in a merciless rhythm, making Aelin’s legs shake.

Aelin did a mental note to see on her period app if she needed to take a Plan B pill. These things were hormone bombs, but she wasn’t on birth control. She had mostly stopped sleeping around after uni, and Dorian has a vasectomy. These days, the only reason Aelin even used condoms was to prevent STDs.

When Rowan hit a spot that made her see stars, Aelin relaxed on the desk and let herself be fucked senseless by him, relishing on the sound of their hips snapping together and his low grunts.

Of all the times people had reckless sex, how many actually led to a baby?

Exactly.

And knowing Aelin’s luck, she knew things would turn out her way. They always did.

***

The shade of Rowan’s hair never let Aelin know which strands were in its natural shade, and which ones were grayer because of Maisie. Or work. Maybe Aelin herself.

The dark circles under his eyes weren’t that static, though. Over time, she had seen them go from almost invisible to a purplish shade that didn’t sit well with his tan skin. Aelin always thought it was a shame seeing a face like his looking so worn out. But today? Today it looked like exhaustion itself had beaten him up from the outside in, not the other way around.

Aelin knew she should keep their interactions to a minimum, but she couldn’t help herself.

“You look like shit, Rowan.”

”Gee, thanks.”

Aelin wriggled in her seat, knowing she should keep her mouth shut. It did nothing to stop her.

“Elide was grouchy today. She said you’re ruining her sex life.”

He laughed, but there was a bitter edge to it. “How so?”

Aelin fully turned to him from the passenger side. “Were you really watching a recorded livestream about ADHD until late with Lorcan last night?”

He opened his mouth to retort, then closed again. A moment later, he said, “In my defense, now I’m convinced she doesn’t have it. And Lorcan thought it was enlightening.”

“Ellie’s a psychiatrist, Rowan. If any of the kids were showing signs of it, she would tell—“

“Is she willing to give me an hour-long lesson about it? Because the Instagram doctor—“

“Rowan, are you listening to yourself?”

“What?” He snapped.

“Do you know what I do every time you send me an article about diabetes in children?”

“You read it?”

“No. I give her ice cream.”

He gripped the steering wheel tighter. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not. I fill her pink unicorn bowl with chocolate ice cream, and I enjoy it.”

He clenched his jaw. “You know damn well my dad’s diabetic—“

“You’ll drive yourself fucking insane if you keep this way, Rowan,” she barked. “This is my weekend with Maisie. Do you at least have plans to take fucking a nap?”

Rowan stopped at a red light and narrowed his eyes at her. “I have walls to fix.”

Aelin sighed. “You can’t let her draw on every wall you own.”

“She’s expressing herself through art.”

“You did not just say that.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! You’re just an engineer who traumatizes young people for a living, of course that line came out of your mouth.”

Rowan rolled his eyes. “Okay, I heard it from a pediatrician. Happy now?”

When she saw the school’s front, Aelin knew she had to wrap this up quick.

“And not Maisie’s pediatrician, because—“

“Because it was from one of the pediatricians I follow online! What is your point?”

“My point—“ Aelin stopped herself when her voice got too loud. She took a deep breath and started again, in a calmer tone. “My point is that you can’t know everything about every specialty child-related just in case your one kid needs it. You can’t be Maisie’s dad 24/7.”

“But I am Maisie’s dad 24/7.”

“When was the last time you talked to Lorcan about something that wasn’t kid-related?” She tried a different approach. When Rowan opened his mouth, she added, “Doesn’t count if it happened while you were watching the kids.”

He shut his mouth and didn’t answer.

She knew it.

When was the last time you went on a date?, was on the tip of her tongue, just to finish proving her point, but Aelin didn’t dare say it out loud.

Her guess would be at least last year, from one time she caught Fenrys trying to play cupid, but it probably wasn’t serious. Their rule was that they’d have to meet the other person before Maisie, but it hasn’t happened yet. For neither of them.

Rowan parked his car, quiet as a mouse. Deep down, he knew he was overexerting himself. And it wasn’t Aelin’s job to worry about him, but she had learned the hard way how important it was to take care of herself so she could take good care of Maisie. Their daughter was the only reason she was concerned. It’s not like Aelin would care about her ex-fling from five years ago. Absolutely not.

Aelin frowned when Maisie came their way with a different change of clothes. It was the second time since starting preschool, and she never peed herself at home. She remembered her daughter always complained about going to school, and wondered if she should start sending Maisie with pull-ups until she finished adapting to that new environment.

After Maisie greeted them both, Rowan crouched and asked, “What happened to Fleetfoot, Mais?”

Aelin’s eyebrows shot up. Fleetfoot was a golden plastic dog Maisie made Rowan buy at a 99 cents store, but she loved it more than many of the expensive toys her family showered her with. She took that miniature puppy everywhere.

Maisie raised her hand and looked at Fleetfoot. Half of its plastic tail was missing, and just the sight of it made her lips wobble and brought moisture to her big green eyes. Rowan immediately hugged her and started soothing his daughter, but Aelin looked around, searching for the teacher’s assistant that always stood outside.

Something was off, and Aelin would find out no matter what.

The TA looked frightened all the time and followed the teacher like a puppy, so it wasn’t hard to get information out of her.

And when Aelin did, she saw red.

She stormed through that school until she found the teacher, Lieutenant Maeve Valg, in a corridor close to the entrance.

“Inside,” Aelin growled and pointed to the empty classroom near them.

The only response was a raise of her eyebrows, somewhere between surprise and scorn, and entering to sit behind the teacher’s desk.

Aelin followed her and banged the door closed. She rested both hands on the table and leaned to get closer and look deep into Mrs. Valg’s eyes, her own slightly bulged. She could feel her blood pumping through her veins like her heart was on steroids, and if looks could kill, that fucking teacher would be on her grave already.

“Tell me why my daughter’s toy is broken.”

She leaned back in the chair, and Aelin felt like that woman’s dark eyes were reading into her soul. “Looks like you already know.”

“I want to hear it from your mouth.” Aelin’s nostrils flared.

The teacher tilted her head, assessing. “I see where Maisie gets that terrible behavior from.”

They were interrupted by the door abruptly being opened and slammed closed. Rowan stood there with crossed arms and eyes darting between the two of them. His glare was so sharp it could cut ice.

Lieutenant Valg sighed in what looked like relief. “Mr. Whitethorn, could you please make—“

“It’s Captain Whitethorn to you,” he commanded in a taut tone.

Aelin didn’t know if the TA told him what happened as well or if he just read too much into the room’s energy, but Rowan seemed pissed. He never used his high rank on people like this.

She glued her eyes back on the teacher and slapped the desk, then immediately pointed at Rowan. “Tell him why Maisie wet herself,” Aelin shouted.

Mrs. Valg held her chin high, but didn’t say a thing.

“I’m waiting, Lieutenant,” he said in a carefully controlled tone and walked closer to them.

His patience seemed to end when his request was met with silence.

“Do I need to remind you again that I outrank you, Lieutenant?” Rowan shouted, making Maeve’s eyes go wide. “If you don’t tell me what happened now, I’m putting you under restriction at the guardhouse, do you understand?”

Mrs. Valg paled, but she was still grinding her teeth together, shooting daggers at Rowan with her eyes. The guardhouse was basically jail, but for petty crimes inside the military. It was the biggest punishment someone could get before being kicked out.

“Your daughter is a little nightmare!” She spit out. “Every other kid was ready for nap time, and she wouldn’t stop playing with that stupid dog! I warned her one, two, three times, then I grabbed that ugly thing and threw across the room.” Mrs. Valg got up, her eyes jumping between Aelin and Rowan. “And then Maisie peed, but you think I enjoy sending my TA to clean the kids every time? It’s not my fault your daughter has a bad bladder,” she spat.

Aelin’s eyes grew with each sentence. When the teacher ended, the only thing she could hear was the muderous thoughts in her head and the pounding in her ears. She felt like her body was slowly being taken over by rage and the hammering flow of her pulse.

“Aelin, could you give me five minutes with Mrs. Valg and come back with Maisie, please?”

“Why—“

Rowan’s gaze was so intense it rendered Aelin speechless. His pine green eyes were being ruled by raw, cold fury, and it looked terrifying framed by all the blood that made his face look crimson. “We’re going to have a little chat, and then she’s going to apologize,” he slowly explained in a deadly tone. There was no arguing with the way he said it, and as much as Aelin wanted to scream and fight and pour all her anger into the teacher, Rowan was the one who could actually do something about what happened. He was a captain, after all.

Maisie was on the playground near the entrance, with a few other kids. Aelin quickly checked on her and if her daughter knew about the shitshow currently going on, she didn’t show.

Aelin never understood why Rowan didn’t want Maisie to be in the free preschool the Air Force provided for them, five minutes away from home.

She understood now.

Aelin’s throat closed when she remembered his words from one of the arguments they had about this. “I teach these Lieutenants myself, Aelin. I don’t trust Maisie around them.”

Her chest started feeling a little too tight, and she took a deep breath to recompose herself.

This was absolutely her fault.

There was no use in crying at the school playground, though.

On the way back to the classroom, Aelin was ready to go back if she heard screaming—there was no way she’d let Maisie see that—but the only sign that something had happened was the quiet whispers outside the classroom, and two people not so casually peering through the window.

If something exploded in there, Rowan kept his promise of doing it for five minutes only.

He looked absolutely unhinged, though. And the teacher looked white as a sheet, the armpits of her uniform sweaty.

Noticing the weird energy of the room, Maisie stiffened. “What’s going on?”

When Rowan heard his daughter’s voice, his whole demeanor changed. He didn’t relax, but still crouched on the floor and ran his fingers through one of her pigtails. “We were talking to Mrs. Valg about what happened today. She’s going to apologize for being disrespectful and hurting Fleetfoot.”

Maisie didn’t say a thing.

Neither did Mrs. Valg

“Seven days,” Rowan prompted.

Maeve’s jaw clenched.

“Fifteen days.”

She drew in a sharp breath.

“Twenty days.”

She swallowed.

Of, fuck. Was this how many days she was spending locked up in the guardhouse?

“Thirty—“

“I apologize.” Maeve spit out, eyes focused on Maisie.

The little girl took one step to the side and looked at her dad, but wouldn’t meet his eye. “It’s not Mrs. Valg’s fault,” the little girl quietly explained, ”I was being a bad kid.”

Aelin didn’t even register Maeve’s lips curling up, she dropped on her knees to talk to Maisie. Immediately. She didn’t know how to explain to a four-year-old that in this case she was expected to mess up, but not the teacher, but she would try until—

“Aelin?”

“What?” Aelin’s head snapped towards Rowan. He was sitting on the chair, clutching his chest. Oh, fuck.

“I might be having a heart attack.”

“You’re not.”

“I am.”

“No, you’re not.”

His eyes bulged, aimed at Aelin’s. “Do I need to call my ambulance myself?”

Aelin’s heart plummeted. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

She called the hospital’s front desk as she got the car keys from Rowan’s pocket.

“Hi, this is Dr. Galathynius. I’m coming with a patient. I need a heart team by the side entrance in five minutes.”

˜˜

Dr. Cortland stared at Rowan’s exams with furrowed brows. “I don’t see anything.”

“Try harder.”

Aelin gave Rowan her mom look. She said with her eyes, Could you try to be polite?

He answered her look with another of his own. No. Can we see another doctor?

Aelin sighed and waited while Sam finished looking at Rowan‘s exams. He was still grouchy because of the situation at Maisie’s school, that was the only explanation. There was no way he could’ve known about the brief relationship she had with Sam a year ago.

“Nope,” Dr. Cortland concluded. “Your heart is looking so good you could even join the military.”

Rowan didn’t laugh.

“Maybe there’s something going on at work or at home?” Sam’s gaze slid to Aelin, a bitter smile on his lips. “How’s Maisie?”

Rowan gripped the arms of his chair. He growled, “Do you know her?”

“Can’t say I do, no.”

Aelin’s nostrils flared. Their relationship started going downhill when he asked to meet Maisie. Her daughter was very easygoing, but as a rule, she’d need to introduce him to Rowan first. Nope. Sam wanted too much too fast, and he never truly understood how hard it is to date as a single mom.

Rowan leaned back on his seat, but Aelin couldn’t say he was relaxed.

Dr. Cortland hummed. “Do you think there’s a chance this could be related to anxiety?”

“Absolutely not.”

Aelin tried not to cringe. Knowing Rowan, she wouldn’t discard anxiety that easily. But what does she know? Aelin fixed bones, anxiety was Elide’s specialty.

She politely dismissed herself, wanting to give Rowan privacy to discuss this with Sam. Actually, she didn’t even know what she was doing in that office. She brought him to the hospital and went with the flow, not even thinking that maybe she should have stayed back. The only doctors she needed to see with him were the ones who had Maisie as a patient, but Aelin didn’t think about that in the heat of the moment.

When she finally reached the conference room, Maisie was drawing with the intern Elide borrowed her for babysitting duty. The poor thing.

Her daughter looked up with big, expectant eyes when Aelin approached. “How’s Daddy’s heartbeep?”

“It’s good. Your dad’s fine.” A pause. “And it’s heartbeat,” she corrected.

Maisie frowned. “That’s what I said.”

The stubborn little thing. For the first time in a while, Aelin felt like smiling. Until she remembered the conversation wasn’t over.

“Do you know that feeling when you get scared and your heart beats really fast?”

Maisie solemnly nodded. “Like when Uncle Aedion lets me go on the big slide at the pool.”

“He does what?”

Maisie’s eyes widened. “Let’s talk about Daddy.”

Aelin sighed. She had no idea how to explain an anxiety attack to a kid.

“The doctor said he’s good, Mais. He was probably just feeling scared.”

Her daughter chewed on her lip and nodded, understanding. “Daddy never does scary things. It must be confusing for him.”

Aelin let out a soft, watery chuckle and kissed Maisie’s forehead. “That’s right, baby.”

“Not a baby!” Her daughter complained.

After Rowan was done and Aelin thanked Elide’s intern for babysitting, they had one of the quietest car rides she’d ever witnessed.

Aelin still drove to her house, but when Rowan got off his car just to go back in and drive away, Maisie watched the path he went with a longing gaze.

“I want to go with Daddy.”

Aelin crouched by her daughter’s side. “You’ve already spent last weekend with him, Mais.”

“But what if he gets sick again?” She mused with furrowed brows.

Scratching her forehead, Aelin sighed.

Rowan would be alone at home, no Maisie to keep him up. He’d think. He’d worry. He’d create worst-case scenarios for every consequence of this day.

“You want to spend the night at your dad’s and come back tomorrow morning?”

Maisie nodded, her eyes eager.

“Then go pick some toys to take there, okay?”

She rushed to her room without question, leaving Aelin a small window to pack two bags. One for Maisie, another for herself. She wouldn’t keep Maisie here worrying about her dad, but what if something really happened to Rowan while he was alone with Maisie? Fuck, no.

Aelin’s pack was a lot simpler than Maisie’s. Something to sleep on, her toothbrush. She could survive one night without her skincare routine. Her gaze landed on a little box on a tall shelf.

She grabbed a tissue and enveloped two pills in it. One sleeping pill and the antidepressant tablet she needed to take with breakfast. It wasn’t a big deal, and her depressive episodes only got easier to deal with time. She just didn’t want Rowan—or a judge—finding out about it. She had seen parents losing custody for a lot less.

Not that she thought Rowan would take her to court anytime soon. In fact, he was adamant that they didn’t need lawyers when they first decided to co-parent Maisie.

But Aelin had very little room for mistakes when it came to her daughter. Besides, Rowan did criticize her parenting on a daily basis.

For now, everything was under control. He doesn’t care about her, and it doesn’t affect Maisie. There was no need for him to know about her antidepressants.

Aelin still waited a little longer to go. Maisie liked taking her time picking her toys.

Just like her dad, the intrusive thought came as quickly as it went away.

She grabbed Maisie’s hand and they went by foot. Rowan lived so close it wasn’t even worth it to get a bike, he was always one small block away.

Aelin tried to open his door, but it was locked. She frowned.

They lived in a military housing complex, right next to the Air Force base. Who the hell locked doors here? This was the safest it could get.

Rowan appeared a second later, and the confused look she saw him wearing through the window was almost comical.

“What’s going on?”

Aelin shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “Just making sure Mais doesn’t become half-orphan.”

He shifted on his feet. “You don’t have to.” Something charged passed behind Rowan’s eyes. Aelin looked away.

“I know.” She swallowed and entered the house a second later, without invitation. It wasn’t her job to read into Rowan’s feelings, so she wouldn’t.

The first thing Aelin did was go into Fenrys’ old room and put the bedsheets she brought from home. He moved out years ago, so it meant only half of the STDs this bed used to have were still lingering. It’d have to do.

She found them in the kitchen, Rowan gathering supplies while Maisie painted her coloring book at the other end of the table.

Aelin grabbed the first knife she saw and pointed at him. Rowan didn’t look surprised.

“Sit.”

He leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “I would, but I’m not mentally ready to dine a microwave meal.”

Aelin narrowed her eyes. She knew about all the drowsiness and fatigue that came after an anxiety attack. Rowan should be resting, not playing chef.

“I can use a pan,” she spit out, then looked at his pans. For fuck’s sake, why did he have so many? Aelin picked one she didn’t know the exact purpose, but would do. “This one, for example, is perfect for making pasta. I’m making pasta tonight.”

When Rowan opened his mouth, Maisie beat him to it.

“Mommy.”

Both of them turned to her.

“I think we should let Daddy make dinner,” she politely insisted in a matter-of-fact tone.

Aelin’s jaw went slack.

Did she just say Rowan makes better dinner? In her face?

By the triumphant grin he wore, Maisie did.

”You can cut the vegetables,” he offered.

Aelin squinted her eyes and sat on the table, begrudgingly accepting the role of sous-chef.

Silence took over, and she couldn’t stop thinking about what happened today. That bully teacher. Rowan going to the hospital. She swallowed a lump in her throat. It was her fault.

Aelin was stubborn, but she’d be damned if she’d let her little girl go near that teacher ever again.

“Maisie?”

Her daughter hummed.

“There’s this other school your Aunt Sellene told your dad about. I was thinking we should take a look there on Monday. We could go to Skull’s Bay when we’re done.”

The pirate-themed restaurant she loved to go to. She looked at Rowan to see if he looked mad that she decided this without telling him, but his eyes looked soft. There was even a tiny tilt in the corner of his lip.

That wasn’t Maisie’s reaction, though.

“I don’t need school.”

Just like that, Rowan’s soft moment ended.

“And why’s that?” He demanded, arms crossed.

Their daughter dropped her colored pencil and fully turned to her dad. “Because I’m a smartie about everything.” A pause. “Duh!”

Rowan clamped his lips together, trying to keep a straight face, and Aelin’s reaction was pretty much the same. If they laughed, Maisie would think she won this argument.

Aelin took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, and thought of a good argument to beat this one.

“You’re right, kiddo. You’re too smart for your own good.” Aelin heavily sighed, letting her daughter think she had the upper hand. “I guess I‘ll have to call Aunt Sellene and tell you won’t be joining Bree at school.”

Breanna, Sellene’s daughter. She and Maisie were thick as thieves.

“Wait.”

Aelin and Rowan exchanged a look. They were so close.

Maisie continued, “You didn’t tell I’d play with Bree.”

Rowan continued to prepare dinner, pretending this wasn’t a big deal. “You’d play with Bree every day. I’d make sure you two stay in the same class.”

The little girl fidgeted with her pencil, brows furrowed. Aelin would pay good money to know what was going on inside her head, but it wasn’t too difficult to tell.

“I’ll think about it,” was the only thing she said before going back to her drawing.

The stubbornness was one of the few traits Maisie inherited that couldn’t be blamed on one parent. She had gotten it from both of them.

“I’ll think about it”? In Maisie language, that was very close to becoming a Yes.

Not that the kid had much of a choice here, but it was best to let her think she did.

Rowan seemed think the same thing as her. His surprised look turned triumphant when their gazes met, and when his slightly parted lips reshaped themselves into a smile, Aelin grinned back.

This day had been hell, so she’d enjoy this small win.

A/N: I highly recommend reading the bonus chapter 3.5 before reading chapter 4

A/N 2: I promise I won’t hurt baby Maisie ever again! I did it for the plot!!

TAG LIST

@aelinchocolatelover

@autumnbabylon

@bookcide

@cookiemonsterwholovesbooks

@courtofjurdan

@dreamer-133

@elentiyawhitethorn

@elizarikaallen

@fangirlprincess09

@goddess-aelin

@leiawritesstories

@rowanaelinn

@superspiritfestival

@swankii-art-teacher

@s-uppertime

@thegreyj

@violet-mermaid7

@wishfulimaginings

#rowaelin #throne of glass #aelin and rowan #rowaelin fanfic #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #look at us now

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thumpypuppy · 5 months ago

Note

what sort of other game soundtracks or composers (especially indies but either way) have inspired your work?

Oh gosh, this is such an amazing question!!!

Personally I (Lindar) have so so so many inspirations because I'm a music lover, I'm 37, and I've been playing video games as far back as I can remember.

So first and foremost I have to give a shout-out to Lena Raine because back in like… 2016(?) I was trying to take my studio to a more professional level and invest in some stuff beyond what just comes with any given DAW, so I reached out to her and she was kind enough to answer my dozens of questions and talk shop with me. She is ultimately why Studio Thumpy Puppy has its current sound. I don't know her personally, but she was an absolute sweetie to me, extremely helpful, and y'all know she writes banger after banger track.

Gotta mention Ben Prunty, who is an absolute legend in indie soundtracks.

Met Disasterpeace at Day of the Devs 2016 along with a bunch of other legends in the scene and what an encouraging sweetheart!

Of course I'm a huge fan of Sadie Greyduck who is one of my composers! Go check out her Bandcamp or look for her on streaming services!

Love me some Darren Korb. Honestly like every Supergiant game has been a banger, but it wouldn't be the same without those soundtracks.

On that note you can't go wrong with Danny Baranowsky. Love me some Necrodancer!

Also y'all gotta check out M Gewehr (MWGewehr on birdsite).

Also gotta mention 2Mello who does amazing work and makes some of the funkiest beats.

Of course if we're talking about 2Mello we gotta mention Hideki Naganuma! UNDERSTAND! UNDERSTAND! THE CONCEPT. OF LOVE!

Oh gosh and then Winifred Phillips does amazing work.

While we're here I know she's not a game composer but go listen to Wendy Carlos!

Then there's like… all of the various people across games like Doom, Quake, Borderlands, etc. Sasha Dikiciyan, Jesper Kyd, Mick Gordon…

Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), Kiochi Sugiyama (Dragon Quest), Yoko Shimomura (Street Fighter), Takashi Tateishi (MegaMan II), Hip Tanaka (Metroid, Earthbound), Koji Kondo and Toru Minegishi (Legend of Zelda), Daisuke Amaya (Cave Story), Eirik Suhrke (Downwell), Daisuke Ishiwatari (Guilty Gear), the sound team on Sonic Adventure 2, Masato Nakamura (Sonic 2), Brad Buxer et al (Sonic 3&K)…

So let's also take into account that a lot of the game soundtracks that have inspired me over the years are influenced by things that aren't game soundtracks, because those are a relatively recent invention, so we have to talk about how Plantasia by Mort Garson is a direct inspiration for Ocarina of Time and "Dancing Mad" from FF6 is literally just Tarkus from Emerson, Lake & Palmer. A *lot* of early game composers were just prog nerds who listened to like… ELP, King Crimson, Rush, Yes, Magma, Van Der Graaf Generator, Camel, Caravan, Gentle Giant, Soft Machine, Gong… and then also a lot of more popular 80s rock that I'm not gonna list out…

The history of music is absolutely wild and there's so much inspiration out there it's absolutely baffling. Go listen to stuff you've never heard before, analyze it, understand what the appeal and aesthetic is, listen to the last 100 years of the pop charts and then learn where that music came from and who their influences were… go listen to motown! Listen to bebop and jazz and future funk and central Asian folk music and like… get out there and expand your horizons, because like… there's SO MUCH good music out there.

#game audio #game soundtrack #inspiration #indie composer #ask tag #ask

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tuiyla · 1 year ago

Note

why did you distance yourself from the fandom if you don't mind me asking? miss seeing you here

Hey Anon, that's sweet, thank you. I haven't been active on here at all so it's less distancing myself from any particular fandom as it is being a lot less online in general. The second half of this year in particular has been the craziest, most eventful of my life and so being on here just fell off my radar entirely. The plan was always to return, to answer asks I'm so, so guilty about never getting to, to make the gifsets I wanted to make, to write the essays I wanted to write. That's still the plan, in a way, but I have to be honest and say I have no idea when or if I'll return, certainly not in the capacity I used to be on here in.

I'm hoping to chiller start to 2024 but I think it'd be a shift to put myself back in those fandom shoes and mindset. Don't get me wrong, I still sometimes randomly remember how much I love Santana and how frustrating Glee is when it doesn't live up to its potential. But yeah I've been way too preoccupied with Life to truly get back to that. Mostly in a good way, no one has to worry about me or anything. They say if someone disappears off Tumblr they're either doing really well or really badly. I've had both, but mostly been doing well and making the most of life.

It's crazy to think back on how many hours I used to pour into this blog, into the fandom. I genuinely did love answering asks with elaborate theories and making gifsets, I found that process to be really creatively fulfilling but it took up a lot of my time. The simplest I can put it is that I got a life, haha, and that's not shade at people who are still active. If anything, it's shade directed at myself for being such a full send or no send person who either lives on here or doesn't find the time at all.

I really appreciate everyone on here, people who are still active, people who reach out, people who shout out my old stuff. It's sweet and makes me feel good about the time and effort spent on contributing to the fandom. We'll see what 2024 brings, I am very much deluding myself into thinking I will one day reply to all unanswered asks and such. Hopefully it's not just a delusion.

Thanks for reaching out Anon, and to all who've enjoyed my stuff and presence on here, thank you. Happy holidays to all, and to emphasize this isn't goodbye haha, this is me checking in and letting y'all know I'm still kinda around and hope to be more active at some point.

#anon #nonglee asks #blog update #heeeeey all #guess what queer bitch has had the craziest queerest year of all #i really do appreciate those who haven't forgotten me despite the radio silence haha

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photogirl894 · 1 year ago

Text

"IronStar"

Chapter 2

"The First Job"

A "Fairy Tail" fanfic

Pairing: Gajeel x fem OC

A/N: Got another one for y'all! This one is definitely longer as I maybe got a little carried away with it 😁 I maybe could've split it, but...I chose not to! This really felt like a full "Fairy Tail" episode to me, so I'm really proud of it 😊

Enjoy, my lovelies!!

Taglist: @l-lend , @rosechi , @the-bad-batch-baroness , @angrypaperearthquake-tbbb-main

《 Chapter 1

》 Coming soon!

All chapters

Explanation: Genna has been given her first job to prove she can be a part of Fairy Tail and Gajeel and Lily are accompanying her. Though, not everything proves to be smooth sailing.

In all honesty, there wasn't a whole lot Genna needed to pack in terms of supplies for the job. She just packed a satchel with canteen of water, some food, a map of Fiore and her personal journal. Just some small things that could possibly help. Even though she didn’t need much, she at least thought she'd be courteous and give Gajeel a little time to prepare since he was voluntold by Erza to go with her. Hopefully, that wouldn't be a problem. If anything, it didn't matter. This was her chance to prove herself to Fairy Tail and show that she could be one of them like she wanted.

"I need to be successful with this job," she thought to herself. "It's the only way I can get into Fairy Tail and show my father and my brother that they're wrong about me. I can make it on my own and I don't need them. I really hope I can do this."

A moment later, she shook those thoughts away. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. It was time to focus. With her things ready to go and her room paid for a few extra days just in case, she jogged her way back to Fairy Tail.

When she came back over the hill, she saw Gajeel and Pantherlily were already waiting outside the open doors. She called out to them and they both looked her way.

"You ready to go?" Genna asked as she ran up to Gajeel.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get going," he passively responded, already moving past her.

Right then, she heard from inside the guild hall, "Good luck, Genna!" She turned to look and saw Natsu waving at her with a big grin on his face. Lucy, Gray, Happy and Erza were all standing around him and waving, too.

"You and Gajeel come back safe, all right?" called Erza.

With a thumbs up to all of them, Genna replied, "You got it! See you all again soon!"

"Come on, Genny, let's go!" she heard Gajeel shout a few feet away.

"Coming!" she cried back, moving to follow him with Pantherlily behind her. "And my name's Genna!"

She caught up to him and the three of them walked through the streets of Magnolia to get to the outside of the city. Gajeel was quiet for a few minutes, not saying a word to Genna and keeping a few paces ahead of her.

Inching closer to Lily who was flying by her, she quietly asked him, "Gajeel hasn't said anything to me, Pantherlily. Is he upset he's being forced to go on this mission with me?"

"Don't worry about him," the cat answered. "He's normally like this; he just likes to keep to himself. It's nothing to do with you." Then he offered her a kind smile. "You can also just call me 'Lily', if you'd like."

She smiled and nodded back.

A few more minutes passed by in silence before Genna picked up the pace and got up next to Gajeel. "So...how long have you been with Fairy Tail?" she asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"Been a while now. I stopped keepin' track," he simply answered without looking at her.

"I see. Have you always been with them or did you come from another guild? I know some people do that," she then inquired.

She noticed that his eyes narrowed slightly and his breath hitched at the question. "I was with another guild before...," he said, his voice a touch quieter, "...but things didn't work out. Turned out it was all a bunch of crap."

"Oh...I see. I'm sorry I asked," she said, feeling bad.

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it." Finally, he looked at her as they kept walking and asked the big question on his mind: "Why are you wantin' to join Fairy Tail? All you said before was you're lookin' for a new guild, but you didn't say why."

She looked down timidly, clutching a little tighter to the strap of her satchel. "I was...kind of part of another guild before, too."

"What do ya mean 'kind of'?" he questioned.

"My father was the head of the guild, but he was...not a great person," she told him. "I was aware of a lot of the things he and the others did. He wanted me to be officially part of the guild when I got older, but by the time he was going to make that happen, I wanted no part of it. I left and I've been on my own for a while now, looking for a better place."

"So you got daddy issues, huh?" he asked bluntly.

She grunted, surprised. "Sure, if you put it that way."

"How do you know Fairy Tail is the right guild for you and not any of the others?" then asked Lily, flying up between them.

"You guys have quite a reputation that spreads even beyond Magnolia," she explained. "I've liked what I've heard about you. Not only are you guys crazy and chaotic, but you also genuinely treat each other like family."

Gajeel scoffed. "You want in for all the sappy reasons."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Lily said in Genna's defense.

Genna then asked back, "If that's how you see it, then why did you join Fairy Tail, if not for the same reasons?"

"Had nowhere else to go and nothin' better to do," he answered with a shrug.

"I find that hard to believe," she replied. "You don't just join a guild for kicks or because you're bored. No...you had a reason, I can tell. It's okay if you don't want to share."

He didn't say anything back.

Genna kept looking at Gajeel for a moment. He kept a stoic demeanor and acted like he didn't seem to care, but there seemed to be something in his eyes she couldn’t quite discern. A darkness; a shadow of pain. She had a feeling that there was more to his past, too, just as there was more to hers. Though, she wasn't going to be nosy and pry into it more. It was too soon to ask such things since she still didn't know him. Still, it pained her heart a little to see such hard, deep-cutting emotions in such a handsome face. No one should have to endure being treated unfairly by those who should've cared about them.

Hopefully, if she made it into Fairy Tail after this, she'd get to know him better and find out just how much in common they shared.

After a few uneventful hours passed reaching into the evening, they made it to the forest. It was still the middle of the day, so their view into the trees was perfectly fine. There was no sign of any creatures so far.

"The old man told me after you left that someone's supposed to meet us here and take us to Akane Beach to talk about what's goin' on," said Gajeel.

"I see," said Genna.

Before long, a man came and found them and introduced himself as Ike. He led them down to the beach, where there were large groups of people gathered together. They looked startled and even a little scared to see the Wizards walking by.

"Why are they all staring at us like that?" Genna asked.

"They're afraid," answered Lily. "Whatever is terrorizing this area has them on edge and they're hoping we'll be the ones to finally put an end to it. Then they no longer need to live in fear."

They were brought before an older man with gray hair, a long beard and dressed in a red robe.

"Welcome, Wizards of Fairy Tail," he greeted them. "I'm Marcus, the leader of the village that lives in this area. I shall get straight to the point. There is a Wizard taking up residence in our forest and terrorizing our people. He's a Dark Wizard who has the ability to conjure dangerous shadow creatures. He only strikes at night when his magic is strongest."

"Well, why not just take care of him during the day then?" Genna inquired.

"That's just it: we've tried, but there's never any sign of him during the day," answered Ike. "Our men have searched everywhere in that forest when the sun is out, but we never find him. He always eludes us or shields himself somehow."

Pantherlily put a hand to his chin in contemplation as he bobbed up and down in the air with his wings. "That does sound problematic. Looks like our only option will have to be to wait until nightfall to make our move."

"Fine by me," said Gajeel, pounding his fist into his other hand. "Sounds like this punk is gonna be a challenge. I like the sound of that."

"Remember, Gajeel, we're here for Genna so she can become a member of Fairy Tail," Lily reminded him.

"Yeah, doesn't mean I still can't get in on the action," Gajeel said back.

"Do you have anywhere we can use as a base of operations until night comes?" asked Genna.

Marcus nodded and pointed to a hut close by. "We have an empty hut there you can use."

The three of them thanked the old man and went over inside the hut, intending to wait out the final hours of the day until night came. Genna spent some time writing in her journal, logging her arrival at Fairy Tail and getting paired with Gajeel and Lily for the job they were on. She didn’t want to forget any details.

Not terribly long had passed before she heard Gajeel complain, "Ugh, I hate waiting. We should just go find that Dark Wizard ourselves now."

"It won't do us any good if we can't find him in the daylight," she told him.

"That's 'cause these people don't know what they're doin'," he commented. "If we go now, we could get it all over with already."

Lily side-eyed him. "You really need to learn a lesson in patience," he said.

"Yeah, what are you in such a hurry for?" Genna questioned. Then she smirked teasingly. "You got a hot date back in Magnolia?"

He scoffed. "I didn't even wanna be on this job in the first place, Genny, so I just wanna get this done so we can get outta here."

"It's Genna and hey, don't blame me for that. I didn't ask you to come with me. That was all Erza's idea. Maybe if you'd kept your comments to yourself, you wouldn't have ended up here."

"Oh, so it's my fault, huh? Excuse me for just lookin' out for ya, but if you're gonna be like that, then you don't deserve my help, Princess."

"Stop it, Gajeel," Lily warned him.

Genna couldn't believe the nerve Gajeel had talking that way to her, especially with the condescending pet name. "Wow, you're a real standup guy, aren't you, metal head?" she spat sarcastically, seeing he had no interest in helping her.

"Hey, I never said I was," he said back.

Now even more frustrated, she cried out, "You know what, Gajeel? If you're that bothered being on this job, then you can just go home! I can do this on my own! I don't need you!"

"Suit yourself, then, Genny," said Gajeel, moving towards the entrance of the hut.

"It's Genna, you jerk!" she yelled.

Ignoring her, he called back over his shoulder, "You comin', Lily, or what?"

Poor Pantherlily was torn as he looked back and forth between the two of them. Normally, he would follow Gajeel anywhere and stay with him, but he felt guilty leaving Genna on her own. It didn't feel right to leave her alone on this job. What was he to do?

However, Genna spoke up and said to him, "Just go, Lily. He's your friend, you should stick with him. I'll be fine."

Even though it still didn't sit right with him, Lily walked up to her, looked up at her face and told her, "I wish you luck, Genna. I trust we'll see you again soon."

"Yeah, you will," she said, mustering up as much of a smile as she could.

She caught Gajeel's eye as he was waiting in the doorway for his cat. He was just staring at her through narrowed eyes as if waiting for her to say something else or if he was going to say something. When neither of them said anything and just maintained eye contact, he turned away and walked outside with Lily on his heels.

With a groan of irritation, Genna turned back to her journal and began writing again.

Okay, never mind. Gajeel isn't going to help me anymore and is now heading back to Magnolia. He had no interest in helping me and complained about being on this job with me. I told him I didn't need him and he could go back home, if he was so put off about being here. Now, I'm on my own. Which is fine. I don't need him. I'll get this job done without him. Just when I started thinking it'd be nice to get to know him more...well, now I don't think I want to. He's just a self-centered jerk. How is someone like him even in Fairy Tail? Because everyone else I've met thus far have been so kind and welcoming. Natsu even pretty much said I should be in the guild after only seeing my Aurora Borealis technique. How does Gajeel even fit? I just don't get it.

She heard someone come into the hut and was about to yell, thinking it was Gajeel, but it was Ike instead. He said to her, "We just saw your two friends leaving. Is everything okay?"

Closing her journal, she replied, "They were needed back home, but everything's fine. I'll take care of your guys' problem on my own. Don't you worry."

Another hour went by before the sun disappeared on the horizon and nighttime finally came. Genna felt a little nervous to go into a dark forest alone, but she knew it had to be done. There were people counting on her and she had to do it if she was going to make it into Fairy Tail. This was her chance and she wasn’t going to throw it away.

Cautiously, she stepped into the trees. Luckily, the moon was shining just bright enough that she could see where she was going. There was definitely an eerie chill in the air once she passed the tree line. She supposed it was the magic energy coming from the Dark Wizard lurking within. She kept on her guard as she made her way in, looking around to catch any sign of movement. For a moment, she wondered if this was a good idea, taking on someone like this alone at night. Maybe she shouldn't have sent Gajeel and Lily away. No, she couldn't think like that. This had to be done. She might've felt better knowing someone was there, but that wasn't the case anymore. Hopefully, this wouldn't be too bad.

Her thoughts were soon broken by growls in the near distance. Several pairs of glowing red or purple eyes began to materialize in the darkness followed by bodies that looked wolf-like in form. Around five of them crawled out from behind the trees and bushes, looking in her direction. Then there was another glowing purple light and from within the shadow of a nearby tree appeared a tall, thin man with black and purple hair that seemed to flow in the air like smoke. He wore a black and red suit and had glowing red tattoos and a malicious grin on his face. In his hand was a shadowy, metal shepherd's crook.

Having seen him emerge from a shadow, Genna thought to herself, "That must be how he was able to elude the villagers during the daytime. He literally hides in the shadows."

"Well, well...," he spoke, his voice cold and smooth. "Of all the Wizards those fools from the village could've sent to face me, they got a little girl? How pathetic."

Gritting her teeth, she responded firmly, "I'm no little girl, you creep. Now who are you?"

"Who am I? I am Darius, the Shadow Shepherd," he answered. "This forest is my domain now."

Genna took a defensive stance. "You've got one chance, Darius. Vacate this place or I'm going to force you out!"

Darius chuckled in amusement. "How quaint that you think I'm going to take orders from someone like you...but I think not. So why don't you just run along back home to your dolls, little girl?"

She smirked at him challengingly. "Sure, I'll do that...right after I beat you and throw you out of this forest."

"Not going to happen. Shadow Wolves, attack!" he cried, throwing out his hand and sending the wolves at her. With loud barks and growls, the creatures charged towards her.

Genna put out her hands with her fingertips together and exclaimed, "Starlight Magic Art! Galaxy Whip!"

From the magic circle she produced came a golden handle and a whip made of a line of stars. She grasped the handle tightly and thrust out the whip at the wolves running her way. It made contact with a couple of them, eliciting whines of pain. Her strikes missed a couple more and one shadow wolf leapt over her head, landing behind her. Genna swiftly turned around and whipped the wolf right on the side of the head, making it disappear into thin air. Then she turned back to the oncoming group of wolves.

"Shooting Stars!" she shouted and the starry whip she held transformed into an already drawn bow of light with multiple starry arrows. She released the bow and the arrows flew with streaks of light behind them, striking each wolf down and causing them to dissipate.

However, just as they vanished, Darius suddenly burst forth, catching her off guard, and attacked her with his crook. With a crack, he struck her in the arm and then her shoulder, making her stagger back. His continued attacks were swift, giving her no time to react and cast a spell. With every agonized cry, her whole body was throbbing in pain as he kept hitting her.

"Is this a joke?" he taunted her. "You really thought you were going to stop me? You can't even hit me."

With one final swipe, he struck her under her chin and sent her flying backwards into a tree with a loud thud. She collapsed as she hit the ground and rolled away. All of a sudden, two shadow monkey creatures, or Vulcans, appeared and pinned her arms to the ground. She struggled against them, but they were too strong for her.

"Oh no! I can't get free!" she thought with worry.

Darius cackled with triumph as he walked over and towered above her, his magic energy growing. "I was hoping for more of a challenge, but oh well," he said, his voice striking her to the core. "Thanks for the fun, anyway." He raised his crook over his head. "Say goodnight, little girl."

Genna screamed with fear as she awaited a powerful blow to strike.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!"

Suddenly, there was a loud swish followed by a metallic clang above her. The Vulcans cried out and disappeared and right then, standing defensively over Genna and blocking Darius' crook with a spiked iron sword made from his hand, was Gajeel.

"Gajeel?" Genna asked out loud in shock. He was there; he hadn't left after all.

Darius jumped back at being blocked by a sudden intruder. "Oh great, another one!" he cried, irritated.

Genna then heard Pantherlily's voice shout, "Get Genna to safety! I'll handle him for now!" Though, when he flew over them, he wasn't his normal small, cat self. He was a giant, muscular panther wielding a large red sword, which shocked Genna even more. He flew straight at the Shadow Shepherd and attacked him with his weapon.

Before she could fully process what was going on, she was suddenly scooped up in Gajeel's arms and he leapt away, practically flying a few feet away from danger. They landed behind some bushes and he set her down on the ground, kneeling on one knee across from her.

Just as she was about to ask why he came back, he cut her off by asking gruffly, "What's your problem, kid? Why aren't you fightin' him?"

She got on her knees and clutched at her arm that had been hit by Darius' crook, wincing in pain instead of answering. He noticed she was hurt and his demeanor immediately changed.

"You okay?" he asked, his tone now softer and touched with concern.

Admittedly, his initial questions affected her in the moment. She hadn't landed a single hit on Darius and wasn't able to fight him. He'd overpowered her in no time at all. Maybe she was in over her head. Maybe she couldn't do this job after all.

"I...I can't do it...!" she responded, her voice catching and tears springing to her eyes as she turned away in shame. "He's...too strong! I can't do it, Gajeel!"

Gajeel was taken aback at seeing Genna about to cry. He wasn't great at comforting people, but he also knew there was no time for her to be getting emotional. They still had a job to finish and she needed to pull herself together.

"Hey, look at me," he told her firmly while still trying to be gentle.

She didn't think she could look him in the eye, not after talking big before about being able to do this job on her own, so she squeezed her eyes shut as tears started falling from her eyes.

"Look at me, Genna."

Her eyes popped wide open at hearing him actually using her name and her gaze met his. The light of the moon caught his red eyes just right, illuminating his stern and steadfast gaze even more.

"You wanna be a part of Fairy Tail, don't ya?" he asked her.

"Y--yes," she timidly replied.

"Then this ain't the time to be givin' up," he stated, his eyes locked on her. "You said back at the guild you had other combat abilities. Well, now's the time to use 'em. This is your shot. You gotta show this bastard that you've got what it takes to be a Fairy Tail Wizard."

Genna gasped, astonished by Gajeel's sudden encouragement.

He kept going, "If you believe that, then you gotta get out there and hit him hard with what you've got, ya hear me?"

In that moment, she no longer felt helpless and afraid. Thanks to his words, she had a new sense of purpose and determination. He was right. She still believed she had a chance and she couldn't throw away her shot.

With a nod and a grin, she said back, "I hear you!"

Gajeel grinned back and snickered, satisfied at her turnaround. He stood up and then held out a hand to her. "We'll take him down together," he said.

"You're going to help me?" she questioned, taking his hand.

As he pulled her to her feet, he responded with, "Only 'cause I don't wanna deal with Erza's wrath if I went back to the guild without ya."

She grimaced slightly. "Oh, so you're just doing this to save your own skin," she observed, unamused.

However, he snickered again and said back, "You're catchin' on quick, Genny." Then he leapt away to get back into the fight.

"Seriously?" she asked, both to him and more out loud to herself as she too jumped back into the fray. It was clear that he knew her name. Now, he was just doing it to irk her.

Pantherlily got pushed back a few feet by Darius and the Shadow Shepherd summoned more shadow creatures, this time that looked like wild cats. They snarled and charged towards them. With a loud grunt, Gajeel shifted his hands into iron clubs and shot them at a couple of the cats, hitting them hard enough to make them dissipate. Pantherlily took on the other side, swinging his sword hard and wide and taking out more of the creatures.

Seeing she wouldn't be able to help where she was without getting in the way, Genna jumped up in the air and cried out, "Phoenix Wings!" On her back appeared the formation of the Phoenix constellation before it turned into big, golden, starry wings that sprouted from her back, lifting her high above the fight.

Gajeel heard her cry out and looked up to see her hovering in the air. His eyes went wide and he shouted, "Whoa, you can fly?"

"With this spell, I can!" she cried down to him. She spotted one creature close to him coming up behind him and he wasn't paying attention. "Look out! Stellar Shot!" In her hands appeared her bow of light again, but this time, it only fired a single starry arrow at the creature coming up behind Gajeel.

He watched the arrow hit and destroy the shadow cat behind him and he smirked up at the girl who had his back. "Thanks, kid," he said.

She gave him a nod in return.

They resumed fighting, throwing as much of their magic as they could at the shadow creatures in their way, but Darius was making it impossible for them to get to him. Any time the creatures were destroyed, he would just summon more in their place and then just stand there and watch them fight. Each time, they seemed tougher and fiercer than the last. Genna, Gajeel and Lily were slowly being drained of their strength and magic energy just taking on these shadow creatures alone.

After some time fighting, Gajeel and Lily fell back to regroup while Darius continued summoning more of his shadow demons, waiting for them to make the first move.

With heavy breath, Gajeel commented, "Man...I've dealt with more powerful guys before, but this one ain't messin' around."

"You're right. He's putting up a hard fight, to say the least," added Lily.

"No kiddin'," Gajeel said.

"Gajeel! Lily!" they heard Genna call out as she came soaring down from the sky to where they were, landing by them. She also was looking a little worse for wear like they were.

"Are you all right, Genna?" inquired Lily.

"I'm okay. I've got a little magic energy left," she replied a little strained. "Our singular attacks aren't doing much. We can't even get to Darius. If we're going to take him down, we need a coordinated attack and we gotta hit him at the same time."

"What do ya suggest?" asked Gajeel.

"Do you have a plan?" Lily also inquired.

With a resolute expression on her face, she explained, "I do. We need to get rid of the shadow creatures first so we can get to Darius. I'll handle the creatures; I've got a spell that can probably take them all out at once. Though, it might use up the rest of my magic power. Once I do that, Gajeel, you go for him on my signal. Then Lily, you take him up so he can get Darius from above."

Both Gajeel and Lily exchanged pleased looks with each other. Genna was quite the strategist and they both thought her plan was bound to work.

Looking back at her, Lily responded, "You got it." Then he turned back to Gajeel and held out something to him, saying, "You'll need this then, my friend."

Both Gajeel and Genna directed their attention to what Lily was holding and, to their surprise, he had the Shadow Shepherd's metal crook. In his fight with the Dark Wizard, Lily had managed to disarm him and took the crook with him.

Gajeel immediately got a toothy grin on his face and chuckled with delight. "All right!" he exclaimed.

Then, to Genna's utter astonishment, he started eating the metal crook like it was a late night snack. She'd never seen anything like this in her life!

Within just a few seconds, he downed the entire weapon and, with a fulfilled sigh, patted his stomach and declared, "Not to sound like Salamander, but I got a fire in my belly now!"

"You sound exactly like Natsu," commented Lily.

Knowing she'd have to inquire further about what she just witnessed at a later time, Genna pushed all that aside and turned around to face where Darius was waiting, ready to make her final move. It was now or never.

Then she informed the other two over her shoulder, "One more thing: you're gonna want to close your eyes for this." Without waiting for them to respond, she burst forward and sprinted towards the Shadow Wizard, who was now sending his horde of shadow creatures in her direction.

"Come on, let this work!" she thought.

Then she skidded to a halt and brought her hands up again in front of her, building up what remaining magic energy she had and feeling it flow through her. "Starlight Magic Art! Solar Flare!" she shouted loudly, throwing her arms out to her sides and conjuring a powerful wave of bright and blinding white light that flew out towards the shadow demons. She could see all of them disappearing in wisps of shadow the moment the light collided with them, just as she had hoped, leaving Darius stunned and alone.

"Now, Gajeel!" she cried out.

"You got it, Genna!" she heard him yell back.

Up in the sky, Lily came flying down towards the ground carrying Gajeel and with a cry, threw Gajeel and sent him zooming in the direction of Darius, who was looking up at him wide-eyed with fear. Gajeel clapped his hands together in front of him and his arms started fusing together in magical light until they became one gigantic sword.

He let out his final, echoing battle cry, "Iron Dragon Secret Art! Karma Demon: Iron God Sword!"

With one fell swoop of his magical weapon, he struck down where Darius stood and the area around them exploded in rubble, dirt and dust. Genna covered her eyes as the wave from the impact washed over her, but then looked on through the dust cloud as she gradually walked forward. Where was Gajeel? Or Darius? Had her planned worked?

The cloud slowly died away and then she spotted Gajeel getting up from the ground to his feet inside a newly-formed crater. In the middle of the crater laid the Shadow Shepherd, unconscious.

Gajeel looked over his shoulder at Genna approaching and offered a reassuring look to her that told her everything she needed to know.

Her plan had worked. They had won.

A heavy sigh of relief escaped her lips and right then, the adrenaline of the moment wore off and her legs buckled beneath her, reminding her how weak she now was. Once she realized this, she expected to collapse and hit the ground...but her fall was halted and she found herself being held in Gajeel's arms. She had no idea he could move so quickly, but she wasn't complaining. This was better than hitting hard, solid ground with her whole body.

With an impressed smirk, he simply told her, "Nice work, Princess."

She managed a small chuckle and replied, "Thanks...and thanks for coming back, metal head."

#fairy tail #fairy tail gajeel #gajeel redfox #gajeel x oc fic #ironstar fanfic

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tardistimeladyyeah · 5 months ago

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This is what I've been trying to tell people but most of them jump to insane conclusions about what I meant by the post like

Did you actually read it or did you see that I said you should vote and you just decided to melt down because THIS is what I'm talking about

I think another thing they don't understand is that you've gotta vote to make changes. One person I interacted with tried to quote a song about not voting and dude I listen to Tears For Fears. Some of their songs may not come off as political at first but "Shout" and "Mothers Talk" (literally written about nuclear war) and even "Sowing The Seeds of Love" has political elements. They encourage me to be vocal about my dissatisfaction with my representatives and the government while also being aware of the consequences of bad governance.

It's voter apathy at its finest. They think they're betraying a cause when really they're betraying the cause by not voting. They either think that their votes won't matter, they're lazy and don't want to take the like thirty minutes it takes to vote, they want attention, they live in a bubble that tells them that voting is bad (good God that's a horrible belief to maintain but I understand it as a person in a deep red state) or that it does nothing, they live in a different country (I had to tell someone why Clinton wasn't President despite their insistence that she won the election like yes but no), or they didn't pay attention in civics. I feel like they think that they can just protest but not vote and everything will change when really the only way for change to happen is to vote. That's the only way for change to happen.

I don't hate these people, but they really grind my gears since literally all of the change that has happened in the United States has come from a combination of protest, candidates who support change, and voting to get those candidates into office and keeping others who do not support the change out of office.

My problem is with them encouraging others not to vote. Of course, them not voting is a problem in of itself, but encouraging others not to vote because of ONE policy issue is not how this should work. If you're upset about one policy issue, just find the candidate who aligns closest to your view and pick them. If they're both similar, dig deep and think about other things you care about. Healthcare (especially healthcare that is under attack like abortion and Trans healthcare), mental health, education, LGBTQIA+ discrimination, race-based discrimination, even voting rights. Just pick something. There has got to be something else that you care about besides Palestine. And hey, maybe we can work Palestine into your issue. Let's say, I want improved healthcare for immigrants (that would include Palestinians who seek asylum in the United States). Or, maybe you want improved education for the children of Palestinian immigrants seeking refuge.

It's hard to change the minds of these people because they genuinely believe they're doing the right thing by staying home on election day. They'd rather not improve upon a country that needs MAJOR change (but can be changed if we put the right people in office and I think Kamala Harris is a great start). They think that not voting at the expense of both Palestinians and Americans (some of whom are actively suffering under restrictions on abortion, Trans healthcare, or being actively harmed by discrimination everywhere just because of who they love).

Government is hard. Voting isn't (unless you live in Texas. Holy crap, y'all got problems and I'm from the state to the west and we've got major problems too. Of course, voting in Texas isn't impossible). Is voting against some of your beliefs hard? Yes. Is it necessary in life because there will NEVER, EVER be a candidate that checks all of your boxes? Yes. THERE. WILL. NEVER. BE. THE. PERFECT. CANDIDATE. However, it is not worth not voting because you don't like either and it is especially wrong to try to tell others not to vote when it's literally how democracy works.

At this point it's important to try to keep others from falling down the "don't vote because it's bad" path by catching them before it happens. It's important to educate and inform people about the potential consequences of not voting (and of voting third party) and why voting is important.

via 2rawtooreal2

NEVER THROW YOUR VOTE AWAY!

(captions added by me)

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shiroichiban · 3 years ago

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Oh my god I saw your recent post 13 mins late 😦

Anyways what ab 4town with a s/o who is really shy but when around them she's more expressive?

Also congrats on 184 followers ‼️‼️

hncidjdeidjeke thanks 🥺🥺, anyways this is literally me irl so it was fun to write! (quiet on the outside screeching like a demon around friends kinda vibe)

4town x shy s/o headcanons~

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　robaire　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

honestly when he was still in the phase of getting close to you and becoming friends, he wasn’t really expecting you to be this loud?? he loves this new side of you of course but it was definitely a shock when you first started opening up to him. like now that one time you two were strolling in the park…

“OHMYGOD RO LOOK” “HUH WHY WHAT’S WRONG??” “IT’S A FROG ON A LOG!!” you smiled as you took various photos of a frog on a log as robaire kinda stood there like 🧍poor boy genuinely thought you were hurt or something since he’d never heard you shout before—

but once he got over that it was smooth sailing :DD the people around you also slowly started thinking that robaire was your boyfriend before you even started dating (damn dude just confess already) it was generally just the way you’d be 😐 most of the time but when robaire walks into the room you become ☺️

and although robaire likes pda he’ll tone it down for you, settling on just holding your hand or standing beside you. in private though it’s just one big cuddlefest <33 snuggling while laying on top of him on the couch and peppering kisses all over his face as you watch a movie or something

honestly robaire likes keeping the more expressive side of you to himself, he’ll say it time and time again that he loves all sides of you but this facet of you is reserved for him and only him

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　jesse　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

jesse's honestly really chill with the way you are, you being shy doesn't bother him and he just assumes you'll be like that all the time.

he's kinda like... your dad?? i dunno people will be talking about you and he'll interject like; "oh yeah they're kinda quiet but–" "no they're not." "h-huh?" "really they're not, just yesterday they were screaming about how cute this cat was, here i have a picture of it." he has those accordion folders of pictures in his wallet, the pictures are generally you, his kids, you and his kids, and one cursed picture of 4town

random ass conversations with this man that if people happened to listen in on you they'd think you're crazy...

"babe some cats look like cows, but cows don't look like cats and i just think it's so unfair." jesse being supportive of your... intuitive thinking will just respond with, "i know right so unfair."

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　tae young　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

honestly i think the two of you are pretty similar in the sense that you're outwardly shy but when it's just the two of you in private, or in the presence of some close friends, it's an absolute warzone with how chaotic you two are.

not really sure how you two function in public when it comes to date nights though;

"dove tell the waiter i want an iced tea..." "huh why me?" "how else do i do it then DD:" "ok ok i'll do it, oh shit they're coming here what do i say?!"

y'all got your food in the end though don't worry

when it's just the two of you having a home date or something you whip out a small karaoke machine!! have you gotten a noise complaint? yes :)), but it was only once you've toned it down since then!!

the two of you have the best cuddle piles, tae young generally get's tired from being a public figure and needing to present himself as extroverted all the time, while you're just tired of living in a world where you need to interact with other people to survive >://

cuddling under the blankets and falling asleep there all the damn time to the point you neglect to even use your bed

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　aaron t　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

every energetic boy needs a low energy s/o!!

there's kinda a gap image cause in public your dynamic is just 😚😐 and in private y'all become total lovebirds like 😚🥰

people are like "are you sure they're a good fit for you they don't seem that affectionate?" while t is like, "oh you should see them in private."

you flirt with him with cheesy pick up lines or you do the thing where you pull a finger heart out of your pocket to cheer him up

you with t all the time ngl

whenever he's feeling down you amp up your love for him by like 100x because you will not stand to see your baby boo sad!!

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　aaron z　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

unlike with t you're dynamic is just 😐😐 in public and 😳🥰 in private

he blushes a lot when u tell him u love him and all that sweet stuff 🥺

and when the two of you started opening up to each other there was one time you sat on z's lap instead of next to him like usual and he deadass exploded on the spot

the first time you break out into a full blown smile with him he can't help but blush and die inside because god gave him a fucking angel and that's you holy shit you're adorable oh my god he loves you why are you so cute??

you end up caring and coddling him more in private, "you did so well today baby, i saw your practice with the others today you looked so cool!!" all that sweet sweet praise

does z end up developing a praise kink because of you? perhaps, i shall not deny

#4town #4town x reader #4town aaron z #4town aaron t #4town jesse #4town robaire #4town taeyoung #request

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needsmorewlw · 2 years ago

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Again I'm so late to this tag train but I'M HERE NOW

Ty for the mentions everyone! alot of em got lost in my feed but ily. if you said I was your fave writer because of my hcs just know I DID cry about it. Y'all are adorable. I can't write for shit. I use "like" as a conjuntion. But I love you.

Favourite and least favourite counselor and why:

No one is surprised my fave counselors are Dylan and Kaitlyn. They can do no wrong they will live in my head forever.

Least fave?? Ehh... honestly this is one of those things where when I replay the actual game, there are characters who annoy me but when I'm interacting with the fandom I love those same characters and they're my beautiful babies.

So I guess if I had to pick some it would be Jacob and Laura. Don't get me wrong I love them in the fandom but like I said, when I replay the game I find myself getting irked by their writing. Y'all fanfic writers are too good tbh. Giving me unrealistic expectations.

Favourite and least favourite chapter and why:

CHAPTER NINE and yes entirely for the scrapyard scene. Best sequence of the whole game hands down.

Least fave would probs be chapter 7. Like it was obviously an exposition chapter but it definitely coulda been more interesting. Laura and Max escaping and making their plan woulda been fun to play instead of it ending as soon as it got interesting 😭 the Laura/Ryan/Travis scene at the end of chapter 10 also sucked ass. I've made my peace with the ending being Garbo but I'll still say it.

Favourite ship:

Just like everyone else, Radioheads and blygbank. Absolute babes. Can't get enough of them. I need to eat the content.

Biggest counselor crush:

This may come as a surprise but it's Emma. Idk if it's because of Halston Sage but I know that if I met Emma irl I would be intimated by and attracted to her just like all my past gfs

How would you survive in The Quarry?:

My instinct is to say I wouldn't but let me give myself the benefit of the doubt here.

I would have been right there with Dylan overthinking and bringing up stuff from horror movies Ive seen and comparing it to the situation I'm in.

And I'd also befriend Kaitlyn and hide behind her so I think she'd do all the work keeping me safe tbh. Although I do have a really good aim not to brag 💅 I clean up at those shooting games at fair and carnivals and I can throw axes with accuracy so maybe I'd be fine 😌🤌

Favourite fic writers and fanartists:

Writers: @drylan @five-rat-lore @mothamcity @dylan-lenivy-appreciation-day @lowonmelatonin @chipper9906 there's undoubtedly more but just off the top of my head <<

Artists: @divomria (you breathe air right into my lungs. I hope you're safe and well x) @denkicide @korianderbandit @garbage--chan @somecleverartname05 @lenillusion again there's probably more but just off the top of my head y'all are incredibly talented.

Some friends you've made in the fandom:

I've been wildly busy and bad at making friends as of late I'm sorry, but I'll just shout out all my mutuals and people I keep seeing in my activity feed. @lowonmelatonin @wlwmages @amberpriceenthusiast @drylan @stressedanime @blygbank @goodpointsandbadpoints @faeremis @116t98 @ggh0stb0yy @alwaysher @bisexualmultifandommess and everyone else who I tagged earlier and everyone who's all up in my notes interacting with my posts you've made this fandom so fun 💕 You're all so fun and sweet and I consider us friends 😌🤌

#tag game #the quarry #fr this fandom is so fun youre all the cutest #im so sorry if i missed anyone im on my lunch break zooming though ny notes for people to tag 😭

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foodiemeja · 3 years ago

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Pairing: Emily x reader x Sam uley

Warnings: Arguing, Angst, Yelling, Some Cussing, Poly relationship, Crying, Alpha mentions.

[A/N]- I'm sorry if this makes anyone's toes crinkle.... So I love y'all and I'm sorry if it's bad. And sorry for the fact that I keep hitting y'all with these angst lately.... Also I will be accepting any ideas/ requests I just have to clear my slate!!! This one feels kinda short tbh. I WRITTEN THIS LONG AGO I PROMISE THIS IS JUST SOMETHING TO FEED YALL HUNGRY PEOPLE FOR NOW!!

"Why are you so stuck up Y/N! Why can't you just listen!?. You make life difficult for yourself and everyone around you!" Sam shouted. Y'all had been fighting over how to plan all three of y'all's wedding. Sam and you were gonna surprise Emily with a ring, flowers, and some of her favorite snacks to propose to her. Of course he had asked you to be his bride first but you wanted to make it special for all of y'all since, Emily had been working hard supplying the pack and what not.

The only problem was, was literally y'all two butting heads. Y'all are both alphas. So one dominant is out of the question. You can expect a fight of top in bed. But everything Sam had picked out for Emily you disagreed with. You honestly thought he knew nothing about her. But since this problem started, it just got larger, and larger, over the course of two weeks. "I am listening, you just have shitty ideas!" You barked right back at him. "No, you aren't listening to anything I'm saying, I have wonderful ideas that you just wouldn't understand!" Emily that was in between you two had now been grabbed and put to Sam's side like you had done something wrong.

"Why would I try to understand something so stupid! It's like you don't even know our own girlfriend!." He huffed and clenched his fists. He was angry. You both were. Emily could obviously see that this was gonna get ugly. "Come on guys please just calm down." Her smooth voice breaking the heating tension. " Be honest with her Emily. There's nothing to calm down about. We knew this wasn't gonna work on the first place! You even said it." Your eyes widened. What's not gonna work?. "Sam please. You're frustrated, she doesn't deserve this!" Who doesn't deserve this?. What happened?. Did you do something wrong?. "What are you talking about Sam.." Sam had turned back to you with furrowed brows and blazing eyes. "I only kept you around because Emily had a little crush, and wanted to try something new. Why the fuck would I let another alpha in, on a already loving happy relationship y/n?!". That hit you. Eyes feeling like rivers. Water falls of tears staining your cheeks. No. What?. They're lying. Please just be a stupid prank.

"Me and Emily even sat in bed and planned how we were gonna break it down to you while you were in the shower the other night." Sniffles now breaking the silence. Your heart shattering Infront of their very eyes. Why? Were you not enough? You were so happy. You didn't even get to tell them the big surprise you had planned before it all went to hell. "I was just a damn play thing, Sam?" He was no longer angry. The desperation and longing in your voice broke him. He didn't want to ever say something like that. Never. Especially to someone he loved and adored.

He reached out for your trembling body. As soon as you saw his arm moving your way you moved back. How could he say something so heartbreaking and then feel bad!. You didn't deserve this. You always felt like a add on. Just a pawn to their bond. A month ago you honestly started to fell like you were truly in the relationship. But all of those feelings were blown away. Like a leaf on a fall tree. "O-okay. I understand now. I'm sorry for any trouble I caused." You wiped your tears and went for your keys. Shutting the door ever so lightly. Emily came running after you tears forming in her eyes while Sam stood at the door. His hard stone face turned soft and sad.

If that's how they truly felt then so be it. You weren't driving anywhere in particular. Maybe you were to immature. To young. Maybe you weren't a strong Alpha like him. Maybe you were too much of an alpha for him. Did Emily even love you?. All those cracked, and broken heart feeling words carving into your skull. 'we love you y/n, please understand how much we deeply care for you.' Dead words from two shared lovers. Y'all had a plan. Y'all were going to get married. You didn't even get to share your surprise. But one things for sure. Your surprise should be stress free.

It's not good for a pregnant woman to be stressed.

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savebatsartedition · 8 months ago

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Continued!!

Anyone want me to redraw these some time??? I would like to!

(More notes under the cut.)

Instructions:

2022 edit: Wow that first drawing stinks. XD (In my opinion.) It's okay though, literally everything else slaps.

I AM NOT ENCOURAGING GOING ON YOUTUBE! DO NOT GO NEAR IT IF YOUR PARENTS SAY NO!!!

Press the green flag and use the space key/click/tap to look through my fanart.

Please don't steal my art, I spent a while on this.

Please don't start an argument in my comment section again.

Here is the first project: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/402453541/ Here is the second project: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/405652980/

This is technically not the third Scratchcraft fanart project I made, but the fourth! As the first one got taken down, it's on my Youtube channel (SavebatsFromScratch), but be warned, it got taken down for blood, and I didn't take it out.

I drew some fanart of Storm's live stream and in those I drew him with cat ears because people wanted him to have a language on that had something to do with cats so yeah, sorry, it's not a furry thing.

And another apology, I drew Storm's eyes wrong in the other projects because I always had night light on when I saw his Minecraft skin so I thought the eyes were red, sorry guys!

Sorry lighting makes no sense as usual.

Sorry one of the drawings of BMB has the wrong color shirt, I'm too tired to fix it.

Sorry some of them are terrible.

Sorry, I don't know why I drew Kenpoviper so much this time.

I made about half of these in one siting.

Sorry in general but yeah. (Tv T \ )

Also, I haven't watched all the episodes that are out yet, so don't complain that I didn't draw something.

Um also I think Misq deleted his episodes (totally his choice, don't harass him.) or something so the context of two or so fanarts might not make sense anymore, I can't do anything about it.

Fanart Numbers: BoyMcBoy: 3 PotatoAnimator: 2 Magnileve: 2 Huntedskelly: 3 Mallon: 2 Misq: 4 Kenpo: 8 Storm: 5 AK: 3 WildCrazyGoose: 1

Lastly, if any of y'all find something reportable in the project, please tell me before reporting, I will try to change it. (I don't think anything is, so I want a fair try to stop it getting reported.)

Notes and Credits:

The people who made the 7 different songs. Scratch for the place a drew everything. The Scratchers in Scratchcraft.

The Scratchers in Scratchcraft are these guys, go follow and sub to them! If you like their stuff of course. (All content, animation or video is great, drop some likes, loves and favorites! >^v^<) @-BoyMcBoy-: McBoy Studios @huntedskelly: huntedskelly @Magnileve: Magnileve @PotatoAnimator: PotatoAnimator @WildCrazyGoose: WildCrazyGoose @unknownscratcher1234: KenpoViper @Haunted_Enderman: StormLordZeus @Misq: Misq @ArcanisHD : Janklin @Mallonations: Mallonations

Also @huntedskelly, @unknownscratcher1234, @Mallonations, and @PotatoAnimator get an extra shout out for the usual reason. >^-^< (But thanks to anyone else who loves, or favorites, or comments.)

fanart #art #scratchcraft #ihatehashtags

More old Scratchcraft stuff! :D (Yep, still four years old lol.)

(I ran out of image space in this post for this project, so we're going forward in a reblog lol.) (My extra notes will also be there. :3)

#digital art #scratchcraft #mcyt #boymcboy #potatoanimator #magnileve #huntedskelly #mallonations #misq scratchcraft #kenpoviper #stormlordzeus #archanisHD #wildcrazygoose

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themoonmunchkin · 4 years ago

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Don't look!

Pairing : Bakugo katsuki x gn!reader, Midoriya Izuku x gn!reader, Todoroki Shoto x gn!reader.

Genre : fluff

Warnings : insecure reader, cussing, savage deku?, kinda angsty but overall super fluffy ^3^

Synopsis : you're insecure about your side profile but they're having none of it.

Not gonna lie, he probably wouldn't even have known that this was an insecurity that people had.

So when you first start dating he wouldn't think much of it when you cover your nose while laughing or when you contour your jawline extra hard.

Until one day you start letting your thoughts get to you again, you think about how everyone around you have such a beautiful side profile.

You start wondering why Katsuki even bothers to be with someone as "ugly" as yourself, I mean has he seen his face.

But anyways you start distancing yourself from the world again, start hiding your face with your hair, have mental break downs in the night, refuse to take pictures and completely shut him out while thinking you're being subtle.

But no, no, no- my mans noticed...and he's currently having a full blown panic attack on the inside.

He's really worried at this point and starts thinking about what he's done wrong, he tries to talk to you but you're always making excuses and running away from him.

Now, he's had enough and so he quite literally barges into your dorm room and demands an explanation as he keeps shouting at you until....

.....he takes in your tear stained face with fresh tears forming at the corner of your eyes.

You were seated on the floor with a hand mirror clutched to your chest, the same one that you use to point out all your insecurities in, your phone is on the ground next to you with a picture of a model, her perfect side profile on display...the same one that you always compare yourself to.

Cue in a confused, angry and sad boom boom boy 😔.

Who the fuck had the audacity to make his baby cry hmm 🤬.

But then his anger vanishes just as it comes and before you knew it, he's shut the door behind him, quickly walks upto you, swoops you into his arms and cradles you in his lap.

"Ssshhh....its ok baby, I'm right here". Bakugo softly coos in your ear while running his fingers through your hair and letting his other hand rub your back. "Talk to me honey, what's wrong?"

You pull back a little and look up at him into his pain filled eyes that still hold so much love for you and that's when you tell him everything.

You tell him about how you've always hated your nose, how you've always wished you'd had a more chiseled jawline, how you've been bullied about your side profile by your peers and how you've never felt good enough.

He still doesn't get it because you're genuinely the most stunning person he's ever laid his eyes on, but understands how this is something that seriously bothers you and so he's gonna do everything in his powers to yeet those insecurities out.

Now Bakugo isn't one to lie or sugarcoat something, but he's also not someone who'll let you sit and hurt yourself like that.

He takes a deep breath, cups your cheeks in his hands and looks at you with the most earnest look on his face.

"Listen here baby, you're right maybe you don't have the most chiseled jawline or the sharpest nose out there-"

You winced at that a little but he was quick to speak again.

"I'm not done yet-" he closes his eyes and thinks for a second, words have never been his thing as he's someone who prefers actions instead but right now you needed more than just a kiss or a hug, you needed security and reassurance, so he takes in another deep breath and opens his eyes to look at you again.

"-just because you don't have those doesn't mean you're any less beautiful." He said with a smile as you curiously looked at him. You looked so damn cute to him all he wanted to do was pounce on you right then and there, but he held himself back for your sake and the next things he said made you fall in love with him even more.

"What you have suits your gorgeous fucking face, you don't have to change for any stupid extra and no one's opinion, not even yours is going to make me view you any differently or make me love you any less." He leaned in and gave you a chaste kiss on your lips that pretty much took your breath away and then he pulled back with a cute blush on his face.

"So from now on only listen to me okay and no matter what-" he kisses you again and pulls back a second time "-I will make you look at yourself the way I and so many other people look at you".

Now he's had his fair share of insecurities and he's had a lot of people call him "plain looking" (which I still don't understand how when he's got some of the rarest and most beautiful features) even then those words about his looks have never really got to him.

But when it comes to you, he immediately knows something's up with all those self-deprecating jokes you apparently find to be funny.

Doesn't question you cause he doesn't want to scare you away, also because he trusts you to come to him if something is wrong.

But alas you and your stubborn ass refused to seek help from anyone and instead you chose to cope with yourself by putting yourself down in the form of those awful "jokes".

You've always tried to get yourself to stop this, but it soon became more than a coping mechanism, it was the only way you could hold yourself up without wanting breaking into peices.

That was dangerous.

But it's ok! It's still all fine and dandy until one day everything changes and you realise that all that self-deprecation didn't do shit.

Its Sunday today and you and your boyfriend Izuku have been walking around the shopping plaza for a while now.

The two of you were on a date, but you were also on a hunt for the new all might merch that your boyfriend has been fangirling about since forever. So far there was no luck on your end but y'all weren't about to give up just yet.

"OMG! I think I see it in there!" Izuku squeals cutely while pointing at what looks like a moderately big comic store that had an emo cyber punk looking aesthetic to it.

*Gasp*..."OMG! I think I see it too!! Let's go!!" and with that you grabbed his hand and were dragging your blushy stuttering mess of a boyfriend towards the store. It was adorable how easily he got flustered even after how the two of you were almost half a year into dating.

The two of you finally reached the store and stepped in, there it was the brand new neon tinted holographic Allmight figuring with working layers. Izuku's eyes sparkled as he ran towards it and immediately snatched it off the shelf.

"Yay we finally got it!" You cheered as you walked over to him and gave him a high five. The two of you had bright smiles on your faces as you talked about the figuring and walked towards the counter to pay for it.

You looked towards the counter where a young girl who looked about your age was working as a cashier, she had this bored expression on her face until she saw your boyfriend and it immediately changed into something you could only call as a flirty expression.

"Hey there handsome~ what can I help you with today~" she said in a sultry tone and gave him a wink. You and izuku were both puzzled at the fact that she not only just openly flirted with your boyfriend but also completely ignored your existence.

"U-um....er....we just need this figuring please". Izuku placed the box covered figuring on the counter and was about to pull his hands back when she quickly grabbed them and cupped them with her own hands.

"You sure, how about I give you my number and we ditch this place to go get coffee."

"Um -uh no thank you, I have a s/o!"

"Hmm...I don't see them."

"Well I'm right here and maybe you'd have seen me if you'd stop flirting with your customers and did your job properly." You said and at this point you were seething because even though she knew you were right there, she hadn't spared you a glance and pretend like you were completely invisible.

"Oh, so that's who you are....I was wondering why such an ugly person would be hanging out with someone like him-" she pauses and looks into Izuku's eyes with a bored expression "-you need to raise your standards, I mean have you looked at how hideous their nose is or how ugly their face is."

The two of you froze. Sure You've always made fun of yourself before but this was the exact reason why. You've always told yourself that if you'd make fun of yourself, you'd be desensitized to what others say to you but it's only now you realize that no amount of preparation would ever be enough to handle the real thing.

Shame. Humiliation. Pain. Fear.....This is what you felt at the momen-

"How. Dare. You." You turned towards Izuku and for the first time ever you were met with the most terrifying expression on his face. His eyes were dark and he looked...mad....like really really mad and you froze, the cashier looked like she was about to cry with the look he was giving her.

"I don't know who you think you are but you had no need to say whatever you just said and you are wrong because they have the most gorgeous facial features ever." at this he turned to you and softened his eyes a bit, he reached for your hand and gave you a gentle squeeze.

"I promise you sweetheart, you will always be the most beautiful person in my life and no one can tell you otherwise-" he looked at the slack jawed cashier with disgust and pointed towards her "-not stupid people like her-" he looked back into your eyes like you were the only two people in the store and pointed towards himself "-not me and lastly never will you ever tell yourself those kinds of words again even as a joke, got it."

Always openly staring at you in the most respectful way ✨.

Even before y'all started dating he would always stare at you in secret, but hey! it's not his fault you were so irresistibly attractive all the time.

Uhm...so moving on, he is observant as heck especially when it comes to you but unfortunately he's just as oblivious T_T.

He's always noticed how you'd get shy and walk away whenever he'd stare at you for too long and genuinely thinks it's adorable at how bashful you get.

But truthfully.....you're mortified, paranoid even at how much he stares at you.

I mean yeah it's adorable to see him so whipped for you but you're always wondering if he's secretly bashing your side profile in his head and the thought makes you wince ever single time.

But you always tell yourself to not let your insecurities define Shoto or effect your relationship and besides Shoto isn't a cruel person, he'd never think of you that way.....right...?

Oh God, he's doing it again, he's staring at you and this time it truly is terrible because he is seated right beside you. The two of you are seated wooden chairs, side by side in the U.A. library.

Your textbooks and notebooks are spread out on the table in front of you. You're in a more secluded part of the library opting to study in a more private area and boy oh boy did Shoto take advantage of that.

"Shoto, could you please stop staring at me like that". You held your textbook upto your face and looked the other way.

"But I want to look at you". Shoto pouted slightly and furrowed his brows at your actions, he reached for your wrists and tried to pull them down and to much to your inconvenience, he succeeded.

You see, while you still had a bunch of work left to do, Shoto had finished about 15 minutes ago. You told him to go back to the dorms but instead of listening to you, he denied your offer and has been staring at you with the most unreadable expression on his face.

"Why can't I admire the one that I love the most". He slightly tilted his head towards the side and flashed you the most genuine smile. Damn him for being so adorable but that's not enough for your insecurities to go away.

"Because I'm ugly". You finally said softly with your head hung low and tears threatening to fall. You wanted to shrivel up in a corner and fade away for sounding so vulnerable but at the same time it felt so good to let your thoughts out.

"You're....what..." His eyes were wide and his jaw was set a slack. Now this took him by surprise, he had expected a lot of things but never once had he expected....that. He gently grabbed your chin and tilted your face to meet his. "Love, you're the most beautiful person I've ever met, why would you ever say that."

"Because I'm not beautiful, everyone has such a gorgeous face especially from their side. I don't and you don't have to lie to me to make feel better about myself. I know I'm ugly and I'll always be that....just let me accept that and be Shoto." You said with your voice slightly raised and shaky from the lump in your throat.

Shoto's eyes darkened a little and his grip on you tightened a little but not enough to hurt you. To even think that someone as precious as yourself could ever have such awful thoughts about yourself- how long have you been silently suffering like this all by yourself.

He cupped your cheeks with his hands and met your eyes with the most determined look on his face. "Darling, I don't know who said that to you or even if that's an inside voice but, I will absolutely never let you accept yourself this way."

"Everything about you is perfect, from those gorgeous eyes that i always get lost in," he kisses your eyes.

"-to that perfect nose that helps you breath so you could live by my side another," he kisses your nose.

"-to those delicate beckoning lips that I wish to kiss forever." he finally captures your lips in a breath taking kiss just to slowly release them and look at you.

"And besides, you know better than to call me a liar baby, you know that I would never lie when it comes to you so let's pack up for today and let me show you how much I love you and how utterly enticing you are."

#writing #fiction #reading #reader insert #headcanon #bnha x reader #mha bakugou #bakugou x reader #bnha todoroki #todoroki x reader #midoriya x reader #mha midoriya #midoriya fluff #midoriya headcanons #bakugou fluff #bakugou katsuki #todoroki shoto

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rocksandrobots · 3 years ago

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Phantoms of the Past: Ch. 5 - Best friends, Boyfriends, and Barons Part 1

"Hey Miss Itamae! Ready for a whole new school year? Hee...hee...eeeh.... yeah, fine." Hiro gave up trying to make small talk with the lunch lady as she unceremoniously slopped meatloaf onto his plate.

Today was the first day of the fall semester and the start of Hiro's second year at SFIT. It felt odd to him, to look back and realize just how much time had passed; how much things had changed during the previous year.

A year ago, today, he had been attending Tadashi's funeral and now he was going about his life as if everything was normal. Well, almost normal. He was also moonlighting as a superhero, adopting an out of time teenager as his new big brother, and befriending deadly robots.

Life was weird.

Of course it wasn't as if he could ignore his loss completely. He had noticed the flowers and cards placed at the foot of Tadashi's memorial over by the exhibition hall. People still remembered that his brother had died a hero. Folks that he didn't even know had left their condolences today, though most of the gifts were from Tadashi's teachers and friends.

Hiro had particularly noticed a painting Honey Lemon had left, of her, Tadashi, and the rest of their friends. He also spotted Gogo sitting out there early that morning, lighting a candle in his brother's memory. He had given her her space, choosing not to interrupt. Gogo and Tadashi had been especially close.

Hiro remembered how excited his brother had been when Gogo finally agreed to go out with him. Tadashi had hurried about their bedroom, a couple of days before the fire, fretting over where to take her on their first date. A date that they had never gotten to go on. At the time Hiro had teased him relentlessly, never passing up the chance to deflate his brother's ego. Now it was just another bittersweet memory to look back on.

Fred abruptly snapped him out of his mournful reflection. "Steve." was all he said as he grabbed Hiro by the shoulders.

"Steve? Uh, my name is Hiro, remember Fred?"

"No, no, no, Steve was the name of the ninja robot that Trina found. She said he was held in a warehouse downtown, along with all the other ninjas. Don't you see, that's our big break! We find this warehouse and then we can track down the mysterious bosu!"

Hiro wearily placed his tray down on the table and took a seat next to Wasabi.

"Fred, it's the first day of school. Can't this wait for later?"

"But-"

"Hiro's right Fred," Wasabi interrupted, "Just because you have all the time in the world to play superhero doesn't mean that we do. We still got our own lives to take care of."

Fred looked hurt at that. "I'm not playing! This is important work. We have a city to protect and this crime boss is just going to keep coming after us if we don't figure out how to stop them."

Wasabi rolled his eyes. "Then you just go on and do that. In the meantime the rest of us have class to attend. I'm heading early to set up for my first lab."

"But labs won't open for like another hour." Hiro pointed out, confused. "They're still cleaning up from the robot attacks last week."

"Ah, he just wants to get there early so that he can see his boyfriend again." Fred complained.

"Sam's not my boyfriend. He's just a colleague, and at least I'm doing something other than obsess over superheroing." And with that Wasabi stormed off, while Fred slouched into the cafeteria chair with a huff.

"Listen, Fred, why don't you go on patrol with Minimax for a while. I'll help you track down this warehouse after school is over with." Hiro said.

"Okay," Fred reluctantly agreed, "but I'm not 'obsessing'."

"I know Fred, but the rest of us also have school to worry about. We just don't have the same amount of free time as you do."

"I know." Fred sighed before walking off.

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"Sorry Hiro, but we're kind of busy right now." Honey Lemon regretfully informed her friends.

Fred and Hiro had met up after school as promised. Wasabi had declined to join them on their quest and so they had decided to recruit the girls instead. Though this also seemed to be a fruitless endeavor.

"Yeah, we're kind of in the middle of something." Gogo finished as she leaned back in a reclining chair and placed two cucumber slices over her eyes.

They had found the girls at a spa. Honey Lemon sat next to Gogo with curlers in her hair, and they apparently weren't the only ones out having a beauty day.

"Can't you see we're having some girl time?" Karmi asked, annoyed, as she examined her nails.

"Yeah, Hiro, go take your weird superhero hobby elsewhere?" Megan added.

"It's not weird!" Fred insisted.

"If this is supposed to be a girls only event, then why is he here?" Hiro said, pointing to Varian, who sat next to Megan.

"Uh, getting a manicure obviously." Varian rolled his eyes and then leaned over to show Carol, who was beside him, two bottles of nail polish. "Do you think I should go with the midnight blue or just stick with black?"

"Hmmm... I think either would be nice," she replied.

"Ooooh, have you tried the seaweed wrap they have here? It's great." Fred chimed in.

Hiro rolled his eyes, "Okay, so what are you two doing after this? Could you take up patrol tonight?"

"Nope." Gogo said.

"I promised my brother Carlos that I would help him move into his new dorm room. He starts at UCLA this week and Gogo's offered to drive me there. We won't be back till tomorrow morning." Honey Lemon explained.

"Okay, well, we'll just-"

"Alright, I'm ready." A voice called out, interrupting him.

Trina walked out from behind a door at the back of the spa. Her bulky gigantic metal body was gone and in its place was the frame of a young woman, dressed in a t-shirt, pants, and a cropped jacket. She looked very much the same as the day Hiro had first met her, at the bot fights. Only this time her hair had been cut and styled into a short mohawk and dyed a light purple.

"What do you guys think?" She asked as she twirled around.

Everyone shouted encouragements to her, and Varian cheekily whistled.

"You look nice, Trina." Hiro complimented.

Trina snorted and rolled her eyes. "In your dreams, Hiro." She said, leaving the teenage genius confused by what he had said wrong.

Ignoring him, Trina walked over to the rest of the girls, "Thanks for the clothes... and for everything else." She sheepishly added.

"Hey, no problem." Megan replied. "They look good on you."

"Yeah, and if you need anything else just ask." Karmi added.

"Not to mention it's always fun to have a spa day," Carol piped in. "This was a good idea Varian, thanks for inviting me along."

"Sure thing. When Trina said she wanted help with finding a new wardrobe, I figured all of you would like to go shopping too.... and also y'all know more about clothes than I do."

"Hey, Trina," Fred interjected, "that warehouse where you foun- I mean, met 'Steve', do you happen to remember where it was located?"

Trina gave Fred a frown.

"Oooh, who's Steve?" Karmi asked, happy to gossip, "Is that your boyfriend Trina?"

"No." She said, "The place you're looking for is over in Good Luck Alley, next to Louie's."

"It must've been a bad breakup." Karmi whispered into Honey Lemon's ear, she wasn't very good at keeping her voice down.

"Yeah… he kind of... broke alright." Honey Lemon nervously added, unsure what to say.

"Uh, yeah, well thanks for the tip Trina. We'll be going now, bye." Hiro said as he hurried Fred out the door. He had had enough of awkward conversations and makeovers.

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"Fred, wouldn't it be better if we brought our robots along at least?" Hiro whispered.

"You want to sneak around an abandoned warehouse with those two?" Fred whispered back, "I love him, but Minimax doesn't know how to be quiet, like at all."

Hiro sighed, Fred had a point. Baymax also wasn't the best at stealth missions. Hiro slid into the alleyway and peered through a dirty window. He couldn't shake the sense of deja vu as he remembered how he and the robotic nurse had tracked down his missing microbots a year ago at a similar warehouse. They had both been nearly killed by Callaghan when the villain had caught them snooping around. He would prefer to avoid such a scenario again.

"It doesn't look like anyone is here." He said.

"See any ninja robots?" Fred asked as he also pushed by to get a look, pressing his nose against the glass.

"No… Fred, this may be a dead end. Trina already raided the place and no doubt this Bosu would have abandoned the hideout if it was compromised."

Fred pouted, "Maybe… Buuuut, we could always man a stake-out and find out for sure!"

"Fred, I have homework to do. Maybe some oth-"

"Oh please! Just for an hour, or two? Please, please, please? Pretty please? I'll do your homework for you."

"I don't want you doing my homework."

"Okay, chores then; I'll wash Varian's dirty socks and underwear for a… a week… no, a month! Come on, I know how much you hate doing laundry."

Hiro sighed and watched his friend crawl on his knees and beg. "Does it really mean that much to you?"

"Yeeeesss."

"Okay, and no, you don't have to do the laundry either."

Hiro turned to walk out of the alley and Fred got up and followed him.

"That's good, cause I don't actually know how to wash clothes. Usually, Heathcliff does all the laundry. Last time I tried to, I just flooded the washroom."

"Do you have any survival skills? Like at all?"

"Nope. Unless it's kicking bad guys' butts! Ooh, hey, we can host the stake-out at Louie's across the street. I'm starved."

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Hiro and Fred took up a window booth inside the restaurant. The establishment had recovered from the police raid from a few months back and was now serving food as usual; though Hiro had already spotted the advertisement for the next upcoming 'bot fight.

A couple of hours past and they had both eaten their meals, plus dessert, along with Fred going back for seconds. Now they were both nursing a couple of cups of coffee, though Hiro's was going cold; it wasn't great coffee.

"Fred…"

"Yeah."

"It's been three hours now."

"I know."

"No one's showed up."

"Not yet."

"Look it's been… 'fun', but I'm going home now."

Hiro got up to leave but Fred grabbed him by the sleeve.

"Oh but… uhh… we haven't even tried the uh… hot dog sushi special. I hear it's really good."

Hiro leaned his head back slowly and closed his eyes in frustration. He didn't want to snap at Fred, really he didn't, but he was quickly losing his patience.

"Fred… no one is coming. Let's just call it a night and try again some other time. Okay." And with that he yanked his hand away and began to walk off.

Fred didn't follow. Instead he sat in the booth, his eyes downcast, staring blankly at nothing. It wasn't his usual pout either. It was something else. Some deeper sadness that few saw from the usually optimistic teen.

Hiro began to worry. He walked back, and stood there waiting for Fred to jump back up all excited again for his return, only he didn't.

"Fred, what's wrong?"

Fred sighed but couldn't bring himself to answer.

"Look, I know that this superhero business is important to you, so much so that you'll probably wind up making a career out of it, which is great, but the rest of us are not going to be doing this for the rest of our lives. We also have to keep up with our studies, chores, our jobs, and what little shred of a social life we have."

"That's not it… I mean yeah, it's a part of it, but that's not why I asked you to come along."

Fred finally looked Hiro in the eye and tears threatened to spill.

"I just miss my best friend, okay."

Hiro looked at him confused.

"I didn't want to say anything, cause… cause he's your brother and I didn't think you'd want to be reminded about him being gone any more than you already have… but today has just been really hard… remembering what happened… I just thought getting out and doing something fun, getting both our minds off everything, might be better than just… just being alone. You know? Especially today."

Fred didn't even have to say Tadashi's name for Hiro to know who he was talking about.

Hiro sighed and slumped back down into the booth.

"I'm sorry…. I… I guess I just… I don't know. I didn't think...."

"No… no, don't. Of course you didn't think. I mean who wants to be reminded of that. The whole idea was to not think about it. And I just ruined it all by bringing it up. Gah…. I'm so sorry."

Fred put his arms over his head and brought his knees up to his chest as if trying to make himself as physically small as he felt. Hiro just had to laugh at the sight in spite of himself.

"It's okay Fred. You're not going to upset me just by talking about Tadashi."

Fred peaked his head out from between his arms. "I'm not?"

"No. I mean he was your friend too."

"My best friend! Man, Tadashi and I, we got up to all sorts of trouble. He was always down for anything. I mean, did he tell you about the time we crashed my cousin's bar mitzvah? As in, we literally crashed. He drove the sport's car into the buffet table by mistake… We couldn't find the parking and then there was this wet patch in the parking lot and we skidded… Oh and then there was the time Mole dared us to a drag race using scooters and Tadshi had the idea to attach rockets to mine and I went flying.. I tell ya, man, Mole wouldn't live it down for a whole week after. He kept demanding a rematch, but I mean it was fair. He was using his butler to ride for him in his place."

Hiro could barely contain his laughter, "Wait… wait… you and Tadashi did all this?"

"Yeah."

"Why have I never heard of any of this before?"

"I don't know, but he's the whole reason why I got the mascot job in the first place. I knew I could never get into the school myself, but I thought we could hang out together more if I went. He's also the one that introduced me to everybody else."

"Then how did you two meet?"

"Oh at the grocery store."

Fred said this as if it was the most obvious of explanations but Hiro looked as confused as ever. So Fred continued on.

"He was there getting chewing gum and I was buying a shopping cart. Like an actual shopping cart."

"Why?"

"Yeah that's what he asked too. So I told him, 'I'm going to ride down Dead Man's Hill in one.' And he said, 'Dude, that's so rad. You're totally going to die.' And I said, 'Yeah, I know. You wanna join?' And he did. We rode all the way down from the top of Lumbar Street to the docks… and landed right in the bay. It was awesome! We screamed our heads off the whole time. It was so awesome, in fact, that we walked back to the store and bought another cart just to do it again. That was back when we were both still in high school, and we've been best buds ever since. You know… until…"

Hiro looked at Fred sadly. There so much about his brother that hadn't known about, hadn't even thought to ask. What else had Tadashi not shared with him? Probably a lot, I mean why tell your kid brother about your social life? And there's no way that he'd have brought those crazy stunts up around Aunt Cass.

"I never knew any of that… Those are some really cool stories. Thanks for sharing them."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and you know, you don't have to drag me on some superheroing mission just to hang out and talk."

Fred looked guilty at that.

"I… I know… but it's like what you and Wasabi have been saying. Everyone else has something… something to motivate them, and y'all all do all these really cool things and I'm… I'm just me. I don't really have anything but superheroing. Unless you just need someone to make a mess."

"That's not true. Fred, you're great at a lot of things. You could go to school or get a job, if you wanted to. I just thought superheroing was all you wanted."

"Hiro, I can't even do laundry without messing up. I mean all you do is throw the clothes into a machine and push a button, and yet somehow I managed to screw even that up. All I know is comic books, and superheroing, and I'm not even the best at that! What would I even go to college for? I can't… I'm not a genius. I'm not a businessman. I'm not an accountant, or an artist, or an athlete. I'm not anything. I've no talent. I'm not even good at being rich. I've never fit in with the socialite crowd."

"Fred."

"Yeah?"

"You're good at being a friend, and if I have to sit here list off everything else you're good at then we'd be here for another three hours or more. So how about we head home and tomorrow I'll show you how to work a washing machine, and you can teach me how a stake-out is supposed to really go cause we're not getting anywhere here."

"Or are we?"

"What do you mean?"

Fred was no longer looking at Hiro but past him. He pointed to the window behind Hiro, and Hiro turned around to see for himself.

An elderly gentleman, dressed in an old fashioned military outfit, complete with a monocle, was entering the warehouse. He had a giant mechanical arm and a steam boiler strapped to his back.

"Baron Von Steamer."

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Fred and Hiro found themselves standing in the alley peering through the warehouse's dirty windows for a second time that day. They saw Baron Von Steamer stomping around inside. He seemed irritated as he grumbled to himself and knocked boxes out of the way, as if searching for something.

"What's he doing?" Fred loudly whispered.

Just then Steamer found what he was looking for, a tea cup. He poured himself a cup out of a teapot he had placed on an old fashioned stove that was hidden towards the back and then sat down on top of a crate to sip his drink.

"It must be 'tea time' for him." Hiro said dryly.

Fred narrowed his eyes, "I bet he's just hatching his next nefarious scheme. Planning on how to take us and the city down. What do you think he wants with portals?"

Just then Steamer stood up and ruefully kicked away a busted up robot that had fallen out of a storage crate in his previous hunt for the tea cup.

"I don't think Steamer is our guy." Hiro said, "He hates modern technology, so why would he build ninja robots? Also, like you said, what would he want with portals? All he's after is your dad, and so far the Bosu hasn't gone after Boss Awesome yet."

"But they might. Remember what Roddy said? That Kensei guy used to be active during Dad's heyday but never got caught. What if, it's because Steamer had two villain identities!"

"That seems like a stretch."

"Okay, well, what if Steamer works for this Bosu? Like Sue and Sparkles?"

"That's more plausible, I guess."

Hiro turned to peer through the window again, but Streamer was gone.

'Wait, where did he go?'

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A pair of interlopers." A curt British voice came from behind them.

Steamer must have noticed them and snuck around the back, cutting them off.

Hiro grabbed his phone in order to call his super suit, but Von Steamer nabbed his hand and yanked him off the ground, causing him to lose hold of his phone.

Fred was just as unfortunate, as Steamer held him in a choke hold in his metal arm.

"Waaaait," Steamer said as he eyed them both up closely, peering at them through his oversized monocle, "I know you two. You're friends of Boss Awesome's baby child!"

"I am Boss Awesome's baby child!" Fred protested before Von Steamer gave him a hard squeeze with his cyborg arm. Fred wheezed in pain.

Hiro reacted quickly and kicked the steampunk baron in the shins.

Von Steamer howled in pain and dropped Hiro in surprise, though he managed to keep his grip on Fred. He also had stepped on Hiro's phone while nursing his injured leg.

Hiro ducked and ran as Steamer regained his senses and pulled out a brass gun that was connected to the boiler on his back with a hose. He pulled the trigger and scalding steam shot out. Hiro ducked again to avoid it.

As he ran out of the alley way he heard Steamer shouting after him, "Yes, run back to Boss Awesome little one. Tell his baby child I have their friend, and either he, or they, must show up to face me or else!"

Hiro spared a glace backwards and saw Baron Von Steamer dragging Fred back into the warehouse.

"Fred!"

"Hiro!" Fred called out to him before being pulled into the darkness.

Hiro panicked. What could he do? Finally, he decided that getting help was the best option. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, fighting back his worry.

#Hiro Hamada #Fred Frederickson IV #big hero six #bh6 #tangled #varian #tadashi hamada

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