#gotta be real it was sorta miserable at the end

[ashmcgivern]

I lived, bitch

[super-ion]

“Have you ever been in love before?”

Either Jen or Emily to the other

OR

Dale to Jen

(got one cooking in my brain for Jen/Emily, but it'll be a longer separate fic)

"Have you ever been in love before?" Dale asks out of nowhere.

We're on the roof of his workshop, watching the sunset together. It's kinda become our weekly ritual, hang out, drink a couple beers, and watch the sunset over the city together. Good, wholesome sibling bonding. We gotta make up for lost time, you know?

(it's byob for me, because he drinks the absolute worst swill and he refuses to touch the quality craft varieties, that's fine, whatever...)

"You mean before Emily?" I ask. He nods and I continue. "No, I don't think so. I mean, I think I thought I was, but that was just a fun mix of teen hormones and performative cisheteronormativity."

He snorts.

"What?" I demand.

"Your prom photo," he says and takes a swig from his can. "God, you looked so awkward that night. What was her name? Sam? Sally?"

"Summer," I reply. "Yeah, that was... a night..."

(I ended up crying in the bathroom, miserably jealous of all my female friends)

He's looking at the city, chewing on his lip. It's the exact expression he always had since he was a kid, when he wanted to ask a question, but didn't know how. I guess some things never change.

"Why do you ask?" I prod.

"I... how did you know?" he asks after a moment. "With Emily? How did you know she was the one?"

Huh... when exactly did my weird (probably creepy) infatuation become actual love?

"I dunno," I replied. "I guess it wasn't all at once, just sorta evolved. She accepts me for who I am, all the versions of me."

I've told him some details about our relationship, but not all. He doesn't know she's a former child superhero, for example. He does know that she knows my various identities and is cool with it.

"I think I've met someone," he says, shaking me out of my thoughts. "Or... Someones, I guess."

"Okay!" I reply excitedly. "Spill."

He blushes slightly.

"So, I'm on this Discord server," he says. "Diy maker stuff, you know? There's this one girl who's super cool. Like she's always helping people out, pointing out flaws in prototypes without being condescending. We started chatting directly and I felt like we were really clicking. And after I got my powers, I realize she's got the... you know, the vibe. Like she's one of us. I get super excited, because it's really cool we might have that in common."

He takes another swig.

"Then she meets someone."

Ah...

"He sounds really cool, the way she talks about him, and I'm honestly kind of jealous. Of him or her, I have no idea, still figuring that out. I was happy for her, I really was, but just kinda bummed. I end up on a couple dating sites and have just like... the worst dates ever, until one day this guy sends me a message. He and his girlfriend are thinking about maybe opening up and bringing a third person into their relationship. Sounds weird, but I'm down to just try it and see what happens."

"We meet up for dinner and there she is, his girlfriend is my friend from online. Insane coincidence, right? They're both really awesome and I feel like this could be something special. I mean, she's just as cool in person, but he's also really sweet and tender and stuff. A real gentleman, you know?"

He goes quiet and he's got this tiny little grin on his face.

"Oh!! My little brother is in love!" I tease.

He shoves my shoulder playfully.

"I don't know, I guess I might be."

"Oh my god, that's amazing," I tell him. "Wait, is it anybody I know?"

"Yeah, well, that's the other crazy coincidence," he says. "They're both in the wedding party."

I want to make it perfectly clear how insanely difficult it was to keep my smile from slipping in that moment.

"You... What??"

***

Forty minutes later, I'm practically kicking down the door of my house. Emily looks up at me from the couch in concern.

"Em! You're never going to believe who my brother is dating!!"

[twilightmalachite]

Machina - Epilogue 2

Author: Kino Seitaro (with Akira)

Characters: Mika, Shu, Makoto, Sora

Translator: Mika Enstars

"I’ve been cheated~! It was a mistake to admire ya, Oshi-san!"

Season: Winter

Location: Machina Stage

Shu: The curtain for our stage is about to rise.

Mika: Mhm. In these moments before the performance… I’m always so tense, or rather, excited. My head is strangely clear, but my body’s achin’. ♪

Shu: That’s good tension. Keep it going for the performance.

Kagehira. The digital art you created wasn’t bad as it seemed.

For Machina, I asked you to take an active part in the stage design so as to not put your creative motivation to waste…

But I didn’t expect to end up bringing in something as old-fashioned as CRT TVs.

If these giant monitors are considered state-of-the-art technology, then this is reminiscent of scrap art. Was that contrast intentional?

Mika: Ehehe, are ya praisin’ me, Oshi-san?

I am real glad ya didn’t yell at me, though. I really like this stage turned out, y’know.

When I heard that we could use video in our production, it all jus’ clicked.

Waaay back, when I’d go to the garbage dump, at times there’d be lots of illegally dumped TVs and such like this.

It cost money to properly dispose of that sorta stuff, right? Some of them would be fully intact, to me it looked like a treasure trove.

I didn’t use ‘em ‘cuz I felt that my work in the Test World looked like worthless garbage to ya, Oshi-san.

Though a world like that might appear worthless to some people. But it was fun t’be able to relax and create a work of art while rememberin’ how I felt back then…♪

I found myself thinkin’ “Ahh, I really do admire Oshi-san” again.

Shu: Hmph. The moment I go soft on you, you get carried away… No matter the means, rubbish is still rubbish.

I allowed it this time because it happened to fit the theme, but I cannot allow you to pick things up from the dumpster.

Mika: Nnah, I-I thought we’ve been over this!

We decided in the end to not meddle with each other’s personal items! Are ya gonna insist that I’m wrong again?

Mika: I’ve been cheated~! It was a mistake to admire ya, Oshi-san!

Shu: Non! I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant for you is—

Makoto: (whispering) It’s about to begin, both of you!

Sora: (whispering) Get into position!

Shu: …Ahem. We’ll talk about this later. For now, let’s focus on the performance.

Mika: …Right. It’d be rude t’the audience if we were arguin’ on stage!

Shall we then, Oshi-san?

We’ve gotta deliver our songs to those waitin’ for our work, right?

Mika: There are those that like us, of course, but there’s also those who hold grudges and those who are skeptical of us.

Especially to those who flamed Oshi-san’s SNS and those who got caught up in the Test World fiasco, we probably don’t look good to ‘em.

Even so, if they try to listenin’ to our songs, even fer a little bit, we’ll do our best to reach their hearts with our song! ♪

“♪~♪~”

Shu: …Hehe.

You’ve improved once again, Kagehira. What a well-tuned singing voice.

You may be clumsy, but I recognize your passion for art.

The electronic world may be built of the binary variables zero and one, but only humans hold the variable of emotion. And the one who makes it shine the brightest right now is you. I hope you will continue to improve.

There is so much in this world—many different principles, ideologies, financial standings, races, and genders.

And there is no small number of those whom I find to be the most distasteful human beings. And alive.

However, art exists to provoke questions of its viewer, putting aside such notions.

Nothing in this world is convenient. It is frustrating, but it by no means is a dead end. In this labyrinth, we can still progress, even whilst asking ourselves the same questions.

Shu: Even if the created world comes to its end conveniently at the hand of a god upon a machine. Reality has us lose our way, sometimes we stray down the wrong path, but we continue on regardless.

Through this miserable reality… I hope we can walk together for a long time.

With you, an existence so different from mine.

“♪~ ♪~”

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[neriumdelusion]

HI. Lauren and Kevin right? Yeah. My take on them is that they genuinely care for each other and, dare I say it, love each other. I’m right and here’s why. These two have been through hell together, they worked their way up through the strex ranks and ended up arguing about who’s in charge. Neither of them wanted to be their, both of their lives were majorly fucked up by that corporation. They probably blame each other, I also think strex facilitated that, “divide and conquer” sorta thing. Easier to stop people rising up if they’re blaming each other. Their disagreements and arguments are funny as fuck to listen to but. Lauren knows that calling Kevin “Kev” gets to him, she knows he doesn’t wear Cologne, she knows what his reaction will be to being sprayed with acid (which by the way. What a scene)

Kevin invites her on the radio show when he DOESNT HAVE TO. strex is gone no one is telling him what to do he can tell her to get fucked he can kill her if he really wanted to or at least try. But no. He tells her that’s he’s in charge and then invites her on his show MORE THAN ONCE. (Toast and All Smiles’ Eve I think). He didn’t fucking have to. No, he clearly wanted her around. You could argue that the loneliness of Carlos having left would mean he’d take anyones company and that’s sorta fair but also. If he REALLY hated her, would he go to the level of having her on his show? HIS radio show that he takes a great amount of pride in. You can talk to someone without inviting them on your radio show.

He uses her as a scapegoat in mudstone abyss, not very kind of him, what a twat but also. He doesn’t seem happy with the effect it’s had on her, we know how he is with brushing things off and making light of them, so when he seems slightly upset that’s gotta mean it’s REAL bad. And so, riddle me this. Why is he concerned and worried when Lauren gets tattooed in the last mudstone abyss? Huh? If he really hated her and wanted her to be miserable that would be great for him wouldn’t it? She gets effectively exiled because of him you’d think he’d be pleased if he really hated her, and while he’s not explicitly saying he’s upset or anything did you really expect Kevin to say it that explicitly? He’s not thrilled with the outcome and that makes a change from his presentation of the situation up until that point. They’re not getting along, but they certainly have more to their relationship then ha ha passive aggressive. While it’s not a healthy friendship and he should consider getting over himself and unexiling Lauren, he doesn’t HATE her. I think it’d be more accurate to say he loves and hates her, she’s definitely not gonna be too happy with him after getting forcibly tattooed a frown of all things on her face. A frown. Lauren Mallard. How fucking horrifying. And then to be exiled from her community. People forget, Desert Bluffs was her home too, Desert Bluffs Too is HER community too. They have issues, for sure. But I genuinely believe there is way more to their feelings on each other than hatred.

[maximumcheese]

Dance of the White Tiger - A Snow Flurry at Dawn 5

Rinne: —Alrighty, so this is how the decor’s bein’ set up. It may look simple, but that’s me, huh.

When those three get back, we’ll get down to more business. I gotta make up for all the shit I lost at pachinko slots last night ♪

‘Cuz more and more people keep tryin’ their luck around New Year’s, I get that the shops keep gettin’ more stingy but.

It's a miserable gambler's nature to give it a try, isn't it?

(...... I took a quick look around the grounds, and it’s lookin’ like all the stores are thrivin’. I was right to offer the Beehive guys a job at the stall.)

(I was having trouble cozyin’ up to the union that controls this area. I managed to get a permit to open a stall by showin’ my dedication to the community.)

(I never cheated them. But openin’ a stall wasn’t the only purpose.)

(By networking with people in this area through the stalls, the Beehive guys can get their faces out there.)

(If not right now, it will have a positive effect someday. They’ll say, “Hey, that’s the Onii-san from the food stall the other day~.”)

Subaru: I’m back~ I delivered all the stuff you asked for.

Wow, it’s a raffle. Is this your place, Rinne-senpai? Amazing, that’s not suspicious at all!

Rinne: It's a fair game with no losers, you know? The price is 500 yen per draw. The special prize is a travel voucher worth 100,000 yen. Of course, it's the real deal.

Koga: 100,000 yen!? Hey, hey, you can't do that sorta, can you? Is there a way you can get your money back?

Rinne: It’s fine. The travel voucher’s a prize for winnin’ the second place in a quiz show. In other words, I got it for free.

I'm glad I kept it in case I needed to exchange it for cash.

Tsukasa: .... Even if it was something you got for free, can you let it go like this? Somehow, I don't think it's like you to do something like this.

Rinne: Gyahaha! Not like me, you say? You don’t know sh~it about me ♪

The raffle draw’s a complete test of luck, with no need for skill. In other words, it's gambling.

If the customer gets a hit, they win, and if they keep gettin’ nothing until the end, I win. No matter which way it goes, it's a win-win situation.

Well, well, let’s open shop! All you part-timers, you gotta work like worker bees ♪

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[betasuppe]

Heyyy, how are you? I hope well. I sorta had a cruddy week, by any chance can you tell me some lore about your characters? Or an au or story you’ve been thinking about or wrking on? I like reading those, especially after long days.

Obviously you don’t gotta. Zero pressure and all. Just figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Hope you have a lovely rest of your day. 💚

Aw, sorry to hear it's been a rough week for you, anon!! :( I don't know that I can help much, but at least I can distract you for a bit, if nothing else♡

But yeah, sure! We talking more fan content or original stuff? I'm not sure which you'd prefer, so here's something for both...!

So for one, how about my new zoroark!Mina? The AU's gonna go one way or another in that either:

Mina is just a zoroark or maybe an illusion pkmn hybrid who has a miserable past, & she takes on a near human appearance to escape & try living in the city. After a chance encounter, becomes enamored with the younger subway boss as he becomes transfixed with her. Some sort of romance or found family sort of element blossoms there... that is, depending on if Mina's actually a pkmn or a hybrid OR if nok wants to get into the nitty gritty details of a pkmn that's wants to be human & is in love with a person & all that insanity!! Zorua pup Silje makes an appearance too because I can't stop thinking about how cute their child as a zorua / hybrid would be!!!! 😭💕

OR the real Mina has died, as following my current Champ Emmet storyline, & in his guilt & sorrow in losing his precious wife, Emmet has a crafty zoroark take her image to fill her void in his life. Perhaps it starts off very closed off but in taking its work as Mina's double very seriously... but Emmet treats it like the pkmn is truly Mina & she is absorbed by her role. Then, this all is skirting some scary dividing line between wait, is this truly a zoroark who thinks it's Mina or is this somehow the real Mina stuck in a pkmn's body? & in his madness, does Emmet accept her as the real thing or not???? Idk, it's a twisted story about searching for forgiveness & finding comfort & hope in another, despite the worst of circumstances.

Then, OC wise, I've been super busy in daydreaming about my story where a young gal named Kseniya is swept away to a tropical paradise where her astranged father plans for her to take over his massively successful beachside hotel... after he abandoned Kseniya & her mother 15 years prior to start a new family. Concerned about his potential ulterior motives but urged by her desire to be importsnt in her own father's eyes, Kseniya accepts his offer & flies away that night.

Not only is this whole dealio overwhelming in & of itself, but it turns out the hotel is haunted by Elroy, the obnoxious spirit of a 1930's conman, who intends to make her life in particular into a living hell, after she accidentally stumbles into the floor that doesn't even exist in the hotel, at all!

It's all topsy turvy, that is, before the two kick off a rocky friendship which, over tine, turns into an unexpected & sudden romance between girl & ghost.

It also becomes very quickly evident that there's something more to this tropical paradise & that nothing is exactly what it seems at this island, where the past mingles confusingly with the present...

Kseniya finds herself propelled into the far past to try and make sense of the island's dark history, to figure out her own purpose to ensure a brighter future, & to change Elroy's past so he doesn't meet his bloody & untimely end.

There's a lot in this tale, from a beachy themed vacation to start, to straight horror elements thanks to Elroy & other members of the island's bloody past, & an emotional fight against time itself, while one boring, unimportant young lady to realize the unique powers she has & that she alone has the ability to change the course of time for good [def not me projecting & wishing a nobody like me had some bigger power in life, nooooo].

& uh... that's about all I have at the moment haha. I hope that's at least a bit of a distraction & can be of some interest to you, anon!

& uh, also thanks to anyone who's read all the way thru btw! Thank you!!!!♡♡♡♡♡

[imunbreakabledude]

reading new osrs boss proposal... never played araxxor on RS3 so can't comment on any of that aspect but they say it'll be diff anyway... even though "it's not technically a spider!" i do think it's a little silly how many goddamn spider bosses there are in this game. already venenatis + Sarachnis and ~sorta~ Nylos + Verzik (yes, I know they are not actually spiders either, but spidery). and the "oh they're so different" excuse doesn't really hold up when one of the proposed rewards is boots that protect you from SPIDERWEBS which they cite all those bosses(well not nylos) as examples of... idk I think they either need to commit to spiders being a category on the level of dragons/draconic and make fucking spider hunder crossbow, spider hunter warhammer, etc or get more creative lmao

but anyway I really do think most of the proposed rewards look cool and unique... except I'm so ????? about this BIS melee amulet. i have a feeling it's gonna make it thru with maybe minimal tweaks from where it's at currently because as it stands almost everyone "benefits" from this being introduced - mains can just buy it, irons theoretically get to shave time spent both at demonic gorillas and also crafting to reach their BIS melee amulet, at the cost of a longer slayer grind/potentially longer boss grind, but irons need to get higher than 92 slayer anyway, and torture's not THAT much better than fury, so it seems like a no-brainer for irons to skip torture and wait for this amulet

reading comments & most people are like "oh is it BAD if torture's irrelevant? it's really old content now and other zenytes will still keep the price up"

well no it won't bring the game down but I don't really like the idea of torture becoming largely a joke item/useless upgrade...

it WILL affect zenyte shards/other zenyte items as demand will be lower for zenytes overall if fewer people ever use/keep tortures

when demonics were introduced they were some of the msot active content in the game and thus some of the most rewarding but today zenytes are the only reason to do them. listen, I don't LOVE doing demonics, the lazy part of me is like "yesss shorten that grind" but I also think it's a little weird to just outclass them, they hold a sort of niche as a non-boss grind for BIS items, that you are incentivized to do on a slayer task but don't HAVE to have a task for... and I think it's a bit sad to start replacing that(at least 25% of it) with another slayer boss that you need to do half of the damn skill to even have a POSSIBILITY of getting to do, then you have to get a task any time you want a shot at the item

i know that high slayer req/task requirement is really good for keeping items from crashing in price though, so I'm not gonna try to argue against that in general, but like..... there are already quite a number of important upgrades unlocked that way and it feels kind of miserable that you have to literally get halfway to 99 slayer before you have the CHANCE TO HAVE A CHANCE to start those grinds

and if 93 slayer wasn't enough of a requirement for occult then 92 is fine for a new bis melee ...????? feels a bit weird tbh (not getting into the fact that the real issue with occult being so cheap was that it's also dropped by the babies who are easy to kill en masse and BIS slayer XP to kill en masse... all they gotta do is make a distinction between slayer monsters that give good XP and slayer monsters that drop good uniques. that's literally IT. demonics work because they're a pain in the ass and shit XP but you do them for zennys.)

it always feels weird to have one item in a 'set' that is way useless compared to the others. especially given that torture has the highest crafting requirement, and no, it's not the end of the world, but since torture is already the least useful/lowest priority of the 4 (arguably, some people might put suffering)... just deepening that feels... silly, and also kind of a fuck-you to players who have been working towards it/just got it (I know that's inevitable with new gear to an extent, but this is even worse than say, bowfa & salad blade, because you can turn a blade into a bowfa or vice versa at any point if you want. if you just used a zenyte to make a torture, and then this comes out, you'll feel kinda disappointed...)

i know it's been years but this possibly being a prelude to outclassing all zenytes makes me a bit wary cuz like... it'll be dead as fuck... ballista is already a joke, literally why would you ever do demonics. and demonics are one of the few places you can make good use of certain gear so then there's knock-ons of making that stuff less useful...

one way to solving this would be to make it a torture upgrade, I know people hate 'upgradescape' but it WORKS... another would be to make it not a simple vertical upgrade but some different effect (a la blood fury or echo boots) to be better in many situations but not necessarily all... I just don't love it as is but like i said, i think enough people will see this as a beneficial buff to their gameplay that it'll go through...

lol typing a lot about it because i'm just having trouble articulating why I don't like it. not game ruining, but a little more of the kind of decisions lately that just make me feel like... hmmmm!!! not liking this!

(but to emphasize I really do like the venom halberd + spider boots as concepts!)

[loverofpiggies]

Hey guys- tumblr is a broken website and deleted this nice long thing I was writing you guys! Of course, of course.

But. I read everyone’s comments on my last post about discontinuing GV, and... I appreciate the support so very much ;0;

I’m always excessively hard on myself about this sort of thing, and it broke my heart too that I just. Can’t seem to get back into the story I loved so much. So, thank you for all your kind words. I read everything with tears in my eyes, I won’t lie.

And I AM doing much better then yesterday, a few of my friends were alarmed and contacted me, and. I didn’t mean to alarm anyone. ): I have a tendency to not realize how horrible I’m feeling for a long time, until I do some weird cryptic post, or message to someone, and just sorta crash. It’s not the best coping mechanism or anything, but I gotta be honest I got no clue how to curb it, since I never realize how bad I’m doing until I need a day to be real miserable and cry. So, oops! Sorry about that.

A related note, but. Part of what lead to that, is after I’ve moved back to New Mexico and have been working on my home, well. Some sad stuff under the cut, if you’re up for reading that.

My mom had a stroke a few weeks ago.

She’s doing better overall, but it was a massive shock to the whole family, especially right before Christmas, which is definitely her favorite holiday. It was heartbreaking to see her stuck in a hospital during that time, and just. See her struggling so much.

I only live 10 minutes away from her rehabilitation, while the rest of the family live almost 40, so I’ve been visiting her the most. I’ve been learning how to help her walk, sit, stand, ect, and I’m leaving in about a half an hour to do another learning session with her. I’ve been trying to be the fun, sunshiny one to help make her happy and laugh, and luckily it’s been working, and I’ve seen her spirits go up! But, it’s hard on me sometimes. Christmas was insanely hard and I ended up in tears, my whole family is struggling and it’s just. Been a real hard couple weeks. ): I am so happy I moved here before this happened though, that way I can be there for her.

And I know I’m not alone with the Covid situation, but 2020 was so hard, and so many hardships have happened since then, things that have completely upturned my whole life. I know I’m not alone in that, and I still have so many things to be grateful for, but. It hasn’t been easy. It’s a big part of why I just, can’t write a story right now. Besides, if I did, the writing would be terrible.

I am eternally grateful for the job I have, that I’m able to visit my mom as she needs, even if running a business solo is a LOT of work. But I’m able to shift things around and see her. I’ve also been delivering her food, since the food they give her isn’t.... well, all that great, and she’s barely hungry right now.

I will say, despite all that, I’m surrounded by incredible friends and family to help me during all of this. Despite feeling like crud, I’m really very happy for everyone and everything I have right now. So, thank you again. ;_;

And, I know I haven’t been active on here like at ALL, but the truth is I’ve been working on something, that mostly keeps all the visuals and everything hush hush. I also don’t want to post anything publicly about it, and then maybe be unable to finish it, so I’m mostly doing this project for me.

A while back I posted some visuals that indicated I was making a video game, and well. I still am! Everything has switched to pixel art, and I’ve reworked the game physics. I have the story set in stone, and I’m really genuinely excited to work on it. But unlike comics, you can’t just. Post a page up and do it slowly, you sorta got to complete the whole thing before putting it out.

I’ve learned how to program a ton of stuff, I just finished learning very basic save points and I’m working on the visuals for a menu, and I’m trying to get all the more frustrating things out of the way so I can focus on the story, and the level design.

This is SUPER SUPER early in development, but. I wanted to give you guys something as a thank you. The playable character’s name is Willow, and the other child is Nina!

So, thanks again for reading if you did, I appreciate it. I hope everyone is doing ok, and if you’re not doing ok, that’s ok too. Love you guys <3

[tainbocuailnge]

cascu odin configuration speculations rough bullet points bc itll be only a month until we get answers edition

its extremely unlikely that he was just odin all along bc the way cu talks to archer in first order just makes no goddamn sense if he’s not cu, their connection isn’t something you could extrapolate from cu’s myths to impersonate him. like i literally don’t consider this an option if only because i simply do not think type moon disrespects its fans enough to pull a six year long bait and switch with one of their most popular characters. also itd be boring when we can make this identity theft so much more complicated and thematically appropriate

odin just outright trying to possess cu would be the most straightforward option. i don’t know what odin would need to be cu for and this post isnt about that but in this case i would assume cu is without spear because the spear is what ties together his identity as the hero cu chulainn so odin would have to somehow fabricate a cu who is not quite cu in order to slip in between those gaps and actually possess him.

odin needing to make a spearless cu in order to get in there also checks out with archer saying cu’s gae bolg is stronger than odin’s gungnir. gotta get that hurdle out of the way

we can assume cascu’s saint graph from the start was “meant” to be (used by) odin because of ochd deug odin. noble phantasms are representations of heroes and cascu is the one who taught mashu how to use her noble phantasm when she wasn’t yet sure of what hero she was supposed to be/it was restricted by the one it ‘really’ belongs to similar to odin supposedly putting use restrictions on ochd deug odin

i still stick with my age old theory that cascu is a cu without his spear/the symbol of his fate even though that should be impossible because he got cleaved in half by fragarach, the sword that severs fate, leaving cascu without that fate/spear (and also miserable because that fate sits at the core of his identity) and cu alter then picked up that fate and became the spear

mayhaps odin snatched up this incomplete cu that got left over after he was split and filled out the gaps himself to make it into cascu & get him a foot in the door. somewhere. for some reason. some clytie van gogh shit even where they shove the mind of the one in with the body & soul of the other bc skadi Did have that line in imaginary scramble about how she can sorta get how the outer gods think

in this case its also inch resting that the other half was snatched up by medb to turn into cu alter since medb is also tits deep in fairy stuff and the current scraps of fairy lostbelt history we have apparently imply that not-medb and not-cascu have faced off before

mayhaps it’s the other way around and it’s closer to what i said before those new lines came out which is that [the existence we the audience generally know as cu chulainn] has the capacity to be both cu chulainn and odin with the only real difference being whether he sides with humans or gods so when something core to the identity of “cu chulainn” was removed he inevitably and perhaps inadvertently ended up drifting closer to being odin.

would also vibe nicely with the wicker man being an empty cage searching for an offering to the gods. the face and name are cu chulainn but the “core” as hero is missing so something needs to fill that hole

would furthermore have it make sense that in the fairy lostbelt he would have to be odin because cu chulainn could not possibly choose to side with humans in this world where no human heroes exist

some of his new lines are basically the same as his old lines but slightly different so the extent to which he is in fact odin at any given point seems to vary a little

its also possible that odin tried to show up as just himself but because there was this half a cu still conceptually lying around the world like made odin trip and fall into cascus cleavage in the name of recycling and now he’s kinda floating in between being cu chulainn and being odin which is why he bitches about not having his spear so much because having either gae bolg or gungnir would actually pin down his identity as one or the other (yknow like rhongo pinning down the world or whatever because everything is the same)

obviously his name is given as cu chulainn because odin has a history of disguising himself but cu doesn’t so the ‘inconsistency’ in his identity that gets hidden is the one that has a penchant for hiding itself anyway

of course there’s a lot of precedent for (divine) spirits latching onto others in fgo or ppl being granted divine authorities (na should be having a time with that over in lb4 right now) but spas cifically i feel the need to point out the alter ego class who are by and large composed of servants who got mashed together from a bunch of divinities and i also want to remind you my dear readers of the part in the ccc event where tamamo cat explains that you don’t need the alter ego class to be an alter ego

i have a vague suspicion that he’s only “odin” when the hood is up. in his valentines scene he’s mumbling some vaguely out of character stuff with his hood on but goes back to normal once he takes it off and in the knk event he puts the hood on when pretending he’s not cu

again i really want to stress that the base personality we’re seeing has to be cu chulainn and he has to have cu chulainn’s memories not only from life but also as a servant, otherwise he would not be able to reference experiences he had as lancer servant in the fuyuki holy grail war to shadow archer. he is without a doubt cu chulainn, it’s just a matter of how much odin was added.

[milstrim]

Comfort in My Shadow

Chapter 3: You Oughta Know

By @iwritedumbshit for @iron-mum

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Ned Leeds, James “Rhodey” Rhodes

Summary: Soulmates are definite in the universe. Nobody knows exactly why they exist, or what dictates who is bonded to who, the only thing known is that they are never wrong. But Peter’s not so sure about that.

Living at the group home had taught Peter a lot about laying low and how to stay alive when nobody cares. But he’d always clung to the hope of the shadow at his feet reflecting his soulmate that had watched over him for years.

Typical that his soulmate is actually a superhero that Peter is convinced shouldn’t want anything to do with him. Maybe, just this once, the Universe was wrong.

But Tony Stark is desperate to prove that it is right.

Ch 1 // Ch 2 // Ch 4 // Ch 5 // Ch 6 // Ch 7 // Ch 8

---

Tony dropped down onto the grass near an empty playground just by the water, laying Spidey on the ground gently before breaking his way out of the suit. The mechanic kneeled beside the teenager, grabbing his wrist and tearing the webshooter off of it. He pressed two fingers against the boy's wrist, sighing in relief when he could make out a surprisingly strong pulse. The relief only lasted for a moment before he moved onto the fact that the kid still wasn't moving.

Hesitating for only a moment, he reached for the mask.

A hand shot up just as his fingers brushed against the fabric, slapping his own hand away sloppily. Tony didn't mind, only letting out a sigh and sinking back onto his knees in relief as Spidey sat up, coughing so hard his whole body shook. The kid tore his mask up to his nose to throw up mouthfuls of murky water before settling back onto his elbows and pulling the mask back down harshly. Tony resisted the urge to pat the kid on his back, instead keeping his hands wrung and watching the vigilante sharply.

He coughed, "Uh, hey, Mr. Stark."

"Hey, kid." Tony offered him a smile. "Jeez, I leave you alone for one day and you almost drown. I think you're more danger prone than me, if that's possible."

"Yeah, you'd be surprised," Spidey said, sitting up farther before freezing and turning to regard Tony suspiciously. "How did you find me? Did you put a tracker on me or something?"

"No. No, kid, I didn't, I promise. My AI's been keeping an eye out for you, and she seemed to think you were in trouble."

"You're spying on me?"

"No, not--I'm not spying on you, kid," Tony rushed to assure. He paused and then conceded with the decency to shrug in embarrassment. "Okay, sorta maybe. Yeah. I'm kinda spying on you, but I also just saved your life, so."

"I had it," Spidey muttered, but it was ruined by another cough. Tony raised an eyebrow at him. "I did! At least, until that vulture guy showed up."

"Vulture guy?"

In a flurry of words, Spider-Man explained, and Tony was happy to listen. He was happy to hear anything the kid was willing to say to him, even if it began with him stalking out a weapons deal and ended with a man with metal wings grabbing him out of the air.

"--and then he just, he just, like, swooped down like a monster and he picked me up and, uh, he took me up, like, a thousand feet and just dropped me!"

Tony shook his head, wishing desperately he could see beyond the suit at any injuries the kid may have as he reattached his webshooter. He did seem okay though, if a little thin, if the way the soaked suit practically hung off of him was anything to go by.

"What were you thinking?" Tony asked, unable to keep the scornful fear from his voice.

"The guy with the wings is obviously the source of the weapons that I've been seeing. I gotta take him down!"

"Take him down now, huh? Steady, Crockett, there are people who handle this sort of thing."

"The Avengers?"

"No. No, no. This is a little below their pay grade," Tony explained. Spidey's eyes narrowed at him. "Look, forget the flying vulture guy, please."

"What? No! He's putting weapons out on the street, my street, I've gotta keep looking for him."

Tony pursed his lip, resisting the urge to argue further and wrap this kid up in bubble wrap. He relented, for the time being. "Fine. I won't stop you."

"Not like you could anyway."

"You're meaner than I remember."

"Yeah, well, get used to it I guess."

"Does that mean I get to hang out with my soulmate from now on? Possibly know their name?"

Spidey froze, staring past Tony in a tired manner. He slumped down onto the grass dramatically. "What time is it?"

"You're not gonna run out on me or anything are you? Or if you do, can you at least leave something behind for me? Like, a boot maybe?"

"Are you calling me Cinderella?"

"Sure. Cinder-kid. Cinder-whatever-your-name-is."

Spider-Man turned his head to glare at his persistent fishing. "I'm surprised you don't already know."

"I've got a list. Twenty-eight kids so far."

"I'm not a kid," he mumbled. Tony smirked.

"Nice try. I know your birthday." Spider-Man groaned. "Still no name?"

A moment. "Ben."

"There's no Ben on the list," Tony answered immediately.

"What, you just have that memorized?" When Tony didn't answer, save for the raise of an eyebrow, the kid groaned again. "If I tell you my name will you please tell me the time?"

Tony checked his watch. "8:17."

A very long, very tense moment before finally, "Peter."

"There's no Peter on the list either."

"Then your list sucks." Tony stared at him. "I'm not lying, you just need to be better at being a detective."

After a moment, Tony accepted it, though he didn't completely believe it. "Fine. Nice to meet you, Peter. I'm Tony."

"Yeah, I knew that."

"Are you always this mean or are you just in a bad mood?"

Peter ducked his head guiltily. "Sorry. Just kinda hungry. I didn't--uh, I didn't eat dinner. Yet."

"I can fix that," Tony said, holding out a hand. Peter stared at it for a moment before hesitantly taking it and allowing for Tony to pull him up. Both of them glanced at where their shadows switched. Peter tensed before tearing his hand away and shoving it in his pocket. Tony tried to not let his hurt show.

Peter let out a groan of annoyance, distracting Tony from where he'd been staring at the switched shadows to look at the kid, who had pulled out a phone as wet as it was cracked. The billionaire grimaced just looking at it.

"Yikes. If you need to call your parents, I have my phone with me."

Spidey winced. "No, uh, it's fine. Just, ah, I left my friend at a party, he's probably wondering where I'm at."

"Okay. If you're sure," Tony said. Peter nodded. "So, dinner?"

"I'm okay, Mr. Stark. I've got to get back to the party. My friend's mom is picking us up in an hour."

"Then, can we talk?" Peter dug his boot into the ground in such a childish manner it physically hurt. He clearly didn't want to talk, but that didn't stop Tony. "Here and now would be preferable."

"About what?" the kid rasped.

"A few things. The fact that we're soulmates, why you got involved in this, why you run around as a vigilante in the first place--"

"--I literally told you last night--"

"--and why you ran away yesterday," Tony finished, ignoring him.

"I have a curfew."

"What's your curfew?"

"Ten," Spidey muttered.

"So you were already late. If you'd waited a little bit longer I probably could've explained to your parents why you were late."

Spidey's head shot up, eyes narrowing. "That I was out being a vigilante?"

"That you were meeting your soulmate."

"Oh. That." The boot scuffed against the ground again, and Tony tried not to let his sullen voice get to him. "I don't think he would've cared."

That sounded horribly wrong to Tony's ears. He asked incredulously, "Your dad wouldn't have cared that you met your soulmate?"

"He's not my dad."

Oh.

"Who do you live with then?"

"Group home," Peter answered with a shrug. "Our curfew has no exceptions, so."

Tony hesitated. "Peter, can you take off your mask?"

"Why?"

"I mean, why not? I already know your name and birthday. I can find you pretty easily."

"I'm okay, Mr. Stark. I'm good. Besides, I should be getting back to my friend, so."

Peter moved to walk away, but Tony grabbed his arm hastily, desperate for this not to be how his first real meeting with his soulmate to go. Peter flinched immediately, and the mechanic let go as the kid stumbled back. That horrible suspicion in his chest only grew.

"Sorry," Tony apologized as Peter continued to stare at him. This wasn't going how he had envisioned at all. Soulmate meetings were usually thought of with an air of overwhelming happiness, maybe a few shed tears and a lot of hugs. But all Tony had was a first name, a smattering of depressing facts, and the knowledge that this kid didn't want anything to do with him. "Not an Iron Man fan, huh?"

Peter shrugged, but Tony noted it as a small victory that the tension leaked out of his small frame. "Thor's actually my favorite, so."

"Well, as long as it isn't Mr. America, then I'm good." There was an awkward silence only broken by the mechanical whir of Spidey's goggles as he glanced to the side, clearly searching for an escape. Tony bit down a sigh. "Go back to your party, kid. I'll see you around?"

"Sure. See you around, Mr. Stark."

Well, he didn't sound completely miserable about it, so Tony counted it as a win. He watched as the kid swung off of the trees back towards the neighborhood, a hint of hope warring with his hurt. Only once the hood slipped off of his shadow did the mechanic start moving again, stepping into the suit, which lit up as he fired into the sky.

"Okay, Fri. Find me a kid named Peter born on August tenth, 2001 with all the earlier guidelines."

"There isn't one, sir."

Tony thought for a moment. "Oh! Remove siblings as a statistic, look for one in a group home instead."

"One match."

"Save it to the file. I'll check it out when I get home."

 ---

  Toomes stared at the retreating figure of the Iron Man suit, his mask highlighting the flying hunk of metal before he turned away to stare at the playground where he and Spider-Man had been talking. Peter, apparently. Stark's soulmate.

He'd have to be careful, very careful, about how he played this.

Adrian had been set on flying away immediately after dropping the vigilante so that he could chew out Brice for being so reckless, but the sight of the Iron Man suit dipping under the water had stopped him. What the hell was the billionaire doing near his house? It had made him wary enough for him to dive down and perch a football field's length away, allowing for his helmet to pick up on the two's conversation.

That decision had probably been one of the best ones of his entire life. The kid was clearly very insistent to go after him and his business, while Stark not so much, but that didn't stop the fact that Peter was clearly desperate to take him down and had Iron Man even more clearly wrapped around his little finger. That was dangerous, and it was bad for business.

After checking once more that Iron Man was no longer nearby, he shot back up into the air towards his warehouse as he made a note to put Mason u[ to finding out who this Peter-kid was and he searched through multiple names in his personnel, looking for the best to keep an eye on the kid. No one was going to mess with his business. With his family.

  ---

"Alright," Tony said as he entered the lab through the window, stepping out from his suit and back over to his desk. He grimaced at where the web fluid had exploded over the desk while he'd been gone. Hopefully that would fizzle out in an hour or two. "What have you got for me, Fri?"

A screen popped up immediately, and Tony was shown his first true glimpse of his soulmate's face. His heart tugged both at the adorableness of the kid pictured in front of him and the fact that he was seeing the kid for the first time through a screen. He shook it aside, taking in the kid in front of him.

Peter.

The yearbook photo left the smile hilariously forced but no less adorable, especially with the way the kid's eyes read embarrassment and boredom in only a way a teen's could. His hair was tamed down generously for picture day, but a few stray curls forced their way loose. Somehow, he was exactly what Tony had imagined.

"Okay. Full life synopsis. Let's go," he ordered the AI.

"Peter Benjamin Parker was born on August tenth, 2001, to Mary and Richard Parker, both head researchers at Oscorp before their deaths in 2006 in a plane crash. Guardianship was transferred to Richard's brother and sister-in-law, Ben and May Parker. They were killed during a mugging six months ago."

"Yikes, kid. Not a super easy time for you, huh?" Tony glanced at the picture of the kid again. "Where does he live now?"

"At the Queens Pinehill Group Home for Boys under the guardianship of Andrew Fowler."

"Pull up his file. Any records of abuse or illegal activities?"

"Fowler has two DUI's from when he was nineteen and twenty-three, but nothing else. Nothing unusual about him, boss."

Tony hummed, crossing his arms and pursing his lips. After all of Peter's little flinches and shakes, he was still skeptical, but with nothing to prove, he left it alone. For now.

"Mr. Parker does, however, have a record."

His head turned. "He does?"

"He does." Multiple files were shoved in his face. "Nothing serious, sir, but he has multiple accounts of sneaking out and degenerate behavior. Smoking, loitering, and two misdemeanors."

Tony hesitated for a moment, but shrugged it off. He was a kid who'd had a rough life, and, really, Tony had done some similar shit when he was the kid's age, and the sneaking out could be easily waved off by Peter's vigilante actions. He moved on.

"How's the suit coming along?"

"Trials are finished and ready for 3D printing. All that's left is the fluid, boss."

Tony glanced at the table still completely covered with the white formula. He grimaced. "We'll deal with that later. Go ahead and print the suit, and I'm gonna need a couple of things before we completely shut down for the night."

  ---

I, Peter thought, am an idiot.

After returning to the party, he had changed back into his regular clothes and managed to draw Ned out from the crowd, who had been more than a little confused at his dripping wet hair and slightly bruised face.

"Dude," Ned had asked. "What the hell happened? What happened to the plan?"

"Sorry," Peter had muttered. "There was some weapons dealers. They got the drop on me and dropped me in the lake. And, uh, I met Mr. Stark again."

Ned had gasped. "Really!? Oh, my gosh, is he here? Can I meet him?"

"No, he left, Ned. He saved me actually."

"This is the coolest! You're superhero buddies!" He'd gasped again. "Oh, my God! Are you Iron Man's sidekick?"

"What? No, Ned. I'm not his sidekick." I'm his soulmate, which was honestly worse. Peter would be a better sidekick than a soulmate. "It was probably just, like, a favor thing since I saved him yesterday."

"Super. Hero. Buddies."

There hadn't been any arguing with Ned, he'd been too excited. But, thankfully, the arrival of Iron Man had distracted his friend from going back to the party and they'd called his mom so they could leave early. Not ready to take anymore chances that night, he'd asked Mrs. Leeds to drop him off right at the group home. Mr. Fowler hadn't been there when Peter had tiptoed through the door, so he'd just slipped up the stairs and taken a hot shower, not even bothering to try and take something from the kitchen. He didn't have the heart for another strike.

His spider sense had been going off the entire time, just like it had when he'd been talking with Mr. Stark. It had prevented him from falling asleep that night, thankfully it had been a Friday. But the fact that his senses wouldn't calm down, even now on Saturday morning, was more than a little concerning. Was he dying? Maybe it was the lack of food? Or were his senses trying to warn him about Mr. Stark?

That was the worst thought of all, but it'd popped into his mind whenever he'd caught sight of his shadow while he was eating breakfast the next morning. Everyone in the group home was at the table to watch his nervous jitters as he tried not to look too starved while eating his cereal. Tim and Eric had glanced at him a lot, clearly desperate for him to play some games with them today. The other two younger boys, Aaron and Juan, were much more calm, staring down at the table in an attempt to not draw attention to themselves. Though Jeremiah was winning that competition.

Mr. Fowler sat at the head of the table, a plate of eggs and bacon sitting idly in front of him as he rifled through the mail with annoyed mutters. The man had a lot of junk mail--seriously, he had more magazine subscriptions than Peter could count--so the boys could usually tell when he finally stumbled across something he liked in the mail. His muttering would pause, the rifling would stop, and he would hum in approval before setting the piece of paper aside. This morning, he found something he clearly didn't care for.

Mr. Fowler's muttering paused, the rifling stopped, and Peter waited for the quiet hum, but instead there was a displeased grunt. Heads turned as the junk mail smacked onto the table and a vanilla letter stood out in Mr. Fowler's hands with large letters scrolled on the front of it. Peter's name sat scrawled on the corner.

"Who the heck is 'TS?'" Mr. Fowler asked, glancing at the letter again. "With no return address?"

Peter panicked, almost choking on his off-brand Cheerios as he searched for an excuse that wasn't as flimsy as a feather.

"It's, uh, a pen pal. Thing."

Sure. Not flimsy at all, Parker.

"A pen pal?"

Peter nodded. "Yep. Um, through--through school. It's new. And we deliver them, by ah, ourselves. I delivered mine yesterday, so, no return address?"

"Fun... What's their name?"

He took another bite of his food to stall, mumbling through the soggy cereal, "Tony."

"Tony...?"

"Smart." Mr. Fowler glanced at him. Idiot, idiot, idiot. "Yeah. Tony Smart. He goes to Bronx... Anyway can I have that letter please?"

With a grumble, Mr. Fowler tossed the letter on the table in front of Peter. He quickly pocketed it, finishing his cereal as fast as humanly possible and placing it in the dishwasher. He passed by the table, promising to help the other kids with their dishes and their homework, before walking out the door and sitting on the steps outside the small and rundown building, ignoring the way his senses were still going off.

Peter muttered confusions under his breath as he pulled the surprisingly thick letter out of his hoodie, turning it over in his hands once before finally ripping it open. There were four things inside. He grabbed the letter first, unfolding it to read the loose lettering scrawled inside.

  Dear, Mr. Parker,

Letters aren't really my thing. I'm more of a talker, as you may have realized last night, so I've left a new Starkphone in the envelope to replace the one you broke last night. For talking. And whatever the hell teenagers do with phones too.

  Peter blinked, narrowing his eyes and his chin dropping as he fished the phone out of the envelope. It was horribly expensive under his fingers and he immediately flushed as he thought about how much it must cost. He didn't think it was even on the market yet. He shook his head and blinked furiously, returning to the letter.

  I've also included a Stark Industries badge that will get you into the tower for the next week or so until we move to the compound. You'll receive a new one once badges are printed for the Avengers Compound. My forehead of security will be very excited to be on the job. There's also a credit card connected to my account if you're ever in trouble or in the mood for something to eat. Of course, I don't know what your schedule is, but call me whenever, and you're always welcome in Casa de Stark.

-TS

P.S. Stop by the tower if you can today. I've got a surprise I think you'll like.

  Go to the tower? Peter glanced around the street nervously. He guessed it couldn't hurt, as long as he got all his Saturday chores done first.

After a moment of hesitation, the teenager folded up the letter, stuffing it in his pocket before turning back to the rest of the contents in the envelope. Like Mr. Stark had said, there was a Stark Industries badge, with his embarrassing yearbook photo and his name printed in bold letters, and an ebony credit card that practically gleamed even in the weak light of the gray day.

"The hell..." he muttered, staring at it. He didn't even want to begin thinking about how much stuff he could buy with this thing. The thought made him nauseous, and he moved to stuff it in his pocket as well, when he paused. His pocket was a horrible place to put this thing. He didn't plan on using it, but he'd have an actual stroke if he managed to lose it, or worse, if someone stole it. Mr. Stark already didn't seem overwhelmingly thrilled to have a snotty kid as his soulmate, no need to disappoint him further.

Peter went back inside, placing the card in his thin leather wallet that he kept in his bag, clipping his badge to the backpack, and then stuffing the letter underneath his mattress. Before he went to move back downstairs, his stomach rumbled and his eyes strayed back to the card. Mr. Stark had said he could use it whenever...and it wasn't like snacks were going to drain his account or anything. He bit his lip, forcing himself to turn back around and down the stairs. He wasn't a charity case, and he wasn't going to just abuse Mr. Stark's money like that.

The teenager shook his head as he hurried back to the common floor to begin cleaning up the kitchen as he tried not to think about how hungry he was going to be tonight. Only breakfast was allowed when grounded at Queens Pinehill Group Home for Boys, so tonight was going to be so much worse without a school provided lunch. And falling asleep last night had been almost impossible thanks to the gnawing pain in the pit of his stomach. Whatever. He'd figure it out somehow.

Cleaning the kitchen didn't take very long, both him and Jeremiah burning through the dishes and putting away food in less than ten minutes while the younger kids sat silently at the table, trepidatious noses stuck in books, though they'd been allowed a moment of calm reprieve when Mr. Fowler had stumbled upstairs for a few minutes before plopping back downstairs into his usual seat. Once the two were done, Jeremiah went to take out the trash while Peter stepped over to Mr. Fowler, who was just finishing scribbling on a thin piece of paper.

"I expect the receipt as usual, Parker. Not a penny missing." The man thrust the list in his hand along with a wad of tightly wrapped cash that Peter accepted more than a little nervously. Mr. Fowler was very particular about his money. "And don't forget to check the eggs to make sure they're not broken."

"Yes, sir," Peter nodded.

"And take the others with you. I need a few hours of peace."

"Yes, sir," he said again.

He motioned for the children to grab their bags from the hooks by the door while Peter dashed up the stairs and back down again with his own. He never left home without it, and the kids needed something to hold their stuff. Not that he would mind carrying a couple of books, but they had to carry all the groceries back, so the more free hands the better.

The ragtag group bounced onto the cracked sidewalk, the kids waving goodbyes to Jeremiah as they headed off towards the nearest grocery story. There was some excited babble as they all crowded around Peter, words tumbling from prepubescent lips as they all finally got their chance to inform Peter of their very eventful week. Mr. Fowler was never very excited to have the kids talking all at once. It disturbed his constant hangovers.

"One at a time, one at a time," Peter said with a reluctant smile. The chatter died down. "Youngest first."

Eric grabbed Peter's hand in response, the nine year-old babbling away about something new he'd learned in class and something funny his friend had said on Monday that he'd been waiting all week to tell Peter. Next was Juan, who had similar tellings, but the teenager responded just enthusiastically as he did Eric until they went all the way through the stories and ended up at the cheap grocery store.

Peter stopped them before going inside. "Rules?"

"Don't touch anything," all four chorused, continuing down the list. 1. Don't touch anything. 2. Stay by Peter. And 3. Hold your buddy's hand the whole time. Once they'd repeated them all, Peter nodded and led them inside.

The teenager tried his best to get everything on Mr. Fowler's list quickly, but refused to not double check for the cheaper brands that Mr. Fowler was always so insistent he buy. It irked Peter off, especially since grocery money came from the state and not the man, but there wasn't anything Peter could do without getting another strike, so he grabbed the blandest cheerios and the most unhealthy oatmeal and placed them in the basket in annoyance, doing his best to avoid any aisle with some kind of bright sugar. He still caught the other kids looking at cookies and cartons of ice cream longingly though.

Finally, after an agonizingly long time, they were all checked out and laden with groceries as they headed down the sidewalk back to the group home. There was more chatter from the kids as they pointed at fluttering pigeons and scurrying rats. There was even a parrot at one point that Peter was sure someone was looking for. He'd check around online later and see if he could give someone a tip about the scarlet bird that's shit narrowly missed Eric.

All was going well until the chime of an ice cream truck began down the small neighborhood street. Feet stopped and heads turned as the bright pink vehicle stopped in front of a group of clamoring kids. Peter could practically feel their want for something other than the same breakfast and dinner they got every day. Their most interesting meal was usually their school lunches, which was honestly more pitiful than anything the teenager could ever dream of.

Peter bit his lip as he stared at the ice cream truck and then sighed, setting down his groceries and opening the pocket of his backpack where he'd placed his wallet earlier. The wallet that now had a shiny black card connected directly to a billionaire that could give these kids a fun morning for once.

The wallet that was nowhere to be seen.

"Fuck," Peter muttered.

Eric gasped, pointing at Peter who was now practically tearing apart his backpack looking for the thing, panic rising in his chest. "Peter said a bad word!"

"Shit," Juan said in response. There were some giggles from the older kids but Eric gasped again. Peter ignored them, strangling in a reluctant breath as his hands finally stilled after coming away with nothing.

How the hell had he lost it? He'd had it for barely an hour! Think, Parker, think. It had been in his bag, he knew that. He'd put it in the second lowest pocket of his backpack, which he'd left upstairs. All the boys had been at the table, and Jeremiah had been cleaning the kitchen with him the entire time. Had someone stolen it at the store? It was possible but unlikely, what with his spider sense and the fact that four kids who'd grown up in New York's foster system paying constant attention to him. So how could it have--

Peter paused, bringing his hands up to cover the bottom half of his face as he clenched his teeth harder than he remembered having ever done before. Mr. Fowler had gone upstairs. And Peter's story had been complete bullshit. He must have found his wallet and taken it upon seeing the shiny black card just perfectly poised for the taking.

His legs stiff with terror, Peter stuffed everything he'd taken out of his bag back into it haphazardly, zipping it shut so harshly the tab ripped completely off. He grunted, throwing the piece of plastic to the ground and clutching his groceries back in his hands before stomping off. The kids stumbled after him once they'd realized he'd begun to move.

"Peter!! Wait up!" Tim called.

Peter forced himself to pause for them, but continued on the moment they were caught up to him. He tried to calm himself, but he couldn't stop the way his face contorted and he seethed in fury. He didn't give two flying shits about the crumpled bills in his wallet the man had taken, or the few personal items he'd kept in the wallet from his late uncle, but he was horribly angry that the man had taken something that was barely even Peter's.

There was no way in hell the teenager was going to explain to Mr. Stark that the card had been stolen from him not even a day after he'd gotten it. There was no way in hell was Peter going to explain that he, an enhanced that had just touted last night that he could take on the flying vulture guy, that he couldn't stand up to his foster father. Mr. Stark dealt with aliens. Peter could deal with Mr. Fowler.

His steps faltered.

He could. He could do it.

As he later found out, he couldn't.

  ---

Peter crept up the stairs of the Queens Pinehill Group Home for Boys, having already set all the groceries he'd had on the kitchen counter for the other kids to put away. He tried to keep the shaking from his fear, unsure if it stemmed from fear or anger, but he was largely unsuccessful as he stalked past the kids' rooms and approached the one at the end of the hall.

As far as Peter knew, no one had gone into Mr. Fowler's room before. There usually wasn't a point. The man kept such meticulous track of his belongings that it was impossible to take something without him noticing sooner or later, and, not only that, but Peter was used to the click of a lock sliding shut whenever the man left his room unattended or went to sleep for the night. It left the teenager facing the unknown as he finally stepped in front of the door that was, in that moment, bigger than anything he'd ever seen.

He took in a shaky breath. Maybe this was a bad idea. The ringing of fear trembling up and down his entire self told him so.

But the anger wasn't completely overridden by the fear, and Peter was full of bad ideas anyway, so he raised a fist and knocked rapidly. There was no response, so Peter knocked again, just as forceful as last time but now more hesitant.

With a horrifying shiver down his spine, the door swung open. Peter swallowed but refused to take the step back that he desperately wanted to as Mr. Fowler towered over him. The smell of alcohol wasn't any kind of freshly strong like it had been a couple of nights ago, which was the only thing reassuring about the moment.

"What do you want?" Mr. Fowler demanded.

"My wallet." He willed his voice not to break.

Mr. Fowler's eyes narrowed as a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "What?"

"My wallet. You took it and I want it back."

"It's my house, so it's my wallet."

"No it's not! It was my uncle's!" he protested.

"Oh, and was this your uncle's too?" The shiny black card was pulled out his pocket as Mr. Fowler flashed him a toothy grin. Peter's hands twitched with the need to reach out for it, but he kept his fists balled at his side. "Lying to your foster father now, huh? That was a nice little letter under your bed, too. New sugar daddy or something?"

Peter blanched, but then his face turned ghostly white. His voice was a horrified whisper. "You took my letter?"

"Under your bed? Really? You didn't even try, son!" Mr. Fowler taunted, pulling out a piece of crumpled paper and forcing it into Peter's hands. He tore it open, but the paper was so wrinkled he could barely read it anymore. "So, Tony Stark? I don't know if you sucked his dick or something, but I'm sure this card has plenty for me to use if it's connected to his account."

"What? No! That doesn't belong--"

He was cut off by a hand tugging a fistful of his hair. Peter winced but refused to let out a yelped cry even as he was dragged into Mr. Fowler's room. It wasn't much, he realized as he peered through squinted eyes at the bedroom. It was somehow grimy and tidy at the same time, with dust and dirt covering just about every corner, but his belongings were neatly lined and organized on the desk and bedside table. The only other thing that screamed about Mr. Fowler's uncleanliness was the bottles littering the floor that Peter had to fight not to trip over, made only harder as the fist let go of his hair and slapped him into the nearest wall.

"Now listen here, you little shit," Mr. Fowler started, cornering the scrambling teenager as his voice boomed so loud that surely all the kids downstairs could hear him. "I clothe you and house you and feed you, and I will not tolerate your levels of disrespect when you do nothing but run around like the little ungrateful shit you are! Anything you earn while under my roof belongs to me!"

"No it doesn't!" Peter found the courage to shout back. Mr. Fowler blinked in scowled surprise. "And you barely do any of that shit! I had these clothes before I got here, and you barely feed me! You barely feed any of the kids down there!! What the hell is wrong--"

His face stung with the slap that met it.

He grit his teeth, blinking away angry tears. It didn't hurt, it didn't hurt. He was Spider-Man. Being dropped into a lake had hurt, this was nothing. He couldn't really be hurt while he had these powers. He couldn't.

"SHUT UP!!!"

Peter cowered.

"You know nothing about what you're talking about, son," Mr. Fowler breathed, stalking forward until his face was only inches from Peter's and there was nowhere left to run. He scrunched his nose and screwed up his eyes, holding his breath against the man's stale breath as he turned his face away to stare past the man's shoulder. "Whatever you think, this is my house, and I took you in after your last foster parent got sick of your teenage horseshit. Sneaking out wasn't tolerated there, just as much as disrespect isn't tolerated here. So I think that's another strike, don't you? Or a good enough recommendation could get you to a juvenile detention center instead."

"No, please--"

The hand was in his hair again, tearing him forward with a pained wince and forcing him through the door. When Peter smacked up against the wall, he realized it wasn't the door to the hallway.

Scrambling, he swung around just in time to see the door slam shut and then click with the eerie noise of a lock, leaving Peter in the dark closet that was full of nothing but the stench of dirty clothes piled around his feet and the clinking of dusty bottles. He swallowed, wishing desperately he didn't make such stupid decisions, that he'd just kept his head down and forgotten about it and--

"Stay nice and quiet, and you'll be let out soon," Mr. Fowler called before the sound of the door clicked shut and the groaning of wood told him that the man was walking away.

And Peter was horribly alone.

 ---

  Tony glanced between the metal case sat on the table and the window displaying the New York night sky one last time before sighing and stepping off of the stool, Peter's shadow following him. He hadn't been Spider-Man all day, so Tony had no idea what could be holding him up. The kid hadn't texted at all either, though he was sure he'd at least set up the phone already.

Nervously, the billionaire tapped his fingers on the table, one of the last pieces of furniture that had yet to be packed on his floor. He'd delivered the letter himself, clearly addressed it to the kid and everything, but maybe he hadn't gotten it? Maybe it had been a little sketchy for a kid to get a letter with just initials on it and no return address. But he couldn't have gotten in trouble for anything like that, right? And Peter's foster father didn't have anything bad surrounding his name...

With a tired sigh, he asked his AI, "Anything?"

"Mr. Parker has still not entered the building."

"A few blocks out?"

"He does not appear on any security cameras." A moment. "It is past ten, sir. I do not think he is going to come."

"Keep an eye out for him, just in case." He continued to tap the table with a thoughtful hum. Just to double check. "Has the phone been activated?"

"Yes, sir. It started up this morning."

Okay, good, so he had gotten the letter.

"And the card?" he asked. His AI paused, and something hard settled in his stomach. "The card, Friday?"

"It has been in use multiple times since this morning." Tony blinked. That was something of a surprise, but he couldn't say he was disappointed. The kid looked like he could use a good meal or two. He took his jacket off, moving towards his bedroom.

"Great. Glad it's being put to use."

"Three hundred dollars have been spent on alcoholic beverages."

Tony froze where he stood, suspended in a feeling he couldn't even describe. Disappointment? Terror? Hurt? He stared down at the curly-haired shadow, eyes narrowing as he gaped at it. He hadn't exactly pegged the kid as someone who would buy boatloads of drinks, and he didn't even know if a fake ID would work for the kid. He looked all of twelve.

"Cut off the card until the next time I talk to him."

"Yes, sir."

"And track his phone. Where the hell is he right now?"

"His phone's location relays that he is in his foster home."

And that was that he supposed. The kid couldn't buy anymore alcohol and there wasn't anything Tony could do without talking to him directly.

Tony stepped into his bedroom, slipped into some old pajamas, and flopped onto bed with a twist in his gut. Something just felt wrong, and it was more than the kid buying alcohol that likely would barely affect him anyway.

His mind racing, Tony turned restlessly under the covers as the lights shut off around him. Peter's shadow disappeared, the room going with it, and when Tony blinked again, he found himself in complete darkness only broken by the shifting of clothes, the clink of bottles, and the sniffles of someone coming off of a breakdown.

He blinked back awake, sitting up and reaching for his phone. He scrolled through it until he found Peter's number and hit call. It rang. And rang. And rang.

"Hi, you've reached the voicemail of Peter Parker! I'm busy right now, I guess, so call me later, and yeah! Have a good day! Oh! And leave your message after the beep! BEEEP!!"

Tony didn't know whether to laugh or not.

Ch 1 // Ch 2 // Ch 4 // Ch 5 // Ch 6 // Ch 7 // Ch 8

[whumphoarder]

⭐️?

You Broke Tony was originally going to be told from Peter’s POV instead of Tony’s, but I decided to change it so that we see more of Tony’s confusion and less of Peter’s anxiety, giving it a more lighthearted feel.

If you’re interested, I still have the original draft from Peter’s POV:

“Hey FRIDAY?” Peter called out tentatively as he limped into the entryway of the building. He was hesitant to move any further. “Is Mr. Stark home?”

Her voice answered immediately. “Yes, Peter. Would you like me to alert Mr. Stark of your presence?”

“Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks.”

FRIDAY was silent for a moment and Peter assumed she was relaying the information. “Boss says he’s working on something in the lab but to let yourself in and that there are those pudding cups you like in the fridge. Butterscotch, since you’re 16 going on 80.”

“Oh, uh, tell him thanks. But I’m kinda… messy.” He looked down at the white marble he was currently staining crimson. Dizziness washed over him and he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “Do you know if Mr. Stark has any old towels I can borrow? Ones that can get stained?”

“There is an ample supply of towels in the linen closet at the end of the hall, to the right of the first guest bathroom.”

“Oh.” Peter glanced down at his soaked Spider-Man suit, and then behind him at trail of sticky red footprints. “That’s really far away.”

“Do you require assistance, Peter?” the AI asked.

Peter wasn’t exactly known for taking people up on their offers of help, so his instinct was to say no, thanks, he would be fine. But realization was hitting that even if he could manage to limp to the linen closet on his throbbing ankle without incident, it would only make an even bigger mess. He figured he was in enough trouble as it was. “Um… maybe,” he admitted.

The AI was quiet a moment again before responding, “Mr. Hogan is on his way.”

Peter acknowledged the information with a grunt. The headache he’d had since being slammed into the store counter earlier was ramping up now. He wanted to lean against the wall, but he couldn’t bear the thought of messing up Mr. Stark’s pristine walls as well as his floor. He settled for carefully lowering himself down on the entryway floor and letting his head rest on his knees.

It was several minutes before Happy stepped out of the elevator, carrying two towels and looking pissed as always. “Not sure why you think I’m your butler now,” he grumbled as he approached, “but FRIDAY said you needed…” Happy’s eyes went wide and he froze midstep. “Aw, shit! What did you do?!” 

“Wha..?” Peter had started to doze off in the time he’d been waiting. He lifted his head and blinked at the gaping man. “Oh, hey Happy. How’s it going? Sorry about all this...” he rambled.

But Happy wasn’t listening. He closed the distance between himself and Peter quickly while ordering at the AI, “Tell Tony to get his ass up here ASAP. Code red—the kid’s in trouble.” Dropping the towels to his side, he bent down and grabbed Peter firmly by the shoulders.

Trouble -- the word rang in Peter’s aching head. The last time he was in trouble with Mr. Stark, he gotten his suit taken from him. Peter was panicking now. His head felt fuzzy and his words were coming out slightly slurred. “I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! I’ll clean it up, please don’t be mad!” He reached for a towel, but Happy swatted his hand away.

“Shut up and hold still, kid,” Happy barked. His hands were running over Peter’s body now, patting him down like he was searching for something, which Peter thought was strange. When he touched the lump on the back of Peter’s head, the kid let out a hiss.

“That hurts?” Happy questioned. “Did you hit your head?” 

Peter nodded. In a small voice, he asked, “Is Mr. Stark gonna be mad?”

“I’d say that’s a good possibility,” Happy replied curtly.

Peter hid his face back in his arms and moaned softly, internally cursing himself for coming to the tower in the first place. If not for this stupid headache, he was sure he could have figured out a better solution than involving Tony, but the day’s events had left him not exactly firing on all cylinders. 

Just then, Mr. Stark came bursting out of the elevator doors, still dressed in the grimy old jeans and T-shirt that he only wore in his workshop. “Jesus Christ, kid,” he swore. In a few quick strides, he was kneeling at Peter’s side, his eyes scanning Peter up and down. “What the hell happened?”

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Stark,” Peter whimpered. “I’ll clean everything, I swear, I jus-”

“What. The hell. Happened.”

It was the same scarily calm voice that Tony had used on the ferry. All of sudden Peter was back on the dock, getting chewed out by the one person he looked up to most. “Th-There was a mugging,” he tried to explain. His throat felt tight and his eyes stung. “I-I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, I tried to stop him but-”

“Where are you hurt?” Tony demanded. He pressed the spider insignia on the front of Peter’s suit and the fabric loosened around him.

Both Tony and Happy were working now to pull the suit off him, and all Peter could think was that Spider-Man was being taken from him again, right here in the lobby. He kept rambling, tears slipping out now, “I’m so sorry about the mess and the suit and-

Mr. Stark paused. “Hey, hey, look at me, kid.” Tony touched Peter’s chin and tilted it up to him. Peter blinked at him. The anger that he had expected to see in his mentor’s eyes wasn’t there. Instead, there was fear. “I don’t give a shit about the floor or the suit. I need to know where you’re hurt.”

Happy spoke up. “He’s got a head injury, but I don’t think that’s where the blood is coming from.”

“Then where is it coming from?” Tony shot back.

Peter frowned, confused. Blood? Was he bleeding? Looking down at himself, something finally clicked in the teenager’s addled brain and he realized why everyone was so upset.

“Guys, this isn’t my blood,” Peter said simply.

Both men stiffened immediately. “Whose is it?” Happy asked, looking horrified. 

Peter shook his head. “No, no, sorry! I mean it’s not anyone’s! It’s not real.” The adults looked unconvinced so Peter licked the arm of his suit, staining his tongue bright red. “See? It’s like colored corn syrup and glycerin or something.”

The two men relaxed, but only for a millisecond. 

Tony was the first back on the offensive. “Alright, we are backing the fuck up here. Then why in god’s name are you sitting on the floor of my lobby covered in fake blood? Because if this is some kind of prank…”

“Not a prank.” Peter closed his eyes and groaned softly. He took a deep breath. “I was on patrol. There was a mugging going on in the alley between Walgreens and… uh, you know those temporary stores that pop up around Halloween and sell costumes and decorations and stuff?”

“Yeah, go on,” Tony prompted.

“One of those,” Peter continued. “Anyway I tried to web the guy up but my web-shooter jammed and he got away and ran into the costume store. So I ran in after him but he had a gun and-“

“Did he shoot you?” Tony interrupted.

“Well, he tried but-”

Immediately, Tony started trying to pull the suit off again and find whatever injury Peter was hiding.

“No, no Mr. Stark, he missed!” Peter said quickly. “But when I jumped out of the way, I sorta crashed into this display shelf and knocked a bin over, which was full of these little plastic bags. And then I landed on them so some of them burst open...”

“Let me guess.” Tony sighed exasperatedly. “Fake blood.”

“It was everywhere,” Peter said miserably. “Kinda hit my head on the counter too…” He ran his fingers over the lump on his skull, wincing.

(A/N: You’ll note at this moment in that a wild Bruce appears. I do not know where he came from and he did not make it to later drafts of this story lmao)

Bruce frowned and tilted Peter’s chin up towards him. With the other hand, he held up a finger and traced sideways across the teenager’s line of sight. Peter tried to follow with his gaze, but it only made him feel dizzier. Bruce pulled a penlight from his chest pocket and shined it at the boy’s eyes.

“What’s the diagnosis, Doc?” Tony asked.

“I’ll preface this by reminding you I’m still not a medical doctor…” Bruce began. 

Tony waved his hand indicating he should go on.

“Pupils are blown, and he’s having a hard time tracking. I’m guessing mild to moderate concussion, but we should get him to Medbay and run a CT to be sure.”

Tony nodded. “FRIDAY, be sure to alert a real doctor of that and send someone up from medical with a stretcher.”

“Right away, sir,” the AI replied.

“Mr. Stark, I can walk-“

“Finish your story, Pete,” Tony cut him off.

Peter closed his eyes and obeyed. “The blood was all over and I think the guy thought he’d hit me because he started running back out. So I jumped up and webbed him — it worked this time. And then I webbed the gun up too and left them both for the cops.”

“What about your ankle?” Bruce questioned.

Peter blushed. “Oh. Uh, on my way out I sorta… slipped.” 

“You slipped?” Tony clarified.

Dropping his gaze to his feet, Peter muttered, “...On the blood.”

At this detail, Tony let out a snort of amusement. He quickly turned it into a cough though, as both Happy and Bruce shot him disapproving looks. “Sorry, kid,” he said through coughs. With a smirk, he added, “But you gotta admit that is a fantastic image.”

Peter only groaned in response.

I much prefer the vibe of the story from Tony’s POV, but Happy was fun to write in this and he sadly got the cut :(

Fanfic Writers: Director’s Cut

[celesticidal]

Ok, I gotta know about action hooker nyx from the WIP list :eyeballs emoji: <3

lmao you and marmolita both asked about this one ♥

JESUS ok one day chase and I were having this tangent conversation during one of our other cornyx au yelling sessions and the concept of Nyx as an escort was tossed out into the arena. Like, high-status arm-candy to Lucian officials at functions bc ooh look a galahdan etc etc and then I opened my mouth and things started pouring out and they did too and suddenly I had like 15 pages of notes on this story that oh my G O D I wish I had the endurance to write

Basic outline is this: Nyx’s apartment gets bombed and Cor meets him while investigating.  Then his next one gets bombed, and after a proper hospital interrogation Cor learns that there are Galahdan kids disappearing with Nif involvement and Nyx has been snooping in on that with his friends and apparently he’s gotten too close to ... something?  He doesn’t know yet, but he knows Lucians don’t give a shit about Galahdan problems and who knows if this guy is involved or what?  Anyway, after the safehouse Cor tucks him in gets hit too because Nyx isn’t stopping his militia investigative work just because some Lucian with a title growls and makes demands, he ends up in Crownsguard protection in Cor’s apartment kiiinda sorta under house arrest?

Cue many months of racheting tension over a backdrop of slowly unraveling misunderstanding; Cor is basically running this investigation in his off-hours on a skeleton crew since he has no idea who is involved, Nyx is trying to do his part AND work while dealing with Captain Paranoia and his Everseeing Eye. Cor kind of ends up being an uber-professional sugar daddy while Nyx is miserable without much for Actual Human Contact since Cor likes to pretend he’s just a work machine even though there is definitely some mutual thirst wafting through the air.  Eventually one day Cor comes home and realizes that his apartment actually feels like a home??? and Nyx has kind of wormed his way into his life for real?

Honestly, most of the focus was on the two of them coming to understand one another and like ... the different flavors of intimacy involved in that, but I mean Nyx also realizes Drautos is Glauca because he recognizes his distinctive booty scar, and the action bit maybe culminates in a rescue chase across the city as the crownsguard track Nyx via a tracker built into a buttplug so like ... y’know.

[ohjohnno]

Outrageous Fortune Reviewcap: S1E09 (”When The Blood Burns”)

I’ve been demurring on this one, partly because of real life shit (well, mostly that to be honest) but also because this episode isn’t all that good. It’s an episode entirely centering around Antony Starr’s characters, and I sure hope they paid him double, cos the range he needed for it was tremendous. But, unfortunately, one of those characters (Van) just isn’t all that interesting yet, and the other (Jethro) is ill-served by one of the dumbest and most unfortunate sideplots the show has yet had. So, without further ado, we’ll get this one out of the way, and I’ll try and keep it short. 

We open with a dual appearance from the two most irritating characters in the show: Tracy and Suzy Hong, their differences now thoroughly mended and united in enjoying themselves by tormenting Van.

Yeah, it’s as insufferable as it looks. An incensed Van finally snaps and threatens to quit; Mr. Hong overhears, but Van finally manages to stand up for himself and it pays off: Mr. Hong makes him manager of one of his local little stores, which seems to sell mostly cheap novelty junk. I’m not entirely sure why he does this, honestly, but it’s a mildly important character moment for Van, so okay, I guess?

Meanwhile, in the West household, things are getting a little crazy.

Cheryl and Kacey are promoting their new underwear business with a sorta quasi-striptease party, hosted by and for middle-aged women. It’s one of the aspects of the episode I like best, not because the women are sexy but more because they really aren’t; they’re a bunch of trashy fortysomething women, reminding the world that it isn’t just model-type people who like having sex, or who know how to have fun with it. Kacey makes this explicit with a little barb at the morbidly fascinated Pascalle, telling her they didn’t offer to use her as a model because they wanted to use “real women”, which is a nice reminder that toxic standards of femininity cut cruelly in both directions. So, yeah, good segment - made all the better by the horror of the younger girls who’ve been dragged along.

Van returns, utterly nonplussed at the scene before him, and they all retreat to the bedroom. Antony Starr’s comic acting here is great, actually - he follows the others to the room and finds them using his drugs with an indignant and confused response of “well... don’t!”, and it makes me laugh every time. Draska expresses some clear interest in him, which he once again ignores, as usual. The next scene is where the plot properly begins.

The gist of it is this: the Hongs’ local store has their goods transported from warehouse to shelf by Draska’s clan, the Doslics. Van discovers that there’s a discrepancy between the number of trading cards he was meant to be shipped and the number he actually received; he goes and politely asks the Doslics about it, and they do not take that well.

   I come from good people - HONEST people! Made strong by our troubles!

Naturally, they think he’s accusing them of thievery. Naturally, this makes Van pretty sure they really are committing thievery, and a raging Mr. Hong agrees. The two proceed to keep escalating tensions, and the rest of the Wests get caught in the crossfire; mama Doslic gets into a fight with Cheryl in a supermarket car park, Pascalle finds her old tyre-modelling photos all defaced with violent graffiti, and it’s all mildly funny but also kinda dull. Eventually, it turns out that Van’s mate Munter has been stealing the cards from the warehouse all along, using the keys Van gave him for safekeeping. This is not the last time Van will find himself victimized by the consequences of his own actions.

I’m blasting through *a lot* of this plot here really quickly, and that’s cos it just isn’t very interesting for the most part. It’s trying to be a farce, mostly, and it sometimes succeeds; Van’s initial confrontation with the Doslics is really quite funny, and his steadily increasing panic as the situation just goes more and more wrong isn’t bad either. But it’s all a bit too by-the-numbers and predictable, and in the end none of the stakes feel real; we all know that in an episode like this, the Hongs and the Doslics were never really gonna properly come to blows, and they don’t. Van confesses a lot of stuff to Draska in a couple of secret meetings, and while he’s initially paranoid about her loyalty, she proves herself by finding a way to fix the issue; she places all the blame for the break-ins on Eric (who was selling the stolen cards anyway, after buying them from Munter) and the two families come together to absolutely motherfucking whoop the guy’s ass, leaving him looking rather worse for wear. 

      ...next thing I know I’m getting the shit kicked out of me by half the West                                                   Auckland United Nations!

If I have a favorite moment in this plot, it’s probably near the beginning, when the elder Doslic is first bringing in what he believes to be the full shipment of cards. He’s ranting and raving, the whole time he does it, about how much he just damn well hates the “chinks” and their terrible language skills, not to mention their driving - all while speaking in a heavy Croatian accent himself and also, oh yeah, taking their money. This show really does get quite a lot of comedy out of the idea that solidarity between marginalized groups really just doesn’t exist.

The rest of it, though? I mean, it does contain a couple of important moments, I guess. Van, after initially lying to protect Munter and only making everything worse, is genuinely willing to offer himself up, blame himself entirely, and essentially sacrifice himself in order to save everyone’s hides, and only doesn’t end up doing it because Draska fixes it all before he has to. That’s a nice reminder that Van, at his core, really is a genuinely good person, and that his internal conflict as a character all comes from the tension between that and the toxic masculinity he’s had indoctrinated deep within him by his father and the culture he’s grown up in. Cheryl demonstrates where her loyalties lie and takes Van’s side without a second’s hesitation after mama Doslic shows up with complaints; for all her problems with Van, she really does love him unconditionally. But there’s also too much stuff that doesn’t come off, like Van’s boring interactions with a mildly delinquent kid who likes the trading cards, or Tracy’s ever-one-dimensional mistreatment of Van. 

Still, at least it’s better than Jethro’s plot.

Remember how Tracy knows now about Jethro’s little rape-by-deception thing a few episodes ago? Well, she still doesn’t seem to be thinking of it as rape, but she is trying to get him to apologize for it nonetheless. Jethro, meanwhile, wants to root her again, and he knows he can’t do that without apologizing. So Jethro’s plot this episode is several scenes in a row of him miserably failing to pull off a convincing apology, and... that’s it, really. Hugh’s back, being annoying as usual (though it’s intentional enough that it doesn’t bother me too much), and Loretta briefly shows up to mock him for how bad he is at apologizing (talk about the pot calling the kettle black!), but for the most part this is all really redundant and dull. The only interesting part comes in Loretta’s video shack, where Jethro straight up lies to Caroline’s face, right in front of Loretta, in order to make himself some free time to go and keep trying it with Tracy. Loretta, of course, is too sociopathic to feel sorry for her, and we all knew a couple of episodes ago that Jethro wasn’t gonna be able to maintain it with her as a regular relationship, but the beginnings of heartbreak on Caroline’s face as she begins to get an inkling, in her subconscious, of what’s going on is genuinely sad.

But the ending of this plot? It’s awful, and in a really unfortunate way. In the end, see, it turns out Tracy never really wanted an apology; she likes Jethro, doesn’t really care about the fact that he deceived her in such an intimate way, and wants it with him again. She decides he’s ready when... he just refuses to apologize one time, admitting he isn’t sorry because (and this is possibly the worst line of dialogue in the whole show, so brace yourselves): “why would I be, when it was the best fuck I’ve ever had?” 

Eugh.

So they start having an affair, and that’ll stay important. Meanwhile, Van’s plot ends similarly, in the superficial respect: Draska finally convinces him to have sex with her, as a celebration for the two of them getting out of that little escapade with everything intact, and it’s also the start of a relationship. Her toxicity, of course, has been evident the whole time from her unhealthy fixation on him, but if she demonstrated anything in this episode it was her intelligence and resourcefulness, so one suspects bad things on the horizon for Van. Nothing much happens with the rest of the characters - Loretta doesn’t do much other than the aforementioned mockery of Jethro and some mildly funny jabs at Pascalle’s choice of career, and Pascalle doesn’t do much other than get all horrified by what’s been done to her poster. On the whole, then, this is a disappointing episode, and maybe the worst one so far. Van will get good, I promise - the potential is all there already. But we’ve still gotta wait for now. Until next time.

[vannahfanfics]

Sora’s Road

Category: Friendship Fluff

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Characters: Sora, Belle

Requested By: cornholio4 (FanFiction)

The air was pleasantly perfumed with the scent of roses as Sora strolled through the wrought-iron gates of Beast’s Castle. At least, he was pretty sure it was the right place, but a shadow of doubt was cast over his mind as he tossed a sweeping glass over the courtyard. What had once been a gloomy, moonlit, ice-frosted tiled courtyard had been renovated into an expansive garden, with the bright spring sun burning in a bright blue sky. Sora’s feet slapped against pristine white tiles as he strolled down the pathway leading to the castle proper, his hands clasped behind his head as he looked back and forth. Whoever the gardener was clearly possessed some talent, as the hedges were trimmed into effigies of various forest animals; Sora saw a regal elk, a pair of prancing foxes, and even a howling wolf.

“Did I get lost?” he wondered aloud as he continuing to inspect the cheery garden. Granted, he hadn’t visited the world since he defeated Xemnas, and so he supposed worlds didn’t stay stagnant forever. Just look at how pretty Radiant Garden was, a far cry from the squalor and darkness of Hollow Bastion. He was feeling a little more sure of himself when he finally came to the great doorway leading into the castle, which didn’t look too terribly different- except it was open to the world, allowing the fresh spring breeze to waft in. “Weird. I wouldn’t think that the Beast would want any regular visitors,” he wondered aloud as he skipped up to the threshold. Not wishing to be rude, he gave a few raps of his knuckles against the wood, which he noticed had recently been given a fresh coat of paint.

“Hello?” he called into the empty entryway. “It’s me, Sora! Um, is anyone home?”

He cocked an eyebrow as he heard the frantic squeaking of what sounded like shoes on waxed floors rapidly approaching. His eyebrow crept all the way up to the roots of his spiky hair when a blonde-haired little boy suddenly burst out of the door he recalled leading to the kitchen to scamper right up to him. The floor actually had just been waxed, because he slipped and slid a little as he careened over to Sora, managing to stop himself in the doorway by grabbing hold of the broad wooden door. “Er, hi,” Sora blinked at the human boy.

“Sora! Long time, no see!” Sora gawked at him in utter confusion.

“I’m sorry; do I know you?”

“It’s me! Chip!” the boy grinned and pulled his mouth open with his fingers to display a chipped front tooth. “Shee? Shee? Ish me!” he insisted before dropping his hands from his mouth. Sora’s mouth hung open as his neurons struggled to process that the little chipped teacup was now a hyperactive little boy.

“Chip! Where are you, Chip?” a motherly voice floated out of the still-swinging kitchen door. Soon a portly woman came bustling out, rubbing her hands on a dishtowel and shaking her head. “So much energy… Chip! Oh, there you are, honey,” she smiled as she spotted her son standing in the open doorway with the still shell-shocked Sora staring stupidly at her.

“Mrs. Potts…?” Sora asked hesitantly as the apron-wearing woman came walking over.

“Why, hello, Sora. How nice of you to come calling.”

“I’m confused. So confused.” He groaned and pressed his aching forehead into the doorframe. Last he had seen, the castle was home to an assortment of live odds and ends, not human beings. He vaguely recalled the magical rose and some semblance of a curse, and the pieces finally clicked into place in his mind. His head shot up with a gasp of epiphany. “Oh, so does this mean the castle’s curse is broken?!”

“That’s right, dear. All of us have returned to our human forms! Master opened up the castle again and has been making right by himself. He sure is popular with the townsfolk these days!” Mrs. Potts chortled as she took Chip by the shoulder and pulled him into her stout body. Chip smiled as he wrapped his twiggy arms around her thick waist. “Life has never been better.”

“I’m glad to hear that!” he smiled genuinely. It did him good to know his friends were doing well.

“How about you, dear?”

“Well…” he frowned and scratched at the side of his head, trying to relate his problems to the kind lady without disrupting the order, because he knew Donald would harp on him about that if he ever found out. “Let’s just say, I had a really important task to do that I bungled real good, and now I’m back to square one.”

“Your friends aren’t with you?”

“I decided to travel by myself for a while. There’s a lot of stuff I need to figure out and do, and I can’t have my hand held, y’know? Gotta find my own inner strength!” he grinned while clapping his hands together. His smile wavered a little, though; it was terribly hard being without his friends, and he really didn’t have much of a clue what had happened to him, either. Just all his powers, gone, just like that. He had been roaming the worlds for a while now, trying to piece together how he had stockpiled all that power in the first place, but it was a terribly lonely process. He had decided on a whim to pay a visit to Belle, because she was really smart and could probably point him in the right direction. “I came to see Belle because she’s read a lot and knows a lot, so I thought she could give me some advice.”

“Oh, well, she is a very smart young lady. At the very least, I’m sure that a cup of tea and a nice chat will do wonders for you! Belle’s in the library. I’ll bring you some refreshments along soon! Come, come, Chip; we have work to do,” the maid smiled as she bustled the excitable boy back to the kitchen. Chip hurriedly learned around his mother’s appreciable frame to wave excitedly in farewell, which Sora returned amiably. The young Keyblade wielder then set off for the great library that Belle pretty much called home.

“Hello? Belle, you in here? It’s Sora!” he announced as he ambled in, hand cupped to his mouth so his voice would reach into the depths of the tall stacks of books. He heard her greeting come floating back and he followed it through the towers of dusty tomes until he came upon her, seated primly at a table with books piled up around her. It always amazed Sora how fast and how much she could read; he had no doubt that those books were ones she had finished, probably for the fourth or fifth time. “How ya doin’?” he asked her jovially as he grabbed a chair and flipped it around to straddle it, arms crossed over the top with his chin resting against his forearm.

“Quite well,” she responded as she marked her page and shut the book to address him properly. She rested her hands primly on her aproned dress, smiling sweetly. “I have to say this is a surprise, but a good one. Your friends are not with you?” Man, I didn’t realize how much people associate me with Donald and Goofy, he thought in amusement.

“Nah. I’m goin’ solo right now.”

“A journey of self-enlightenment?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” he said with a light blush, admittedly having only a surface-level of understanding of the term but not wishing to look foolish in front of the smart princess. “So, the curse is finally broken, huh? Good for you guys.”

“Oh, yes. Adam and I have been making the most of our good fortune.” At his owlish look, she giggled and explained, “That’s Beast’s real name, Prince Adam.”

“Oh.” His gaze dropped to the book she had set down in front of her, and, curious as ever, he picked it up to inspect the back cover. “You really do like adventure books, don’tcha?”

“Of course. The world is vast, as you know, and it’s hard to see it all with your own eyes. Books are a wonderful way to do so.” The corner of Sora’s mouth twitched at the irony that Sora was probably the worlds’ leading expert on vastness, but he didn’t say anything because preserving the order and all that junk. He flipped the book open to rifle through the pages, barely scanning the printed words. “I don’t have much time to read. Y’know, bein’ a Hero of Light and all is a full-time job.”

“I’m sure it is, and a hard one, too. I imagine you’re here because you’ve hit a wall of some sort, yes?” Sora smiled sheepishly at how easily she was able to read him. Man, if he only had half as many functional brain cells as the intelligent princess, he could probably riddle out his problem and scamper back to Yen Sid’s a champion. He set the book down, sliding it back in front of her before collapsing into the top of the chair with a dramatic sigh.

“Yeah, you got me. I sorta lost all my strength in a big blunder on my part, and now I feel like I’m being left behind,” he pouted miserably as he toed the plush rug beneath the table. “I’ve been travelin’ around lookin’ for answers on how to get it back, but so far, I ain’t found nuthin’.” He punctuated the statement with a snort through his nose. Belle smiled sympathetically at him.

“I see. I’m sure it’s a heavy weight on your mind.” She turned to pry a book from within the stack beside her. “Heroes bear the heaviest burdens of us all, I reckon. I’m not versed in heroics, but whenever I feel overwhelmed, I can always find a book that puts my mind at ease. Would you like me to read for you, Sora?”

His eyes lit up and he scooched the chair a little closer, smiling broadly while nodding emphatically. Belle had a pretty voice, so he was sure that whatever she read to him would be invigorating. He could probably read her a recipe and he’d be totally enthralled. Belle smiled serenely as she settled back in the chair and flipped the book open to the first chapter. Sora melted into contentment as he listened to her sweet, honey-like voice. There was something about it that was just so calming and reassuring, telling him that everything was going to be okay. As promised, Mrs. Potts brought them tea and cakes, but Sora was so caught up in Belle reading aloud that he didn’t hardly notice, and just munched on the snacks on autopilot without much savoring of the sweets.

She read him the whole novel. It was actually pretty riveting; it was about an exiled prince who had been stripped of all his power and wealth and had gone on a grand journey to reclaim his throne. He made a lot of trusted friends and was able to win his throne back. Listening to it, Sora felt hopeful about his situation; sure, he had no idea of how yet, but he was gonna bungle along this little road of his until he made it back. If Sora was good at anything, it was not giving up.

“Do you feel better?” Belle asked him as she shut the book.

“Yeah, loads!” he grinned brightly at her as he sat up in the chair to stretch his arms above his head. “I’m gonna do whatever it takes! I gotta get my power back because a lot of people depend on me. I can’t be a burden to them, especially not now.”

“Don’t overdo it,” she cautioned him gently. “Your friends are there for you, too. Take all the time you need and make sure it’s done right. I’m sure you’ll become strong again.”

“Thanks, Belle,” he smiled, then took the teacup in front of him to knock it back and drain the last dregs of the sugary tea from it. “Man, Mrs. Potts makes good tea.”

“Yes, she does,” Belle laughed good-naturedly. “I know you’re busy with things far beyond my understanding, but you’re always welcome here, Sora. I’d always love to tell you a story.”

“Yeah, totally! I’ll bring Riku and Kairi- my friends- one day too!” And Roxas, and Xion, and Naminé, and Lea, and Terra and Aqua and Ventus, he thought, a determined smile inching up on his lips. He had to get stronger soon to save all of them, but like Belle said, at least he could be content knowing that Riku and Kairi were both in good hands at the moment. Sora could focus all he wished in reclaiming his lost powers. Belle eyed him almost sorrowfully as he pushed himself up with his hands and swung his leg over the chair to straighten out his clothes.

“Leaving so soon?”

“Yeah,” he said with an apologetic glance. “As much as I would like to stay, the road’s out there waiting. I better get walkin’.” She laughed and stood to accompany him on his exit. She walked him to the front gate, smiling gently all the while. He blushed a little as he looked back to her, rubbing the back of his head.

“What is it, Sora?”

“It’s kinda embarrassing, but I was kinda thinking that you’re like a big sister I never had,” he admitted with a shy laugh. Belle’s smile grew warm, and she closed the small distance between them to give him a firm hug. Sora returned it gratefully, though his face took on a darker shade of fuchsia. Riku would totally make fun of me if he saw this… After she pulled back, he sniffed and rubbed the underside of his nose, laughing bashfully. “I’m really glad things worked out here.”

“As am I. Things will work out for you, too. Patience and perseverance, Sora.”

“I gotta work on the ‘patience’ part,” he snickered before turning to push open the gate. Belle gave him a wave of farewell as he strolled out onto the path leading to the woods, and he gave her one last little wiggle of his fingers before he whirled around, putting one foot in front of the other with his hands clasped behind his head. There was his road, stretched out before him. He didn’t know quite how it would travel, but he knew one thing for certain: his friends were waiting at the end, both those who had been with him through thick and thin and those he hadn’t met yet. That was all the motivation Sora needed to keep walking.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork

[mr-kamiyama]

Quick thoughts about Digimon:

I tuned in one morning I wasn't working, which was rare at that job I was at at the time, caught 02 ep 10, and was hooked. I later realised the writer of all the Dark Ocean content was Konaka Chiaki, whose work I generally like, so no surprise there.

I gotta say, they probably should've just gone with 「相棒」 for partner. This word is usually a partner in context of a business partner or police partner--in fact, a show called just that has been running for the entire 21st century about detective partners (and it's a pretty good show. I've seen it be sympathetic to the plight of undocumented immigrants, for one)

Using "partner" the English loanword...well, the context I really hear it in is same-gender partner.

Now, mind you, I only figured things out as an adult, and native Japanese speakers here are and always have been treated pretty miserably. (Which is why "exotic Japanese garnish for my human default English" is very, very much rubbing your priveledge in our faces, incredibly offensive, but hey, y'all also repost Japanese fanworks without permission to the point many delete their accounts and give up because y'all are so married to the idea we're not people, which frankly, y'all's treatment of queer men in fandom is equally garbage)

But the reason that point is mentioned is that we're so sidelined, it's hard to even find and connect with each other (e.g. SF Japantown only has Japanese speaking clerks on one floor of Kinokuniya where the books in Japanese for us are kept. It's now "look Asian for the tourists") so a lot of us end up having trouble accessing random words in our own language because we're so used to either no one around us speaking it or bad consequences when we break our English with Japanese.

So, as I've never experienced queer life in Japan, and Japanese immigrants commonly end up yoyoing back to English, I'm not entirely sure "partner" the loanword is the only way to express same-gender partner as opposed to just the only one I've heard.

It does stand that it is *a* way. (Well, obviously, you could still use terms like "boyfriend" or "wife" but think the same as English speakers use it)

When watching 02, it's pretty easy to not go there because they're so young, and interact with the digimon during downtime like siblings, as the digimon are children as well (and you can't tell me that Wormmon isn't spot on for a younger brother in an abuse situation caring for an older brother)

Tailmon isa bit different, and obviously more mature, but ep 10 was the only Hikari-centric episode, and I never really had the desire to go back and watch Adventure. I don't feel like it had something for older viewers like I got out of 02-Frontier (Savers was intentionally about older viewers, and it was like a Doogie Howser/Men in Black/Digimon crossover, and I love it. And it had adults and even an elderly character with Digimon partners! Yay for useful adults!) so I admittedly can't decisively say about Tailmon.

But the rest do seem like siblings to their human children. And they're pointedly all children.

But just now, I was watching the new short, To Sora.

I have to say, as Piyomon has an adult voice, and Sora is an adult, my mind definitely went to "maybe the nomenclature could be better."

I do also have to say that I'm rather disappointed that they're ending this with "adults can't be Chosen anymore." At least there'll always be Savers, and maybe someday, I'll have enough of my massive dual-prong Digimon and Bleach project up that I can call it "extant" (I'm having a handful of the Bleach gang become Chosen as well as Osamu put into a gigai, and if you know Bleach, just imagine Coyote Starrk getting a new friend. Of course, he still has Lillynette and also adopts most of the Arrancar as his own children, but yes, Coyote gets a Digimon friend, too. And they're specifically trying calling adults because the kids keep getting too traumatised)

Ah, things run away from me.

But yes, especially with adult chosen and digimon, "partner" the loanword with no qualifier (i.e. "partner digimon") sounds like something else entirely to my queer mind www

And also "boo" for usefulness having an age limit. I wouldn't be saying this if this weren't specifically being aimed at fans who grew up with Adventure, and, while younger than me, are still well into adulthood. Cross Wars or the reboot have no reason to concern themselves with adult viewership, but Kizuna is being made for adults. So "end of childhood=end of your ability to be a hero" seems kinda... Even if they're just trying to end the original Adventure franchise, seems like a...they can do it better.

While no, Ken's and Daisuke's parents and Jun really *don't* deserve love, just... I dunno, there's just a deluge of teen heroes with powers and some immortal hero stories, but there's not a whole lot of the kind of adults you see in Savers. Yeah, they're side characters, but I'll take what I can get. Kizuna's approach is more common, which is a shame now that the average fan is roughly 29.

(Doesn't it also mess up the whole making the epilogue make any sense, what with everyone being with their digimon in that?)

(And for that matter, I would've loved 02 parents to have names, and maybe they could've gone into Miyako's more. She seems like she has a solid family. We see Ken explaining the digimon, and his parents exploited him until he had a breakdown. Heck, his dad continues to jump down his throat over things. Why couldn't Miyako's get some love? Why can't we see Miyako explaining digimon to her family and stay up all night with her older siblings hanging on her every word? Which considering how much real life kids get sorta discounted when two adults are talking (which I'll often just walk past and wave to the kid, so they know someone sees them) might have actually been an empowering fantasy for viewers. And a really great balance to Daisuke and Ken's home lives. (The kids with unpleasant families feel represented and empowered because they can still be heroes, but kids can also have the empowerment of watching Miyako's whole family, of which she is the baby, hanging on her words

(Also, why can't we see how someone from that family could enjoy the company of someone who slaps her kid brother around? And has some kind of stalker complex? Sure, it's stuff I can make answers for myself in my project, just like the initial reason to cross them was explaining the Dark Ocean, but I really would've loved something in canon about them)

Typically, adults in any kind of action hero story--let's look at Star Wars. The people who raised Luke are non-combatants. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda (an older Muppet, but older still stands) are just there as mentors, like Urahara in Bleach. It's really on Luke's shoulders. Han Solo is as old as a hero gets, and he's pretty young himself. (I've seen the original trilogy, and it was forever ago, so if Luke Skywalker is actually a teenager, forgive the error)

You don't see anyone between 20 year old hero and 60 year old mentor doing much of anything. Buddy cops are the only exception to this.

Shame that digimon is gonna follow that pattern instead of buck the trend, especially now that their fanbase is getting older. I dunno how much of a letdown the apparent Kizuna narrative is for a 29 year old as opposed to someone who wasn't even a kid when it was new, but I'm sure it's there. Even if I am decidedly older than that, I can't be the only one disappointed by it. If I thought I was, I wouldn't make this post.

And it kinda messes up using this to make the epilogue make any sense. When it was first revealed that Yamato suddenly became an astronaut, Gabumon was there with him on Mars. So on and so forth, and all humans had partners. Which naturally includes all the people over 23.

I guess we'll always have Satuma and Kudamon. (Miki and Megumi are nice too, and are also teetering on the edge of canon ship, which it's nice to see queer female fans get that, but they do seem like they're in their early to mid 20s, which arguably puts them at the end of typical "useful age range")

I'd love to already have an alternative up, but for now, I only have a few Bleach prequel one shots posted and over 800 pages of bullet point notes.

[hunnywrites]

Arcade Dreams: Chapter Twelve

Summary: There’s a new girl working at the Palace Arcade and Hawkins’ Family Video. Billy can’t stand her, and the feeling is mutual. No matter what everyone else seems to think.

Pairing: Billy Hargrove/OFC

A/N: Don’t worry everyone, no one’s gonna be getting flayed at the steel mill. Well, not yet anyways.

 Sneaking out of the house had at one point been Teddi’s specialty. Back in New York she had snuck out to go to parties, go on dates or just to get out of the house so often that climbing out of her bedroom window had basically become a muscle memory. It was different now that she was in Hawkins. Her parents were more miserable and focused in on whatever it was that she was up to. But tonight would be different. Tonight would be like the old days. The Harringtons had invited her parents to their New Year’s Eve party, and Teddi knew that her mom and dad would be the last ones to leave sometime around dawn if the party really ended up to be as wild as Steve had described. “Last year Carol’s mom got so wasted she threw up in the pool and then locked herself in my parent’s bathroom for like...three hours.” he had said. 

Steve Harrington had the same knack for sneaking out (and technically in when it came to sneaking into Nancy Wheeler’s bedroom while they had been together) that Teddi had. When Teddi had called the next morning to tell him the very cleaned up version of what had happened between her and her parents the night before he had gone into super sneak mode. Technically speaking it hadn’t been their best plan. After her shift was over for the night Teddi would drive home, Steve would follow her and park across the street until her parents left for their party and they would be off. They had decided that they would ditch their bonfire at one in order to get Teddi home well before her parents and they would be none the wiser to what she had been up to. 

Teddi had put on an entire act. She came home, mumbled a hello to her parents, and headed to her room to remove her makeup and change into pjs to help with the illusion that she’d be staying in for the night. When her parents left completely dressed to the nines, Teddi was planted on the couch with a can of Coke and a bowl of popcorn. “We’ll be home late.” was all her father said before shutting the front door loudly behind him. Teddi sprung into action. She ran back to her bedroom, quickly changing out of her pjs and into her outfit for the night. The cold had finally caught up to her. Instead of the usual mini skirt or pair of cut off shorts, Teddi pulled on a pair of high waisted, black jeans and a bright, yellow chenille sweater. She kicked on her boots and grabbed her puffy jacket and was out the front door and rushing over to Steve’s car. 

“Come on, come on, come on,” Steve said, hitting his hand against the steering wheel. Teddi slid into the passenger’s seat and the pair shared a high five. “That was like record time, Larsson!” he said as he took off down the street. The way that Steve called Teddi by her last time was much more...soft than the way Billy did. 

“Not my first rodeo,” she laughed out as she tried to catch her breath. She was a little rusty, but she had still been impressed with how quickly she’d gotten ready. “So this isn’t gonna be a problem with the party? ‘Cause my parents are hoping for a rager.” 

“Oh, totally. My mom looks forward to it every year. It’s the biggest party in Hawkins...according to her at least.” Teddi had never met Steve’s parents, but from the way Steve spoke about them she was sure that they would be great friends with her parents. And if that meant they’d be out of the house more often then Teddi was more than fine with it. 

“So, where’s this steel mill at?” 

“It’s like maybe twenty minutes out of town. It’s been abandoned for a few years. Tommy usually has parties there when nobody has folks that are out of town.” and by twenty minutes out of Hawkins, Steve may as well have said the steel mill was in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing around. He mentioned there was a sort of shitty motel that had been turned into apartments a few miles up the road, but that was about it until you got to the next town over. Teddi was sure that Hawkins was quite possibly the most boring town in America. 

When they arrived at the steel mill, Teddi noticed that there weren’t nearly as many cars as there had been at David’s Christmas party. The steel mill was also pretty creepy. Scratch that; very creepy. It definitely looked abandoned. The “Brimborn Steel Works” sign was so old and faded that Teddi could barely read it in the dark. She could hear the party and see a faint glow from the bonfire coming from inside, but the way that the music and voices echoed off of the old building gave Teddi a bad feeling. At least there was a payphone nearby in case some Jason Voorhees character tried to kill them all. 

“Is this safe?” she asked, carefully following Steve across the gravel. 

“Uhhh...sure. I mean no one’s died yet.” she wasn’t really sure if he was teasing her or not. Once they made their way inside, Teddi was immediately met with the smell of the bonfire and beer. There were a few empty and broken bottles strewn around, as well as a group of three kegs all sitting in a frothy pile of spilled beer next to a cooler. The music was coming from a boombox that was sitting up safely on an abandoned machine.

She recognized more people at this party. Heather, Freddy and Katie were all there and waved at Teddi when they saw her. Robin Buckley, a girl that Teddi was sort of friendly with and shared three classes with, was with a group of her friends. Tommy H and Carol were being the loud, obnoxious hosts of the party. They were entertaining a large group of people closest to the fire with some sort of drinking game. 

And then there was Billy. He was by Tommy and Carol’s group, but somehow still off on his own. He was leaning up against a railing with a beer bottle hanging between his fingers and a cigarette between his lips. The cold must have finally gotten to him like it had Teddi; he had traded in his usual button up shirt and leather jacket for a very tight white henley and a denim shirt layered under his jean jacket. He also looked very, very bored. 

As if he knew that Teddi was watching him, Billy’s eyes met hers. He watched her cooly for a moment as she moved across the large room and over to the coolers, taking a swig of his beer before his eyes drifted over to Steve who was beside her. If he felt any sort of way about the two arriving together he didn’t show it. 

“Want a beer?” Steve asked, holding up two bottles. Teddi nodded enthusiastically before grabbing the beer and taking a large swig. Why had she come to this party? Of course Billy was going to show up. And while the last couple of weeks had been filled with nothing but trying to avoid Billy, that almost felt wrong now. There was this big, screaming secret between the both of them that was impossible for her to ignore. But it seemed like Billy was going to try his damndest to pretend it wasn’t there. 

“Well, well!” Teddi nearly groaned at the sound of Tommy’s voice. “Look what we have here!” Tommy and Carol had turned towards Teddi and Steve, the pair looking at them with nearly identical evil grins. “Billy wasn’t enough for ya, huh, Teddi? Moving on to Harrington? You’ve been a busy girl!” 

Teddi wasn’t scared of Tommy or Carol. It was obvious to her that they were both extremely insecure with the way that they both dropped Steve for Billy the moment he showed up in Hawkins. At one point back in New York Teddi had been Tommy and Carol. The big bad popular girl at school that looked down her nose at people. But now she pitied the both of them if anything. “Gee Tommy, if you were this worried about your own sex life as you are mine then Carol wouldn’t always be hitting on your friends.” she said with a slight nod to Billy. It was no secret how badly Carol wanted Billy. As soon as Tommy was out of sight, without fail, she would shamelessly flirt with Billy even though he’d never shown even the slightest interest. 

Carol shifted uncomfortably beside Tommy, who was watching Teddi with narrowed eyes. Finally he smirked. “Oh yeah? And what’s after Steve then, Teddi? You gonna want a round with me too?”

Teddi rolled her eyes. “No thanks. I have enough disappointment in my life.” Tommy glared at her as a few of their friends tried to hide their laughter. 

Steve held a hand up. “Alright, Tommy. I think that’s enough, huh? We’re all just trying to have a good time.”

Tommy quickly turned his attention from Teddi to Steve. “No one’s stopping you, Harrington. How’s it feel to settle for someone else’s scraps? Is she the best you can do after that prude Nancy left you for Byers? God, I hope you’re putting out, Teddi. Stevie boy’s gotta be real hard up after putting up with that priss-”

“Tommy, how about you shut the fuck up for once, huh?” heads turned at the sound of Billy’s voice. He didn’t say anything else, only flicked the butt of his cigarette away and took another drink. Tommy looked like Billy had slapped him. 

Tommy looked between Billy and Teddi a few times. “Are you going soft, Hargrove? Over some lousy lay? What, are you and Steve double teaming her?” he laughed.

“Pretty sure Carol’s the one that’s into that sorta thing.” Billy said evenly.

“You piece of shit-“ Tommy spat, moving quickly towards Billy. But of course Billy didn’t back down. He matched Tommy’s strides, but Teddi stepped in before anything more could happen.

“Billy, stop. I don’t need your help.” her tone was a little pleading. She really didn’t want to see Billy do the same thing to Tommy that he had done to Steve a few months back. Especially with so many people around to witness it. That wasn’t something Billy would ever be able to come back from. Teddi could practically hear Billy’s ego shatter at her words.

“C’mon, Tommy,” Carol said with an over dramatic eye roll. She grabbed Tommy by the arm and gave him a tug.  “It’s your turn on the keg. Let them have their little lovers quarrel.” she said with a pointed look towards Steve and Teddi. This was enough to appease an already drunk Tommy much to Teddi’s relief. 

“What the fuck was that?” Billy spat. 

“Hey, hey. Back off, dude.” Steve took a step in front of Teddi, holding a hand out to stop Billy from coming any further. 

“Get your hand off me, Harrington. Unless you want a replay of that beating I already gave you.” Billy took a step towards Steve, his shoulders held high.

Teddi wiggled her way around Steve and placed herself between the two. “What are you, cavemen? Steve, it’s fine okay? Just give me five minutes,” Steve eyed Teddi for a moment before shooting Billy a warning look and walking off. “What was what, Billy?” she asked with a tired sigh.

“I don’t get you, Larsson. You’re always telling me what an asshole I am, and I try and stick up for you and you embarrass me.” 

“Because I don’t need you to stick up for me!” Teddi threw her hands up. “And frankly I’m a little surprised you give a shit after how you acted at the arcade.” she crossed her arms. 

“How I acted?” Billy asked with a dry laugh. “Teddi, you’re such a goddamn pain in the ass sometimes-”

“Likewise!” she snapped. Teddi couldn’t believe how stupid she felt to think she could go out for the night and have fun. “You’re just so...ugh.” she spun around and stomped off. She had had more than enough of Billy Hargrove for the night. 

Steve caught up to her as she continued to put distance between herself and Billy. “Teddi, are you okay? If you wanna get out of here-”

Teddi shook her head. “I’m fine, Steve. I’m just gonna step outside for a sec, okay?” she lied, sidestepping Steve and heading outside into the cold night air. She wanted to go home. It of course occurred to her that walking home was possibly the dumbest thing that she could do, but she’d had more than enough testosterone for the night. She had been walking for about ten minutes before she heard the rumble of the Camaro’s engine. 

Billy pulled up beside her, leaning forward to get a better look at her. “The hell are you doing, Larsson?” he asked.

“I’m walking home.” she said, wrapping her arms around her in an attempt to keep warm. Billy coasted along beside her as she continued on down the road.

“You’re gonna freeze to death!” he argued. Teddi ignored him. “Teddi, get in the car.” 

“No.” 

“Larsson, I will pull over and put you in the car,” and Teddi definitely believed that. He’d picked her up like a ragdoll enough times for her to know better than to keep arguing. With a loud huff Teddi yanked the door open and got into the Camaro. They were both silent for a few very long and awkward moments. “Does Harrington know you ran off?” he finally asked.

Teddi crossed her arms. “...He thinks I’m getting some fresh air.” she muttered. She felt bad now for lying to Steve, but she was sure that if she called him the next morning and explained he wouldn’t be too upset with her. 

Billy let out a short chuckle before going silent for another few moments. “...So, what, are you pissed at me for last night?” while Teddi was known to give him the cold shoulder after one of his outbursts, she usually got over it pretty quickly. Billy figured that he must have hit a nerve. It didn’t make him feel good to know he had upset her so much by confronting Teddi with the truth. At least it was all out in the open now. He wouldn’t need to dance around the subject anymore. It made things awkward in a different way than it had been before, but somehow this was better.

“No...I don’t know,” Teddi sighed. Her steely exterior was now gone and replaced with a glimpse of her usual bubbly self. “I think I’m more embarrassed now that you know about it if anything. I’ve been keeping it a secret for so long I didn’t expect anyone to ever know…”

Billy shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, well, I guess it’s hard to keep a secret from someone who’s dealing with the same shit.” more silence followed. 

Teddi was chewing on her bottom lip as she looked over at Billy carefully. “...Does he hurt Max?”

“No. There’s been a few times where it’s come close…” those times were starting to become more frequent. Billy wasn’t entirely sure what happened that night at the Byers’ place. After Max jammed that needle in his neck he had blacked out and had somehow managed to make it back into his own room a few hours later. Max didn’t talk about it, but Billy knew that she and her friends had run into something that made her see Neil as an insignificant threat. “She doesn’t get it. You know, one day I’m not gonna be there....Susan’s too afraid of him to do anything.” Billy was gripping onto the steering wheel tightly. 

Teddi supposed she could understand how Billy could rationalize the way he was with Max. “Tough Love”. But it was much heavier on the tough part than the love. And things needed to change. Fast. “You can’t keep treating her like this, Billy,” Teddi said shaking her head. “This whole scared straight thing you have going on. It’s not any better than what our dads do to us, even if the intention is different. You have to show her that you actually give a shit about her.”

She expected him to flip out on her. To start screaming at her and telling her that she didn’t know anything about him or what went on at home. Instead he just looked over at her cooly. “And why’s that?” he asked. 

“Because otherwise she’ll end up like you.” Billy knew that Teddi wasn’t trying to insult him. He wouldn’t admit that she was right though either. But she was. Neil had ruled over their household with an iron fist, and it had done nothing but turn Billy into an angry and violent guy that no one wanted to be around. And yeah, Billy’s intentions with Max were different. He didn’t want her to grow up afraid like he had. He wanted her to grow a thick skin. But his approach was the same as Neil’s. He guessed it was a good thing that Max seemed to be a hell of a lot more brave than he had ever been. 

“...I’m sorry about Tommy.” he said instead. 

Teddi raised her eyebrows at the comment. “I’m sorry” was a phrase she didn’t think was in his vocabulary. “Tommy’s an insecure idiot with a tiny dick. I don’t really care about what he has to say,” she cracked a smile when Billy laughed. “Besides, it’s not anything I didn’t hear back home in school or from my dad.” she shrugged.

Billy quirked an eyebrow. “Your dad?”

“He used to call me the town bicycle,” Teddi rolled her eyes. “I used to be a lot...friendlier, and we lived in this snobby, tiny neighborhood where everyone gossiped.”

Billy nearly slammed down on the breaks. “You?” he asked with a laugh. “No way, Larsson.”

Teddi sunk in her seat a little and scrunched her nose. “Oooh yeah. I was like...the worst. I was always out partying, getting in trouble, sleeping with like...anyone that was interested. I’m pretty sure that’s why I keep putting up with your shit so often. I used to be like you.” she teased.

This wasn’t the first time Teddi had given Billy a glimpse into her wild past. Even still, he had a hard time imagining it. Teddi was this bubbly, talkative, nice girl. She wasn’t anything like him. “I’m not so sure I can picture something like that, Weird Girl.”

“And why not? Even Max says that I’m super cool.” she joked. 

Billy grinned and shrugged. “You’re...you know. A nice person or whatever.”

Teddi’s jaw dropped as she turned to face Billy. “Was that a genuine compliment I just heard from you, Billy Hargrove?”

He groaned. “Don’t make such a big deal out of it. I can have my moments.”

Teddi smiled, tilting her head as she watched him squirm uncomfortably in his seat. “...Do you think you’re not a nice person?” she asked.

“I don’t exactly hear it very often.”

“True...but you could be. Anything’s possible. You could try like...taking a nap or something.” she joked. But she meant what she said. If Billy was willing to put in the work he could be a guy that everyone liked. Max had said that she’d seen a change in her brother. Teddi even saw a change every once and awhile when Billy would let his guard down. Especially after tonight when he stood up for her. 

Billy let out a soft snort. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that,” the Camaro turned onto Teddi’s street. “Jesus, Larsson, you could walk to my place from here.” 

“Does that mean you’re gonna want to hang out more? You wanna finally play Dungeons and Dragons?” she asked, perking up.

“I’d rather be locked in a closet with Carol.” he deadpanned. Teddi rolled her eyes. Billy pulled into Teddi’s driveway and put the Camaro in park. “Well, there you go Cinderella. Back home before midnight.”

Teddi let out a small laugh and groan. “God, Hawkins is lame...thanks for the ride, Billy.” 

Billy grinned widely. “Oh, you know I’m always down to give you a ride, Larsson.” he definitely didn’t miss the way she blushed at the comment before she let out a loud scoff.

“Oh my god. Goodnight, Billy.” she muttered quickly before sliding out of the car and rushing to the front door. Billy watched as she fished her keys out of one of her jacket’s pockets and slipping inside before he started to slowly pulled out of the driveway. He could probably go back to the party. He had about an hour left before he had to pick up Max from the Wheeler’s place. And he definitely didn’t want to sit out in the driveway like some kind of lame asshole. 

But the door swung open and Teddi poked her head out. “Yo, Hargrove! You wanna come watch some New Year’s Rockin’ Eve?” 

Billy drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a few moments while he thought it over. His curfew was at one (thanks to Susan convincing Neil to go to the Harrington’s party) and he had nowhere else to be. So he pulled back into the driveway, shut the Camaro off and got out. He shoved his hands into his pockets and awkwardly made his way up to Teddi. “Don’t try and get fresh with me, Larsson.” he said, cracking a grin. Teddi laughed and rolled her eyes before stepping aside to let him in. 

“In your dreams, Hargrove.”