#he definitely has uttered the worlds ‘nobody understands me’ at least once in his life

[garndiddlious]

is there a difference between evil morty’s red wire and evil morty’s blue wire? we only ever see him use his red wire, for what i can assume is gathering data, so would his blue wire be for importing data? or maybe something else?

[genshingarbage]

hoii, is it okay if I request something with Diluc and Kaeya ? like, gn!reader feels very alone and unloved, because they can't make/keep friends and their family doesn't pay much attention to them ?

and if it's not too much, can the men be like big brother or father figures to the reader ?

it's okie if you don't want to write it!

have a good day/night ♡

This is too cute. Bless. Both I and Mod Kaeya worked together on this one, take a guess who wrote for who lmao hope this is okay sweetie! - Mod Diluc

I'll Always Care.

|| One - Shot ||

Kaeya / Diluc

Diluc

The sun was beating down like normal, the heat was unbearable and it was making you itch and sweat like nobodies business. You felt stuffy and so uncomfortable, but maybe you could give the sun a break from your insults; because deep down it wasn't the sun making you feel like utter nothingness right now. It was the fact you yet again were reminded of the harsh fact that no one cares for you, not even your own mother can pretend to wear a smile around you.

First your mother sighed and brushed you off this morning like a pestering bug, and to rub insult to injury your small group of friends (if you could even call them that.) Had conveniently forgotten to secure a place for you to go with them all on their expedition today. So here you were alone, curled up with your knees pressed against your chest and your eyes closed as to try prevent the threat of tears: despite you trying to convince yourself it's just to block the sunlight, even though you're under a tree that's already blocking the sun indefinitely.

You felt the pain sinking further inside you now and it just stung worse and worse. Why? Why do you always get forgotten about... why do they never care how you're feeling? No one seems to understand you ever. Was this world even meant for someone like you? You debated it sometimes, but all it ever did was work you up more into a crying mess because even if you'd conclude you're better off dead- you'd never have the guts to kill yourself; and you'd be way too terrified to let someone or something else do it for you.

Your head sunk further into your arms that coiled round your frail frame as you began to sniffle and sob softly. Your ears were ringing and your head was hurting so much from how much you'd been on and off crying the past two hours by yourself, nothing but the breeze and butterflies to keep you company in your own misery. Life was cruel, and you were starting to resent it in a whole. But all you could so was curl up and cry like you always do, why can you never fix yourself? Stupid.

You practically leaped out your skin however, shooting your head up fast, almost giving yourself whiplash from the force you done it at. The squeeze on your shoulder was most unexpected and most definitely an understatement to how shaken up you were. You felt the scream aching in your throat about to fly out your lips when you saw who it was, Diluc. His crimson eyes staring down at you, the matching hair tied neatly into a ponytail behind him. His claymore resting on his shoulder effortlessly.

"Why are you crying Y/N?" He spoke sternly, but under that tone you could hear the concern in his voice; as poorly as he was at showing his emotions on a day to day basis. You sniffed hard, an involuntarily rub of your eyes and nose following behind as you blinked away the tears quickly. "I- I'm not. Just resting is all." You wanted to cringe at your poor excuse there yourself, your voice was wavering in tone and cracking so badly, why did you even bother to lie?

He let out a deep sigh before slipping his claymore off his shoulder and swinging it in a circle before letting it peirce into the dirt, securing its position he let it go and stepped next to you, bending down and taking a seat beside you now. Inviting himself into your private affairs had become common ground for you now, then it hit you. He is always around when you feel at your lowest. You looked at him with a bewildered expression, eyebrow raised. The look of utter confusion evident on your face.

Finally he turned his head to you and then looked forward again, one of his knees lifting up for him to rest his arm on, the other sliding round the back of your neck and gently pulling you into his chest. You were confused at first, but then it hit you, he was hugging you and comforting you, in his best efforts at least. You laid there against him, cuddled up to him, your head pounding, your throat sore from crying, your eyes stinging. Face flushed red from your inner rage. You really looked like a mess right now.

"Rest. You need it. When someone's cried at lot it helps to get rest after." He spoke matter of fact like to you. You lifted your head ever so slightly about to attempt another pitiful protest, but his hand came up to your head and softly stroked through your hair. "Rest." He added. That silenced you and simply closed your eyes, feeling not so alone anymore and at actually at ease. He always helps you feel better, no matter how small of an action it was.

He always makes you feel loved and cared for, if you could describe Diluc in one word, it would be big brother. He really was like a big brother to you, always there to cheer you up and make you feel better, always there to remind you that you're not as alone as you always think you are. He's always kept you safe and always put you first before himself even sometimes. A smile crept onto your face ever so slightly when all of this was resurfaced in your mind.

You truly were grateful to have a friend like Diluc, even if you have no one else that's by your side, he is, and he always will be. "Thank you." You muttered the words ever so softly and breath like, as you'd mutter them out in your sleep, while your head rested against his chest. His eyes slowly trailed to the side, looking down at your peaceful sleeping state. His hand still stroking through your hair as it kept you huddled up to him. Not that you'd ever see it or know of it, a small smile made its way onto his lips too.

"Sweet dreams, Y/N".

Kaeya

The lanky man found you in his guest bedroom, knees tucked under you chin with a cloak of thick duvets framing your clearly exhausted face. He sighed softly before beginning to  pat over to you, chocolate milk in hand and heart on his sleeve.

Once you’d noticed him making his way over you shifted under the blankets to let him crawl into the little cave you’d constructed yourself. He placed the glass onto the night stand, interrupting the somber silence of the room with a gentle clink of glass against hardwood, then turned to you in order to pull you into his broad chest. He gently rubbed your back as his icy eyes observed the room with it’s askew drawers and new adornments of thrown pillows and tossed weapons or tools. The gentle moonlight pouring in from the still open curtain, tarnishing the peachy walls a soft periwinkle blue only telling him of the sadness you were feeling.

“You can stay here as long as you need.”

“I know Sir Kaeya.”

Your sniffles broke his heart a little, the way you buried your head into his nightshirt even more so. You were some sort of enigma to him. Like a puzzle he couldn’t solve yet was made of pieces of a mirror he had shattered.

You reminded him so much of how he was after Diluc had…well…

The blue haired man pulled you closer to him to bury his nose in your hair, beginning to frown, “Will you tell me what happened?”

“It is not really what has happened and more what keeps happening honestly.” Your voice was muffled slightly but he could still hear it clearly through your tight words forcing their way out of your throat. You didn’t really have the heart to tell him that since you became an adventurer your parents had all but kicked you out because they didn’t want to deal with the likely chance you wouldn’t be making any sort of money with your dream job. Your friends had began to leave one by one with teasing remarks about joining your adventure team or horrific monsters, leaving to study in far off corners of the world.

You were completely and utterly alone, with only Kaeya at your side. It didn’t take the feeling of his arms tightening around you to tell you he could already sense what you were thinking about.

“They weren’t your family or friends if they simply tossed you aside y’know? You should not spare them another thought.” He muttered this softly into your hair, hoping you could somehow find comfort in his backwards way of thinking. As much as he wanted to toughen you up…he didn’t want you to become him.

He’s well aware of your plights, has been since you were a kid and he was a fresh young face in the knights even if he doesn’t necessarily know what happened today to cause you to spiral into such a state. Maybe that’s why he took you in. He’d ponder over it as he tucked you in, brushing your hair out of your face afore lightly stepping out of the room to leave you to sleep finally.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 301: All My Todorokis

Previously on BnHA: We learned that when a bunch of superpowered villains are suddenly set loose with nobody around to stop them, things get fucked pretty quickly. Old Man Samurai and a bunch of other useless people decided to make “I pretend I do not see it” their new mantra, and resigned. Endeavor had a moment of despair on account of being crushed by the guilt of having ruined the lives of himself, his family, and basically everyone else in the entire world. For various reasons the heretical notion of “person who has done bad things feels sorry for doing them” sent fandom spiraling into a meltdown, so that was fun. The chapter ended with the entire Todoroki clan descending upon Enji’s hospital room to have a dramatic chat about Touya and All That General Fuckery.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “here’s the story of how Baby Touya slowly went insane trying to win his father’s love.” It’s a tale full of subverted expectations and heartbreaking inevitability, and also like twenty panels of the cutest fucking kids who ever existed on planet earth, who are so fucking cute that I can’t stop thinking about their cuteness even with all of the horrifying family tragedy unfolding around them. It is absolutely ridiculous how cute they are. Touya is out here pushing his tiny body past its limits because he inherited the same obsession as his dad and neither of them can put it aside even though it’s destroying them, and yet all I can think about is Baby Shouto’s (。･o･｡) face. Anyways what a chapter.

so I have to confess that even though I managed to avoid being caught off-guard by the early leaks, the number of people reblogging my Endeavor posts from earlier this week and using the tag “bnha 301” kind of gave me an inkling that this chapter will include more Tododrama lol. that said, I don’t know anything else about it, so we’re still good spoiler-wise

AHHHHH FLAHSBAKC AHHHH. omg I know I typoed the shit out of that, but I’m just going to leave it lol I think it’s fitting

holy shit holy fuck. so this is Rei and Enji’s first meeting, then??

yepppp, oh shit

so wait, I know this is not even the slightest bit important, but are they meeting at Enji’s home or Rei’s? because I always figured that Enji was the one with the super-Japanese aesthetic, but maybe that was Rei’s side of the family all along

(ETA: from what I found during my very brief google search, omiai meetings are often held at fancy hotels or restaurants, so maybe that’s what this is.)

there’s such a period drama feel to this setting. like it’s so outrageously formal fff how can anyone stand this kind of atmosphere though seriously

OH THANK GOD

I mean they’re still stiff af but at least they’re not rigidly sitting in seiza and staring at each other unblinkingly anymore lol. Enji’s actually got his hands in his pockets now. why is this somehow almost cute

oh damn it’s the flowers

Rei seems so subdued and it’s so hard to get any idea of what she’s actually thinking. I want to see her side of this dammit

but anyway, so at least from Enji’s perspective it seems like even though the marriage was arranged and he picked her because of her quirk, he still loved his wife and wanted to do right by her. the fact that he was watching her and noticed that she liked the flowers, and remembered that detail for all these years -- there’s a reason why Horikoshi’s showing us this. we know what’s going to happen later on; we know how much fear and violence and breaking of trust is coming up ahead, and while it may seem like this scene is serving to soften Enji’s character further -- which to be fair it is -- it also helps drive home the full impact of his abuse. that it’s so terrible not only because of the trauma of the abuse itself, but also because of the way it retroactively destroys all of the good things as well. this could have potentially been such a sweet scene, but it’s inescapably tainted by the knowledge of what’s to come, at least for me. and that’s just brutal

anyways, shit. is the whole chapter going to be like this?? feel free to toss in something I can actually make a joke about sometime, Horikoshi

oop, back to the present

omfg lol

“are you all right” “NO I’M NOT ALL RIGHT WHAT THE FUCK.” “oh, right, because of all the stuff that’s happened with me abusing you and you having a mental breakdown and being hospitalized for ten years and then our son coming back to life and killing thirty people, right, right. I almost forgot.” whoops

omfg you guys I’m loving this new and improved steely-eyed Rei. I’m loving her a lot

and what do you mean “part one” fkjds how long is this going to be. TOO MUCH DRAMA FOR ONE CHAPTER TO HANDLE

oh, hello

yeah I’ll say you did. didn’t seem to bother you much at the time, though

HMMMMMMMMMMMM

Dabi Is A Noumu intensifies even further. anyways though would you fucking look at this boy lounging on this moth-eaten couch doing his best DRAW ME LIKE YOUR FRENCH GIRLS impression wtf

Dabi what if you actually had killed him??? what would you feel?? satisfaction?? regret?? anything at all?? tell me your secrets goddammit

who are you talking to buddy

Fuyumi-chan, Natsu-kun (is it common for brothers to address each other as -kun?? can’t recall seeing that in many other anime, but hey), and “dot dot dot,,,,,, SHOUTO” lol thank you so much for this bountiful heaping of Tododrama Horikoshi we are blessed

AH, WHAT DID I SAY THE OTHER DAY

ULTIMATE MELODRAMATIC THEATER CHILD. “I’M JUST GOING TO LIE ON THIS COUCH SHIRTLESS AND ALONE AND MAKE SPEECHES TO MY FAMILY MEMBERS WHO AREN’T THERE AND SAY THINGS LIKE ‘WATCH ME IN THE PITS OF HELL’ WITH A STRAIGHT FACE BECAUSE NO ONE’S THERE TO JUDGE ME.” WELL JOKE’S ON YOU MISTER CHATTERBOX BECAUSE I AM IN FACT JUDGING THE SHIT OUT OF YOU LOL

(ETA: and on a more serious note, it’s interesting to see that “look at me”/”watch me” theme being used again though, because we see that same sentiment uttered repeatedly by the younger Touya in the flashback. well kid, you definitely got your wish at last. don’t know what else to say.)

OKAY HORIKOSHI HAS DECIDED THAT’S ENOUGH FUN, TIME FOR MORE FLASHBACKS

oh my sweet precious lord

just as cute as we left him. giving us a child this cute when we all know full well what’s going to happen to him is just unspeakably cruel though

HOMG

I’m fucking speechless. you broke me, congratulations. what am I even supposed to do with this

I can’t get over this. moving forward my life will be split into two distinct parts, B.P. (Before the Pout) and A.P. (After the Pout)

and meanwhile there’s ALL THIS BACKGROUND ANGST BUILDING UP, AND I CAN’T EVEN FOCUS ON IT. Touya’s arm and cheek are covered in bandages (I’m guessing this is shortly after that “ouch!” panel we got some chapters back), and Enji is deliberately avoiding training with him because he doesn’t want him to hurt himself further. I can’t fucking get over the irony that all this time everyone thought Touya had died because Enji pushed him too far in his training, and it turns out that it’s the opposite -- the tragedy ultimately happened because he didn’t want to push him. but I’m jumping ahead of myself though I guess

by the way,

remember this?? just wanted to remind you that it exists just in case you forgot

so now someone is talking and basically saying that Touya is the exact opposite of what Enji was hoping for when he decided to start playing with quirk genetics

-- okay hold up

...lol no, never mind. for a second I thought “holy shit he looks kind of familiar WHAT IF IT’S UJIKO OMG” before I remembered that Enji would have recognized him during the hospital capture mission if that was the case. so NEVER MIND, PROCEED

IMAGINE THAT, ENJI DOESN’T QUITE SEEM SATISFIED WITH THIS SUGGESTION OF QUITTING NOW

(ETA: how the fuck did this man go around saving 62 towns in a single day what even is All Might.)

[clicks tongue several times] trouble a’brewin’

MEANWHILE BABY TOUYA HAS UNFORTUNATELY INHERITED HIS DAD’S STUBBORN STREAK

KLDIHWOEIJFL:KSDJ

!!!!!!!!!!!

oh my god. oh my god. what is this chapter. WHAT IS IT

so now Touya is all “YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND MY MANLY DESIRE TO BURN MYSELF ALIVE” well you got her there champ

THEY’RE TOO CUTE. OH MY GOD. HIS FURIOUS LITTLE TEARS. HER CHUBBY LIL FACE. HIS STUBBY LIL FISTS. SOMEONE HELP ME

also are they just home alone lol or what. “hey Touya, you’re what, like six now?? do us a favor and look after your baby sister for a couple hours for us would you? make sure not to set yourself on fire or anything.” WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!!

now it’s nighttime and Enji and Rei are arguing, presumably about his decision not to train Touya anymore

whew. okay. so, a couple of things here

1. first of all I think this conclusively shows that Enji really was trying to do the best he could for Touya. he stopped training him as soon as he realized it was hurting him, but Touya was still determined so he tried to make it work anyway, and even visited doctors to try and figure out if there was anything they could do. then, once they were absolutely sure that it wasn’t going to work, he tried multiple times to explain to Touya why they had to stop. he didn’t just abandon him out of the blue, which is really important to note. “no matter how much I tried telling him...”

so yeah, that debunks another common fandom accusation. so by the time he finally makes this decision, which we all know is going to turn out horribly, it’s basically because he’s already tried everything else he could think of. which, by the way, still doesn’t mean he handled this right. but at the very least he was taking Touya’s feelings into account and he was trying, and he didn’t just abruptly toss his son aside (at least not yet)

2. buuuut, then there’s this panel right below all that

which is the other side of it. if he’d just quit like the doctor person advised him to, that would have been the end of it. Touya would still have been upset, but he would have eventually gotten over it and the family would have moved on and possibly even been happy. but what happens next happens because Enji can’t let go. he still has this maddening urge to surpass All Might, and so he and Rei keep having more children, and then Shouto is born, and Enji finally has a kid he can start projecting all of his hysterical ambitions onto once again, and everything starts spiraling out of control soon after

though p.s. none of that is Shouto’s fault though!! he’s one of the few good things to come out of this whole mess and I’m very happy that he exists. the tragedy is that his dad fucking lost his mind over his quirk and fucked everything up. but that’s on him, not Touya or Shouto

anyways, SLKFJLSHGLKJL

I CAN’T FUCKING TAKE THIS YOU GUYS??? LOOK AT THAT LIL BUTTON OF A NOSE??? I’M LOSING IT HERE???

AND TOUYA JUST SEEMS DEVASTATED OMG

because children aren’t stupid, after all. he understands that his dad is still looking to surpass All Might. and so he feels like a failure, and feels like his dad is trying to replace him because he wasn’t good enough. and even now, isn’t that what the adult Touya is trying to prove?? that he was good enough after all?? “I’ll show you what happens when you give up on me, dad”?? “I’ll show you what I can do”?? fuck my life fuck everything

AND YOU CAN SEE THE TOLL THAT IT’S ALL TAKING ON REI GETTING WORSE AND WORSE AS WELL OH GOD

really nice touch here with the panel outlines becoming all shimmery from the heat of Endeavor’s flames (and/or becoming more unstable as the family gets closer and closer to their breaking point). but man, Horikoshi I can’t handle this, please show us more cute kids or something I can’t

GKELKWFJLDKSHFLKL

WITTLE BABE. BEEB. BUBS. SMOL. lkj; oh ouch a piece of my heart just detached and latched onto him huh look at that

TODOROKI “I’M SO SMALL AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON AND I DIDN’T ASK TO BE HERE” SHOUTO AHHHHH

crazy how they all just seem to know right off the bat lol. kid doesn’t even have object permanence yet, let alone a quirk. but do they care?? IT’S THE HAIR, RIGHT. WE’RE ALL THINKING IT, I’M JUST GONNA COME OUT AND SAY IT. they knew the minute they looked at him lol

AND MEANWHILE TOUYA IS OFF HAVING UNSUPERVISED TRAINING/CRYING SESSIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS OR WHATEVER, AND, UH OH

are those blue flames yet?? they seem pretty close

(ETA: this is one of the few cases where the manga being in black and white is infuriating lol.)

OH MY GOD AND STILL

so it’s not like he was so disinterested that he didn’t notice what was happening, and he was still trying to stop it and get through to him. trying to reassure him that it wasn’t the end of the world and there were other things he could do with his life, but this one particular thing just wasn’t going to happen

fucking hell. it’s agonizing seeing how close they actually were to fixing it. if he’d only said the right words, or if he’d realized at this point how destructive his obsession could be to his kids, and backed off from putting that same pressure on Shouto. we came so close to possibly having a happy ending

AND ALSO THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING BUT PLEASE LOOK AT HOW TOUYA IS LIKE THREE AND A HALF FEET TALL AND HIS DAD IS LIKE NINE AND A HALF FEET. Touya barely comes past his knees flkjlkg. the Todoroki household must have been so filled with like plastic stepstools to reach the bathroom sink and all the little baby toothbrushes, and baby gates to keep the kiddos out of the important grown-up rooms and stuff. and also days-old half-empty cups of water and stale crackers and hot wheels and my little ponies strewn everywhere

“BUT EVERYONE AT SCHOOL SAYS THEY’RE GONNA BE HEROES” a wild Deku parallel appears?? how bout that

I know this is like a pivotal moment in the Todo Tragedy and all, but fucking look at this lil dumpling

“sup bro, it’s me, the manifestation of your fears of inadequacy and lack of fatherly affections. a GAAA. ba-baAA-baa [gurgling baby sounds]”

OHHHHH IT’S THE SOUND OF MY HEART BREAKING OH NO

HE WANTS TO BE LIKE YOU ENJI. good lord somebody please just get this family some therapy

“DAD YOU IGNITED IT IN ME” flkjslkj nope, nope. not ready for this pain here

baby Shouto, would you like to weigh in on this affair? “DA!! ba-ga-daaa, [pacifier chewing noises]” oh my, you don’t say. so insightful for one so young

OH MY GODDDDDD

IT’S SO DRAMATIC BUT ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT ARE THE SHOUNEN WOOSH LINES SURROUNDING FOUR-MONTH-OLD SHOUTO LOL HE WAS LIKE THIS FROM BIRTH OH MY GOD I AM DYING HELP

SHOUTO YOU’RE RUINING THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER!?!?!

“yo, the fuck kind of family was I fucking born into” oh, son. if you only knew. IF YOU ONLY KNEW!!

(ETA: lmao I got so distracted by the ridiculous cuteness that I glossed over the fact that Baby Touya seems to possibly be aiming at him?? it’s hard to tell because he’s also super out of it from heatstroke and may just be losing control in his attempt to show off his upgrade.)

ANYWAY THAT’S THE END EXCEPT WHAT’S THIS LAST LINE OMG

ffffff. and we’re in for ANOTHER chapter of this next week?? MORE drama?? MORE BABIES?? MORE OF EIGHT-YEAR-OLD TOUYA’S SLOW DESCENT INTO MADNESS. MY HEART CAN’T TAKE IT, BUT ALSO YES PLEASE SIGN ME UP

[heliads]

The Hearts of the Hopeless

You are utterly in love with Pietro Maximoff, but he’s an Avenger, and way out of your league. Pietro is utterly in love with Y/N L/N, but she’s an effortlessly cool S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and completely beyond him. However, they may reveal certain truths after one jealousy-filled night at a local bar.

masterlist

If you glance over to your right ever so slightly, eyes narrowed to see through the halfway opened door, you can just manage to see him. He’s leaning against a wall, watching the last couple of minutes of a S.H.I.E.L.D. debriefing. You’re not surprised that he isn’t seated- you don’t think the guy could ever stay still for longer than a couple of seconds. Those happen to be the downsides of moving faster than anyone else around you- you tend to get bored fairly quickly.

Of course you’re thinking about Pietro Maximoff, and of course your eye just happens to fall on him when you’re supposed to be running through some paperwork. But there’s a veritable mountain of forms in front of you, and the man is just a few feet away, so how were you ever supposed to focus? You’re not sure when your little crush developed, but you are sure that it is absolutely, wholly, one hundred percent going to ruin your life. How could it not? Pietro Maximoff is an Avenger, an enhanced speed demon, a smooth-talking flirt who manages to turn your world upside down with just a flash of a smile. You are a perfectly normal S.H.I.E.L.D. officer whose only talent is finding ways to get distracted from doing her paperwork.

You can still remember when you first met him. You had been the leader of a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements sent to help the Avengers out of a situation that had gone south. You had thrown yourself into the thick of the fighting as required, and made eye contact with him for the first time after taking a few shots at retreating enemy agents. Your heart had done a little flip in your chest, and you’d hurried to adjust your gun as an excuse for why you had suddenly stopped dead in your tracks, unable to divert your attention back to the literal battle raging around you.

You weren’t sure what Pietro thought of you other than that you were just another agent. He certainly saw dozens of them per day as an Avenger, yet you had a slight advantage over the other lovesick interns because of your friendship with the Avengers. You’d been close friends with Natasha Romanoff ever since the two of you were stuck on a tough assignment that everyone else was too scared to even attempt. Despite all the dangers, you two had fought together and had each other's backs more times than you could count. After that, it was practically impossible to not see her as a friend. Just like it was practically impossible to not find your eyes catching on Pietro whenever you were spending time over at Avengers Tower, or even now, when you should be focusing on your forms.

You sigh to yourself. Hopeless. You’re so completely, utterly hopeless.

Pietro should be focusing on the debriefing. He should be nodding in understanding with the other agents, he should be scanning the data files for the appropriate information, and he should definitely not be smiling to himself over the fact that he can just make out the form of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Y/N L/N through a door that had been thankfully left ajar by some blessed intern.

She’s sitting at her desk, fingers tapping slightly in concentration as she studies a set of forms corresponding to her latest assignment. They share the same habit, actually, of always needing to be doing something. Except whenever Y/N does it she seems like a confident, action-oriented secret agent, and when Pietro does it, he seems like an easily bored sprinter. If he had even a fraction of her cool, he could practically take over the world.

Pietro can still remember the first time he saw her. It was at some battle with the Avengers, when they were outnumbered ten to one. Pietro is used to impossible odds, but that one fight had been too stacked against them so Cap had called in the S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements. At first, Pietro had been annoyed. Why ask S.H.I.E.L.D. for help? He knew there would be some greasy nobody in charge, who’d bristle at taking Stark’s orders and just be a hindrance.

But then the doors to the quinjet had burst open, and a young woman had strode purposefully down the landing, gun already raised and taking aim. Every move seemed orchestrated, every step and attack a work of art. She hadn’t actually noticed him until they’d been fighting side by side, and then she’d looked up at him and it was like time stopped moving entirely. She had the most beautiful eyes, and when they’d met his gaze Pietro felt like he couldn’t move a muscle, even at normal speed.

She, apparently, had been just fine, and casually readjusted her weapon before continuing on with the fight. Pietro was left with a stupid little smile on his face until a bullet had come screaming his way, and then he was jolted back to reality in time to dodge the projectile. Still, he couldn’t help sneaking glances her way during the entire fight. She was just so effortless, so amazing. Y/N claims to be human, but Pietro is fairly sure that her secret superpower is pure and utter perfection. How else would she manage to be that amazing?

Pietro looks up as people start filing out of the room, and he realizes that the debriefing has concluded. He lingers for a moment longer, wanting to catch one last glimpse of Y/N, but the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are blocking the door. Pietro reaches to the table in front of him to collect his things, and when he looks up again, his sister is standing in front of him, a triumphant smirk on her face. “You know, I’m fairly sure we were supposed to be focusing on the mission reports, not the pretty agent next door.”

Pietro rolls his eyes. “You know, I appreciate you wanting to have twin quality time, but I was assuming the first thing you said wasn’t going to be making fun of me.” Wanda laughs. “You’re hopeless. What else can I talk about? You’re practically obsessed with her.” Pietro gives her a look. “You can’t tease me about that. Aren’t you the one who’s in love with a robot? You could swap him out for one of Stark’s suits and it would pretty much be the same.” Wanda frowns, but can’t keep her grin back for longer than a couple of seconds. “Are you trying to say I’ve gone crazy for falling in love with an android?” Pietro grins. “Honestly, you might have already.” Wanda huffs out an irritated breath. “At least I can focus on a debriefing when he’s in the same room as me. I mean, what would it take for you to pay attention? For her to be the one addressing everyone?”

Pietro holds up his hands in defense. “Alright, alright. I get it. I’m in love with Y/N. Have you made your point clear, or do you want to keep going?” Wanda smirks. “I’m here to offer advice. I heard Natasha’s going to ask around and see if anyone’s up to get drinks. That includes you, but most importantly, it includes Y/N. This is your shot.” Pietro glances back towards that open door, where he can still see Y/N sitting at her desk, a slight frown on her face as she considers the document in front of her. “I’ll ask her. You don’t have to worry about that.”

It’s not like he could do anything differently. Wanda is right- Pietro is absolutely hopeless.

You’ve just managed to finish off your work when Natasha appears in your doorway. She knocks once on the open door frame and you smile at her. “What’s new with you?” Natasha walks in, grinning at you from across your desk. “Actually, you should ask what’s new with us. Specifically, the fact that we are both going to that one bar that opened up recently. It’s just a couple of blocks down- the Amber Cup or something?  Anyways, we’re going to go and we’re going to have a great time.”

You laugh quietly. “You know, when people try to make plans with me they usually ask first. Do I have a choice in this?” “Absolutely not. We’re going.” Nat says, and you stand up, stretching your legs. “Sounds good. I’ll be there.” There’s another knock at your door, and you look over to see Pietro standing there, leaning casually against the doorframe. You smile and wave him in, doing your best to keep your heart rate under control.

Pietro walks over to you, eyes brightening when he realizes that you were leaving your desk. “Have you finished your work? Good. I wanted to see if you might be interested in joining me and other friends at that new bar later tonight. I’d love to see you there.” Natasha rolls her eyes. “I already asked, but good try. She’s going.” Pietro tosses a mock frown her way. “Do you always have to ruin my attempts to ask people out?” Natasha grins, making her way towards the door. “Only when they’re my best friends.”

At times like this, you’re not sure whether or not you’re happy that Natasha made it here first. If Pietro had asked you when you were alone, you’re not sure you could have pulled yourself together long enough to give a seemingly unconcerned response.

Pietro feels like he’s about to kill Natasha. He was minutes away from asking Y/N out. Seconds, even. He’s never been slow for anything but yet on the most important event of his life, Nat managed to beat him to Y/N’s office. He can’t stand it.

The bar itself is modern and somewhat large. Pietro and his friends arrive later at night, grateful for the rush of people already crammed together on the dance floor. Large crowds make it easier to go out undetected, and being noticed for your Avenger status tends to draw either enemies or crazed followers. Neither is really what Pietro’s going for right now.

Pietro’s just mulling over a drink when someone slides into the space next to him on the bar. He turns with a start when he realizes it’s Y/N. He promised himself that he wasn’t going to stare, but Y/N looks absolutely gorgeous. Maybe it’s the drink already in his hand, alcohol already lighting fire to the back of his throat, but Pietro is certain that Y/N could outshine every single girl in this club. Maybe even all of New York.

They talk for a little while, and then Y/N disappears to go find Natasha. Pietro tries not to feel disappointed at her sudden absence, and allows himself to get distracted by the blonde woman in the too-short dress who quickly takes Y/N’s spot. However, his gaze keeps flickering back to one agent in particular, no matter what he does. Pietro’s heart seems to clench when he realizes she’s taken to the dance floor, paired up with some man with dark hair gelled back slightly in a more modern look. 

As he watches, the man’s hands drift to her hips. Pietro has no right to feel angry or anything, he knows that, but there’s a definite bitter taste in his mouth that wasn’t there before. He should turn away and go back to the half-empty glass in front of him, but Pietro’s already had more than enough to drink. Instead, he can’t seem to let go of the sight in front of him.

Pietro has a feeling that he’s about to do something he shouldn’t, that his feelings are finally going to get the best of him. He isn’t sure that he minds.

You spend more time than you should on your hair and makeup and outfit, checking and double checking to make sure the heels match the dress and the accessories. You don’t get to go out and have fun that often due to your busy schedule, so you intend to take full advantage of tonight. Besides, if Pietro is there it won’t exactly hurt to look good. You know you’re just fooling yourself into thinking he’ll notice you, but what if he does? He did show up to ask you to the bar, didn’t he?

You end up arriving a little later than the rest of the group due to traffic, but your eye instantly catches on Pietro. He’s talking and laughing with friends, and turns aside to order a drink from a bartender. You take advantage of his break from conversation to slip into the place beside him. He greets you casually, and you order a drink for yourself before heading over to find Natasha. He was just in the middle of talking to people, right? He probably doesn’t want you to stay for that long.

This seems to be true- you’ve barely been next to Natasha for a couple of minutes when you see that someone else has taken your place next to Pietro. It’s some beautiful blonde woman, who makes Pietro laugh with just a few brief words. You can’t help but feel an overwhelming wave of sadness wash over you at the sight. How could you think you were enough for him, especially compared to her?

You must still be feeling the aftereffects of a couple of drinks and that sight, because you head to the center of the room, intending to dance your worries away and at least attempt to have a good time. You’re joined by a dark-haired man soon after, and you pretend not to notice when his hands wrap around your hips, dipping lower by the second. Why bother? At least now you can try to move on from Pietro, to act like he can be replaced by another man in a blink of an eye. It’s not true, but at least the pounding music distracts you from him.

Suddenly, your partner is ripped away from you. You’re left standing on the dance floor, blinking in confusion at the sudden empty space in front of you. When you look up, your brow furrows to find Pietro, still standing in between you and the dark-haired man from where he’d pushed your partner away. The man glares at Pietro. “Hey, what was that for?” Pietro returns his gaze coolly. “Don’t touch her like that. She deserves some respect.”

Then he turns back to you, and a thousand emotions seem to flicker through his eyes before he walks away, headed towards an exit out back. Your confusion is quickly replaced by anger. Why does he think he can just walk up and control you like that? You mutter a brief apology to your dance partner before storming after Pietro. Eventually, you find him outside, taking in the crisp air of the outside street. He looks up when you open the door, but he seems confused by your angry expression. You don’t give him time to ask what is wrong.

“What was that?” You ask, gesturing loosely towards the bar behind you. Pietro looks away from you, back at the crowded streets. “He shouldn’t have been putting his hands on you like that. He was a creep.” You laugh bitterly. “That wasn’t your call to make. Can’t I have this one night, this one hour to myself? I mean, you rub it in my face practically every day. Did you really have to take this one dance away from me?”

Pietro frowns at you. “What are you talking about?” You look at him in disbelief. “Are you really pretending you don’t know? I see you around the building all the time, flirting with any girl that crosses your path. I don’t know why I thought I was different, but I figured I deserved at least a little respect. I mean, first you don’t talk to me unless you have to, then you pull some stunt like pretending to ask me out to the bar. You want to play with my heart? Fine, but at least let me have this one night.”

Your hand flies to your mouth. Did you really just say all that? You must have drunk more than you’d thought. Pietro is just staring at you, shocked, and you start to back away. “I didn’t mean- I didn’t-” Then he’s standing in front of you, one hand pressed against the small of your back as he kisses you. He leans back, looking at you with something almost like disbelief. “I’m not trying to play with your heart, Y/N. I’m trying to avoid breaking mine.”

Your eyes widen. “You-” He nods. “I love you. I just assumed that you wouldn’t want anything to do with me, so I tried to play it off like it didn’t matter.” You shake your head slowly. “Why wouldn’t I want anything to do with you? You’re the Avenger, I’m the agent. I thought you didn’t even have the time to talk to me.” Pietro laughs quietly. “Ever since the moment I saw you, I thought you were the most amazing person on the planet. Everything you did seemed flawless, and every impossible task seemed easy. And who was I to you, some guy whose only skill was running fast?”

You feel an incredulous smile slipping across your face. “You were incredible. That’s who you were to me. I was hopelessly in love with you. Still am, and I don’t think I can do anything about that.” “Don’t. I like the idea of you loving me.” Pietro says, and he leans forward to kiss you one more time.

Maybe things have a way of working out after all.

[seb-owns-these-tatas]

The Shrill (1/?) (Sci-fi)

Characters: Henry Cavill x small! innocent female reader (AU)

Summary: Something was haunting the whole world. A trial to test everybody's will power to live that an unspecified sound could make humanity turn into a death zone with four factors to describe them once they've feel the attacks. You've thought everyone was considered safe in the black mansion you were living in because nobody has reacted to the Shrill for a long time. Until now...

Warnings: Murder. Blood. Angst. Choking. (Not in a sexual way, bb's. *wink wink nudge nudge* The sexual part will be on the next) Aggressive Henry but also sweet. 

Words: 2,500+

A/N: This kept me up all night. It's all in my head and I tried to sleep it off until it reached to a smut and I was like..Ooooh. OOOOooooOOOH. I NEED TO WRITE IT OUT! Hehehe. Here you have it! 💕💕 You'll have your mad Cavill smut on part 2! Btw, I’ve written a body type, If it isn’t your body type then feel free to imagine yours instead. I couldn’t put “*your body type*” because I didn’t like the look of it in the overall imagine. Also, a certain scene was inspired by Divergent! Thank you! 

REBLOG, COMMENT OR GIVE IT A LIKE, IF YOU’RE LIKING THIS SHORT SERIES! THANK YOU! TAGLIST IS OPENED IF YA WANNA BE TAGGED BY THE SMUT PART--I MEAN NEXT PART. OKAY? 😍😘

Taglist: @vikingsbifrost @sofiebstar​

Disclaimer: PNG's used in edits are not mine even the GIF's too. However, the edits and oneshots/fics are definitely from moi.

MY WORKS ARE NOT TO BE POSTED ON ANY OTHER WEBSITES. My official username in Wattpad is “TATATHEPOTATO” and that’s the only other site I have aside from Tumblr. Thank you, Tater tots!

Fifteen different people in one huge mansion. A black mansion to be specific. The world has created and experienced chaos and madness as the entirety of humanity was now suffering from a wide unearthly signal that could get certain people to act berserk.

Nobody knew why. Nobody understands the reason and where does it come from, but the people who were living in the huge Mediterranean mansion that you were in were completely free from the violent reactions that may cause.

With violent reactions that can be considered brutal for a kill.

Everyone was laughing in joy, some even had alcohol wrapped around their fingers as they try to blur out all what was happening around the world.

You and Henry were sure that everyone was safe; until one person who had reacted on the sound.

There it was. That certain sound; a high pitched signal. Everyone looked at each other, sensing who were reacting towards the shrill. The effects were truly indistinguishable, you wouldn't know who and what will hit them when the signal can be heard. But, there were contingencies you've felt and heard while everyone was quarantined in the mansion.

There were four factors as to how you would react towards the sound. You've witnessed the most horrifying reaction which was Brute. Your own father has managed to terminate every single one of your family except for you. He was also included in the brutal murder as he aimed the gun to his head. You didn't know if it was intentional or not but he neglected you from the massacre and you didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

You've had hypothetical presentiments as to why they've reacted that way. Facts which are considered sixty-five percent accurate based on how you've been observing everyone's actions. The reason why they've began to violently react to the signal was because they never had committed any wicked sin and actually had a good heart.

Second was altruism. Some people have reacted towards the signal with goodwill and compassion. However, those people were thoroughly godawful in their lives. Committing such abysmal sins which can be considered unlawful to the law and especially to the eyes of God. They suddenly become all incorruptible and law-abiding after the shrill that they don't remember what happened nor do they remember who they were and have been.

Third was The Hushed. Humanity has given these people lemons and not bread. These people were the ill-tormented. They were given the affliction of never having to get to speak what their heart says no matter what happens.  All their lives they have lived in agony and now they were receiving such curse into not having to talk nor having the fate on reacting towards their environment. They were completely the epitome of a coma. Their souls and mind were still living on earth but they were forbidden to move nor react towards their environment.

Last, but not the least as your current observations weren't fully factful; was the Unbalanced. They were the combination of every factors that has been said. They all have their days, it's either you react with brute, altruism or become the Hushed in every other day. They were the unstable ones, the people who you couldn't read when they are attacked by the shrill. To know that they are considered the Unbalance start from acting like a demented person until they were acting normal one day then not on some.

The one that you couldn't get the bottom of is why specific people weren't being attacked by the chime and you couldn't comprehend why you haven't been passively reacting towards the problem at hand and nobody could answer that question for you.

Thus, this ill-fated moment was the most terrifying memory you can ever decipher as the love of your life have caused you a busted lip and a frightening gun in between your forehead.

"Listen to me and I hope you take this into consideration, Nugget." Henry skeptically started; voice all calm and soothing, standing completely tall and jacked before you. Your height differences thoroughly sweeping to the eyes of everyone maybe even cute to some as you stood five foot one before him with big bones; wide hips and small chest. Technically, a bottom hourglass with those stomach flab hidden behind the hoodie of your boyfriend that reached your thighs. An imperfect interpretation of how humanly you were, unlike your love who seemed to be utter perfection.

The latter crossed his burly arms across his prominent chest, combing a hand through his curly locks and sighing deeply to himself like he was trying to understand what his thoughts has been telling him, he licked his lips before peering down at you, giving you that worried gaze he would give whenever his thoughts get the best of him.

You gave him a reassuring smile after he pulled you away from the group of people who were bonding all together. At first, you were questioning why he'd held your wrist, pulling you away from them. But, now you understood his actions.

Despite of sounding confident all the time, today the walls began to break as you've seen your powerful looking man so scared for what he could do to the people around him if he was attacked by the Shrill.

He'd languidly taken the gun latched in between his belt. A frown etched upon his features as his stubble was growing longer. Henry checked the black pistol in his hand, clicking the chambers open to see how many rounds it could take before shutting the clip back and handling the grip to you with a small, glum smile.

You've stared back at him with incredulity. The gun on your palm without knowing what to do with it. Your lower lips wanting to pop out because of what the message actually sounded like. A shake of your head was the only reply you could muster as you felt your heart being grabbed by a claw at a rickety future that was bound to happen because nobody knows how this trial would take.

"If...If I somehow react to it and be a part of the Brute," he trailed off, stepping closer to you and reaching out for the side of your jaw; his rough, calloused fingers dancing across the nape of your neck as he subtly gave a smooth caress. Beautiful ocean blue eyes with tiny specks of brown on his left eye, gazing down at you with a look you've seen since the moment you've manage to develop feelings with each other when the nightmare happened; utter love and respect, "---and if you must shoot me before I cause chaos to everyone, do it. Understand?"

Another shallow shake of your head, repeatedly doing so with a begrudging heart, "Henry," you pleaded, not wanting to do it as the action will fall on your hands. The responsibility of shooting him would be your nightmare forever. "N-No, I--I don't even know how to shoot a gun. I--I won't ever forgive myself if that ever happens. Ask me anything, but that!" the tremble of your voice was evident. You shook your head once more, objecting at his wishes and never submitting.

"Panic will consume you and once it does, you're surprised you've already shot me to death, Y/N."  Henry tried to lighten the mood as he managed to get out a toothy grin. Though, you knew his heart was shaking at the painful truth he could decipher, "I'd rather accept that you shoot me. I'd rather see your face before I die,"

You could feel your eyebrows in a tight knot, your heart beat ceasing at the responsibility on your hands. The soft cookie in you coming out with tears forming around your eyes. Henry stared you down with a tender beam, entirely leaning down to plant a kiss on the side of your eyes to stop you from weeping out.

"Love can be a bloody brute, and I mean that literally, Nugget." the latter whispered, finally pecking your temples before the ones in between your eyebrows.

You've felt his warm breath that you wished not for it to turn cold. He was the only who you could depend. The shoulder whom you cry on and a person who you've loved to the fullest and killing him won't ever be the best idea for you.

Once the soft pillows of his lips left your forehead, he had lean his forehead with yours. Eyes fluttering closed as he took in everything. Your warmth, scent and soul like he wouldn't get to reach for them ever again. "Don't hesitate, okay? Just shoot."

The shiny metal barrel was now aimed between your head. A bloody lip and a wound on the end of your eyebrow have been given to you by your own boyfriend as he'd reacted very different with you. From the moment he was tightly closing his eyes as the shrill went on and on. You knew he was next.

At that, you've managed to speak your heart and tried getting his attention before he could even hurt the people around you who eventually became your friends.

You've rather let him hurt you than see him hurt others or even himself.

The mere image of you being violently hurt by a huge, brawny man wasn't completely pleasing to the eye. Everybody were scattered in the large living room where tables and chairs were ruined with troubled gazes in their eyes. They were stuck to their feet as they watched the scene unfold.

Irith, a police woman who lived in the same mansion as you do; snatched her gun out of her holster, quickly aiming the firearm at Henry who'd grabbed onto you, tackling you down the floor and in between you with his hand gripping your neck in a choke hold. The gun he'd given was taken away from you; maybe because you've technically given him the opportunity to do so and it was now in his palms.

"He's going to kill you, Y/N! You’re gonna die!"

Irith clicked the safety off her pistol and you've heard it. Your boyfriend's fingers wrapped around your neck as tight as he could with an apathetic gaze like your Henry wasn't even there at all. "No-No-No! He’s not! Please! Don't do a-a-anything! Don't hurt him! Move away!"

You croaked out and pleaded with a cough; forcibly clawing out to get his fingers away from you. To no avail, Henry was very much stronger than you and getting out of his hold was like asking the heavens to show you the pot of gold on the end of the rainbow.

"H-Henry," another croak before he tightened his hold around your neck. The air seeming to be cut off better than before. You've stared into his eyes, trying to find him in there but all you could see was a person whom you didn't know. A complete utter murderer who just wanted you dead.

You've stopped struggling against his hold, tasting the blood in your mouth as he breathed deep above you, his thick thighs on either side of you as he pinned you down. Irith didn't know what to do and dropped her aim. Panic settling her nerves as she watched you get choked by your boyfriend who'd been anything but violent to you before it even happened.

Your fingers left his, mind flying at the thought to fight him off. Shaky fingers reaching out to touch the side of his face which ignited a feral growl out of him once he'd felt your cold, trembling fingers. The other hand of yours nervously gripping onto the barrel, aiming it better between your forehead as Henry's face morphed into a painful wince.

You can't let him go that yet. No. Deep inside, you know he was still in there.

"Shoot...me," you whispered in between gasps and heaving breaths. The air soon cutting your lungs shut. "I-It's okay, lo-love. Y-You can shoot...shoot me,"

All the response he has ever did was a loud groan, his finger on the trigger but never flicking. He stared you down with that wavering gaze, like he has been struck by lightning. Your thumb reaching out for his lip, soothingly caressing with a firm will as you spoke out loud with a slowing heart, "It's...It's okay...I love you...Always..will,"

Something was shutting off inside him. All he could see was that you were a target he should eliminate because you were part of the humanity who tries to ruin the world because of their irresponsible actions. Yet, your voice. It was echoing inside his head, like a soothing one which could calm that certain switch and the nerves sending inside his brain for the kill.

The veins on the side of his head were popping out and you could see him struggling with something. His lips shaking as you felt it on your thumb. He tightly shut his eyes closed, hardly breathing out of his nose as he was whimpering like something was hurting him.

It was. His head was hurting because he was fighting it off.

You've caught his attention again, slowly caressing your fingers across the apples of his cheeks like a touch to reassure him to just do it and end his pain instead. You stared into his tightly shut eyes and gave a solemn smile, "Y-You're...the best I've ever had...D-Don't...worry, I-It's okay,"

Your pleading was like an ambulance being sent to rescue him. He snapped his head away from you, breath completely labored as he was wrestling with those small voices whispering inside his head; telling him to just pull the trigger and end his misery. But, the other echo screaming at him that pulling the trigger will just add more misery and probably even guilt and utter madness for himself.

"F-Fuck!" He lividly cussed out loud. Snapping his eyes open and you've seen the most grief-stricken picture. His eyes rheumy and dewy like he was on the verge of crying.

Then, you've heard the safety click back. His fingers shaking a lot more as he does so before falling on the floor, rolling away from you with a maddened groan.

He was in luck and also for you because you were close to having your breath taken away from you before he even managed to stop himself. You breathed in deep, like you were trying to catch your breath again and mewling at how free it was to feel your air back in your lungs.

Yet, you were about to reach out for him in the midst that you were still in a haze from being choked out. You've blinked your eyes open to see him scurrying away, feeling as if your heart was ceasing again. He stood on his feet, avoiding the terrified looks on everybody's faces. Though, the most painful part of everything that happened was not his aggressive action towards you. But, from how he bypassed your hold on his hand and thoroughly shunned away like you were disgusting.

Hence, you knew he was mad at himself and probably for you because you let it happen. The guilt beginning to eat him alive just before you even knew it.

MARSHALL LOOKS SO SO CUDDLY. I WANT PAPA BEAR TO JUST HUG ME ALL NIGHT. 😪😣😍😍

[neshabeingchildish]

Road to Dystopia Pt. 3

@sunbeameyes @kiddangers @bitchmilsky @adorkable-blackgirl @chenoahchantel @daintyurbanprincess @ciara-knightly @famousflowermagazine @imma-sensitive-btch @junknstu1f @grymrayven @supercasperprincesslove-blog 

The author’s notes were cute the first time. Idk if I can recreate it. Smh. Accidentally deleted the first time. I know that I wanted to thank everyone who read, those who reviewed and those who enjoyed this fic. I’m sorry to anybody to didn’t enjoy, or anybody mad that this is the end, because you enjoyed it that much. And now the conclusion.

Goodbye Swellview

Ray was exhausted, but knew that he needed to address the public and also work on damage control for the incidents that Drex created and there no longer was a line to the Man Cave for the concerned citizens. He had to let them know that the system would return soon, that all of the known criminals were locked away, that jobs would be created in order to fix all of the various damages all over the city, from the majestic mountain of Mount Swellview, to the lowly old junk store, caught up in the wake of destruction. He had to assure the parents of at least four missing children that their children were probably going on Goonies-like adventures to try to search for Kid Danger and would each be returned home as soon as they were found… He had a lot of responsibilities to handle that the Kid would’ve smoothed over. So, he would do it for him.

Getting Henry into the new space and immediately tending to his medical needs, Charlotte and Schwoz worked to make sure that he was stable, giving the others instructions whenever they needed, until he was settled. Once he was hooked up to an IV and resting, Charlotte addressed all of his other injuries as he slept, and Schwoz and Piper went to retrieve the helicopter. Jasper wondered, “Is there anything that I can help with?”

“You can keep me company, if you want.”

He smiled, “Just try and get rid of me.” She smiled and continued. Henry had gotten pretty beaten up by Drex before the crash, because she knew that none of these injuries were likely related to that. Those would have been more serious, but these were pretty ugly, still. “Honestly, I may eff around and just blow off Harberd for a minute to roam Dystopia with you,” he said nonchalantly, but when she looked up at him, he seemed completely serious and pretty expectant.

“Well, a lot of people cancelled their flights after Drex attacked Swellview, so I’ll bet there’s an empty seat on mine, if you’re serious.”

He clenched his fists in excitement and wondered, “You’d really take me with you?”

She looked at him like she immediately regretted it, but he could tell that she was purposefully making that face. There was a little smile in her eyes as she furrowed her eyebrows at him. “I can’t believe that we all have superpowers,” Jasper said. Now, her facial expression was genuinely judgmental. “Don’t look at me like that! You said it yourself that I’m a superhero.”

“I said hero,” she corrected.

“Exactly, and now I’ve joined the ranks of the supers, along with Henry and Ray… and I guess you too, with your… roboticizing brain chip, but turning into a robot isn’t really the same thing as having a superpower.”

“I didn’t turn into a robot. The nanotechnology just goes through my body to where it’s needed to make the chip work properly with my brain. The chip isn’t even in my brain, it’s just in my head, and the technology can travel through my blood stream because there is organic material in the…” She saw from his face that he had no idea what she was talking about, so she concluded, “I’m not a robot. I’m still Charlotte, just… like a Super Charlotte.”

“Super Charlotte,” he repeated. She nodded. “But, not a robot.” She nodded. “Can you control other machines?”

“I can… communicate with other technology. Not so much control as to kind of get in tune with them, maybe jump on their network and sometimes hack effortlessly. I’ve still got a lot of testing out to do with this thing.”

“I don’t understand why you don’t just take it out, now. We’ve found Henry. That’s what you told me that you put it in for.” She didn’t respond to that and when she glanced at him she realized that he was waiting for a response. She still didn’t. He continued, “It’s just dangerous and it’s scary.”

“It’ll be really helpful when I get to Dystopia. It’ll be like a computer that nobody can steal from me on the train! You know that I got one of those robot hand gloves for protection? You can like attach it to the sleeve of your coat and it makes for someone stealing out of your hand very difficult. I was gonna wear it AND latch my computer to it while traveling. This is way safer!”

“For your computer, I guess,” he mumbled. She sighed. In too loud of a voice, he asked, “Well, what about that super strength, then? If you aren’t a robot now?” 

Henry’s eyes blinked and she gave Jasper a look. They waited a moment, then she quietly said, “Some years ago, before you were on the team, I was kidnapped and altered to exterminate Ray and Henry.”

“I’ve heard this story. They turned you into a little, tiny Terminator, with a rap song.”

“Right. Well, Schwoz changed the signal and undid the mind control, but apparently there was still some kind of mechanism in me that could still be that way and the cyberchip was able to tap into it because the nanotechnology goes through my bloodstream. Simple explanation.” He opened his mouth and she said, “Still not a robot.”

“But robot enough,” he said. 

She rolled her eyes and touched Henry’s hand, “All set.” Charlotte began to go put away the medical supplies and Jasper kept an eye on her. “This new lair is horribly positioned. It’s out in the open, like… everybody who passes by will be able to see it…” 

“That’s a power move!” Jasper said. “It’s like, Yeah, I’m Captain Man and this is where I be. And what you gonna do about it?” 

She sighed and said, “Captain Man didn’t make the move, but I guess. Of course, that’s awful risky for those of us who are NOT Captain Man. At least with the Man Cave, it was… hidden.” 

Jasper shrugged his shoulders, “Is your assignment in Dystopia gonna be hidden?” It was a fair point. She shook her head, then he looked worried. “What exactly is your charity work? I forgot to ask.”

“Well, I actually told you a few times, but I guess it wasn’t that important to you,” she said, semi playfully. It was really frustrating to have to repeat stuff to her friends because they didn’t care enough about her life to retain anything.

“One more time, please, and I promise it won’t happen again,” Jasper said.

She nodded. He’d been pretty attentive all day, so she believed that promise from him. “In Dystopia, there are a lot of oppressive laws. The charity that I’m going to be working with is one that moves to try to educate little girls, in order to help them to not have to be child brides, or be obtained for human trafficking by Dystopia’s crime lords. There is a base of operations, which is kind of like a camp, and there is a settlement nearby - it has a shelter for some of the girls that they don’t necessarily have the resources to teach, but still have had to rescue from one of the terrible fates that happen to little girls there.”

“It is complete and utter bullshit that I didn’t remember you telling me this!” Jasper said, disgusted with himself.

“Yeah,” she agreed.

“Well… I mean… I’m not good at teaching, so is there other stuff I can do? Like… I don’t know… punch somebody if they try to steal our girls and sell them?”

“Yes, you can do that… OR… You know, you’ve got that fancy camera that I bought you for Christmas last year… You could document some of the conditions to share with the world.” She felt pretty bad for sicking a swarm of moths on him, so she made sure that she got him a really good gift. It killed her guilt whenever he opened it up.

“See? You are really great with ideas!” Jasper cheered. “Man, I’m gonna definitely start listening to you again.”

She was going to ask him when did he ever listen to her, but someone cut into their conversation with, “And what the heck am I gonna do in Dystopia?” Charlotte and Jasper both gasped and rushed to give Henry a triple hug. They both spoke at the same time about how they thought he was dead and they couldn’t believe he was alive, they were so glad, etc. He smiled in their arms and they all stayed there for a long time, eventually quieting down and just… resting, for the first time in the past few days, really.

After they were able to finally let go, Henry noted that Jasper and Charlotte were holding hands. He was just about to ask what was up with that, but each of them took one of his free hands and they sort of… were just chilling, just like that. “Are we friends that hold hands, now?” Henry asked, laughing a little.

“SUPER friends that hold hands!” Jasper corrected him. “We’ve got superpowers! I can fight and speak Spanish, ‘That’s not a-’(Henry tried, but Jasper kept going), Charlotte turns into a robot, ‘Not a robot…’ (She also attempted), and YOU HAVE A FORCEFIELD!”

Henry nodded, “Yeah, I DO have a forcefield… Wait, Charlotte, you turned into a robot? How long was I trapped in that crash site?”

“I am not a robot,” she said. They were quiet for a little bit longer and then she wondered, “Do… do you really wanna come with us to Dystopia?”

“Like he has a choice!” Jasper said.

“He does. He has plenty of choices. He could go to Neighborville as their hero. He could stay in Swellview with Ray and help him with the fallout of what happened. He could resign from hero life, hide his power and finish his high school education…” She listed.

Henry nodded at all of those unsavory ideas. Well, they were okay, but… they would include him being too far away from his two best friends, who he didn’t even want to leave before he had a severely traumatic near death experience. “Yeah… But… What could I do in Dystopia?” He asked her. He and Jasper looked at her attentively, actually waiting for her advice.

“You… could… work on your GED online, or even probably sit in on some higher level classes at the charity base, work in the community garden, maybe even do security for the shelter… You could… be a hero there. Rebrand yourself and become a new hero and a new kind of hope for Dystopia…”

“Can… I do all of that, or I gotta choose one? Because the community garden sounds awesome, but I feel like with a superpower, I should probably say that last one, or at least security…”

“You can do whatever you want, Henry. You’ll have backup,” she said and she and Jasper smiled at each other and then at him.

“I want to take a shower. I am super musty.” They all acknowledged the same. Nobody had washed up. But, also… Nobody knew where a shower might be in this place, either. 

.

After they found it, Charlotte told them that they could go first, she was going to try to get them something to change into. She’d seen the gumball maker and she knew how to work it. Hell, she knew how to make an Omega weapon.. She looked up and Jasper was in the doorway while Henry showered, but keeping an eye on her. “Jasper, what are you…?”

“I’m just… leery about leaving either of you alone right now. Is that dumb?” he asked.

She shook her head. It wasn’t. She got it. 

.

Captain Man announced that Kid Danger died saving a baby hospital, and if Henry wanted to remain a hero, he could always just be someone else. He had a different power, and everything. But… also… He knew that Henry didn’t want to stick around. While he was out working on getting the city calmed down, Schwoz made sure that the kids got home. And, he didn’t really hear from them while they were recovering. He could guess why.

To keep up appearances, they kept their social media active. Charlotte and Jasper replaced their phones and were posting hella photos of them mourning Kid Danger, but grateful for the chance to graduate and move on. Henry was with Piper a lot, showing up in her social media - mostly because SHE was so grateful that he actually wasn’t dead, but she was never going to admit that. Instead, she said stuff like, “Spending my last Swellview days with my biggest fan, my reckless brother” or some other version. “This idiot” and so on. 

But, they were together, mostly. Piper had several graduation parties to attend and was requested at every Kid Danger memorial, as President of the Man Fans, so whenever she did those things, she left Henry at Charlotte’s. Jasper had only been home to grab his things and spent the rest of the time there, too. Charlotte was working on building a portable gumball maker, because it would be so much easier for them if they DIDN’T have to pack a lot of clothes, and also, Henry would need something for hero stuff. Then, Jasper wondered if she could make him something for hero stuff too, “Since I have superpowers now,” he said. She put it on her list. 

Henry came in while she was working on that and Jasper was playing on his phone with his head in her lap. “Yo, yo, yiggety yo yo yo!” Henry cheered. 

Jasper gasped and said, “BOOK CHECK!” He picked up one of Charlotte’s books from the workstation and threw it at Henry, who reflexively and defensively blocked it with a forcefield. “Amazing,” Jasper observed.

While Charlotte yelled, “Hey!” Because he threw one of her books. Henry picked it up and set it back where it went. “Hey, how are you, Hen?” Charlotte asked.

“Not as good as Jasper, with the best seat in the house,” he teased, then took his own seat, next to Jasper and leaned back onto Charlotte’s lap, as well. 

“I’m not furniture,” she reminded them.

“We’re idiot doggies. We don’t know the difference,” Henry said. She rolled her eyes and continued working. “Are we sitting together at the city wide service?” 

“Don’t you think you should sit with your family, after what happened to you and what almost happened to you?” Charlotte asked.

“You… two… are my family,” Henry said. Jasper reached over and took his hand. Charlotte strummed his hair. They continued with their plan of action for attending the service and making it to the airport…

.

Henry was confused whenever the bird hurt itself flying into him, but that was short lived. It was short lived, because the moment that he saw the blimp connecting with the mountain, and he watched in slow motion as what he believed to be his last few moments alive took place, he wished for something else. He tried to focus on why he did this. It was because he loved Ray, but also… because Swellview did need Captain Man. But Kid Danger? 

Swellview couldn’t have needed him. His friends didn’t even need him. They had planned futures. They had decided to move on without him. But… Charlotte’s last cry. Hearing her scream his name, then all of the noise of the Man Cave crumbling… Did they make it out? Would they be free to leave Swellview? Would they… still want to… after this? Because the fire, the wreckage and the explosions that he was witnessing… there was no way that he was going to be alive for much longer. He jumped off of the blimp, hoping that at least if he wasn’t incinerated in the explosion, they would have something to confirm what happened to him. The babies were safe, so he no longer had to steer the blimp. A Swellview block was safe. Swellview was safe, thanks to him. Ray was safe. Knowing how dedicated Jasper was to doing what he said, Jasper and Charlotte were safe. He could die, knowing that the people that he loved were able to live on. 

Whenever he landed, back first, he braced himself, but he bounced, then stopped moving. Was it so painful that he couldn’t feel it? Was it so bad that he had dissociated? He checked himself. He was still glowing green and he appeared unharmed… But… wreckage from the mountain and the blimp soon came tumbling down and he braced himself yet again to be killed… He wasn’t, though. Just… trapped. “Okay, so it’s slow starvation instead of instantaneous impact or at least a torturous few moments of burning?” He sighed and tried to shove the flaming wreckage off of himself. Not only was it not working, but more and more kept falling onto him. “Or suffocation?” He said, noting that it was very difficult to breathe under all of this. He started to try to see if this… protective glow could maybe push off some of this stuff like it deflected that bird and like it padded his fall. He was able to get himself a little more breathing room, but he was pretty buried. All that was left to do now was wait - either for this forcefield to fail and these rocks to crush him to death, to succumb to hunger, or maybe something else horrific could happen. 

He tried to see if his phone was still on him. Maybe he could call someone. Maybe he could call Charlotte or Jasper… He recalled her voice screaming his name as presumably, she got out of the Man Cave? But… what if she didn’t? What if she and Jasper only made it as far as the elevator and everything collapsed, making it plunge right back down into the explosions? He shouldn’t think like that! He should try to have some hope… But… that was enough to scare him away from trying to call either of them. He tried to press the buttons by memory. Maybe he could contact Piper. She was out of dodge, so she was definitely safe and sound, somewhere… But his phone must’ve had bad coverage, because nothing happened. No connection… He was on his own, just the way that he figured he’d be whenever Team Danger left him in Swellview. “I’m gonna die here, in this place,” he announced miserably, to himself. “Alone…” He whispered and shut his eyes. Nobody was around, so it was okay for him to cry. 

Time was lost on him. He almost passed out a few times, but immediately jumped awake whenever he felt the force field slip and the wreckage get heavier against him. His jump scare wake ups always push it out a little more, but not enough to free himself. 

He thought about Jasper. The way he used to always try to be affectionate and it would make Henry slightly uncomfortable and try to avoid him for a moment… If he had Jasper here right now, he would hug him so tightly and apologize and tell him that he loved him and kiss him right on the lips. As friends, or whatever. It didn’t matter. He didn’t tell Jasper how much he appreciated him and his love and now, he was going to die alone and Jasper was going to maybe light a candle before he left for college, hopefully mourn accordingly and then move on with his life. 

Charlotte… she was gonna go… what was she doing out there? Dystopia… was she working in one of their food deserts? If he had Charlotte here right now, he’d tell her to start from the beginning and tell him EVERYTHING on her mind. He wouldn’t cut her off, or tune her out, or make fun of her for how boring or nerdy whatever she was talking about was… Had he been that person? A person that doesn’t show his friends that he cared? A person who didn’t let his best friend love him? Didn’t listen to his other best friend? Would they even care to lose him? Kid Danger, sure… but… had he been a good enough Henry to them? 

His brain was exhausted. His muscles hurt from the strain of staying alive inside of that force field, and his heart was broken by all of the regrets of being the kind of friend that friends and even his sister could just move on and leave behind. Maybe they were somewhere beating themselves up too. I mean… they WERE just gonna graduate and leave me… He felt bad for even thinking that way about them. They shouldn’t put their lives on hold just because HE had wasted his, and now, he had sacrificed it. He was probably always meant to be here. To fall, a hero, but die alone. He hated his mindset right now. He had been so sure whenever he sent Ray away. He had been so sure when the babies were safe. But, now, in this aftermath… He just wanted the death he deserved, a hero’s death… not this hell that he was putting himself through while he fought to stay alive, for what? Because starving, dehydration, and exhaustion were better than rock crushing?

.

He heard helicopters nearby and he tried to move. Maybe if he shifted a rock and knocked some down, they’d at least check this pile of rubbish. Rubbish? Weird. I must be delirious… One thing he wasn’t… moving those rocks. And it was hours before they began to move. He was about ready to throw in the towel. He was so out of it, he could’ve sworn that he heard Ray’s voice ask where he was. He answered. He’d been talking to himself and his ghosts all of this time. Might as well continue… Then, the rocks began to move and he saw their faces. Charlotte and Jasper! FINALLY. The death he deserved. Peaceful, with images that brought him joy and not anguish. He dropped the forcefield and he let himself find rest.

He hadn’t expected to wake up to find them there. He hadn’t expected to wake up at all, but he heard chatter about Dystopia and he knew those voices and he simply followed them until he was conscious again… and there they were - his friends. His loves. Of course, he wanted to be with them. He never wanted to have to be alone again, hero or not…

.

After a little bit, it became clear that they were going to have to do a little more than just help and watch after the girls in the program - people were always in need of help in Dystopia. They would wake up in the morning. Charlotte, wrapped up in two dudes and squirm her way out of them. She got better and better at putting their arms on each other so that she could stretch and have some tea before they got up. If Henry woke up first, he left a paper flower that he folded and a note that he went for a jog - he could do that, because he had a force field. Whenever Jasper woke up first, he would either stay where he was until somebody else got up, just cuddled up and watching them sleep.

No matter the order, they got up, took the train to the base. Charlotte taught classes, Jasper took photos and did maintenance work, and Henry helped with the community garden and security. 

Any time that there was an alert for them to spring into action, Jasper and Henry were able to go more easily than she was, but the times when she DID get to go, those criminals had better watch out. She had a tap on mask programmed into her cyberchip, so she didn’t need to blow a bubble… she wasn’t big on gum, anyway, and she made sure that she kept Henry and Jasper’s gum supplied. Jasper needed two, they soon found out, after watching him be thrown around like a ragdoll, because he had not been able to sleep as easily with a pill. Charlotte’s sleeping gum recipe though? Put him right out and he was up and fighting in no time. 

Henry had a hero complex with them. He still jumped in front of them and potential danger with his force fields, despite that they probably would be fine 9 times out of 10 if he hadn’t. He still asked Charlotte if she was going to go back to the base. He still felt like he was the one who had to protect them, sometimes. They were slowly getting him out of that habit every time they had to get out there and fight. Charlotte with her extensive gifts from the cyberchip. Jasper with his unique fighting style. And now, for however long they wanted to, the three of them would be as close… no… they were definitely already closer, than he and Ray had been when they were a team. Things worked out just as they were meant to! He wasn’t going to die alone. He smiled to himself as he popped the gumball into his mouth and rushed to catch up with his friends.

[thehoodsweetheart]

Sandcastles | Part IV.

A/N: I want to start by apologizing for taking so long to create Part 4 to Sandcastles. I had writer’s block for a while and then life got in the way. I hope you all enjoy this. I will be continuing this series. No real music inspo for this part. The picture above is just adorable but not a depiction of Y/N and Iman. Please excuse any spelling and/or grammatical errors. It might be a bit rough. I was just trying to get this out.

Word Count: 3,112

Warnings: Slight Angst (?), Mentions Violence, Hints of emotional abuse, Mentions Miscarriage, Hints at abortion, possible triggers

Summary: Y’all not getting one this time.

Erik x Black Reader (will always be a Black reader. Sorry not Sorry).

——————————————————————————–

        Erik remained seated on the leather couch of his living room holding his phone to his ear yet still silent. His mouth opened but he soon shut it, as he was unable to form words. The sensation of his chest tightening followed by the familiar lump in his throat nagged at him. Erik leaned forward his elbows planted on top of his knees. His shoulders tensed. The feeling of regret washed over him for the umpteenth time. He had felt this too many times for his liking. The one person who for years brought him peace was bringing the storm. If he had to choose he’d say it was a hurricane followed by tsunami. The type of damage that it could cause would have anyone questioning if God was mad at the world. But Erik was the source, and he was internalizing just how much pain he was still causing you.

       The tone of your voice was enough to make him feel like scum. This was the second time that afternoon you had called him in a panic. The first was after his text threatening to kill the movers. Of course he listened to you and didn’t kill them… but he was already seeing red. It was too late for him to not do anything, at all. In Erik’s mind, at very least they deserved their ass beat for banging on the door like the police after he told them to get off of his property. Erik did just that. He beat their ass. The movers definitely needed to be in someone’s emergency room getting checked out for cracked ribs, a broken nose, maybe even a broken jaw. In Eric’s mind, this was light damage in comparison to what he wanted to do. They put themselves in the way of being the target of his frustration. Nonetheless, his logic could do no justice nor could it sooth your worries.

        You continued to yell at him through sobs, full blown hiccupping sobs. Erik hated the fact that for the countless time in less than two weeks, he was the reason you were crying. Some things you said he could barely understand due to your crying, but he sat there taking it all in, staring at his bruising knuckles as he assessed the damage made. What he could make out was that you were sick of his shit.

“Y/N, come on. I’m sorry alright? I know I fucked up…again, but please try to calm down princess. It’s too much stress on the baby.” Erik finally took a jab at some type of reasoning with you.

       He knew the potential consequences of high stress during pregnancy. In fact, you and Erik were not strangers to the disappointment and heartache that miscarriage could bring.  You two had suffered a miscarriage before conceiving Iman. Although, neither of you knew that you were pregnant until Erik rushed you to the hospital for what he thought was a possible rupture appendix, only to receive the heartbreaking news that you lost your first child.

       The first pregnancy was not exactly planned. Erik had been teasing you since you guys’ third date that he was going to get you pregnant one day. At that point you hadn’t even been intimate with him yet. He was nowhere near being ready to be a parent at that time. Erik was genuinely amused at how you would roll your eyes and scoff every time he mentioned it. It was just something he teased about more than anything. He loved to get a reaction out you. Nonetheless when he did imagine himself having children, he knew you were the only woman he’d envisioned. So when the time actually came and you miscarried, it triggered his fear of loss. Erik in term became even more overprotective of you, if that was even possible.

“STRESS?! STRESS ON THE BABY?! NIGGA YOU ARE THE STRESS ON THE BABY!”  You cried out. Erik pinched the bridge of his nose taking a deep breath. He could hear Iman crying in the background.

“Just…come home love. Let me take care of you and Iman. Let me try to fix us for real. All this yelling and shit probably has Iman scared.”

“EXACTLY ERIK! She is! This is just too much for me. ” Y/N sniffled. “Why would I ever come back? You make me physically sick to my stomach. You can’t even control yourself. What if they press charges? What if they sue me for putting them in that situation?”

           It was the truth. You were always right. He sighed in defeat. He knew he blew it once again.

“They not fuckin stupid. Them niggas was trynna take my family from me.” Erik mumbled. “I can have T’ch-“

“Don’t you dare” You cut him off. “T’challa? Really Erik?! T’Challa can’t solve your problems or be your voice of reason for you… and YOU lost your family on your own. Nobody  took us from you but  you.” Y/n ended the call immediately after, overwhelmed with the entire situation.

           Erik was left with is thoughts and your last statement replaying in his mind like a broken record. He was the cause of this entire situation and that was a tough pill to swallow. He was still at square one without the slightest clue on how to fix you all’s relationship. Maybe he did need to get himself together before he tried to pursue the mending of his family?

           Erik smacked his lips before picking up his phone once more. He scrolled through his contacts begrudgingly tapped a name he hadn’t dialed in almost a year. It was time he visited his therapist. He listened to the ringing before a chipper voice answered. It was his therapist’s secretary that annoyed him with her overly cheerful persona.

“Dr. Lang’s office, Amber speaking. How may I help you?”

“It’s Erik Stevens. Can you get Dr. Lang on the phone…immediately.”

“Sorry Mr. Stevens, but Dr. La—“ Amber hesitated.

“I’m not gone ask again.” Erik barked.

           Amber tried to cover gasp of astonishment with clearing her throat and politely telling Erik to hold. Amber knew exactly who Erik was, and against her better judgment she’d eavesdropped on his past sessions. It took less than 3 minutes for Dr. Lang to pick up the line.

“Mr. Udaku-Stevens, it’s been a while. How are you?”

“My wife left me.” It pained Erik to utter those words aloud.

“Ah! Well, how about you come in tomorrow 9 AM? If your schedule permits…”

“I’ll be there.” Erik kept it short hanging up the phone.

------------------

        You threw your phone down on the bed staring blankly into space. The sensation of saliva thickening in your mouth brought your attention to the nausea you had been trying to ignore. You used your sleeve to hastily wipe away the tears left on your face. You didn’t owe him a goodbye. You could barely comprehend why you were talking to him in the first place. Why do you always feel the obligation to reason with Erik? And to an extent, why did you still bare the burden of trying to protect him from himself? Erik could be his own worst enemy with his self-sabotaging fits of rage.

        Your thoughts were interrupted by a shriek that came from Iman as her cries intensified. Iman was having a full on fit. Her round golden face was now tinted in a red hue, hot tears spewed down her face, and her dimples piercing her cheeks as she flailed her chubby fist. Iman was teething and it was giving her the blues. You picked her up cuddling her close to your chest, rubbing small circles in her back, attempting to sooth her. A teething baby was a force to be reckoned with. You’d given her some medication in hopes of breaking her fever but just by touch you could tell that it had barely worked. Iman pushed at your chest and if you could guess you would only assume she didn’t want you to hold her.

       A light knock came to the bedroom door, before it cracked open far enough for your twin brother, JR, to peak in. With an exhausted yet concerned look on his face, he scratched his full beard looking at you and Iman. He had returned from football practice less than an hour ago and his usual routine would have been to take a shower then nap. It was apparent that that was interrupted. His expression softened as you made eye contact.

“What you in here doin’ to my niece?” he joked trying to lighten the mood. JR staggered further into the room. “What’s wrong wit my lil baybeh?” He cooed as he took Iman from your arms.

“She’s teething and sleepy so she’s fussy.” Y/N mumbled letting out a heavy sigh.

       JR cradled her in his muscular arms as Iman clung to him beginning to calm down. He was practically the same build as Erik. The idea of her possibly missing her father crossed your mind, and by no means were you intending to keep her from Erik, but taking her back to him was out of the question. You weren’t sure if he was in the right mental space and seeing his face only made you angry.

       You stood up from the bed briskly walked over to the adjoining bathroom shutting the door. You couldn’t resist the urge to vomit any longer. It was starting to make you feel physically weak. What more could you possibly throw up when you haven’t even brought yourself to so much even eat a grape in six hours? Your body was giving up all it had to give, and at this point it was only bile. You clung to the porcelain toilet wondering if this was all a test of faith. Why was everything falling apart? Why was this pregnancy so hard? Better yet, why was life so hard right now? How come you couldn’t be home with a supportive and faithful husband like believed he was at some point?

“She ain’t the only fussy one wit all that yelling you was doing at her Daddy.” JR mumbled as you walked back into the room collapsing on the bed.

“You heard all that? Sorry.” You knew you probably didn’t even need to apologize, but who really wants to come home to a bunch of drama that has nothing to do with them. JR waved you off with a nonchalant look.

“Don’t worry about. Take it easy though. You look…dehydrated.”

“Are you calling me thirsty?” You retorted with cut eyes.

“No nigga! You literally look dehydrated like you need Gatorade or coconut water. It’s some in the fridge.” JR shook his head as he readjusted Iman in his arms laying her head on his shoulder. Iman’s wails had settled to a soft whine by now.

“Thanks but I doubt that I could stomach either of those.”

“Is that normal? Being pregnant and all? That shit seem like a bad hangover and virus combined.”

“I don’t really know. I didn’t go through this with Iman. I had some cramping and nausea but this is just…ugh... Wassup? You getting ready to have a baby I don’t know about?”

“Hell nah. My niece and future nephews are enough. I got a good five to ten years before I let somebody trap me.” He shrugs.

“Excuse me? You don’t know if I’m having a boy or not. And you said nephews with an S. You trynna make me sicker something?”

“I’m just concerned with your health. It got my twin senses doing weird shit. Maybe you should try to see your doctor before your appointment? I’m trynna tell you, you’re super sick cuz you having triplets. What you gone do with four kids under 2?” JR commented earning an eye roll.  Here he goes with the twin sense stuff. Sure it’s a real thing but JR could be a bit dramatic.

“I’m NOT having triplets. Are you crazy?” JR smacks his teeth.

“I’m not crazy but me and niecey gone take a nap on the couch. If you still lookin’ like you getting ya ass whooped from the inside out in a hour, then I’m taking you to the hospital.”

4 hours later

           After enduring an hour wait in the emergency room waiting room, you had been pricked and probed too much for your liking. The past few hours consisted of countless tests and tubes of blood being drawn. You were already reluctant about going to the hospital in the first place. You would have rather gone to your regular OBGYN, but your brother insisted on taking you to the ER tonight. There was no doubting that you needed to see a doctor. How you were feeling was not the least bit normal and it was only getting worse.  

       It seemed like the nurses were more interested in your brother than what you were going through. Being that he is in the NFL, the attention was something he’d grown accustomed to. You on the other hand didn’t care. You almost snapped on one nurse who was so insistent on smiling in JR’s face, that she incorrectly inserted the IV in your arm four times. If you weren’t toting a sleeping Iman in your other arm, you probably would’ve caused a scene. At that point, JR excused himself from the room taking Iman with him. He stated that he wanted to give you privacy and limit the distractions.

           Hyperemesis Gravidarum was what the on duty physician diagnosed you with. Hyperemesis Gravidarum is a rare condition that causes sever uncontrollable nausea, vomiting, and dehydration. You stared down at your slightly protruding belly as the doctor continued to explain what the condition was. Your vision blurred as your eyes burned and your ears began to feel hot. You tried to process what the doctor was telling you but the sound of your heartbeat and breathing seemed to be battling over his voice. From what you could gather is that he was deeply concerned that you developed the condition with this pregnancy especially since it wasn’t your first. If it concerned him, it surely scared the hell out of you.

“I’d like to do an ultrasound now to make sure everything it alright with the baby. We gotta take care of mommy and baby.” He said while holding out a Kleenex box and using his free hand to pat your knee. He called over a technician who wheeled over the ultrasound machine.

“What if it’s not?” Your voice became small, almost child like. Fear was starting to get the best of you. You went through a miscarriage before and didn’t want to face another one.

“We’re going to stay hopeful, Y/N. Something tells me I know a possible answer for this condition. The circumstances can vary…” He said as he turned on the ultrasound machine before pouring the cool gel on your lower abdomen. The doctor placed the device against your abdomen causing you to slightly jump due to its warm surface catching you off guard.

           The crackling of static when the device touched your stomach was followed by the blaring rapid heartbeats offsetting each other. The doctor turned the monitor to give you a better view of the screen. Moving the device around, the doctor zoomed into a particular area. He studied the monitor and his once stoic facial expression cracked with a glint of satisfaction. Your line of sight moved from the provider’s face to the monitor before the two of you. You froze, blinking a few times to be sure you were seeing correctly. Your breathing became shallow as you opened your mouth to speak then immediately closing it. Is this really happening?  You sat there wide-eyed trying to take in this moment.

“Is that—are those—“ You attempted to ask before the doctor cut you off nodding.

“Congratulations Mommy! Looks like you’re having twins with very strong heartbeats might I add.” He announced with a smile. “Which is what I thought was triggering your condition. Would you like us to bring in the proud papa and big sister from the waiting room?”

You lowered your head shaking it as uncontrollable tears began to pour down your face. You couldn’t quite understand your own emotions.  Are you happy? Are you upset? You should be happy… right?

“H-He’s not the dad. He’s my twin brother.” You stuttered.

“How exciting! A twin having twins!” A young nurse perked up with a smile in attempts to lighten the mood. You offered her a soft smile as you wiped your eyes. There was still an obvious presence of your lack of enthusiasm.

“Are you okay Y/N?” The doctor inquired with a concerned expression, for which you simply nodded. “There are options you can discuss with your assigned OBGYN. You’re still in your first trimester, which is a trying time for a multiples pregnancy. We have a few pamphlets here that might help, but don’t hesitate to inquire about any of your concerns.”

“I understand. I’ll discuss it with her.” You said just above a whisper.

“Great, now let’s get these fluids hooked back up to your IV. I’m writing you a prescription to hopefully help with the nausea and excessive vomiting. I think you should stay overnight for observation. We really need to get a handle on your dehydration.” He stated while typing into the computer.

        Great, now you had to stay in the hospital. Who could watch Iman until your discharged? It was pretty late in the evening and JR is having an early start the next day. Your mom wasn’t exactly your greatest support system. Your grandma adored Iman but you know that Iman can be a bit of a busy body for her. You could call Nakia but there was a chance that T’Challa would tell Erik you were in the hospital. That was the last thing you wanted. They were still the best candidates. You could hardly find a baby sitter for one child, what were you going to do with three? How were you going to handle being single mother with three kids? Life comes at you fast.

       You closed your eyes for a moment laying your head back against the observation bed. You were starting to feel nauseous again. You opened them looking at the empty chair next to where the doctor placed pictures from the ultrasound with markings for baby a, and baby b. Underneath the ultrasound were the pamphlets for the options he hinted at earlier. Your hands began to sweat as you reached for them. You stared blankly at the one on top.

“It’s my body right…”

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

Tag list

@purple-apricots @chaneajoyyy @toniilaney @wakanda-inspired @almeda-344 @desireatatyana

@wakandalivesforever @yoyolovesbucky @beaut1fulone-blog @sarcastic-sunshines

@elaindeereads @soufcakmistress @bujotellsyourstory @scott-mccall-could-lift-mjolnir

@theblulife @leilaxaliel @uzumaki-rebellion @cutewylie @yourwonderbelle @letsshamelessqueen-m

[im-abanana]

Ineffable Bureaucracy as parents HeadCanons

I can’t believe I spent nearly two hours writing some ‘Ineffable Bureaucracy’ Pregnancy/Child/Parents HeadCanons. The craziness is under the cut, I’m not sorry.

Pregnancy head canons:

-First of all, I am positive that Beelzebub’s pregnancy would be an accident. A total, disastrous accident. Com’on, they are so stupid. It’s not like she or Gabriel could imagine that angels and demons would be able to procreate, since they are supposed to be mortal enemies in the first place (after the failed Armageddon, I think the situation between the two factions would be way better though);

-Beelzebub realizes that something must be wrong with her body around the seventh week or so. Demons do not need to sleep, but she finds herself fighting the urge to nod off on her uncomfortable throne more and more often, until even Dagon takes notice. Being the best BFF there is in Hell, Dagon gently offers Beelzebub to swap duties for a few hours, or she simply brings hot coffee to the Prince every time she can;

-Coffee is the only thing Beelzebub manages to gulp down without having to spend the whole afternoon locked in the bathroom, because pregnancy sickness is a fickle beast. Being a demon of Gluttony and not being able to eat is torture. At first, Gabriel shrugs it off and says ‘I’ve always told you not to eat that gross matter’, but at some point he gets worried too... demons or angels are not supposed to feel sick or have indigestions, after all;

-Gabriel secretly starts to investigate about the Prince’s strange behavior, writing down every single oddity he sees, date and time. He is an excellent bureaucrat, but a fucking idiot in general. He hides an up-to-dated little notebook full of notes, such as ‘morning always sickness, unjustified tiredness, nausea, moodiness’ and he still doesn’t have a clue. He could use Internet or his brain, of course, but as I said he is a dork. However, he feels like he’s missing something;

-At the tenth week (still not knowing about her condition) Beelzebub hits her breaking point. It happens during a business meeting with a few subordinate demons, in the throne room. As she tries desperately not to fall asleep (she cares about her people and has a lot of patience for the most part, imo), while a few of those demons are bitching nonstop about some leaking or a burst pipe somewhere, one of them frowns and dares to accuse ‘Excuse me Lord Beelzebub, are you actually sleeping on the job!? This is unacceptable, do you actually know how hard it was for us to get an appointment!?’. That definitely does it. At the end, everything there’s left of that particular demon is a sad pile of dust; 

-Dagon calls Gabriel and tells him about what happened and the harsh reprimand Beelzebub had received from Satan himself. Concerned, he waits for her in front of the communal entrance of the offices (the escalator we see in Good Omens), and when she arrives- to his utter disbelief -she starts sniffing and repeating ‘I didn’t mean to destroy that demon’, ‘I’ve being feeling odd these weeks’  and ‘I don’t know what’s gotten into me’. He tries his best to calm her down, but the feeling that he is missing something still lingers, stronger than ever now;

-A few nights later, as Gabriel is trying to fill out some paperwork, it just hits him. He springs to his feet and runs into the bathroom, where an infamous box lays untouched since many, too many weeks. He yells ‘Beelz!!! When is the last time you had a menstrual period?’. For an handful of seconds, dead silence. But then, Beelzebub’s voice echoes loud and clear in the house ‘Oh, shit!’;

-So, she is officially carrying a demon-angel hybrid. That night, the silence in their house is disturbed only by Gabriel’s unceasing steps as he walks aimlessly in every single room, mumbling to himself, his face blank and pale. Beelzebub is still in the bathroom, with her head between her hands and questioning her life decisions (lmao, poor bean);

-The thing Beelz hates the most about pregnancy are swollen ankles, not because they are unaesthetic or painful, but because she has to give up on wearing her beautiful fishnet socks;

-Once the general shock wears off, Dagon would be so happy! I mean, I see Beelzebub and Dagon as really close friends and partners in crime. No matter who the father of the offspring is, Dagon’s gonna spoil the living Hell out of her nephew/niece;

-Gabriel knows how dangerous Hell is, especially for the Prince. He tries to convince Beelzebub to allow a few security guards (his best angels) to protect her, or at least supervise the entrance of the throne room, but the demon angrily refuses. She is one of the most powerful beings in existence and can take care of herself, as she always did. Plus, angels in Hell? What nonsense that would be;

-Sandalphon and Uriel are not happy about it, like, at all. One day at the office, around the fifth/sixth month of pregnancy, Gabriel overhears Sandalphon muttering ‘What was the Almighty thinking when She allowed that unholy union to happen? Can you imagine what kind of monstrosity will come out from that— that disgusting demon?’. The Archangel takes a long breath, smiles in the most diplomatic way, walks towards his colleague and punches him right in the face. Nobody insults his gf and unborn child;

-Michael isn’t even mad, for she is very open-minded and understanding. She just sticks with Gabriel through it all, secretly glad for him. Excited, even. He is her most trustworthy friend, nothing could ever change that. He does not deserve to be treated as a traitor or an outcast;

-Gabriel loves to feel the baby kicking and moving, even stretching its tiny wings inside the womb. Beelzebub pretends to be annoyed when he rests his head on her belly, but when the Archangel isn’t looking (or at least, that’s what she thinks) she smiles softly at her boyfriend’s tenderness;

-But when the baby starts to move, it. just. doesn’t. give. Beelz. a. break. I mean, she tolerates the little thing with all her heart, but she would appreciate it… if it would just stop wrestling with her spine and ribcage 24/7;

-Thankfully, the other demons do not dare to challenge Beelzebub. Not only she is a formidable fighter on a regular basis, but she grows ten times more protective and intransigent during the gestation. The Prince is aware that there isn’t just her safety on the line, but her child’s as well. Whoever steps a bit too close for her liking gets growled at;

-Surprisingly, Satan himself is one of the first to congratulate. At this point, especially after the Armageddon flop, he doesn’t give two shits about what angels and demons do together. Times have changed… Hell, his own son has rebelled against him! So he just good-naturedly states ‘If this offspring comes out half as fierce as Beelzebub, I sincerely hope it will join our side, or else Heaven would gain a great advantage!’;

Now time for some parenthood head canons:

-When Beelz goes into labour, the questions of the day are ‘What will the child look like!? Will it be a demon? An angel? Both? Will it grow horns or hooves? An halo, perhaps?’. But to everyone’s surprise, the kid comes out pretty normal. A balanced mix of its parents. It inherits Gabriel’s purple eyes and Beelzebub’s black hair. Its only uniqueness is a pair of very, very fluffy black-and-white wings;

-Much to Beelz’s dismay, it also inherits Gabriel’s dumbness and shit-eating grin (especially the ‘shut your stupid mouth, and die already’ smirk). But when the kid is puzzled or simply interdicted, it reminds Gabriel of Beelzebub’s expressions at the airbase;

-Those two immediately fall in love with their baby, anyway. Gabriel even cries a tiny bit as he holds his little one in his arms for the very first time. He knows that Beelz is gonna take hundreds of pictures and tease him about it for all eternity, but he just doesn’t care. For once, screw dignity;

-Michael and Dagon are the best aunts in the world. When Beelzebub and Gabriel are both too busy with work, they are more than willing to spend some time with the child. During playtime, they both try to influence the kid in their own faction’s favor of course, ahah;

-The baby’s first word is ‘pornography’ and you cannot convince me otherwise. Because of that, even if Beelz is undoubtedly entertained, Gabriel is forced to ‘sleep’ on the patio for a whole month;

-Flying lessons with dad! When the child’s wings are grown enough— they become pitch black, the terminal feathers pristine white (like a Black-billed Magpie), or vice versa pristine white, with pitch black terminal feathers (like a Swallow-tailed Kite)—Gabriel decides it is time to teach his little one how to fly. The kid just stares in awe at his dad’s wings (a lot of people, me included, headcanon Gabriel’s wings as gigantic and majestic) and obediently follows every instruction. Beelzebub silently flies beside them, monitoring every progress with pride and making sure nobody gets hurt while practicing;

-Fencing lessons with mom! Beelzebub is a brilliant sword fighter, and she doesn’t waste time showing her kid how to use one;

-The kid is most likely very powerful. It is the offspring of the Lord of the Flies and the Archangel-fucking-Gabriel after all, if it indeed inherits the abilities of both of its parents… oh boy. Nor Hellfire nor Holy water can touch it, that’s scary stuff;

-Since the child is an hybrid, it is allowed to explore Heaven and Hell whenever it wants. While it excitedly snoops around, angels and demons just shoot it some suspicious glances, hoping it would simply choose a side already; 

-The kid does not, because it loves visiting Heaven and Hell just the same. Hell folks are more fun to talk with, that’s true, but Heaven has the best view and a calmer environment.

[luki-fanfic]

Dr. Stone Fanfic: Crossed Your Mind - Part 1

Yes I know, it’s not KHR.  But I’m liking this fandom and it’s proving frustratingly effective at distracting me from my other works, so bear with me.

WARNING: suicide of OC, and some minor manga spoilers (end of the stone wars)

—

“Remember Gen, you must always give them enough reason to doubt.”

It’s the mantra his grandmother had uttered every day, before he’d head to school. They’d lived on the outskirts of the town, inside a traditional Japanese home, and the family bitterly held on to every acre around them they could find, no matter how good the offer that came.

It was so isolated, you could almost pretend you were the only one for miles.

Almost, anyway.  And Gen enjoyed the quiet.  It certainly didn’t last long when he had to walk into town, and sound started to echo in his head.  While the citizens and his fellow classmates kept their voices low and polite, their inner voices were no such thing.

‘God, when is he going to call me?’

‘Okay, so if I get A Meal today and the C Meal tomorrow, maybe I can afford two B meals-’

“Ugh, I’m so not ready for that test today.  I’m so screwed!”

‘Dammit, I’m going to be late again!’

Gen winces and resists the urge to cover his ears.

Physic powers are a real burden sometimes.

—

In a place like Japan, filled with overpopulated cities, telepathy is not so much a gift as it is a curse.  It normally runs down his mother’s side, but Gen happened to be one of the lucky males to have it passed down. While movies and comic books might suggest to the common man on the street that having real life super-powers would be cool, Gen will quite happily tell them otherwise.

For one thing, it doesn’t turn off.  It’s a sense, as much as sight and taste, and Gen’s only saving grace is that his own seems to be limited to hearing range at the moment.  His grandmother hears significantly further, and his mother…

Well, she’s not hearing much of anything any more.  But it had been far.

His father does the best he can, raising Gen with his grandmother.  For someone without mind-reading, his father had been a rock.  A psychologist, who worked regularly with police, and had studied ESP as a hobby.  It’s how he’d met his mother, and his days spent analysing witnesses and criminals made him a natural at reading people.  

“If I didn’t know he couldn’t read minds, I’d honestly think he could,” his mother had told at age five, in one of her better moments.  “He knew everything I was thinking just from a smile and a twitch of my hand.”

She wasn’t wrong, and it’s quite frustrating to grow up when both of your parents are impossible to lie to.  On the plus side, they couldn’t lie to him either, and his younger memories are fully of happy moments.

Unfortunately, those became a lot less when his mother’s gift spiked.

—

It gets worse in your mid twenties.  That’s the one thing that seems constant. While the radius remains almost tolerable through childhood and the teens, by 25, the mental reading spikes.  How far varies, but both his mother and grandmother had been brutally honest on what his future entails.  

His grandmother is the only one in the family with the gift to make it past thirty for generations.  And she hasn’t left this house since she was 23.  Not even the threat of bombs during the war had pried her out.  She’d tried to get her daughter to do the same, but she’d ran off to university, positive she could handle it.

At first, she’d been fine.  She’d studied, she’d met Gen’s old man – who found her ability fascinating, and could keep up with her despite his lack of it.  They’d been married in six months, and Gen came along a year later.  When he was two, they learned he’d inherited his mother’s gift, and celebrated his luck.

He was five when his mother started screaming, with the entire city suddenly pounding into her head, and they’d all packed up and moved to the house in the forest while her sanity bled out her eardrums.

Her mother had seen it coming, and tried to help traditionally.  Meditation, and long walks into the country.  Gen, his mother and father, would spend their weekends hiking in the forest, camping in the wild, trying to find areas that were isolated enough to make his mother’s headache tolerable.  Gen is not the outdoors type, but he appreciates the lessons as things he’ll need to learn for his own safety.  If he’s honest, there’s something soothing about the wild – while it frustrates his father, he likes to take off his shoes and wander barefoot when he can.  It genuinely makes him feel at peace.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his mother.  The trips only help so much. Japan is a populated country, and it’s nearly impossible to find yourself outside of civilisation.  While Gen might find it quiet, neither woman ever finds true success.

His father had tried to help her through modern means.  Reduced his hours and thrown himself into parapsychology.  Prescribed any medication that might possibly help.  Sometimes it did.  But she kept getting stronger. Sometimes, the voices were so loud, she couldn’t even tell who was saying what.  Her mental state is so bad at times, his father sometimes thinks to himself she might have genuinely developed schizophrenia.  Which is a dangerous thing to think in a house of telepaths.

On the worst nights, his mother will attack his father, both with her fists, and her words.

“You hate me!” she screams, hands trying to claw at his father’s face.

“I don’t, I love you!” his father screams back, pinning her hands down.  

From his room, Gen just turned and fell into bed, burying deeper into his pillow, pretending that would drown out the words not being spoken.  

Once upon a time nobody in his family ever thought to lie.

But that was a long time ago.

—

If there’s one thing Gen’s ability has taught him, it’s this.  Everybody lies.

It’s a universal constant.  A lot of people don’t even seem to know they’re doing it, but you can’t hide your true feeling from him.  He learns quite young to never trust a smile, or a tear.  He sees and hears first hand someone uttering words of affection while screaming abuse in their head, seen teachers feign affection for eager students when they’re mentally begging them to vanish so they can go drinking.

‘I like you.’

‘It’s no trouble at all.’

‘It’s not that impressive, really.’

‘Gen, I promise, I’ll never hurt you, my baby boy.’

Lies. Lies. Lies.

—

When Gen was eight, he woke up to hear his mother singing in her head.  A happy, ditzy tune, that almost made him hopeful that today was a good day.  That this set of drugs had finally calmed down her hysterics.  In the back of the house, he can hear his grandmother thinking something quite similar, and they laugh to themselves at their need to be hopeful. It’s a thought that stays with them, right up until his mother’s musings cut straight out, leaving frightful silence.

His grandmother screams out loud.  Gen doesn’t, merely jumping out of bed and running towards his mother’s bedroom.

She’s in the cupboard.  She’d used a scarf.  Gen thinks it might have been one he gave her for a birthday, once upon a time.  His grandmother tries to usher him away, but the same thought is going through her head.

His father was away during the incident, and after the funeral, starts looking at Gen differently.  He doesn’t say why – he doesn’t have to.  Gen doesn’t need telepathy to know that his father has suddenly realised his son has a bomb trigger in his head, and his police work falls to the wayside, focused completely on looking at psychic research, looking for something, anything, that might save him.  Gen leaves him to it – it means they speak over phone while he travels, and it keeps things quiet and less depressing at home.

His grandmother has always been the bulk caretaker for him, and that definitely doesn’t change when his mother passes.  If anything, life becomes easier, because they don’t have to worry about her episodes.  A thought that makes both of them feel overwhelmingly guilty, so they never mention it.

To recover, his grandmother teaches him meditation and yoga, ways to calm his mind, and digs out decks of cards to show him tricks.  Given their natural talent, some of ancestors were known in the magic circles – when the world was smaller, and their skills not quite as strong – they worked as magicians, or magicians assistants.  She’s happy to give Gen a hobby that keeps his mind of…well, his mind.  Playing the magician is what allows their family to survive in this modern era - a way for people to explain away their uncanny ability to know all.

Then, his grandmother dies when he’s fourteen, and he’s the only voice in his head for now.

—

When he turns sixteen, he moves to Tokyo, and gets an agent.

His father thinks he’s an idiot.  Begs him to reconsider.  In this day and age, Gen can still be home schooled, and go to university online.  He can have an entire life without ever having to leave their little corner of the world.

Gen is mature enough to admit he might have a point – both of them understand that he has a very tight deadline on his life.  But he wont live like his grandmother, caged in her own house for her own sanity.  And his mother had done everything right and still ended up the way she did. Why spend years studying for a job he might not have the mental faculties to do in a decade?  If that’s his inevitable fate, he’s at least going to enjoy the time he has left and spend it being rich and adored.  

Knowing that people lie, is his strength.  Knowing precisely what they lie about, is something he can use.  While his father might suggest using it to better society, Gen won’t take the risk.  Too many dark and dangerous people to interact with, and the concept is still laughed upon in a lot of enforcement agencies.  Entertainment is far safer – he won’t even be the first in his family to use his skills this way.

The term is ‘Mentalist.’  An entertainer who feigns mind reading or other psychic abilities.  His grandmother had taught him some family methods and the basic card tricks, so he has a pretty good base to start on.  A natural talent at mental tricks, and long, painful hours in a cheap apartment, trying to block out his neighbours voices until he can manipulate a deck backwards and forwards, get him his first gig.  His attractive features, and a knack for knowing just what to say, get him his first TV performance.

A year later, and he’s doing full on shows to a sold out crowd.  Up to a thousand people, all watching him.  All loving him both in their applause and heads.

It’s a drug.  A beautiful, wonderful drug that makes up for living in one of the worlds most over populated cities.

Granted, there’s always a few that don’t enjoy it.  Gen takes pleasure in trying to seek them out whenever he needs an audience member to help him.  The ones that are looking for the trick – Gen does try to keep his act within the realms of possible most of the time.  There needs to be some way for people to guess how he does it, but every now and then, he’ll show off.  Get the biggest disbeliever in the room on stage, and mentally take him apart.  The look of shock, of horror, and astonishment, as this simple being had their entire world view shaken.  When the revelation that they can’t tell anyone because they won’t be believed crosses their mind.  It’s a beautiful thing - Gen thinks he’s personally made at least a dozen sceptics full on psychic believers by this point.

On one occasion, it’s another celebrity.  He’s been booked for a special on exceptional young Japanese citizens, and he’s there for both his psychology and magic credentials.  The piece was fairly run of the mill, with one exceptions – a teen by the name of Shishio Tsukasa.

Although ‘teen’ is a bit of stretch – muscles like that shouldn’t be possible on someone that young.  He’s attending as an example of psychology in fighting – how the state of mind can improve anyone’s abilities. During his own display, Gen can’t deny he’s impressed.  Tsukasa’s mind is calm, and focused, and terrifyingly powerful.

But he also doesn’t believe in magic.  He looks over Gen with the usual polite respect that one in the media masters, but his dismissal of Gen’s talents rings clear as day to him.

As such, when the show cuts for a break, and the two of them are alone in the green room, Gen hides a vicious smirk behind a glass of water, and gets to work.  After a few moments of quiet contemplation, trying to block out the voices around them and focusing on Tsukasa’s own thoughts, he’s ready to go.

“How is dear little Mirai?”

The reaction is beautiful.  He waited until Tsukasa was drinking, and he has to fight back the smirk as the taller teen chokes on the liquid, hand trembling as he drops it to glare over at the mentalist.

Gen gives an innocent smile.

“It’s quite an impressive feat, to soldier all those medical bills on your own.  For what it’s worth, I can completely sympathise.”

That’s not even a lie.  Throwing yourself into work, desperately putting money together to help a family member that has no hope of ever getting better?

Oh, Gen can definitely sympathise.  Tsukasa however, doesn’t seem amused.

“How do you know about Mirai?” he asks, voice low.  Gen completely understands – the teen has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep his little sister’s state out of the media.  There’s only a handful of people who know the Strongest Primate High Schooler even has a sibling.  

“It is my business to know, Tsukasa-chan,” Gen offers, leaning back and resting his hand on one cheek.  “I make a point to know everything about everyone I deal with.  You’d be amazed at the secrets I know.”

“Is that a fact?” Tsukasa asks, body tense, and Gen grins.

“My dear Tsukasa-chan, my entire career is built on reading people,” he says.  “I am young, I am pretty, and I am new to the game.  On the one hand, it works for my brand, but on the other, people always think they can use me for their own good fortune.  If I don’t learn how to manipulate, how to get into the heads of people, I’d never survive.”

He flashes Tsukasa a dark smirk.

“I’m sure you understand this as well as I do.  This world is not fair one, but if you know that, you can still come out on top.”

Tsukasa stays silent, but gives a nod of comprehension, and Gen settles back, satisfied that the indifference in the fighter’s head has been quite firmly replaced with respect.

—

A few months later, Gen is sporting a new black and white hairstyle, and is running through a stage performance to a regular audience.  It’s a small crowd, and there’s nobody he can pick up that’s not genuinely enjoying his act, so there’s no need to psychologically gut anyone in the finale.  Everyone seems happy, and he’ll give them the best show he can to reward that.

Next week, he’ll probably show off, because his father will be attending.  Right now he’s in America, attending some medical conference.  Gen has only seen the man in person since he left for Tokyo three times, but they call regularly.  He’d come to see Gen perform twice, and once come just to yell at him, having taken great offence at Gen’s ‘psychology’ book, especially considering Gen hadn’t even finished High School – but Gen could have seen that coming without psychic powers.  No doubt, he’ll roll his eyes when Gen publicly dissects the biggest sceptic in the crowd for his finale, but then he’ll laugh, and take his famous son out to dinner, before going over the newest research he has in how to keep Gen’s mind sane.

Gen looks forward to it.  Even though he already knows his father has no faith whatsoever that they’ll find a cure in time, no matter what words he might offer.

He’s just completed his final act, one of the more standard ‘magical’ aspects of his performance, where he escapes from a box stabbed with knives, basking in the approving minds, when something dark and ominous hits him like a sledgehammer.

‘What’s happening?’

‘Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.’

‘Am I dying? What is this!’

His smile falters as the voices scream inside his head.  But before he can process the danger, his arms stiffen, his vision vanishes, and he has nothing left but the voices.

Oh god, there’s so many…

‘Is this part of the act?  I don’t like this!”

‘Mom!  I want my mom!’

‘Can anyone hear me!  Help me!’

‘Please!  I’m scared!’

‘HELP!’

He wants to scream. Wants to run away from this darkness and their screams.  But he’s as frozen as everyone else.

Has it finally happened?  Has he succumbed to his family’s curse?  He’s only 19, he supposed to have time left…

But there’s no answer, and the crying, sobbing, frantic minds don’t let up for hours.  But eventually, they start to quiet, and Gen becomes even more alarmed when he starts to realise he can pick out individual voices – the crowd thinning for unknown reasons.

It should be comforting, but with nothing to see, hear, smell…those voices are the only thing keeping him sane.  He cries every time a voice tapers off.

‘Stay!  Come back!’ he begs in his own head.  ‘Don’t leave me alone!’

He doesn’t know how long it takes for the last voice, a young woman whose last thoughts are of her fiancé, to drift away.  But the time after is horrifying.  He’s never been so alone.  There’s always been someone on the edge of his head.  This silence is terrifying.

So, when his own mind starts to drift away, its nothing but a relief.

—

Several thousand years later, he meets Shishio Tsukasa again.  The teen is even more impressive, and the army of stone behind him does not fill Gen with confidence.  Neither does his mental state –and Gen suddenly becomes exceedingly grateful his father would have been in America and is far, far away from him.

He is given clothing, which to his surprise is slightly more elaborate than everyone else, and based on traditional Japanese garb.  It’s the style he’s admitted in interviews and TV appearances to being his preference, and it doesn’t take much to realise he’s being buttered up.  Better clothes to elevate his position in Tsukasa’s new world.  The girl who made them is torn between being happy at making something creative, and being terrified of Gen’s existence. She knows exactly why Gen’s been revived, and she’s not happy about it.

Granted, Gen also knows why he’s been revived, but he can’t tell Tsukasa that.  Any more than he can tell him the one called Senku is still alive.  At this point, he’s not even supposed to know the scientist’s name, so he stays mum.

He’s given a tour of Tsukasa’s kingdom, the strange caves utterly alien to him.  It’s difficult to imagine that this is where Tokyo once stood.  Or that this simple little cave holds the key to their revival.  It’s there that he finds something truly phenomenal.  The date.

Tsukasa had told it to him, but he was still wrapping his head around the concept of what happened that it didn’t register.  But here it is, written on a tree, plain as day.  

Gen’s reeling. Someone was awake during the petrification?  The whole time?  And stayed coherent enough to keep track of the date?  Gen had stayed conscious longer than everyone because he had mental stimulation, and even he’s still iffy on exactly how long he was functioning.  The mental feat this must have taken…

He laughs long and hard in his head when he realises Tsukasa has revived him to track Senku down.  A man Gen suddenly realises he has to meet, no matter what.

So he plays along, trailing after Tsukasa, acting the role of shallow egoist, looking at his options and realising Tsukasa was his key to success in this new world – the person Tsukasa, and most of the modern world, believed he was – looking over Senku’s abandoned hut, and being directed to where Tsukasa had once left a strange blonde girl, only to return and find her missing.

Gen is given a fortnight to hunt down Senku or the village, or Tsukasa will send out a rescue team.  He’s rather surprised that Tsukasa is willing to let him go alone, but then again, a more censored version of his family’s hiking trips have also made it into his biography, so perhaps it’s just rationing resources.  And it does make Gen’s plans so much easier.

—

Once he’s stepped into the forest, and Tsukasa’s mind is no longer close enough to be heard, Gen immediately kicks off the primitive shoes he’d been offered, and sits in the crook of a tree to process what’s just happened.

The world is so quiet.  That’s the first thing he truly registers.  Now that he’s out of the Kingdom of Might, and away from the half dozen people up and running, it’s truly alien at how quiet his head is.  There is nothing but the sounds of wildlife in his ears, and not a single stray thought in his mind.

He hasn’t been this alone in years.  It’s kind of soothing…normal people don’t know how lucky they are, to have this every day.

But as much as he’d love to bask in this quiet, he somehow needs to track down this now infamous ‘Senku’ over untamed wilderness, and figure out a way back without issue.  While he has some outdoors experience, he had modern clothing and supplies on hand, and there’s no markers to help him out, or minds to pick up.

Thankfully, Senku and his blonde friend didn’t do much to cover their tracks. They’re faint from time, but he does manage to follow a trail, finding an old campfire, and then wheel tracks.  He also stumbles across a hot spring, which he admittedly spends a day at before moving on.

Between marking a trail, and his wrong turns, it takes four days before he comes across civilisation.  A beaten mud path that’s probably used by hunters, and when he follows it, he picks up the sound of an instrument, too melodic to be natural.  A few minutes later, he rests at the top of the hill, grinning at the village on the water.

The grin gets wider when he picks up an amazing smell too.  It’s not perfect, but that’s definitely ramen.  And the idea of eating something he didn’t have to gather himself is too good to pass up.

When he walks out of the forest, he settles on a grouping of rocks, just out of sight.  A passing glance at the locals make it clear his getup will stand out like sore thumb, so he needs to stay in observation mode.

Most of the village are hoarded around a bamboo cart, and everyone’s thoughts are filled with only one thing.  How phenomenal this strange food is. They’ve never tasted anything like it.

But there’s one mind that’s running at a frantic pace.  Gen’s almost taken aback – it’s practically speaking another language compared to the more simplistic thoughts around him.  The owner is going over the components of ramen, a string of insanely long chemical components, and most curious of all, counting seconds almost subconsciously.

Gen smiles.  

Hello Senku.

Now, how to approach?  The last time Senku met a fellow modern man, he was supposedly killed.  Gen can’t imagine he’ll be received with much trust.  Gen himself has gone and put together makeshift armour just in case the reaction is more extreme than he expects, so he should expect Senku to be at least that paranoid.

He’s still mulling it over, when an utterly adorable slip of a girl wearing a watermelon on her head hands him a bowl of ramen.  She’s so focused on handing food out, she doesn’t even seem to realise he’s not a villager. Or perhaps that mask is obscuring her eyes?

The ramen itself is…well it’s a painful example of why MSG is in so much food, but the sensation of eating something cooked, that’s been even a little bit processed, is a glorious feeling.  The general aura of delight and joy surrounding him definitely sweeten the bowl too.  One girl even thinks about how they should stretch the rules to get the stranger into the village if he cooks like this.

The teen that can only be Senku is starting to slow down at his cart, and the crowd is dispersing in order to eat, so Gen makes his move.  Something that will get Senku’s attention, but wont appear threatening.

“This ramen is making me wickedly thirsty,” he says with a smile.  “A cola would be great…”

[storywriting]

Anemone, An Enemy, Anemone, An Enemy Anemone, Anne, Nemo, and Another Me

[ So.......Anemone huh? Here’s some loose thoughts after a first viewing, including my takes of H1-Evo #1 and how my opinion has evolved now that this film is in the mix. I’ve seen it through with the JP audio exactly one time and I do wonder if my opinion on this film will change at all on a second viewing or when I get around to the dub. It’s less about plot details and more about review  and general discussion type stuff, doesn’t delve heavy into theorizing just yet. That’s a trip for a different post. Cut because long as fuck even though literally nobody asked. ]

Hi Evolution #1, starring our main man Renton “Only a Miniscule Few Braincells Above Himbo” Thurston, hit me in weird ways which I think is true for most everybody I’ve seen talking about it. Part of my problem with it honestly was that I came into things with the misconception that Hi-Evolution would be a reboot of sorts. A somewhat faithful retelling of the original story with new insight into things we didn’t get to see much of. I don’t know why this is the impression I had other than screencaps and stuff, but if you only watch the first Hi Evo movie you definitely could continue to think that once it’s over. When I thought it would be an encapsulation of the original series, I had intended to use the film to introduce @himbologythestudyofhimbo to the story. She has long known it to be one one of my most favorite anime franchises and I thought a film would be a good way to gauge whether she might find it interesting enough to hit 50 episodes with me.

Ha. Haha. That didn’t work.

I hadn’t seen Hi-Evo when I was like “hey wanna watch this?” so that’s my own fault. I had seen screenshots and thought it looked gorgeous, but that was about it. I was imagining something akin to the Berserk trilogy of movies, mostly faithful to the original story with some new tidbits of information thrown in for old fans.

And again, you could be forgiven for seeing the first Hi-Evo movie and still thinking that’s what you’re in for. It is mostly compliant to the original canon and the parts that aren’t compliant are pretty wishy washy about saying so. Unfortunately what I found out really quickly is that that it’s not at all a good entry point for new fans, and that really disappointed me. I’ve been hoping for years for something to get more young blood in this fandom, BUT ANYWAY--

The whole play forward/play back thing really hinders the flow of the film, as much as I understand the point of it, especially with the Anemone film for more context. Skipping around the timeline harms new viewers in particular. It’s challenging to understand the timeline and flow of events because everything is presented out of order and without context. Sure, the first Hi-Evolution covers a ton of major story beats surrounding Renton’s personal development, but the non-chronological presentation coupled with the utter lack of lead up to key moments from the original series robs this movie of carrying any emotional weight. Who is Renton? What’s the deal with him and wheelchair girl? Are these people his parents or not? Why do we care about this Eureka girl who has been on screen in Renton’s presence for a cumulative 30 seconds. Wait a minute what’s this ship? Where did he leave from again? I thought he had a home and parents? Who are these people and why do I care?

Put bluntly this movie sucks if you can’t answer these questions going in, and even if you can you may feel a bit cheated by it.  As much as I feel the need to talk about how the film is inaccessible for new fans, these films clearly are not for new fans. They function to remind you of events of the original story and then play off of those events with the new content. Even as an established fan, Hi-Evo #1 feels very watered down on its own, but it’s not on its own anymore is it? So let’s finally talk about Anemone.

What becomes clear about these movies is that they are not divided by chronology, but by character. The first movie was about Renton which is why we saw so so little of everybody else even when that robbed the story of needed context and worked to the story’s detriment.  I’m telling myself the reason titular character Eureka was not on screen demonstrating her relationship to the world and to Renton despite it most likely being a central element is because they shoved her scenes into Hi-Evolution 3: Eureka, which will not be released for another year or so. 

I do feel a bit more forgiving toward these movies now that I understand the format they’re going for, but I think most of my previous criticisms still stand despite that.  The character focused presentation may be a deliberate creative decision, but that doesn’t make it an ideal storytelling mechanism. THAT SAID, while a character centric format really harms well developed characters like Renton, it does loads and loads of good for a character like Anemone whose screen time was always hindered by her role as accessory to Renton and Eureka’s story. We don’t get that constant stream of unfiltered perspective from her or really any secondary character, so it’s very interesting to see the world filtered purely through her eyes. I honestly found myself significantly more interested in all the new Anemone content than I ever could have been over watered-down, abbreviated rehashing of Renton’s character arc. I’m much more excited for the last film than I was with just the context of the first Hi-Evolution movie.

Speaking of which, very early on in the Anemone film, the viewer is clued into the fact that this is most certainly AU content, something that was less clear about the first movie. Eureka Seven as a franchise has really been in the 24/7 AU zone for like 10 years, which I think is cool but I also find a little disappointing. I like AU content well enough, but I also think they had a rich world already in the original series and I feel like there are a few more rich veins to explore further in the original world without necessarily needing to wrap it up in a convoluted alternate universe. Not to say I’m against like the AU stuff or anything, I’m okay with it existing, I just want a little more variety in the stuff that’s coming out. Keep up with the AU stuff if you guys wanna but I wouldn’t say no to more backstory and lore, you know?  If they’re gonna pander to old fans instead of attracting new ones, they may as well hit me where it hurts. But I digress. Hi Evolution#2: Anemone’s AUness is pretty central to the story it wants to tell, so it has my full attention there.

Alternate universe characterization is something I’ve had both complaints and praise for in the past, and I’m happy to say that in the case of Anemone I have mostly praise. It’s nice to get a glimpse of an Anemone who isn’t like....as unhinged as her original incarnation. She’s well adjusted comparably, which makes her a decently reliable narrator. While she loses some of the edge that people are drawn to about her, she maintains most of the underlying personality traits you would expect of even the earliest incarnation of Anemone. This is an Anemone who had the opportunity to be socialized. You can relate to her and appreciate her feelings more easily than the Anemone viewers are most familiar with. This is an Anemone with hardships, but she hasn’t been pushed to the same extremes as her PoP counterpart. Likely due to the pretty direct narration and background, there’s also a lot more substance to her than PFoR Anemone in my opinion. It’s not really a chore to like her and take interest in her. She feels very natural in most instances. She’s a real breath of fresh air for fans who love Anemone and wanted to see her living with a healthier mindset and some better outcomes. Good on you, Anemone. Four for you, Anemone.

Most of the other characters--Dominic, the scientists, background people, Anemone’s father, new crew members, etc--are all about what you’d expect from either their previous incarnations or the archetypes they’re filling. None of the new characters or secondary characters are particularly developed, but I don’t really consider that a huge fault of it. I wouldn’t expect a 2 hour movie to meander the way a 50 episode anime can, but in times like this when I am with very few developed characters, I am forcefully reminded of what an asset and a strength the original’s depth and breadth of character writing is.

And then there’s Eureka. I expect her to be polarizing in the reviews, assuming at least some people didn’t straight up hate her in it. Everybody may have just hated it, idk.

As I said earlier alternate universe characterization is something I’ve had both complaints and praise for in the past, often both at the same time. What often comes about is characterization that I don’t necessarily like, but because the character has lived a different life I can’t really say that characterization is wrong. I feel that pull in this film quite a bit. Wrathful Eureka is boring to me. Conceptually, it just is. But does that make it bad?

Man, idk, I guess not. I didn’t like it, but I’ll defend it to a degree. In the original story Eureka was born into violence and conditioned to perpetuate violence early in life. The original Eureka Seven has a dense messaging about propaganda and information and the ways in which society conditions people of all kinds.  Eureka is a docile character in the original but more and more as we learn about her, we realize that this tendency toward gentleness isn’t just a cutesy character trait of hers. It’s a choice that she’s making on a daily basis, even when more forceful options would be easier or make more sense to her. It’s a choice that has come about from a collection of experiences. Eureka becomes pacifistic because she develops her own ideals about the world. She comes to conclusions about what things make her a good or bad person and she makes the decision to be the person she wants to be. There’s weight to it. That’s something that always really drawn me to her as a character. It’s very easy to blow up in the face of something horrible. It’s much harder to keep a cool head and exercise mercy. I just don’t find the Eureka of this world all that compelling.

That said, I don’t necessarily think this read of her is wrong or even impossible. In fact, I think if this read had 50 episodes of development and justification behind it, I might even come to appreciate it. Certainly if anything could drive her to this, it would be losing Renton, so it’s not exactly out of left field for the character given the circumstances she’s in. I feel somewhat similarly about PFoR Eureka. Only somewhat. Eureka in general is a character who would probably be much more in touch with her anger if she had been raised any other way than she was. Even in the original series Eureka has a passive aggressive streak. She’s probably very fortunate that more productive methods of expressing her feelings were accessible to her before any natural tendency toward aggression was. Angrier more volatile reads of Eureka aren’t wrong or even uninteresting necessarily, but to me a lot of her charm is wrapped up in the reasons she works so hard not to be that type of character.

I also think that subversion and role reversal can be an interesting in AU stuff, so I don’t really fault them for using it here. In contrast to our typical unhinged Anemone, Eureka gets to be the one teetering on the edge so that Anemone can shine and show a little more humanity than she typically gets to. I think that’s honestly okay. I want to see Anemone have her day to be the hero. That’s something I’m okay with sacrificing a little of my preferred characterization for. I see a lot of value in a portrayal that allowed Eureka and Anemone to bond and more directly learn together. I think a lot of fans, myself included, wonder about a reality where Eureka and Anemone could have been sources of support for one another rather than pitted against one another.

That isn’t to say that I’m automatically okay with chopping up the writing in arbitrary ways, though. The thing about the reversals and subversions in Hi-Evo #2 is that they’re consistent. Compare to something like Pocketful of Rainbows and you’ll see what I mean. In that movie Renton, for some unclear reason, is the one who can understand Nirvash even though that writing decision doesn’t really serve the story in any meaningful way because Eureka is still the one who isn’t human and still is wanted by the military for....being whatever unclear thing she is in that film. Renton is no longer childish and is in fact the patient one in the story while Eureka is the one with a stubborn attitude and defined temper. Renton is made out to be more of a coward so that he has something to grow from, except for all the many many times he isn’t cowardly pretty much immediately, and the only flimsy defense of this concept that is that he was afraid of adults with guns when he was a literal child.  Meanwhile, Eureka in this film is a much more brash character than we’re used to. Unlike Original Eureka, this one doesn’t want to be led or take orders anymore. She’s a loose canon who takes matters into her own hands except for all the times she cries for Renton to save her both before and after she’s teetering on her own Independence Event Horizon. There are a lot of creative decisions in that film that just plain don’t make sense to me because the writing doesn’t commit to them at all and tends to flounder around between them. I could barely make it through that film because I felt like it was contradicting itself every 5 minutes. It feels less like a new exploration of old characters and more like a bunch of ideas the writing team couldn’t agree on and slapped together anyway. If it wasn’t unclear, I don’t like Pocketful of Rainbows very much.

By contrast, any subversions or reversals in Hi-Evolution 2 fell earned enough. The writing choices are for the most part played straight and well justified. The choices are interesting. Unlike literally anything about the lore of Pocketful of Rainbows, I want to know more about Hi-Evolution. I want to understand what Anemone’s mission is and about Silver Box. I want to know why Dewey is so different from the Dewey I know. As much as I complained about Eureka’s characterization, the portrayal is decently justified by the writing. Eureka believes she killed Renton and seems to be privy to other realities where she turned out much happier. She has good enough reasons to be bitter in this iteration.  

This film has honestly made me way more forgiving of Hi-Evo #1 and given me a lot of reason to take interest in what the last film might be. I’m going to reserve any big overarching judgement until that comes out in 6000 years, but I’m getting the sense that it might be New Order adjacent, in that Renton and Eureka will have to find one another and possibly revisit places that will be nostalgic for fans.I wouldn’t complain if this becomes the flagship verse wherein Eureka and Anemone form a meaningful friendship because they’ve been denied that opportunity in basically every other telling that exists so far.

Also big thank god the last film will be hand drawn because, I hate to be that guy but the GC looked like shitgarbage. I’ve become very forgiving of CG and Mocap recently but I just really disliked it in this film. Animation is a medium I know a lot about, I know compositing is a tricky job, I respect the work put into it, but...oof. I do wonder if that was a stylistic choice or more of an “oh shit the budget is disappearing” choice.

My final word on Eureka Seven Hi Evolution #2 is that....I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it either but I had a nice enough time watching it. I’m realizing I’m having trouble landing in one particular spot on Hi Evolution #2 because I expect the next film will effect how I judge this one in the same way that this film has affected how I judged the first one. If you’re an Eureka Seven fan who is on the fence about the Hi-Evolution trilogy, I’d say give it a watch. You’ll still love your favorite characters even if they’re a little different than you’d hoped. If you’re still feeling iffy maybe wait a year until the last one comes out and binge them all at once. I suspect the experience might be improved that way. Definitely don’t go in expecting the story you already know, though. Doing that set me up for failure here.

Honorable mention for the fansubber who kept translating 勘 as very rude words describing the penis for some reason? That really enhanced my experience.

[mellz117]

Hello all and welcome to part 4 of my playthrough of KH2 on the PS2. If you haven't seen the previous entries please go do that.

[ _1_ ] [ _2_ ] [ _3_ ]

To recap: The Wonders of Twilight Town are boring as hell. We spoke to Namine again, Roxas finally realizes his life this week is a lie and starts to remember his life in the Organization. DiZ is racist against Nobodies but we already knew that. Roxas and Axel fight, I wanted to cry. Roxas meets Sora in his sleeping pod before disappearing, I wanted to cry.

And the adventure continues

I wanna know how Sora wakes up in the real world when Roxas merges with him in the virtual one. How in CoM does Sora go to sleep in Castle Oblivion, the whole-ass chamber and then some get transferred to Twilight Town, Roxas meets him in a virtual version of the mansion, and Sora wakes up in the real mansion in KH2? Nomura please explain this series. Is Final Fantasy ever this convoluted?

Donald and Goofy call out to Sora and we're once again reminded this is a Disney game. I don’t know why but the fact that Disney owns the original Kingdom Hearts characters bothers me. It means, unless DISNEY gives the OK, Sora will never be in Smash Bros. and that makes me sad.

I don't know much about comas but after a year of total inactivity, wouldn't your muscles atrophy like, A BUNCH? At least is wasn’t 7... OR VENTUS WITH A WHOLE DECADE WTF?

Again WHY COULDN'T JIMINY JUST KEEP EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN CHAIN OF MEMORIES WRITTEN DOWN IN HIS JOURNAL INSTEAD OF A CRYPTIC MEMO TO THANK NAMINE?

The trinity trio wanders out of the mansion, loot some chests, and find their way to the back alleys of town.

Hayner is rude RIGHT outta the gate, wow. Ok I remember that Pence actually met Roxas in Days, and so to me he seems to recognize Sora through his memories of Roxas despite the two sharing like, one visual similarly: blue eyes. But KH3 to my understanding reveals that the virtual versions of characters affect the real version so I dunno!! WHAT IS THIS SERIES?

"Have you finished the summer homework yet?" Olette asks Sora and his two ANIMAL COMPANIONS as if seeing two anthropomorphic animals is fucking normal in a town comprised entirely of humans and exactly one moogle.

Sora doesn't have any homework. For over a year he's been away from home and his mom couldn't make him go to school. I wonder how she's doing? Does she miss her son? Kingdom Hearts and parents don't gel.

I like how.. When Pence describes this cloaked figure who was looking for the trinity trio, as having big, round ears, they have to think about who it could possibly be. They’re not too bright.

Why is “sofa” capitalized? Also they weren't even sitting on it, neither of them were!

HAYNER IS A RUDE BOY! He tells us so ask Seifer about the town, as we are new. Bruh, if you’re this rude to us I’m sure how much worse Seifer and his posse are.

Seifer is immediately confrontational. “You here to pick a fight with us?” and Sora’s all like “No, we’re new here.” and DONALD FUCKING DUCK! INSULTS SEIFER AND NOW EVERYONE’S READY TO THROW DOWN! THANKS TO THIS DUMB FUCK DUCK!

But thank Christ big chungus appears out of nowhere and stops the children and two adult furries from causing a scene.

This dude is WAY too into the Struggle tournament. Seifer has an unwanted faaaaan! Bro, go away, you’re creeping on a teenager.

I wanna fight Seifer.

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I'm not working on this like I should be. I'm going on vacation soon and since we're all in quarantine I can't really do anything fun so this is the opportune time to catch up.

Moving on! We make our way to the train station and oh no, we're ambushed by Dusks! Because of COURSE we are. Who could've seen THAT coming? /s

I- I like how, even after hearing his voice, and seeing his fucking mousey silhouette, the gang STILL might not be sure this is their stupid rat king. One brain cell between the three of them, I swear, and Goofy is the primary carrier, and it only sometimes works.

Why do we need to purchase tickets to travel on a magical train embarking to an ethereal plane of existence? I guess it's the principal of it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED TO HUG THIS BOY. LOOK, HE'S CRYING!

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Pence is so cute. I didn't care much for him when I was younger but he's such a cutie. 

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I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED TO HUG THIS BOY. LOOK, HE'S SAD!

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It's fat cat Pete. For like ever, I had no idea he was a cat. Wonder what Maleficent saw in him to ally with him.

The trinity trio laughing about killing (or at least taking part in killing) Maleficent. "She's toast!" this sure is early 2000's dialogue...

Heartless everywhere! "You mean the worlds aren't at peace after all" well, no sweetie. It takes time for things to recover from horrible events. *looks at current state of the real world*

So like, I had no idea Yen Sid was a Keyblade warrior??? I had read about that in his Wiki page when I googled if any Keyblade warriors were left handed. (Ven might be, but more likely ambidextrous) But I guess being Mickey's teacher would imply his Keyblade wielder roots but whatever, I didn't pay attention when I was a teenager.

Yen Sid's decor is baffling. What are these bookshelves? What are these BOOKS? They're huge!

Good on Yen Sid for using singular “they” pronouns in 2005.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

On to our change of wardrobe. Without a doubt Sora's best look in the whole series, in my humble opinion. Lookit my handsome boy. 

And Sora learns about drive forms, blah, blah, blah, powerful forms, gotta sacrifice something like in Duel Monsters, in this case an ally.

Yen Sid is so boring.

All seriousness and tension is just broken as soon as Goofy’s name is uttered, at least Sora and Donald have normal names wtf.

It’s interesting how like, 15 years later, Union X explains how Maleficent was able to return after her defeat. Something about, as long as someone from your original time remembers you and you have a physical object to represent you you’re able to basically some back from the dead. Right? Am I right on that? I haven’t played it but I’m hanging by a thread on this loop.

Sora’s hard work down the drain...

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Hollow Bastion! And of course there’s trouble. Heartless, Nobodies, and Yuffie, oh my!

A problem sequels have to work around is when the protagonist needs to relearn their abilities. KH does a well and good job with this one. In CoM, it’s a different battle style, in KH2 Sora’s been asleep for a hear prior.

Also, Merlin “leant” Sora some magic spells? How does that work? Like, once you learn it you can’t just... give that knowledge back...?

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How old is Leon? He has no right being this pretty.

Another ambush by Nobodies. Give it a rest, would ya? Battle ensues, Leon deals the final blow against an enemy, and as the camera usually does, zooms in on the victor and we get a nice slow-mo crotch shot of Leon. Thanks, game... Then, Xemnas’s very sexy, very manly voice echoes across town and the organization appears before our protagonists. I’m weak.

Demyx’s laugh, dude. I love it. Sora is ready to throw hands with anyone in his way. Honey, you’re barely out of a magic coma and this dude is like, two whole feet taller than you. Not to mention very fit.

I’m done thirsting over Xemnas...

After a few taunting words, the new villains depart, Donald attempts to give chase somehow? Where you gonna go? They disappeared behind dark corridors. It seems Goofy is still holding onto that shared brain cell.

The Bastard

I like the majority of the Organization. Xigbar is definitely one of my favorites based on this next scene alone. He’s so snarky and full of shit. I love it. He’s great. He was definitely a stoner at some point.

I’m confused though. “He used to give me that same exact look!” the Wiki says Xigbar’s talking about Ven but I always thought he was referring to Roxas? Did Braig and Ven have a history? That’s implied in Days (which released before BbS) IDK dude. I’m surprised I’ve gone this long without spoiling myself too much on BbS. Like, a few story beats here and there but a lot of it isn’t gonna be known until I play it.

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The dialogue for KH2 was so different from the first game. It dates itself so much in comparison.

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Xiggy stands like this for 7 whole seconds parting with a condescending “Be a good boy now!” before disappearing. I love this fucker.

Leon, who’s been sitting on the sidelines this whole time, joins Sora and the others after the real threat is gone. We chitchat for a little bit and say our goodbyes. It’s time to leave this place and move on to one of two available worlds.

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At the Beast's Castle. After fighting a hoard of Shadows, the least intimidating enemy in the series (although the demon tower in kh3 is quite frightening nlg), the Beast himself makes his appearance, takes out the Heartless that suddenly stop multiplying upon his arrival, disgracefully shoves his supposed friends aside, and takes his precious rose to the west wing, which is where it SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FIRST PLACE. ADAM WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

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No joke one of the funniest actual gags in the whole series is:

*Donald Duck manhandling Cogsworth*

Cut to Sora saying "I'm glad you're OK." to Lumiere

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OK the minigame where you gotta light the magic torches, why do we have to make sure Cogsworth  has enough strength to keep the lever down when we have two perfectly capable companions that can hold it down instead? I remember this sequence being a lot more annoying when I was a teen.

Xaldin's voice makes me feel things. Ahhh he sounds so tired lol. He peaces out and we fight the Beast. I remember getting him to calm down being harder.

"Xaldin used my anger to control me!" Says Beast. He angers very easily so this must have been a cinch. Xaldin's been obsessed with him since Days so I would imagine this intel would come in handy.

More fodder to fight and on to the boss. Phase one is just an angrier version of the Darkball Heartless. Phase two is just skinny Ganon. I like its design though.

“Belle, I’m sorry. I wasn’t myself, being all rude and overall kind of a jackass to you and my servants” Except that’s kinda how you’ve always been lmao. Just because you couldn’t choose not to be an ass here doesn’t change that this IS in character. Still gotta work on that a bit.

“You don’t have to apologize” No, no he still does.

They all reconcile and the Trinity Trio departs until Xaldin shows up again to wreak more havoc.

Time to move on to the next world.

[ua-monoma]

.01.26.

1:45pm @ua-stein

[Monoma knocks on the door of Stein’s office, a good fifteen minutes before their scheduled time. He's also dressed nicely, perhaps a little too nicely considering the occasion. As he waits, he frowns to himself, fiddling with his hair before finally calling out.] 

MONOMA: It's Monoma...

[So early. Trying to prove a point, Stein muses, smiling to himself. He's trying, definitely, but it only succeeds in showing that he's just as childish as ever. He considers not answering until the 15 minutes have passed. Making him wait. Cruel, but sort of deserved. He only waits 5. After that he stands, making his way to the door and opening it, leaning heavily on the frame.] 

STEIN: Nothing else to do today? 

[The question is sort of rhetorical, sort of annoyed.] 

STEIN: Come in. 

[He steps away, back to his desk.]

[Monoma scowls at the attitude and again at the question, immediately frustrated again. Entering the room, his bad mood settles slightly as he takes it all in, curiosity popping up in its place. Eventually he sits, pursing his lips, at a loss for words as he recalls their last conversation and the utter disaster it was.]

MONOMA: ... So... [he finally starts.] What is this about exactly...?

STEIN: You. [He says with a shrug.] Do you know what I do here?

MONOMA: ... Not exactly, but I'm sure you're about to enlighten me...

[Stein gives an insincere smile.] 

STEIN: I'm the Director of Research here. In other words, I pass through everything people want to test and explore. I also do quite a bit on my own. I was one of the leading scientists when we discovered the League's noumu lab, and I've helped in a lot of studies about how quirks work inside the human body and how to effectively implant or explant them.

[Monoma nods slowly, not really understanding at first, but when the noumu lab is mentioned he goes pale and stricken, hardly even able to draw breath. His heart pulses in his chest, itching and wrong, before he finally is able to muster another nod.] 

MONOMA: ... Ah... I see...

[The smile grows more sinister, watching Monoma process everything, until it falls completely, just quick enough that he wouldn't notice.]

STEIN: Do you know why you're here?

MONOMA: ...

[He nods, just slightly. He wants to leave.] 

MONOMA: ...

STEIN: Tell me what happened. 

[He slides a small device forward, slowly blinking red.] 

STEIN: And keep in mind that this is all being recorded.

MONOMA: ... I...��

[He stares at the device, the horror on his face that much more clear.] 

MONOMA: ... don't really know where to start...

STEIN: Usually you start at the beginning.

MONOMA: ... 

[He tears his eyes away from the device, staring at his hands now as he picks at his fingers.] 

MONOMA: It was... an alternate's doing. He was obsessed with helping me become something... other... than I was... 

[His eyes flicker up to Stein then back down again fast.] 

MONOMA: ...

MONOMA: He had a theory that there were 'loopholes' in my quirk that would allow him to create a sentient noumu...like thing. Or. Something like that. Something... new. 

[He fights a shiver as the words he remembers Deku saying as he'd laid back barely coscious leaves his mouth.] 

MONOMA: It was, um... the very end of September, when it started...

[Stein listens carefully, despite his disinterested demeanor. It's interesting. Loopholes in his quirk, he gets stuck on that, eyes flicking to him and looking him over, looking for anything wrong with him, like you might see in a noumu. Loopholes. A quirk copying quirk, obviously there's something that could be tweaked, made so those quirks stay forever, is that was he wanted? Or just some of them, by choice. Either would be interesting.]

STEIN: So what did he do?

MONOMA: ...

[He opens his mouth to answer the question but, for a second, his voice gets caught in his throat. His heart races that much faster, a cold sweat just starting to dot his brow. He's never had to actually voice it before, and the sheer concept of bringing it to words...]

MONOMA: ... The... experiment... [God.] ... involved... replacing parts of myself with a... with a noumu's. 

[He swallows. God. He might vomit if this keeps up.] 

MONOMA: My quirk... utilizes DNA, in a way, s...so...

[Interesting.]

STEIN: So you have pieces of DNA from other things constantly in you, granting you access to those quirks at any time. [He finishes, leaning back in his chair.] Which, effectively, renders you part... noumu.

MONOMA: ... 

[He continues picking at his nails with slightly more vigor now.] 

MONOMA: ... I suppose, in a way...

STEIN: In a way. [He echoes, a slight amusement coming to his tone.] ... You've left me with a lot of questions, Monoma.. a lot of questions... 

[He sighs, leaning his head back briefly, moving his hands above his head while he thinks.] 

STEIN: What did he replace? What quirks are at your disposal? Was he finished, or was there more he was going to do-who is He in the first place?

MONOMA: Midoriya Izuku. 

[He picks harder.] 

MONOMA: He never attempted to try again afterwards, he was always more focused on... training, I think. Or me fulfilling some purpose. 

MONOMA: [He picks harder.] 

MONOMA: There were transfusions. Blood, bone marrow, some sort of...

[He bites his lip, practically hearing the violent buzz of a drill grinding against his head.] 

MONOMA: And my... heart. Was removed and replaced.

MONOMA: ... 

[He stares unseeingly down on his fingers.] 

MONOMA: I've never tried to use those quirks, I don't know. I'm aware of some sort of r.. regenerative ability, I wouldn't have survived it if it weren't for that, but...

[His breath is stolen when Monoma mentions his heart. The whole thing, removed and replaced, to keep someone elses quirk inside of him forever. Stein  wonders whose it is. What it does. What's so important that it has to be the heart. He wants to see it with his own two eyes.]

STEIN: ... A lot of untapped potential there. [He mumbles, giving him another once over.] If you register your quirks you can use them in hero training. For good.

[Monoma’s eyes widen and snap towards Stein.] 

MONOMA: ... What...

[A thousand reasons why he can't surge up. He can't have the world knowing he's a freak. Nobody fucking has multiple quirks, everyone would treat him like a monster, and he is one, he is one but he doesn't want people to know-]

MONOMA: ...

[Stein shrugs, nonchalant at the violent reaction he gets from Monoma.] 

STEIN: Turn the bad into something good. Someone's gonna find out eventually, and if you don't just put it out there they're gonna use it against you. Either make it your own or screw yourself in 10 years when you have someone that really wants to see you crash and burn. Also, [he picks up the file with his blood tests,] these all say clear as day that you're basically a noumu, and any doctor can take your blood and look. Better for everyone if you just admit it.

MONOMA: ...

[Shellshocked, he stares at the files in his hands. What he's saying makes sense, obviously. Obviously that's the only option, the best option, of course this could be spun in his favor and who cares about the press and the judgement when he'd clearly be one of the most powerful heroes out there.

... It's all what he wishes he could make himself believe. Maybe in another life, another world, another universe, he can. All the terror weighs him down, though.]

MONOMA: ... 

[He nods slowly.] 

MONOMA: Okay...

STEIN: Choose whatever though. 

[He shrugs, setting the files down.] 

STEIN: Oh. Another thing. Do you know what makes a noumu really.. a noumu? Other than being stupid and having too many quirks.

MONOMA: ... We weren't exactly taught about noumu in school... 

[He frowns.] 

MONOMA: Though I have a few guesses...

STEIN: Really? 

[He hums.] 

STEIN: Guess I'll have to rectify that. Anyway. One of the key things we've found in noumu over the years is heightened loyalty. 

[Another smile crosses his face.] 

STEIN: Although, based on the alterations and the methods that were used, I doubt that's something that happened with you. We've also tracked a lot of memory loss in noumu, brainwashing, things like that. I think some just have so much that they can't handle it all and get rid of every thought they have that isn't given to them. They were all human once, you know. Individuals. There's a lot in the brain, it'd be difficult to handle that times two, let alone four or five or ten or.. whatever.

MONOMA: ... [His expression hardens at the thought.] 

MONOMA: I wasn't brainwashed... 

[He frowns.] 

MONOMA: You say you doubt it but why bring it up if it weren't all that relevant to the conversation? Unless you wanted to insinuate something...?

STEIN: I doubt it, but it's still possible. 

[He shrugs.] 

STEIN: Although you seem like a terrible liar, so I'm not super worried.

[He clicks his tongue, anger flaring in him again.] 

MONOMA: ...

STEIN: It's a good thing. 

[He sits back, swiveling from side to side in his chair.]

MONOMA: Mm. 

[He watches the swiveling, seething a little. Calling him immature when he has such a childish habit of his own...]

MONOMA: ... May I ask what your plan at this point is? I assume, as the Director of Research, there are... studies... you'd wish to undergo. Or, at the very least, some sort of path you'd like to take concerning all of... this.

STEIN: I was just going to talk about that. 

[He grins, straightening out.] 

STEIN: That's exactly what I'd like to do. I want to do more tests, physical and psychological, and I'd like to keep track of you and have you check in monthly at the very least. And maybe while you're here you'll learn a thing or two.

[Tests... Monoma fights a grimace. More experiments, then. And if being poked and prodded at wasn't bad enough, they'd be attempting to dissect his mind as well.]

MONOMA: ... Alright... [he agrees reluctantly.] But do I get to know of these tests beforehand? And am I allowed to refuse them...?

STEIN: Of course. 

[Stein opens a drawer and takes a packet of papers out from his desk, outlining Monoma's rights as a patient as well as the Commissions' rights, with places to sign at the bottom of every page.] 

STEIN: This is all the legal stuff you need to sign off on. It'll detail that I can't surprise you with anything and you can refuse anything. Because of the nature of this and what might happen, I'll also need your guardian to sign these. 

[He flips a few pages and points to the last few with two spots for signatures.]

MONOMA: I see... 

[Taking the packet, Monoma skims a few lines, though it's a legal jargon he's not in the mood to force himself to understand. He'll have time to read it through later, he assumes... He fights a grimace again, imagining the conversation with his grandfather he'll have to have about this.]

MONOMA: Alright... So I'll just bring this to you later, then...

STEIN: Yes. You can bring it to me at school, if you'd like. 

[He nods, swaying side to side in his chair.] 

STEIN: It's not too complicated.

[He glances up to watch him swaying again, skeptical.] 

MONOMA: Alright... Is there anything else...

STEIN: No. Unless you have any questions.

MONOMA: ... 

[He glances through the papers some more.] 

MONOMA: ... You mentioned quirk implantation... May I ask about that or is that confidential...?

STEIN: You can try. 

[He shrugs.]

MONOMA: ... Has it been done successfully? Explanting a quirk and placing it in someone else.

STEIN: We think so.

[Monoma nods slowly.] 

MONOMA: And you used the noumu to do that...?

STEIN: Yes. 

[He gives a knowing smile, and then glances at the clock.]

[Monoma follows his glance with a frown.] 

MONOMA: ... It just makes me curious. Perfecting that kind of technology, it offers a lot of opportunities to dominate the hero system as we know it. Robbing villains of their power, strengthening heroes, controlling them...

[... He sighs and then waves the thought away, starting to get to his feet.] 

MONOMA: It's fine, I know me wondering about it doesn't warrant an honest conversation. Regardless, I'd be honored to help in any sort of research on that matter. I'll try and get these to you as soon as possible...

STEIN: If you agree to all of this and start coming regularly you might end up hearing about it anyway. It's ongoing classified research that you'll be a part of, which is why you'll find a non-disclosure agreement near the back. That's pretty broad though, generally we'll also give you one for specific exams or procedures if needed.

[Monoma nods some more.] 

MONOMA: That makes sense... Glad to hear it.

STEIN: Yep. Anything else?

MONOMA: No... I assume I can contact you if I have any thoughts or questions...

STEIN: Of course.

[Monoma gives a short bow.] 

MONOMA: Then that will be all... Thank you for this.

STEIN: Thank you.

[With one last nod, Monoma shows himself out quietly.]

[el-oh-her]

The Eerie Earth Shattering One Liners

Everyone likes a good one liner, yeah? It’s literal definition is a one line witty remark or a short joke, but for the purposes of this, think of a one liner as a line with a purpose. I’ve wanted to articulate what this is for so long, and why your writing should have at least one or two of these, but an eerie one liner is the best term I can think of that encompasses this. 

With that out of the way, beware spoilers for the following stories (which will be labeled when they’re about to show up so you can skip around it): Avatar: The Last Airbender, Critical Role 1, Critical Role 2, Undertale, Until Dawn, The Prince of Egypt. 

Please take this with a grain of salt. 

So, what do I mean about eerie one liner? These are single lines that stick with you, that resonate to a reader. They make you feel the exact opposite of what you would feel with a good witty one liner. These do not make you warm and fuzzy, but instead haunt your dreams at the cusp of sleep. 

An eerie one liner can fail without context [Until Dawn/Undertale Spoils]

While some lines can just be outright terrifying, the absolute horror or meaning of these lines should fail if spoken out of context. Of course, if you have a line like “She left, and never looked back,” without any context the reader can maybe try to fill in some blankes. This doesn’t mean the line succeeds with context. We have no idea who is “she” and why she left, and why she never looked back. This line gathered power with context. 

Let’s look at a real life example of an eerie one liner from Until Dawn. 

“Hannah?” 

Out of context, this line can mean a thousand things and could be completely forgettable if you don’t know the context that this is spoken. First of all, Hannah is believed dead in Until Dawn until it’s later revealed she survived a fall that trapped her in a mine, and she ended up eating her sister (who also fell with her) and turned into a monster from Native American faiths called Wendigos. This line is spoken by her bother Josh after a Wendigo creature graps him. He recognizes the tattoo on the creature, and speaks this line in utter desperation and confusion. 

It’s a moment of raw emotion, and while Until Dawn is filled with witty one liners (#TheresAFreakingGhostAfterUs), this one eerie line stuck with me because nothing else mattered in this moment. All of the fun and jokes melted away and it was just Josh finding his sister, and the terror that comes with that. 

I’ll give you another example with Undertale 

“But nobody came.” and “I can’t understand!” 

Now the greatest thing about this line is how it evolves from a taunt to a character’s internal struggle. In the beginning, the antagonist Flowey uses this line to taunt Frisk. It’s funny to him that no one is coming to help Frisk in the end. They are just...alone. 

But later, we uncover the story and we learn that this line encompasses all of Flowey’s emotions after he had died as Azrael, and woke up as Flowey. He’d gone out into the surface world to help his adopted brother Chara, and when he died, nobody came to save him. This topped with the line: 

“I can’t understand.” 

By this point we’ve learned that Flowey has no soul, and therefore, no way to emotionally connect with anyone. This is obtained when Frisk refuses to kill Flowey and isntead tries to spare him. Flowey is frustrated and claims he can’t understand why Frisk is being so nice, so merciful when Flowey had done so much wrong to Frisk. Flowey literally cannot understand mercy and empathy and it frustrates him and it’s pure, raw emotion as he becomes visibly upset that he can’t understand because he wants to understand. 

An errie one liner can reveal something about inner struggle [Critical Role 1 (Scanlan). Critical Role 2 (Yasha) ] 

This one is not always the case, but in relevance to a character, I think these eerie one liners should reveal something about a character or a character’s inner struggle. The character is driven by an emotion or an event that is going to cause this line to come forth. It is backed by a tragic backstory, by an event they wittness. They do not plan these lines, but rather fall out of their mouth before they’ve realized what they’ve said. 

Here’s an example from Critical Role 1: 

“What’s my mother’s name?” 

On the surface this line seems odd at best, but this line is screamed out by Scanlan Shorthalt in the wake of his own ressurection. He has become frustrated that all of his friends have such vivid histories so often talked about and considered in their actions and he felt like he was just a storyteller, and that his own trauma didn’t matter anymore. Kaylee learning of his death and bringing him back was this trigger, and this line is followed by dead silence because no one knew his mother’s name. This line comes out from anger. 

Another Critical Role example, this one from Campaign 2: 

“I have so many flowers to bring to her.” 

Now, this line a reader could maybe put some context clues based on what words are here, but you really have to be in for the long haul to understand the depth of this line. Yasha is seen throughout the entire show collecting flowers in a book, which the other players are aware and even give her flowers when they notice that she does this. Then, she admits to Jester and Caduces that she’d been married, and her wife killed. At a loss for words, Yasha says she’d love to visit her grave, and then drops this line. In that moment, everyone realizes why she’s been collecting the flowers, and what once was a cute hobby is now riddled with absolute agony. This line comes out of tragedy and saddness. 

An eerie line can be dangerous to say or carry a dangerous meaning/undertone [Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Prince of Egypt] 

When we say things in certain contexts, we never quite know what the concequences are. There’s risk with these lines that can have some serious concequences. There’s also a darker understone or meaning within it. These lines should scare you. They should make you think. They should make you wonder how many people would say the same. Be scared to say it. Be scared to know what it means. Be scared to hear it. 

How about an example from Avatar The Last Airbender. 

“There is no war in Ba-Sing-Se.” 

This line is terrifying not to those who say it but those who hear it. People come from outside the city and they hear this line and it confuses them beacause there is a war going on outside the walls, and why not in the city? It’s a line that’s drowning in political intrigue and indoctronation. This line is scary because you don’t know how far this city is willing to go to make sure you know that there is no war in Ba-Sing-Se. 

A final example, from The Prince of Egypt.

“I know to whom I speak, Aaron.” 

Miriam speaks this to her brother Aaron in front of their brother Moses, who has yet to realzie his hebrew origin. Moses has been offended by Miriam and Aaron is desperatly trying to fix the problem and he tells Miriam in a hushed whisper that she doesn’t know to whom she speaks. 

This line is scary because Miriam is saying this in front of her owner essentially, as she is a slave. She’s defying her masters in the name of her religion, and in the name of the Israel people. This line encompasses all of Miriam’s frustrations and her desire for freedom being literally right in front of her. But saying this, changing Moses’ mind is a risk. We are terrified for Miriam because what if she can’t convince Moses? Will he hurt her? Will she surive? Should she have been silent? 

And that’s all I got. 

[commentaryvorg]

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 1.5

Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.

Last time, as we finished up chapter 1’s Daily Life and shifted into Deadly Life, plotting a murder was not relaxing, Shuichi had issues and he and Kaede were FRIENDS, Kaito finally made a legitimate but basically inconsequential attempt to do something about the situation, and Rantaro fell right into Kaede’s (but really the mastermind’s) trap. We also got through most of the pre-investigation discussion, including nobody taking the First Blood Perk, so we’re about to jump in here as everyone takes a look at the Monokuma File.

The photo of Rantaro’s body in the Monokuma File doesn’t show the blood on the back of his hand that was holding the Monopad. The body discovery cutscene included that correctly, but it seems someone forgot to draw it here.

Both the file and the cutscene don’t show the trail of blood from the shot put ball that implies it rolled away rather than being placed on the ground by someone, which was something that made me assume right from the beginning that the murderer wasn’t in the room when he died. (I thought it was Shuichi who set a trap, though.)

(And, since the real murderer actually was in the room after all, I guess that means she probably threw it at him from a distance away? That would also prevent her getting any blood on her clothes. Assuming the trail of blood seen in the investigation but not in the cutscene/file is in fact canon.)

Kokichi:  “And try to take this seriously, okay? Our lives are on the line.”

Excuse me, you have no right to tell other people to take things seriously when lives are at stake.

Everyone’s agreement to investigate with at least one other person makes a lot of sense. In the previous games it was always just “have two people guard the body”, but crucial evidence that the culprit might try and destroy could be anywhere. This is a much better way of trying to prevent that.

Kaito:  “It’s not something you should be proud to say… but I guess we don’t have a choice.”

Hah, look at Kaito not liking to admit that they have to suspect each other enough to do something like investigate in pairs just in case.

Kaede:  (Once we expose the mastermind, we’ll be able to escape…)

Yeah, that’s right, expose the mastermind. That’s totally what this trial’s for, right? Not catching the blackened or anything.

Kaede:  “Anyway… we have to stop the mastermind so this is the last murder that ever happens here! We just have to.”

Shuichi:  “…”

…Has Shuichi already realised the implications of the fact that Kaede keeps talking about catching the mastermind and not the blackened? Oh no.

Ryoma happens to join in a conversation about the sensor and the receiver, in which Shuichi mentions he can turn the receiver off. Ryoma then goes on to be the person in the trial who argues that Shuichi could have faked his alibi by turning off the receiver. It’s nice that the writers actually keep track of who knows what piece of information when most characters are only involved in a small part of the investigation.

Kaede:  “Well, I still think the mastermind is the culprit.”

Guh. The mastermind is the culprit, but Kaede is only saying this to encourage people to hone in on the mastermind during the trial. She doesn’t truly believe for a second that her shot put ball might have missed and the mastermind might have wanted to finish the job for her.

Shuichi:  “He moved *away* from the hidden door… to this spot. Why would he do that…? And there’s no trace of his body being moved. It… doesn’t add up.”

Kaede: “…”

Shuichi:  “Ah, are you okay? You’ve gone pale.”

Nervous that Shuichi’s already figuring out your plan and you’re not going to get a chance to uncover the mastermind in the trial, Kaede?

Shuichi finds Rantaro’s Monopad in his pocket. Later when we see the photos, we see he had a Monopad in his hand. These two pieces of information are given to us far enough apart that it’s quite easy to miss the contradiction in it, and nobody notes the contradiction in this chapter, but it is important. I remember vaguely noticing on my first time that it was weird the Monopad wasn’t where it should be, but wrote it off as a minor writing mistake in the end since it was never brought up in the trial. Nope!

Shuichi:  “The shot itself is fairly heavy… You would have to be fairly strong to use it as a weapon.”

Kaede:  (Fairly strong, huh?)

This is probably Kaede thinking she can use this as an excuse to hide her crime by claiming that she’s not strong enough to kill someone with a shot put ball, exactly like she goes on to do in the trial.

Kaede:  “You mean… he had the same idea as us? N-No way… He should have told us… We could’ve worked together…” (I collapsed to the floor, crushed by the weight of my frustration.)

Look at Kaede being especially devastated upon realising that not only did she kill an innocent who wasn’t the mastermind, she killed someone who was just as determined to fight back and help everyone escape as she was.

Shuichi:  “…the culprit’s objective wasn’t to survive, it was to kill everyone here.”

Kaede:  “E-Everyone?”

Kirumi:  “That would explain why they would forgo their survival in favor of a class trial.”

Kaede:  “But… doesn’t that seem like a bit of a stretch to you?”

Heh, Kaede’s thinking about the First Blood Perk from the framework of why she ignored it and not even realising that other people might assume she did it for an awful, selfish reason like that.

Kirumi:  “Well, if the culprit it also the mastermind, then it’s certainly plausible.”

Kaede:  “W-Well, true… Killing us all does seem like something the mastermind would do…”

And here’s Kaede realising that she can use this as more ammo to get everyone to zero in on the mastermind during the trial. (It really isn’t something the mastermind would do, though. If they just wanted to just kill everyone, they’d have done it already and wouldn’t go about it in this convoluted a manner.)

Shuichi:  “The books that you stacked up haven’t moved.”

Kaede:  “Oh, you mean the ones I stacked to keep people from going through the vent.”

“Oh, you mean that thing I did with them that definitely wasn’t me setting up a death trap, just reminding you that I was totally blocking the vent with them even though that doesn’t make sense.”

Ryoma:  “Tell me who you think the culprit is. I don’t mind if it’s just an educated guess.”

Kaede:  “Oh, I wanna know too…”

…Do you really, Kaede?

Ryoma:  “But… there’s someone you’re a little bit suspicious of, right? No, there’s gotta be.”

Shuichi: “Ah…”

Ryoma:  “But you’re afraid of that. You’re afraid of suspecting someone, aren’t you? That’s how it looks to me.”

One of the cool things about Ryoma is that he’s really perceptive like this. Shuichi has definitely seen enough evidence by now to start suspecting Kaede, but of course he’s too terrified to acknowledge it. Ryoma doesn’t even know about Shuichi’s issues, but he can still see this!

Maki:  “…Am I a suspect?”

Kaede:  “Oh, no! That’s not what I meant—”

Maki:  “You should suspect me. In fact, you should be suspicious of everyone.”

I mean, no, she shouldn’t suspect you, Maki, you have an airtight alibi that you’re about to explain to them. In a lot of ways this case is really brilliant, but one of the decidedly less brilliant things about it is how everyone involved in the strategy meeting temporarily becomes an idiot when it comes to understanding how alibis work. Some of said characters are genuinely a bit dim, but Maki is emphatically not.

At the very least, this does work nicely to establish how Maki feels about suspecting people – that it’s simply the sensible thing to do, especially when it’s her you’re suspecting.

Maki:  “So trust no-one, Kaede… Or you’ll lose, got it?”

Guhhh, it’s so heartbreaking that Maki is convinced this is how the world works but also so, so understandable for her. At least she isn’t going to stay trapped in this mindset forever!

Maki:  “And he picked the seven people he thought would be useful in a fight.”

Kaito’s idea of “the seven people who would be useful in a fight” is… interesting, to say the least. Two obvious candidates he should have included that he didn’t are Ryoma and Kirumi. It’s perfectly understandable that Kaito avoided Ryoma, given his issues with him (which I will discuss plenty in chapter 2, don’t you worry), but Kirumi is a little more strange. It’s possible Kaito wasn’t aware of just how much of a hypercompetent badass she is and assumed she could only do normal maid stuff.

Maki:  “Kaito thought Himiko’s magic and Angie’s connection to Atua would be useful.”

For these two, I feel like it might have been less Kaito’s decision than it seems. He was probably inviting Tenko when Tenko insisted Himiko should come with her because of course she would, and then seeing that Himiko was coming, Angie invited herself along too because Atua thinks it sounds fun! or whatever. And then Kaito kind of shrugged and went, “well I guess magic and Atua might help? Whatever, the more the better.”

Kaede:  “But what about you, Maki? Why did he also pick the Ultimate Child Caregiver?”

Maki:  “He just looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, you probably know how to fight.’”

And he’s right, isn’t he! Kaito is a really good judge of character, without needing any concrete evidence to go on. It might seem like he’s just being ridiculous and reckless and idiotic, but he actually has a very keen intuition when it comes to people.

Still, can we take a moment to appreciate the utter trainwreck that this strategy meeting must have been? Gonta locked himself in the back room to watch a bug movie rather than participate, Tenko, Himiko and Angie were probably bickering like they always do, and Rantaro, one of the most sensible and down-to-earth of the bunch, left a few minutes in because he clearly figured his own plan was better than this nonsense. Kaito may be good at motivational speeches, but he is terrible at actually strategising, which would have very quickly become apparent the moment he tried to start doing so. Maki probably sat quietly in the corner wondering why the hell she even decided to go along with this idiot in the first place. She could totally have taken control of the meeting and devised a strategy herself, but I imagine she wasn’t comfortable revealing how much she knows about fighting and killing things, besides which most of the people in the room would probably be too busy being ridiculous to pay attention to her plan.

Also note how Maki is alone in the game room and not investigating with anyone else like they promised. Probably she did at first go into the A/V room to question Gonta but then got fed up with the idiocy of everyone else involved and left.

Gonta:  “Gonta happy to be invited to meeting.”

Aww, I bet he was. He’s so desperate to protect everyone and be useful to everyone that he must have been overjoyed when Kaito asked him for help with this.

Gonta:  “But Gonta think he not be much help, cuz he not smart…”

Gonta really isn’t as dumb as he thinks he is, though! He’s honestly about on par in intelligence with most of the meeting’s participants.

Gonta:  “Why… no-one believe Gonta!? Gonta feel so… pathetic!”

Aww, it’s so sad that he feels pathetic and useless because people don’t realise how much he means well. Don’t worry, Gonta, most of them will come to appreciate how good you are in due time! Especially Kaito.

Kaede:  (Ultra Despair Girls 2… Coming soon…?)

This: not actually breaking the fourth wall! Just a little in-show advertisement for one of Team Danganronpa’s other projects. Though I find it a little strange that they’d wait over fifty seasons of main-series Danganronpas before deciding to give one of its early spin-offs a sequel.

Kaito:  “So I’m not cleared of suspicion yet, huh?”

Yes, you are! We just got done discussing your alibi! You were with at least Tenko the whole time! Gah. Kaito should also not be so stupid as to think this. He is considerably smarter than people always say he is.

Shuichi:  “Ah, don’t worry… you’re not a likely suspect…”

Kaito:  “Hey, that’s not something a detective should say!”

Shuichi:  “What?”

Kaito:  “If you suspect me, you better pursue it to the end. Investigate until you’re satisfied.”

However, I can’t be too annoyed since it gives Kaito a reason to say this, which I really like. One of the traits Kaito puts a lot of value in is having strong convictions and being true to yourself. He believes that if someone feels a certain way about something, they should accept that feeling as a part of who they are and run with it 100%, not try and pretend they don’t really feel that way at all.

(This is one of the reasons Kokichi pisses Kaito off so much – because he’s the exact opposite of this. I’ll probably be talking about this a lot.)

Kaito:  “Well, I’m not planning on leaving it all to you guys. I’ll investigate my own way!”

Yes, Kaito, look at you doing something about this even though you’re not going to end up contributing anything new to the investigation other than what you already have.

Kaito:  “If either of us find something, we’ll report it to the other, got it!?”

Communication! It’s all very well people spreading out to investigate multiple things, but if they never share that information with each other then it’s a lot less helpful. Teamwork is important for astronauts!

Although Kaede never does end up reporting the rest of her investigative findings to Kaito. Sorry, Kaito.

Gonta:  “Gonta not eat door for breakfast! Breakfast most important meal of any gentleman’s day!”

Shuichi:  “…I agree.”

It’s just as well Shuichi’s not actually agreeing about the breakfast part, because he shouldn’t be – he never usually has breakfast until Kaito convinces him to start doing so next chapter.

Kaede:  “I guess an arm could fit through as well, if it were thin enough…”

This should be proof enough that Gonta didn’t do anything involving sticking his arm through that door, because his arms are definitely not thin.

If you talk to Maki again after leaving the A/V room, you get a new conversation.

Maki:  “Were those two still there?”

Kaede:  “Yeah… I didn’t wanna get involved.”

Maki:  “Smart move. Just hearing it wore me out.”

Ha, I figured as much. Maki: always 1000% done with everybody’s nonsense.

(I wonder which two out of Kaito, Himiko and Gonta she’s taking about. Even though he was being the most sensible, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kaito was one of the two, knowing Maki.)

Maki:  “Well, detective, if you do solve this case, it'll really help us out. We're only in this mess because the culprit refused to step forward.”

Shuichi:  “…”

Kaede:  “Let's go, Shuichi! We still have more people to talk to!”

Shuichi:  “Y-Yeah…”

[the camera slowly and pointedly pans over to Maki, who is giving them one of her death glares]

Maki:  “…”

This part makes me think that Maki is looking at the cheeriness between Shuichi and Kaede and noticing how subtly forced and awkward it is because Shuichi already suspects Kaede.

Kokichi is wandering around on his own despite everyone’s agreement to investigate with someone else, because of course he is.

Kaede:  “Why would you do something that would make everyone suspicious of you?”

Probably because he’d rather everyone be suspicious of him and keep their distance than have someone act like they trust him and so he can trust them too only for them to turn around and stab him in the back.

Kokichi:  “Nee-heehee… I’m so excited. I want the class trial to start already.”

Sure, just keep telling yourself that this is a game and you’re having fun with it, Kokichi.

Kiyo:  “My appearance and actions thus far suggest I am someone who would commit a murder.”

BECAUSE YOU ARE. AND YOU HAVE. MULTIPLE OF THEM.

Kaede:  (At least he’s self-aware…)

Exactly what I was about to say, Kaede.

Kaede:  “Well, Tsumugi *is* the Ultimate Cosplayer. She could’ve gone to the bathroom to secretly disguise herself as someone else.”

*deep breath*

NO. THIS IS A STUPID ARGUMENT. You do not need to be disguised as someone else to commit a murder if nobody is going to see you do it! The only point at which a “maybe Tsumugi disguised herself!” argument has any kind of relevance is if somebody who isn’t Tsumugi was witnessed committing the murder, or coming out of the library just afterwards. Then, sure, we should question if that person was really who they appeared to be or if it was Tsumugi in disguise. But the whole point of this mystery is that nobody was seen doing anything of the sort! Maybe Kaede’s saying this because she’s expecting someone to be in the photos, but once they see the photos and don’t see the murderer in them, everybody should drop this line of questioning altogether.

That’s not even getting into how ridiculously dumb Tsumugi’s whole cospox thing is. I find it incredibly difficult to buy that it’s real, and Kaede should, too. Tsumugi even told her to look away while she got changed – she could have been secretly applying makeup to fake the rash during that time! And even if it is somehow bizarrely true that Tsumugi does get cospox from cosplaying real people – well, she considers Kaede and everyone else in this school to be a fictional character, doesn’t she?

And, even if you take this as concrete proof that Tsumugi can’t disguise herself, that doesn’t magically give her an alibi! She was still using the bathroom at around the time Rantaro was killed, and, as I said, funnily enough, you don’t need to be wearing a disguise to be able to kill someone.

I’m not saying all this because I believe everyone should have actually figured out Tsumugi did it during this chapter. I just think it’s frustratingly dumb that that’s the reason they use to write her off as a suspect. The real reason she apparently couldn’t have done it is because nobody knows about the hidden passage in the bathroom, and therefore that she could have got into and out of the library without being seen by the multiple witnesses who were just outside it and would have seen anyone using the normal route.

Tsumugi:  “You breathe life into characters. It’s almost like you’re summoning them. From fiction into the real world…”

Yes, Tsumugi, and once you’ve summoned a fictional character that you wrote into the real world by using a Flashback Light, they are real people and you no longer have the right to fuck with their lives for people’s entertainment.

Kaede seems really convinced the mastermind is going to be in these photos. She has to just be desperately telling herself that, because she has no reason to assume that the mastermind would have wanted to interfere with her murder plot. She should expect the photos to show exactly as little as they do.

I love how Kaito is clearly SO READY TO PUNCH SOMEONE in this photo of them rushing in. He was told the mastermind was in here, so here he is, already rolling up his sleeves getting ready to give them a piece of his mind.

Please also appreciate how Gonta is the first to run in out of the next four, even though he had farthest to run because he was in the A/V room. He probably insisted that everyone else get behind him just in case something dangerous was in there. Gentlemen protect everyone.

Kaede:  “Yeah, that’s pretty odd. Why isn’t there a picture of the mastermind entering?”

Yep, definitely odd, you definitely think that’s odd and weren’t expecting it in any way.

Now really would be an appropriate time for Shuichi to mention the intervals, since it provides the possibility for someone to have got in without being in the photos. I guess he’s too busy thinking that these photos prove the culprit has to be Kaede and freaking out about it to mention that, though.

There’s something kind of interesting about the fact that Rantaro was opening the moving bookcase. It implies he’d never done so before – if he had, he would already know the door behind it is locked with a card reader. If he already knew that, then his plan here wouldn’t have been to try and get into the secret room; he’d have been better off just staking out the library and trying to catch the mastermind in the act, exactly like Shuichi and Kaede were doing. Heck, if Rantaro had known that beforehand, he could have innocently suggested to Kaito to hold the strategy meeting in the library, which would have completely ruined both the mastermind’s hypothetical attempt to make more Monokumas, and Kaede’s murder plan.

(Kaito came so close to completely accidentally saving everyone, if only he’d happened to hold his strategy meeting in the basement’s other room. Instead, what he actually did was completely accidentally ruin everything by delaying Kaede and Shuichi long enough to let Tsumugi get away.)

Shuichi:  “Ah, I did notice something while I was removing the camera… The security sensor for this camera was switched off.”

Did you not also notice that the flash was switched on, Shuichi? Or are you just neglecting to mention that detail because you don’t want to consider what it means?

Kokichi:  “Oh, by the way… Rantaro had his Monopad the whole time, didn’t he? Do you think anything was in it?”

Kokichi is potentially being very observant here. But.

Shuichi:  “I inspected his Monopad, but I didn’t find anything suspicious about it.”

…Other than the fact it was in his pocket and not in his hand like this photo shows it should have been, no?

Kokichi:  “Aw man, so it’s got nothing to do with the case. How confusing.”

I swear to god, Kokichi, if you’ve actually noticed the contradiction between where his Monopad was and where it should have been and you’re not mentioning it to ~make things more interesting!~ or whatever the fuck, then the deaths of literally everybody who dies from this point onwards are on your head for being an uncooperative, selfish little shit. This fact proves that the murderer was in the room with Rantaro, which proves it can’t be Kaede. If Shuichi had known that (and he’s probably only not noticing because he’s too busy freaking out over all the evidence that Kaede did it), then maybe we’d have reached the actual truth in this upcoming trial.

I am going to be charitable towards Kokichi and assume that this is not in fact the case, otherwise I would be complaining constantly throughout the rest of the story that everything bad happening is technically partly his fault, and that’d get pretty repetitive pretty quickly.

Kaede:  “I-It’ll be fine… I just… feel like my back is up against the wall.”

Yeah, your back specifically, right? Everyone else will be fine no matter what.

Huh, you can examine stuff in the warehouse after everybody but Kaede and Shuichi leave to go to the trial. But they didn’t change the investigation text for the shot put balls. Shame.

Shuichi:  “Kaede, really, are you okay…?”

Aww, look at Shuichi worrying about Kaede, even though he himself is very decidedly not okay right now for reasons specifically related to her.

…how is it daytime outside. It should be nearly midnight by now.

Shuichi:  “Do you really think it’s one of us…? Not just the culprit… But the mastermind as well?”

Kaede:  “Huh? Isn’t that what you told me, Shuichi?”

At this point, Kaede believing the mastermind is among them isn’t just because she believes in Shuichi’s reasoning, it’s also because she has to believe that for there to be a hope of her saving everyone in this class trial.

Kaede:  “If you just dismiss a possibility and look the other way without confirming anything… then you’re just turning your back on the truth.”

Shuichi:  “…”

Kaede:  “What’s the matter, Shuichi? You seemed so sure of yourself during the investigation.”

Shuichi:  “Ah, sorry…”

Shuichi knows he’s turning his back on the truth right now and he hates himself for it but still can’t bring himself to face it.

Tsumugi:  “Don’t worry about my cospox. It always goes away as soon as I stop trying to cosplay real people.”

Which is all the more proof that it’s utter bullshit and Kaede should be suspicious as hell about your claim.

Kaito:  “Don’t worry. Even if we gotta do a class trial or whatever, I’ll do something about it!”

Yep, Kaito is going to do something about… the entire class trial! Somehow. Because that’s definitely a thing that can have something done about it and he’s definitely not just desperately trying not to feel powerless.

Kaede: “Remember our promise? We’re gonna escape this place and remain good friends afterward… So let’s do it! I’m sure we’ll be alright! Because… we make such an incredible team.”

Kaede is still pure and good even when she is a murderer.

Kaito:  “Heh, I wouldn’t be able to call myself a man if I was still scared after hearing a girl say that.”

…Okay. Look, we need to establish something here. I am of the firm, unshakeable belief that Kaito’s talk about manliness is not toxic masculinity in any meaningful way, and isn’t even that strongly about gender. I will be commenting on basically every instance of him talking about manliness in order to build up a picture of what the concept of being a “man” actually means to him throughout this commentary.

So it is extremely inconvenient that the very first instance of this also happens to be one of, what, maybe four or five lines Kaito has in the whole game that are somewhat misogynistic. Aside from this tiny handful of lines, everything else about Kaito’s personality, principles, and behaviour towards the game’s female cast – especially Kaede and Maki, who mean the most to him – indicates that he considers gender completely irrelevant to how much he respects a person, to the point that these few lines come across as jarring and out of character. This line here implies that he sees Kaede as beneath him because she’s a girl, and that his concept of manliness involves men needing to be emotionally stronger than women, and both of these things are objectively not true about him. I’ve talked about Kaito’s respect for Kaede more than enough for the former of these being untrue to already be abundantly clear, and as I said, I will be making a case for the latter being untrue as well as we go along.

Danganronpa’s writing can sometimes be annoyingly sketchy and awkward like this (see: 80% of the things Miu ever says, and every time Tenko yells about degenerate males, to name the most obvious examples from this game). While Kaito is usually so well-written that he’s unaffected by that, it seems that ever so occasionally it manages to graze him with a temporary Misogyny Bullet. These moments should be disregarded as bad writing and not taken to be a meaningful part of Kaito’s character, since they are contradicted by absolutely everything else about him.

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled Kaito Being Good:

Kaito:  “Bring it! I’ll show them how I, Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, live!”

Kokichi:  “Don’t you mean ‘die’?”

Don’t worry, Kokichi, he’ll show them that too, in time. And that’ll do a better job at your main goal of pissing off Monokuma than you ever will.

Kaede:  “If you’re scared, borrow the strength of others who will be there to help you.”

Yeah, Shuichi! Like Kaede is here for you right now, and like Kaito and Maki will be later! Friendship is exactly what people need to help them deal with the terror of a killing game, and it’s great that we finally have a Danganronpa that realises this and makes it such a big part of the story.

Kaede:  “Think of everyone you’re helping, and let that be your strength.”

And now Kaede is definitely speaking from personal experience – she’s able to be as strong and encouraging as she is because the thought of the people she’s doing it for gives her that strength!

Kaede:  (Those words were mainly for me… To inspire me, so I would not turn back…)

Guhhh. She knows she’s almost certainly going to her death; of course she’s terrified and needs to give herself courage like this!

Kaede:  (Rantaro… He died without knowing his own Ultimate talent… No… He was murdered… by some horrible, lowlife scumbag…)

AAAAAAAAA. KAEDE, NO, YOU WERE TRYING TO SAVE EVERYONE.

(I mean, he was actually murdered by a genuine scumbag, but Kaede is not thinking that the scumbag isn’t her.)

Kaede:  (I’ll never forgive his killer… That’s why… We’re going to expose the mastermind and end this killing game!)

Because she thinks that the only thing she can do to try and make up for this unforgivable crime is to at least actually save everyone else when all is said and done.

Kaede:  (I can’t show any fear here… I must fight till the bitter end.)

…Yeah. The bitter end, all right.

---

[Next post]

[notquitejiraiya]

Chess [21] - {ShikaTema AU}

A long-ass chapter for you. The best of days / nights / lives to you all :)

[READ / COMMENT ON AO3]

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

He unloaded the last bouquet into the back of the car and grimaced in the direction of the lady who’d forced him to do such work as she chatted pleasantly to Ino. Calmly he wiped his hands down his apron and started to walk back inside, hoping to avoid being part of this conversation. He’d had a bad enough morning as it was, and it was barely eight-forty-five. As his shoulder bashed the door, driving the bell to ring violently again, Shikamaru let out a huge sigh, rubbing his eyes. He just wanted to go home now, but apparently their customer was having none of that.

“Excuse me!”

At the sound of the lady’s voice, Shikamaru turned slowly, forcing a toothless grin as he leant sluggishly against the shop’s door. “What do you need now, madam?”

Apparently unaware of the invalidity of his kind response, she stepped towards him, rooting around inside of her purse. With a huge grin, she pulled out a ten pouch note and thrust it into his hands, to which Shikamaru could do nothing but frown in confusion. “Um, I shouldn’t—”

“Without you my daughter’s wedding would have no flowers. It’s the least I can do to thank you.”

He avoided the glare Ino was giving her over the woman’s shoulder and softened his smile into something a little more real, nodding in understanding. “Right, cheers. Good luck to your daughter today.”

“He means,” Ino added furiously, in front of him to give the woman a big cheesy grin herself, “he hopes she has the best day. And you, too!”

Looking ecstatic, the lady thanked them once more and scurried back to her car before hurrying off down the road. Shikamaru stared at the money in his hand and raised his eyebrows before stuffing it into his jeans, turning on his heel and shuffling back into the shop. It was cold—you wouldn’t catch him out there again if he could help it.

“You better give me half of that, Shikamaru,” hissed Ino, slamming the door behind her. She followed him closely, stepping on his heels, and he had to work hard not to trip up each time her toes pinned down his boots for a moment. “I put together most of the bouquets!”

“She gave me a tip, not you,” he chuckled, raising his eyebrows at her before making his way up the stairs. “So no.”

“We’re florists—we aren’t even meant to get tips.”

“You weren’t lifting anything, were you?” Ino pouted, staring at him in angry silence as he waited for her response. “So, no,” he added bluntly, “it’s mine.”

Taking his time, he climbed the rest of the stairs, feeling his muscles tire a little more every second at the tedious activity. A back-room, he had always thought, would be far more practical. One floor meant less stairs—the exact reason why he aspired to live in a bungalow in later life.

When he reached the coats that hung against the wall at the top of the stairs, he fished out the money from his pocket and placed it into the inside pocket of his own jacket. That’ll at least get me small pack of straights when I run out, he thought, and sat back in the chair he’d sat in earlier. His dirty coffee cup still donned the table in front of him, and his messy handwriting scrawled across the clipboard, still.

For a moment, all was peaceful, and Shikamaru tried to let his mind wander. He questioned why it was that he had been such a coward today—why he’d not been stronger to Kankuro and why he hadn’t been honest with Temari. Calling her was all he could think about doing right now, and the feeling of his was burning a hole in his apron, but it was exactly what he’d committed to him not doing. She didn’t want him to, did she? So he couldn’t. If he followed the line of least resistance, life would surely just get easier, remain peaceful…

But nothing was ever peaceful while Ino, who had suddenly appeared at the top of the staircase, was breathing down your neck.

“We’re still open, Shikamaru,” she huffed. “Just because you’re tired and moody doesn’t mean you get to be a snappy asshole.”

He couldn’t stop himself complaining. “Oh, shut up…”

“What is wrong with you?”

“Just chill out, Ino,” he sighed. “I’m just having a sit down; the world isn’t ending.”

“You’re a twenty-three year old man—mind of an old git or not. You don’t need to have a sit down.”

Quietly, he let his eyes flicker shut and embraced the moment of silence—silence, except Ino’s heavy, bothersome breathing. He could feel his mind falling into patterns, and the colours behind his eyelids dancing in the dark; yellows and purples filling his vision, twisting into shapes and patterns that resembled a person. It didn’t take a second to clock who. For a short time he was glad for his brain giving in to his subconscious, until he began to feel it swallowing him whole, engulfing him in the falseness of his fantasy. His eyes flickered open, frightened of the reality he’d created for himself; one where poor phrasing and handling of just one situation could change everything.

In that moment purple and yellow were ruined.

“Ino,” uttered Shikamaru, spinning the chair to look at her. “You’re a girl.”

“What a genius you are…”

He almost laughed, but steadied himself, “Really, though. If I called a girl wonderful is that a compliment?”

Ino frowned, her mouth agape. “Wow, are you serious?”

“What?”

“Do you actually have to ask that?”

“Don’t push me,” he warned, turning away again and focussing on the cacti pictures on the wall. “I’m involving you, like you begged me to the other day, so—”

“Oh my god!” She squealed, bouncing on the spot slightly. In a flash she dashed closer to him and spun his chair around so he could do nothing but look her in the eye. “I was right, wasn’t I? That was her. Your girlfriend.”

His eyes rolled and Shikamaru did everything to avoid looking in her direction. “She’s not my girlfriend, Ino. Now can you please let go of the chair so I can go and have a ciga—”

“No, I won’t.” Her long blonde fringe slung menacingly across her expression, she scowled at him, an excited glint undeniably hiding in her eye. “First you’re explaining to me why you’re acting so weird over a girl.”

~~~

She hoped that he’d be out. She hoped that when she shuffled into their kitchen, a mess of sheepish smiles, fought back tears and windswept hair, he wouldn’t be waiting for her. Anything—even just being asleep in his room—was better than sitting watching the TV, his head turned staring at her as her shoes clicked against the tiles.

But that was obviously exactly what he was doing.

“Why aren’t you in class?” Temari quizzed, desperate to get the first word in. It was vital he remembered that she was the older sibling; the alpha, if you will.

Gaara shrugged. “Cancelled.” She barely took a step towards him before a began to smile, sighing as he swung his legs off of the couch to make room for her. “He took you home, huh?”

Temari halted on her way closer to him. “Excuse me?”

“Your patient with the anti-gravity hair.”

“What are you insinuating, Gaara?”

“I watch people lie everyday, Temari,” he said softly. “I can tell when a text is from my sister or not.”

“How?”

His smile widened as his hand raked through his messy, red hair, expecting her to flop down beside him as he tapped the seat. “Firstly you left half a pitcher of cocktails on the table, and you never waste your drinks.”

She started to blush, dropping her bag on the floor.

“Secondly, you could barely grip your phone to check the time before you went to the bathroom.”

“But how do you know I didn’t go in there, sober up a bit and see sense?” she argued, slipping off her coat and throwing it down on her bag.

“Because I watched you follow that man into the men’s, Temari.”

Feeling that sickly churning of embarrassment starting to arise, the blonde fell down on the sofa next to her brother and bit hard on her lip, whining. “This detail isn’t nearly as striking to people as it ought to be! Why is nobody amazed that I did that?”

Gaara chuckled and carefully put his arm around her shoulders. “You’re direct. That’s why.”

If she was so direct that she could walk into a men’s bathroom and confront Shikamaru about god knows what, why couldn’t she just be direct about what she wanted from him. If she was so direct that her brother wasn’t surprised, and that she could do things that would’ve driven most people up the wall, why didn’t Shikamaru understand what she meant when she told him that she thought he was great—that she wasn’t just being polite. Because she definitely meant it.

Her mind began to run in circles, around and around the dark-haired idiot that haunted her every move, and with that she knew the only thing she could hope for from Gaara now was patience. Understanding would be too farfetched to hope for, but she knew if she just told the truth he’d at least have a little more respect for her.

“I didn’t sleep with him. I know it doesn’t make it better, but I promise I didn’t.”

“Temari,” said Gaara, “do you know what you want yet?”

The calmness of his response stunned her, and Temari turned to Gaara again full of nothing short of amazement. “What? You’re not pissed at me.”

“Of course I’m not,” he chuckled, pulling her closer to him and pressing a kiss on her temple. “I’m trying to be kind again; be the cool brother.”

Temari felt her whole body fall to tense and turn cold. “Oh, fuck being the cool brother, Gaara! Tell me I’m an idiot—you’re meant to tell me I’m an idiot.”

“You know I’m not going to do that.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to decide what you want for yourself.” Her brother squeezed her in a hug before relaxing back to look into her sad eyes, full of confusion. “Nothing Kankuro and I say or do has ever stopped you doing what you want anyway. Exhibit ‘a’ being becoming a psychiatrist.”

“And within my first month totally ruining a patient’s life!”

“But how do you know that you’ve done that? Did he tell you?”

Bitter and struggling to fight her brother’s sensibility, Temari bit down on her lip and looked away. “As good as…”

“I need you to be really honest with me; no more lies or underselling things.”

Gaara got to his feet, turning the TV off and slowly pacing in front of her, hands neatly behind his back. Temari couldn’t help fidgeting, curling her knees to her chest and holding back the feeling of sheer bewilderment that Gaara was acting this way.

“Tell me,” he said gently, “exactly how you feel about him.”

~~~

“I’m not acting weird.”

Ino raised her eyebrows at him. “You forgot to bring in your cigarettes this morning and some girl brought them in? That isn’t normal you. Choji was right.”

“Stop…”

“Did you fight?”

“She isn’t my girlfriend, Ino.”

“But you were with her last night weren’t you?”

“Ino…”

“You slept with her, didn’t you?” Her face was a perfect mixture of surprise and disgust. “Oh my god! You dark horse!”

“Oh, come on! I didn’t sleep with her and she’s not my girlfriend,” he groaned, falling back into the chair. “She was my therapist, alright? Happy now?”

“I mean, not really. You don’t have to be so angry about it.”

“You’re impossible.”

“So why did she have your cigarettes?”

Fortunately he could think fast. “I left them at her office yesterday.”

And even more fortunately, Ino bought it. “Then why you were outside talking? You guys didn’t look happy out there?”

“What?”

Ino pointed to the window, eyebrows raised. “You think I wasn’t going to watch you?”

“I repeat: you’re impossible.” He faced the desk, away from her, and rested his elbows on the table, his fingertips all touching.

“You’re avoiding all of my questions, Shikamaru.”

He preceded to do exactly that, forcing himself up and shuffling over to the window. Outside it was starting to rain, and he glanced over to what the carpenter’s was doing: empty, of course, but Shikamaru almost smiled. The rain clung to the window as desperately, but each droplet fell far sooner than expected; tiny, cold bullets. He almost wanted to step outside and let them hit his face. Maybe they’d wake him up, acclimatise him to his reality, or set his facts straight.

“Wait..was?” Ino asked after a while, staring past him out the window.

“Huh?”

“Past tense. What changed?”

Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his eyes. “It’s busy out.” It wasn’t. “One of us should be on shop floor.”

“Stop avoiding my questions.”

“They don’t matter, Ino.”

“I thought she was helping you—you said she was good.”

“And she was, but now I’ve got to find someone else.”

“Why?”

He sat silently.

“Why, Shikamaru?”

“Because I made it weird, alright?” he finally spat, his frustrating fuelling the sharpness of his tone. “I asked her out last week and it’s all gone to shit.”

“So you mean…”

“Yeah, that girl Choj was on about was her.”

“No, I mean you dated your therapist?” Her eyes narrowed and features bunched up. “Shikamaru, that’s so wrong!”

“You don’t have to tell me! What do you think every conversation I’ve had with her since then has been about, Ino?”

Ino looked sheepish. “To be honest, I’m still amazed you asked someone out—therapist or not.”

“Shut up.”

“Didn’t you have a session only yesterday? That’s why you couldn’t stay and close up, right?”

He nodded, eyes squeezed shut. “But by then shouldn’t you have—”

“Yes, I should’ve stopped seeing her. I know.”

“So why the hell did you meet her last night?”

“I didn’t mean to.” He slowly put his palms together and his fingertips to his lips. “I just went to the pub to see Choji and have a drink, and she was there—”

“You had a drink?” He knew the look she’d be giving him right now if he were to open his eyes, appalled and angry, so he simply didn’t look and instead felt her gaze burrow into him. “A drink, or a drink?”

Shikamaru sighed. “Ino…”

“Oh, God—why, Shikamaru? You’ve not drunk in years!”

“Because I felt like such a screw up, Ino; such a failure, and such a damn coward.” His breath hitched in his throat and he forced his eyes open, hoping that would stop the prickling he felt in them. “And before you say it: it wasn’t her fault, it was mine. I was just…it doesn’t matter. I just haven’t done anything in years that has made me feel so useless.”

Ino frowned, putting her hand on his shoulder. She waited for him to shrug it off but instead he remained still, staring at his feet. “You have some serious feelings for her, don’t you?”

He stayed quiet. This wasn’t a hole he could let himself fall down.

“You do. But she was your therapist they’re not real feelings. Not love feelings.”

“Of course I don’t love her—I’ve not even known her for a month.”

“So you know that they’re not right.”

“How do you know that?” he chuckled. “I know how I’m meant to feel; I’m meant to feel like I can just disconnect, but I don’t feel like that at all. I’ve had a therapist that I long to keep because he was so helpful, and he understood me, and I wanted his friendship because of that.”

“And that didn’t work out, did it?”

“But it isn’t the same with Temari! I want to know her because I understand her. I want to waste my time drinking coffee and sitting in parks and watching her eat chips.  want to listen to her chat shit about nothing in particular, or tell me more about her life and her family. Granted I probably won’t concentrate on all of it, but the sound of her voice in the background will be enough, Ino. Don’t you get that? It’s different.”

“What you want is to get better, Shikamaru. It always has been.”

“No,” he laughed. “You know what? I couldn’t care less if I get better or not, as long as I get to see Temari. I don’t care.”

“You should care.”

“Well, I don’t. I just care about her.”

Reluctantly the corners of Ino’s mouth were tugged up into a smile, and it was terribly unnerving.

“Why are you doing that?”
 “What? Smiling?” she giggled softly. “Because I never thought you would ever say something like that.”

Shikamaru frowned, slumping against the wall. “You know, me neither…”

~~~

Temari’s eyes widened and she shook her head, staring hopelessly int her brother’s eyes. “You can’t be serious.”

“Of course I’m serious. I want to know what you feel.”

“I mean you can’t be serious that you have absolutely no thoughts of your own on this.” “I admit you’ve made a mess of it—both of you, it seems—but it’s what you do next that matters.”

“What the hell do you mean?”

“Stop snapping at me, Temari.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Gaara. I’m the eldest.” Her sour expression slowly reformed, imposing innocence and genuine worry once more. “Actually, I take that back: tell me exactly what to do now, laywer-man.”

“I was going to say,” he chuckled. “That seemed a bit childish for you, I must say.”

She stuck her tongue out and he smiled.

“I know that you like him, Temari. I can tell that you like him a lot.”

“But I shouldn’t,” she lamented.

“Which is beyond the point. I know he’s your patient, and it’s unethical but your—”

“He’s not,” she interrupted, chewing on her thumb nail. “He isn’t anymore.”

Gaara stared at her for a moment and her brain rushed around, busy with every thought at once. It didn’t occur to her for a second what he might do next, or why he eased backwards to turn off the TV. She shuffled over, making more room for him to sit.

But he didn’t sit.

She pushed her hair from her eyes and continued to chew her nails, until with an authoritative stare Gaara stopped her, clicking his fingers to grab her attention—as if it had ever been off him in the first place. “Give me your phone, please.”

“What? It’s in my bag.” She frowned, her eyes following him as he walked toward said bag and lifted it. “Why do you need it? Where’s yours?”

He unzipped her bag and held it up, looking at her expectantly. “May I?”

“Um, sure. Just explain, maybe?”

“I’ll explain in a minute,” he said, gripping her phone and poking the screen. “Password?”

“One, five, one, nine—why, Gaara?”

“Thank you,” was all he said before tapping it a few more times and then licking his lips.

Temari’s heart dropped as she heard it begin to ring.

~~~

Shikamaru’s jumped when his phone started to buzz in the pocket of his apron and he whipped it out, not expecting his stomach to flip upon reading the name.

“Who is it?” Ino asked eagerly, staring up at him. “Is it her?”

He shook his head and letting his hand fall, the vibrations sending shivers through his body. “Just let it ring out.”

“Shikamaru, is it her?”

“I’m not telling you who it is. You’ll get all annoying about it.”

“I am not annoying,” she snapped, grabbing the phone out of his hand. “I’m going to answer.”

“No you’re fucking not,” laughed Shikamaru, reaching out to take it, but Ino jumped back, avoiding his hand.

She poised herself to press the big green button, smiling nervously, and motioned for Shikamaru to sit down. He fell into the chair, swivelling with his head in his hands, listening intently as she answered.

“Hello?”

~~~

“Hello,” he replied, Temari’s heart pounding out of her chest as she listened to the calm voice of the man before you.

“You’re not Temari!” A girls voice echoed down the phone. “Wait, are you—”

“You’re definitely not Shikamaru either,” chuckled Gaara.  It was Ino’s voice—the blonde girl she’d seen that morning. Just from her tone, Temari could tell. Shikamaru had described her well. “Can I speak to him please?”

“Who are you? Please just pass her over—oi, dumb-ass don’t give me that look!”

Temari stifled a laugh, knowing the exact condescending expression that she was receiving from him at that moment. He was there and, like her, he was listening in. That thought was both terrifying and insanely exciting.

“So you’re what?” repeated Ino. “Her boyfriend?” Down the line she heard the faint echo of a deep voice mutter something, but only her voice came through properly. “No, Shikamaru. You don’t know that. She could’ve and you just didn’t know.”

“I’m her brother,” Gaara told her calmly, looking Temari dead in the eye as he did so.

“Well, you’re not, because her brother came in and tormented my friend this morning and I can see his dumb face across the street hitting something with a hammer.”

“That’s our brother, miss.” How he didn’t lose it with her Temari couldn’t grasp. She wasn’t sure she had the patience for this. “She has more than one brother, me being one of them. And who are you?”

The voice went silent at the end of the line, but a deep mumble echoed through until she said, “I’m his friend.”

Temari hit the sofa quickly, over and over, to get his attention until the redhead turned around. “Ino,” she whispered. “Her name is Ino, I think.”

Gaara nodded, mouthing a thank you in recognition. “May I ask why you’ve answered his phone when I can hear him in the background?”

“Probably the same reason you called and not her,” Ino laughed. “Because the idiot in front of me thought it was too stupid an idea.”

“It was a stupid idea, Ino. Just freaking—uh, just gimme that!” The voice had changed, and tingles fell down Temari’s spine at the sound of it. “Hi, um, Gaara was it?”

Gaara hummed in response, looking at Temari wide-eyed as if she could somehow explain the chaos on the other end of the phone. However his sister just sat there, so struck by confusion and shock that she could barely move. Her mouth hung open, amazed, and yet her eyes looked bright—excited, even—at the sound of this new voice.

“Yeah, hi,” the man on the end of the line continued. “This is Shikamaru Nara. We spoke before. Is she there? Temari, I mean.”

“We did, yes. And I wanted to talk to you, not—”

“I know,” he interrupted, “but now I’m staring at the phone I think I may as well talk to her, as bothersome as it is.”

“She is here, but she really did not want me to ring you up.”

“I’m not surprised.” The chuckle that resonated through her phone shook her when it reached her ears, and she found herself giggling quietly.

“But,” added Gaara, “she’ll listen to you if you have something to say.”

There was silence down the phone for a while, bar the angry hissing of the higher pitched voice every now and again because he was so quiet. Gaara smiled at his sister, his expression one of what seemed like pity, but she knew he was smug on the inside, and he had every right to be. If her brother hadn’t had the nerve to call him, she might’ve never spoken to Shikamaru or heard his deep voice again. So instead of throwing a pillow at him—which she had been greatly debating for the last few minutes—she simply smiled back, her chin resting on the back of the sofa.

But she’d sat hyping up the moment he Shikamaru would speak so much in her mind that when eventually he cleared his throat and started to mumble something incoherent, seemingly to Ino, her body went to jelly. Thank God she was sat down…

“I’m an idiot,” he started, his usual monotone voice heavy with regret. “I don’t know how many times you’ve given me a chance to say fuck it and I haven’t taken it. And even though you’re ‘Miss It’s-Against-The-Rules’, you’ve egged me on to break so many and take so many chances without even knowing it.”

He sighed, and Temari watched as Gaara rolled his eyes. That’s when the pillow next to her started flying through the air, colliding with her brother’s chin. She paused, proud of her aim, but unsure how exactly this was meant to be positive. He was admitting things he’d done wrong, but she’d done things too. She’d made everything all the more confusing, hadn’t she?

Or was this, this acknowledgement of her making him take chances, him understanding what she meant.

That wasn’t something she had time to consider in the time it took for him to keep talking. “I said I wouldn’t call because I shouldn’t. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to,” he mumbled. “And I don’t know about you but I want to talk to you a lot. I’ve told you this—with you I’m okay, whether you like it or not. So hear me, and listen to me.” He cleared his throat. “I want you to help me. By being my pal, not my therapist.”

Girly laughter swiftly followed on the other end. “Pal? Your pal, Shikamaru?”

“Shut up, Ino,” he grumbled, clearly still nervous.

Temari, her mouth agape, stared at Gaara as he smiled, trying not to chuckle. The giggles on the end of the phone from Ino weren’t helping her to keep a level head, but with everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours and the uncharacteristically encouraging grin on Gaara’s lips she couldn’t help jumping over the back of the sofa and carefully taking her phone from Gaara’s hands.

“You’re a pain and I seriously hate how much I think about you.”

She grinned. It was that comment that pushed the words out. “Shikamaru,” she mumbled, getting out the name as it hitched in her throat, “can you hear me?”

There was silence for a moment, and then suddenly a cheerful, “Yeah.”

Her heart leaped. “So, tonight…are you busy?”

“Nope,” he chuckled. “Do you fancy fish and chips or something?”

Temari’s entire body flushed hot and she bounced up and down, smiling at Gaara who nodded slightly. “Shikamaru,” she grinned, “you absolutely read my mind.”

[seb-owns-these-tatas]

Barely Alive (Chris Evans) (Pt. 2)

PART 1

Characters: Chris Evans x fem!reader

Summary: A zombie apocalypse happened on earth. You've decided to do something impulsive which will lead you into a life or death situation. But despite that, an unexpected savior came to rescue you and he was far more scared for your life than his. (Part 2)

Warnings: Reader is the same age as Tom Holland, but she's legal. Don't go pointing at me like I've created some sin yo. (Pls don't look at my Sebastian Stan oneshots 18+ hehehe 😅) I've read some rumour about H.C dating a 19 year old back then but I'm not sure if it's true. 😂

Words: 2,800+

A/N: I have no idea why I love writing this. Maybe because I love Resident Evil? Anyways, this is only PART 2 and there's going to be part 3. 😊 FEEDBACKS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! 

Disclaimer: PNG's used in edits are not mine even the GIF's too. However, the edits and oneshots are definitely from moi.

Dedicated: @readermia​ @mcuclintasha​ @itsallyscorner​

The drive back took only minutes. Once the truck stopped inside the huge factory, Chris had swiftly scooped you in his arms. People came stalking towards the car, surrounding the truck as known faces came in view. The man who was holding you had his heart beating so fast, too rapid even though he wasn't even running. "Is that--" The other Chris intervened, Chris Pratt to be specific. His green eyes bulged out of his eye sockets as he saw Y/N in his arms, all bloody and weak.

"She needs help!" The latter helplessly worded out, entirely shaken from your bruised form as he quickly strolled towards the part of the factory where there were sets of hospital beds. "Ch-Chris," You finally managed to hush a whisper, it was too faint to hear but Chris was too focused on you and so he heard. "I'm here," he panted, heartbeat thumping so fast. The constant worry unconsciously travelling towards his eyes which began to fill with tears. He was trying not to, so he kept on swallowing the jitters. "I'm not leaving your side," whispered the man who gently dropped you on the soft, white bed.

Your pained moans started to come as you felt his warmth gone in just a flash. You couldn't form a word nor any sentences that everything was starting to hurt again and it was too excruciating to begin with. "It's okay, Y/N. I'm here, everything's going to be just fine," Chris choked, hasty eyes finding someone for help and he saw Zoe came rushing to his side, asking what happened and what was wrong.

"She was ambushed by men, four were killed by her. Yet, Caesar had her on the ropes," he uttered pointedly, biting his lower lip in apprehension. He felt Y/N moan another painful one. Instinctively, he reached out his hand to grab onto her hand that wasn't bruised, caressing the pad of his thumb on top of hers to let her know that he was there for her.

It was obvious that Zoe would've seen it, and she did. But, she'd rather not acknowledge it. Chris wouldn't dare be in love with a girl half his age, plus the fact that she had a boyfriend would he?

"Caesar? Caesar Brown?" Zoe subtly shook her head, maneuvering towards the other side of the bed as she began taking care of Y/N. "He's dead, already dead." The latter swallowed a lump down his throat, peering down at the bruised woman. An ache forming inside his heart that began to fill with dread. "Shot to the head," he said almost straight to the point that it sounded remotely restrained.

"By who?" Zoe inserted a needle that made Y/N silently moan, a tear escaping the sides of her eyes in which Chris immediately wiped.

"Me,"

His sympathetic friend stopped in her tracks as she was grabbing a cotton ball, her back facing him. Well, killing wasn't new to the world especially when they were in a middle of a zombie apocalypse. Though, what was bemusing her was from the moment her friend knew Y/N went east to grab some resupplies, he immediately flew out of the base despite of how many people didn't want to come. Nobody wanted to be with Y/N because there was no possibility that there were no infected. The fact that not even her own boyfriend, 'William' stood by her side when she went on her own was like a death wish or an ambush by the infected.

Nonetheless, to her surprise she was actually ambushed by nasty people.

Chris didn't know a thing about her impulsive plan because he went west with the gang to find more survivors. Once he came back and knew Y/N was all alone grabbing resupplies with no back-up, he went completely berserk as there were hundreds of bad outcomes inside his head that will make him regret living in the world they were in.

Thus, he didn't risk it. He'd rather risk his life just for her. As for Zoe's understanding with how he was acting since a month ago, he was acting strange that even his ex-girlfriend who was with them came to notice.

He was always with Y/N. Where Y/N was, he was also there. When he was asked why he was being too overprotective of her, his answer could always make them nod because it seems like he was telling the truth.

"She's like a baby sister to me. Nothing more, nothing less."  

Yet, his actions tell otherwise.

"Please, Zoe. Please, I need you to help her, please..She's..just...please, help her." Chris begged, washing his face with his hands in frustration as he stared in nothingness. Avoiding the state where Y/N was in, appearing to feel like he was hurting to see her in pain.

He was confused and Zoe knew deep inside it was his heart who was in a puzzle and that was the truth.

"Alright, I'll do my best, Chris."

Days have passed and Y/N still hasn't woken up. Those days that he felt like she was barely alive was horribly agonizing for him that he felt like his days weren't normal without hearing her hideous laugh and seeing her youthful smiles. His days went by like he felt as if he wasn't awake. He felt horrible that he hadn't been back before she has made that sudden decision that not everybody supported.

He felt like his head was floating as it ached at the same time while he was explaining tactics and opinions to certain people who were gathered up in the middle of a room with chairs, tables, papers, maps and radios. "We head to Maryland," Chris suddenly paused, sighing deep as he stood in the middle of the room, a table and map flat in front of him. He cleared his throat and shifted his weight to his other foot as another shock of headache visited him, making him tightly shut his eyes.  

"Chris," Robert interrupted, analyzing what was happening to him. "You don't look too good," his friend stated as a matter of fact.

"I'm fine," Chris muttered more to himself, shaking his head to clear the head ache away. "So, where were we?"

"Maryland," Paul and Dave spoke at the same time with worried smiles on their faces. The latter nodded at that and tried to remember what he wanted to say before he was interrupted by his own head ache, but nothing. He remembered nothing as his thoughts were drifted to you who was currently in a coma.

"Ah, shit." he shook his head in disappointment before speaking an apology as he deeply sighed, a tight frown plastered on his face while he spun on his heels and left the room in which the team was definitely not used to besides his outgoing personality and large smiles that can get any human infected. Even Y/N.

The team looked at each other with knowing faces and bewildered eyes.

You were moved to a much safer room inside the factory where a hospital bed lays for you. In request by Chris, of course.

His frown tightened even more when he ended up leaning against the door to your room, watching you sleep, entirely motionless and his heart could feel the pricks of dread creep onto his heart for the hundredth time. He was feeling completely down in the dumps since you haven't woken up and it was tearing him apart.

(Just imagine him with the beard first, he’ll get to shave it soon. Hehehe)

"Dorito," Anthony revealed himself and appeared to walk beside him. A solemn look on his face. "You okay, man?"

It took a second for his friend to reply, "It's been three days," he lowly uttered, swallowing the sadness away, his melancholic blue eyes fixated on your form with his eyebrows cinched tight together. "She hasn't woken up since the last three days and I don't know if she will,"

"And you haven't taken at least one decent meal since the day it happened," his friend said with utmost concern. Anthony glance back to where people were encircled around a lit up bonfire. Y/N's boyfriend looking like he was having the best night of his life as he chugged on some beer while talking to some brunette lass. "You look more worried than William over there," he gestured to the back.

"Psh," Chris suddenly reacted, giving no attention to Y/N's boyfriend because as he was walking towards her room, he saw how her lover was coping up to her coma. He was enjoying.

"What kind of boyfriend even is he?" said Chris as he shook his head in disdain as he continued to state a fact. "You know your girlfriend's over here in a coma and he hasn't even visited her," the man mindlessly spat, sounding in much seeth.

"He did," Anthony butted in with a small grin. Remembering the day he saw William visit Y/N for five minutes and never came back. "But, it was only one time!" said the latter who was too irked to even talk about it.

"Kid was telling me he was scared to see her almost close to dying,"

"The kid's an asshat," Chris stated with a raise of his brow, folding his arms against his chest. "Woah, woah. Chris, you sound like a jealous man," There was no doubt, a little tone of mockery in his words. The latter huffed to himself as his eyes continued to gaze at your unmoving form.

"You sure you only see her as your baby sister?"

Chris continued to scowl as he was hearing him out. "What if you actually see yourself as her dad?" Anthony added with a huge grin that made him give him the stink eye.

"I sure as hell don't see you looking at her like she's your baby sister," His friend interrogated him as he was just stating the obvious. Chris couldn't say anything back. "You look at her very differently than you look at your real sisters," Anthony paused, lightly shoving Chris's shoulder to enlighten him. "Everybody knows how you look at her,"

"How do I even look at her, Anthony?" questioned Chris in curiosity. His eyes completely unreadable. Definitely blank. He was an actor after all. "You give her the look whenever the Russo's shout action as Steve Rogers stares at Peggy Carter," his friend trailed off.

"I know she's young and all, but she's legal and I don't see anything wrong about it--" Anthony added for Chris, smirking in the process as a thought came in mind. "--That didn't stop Henry Cavill from dating a 19 year old woman back then,"

Chris couldn't help a snicker leave his cherry red lips, "Stop before he hears you," he quietly chortled. Shaking his head at his friend's abrupt theories. "As I was saying," added Anthony with a nod. "Know your priorities, follow your heart because it's already the end of the world, Dude."

"--I thought Resident Evil or the Walking dead wasn't real, but here we are."

There was a sudden silence that wrapped them both together. Their gazes fixated on you who seemed to be barely alive from your lack of presence. No matter what Chris does in his everyday life, he couldn't get to push himself harder because of the reality that you were facing.

He couldn't accept that maybe it was because of him. You got hurt because he wasn't around.

"Try and think about your feelings and stop being serious like Steve Rogers. It's freaking me out, "

Feelings. All Chris felt was platonic. In his head, he knows his actions meant nothing. It was neither romantic nor sexual. Yet, to some of his close friends or family knew his heart says otherwise.

"Anthony, I'm not in love with her," His forehead creased a little too deeply at his sudden confession. His heart feeling as if it began to drop more stones on top of it.

"Sureeee, Christopher." bantered Anthony, his voice entirely full of contempt. "You know, you're too old to be an indenial boy already."

The guilty man huffed at the back of his mind as he tightly bit his lip to refrain from saying anything more. His words earlier seem like it wasn't right. It feels as if he made himself more frustrated and overwrought. He anxiously bit the underside of his own lips as he blankly stared out of nowhere, seeming to be in too deep inside his thoughts.

To catch his friend's attention, Anthony managed to tap his shoulder to rip him off from drifting into another world.

"So, what's the deal for tomorrow?"

Chris did a double-take, his expression solemn as he was staring straight at your motionless body laying peacefully on top of the hospital bed. He subtly cleared his throat, eyebrows knotted in a twist.

"We head to Maryland, bring back survivors since Scarlett had evidences that there are atleast thirty of them. Some are kids. Some are already suffering from starvation. We might need tons of back-up because the place can be a trap. Lots of infected come by there every now and then as it was said by Hiddleston. We need to take risks,"

Anthony kept his eyes fixated on his friend. A small grin plastered on his face as it reached from ear to ear. "Noted, Cap."

"Shut it, Ant." he playfully spat with another shake of his head. Chest puffed up and arms folded together.

"Stop being an indenial bitch before it's too late,"

"I told you, I can only see her as--"

Anthony interrupted his sentence like he knew what he was about to say next, "--my baby sister, nothing more. Nothing less. Alright, alright. I'll leave you to it,"

Chris seemed to drift off somewhere after a minute or two. His thoughts suddenly were in a haywire just by looking at you and it was frustrating him why he was feeling stressed because of everything.

It's not like living in a zombie apocalypse wasn't as stressful as before.

Anthony gave Chris a manly pat on his back, turning around his heels with a smile. "I've managed to sneak up a stack of Heineken when we were back at that abandoned mall. Caesar and his friends had it,"

Chris had his eyes solely on you, his lively blue eyes now filled with dread and uncertainty. Staring at every bruise on every parts of your body and cursing the heavens why Caesar had found you vulnerable to the point that he wanted to dominate you into demise.

Chris wasn't in love with you. No. It was impossible.

Anthony's laugh pulled him off his head space. His next words making him lift a small smile on  his face.

"You're free to chug it all down, man."

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XOXO, TATA