#i totally did not miscount

[eqountl]

Updated Aamira a lil,, 6 of my fav hairtstyles on herrr

[outermaybanks]

mean jj! bsf reader. jj plays baseball and lost a game against their rival team. he takes his anger out on you and he’s super rough and mean, but you’re totally into it.

Homerun

a/n: them fucking baseball boys. CW!!! smut 18+, unprotected sex, oral m receiving, creampie, ROUGH & RUDE, spit, just to be safe im gonna say dubcon, but reader is def consenting moodboard | headcannon

You sat in the middle row of the metal bleachers, a red and white cap with #7, JJ’s number, kept the beating sun out of your eyes so you could keep them on JJ. At least the hot metal wasn’t burning your thighs anymore, as you had wore a skirt to try and combat the summer heat. This was the most important game of the season, the play-offs for state. You knew how important it was to your bestfriend, he hopes to get at least one state championship under his belt before you graduated, so he could get a scholarship.

Your hands were clasped together in a silent, but desperate prayer to no one god in particular. You wanted this for him more than anything. 

“And up next to bat, #7, JJ Maybank!” The announcer’s voice said over the speaker. “Wooo! Let’s go, JJ!” You shouted, hoping JJ could hear you over the other cheers.

“Strike one!” you heard the ump say, and you wished you could punch him. “Strike two!” your nails began to dig into the back of your hand you were so anxious. Then finally, he hit the last ball. “Foul!” The umpire shouted, and you felt your heart sink as you could only imagine how JJ felt. “Strike three, out!”

The team lost, 5-4. 

As soon as the game ended, you were trying to fight past the crowd to make it to the boy’s locker room. You had seen the entire team enter after the game was called, and they had to leave out that way. This was nothing new, you were JJ’s best friend, the whole team knew who you were, and they were used to seeing you wait outside the locker room for JJ after every game, so members of the team greeted you as they left.

But JJ didn’t come out. You smiled and waved to every member of the team, and JJ was the last one in there. You had a slight pout as you realized how long you had been standing there waiting, and the idea of JJ sitting in there all alone with the weight of the loss on his shoulders killed you. So you looked around before pulling up the door to the locker room.

“JJ?” you called out softly, also to give warning in case you had miscounted and someone else was still in here. “Go away, y/n,” JJ’s voice replied, you started following where it sounded it came from. “J, c’mon talk to me.” “Don’t wanna talk. I wanna be alone.”

You turned a corner, finding JJ sitting on a bench in only his pants and a wifebeater. “J…” “I said leave me the fuck alone, y/n! God, don’t you ever fucking listen?” JJ shouted. You had seen him angry, you had seen him disappointed, but it was never this bad; and it broke your heart. “JJ, I know you’re upset, but I’m not gonna leave you to feel shitty by yourself. What kind of a best friend would I be if I did?”

JJ stood up, his eyes dark and focused as he stepped towards you. “I don’t want to talk.” “We don’t have to talk,” you said softly, thinking you were finally getting somewhere with him. “You wanna make me feel better, y/n?” JJ was right in front of you now, you had to turn your head to look up at him, his eyes down on you. “More than anything.” “Get on your knees.”

At first you were confused, but then reality dawned on you of what he was really asking you. “J, I don’t know if that’s-” “You wanna make me feel better or not?”

You bit your lip, but nodded as you sunk down to your knees. JJ immediately unbuttoned his pants, and you could already make out the line of his hard dick in his boxers. “Open,” JJ commanded, and you obeyed. JJ’s hand took hold of your hair, pulling it back so you’d look up at him before he spat in your mouth. “Now swallow.” You did so without question, then stuck your tongue out to show him. “Good girl.”

With the hand that wasn’t tangled in your hair, he pulled his boxers down, allowing his cock to spring free, almost hitting you in the face. JJ gave you no time to prepare before he was sliding his tip past your lips, then the rest of his length down your throat, causing you immediately to gag, pulling off of him to cough.

“Thought you wanted to make me feel better, y/n?” JJ panted out. You looked up at him through blurry eyes, wiping the spit away from your mouth before you wrapped your hand around his dick, guiding him into your mouth. You kept your eyes on him as you worked your way down, easing him further down your throat with each bob of your head. JJ let out a sharp hiss, “Fuck, that’s it, y/n.” He was impatient, the second you managed to take all of him into your throat without gagging, he started moving his hips. Lewd noises filled the otherwise empty locker, the wet noises of your throat seemed so much louder.

When JJ suddenly unsheathed himself from your throat, you felt forward with a cough, your hands splayed on his thighs. “I need more. You gonna be a good girl f’me?” JJ asked, his words rushed as he pulled his pants down more. You didn’t know what he meant, but you nodded anyway, anything to make him feel better. “Bend over, put your hands on the locker.”

You were quick to do as you were told, and when you felt JJ’s tip rub you through your panties, a rush of adrenaline ran through you, long had you dreamed of the day you got to fuck JJ Maybank. You felt a wave of cool air hit you as JJ flipped the fabric of your skirt up. His thumb found the seam of your entrance with ease, petting you softly before pulling your panties to the side. “So wet, just from sucking my cock, y/n? Damn… didn’t know you were a freak like that…” You bit your lip to stop yourself from moaning at his words alone. “I’m gonna fuck this pretty pussy, then, if you’re good, I’m gonna take you home, fuck you some more, how’s that sound, princess?” “Please, JJ-” you whine, arching your back to push against him. A small chuckle fell from his lips, almost mocking you. “That’s my girl,” you barely heard him mumble before you felt his tip at your entrance, moving his head through your folds to collect the juices before he slid into you with one movement. 

“Fuck-” your hand immediately came up to cover your mouth, JJ gave you no time to adjust before he began thrusting. “No, nope. Wanna hear you. Wanna hear how good my cock makes you feel,” JJ said as he pulling your hand away, holding that arm behind your back. “God, you feel good,” you breathed out before a whine slipped from you. “Just me, no God here,” JJ grunted, the hand that wasn’t pinning your arm back came down to slap the flesh of your ass, his fingers digging into your skin for a better grip. You couldn’t manage words, only small whimpers as he started hitting your sweet spot. “So fucking tight… no one’s fucked you right, have they?” JJ asked, but it was taking everything in you just to keep standing. Another slap. “Have they?” “No, JJ!” you practically screamed just to satisfy him.

Suddenly, you were empty, and a frantic, needy whine left your throat. JJ used the arm pinned behind your back to push you onto the ground, your cheek pressed against the cold floor as he quickly slid back inside you. JJ pressed down on your mid back, hitting deeper inside you. “Should’ve fucked you sooner. Maybe we’d fix that attitude…” 

Your eyes threatened to close as pleasure overwhelmed your entire body, but another slap on your ass opened them. “Stupid… fucking… ump…” JJ said as he took all his frustrations out on your pussy, and you loved every second of it. You could feel yourself clench around him, desperate for more. “Stupid… fucking… pitcher.” “JJ…” you purred out. “Shut up and take it, y/n,” JJ hissed through gritted teeth, and his words made the coil in your stomach snap, as slurred attempts at words fell from you, the one you managed, “JJ… mmm-”

JJ grunted, his hips moving at a relentless pace, his grip on you would probably leave bruises tomorrow but you didn’t care when you heard his name fell from his lips as he came inside you. Panting, he stayed on top of you, finally releasing your arm from his grasp as he caged you in, both of you trying to catch your breaths.

“Thanks…” JJ finally spoke up. “I needed that.” You felt the weight lift off you as JJ sat up, moving to put himself back in his boxers. You were still out of breath. “No problem… Happy to help.”

JJ chuckled, pulling you towards him as he pressed a kiss to your head. He helped you to your feet, and stabled you when you wobbled, you clung to him for dear life. “Sorry if I was too rough.” “Don’t be, I liked it,” you confess, your face still pink. JJ smiled his million dollar smile that sent butterflies to your stomach, and to your- “C’mon. I’ll take you to get some icecream or something first.” Your eyebrows furrow, “First?” “Yeah, before we go back to my place,” JJ said like it was obvious, his smile turning a bit more cocky, “I got a promise to fulfill.”

©ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳᵐᵃʸᵇᵃⁿᵏˢ ²⁰²⁴

[tacit-semantics]

Seriously though I have been fixated on that bottle for HOURS girl you did not touch that. You did not even see it. I am actually very good at the counting I can recognize a group of five like no one’s business

My brain is BITING ME

[rogerswifesblog-updates]

Since my main blog @rogerswifesblog is shadowbanned I’ve decided to post here (until the shadowban is lifted)

Noise pt. 2

First part here

Summary: It happens again. But this time, Bucky is not sleeping....

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Alcohol(just a little bit), SMUT, it’s pwp, 3some, blowjob,ball worship, slight nipple worship, fingering, masturbation, handjob, P in V, MxM, implied anal, sub Bucky, Dom!steve, switch Reader(?), Bottom!bucky, top!steve

Read the warnings!!!

If you’re not interested in mxm you can stop reading after '•••'

18+

The mission was getting closer and closer to an end. You would probably be able to get back home in just a few days. That's exactly why the three of you decided to have a drink and a relaxing evening. Steve had a small bottle of Thor's liquor, so the two soldiers could also have some fun. Still, you drank a little slower because you didn't want to get drunk. Just enough to be in a good mood.

"You're cheating! Buck, you went two squares too far" you said immediately when you noticed where Bucky put his pawn. "What? -no, of course not. That's not true- I- I just miscounted" he visibly lied which could be seen on his reddening cheeks. Steve punched him lightly in the shoulder and whispered something in his ear that made him laugh out loud. In that time, he moved the pawn onto the proper place.

"What are you whispering about? No whispering at the table" you grinned a bit, briefly putting your hand on Bucky's thigh. "Huh? What did Steve tell you?"

Bucky looked briefly at your hand, then back at Steve. "Yhm- nothing important" he said sheepishly, lowering his head. A soft laugh escaped him after which he took a big gulp of his drink. Your gaze immediately fell to Steve. He winked at you, a small smile on his lipsnwhile he put his arm around Bucky's shoulders. You always liked their friendship, the easy and pleasant way they had with each other. It was just nice to watch.

When Steve threw the dice, he leaned a bit over Bucky as he sat in the middle. "A five! Ha!" he said with satisfaction, making Bucky and you sigh. You were losing while the two soldiers were having a head-to-head race- no matter how many times they had both cheated by now. Because, they totally did cheat in board games.

"I'm going to make myself another drink, you guys want one?" you asked as you stood up and put one of your hands on Bucky's shoulder, the other on Steve's, gently massaging both of them. The blond looked up at you, nodding and giving you a kiss on the hand. "I'd love one, honey" he said while Bucky nodded, not meeting your gaze anymore.

With that you disappeared into the kitchen where you made the drinks.

You could see the two soldiers from where you were standing, talking to each other and teasing each other visibly. It looked really cute. Especially the way Steve was teasing Bucky, how he was always gently nudging the other or pinching his sides, making Bucky laugh a little. A small smile settled on your lips. It was great to see Bucky a little happier again. You could still remember how hard it had been for him to settle back in at first. With Steve, he was clearly relaxed, more than with any other Avenger. He was also very comfortable with you around, always letting you brush his hair or just cuddle him.

"Here you go" you spoke as you placed the two glasses between them while doing that you leaned over Bucky a bit and touched his head with your breasts. Since you were standing behind him, you couldn’t see how red he was blushing, just that he started shifting around a bit in his seat. "I hope you didn't cheat again when I wasn't here" you whispered in his ear, loud enough for Steve to hear as well. After that you went to get your own drink which you had left in the kitchen, not being able to bring all three at once.

This time when you came back, you sat down in Steve's lap. "So, let's get back to playing" you grinned, taking a big gulp of your drink. After rolling the dice, you turned back to Steve, kissing him briefly on the lips, feeling Bucky's gaze on you. Nevertheless, you continued playing.

Within the next twenty minutes you finished the game and sat down on the sofa. "So...what do we do now?" you asked as you put your legs in Bucky's lap and he started massaging them a bit, letting his fingers knead your calves. Your head was in Steve's lap, him stroking your hair. The feeling of being stroked and massaged made you moan softly. You immediately slapped your hand in front of your mouth and looked up at Steve with red cheeks. He merely grinned a little, his eyebrows raised. He could tell you were enjoying Buckys and his hands on you.

Steve had no problem with Bucky touching you. The opposite, actually. He really enjoyed seeing him touch you. His metal fingers working over your naked skin of your calves. He’d love to see these fingers somewhere else… stroking your thighs, your breasts… stretching your tight hole…

Quickly he stopped these thoughts, especially when he felt his own dick twitch. God, he even wanted to feel Buckys hands on his own body.

"I'm sure we can think of some other game" Steve said, stroking your neck with one hand, gently grabbing your hair and pulling your head back. From the side you didn't notice how Bucky was looking at you, his eyes kept sliding from you to Steve and back. He didn’t know where to look. Your beautiful and relaxed features or the somehow hungry sparkle in Steve’s eyes while he licked over his lips.

Silently Bucky listened to you. "Truth or dare? never have I ever?" you suggested, a cheeky grin on your lips. "Both sound quite interesting, maybe we'll start with Truth or da-" "I'm tired" Bucky hurriedly interrupted the blonde.

Before you could even react, he had gotten up and disappeared into the bedroom.

Somewhat confused, you both looked after him. "Is everything all right with him? He's been acting weird all evening" you mumbled and slowly sat up. Steve was still looking at the door while shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know either. Maybe he's really tired...? It could be because of the whole mission… I'll talk to him tomorrow, I promise" Steve assured you.

With a soft sigh, you leaned your head against Steve's shoulder. For a moment you were silent before you started a new topic and lost yourselves in conversation.

For an hour you actually managed to have reasonable conversations before your hands began to wander. The gentle kisses you kept giving each other became more passionate, more demanding. Steve's hand slowly slid into your shorts, gliding between your wet folds- "No, Steve- we can't. I told you… not until we get back" you murmured against his lips, sliding off of his lap. A sigh escaped both at the same time. God, both were so needy for it. You missed feeling Steve’s body against yours, naked and pounding into your tight cunt. Fuck.

Steve looked at you with a slight pout. "Come on… just a little bit…” He pointed with his thumb and pointed finger a few inches apart. “Just a little, you won't even feel it" he whined, pointing now to a length of at least ten inches. Laughing, you punched him in the shoulder. "You're such an idiot, Steve" you grinned, making him laugh too.

"We should get some sleep. It's getting really late" you muttered and stood up. Immediately you held out your hand to the blonde, which he grabbed.

"...Just a little bit?" he mumbled pleadingly, whereupon you rolled your eyes and walked silently to the bedroom, with Steve right behind you. Close enough for you to feel his hardness against your ass.

You could swear this man thought more often with his dick than with his head. Only thinking about sex these past few days.

Whereas you had to admit that you thought about it just as often in the last few days...

Shaking your head, you took off your clothes, down to your underwear. Bucky was asleep either way, so you didn't have to worry about him seeing you change- plus, he'd seen you in your underwear many times since you often changed in the same rooms before or after missions. It was weird at first but by now it didn't bother any of you.

And let's face it, sometimes you liked looking at these super soldiers shirtless.

When you finally laid in bed in your pajamas a few minutes later, Steve pulled you a little closer to him. You could feel that he was still aroused, especially since he put his leg between yours and rubbed his hardness right against your crotch. A contented sigh escaped your lips.

Fuck, it felt really good.

His hard dick pressed right against your throbbing pussy, sometimes rubbing over your clit.

You could feel how wet you were becoming, especially when even with all the layers of clothes your pussy started making a squelching sound.

"Okay- but you have to be quiet, understand?" you breathed over your shoulder to him. Immediately, he nodded impatiently and was already starting to undress your sleep shorts. You stopped him.

"I was thinking of something else" you grinned and sat up. For a moment you looked at Bucky's bed- this time you watched him a bit longer. He was lying on his back, his eyes sliding over your body to your face, stopping at your lips.

Grinning cheekily, you looked back at Steve and sat down between his legs. "We have to be quiet" you reminded him again and started kissing his thighs. Very gentle and soft kisses everywhere but where he wanted it most. Despite that it was quite dark and the room was lit only by the moon, you grinned when you saw a wet spot on the fabric of his boxers, where his leaking tip was. You licked right over that spot, making him gasp.

To tease him a bit more, you took his tip into your mouth a little through the fabric and sucked lightly. His hand immediately found your hair and pressed you a little harder against his twitching dick. "Stop that or I'm going to lose it" he breathed dangerously calm which made you whimper quietly. You could feel yourself getting wetter by the second while Steve rubbed his bulge against your face for a moment, watching you open your mouth and sticking your tongue out.

He continued to hold your head as he pulled down his boxers, enough for him to free his dick and balls. "Open" he demanded and pressed his tip to your lips. Immediately you did as told and opened your mouth as wide as possible. Your jaw would hate you for this tomorrow but you couldn’t wait to finally feel his weight on your tongue again.

With a pleasurable sigh, he pushed between your lips and started thrusting into your wet, warm mouth.

When you took his cock in your own hand and moved it together with your head, he let go of your hair but still thrusted his hips up. Briefly you looked up at him and what you saw made you moan softly around his tip. Steve had leaned his head back a bit, closed his eyes and was gripping the bed sheet with his free hand- you were sure it would tear any second. This motivated you to take him deeper into your mouth- which you did. Even though it wasn't easy, you managed to slide it further into your mouth until he hit your gag reflex. This made you stop for a moment and lift your head, letting the tip fall from your lips to get some air.

You took your second hand to stroke his shaft and over his tip. By now he was so wet from your saliva and his pre cum that your hands slid along effortlessly.

"Don't stop" he breathed and buried his hand in your hair again, using it to push you back down until you took him back into your mouth. This time you let him push you down completely until you swallowed him down and let him stretch your tight throat. With that, you took him completely into your mouth until your nose rested against his abdomen. Unintentionally, he moaned a bit louder this time and to be honest, you didn't pay attention to that anymore.

You let one hand slide to his balls, massaging and kneading them just like you knew he liked. His balls were wet and slick from all the spit and precum that was leaking around your lips.

With the other hand you grabbed his leg and let him control your movements. When he noticed this, he slowly started to thrust into your mouth. "Can I- oh god- can I fuck your pretty mouth sweetheart?" he breathed barely audible. You answered him with a quiet hum which made him draw in a sharp breath.

Without waiting any longer, he began thrusting fast and hard into your mouth. You felt your saliva leak from the corners of your lips. You knew already that you would have jaw pain tomorrow. It wasn't too easy to keep your mouth open that far- Steve was a big guy and he knew it.

With one hand you started playing with his balls again which apparently gave him the rest because the very next moment he pushed your head down completely, grinding into your mouth, moaning quietly into his free hand. You felt his seed hit your throat.

You swallowed as much as you could but something still spilled from your mouth. Starting to feel that you needed to breathe again, you lightly tapped his leg to let Steve know he needed to let you go. That's exactly what he did then. Breathing heavily and clearly satisfied, he mumbled a soft sorry which made you grin a little.

You licked him clean, letting your tongue slide against his slit and over your shaft while he watched you. Then, as you lifted your head, he stroked his thumb across your chin to wipe off the last remnants of his seed- then he gently slid his thumb along your lips until you took him into your mouth.

"I love your lips, your soft, warm, wet mouth..." he breathed softly which immediately made you smile a bit. You loved seeing him so satisfied and pleased.

Steve then pulled you up to him and pressed his lips to yours. Instantly, he began kissing you with desire. His tongue explored your mouth, following his own taste.

Then, when his hand suddenly slipped under the short pant leg of your sleep shorts and found your crotch, sliding over your wet folds, you gasped in surprise. "So wet" he breathed against your lips as his fingers slowly slid along your slit- until he pushed into your wet pussy with two wide fingers. His palm rubbed along your clit as he did so, making you moan in pleasure.

A gasp made you freeze. It wasn't coming from you -and it wasn't coming from Steve either. Immediately you both looked at Bucky, who was lying unnaturally still on his back. His breathing was far too quiet. Slowly you saw his hand moving under the blanket in his crotch area.

You couldn't think much further as Steve added a third finger and moved it into your wetness. Immediately a pleasurable gasp escaped your lips, your gaze falling back to Steve. "Steve-" you breathed softly. When he looked up to you, you gestured toward Bucky's bed with a nod of your head. Immediately he realized what you meant, especially since his vision was better in the dark than yours.

"You like that, baby?" breathed Steve into the darkness and you really had to admit that you had no idea who he was talking to. Especially since you could tell that Bucky was nodding slightly. You could see how his leg muscles tensed a bit. At the same time, you didn't even notice that you had started moving your hips against Steve's fingers, riding them.

"You like it, huh? Can't get enough?" Steve kept murmuring which made you nod immediately. Out of the corner of your eye, you could swear Bucky had nodded once too. A low moan escaped your lips as Steve's hand stroked your sensitive spot again. This immediately made Steve grin and rub a little harder against it.

"Come on baby, come for me. I can see you want it, can't I?" the blonde murmured, your body playing as if for his words as hot pleasure rushed over you in the very next moment. With a suppressed moan you came and dropped exhausted on Steve's chest. You turned your head to the side in time to see that Bucky in the bed next to you was also tensing up and biting into the blanket to stanch his moans as he came too. He had closed his eyes with pleasure while he visibly continued to try to keep his breathing calm. You, too, had to slowly slow down your breathing while Steve slowly stroked along your back.

•••

The super soldier in the next bed slowly opened his eyes and looked directly into yours, then blinked directly at Steve's face as he too looked at Bucky. Even in the darkness, you could see clearly that Bucky's cheeks were turning red. "Fuck- I- I have no idea- fuck- I'm sorry- I-" he started rambling and was about to leave his bed as well. "I'm not a creep- really not- I- God I'm so sorry- I couldn't" he stuttered more. He didn't even give you time to say anything back. Fortunately, Steve reacted quickly enough and sat up after putting you gently aside. He immediately grabbed Bucky's waist and pulled him onto his lap.

A surprised gasp escaped them, even you couldn’t stop a quiet gasp escaping your lips.

For a moment the two soldiers looked at each other silently. Briefly, Bucky's eyes drifted to you as well, then back to Steve.

Steve and you had talked about Bucky more than once, mostly jokingly, about how he was almost like part of your relationship- but had they really been jokes? Bucky was always with you. You spent many evenings watching movies and cuddling. He even went out with you two. You knew Steve had feelings for Bucky back then in the forties but they weren't allowed in their time. So he had pushed them aside for a long time. You had liked Bucky ever since you met him. At first he might have been a little closed off, but with patience and trust everything had changed. He meant a lot to you.

Did Bucky feel the same? Had he always thought the same?

Briefly, Steve looked over his shoulder at you. You didn't need to hear the question, already nodding. A feeling told you this was exactly what he was looking for.

And you were right.

He turned back to Bucky and put a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him a bit closer. "May I?" the blonde breathed barely audibly, looking at Bucky's lips. "Yes, please" it came back just as quietly from the other.

When their lips met in a soft kiss, you felt a tingle in your stomach. It was a beautiful sight to watch them lose themselves in each other. How they let out all the feelings they had kept inside for years, kissing and nibbling at each other's lips.

Still, they broke away from each other again. Bucky smiled slightly sheepishly and rested his head on Steve's shoulder. Again his eyes fell to you. "Would you kiss me, too?" he breathed, in a voice so vulnerable you'd never heard from him before. Immediately you nodded and knelt on the bed next to them both. Bucky raised his head a little with Steve turning to you as well. He too smiled contentedly.

A nervousness came over you as if you were a teenager again and about to have your first kiss. That's exactly how you also felt when kissing Steve for the first time.

Finally, your lips met. Bucky's hand buried itself in your hair while his other was pressed against Steve's chest, stroking over his pecks. In the time you two kissed, Steve watched you for a moment before his gaze slid to Bucky's crotch where a damp stain was visible on the sweatpants he was sleeping in. He couldn’t stop the grin creeping onto his lips.

Cute.

A raspy, low laugh escaped him. You knew that sound. A hungry sound that meant only good things, always involving many amazing orgasms. This made Bucky and you break away from each other. Immediately, Bucky followed Steve's gaze and blushed again.

"Sorry, I-" "Shhh, shhh, don't even start with that. You don't have to apologize or be ashamed, don't worry baby" Steve breathed, pulling Bucky right over his own hardening dick, making them both gasp.

Slowly Steve laid Bucky down on the bed between you and started kissing his neck. This made the laying an moan softly. With one hand he stroked through Steve's hair while with the other he stroked your arm and then pulled you closer by the wrist. You immediately leaned over him and gently kissed his lips, making him gasp quietly. The kiss quickly became more passionate and demanding. Our tongues fought for dominance- until you won and Bucky slowly gave up the control into your and Steve’s hands, just enjoying being worshiped by two people. A soft gasp escaped him. "I still can taste him… I can still taste Steve" he breathed against your lips. You grinned and kissed the soldier again, this time with even more tongue than before.

When he suddenly jerked hard and moaned, you moved away from him. Immediately your eyes fell to Steve who had taken off Bucky's sweatpants and was beginning to lick over his hard length. Under the slight light, you could see some of the previous cum coating Bucky's hard dick. Steve slowly licked him clean, letting his tongue play with the still leaking slit, before licking down his shaft and to his balls, sucking on them gently, Grinning, you bent over Bucky's chest and slowly started kissing your way down. Until your head was next to Steve's.

Steve looked directly into your eyes as he slowly licked all over Bucky's arousal. Sucking his balls into his mouth, slurping loudly while he let them out of his mouth with a smack. This made not only Bucky but also you moan. Fuck, this was all so hot.

While Steve was between Bucky's legs, you laid down at Bucky's side and slowly stroked the outside of his thigh. "You like that Buck, huh? What did you like most while you touched yourself so nicely?" you asked, grinning slightly.

It was hard for the other to answer at all, as Steve was still licking his hard dick. You pinched Bucky's thigh gently to remind him to answer you. "Oh-I-fuck-I saw you took him all the way in your mouth-and-and-oh God Steve," he whimpered as Steve sucked and took Bucky's length in his mouth, circling his mushroom head with his wet tongue. "-then he fingered you- oh fuck- fuck," he stuttered, making you grin.

Slowly you bent down to his hard cock and started licking over his length while Steve kept sucking and licking the tip. This made Bucky moan loudly and uncontrollably over and over again while he couldn’t stop thrusting into Steve's mouth.

He gripped Steve's hair with his metal hand while his other stroked your hair. "Fuck- I'm going to-come-I-no, no, please..." his words endet in a whimper as Steve let go of his dick and also pulled you away. "Please, I-" "Shh, baby, I don’t want you to come just yet" Steve then breathed against Bucky's thigh, grinning mischievously. His gaze slowly fell to you.

You realized what he was talking about- and you were totally onboard. That's why you gave a slight nod before kneeling over Bucky's hip. Bucky looked first at you, then over your shoulder to Steve- then at the ceiling, sighing.

"Am I dreaming?" he breathed, barely audible. This made all three of you laugh softly. "No, you're not dreaming, Buck" you grinned slightly and looked briefly at Steve. The latter gave you a soft kiss on the lips after which he slowly kissed over your shoulder. "Don't keep him waiting, honey" Steve breathed in your ear.

You grinned a bit, biting your bottom lip while you pressed Bucky dick flat against his abdomen, admiring him for a moment.

He was panting and breathing heavily, his chest rising and sinking slowly. His eyes were scanning your body, face and behind you, probably watching Steve as he kissed my shoulders and neck.

God, Bucky looked beautiful.

His nipples were rosy and hard. You imagined him having played with them while he had been touching himself, teased his nipples with his cold metal fingers while his other hand had been pumping his hard leaking cock.

You slowly sat onto his dick, just letting him glide between your slick folds. Your pussy was dripping at this point and you couldn’t wait to finally be filled by a cock. Bucky moaned quietly when he felt your wetness coating his twitching dick. Wanting to hear more of these sounds you leaned down to his nipples, your slick tongue circling the sensitive buds. This time he moaned your name a bit louder, grabbing your hair and pressing your head down against his nipples.

Someone’s sensitive.

Steve chuckled watching you tease Bucky. The chuckle suddenly turned into a moan when he started pumping his own cock quickly but stopping after a few moments. “Sweetheart don’t tease him so much” Steve pulled your hips a bit higher, grabbing Bucky's swollen cock and lining him up with your glistening hole.

Nodding, you let Bucky slowly fill your pussy. You both groaned as Steve got up from the bed and searched for something in the nightstand but you were more interested in the thick dick filling your tight pussy.

You sighed with pleasure as Bucky's whole length disappeared in your channel. It felt like heaven. For the both of you. "Fuck- you feel so good" Bucky breathed, looking back up at you. With a small smile, you gave him a soft kiss on the lips. He used this moment to thrust hard into you, making you gasp when he hit your g-spot. "oh Buck" you gasped and started to move, supporting yourself against his chest. You moved your hips quicker, falling harder onto his dick, while his tip hit your cervix deliciously.

Moans and gasps escaped your mouths. A whisper made you open your eyes again- you hadn't even noticed when you had closed them. "She likes it hard" Steve whispered into Bucky's ear. And that's exactly what you got from Bucky. The next time he thrust into your pussy, you fell forward on Bucky's chest. He put his arms around you and started thrusting into you hard and fast without mercy. He was pounding into your slick pussy.

You could hear squelching with every thrust. You felt Steve gently stroking your hair as he took one of Bucky's hands off you- after you opened your eyes you moaned again, seeing he had put Bucky's hand around his own dick. Lightly, you bit your lower lip before lifting your head a little and opening your mouth, wanting Steve to feed you his clock again. "Oh fuck" both soldiers breathed. Steve wasted no time before he was already fucking into your mouth. His grip on your hair hardened, while he used your mouth like his personal toy.

You felt your eyes roll back, feeling so much pleasure being used by two men.

The way the soldiers thrusted into you, you couldn't help but moan over and over. Just like the two of them did over and over again. Especially Bucky, who was watching his dick disappear in your slick pussy and Steve fucking your mouth.

Bucky was the first who came. "Fuck- I'm going to cum- can I cum in-" "Yes, Buck, cum for us. Come inside her" Steve gasped immediately. “Fill our sweet girl with your cum. Fill her till she’s dripping with it.” That's exactly what happened then. Moaning loudly, Bucky came inside you, gripping your hips tightly. There would probably be bruises by tomorrow -which you didn't mind. You’d love to wear bruises from Bucky and Steve on your skin. Letting everyone know what you did.

Your orgasm overtook you as soon as Bucky's fingers slid to your clit. You moaned around Steve’s dick, letting him slide deeper into your throat. That was enough to trigger Steve's orgasm as well, as he immediately pulled on your hair and pulled you away from his spurting dick. With his free hand, he stroked his dick shooting his seed on your face, as well as Bucky's chest. When Bucky opened his mouth, he got a few squirts on his face and tongue too.

You were still lying on Bucky's chest, while Steve laid down in bed next to you. He carefully wiped your faces with wet wipes that he had from the nightstand.

"Are you okay?" the blond breathed into your hair, kissing your head gently. After you nodded, he looked at Bucky. "And... you? Are you okay?" he whispered barely audible. Bucky looked at him with a smile on his lips and gave a slight nod. "Fine, Stevie." Bucky's grip around you tightened a bit while Steve put his arm around you. You watched as Steve gently kissed Bucky's shoulder and when he turned his head slightly, their lips met in a passionate kiss.

Satisfied, you watched the two men, sitting up slightly- unintentionally you gasped. You had completely forgotten that Bucky was still inside you.

And

And he -

He was still hard.

Fuck

Apparently he hadn't been paying attention to that either because a surprised gasp escaped him as well. This caused them to break away from the kiss.

Grinning, Steve eyed you both, sitting up. When you wanted to lift yourself from Buckys cock, Steve gestured for you to stay, then looked at Bucky and put something on the bed next to you. Bucky's eyes got a little big, but he nodded wordlessly, licking his lips.

Your eyes fell to what was on the bed.

Oh

Oh

Lube.

Thank you for reading!!! I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know!!! Remember; Feedback makes a writer happy😋❤️😂

[thebibliomancer]

11 Days of Comics! 12/11: Image Firsts: Astro City #1 (2022) “In Dreams”

Twelve out of eleven? Did I miscount again?

No. And how dare you doubt me. So rude. Having one more comic than expected is basically a tradition for these X Days of Comics, isn’t it? So I threw this comic on the bottom of the stack.

Let’s end stronger than Ford Fairlane, y’know?

Astro City is a comic I’ve always wanted to get into but trades have a tenuous relationship with being in print. The comic shop where I bought this reprint issue said they’d let me know if they get the omnibuses in stock and I haven’t heard back in months.

Some day, though. I like Kurt Busiek as a writer. 

The issue starts with Samaritan, sort of a Superman type guy, having a glorious dream about flying that gets rudely interrupted by an emergency alarm about a tidal wave threatening Manila.

Weird that a Superman type guy would be so annoyed that a flying dream was interrupted when he can just fly around whenever he wants. Except, the issue takes us through his day and he can’t. Fly around. Whenever he wants.

He goes from one crisis to another and he’s so fast that to Manila and back only got him seventeen seconds of flight time. At the end of the issue he tallies up the total amount of time in the air and thinks that 56 seconds is the best he’s had in months.

Between various crises, he also has to show his face at his civilian job - proofreader for the Astro City Rocket. Where he does his proofreading behind a locked office door because he actually sneaks out to deal with more crises while an alien computer does his job for him AND tells him where all the crises are.

He stops in to meet with the Honor Guard - the Justice League-ish team to his Superman-ish guy - to talk shop and compare notes and go fight a bank robbery. 

He has to attend an awards ceremony with the Firefighter’s Association, to accept an award for being just a great guy. Samaritan would love to skip the award ceremony but snubbing these kinds of events just offended people so he makes the time because it just makes it easier to superhero if people don’t think you think you’re better than them. (And he still sneaks out during the ceremony twice to deal with more crises).

You get the idea. From one thing to another all day. Seconds or fractions of seconds of flight time from place to place.

After everything, he just collapses into bed and instantly passes out. And off into another flying dream he goes.

The comic is a deconstruction and reconstruction of superhero tropes, using expies of popular characters to examine those tropes. This one, obviously, looks at how harried someone with Superman’s abilities and desire to protect as many lives as possible would be.

The Superman comics have played with him try to be this active in saving people but without being able to live his civilian life even a little, I think he burned out pretty quickly.

Anyway, teal deer, this issue of Astro City is good, what I’ve heard about other parts of the series are fascinating, and I’d like to read more.

With that, another X Days of Comics has come to an end. I hope someone enjoyed this all.

[pregtboy]

ik you enjoy back to back pregnancies and multiples so what abt a mishap of science or magic or smth where a boy ends up able to get knocked up again when he’s Already swollen w a baby or three? thinking it’s just growth spurts for the babies already in his womb until he goes in for his next appointment and has at least doubled if not tripled how many he’s carrying

YES he was planning on having a lil average family, just one to three kids or so with a few years between each, some semblance of a quiet normal life, so he was definitely thrown for a loop when he found out he was having triplets. he tried not to let it bother him much - after all, three kids was within his ideal range, and getting all the births over with in one go wasn't necessarily a bad thing. he'd just have his hands a little full, that was all. the growth that came with carrying triplets was certainly a bit much for him too - the skin on his chest, hips, thighs, and especially his belly was smattered with stretch marks that only deepened and itched more as the weeks crawled on. and of course there was his chest, which had gone up several cup sizes and gained a sensitivity like nothing the boy had ever felt before. his new curves caught him off guard, but nothing was quite as cumbersome as that baby bump of his. he wasn't used to the space it took up, and always found himself bumping things and knocking them over with his belly, unable to move around in quite the same way he did before his stomach ballooned up. the changing center of gravity also proved burdensome, and he often had to cradle his hefty belly and shift his poses in all sorts of ways just to find some relief and acclimate himself to his considerable new weight. of course, his husband took good care of him through it all, but the couple would soon be thrown for yet another - and even bigger - loop.

both boys watched their doctor do a double take during the ultrasound, murmuring in confusion to herself and staring at the screen in disbelief. the boys hear her muttering something along the lines of 'that can't be right, i must have miscounted...' before nervously shuffling out of the room to convene with her colleagues while the boys looked on, oblivious.

they went home from their appointment with more questions than answers - the doctors told them there were more babies growing in the boy's womb than initially believed - but they hadn't been there from the beginning, and they weren't even quite sure how many in total the boy was gestating now.

the next appointment, much to the confusion and terror of both the doctor and the patient, was quite the same. more new little dots found on the ultrasound, more little ones seemingly added to the pregnant boy's already massive belly. the doctors had never seen anything like it, and all they could do was assume each additional batch of babies would be born in an additional nine months. realizing how long this meant he'd be staying pregnant, the boy cursed himself for all the sex he'd been having with his husband during the pregnancy - he figured there would be no risk since he was already pregnant, but it clearly added up.

by the time his first due date - the original one - came, the boy has utterly gargantuan. his womb was absolutely packed with several litters, all at different stages, and given what a poor job his husband had been doing of staying off him, there were likely still even more newly conceived babies growing undiscovered inside him. after he had birthed his triplets, his belly had barely gotten visibly smaller. he blushed in embarrassment as he remembered less than a year prior, when he had fantasized about a small, perfectly normal family.

that fantasy was gone now - the boy had enough litters inside him to stay consistently birthing every nine months for years to come, and despite the circumstances, he and his husband never quite seemed to learn their lesson - the doctors discovered new babies at every appointment, and the poor swollen boy's husband was fucking still even more into him on a near daily basis. doing the math and trying to figure out how many children the boy was growing in his obscenely enormous pregnant belly, or how long he'd be pregnant for, only made the couple's heads hurt, so they decided to throw caution to the wind and stop keeping track entirely. after all, he was already so pregnant, what difference would a few more make at this point?

only one thing was for sure - the boy would be spending the rest of his life unfathomably pregnant without a single break, his numerous brood constantly expanding - and he would only get bigger.

and as it turns out, he enjoys this far more than his initial plan.

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

the fact we had a rehearsal less than 24 hours after a concert was diabolical but at least it was funny. mostly because we were all just ever so slightly loopy

went on a little walk with viola friend to refill our water bottles while debriefing the concert, returned just as tita conductor was popping out of the rehearsal room to get something from her office. which was the perfect timing for her to see me almost accidentally walk into a wall

despite tita conductor warning us stringently that we were not to miss the last rehearsals of the quarter at last night's warmup, i was still missing a whole stand of second violins, which tita conductor asked me about and i had to respond with being a human version of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

tita conductor was VERY happy with our performance last night, which. well. i guess i am being too critical? because she really thought we were good.

she did say that we should make our other pieces as "well-rehearsed" as the concert ones and my viola friend and i shot a look at each other

we read the elusive final movement of the christmas opera suite that we had ended on a cliffhanger so sharp the night before that nobody knew it was over. i had previously thought it would be included in the concert so i had prepared it to a certain extent until she let us know we were not going to play it and i happily let it fall by the wayside until today

this ended up paying off during a rather tricky rhythm that i was able to blithely speak back at tita conductor without much struggle. yay i know how to do music! yay i'm not a total fraud!

there is way too much measure counting between rehearsal markers in this movement so in these situations tita conductor likes to add rehearsal markers at certain parts to reference easily. the first desk of the first violins miscounted and the concertmaster said a little too loudly to his stand partner 'no that's WRONG' and tita conductor looked to her left and lost it laughing

all too soon i had to leave. just three more times of this and then i can stay the full time. holding on until then.

[fourseasonsfigs]

Building Block Figs - Two Devils

Following up on the last few days of building block fig posts, this is the last kit that I have to post about. I have three more incoming, but they won't arrive for at least a month, if that.

I actually started on these figs a while ago - they were the second set I started to make, after my first kit of Beautiful Fight Scene in the Middle of the Lake. That one was so involved that I figured I'd relax a little on an easy set before tackling the next scene.

Ahahaha. Little did I know.

First, I had such a big problem with this set that I originally wasn't sure I was going to buy it. The full, long name of this set is: Ghost Valley Valley Master and Tianchuang Leader. Great, love it, right? Always a fan. Except, this was the picture:

Right, you see the problem. Valley Master Wen is all dressed in his Episode 1 red finery, but our Tianchuang Leader definitely is not dressed in his midnight-hued civil servant assassin best. Why on earth would Zhou Zishu be in white? This is not "Rescue from Tianchuang Jail" A-Xu (although I kinda wish it was, that would be great).

Also, less egregious but still not great is the fact that Zhou Zishu's hair is Jianghu-styled half down, and that Baiyi has a cross-guard. This whole fig is just not working for me!

But, as you can tell (and as you would already have suspected anyway), I bought it, and just planned somehow to figure out a solution to change up the entire fig.

Somehow. I had no actual idea how to do it, but I felt confident I would somehow figure it out. So confident, that I even went ahead and put together Valley Master Wen first.

He, at least, was not going to require changing. The only thing I'd change up with him is to give him a gold guan instead of his hairpin, but I used up all my extra yellow bricks on the Catching Light fig, so I was out of luck. That's alright, I don't mind this one so much. The Valley Master would wear his hairpin at times, that makes sense.

Oh, I should say, in comparison to the other building block sets, these two together totaled 856 bricks - 424 for Wen Kexing and 432 for Zhou Zishu. The figs stand 4.4 x 5.2 x 10.2 cm and 5.2 x 5.6 x 10.2 cm respectively, and each one is rated 2 hours to complete. Like all of these kits, the time to complete is pretty right on, if you follow the directions.

The two figures came together in a set. I wouldn't have minded if they split up the two figures in two different bags, but nope, they're all mingled in there together!

Here's a sample progress pic:

This one wasn't too bad - it's always a little harder for the ones that are mostly one color, since it makes it easy to miscount as the colors all blend together. But, I didn't make any mistakes and it went pretty smoothly.

I finished the body and moved on to the face. They have you do the fig in pieces, and then put it all together at the end. You can tell the passage of time from the quality of the light in these photos, but I pretty much finished this one over the course of a day and an evening.

I had to laugh as I saw his red cheeks/eyeliner. Very cute!

And here he is! Photographed at a rakish angle, as well. He looks great!

While I was at it, I decided to click through the directions for Zhou Zishu, and see if I could figure out any ideas in advance of working on the fig. By this time, even one (and a half) sets in, I could see that they had provided lots of extra bricks, so the idea that was starting to half-bake in my head was that I would have enough bricks at the very end of all my kits to do something instead of the white.

While clicking though, I realized that I could skip the body part and do the head, which would help use up some of the necessary bricks. So the head it was! That way, I would really only have leftover bricks at the end.

That I got done very quickly. It wasn't bad at all! And, the best thing was that this head didn't have any long hair attached to it. So, I could just ignore the long hair when building the body, and use the head as is. Things were looking up!

I mean, Valley Master Wen looks horrified, but don't worry Lao Wen, he'll get better.

I set aside these two, and went on to the rest of the sets.

That brings us to this morning. I woke up, pulled out my SHL reference book, sat down with all the brick remainders, and figured out, I think, a pretty good plan of attack.

Technically, all his clothes are midnight shades of blue and wine, but those are not colors I had available, sadly.

I had a lot of black bricks left over since I wasn't doing the half-long hairstyle, and plus extras from the other sets. That being said, there wasn't a ton of the smaller sized bricks in black. Also, I didn't really want a fig that was black on black on black, and technically his robes are that deep midnight blue anyway. The biggest problem with that was that I didn't have enough of the darkest blue bricks. Or really any of the blue bricks, and of course going lighter would get us right back to a non-canon compliant fig. So, I decided to try and do his cloak and body with as much of the black bricks as possible, and try to use the blue ones as judiciously as I could, in the hopes of stretching them far enough.

I'm a little annoyed at myself I didn't take a pic of all the remaining bricks left so you could see what I was working with, but at least here you can see the start of the fig and the remaining black bricks left. You can also see where I started off making the interior white, to try and use as few black or blue bricks as possible. My plan was to make the cloak as enveloping as possible in order to use the least number of blue pieces.

You can see here how very few blue pieces there are left, and how far I have to go. You can also see here how I started changing up Baiyi, to make the hilt dark grey vs. the neon orange.

I will note at this point I was about two hours in on the body, which sounds ridiculous, but let me assure you, it gets worse. I stopped here for lunch, and then came back ready to finish this up.

Unfortunately for me, though, this is where I started to get into real trouble. I was changing up the sword, the top hand position (inadvertently, since I got rid of the cross-guard), I was trying to make the cape wrap around the front robes, ignore the directions for the long hair in the back and therefore revise the back (which is half hair). And I had no idea what I was doing with any of it, other than to desperately stretch out my remaining dark blue pieces. For each blue piece I did use, I was trying to figure out if I'd be better off using a bigger piece, or multiple smaller pieces, or if I might need those exact configurations later.

Basically, I was doing way too much off script, and didn't have the skills to back it up. The directions at this point were almost useless.

You can see how the step I was theoretically on looked nothing like the fig I was trying to make!

I must have reworked this piece here three different times. It doesn't help that the arms are asymmetrical, which only complicated something that I really didn't need to be any more complicated.

The biggest problem, of course, was that I was just way out of my depth, and kept making mistakes that I would have to go back and fix. And unfortunately, I have extremely poor visual short term memory, so when I disconnected a piece to fix a mistake or replace a brick, I couldn't remember how to reconnect it. And since I was so far off book with the instructions, I couldn't use that to help. I just had to figure it out new each time.

It was pretty rough going, I'm not going to lie.

Somewhere in this I ditched the two-brick configuration for Baiyi and made it into the slimmest, whippiest, greyest version I could.

At this point, those were all the blue bricks remaining, and I was critically short just a few pieces. So, I went to the lake raft set from Beautiful Fight Scene in the Middle of the Lake, which I'm going to re-work next to make the raft brown vs. blue and green. I pillaged a few dark blue bricks from the raft in advance of.

Finally, after three (more) hours, I was done! I couldn't almost believe it. Very happily, I started to take some pics.

And that's when I noticed that Zhou Zishu was actually taller than Wen Kexing. I was like, wait a minute. How is this possible?

It was possible.

At this point, I was really, really tempted to just say, you know what, it's good enough. Clean up the bricks and move on with life. But the bricks were still out, and I just couldn't let it go. After all this time, working so hard? No way.

I figured here the easy way out was to extend Wen Kexing's legs. Gong Jun is all legs anyway, so it would work.

I didn't take any pictures of this, because at this point I was losing the will to live, but basically not only did I extend his legs, I ended up extending the train of his robes just a little bit. Just to make it a little more like the show! I had plenty of red bricks, so this was actually fairly straightforward.

So NOW it was done. Unlike this extremely long blog post. Picture time it was!

You can see he's quite a bit taller now.

Don't judge my fig-designing skills too harshly, please! I was struggling. Desperately.

This is actually the first time I am really looking at them since I finished, so I'm curious about this too.

Oops, I see in my fugue state I knocked a little tendril of the Valley Master's hair off kilter. I'll have to fix that.

Ah ha, I did fix it! I have to say I really love how we have Wen Kexing's hand behind his back here - love this modelling. This is a good angle to see the train here - I just added that last two rows, nothing special.

Hmm, I guess I should have done a straight box down at the back for Zhou Zishu's cape, vs. trying to shape the shoulders and arms from where he's holding the sword. There isn't a ton of black bricks left, but I might go back and see if I can streamline it some.

Ok, this doesn't look too bad from this angle. I could have curved his bottom back part of his hair a bit more, but I suppose it can be the braid in back.

Well, Baiyi looks good!

Finally, I remembered to take a good bottoms-up pic for these building brick figs!

And the top here. Oh, I forgot to mention I had changed up Zhou Zishu's hair tie too - it was originally light grey and light blue, but I made it light and dark grey.

Alright, I'm at 30 pics, so there we have it. Clearly not the best, and there's still clean up work to be done, but I'm pretty happy how he turned out, considering everything. At least he's not wearing white robes.

In conclusion, I will not be giving up my day job for a brick designer job, that's for sure.

Well! Thanks for tagging along with me through brick festivities! I am looking forward to the next sets coming - they look wonderful. And best of all, I don't think I'll have to change a single thing on them!

Material: Plastic bricks

Fig Count: 508

Scene Count: 35

Rating: 8 hours of build time

[link to the Master Post Index]

[dolphin1812]

The third paragraph of this chapter is really long, but it’s actually only two sentences (although there’s a very real possibility that I miscounted - either way, it’s definitely not a lot of sentences for its length). The first sentence consists of the events of the battle. As I’ve noted before, the “lists” for casualties and military events resemble epic poetry and make the battle feel overwhelming and chaotic. While the names included here might have been more familiar to a reader in the 1860s, I’d imagine that the sheer quantity of information would still be hard to process, and the lack of a true break (as it’s all one sentence) enhances that feeling of being bombarded. This is particularly true because of how long the first sentence is. It takes up most of the paragraph, and this is the longest paragraph in this chapter. 

The second sentence is still fairly long, but it’s short enough to include here:

“Napoleon was accustomed to gaze steadily at war; he never added up the heart-rending details, cipher by cipher; ciphers mattered little to him, provided that they furnished the total���victory; he was not alarmed if the beginnings did go astray, since he thought himself the master and the possessor at the end; he knew how to wait, supposing himself to be out of the question, and he treated destiny as his equal: he seemed to say to fate, Thou wilt not dare.”

If the first sentence was about the chaos of battle (in contrast to Napoleon’s “admirable” plan, as discussed in the preceding paragraphs), this one “zooms out” by “zooming in:” by focusing on Napoleon, we see the battle as a step towards his goal rather than an unpredictable and messy conflict. At the same time, we also stop seeing the combatants as people. We may not recognize the names of all of the combatants, but many of them are there in the long first sentence; Hugo tells us who is doing what, and when he can’t give names, he gives numbers (for example: “eighteen hundred men overthrown”). To Napoleon, all of these people are “ciphers,” which “matter little to him” as long as he wins. His strategy may be “admirable,” then, from a technical standpoint, but his perspective is also a callous one. He also doesn’t see himself as vulnerable to the violence of war in the same way his men are, “supposing himself to be out of the question;” he assumes not only that he’s destined to win, but that he’s invulnerable.

The subsequent paragraph is also very interesting:

“Composed half of light and half of shadow, Napoleon thought himself protected in good and tolerated in evil. He had, or thought that he had, a connivance, one might almost say a complicity, of events in his favor, which was equivalent to the invulnerability of antiquity.”

Firstly: the light and shadow symbolism is back! And it’s with a reference to the classics! The “half” of light/shadow brings back the image of the phantoms struggling over Napoleon’s memory, but here (now that we’re seeing things from his perspective), they’re both overshadowed by his (perceived) power. What mattered was not his good or bad deeds (which he thought were “protected” or “tolerated,” respectively), but his “complicity” with destiny, which he felt was in his favor. Therefore, his actions couldn’t be judged on the same scale as those of others (a concerning idea that, as we saw with his judgment in the eyes of the populace, was very wrong). Seeing himself as possessing something equal to the “invulnerability of antiquity,” he couldn’t imagine failure.

Spoilers below:

But who actually possesses the “invulnerability of antiquity” in this novel?

Technically, no one does, as no one is completely invulnerable. But one character does come closer than any other: Enjolras. He’s constantly compared to classical figures and is unscathed by the battle at the barricades up until he dies. And while he believed the barricade would succeed to an extent (more in the sense that he had hope that it would than he believed that he was Destiny, but he wouldn’t have rebelled if he hadn’t thought there was a chance), he approaches battle very differently from Napoleon. He saw everyone at the barricade as a person, not a “cipher.” We see that he values his friends, and many men there are given the option of escaping by him and his friends so that their families don’t have to suffer from their deaths (showing a recognition of the personal lives of each man even when we don’t know how well they all knew each other). Enjolras’ comparative invulnerability, then, glorifies him in comparison to Napoleon in the same way his strategy does. The Empire reduces people to numbers for the sake of one man’s glory, but the Republic cares about the circumstances of each of them and is stronger for it.

[theoddcatlady]

I’m spitting out teeth that aren’t mine

I had thirty one teeth. I know, the average is thirty two. When I was seventeen, I got hit in the face with a soccer ball, full force. Knocked out my upper right incisor.

Yup, just thirty one teeth. Made for a good story, whenever someone asked about the gap in my mouth.

Then that gap vanished about three weeks ago. Right after a visit to the dentist’s.

What a time to go to the dentist, right? But I felt a hole in one of my molars, and I couldn’t put off getting it looked at. My normal guy was out with the flu. New dentist was this chick named Dr. Mills. She didn’t seem so bad, I think she was kinda pretty, but I was more focused on the pain in my tooth than the attractiveness of my new dentist.

Maybe I should’ve paid more attention. The day after the appointment, I woke up with thirty two teeth.

I didn’t even notice at first. I mean, why would I? I don’t count my teeth. I doubt you do either. But I did notice something looked weird. I couldn’t put my finger on it of course, not until I was having a snack. Apples with caramel dipping sauce, I was on a diet and that was my cheat for the day.

I bit into the apple when I felt it. That small, hard object on my tongue that had that oh so familiar bloody taste to it. Immediately I spat out everything onto the table, and among the bits of chewed apple and spit infused caramel was a bright white tooth.

Ew. I know. Disgusting. I picked up the tooth, running my tongue alongside the remaining ones in my mouth to see which one was missing.

You can imagine my surprise when none of them felt like they were missing. None of them at all. I headed for the bathroom to double check, still keeping the tooth clutched tightly in my hand. I opened my mouth, wide as I could, shined a flashlight down there to look for any gaps.

Nothing, zilch, nada. No gaps. None at all. That’s when I realized that yes, there was in fact, thirty-two teeth in my mouth. One more than previously, instead of one more missing.

I rationalized it of course. I mean. I was eating. Maybe it was a piece of an apple, I told myself as I chucked the tooth away in the trash. Of course, I didn’t have an answer as to why I had my incisor back, but who knows. Maybe I miscounted. Maybe there was only thirty-one teeth and they’d just readjusted themselves while Dr. Mills was handling my cavity.

I know, I’m stupid. I don’t need your sass. Just work with me here.

By the time I went to bed that night I was almost convinced that this was all just a massive overreaction. It was nothing. I hate being a bother, you know.

When I woke up the next morning, I sat up and almost choked to death on a mouthful of teeth.

Six teeth, to be exact. The feel of all the small hard objects flying into the back of my throat immediately had me gagging and heaving, I was lucky not to actually throw up. Still, all those teeth scattered across my bed, two of them actually landing on my floor to be batted around by my cat Socks.

Yeah. I gathered them up best I could, I possibly missed one but I was still more focused on the fact that no matter how much I felt around with my tongue, I couldn’t feel a single missing tooth. My gums did feel sore and oversensitive, but what the hell, what were those things if they weren’t teeth!?

I went to the mirror again, clutching the handful of ‘teeth’. Three molars, one canine, two of my front teeth. Yet even as I opened my mouth to look in the mirror, there was nothing wrong. I had thirty-three teeth in total, each one looking fine, if not a little crooked here and there.

The ‘teeth’ I now kept in a small bowl, in the fridge. I immediately tried calling my dentist to make an appointment, because I just had no idea what those things could be BUT teeth. For the first time since I’d started going to that office though, I rung out. No one picked up. No machine, nothing. I called again, of course. I called six times that day, and I’ve lost count of the times I’ve called since then.

I work from home. I don’t see people often, and I’m not close to my family. I’m what most might call a hermit. I didn’t really have anyone to turn to with all of this. And what else did I do? Of course, I googled. There’s lots of reasons people can lose their teeth. Poor dental care, which, no. I brushed twice a day, flossed, try to avoid too many sugary sweets and I don’t smoke or chew tobacco. You can also lose your teeth when you get older, which is also not fitting for me. I’m only twenty-nine. And other than this new teeth issue, my health was reasonably good.

Also, there’s the completely unexplainable fact that I wasn’t missing any teeth. I just kept losing them. I had thirty-four mostly normal teeth in my mouth, save for a few that looked strangely sharper than your average human tooth.

I was considering going to the doctor a few days in, because of course, why shouldn’t I? But it’s really hard to get a doctor’s visit where I live right now, and because I felt physically fine, it was hard to rationalize taking a slot for someone who actually needed help. Maybe I’m an idiot, but that’s just how I am. I keep making excuses. I don’t like causing a fuss.

Well, I’m sure you noticed there’s been a small… inconsistency with my tale, as of this far. I didn’t even really let it sink in until I felt my jaw start to twinge, like I’d been grinding my teeth in my sleep. I spent an hour in the bathroom counting me teeth. I was up to forty-two by then. Forty-two teeth. People should have, should have thirty-two teeth. Ten more than needed. And my jaw is having to expand to fit the new additions.

Upper jaw, mostly. I am now rocking one hell of an overbite. I haven’t gone outside since, grocery delivery is a savior in these dark times. This is past… natural. I’m still spitting out more teeth, even though there’s even less of a gap. They’re all running into each other, so crooked and ragged. I never thought I could loathe my face more, but with my upper jaw overhanging the lower jaw by a good three inches now, I do hate it. My skin’s all stretched, and some of my new teeth are actually poking out from between my lips, like some fucked up crocodile. If you look at me straight on, it’s not nearly so bad, but my profile is just… oof. I’m a monster now. Losing and gaining so many teeth, my jaw aches so badly I can barely sleep. I spit out globs of red whenever I chomp down a bit too hard on something, blood along with white shards and splinters of what are no doubt pieces of bone.

I finally snuck out last night to talk to my dentist. They hadn’t answered my calls to the point I was getting paranoid, like they saw it was me and chose to ignore me.

I’m thankful for the whole mask order in my state right now. It’s easy to hide my mutant fucking face like that. I drove through town, heading right for my dentist’s office.

Huh. How strange this adventure had gotten. I get to my office, and guess what? It’s vacant. Up for sale. It’s no longer my dentist’s office. It’s just an empty building.

I’m up to sixty-eight teeth. My jaw hurts so bad. I can’t get my personal dentist on the phone, it’s like they’re just gone… and as for Dr. Mills, well, I don’t know where she went or what she did… but I have a sneaking suspicion she wasn’t your average dentist.

[alto-tenure]

I used some data gathered by @sprinklecipher to figure out how many lines NPCs have in the first two Professor Layton games. I stated the data parameters in that post, so I won't bother with it here.

Then I sorted the characters by gender, just to see how many female characters there are versus male characters, and to see how many lines they respectively have. Discussions of misogyny in the PL series is nothing new, but holy cow, I did not expect as much discrepancy as there ended up being.

Percentages don't add up to 100 due to rounding.

Curious Village:

There are 9 female characters, versus 16 male characters, and two characters of unknown gender. Shoutout to Dahlia for carrying. Oh! And I changed the color of the pie chart wedges based on the character that speaks the most, aside from the Unknown on where I just picked a color that stood out against the other two.

Diabolical/Pandora's Box:

There are 23 female characters, versus 50 male characters, and two characters of unknown gender. Chelmey has a lot of lines, and Katia has the highest amount of lines by a female character in a single game. (Flora has more when her appearances in both games are compiled.)

And both games combined:

In total, in the first two Professor Layton games, there are 30 female characters and 63 male characters (excluding Layton and Luke), meaning there are slightly over double the amount of male characters than female ones -- and yet they get three times the amount of lines. Flora has the most lines of any female character if you combine her appearances in Curious Village and Box, and even after combining the lines from Don Paolo's appearances in both games Chelmey still has the most lines. It's almost enough to make me think I miscounted somewhere, but just using a rudimentary Control+F search of my modified version of the spreadsheet shows that it's probably accurate (or at least pretty close to it).

In total, out of the 4820 lines spoken between the two games (with the Curious Village cutscenes I transcribed), 2473 of those are spoken by NPCs. This does not include Layton and Luke's lines from the Curious Village cutscenes, which I did not transcribe because I didn't need them for my data. Some estimating aside, I'd say game dialogue is approximately an even split between Layton and Luke and the NPCs.

Keep in mind -- these three charts? They're not even taking into account Layton and Luke's lines. With those, these charts would be even more heavily male-skewed.

[phoenix-downer]

Where I Belong Chapter 1

The Big Olive. ~1700 words. Sora/Kairi. Starts during the end of KH3/during ReMind and moves into KH4. Kairi POV. Angst, Romance, Fluff.

Chapter Summary: During their world tour, Sora takes Kairi to Thebes to visit some old friends. Meg insists the two of them take a break from cleanup duty to play hooky, and Hercules asks Pegasus to give them a ride to his villa.

Story Summary: Kairi and Sora spend his final hours at Hercules' villa, trying to enjoy the time he has left while mourning the future they'll never have. After his disappearance, Kairi struggles to cope and throws herself into her training. But when she's sent on a mission with Donald and Goofy to investigate Olympus for clues, a run-in with the Lord of the Dead just might hold the key to finding Sora.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Seeing the worlds with Sora was better than Kairi ever could have imagined. She’d dreamed of this for so long that it didn’t seem real, like any minute she might wake up and it would all be over. Of course, any minute it would be over. That was why it was so important to treasure things while they lasted. And their latest destination was just as magical as everything that had come before it.

Thebes was a beautiful, bustling city, filled with larger-than-life statues, soaring columns, lush gardens, and paved streets lined with classical buildings. Its citizens were hard at work restoring their home from the recent fires and destruction, and Kairi enjoyed meeting the people here and learning more about their culture and daily lives as she and Sora helped Hercules and his fiancée Meg rebuild the city. 

They were currently working on clearing a small temple dedicated to Aphrodite. Kairi and Meg swept the floors of small pieces of debris (as Pegasus assisted with his wings) while Hercules and Sora tackled the bigger obstacles. Phil barked out instructions that made everyone laugh, his knack for miscounting words a running joke with the whole group. Bit by bit, the beautiful mosaics on the floor were becoming visible again. 

“So, Sora, I can tell you’re stronger than ever,” Hercules said. He lifted and set down an entire pillar like he was rearranging a wooden block, and it felt into place with a satisfying thud. “I’m guessing you found the answer to your question?”

“It’s all my trainin’, it’s finally paying off,” Phil insisted. He was lounging in the corner on a plush Hercules pillow, eating grapes.

“Actually, Phil, I did find the answer to my question,” Sora said with a chuckle. “Though not so much an answer as an entire shift in my perspective.” He glanced at Kairi and smiled. She couldn’t help but smile back, a blush dusting her cheeks because she would never get used to how her heart fluttered when he looked at her. “I know where I belong now.”

“Glad to hear that,” Hercules said, dusting his hands off. “You’ve gotta make sure you don’t take that for granted.” 

“I never will,” Sora said, his voice soft and low. His hand flickered in and out of existence, and he quickly shoved it into his pocket. Kairi felt like someone had stabbed her in the gut but pretended not to see what had happened. He still hadn’t admitted he was fading away, and she wanted him to tell her on his terms.

Meg frowned and took the broom away from Kairi’s hands. “Enough cleaning for now, we can handle things from here. You two need to play hooky for the rest of the day.” She looked at Hercules, and Kairi noticed the way his pupils dilated and how his entire attention was focused on her. “Wonderboy, whaddya say we let them romp around the villa? I think they could really use a break from all this boring cleanup duty.” 

“Oh! Um, that’s fine, yeah, that’s totally fine. Please, make yourselves at home. I’ll have Pegasus take you there.” 

Kairi gave Meg a grateful look. She was happy to help their new friends, but her time with Sora was running out, and she wasn’t sure how much longer they’d have together. Meg smiled and winked, then tossed Kairi’s former broom to Phil. 

“Goat-man, get up and make yourself useful,” she said. Phil complained loudly and stomped his hooves, making them all laugh, but he did as Meg asked. 

Pegasus dutifully clopped into position and used his head to gesture at his back. Kairi gulped. She’d ridden a horse with a saddle before, but Pegasus didn’t have a saddle or reins, plus he had those big old wings. How was she supposed to get on his back?

Sora smiled softly. “Here, I’ll help.” He put his hand over hers and moved it to Pegasus’s mane. “Grab a tuft of his mane like this, then skip to get a little momentum. You’ll throw your right leg up and use that momentum to get the lower half of your body up. Then you’ll grab his withers to help you pull the top half of your body up too.” 

“If I fall, you’ll catch me, right?” she asked, gripping onto Pegasus’s mane for dear life.

“Always.”

She looked at him, her heart racing, then took a few deep breaths. “I can do this.” 

“You can do this. I believe in you.” 

She nodded, his faith giving her courage. She did what he said, skipping and then throwing her right leg up. Pegasus dutifully shifted position when she under-calculated her momentum and overshot how far she needed to go, but between his help and Sora’s help, she managed to mount successfully.

“See?” Sora said, smiling proudly as she straightened. “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” 

She shook her head. “I’m always learning new things when I’m with you.” 

He looked at her in a way that made her so flustered she had to look away, her face as red as her hair. He kept looking at her like that, and it was so much that her heart couldn’t handle it. 

Hercules looked at Meg like that, too.

“Hang on, I’ll join you,” Sora said. “Scoot back a little, okay?” She did what he said, and a moment later, he gracefully mounted Pegasus and settled in front of her, grabbing tufts of Pegasus’s mane.

“But what will I hold on to?” she squeaked, realizing there was no easy way for her to grab onto Pegasus’s mane from her current position. 

Sora turned his head and grinned. “Me.” 

Gulping, she wrapped her arms around Sora as Pegasus broke into a trot, then a lope, then a gallop. She’d be more flustered by how close she was to Sora, by how her chest was pressed into his back, if she weren’t scared witless and holding on for dear life.

Then they weren’t on the ground anymore, and her stomach lurched as they rapidly ascended. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to fight the waves of nausea descending on her as the wind whistled past them. 

“Kairi, open your eyes,” Sora called back to her. 

“Ungh, I’m gonna be sick,” she moaned. 

“Trust me, it’s worth it.”

She took a deep breath, then peeked at their surroundings. The steady thump, thump, thump of Pegasus’s wings was soothing, and Sora was right. The view was absolutely worth it. All of Thebes plus the surrounding countryside unfolded beneath them, brilliant greens and lush fields and mysterious forests and winding rivers. In the distance was Mount Olympus, and Kairi marveled at how beautiful this world was, how different it was from Destiny Islands and Radiant Garden.

And best of all, she was getting to experience this with Sora. Now that she was feeling more comfortable, she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed happily. They were so close to each other and it felt really, really nice. She felt him stiffen a little at the increased contact and then melt under her touch.

She wished she could see his face, see how he felt about this, but then again, it might make her so flustered she had to look away again. Maybe touching him like this at first would help them feel more comfortable doing more later. 

No, what was she thinking. There would be no later. All they had was now. 

Presently, they began to descend. Below them was a sprawling villa with verdant walled gardens, elegant buildings with tiled red roofs supported by sprawling columns, and fountains and pools filled with beautiful blue water. This must be Hercules and Meg’s home. It was right by the ocean, and the sparkling sea glittered up at them. The villa got bigger and bigger till at last Pegasus glided to a smooth, easy landing by the foot of a tall stone staircase. They were on a paved garden path near a rounded seating area, and one of the fountains enticed them with its cool waters. 

She, Sora, and Pegasus were all panting, Pegasus from carrying two people on the journey, Sora from doing all the difficult parts of riding him, and Kairi from the thrill of it all. 

“Kairi?” Sora asked. “Mind if I dismount?”

“I wish I didn’t have to let go of you,” she murmured, her face red. She was sad their wonderful flight was already over. Yet another ending on the path to their final separation.

“It’s only temporary,” he promised, and she relented and released her grip. He dismounted and then helped her down, his touch gentle and strong at the same time.

She wobbled a little when her feet made contact with the ground, and he was quick to wrap his arms around her to steady her.

“Thank you,” she said, resting her hand over his heart. They were both breathing heavily, and Sora licked his lips. Their faces were so close that he could lean forward just a little further and kiss her. Her heart hammered in her chest. He had this look in his eyes that she’d never seen before, and a thrill went through her. She closed her eyes and tilted her head, imagining what it would feel like to kiss him at long last—

Pegasus neighed loudly, startling them apart. 

“Sorry, thanks for the ride, Pegasus!” Sora said, his face bright red as he rubbed the back of his neck. An overly cheerful smile was plastered on his face, like he was really embarrassed and was trying to hide it.

“Yes, thank you,” Kairi quickly added. Maybe she’d just imagined Sora had wanted to kiss her. She’d caught him by surprise, that was all. 

Pegasus whinnied appreciatively, then took flight again. Kairi and Sora watched until he became just a small figure in the sky, no bigger than a toy horse. Sora turned to her, a soft smile on his face. He put his hands behind his back in that delightfully charming Sora way of his and tilted his head.

“Well Kairi? We have this entire villa to ourselves for the rest of the day. What do you wanna do?”

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

A/N: The prompt for this fic was provided by Aquafolia, who requested a story based on the following quote from Hercules during KH3 in regards to why he gave up immortality to be with Meg: “I’d have to be apart from the person I love most, and that life would be empty.” She also suggested Sora and Kairi explore Thebes together as well as a few later plot points 👀 ✨ Thank you for providing the prompt and a basic framework for the story 🙏

Thank you also to Liv for reading through the story, providing suggestions, helping me stay motivated, and providing helpful feedback as always ❤️ I really enjoyed bouncing ideas off of you and hearing your thoughts. Thank you for always being so supportive of my writing, it really means a lot 🥺 ❤️ 

Also, the instructions for mounting a horse bareback are from this YouTube video. I just thought it would be really fun for Sora and Kairi to get to ride Pegasus together, but he doesn’t have a saddle or reins, so reality ensued and I had to do a little additional research. And I also rewatched the actual Hercules movie, pausing to take screenshots and make notes about character dialogue and world details to incorporate. It was a lot of fun and gave me a deeper appreciation for the movie and for how Kingdom Hearts has incorporated various details from the movie over the years. As I was watching the movie too I was like “wait a second, I don’t know that Hercules’ villa has really appeared in Kingdom Hearts yet at all (unless the garden-y areas in KH3 count), it’s so beautiful and I’d really like to feature it,” and thus the end of this chapter (and the next chapter) was born.

Also, the title is taken from one of the lyrics in Hercules’ song, “Go the Distance,” since his search for belonging is such a core part of his character arc, and he finds that place of belonging with Meg. Wink wink nudge nudge I wonder how that will apply to this story 🧐 😉 

As always, thank you for reading!

[ghostlyhabato]

I haven't posted anything here in well over a hot minute, but putting short unfinished/outdated work here feels easier than putting in on ao3 like its 'official' so. Just tossing old things out to share, but many of them i am NOT still working on so only the start of something or an idea.

This is a BNHA/Danny Phantom crossover ft Pariah for Reasons. i started it impulsively. if i continue on this I'd probably rewrite almost this whole thing.

~10K words, vague discussion or mention of death/possible abuse of a minor (danny's home life, standard Fenton's are Not Great Parents), medical trauma, ect. Everyone except Danny might be a bit OOC, especially the BNHA cast in this. Pariah just had secret character development/backstory.

Danny’s luck had to be the worst in the world. Or, in… both worlds?

If this wasn’t some other-world, he had a lot of questions for Clockwork. Because he was also definitely not anywhere in even the first two decades of the 2000’s. The Japanese news here (that he could somehow understand?) said it was 2148. Currently, he was hiding in a half-built building in a seedy part of what he’d found out was probably Tokyo. That’s what he heard people calling it, and it looked close enough to pictures Dani had sent him, but… well, he was pretty sure his Tokyo wasn’t filled with mutants and superheroes. 

When Danny had seen them all, he’d almost stopped hiding. Not immediately, he was having whiplash too hard, but he thought about it. Nobody really blinked when people looked weird or did weird things, or at least not when the heroes did it. And they were real heroes, and the people liked them. They cheered!

Well, they cheered for the heroes. When Danny tried to help, they seemed more confused. The crowds didn’t know his name, but they did shout encouragement. At least up until the heroes tried to bring him down.

Which was, like, totally stupid! Danny had helped them take down a villain way faster than they could have without his powers. But apparently a ‘kid’, or anyone for that matter, shouldn’t use their ‘quirk’ without a license.

Local ghost menace in one world, common illegal vigilante in another. He just couldn’t get a break.

Danny huffed thinking about it, slurping on his cup of noodles he’d taken from a convenience store. He felt bad about it, but he’d learned enough about capitalism from Sam’s latest social-justice binge to know how to minimize the damage he’d do to anyone actually vulnerable. No mom-and-pop stores, only chains; don’t get caught (obvious); take mass stocked items, and take as little as possible from one place. One missed soup can was a miscount or a minor problem. Five cans and half a dozen other necessities was too obvious.

Speaking of obvious. He had to get moving again. Danny groaned as he stood up, feeling the lack of a good bed in his back. He’d been here almost two weeks already, and he couldn’t find a way back. Didn’t help that they had some scarf ninja guy trying to catch him, apparently.

Danny had passed by the guy a couple times and managed not to get caught. Apparently the guy can turn off quirks by looking at people. Distractions in the form of villains and civilians had let Danny skate by, but he had to be careful. ‘Eraserhead’, as stupid as his name was, was not a joke. Danny had just gotten lucky not to be spotted while invisible- either that, or Eraser’s power didn’t work if he didn’t actually see Danny. Hopefully it was the latter. He had a feeling it was not. His luck wouldn’t last much longer.

He shoved his small amount of supplies in his bag- all stolen or paid for with previously stolen money(Taken from caught pickpockets). Blanket, some food, different clothes, and lots of hats and masks. His ghost form was not quite a good enough disguise here. The people hunting him in Tokyo actually had brain cells, apparently.

He had to move spots in the middle of the night. The last time he hadn’t, someone had almost walked in on his sleeping spot. Danny wasn’t sure if it was Eraser, but…

At least Tokyo was big. Giant, really, compared to tiny little Amity. There were all these different districts- prefectures- but he had no idea what was where yet. Being able to read Japanese somehow did not make the map any less confusing.

Danny tried to pick out the landmarks yet again as he reached altitude. Shrines, certain towers, lights, residential areas- it was still a mess in his head. Getting dumped here by a random portal didn’t help. The panic of that day made it hard to remember where it was, and running from heroes probably took him far from where he started. The place it appeared probably would be the best place to-

Several hundred feet above the city, his ghost sense went off. Danny froze in the air.

There was a ghost nearby.

The usual adrenaline spike was mixed with an intense flood of relief. It’d been a while since he was excited to be interrupted by a ghost. Maybe it was Clockwork to get him, or a portal on its own or- hell, he’d be happy to see Skulker at this point. He’d be happy to see Vlad. That thought almost made him pause, but he was getting kinda tired of being on the run all alone. Anyone would be better than no one.

His ghost sense brought him to an open field behind what looked like giant gymnasiums. In the dead of night, the glow of ectoplasm and an aura was like signal lights. There were already two dummies smoking by the time Danny got close enough to realize… he did recognize the ghost. In the worst way possible. He suddenly wished it had been Vlad.

Danny floated down behind the ghost, then dropped his invisibility at the same time he filled his hands with ectoplasm. “What are you doing here?”

The man in front of him turned around. He looked a little different than Danny remembered- his previously wild hair was tamed into a loose (still large) braid, he was wearing less medieval armor and more… workout clothes? A tank-top and fucking sweatpants. The realization actually made Danny’s brain buffer for a second trying to reconcile the idea of the tyrant Ghost King in sweatpants.

Pariah Dark stared at him almost as much as Danny stared back. “...you…” He said slowly with a frown. “You’re… the boy that bested me.”

“Danny Phantom,” Danny snapped, going back on the defensive. 

“Phantom. Right, sorry I didn’t learn your name in the middle of trying to kill each other.” Pariah didn’t seem all that phased. He kept an eye on Danny as he walked over to a nearby table with a bottle and towels.

Danny followed at a distance. “Answer the question. What the hell are you doing here?! You’re supposed to still be in the sarcophagus!”

“Hm. You must not keep very good tabs on your enemies,” Pariah muttered, before taking a drink from the bottle. He glanced at Danny. “I don’t know how long it has been for you, but I have been here a few years.”

“What?” Danny said.

“So, really, I should be the one asking what you are doing here,” Pariah said, crossing his arms as he faced Danny. “In closed school grounds. Only students and faculty are allowed.”

Danny frowned at him. “Aren’t you a little old to be a student?”

“... you better be joking, child.”

Danny huffed and shook his head, raising his fists again. “Whatever! Were you the one that dragged me here?! Or- or you must know how to get back! You must have been looking-”

“Why would I go looking to return to a place where I am the most hated being in the realms?” Pariah said suddenly. “I have found a place here. There’s… there’s no reason for me to go back.” There was an undercurrent of something to his words, but Danny couldn’t care less.

“You have to!” Danny yelled, throwing his arms down like a spoiled child. “I can’t be stuck here! It’s been two weeks, and I haven’t been able to sleep in an actual bed. I’m a hero, and people like heroes here, but somehow I’m illegal? Still?! I’ve got some guy named after a fucking pencil pun chasing me, I’m exhausted, I haven’t had a decent meal in forever, and I have to go home!”

Pariah sighed, dropping his arms. “I can’t help you return, child, but-”

Danny growled and shot a blast that Pariah easily blocked with a shield. “Shut up! You- you did something, you have to have. Random portals don’t just toss me to other worlds, and if this was just the future, Clockwork would have left me something-” Pariah’s eyes went wide, but Danny didn’t care. “So- so you have to be involved!” 

Danny approached, tears in his eyes now- god, was he really that desperate? He hadn’t talked to anyone seriously since coming here, and now it felt like it wouldn’t stop. “You tried to take over the Zone, you tried to kill me, you- you have to do something about this, or- or-”

Danny took a breath to bite back a sob, and suddenly the tightness in his chest wasn’t tears. He turned human and dropped to the ground. He blacked out before his head hit the ground.

“...Excellent timing as always, Eraser.”

Aizawa hurried out of the treeline, hair floating down as he stopped using Erasure. “What just happened? I only tried to erase his quirk-”

“Well, he’s a half ghost.” Pariah knelt at the boy’s side. “So you only maybe half-killed him.”

“...what.”

When Danny woke up, there was a worrying noise to his side. A regular, very slow beeping. It suddenly got faster as Danny shot up in the hospital bed.

The room was small and white and clean and there was a IV in his arm that he tried to phase out- It didn’t. His arm didn’t go intangible. Now that he looked, he was handcuffed to the bed, too. Why couldn’t he- he couldn’t use his powers, he was caught, no, nonono-

A large hand grabbed his as Danny reached for the IV. “Don’t be stupid, boy. That is there to help you.”

Danny jerked away from Pariah and looked over at the ghost sitting beside him. He wasn’t quite as large as Danny remembered, here- maybe that had just been his memory. He wasn’t wearing sweats, but now had on a more fitting tunic-looking shirt.

“Where am I?” Danny asked immediately. “What did you do to me? Why can’t I use my powers?” He tried to push himself up, but Pariah put a hand on his shoulder and easily made him lie back down.

“Oh, lie down, child. Didn’t you tell me last we spoke how exhausted you are?” He sighed, and it was disconcerting how calm he realized Pariah was. “If you hurt yourself in bed, Recovery Girl will only make you stay here longer.”

“R-Recovery girl…?”

“Ah, he’s awake!” Danny jumped at the new voice. A small old woman with a weird pink visor walked up to his bedside. “You were supposed to come get me when he woke up.”

“It was only moments ago,” Pariah said. “I had to keep him from ripping out the IV first.”

Danny had to guess this was Recovery Girl, although the name didn’t quite fit. She tsked and frowned at Danny now, and pointed at him. “Don’t you go doing that now! When you were brought in, you were badly dehydrated and malnourished! That IV there is your quickest way to get cleared by me to get out of that bed, do you understand?”

“I-I-” Danny stuttered, core fluttering in anxiety. “You- you’re not- you’re not going to take blood or-” He swallowed. “E-experiment?”

Both Recovery Girl and Pariah gave him worried looks. “Why on Earth do you think we’d do something like that?” Recovery Girl said. “I might have to do blood work if you were sick, but you’ve just neglected to take care of yourself recently. Just rest, and eat all the food you’re given, and I think you should be fine in a day or two.” Danny let out a breath he’d been holding, and the heart machine started to slow. She huffed and glanced at the handcuffs. “I can’t say what Eraser’s conditions are, but Pariah at least has put in a good word.”

“He…?” Danny looked at Pariah. “Then that- when I passed out, you didn’t-?”

“That wasn’t me, child,” Pariah said simply. “Eraser must have followed you here, since he is a teacher, and found us while we spoke. I don’t think any of us expected how his power would affect you.”

Danny felt his blood slow. “Does that… not happen to everyone?” The adults shook their heads. “Oh. I- am I…” He pulled at the handcuff. “U-under arrest…?”

“You should be.”

Another new face stood at the door. His long black hair and scarf hid most of his face, except his intense eyes glaring at him. Danny had only really seen him in passing, but he recognized the scarf. Eraserhead.

Danny shrunk back into the bed, accidentally making the chain clink as he tried to pull his hands over his chest.

“You already half-killed the boy, no need to scare him,” Pariah said. He almost sounded like he was being… sarcastic?

The glare turned on Pariah. “You’re the one who keeps saying that- He’s fine. He’s awake, isn’t he?” Eraser stepped up to the end of the bed and crossed his arms. “So. Danny Phantom. You’re the vigilante that’s been giving me the run around the past two weeks.” Something in his glare changed. “Are you really just a child?”

That was enough to have Danny glare back just a bit. “I’m not a child, I’m, like, almost sixteen!”

Pariah huffed and leaned back in his chair. “Really? Hm. How old were you when we fought?”

Danny scowled at him, not holding back. “...Fourteen. You got your ass kicked by a fourteen-year-old, so shut up.”

Pariah just rolled his eyes.

“Why did you fight a fourteen-year-old?” Eraser muttered.

“I think we’ve talked about this before,” Pariah said. “I can explain more later.”

“Great,” Danny muttered. “So. What’s happening now?” His anger died, just a little, as he looked at Eraser. “Am- Am I? Under arrest, I mean.”

“Like I said, you should be.” Eraser frowned, and Danny flinched with each following accusation. “Using your quirk without a license is highly illegal, especially using them to be an untrained vigilante. You could have gotten yourself or others hurt interfering with hero work. Not to mention, I know you’ve been stealing or breaking into various places for supplies and shelter. Maybe you didn’t hurt anyone, but that is still no excuse.”

Pariah cleared his throat. “But.”

“...But.” Eraser sighed heavily and dropped his arms. “Pariah has told me you come from the same place as him. Meaning you have nowhere to go, no support system, and you’re apparently missing the same… special nutrient requirements. You’re also an unaccompanied minor with no idea of the laws surrounding quirks. Given that…” He gave Danny a calculating look. “If you agree not to break the law anymore… you won’t be punished. My contacts with the police have agreed to absolve your crimes as long as you have a responsible guardian. We have some options for you while you are here.”

Danny didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath again, and let it out in one go. “Oh. O- yeah, okay. I can do that. I… didn’t really want to steal or anything. So that- yeah, that works.” he paused. “Uh… ‘we’?”

Eraser nodded at Pariah. “The principal of the school, the police chief, Pariah, and I.”

“Why is Pariah involved?” Danny muttered, shooting the man a glare.

“I told you I work here, boy,” Pariah said. “I am also the only being here even remotely similar to you, and we come from the same world. And I’m not a child. Of course I would be consulted.”

Danny scowled. “But- but you’re-” He looked at Eraser and pointed at Pariah. “Do you even know what he did where I’m from? He’s tried to kill a bunch of people! And take over the- the world! And-”

“Just because we fought once does not mean you know my whole story, Phantom,” Pariah interrupted.

Eraser glanced between them. “I have heard of some of Pariah’s past, yes. But we have come to some agreements. As far as I’ve known him, he has not been as monstrous as you see him. Not perfect, but not awful. I believe in giving people a chance to speak with their actions, and Pariah’s actions have proven trustworthy, so far.”

“‘So far’,” Danny muttered, glaring.

Pariah stood up. “Perhaps we should give him some time. I can understand why you’d hate me as you do, and you were fairly distraught the other night. The main fact for now is that nobody is going to hurt you, but you need rest.”

“If you try to leave, don’t,” Eraser said darkly. “You won’t get far.”

Danny frowned. “What, cuz you’ll be around?”

“Well, yes. But you should probably be more scared of what will happen if Recovery Girl finds you trying to get out of bed rest.”

“...uh.” Danny glanced over to the office door where Recovery Girl had disappeared. “...Okay?”

Pariah gave a small laugh, and once again Danny’s brain short-circuited. “I have no doubt he will learn. If nothing else, you are stubborn.” He nodded to Danny before heading out.

“I’ll be checking in,” Eraser said. “When you feel a little better, we’ll probably have a meeting with everyone about your options moving forward.”

“Okay. Um, thanks… E-Eraserhead?” God, that felt stupid to say out loud. “That’s your name, right?”

Eraser nodded once. “It is. Some teachers and other heroes call me Eraser. In school, though, students call me Aizawa-sensei.” He turned to leave. “There’s a good chance you’re going to be going to school here, too, until we find you a way home. So you can call me that.”

“Uh, okay, Aizawa-sensei,” Danny said hesitantly. He knew like half a thing about Japanese from Sam trying to show them anime. Didn’t ‘sensei’ mean teacher or something? 

Wait. 

“Wait- you’re making me go to school?!”

But Aizawa was already gone.

Danny thought they’d been joking about fearing Recovery Girl’s ire. He quickly was proven wrong. It only took her finding him trying to stand and stretch while still handcuffed to the bed to put him in the red with her. The only other grandmother-ish figure he knew was Ida Manson, but Sam’s bubbie hadn’t ever turned a glare like that on Danny before. Then again, he’d never really given her a reason to.

Safe to say, he was much more hesitant to go against Recovery Girl’s medical orders after that. (Or, he was much more careful not to be noticed. She usually noticed.)

If it wasn’t for being literally handcuffed to the bed, he probably wouldn’t have been cleared by Recovery Girl after only three days.

“Didn’t Aizawa-sensei say I wasn’t under arrest?” Danny grumbled as the handcuff finally came off. “Why didn’t he take this off back then?”

“It was suggested you’d run off alone again if you didn’t.” Recovery Girl harrumphed as he stood up. “Considering how many times I had to force you back in bed even then, I’m not surprised.”

Danny frowned. “Wait, who’d suggest that?”

“Is he ready?”

The two turned to see Pariah waiting in the doorway. The pointed look Recovery girl gave him made him put the pieces together, and he scowled.

“If he doesn’t push himself, he’ll be fine.” She waved a hand as she turned away. “Go on then.”

 Danny didn’t move. “Why are you here?”

Pariah just gave him an unimpressed look. “The principal and the others want to talk, now that Recovery Girl has cleared you from bed rest. I came to get you.”

“Could just give me directions, you know. Or a map.” Danny ducked around him out the door and started down the hall.

“You’re already going the wrong way.”

Danny scowled and turned on his heel. He didn’t look at Pariah as the larger ghost stayed even with him.

“Besides that,” Pariah continued. “Like I said before- I am the only other being from our world here. I will most likely be consulted on most matters regarding how you will be helped.”

“Only 'cuz you lied to them,” Danny muttered.

Pariah rolled his eyes. “I get the feeling there were a lot of untrue stories about me even before I awoke that first time. You do not know the truth of my tale, Phantom, just as I do not know yours.”

Danny snorted. “Oh yeah? What part don’t I know? The part where you terrorized everyone and staged a violent takeover? Or the part where you were literally so shitty, several people had to put you in time out the first time?” He shot him a glare. “Or, I skipped this, the part where you ripped my town off the map and threw it into the Ghost Zone for a day! You sent a skeleton army to attack people!”

Pariah just looked ahead and sighed with a vague frown. “Maybe at another time I could tell you, if you do not choose to try to fight my every word.” He slowed at a door, making Danny double back. “For now, could you try to be civil? The people here do want to assist you if they can. Do not judge them for my actions.”

His hand waited on the door handle, so he was obviously waiting for a reply. Danny huffed and crossed his arms. “I mean… fine, but I can still judge why they want to trust you.”

“...I suppose that is the best we can do for now.” Pariah shook his head before opening the door and waving Danny in.

Inside was a table set up with documents. On one side, two men who looked like they were in law enforcement were sitting. Aizawa sat opposite them, and Pariah took the remaining chair there. There was one chair obviously for Danny, and opposite him was…

A white… bear… rat… dog…. Creature? In a little suit and tie. It smiled as Danny stared.

“Hello!” the creature said in a cheery voice. “You are Danny Phantom, then? I am the principal of UA Academy, Principal Nezu! You’ve met Aizawa-san, and this is detective Tsukauchi and his partner detective Tanua.”

Danny blinked. “Uh…. oh… kay?” He was still processing. Thinking about it, there was a non-zero number of sentient ghosts who were less human looking than Nezu. That was probably what helped him stop staring and finally sit down. (His chair was right next to Pariah. Ew.)

“Er, actually-” He hesitated as everyone looked at him. He swallowed. “Phantom is… is what I go as when I’m a ghost? Like my superhero name- I-I’m not always in ghost mode. My last name is actually Fenton.”

“You chose a hero name?” Tsukauchi asked.

Danny shrugged. “Uh, well, nobody knew I was a ghost back home. And my parents are- well.” He knew his parents being ghost hunters was weird and possibly traumatizing to him. It was also not important right now and he didn’t need these guys trying to get him in therapy or something. “They don’t like ghosts, so I couldn’t exactly go around being called my normal name when I was flying around town fighting other ghosts, ya know?”

The three humans gave him worried looks.

“That actually brings up what we wanted to start with today, Fenton-kun!” Nezu said, seemingly unaffected. “Pariah has told us what he can of where you come from, but as you are probably aware, there are large gaps in his knowledge as well. We’d like to start with asking you basic questions about your life, if that’s alright. Beginning with where you are from, originally.”

Danny gave Pariah a suspicious look. Pariah gave him a look back that practically said, ‘yeah, I talked about you. What are you gonna do about it?’ At least, that’s how Danny read it.

“Sure, I guess,” Danny mumbled. It already felt weird enough to be upfront about not being totally human, but that cat was way out of the bag. And also kind of unimportant in this place? Nezu certainly wasn’t human. Still, Danny found himself fidgeting and rubbing his neck before speaking. “Um, well- I’m not sure what the geography situation is here. I mean, Japan and Tokyo exist back home, so…? Anyway, I’m from Amity Park, Illinois, in the US.” He made a face. “Er, also, it was only 2012 last time I checked.”

Everyone looked a little surprised at that, even Pariah.

“You are aware the year is 2148 here, yes?” Aizawa said.

Danny nodded. “I mean, yeah. I read the news in the two weeks I was hobo-ing around.”

“Your Japanese is very good, for an American teenager,” Tanuma said. “Especially one from over a hundred years ago.”

Danny stopped. “Wait- uh. I’m- okay, this must be some magic nonsense, cuz I have not been speaking, let alone hearing, Japanese this whole time.” He shrugged. “I mean, I think I could tell when I first got here it was weird? And I’m sure if I tried to write in Japanese it wouldn’t work, but, uh-” He frowned and looked at Pariah. “Dude, you’d be farther back in time than I was, you shouldn’t know future-modern Japanese either.”

“I simply took it as part of the transition into this world,” Pariah said. “It just made things easier, so I was not keen on investigating it too closely.”

“So that is not part of your quirk, for sure?” Nezu asked. “Could it be a ghost aspect you were not aware of? Just so we are all clear.”

“No?” Danny said with another heavy shrug. “I dunno, man, I’m still catching up on ghost magic and biology sh- stuff. I know ghosts can speak and understand most dead languages? That’s about it.”

Pariah nodded. “That is the only general rule about languages ghosts have, yes.”

Nezu hummed and put his hands- paws together.

“You-” Tsukauchi cleared his throat awkwardly. “I realize this may be a sensitive subject, so please feel free to turn down this line of questioning. You said you are ‘catching up’ on ghost information- you’re still young then, even in those terms? Can I ask how…?”

“You are right,” Pariah said suddenly. He gave Tsukauchi a hard look. “That is a sensitive topic. One does not just discuss such things with strangers.”

Danny waved a hand. “I mean… I don’t think that’s exactly what he was asking, but, uh, yeah. I’m not gonna talk about, uh, how I died, if that’s what you meant.”

Tsukauchi held up a hand, quickly shaking his head. “No, no, of course not. I completely understand.”

“If you are uncomfortable with any of our questions, please tell us, Fenton-kun,” Nezu said.

“...yeah.” Danny nodded absently. “Er, well, I think what you were asking was how long I’ve been- I mean, I’m still half human but I uh… I’ve been half ghost for almost two and a half years, now.”

The worried looks that passed around the table, even hidden as they were, made Danny’s stomach clench. He slid down in his seat without thinking about it. This much attention, from adults, from adults that weren’t ghosts, was really weird. Especially with how formal it felt.

Pariah was the one exception, but even he gave Danny an inscrutable look. His attention just made Danny annoyed, though. He glared back.

“How long have you been doing hero work back home?” Aizawa asked quietly.

Danny shrugged again. “Almost just as long. The fighting died down sort of recently cuz I set up truces with a lot of ghosts. They used to cause a lot of trouble cuz before that a stable portal between the Ghost Zone and the human world was really rare, so a lot of people just didn’t know how to hold themselves back or something, and I was protecting the town by tossing them back through the portal. Now it’s not so bad. Sometimes people don’t know the rules, but allies or ghosts in on the truce can usually set them straight without me, since they know it’d cause them trouble too. There are some ghosts that come specifically to bother me, though.” He grinned. “But I’m pretty strong.” He shot Pariah a look. “Stronger than when I whooped your ass too, by the way.”

“I would suspect so, from such a young ghost,” Pariah said.

“Wait, you two fought?” Tsukauchi cut in, frowning at Pariah. “You fought a child?! And lost?”

Danny frowned back. “Yeah- I thought you said you told them what you knew?”

“I told Eraser and Nezu-san,” Pariah said.

Tsukauchi looked between them, then at Nezu. “Is it really appropriate-”

“Pariah has informed us of the context around their altercation,” Nezu said easily. “And he also asked for some privacy in the matter. But I assure you, we believe that there is currently no danger posed for anyone in interacting.”

Tsukauchi sat back with some hesitation.

Danny rolled his eyes as obviously as possible. “I’m not scared of him, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He wasn’t going to point out he had the ecto-skeleton last time, because he was totally strong enough to beat Pariah without it now. Totally. Probably. ...Maybe.

His skill at denial was certifiably top-tier at least.

"Anyway," Aizawa said, apparently getting them back on track. "You won't be doing any of that while you're here. For one, the only ghosts here are in this room and for two, you're a minor. Even students have to earn hero permits to work as licensed pro heroes. Vigilantes are illegal."

Danny made a face, but didn't argue. He didn't want to have to deal with whatever Aizawa's power had done to him again.

"I'm sure Eraser has told you," Tanuma said, "but we're going to drop all charges against you up til now because of your… unique situation. However, any future charges will be addressed as usual if it comes up. Understood?"

"Y… yeah," Danny muttered. It didn't sit right, though. Being told he wasn't allowed to help protect people. He stopped himself from saying something with a huff, despite everything.

"Is there a problem, Fenton-kun?" Nezu asked, and he… he did sound genuinely concerned.

Danny shifted uncomfortably. "N- not really. I just uh. Might need reminders." He laughed uneasily. "Ya know, when you get used to running towards the screaming, it's kind of hard to stop." That got him a variety of looks around the table. "I uh. I'm used to helping. Back home, nobody-" He huffed again. "Some people tried to help. But they were either… not great at it, or they thought ghosts were… inhuman. Less than animals. So they-" He smirked, so he didn't break. "They didn't just toss them back home with a kick in the pants, ya know?"

Most of the worried looks were aimed at him, be he saw them glance at Pariah. Not that he would know any of this, the asshole barely gave humans half a thought before, as far as Danny saw.

Pariah seemed to have all his attention on him, though.

Aizawa sighed eventually. "They say the best heroes react on instinct. That you can't train for that kind of thing." He didn't sound very happy about it in this case. "Just… try to remember there are pros taking care of everything here, alright?"

Danny gave a noncommittal humm and shifted in his seat, a hand going to his chest.

"What is your obsession, boy?"

They all looked at Pariah at his sudden question.

"What?" Tsukauchi said.

"What's it to you?" Danny shot back, glaring at him.

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

Danny and Pariah just stared (or glared) at the other.

Nezu cleared his throat. "Pariah?"

Pariah was quiet for a moment. "His obsession." He didn't take his eyes off Danny. "Also known as a focus, or a reason. Every ghost has one. It's the center of their being. So, what is yours, boy?"

Danny snorted. "Didn't tell anyone yours? What is it anyway? Conquest? Domination?"

Pariah sighed.

"Fenton-kun." The boy jumped at Nezu's calm voice. "Is it common to tell others your obsession, as a ghost?"

"It- uh…" Danny shrugged. "I mean, it's not asked a lot. Usually you can kinda get the gist just by meeting them. Or they just tell you- hell, that's how Skulker introduces himself, 'the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter'." He snorted. "He's not, technically I probably am, but that's his thing."

"Do you have 'thing', then?" Aizawa asked. "You did say you're only half ghost."

Danny shrugged again. "I mean, I think so, since without an obsession you don't have a ghost. Even little non sentient blob ghosts have an obsession to, like, eat or something. Frostbite thinks it might just be easier for me to ignore or I like to have more than one I switch between, since humans are really flexible compared to ghosts with that sort of thing."

"Frostbite?" Nezu questioned.

"Oh- right-" Danny sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I'm not used to talking about stuff with people who don't already… know. Frostbite is kinda like my ghost doctor. He and his people in the Far Frozen are really good doctors for ghosts and I have an ice core like they do too, so he helped me figure out more about my biology." He paused and smirked. "Especially since they love me after I locked this asshole back up when we first met."

Pariah just sighed again, sitting back to cross his arms.

"Child, please."

"I'll stop when it stops being funny. Or when you stop deserving it. So, never."

Nezu coughed lightly. Danny at least made an effort to tone down his smile. “Well, if you do have one or more than one ‘focus’, what would they be?”

And there went any smile he had. “Oh. Er…” He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling heat rise in his cheeks. Everyone was looking at him, and from Pariah’s expectant look, he’d probably figured it out. “Uh. Well, space and astronomy stuff might be… my secondary one…”

“And your primary focus?” Aizawa said.

Danny sunk down in his chair, not looking at them. His face was definitely red. “Probably… prmbmle….”

“What was that, Fenton-kun?” Nezu said, leaning forward.

He heaved a sigh, and said clearly, “Protecting people…”

The other adults stared, but Pariah huffed what could have been a laugh. “Of course. No wonder.” He shook his head with a smirk as Aizawa rubbed his eyes and Tsukauchi heaved a sigh.

Nezu just smiled. “That’s a very… heroic focus.”

Danny just shrugged. “Not that I can control it. Didn’t know about it when I was, er, forming, so it just sort of… happened.”

Tsukauchi sat forward and nodded at Pariah. “What is- a focus? Obsession? Whatever we want to call it. How does that affect a ghost?”

Pariah looked between him, Danny, and Nezu. “As we both said, a focus is just that- the focus of a ghost’s afterlife. Something their entire nature revolves around. Following one’s focus leads to health and stability, or power if done in excess. Outright avoiding or going against a focus is…” He frowned at Danny. “...ill-advised. At best it can lead to stress and fatigue. At worst, it can lead to frenzy, aggression, and- eventually- a spirit’s end. Especially when a spirit is not in the realms, following your focus is a key part of staying sane and healthy.”

Tsukauchi glanced at Danny and cocked an eyebrow.

“Uh… yeah, that’s about what I know, actually.” Danny shrugged.

Aizawa put his arm on the table and leaned his head against his head. “So what I’m hearing is, we have an untrained, unlicensed teenager with the equivalent to an overpowered quirk who has to be a hero for his own safety?”

Danny grimaced. “Safety is probably… not the best word. I, uh, do get hurt back home pretty often.”

Aizawa waved a finger at him. “And that is not helping your case here, Fenton-kun.”

“I think this is a wonderful opportunity, then!” Everyone turned to look at Nezu, who simply smiled. “There is no reason for young Fenton-kun to fight or get hurt recklessly here, and we are the top hero academia in Japan for a reason. If anyone is equipped to handle his unique needs, I believe it is us. It wouldn’t be the first time students came to the school with some kind of hero experience. Fenton-kun, you said your parents were not aware of your vigilantism at home?”

Danny sat up. “Oh. Er, no. I mean, they taught us how to defend ourselves with their inventions, and my mom’s a black belt- she tried to teach us some basics, it’s probably the only reason I got a full month into fighting before I broke my hand punching Skulker-” He stopped and shook his head. The humans exchanged some looks, but he ignored them. “But- but no, they don’t know.”

“And you worked alone?”

“Y-er.” Danny’s hand found it’s way to the back of his neck again. “Uh. I mean… sort of? I was the only one actually fighting anyone, but my friends Sam and Tucker knew and helped provide cover or distractions sometimes, or carried spare equipment. My sister Jazz found out and tried to help, but…” he shuddered. “She’s not allowed to use the ranged equipment around us anymore. She got my mom’s reflexes, but my dad’s aim- couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, ya know?”

Tsukauchi suddenly covered his face with his hand. Danny just smiled nervously, not sure what he said to make this worse.

“So…” Tanuma said slowly. “Your parents keep weapons in the house? That you have access to?”

“Well… yeah? I don’t-” Danny’s ‘the rest of the world is clueless about ghosts/the Fentons’ brain cell suddenly burst from the grave. “Oh- oh my god, wait, that is not as bad as that sounds!”

“That sounds pretty bad,” Tsukauchi said. “Especially if they haven’t figured out what you’re doing when you borrow equipment, which is what it sounds like.”

“I- well-” He laughed, high and shaky. “Yeah! I guess that would sound pretty bad, and would make them suspicious, if… they knew… we were taking stuff…”

Aizawa just had his head in his hands at this point.

Danny waved his hands wildly. “Look, they- there’s a lot of ghost stuff going on and they- they’re ghost scientists, of course they’re distracted trying to do something! And- listen, I’m going to tell them eventually, I just need the right time and- and okay, I mean that does get harder when they think Phantom is the one stealing equipment.” He dropped his hands a fraction. “Which, I guess they- they don’t really just ‘think’ that if they’re… technically right…”

The table was silent.

“Child.” Pariah sighed. “I was raised in a warrior culture, but even I can tell there are several issues with your family by the day’s standards, if all this is true.”

“Even without quirk laws, I think that’s pretty obvious neglect,” Tsukauchi muttered into his hand. “Not to mention…” he looked at Danny, and Danny’s panic skyrocketed at the clear worry. “You said they’re ghost scientists?”

He swallowed hard, shaking hands suddenly very, very still. “U-um. S- sort of.” His heart jumped to his throat while his core was a heavy block in his gut. Why was he panicking so hard? They already knew his secret. And they couldn’t do anything to his parents, so- so why did them looking so worried suddenly hit him so hard? 

“Sort of?” Tanuma was closest to him on that side, and turned his chair to face Danny better. “Fenton-kun, what exactly do your parents do?”

God, he couldn’t look at them, couldn’t bear what they thought of his parents. That’s all it was, the gut-instinct to years of being bullied for what his parents did, being judged for how they acted, 

Being hunted for what he was-

A hand reached out, and he jerked back, the chair moving with a metallic screech.

Tanuma froze, that too-soft tone to his voice. “Danny-kun. Just breathe. You’re alright, you’re safe. Nobody here is going to hurt you, and nothing we talk about has to leave this room unless you want it to.”

He sucked in a breath through his teeth, holding himself, not quite looking at Tanuma. From the side, he saw a puff of breath come from the detective, and belatedly noticed how cold the room had gotten. A bit of frost even touched the metal arms of his chair. He forced his jaw open and took a gulp of air, held it, and blew out what ended up being a fine frosty mist that settled on the table in front of him.

In, hold, then out. “Good.” Again, little brother.

The next breath didn’t litter the tabletop with ice crystals, and he managed to relax his grip on his arms in the third. Nobody moved while he forced his core to stop freezing everything.

His voice still shook. “They, um. They’re inventors. They make a bunch of ghost-related stuff- blasters, wrist ways, shields, containment…they patent them, and sell them to the town and government for defense. Even after the town accepted ghosts as real, they’re called crazy. The only experts in town, but crazy.” He swallowed again. “But, uh… they like to call themselves ghost hunters.”

There was a muffled swear from Aizawa. Evan Pariah looked a bit surprised.

“Ghost hunters?” Tanuma said. “What- why?”

“Because ghosts are just evil ectoplasmic impressions of post-human consciousness. Obviously.” The smirk and sarcasm he tried for ended up a grimace and squeak. His vision blurred and- “Dammit, sorry…” He wiped at his eyes quickly, trying to turn away. The table was blessedly quiet while Danny got ahold of his tears.

Aizawa was looking at him- they were all looking at him, really- when he seemed to settle. “Is that what they think of Phantom?”

Danny could only shrug, blankly staring at the puddle now on the table. “If it’s not Phantom, then they’re saying it about all the others. They don’t think ghosts are- are people, really. They say ghosts don’t have emotions besides anger, that they can’t feel pain, that they’re worse than animals-”

Pariah interrupted with a scoff. “I’d ask why you bother protecting them if not for your focus. But your efforts sound like they’d be better suited elsewhere.”

“They’re my parents!” Danny snapped, eyes flashing green as he shot Pariah a glare.

“It does not sound that they act like it.”

Danny shot to his feet and was stopped by Tanuma putting his arm between the two ghosts. The rest of the room was tense, save Pariah, calmly staring back.

“I think it would be best for you to withhold any further comments about the Fentons, Pariah.” Nezu also seemed calm, but it was hard for most to read him in the first place.

Regardless, Pariah simply hummed agreement and broke the staring match. 

Nobody pointed out that, technically, both of them were right. From the way Danny glared holes into the table as he sat back down, he knew it too.

Tanuma put a hand on the table, grabbing everyone's attention. "Given that it's only Fenton-kun here, and all the rest of this context, I think we can table the discussion of his home life if or until it becomes relevant. The only other thing I think should be taken from this is, well…" He looked at Danny and gave him a nervous smile, and tried to keep his tone light. "No offense, but you might do well with therapy?"

That got a dark snort of laughter from Danny. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. My sister is going into psychology, and she never shuts up about it. That's not really an option."

"Perhaps not when you were at home," Tsukauchi said with a nod. "But would you consider it while you are here? While we don't know how long that might be, it could be helpful both in the short and long term. We would be able to give necessary context and ensure the utmost confidentiality."

"All staff are going to be at least somewhat aware of your situation," Nezu added. "So if you wish to go to the school counselor-"

"No."

The table went quiet, until Danny realized he was shaking again, and slowly took a breath. "N- I… I tried school counseling once. She… nearly killed half the school." He huffed, not a laugh but he smirked humorless. "Well, probably would have ended up being the whole school, but… anyway, she was a ghost that fed on people's misery. Said mine was the best…" He shook his head. "Anyway, the point is, if I try to go to therapy, or especially a school counselor, I- I'd…"

"We understand," Tsukauchi said gently. "You do not have to go, it was simply something we suggested without context."

Nezu nodded and put his paws together. "I am sure [Name] would also be willing to meet you in a non-office or non-therapy setting, with supervision, if that would help ease any fears. Such a meeting would not have to necessarily lead to treatment afterwards, but simply for your peace of mind."

Danny made a face, but shrugged. "Maybe…"

“I can make a note of it and ask you again later?”

Danny just shrugged again, and Nezu nodded and wrote something down.

“While we’re health-adjacent,” Aizawa said. “Do you know if or how your vitals or health might be different from average, Fenton-kun?”

“Oh- uh, yeah, actually.” He laughed once, slowly relaxing. “Once Jazz found out I had a ghost doctor, she made them run me through the gauntlet and figure that all out. The obvious you probably already noticed? My pulse rests at like, 30? I don’t have to breathe quite as much, especially when I sleep- freaked my friends out the first time we had a sleepover after. Still need air, though!” He rubbed at his throat and winced. “Uh, temperature about 80 degrees-”

“Celsius?” Tanuma gasped.

Danny blinked. “Oh- uh, fahrenheit? That’s like,” -he ran the quick and dirty formula in his head- “Twenty five, twenty six celsius? Yeah, I-” he laughed. “I’m ice, not fire. Eighty celsius anything would probably kill me. Or- well anyone, that’s like over a hundred- no, two hundred fahrenheit?”

He heard Tsukauchi mutter something about ‘Americans’, which Danny agreed with on principle.

“Yeah, so, that. I wear out in the heat but below-freezing temps aren’t that bad, even while I’m human. Uh, for everything else, we couldn’t be exact because there’s only three halfa’s ever- one of them has never been to the Far Frozen despite my best efforts, and the other is a fruitloop that would and should be shot on sight because, as I said, he’s a fruitloop.”

“Meaning?”

“He’s batshit crazy and basically a stereotypical supervillain.” Danny paused. “Wait, stereotypes are probably different here, huh…?”

“So you don’t have answers about any specific health requirements?” Tanuma said.

“Oh- uh, Frostbite made some educated guesses?” Danny grimaced again. “I, uh… was probably a little malnourished even before I got here. Being a teenager mixed with constant activity and adrenaline, and ghost cores burn through energy crazy fast. So, I’m, uh. Always hungry. Never got a calorie count, wasn’t worth it, but more than I was getting. That, and more ‘healthy’ ectoplasm in my diet- he ended up just making me supplements, since it was too much trouble to get and keep ghost food around.”

Most of them seemed to be writing something down, except Pariah. He just looked at Danny. “I’d hope your obsession was at least being fulfilled then?”

Danny couldn’t help but shoot him a glare. “Yeah, that wasn’t an issue.”

“Allergies or reactions?” Tsukauchi prompted.

“Er… no? Not specifically for me, just- you know, general ghost things.” He waved a hand at Pariah, unwilling to admit him being there saved some explanation. “I can withstand some things a little better than normal ghosts, and some things less. Same with human stuff. Like-” He paused, only long enough to remember they couldn’t do anything about it anyway. “Well, probably won’t come up, but I can’t get drunk on normal alcohol. Then ghost alcohol knocks me off my ass.”

Pariah snorted at that, but the other adults sans Nezu gave him looks ranging from shock to concern. “Why do you know that?”

“Nobody told me what was in what at a Saturnalia Truce party, ‘cause different standard drinking ages over time and culture. My friend Dora had to lock me in my room at her castle so I didn’t keep drinking. I’m strictly and publically BYOB for Zone parties now.” He made a face. “Which wouldn't be so bad if everyone stopped making jokes about ‘don’t let the baby drink’ every time anything festive happens.”

Pariah, the bastard, kept laughing. Danny kicked him in the shin. “Shut up!”

“Anything…” Tanuma sighed and put his head in his hand. “Anything that might be more relevant?”

“Uh… I typically need, like, a lot of aspirin for it to work? I’d guess that goes for medicine in general, but I also have a pretty great healing factor most of the time, so.”

“What’s your healing factor like?”

“Eh, healed a broken ulna in like… a week and a half, one time? Stitches heal in a day or two.”

Tsukauchi and Aizawa rubbed their eyes this time, clearly exasperated.

“...what?”

“You’re just like the problem child, aren’t you?” Aizawa muttered, seemingly to himself.

“Er- who’s the problem child?”

The other adults looked confused, but Aizawa just sighed in a way that was kind of familiar to Danny.

“Is advanced hearing one of your abilities, Fenton-kun?” Nezu said casually.

Danny shrugged one shoulder. “Er- kind of a general ghost thing, but yeah.”

“Right,” Aizawa huffed, and gave Danny an exhausted but focused look. “Since we’re on that, tell us about your quirk- or your power, as Americans call them.”

“Yeah, uh- power? Singular?”

He was starting to feel bad for exhausting the man. “Typically, here, people only have one quirk. Sometimes certain individuals can appear to have more than one, but really it’s just a dual-purpose use of a single quirk. For the purposes of registry and school, you will be registered with one quirk.”

Wow. That… “That’s… going to be… kind of impossible?”

“It may just limit what powers you may use publicly,” Pariah said.

“Why don’t you just tell us what you can do, and we can go from there?” Nezua added with a smile.

“Okaaay…” Danny held up his hand and began listing off on his fingers. “So, there’s the basic ghost stuff: flying, intangibility, invisibility, enhanced strength, hearing, and durability… oh and overshadowing but- I- I don’t use that one anymore, really.”

Tsukauchi looked like he really didn’t want to ask. “Overshadowing?”

“I believe he means possession,” Pariah answered instead.

“Right, right, of course…”

“I don’t use it anymore,” Danny said again, not looking at them. “Unless it’s to stop someone else overshadowing someone, but that’s it.” He shook his head and continued. “Then there’s ecto-manipulation- ectoblasts, rays, shields- can’t really make anything complicated with shields, but I never trained for that. Personally, I’m an ice core, so ice creation and control- thank Frostbite I’m not freezing everyone and everything around me anymore. I can sense ghosts, and that usually shows up as seeing my breath because of my core. I can duplicate myself, but not… consistently?”

Pariah raised an eyebrow, but Danny shot him a glare. He just smirked and didn’t say anything.

Danny sucked in a breath. “And, um, my ghostly wail. It’s like a scream, but it’s my most powerful attack- and most destructive. I’ve taken out buildings with it before, and it usually forces me to transform back after, so it’s a last-ditch thing.”

“‘Transform back’?” Nezu said.

“Oh! I, uh, have a separate form- my ghost form? I guess that’d be a power- it’s how nobody in town knew I was Phantom. But I can’t hold it forever- if I run out of energy or pass out or go to sleep, I transform back to my human form. My ecto-signature is weaker in human form, which makes it harder to notice or track me, but I also have a harder time using my powers without transforming.”

“How does this transformation work, exactly?” Nezu asked, leaning forward with his paws together. “Is It destructive or painful?”

“N- no? And, I don’t know? I just sort of-” Danny made a motion to his chest. “Like… pull my core forward? Mentally, I mean- it doesn’t feel bad, and it’s just really bright. And I can like, partially transform?” He let his eyes go green, but he was sure they’d seen that earlier when he was freaking out.

“In that case, would you be willing to show us now?”

“I- uh- sure?” And then suddenly they were all looking at him, and he never felt more self-conscious. Transforming was so normal for him usually, but having an audience like this was different. He pushed himself forward in his chair, but didn’t stand, fidgeting with his shirt. “Uh…”

He didn’t mean to be stalling, but Aizawa and Tsukauchi shared a look, and that just made him pull his shoulders in-

There was a rap on the table. “Phantom.”

Danny’s gaze locked onto Pariah with his challenging tone. When he noticed the unimpressed look Pariah was giving him, it ticked him off.

He transformed almost without thinking, his core already humming in defiance to the challenge he only then heard from Pariah’s core. Pariah smirked again, and the sound from his core shifted to smug satisfaction before quieting.

It took Danny a second of sitting there- facing Pariah, half ready to stand and fight- before he registered what had just happened. He did get up then. “You did that on purpose!”

“You were overthinking it,” Pariah said simply. “I gather that you usually shift to challenge an opponent, so I gave you the appearance of one.”

“I- You- asshole!” It was obvious there wasn’t going to actually be a fight, so he crossed his arms and fell back in his seat. Not pouting over how easily he was played. Obviously.

The other adults in the room were either giving him curious looks or hiding their own amusement. Tsukauchi in particular peered at him before turning to Aizawa. “Do we know if your quick interacts as normal with Fenton-chan’s… ghostliness? Does it react like a transformation quirk, so he’d just transform back?”

Aizawa scowled at him. “...yes, but more than that. Last time, he immediately passed out, and we had to take him straight to Recovery Girl.”

“That was you?!”

Tsukauchi responded like Danny hadn’t spoken. “Are we sure that reaction wasn’t just from malnutrition or exhaustion?”

“Are we suggesting we play with his health to test it?”

“Er.” Tsukauchi sat back. “Right- no, obviously not.”

“Eraser’s quirk forces another quirk to completely deactivate,” Pariah said. “All of Phantom’s powers are tied to his core- since that would be what Eraser’s quick targets, it would temporarily shut down the core itself.”

“Which is … bad,” Tsukauchi said, barely not making it a question.

Pariah huffed. “A ghost’s core is like all human internal organs in one- so since Phantom needs his core to survive as any other would, yes. That’s bad.”

Tanuma looked at Danny. “Er, do you? Need it to survive, I mean.”

Danny swallowed, and the whole room got ten degrees colder. “Yeah. I… Yeah. That’s- That’s not up for debate. Trying to remove it would kill me.” He shuddered. “Just… don’t ask me how I know that.”

Tanuma held up his hands. “Yes, of course! I didn’t mean to come off like that. I just wanted to make sure we all understood.”

The temperature ticked up a couple degrees. Danny nodded, and they moved on.

“Onto more immediate, short-term plans,” Nezu said without missing a beat. “We had discussed options for where and with whom you will be staying while you are here, Fenton-kun.” Danny couldn't help a worried glance in Pariah’s direction. “While you share much common ground, we’ve all agreed it would not be a good idea to have you stay with Pariah-san, so don’t worry about that.”

Danny tried not to make it too obvious how much he relaxed at that.

“Aizawa-san is both qualified as a stand-in guardian for minors in unforeseen circumstances, and an experienced underground pro-hero. He has a spare room kept for situations not unlike these, and has offered to house you until such time as we make other arrangements.” Nezu smiled at him. “That is, if you have no complaints with that arrangement, Fenton-kun.”

“I… don’t think I do?” Danny looked at Aizawa, and felt bad again. “I mean, as long as realizing I’m an absolute disaster hasn’t changed your mind?”

Aizawa stared at him. “...as long as you can figure out how to follow rules, I think we’ll be fine.”

“Uh. I’ll do my best.”

“That’s the spirit!” Nezu said happily. “Which leads us to schooling. We do not know how long you will be here, but we would like to keep you abreast with your peers. Were you in school back home, Fenton-kun?”

Oh great. They had mentioned that, hadn’t they? “Y… yeah? I um… was almost flunking out, but yeah.”

“What grade were you in?”

“Tenth? Er, second year of high school, if- I don’t know how school works in Japan.”

Nezu simply nodded. “Here, high school is three years long, and begins usually when the student is 15 or 16. So then you would be in the same grade as the UA first years. Depending on testing, we would like you to go to school here, given that both Aizawa-san and Pariah-san are staff, and we are the leading heroics academy in Japan.”

Danny had to shake his head. “Wait- hold on- you have superhero school here?! That’s what this is?! That’s-” His mouth went dry as his brain registered what Nezu said. ‘Depending on testing’, ‘We would like-’. He tried not to deflate too much. “That… sounds awesome. I- I don’t think I’ll be able to pass whatever testing you need, though. So what then?”

Nezu tilted his head and gave Danny an odd look, though he still smiled. “In the event you are not capable of attending UA, we will place you in a different high school or home schooling appropriate to your needs. I don’t think that will be necessary, however.”

“Yeah, well…” Danny sighed. “You haven’t seen my grades.”

“You wouldn’t be taking these tests today,” Aizawa said. “That’d just be unfair, given your health and the stress of relocation. If all goes well, you’d come back in two weeks, which would give you time to study if needed.”

“We would also not expect exactly the same standard of scores as usual, given your situation. Namely in history or English, which would be substituted for individual Japanese instruction wherever you are placed.”

Danny couldn’t help slip a bit of a smile at his first thought. “I think if I fail history, I’d be grounded when I get home.”

“Why do you say that?”

He covered his mouth with a hand. “Just- inside joke, sorry.”

While everyone else seemed willing to roll their eyes and let it slide, Pariah shot him a look. Not one that Danny could really even parse before he schooled his features, but he noticed anyway. He still felt hyper-aware of Pariah’s presence, but especially when he had weird reactions like that.

He didn’t get a chance to say anything, though, because now Tsukauchi was looking at him weird.

“Didn’t you say that form takes energy to sustain? You don’t need to hold it just because we didn’t tell you to change back.”

“Oh.” Danny blinked and looked down at his gloved hands. “Er- I guess I just didn’t notice? Sorry.” He changed back quickly, feeling gravity reassert itself on him. “It’s not like I have to spend energy to hold it, it’s more like a light switch? And it’s just as comfortable really. My human form is just… like the power-saver on your phone. I switch back automatically when I’m too far in the red.”

"So you're saying it feels natural to you?" Nezu said.

"I mean… yeah. My powers aren't something I have, it's something I am." He paused, and remembered the phrase Jazz kept repeating. "Human or ghost, I'm always Danny. And that means I'm always both."

Nezu smiled and nodded like he'd just passed some secret test.

Tsukauchi cleared his throat politely. "I think that brings us to the last thing we need to discuss. Namely, trying to find a way to get you back home."

Already, a put was opening in his stomach. Danny nodded and tried to breathe deeply.

"You might be aware, but before this, no effort was made to find a way back to your world." Tsukauchi glanced at Pariah. "Simply efforts to make it possible for a ghost to live here safely. So, while we may be starting from square one in getting you back home, Pariah has done most of the hard work that will keep you safe and healthy here while we explore our options."

"You mentioned a portal earlier," Aizawa said. "A… 'stable portal from the Ghost Zone'?"

Danny nodded. "Oh, yeah- uh, there's always been natural portals, but they are hard to track and dont stay open long. My parents built a big stable portal a couple years ago- it's not the only one, but the guy who built the other two knew to either hide them or built better defenses to keep ghost from just… coming in." He made a face. "And you know, I didn't know anything or anyone back then, so when ghosts started coming through and causing trouble, I didn't know what else to do besides just… toss them back in and try to keep the door closed."

All of them looked like they wanted to say something about it, but Aizawa pushed forward. "So then, it's theoretically possible to build a portal to the ghost realm. If that was done here, there is a nonzero chance of it working, and a nonzero chance that it would open somewhere home-adjacent."

Danny nodded. "Sounds like that'd be the first thing to try, yeah. I could probably help with making that, too. I'm not the inventor my parents are, or a computer fiend like my friend Tucker, but I did grow up around this stuff and use it daily. Not to mention, I'm probably the only one that knows even some of the details of how ectoplasm works as an element or chemical, since Dark-Ages Mcgee here skipped a few hundred years of science class." He grinned as Pariah gave him a tired glare.

"You're a menace."

"Aw, how'd you guess my middle name?"

"Would that be safe?" Aizawa cut in.

Danny blinked back to the table. "What?"

Aizawa was trying hard not to glare at him. "Would it be safe for you to be involved if a portal was to be built? Both physically and mentally."

He opened his mouth to immediately wave it off, but paused as his core tinged at the idea of the portal, dark and dead, a hole in the wall-

"Um-" Danny coughed. "Well. I… get the feeling the safety measures would be a lot more strict with you guys?" No switches inside the portal, he'd make sure of that. "S-so, yeah, all good. Wouldn't even get to that point until all the plans are built and testing was done to make sure physics here isn't too different in some weird tiny way, anyway."

He must have paused too long, because nobody looked convinced.

"Look, if you don't let me help, I'd probably go crazy worrying about it and break in to double check everything anyway."

"If that's your intent, you really shouldn't tell us that," Tsukauchi said with a sigh.

Danny just shrugged. "If it gets you to include me, it won't happen anyway. I don't like to lie and sneak around if I'm not basically forced into it. And you knowing what I'll do in either situation just gives you full accountability for your choice, so you can't really come back and be mad at me for doing what I said I would do if you locked me out."

"That's a fair argument for your intent, I suppose!" Nezu said, which caught Danny off guard by tone alone.

"Oh. Um… thanks? I think?"

"We will have to research and discuss that situation privately with the professionals of the field," Tsukauchi muttered, writing several things down. "For now…" He glanced at the others. "If there's no disagreement, it might be helpful for you to write down anything you remember of the other portals you know about, so that we are able to find engineers and scientists most closely experienced with the necessary areas of research."

"Oh, yeah, totally. If you give me enough paper, I could probably recreate a chunk of the blueprints, honestly."

The detectives looked a bit surprised by that, but the others either expected it or hid the emotion by now.

"It sounds like we have a plan of action!" Nezu said, and clapped his paws together. "Unless there is anything you would like to add, Fenton-kun?" He paused for Danny to shake his head. "Then I think we can wrap up our meeting for today. After all, you and Aizawa-san still need time to gather some basic necessities, and from what I hear, you could use a good night's sleep outside of our infirmary."

Danny gave him a weak smile, and tried not to shudder at the memory-sensation of the IV. "Y-yes, please."

Aizawa took that as a cue to stand. "Let's go, Fenton."

Danny stood, but hesitated as the others stayed put.

"We just need to discuss legal logistics and documents, don't mind us," Tanuma said with a smile.

"Okay…" He gave Pariah a serious look before moving to follow Aizawa. He didn't want to stick around the man, but having everyone else trust him wasn't going to ever make sense.

[updates-from-po-town]

Did you get the snacks?

I realised I did a miscount when I was running on a half hour of sleep when I sent the snacks off so you might be receiving 50 packets instead of 5......

Hope Dad doesn't kill me for that

Anyway my sister is blasting really loud music in her room and our brothers are preparing to knock her door down so I gotta watch

See ya!

We did, thanks fam! We been usin them to keep the little homies from wanderin away from the town!

And dont worry, if your dad asks, you totally only sent us five B)

[gunsatthaphan]

out of curiosity, if you know them, what 20 awards did cp win? did any ther bl shows win awards?

Y Universe Awards: 7x

สุดสัปดาห์ Y Awards: 4x

KAZZ Awards: 4x

Howe Awards: 2x

True Insider TV Awards: 1x

Mekhala Awards: 1x

Feed Y Capital Awards: 1x

MCHOICE2022: 1x

Which brings us to a total of 21 so yeah I miscounted 😂

All of these were individual awards for either Zee, Nunew, ZeeNunew as a couple or the show as a whole.

And yes, a lot of other bls won awards this year as well but I won't list them all lmao.

xxx

[forsythi-amitie]

Did a count of the idols who are allowed the most number of weapons in their cards. (both bloomed and unbloomed to make things fair I guess.)

Just to put it out there I had to recount the totals like, several times, I managed to fuck up finger counting of all things more than 5 times. sorry if I miscounted.

So, generally most characters don't have more than like, 5 cards with some kind of weapon. The numbers are kind of skewed, since groups like akatsuki and knights have the higher counts, where swords are just kind of a thing. The odd one out here is Yuzuru who just. Is allowed to do that. I guess.

Souma is excluded for hopefully obvious reasons. (Shinobu too, as I think the majority of his are foam, which I see as being different to a prop weapon that goes with one of the outfits)

-> After a lot of counting, the winner is Sena fucking Izumi with a total of 11. he just gets a fuck ton of swords I guess. After that, it's Tsukasa and Yuzuru with 10, Leo and Ritsu with 9, and Arashi and Keito with 7. (I think so, anyways.)

If I were counting both Souma and Shinobu, they'd have 38 and 16 respectively.

-> some characters just, don't have any.

Makoto, Aira, Tatsumi, Shu, HiMERU, Kohaku

(Here's the list of "rules". it was a little awkward trying to put it all at the start)

Things like bows for the archery club don't count, and neither do props that aren't proper weapons? It's confusing but I'm referring to things like toy guns. As for makeshift weapons, who knows, I suppose I'll count them. Oh, and I'm counting these as just the weapon being in their card, not so much as who's wielding it. I also didn't count cards where the bloomed is holding the same weapon, just in a different position, like the cards where the difference is an expression change