#i know the strong point of the multiverse are the interactions but again

[buubonita]

ahh i agree that it's more likely that they break up than stay together and thats is not bad, but just because they end up separated doesn't mean that they won't see each other again! people sometimes drift apart and need some time to themselves! and i think that the three of them need some time to focus on themselves..with help from others of course, but then again, neither Killer nor Dust nor Horror NEED to always be together or in the company of others and this is something i haven't seen. Why we cant have them ALONE? Why can't Dust follow his path alone? Why can't Killer or Horror do the same as well?

Jumping from one "group to another" isn't a simple process either, that's not how things work in a few cases,, after all, relationships are more complicated than they seem.

i like the idea that they "miss" each other sometimes, call it because they love each other to a certain point or because they're possessed by habit. when i don't see someone i always see i miss them! Changes in routine always hit differently and i think that would happen not only between the three of them but also with the unmentionable. .anyway! I love MTT, they are my favorite trio and always will be no matter what take are we getting, but i have preferences, that's it.

I’m probably the only one who sees mtt underneath nightmare as just coworkers who’d go their separate ways immediately after they escape. Coworkers who have a lot of history, most of it not good.

And still there would be a deep chasm of mistrust beneath them—they won’t talk about or discuss any personal matters, just enough trust to work together well and have no plans to kill eachother, but not enough to trust the other to not throw them under the bus or turn against them as soon as Nightmare says the word.

[bennydwight]

Just read through your two cars and a kid au, and I was wondering some things, feel free to ignore any/all of them obvs.

Does Steven ever manage to get back to his old time?

Do you plan to catch up to canon so to speak, like where Ford asks Stan to come over, or even up to the main run of the show?

How much acsess does Steven have to his powers? Is there ever a moment where they’re in trouble and wham! Big glowing pink shield?

In a similar vein is there ever a bit where stevens backstory gets revealed? Or does he just drop random bits out of context while Stan gets an increasingly concerned look on his face?

If Steven does ever return to his own time without just aging there, is there a bit where he finds the mystery shack and a bit of a Spider-Man moment happens where Stan recognizes his old friend?

Sorry if this is annoying, your au just gave a bit of the brain worms

Okay, so first of all:

I love this whole ask and all the questions because this AU has given me the brain worms too ❤️ Answers under the cut, because this will likely get long!

Does Steven ever manage to get back to his old time?

I was originally debating between two possible endings for this AU: one where Steven returned home, and one where he didn’t. As I think about it more, though, I’m coming to realize that the story makes more sense and has more closure if he does, so the answer is a 90% yes

Do you ever plan to catch up to canon?

Up until the point where Ford sends Stan the plea to come to Gravity Falls. My reason for this being that, if Steven were present for the reveal of the portal, a lot of GF canon storybeats wouldn’t end up happening. A mediator during Stan and Ford’s first interaction after ten years (especially one with Steven’s abilities) would basically guarantee that the inciting incident for Gravity Falls wouldn’t occur. Steven has advanced knowledge of other cultures/species/technology, and his opinion on the portal might sway Ford’s resolve to use it. Even if everything DOES go according to script (which would require a lot of OOC choices by several characters) and Ford gets lost in the multiverse, Steven could call on resources to fix it long before Dipper and Mabel get there. So while Stan’s ten years homeless are marginally better, by the time he reaches Gravity Falls, he’s on his own again.

(I wonder if he would’ve approached Ford’s request with more maturity after spending so much time with Steven? Or would the fresh loss of a long-time friend provoke him into irrationality?)

How much access does Steven have to his powers?

All access! He hides his gem half because 1) he’s enjoying ‘playing human’ for someone who has only known him as such, and 2) he doesn’t know how a relatively conservative kid from Jersey would react to an alien and it’s in his best interest to hide, since he’s in a completely different time period and location and for the moment he’s dependent on Stan for survival. The more time passes, though, the more uncomfortable he is with the notion of sharing. One of his obstacles in this story is that he still struggles with the unintentional release of his Pink powers.

Is there ever a bit where Steven’s backstory gets revealed? Or does he just drop random bits out of context while Stan gets an increasingly concerned look on his face?

Plenty of the latter! A lot of Stan’s concern comes from listening to what Steven says and then forming his own (albeit incorrect) conclusion of what’s happened in his past. Since he’s a Big Strong Man who doesn’t talk about Feelings, he never brings up his suspicions to Steven and that’s how the gem secret has been kept so long. I doubt Steven would be able to lie to Stan if asked outright about his backstory.

As to the former, it’s one of my most anticipated scenes. It involves a song, an accident, and a crater ☺️

If Steven does return to his own time, is there a bit where he finds the Mystery Shack and recognizes Stan as his old friend?

I like to think so. The reunion might be an epilogue piece, but the story of Steven and the current Gravity Falls Gang has been done better by other creators, so this AU basically ends with Stan getting Ford’s postcard.

I think that answers most of the questions, but if you have more or want further clarification, please don’t hesitate to ask! This AU lives rent free in my brain and (as shown) I can talk about it at length lol

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: The Flash

Oh how the DCEU has had its ups and many downs. Each character for the most part has taken a turn in the spotlight and now we finally get a solo film for our favorite scarlet speedster and it was as fun and exciting as I hoped it would be. The excellent opening sequence sets the sometimes quirkie and hilarious tone of the film that is very reminiscent of Back to the Future. I was especially surprised by the emotional depth the film carried for not only the titular character, but the supporting characters as well. If you know The Flash's history through comics, animation or the excellent CW series, don't worry. This film follows a familiar plot point, but takes a fresh approach to it. The consistent pacing of this multiversal adventure was great and I loved when it actually slowed down to deliver the thematic elements of choice and living with your past. Not all the characters worked but the ones that do, steal the film and get you excited to see how they react as the story progressed.

Ezra Miller came off more as Wally West humor and personality wise in earlier films but in this film, he finally plants his feet firmly in the role of Barry. Ezra takes Barry on the familiar emotional rollercoaster of his origin story and it was fun to see a fresh take. I loved his balanced amount of humor and heart in many great moments with his father Henry, portrayed by the wonderful Ron Livingston. The chemistry between them really hammered home the motivation and emotional turmoil of Barry's decisions. Ezra does double duty as Barry deals with a younger alternate version of himself and it was a great mirror for him to look into. Their interactions made older Barry more mature and centered. Ben Affleck reprises his role as Bruce Wayne / Batman and I enjoyed the mentor nature of their friendship the most in this film. It carries over from both Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon's versions of the Justice League film so well and it was great to see Ben again. The great Michael Keaton returns as the 1989 Bruce Wayne / Batman and he hasn't skipped a beat. He has evolved the character in a fascinating way and I liked what he became. It answers the question that many have had. What would retired Bruce Wayne / Batman be like? When you finally see him move and fight in his new batsuit, he shines and is as badass as you remember. I couldn't get enough of him and I loved that he acknowledges his mortality in many great scenes. Sasha Calle was fierce, strong and a massive standout as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl. I loved the much darker and violent take on the character as we get to see a more stoic version of the character through her intense eyes. There is so much more to mine out of that character and it is a shame that we will never get to see her interact with Henry Cavill's Superman. Now the one person that stole my heart as the emotional core of the film, Maribel Verdú as Nora Allen. I loved every second we got of her and especially the grocery store scene. It is the emotional peak of the film and both her and Ezra delivered in spades.

The score by Benjamin Wallfisch was good and kept the sense of speed and tension alive during the many action sequences and the emotional core alive in the more tender scenes. It was great to once again hear Danny Elfman’s iconic Batman theme and I loved Benjamin’s use of it. I did have a bit of a problem with the pacing in some scenes. The pacing of the film was great as it moves at a brisk pace as expected, but I would've loved for it to slow down for a few more seconds toward the last 20 minutes of the film. You could almost feel the amount of fat that was trimmed off the film in some scenes. Visually the film was stunning and of course most will comment on the CGI in the film. Some of it was really cartoony in the still shots, but it worked the best while in Barry's speed vision. The cameos all are amazing and one in particular made my heart flutter with joy as I know the late filmmaker Jon Schnepp would've approved and loved as well. This was a quick paced and action packed story that featured an emotional core that shines bright over the impressive visuals. There is a fun end credit scene that conitnues that connectivity that Barry has with the rest DCEU. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

[obiternihili]

So synthesizing two concepts

The Big Rip is a hypothetical fate of the universe, basically, provided the ratio of Dark Energy pressure to its energy density is < -1, it will continue to fuel accelerating expansion until the components of all bound systems (galaxies, stellar systems, planets, atoms, etc) are accelerated apart from each other faster than the speed of light.

Quarks are bound together into hadrons by the Strong force, mediated by gluons. Unlike photons of electromagnetism which mediate but do not interact according to electromagnetism, gluons both mediate and interact with the force they mediate, making them self-interacting, which constrains them to flux tubes that exert a constant force between the color charge carriers they're being exchanged with (i.e. into flux tubes between two strongly interacting particles). This means above a certain energy level, its more energetically favorable for a new quark-antiquark pair to appear (virtual particles) than to continue to extend the flux tubes. This explains observed color confinement, or the lack of observations of non-neutrally color charged particles.

So, together

What would happen with the Big Rip reaches the scale of the hadron? Presumably space would dilate between quarks until confinement would kick in, creating new quarks.

Would the energy for that come from Dark Energy?

If they reach an equilibrium then I guess that would lead to a multiverse consisting of an infinite number of mesons causally disconnected from each other (and whatever happens in lepton universes).

If that's not enough to slow expansion, and quarks are elementary and point-like (likely), then there would either be a multiverse of random colors (strong charges), or expansion would start to rip up the very waves the particles are, which I guess is trying to divide the indivisible (given that they're discrete, quantized things whence quantum mechanics).

I guess at that point the uncertainty principle might kick in? In which case you get some kind of quark flavored fermi-dirac version of a bose-einstein condensate or... I don't even know what to imagine; again, dividing the indivisible.

In a random color multiverse you'd have an issue of a violation of conservation, I think.

An alternative I guess would be to somehow shut down the strong force. The expansion wouldn't transfer energy directly to the particles though, space is dilating, things aren't being accelerated. In a sense the particle would undergo a kind of heat death, I guess. Maybe the vacuum just flatlines or something at that point and whatever that field is at it's definitionally 0 now.

Some things I'm thinking about this

seems kind of like baryogenesis but degenerate. Maybe there's a cyclic model in there where once a big rip hits a certain scale dark energy becomes some universe-wide Gravity-GUT soup, inflation tapers to subliminal speeds, a universe happens, etc.

Also kind of seems black-hole-ish but inside out? Which is probably trivial given thinking about event horizons

Also what happens to a composite particle across a black hole event horizon? Do the geodesics of the subparticles stay parallel/converging as they fall to the singularity or does the superliminal flow of spacetime cut them off from one another until they hit the intersection point? If the latter, the big rip questions should apply to the inside of a black hole as well, just, time being weird probably saves it since there's likely not many opportunities for gluons to rip before the singularity.

[portalwalker]

Maria laughed quietly, gently. "Thanks, both of you. I mean it."

She snorted a little more derisively when Benta mentioned his mother and Aurora were similar. "She'd likely rub me the wrong way, then. Aurora preferred hiding away and not doing anything to help people. She wasn't keen on interacting with Chaos either when she found out about him, even if they were genetically related. It took a lot of work to get her to realize that she had a stake in things too, whether she wanted to admit it or not. I don't know if your mother learned the same lessons or not, but if she's like Aurora, it'll probably take me a bit to be anything beyond civil."

Seems Maria had some pretty strong opinions about people and pokemon that tried to hold themselves in a position that placed them above the rest of the world's conflict. At least she was promising to be polite if the opportunity ever came around.

She watched Benta's sketching with curious interest...at least until he asked about how she'd arrived. The laugh that slipped out almost sounded like a weighty sigh. "Ah...would you believe it if I said I got here under my own power?"

Here comes the headache.

Maria clapped her hands together in front of her face, holding them under her nose for a moment before pointing the clapped hands together at Benta and Greavee. "See, I was born on a world that doesn't have pokemon on it. Not as living, breathing creatures, anyway -- just fictional creations in different forms of media. So I'm not directly under any Legendary's jurisdiction. At best, the Creation Trio's blessed me because I've helped them with a few things here and there on a world with living pokemon, but my ability to walk between dimensions didn't come from them. I would not be surprised if they had a hand in how long I've been alive for, though."

Which was another barrel of Magikarp that she didn't think Benta was prepared for just yet. Establish the multiverse as a thing first, then get to...everything else.

"Folks like me tend to pop up across the multiverse, in my experience -- both what's under Arceus' jurisdiction and what isn't. I don't know if there's an exact rhyme or reason to it, but with everything I've gotten up to, I just take it to mean I can help people on a much wider scale than just my dimension of origin. Then again, without the ability to walk between worlds, I probably would've lived an average life, remained organic, and never made a big name for myself."

He blinked, and felt what remained of the heat and anxiety in his fur settle. Knowing her views on stranger creatures like himself- though he always did his best to remain indifferent to outside opinions- somehow made him feel better. On top of that, it actually earned her a kind grin.

"If it is any consolation as someone that is from here, I can say with full confidence that I do not find it so weird to be as physically inorganic as yourself." Which was probably more than obvious by now. "Greavee does not think so either, since she likes you."

"Raff raff," she confirmed with a tail wag.

"I am sorry if others have not treated you kindly though. They would be the ones missing out, not you." In truth, those were words he remembered being spoken to him long ago. He felt the situation was appropriate to repeat them, even if she knew that already.

Upon reading the entry for the mew, he couldn't help but be slightly amused. "The one you call Aurora sounds a little like my mother," he commented. "Does not look much like her though, I'm afraid."

He uncurled his tail and it twitched in thought. "Actually..." Benta looked around, and spotted a desk that had been dominantly untouched by the earlier commotion. It had some kind of machine similar to a printer sitting on top, with papers stacked on either side. "Perhaps I could show you..." His voice tapered off as he stretched a hand toward the desk to focus, and floated a sheet of paper and a pen over to himself, settling the paper on the dusty floor in front of him. The pen continued to float. "Hana showed me how to draw once while I was recovering," he said. "So I should be able to manage something." Without a word further about it, the pen appeared to set itself to paper under the control of his psychic power and start lining things out as he considered one detail to another.

While his mind was on the other subject, thinking of the mews and mew-two that Maria met, he felt progressively more curious. The mew-two was already one reason. The fact the mews her device spoke of sounding more friendly, or at least more reasonable, than those his parents showed him in their memories. It fascinated him really, in both positive and non-positive ways. He couldn't quite stop his mind from wandering, and wondering how it all fit together.

"So...if I may ask another question," he started, still directing the pen as it scribbled across the paper. "You mentioned your core power source is from another reality, yes..? What kind of timeline are you from? Did a Celebi bring you here, or perhaps one of the Great Powers?" He was referring to Dialga or Palkia, given they were the only other two who had access to other realities and dimensions that he knew of.

[chiwhorei]

𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭

cross-posted to Ao3!

pairing: issei “horse cock” matsukawa x fem!reader

genre: smut, 18+ mdni

word count: ~4.4k

tags: stripper!issei, stripper!seijoh, roommate!oikawa, tendoukawa (bc @heauxzenji said it an it’s now the only ship in my head) dry humping, lap dance, a little corruption, spitting, public, alcohol and recreational drug consumption (weed and coke), spanking, degradation, hardly edited

a/n: howdy! this is my contribution to the smut pile’s western collab and it is so incredibly late but what the hell else is new. the masterlist for the collab can be found here! @messwriting and myself, in true chaotic duo fashion, built an absolutely depraved multiverse of seijoh strippers: the lawbreakers. lee, i love you so much. this journey we’ve been on the past few months has been chaotic and beautiful, and there’s plenty more to come. 

the multiverse: hanamaki || iwaizumi || kyoutani

hymn: save a horse (ride a cowboy) by big & rich

and all the girls say— save a horse, ride a cowboy

A fog of smoke burns in your eyes. The room around you feels like it could curl in on itself, four walls marked sparsely with dusty furniture, the smell of weed and cash. 

You fix your gaze onto a long, diagonal tear in the leather couch across the must and g-strings, the rip in upholstery is stuffed with wrinkled one dollar bills. 

It feels like observing an exhibit at a museum, or a zoo. Lines of coke, random dustings of pot and discarded swisher tobacco, too many open handles of liquor. Sitting on an end table is a bright pink teddy bear with a cowboy hat on it’s head.

How the fuck did you get here?

***

You shift your weight on either foot, arches aching already. The pair of jeans and top you had planned on wearing tonight were all but ripped off of your body, casual boots thrown down the hallway with sadistic glee and replaced with heels that are taller and a dress much too short.

“Damnit, you’re walking too fast.” Your appointed captor turns around dramatically, stopping in his tracks to watch you catch up. The cigarette pressed into his mouth cards in two fingers and extended towards you as a peace offering. You take the half gone stick and bring it to your lips.

Tendou’s mission was simple, drag his boyfriends roommate and best friend-- possibly kicking and screaming-- out for a night she won’t soon forget. 

“Were those really necessary, Satori?” You point with the remnants of his cigarette and he feigns a kicked-puppy expression, looking down dramatically at his all black outfit contrasting drastically with a flashy pair of brownish-red cowboy boots. 

“I am being a supportive partner. Plus Tooru and I wear the same shoe size.” His hair is bright outlined by the neon sign above the building.

You inhale smoke and nicotine, eying him over once again before continuing. 

“Does it bother you when he’s dancing on all of those horny women?” The cigarette butt falls to the ground, you snuff it out while exhaling remnant smoke from your nose, the bachelorette party walking towards the door in a parade screaming emphasizes your question.

Tendou pulls you close, mouth pressing against your neck to bite against the skin. You jerk away from his embrace, with a feeble push against his chest to match the scoff scratching against your throat. The tall red head above you, currently leaned into the dip on your neck, always has an air of vulgar humor and zero personal space. 

“Watching my pretty little boyfriend grinding on women that would never stand a chance with him,” he pulls away just in time to catch another eye roll before grabbing your wrist to pull you inside, “I think it’s hot as fuck.” 

You stumble behind him, the doorman recognizing your friend immediately and lets the pair of you through tacky saloon doors. You catch a glimpse of the tattered sign standing right next to the entrance. 

Lawbreaker’s Presents: The Guys of the Wild West

The club is drastically warmer than outside, the chill in your barely covered limbs thaws in a mixture of stage lights and body heat.

 You sigh deeply as the sound of country music fills your ears, seemingly in rhythm with the squawking of drunken hens sipping on tall flutes of champagne. Thinking back briefly to when you first signed the lease with Oikawa, you remember he wore glasses and a sweater vest. 

He said he worked as a “fitness instructor.”

“Ah, my two favorite people in the whole world,” Tooru’s ears just have been burning at your recollection, as your roommate appears in front of you in nothing but white spandex shorts and a pair of shiny boots to match, a tray of drinks is placed to the side on an unoccupied table. The white cowboy hat on his head gleamed in the low light of the club, rhinestone star shimmers-- you want to shy away from the bright refraction hitting your eyes.

He looks in his element, completely confident and cocksure as he walks around in only underwear and body oil. 

“Aren’t you glad you came out tonight? I promise, you’re going to have a great time.” Oikawa melts into Tendou’s side, he looks just as content in the current atmosphere. Tendou seems at home in any ecosystem he wanders into.

“The show starts in 15, go get yourself a drink and try to pull the stick out of your ass. I’m going to, uhm, wish Tooru an extra special good luck.” 

“I really didn’t need to know that, thanks. Tooru, break a leg.” You turn around at the sight of the wandering, tattooed hand on it’s journey south on Oikawa’s abdomen and retreat to the bar. You aren’t shocked by the display, not hardly, not with the two of them using almost every surface in your apartment as a debauched playground.

The space around you is emptier than you imagined it would be, but there is still time before the night actually starts. The bartender approaches just as you sit down on one of the wooden stools, every fixture around you is designed to look like an old saloon-- save for the strobing lights and dj booth.

You order something strong and amber, partially to stay in-theme, partially for the nerves settled in your stomach that draft beer wouldn’t be able to curb.

The woman smiles brightly and turns to pour your liquor, leaving you to pick at a cocktail napkin and await your friend’s return.

“You’re Shittykawa’s roommate.” A stranger's voice is deep and bellowing, sounding high above your ear. You swivel in your seat, gaze meeting a tanned chest instead of a set of eyes. Trailing upwards past thick black tattoos and an unavoidable pair of silver nipple rings.

You can feel the muscles in the back of your neck as they strain to meet his chocolate brown stare, he looks amused as you all but gawk at him.

“Yes, uh, I am. And you’re, uhm--” the train of thought you try to hang onto derailed completely by a devastating smile, “one of Tooru’s co-workers?”

If his smile wasn’t enough, his laugh could level the building around you. Your new friend taps the black Stetson against the bar top before putting it back on his head. He gestures broadly to his attire, or lack thereof, with another disarming and smooth chuckle. 

“What gave that one away, darlin’?” You realize how stupid your question sounded, mentally kicking yourself but trying desperately not to show it on your face.

Long, thick legs are wrapped in a pair of leather chaps, the tight fabric hides nothing even if it covers most of his lower half. A matching vest hangs open on his chest, the muscles in his arms look bigger than your head. He seems huge in presence and physique, your own form is a shrinking violet below him.

“Your drink, dear. Double Jack n’ Coke.” The bartender slides a glass towards you, and you accept it with a gracious smile. The distraction is definitely appreciated, any excuse to break the eye contact that has you dissolving like lye.

“Jack n’ Coke, a gal after my own heart.” You choke, a coupling of small coughs break out of your chest. You curse your bodies reaction, you don’t even know--

“You’re name, uh, w-what’s your name.” Casual conversation seems like the best option, because it’s only been two minutes with the almost-naked Casanova and there’s a gnawing feeling that you don’t want him to walk away.

You blame it on the alcohol not yet even running through your veins. 

“Call me anything you want, pretty girl, but my name’s Issei.”

A smile creeps from one end of your mouth to the other. His presence is jarring to say the least, but there’s something about the way his teeth peek out past curled lips that makes you want to lean in instead of away.

Tendou calls your name, effectively pulling you out of Issei’s orbit and reminding you where you are. Heat flushes in waves on your face as Tendou wraps his long arms around your shoulders from behind. Acknowledging your new friend with a pointed, “Howdy partner,” before turning to order his own drink.

“Something sweet please, and strong.” You hear his voice singing to the bartender but still face Issei, having his attention is more intoxicating than whiskey. You want him to talk to you, to ask you questions, to grace you with that smile over again.

You feel the ability to breathe escaping when Issei leans into you impossibly close, his hand enclosing around your back and pulling you in so slightly you could swear you imagined it.

“It was nice to meet you. Make sure I hear ya’ out there, darlin.”

You’re left almost falling from the bar stool, watching as Issei strides toward the back. The way his hips sway is unfair in every--

“Hey,” Tendou’s fingers come up to snap in front of your face, “Didya hear me? Let’s go take our seats.” 

That’s right; you feel like you’ve just run a marathon, heart beating erratically at the briefest interaction, your night hasn’t even started yet. 

You’re dragged directly towards the front of the stage and sat in a small two person table. You agreed to the night out between gritted teeth, hauled to the uber with absolute defiance; but most of your protest has fizzled away-- definitely not due to a pair of deep brown eyes and planes of perfectly tanned skin-- as you get comfortable next to the boisterous bridal party. You can hear their idle, drunken chatter at your back. 

“I heard they call one of the dancers ‘Mad Dog’. Apparently he’s totally feral.”

“One of them is nicknamed the ‘Big Tease’, he really likes the pretty little brides~” 

“Oh yeah? Well there’s one dancer called ‘Horse Cock’. I’m going to go home with him.” 

The women behind you howl with laughter, enjoying their friend’s last night of freedom. The straw in your drink twirls idly, thoughts drifting with each turn of the plastic against your liquor. Surely, Issei had just intended a friendly introduction, he wouldn’t be raking in tips by being unapproachable.

Friendly, you decide, repeating it to yourself until the lights drop and a black curtain is pulled up, he was just being nice. 

* * *

The show starts out mostly how you would expect. Through a few sets, toned, beautiful guys take their clothes off and fling articles at the screaming, panting crowd. The table next to you gets the most attention, bridal parties, you assume, would be the prized cash cow.

Oikawa comes out in the most obnoxious, white and teal outfit and strips into nothing but a thong and boots. Every inch of his skin sparkles, the cause becoming obvious when he jumps down to the audience and swivels his hips and ass right into your lap. Your hand comes up to his hip reflexively to brace yourself-- of course, body glitter.

You watch on at the sweaty writhing of the most beautiful men you have ever seen in real life. The atmosphere around you is absolutely contagious, it’s impossible not to fall into the rhythm, losing inhibitions with every stray piece of fabric as it’s tossed into the sea of women.

Just as you lean over to Tendou to admit that you’re enjoying yourself, the next song blasts loudly from the speakers. The beat vibrates your table, soaking into every nerve, but is almost drowned out completely by the shrieking from every patron around you. They must know what’s coming. 

 Looking back up front, you realize why the crowd is losing their minds. The man that commanded your attention at the bar is even more alluring now. His strut to center stage is deliberate, flashing smiles and winks to no one in particular and hypnotizing every person in his reach.

Issei is stunning in his element, soaking in the reaction with a humble tip of his hat. You could swear, though you’re sure that it’s just your imagination, that he’s looking right at you.

His performance starts out like the rest of them, but each movement of his tattooed hands as they travel over his chest is spellbinding. 

Issei discards his leather vest and tosses it to the side, it feels like you’re watching him in slow motion. He’s gorgeous, skin tanned and tight over thick muscle, arms wrapped in black ink and shining with sweat.

His chaps are next, ripped from his legs just as music behind him picks up. The wedding party next to you so loud you swear the laundromat next door can hear.

 All that’s left is a thong that’s barely covering his cock. You try desperately not to, but all your eyes can focus on is the bulge under a tiny piece of black leather. Your thighs rub together in search of any relief to the feeling growing hot and slick in your stomach.

He moves like liquid platinum, every long, deliberate swivel of his hips and overt palming over his crotch is enough to cause delirium. He soaks in every whistle and shriek of his name, vibrating on the high of squelching attention. 

Issei is a natural. He’s a wild animal, and, along with every other woman there, you wish he would tear you apart with his canines. 

He descends the short staircase with a quick stomp of his boots, now making rounds through the crowd. He stops in front of tables at random, invading the space between strangers and collecting wrinkled one dollar bills.

Why does something so blatantly performative feel voyeurous?

All you can do is gawk, ignoring how every time another woman’s hand runs down his abdomen you heat with envy. As he turns away from the bridal party neighboring you, your blood turns ice cold.

Issei has you, unmistakably, in his sights. His eyes pin you, holding you down tightly in your chair as he struts forward. Tendou whistles loudly as the brunette approaches your table. You wonder, in your last moment of cognizance, if Saroti and Tooru had planned your evening in more detail that you originally thought.

“Long time no see, darlin’,” Issei stands over you, and all you can do is stare dumbly up at him, “do ya trust me?” 

You don’t answer, not with words, not like he would even hear your quiver over Big & Rich booming through the speakers. His question is stupid, to trust someone you just met so vaguely?

You do. Against any better judgement, you do. 

He doesn't give you the chance to ask what he means, stuck in the gooey feeling of his attention. Issei reaches behind you, picking up your half empty glass. He swirls the drink with an almost evil smile before bringing it up to his lips and draining the last bits of whiskey and coke. 

Your face reads confused, not putting his intentions together until you feel his thumb pressed against your chin. Issei’s eyebrow quirks, eyes trained on your reaction. You’re options are to shy away, turning back in your seat, running for escape in the bathroom, or--

The gloss on your mouth is sticky as your lips part in obedience. Issei tries to hide his elation, but it’s difficult to remain aloof as your tongue lulls out and your eyes beg him.

Issei’s hold on your chin tightens, nudging you to lean in so he’s only inches away. Your eyes shut lightly, the shouting surrounding you sounds little more than a whisper with the blood rushing in your ears.

You swear you can hear him groan above you as the sharp taste of liquor hits your tongue. Willing your body to cooperate, you swallow the drink with only a small cough. 

His face dips down, it seems like a habit now, to brush his promises against the shell of your ear once again.

“You’re an agreeable little thing, I think you can take it.”

His hands are on either side of your chair in a flash, lifting you up with trained, bulging muscles. You fall forward in your seat, bracing against Issei’s chest. Every cell in your body is tight with tension, if you lift your head up to meet the audience’s eyes, you’re sure you’ll crack like glass.

He steals you from relative comfort, shifting your weight in his arms as he ascends back onto stage. You’ve gone limp in his hold, pliant to his will. The unfamiliar presence at a dusty bar top has turned into more than a front row seat to depravity.

You’re thrown off balance as he sets you down, eyes adjusting to the white hot stage lights. You’re exposed to every set of eyes in the building, even if you can’t see him-- you know Satori is smiling from one sharp cheek to the other. Wherever Tooru is, he’s most likely sitting in the same satisfaction.

Aren’t you glad you came out tonight? I promise, you’re going to have a great time.

Issei rounds the back of your chair so his actions are hidden from your view. The brim of a leather cowboy hat breaches your field of vision, much too big for your head.

His hands come down onto your shoulders, snaking down your bare arms. His touch leaves a scorching fleet of chills. Issei runs his finger tips upwards, tracing against your collarbone before wrapping his grip lightly around your neck. 

He can feel it, he has to, the racing pulse right under the surface of your skin.

The music transitions effortlessly, going almost unnoticed. The next song, still sharp with a cheesy country twang, is slower, deeper.

Issei’s thumb brushes against your cheek, your body wants to relax into the touch before it remembers how public the gesture is.

You hold in a shaky breath as he comes to stand in your eyeline again, you might as well be bound to your chair with rope. He looks larger than life-- in both stature and presence-- in front of you. His skin is glistening, refracting from the harsh lights with sweat and oil. 

He is an unstoppable force against your will. Your desire to hide from the blinding attention is nothing compared to the desire to please. To please a stranger, to please the man you met only an hour ago. 

To please Issei.

He flashes you another wink, taking a moment to rake his stair down your body. He memorizes the outline of your cute little dress, red is definitely your color. 

Issei slides across the smooth surface of the stage to meet where you’re perched. The barreling, almost naked body now impossibly close to where your knees are pressed together.

He starts at your ankles, tracing the soft skin of your legs until his palms press flatly against your lower thigh. Issei savors the moment for a beat longer before prying your legs apart.

The crowd below you is loud and hollow in your ears, the shame bubbling up against your cheeks and nose is nothing compared to the pressure between your legs. 

Issei’s hands wander up and under the hem of your skirt, scratching his nails on the vulnerable skin before they find his prize in the form of thin lace.

The “Wait” and “Stop” sitting on your lips shrivels up and dies as your panties are ripped off. You see the bright color, the last remnants of opposition twirling around his pointer and middle finger.

The crowd goes wild, watching as your body is made a fantasy that they can all live vicariously by. all you can do is watch as the fabric is stuffed into the side of his thong to accompany fistfuls of singles.

* * *

You’re still in shock by the final dance, still under a trance as Tendou pulls you towards the back. Stumbling behind him to catch up, you’re given no time to think about what you’re about to walk into. 

A fog of smoke burns in your eyes. The room around you feels like it could curl in on itself, four walls marked sparsely with dusty furniture, the smell of weed and cash. 

You fix your gaze onto a long, diagonal tear in the leather couch across the must and g-strings, the rip in upholstery is stuffed with wrinkled one dollar bills. 

It feels like observing an exhibit at a museum, or a zoo. Lines of coke, random dustings of pot and discarded swisher tobacco, too many open handles of liquor. Sitting on an end table is a bright pink teddy bear with a cowboy hat on it’s head--

“I didn’t go too far did I?” Snapping back into reality, you hear Issei call to you. You’re vaguely comforted by a familiar voice before remembering the man attached had spat whiskey into your mouth and stolen your panties just 30 minutes prior. You heat up at the tips of your ears at the recollection of two things you had let him do, that you had wanted him to do. 

Your eyes find Issei sitting on the couch on the opposite end of your freshly showered roommate, seemingly unbothered as Tendou flops down against the middle cushion and drapes both arms across the back. 

“Don’t worry partner, our girl doesn’t startle easy.” Oikawa laughs, adjusting to sit across his boyfriend’s lap.  Issei’s all leather outfit is replaced with a pair of grey sweats. He looks relaxed, effortlessly handsome. 

What was it like, you wonder, before you knew how it felt to look at him? Life past the single night feels grey around the edges. 

When was the last time you felt this alive? 

He takes a sip of a water bottle, wiping off his chin with the large rose tattooed on his hand. You can’t stop staring at them-- the ones that roamed your body in front of a club full of drunk bachelorettes, the ones that traced your skin like he already had the map. 

And now you watch those same hands, so new but so inviting, as two fingers curl inward. They pull you as if tightening a rope around your waist. You wade past tall sweaty men and freshly caught audience members as they tangle across dusty furniture.

You scoot by your best friends from where they sit next to Issei, ignoring the slap to your ass and the following laugh from Oikawa in between loud, sloshing kisses.

“Well, little one,” He pats his thigh, inviting you to the spot on his lap rather than the empty seat next to him, “you’re not gonna run away are ya?” 

Every nerve in your body is twitching, you’re not sure if you could run if you wanted to.

You don’t.

Issei takes in your small nod of confirmation, pulling you into his hold. The position is awkward at first, perching on his knee as you try to keep your balance. He laughs, his arm snaking around your back so you relax into him. You fidget with your fingers as they lie against your lap, watching the bustling around you. A cloud of smoke settles in the air, you wonder if it’s a permanent haze of tobacco and pot-- the scent is probably painted into the walls. 

“Is this what you expected?” Issei’s voice is low and close to your ear, you can feel the smile curled into his question. Your eyes are fixed forward, watching as Tendou pours a small white line into Oikawa’s collarbone and dives in nose first.

“Honestly,” you adjust, kicking your legs up over his other knee, “I’m pretty used to this kind of stuff.”

Even if your usual scene doesn't include a drug filled almost-orgy, you can’t say you’re fazed much. Not with the company you keep.

Even with the circus revolving around you, Issei is the only thing you can see. Everything else falls away but the smell of his body wash and the soft material of his sweats where they meet your naked legs.

His hand rests against your thigh, fingers just above then short hem of your party dress. The metal rings on each digit are cool against your burning skin. You’re sure Issei can feel the heat rising in your stomach as it spreads through your blood. 

You feel him lean back, fishing something out of his pocket to set in your hands. You feel every hair stand on edge as the thin cotton drops into your grip, heavy as an anchor.

“You know what I think, darlin’?” Your breath hitches, the room around you squeezing tight against your shoulders, “I think you’re a natural on stage. I bet you would have let me do anything up there.” 

A hand wanders down the path of your spine, rough fingerprints stroke past each vertebrae. You arch at the feeling, his skin is like a narcotic. The liquor still swimming in your mind is no match to this, to the heady smell of sex and sweat as it cuts through your senses. 

Issei’s right, you’ll let him do anything to you. You’ll beg for it like you’re trying to pass the gates of heaven.

Your body moves of its own volition, legs swinging to straddle his waist. The material of your dress bunches over the curve of your ass, completely exposed to the room around you before being eclipsed by steady palms.

You would be, should be, embarrassed by the display of public depravity. No one around seems to notice, half naked is still more modest than most everyone else. Tendou and Oikawa have dissolved into a pile of spit and clashing teeth next to you, saving you from any snide quips. There’s nothing but Issei, face an inch away from you and lips tempting you to lean forward.

“Would it make you feel better if I told you I don’t usually do this?” 

Glassy eyes flick dumbly at the man below you. He sees the wobble of your lip, the glaze in your stare as you memorize every feature on his face. Any reassurance sitting on his tongue dies when you crash your lips against his, hips rolling down into him and knocking him off guard.

Your kiss is searing and drips with finality. You’ve decided what bed you’ll wake up in the morning with your tongue tracing against his molars.

“No, not really.” Foreheads pressed together, it’s your turn to laugh. If you’re honest, you probably made this decision while still sitting at the bar.

You dip back in, emboldened with the bruising fingers digging against the fat of your hips. The feeling of your cunt pressed against his crotch could bring a man to his knees.

He’s not opposed, he’s just gotta get you home first.

all writing is dymphnasprose’s original content, please do not repost or modify. do no read my content as asmr.©️

[illyrian-book-lover]

Things that do not need to be in the Doctor Strange Multiverse of Madness Movie:

SPOILERS AHEAD!

DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SPOIL THE MOVIE!

1. No need to overpower Wanda or bigger guns will be brought in. Nothing wrong with that but I want to see Wanda learning through the Darkhold and also working to resist it’s dark power.

2. Doctor Strange is not stupid. He is a very intelligent man who would make some good decisions but the movie ruined that except for the times he saved America Chavez and showed Wong respect. He also wouldn’t have revealed America’s location in seconds. He doesn’t personally know Wanda. He’s never interacted with her before. He wouldn’t have revealed so much just because she is an avenger and they fought beside each other but never acknowledged each other.

3. Leave Christine alone. Strange doesn’t need a love interest. Christine deserves better. She didn’t need to be in the movie except for her wedding scene.

4. I don’t know if it is only me or does Strange’s love for Christine feels more like an attachment to the past rather than real love. (Don’t attack me) They don’t need romantic love to exist on the same plane. The line where Strange says that he loves her in every universe is just … meh. If it was explored more and the movie was actually focused on strange that it would’ve been more believable. Why go back to their love when Strange clearly was ready to move on in the first movie. Give him Clea or someone else so he can have a fresh start.

5. Doctor Strange is supposed to be the most powerful sorcerer but he didn’t do shit. He had a better fight scene against that octopus style demon than against Wanda.

7. I would’ve actually liked to see Wong THE SORCERER SUPREME have a good fight scene. He didn’t become the sorcerer supreme only based on a technicality. There were other factors and I would’ve loved to see those.

8. I thought we established in WandaVision that Wanda is not a villain but more of a morally gray character. She didn’t need to be the villain. Any other villain would’ve been fine. Strange has a whole background story that could’ve been explored and still included Wanda.

9. I would’ve preferred if this movie was focused more on Strange than on Wanda. Following that Wanda should’ve had her own movie to explore many other factors than just becoming a villain.

10. Why bring the Illuminati with some of the strongest heroes and kill them in seconds??? What was the point?? I think we established that Wanda is very very very strong in the first 30 mins. Did not need that. Where are the 15 cameos? Why did they reveal the cameos in the trailers/teasers? Nothing surprising in the movie? I read so many posts that predicted half the movie.

11. Wanda didn’t have to die! So tired of the woman become too powerful to control or will go to the dark side so she must sacrifice herself or her powers to save the world. Overdone.

12. One of the best things about the movie is that they mention Spider-Man. Wong and Strange remember him!!!

13. The movie was too fast paced. Again Wanda didn’t need to be a villain. Mordo could’ve very well served that role. They could’ve gone many ways except for that one. Doctor Strange wasn’t explored enough. The storyline was a bit cringey. Sam Raimi did not do anything impressive. Yes there are many things that were good but the movie did not live up to its hype.

Please do not come after me. These are some of my thoughts on the most hyped movie of the year that turned out to be not so amazing.

[austarus]

Timeless!Harrison Wells x Reader - White King, Black Queen

*A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me. It belongs to its rightful owner.

**Please don’t forget to comment, like, and reblog. It means a lot to content creators of all kinds!

***I’d also like to thank @grimtamlain-writes​ for being my beta reader.

MASTERLIST

Word Count: 2267

You narrowed your eyes as the city continued to bustle, noise from people and cars emitted in the air. Clouds hung sparsely over Central City as the waning moon took the place of the sun high in the sky. The wind blew a light breeze through your hair. You kicked a leg back and forth gently as you sat on the edge of the STAR Labs tower wings. Your other leg was bent close to your body, an arm resting over your knee. The height didn’t scare you so much as it used to. In fact, you didn’t mind being so close to the edge anymore. If you fell, then you fell. Truth be told, your powers would save you whether you willed it to or not. Some would say it’s a curse, others not so much. Your umbrakinesis acted like a defense mechanism at those times. A sigh left your lips as you straightened up your back, cracking it. Relief echoed through your body, but your heart felt heavy. Time is ticking... You knew what was happening downstairs, Gideon had alerted you when someone entered the Time Vault. It wouldn’t be completely wrong to say that you didn’t want to face him – couldn’t get attached since he’d been here. Not again. Staying up here was your way of avoiding that problem until… Until what, though?

The hair at the back of your neck stood up, a chill ran down your spine as your shadows alerted you of a presence a distance behind you. Turning your head slightly, you sent an icy look to the one person you dreaded to see. The face of the man you had seen pass one too many times. Their looks from their final moments imprinted in your mind for this one to come back. He was the last thing you had of them.

Harrison Wells.

A small smile was on his face, his hair tousled with his clear-framed glasses perched on his nose. He knew you’d be up here. The others told him you’d been up here since his reincarnation into the world. Since he’d made contact with Team Flash to help them and explain his predicament of currently living. But really, Harrison would have known if no one had told him. He had sensed it. Seen it – the images flickered past in his brain. The other versions of himself with you up here – the foreign familiarness that he personally did not experience.

But nothing more than a dreadful reminder of what’s past.

“I’ve come to say good-bye,” the genius started in a soft voice, wanting to approach you carefully. Your glare bothered him, yet he knows it shouldn’t, for once Harrison leaves, he will be united with Tess, the love of his life. Over and over and over again.

You snorted, turning your gaze to the stars that twinkled away from the clouds. You could see the constellations of Cassiopeia, winking brightly light-years away. “Such a shame, you could have helped them with Godspeed.” A bitter laugh left your lips as you recalled Nash showing you how to recognize the constellations and where to navigate from there. Sherloque would drink his tea up here with you and converse about his cases. HR would read to you his latest ideas and novels while you gave your input. You would drag Harry out of his lab to get some fresh air. And Eobard… he was the one who showed you this view, before Barry had woken up, before the Particle Accelerator had gone online.

“Team Flash is more than capable of handling threats on their own.”

“I take it you think that having a Wells must be a handicap, hm?”

“I never said that.”

“Hmph.”

“I couldn’t leave without telling you good-bye.” You pressed your lips thinly and Harrison continued, pocketing his hands in his dark coat. “It didn’t feel right to go without saying that.”  The night was getting colder, yet you remained out here in a thin jacket. Dare he say, he worried a bit?  You turned to fully look at him from your seated position. “I… won’t deny the sentiment I feel towards you. The memories of the past Wells. Their thoughts – well, previous thoughts – and feelings are still here.” Harrison had gestured to his head then placed a hand on his heart. Bile rose at the back of your throat as the smiling images of the boys hit your mind. You bit your lip hard as he spoke, “Each one of them felt strongly for you, but I’m not them. They’d want you to move on. To live-”

“No!” Your patience snapped, standing up rapidly with expert footing. Shadows went rampant in the night, wind howling in his ears. “You don’t get to say that!” Darkness immediately consumed the atmosphere and air around you both. Unbridled anger licked up in your heart and soul as you took heavy steps towards him. Harrison couldn’t see, but he could feel the moving darkness as he stood his ground. “You have no right to act all high and mighty towards me.” A hiss left his lips as a dark particle lashed at his arm, burning through his coat and marring his skin just as he heard your anger burn in your next words. “You don’t understand the strings that fate has chained me with! Nor will you ever understand my burden.”

***Flashback***

“What is it that you want?” You glared at the entity. The Monitor had appeared in your kitchen as you were pouring yourself some alcohol to enjoy your quiet night. You had taken some time away from all the heroes and villains running around.

“I came because I require your assistance for the Crisis.”

“Pass, I’m not in the mood to play the hero.”

“The point is not to be a hero or the villain, but to honor fate’s will.”

“Well fate can go hump a stump for all I care,” you sipped on your choice of alcohol, you turned away from the eternal entity only to find him in front of you right as you had exited your kitchen. A deep frown crossed your features. This is such a drag.

“Fate has bound your life to Harrison Wells the moment you first met him years ago.”

“False, that was Eobard masquerading as Wells. So, technically no.”

“That technicality may be so, but fate saw the speedster as your gateway to the rest of them. Without Thawne you would not have been so tied to Harrison Wells’ existence.” Rolling your eyes, you took another sip, already knowing you’d need a couple of glasses to forget about this interaction. “Your life is bound to his. To them.” The Monitor had you right where he wanted you, pushing images into your mind to allow you to see reason. “You were a lover.” You flinched as the image of Eobard appeared in your mind. “A partner.” Harry. “A friend.” HR. “And a confidante.” Sherloque. “Now this one needs you as well, he is in danger of himself with the Anti-monitor. My opposite entity.” You knew he was referring to Nash, the multiverse explorer with the haughty attitude and snarky comments.

“…”

“You are the anomaly that exists in the multiverse, there is no other in your position.” The entity saw the hesitation flicker in your being. “The time has come for you to be his protector.”

***Time Skip***

Nash panted, on the ground of this desolate land on his hands and knees. His mouth felt dry, tasting iron in his mouth from the blood on his split lip. How much longer can he endure this? The Anti-monitor continued to laugh at him, to mock him, for his weakness. Pariah gripped hard at the dirty snow, blood and mud defiled the pure whiteness. He couldn’t get back up. His body ached. No matter how hard Nash tried to push back, the Anti-monitor was too strong for him even with these temporary powers.

“Humans are such fickle beings,” the anti-entity spoke in a grand manner, “Soon the multiverse will be mine and there shall be no flaws. No humans to corrupt my domain.” The eternal being gathered his divine power into the palm of his hand and fired anti-matter at his appointed Pariah. The one to bear witness of the end of the multiverse. His curse.

Nash shut his eyes; this was the end. This was his end. A breath left him, what he expected to be his final breath. But the final blow never came. Ringing greeted Nash’s ears as he opened his eyes. Standing in front of him, shielding his body was you and your dark powers. For whatever reason it withstood the anti-matter as particles clashed against one another. You stood defiantly and gracefully in your fighting positions, conjuring your dark spectacles from every shaded corner.

“Don’t you dare touch him, you fucking monster.” You growled, your hands working magnificently to bind the Anti-monitor down. Once bound your umbra became spears and swords that pierced through the entity. While it could not kill the Anti-monitor, it slowed him down – meaning it would slow down his assault on Nash. You needed to get him to safety, needed him to have enough strength to teleport you two away from this dimension. And that’s exactly what you convinced him to do when you grabbed him, hugging his injured body to yourself as he fought to stay conscious.

***End Flashback***

“You don’t understand what loss truly is! You don’t get how hard it is to move on from this.” Just as you had moved, so had Harrison. A dagger of darkness at his throat, clenching the front of his cloak as he held a dagger of light to your own throat. Harrison  gritted his teeth as he used his powers to light up the area in his green light. “This pain, the misery of losing over and over and over again. To bear the burden of fate’s strings only to watch them all fall.” He flinched at how the veins around your eyes had darkened to a charcoal color. His throat dried as fear hit him. Harry’s memory flashed into his mind – the memory of you in this state, accidentally killing a meta in self-defense. “You’re just a selfish man, running away from what’s in front of him.” Harrison’s light battled against your darkness to keep the physical manifestations of umbra away from harming his body. “I despise people like that.”

“I’m only doing what’s best for me.”

“By what, Harrison? Running to the past? What’s in the past is best left in the past, those who hold on to the past don’t appreciate the present.”

“Such hypocritical words coming from someone who sulks around up here for what once was.”

“You don’t fucking know anything about me. All you have are some second-hand memories, but you don’t truly know me and what I’ve been through. You’re just like Barry.”

“And you’re any different?”

“At least I know the difference between reality and a desperate dream.”

“…” He knew Tess is doomed to die for time to flow, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t cherish every second with her until it was time. Maybe he was a desperate man chasing after a desperate dream, but he would until the bitter end. For Tess.

“A Time Loop is just a miserable notion for you to see Tess when her destiny is already a fixed time point. Just like Barry’s mother. Their deaths are absolute. Even with your Timeless powers you can’t interfere with what’s set in place.”

“That may be so, but I’ve fulfilled my part here – at least I have someone to return home to, even if they are doomed to die. I could be by her side over and over again.”

Harrison’s words pierced your heart, you pushed the tears back. The ache in your heart throbbed at a greater rate. At least… he had the power to return to his someone… The genius saw the haunting dejection in your eyes, the way your shoulders quivered as you tried to keep yourself together. He regretted the words that left his mouth…

“Do as you please,” you whispered, loosening your grip on his jacket to let him go. The darkness dissipated as you walked back to your perch with pocketed hands. “I’m done begging…” You mumbled to yourself so quietly that he didn’t catch your last statement. A tear left your eyes as you stood tall where you once sat.

“Good-bye,” Harrison murmured to the wind drifting in your direction before turning and leaving. A part of him felt torn by the things he had spat at you. What’s done is done. I doubt I’ll be back here any time soon. Clenching and unclenching his hand, Harrison shut his eyes and summoned his powers to pass through time. Tess, I’m coming home.

“Good-bye, Harrison.” Another tear fell, this time you wiped it as the night continued. He was gone. They were gone. You were alone, once again spectacularly alone and cold.

The pieces are all in place. The time has come…

Time still ticked as seconds went bye. A voice whispered at the back of your mind; the presence residing there since his exorcism. The one that kept you company through all this.

“It’s time, my queen.”

Checkmate

[blednokrov]

Long rant about the OC under the cut. SBR spoilers!

Obviously, Valentine Blue is an alternative universe version of Funny Valentine, but there's a reason why he's that different. Basically FV, knowing that he's the only Valentine who posesses D4C, wanted to see if there's another version of him who's a stand user - if there is, this stand must be different from D4C, but is probably just as powerful! Maybe this other Valentine will be a strong ally that can be used for more than just extra body?

FV doesn't usually reach that far into the multiverse, there's no need to go into places that branch far away from Holy Corpse timeline, so he usually only uses/interacts with copies of himself that are quite much like him - but to find this one he had to find some really obscure timeline.

Why? Because for a Valentine to have a stand at all, it must be not D4C - and since stands are manifestations of souls, he must be a really, really different person with a different soul to have a different stand.

So... He found VB and dragged him to Holy Corpse timeline and was like" yoo cool stand bro, join me in my crusade to make America great again, help me take the napkin, you know?"

And VB was like.... "the what?"

And FV was finally hit by realization just how different they are actually, and honestly? This felt very uncomfortable, borderline uncanny. He's so used to other Valentines understanding and sharing his views and ideals ,that seeing himself who's that different is lowkey creepy, he's almost got the evil shadow clone kinda unsettling feeling.

So, he explained his plans and ideology to VB and VB was like "uhhhh I'm not joining you in whatever this whole ordeal is, it sounds shady and creepy af, can you bring me back home please?"

FV was.... Not pleased with this outcome.

From his point of view, VB is a pathetic, ambitionless man who deserves no respect - hell, his mere existence feels like insult for The Funny Valentine and everything he stands for.

So he decides to kill VB, but uh-oh this guy got a stand, remember? Being a stand user, he managed to escape. FV didn't really pursue him, deciding that nah, let this man choose his own punishment - I mean, didn't he want to go back home more than anything else? Now, not knowing the way back and not posessing D4C, all Valentine Blue can do is wander around this alien dimension where there's no place for him because he doesn't exist, his place in this reality is taken by FV, no one VB knows and cares about knows him here, and his house isn't his.

Honestly, all he wants is to go back home. It all happened around a year before the race, and when SBR started VB decided to join with the only goal - to obtain a part of Holy Corpse. Why? FV told him abt his plans, remember? so VB roughly knows the things behind the race. He wants to get his hands on one of parts, since it's what FV desires the most, and bargain with it for being returned to his home universe. He keeps doing the "yeah people often tell me I look just like the president" bit and can only get away with it because in this era before the photography got widespread people don't really know president's face that well to see that they're the exact same person.

***

A bit about his backstory:

Valentine Blue was abandoned as a baby, and found & adopted by a family of Mexican migrants who found him on their way to a miner town where they got a job, settled and started working at the mines. He grew up speaking both English and Spanish fluently, and his actual name is Valentino Azzurro. His mom always just called him Tino and I'm probably gonna call him this as well in the future to avoid confusion.

He grew up to be a miner, just like his adoptive father and brother, and used to be a quite popular guy - determined, sometimes charismatic even. All was well, until one day the entrance to the mines where they worked crushed, and he and 14 other miners got stuck inside.

They a choice - wait until people from the outside manage to clear the entrance, or find another way out following old tunnels. They couldn't decide what to do and split on the opinions, not taking any decisions out of uncertainty and panic that caused them to be irrational.

"Someone has to take the lead." Tino thought back then, "We will never progress if we just keep trying to decide all together. Someone must take the first step for everyone else to follow."

And so, he went further into the tunnels - and people followed him; he took the turns and they took them with him. He was so sure of himself because he felt like he can handle the responsibility, he can lead, he can make the decisions - and so it was, until one of tunnels they went through didn't turn out to be full of explosive gas - and one of them just so happened to have a fire. They never planned to go beyond their safe territory, so they didn't have any safety measures like canary birds, which is why it took them by surprise.

All 15 miners were buried under the ground and rocks. 4 days later, they were discovered; Tino was found severely dehydrated and non compos mentis - being buried alive for four days kinda does it for your mental state (he still suffers from quite severe claustrophobia and fear of darkness he developed back then due to the trauma).

The only reason he was alive is that ground/rocks that were in contact with his body crumbled to dust, creating an air pocket around him; this was when C2G awakened. As soon as he realized things he touches turn into dust he immediately tried to dissolve rocks to get other guys out - but sadly, it was too late.

14 bodies were recovered from the mines, some crushed, some suffocated, one exploded to pieces: among them, Valentine's brother and father.

To say he regretted every decision he made is to say nothing. He felt that what happened was purely his responsibility, that if he only haven't decided to make that first stupid call, everyone would be alive and safe with their families. He hated himself for daring to even think he had the right to make the decision for them - to decide their fate in such a way. He thought himself to be undeserving to be the one who lived, since it was his responsibility and he should've at least die with them.

Tino felt like he couldn't even look in the eyes of all these vidows and orphans he created by deciding to play a leader out of stupid pride and thinking himself to be entitled to do it; but most importantly, he felt like he couldn't look in the eyes of his adoptive mother after causing deaths of her husband and her "real" son.

So, what he did was to run away- or as he put it, he left the town with no goodbye and wandered around the country for next couple of years, doing various jobs here and there. He was snatched by FV right from the streets basically.

While being stuck in his predicament in the SBR-verse, he thought about his home and family a lot, and came to realization that he wants to go back and talk to his mother, to apologize, to look her in the face.

"It might sound like I'm thinking way too much of myself - she might be hating me now for all I know. But I feel like after taking away her husband and one of her sons, I shouldn't have run - taking away her only other child left."

Not That Funny Valentine

[lucywrites02]

Tell me your thoughts! Not enough people are talking about it for my liking! What were your favourite parts?

Spoilers under the cut

I was very sceptical of this movie, but i really enjoyed it! There were many things to like in this movie and although it wasn't perfect I will gladly watch it again soon.

I absolutely loved America and how Wong and Stephen took her in right away- they did it because they needed to know her powers better, but even though they didn't really know her they still cared about that kid. And the ending where America was training in Kamar-Taj? It was precious.

I missed seeing Stephen and Wong on big screen and I was happy to see all of their interactions. They are my favourite Marvel duo.

Speaking of Wong- I love that he still is the sorcerer supreme and that Stephen isn't even jealous of it. He respects Wong and that scene where he bowed to him was just *chef's kiss*.

I didn't like that they gave Wong a love interest of sorts (Sarah and Wong were a thing in the comics but I don't know the details. I know she was an accountant and that's all) and then killed her. But from now on I will include their relationship in any fic I can :) I wish they could give us more details on their relationship before killing her off.

It may be a controversial take but I liked Wanda as the bad guy in the movie. It made sense why she was the big bad of the movie. Her backstory is tragic and the darhold took advantage of that. She Slayed in this movie and I jumped in my seat several times during some Wanda scenes. Although I wanted to see a different ending for her. My favourite scene was the one where she met face to face with her children from another universe. That was intense. I find it stupid how she was able to kill the entire Illuminati, but 'died' because a building fell on her. It's marvel so the possibility of her coming back is high, but i think it wasn't a fair ending for Wanda. I wanted to see her getting some redemption, but maybe we will get that in the future.

I liked that Stephen got some closure with Christine. I wasn't really a fan of their relationship, but it was nice to see them have a few moments which they both really needed. That scene where Stephen was fixing the watch was pretty good in my opinion. My interpretation of this scene is Stephen finally moving on- he fixed the cracks and just but it in his cabinet. I want him to be happy but he can never be happy with Christine- although the ending wasn't clear so there's still hope for all the Palmerstrange shippers out there.

And finally we got to see Clea! I was so happy that they finally introduced her. I know that Christine played a huge role in Stephen's life even when she wasn't really there so introducing Clea is giving Stephen a little hope at having a happy relationship. I'm really excited to see where they take it!

Also! I want to know what's going on with Mordo from Stephen's universe!!! Where is heeeeee??? Tell me marvel!!! Maybe we will get a Mordo team up in the next movie. That would be so cool.

I liked that this movie was much darker than the other ones. Some scenes were really brutal and I couldn't believe that marvel seriously did something like that.

My biggest problem with this movie is that now the Loki series makes even less sense because where the hell was the TVA? America was jumping through the multiverse and no one reacted? They didn't even mention the TVA. Maybe it wasn't the right time to introduce them, but the whole point of the movie was the multiverse and the TVA just ... Wasn't even mentioned? Idk and I don't really care about that to be honest it's just something that I find really funny because the Loki series made us believe that the multiverse is dangerous and they are here to control it and then they never appeared.

This movie was a strong 8/10 in my opinion. I really enjoyed it :3

[makerofmadness]

Imagine if they made a three-way Kirby crossover (games x anime x novels)

Like, if all of a sudden the folks over at HAL and Nintendo would just make something where these three universes meet (the reason why I don’t include the manga is because there’s so many Kirby manga and I barely know anything about them), like something for the franchise’s 30-year anniversary, or something for the anime’s 20-year anniversary, or even sometime for the novels’ 10-year anniversary (though that’s not gonna be anytime soon. That’d be August 8th, 2023, I think)

They’re very different canons and it’d be awesome to see them interact

I mean, just their versions of Kirby are really different:

*Game Kirby is the possible good incarnation of Void Termina and a well-renowned hero who has saved Pop Star countless times, sometimes by himself and other times with friends. He is probably a kid though I assume the Kirby Drama CD is supposed to imply that he can at least talk?? (IDK, he’s mostly a silent protagonist anyway, minus the occasional “Hi!”). He is capable of fighting with or without a copy ability, and is a force to be reckoned with.

*Anime Kirby is bapy. He is kinda implied to have been some kind of rogue Nightmare Enterprises creation (though they never really went anywhere with that, and it just as easily could’ve been Meta Knight tbh [really wish they brought that up again, they just kinda said it in episode four and never discussed it again, wasted opportunity), though otherwise we can assume he is a nice Star Warrior baby who can only say “poyo” and the occasional words he repeats. He usually has to be told when to fight (because baby) and is sometimes regarded as a nuisance around Cappy Town. He strong tho... when he has a copy ability, mainly (though his inhale is basically the Super Inhale [in Amazing Mirror and Squeak Squad, if Kirby inhales continuously for a while, he starts doing a Super Inhale which is way stronger], so that’s cool).

*Novel Kirby has clinical depression (ok, this is an exaggeration/not-serious statement, but... he goes through some "Break the Cutie” stuff quite often [as the TV Tropes page on the novels points out). He is kinda in an in-between area between the game and anime versions (being that he’s kinda useless without a copy ability, but [from what I’ve seen] doesn’t have to be told when to fight. Also, he can talk and is probably about the same age as the game counterpart [though the novels follow their own canon/events for the most part, the characters are surprisingly in-character and that’s one of the reasons why I use them as headcanon fuel). 

Imagine these three joining forces to take down some multiverse-level threat in an adventure combining their universes and the many characters that show up along the way (imagine Escargoon meeting either version of Bandee, or Sailor Waddle Dee having to feel alone because no other universe has a version of him, or anime Meta Knight having to deal with the fact that his counterparts are willing to throw hands with children... and lose)

Plus it’d give the novels more attention.

[ultrahpfan5blog]

So The Flash is finally ending after 9 seasons. While I would have liked it to get one more season so it gets 10 seasons, 9 seasons and 184 episodes is quite an achievement for any show, and especially a genre show. Second longest running superhero show after Smallville. I have watched the show since the premiere was released early before its official air date and I have loved watching it ever since, through the highs and lows. Seasons 1 and 2 are still among the best seasons of superhero tv for me. I think season 4 and season 7 have been the low points. I do think the show ran way too fast in the first couple of seasons and exhausted some of its best villains too early. It is regrettable that we never got a full version of the Rogues. I think The Flash really should be the show that gets credit for blowing up the Arrowverse. While Arrow definitely gets credit for being the originator of this universe, The Flash is what expanded it, introducing the superpower concept and then introducing the multiverse, which allowed for crossovers of the size of things like Invasion, Crisis on Earth X, Elseworlds, and COIE.

I do have a wish list of things I want in the final season, but I don't know how much of that is doable in 13 eps. Firstly, I really hope Cisco returns at least for the finale. I'm sure Tom Cavanaugh will make an appearance in some way or another. I'd love to see Melissa Benoist back, if she's willing. Obviously, if they can get Stephen Amell, then that would be awesome. I'd love to see Snart return one more time if possible. I have missed the Barry and Snart interactions. I would ideally like one more big crossover, but I think that is highly unlikely. Maybe an appearance from Ray Palmer again would be nice.

On another note, I find it hilarious that The Flash tv show is ending just before the movie will air, given the movie was originally announced just shortly after the show was launched and Stephen Amell was pretty pissed with WB about the timing of the announcement. Here we are essentially 9 years later and the movie still hasn't come out yet. I do wonder if there will be any tie in.

Anyways, still a long time before season 9 will come out. Hoping for a strong finish. I do think season 8 was significantly better than season 7 and maybe the best since season 3. So I hope they can signoff in a good way. I expect that it will end in a business as usual type of way and The Flash will be alive and still a hero, even though the show ends, though I expect it will end with Iris pregnant with Nora. We already know that Barry and Iris are happy and alive in the future. I don't anticipate them messing with that.

[sour-n-salty-citrus]

Do you have any hopes for the season finale? I saw in another ask, you described the dynamic between rick and morty this season as "very weak, distant, and downright frankly boring" and I completely agree with you! I hope that, because this is most we'll see rick and morty interacting this season, it'll have at least a few moments of what makes their dynamic so interesting to watch.

(Ok i started airing my grievances with this season, which ended up being... long, so skip this paragraph (starting at / / /) to get to my thoughts on the finale)

Oh gosh I remember that ask (I think-). And yeah, maybe I'm being a bit overly critical. I'll probably look back on this season with retrospect, and a kinder, fonder view. Ik androgynousblackbox (think thats right) made a great point about it being the season FOR rickorty shippers. And sure, I agree on some bits, like Rick acting all pissy and partying the way you would if your ex got with someone new in the planetina ep. Overall though, i think my problem lies in that I was enjoying more individual moments than episodes themselves, especially the middle three. For example- Amortycan Grickfitti. Like, I really liked the idea of the Ship getting on a crazy adventure with Summer and Morty (and Chutback). I like the idea of a Beth-Jerry-Rick adventure. But put together, it's just kinda... meh? You know? I liked the first half of the Thanksgiving special... but it kinda dragged on after that. I get that they want to give other characters (particularly female ones) more attention, which is completely understandable and i encourage it(!) but I can't help but find it underwhelming. Like, Summer in the voltron ep was like- girl how are you STILL vying for Rick's attention! He's the worst! Haven't we done this already? (I will say though I ADORE how far Beth has come, props to her for continuing to seeing through her dad's BS. I was worried the character would relapse into a more typical s1/s2 Beth, and I'm glad she didn't). Some of these plots, funnily enough, seem more fitting of the comics (they actually had a voltron parody already). Fun and entertaining for two or three-something issues, not so much a 22 minute episode. i think most of my complaints come from the dynamic between our titular characters- ok, I know I'm very biased (I mean you can see it), but I came to the show primarily for their relationship. It doesn't even feel drama-fueled, just that they kinda... can't be arsed. I'm torn because on the one hand, they're unhealthily codependent and this separation is probably a good thing, but on the other... it doesn't feel natural? I'm not sure if that's the right word- it's like, season 4 had them practically joint at the hip, but all that's suddenly flung out the window. It just kinda feels like this "i got better things to do" vibe from both of them and its strange. The only time they both got a solo adventure (I'm classifying "solo" as an adventure where they spent a significantly large portion of time together, without the other family members) was in the sperm ep and Thanksgiving ep. And, well, in the Thanksgiving ep Morty felt like a side character in his own show, and the sperm ep... um. Yeah. I don't think it's AS bad as people were saying, but I was cringing the whole time (the second hand embarrassment for Morty was so strong I had to turn off the episode multiple times and return to it. It's just like- godammit MORTY). And I think there's good reason those two seemed to be the most disliked episodes overall. They're the ones RaM spend the most time together and it's... meh. Meh? Meh. I don't mean to say the season overall is bad (it has loads of good points, and its amazing for Smith family as a whole) just that if we're talking specifically about the dynamic between these two? Yeah, I wouldn't recommend a single episode from this season so far to use as an example of their relationship.

/ / /

There's one thing this season has been pretty good at, though. And it's showing us what happens when Rick is alone.

And that brings me to the finale.

"Who is Rick without Morty?"

Well... we already know the answer to that. Pathetic. Sad. Lonely.

This season has been phenomenal in humbling Rick. (And trust me I'm happy for it- every time someone beats the crap outta this shitty old man I'm like YES!!! IT'S WHAT HE DESERVES!). Ep 1 had his "nemesis" clearly besting him, ep 2 had Beth making constant digs (love her) and overall pointing out his extreme callousness and cruelty towards even himself(ves). Ep 3- when Morty shows interest in a girl and ditches him (like seriously it's not like he's moving out, chill) he immediately goes on a bender and develops a deep attachment to the first person he can (wearing yellow, funnily enough). Ep 4, he devotes himself to becoming an "honest man" for his new child, only for it to instantly be taken away from him. Ep 5 highlights how RICK is the asshole for making fun of and taking advantage of someone well-meaning and honest, if "simple", and how literally not cool that is. Ep 6 has his crazy rivalry with the president, and they both get smacked down a couple pegs for that. Ep 7 shows what happens when he allows himself to get carried away, and that he can end up driving everyone else away in the process (lucky they still wanted to save his ass when he needed them). And episode 8? Hooooo boy. Episode. 8. We see a direct parallel in Birdperson with Morty, and the whole "Rick and [insert] 100 years!" Rick has few people he cares about, arguably only one or two that he truly devotes himself to, but when he does, boy does he go HARD. We see younger Rick, optimistic, energetic, friendly and hopeful. And we see all of that crushed in minutes. Rick is desperate for a companion, someone to see the stars with. He needs someone there, someone he can trust and rely on to stay. Someone like Morty. So without Morty, who is Rick?

No one.

And the thing is, Morty doesn't need Rick anymore. Not like Rick needs him. In season 1, Morty was this bright-eyed kid who was new to the cosmos and the multiverse, who needed his grandpa there with him as they explored all these places together. But that's not him anymore. That's not them.

The promo has Morty using the portal gun to go somewhere w/o Rick's permission (i like to think it's boob world lol). It doesn't matter to me as much where he's going, as much as he's doing it alone. He doesn't just not need Rick there, he doesn't want him.

(Also correct me if im wrong but I've missed that sweet portal gun so much. I think the last ep was like- the first time this season we saw it).

Morty's response to Rick? "Replace me!". And wow. Wow. WOW. Morty doesn't give a FUCK! I think Rick thinks that because he's so smart, that he can offer so much, that Morty will come crawling back, and I don't think he will.

Hopes for the finale! Hmm. I mean, I definitely hope "evil" Morty makes a reappearance, haha. I think we all do tbh ;). I want to see some Morty development too, this season has been very Rick-centric (not that there's anything wrong with that!) so I wanna see what's in store for Our Boy. I really hope we get to see the Citadel again, and see the state it's in, but I doubt it. We know something super big is in store, it's just a question of what? Other hopes I have is some Summer + Beth action (please let them team up Im BEGGING) and Jerry too ahaha. I'd love if some other side characters made an appearance as well. Oh- I'm definitely expecting a dramatic cliffhanger at the end of the first half leading to the second half, with the kind of angsty music that leads into the credits (pls that shit is so good (OH WAIT imagine if it was like, for the damaged coda, but like- the chopin version or smth so it could be more subtle maybe bruhhhh)). Ok haha, maybe that's asking too much, the writers made it clear in the story train ep that they weren't gonna do that big dramatic showdown (... unless 👀). Oh, I'd also love some Premium Angst too, like someone getting kidnapped/nearly dying (like ACTUALLY nearly dying). These stakes better be so damn high I could spear a man on them! OH, also I remember androgynousblackbox (is that right? I hope it is) mentioned something along the lines that they could be driving Rick and Morty apart this season in order to have them come back together stronger than ever in an explosive finale, which, I'm strongly hoping for myself.

Thanks if you made it this far! If you have any thoughts on or hopes of your own for the finale please feel free to share! :D

[neonthewrite]

Washed Up Winchesters 5

The team gets up to some investigating and stuff! It's time to figure out where to find their shipful of monsters.

Cowritten with @nightmares06, the writer behind the @brothersapart multiverse!

( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 4 ) -5- ( 6 ) ( 7 ) ( 8 )

Story Tag

Read Time ~10 minutes

~~~~~

Chase grinned as Jacob’s gait steadied out, and he looked out ahead of them. The gently rolling hills around the main city of Lilliput stretched before them, and it was almost like flying. “Cheer up, Dean, we’re gonna arrive in style no matter where we go this way!”

Dean put his head in his hands at that assurance, and there was a barely-audible reply, which, if anyone leaned in close enough to hear the mumble, they would have made out "Never living this down, ever."

Sam only smiled and gave Dean a confident pat on his head, the only part of Dean that was in reach while he slumped down.

Minnie slapped Chase’s arm with the back of her hand and gave him a warning look. He rolled his eyes dramatically, but didn’t say anything more to try to coax Dean out of his worries. Considering it was his first time ever getting a lift from a giant, he was doing just fine.

Jacob kept that in mind as he walked. He didn’t normally rush himself when walking around the city of miniature people. They would usually see him ambling along at a relaxed pace, one that wouldn’t get him anywhere fast if he was the right size around there. Even now, he could spot some people on the outskirts of town pausing to look over at him as he passed by. He tried to soften his steps a bit, but didn’t slow down.

At least, not until he’d rounded the edges of the city and the harbor was in sight. He had to watch his step much more closely, and he all but inched up to one of the docks at the very edge of all the bustling activity. People were keeping busy, and most of them hardly even thought to look up at the sign of his rumbling footsteps.

All in all, the walk couldn’t have taken much more than five minutes for him.

“Do you guys see the ship you were on? Would you recognize it from up here?” he asked, looking straight down at his hand. He was curious for their answer as much as for how well they were doing after their first (conscious) trip with a giant.

Sam leaned off the edge of the giant's hand, squinting slightly to try and make out the markings on the ship. It was hard to forget the ship that tossed him and his brother overboard to be lost at sea.

"That's it," Sam confirmed as soon as he spotted it. "Can you see if there's anyone still on the ship?"

Chase braced his hands on the base of one of Jacob's fingers so he could lean over and squint at the ship Sam was pointing to. It seemed nondescript to his eyes, and hardly stood out among the others; he'd never claimed a strong knowledge in telling the difference between boats. "I don't see anyone," he hedged, but his tone said he was unsure.

Jacob's mouth twisted into a disapproving frown as two of the people on his hand leaned so close to the edge. He wasn't about to nudge them back yet, but he was on alert.

"No one above deck, anyway," he observed.

Sam frowned as well, intently scanning the ship and surrounding landscape. "We need to find them..." he muttered. "There's no telling if they'll be looking for new victims once they're on solid ground."

"Can we get down yet?" Dean asked plaintively from where he was sitting with his legs crossed.

“Yeah, yeah,” Chase teased with a grin, patting a hand on Jacob’s palm. He looked up and pointed at an area of the shipyard more loaded with boxes than with bustling people. “Can ya let us off there? We can go investigate, and stuff!”

Jacob smirked. “Investigate and stuff? Can’t believe I’m missing out,” he teased right back, nudging at Chase’s side even as he knelt down carefully. He didn’t move his hand further away from his chest until he was as close to the ground as he could get without sitting down. It looked like Dean was too woozy for anything crazy.

While everyone disembarked, he braced his free hand on the ground to keep steady. “I’ll wait over here for you guys.”

~~~

After quite a bit of “investigating and stuff,” the group didn’t have many leads to go on. Surprisingly, Chase was the most outwardly disappointed by that fact. As they returned to meet up with Jacob and decide where to look next, Chase tilted his head back and frowned at the sky.

“Man, we coulda gotten so many more clues if someone hadn’t decided to argue with that fisherman so much,” he pointed out. “What kinda secret agenting can we do like that?”

Dean scowled at Chase's obvious diss towards their methods. "You want to be in charge, short stop?" he griped irritably.

"Most of our work is in Blefuscu," Sam reminded them to avoid Dean throwing another tantrum. "It's different over there. We're more likely to set off another war if we go pushing at the wrong people."

The pointed way Sam put we're left it in no uncertain terms that he thought it was likely that Dean would be the one most likely to step on toes, but he planned on sticking by his older brother's side no matter what. The two Blefuscans were out of place in the Lilliputian port, and the fact that they had some locals helping them out was nothing short of a miracle.

"Well, it's not like we didn't learn anything," Minnie supplied. "That one guy said they sold the boat as soon as they could, so there might be, like, a record of where they're gonna be next."

Chase nodded, but smirked. "I'm surprised you noticed anything after you found that livestock pen."

Minnie crossed her arms and her optimistic expression turned into a sullen one. "I never get to see the new lambs before the auctions start. So what? I listen just fine."

Chase rolled his eyes but spared her further teasing. "Riiight. So we at least know there's one guy who talked to the guys that were on that ship. That's something, right?" He turned to Sam and Dean to watch for their confirmation.

"It's not nothing," Sam agreed.

"It's not much," Dean interrupted obstinately.

Sam whirled around on Dean. "Can you try being helpful for once?" he demanded, crossing his arms. "So far, we've seen no sign of attack. So there's still time."

For a minute, it looked like Dean would keep arguing for the sake of arguing, but then he sighed and looked away. "Right, once we talk to that guy, we can see if he remembers where they went and why no one else in the area interacted with the people from the ship. They can't just vanish into thin air."

“That’s the spirit, Dean!” Chase chirped, still all too unbothered by the seriousness of the situation. At least outwardly, he didn’t show signs of worry. After all, they were doing what they could, which was more than most people would be able to do. Having two monster hunters just wash up on Lilliput after some monsters snuck in was good luck, in his opinion.

Even if they weren’t the most enthused about their main mode of transportation while visiting.

Jacob could be seen a bit beyond the cluttered area at the edge of the harbor. He couldn’t sit down too close by; even when he was trying to make himself seem smaller, the giant took up too much space. Some of the warehouses framing the bustling area were too little to hold him.

Chase lightly tapped Dean’s arm with the back of his hand. “Whatcha say, ready to fly in style again?”

Lips flattened into a straight line, Dean didn’t deign to glance Chase’s way. “Style is not what I’d call it,” he grumbled as he accepted that as long as they were working with the Lilliputians, they’d have to deal with the giant that came with them.

Sam slapped Dean on the back, nearly throwing him forward. “C’mon, just imagine the stories you’ll have when we get back!”

“They’ll never believe us.”

Chase snickered. “What, they seriously haven’t started spreading the rumor around Blefuscu yet? You guys are behind!” He stepped forward as he spoke, paying little mind to the others with a goal in mind. With both hands cupped around his mouth, he let out a yell much louder than it seemed like such a frail person could produce. “Hey, Jake!”

The giant, sitting peacefully and staring over the bay, perked up and turned his head at the sound of his name. At first, he didn’t find the group among the clutter. When he zeroed in on them, a smile appeared on his face, all too easy to see from their vantage point.

The ground rumbled under their feet as he pushed himself up so he could kneel closer to the shipyard again. “Hey, guys,” he greeted. “Chase letcha get any work done?”

Dean glared. "Some," he said testily. The terse reply combined with his stiff body language showed that he was still just as uncomfortable with the giant close by. Giants weren't something that Blefuscans had ever adjusted to, and the concept of a friendly one was outside of Dean's realm of normal.

Sam hid a grin. "Chase is lucky Dean didn't pitch him off the docks," he commented dryly to help break up the tension around them. "But aside from that, we have a lead."

If Jacob noticed Dean’s demeanor, he didn’t do anything to draw attention to it. He was used to people in Lilliput giving him the side eye at least, and some of them still didn’t trust him at all. While it might be common knowledge that he wasn’t going to go on a rampage or anything, he was too big to ignore.

He leaned down just a little more, intrigued. “A lead? That’s great!”

Chase nodded. “Yeah, they sold their ship to some businessman, so he might know where they were going next! Wanna give us a ride to him?”

Jacob paused. He couldn’t help a glance at Sam and Dean to gauge what they thought of the idea, but then he glanced past the whole group to the city of tiny folk arrayed behind them. “What, like, into the city? Is that allowed?”

“It’s not in the middle of town or anything,” Chase hedged. “And it’s way faster if you get us there.”

“You’ll take any excuse, won’t ya,” Jacob muttered. He addressed Sam, who seemed to be the de facto leader of the small group of investigators. “You guys cool with that? I don’t mind if you wanna wander in without me.”

"We need to avoid wasting time," Sam said, sending Dean a chiding look. "Your help is appreciated."

"Whatever," Dean said. He stomped closer to Jacob, drawing himself up. "Let's get this show on the road, Gulliver!"

~~~

It didn't take long for everyone to file onto Jacob's hand once again, and it didn't take much more than that for him to wander to the edge of town closest to their next goal. Chase seemed to know where to find anybody in that city, despite it being much bigger compared to him. He never minded pointing Jacob in a direction, either.

Jacob needed more time to work up the courage to just walk in. He stood near one of the buildings on the outskirts, an area not walled in like the front of the city. The road would be just wide enough to accommodate him, but he wouldn't leave much room for anything else.

"Jake, I think I can see the guy's building from up here," Chase noted.

“Cool,” Jacob muttered. He didn’t even bother to hide his concern for what he was about to do, but he took the hint well enough. He took the first step into the city, past the edge of that nearest building, and almost expected a swarm of Lilliputians to emerge from around corners to scold him.

They didn’t, and that was promising.

He inched his way further in, ever mindful of the buildings on either side as he passed. Some people did lean out their windows to stare incredulously at them, and Chase took on the task of waving at them. Any disapproving look was deflected before long.

He was only a block away when a sharp, authoritative voice down below called up to him and he drew up short. Jacob had to shuffle one careful step backwards to see the tiny cop down there, hands on his hips and looking stern. The little guy had to tilt his head all the way back just to see Jacob’s face, but he didn’t let any intimidation get in the way.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, giant? You’re too dangerous for the streets!”

[gthreepio]

i’ve been thinking about the future of the mcu and realized there’s a LOT that i didn’t know/didn’t remember in terms of where things are going so i figured i’d sum it up incase anyone else was in the same boat!! 

quick recap of (unresolved) mid-credit scenes:

doctor strange: mordo (a sorcerer that is one of strange’s mentors, who by the end of the movie becomes disillusioned with magic/the ancient one and quits) confronts pangborn (the paraplegic who healed himself with the mystic arts, who tells strange about mystic arts in the first place) and steals his magic because according to mordo, there are “too many sorcerers." of note, this guy is typically a villain in the comics but hasn’t been thus far...

gotg2: ayesha (leader of the sovereign, a golden skinned alien race obsessed with genetic purity), after spending most of the movie chasing the guardians for stealing some stuff, is revealed to have created an artificial being named “adam” which is presumably, adam warlock. (other stuff that is less relevant: kraglin appears to take up yondu’s mantle; the ravagers regroup and several old and obscure comic book characters are introduced [charlie-27, aleta, martinex, mainframe]; the watchers are watching things.) 

far from home: j jonah jameson basically tells the whole world spider-man’s secret identity, and frames him for what happened with mysterio....making him public enemy #1. ALSO, turns out nick fury and maria hill in the movie were ACTUALLY the two skrulls from captain marvel (talos and soren) attempting to do their job, while the real fury (and presumably hill) is ... up in space on some spaceship!!!

wandavision: monica (who we can assume is photon) is called by “an old friend of [her] mother’s,” up in space, which presumably means fury, talos, or carol. ALSO, wanda sits in the middle of nowhere reading the darkhold and hears the voices of her children who.. by all accounts, should not exist. 

aaaaand what we know about future movies (i’m not even going into the tv series.....): 

black widow: 

takes place after civil war

nat confronts a “dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past,” likely has to do with taskmaster who has apparently taken over the red room where nat was trained as an assassin

prominent new characters: yelena belova, who will take over the mantle of black widow after this; alexei shostakov aka red guardian, an ollllld marvel hero analogous to captain america except for the soviet union.

tony stark will make an appearance... SOBS

shang-chi and the legend of the ten rings:

shang-chi has never been seen in the mcu before, but he is, essentially, a superhero that is a master martial artist, and in some adaptations can also create duplicate (fake) versions of himself to confuse opponents

main villain will be the the mandarin who we have *sort of* seen before... he is the leader of a terrorist organization called “ten rings” whose main goal is to destroy world peace. brief history -- in iron man 1: one ten rings cell kidnaps tony stark and tries to force him to make weapons (he of course, makes his suit instead). stark and ten rings become enemies and fight a bunch. nat and nick fury fight them too. in iron man 3, the villain aldrich killian hires a dude to pretend to be the mandarin and claim responsibility for a bunch of stuff, but its not the ten rings or the mandarin at all. this makes the mandarin v mad and he has a dude kidnap the faker to punish him. they also briefly show up in ant-man, when a ten rings agent tries to buy the yellowjacket suit that darren cross is selling. BUT IN SHANG-CHI....... looks like we are FINALLY going to see the real mandarin after over a decade!! 

the villain razor fist will also show up, he is lesser known... he has no superhuman powers but he has surgically replaced his hands (1 or 2, depending on the version) with a steel blade, and is highly skilled at hand to hand combat.

besides the presence of these characters, the only bit of plot we know is “shang-chi is drawn into the ten rings organization and forced to confront his past.” so... yeah. we don’t know much at all.

eternals: 

quick explanation: the eternals are an immortal alien race who have been secretly living on earth for thousands of years. they were created by the celestials, who are most prominently in gotg2. 

more entirely new characters!!! their names are: thena, who can form any weapon out of cosmic energy; gilgamesh, who can make a super strong exoskeleton out of cosmic energy; ikaris, who has superhuman strength, flies, and can project cosmic energy out his eyes; kingo, who can shoot cosmic energy projectiles from his hands; makkari, who creates sonic booms, has super speed, and is deaf; phastos, who has enhanced intelligence, and is also gay (and married with a kid!); ajak, who has healing powers; sprite, who can project illusions; sersi, who can manipulate matter; druig, who can mind control; and dane whitman (black knight), a human with a mystical sword. 

regarding the plot... it seems the eternals have kind of dispersed, but have to come together again to fight the deviants, who are their “evil counterparts” (also created by the celestials, though i’m unclear on why). thena and gilgamesh have apparently been in exile, unclear why; sersi, who is posing as a museum curator, has apparently been in love with ikaris for centuries and it seems as if their love story may be central to the film; and kingo is a bollywood film star in his spare time. aaaaand that’s pretty much all we know.

directed by chloé zhao of nomadland fame! 

spider-man no way home: 

based on the post-credits scene in far from home, peter parker will now be known as spider-man to everyone. unclear if he’s going to be seen as a bad guy due to mysterio framing him, but i guess we’ll see! 

jamie foxx is electro, and alfred molina is doctor octopus; which is VERY interesting considering they played these roles in other spider-man franchises, once again stirring up excitement for possible multiverse. 

there have been *multiple* reports that andrew garfield, kirsten dunst, tobey maguire, and emma stone will be in the movie but tom holland has repeatedly denied this... so... who knows. 

there are also rumors that matt murdock / daredevil (from netflix) will be in several scenes! not confirmed though. 

MJ is still his girlfriend and i hope it stays that way!! 

doctor strange will be featured in the movie, taking on the mentor role now that tony stark is gone :( this will be interesting as i.. haven’t really seen them interact much before. because of this inclusion some people speculate that the film may draw inspo from some comic storylines where peter’s secret identity is restored with magic. 

doctor strange in the multiverse of madness: 

scarlet witch is essentially co-starring!!! it’s going to be really interesting to see if they bring vision or the twins into this at all, though i’m not counting on it. 

seems like mordo will be the main villain -- recall the ds1 post credits scene where he is apparently running around trying to steal people’s magic.

america chavez will make her debut!!!!!! i have no idea how this plays into anything but i am so excited!! 

regarding the plot, all we really know is that strange has been researching the time stone, mordo messes with him, and this results in him accidentally unleashing “unspeakable evil.” presumably there will also be heavy involvement of the multiverse, and who knows what kind of craziness that will bring!! 

initially was going to be directed by scott derrickson who did ds1; however he stepped down to being just EP due to “creative differences.” i am presuming this is because derrickson really wanted to make this more gothic and horror than disney was comfortable with. i REALLY hope they keep some of those elements though and don’t erase the idea entirely! anyway, it will be directed by sam raimi now (of evil dead and spiderman 2002 fame). 

the film also reportedly ties in with the loki series (will loki show up!?) and spiderman 3 (which is obvious enough, given that strange is in that movie and those curious electro and doctor octopus castings...)

thor: love and thunder

directed by taika waititi again, hell yeah!!! and he has stated, the film will be “so over the top now in the very best way" and would make ragnarok look like a "run of the mill, very safe film" .... so.... oh god

so many great returning players!!! including.... valkyrie (now the king of new asgard), jane foster, lady sif, korg, star-lord, mantis, drax, nebula, and kraglin (takes up yondu’s mantle after he dies in gotg2)

in this movie, thor isn’t thor anymore.... it’s JANE!!! she gets cancer :( and is undergoing treatment while simultaneously being thor. i’m a little nervous how this will be handled, but i’m excited. (it’s based off an amazing comic series by jason aaron) 

the big bad: gorr the god butcher, played by christian bale! the gist of it is, this dude HATES gods because nobody helped when his family was dying and in need. his weapon is “all-black the necrosword,” forged from the head of a celestial, and allows the user to create wings and fly at extreme speeds. honestly, he sounds cool as fuck. 

valkyrie is going to be made canonically bisexual!!! 

it will explore more of korg’s backstory, and also include... space sharks!?!?! an alien race from the comics.

taika has called the script “very romantic” so take that as you will 

black panther 2

will again be directed by ryan coogler

not much is known at this point, does not have an official name

t’challa will NOT be recast (which i’m happy about) so..... honestly no idea what to expect for this one. i think we can probably expect shuri to have an expanded role. all we know so far is they will be “exploring the world of wakanda.” not clear to me how this is different from the upcoming wakanda D+ series. 

tenoch huerta has reportedly been cast as a villain, but no one has any idea who. there’s also rumors that donald glover is in “informal talks” to play a role. note all of this is unconfirmed.

captain marvel 2

will be directed by nia da costa (candyman!) and written by megan mcdonnell, who is one of wandavision’s best writers! 

will take place in the present day 

will feature kamala khan / ms. marvel, monica rambeau / photon!!! this will be so interesting.... kamala is a huge fan of carol’s in the comics, she is her mentor/idol. the ms. marvel series will also resportedly lead into cm2. and monica, well, monica knew her when she was a little kid. wandavision implies that there’s some bad blood between carol and monica though, not sure why. maybe because carol left and never came back? (until endgame) 

post-credits scene of wandavision appears to tie into this, having monica go up into space at the reqeust of her “mom’s old friend.” again, not clear who that is. this could also be a tie in to secret invasion though, so we’ll see. or both.

zawe ashton has been cast as an unknown villain... a lot of people are actually speculating that she may play rogue? which would be fascinating, as there’s a comic arc where rogue steals her powers and memories. BUT there’s still no confirmation that X-men exist in the MCU so for now i remain skeptical.

they are looking to cast a ‘john boyega’ or ‘michael b jordan’ type which makes me wonder if they are going to create a new character, a “younger” war machine to be her love interest? (note: carol and rhodey are a huge thing in comics!) carol obviously does not look her age but her and don cheadle.... that just doesn’t work. which is why i wonder.

ant-man and the wasp: quantumania 

in addition to scott and hope, pretty much all the major players are returning including: luis, hank pym, janet van dyne

cassie lang has been recast with an actress 5 years older, which is really making me wonder if they are going to make her stinger in this movie! (aka one of the main young avengers)

the villain: kang the conqueror! this dude time travels. original name nate richards. in the comics, kang travels back in time to rescue his younger self (nate) from an attack that would help shape him towards a life of villainy. kang also gives him some fancy armor. his younger self actually is like, what the fuck dude? and renounces his destiny, becoming a hero. and he makes his armor look like iron man, calling himself iron lad. who is a young avenger. which also makes me wonder about cassie lang.

otherwise not much is known! 

guardians of the galaxy vol. 3

james gunn is returning, i’m mixed about this...he really does *get* the guardians though. 

based on the gotg2 post credits scene, i think we can assume adam warlock will be a HUGE part of this. there are multiple versions of him, some villainous and some heroic, but no idea how this is gonna turn out.

no word yet on whether thor will be involved, or if those ravagers they introduced will be involved. 

fantastic four 

will be directed by the spiderman guy, john watts.

otherwise we know literally nothing.

aaaaand that’s the roundup! 

[sigyn-loves-loki]

Okay, so here goes the big post. Bear with me.

Loki. What was it? An emotional rollercoaster? Calling it that will not be okay. It was an entire rollercoster ride on the multiverse of emotions. All those comic scenes, Tom Hiddleston at his brilliance and ofcourse The God of Mischief being the epitome of every chaos that's happening. Can you actually blame him? All those clowns at the TVA doesn't know who they are dealing with.

Robbot scene. That's when he questioned every decision of his life. Why won't he? All his life he has known that he is an Asgardian Prince and suddenly one day a blue object at his father's cupboard turns him blue and snap! He's a frostgiant. So may be he is more things he don't know about.

All those comic scenes were the best until now in all of the mcu series and movies together. Loki searching for his ticket, him threatening the receptionist to turn him into a fish (a fish! XD), the whole paperwork. Tiring!

Then comes the sad part. It hits you like a bomb. You knew it will blast but you didn't know when. So it does, in the middle of a funny interaction between our dear Mobius and Loki. Just as Loki is, we are petrified with the sudden hit. Loki's capture, Frigga's death, Odin accepting Loki as his son, Odin's death, Thor's confession, the brothers embracing each other, and finally, Loki's d-word. Our expressions change along with Loki. He feels tremendous sorrow and pain when he realises that he is responsible for the death of the only person he had ever loved in his life. So he's curious and watches more. He finds out his brother's feelings for him. He sees how they fight side by side, the only thing he ever desired in his entire life ("i never wanted the throne, i wanted to be your equal"). But as soon as he comes to the point of his life when he faces his ultimate fear, Thanos, he knows before he sees it. So as we. I litteraly shouted "No! I don't want to see this scene!!" anyway, he sees it and he immediately flinches. He feels the pain as if it was happening to him right then and there.

Loki's acceptance. Loki is the God of Mischief. Also he is a frostgiant, so he isn't a successor to the Asgardian throne. He knows it very well, so he fights for it. One thing Loki knew since his first day on that cold rock in Johtunhiem, he has to fight for his existence. He wasn't born with a silver spoon like Thor. He fought to stay alive on that rock. He fought to make his place among the Asgardians. Studied hard and gained in magical power what he lacked in battle strength. So he knew he was weak. So he had to be strong. He knew it but never accepted it, until Mobius brought it out. He accepted that he was weak and for the weak to crawl up to power, one must inflict fear in others. So he hurt people. He never enjoyed hurting people. I repeat. LOKI NEVER ENJOYED HURTING OTHER PEOPLE. He says that he's the villain. That's when Mobius, the God of the Loki fandom says "That's not how i think it is."

Throughout the show, Loki cries only two times. Once when he witnesses the death of his mother and him. And second when he realises that the TVA is a very powerful place. He says "So this is the most powerful place in the universe?" That little slut is all over for power.

Also, the D. B. Cooper thing!? Who would have thought it will be a flashback scene right? Well, marvel again breaks our hopes of getting Loki and Thor reunited. But yay! We got our content for young Thor and Loki fighting bets and Hiemdel was actually involved in such a thing? And dear lord of all good looks, Loki looks so precious in that scene. One word, charming. No actually two words, charming and glprious. No more words, mesmerising, breath taking, dynamic, epitome of beauty standards.............etc etc.......

Last but not the least. Mephisto? So we're gonna finally get our Mephisto cameo in Loki? Or will it again be another broken dream like Wandavision?

All in all, it left me in bits. Never cried for a marvel show more. Loki. I love you. I will love you no matter what.