#i realize as i wrote that it makes it sound like jack black is king kong and he Isn't he's just in it

[analyticallyminded]

i always forget about the jack black version of king kong

[newsies-and-the-nutcracker]

Newsies but it’s French (Canadian) pt.2

(aka me just getting increasingly frustrated the longer it goes on until I’ve completely lost whatever bits of sanity I had left lol)

~ king of new york scene ~

“We’re in the papes??” “You’re in the papes.” why do I find this so funny help-

“For the good of Jack, we can stop complaining...” not the whole thing but that sounds so out of character for Race I can’t-

After a quick google search, I can confirm that Race says “The world is at our boots.”

The newsies are very confused

Apparently he was meant to say feet.

“I’m talking about our feet!”

…

hOW IN THE WORLD IS THAT EVEN CLOSE TO ‘THE WOILD IS YA ERSTER’-

Okay I’m done

“My own face on a piece of wood!” good for you ig

“I’m respectful. I’m looking at you.” please-

“I am pretty, am I not?” yes race you’re very pretty

“My own bed and an indoor toilet!” wait… does that mean you literally have a toilet outside?? In the open???

“Nothing more normal for a famous journalist!” Irdk how I’m supposed to process this-

“Leave, idiot! It’s her, the king of New York!” guys is this actually what he says in English?? Race why are you so m e a n

“Some…” *checks notes* “depressive defeatists” ?? I just want to know how you got that from “Buncha wet noodles”-

“We were on the verge of drowning ourselves in alcohol.” WHY AM I ONLY NOW FIGURING OUT WHAT SOME OF THESE LINES MEAN AS I’M WATCHING IT IN F R E N C H ???

They cut out a lot of the background comments during the dance break and now I’m sad

After Katherine’s little dance: “It’s a joke, I hope.” wow

“You’ll see what the Delancey’s do in their pants!” that sounds so wrong I-

“Friends can leave, let them be!” I don’t think that’s what they were trying to say but okay

~ letter from the refuge scene ~

“There’s guards here, they’re mean.” WOW JUST TEAR MY HEART OUT WHY DONTCHA-

“If they tell us to jump, we obey, if not we’re screwed.” ow

“The rooftop misses me.” I give up.

“It’ll go. I’m in shape.”

“End.” the only time they decide not the put ‘the’ unnecessarily in front of something-

“Good, that’s enough.” how rude

yeah that’s all for that song. I hope you guys weren’t actually expecting me to find much humour in that one

~ watch what happens reprise scene ~

“You are a love.” ??

Guys where I live if you say “tant mieux pour vous.” it means “Too bad for you” and that’s literally what Jack just told Davey-

“Stop. I understand. It’s useless.” eh close enough

“Good blood, where do you have to go to avoid you guys?”

“It’s impossible. We are inevitable.” since when did Davey actually become Thanos?

“And this here girl, Sally, she’s great.” :(

“We say that you wrote a good article.” “You seem horrible.” they’re much more salty in this version-

“Yes, it’s true. And, he is dead.” uhh guess who’s not going to Santa Fe-

“We can forget that and go back to work?” the person who wrote this had a real passion for butchering Les’ lines lol

“Be positive. No one is dead.” mmmmmmmmmmm-

“Is that what you’re hoping for??” MMMMMMMMMMMMMM-

“There’s no question of cents, Jack!” yk what? sure. i don’t even care at this point-

“We’ll do what?” he sounds like he doesn’t even want to win.

“We’re already winning.” “Agreed.” ABORT ABORT THIS ISN’T WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO S A Y JACK-

“And ‘voila’ why I think that Joe is an idiot. It’s a rattlesnake.” “... Yes.” you heard it right here, guys. if it’s a rattlesnek, it’s an idiot

“And you know why a snake whistles?” WHAT

“He is scared.”

“Go see, the poor of the head that’s spinning.” This is shredding whatever bits of sanity I had left-

“Why send the brutes?” idk why Davey

“You have maybe reason!” “Thank you!”

“And I have an appointment!”

no but when you say you have a ‘rendez-vous’ here where I live, it means you have like a doctors appointment or something lol

~ the bottom line reprise scene ~

“After his release, I surprised him myself!”

“If that’s the case, we’re going to bring him in... in softness.” nice of them

“... or the little thief?” I’m really starting to think that they lack like 99% of words in the French language-

“I was fighting in a war.” “And that turned out well for you?” get wrecked joe

“Rally as much as you want, no journal in town will talk about it.” guys I don’t have enough serotonin for this-

“Everyone here knows you’re horrible!” they made Jack sound like a little kid in the translation, and honestly I’m not even disappointed lol

“We’re missing time, little.” I don’t even know what to say-

“Your abject surrender was always the bottom of the problem.” sure why not

“Gentlemen, escort our guest to the cave-” well isn’t he nice?

“Be happy you’re alive, little. That’s the essential.”

“Yeah, so go!” ?? how is that even remotely close to “Yeah, so behave!” ??????

“I exercised my favourite American punch!” uhhhh good for you?

“You can sleep here, on this old press! It’s very firm.” help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up-

~ brooklyn’s here scene ~

“The sellers need our help! The sellers need our help! Tell them that Brooklyn’s arriving! Tell them that Brooklyn’s arriving!”

“We’re from Brooklyn, we’re the sellers from Brooklyn!” UHHHHH EXCUSE ME???

“We just learned that our friends are going wrong!” please you heard they were ‘going wrong’ like five days ago-

“You know we’re there for you, since always.” oH rEaLlY???

“Brooklyn is there!”

“Strikes aren’t nice, but they’re passionate!” well I’m glad you think so

“Let’s shout it, Brooklyn is there!”

“Aaaaand sooooooo!!” “Sooooooooo!!” “Soooooooooo!!!” “We will send you half road, just to Queens!”

“The pigeons are going to get soaked!” aaaaaand we’re back to the pigeons-

“What sad way to finish your career!” they sound so sarcastic I can’t-

“They’re not serious, but if they think we’re laughing…” i feel low-key threatened-

“Let’s shout it!” well if you try hard enough, you can make it sound like “loud and clear!”?

“Manhattan is theeere, Flushing is theeere, “Richmond is theeere, Woodside is theeere, and the Bronx too!!”

“Sorry, little. No news of him.” I just… why does it translate to “little”?

“You are alone, we could say.” “No.” “Yes.”

Medda really isn’t taking no for an answer-

“The sellers of journals of New York!” I’m crying why is it such a mouthful-

“You want to be treated like an adult? Act like an adult!”

~ something to believe in scene ~

“It’s Specs!” wow kath throw specs under the bus like that-

“And if I was a boy you’d be looking at me with a butter black eye!” I’ve officially given up on the French language I’m sorry-

“You win a fight when the other guy bites the dust.” and another one gone and another one gone-

“If there’s a way I could grab hold of something,” has literally been shortened to ‘if I could.’ IF I COULD-

“If I could stop time.” I’m so mad

“Really?” “Really.” ahhHHHHHHHHHHH

“But it’s going. It’s going.”

“... who didn’t even know she gave me a hope.” WHAT EVEN IS THE POINT IF THE TITLE ANYMORE??

“But it’s going. It’s going.” The thrilling sequel

“No. I’m scared of you.” “No!” yeesh-

“I believe in something.” good for you

~ once and for all scene -

“He is with us.” but like… how much?? only 99 percent????

“We could hold a hoedown here.” I feel like the person translating this just gave up by the end of the show-

“Happy to have found you again.” what did you like lose him or something

“The close.” ok yes that’s funny, but it gets even funnier when you realize it could also be translated to “the farm.”

“A little grease, and she’ll be like new.”

“This is for the guys who kill themselves at the factories.” w h a t

‘THE BANNER OF SELLERS OF JOURNALS’ I’m still not over this

~ everything that comes after that ~

“Anyone who doesn’t act in their own self interest is an idiot!” ey watch it-

also what the heck is ‘quiconque’ I swear I’ve never seen that word in my life

“We will find a way, but let’s seize the moment.” first it was “the chance” and now it’s “the moment” google translate are u okay-

They really went and changed ‘bully’ to ‘monster’ didn’t they

“You can make it.” he really makes it sound like Jack is about to die or something-

“It’s disgusting!” you’re disgusting sir

“And the world will know, we’ve been taking notes.”

“It’s a joke!” nope lol

“Goodbye, fool!” I’M LAUGHING WAY TOO HARD ABOUT THIS-

“Well you already work for my father.” “Yes.”

“Super, Jack Kelly!” I CAN’T-

“So, Jack, you’re staying?” yeah sure close enough-

“Sellers of journals on a mission!”

Das it ‘my friends’ lol. Hope you enjoyed.

[winter-fox-queen]

No Cheap Thrill

Thank you to @autumnleaves1991-blog for this awesome prompt, Writer Wednesdays are lovely!  Also, thanks to @hnt-escape for encouraging me to try.  The title is from one of my favorite Suzanne Vega songs, which uses poker playing as a clever theme.  “It’ll cost you, cost you maybe more than you can pay...”

Summary:  You are a thief trying to steal a prize off a steam ship during a themed poker weekend, but a certain Statesman Agent has other plans...

Some making out, the reader is in a dress and seems fairly feminine.  No names used so can be a reader insert.  Not re-read...I wrote it yesterday, got stuck, so I changed it a bit.  

I was not best pleased with the reflection the mirror showed me.  I looked like an extra from a Maverick movie, down to my lace covered cleavage and corset top.  The skirt was full, the sapphire and black colors of my clothes, down to the jet beading decorating on the sleeves screamed expensive and highly inaccurate 1800’s costume.  At least the full skirt hid my revolver (pearl handled, must stay in costume, right?) and some assorted odds and ends.

I was on a steam ship, a steam ship with a themed poker tournament – the prize was a diamond. The diamond wasn’t the real prize. The box, with its flash drive full of dirty little secrets was.  And that was what I wanted.  Not that I’d turn down the diamond.

Tonight was just practice. The main event would be tomorrow…but before the sun rose I intended to be far, far away from here.  I went into the parlor.  

I don’t want you to think I am easily distracted.  But the second I entered the room I made my first mistake.  I let my eyes longer for far too long on a man.  

Everyone there was in costume…but he was the only one here who carried it off.  Black cowboy hat, black frockcoat, tall black boots.  His vest was tawny colored, with a hit of copper in the brocade, and saved the outfit from being too cold.  Something about him hit me in the chest.  And, stupid as I was, I let myself forget who I really was.

He noticed me staring at him and he smirked at me, tipped his hat.  He looked so damned smug – he knew he looked good, blast him.  The voice of self preservation in my head told me to ignore him.

Instead, I did my best sashay over to the gaming tables, took a seat.

I looked up.  He was still looking at me, his gaze more speculative now.  I tilted my head towards the other empty chair, and smiled.

He put down his drink and accepted my invitation.  Settling into his chair he said, “I’m Jack Daniels, what’s your name, darlin’?”

“Darling works.  You have to earn more.”  I said, as the dealer started to lay out the cards.

He grinned, sensing a challenge.  “Well, then. Let’s  play.”

He had a casual way of playing.  I hoped he would be horrible at cards, careless.  He played with the ease of someone who’d been playing all his life.

Then I made my second mistake.

I got invested.

It was a combination of things.  The way he smiled at me, his eyes lazy as they worked down my cleavage and back up. I felt the weight of his gaze like a caress, on the back of my neck, tracing my collarbone…Those dark eyes made me feel like I was melting from the inside out.  It as also the way his large hands held the cards. The way they flipped chips into the pile in the middle of the table.  Oddly graceful.  I never thought I’d ever be jealous of a stack of cardboard, but there you are.

I also liked the way his eyes crinkled, the way he praised me when I had a better hand.  It was so damned good natured.

Sexy without being sleezy. He had a sweetness to him, but also an edge.  Sometimes I would look at him and think his gaze was more sharp than it should be, but he covered it up with that good ol boy act of his.  And I found myself wanting to believe that he really did think I was that attractive.

Finally, it was just us.

“You gonna call, darlin?”

I stared at my hand. A full house.  Not much beats a full house, and I could get my money back, maybe a little of my dignity.  Jack had twisted me around his fingers and then led me to my destruction.  “I don’t…I don’t have anything left.”

He gave me another one of those looks, the kind I could feel burning my skin.  “I wouldn’t say that.”  I blushed like a virgin.

“Still.”

“Your earrings.  Toss those in.”

I took them out and threw them in.

He looked at his cards. I held my breath.  

He dropped his cards with a flourish.  Aces and eights.  

A full house, like mine.

But mine was king high. “You won.”  I said softly.

He stood up, took the earrings off the pile.  “Nice meeting you, darling.”  And left. Someone asked about the pot sitting in the middle of the table.  “Let her have it,” he said, as he worked through the crowd.  

I wanted to get up and rush after him.  But I stayed, tipped the dealer, made arrangements for my winnings.  Use the opportunity to follow the chips back to the saferoom, scope out what I could.

I took off my choker, and placed it with my chips.  “Do you mind locking this up, too?”  It had a nice sapphire on it, but wasn’t really worth much, but the banker smiled and did as I asked.  

Jack had accidentally made the next step of my plan easy.  I walked back towards my stateroom.  The necklace had a tiny sensor and camera installed.  I could pull up a lot of data on my phone, data that would…

A hand grabbed me by my upper arm, and I was pushed back against a wall.

“Jack.”  I was ashamed how relived I sounded.  Perhaps I shouldn’t have been…we were alone in a side corridor, and unlikely to be disturbed.  His eyes looked far more dangerous than warm.  His arms caged me on either side.  Something told me it would not be wise to run.

“Good evening darlin’. Did you get a good look in the saferoom yet?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

He grinned at me, mirthless. “You’re a beautiful woman with a rather unfortunate hobby.  Do you really think I don’t know who you are? We were told someone would come for the diamond…”

I looked him in the eyes and cupped his face gently.  “I’m not here for the diamond.”

“Then why are you here?”

I pulled him a little closer.  “Why don’t you tell me, Mr. Daniels?  Maybe I’m here to distract you.”

He reached into his pocket. I felt a tug on my ear, his fingers traced their way down my neck.  I realized he’d put one of the earrings back into my ears, his touch like a ghost’s.  

“Consider me distracted.” He whispered, kissing the other side of my neck, firm enough that his moustache didn’t tickle.  I felt an ache, deep and longing, start to build.  His hand rested on my waist, his other hand coming up to replace the other earring.  

“We can do this one of two ways, sweet thing,” he drawled softly on my ear, then kissed along my jaw line, just stopping short of my lips.  I kept staring at his lips, wondering what they’d feel like on mine. Part of me felt angry, yelling in the back of my head for acting like this, lust struck over some cowboy.

“Does one of them involve you kissing me?”

He grinned a little, “It could.  Let’s see…” And he kissed me.  Gentle at first, then deeper.  I fisted his jacket labels in my hands.  

He pulled away, took my chin in one of his hands, and looked me in the eyes.  “Don’t make me do what I’ll have to, if you go back for the diamond.” He paused, and then, soft, heartfelt. “Please.”

My jaw dropped a little, and I said, moved to honesty, “The flash drive…it’s got…”

“There is no flash drive.” He said softly, dropping his hand away.

I felt the blood drain out of my face.  “The whole thing was a trap.”  I said, dully.  

“My friends picked up three other like minded souls already.  A couple more less savory characters are due in tomorrow.  I’ve read your file.  You ain’t like them, darlin.  Not yet.”

“I’m a thief.  I said with a spark of – alright, yes, misplaced – pride.  

He leaned against the wall next to me.  “And a damned good one, stealing things back for people who can’t get them back otherwise, stealing blackmail back…you’ve never actively hurt anyone.”  He paused.  “Yet.”

“Yet.”  I said softly.  

He leaned in close.  “I have a proposition for you, pretty thing.”

I hugged myself.  “What?”

His lips were so close to my ear I could feel the heat of his breath.  “Ever hear of the Statesmen?”

[winchesterwords]

“Keep Your Secrets” Part 2 - Sam Winchester x F!Reader

PART 1 PART 3

Summary: After Sam finds you missing, he calls Dean and the others and they start looking for you. When Sam and Dean arrive at your place, they find something odd...

Word Count: 3205

Warning: None

Song I Wrote To: “Natural” by imagine Dragons

Note: Part 2 of Keep Your Secrets. There will actually be one more part so stay tuned!

---------

Sam paced the floor of your office as he waited for Dean to arrive.

The sulfur has invaded his senses and all he could think about was black-eyed assailants coming for you. The thought alone made him feel sick. A bitter laugh left his throat as he thought about all the times he worried about protecting you from the world of the supernatural. He should have known that no matter what, the monsters in the dark always found him. 

As soon as Sam had told his brother that you were gone, Dean said he was on his way. There was no doubt now that Dean knew about you. Sam didn’t care about keeping you all to himself right now, all he cared about was finding you and finding you alive. 

Sam had just sat down on the couch when the door to your office opened and Dean entered followed by both Cas and Jack. “What happened?” Dean asked, already taking in the scene before him. Sam got up, pushing his hands through his hair. 

“I don’t know,” Sam admitted, still flustered. “I tried calling her when we got back and when she didn’t answer I got worried. When she didn’t answer her office line, I came here and found this,” he said gesturing to the room around him. Dean spotted the sulfur just as quickly as Sam had. 

“Demons,” Dean sighed. 

“Low level,” Cas said as he focused on the room. Jack watched both of them, trying to follow their lead, but he was still new to hunting. 

“Alright, we need eyes on what happened here,” Dean said, leaning against a nearby bookcase. “Sam, are there any cameras in the building?” 

“There should be some at the entrances and the main hallway. (Y/N) was saying that they were recently doing maintenance on them and causing too much noise,” Sam explained with a frown. 

“Security office shouldn’t be too far from here,” Dean figured. “Jack, you come with me, I may need your wings.” Jack followed Dean out the door, simply going along with whatever Dean needed as usual. As soon as the two of them left, Cas was left alone with the younger Winchester. 

“Sam,” Cas began. 

“This is my fault, Cas,” Sam said, trying to stay as calm as possible. “This always happens.” 

“We don’t know that this had anything to do with you,” Castiel said, trying to comfort him. “Demons go after people for all sorts of reasons. You know this.” 

“It’s not a coincidence. It never is when it comes to us,” Sam said, shaking his head. “I swear when I find out who or what took her…” Sam braced his hands on your desk, trying to center himself. Cas approached him and placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder, wishing he could heal the pain that was not physical. 

“This woman is very important to you,” Cas said. Sam nodded, keeping his eyes on the wooden surface beneath his fingers. “Then we will find her, Sam."

“You don’t know that, Cas,” Sam said, finally looking at the Angel. Cas tilted his head, his brows going up as he gave Sam a small smile. 

“For as long as I have known you and Dean, you’ve never not completed a mission. I know you Sam, and I also know that when it comes to someone you care about, you won’t stop until you save them.” Cas put pressure again on Sam’s shoulder and Sam relaxed a bit more. 

“Thanks, Cas,” he said and the Angel bowed his head, taking a step back just as Dean came back into the room with Jack who was holding a box of security footage. 

“For a University, they could at least use a flash drive,” Dean said as Jack dropped the box on the desk. 

“Did you break into the office?” Cas asked, looking at Dean. 

“Not exactly,” Dean said as he powered up the laptop in front of him. “We didn’t break in, Jack flew in and unlocked the door from the inside,” he said and Jack nodded, happy to be helping. Cas sighed, but didn’t say anything as Dean began filtering through the CDs. “Sam, when do you think she was taken?” 

“She texted me just before we left for the hunt and she seemed fine,” Sam said, trying to think, “her assistant isn’t here and he didn’t report anything, so it must have happened either this morning or last night.” 

“Okay,” Dean said as he picked the right CD and placed it in the laptop. It didn’t take him long to find the right cameras. Sam joined him at the screen, scanning for your face. 

“There,” Sam said, pointing to the upper corner of the screen. He watched as you arrived on campus, a cup of coffee in your hands as you reached for the keys that opened the building. 

“She’s pretty,” Dean said and Sam smiled slightly before concentrating again. 

“Fast forward,” Sam said and Dean did, flashing through most of the day. He switched to the cameras in the main hall. Your assistant Brian was at his desk, working calmly when suddenly, he froze in his seat. Cas and Jack had joined the brothers behind the laptop as they watched as Brian slowly stood from his seat and then that’s when they saw it. 

Brian had black eyes. 

“Dammit,” Dean swore. All four men watched as Brian headed to your office and kicked in the door. There wasn’t audio on the tapes, but Sam could imagine the sound of your voice and the confusion in it as Brian entered the room. The hallway was empty for a moment before Brian appeared again, but this time, he held you over his shoulder. 

You were limp in his arms and from the angle of the camera, Sam couldn’t tell if you were hurt or dead. The demon that possessed Brian grinned as he walked down the hall with you.

“Try to follow them,” Sam said and Dean flicked through the cameras until he found the one that showed the loading dock at the back of the building.

The area was usually used for deliveries, but now it held a dark black sedan. Brian walked towards the car and another man with black eyes got out of the back seat and helped put you in the car. At least one more was driving. 

As soon as the sedan left the loading area, Dean lost them. “Son of a bitch,” Dean swore. “Sam, I’m sorry.”

“If they wanted to kill her, they wouldn’t have taken her with them,” Castiel pointed out. 

“Cas is right,” Sam said. “There has to be a reason.”

“Then what do they want?” Dean asked. 

“I don’t know. She has nothing to do with any of this!” Sam yelled. Jack reached out a hand to try and comfort him but dropped it before he could make contact. 

“She’s a lore professor,” Dean pointed out. 

“Yeah, but it’s all theory. She doesn’t actually believe in any of it,” Sam suddenly froze as a realization set in. “I have been lending her some of our books.”

“They might think she’s a hunter,” Jack concluded and Sam lashed out at the closest thing to him which was a stack of textbooks. They scattered across the floor. 

“Dammit!” Sam swore. This time, Jack did step forward to comfort Sam. the younger Winchester looked down at the Nephilim and saw the worry in his eyes. 

“It’ll be okay, Sam.” Jack tried and Sam softened at the words.

“The kid is right. We’ll figure this out, Sammy,” Dean said. “First things first, let’s get out of here before someone comes knocking.” 

------

Sam, Dean, Cas, and Jack returned to the bunker to collect their thoughts. 

Sam couldn’t stop pacing as they sat around the table in the War Room. Jack watched him, his eyes flicking back and forth as Sam wore a hole in the floor. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since you had been taken and his mind couldn’t keep the crime statistics at bay.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the last time he had seen you. He had told you that he would go and see you when he got back and you had said that he better. Sam internally cringed at the memory of hugging you instead of doing what he actually wanted to.

The two of you hadn’t kissed yet. You were taking it slow, but there had been so many perfect moments and he had always shied away from you. It was at that moment that Sam decided that if he got to you in time, he wouldn’t waste another opportunity. 

“Alright,” Dean said, taking charge of the situation. “Sammy, sit down before I tie you to a chair myself.” Sam rolled his eyes but sat down anyway. “Normally in a situation like this, I would outsource for information. However, the one insider from Hell that we knew is now dead so we may have to go old school with this one.” 

Sam knew he was talking about Crowley. Whether any of them admitted it or not, they all missed the demon. Dean acted like he didn’t care, but Sam, Dean, and Cas had all spent significant time with the late King of Hell and Sam, at times, did miss his banter. 

Normally, hunting down demons was easy. Sam and Dean had been doing it for more than a decade, but right now, he couldn’t seem to think straight. “How hard is it to hunt a handful of damn demons?” Sam asked.

“It’s not, Sam,” Dean reminded him. “You’re just not thinking clearly. If this was any other hunt, where would we start looking?” 

“Places they’re most likely to hold up,” Sam said automatically. Dean pointed at his brother with an approving nod. 

“Exactly,” he said. “Demons like dark holes or abandoned buildings. Or there are the classier ones that like penthouses and fancy hotel rooms.”

“I don’t think these demons would take (Y/N) to a populated place,” Cas said. “If she is some kind of hostage, then they would need a place where they could keep her quiet.”

“Underground?” asked Jack. 

“Probably not,” said Dean. “Demons are strong, but if they are keeping her alive, the would need somewhere they could fortify. Too many things live down in the sewers or tunnels to ensure that.”

“Can we stop saying the word ‘if’,” Sam pleaded. Dean grimaced. 

“Right,” Dean said, “Sorry. Okay, this is what we’re gonna do. Jack, you and Cas hit up the warehouse district. It’s close enough to the University that they could have set up there. Sam and I will go to (Y/N)’s apartment and see what we can find. Text us if you find anything.” Jack nodded and then stood up from his seat. Cas followed after him. 

Jack slipped his Angel blade into his coat and then grabbed Cas’ arm. With a loud flutter of wings, both Celestials were gone. Sam stared at the spot his friends has just disappeared and Dean clapped his hands together loudly, gaining his brother’s attention.

“Grab your gun,” Dean said. “You know where she lives?” Sam nodded.

“I dropped off a book for her once,” Sam said, grabbing his weapon and following Dean up the stairs. 

“Good, come on.” 

-----

Dean drove as Sam gave him directions. 

“So, this professor of yours,” Dean began. Sam sat next to him, twisting his Angel blade in his hands as Dean tried to keep his brother focused. “How come you didn’t want to tell me about her?” 

“What?” Sam asked. 

“I mean, I get it. Big brother and all and I’m a bit...overbearing, but it seems like you really like this one. I just thought it was odd you never mentioned her,” said Dean as he pulled up to a red light. 

“I don’t know,” Sam said, keeping his eyes forward. 

“Yes, you do,” challenged Dean. Sam sighed, giving in.

“I just… I didn’t want to jinx anything,” Sam admitted. 

“Sam, I’m your brother,” Dean said. “Hell, you listen to all my drama when it comes to women. So I believe you are almost required to let me know when someone has entered your life. Besides, she sounds like a total badass.” Sam smiled at that. 

“She is,” Sam agreed.”And she is just so...normal. You know? She’s not a werewolf or a demon or another hunter. She’s just this incredibly smart girl who happens to be interested in everything I am.” 

“You really care about this girl, don’t you?” asked Dean.

“More than you realize,” Sam said. “More than she realizes. I’ve never wanted to settle down or anything like that before. Not until I met her.”

“Hey man, trust me, I get it.” 

“Because of Lisa?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Dean said with a nod. He never outright said it, but Sam knew that Dean regretted a lot about the way his relationship with Lisa had ended. While he loved her, Sam also knew that Dean regretted bringing her into the world of monsters in the place after almost losing Ben the first time. 

“You couldn’t keep Lisa out of the life,” Sam reminded him. 

“No, but you are not me, and (Y/N) is not Lisa,” Dean said. “Also, there was baggage with Lisa that you don’t have with her.”

“I still can’t help but think this is my fault. Whoever took her must have seen me around her office. I figured that was the safest place to see her.”

“Maybe it is your fault,” Dean said and Sam looked at him with his brows raised, but Dean just shrugged. “And maybe it wasn’t. Whatever this is about, it happened and now we are going to find them, gank them, and get your girl back.”

“You seem oddly optimistic,” Sam noticed. 

“Sam, after Lucifer killed Cas and we were alone with the kid, I didn’t think anything could be good again. I mean, you saw me and how I was. And then, lo and behold Cas came back to us and I realized we can’t take any of this for granted.”

Sam thought over his brother’s words. Dean has been a wreck after Cas died. Sam had been mourning too, but anyone who knew both Dean and Cas would know that the pain Dean was going through went very deep. Losing Cas was like losing a limb and when Jack had brought him back, Dean had recovered almost instantly. 

“So, what you’re saying,” Sam said, “is that you have a good feeling about this?” 

“Come hell or high water, Sammy, we’ll get these assholes.” 

“Thanks, Dean,” Sam said, reaching over and gripping his brother’s shoulder. 

“Anytime brother, anytime.”

------

Sam and Dean arrived at your apartment and Sam kept watch as Dean quickly picked the lock. 

Pushing open the door, Sam took a few moments to take in your space. He had never been inside the place just on the doorstep. Your home was very… you. Books lined all your shelves along with other accommodations you had gotten while being a teacher. Your style was relaxed and comfortable, but he could spot antique pieces here and there as well.

The number of take-out menus on your counter made him smile. You had mentioned once that you really didn’t like to cook and seems you were understating that little fact. An unopened bottle of wine sat by your stove and as Sam picked it up, he felt his heart sink a bit. 

“What is it?” Dean asked. 

“I recommended this wine to her,” Sam said sadly, gently placing it back down. Dean frowned as he continued to look around the room. Sam scanned through the kitchen before Dean shouted for him. 

“Sam!” Dean said from the living room. Sam joined him. 

“Find something?” Sam asked and Dean held up his hand which was coated in yellow dust. “Sulfur.” 

“Also this,” Dean said holding up a folded piece of paper. “It has your name on it.” Sam took the note from Dean. S.Winchester was scrawled on the front of it. Sam hastily opened it and read it aloud. 

“Come save your girlfriend, Boy King,” Sam said, gritting his teeth. “There’s an address at the bottom,” he said bitterly. 

“Let me see,” Dean said and Sam handed the note to him. Dean tapped the address into his phone and frowned. “It’s an old hospital. It’s been closed for over a decade,” Dean explained. 

“I don’t understand any of this!” Sam yelled as he began to pace again. “Why are they doing this? Why her? Why are we always getting into situations like this!”

“Sam!” Dean said, grabbing onto his brother’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. “Calm down and breathe. We have a location now. We can call Jack and Cas and we can go get her. They wouldn’t have left he damn note if they had killed her.” 

“I know, I know,” Sam said, more to himself than to Dean. 

“We’re gonna get her,” Dean said again, “I have always been a hero for your love life and I ain’t about to let you lose this one.” Dean then pulled his brother into a hug and Sam relaxed, resting his head on Dean’s shoulder. “You good?” Dean asked. 

“Yeah,” said Sam as he pulled away. “I’m good.”

“Alright then, let’s get going. We’ll call the heaven brigade in the car.”

------

On the way to the hospital, Sam checked their supply of holy water. 

“We’re killing them, right? Not exorcising them?” Dean asked. 

“Yeah, we’re killing them. If we just send them back, they’ll just come back for her,” said Sam. 

“What about the assistant?” Dean asked. Sam sighed, momentarily forgetting about Brian. 

“I don’t know, maybe,” he said and Dean just shrugged. 

Suddenly, there was the fluttering of wings, and Cas and Jack appeared in the backseat. “Oh, good, backup,” Dean said, grinning at them in the mirror. 

“You have a location?” Cas asked. 

“On our way there now,” Dean told him. 

“Sam,” Cas continued, “tell me about (Y/N).” 

“Uh,” Sam said, unprepared for the question. “She is brilliant and kind. You would really like her, Cas. Her humor kind of reminds me of yours. She has all these ideas about what she wants to do with her life. (Y/N) wants to write books and travel more. She’s never been to New Orleans so I told her I would take her there one day.”

“She sounds nice,” Cas said, wistfully looking out the window. 

“Yeah…” Sam said. “I can’t let her get caught up in all of this.”

“I think it’s a little late for that,” Jack said.

“Kid,” Dean said with a look at him in the rear view and Cas looked at Jack with his “disapproving dad look.

“It’s okay,” Sam assured them,”he’s right anyway.” 

“Well, right or not, we’re gonna fix it,” Dean said as he pulled Baby to a stop. They had arrived outside the hospital and Sam couldn’t help but think of the terror you must have felt being dragged into here. “Alright, crew, gear up,” Dean continued and then looked at his younger brother, “time to go save the girl.”

TAGS: 

@reginalaufeyson-holmes​

@her-storybooks​

[stusbunker]

Lie to Me in Melody Challenge

Stu’s Masterlist’s 2nd Birthday Writing Extravaganza

When: May 22 - July 30th 2020

Where: Tumblr (or a Tumblr post with a link to AO3)

What: A Supernatural Song Lyric Writing Prompt Challenge with a Twist!

Last year I asked you all to Break My Heart, well this year, I am asking you to lie to me. But make it convincing. I need you to weave something so well that I won’t know where the lie is coming from until it is too late. It could be a big lie, it could be a little lie, good or bad, but there must be a lie!

How: Please send me an ASK if you would like to participate.

Include the prompt you’d like and a back up. There will be a two blog limit per prompt this year.

Write your masterpiece! Use the lyric as best you see fit (theme, dialogue, description, etc), but please list it in your A/N so I know what to look for.

Post your fic and tag me!

Include ‘#I lied to Stu’ in the first five tags so I can organize things later.

I will reblog your fic once I’ve had the chance to read it. Likes come from my mainblog @stunudo. 

Interested? Okay, well, there’s still the nitty gritty to worry about!

RULES:

NO WINCEST, incest, or underaged shenanigans. Bobby and Jack are both related to the Winchesters, don’t @ me.

No real people, please and thank you.

Any pairing is acceptable (beyond the above).

Tag your fics! I don’t care what your kinks are, but tag them! (I am not going to shame you. I just may gloss over certain parts.)

Minimum 300 words. No Max.

OCs/ series/ AUs are all welcome!

Deadline: July 30 (My actual birthday)

I would love a follow if you’re joining, but I doubt I am everyone’s cup of tea.

Keep Reading link on anything longer than 500 words. Seriously, don’t be a savage.

Song Lyric Prompts:

Jewel

1. And you try to find yourself In the abstractions of religion And the cruelty of everyone else And you wake up to realize Your standard of living somehow got stuck on survive

2. There is this hunger This restlessness inside of me And it knows that you're no stranger You're my gravity @thewhiterabbit42​

3. Some are walking, some are talking, some are stalking their kill You got social security, but that doesn't pay your bills 

4. I feel your tongue Telling me I'm dirty And licking my bones A surge against silence A knife across a plate Makes the sound Of need on hate @thoughtslikeaminefield​

Train

5. You're hopeless 'cause you tell the truth The stars are jealous of your shine @67midnightwriter​

6. There's nothing in between us knowing where we're going is inside. Every letter that I wrote, every dress you never wore under your coat

7. Together can never be close enough for me To feel like I am close enough to you You wear white and I'll wear out the words "I love you"

8. These bruises make for better conversation Loses the vibe that separates It's good to let you in again

Billy Joel

9. I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage I found that just surviving was a noble fight I once believed in causes too I had my pointless point of view And life went on no matter who was wrong or right @a-winchester-fairytale​

10. They showed you a statue and told you to pray They built you a temple and locked you away But they never told you the price that you pay @awesomesusiebstuff​

11. You had to be a big shot, didn't you All your friends were so knocked out You had to have the last word, last night @idabbleincrazy​

12. For the promises our teachers gave If we worked hard If we behaved So the graduations hang on the wall But they never really helped us at all

13. I know I'm searching for something Something so undefined That it can only be seen By the eyes of the blind In the middle of the night @deanwanddamons​

Carole King

14. Sometimes I think I'm a prisoner of fate Doomed to find out things a little too late And so I must play this broken man's role

15. I feel the earth move under my feet I feel the sky tumbling down I just lose control Down to my very soul @fangirlxwritesx67​

16. Tonight you're mine completely You give your love so sweetly Tonight the light of love is in your eyes But will you love me tomorrow @phantomwarrior12​

17. As I watched in sorrow, there suddenly appeared A figure gray and ghostly beneath a flowing beard In times of deepest darkness, I've seen him dressed in black

Now my tapestry's unraveling - he's come to take me back @dontshootmespence​

Modest Mouse

18. Talking shit about a pretty sunset Blanketing opinions that I'll probably regret soon I've changed my mind so much I cant even trust it My mind changed me so much I cant even trust myself

19. Working real hard to make internet cash Work your fingers to the bone sitting on your ass I know now what I knew then But I didn't know then what I know now

20. When you’re living your life, well, that's the price you pay Whenever I breath out, you're breathing it in Whenever I speak out, you're speaking out

21. Blame it on the weekends. God I need a cola now. Oh we mumble loudly, wear our shame so proudly. Wore our blank expressions, trying to look interesting. Blame it all on me cuz God I need a cold one now.

22. Well you were spitting venom at most everyone you know If you truly knew the gravity you'd know just where to go Well let it drop @there-must-be-a-lock​

^*^*^*^

Tagging: @dontshootmespence​

Slackers: @mskathywriteswords​ @fangirlxwritesx67 @itmighthavebeenintentional​ @there-must-be-a-lock

Shout out to MJ @thoughtslikeaminefield​ for the banner!

[skelebonecentral]

Hothouse rose chapter 1

a reverse harem with the lust boys

first we gotta meet the basic skeles

words under cut

Frisk was your cousin.

They’d run away, a week after their mom passed away. Your aunt, their other mother, was frantic and your whole family had gone out searching, as well as most of the town. You’re so glad it was your dad’s oldest sister who first caught sight of the monsters and not the sheriff or someone not quite as sensible.

Frisk came back from the mountain that loomed above your town with a whole civilization behind them.

Yeah, they tried to hook their mom up with Toriel, the strong, kind, and welcoming goat woman who was the Queen of the monsters, but Frisk was just a very romantic kid in general. They flirted as a hobby, it was hilarious and you were so glad they were back and safe to continue cracking you up with it.

They hugged everyone and apologized for scaring them, that they figured out that just because they were hurting didn’t mean it was okay to hurt other people, when they finally got the chance to exit the monsters’ camp after the police and government and all kinds of things showed up.

Still, you had to admire them for how much they grew up if that was what they wanted to say right away. Well, sign. Frisk was mute, after all.

Having them home was so nice, and their new friends were awesome.

You met Toriel first, of course, and her ex-husband, Asgore. You felt sorry for the big fluffy guy, he looked so hopeless and sad when Toriel would glare at him. And Frisk called him Dad, that was so cute, cause he just lit up. It was weird, though, feeling so pitying toward a ten foot tall goat man with huge horns and a long golden beard who had been alive for centuries longer than you.

Still, you liked both the goat people, and Monster Kid, Frisk’s new bestie who ran around with them. He was…well, he was a monster kid. Lizardish, with a tail and yellow-orange scales, but no arms to speak of. It made him top heavy, since he was humanoid, so he fell over often. Frisk seemed very fond of him, and you were glad. They hadn’t had a lot of luck making friends with other human kids at school before all of this.

But Frisk, being the eternal matchmaker they were, decided YOU needed to get in on this whole monster friend business.

Of course, you didn’t realize it until Gyftmas. It was a monster holiday from Snowdin, a small town Underground, that centered around gift giving and involved Santa for some reason? Anyway, the monster community was holding a carnival inside the local event center (it was mid-September so there weren’t any OTHER holidays to do) and your little cousin, being the ambassador, was of course invited and they brought you as their plus one.

Did you forget to mention that Frisk was the ambassador for monsters? They are. Well, at least in name. That’s their official title, is Ambassador, but they’re more like a figurehead while Toriel and Asgore handle the actual statecraft. The adults do let them cut ribbons and make speeches, but they’re just not ready for something that complicated. They are only six, after all.

But back to the carnival, Frisk brought you, and took you to a particular booth.

The booth was decorated with several action figures from an old 80’s cartoon that you used to love watching reruns of, and the sign above said, “THE GREAT PAPYRUS’ TRIVIA BOOTH!”

Frisk beamed as they dragged you, and looking in the booth, there was a very tall soldier-looking fellow who seemed to be a skeleton.

“HELLO, DEAR FRISK! I SEE YOU BROUGHT A HUMAN WITH YOU!” he called exuberantly, waving with bright red mittens. He had a black something or other on under the white chest piece of…oh that’s not actually armor. As you got closer, you’re now aware its made of fabric and the lines and emblem on the front are felt pieces sewn to it. The big round shoulder pads are attached, too.

Frisk signs eagerly, “Hi Papyrus! This is my cousin, Y/N! I wanted them to try your trivia!” Their hands are going very fast, and they’re bouncing, so they’re very excited about this.

“OH!” the skeleton stands up, showing his very obvious spine in his black whateverthatis and the odd ultra-short shorts that match his chest piece. “HELLO, HUMAN Y/N! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET A RELATIVE OF MY DEAR FRIEND, FRISK!”

He holds out his hand, and you shake it, feeling the long fingerbones underneath and finding yourself grinning like an idiot. Holy heck, an actual skeleton was talking to you. Your inner child was screaming with joy in their Jack-skellington slippers. Frisk had to have known…well, how could they not, your room is covered in Halloween and skeleton themed knickknacks.

“H-hey, Papyrus, I’m super glad to meet you, too!” you didn’t mean to stammer but you’re trying not to freak out as your arm is nearly shaken from its socket. He’s so STRONG!

Frisk giggled and signed something too quick for you to parse, and Papyrus let you go, “OH, ALRIGHT! HAVE A GOOD TIME, FRISK! YOUR COUSIN AND I WILL HAVE A BATTLE OF WITS!”

They scampered away and left you with the skeleton, who pulled out a fold out chair, setting it in front of his booth and then sitting in his own behind the counter, “ALRIGHTIE THEN! HUMAN Y/N, YOUR CHALLENGE SHALL BE TO ANSWER TEN QUESTIONS ABOUT MONSTER CULTURE. THE MORE YOU GET CORRECT, THE BETTER YOUR PRIZE! BEING FRISK’S COUSIN, YOU SHOULD DO VERY WELL!”

“Don’t be so sure, Papyrus. I have some wicked test anxiety,” you joke, and he blinks his sockets at you.

“NO NEED TO BE NERVOUS!” His smile seems set in his long jawed skull, but it actually tilts up a bit more, “SOMEONE WHO LOVES OUR FRISK IS BOUND TO BE A GOOD LISTENER AND KIND SOUL, SO I HAVE FAITH IN YOU. FIRST QUESTION!” he whipped out a set of cards, “WHAT IS KING ASGORE’S FAVORITE DRINK?”

You smile, happy it’s one you know, “Golden Flower Tea. He likes tea in general but that’s his favorite.”

“CORRECT! WOWIE, AND SO CONFIDENT!” Papyrus seems just as pleased as you are, “NEXT ONE! WHAT WAS THE FIRST SECTION OF THE UNDERGROUND CALLED?”

“Ah,” you had to think a moment, then said cautiously, “I think it was the Ruins?”

“YOU’RE RIGHT.” Papyrus then set two further action figures from the same set as his decorations, “THESE WILL MARK YOUR SUCCESSES! ALRIGHT, NEXT!” He shifted his sockets in a comical manner that you had to fight your instinct to laugh at, “HOW MANY MOVIES HAS METTATON, OUR BELOVED STAR, PUT OUT AS OF TODAY?”

You blink…and you have to guess because you honestly don’t care for Mettaton’s version of movies, “28?”

Papyrus’ jaw just falls open, and he sets another figure on the counter, “I THOUGHT FOR SURE THAT WOULD STUMP YOU! I’M FLABBERGASTED. YOU MUST BE A VERY DEDICATED FAN OF METTATON, JUST LIKE MYSELF.”

You blush, “N-not really. His music and dancing are great, but the movies go over my head, I guess. I only watched one because Frisk wanted me to…”

He chuckles, “AT LEAST YOU ARE HONEST. I WATCH THEM FOR THE FUN OF SEEING EVERYONE ELSE’S REACTIONS, HONESTLY. AND THE SET DESIGNS! THEY’RE VERY WELL DONE, AFTER ALL.”

“Oh, yeah, I did notice that. I bet a lot of Broadway plays would love to get his input on that front.”

Papyrus perked up, “BROADWAY? I KNOW A STREET BY THAT NAME BUT I GET THE FEELING YOU’RE REFERRING TO A THEATER OR SOMETHING SIMILAR.”

“Kind of?” you quirk your mouth a bit, not really smiling but thinking about it, “It’s a street in New York City with lots of theaters on it that’s famous for having the best in plays and musicals in the country. It’s really a cool place, from what I hear.”

“OOH! I SHOULD LOOK UP MORE ABOUT THAT LATER. ANYWAY!” He gets out a set of note cards, “I WROTE ALL THE QUESTIONS DOWN SO I COULD HAVE LOTS OF CHOICES. YOU’RE DOING A LOT BETTER THAN SOME PEOPLE!”

You were getting excited now, wondering what he could ask.

“OKAY! WHAT WAS THE NAME OF OUR LOST PRINCE?”

You frown. That was a serious question, and you think back to Frisk’s descriptions they would give you now and then of their time under the mountain. “Asriel.” You remembered thinking his name sounded angelic.

“ANOTHER FIGURE FOR YOU!” Papyrus plops the next figure on the desk and…

“Is that the villain? I didn’t know they even made a figure for him.” You can’t help yourself, not when you’d loved his antics as a kid. “Lord Verminator, looking good.”

Papyrus gasped, “YOU LIKE ALIEN WARLORDS OF JUSTICE?! I THOUGHT HUMANITY HAD FORGOTTEN THIS CLASSIC SERIES! I HAVE EVERY FIGURE EVER MADE EXCEPT FOR THREE, AND EVERY EPISODE ON VARIOUS VHS TAPES. I WILL HAVE TO ASK FOR FRISK TO BRING YOU OVER AND HAVE A MARATHON!”

You nod eager, “I know I haven’t been able to see every episode. I only got a few episodes they put on an old cable channel but it was so good. I managed to salvage some merch from antique stores, but it’s never been enough.”

“THERE WAS MORE THAN ACTION FIGURES?!” Papyrus is awestruck, orange sparkles appearing around his skull. “OH THIS HAS TO BE FATE! MY FIRST HUMAN FRIEND HAS A GROWN-UP COUSIN WHO LOVES THE SAME SERIES AS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS? SERENDIPITOUS!”

You finally laugh and nod, “You’re so peppy! How did Frisk manage to keep you a secret? I wish we’d met sooner now.”

His sparkles increased, and he began pumping his fists up and down eagerly, “DO YOU REALLY MEAN IT? BECAUSE IF SO, I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY! LET’S GET THIS QUIZ OVER WITH SO WE CAN GUSH ABOUT OUR FAVORITE THINGS INSTEAD!”

He takes a notecard and asks, “WHAT IS THE SYMBOL OF OUR KINGDOM CALLED?”

“The one Toriel wears, right? I think…it was the Delta Rune?”

“YES!” the card was set down, a figure was placed, and another card picked up, “WHO IS THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD?”

“Undyne.” You sigh, “She tried to suplex me the first time I had to go to Toriel’s to pick up Frisk.”

“OH, THAT WAS YOU?” Papyrus tilts his skull, and you notice his sockets are slightly uneven. You also notice you like hearing him talk, even though he’s very loud. “SHE TOLD ME SOME HUMAN CAME AND MANAGED TO DODGE HER GRAB. SHE’S BEEN TRYING TO GET FASTER AFTER THAT.”

You want to comment, but Papyrus gets another card, “WHO CREATED THE CORE?“ he stops, frowns, then tosses the cards behind him, “THAT ONE WAS ACTUALLY A TRICK QUESTION, BECAUSE NOBODY KNOWS WHO DID IT! AND AS MUCH AS I LIKE TRIVIA, I’M MORE EXCITED ABOUT TALKING WITH YOU.”

Smiling, you take his elbow when he offers it, despite him being two feet taller than you, even in his flat bottomed red rain boots, “That’s pretty flattering. What was the prize for the quiz, though? I’m curious.”

“A DATE WITH YOURS TRULY!” Papyrus laughed, “NYEHEHEHE, BUT I HAVE A FEELING HUMANS WOULD BE RATHER INTIMIDATED BY SOMEONE AS HANDSOME AND CAPABLE AS MYSELF, SO GIVING YOU A TOUR SEEMS MUCH NICER.”

Papyrus led you around the event center, pointing at the various booths and explaining them, even sometimes introducing you to the monster manning it. You didn’t see hide nor hair of Frisk for the rest of the evening, but you didn’t really notice. Papyrus’ enthusiastic rambling and genuine glee at showing you around kept you glued to his side gladly.

When the crowds had thinned out considerably, you asked, “Papyrus, this has been the most fun I’ve had at a fair in years. I’d really like to do more cool stuff like this with you, so maybe we could exchange numbers?”

He froze, then turned, big sparkles appearing again, including inside his sockets, “WOWIE, REALLY?! OF COURSE WE CAN! I REALIZE IT IS LATE AND HUMAN BEINGS NEED PLENTY OF SLEEP TO BE HEALTHY, UNLIKE THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SO LET US HURRY!”

He shoved his phone into your hand and you gave him yours, typing in your number and naming yourself with a balloon emoji on the end to remind him of the fun fair you’d shared together. You get your phone back as you hold out his, and it says “THE GREAT PAPYRUS” with a skull emoji and a gold medal one on the end.

“Perfect! Feel free to text me whenever, but I might not answer if I’m busy or sleeping.”

He nodded, “I UNDERSTAND! I WILL PROBABLY BE TEXTING YOU QUITE OFTEN, BUT FEEL FREE TO TAKE YOUR TIME. UNDYNE SAYS I TEND TO RAMBLE WHEN I’M EXCITED. AND I’M ALWAYS EXCITED! ESPECIALLY WHEN I MAKE A NEW FRIEND.”

You nod and bid him goodbye, getting a back-cracking hug, before he rushes off into the fair and you head toward your car. Frisk had texted you earlier to say they were going home with Toriel, so you rode back alone, glad for the break so you could process your night with the personification of optimism that was Papyrus.

--

You got texts from Papyrus every day. Multiple texts in a row, about ten different times a day, and about just about any subject that was on his mind at the time.

“JUST GOT BACK FROM MY MORNING JOG! I HOPE YOU’VE HAD A GOOD MORNING SO FAR!” at 5:30 am.

“IF YOU NEED ANYTHING AT THE STORE TODAY, I WORK AT SMILE MART! MY SHIFT IS FROM SIX TO TWO, SO FEEL FREE TO SWING BY FOR A VISIT.”

“I LOOKED UP BROADWAY FINALLY! THERE’S SO MUCH TO LEARN! IT’S BEAUTIFUL!”

“UNDYNE IS STILL DOING SPEED TRAINING TO TRY AND OUTMATCH YOU. I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TWO TO OFFICIALLY MEET ON BETTER TERMS!”

That was the general gist of his messages, just little windows into his day and topics that related back to earlier conversations.

You would answer him between classes, since you were a freshman in the local college, and once you were off around noon, you’d head to Smile Mart and see Papyrus in action.

The first time you actually were able to see him at work, he was meticulously arranging the dairy section, making every gallon of milk have the handle facing the same direction in his white button up, black pants, and bright pink apron.

Hearing you approach, he snapped upward and his face lit up, “HUMAN Y/N! HELLO!” Standing to hi full height and brushing himself down, he posed like a soldier at parade rest, “HOW DO YOU LIKE MY DAPPER WORK ATTIRE?”

You smirk a bit, just in an effort not to laugh out loud at that pose and speech combined, but answer honestly, “You make it look good.”

“THANK YOU! I’M AWARE!” he grinned, then got back to his task, “THANK YOU FOR COMING IN. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR TODAY?”

That sounded suspiciously like a work script rather than just Papyrus being himself, but you shrug it off, “I don’t need anything in particular at the dorm, so I’m just gonna grab one of those yogurt and fruit smoothie drinks over there when I head out. best breakfast treat.”

He looks at the items you’re pointing at, then nods in approval, “FRUIT AND YOGURT ARE GOOD CHOICES FOR A MORNING BEVERAGE. AND DORMS? ARE YOU PERHAPS A MEMBER OF THE CLERGY?”

You do laugh at that, “No! No, I’m a first semester freshman at the university. You have to spend your first semester on campus if you live more than a certain distance away and unfortunately, my house isn’t in the right range.”

“OH. THAT’S QUITE INTERESTING!” He rubs his chin, “I WAS ACTUALLY CONSIDERING GOING TO THE COLLEGE MYSELF, BUT SANS ISN’T EXACTLY A FAN OF IT.”

“Is that the brother you told me about at the fair? The one who sleeps?” Papyrus had mentioned he had a brother who was lazy and slept a lot, but not the name.

“YES. HE NAPS ALL NIGHT AND FREQUENTLY DURING THE DAY ALSO!”

You grin as he waggles his brows. He had noticed how you didn’t like his wording when he’d said the same line about “napping all night” at the fair, and now he teases you with it. “Still called sleeping, Pap.”

He chuckles good naturedly and shrugs, “WHATEVER IT’S CALLED, THAT’S WHAT SANS DOES. SLEEP, EAT, AND EMIT SLIME.”

“He emits slime?”

“SOMETIMES. FRISK SAYS THAT IS ACTUALLY CALLED DROOL UP HERE. NOW I’M WONDERING IF MY BROTHER IS RELATED TO DOGS BECAUSE THEY’RE THE ONLY ONES I’VE SEEN WHO DROOL QUITE AS MUCH AS HE DOES WHILE SNORING.”

The visits become routine after that first one. When you get a break during his shift, you just go to the store and buy some kind of single serving drink. Yeah, you wish they were in cardboard cartons or glass instead, but all your bottles do go into your recycling bucket at your dorm. It’s more an excuse to talk to Papyrus, anyway.

He asks more about the university, and when you ask him what he’d major in if he did attend, he has a very good answer already, “SPORTS MEDICINE! I’M A VERY GOOD HEALER NATURALLY, AND I LOVE ATHLETICS OF ALL SORTS, SO WHY NOT COMBINE MY TWO PROCLIVITIES INTO ONE CAREER PATH? UNDYNE DOESN’T NEED ME ANYONE ELSE IN THE GUARD NOW THAT WE’RE UP HERE, AND I WANT TO BE HELPFUL.” He scratched his chin a bit before adding to the end, “WELL, MORE HELPFUL THAN I AM CURRENTLY ANYWAY.”

That’s a great idea, you think, and you encourage him to go for it. After all, he’s got so much energy, you’re sure any course of study will be a breeze.

It’s kind of surprising when, a few weeks later, he texts you excitedly, “I GOT MY ACCEPTANCE LETTER! NEXT SEMESTER WE’RE GOING TO BE CLASSMATES! ONCE IT’S TIME, LET’S CHOOSE OUR SCHEDULES TOGETHER!”

Wow, he really does go for what he wants, doesn’t he?

--

Great was definitely the least you could say about Papyrus by the time you two were meeting up on the first day of the semester.

He had already invited you over to his house several times, Frisk had dragged you along on lots of outings with the skeleton, and you had braved a meeting with Undyne and her adorable wife, Alphys, as part of a celebration for Papyrus’ acceptance into college.

So when his unique figure came striding up the sidewalks on campus, you immediately ran to meet him and got scooped into a twirling hug with your mutual giggles echoing off the old gothic revival buildings around the ovular clearing.

“Papyrus!”

“Y/N!”

As you were set down, you beamed up at him, “I’m so glad I didn’t start my gen ed until now. We have all semester together.”

“I KNOW! SURE, I HAVE TO TAKE THAT ONE NUTRITION CLASS WHILE YOU’VE GOT CHEMISTRY, BUT OTHER THAN THAT!” He’s bouncing on his heels and utterly pleased, and noticing his bouncing is what draws your eyes to the shorter figure next to him.

Another skeleton, about your height and blinking at you with white lights in his large, round sockets, stood next to Papyrus and waved lazily at you, “heya.”

“Oh my gosh, you must be Sans!” you were excited to finally meet Papy’s brother. “I dunno how it took this long for us to end up in the same place but I’m so glad to meet you!” You offer your hand and it gets taken with a long “pffffffffffffffffft” sound.

“SANS! I TOLD YOU NOT TO BRING THAT TODAY!” Papyrus sounds equal parts furious and embarrassed, as the bright orange glowing on his cheekbones betrays.

“had to, bro. can’t skip the classic gags,” Sans takes his hand back, revealing a small red whoopie cushion in it.

You stare, surprised, “Oh my gosh? I didn’t know anybody even used oldies like that anymore. Or did actual harmless pranks like that. Consider me impressed; you’ve got better taste in humor than most of MeTube.”

That seems to shock the smaller skeleton before you, making him lower his hand slowly. He was wearing a blue hoodie jacket over a white shirt with small stains on the chest, and black basketball shorts with white socks and pink house shoes. “uh. thanks.”

“DON’T ENCOURAGE HIM,” Papyrus huffed, “HE’LL START PUNNING AND THEN WE’LL BE HERE ALL DAY.” He pulled you forward, away from Sans, and waved at his brother, “HAVE A GOOD DAY DOING WHATEVER ODD JOBS YOU HAVE TODAY, BROTHER! I WILL BE ENJOYING MY TIME LEARNING WITH MY BEST FRIEND!”

“I thought Undyne was your best friend?” you say as he speeds away from a perplexed looking Sans, who you wave to with a helpless expression.

“SHE’S MY BEST FRIEND, TOO. YOU CAN HAVE AS MANY BEST FRIENDS AS YOU LIKE!”

--

Classes go smoothly, but you begin to notice….

Well, you see Sans pretty much everywhere.

Leaving your one class you don’t have with Papyrus, you see him snoozing on a bench outside.

While leaving your part time job sorting all the incoming books for the library on campus, there he is again, at one of the computers looking up jokes.

Even while you’re out getting a haircut, you find him running a little hotdog cart. Finally, you have to ask him what he’s doing.

“Heya, Sans,” you go up to the stand, which is currently empty. “Been seeing you around a lot.”

“why didn’t ya say hi, then, kiddo? my brother sings your praises daily, wouldn’t have minded saying hello.” He’s just got a green apron on over his outfit from before, and you smile.

“I don’t wanna intrude. Just thought I’d ask what was up, y’know? Normally it’s just students at the library. How’d you even get in the computer without a student id?” That had been bothering you for a bit.

“oh, easy. I’m faculty.”

Your brain shorted for a moment, “You…are?”

“yep,” he chuckled, waving you to a seat next to his cart. “turns out a monster phd converts pretty well to a human one. Just consulting with the physics department right now, but once the political climate settles some more, who knows?”

Something bubbles up to the front of your mind, “Oh. Oh! Papyrus said you liked physics once. I guess it’s more of a passion for you than he let on.”

“heh, used to be. might be again. dunno yet.” He looks across the street, away from you. “anyhow, frisk and pap both seem to think you’re the bees’ knees.”

You tilt your head a bit, but then see the little buzzing insects around a flowerbox on the other side of the street. “Oh! hahah, good spot. Yeah, I’m pretty lucky two really cool people decided I’m interesting enough to look after.”

Sans hummed as you both watched the bees, “yeah, they’re both kinda neat folks. My bro’s the coolest though. biased, I know, but it’s true.”

“I can’t argue there,” you feel happy thinking about Papyrus, “He’s taken to school like a fish to water. I really love finally having a friend who’s so positive. Not that my roommate’s not cool, but she’s as tired as I am usually.”

“you got a roomie?” he hums, “then why spend time with my bro? surely you’ve got more in common with her?”

“Hah!” you actually laughed. “I’m a linguistics major, Sans. She’s a botanist. Her side of the room is covered in so many plants I have to take sinus medication 24/7. Nah, she’s a good person but we have nothing in common other than living space and shared love for cheesy family-friendly rom-coms.”

You had gotten so involved with watching a particular bee rolling around a tulip that you didn’t notice when Sans faced you again. “so if she decided to get into a fight, you wouldn’t back her up?”

“Oh, no, I’d pull her out and tell her off for fighting. But she’s always in the greenhouses or labs, so I doubt she’d find anybody to fight with even if she wanted to. More likely to squeak like a dog toy and hide, if we’re being totally honest,” you turn to Sans smiling, but his expression makes you freeze.

His lights were out and the haunting blankness of his huge sockets made you shudder.

“kid, you better be telling the truth. My brother’s the best, but people take advantage of his kindness. If you hurt him, you’re gonna have a bad time.”

Nope, you were not going to stand for that. Getting up, you bolted, and as soon as you made it back to your dorm, you texted Papyrus.

You: Papyrus, we need to talk about your brother.

Papy: WHAT HAS SANS DONE NOW? YOU TWO HAVE BARELY EVEN MET!

You: We talked today and he threatened me.

It takes more than two seconds for an answer. Clearly you’d managed to rattle Papyrus (heh).

Papy: TELL ME EVERYTHING.

You explain yourself, how you kept seeing Sans around when Papyrus wasn’t there, and the incident after your haircut today.

Papyrus doesn’t answer in text, and after a moment or two you get a call from him.

“Papyrus-“

“I AM MORE SORRY THAN WORDS CAN SAY FOR WHAT MY BROTHER DID TODAY.” His voice was hard and serious, something you’d never heard before. “I DON’T BLAME YOU IF YOU’D RATHER NOT TALK ANYMORE AFTER THIS, BUT I ASSURE YOU I WILL HAVE A SERIOUS DISCUSSION WITH HIM ABOUT WHAT HE DID. APPARENTLY, FROM WHAT I GATHER, HE DID THE SAME THING TO FRISK.”

He’d threatened a child?! Not just any child either, your COUSIN! Who saved his people from captivity! You were about to ask about that when Papyrus continued. “FRISK SAYS IT WAS JUSTIFIED, BUT I’M NOT SURE HOW. BUT YOU? YOU HAVE NEVER HARMED ME, NOR ANYONE ELSE, AND HAVE DONE NOTHING TO DESERVE IT. SO, NOW THAT I’VE SAID MY PIECE, WHAT DO YOU THINK?”

You have to turn your brain back on to think for a moment. Papyrus was very dear to you, he was sweet and lifted your spirits no matter what. Still, with a scary protective brother, you weren’t sure if you wanted to be near him anymore.

“Papyrus, I like you. You’re my best friend. But I can’t feel safe around Sans and I’m kind of scared to come to your house ever again. We still have classes together, but I think if we’re going to be friends still, we can only meet out in public or at my place.” Even saying that makes you nervous. Nobody’s ever done this before, threatening you just out of nowhere.

“THAT’S REASONABLE. I CAN HEAR HOW SCARED YOU ARE, Y/N, AND I’M….WELL, INCREDIBLY ASHAMED TO HAVE BEEN PART OF WHY YOU’RE FEELING THAT WAY. THIS WILL NOT GO UNSEEN TO, I SWEAR IT!”

Tears were starting to leak out of your eyes at this point, your adrenaline leaving you tired and scared, but you smile, “I have faith in you, Papyrus. Just…I’m just scared now. I’m gonna try to calm down and I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“YES, THAT IS A GOOD PLAN. TRY TO BE KIND TO YOURSELF UNTIL I CAN BE KIND TO YOU INSTEAD…” There was silence, and then a very soft, worried, “I love you.”

That was enough to get you sobbing, “I love you, too. Be safe.” You had to hang up now, and you curled up under your covers to hide from the world.

--

As soon as he hung up the phone, Papyrus quickly wiped his sockets. He, too, was crying at the thought of his dear friend, who he loved fiercely, being terrified and menaced by HIS BROTHER of all people. But he was going to fix this.

Yes, he’d been far too late to fix what happened with Frisk, and Frisk themselves didn’t seem too upset by it, but YOU certainly were. He could feel it in the way you’d spoken, how very close he’d been to losing his best friend. He still might lose them.

But he’s going to make the effort to try not to.

Taking several deep breaths, Papyrus left his room and went down the stairs. Sans was on the couch as he’d expected, flipping channels on their TV.

“hey bro, what’s up?” Sans had his normal expression, and it made Papyrus furious.

“BROTHER. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID.”

Sitting up, Sans looks confused, “what do you mean?”

Papyrus took another breath, feeling his ribs fill to capacity with the cooling air that helped calm him, “SANS, I JUST GOT SEVERAL VERY FRIGHTENED TEXTS FROM Y/N, AND THEY WERE ABOUT YOU.”

Ah, there, the permanent smile on Sans’ face drooped significantly, “oh.”

“YES, OH.” Rubbing his sockets, as they had started burning like he was going to cry again, Papyrus asked, “DID YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS WOULD DO TO ME BEFORE YOU THREATENED THEM? DO YOU EVER CONSIDER HOW THIS COULD HAVE MADE THEM SO FRIGHTENED THAT THEY NEVER SPOKE TO ME AGAIN? OR IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED? DO YOU WANT ME TO BE ALONE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, SANS?”

“n-no, no that’s…I don’t want you lonely, paps, I just want you to be safe.” Sans’ voice and eyelights were both small and shaky. Good, he realized how serious this was.

“I KNOW YOU DID THIS TO FRISK, TOO, AND I’M JUST…SANS, YOU CAN’T THREATEN PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG!” He wanted to move, to do something dramatic, but Papyrus just couldn’t with the weight of his frustration and disappointment. “I LOVE THEM BOTH, AND YOU…YOU DON’T SEEM TO CARE WHAT YOU BREAK ON YOUR WAY TO WHAT YOU CONSIDER MY SAFETY. I’M AN ADULT, SANS, NO STRIPES ANYWHERE, AND I’D LIKE YOU TO TREAT ME LIKE ONE. I KNOW I’M OPTIMISTIC, I KNOW I’M SILLY, BUT THAT’S HOW I LIKE TO BE. I LIKE BEING A GOOD INFLUENCE FOR PEOPLE, AND IF THAT MEANS SOMETIMES I GET MY HEART BROKEN, THEN I LEARN, DON’T I?”

Sans was just staring at him, but he finally found his voice, “but paps, they aren’t like other folks. They’re humans, they have a lot more power and-“

“I KNOW THAT.”

Closing his mouth that had opened to argue, Sans listened. “SANS, DO YOU THINK I WASN’T SCARED WHEN FRISK CAME? I WAS TERRIFIED! I KNEW THEY COULD DUST US BOTH WITH A MOVE, BUT I HAD TO AT LEAST MAKE THE EFFORT TO SHOW THEM THAT WASN’T WHAT HAD TO HAPPEN. I WANTED TO CAPTURE THEM, YES, BECAUSE THAT WOULD HAVE MADE UNDYNE AND EVERYONE ELSE SO PLEASED WITH ME, GIVEN ME MORE OPPORTUNITES TO MAKE THE FRIENDS I WANTED. BUT…THEY LIKED ME.” Papyrus was at a loss. “THEY PLAYED ALONG WITH MY ACT AND SEEMED HAPPY WITH IT. SO I CHANGED MY MIND. I DIDN’T FORGET WHAT THEY COULD DO, WHICH IS WHY I TRIED TO GET UNDYNE TO BE FRIENDS WITH THEM, TOO. I DIDN’T WANT HER TO GET HURT EITHER, OR FOR HER TO HURT FRISK.”

Oh the tears were back and Papyrus scrubbed them away angrily, “BUT NOW I’M WONDERING IF I SUCCEEDED IN SPITE OF YOU! I’M WONDERING IF YOU DIDN’T THREATEN EVERY PERSON I’VE EVER TRIED TO BEFRIEND JUST OUT OF SOME TWISTED SENSE OF PROTECTION!”

Sans just looked at his hands, bones looking ashen as Papyrus tried to hold back his sobs. Had…had he been hurting Papyrus more than helping him all this time? Yeah, Frisk had posed a threat but the kid had made good. Really good, if he had to be honest. And he had seen nothing to really make Y/n any more dangerous than they were. And now Papyrus was crying.

“SANS, I DON’T BLAME YOU FOR BEING AFRAID OF WHAT HUMANS CAN DO TO US, BUT I AM DISAPPOINTED THAT YOU DON’T TRUST ME ENOUGH TO MAKE MY OWN DECISIONS ABOUT FRIENDS. IT HURTS, AND…AND EVEN THOUGH I’M SURE YOU DID IT OUT OF LOVE FOR ME I JUST CAN’T FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT RIGHT NOW,” sniffling a little, Papyrus couldn’t even look at his brother. “I’M GOING TO STAY WITH UNDYNE FOR A FEW DAYS. I HOPE YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO…WELL, NOT DO THIS AGAIN. THINK ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES MORE. SOMETHING.”

Escaping back up the stairs, Papyrus quickly packed three days’ worth of clothes and essentials, then ran out the door. He just couldn’t believe his older brother had betrayed his trust like this.

--

It was pretty awkward with you and Papyrus after that.

You tried to talk like normal, but he was sad, and you were scared.

Two months after the incident, you got sick of it. “Papy, let’s go to Bungle Land.”

“OH?” he perked a little, “WE HAVEN’T BEEN FOR A LONG TIME. OKAY.”

Grinning, you took his hand and ran to your car, giving him the option to drive if he wanted. He had his license, but just hadn’t gotten around to buying the perfect car for him. But he refused, wanting to save driving for his own dream car, so you let him move the passenger seat back as far as he liked while you drove to the local theme park.

And you had fun. Papyrus was an adrenaline junkie and took you on every ride, while you were a game shark, trying your hand at the carnival games and loving the useless and low quality plushies you won from them. You both had a lovely collection of little birds, though Papyrus had exchanged five of his for a larger plush of a super hero, more to his tastes, from this trip alone. Thank stars for your yearly pass, and the lovely guest vouchers that came with it.

Finally, as the sun was going down and you were hungry, Papyrus guided you toward one of the stands before a familiar voice made your heart freeze, “hey you two. Pretzels and lemonade?”

Papyrus’ expression soured, “SANS, DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS IS THE TIME FOR ONE OF YOUR ODD JOBS? WE WERE HAVING FUN.” He’d gotten an apology from Sans a while back now, and a Promise not to repeat his blunder, but he still wasn’t sure of Sans’ intentions for Y/n.

“I really didn’t think you’d be here today, pap, swear on my bones,” Sans looked exhausted and held up his hands. “but tell me what you want and I’ll make it while I do something I’ve been meaning to.”

You just say you want a pepperoni pretzel and a cherry lemonade, and Papyrus goes for a normal pretzel with a blue raspberry lemonade, but you’re nervous. The skeleton had threatened you, after all, even if your fear of him had mostly shifted to annoyance at his cheek in doing so.

Getting your food, Sans said softly, “I know I’m nobody’s favorite person right now, so I’ll make it short. I realized I’ve been overbearing, stepped over a lot of lines, and need to work on myself. I’m really sorry, y/n, for acting like you were going to hurt papyrus when I don’t even know you. it was wrong, and I’m going to try and see a therapist to get a hold on my…paranoia.”

That…was honestly one of the best and most sincere apologies you’d ever had. You can’t help smiling, and you can almost feel the pride radiating off Papyrus for his brother. “Okay, Sans. That was a proper apology, and you haven’t done any stalking that I’ve noticed so…apology accepted. I hope your therapy goes well.”

He looks so relieved, shoulders sagging noticeably, but his smile turns more genuine and he nods, “okie dokie. Go have fun, and I’ll see you at home, paps.”

“YES YOU WILL! YOU’RE GETTING THE IMPROVED VERSION OF SPAGHETTI TONIGHT FOR THAT!” It’s heartwarming to hear the excitement in his voice, and the brighter smile on his face, “YOU DID A GOOD THING! BYE, SANS!”

“Bye, Sans,” you add, and he waves you both off. Even if he was the one who finally apologized, you felt a weight off of yourself as well, and his gaze no longer made you feel like demons were on your back.

[animalpetcel]

Ideal RHATO

Okay, so I’ve done some thinking. While Red Hood and the Outlaws was an interesting concept; give Jason friends and a team of his own, get him out of the Batfam Shadow, it’s been bogged down by L*bdell spotty writing and questionable Editorial decisions. So I’ve taken the time to think of what I would personally want the Outlaws to be.

First of all, I don’t believe that Jason would be better of if he remained solo. While he does deserve a good solo run other than UtH, the idea of permanently sequestering from creating meaningful, recurring relationships with other heroes is just repulsive to me. He should be allowed to have friends and people to talk to outside of the Batfamily guys, there’s only so many adventures he can have by himself before they all start sounding the same. You could even have him gaining friends as part of his character development.

Okay! So let’s begin

In my version, the Outlaws would be a more obvious antihero team. They take cases by those who feel that regular heroes can’t help them, that they won’t go far enough to achieve justice. The Outlaws won’t kill often, but it would usually be awful criminals like drug dealers, traffickers or those in charge, but if they don’t kill, they won’t be above dissing out harsh, lasting punishments to those who cross them. There could be the possibility of them being a team looking for redemption, but I’ve never really thought about them going in that direction.

Btw: This will be a hard reboot, everything from New52 to Rebirth regarding RHATO will be completely retconned, because Lobdell wrote almost all of them and despite what people want to believe most of it is bad save for some barely passable moments

Outlaw Members

Jason Todd

Can’t have the Outlaws without their infamous leader. Like I said above, I believe that having his own team can be a good thing for Jason, he can establish a history disconnected from his history with Bruce and actually start to move on. I’d imagine him being a reluctant leader, preferring to work alone but admitting that having people to rely on has made his mission a lot easier. He’s a very driven and calculated person, and after reading Arkham Knight Genesis, I have no doubt in his leadership skills and his ability to turn a ragtag group of antiheroes into a team to be reckoned with.

Idk if I’d keep his All-Caste stuff. I know that it was probably created to give his backstory something that stands out, since he’s the third Batfam member to have the League of Assassins in his backstory and isn’t the only one that’s died before, but he barely uses the All-blades or brings up the All-Caste to the point were you can omit it and don’t really have to do that much to replace it. At this point, I’d accept Talia making him train with Brother Blood over the All-Caste.

I’d probably say that the Lazurus pit Talia used to bring him back was kinda special, giving him a minor healing factor and increasing his strength, idk, something small.

Eddie Bloomberg

(I hate Tom King and this dialogue too but I wanted a recent image of him)

Did you know that unlike Roy Harper, Eddie was actually Jason’s best friend pre-reboot? Most people don’t because DC doesn’t care about using pre-established canon or developing its less popular heroes! 🙃

Okay, I used to be a huge fan of Jason and Roy’s friendship in New52 RHATO, but then I learned that Roy was originally Dick’s friends, that his personality was dumbed down for New52, Roy actually hates mercenaries and would never become one, they only used Roy because he was more popular and that most Titan/Roy friends actually hate his New52 counterpart and friendship with Jason. While I believe that Roy and be both friendship with Dick AND Jason (but in different ways. Dick is more of a close friend while he and Jason should have a more big brother kind of relationship), I have to admit that DC dropped the ball here, and it would be easier to just scrap everything instead of trying to make it work.

Eddie’s personality is actually quite similar to New52 Roy’s, and he and Jason already have unexplored history, so switching Roy with him won’t mess anything too much.

And now, I hear you ask “Ani, what about the Outlaw’s being an antihero group? Wouldn’t that make Eddie stand out?”, and I will reply “Don’t worry, I have a plan!”

Back when Eddie first got his powers, Neron, the king of hell at the time (?) wanted Eddie to be his protege, but Eddie refuses. But what if Neron was more forceful? Eddie could be offered, now powerless again because of the events of TT (but his death is retconned to just getting badly injured), to become Neron’s protege once again. With nothing left to lose (his relationship with Blue Devil is still in the fritz, Teen Titans no longer seem to give a damn and Rose & Jaime is still off doing their own things), he takes it. I guess he’s probably look different with more of Neron’s power coursing through his veins, but the point is that Outlaws become a “Fall from grace” for him. He’s trying to still be a hero, but as Neron’s influence continues to grow, his ability to tell right from wrong gets more and more clouded.

He’s the one to approach Jason with the idea of being a team, wanting to relive the “Good Ol’ Days” when they were younger and less bogged down with personal trauma. While Jason is reluctant, he admits that since being self-exiled from the Batfamily that it’s been kinda lonely, so he agrees, but only short-term. Eddie then segways into the next member of their burgeoning group–

Rose Wilson

While pre-reboot, Rose and Jason did not have the friendliest interactions, with her holding a blade to her throat while his brothers threatened him with a crime he never committed. Post-reboot, he and Rose seem to have a more “friendlier” relationship, but the Wilson family have been rebooted at least theee times in both New52 and Rebirth, so who knows if they even still know each other now,

Rose and Eddie were very close friends in Teen Titans, and I think that getting Rose away from the madness of her family and father could be good for her character.

Eddie manages to convince her to join the “Outlaws”, but like Jason, she goes into it thinking that it’ll be a one-time thing. She cares a lot about Eddie, and sticks with the team to make sure that he’s doing alright. She probably could have an arc were Nightwing confronts her on her work in the Outlaws (since the other heroes see them as white-hat mercenaries) since he mentored her in being a hero, so it could be about dealing with what other people expect of her.

Essence

While L*bdell might be basically a shit writer, he does create interesting concepts. With a better writer, Essence could be a very interesting character, watching from the shadows and judging whether or not the Outlaws are actually “good” people, before she eventually starts taking a more active role in helping them punish criminals.

While she would at first interact solely with Jason, asking him questions about his deeds and ordering him in what direction she feels is best, she would eventually introduce herself to the rest of the group. I think she’d get along best with Komand’r, while the others might test her absolutism, Black-And-White morality a bit.

Rankorr (Jack Moore)

I know that there’s some people who want Guy Gardner to be Jason’s lantern, but what about a lantern who is close to Jason in age and actually fits the Outlaw theme?

Jack Moore is a Red Lantern, not only a Red Lantern, but the first human lantern who is also the first Red Lantern to be capable of creating constructs. He struggles with his rage, and deep down, he wants to enjoy a normal life on earth.

Maybe after Red Lantern (retconning Lobo or if not, he’s brought back using Red Lantern Blood Magic), he decides that the RL’s are a bit too cult-like for him and tries to lay low on Earth, finishing his literature degree and opening up a small bookstore somewhere in London. He’s close with Guy, but still can’t/refuses to let go of his rage, so Jack is still a RL

Of course, keeping his rage at bay is hard work, and after witnessing police brutality one more time, he loses control.

The Outlaws were hired by the family of the victim to make the officers see justice, but after seeing Jack work, they realize that this might be their easiest case yet.

Afterwards, Jack tries to downplay the entire thing (before resorting to threats when the Outlaws won’t listen), but Jason eventually convinced him that his talents would be wasted just being a civilian (and that his rage will only get worse if he continues to just let it boil without an “outlet”) so he joins the team

Blackfire

I’ve read Komand’r’s backstory, I know how bad it looks. However, in a medium where retcons and reimaginings are features instead of bugs (and can benefit a character’s story if done right), I really think it could be possible to make her work.

After reading New52 RHATO, I began thinking that it could be so much better if not only Eddie took Roy’s spot, but also if Komand’r took Starfire’s, since I feel like she had more potential beyond “Kori’s evil disabled sister”, “War Criminal” and “Struggling queen of Tamaran”

First, I’d change her pre-reboot backstory so instead of taking over the Gordanians, she is instead captured by them after Starfire frees her from the Psions (Komand’r still hates her sister and refuses to follow her). Through her clever mind and manipulations, she manages to earn favor with Lord Damyn, feigning romantic interest. Of course, given Komand’r’s nature, she ends up killing and replacing him, but her rule doesn’t go over well and she is again recaptured, but this time she’s brought to Earth.

Realizing that she’s now trapped on the planet whete her sister has become a successful and popular hero, Komand’r is at first angry, and then conspires to free herself and take revenge on her sister (who she still blames for everything despite that not being the case).

The Outlaws bust the alien trafficking ring, and Komand’r, seeing her chance, decides to show off and make nice with them to eventually use them for her revenge.

She finds Eddie and Rankorr easy to manipulate, but she bumps Heads with Jason whenever she tries to take his role as leader away from him and finds Rose’s mind to be “weak”. Overtime however, she bonds with Jason over feeling inferior to their siblings, realizes that her anger shares Rankorr’s intensity, and grows a genuine friendship with Rose and Eddie

Oh yeah, and maybe she tries to make things right with Kori

Artemis Grace

What would the Outlaws be without the greatest Amazon to have ever lived? Nothing, that’s for sure.

While I don’t agree with Jaytemis (at least not yet), I have to admit that Jason would be a fool not to like her. She’s a cool, confident character with a lot of interesting lore behind her.

Her joining will probably be pretty close to canon. The Outlaws are tasked with going after Black Mask, and Jason decides to go undercover, as the Red Hood still has his fingers in various criminal pies. While investigating, he runs into Artemis, who is looking for the Bow of Ra, and rest is history.

I feel like she’ll get along really well with Rose and Komand’r and maybe she’ll date one. She’ll definitely view Eddie a bit dismissively, and she isn’t a huge fan of demons. Rankorr would probably come off as stuck up to her.

Bizarro

Anyone who knows me will know that I’m am not a huge fan of Bizarro clones. I consider them to be an overused concept (that sometimes feels as if it relies on gene superiority, but idk if I’ll ever fully process my dislike for them), and the fact that as the time I’m writing this, there are at least four currently in continuity does not enamor me with the concept more.

However, after re-reading RHATO a few times, I’ll admit that the Outlaws’ Bizarro has grown on me. Since he already kinda has a unique name (Bizz), all I think he needs is a more visually distinct costume (doesn’t even have to directly reference Superman, but I can go 50/50 on the backwards “S”)

The Outlaws getting Bizz is exactly the same as canon. I’d imagine that he and Eddie would be as close as brothers. While Rankorr might find Bizz’s way of thinking and speaking to be annoying, I’d think that Rankorr will eventually warm up to him and probably teach him how to read and help Artemis teach him. Komand’r and Rose will probably be less receptive to him, but who knows

August Heart

I’m a Godspeed fan first and human second, we’ve been knew.

In all seriousness, Godspeed is the perfect Rebirth era character for RHATO and the fact that he and Jason still haven’t met is why DC doesn’t have any rights.

Okay okay, but he’s honestly a perfect fit. Like Jason, he also kills when dealing with crimes, but he isn’t so good and knowing who’s guilty and who isn’t just yet.

This will probably be after Death of the Speedforce, with August finally making things right with Barry, but still not forgiving himself for everything that happened. Deciding to self-exile himself rather than go back to Iron Heights, August travels, trying to figure out what do to do next, trying to follow Barry’s rules (which he finds to be very wishy-washy) to the best of his ability.

Eventually, he learns that Black Hole is still running, and against his better instincts, he goes after them.

His trail of lightning destruction catches the eye of the Outlaws.

Barry, realizing that his best-friend might need someone who can actually be there all the time to help reign him in, Barry goes to the Outlaws and asks them if they can help him once they catch up to him

They do in the form of offering a spot on the team.

August is very self-assured (even if it is hiding a softer, more emotional center), but has proven to be able to work with others, so I can see the other Outlaws coming to like him. They might find him a little cocky/early to jump the gun, but still a trusted and valued member of the team.

Since every Robin has their own flash, it only makes sense to finally give Jason (and have them date) a speedster of his own, and it should be someone who fits his morals, and who else could Then the speedster fans literally call “The Red Hood of the Flashfam”?

Final Thoughts

Other possible members I would consider/accept are

Eradicator Superman

Koryak

Vanessa Kapatelis/Silver Swan lll

Simon Amal (Crux)

Danny Chase

Clone!Roy Harper

Connor Hawke

Orm Marvius

Man O’ War

Lagoon Boy

Scarlet

Zachary Zatara

Thomas Merlyn

Ragman

Bleez

Walter West

Even with a cast as sizable as the one I just listed, with a good enough writer, there could still a few minor side characters. I would personally want the them to be

Scarlet: Jason’s former sidekick. She could be either a civilian who he talks to get experience some normalcy or the leader of her own version of the Outlaws made of up the Generation Outlaws we meet in RHATO #37-40. Either way, it could contrast with Bruce and the way he (mis)treats his own sidekicks and family

Zachary Zatara: Eddie’s old friend who helped him get his devil powers. Zachary would definitely be worried over Eddie once again accepting Neron’s power and will want to try to help. Whether he suceeds or not will depend if the writers want to go in that direction

Isabel Ardila: She’s a nothing character, but there’s a small chance that with a better writer, she might gain an interesting personality or an actual purpose in RHATO

Talia Al Ghul: before the reboot, Talia was Jason’s mentor figure and even gave him a cool dagger. It would be so cool if we can bring that back and erase Morrison’s problematic charactization of her. Maybe the dagger she gives Jason could be an All-Blade or smth. They’d definitely take a few cases from her however

Batfam, Titans and respective groups: it would have to happen eventually. It could lead to some interesting, angst filled conversations. And who knows, maybe they’ll actually make progress with their issues

But this post has gone on long enough. I just really wanted to talk a bit about my ideal Outlaws team that I will never see anywhere except for my dreams because mass media hates me and DC still thinks that Lobdell deserves to write Jason 😔😭

[rosethesongbird]

Untitled Tales from the Borderlands Fic

Hi friends-- I wrote this about a year ago, right after I played Tales for the first time. I hope you can enjoy it, it is very short and a simple excuse for me to stretch my writing muscles. 

Rhys lay on the ground in the wreckage of Helios.

No friends, no family, nothing. Life as he knew it might as well be over. Vaughn was probably dead. He betrayed Loader Bot. Fiona ditched him and left him for dead on a crashing space station. He just yanked the final remnant of Handsome Jack out of his damn head. He had one arm like some kind of circus freak. The space where his lovely Hyperion issue cybernetic arm connected to his body was now a bloody hole, key word bloody. In fact, the feeling of being face down on the floor was probably due to that. The overwhelming wave of dizziness and nausea would not stop, despite being completely still. Rhys closed his eyes and blacked out, giving up the fight to rest.

The newly-appointed Bandit King Vaughn climbed over the flaming wreckage of the space station Helios. His life, his work, his friends, realistically everything he had done since he had begun his career was now up in flames. He felt like this might be a futile exercise, searching for survivors of the crash, seeing as they watched all the escape pods crash to Pandora’s surface one by one--some with living people inside, crawling out like baby birds out of eggs. Some they didn’t dare open, knowing that if the person inside didn’t open it… well, they didn’t want to start burying bodies just yet. “At least make sure you found all the living people first,” he thought to himself.

“Damn,” he muttered, rounding a corner into what most assuredly was once a grand testament to Hyperion’s riches. Jack’s office. Now that he’s gone, and Helios is gone, and Hyperion is sort of gone by proxy, that must be the last remnant of Handsome Jack snuffed out. Well, except maybe Rhys’ cybernetics, but, well… as much as it broke his heart it didn’t seem like his childhood friend had made it safely down to the planet. He could be floating around in space in pieces for all Vaughn knew. Walking to what used to be where Jack’s desk was, he saw a body on the floor. Sad, he thought. That guy’s dead for sure. Totally limp and blood everywhere. Although what would you expect from falling out of space? But a familiar shine of yellow made his stomach sour. Is that a cybernetic arm? Rhys’ cybernetic arm? He picked up the pace and ran over to the beaten body.

The locks of brown hair, matted with blood and sweat, were all too familiar to Vaughn. His best friend for so many years. His partner in crime. Laying there, flat on his face, completely still. What a way to go. He found tears rolling down his cheeks as he thought of his friend--who had survived so much over the past weeks with him--dead on the ground with no dignity. He knelt down next to his friend’s body only to perceive the smallest bit of movement, rhythmic, up and down, almost like breathing...Is he alive?

-

The next several minutes were a blur. Vaughn called out for his friend. (In hindsight, Vaughn thought, it’s not like he would answer if he was out bad enough to not notice I was there.) He frantically opened his ECHO and called for someone to help him carry his friend out. After a few grueling seconds two other bandits appeared with a blanket to carry Rhys back to the camp. Vaughn couldn’t take his eyes off him the entire time they gingerly lifted him up. They didn’t know what was wrong, what was broken, if anything, where he had been, what had happened… and what were they going to do with him? He was an accountant, not a doctor--and he could guarantee that the medical treatment given by a ragtag team of bandits and former Hyperion employees was not exactly up to snuff for injuries this severe.

“I know,” said Vaughn, his bandit friends looking at him in confusion (he had been mostly thinking to himself at this point). “River."

-

Miles away, in a tiny hut in the middle of the desert, an ECHO starts going off.

A woman rolls over in bed, her hair starting to fall out of the braid on the top of her head.

“Vaughn? What’s up? Don’t you realize it’s like 4 in the morning?...A friend of yours? Helios crashed?! What do you mean crashed? Like, crashed crashed? I thought I heard a noise but I didn’t get up to check what it was. Yeah, where are you? Right, right, whatever. Just send me the coordinates and I’ll be there ASAP. In the meantime, is your friend conscious?” The woman climbs out of bed, pulling on her shoes. She looks outside. The wind is blowing, and hard. She pulls on her cloak and opens the door. “Well, keep a close eye on him. I’ll be there soon. Call me again if his condition changes, okay? You’re doing fine. Just don’t freak out.” The door closes behind her as she begins to walk across the desert.

“Okay, don’t freak out any more, then.”

-

Vaughn looked nervously out the window. They had finally gotten Rhys back to camp and really didn’t know what to do so he was just laying there on the most comfortable bed they could find. He was still breathing, at least, so that was good--and they had wiped off most of the blood from his face so at least when River came she wouldn’t think they were totally useless. He looked back at his friend, usually the masculine, confident, good-with-the-ladies one, and it still felt weird to see him so… vulnerable. He used to… well… detest him for it, always feeling like he was second fiddle--but that was a long time ago. Rhys never intended to make him feel like that. Plus, now he had found his niche. Rhys’ whole identity was the smarmy Hyperion suit, and that seemed like it was pretty much dead in the water, seeing as the entire headquarters and most of its employees were dead. Vaughn really hoped he was less vulnerable than he looked, because it kind of looked like he was dead too. He hadn’t made a single sound or moved a single muscle since they found him except the very, very slight motion of his chest, up and down.

His ECHO suddenly crackled to life, making him jump.

“I think I’m here,” said the female voice on the other end. “Is your camp the big pile of old burnt and broken stuff?”

“Yep! That’s us! We worked really hard on it, by the way, so thanks for that comment.”

“Hey,” she said, “isn’t that how a bandit camp is supposed to look? It’s nice, Vaughn. You know I’m just kidding around with you.”

Vaughn looked out the window and saw a tiny, cloaked silhouette walking towards the camp, her clothing whipped around by the intense desert wind. “Will somebody go out there and meet her? I’m not gonna lie, I feel kind of bad making her come on her own, like I should have sent someone, anyway--someone go get her and bring her up here, and quick!” he called out to his camp.

-

“Thanks for the warm welcome,” said River. “Your guys aren’t too bandit-y yet so I almost didn’t feel like I was going to get stabbed!”

“My pleasure,” said Vaughn sarcastically, walking up to the door of what was apparently now the medical bay. “Ladies first!”

“Always the gentleman,” said River, entering the small, yet cozy room. “Shit, you weren’t kidding. He really doesn’t look good. What happened to the cybernetics?”

“I have no clue,” said Vaughn. “We found him like this and he hasn’t woken up since. All I’ve been able to do is wipe some blood off of him.”

“Well, that’s alright. You did fine. Wanna stick around while I get started?” She removed her hood and cape to reveal a plain black long sleeved shirt and grey pants. Vaughn hadn’t noticed that she was carrying a large bag under her cloak, full of her supplies. Her hair was long on the top, shaved on the sides, yet the top was in a sensible, practical braid. Vaughn noticed for the first time how short she was. He was used to looking up to make eye contact with people, but she was even smaller than him. She seemed like such a kid, but she knew her stuff, that’s for sure.

“Yeah, I’ll stick around just in case you need any help. Plus, I could learn a bit from you, at least basic first aid and stuff. Anshin's kinda hard to come by here.”

“So I’ve noticed,” she said. “Although stuff like this usually needs a little bit more finesse.”

Vaughn watched as she sprung into a small flurry of action. Testing, scanning, writing things down on her pad, and muttering softly to herself. Vaughn twiddled his thumbs nervously. Somehow she always seemed like she had eyes on the back of her head, like she was judging him silently. He knew she wasn’t--or she would tell him she wasn’t, anyway--but she just had that kind of personality.

“Oh,” she said, after a few minutes of not speaking. Vaughn almost sighed in relief at the break in the silence. “Any remaining active bleeding in either of the cybernetic sites?”

“Uh, no, maybe some oozing but no like, puddles.”

“What’s your friend’s name, by the way?”

“It’s Rhys,” he said. “He’s the one I told you about-”

“Ohhh, your friend since you were little! Yeah, you’ve told me about him!” she interrupted. "Oh, um, I found this in his pocket." She handed Vaughn a small folded piece of paper.

"This deed hereby grants the owner control over the entire Atlas corporation..." Vaughn read aloud. "Huh. I'll have to ask him about that."

“Well, here’s what I’ve got so far on Rhys, and what I need from you.” River’s demeanor shifted jarringly from that of a warm, caring friend to something more clinical.

“Rhys has a bit of an infection in the site where the cybernetic arm used to be. The cranial implant and the, uh, remains of the ECHO-Eye seem to be okay, but we’ll keep a close eye on them, I can’t imagine they were removed with any sort of precision or cleanliness. Due to that infection he’s running a fever of 104 degrees, which I want to bring down ASAP. I’m gonna send for a blood pack, he’ll probably end up needing a transfusion, especially if I need to do some clean-up work in those cybernetic sites. So I’ve got all the stuff I need for IV fluids and antibiotics with me, but I’m going to need a bunch of rags soaked in cool, clean water. I also don’t want to freak you out but I’m definitely going to change his clothes, so if you’ve got a spare pair of pajamas laying around, that would be good too.”

Vaughn stood there for a minute, processing everything he was told. “So, what you’re saying is, he’s gonna live!”

River smiled, back to her usual self. “I certainly think so.”

“Then I’ll get to work!” Vaughn ran out of the room, eagerly gathering everything she needed to get his friend feeling better--excitedly telling a small crowd of onlookers outside the room “He’s going to be okay!”

-

River sat down by the man’s sick bed, carefully examining every fold of his face, counting respirations, admiring a surprisingly still well-coiffed hairstyle (all things considered). She began to remove his bloodied, torn clothing, first one shoe then the other, to see some charmingly gaudy striped socks.

“Cute,” she said. “I like your crazy socks, Rhys.” She often spoke to patients that were unconscious. Sometimes they could hear, and were listening more than people thought, so it was a good way to introduce yourself before introducing yourself.

“Sorry about this next part, I know it’s awkward,” she said while removing his belt and pants. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I figure I wouldn’t want a stranger silently removing my pants, so it’s only fair.” She cringed while she peeled what used to be his shirt and vest, now torn and bloodied, off of his pale skin--to reveal a multitude of scrapes and bruises in every color of the rainbow.

“Yeesh, what happened to you, sweetheart? Your friend is worried about you.” She noted the fascinating tattoos on his left shoulder going up to his neck. Definitely a better artist than the bandit stick-and-poke work she was used to.

Vaughn walked in, carrying a bucket of water and a pile of fabric, speaking more frantically with every word: “River? Is he awake? Rhys?”

“No, not just yet. He probably won’t wake up until we get that temperature down a bit. I just enjoy talking to myself, apparently,” she said, with a small, soft laugh. “Let’s get started getting you feeling better, Rhys. Do you mind if I start an audio log, Vaughn? It’s a little easier to keep a record that way than it is to write it all out.”

“Whatever’s better for you. You’re the expert, after all. Bandits don’t have a lot of classified information laying around anyway.”

-

The dated ECHO recorder crackled to life. Vaughn made a mental note to try to acquire a newer one for her.

“Audio log, patient: Rhys Strongfork. Chief complaint: Unclear. Observation has revealed 104 degree fever, mildly infected cybernetic port of what is assumed to be Hyperion make, scattered mild to moderate contusions, and mild blood loss. Heart rate and blood pressure on the low end, but both present. Patient is also unconscious, etiology unclear. Assumed to be febrile. Notably, patient has cranial implant for ECHO-Eye, but eye and implant are both absent, appearing wounded, but not infected. Patient’s right arm is absent, shoulder site shows remains of additional cybernetics. History provided by friend of patient indicates recent removal of in-shoulder site. No major arteries appear to be severed but moderate to severe blood loss can be assumed with possible damage to the axillary artery; of course, this depends on the type of cybernetic that had been applied which is still unclear pending further inspection. Removal of aforementioned implants appears non-surgical, whether self-inflicted or otherwise. First course of action is to place IV line, push fluids, NSAID to bring down fever, and antibiotics. Following, we will proceed to manually cool the patient with cool, damp rags at major circulation points--forehead, left armpit, and both sides groin area. Expected outcome is patient regaining consciousness, at which time we will re-evaluate needs. If patient remains catatonic we will proceed with extended trauma eval. Please send for universal blood pack and transfusion gear, arrival ASAP, any courier. Pause log.”

River sighed. “Alright, Vaughn, let’s get started. Don’t worry, I won’t expect you to place an IV line, but you should probably watch just in case.” She gently touched Rhys’ forehead. “Rhys, sweetheart, I’m going to place an intravenous line in your left arm. If you can hear me right now, don’t pull it out when you wake up, okay?”

Vaughn peeked around her as she chose a small needle from her bag, hung up a bag of saline--pierced the bag with tubing with one hand, searched for a vein in Rhys’ arm with the other--then, in one fluid, almost dancelike motion, the needle was in and out, and the tubing in place. A small flowback of blood appeared when the needle went in, which River explained was the way you knew you hit the vein.

“It’s actually a good thing,” she said. “It’s pretty much the only time that you’re happy to make your patient bleed.” There was the soft laugh again.

Vaughn was happy she felt comfortable in the camp. She wasn’t the biggest fan of bandits in general, but had become a good friend to their motley crew in recent weeks. He just hoped Rhys liked her. “The reason for the fluids is twofold--we want to make sure he’s hydrated, of course, and it’s pretty apparent even a sippy cup is too dangerous for someone completely unconscious. The other reason is even more important--we also want to increase his blood volume however possible before we receive the blood pack. He doesn’t look like any sort of severe damage is being caused by the blood loss, but you don’t want to chance it, and recovery is a lot quicker when you’re not struggling to get enough nutrition to bring yourself back to a normal blood volume.” Vaughn nodded. She was really good at saying things that seemed complicated but in easy words. He was smart, but not medical smart. Just number smart. The only experience he had with medicine was when he was 16 and got his wisdom teeth removed...so he wasn’t exactly a qualified surgeon.

“Okay, Vaughn, here’s the next step. Now that’s been placed, we’ve got to start bringing that fever down, and the quickest way is manually, like with something cool and wet, which is why I asked you for some cool water and rags. Of course, part of that is just comfort. You might hear people call it 'supportive care,' as well. After that’s gone down a little, we won’t let your buddy be naked. Although, I have to admit, I’m not complaining about the view--I just wish he wasn’t so beat up, poor thing.”

Yep, Rhys would like her just fine.

“I’m gonna have you go ahead and get all those little cloths you brought wet, but not too wet. Like, wring them out so they aren’t dripping. I’m going to apply them to major pulse points, so his armpit and the area where his legs meet his body, like by the groin. I’m also going to gently wipe down his body to make sure he’s clean of sweat and dried blood, and give him a little wet towel on his forehead as well.”

Vaughn nodded and soaked everything in the water. River gently placed the cool, soothing towels on Rhys’ motionless body to a sudden response. A soft groan escaped Rhys’ lips. Vaughn immediately jumped to action, calling out his friend’s name, not realizing he was yelling. River gently pushed him to sit down in a chair on the opposite side of the bed, near Rhys’ head. She motioned him to be quiet, slowly bringing her left index finger to her lips. Rhys started to stir, moaning again, opening his mouth, eyelids twitching, life returning to his lifeless body, although his pallid skin betrayed his poor state.

River looked up to Vaughn with a smile and whispered “He’ll want to see you first. Better to wake up to a friend than a stranger. It can be really disorienting. Don’t forget when he went out he was laying on the ground in Jack’s office, and that he’s still pretty feverish, so we might have to repeat ourselves or he might say stuff that seems weird.” Vaughn nodded. He had been worrying about what would happen when Rhys woke up. I guess they’d just have to wait and see.

-

Rhys started to feel… present. His body felt hot, yet somehow cold. He ached all over. He could hear someone speaking softly, a familiar voice and an unfamiliar one. He tried to move and couldn’t. He strained to hear what was going on. It was pretty quiet. He could tell he was laying on his back, so he had to have been moved since he passed out after the crash. Was that a pillow under his head? He hadn’t laid on a real pillow since before his “promotion.” He suddenly felt someone removing his shoes. “This is it,” he thought. “Some crazy psycho cult is going to eat my extremities and harvest my organs. I lived through a space station crashing and I’m going to die because of some bandit.” His heart skipped a beat when whoever was touching him started speaking, it was the unfamiliar voice, clearer this time, clearly a woman... She likes his socks! He wanted so badly to respond. It seemed so ridiculous now, after his whole life had been uprooted, but a fun pair of socks were one of the last pieces of his individuality left after the demands of his job formed him into the kind of employee Hyperion wanted. He tried to say something. No words came out. He tried to move and still couldn’t. The female voice kept speaking, softly. He could feel her fingers touching his body, sweet and gentle but expertly firm where it mattered. She was strong, she could pick up the dead weight of his motionless body without much effort. Shit, did she just take his pants off? Well, at least it was a girl. Hopefully she was cute.

He laid there for a few minutes, wondering if the lady noticed his heart rate spike when she placed the IV, despite the fact that she didn’t really hurt him at all. She was honestly good at what she did. He still hadn’t caught her name, though. He was still kind of...drifting in a way, barely hearing the conversation going on between the unfamiliar woman and the familiar voice, which he could tell was a man. Who was it? Not like he had a lot of friends, but he knows a lot of people, and isn’t really sure who’s dead and who’s alive at this point. The woman started talking again, something about bringing a fever down--is she talking about him? Then a feeling of cool towels on his body. He tried to talk again, only resulting in a sound like “Mmhh..” but the male voice then yelled his name. He knew who it was now.

Vaughn. Vaughn saved him? Of course he did. Vaughn is his best friend. Vaughn is alive? Vaughn’s here? With this girl?What the hell is going on? He tried to speak again, tried to move, tried to do anything to let Vaughn know he was still there. Another groan and he felt some motion in his body but not near what he wanted to do. He tried desperately to open his eyes, as someone gently wiped his face with another damp cloth. He took a shuddering breath, and focused all of his energy on his eyes, his lips, his voice, his hand, anything he could move to say “I’m here! I want to wake up!”

-

River watched as Rhys took a deep breath. The clinical side of her noted to check his lungs for fluid later. That breath seemed a little rattle-y. She kicked herself for not checking that sooner. It was hard when your patient wasn’t conscious; usually they’re whining--er, complaining--about whatever is going on so much that you can’t miss it. His eyes opened slightly, and a small, masculine voice--raspy and atrophied from recent overuse followed by complete disuse--croaked “V-Vaughn?”

Vaughn sprung to life. “Rhys! I’m here! Are you okay? How are you feeling? What happened? Is there anything I can bring you? Do you need another pillow? Are you cold?”

“Geez, Vaughn, give him some time to wake up before all the questions! And maybe leave it to one question at once!” said River with a soft laugh. “Nice to meet you, Rhys. I’m River. Your friend here called me when he found you in the wreckage. I’m just about the only doctor this side of Pandora, and I’m the one who’s been taking care of you. Could you hear me earlier?”

“I-I think so,” said Rhys. “Please tell me you were the one that took my pants off.”

Vaughn frowned.

“Lucky for you, that was me,” she said, smiling warmly. She turned the opposite direction, looking at her watch, and said “ECHO, resume log. Patient regained consciousness approximately 3:15pm. Pause log.”

“Yeah, I definitely could hear you,” said Rhys. “I couldn’t really tell what you sounded like but now that you’re talking it was you for sure. I could hear Vaughn, too, and I knew that I knew him but I couldn’t tell who he was. Thanks for the compliment on my socks, by the way.”

“You’re welcome! I wear some of my own,” said River, taking off her boot to reveal a plain black sock with a separate compartment for each toe.

“Whoa,” said Vaughn. “That’s kind of cool and gross at the same time.”

“It’s so I can wear sandals with my socks if I want to!”

“Okay, it officially went to gross. Sorry River.”

“Yeah, that’s what people usually say. No one gets the practicality of toed socks!” she said, shaking her head.

“Okay, sorry to you guys get off on a weird sock tangent, but can I put some clothes on?” said Rhys, pushing himself up on the bed. He started coughing almost immediately.

“Oh, sweetheart, let me help you.” The tiny woman deftly pulled him up into a reclining position.

Vaughn frowned again. That cough was pretty deep, it sounded like it hurt. And for Rhys to need help… sitting? That’s not a good sign.

“Would you rather do your pants yourself or do you want my help?”

“Well, usually pretty girls end up taking my pants off, not putting them on, not that I’m trying to be gross about it or anything, just a joke--” Rhys immediately started coughing again. River sat gently rubbing his back in circles. She looked up at Vaughn with a look that said “Seriously?” Vaughn just shrugged. Sounded like he was going to be fine.

“Uh, anyway, w-what I meant was… yes-I-do-need-help-with-my-pants.” The latter half of the sentence came out all in one breath. Rhys looked down at the floor. River couldn’t tell if he was flushed because of the fever and coughing or if it was because he was one of those patients who act like every time they ask you for help, they’re inconveniencing you somehow.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be quick,” she said, starting to lift the blanket before flicking her head at Vaughn in a “it’s time for you to leave the room” motion.

Vaughn blushed. “Uh… oh! Got it. See ya in a bit, Rhys.” Vaughn swiftly left the doctor and her patient alone.

-

“So I’ve done my observations, as you might have heard,” said River, swiveling her chair to pick up the pajamas Vaughn had supplied. “How would you say you’re doing? Anything I should know about?”

“Well, uh…” Rhys looked at the ceiling, blushing. This was humiliating. She might not be showing any indication of this but he knew it was. Usually around women he was the one commandeering the conversation, making the jokes, making the passes, making the girls blush. Instead, this time, he’s laying in a bed half clothed while she’s just having her way with him, and there’s nothing he can do about it.

River cleared her throat. “Well?” She was finished helping him change, and had been waiting for his response for who knows how long.

“Oh, sorry, I was kind of… lost in thought there.” She smiled silently. “Well, um, geez, where do I start?” he laughed nervously.

“Don’t be nervous,” she said, seemingly reading his mind. “I’m here to help, and trust me, I’ve seen and heard much worse.”

She was oddly disarming, and before he knew it he was spilling his guts, desperate to tell someone--anyone--about what happened with Jack. He told her about him being in his head. He told her about being threatened by Jack. It felt like Jack owned him. He told her about pulling off his mechanical arm. He told her about tearing out both pieces of the ECHO eye implant. Suddenly he was back to reality. She was sitting next to him, instead of across from him like she was before, and she was holding a small handkerchief. Was he crying? He made eye contact with her, reluctantly, expecting disgust, expecting pity, expecting an incredulous laugh, expecting shock and horror. What he found was kindness, concern, and empathy. That just made him cry more.

River reached out to gently stroke the man's arm. "That's okay, let it all out. Sounds like you've got a lot of pent up feelings in that pretty little head."

He chuckled humorlessly. "You could say that."

[glittermemories]

“Rockcandy” MHA: OC Story

Okashi Shuga Hero Agency Internship

Today the students were informed that they would be joining a Hero Agency for a week. Usually kept only to second and third years, the classes of 1-a and 1-b did such and outstanding job that many heroes wanted them over others. They received offers based on the way they performed in the Sports Festival and they chose from those offers. Though the students who didn’t receive offers were still required to participate from 40 other agencies, each with their own specializations in heroism. Before the students chose an agency they still had to choose their hero names. They also had to choose an agency within two days. Mr. Aizawa told the students they had to choose their hero names. All students had a whiteboard and marker in hand “So these names will probably be temporary, but take them seriously…” He was cut off by midnight walking in “Or there will be consequences. The name you pick today could be your name for life. You better be careful or you’ll be stuck with something utterly indecent.” Shuga just kinda cringed at her and mumbled “Aren’t you a little indecent????” She watched gagged a little as she saw Mineta jump up acting like a dog while Sero and Kaminari were drooling. The other girls slightly cringed as well. The class stated “It’s Midnight!”

 Mr. Aizawa looked bored as always “Yeah, she's right. Midnight will have final say over your names. That's not really my forte.” He pulled out his sleeping bag and went to take a nap. Shuga sighed at her uncle and giggled. Kirishima looked to her hearing her giggle “What is it Shuga?” She shook her head “Just my uncle, did he do that before I got here as well?” Kirishima laughed and rubbed the back of his neck “Yeah actually he did. He’s always trying to find some excuse to nap.” She laughed a little louder now “He looks like a caterpillar.” The redhead looked at the napping teacher laughing too “He does actually! I never thought about that.” As they were speaking amongst themselves and giggling the room turned and stared at them. Midnight made a cough sound “Ehem..Mrs. Okashi, is there a reason you and your boyfriend are disrupting class?” The two teens both jumped a little and she was still giggling “I-i’m sorry...pfft...Mrs. Midni-ght. It-it won’t happen a-agai-n..hehe!” Midnight smirked at her “Well I don’t think it will be too funny if I move you away from your what do you call him? Shark boy, and place you next to Mineta?” The girl immediately stopped laughing as she looked too Kirishima in horror. She heard the disgusting mumblings of the purple haired boy only to see that Kirishima had turned and threw a book at him “Stop being such a pervert and show her some respect you weirdo! Next time it won’t be a book, it will be my fist!” Shuga turned as Midnight continued to stare at her and let Mineta be hit by the book hearing an audible thunk “Well?” The pinkette blushing and feeling threatened just bowed and grabbed the back of Kirishima's head bowing him down as well “I-i’m sorry Mrs. Midnight! It- it won’t happen again! PLEASEDON’TMAKEMESITNEXTTOTHATPURPLEFREAK!” 

Kirishima removed her hand from his head and held it tightly still bowing “S-sorry Mrs. Midnight ma’am!” Midnight started laughing “PFFT You should see your faces. It's adorable, the fact that he defends you and demands respect for you is very admirable. I almost lost composure when Okashi forced you to bow as well after assaulting Mineta. You two really are a cute couple.” She stopped laughing “Anyway, I think that was enough embarrassment for you two for one day. Sit back down and lets continue class.” 

They both sat back in their seats still blushing “Y-yes ma’am!” After Shuga had calmed down she saw Kirishima was still blushing staring straight at his table. She squeezed his had a little and leaned on him like always. He gripped her hand back “I-i won’t let anyone say such disgusting things about you.” She smiled up at him “I know..” She slowly sat back up still holding his hand. They both put their attention back on Midnight. “I will give you a bit to come up with a name and I'll let you know if they are good or not. Then I'll let those of you who I think need to a change do so.” She sat there and the students chatted among themselves. Kirishima was talking to Bakugo and Shuga decided to stay to herself and pop her earbuds in. She put on some music and started mumbling to the song “You know who it is...I’m a goddess with a blade..”. She wrote a few names down still singing “So can you handle what were all about? Were so tough, not scared to show you up...up..” She didn’t like them so she erased it. “Can you feel the rush now?” She continued to write out more names “Ain’t nobody bringing us down...down, down, down, down,” she stopped writing part way through and did the hand movements to the song not paying attention to anyone else “they could try but we’re gonna wear the crown. You could go and another round, round, round, round. Wish ya luck but your not bringing us down, down, down, dow-” She looked up after realizing everyone was watching her again. 

Kirishima looked at her “SO CUTE!!!” He hugged her tightly and the rest of the class agreed “SUPER CUTE!!” She giggled but stopped looking to Midnight. Midnight was ogling her with heart eyes “NOW I SEE WHY THEY CALL YOU THE SWEETHEART OF 1-A!!” Bakugo scoffed “She’s not that cute...maybe just a little bit.....” Midnight calmed herself “OK! Enough excitement for now! Who wants to go first???” Everyone was nervous now but a light bulb went off in Shuga’s head and she quickly wrote down her name. First up was Aoyama. He walked up and everyone looked at him they mumbled among themselves once more “Hold your breath. The Shining Hero: I can not stop twinkling!” He held up his hands and Midnight agreed to the name but shortened it to “Can’t stop twinkling” Everyone just cringed at his name “Are you kidding?!” 

Next was Aishido she went with “Alien Queen” but Midnight cringed at the thought of the monstrous alien creature from that Scifi horror film “I don’t think so! Next!” Shuga just looked at her “You accepted Can’t stop twinkling but not Alien Queen...ok then..weird standards.” Everyone was slightly shaken by the first two names and decided that they all needed to come up with something good. The next one was Asui “I think I've got one! Mind if I try next?” Midnight agreed to her request “Come on up!” The green haired girl walked up to the front “I’ve had this one in mind since grade school “Rainy Season Hero: Froppy.” Midnight loved it “What a good name! It makes you sound approachable! What a great example of a name everyone will love!” Everyone cheered after that. Her name made everyone less stressed. 

The next up was Kirishima “I’ve got mine too! The Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!” Midnight popped in “Red Riot? You're paying homage to the Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot yes?” Kirishima responded “Yeah, I want to be just like he was. He may be old school but Crimson was always my favorite hero.” She smiled “If your bearing the name of someone you look up to you have that much more to live up to.” He nodded “ I accept the challenge!” He went back to his seat as Jiro went up next. Shuga greeted him when he got back. She was fangirling, “Red Riot! Thats so...so dreamy!!” He blushed “Thanks Shuga.” She smiled brightly “It suits you so well! I just love it!” He ruffled her hair and kissed her forehead “I love you so much.” She blushed “I love you too!” Jiro walked up to the front with a small smile “The Hearing Hero: I’m Earphone Jack.” Midnight immediately approved “Now that's a good one!” 

Next was Shoji “The Tentacle Hero: Tetacole” Midnight went on to say that she liked the idea of his name and how it combined tentacle and tako(octopus). After him was Sero “The Taping Hero: Cellophane.” Then Oijiro “The Martial Arts Hero: Tailman.” Then Sato “The Sweets Hero: Sugarman” Next Aishido again she shouted “PINKY!” Midnight loved it. Next was Kaminari “The Stun Gun Hero: I’m Chargebolt! Electric don’t ya think?” Of course the ravenette swooned and agreed with his name. After him was Hagakure “The Stealth Hero!: Invisible Girl!” Midnight spoke up “That really suits you!” 

She asked more people to come up, Mr. Aizawa still napping in his sleeping bag “Now come on who’s up next!” Yaoyorozu went up “I hope I can live up to this name, I’m the Everything Hero: Creati.” Midnight gleefully spoke again “That puts the create in creative!” After her was Todoroki “Shoto.” The black haired woman was slightly disappointed “Just your name? That's it?” Todoroki just nodded “Mmhm.” Next was Tokoyami “Jet Black Hero: Tsukuyomi.” Midnight swooned once again “Oooh god of the night!” Then Mineta went up and everyone just kinda ignored him “Fresh-Picked Hero: Grape Juice” Next Bakugo went. He slammed his board on the stand and shouted “King Explosion Murder.” Midnight didn’t like it at all “I’m gonna say that one is a little too violent.” Bakugo yelled back at her “HUH WHAT DO YA MEAN??” Kirishima spoke up mocking him, “Why don’t you be Explosion boy?” Bakugo snapped “QUIET WEIRD HAIR!” Shuga just giggled next to him.

 Ochaco was getting ready and went up as Bakugo still fought about his name. “Ok my turn. This is the name I thought of Uravity.” Midnight loved it and noticed that choosing the names went by faster than she thought it would “Ok all we have left is Bakugo who needs to rethink his, Iida, Midoriya aaaand OH Yes,  Okashi!” Iida sat there writing, he was going to choose Ingenium like his brother but opted not to “Tenya” Midnight was surprised but let it go she called up Midoriya and he went to the front, he had a determined look on his face as he set down his board to show everyone. The class was shocked Kaminari spoke up “Are you sure about that?” Kirishima agreed “Yeah man, that could be your name forever.” He spoke up “Right, I used to hate it, but then something changed. I guess someone taught me that it could have a different meaning, and that had a huge impact on how I felt, so now i really like it.” He paused “Deku, that has to be my code name.” Bakugo glared while Ochaco smiled brightly. Shuga nodded with a smile as well silently agreeing on the name. She thought it was a cute name actually.

 Next up was her turn she was a little nervous but quickly finished writing hers out. She slowly walked up to the front blushing, she put her board face down. Midnight noticed her sudden shyness and encouraged her “Its ok whatever name you chose will be perfect.” Bakugo yelled “WHAT?! WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HERS IS YET AND YOU ALREADY APPROVE? WHAT ABOUT MINE?” After that outburst the girl laughed “Ka-chan, your name...pfft..it sounds like a villain, of course you have to change it.” He just muttered and sat down in a huff. That was enough for her to gain her confidence back she held up the board “Ehem...I choose Magical Girl: Amaimaho.” The class was silent and Midnight held both of the girls hands “AHHHH “Sweet Magic” Its so perfect! I love it so much! Job well done I approve your name!” The class agreed and gained heart eyes everyone loved her name and told her what they thought. 

She thanked them and sat back down next to Kirishima. It was now his time to swoon over her “Amaimaho! Its so cute!” He hugged her rubbing his cheek on her head “So cute! So cute! I’m glad I have such and adorable girlfriend like you!” She giggled and hugged him back “T-thank you Eijiro.” Finally Bakugo went up again he only change one word “LORD EXPLOSION MURDER!” Midnight rejected his name for a final time stating that he only changed one thing. 

The students went to their respective agencies Midoriya to Gran Torino, Todoroki to Endevor, Bakugo to Best Jeanist, Iida to Manual, Ochaco to Gun Head, Asui to Selkie, Kirishima to Fourth Kind, Yaoyorozu to Uwabami, Mineta to Mt. Lady, Tokoyami to Hawks, Jiro to Death Arms, Tetsutetsu also to Fourth Kind, Kendo also to Uwabami, and Okashi also to Mt. Lady while taking special training with Mr. Aizawa. 

Everyone kept in contact through texts and emails if their cities were farther away then normal. While everyone was at their internships Shuga was doing both an internship and doing training early in the morning with her uncle at 5 am, which was not something she expected him to be ok with but it was his idea. The girl woke up and went through her normal routine but instead of leaving her hair down she put it up in a high ponytail. She noticed that despite it being early she was excited instead of tired. She threw on a tank top that said “Magical girl in training” on it and some black workout pants with some pink trainers. She grabbed a spare set of clothing and other things she’d need after training for when she headed to her internship. She grabbed her wand off its stand shoving it into the bag and noticed her little furball stretch and get up “Hmm up early i see? Going to training with your uncle?” the black cat waited for Shuga to clip her red bow collar on her. Once the girl was finished she scratched her cat behind the ears “Want to come with me today Sparkle?” The roomba she had in her room awoke and started to clean up the glitter trail as the cat jumped on top of it. “Sure!” As she walked out the roomba followed and stopped at the stairs, said cat jumped on the girls shoulder.

 Shuga walked down the stairs yelling to her still sleeping parents that she was off and she locked the door behind her heading out of the house. She met up with her uncle who was in his sleeping bag waiting for her at the entrance of the school. She slowly crouched down moving some of his hair out of his face “Uncle, wake up. You can’t just sleep on the street, you look homeless.” He opened an eye lazily “Well I thought to rest before you got here.” She smiled sweetly at him “I know uncle you work so hard for the whole class, even if they don’t notice it. I know why you are so tired all the time…” She stood up brushing off her pants “BUT, this was your idea and I'm excited to get started!” She held out her hand for him. He looked up into her gold eyes exasperated “Your right Sweets, lets go.” He unzipped the bag and grasped her hand as she pulled him up “I can’t wait. So what kind of training will we be doing?” He was about to answer when they heard footsteps behind them the pinkette turned around to see a purple haired boy. He looked sleepy and slightly reminded her of Aizawa. She spoke “Hi? Hitoshi? What are you doing here? Uncle?” Hitoshi looked to Mr. Aizawa “H-hey I hope i’m not late. And hey to you too Okashi-chan.”

 Her uncle nodded and said “He will be training with you, we will focus more on hand to hand combat with you. Being a magical girl gives you a slight advantage, making you stronger but you have yet to have to use it, you have managed to keep enemies at a distance for an attack. This should help with close combat situations.” She nodded “Cool! This is exciting, I can’t wait to spar with you! Your quirk is so cool!” He blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck “Thank you.” They all continued on into an open field area by the school. She sat her stuff down by a tree, also pulling out her wand. Her cat walked up to the purple haired boy begging for pets. Luckily he loves cats. He was a little shocked when it spoke to him “Pet me! Pet me!” Shuga turned around, a ball of light surrounding her, then it dissipated leaving her in her purple hairstyle and ornament. “Give me the power of Cure Sunshine!” her ornament turned into a yellow flower with a small orange ribbon. 

She put her wand away and walked up to Hitoshi “You really are a magical girl!” She giggled “That's what everyone always says. Who’s to say if I am or not? All I know is that I'm going to kick your butt!” He smirked and put the cat down “Oh really? Well then I hope you know I won't go down without a fight.” She smiled “That's what I was hoping for.” Mr. Aizawa called them over to him and taught them the basics of hand to hand and close combat. Shuga was told that she would try a small spar with Mr. Aizawa then Hitoshi so they could both grasp her strength and see what to help with . She charged up her abilities as a golden aura surrounded body like a thin cover. She popped in her earbuds and stretched for a second then stood and faced her uncle, the music pumping her up . She put her fists up like he taught her. She ran at him Aizawa not expecting what she did “Sunshine Punch!” she aimed her fist but he caught her wrist and tried to block only for her to use her arm as leverage. She flipped her body over his, so she was now behind him causing him to almost fall backward but he let her go and somehow stumbled forwards. 

She used that opportunity and charged up another attack “Sunshine Kick!” He tried to use his quirk on her and erasure her quirk but it failed somehow and she landed a strong blow kicking the man a small distance away. She freaked out “UNCLE!” Hitoshi, who watched the entire thing was also shocked “His quirk didn’t affect her? Is it because they are blood related, no..could it really be…?” She ran over to help him up as he gripped his side “Uncle, your quirk! It failed? Why?” He looked as confused as she was, her cat sauntered over to her “Maybe you really are a magical girl. It could explain a lot actually.” She looked to her pet “Maybe i really am? Maybe this isn’t a quirk at all but something entirely different?” Aizawa looked a bit confused but then nodded “It's a great possibility at this point. But right now I think maybe we should call it quits for today I need to go find recovery girl…” She nodded worried, after the U.S.J. Incident he seemed more tired than usual. “B-but what about Hitoshi?” Said boy walked over to the two “I-it’s ok, I think Mr. Aizawa is more important at the moment. Plus its almost noon we’ve been training for a long time now.” 

The girls eyes widened like saucers “WHAT?!” She looked at her phone “UGH HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN?! MY INTERNSHIP! I have to be there in 5 minutes!” the purple haired boy looked to her again “Its ok, you go. I’ll walk with Mr.Aizawa.” Her uncle was about to protest since he would rather just go back to his sleeping bag and nap. But she gave him a stern look “You go with him. I worry about you a lot uncle. I know you are a Pro-Hero but still.” He finally just relented and agreed “Good now I have to speed off.” She looked at her phone and grabbed her bag, her cat jumping on her shoulder “Hang on sparkle we have to rush.” she held up her wand “Pretty Cure! SHINING FORTISSIMO!” She was bathed in golden light that picked her up, she shot off towards the agency faster than regular Floral Fortissimo. 

She got there just in time, not even getting to change or get less sweaty. She looked kinda messy with glitter covering her body as she ran into the agency. Mt. Lady looked shocked and so did the small toddler like boy which Shuga failed to notice “I’M SORRY MA’AM I’M LATE!” The lady looked at her clock “Hmm a minute late, not too bad. But um why do you look like someone dumped a bucket of glitter on you. And where is your hero suit??” She blushed “u-uh i had special training with my uncle. Mr. Aizawa...Eraser Head. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him.” Mt. Lady laughed “Of course I know him. I’m guessing your Okashi Shuga? What's your hero name?” Shuga was blushing “Ah, its Amaimaho. And this glitter is a side effect of my quirk, so i’m sorry if I get glitter everywhere. I can bring my roomba from home next time.” The blonde laughed some more at the girls flustered state “It’s ok, how about you go get ready and come back we’ll wait for you.” The girl tilted her head to the side “We?”

 She turned as she felt something grab her leg it was Mineta. The girl screeched as she kicked him off of her and into the wall “AHH Oo-h oops.” She walked to him and helped him up “Sorry about that, that's why you just don’t grab girls like that. Gosh learn some manners Mineta. If Eijiro were here he would have done worse than that.” The boy held his nose “Worth it!” She just shoved him back down “Such a pervert. I’ll be back in a moment Mt. Lady.” The blonde nodded. Shuga got situated and went back to where the others where now not covered in glitter. Mt. Lady looked up “That's your hero costume? That looks like cheap workout clothing...” She looked down “Ah no actually this is.” She pulled her wand up and held it up a ball of light surrounding her again as usual. When she came out she was in her outfit and her hair changed it color and style. Her wand grew smaller and she put it in the pouch around her waist. “I hope this is more acceptable.” The blonde smiled “Perfect, it suits you. But today we are going to do something other than fighting villains. We are going to do chores, cooking, cleaning, basics for when Hero’s have down time.” Mineta inwardly cringed and outwardly cried “WHAT! CHORES!” The girl laughed at his pain but answered Mt.Lady “Ah this is great, I'm still kinda sore from my training this morning. I’m excited to cook! I got up so early I forgot to grab the bento I made for Eijiro last night.”

 Mt. Lady giggled “Oooh Eijiro? Is that a boyfriend I here?” Shuga blushed “Y-yes..he is. We’ve been together for a while now. First name basis and everything. I usually make lunch for him but I forgot it today.” The blonde spoke up “Then I guess cooking is first. After you come back from your boyfriend's place we will continue.” She blushed like a tomato “O-oh I just have to bring it to the agency he’s working at. He’s interning as well.” Mt. Lady nodded “What agency?” She thought for a moment “I believe the agency belongs to a hero named...oh what was it...OH Fourth Kind.” She smiled “Ah a chivalrous hero. Fourth Kind, I met him before. If your boyfriend is the rowdy kind he’ll whip him into shape.” She thought for a moment “Rowdy, He’s not rowdy pfft. He's strong and kind. I think that should be a good agency for him.” Well we have a long day and it already 1:30. If you want to get to him before lunch is over we should get started now. Also Mineta you can start by sweeping and mopping the office.”

 The small boy cried over his suffering but went along anyways. Shuga had cooked her hardest, wiping the sweat from her brow, and admiring her handy work. It was just a basic two compartment bento. The bottom was half rice with steamed vegetables and the top was Karaage chicken, those little octopus hotdogs, rolled tomago and some fruit with a small cup of whipped cream on the side. She wrapped it up in a red flannel fabric pack and turned to Mt.Lady “Alright i’m going to head out now i’ll be back soon!” She walked out and wondered if she should use her quirk or if she should just walk there. She decided to just walk there instead. She texted Kirishima but he didn’t respond, so she sped up her walking a bit, worried that she might have missed him and he was already starting whatever his internship entailed

. Once she finally got to the Agency where Fourth Kind was she heard a small commotion inside. She slowly and quietly walked inside hearing something about idiots and tea. She saw the four armed man about to punch Kirishima which infuriated her “GOLDEN AEGIS!” she held up her one hand having to fight to hold the barrier up. Kirishima turned around “Shuga?!” Fourth Kind was shocked as he stared at the golden sunflower shield floating in front of him, “Who are you?” She glared at him “Get your meaty fists away from him! I’m Magical Girl: Amaimaho. And it looks like from what Mt. Lady said you aren’t as chivalrous as you look. Who goes around punching their interns!” Kirishima laughed and walked up to her at the misunderstanding “Shuga it’s ok. I’m sorry for the way this looks. Of course to someone who hasn’t been here it would look like he’s abusing us, but he only hits us with our quirks activated.” She walked over to him and hugged him “Sorry. I just got nervous since you didn’t answer your phone, and then hearing that I didn’t know what to think.” 

He hugged her back “Well i’m alright, I’ll make sure no matter what, I'll always be ok. I will always come back to you everyday.” She pulled away and smiled “Alright! I promise to do the same then! I didn’t mean to cause such a commotion.” He just admired her bright smile when Fourth Kind started to speak “I’m sorry little lady for the misunderstanding but I require no cellphones in the workplace. Besides…” She walked up to him, smiled, and bowed “I understand Mr. Fourth Kind Sir…” but her smile turned menacing and her anguish rivaled Bakugos “But if I catch you touching my sweet shark boy again i’ll break your hands…” He backed up nervously, Tetsutetsu slowly inched behind Kirishima “Dude, your girlfriend is really scary when she’s mad.” Kirishima called out to her to distract her “Shuga. Why did you come here by the way? I mean i’m happy to see you but what about your internship?” 

She immediately switched to being super sweet and she walked back over to him which in turn freaked out the other two people in the room. She held up the red flannel wrapped container “Oh! So with Mt. Lady she wanted us to focus on what to do when waiting to be called out. So basically chores. Plus...I always make you lunch…” She blushed “I-i kinda forgot about it this morning because of the early training with Eraser Head. I had to be up at 5am so I was going to grab it but rushed out of the house. I didn’t want uncle to have to wait.” He blushed as well “B-but we aren’t in classes at the moment plus you’d have to travel all the way here everyday. And if you have to be up early and then go to your internship and then come here your going to get so tired.” She looked down pouting “I always make lunch for you…always.” He hugged her giggling at her pouting face “I’m so lucky to have such a sweetheart like you. Thank you and if you ever get too tired its ok to take a break. Please promise me you will do so if that happens?” She nodded and hugged him tightly once more. 

He kissed her forehead “Ok, i’m sure you have to get back to your internship now. So I'll take the bento.” She pulled away and kissed his cheek “Here you go! I hope you like it! I made your favorite! Karaage chicken. I’ll be on my way now.” She gave him one last quick kiss on the lips and ran out “Bye Eijiro! I’ll see you tomorrow!” He blushed then shook his head “That silly girl.” The other two people in the room just stared at the doorway scared and confused. A few days later Mt. Lady sent Shuga out to Hosu city to pick up some special supplies and ingredients to cook with. “Why did I have to come all the way out here for Fish? A frying pan from Hosu? a red flannel...and jeans that have “shark boy” on the legs ...IS THIS A JOKE? Where am I even supposed to find pants that say that?” She called the blonde woman “Hi. Yeah. So, like wHAT the heck is THIS LIST? SHARK BOY PANTS? A RED FLANNEL? Where do i even find pants THAT SAY THAT!!?” Mt. Lady responded “I-i thought it would be cute! Also i found them at a store there. I don’t know why they had those but I was so excited and thought of you and Kirishima. Plus think of this as a slight vacation from all the hard work you’ve been doing.”

 The girl just sighed “Ok. Fine. I kinda will. I’ll be back soon though. But what is the store called anyway.” the blonde responded “It's literally called Shark Boy ...think of it sort of as Boy London but like they only have girl clothes and it's called Shark Boy. Anyway have fun byeeee!” The pink haired girl stared at her phone making a puffer fish face and then sighed and put her phone away. “Might as well get this over with.” She had acquired all of the other supplies other than the pants and a red flannel. She finally found the store and walked in looking nervous. She walked up to the counter the employee putting things in a box. She looked at him and he turned to her “Hello welcome to Shark Boy!” She gave him a strange look “Eijiro? What did you do to your hair? What are you doing in Hosu city? What about your internship?” The guy looked at her and blushed. He was the spitting image of Kirishima but with orange hair. He coughed “hehe sorry Dudette. My name is Kevin and I've like never seen you before in my life. I think I'd remember meeting a girl with pink curly hair.” 

She looked at him closely, she didn’t see the scar that Kirishima has over his eye and she saw he had straight teeth like Sero instead of sharp ones. She quickly bowed “I-i’m so sorry. You look almost identical to my boyfriend, but his hair is red and he has a small scar over his right eye. He also has sharp teeth because of his quirk. A-anyway, um could you help me find a red flannel and jeans that say Shark Boy on them.” The boy told her it was ok and proceeded to help her shop around she found the items needed. The flannel had a picture of a shark on the back, the pants were skinny jeans that had the word “Shark” on one side and “Boy” on the other with a small shark on the back pocket. She paid, thanked the boy and left. As she was walking back she noticed it was getting dark. “Oh i should probably hurry and get back to Mt Lady.” As she was walking to the train station, she saw a familiar hero.

 Well in her eyes a flaming trash bag. It was the number two hero Endeavor. “Oh what the hell is this?!” She inwardly cringed as she despised this man so much since she learned what he did to Todoroki. She tried to walk past only to see a girl in front of him holding what appeared to be a flaming baseball bat with nails in it. The girl seemed to be trying to threaten him. She had on a white hoodie that basically looked like a dress on her small figure. She had on those black cat tights and a tail was slowly swaying behind her. The girl also had a white mask that was cat shaped and covered her whole face. It had a poorly drawn on face. Shuga stopped “HEY! WHat do you think your doing?!” 

The girl turned to her “AMAIMAHO...Shuga?! This doesn’t concern you leave! What are you even doing in Hosu City?!” Endeavor folded his arms and huffed this was clearly going to be pointless. The pinkette noticed the short girls stature “Caturnity?..Neko? Why are you trying to attack Endeavor? I mean I don’t like the human dumpster fire either but he’s the number two hero you’ll get killed!” the short girl pointed the bat at him “That...ThAT THING..HE’S A MONSTER!! I don’t even know where Touya is anymore! I can’t find him no matter how hard I try, I...I thought I had found his trail...but really it was this foul creature!” Endeavor was about to protest at them “I told you Touya is de-”  but the shorter girl turned “SHUT IT FIRE BOY!” She looked at her old friend “Look I know how much Toya means to you. I know how hard you’ve searched. But this is not the way to do it and you know it!” The white clad girl snapped her fingers putting them in an alternate universe where time seemed to take an eternity. The world looked like it was in an apocalypse a flaming trash can nearby. Endeavor was frozen but could hear everything the strange girl said. The girl took off her mask to reveal her one green eye and one yellow eye both of them cat-like, the pupils slits. She removed her hood and growled lowly as tears streamed down her face, her furry ears on the top of her white hair laid flat as she gave in and dropped to the ground throwing the bat away from her. 

“Touya...he was all I had besides you. But you got into UA because of your uncle and then I never saw you again. I saw him years ago. I followed him everywhere, keeping a distance, sleeping in alley near buildings he stayed in, I didn’t want to scare him away and lose him again. I knew he ran away because of that flaming jerks stupid mad desire to be number one.” Said man looked surprised and was about to say that it was impossible that whoever she followed was Touya but the cat girl gave him a look that could kill and yelled  “YOU! You can never be number one, not with your sick attitude towards your own children…” She screamed “YOU CALLED HIM USELESS GARBAGE. WELL GUESS WHAT IF ANYONE IS USELESS IT'S YOU! I…..I can’t stand to look at you. HE WAS ALL I HAD AND YOU TOOK THAT FROM ME.” The man just stood there unable to move, and now unable to speak as a black creature crawled up his back and covered his mouth from behind. 

The girl sat there sobbing as her head started to hurt. Shuga was kneeling next to her and hugged her tightly “Look, Don’t you worry. We’ll find him again one day trust me we will.  You can come with me, mom loves you. She’ll definitely let you stay with us and i’ll convince Uncle and Mt. Lady to give you recommendations, i’m sure they’ll let you in the hero course, with your cat reflexes and alternate reality quirk i’m sure they’ll let you into U.A.” The girl looked at her “Please don’t leave me. Please! I can’t deal with anything alone anymore!” Shuga hugged her just as tightly “Never again. Now come on let's go. Can we get out of here?” Black figures started climbing on Endeavor the one covering his mouth was whispering horrifying things in his ear. The smaller girl snapped her fingers again releasing them from the scary alternate reality. Endeavor jumped slightly when he was among the regular world. He quickly regained his composure and looked at the girl “Your quirk is strong i’ll give you that. I’ll even give you a recommendation letter.”

 The girls stood up and started walking past him ignoring him. The cat girl made sure she shoved him out of the way with her shoulder “I would never accept a letter from the likes of you. Your a monster.” They both walked on with Shuga carrying her bags. Unbeknownst to her that she got a text from Midoriya calling for help. The girls were unaware of the hero killer, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida fighting until she got on the train heading from Hosu. She read the text and immediately called her uncle “Uncle! Its Midioriya! He’s in trouble. It's the He-” He cut her off already knowing of the situation. “I know, your in Hosu right now right?” She responded “I’m already on the train! I saw the message too late…” He heard the worry in her voice “It’s ok Sweets, it can’t be helped. We already have pros and proper authority on the way. Just come back home and we’ll get it all sorted out.” She agreed with a sigh “Of course. A-also Uncle…” He didn’t respond he just waited for her “I have someone...I need your.. she needs our help.” He just said “Ok. Get home safe and we’ll take care of that too.” Shuga responded “I’m a hero in training remember? I’ll be ok. I’ll be home a bit late. Can you let mom know too please?” He agreed and they both ended the call.

 Her friend was watching her. Shuga noticed her friend staring and looked back at her. The cat girl looked so tired, her clothes were clean though due to her quirks. She looked so broken. The pinkette leaned over and pet her friends head “It will be ok Neko. We’ll figure everything out. Your life won’t be so hard anymore, I promise.” The girl nuzzled her friends hand and hugged her. They rode the rest of the way home talking and catching up on the years they missed together. They got off the train, Shuga holding Neko’s hand “I have to go back to my internship for a second to drop off some stuff. Then head to my boyfriends internship he should be getting off right now so I usually walk home with him. 

The cat girl blushed “Boy-friend...thats cute.” She giggled as they arrived at the first building. She took out the spare key and opened the door. She flipped on a light as she still held the cat girls hand “You can sit over there for a sec. I need to put this stuff up and then change really quick.” The girl nodded quietly and sat down awkwardly *this is a heros office? WOOW!* The pinkette came back fully changed, her hair in a ponytail and wearing the clothes she bought earlier. The cat looked at her “W-whats up with the shark-s?” Shuga blushed “U-uhh..it..ya see..it's just a long story but you’ll see soon why. Let's get going though. He’s probably waiting for me.” Shuga held out her hand and the white haired girl took it slowly. They both left and headed for Fourth Kind’s agency.

 While walking she handed her an earbud “Here, let's listen to some music together. I know that used to help you calm down.” The cat girl took it happily “Is-i-s this BlackPink?” The girl nodded singing along she walked down the street dancing the moves “Boombayah!” They both laughed at her antics. When they made it to Fourth Kinds agency Kirishima was in normal clothing waiting for her. He turned as he felt her jump at him “Eijiro!” He hugged her catching her “Shuga! Hehe. I was waiting for y-Woah.” He looked behind her “I-is this...who is she? I’ve never seen a cat girl before.” The girl stood up and helped him up “Well i’d actually like you to meet my best friend. We got separated for a couple years but we ran into each other while I was in Hosu City.” Kirishima looked concerned for a moment “Hosu City? Are you ok?! I saw Midoriya’s sos.” She smiled and kissed his cheek “Yes I'm ok. We weren’t in that area of Hosu. By the time I got the sos I was already on the train with her.” she grabbed his hand and walked up to the shorter white haired girl, her ears twitching and tail moving slowly in apprehension “This is Genjitsu Neko. She’s my best friend and she’s lucky because she has two quirks. Her cat senses and reflexes. She also has an alternate reality quirk where anything can happen in there but she can only be in there for 5min at a time or it will start to affect her psychologically and mess with her cat senses” the girl shook his hand while he smiled showing his shark like teeth “Now I know why you have that attire Shuga. He’s adorable, you say I'm lucky but you have him...and i…” Her friend walked up in front of her and hugged her “Hey, hey it’s ok. Everything will be ok, we will find him ok? Meanwhile guess what?” The girl looked at her friend as her bicolored eyes watered “What?” 

Shuga smiled “Shoto is in my class, soon to be our class. He goes to U.A.!” Her friend's eyes went wide “R-really! that-s ...i..” She started bawling “I’m so happy now.. Thank you Shuga…” The girl smiled at her friend as Kirishima looked at her noticing the outfit “Shark Boy?” She blushed “I-it's a long story but I hope you like it because I bought this outfit for you.” He said “You brought that to impress me?” She nodded. He laughed “Ah I might as well marry you right now.” The girl stared at him wide eyed “Do- do you mean...?” He blushed “W-well we should probably wait till we graduate. But let's think of that later.” He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder running past the white haired girl “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!!!” The girls eyes go wide her instincts kicking in as she laughed chasing after them “NO PROBLEM SHARK BOY!” 

After the internships were over the class returned to normal except with one new person. Mt.Lady had agreed to give a recommendation and after talking more with her uncle he gave one too. Evern Kirishima managed to get Fourth Kind to give the cat girl one. She was transferred into class 1-a without a hitch. Shuga walked in with a smaller person behind her. The class turned around and was about to greet her when they noticed a white tail. “HEY WHEN DID YOU GROW A TAIL SAILOR MOON?” Shuga just huffed “You know Ka-chan, as your friend I love you so believe me when I tell you, that you have the absolute worst timing when it comes to being a asshole.” The boy just looked at her “WHAT”D YOU SAY?!” 

Mr. Aizawa slammed his had on the desk which was new given his regular demeanor “Hey Bakugo Shut it! Your scaring the poor girl.” the shorter girl hiding behind Shuga was shoving her face into her friends back while her tail hid between her legs. Bakugo was confused “EH STUPID. OKASHI ISN’T SCARED OF ME. I KNOW THAT FOR SURE. SO WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” Mr. Aizawa looked him in the eye “If you stop yelling we can introduce her.” Shuga turned to her friend “Look it’s ok you’ll do fine. I even got uncle to switch seats around so you can be near Shoto, and me. I have to go sit down now, but you got this.” She hugged her as her flustered friend was left to the class. The short cat girl opened her eyes slowly the green one first then yellow. Her ears lifted themselves and twitched at small sounds while her tail went back to normal. She relaxed a bit as she took in her class. They all stared at her in shock. Todoroki’s eyes widened and he sat up not believing what he was seeing. 

She spoke softly “M-my name is..Genjitsu...Neko. It's nice to meet you all.” She wrote her name and its meaning on the board Genjitsu(Reality) Neko(Cat). “My quirk.. If you can’t tell is being part cat...but also..this…” She snapped her fingers and the classroom was now a field of flowers outside with a tree above for shade. The class was surprised but they liked it and cheered “Wow this is so cool!” She responded “I can put myself or others in an alternate reality for a little while. My limit is 5min and then it will affect me psychologically and mess with my cat senses. My hero name is Caturnity” She snapped her fingers again and the class went back to its normal state.

 With that Todoroki stood up abruptly, everyone was shocked. The small girl saw him and teared up “Shoto!” Her quickly ran to her embracing her in tight hug. “I-i..I tried my best to find him...I found him for a while that's why I was gone for so long..but I lost him ...one day. Then I thought I picked up on his trail again...but it-it was Endeavor..” Todoroki just shushed her and walked her over to the empty seat next to him “It’s ok Neko. I know you tried your hardest.” Mr. Aizawa let the class talk among themselves to catch up and he took a nap. Somehow Bakugo’s hair stayed in that strange smoothed down style but Kirishima and Sero laughed at him making him angry enough that it went back to normal. The girls except for Genjitsu talked about their internships. Aishido is amazed by Jiro helping in a hostage situation and the rest of the girls are amazed that Asui helped take down a drug smuggling ring. Asui asks about how Uraraka and Shuga’s training went. Uraraka talks about how she has found her fighting spirit. Shuga explains that while she didn’t train under Mt. Lady for her internship she instead trained separately with her uncle and Hitoshi Shinsou. She also gives Mineta a look and he cowers in fear “Also me and Mt. Lady spent the time torturing that pervert with chores the entire time. Now he thinks girls are evil.” All the girls laughed at him. 

She also explains that while she was there for the Hosu incident she was not actually there. She was doing other things when she stumbled across her old friend and only got the sos after they were both on the train. Kaminari talks about how he fawned over his Internship. Then everyone talks to Todoroki the cat girl lightly napping next to him. As well as Midoriya and Iida about the Hosu Incident. They spoke about the Hero Killer and Midoriya said he was cool, then apologized to Iida. Iida told him it was ok and that Stain’s actions were wrong despite his tenacity. He vowed to continue from then on to walk the true and proper path of a hero. Everyone started to talk in their own smaller groups. Todoroki held a small ghost of a smile as he slowly ran his hands through the cat girls hair giving her all his attention after they were separated for so long. She smiled at him lazily happy to be with her friends again, she still had a small pang in her heart for Touya. She knew they would find him again one day. And boy was she right. 

[aspiestvmusings]

TMS S3: GROUP A

THE MASKED SINGER SEASON 3  GROUP A/ GROUP 1: (contestants 1 - 6)

EP 3x01: CLUES & MORE: RECAP for remaining 5: 

SPOILERS BELOW!!!

KANGAROO

CLUES: 

Location: Outdoors: “Australia” 

Location: Next to a /in a yard of a “peach coloured” building with arch/vault-style architecture 

VISUAL CLUES:

Sign: OUTBACK (with the U being in the shape of horseshoe)

Sign: Yellow “road sign” with an arrow pointing down (”spiraling down”) 

MIB as papparazzi/press following her - taking pics, media attention (for “the wrong reasons”) 

Gramophone on a tree branch 

Boxing bag -  the kangaroo boxing/hitting the boxing bag 

Jump rope - the kangaroo jumping over a jump rope (made of a vine...held by MIB)

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

”Like most of you watching, I’m a survivor.” 

“I recently lost a person, who held my familys heart together. Then, by my own admission, I found myself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.” 

“But I’m here to do what kangaroos do best - bounce back.”

“I have to fight for my family. And show them that bullies never win.”

“I am beyond terrified - I’ve never done anything like this before. But I’m not about to lose the chance to realize the dream I’ve always had.” 

“To all the survivors out there -- This one’s for you.” 

 ON STAGE CLUES:

Song choice: “Dancing on My Own” by Robyn 

Look/Costume: The kangaroo has a pouch (indicates female), but also has a red/silver boxing outfit & gloves (indicates male). Outfit colours: red & silver. Important: there is a crown on the back of her robe. 

Stage: hexagon-shaped mirrors (5 of  them) surrounding her/behind her [if my other guess is correct, then that stage design is a “clue”] 

Height: Tall-ish...almost the same height as host Nick. A bit shorter, around 175cm, probably.

Mic hand: Right 

Talking:  “One of my greatest fears is being vulnerable. And this year I’ve had no other option than to be vulnerable. But...with this kangaroo costume I feel like I can get my superpowers back.” +  [breathes in/sighs heavily before the song starts]

GUESSES: 

I HAVE NO NAMES OF MY OWN. -- I thought she was this certain female artist, because the voice kinda seemed familair (sounded like hers to me), but none of the clues and other things seemed to fit. And after checking the clues it seems to confirm it cannot be her, cause nothing matches. Also... to me she doesn’t sound like any of the singers I thoughts she could be based on the clues, so... I havent actually figured her out...

I think people online are correct, and it’s a certain “reality star” (gramophone = reference to her dad being a sound engineer on a well-known past TV show) Though I am considering a few more options - mostly other reality stars/youtubers/family members of celebs... particularily one name. If my guess here is correct, then just like Llama, she would have a connection to a previous TMS contestant...but since I am not that familiar with her singing voice, I cannot be sure. But she has lost family members in the past few years, she has been in a media scandal, and you can even explain the australia thing kinda... so...until I hear more of her, I’ve got one name mainly in mind. But I wont name it until I’ve heard her sing at least once more.

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES.

Survivor = the title of a “Destiny’s Child” hit song

Lost a family member recently = either her family member (parent, grandparent?) died or they parted ways (were cut ouf of each others lives)

Gramophone = possibly a reference to a Grammy nomination/win. Or just music/sound/audio

Outback = possible connection to Australia

“spiraling down” road sign + papparazzi following her = she’s been in a media scandal “recently”

Crown = King/Queen 

LLAMA

CLUES: 

Location: Radio station/Mixing studio - mixing console (close up) 

Location: Pottery making “class” 

VISUAL CLUES:

Mixing console - close up of a studio/radio station mixing console 

23.3 The Wool (name of the radio station/show) 

Red lightbulb in the studio 

Photo of a bull (the animal)

Playing cards: Ace of Spaces & Jack of Spades). Two black suit cards showing (Jack Black)

Sounds of Seattle - title of a vinyl album 

Romancing a llama: pottery 

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

"Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Mix it up!”

“Good morning, Nerd herd! You’re listening to The Wool. Where we’re all cool. No Bull.” 

“I’m here for one reason only - to have a laugh. And what’s funnier than a Llama? (laughs at his own joke)”

“You may call me a joker. But I’d like to get serious for a minute. The song I’m singing tonight is my favourite track for celebrating love with that... special someone. There’s nothing like being swept up by it’s deep, profound lyrics. It’s a tune that really gets me in the mood for romance. I can’t wait to sing it for you tonight.”

“Llama out!” 

ON STAGE CLUES:

Song choice: “She Bangs” by Ricky Martin 

Look/Costume: Dressed as a tourist - “hawaiian” style shirt,, photo camera around his neck. Llamas tongue out of his mounth, on the side. 

Height: he is around 180cm - about the same height as host Nick (their shoulders are on about the same height)

Mic hand: Left 

Talking: “umm.. This whole costume just spoke to me... My vibe... I wear digs like this in real life.” (answering the question about his costume & it’s looks) 

GUESSES:

Drew Carey (TV host/comedian/actor...)

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES.

23.3 Wool = His show (The Drew Carey Show) had, during it’s 9-season long run, a total of 233 episodes. 

Photo canera prop = His hobby is photography. Actually, it’s more than just a hobby - he has been accredited press photographer during many (sports) events.  

Radio = He was a radio operator during the time he served in the Marine Corps. Also..he’s hosted a radio show (radio DJ) during his later career 

Red light in the room = photography reference. In the DarkRoom red light is used when developing photo film/photographs.

Buddha figurine (Dalai Lama/Llama joke) = He is a buddhist. 

Joker = he is a joker aka comedian 

Seattle = He is the co-owner of a Seattle Football Club. 

Playing cards = He took part in the celebrity poker game in 2003, where he did better than Jack Black did (played against Jack Black)

Nerd herd = He did take part in Zack levis (Chuck) “Nerd herd” lightsaber race one time at a Comic-Con convention. 

Nerd herd = his show (DCS) & character were/was about nerds/was a nerd

Llama’s side tongue = early in his stand-up comedy days he had a joke with a side-tie (it looked visually very similar to what the llama’s tongue looks like - he just added some wires & tape to do “the trick” of swinging the tie to the side)

BONUS: He knows last years winner, “The Fox Mask” - they did “Whose Line is it Anyway” together, so... connection... 

SPOILER ALERT: Llama is the mask who will be voted off next - in ep 2 (on Wed, Feb 5th). But while his voice might not be as trained as some other contestants, I loved his stage energy, and the comedy/fun he brought! One more song coming from him! And no, I am not sharing some secret info - they “accidentally” revealed the first two contestants, who get unmasked, so it’s been revealed by the network...for those, who notice small details...

MISS MONSTER 

CLUES:

Location: Lady’s restroom/bathroom. The moster getting ready (coming hair, applying hairspray...) 

Location: school hallway - lockers 

VISUAL CLUES:

Sign:  (image) ladies restroom 

Itmes on the counter in bathroom/dressing room: Furspray (hairsray) can,  pink bottle of some beauty product, three crystals (stones), a piece of sequin fabric 

Key/Keychain: a single (old style) key with a keychain that says “FUN” #FUN #KEY = FUNKY = “QUEEN OF FUNK” 

Purple furry diary/good luck charm/cosmetics bag/pencil box (with a face + kitty ears & unicorn horn) + a glittery pen 

Lockers: Lockers numbered 10 (the ones she opens) & 11 (the one next to it)...with no other lockers having numbers on them 

Miss Monster Locker: filled with images of S1 Monster, scrapbook flowers..etc...

Piece of paper on the locker door: Monster Hits.

Photograph of a cityscape (skyline with many skyscrapers) on the locker door [if I could only see the image better to know which city it is on it, that’d be one more clue]

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

“When you become famous, people  want you to look or act in a certain way. They forget that you started off as just a shy little monster.” 

“It didn’t take long for me to be misunderstood. So I’m here to set the record straight. Just like my favourite creature in Season 1 did. The Monster. He made me feel. He re-wrote his story. It was fire!" 

“And now this performer in pink wants to follow in his furry footsteps, But darlings... I’m nervous. Will you still love me without knowing my name?”

ON STAGE CLUES: 

Song choice: “Something to Talk about” by Bonnie Raitt

Look/Costume: pink & purple/violet furry costume with a bowtie

Height: she is short-ish (shorter than host Nick). She looks very short (barely 5 feet - more Dolly P. height 152cm than Chaka K height 162cm)

Mic hand: Right 

Talking: NO ON-STAGE TALKING!

GUESSES: 

Chaka Khan 

Dolly Parton (since the total number of Grammy noms that the 18 contestants have in combined in 69 & Robot as the first revealed one has had 24-25 of them, that leaves only 44-45 for everyone else, that rules out this person, because she alone has had 46 nominations...compared to C. Khan’s 22 noms)

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES. 

Number 10 = She has 10 Grammy Awards/wins. (interestinly: both D. Parton & C. Khan have 10 Grammy wins!)

Monster Hits = she has had (many) hit songs during her career 

He made me feel = She has a song by the title “I Feel You” (1984 hit)  

It was fire = She has a song by the title “Through the Fire” (1985)

Will you love me - that is (word for word) the title of of her her hit songs, “Will You Love Me?” (2007)

It was fire = She wrote the hit song “Fule to the Flame” (1967 hit) for Skeeter Davis. 

Will you still love me? = She has/wrote a song titled “I will always love you” 

Furspray/Hairsray = he was/is known for her big hair/haircut (managing that probably takes lots of hairspray)

FUN = FUN(K) #FUN KEY [FUN:KI] - she’s kinda the “queen of funk” (one of her albums is titled “FUNk This” (btw: Pun intended by her!) 

TURTLE 

CLUES

Location: school’s track & field event (Balzano Track Field) - contestants getting ready to run. The slow turtle surrounded by fast bunnies, all preparing for the event. [Slow & steady (turtle) wins the race]

Location: Schools track & field event - BANG! The race begings. The three other contestants (MIB as bunnies - wearing pink bunny ears - starting the race with a head start, all jumping on their blue bouncy balls)

VISUAL CLUES:

Turtle vs bunnies 

BANG! in comic style - to mark the start of the race 

The others (three bunnies) bouncing on blue balls whe n the race begins 

Surf board - the turtle poliching/cleaning his poink & blue surf board 

Pins on the track...popping the blue jumpy balls 

Grilling burgers on an (outside) grill...on the track field. 

Turtle crossing the finish line first (bunnies just going in circles, being stopped by pins on the way, or other reasons), as he has time to do other things & take it slowly, and then still get there first...with a burger in hand & winning the golden medal.

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

"At the starting-line of my career I was surrounded by other hungry new-comers. It felt like everyone around me was fighting tooth-and-nail for the dream. And I watched as many of those stars burned too brightly, too quickly, and then fizzled down”

“I’m a turtle, because I’m always taking it step-by-step.”

“Slow and steady wins the race. But now I feel like I’m ready to break out of my shell. After years of preparation I would love to make a big splash. So I don’t want anyone to cross that finish line before me.” 

ON STAGE CLUES:

Song choice: “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal 

Look/Costume: Punk/Rock-style, dressed in leather (pants, jacket), has a spike (hair)

Height: Short-ish (shorter than host Nick) - seems around 175cm. Small in size.

Mic hand: Right 

Talking: “It’s hot. It’s really hot. And it’s heavy!” (when answering how doesn it feel to be in that costume and perform in it)

GUESSES

Jesse McCartney 

Joey McIntyre  PS. I tried connecting the voice to any boy-bands (of 1990s & 2000s), but I coukdnt. Even after some “research” - listening to each possible candidate...and IMO it’s none of them. The voices dont match, the heights doesn’t match---But it did sound like someone, who for me was a one-hit-wonder. Yeah, I only know that one song (and one more) from him... but voice seemed familiar.

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES: 

Surf board = that he is a surfer;  that he is from Cali/Australia/somewhere which is known as being popular among surfers; that he has won Teen Choice Award(s) (this award in in the shape of a surfboard)

being surrounded by other new-comers at the start of his career = either he got his start through a (singing) competition and was one of many contestants fighting for the win AND/OR he got his start in a “boy-band” and was one of the youngsters looking for fame...

Surf board = Teen Choice Awards - winning several TCAs for his first/biggest hit song/album in 2005, and more. And he’s played a surfer character on a TV show

BSB references/connection  - he was the opening act in 2005 for BSB during the European part of the tour. 

Dream = he started in a boy-band with the name “Dream Street”

on stage presence/body language (movements) = very similar to J.M. 

WHITE TIGER 

CLUES: 

Location: Football field. Tiger striking a power/winners pose. 

Location: School hallway, lockers. Tiger walking in, shoving everyone out of his way. 

Locatrion: School library (sitting behind a table, with his legs on the table) 

Location: School hallway, lockers. MIB trying to get him to audition for TMS. MIB (fans) taking selfies with him. 

VISUAL CLUES: 

Golden plate/sign with text: Ultimate champion for clam shucking: 51 clams” (next to a golden clam shell) 

Sign/ad on the wall: “Masked Singer tryouts 5/3.” + images of three past masks included: Eagle, Lion & Raven. Plus the text: “Hurry. Not for long" also written on it. 

Sign on the all with images of past US presidents, including Abe Lincolns & the text/quote “Four Score and Seven Years Ago...” 

The TMS golden mask throphee shown next to the lockers (as Tiger says “let’s party!”)

AUDIO CLUES/VOICEOVER: 

“Ready to meet your next champion? My entire life I’ve sought out perfection, so choosing a mask with unlimited power like the White Tiger was a no-brainer.”

“I’ve had a giant career full of accomplishments. But when I imagine being on stage (and) singing, I’m a big old scared cat.*

“It’s been a while since I did something that scared me, so I’m here to concour yet anither challenge.”  

“What’s my motivation? My fans! I don’t wanna let them down." 

“So now I’m ready to get in that ring and smash the competition.” 

“Let’s party!” 

ON STAGE CLUES: 

Song choice “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice 

Look/Costume: Dressed in “Egyptian style"

Height: very tall & big (much taller than host Nick) - over 190cm, looks about 2m tall

Mic hand: R & L (alternates)

Talking: “It’s the most powerful I’ve ever felt. Like I can concour anything. I never wanna take it off” (when answering what did it feel like when he first put on the costume/mask)

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES: 

He played during the 51st  (51 clams) & 53rd  (5/3) Super Bowl games. 

The three past TMS masks shown are all animals that are parts of  names of existing football teams: Ravens, Eagles, Lions. Meaning he is an athlete & specifically plays american football (NFL) 

The Lincoln quote translates to “87 years ago...”, so number 87 is the clue here. This could be a reference to player No. 87. 

He has had a very succesful career in his own field (sports). Singing is not his main job.

IF the voice-overs were done later, not during initial filming, then it’s possible that “smash” relates to the person smashing a lego-statue of a TV host during 2019/2020 New Years. Which in itself was supposed to be about his famous “Gronk Spike” during football games. 

A tiger (albeit “regular”, not white) was one of the characters & costumes + name of the sports team in the Katy Perry video “Swish Swich”, where this athlete also appeared. 

The Golden (Golden Mask) trophe - most likely a reference to his many wins (the trophees he/his team has won)

GUESSES: 

Rob Gronkowski (Gronk, athlete, 198cm) = 99% certain it’s him 

Because of the height alone (seems to be around/almost 2m = 6 feet 5) there are not that many possibilities at all. Even if we don’t listen to that voice or consider the clues. Based on height alone it can basiclaly be only one of these names: Dave Bautista (198cm); The Rock (196cm); Hulk Hogan (201cm); Tyler Perry (196cm); Brad Garrett (204cm); Joe Manganiello (196cm); Jeff Goldblum (194cm); Jason Mamoa (193cm); Tom Brady (193cm)..or the likes...

Even other possible names, like the ones listed by the panel, are not valid guesses, because of their height: John Cena for example is actually only 185cm tall. Also... several of these tall men are bigger/more muscular, so that makes it even easier to determine the name based on only the physical appeance...without even listening to the clues. 

ROBOT 

First mask to be voted out in ep 1

Havent listed his clues, cause there’s no use for them anymore, as he was voted off. 

With his 86 tattoos he makes up for about half of all the 160 tattoos the 18 contestants have combined. With his 24-25 Grammy nominations he makes up about 1/3 of all the 69 noms the 18 contestants have combined. And quite many of the 88 gold records the 18 contestants have combined,  belong to him (I don’t know the exact number, but most/all of his 10+ albums have gone gold, I think) - exact number depends on how they count it for this list.

<<<<< THIS IS WHAT GOES ON IN MY HEAD AFTER EVERY TMS SHOW/EPISODE. THIS IS HOW I CATEGORIZE THE INFO I HAVE INTO FOLDERS IN MY MIND. THIS IS HOW SPECIFIC I AM, AND HOW INTO DETAILS I GO. THIS IS HOW MUCH I PAY ATTENTION (while, most likely, missing a ton of more hints that I’ll only notice during re-watch) I JUST DECIDED TO WRITE IT DOWN...FOR ONCE. 

BUT... unless I decide to cut some sleep time to do this again, I am probabky not gonna do this after every episode. Possibly for the first episode of every Group (so beside ep 1, also ep 4 & ep 7)

[doomonfilm]

Thoughts : It (2017)

One of the most fascinating things about fandoms is the completely random nature they have in regards to the properties they choose to champion.  I’m almost positive that when Stephen King initially wrote It, he never dreamed there would be not only multiple movies, but an extremely devoted fanbase and a general recognition of the collective fear of clowns held by the general public.  Personally, I didn’t catch It-mania the first time around (even as a fan of Tim Curry), so when the recent remake hit the theaters, I felt no sense of urgency to see it.  It was seeing the trailers for It Chapter Two, however, that finally piqued my interest and brought me to a viewing of the 2017 remake.

Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) is home sick, but in a gesture of kindness, he makes a paper boat for his younger brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) to play with in the rain.  Georgie loses the boat in the gutter, and while peering in, he is scared, taunted and eventually assaulted by Pennywise (Bill Skargard), an ominous and terrifying clown.  Bill is scarred by the event, but with the support of The Losers Club, his close knit group of friends, he plans to comb the sewers of Derry, Maine in hopes of uncovering the truth about his brother.  The Losers Club, consisting of the brash Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), mother’s boy Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Glazer), and the pragmatic Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff), try to console Bill and keep his mind off of things, but Bill is unshaken in his quest for the truth.  Meanwhile, tomboy Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), in an attempt to find friendship amidst a nasty rumor campaign the town has adopted about her, befriends newcomer Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), a shy bookworm that has taken it upon himself to study the turbulent history of Derry.  All the while, Mike Hanlon ( Chosen Jacobs), a young black kid from the outskirts of town, is attempting to adapt to a life under the care of his hardworking grandfather in the wake of a housefire that killed his parents.  All six children are tormented by the Bowers Gang, led by Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton), the irrationally violent son of a Derry police officer.  As the bond grows between the kids amidst the nightmarish attacks by Pennywise and the Bowers Gang, the newly expanded Losers Club must use all the tools at their disposal to defeat an enemy they do not understand, while nurturing a connection deeper than any they’ve ever known.

I really and truly do not know where to begin with this movie, and it is almost impossible to discuss this film without bringing up (if not making direct comparison to) the 1990 TV miniseries.  I can flat out state that the 2017 film is an overall better film, and one that will more than likely escape the curse of looking dated decades down the road, save for astronomical leaps in technology.  The most interesting thing about this movie, however, is the fact that it is not really a horror or suspense film, despite it having the shapings of one.  No matter the nature of your enemy or villain in a horror film, there has to be a hint of reality in the mix to truly instill fear.  Freddy may be over the top, but the damage he inflicts is tangible and visible to observers (we will circle back around to the Freddy thing momentarily).  Jason instills fear because he never stops coming, and his attack is brutal when he catches you.  Vampires, zombies, werewolves and even Frankenstein’s monster are rooted in historical lore.  Pennywise, while being a fascinating villain, fails to land as a true terror due to a two-parted shortcoming : his outlandish nature makes him more of a cartoon character than a true threat, and as the kids state multiple times within the film, none of what he does is ‘real’ unless you fear him.  It is intriguing how his power is, on the one hand, limited to perspective, but on the other hand, seemingly limitless due to the number of tricks he displays during the film.

For all the things that It does correctly, there is a series (and a villain) that does it better : Nightmare on Elm Street and the aforementioned Freddy.  Rag tag group of high school misfits?  Check.  Ominous threat, based in the history of the city that it dwells in, that manifest mostly in the minds of its victims, though the repercussions of its actions are very much felt in the real world?  Check.  Heavy dose of the 1980s?  Check.  Equal doses of fear, controversy and humor?  Check.  That is not to say that It is not an entertaining and truly fascinating film, but with the burden of comparison to past versions of itself already on the table, it’s got enough of a mountain to climb to win over both those faithful to the creator of the property and those faithful to the original and iconic depiction of the titular character.

It may sound like I’m coming down rough on this film, but there are many things that it does quite well.  For a film that displays the levels of violence that this one does, it does not necessarily glorify it or force you to dwell in it... even a broken arm is taken in as more of a realization than a focus, therefore making it easier to digest.  The special effects are monumental, yet their visual integration is subtle and natural.  For a film that is mostly carried by child and teenage actors, the acting is surprisingly strong across the board, even when the material is failed by forced exposition or finds itself in the realms of tropes.  The sound design enhances the experience of the film, towing the line between building real suspense and reliance on jump scares with a finesse and restraint often not found in films of this nature.  For a film where the villain/monster is so heavily present, Pennywise surprisingly does not wear out his welcome, remaining stunning and hard not to enjoy from the moment he pops up in the sewer until the moment he falls into the recesses of the well.

Jaeden Lieberher does a solid job as the sympathetic protagonist, finding a good range in regards to the use of his stutter, how believable he executes it, and the moments it goes away.  Sophia Lillis steals the show with a confidence that bursts off the screen, and a killer smile to match.  Jeremy Ray Taylor manages to dodge typecasting as the ‘fat kid’ as he proves himself to be one of the more valuable members of the Losers Club, while turning in a strong and endearing performance.  Wyatt Oleff is forced to show a restraint not placed upon his costars as the groups’ voice of reason, but he does manage to bring dignity and logic to the crew, as well as a sense of rationale and reason in the midst of the mind-blowing.  The joy that Finn Wolfhard is feeling in light of being given the green light to fully cut loose is impossible to ignore.  Chosen Jacobs is not given much to work with, but similar to Oleff, he provides a grounding nature to the group.  Jackson Robert Scott manages to somehow be one of the tougher members of the group while also leaning into his role as momma’s boy.  Bill Skargard fully commits to making Pennywise as creepy, off-putting and uncanny valley reminding as he can.  Nicholas Hamilton proves to be a serious threat, even as the secondary antagonist.  Performances by Stephen Bogaert, Jake Sim, Owen Teague, Logan Thompson, Pip Dwyer and Stuart Hughes also stand out.

As popular as this film was, and as large a fanbase as it was able to garner, I imagine this will find life as a cult classic down the road.  I’ve heard mixed reviews for It Chapter Two, and while I did enjoy my viewing of It, I don’t think I’ll rush to the theater for the follow-up.  I will, however, be purchasing the two pack on Vudu when it drops, because I am certain I will revisit this film over the years.

[malyceaduncastellan]

Dear enemy brother

Hi guys! Honestly, I… didn’t expect that simply telling someone I was writing that AU would bring me so much popularity, I’m honestly stunned but… Not in a bad way, that’s for sure!

And for you guys, the third addition to the Dear Enemy Brother AU! Please enjoy!

Honor above all

When Jonah had woken up that day, he immediately gave up on the hypothesis that everything that had happened to him had been a dream. This wasn’t the ceiling of his room at headquarters. Nor was it the infirmary’s room.

He was in a bed with red-stained sheets, a strobbing pain in his stomach and an awful headache that made him feel dizzy. It took him some time to realize he couldn’t move his left arm. Turning his head or lifting it felt like hell.

-Ugh…

God, his head pounded horribly. He couldn’t stand that, really.

A voice he usually despised to hear rang in his ears.

-Don’t even try to move, Clingy Clemence. You should still be having this beauty sleep right now.

A needle was carefully shoved in his right arm, and the dizziness intensified until everything was black again.

The next time he woke up, he had to admit he felt a little better. The sheets weren’t blood-stained anymore, and his left arm seemed to be responding. He was pretty sure he hadn’t eaten in a while, yet the nausea that came to him convinced him he didn’t need to eat.

-Feeling better?

Jonah suddenly looked at the one who asked him that.

-I’m dead, aren’t I?

-No, but from your wounds, I’m sure you did your best.

Purple eyes scanned him suspiciously.

-You realize that stepping wounded in enemy territory is actually pretty reckless?

-What happened?

-You mean you don’t know?

Sirius Oswald, Queen of Spades, looked positively stunned.

-My mind is blurry.

Jonah didn’t feel strong enough to be snarky. His head hurt and he whimpered under the pain. It seemed to him that he could die only from that. He didn’t even notice Sirius’ hand on his arm.

-Doctor! He might need more painkillers!

It took what seemed to him like an eternity to finally be back to his senses.

-How many wounds did I have?

-Only three. But well, considering there was a hole in your stomach, a flow of blood on your hair and one of your bones going out of your arms, I’m guessing something went wrong. Did some of ours go wild at the border?

Suddenly remembering the whole scene, Jonah shook his head.

-No. No border fight involved. I was told to go solve a skirmish not far away from where you found me. They told me it was just a few men.

-I suppose there was more than a few.

-They were at least fifty. We were barely fifteen. Not… enough.

Jonah let out a sigh.

He wouldn't tell the Black Army what those men said. He wouldn’t tell anyone. He couldn’t if he wanted too. Everything felt surreal.

“Well, sounds like master Amon was right, the King Lancelot did give us a lot of good experiments subjects!”

As good as Jonah was with a sword, he was no match for that much people. Neither were his men, and he screamed at the top of his lungs for them to escape. He didn’t even know if some of them made it. Then one of the disciples of the Magic Tower made him lose his sword and planted it in his stomach. Another one hit him with a stone on his head. He tried to escape and ended up with his arm broken from the fall.

He knew Black Territory was near the place, and hoped that those men thought he was too uptight to be willing to step in.

Just a few more meters, he thought when he almost reached the border and he heard a patrol.

The moment he finally got there, his mind went blank.

And now he found himself here. Betrayed by his king. Betrayed, somehow, by the Army this man was leading. Betrayed. Wounded. Angry.

-We wanted to call for your army right away, but saving you was a hard catch. But now, I guess we can tell them you’re alive and well.

-Don’t. It’s better if…

Sirius’ eyes turned skeptical, and Jonah knew he had to give him a satisfying explanation if he wanted to escape the grip of the Red Army.

-If you tell them you got me right now, they might think you did this. Let them look for me.  And when I’m fully healed, I’ll go back myself.

The last sentence was a lie, he knew that already. But going back there wasn’t an option. The oh-so-righteous Red Army, not-so-righteous already. It just wasn’t possible for him to go back to an Army lead by a traitor and a liar.

He had seen Lancelot’s signature on that contract the disciples shoved in his face to make him accept the truth. He could have recognized a fake one. This one definitely wasn’t fake, and Lancelot had sent his own men, including his right-hand-man to death.

There was no way he’d go back there. The Red Army just had lost its honorable looks.

-I believe you’re lying, said Sirius, bringing Jonah out of his thoughts. I don’t know what you’re going through. I won’t try to know either. But if you don’t want to go back to the Red Army, we won’t force you to. We value freedom even for you. Stay as much as you like.

Sirius’ sentences weren’t made for nothing. No one at the Black’s headquarters treated him as the Queen of Hearts. He simply was a wounded man found on the border, a guest that had to be respected and cared for.

Two weeks in, and Jonah Clemence was declared as dead or missing by the Red Army. And he knew what that meant. He knew who the Queen of Hearts now was, and it made him furious. But he couldn’t explain. He couldn’t go back. Not yet, not now.

Every night, he went to sleep crying and begging his dear little brother for forgiveness. He swore he would tell him what the Kind he was now serving was really like. He wouldn’t let his brother die for the King of Hearts’ whims.

And that’s how he came back to training. Two months after the Skirmish and he was practically as good as before.

He helped the Black Army as much as he could, progressively taking in Sirius’ paperwork, claiming that he had been Queen and that he knew how all of those worked. He found out how those men really were, never going back on their words, deadly honest with each other, hardworking. Sure, family ties were important to him, but now he wished they had meant nothing for his brother wouldn’t have been forced to serve King Lancelot.

He slowly became one of them without knowing. The Jack of Spades, especially, felt like an ally. He was the oldest of the Chosen Thirteen at 37. Somehow, Jonah knew that man found out why he stayed there on Black Territory, even though he never had told him anything.

Their talks on the evenings were always pleasant and despite being a Black Army officer, he was a refined man with good manners and a sustained language, which pleased Jonah.

He sometimes left to patrol at the borders and was the one who found him and saved him, so a lot a gratitude was involved, but Jonah knew that there was more to it. He became friends with Thanos Howard, Jack of Spades.

Since he was now well and fine, they often fought on training ground, Thanos claiming he needed to keep in shape and “lacking of worthy opponents”. Sometimes, the ten of Spades joined them, and it was probably the first time Jonah ever admitted he had fun while fighting.

Thanos was strong, deadly strong, being able to defeat Jonah and Seth at the same time, but Jonah happened to beat him sometimes, which earned him a lot of praise. It felt weird to him to feel that he was more than the pretty-faced heir of the Clemence Family, but it also felt good to feel worthy. It felt good to be proud when he walked through the corridors and he heard the soldiers praising his fighting skills.

He certainly didn’t expect what would happen. As usual, Thanos was gone on patrol that day, so Jonah replaced his expert mind while watching the soldiers train. A shout interrupted the training session and one of Thanos’ soldier came running in panic.

They brought back a dying Jack of Spades to headquarters, and the doctors couldn’t do anything for him. Jonah didn’t get to see his friend one last time as he only got to see the other officers before dying.

He felt angry. According to the soldiers, masked men attacked them while the patrol was running and the Jack had been hurt in the process. They said they didn’t know who the attack was from, until one soldiers lost his mask and revealed a Red Army man.

Jonah was furious. So he didn’t even ask any questions when he was called with the Black Army officers in Ray’s office.

It seemed that they were all waiting for him, which made him suspicious. Did they think he had planned this…?

-Relax, man, said Fenrir, Ace of Spade, while looking at him. We’re not suspecting you. It’s actually quite the opposite.

-We want to thank you, Seth said, for being a friend to Thanos and coping with us insulting the Red Army for his death. But we have urgent matters so the thanks will have to wait. Boss?

Ray nodded and looked at Jonah right in the eyes.

-I’ll make things short. I hope you know what Thanos’s murder means.

Jonah knew, of course. He was a soldier too, after all.

-The Red Army will need to pay. You will ask for a suitable punishment. However, as soon as they will here this, the Red Army will launch a war for honor.

An honor they had lost long ago for him, but he knew how that Army worked, he had worked for it.

-Yes. And I want you to make a choice. A choice I hate to force on you but a choice you have to make. We kept you here because you never acted as an enemy. But if war launches, whose side are you on?

-Yours.

He didn’t flinch, didn’t hesitate even one second. Thanos’ death had made painfully clear to him that he didn’t consider the Red Army worth it anymore. He would fight them for his friend and for the men that brought him back to life even knowing who he was. They were trustworthy. They were righteous. They were honorable. And he would fight for that.

-That’s what Thanos would have wanted to hear, Ray said. Because, you see… He wrote that before going on patrol. And he told us the exact same thing on his death bed. The thing is… Will you answer his call, Jonah Clemence?

Ray handed him a letter written in neat handwriting and clear words.

“I, Thanos Howard, Jack of Spades, hereby give my wills concerning my current position.

Knowing my dear army's functioning, I know these wills may or may not be respected and I acknowledge that fully.

However, as you know it, I'm the oldest of the officers, and it's time for me to make my retreat to live a peaceful life, which is why this will be my last patrol.

Therefore, I would like to recommend a name for my replacement as the Jack of Spades. You know him for his implication, his fighting skills and his loyalty.

I would like to recommend Jonah Clemence for this position.

Yours truly, Thanos Howard, Jack of Spades.

May freedom soar on raven wings.”

Ray waited for him to read the letter and said:

-We actually are considering his proposition. The soldiers like you and would find you worthy of the position. So, do you take the call?

He didn’t hesitate.

-In memory of my dear friend, I will.

And he wouldn’t flinch, he knew it. He would tell his brother about the truth lying in the Red Army core. He would avenge his men. He would avenge Thanos, and retrieve his honor.

For now, and until death would come upon him, he was Jonah Clemence, Jack of Spades.

[mira-eyeteeth]

Captivating, pt. 1

Happy birthday, @sylphidine! I wrote you the first part of a Nightmare Dork supervillain story! It’s set in the same universe as this one(x). It features standard supervillain courting procedures, which, as you may imagine, aren’t generally the best way to go about wooing the object of your affection.

Perhaps it was cliche, but they had first met in a bookshop. Piki had been taking a walk to clear his head and get away from his infuriating twit of a twin when a combination of interest and chill winter winds had driven him to seek shelter in a small cafe attached to a bookstore. Soon he was cupping a warm cup of coffee in chilled fingers and idly wandering the shelves to kill some time. And maybe pick up a new novel. He had been looking to replace his rather ratty copy of Salomé; the spine was practically coming apart on his. The filing system of the place seemed to be rather unintuitive, however, and he was having a hard time locating where the play might be if they had a copy.

A flash of white out of the corner of his eye made Piki turn his head in time to see a young man, white-blond and pale as death, vanish between the shelves. For a moment he fancied that it might have actually been a ghost, that there was something supernatural about this place he had stumbled into by chance. Maybe some kind of terrible accident...

The sound of shuffling books from the next aisle over ruined the fantasy and Piki wandered around the shelf to see the young man shelving a set of paperbacks. "Oh, do you work here?" he asked mildly, stepping forwards. The young man jerked, almost dropping the book he was holding, and turned to gaze at Piki with wide blue eyes. "I was wondering if you could direct me to where I might find a copy of Wilde's Salomé?"

The pale young man stared at him for an instant longer before dropping his gaze and hunching his shoulders, wringing his hands in front of him.

"...Do you not work here?" Piki asked.

The other gulped and opened his mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out and he closed it again, biting his lip.

"...Right. Sorry to disturb you. Thank you for your time," Piki said, giving up on any conversation with the silent waif. What an odd young man, he thought as he wandered back to where he had been searching before he had been distracted. Piki wondered if he was actually mute. Not that it was any business of his, really. He spent a few more minutes browsing before he finished his coffee and felt sufficiently thawed, having found nothing that caught his particular interest at the moment. He shrugged and started to head for the door.

A hesitant tap on his shoulder made him pause. He turned around to find the pale young man from before standing there, eyes downcast and holding out a copy of Salomé. "Oh," Piki said, blinking. "Thank you?" He took the book and watched with some interest as the young man nodded and scuttled back into the dusty labyrinth of shelves.

Piki hummed and glanced down to see that the novel had a sheet of notepaper sticking out from between the pages. He pulled it out, curious, and flipped it over to read the shaky, hastily scratched message that had been scrawled on the sheet. I hope this is what you wanted. I'm sorry about earlier. I'm working on being able to speak with others, but it's I hope you weren't too inconvenienced. Have a wonderful day! Sorry again, -Jack.

...That was actually rather charming. This Jack person seemed to be trying to overcome some personal difficulties of his, admirable. Piki wondered if he was like that with everyone, or if he had found Piki particularly intimidating. Well, probably not, not in Piki's street clothes. If he saw Piki in his proper get-up, fully powered and seething with shadows, well, that would certainly provoke an interesting reaction from the poor boy, he was sure. He smiled a little at the thought and idly folded the note back up to tuck it away.

He headed up to the cashier to pay for the book that Jack had so kindly retrieved for him. Piki snagged one of the pens littering the desk and scribbled a quick Thank you, this was just what I was looking for on the back of his receipt.  He slid the paper to the cashier, folded in quarters to conceal the writing. "I was wondering if you could give this to Jack for me?" he asked, smiling when the woman nodded. "Thank you." Moments later he was back into the chill winter evening, black boots crunching softly through the new-fallen snow as he headed back home, a satisfied smile on his face.

Piki found himself gravitating back towards that cozy little bookstore only a few days later. It was still cold outside, after all, and Pitch was still a twit. Besides, the selection he'd remembered from his last search seemed promising, even if the organization of it was a bit perplexing. Piki knew who he could ask for assistance now. Though...

He stopped by the front desk to buy a spiral-ring notebook and a pen.

Piki wandered through the shelves, and it did not take long for him to spot the flicker of white as Jack vanished around one corner. He was on-shift, then. Well, presumably, at least. It was not outside of the realm of possibility that Jack did not work in the store at all, given that he appeared spectacularly unsuited for retail service. Perhaps he was just some neurotic passerby who took it upon himself to try to impose order on this place. Either way, he was fighting a losing battle.

Piki peered around the shelf. “Excuse me,” he said, and watched as Jack flinched and nearly dropped the paperbacks he had been clutching.

Jack whirled around and met Piki’s eyes for a moment before dropping his gaze back down to the floor.

“I- Did you get my note?”

Jack nodded.

“Well, good. I…” Piki trailed off. He retrieved the notebook from under his arm and tore out a sheet. I’m looking for some new reading material. Do you have any recommendations? he wrote on the dismembered page, before stepping forwards and holding out the sheet and pen to Jack.

It was the first time he saw Jack smile.

He'd returned to the bookstore regularly after that, and it became something of a routine for Jack and him to exchange notes in lieu of conversation for an hour or so as Piki nursed a coffee and became increasingly more familiar with the bookstore's layout and Jack's routine within it. It was when he prompted a soft little chuckle from Jack with one such note that Piki realized just how much he wanted to hear Jack laugh and speak with him, how much he wanted to be close to the young man.

If only he had some inkling of how exactly he could go about doing that. He had to be careful, about this, after all. Everything had to be perfect.

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

Piki really could have put just a little more effort into his secret identity. The way it was right now, a monkey could have figured it out. As a civilian, he didn’t bother to act even a little bit differently, or change his voice, or stop being glued to the side of his brother who obviously made up the second half of their little super-criminal enterprise. Seriously, twins who called themselves twins in their supervillian title? Might as well hand out business cards with their civilian identities. On top of all that, Piki wore a costume that left very little to the imagination, in more ways than one.

Not that Jack would complain about that particular choice.

That was, if not for it, he probably would not have taken any notice at all of the Black Twins. They were still small fry, barely on the radars of the City's heroes, let alone something of consideration for the higher-level villains. If Jack hadn’t immediately been able to recognize the bookstore patron who he had been having his eye on for the better part of two months, he would have completely forgotten first encountering them back when he'd been making his escape from the Guardians after nabbing the blueprints for the City's newest tech facility. They'd had some unkind words to say about ruining their reconnaissance mission or something, Jack wasn't sure. He mainly remembered the crick in his neck from the double-take he'd done at seeing Piki.

So it had been a blessing in a terrible, god-awful disguise.

And now, oh, now they were interesting. Or, at least Piki was interesting; clever and ambitious and leading a double life as well...

He could really do without Pitch, though. Pitch was brash and harsh and he had nearly given Jack a panic attack when he stormed into the bookshop to yell and drag Piki away. Pitch was a bad influence on Piki, he could see that much when he ran into the Black Twins during their nights of crime.

Which had admittedly been happening more frequently now that Piki has caught his eye. He couldn’t help it, he wanted to know more. The dark of night and villainous deeds felt more special, knowing that Piki was operating under the same star-strewn sky.

And, well, it was just nice to be able to actually talk to Piki.

Compartmentalization was a hell of a thing. He could trade effortless witticisms and barbs with any heroes or rival villains while he was the Winter King, but the second he went back to Jack Sickle, he couldn’t open his mouth without tripping over his own damn tongue. Trying to make small talk with strangers, or worse, acquaintances who might actually remember him, got his anxiety and stress skyrocketing in a way that heroic pursuit and very, very narrow escape never could. He could scale a skyscraper and break through the most sophisticated security system in the City, but he couldn’t ask Piki if he wanted to get a coffee with Jack at the cafe ten feet away.

Piki had been kind and patient and accommodating for Jack. And Jack… Jack had been pathetic. It wouldn't be surprising at all if Piki looked down on him. It had been months and he still couldn't so much as say “hello” without his stammer rendering the word incomprehensible.

Jack didn't want Piki to think he was pathetic. Jack wanted Piki to be impressed, to be awestruck. He didn't want Piki to have to be patient with him. He wanted to prove that he was worth something.

Jack Sickle couldn't do that. But the Winter King could.

All he needed to do was get Piki alone.

-----------

Piki swore under his breath and darted down a branching tunnel, cursing Pitch and cursing himself for ever thinking this was a decent idea.

Getting into some kind of glorified pissing contest with one of the most powerful metahumans in the City was a mistake. It had been so tempting, when they heard rumors of the latest heist target the Winter King was planning, to try to snatch it out from under his nose. It would have been so satisfying, returning the little favor that the Winter King had paid them. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

His spite was going to be the end of him, and possibly the end of Pitch, too.

Now they were split up, and Piki was lost in the warrens of the sewers, and judging by the way the temperature was dropping all around him, the Winter King was closing in.

He didn’t have enough power to teleport, not without Pitch, and his talent for fading into the shadows was rendered utterly useless by the white plume of his breath that steamed in the frigid air. The Winter King would have to be blind to miss such an obvious sign, and while Piki wasn’t strictly opposed to going for the eyes, he doubted he would be able to blind the other villain. He didn’t even have enough shadows to lift the manhole cover he had planned on escaping out of, something he only realized when he reached the top of the ladder. Who would have thought the damn things were so heavy?

He was out of power, out of weapons, out of options.

Piki slid back down the ladder and grimaced at the sound of approaching footfalls. What did the Winter King even want? It wasn’t like they’d successfully managed to steal the stash before the Winter King did anyway. Piki dashed down another tunnel, ignoring the burning stitch in his side.

The footfalls picked up behind him, dammit. He was close enough to be heard.

An unexpected dead end cut the chase short, and Piki whirled to keep his back to the wall, hand fumbling along the stones behind him for a loose chunk of masonry, something he could throw.

The Winter King peered around the corner, stepping fully into the entranceway of the tunnel after Piki didn’t blast him with darkness. The brilliant white of the ice and snow practically seemed to glow in the gloom of the sewers.“There you are, boogeyman. All out of shadows already?”

“Not… even… close,” Piki ground out between gasping breaths. “I’m just… giving you the opportunity… to rethink antagonising me.”

“That’s terribly considerate of you,” the Winter King replied, smirking. “I should really return the gesture somehow. Hm, how about I show you some good, old-fashioned hospitality?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You can find the most interesting little trinkets for sale, did you know?” The Winter King withdrew a small, irregularly-shaped golden ball from a fold of his icy cloak.

Piki opened his mouth to snap a response back, but the Winter King tossed the orb and it burst into a spray of golden powder, covering Piki. The world dissolved into darkness.

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

Piki started to stir thirty minutes after that, which had given Jack enough time to get him to the hideout and organize everything. He waited on the opposite side of the ice bars that closed off the room Piki had been placed in, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

Piki sighed and rolled over on the bed, before flinching and clutching at his head. “Ngh, Pitch, not so loud! Yes, I’m oka-” His voice cut off when he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He sat up abruptly. “What the hell?”

“Good morning. Well, technically morning. It’s about 3 am,” Jack said, and Piki’s eyes fell on him.

“What is this? Are you trying to ransom me? Pi- My partner didn’t successfully steal anything tonight, so if you’re missing anything, it doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

“No, no, it’s not anything like that. I just wanted to have a conversation. I think it’s taken long enough for that to happen,” Jack replied.

Piki raised an eyebrow. “Look, if you want to tell random strangers whatever thoughts pop into your head, just make a twitter account like the rest of us. I guarantee you it will be a lot easier than this was.” He pushed off the blankets and got off of the bed, scanning the room for an escape.

Jack smiled. “Oh, I would hardly call us strangers.”

“We’ve spoken only once or twice before this. Acquaintances would be a very generous term for it,” Piki replied, taking a few steps towards the barred doorway.

“Hm, I suppose. But I believe you do know me a lot better than you think you do.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

"Well, if you’re still having trouble working the puzzle out, maybe this will help..." Jack withdrew a small square of paper from a pocket and held it up for the captive man to read. In hesitant, jerky cursive that was far too familiar, it read: 'Hello, Piki.'

Piki's eyes widened, flicking from the note back to Jack. "You..." he breathed, disbelieving for a moment, and Jack felt a little rush of triumph. Then Piki’s eyes narrowed and his face twisted in a snarl. "What did you do to Jack?!"

Jack almost flinched back from the fury in that glare. "What?  N-n-nothing," he stammered out, before he could think about it. The return of that hateful stammer made him reflexively grasp the frayed edges of his persona and wrap it more tightly around himself. He wouldn't be pathetic, not now. He was strong and cunning and in control; he had to be in control. The Winter King straightened his back and cocked his head, meeting the glare with a little smirk, letting the witticism roll off his tongue without thinking. "Well, nothing yet."

Piki surged forward, gripping the bars and baring his teeth. "You-!" He bit back whatever else he was going to say and wrenched his gaze away from Jack. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath, knuckles going white as he clenched the bars. He slowly loosed his grip, shoulders slumping. "...fine, you win."

Jack blinked. "Pardon?"

"You win. I'll do what you want. Anything. Just leave Jack out of this," Piki replied, not raising his head.

Jack felt his heart clench. The absolute failure of his plan crashed over him all at once.

After showing him the note, Jack imagined that Piki would catch on, connect the dots. That he would be impressed at how clever and powerful Jack had proved himself to be. Instead, he had thought Jack was just some helpless hostage of the Winter King. It would be infuriating, if Piki hadn't just shown how willing he was to sacrifice everything to protect him.

"Piki, I-" Jack reached out to touch Piki's hand, but pulled back before he made contact.

Piki might not believe him now, even if he dropped his disguise entirely. And if Piki did believe him, then he would hate Jack. Despite his dreams and grand plans, Jack hadn't established himself as a rival, as an equal. He had acted like a puppetmaster, and he had toyed with Piki. He'd been so focused on being impressive, on being clever, and now he had ruined everything.

Jack didn't want Piki to hate him.

What else could he do now?

The Winter King sighed and waved a hand. The bars on the cell dissolved. "Well, you're no fun at all," he drawled. "You should really work on spotting forgeries, in the future. It's something that comes in handy in our line of work."

Piki stumbled forward half a step at the disappearance of the bars. He lifted his eyes, blinking. "What?"

"Forgeries. You know, fakes?" The Winter King waved the note once before freezing it solid and letting it drop to shatter on the ground. "You can relax, boogeyman. I don't hurt civilians. Just happened to find out about your little crush and wanted to get a rise out of you. I admit, I didn't think you'd go the martyr route. Ah, well. You can see yourself out," he replied airly, gesturing down the hall before turning on his heel and striding off.

He'd gotten five steps away when he heard Piki spit out a dark, "Fuck you."

The Winter King glanced back over his shoulder and grinned. "Only if you ask nicely."

Jack managed to get around a corner and behind a closed door sealed with ice before he slumped to the ground and held his head in his hands.

[mustlovemustypages]

2018 Letter

Dear potential writer,

*Sigh* 2018 has been a long year, has it not? Yuletide is proving to be a great distraction and I'm very excited to be participating again. Thank you for reading my letter and also thank you in advance for anything you decide to write for me! 

Below are my desired fandoms and pairings along with story ideas that I would love to see written. Please don't feel stifled by my prompts; I've also listed my general likes/dislikes at the very bottom of this letter if you decide to go a different route. 

The Defenders (TV):

Characters: Luke Cage and Jessica Jones

I will admit that my main motivation for watching The Defenders was to see more interactions between these two characters. While I loved all of the scenes between them, I wish they'd had a lot more shared screen time. 

Overall I just want these two kids to end up together. I've been a fan of their relationship before the Netflix shows came out and will continue to be a fan after they have ended.

Story ideas:

Luke and Jessica learning to trust each other again amongst the events of The Defenders, and Jessica sharing a bit more of her past with Kilgrave to help Luke understand what exactly she went through.

Seeing Luke and Jessica's on screen (or imagined off screen) interactions through the eyes of the other characters.

Jessica Jones is a walking poster child for PTSD and I would really like to see this explored more. Recovery isn’t necessary, but having Luke at least realize her suffering and talking/hugging it out would be lovely.

We may or may not be getting a season 2. Feel free to imagine your own post-season 1 with the team, especially focusing on the Jessica/Luke dynamic.

Speed (1994):

Characters: Annie Porter and Jack Traven

I'm a sucker for characters who fall in love during immensely stressful situations. Especially characters played by Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. I'm also a sucker for action movies that have not-quite-believable but really-thrilling-anyway plotlines. Like buses with bombs that go off if driving under 50 mph.

Story ideas:

Regardless of what Jack said at the end of the movie about most relationships formed during stressful circumstances not surviving, I have chosen to believe Annie and Jack would have beaten the odds once again. I'm sure their friends, co-workers, and family would have had their doubts but would have eventually seen that the two were perfect for each other.

I'd adore post-movie slice of life stories where they buy their first place together, meet each others' families for the first time, or even do something as mundane as going to get groceries. It would be so endearingly (and hilariously) normal in contrast to their first meeting.

Annie definitely thought Jack was insane when he flagged down the bus and jumped on. It would be interesting to read that scene from her point of view as well as other scenes throughout the movie as her opinion of him changes.

It would be impossible to go through what these two characters did without it having some sort of impact on their psyche. Whether it be Annie refusing to ride the bus again and Jack offering to drive her to work until/if she recovers, or Jack having flashbacks of the helplessness he felt on that train when he couldn't get Annie unchained.

The Darkest Minds (Book Series):

Character: Ruby Daly

X-Men was my jam when I was younger, and The Darkest Minds is basically X-Men set in a dystopian world with really loveable characters.

Ruby is a precious gem* that needs to be protected at all costs, even if it’s from herself. Liam is such a sweetheart. Book 2 when he gets his memories back had me literally crying. Chubs and Zhu are amazing, and I love the little family the four of them made together. Vida was also really great, and so was Cole… and you get the point. I loved them all.

*Pun not intended but acknowledged nevertheless.

My favorite pairing from the series is Ruby/Liam but sadly Liam is not in the tagset. It would be amazing if you wrote a Ruby/Liam story but if that's not your thing, I'd be equally happy with a gen story focusing on Ruby and Cole, Ruby and Chubs, Ruby and Vida, etc. Chubs/Vida in the background would be even more wonderful!

Story ideas:

Ruby definitely struggled with her abilities and had healthy/unhealthy coping mechanisms. Expanding on this would be great and including any of the other characters' responses to her coping mechanisms would be a definite plus.

Reunions are the best. Write how you would have liked the Liam and Ruby reunion in book 2 to have played out or expand on canon to bring on even more feels. Again, I fully realize that Liam is not in the tagset so don't feel pressured to include him. Instead write about a reunion between Ruby and one of the other main characters (like Chubs)!

I wish there were more scenes exploring the dynamics of Cole and Ruby's friendship and how that impacts their respective relationships with Liam, especially because Cole and Ruby relate on a level that I don't think Liam ever quite understood. One of my favorite parts from the whole series is the scene in the shower where Cole is basically interrogating Ruby for information about Liam. It's a totally non-romantic scene but very emotionally charged and it would be really interesting to read about it from Cole's point of view.

Impluse (TV):

Characters: Henrietta "Henry" Coles, Lucas Boone, Jenna Hope, Townes Linderman

This show became a surprise favorite of mine in 2018, mostly because it's on YouTube Red and I haven't given most of their original shows much thought. Also because it tackles rape and recovery in such a raw and interesting, especially in the context of a sci-fi show.

I just need more Henry Coles. If you want to do a romantic relationship I'd prefer seeing something explored with Lucas Boone or her canon love interest Josh (who was only in 2 episodes but really seemed to "get" Henry). Otherwise, gen stories between Henry and any/all of the tagset characters would be great.

Story Ideas:

Henry will never be fully "recovered" in the sense that one can never truly recover from rape. It will always have an impact on her life. The other characters get that and try to help her in any way they can.

While Lucas is aware of what his brother did to Henry, he has no idea of the real impact. I'd love a story where he learns more about her seizures and the way her anxiety/fears manifest themselves as teleportation.

Hurt/comfort in all forms because Henry has been hurt enough for a lifetime, but she could do with a whole lot more comfort. Either within the confines of season 1 or imagined opportunities for comfort in season 2.

We get the story from mostly Henry's perspective, but I'm sure there is a lot going on in the minds of Lucas, Jenna and/or Townes as the events of season 1 play out.

The Folk of the Air

Pairing: Cardan Greenbriar/Jude Duarte

Holly Black is an evil genius and I bow down to her greatness. Starting off the first book in this series, I never would have imagined that by the end I'd be rooting for Jude and Cardan to be together but here we are.

They are the ultimate enemies-to-lovers and I can't wait to see what happens to them in the second book coming in 2019.

Story ideas:

Maybe I'm being unrealistically optimistic, but despite Jude's betrayal at the end of the first book, I think these two can work it out. Perhaps Jude helps Cardan cope with the stresses of being king and he is able to move past what she did. Or maybe he sees how impossible Jude thought the situation was and comes to the realization that he was the only one she trusted to do it.

Madoc is a horrible father. Jude basically knows this from the beginning. Still, she was genuinely upset in discovering what he had done. I'd love to see her finally release all of that pent up anger - either her using Cardan as a sounding board for her rants or even having her completely breakdown under all of the stress and him comforting her.

We get the perspective of Jude throughout the entire book, but I would really enjoy seeing some of the scenes from Cardan's point of view as his feelings for Jude change.

There is no way that Jude's sister, Vivienne, wouldn't be alarmed when finding out that Jude and Cardan kissed. Jude having to explain her changed feelings for Cardan and Vivienne realizing that Jude is in like/love would be hilarious and heartwarming.

Things I don’t like:

Alternate Universes – For the specific fandoms that I picked, I really like the universes as they are. I’m definitely okay with deviations from canon, but please don’t make Speed into a supernatural werewolf story or the fantasy/sci-fi canons take place in a mundane coffee shop setting. (I don’t mind Soulmate AUs or something similar because those can be incorporated into canon with little change to worldbuilding).

Non-Con/Rape/BDSM/Sexual Violence/Graphic Sex – I like my characters to be happy and everything within ships to be 100% consensual, no question about it (mentions of non-con if it occurred in canon is fine). I also prefer plot over porn, especially with one-shots.

OT3s – Two people per romantic relationship please. Any more than that makes me uncomfortable.

Character Bashing - Unless a character is a bad guy in canon, I don’t want to read hundreds of words about how awful they are, especially if they are one of the characters that I requested. Don’t take it out on the characters if you hate my pairings, just write gen. 

Things I love:

Hurt/Comfort – There is nothing I love more than one character comforting another. The hurt can be physical, psychological, or both.  

Happy Endings – I’m all for the realistic endings… but if they could be plausible AND happy-ish, that would be amazing.

Expanded Scenes/Contorting Canon – Feel free to expand scenes and change up canon to your heart’s content as long as it makes logical sense.

Humor/Banter/Snark – I thrive on this stuff.

Bonding/Building Relationships – Whether it be a friendship or a romantic relationship, I adore reading about two people growing closer together. When characters know each other so well that they can have conversations with just their eyes or anticipate the person’s next move (especially if it’s to the surprise/confusion of everyone around them), my shipper heart is thrilled.

Dark to Light – Seeing a character come out of a bad mindset/situation and get better is so satisfying.

Thanks again and happy writing!

- Maddy @mustlovemustypages (on Tumblr, Ao3 and FF.net)

[48motion]

Film Composition and the Art of Making Friends

I wrote this profile on my good friend Arsan for a college class recently, and I liked it enough to want to repost it here. Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading.

Photo by Dane Persky

Arsan Salaryfar, six-foot-two and unable to keep a clean-shaven face for more than a few days, effortlessly defies most stereotypes levied against tall, bearded Middle Eastern men. Standing outside his dorm building at 160 Mass Ave one evening, the Berklee College of Music freshman tosses inside jokes to almost every student who passes by. He appears to be personally acquainted with them all; some he even shouts to from the other side of the busy street, and their laughter is just as palpable despite the distance. Many of his jokes are in foreign languages—French, Dutch, German—because Salaryfar has been overcoming cultural and language barriers since he was born. He is, in a word, friendly.

Spending additional time with Salaryfar reveals more than just a friendly guy, however, but someone who is intensely observant. He keeps his eyes open—the round, semi-rimmed glasses resting naturally below his eyebrows make sure of that. He does the same with his ears; he’s even started recording his conversations and says he listens to them while he goes about his day. And why does he do all this? Salaryfar says he’s into the way the visual and auditory interact and coexist, and he’s constantly mining his surroundings for inspiration to help him explore this in his music. It is his fascination with this concept that drew him to film scoring, and kept him fixated on the idea of becoming a film composer even through years of arguments about it with his dad. It was a film, after all, that first convinced him to try his hand at music. Salaryfar boils this concept down to one word, which he says is “such an important word” to him: context.

“Honestly, I’ve been feeling spiritual [about] context,” he says. “It’s driving me crazy.”

It’s likely that accredited film composers like Hans Zimmer, who Salaryfar refers to as “the god,” would relate to this sentiment. The marriage of music and film is an infinitely tricky thing, and the act of composing for film can be approached at a million different angles. With so many variables to juggle, it can be difficult to create a truly holy matrimony. Even the greats, including Zimmer, have admitted to flubbing at times.

“I remember on The Lion King, because it was all hand-drawn, there was one scene I never had in colour and it bugs me,” Zimmer told Vice Magazine’s now-defunct Thump. “To this day, I know I picked the wrong colours of the orchestration, and it clashes with what’s on the screen. Nobody else has ever noticed it—just me. It drives me crazy.”

But, when done right, an appropriate soundtrack can make all the difference.

“The score, when done well, can influence the emotion of a scene without being overbearing or too didactic,” Chris Wei, a Film and Television Studies Master’s student at Boston University, said. “When a score is done poorly, it can come across as manipulative or inappropriate. Of course that can be done on purpose, but when it’s done thoughtlessly, it’s jarring and it pulls you out of the experience.”

Imagine Christopher Nolan’s Inception without Zimmer’s blaring synths—it’s a completely different experience, altogether lacking in spectacle and intensity. The bond between the visuals and soundtrack is so strong that the film must be heard for the full experience. Most often, that bond is forged through close collaborations between director and composer; predictably, Nolan and Zimmer are two of the closest in the business.

Unfortunately for Salaryfar, an A-list director was not on speed dial during his first experiments with film composition. That didn’t deter him, though; he simply took on the helm of the director himself. His first works were shot on his mom’s cell phone camera. They were horror videos, which Salaryfar said were easy to shoot because all they required was a simple setup, low light and a scream. Eventually he started incorporating original characters, which he created by painting faces on eggs. When he figured he’d need music for his creations, he downloaded MP3s from the internet and looped them. The process was so simple, Salaryfar realized he might as well just make the music himself.

He had no musical experience, however, and it wouldn’t be this that prompted him to pick up an instrument, but something a bit more out of left field—a Jack Black movie. Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny was a box office bomb, but its crude humor and absurd storyline captivated Salaryfar when he happened upon it on TV in his Istanbul home. The element of the film that most appealed to the Turkish kid, however, was its music. And so, after the credits rolled, he ventured up to the attic, where his sister kept an ancient nylon-stringed guitar. It was missing strings, and those it did have were hopelessly out of tune, but Salaryfar didn’t care. Undeterred by the inadequate equipment and his lack of musical know-how, he blissfully strummed the guitar while humming tunes from the movie he’d just watched. Shortly thereafter, his mom got an iPad with GarageBand—finally, an outlet for Salaryfar to actualize his musical ideas.

From there, Salaryfar discovered his knack in the music realm: composition. He became enamored with the progressive metal band Dream Theater, whose songs he admired for their intricacy and attention to detail.

“It wasn’t just about playing for the first time, it was about composition too,” he said. “It wasn’t just, ‘Look at how fast we can play,’ it was, ‘Look how complex our ideas can be.’ That was very influential [to me]. I tried reverse-engineering Dream Theater songs by writing them down, then I’d change them and come up with my own songs. I ended up making a lot of shoddy Dream Theater rip-offs, but that taught me a lot about music.”

By the time Salaryfar had outgrown his interest in Dream Theater, he’d written a series of four original albums complete with lyrics, each up to 90 minutes in length. They were concept albums, meaning they followed storylines he’d thought up. It was just about the closest Salaryfar could get to film composition without an actual film to compose for.

“I could literally create new worlds just by composing the music [and] providing lyrics,” he said. “All those concept albums could be films, too. I kind of thought of them like that.”

It wasn’t until he watched Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie, however, that Salaryfar began to really understand and appreciate the craft of film composition, and simultaneously realized that convoluted prog metal might not make for a suitable soundtrack to most films. Yann Tiersen, Amélie’s composer, had a minimalist, organic style that incorporated toy piano, simple percussion and even typewriters into the music. This minimalism would soon rub off on Salaryfar’s compositions, as he recognized the importance of leaving room for interplay between sound and visuals.

“It’s very simple music, but when mixed with the atmosphere of the movie—that’s when they contextualize,” he said. “That’s the beauty of context.”

In researching more about Tiersen, Salaryfar discovered the composer’s passion for Breton, a minority language spoken in Brittany, a small region in the northwest of France. As a lover of languages himself—Salaryfar taught himself Turkish and English from television as a kid—he was intrigued.

“I think Brittany is more part of the world,” Tiersen told Port Magazine. “We have Celtic culture, we’re closer to England than we are France. We are conscious that the world exists, French people think the world is a big map of France. People in Brittany at least try to speak other languages.”

Film composition itself is a game of translation. These composers don’t make their pieces simply for personal enjoyment; their works are inherently tied to another person, and as such must be tailored to another’s vision. Communication is vital. Salaryfar got the chance to create some relationships like this as a high school senior, after a military coup in Istanbul forced him to flee his home country and move in with his cousin, Neek Azar, and Azar’s family in San Diego, California. Azar and his friends introduced Salaryfar to hip-hop, and in turn the art of beat-making—producing instrumental tracks for rappers to record vocals over. Azar and Salaryfar forged a partnership reaching out to rappers and producing beats for them.

“As we hung out with each other and listened to more of each other’s music, we realized [that] if we were able to meld my knowledge of American music and his knowledge of music theory, we could have some fun,” Azar said. “We went on Twitter and found random people to DM, and were like, ‘Hey, we’re producers and we want to work with you.’”

As Salaryfar switches languages on the fly to communicate with the melting pot of friends he encounters outside his dorm, it’s clear that connecting with others comes second nature to the musician. He’s even reconnected with one of the rappers he worked with after moving out to Boston, who picked him up from Berklee one day to show him around his neighborhood in Lynn, Massachusetts. And being surrounded by other aspiring musicians has only inspired him to push his music in exciting new directions.

In the middle of explaining the collaborative element of the film composition classes at Berklee, classes Salaryfar hasn’t taken yet but has eagerly sat in on, he pauses.

“I love showing people my music,” he says. “Is that selfish?”

After hearing all about his history with music composition, stories laden with self-deprecating humor and modesty, it’s hard to find any compelling reason to say yes. And, regardless, it’s evident that Salaryfar thrives on feedback from and collaboration with others. After our interview, he insists that I meet the other members of his band; Salaryfar, unsurprisingly, composes the majority of the group’s music.

“It’s just cool to connect with other people through that medium,” he says. “Everyone has a different interpretation of [film]. Every single thing, even the most objective stuff, could be interpreted differently by different people. I just like getting to know how they interpret my creation.”

[din-skywalker]

The Long Walk Home

So this is my entry thing for @therealjacksepticeye ‘s septicart thing. I know it’s probably only for drawing and fanart, but it’s called septicart. Writing is an art. So I wrote this because I can write and not draw. This is based off of a scene from the book “IT” by Stephen King. I of course had to write it to be about Jack and Anti in present times, but I think this is one of my best writing pieces! Anyway, here we go:

As Jack trudges through the thick blanket of snow covering the ground around him, he pulls at the strings of his hood, trying to better shield his face from the buffeting cold and snow filled winds. He mutters to himself silently, his warm breaths of air making small, white clouds form in front of his face. He had been out at the library earlier that day, researching things the old fashioned way when after he’d gotten that nostalgic feeling to use an encyclopedia again. He had rode there in a taxi but quickly lost track of time while inside the walls of the library, forgetting to charge his phone and keep an eye on the passage of daylight. By the time he was finished reading about whales he had realized that the sun was beginning to set and his phone was dead. He would have stayed to charge, but the library was closing and he had to leave.

So, here he is now, the thick jacket he brought hardly doing anything to keep him warm with the gushes of wind hitting him from all angles. Luckily, his house isn’t too far away from the library. It’s only a mile. He’d just wanted a taxi ride this morning because why walk when you can get a ride? Now he’s wishing he had another ride.

As he nears the bridge that arches over the large river which runs through his town his eyes begin to water because of the harsh winds. He blinks rapidly to try and clear his vision, blowing at a stray strand of green hair as it falls into his face. He doesn’t want to remove his hands from his pockets because they’ll freeze if he does and he’s just now gotten them warm in his pockets. He steps onto the bridge and partly remembers that this is the halfway mark between the library and his house. That thought improves his stride and lifts his spirits slightly.

A putrid smell hits his nose as he reaches the middle of the bridge. The smell is so terrible he has to stop as his nostrils burn and the scent travels down his throat, making him want to throw up so badly he leans on the railing of the bridge for a moment. He coughs a little, the horrid smell of rotting flesh surrounding him. He shakes his head to try and clear his nostrils of the horrid scent but it remains. He lifts his head, swallowing heavily against the bile rising in his throat to glance around, searching for the source of the smell. He vaguely thinks that any person with half a brain would already be gone, the smell warning anyone of some kind of danger. But Jack felt drawn to stay oddly enough. In the back of his mind he knew he should leave, but.. he felt like he had to see what was causing the stench.

He angles his head backwards, squinting his eyes to better see through the screen of rushing snow as he glances out over the railing onto the frozen water. His eyes widen at the sight.

There, standing on what should be too thin of ice, was the figure of a man slowly moving towards the bridge. Jack clears his throat and straightens up, keeping one hand wrapped so tightly around the freezing railing that his knuckles began to change to white, heart thumping loudly in his ears.

Hey there, Jackie, the voice was in his ears, in his head, everywhere and he could hear nothing but the scratchy tone that sounded so similar to a hissing snake. It had the lilt of an Irish accent, similar to Jack’s, which was slightly strange because he’s in Brighton, not Ireland. It’s a bit cold out for a walk, dontcha think?

Well, yeah, of course it’s way too damn cold, he already knew that. He slowly blinks and swallows heavily, taking a small step backwards as the figure draws nearer. He hadn’t been expecting the face of the man to look just like his.

The man looks just like him. Has the same face, the same green, dyed hair, same structure and the same kind of clothing Jack wears during the summer. The only difference would be that the man appears to be a few inches taller… and the fact his eyes are glowing a vibrant green, head tilted back with a twisted grin splitting his face. And as Jack notices how he has on only a thin, black t shirt with black and ripped jeans, he wonders how the hell this strange man isn’t freezing currently.

And, for some reason, Jack can’t look away from those glowing green eyes.

Do you wanna warm up, Jackie? It continues to speak and Jack knows it’s an it because this man could not really be a man. Now as his vision further adjusts to the darkness of this winter night he can see how the pale skin on the look alike is cracking, peeling in the violent winds. Bits of its skin is slowly ripped from its body, mixing with the snow as it blows away. Jack then takes notice of the green balloon that is being held tightly in its hand, blowing towards him… against the wind. How the hell is that possible? It should be buffeted backwards, not forwards. Here, do you want a balloon? See how it floats?

Jack knows he should flee. But he feels suddenly paralyzed and he cannot move away, only able to meet the peering gaze of whatever it is. It is stepping ever closer, raising the balloon in an offering fashion as it grins up at him, sharp and pointed fangs shining with a layer of saliva. Jack nearly screams as more of the skin peels away from its chest and a wave of spiders crawls from its flesh, spreading outwards and across its body. And even with one of his worst fears pouring from the creature’s chest he still can’t move, only able to watch as more and more of the small and black monsters cover its body, taking on the appearance of the black t shirt with how many of them there are.

You’ll float, too, Jackie, the creature whispers in his brain and he had forgotten about the other, larger monster because of the spiders. He let’s out a surprised gasp as the green balloon is now directly in front of his face. He falls onto his ass, eyes widening as a crumbled and cracked hand lands on the edge of the bridge between his legs, sharp nails digging into the stone surface. He screams as some of the spiders crawl from the hand onto his legs, each one being around the size of his hand. Their long and spindly legs arch as they climb towards his knees, their eyes seeming to glow a bright red. Their pincer like mouths open and close repeatedly, snapping out from their long and hairy faces and he screams again, batting at his legs, kicking at the slick and snowy ground. A few of the large spiders manage to stay clinging on as he scampers to his feet, slapping crazily at them, forgetting about the much larger threat pulling itself over the side of the bridge, the grin wider, reaching from ear tip to ear tip as it watches the scene unfolding.

Only when the final spider is knocked from his leg does Jack remember the horrid smelling lookalike that is now standing directly behind him, green balloon somehow floating directly beside his face. He slowly turns, breath catching in his throat as he’s met with the green gaze of the monster directly above him, eyes shining dangerously as a hand slowly begins to raise. He’s once more paralyzed as the spider covered hand reaches out for his shoulder, hardly able to even breathe as those piercing greens peer into his very soul, pinning him there. That’s when the large, bug like leg extends from the creature’s back, landing on the ground near his feet. This leg is soon followed by three more and a huge, armoured face emerges from behind the monster’s head, two, green glowing eyes landing on him.

He knew then that if he did not move, if he did not run, he would be devoured by one of these terrifying monsters. Unless they were the same thing, merely working together. But that thought did not come to mind as Jack slapped the spider covered hand away from him with a low growl, feet slamming the ground with soft thuds as he begins to sprint away, eliciting an unearthly roar from one of the two creatures.

Jack stumbles as he runs from the bridge, right foot hitting a patch of ice that nearly causes him to slip, to fall. But he catches himself, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he steps into the blanket of snow, making him run faster than he had ever thought possible. Clouds of his quick breathing continuously hits him in the face, making it even more difficult to see where it is he’s going. His legs only seem to move even faster when hears footsteps behind him, making the snow crunch loudly and he is too terrified to look over his shoulder. He loses sight of where it is he is running, everything turning to a blur as he just runs.

He only stops when he trips, falling to his knees, hands falling into the snow as the white stuff bites at his skin. That’s when a shadow falls over him, masking his view of any light. He slowly peers over his shoulder, heart stopping at the sight of the man towering over him, those spider like legs sticking from his back still, the head continuing to raise as the legs shift, pushing away from the creature.

You’ll float too, Jackie, the voice growls now and that’s the only thing he can hear, even over his own heartbeat, over the howling of the wind, over the hissing and choppy squeals of the gigantic spider. Come join the clown and you’ll float too…

The last sign that Jack had been walking home was the sound of his pained scream, echoing through the windy and dark night like a ghost.

____

I hope y’all enjoyed!

And Jack, if you read this, know that you helped me start writing again. It had always been my dream to become an author since I was younger but at one point I had lost my spark. You inspired me to write again. It maybe fanfiction, but fanfiction writing is better than no writing. So thank you for helping me to find my passion again.