#i think its why his ever crisis costumes throw me off

[dangoulains-devotion]

something I think about a lot when it comes to Vincent's design is that across VII, AC, DoC - the changes in his design are minor, usually shape related, but he keeps the same clothes. the others have multiple outfits, but he stays the same, adding to the fact he is, effectively, motionless in the river of time while others are able to move on or 'progress'... It gets to me ok

[poopbuttballs]

The partygoers

Midoriya x reader ✨angst✨

In 2nd person

(Based on Michael in the bathroom because I’ve never had an original thought ever lol)

So here you were, having a panic attack in the bathroom. Not just any bathroom, but the bathroom of Momo’s house at her Halloween party. Sitting there wondering why you weren’t enough for him and why he’s decided that he’s better off without you weighing him down. Midoriya had ditched you for his new “friends” and his new “cool guy” persona, deeming you too “weird” and “cringe” for his taste.

Did he even remember that you were at the party with him? Of course not, why would he? He’s Izuku Midoriya, the boy everyone knows and loves, the one who the students and teachers praise, the boy who tries to help everyone no matter what! Also the same boy who is causing you to hyperventilate and try to muffle your sobs. You were supposed to match with him to this dumb party that HE wanted to go to. The itchy fabric of the stupid costume you were wearing was irritating your skin causing it to break out in tiny little red bumps. You were supposed to be Mario and Luigi, but he bailed out on you and decided to party with Todoroki and Bakugo. He and Bakugo aren’t even friends!

The last time that you saw him was before the party at school and only for about 2 minutes before he was whisked away by Ochacko for god knows what. And to be honest you’d rather hide out in this overwhelmingly large bathroom alone rather than follow him around like a little lost puppy for the entirety of the night or have your phone die because you can’t stop playing with the volume buttons and pretending to seem busy by constantly changing the settings.

If perfect little Midoriya would have stayed with you, his “best friend” everything would have been okay. You wouldn’t have been hiding in the bathroom away from what would have probably been the best time of your sophomore year. If you guys would have stuck together like usual, like you always have up until recently everything would be fine. But, it’s not.

So here you are trying to calm yourself down by breathing in so deeply that you almost look ridiculous, in some random obscure bathroom and searching to find something to hold on to. Just looking for the tiniest bit of security. To find something to occupy yourself until you can leave, you start to pick at the adhesive on the windowsill trying not to get wrapped up in your thoughts because once they catch up with you, you’re done for.

Once your breathing finally gets back to its regular pace, You start to think, “being alone can’t be too bad.. there’d be no one there to walk out on me except for myself.” It would be pretty easy for you considering that Midoriya seemed to be the only one that showed some interest in you. And now that he has abandoned you you’re all alone. But the giant rain cloud comes back and says that maybe he really did get tired of you and has decided to throw you out like some expired lettuce. Would he replace you with someone better? Someone more outgoing? Maybe he wants someone who can do everything you can’t. Maybe it’s the purple haired kid in Gen Ed. You sink back down to the floor.

You can hear Mina and Denki outside of the door singing to what sounds like some funky 80’s music. They’re basically yelling it and they sound like they’re both drunk off of their asses. Normally you’d laugh at their antics with Mr. Midoriya but you’re sure that he’s somewhere playing beer pong with Todoroki and Iida. This thought causes your lip to quiver and your eyes to water but you quickly bite back the tears just in case someone is able to hear your sniffing over the music that is blasting and walks in you all red and teary eyed. If they do come in you could always just blame it on one of the drugs that someone managed to sneak in, or the smoke from the fog machines.

So it’s you, by yourself, on the ground, crying.

Knock, knock, knock, knock “You good bro?” Someone’s muffled voice comes through the door. You try to quickly compose yourself before the panic starts to settle in by gathering your things and rushing over to the sink to fix the mess that is yourself.

They knock again. Shit, “Uhhmmm yeah I’ll be out soon!” You say trying to hide the coarseness of your voice. The pressures on, someone is trying to get in. Oh how you wished that you would have just never shown up to this damn party in the first place. You splash some water on your face and breathe in and feel a sense of serenity, almost as if that splash of water had transported you to a different dimension. You walk over to the door to let them in but they’re gone.

Looking back at yourself you realize what a sad sight you really were. Alone, crying and having a crisis in the bathroom at party when everyone else is out there having a good time. If you would have just turned down Midoriya’s offer when he asked if you wanted to go. You could have been at home lounging comfortably and reading the newest edition of Shonen Jump. But now everyone is gonna find out about how you were stuck in the bathroom for 2 hours. And all of the things that they’ll say, the rumors will spread fast. Probably something like, “Did you know that y/n was doing drugs? Yeah, that’s why all of their friends left them.” Or just talking about how much of a loser you seem to be.

When really all that they know is your name.

“Thanks Mido, awesome party! I’m so glad I came”

[stalsprings]

Its time for me to spout a bunch of nonsense about my kids and then disappear

Nessie boy <3

His lack of emotion besides smile or frown he is completely head empty

Goes from using two hands to one hand SSB4 -> SSBU (More adept PSI user maybe)

His idle animation (thinking) Could be concentrating perhaps mind reading or allusion to placing the soundstone to his head

Shorter than toon link, not that I draw them on model

Does that look back thing Mega, Young, Toon, and Link do - what's he looking for? (Lucas does the foot thing TL and YL do too its 😭)

His accent is baller hope he never stops

Exploded a stone statue with his mind but won't kill real Porky because why would he I would :'(

Young Link ( ͒꒪̛ཅ꒪̛ ͒)

Looks tall! I don't think hes taller than he was in Melee but he looks less small. Must be all that Lon Lon milk🦵

Taller than Mario and Sonic and I think its great

He's the only one (?) who doesnt get a peaceful sleep,, seems like he always has nightmares :(

Pink, orange, and teal colors are really good additions (and the teal one has pants/leggings my son cold)

Unfortunate that they couldn't use Fierce Deity as a Final Smash or costume but hey he's in the game and that's all I care about

His lil nose flick victory pose feels like something Sonic would do and he looking cocky - Speaking of Sonic his tail wags when he crouches ;;;;-;;;;

He's got some of the most intense screams (HWs is an even better example) and i constantly remember that he is not OK

He's what canonically eight or something like that and therefore he is the most baby despite that I make him older than that my ages are 🌀funky🌀 and you have to live with that

Pit/Dark Pit :^)

We all know Dark Pit uses more intense eyeliner but the tiny lashes on both of them gets me

I hate they got rid of the red and pink colors for Pit and Pittoo may they rest in peace (On the other hand they fixed Dark Pit's colors between games so i GUESS something good happened)

Kazuya throwing Pit off the cliff-

Pit talking about Young Link and having his own existential crisis (imagine his reaction to the entire zelda timeline)

So the japanese voices,,, Dark Pit's Star KO sounds eerily similar to a villain scream he might as well be a member of Team Rocket

Dark Pit cutting in for Wolf's guidance JUST to say he's not buddy-buddy with Pit

Dark Pit and Pit should only ever fight on Palutena's Temple or the Fountain of Dreams. You're mind will be blown when you find out the reason why

Sometimes I wish Viridi was playable so I could bully Pit and Palutena for their unreasonable rudeness at Arlon

And I've already said this moons and moons ago but again Dark Pit and Young Link stand in almost the same position in their art I swear they're besties

Toon Link (arguably my favorite????)

A lot of his animations were updated between Four and Ultimate and i mean look at him

His hair actually moves like hair without being as weird looking as it was in Brawl (sorry if you like the Brawl models but they kinda dirty love despite it being the best game IMO)

Young Link's Triforce explodes into what looks like shards of glass, while Toon Link's explodes into cheese triangles

HIS FEET CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT HIS FEET THEY'RE LITTLE NUBS ITTY BITTY TINY BABY FEET

They changed his down smash and I will never forgive them >:( Forward's okay though

If ONLY they added that terrifying Monster Hunter X Toon Link as an alternate costume it would have been real cute but instead there are three greens

I never understood why Toon Link's Dair was the most straightforward yet Link bounces,, shouldn't Toon Link be the one that bounces???? And why isn't he in Mario Kart

[yusuke96universe]

Turles and Lord Slug Team Up Pitch

Introduction

Hello guys, after watching MasakoX's What If Turles Turned Good parts 1 and 2 [which act more like an origin story for him within the frameworks of modern Dragon Ball similar to Super Broly] I thought I would share an old headcanon origin I had for another Dragon Ball Z movie Villain, Lord Slug and how it could make for an excellent part in this What If story that has captured my imagination. Also, it opens up a lot of potential avenues for ood DBZ storytelling.

I know he's considered one of the most uninteresting Villains in the franchise since he is essentially King Piccolo from space, but rushed in an hour long movie. Let's face it, a lot of DBZ villains aren't inherently interesting characters and usually are introduced as Pure Evil tropes

Trope Talk: Pure Evil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-XprjlATEo

Irrelevant backstory

very simple motivation

enthusiastic, zestful villainy

Pure self-confidence

Third -Act Breakdowns (where they are faced with what they truly fear and usually fail)

Afterward, they could be open to becoming a more nuanced character to explore as we've seen done time and again with cast of redeemed or evolved villains in Dragon Ball

A lot of the movie villains from the franchise would be more interesting if they weren't rushed or were expanded on and boy does Lord Slug bring a lot to the table if he is expanded on.

1) You could have Turles and Lord Slug form a dynamic duo that counterparts Goku and Piccolo. Turles is a trouble-making youth-filled underdog who has taken a shine to the crabby old man that is Slug. Turles could use a lot more modern methods to contrast Slug's far more traditional warmongering that he's developed over the centuries. (They did it a little in Xenoverse 2, but you could really expand upon it in a MasakoX styled What If) Plus, the Tree of Might likely has the ability to restore Lord Slug's youth since it canonically resurrected fossils, so Turles literally has the solution to Lord Slug's main problem plaguing him and is an open-minded businessman by nature. This hypothetical team-up of working together to gain more power, invade planets for their resources and overthrow the Universal order by killing Frieza before returning to enemies, acts as an inverse counterpart of Goku's and Piccolo's initial alliance against the Saiyans invading the Earth interfering with Piccolo's own conquest, but opened the doors for change in him and others.

2) Most likely these 2 would start off as enemies and have their forces face off against one another, but this struggle is a good thing in the long run because they could potentially provide each other, their own personal Third Act Breakdowns or at least teach each other recognize their own flaws and weaknesses to help each other grow as characters.

Lord Slug's backstory, retooled

Planet Slug

The most fun thing I found was that they gave Turles a proper origin story to build a character around, well I have a suggestion for a similar concept for Lord Slug that I think you guys could use in many different ways, but before that. Here are the facts. In the backstory I found in supplemental materials, it is stated by Guru that Lord Slug and other Evil Namekians could have possibly escaped the crisis on Namek and moved to far-flung planets in other parts of the Universe. One Super Namekian named himself after the Demon inhabited world he found himself on, known as Planet Slug. And judging from the movie, Planet Slug is most likely an icy or snow-covered planet since the Demons needed special suits to withstand the Earth's temperature.

By the way, I imagine that Planet Slug and its people could have a Mongolian theme. (I have a sketch I did for an alternate costume for Slug, but I don't remember how to post atm)

If say Lord Slug came to this planet and eventually took it over in the King Piccolo style, then I could see him having birthed a clan of Evil Namekian children to help him in this endeavor. So let's say there are about as many Namekians children as Guru or King Piccolo birthed, then they are likely different clans of Namekians on the Planet, including a Dragon Clan member capable of creating their own set of Dragon Balls. In this way, Planet Slug could act as an alternate substitute for Planet Namek, but one closely resembling how the team initially pictured Namek as a planet full of evil Piccolos, instead of the peace-loving farmers of Namek. Now, why would Slug be in space expanding his Empire and searching for Dragon Balls when his planet likely already has a set? In the movie, it's best not to think about it, but here is my idea.

Why Lord Slug is REALLY in Space

One of Lord Slug's offspring usurped him from the throne due to his old age and sickly body. So Slug was humiliatingly forced to flee his home or was looked down on as a non-threat banished him and his most loyal men off-world to live in shame and to never be seen again. So he is conquering other planets, partly because he is a refugee, but mostly because he is overcompensating for his lost and trying to help his ego by living in denial and reassuring that He is the Baddest Baddie who ever lived and terrorize/kill those weaker than him as he ever expands his empire, lamenting his old age and sickened body. He believes that if he was in his prime, he could take his throne back no problem and make them all pay for wronging him. Luckily, Slug doesn't need the Dragon Balls to regain his youth. If the Tree of Might's Fruit is capable of reviving fossils, it should be able to restore the Super Namekian to his former glory once again.

Turles's Crusher Corps vs Lord Slug's Army

A fun way they could introduce the factions to each other is as competition for a lush planet. Turles wants it for the Tree of Might, and Slug wants to freeze it for them for their conquest. They both are in each other's way, so they all fight it out. I think Slug has stronger minions, but Crusher Corps have better teamwork, and with Turles being in prime fighting condition, he would tip the scale in their favor much like Goku did in the movie.

At first, I thought Slug wouldn't be much of a match for Turles in his old and sickly state, a little trouble sure since he is the strongest, but that aged body wouldn't do him any favors. However, the first Google search result I got on Old Slug's Power level said he was at 79,000 so he's stronger than I first thought. (I thought he was around Nail's power level roughly in the 40,000) I also heard that Turles was around 19,000 but by the end of the movie was like 300,000. These power levels don't mean too much when reimagining the stories, just that Turles might have more of an uphill struggle. So, Turles would first have to eat some Fruit to win in a landslide and hopefully, the Terrafreezing process didn't ruin the Tree of Might's process.

Right before the killing blow, Old Slug might've mentioned something In desperation to save his own life. He could've brought up the Dragon Balls on his home Planet Slug/ Namek could grant any wish he wanted. This is just enough to stop Turles from following through with his attack, but it takes a little more coaxing for Slug to sell the legitimacy to Turles. A part of Turles thinks this might just be hogwash, but if this is anything like the Tree of Might, this could be a huge find. Another game-changer. He has his men take Slug with them as he checks in with the Heaters' database and finds there could be a kernel of truth to this tall tale. So Turles generously spares the old Slug's life for this useful tip which is met with some impatient ire.

If you hate being old so much, why don't you just use these Dragon Balls of yours to make yourself young again? -Turles

I would if I could, but... but I can't. I've been banished from my homeworld by my own children after they usurped me from my throne.-Slug

hahaha So you're just some washed-up old geezer trying to feel tough by throwing your power around at a bunch of weaklings. -Turles

Watch it! If I was in my prime, I wouldn't have ever let that rebellion get that far and even made short work of you and your men. If it weren't for that Fruit of yours, you'd be nothing. -Slug

WHAT WAS THAT. (composes himself) Interested in the Fruit are you, well I am not naive enough to let you ever sink your rotten teeth in one. At least, not for free. We, the Crusher Corps, are branched off of the Heaters' group who are known to deal in intelligence. If you have some more valuable information to pass on then, I could be convinced to trade off a leftover Fruit from our latest venture. Do you have anything else to offer me, old man?

(Slug’s low growling sounds are giving Turles just the biggest shit-eating grin on his face)

Slug could tell Planet Slug's coordinates, could act as their guide, or how to use their Dragon Balls, or even that they need a native speaker to use them and a password.

Turles throws him a Fruit as he is a businessman and honors his deals. This not only works in reviving the Elder Namekian, but the results are far better than expected by restoring Slug to his prime. Turles is both impressed and a little unnerved by this so he opens up a dialogue as he scans Lord Slug's new power. (he thought it would add a few decades back onto his old life since he seemed ancient, but it straight up made him young again) They discuss what had just happened and Turles's operation using the Tree of Might's Fruit to amass enough power for him and his men to kill Frieza and possibly overthrow him. Lord Slug in the meantime has been enjoying his youthful appearance and renewed vigor during the conversation, not looking Turles in the eye, but still expressing interest in this operation and compliments the plan. Turles offers a proposition to Lord Slug to join them on this endeavor if he helps them get those "Dragon Balls" he mentioned right before.

That's right. You're interested in the Dragon Balls, are you? Well, I am interested in that Tree of yours. It could keep someone young and strong forever, and this whole operation of yours is simply remarkable! -Slug

So you're in? -Turles

Remarkable enough for me to take it for myself! So I'll be doing just that! - Slug

Round 2 Super Namekian Rampages

The Super Namek overwhelms all of them, even Turles, after just eating a bunch of fruit, the gap is just too wide. He sadistically tortures them and strikes fear into their hearts. Turles isn't just put on the backfoot, he ends up on the brink of life and death. He needs to reach down deep, and something in him snaps, could be his Saiyan pride, could be becoming helpless and at someone else's mercy, could even be one of his men, that unbeknownst to himself, he had grown fond of perished, his regret for overly relying on outside gains to accomplish his ambitions. Don't know, don't care, but something doesn't sit right with Turles and this something acts as the catalyst for him to transform, but not into the traditional Super Saiyan we've all come to know. No, Turles goes into the False Super Saiyan state and overwhelms the Super Namek almost beat for beat like FSSJ Goku vs Slug from the movie, but this time, it lasts the duration of the fight. It's more of a SSJ Goku vs Frieza kind of fight with Turles's victory.

Turles diet of Tree of Might fruit has affected his body's genes and so when he transforms it's not the traditional SSJ form like everyone else, but the False Super Saiyan state that Goku used against Lord Slug. (The Saiyan loses their pupils and also uses SSJ's original color scheme with the flickering red and black hair and the orange skin with a lingering Aura effect) They could have a lot of fun with the benefits and drawbacks this form and its potential evolutions could have. False SSJ potentially falls into the theme of using Fruit as a shortcut to power vs earning the power legitimately or as a simple means to contrast with Goku.

Post Fight ~ Alliance?

Slug doesn't die though, or if he does, Turles is smart enough to revive him with the Tree of Might's extract in a similar way as the fossilized twins were. The reason is simple, Turles believes that Slug's knowledge of his people is going to be essential in the nearby future, and since he's shown whose boss by dominating the Super Namekian, they can now work together to overthrow stronger enemies like Frieza by using his Planet's Dragon Balls. The Crusher Corps gets a guide and an ally; Slug gets his revenge and the prospect of taking Frieza's empire for himself by joining this operation is too much for him to pass up. This is a temporary truce to defeat stronger opponents and gain power, but once that is over, they are going back to killing one another similar to how Goku and Piccolo formed an alliance against the Saiyans invading earth.

1) A Super Namekian could exploit their race's fusion ability through some method of Mind Control like in the original Broly movie. So Slug or his evil offspring could literally absorb one another or even someone as powerful as Nail or Piccolo if the influence is strong enough to join together. And Turles with the Heaters' resources might just be able to provide a means to provide Slug this, with some precautions of course.

2) Slug might have knowledge of Kai and Demon Realms considering he is both an older Namekian like Guru, and the fact that he Planet Slug is literally inhabited by Demons, a different breed of Demons, but still Demons nonetheless. In the games, the Tree of Might's Fruit had its effects amplified in the Demon Realm, but the same might be said if the Tree is planted on the World of the Supreme Kais or Beerus' planet. It's just a possible option for later down the line, but if there was ever a planet that could sustain that Tree and boosts its effects it would be one of these places.

This is it, I know MasakoX likes to do the space opera thing with multiple factions and also like to mix things up from the original story from time to time, so I thought Planet Slug would be an interesting means to do so and giving Turles a partner to bounce off of is typical Toriyama writing, could even open up new avenues to explore.

Am I expecting this to happen. Honestly, I have low expectations MasakoX and his team would do this and they got their own plans of inserting Turles into the main story likely connected to the character in the hood (who is probably Zamasu for some reason like in the Gero What If) or one of the Saiyans from Turles' team or even eager to get him into the main story with the Z-Cast, possibly trying to win Gohan to his side, but getting converted by him like what happened to Piccolo, but I don't mind. My expectations are low, but my hype is through the roof, and needed to share my fan theories with someone.

[jasontoddiefor]

I call this story “I thought I posted this a month ago ups”, a little thank you for @duckie-gordon

The Umbrella Academy x Batfam Crossover

Enjoy!

Damian is not pleased when inter-dimensional travelers show up in the middle of a highly time-sensitive mission. They had been planning on. Taking down this particular drug cartel for a month, everybody was here, and then it had nearly gone to hell if not for Barbara’s quick thinking.

So no, Damian was also not in favor of the Hargreeves siblings staying at the manor. The family was busy and this should really be more the Justice League’s business, but Baba wasn’t willing to hand them over, fearing that even more people would cross over.

The short individual calling himself Five - an utterly ridiculous name - had ensured that nobody else should be coming, but they wouldn’t just trust the words of a stranger who looked like a child and could travel through time and space, even if he seemed to be the most functional out of the group.

And the most dangerous.

Apparently, the white one - Vanya, Number 7 - was the one with the most destructive powers of the siblings, but Damian had grown up amongst assassins, and Five was the one who moved like one.

“How many people have you killed?” Damian asked Five.

He had managed to corner the man - not a box, never a child. Damian had eyes and he could see and five walked like an old man - three days after the Hargreeves’ arrival.

Five mustered him, then he smirked. “When I was your age? Oh, a couple dozen for sure. Small-time criminals really. I only moved on to the big guns afterward. Nazis, a king, presidents...”

“Why are so proud of it?”

Five raised a brow. “Should I not be? It’s just another skill and one I excel at. You do as well, don’t you?”

Damian clenched his hands to fists, counted to ten and exhaled. This is not you, he told himself. This is not who you will be.

He couldn’t help but think that Ra’s and the monster Nyssa had forced to wear his mother’s face, would have adored Five.

“If you hurt any member of my family, you will pay for it.”

Damian knew the weight of being raised with blood on his hands. There was nothing to be proud of.

X

Cassandra was wary of their guests. She knew that they meant no harm to them and were mostly confused and broken apart. Her family didn’t always get along well either - Cassandra for example always insisted on sticking close to Jason on patrol. She wanted to trust him, she did, but she also knew what would happen should he falter, so she chose to be at his side - but they were family.

The Hargreeves siblings had been raised together, and they were comfortable in each others’ personal spaces in a way only family could, but they weren’t exactly unified.

“They do not speak,” Cassandra told Bruce. “They say a lot, but they do not speak.”

Most of the time, the siblings could be found sassing each other, brooding over plans on how to get back in a world that was currently in a post-apocalyptical state, but they never actually said what was going on through their mind.

It was frustrating.

It gave Cassandra a headache and it needed to change.

“You need to speak,” Cassandra told Allison.

The young woman was still rendered mute, though they hoped to fix that soon. Allison had taken to carrying around a tablet with some preprogrammed words and questions such as “yes”, “no”, “maybe” and “Can I have-?”.

While that form of communication obviously annoyed Allison greatly, she didn’t seem to mind her muteness itself.

‘I’m speaking as good as I can,’ Allison typed away. Her body screamed ‘do not talk to me, I can’t take it, I do not want to say another word.’

Cassandra frowned. Talking to others was so difficult. She wished they would just understand her in the same way she could read them.

“I do not like to speak either,” Cassandra admitted. “It is fractured. Difficult. Easy to misunderstand.”

Perhaps that was why Cassandra preferred singing to talking. She didn’t have an angel’s voice, but she also didn’t sound like a demon. Music could convey so much word than simple sentences with the same effort.

“But I learned and I enjoy listening to my siblings. You need to say what you need, not what you want.”

‘Isn’t that the same?’

Cassandra shook her head and held out her hand. “No, it’s not. Come with me.”

Maybe she could teach Allison to see a little bit like Cassandra could. Tim and Jason were training together right now. There was always a lot of conversation going on between the two, even if neither spoke up.

X

The last week had been interesting.

Killer mimes on Monday, speaking animals on Tuesday and superheroes from another dimension on Wednesday. Duke had a lot of thoughts about that procession of events, mainly that he could not care less. Just another regular week in a household of Gotham vigilantes. He hadn’t yet really had the time to work with a lot of people of other cities, figure out if their lives were just as crazy as Duke’s. He honestly didn’t know any other life, Gotham has always been crazy, though he definitely would trade it for a bit more peace and quiet.

Just once in a while it would be nice if his biggest worry was an upcoming test and not whether his stab wound would heal any time soon.

Duke was about to leave the guest wing - he was fairly sure Jason had hidden his PlayStation there, but Duke hadn’t been able to find it yet - when he heard a loud crash. Sighing, he turned around and walked back into the direction he had come from.

The sound must have come from one of the rooms the Hargreeves were staying in. Personally, Duke thought that they really needed to be kicked off their pedestal and get their shit together.

But that just might also be because he was the only meta on a team full of normal non-enhanced humans who could all kick his ass.

Well, Jason’s totally human status was up for debate because he healed way too quickly and could also maybe see ghosts.

Not that he ever admitted to it, but ever since Duke had gained more control over his powers, he noticed when people moved strangely, when the light flickered. There was just something off about Jason, but that really wasn’t the point.

The point was that Vanya had probably been practicing with her powers again without supervision.

Her door was the only one open and Duke was fairly sure everyone else was eating lunch right now.

Vanya’s hair was a mess, and so were the insides of her room. Some picture frames were broken, a couple items damaged - it looked like a storm had raged in here.

Duke knocked on the door frame. “Are you alright?”

She was breathing erratically, stuck somewhere between wanting to breathe and being stuck in the earlier high.

Duke waited for her to calm down.

That had been the hardest lesson to learn. If you want to master your abilities, you can’t rely on your emotions for the push to use them. He needed to be focused to only use them when he wanted to.

“Better?” Duke asked after a couple minutes.

“... Yes.”

“Good.”

He sat down on the ground, just a few feet away from her.

“Average Sunday afternoon, right?” He said with a smile.

“What?”

“You know.” Duke pointed at the broken glass lying on the floor. “Powers out of control, a panic attack, bit of existential crisis on the side.” He shrugged. “Ordinary Sunday afternoon.”

Vanya looked at him like he might have grown a second head - or a third one. Second heads were too casual, three sounded like a good strange number.

“How is this ordinary?” Vanya asked, throwing her hands up. “We’re stuck in another universe and I’m talking to fifteen-year-old-”

“I’m sixteen actually,” Duke interrupted.

Vanya rolled her eyes. “Fine, a sixteen-year-old in a house that’s like 200 years old whose owner dresses his children up in bat costumes to fight criminals.”

Duke ran his fingers through his hair. “Like I said, normal Sunday afternoon. Though, really, we do the dressing up ourselves and we’re not all bats.”

Duke stopped to think. “Some of us are birds first actually. Anyway, do you feel like lunch? You can clean up later. And you really shouldn’t practice without supervision, it totally sucks, speaking from experience here.”

“You’re the only one with powers right?” Vanya asked as she got up from the floor.

She still sounded as suspicious as they all had on the first day when they discovered only Duke had powers. It was common knowledge that the Bats didn’t have any powers within the Justice League, even though some doubted it still and Duke thought it made sense. Most of the time they were just really annoying and impractical. Sure, being indestructible like Superman had its benefits, but Duke being deathly allergic to a green rock was kind of stupid. The speed of the Flash was also pretty sweet only as long as it didn’t kill you or made you time travel.

“Yep,” Duke answered. “Though I actually joined the vigilant business before I knew I had them. See, there was this battle between Batman and the Joker-”

Maybe all of them just needed to relax a bit and learn how to define their own normal.

[neptuneskies91]

August third Prompt Serene.

EDIT: I completely forgot to add ages. Luna is 25/26- asra 23/24. Not gonna lie, I don’t know what the cannon ages are for Asra - some say he is like 26/28 at the beginning of the series and I am going with that cuz I write about adults.  A/N: This is set in pre-canon. The Prompt Serene.

No major triggers just the mention of minor characters fate's. This is domestic fluff with an ominous ending. (spoilers ((kinda?)) if you have not finished any routes). Rating is M for language, sexual themes, and minor character death. This is asraxmc (my mc Luna) Summary: Luna and Asra love each other and such love cannot even be stopped by death, right? “Fuck!” Luna keened as she finished her orgasm. She was on top of Asra, who beneath her was a panting mess of a person. His face flushed like hers and his breaths shallow as he praised her with breathless admiration. He finished a short minute later and sighed with her sweet nothings echoing in his mind. She got off of him and they got themselves under the sheets and Luna laid her head on his chest. Asra kissed the top of her head as they caught their breaths.

The outside world didn’t exist when she was here in her partner’s arms. The sun had begun to set, warm colors of the ended day streamed in through the hastily closed curtains. There was a serenity in their breathing syncing. The silver of her laugh and the gold of his smile. She was his moon and he was her sun. Why not have a little star or two around?  Their serenity happily broken by the pitter patter of little feet. Or the sticky fingers that poked their faces and smelled of the honey jar they stole into when their parents were occupied. Luna’s smile caused her cheeks to hurt. 

“The Masquerade is soon,” Asra broke the silence with his tender voice. “What should we dress up as this year?”

Luna was silent for awhile before she said her peace, “Actually, before we discuss this there is something else I- I have been meaning to ask.”

The stammer prompted Asra to rise onto his elbows and Luna sat up. The linen blanket pooled at her bare waist. She tossed back her long black curls and didn't dare meet him in the eyes. Asra frowned, “Luna, is everything alright? You're not shy.”

They both shared a chuckle. He took her fidgeting hand in his and rubbed the palm of her hand, he waited for her to be ready. Luna took a deep breath and said at last, “What if I didn't drink the tea?” she lazily pointed at the lukewarm tea nestled cozily in the saucer. “What if I didn't drink the tea for the next few times...what if I said I wanted to grow our family?”

Asra's face journey was a short one. There was first confusion, surprise, fear, concern and then excited. “Is this what you want?” He asked with a content smile, his warm skin tone contrasted beautifully with her cool skin tone as he cupped her cheek. She had averted away from him during his processing. They met again, purple with blue. “Yes, Its taken me several months- but you're all I have Asra. My aunt is dead- my sisters and brother are gone and probably dead, my parents as well- if I have anyone else, I wouldn't know. And you- well, hopefully they can get out soon.” Luna chewed on her lip, they didn't like to talk about Asra's parents.

Asra's gaze shifted to their hands between them in their laps. Their knees touched and her head went to his shoulder. He embraced her and rubbed her back, “I think, I might need some time to think about this, is that alright?”

Luna glanced back up at him with a shy smile, “Yes, I think that's fair- I did kind of spring this on you.” Luna reached over and drank down the tea in two long drinks and placed it back down. “It's not that I don't want a family, Luna, its just that I have not spent months thinking about this- I swirled it around once or twice but I never thought hard on it.”

Luna chuckled, “I think it's because I am a little older than you.”

“By a few years.”

“Ah, yes, but it can still make a difference.” “We will readdress this after the Masquerade.” They laughed, Asra laid back down and began to list off the animals they could go as this year. Even throwing in that Muriel might need help with his costume. His voice faded from her ears, becoming almost white noise, she looked at her deck. The Arcana was whispering to her. They sounded like they were fighting, some calling out for her attention and others bickering amongst themselves. Her eyes went back and forth from Asra's relaxed frame, his hands behind his head and eye dancing with delight and the ever growing noise from her deck.  Then she heard it. The skittering of ….beetles? Red began to grow in her peripherals as she stared at her deck. Her vision tunneled and all she saw was red seeping in around her deck. Her pulse quickened she smelled smoke and tasted iron. Asra's voice disappeared completely under the cacophony of the cards. Absentmindedly she rose from her love nest and went to the dilapidated dark stained wooden dresser and reached for the top of the deck. The MOON frowned up at her. She inhaled sharply- illusion, deception, difficult times, fear and hidden things. She was compelled to flip the next although she resisted but nonetheless she flipped over the next Card. The TOWER. Her hand shook above it. Tears welled in her eyes and cast off hotly down her cheeks. Danger, crisis, sudden change and destruction was all it said to her.

Luna hyperventilated. She resisted but her hand drew one last card. DEATH. She knew it didn't mean physical death but illness it said- an end and a failure. It was unbearable, she peeled herself away after she scattered the three cards. She turned away as the two cards on top of the deck called to her. She hit something warm that smelled of green and ginger tea. Asra, naked as the day they were born, held her close.

“Luna, you frightened me, what did they say.”

Luna shook her head in his embrace, his words were golden notes that cut through the skittering sounds of beetles and screams. She just buried herself into his embrace and he shushed her comfortingly.

[nancywheelxr]

Kate hadn’t grown up knowing a Superman.

Well, she had- in the Post-Crisis timeline, or so she heard, Superman and Batman started out at around the same time. Kal-El, or as he was known to the humans, Clark Kent, had pulled Kara’s pod open and set her free from it after she’d spent twenty-four years in the Phantom Zone, around when Batman had pulled Kate from her family’s car, the only survivor of-

One of the survivors of the crash that had killed her mother.

(That was still difficult to adjust to, even if Kate had found out about it before the Crisis)

But even if she did know who he was, before then he would still sound like a myth to her. Someone with too much power to exist on the Earth? Kate already knew about one person like that, and she was going to stick with hers.

It wasn’t like he would have ever gone to Gotham, anyway. Superman would be too good for her city, and however much he tried to clean it up, there would always be more criminals, and more crime.

Kind of like his own city, but without the pretense that everything was okay in the first place.

She knew, deep down, that she should also think the same of Supergirl. But by now she’d worked with her enough, been through enough with her, to know that Kara thought of her and Gotham the same- she hadn’t expected to go there, or meet her, but she had, and she still respected the city and its hero, flaws and all.

(Maybe a little more than respect, considering how right now, they were getting coffee together. But it was more than Kate got from a lot of people, status as the Paragon of Courage be damned)

~

“So… why Supergirl?”

Kara groans, dropping her head into her hands, propped up by her elbows resting on the high table that she and Kate are sitting at together.

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Kate says, gently holding Kara’s wrist, making her look at her. “I was just wondering.”

“Right. Because I was too old to be called a girl when I started?” Kara asks. “I know. And I was just about to ask you, ‘why do you get to be Batwoman?’, but I couldn’t find a way of saying that that didn’t sound…”

“Condescending?”

“Weird. And that, yeah, actually.”

“Well, my feelings are fine, if that was what you were worried about. I understand.” Kate says, thinking of Vesper Fairchild, who has definitely said much worse things about Batwoman without knowing she’s saying them about Kate Kane.

“You do?”

Kate nods.

“Yeah, if it weren’t for-“

Kara’s chin is on her hands now, waiting for Kate to continue, but just thinking of Sophie right now makes her want to avoid the subject in front of Kara- it is the definition of complicated- so she puts it off for the moment.

“For there already being a Batgirl, before me, I’m sure I would’ve gotten that name instead.” She finishes. She doesn’t think about how she was jealous of the girl who had claim to that title when she was younger, that someone around her age was paid more attention to by Bruce than his own cousin was.

She doesn’t hate her now, whoever she was. She actually feels sorry for her, and all the shit she must’ve gone through.

“What about you? Was “Superwoman” taken?”

Kara laughs.

It seems so long ago, all of it- saving her sister and the plane she was on, making a costume with Winn, starting to work with the DEO, getting her superhero name. She’d thought, back then, that she might not even make it through her first year. But here she is, almost five years later, talking about it with her voice tinged with nostalgia. She nearly misses it when things weren’t as complicated, when she had to worry about Fort Rozz and its escapees, and her biggest threats were her aunt and uncle and their soldiers. Her universe is much bigger now, even with the merged Earths, and she’s grateful- that expansion did lead her to Kate, after all. But sometimes she still remembers her origin, and there’s no way she would erase any of that, even for what she has now.

“Not exactly.” She says. “I… really hated the name Supergirl at first, believe it or not.”

“Yeah, I believe it.” Kate answers. “Your groaning the second I asked gave you away.”

“Right.” Kara continues. “My boss at the time, Cat Grant, was the head of a media company. The same one I work at now- although back then, I was just her assistant. And after I got started, she decided to give me the name Supergirl.”

“But Kara Danvers had no say in it, I guess.”

“Exactly. I tried to tell her that I thought it was minimizing. But she didn’t want to hear me, and gave me a speech about how that name wasn’t minimizing at all.”

“Sounds like someone I know.” Kate says. “Or at least, I know her voice. If I saw her in public, I might just punch her.”

“Yeahhh… maybe don’t do that.” Kara answers, although she also considers the people she’s wanted to throw into the sun. “For what it’s worth, Cat became a mentor to me- as Kara and Supergirl. If you give her a chance, this-“

“Vesper.”

“Vesper could be the same. Or she might just be another critic, and you could decide not to listen to her.”

“Yeah, that possibility sounds way better.”

Kara smiles.

“Besides, I bet she hasn’t had to fight her twin sister, or survived the end of the multiverse.”

Kara looks down, suddenly, and her voice trails off after that, and Kate sees the solemn expression on her face, something in her eyes that makes her want to hug Kara, or sit down with her and a few drinks and let Kara share everything she’s feeling.

But right now, in public, isn’t exactly the right time for that, and so Kate goes with a different approach.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if her broadcasts did, though.”

Kara decides that she’s going to call in and give Vesper a piece of her mind, before Kate sets a hand on her arm and she can think of nothing else.

“For what it’s worth, I think Supergirl is a great name.” she says. “It suits you.”

Kara mirrors the gesture.

“Just like Batwoman suits you.” She says. “So, what else has been going on? Because let me tell you-“

“Oh, good luck trying to top this.” Kate answers, raising an eyebrow.

Kara raises her chin, in what she hopes is a challenging gesture.

“I’m certainly going to.”

“You’re on.”

~

Kara grew up knowing of Batman.

If it hadn’t been for the Danvers, maybe, she would have been adopted by Bruce Wayne- not that she wishes anything with her chosen family had gone differently, but it was an interesting possibility all the same. Just like the possibility of her arriving on time, and her relationships with everyone she knew changing, even if there were still a few constants in her life whom she would’ve met anyway.

But if she’d been taken in by Bruce at the age of thirteen, in this new Earth she now lived on, perhaps she would have made a friend, and found a kindred spirit.

Another cousin of a famous hero, who’d lost her world, and was putting the pieces back together even years afterwards, devoting herself to her city without her cousin’s presence and doing the best she could with a small group of people she held close to her.

Though she hadn’t known Kate Kane back then, she thought, she saw her blossoming friendship with her as a way of making up for lost time, and as they spent more time together, it would only grow and flourish, as they had on their own.

And now that they had each other, operating separately but finding common ground in concepts as big and nebulous as hope and courage and as common as coffee dates and favorite donuts, Kara could see them truly becoming a team- that Kate had once phrased as the “World’s Finest”.

Or, as Kara would say, they were stronger together. Truly exemplifying El Mayarah, in their personal and professional lives, and they both seemed to be happier for it.

Even if Kate was just a bit out of place in National City- as much as she was getting used to the aesthetic.

[jj-lynn21]

Deadpool Presents: Axel’s Valentine’s Day special story ch2

Warnings: bad language? angst? fluff, SMUTT

ch1   ch3 ch4 ch5

“What the fuck is up my favorite reader. Can you believe you had to wait until chapter two for me to chat you up?” Deadpool whines to the reader. “Wait, I’m whining, really? Maybe I get pissy but I never whine. Anyway, what the fuck is this story about? Oh, yeah, me watching Axel’s rugrats while he goes off to fuck his wife until they can barely move. All because of the sweet sweet love that Valentine’s Day obligates people to celebrate.  I mean why wait until Valentine’s day to bring your partner, your wife, or even just your fuckbuddy a gift to show them you want to keep fucking them, you care and love them. Do that shit today. Bring the flowers, send the romantic or sexually explicit text. Bring the lotions, edible clothing, handcuff, chocolates or flowers to your lover. You shouldn’t need the damn calendar telling you when to do things for her, him, they or them.

I digress,” Deadpool sighs, “I miss Vanessa. If she could be back or I could be with her I would be ok if it was International Women’s Day every day. And you think I don’t know Absorption is Axel/Zeigeist? I know, even in his mask and practically matching costume with Julie/Receptacle I know. No one else has beautiful seductive green eyes like that fucker. He could be the Beauty to my Beast.” Pink hearts float around Deadpool’s head as he thinks about dance like Beauty and The Beast with Axel. “Stop laughing, its romantic.”

Dead pool knocks at Axel and Julie’s door. He waves as he sees Julie’s eye through the peep whole. She opens the door, “Thanks for watching the kids Wade.” She grabs her purse. “Everyone else had a date tonight.”

“I’m just glad I could be of service,” Deadpool followed with some innuendo, “If I could service you any other way all you have to do is ask.”

Julie rolls her eyes, “No matter how much you beg I will never sleep with you Wade. You would never match up to Axel.”

“What about your date tonight?” Deadpool grins, “Does he or maybe she match-up to Axel? Like, look just like him, fuck just like him, make you…”

“Enough Wade,” She puts her hand to his mouth to stop him from speaking. “I do not have to dignify your crude remarks with an answer. The kids are playing in their room. Do let them play with their Wolverine toys without hiding them again.”

“Me?” Deadpool says innocently. “I would never hide children’s toys from them.”

Deadpool to you, “I totally didn’t hide their Wolverine toys. I put them in a trash compactor.”

“Talking to your imaginary friends again Wade?” Julie smirked.

“They are reading for you and, what’s your dates name, again?” Deadpool chuckles.

“I didn’t say his name,” Julie stands at the open door. A black car with tinted windows waits outside. “Don’t let the boys stay up all night. I’m not sure when we will be back tomorrow, but I will be checking up on you.”

“Go have fun with what’s his name,” Deadpool winks at you. “I’ll be fine with the kids.”

She goes out the door. When the driver sees her, he gets out and opens the door for her to get in the back. Axel is waiting with a smile and a glass of champagne.

“Wait, wait wait,” Deadpool tries to pull your attention away from why you started reading this, “Fine, fine, fine go follow the romance. And have a  Happy Valentine’s Day however you spend it.”

Axel puts his arm behind Julie’s head. He leans down and nuzzles her neck as he holds his glass in the other hand.  She leans back and closes her eyes just enjoying the feeling of his lips on her skin.

“Axel?” Reality moving into her thoughts pushing some of the enjoyment away. “Axel, are you sure this is ok?”

“No kids babe,” He flicks his tongue on the back of her ear. “Our driver won’t say a thing, precession is up so he won’t see a thing either.  so it’s completely fine. We will be at our first stop in about a half hour, so we have plenty time back here to relax. Just go with it, babe.”

“I want to,” She takes in a breath and breaths out slowing. “You know I like that. I really do…mmm. I just, what if…”

He cuts her off with a deep kiss. Then looks in her eyes, “No what ifs. I took care of everything. Domino will cover any crisis and she knows not to tell Wade. It’s been months since we had time together without thinking about rushing before the kids got home or were interrupted by someone needing our help. We have none of that for the next 24 hours. Ok?”

Julie finishes her drink. Puts the empty glass down on the little drink stand and wraps herself around Axel. Knees planted on either side of him. Hands on the back of his neck. “Thank you, Axel.” She smiles.

He downs his drink and holds her, placing a hand on her back as he reaches to put the empty glass down.  He puts his other hand on her back. “Now, what else can I do for my sweet little Valentine?”

She giggles, “It seems like you already have everything I would want planned. You can be so perfect sometimes.”

“I’ll try to do better. I want to be perfect all the time for you.” He cups her face with his hands pulling her down to kiss him. Just the tip of his tongue darting out to meet hers before retreating just a second while he angles to invade her mouth with a deep pleasurable lasting kiss. Both of their eyes closed. Her hands drift down under his white button up dress shirt. Its nothing he would normally wear but she feels he is also wearing his ever-comfortable tank-top underneath.

She loves to just feel the heat his body releases. They take a breath and just look in each other’s eyes for a moment before kissing deeply again. He slides down in the seat a bit as she grinds herself against him making him groan. His lips move to nip and suck at her neck.

“We’ve never made out in the back of a car like a couple of teenagers Axel.” Her breathing staggered as his lips continue moving down the heart shaped neckline of her satin red A-line dress to worship the outer curves of her breasts.

He pauses to look up at her. “You want to stop? I don’t want to go into STK with a hard on, but I don’t want to stop worshiping you either. And the way your moving against me I was just going with the moment.”

She pushes his face back down between her breasts “Just keep going with it. Axel. You’ve got me to worked up to stop now.”

He continues. She reaches down to undo his belt. As she is undoing his pants, he looks at her. “Are you sure babe? I might not have time to finish you.”

She just nod, yes, as she moves off his lap long enough to get her panties off that match the dress. Then she positions herself back over him. He positions himself to do all he can in the small space provided them. He holds her hips as she slides on his cock slowly rolling her hips for comfort and depth. He pushes back with her every motion watching her closely as she softly moans.

“Fuck…fuck…” He bites his lip closing his eyes as he moves faster.

Julie throws her head back keeping pace with his every thrust. Both breathing heavily. Their moans in unison as the car slows turning into the restaurant parking lot.

“Almost Axel…Oh fuck just…” Julie moans.

Axel locks the door before the driver can open it. The drive just stands there when the door he is supposed to open is locked. He waits patiently.

Axel reaches to rub her clit while he pushes to that spot he knows will always push her over the edge. Her walls spasm around his cock as she gasps. “Axel that’s it…oh fuck…Oh….”

“Fuck… yes Julie…damn…yes” He whispers after cuming. He pulls her in for a kiss as he stills. “You are always so fucking amazing.”

They put themselves back together before unlocking the town car door. The driver holds the door as Axel gets out first and helps Julia out of the car. He tips his hat to them and gets back in to go park and wait.

[floralseokjin]

;the devil’s family (m)

A collection of tidbits that stretch across certain points of your relationship with Seokjin; lover, husband, father and let’s not forget, Devil…

pairing | kim seokjin x reader genre/warnings | devil! Seokjin, slice of life au, lots of fluff and domesticated goodness, smut, pregnancy, the final segment in all things tdwa (cries) words | 13,172

Read the rest of The Devil Wears Armani series here.

#1 Call Me Mistress

“You look ridiculous.”

Seokjin sounded as displeased as he looked, perched on the bottom of his bed, arms crossed as he judged you. He could try all he wanted, he wasn’t going to deter you. You were going through with this. Give him a taste of his own medicine.

“I look hot and you know it,” you quipped, walking towards him. Scarp that—sauntered towards him. You dragged it out, swaying your hips in hopes of getting him worked up.

“That too,” he agreed, tilting his head when you met between his legs. He wrapped his hands around your sides, touch hot, burning its way straight through your flimsy red dress.    “But mostly ridiculous.”

You huffed in disbelief, annoyed by his cheek, but before you could pull away he was leaning up to kiss you. You would pull away, but that was why you were here after all, and in a flash he had you crawling into his lap, tongue parting your mouth to taste you. A hand cupped the back of your head, holding you still before it traveled up and flicked the red horns on top of your head. He pulled away, failing at hiding his smirk. “You do realise devils don’t have horns?”

Snapping his hand away, you clutched the headband to your head. He went for something else instead. “Or pitchforks… Plastic at that.” He said wrapping his hand around the toy.  

“Lighten up,” you shook him off, feeling him grip your waist as he watched you curiously. The judgement was still in his eyes though. You poked his chest with the spiked tool. “It’s halloween.”

Something told you he didn’t like your choice of outfit.

You freely admit your costume was tacky, but how could you pass up the opportunity? The moment you saw it in store you couldn’t not buy it. You couldn’t not use it in a certain way… Seokjin’s eyes had nearly popped out of his head when he’d opened the door to you throwing your coat open. (The shortness of the dress probably had something to do with it, but he wouldn’t admit that…)  

“A year to the date we met,” you pouted. All you wanted was to do something special for your anniversary of sorts. Granted you’d only become official two months ago, but it was worth celebrating. After all, October 31st last year he’d broken inside your home (“I didn’t break in, I’m a devil, I have my means.”) after you’d unintentionally made a plea to the Devil. What for? Dick, of course. Luckily for you, he hadn’t taken your soul, but had fallen in love with you instead…

He broke. You were his only weakness after all. Every devil had one, he told you, but you think that was just an excuse. He cupped your face, forcing you to look at him and kissed you softly. It was the opposite of what you wanted to happen tonight.

“Which is why I should be the devil tonight. I am him after all…” He whispered, sweet tone ironic for what he had to say.

You bristled, pulling away from him. “You’re a devil amongst many, not that special.” It was his turn to pout now. You sighed. Albeit it fondly. Copying him, his cheeks in your palms. “Seokjin, don’t pout. You’re my devil. But not tonight.”

He may be the most important devil in Hell, but it was nothing to his importance to you. You hope he understood that. After months of false starts and blurred lines, things had finally fallen into place for you two. Two months honestly felt like two years. Seokjin had fallen into his role as your (semi) human boyfriend astonishingly well. It was surprising what an empathy book and the fear of love can do to a man devil. Not that he was afraid of falling in love with you, just afraid of the feeling. The uncertainty. The new emotion coursing through his veins. He was afraid you didn’t love him back, and now that he knew you did, there was no stopping him.

It was like dating an alien more than a devil at first. For someone who’d been living in the human world for quite some time he didn’t know a great deal on how to act in it. “Do you ever leave your house?” You’d asked him when you’d come back from your first movie theatre date. He’d been silent the entire movie, pale as a ghost upon leaving, and once you were in the car riding home, that’s when he’d finally let loose. “Movie theatres are claustrophobic. Too many people. Why do you want to watch a movie with 50 others?”

Kim Seokjin, Devil CEO, turned out to be a bit of a homebody, which was fine for you. There was nothing cosier than cuddling on the couch while watching Netflix—his Number 1 Top Human Invention. He did leave his home though… To go grocery shopping. Seokjin also liked to cook, and bake, and boss you around. He now got to cook for a second person and that made him ecstatic.

He was still learning about everything else though. The small things in life. You were still not over the time he was one phone call away from suing his hair salon…

“This is outrageous. I should sue.” He seethed in front of his bathroom mirror, eyes as black as night. He’d looked positively scary. King Devil in all his glory, and you just knew you had to cool him down.

“That’s what happens when you bleach your hair.” You sighed sympathetically, running your fingers through the dry-not-so-locky locks.

“I’ll go bald before I’m thirty at this rate.” He continued, throwing a towel around his shoulders. “On second thoughts, I’d rather that than have straw for hair.”

Oh. So he’d noticed the way his hair had grated against your fingers like sandpaper then…

“Will you calm down.” Defuse. You moved to the bath, picking up the shower head. “Let’s just dye it back and then do the treatments. It’ll be back to normal before you can blink.”

He couldn’t calm down though. Nor shut up. Fuming once again when he saw how disastrous his roots were underneath. “Roots too! I’m suing.” He sounded final, but you knew you were sweet enough to tame him.

“Everyone gets roots, Seokjin. It’s your own fault for having a quarter life crisis and thinking peroxide would solve your problems.”

New hair, new Devil, seemed like a good idea at the time, he’d told you, but blonde hair was a bind he didn’t want to commit to. Good, you liked him better dark anyway…

“You’re lucky I love you,” he groaned into your mouth when you reached down for a kiss, throwing yourself back into the present. His hands glided down your back and reached for your ass, but you batted them away sternly. He fell onto his back playfully, enjoying the sight of you straddling him.

“No touching.” You smirked. “You do my bidding tonight.”

As well as the humanising, there’d been lots of sex too. Of course. You were both good at that. Especially now that it involved a bed. And sofas…showers…kitchen counters…carpet plush floors… There was probably not a surface that hadn’t been tainted, or at least, there wouldn’t be by the end of the year. In fact, it had taken you a week to go out on your first date because you were so…distracted… Jimin had only just forgiven you both for the extra week that Jung Hoseok was his boss…

“That doesn’t seem all that bad,” Seokjin smirked back, folding his arms behind his head, rather comfy. Like he was enjoying himself. That wouldn’t do. You wanted to see him beg. It only made up for the amount of times he had made you. Halloween was such a fitting night. A celebration of your sin turned love.

“What should I call you, hm?” Now he really was playing. Not for long…

You paused to think, tilting your head to the side as you prodded his chest with your pitchfork. “Call me Mistress.” It would hardly a turn you on, not in to that, but it would meet even with all the times you’d called him Master—and still did. Yes, he loved it when his name slipped from your lips, but he still had a soft spot for that ludicrous title.

He went to argue. You could see it in the way his eyes bulged, but you stopped him in his tracks. “Ah, ah, ah,” you waggle your finger, before pressing it into his lips.

He went to bite it playfully. “Fine.” A grumble, but he seemed amused. “For one night only, you’re the devil.” You liked the sound of that, gleeing silently as you leaned over him. Chest against chest. His dick was hard in his pants, straining against your underwear. He continued, into the dramatics.

“An evil, treacherous devil, who sets her sights on me, a mere human. Feeble and weak.” You scoffed. He couldn’t act feeble and weak if he tried where sex is concerned. Tonight would probably end in an equal fight, or you’d just give in to him willingly. You were not weak, just hungry.

“Take me then, Mistress,” he almost goaded, waiting for your next move. A slap to your ass that made you yelp, and a smirk across his face that made you want to kiss it off. “Make it hurt.”

#2 Merry Christmas  

“You should move in.”

No request of sorts, but he did sound hesitant. You couldn’t even see his face, your back snuggled into his chest as you lied on the sofa together, you in between his legs. You’d been in a wine coma—Christmas one of the only reasonable days to start drinking in the morning, but now you were wide awake. Eyes wide as you shifted and turned, falling out of his grip to view him face on. He moved too, sliding his legs as his feet hit the floor.

“Huh?” You were at a loss of words, trying to process what he’d just said.

He looked anxious. He only ever did when he was questioning if he’d overstepped the mark, if he’d acted out of ‘human’ character. “Move in with me. Here.” He added on second thoughts, before shaking his head, another one popping into his brain. “Or we could find a new place. Anything you want.” His smile looked stretched across his face. The Devil got nervous sometimes.

“Move in together,” you murmured. Mostly to yourself. It seemed a little unbelievable, like all your wildest dreams come true. Yet, you didn’t want to rush anything. To rush him. “Are you sure? Its not too soon?”

You sounded panicked. You didn’t mean to, but it was hard not to be a little worried. These past four months had been amazing, but Seokjin was still learning. He still acted with bouts of spontaneity a little too overzealous for a human. Christmas had already seen him act like one big kid, decorating his home from top to bottom with you out of breath trying to keep up with him. “Since when do devils celebrate Christmas?” You’d asked, laughing when he’d draped a piece of tinsel around your neck. “We don’t,” he’d shrugged. “I’ve just seen this in multiple romantic Christmas movies.” How did a man so busy and important have so much time to watch television is a question you still asked yourself…

Anyway, what had started off as a worry that he was once again taking the picture-perfect relationship stuff too seriously had quickly worn away. Seokjin did really seem to grow fond of—and enjoy, Christmas. Lifting you up to place the star on your tree, he’d gently placed you back down again only to rub his erection into your ass. “Christmas gives me a salacious appetite,” was his reasoning. You’d just rolled with it.

Your friends and family really had no clue they were dining with a devil over the holiday period, and that was something you both secretly giggled at—once he’d convinced you it was all perfectly acceptable. You had never been an overly religious person, but since you’d shacked up with a devil everything was a little different now… The world as you’d known it was completely different, and you’d told Seokjin you didn’t want to get punished by God himself for celebrating Christmas with a demon. Seokjin had just laughed in your face before closing in, eyes black, voice low and dangerous. “Celebrating Christmas is the tamest thing you’ve done with me…” That was very true. You were going to Hell whether you liked it or not…

Holidays aside, you didn’t want this to be another one of Seokjin’s light bulb moments. If he’d seen this in a movie you were about a day away from taking his television away from him. You didn’t really want him to be acting with spontaneity either… He had a habit of getting lost in his emotions—happy or sad. This may be a happy one, but just a month ago he’d demanded out of the blue that you stop talking to Taehyung. You’d only been laughing at a joke he’d told you in the office, but suddenly Seokjin was giving you the silent treatment, moving and slamming things loudly on his desk when you’d slipped in at the end of the day.

You’d refused of course, confused as to why he was telling you this now, months after he’d given Taehyung his job back and was seemingly okay with everything. You’d already apologised for your mistake, so had the younger man, and Seokjin had repeatedly assured you both it was fine. An argument had ensued—your first since becoming a couple, and you’d stormed off home, turning your cell phone off childishly. When you’d woken up the next morning, turning it back on, there had been an explosion of notifications. Messages, missed calls… You’d started to feel guilty, and then there was a knock at the door.  

“We’re not over are we?” He’d asked, eyes wide and scared. “I’m so sorry for acting like a fool. I don’t know what came over me.”

Of course you weren’t over, but once again he’d blown things out of proportion. Just like he’d admitted doing when he’d gotten jealous seeing you laugh with Taehyung… He couldn’t control such strong hits of emotion, still unable to find his rational. But he knew he was wrong, and he was trying his best to learn.

“Seokjin, we learn together, okay?” You’d told him, wrapping your arm around his shoulders on your sofa. “We had an argument. Everyone has them. We just have to talk to one another.”

He’d agreed, nodding slowly, signs of embarrassment showing on his face. “And do me a favour,” you’d added. “Throw that empathy book away.” Whatever he wanted to learn, he could learn from himself and you…

Yes, you thought to yourself, you really didn’t want him to be flying high on Christmas fumes right now and acting without thought, because it was mean to mess with your heart. Moving in together sounded amazing, but you didn’t want to rush him…

“Is it too soon for you?” He asked, sounding a little panicked himself now. “I’m sorry if I overstepped the mark. I just-just…” He stammered. A rarity. Something you were still not used to. It meant he was about to admit something. Lay his feelings bare. Your heart drummed in your chest. “It just feels right. I love you, and I hate being apart from you, even though these days we barely ever are.”

You found yourself smiling. It spread warmly across your face as you grasped his hands that were in his lap. He was wearing the pyjamas you gifted him this morning. Blue and white striped. You wondered what it would be like to wake up next to him each morning. You basically did already, and you hated the mornings you were alone.

“I hate being apart too.”

You and Seokjin came as a sort of package deal by now. Everyone in the office already knew so it was no different to them. Maybe. Seeing their boss in love now was a little bit unbelievable at first, but they were happy for that, said he was nicer… Your friends were a little bit different, dubious at first, seeing as they knew him as the man who’d broken your heart three months previous. You’d talked it out though, that’s what you’d told them. Everything was fine now, and it most certainly was when they first laid eyes on him. You thought “He’s gorgeous! How did you bag him?!” was pretty rude of them, but whatever. They were your friends, so you guessed you loved them…

Seokjin on the other hand had been nervous to meet your friends and family. “What if they ask what I am?” He’d whispered one night two months ago as you’d waited at the porch of your parents’ house.

“You’re a CEO.”

“What if they ask how we met?” He’d fretted, worried about the potential third degree from your dad.

“You’re my boss, we fell in love. It’s rather romantic.” You’d kissed his cheek then, silently soothing him.

He’d perked up at that, even if it was just to ease the tension on his shoulders. “So no ‘She tried selling her soul to the devil for dick but got stuck with me’?”

You’d tapped his shoulder, feeling him straighten his back as you both heard footsteps coming from inside. “Probably best to keep that to ourselves, or at least just for your friends— y’know, devil kind…”

He did use that little white lie for for his own Mom too, though. Again, probably best, but at least there was no hiding with her. She was also a devil after all…

Everyone around you would be just as over the moon as you both if you moved in together. Your parents had already started calling him their son-in-law… They wouldn’t bat an eyelid at your news. It was early yes, but it just felt right. You couldn’t explain it.

“So is that a yes?” Seokjin wondered, watching you with hopeful eyes.

“It’s a yes,” you confirmed, unable to stop the grin that tugged at your mouth. You were wrapped up in his arms before you could blink, squished to his chest. “But we’re staying here.” You told him, struggling against his grip to look up at him. “This house is beautiful.”

“Just like you,” he smiled, kissing your nose.

Lame, you thought to yourself, but couldn’t help the blush that rose to your cheeks.

#3 In Sickness

“I think I’m dying.”

You took one disproving look at your boyfriend, bundled up in the bed you shared—an actual scarf around his neck even though it was about to turn May. The tip of his nose was red, lips chapped, eyes permanently watered. “Seokjin, you have a cold.” You informed him, just like you had for the past two days. “Everyone gets one.”

“Not me,” he said in outrage (again, just like he had for the past two days…), folding his arms across his chest. It was hard because he had four layers on. “I’m a devil.”

You sighed—mainly in exhaustion. “You know what the doctor said.”

Yes, apparently there were doctors exclusively made for demon kind right here on earth. Go figure. Apparently Seokjin was suffering from something with a long, stupid name, one you couldn’t remember, but it boiled down to humanitis. A much better name if you did say so yourself. He’d been surrounded by humans for far too long, totally immersed himself in all things earth. It was apparently a thing that could happen to demons—not everyone, but some. Seokjin was an unlucky one. Once apathetic, not anymore.

You should’ve both realised something was up when he’d become sombre at an animal shelter commercial, but somehow you’d both overlooked that until the time he’d woken up with a hangover. You’d woken to a groan, then a yelp of distress as he’d scarpered out of bed to vomit in the toilet. You’d thought you were dreaming at first. Seokjin couldn’t get sick. It was impossible, or so you both thought. He couldn’t get hangovers either. You were adamant when he began describing his symptoms, but what else could it be? You both brushed it off as a fluke until four days later when he had his next bottle of wine.

Seokjin could drink all he liked, whenever he wanted. He could stay up drinking until 2am and still wake up right as rain for work at six. Not this time. Definitely not this time. Two glasses in and he’d started acting weird. Like you’d never seen him before. Cooing over you. He was so out of it he didn’t even realise himself. A bottle in—he’d ignored your suggestion to stop—and that’s when he’d started crying. He was a depressive drunk you found out. That’s when you’d shipped him off to bed. Another hangover later and you learnt there were such things as devil doctors.

At first he’d ignored what this doctor was even saying, brushing him off with laughter. A month later he was wearing glasses. His 20/20 vision no more. He’d argued with the eye doctor too. This one was human though, so when Seokjin tried to insist this couldn’t be happening—that it was impossible—he couldn’t tell him why. He’d just looked like a crazy man with you watching on, an apologetic smile on your face.

You were quite partial to the glasses though…

“I look like I can’t be taken seriously,” he whined in his office the first day he had to wear them.

“You look very serious to me.” You reassured, crossing your arms across your chest to observe him casually. Dark hair swept above his forehead, black rimmed specs perched on his nose. “Sexy too.”

“Really?” He perked up at that, standing from his chair.

“Mhmm,” you hummed, rounding the corner of his desk to reach him and place your hands on his chest. “A sexy, sophisticated devil.”

“I need to work.” He could always see straight through you. But he also couldn’t resist you.

“I’ve been a bad girl though,” you told him innocently. He swallowed, pupils shifting. “I didn’t fax that report through last night before leaving.”

His hands on your waist told you he was already breaking, so you teased him even more, turning around to push your ass into his crotch.

“Well, shouldn’t I make you do that instead of bending you over my desk?” He voiced, but only come out unsure.

“No. I probably need punishing. Taught a lesson.” With a wink, you looked over your shoulder for the killer blow. “Master.”

“I thought sex in the office was banned.”

It was banned since you’d become his secretary. Poor Mary had to retire but she probably hadn’t been sad to say bye to the quite literal Hellhole. Your office was right next to Seokjin’s, which meant distractions were high. You had to make some kind of ground rules.

“Today can be an exception.”

“Fuck.” He muttered under his breath, pushing you harder into his groin. You could feel the beginnings of an erection. “Turn around. Want to see your face as I fuck you.” With a squeal you were facing him again, pressed into his chest tightly. “After all, If you think Master looks sexy in these stupid things don’t you want to see him too?”

It turned out Master’s glasses steamed up when he got excited…

“I hate Earth.” Seokjin’s whiny voice gained your attention again. You looked over, he was still in his duvet burrito. “We should relocate to Hell.” Sick Seokjin really tested your patience.

“Yeah, no thanks.” You scoffed, bouncing onto the end of the bed. He groaned, which in turn hurt his head. He clutched it tightly, snivelling loudly. You wrinkled your nose. Sick Seokjin wasn’t sexy either…

“Anyways, I have something to make you feel better…” You tugged the covers from him in a flash, crawling over him. You may as well go through with it. If it worked… It could just have been a myth from high school.

He groaned your name, softly though, so it didn’t interfere with his head again. “I’m not one to turn down sex but…” That was a lie actually. Since moving in together he was partial to a goodnight cuddle instead of a goodnight fuck.

You shook your head. “Not sex. Let me suck your dick.” He looked at you as if you were crazy. “Orgasms are good for colds. Trust me,” you insisted, reaching for the band of his sweatpants. He didn’t stop you, probably intrigued. Or just willing to try anything. “Just lay back and enjoy.”

The next morning you woke up with a matching cold. Somehow.

#4 The Devil’s Pet

“No. No pets. Animals hate me.”

You’d been trying to bring up the idea of pets subtlety for a week straight. It hadn’t worked, so tonight you’d just bitten the bullet and asked, seeing a cat on the television. You loved Seokjin, of course you did, but eight months of living with him meant you needed some extra company by now. Something to liven the house up a bit. The last time you had a pet was when you were ten. A cute little white bunny that you loved and cherished with your whole life. You were heartbroken when it passed away. You were finally ready to move on, but Seokjin wasn’t having any of it. Stubborn as always, but he forgot, you were his only weakness…

“What animals have you had?” You challenged. Somehow he didn’t strike you as the type to have ever kept pets. Just a hunch.

“None, but I know they hate me,” he deadpanned. “Sense the evil.”

“You’re not evil,” you sighed dramatically. Okay, yes, that one time you were in the park and a dog off his leash ran up to him and started flat out barking in his face may be an indicator of a special sixth sense they had for “evil” entities, but the quotations were used for a reason. Seokjin was not evil. The evillest thing he’d done was make the office work late on a Friday… and maybe banishing Taehyung to Hell that one time… and taking the souls of various individuals…but they were usually questionable human beings anyway… So yeah, he wasn’t evil at all.

“I really want a pet. It’ll make the house less quiet,” you begged, whining into him as you clutched onto his shirt.

His eyes flickered over your face, refusing to make eye contact. He was trying to stay strong but you already had him. “Fine.” Yes! You squealed and kissed his mouth. He pulled away, scowling. “But no dogs. They hate me the most.” Ah…still not over the park incident then…

“Fine by me. I wasn’t thinking of a dog anyway,” you smiled, already knowing the exact pet you wanted. Something you’d wanted your whole life but couldn’t because of your dad’s stupid allergy and then an even more stupid no pets rule every apartment seemed to have these days. You just hoped Seokjin’s humanitis didn’t make him have an adverse reaction to pet fur too…

“What about a hamster or something? They can’t take a dislike to me. They probably have no brains,” he suggested, thinking he was ever so helpful.

You shot him a look. “Ever thought this is why animals hate you?”

“What should we call her?” You asked, voice tiny and careful as you looked down at the tiny ball of black fluff on your lap. Seokjin took a seat gingerly next to you, keeping a visible space. You just rolled your eyes to yourself, choosing to ignore him in favour of stroking your new kitty. As soon as you’d seen her you’d just had to have her. She’d walked right on over to you, eyes wide and innocent, and it was final. She’d chosen you too.

You watched with your own wide eyes when the kitten began shifting from your lap to make its way over to Seokjin curiously. She tumbled into the gap between you but he didn’t make any attempt to help her onto him. He almost looked scared, which was a change to his displeased attitude at the farm. The kitten knew what she wanted though, beginning to crawl onto his lap.

“Aw, she’s so cute,” you cooed. He sat stiffly, arms at his sides, staring down at the poor thing like it was an alien. It was when she started kneading into him and purring that you just about lost it. “Oh, my god. She’s purring,” you squealed, watching her look up at Seokjin with those big innocent eyes. His mouth slacked, expression softening, but you still needed to spoon feed him. “Baby, stroke her,” you murmured, taking his hand.

He began to do so robotically, it was almost comical, but she seemed to like it it, nudging into his touch as he went, her purr just getting louder. “She likes me,” he awed, voice now just as tiny as yours. You hummed in agreement, sitting back to admire them. He stroked her more natural now, using his index finger to tickle under her chin. “My heart feels funny.”

You chuckled, stretching out your hand to stroke the kitten too. “It’s because she’s cute.”

There’s silence as you both cooed over her, and then Seokjin shocked you once again. “We should call her Bear.” He bopped her nose. “She looks like one. A little bear cub.”

“Bear it is,” you agreed, grinning as you stroked behind her ears. “Baby Bear…”

It didn’t take long for Bear to crawl her way onto his chest, burying her head into his neck. Seokjin practically purred into the touch too. “The Devil’s pet, huh,” he murmured, looking over at you.

You jutted out your bottom lip. What a turn of events. “I feel left out.”

He scoffed lightly, reaching over to tap the top of your head. “Don’t worry, you’re his pet too.” How very kind of him…

It was later that night, when you were both full from dinner—the only time Seokjin had moved from the couch—did he say something that slightly surprised you, making your heart glow in your chest, Bear curled up on his as he stroked her.

“This is good practice for when we have children. I feel all overprotective and such.”

You smiled across at him, reaching over to rub his shoulder. “You’ll make an amazing father one day.”

A father no one would want to mess with that was for sure…

#5 Happy Halloween  

“I love you.”

Seokjin sounded slightly nervous, voice wavering. You were nervous too. Probably had something to do with the fact you were stood on the bridge of a little stream in a pretty silent wood next to your house. Did you add it was Halloween? No one ever trick or treated near your home regardless, too remote for parents to ship their kids around, but murderers might like it here… After you’d arrived home from the restaurant tonight, Seokjin had insisted on going for a walk, and now here you were, watching him grow slightly shifty.

Halloween was never a holiday you celebrated with earnest. Maybe when you were younger, trick or treating around the neighbourhood, but that obviously didn’t last forever, and you were only in it for the free candy. Halloween now was a different story. The day you met Seokjin. In a way you had two anniversaries. Two dates that were special to you. The day you met and the day you became official. Tonight though, two years to the date he dropped into your life, Halloween would always have that one up on your official anniversary… because it was soon to take its place…

“I love you too.” You rubbed his shoulder, already sensing something, obviously. You knew him like the back of your hand.

“I’m so nervous,” he chuckled under his breath, moving to step away from you and reach inside the breast pocket of his coat.

“Seokjin?” Your voice wavered now, heart beginning to beat quicker, unable to tear your eyes from his as he knelt down. Oh God, he was really doing it. It was something you wanted, and something that was bound to happen with time, but you’d never really given much thought as to how it would happen. As in, just imagining Seokjin proposing to you had never crossed your mind.

Maybe the clues had been there all night. He’d been acting careful, which you’d just taken as him putting on his best romantic behaviour. A meal, some wine, a kiss as you’d walked back to the car, and a promise of a back rub later tonight when you’d asked. That’s all you thought it was. Him sentimental over the two years you’d been in his life.

You were not prepared. Seokjin seemed like the type to discuss an engagement with you, maybe in bed one lazy morning. Maybe more of a “Let’s get married soon,” thing than getting down on one knee, visibly nervous, hands trembling like they were right now. You had never seen him look so vulnerable.

“I really had no clue where to do this. Here was the most meaningful place I could think of, first date and everything.” He was opening the box now, and you were suddenly aware your vision was blurry.

“Oh, my god,” you murmured weakly, blinking furiously, trying to keep it together just until he got to the question, but he was right. This is where he took you after your first date. He said he came here a lot when his head was getting stuffy at home. When he thought he’d lost you. This place meant a lot to him. When he felt like he didn’t belong anywhere this place give him comfort, and he wanted to share it with you. He wanted to share his life with you. That’s why he was on one knee in front of you right now.

“I really do love you, with all my heart. Contrary to popular belief, I do have one—I even shocked myself.” He chuckled, but it sounded like he was trying to lighten the moment. You wanted to interrupt him, to shake your head and tell him to stop being so self deprecating. He’d always had a heart. The biggest one you knew. He just didn’t know how to use it, how to listen to it. However, you didn’t want to ruin the moment. Besides, you’d have plenty of time to convince him…

“You’re the love of my life. The only person who’s made me feel this way. It’s you. It’ll always be you.” He continued, clearing his throat. His eyes were glazed over too, and it hit you then, that you’d never seen Seokjin cry. Good, because this was torture enough.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you. If you’ll have me?” You were aware he was asking you a question, but you were speechless. Staring down at him as it felt like time was standing still. Not for him though. Your silence probably ticked by painfully. His mouth twitched, worry now marring his face. “God, is this too early?”

He was already lifting to stand up again, flustered, cheeks turning red. “No,” you rushed out. “N-no.” You reached down for his shoulders, keeping him to the floor and he looked up at you in confusion. You laughed quietly, fingers reaching for his face as you soothed the blush away. His hands now clutched at your hips, and maybe he could tell by the look in your eyes that no, nothing was too early. Not with you two. Everything was just right. “You really need to start having more confidence in yourself.”

He smiled at that, lopsided, the right side of his mouth quirking up as he dipped his head. You watched as he took a deep breath, eyes closing before he let go of you, bringing the little black box between your bodies again. You took a step back, clutching your hands together. Suddenly your heart wasn’t beating so fast. Just a calm, comforting boom, boom, boom as it waited for the question. He murmured your name softly.

“I’m so in love with you. Will you marry me? Will you let me be your husband?”

Two questions. Both with the same answer. “Yes,” you gushed, nodding your head rapidly, pulling him up by the shoulders, needing him to be stood in front of you. A tear rolled down your cheek but you hardly noticed.  “Of course it’s a yes.”

You were laughing now, in happiness and disbelief. He joined you, clutching ahold of your left hand. “Really?”

You couldn’t help but steal a kiss, humming loudly into his skin, nodding once more. You felt him find your ring finger and slide the band on, pressing his lips tighter into yours. You pulled away, eagerly wanting to see the piece of jewellery up close. Your eyes were still blurry though and he reached for your face to brush the tears away, kissing the top of your head as you gasped at the crimson jewel that came into focus in front of you.

“Seokjin, the ring is beautiful,” you awed, unable to tear your eyes away as it sparkled in the moonlight.

He took your fingers, kissing them one by one. “It was the ring my granddad used to propose to my grandmother. The stone comes from Hell. One of a kind.”

You were at a loss for words, eyes fleeting between the ring and his face. “That’s so romantic.” He laughed at that, a hearty, loud laugh that rumbled in his chest. It was your favourite sound. His eyes still sparkled with unshed tears, yours dried at the edges. He kissed the spots clean.

“I love you, Seokjin. I love you, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you either.” You whispered into his cheek, and he sighed in content, arms falling inside your coat to wrap around your waist. He held you tightly, and that feeling right there, you wouldn’t ever feel safer. You wanted to feel like that for eternity.

He pulled away first, slowly, reluctantly, but his mouth was twitching up into a little smirk. “Unless we get murdered by killer clowns right now.” You whined at that instantly, shaking him, but he just squeezed you tighter, placing a lingering kiss on your mouth.

“Happy Halloween,” he sung as he came up for air.

You married a year later. To the date. Three years after you first met. Halloween had a new meaning. His vows and speech proved difficult, trying to clean up and skirt around the truth of the very first time he laid eyes on you. He did tell you how utterly addicting you were though, since the beginning. He couldn’t ignore it, nor did he want to. You’d taught him so many things since he appeared in your life and he was so glad. So glad he got to love you. So glad he had you to teach him how to be a man. Only you and a selected few in the the room knew what he meant. The true meaning of his words. You told him he’d always been a man though. You wouldn’t have fallen in love with him if not.

Jimin cried. He said he didn’t, but he did. The red ringed eyes kind of gave it away. It didn’t stop him from hitting on your best friend though. Too bad she’d already fallen for Taehyung. He caught the bouquet and handed it to her. Probably didn’t mean anything by it, what would he want with some flowers?, but emotions run high at weddings and your friend had always been a sucker for a pretty face.

Happy Halloween indeed.

#6 The Devil’s Spawn

“I want one.”

Probably not the words you’d expected to leave your husband’s mouth whilst babysitting your sister’s children. Not so casually anyway. You’d spent a year in blissful marriage, making the most of it. Seokjin didn’t do things by halves, and when you’d began discussing honeymoons before the wedding, he’d come up with the ambitious idea of travelling across Europe. It meant you both had to take time off work, but as the boss, and now the boss’ wife, however unfair, it meant you could do whatever you liked.  Jimin was left in charge this time though—and of Bear. Jung Hoseok truly didn’t want to be rooted from Hell a second time (he’d declined your wedding invite…), but he really wasn’t a choice anyway, and off you’d both gone in the new year. Mr and Mrs Kim. You’d never left the country with Seokjin before so it was an entirely new experience altogether, and tested you sometimes, but hey, all in the name of love. Children were something you wanted, of course, but they hadn’t been in the forefront of your mind because this year had been so busy, but he’d planted an idea that day.

Inseminated with the devil’s spawn was the last step in your relationship—well, the last step was hopefully dying together of old age, but Seokjin kept telling you to shut up because that was too morbid.

So a week after he’d dropped the bombshell, just before you were about to turn off the light for bed, you rolled over and kissed his cheek. He was reading a book so just hummed in response, glasses perched on his nose, hair flopping against his forehead. He always looked so young like that, so…normal. He wasn’t a devil to you, not anymore. He was your husband, the love of your life, and you would never regret what you were about to say next.

“I want one too. Let’s start trying.”

His book was on the floor before you could finish the last word. “Now?” He’d never looked so eager.

You giggled. “Not right now. We should talk first. Make a plan of action.”

“We don’t need a plan,” he groaned, pouncing on you as you squealed. “I get hard, you get wet and then I cum inside you. Baby made.” His voice was deep in your ear, a thrill of excitement washing through you.

“I haven’t even stopped taking the pill yet.”

He groaned again, lifting his head up to look at you. His glasses were now wonky. You straightened them with a smile. “Let’s have a practice run then.”

You couldn’t say no to that.

.

.

Sex after that started to get serious. Once you’d gotten a check up at your doctor’s office and stopped birth control there really was no stopping Seokjin. You walked into his office for lunch one morning and were met with a list of sex positions scrawled on a piece of notepaper.

“These are the ones that will make for a successful impregnation.” He informed you like he was making a business deal.

“Such a way with words, my dear husband,” you rolled your eyes, casting your eyes over the numbered list sceptically. “We do all these anyway.” It was literally every sex position in the universe noted down. Pointless.

“Are you not taking this seriously?” He asked, incredulous.

“I’m sorry, but how serious should I take a sex list?” You just laughed. “Want me to bend over your desk so we can, hm...” Your eyes found number 3. “Start going at it ‘doggy style’?”

Honestly the idea of Seokjin scrolling google looking for sex positions to get you pregnant was both hilarious and adorable at the same time. You found yourself going along with his ideas…  

“Can’t wait to fill you up with my cum,” he grunted in your ear that night, body wrapped behind yours, dick slick and rigid between your legs, sliding in and out of you. 2. Spooning. Pelvis tilted at a 90-degree angle, perfect for sperm to get a better reach, and also romantic. Yes, baby making was turning out to be so romantic. Sarcasm intended.

“You gotta make me cum first.” You insisted, voice coming out in a huff with each one of his thrusts. He’d already read a theory on how female orgasms could boost the chances of a positive pregnancy test.

“Working on it.” His hand fell between your legs, those nifty fingers able to pry an orgasm from you even in the most exhausted times—try half dead after three orgasms in already, but now that seemed like a distant memory. Pre-baby making and now Post-baby making. You were two people. Sex would never be the same again. You could feel it. Your youth was gone, so was your sinful devil. In his place was a serious, pushy hubby, who was right now mentally willing his sperm to crack that egg.

He could still make you feel amazing though, fuck you real good, and feeling all warm and fuzzy from your orgasm you groaned when he began filling you up, twisting your head to kiss his mouth sloppily, mumbling into him, “Mhm, get me nice and pregnant.”

“Do you think it worked?” He asked you quietly ten minutes later, lights off, eyes closed, his arms wrapped tightly around your body.

“Hopefully,” you whispered back, giving his left hand a squeeze. Your wedding ring hit his, and then the cat meowed from outside the door, begging to be let in.

.

.

However, it proved harder than you both thought. Two months later and still no baby. Two painful weeks you’d waited the first time to take a pregnancy test, just to see the minus sign. Then your period had come the next day. Then four weeks had past, so much sex in between you felt like it had become a chore. A body wasn’t made to have sex every single day. You had to put a stop to it somewhere, downloading an app that tracked your period and ovulation so you could try to decipher the right times to get funky.

“Quick pee on this!” Seokjin came whizzing through the living room door, throwing a rectangular box on your lap. He was only out for groceries, why had he come back in a tizz?

“I took a test yesterday. I’m not pregnant,” you sighed, not bothering to look at the box as you slung it to the side of you.

“It’s not for that. It’s for ovulation.” He shook his head. You cocked an eyebrow. You’d already agreed not to use those types of tests, not wanting to add anymore pressure on yourselves, but it looked like Seokjin’s doubt of the accuracy of the app you were using had finally exploded. You picked the box up again, inspecting the back. “Have you peed today?”

“Yes. Twice.”

“Fuck.” He sounded like his whole word was ending. You peered up at him, his fingers thrashing through his hair. “The instructions say it needs to be the first pee of the morning.”

“Well, I’m sorry my body has natural functions.” It was 11am. You’d had two glasses of water since you’d woken up.

“Let’s just have sex now, in case you’re already ovulating.”

He was turning into an ogre, pushing his jacket from his shoulders as he walked towards you. You were tired. It was the weekend and you just wanted to sit down and do nothing in your pyjamas. You didn’t care if you were fertile.

“Calm down,” you sighed, rising from the sofa. “I haven’t even showered yet.”

“Doesn’t matter. Oh!” He exclaimed suddenly, kicking off his shoes this time. “We can do it in the shower! Wait,” he shook his head, changing his mind. “Never mind. That would not work at all.”

You looked at him, taking in the moment for what it was. Seokjin about to burst a blood vessel because he wanted to get you pregnant so bad, and that was when you started laughing. Loudly, almost hysterically, tears pricking in your eyes. He watched you as if you’d gone crazy, but you couldn’t stop. Soon he got paranoid.

“Seokjin,” you whined, wrapping your arms around his neck. You did understand the anxiousness of the situation, the stress. You were going through it too. You’d both thought getting pregnant would’ve been easy, but there was no need to lose your mind over it. You just needed to get some perspective. It would happen when it happened.

“Sex was so much hotter when it wasn’t a chore,” you continued, kissing him. You fell into it, closing your eyes, just taking a moment to clear your mind. He slowly wrapped his arms around your waist, humming in agreement. An understanding.

You pulled away with a small smile. “I hope I get pregnant soon.” He nodded at that, pushing some hair behind your ear. You bopped his nose and then winked. “I’ll be five minutes. You better be naked when I come back.”

You needed to remember to have fun, and fun was based around spontaneity. Sex in your living room at 11am on a Saturday was about as crazy as it got for a married couple trying for a baby…

.

.

“Mhm. Missed. You. So. Much. Baby.” Seokjin punctuated each word with a tug of his mouth, tongue slipping inside on the last, a term of endearment you would never grow sick of coming from his mouth, especially since he’d been gone for a week.

A whole week. You thought you were going to explode. Especially because he’d been in Hell… No fault of your own, but the word didn’t exactly fill you with much ease. Your husband had gone on a business trip somewhere that wasn’t even on Earth. How were you supposed to calm down, even when he told you it wasn’t even that bad. “You’d actually be pleasantly surprised if you could visit.” You couldn’t by the way. You needed to be missing a soul for that to happen, and Seokjin wasn’t about to do that to prove a point. “How do you even get there? Actually, you know what, don’t tell me…” You’d changed your mind weakly the morning he’d left, a suitcase (!) in hand. He’d just shrugged and told you he’d be back soon, after he’d sorted out whatever mess was happening down in the pits of hell—quite literally. “And when I do, you’ll be high level fertile,” he’d grinned. That’s when you’d pushed him out the front door.

Baby making seemed the last thing on his mind now though. You mean, he wanted you. You were up the stairs and in the bedroom before you could have time to process it, but it wasn’t because he wanted to impregnate you right this second. He’d just missed you. How long? You think it had some deeper meaning, one you’d been overlooking…

“I missed you more,” you whined into his mouth, breath tickling him, lips pulling apart, sticky and swollen.  “I was going to make us food.”

“No time. Need to be inside you.” He grunted, fingers digging into your hips, about a second away from tearing the skirt from your body. “Need to fuck you. I’ve missed you.”

“We have problems if we can’t stay separated for a week.” You tried to sound disapproving, but it was a lie. You did have problems. Big fat ones that started with separation anxiety and ended with soggy underwear, Seokjin’s impatient hand pushing up your skirt to rub against your tights.

“Yeah, I’ve got erection problems.” He muttered, teeth tugging out your bottom lip, tip of his tongue running along it. “As in if I don’t stick it in you right this second, it’ll fucking explode.”

That had you on your back and you both naked from the waist down, his shirt open, chest out, and sometimes you wondered how you managed to keep a level head when your husband was this hot? You must have nerves of steel.

You managed to shake your shirt off just as he was opening your legs and crawling between them. “Wait,” he suddenly stopped himself, looking around the bedroom. “Is the cat here?”

“She’s downstairs,” you rushed, curling your foot against his ass, pushing him forward. You were needy and desperate right now, but vaguely appreciated the comical value of Seokjin being scared of having sex in front of Bear after that one unlucky incident early on in your pet ownership days…

“Good.” He sighed, and then he was pushing inside you. Slowly, head kicking back with a groan as your walls greedily took what was theirs.

He’d definitely missed you. Each thrust of his hips was made with a deep-rooted passion, like he meant business. Needed to make you feel as good as he could. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d had sex like this. Surely not like this since you’d started trying for a baby. He was usually overthinking each move, strategic in how he held you, spoke to you. Not now.  

“S-Seokjin,” you managed to choke out somewhere between your second and third orgasm. “Shit. I’ve missed you.” Once again it meant so much more. He knew that too.

“You’re so good for me,” he purred, kissing your neck. “Cum so many times.” He was out of breath, all worked up. You didn’t blame him, you’d been going for ages. The second time he’d made you cum it was with his mouth. The break was needed it seemed. He wouldn’t last much longer.

“You want this devil to fill you up?” You moaned embarrassingly loud at his question, nipples hard and sticky from where he’d ravished your chest, trapped inside your lace bra.  “If I come inside you, that’s it.” He warned, listing his head up, gaze burning through you. Your abdomen lit on fire. “You’ll be mine forever.” He kissed your mouth, tearing it open with another moan. “Mother of my spawn. I really want that.”

Your head was spinning, pleasure rippling through your body with each hard thrust of his hips. You had a devil kink? So what? Your husband was the most important devil out there anyway. You were allowed. Anyone in your shoes would act the same.

“Defile you so bad.” His voice was dangerously low, goosebumps erupting over your skin as you gripped at his shoulders and back, needing to feel him all around you.

“Yeah. Cum inside me, Seokjin,” you panted. “Make me yours. Take what’s yours.” To say you were enjoying yourself was an understatement, but it just felt good to act like this again. Somewhere along the way you’d lost yourselves without realising.

You reached for him, cupping his face gently. He slowed down, baring his teeth slightly as he grunted, trying to ignore the pleasure hurtling through his body. His face was dotted with sweat. “You know I want nothing more than for you to get me pregnant,” you murmured, and there was an understanding between the both of you, his eyes softening for a moment before he was kissing you, needy and desperate.

“Mhm, how much?” He moaned, beginning to speed up again, hips crashing against yours.

“So fucking much.” You urged, rolling into him, a dull glow in your pelvis again, right before you came a third time. He grunted and hissed as you squeezed around him, but he still held on. “You have to fuck me harder,” you wailed. “When you cum, fuck me harder. It needs to get deep.”

That finally broke him. His voice tore as he slammed into you, and the you felt the warmth of his cum spill inside you. He listened and didn’t stop, continuing to thrust in and out of you, even after he was empty. Fucking his frustration away, all those months pent up.

Fuck,” he cursed, fists clutched at the pillow underneath your head, and then he was slowing down, cock softening inside you. “Deep enough?” You nodded, capturing his mouth again, feeling cold when he eventually slipped from you.

“It’ll happen when it happens,” you told him fifteen minutes later, still lying on top of the bed, naked and dried in sweat. You’d been silent ever since he’d rolled off you, just your heavy breathing filing the room until it had evened out.

You turned on your side, smoothing down his hair with a smile which he returned. It was soft and gentle, your favourite kind, and you reached for his mouth, locking lips. You both needed to remember that. How lovely had this evening been because you’d been so distracted? You’d needed that, you both knew it.

“It will,” he nodded as you pulled away.  He clutched your hand tight. “I love you. Can’t wait for you to have my spawn.”

His smile turned goofy on cue, and you hit his chest before burying your head against it. He smelled musty, homely. You’d missed him. He was never going back to Hell. “Shut up.”

“Okay, but it was hot back then?” He insisted, lifting your head back to look at him again.

“It was.” You rolled your eyes, not wanting him to win. Now he’d never shut up.

You lied there for a bit longer, until you were getting chilly, reaching for your shirt before sitting on the edge of the bed. He spoke again. You could hear him reaching for his pants. “Maybe you should hang upside down, make sure it falls in.”

You shot him a look over your shoulder. “It’s food time.” You failed to believe he had a good meal down in Hell… Who was feeding him? Hoseok?!

It happened when you least expected it. That’s usually how things went, right? The one time you’d been lost in the throes of passion and it had worked. Maybe that’s all you had needed to do to get pregnant, or maybe it was a coincidence, because two weeks later you found your period was late. A day late, but hey, it was still late. You had a weird feeling in your stomach all morning, a fluttering sensation, an excited buzzing. You’d told yourself to wait until you got home to take a test, but as you’d gotten older your willpower had slowly ebbed away. You found yourself peeing on a stick during lunch time, the office cubicle cramped, but you just had a feeling. You couldn’t shake it. Your knees were the thing shaking when you walked out of there five minutes later, along with your hands.

Seokjin was out on a business lunch, giving you the perfect opportunity to hide the evidence in an envelope along with a little note. You scrawled his name on the front, sitting it on the middle of his desk and waited for him to return. He didn’t see it at first, too busy talking about this and that when he strode back in. He was still talking mindlessly when he picked it up. You couldn’t recall what it was about even now, your heart thudding so loudly in your chest as he opened it up you were surprised he couldn’t hear it.

He squinted his eyes inside the envelope, realising there was no letter inside, trying to make out what the object was, growing impatient as he grabbed it. You watched from your seat opposite him, holding your breath when the envelope dropped to the desk, the pregnancy test limp in his hand. He didn’t look at you, but you didn’t take your eyes off him as he slowly peeled the note from around the stick. He let out a faint sigh when he read it.

Congratulations Daddy x

You jumped to your feet immediately when he collapsed in his chair, rushing to his side. He looked pale, the colour drained completely from his face, the test now clutched tightly in his fist.

“I’m going to pass out.”

“Do you need some water,” you demanded, about to turn and dash for the water dispenser, but he grabbed your arm, stopping you in your tracks.

“It finally happened.” His eyes were wide, voice urgent.

“It did,” your grinned, nodding widely and he joined you, his own smile growing wider and wider until he was laughing. Disbelief and happiness rolled into one.

“Shit,” he exclaimed, dumbfounded, staring down at the test. You reached down and wrapped your arms around him, leaning your chin on his shoulder.

“We’re having a baby,” you whispered softly. Your own words sinking into your head. Excitement swam with apprehension, but you were so happy it had finally happened. So relieved.

“I can’t believe we’re going to be parents.” Seokjin’s voice was weak and tiny, not a thing like it usually was. He sounded out of it.

You tapped his chest fondly, smiling into his neck. “The best daddy, the best husband, and the best devil.” You finished off with a kiss.

He squeezed your hand with a weak laugh, wedding rings touching. “Don’t make me nervous. The pressure will end me.”

.

.

“It’ll be a girl.” Seokjin sounded adamant. Arms crossed around his chest almost smugly.

“No. A boy,” you shook your head, stretching your legs over his lap and tapping your belly. By your calculations you were only about a month pregnant, awaiting your first ultrasound in a few weeks time to confirm the much-awaited due date, but you couldn’t stop rubbing and touching your stomach. Neither could Seokjin. He’d been sleeping with his arm firmly wrapped around it every night since, stroking it good night.

“A mini you. We should call him Damian.”

You can’t hide your smirk, unable to sound serious and he shot you a look of disgust. “Please let us not humour any ignorant stereotypes.” Despite his displeasure, he began giving you a foot rub. “Besides, my child will be nothing but a little angel.” You scoffed, but he carried on. “They’ll have no choice but to rule Hell, though.” Of course, half devil, it was their fate. Like some type of demon royalty. History was changing though, the first half breed to one day be heir to the throne. Seokjin was quite excited to say the least.

“She’s not stepping foot in Hell,” you griped, protecting your stomach on cue.

“She?” He cocked an eyebrow, greatly amused.

You shook your head, annoyed at your mistake. “It’s boy, I can sense it.” You were so hell bent on that, and Seokjin was so determined it would be a girl. You’d been bickering in jest since you’d peed on the stick.

“I’m the one who senses things around here,” he tutted, squeezing your foot before looking sheepish. “Just not when it comes to the sex of our baby…”

.

.

It turned out he couldn’t sense anything. His devil intuition was useless when it came to pregnancy. But at least he was good at taking care of you when the morning sickness started to kick in. You knew it was probably coming, but you weren’t expecting it to knock you down for mornings at a time. Seokjin banned you from work after he found you slumped on your desk green in the face, completely ignoring your insistence that you would be fine in an hour or so. He wanted to stay at home with you too, but knew he couldn’t, so he’d sent his mom to keep an eye on you when he couldn’t be around. You appreciated the company, especially because your own mother couldn’t be here so conveniently because of the distance.

You were still suffering from bouts of sickness when you and Seokjin went for the first ultrasound, but at least it had become more bearable now, and with Seokjin’s insistence that you take some prenatal vitamins, you were at least keeping healthy and hydrated, (you’d never drunk so water in your entire life). Excitement greatly outweighed the realities of pregnancy right now though, both of you ecstatic to see your tiny baby on the screen.

Seokjin clung to your hand with both of his as the sonographer passed the probe around your belly, both of your eyes glued to the screen as you waited, both first time clueless.

The woman let out a little surprised ‘oh’ and Seokjin immediately grew stiff. “What’s wrong?” He asked, concerned.

She looked at him, a tinkle of a laugh leaving her as she shook her head in reassurance. “Nothing’s wrong. Mr. Kim,” she smiled, then looked at you, “Mrs. Kim… you’re having twins.”

Seokjin’s hands grew slack around yours, his jaw dropping open. He tried to say something coherent but all that left him were disjointed noises. Looking from your husband to the sonographer you tried to make sense of her words. “What?”

She smiled wider this time. “There’s two heartbeats. Congratulations.”

“I need to sit down.” Seokjin had been stood over you until now, but the shock had been too much, his weak voice obvious to that.  He let go of your hand, sitting in the chair beside you, running his fingers through his hair before he shifted forward, grabbing a hold of your hand again and pulling it to him. He couldn’t keep still. “Doctor, really?”

“Mmhm,” she nodded, sliding her finger along the screen. “Look here, two of them. Two bodies. Two heads.” She looked at you both, a kind smile on her face. “Two babies.”

You knew nothing. The ultrasound scan looked like a blob too you, but now that she was pointing it out you could see two little bodies. Two little beans. It wasn’t one baby, it was two, and the noise you could hear coming from the machine were two heartbeats. Galloping about in your ears. Your heart swelled, love filling you so deep it was a little overwhelming.

“Twins.” You whispered, still in awe, but you were definitely less shocked now, letting it sink in. You looked up at Seokjin, both of you smiling in disbelief. You squeezed his hand, a little laugh leaving you.

“Non-identical,” she added. “See here?” She pointed to the screen again. “Two placentas. Congratulations, you managed to fertilise two eggs at the same time.” She looked at Seokjin at that, quirking an eyebrow.

He blinked once, twice, and then grinned, laughing bashfully. “My sperm must be really powerful.”

“It doesn’t quite work like that, Mr. Kim, but whatever makes you feel better.” She laughed, shaking her head.

Twenty minutes later you were out of the doctor’s office, a due date in hand and plans to join a prenatal class set for next week. The doctor had told you despite how overwhelming the news could be for first time parents, you’d have enough support if you needed it, and things would be explained as you went along. You were still in a daze though, looking down at your stomach, still pretty flat, despite hiding two babies in there.

“One of each,” Seokjin gleed, sure of himself as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and guided you to the car. He couldn’t say that was intuition, more like wishful thinking.

“I’m going to be massive,” you pouted playfully, even though a small part of you was worried how you’d get around during your last trimester. What did being pregnant with twins even look like?! How would you stay upright? Sleep?! This was still all so overwhelming.

Seokjin kissed your cheek, reassuring you calmly. “I’ll look after you all the way.”

.

.

The wishful thinking worked. Your 20-week scan confirmed a boy and girl. Seokjin was beyond ecstatic, and a little bit gloaty, but a quick google search confirmed that the odds had always been in your favour anyway. Or maybe it was just meant to be. The bickering soon started where names were concerned. You successfully decided four weeks before they arrived. You weren’t expecting it to be so hard.  

You never did go back to work after your bout of morning sickness. Seokjin was adamant, so you busied yourself with decorating the bedroom you’d chosen for the babies. Seokjin nearly threw a fit when he came home one evening to find you on a stepladder painting the walls an off-white. Cue him finishing it off at 8pm in his suit. (Even the dry cleaners couldn’t get rid of the paint stains in the end…).

You got big. Uncomfortably so. All seemed to be well 16 weeks in, your bump growing at a comfortable rate and then whoosh, you ballooned. Couldn’t see your toes by 30 weeks, waddling along, needing a pee every couple hours because one of them (baby boy!) liked pushing down on your bladder. When one started kicking was the worst. It started the other off. They were already fighting—a fist here, a foot there—and they hadn’t even been born yet. Seokjin found it amusing, jokingly scolding your belly as he wagged his finger. You on the other hand were wincing, the novelty well and truly worn off now that your insides were a human punching bag this last trimester. They were active little shits. Liked to give you heartburn too.

However, despite the stresses and the strains, you still weren’t ready to give all that up. You realised on the day of your baby shower, looking down at your bump close to tears, friends and family around you laughing and joking, having a great time. The past nine months had gone by too fast, and while you were excited to finally meet your children, they were safe and sound in your stomach, protected to the fullest. Birth meant fresh stress, fresh worry, fresh problems, and that was terrifying. Even if you had your sister and friends to assure you motherhood would be fine. Seokjin had noticed your turn in mood, and after a quick cry in the bathroom, he’d told everyone it was gift opening time. He knew the key to cheering you up was a present. You’d been together near five years. He had practice.

“They’re lovely, Taehyung,” you chuckled, looking down at the sleepsuits in your hand. Little Devil embroidered across the chest of both. Nothing quite like the obvious getting screamed in your face but still clueless, as all your family and friends would be, bar a few devil kind… What a funny thought, your parents really had no clue they were in a house half filled with demons, and they never would. The shock would kill them surely.

“Tae thought it would be funny if they wore them in front of your parents,” Nara leaned in and whispered on cue, a wicked smile on her face.

Ah, your best friend, now also tainted by the dark realities of this world. Selfishly, you wouldn’t have it any other way. Falling in love with Taehyung was the best thing she’d ever done. If you just forgot about the awkwardness of the text you’d receive one morning a week after your wedding. TAEHYUNG WAS THE CUTE OFFICE GUY YOU HAD SEX WITH?! Luckily for you, she saw the funny side, and it looked like her and Tae were a match made in heaven hell. The real deal. He had after all confided in her. You weren’t even pregnant when you got that text. IM COMIGN OVER RIGHT NIW!!! TAEHYUNG JUST TOLD ME SOMETHING THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE. ITS NOT !! N O TTT!!  

That time period had been a little touch and go. She didn’t take to the news as easily as you, but then again, Taehyung didn’t rock up at her apartment on Halloween offering the gift of dick. Your defence was it could’ve been a dream. It was a little different for her. Her loving boyfriend she’d been dating for a year was half devil. Her best friend was married to one too. A pure one. That annoying little shit Taehyung called a best friend was also one. (She’d nearly keeled over when you’d reluctantly told her about the threesome-that-should-never-be-mentioned.) Thankfully, after a few sleepless nights on your couch, where Seokjin was banished to Jimin’s apartment and where you’d confessed everything, she’d realised she was in love with Taehyung. The greatest love story of the 21st century, (bar yours and Seokjin’s of course…) and a disaster was avoided. They’d just recently moved in together and had already called the role of godparents. Maybe little quarter-devils would be on the cards soon…

.

.

Of course your waters had to break on their own accord two days before you were due at the hospital to be induced. Of course. Despite everything being planned for the go ahead, two weeks before full term, your little devils had to come on their own say so. You woke up in the middle of the night to a wet patch. In your sleepy haze you’d mistakingly thought your bladder had finally given up on you. That and you were pissed your sleep had been disturbed. You were lucky to get four hours sleep a night these days, the bump making it impossible to get comfy. However, once awake, things were beginning to feel a little suspicious. Wet patch was probably an understatement, and the realisation this was your labour starting began to dawn on you. Then the panic came.

“Seokjin,” you hissed, attempting to sit up and hover over the mess you’d made. This was not supposed to be how it went. You were supposed to be in hospital. It was supposed to be all planned. “Seok-JIN.” You then shouted impatiently, aware he wasn’t moving. He’d always been a heavy sleeper but that was no help for you at this precise moment in time.

You threw the covers off your body the same time he started stirring, mumbling your name sleepily. Why weren’t you getting contractions?! They were supposed to come first, or surely at least some type of indicator before you were to be rudely awoken at 4am on a Wednesday morning by a soggy bedsheet.

“I think my waters have broken,” you rushed out, and that got him up.

He was in more of a flap than you, but luckily your bags were already packed, the car filled with fuel, and without much thought, you both worked on autopilot as he rushed you to the hospital, calling your midwife on the way.

Labour took ten hours from start to finish. Thankfully. You didn’t think you could’ve survived any longer. The epidural took the edge off, but you still cried when they put it in. Not because you were scared, rather you were nervous. Anxious for the birth of your babies. You were supposed to have two more days to prepare yourself. To say goodbye to them in your stomach and hello to them in the big wide world. Seokjin was the best though. You could tell he was close to tearing his hair out with how useless he felt, but he was there and that was all you needed. To hear him murmur support and love in your ears. To feel him wipe the sweaty hair out of your face, and kiss your temple, rub your back—even your feet at one point when your contractions had only been coming every forty minutes. He called your parents, told them to start travelling down early. Called Nara and Taehyung, Jimin too. He didn’t think you could hear, too busy groaning in pain, but you did. Heard the way he needed his best friend to give him a pep talk. He was nervous too, but you were too distracted to comfort him. You felt awful.

Baby boy came first. Three minutes older than baby girl—his baby sister, and after all that pushing, huffing and puffing, relief flooded through you. There was calm, no more pain, no more burning. All forgotten about, just a serenity now, and your babies were on your chest, silent and happy, their tiny little fists squirming about.

“How can I look at them both?” You whined, looking up at Seokjin who was hovering over you three, eyes wide. You wanted to soak them both in, give them equal attention.

Seokjin chuckled quietly, kissing the top of your head as he soothed your hair. “I love you.”

.

.

It was a few hours later when you could finally check up on Seokjin. After dressing the babies, one unsuccessful breastfeed, one successful, a double nappy change and visitors, you had to nap, effectively exhausted after the day you’d had. When you woke up you found him at the end of the hospital bed, cradling both babies carefully. He hadn’t noticed you rise, so you took the time to watch him, smiling to yourself as he cooed and whispered to them. Turning his head a little to the right, you were shocked to see the trail of a tear slide down his cheek. You’d finally seen him cry. Happy tears of course, you wouldn’t have it any other way, and you found yourself joining him, one of your own tears falling. You quickly wiped it away, clearing your throat unintentionally and that got your husband’s attention.

“You’re awake,” he murmured, turning his body towards you. He didn’t wipe the tear away. That just made your heart swell even more. He didn’t mind that you’d seen him so vulnerable. He never did, all this time had shown you that.

“Seokjin, you’ll be the best father. I just know it.”

“Hey, where’s all this coming from,” he chuckled, noticing the break in your voice, and he rushed over as carefully as he could. “Don’t turn soft on me right now. I’m fragile.”

You wiped your eyes again, looking up as you tried to stop the flow, laughing weakly. “I’m just so happy right now.”

“As am I.” He nodded, his smile unable to stay off his face. His eyes were glassy as he stared at you, and in turn he had to look away, an overwhelmed sigh leaving him as he watched down on the babies instead—his children. Your children. He blinked a couple of times, desperate to halt his tears. It worked, but his voice was hoarse as he spoke again.

“They’re both beautiful, just like their mother.”

You scoffed, flattening your hair to your head and tightening your ponytail. “I probably look like shit.”

He moved closer to you, carefully placing the babies on your chest, and you gladly took them, feeling their warmth immediately, as well as taking in their scent. The love you felt was overwhelming. “Never,” he whispered in your ear and you had to pause to understand what he meant, to remember what he was replying to. He kissed your cheek as you smiled, and you moved, wanting to feel his lips on yours. When you pulled away, you placed one kiss to both baby’s foreheads.

Seokjin copied, sitting down on the edge of the bed as he wrapped his arm around you, beaming down. “Daddy’s little devils.”

[elizabethemerald]

I'm not sure if I already requested something, but how about poly Jim/Toby/Claire/Darci with Toby as the trollhunter?

Hello again Friend! Here’s another finished request for you. This one got a little long, but it may be one of my favorite prompts I’ve received. 

If anyone else has any requests feel free to send them my way! Also I wrote Claire using they/them pronouns, so if I messed their pronouns somewhere please let me know. 

A role swap AU. For once Toby beat his friend Jim into the canals. The amulet called his name. Jim found himself wielding a staff powered by dark energies, his fate marked by Morgana’s magic. Jim’s girlfriend Claire found a hammer with gravity powers. When Merlin convinced Toby to step into a bathtub filled with a black potion Darci dove in after him desperate to save him. Eventually Toby, Darci, Claire and Jim realized they all loved each other, and there was no sense in pretending they didn’t. This story takes place several years after they would have graduated high school, now all four of them living together. 

The rock they sheltered behind rumbled and cracked as another powerful blow landed on it. Toby crouched, Daylight in his hand. His horns and long arms made him look even more like his adopted father and wingman Aaarrrgghh. His lovers were hiding behind the rock with him. 

Jim held his staff, arcane runes carved along its length. It wasn’t as powerful as the Skath-Hrun was, but it provided an ideal focus for his sorcery. His short black hair with it’s white stripe fluttered with his magical energy. His eyes were filled with blue fire, and more of the cerulean flames washed down his arms. 

Darci flexed her wings her claws digging into the stone. When Merlin had tricked Toby into using the potion, Darci had dove into the bathtub after her boyfriend. She emerged with a troll form all her own. Claire had joked once that she looked like she could be Strickler and Nomura’s daughter. While Toby looked like a baby Krubera, Darci was skinny with black hooves and massive wings that could carry her through the sky. 

Claire twirled their warhammer in their hands. The massive weapon with its purple fires and gravity powers. They smiled grimly at the others, in their trademark Papa Skull sweatshirt. The sleeves were ripped off to show off their arms. Their black hair with it’s purple stripe was carefully pulled back and contained with multiple barrets. 

“This guy is huge! He’s shrugged off everything we’ve thrown at him.” Claire said. It was rare that monster they faced survived even one blow from their hammer, much less came back for thirds. 

“We have to hit him with everything we’ve got!” Toby said looking around at his lovers. “Darci and Claire when I give you the word, you two take to the air. Darci try and get behind him.” Darci nodded, stretching her wings then crouched ready to take off. Her twin swords were strapped across her lower back. “Claire when you see your moment you bring the heavy hits.”

“I’ll bring a few meteors with me!” Claire said as they crouched next to Darci. Their hammer in their hands ready to rocket towards the ceiling of the cavern. 

“Jim and I will give you a distraction to get into the air. Then Jim you bring the fire from the sides and I’ll go right up the center.” 

Jim nodded and began tracing arcane symbols into the side of the boulder they were sheltering behind. “And for godsakes don’t get killed.” Jim said. “At least stay alive long enough for me to put you back together.”

Toby allowed his helmet to cover his face, he vanished Daylight and pulled out his smaller blades, holding them ready to throw. Then nodded to Jim. 

“Azaz terra!” Jim cried. 

Toby threw both of his glaives so they curved around the boulder. The rock itself rocketed forward slamming into the massive troll on the other side. A curtain of blue fire rose up almost to the ceiling. Claire swung their hammer upward and took off with a roar. Darci leapt into the air and with a powerful beat of her wings soared off. Toby jumped in front of Jim slashing with Daylight as it appeared again in his hand. The slash was perfectly timed to split the boulder in half as the troll threw it back in their direction. 

The troll was huge. Possibly larger than Gunmar had been. And twice as durable. The massive creature picked up two more large boulders and pulled his arms back to throw them. 

Before he could release them Darci dove out of the darkness with a shriek. Her twin blades bit deep into his back. She hung on desperately as he tried to throw her off. Her attack left the troll’s front wide open. 

Toby flung Daylight with all his strength. It embedded itself almost up to the hilt in the troll’s chest. Then the Trollhunter slammed his fists together. The armor manifested a pair of studded gauntlets that covered him up to the elbows. Toby’s favorite stone for his amulet. He wasn’t as strong as Aaarrrgghh, but with the gauntlets he could hit just as hard. He roared and charged. 

Several powerful punches forced the troll to reel back. The troll tried to crush Toby in between the two boulders in his hands. Toby barely managed to stop the two rocks, but now he was exposed. 

Toby felt a foot land on his back and just like they had practiced he knelt a little then jumped, propelling Jim into the air. The sorcerer slammed his flaming staff again and again into the troll’s face, driving him even further back. 

“Everyone get clear!” Claire’s call was immediately followed by a thunderous crack above them. Darci pulled her blades free and dove backwards flapping hard to regain altitude. Toby flexed his hands and crushed the boulders into rubble. Jim stayed on top of the troll battering his face with his flaming staff, blue flames pouring from his eyes like tears. Toby vanished his gauntlets and grabbed Jim by the collar of his blue zip up and pulled him back. 

The Trollhunter covered his love with his body as a enormous stalactite driven down by Claire’s gravity powers crashed into the troll. Claire rode the rock down their hammer in their hand; they dove off at the last second. With a deafening crash the stalactite crushed the troll. 

The rumbling continued for several minutes as more and more rubble fell from the ceiling, dust filling the room. After the noise finally quit Toby could hear Darci’s powerful wingbeats blowing the dust away. He could also hear Claire calling for him and Jim. He stood up straight shoving some of the rocks off his back. Jim uncurled his body from where Toby had been sheltering him. 

“Oh there you are! I was afraid I buried you!” Claire said landing by their side. 

“You almost did bury Jim.” Toby said. “That whole don’t die part applies to you too, Jim the self sacrificing!”

Jim smiled weakly, “I had to hold him where he was or the cave in wouldn’t have worked.”

Claire glared at him. “You already got him in position, he wasn’t going anywhere.”

Toby carefully wiped a bit of blood from Jim’s brow. Now that he wasn’t performing his magic, Jim’s eyes were back to the regular blue. “Is anyone else injured?” Toby asked.

Darci landed carefully on a rock. “I think one of the stones hit me. I going to have bruise the size of your fist on my wing when we get back home.”

Claire was immediately at her side opening up the wing in question to inspect the bruise. “I’m sorry Darc! I didn’t want any of you to get hurt!” 

Toby stretched his back, twisting this way and that. Between his troll hide and the armor of Daylight he was mostly uninjured. A few bruises and scrapes, but nothing serious. He smiled at Claire and they tried to hide how upset they were that they had hurt two of their lovers. He summoned his blade back to his hand, then allowed his armor to disappear. 

“Alright everyone let’s get back to the house. We can talk more once we are away from the potential for a worse cave in.”

Jim’s eyes glowed blue and he clapped his hands together. As he slowly pulled his hands apart a whirling black portal opened, wreathed in blue flames. 

“Try not to get any dust in the house! I just cleaned.” He said as the portal opened large enough for them all to pass through. 

“Yes dear.” Claire said. They kissed him on the cheek and ducked under his outstreatched arm into the portal. 

“Yes honey.” Darci said and kissed him on his other cheek and ducked under his other arm. 

“Of course Jim.” Toby said as walked through the portal on the other side. 

Jim was alone on top of the rubble and allowed the portal to cover him bringing him into his basement. The others were quickly moving out of the portal corner of the basement. One corner had been designated as his portal location, always kept free of belongings and people so noone was ever injured from a sudden portal. 

“Jim if you were going to magically clean all of us with your portal anyways, why even mention the dust?” Claire asked their arms crossed. Jim could only smile and shrug in response. They all made their way out of the basement into the rest of their house. 

* * *

With four incomes they were able to afford a very nice place. It was far enough from Arcadia that they could be anonymous without the people they saved trying to worship them, but close enough that they could get back to Heartstone Trollmarket if there was a crisis. Like the houses in Arcadia the house had three levels. The basement was primarily used by Jim for his magic and portaling. There was also a tunnel that lead eventually to the Arcadia sewers. 

All four of them had different jobs, now that they were no longer kids. Darci had a job that Toby would have loved when he was a kid. She was a full time “Costumed” streamer. She played up her troll form as a monstersona, pretending her wings and horns were cunning prosthetics. She almost exclusively played horror games. Occasionally she would have her partner or boyfriends appear on camera. 

People laughed at Toby’s monstersona. How could two people who are willing to spend that kind of money for those quality monster costumes, just happen to fall in love? Toby is the one she brings on when she wants someone to scream for the camera. Claire usually makes fun of the goofy monsters in the games, though jump scares will get them as well. Jim doesn’t react at all to the monsters or jumpscares. Though he will make Darci stop in the middle of a game so he can critique the grotesque displays and summoning rituals the games use. 

Jim works as a P.I. He jokes sometimes that P.I. could stand for either Private Investigator or Paranormal Investigator. He helps people find lost relatives or catch cheating spouses. After what his mom went through with his dad, he wasn’t going to let anyone else get away with abandoning their family. It was also a job that allowed him some freedom, just in case the lost child he was supposed to return to her parents had a good reason not to be with them. Or if his eyes occasionally rolled into the back of his while he incanted in trollish noone would think twice. 

Claire had the most normal job of all them. They taught at the local school. Toby had laughed when he said at least one of them should have good health insurance considering their other job of protecting trolls. It had been a bit of a struggle for Claire to get their teacher’s certification but it was definitely worth the work. They were loved by their students, who knew they could bring anything to the them and Claire would have their backs. If any of their students happened to see something magical they could tell Claire that as well and their teacher would believe them.

Toby of course was the Trollhunter. They all realized that there was no real point in Toby trying to maintain a day job.  Especially once Merlin tricked him into giving up his humanity. Trollhunting was his full time job. Fortunately now with Blinky as the head of Trollmarket, Toby received a small amount of financial compensation for his hero work. That helped pay for Toby’s share of the mortgage. 

All four of them hung out in the kitchen while Jim saw to their wounds. He inspected Darci’s wing to make sure there wouldn’t be any lasting damage. Then he saw to Toby’s scrapes. He had managed to discover a much more effective way of caring for troll skin than molten metal, and less expensive as well. Next Jim cared for Claire’s bruised foot which they didn’t notice in the earlier excitement. Belatedly and at the insistence of his lovers he carefully bandaged the cut on his own eyebrow. 

Darci and Claire collapsed onto the couch, Darci’s wing a little stiff and Claire’s foot carefully wrapped with an ice pack. Toby walked in with his specially designed phone held up to his face. 

“No don’t worry, we took care of the bruiser!”

Aaarrrgghh’s concerned words could be heard on the other side. “You are OK?”

“Yep, no worries Dad! No reason for you and Blinky to end your honeymoon early.”

Toby kept walking into the kitchen, passing Jim going the other way. Jim had several trays laden with food, some that suited troll appetites, some for human ones. He sat down on the couch in between Claire and Darci. He paused to kiss both of them before getting comfortable. Finally Toby walked back into the room putting his phone on the table. 

“Is it time for a movie my lovelies?” Toby rumbled. He walked down the length of the couch giving each of them a kiss as he did. Darci caught him with her uninjured wing to give him a second kiss. Jim laughed and when he kissed Toby blew a small blue fire into the half troll’s mouth. He laughed harder as the tickle of blue flame came out of his nose. Toby teased Claire by staying just out of reach so she couldn’t get her kiss, that is until she used her power to increase the gravity of his head so he was within kissing range. 

Finally he sat down heavily on his side of the couch. The side of the couch that had been reinforced by every troll trick or magic his lovers could come up with. Sometimes it still sagged. He let out a deep purr of happiness as him and his three other lovers cuddled up in front of the TV, the sound of movie playing softly until one by one they each fell asleep.

You know what I don’t need right now? Another AU to write. I’m hoping this will be all I write, because I already have too many ideas. But I might come back to this idea later. 

[tessatechaitea]

Teen Titans Spotlight #9: Changeling

I feel like this is the first appearance of the Changeling logo.

It's as if General Immortus knew that one day Niles Caulder would be just a head! Or, more probably, Grant Morrison fucking remembered this one panel and thought, "I'll turn The Chief into a disembodied head!" Unless it was Rachel Pollack who did that. What am I? The Doom Patrol wiki?

Cliff Steele has just been on another adventure where his body was torn apart. At least I'm assuming it was because whenever he or Red Tornado are in a super hero battle, they usually get torn to pieces. Somebody's got to be and you can't do it to Batman. But Cliff is tired of it and he's ready to retire to a ranch in California. I wonder why Grant Morrison's run didn't take place there? Cliff and Garfield wind up at the New York Zoo because Garfield wants to fuck the lioness and Cliff wants to buy hot dogs that he can't eat.

Based on the repartee between Robotman and Changeling, I don't think the crowd are the only people to mistake Cliff for Cyborg.

The previous caption was a criticism of the writer, Paul Kupperberg. Was it too subtle? I know it wasn't on the level of Ann Nocenti criticism where I once questioned how she survived the surgery that replaced her brain with Jello pudding but sometimes you need a little subtlety in your life. Like when you want to masturbate but all you have on hand are your sandpaper masturbation gloves. I don't know if that final sentence had anything to do with subtlety. I think it had more to do with me introducing the public to my new invention! It, um, needs some work.

I first read Changeling's line as "You're obviously a fat." Not because I often misread the fuzzy text of old comic books but because I saw the kid in the first panel and my brain began thinking, "How do I make a hilarious and inoffensive fat joke about this kid?"

I just realized I should mention the writers and artists of these old issues since they're not on the cover. The artist is Dan Jurgens and I already mentioned the writer. I don't know what inkers do so I don't remember who the inker was. And the one thing I've always refused to do in my comic book reviews over the last eight years is to mention the letterer! Mostly because I always hated reading letters from fans who praise the writing and drawing and then offer a throw away line about how easy the typeface was to read thanks to Costanza or whoever! Oh, and I actually really forgot about the colorist until just now! That was Adrienne Roy! Who better to color some kid green than good old Adrienne! Cliff walks off in a huff when people begin to actually recognize him. He should have thrown in a few "Booyahs" and offered to show off his white noise cannon. Um, wink, wink! I'm not proficient at flirting. Before Robotman can find a quiet bathroom stall to wish he could cry in, Mister 104 attacks! I know. You're thinking the same thing I'm thinking, right? What happened to Misters 1-103? Oh, and probably, who the fuck is Mister 104?! But then I'd be disappointed if a Doom Patrol villain showed up and I recognized that villain. Their villains should get a "What the fuck?!" reaction at least ninety percent of the time. That's another thing the television show got right! How many scenes have Crazy Jane shouting "What the fuck?" and then Cliff responds with "What the fuck?" and then Crazy Jane is all "No, fucking seriously! What the fuck?" and then Cliff is all "What the fucking fuck fuck fucking fuck?!" The show uses the F-word a lot! Luckily Changeling remembers who Mister 104 is and thinks through Mister 104's entire origin for us. It turns out Mister 104 can turn into every known element on the periodic table. He's only Mister 104 because that's how many elements were on the periodic table in 1965 when he first appeared in Doom Patrol #98. Except when he appeared in that issue, he was Mister 103. So either he hadn't looked at a periodic table since 1961 when he first attacked the Doom Patrol in 1965 or Arnold Drake, the original Doom Patrol writer and co-creator, fucked up. Or maybe there was a plot reason for it in the story, like Mister 103 just despised Helium or maybe Superman paid him to never turn into krypton(ite)? Still, this is 1987! He should be Mister 109! I didn't learn all of that from Changeling's thought bubbles! Some of it I learned because Mister 104 mentions that when he last encountered the Doom Patrol, he was left as "a mass of free floating destabilized atoms" and the editor helpfully noted that took place in Doom Patrol #106. In 1987, I would have just thought, "Oh, okay. Whatever." But in 2019, I can use the Internet to find out all about that issue! Suck it, me in 1987 who didn't learn anything new or helpful in any way and who couldn't pretend like you were super smart and knew all about the periodic table because you didn't have Wikipedia like a stupid idiot! Ha ha! Apparently Mister 104 appeared in other comic books I've read (like The Doom Patrol vs. Suicide Squad Special) but it's understandable that I don't remember him. Partly because he may have been going by Atomic Man or Atomic Master and also because he's just kind of stupid. But stupid in just the right way that Doom Patrol villains should be stupid!

Don't read this text if you're trying to avoid spoilers for Teen Titans Spotlight #9: Changeling!

It looks like Mister 103 first takes on the name Mister 104 here. But what's odd is that he tells Cliff, "You might remember me: Mister 104!" And Changeling thinks, "That's Mister 104!" I guess Paul Kupperberg couldn't abide the fact that Arnold Drake fucked up and he had to correct him. I bet he was fuming for over twenty years! He probably got a job as a comic book writer simply to fix this mistake from his childhood! But then, I suppose everything can be explained away by simply invoking Crisis on Infinite Earths. That probably changed things somehow.

That's your argument for why you'r going to win this fight?

During the battle, Mister 104 turns into a lot of different chemical compounds, proving that he was indeed a molecular engineer. But Robotman manages to thwart each of his different shapes with punches, proving that nerds just can't win in physical combat. Eventually, Mister 104 sets a fire that traps the fat kid from earlier who didn't have enough sense to get the fuck out of the way. Interrupting the battle is a scene where Mento plots the downfall of the Teen Titans with the help of his captive, the star of the next issue of Spotlight, Aqualad! Back to the fight, Changeling saves the kid and drops him off by the hot dog stand. He sees some canisters and the fat kid says, "Those? But that's just soda gas!" Who the fuck calls it soda gas? I lived through 1987 and I don't remember ever saying, "The soda gas in this soda really hits the spot!" Maybe calling it carbonated water or carbon dioxide or carbonation would have given the game away too early! Changeling appears as a giant ape wielding cans of carbon dioxide to smother Mister 104's flaming fury. And this time instead of transforming into some other element, he's knocked out cold! Way to go, soda gas! Teen Titans Spotlight #9: Changeling Rating: C+. The entire point of the story was to show that Robotman's estimation of Garfield Logan has grown and that he now sees him as a real hero. I guess the reader is suppose to think, "Yeah! If Robotman can admit that Garfield is now a real hero and not some jerk off jokester who causes more problems than he solves, I should probably think that too!" And since I'm a totally average comic book reader, I'm totally a Garfield Logan fan now! He isn't obnoxious and annoying at all in the way I thought! He's a real hero! Not as big a hero as soda gas but still pretty great!

[seeaddywrite]

MOAR Michael and Isobel, please!

i legit spent five minutes wondering what you meant by more, because i’d totally forgotten that isobel & michael got some quality time together in the fic i wrote where michael was ‘dying.’ so, here you go! i hope this is what you wanted. 

     When Michael’s got Noah secured in his lab, surrounded by nullifying powder he’d repurposed from the batch used to trap him and Max just a few days prior, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. Restless energy burns under his skin, the need to do something, anything, impossible to ignore. But the other man is unconscious, and will likely remain so for a while as Liz’s antidote does its work. Thus, Michael knows he’s not getting any answers that night, which only increases the desperation to act. He’s too late to save the woman in the cell at Cauffield – his mother, with those desolate, pain-filled eyes and the simple, grief-soaked words she’d managed to push through to him. I love you, my son. Now run.

     The words have replayed over and over in Michael’s head, drowning out all of the usual noise and chaos until he wants to scream.  He wants it all to stop, wants to drown the images and the pain out with as much whiskey and acetone as his body can take. But Maria’s avoiding him, so the Wild Pony is off limits, and his own stash of booze ran dry when Alex came back to town. 

    Alex. Michael flinches away from the thought of the other man; he’s not stable enough to even begin parsing everything that had passed between them today. It’s too much, on top of everything else, and Michael’s afraid his tentative calm would shatter if he even tried. So drinking’s out, drowning out the noise in his head with great sex is out, and going to Max is definitely fucking out – he’s understands why his brother did what he did, but there’s something about having a gun pointed at his head that makes him leery of going back. Even if picking a fight with Max has been one of his favorite distractions for a decade. 

   That leaves one other person, and Michael knows he shouldn’t do it. Isobel has enough on her plate – she’s suffering, too, in trying to deal with Noah’s betrayal and the fact that her bodily autonomy had been stripped from her. She’s been living a lie for years, and she needs time and space to recover from it. And the last thing she needs, Michael is certain, is him showing up at her door right now.

    But beyond Max, Isobel, Alex, and Maria, Michael’s got no one. Without them, he’s so fucking alone that he feels like he could throw his head back and scream without anyone noticing – he could wind up dead at the bottom of a gorge and no one would even care, aside from maybe lamenting his wasted potential. And if there’s one thing Michael can’t stand, it’s total isolation; he needs people, needs his family, even if he hates to admit it. 

   So he winds up at Isobel’s, on foot, a few hours later. He lingers on the porch, trying to figure out if he’ll be welcome or not - there are plenty of reasons for Isobel to ask him to leave, after all, if she even talks to him. Max would’ve called her by now, warned her that Michael’s lost his damn mind and given the man she wants dead the means to save himself. She’ll know that Michael has Noah trussed up in his lab, and has no intention of allowing anyone to harm him until he gets the answers he’s looking for – and Michael doesn’t know if she’ll forgive him. God knows she has all the right in the world to want the man who betrayed her dead, after all. But Michael can’t give her that, just like he can’t get the sight of his mother’s soft smile out of his head. Watching another of their people die, even if he is a psychopath, isn’t something Michael is prepared for. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to pick up the pieces afterward, this time. 

    “Are you planning on brooding out there in the cold all night, or are you coming inside?” Isobel’s voice is sharp, and Michael flinches in surprise. He looks up at her and something inside of him crumbles. She’s wearing a pair of sweats too long and wide to be her own. and a long t-shirt he thinks he recognizes from his own closet. He scrutinizes it for a moment, and yep, there’s the oil stain from Mrs. Carrerra’s old Buick on the hem. The sweats are probably Max’s; Isobel has never taken to loneliness very well, and clings unrepentantly to her brothers in times of crisis. Michael’s always envied her the ability to reach out and take the affection she needs – he’s never been able to ask, no matter how much he wanted to. 

     Michael opens his mouth to respond, then closes it again, and just follows Isobel through the porch doors and into the living room she’d designed for her and Noah to share when they first moved in. He sits down on the arm of the couch, shoulders hunched, while she takes over the cushions and wraps a blanket around herself. They sit in silence for a moment – until Isobel breaks. Because even in the midst of all this tragedy, she isn’t good at silence. “I was trying to call you all day,” she tells him, expression pinched. “Not just to tell you about Noah. I could feel you.” There’s a moment of hesitation, and she swallows, looking away fro him. Michael frowns, because Isobel is never shy, or afraid to say what’s on her mind.  “I can still feel you. And you’re breaking my heart, so will you just get over here and let me hug you already?” 

    The chuckle that startles from him is short and strangled, but more than he’s managed since watching Cauffield go up in flames. He lifts his gaze from his knees to look at Isobel, who’s watching him expectantly with her arms spread wide. She’s the best of them at hiding how she’s feeling, Michael knows – her powers don’t go haywire, and she’s good at wearing masks in public. For Isobel, her entire life is a costume, and always has been, but now, the props have begun to come up missing, and the theater is burning down around her. Yet here she is, holding out her arms to Michael, despite what he’s done. 

    “Did Max –” 

    “If you’re about to bring up the fact that you have my murdering soon-to-be ex-husband tied up somewhere, don’t,” Isobel snaps. “I know, okay? But I can’t decide to hug your or hit you for saving him, because there’s some demented part of my subconscious that’s still in love with him.” Her voice cracks, and Michael has never been able to deny Isobel anything when she cries. Their relationship has always been so much simpler than his with Max; Isobel has always been in his corner, has always been a willing hand to hold or partner in crime, and he loves her. It’s why he’d been willing to let her believe him a murderer, rather than know the truth, and why half of his life has been dedicating to keeping her safe and happy. 

    So Michael slides down into the couch and takes her into his arms, hugging her gently against his chest. The familiar smell of her floral shampoo against his nose relaxes something tense within him, and he buries his face in the top of her head, trying to stop himself from dissolving into tears alongside her. 

    They stay like that for longer than Michael can keep track of time, until Isobel lifts her tear-stained face and wipes away the wetness on her cheeks determinedly. “No,” she says firmly, and Michael’s pretty sure she’s talking to herself more than him. “I am done crying over that son of a bitch. He doesn’t deserve it.” Clear green eyes focus on Michael, narrowing slightly. “And don’t think this gets you out of telling me what the hell you’re thinking, giving him his powers back. I am mad at you.  He wore me around like a cheap suit and used my hands to –” She trails off, voice wavering again, but plows on determinedly, as Isobel always does. “But I’m choosing to believe that you have a good reason. And Max is, too, by the way. He’s been beating himself up for pulling that gun since he let you go.” 

    Michael swallows, and addresses the easiest of those topics first. “Max was never going to shoot me,” he says certainly. “And it’s not like I don’t get it.” Unleashing a mind-warping serial killer on the town is definitely worth a gun, even if in reality, it hit Michael like a blow in the chest that his brother really believed that he would ever let him loose, knowing what he’s done. 

    “Then why’d you do it?” Isobel asks, and her voice is unexpectedly gentle. He glances up at her, surprised by the change in attitude, and finds a faraway quality in her eyes that he recognizes. She’s in his head, or at least picking up on the emotions he knows he’s bound to be broadcasting. Part of him flinches away from the intimacy of such a thing; he doesn’t want anyone in his head, not even Isobel. But he knows he won’t be able to say the words aloud, or get through any succinct explanation of the day’s events without losing his mind – and there are way too many breakables in Michael’s house for him to let go like that.

     “Iz,” he tries, but she’s already shaking her head, and leaning back in to rest her head on his shoulder. 

      “It’s okay,” she tells him, taking one of his work-roughened hands between both of her soft ones. It’s not the scarred one, thank God, because Michael doesn’t know if he can handle thinking of that particular tragedy right now – he’s got enough circulating in his brain. Even now, the gentleness with which Isobel handles him threatens to break all of the walls he’s erected around today’s experiences, and the lump in his throat is rapidly growing past the point where it can be denied. “Whatever it is, Michael, I’m right here. You don’t have to tell me. Just let me in.” 

    The images that have been threatening to overwhelm him all day won’t be denied. He breaks her grip on his hand and grips her wrist instead, needing the anchor as the pain and horror and shock of the day wash over him in a wave, decimating his walls like an angry tsunami. He can feel her with him as he relives it all, from Alex’s visit to his trailer to the moment he grasped his mother’s hand in the hell-hole, and her body trembles where it’s slumped against his somewhere in the midst of the memories. Michael wants to stop, to withdraw and check on her, but as always, he’s powerless against the noise in his head. The memories keep playing – Michael’s determination to stay with that woman, no matter what his fate, Alex’s insistence that he’s family, that he loves him  – and finally, that whisper in his head. I love you, my son. Now run. And then he’s watching the building burn in front of him, his body shaking, and the desolation and anger he felt then swamps him again, spilling into Isobel. 

     Michael comes back to himself slowly, and finds that now, he’s half horizontal on the couch, his jean-clad legs splayed in front of him on the cushions while his entire torso is being held up by Isobel’s body. Her arms around around his neck, and she’s crying into his hair, sobbing apologies and her own fury as she tries to comfort him. It helps, strangely, to know that someone else is morning his mother as he is – sharing the load lightens it, though Michael knows better than to think it’s anywhere enough. 

     “I’m sorry,” he croaks, surprised to find his voice hoarse. “You didn’t need to –”

     “Shut up,” Isobel tells him, sniffling. “I’ll come with you, tomorrow. To talk to Noah. He might -” she makes a disgusted face, trying to mop the wetness from her face with her sleeve. It doesn’t mask her emotional turmoil, but Isobel doesn’t do vulnerable well. That’s something Michael’s always understood about her. “He might be willing to talk to me. And if he’s not, I’ll get in his head and I’ll make him give you the answers you want. And if he knew about that place, I really will be a murderer.”

      For some reason, hearing Isobel voice the same thoughts Michael has had himself shocks him, and he shakes his head vehemently. “No, Iz. You’re no killer. And I don’t – I don’t think I can –” 

     Isobel looks at him thoughtfully, and runs a shaking hand over his hair.  “You don’t want anyone else to die,” she summarizes, exhaling loudly. “I don’t know what other options we have, Michael, but I don’t think either of us is up for trying to figure it out tonight.” She glances around the room, and grabs the blanket behind her to cover them both with it. It’s probably an awkward position for her, with Michael leaning so heavily on her thin frame, but she doesn’t make any effort to move him. Again, he’s struck with how much he loves Isobel -he may never have felt like he belonged on earth when he wasn’t with Alex, but he’s never questioned his place in his sister’s life, or her place in his. And that, he realizes, is something he can’t let himself take for granted anymore. 

     “Will you stay here tonight?” she asks finally, and Michael’s never been so grateful for a subject change in his life. He catches a breath – he’s been holding it, he realizes belatedly – and nods immediately. He’s not sure if she’s making the offer because she can tell that the idea of being alone makes him want to yank his hair out, or because she genuinely doesn’t want to suffer by herself, either, but Michael doesn’t think it matters. In all reality, it’s probably a combination of both, and that’s best. That way, they can look after each other. 

     “Great,” Isobel says, and there’s a glint of mischief in her tone that surprises Michael. He turns his head to look at her, warily, trying to figure out what she’s playing at. “Then you can tell me all about Alex Manes, and why I had no idea that you’re in love with him.”

      Michael drops his head against the couch and groans, borderline hysterical laughter bubbling up in his throat. And, god help him, he tells her everything, letting her share the last of his secrets with him. As midnight turns to early morning, and the sun begins to peek over the desert horizon, Michael finally feels himself begin to relax, and thinks that maybe, just maybe, they’re going to make it through this. Both of them. 

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Symbiote Spider-Man #1 Thoughts

Tl:dr version: Screw Ahmed’s ASM annual, THIS is a black costume story done right!

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with this book.

In spite of the back pages from editor Devin Lewis (who I am shocked to discover is about my age...Jesus) this is a title clearly existing because

a)      Venom had a movie last year

b)      Mysterio will be in a movie this year

c)       Venom is perennially popular

d)      The black suit is perennially popular

e)      There is an event coming up centred around those who were hosts to symbiotes, Spider-Man being the most famous

And as a side note the Spider Office/Peter David himself seem keen to maintain a PAD led title of some sort. No complaints from me, older creators shouldn’t be thrown away, especially one as talented as PAD.

However in this issue PAD has delivered quite frankly his best Spider-Man work in YEARS, possibly a whole decade. His 2099 book? This blows it out the water. His Scarlet Spider work, lol please.

I attribute this to 3 key factors:

a)      PAD is writing a character he honestly likes which wasn’t the case with Ben Reilly

b)      PAD is writing the character in the status quo he’d obviously prefer which wasn’t the case for 2099

c)       This being an untold tale series that’s also a mini, this title cannot be derailed by crossovers which was the case in...pretty much everything Spider related he’s written since 2005

This issue was magnificent.

It is essentially Peter David doing Untold Tales of Spider-Man but set in the Alien Costume Saga.

Untold Tales’ writing intended to evoke a bygone era (coincidentally 30+ years before its publication, just like this series) but with a dash of modernity.

This series is much the same.

The dialogue is mostly modern but leans a bit more towards the past, is happy to use editorial captions for comic references (something most modern comics are afraid to do for some reason) and is doesn’t feel all that out of place with the stories of 1984!

The same cannot be said for the art which is obviously nothing like what Frenz and (to a less extent) Leonardi were doing back then.

However even then, maybe I just didn’t notice but the art honestly seemed...okay. Considering this is Greg Land this surprised me. Maybe someone will do a breakdown to prove me wrong but I didn’t notice anything that wrong with it.

Well that is until Felicia turned up then you realize he was obviously tracing. She looked a little like Pamela Anderson to me but god knows who he was ‘basing’ her on.

The only REAL art problem I noticed was the miscolouring of Felicia’s hair. She was a regular blonde as opposed to the platinum blonde she is supposed to be, but you could just say that was artistic licence.

Though it becomes harder to ignore since she’s supposed to resemble another blonde woman earlier in the story. I guess she was platinum blonde too?????

ANYWAY, the story itself is solid.

It’s a Mysterio character piece first and foremost and you can tell PAD loves this character a lot. I was worried it was going to be another origin for Mysterio contradicting his canon one but it wasn’t. It honestly felt very much like a story we might’ve gotten from back in the 80s had anyone been that interested in Mysterio.

It brings up the good point that, IIRC is entirely true, that (at least at this point in time) Mysterio never killed anyone and has him have a crisis when he inadvertently leads to a woman dying.

Honestly the main problems with this story were the woman arguably getting fridged and how maybe lame the set up for it was. She was literally introduced, established as having a family and axed within the same scene. Okay that scene plus Felicia concluding the costume was alive. I guess you can No. Prize it away but it seems kinda weird that neither Peter nor Felicia brought up how she called it right that day. Maybe they just forgot. Also maybe it was a bit of a continuity error that Felicia calls out Peter for being angry that she doesn’t accept his normal life. Then again I think you could massage continuity to make it fit.

Speaking of Felicia PAD likes the character, PAD likes this era for her and for the series (no shit, this was around the time he began writing Spider-Man so he’s very much at home here) and along with Spencer and Marvel over all he seems to be throwing Felicia much love now Slott is done abusing her.

Unlike in Ahmed’s shitty ass Annual last year Felicia is on point here and entirely within character (love her flirtation) with PAD throwing us a moment that I’m sure must’ve happened off panel at some point but we never get to see it.

Felicia basically confronting the ghost of Uncle Ben. PAD nails the tension between the Peter/Spidey/Felicia love triangle but does it correctly. Too often people oversimplify that she simply wholesale rejected his life as Peter Parker when the truth is whilst that was Felicia’s initial reaction, she did TRY to accept that side of Peter.

Going to Ben’s grave formally meeting Aunt May (she’d previously done so in costume) does that. She likes Aunt May, she’s sympathetic towards Peter (she lost her Dad too remember).

This is good drama no one ever milked!

Plus it, along with many other moments in the issue were just funny, you could tell PAD  was having a good time and he’s a witty writer in general.

I think a key component of this issue’s success is that it’s well researched. I’d somewhat forgive PAD for not re-reading the Alien Costume saga since it was around the time he was working on Spider-Man, but apparently he re-read both trades collecting the Alien Costume Saga and you can tell.

Unlike Ahmed who clearly didn’t read these issues because he made blatantly obvious mistakes, apart from the teeny tiny nitpicks I mentioned NOTHING in this issue is out of place.

And I know because I double checked!

Numerous times I thought I’d spotted an error.

-          Aunt May knowing Peter dropped out of college

-          The Human Fly being alive

-          Spider-Man’s aggression which I thought was being implied to be the symbiote’s fault

Nope. Nope. Nope.

PAD danced between the raindrops of continuity expertly. Aunt May found out Peter dropped out in ASM #253 DURING the Alien Costume Saga. The Human Fly was in fact alive, seen in a story shortly before Peter went to Battleworld. Peter’s aggression has an entirely different and logical explanation.

It was a job worthy of Busieck. Much kudos to PAD! Much shame on Ahmed.

Okay now let’s talk about the elephant in the room, or rather the twin set of elephants.

Yeah in this story...the Twin Towers are just fine.

There is a very interesting explanation at the back of the issue as to why this was.

Essentially PAD and Marvel were in two minds (ironically) about including the Towers for obvious reasons, PAD even having an alternately written scene in mind.

Now from a reader point of view it was a shock, I felt something so that’s good. And PAD being in New York when it happened I think lends him a certain degree of licence to touch on the tragedy. He actually already has in his 2099 book, a character revealed as a latent Inhuman comments that her life was shaped by the tragedy. That was maybe the first time ever since the ASM tribute issue that I recall a Marvel title using 9/11 as a piece of history as a story element much as they use WWII all the time.

The rationale behind doing it at all was that it was more immersive in the period, because obviously in 1984 the Twin Towers were still there. Although I wasn’t sure if PAD’s implication was that if you backtracked from this point in Spider-Man’s life to the point when he had the black suit that the Towers would still have been there. Because the latter would not be true since at most Peter would’ve been 17-18 and that’s if you accept he’s 35 NOW!

Regardless I think it worked well, I think Marvel handled it tastefully and I respect that they made the effort to justify it as opposed to just throwing it out there.

It’s also very much in line with the ethos of Untold Tales because IIRC whilst the stories were not EXACTLY set in the 1960s they were effectively set in the 1960s and had the same fashions.* Along with the Towers PAD also throws out references to the Muppet Babies and Power Pack who were huge in the 1980s.

All in all I can’t recommend this title highly enough.

BUY IT!

P.S. the only other complaint I have is that we’re apparently getting the Spot later and the Spot didn’t show up until after the Saga. So...we’ll see what happens there.

*Even though nobody in the actual 1960s looked or talked much like Stan Lee wrote Peter and the gang to but you catch my drift.

[talesofthebnha-marvel]

Tales from Peter Parker Foreign Exchange Student: Scorpion and the hunt for the Hero killer

Somewhere in the Naruhata district, in one of the many condemned buildings in the area is currently being resided by the infamous villain team, the Sinister Six!

A group consisting entirely of Spider-mans rogues formed under an always-consistent even number. Though its members have rotated there burning hatred of the arachnid hero remains the same. Mysterio, Chameleon, Shocker, Sandman, Scorpion and Vulture are the current members of the group. Currently they are residing in the land of the Rising Sun as a favor to Mysterio involving an as yet unspecified plot for lucrative gain. Yet unbeknownst to the Sinister Six, Spider-man is also stationed in Japan as a student of U.A. High. Eventual a collision of rivals will occur, for now the members of the Six explore there new surrounding some partaking in extracurricularactivities.

Mac Gargan, alias the Scorpion looking is over a large board. On it is pinned with various newspapers and several threads crisscrossing each other like a web.

"Scorpion!" The vulture shouted from above as he descends besides Scorpion.

"What do you want Toomes?" Scorpion asked annoyed having his concentration broken.

Vulture sneered at Gargans dismissive tone.

"Our meeting with the local crime informant, Giran has been rescheduled for now Dmitri suggest we should acclimate to our new surrounding." Impatient to a response, the Vulture makes a quick turn around to see Scorpion still ignoring him.

"The least you could do Mac is make some conversation, what on earth are you researching 'Hero Killer'" Vulture scans the papers.

"Yeah its about this crazy who's been going around offing heroes or injuring them bad towards early retirement." Scorpion explained turning towards Vulture finally.

"And what offer him membership Macdonald, were already at max capacity of sociopaths with you in our group we don't need another one." Vulture mocked.

"Very funny jack-ass, but this ain't about recruitment."

"Than what exactly?"

"The WHY?" Scorpion responded to Vulture.

Vulture seemed perplexed but he reminds himself that Scorpions logic always made sense to his twisted mind.

"Every article is always the same, always asking the wrong questions." He continues.

"Who is he? How is he doing this? When will the Pro heroes stop him, (spit)." Scorpion mocked.

"No one ever asks the 'why' of his motives that's the real story the real scoop." He grins.

"Imoressive, if a bit pointless but he's a serial killer Gargan not much to glean from that. Said Vulture.

"These ain't no random killing Toomes this guy clearly has a conviction and its kinda bringing the detective side out of me, THERE!" he motions his tail on the map as he walks past Toomes grabbing his coat and hat.

Toomes looks at the city map Scorpions tail banged on the board as he sees the mark on the city, Niihama.

Its soon night in the city of Niihama, with Scorpion staking out on rooftop. Several food wrappers and soda cups are littered around him as he peers across the landscape with his binoculars. On his left a crude yet working customized police radio is broadcasting your standard police reports, all noise to his ears waiting purely for calls towards Pro heroes.

"Hrrm, what was it that Kraven always said 'to become the hunter you must think like your prey.' Scorpion recalled internally.

"This should be the place that 'Hero Killer' was last scene and knowing these 'heroes'. Scorpion said with a venomous tone at that last word.

"Them Pros will be rushing off during a crisis, I just need wait for one them to wander off into a dark alleyway and that's when Mr. Herokiller will strike."

Eventual a hero team burst into the scene as they begin a rescue operation by a nearby burning building. One of the heroes note something in an alleyway as she ventures alone.

"Bingo" Scorpion said elated.

Sometime later

Limping and bleeding out, the female hero costumed in a beetle inspired design finds herself exasperated and panic as the Hero Killer approaches. Garbed in an attire of a ninja, with mixture of red and black while his face is covered in several bandanas no doubt to reel in his unruly hair. He slowly moves in a katana in hand as he licks the blood from blade. The heroe's movements are quickly frozen in place unable to move desperately crying to herself

"Why can't I move?!" She screamed hoping her panic tears would be heard.

As she finds herself face first to the ground she can see the killer ready to thrust the blade until…

"HEY!" shouted the Scorpion across the alley as Stain looked up to see the yeller.

Reacting without thought, Stain quickly throws one of his daggers with almost lighting speed. However the Scorpion quickly counters with his mechanical tail sending the blade back as it pass his owners face right by the side of the wall. Unfazed, Stain held his ground staring at this stranger.

"Oh thank you hero please save me fro-"

"Shut up, I ain't here to save nobody especially some Beetle poser." Scorpion insulted as he cut her off using his tail to knock her out.

"I came to see you ' Hero Killer!'

"My business is not with you villain, leave me to my work or I share her fate." The killer threaten.

"Oh I ain't here to stop ya pally, I'm just a simple foreigner is all, I just got ask ya something is all." Scorpion explained.

The Hero Killer saw no ill intents from this stranger yet he could feel his aura of treachery and insanity lurking behind that false sense of camaraderie. For now he played along in order to gauge this new face.

"Very well foreigner, I am Stain ask your question and leave me to my mission."

Scorpion was a bit taken back by this 'Stain' character and pissed off. How dare he makes threats to me, Scorpion thought. But he remembers to keep his cool, he's Mac Gargan the detective first and Scorpion second on this case.

"Okay Stain, the names Scorpion." He introduced.

"I've been looking ya over for some time now trying to figure your M.O. all them heroes you killed or injured no relations what so ever. Yet one thing is common there all heroes. Its clearly not about the money, no real motive for payback and clearly puck and choose who lives and dies." Scorpion explained trying to inflate his ego as a detective.

"GET TO THE POINT!" Stain grew impatient.

Scorpion frowned holding back his gritted teeth from showing from Stains yelling.

"I was getting to that 'friend'." Said Scorpion losing his demeanor.

"Why? What are trying to accomplish offing off these loser heroes?" Scorpion asked in a serious tone.

Stain smiled a cold smile as he sheathed his sword.

"You are correct, I seek no monetary gain nor have these so called 'heroes' wronged me in the past." Stain confirmed Scorpions deduction.

"I seek out the false heroes that solely use there powers for wealth and fame, putting the needs of the people second for there own ambitions while ignoring there obligations as public servants first." Stain explains.

"Its an insult that they call themselves heroes, I have made it my mission to cleanse this world of false heroes, I will never stop for only All Might is worthy of the title hero! Only his sense of justice will I allow to bring about my defeat!" Stain continues as he slowly ramps up his rant.

"Does that answer your curiosity?"

Scorpion felt a bit taken back by the hero killer almost as if Stains aura swallowed him whole, trying to hold his ground Mac composes himself taking a quick breath to ease his nerves.

"And people say I'm crazy." Scorpion mocked.

Stain narrowed his eyes at Scorpion, annoyed by his flippant tone.

"Listen I hate these wannabe heroes as much as the next guy, but at the end of the day no chump can just live off good will and samaritan service."

"People gotta eat, pay taxes and all that other bureaucratic crap we can't all live up to that high horse ideal of the perfect hero crap, so you can stick your bull% $# college thesis up your $$ pally loser!" Scorpions retorted.

"Thanks for wasting my time." Scorpion walks away as he turns his back spitting at a trash can in a disrespectful manner as he makes a leap to the neareat fire escape ladder.

"Come back please, DON'T LEAVE ME!" The pro hero awakens begging for Scorpions help.

"F $# OFF LOSER!" Scorpion continues move on unmoved by the heroes cries.

"Foreigner villain, what does he know of our way in the end they will all learn." As he prepares to lunge his blade, Stain halts his action as he hears the voices of the oncoming team members of his victim closing in. Disappearing without trace he says to himself.

"Another time a different place, perhaps I'll visit Hosu."

Back at the rundown apartment, an enraged Scorpion storms the front entrance annoyed and pissed off.

"So how did it go?" Vulture said with a dry uninteresting tone.

"Pretentious looking ninja turtle with f #$ing delusions of grandeur!" Scorpion replied with a pissed off attitude.

"Sounds lame, you kick his ass?" Sandman asked.

"No"

"You steal his wallet?" Asked Shocker concerned.

"No!" Scorpion said again.

"So in other words a complete waste of time and effort, I'll be needing a receipt for your purchases." Chameleon prioritizing his funds.

"F $# off you losers, it wasn't all total loss." Scorpion grinned.

"Oh so their was a silver lining to this wasted ordeal of yours than?" Mysterio echoed behind his dome.

"People always underestimated me thinking I'm just some joke like you dorks, (except you Sandman.)" Sandman responds with a middle finger.

"But this event just reminded me, I'm still a damn good detective!" Scorpion unveils several headshot photos of different pro heroes.

"I've got a lot of dirty secrets to expose on these "so called heroes" and what better practice is there than in Japan!" Scorpion said ecstatically.

—–

Based on Tumblr @alexdrawsagain comic

Peter parker: foreign exchange student

[recentanimenews]

INTERVIEW: Zack Davisson on Cosmic Horror and the Reality of Translating Manga

  Dark Horse recently released Gou Tanabe's excellent H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness manga, which features translation work by Zack Davisson. We had the fortunate opportunity to fire some questions in Zack's direction, so read on for some insight into the world of manga translation, supernatural scares, and more!

  *** 

  With Gou Tanabe adaptations like this, you're working from an English source as viewed through a Japanese author's lens. How did this affect your approach to translating At the Mountains of Madness? 

  Its been interesting. I work on the book with Lovecraft’s text right next to Tanabe’s. I use both an English and a Japanese version so I can see what specific phrases Tanabe intended to preserve, and what he changed. If he used Lovecraft’s language, I try to replicate that. If he wrote something entirely new, then I work to make it fit in and look seamless.

  It’s a somewhat time-intensive method that I haven’t done for any other project, but I think it is worth it to get it right.

  Were you already a fan of the source material? 

  Oh, absolutely. Looking at my shelves right now I have five complete collections of Lovecraft’s stories. I have the Arkham House editions, the S.T. Joshi annotations, and then fancy shelf decoration leather-bound volumes by Easton Press, Folio Society, and Gollancz. 

  I’ve been reading Lovecraft most of my life. I saw Michael Whelan’s amazing painted covers and convinced my mom to buy me the Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre paperback when I was probably far too young. Or maybe just the right age. 

  The sense of dread in Lovecraft's work can be difficult to get across in adapted form. What do you think makes Gou Tanabe's take on the material so special? 

  I think it is the fact that Tanabe takes the source material absolutely seriously. He approaches it with gravitas, free from modern “takes” or “spins.” In modern times Lovecraft often descends to parody or “Lovecraftian” where they do the August Derleth thing of taking his characters and writing new stories void of the original intent or nuances.

  Tanabe is the visionary director who says, “Hey! I’ve got an idea! Why don’t we stage Hamlet as Hamlet? Exactly as written? Not as a clever spin on corporate culture or boy bands or something like that? Just, as intended. Even in period costume?”

  Tanabe also has a grasp of mood, which is essential to Lovecraft. And pacing. And his art is simply phenomenal. 

  Beyond Tanabe, do you have a favorite take on Lovecraft? Are there any films or other forms of media you think have come close to capturing the essence of his horror? 

  Before Tanabe I would have said my favorite was Richard Corben’s comics. Although he very much made “Richard Corben comics,” his vision of Lovecraft was truly frightening on the page. No one does that grin of madness like Corben.

  For films, I can’t think of a single one that does it right. I love radio plays, however, and the Dark Adventure Radio Theater does excellent adaptations. I buy everything they make.

  Can you talk about your own encounters with the supernatural? How have they informed your work on titles like At the Mountains of Madness?

  I hold that it is perfectly acceptable to believe in weird things so long as they are of no consequence.  I have had a Loch Ness Monster sighting and gone hunting for mysterious ghost spots in Japan… Including my own house. I lived in one of Japan’s notorious jiko bukken haunted apartments.

  I like the idea of there being mysteries still in the world. I think it helps to believe in the supernatural at least a little bit in order to work in the genre effectively. When I am working on things like At the Mountains of Madness, I buy into them completely and allow myself to be amazed. 

  What scares you more, ghosts or the notion of greater cosmic horrors?  

  Definitely ghosts! I love Lovecraft, but I find cosmic horror to be too grand to be truly terrifying. Horror is personal. Sitting home alone in my own house, in the dark, working away and feeling that tingling feeling on the back of my neck that someone is standing behind me will always be more frightening than mythological scale frightmares.

  You've worked on plenty of titles I think it's safe to say many would consider dream projects, from the works of Go Nagai to Shigeru Mizuki, Satoshi Kon, and beyond. Do you have any favorites, and are there any specific authors or series you're still dying to tackle in the future? 

  It’s true. I’m fully aware I’ve been blessed in my career. I started out with a very specific agenda, of artists I wanted to work on and works I wanted to translate. When I finished Leiji Matsumoto’s Space Battleship Yamato I realized that I had accomplished them all. I had a bit of a crisis of purpose because… what then? Do I just start translating stuff I have no passion for just to cash a paycheck? That didn’t seem very fun.

  Fortunately, with artists like Gou Tanabe I was able to find new passions. I’d never seen Tanabe’s work before Dark Horse hired me for The Hound and Other Stories, but now I want to work on everything he does.  Discovering new favorites is the best feeling. And there are still piles of Shigeru Mizuki comics for me to tackle! 

  What is the most misunderstood aspect of translation? 

  That we are technicians instead of artists. Translating is writing. Plain and simple. I translate, and I write my own books, and they come from the same part of my brain. 

  Translation is like performing a cover song. My voice is never going to be the same as the original. There will be personal nuances and variations, turns of phrases that I will never be able to entirely mask. So, it’s a matter of making my cover version as good in its own right as I possibly can.

  It seems it's only been in recent years that translators have been more thoroughly and visibly credited for their work. Do you think the manga industry in particular is in a good place now as far as this is concerned, or is there more to be done to convey just how much influence a translator has over the final product? 

  Strangely enough, the opposite is true. If you look at the early days of manga the emphasis was on the translator. People like Rachel Thorn and Toren Smith were getting cover credit. My own idea on this is that manga was still strange, so companies wanted to put “English names” on the cover to dilute some of the “foreignness.” They also were having well-known comic writers like Lein Wen and Marv Wolfman doing adaptations.

  Then, when manga took off and TokyoPop boomed, things flipped. Manga artists themselves became the superstars and translators were hidden to prevent any perceived barrier between reader and artist. Readers didn’t like the idea that they were reading a translator’s dialog, not the author’s.

  I think things are settling into a better equilibrium now. Manga artists SHOULD be the superstars—they absolutely are; but readers should be aware of how much the individual translator affects the experience. There still is a way to go before we get there. One of my proudest accomplishments was getting translators listed on the Eisner Awards as part of the creative team.  

  Now we need to get manga letterers credit.

    I won't ask you to break down your personal process—you did a fantastic job of that in your TCJ article a few years back—but has it changed at all since then? 

  Thanks! And now, my process hasn’t changed much. Translation for me is intuitive. I absorb the original, process it emotionally, then think about how to portray those emotions in English. It's not a logical process.

  Is there any advice on the industry or translation work you wish you could go back in time and tell your younger self? 

  Hmmm…. Start earlier. I wish I had been brave enough to have been an exchange student in high school. Knowing my interests, some of my teachers encouraged that but I was too scared to step away from friends and family and everything I knew.  

  It took until my 30s to say, “fuck it” and throw away everything I knew to jump on a plane to Japan. And then I didn’t get into translation until I was almost 40.

  Working in comics was always a dream of mine, and it took me quite a while to find my niche. Things have worked out well, so I can’t complain too much.

  Are there any manga out right now (besides your own) that you're particular excited about? 

  Like many who work in creative industries I find I have less and less time to just be a reader. But I always try to keep up on a few things. Recently I finally tackled the mountain that is Lone Wolf and Cub, and I am hooked. One of the best things I have ever read. Classics like that are classics for a reason.

  I also wait hungrily for any new volume of Delicious in Dungeon. 

  Thanks for taking the time to do this, your work on At the Mountains of Madness is fantastic. Do you have any parting words for aspiring translators out there?

  Thanks! My main advice is to move to Japan. I don’t think I could have the life and career now if I hadn’t taking that plunge. I spent seven years in Japan, and that gave me the skills I needed to translate professionally. Jump into the deep end! You never know what is waiting for you! 

  ***

  If you want to see a sample of Gou Tanabe's work, check out our preview pages for a peek into At the Mountains of Madness. 

    By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[newx-menfan]

This week I’m kicking off the Hellion’s team BEST and WORST Looks with Julian Keller-Hellion!

Uniforms:

1.Julian’s original Hellion’s Uniform is great. A little rough around the edges, but overall a great design concept. It varied a little in the art- while all versions had a jacket paired with it; the color scheme varied from magenta or light purple and red, to white and red. The Worst design was hands down the light purple jacket (the purple clashing a bit with the shade of magenta used.) but the other two variations of this look, in my opinion look great. While the Jacket IS a little dated and playing into the ‘bad boy’ trope; I don’t feel like this is a bad ‘first uniform’ (especially compared to others…).

2. I LOVE Julian’s updated Hellion New X-Men Childhoods End Uniform! It takes elements of the original Hellion’s uniform and perfects it. It is hands down one of the best designed X-Men outfits out there! This is an iconic uniform, in my opinion! I’d compare this Uniform to Nightwing’s trademark blue and black bodysuit from DC, in that it’s simple but esthetically pleasing. Red is Julian’s color and the layout of the black trim really accentuates the red. You can immediately identify it is Julian on page because it’s such a unique uniform and stands out so nicely (Which lets be honest, Julian WANTS). My only nitpick with this suit is that I prefer a back belt to the brown, but otherwise it’s an excellent design. Skottie Young later does do a small variation to this look with more black trim and changing it to leather on the legs and it still looks great in my opinion.

3. I’m going to be honest- I HATE Julian in Xavier’s School Uniforms! You have such a strong design with both of the Red Uniforms…and instead you throw him in something generic?? There is NO plausible explanation to why Julian would willingly wear the school uniform. He is FAR too proud of his code name (that he had to beg Emma to get) and his time as leader to EVER give up that suit. Plus his name is Hellion-you kind of expect red to be utilized in his uniform! Julian’s also very vain; he is not the type of person to ‘blend in’ or choose practicality over ANYTHING- especially his own individualism. Then ON TOP of it, around this time period Julian was livid with the X-Men and didn’t try to hide it. More than likely Julian WOULD wear his Hellion’s Uniform as a way of not so subtle rebellion. While the artists DID add a leather jacket to help differentiate Julian a bit and as a callback to his first Hellion’s Uniform, it just looks awful on him! Yellow is just NOT Julian’s color. Even Skottie Young can’t even make Julian look decent in a school uniform, and that’s kind of saying something… There’s really only one uniform I hate more than Julian in the school uniform and that’s….

4.The Yellow Uniform from ‘Spiderman and the X-Men’! I hate this one SO much! Marvel basically took a really great design but tweaked it by putting Julian in school colors?! It’s kind of like the New 52 Nightwing Uniform for me in the fact that it’s putting a character in a color that just doesn’t work for them… The yellow looks AWFUL on Julian! He looks like a yield sign. It just makes me mad every time I look at it…

5.Julian’s M-Day Uniform…is kind of ‘meh’ for me in that I think it looks fine. It’s not my favorite but overall I’m okay with it. I do find it interesting from a character standpoint that while Julian IS personality wise STILL Julian in this AU, he is more willing to accept uniformity. This ties back to SHEILD being more militarized where at the Xavier school you had more individuality.

6. Julian’s Uniform in David’s dream was either David’s subconscious getting back at him or Emma was mad at him that day, because boy does it look awful! This just screams Julian’s going through a ‘mid-life crisis’; with the gigantic leather coat, army boots, and fingerless gloves. He just looks like that dad that recently bought a Harley and is trying really hard to be cool… It’s just not a good look…

7. Julian’s ‘Age of X’ Uniform, while I know a lot of fans love it-I personally don’t like it. While this does fit with Julian’s more grunge look in the 616 verse at the time it just looks uncompleted to me. Besides creating the problem of variation in his prosthetics with artists (some artists forget Julian only lost his forearms in the 616 verse), I just don’t really like the cargo pants with the weird neck collar and visible chest. I’m okay with some male characters wearing more revealing costumes if it makes since with their characterization and I DO think it DOES make sense with Julian-but I just really don’t care for this design. I think I’d like it better if they had gone for a more ‘Mad Max’-with dystopia fetish gear and gave him leather pants instead OR had given him a brown leather jacket to go with the cargo pants. I just think this is a vary bare bones design that should have been added to instead of being the final product.

8.I actually LOVE Julian’s ‘Bromo Superior’ Uniform/DnD Costume and wish Marvel would do a design for a Uniform similar to this. The leather piece looks great on Julian, as does the asymmetrical sleeves! It’s simple yet a clean and nice design. The only criticism I have with the design is how the prosthetics are drawn, but other than that it’s a very stylish design.

BEST LOOK-Unsurprisingly, Julian’s New X-Men Childhoods End Uniform! This is just designed so perfectly in my opinion. It just works for Julian while also being an identifiable Uniform-even though a lot other characters have a red and black color scheme, the small details in the design are really what makes it stand out. It’s a uniform that I don’t understand why Marvel doesn’t utilize because usually they put Julian in a really generic design in its place.

WORST LOOK- This was a little more difficult; in the fact that Julian has had some not so great costumes as well as some really spectacular ones… The one ultimately I chose is the 'Spiderman and the X-Men’ Uniform. While I get the artist wanting the class to ALL be in yellow and black, this design is just terrible. It’s playing off of a much better design that they SHOULD have used instead! If they really wanted the yellow and black- at least the Skottie Young School Uniform design or the School Uniform with the leather jacket is palatable. It’s disappointing because Julian has some really great facial expressions in the artwork…but the uniform just always subtracts from it.