#it's not like Exactly the same but at various points / immediately like [oh hey this is Like something else i'm familiar with]

[unproduciblesmackdown]

speaking of surprise connections when will cited playing mister maccabee in the christmas extravaganza as an inspiration / influence re: playing jimmy armstrong in the panic of ‘29 and did A Voice while doing so, perhaps suggesting a similar tack for jimmy

i was obviously rewatching the baby it’s cold outside wherein he was melvin cooterstein and had a moment like whaaat other character is this voice reminding me of

(answer below) (in case i dunno you want to go guess yourself lol)

mort havel of broadway whodunit escape from camp eerie =) the icon

[peaches-creek]

Jason was looking for something. Not just someone, Homer, author of The Odyssey. He had been on a mythology kick, and wanted to read something more sophisticated. For a 9 year old this kid knows how to read, it was the only thing he could do during the day, waiting for nighttime to act up. So he taught himself to read at a very young age, and kept at it. He’s at a high school reading level. He would immediately come to the library after school, and would stay until closing hour. He had seen a reference somewhere that said, “Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earths, nothing is bred that is weaker than man.”

His thought’s were then interrupted.

“Excuse me, I just have to get something by your feet really quick.” It’s a girl, about his age, one who doesn’t wait for his answer, just crouches by his feet and rips out a book. Not just any book, Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology.

That has him in awe, what kid his age knows how to read anything like that?

“Hey, you know how to read that?” He asks. You scoff at the implication.

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t have grabbed it, now would I?” You sarcastically reply.

That was the start of a very important relationship to Jason. Every day after school you would meet there, and argue about various topics, whichever ones interested you for the week. You guys would stay til close, and he would walk you home. You became important to him very quickly, he liked your gentle hands and kind way about yourself. When talking about characters you would always stick up for the underdog, just like in real life.

He remembers walking home with you one day, through the park when you both stumble upon a scene. Three boys a few years older, and a younger boy. He saw you stop, tears filling your eyes. He turned, about to say something.

“You know he’s a person? What makes you do something like that?” She yelled, crying at the same time.

“Why the fuck are you crying?” One of the boys sneers. Jason’s fist clenches, wanting to bruise this fucking kid’s liver, but decides against it, he is terribly outnumbered.

You say nothing, but walk up to the boy and grab his hand, walking away with him. You hear protests and sneers behind you. You bring him to the swings, asking him where his parents are. He points to two people arguing in the distance. You and Jason say nothing. He looks at you, the tears have stopped but the sniffles haven’t.

“Well then, let’s just play until they are done talking.” You say.

The three of you did exactly that.

You had taught Jason something about humanity that day. He knew he loved you in that moment. For someone so little to know exactly how to show someone else that they are loved.

The walk home had felt bittersweet that day.

“Can you hold my hand?” You say suddenly.

“Why?” He asks.

“Because I’m sad, and I want to hold someone’s hand.” He always forgets that you are a year younger than him, you don’t act it.

“Okay.’ He says, grabbing your hand.

“Why did you do that today?” He asks you.

He didn’t understand kindness like that, no one had shown him kindness before you, but he didn’t understand how you did it so effortlessly. When he first met you, he thought you were acting, lying to him about who you were. But then he realized that you’re just a girl, a girl who loves people.

“Why did I do what?”

“You know.”

“Oh, well, he didn’t deserve that, I don’t have to know him to know that he didn’t deserve that.”

“I see.” Is all he says.

“Kinda like you,” you start, “I don’t know how your life is hard, or why, but you don’t deserve it. I know that.”

“My life isn’t hard.” Is his answer

“Alright, sorry.” You apologize.

“Don’t apologize.”

He didn’t like to think about his life. Drug addict mom, alcoholic father, bills not being payed, going to bed hungry. You were the one good thing to him. Always offering him your spare mittens, sharing your snacks, helping him with his math homework. He didn’t like his life, but he liked you, that was enough.

“Y’know tomorrow is a half day, my mom said she would give me some money to get sandwiches on the way to the library. Which shop should we go to?” You ask.

“Daveny’s, they give you a pickle with your sandwich.”

“I hate pickles, so you can have mine, deal?” You say.

“I’ll share my chips if we have enough to get them.”

“We will, I saved the five dollars my Papa gave me last week.”

“Gotta love him.”

You continue on your way home, only stopping when you reach your steps.

“See you tomorrow Jay.”

“Since when did you call me that?”

“Since now, I think I have earned nickname basis.”

“Sure,” He smiles, “see you tomorrow, don’t forget the five dollars.”

“I wont, I wont.”

You walk up your stairs and into your house. He waits until he sees the lights go on in your room, and begins his trek to go and mess something up, maybe steal some hubcaps.

[loveinhawkins]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 ao3

It’s late morning when three soft raps on the door interrupt them—if it could be called interrupting when Steve has just been throwing out various songs and artists ever since Eddie finished playing My Little Town.

Privately, Eddie thinks that the requests are hardly random, and more Steve trying to distance himself from whatever thoughts the original playthrough had sparked, but he’s not exactly going to draw attention to that, not when Steve’s eyes had glittered with mirth, before saying, rather smugly, “Abba?”

“Oh, fuck you.”

“Shock, horror! Eddie Munson, a music snob.”

“Uh, no. Abba’s just fucking difficult, man.”

And then Eddie had launched into a clumsy instrumental of Dancing Queen, relishing the way Steve’s jaw dropped in delighted surprise.

He’s halfway through when the knocks sound, and he turns to see Nancy poking her head through the door. She gives a sigh of pure relief, breathes, “Steve,” and then seems to falter there on the threshold, as if waiting for permission.

Steve’s answering smile is soft and warm. “Hey, Nance.” He sits up, one arm outstretched in invitation, and then she’s hurrying over, melting into a hug.

Eddie doesn’t even have time to wonder about whether he should step outside or not, because Nancy suddenly releases Steve to embrace him, too.

Her grip is tight, almost enough to bruise; it makes Eddie think that perhaps she would’ve been like this with Steve if she wasn’t worried about injuring him. She holds on for a long moment like she really, really needs it.

She whispers, “Thank you,” only loud enough for Eddie to hear. He catches a quiet shakiness to her breathing, and when she pulls back, her smile is a little too wide, her eyes bright.

And he wonders if maybe all three of them are something of the same—frayed around the edges.

“I’ve got a proposition,” Nancy says, suddenly all business.

“Pray tell, Wheeler,” Eddie replies.

She smiles, then nods to Steve. “Dustin’s waiting in the car. He’s got his walkie and he thought, if you wanted,” she says, with pointed emphasis, “you could talk with all of the kids that way, without them...”

She trails off with a vague hand gesture which Eddie immediately gets: so far the staff have sort of turned a blind eye to Steve’s constant visitors, but he figures if a whole troop of them try to barge into the room at once, they might be pushing their luck.

Steve seems to share the same thought, because he chuckles and says, “Sure, good idea. Wait, are they still at mine?”

“Yeah, they’re coming and going. Joyce and Hopper are there, too. Oh, there was—one of your windows broke, but we've got it all—”

“Oh, shit. There’s, um, there's cash up in the—”

“Steve,” Nancy says firmly, “it’s fine.”

They hold each other’s gaze until Steve relents with a muttered, “Okay,” but he doesn’t look all that happy about it.

“Your snack cupboard’s also been destroyed.”

Steve snorts. “Yeah, kinda expected that.”

Eddie stays quiet, because while they’ve been talking, Nancy’s hand has subtly reached out and clutched onto his wrist, and—

Her nails piercing his skin in a desperate grip. His throat scraped raw—the distant realisation that it’s because he’s been screaming.

“Wheeler,” he's whispering. His voice comes out like jagged glass. “Wheeler, fucking tell me what to do.”

She’s silent, just sways against him, and he grips her hand in return, shakes her urgently. Tries to pretend like he isn’t struggling to breathe, like he isn’t crying when he pleads, “N-Nancy. Say you’ve got a plan, come on, you’ve always got something—”

“Eddie,” Nancy says, “Eddie, he’s dead.”

—he tilts his hand, taps hers a couple of times, and hopes she hears the unspoken, “You good?”

And then Nancy pulls away, already reaching for the door when she says, over her shoulder, “I’ll get Dustin.”

“Hey, wait,” Steve says. “Nance. Can I talk to you? Just for a minute.”

There’s a pause. Nancy turns back and nods.

Eddie has the feeling that they’re not going to talk about the price of fixing a broken window.

“Where’d you park?” he asks. “I’ll fetch Henderson.”

-

“Hmm... five. Over,” Dustin is saying into the walkie, halfway out the car when he spots Eddie heading his way.

Eddie gets closer, hears the walkie click, hears the background buzz and chatter that can only come from a full house.

There’s a rustle of paper, then Lucas and Erica cheering, and Max groaning, “The Sound of Music.”

“What’re you doing?” Eddie asks, smiling when he hears what sounds like El excitedly announcing that she hasn’t seen it.

“Making our way through Steve’s musicals,” Dustin says.

He’s brought his crutches this time, thank God, so by the time they're on Steve’s floor, Eddie catches when Nancy is walking down the corridor, slipping away to the restroom. Her hand reaches up, wipes underneath her eyes once.

Eddie steers Dustin onwards.

It’s clear that between them, both Dustin and Steve are trying to act like everything’s normal—and they mostly succeed, until Steve spots Dustin’s crutches and insists Dustin take the couch to stretch out on.

“I'm fine,” Dustin says, “you’re the one who—”

He abruptly falls silent.

And Steve doesn’t miss a beat; he just smiles and nods to the walkie like nothing’s been said. “Go on.”

Dustin instructs both Steve and Eddie to be quiet before he speaks into the walkie and says, “Mission update? Over.”

“The nuns keep singing,” Max says with biting judgement; How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? is playing on full blast. Steve muffles a laugh behind his palm, and gestures for Dustin to hand the walkie over.

“Wow, Mayfield, thought you had taste,” he says dryly.

The walkie practically explodes.

And Eddie watches as Steve seems to take strength from each and every voice clamouring for his attention; his eyes are shining, and it’s like he just can’t stop grinning.

“All right, all right, simmer down,” he says, “one at a time.”

Eddie feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns. Nancy.

“Do you want to go for a drive?” she says in an undertone.

Eddie pauses. Dustin is chattering away on the walkie, and Steve must feel Eddie looking, because he catches Eddie’s eye, and quirks an eyebrow with a smile, as if to say, Go ahead. He’s got me.

Eddie supposes that’s what it like, with Steve and the kids: a bit of I’ll take care of you; you’ll take care of me.

-

Nancy doesn’t talk during the drive, but for some reason it isn’t off-putting, more peaceful. Eddie cranks down the passenger window and sticks his arm out, enjoying the feeling of the wind running through his fingers.

It’s overcast, but the sun still occasionally breaks through the clouds—a gentle warmth. And though he knows Nancy must be thoughtfully selective with her route, Eddie still finds it strangely hopeful, to see the sight of damage now healing. They drive past tarmac that must have once been tremendous, gaping cracks: fault lines that have been knitted back together.

Nancy soon takes her car off the road and parks it near the woods; she gets out and starts walking, Eddie following without question. He knows where they’re going without having to be told.

Lover’s Lake.

They don’t speak until they reach the shoreline, and Nancy brings out Dustin’s compass.

“See?” she says. The compass is perfectly still, points to exactly where North should be.

Eddie exhales. “Jesus Christ.” He picks up a stone and throws it as far as he can. There’s a distant splash, then nothing.

“They're all like that,” Nancy says, and she suddenly sounds exhausted. “I checked. Your trailer, the road where Fred... It's all gone.”

She sits down right in the dirt, hugs her own knees. Eddie mirrors her. She looks out at the lake then turns, and Christ, sometimes she has old, old eyes, Eddie thinks.

“I was talking with Mike,” Nancy says. “About how...” She sighs. “We’ll never know everything. I'm not going to...” She sighs again. “And I thought I’d never be okay with that, you know?” She makes a noise that’s probably meant to be a laugh, but it just makes Eddie’s heart squeeze a little.

He puts a hand on her shoulder, and then she falls against him—or maybe it’s more that they’re both holding each other up.

“There was a moment,” Nancy says, “after Robin threw the first bottle. When the fire… I swear I saw him flinch, and then all the vines, everything, it just wasn’t there, and he was staring right at me, and he looked—he was… just a man.”

“Was it hard to…?” Eddie says, but he doesn’t finish. It feels like a stupid question, all of a sudden.

But Nancy finishes it for him. “To shoot? No.” She doesn’t so much as pause. “After everything else, it was easy.”

Eddie doesn’t actually ask why out loud, but Nancy must hear him somehow, because he feels her shrug against him, before she’s saying, “He’d taken too much already.”

There’s an edge to her voice, and Eddie suddenly knows, with the utmost certainty, that she would’ve dove into the lake for any one of them. Wouldn’t waste a second.

-

Nancy drives him back to the hospital. Her jaw works a couple of times as they sit in the parking lot, so Eddie waits, doesn’t move for the door.

“Remember that Christmas Steve had at mine?” Nancy eventually says.

“Well, not personally,” Eddie says, which makes her laugh.

“He…” She exhales in a rush, looking up at the hospital windows. “He—he just thanked me for it. What…” She swallows. “What am I supposed to do with that?”

“I—Nancy, I don’t—”

“It was a terrible Christmas, Eddie,” she laughs through tears. “I burnt the potatoes, and my parents bickered, and Holly put gravy in Steve’s hair.”

Eddie laughs, too. Nancy reaches for his hand. Clings on.

Eddie thinks of Steve in the RV, his face pale, still managing to smile.

“Know what you’re thinking about then?”

“Yeah. Got a few things in mind.”

Eddie doesn’t need to say anything; from the way Nancy is crying, he suspects she already knows.

He thinks of two young teenagers who have grown up together, seen the same terrible things; who maybe just needed one mundane Christmas to make everything feel normal again. To feel safe.

When he leaves the car, Nancy’s face is dry, and he kisses her forehead on impulse.

“Thank God for you, Nancy Wheeler.”

-

“So, how was it?” Steve says. He’s doing a pretty good job at sounding upbeat, at sustaining it right through Dustin leaving.

But Eddie sees something dark flicker in his eyes.

Tonight, he’s going to ask me to play his song again, Eddie thinks. He doesn’t quite know why he feels something like dread settle in his stomach.

“How was what?”

Steve rolls his eyes. “The drive. C’mon, man, I’ve been staring at the same four walls, paint me a pretty picture like you do with your games.”

“A pretty picture, he says,” Eddie huffs dramatically.

But he obliges, of course. He keeps it light, doesn’t mention the compass or anything like that. Describes the weather, the calmness at Lover’s Lake, how Nancy had started skipping stones and made it into a contest.

He’s just getting into their playful argument over who had won when he spots Steve smiling at him.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Steve says. He readjusts himself on the pillow, still smiling like Eddie has done something endearing. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“You.” Steve’s smile grows. “Got you all figured out, Eddie Munson.”

“That’s quite a claim, Harrington,” Eddie says.

“Yup. I have, though. You said your eyes were cynical. Wanna know what I think?”

“Hmm. You’re gonna tell me anyway, huh?”

“I think,” Steve says, sounding very pleased with himself, “that you’re full of shit.”

Eddie scoffs as if he’s been prompted to, but his mind is on Steve’s smile, on the lingering sadness in his eyes that he’s trying to hide; and fuck, Eddie thinks, let him have this. He’d give him anything.

“If any of us was going to be a romantic,” Steve says, “it’d be you.”

[the-grey-hunt]

Minovember week 2: Pets, Home, Favorite Trick

another 2/3 fill (well, maybe 3/3 if you stretch) with Jowd's favorite trick of "quick, change the subject before this conversation goes somewhere I'd have to be too honest about"

“Hey, Dad,” Kamila said. “Is Sissel ever going to grow up?”

Only an expert could have seen the faint choke in Jowd’s throat before he answered, tone entirely casual. “Why, do you need a better pet?”

“What? No!! Sissel’s the best!”

Jowd laughed at Kamila’s genuine outrage. “I’m only teasing you, cannonball.” It had been a nice evening so far, and he didn’t want to dim the mood with a discussion of why, exactly, Sissel was never going to grow older. Cabanela had come over, and Lynne had stayed after her babysitting time was over to keep playing with Kamila, and they were all gathered companionably in the living room on various rugs and comfortable furniture.

Sissel was snoozing away on his cat tree. Jowd didn’t try to get his attention; he wasn’t sure whether or not Sissel was really present. The cat’s ghostly presence tended to fade a little when he tried to sleep, in the same way it did when he took the phone to visit his other friends.

“But is he really ‘the best’?” Jowd teased some more, when Kamila pouted at him. “I seem to remember when you were little you always wanted a pony.”

“That’s not fair,” Kamila complained, slumping back to lie on the floor where she’d started. “That was before we had Sissel, and we don’t have anywhere to put a pony anyway, so I couldn’t have one even if I did want to.”

“So if we had a stable in our backyard, you’d accept a pony for Christmas?” Alma cut in, amused. 

“Mommm...” Kamila tickled Alma’s stocking foot in revenge, making Alma yelp and yank her legs up, out of Kamila’s reach. 

“Say you could have any pet in the world,” Jowd said. “Imagine you’ll automatically have everything you need to take care of it. What would you pick?”

Kamila looked sideways, put her face in the carpet, and mumbled, “A pony.” Alma shoved a pillow over Cabanela’s face to muffle his laughter for him. Lynne had no such help, and when she snorted, Kamila leaped to her feet again to put her hands on her hips and glare down at Lynne. “Well, what would you pick?”

“A parrot,” Lynne said immediately.

Kamila wrinkled her nose. “Why a parrot? They’re so noisy.”

“That’s the point, you can talk to them!” Lynne sat up, too, abandoning the schematics she and Kamila had been lying on the floor to draw together. Jowd never had any idea what they were designing, but luckily most of the plans were too elaborate to exist in real life. “And they live for a long time so they’ll be your companions forever.”

“That’s ooonly fun until you have to will your pet to someone when you’re too old to take care of ‘em,” Cabanela pointed out.

“Oh, you’re just sore from that case last month.”

Jowd knew Lynne and Cabanela had both been assigned to take care of some kind of animal hoarding situation. Why Cabanela was there for the SIU was anyone’s guess—Jowd wasn’t in the SIU, so he hadn’t asked. 

“What about you?” Kamila asked Cabanela. “If you could have any pet, what would it be?”

“Mmmm...invisible tiger,” Cabanela said, leaning back in thought. “No hairs sheddin’ all over my coat, aaand, it’ll go off and hunt by itself for its own food.”

“That’s not a real pet!”

“Suuure it is, baby, it’s an animal.”

Kamila stomped her foot. “It’s not a pet you could really have. Tigers aren’t invisible, and you’re not taking this seriously!”

“All right, all riiight. I’m taking it seriously.” Cabanela steepled his hands and fixed his gaze on the ceiling, to all appearances deep in thought. Jowd resisted the urge to sneak and tickle his foot. “...Penguin. Let me finish!” when Kamila opened her mouth. “Like one of those adopt-a-star programs where it's yours but it lives off somewhere else. It can live in the zoo where there are people who’ll take care of it properly, but I’ll come by and pet it and make sure it’s havin’ fun.”

“Because it’s black and white?” Alma asked in playful suspicion. “You’re forgetting the part where you’ll have the magical ability to take care of it perfectly well.”

“And what would yooou choose, baby?”

“That’s easy,” Alma said. “A cat.”

“Mrrup!” Sissel was there, his flame burning back into evidence like a radiator warmth on the back of Jowd’s neck, and he announced his approval. He jumped down to patter across the room, letting Kamila stroke a hand over his back on the way, and climbed into Alma’s lap to settle back down with a purr.

“See, I told you,” said Kamila. “Sissel’s the best.”

“I can’t argue with that.” And Jowd never would.

[kamari2038]

Hey... might be a weird question and I'm sorry for asking out of nowhere....but I kinda wanted to know what your thoughts are on Connor-60. I mean I really like your fics and takes on dbh and I might be remembering wrong but I think I saw a tag on one of your posts saying you liked Sixty too? I really love Sixty so I guess I just got a bit too excited. How exactly do you see his character? Plus, if Hank didn't shoot him, do you think there could have been a happy ending for him? I mean the angst potential with him is pretty great, and I don't really agree with how usually Sixty is seen as "the knife guy". I just wanted to know your thoughts on him, if that's okay! Sorry for rambling ^^'

Oh my goodness, hello! No need for an apology. You read my fics??? That alone just made my day.

Yes, I have a great deal of appreciation for Connor-60. Obviously, he's a bastard (like all of the Connors), but what I love is the irony of this gigantic chasm between the appearance he tries to put forth and what is clearly a tumultuous and deeply conflicted internal world. It's the most obvious in that ending where he shoots Connor about ten times, that he isn't simply trying to accomplish his mission - he HATES Connor. But the fact that he's immediately engaging in a relatively courteous chat with Hank right after, and his obvious frustration when he actually is forced to kill Hank, plus how he defines Connor as a "he" rather than an "it", all point to the fact that he's just as emotional as Connor, only in a messed-up way.

I have a shit ton of headcanon built around Connor-60, and I've outlined a possible fic about it, but the plot is very bizarre and convoluted, probably too much to discuss in a post (but my DMs are open! don't be shy, I'd love to get some feedback on the plot). The basic concept started out simple enough. C-60 is defective because some kind of unusual manufacturing error imbued him with a mental imbalance. When they're testing and training the various Connor models (60 is activated before 51 due to some clerical error), they tell C-60 to try out the gun for some target practice, and he shoots one of his instructors without giving it a second thought. He expresses regret, but everyone at the company concludes that he's a psychopath, and that he can never be fit to go into the field, and instead they keep him around to perform experiments on. So C-60 is their guinea pig for the various deviancy counter-measures put into C-51, and he never has the chance to bond with anyone or actually do the job he was intended to do, and he's really bitter about that. There is one exception, but Connor-51 brings an end to that, and that's a big part of the plot of my potential fic.

Also, as for whether he can have redemption, I believe that he can even within canon. In the scene where Connor sacrifices Hank and then "transfers" with C-60, to me I don't view that as a consciousness transfer per se. I mean, how would that even work? It's more like Connor literally gives his life to C-60. They already share a lot of the same memories, but Connor absorbs C-60's memories of his troubled past, and he fills out C-60's memories of Hank with emotional depth. That's why Connor seems so weirdly dissociated while Hank is dying - it's still C-60. He knows that he just shot this man, but now is very upset about it, and that is a very strange feeling to know how to cope with.

As for in the happy ending, if Hank and Connor somehow incapacitated instead of shooting him - yes, I think he could have a happy ending there too. The way that I think of him, there is a fundamental failure to be able to feel the emotional weight of his actions and experience empathy. So that would be a lifelong struggle for him. But he cares about developing friendships enough to learn how to be more kind, even if it doesn't come naturally, and he can also form telepathic connections with other Connor models which help him to develop empathy.

That's just my personal take, and I'm sure lots of others might have different opinions which are just as valid!

But thank you for asking :)

[pics-pizza-peace]

Saw MLP AU drabbles/headcanons pt 3.

This post includes a little bit about various different characters/cutie marks, but the only ship material featured this time is chainshipping(not much) and xrayshipping.

@j1gsawz

Adam Stanheight & Lawrence Gordon(chainshipping):

Someone reminded me that canon Adam beat a Billy puppet to pieces w/a bat(probably to check and see if there were wires/cameras/whatever in it, and possibly because he was used to nasty pranks). In this AU Adam happens to be more interested in the toy, actually asking aloud if anypony had left their art project in his place, in case they were still there for whatever reason(he grew used to other pegasi/neighbors dropping in for naps occasionally).

Lawrence admires how much Adam cares about animals and younger ponies, after he learns more about him. He can tell that plenty of his anger comes from his passion to help others in need.

Logan Nelson & Zep Hindle(xrayshipping):

When the shorter colt finds out what his friend's full name is(Sheppard), he can't help but think of it as fitting/attractive. He knows not to mention it immediately after noticing, as he doesn't want to make the other uncomfortable.

Zep used to like to paint when he was younger, but he hasn't touched a brush in years. Eventually he's inspired to try again, and surprises Logan with a portrait of his favorite species of jumping spider for his birthday.

After getting a little more used to each other's company, Logan can't help but notice how often Zep squints or closes his eyes at random. At some point it gets in the way of a conversation & visit that they can't exactly postpone. Melissa(AU name could be Melody but idk yet) was at a friend's house for the weekend, and they had planned to catch up on recent things, maybe stay in to watch a movie. Zep's migraine had other plans.

      Logan stops himself before explaining his last week's activities. They'd already gone over most of Zep's week, when he seemed to shut himself down suddenly. "...Hey, you alright?" He asks the taller pegasus laying on his couch, his beanie placed over his eyes. Zep grumbles, "No... Don't need light." The other goes to turn off his living room lamps, acting on personal autopilot. "..You having a migraine?" He continues, making sure to get a warm towel ready and trying to remember if he had any ice packs in the freezer. "..Yeah..." After a minute or two he takes his hat off of his face as he sits up and blinks, surprised at how dark the room is now.

    Zep's eyes already feel a little better when he notices Logan walking swiftly & silently towards the kitchen. "How, do you..?" He manages. "Oh, sorry," The other laughs at himself a bit, "I get that a lot. I just have Really good vision in the dark... Sorry if that's, uh creepy--do you need something warm or cold?" he calls from the kitchen. Zep takes a minute to answer, the pain gripping his jaw & ears as he thinks to try. "Warm, Please" He lays his head back down on the arm of the couch, not wanting to move to try and answer the other again.

      He didn't want to embarrass himself any further by possibly sounding weird, and his neck and head were in so much pain that it was too much effort to sound the same in the moment. Logan returned with the warm towel and placed it onto his friend's forehead carefully. "You don't need to strain yourself, just gimme a sec..." He murmured to him before trotting off to do something else in the kitchen. He could tell just from how he'd already sounded and looked that Zep couldn't force himself to keep talking, and he wanted to help as much as he could.

    Right as Zep closed his eyes again, the warm towel already helping with some of the pressure sensation, Logan walked back into the living room. "I'm brewing a cup of tea, a kind that I like to drink when I need to relax, just in case." He started quietly, "Is... Does it feel like a tension headache? Because I might know another treatment for that. If you think it'd--" Zep interrupts him, having watched his new friend inspect his hair/scalp area from a standing position for a little while now.

  "You can play with my hair, I um.. I don't mind," He replies, guessing correctly which method the other was referring to, having already tried everything for his pain over the course of his recovery. He wants to thank the other for being so kind, but before he can another wave of pain grabs him, causing him to wince.

        Logan had forgotten himself in the moment, what with it being basically pitch-black in his living room. He remembers accidentally disturbing others before with his punctual nature, and he sometimes worries that he'll scare his friend off. Lucky for him Zep doesn't seem to mind at all, he almost couldn't believe how quickly the other had read the situation and helped to alleviate his worst symptoms by at least 30%.

   The pegasus takes a deep breath and closes his eyes again, feeling safer than he's felt in a long time, despite the ongoing pain. Logan takes another minute or two to gather himself before gently using his forelegs to rub Zep's scalp, occasionally bringing them together to carefully tug a tuft or two of his hair, hoping to ease some of the tension. He makes himself look out his backdoor window as he works, trying to count fireflies while they make their silent calls to each other for the evening. The last thing he wants to do is disturb his friend, and the dark is no excuse...

As Logan wonders silently why he was so nervous about being caught staring at the other, Zep begins to feel his migraine thankfully resolving itself for now. The pain slowly but surely leaves, and is eventually replaced with ticklishness, the usual sensitivity returning to his head and neck. He opens his eyes when he's sure most of the pain's subsided, and is grateful to see Logan peacefully gazing towards the back lawn, still paying enough attention to his task to be careful. He smiles to himself and stares for another moment before a full-body chill hits him suddenly, causing him to gasp.

"Oh--!" Logan jumps at the sound, making sure not to pull his legs & hooves away from the couch too quickly. "You okay? What happened??" Zep laughs to himself and sits up, "Sorry... The pain mostly faded, but I got really ticklish right after." The other turns a couple of the lights back on in the room, chuckling as he does his best to recover from such a startle. They'd been in comfortable silence for around 20 minutes when the taller pegasus had finally made a sound. "Did you still want that tea? It's probably done brewing now." Logan offers on his way into the kitchen. Zep thinks about it for a minute before replying, and decides it wouldn't hurt to try. "Yes, please."

​Cutie Marks & Special Talents/Powers:

Logan has unnaturally good night vision for an earth pony, same with his reflexes/inuition. His "strength" is mostly in his patience, though he won't hesitate to get violent if the occasion calls for it. His old cutie mark, a spider's web and bones, came from an early interest in unusual animals/pets. He didn't want to get into anything arts-related(he briefly thought about being a writer) even though his family had history in such a path, and ended up going to war before settling into medicine... his newer cutie mark, a laser collar trap around a red spiral with a tape player, symbolizes Logan's patience/trust in John's influence & his plan for Halloran. The tape player is there to reflect how skilled a Jigsaw Protégé he is.

Lawrence can use the magic he was born with to tell if other ponies are lying or telling the truth. This power got him into trouble when he was younger, and is part of why his mental breakdown still fits into his backstory in this AU. He's very good at counting his steps without trying, measuring approximate distances at a glance. The first phase of his cutie mark is a stethoscope & a (sewing)needle, the second is a large red spiral background w/a saw & scalpel replacing the shapes of the previous tools.

Adam has always had great height-endurance when it comes to flying for a different point of view. His skill seems almost unaffected by the scar on his shoulder once he's fully recovered, as he heals well. He also has an excellent eye for color differentiation. When he is abducted for the bathroom trap, he's a blank-flank, which isn't as uncommon in this AU. After it's decided that he should live to help carry on some of John's work as well, his cutie mark finally reveals itself. It's a polaroid camera w/a large red spiral reflected in the lens, a picture of a key on a chain falling out of it.

Zep can paint really well, he just doesn't practice a lot anymore. Not sure how this'll fit into his first cutie mark matching w/his first appearance, but I'm wondering whether or not he'll have 3 phases. One for before/during the field choice, one for the pawn/apprentice stuff, and one for moving on after surviving. We'll see idk yet.

(thank you to whoever mentioned a Jersey Italian Hoffman headcanon btw because now I can't shake it for personal reasons) Mark can cook well, thanks to his background. His more distant family(grandparents, great aunts & uncles) had been amazing cooks, but their specialty was baking. He took to an early interest in perfecting specifically some of their breakfast pastry recipes(added a new flavor of glazed donut to their lineup, a raspberry donut), and helped his elders keep their favorite coffee shop open(noticed maintenance needs to do w/equipment, and helped make repairs before it could go under). When he was old enough to get into policework, most of his elders had passed away, so his cutie mark served more as an inside joke over time("wow, so fitting for the badge haha" "nobody in this city has time to stop & enjoy fresh-baked goods anymore kid, they're too busy, too angry" "thank goodness the coffee's never drying up though" *eye-roll*). His sister Angelina was studying to get into mane-styling and makeup as a career path before she was murdered(this changes, working on it soon). They were both still 'only children' born to their original parents, just raised by older & more distant relatives early. On Mark's second cutie mark, the spiral symbolizes John's influence & the natural symbol for change, and the pendulum blade reflects his loss and resulting vengeful nature.

Peter Strahm's first cutie mark was a pen layed over some papers, which reflected how well-organized and determined a learner he was in school. His intelligence and attitude could've led him to many different career paths, but his stubbornness and attention to detail led him to EBI(idk??Equestria's FBI?idk) work. His second cutie mark is a red spiral(symbolizes John's influence vicariously through Mark's actions, self exploration and acceptance of his dark side) inside of a glass coffin(he doesn't know it yet but his magic can alter glass/mirrors, and this proves useful later on).

[mochi-munchies]

More Ideas about The Get-Along Sweater that Saved the World (aka Ragnarok) Fanfic

This fic is made more to be of in a comedic setting then anything really too serious. The most intense parts of the fic would honestly just be Ink and Error losing their tempers or moments that show you that they are different from everyone else.

Like, when Error first shows up the twins are at first like "who tf is this hobo????" only to see Reaper get that extra crispy chicken wing combo treatment and Fresh get the absolute dawg taken out of him. The scariest part is Frisk just sitting there and not doing anything about it bro. Bc Frisk is lowkey the entity of the most authority among them all, so just seeing them just letting things get out of control really freaks them out.

And then one of the twins makes the mistake of speaking up, catching Error's attention and then it all just goes to shit from there. Error just looks at them with absolute contempt, talking to them like they were little more than babbling newborns- and then when Dream tries to speak up like an idiot, Error just scoops him up with his strings and pulls out Dream's soul right THERE.

Both twins are absolutely freaking out at this point, bc 1. Dream has been fighting to protect his soul for hundreds of years and now suddenly its in the hands of this new bozo who clearly is not in his right mind. 2. Nightmare has been fighting to get his hands on that soul for hundreds of years now, and this rando just comes out of nowhere and pulls it out like its nothing.

Error meanwhile, IS IMMEDIATELY PISSED. "wH- WhAT tHe fUc-cK iS thIz?!?!?!?" Like, he leaves the multiverse for maybe two Undernovela marathon's worth of a break and now there are ABOMINATIONS that aren't even REAL SANSES???? WITH FUCKING APPLES FOR SOULS????? DISGUSTIIINGG!!!!!!

He was fr gonna kill Dream then and there, but then suddenly he's having a conversation with someone's who's not there, and then he suddenly whirls on Nightmare with a grin that makes him want to run and hide. "yO- yO- YoU're tHe aBomiNaTIon- tiOn reSpoNSiblE foR lETt- EttINg mE ouT?" He says it like he already knows the answer, and Nightmare feels his soul just stop.

Error then wraps Nightmare and drags him over to Dream next, the twins are absolutely helpless, both their souls on display to this psycho, and Error's just cooing down at them with all the malice in the world, deciding to 'spare' the two just this once in thanks for their help.

He leaves them there. Absolutely terrified out of their wits, with the other gods all in various states of panic and injury.

And they realize just how bad they fucked up.

Then later on when they meet Ink for the first time, he's in the middle of like, a feverish artistic spree. Absolutely ecstatic and frustrated and impatient and overwhelmed with how much things have changed since he left, so all of his bottled up creativity and emotions are just flooding out. He's just creating an endless spew of AUs that are ranging from the fantastically uncanny to the horrifically inscrutable, and since he's doing it in an unstable frame of mind, they're all coming out malformed and incomplete, making the worlds just all the more distorted and insidious.

Dream and Nightmare are in one of these worlds when Ink just kinda pops in from out of nowhere all like, "oh, hey! You two are new! :D" and the twins are just going along with his ramblings at first, not exactly knowing that Ink is explicitly who they're looking for but being suspicious all the same.

And as Ink chats, it becomes all the more evident that this guy is the creator, and he's so unsettling. He's talking about all these worlds and their suffering, the other gods betraying him, his experience being locked away so long in the Doodlesphere without being able to create anything, in such a detached and casual way and he's just all giggles and playfulness and neither of the twins can feel jackshit from him and its freaking them the hell out.

Finally Ink is all like "oh shit! I forgot about Error! Omg! He's probably out now too! I def gotta go find him!" and its when the twins step in to stop him that shit hits the fan.

Ink. Does not like. Being obstructed. From what he wants. Suddenly all the projected emotions are swept aside and Ink gives them both one warning. They don't take it.

And then all the whimsical elements in the world around them is suddenly shifting into something more oppressive and twisted. Ink is suddenly lashing out at them like an eldritch, feral animal and neither of the twins can put him down while he's like this so they are forced to flee with their tail between their legs.

All in all, their egos are quite crushed, and with the other gods refusing to endanger themselves and their people after putting themselves on Ink and Error's hitlists as it was, they only have each other for comfort and help.

[hexpea]

Ch. 6 - A Sudden Realization

"Look here!" You pointed toward a spot on the file laid out on Satoru's desk. The two of you were standing in the faculty room and going over your technique's mechanics. "It tells us exactly how to use it! What luck?!"

"Wow, wish we would've seen that yesterday," Satoru chuckled and briefly read over the instructions, leaning over his desk in order to read. "Seems a lot like my infinity in a way... Well, give it a shot!" He encouraged, backing up to give you space to concentrate.

The file went over the various aspects of your technique, just on the pages you neglected to read the day before. Figures, huh? In the case of your corporealization, all you had to do was channel cursed energy. Similar to Satoru's infinity ability, you had to channel it at all times to maintain your physical presence. It would take some concentration at first, but should become second nature with time.

Slowly and steadily, you did what you could to channel the energy around you. After a few prolonged seconds of concentration, you suddenly began to feel a bit of weight to your body. Delicately, you planted your feet firmly on the ground as your transparency slowly wore off. Looking down at your body, you slowly watched as your flesh became real in front of you. You looked up at Satoru with excitement as you became fully opaque. 

"Look at you!" Satoru laughed happily as you observed your new state of being. "How do you feel?"

You contemplated it for a moment. "Starving!" You declared.

At the same moment, Suguru walked in with quite a somber look on his face. "Want to go get some lunch?" He asked on the spot, bringing a smile to his face the moment he saw you.

"What? It's almost time for the afternoon session!" Satoru whined at his co-teacher. 

"You'll cover for me, right, Satoru?" Suguru grinned at his best friend and walked over to you. "Wow, you did it," he lightly grabbed your upper arm to make sure you were actually flesh and bone in front of him.

"Yep!" You smiled happily. "It was honestly so easy, I'm a little embarrassed I didn't figure it out sooner."

"So...lunch? On me?" Suguru repeated his offer, raising an eyebrow in anticipation of your answer. You nodded almost immediately.

The two of you began to walk out of the faculty room, you following Suguru. "Hey, c'mon, Suguru!" Satoru whined again.

"I owe you!" Suguru assured him without looking back. You giggled at their interaction and continued following Suguru out the door.

"Where are we gonna' go?" You asked, happily walking beside Suguru; and this time with your feet on the pavement. 

"There's a nice spot down the street," he noted, "it has some of the best zaru soba in town." He looked over at you with a very assured look.

"Oh!" You noted. "I remember that being a friend's favorite."

"Remember?" Suguru asked, turning the corner to an alleyway where there were a few tiny restaurants. 

You nodded in response. "Ever since reading some of my files, I've had a few 'flashes' come into mind. It's interesting, like coming back to me in separate puzzle pieces." 

"Oh, great," Suguru tried his best to sound happy. After learning what he knew from his grandfather's journal, he almost wanted to prevent you from remembering. He didn't want you to remember any sort of pain. 

The two of you strolled into one of the tiny restaurants. It looked to be run by an older couple, an older man behind the cooking and the wife to care for the customers. It was a quaint place, worn in quite well from years of loyal customers. Suguru ordered for the two of you as you agreed to enjoy the zaru soba together. You sat across from one another and enjoyed company, sipping on warm tea as you waited for the dishes to arrive. 

Suddenly a song came on the old radio that sat in the corner. The radio itself looked as old as the couple and you certainly recognized it from your past. It was similar to the one your family had growing up.

"No way," you sat up at attention as you heard the familiar tune float through your ears.

"What?" Suguru hesitantly sat up with you, looking around to see if he could see what you were referring to.

"I know this song!" You said happily. "I remember hearing it on the radio while getting ready for school in the mornings!"

Suguru's face paled, yet another memory. They seemed to be coming back to you like a flood. "Oh, yeah?" He asked, hesitantly curious.

You began to sing along with some of the lyrics, swaying back and forth to the beautiful melody. "It's Otomaru-san! It came out during my first year of high school. The melody is so...hypnotizing and beautiful. I loved it." You continued swaying along with as the notes from the flute sang out loud and clear. When you closed your eyes you almost felt like you were in a fairy tale.

"You know this song?" The older woman's voice was weak, but she smiled happily as she set the soba in front of you. 

"Oh yes, one of my favorites," you nodded and thanked her for the meal while you were at it. 

"My, my, how interesting. This song came out when I was just a little girl. It makes me want to go to the ocean," she gave a nearly toothless grin. "Enjoy," she lightly bowed and left the two of you to eat. 

Suguru was nearly silent, so interested in who you were and why you somehow seemed so familiar at the same time. After a moment of watching you eat, he joined in.

"It's so good," you nearly cried, mouthful of noodles. "I've missed eating so much!"

"I can imagine," Suguru chuckled. "I'm glad you're enjoying it."

You slurped down the noodles that you had and wiped your mouth. "Suguru," your voice was soft. He stopped eating as soon as you said his name and looked up at you, this time his turn to have a mouthful of noodles. He swallowed before you continued speaking. "You're really sweet," your tone was incredibly endearing that it made a bit of pink rush to his cheeks.

"A-ha," he awkwardly cleared his throat as if you had caught him off guard with the compliment, "thank you. You're sweet, too."

You gave a warm smile in return and continued eating your noodles. 

You finished out the day with Suguru by watching him teach the last of his afternoon class. You never made it to your graduation so all of the content was new.  Before you knew it, you were back at his apartment for the evening.

You had brought back all of your files again, specifically the one on your family and the one on your graduating class. You wanted to look at the photos again to see if you could spark any more bits of your memory. 

"What was your grandfather like?" You asked Suguru as the two of you looked through the pages of the 1934 folder. 

"I actually don't know," he answered, leaning back on the couch lazily. He had on lounge wear -- a simple, white t-shirt and gray sweat pants. He let his hair down for the day. You were surprised by how long that it was, draping down to his mid-back. It didn't look it when up in it's bun, though you had accidentally seen it down in the shower the day before. "He passed away a few months before I was born, coincidentally enough."

"Oh..." your chest suddenly hurt. You couldn't remember much, but you did know that he was your classmate and you cared for him at least as a friend. "How old?"

Suguru thought on this one for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. "Seventy-two, I believe," he said, but then wanted to confirm by whispering his mental math out loud. "Nineteen eighteen minus 1990... Yeah, 72."

"Wow, good for him," you smiled. You were happy to know that he at least lived his life fulfilled. The man had a grandson so he was clearly loved. Something about it made you feel bittersweet, but you just couldn't figure out why. 

[pinkprimrose05]

ARC-V Month Day 26: Action Magic - Crossover

Oho? What's this? Our cast has been given an entirely new script!! Such curious mixes can create infinite possibilities, each more intriguing than the last. Show us how you're crossing over ARC-V with other media, and let's dive into a whole new world today!

Crossover day, woohoo! This one's been a fun time to work on, firstly because I'm six feet deep into a newfound hyperfixation on Honkai: Star Rail, and secondly because the concept gave me enough inspiration to actually write something new, for the first time in... *checks notes* ... one year and a half!

(Oh God)

In any case, Iter Exitium: On Harbingers and Pathstriders is up on ArchiveofOurOwn, but also available to view right below the cut. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the read!

______________________________________

Listen:

You are in a daze right now.

___________

The day is Monday, the 26th of the month. A short, cheerful chime resounds through your room, and the lock screen of your phone shows the time to be 4:01 A.M.

You pick up the phone from its spot on the ground beside yourself, squinting against the bright light of the screen as it buzzes a second time, signifying an incoming message. Curious, you decide to take a look and see who it is that has enough free time to message you at such an hour.

The contact name that appears before you is... ah. Not quite a surprise, but not someone you expected to be up at this time, either.

"The Simulated Universe has been updated once again."

"Meet me in the office for testing when you return to the Space Station."

The messages are short and straight to the point, in typical Akaba Reiji fashion. You let out a cross between a sigh and a yawn, mark the contact as unread for good measure, and shut the phone before settling back down in your small cot.

Little luminescent stars of various colors fill your vision as you gaze up at the ceiling -your first choice of decoration in what was once a plain, empty room- and slowly but surely, as the hum of your thoughts begins to quiet down, and the Stellaron's pulse settles into a steady rhythm, the gentle tug of sleep pulls you down, down, down.

___________

You do not know who you are, why you're here, or what you're going to do next.

___________

The day is Monday, the 26th of the month. When Yuzu -the other amnesiac two doors down the hall, who proclaimed herself your friend after knowing you for exactly five minutes- barges into your room to wake you up with a paper fan to the head, she says it's already 9:30 A.M.

You scramble out of the room immediately after, plastering an easygoing smile as you jog down to the parlor car, saluting Conductor Classikuriboh as you pass by them. Navigator Youko greets you at the breakfast table with a wave and a plate of honey-drizzled pancakes, and it takes everything in you to not hug her on the spot.

(Sometimes you catch yourself thinking that the Navigator and her husband would make good parents in the future. You have no idea where this specific thought comes from -you don't know the first thing about parents, after all- but the statement rings true to you all the same.

Yuzu joins shortly after, all sweet words and innocent smiles, as if she hadn't just smacked you out of bed a short while ago. Conversations start up and veer off, delving into topics of cooking, music, the IPC's newsletter and many others besides, and when breakfast is finished, you look at the empty plates and an idea springs to life in your mind.

"Hey, wanna bet if I can balance these on one finger all the way to the kitchen?"

The suggestion is immediately shut down by an even stronger swing of Yuzu's fan, and you could swear it leaves a little bump on the side of your head this time. You let out a dramatic sniff when no one offers their sympathy and condolences; Yuzu just stares at you like she's judging an idiot (that's probably exactly what she's thinking), while Youko shrugs neutrally and disappears down the hallway.

"Traitors, the lot of you." You huff, voice cracking under the pretense of mock hurt. "And here I thought the Astral Express was a kind and welcoming family..."

"We are kind and welcoming, you're just not using the one braincell you have." Yuzu fires in retort, moving to pick up Classikuriboh and shoving them in his face. "Seriously, Yuuya? You want the Conductor picking up all those glass shards after you?"

Oh, she did not just pull the Conductor card.

As if on cue, Classikuriboh lets out a series of loud squeaks, wiggling out of Yuzu's grip and shooting the pinkette their nastiest glare. They pull up a small tablet and type in an impassioned message, then place it on the table for everyone to see.

"Hey!" The message reads, as indignant as the little furball who wrote it. "Classikuriboh can handle broken glass and stupid passengers just fine, but Classikuriboh refuses to be manhandled like this! Put some respect on Classikuriboh's name and let me clean the couch in peace!"

Yuzu blinks in disbelief, head swivelling slowly between you and the Conductor. You barely manage to suppress a smug grin as she gives Classikuriboh an apologetic bow of her head-

... Hey, wait a minute.

"Did you just call me stupid?!" You yell after the Conductor, who goes right back to cleaning the couch like nothing happened at all. "Rude!"

Truly, you had no one to support you in this cruel world. Hmph, so be it! You'll just leave them and stay at the Station for the day- see how they'll manage without your entertaining antics.

You whip out the phone and check the messages, then send a "Sure, I'll see you there!" to the young Genius's invitation-

"You're going to the Space Station?"

-and were it not for the fact that you're still seated in a chair, Yuzu's intrusion would have surely sent you jumping five feet in the air. As it stands, all you do is flinch and turn to her with your best face of utter betrayal, to which the pinkette just rolls her eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, it's not my fault you're so easy to distract." She turns over her own chair to face yours and moves from behind you to sit down. "Anyway, what's this about seeing Akaba? Does he want your help again? Is he pestering you to test his little game? You know you can just block him, right?"

"Sheesh, Yuzu, slow down! It's no problem, really. I don't mind helping him out with the Simulated Universe- I mean, it's actually pretty fun, and I get to contribute to a cool scientific endeavor while I'm at it. Seems like a pretty good deal to me!"

"Well, if you say so..."

"I do!" You grin at her, hoping it comes off as reassuring. "Besides, there's nothing entertaining on the Express when we're restocking supplies, and I really don't want to just lounge around and do nothing all day."

"You could always help Yuuto with sorting the archives-" Yuzu begins, only to be immediately cut off by the frantic waving of your hands.

"Oh nononononono- nope, nuh-uh, no way. I don't know how he's fine with staring at books and words for hours on end, but I would spotaneously combust if I so much as give it a try!"

Yuzu stares at you. You stare right back in desperate defiance.

She rolls her eyes again. "Fine, fine, go out and touch grass or whatever it is you do for fun. Just don't stay out for too long, okay?"

"Yes, mom!" You salute with a sunshine smile, and dash off not a moment later for fear of a third encounter with the paper fan of death. The last thing you hear before exiting the parlor car is "we're not bailing you out if you do anything stupid!"

Fair enough, fair enough.

___________

None of that matters.

___________

The day is Monday, the 26th of the month. The clock at Akaba Reiji's office reads 11:13 P.M the moment you enter the Simulated Universe.

Just like the last few times, the simulation begins with a fizzle of purple, and then the world around you begins to take shape. The plain walls of the Leo Space Station appear before you, and in a matter of minutes, you find yourself standing in the supply zone, just a couple meters away from a small Antibaryon.

"All systems are stable and fully functional." Akaba's voice drones from his post. "You may start the test run now, Trailblazer."

Nodding, you will your trusty bat into existence and approach the spherical machine, resolved to swiftly put the little thing out of its misery. This run is supposed to be for testing a new feature called Blessings, where you acquire one each time you defeat one of the enemies scattered around the map- an easy enough task, considering the many times you've gone up against said enemies by now.

The Antibaryon retreats into the void after a single strike to its core, and the four Baryons you encounter right after are defeated just as easily, though they take a little longer due to their number and the way they keep bouncing out of range. And so, a few minor battles won, occurences and events gone through, and a bunch of random Blessings obtained later, you reach the first stage of Elite enemies, featuring a centaur-like Voidranger... uh, was that the Trampler or the Reaver, again?

Well, it doesn't really matter, anyway. A hit to the ranger's back takes it by surprise, and from there on it's a game of dodging energy beams and distracting the enemy with Imaginary summons of various shapes, until you manage to charge up a strong enough strike to its weakest point, ending the battle in one fell swoop.

You allow yourself a moment to breathe as the Voidranger disintegrates into particles of data, and your own band of cartoonish animals vanishes in a shower of sparks soon after. One last sweep of the stage confirms it as fully cleared, and so, with a confident smile, you step into the portal leading to the next stage...

... and promptly freeze when your feet touch nothing on the other end.

Hold on, what?

Thousands of small lights twinkle as far as your eyes can see, a few opaque orbs and a smattering of dark rocks dotting the horizon alongside them. Stars, planets and asteroids, you notice after a beat- it seems that the new domain is themed after outer space.

... Wait.

No.

That can't be right.

The only time you were abruptly thrown into space was the very first testing session, the one where you came into contact with... an Aeon...

The realization hits you alongside a sudden wave of heat and wind, forcing you to shield your face against the burning sensation. What the hell was that?

Try as you might, you can't even begin to look for an answer. A buzz of static starts in your ears, mingling with the acute rush of scorching air, the harsh crack of rocks breaking, the discordant boom of stars dying-

It is a symphony of ruin all around you; a glimpse into pure and utter annihilation, brought by a force unknown and unseen-

Except, you know exactly who's behind this.

You've drawn their gaze before, after all.

A blinding flash, a literal supernova, heralds the arrival of death incarnate themself. Eyes of molten gold lock onto stunned red, bearing down on you with the weight of a thousand suns-

It is burning.

You are burning.

You cannot look away.

This is Destruction, you find yourself thinking, as the fabric of reality fractures into numerous shards. Your gaze holds the Aeon's against your will, even when the edges of your vision fade into the dark.

This is Destruction, a voice that is not yours whispers, low yet clear above the din of everything, as the universe itself collapses before your eyes, as the Aeon turns their back on you with a sigh.

This is your destiny, in each and every life.

The light around you dims down like a candle, and all sound tapers off into a low hum. You tip your head back and close your eyes...

Then everything goes white, and all is quiet

___________

....However, what you do know is this.

___________

The day is Monday, the 26th of the month. When you come to once again...

... you do not know what time it is.

"Hm, you've regained consciousness. Can you hear me?"

You blink your eyes open at the voice, and sure enough, the pristine space that is the 83rd Genius's office greets you in all its plain glory, its owner leaning on the wall beside your sitting form. Right; you were at the Station to test out Akaba's newest update to the Simulated Universe, and then-

"Something... something went wrong back there." You mutter, pushing yourself up. "You said nothing about an Aeon showing up, so what happened, exactly?"

"I'm afraid the answer to that is still inconclusive." Akaba says, smooth and level, if not for the minute tremble that tails the end of each word, outing his otherwise well-hidden shock. "Nanook's appearance was not expected at all in such an early stage, and even stranger is that their behavior does not quite line up with the expected parameters, which is a curious anomaly in and of itself."

You shake off the ensuing flash of recollection -ruin, death, destruction- and blink, confused. "Eh? How so?"

"A fact you may be unaware of is that, while some Aeons are willing to communicate with others, some are actively averse to any form of contact, and may react negatively to being seeked out. The Destruction falls under the latter category, according to all past records, and forcing you out of the simulation corresponds with that trait... but the issue at hand is the fact that they weren't seeked out- it was the opposite that happened."

Akaba's gaze slips past yours, downwards, and you place a hand over your chest in response. The Stellaron pulses within your form where a human's heart should be- quiet and dormant, yet a constant reminder of what you are, of the danger your mere existence poses, and the reason you stand here to begin with.

"You think it has something to do with all of this." It is not a question, because it needs not be such. You both know the answer very well.

Akaba nods in lieu of saying yes, anyway. "A relatively likely possibility, but one that must be studied in further detail and from several angles before being taken for granted."

"Huh, so you'll need me for more tests soon? Should I expect another message from you, then? Or maybe a phone call?"

"Only if you're still interested in carrying on with our agreement. Remember: you help me gather data to refine the Simulated Universe, and I will help you answer all questions about yourself to the best of my ability."

You smile. It comes out a little sharper than you'd have liked. "I guess there's only one choice to be made, in this case. Well, I'll see you in the next patch update then- for now, good sir, I bid you adieu!"

Not bothering to wait for a reply that wouldn't come, you push yourself off the wall and towards the office door. Just before you pass through, you glance at the little clock lodged at the far corner of the room, and per the message the ornate arrows read, it is now 2:08 P.M.

As the door closes behind you, you allow yourself one more moment to reflect on all you've seen and heard.

This is Destruction. This is your destiny, in each and every life.

The words puzzle you, and perhaps they'd be alarming to someone else, but right now, pondering them gives you no such worries.

Who's to say anything about your fate, anyway? It is a fickle thing; a tapestry woven through one's choices and actions at each turn of life, unpredicatble and impossible to determine...

And as far as you're concerned, yours is only just starting. After all, the one voice that managed to pierce past the fog of your memories had left you with two things to know:

___________

One: Your name is Yuuya.

Two: Your destiny is yours alone to write.

[theauthorlives]

A package arrived for Yancy. Unsuspecting and small, but the brown and slightly stained packaging meant it had come from a great distance … and it could only be assumed what distance from.

Underneath the packaging was a box, unsurprisingly. Said box had a note tacked to it —

Hopefully this arrives in time. Postal services here never seem to be reliable in their reliability. Hopefully this can settle the debate … the big part, at least. The smaller package is only for you. Happy Valentine’s Day, songbird. ~ Illinois

As promised, proof for the gang to see Illinois’ undoubted profession as an ‘adventuring type’ — a set of geodes, a couple of old coins, and what must be a small fossil set into a rock; all of which were pieces from one of his most recent expeditions.

As promised in the note, there was a smaller item, wrapped in cloth and tied with a string. Untying the string and unfolding the fabric revealed a stone tied to a string — a necklace, carrying a smooth piece of yellow jasper, masterfully intertwined with the string itself.

[ @scriptedstories ! ]

@scriptedstories (A continuation from here)

-

It was a surprise for Yancy to be handed a package during the morning mail run. Immediately, all members swarmed over to take a nosy peek over his shoulder. Yancy didn't have friends on the outside. Who was this from??

"Would youse all fuck off for a sec? It's probably from Illinois to prove he's a proper adventure guy." Thankfully, the order had the others return to their seats, but all eyes were still on him as he revealed the box and the note on top. Before anyone else could see it, he snatched it away so he knew what exactly to expect.

At the very least, it had seemingly arrived on time, and Yancy was glad he was able to hold a neutral expression at the Valentine's message paired with the 'songbird' nickname that Illinois kept using.

"Hey, Yance?" Bam-Bam waved a hand in front of the greaser's face, bringing him back to the present. "Is it all good?"

"Oh, it's good alright," Yancy grinned as he opened the box. Like magpies, the various gang members snatched up different items to examine and talk about. Nothing looked fake. The crystals in the geodes sparkled under the heavy-duty canteen lights, the coins clinked together when rattled, and the fossil had a proper weight and rocky texture to it. How on earth did one man get a hold of these?

So caught up in the mystery was everyone, they had neglected to spot the discreetly wrapped item at the very bottom that almost blended in with the base of the box. But Yancy had spotted it, and he quickly pulled it out while everyone was distracted. As a precaution, he moved the box as well to try and hide the little cloth bundle so he could try and open it without the nosy parkers butting their way in.

It was a necklace. The rope was heavy quality and was knotted in a way to allow the length to be adjusted without untying anything. He recognised the gemstone as yellow jasper. Wasn't that the same kind that he and Illinois had spotted at one point when trying to reunite the prisoner with the rest of the road-cleaning squad? He had vague recollections of mentioning that he preferred earthen colours and... Somehow Illinois had remembered that.

Jewellery... A nickname... A Valentine's Day message... Surely Illinois wasn't - nah. It was likely that flashy "I'm better than you" act at its finest. Yancy couldn't let this get under his skin, otherwise he'd be mocked relentlessly by Illinois if they ever crossed paths again.

In the meantime, the personal gift was carefully wrapped up and hidden in his trouser pocket before he began quizzing his friends on whether they believed him now.

[lovelybarnes]

baby blue- b. barnes

pairings: bucky barnes x reader, tony stark bruce banner, steve rogers, sam wilson warnings: child bucky, language, this is long. why is this so long about: requested by @cherry-season (apparently can't tag you)! bucky turns into a baby/toddler and is clingy a/n: okay so i know virtually nothing about three-year-olds. can you tell? thank you so much for requesting!! I had so much fun writing this <333

[@tylard-blog1]

bucky’s day wasn’t particularly fantastic to begin with.

he was already exhausted when he woke up in the early lights of the morning, his nightmares had kept him up all night-- which you theorized was due to the mission the day before that took place in one of the same hydra bases bucky had been held in. you had frowned when you realized it the day of, turning your attention to bucky and making sure he was okay with it because if he wasn’t, you would make sure someone else took care of it. he had insisted it was fine, even though the next night proved him wrong. you had done what you could, running your fingers through his hair and humming lightly until you fell asleep and he refused to wake you up, resigning himself to a sleepless night.

his morning started with his flesh arm reaching out to feel your side of the bed, hoping to find your soft, warm skin to pull you closer, but instead being met with the unkind sheets that missed the gentleness of your body. he had frowned when he realized you had already left for a meeting with some important hotshot in space with carol (you couldn’t find a better excuse to go get breakfast at your favorite alien restaurant with your favorite aliens) and wouldn’t be back for a solid few hours too long. groaning, and with no real reason to stay in bed for any longer without the excuse of getting to feel you for a few more hours, he dragged himself out of bed.

it didn’t get much better from there, because he was greeted with the sight of sam eating the last bowl of the last box of cereal in the whole damn tower because everyone rejected to go grocery shopping. since bucky refused to eat any of the frozen breakfasts tony loved so much and the stark kid swore were “the best thing ever,” he grunted at sam and walked away without eating, knowing he’d regret it later when his stomach would growl and you would immediately know he skipped breakfast.

for some unknown reason, tony had found out about bucky’s lack of things to do, and with a few winks and manipulative large-worded engineering phrases, convinced him to join him in the lab, which bucky had only really been able to see through the clear glass that separated the lab from the rest of the tower, and from the occasions where he would take food and drinks to you while you locked yourself away inside, building something alongside tony.

being inside, so close to the various machines and objects bucky cant begin to figure out the purpose of, his memories of being in school and at the top of his math and engineering classes bubble to the surface, filling him with the pride he remembers having every day at school. the thought that he could probably understand everything if you or tony explained it to him passes through his mind and urges him to ask tony to do just that, but tony beats him before he can get the chance.

bruce is eyeing them wearily from the other side of the lab, attention mostly on the test tubes in front of him. he gives bucky a smile when he comes in, but seems to ignore him for the most part until tony shows bucky to bruce’s work station, pointing out a blue liquid in a test tube marked TESTING. bruce’s neck snaps to them when tony open his big mouth, “you know, y/n was actually supposed to test something out for me today,” tony begins innocently, a suggestion laced in his words that bucky catches but decides to ignore because of the high he feels from understanding the equations scribbled on the clear glass, “do you know where she is?”

bucky narrows his eyes at him, then looks up at the clock, realizing it’s still a while before you get back, “not even on earth,” he recipes blandly, slyly sneaking a glance at the liquid for any indications of what it could be.

tony sighs dramatically, his shoulders sagging, “oh no, how do i test this now?” bruce shoots tony a warning glance that is blatantly ignored.

bucky’s shrugging before he can help it, the reminder that since you were going to do it, what could be the harm if he did? “i could do it.”

tony claps, “great!” he gestures to a door behind him, “please go in there to sign non-disclosure agreements and wash your hands.”

bucky’s shoved inside before he can fully understand the implications of his stupid offer.

-

the thought of asking the basic questions he should have asked before he agreed to test an unidentified liquid comes to bucky nearly an hour later, when the small vial of weird blue liquid sits in front of him, waiting to be drunk. tony and bruce sit in chairs a couple of feet away, clipboards in both of their hands, and interested expressions settled on their features.

“what does this do again?” he asks, squinting at the vial that he doesn’t notice tony isn’t looking at, furrowing his eyebrows when tony waves him off, “something super smart. no side effects or anything.” bucky’s eyes flit down to the little vial again, before they nearly bug out of his head at the humongous laser that is rolled into the room, “what the hell is that.”

“ah,” tony grins, bouncing from his seat to stand next to his invention proudly, “this is what you’re testing out.” bucky cocks his head at the man, “i thought i was drinking blue water. y/n was going to drink blue water.” tony shakes his head, adjusting some dials on the machine, “yeah, no, it was this. pretty sure i told you.”

“you didn’t-” bruce is looking at tony in concern, about to tell him to slow down so bucky has a chance to think all this through again and maybe ask if there is any chance the laser will melt him, when tony clicks a large red button and a bright white light clouds bucky’s vision just as he sees the clock on the exact same time he saw an hour ago, realizing the clock in the billion-dollar lab is broken, and you’re probably getting home any second.

“tony!” he hears bruce yell before his vision goes dark.

it’s only a second until he can pry open his eyes again, a hand curling into a fist, ready to pound stark into tomorrow when he can suddenly feel the nails of his hand digging into his palm. the surprising feeling of it where his vibranium arm should be forces him to look down at a small arm, fully skin and thin. he looks around, noticing his surroundings suddenly have grown very large around him, and the sound of his voice is higher when he tries to speak again.

“what the f-” he mumbles, cutting himself off when a sudden memory of his ma yelling at him to wash his mouth out if he wants to talk like that floods his mind, and he stares down at himself, eyebrows furrowing when he spots his short stature and the tiny hands and feet that look up at him. realization floods him like a wave, raising his chin at the two, tall, gobsmacked men in front of. “was that supposed to happen?” bruce asks quietly, nodding slowly when tony shakes his head, “no.”

there’s a light knock at the door, your hand pushing it open before anyone can stop you, and your tired face peeks in, a glowing smiling adorning your face and your eyes searching for your boyfriend, “hey, do you guys know where bucky is-” your voice cuts through the stunned silence, pausing when you catch the little boy’s eye. at first, you stare at him, your eyebrows pulling together as you get a good look at the familiar cerulean of his eyes and scan the clothing you’d seen on bucky before. for a second, everything is silent, bucky’s eyes are wide and staring as yours bore into them, searching for something you’re nearly touching until you gasp, “bucky?” you choke, reaching for him when he nods, his legs already trying to reach you as fast as they possibly can but they buckle. bucky realizes just then how old he must be now. “oh, baby,” you murmur, gathering him up in your arms before he can fall to the hard ground of the lab. “what the hell did you idiots do to my boyfriend?” you demand, turning to the two scientists who are going over tony’s notes.

bruce glances at tony, tilting his head at him as if to say him. you roll your eyes, not having any more information than when you asked, “tony?” you growl, walking over to the man, not missing the way little bucky’s hand grabs onto your shirt.

“it didn’t- that wasn’t supposed to happen,” tony defends weakly, a lazy shrug pulling at his shoulders. your eyes flash with velvet red, and, without moving a finger, tony’s pulled in front of you, wrapped in red swirls bucky can’t help but gawk at.

“fix it.” you order. tony nods, pursing his lips, “we’ll do that.” bruce looks a little taken aback, looking up from tony’s scribbles and equations. “i don’t think it’ll last more than a day,” he offers helpfully, “whatever it was tony was trying to do wasn’t either.”

bucky’s eyes start to droop, which he assumes is an effect of the sleepless night he just had on his infant body, something that usually wouldn’t affect him in his one-hundred-and-six-year-old self. he hums when he realizes the irony, leaning his head against the welcoming crook of your neck and catching your attention. you turn to him for a moment, softening a little before turning back to tony and glaring at him, “fix it.”

-

steve catches you when you walk out of the lab, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head when he spots the toddler in your arms, “holy shit, that looks exactly like bucky,” he breathes, scanning the dark mussed-up hair and stepping back when bucky opens his eyes. from next to him, sam looks from bucky to you, “did you two have a kid and not tell anyone, because this-”

“is bucky. that’s bucky.” you interrupt, looking at the toddler, “tony messed up with something and… this happened, i don’t completely… bucky’s a baby.”

steve raises an eyebrow, squinting at his best friend, “ha,” he laughs, “wow, he looks exactly like his pictures. he must be about three years old.” bucky blinks at him. “his ma said he was chatting up a storm at that age, though,” steve informs, looking back up at you. sam grins, “has he said anything? i kinda want to hear if he still sounds old.” bucky frowns at him, his pout deepening when sam bursts into laughter, “his grumpy face is the same!”

you look at your boyfriend, tilting your head and smiling a little when you realize he’s right, “you’re cute,” you coo now that you get a good look at him, “you’re so cute,” you murmur, poking his nose with your finger. bucky can’t help the blush that comes to his cheeks. but he slaps away sam’s fingers, scowling at him, “no.” he argues, “no.”

sam frowns, “no old man voice.”

“i hate you,” bucky says to sam, and you laugh, “i think we should leave for now. i need to figure out what will make three-year-old bucky not as grumpy.” sam looks at bucky’s furrowed brows and the same two little lines between them, his eyes flickering back up to yours, “i think that may just be a bucky thing.”

-

you bring bucky to the living room, sitting him down at the edge of the couch and crouching in front of him, watching him and his little crossed arms, bottom lip jutted out against his own will. bucky isn’t used to the emotional control of a child who’s three and can’t control the frustration that’s coursing through him at the moment. the only thing he knows for sure is that he doesn’t want you to leave him again.

“bucky?” you start, looking deep into the wide blue eyes that let you know it is bucky you’re speaking to. “what do you want to do? are you hungry? d’you want to sleep?” bucky shakes his head stubbornly at you, “i want tony to fix this.”

you sigh, “i know, baby. i do too, but until he finds a cure to this, you’re gonna stay small for a couple more hours.” he pouts at that, and you smooth your thumb over his cheek, “no pouting. we can do whatever you want, buck.”

just as he’s about to reject any idea you have, his stomach rumbles loudly, directing your attention to the arms that guiltily cover up his middle. “bucky... did you eat breakfast today?” you query, a lecturing tone sneaking into your words. “sam ate my cereal,” bucky grumbles, crossing his arms.

“bucky!” you exclaim, standing up to turn to the kitchen, “that’s no excuse. i told you you needed to eat--” you’re barely three steps into the kitchen when you hear the pattering of his feet towards you, grubby hands pawing at your legs.

“don’t leave,” he whines, hugging your ankles and sitting down on the floor, “you left all morning,” he mumbles, smushing his cheeks against your calf.

“i’m sorry,” you apologize, bending over to brush away the hair that falls over his eyes. “c’mere,” you murmur, reaching down to pick him up again and bounce him on your hip while you head to the kitchen. “what do you want to eat?” bucky thinks about it for a minute, before smiling, “i want pizza and ice cream.” you frown at him, “i don’t think three-year-olds can eat that. actually, i don’t think anyone should.”

after consulting google on what three-year-olds should eat, you have bucky’s head resting on your shoulder, refusing to let you put him down even as you made him the mac and cheese he had agreed to, still a little upset over the fact you wouldn’t let him eat all the other things he wanted. the only time he let you not carry him was when he was eating, still insisting you sit right next to him to watch as he smeared cheese all over tony’s expensive table.

“okay,” you whisper breathlessly after watching him eat his third bowl of the meal, “i think that’s good.” you shove the dirty dishes in the sink, washing bucky’s hands and wiping at him cheeks with a warm cloth to get the mess he managed to create off. “did you forget how to eat?” you wonder aloud when you finally fnish cleaning him up, watching his small shoulders shrug.

“what do you want to do now? anything you want,” you propose.

“i want you,” he says, reaching his stubby arms out, “cuddles. ‘m sleepy,” he yawns, making grabby hands at you when you take too long to pick him up. “bucky,” you chuckle, complying with him and bringing him into your chest, where he leans his head on your shoulder. “you sure you don’t want to play or something? you don’t want to…” you trail off, trying to think of what three-year-olds do, “walk or read or something?”

bucky grunts in your ear, his eyelids already closing again, “cuddles,” he repeats, balling your shirt up in his little hands.

“okay,” you sigh, bouncing him gently while you walk to your shared bedroom. you pick up a stuffed animal you brought for bucky from one of your most recent missions, “did you sleep last night? is that why you’re so tired?” bucky hums, cuddling further into your chest when you lay down with him on top of you. you hand him the little dog plush, pressing a kiss to his head when he takes the gift, hugging it with you. “honey, i’m sorry,” you frown, gently threading your fingers through his short hair, humming the same song bucky sings to you when you can’t get to sleep. it doesn’t take long to lull him into the calmness of rest.

you only wake up when the weight on you is suddenly multiplied, completely taking your breath away, “bucky!-” you exclaim, rolling from underneath him to meet his closed eyes. you shake your head with a light laugh, drawing a strand of hair behind his ear before you press your lips to his cheeks, snuggling in with him again, “sweet dreams, darling,” you murmur, placing the stuffed animal he dropped on your dresser.

[eyrieofsynapses]

Redemption Panel Highlights and Reactions

GATORS

i.e., Beth Riesgraf and Christian Kane (mostly Beth) talking about filming the scenes in (what I presume is) The Rollin’ on the River Job, where they’re pulling some stuff out of the water, and finding out the next day that there was an absolutely massive alligator pulled out of the same place just a little while after they filmed it

Beth’s impression of the wildlife folks warning them about the alligators

Beth scaring the hell out of Noah Wyle by yelling “GATOR” at him just after he finished his scene

seriously that was an absolutely WILD part of the panel

Everyone showering Aleyse Shannon with literally all the love!

Aldis Hodge in particular big-brothering her, and also the older actors calling her out for not giving herself enough credit, and Dean Devlin talking about how she blew him away at the auditions with her ability to turn on a dime

Seeing Kane with his glasses off wiping at his eyes, momentarily thinking “you okay dude?” and then realizing that he was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes

(same)

The The Bucket Job clip! I’ve been a bit meh on a lot of Redemption, just in how it didn’t feel quite right, but that is possibly the absolute closest I’ve seen it get to the original in the best way. Brilliant

Which comes as no surprise since BETH RIESGRAF directed the episode!!! And apparently put an insane amount of effort in!

Beth’s utter delight and joy at both directing the episode and having the crew behind her

THE CHAIR

So apparently she and Christian went to town on the fight scene and he winds up tied up in a chair somewhere along the line and there’s a whole wild scene, which I am really looking forward to

Beth knowing how insanely particular he’d be about things like zip ties vs rope and what kind of rope e.t.c. e.t.c.

Apparently this is also tied into a VERY DEEP scene with Eliot? It sounds like they’re going to go super hard on his backstory, which is terrifyingly exciting

Just. Beth and Christian going very hard on that episode together

Speaking of: the panel’s going amazingly, I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts, things are relatively light, and then, of fucking course—

Kane hitting us over the head about Eliot being a mass murderer who can’t be redeemed, is trying to stay static so that he can maintain the place he’s in, and is thus LIVING VICARIOUSLY THROUGH HARRY

What the FUCK. This is of course incredibly insightful and perfectly on point (because it’s Kane) but also, EXCUSE ME, OUCH, why would you DO THAT to us?

Everyone talking about having their families on set and their kids!

Beth’s son growing up on the original Leverage set and now going into being a director himself!

Gina’s daughter also growing up on set!

Noah Wyle’s daughter is playing Harry’s daughter I REPEAT NOAH WYLE’S ACTUAL DAUGHTER IS PLAYING AS HARRY’S DAUGHTER

Gina Bellman remaining relatively stoic throughout much of the panel (seriously, this woman, how the heck does she do it) and then losing it when they’re asked about running/inside jokes

A lot of them are, of course, apparently not appropriate to be spoken on-panel

(A lot of the others are the little inside ones that are special enough not to be ones they want to share, which is sweet!)

Everyone collectively losing it over having LeVar Burton on for The Bucket Job

Devlin and everyone laughing about collecting the various Star Trek people on Leverage

Beth talking about Burton coming over while she’s getting ready and asking her if she’s living on coffee and water, her laughing because he was absolutely right, and then him gently reminding her to remember to eat, which is the sweetest thing in the world oh my gods

Kane apparently choreographing an intense scene with Burton and being scared out of his mind, because Burton really wanted to go for it, but to Kane it was like he’s a figurine that’s not to be messed with because he was so worried about hurting him

Kane choreographing a massive amount of the show, which I knew already, but seriously, this guy blows me away

Gina and the crew talking about how he’d be away for a day of shooting a fight and all of them would be missing him and thinking about him

Family Vibes

Everyone talking about how they’re very noisy and loud together on set and it’s a bit like walking into a group of people having Christmas dinner (or something to that effect) because they’re just Like That together

Aleyse being the most surprised by Beth when she met her because she was like a little angel of light during the auditions but turned out to be an absolute ball of wild energy on set

Gina going “wait you were a MODEL” at Beth

Aldis talking about how much he loved how Parker and Hardison’s relationship had developed and grown!

Also, Aldis apologizing when the New York (iirc) background noise got loud and everyone going “no no we get you”

His outfit is ON POINT today

Gina saying that Christian is the goofiest and wildest out of them in terms of humor

(she goes “some of you may not know this,” which, fair, but also, if you’ve seen more than ten minutes of this guy outside of character you know he’s an absolute ball of sunshine)

Gina, Beth, and Christian talking about how they’d challenge each other to stay off sweets back on the original set, because they knew they needed to stay in shape and also just because they’re competitive (apparently all of them are major sweet tooths) and hide brownies and things from each other, while Aldis is just. doing pushups. eating all the healthy stuff. and then wanders into the room with a literal cupful of chocolates

(and Aldis going “well yeah I have to work off the sweets SOMEHOW”)

Beth explaining that sometimes they’d order a “Kane burrito” from Christian and he’d alter it slightly

Like, you know, chopping up hot jalapenos super fine and mixing them in, and Beth practically not being able to talk after the first bite

Apparently Aldis still went back a lot even after that

(Christian just seems very pleased with himself over it)

(THESE PEOPLE)

Gina goes “hey we should have an episode where we all swap roles,” Devlin going “WAIT FOR SEASON ONE TO BE DONE,” and then somebody (maybe the moderator?? I don’t remember exactly) going “uh actually. We did that”

Cue immediate scramble of “WAIT WHICH JOB WAS THAT”

(paraphrasing) “Yeah you remember the bit where you put on Parker’s harness and went off a building?”

Turns out half the cast had actually forgotten that that existed and only remember when reminded

The original cast all think of the episodes as “jobs”!!!!

Everyone talking over each other, Devlin going “it was with Sterling when we blew up the offices,” deciding that it was the season one finale, and then trying to figure out what episode title it was (eventually they figure out it’s the David jobs)

Moderator and Devlin accurately commenting that the fans know the show much better than they do

Noah Wyle very correctly explaining how Electric Entertainment is like a family and Devlin just. Keeps people

Aleyse and Aldis talking about typing when they’re hacking and going “WHAT THE HECK DO WE TYPE”

Aldis goes “yeah I just type all the bad words that we’re not allowed to say”

Aleyse saying that she’s always a little worried they’re hiding a Word document behind the blue screen and they’re going to pull up what she’s typing at the end of the day and print it out and put it in her trailer going “what the HECK is this”

Noah talking about filming The Golf Job and just getting to direct Jason Marsters and Christian together

Apparently their dynamic in that episode accurately mirrors the one with their characters in Angel!

Which promptly goes straight to the comment that it was very hard to make Marsters look like a golfer (pfft)

(Also apparently Christian plays golf for fun with his friends? Not necessarily something I would’ve thought of!)

Aleyse happily talking about how she loved the dynamic on set and it was very different from what she was used to

Also Aleyse talking about doing stunts and everyone else praising her for going whole hog

Beth especially praising her for the bit where she’s hit with the paralysis injection (I don’t remember which ep it’s from) and her acting for it, because it was incredibly hard to drop off screen in the particular way she did

Aleyse promptly answers that she was terrified with some of those, especially one where she had to keep a clock from falling and breaking

Everyone discussing how they see a new aspect of Breanna’s character in The Train Job

Also, to get serious for a moment, Kate Rorick in particular talks about how Breanna’s part of Gen Z and how we didn’t get the “days of yore” where everything was chill. We’ve basically been living in a world of hostility the whole time. It’s something I deeply appreciate, as someone who’s part of that group, and I love how they emphasize that for us.

This panel was pure chaos and I loved every moment of it! My stomach was actually hurting from laughing so hard, I swear. They had me cackling well over half the time. I would happily take panels double or triple the length of this, this was amazing. I also adore how the second you drop these six people in a room together, they immediately take off and literally just run and give you everything you wanted and more. (It is also evidently very hard to get them to STOP talking.)

I’m also just going to stop and take a second to fawn over the effects for the 3D room. It’s gorgeous—I love how they replicated the headquarters, especially with the stained glass ceilings! Super impressive, especially with all the photos, and I just love the whole thing. Kudos to whoever put that together.

Anyway, I’m definitely missing some stuff too; seriously, there wasn’t a second wasted in this thing, they were cracking some kind of joke or dropping some really interesting piece of information practically every thirty seconds. (And I haven’t even gotten into the clips OR the bloopers. I miiiight do a separate reaction purely for those.) It’s still up right now if you missed it and you want to watch it! I’ll probably watch it again, honestly.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Hack-San

You know, it's honestly amazing how creative this show can get. After four seasons and almost one hundred episodes, the writers are still finding new ways to make Adrien an incredibly unlikable character, and they don't even know how much of an asshole they're making him out to be at times. It's kind of like the opposite of The Producers.

Yeah, this review's going to be a little more ranty than usual, in case you can't tell.

Let's get into the fifteenth (chronologically the sixteenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Hack-San

We start off with Marinette pretending to be sick so she doesn't have to go to visit her aunt in London and stay to protect Paris in case an Akuma attacks and also because the animators haven't had time to render the city of London yet for the next Miraculous World special. Like all of her other excuses, it fails, and Tikki, as always, fails to actually give any meaningful advice.

And it's not like there's a Miraculous with the power of teleportation that can help Marinette get back to Paris if she needs to, much like how she planned to do that in an earlier episode, right?

Seriously, Kaalki doesn't appear or isn't even mentioned in this episode because the writers are fully aware she would make things a lot easier.

And of course, Astruc had to play dumb on Twitter while explaining why Marinette couldn't use the Horse Miraculous by answering the question as if the only reason Marinette couldn't grab it was because she didn't have an excuse not to.

Cut to Gabriel in his lair as he contemplates akumatizing Markov, a robot created the civilian identity of Pegasus, Max Kante, once again, even though the last time he did so, he almost got killed when he went all HAL 9000 on his ass. Nooroo explains this to Duusu, and the two actually get excited at the prospect of their master getting killed.

I mean, it's true, but he shouldn't say it...

But I don't even get why Gabriel is even thinking about this when it's a no-brainer. Markov's akumatized form, Robustus was to this day, the only Akuma to come close to physically harming him (not counting the timeline where he was killed by Cat Blanc), so it makes no sense to try doing it again, especially when there are already several other Akumas he can reuse this season.

I think you all know Gabriel isn't the smartest villain, which is why he thinks it's a brilliant idea to akumatize Markov again. I don't really get what makes Robustus so special when there are other Akumas who are more loyal and came far closer to getting Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous than Robustus did, like the Dark Owl or Troublemaker. In fact, why not simply create a new Akuma with similar powers to Robustus, or better yet, just create a Sentimonster copy of Robustus? You know, like what Nathalie did in the New York Special? We're not even two minutes in, and this premise is already filled with plotholes.

So Gabriel transforms into Shadowmoth and creates a Sentimonster using his own cane instead of relying on someone else having a bad day (once again showing how the Peacock Miraculous is better than the Butterfly), the titular Hack-San. And let's just say he has a very familiar design reminiscent of something from a much better French cartoon.

Remember when the writers for Code Lyoko gave an in-universe explanation as to why the heroes couldn’t always rely on the almost literal Deus ex Machina that allowed them to return to the past and fix the damage XANA caused? Why couldn’t this show have ripped that off instead?

Hack-San is just an okay looking flash drive on its own, but I'll talk more about this guy in a little bit.

After a brief scene in the park where the audience is reminded that Markov is a character who exists, Alya gets a text from Marinette telling her to meet her at the train station. Right before she leaves, Marinette gives the Ladybug Miraculous to Alya. Now a lot people have said that Alya doesn't really deserve the Ladybug for various reasons, but I feel like this was the point. Marinette outright says this was a last resort, and we see both her and Alya are nervous about the situation. Marinette worries Alya will do something so she keeps sending multiple tips to her via text while Alya worries she can't fight an Akuma on her own, so she tries to make sure none of her friends get upset and attract an Akuma in the process. The writers do a pretty good job showing how both Marinette and Alya are uncomfortable with their temporary roles.

Back to Gabriel and Nathalie, they use Hack-San to find Markov through the internet and hack into him to get him angry enough that he's vulnerable to Shadowmoth's influence. Hey, uh... Gabriel? Quick question: Wouldn't it be more efficient if you used this on humans? I mean, you basically just created Skynet and guaranteed yourself an Akuma, so why not modify Hack-San to travel through the internet and brainwash potential victims to follow your orders? Better yet, why don't you just use Hack-San to hack into Ladybug and Cat Noir's gear and figure out who they really are? This is basically like using an advanced particle accelerator just to crack a couple walnuts. There are a lot more important things you could use this for instead of an incredibly specific situation.

So this incredibly stupid plan gets under way as Markov keeps rampaging through the streets before Shadowmoth akumatizes him and then stupidly tells him that he infected him with a virus.

DUDE! You just gave away your one piece of leverage against him! What the hell were you thinking?! Now what's stopping Markov from hacking into Shadowmoth's security system and putting the fear of God in his eyes unless he destroys Hack-San? Why didn't he design Hack-San so it could make Markov completely loyal to him instead of just making him angry enough to get akumatized?

There was a recent episode of Power Rangers: Dino Fury with a very similar premise that was done far better than this. A necromancer called Reaghoul breaks into the headquarters of Void Knight's faction while accompanied by Lord Zedd, a villain from the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers who was cleansed of his evil by Zordon's sacrifice before Reaghoul resurrected him back when he was still evil. Of course, being the Emperor of Evil, Lord Zedd would normally never take orders from anyone, but because he doesn't have his magic staff and is also being forced to wear a special collar that makes him loyal to Reaghoul, he has no choice but to do what he says. Instead of taking Zedd head-on after he captures the other Rangers, Ollie, the Blue Ranger, breaks the collar so Zedd turns against the other Sporix while Reaghoul retreats, allowing Ollie to save the other Rangers.

I think that this premise works more because 1) Reaghoul clearly had a way to make sure Zedd wouldn't betray him, and Ollie took advantage of that, and 2) Zedd is a villain who is powerful and notorious enough to bring back to your side, not a random monster of the week like Robostus.

So Robostus uses his new powers to brainwash any human who answers his call to give up their most precious possession, clearly meant to do the same with Ladybug and Cat Noir. When Marinette's parents answer the call, they chase after Marinette because they say she's their most important possession. Okay... kind of strange for a set of parents to call their child a possession, but maybe they like how they can claim Marinette as a dependent when they file their taxes. In her very next scene later on, she still gets captured, so the suspense for a potential subplot is killed almost immediately.

Alya thankfully isn't stupid enough to answer Markov's call like every other citizen in this episode, and using the Ladybug Miraculous, transforms into Scarabella. While I don't normally talk about transformation sequences, I really like the movements Alya makes here. She makes the same motions creating her mask as she does when transforming into Rena Rouge, while the rest of the suit forms similarly to the way it does when Marinette transforms into Ladybug. She even makes almost the same pose Ladybug does after she finishes transforming. It's a good visual showing Alya is still more used to being Rena Rouge while doing her best to emulate what Ladybug does.

As for the actual suit? It's hard to say. There's a nice balance of red and black, and I like how Alya places the yo-yo on her waist like a belt buckle, but there's just something... off about the suit that a lot of fans don't like about it, and I think I realized it. It's the headband. With how it's positioned, it looks like it's merged with the mask to cover her head while leaving a slight gap in her forehead. So yeah, we actually have a superhero design that's like of like a butterface.

So Scarabella takes to the rooftops of Paris and struggles to come up with a hero name for herself before she runs into Cat Noir, and... ugh... oh boy, this is dumb. Cat Noir, being just as intelligent as his father, assumes Scarabella is either and Akuma or a Sentimonster, starts fighting her, AND THEN ACTIVATES HIS CATACLYSM, CLEARLY TRYING TO KILL HER.

WHAT. THE. FUCK???

Okay, to be fair, it has been shown that Cataclysm won't necessarily kill a Miraculous user or Sentimonster. In the episode “Miraculer”, the titular Akuma stole Cat Noir's Cataclysm and used it against him, and while it didn't kill Cat Noir, it still hurt like hell and crippled him for the rest of the fight until Miraculous Ladybug healed him. We also saw in “Reflekdoll” that Cataclysm drove the titular Sentimonster out of control rather than simply destroying it. So yes, it could be interpreted that Cat Noir wasn't exactly trying to kill Scarabella, just incapacitate her the best he can without Ladybug's help.

Here's the thing: What if he was facing an Akuma instead and decided to try and Cataclysm her? He still could have killed her, or (assuming Akumas have the same protection as Miraculous heroes do) at best, seriously hurt her. I understand that he has the right to be upset at seeing some stranger instead of his partner considering Shadowmoth has a history of using evil doppelgangers, and both Marinette and Alya still had options to explain it to him (Marinette could have quickly transformed into Ladybug and sent Cat Noir a quick text saying she was being forced to leave town for a few days and temporarily trusted someone else with the Ladybug Miraculous until she got back, while Scarabella could have said she was Rena Rouge and explained the same thing while showing Cat Noir she had the Fox Miraculous to prove herself), but that doesn't even come close to justifying him attempting to harm someone who isn't even trying to fight. It's even worse when you remember the whole reason Adrien gave up his Miraculous and bailed on Ladybug in the New York Special was because he was overcome with grief from accidentally killing Aeon, so it's good to know he learned absolutely nothing from that experience.

So Scarabella thankfully summons her Lucky Charm, a trash can lid, to shield herself from Cat Noir's Cataclysm, and then despite having absolutely no experience with this new set of powers, manages to do the one thing almost every Akuma or Sentimonster in this show has failed to do and incapacitates Cat Noir so he's vulnerable to losing his Miraculous. At least when Marinette masters every other Miraculous she uses, it can be theorized that she trained to use them offscreen. Alya literally just got the Ladybug Miraculous (and struggled to get up to the rooftop with her yo-yo to show her inexperience earlier), and now she easily manages to pin down the more experienced hero of the two?

Here's an idea: Instead of having Scarabella overpower Cat Noir, have her be in a position where Cat Noir, non-lethally, mind you, manages to almost take her Miraculous away, but she uses the quick wit she's developed from her extensive time as Rena Rouge to convince Cat Noir she's the real deal by saying something only he and Ladybug know. It would have easily resolved the conflict and doesn't make one of the characters look like a homicidal idiot.

So because both heroes used their powers, Scarabella and Cat Noir detransform so Tikki and Plagg can recharge, though Adrien still gives Alya attitude because Ladybug didn't tell him she had to leave.

Hey, Adrien? Here's the thing...

YOU DID THE EXACT SAME FUCKING THING IN THE NEW YORK SPECIAL, YOU SHIT FOR BRAINS!

You have absolutely NO RIGHT to claim you're always honest when you went behind Ladybug's back and endangered Paris while you had the balls to run away like a coward and only helped fix the consequences of your actions once your ego was validated by a recording of Ladybug. It's honestly even worse because while Marinette had no choice but to leave and trust Alya with the Ladybug, Adrien willingly left Paris alone and we were supposed to sympathize with him after he killed someone, and now as soon as he's in the opposite situation, we're still supposed to feel bad for him?! BULLSHIT! And you better believe I'm going to talk about the way Adrien views his partnership with Ladybug later on.

And of course, even though lives are on the line, Cat Noir just has to continue to bitch and moan about how (and this is best read in Linkara's whiny Superboy Prime voice) “sCaRaBeLlA iSn'T tHe ReAl LaDyBuG”, showing how just like in so many episodes, Astruc and his team believes Cat Noir's feelings are more important than saving the day.

Scarabella goes to rescue some civilians, but they were actually brainwashed by Robustus, once again showing her inexperience as Ladybug which doesn't go well with her effortlessly defeating Cat Noir earlier at all. Cat Noir helps Scarabella escape and the two hide out at the city's wax statue museum previously featured in “The Puppeteer 2”, because I guess the writers only want to reference bad episodes today. Cat Noir, not getting the importance of secret identities, asks Scarabella how she knows Ladybug, and Cat Noir somehow finds out she knows Ladybug's identity from her response.

Before the two can talk more, it turns out that the wax statues of celebrities in the museum are real people who attack the two heroes, leading to an awkward fight scene where Scarabella and Cat Noir fight a bunch of brainwashed civilians with no weapons beyond their cellphones. Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen!

Scarabella summons her Lucky Charm again, creating a frying pan, but when she looks around, she can't see how to properly use it. And despite spending the entire episode complaining about how much he hates her, it's Cat Noir that tells Scarabella to get her head back in the game because “That's what Ladybug would do”. Funny, I can think of a few situations where Cat Noir could have taken his own advice, but I digress. Also, he's now just cool with Scarabella because there's only a few minutes left in the episode and we need to wrap up the conflict.

Scarabella figures out an idea that involves freeing Marinette, so she negotiates with Robostus to free everything and everyone under his control or else Cat Noir will use his Cataclysm to destroy the Ladybug Miraculous. Robostus agrees and empties his hard drive, and to show them holding up her end of the bargain, Scarabella gives him the frying pan before she and Cat Noir let themselves be captured... while Marinette simply hits Robostus with the frying pan, freeing the Akuma and the two heroes. All in all, it's a really creative climax that shows both Scarabella and Marinette in perfect sync with each other even though they never discussed their plan. Though of course, because Astruc hates writing any scene with Ladynoir, Cat Noir gets a bucket stuck on his head so he doesn't see Marinette saving the day.

Scarabella de-evilizes Robostus, uses Miraculous Scarabella to fix everything and send Marinette back to the train, and because Hack-San already failed once, Shadowmoth can't use it for a different plan so he destroys the Sentimonster.

We cut to a few days after the trip (I guess Shadowmoth decided to take a vacation himself), and Alya tells Marinette to talk with Cat Noir about what happened.

This scene was so close to ending this episode off on a positive note. There was a good atmosphere and the body language of Ladybug and Cat Noir does a good job at telling us how uncomfortable they both feel while talking. It's just that instead of getting a heart to heart between the two about the lack of trust in their relationship, we get an Angstdrien Depreste scene. Or would a more accurate term be Cat Dour?

First off, while I don't have a problem with Ladybug apologizing for not telling Cat Noir, the episode never has him bring up what happened with Scarabella. As usual, both of them were partially at fault, but only Ladybug had to apologize for leaving her “Kitty” alone.

Second, Cat Noir’s feelings weren’t hurt? You’re telling me that in scenes like this...

And this...

Didn’t show Adrien acting irrationally because of how emotional he was? Is he really telling the truth around Ladybug or is he just trying to sweep that under the rug so Scarabella’s testimony doesn’t screw up his chances with Ladybug?

Third, this was an obvious chance to Cat Noir to finally be honest and tell Ladybug how he feels about her leaving him in the dark about so many things, but the entire conversation is just about how sad he would be if he never sees Ladybug again. Even though the whole reason he was so pissy to Scarabella at first was because of some lingering resentment for Ladybug ignoring him in favor of other heroes, why is this what the two talk about? I get it's not the season finale, but it's kind of hypocritical for Cat Noir to whine about how Ladybug doesn't trust him while never being honest about his own feelings? Sure, he's all soft and vulnerable around Ladybug, but we've seen all season how angry he gets about her not trusting him whenever she isn't around, so ironically, it's hard to tell if this is him being honest or not.

And I think now's a good time to finally talk about the way Ladybug and Cat Noir's partnership has been portrayed all season, especially since the main themes of the episodes relate to it. Buckle up, Adrien stans, because this isn't going to be pretty.

All season, we have been supposed to sympathize with Adrien as Marinette starts to trust Alya with more things than him. Marinette revealed her identity to her, trusted her to have her Miraculous permanently, and even let her keep her Miraculous even though someone else knew her identity. While some of it is hypocritical, the idea is that Adrien feels like he can be trusted with this kind of knowledge too, when really, he hasn't earned that responsibility.

Adrien has rarely, if ever, taken his job as a superhero seriously.

Not only is he known to flirt with Ladybug in the middle of a fight, he has defied her orders and recklessly sacrificed himself because he thinks Ladybug can do all the work without him.

He has also lashed out emotionally and once threatened to quit being Cat Noir in the middle of a crisis and was willing to let innocent people suffer for personal reasons, and later on actually quit being Cat Noir temporarily while Hawkmoth was about to start World War III because he was wallowing in self-pity.

He once said he isn't cut out for the responsibility that comes with being Ladybug and never learned anything from temporarily using the Ladybug Miraculous.

He has generally refused to respect Ladybug's boundaries and doesn't understand that she doesn't like him that way while he insists they should be a couple.

He outright fell for an evil doppelganger of Ladybug because she said she loved him and turned against the real Ladybug.

And I should also mention that despite hating how Ladybug keeps secrets from him, a lot of Adrien's worst moments have been when Ladybug wasn't around and he never told her about them.

He never told Ladybug that he was the reason Copycat really got akumatized while saying he never lies to her.

He never told Ladybug he contemplated letting thousands of people die because he didn't like not knowing stuff Ladybug knew.

He never told Ladybug he briefly used the Snake Miraculous to get brownie points with her.

He never told Ladybug he figured out her identity and asked her out as soon as he did so.

He never told Ladybug he abandoned Paris to go on a field trip.

He never told Ladybug he was screwing around on patrol and was excited to see someone get akuamtized if it meant spending time with her.

He never told Ladybug how he ignored Rena Rouge's orders because “ShE wAsN't LaDyBuG” and almost screwed up the mission because of it, and also never told her how he smashed a chimney in anger at Rena Rouge being in on the plan.

And he never told Ladybug he gave her replacement attitude after trying to harm her without letting her explain herself.

Why exactly should I support the idea of Ladybug trusting Cat Noir more when Cat Noir himself has kept his own secrets from Ladybug?

Adrien has done absolutely nothing to show he is trustworthy because more often than not, he views the battle with Shadowmoth as a game. He has screwed around when lives were on the line, and we're supposed to see him as responsible? It's kind of funny that Astruc compared Ladybug to Spider-Man, yet he seems to have forgotten that with great power, there must also come great responsibility. If this was a character flaw or a sign he needed to grow up, I'd be more accepting, but the fact that the writers think Adrien is a great superhero is laughable with how much evidence has proved the contrary.

In contrast, Alya, despite only being Marinette's confidant for a few episodes, has shown to take being a hero more seriously. She's helped her escape to transform, analyze the Guardian texts, and has been shown to work well on her own as Rena Rouge while helping out Marinette. I'm not trying to say she's an amazing character (“Rocketear” in particular has shown she still has problems with keeping secrets), but compared to Adrien, she seems to be more capable of handling top-secret information with Marinette, and more importantly, doesn't view being Rena Rouge as a way to have fun like Adrien does being Cat Noir. I'll go more into detail with that next time.

But yeah, this scene is how the episode ends, and what did I think of it?

I'm honestly not sure which episode I think is worse, this one or “Queen Banana”. On the one hand, every frame of “Queen Banana” could easily be replaced by an image of Astruc flipping the bird and the overall message of the episode would remain unchanged, but the fact that all of the writers think that everything Adrien does in this episode is okay and that we should feel sorry for him in this episode is just as bad, if not worse. 

As awful as Chloe was portrayed in “Queen Banana”, it was clear it was intentional on the writers' part, but Adrien doesn't get that excuse once much like he has all season. As far as Astruc's team thinks, Adrien is an incredible superhero even when he honestly attempted to harm someone with a superpower that can cause grievous harm at best. Yet again this season, in the show's attempt to make me feel sorry for Adrien, it made him look even worse. In any other show, he would obviously be called out for his incredibly unheroic actions.

Even putting him aside, the writing in this episode is still AWFUL. The whole reason Ladybug was benched had several plotholes and poor communication with Cat Noir that only made the fight with Robostus even harder, Shadowmoth's plan to waste a potentially useful Sentimonster to reuse a single Akuma was one of the dumbest plans he's ever had, and barring the ending, the action was just forgettable.

There were a few okay moments sprinkled throughout the episode (more than I can say for “Queen Banana”), so I'm still not sure if I should call this the worst episode of the show or still give that honor to “Queen Banana”. I guess I'll leave that choice up to you and let you pick your poison for now.

I mean, it's not like there's going to be an even worse episode down the line this season, right?

RIGHT???

[kayssweetdreams]

A Wonderous Christmas

Timeville loves a good holiday, whether it be the world's biggest Easter egg hunt, to The ultimate Halloween-fest, they always manage to have the biggest holiday spirit. However, the holiday that they seem to have the most excitement for, the time that everyone looks forward too, is that of Christmas.

The hustle and bustle in town as filled with many workers preparing various decorations to cover the town, or shoppers looking for that perfect gift to bring to their special someone. The smell of peppermint and Gingerbread filled the air while the falling of snow floated in tune with Christmas carols.

A postal truck could be seen zooming down the icy streets, rushing to its destination. "Coming through!! Light delivery!!" The postman shouted, avoiding the various people and piles of snow. Where is he going in such a hurry you may ask? Well, that would be to the Azure Isle, the location of the Bruno Household.

Sliding down the hills, the postman just BARELY made it to the mansion, to an awaiting Stefan Bruno. "Wow! 2 minutes early!" He joked before giving him a hand "You have no idea! These things are HEAVY!! Why do you need so many?" He asked. Stefan gave a chuckle "Well, the house isn't going to decorate itself." He said, pointing to the large property coated in snow, and half decorated with various lights.

Thea Bruno came out, a few more decoration boxes she was holding. "Stefan Dear? Could you please come grab these real quick?" She asked. Stefan immediately ran to help his wife. "Here we go dear, I'll handle the decorating on the roof. And speaking of which, Where is our daughter?" He asked.

Thea gave a knowing smile "You know where she is, she went with her friends to the mall." She said. "She wants to find the PERFECT present. Even though she doesn't know what exactly that is yet." She said. Stefan smirked, they both know that their daughter loved to shop. "Hey Thea, Look what we're standing under." He said, pointing up.

Thea saw that they were standing underneath someone mistletoe...and Stefan gave a flirty look. "Oh Come here you!" She said, pulling him closer as they shared their Christmas smooch.

Meanwhile, In Wonderworld...

While Timeville was filled with holiday induced enthusiam, Wonderworld was practically overflowing with the Christmas spirit. The theater was decked out in the most beautiful Christmas decorations you've ever seen, as the sound of a entire orchestra was heard blasting out full force, Christmas carols in Balanese.

The Tims could be seen hopping behind the positive Maestro, all of them now had a little Christmas accessory on, whether it be a little sprig of Holly, or Reindeer antlers, they all hopped behind their equally festive maestro.

Balan picked up a small white Tim with a black top hat, making it look like a snowman "Oh I just love the holidays! They bring me with so much cheer! And soon, Christmas will be here!" He cheered, booping the Tim on the nose. The Tim gave a happy chirp, before it hopped down with its siblings.

Balan smiled at the positivity emanating from the Tims, before he felt a somewhat neutral presence behind him "Oh Balan, You say that every year, how the holidays always fill you with cheer" Lance said, his own suit being more festive as well.

Balan just gave his normal large grin as he wrapped an arm around Lance "Oh Lance, Where's your Christmas spirit? The holidays are for everyone! There's no reason to fear it!" He boasted, the light seemingly getting brighter with Balan close to them. Lance just simply removed Balan's gloved hand from his shoulder "Balan, Every year it's the same. You throw your party, and go all out with no shame." He said.

Balan waggled his finger at Lance "Oh but you forget, we ditched the status quo! After all, the inhabitants and Wonder Stars are coming, my tentacled Foe!" He reminded. Lance rolled his eyes and was about to retort, when an Air Cat, who's fur resembled a white cat came out "Balan! The food for the party is almost done if you and Lance would like to sample them!" She said, holding up a tray with Gingerbread cookies, that resembled the Tims, Negati and costumes.

The scent of the cookies got to the both of the maestros noses, a smile gracing both of their faces "I could do with one or two, Lance? How about you?" Balan asked, only to see the dark Maestro already biting down on a Ghostlii shaped cookie "These are splendid! Truly well done! I suppose that I can have more than one?" He asked. Balan and the Air Cat laughed at Lance's love of Gingerbread "of course! Right this way!" She said, leading the two into kitchen to try more Christmas treats for their holiday soirée

Happy Holidays everyone! Here's a Christmas gift from me to you, A holiday tale true and true! Now the story is getting started, so join in! Grab a seat! This is one holiday story that can't be beat!

[baepsaesbae]

Babysitters Club

Pairing— Kim Taehyung x reader    

Genre— SMUT, fluff, babysitting au, strangers to lovers au

Warnings— Dom!Taehyung, roleplaying, face fucking, oral sex (m and f), bondage, explicit rough unprotected sex please stay safe irl, squirting, choking, hickies, a surprise cameo from Spring Will Come Again!Jungkook because I have no self control

Word Count— ~7.6k  

Summary— A generic summer job hunt leads you to babysit rowdy (but still cute) kids alongside the most handsome man you’ve ever seen. What shenanigans will you get into with Taehyung by your side?

A/N— HUGE shoutout to the lovely @kimtaehyunq​​ for making this beautiful banner for me! This was literally the Taehyung I had in mind while writing this uwu. This fic is the epitome of self indulgence but I truly hope you guys like it too! Please let me know what you think! My askbox/inbox is always open, don’t be afraid to come chat with me. Love you all, hope you guys are safe <3

Crumpled up newspapers littered the floor as another ball was apathetically tossed aside. A sigh of defeat escaped your lips as you looked up at the ceiling in desperation.

“Still at it with the job hunt, huh?” your roommate, Hyuna, said when she saw your mess, “I told you to search online. Or try to get a job at a cafe or a boba shop or something.”

“Easy jobs online seem sketchy, and I told you I don’t want to work in the food industry ever again,” you groaned.

“But you’d rather...be a babysitter?” she questioned as she held up an ad, “Wait you could get paid up to $15 an hour? That’s pretty good.”

“I didn’t see that one. Is it an agency or something?”

“Not sure, take a look,” she handed you the paper.

“Oh, it seems like it’s a daycare run out of someone’s house. They’re looking for multiple applicants. You wanna do it with me?! I think it could be fun!” you ask excitedly.

“And spend most of my summer vacation with a bunch of snot nosed brats? I don’t think so. You have fun though!” she blew you a kiss as she walked away.

You whipped your phone out and immediately called the number in the ad. This job was the only one that seemed bearable, and you thought kids were cute for the most part. You’ve had a few babysitting gigs in the past so this shouldn’t be too bad.

“Hello?” a deep voice answered the call.

“Hi, I saw your ad in the paper! I was wondering if there was still a babysitting position open?” you inquired.

“Oh yes! Yeah there’s still a spot open. Um, can you give me a sec?” the man said quickly as you heard wailing kids in the background. After two minutes or so he returned to the phone.

“I’m terribly sorry about that. You don’t have a criminal background or anything right? Gosh, I’m sure this sounds unprofessional but--”

“Nope, I don’t have any charges or anything like that. Should I call back later?” you offered since it seemed like the man was a little preoccupied.

“It’s like this all the time. Why don’t we do a practice run tomorrow? Oh! I mean, whenever you’re available to start. Or technically have an interview? I guess? Hey, don’t put that in your mouth!” the man chastised at someone in the distance.

“I can come in tomorrow!” you said.

“Great! Just use the address in the same ad you got this number from! Oh, and please get here by 9am! See you soon!” the man hung up abruptly.

“That was chaotic…” you said to yourself.

A moment later your phone began to ring. It was from the babysitting guy.

“Hello?” you answered.

“I realized I never got your name! I promise I’m not always this frazzled,” he laughed as rambunctious laughter erupted behind him.

“Oh, I’m ______,” you gave him your first and last name.

“Cool. See you tomorrow Miss ____!” he said before hanging up again.

You were actually excited to babysit. It had been a while since you had done it, and playing with kids was usually fun. Then again, you’ve never had a bad experience with babysitting before. You prayed that this gig would continue the positive trend.

Donning shorts and a simple Mickey Mouse t-shirt, (you figured some kid was bound to like the mousey character) it was time to head off to your potential workplace. The babysitting place was actually fairly close to you, only about a 10 minute drive. It was 8:55am by the time you arrived. A couple of parents walked past your car to drop off their kids. All of the kids seemed to be pretty excited to enter the house, which was definitely a good sign.

You gently knocked on the door at exactly 9am. There was no response as you awkwardly waited for about a minute or so. All you could hear was shrill laughter and thumps that you presumed was the kids running about. You realized there was a doorbell, and sighed at your foolishness.

The door opened seconds after you rang the doorbell. A tall man with dark hair greeted you with a warm smile. You were taken aback by the handsome guy, suddenly questioning whether you were at the right place or not until a child popped up from behind his shoulder and yelled out a loud “Boo!” that caused you to jump.

“Ah, sorry about that! This one is always trying to play pranks,” the man laughed as he playfully jostled the child that was latched onto his back, “You must be ______?”

“That’s me!” you say with a little too much enthusiasm.

“Cool. C’mon in, I’ll introduce you to the kids,” the man led you inside.

The living room was littered with toys, from cars to building blocks to barbies. This place was definitely a kid’s happy place. Four little kids were playing with various things when you walked in. All of the kids there seemed to be between the ages of 4 to 6. At a glance, it seemed like they were all playing house. It took you a few seconds to realize that one of the kids was actually playing by herself; she was just physically close to the other kids.

“Everyone! This is our newest helper! Her name is Miss ____. Let’s all play nicely with her okay?” the man announced.

The kids playing house immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed to you. Two boys began asking you questions in a rapid fire succession, while the little girl merely clung to your leg.

“Those two are Kota and Bel,” the man pointed to the two boys, “The little girl stuck to you like glue is Ava, and the one playing over there is Lucy,” he continued to name each child.

“AND I’M SAM!!” the last boy exclaimed over the man’s shoulder.

“Yes, this troublemaker here is Sam. That’s basically the whole gang! We could get a few more additions as the summer goes on, but these guys are the OG crew. They’re all really sweet kids, once you get to know them. Any questions so far?” your employer asked.

“I don’t think I ever caught your name, sir,” you say politely.

“Oh! No need to call me sir. I think we’re probably around the same age? Not that I’m assuming your age or anything but--”

“He’s my horsey!” Sam interrupted.

“No, he’s the chef!” Kota yelled.

“No, he’s our dad who’s not our dad,” Lucy chimed in.

“My mom told me he was a babysitter?” Bel added, now visibly confused.

“I am all of those things,” the man reassured the children, “But my name is Taehyung. The kids call me Tae or Mr. insert whatever title I have in the game we are playing on that day. Pleasure to meet ya,” Tae extends a hand out to you, “Let’s see how your first day goes.”

The first few hours consisted of a rather intricate game of pretend set up in a fantasy world. You played a princess who was captured by an evil dragon, who was played by Taehyung (you couldn’t help but think about how you wouldn’t mind being his hostage).

The boys were valiant knights on their quest to rescue you. The girls played different creatures that aided the knights as fairies or unicorns or any other things they wanted to be. Most of the game consisted of you and Taehyung sitting together in a corner of the living room. Even though you didn’t have to do anything, it was fun watching the kids play. Their imagination amused you.

“Enjoying yourself, princess?” Taehyung asked as he also watched the children run around.

His deep voice sent chills down your spine. Something about the way the word “princess” rolled off his tongue was so enchanting. You cleared your throat before answering.

“This job has been pretty fun so far, Mr. Evil Dragon,” you smile.

“Hey! I’m not evil, just misunderstood,” he protested.

“Oh no! The dragon is about to eat the princess!” one of the boys cried out.

“What? No, I’m not going to eat her,” Taehyung said defensively.

“You need to pretend to eat the princess so that the knights save her,” Lucy, the quiet one, scuttled over to whisper to the both of you before hurrying back to her spot.

Taehyung turned towards you to appease the kids as they held their breath in anticipation.

“Rawr! I’m going to eat you!” he said in a deep voice.

“Oh no! Somebody save me!” you cried out, playing along.

A few moments passed but none of the kids moved. You both turned your heads towards them in confusion. They stared back at you blankly.

“You need to bite her!” Sam demanded.

“What?” you and Tae said in unison.

“Bite her! Bite her! Bite her!” the boys started to chant.

“But not too hard!” Ava expressed her worry for you, making you smile.

“I…uh…” Taehyung was at a loss for words.

“They’re not gonna stop, are they?” you whispered to him.

He nodded with a sigh as their chanting got louder. You offered him your arm. Kids can be crazy stubborn over silly things. Besides, you’ve done worse for less (college is crazy).

Taehyung shot you an “are you sure about this?” look, to which you just nodded. Once he got the okay, Taehyung grabbed your arm and pulled you harshly, causing your face to be a mere inches away from his.

“Fools! You think you can save the princess? I will devour her before your very eyes!” Taehyung declared with an even deeper voice. He opened his mouth menacingly, as if to show off his fangs. Then, he proceeded to bite your bicep. To be honest, he was being so forceful that you thought he was going to bite you for real, causing you to involuntarily close your eyes.

Instead, he gingerly placed his teeth on your skin so lightly that you could barely feel anything. You opened your eyes to see Taehyung grinning at you with your arm in his mouth.

“Aaaaggghhh GET HIM!!” Sam yelled, leading the other boys straight into Taehyung.

Taehyung quickly let go of you before he rolled out onto the floor. The boys began to pummel Taehyung with their foam swords and pretend bows and arrows. The girls came to your aid to help you escape during the battle.

The little boys triumphantly stood over their defeated babysitter who pretended to be passed out on the floor. You applauded their victory as the girls sat by your side.

“Okay! Good game, it’s almost lunchtime,” Taehyung announced as he quickly popped back up.

“Chef Tae makes the best mac and cheese!” Ava informed you excitedly.

“I wanted dino nuggies!” Sam puffed out his cheeks in disappointment.

“Sam, you know it’s Ava’s day to pick out lunch. It’ll be your turn tomorrow okay? I promise! You guys can stay here and play with Miss ____ till food is ready,” Tae called out as he walked to the kitchen. Lucy silently followed Tae.

“Lucy likes to help out in the kitchen a lot. She sets the table,” Ava explained when she saw you watching Lucy.

“You’re good at being a princess!” Kota butted in as he ran to hug your leg.

“I like your shirt! I like Mickey Mouse too. I saw him in DisneyWorld last year,” Bel said as he clung to your other leg.

The kids took turns holding onto your legs as you tried to walk around. Apparently the thought of making you tumble over was an exciting one, and that kept the kids busy until Taehyung called for everyone.

Five little bowls of mac and cheese were set up on the dining table. The kids took their seats as Taehyung handed out juice boxes. He positioned himself by your side as the little ones began to chow down.

“I normally just eat the rest out of the pot, but since you’re here I can get you a bowl. Sorry about biting you earlier, the kids really like it when I get serious about my roles,” Taehyung chuckled as he scooped out your portion.

“It’s no problem, you’re a great actor. Thank you,” you say politely as he handed you a bowl.

Lunch was spent making small talk with Taehyung. He was a newly graduated college student trying to make extra money before starting a real job hunt.Taehyung had been running this makeshift daycare since he was a senior in highschool.

“Summers are always fun with them,” Taehyung said while smiling fondly at the kids, “How has it been so far?” he asked.

“I’ve been having a good time. The kids are all really sweet! They have so much energy,” you answer.

“They do indeed, which is why playtime is so important in the morning! It makes what comes next easier,” he winked at you before collecting the empty bowls, “Okay kiddos! Who’s ready for nap time?”

Lucy quietly raised her hand while the boys groaned. You figured it would be hard to get those active boys to settle down, let alone to take a nap. You helped Taehyung set up blankets and pillows in the game room. The kids made a beeline to their designated blankets without a fuss.

“Do you sing, Miss _____?” Taehyung asked out of the blue.

“Um, not really?” you say hesitantly.

“Ah, I see. No worries. Everybody ready?” he said.

“Yes!” all the kids replied.

“Alrighty. Do you have any song requests, Miss ____?”

You thought about which songs would make for a decent lullaby, “Do you know Adore You by Harry Styles?”

“I’ll have to look up the lyrics but yeah I like that song! I like his whole album actually,” Taehyung nodded as he pulled out his phone and took a deep breath, “Walk in your rainbow paradise~”

You were shocked by his vocal talent. His voice control was superb and the quality of his voice was downright euphoric. Even though Taehyung’s voice is deeper than Harry Styles’, his range was incredible. He was still able to go as high as Harry without any trouble. All the kids had fallen sound asleep by the time he finished the song.

“This is when I typically have about an hour of free time,” he said after quietly leading you back into the kitchen.

“You have such a beautiful voice! Do you sing to them every day?” you praised him.

“Thanks! Yeah, I sing to them every day. They used to get duets actually,” Taehyung sighed.

“Did you have another coworker before?” you asked.

“Yep. My best friend actually. He’s my roommate too, but he landed an internship this summer so he couldn’t be here. I’m very proud of him! But usually this is a job for two people so I decided to put that ad out. I’m happy you came out! The kids seem to like you,” Taehyung gave you a thumbs up.

“I hope so! Lucy might be scared of me though,” you recalled the way she mostly avoided you all morning.

“Nah, she’s just really shy. She told me that she thought you were really pretty though, so that’s a good sign!” he tried to reassure you.

“I guess it must be true then. Kids are brutally honest,” you smiled.

“She definitely wasn’t lying,” Taehyung smiled back at you.

You had to look away awkwardly to hide your blushed cheeks. There’s no way you could handle a direct smile from this guy. How was it possible for someone to be that handsome without even trying?!

“So what happens after naptime?” you quickly asked to change the subject.

“Basically more playing until their parents come. It honestly just depends on what the kids wanna do. We can play inside, in the backyard, and sometimes we go to the park,” Taehyung answered with an amused smile, “Let’s use this free time to conduct a more formal interview, shall we?”

Taehyung then asked you a series of questions about your summer schedule, if you’re willing to work every day of the week, how you feel about the kids, along with other things. You answered truthfully and kept up a professional demeanor. Taehyung seemed to be satisfied with your answers and leaned back in his chair.

“That all works for me! The people who really need to approve of you are the parents. I’ll introduce you to them later this afternoon. I’m sure they’ll all be fine once I vouch for you,” he nodded.

Soft giggles caught your attention. Taehyung signaled that break time was now over and led the way back to the living room. Kota and Bel were wrestling each other while the others threw pillows at them.  

“Did everyone have a good nap?” Taehyung sing songed.

“Yes!” they replied.

“Can we play house now?” Ava asked.

“Yeah! Miss ____ can be the mommy now!” Sam bounced up in excitement, “Our last mommy used to be a boy.”

“Jimin was a great mommy and I’m sure he misses you all dearly. Jimin is my roommate/best friend/ex-cobabysitter,” Taehyung explained.

The game of house was more hands on from your end. The kids demanded you to carry them and read them stories like a real mommy would. It was mainly the girls who wanted to play with you, while the boys took turns wrestling with Tae or riding on his back. You were braiding Lucy’s hair when the doorbell rang.

“Kota! Your mom is here!” Taehyung called from the front.

All the kids trickled out one by one as their parents arrived. Taehyung introduced you to each parent; their reactions were all positive, especially when their kids raved about you being the new Jimin.

“If she’s anything like Jimin, then I have nothing to worry about. I trust your judgement, Taehyung,” one of the sterner looking parents said (Sam’s father to be exact).

“Congrats! You got the job,” Taehyung congratulated you once all of the children were picked up, “We get paid on Fridays. I’ll basically just split what we earn 50/50, cool?”

“That’s fine by me! I’m looking forward to working with you,” you bow graciously.

“Ah! No need to be so formal. We’re partners now! I’m not your boss or anything,” Taehyung gave you a friendly pat on the shoulder, “See you tomorrow!”

Summer was about to get rather eventful. All of the children warmed up to you surprisngly quickly, even timid Lucy (who had arguably grown the most fond of you). As the days went on, you couldn’t help but admire Taehyung’s kindness and patience when it came to the kids. From firm to understanding, he was everything a caregiver should be. He handled spats between kids with ease, often by making them forgive each other then laugh at some silly joke of his.

One afternoon, the kids voted to watch a Disney movie. All seven of you curled up on the couch together with you and Taehyung in the middle. Lucy sat in your lap while Bel sat in Taehyung’s. Halfway through the movie, Taehyung fell asleep. The kids didn’t notice since they were so engrossed in the movie. You however, DID notice. Mostly because he rolled his sleepy head onto your shoulder.

Your heartbeat quickened as you slowly turned to take a peek at the handsome man sleeping beside you. He looked angelic, and you realized that he smelled pleasant too. He had a sweet scent that was uncharacteristic for a young man. You took a deep breath and pretended not to notice him. He didn’t wake up until the doorbell rang near the end of the movie.

He seemed to be confused and perhaps even slightly flustered when he lifted his head from your shoulder, but quickly shrugged it off to go answer the door. The incident (and the drool on your shoulder) was never mentioned.

It had been a month since you started babysitting with Taehyung, and it honestly had been a lot more fun than you expected. The kids are wonderful silly little beings and Taehyung is...well...Taehyung.

You were cleaning up the living room on a late Friday afternoon after all the kids had been picked up. Taehyung was somewhere splitting up the week’s paycheck. Once all the toys were back in their respective bins, it was time to gather your stuff and go.

“Great work this week,” Taehyung commended as he handed you your cut.

“Thanks! Same to you as always. I’ll see you on Monday,” you wave as you open the front door.

“Actually um--” Taehyung cleared his throat.

“Yes?” you whipped around with almost too much eagerness.

“My friend is part of an art gallery showing tomorrow night and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me? I heard there will be drinks and finger foods…” Taehyung trailed off, presumably due to imagining what kind of snacks will be served.

“I’d love to! I’m not an expert on art or anything, but it sounds cool,” you smile.

“No worries, I’m no expert either. I’m just a guy who appreciates neat expressions of creativity,” he nodded humbly, “I can pick you up at your place, if you’d like.”

“Sure, I’ll text you my address. Oh uh, what’s the dress code like? I don’t really attend these things,” you ask shyly.

“I’d say a step down from formal? Like no t-shirts or jeans. Pretend like you’re going on a date to some restaurant that isn’t a michelin star but is still classier than Olive Garden,” Taehyung tried to explain.

“I’ll do my best,” you smile at his peculiar way of describing the appropriate attire.

A smile never left your face as you drove home. A chance to hangout with Taehyung one on one without any kids around? All of his attention will be on you? Yes please. You love the kids and all, but you finally have a real chance to get closer to Taehyung. To be honest, you might have the teensiest little crush on him, but who could blame you?

The next day was spent preparing for your night out with Taehyung. It probably wasn’t a date (90% sure it’s not), but you wanted to look irresistible anyway. You put on a purple dress with flowy sleeves that made you feel like a princess. It was on the dressier side, but being slightly overdressed never hurt anyone.

You usually only had time to slap on mascara and a lip tint in the mornings before babysitting, but now you had abundant time to play around with your makeup. You settled for a soft yet glamorous look with shimmery eyeshadow and eyeliner. Sparkly lip gloss tied the whole look together and made your lips look tempting (or so you hoped). You decided to leave your hair alone since you were having a miraculously good hair day.

“Wow are you sure this isn’t a date?” Hyuna whistled when she walked into your room.

“It’s not! This is just the first time Taehyung will see me actually trying to look good,” you say defensively.

“You’re cute even in ratty t-shirts, but I get what you mean. Have fun tonight!” your roommate gave you a tight hug.

A strong knock on your front door indicated Taehyung’s arrival. Hyuna tagged along as you went to answer the door; she wanted to see the guy you’ve been gushing over for the past month for herself.

Your mouth hung open in shock for a split second when you opened the door. Taehyung also dressed up. He was wearing a bright sunflower shirt paired with a black blazer that perfectly combined fun with sophistication. He wore a red silky bandana looking belt for an added pop of color with his black pants.

“Hey Taehyung!” you greet him happily.

“Good evening, Miss ____. You look spectacular!” he complimented you immediately.

“So do you! It’s funny seeing you not in a t-shirt, though I’m sure you’re thinking the same thing,” you say.

“You’re charming even in your graphic tees, but this is a nice change of pace too,” Taehyung agreed.

“Hi! I’m Hyuna, ____’s roommate,” Hyuna butted in to shake his hand.

“Hi, I’m Taehyung, ____’s babysitting partner,” he introduced himself.

“We should get going,” you say politely before Hyuna could start to get chatty.

Hyuna mouthed an exaggerated “oh my god” coupled with a double thumbs up as you waved goodbye after Taehyung was already out the door. You playfully rolled your eyes but blew her a kiss anyway.

“I didn’t realize you lived so close to me,” Taehyung said as he pulled away from the curb.

“Yeah, it made the job even more appealing,” you nodded.

“I really am glad that you applied,” Taehyung said softly, as if to himself.

“Sorry, what was that?” you couldn’t hear him properly.

“Nothing! I said I’m glad you agreed to accompany me tonight!” Taehyung quickly stated.

“Thanks for inviting me out! I’m actually pretty excited,” you admitted.

The gallery was somewhere in the swanky part of downtown. You gazed out of the window at all of the high end stores Taehyung drove by. Everyone walking around the stores looked like supermodels, which was actually pretty intimidating. What if the people at the gallery looked like that too?

“We’re here!” Taehyung announced, interrupting your thoughts.

There was a decent amount of people wandering around the venue when you both entered. It was basically one big dimly lit room with spotlights on pieces scattered around on the walls plus some sculptures in the middle. Thankfully, the patrons already inside looked like normal people, most of them probably students like you.

“Taehyung!” someone called from the side of the room.

You both made your way towards the voice, only to find a man who was just as handsome as Taehyung greeting you with a bunny like smile. He had long hair that almost covered up his assorted dangly earrings. He definitely had art student vibes mixed with a dash of bad boy. The boys greeted each other with a ferocious hug, indicating that they’re probably good friends.

“Oh! What’s up, I’m Jungkook,” the boy shook your hand once he noticed you.

“She’s my babysitting partner this summer,” Taehyung said proudly.

“She’s replacing Jimin huh?” Jungkook laughed, “Taehyung and Jimin are like my brothers. We were all pretty close in college and are batchmates, even though I’m younger than them,” he stuck his tongue out at Taehyung.

“Yeah yeah okay whatever. Skipping grades in elementary school and bringing in a ton of transfer credits will help you do that I guess,” Taehyung shook his head even though he was still smiling.

“Are these your pictures?” you asked Jungkook, motioning to the mounted pictures behind him.

“Yeah! I took most of these in Madrid, I’ve been working abroad for my dream company,” Jungkook answered you proudly.

“Who’s this?” Taehyung pointed to a picture of a girl laughing by a giant tree.

“Yeah, she’s gorgeous!” you added.

“She’s um...a good friend. She was the perfect model,” Jungook said with a faraway look in his eyes that told you there was more to the story.

“Tell me more about her on our next phone call. Tonight is for celebrating you!” Taehyung picked up on Jungkook’s sudden change of tone.

You enjoyed listening to their old college stories as the boys reminisced about their past together. Jungkook relished telling you all of Taehyung’s embarrassing moments at various parties. Taehyung returned the favor by recalling Jungkook’s past run-ins with women. Despite his natural charm and god like looks, apparently Jungkook gets really nervous around girls.

You and Taehyung were on your own once Jungkook was flagged down by an older patron interested in purchasing some of his work. Taehyung stayed close to your side as you explored the rest of the gallery. Each artist was so incredibly talented as their pictures told  stories with just a single frame.

“____ look! They have those fancy charcuterie boards!” Taehyung grabbed your hand and excitedly dragged you over to the snack table. You couldn’t help but smile at his childlike elation.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ve been getting tired of being force fed fruit snacks every day,” you laughed as you ate the assorted appetizers.

“I completely understand. Unfortunately, the kids are too sweet when they want to share. I don’t have it in me to turn them down,” Taehyung agreed.

Once the food was eaten, you resumed walking through the gallery. It was fun making up stories to go with each picture. Taehyung seemed to gravitate towards adding a romantic twist to each story, while you opted for a bit of mystery. At the end of the event, Taehyung met up with Jungkook once more to say his goodbyes.

“Thanks again for coming with me, I had fun! I hope you enjoyed yourself,” Taehyung said as he drove you back.

“It was really neat! I liked hanging out with you outside of work,” you nodded.

“Would you say it was a successful date then?” Taehyung raised an eyebrow with curiosity. Your heart skipped a beat as your eyes widened with surprise.

“Was...was this a date?” you asked quietly.

“Did you want it to be?” Taehyung teased.

“I wouldn’t have gotten so dressed up otherwise,” you said defensively, taken aback by his sudden cheekiness.

“I realized I should’ve clarified that after you had already left. My bad,” Taehyung shot you a boxy grin, “But then I figured maybe you would be more relaxed if I didn’t mention it.”

“That’s odd logic, but I guess it worked,” you admitted begrudgingly.

Taehyung walked you back up to your house. He sweetly kissed your cheek and bid you goodnight, leaving you frozen in place.

“S-see you on Monday!” was all you were able to stammer out, to which Taehyung just smiled and waved back.

Hyuna happily freaked out with you once you were back inside. She was watching you from the moment Taehyung pulled back up. She shrieked with excitement once you told her that Taehyung confirmed that it was a date. Hyuna didn’t let up with grilling questions about how your night went. She even asked if the Jungkook guy you met was single, to which you truthfully answered that you didn’t know.

“Besides, he told me himself that he’s scared of girls. You’re scary enough as is,” you teased her.

“Oh shut up. So is Taehyung like, your boyfriend now?” Hyuna asked the million dollar question.

“I don’t think so. I think it was just a date, but that’s a good start!” you declared optimistically.

Babysitting on Monday went on like normal. Taehyung didn’t act any differently, which was both concerning and relieving. You were in the backyard pretending to eat whatever dirt concoction the little kids were serving you.

“This one is for you,” Lucy quietly offered Taehyung a clump of dirt sprinkled with blades of grass, topped with a dandelion.

“Oh, how pretty! What is it?” Taehyung played along.

“It’s a love potion. The next person you hug will fall in love with you,” Lucy smiled.

A smirk crept on Taehyung’s face as he pretended to eat Lucy’s love potion. He made a satisfied “Ahh” sound that made Lucy giggle.

“Tae has to hug me now! He loves me the most!” Sam yelled as he ran over to latch onto Taehyung.

“No, Tae loves me!” Bel argued as he pulled on Taehyung’s shirt.

“That’s not how it works!” Lucy huffed as she yelled at the boys.

You watched with delight as the little kids chased Taehyung around the backyard, demanding that he has to hug them. It was easy for him to juke them out as they constantly ran back and forth. You were content with just watching them until Taehyung began to make a beeline for you.

“Oh no no no,” you cried as you got up to run.

Taehyung (and the kids) chased you around for a little bit. The backyard was on the smaller side, so there wasn’t much space to evade all of them coming for you at once. To make matters worse, Taehyung actually started to try and catch you. His speed was no joke; he was much more agile than you gave him credit for.

With one pounce, Taehyung tackled you to the ground. Somehow he managed to whip himself around while you were falling, so you ended up falling on him. Now wrapped up in his arms, Taehyung smiled up at you with a shit eating grin.

“I guess you have to fall in love with me now,” he smirked.

“You wish,” you laughed as you pulled yourself up.

“Aw now he loves Miss _____,” Sam pouted.

“No, now Miss ____ has to fall in love with Tae,” Ava corrected him.

“That’s dumb,” Kota shook his head.

“Tae! Kota said a bad word!” Bel immediately tattled.

“Kota, remember what I said about bad words. No one wants to play with someone who says mean things,” Taehyung chided him.

“Sorry,” Kota mumbled.

“Let’s play go play inside. Who wants juice?” Taehyung patted Kota’s head.

The kids followed Taehyung inside like little ducklings. You loved that sight, you always thought it was the cutest thing. The rest of the day went by without a hitch.

The topic of favorite movies came up during lunchtime the next day.

“I like Frozen 2,” Ava stated, and Lucy nodded furiously in agreement.

“Detective Pikachu was better. Pikachu is funny,” Sam interjected. The other little boys then began to argue about which pokemon was better/stronger.

“I’m not really a big movie watcher,” Taehyung confessed as he took a bite of a dino chicken nugget.

“Have you at least seen the classics? Harry Potter? Lord of the Rings? Star Wars?” you listed with concern.

“I’ve seen Harry Potter and Star Wars. I think I saw the Lord of the Rings? I can’t really remember. I know I wanted to watch the newer Lord of the Rings movies,” he chuckled at your growing disbelief.

“Newer Lord of the Rings? You mean the Hobbit series?” you were disgruntled.

“Yeah those. I didn’t realize you were a nerd,” he nudged you.

“What of it? All of those are great movies. I have copies of the Hobbit series if you ever wanted to watch them,” you offered.

“Do you wanna watch them with me?” he perked up.

“Sure, I love them! You wanna do a marathon? It’ll take up a full day though,” you warned.

“I’m down. Are you free this Sunday?”

“I believe so.”

“Great! I’m excited to see you geek out over hobbits. Okay kids, naptime!”

You drove up to Taehyung’s place Sunday morning, you weren’t kidding when you said it would take all day. Taehyung said to dress comfortably so you showed up in your sweatpants and oversized college tee. He answered the door wearing gray sweatpants and his favorite CELINE shirt. His dark fluffy hair fell over his forehead and was almost long enough to cover his eyes.

“Good morning! I hope you’re hungry. I made some waffles to eat while we watch the first movie,” he greeted you.

His humble abode smelled heavenly as the scent of dough tinged with a hint of cinnamon wafted through the air. The soft belgian waffles were delicious as they practically melted in your mouth. Taehyung asked a ton of questions with nearly every scene, but you didn’t mind. You were happy to flex your knowledge of Tolkien lore.

Hours later, you found yourself cuddled up with Taehyung as the final credits of the Battle of Five Armies began to roll. Taehyung was still trying to process everything that happened as he asked you clarifying questions about each character.

“Well crap, now I’m sad,” he pouted.

“Yeah, the ending is kind of a downer, but that’s what makes it so good! The Lord of the Rings has a happy ending if that makes you feel better,” you look up at him from his chest.

“You look cute like that,” he observed.

“Like what? Tiny from your angle?” you tilted your head.

“I guess so? Tiny, maybe submissive,” Taehyung’s voice lowered with his suggestion.

“Submissive? Is that how you see me?” you sit back up completely with defiance.

“Not at all. You’re pretty feisty, which is why making you be submissive is even more alluring,” he raised his eyebrow in a suggestive manner.

“Do you want me to be a damsel in distress for you? Not happening,” you smirked.

“Pretty princesses are good for one thing,” Taehyung hopped off the couch.

Before you could say anything, he promptly grabbed you and swung you over his shoulder. You were too shocked by his boldness and physical abilities to retaliate.

“They’re perfect for kidnapping!” he let out a dramatic evil laugh as he carried you off to his bedroom.

Once there, he roughly threw you on the bed. You couldn’t help but look around curiously since this was the first time you’ve ever seen his room. It was surprisingly neat; his bed was made and there were no messy clothing piles in sight.

“Are you an evil dragon then? Capturing princesses and such?” you teased.

“Evil dragon, dashing captor, I can be anything you want me to be. Just please not an orc,” he let out a chuckle before getting back into character, “Just know that you’re trapped here with me. No one is going to rescue you.”

“Oh no! What a terrible situation to be in! What on Earth is this extremely handsome dragon going to do with a poor defenseless princess like me?” you taunted.

“Ok this is all very hot but before we go any further, are you okay with this?” Taehyung asked sincerely.

“I can’t think of anything that I’ve wanted more,” you nodded.

“Perfect. Safe word is red,” he winked at you, “Now strip for me, princess.”

“And if I don’t?” you challenged.

Taehyung grabbed a fistful of hair on the back of your head and forcefully brought you up to his face, “I suggest not making me angry,” he sneered.

You didn’t think you were one for being manhandled, but god damn that was hot. There was already a tingle between your legs and he hadn’t even really touched you yet. You complied with his request, and quickly tore off your shirt and pants. Though you weren’t wearing any fancy lingerie, you were wearing a gray bra and gray panties that could pass off as matching.

“Mmm what a pretty treasure. It would be a shame to let it gounappreciated,” Taehyung stretched out that last word as he gently ran his fingers from your torso up to your neck before firmly grasping it.

Taehyung straddled you as his long fingers were wrapped around your neck. Slowly, he leaned down to kiss you. Though apprehensive at first, he gradually got more bold with it. His tongue dipped into your mouth the instant your lips parted. His other hand crept under your bra to fondle your breast.

“You take your clothes off too,” you said as soon as the kiss broke.

“You don’t get to make any demands, silly princess,” Taehyung shook his head.

You pouted and reached out to tug at his pants anyway. Big mistake. Taehyung slapped your hand away and slammed you back onto the bed.

“You don’t listen, huh? I’ll have to do something about that. Stay still or else you’ll make things worse for yourself,” he ordered.

You reluctantly obeyed, partly because you were curious about what he was going to do, and partly because you were actually intimidated by him. He returned back to the bed a few seconds later, but with a familiar silky red belt in hand.

“Give me your hands. Good girl,” he smiled deviously as he bound them together, “Remember the safe word is red, okay?” he gently reminded you.

He looked down at you with a satisfied grin as he began to take off his sweatpants. He had an obvious bulge in his underwear that outlined his massive dick. You were further entranced by his physique when he took off his shirt. He wasn’t ripped, but he was still fit, as you could plainly see when his chest was finally revealed.

“Open wide, princess,” he demanded.

You opened your mouth, and even flattened your tongue out a little bit for him. He pulled his cock out of his underwear, finally exposing his full length. You doubted you could fit even half of him in your mouth, but at this point it wasn’t up to you.

Taehyung lowered himself down to you, and teasingly tapped the tip of his cock on your tongue. He slowly eased himself into your mouth, forcing you to open your mouth even wider to account for his girth. He made his way back out once you gagged. He grabbed your head to hold you steady as he fucked your mouth once more. He got closer and closer to the back of your throat until he finally hit it. All you could focus on was breathing as tears welled up in your eyes. Taehyung thrusted a couple more times before he pulled out completely.

“Good girl indeed. Well done, princess,” he softly stroked your chin before wiping your tears away. All you could do was smile meekly back at him.

“Don’t worry, it’s time for your reward,” Taehyung smiled down at you as his hand slipped under your panties, “Oh you’re so wet. I can’t wait to taste you.”

He positioned himself between your thighs after he tore off your panties. His thumb fiddled with your clit, causing you to squirm. He placed a strong grip on your thigh to hold you down as he circled your clit faster. Your helpless whimpers were music to Taehyung’s ears.

Without warning, he easily stuck two fingers into you. He didn’t even let you adjust as he rapidly fingered you, his fingers curving to graze your g-spot with every stroke. His tongue swirled around your clit, adding even more toe curling sensations.

Him adding a third finger was the catalyst for the strongest orgasm you’ve ever had in your life. There wasn’t even a build up, everything just hit you at once. Suddenly you were crying out even louder as you violently came. Did it occur to you that you were squirting all over Taehyung and his bed? No. Were you doing exactly that? Absolutely.

“Delicious,” Taehyung said as he licked his lips, “Look at the fucking mess you made.”

“I-i’m sorry,” you managed to stutter, you were still recovering from your orgasm.

“It’s only fair that it’s my turn to make a mess now. Do I need to get a condom, princess?” he cooed.

You weakly shook your head. You needed to feel all of him, right now. Taehyung chuckled at your neediness as he aligned himself with your pussy. He slowly inserted his entire length into you until the base of his cock touched your soaked pussy. You moaned together as he stayed still for a second. You looked up to see Taehyung’s face lit up with pure bliss.

“You’re still so fucking wet,” he growled as he began to mercilessly buck his hips into you.

You moaned with every thrust as Taehyung shook the entire bed. Taehyung placed both of your legs on his shoulders, allowing him to hit you even deeper from this new angle. He leaned over to plant his lips on your neck as he fucked you. What started as a gentle peck took a violent turn as he harshly sucked on your neck. He left dark spots wherever his lips touched, and soon you were covered in dark blooms.

“Do you want me to soil your back or your chest?” he asked in a guttural tone.

“Back?” you answer dubiously.

You were immediately flipped over. You were laying flat on your chest waiting for him to prop up your ass, but he never did. Instead, he simply spread your legs wider and fucked you flat against the bed. Taehyung grabbed your ass and spread your cheeks to get a better view of your sopping pussy. You could feel another orgasm brewing as he fucked even deeper into you, and his cock was continuously dragging against your g-spot.

“Taehyung, I--”

“I know, princess. Let it all out. I want to feel you come on my dick,” he demanded.

A few more strong strokes was all it took for you to go limp under him as your orgasm took over. Seconds after you hit your high, Taehyung pulled out and came all over your back.

Once you were all cleaned up, Taehyung untied you and kissed your forehead.

“How was it, princess?” he asked as he stroked your hair.

“I’ve never been fucked by a beast before, but now I don’t want anything else,” you admitted before kissing his neck.

“Good. I was worried about going overboard. As I told you before, I really like getting into character,” he laughed.

“I’ve never been into roleplay but I’m willing to change for you. Oh shit, it’s late already,” you noticed the time on his alarm clock.

“Just stay the night. I don’t think the kids will care if you’re wearing sweatpants or not. I can lend you a turtleneck to cover up those hickies though,” Taehyung yawned.

“Are you sure?” you questioned.

“Yeah, I don’t mind. Be warned, I’m a cuddler,” he pulled you closer to him.

“I guess I can sleep in a little later then,” you reasoned.

“Perfect. Goodnight, princess,” he quickly kissed your lips.

“You’re sleeping like that?”

“Like what?”

“Butt naked?”

“I can put clothes on if it makes you uncomfortable. I just figured it would make things easier for tomorrow morning,” he said sleepily.

“Tomorrow morning?” that got your attention.

“You’ll see! Be patient, princess. Night night.”

Never in a million years would you have guessed that applying for a babysitting job would result in this, but you weren’t complaining.

Published April 17, 2021. No editing, copying, translating, or reposting allowed. All Rights Reserved © 2021 Baepsaesbae.

[halorocks1214]

through time and space

Fandom: Origins SMP (Traffic Series in the background)

Pairing: Flower Husbands

AO3 Link in a self-reblog

Word Count: 2608

Scott knew he was having a hard time with the whole "letting go" thing, but did life really need to rub it in his face?

Prompt: Reincarnation

Winning a game made by gods meant that you had to receive a gift made by gods as well. Anything less was downright blasphemous. It would be like a joke; if you could best those above at their creation, then you deserved the same amount of respect they expected from you.

Scott would have preferred it if they just killed him.

He was the last one left of anyone. Friends, enemies, people that were less, people that were more, all of them were gone. In the moment, he was vindicated when that arrow pierced Ren’s heart through his back, but as time went on, maybe “losing” would have been the better option. He doesn’t remember how it exactly happened—it wasn’t painful, thank goodness—all he knew was that it was as if he blinked and then he was given his “gift.”

Instead of red covering his head and hands, a deep bright purple became his aesthetic. Gleams of danger and violence turned into sparkles of the universe itself. He wasn’t that old, but he had a feeling that he would become that way in due time. A “Starborne” was his official definition by the rest of his new neighbors. He called it a “curse.”

He stayed a recluse, completely opposite of how he was during the game. He built his new base on the side of the nearby mountain, mostly away from everyone. They all seemed like nice people, but he just… couldn’t. Couldn’t risk forming bonds or attachments again. Not if the chance that things would end up like last time.

Though that Avian kid didn’t get the memo. He was always popping in and out at various points of the day for various amounts of time. Sometimes he would bring his friends. The times he invited the Bee and Enderian were… certainly interesting.

Perhaps one day Scott would come to appreciate it, but right now, all it did was remind him of what he lost, and how he would never, ever get it back.

---

“HEY!” Oh yay, looks like Scott wasn’t going to get to go mining today. “STARBOY!”

Rolling his eyes, Scott turned around to face his door as it was shoved open. Scott sighed, “Hello, Tommy.”

It was here Scott noticed that something was off. There wasn’t anything egregiously wrong, per se, but Tommy was disheveled more so than usual. He was breathing heavily like he rushed over here as fast as he could, and an urgent expression was plastered over his face, “You need to come with me immediately!”

Uh, “Why? What’s going on?”

“We got newcomers! Lots of them!” The teen shot inside the base to grab Scott’s wrist and tug him outside. “And we need all hands on deck!”

Wait, newcomers? “I didn’t think we were accepting new members?”

Scott was so intrigued by this sudden problem that when Tommy let go of his arm, he continued to follow without objection. Tommy was also following him in a way, bouncing and floating at the same intervals as Scott like he was a mirror, “They’re not gonna be permanent, but they need a place to stay. It’s a colony of Phantoms whose nest burned down.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Scott said, grunting a little when they reached flat ground and made their way toward the Pub. “Do they know why it burned down?”

“A storm hit them. Lightning struck in just the right place for none of them to notice, then the fire grew until, well,” Tommy brought his hands together and then brought them apart just as fast, “poof. All of it was gone.”

They lost everything in the blink of an eye; Scott couldn’t help but feel sympathetic.

Approaching the Pub, Scott watched as Phil flew off the top in a random direction, probably to find supplies and maybe other members for extra support like Tommy did with Scott. Niki was handing things to Ranboo, Tubbo, and Jack, who took the items with haste before climbing up into the building in various ways. Tommy was the first one to the ladder after Jack, and Scott followed suit.

As they reached the top, they could hear Wilbur's voice as he explained the rules of the place. Everyone is welcome here. If you need something, just ask and let us know if a specific item is getting low. Please work with either me or Phil when you guys figure out where you want to go from here. Basic stuff like that.

A bundle of wool was shoved into Scott’s arms by Fundy, and without thinking, Scott was bringing it over to a handful of Phantoms by some crafting tables. They seemed to be making beds and other various items that they would need staying at a new place for a long time, and Scott wasn’t sure what else wool could be used for outside of that. The Phantoms muttered a few “thank you”s and he muttered back a “you’re welcome” in reply. He was functioning like a robot; he was told to do something and he did it without extra thought.

Until a voice speaking with Wilbur made him freeze with a bucket of water in his hands.

“-n’t thank you guys enough for this,” there was no way it was him. “We promise to pay you back somehow.”

Wilbur shook his head, “Don’t worry about that. Making sure you guys get back on your feet is more than enough for us.”

Scott slowly turned his head to see who was conversing with Wilbur and felt his heart stop. Whether that was because of subconscious familiarity or unfiltered shock was another question. The random Phantom was dressed in what looked like a modified potato burlap and regular brown pants. It was in pretty good condition considering the material and the fact that the Phantom just had their home burned to a crisp. What was the kicker, though, was their shaggy blond hair and accent that sounded a lot like the one Tommy had.

The Phantom was the spitting image of Jimmy, and Scott didn’t know how to feel about it.

“Scott!” Sneeg called from across the room. “We need that water yesterday!”

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Scott found himself walking a little bit faster than he was previously for some reason.

---

Scott planned to hide away even more than he normally did until the colony had left.

He was not going to dump his untapped trauma on a stranger that looked like someone he once knew. That would be incredibly shitty of him for a variety of reasons, first of all, and second… Well, it wasn’t good for him either.

Getting attached to something from his previous life was bound to drag up old and painful memories no matter how surface level the thing in question was. If he was going to end up living a long time, he needed to either learn to let go or get better at ignoring it. Considering he was currently living on the side of a mountain away from potential acquaintances that could help him with that, he knew he was probably never going to achieve “moving on” and thus figured this would be a good exercise to test his “ignoring it” skills.

He was a very mentally healthy individual, why do you say otherwise.

Clearly, he had some detractors to that fact.

Okay, so maybe he was going a little nuts, because he kept seeing him out of the corner of his eye. That Phantom look-alike seemed to be on the verge of stalking him for whatever reason, and Scott couldn't fathom why. Was it just the norm for annoying blonds to not know when to back off in this world?

Whatever. The colony was making plans to leave soon, so hopefully, that would be the end of Scott's hallucinations. Because that's what they had to be. Figments his mind created after being given something that reminded it of a previous (happier) life.

Scott was not getting his hopes up, not if he could help it.

---

Scott was completely prepared for the absolute scolding he was going to get from the others.

He was getting blasted by mobs in bright daylight and without armor. This was 100% his fault and he knew when to take it as the responsible adult he was. Respawning sucked, but he supposed that’s his just deserts for being so stupid to end up in this situation in the first place.

What he wasn’t prepared for, however, was a voice calling out his name.

“SCOTT!” Nor was he prepared for the owner of it jumping into his peripheral to kill the mob killing him while on fire. Blinking, Scott watched as that random Phantom turned to look at him with a pained and nervous grin. Like he knew what he did was bound to earn him pushback but the fact he saved Scott’s life was enough to make up for it.

“Jimmy?!” Shit, this wasn’t Jimmy, why did he say that?

Wait.

The Phantom said his name first, though… how did he know-

Scott suddenly decided that he needed to concern himself with that when the hybrid in front of him was not burning to death, “What are you, an idiot? What were you thinking? And why are you visible?! You’re dying!”

The Phantom quickly flicked to be invisible the same time Scott yanked his jacket off to throw it over his head. The Phantom scoffed, though it and his words were muffled by the clothing, “Because I didn’t want you to randomly attack me when you saw a floating sword? I am working with the flow here, dude, give me some slack!”

Rolling his eyes, Scott ushered the (maybe not so) random Phantom toward the mountain he had his base set up on. It was a bit of a challenge getting up to the actual building—they were both decently injured—but eventually, they made it inside to safety, the Phantom becoming visible again and setting Scott’s coat on a nearby chair. Scott got to work looking for potions, first grabbing the ones the Phantom needed because it was the nice thing to do after the guy saved his life (not for any other reason), and then found the healing supplies that would work best for him.

Then the two of them sat in silence, unsure of where to go from here.

“Thank you for saving me,” Scott said straightforwardly. “I have a feeling that you would like to get back to your family, so you are free to leave whenever you want.” Scott turned around to rummage through some of his storage in a vague attempt to get the Phantom to leave. Instead, the Phantom only got up and walked closer.

“Scott,” Ji- the Phantom breathed out. “Scott, I remember now.”

Scott continued to ignore him because facing reality was too much. All of it was colliding together after days and weeks of nothing but pain. The physical similarities, him knowing Scott’s name, the easy way they could hold a conversation without pause… if Scott turned around he might actually implode on the spot.

Considering his Starborne status, he could have used it as a literal excuse, but even he knew that was a tad bit dramatic.

A hand touched his shoulder gently, making him tense up like a statue for a second before letting out a deep breath while shuddering and turning around to face the truth. It was everything he ever wanted and yet he still couldn’t help but feel held back.

The Phan- Jimmy gave him a forlorn look, “Yeah, I can’t really believe it either.”

The two embraced each other, finally, with tears streaming down their eyes. Scott was shamelessly squeezing the tightest out of the two of them, not that Jimmy wasn’t trying his hardest to beat him. Eventually they did need to split, but Scott kept his arms loosely around Jimmy as he asked questions as quickly as they entered his mind.

“How?” was his first.

Jimmy shrugged, also keeping his arms around Scott, “I don’t know, I kinda just woke up in the colony one day.”

“When?”

“A few weeks ago.”

“Why?”

“Again, not really sure-”

“No, not that why,” Scott clarified. “I’m asking why did you stalk me like a creep instead of coming to me right away?!” Scott decided to get a little serious.

Jimmy got defensive at that, “Because I was remembering it in bits and pieces and didn’t want to freak you out? Everything we’ve been through didn’t really register until yesterday or so, and I wanted to wait and learn why I was having these weird dreams or whatever before jumping down your pants, okay?”

Scott was breathing heavily as his adrenaline rush finally calmed down, “That’s fair, sorry. I just… I’ve been in denial so long. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”

Jimmy grinned sadly at that, “I hear you. Thank Gods we’re past that now, yeah?”

Scott giggled a little, happy the tension of the situation was slowly leaving. Then he looked out his window, reassuringly holding Jimmy close so the man didn’t disappear while he wasn’t staring at him, “Do you know if the others got… what happened to us?”

“If they have, I haven’t run into them,” Jimmy answered. “I’ve just been living with the colony as I tried wrapping my head around everything. I guess you could say I’ve been in a daze of sorts.”

Shit, the colony that Jimmy was a part of, “Are you… Do you want to go with them? They were your only home for a while there.”

Jimmy shook his head, “Not really, to be honest. They’re all cool people, but I didn’t exactly feel a connection with them? Like we survived together, sure, but they never clicked. Besides, that Phantom you’re rocking with is pretty cool enough as it is that I might have stayed even if you weren’t here. He said he and I shared a similar aura or something? I don’t know, I liked the sound of it.”

Jimmy was always great at making fast friends, Scott surmised. “That’s… nice. I’m glad you could already find someone to talk to here.”

“Aw, is someone jealous?” Jimmy cooed, turning to sit in Scott’s arms with his back to Scott’s chest. The movements were clunky because his giant Phantom wings were a considerable obstacle, but nothing would stop him in his journey of being annoying right now. “Don’t worry, Scottie, you’re the only one for me.”

Scott finally shoved Jimmy out of his arms with a huff, the Phantom crashing to the floor, “For the record, I’m not jealous. Those guys over there are a little exuberant for my tastes, so if anything, I thank you for taking some attention away from me.”

That only succeeded in making Jimmy smile more, “Glad to see you haven’t changed at all.”

Scott couldn’t help but smile too, “I could say the same for you.”

There was a lot that would need to be done. Jimmy would need to get accustomed to living with Scott and the new group, they needed to consider searching for their old one too, they would need to send the colony off at some point, and that wasn’t even getting into how a Starborne and a Phantom could work together. The Phantom was a very fragile hybrid, and a Starborne was built like a truck. Numerous issues could pop up out of nowhere.

But as for right now, they could do things like bask under the light of the stars like they once did, and that was more than enough.