#just need to take down every team star base (except fire) and then i can go to area 0

[lemon-3ds]

Staying up until 1 in the morning playing Pokémon today is the day of fools and I am the fool

[5-seconds-of-bucky]

You Are In Love

A/N: Very much based off the song You Are In Love by Taylor Swift, but I don’t know if this classifies as a song fic?? Anyways, here ya go! (Extra points if you can spot the very vague John Mulaney reference)

Summery: In the end, you’re always glad you married each other

Word count: 2.6k+

Warnings: A touch of angst, mild swearing

“Mind if I steal my wife?” Shawn asked the girls standing around you. 

“Ooh, Y/N, looks like someone likes you,” you maid of honor said in a sing-songy voice. 

“Really? Is he cute?” You all laughed as you excused yourself. 

“Where are we going?” you giggled as he tugged you through the sea of tables. 

He stopped abruptly and you almost crashed into him, placing a hand on his suit clad bicep to steady yourself. “Nowhere in particular,” he said with a smile. 

You eyed him suspiciously and he winked in return, taking your hand off his bicep and kissing it before turning around and tugging you forward again. He didn’t stop until you reached a corner in the gigantic room, pulling you in close and swaying slightly to the faint music. 

“We haven’t really had a moment to ourselves tonight,” he commented as you stood there. 

He wasn’t wrong. You tried to keep the guest list down for the celebration, but that’s a hard task when it comes to a wedding. Everyone wanted to talk to you, and it felt like there was barely any time for you to just be with each other. 

“We have to interact with our guests, my dear,” you said as you looked up at him. “We can’t invite them and then completely ignore them.”

“Well yeah, but it’s our wedding. Emphasis on our.” 

“We have all the time in the world.” 

You smile alone could’ve made him melt on the spot. He’d known for a long time that you were the one, but every time you smiled made him even more positive that statement. 

“That we do, however, we only get one wedding day.” 

It was cliche to say, but everything truly was perfect. From the moment he saw you in the white dress to the moment he pulled you into this dimily light corner away from the rest of the party, everything was pure bliss. 

You shook your head, a genuine smile on your face. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

There was silence for a minute; nothing needed to be said. It was you and your husband against the world. 

You were glad you married each other. 

--- 

You yawned as you glanced at the clock. 11:48. You wanted to go to bed so bad, but Shawn made you promise you’d stay up until he got out of the shower. He didn’t tell you why but you assumed he wanted to go out and do something. 

It was one of his favorite things to do while you were with him on tour. He loved his team, but sometimes he wanted to go places without anyone else around. With less people on the streets his fame was irrelevant: he was just some guy walking around with his wife late at night.

Your thoughts were interrupted when Shawn walked out of the bathroom, using a towel to dry his hair. He grinned when he saw you half asleep on the bed, and you couldn’t help but smile back. He silently went to his suitcase and tossed a hoodie to you before grabbing one for himself and tossing his towel in the bathroom. 

“Where are we going?” you asked as you took his hand and he led you out of the room. 

“Don’t know yet,” he shrugged, pressing the button for the elevator. “We’ll know when we see it.” 

You gave him a questioning look. “We’re not going to get lost, are we?” 

“Pssh, I would never get us lost.” 

You rolled your eyes. “Uh huh. What about-” 

The ding of the elevator interrupted you and Shawn dragged you in behind him, pulling you into a bone crushing hug. 

“That’s irrelevant.” 

“But-”

He used a hand to push your face into his chest. “Irrelevant!” 

You sighed and hugged him back, too tired to fight back. 

“I think the first thing we’re going to do is get you some caffeine,” he chuckled, loosening his grip the slightest bit. 

“Good idea.” 

You ended up at some random coffee shop down the road. Part of you desperately wanted to go to sleep, the other part wanted to use the time to have Shawn to yourself; a rare moment these days. 

You took your drinks on the go, walking hand in hand around the quiet streets of the city. Except for the occasional joke about something you saw here and there, few words were exchanged between the two of you. The only light came from the soft glow of the street lamps. It was the perfect night for coffee at midnight. 

“What time is our flight tomorrow?” Shawn asked as he stopped to take a seat on a bench, patting the spot next to him for you to sit. 

“Well, technically it’s today and it’s at 5:30, which is in about four and a half hours.” You sat down next to him. 

“You sound like that really annoying kid at sleepovers. ‘Uh, it’s tomorrow now,” he mocked with a dopey face. 

“Shut up.” You punched him playfully in the arm with a giggle. 

“Good lord, why’d we schedule such an early flight? We really should’ve gone to bed.” 

“Really? I didn’t think of that.” 

“You’re the worst.” The smile on his face said the exact opposite; full of adoration for the girl in front of him. 

“What’cha gonna do about it, huh?” 

“I’m gonna do this.” He leaned in and you assumed he wanted a kiss so you closed your eyes and leaned in as well. Your face scrunched in disgust when you felt him lick your cheek. 

“Shawn Mendes,” you sighed, slowly bringing a hand up to wipe your cheek. 

“Yeah?” he asked with a giggle.

You glared at him. “You are absolutely disgusting.” 

“Oh yeah? What’cha gonna do about it?” 

“Nothing because I’m a civilized person.” 

He rolled his eyes playfully. “I’m sorry, your majesty.” 

You nudged him with your shoulder as you laughed. “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” he yawned, stretching his arms up before placing one around your shoulders. 

“That was not smooth at all.”

“Really? I think it was pretty smooth.” 

“We’re married and you have to do the yawn arm stretch to put your arm around me?” 

“No.” He rested his head on your shoulders. “I thought it would be cute.” 

“You’re a dork.” 

He was a dork, but you were glad you married him. 

---

“I got the letter.” You rubbed the piece of paper between your fingers. You had read it at least four times that day and you wanted to read it a fifth, but Shawn called and you couldn’t pass up a chance to actually talk to him. 

“Did you like it?” he asked shyly.

“Of course I liked it, silly!” 

He let out a sigh of relief. He wasn’t even sure why he’d been so nervous about you receiving it in the first place.  

“I miss you.” 

“I miss you too,” he said, flopping down on the bed of the hotel room he was staying in for the night. “However, I must say that I do not miss your cold-ass hands on me.” 

“Liar,” you accused, fake offense in your voice. “You wish these cold-ass hands were on you right now.” 

“That’s debatable.” 

“Okay then. Well, how's the whole international pop-star thing going?” 

“Oh, you know. Just the usual.” 

“Absolutely satisfactory,” you said at the same time. It was a running joke and you weren’t entirely sure where it began. Just one of the many things that made being apart the tiniest bit better. 

You gazed longingly at a picture of the two of you on your honeymoon on your nightstand. “I want to use these cold-ass hands to give you a hug.” 

“I wish they could.”

“Aha! So you do miss these cold-ass hands!” 

“What, no? That’s not what I said.” 

He could be a liar about missing your cold-ass hands, but you were glad you married him. 

---

You could’ve stayed outside all night. It was the perfect temperature, and the only light came from the moon and a kitchen light you left on for when you decided to go back in. 

You were laying on top of Shawn, head in the crook of his neck and hand over his heart. He had a foot on the ground, using it to rock the two of you back and forth in the hammock. 

He had been rambling for a while now, failing to notice how your breathing was slowing down, eyes closed as you stopped trying to fight the exhaustion from the day. 

“I don’t know. What do you think?” he asked.You didn’t answer and he laughed when he looked down and saw you far away in dream land. 

“Hmm, wha’d you say?” You asked, lifting your head up slightly, bumping him in the jaw. 

“Nothing. Go to sleep, it’s late,” he chuckled, slipping the hand that was resting on your back under your shirt and rubbing circles into your side. 

“No, keep talking. I’m just resting my eyes.” You pressed a soft kiss to his jaw. 

“Mmhm. Get some rest, Y/N.” 

You snuggled into his chest, breathing in the faint scent of cologne and laundry detergent. He buried his face in your hair, closing his eyes and allowing himself to be in the moment. It was rare you got a quiet moment like this; just the two of you at home. 

He was glad he married you. 

--- 

“I just feel like you’re never home.” 

“Shawn, what are you talking about?” you sighed. “I’m home all the time.” 

“I haven’t properly seen you in three weeks. Three weeks, Y/N,” Shawn huffed. “This is the first time we’ve had dinner together in three weeks.” 

“That’s not my fault, Shawn.” 

“I came home early multiple times last week and you weren’t here. You were home at 9:30 every day last week. You’re only supposed to work until seven.” His eyes were cold and his movements rigid. Anyone could tell he was mad, but you knew better. Insecurity was creeping in. This wasn’t a fight you should be fighting, but you were going to anyways. 

“I can’t control my workload. If I don’t get stuff done in time, I get fired. Time isn’t subjective. Deadlines exist.” 

“You couldn’t come home on time just one time? One time, Y/N. That’s all I asked.” 

“What, so I could stay until 11:30 the next day? I love you, Shawn, but I can’t do that to myself.” You were already so sick of the fight. The night had started out nice. You had dinner together for the first time in a while but Shawn grumbled about how you were never home under his breath and it only escalated from there. 

“All I’m asking for is a little effort on your end.” There were a lot of things he could’ve said right then, but that was the one he had to go for.

“You really think I don’t care about this relationship?” 

“That’s not what I-”

“I married you, Shawn. I’ve put up with the touring for months on end, the long nights at the studio, the PR stunts, everything. I clean the house, cook dinner for when you get home, leave you notes in the morning because I care; because I love you.” 

Shawn zoned out, your rant becoming a background noise in his brain. He wanted to take the words back the moment he said them. He knew it wasn’t true, life was just frustrating when you didn’t see your wife for weeks on end.  

“I think I’ve put in plenty of effort.” You took a step towards him, but it did little to close the huge space between you. “I’m sorry that my job keeps me over every once and awhile, but I put every ounce of myself into this relationship. You should know that better than anyone.”   

He stared at you, trying to come up with the right words; words that could just fix everything so you could have just one nice night together for once. 

“Are you going to say anything?” you asked, arms crossed and hurt evident in your voice. 

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He ran a hand through his hair, voice having the slightest tone of accusation. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. His eyes were sincere, you could tell, but his lack of words said much more. 

“Okay then,” you said quietly, biting your lip. “When you figure out what to say, let me know.” 

“Okay.” His voice was barely audible, but it spoke volumes. You turned on your heel and walked to the guest bedroom, closing the door softly behind you. Angry as you were, slamming doors wasn’t going to help anything. 

He sighed as you disappeared. You always seemed to be the more rational of the two of you and he never understood how you could deescalate yourself so quickly. 

You could be mad at him all you wanted, as the end of the day, he was still glad he married you. 

---

“Don’t freak out.” 

“Telling me not to freak out is going to make me freak out more.” You were standing in the hallway of your office building, staring at the ceiling and tapping your foot as you waited for Shawn to tell you why he called you so abdamentelly in the middle of the workday. 

“So I’m kinda on my way to the hospital.” 

“Oh my gosh, Shawn, what happened?” Your mind raced with every worst case scenario. The fact that he was calling you should have been some indication that he wasn’t dying, but that did little to ease your worries. 

“I was messing around with Brain and I might’ve maybe twisted my ankle really bad and it swelled up a lot so we’re just going to get it checked out.” 

You breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank the lord.” 

“Why do you sound so happy?”

“You never call me during work. I assumed you were dead or dying.” 

“That’s a little unreasonable.” 

“Shawn!” 

“Sorry.”

“How bad does it hurt?” 

“Like a . . . a six I guess?” 

Is six enough to warrant surgery? 

“I’m not going to be able to get out before my shift ends,” you sighed, leaning your head against the wall as you looked at your watch. “Let me know if you get out before I go home. I’m really sorry, babe.” 

“Hakuna matata. I’ll see you soon.”

“Love you.” 

“Love you too.” 

He was probably the clumsiest person around, but you were still glad you married him. 

---

The remains of Chinese takeout was scattered on the table, long forgotten as you lost yourselves in each other. 

“No, but do you remember when you literally dragged me out at three in the morning and then got us lost so Andrew had to track us down and nearly killed us?” You asked, looking up from where you were laying across his lap.

“That is not what happened. First of all-”

“That is so what happened!” You sat up to give him that ‘you’re insane’ look.  

“You’re crazy, woman.”  

“That’s a strange way to address your wife.” 

“I am a bit of a strange guy.” 

“That’s an understatement.”

“Hey!” He pushed you off of him with a playful smile. “That’s a mean thing to say about your husband.” 

“I am a bit of a mean wife.” 

“That’s an overstatement. I mean, we’ve made it to one year of marriage and I haven’t considered divorce yet. That’s gotta work for something.” 

“Fair enough.” 

“I’m glad I married you, Y/N. Happy anniversary” 

“Happy anniversary, babe. I’m glad I married you too.” 

And it was true. At the end of every day, you were glad you married each other because there could never be anyone better. 

Taglist // add yourself

@fallinallincurls @lonelyreputation @musicalkeys

[merchantziro]

Old idea I found on my Reddit from like 6 months ago that I thought was worth posting here.

Mario & Sonic but instead of going to the Olympics again, it's Mario Party.

So with the Mario & Sonic games always being about the Olympics, I thought that perhaps we could use an idea to spice it up. So I had an idea of Mario inviting Sonic & Pals to a game of Mario Party.

As for boards and minigames, perhaps we can have some fun and borrow an idea I had from a different Mario Party game concept, only instead of time travel combining two boards from prior games, it could be more crossover based with areas being invaded or merged with elements of the other series. It would be just pure fanservice for Mario and Sonic fans with different characters in the background or on the board.

The goal would be to collect Stars by buying them from Toad or a Chao however certain stages could have an alternative method of collecting them.

If you need a reference point, think the stages from Playstation All-Star Battle Royale had characters from a different series in the background invading that world like how the Paris from Sly Cooper's world gets attacked by the Negativitron from Little Big Planet 2.

One idea I had for a stage would be the Comet Observatory from Mario Galaxy, except it's under attack from the Black Arms from Shadow the Hedgehog so you have to save Lumas and they'll turn into a Star you'll collect, meanwhile you can just see Black Doom and Rosalina fighting in the background.

Another was Pyramid Cave from Sonic Adventure 2 except King Boo and King Boom Boo have teamed up and pooled their ghostly armies together and E.Gadd outfits all 4 players with Poltergusts designed to capture the ghosts, so you have to capture both Mario Boos and Sonic Boos to get one Star upon beating them into a short minigame and you get 3 for capturing one of the Kings after beating them in a much harder minigame. Eventually the king will escape and come back with more stars, maybe alternating between the two every time one is captured.

Another fun one was Peach's Castle, but It's actually the Shroob Castle from Partners in Time except everything is on fire and ruined by Iblis's flames of diaster with Mephiles the Dark walking around, trying to collect Stars for they're own reasons (Mephiles so he can use them to merge with Iblis and the Shroob Princess Sisters are collecting them for power).

Next to last we have Southern Island from Sonic Rush Adventure as it's under attack from Captain Syrup who has teamed up with Captain Whisker. Johnny meanwhile is racing around and you must fight him 1 on 1 in a race minigame based on the Sonic Rush Adventure Wave Rider segments, beating him will cause him to run off and drop a star. Meanwhile you can just get a star from Big as well if you play a fishing minigame.

And Lastly we have Bowser's Castle and the Death Egg (with teleporters between the two) except Bowser and Eggman are having a war in background with their troops going at it. Goombas and Koopas fighting Motobugs and Buzz Bombers. And in the background we have Bowser in his Fury Bowser form is going at it with the Great Eggman Robo from Sonic & Knuckles, only instead of the Master Emerald, it's powered by a Giga Bell. The goal would be to help Bowser Jr deal with an out of control Metal Sonic before trying to find a way to take down both the Giga Bell powered Eggman robo and out of control Koopas King.

As for some mini game ideas, maybe some based on one of the two series as well as some more crossover shenanigans. While I can't really think of anything too specific like above, just take the concept of stages or even minigames from the past games of their respective series and make it a short but fun multiplayer experience. I mean Sonic & the Secret Rings has a few ones that would be perfect for this.

Maybe a few minigames based on the Olympic Dream Events from past Mario & Sonic games like Dream Long Jump or Dream Snowboard Cross.

This is honestly something I would love to see them do if they decide to break away from the Olympics formula and would definitely show that the Mario & Sonic series could definitely work with other Mario spinoff titles, especially with how much chaos there could be ok top of being able to appeal to Sonic and Mario fans with cameos of fan favorites from past titles.

What would your ideas for stages and minigames be?

[gwendolyn02]

For Him - Spencer Reid x Reader

Summary:  Reader would do anything for Spencer to be happy even if she doesn’t think her feelings are reciprocated, and when Maeve’s life is on the line she proves that. Plus reader and Spencer are able to talk effortlessly and have a deep connection not Maeve and Spencer. Also kind of inspired/based on Yellow by Coldplay

Word Count: 1985

Content Warning: Blood, guns you know normal criminal mind things :/

A/N: This is my very first fanfic I have ever written. I don’t really know what i should put as warnings and such so I’m winging it along with all of this. Also I don’t know what to classify this but I’d guess angst with a happy ending. Like I said this is my first fanfic so bear with me. I also did not proof read this because I was so excited to post it so it might have spelling or grammatical errors.

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

Spencer and you have been the best of friends since a month after you joined the team, and you’ve had feelings for him just as long, little did you know the feelings were mutual. The whole team could see the longing looks when the other wasn’t looking, they even have a bet of when you guys would get together. You were always there for each other comforting and consoling the other when a case hit a little too close to home for either of you. You’d distract yourselves if you didn’t want to talk about why a case had upset you; You’d read to each other, watch Doctor Who, play chess, or even go on walks late at night to look at the stars.

When Emily “died” Spencer would come to your apartment crying his eyes out and you stayed strong for him as he has had so many people leave him, he needed comforting more than you, and that made your heart ache even more. You decided to take him to your couch, lay his head on your lap, and run your hands through his hair. It would calm him so much that he’d fall asleep. He looks so peaceful well he slept with his head on your legs you couldn’t help yourself to lean down and kiss him on his forehead and whisper, “Do you know, you know I love you so.”

It’s been a while since then, Emily is alive and in London, and everyone has gone back to normal, well everyone except for everyone’s favorite genius. He was happier than normal, but also more secretive. The team thought that you guys must have finally started dating until one day you came in to work looking a little down, and your longing looks towards Spencer also had pain in your eyes. That was the day after you found out about her. You were having one of your normal hang outs with Spence when you noticed he was spacing out a lot and he had this look in his eyes, a look you knew well. It was the same look you’d get when you thought about him. You didn’t like it, you almost denied it but you had to ask him if your suspicions were right.

“Who is she?” you blurted out. He jumped your sudden outburst blush started to creep up his neck.

“Who is who?” he asked hesitantly.

“Spencer I’m not stupid. You've been extra happy and more secretive lately, and you were just spacing out with a smile on your face. You never space out when we’re watching Doctor Who. So, there is only one reason, you’re seeing someone. What’s her name?” you ask hoping he’ll deny it meaning it’s not too serious or that you were somehow wrong.

He’s hesitant but he says, “Maeve, her name is Maeve.” Your heart drops at this, and you tell him your happy for him. You were happy it was getting late so it wasn’t suspicious when you said you were heading home after that episode. As soon as you closed your apartment door behind you, you leaned against sliding down to a sitting position finally letting your tears fall.

When he walked in late the day after that wearing your favorite outfit of his you realized you couldn't go through with your original plan of slowly distancing yourself from him even if you wanted to, because his happiness was more important to you than your shattered heart. So, you continued to be his best friend even if it ripped out your heart every day and you now had to listen to him gush over her.

It was all good until one day at work he told everyone about her and how he was sure she was missing and how because of that he couldn’t focus on anything for more than four seconds making him the dumbest person in the room and needing the team and your help. You have never seen him like that, it hurt you in more way than one, he loves her, it's clear in his voice cracks along with how much pain he is in, and at that moment you promised yourself you’ll do anything to bring her back to him alive.

*Time Skip to outside Diane’s loft*

Diane knew your feeling for him, and that you’re his best friend, how she found out your unsure, but she did, and she wanted you both there. If you had to guess it was to raise the stakes for Spencer.

“Take your guns and vests off.”

You and Spencer followed her orders.

“Now just you two come in.”

You guys got to the top of the stairs and she opens the door with gun in hand, “Put the blindfold on him and lead him to the chair,” Diane says to you. You do so very carefully as she has her gun pushed into your back as she follows you.

Spencer asks if he can take the blindfold off and gets told no. He and Maeve swap hellos as Diane is putting her hand down Spencer’s shirt and complimenting in his brain and looks until he mentions her thesis, as you watch a little confused on what you're supposed to be doing so you start to mouth to Maeve that everything will be okay.

Spencer is trying to trick her into thinking her thesis is valuable enough to keep her save and out of jail, as you are trying to run through all possible outcomes of this situation in your head. He is trying to convince her he loves her not Maeve, and to let Maeve live with her irrelevancy. She makes sure to make Spencer say he doesn’t love you too, which confuses you, he doesn’t love me anyways you think, but he hesitates for a quick second and you and Maeve catch it but somehow Diane doesn’t. She then kisses Spencer and when he doesn’t reciprocate, she knows he’s lying. He grabs her gun and it fires into the air and then Spencer’s arm, it happened so fast you weren’t able to help him in fact you were knocked onto the ground. The rest of the team was in the room now as you hear Spencer repeatedly saying to stay back. Your standing back up when Spencer is telling her, “There is still a way out of this. Diane, I offered you a deal and you can still take it. M-”

“Me for her,” you interrupt him.  

“Why should I do that?” she asked.

“Because he hesitated in saying he didn’t love me, if you kill her you wouldn’t kill who he truly loves. You’d still have the real competition for him left,” you lie for the second half of this, but you aren’t looking at Spencer whose eyes got even wider in fear as what you were saying was actually true, and Diane sees that and aims her gun towards you. As she does that the team all have their guns pointed at her head. You hear two guns go off and Spencer screaming “WAIT!” you and Diane are on the ground now. Your stomach was gushing out blood. Diane his down a few feet away from you a bullet hole right between her eyes. Spencer rushes over to you and applies pressure to your wound as he tells the others they need medics, now, your vision as blurring and everything you hear is incoherent. Then everything goes black.

You hear movement around you and even though your eyes are closed you can see how bright the lights are in the room you’re in. You open your drowsy eyes to see Spencer pacing the room, he seems to be a mixture of worried, nervous, and stressed. It also looks like he’d been pulling at his hair some too.

“Hey Spence,” you croaked out. He immediately turns to you and lets out a sigh of relieve.

“Y/N, you’re awake, thank goodness. How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Like I’ve just been shot, but other than that perfectly fine,” you chuckle. He doesn’t laugh back, instead he gives you a very stern look.

“Why’d you do it Y/N, why’d did you trade yourself for her?” he questions. You look up at him and think what the hell, might as well tell him the truth.

“Do you know Spence I’d do anything for you, I’d even bleed myself dry,” you tell him in all honesty. He looks at you completely flabbergasted. Then he flushes pink and looks extremely nervous.

“There’s uh... something I need to tell you,” he mumbles and you look at him intently, telling him to continue with your eyes, “I’ve got to tell you this now, I can’t hold it in any longer, especially after almost losing you, you know, you coded on the operating table twice? I almost lost you, twice. So, you need to know Y/N I'm in love with you and I have been for four years six months ten days eight hours twenty-three minutes,” he glances down to his watch really quick, “and fifteen seconds, and I broke up with Maeve, she knew when I hesitating in saying I don’t love you that I really did, and sure I loved her but nowhere close to how much I love you, I only started dating her because I knew there is no way you’d return my feelings, but that was unfair to her,”  he exhales loudly as he rambled forgetting to breathe in between sentences. You look at him in awe, mouth gaped open, and when you realize he staring at you waiting for you to say something.

“I love you too Spence, I have for a long time now, but I thought a genius like you would want another genius, not me,” you say blushing. He moves closer to you leaning towards to you and you lean towards him and gently brush you lips against his. He takes in that you want to kiss him too and smashes his lips into yours for a passionate kiss. You were so caught up in the kiss that you didn’t hear the doors to your hospital room open as the team walks in, you only realize when you hear Derek wolf whistle and Penelope squeal.

“My man,” Derek says slapping Spencer on his shoulder.

“Congrats,” Rossi and Hotch tell you guys, Hotch even wearing one of his rare smiles on his face.

Alex just smiles. While JJ pulls Spence into a hug before carefully doing the same to you. Penelope is so excited she hyperventilating a little bit in the corner with Derek now trying to calm her down, he looks over his shoulder at you two and say, “We’ll give you lovebirds some privacy” leading Penelope out as the others follow. You and Spencer just look at each other and smile contently.  

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

Bonus Scene

As the team are outside of your room with a finally calm Penny G, JJ calls Emily and puts her on speaker, while the other each hand Rossi a twenty.

“Hey Em guess what just happened?” JJ says, and Emily doesn’t know so she replies with a what with a chuckle as she could hear the smile in JJ’s voice so she knows it's not a serious call. “Y/N and Spe-”

“You owe me twenty bucks,” Rossi cuts in.  

“Are you for real?” Emily asks knowing exactly what he was talking about, the bet the made when you first joined the team that they updated every so often and started going by months instead of days or weeks since you guys took so long. They had updated it right before Emily left and when Alex came, she decided to join it too. Rossi had this month.

“Yup,” JJ confirms, “we walked in on them kissing.”

“Well it took them long enough,” Emily says, and everyone laughs in agreement. Even though you were shot it ended up being a happy day.

[tripleaxeldiaz]

his name on your heart

for @florenceandthemachine <3

read on ao3

Smoke is still lingering in the air as they disconnect the hoses from the hydrants and wrap them up. It wasn’t a huge fire — faulty electrical wiring in a duplex — but the wind made it harder and harder to put it. Luckily, nothing had spread to surrounding houses or trees, and both families were safe and accounted for, including a corgi that had wiggled under the toilet in the burning bathroom. The team was dirty and exhausted but unscathed, too — except Buck, who could feel the lump on his head getting bigger by the minute. 

He’s inclined to blame this injury on the dog. He wouldn’t have hit his head on the toilet tank if it had been cooperating.

“Think you’ll make it?” Eddie asks, checking him over while Hen and Chim finish up with the residents. 

“I think I’m gonna have a headache for the next two days because of a dog that got itself free without my help,” Buck mumbles darkly. Eddie rolls his eyes and laughs quietly, offering Buck an ice pack that he accepts with a pout.

“Can’t wait to hear about it every 15 minutes,” Eddie says. Buck very maturely sticks his tongue out at him in response. They sit in comfortable silence as Eddie puts the supplies away and Buck takes in his surroundings. He’s about to ask what they should do for dinner tonight when a small voice carries across the lot.

“Mr. Diaz! Mr. Diaz!”

Buck looks and sees one of the kids — Molly, he thinks — waving frantically in their direction before hurrying over to them, her corgi held tightly to her little body. He nudges Eddie and nods towards the little girl. “I think you have an admirer.”

Eddie scrunches his eyebrows in confusion, turning just as Molly reaches them. She’s out of breath, what with running half a block and keeping a wiggling dog from escaping her grasp, but she shoots Buck a sunny smile with missing front teeth when she stops in front of him.

“Mr. Diaz! Thank you so much for saving Scooter, he was so scared! But you got him out like a real superhero so thank you! Can I name my next pet after you? I wanna get a goldfish when we get our new house, and I wanna name him Diaz!”

Buck can’t help but smile at this girl’s boundless optimism despite her house literally burning down in front of her. He hops off the back of the ambulance, kneeling down so they’re eye to eye. “I’m always happy to help, sweetheart, but my name’s not—”

But he stops, because it hits him like a freight train — he is Mr. Diaz now.

By the time they were engaged, and probably long before, being a Buckley had stopped meaning much to Buck. He hadn’t talked to his parents in longer than he could remember — he’d left them a voicemail when he moved to LA and never heard back — and Maddie hadn’t been a Buckley in years, never legally changing her name back between Kendall and Han. He was on his own little Buckley island as far as he was concerned, and it was a pretty lonely existence.

Until Eddie. And Chris. These Diaz boys who became his family, his everything, made him feel accepted and loved in a way he couldn’t remember ever feeling, made him think about writing “Evan Diaz” surrounded by hearts like he was in middle school because nothing had felt more right to him. He wanted matching turnout coats with their matching names for this life they were building for themselves, together. 

So the change hadn’t really been a question — not for Buck, at least. For Eddie, it was a question that needed to be asked about 65 times despite the answer never changing.

“Are you sure?” he had asked when Buck first brought it up at the beginning of their wedding planning.

“We can always hyphenate, I’m happy to take your name too,” he said as Buck filled out the forms for new work gear.

“Seriously, if this isn’t what you want, let me know,” he said as they walked up the steps to the court clerk’s office, paperwork in hand.

“Eddie!” Buck said, whirling around at the top step, placing both hands on Eddie’s shoulders where he stopped just below him. “This is exactly what I want. I want you, me, and Chris to be a family in every single way we can be, including our last name.”

Eddie just stared at him like he’d offered to buy him every star in the sky, and kissed him long and slow until he could barely remember any of his names.

He’d been called his new name quite a bit since then — when they were pronounced husbands, by their friends and family at the reception, all the people at the hotel in Maui — and it felt good and right, but it felt like pretend. Like any minute someone would break the spell and call him Mr. Buckley, and he’d be right back on that island he’d finally managed to escape.

But here — on their first week back from their honeymoon, the whole wedding still feeling like an elaborate dream — a stranger had called him Mr. Diaz because that’s the only thing he’s ever been or ever will be to her. For the rest of his life, that’s who he’ll be to everyone.

He tries to make his voice work, but it’s sticking behind the lump in his throat.

He watches Molly lean over to Eddie and whisper, “Is he okay?”

Eddie laughs, but his eyes are impossibly soft, like he knows exactly what’s happened to Buck, just like he always does. “He’ll be alright. And I’m sure he’d be more than happy to let you name your fish after him.”

She flashes another smile as her mom calls her name, waving at them as she skips away. Eddie watches her go, turning to Buck and manhandling him until he’s sitting on the floor of the ambulance again. He looks around before standing in the space between Buck’s legs, hands resting gently on his shoulders.

Buck breathes in sharply, snapping back to reality. He looks up at Eddie, who’s still looking at him all soft and sweet, and he feels his eyes well up of their own accord.

“I’m a Diaz,” he says, quiet and breathless, and he’s sure he’d float away if Eddie wasn’t holding on to him, grounding him.

“That’s what it says on your driver’s license,” Eddie says, thumbs stroking the skin at the base of his neck.

“Mr. Diaz. Evan Diaz.” He’s said it before, written it and heard it, but it finally, finally, feels real. Eddie smiles at that, and it’s dazzling, and Buck can’t help but lean up for a kiss. It’s quick — they are still on the job, after all — but then Eddie pulls him in for something deeper, and he’s really never been able to deny him anything.

They jump apart at the sounds of the truck’s horn.

“Diazes!” Chim shouts. “If you’re not on this truck in 10 seconds you’re walking back to the station!”

They’re halfway there before Buck pulls up short, grabbing Eddie’s hand and squeezing for his attention. There’s tears in his eyes again, he can feel them. He’s not sure when he’ll ever stop tearing up. He doesn’t think he actually wants to, doesn’t want this novelty to ever wear off.

Eddie looks back at him, confused.

“Diazes” is all Buck says.

Eddie laughs, and Buck is flying.

[beingatoaster]

I posted 20,712 times in 2021

949 posts created (5%)

19763 posts reblogged (95%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 20.8 posts.

I added 3,257 tags in 2021

#art - 1392 posts

#cat - 311 posts

#leverage - 294 posts

#long post - 284 posts

#star trek - 268 posts

#meanwhile in vazlann - 178 posts

#writing - 145 posts

#fire emblem - 135 posts

#breaking light - 130 posts

#dragon age - 120 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#jedda rolling a nat 20 on her attack on the last enemy after it knocked rory down because it really felt like a panic-powered desperate blow

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

so the whole scene with Parker and Hardison needing to get up the tower to save Eliot, and Hardison throwing himself at the bad guys so Parker could take a super acrobatic up the stairwell--I just love every detail of that. They HAVE to get up there, because Eliot’s going to run out of air. The moment they see the stairwell and then hit resistance, they both know who’s going to get up there better (Parker), so Hardison goes in and takes the fight so she can make it. Parker gets to the top and just before a bad guy gets her, Hardison interferes. It’s just... it’s all so perfect, I love it. ;o; They know what they have to do to save Eliot and they just DO it, because that’s how the team works

257 notes • Posted 2021-04-17 18:56:53 GMT

#4

I love the cut from Sophie going “Where are you going?” and Nate not answering, directly to Hardison’s screen saying “Where Nate Is Going” in large orange letters

(also Hardison saying, “he even cleared out his browser history. It’s adorable”)

343 notes • Posted 2021-04-02 18:24:36 GMT

#3

I enjoy very much that the people making the Detective Pikachu movie were like, “people are here to see the CGI Pokemon. we can have good actors and a fun plot, but they’re here to see the Pokemon” and just jam-packed the movie with as many shots of Pokemon as possible

518 notes • Posted 2021-01-12 01:20:24 GMT

#2

See the full post

1038 notes • Posted 2021-01-03 02:43:32 GMT

#1

A/B/O fanfiction except that instead of people's ~uncontrollable animal instincts~ being rape-y possessive psuedo-wolf bullshit, it's all based on birds

a bunch of broody intense alphas building nests like bowerbirds and doing ridiculous mating dances and song competitions to win over omegas going into heat, please

15291 notes • Posted 2021-01-16 14:52:32 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[duhragonball]

Hellsing Liveblog Ch. 35-40

This is the one-part “Xanado”, and the five-part “Final Fantasy”. 

So last time, we saw a Millennium team led by Rip Van Winkle take control of a British aircraft carrier, which forced Hellsing to send Alucard to deal with the situation.   He accomplished his mission, but now he’s stuck on the boat by himself, because vampires can’t cross running water.   I suppose Hellsing would have arranged a second aircraft to pick him up, but they’ve got bigger problems on their hands.   Just as Alucard finishes off Winkle, reports come in of communication breakdowns all over Great Britain.  Military, intelligence, police, all out of reach.  Integra recognizes this as Millennium’s next move.    By taking out the communications networks, they ensure a clear shot for their invasion force to move in.   But how did they pull this off?

Simple, they did it the same way they arranged all those vampire attacks during the summer, and the Valentine assault on Hellsing Manor, and the Brazillian Police raid on Alucard’s hotel suite, and Lt. Winkle’s takeover of the H.M.S Eagle.    They convinced a bunch of Brits to betray their country in exchange for being turned into vampires.   The only real surprise here is the sheer breadth of treachery this time around, as Millennium must have created dozens of sleeper agents throughout the country, each tasked with hijacking or sabotaging key defense systems.  And Vice-Admiral Penwood’s command is no exception.    Those a-holes who gave Integra a hard time earlier?   Turns out they were in the tank for Millennium all along, and now that the invasion force has arrived, they’ve revealed their true colors.   At first, they’re pretty thrilled to have captured Integra Hellsing herself, but she calmly informs them that they’re minor league vampires at best, and they’ve foolishly revealed themselves in the presence of expert vampire hunters.

And Walter calmly slices them all up with his magic wire powers.  Cool.

But that’s not going to stop the one thousand vampire soldiers currently heading into British airspace.   I think the most striking visual in this part of the story are the expressions of sheer excitement on these guys’ faces.  They’re just so thrilled for what’s about to happen, and when you consider how long they’ve waited, it only makes sense.   It’s almost infectious, until you recall just what it is they’ve come here to do.  

Meanwhile, Alexander Anderson watches the Millennium blimps roll in.   Oh, right, I forgot about him.    Back in chapter 25 he was still in Brazil, trying to locate Millennium’s HQ, but all he found were human agents trying to stop him, which he found rather insulting.   Then Maxwell contacted him to explain what he learned from the summit with Hellsing, and he ordered Maxwell to come to London in preparation for a great crusade.   But unlike the Crusads of old, their enemy is not Allah, but Mars, since Millennium is so devoted to war.   Anyway, Anderson’s here and ready to rock.

Meanwhile, the people of London finally spot these blimps rolling in, and it’s pretty horrifying stuff.   We’ve already seen the carnage that can be wrought by a few vampires, and now it’s a thousand vampires, and they’re all Nazi soldiers to boot.   The sense of dread here is just palpable.

Aboard the flagship (flagblimp?) the Major starts giving his men their orders, and they even have a stupid invasion handbook for the occasion.   Warrant Officer Schrodinger lost his and has to share with the Captain.   I suppose this is intended to alleviate the tension, except, no, it really doesn’t.    These guys are all horrible monsters in every sense of the word, and they’re about to do awful, unspeakable things.    Schrodinger’s comic relief moments only make it worse.

The Major gives an extra-long speech for the occasion, basically outlining all the buildings and people in London that he wants his men to destroy (tl;dr: “all of them”).  He then assigns Lt. Zorin Blitz to take one of the blimps with a contingent of men and head for the Hellsing mansion on the outskirts of town.   She figures that’ll be an easy gig, since Alucard is away, but the Major warns her not to underestimate Integra Hellsing or Seras Victoria.   He doesn’t exactly explain his concerns about Seras, but the mere fact that she’s Alucard’s servant is probably reason enough to be mindful, and Integra is Alucard’s master, and she comes from a long line of vampire hunters, so the Major considers them both to be archenemies on the same level as Al himself, despite their inexperience. 

So the Major explicitly orders Zorin to go to the mansion but not to attack.   Her task is to observe an wait for the Major’s order.    This will be important later.

Then the Major orders a bunch of V-1 and V-2 rockets launched at London.   I mean, geez, were the hundreds of vampire soldiers not enough?  Did he think he needed to soften the city up first?  

Then the troops jump out of the blimp to begin their assault.  They look like they’re parachuting down, but I don’t think any of them are wearing parachutes, since they shouldn’t need them.  It’s almost pathetic the way they talk to each other with all of this professional military talk and congratulating each other on a successful landing.    London is virtually defenseless and this is a slaughter, not a battle, but they’ve been psyched up for this for 55 years.

Back at Penwood’s base, Integra warns him to flee before the main invasion force arrives, but Penwood insists on remaining at his post.   He confesses that he’s completely incompetent, and he only has this position because of his inherited title, but he refuses to abandon his duty, since that’s the only honorable thing he can do.   Integra leaves him a gun with silver bullets and wishes him well as she heads for her own duty.    Penwood orders his men to evacuate, but they refuse, since Penwood can’t actually operate any of the equipment here.

So now we get an extended sequence of Milennium marching through London, basically sacking the city and slaughtering anyone they meet.   This is accompanied by the lyrics to “Akuma Stocking” which I think was used in the anime adaptation as well.   There’s a lot of gory scenes here, but the three main visuals that stuck with me in the anime are these:

First, this motherfucker eating a baby.   

Second, all the Londinian civilians they bite end up rising up and transforming into ghouls, who then join in the slaughter.    It’s easy to forget about ghouls at this point, but Millennium never forgot.   Their artificial vampires can’t turn virgins into new vampires, and I think that may be by design.   They were counting on their victims rising up to compound the horror.    

Third, just a lot of bayonet-usage going on here.   You’d think they’d be content to bite and shoot people, but these guys seem to enjoy hoisting up their prey to show them off.   It’s a horrific nightmare and there’s no end in sight.   

Integra and Walter speed home as fast as they can, but they stop to take out a Millennium soldier in a shootout with London police.    She can’t save the cops, but she does avenge them.

Back at the Naval base, Penwood sends out a final transmission as he expects the enemy to enter his post at any moment.    His men are all dead, with the last one shooting himself to avoid becoming a ghoul.  He tells anyone who can hear him to resist and do their duty.    Then he recalls his first meeting with the young Sir Integra.   Back then, he found it ridiculous that a 12 year old should be in charge of Hellsing, but she quickly puts him in his place, and established that she would be asking him for favors from then on.  

But Penwood won’t be granting any favors to the Kraut bastards who storm his post.  Instead he sets off the explosives they set up earlier and I guess they all die together.   I wouldn’t have thought an explosion would kill these vampires, but they are a lot less formidable than Dandyman or the Valentines.   Luke couldn’t regenerate his foot, for example.

When Integra shot that one vampire, she gave away her position, and now Millennium is on her trail.   Just when it seems they have a clear shot at escape, someone blocks their path, and Walter tells Integra to take the wheel and find another route.    He’s going to stay behind to fight this guy, but he doesn’t think he can hold him off for long.

Integra does as he asks, but orders him to return alive “at all costs.”   Hmm.

Walter uses his wire power, but it turns out this is the Captain, and he’s apparently powerful enough to foil his attack.    Walter recognizes him, presumably from when he and Alucard fought the proto-Millennium in the 1940s.

And then the Major flies along in his blimp and confirms it. 

Meanwhile, Integra gives the Last Battalion a merry chase, but eventually she crashes the car and seems to be cornered.  One asshole tries to get closer to finish her off, but she decapitates him with her sword.

His comrades accuse her of being a “sore loser” and tell her to give up, but she mocks them all for being cowards who surrendered their humanity.  She’s hardcore, she’s hardcore.

But before she can fight all these vampires alone, somebody comes along and throws a bunch of blessed bayonets at them.   These did a number on Alucard and Seras, but they didn’t cause any lasting harm.   Seras was even able to pull them out without too much trouble.   But this shithead just disintigrates on the spot.  Remember, the Last Battalion’s main advantage is their number.   Individually, they’re not terribly impressive, at least as vampires go.

But yeah, it’s Alexander Anderson, along with his two sidekicks, Heinkel Wolfe and Yumiko Takagi, the stars of Kouta Hirano’s earlier manga, “Cross-Fire”.   We’ve seen Heinkel in Hellsing before, but I think this is Yumie’s debut here.  They chastise Anderson for interfering, since they were only sent to observe, but Anderson is too fired up by Integra’s fighting spirit, and he wants to kill some vampires, dammit.

Turns out there’s quite a few of these Iscariot guys here, maybe all of them, but Anderson starts doing a whole routine with them, as they chant all this stuff about how they’re assassins in the tradition of Judas, the disciple who betrayed Christ.  I’m not sure I get much of this, but it’s nice that Hirano put some thought into Section XIII as the super-secret death squad of this fantasy version of the Vatican.

And that’s all we have for now.   

[mhdiaries]

Iris Clops SDCC 2014 Exclusive Diary

02.28

I went to the casketball game tonight. It was the district championship game, and if we won it would mean a trip to the monster state tournament. The game was against the same gargoyle team that beat us last year. The game tonight was really close with several lead changes, the gym was totes rocking. I was there to cheer for the whole team, of course, but I was also hoping that Manny would have a better game than he did last year. I know he felt responsible for us losing last year, even though I know that the team didn’t blame him for it. Manny is... well, I’m not sure what Manny is. When he first came to Monster High he acted like a real bully, and most students tried to avoid him at all costs. Something must have happened after that game last year though, because he seems like a different monster since then. Anyway, this year there was a much happier outcome - both for Manny and the team - because not only did we win, but Manny made the winning shot! Adding to the excitement - more or less - okay, less, was my epic fail or rather fall down the bleachers. Typical me, I wasn’t watching where I was going and I stepped where there wasn’t one and badly twisted my ankle. Wow, did that ever hurt! The team athletic trainer, Mr. Mummy, saw what happened and came over to check on me. He had some of the ghouls help me to the training room where he examined my ankle, pronounced it sprained and then did a pretty thorough wrap job on it. He gave me some crutches, then called my parents to let them know what had happened. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to the bit victory party after the game, which was a drag because I heard that Manny asked where I was at. 

03.05

I have decided in the interest of science to keep an ongoing list of my bumps, bruises, sprains, spills and breakages. Thus I have developed a clumsification scale so that each incident can be properly measured based on the approximate pain I feel at the time:

Ouch.

Just Give Me a Minute...

Oh, Hera, That Hurt!

Medic!

Don’t go into the light.

My hope is that I will eventually reach a point where in the midst of an “incident” I can just shout out a number and thus save my breath for holding against the agony. I had the chance to practice using my new scale tonight as I tried to navigate my way through the house on crutches. I called out a series of “1′s” while I bumped my way down the hall from my bedroom to the kitchen. When I got there, dad asked if I was all right, and I told him I was just trying out my new scale. “Oh, good,” he said, “I was afraid you’d finally gone binary on us.” I told him that if I didn’t think I would spend the next 15 minutes on the floor yelling “Four!” I would hit him with one of my crutches. He laughed, kissed me on the top of head and slid open the door to the back porch. He closed the door behind me and flicked on the trail of dim blue-green lights that outlined the path to the “observatory” he built for me. My dad is the kind of monster that keeps his eye more to the earth beneath his feet than to the stars above his head, but he is an amazing engineer and he built my observatory with a roof that opens and the whole thing rotates 360° so my telescope never has to move. He’s not much of a “tell you that he loves you” kind of monster, but he shows it all the time. Tonight I rotated my observatory so that I could see a star called Aldebaran. It’s an orange giant and forms one of the eyes in the constellation Taurus - the bull. As I was focusing in, two meteors crashed into each other sending glowing fragments across the night sky like fireworks. If I were the kind of ghoul that looked for omens I might think this was a sign. Hah! As if...

03.06

I was standing at my locker today, and Manny walked right by me without even acknowledging I was there. Maybe I should expand my scale to cover bumps and bruises of the heart as well. If so, today was a definite 2. 

03.07

Gigi came over tonight to do some stargazing. She’s so scary sweet and just so excited to experience every little detail of unilfe outside the lantern that she’s a scream to be around. We looked at the rings of Saturn, Mars and Alpha Centaur, and then a storm moved in, and we couldn’t see anything through the cloud cover. So we sat and talked about different things. I jokingly asked her if she had any wishes left, because I was really wishing I could know what was going on inside Manny’s head. She laughed and said that sometimes wishing is more satisfying than actually having the thing for which you have wished. She says it doesn’t sound logical, but it often is true. I’m not sure I understand, but she has a lot more experience seeing the power of wishes granted than I have, so I suppose I’ll just have to trust her on this. 

03.09 

Today in the creepateria I was sitting at a table with Draculaura, Clawd, Abbey and Heath. Manny walked by our table with his lunch, and Heath invited him to sit with us. The only open seat was across from me, and I swear it looked as if Manny started blushing. I think he was going to say, “No”, but he ended up sitting down anyway. We were right in the middle of a conversation about a comet that only passes by earth close enough to see once every 500 years or so, and Draculaura has seen it the last two times it appeared. She was telling us how some monsters thought it was an omen of doom the last time it passed and they literally went screaming for the catacombs. We were all laughing, and I suggested we have a comet party at my house the next time it shows up. That’s when Manny said, “Who cares about stars and planets and comets and stuff like that? It’s just a dumb waste of time looking at places you can never go to anyhow.” It took me completely by surprise, and I said, “It’s only dumb if you’ve got so much muscle in your brain there’s no room for imagination.” I don’t think I could have been more hurt if he had called me an eyesore. I asked Draculaura if she would take my tray for me, and I grabbed my crutches, hobbled out of the creepateria and straight into the ghoul’s restroom. As I was sitting in a stall crying my eye out, there was a knock on the stall door. “Go away,” I said. “Is Abbey - I punched Manny in nose for you.” I jumped up and opened the door. “You did what?” I yelled. “Relax, I am only doing the teasing.” I was torn between being angry and continuing my number “4″ sized cry. Abbey told me that Manny was like her brother. “He is big like Manny and is having same problem telling Yeti ghoul how he is feeling - so he makes the large snowballs to throw at ghoul he likes. Manny does not have snowball so he throws words.” I told her that I thought it was the dumbest way possible to let a ghoul know that she is liked. Abbey nodded, “Agreed, snowballs are much better as sting is going away sooner.” I think she is right. This “4″ doesn’t act like it’s about to slide down to a three anytime soon, and I guess Gigi was right about not wishing to know what’s in another monster’s head.

03.10

This morning when I opened my locker there was a small, folded up piece of paper wedged in one of the vent slots. It was folded so tightly, I though some monster must have wrapped up a piece of gum and shoved it through my locker because he couldn’t find a trash can. I almost threw it away but I unfolded it instead. Inside in carefully printed block letters was the message,

I’m sorry.

M.T.

I looked around to see if some monster might have done this as a prank, but everything looked normal, or at least as normal as it ever looks at that time of morning with monsters scurrying around trying to get to class on time. In terms of medicine, it certainly took the sting out of my “4″, and if it didn’t take it all away at least it moved it down to a “1″.

03.12

I’m not sure if it will be possible to put what happened today into words, but I think I have to try. We had a special assembly in the creepatorium that every monster was required to attend. The speaker was a famous centaur explorer/biteologist who was going to talk about his travels and adventures. It sounded pretty exciting when Headmistress Bloodgood was making the announcement over the intercom, and by the time I was able to hobble in, all the seats were taken except one in the very middle of a top middle row. I looked around for Manny and saw him several rows about me sitting with Heath. I managed to get to my seat without doing too much damage to either myself or any other monster, but I had to leave my crutches leaning against the wall, since there was no way I could make it down the aisle holding onto them. As it turned out, the speaker was a bit of a blowhard, and after 30 minutes of telling the assembly how great he was, most of us were figuring out this wasn’t going to be as exciting as we were lead to believe. That’s when he brought out the chimera. Although our speaker assured us that he had tamed it, our biteology textbook said that it was impossible to do so. I guess every other monster in the creepatorium had read the same book, because they all started shifting in their seats and looking for the closest exit. The speaker asked for calm and told us the creature was as harmless as a kitten. Not a beat after he said this, the chimera breathed a cone of fire into one of the stage curtains and mass chaos erupted as every monster tried to leave at once. I vaguely remembered seeing my crutches being kicked down the stairs and then disappearing under the mass of students trying to get out. It seemed like it was every monster for himself, and there was no way I was going to be able to get out. That’s when I felt myself lifted out of my seat and I looked up to see Manny’s face looking down and... smiling. “Need a lift?” he asked. I just nodded and before I knew it we were standing outside the school with everyone else. I kissed him on the cheek, and he gently set me down. I think I need a new scale for how my heart feels now.

[spotofimagines]

About Time ~ Calum Chambers

A/N: I don’t know when this is set, I just made up a match scenario so don’t go looking for details! This is for @footballffbarbiex​‘s writing challenge based off tv and film (go check it out, it’s lasting all year!). I watched Harry Potter recently so took vague inspo from Neville and Harry about halfway into this scene. Also, a moment of silence to remember Cal’s awful cat drawing.... Enjoy :)

Warnings: injury but no detail - reader is female

Summary: Winning a match in that sort of fashion will give Calum the confidence boost with you he’s been waiting for.

It was the biggest win of the season. A trophy win. A derby win. A penalty and a 30-yard screamer scored by the strikers for the team. A match saving tackle by the man of the hour. It was a big win alright.

Calum had gone down pretty hard from that tackle late on in the match and stumbled about for the last couple minutes of extra time. To keep the story short, his knee was well and truly busted up, but by god was he going to celebrate this win with his teammates.

When the hugging and jumping was over and the physio had dragged him to get sorted out properly, Calum had his mind set on one person and one person only. You. He wanted to find you in this moment like he wanted little else in his life. A congratulations from his friend was ready and waiting, but given the 90 minutes he’d just played and the confidence coursing through him, he’d had a slight change to that set of plans.

He’d tried a few times already to do what he was going to do today but he had always chickened out before he would, too scared to see anything change between you for the worse. But as he steamed through the halls of the Emirates, feet travelling without being told to, he didn’t even think once about the consequences. He was going to do this and he was going to do this now.

Speeding slightly too fast round a corner, Calum had become the focus of someone else.

“Cal, you alright?” Rob stuck his hand out to the side to catch Calum’s arm and attention at the sight of him darting his eyes around like a meerkat.

“Never better. I feel like I can spit fire.” Adrenaline was still running through Calum like crazy. There wouldn’t be anything in the world that could stop him now. Or at least for the next few minutes or so, before the joy of the win will wash away a bit and the proper pain of his injury will set in. But until then, he was a man on a mission whilst he knew it was something he could actually do instead of backing out like the last times.

“You haven’t seen Y/N have you?” The excited smile on his face shone inquisitively as he asked his friend the question, in dire need to find you as soon as possible.

“Y/N?” Rob repeated a little confused, slightly shaking his head no. What could be so urgent that he would be this desperate to find his best friend? “Why-”

“I’m mad for her. Think it’s about time I told her.”

Rob could barely register getting interrupted before he was watching Calum jog off down the corridor, a happy-go-lucky grin on his face that told Rob he really couldn’t care what else was going on in the stadium, with the fans, with the players, with anyone. It was only you. He had to find you.

Turning back around to his girlfriend, Rob just raised his eyebrows with a laugh and shook his head. “He’s done it. He’s finally lost it.”

Calum just kept searching for you amongst the miriade of people in the corridors. His knee was starting to burn a bit again, and he knew the physio would kill him if they found out he’d been jogging around.

But then he turned the corner, and he saw you, and the thought jumped right out of his mind. It felt like everything stopped for a moment; like there weren’t so many people around anymore, like all the oxygen left the air, like there was nothing or no one he’d ever wanted to come across more. He knew he was being a little silly - after all you were just stood leaning against the wall on your phone - yet it seemed like he was back at that stupid art museum a month back when he first tried to tell you his feelings because god, you looked out of this world. And all you were doing was standing there.

There was a fire in his heart he didn’t have a month ago that was willing him on now to sack it all off and get it over with. And there was a fire burning in his knee that was getting worse the longer he stayed still.

So he moved. He walked toward you, intent in every step and all focus on anything else completely lost to the background. He wasn’t going to stop himself - he didn’t want to stop himself - so he didn’t. He just kept walking until the clacking of his boots against the hard floor made you peer up over your phone.

There was an unmissable splendour in his eyes that bore into yours as you slipped you phone into you pocket with a greeting smile. You hadn’t expected to see him so soon after the match and you were on the verge of asking what had brought him to you so soon as you held your hands out, prepared for a giant bone-crushing hug from him you’d grown accustomed to.

Before you could get your mouth to say words and before you could wrap your arms around him, Calum’s hands dived straight to either side of your jaw and pushed your lips on his. Your hands landed on his waist lightly as his warm hands tilted your head up a touch so he could kiss you just that little bit deeper. If this was only happening once, it was going to be perfect.

He felt your lips start to kiss him back after the sudden shock of him on you sauntered away and he smiled to himself at the way it felt to experience this. There had been far too much time between when he first caught a crush on you and when the moment to do something about it had finally arrived.

Calum pulled away before too long and rested his forehead on yours with his eyes still closed. A breathy laugh fell from his mouth as it couldn’t help but curve into a smile. You couldn’t quite find the words you wanted to say, or any words at all for that matter, so you just gently squeezed his sides to cover up your silent spluttering that he couldn’t even see nor notice.

He slipped his hands down to your neck as he moved his head back to look at your face properly. His hair was still a little sweaty and he was definintely out of breath but his eyes gleamed as bright as his grin. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself now that he was close up to the beautiful girl he yearned to see five minutes ago. It felt just like a dream to be in a moment like this.

Except you weren’t quite smiling like he was. And now he’s realising there are people around you. And he’s still wearing his dirty kit. And his knee is definitely going to need another check by the physio from the heat that’s searing through it. His heart is still in dreamland and his smile is still etched on his face, but his brain just dropped back to earth and hit the ground. Luckily for Calum though, he never has favoured his mind over his mood.

He watched your eyes for a second and took another breath whilst his thumb started moving up and down along your jaw. “Mate, I am sorry if that was way off what you thought of me, but I’ve been waiting to do that for a while. And I know I ain’t thinking straight right now with that win and my knee is making me go doo-lally mental, probably not the best idea to run round half the bloody stadium for you, but I needed to do that.” He sighed as all his words tumbled out of him. “I just needed to do that...”

Your eyes never left his for a second, and you hoped he had some sort of super mind-reading powers hidden in him somewhere so he could know what you felt, because your mouth was trailing years behind your brain. You wanted to tell him how right it felt, how often you’d imagined his lips on yours, how much you wanted it to happen too. But your stammering wouldn’t let you. You were counting your lucky stars that winning this trophy had washed him in so much exhileration that he hadn’t noticed your prolonged reaction, or at least he hadn’t done anything about it.

He was hopped up on the sugar of you and you were so shocked by his sudden actions that your hardwire system shut down.

His body shifted under the palms of your hands and he was about to take a step backwards away from you when your snaked your arms around his torso to stay close to him. “Well mate,” you teased, tilting your head to keep looking up at him directly with a smirk, “whatever you seem need, it works for me.”

He scoffed a laugh at the words that you managed to say and mockingly rolled his eyes at you as you giggled. Those bright blue eyes hadn’t lost a single spark since he saw you a minute ago and they didn’t look keen to be dimming any time soon either.

Calum just pulled you closer to him again for another kiss, this time shorter, and sweeter, and less system-knocking. This time it was Calum. This time it certainly wasn’t a dream.

The thumb on your jaw moved along your skin a couple more times when you looked back at each other, you smiles carved in stone on your faces. His fingers trailed over your shoulders and down your arms until his right hand found solace linked together with yours. You simply watched him, how his shoulders stood tall over you but weren’t wound as tightly as before.

When your eyes met his once more, he suddenly dropped his effervesant smile and furrowed his brows. “I’m being serious now though. If I don’t get this knee looked at in the next 30 seconds, I’ll be chopping it off.” You chuckled as his complaint and secured your hand in his before nudging his arm forward to get him to start walking back to where he’d come from.

“Oi, don’t laugh, it could be fatal! I could be facing life on bed rest for my heroics today.” As hard as Calum tried to make his words sound convincing, the cheeky grin fighting it’s way onto his face sold him out. Every time.

“Alright, superman,” it was your turn to roll your eyes as you placed your other hand on his arm whilst you walked nestled against him, “let’s get you checked on so you can fly me back home.”

[diifacto]

Saw your post about the hunger games and i completly agree. Anyway you said there wasn't really a love triangle and now I'm curious what you mean with that? I mean like imma start following you anyway now so i won't miss it when you talk about this, but...

I’ve gotten a lot of questions/comments like this one on the statement I made in my last Hunger Games post about the series having no real love triangle, so here’s me (finally) explaining my reasoning.

It was really hard to organize my thoughts in a cohesive, complete way, as I’ve never actually organized my arguement on paper—just verbally, usually yelling (passionately) at my sister—so I’ve split them up into categories based on which aspects of the novels I’m discussing.

First Impressions

Beginning, as all things do, with first impressions. The Hunger Games is, first and foremost, categorized as a YA novel. Now, I love YA. I’ve been reading YA all my life and will probably continue doing so for the rest of it. But there are a ton of tropes/patterns found consistently through just about every YA novel out there, just as in any other genre—sci-fi has spaceships, blasters, and aliens; fantasy has monarchies, dragons, and curses; and YA has love triangles, rebellions, “bad boy” boyfriends, etc. Obviously, this is a gross generalization, but you know what I mean—when Katniss introduces Gale as “the only person with whom I can be myself,” and he checks off the attractive and male boxes on top of it, anyone who’s ever read YA has alarm bells going off in their head: Love Interest Detected.

But, before anything can happen with Gale, we’re heading straight into the Games, where we are confronted with yet another possible love interest. Peeta, Katniss’s competitor—but fake, star-crossed lover? And they have history from back in District 12? We have ourselves a second Love Interest, and therefore we’ve got ourselves a Love Triangle!

(Ignore the Games, of course. The oppressed, impoverished, desperate state of the districts under the Capitol’s control. The children being sent to die for their amusement. The two sixteen-year-olds doing anything they can to stay alive one more day. No, we’ve got some romance on our hands!)

And isn’t that it? Readers go into The Hunger Games, are introduced to these two young, attractive men, who obviously have feelings for Katniss, and whom Katniss depends on (we’ll dig into the significance of that later) in return—and understandably assume this’ll blossom into a plot point. And it does, but not in the way readers are expecting. Suzanne Collins herself never portrays Gale and Peeta as opposing love interests; rather, she uses them to represent opposing worldviews, a huge choice Katniss has to make in Catching Fire. What readers are expecting to happen, though—Love Triangle, Katniss choosing one of the boys, Team Peeta or Team Gale, etc.—can get in the way of how they perceive what Suzanne Collins is really trying to say.

Katniss’s “Choice”

I’d like to present a word to you: juxtaposition. I learned it in English class, it’s fun to say, and it means, according to Google, “The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.” I think it describes love triangles pretty well; after all, isn’t a love triangle just two, different people placed in the same situation, each with their respective pros and cons? I also think it describes Gale and Peeta’s characters pretty well; except instead of Suzanne Collins juxtaposing them based on their looks, general atheleticism, and by who remembers Katniss’s birthday, she aligns them with two possible futures for Katniss, and two different beliefs.

A life with Peeta means a lifetime of keeping her head down, following the path the Capitol has set for her, living in fear and suffocating oppression, hoping the spark will die out. A life with Gale means the opposite: taking it to the Capitol, rebelling against the Games, turning the spark into a flame and hoping everyone she loves survives the fire.

This is the choice Katniss makes in Catching Fire. When she kisses Gale after he’s been whipped, it’s not because she’s coming into any newfound feelings, it’s because she’s made her decision—to stay and rebel against the Capitol. And in this choice, a life with Peeta is of the Capitol’s invention, and a life with Gale is only another way to rebel.

That’s all there really is to Katniss’s “choice.”

Dependence

“But Margaret,” you say, “Katniss does have feelings for Gale and Peeta in return.” Oh, sure. I won’t argue there—there’s a reason, aside from them being superficially perfect Love Interest archetypes, that both these boys themselves do appeal to Katniss. But these “feelings,” this reason, aren’t/isn’t inherently romantic.

After Katniss’s father died, Collins depicts how Katniss’s mother fell into an incredibly lethargic state, sick with sadness, and effectively abandoned eleven-year-old Katniss to deal with her own grief and keep the family alive, all alone. Understandably, this experience has kept Katniss from trusting easily or becoming too dependent on people, lest they do the same and leave when she needs them. For the most part, Katniss lives independently, relying on no one for support, not accepting help. But why, when people argue that Katniss does have feelings for both Gale and Peeta, do I have to admit that while I disagree overall, there is something there Katniss doesn’t let herself feel for anyone else? What makes these two boys different from everyone else in The Hunger Games?

Simple: they’re the only two people Katniss (reluctantly) lets herself depend on.

When discussing Gale’s popularity among the girls at school, Katniss mentions that it makes her jealous, but not for the reason people think. “Good hunting partners are hard to find,” she says, 1. acknowledging Gale’s desirability, 2. making her lack of romantic interest clear, and 3. admitting she relies on him as a hunting partner, and feels threatened by the idea of losing him. And of course she does—especially since Collins shows us that it isn’t just Katniss herself depending on Gale; after the reaping it will be Prim, who Katniss describes as the only person in the world she’s certain she loves, and her mother. Without Gale, and with Katniss heading off to the Games, she has no way to ensure Prim’s safety. Thus, Katniss is incredibly dependent on Gale.

Peeta comes later, but equally as necessary; offering Katniss safety through their star-crossed lovers strategy, and, later, an understanding of the Games she can’t get from anyone else. Katniss, someone so scared of depending on people, has ended up depending on these two boys for different things. Gale, to protect her family, her home, to offer her freedom from the stifling nature of the Capitol and the Victor’s Village; and Peeta, to offer her understanding and freedom in a different way, from the dreams, from the arena, from the pressure of keeping everyone alive.

So when people counter my opinion that Katniss never had any romantic feelings for either Gale nor, initially, Peeta (we’ll break that “initially” down, don’t worry), I’ll give them that, yes, Gale and Peeta got something from Katniss no one else did: trust. And trust is, of course, a fantastic base for a healthy, romantic relationship. But it doesn’t become one in Hunger Games. Katniss loves Gale, and she loves Peeta, I can’t argue that. But that love isn’t romantic.

Debts Owed

This will be very brief—just something to think about, to go along with my analysis of Katniss’s dependence.

I need to acknowledge that, while my arguement is that Katniss never had any definitively romantic feelings for either Gale or Peeta, they definitely did for her. And she knew. So, just for a moment, I’d like us to consider the thought process of someone who has never, ever, let herself depend on anyone else—depending on someone who obviously wants something more from her?

Do you think she may feel like she owes something to this person, as thanks? Do you think she might be afraid, if they weren’t to get what they want, that they might leave? Do you think that, even if she didn’t have any romantic feelings for either of the two, she might kiss them, just in case?

I’m not saying this is the case in Hunger Games, but as I was writing up “Dependence,” it occurred to me: what would that really do to a person? And I just wanted to bring it up for discussion. When Katniss made her choice—rebellion—did she have to seal that choice with a kiss? Or was that her way of ensuring that yes, she was picking rebellion, and Gale was the rebellious choice, and yes, this kiss, this promise, will keep him by my side.

Was Gale Ever Really A “Contender”?

Let’s tie the frayed ends of “First Impressions”/“Katniss’s ‘Choice’”/“Dependence”/“Debts Owed” together. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve an inexhaustible well of patience, and I applaud you.

Remember when I added that “initially” when discussing Katniss’s lack of romantic feelings for Peeta? While I’m still firmly on the side of Katniss ending up single—at least for a few years, while the poor girl recovers and figures all the shit you’re supposed to understand in your teens, and when you’ve been through a war, out—of both “choices,” of course she ends up with Peeta. Why? Well.

Despite the “choice,” despite dependence, despite all the evidence laid here on the contrary, despite all that, if you still think there’s a love triangle in Hunger Games, explain to me this: you need two love interests to make a love triangle—and was Gale ever really a contender?

Let’s walk through it. Right from the beginning, immediately after Suzanne Collins introduces Gale, she has Katniss go through the steps discussed in “Dependence”; acknowledge desirability and attractiveness, state her disinterest romantically, and move on. Already, sweeping any suggestion that Katniss may have some unspoken, romantic love towards Gale. Not to say it couldn’t develop—but it doesn’t.

Catching Fire is where the boys are perhaps juxtaposed the most, with Katniss’s “choice” coming into play. Remember what I said about debts owed? Gale continues to push Katniss’s boundaries, confessing his love, pressuring her, even after she’s expressed her disinterest in love right now (amid all this death and rebellion, a perfectly fucking normal sentiment) and confusion around the subject. Not only that, but he insults Peeta, Haymitch, and those involved with the Games (ex. Cinna, Effie, Katniss’s prep team) by lumping them in with the Capitol, and while the latter is a fair judgement, he doesn’t listen to Katniss when she tries to defend them and explain they’re rebelling in their own way, same as him. Gale in Catching Fire begins his “downwards spiral,” as he turns everything black and white, shunning Katniss when she doesn’t agree 100% and accepting her back with open arms after she kisses him.

Peeta, on the other hand, understands the gray area. He listens to Katniss, and although he’s getting exactly what he wants—a relationship with Katniss, a life with Katniss—he takes no joy in it because he knows it isn’t what Katniss wants. Remember after their proposal, on the Victory Tour, when Katniss asks Haymitch why Peeta’s not happy, as this was what he wanted? Haymitch tells her it’s because he wanted it to be real. And that’s true for Peeta throughout the whole trilogy; he truly cares about Katniss’s wants, tries his hardest not to pressure her, and is genuinely a continuous source of support. He rebels, the entire time, in his own quiet, calculated way; with the money in District 11, with the “baby bomb” in the interviews.

Here’s a juxtaposition for you: Peeta’s love for Katniss isn’t conditional; Gale’s is.

For proof, just look at Mockingjay. Specifically, look at—spoilers—Prim’s death.

Everyone knows that girl is the most important thing in the world to Katniss. All of District 12 knows it, President Snow knows it, President Coin knows it—hell, regular, average citizens of the Capitol know it. Everyone knows there is nothing, nothing in the world that could make Katniss put Primrose in danger, even at her own expense. Katniss would rather die than have Prim get hurt, and anyone close to her, who loves her, knows damn well that’s what she’d want.

So when Gale’s bomb goes off, delivering the final blow to the Capitol, at the expense of so many innocent lives, at the expense of Katniss’s sister—there was no love for Katniss there. There was absolutely no consideration, no respect for Katniss. There was just violence, and the hungry, desperate need to win this war, to rebel.

I could never say that Katniss and Gale weren’t a great team. I could never say they weren’t good, lifelong friends—I mean, starting out. They were fantastic hunting partners, further shown in Mockingjay, when they started hunting people instead of deer or turkey or wild dogs. But they grew apart, after Katniss changed in the Games and Gale changed in the rebellion, and there was never, really, the chance of anything romantic between them. Katniss depended on Gale to, above all other things, protect her sister, and he didn’t, so she stopped depending on him. And there wasn’t anything left.

That’s what I mean when I say, even if you think Katniss had real feelings for Peeta—and they do end up together, so even if I don’t agree with it, okay, alright, maybe it was Suzanne Collins’ intention—there’s still no love triangle, because Katniss never had feelings for Gale. And even if, maybe, maybe some would’ve developed—we’re getting into pure hypotheticals here—his character never would’ve been a real option for Katniss. They changed too much, and grew too far apart, and there would have been absolutely no chance for him after Prim.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I’m sorry. I’m more cohesive and intelligent verbally. Most of the time. Promise.

In conclusion, there is no love triangle in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games. Rather, there are two boys who have feelings for the same girl, and this girl, who never depends on anyone, depends on these two boys for different things, and has to make a huge, horrible, irreversible choice, and somehow it ends up attaching itself to these two boys. And that’s really all there is to it.

[jacscorner]

Fox McCloud of Kongo Bongo Part 1

Hello, beautiful friends. I'm simul-posting this silly fanfic idea I had for a while now. Cause Fox McCloud X Tiny Kong content doesn't exist except for the content I made myself, so I'm making a fic dedicated to my silly Sword & Planet doodle I did some months back.

With all that said, I hope you all enjoy, and sorry for any spelling and grammar faults. I'll fix them after the post if someone points 'em out to me, but this fic is being written by the seat of my pants and pretty casually.

The Lylat System was quiet. It had been a short year since the return of Andross when Fox McCloud and the Star Fox team had stopped Andross from destroying Corneria and taking over the system. Fox McCloud, leader of Team Star Fox, was piloting his Arwing past Sector X. The strange nebula was once the secret base for Andross and his operations during the First Lylat War, but now the odd cosmic cloud in the shape of a cross was just a quiet landmark through the system. At least, so it should.

[This is Pepper. Come in, Fox.]

Fox gave a tired grunt, losing his concentration and focus as he reached for the communicator strapped to his head and flipped it on. "You're clear, Peppy."

[Are ya seein' anything there, Fox?]

"That's a negative." Fox said as he checked his instruments again. "I'm still getting those weird readings that Slippy picked up, but I'm not seeing anything."

[Ya shoulda waited at the Great Fox like I told ya, Fox.]

Fox gave a roll of his eyes as he said, "Peppy, stop worrying so much." After the return of Andross every low life of the system seemed to go into hiding. True peace was still out of reach, and there was always work for the members of Team Star Fox, but finding any big named criminals who tried to fill the same niche Andross were hard to come by. In a way, Fox didn't like this; as a mercenary, he lived to fight. Was it wrong to think that way? Most certainly; peace in the Lylat System, where no little kid lost their father like he did, was the ultimate goal. But he needed food on the table like anyone else did.

[Wolf O'Donnell is still at large, Fox. He could be setting up a trap for ya.]

Cap'n Wolf O'Donnel, the name rang in Fox's ear. He could still see the burning, red scar on that wolf's face, the yellow of his eyes burning into his own. Out of all the mercenaries Andross hired to take him and Miyu out, Wolf was probably the best. His equal in almost every way and nearly sent him to his doom. It was the most intense fight Fox had ever been in; for the first time in his life, Fox truly feared that he was gonna die.

And yet, ever since then, there's been a hole in his chest that he couldn't quiet fill.

"If Wolf's out there, then I'll be ready for him."

[Fox, you're-]

"End transmission." Fox didn't wait for a reply, turning off his head piece. He wasn't in the mood to keep listening to Peppy badger him over this; besides, if Wolf was out here, then he would've shown his face by now, right? There wasn't anywhere to hide in Sector X, it wasn't anything by burning gas and bright light.

"One more pass around." Fox told himself, initiating another scan. If nothing was here, then he should turn back and head back for the Great Fox. At least, that's what he should do, but he was in no real rush to make it back to Peppy and listen to him nag his ear off. He cruised around Sector X thinking about how he'd rather go to Titania. There's a nice little saloon there, perfect place to refuel his Arwing and drink his problems away. Just the thought of Titania ale was tempting Fox to ditch his mission. It was weird; he wasn't much of a drinker before, by after the first Lylat War, he grew a taste for alcohol.

Suddenly, Fox jerked the controls on his Arwing, suddenly him into a dive just in time to avoid a photon shot. His instincts kicked in just in time, but where the hell did that come from?! He looked on his radar, seeing nothing, but then looked to see an incoming transmission message. He didn't even patch it through or have the chance to reject the message when a scarred face appeared on screen.

"Hello, pup."

"Wolf!" Fox growled as he glanced up, seeing the lone, quad-wing ship cut through the unforgiving void as he rocketed right for the vulpine pilot. Fox bared his fangs, starting to charge right for Wolf like a demented game of chicken. "I knew you were skulking about these parts!"

"And I knew you'd come with the right bait." Wolf chuckled, his shields deflecting Fox's photon shots as he fired back with his own. "And now it's time I pay back the debt I racked up back on Macbeth."

With some expert barrel rolls, Fox was able to deflect Wolf's own shots, the two ships crossing the other's paths.

"Not to mention I'm paying you back for killing the rest of my team." Wolf snarled, spinning his ship around and beginning to chase Fox through space. His ship let out rapid volleys of hot orange shots on Fox's tail, but Fox managed to evade each shot. Fox could feel Wolf gritting his teeth as he managed to evade each shot. It was like Fox had eyes on the back of his head and Wolf couldn't get a clean shot!

[Fox, come in! Fox! Fox, answer me!]

Meanwhile, Fox couldn't shake Wolf from his tail; it was like Wolf was glued on! He tried to perform a somersault, but Wolf was right behind him, gunning for his engines. He felt his air form a lump in his throat; Wolf was giving him no chance to breath or get any space to counter attack.

"Get back here, brat!" Wolf called out, but Fox was too focused to be distracted or baited by the bounty hunter.

[H-hey! F-Fox, can you hear-ribbit?!]

"Want me?! Come and get me!" Fox called back at Wolf. With a well-timed barrel role, he deflected Wolf's volley of shots and slammed the breaks. Wolf flew right past him and was reading right for the burning mass that was Sector X before Fox chased Wolf down. Now that the tables had turned, Fox was going for the kill, charging up a photon shot that he aimed right for Wolf's engine, prepared to finish off his rival once and for-

[HEY GENIUS! WHAT ARE YA DOIN'?! GET OUTTA THERE!]

Falco's shrieking in Fox's ear piece made him release his shot just before the charge was done, nailing Wolf right in the back of his ship, just missing his engine. Wolf started to climb up and get away, but Fox was more focused on the ringing in his ear. It felt like a siren was blaring with how loud it was.

"...Wait, that's not my ear." Fox flinched as he looked at his were going crazy! Before he could decipher what was happening, a sudden, brighter light came from Sector X. In the center of the nebula's glowing cross appeared,a void of purple light that began to swell and open up.

"A Worm Hole!" Fox realized it too late! He tried to pull away, but this Worm Hole was sucking him in! His controls were starting to lock up; try as Fox might, but he couldn't escape the gravity field the Worm Hole was projecting! It was like a hand had grabbed his ship and started to pull him in by force!

"What is this?! I can't get away!" Wolf shouted, doing no better as his ship was being lured right into the vortex as well.

Fox couldn't think; Wolf's screaming and the Arwing blaring were growing more and more distant as they fell closer to the Worm Hole. His life was starting to flash before his eyes; Fox thought that fear would grip his heart, yet he was oddly calm. Life, death; they didn't seem to matter anymore. Or, rather, Fox felt ready to embrace his fate. Day to day life felt more and more like a chore for the mercenary. And while he didn't rush towards death, he wasn't against letting it come to him. As the light began to fade and sound turn to nothingness, Fox felt ready to embrace death like a bride.

And then, nothingness.

This wasn't the first time Fox had entered a Warp Zone, but this was different from the last time.

The last time, back in the first Lylat War, was a constant bombardment of light and sound. Blues and pinks, odd sounds that made Fox think of some odd, old-school music. It was dizzying back then, yet it felt oddly natural. As if nothing was weird at all; or maybe the odd Warp Zone was manipulating him though the protective hull of his Arwing, making him feel relaxed when any sign man would be panicking and screaming, crashing their ship to any and every piece of debris in the void in a misguided attempt to confirm if what they were being subjected to was real or just a dream they couldn't wake up from.

It wasn't like that this time at all; in fact, it was the exact opposite. Fox couldn't see anything, it was all dark. It wasn't black as night or even dark like space. There was no source of any light, not even from his Arwing. He couldn't see his own hand even if it was trembling in front of his own face. He couldn't hear anything either; not Wolf's screaming, not that he could tell if he was or not, not the alarms his Arwing should've been giving off, not even the sound of his own heart.

He couldn't feel anything either. Not the taste of his own spit, not the seat he was sure he was still sitting in, nor the controls his hands wouldn't let go of with his vice-like grip. Fox felt as though he was cramped inside of his cockpit, yet weightless, and his sad attempt to anchor himself in place was useless. Was this what death was like or was this just the odd void he was trapped in.

How long would he be here? Would he die here? Could he die here? And just how long has he been here? At first, he thought it was just five minutes, but at the same time, he felt that he had been floating here for five hours. It was getting so bad that Fox couldn't tell if he was even still in the cockpit. Was he awake? Thinking in his sleep? Were his eyes even open?

CRASH!

Suddenly, all of his senses hit him like a hammer upside the head. A low groan escaped Fox's muzzle; he wanted to feel something, but now it was pain. His body felt sore and stiff; it felt like he had slept all day and hadn't moved a muscle, but somehow worse. Like he was stuck in his cockpit for weeks. His eyes slowly peeled open with a groan as a setting sun's light pierced his retinas like a hot laser.

With a grimace, the fox blindly reached across the console to open the hatch to his cockpit. His ears twitched anxiously with the lack of any cockpit opening sounds. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he tried to press the button again, but noticed how it felt through his leather glove.

Cold.

His console felt ice cold. The Arwing wasn't running. Fox tried to fire it up, but he didn't even catch the sputter of the engine.

"Great. My Arwing's dead..." Fox grunted as he adjusted his seat. With a hard kick of his metallic leg, Fox kicked the glass shielding off of his Arwing before he dragged himself out. Popping his neck and shoulders, Fox looked around. He was on some kind of beach, but this didn't look like any beach he knew. The sand was black as night and gave a beautiful, if not ominous, shine under the setting, red sun. He looked ahead of him, seeing crimson waves push and as high tide began to set in. Behind him, a massive jungle, but there were smoke stacks poking from the tree line. Black clouds of smog began were pouring into the air, obscuring Fox's view from looking beyond the trees.

"Where in Lylat am I...?" Fox mumbled, but he questioned if he was really still in the Lylat System at this point. He reached for his head piece and began to speak. "Fox to the Great Fox, do you hear me guys?" He was met with a chorus of static in his ears. "Great, my Arwing's dead and now I can't even call for help." Just as Fox thought things couldn't get worse, he heard something.

Marching?

Fox pulled out his blaster, turning behind him and preparing to fire a warning shot, but was promptly met with a pair of larger guns pointing at his face. They looked crude and rudimentary as opposed to his own blaster, but they were not only much bigger, but there were five crocodiles pointing what looked like brass-and-steel blunderbusses at Fox's head, florescent tubes sticking out of the sides of their guns.

"Don't even think about it, furball." The croc snarled, his body bulging with muscles covered by mostly green scales. "Drop your blaster and come quietly or your hide will make a nice rug."

"Oh damn..."

[myheadinthecloudsnotcomingdown]

Hi!! So I’m a really big fan of both your quirkless!izuku fics and was wondering if you had any recommendations for similar stories? I dont have a preference for either villain or hero Izuku, or any particular pairing, I’m just looking for well written multi-chapter fix’s to see me through the apocalypse.

So, I have taken this ask as a challenge!

Quirkless Apocalypse (Over 50,000 words)

*WIP

Sorry most of these are WIPs, but I just went through my bookmarks and picked out some of my favorites. 

Entropy*

Maybe it was All Might's betrayal that finally broke him. Maybe it was the torment from his friends, day in and day out, or the crushing weight of society's collective dismissal of his existence. The reason isn't important anymore- only the consequences. Two years after he and three other students vanished from U.A., Midoriya Izuku is the leader of the fastest-growing group of villains in Japan, and no one is left to stand in his way- no one aside from All Might's successor, the next Symbol of Peace.

All orderly systems descend into chaos. No one is immune to entropy, heroes least of all.

One of my favorite villain fics, basically Izuku becoming worse than the league of villains ever was. 

Four Makes One Team*

“Kacchan,” Izuku said, getting the attention of the boy beside him. “What if I don’t want to be a hero?”

Izuku spoke as if he was setting the world on fire. As if he’d broken time in half and let the fabric of the universe collapse like a folding chair.

Katsuki twitched. “Then what else do you want to be?” There was a tinge of anger in Katsuki’s words, the hint of a shout tipping each consonant.

“Well,” Izuku scratched his neck, eyes locked on the stars attached to the ceiling that shown an odd neon yellow in the afternoon light. “Well, what if I wanted to help heroes or something instead.”

(Where Izuku decides he wants to be hero support, learns computer code, and digs way to deep into a villain case all for the sake of teamwork.)

Basically, Izuku and Katsuki meet some other canon characters as kids and basically become genius vigilantes.

Subject: A Comprehensive Report*

Izuku decides early on that heroics is not the only path to heroism.

I did not know that I needed parental Nighteye, but I definitely did. 

Finding Abandoned Hope*

Nothing in life was fair. Some people just had more luck than others. Midoriya Izuku was not one of those people. He learned that the hard way.

Not everyone gets good quirks. Not every quirk is accepted by people. This was a cruel and unforgiving world and Shinso Hitoshi knew that quite well.

Together, maybe they can have the life they both want.

Runaways, Vigilantes, Dadzawa. What else could you ask for?

Ripples on Deep Water*

Midoriya Izuku didn’t expect much from life. He knew it expected everything of him, and he was always trying to rise up and meet that challenge.Except for one little mutation in his genes that made all the difference.Except for one little change in the route home after a pretty depressing day.Or:When All Might crushes Izuku’s dreams, he crosses the path of someone who rebuilds them. Izuku’s going to be a hero... even if it won’t be exactly as planned.Or:How the tiniest wingbeat of a butterfly over the still ocean brings tsunamis to distant lands.

Izuku meets Mei at the right moment and basically keeps his dream alive. Support!Deku with an eye toward the hero course. 

Black Rabbit*

For most people, waking up in the secret base of one of Japan's most wanted vigilantes would probably be terrifying. For Shouto Todoroki it ends up being first stroke of luck he's ever had. Black Rabbit is nothing like the rumors and ends up being his first real friend. For once in his life Todoroki feels like someone actually cares about and supports him, Black rabbit going as far as to get him a new identity so he wouldn't have to go back to Endeavor. It also helps that, on top of being the embodiment of sunshine personality wise, under the mask Black Rabbit is the gosh darn cutest boy Todoroki has ever laid eyes on.

Izuku Midoriya is the vigilante known as Black Rabbit. Pros all over Japan have tried to catch him but all have failed. Nothing is known about him and he's been doing this for years, living in his secret base alone. He never had a friend until he rescued Todoroki. It's a relief and a blessing to finally have someone who knows him out of the mask and likes him as a person. There's a personal connection and closeness between them that he's never had before and he'll follow it as far as it takes him.

Now if they can only keep their respective identities a secret while attending UA

Vigilante!Deku with a healthy helping of Dadzawa and some sweet TodoDeku on the side. 

Who said the only thing green about him is his hair?*

All Might isn't able to get away from the reporters after saving Bakugou and Midoriya during the sludge incident.

Midoriya Izuku, without motivation, Bakugou's words of suicide ringing through his head. He makes a decision, something that wouldn't ruin Bakuguou's chances of becoming a hero, something where he could get away from everything that was hurting.

Izuku decides to run away. Impulsive and hasty, desperate and in shock, he decides that running away and surviving would hurt less than any other option when reality hits him full force.

Runaway!Deku, enough said.

Swan Dive*

The Slime Villain Incident, and the events leading up to it happen one year earlier. Izuku, broken and lost in the face of All Might's words, decides to take Kacchan's advice. But a familiar Underground Hero won't let a young life end so quickly. How will a simple right-place-right time scenario change things?

OR:

Aizawa Shouta saves the life of Midoriya Izuku and finds himself with a new apprentice and surrounded by a quickly growing family circle. What has he gotten himself into? Heavy Dadzawa and Dadmic. Auntie Nemuri and eventual redeemed Bakugo.

The sweetness! The trauma! This fic will definitely punch you in the heart in more ways than one. 

I’m Here*

What if All Might never dropped that bottle...? There was never a chance to prove himself. Midoriya never became a hero. Take a dive off the roof of the building, that's what Bakugo wanted, right? But a stranger stops him and gives him a new dream for the future. A boy's descent into madness and obsession but not without finding a family amongst a number of misfits. To kill some major league heroes. It's all they want to do and change society. What's the cost?

Insane!Villain!Deku. Literal chills, seriously. It definatly gets dark, so be ready for that. Also the league of villains as family and obsessive TodoDeku. 

I’m Doing This For Them*

Izuku always wanted to be a hero, but without a quirk almost everyone he met said that was impossible, but Izuku's stubborn and he never took no for an answer. So he decides to take his dream into his own hands and do the impossible. Even if he can't legally become a hero what's to stop him from doing it illegally?

A lie-detecting detective, a purple-haired kid, and an insomniac pro hero, that's who.

Or

Izuku decides to try his luck at becoming a vigilante and subsequently annoys the shit out of everyone he meets.

Sassy Viligante!Deku, EraserMic with Shinso, basically so much family!

The Yakuza isn’t that bad*

After Izuku was told by his idol that he can't be a hero without a quirk, he realized something. This world, where the quirked do whatever they want, and the quirkless are treated as less than human, is flawed. And what better way to repair a flawed world than returning it to when it wasn't?

Do you want Mafia!Deku? Very unique fic about Izuku taking over Overhaul’s operation (don’t worry about Eri, she’ll be fine) and pursuing a quirkless world.

Independence*

All Might is the number one hero, and has a beautiful wife, they are a beautiful, loving family. What no one knows is they have a quirkless son. When telling he him he can’t be a hero, Midoriya Izuku takes fate into his own hands, and tries to warn his parents he isn’t going to listen is the silliest of ways. He is still planning to be the best hero, even if he has to tear apart the society norms around him.

Bad bio-dadmight. Izuku is basically running on sheer spite at this point and it’s working. 

Nii-Chan! Nii-Chan!*

Aizawa Shouta is a teen who lives by the rules of logic and rationality, in his second year of Yuuei. When his parents kick him out when discovering he has a boyfriend, he finds himself alone on the street.

Midoriya Inko lives in a small flat with her young and only son after her ex-husband ran learning she was pregnant. With Mother and Son sharing a huge heart with un-measurable amounts of love, they find and help Aizawa.

With a new Mom and a little Brother, Aizawa finally has a family to be proud of.

How much found family can we incorporate into one story? The answer is a lot more than you’d think. Basically once Izuku adopts someone, they are family. Lots of fluff. 

Erased Potential*

Midoriya Izuku, determined to become a hero before ever meeting All Might, looks for another way. He might not have a quirk, but that can’t be all that being a hero is about. He has the intelligence, the drive, the determination. All he needs now is to know how to use it. Enter Aizawa Shouta.

Pretty much my favorite Dadzawa fic. 

Net Neutrality (series)

I feel like this should be included even if each fic isn’t over 50,000 words. Info Broker!Deku and Vigilante!Deku with Eri getting the love she deserves. This inspired some parts of Mastermind, actually. 

One-Choice: Vigilante*

Time is a funny thing, the way even a single choice can change the world forever. Every single choice can turn the course of fate in unexpected directions.

Midoriya Izuku always wanted to be a hero. Ever since he was a child, he wanted to be someone who saves other with a fearless smile. But when his world comes crashing down around him, when even the tiniest spark of hope is crashed, what would he do?

This entire series is really good. It’s basically another take on what I’m doing with my For the Want of a Nail series. 

Secondary Colors*

"You got pushed down the stairs... and you're apologizing for it," he stated blandly. "That seems counterintuitive.""Um... sorry?" Izuku whispered. He was starting to shake a little, adrenaline flooding his veins and leaving him cold. He had no idea what Purple was going for with his blunt statements and the hand reaching toward his shoulder as if to steady him, but apologizing was generally safe."You don't have to apologize, dude. I don't know your name, but I doubt it's actually Deku.""Um. Midoriya." Izuku peered sideways at Purple as they rounded the corner. "Izuku Midoriya. Deku is just, um, just what my... friends call me." He winced."Sounds real friendly."

Izuku and Shinso are best friends with a lot of Dadzawa and Dadmic.

Pied Piper*

If they wouldn’t give him a chance then the solution seemed simple, he’d give himself one. He’d force the world to see him, force them to recognize his hard work. He wasn’t missing a quirk, it was simply that everyone else had been given an advantage. He wasn’t broken, or useless, or incapable, and he’d prove it by outrunning all of them, he who was quirkless, he who had started in last.

One of my favorite Vigilante!Deku fics, hands down. Izuku is an absolute mad lad in this. 

We Don’t Need No Fuckin’ Heroes* 

Almost half a year before Izuku's fated meeting with the Slime Villain, our protagonist finds himself running away from his fears.But instead of letting his fears overtake him and drag him back down to the darkness where they think he belongs, he finds friendship in the most unusual places and with the help of his friends they all claw their way up into the light where they want to be and where they truly belong.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Izuku met Dabi and Toga before they could join the league of villains? Amazing Vigilante!Deku

Detective Midoriya*

After the sludge incident, Izuku Midoriya's dream was officially crushed. However, a later experience takes the boy in a new direction. Izuku had never really contemplated being a detective, but his whole life he'd only ever wanted to help people with a smile on his face. Thanks to some luck and an entire police station, Izuku's dream is reborn.

Izuku joins the police force and basically proves that he’s as amazing as we all know he is. 

There is No Such Thing as Competely Forgiven

Deku doesn't become a hero, though he might be considered one to people that have been rejected by society. He can be petty, twisted, and is loyal to a fault. That hardly makes him evil. No, he just knows the worlds got to change and he can't do that from a side that praises people like Bakagou Katsuki and All Might. He also would love nothing better than to get even with a few people that ruined his life...

Katsuki knows that he is the reason that Deku is dead. He just can hope one day he can forgive himself and that others can as well for the role he played in it. He needs to make the world a better place, one that Izuku would have wanted. He needs to be a hero that does more than punch villains in the face. But its really hard to be a needed change when he can't trust most of his own decisions are the right ones.

One of my favorite villian!Deku fics of all time, mostly because of the found family stuff it’s got going on with the league. It’s also got a sequel if you want more. 

A Deadman’s Gun

“I—“ Izuku hesitated, gaping wordlessly, before admitting softly. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to go home. There’s nothing for me, there.”

“So you filled this hole by playing detective— And how long is that going to last, I wonder?” Stain replied, still massaging his chin. “But you— You have potential.”

Izuku blinked at Stain’s chest, before looking up. “Excuse me?”

“What a waste would it be, to let you become a red splatter on the sidewalk.” Stain continued, almost contemplating. “No. No, kid, what you need is a new purpose. Your old one is gone? Well, time to get off your ass and find something else—“

Ok, there need to be more parental Stain fics in this fandom, because this is absolutely amazing!

Hero Class Civil Warfare

Heroes lead by Bakugo.Villains lead by Midoriya.Seven days prep time.Three days for Izuku Midoriya to show why they should be glad he's not a real villain.

Ok! Ok! I know this isn’t Quirkless!Deku but I have to include it because it’s a classic and it’s pretty similar to my fics, so I know you’ll love it anyway. It focuses on Izuku’s intelligence rather than his quirk. 

[singledarkshade]

Always A Team

Summary: Time Masters no longer work alone and Rip, Eve and Miranda are the best team they have. But there are still secrets in the Vanishing Point. Author’s Note: Rip Week Day 5: Infinite Earths – The Arrowverse may have collapsed the multi-verse, but imagination has no bounds. It’s Alternate Universe day. I have just finished this so I apologise if it's a little odd. Hope you enjoy.                                ********************************************* Rip Hunter ducked behind a rock, swearing in annoyance that he was being shot at. Pulling out his pistol he took a quick breath before jumping up and firing back.

Ducking down he frowned at the woman who appeared at his side, “I thought you said you would be discreet.”

She tucked the strand of black hair that had fallen from her normally pristine bun behind her ear and gave him a quick smile, “But this is much more fun.”

“Eve,” Rip called refusing to rise to the bait, “Have you found their ship?”

“Gilbert has the location,” Eve replied, “Can you two stop bickering long enough to get the painting back?”

Miranda smiled at him, “Of course we can, Eve. We’ll get it before you can disable the ship.”

Rip rolled his eyes at Miranda’s baiting but knew better than to say anything.

“Usual wager,” Eve stated.

Miranda grinned, “You got it. Rip, you’re helping me win this.”

“I hate you both,” Rip sighed,

“Really?” Miranda asked, looking him up and down.

Rip felt his cheeks burn slightly at the look Miranda gave him, before he coughed and demanded, “What’s your plan?”

She grinned at him and Rip sighed again.

Miranda smiled triumphantly as she and Rip stepped onto the Acheron, “Gilbert, timeline check please.”

“The Timeline has been restored, Captain Coburn,” Gilbert replied, “Captain Baxter has requested that you and Captain Hunter come to the bridge now. We have been recalled to the Vanishing Point.”

Miranda glanced over at Rip who had a worried frown on his face.

“That’s odd,” he noted, “I wonder why we’re being called back.”

She shrugged, “Well let’s get to the bridge and find out.”

Rolling his eyes at her Rip started walking, Miranda followed him smiling amused. She loved teasing him, he was just so easy to antagonise, and he always fell into her traps.

But he was the kindest, most caring person she knew who would do anything she, or Eve, asked of him without question. Not to mention he could kiss and the other fun stuff she did with him was always done with enthusiasm and razor-sharp focus.

“It’s about time,” Eve noted when they walked onto the bridge, she was already in the pilot’s chair, “The message Tyler sent sounded urgent.”

Rip and Miranda slid into the nearest chairs. Eve nodded turning to the controls. Starting the engines, she took them into the temporal zone, arriving at the Vanishing Point quickly.

“Transferring control to Vanishing Point command centre,” Gilbert noted, as they were guided inside.

Miranda released herself from the restraint and stood with the other two in front of the viewscreen, all at attention.

“Captain Baxter, Captain Coburn, Captain Hunter,” Council Member Tyler stated when he appeared on the screen before them, “We will debrief in two hours.”

With that he disappeared leaving them to look at one another confused.

“They called us back urgently for a debriefing in a few hours?” Rip asked thoughtfully, “I don’t like the sound of that.”

Eve nodded, “We follow orders and keep our eyes open,” she rested her hand on the central console, “We’ll be back soon, Gilbert.”

“Of course, Captain Baxter,” their AI replied.

Rip and Miranda both followed Eve’s lead patting the central console before following her out.

 Rip followed Miranda and Eve through the corridors of the Vanishing Point towards their rooms. He needed a shower, it had been a long day already and they hadn’t had any time to relax after their mission.

“See you both in a few hours at the council chambers,” Eve said disappearing into her room.

Alone with Miranda, Rip hesitated at his door.

“We don’t have much time just now,” Miranda said, stretching up she planted a soft kiss on his lips, “If we can, we’ll shower together tonight after a workout.”

With a quick smirk she left him standing in front of his room staring at the door to hers. Sighing Rip walked into his designated room within his home base and dropped his bag on the bed. Peeling off his uniform, Rip stepped into the shower sighing in relief at the warm water pounding down on him.

As it always did when he was alone with nothing to worry about, his mind slid to Miranda before he shook her away. Their relationship was…irritating in a lot of ways.

Back when it was forbidden for them to be together, she did everything she could to spend time with him, to steal moments and soak in every second.

Then came the day everything changed.

The Council, the people who were supposed to protect both the timeline and their Captains had been corrupted. Rip would never forget the moment he discovered that Druce, the man he looked up to, who had rescued him from the filth and starvation he knew as a child, who was the only true father-figure he’d ever known was using him. Although not sure for what.

Tyler was one of the youngest members of the council but had managed to find others who didn’t agree with Druce and his co-conspirators.

Druce had come running into the Waverider that day, telling Rip someone was trying to kill the other Council Members and Rip’s help was needed.

Shaking his head Rip tried to force away the memory of Druce slamming him across the back of his head, knocking him to the ground before pressing what he thought was the barrel of a gun to his head.

Disorientated Rip heard only half of what was said but Druce kept talking about how they needed him and if they came any closer Rip would die, so would everything they worked for.

Druce then set something off and all Rip remembered after that was a bright light, pain then waking up in the medbay with Miranda holding his hand.

The next thing they knew half the council were gone, Eve had shot Druce and Tyler changed how the Time Masters worked. Including allowing relationships.

Rip remembered being ecstatic that they no longer had to hide and sneak around but for some reason Miranda decided that it was best if they didn’t continue their personal relationship.

Except it did, just not the way he wanted.

Another new policy Tyler brought in was that Time Masters no longer worked alone but as a team. He, Eve and Miranda were the top of their class so had been placed together on the Acheron. And they were an amazing team, they on occasion argued and annoyed one another but when it came to missions there was no one better.

Rip just hated that, although Miranda had ended their relationship, she would always look to him if she needed comfort or if she had energy to burn off. Rip would always do what she wanted.

He loved her and knew he always would.

 Miranda sat on Eve’s bed watching the other woman fix her hair.

“Do you think this is to do with…” Miranda started before trailing off and shaking her head, “Never mind.”

Eve shrugged, “You never know but I don’t think they’ll give us a couple of hours to get ready if it is that.”

Miranda nodded.

“You’ve got to stop what you’re doing,” Eve said softly, “Rip loves you and you’re treating him like he’s…you’ve got to stop.”

“I can’t,” she whispered, “When Tyler told us Druce’s plan for Rip, when I saw the consequences of his attack, I promised myself I would keep away from him. Then Tyler put the three of us together and I don’t want to be that person but…I love him.”

Sitting beside her friend Eve rested her arm around Miranda, “I know.”

“But we both saw what happened and if what Druce monologued is true,” Miranda sighed, “Tyler said it will be several more months until they can access everything Druce did and planned. Hopefully, it’ll be a lie and then we can tell Rip. Until then he can’t know.”

                                 *********************************************

 Rip showered and changed finding he had just over an hour before he was due to meet Tyler. Which gave him some time.

Reaching the storage room, Rip used his security codes to access it and sighed sadly as he looked upon his former ship. The Waverider had been his since he’d basically rebuilt it after repairing the AI for his entry project but now it wasn’t able to be moved from the Vanishing Point. And he hated that.

He drew his hand affectionately across the cool metal as he made his way towards the room at the back.

“Captain Hunter,” the nurse on charge greeted him.

He nodded to her, “How is she?”

“This is a good day,” the nurse replied, “She’s more focussed on here and now. She’ll be happy to see you.”

Rip took a quick breath, “I have a meeting with Tyler in an hour. Can you ensure I don’t miss it?”

The nurse nodded, “Of course.”

Walking to the door he waited for it to open, he stepped into the small corridor and gently knocked on the door a few steps inside smiling at the woman who opened it.

“Captain,” she beamed, throwing her arms around him.

“Hello, Gideon,” Rip returned the hug, “You’re looking well.”

Letting him go she took his hand and tugged him into the room to see what she had been doing since they last talked.

“The stars from London 2134,” she explained as she showed him the painting sitting on the easel, “Aren’t they beautiful?”

Rip nodded, “They are. And you’ve painted them perfectly.”

“Can you stay?” Gideon asked quietly.

“For a while,” he smiled, “If you want.”

Gideon beamed at him, “I do. I miss you, Captain. I miss travelling with you.”

“I miss it too,” Rip told her, “Gilbert cannot take your place. He’s a little irritating at times.”

“Was I not?”

“No, you were nagging but there was always affection in it,” Rip chuckled, “I think Gilbert doesn’t like having the three of us onboard.”

“Well one Time Master is trouble,” Gideon sat on the couch, “Three must be a constant headache.”

Sitting at her side, Rip smiled amused, “I guess we are.”

“I miss it,” Gideon whispered, leaning against him as Rip wrapped his arm around her, “Flying through time with you.”

Rip held her closer, “I miss you too but I’m just grateful that you’re here and safe.”

Gideon wrapped her arm across his waist and cuddled into him, “Dr Edmundson has said that I’m getting better, my human form is settling, and my mind is staying in one time period more and more.”

“That’s wonderful,” Rip pressed a kiss to her hair.

 Miranda stood just by the Waverider watching Rip hugging Gideon through the two-way mirror. He came to visit her whenever they were here, spending as much time as he could with his former AI. Gideon’s mind was unfocussed a great deal of the time, the effects of the transformation made her scattered bouncing from the past to the future most of the time. Any time Rip was with her though Gideon’s mind settled.

No one quite understood how Druce had done it but, just as he finished ranting, he activated the device he had been holding against Rip’s head. Bright light filled the room and suddenly there was a woman lying on the floor with Rip, both were unconscious.

Eve shot Druce at this point while Tyler yelled for a medic and Miranda rushed to Rip’s side. As they tried to move them to the medical bay, she began to scream writhing in agony and Rip began to squirm in pain also.

It was then Miranda realised that the woman was Gideon and Druce had connected the former AI to Rip.

The Waverider was placed in the hanger and Tyler set up a room for Gideon next to it as they learned she couldn’t be too far away from her ship without deteriorating rapidly.

 Druce obviously had a plan that required a human Gideon and Rip, Miranda knew that they were close as Captain and AI but now she could see how close a bond they were forming now. It was one of the reasons she’d pulled back from having a proper relationship with him now that they could.

Watching Gideon jump up and bounce around her room showing Rip the drawings and paintings she’d done since they last talked, Miranda smiled.

It was impossible not to like Gideon. Miranda had adored her from the first moment they talked, there was something so childlike and innocent about her.

But there was also still the overprotective AI who once locked Rip in his room because he refused to let himself heal after an injury.

Miranda knew their bond was important, and since Druce had been the one to do this it was obvious there a nefarious purpose to making Gideon human but none of them could work out what it was.

She just hoped they worked out why soon.

Checking the time, she sighed, until then they had a meeting with the Council.

[disappearinginq]

I'm sure you're not surprised by this at all, but Big Brother Instinct for Magnum please. :-) Anyone can be the big brother, either Magnum and Rick towards each other or TC as the big brother to both of them, since he seems to be turning into the one with the most common sense on the show. :-)

Rick pressed a hand to his nose, sniffing when he saw blood stain the back of it. “What do you want from me?”

The young lieutenant sat opposite him, spinning the chair around so that he straddled the seat, leaning his chin on folded arms. “They talk about you like you’re some sort of legend. Guys think they’re invincible when you’re Overwatch. You been here…what, three tours already?”

Rick said nothing. Officers had only one use for him, and he’d be damned if he was going to offer anything of his own free will. The lieutenant clearly already had enough information on him. Nobody talked like bored Marines downrange.

“You been home in all that time?”

Rick laughed, a harsh, derisive bark more than genuine amusement. He could taste blood from a cut in his cheek on his tongue, and he spat at the floor. “For what? So I can get shot at there instead of here? Least here I get paid - tax free.”

“One tour is hard. Two is tough. Three is a form of self torture.”

“Maybe that’s my gig. Self-flagellation. It’s a little hard to find a BDSM club out here though, so I gotta improvise.”

The lieutenant was quiet for a moment, and Rick had to consciously force himself not to fidget beneath that steady gaze. “Why don’t you have a spotter anymore?”

“I like to work alone.”

The lieutenant squinted at him, giving a small shake of his head. “Nah. If that was true, you wouldn’t be the guy you go to. No one would come fucking near you.”

“Go to?” he echoed, snorting. “For what?”

“Everything. Seems you know a guy just about everywhere in the world, Sarge. That’s not the type of person who likes to work alone. So. What gives? Why no spotter? You that special? Don’t need a second set of eyes, ‘cause you don’t miss? Did I hear that right?”

His first shot on his first tour - the first time he fired a gun at another human being - flashed so violently through his mind’s eye he physically flinched. He grabbed the bottle in front of him, taking a long, hard drink. The heat of the winter sun. The pressure of the M-82 against his cheek. The smooth pull of the trigger in between heartbeats and the explosion of blood through the scope. The kid next to him clapping him on the shoulder as he congratulated him like he’d just scored the perfect wave out on Waimea Bay instead of taking a human life.

Or like it was trophy hunting.

“I like to work alone.”

Again, that stare. The feeling like the lieutenant could see past the flimsy shell straight to his rotting core without ever saying a word. Rick could sit still for hours. Whole nights and days. But something about that dark-eyed, all knowing stare made him want to turn away.

“I know burnout when I see it.”

Rick folded his arms across his chest, leaning back in the chair. “You know, I’m not the only one with a reputation here,” he said. “Rumor has it you turned on your Team. Never seen a SEAL out here on their own. Guy’s gotta wonder how long you can tread water out here, all by your lonesome.”

“We know how rumors are,” the lieutenant dismissed.

“Yeah - that there’s a little bit of truth to all of them. So what’s your truth, LT? You do it? Turn on your guys ‘cause you didn’t like getting your hands dirty? How’s the SEAL liking it down here in the mud with the rest of us poor fucks?”

The younger man didn’t necessarily flinch, but the reaction was just as telling. Those expressive eyes went completely blank, flat as that of any predator, closing him off as easily as slamming a door in Rick’s face.

“Hit a nerve, did I?” Rick sneered, taking another long, hard pull from the bottle. He’d regret his decisions tomorrow, but for now…for now it was still tonight, and he hadn’t drunk nearly enough to be able to sleep. The high pitched whine still echoed in the back of his mind and he wondered if there was enough alcohol on base to silence it. He was willing to test that theory.

“You know, most snipers, they’re not bothered by their jobs. What’s so different for you? If you hate it, why the three back to backs? Why not take the money and bounce?”

“Who says I hate my job?” Rick said, noticing his words were finally starting to slur. That might be more rage than liquor, though. Or maybe a concussion. “Maybe I love it.”

The lieutenant laughed at that - just as hollow and empty as those eyes suddenly were. “That why you come out here every night to get your ass kicked? Drink until you pass out, someone drags you back to your rack, just to do it all again tomorrow? Some kinda love, man.”

Rick pushed himself to his feet, stumbling slightly when his heel caught on the leg of the chair as he shoved it back. “Fine, sir. You seem to have a particular story in your head already, so why don’t you just tell me instead of making me fucking guess, huh?”

“I think you hate it. I think you hate even more that you’re good at it. Maybe the fucking best at it. I think you come in here and let someone kick the shit out of you so you feel as broken and bruised on the outside as you do on the inside. That on some level, you think you deserve it. Except I don’t think you’re haunted by the lives you take. I think you’re haunted by the ones you didn’t save. I bet if I asked how many targets you eliminated, you wouldn’t be able to come within half a mile of an accurate number, but if I asked how many died under your watch you could tell me their names and fucking describe them to a sketch artist.”

“Fuck off, sir -” Rick snarled. “I asked - what do you want from me. Either in you’re in trouble, someone else is in trouble, you need something, or you want me back outside the wire tomorrow, and we both know that officers don’t ask, they tell. So if you’ve come in here to make it seem like I have a choice when we both fucking know I don’t, then you’re a special kind of asshole. Now, how ‘bout for real this time - what do you want from me?”

The lieutenant was quiet for a long moment, and Rick thought maybe he’d stunned the pretty-boy SEAL into not answering. Typical goddamn bars and stars, Rick thought nastily. They can always push until someone pushes back.

“Your pilot sent me to you.”

Rick blinked. “TC?”

“Seems in your down time, you’re a hell of a door gunner. Not sure what you did or who you pissed off to pull duty for two totally separate MOS’s downrange, but…I guess that’s the world we live in. I came to you because I have an assignment beyond the fence. I need an Overwatch, and I would prefer to have you.”

“Yeah? Get someone else.”

“I don’t want someone else, Sarge. I want you. But I won’t make you go. Your choice.”

He outright sniggered at that, staring at the bottle abandoned on the table, suddenly wondering what could be in there that caused auditory hallucinations. “Choice. Yeah, right. Fine, sir. I’ll play. Why me?”

The lieutenant leaned back in his chair, gripping the back where he’d been leaning, fingers white knuckled around the battered and stained wood. “Because I want someone who still sees people when they look down their scope. Because I want someone who knows that every target is a human being. Because I want someone who will only pull the trigger when he has to. Because I don’t want a machine. To be honest, I don’t want you to have to pull the trigger at all, but if things go that south…I want minimum casualties. Not a goddamn shooting gallery.”

Of all things the man could’ve said, that was so far down on the list it wasn’t even on the list. Rick stared at the man, really looking at him for the first time since he sat down in front of him. He was young. Probably not nearly as young as he looked, but downrange had a way of bringing out painful reminders that the old were not who were sent to die, but the young. He’d only run into a couple of SEALs - mostly during EXFIL with TC, but a few times in places like here, times like tonight - when he couldn’t tell they were still human. The world was black and white to them. It was ‘them or us’ - always. No exceptions. Their jobs didn’t allow for those.

If Rick didn’t know the rumors, hadn’t heard the story or seen the trident on the man’s left shoulder, he would’ve never believed he was one of them. He was too…honest. Rick was pretty good at reading people. With his family, you had to be. It only helped him during his service. He knew who to trust, who couldn’t lie to save their ass, and who you avoided at all costs.

But…

Rick scowled, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m going to ask you one question, and don’t you dare think about lying to me. Are all the rumors true about you?”

“In my defense, I didn’t know the horse belonged to Sheikh Muhammed at the time.”

Despite his best efforts not to, Rick laughed at that. It was thin, and brittle, but genuine. Damn the man. “Fair enough. But I could’ve guessed that one. That’s not the one I wanna know about.”

The lieutenant fidgeted, the first sign in this entire conversation that he even could be rattled, not meeting Rick’s steady gaze. “I don’t - ”

“I said no bullshit.”

The younger man looked down his hands, sucking in a breath as he rapidly drummed his fingers against the back of the chair before pushing himself to his feet to look Rick steadily in the eye. “I can’t promise to bring you back alive. But hell or high water, no one is left behind. Everyone comes home. Everyone.”

It was something out of a movie. People didn’t talk like that, not really. But instead of coming off as cheesy and campy and utter horseshit that officers thought sounded inspiring despite everyone rolling their eyes, Rick found himself stunned by the quiet earnestness there and the open honesty. The lieutenant meant every word.

Goddammit, he cursed himself. I actually believe him.

Not that he was about to tell him that.

“I still don’t know that I trust you, sir,” he finally admitted. “But I got your back.”

If the rumor’s were true…someone had to.  

[be-dazzled]

#SIYC

Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser FFnet link: click here Tumblr link: explore here Genre: Multi-chapter, Romance, Comedy Rating: M for sensitive language and content

Summary: Gray Fullbuster is a player both in love and in life. He plays Professional Basketball and is being groomed to be in line with Basketball Legends Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. There’s just one problem, Gray Fullbuster is a play-ah. His life is a giant mess of crazy parties, waking up with random women and waking up in random women’s apartments. Just living the life.

 The opinion of the public on him is waning. To save the million-dollar endorsements in the verge of disappearing, Gray needs to change his image. Therefore, Gray Fullbuster, Fiore Knight’s Team Captain and Most Valuable Player, will be in the next season of “My Star Can Dance”.

 There’s another problem: it seems like his star isn’t that bright since his partner, one of Fiore’s prominent ballerinas, doesn’t know him? His billboard is hanging in front of her dancing school! And it was a good billboard since all he was wearing was his six-pack and an Aztec bandana. How come she didn’t notice?

So I love when you call unexpected 'Cause I hate when the moment's expected So I'mma care for you 'Cause girl you're perfect You're always worth it

–        Earned It, The Weeknd

Juvia was a little bit worried. She nibbled on her nails, anxious. Leon Vista, their dance coach, just showed her the choreography which required Gray to lift her up, put on her the table prop and well, she needed to wrap her sexy little legs around Gray and, how did the coach put it? Grind against him?

 Juvia was firmly against it. She tried to talk her way out of that routine but the dance coach wasn’t backing down.

 “This is the story we are going to tell. We. Need. A. Story.” He said, emphasizing the last four words with four hits on his open palm, as if Juvia was stupid.

 She wasn’t. The ballerina fully understood what he meant. Every dance told a story. Sometimes, it retold history. It spoke culture. Dance was art; another form of medium to bring out a message into the world, whatever that message may be.

 “But do we really need that kind of story?”

 “Excuse me,” Leon didn’t even bother to hide taking offense at Juvia’s apparent challenge, “but are you a tango instructor?”

 Juvia shook her head in response; the sarcasm wasn’t lost in her. The irritable dance coach was probably feeling the pressure because she was unfairly lashing out at the ballerina. Well, that wasn’t true. Leon was lashing out at anything in the way, except Gray. He was probably afraid of Hoopster.

 “Hey, c’mon.” Gray stepped in between Juvia and the barking dance instructor.

 He had his back at Leon as he reached out to Juvia, taking both her hands in his. The squeeze was gentle and so was his look, as opposed to the sudden hardening of his jaw. She could tell that her boyfriend was trying his hardest not to punch the guy. Gray wasn���t the kind that lost his cool easily. He was a normally level-headed guy. But every time Hoopster threw the querulous coach his icy looks, Juvia believed Gray wouldn’t hesitate to throw him punches. Despite his rising agitation, Hoopster tried to comfort Juvia.

 “It’ll be over before you even know it.” His smile was reassuring but his eyes were ready to attack a certain dance coach.

 “We are six seconds in just for the intro, people. We still have three minutes more to go.” Leon stamped one foot on the wooden floor in obvious irritation. “Are we gonna do this or what?”

Juvia saw Gray throw the dance coach a glare and it wasn’t the cute jealous kind. It was more like those glares thugs throw their enemies before they exchanged blows. That’s not something Juvia wanted to happen inside her studio. And not when the cameras are rolling. So, before Gray and Leon engaged in an ugly scuffle for the world to see, Juvia needed to appease her man.

 “It’s okay Gray. He’s just pressured, I guess.”

 Juvia knew Leon Vista was just doing his job but that didn’t mean she couldn’t hate the guy. Right now, Juvia’s hate for him was at capacity.

 “Let’s start from the beginning. Chop, chop!”

 Leon started to count so that Gray and Juvia could execute the choreography. He tilted his head from side to side, whitish-blue hair stuck together by his cheap-smelling wax, as the beginning beats of the tune ‘Earned It’ by the Weeknd dropped through the Dolby speakers.

 At cue, Gray strode towards Juvia, backing her up against the table prop, staying on beat. Juvia followed up by taking a few steps backwards until she felt her bum hit the hard wood. Juvia knew all that was going to happen but she still felt uneasy about the next step.

Juvia instinctively opened her legs to allow Gray in between them. Then, the Hoopster lifted her up and cautiously dropped her on the table prop with a low thud, not missing a single beat of the song. She was about to wrap her legs around his waist, as per instruction, when Gray pulled her by the waist and slammed her slender frame against his hard body, a little too hard in Juvia’s opinion. The surprised ballerina fought that tingly sensation that reached her toes and fingertips as she felt Gray’s hard chest against her softer one. Pent up desire pooled in between her legs and she could undeniably recognize that part against her part. The contact caused a fire that spread quickly to every fiber of her being.

 Ms. Juvia Steele was open for business.

 The ballerina could only bury her reddened face in the crook of Gray’s.

 “Juvia look at him!” Leon shouted over the stable tempo.

 “Mmcant” Juvia shook her head without breaking away from her position, pressing her face harder against Gray’s exposed skin. She was in sensory overload so she had to bite down on Gray’s poor shirt.

 “What’s happening? Juvia, I said look at him!”

 The music kept playing and Leon’s voice was becoming irritatingly loud.

 “Hey, Juvia. Look at me.” Gray had to pull away to look at Juvia.

 “I can’t, Gray.” Juvia lowered her head, staring at Gray’s heaving chest. She could already feel the heat on her cheeks, her ears and her entire body.

 The music kept on playing, revealing the lead singer’s cool vocals.

 “What’s wrong?” Gray asked, peeking at Juvia who still had her head down.

 “You’returningmeon.” She answered in one breath.

 “What?”

 Juvia took a deep breath, gathered the cloth on Gray’s chest in both fists and hesitantly whispered in his ears; voice strained.

 “You’re turning me on.”

 Then, she let him go, unclenching his grasp on him, allowing some air in between them. Juvia waited for Gray’s usual words of comfort but his words did not do any comforting – not at all.

 “You’re not the only one.” He whispered back.

  Juvia was back at it again. At her mother’s kitchen, threatening to suffocate her mother’s poor plants.

 “Something bothering you again?” Olivia appeared at the archway. The heels of her black stilettos hit the wooden floor as she made her way deeper into the kitchen.

 “How can you tell?” Juvia asked, drawing imaginary circles in her cereal bowl.

 “You lose your manners when you’re bothered.” Olivia pointed at Juvia who had her legs crossed in an Indian sitting position. “And that bothers me, too. A lot.” Her sharply narrowed eyes, much like Juvia’s, forced the younger Lockser to sit properly. The woman did not tolerate that kind of behavior.

 Juvia was silent for a while, contemplating whether her dilemma was an appropriate ‘mother-daughter’ kitchen topic. The last time she sought her advice, Olivia Lockser talked about how dancing was like making love and it haunted the younger Lockser for days. But the advice turned out helpful. Look at where her relationship with the Hoopster took her.

 “Mom, how long did you…” she studied the older woman before deciding not to go on, “never mind.”

 The feet of the chair lightly scratched on the wooden floor when Olivia pulled the seat next to Juvia.

 “I know something’s bothering you. So, are you gonna tell me or should I tickle it out of you?”

 Juvia was too old for the tickle-threat but Olivia Lockser wasn’t kidding around. She began attacking Juvia, sampling her with Olivia’s oldest trick in the book to get the truth out of her. When she still refused and kept her silence, the older Lockser upped her game.

 “Okay, okay.” Juvia surrendered, catching her breath when her mother finally dropped her hands beside her. The anxious ballerina didn’t have enough strength to fend off the tickle attack.

 “It’s just… it’s about, you know.”

 “I’m not a mind-reader, Juvia.”

 Juvia sighed in exasperation. She and her mother might not have that mother-daughter mind link she thought they had.

 “Fine. It’s about Gray.”

 “What about your boyfriend?” Olivia teased as she poured herself her morning coffee. Two teaspoons of sugar made it to her cup.

 “Well, yesterday,” Just thinking about what happened, painted rose across her cheeks, “we were doing this really, really ahmmm…” Juvia tilted her head on the side. How was she going to describe the routine to her mother? “sensual? This really ahmmm…”

 “I’m not a prude, honey. So, just say it.”

 Juvia decided to stop beating around the bush and just went for it.

 “When did you know that you were ready for, you know? The thing.”

 “What thing?”

 Juvia shifted in her seat. Her mother was really forcing her to say it out loud.

 “You know, that thing that people do.” It surprised Juvia that her vague explanation earned a confused look from her mother. “Fine. Sex.”

 There! She said it. She finally threw it out to the world.

 Olivia just stared at Juvia, making her even more uncomfortable than she already was. Olivia’s eyes were narrowed at her but she wasn’t angry. Juvia could easily recognize it if her mother was angry. Instead, she was looking through her, appeared to be deep in thought, like she was remembering something that had nothing to do with Juvia.

 Juvia averted her mother’s strange look that made the hair at the base of her neck stand.

 “W-w-why are you looking at me like that?”

 “Oh, right.” Olivia cleared her throat and gathered her thoughts. She fought the heat that visibly spread over her cheeks.

 “Not my proudest moment but, well, you see…”

 Like mother, like daughter.

 “When your father and I, oh.” The older Lockser erupted into little giggles like something funny was just said. But there was none. So, Juvia assumed she might be recollecting. “Why did I suddenly feel shy?” Olivia let out a heavy sigh then fanned herself with her own hand. “Okay, here it goes. When your father and I–”

 Juvia grew worried that she might hear something that would haunt her forever.

 “–do I really need to listen to this?”

 Olivia raised a brow at the interruption. Now, that was the look of ‘angry’.

 “You asked me, didn’t you?”

 Juvia easily caved in, “Yes, please continue.” She then readied herself for the worst.

 “Well, when your father and I–”

 “–There you are!”

 Suddenly, the man of the house entered into the kitchen, which startled the two women.

 “There’s my lovely family.”

 Julian Lockser walked directly up to the basket of fruits laid on the counter. He picked a few pieces of green grapes and successively popped them in his mouth. The female members of household Lockser fell in silence as they watched their head pick a few more of the delicious fruit before walking up to where they were.

 “What are you two girls chattering about?”

 “Nothing!” Juvia quickly answered, interrupting her mother who opened her mouth and was about to say something. She knew Oliva would just tell her father the truth. That woman, without a doubt, would tell the Lockser patriarch that they were talking about sex.

 Julian Lockser narrowed his eyes, more like squinting, at the defensive daughter who stuttered about trying to change the subject.

 “S-s-so, y-y-you two look so dressed up. Going anywhere?”

 Juvia visibly sighed when his father bit the bait.

 “Well, your mother and I,” he paused for a moment to snake his arms around Olivia’s waist, pulling the slender woman against him. “we are going somewhere fancy.” He brushed his lips against the woman wrapped in his muscular arms.

 And like all other children witnessing their parents kiss, Juvia rolled her eyes at the unsolicited public display of affection.

 “We’re going to the Prime Minister’s birthday bash.” Julian turned to her daughter without letting go of his wife. “Do you want to come?”

 “If you two will keep doing that, I’d rather stay home.”

 Olivia put a finger underneath her husband’s chin and gently pulled his face around to face her. “Ignore her. She’s a prude.”

 “I’m not a prude–oh will you two stop doing that in front of me? It’s too early in the morning.”

 Olivia heeded her daughter’s suggestion and pulled away from the kiss. She wiped the lipstick stain off her husband’s mouth with her thumb.

 “The prude is right.”

 Juvia rolled her eyes for the second time. She wasn’t a prude! But it was useless to tell off the love birds. They would just band together to tease her so much that prude might just become her next nickname which was worse than ‘love nugget’.

 “We should go, honey.”

 The ballerina threw her arms and exclaimed, “finally!” But she was just teasing her parents back. She made sure the married couple knew that through her playful grin, which they returned almost immediately. Julian finally let go of his wife and settled on holding Olivia’s hand.

 “You’re not funny.” Julian amusingly pulled Juvia’s nose with his free hand before turning a heel and walk.

 “I’ll be right behind you, honey.” said Olivia as she pulled out her own hand from her husband’s gentle grip to stay behind.

 Julian didn’t take offense from that, fully understanding his wife’s intention.

 “Don’t take too long, okay?” Then, the Ambassador continued to the archway, fixing his tie and dark gray tuxedo on the way.

 Olivia waited for her husband to disappear behind the rustic arch. Her appreciative look travelled from the stretch and pulls of the coat on her husband’s broad shoulders and down to his bottom impeccably hugged by his tight-fitting trousers. Olivia bit her lower lip.

 “Where are you looking?”

 Then, Olivia let out a quick and guilty chuckle before she spun around to address her daughter still sitting at the kitchen table. The woman was forty-three and still checking out her own husband.

 “Look, honey. If you can think of many reasons not to do it, then you’re not ready.”

 The playful tilt of Juvia’s mouth disappeared. And her grinning face turned serious.

 “Don’t rush into it, honey.” Olivia held both of Juvia’s hands in hers, eyes boring through Juvia’s, hoping that what she was about to say would register in her daughter’s head. “When the right time comes, it’ll just happen naturally.” Olivia sounded so sure that the worry in Juvia’s blue eyes quickly disappeared.

 What the wise woman said was true. Deep inside, Juvia knew the answer. Maybe, unconsciously, she needed the confirmation. And that confirmation just proved that Olivia Lockser was the wisest woman that ever walked the earth.

 “Thank you, mom. That really helps a lot.”

 Juvia put her hands over her mother’s and gave it a grateful squeeze. The worry in her eyes was replaced with gratitude.

 “I have to go now. I shouldn’t keep your father waiting.” She retrieved her hands from Juvia. Then, placed a loving pat on top of Juvia’s head.

 The heel of Olivia’s Christian Louboutin tapped on the kitchen tile as she walked the distance between the counter and the archway.

 “You two kids have fun!” Juvia shouted after her.

 Olivia paused on her track to turn to Juvia, “Oh, we will. Don’t wait up.” Then, before she gracefully exited the kitchen, Olivia winked at Juvia – one that the young Lockser knew how to read.

 “Guess I’d have to sleep early tonight.”

 Juvia swallowed a spoonful of her cornflakes, pouting alone knowing what was coming. Her parents were in their forties but they were acting like hormonal teenagers.

 “Like really, really early. Maybe around 6:00 p.m. I should be sleeping like a log.”

 Juvia jumped on her seat and almost spilled her cereal all over her. She would definitely hear an earful if she spilled milk over her mother’s newly installed island. She checked the cause of her startle. Her ringing phone flashed Gray’s photo and number on the screen. Juvia was mortified. All this thinking about Gray and that thing they should be doing as a couple actually made him call her. Call it psychic ability or whatever. Juvia believed in things like that. Performers were really superstitious people.

 Juvia grabbed the phone on the table, unsure what to do. It shouldn’t be too weird for her boyfriend to call her. Couples did that too. Juvia slid down her barstool and paced around the rustic island, heartbeat doubling every second.

 “What should I do?” Juvia asked herself. The normal thing to do was not to overreact, like she was doing, and to just answer the phone, like she was not doing.

 The call was dropped but not a second later ‘BILLBOARD GUY’ was calling her again. This time, Juvia decided to pick-up and mentally noted that she should really change his name in her contacts.

 “H-h-hey!” The jitters spiked her pitch a range higher than usual.

 “Hey, is everything alright?”

 “Yeah!” Juvia cleared her throat noticing that her pitch landed on a higher note than the previous. “I was just doing something. So, what’s up?” She tried to sound more casual this time, even leaning one side of her hip on the counter as if Gray could see her.

 There was a moment of silence on the other line that Juvia had to recheck if her boyfriend was still on the line.

 “Well, my birthday’s coming up.”

 This wasn’t how Juvia would usually react. If he told her his birthday was coming up months ago, when they just met and she hated his guts, Juvia would have been all cool and composed about his announcement. Now, her anxious mind was jumping to conclusions; Juvia thought she knew what Gray wanted for his birthday. He was going to ask her for it, that thing.

 “Yeah?” she croaked. Now her perverted brain was playing that provocative choreography they did yesterday.

 Not helping, brain.

 “Are you sure you’re okay? You sound…”

 Then, her brain didn’t stop from there. Now, hormones joined the party, reminding her about how it felt to feel his body against her own.

 “Yup. I’m okay. Are you okay?”

 “What?”

 “What?”

 She heard a chuckle on the other line rather than answer.

 “Are you sure you are okay? You sound weird, girlfriend.”

 The affectionate nickname forced Juvia to fight that sensation that made her fingertips tingle and her toes curl.

 “W-w-why did y-y-you call?”

 “Oh, that. Like I said, my birthday’s coming up and,”

 Juvia heard a muffled rattle at the other end of the line. It sounded like Gray stirred in his position.

 “And, I would like to invite you on a quick trip.” he continued.

 “A quick trip?”

 ‘Quick trip’ was a code for that thing, right? Juvia’s inexperience was pushing her to imagine things, that thing. Where was Olivia Lockser when her daughter needed her?

 “Well, yeah. I checked with Levy and she said we didn’t have anything to shoot until next Monday. We have the weekend to ourselves.”

 The weekend. Wasn’t that like the next step in a relationship? A romantic weekend getaway? Juvia knew that because she was researching the internet and stumbled upon such article and many others like: ‘Popping Your Cherry: When Is The Right Time?’,  ‘Will He Find It Awkward: Confessions of Women During Their First Time’ and ‘What to Wear on Your First Night’. It kind of scared her how she could recall each one of them. Which reminded Juvia, she should get a wax before this so called ‘weekend getaway’.

 “So, are you free this weekend?”

 Juvia didn’t even stop to check her calendar and quickly answered, ��s-s-sure.” She assumed Gray stepped away from the mouthpiece for a while. The line at the other end fell silent but Juvia heard the muffled yelp and triumphant ‘yes’ in Gray’s side.

 “That’s a date then!”

 She could feel his excitement transcend through the phone.

 “Okay. W-where are we going?”

 Juvia placed her right hand against over her chest, feeling her own erratic heartbeat against her palm as she waited his answer.

 “My hometown.”

 When the phone call ended, Juvia believed that her fate was sealed. Juvia Lockser and Gray Fullbuster would cross out another ‘first’ in Hoopster’s hometown.

 And she really needed that wax a.s.a.p.

  Juvia practiced meditation as she waited for her ride. Gray was picking her up as he promised. So, she was standing just outside the apartment complex, after receiving his text saying he was on the way. She followed the instructions through her earphones: breathe in, breathe out. She just gave up in the end. The meditation didn’t help the tremble in her heart. She was so nervous she was sweating like a drug-carrier at some border.

 Juvia checked her weekend bag for the nth time. She made sure everything was there as per the list she found in the article, ‘What to Pack on Your First Romantic Get-Away and Possibly Your First Night’. She scoffed at the long and ridiculous title until she read the entire article and found it quite helpful in her situation. Beneath all the extra clothes and that sexy nightie she brought for the trip, were the protection she brought all the way from her hometown. The same protection she told her mother she didn’t need.

 The sharp beep of Gray’s ghini startled Juvia that she almost cursed at her boyfriend. Lately, she became really jumpy.

 The roof of his car was folded at the back, revealing a very handsome Gray Fullbuster waiving at her like a movie star.

 “Good morning, girlfriend.”

 Juvia’s stomach fluttered at the endearing name. It was cute; better than ‘love nugget’, and the highly possible ‘prude’. The little flutters made their way up her ribcage when Gray climbed out of his car and walked up to her. Then, he cupped her face and placed a quick peck on her lips. That wasn’t enough. Gray brushed his lips against hers and did that again until they both were satisfied. Good thing Juvia was wearing a hat that covered her face and Gray was hid behind his Wayfarer so that no one could make them out on the streets.

 “Shall we go, girlfriend?”

 Juvia nodded her answer. Gray then took Juvia’s bags from her, placed them at the back of his car next to his own, and opened the door like the gentleman that he was.

 “Thank you, boyfriend.” said Juvia without breaking away from that loving gaze the two of them shared. She made herself comfortable at the passenger’s seat as she watched her boyfriend rush to the driver’s side and hop in.

 “Here we go.” said Gray as he turned on the ignition and the engine revved up to life.

 A gleaming orange Mercedes crawled next to Gray’s sports car; its roof was folded back just like the ghini’s.

 “Oi, Captain!” a man shouted over ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ blasted through his stereo.

 Natsu, Gray’s Vice Team Captain, was at the steering wheel with Loki, the self-proclaimed lady’s man, beside him. The rest of Fiore Knights were squeezed at the backseat.

 “Hi, Juvia!” They sang-greeted in unison which made Juvia fight a grin.

 “Hello, boys.” Juvia waved at them but Gray caught her hand and lowered it, placing it back on her lap.

 “Get lost!” he teased his teammates.

 “See you there!”

 Juvia caught Fiore Knights, minus their Captain; sing along the chorus as they drove ahead of them. The men in front sang the part of Anne Hathaway and the players at the back answered with Jesse McCartney’s part.

 “Look at those sissies.” scoffed Gray, eyes ahead, glued at the speeding S-Class Cabriolet with a special-made lava color and a customized plate that read ‘FIRE’.

 He turned to Juvia and asked, “Ready?”

 “Ready.”

 They exchanged an affectionate smile – one that shared between couples who just started dating and annoyed the hell out of everybody. Gray grabbed her hand in his once again and Juvia noticed he wasn’t letting go. She didn’t mind. Her grip on her hand made her felt secured and she squeezed his too. She wasn’t letting go either.

 The trip was a three-hour drive. So, Juvia leaned back to her seat and closed her eyes to get some shut-eye. She didn’t get any sleep last night surfing the internet for the articles. Discovering they weren’t going to the town of Isvan alone, Juvia felt a little resentful. She followed all the advices in the articles religiously and did all of them down to a T. She even got herself waxed, which hurt like hell. But somehow the knowledge helped her relax – resentful but relaxed.

Writer’s Corner: Okay, don’t kill me yet. I know you guys were expecting something more or maybe else especially with the chapter title but we are getting there, alright? Just be patient. lol.

Also, I love Papa and Mama Lockser! I love that couple. I imagine them to be the older version of Gruvia.

Next chapter, we will be bringing Juvia to Gray’s court-erm hometown. Let’s see what happens there.

Anyways, #GruviaWeek is just around the corner. Please look forward for my entries.

[everlarkholidaystyle]

Thank you to @567inpanem​ for coming up with the prompts…so excited. 

The rules are simple chose a prompt write a story, draw a picture, make a meme, make a collage, or a music video, or even a soundtrack to the holidays. And submit it here starting on the Winter Solstice Saturday December 21, 2019 and extending to January 6, 2020 the End of the Holiday season…

Bake Off

*Peeta easily wins best baker title in his district with his special ginger bread recipe. But now he’s baking against the best of the districts! Will he be the Mellark that finally brings the grand title to 12? Intrigue! Deception! Sabotage! Bribery! It’s the grand quarter quell bake off has it all! Who will be crowned top baker and forever enjoy the special 25 yr title, fame glory and fortune! Your host Caesar Flickerman, with guest star taste testers including…Katniss desperate, agrees to work as secret agent, get close to Peeta, steal recipe and plans for a very special top secret gingerbread house, mess up his ingredients, make him oversleep after wild sex, anything necessary to keep him from beating the career district contestant! Will Peeta take home the big prize?

*Story of 1000 origami cranes in one year for luck or wish. Peeta makes 1000 (mockingjay) cookies?

D12 Fall Harvest

*Harvest Festival in D12 provides opportunity for all to not only celebrate bounty but also to give thanks, exchange gifts, participate in matching ceremony in anticipation of annual day of matrimony held on the winter solstice. Snapshot of Peeta and Katniss through the years? 

*Harvest Festival is competition like Olympics or Highland games? Winners awarded cornucopia of food for the coming winter?

D12 Parcel Day

*The way those Parcel Days could have gone to forge relationship between Peeta and Katniss if it was something more, if for example they had to work together on things like what goes in them (maybe start off cold, then argue over differences, then get to know each other, grow together).

Thanks Giving

First Feast in 1621 lasted 3 days, 90 native Americans Wampanoag and 53 Pilgrims, celebrated successful harvest - feast, games, military exercises, diplomacy. Only 4 of 20 Mayflower women survived to the feast! Men helped cook for the party. No oven. 1863 Lincoln declared holiday. Make Katniss either survivor of voyage or Native?

Christmas & Hanukkah

See Prompt Nine.

New Years

Old college friends dispersed after graduation, but the group meets up every New Years for a night of drinking and catching up on the year and reminiscing and resolutions. At least for a while. But then they drift apart, skip years… until one (ok, I just realized this is getting closer to the movie big chill with every tweak). Or st. Elmo’s fire. But I like the concept of Katniss and Peeta having something in college and kept it secret but something happens and there’s secret is exposed….

Peeta and Katniss have crushes on the other one, attend a masquerade and neither one tells the other what there dressed as and they meet at the party and they do not realize they are attracted to their friend; maybe this can be an arranged marriage effort to match people attracted to each other by personality, not appearance, and the positive match confuses them? Or attendance is a psychology course requirement? (My intro psych had 1,000 students.) 

Canon Based Non-Holiday Specific

something about coal…legend that La Befana witch flies down chimney, left gifts for good children, coal for naughty…Epiphany January 6 = end of Christmas season, day 3 wise men arrive manger BUT once Katniss is Victor, has $, sneaks buckets of coal for all the seam children to keep warm fire going, Peeta sneaks small raisin nut loaves? Or maybe this is parcel day beginning of legendary Mockingjay flies and delivers coal and sweet music. Maybe we can leave it like an open-ended thing parcel day in the and the districts how do you think each district celebrated partial day

 Prompt #1 A Dog’s New Year’s Eve Prompts -  

A dog living on a college campus in Columbia observed that paying cashier = get a cookie. So, for the last 5 years, dog picks up large leaf, carries to cashier, gets cookie, too. What if cashier is lonely baker Peeta? Stray dog actually belongs to Katniss. Because dog always snarls at Haymitch, he calls it “Katniss.” Peeta overhears, assumes the dog is “Katniss.” Haymitch doesn’t correct him.

Peeta reads horoscope for 2019 Year of the Dog: “For single people, they have a large possibility to meet some excellent friends of opposite sex and develop a romantic relationship with one of them.”  

Peeta needs to find a date for New Years Eve and is running out of time!  Hears Katniss over the radio reading the article he wrote “…Dog girls…need to pursue or express affection of boy dogs bravely. In addition, joining in more social activities on weekends is also an effective way to find true love…” Followed by a “BAHUMBUG Love is dead…dogs do not fall in love…hell like people dogs fall in lust’” Peeta wants to find this woman and set her straight…Love is not a Bahumbug. 

What if dog getting too heavy like Columbian dog, vet accuses Katniss feeding dog junk, Katniss follows dog, catches baker feeding her now overweight dog, confronts him. But, Year of the Dog! So, HEA magic.

Prompt Idea #2 (Cultural Holiday)

*Pliny the Elder, a Roman who was one of the world’s first known naturalists, thought the Druids’ beliefs about mistletoe (that “mistletoe, taken in drink, will impart fecundity to all animals that are barren.” and hung it over their doors for luck) were silly, but the reputation stuck thanks in part to a Norse myth: definitely something with mistletoe and drinking its properties to become fertile 

*Frigga, goddess of love and marriage, loved her son Baldur so much that she and Baldur’s wife teamed up to make all the world’s plants and animals to promise not to hurt him. Well, they got all the plants, except mistletoe. Loki, god of mischief, realized the mistake and made a spear out of mistletoe and killed Baldur. As Frigga cried over the loss of her son, her motherly tears turned into mistletoe berries. Those berries somehow brought Baldur back to life, so Frigga declared mistletoe to be a symbol of love. According to The Smithsonian magazine, “Mistletoe would come to hang over our doors as a reminder to never forget. We kiss beneath it to remember what Baldur’s wife and mother forgot.”

Prompt Idea #3 Candy Land Hunger Games edition

Weird holiday hunger games - Arena is a winter wonderland of marzipan mutts, “Snow” monster, Peeta and Katniss are gingerbread, she reattaches his leg with frosting, in crystal candy cave he can’t stop from taking a nibble she’s so delicious, it rains lemon drops, it snows powdered sugar, watch out for milk lake danger… 

Prompt Idea #4 Misfit Toys

*On the Island of Misfit Toys, one new toy (Katniss?) perfect but with broken or lost heart, damaged toy soldier Peeta? determined to help with other toys (victors or tributes?) 

Prompt Idea #5 Holiday Dueling Booth 

Katniss and Peeta’s relationship has gone sour. For extra cash, Katniss opens a seasonal booth at the farmer’s market selling simple homemade baked goods, like apple cake, acorn flour scones. Peeta tries to get her attention by pushing her buttons, opens an upscale baked goods booth next to hers. 

Prompt Idea #6 Tim Burton Holiday

Too much eggnog, Katniss nightmare: Mad Capital scientist builds a “Edward scissorhands” boy mutt but with kitchen gadget appendages. D12 turns on him. Katniss goes on daring journey to find only person who can help. Dr Wires lives underground with oompaloompa-like helpers (former victor mutts). 

Prompt Idea #7 - Story Book Hero

Katniss is a working mom who doesn’t have time for all the school volunteer opportunities, but finds herself signed up for weekly storytime for December - The Story Book hero comes to life

Prompt Idea #8 Holiday Shopper

Wealthy Peeta and Finnick like betting on the stupidest things, each hires a professional personal shopper, tries to come up with Christmas shopping list item that will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. But Katniss desperately needs the money, resolved not to quit. 

Prompt Idea #9 -  Open Ended Holiday Prompt -be creative any HG Parring any and all works

Looking for perfect gift Hanukah / Christmas

Eight Days of Hanukah 

Office parties

School art projects

Deadlines 

Should old acquaintance be forgot

Singer / Caroling / Rock Band / TV Show

Resolutions -  

Snowstorms - 

Holiday show

Gift of the Magi

Let’s find your smile (like a treasure hunt, by end found happiness)

Secret Santa party games

Gift Exchange

Twelve days of Christmas 

New Years masquerade ball

Oh and one more thing don’t forget to #Everlarkholidaystyle2019