#like don’t get me wrong I know smash is a Silly Fighting Game not a Story

[viorhysealberia]

I need nintendo to remaster Uprising so bad, Smash’s horrid writing has horrifically damaged peoples’ perception of the characters and it’s ruining my Life

[introloves]

@virgoamajiki: hhnngggg no thoughts just boxer!bokuto fucking you senseless after seeing the other boxer he was supposed to fight that night flirting w/ u just to rile him up and throw him off his game.

— soft dom! bokuto + boxer! bokuto + mentions of harassment in the beginning + overstimulation / dumbification + size kink + comfort + praise + breath play + squirting + fluffy end + bokuto calls reader ‘puppy’ + f! reader

— word count; approx 2.6k

— part of my boxerverse! bokuto: one shot no. 1

he can’t blink back the images of you during the fight. the near deafening roars of his name all fadded into nothingness as he stalked towards his opponent- bokuto was dead set on putting him down.

the prick had really managed to get under his skin at the weigh in, picking you out- pointing directly at you and asking why you didn’t hop on over, he said you’d be better taken care of.

you’d sat there, wide eyed, clearly scared and taken back by his words. you only spared him a glance. instead turning with wide eyes at your boyfriend, now scared for the other man. frantic eyes shot up to look for his own- it was clear what you wanted, you looked scared and your face held a look that said;

“bo, please don’t.”

and usually, that look would disarm him completely- but not now- not now when he can see the way your eyes watered and lips trembled at the words.

he is sorry for not looking at you right away, sorry for not giving you the comfort you need-

but he’s not sorry for lunging over to the other side, barreling straight past staff that looked minuscule compared to his towering form. microphones clashing onto the floor with clear intent.

it’s complete chaos, bokutos manager grabbing him, holding him back down onto the seat, hissing in his ear that he’ll have a chance to go at him, “in the ring.”

you sit, dazed by the clamor and rapid snapping of cameras that bathe the two of you like a shower of pure light.

but he sits back down, hand clamped over your thigh, squeezing you, using your body as a stress ball. he can’t even look at his opponent, amber eyes focused on nothing more than your trembling knee- koutarou truly thinks he might kill him.

-

when he finally enters the ring, it doesn’t take long for the bastard to get dropped. its almost comical how short the match ends— usually bokuto would have put a little more show into it, letting him take a couple of hits before handling it, dragging it out to fluff his ego, showing everyone that he was the king, but not now.

as soon as his opponent is down, spread out on the white canvas- he steps once towards the body— pushed away by the referee in panic with the way he looms over him a little longer than necessary. the referee looking over at his teams side, shoving him back into his corner before calling the end of the match.

he lets his body get shoved into his corner, scoffing at the way the man lays there... pathetic.

bokuto doesnt even react to the roars of the crowd- walks past his team and into the locker rooms.

it feels like it takes forever to get back to you, normally you’d be at the ringside, but for this round he didn’t want you there and you not being able to do that, especially for a fight like this has you on edge. waiting for your koutarou to come home. the tension is almost suffocating when you finally hear the door slam closed.

you know hes not mad at you, thats not who the shake of the house is directed at. bokuto has always been a gentle giant with you— an overexcited, loving, and sweet giant.

he walks straight into the room, tugging off his shirt, shorts, leaving a trail of clothes as he makes a beeline right to you. there’s a deep want, need to have you, it feels like someone’s pressing down onto his chest- a tight ball of... anger and fear swirling around there.

it softens when he see’s you though, cuddled up on the bed, eyes lidded as you smile at him, welcoming him home. when he touches you, your body still warm from an almost sleep, he feels the sharp edges of anger melt away. there was no need for him to angry or scared at the words his opponent had thrown your way- he wasn’t the one about to fuck you to sleep... but the small tingle of fear and anger didn’t leave him completely.

“baby.” you murmur, hands outstretched to bring him into your space, the big body of his instantly melting down to your form, elbows perched on either side of your head- trapping you completely in.

“saw you drop him... first round.” voice heavy with lust and want, he was so strong and powerful and all yours. legs drop down onto the bed to let him in, ready for him, waiting for him.

“yeah, had to.” bokuto responds back, whispering it against your lips before he kisses you, licking into your mouth with heavy strokes of his tongue, all but tracing his name onto the front of your teeth.

“he scared you didnt he?” he growls, hissing at the way your heat wiggles to find his cock. bokuto shifts to hold the weight of his upper body on just one arm, slipping a hand down to tug your bottoms off.

“mhm.” you whimper back, gripping onto his shoulders, body jerking with every pull.

“did you see how i took care of him, pretty thing?” kou spits, pulse quickening at the wetness that meets his knuckle, trailing the back of his hand up your cunt before slipping a finger against your folds, splitting them open to briefly glance at your exposed pussy.

“fuck- course you did, thats why you’re so wet, huh?”

you cant really say anything, because he was right- seeing him knock that man out with one punch, straight to the jaw, sent heat flooding through your veins, proof of it formed in the shape of pure slick painting the outside of your cunt, between your thighs, pooling in your bottoms. its kinda silly, he knows what he does to you, knows you love watching him in his element, eyes hardened and face laxed in total concentration and an air of cockiness to him when he steps in the ring. he knows you love it, cause you’re always drooling into your panties when he comes to you after a match.

“real wet.” he marvels once more, sinking a finger all the way down to the knuckle and all you can do in response is open your legs wider, tilting yourself up to show him how ready and receptive you were for him.

“good girl.” his voice is tight and low- something like a growl with the way you move against his one finger. its enough to snap the string of self restraint he had, pure unbridled energy bouncing off him as he departs from you- just for a second, to kiss you harshly.

its a mix of tongue, spit, and teeth- strings of your passion still hanging from between the two as he leans back to look at your form, wiggling around in need of him.

its okay, he thinks, he’ll give you what you want.

and he does, doesn’t take long for him to grab the base of his thick and heavy cock, letting it slap against your cunt a couple times before squeezing the head of him inside- nice and snug. it makes him lightheaded, he cant think of anything but you- a fever crawls up his sculpted back, a need to just sink in and fuck you silly, but he wants something from you first.

“who do you belong to puppy?” he inquires gruffly, not moving an inch, watching the way you blink up at him through tears.

“w-what?” its sudden, your sweet and kind bo almost never talked like this in bed, it makes you salivate, a heat flushing down your back.

“c’mon- tell me who you belong to.” he hisses once more, splaying one of his big, strong, veiny hands across your chest, pushing down- locking you against the bed.

he still hasn’t moved, and the fluttering of your pussy down on the head of his dick makes him grunt- muscled stomach tensing with each one. he comes back to you- a little softer in the way his words sound, carrying that sweetness you know and love.

“please, tell me you’re mine.” he whispers, moving the hand that had you pinned down up towards your neck, rough callouses rubbing against the soft and sensitive skin there.

its a juxtaposition of kind, vulnerable words mixing in with the harsher movements of his strong hand curling against your airway, frantic in the need to hear it from you.

you know what he needs, and you’re more than happy to comply, wanting nothing more than to make him feel better. your hand moves up to wrap around his wrist, pulling him in close, eyes burning with hot tears forming there at the lack of blood- but you continue, till the next words are all but hissed, high and tight.

“yours, i’m all yours koutarou, my king.”

there isn’t anything he could have done to prepare for that, he stutters, chokes on the lust heavy in his chest, he feels like there’s molten want dripping down his veins- swirling into a tight ball at the pit of his stomach.

all he can do is rear back, hips lifting off you, popping the head of him out and you nearly whine, nearly ask him whats wrong before he slams down in one hard and desperate stroke, catching the skin of your cunt harshly, but its okay- there would have been no way you’d survive in a relationship with him if you didn’t like a little pain.

when his hips make contact with your cunt, puffy lips giving him cushion- he grinds down, smashing your clit down against his pubes.

eyes shut tight, a choked sob tumbling from your lips in response, head teetering back onto the bed.

“koutarou! fuck! fuck!” words high and staccato-ed are echoed out into the room, he feeds off the broken syllables of his name tumbling from your lips.

he looks at you while he squeezes his fingers against the thrum of your quickened pulse underneath his hand- watching your eyes roll back, the whites of them on clear display as lips part, a silent scream painted onto the moments of your face-

the bed groans, creaks with each crushing thrust he gives you, drilling you down into the bed.

“keep saying my name puppy, keep saying it.” he grunts looking at you with a feverish and concentrated gaze, affected in how well you stroke his ego, chest feeling incredibly full, the prickle of his orgasm starts, but there was /no/ way he’d come before his baby.

the hand that wasn’t wrapped around your throat sweeps down your arching body until his thumb finds your twitching clit- immediately pressing down on it with enough force that his thumb turns white. it rips a scream straight from the center of your chest and your body starts seizing up.

he huffs out a laugh when he sees the way your hips cant up off the bedding- it nearly pushes him back, but he stays unwavering, following the movement of your spasming body.

“koutarou!” his name leaves your mouth in the form of a wail while he batters your cunt, you don’t even know you’re moving the way you are- hands falling to rest pitifully against your head.

“ah- that’s my girl.” bokuto beams, seeing the splash of your cum arch all the way up to hit his tummy- abs glistening with every contraction as his hips drill into you- he gives in, taking the thumb that had been squeezing your clit down onto your body and sticking it into his mouth, watching you with lidded eyes as he licks the cum off his hand, all while keeping your neck pinned down and chasing the frantic movements of your hips.

there’s no immediate reaction from you when he picks up your legs- weak with the strain you’ve put them under, and folds them up to your chest.

the only thing you do is intake a lungful of air, dazed eyes looking up at him- not knowing how he got so close to your face.

it’s the first slap of his heavy balls against your ass that makes you come back from it all-

“p-please!!” you cry, eyes wide. the force of him still pistoning into you makes your body bounce off the shaking bed, and thanks to the squirting orgasm he fucked out of you with his thick cock- building a near searing sensitivity into the walls of your cunt and clit, you cum once more. it’s the final break into a headspace that has you twitch and flail your legs, wiggling against the hold of his arms.

“yeah- good girl.” bokuto grits out, a bead of sweat drips off his face onto your own, and thankfully- it’s what he needs to cum. his eyes are frantic as he watches you- swollen lips, face turned relaxed as you squeeze down around him, looking like the image of fucked stupid.

with the a final resounding smack of his hips into you, his cock jumps, swelling, growing snug inside you before he dumps an almost obscene amount of cum into you.

small twitches of your body lets him know you feel it, his head falls down to land against your chest, keeping you folded as he grits his teeth.

it takes rapid, hard blinks of his eyes to not let tears fall down onto his face. he’s shaky as he finally sits back up, making sure to bring your thighs down gently.

“kou-“ you choke out, looking for him-

he responds by finding your limp hands, still lying up by your head- slotting thick fingers and broad hands into your own.

“‘m right here.” koutarou nearly wheezes out, still reeling from an orgasm that he can still feel.

“that felt good.” your voice is airy and sweet- pitchy and laced with love.

for the second time that night- he laughs, shaking his head while he slips his softened cock out of you.

he picks you up, scooping your trembling form into swollen muscles- keeping you nice and tight against a hard torso.

“you make me feel good.” he whispers into your hair, not caring about the trail of hot cum that leaks out of your fucked out cunt, trails of it running down his leg while he places you on his chest, laying the both of you down.

holding you tight like this, sweat mingling together, residue of cum and tears painting eachothers bodies- he knows there was nothing he should have ever been worried about.

he didn’t have to worry about protecting or loosing you- bodies intertwined, locked into one another proved that you took care of him, gentle hands tracing your name onto the skin of his chest.

“i’m all yours koutarou.” you whisper, nearly falling into the heaviness of sleep.

he once again blinks back the need to cry- he could take all the punches in the world, not even blink, but he was so weak for you.

“yeah... i’m all yours too.” his voice is tender, shaky with emotion, arms squeezing around you tight.

he really was.

[yanderecandystore]

can we get the bullies with a male slasher s/o?

I swear like-

I swear I already did something like this?? But maybe no??¿? XD

So anyway- Alright boo, let me see what I can do- Sorry but I decided to take liberty and… Make this one be very stupid XD

TW/Tags: killer reader :3 // mentions of death // mentions of h o r n i n e s s // I have no like- Idea how to make this work so- Let's just go with it lol // low-key based on dbd, although I never played the game I know only a bit about it- // REALLY silly :P

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Horror Movies Cliches [Yandere!Bully OCS x M!Slasher!Reader - Headcanon]:

🎇 Let me set the stage for a quick sec!🎇

Let's just create a bit of context- Imagine the most over the top horror movie cliche you can think off- Some teens, hanging around a haunted place, everyone is organizing a creepy party while also trying to prank one another. The twins are part of this party because duh- They're popular? Rich? Pretty af? Everyone wants a piece of them tonight, especially you.

Although technically, not in the same way the horny bastards around here want to. While some are trying to impress them, and others try to prank them and humiliate them for at least once in their lives- You're looking for something more, well, important. You were done with being the one left behind, always ridiculed by the twins and their mob of "friends".

You wanted nothing more than sweet revenge tonight, and it didn't matter which rich asshole's blood would be spilled tonight- And even if your plan wasn't exactly foolproof, you were still going to go down and smash their skulls.

With a mask covering your face, gloves to cover your fingerprints and a baseball bat- You were ready for your first hunt tonight. What could ever stop you if not God itself?

Maybe you didn't calculate all possibilities of what could go wrong today, perhaps you should have considered that you weren't the only one bloodlusty in this party.

→ Adrien Coldwell:

Adrien is not really a- Adrien is-

What can I say about Adrien? Adrien is not the best at survival, or trying to survive, or wanting to survive-

Adrien is too lazy for this- He doesn't really put an effort in trying to hide himself, since he is sold 100% that this is just another prank. The only thing stopping you from finding him and smashing his bones is his natural luck which is conveniently protecting himself from being found.

God, this party is boring.

You would probably find Adrien by accident, just- Eating some snacks as all the other participants of the party were already dead. However- You weren't so lucky when you tried killing him right there, he ran away before you could grab him.

Now noticing how real the situation was, he was ready to find any means of communication to call for help, but it seems like all possible means of easy and quick communication has been cut off.

Adrien can either hide and pray for someone to come help him, or try to fight you off and stop you from hunting him. And of course he ain't fucking attacking you, what do you take him for?? Insane?? Dumb?? Nah bitch, he is hiding.

Up until this point, Adrien had no idea you were the one behind the mask. He thought you were a random creep that went insane and decided to take his anger out on some rich people- Which could mean he is half right and half wrong!

But honestly though, you're the last person that he imagined being capable of killing so many people in one night! He didn't even know you were invited to this party, which makes this so unfortunate to him, he could be wearing a cuter outfit if he knew you would be here!

One would assume that after showing their true identities to their victims before their death would cause their victims to become even more frightened and beg for mercy!- In your case though? Nah, that ain't happening.

Adrien is treating this situation with much seriousness as one would imagine he would- With none. Knowing that you're the one killing everyone with a bat is kinda pathetic if not hilarious to him.

After all, it's just "you". What evil can you do? Honestly, you came all the way to this place to make him "pay for his actions"?? Don't you have anything better to do on a Saturday night, honey?

To be fair- He kinda digs the "unhinged maniac" look you have going on, blood suits you so well. Hell! He bet it would suit him just as well too.

Your night was supposed to be one of pure gore and carnage, revenge against those that have harmed you- Yet here you are, being flirted with by Adrien, who is getting a little too into the "killer x victim" dynamic going on.

Ugh, you don't feel in the mood anymore… It feels so wrong when he keeps flirting about it.

In the end, you two have inverted the roles in a way. You were trying to get away from Adrien who was chasing you and making you embarrassed with as much flirting as possible.

Such an unfortunate night.

→ Alexandra Coldwell:

Alexandra would think this is all an elaborate spooky prank, yet she would be lying if she said she didn't find this all…. A bit too much.

No, s-she isn't scared! Just frustrated that this party sucks! It's so immature to just- Try to humiliate her by making her scared! Is such a low move.

Alexandra wouldn't do much effort into hiding since she doesn't think there is any danger nearby. You would have found her very early on, and you can imagine how frustrating it was to see her escaping from your grasp- You have forgotten how athletic Alexandra is, of course she would have ran away faster than you could snatch her.

Now noticing how real the situation was, she was ready to find any means of communication to call for help, but it seems like all possible means of easy and quick communication has been cut off.

Alexandra can either hide and pray for someone to come help her, or try to fight you off and stop you from hunting her. And of course she'll be fighting you- Pfft, what? You think she'll chicken out?? You literally made her break her nail- You psycho!

Up until this point, Alexandra didn't know you were- Well, you! She thought you were some random ass psycho trying to ruin some teens party for some "revenge" bs. So maybe she was half right, and half wrong!

Alexandra would have never ever imagined that you were the killer! Were you even invited to the party?? Why has nobody told her? She could have chosen something more cute for you, damnit!

One would assume that after showing their true identities to their victims before their death would cause their victims to become even more frightened and beg for mercy!- In your case though? Nah, that ain't happening.

Alexandra just laughs it off and treats it like every school day- Belittling you while all's giving mix signals of affection.

She isn't afraid anymore, why would she? You're just a little wimp who thinks that getting a wooden bat and dark clothes makes you scary. Dearest, you have forgotten who is the bigger dog around here-

You wasted your whole night just to make her terrified? Honestly, you need a better hobby- Obsessing over your bully is such a loser move on your part, although she would be lying if she said she doesn't appreciate the fact you care so much about her.

Alexandra was getting a little too interested into this "roleplay" going on- Wanting to be your final girl, after all it didn't sound half as bad. Maybe she has been a little too into those slasher fanfics she has been finding around- But damn, you look almost acceptable while drenched in blood.

Her lack of care or empathy towards those who have been brutally killed, while also drooling over you, reminds you that- Honestly? Fuck this. You should have expected a Coldwell to be a morally fucked up person- Why are you surprised?

You've been trying your best to go back home, but being constantly followed by an overly affectionate Alexandra is just as bad as being humiliated by an overly sadistic Alexandra. You got no rest that day.

Such an unfortunate night.

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[boys-from-santacarla]

so i've never seen any fic or really anything for dwayne + paul so like maybe that idk--

Notes: Thank you so much for your request. 💛 And sorry if I made you wait too long. I have never read anything like this either, but I hope you like it. It was fun writing it tbh, so feel free to write a positive or negative feedback.

Warnings: Homophobia, homophobic language, cursing, a bit of explicitness in an attempt to lead to sex.

The Moralist (Dwayne x Paul)

Word Count: 1563.

The fourth night at stakeout waiting at the boardwalk was going just as usual; with David waiting at the corner for Star and Laddie to hopefully come back with a third individual, and Paul and Marko playing a stupid game to win a stuffed animal, with Dwayne as a keen spectator next to them.

When the game was over, both players started fighting.

"You cheating bitch! Everyone saw I was winning until you step on my foot!" Paul yelled.

"Maybe I did, but you started it by pushing me every five seconds!" Marko snapped back. Paul half-closed his eyes in anger and began to yell again when Dwayne got between the two.

"Ok, we get it. You both assholes are losers that need to cheat to win something." He laughed and the blondes protested with a loud "hey". He rolled his eyes and said "Move on."

Paul pointed a finger towards Marko and warned "You gon' pay, buddy." Marko gave him the finger and started walking backwards to play some more while showing off his brand new item.

"Hey, man, c'mon. Let's get a drink or something." Dwayne suggested still laughing.

After getting a tasteless six for the evening, both moved to a calmer side at the end of the boardwalk to sit down at some stairs. After all, when Michael appeared they'd hear David's bike.

"Dave's really into this guy." Dwayne said after taking the first sip of his beer.

Paul giggled "Who would've known his weakness were young and closeted curly brunettes."

Dwayne hummed his agreement. "I mean, he's kinda cute." He said and giggled, earning a funny look from his company.

"Don't tell me you have the hots for him too" Paul pleaded incredulous.

Dwayne shook his head "Nah, it's just..." He stopped for a moment to think about it. Michael was dumb, that was for sure, but he had this exciting... aura around him. And he was good looking too.

"I don't know" He finally stated and shrugged. "He's cute. That's all."

"Oh, Lord..." Paul shook his head in disappointment "We got us another fairy vamp."

Dwayne punched his shoulder. "You're such a homophobe. As if you and Marko didn't looked like fags." He teased and took another sip.

"Hey, man! He's the one who seems to like to get annoying just for me to be all over him!" Paul defended himself and was about to get another sip too when he processed Dwayne's whole saying "And I'm no homophobe!" He declared offended.

Dwayne gave him a skeptical look "You know..." he shrugged "they say all homophobes are closeted gays, so..." He unfinished the sentence suggestively.

Paul rolled his eyes and continued advocating his reputation. "I'm as liberal as the next guy. I could even kiss a guy and don't give any fucks." Dwayne almost spitted his drink with that last one.

"Yeah, sure." He murmured.

"I'm serious!"

Dwayne raised his head unconvinced "I don't think so. Your ego's far too sensible for that."

"It is not." Paul snorted.

That made Dwayne wonder, ok, so macho drama queen was liberal and respectful? Why not test the veracity of this?

"Fine. Then kiss me."

Paul turned to look at him disbelieving "I'm a lot of man for you, sweetheart." He said with smugness, but there was a slight quiver in his voice to denote his awkwardness.

Dwayne laughed "I knew it."

"Just because I won't kiss you doesn't mean I'm a damn homophobe. It's just that you're not my type."

"Because I'm a man." Dwayne persisted.

"No, because you're disgusting and ugly." Paul corrected.

But maybe it wasn't a bad idea.

Maybe it would be good to prove Dwayne, the big moralistic guru, that no sloppy kiss could hurt his masculinity. Cause that was the truth, wasn't it?

Paul sighed "You know what? Fine." He decided.

Dwayne shoot up his eyebrows.

Paul smirked "Come here and have a taste." He sensually invited and loudly smacked his lips.

Dwayne remained still for a moment, shocked that Paul was actually up for it. The hotshot couldn't let anyone patronize him, uh.

"Ok." He simply accepted and moved to accommodate his legs with Paul to get closer with each other.

Making eye contact, Dwayne, still a little unsure, put his big hand on Paul's waist while Paul placed with a bit of extra force his palm on Dwayne's cheek.

Then they brought their faces together and left nothing between their lips but an inch apart. So close that each could notice the other's dusty but fresh masculine scent.

"I still don't think you can handle this, bud" Paul whispered, lightly brushing his lips with Dwayne's with the movement.

Dwayne smirked with arrogance "Quitting?"

The blonde gave his negative with a low sound and moved his head to a side to fit his marginally parted lips with Dwayne's.

Both were taking this as a dare to press the other past his limits and make him step back, to leave clear who was the homophobe here. So why think of this wrong? It was just a kiss to prove who had the best manners. No more.

They stayed still for a moment, like a pair of kids having their first kiss. Not moving, just innocently touching lips. But none would step back and give up.

So, if a simple smash of lips was something both could stand, then they would have to take it farther. And it felt surprisingly easy.

Both moved their lips to taste better the other's flavor, and Paul moved his palm from Dwayne's cheek to his nape, slowly, caressing his soft skin, and feeling the light brush of his strands between his fingers. All this while Dwayne moved his hand from his friend's waist to his lower back, intently pressing them closer together and feeling Paul muscles flexing.

The kiss got sensual when feeling silly both opened their mouths and crashed together their tongues. The stubble definitely felt weird, both thought, and even though the hair could help imagine it was a girl, they could not forget it was a pal whom their were kissing.

But that didn't stopped them. Telling themselves it was because it was their job to make the other uncomfortable, they didn't broke the kiss. Just continued to move in a hot syntony sharing saliva.

So the sudden jolt Dwayne felt was justifiable, just as Paul's low moan was too.

It got rapidly heated. Both moving with more confidence, as if already knowing how to move in harmony with the contrary. Their lips began making smacking noises when one decided to venture and nibble a little.

Panting, their hands wandered more and traveled exposed spots of skin and leather.

Paul placed his free hand on his friend's thigh, caressing it while still moving his exploring tongue inside Dwayne's mouth. The hand on his back sent a cold chill on his spine and he felt his cock twitch. Dwayne's response was to moan a little and keep one hand on the wooden stairs to press Paul harder against him.

Lost in the track of time, the dare got out of control and they were both half-hard.

And both felt good.

Fuck, both felt good.

Paul's conscious abruptly came into play and he jumped as if burned, breaking the kiss in cold. Dwayne stayed in position until he reopened and focused his dark eyes on the blonde's. His puzzled expression was enough for him to react too.

In unison their heads turned to the side, trying to hide their dark red faces.

Dwayne cleared his throat "Uhm... that was... That was..."

Paul hesitantly wiped his mouth with the back of his wobbly hand, then glanced at Dwayne still looking anywhere else but at him and repeated his previous action, now with deliberated disgust.

"Repugnant. Nauseating. Ugh, I wanna puke." He stuck out his tongue.

Dwayne agreed "You're such a lousy kisser, man." He copied Paul's action and pretended to clean his lips.

There was an uncomfortable silence while they tried to recover and regain their prides. Dwayne was about to say something when unexpectedly Marko appeared from behind calling them. They turned their heads.

"Hey, guys! Michael's here. Let's go." He seemed oblivious, so he walked back to where he came from and didn't gave them a chance to respond.

Turning back at each other, they wanted to utter something, but just made eye contact, saying... what? "Don't worry, it was good, but I'm not telling, not even myself cause that makes me gay. Thanks for making my dick twitch, tho"?

Dwayne jumped to his feet.

"Well, now it's a fact that you're a homophobe." He teased, in an attempt to dissolve his odd feeling, but it didn't work. "So, I'll, uh, I'll get going, bro." He adjusted his jeans, climbed the stairs and resumed his natural cocky strut as casually as he could.

"Yeah." Was all Paul could say, almost inaudible. But that didn't matter.

He adjusted his pants too and got up.

Yeah, he liked kissing Dwayne, so what? It got a little out of hand and provoked a natural sexual response, right? He wasn't attracted or anything, right? He knew the guy was hot, but everyone with eyes could acknowledge that. It was no big deal. Cause he wasn't a fag.

Paul wasn't a fag.

He wasn't.

Damn.

[be-dazzled]

Hey! Can you do a prompt where gray is jealous and juvia has no clue. Thanks!!

Writer’s Corner: Here you go! I’ve been watching a lot of video clips of the new FT Game and got some inspiration to write! And it surprised me how straight and fast I did this one. Like, straight and pure English words. Phew! Hope you like this.

Masterlist

Prompt: Jealous Gray and Juvia Doesn’t Know

Finally. Finally, Gray and Juvia finished the fight with that odd Dodecapus – a sea creature with twelve tentacles – wreaking havoc on the small town. But in Gray’s opinion, they could have finished the job far earlier than they actually did. He couldn’t help but think that maybe, he and Juvia fell out of sync. It had been awhile since they went on a job together. Maybe, they should train and take job requests together more often; that would solve the problem.

He stretched his arms behind his head and cracked his neck from right to left. Damn, that felt good. Every muscle in his body was sore and not the good kind. That freaking Dedocapus did him good; wouldn’t back down without a fight, that silly thing. Gray really needed to get some rest. He wondered if Juvia would be okay to postpone the travel home to tomorrow. She probably would. Remembering how she had wanted to spend the night together before, just the two of them, he was almost certain she’d agree. A silly smile crept up his face and his eyes wandered over at the Water Mage walking distractedly beside him. Yeah! That’s right. Juvia had been distracted since they came to town. Could it be the reason it took them a little over half a day to fight the Dedocapus? Because she couldn’t focus? It wasn’t her usual ‘Gray-sama Trance’ distraction either. So, should he be worried?

“Juvia.” He called out but it seemed like the water mage didn’t hear him say her name. She was still very much preoccupied, looking out to her left and right as if expecting something would just jump at her out of the blue.

Now, he was worried.

He stopped and turned fully to her, bumping into the woman who walked right into him. Gray caught her by the arms and helped her steady herself.

“Are you alright?” He tried very much to keep the worry out of his voice, which was unnecessary since Juvia didn’t seem to hear him ask.

She just looked at him, dazed for a second, before she regained her composure and slapped that practiced smile across her face. They were together for too long for Gray not to recognize that fake smile.

Well, not together “together” but…

“Juvia apologizes, Gray-sama. She must not have seen you for a moment there.”

Juvia not seeing him even for a second? Now, he should really, really be worried. Gray withdrew his hands before Juvia get the wrong idea and kept them in his pockets.

“Well, yeah. You seem… out of it.” Gray could see her think for a moment. Then, she seemed to have reached a decision and, to dispel any of his worries, Juvia put up a brighter personality, raising her fists in the air and declared, “Juvia will be more mindful.”

Knowing Juvia, she’d rather keep to herself whatever it was that was bothering her in order not to be a burden to him. He’d really wish she’d tell him but Gray was never one to push. He would wait until she was ready. For the meantime, he asked Juvia about postponing the travel home and maybe the next day, when she was feeling a bit better, he’d ask her to stroll around the town. He’d make up some lame excuse about buying everyone souvenirs, which if anyone who’d hear would call bull.

“Would you mind if we stay in this town for a while? I’d like to catch up for some much needed rest and–”

“–Juvia-san?”

An unfamiliar voice called out from behind the Water Mage. Unlike Gray, Juvia seemed to recognize it. She turned around to meet the owner of the voice while Gray searched his memory for that parted black and white hair walking up to them.

“Totomaru-san?”

Then, it hit Gray. This guy was one of Phantom Lord’s Element 4 and Juvia’s acquaintance. But the same guy that hurt his friends. A bitter taste burned in Gray’s stomach as that bright smile crept up that Totomaru-san’s face, looking so happy to see them – to see Juvia. Gray glanced at his partner to check if she was reacting to him the same.

She was.

Totomaru caught up with them, smiling ear to ear to see Juvia.

“Wow, it really is you.” He looked momentarily taken-aback, an amused smile freezing on his face. “Didn’t recognize you without the…” Gray inwardly snickered watching the man, as if in a game of charades, motion to refer to Juvia’s old hairstyle. “Without the rolled hair.” He finished when none of them could guess what he was referring to with that silly bounce of his open palm. Gray guessed but he wasn’t feeling too friendly to engage.

“Are you guys… visiting?”

Gray liked the hesitance he could sense from this Toto-whatever punk. He was probably thinking he and Juvia came to town together, which was actually the case. Not in the sense that Toto-whatever might have thought but still…

“No, Totomaru-san. Gray-sama and Juvia are here for a mission.”

“Oh, good!”

But he didn’t like the sudden rush of relief and a new confidence found by Totomaru-bastard.

“Would you like to get-together while you’re in town? It’s been a while since I last saw you.”

And definitely hated that slimmer of hope shining in his black goofy eyes. The bastard.

“W-well…”

Gray crossed his arms, a bit elated at Juvia’s hesitation. ‘That’s it, Juvia. Say no,’ the smug on his face said.

“Gray-sama did say he wanted to stay awhile longer.” She glanced at him with a sheepish smile – a bit asking and a bit expectant.

Gray dropped his arms and coughed into his fist to bid some time to recover. Well, he wasn’t expecting that. He didn’t expect Juvia would actually like to hang around that guy. But Gray had yet to make a decision when Totomaru chided in.

“I can show you around town then.” He pushed. “A lot has changed since you moved to Magnolia.”

That bastard was treating Gray like he wasn’t standing there. He probably didn’t notice the Ice Make mage since that punk’s eyes were laser-focused on Juvia.

His Juvia.

“I mean, look at you. You even got prettier.”

“Thank you, Totomaru-san.” Juvia beamed at him, blushing at the compliment.

It didn’t sit well with Gray but he shouldn’t be getting pissed at someone giving Juvia a compliment. There was nothing wrong with someone complimenting Juvia because she really was pretty. Always been pretty. Very much attractive, if he’d let himself admit. He eyed the man who called Juvia pretty, looking him from head to toe, sizing him up. Totoma-whatever didn’t look so bad but he had nothing compared to Gray, of course. He was Gray-sama to Juvia, the best guy that ever existed on this planet. Juvia adored him. Remembering that, Gray’s confident smirk returned. Hah. That Totoma-punk could keep dreaming on. Juvia was devoted to Gray. She was his.

But Totoma-punk made her smile with that silly compliment.

His gloating smirk quickly dropped and getting ‘pissed’ at a simple compliment became the understatement of the century because a vein in his head was about to pop.

“Gray-sama?”

He withdrew his ‘not so discreet’ glare from the fire-prick and looked at Juvia.

“If Gray-sama isn’t too tired, maybe we could…”

“I guess. We wouldn’t be able to catch the train anyway.”

Juvia chirped, clapping her hand together and declaring that it’s a date.

Forget the sore muscles. Forget his tired feet. Forget his body screaming for a rest. He wasn’t going to let that Totomastard (Totomaru the bastard) be alone with Juvia. No way.

…

Gray wasn’t the jealous type. He wasn’t. In fact, you could never put the words Gray and jealous in one sentence. Never. He just hated the guy. Hated the man who hurt his friends. Yeah, that’s why he was so ready to throw his fist down the bastard’s throat. That’s the only reason. That’s all there was to it, really. Totomastard was a former Fairy Tail enemy.

But weren’t Juvia and Gajeel also a former enemy of Fairy Tail? Gray said don’t ruin his reason with logic.

“I’ll go get us more beer.” Totomaru excused himself from their table in the town’s famous open night market.

When he walked out of earshot, Gray could feel the tension from his shoulders go away and he could finally breathe. The bastard could really taaaaalk, reminiscing about the memories which didn’t include Gray. Granting, it was a ‘Phantom Lord Days’ memory which really did not include him, Gray still felt like the Fire Mage, and apparently, Romeo’s Magic teacher, went out of his way to make him feel out of place. He snickered. Phantom Lord my ass. She’s ours now. She’s Fairy Tail’s. Besides, it didn’t even sound like they were actually close.

“Does Gray-sama not like this place? Juvia can ask Totomaru-san to find a new–”

“–It’s fine, Juvia.” He stopped cracking his neck and pretended like he was just scratching the back of his head.

“If Gray-sama is tired, we can end the night early.”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” He shot back what remained of his beer and smashed the can on the table with his fist. He only noticed now the other two crushed beer cans next to him. “Besides, you seem to be enjoying yourself.” He gave her a small smile so Juvia would stop worrying about him.

“Oh, right. It’s just… it’s been a while since Juvia returned to Oaktown.”

Upon mentioning the name of the town, it suddenly hit Gray. He hated himself for not noticing it earlier or not remembering about the town when he first read the name on the job request.

“You used to live here, right?” Idiot. That’s why she was so distracted earlier. “Before you transferred to Fairy Tail?”

Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. You are a freaking, dumb-ass droopy eyes. He could hear Natsu’s voice in his head.

“Yes.” Juvia took another sip from her own can like a lady.

“Is that why you were so…” He stopped himself before he could say something that Juvia would take to blame herself. “I mean, you were kinda out of it, is all.”

“The people around here used to be afraid of Juvia, the Rain Woman.”

Gray could clearly picture out what ugly memory brought that gloom in her usually bright blue eyes. The alcohol might have helped too so he was going to take that away from her. Alcohol and Juvia never mixed well together. Gray grabbed the can from her hand and finished it.

“Well, that’s all in the past now.” So was Totomaru. He flattened the can again and tossed the crumpled tin can next to the others. He might have been very casual when he said it but the words helped her, somehow, because now she was staring at the group of crushed beer cans on their table. The sorrow that wet her eyes quickly disappeared and replaced with something Gray was more accustomed with.

“K-k-kiss.”

“What?”

“I-i-indirect k-kiss!”

Gray wasn’t sure anymore if it were his words that brought her out of that dreadful memory.

“Oi! Were you even listening?!”

…

“I-I don’t remember you being this… h-heavy.” Gray grunted, expelling a long breath. Juvia wasn’t really that heavy but Gray wasn’t in the condition to carry her all the way to their hotel room after all that fighting with a weird sea creature and hating on Juvia’s former guild-mate.

“Juvia is heavy?” The Water Mage fell out of the bed Gray put her on, bawling her eyes out at his comment. Great. He managed to insult the sad drunk. Didn’t Erza warn him never to talk about a woman’s weight? Now, cue in the water works.

“Oi!” Gray aimed to pull her up and put her back to bed but Juvia surprised him when she pulled him down with her on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed, threw her arms around him and cried against his chest, mumbling about her endless efforts to lose weight.

“That’s not… you’re not… you’re not heavy. I was just… Forget what I said.”

But she kept crying into his chest, wetting his shirt with her river of tears. Gray let her, getting used to this Juvia – the sad drunk. He tried to soothe her, stroking her hair and patting her back. After her cries died down to just bouts of sobs, Juvia pulled away from Gray, but only far enough so she could look at him right into his onyx eyes. What she did next shocked Gray’s soul out of his body. Now, he had to add ‘hits people’ to Juvia’s drunken mannerisms.

“Why would Gray-sama not take advantage of Juvia?”

“What?!”

“Even when it’s just the two of us, Gray-sama wouldn’t make a move on Juvia.”

“I’m not that kind of guy.”

Gray could still feel the heat of Juvia’s palm on his cheek. Man, that woman’s slap was something. Undeniably, Juvia was one of the strongest wizards in Fairy Tail. But instead of getting mad, Gray was smiling. He was quite amused, honestly. Sober Juvia would never ever hit him like that.

Wow.

Then, sad drunk Juvia started hitting him again. The later ones didn’t have much strength and intention than the first slap. But they still hurt so Gray caught her wrists in each hand to stop her from striking him.

“Everyone’s hitting on Juvia but Gray-sama wouldn’t even make a move.” She accused between sniffs.

“W-w-what? Who?! Totomaru?” Gray could feel his blood boiling. He was right! He was right, all along! That guy was pretending to ‘get together’ when he was really planning on stealing Juvia away. What a prick! “When? When I left to take a leak?”

He wanted to hit himself for leaving Juvia alone with that bastard.

“Gray-sama was even making googly eyes with Totomaru-san.”

“What the hell! When did I ever do that?”

“Gray-sama never looked at Juvia with such passion.”

Of course, it was with passion, Gray thought. Passion to throw the guy off some building.

“I was glaring at that bastard!”

“Glaring?”

What were left from Juvia’s sobbing were occasional hiccups as she studied Gray for a moment, analyzing what he just said. Then, the hitting started again.

“Why wouldn’t Gray-sama pay attention to Juvia like that?”

Oh, hell. There was no reasoning out with a drunken woman. So, Gray pulled her back against him, wounded his arms around her so tightly that she couldn’t even move a muscle. She tried to wiggle her way out of his hold, to hit him some more he guessed, but Gray was determined and very much sobered up. What, from all the hits he took from her that would last him a lifetime? Any alcohol from his body was whooshed out by the first slap.

When the alcohol started to wear out and Juvia finally calmed down, Gray decided it was time he also gets some rest. He lifted Juvia off the floor, carrying her on both arms. His actions didn’t seem to startle her but quite the opposite effect. Juvia snuggled comfortably against his chest, mumbling something about warmth. Gray just wrote it off as drunken talk and gently lowered Juvia on the double mattress and tucked her in. She looked peaceful now that she was fast asleep. Finally, Gray could get himself some shut-eye. As he looked around to find his own place in the room to sleep for tonight, his eyes caught the glow on her tear-stricken face as the moonlight seeped through the window and hit her cheek. He dried the tears with the back of his hand, a bit guilty for causing those tears that tainted her beautiful face.

“Beautiful.” He whispered. “I don’t even know how it’s possible.” Gray knelt beside the bed, tucking a few loose strands of hair behind Juvia’s ear. “Everyday you grow even more beautiful.” But his smile was strained by something he’d been keeping to himself for a very long time. “So, if I make a move on you, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold back.”

Gray closed his eyes, every moment of him wanting to give in to his feelings played in his head. He took a deep breath to ease the burden he’d caged in his heart. He convinced himself he needed to be more patient. As soon as he opened them, Gray’s onyx eyes sought her lips. He started to lean in, to allow himself a taste of something he’d deprived himself. But when their lips were about to touch, a voice in his head had kept him from impulsively giving into his desire once again. It wasn’t right to steal a kiss from Juvia while she was asleep. He wasn’t that kind of guy. Sometimes, he’d hate himself for not being that kind of guy. But Juvia was too special for him to disrespect her like that. So, like always, Gray held himself back. He pressed a kiss on her forehead instead, rose to his height and slept in a corner of the room, as far away from Juvia as possible.

[writemekpop]

Breaking Point (Part 1) | Mark Lee

Pairing: Mark Lee x Reader and Jung Jaehyun x Reader

Summary: Everybody has a breaking point. When you lose your job and your boyfriend Mark wants a break... you just can't take it anymore. In your darkest hour, someone unexpected comes to your rescue. And it isn't Mark.

Genre: Angst

Word Count: 1.6k

Read Part 2 here

You unzip your daughter’s little puffer coat and sit her down at the back of the convenience store where you work.

“Now, if anything goes wrong, you call Mummy, OK?” you say. Jasmine nods absentmindedly, already absorbed in a game on her phone.

You feel the pang of guilt. You know she’s too young to be left alone, but babysitters are so damn expensive.  

Once you’ve had her recite your phone number three times – you can never be too safe – you walk to the front of the store.

“What’s my job today, Mrs Oh? Shelving?” You smile at the kind old lady who runs the store.

Mrs Oh pulls off her glasses, her face creased with tiredness. “Dear, I’m so sorry for making you come all the way up here.”

“What do you mean? I’m not late, am I?” Nervousness prickles over your skin.

“We’re going to have to let you go… We just can’t afford to have you anymore.” Her gaze is fixed on the floor.

You lean against the counter, suddenly feeling dizzy. You’re late on the rent – like two months late – and Jasmine has a school trip coming up. You literally can’t afford this right now.  

“Wait- please don’t fire me- you can pay me less, just…”

“I’m sorry dear, there’s nothing I can do.” The pity in Mrs. Oh’s face makes it hard to breathe.

You squeeze your fingernails into your palms, trying to keep your emotions under control. “I guess I should leave then…”

You start putting Jasmine’s arms back inside her jacket. She looks up at you, her little face falling when she sees your expression.

You should have told your boyfriend Mark about your money troubles, but you were too damn proud. Since Jasmine’s father Doyoung left, she only has you to look after her – only you – and you messed it all up. “We’re going home early today, baby,” you say.

Jasmine’s lip starts to tremble. It annoys you - crying is only going to make things worse. “Don’t cry, you hear me?” Frustrated, you yank her zip up too hard, and she starts bawling outright. Damn. You’re a terrible mother.

“Shhh. I’m sorry baby. Let’s get going.” You pick her up and dash to the exit.

As you drive home, you force yourself to take deep breaths. Jasmine’s sweet voice asks, “Are you okay, mummy?”

You bite your lip so hard it stings.

---

You push open your apartment door, setting Jasmine gently down. You feel like glass - like the tiniest thing could smash you to pieces. But you need to keep it together, for your daughter’s sake.

Your boyfriend Mark is sitting at the table. He stands up abruptly when you enter. Your heart swells at the sight of him, dressed in his silly Simpsons T-shirt, his dark hair still damp from the shower.

Your heart aches from the day’s events, but the sight of Mark makes you feel better. “I’ve had the worst day ever,” you say simply, walking over to him.

You wrap your arms around Mark’s strong body, pulling in his warmth. To your surprise, he’s stiff and unyielding. His arms stay glued to his side, not returning your hug.

Something’s wrong. You pull back a little, that horrible feeling welling up inside you again.

Mark’s lips are pressed into a tight line. “I’ve been thinking about… us… for a while now.” He takes a deep breath, and you realise you’ve stopped breathing. “I think we should take a break. And… I want to move out.” Your heart drops. Not today. Why the hell did it have to be today?

You look up and see Jasmine tottering towards you, one arm stuck in her coat that she tried to take off on her own. “Let me h-help you with that, baby girl,” you whisper. You get it off, and look at her with as much strength as you can muster. “Go to bed now, sweetie. It’s bedtime.”

“Will you and Marky read me a story?” your daughter asks. You feel like you’ve been punched in the guts. “N-not tonight, baby… just go to your room please.” You struggle to sound cheerful, painfully aware of Mark’s eyes on you.

You hear Mark stepping towards you and grit your teeth. Anger bubbles up inside you.

Jasmine is still dragging her feet, refusing to leave. “Bed. Right now.”

Mark puts his hand on your shoulder, and it makes you so furious that you shove it off without thinking. Oh no. Jasmine shouldn’t have seen that. You push her small shoulders towards her bedroom door. “This is the last warning, Jasmine.” Finally, she enters, and you click the door shut behind her, feeling relieved for just one moment.

The moment ends.

You turn to face Mark, balling your hands into fists. “I really can’t deal with this right now, Mark.” Your eyes sting with the tears you’re fighting to hold in.

Mark clenches his jaw. “You can’t just ignore me, Y/n. I’m trying to talk to you.” A hot shiver of anger rushes through you. He is being so selfish it makes you want to scream.

“Look, I’m sorry about how you’re feeling, Mark. But please, please can we talk about this tomorrow. I’m so tired, and today I got fire-”

“No!” Mark shouts, not letting you speak. “We’re talking about this right now.”

You turn towards your shared bedroom, but Mark grabs your arm, stopping you in your tracks. His grip is tight, and it nearly pushes you over the edge.

“I can’t take this anymore, Mark!” You rip his hand off you and stride to the front door. Suddenly, the apartment is choking you. You need to step outside, just for a minute. You are inches away from breaking for good.

You slam your front door behind you and slide down it, till you’re sat on the cold floor. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. But it doesn’t work, you still feel horrible.

You suddenly hear a man’s voice from beside you. It’s not Mark’s. It’s lower, and smoother.

“Hey there. Welcome to the sitting-on-the-floor-in-the-middle-of-the-night club.” His voice has a quiet humour. You look beside you, and see a handsome young man, with curly chestnut hair and large eyes that are the exact same brown as Jasmine’s.

He sees your expression and frowns. “Are you alright?” he asks.

You realise that you haven’t been asked that in a long time. Your lip starts to shake. You know that you’re supposed to answer - ‘I’m alright’. You look down at your trembling hands, and try and force the words out, but you can’t.

And just like that, you break.

“No! I’m not alright and I haven’t been for a long time.” You know this man is a complete stranger, but you can’t stop. “I lost my job, I can’t pay the rent, my boyfriend broke up with me, and I have a four-year-old girl who is sitting in her room, wondering why her terrible mother has abandoned her!”

For a long moment, there is silence. You finally gain the strength to look up at the stranger and see… real worry in his face. Not embarrassment, boredom or awkwardness. Real, honest concern.

And all the toughness in you just melts away. You lean onto his shoulder and weep, your body shaking with the force of it, all the tension of the past few months flowing out of you.

You cry until his jacket is sodden with your tears, and your eyes are red and swollen. He stays totally still the whole time, his shoulder reassuringly solid.

Afterwards, you feel strangely hollow, like you cried till everything inside you came out. Your head is pounding and you’re weak with tiredness, but the knots inside you are gone.

You know that Jasmine, Mark and all your troubles are still waiting behind your door, but in this moment, you feel peace.

You hear the man’s sweet voice again. “I wish everyone would answer the question ‘Are you alright’ like that.” He chuckles.

You laugh for the first time since you can remember. The sound is croaky from all your crying, but it mixes with the melodious sound of the man’s laughter, and you feel almost happy.

“I’m Jaehyun, by the way,” he says. “And you are?”

“Y/n,” you reply. Your nose runs, so you have to wipe it with your sleeve, and you suddenly realise how terrible you must look. The thought makes you laugh again. You feel like you’re floating, like this moment isn’t real. Like this charming guy isn’t real.

“What are you doing sitting out here, then?” you ask him gently.

Jaehyun’s beautiful dimples surface in a smile, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He opens his mouth to speak, but then closes it again abrubtly. His face is shadowed with a sadness you can’t quite understand.

Then, his happy demeanour returns, like curtains being drawn shut. “You probably have to get back now,” he says. You realise you’ve spent ages out here, but you’re dying to know what he isn’t telling you.

“I guess you’re right,” you admit. It’s clear that he won’t talk anymore now.

You meet his long-lashed eyes. “Thank you. I think I needed that.” You blush at the thought that this man seen a part of you that no one else has, not even Mark.

Jaehyun grasps your hand, and you feel a flutter inside you that you haven’t felt in a while.

“I think I needed it too.”

Part 2 Spoiler

In the next few weeks, you become closer to the mysterious and charming Jaehyun. With him, you’re finally starting to feel happy again. But when Mark wants to get back together, it’s hard not to fall back into the arms of the man that you’ve always loved. Who will you choose?  

READ PART 2 HERE

[deniigi]

I WOULD LOVE A DAVE FIC !!!

Excellent. Here’s for you and  @dudewhereismy-tardis

I am putting most of it under the cut because it is LONG

Dave (Daredevil copycat from Inimitable Verse) POV. Reminder that Dave is not his real name, but one given to him disdainfully by Wade in this verse.

Title: rises in the east

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

“Dad.”

What?

“Dad.”

What time was it?

“Your phone’s ringing,” Charlie said. “It’s the boss.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“Give it here,” Dave rasped, throwing an arm over his eyes.

“Mom said you’re gonna hurt your back sleepin’ on the couch,” Charlie reported as she shoved his phone into his palm.

“My couch, my rules,” Dave said. He crammed the phone to his ear. “Ansel here,” he said.

Charlie wanted to stay home and if she was a year older, Dave would have let her. But alas. The last time he’d let her stay home, she’d texted her friend Jesse who had become unspeakably jealous and had appealed to her own parents for such freedoms, and now the whole block thought that Dave recklessly abandoned his daughter when he went to the goddamn grocery store.

All that for a can of Sprite, man.

This neighborhood was off the fuckin’ charts sometimes.

Case in point: Dani standing in front of him in the lobby with her hands on her hips, telling him that he needed to wear a tighter t-shirt or to start flexing because they were losing business.

“Dani, I’m an instructor,” he reminded her. “I’m hired to do classes.”

“It’s two hours,” Dani said. “Take the damn fliers.”

But he didn’t want to?

Dani blinked at him slowly from under her headband.

 --

 Charlie was having a great time and Dave was glad for that because he was not. He was being stared at by every person in the street as if they’d never seen a dude with muscles before.

It was the shirt.

He knew it was the shirt.

And possibly his nipples. Smashing the brochures high enough against his chest to cover them wasn’t going well and the highlighter teal underarmor Dani had forced upon him left very little to the imagination here.

There wasn’t anything else to do but let the poor things live their best lives.

“Dad, gimme more,” Charlie said.

She tugged at the brochures covering what was left of his dignity.

Blessed child, who hurt you?

“Where did the others go?” he asked her.

Charlie pointed across the road to a gaggle of ladies leaning out from their stoop, smiling.

Ah.

Yes.

Them.

“Let’s try for someone who looks more like a bro,” he told his offspring.

Charlie blinked up at him.

“Why?” she asked.

Oh, baby.

“Because they’re an easy mark,” he said. “Go up and say ‘my dad can take you’ and send ‘em my way, okay?”

Charlie’s face went from confused to ready to kill instantly.

This was her game face. This was her ‘I’m gonna wreck this goalee’s teeth’ face.

Dave shouldn’t have been proud of her, really; her teachers said that she was becoming argumentative and obstinate in the classroom. But there was just something there in the fact that his kid sure as shit wasn’t no sheep that made his chest feel big, wide, and full of hot air.

“I’m on it,” Charlie said.

He gave her three brochures and let her scramble off to the other side of the sidewalk and then turned to meet the eye of a family with a father with neat hair and the beginnings of triceps peeking out from under his sleeves.

“You lookin’ for a gym, sir?” he asked.

The guy looked his way and eyed him up.

He took a flier on his way past.

 --

 “Excuse me?”

“One second, man,” Dave said, doing the rock-shuffle to keep all the fliers on the table from blowing away.

“Excuse me.”

“Hey, I said just a sec,” Dave snapped.

He turned back and found himself staring into the dark eyes of a bald man with olive skin and deep wrinkles in his forehead.

And Dave knew him.

Holy shit.

Dave knew him.

Fuck.

God.

Jesus, Lord.

“I am so sorry,” he started.

“DAD.”

Ch—Charlie?

He looked down and sure enough, holding Rudolph ‘Diamond’ De Luca’s massive bearpaw was his very own daughter. De Luca made her wiry, suntanned limbs seem like unbaked pretzels.

He was so much bigger than he’d seemed on TV all those years ago.

“This your kid?” De Luca asked.

Jesus.

“She is. I’m so sorry,” Dave said, “Did she—she didn’t bite you or anything, did she?”

“Dad,” Charlie whined. “Don’t tell ‘im that.”

“I’ll pay for whatever damage—” Dave continued.

De Luca blinked at him impossibly slowly with long dark eye lashes. He turned his face slowly back down towards Charlie.

“You sure this is your old man?” he asked.

Wh—

Wait.

What the hell did that mean?

“That’s him,” Charlie moaned. “He’s just bein’ dumb. Dad. Stop bein’ dumb. This dude’s the real deal. He’ll fight you in a heartbeat.”

Dave grabbed his child before she could cause any more damage. She made a fuss, but let go of De Luca’s mitt. Dave shoved her behind him, just in case this situation got any more tense than it needed to be.

De Luca lifted an eyebrow at that and then brought his face back up to Dave’s.

“Who’s gym?” he asked.

What?

Oh.

“Spitfire,” Dave said. “We’re, uh, just about there, on the—”

“I know where you’re about,” De Luca said.

Dave didn’t know what to say. De Luca held his eye.

Oh, god.

This wasn’t going well.

“How old are you, son?” De Luca asked.

FFFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffuck.

“38,” Dave said.

“And your baby girl?” De Luca asked, gesturing with his chin down at Charlie.

“I’m 12,” Charlie told him brightly.

“Hm,” De Luca said.

He shifted his weight back and wrapped a few fingers around his chin, surveying Dave’s whole body like he was the statue of David with a knee injury.

Dave became intimately aware of his nipples again.

“Not bad,” De Luca said.

Oh, thank god.

“Thank you, sir,” Dave said. “Is there, uh, somethin’ I could help you with?”

“You got an accent,” De Luca noted.

Uh?

“A good accent,” De Luca said. “Whereabouts did you grow up?”

Oh.

Well.

Dave could actually just point to it from here. The condo was still standing, despite all building codes and actual alien invasions. At this point, the only thing that was gonna take it down were the rampant, rapidly mutating, borderline feral gangs of chickens that roamed its halls.

Not that anyone spoke about them.

No, that was inviting trouble to your doorstep.

“The chicken coop?” De Luca said.

The one and only.

“Bless you, you poor fuck.”

Yeah, that tended to be the usual reaction.

De Luca laughed.

“You’re a funny guy, uh,” he squinted at Dave’s nametag, “Ansel?”

How could a word sound so wrong in someone’s mouth?

Where had Dave’s life gone wrong that his own name sounded so foreign and distant to his ears?

“Actually,” he said, swallowing, “My uh, my friends call me ‘Dave.’”

De Luca’s head snapped right up and slowly, a grin spread across his face.

“Oh, now, that’s a good name for ya,” he said. “You look like a Davy.”

Hng.

Diamond De Luca thought he looked like a ‘Davy.’

Diamond De Luca thought he looked like a ‘Davy.’

Welp.

Time to get that birth certificate changed.

“Listen, Davy,” De Luca said casually, “Your baby girl there was tellin’ me that your boss has you out here like dancin’ monkey; is that true?”

Fffffffffff.

Technically yes?

“It’s even his day off,” Charlie whispered.

Dave wrapped a hand over her face.

“It’s fine,” he said. “It happens. Folks’ve been sick lately. I don’t normally do this kinda thing.”

De Luca’s face said that that was real cute. Real, real cute, honey.

“Well,” he said, “Let’s just say it like this. Where you work don’t gotta be where you train.”

Oh.

Was he offering--?

“If you decide to drop by, tell the guy at the desk Rudy sent you,” De Luca said. “Your kid’s real sweet, Davy. She can come too, lord knows the damn place is a daycare at this point.”

“Thank? You?” Dave stuttered.

“Don’t mention it,” De Luca said.

He left. Dave watched him waltz down the block and wave at the gals collected on the stoop at the end of it and felt a little lightheaded.

“Dad?”

Not right now, champ.

“Dad? Is he famous or somethin’?”

HHHHHHHHHHNG.

 --

 Back when Dave had been 14 and scraping the tips of his fingers into callouses on the old guitar he’d found tossed into a dumpster in the Upper West Side, he’d had to compete with the sound of the couple fighting in the apartment next door and with the radio the old man downstairs always had playing on his fire-escape window.

The old man downstairs was a real hard-ass. Always slammed a broom into the ceiling, scaring the shit out of Mom and Dad and sister and auntie. Dave had never seen him not smoking, nor had he ever seen him without suspenders.

The man was a retired plumber, apparently. And while Jim Beam was his main vice, his passion was boxing.

To the tune of chords picked out of an out-of-tune guitar, Dave had listened to tinny commentators oohing and awing over match after match, until finally, when sleep wouldn’t come one night, Dave had snuck out of the room he’d shared with Flora. He’d settled down on the living room couch, next to his old man splayed out in the recliner.

Dad had lifted his eyes slowly his way and told him that he should have been in bed.

Dave had told him that he couldn’t sleep because the couple next door was makin’ up from their daily afternoon argument and Dad had just sighed.

He’d let Dave stay up with him and the TV in the living room had fuzzed and rattled away, making sounds really familiar to Dave at that point.

Boxing was a sport that he had, up until that night, left to his father. But for the lack of anything else to talk about that wouldn’t make his dad look at him with disappointment in his eyes for all that damn music-playin’ and eyeliner, he’d asked who the guy on the screen was.

And that was how he’d learned about Diamond De Luca.

About Kenny Varga. Bert ‘The Albatross’ Kleinfeld.

But there was one guy who Dad had mentioned was his favorite rookie and, now it felt both kind of silly and surreal that the name had been spoken so casually in Dave’s home growing up.

Dad had been puttin’ money on Battlin’ Jack Murdock back when Dave had been a little kid.

He told Dave, disappointedly, after a few weeks of Dave getting up at 12:30 to come out and watch boxing with him that he’d really thought that Murdock was gonna be the next big thing.

Guy was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, Dad had said, shaking his head. But wolves that got too wily got put down and Battlin’ Jack had been found in an alley, bled out in the arms of his reason for fighting.

Dad said it was a fuckin’ shame that Murdock had gone out with a slug in his head.

A fuckin’ shame, he said.

Dave didn’t remember him every saying that Murdock’s reason for fighting was a blind ten-year-old, but the thought was now merged with that memory.

That, in itself, was merged with the memory of Dave’s phone ringing one night was Addie’s name on the Caller ID. Her voice was shaking when she told Dave that the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen had just called her from an unknown number.

He had their baby.

He’d snatched her and Jesse out of the arms of two men looking for girls to be used in businesses Dave didn’t want to think about.

He’d saved them.

The devil had heard their screams when no one else had and he’d come flying out of the dark.

He’d held the girls in the light of a bodega and he’d coached Charlie through typing Addie’s number into his phone and then he’d taken it from there.

Addie was too scared to go meet the devil on her own. Mason hadn’t been around yet and so Dave had thrown on his shoes and had meet her on 46th.

The devil was on 48th, swinging his boots with both girls in his lap.

They were all singing. The devil had pretended like he didn’t know the words to Britney Spears’s ‘Toxic.’

Matt Murdock was under that mask.

Knowing that this whole time, he’d been the one dragging a stick against the fences and bricks of Hell’s Kitchen was almost impossible to digest.

And Dave had worked with him now.

He’d seen that smirk and that notorious jaw unwrapped from its red armor and that didn’t make reconciling the murdered boxer’s son with the man who’d saved his daughter any easier.

Charlie hadn’t remembered him.

She thought that Matt Murdock was a weird fuckin’ dude, and granted, he was a weird fuckin’ dude, but Dave had to say: he was grateful.

Matt Murdock not only brought home his baby, but he’d given Dave purpose in a life that had become consumed by the daily grind.

Matt Murdock had smiled in his direction, never quite into his eyes, and he’d passed along the baton with next to no fight.

Dave wasn’t him.

Dave would never be him.

Matt Murdock wasn’t just some poor murdered boxer’s blind son. He was the product of some serious poverty. Some serious violence. A whole fuckin’ cult induction, if he was to be believed. And Dave wasn’t so sure if he was always to be believed.

But he still appreciated Matt Murdock for what he’d done and what he’d made for this part of the city.

He’d made Daredevil.

And he shared that with Dave.

Dave’s own dad’s approval hadn’t felt like the honor that had come with Matt Murdock’s covered eyes and curled lip slowly relaxing as he’d lifted his face up from Dave’s knees.

He hadn’t been inspecting.

He’d been listening. Dipping his fingers into the blood in Dave’s heart and deciding if he was worth his salt.

Matt Murdock, son of Battlin’ Jack Murdock, was a product of Fogwell’s Gym in the Kitchen.

Diamond De Luca, retired heavyweight, was a product of Fogwell’s Gym.

The stars had aligned. And Dave had stood in their path.

And he wasn’t wasting the chance that they offered him.

--

Charlie was stoked to be allowed to come to the gym with him. She usually went to Jesse’s house, where Rubes would look after both girls for a few hours.

But De Luca had said that it was okay for her to come along, and so he figured, why not?

Fogwell’s was an institution in the Kitchen. All kids deserved to know their own history.

“I’m gonna fight Fogwell himself,” Charlie announced halfway down the block.

“You will not,” Dave told her. “Because I’m not tryin’ to get thrown out before we even get started here, alright?”

Charlie whined.

He ignored it.

 --

 This wasn’t the first time he’d been to the gym. Matt Murdock slipped in and out of it when he was in the city and he’d taken the whole team there once or twice. But it was different to be there in the presence of the daytime crew.

Dave felt very small in their presence.

The whole place was full of people pounding bags and swearing and shouting at kids who were tumbling all over the rows of benches set off to the side of the bags.

It was not what Dave had been expecting.

He told the guy at the front that ‘Rudy’ had recommended that he stop by and got a nod and a wave.

“He’s probably upstairs,” the receptionist said. “Go pick a bag, I’ll give him a buzz.”

 --

 Charlie refused to join the kids on the benches because apparently that was ‘only for babies, Dad.’ She wanted to hold the bag.

She was not, in one thousand years, holding the bag.

Dave wrapped her hands and let her go at it first to ‘soften it up’ for him.

De Luca caught him adjusting the demon-child’s thumbs before they ended up at the hospital again and laughed.

“Davy-boy, you made it,” he said.

Dave snapped up straight to attention.

“I did,” he said.

De Luca laughed again.

“Relax, kid,” he said. “Damn, you’re tight wound. Don’t worry, we won’t tell no one you’re sleepin’ with the enemy.”

Ahahahaha.

Please don’t.

These people were jacked. Dave was but a kickboxing instructor.

“Here, bub, lemme see what your pops has got,” De Luca said, shooing Charlie out of the way.

And this was the moment of truth.

 --

 De Luca seemed surprised when Dave finally laid off the bag. And Dave couldn’t read his expression for a million bucks.

“Uh?” he tried. “Not good?”

De Luca blinked himself back to earth.

“Oh, no,” he said. “It’s just uh, you fight a little like someone I know.”

Please don’t say a mobster.

Please don’t say a mobster.

“Kid used to live around here; name’s Matt Murdock,” De Luca said. “You know him?”

Did—

Did he know him?

QUICK. Answer the question.

You’re takin’ too long.

He’s gonna—

“S’alright if you don’t,” De Luca said. “I was just sayin’. Kid was like one of my own.”

He—

What?

“Yeah, boy fought like the devil like his daddy before ‘im,” De Luca said. “He’s the only one Fogwell lets call him ‘Grandpa.’ He’s about your age, actually. God, I’m old.”

AHAHAHAHAHA.

Please change the subject.

“You’re not that old,” Dave said. “I think I might have heard the name.”

Charlie looked up at him, baffled at the hedging.

He pleaded with her with his eyes not to say a damn word.

“Yeah, he’s somethin’, left here for San Francisco. Didn’t even say good-bye, the little shit,” De Luca sniffed. “Came back last year all ‘I’m gettin’ married’ and I swear to god, he’s picked up some kid. Just between you and me, pal, the old guard here have been talkin’, and we think that someone missed out on the sex ed talk, if you know what I’m sayin’.”

Oh.

Poor Sam.

He wasn’t even there to scream from the mountaintops that Red was a last resort for him at best.

“I’m just sayin’,” De Luca said with a shrug that spoke far more of supreme irritation than nonchalance, “He coulda just told us. I’m just sayin’.”

Any more ‘just sayin’s’ and Diamond De Luca was gonna go find a wall to bury them in.

“Did you, uh, have any feedback?” Dave blurted out as the guy started mumbling.

“Hm?”

“Feedback,” Dave repeated, waving a gloved hand at the bag.

“Oh. Yeah, loads, kid. You got all the muscles and not a damn lick of memory, here, lemme show you.”

Crisis averted.

Thank god.

 --

 D2: hey uh, DD?

SM: DAVE

S2: DAVEEEE

S3: DAVE

SM: what’s up man?

D2: nothing I was just trying to get ahold of DD?

BT: He’s trying to get Kirsten to give up her dreams of an indoor office pond rn. Can I help?

SM: I want an indoor office pond

S3: omg same

D2: uh yeah actually could you just tell him I met a guy named De Luca the other day and he might want to give him a call?

BT: de Luca?

D2: yeah

BT: okay sure thing

D2: thanks

BT: I’ll go see if I can get a word in edgewise.

SM: good fucking luck

S2: I hate fish

S3: leave this place and never return

S2: I HATE FISH

DD: WHAT

SM: oh shit that was quick

D2: oh. I was just saying that I met Diamond De Luca the other day?

SM: ?? Who’s that?

DD: oh no

S2: ??????????????

DP (´｡✪ω✪｡´): who the fuck is that?

DD: are you still with him?

D2: no?

D2: he caught me out fliering and invited me to Fogwell’s

D2: and when I got there he mentioned my stance was like yours and he uh

D2: got a little distracted

DD: what kind of distracted?

D2: He thinks Sam’s your bastard kid

BT: GODDAMNIT

DD: FOR FUCKS SAKE

BT: First Mrs. Jones, now this guy?? TEACH.

DD: These people have zero faith in me I swear to god.

DD: like come ON man. I did sex ed in the same class as Angie he knows I’m too catholic for that shit

DP (´｡✪ω✪｡´): I looked this man up and he looks like an Italian nate with less hair

SM: wh

DP (´｡✪ω✪｡´): okay you’re right he looks nothing like nate

SM: that

SM: that’s not even slightly helpful, wade, thanks not at all. Hey who’s angie?

DD: long story. Rudy’s daughter

S2: RED YOU FUCKED A BOXERS DAUGHTER?? That’s a million dollar baby man

DD: I

DD: what?

DD: no? Why would I fuck angie she’s like my sister?

S2: oh nvm

SM: 😬😬😬

S3: I am confused ❤

D2: you should probably call him, friend

DD: on it. thanks for the notice

DD: hey what’s your fuckin name again?

S2: f

S3: f

SM: f

D2: It’s Ansel

DD: Adams?

D2: not the photographer. Ansel West.

SM: WEST

S2: OMG

S3: guys don’t

SM: I BET YOURE A SUNSET DAVE

S2: YOU EVER FEEL CALLED TO THE PRAIRIE DAVE???

SM: YOU’RE A&W, DAVE!!

S2: ROOT BEER ROOT BEER

D2: ah yes. Middle school. I remember this feeling.

--

Dave laid his phone on his chest and stared back up at the ceiling.

It was never dull, this new life he’d settled into.

He said a prayer for Murdock and rolled onto his side.

It was still his goddamn couch.

 --

[sweetcurlyhaz]

Annabeth Chase: Ravenclaw or Slytherin?

This is so hard. So, before we start: English isn’t my first language, so sorry for my grammar errors. Then, this is MY opinion, if you have another one, you can comment and talk about it. Let’s start step by step. 

-Why Annabeth isn’t an Hufflepuff? I think everyone agree that Annabeth can’t be an Hufflepuff. So move on. 

- Could Annabeth be a Gryffindor? This question is nice, and I’ll show you why Annabeth can’t be a Gryffindor. 

1- Let’s compare Hermione and Annabeth. They’re very similar. They’re smart, clever, and are respectively the best friends of our protagonist. They’re also  stubborn and proud. But there are some differences, example: on the way they use their intelligence. Hermione is more practical: she don’t know something, she goes to the library. The golden trio must solve something they don’t know? Hermione goes to library. She’s smart, but also recognize that she can’t know everything. She always learn something new in every book. While the Annabeth’s intelligence is different. She never asks for help, she never searches in books the answer. She uses her brain, and thinks a lot, like in MoA. Annabeth, being daughter of Athena, prefer to think and to invent a strategy. She’s more schedule. Of course she’s read a lot, otherwise she wouldn’t know all these things, but when it comes a problem she prefers to cling only on her intelligence. I think they’re both have these differences due to their personality: Hermione is more insecure, and she knows deeply she can’t know everything, and we can say her intelligence is more practical. Annabeth is proud and confidence of her intelligence, and we can say that her intelligence is more strategic and “abstract” (take this adjective with a grain of salt. Abstract stands for “I don’t search in book, I use my mind”). 

2- Being a leader. Annabeth, we know very well, in HOO is the leader of the seven. But she’s not a leader because she want to, but because otherwise Percy and Jason could actually kill each other (I’m kidding). I mean she is the leader because everyone know she’s more strategic and keeps everyone concentrate. She have to take matters into her own hands, before something tragical happens. I think these are not qualities of a Gryffindor leader. A Gryffindor is a leader because of his/her glory and sense of justice. Annabeth is not a leader because of this things.

3- Another proof of why she isn’t a Gryffindor is the way she refuse to follow Luke. Luke was her friend, she was loyal to him. But after he change she doesn’t follow him anymore. Then, Luke goes to her and asks her for help. She doesn’t trust him. She loose her faith in him. So she doesn’t listen to him. Now, Gryffindors are very stubborn and they don’t forgive easily, but they also have a nobile heart. A Gryffindor would never abandon someone who needs help, they’re too knightly and they have a nobile heart. 

-Is Annabeth a Ravenclaw? Oh, gods. This is hard. Annabeth has all the reason to be a Ravenclaw, really. She’s intelligence, wise, creative (She want to be and architect). But there’s something missing. Annabeth has not an abstract mind. Let’s compare her with Luna. Luna has a very abstract mind, she’s creative, she’s dreamy, and she thinks a lot before doing something. Annabeth is not like that:

1- Annabeth is too impulsive. Okay, she is intelligence, clever, and knows always what to do in a fight and she always has a strategy (remember in the first book when they’re playing capture the flag: “Athena always has a plan” GODS I LOVE HER). But this is only when it comes to practical things: in feelings she isn’t so rational. She’s impulsive, almost aggressive sometimes, and she scares people (like Jason in The Lost Hero, lol). Ravenclaw are more pragmatic in every part of their life, even sentimental life. They rarely get controlled by their feelings, they rather be rational than being impulsive. Or at least, this is the way I understand Ravenclaw.

2- Annabeth hasn’t an open mind. Don’t get me wrong, now I'll explain myself with an example: Tyson and Annabeth. Annabeth at first doesn’t like Tyson, she treats him bad and without respect. This is because Tyson is a cyclops, and Annabeth is scared of them. First, this way of behavior isn’t rational, she only follows her instinct. Second, Annabeth has the same problem Hermione has with Luna. She has prejudice. That’s because Annabeth can’t be a Ravenclaw, her mind is too schedule, too much organized, and she never try too see Tyson’s point o view. Ravenclaw are open minded, they’re mind are always in process of new things and they don’t have problem to have a discussion. Annabeth mind doesn’t process like that. It’s not a bad thing, she just needs more time to assimilate this kind of things that touch her personally. Another example: when she’s angry or scared she tends to run away, she avoid the discussion. Example: in the battle of labyrinth where Annabeth avoid to discuss with Percy about Luke, about Rachel and about the last line of the prophecy. 

3-Annabeth gets angry with the Sphinx. In the Battle of Labyrinth Annabeth gets really really angry with the Sphinx because her questions were silly and, like, offended her intelligence. This is because these questions were just something that you know, you don’t have to think about it: or you know the answer or not. Annabeth want from the Sphinx a guessing game, something that challenges her mind. If in one hand this behavior can be of a Ravenclaw, at other hand it’s almost of a Slytherin. She gets offended, and she gets angry: the Sphinx touch her pride and her wisdom, which is the only “power” she has. It’s not also the silly game, but the fact that this game offend her pride. And we know that Annabeth is really proud. 

So...what’s Annabeth? I think now you know what I think about her. Yes, she’s a Slytherin. And now I’ll tell you why. At first I thought “Annabeth is a Ravenclaw”, but she has some Slytherin behavior that we can’t avoid.

1-She’s proud. Slytherin are well known to be proud, they prefer kill themseves rather than accept they’re wrong. Same as Annabeth. She’s a daughter of Athena and is normal to her thinking she’s always right. She’s stubborn, she doesn’t change idea easily, until she actually smash her face to a close door. Example: her relationship with Luke. Annabeth always think that Luke can be save, that he’s not evil, that he’s good. But when she see what he did to Selena she cries and she figures it out what he really becomes. Deeply she knows Percy was right about Luke, but admit she was wrong (to Percy, by the way) is like stabbing her pride. Being proud is not only a Slytherin thing, even Gryffindors can be proud. But Annabeth is proud is more similar to the Slytherin. If someone touch Annabeth’s pride she gets angry, she doesn’t want to discuss and she run away. I think this is a Slytherin attitude.

2- Again, I’m sad there’s no good Slytherin to compare her with. We only have Regulus, and I'll make him enough. They’re a lot similar, especially in loyalty. So, Regulus is on the side of Voldemort, he thinks Voldy has great purposes. But when Regulus finds out how much wiling Voldemort was to go, he turns his back to him. He agrees with his thoughts, but not with his measures. His loyalty ends in the moment Voldemort goes against Regulus’ principles. They’re not compatible in that way. So he goes against him, and he died trying to. Annabeth does the same with Luke. They’re friends at first, Annabeth even thought she was in love with him, but when she realizes what Luke does to achieve his goals she goes against him. Yeah, she never thought he was evil, but this doesn’t change anything. She stands for what she thinks is right, even if the purpose of Luke was interesting and attractive to her. Her loyalty to Luke ends in the same way of Regulus and Voldemort. Slytherin loyalty is selective and ends in the moment one goes against the goals and principles of the other.

About loyalty, we said that Slytherin loyalty is restrictive only to a small group. And that’s valid for Annabeth too. It might seem she’s loyal to everyone, but are we sure? She never says what she feels to anyone except Percy. She hides things that worries her from the seven, except Percy. She doesn’t trust Romans, but she’s trying. Her loyalty is very restrictive and hard to achieve. We know really well she has trust issues.

3- Annabeth fatal law: hubris. And that’s said all. She thinks she can do better than gods, that she can do a restart of the world with no wars, no poverty. She feels the same of Luke, that she can change the world in better because she’s better than everyone else. I don’t want to sound, well, too drastic, but these thoughts remember me Voldemort. Slytherin are ambitious, they think they’re better than everyone and they’re quite arrogant sometimes. Annabeth fits perfectly this category. 

4-She’s ambitious. Annabeth want to be an architect and she’s sure she will be one. She want to be recognize by everyone, leave an imprint to the world, be remember. This is so Slytherin, right? Having a purpose, being ambitious and be faithful only to this. We know she want to built something permanent also for personal reason, but we have to notice this part of her. 

5- She want to impress people. She really care of the opinion of people she cares about. And doesn’t want to disappoint anyone, because she feels it like a personal failure. Example: In MoA when Athena is angry with her, the goddess says she is disappointed by Annabeth. This opinion (fuck you Athena, you make sad our Annabeth) almost corrode her in the inside. She said she always try to make Athena proud of her. This kind of behavior makes me remember Draco. Even Draco cares a lot on what their parents think of him, he change for them, he do what they wanted him to do. Annabeth is quite the same, but she’s not a coward like Draco, so she’ll never change for Athena.

So, to recap, Annabeth has both Ravenclaw and Slytherin qualities. But her character has more qualities and defects of the Slytherin house. She has all of them: ambitious, intelligence, she want to be respected and she want fame. I think people don’t want her in Slytherin because Annabeth is a good person...I mean, you could be good and be in Slytherin, too. Unfortunately Slytherins are saw in this way for the picture and the stereotype Rowling create around them. Well, adding Annabeth in the Slytherin house can break down these stereotypes :)

So, this is what I think, tell me your opinion in the comments and reblog if you like this! Kiss x

[auspiciousinformant]

Core Character Ranking - No Straight Roads

At this point with the game having been out for well over four and a half months, I figure that with having a small piece of fiction under my belt, and with the fandom having cooled down from the initial release but still hot enough for content to steadily be coming out from the fanbase, now is a good time for me to share my thoughts on No Straight Roads - rather, what I call the Core Characters of No Straight Roads.

I call them this because they are the collective protagonist main characters and antagonistic bosses - not filling up one bucket or another quite satisfactory. I might even make this into a series if anyone cares enough to hear my thoughts on other pieces of fiction. If you’re interested, continue below the line.

Oh, also, spoilers for No Straight Roads if you still care about that.

Disclaimer before continuing onwards - I’ve never actually played No Straight Roads! I’m not exactly a person with enough wealth to throw at my own interests and hobbies, but I feel I’ve absorbed enough through culture osmosis, 100% walkthroughs of the game, and other people’s interpretations of the game to be able to make my own informed opinions on the characters.

Also, this isn’t a “bosses” ranking list - this is a character ranking list. Meaning that individuals are going to be ranked rather than the whole. For example, Sayu will be divided into the four members behind Sayu (hereafter refered to as “Team Sayu”) as well as Sayu herself. This also means I won’t fully go on the gameplay mechanics as I don’t have enough experience with it to make a fully informed decision. I will talk about what I’ve seen though.

With that in mind, we’ll be starting as all of these lists usually do, from the bottom ranking to the top: ________________________________________________________________ 20. Eve

Now, this may come as a shock, but I absolutely despise divas. Eve was entertaining enough, but through her videos she was only relatable and likable to me before she and Zuke broke up. Mostly because I could relate with her self-loathing and her found happiness.

Still... setting someone’s hair on fire? And then being confused as to why that happened? Then completely blaming the victim and using that mistake as fuel to shut out any other potential kindred relationship for the future? I’ve seen people who do that; it’s pathetic at best and annoying to see at worst. Thankfully, due to Zuke, she does eventually come around.

Her music and boss fight are interesting enough I suppose. I like how the perspective changes and I adore when you have to switch over to Mayday and it becomes a fully chaotic mess of limbs, doubt, hatred, and rage. I live for that chaotic aesthetic.

Otherwise, she’s just... the weakest character to me in No Straight Roads.

Maybe she’ll Eve-ntually earn my respect in supplementary materials.  ________________________________________________________________ 19. Sofa

The first member of Team Sayu I’m mentioning and he’s this low on the list. Ouch. Not to say that I hate him, the hate started and ended with Eve - he, along with the others don’t really have much of a personality canonically that I can see to judge him on. But in terms of his design, I’ve never been much of a fan of “overweight and silly” outside of Doctor Eggman/

Do not take this the wrong way. I am in NO way fatshaming ANYONE.

I just have never liked that design in fictional characters. See Hifumi Yamada from “Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc” for more on what I mean

Still, he’s a core member of Team Sayu and from the fanfiction I’ve read he’s one of the better characters to write with. Maybe if we got a spinoff or other related materials, he’d go up a few numbers in rank, but as it stands, he’s the weakest of the group.

Sofa-r so good, let’s move on before these puns go too far. ________________________________________________________________ 18. Mayday Yeah. I’m not a huge fan of Mayday herself. Hotheaded protagonists are fine here and there, but she’s so hot-headed I’m surprised that she didn’t have the fire aesthetic as well. I guess with it all being taken by Tatiana, they could only give her a warm color scheme so it wasn’t redundant.

Her gameplay seems fine, if a bit basic. The heavy hitter is also a hothead, who could guess. I kinda like how someone as scrawny and small as her also has the biggest heart and temper. Also the gags that come from her relating to the other bosses are hysterical and make for good protagonist material. Still, outside of her interaction with DK West, Zuke, and Team Sayu, as well as the very end of the game, there’s a lack of enough “heroic” traits that makes Mayday fall flat from just shy of ranking higher.

I don’t have a clever pun, joke, or one-liner for Mayday, so let’s go to the next person in my list. ________________________________________________________________ 17. DJ Subatomic Supernova I have never really liked disco or dance music at the best of times, but I love space. So what happens when you mix something I feel lukewarm to, something I absolutely adore, and combine it with a trait about a person I absolutely also despise?

You get space helmet man who likes fresh ice cream and goes on for minutes about how great he is and how everyone else around him are plebeians - not knowing how pretentious the stage name “Subatomic Supernova” is.

If I had made this list when I had first seen No Straight Roads, he’d be only just ahead of Eve just because I dislike her so much more than I hate egotism of DJ Subatomic Supernova. But he’s now gone higher on the list since he’s grown on me thanks to the fandom and me realizing the game is parodying the stereotypes and the industry of music. Also, Zuke’s drum solo is AMAZING with the EDM version of DJ SS’s theme. He’s even gone so far as to become half of my second favorite paring in the NSR fandom!

Shine on, you funky space man. ________________________________________________________________

16. DK West Ewah! Older of the two brothers by age, younger of the two by maturity. I absolutely love this goofball. His shadow powers are absolutely amazing to watch and while I normally don’t like rap outside of Eminem (and even then only select tracks), he grew on me a lot. He’s so unique and the culture he’s based on from what I understand was researched with a lot of respect and care.

I’ve heard (and seen) that the third fight ramps up the difficulty way too much, but considering that Mayday is attempting to repair a broken household, it makes sense it’d be such a heavy undertaking from a gameplay and story point.

Also DK West Encounter 1 is a smash hit, telling us everything we really need to know between DK West and Zuke while being an absolutely great song that reminds me of Epic Rap Battles of History for anyone that remembers that.

He overshadows his previous competition by a large margin, and I can’t wait to see more of him if that’s possible. ________________________________________________________________ 15. Yinu’s Mom As the real mastermind behind Yinu’s position in NSR, it suddenly makes so much sense as to why a literal child is in such a strict EDM hierarchy like NSR. What keeps her from going above and beyond this ranking isn’t anything more than just the pressure she puts on Yinu to perform. During the fight, and what I can only presume also happens outside of concerts in the universe of No Straight Roads, it seems like she entirely forgets the reason Yinu keeps playing the piano in the first place.

However, I am a huge sucker for family dynamics, and her stopping her assault due to the memories that Yinu was able to drag out of her through the broken piano by playing Heart of the Prodigy is enough to almost enough for me to reach the level of emotional catharsis as the ending of Pixar’s “Inside Out” did for me. And the way she shielded Yinu when they were falling, the gasp of fear that she might not survive the fall - just pure, amazing storytelling through “show, don’t tell”.

I will say, the more morbid part of me that enjoys things like Danganronpa, Your Turn To Die, and Nonary Games, had the thought of “if it weren’t for the fact that Mayday and Zuke also fell from that height and survived (and that this game is meant for younger audiences), Yinu would have became an orphan.”

Mother of the Year award goes to Yinu’s mom for being the most realistic, sympathetic, non-dead mom in fiction. ________________________________________________________________ 14. Yinu I love classical music, but I don’t really like children. Yinu is an exception to my general dislike of children. The promotion that was released before the game was a little eye-rolling, but it was also funny. Fortunately, in the game, Yinu is so much more mature and interesting than the promotional material lead us to believe. The way the piano plays plays in the base version of VS Yinu conveys just how talented she is at nine years old. It’s a shame that it slowly gets covered up by the EDM version as the battle goes on.

But her reasoning for playing the piano, through the photos you get from Yinu’s backstory is all the more reason to respect this literal child. She turned the loss of her music teacher and father into a shining passion for music. The piano being the very memento of her deceased dad - looking at the photos and then realizing what you did in shattering her piano creates a fantastic retroactive look at just how destructive Bunkbed Junction’s revolution really is to people.

We’re not even half-way down the list, and yet we already have great characters like this, so let’s keep looking. ________________________________________________________________ 13. Dodo There’s been a huge gap since the last Team Sayu member. So what makes Dodo so great compared to Sofa? Well, the deep voice that comes from the scrawny, blue man is funny to me. It caught me off-guard the first time I heard it and had me giggling for hours afterwards after I paused the video to regain my composure.

That, and mocap work is hard work. On top of that, though he’s mostly not the face everyone remembers when fans think of Sayu, it takes a lot of talent and self-confidence to dance like a cutesy mermaid despite being a male, at least in my opinion. So I see him as having high confidence, but also being like Zuke in the “chill and mostly quiet” department.

There’s not much else for me to say, since most of Team Sayu doesn’t have blatantly obvious character traits. So let’s move on. ________________________________________________________________ 12. Sayu Sayu herself is... well, not real. It’s like trying to judge any number of the Vocaloid/UTAU voice banks. Sure you can place any number of personalities and messages into it, but in reality she’s just been built as a “cutsie, wootsie, pink mermaid” idol.

Still, the personality that Team Sayu gives her is fantastic. Her fight is annoying, and lackluster even to watch, but her song is amazing in all of its forms, even if for me the vaporwave version is the least effective of all of them - and Analog Aquatics is the BEST lead-up song to it, even ahead of Heart of the Prodigy.

Hatsune Miku? Who’s that? I only see Sayu as the best Vocaloid. ________________________________________________________________ 11. Remi Technically the creator of Sayu in the first place and her designer, Remi seems to be the “all according to plan” type. To think that his passion for art would lead to a career such as NSR, and a close-knit friend group like Team Sayu. It’s something that I’m sure that every artist has had as their goal at one point or another.

I highly respect anyone with the ability to put their artwork out in public, both in real life and as a character. Even so, there are characters I like even beyond Remi, and once again, we don’t have much to go off of for him outside of the very few times we see him in Sayu’s battle.

Almost all of Team Sayu has been covered at this point - heck, even Sayu herself has already been covered. So where’s Tila you ask? Well, we’ll get to that, but not for a while. ________________________________________________________________ 10. Tatiana “Kul Fyra” Qwartz From the very moment we first hear her voice, we can tell she’s all business and order. When we watch all of NSR reject the rock music outright and listen to Tatiana’s speech afterwards? How she seems to disregard her artists own safety and prioritizing undermining Bunkbed Junction’s efforts just because she can’t bear to remember her old bandmates? Wonderfully selfish for a heartbroken character.

Also, for those who hate her time-oriented powers and how weakly linked they are to Tatiana herself? Consider this: She’s almost 50 years old by the time Bunkbed Junction starts their revolution. She’s lived long enough to be anyone in the cast’s mom - probably even old enough to be Team Sayu and Yinu’s grandma. She has only seen a progressive march of time erode at everything she ever loved and cared about.

The blazing passion within her is brought back to her through Bunkbed Junction’s actions, but through a reversal of time and a reflection of her memories. Bunkbed Junction literally shatters the world view that she constructed for herself to ignore the regret and pain that had been slowly eating her up inside without her ever even having fully realized it in the first phase. By the time Tatiana reverts back to using her Kul Fyra form, she’s trying so hard to list any number of reasons to ignore her past and focus on what little time she actually has left to work on the future.

This was a bit of a longer explanation and reasoning, but for a character as amazing and symbolically complex as Tatiana, she absolutely deserves it. And as you’ll see for the next character, this is only a fraction of my love for the characters of No Straight Roads. ________________________________________________________________9. Neon J And here we start with my absolutely favorite characters, the ones I not only enjoy reading and writing about, but that in canon I can wholeheartedly accept them for who they are, flaws and all.

My grandpa was in the navy, and to make a long story short there were some complicated things that happened that required me to live with both him and my grandma when I was really little. So already there’s something that I can latch onto and adore. Even with how cringy Neon J is at the end with him attempting to try to give an epic war hero speech, my grandpa can be the same way sometimes, and that’s okay. They kind of act similarly outside of that as well.

His design is so sleek and smooth, and sometimes I forget that he’s actually a cyborg, unlike his sons boyband creations. Normally I hate the military, war, and what it all represents at a cynical level, but when it’s portrayed in a way like No Straight Roads did for Neon J and 1010, it reminds me of the people who actually join to serve their country and the people in it, despite how few in their countries actually deserve their respect.

And yeah, I can already hear the “blah blah fiction is poorly portraying law enforcement/the military because ect ect”. I disagree. Think of it this way: Neon J is a fun example of what a leader in a military unit is. Not only that, he’s extremely loyal and willing to do what it takes to get the job done - including having a program inside 1010 that makes them explode when they fail to generate the requisite fan praise that’s likely required to keep 1010 merchandise flying off of the shelves and thus prove to the other NSR artists that even robot boybands can be used to help Vinyl City; AND use said robot boyband as weapons to fight off any threats - internal or external.

Also think about what he had to go through to become a cyborg. That means he likely had to replace everything that’s on the surface - imagine what he needed to replace underneath all of that metal. How much of his original body is left? How badly did the war he was involved in hurt him? How many comrades did he lose to try to recreate that feel in a boyband? Aren’t the implications of that so much more grand than the surface level “radar head man is bad representation of military people because he’s silly and ineffective at his job”. Furthermore, tell me of a person in the real world who lost so much of their body they literally had to become a cyborg that has a literal radar for a head.

On top of all of that he’s the second half of my second favorite pairing. Not that is has any major bearing on how great Neon J already is. Is it silly that Neon J tries to give a huge speech at the end when we know Bunkbed Junction is just trying to get to Tatiana? Yes. But it’s fun.

I salute the No Straight Roads team for creating such an amazing character . ________________________________________________________________8. Blue 1010 Robot | Purl-Hew Ah yes, now we start getting to what’s taking up most of the top 10 slots. Kind of funny that not all of the 1010 members are going into the top 5 slots with how much I ranted and raved about Neon J. But I have characters I like way more than most of the 1010 band members.

And yes, I’ll bring this up now since we’re actually talking about 1010, that will apply to all the members of 1010 so I don’t have to repeat myself: I already know that they’re meant to parody boy bands, pop bands, and how similar all of them are and ect ect ect. That doesn’t stop me from going “hee hoo pretty boys” at fictional characters. And, yes, I know they don’t canonically have names, but I’m going with what’s been accepted across the fandom. Also all of their body types are the same: I like them alot. They’re tall, in monochrome (hah, chrome), and the way they bob to the beat in their battle is fantastic and shows they are powered by music as much as any machine is in the universe of No Straight Roads.

Starting off with my least favorite of them, Purl-Hew just reminds me of Garnet from “Steven Universe”, which is not a bad thing. It’s just that outside of what we learn of Garnet, she’s a character I often forget exists. I think it’s honestly the shades and the blue, more square-like hair that makes me draw the comparison. Purl-Hew strikes me as the “cool” one. The one that recites his poetry in coffee shops and is the sensitive boy with a cold exterior. You know the kind of person I’m talking about.

Other than that, I like the 1010 branding on the side of his head. I normally don’t like hairstyles like that, but somehow with how it flows and how non-obnoxious it is, I actually find myself liking the hairstyle. Also coupled with the fact that I see him as the second eldest of all five of them, who likely cemented an identity for himself before the others, makes me like his entirety even more.

A cool dude deserves a cool transition, but since this isn’t a video, a line break will have to do. ________________________________________________________________7. Red 1010 Robot | Zimelu Zimelu is one of the ones that strikes me as the one that’s borderline trying to break free from the rest of the band and become his own artist. The mowhawk, the color red, even to what he’s likely supposed to represent in-universe. Many see him as having anger issues, and considering what 1010 is about coupled with, again the hair style and his color, yeah I can see why.

But I also see him having a somewhat tsundere side. Not overtly fully tusndere as “I-It’s not like I like you or anything!” but more of a “Hey, I got you [insert favorite food] to eat. Don’t read too much into it.” while looking off to the side to avoid seeing your reaction just because he’s not sure if he can handle the thought of him possibly being wrong and then seeing you be disappointed kind of tsundere.

I don’t see a lot of peices of work exploring this concept, and I’d love to see more of it - or heck, even other personality traits that could be lying under the rebellious design of him.

I see him as the middle child of the group, which could also add to the rebellious personality and anger issues. Not sure if anyone agrees with me on this though. ________________________________________________________________6. Yellow 1010 Robot | Haym Okay, so this is a bit weird. Haym is my second least favorite in terms of design, but third favorite because he’s supposed to be the sunny, shy, and sweet one. I see him as the second youngest of all of the 1010 members. Old enough to have experience and understand his purpose, but young enough to retain that childhood-like innocence and sweetness.

I think he’s content about his place in 1010. It’s not that he would slack off or anything, but he’d be the most comfortable with his identity out of all five of them, even years down the line. Where Purl-Hew has to upkeep his identity, Haym is fine just being who he is and happy that the crowd accepts him for who he is.

Also him saying “even your lips, which form that raaaaadiant smile~” made me smile like an idiot and my heart flutter when I first saw him - and don’t even get me started on his pose when he was saying that. So that probably has at least some bearing on his placement in this list. ________________________________________________________________5. Green 1010 Robot | Eloni Haym was weird for me to admit I still don’t fully like his design, but Eloni’s design is actually worse for me. I still don’t like the fact he looks like you could hang him on a Christmas tree or a keychain and not be out of place there. But as I learned more - especially the part where in-universe he’s the least-liked because he’s the prankster type, my heart melted for the guy.

While I myself am not a prankster or a fan of prankster types, sympathetic characters that are generally unliked in-universe for something minor or not their fault is something that will always get me to love a character. There’s also a lot of great fanfiction out there for Eloni, playing with the idea of jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, and the resulting love and support that inevitably follows from a strong supporting family.

Also, I see him as the youngest, and likely the one who thought it’d be a good idea to give everyone reindeer heads for the Christmas event instead of whatever was originally planned. The fans probably loved it anyways, even better than what was originally planned, but never knew it was Eloni’s messing around that gave them the toy-soldier-with-reindeer-heads 1010.

Second best 1010 boy deserves to be in the top 5 for all of this and more. ________________________________________________________________4. Tila Tila? You mean the one girl who only goes “pyun” a few times? The only one of Team Sayu that has any voice lines that are more than sobs, grunts, tremoring fear, and sounds of triumph?

Yes. That character. You want to know why?

First, lets start with her design. She wears an oversized hoodie and glasses - already two things I can relate to. The color contrast is just perfect between her hair, skin, and hoodie. Her design alone to me screams “high-functioning introvert”.

Her one line? Going “pyun” a few times? Absolutely adorable. I wanted to hear her say more lines, and the delivery of them being so uncertain filtered through a microphone to not come out that way as Sayu? She is definitely the shy one of the four of them. Also let’s not forget she’s Sayu’s voice actress in universe. Meaning that VS Sayu is something that Tila is singing.

Also, in the background material for Sayu, she’s the one that apologizes for using Remi’s art for one of her songs, and starts the collaboration with all four members of Team Sayu. It’s her story we follow. Not any of the other four members, though Remi does actually say something.

Though we don’t get much else of her, which prevents her from taking a spot in my top 3 picks, if we got just a little bit more from her, I’d definitely bump her to 3rd, maybe even let her take 1st. As it stands, compared to the rest of Team Sayu and Sayu herself, top 5 is nothing to sneeze at. ________________________________________________________________3. Kliff “No one like’s Kliff! He’s evil and bad!”

I mostly disagree with that statement, politely of course. Does no one like him? Seems that way in the fandom, but I like him. Is he evil? Yes, most certainly. Is he “bad”? Well, what’s the context of bad in this case? A bad plot-twist? A bad character? A bad guide? Not really. Well, except for the last part, possibly, but even then he’s still serviceable.

I mean take into context that Tatiana is Kul Fyra. On a first viewing, after having fought so many people after first meeting Kliff, most people would have forgotten that he, like Mayday, also likes Kul Fyra and was even there for her concerts. People who have insane memory would remember it, but for the rest of us, it probably came as a shock that Kliff would send a satellite into the NSR tower.

But he’s a fan that put Kul Fyra on a pillar, just like Mayday. He’d hoped that rock artists would get her back into rock music, to reignite the fire in her, so that he could enjoy her music again. He even says that he’s still her fan. He questions Tatiana “did my loyalty mean nothing to you?”.

And while yes, she didn’t technically owe him anything, the way that Tatiana shoots Kliff down so coldly after all of his attempts and his waiting - after she shut herself away from any potential future differing opinions and banning rock so she couldn’t remember the heartache - he snaps.

I’m not saying that Kliff was right, or that his reaction was fully justified. But imagine him saying he’ll be the strategic planner of NSR - after all, it was thanks to him that Mayday and Zuke got as far as they did. They knew what was coming ahead of time due to his advice. Mayday and Zuke would just be figureheads. It would be entirely realistic, and not make Kliff entirely evil.

Still, with all the hypotheticals out of the way, having an entirely selfish twist villain like Kliff was amazing. When you go through the entire story knowing how it will end on a second playthrough, suddenly his motives and what he says makes so much more sense.

I want to see (or maybe someday I’ll write) a redemption arc for Kliff. He’s not so fargone that I’d write him off as another villain for the sake of evil, but it would take actual work and effort. It’s something I look forwards to seeing in the far future.

Though he is also fun to see as an antagonist in all of these stories I read about him. ________________________________________________________________2. Zuke On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d rank Zuke an 11. From his design, to his animations, to his background, his voice, his lines - everything is an 11/10 for me.

Starting with design again, normally I’d dislike the major contrast such a saturated green against a saturated blue. But there’s other bits in Zuke’s design - his red eyes, the fact that his clothing is a good neutral base to draw away from the chaos of colors of his head - only to lead back into what looks like ultra-comfortable blue-and-green flannel with dark blue flats? It all screams the perfect chill dude to hang out with.

His personality matches too. He’s laid-back, wise, rational, humble, and kind. Almost the perfect man in every way. Though he has his limits, especially when it comes to DK West, and he’s not always the most intelligent at times. Sometimes he takes a minute to put two-and-two together, especially when he’s under pressure and nervous.

And his drumsticks being used as a walking cane when he’s not battling, admitting that it’s NSR property - recognizing that NSR itself is not bad, it just needs change. He doesn’t generally talk smack unless, again, it’s DK West. He probably says less than Mayday does out of the two, but I wasn’t counting. I was just thankful that he was talking at all, attempting to be the voice of reason in situations, telling Eve he was wrong for leaving so suddenly (even though he’s not at fault for his hair being set on fire), reconciling with DK West after Mayday gets them to talk about their feelings to each other - he experiences the most growth over the longest period of time.

In fact, it feels like we’re witnessing Zuke’s entire story through the eyes of Mayday. Sure, Mayday has a stake in the conflict, and a small bit of growth, but none nearly so much as the jolly green giant between them. Heck, he’s so good that he made DJ Subatomic Supernova’s music actually sound good.

If this wasn’t enough, he’s also one half of my favorite pairing. Where’s the other half? Where he belongs of course. ________________________________________________________________1. White 1010 Robot |  Rin Look guys, my favorite character of No Straight Roads is finally here. Let me be the ideal fan and give him my utmost attention.

ATTENTION!

Hoo boy have I been waiting to talk about Rin! His design is the one that I love the most despite how simple and obviously pandering it is. I mean come on, he’s got the kind of hairstyle that just screams “typical emo/scene/goth/pop leader” without the sweeping bit of hair in front of the eye like Haym’s or other emo/scene/goth hair styles. He has no unique colors to himself (white and black are technically not colors). Heck, as a robot meant to parody pop/boybands, he technically should be the most bland and uninteresting part of 1010.

But that’s where you’d be wrong. Rin is the one who leads the flirting attempt against Mayday. Rin is the one who is focused on the most of all the 1010 members when the cutscenes play. Rin is the one who’s talking the most in the promotional video for 1010 and No Straight Roads. Even though Zimelu takes up most of the spot in the in-game photo op, Rin is the second most noticable. In the “wefies” the 1010 members make in the promotional video, Rin is front and center.

Rin is the poster child. Meaning he has the most mounting on him of all the members of 1010. And this can manifest in any number of interesting character traits. I’ve already written an (as of posting this review) three chapter fanfic on Rin and his dynamic with not only the other half of my favorite pairing, but also his dynamic with Neon J, and how both Zuke and Neon J view Rin - through what I perceive how Rin actually feels and acts when he’s not on stage.

I could probably do an entire 20 minute review on why Rin is the single-best character of No Straight Roads, both in and out of canon, but I don’t have the tools for it. And as a side note, the guitar solo that Mayday can play over the song is the single-best of all the guitar solos, the second being the one against Yinu - and that deep passion for 1010 is reflected well in the guitar solo.

Zuke may be an 11/10, but Rin is a perfect 10/10 - and I wouldn’t have it any other way . ________________________________________________________________Afterwords Finally, after an entire 4 hours of writing, I’d like to hear your thoughts on all of this, if you’ve made it this far.

What did you agree and disagree with? Feel free to comment if you want.

As for me, I think I’ll continue to browse the work of the fandom, keep an ear out for any future updates or sequels, and rock on with the amazing soundtrack of No Straight Roads jamming loudly in my ears.

Rock on fellow No Straight Roads fans! Or whatever genre you prefer to listen to.

[gayrett-hawke]

Getting to Know Hawke

Basics

Name: Garrett Hawke

Age at the start of their game: 27 (born 30 Firstfall, 9:03 Dragon)

Gender: Male

Sexual orientation: Gay

Race: Human

Class: Mage

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 227 lbs

Eyes: Brown

Hair color/texture: Black; Wavy (not that you can tell with how short it normally is)

Skin tone: Ivory

Do they tan or freckle?: He definitely tans, and he gets some freckles too, but they're so faint, it's hardly noticeable

Any distinctive physical characteristics?: Other than being a big, beefy boy with a fabulous beard? Just some scars here and there, most notably the one across his nose that he usually covers with war paint

Personality

Personality type: ESFP-T

Optimist, pessimist, or realist?: Realist

Best traits:

Charming

Friendly

Outgoing

Compassionate

Loyal

Worst flaws:

Self-Deprecating

Foolhardy

Soft-Hearted

Audacious

Evasive

Tropes that apply to them:

All-Loving Hero

Almighty Janitor

Aloof Big Brother

Badass Unintentional

Because Destiny Says So

Benevolent Boss

Beware the Silly Ones

Big Brother Instinct

Bullying a Dragon

The Caretaker

Casual Danger Dialogue

The Charmer

Cosmic Plaything

Deadpan Snarker

The Dutiful Son

Failure Hero

Fight Magnet

Friend to All Children

Heroic Self-Deprecation

Hurting Hero

It's All My Fault

Let's Get Dangerous!

Living Emotional Crutch

Magic Knight

Magnetic Hero

Modest Royalty

Must Make Amends

Nay-Theist

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!

Non-Idle Rich

Obfuscating Stupidity

One-Man Army

Properly Paranoid

Rage Breaking Point

Reluctant Warrior

Right Man in the Wrong Place

Royals Who Actually Do Something

Sad Clown

Seen It All

The Snark Knight

Warrior Therapist

You Are Better Than You Think You Are

Are there any songs that particularly suit them?:

Forever Young by Youth Group

Don't Stop Me Now by Queen

Warriors by Imagine Dragons

Smile by Nat King Cole

For You I Will by Tata Young

If yes, would they agree with your selections?: Yeah, probably, but he might prefer I leave out the 4th one

Preferences

Favorite color: Red

Favorite animal: DRAGONS!

Taste in clothing: Casual. Anything that's comfortable, sturdy, and at least somewhat decent-looking

How do they feel about mage rights?: Would like some, thank you

How do they feel about the other races of Thedas?: As long as the personality is decent, he gets along with them. Also, Qunari are big and strong, and he admires them from an aesthetic point of view

Are they religious?: Not especially, but he technically was raised Andrastian

If they were to find themselves in a modern AU

Favorite food: Burgers

Drink order: Dark and Stormy, Old-Fashioned, or Whiskey Sour

What would they wear for a night out?: An obnoxiously-tight black t-shirt, a red flannel with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of jeans, and some black Doc Martens

Song(s) that would be sure to get them on the dance floor:

Take on Me by a-ha

Tubthumping by Chumbawamba

All Star by Smash Mouth

Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65

Ma Ya Hi (Dragostea Din Tei) by Dan Balan and Lucas Prata

What Is Love by Haddaway

Careless Whisper by George Michael

Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley

YMCA by Village People

Rasputin by Boney M

U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer

Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye

September by Earth, Wind, and Fire

College major: Kinesiology or Paleontology, maybe

Ideal date: Amusement Park

Favorite movie and/or film genre: Shrek 2; Comedy

Family/Friends/Love Life

Relationship with their parents: Garrett was very close to Malcolm. As the firstborn and a fellow mage, he had plenty of time to bond with his father and follow in his footsteps. His relationship with Leandra wasn't as solid, though. He always wanted to make her proud, but she put a lot on him after his father died, and he mostly just accepted that she needed someone to take her pain out on

Siblings (outside of canon): Surprising or no, Hawke really loves Carver. He's not great at being serious and all that, but he does actually care and would do anything for his younger brother. He also realizes how much Carver has had to deal with and is willing to be an emotional punching bag whenever he needs it. His relationship with Bethany was a lot better, since they spent a lot of time learning magic together, and she was more willing to let loose than Carver. She was his rock, and the rest of the family's too, and her loss affected him deeply

Best friend(s): Varric, Isabella, Anders (initially), and Inquisitor Adaar (if she is able to exist in the RP)

Companion(s) they get along best with: Fenris, Isabella, Varric, Merrill, and Anders (initially)

Companion(s) they get along worst with: Carver (one-sided), Sebastian, and Anders (eventually)

Companion(s) from other games in the series you wish they could meet, and why: Alistair back when he was a Grey Warden, just because of the sheer amount of goofy himbo energy they both have

Age of sexual debut: Probably around 16 or 17 (but please don't be creepy about it; mun is ace and is only basing this age on what they heard about from their peers in high school)

Romanced: Fenris (RPs will not go beyond flirting with anyone he met after this man who stole his heart)

Relationship status as of the end of Inquisition: Partners

Are there any songs that particularly suit their romance?:

All On Me by Devin Dawson (with altered gender terms)

Did I Mention by Jeff Lewis and Mitchell Hope (again, altering gendered vocabulary)

Arms by Christina Perri

Latch by Sam Smith

What are they like as a romantic partner?: Snarky and playful, but ultimately putty in his partner's hands. He's a bit of a hopeless romantic and will turn his whole life upside down to please the one he loves. Also prone to grand romantic gestures and spontaneous displays of affection

Do they enjoy cuddling?: Absolutely!

Do they want children?: Not particularly

Do they (now or eventually) have children?: No

Skills

Can they cook?: A bit

Can they sing/play an instrument?: Sing? Sure. Play an instrument? No

Are they a good dancer? If not, do they do it anyway?: He can be, but it's much more fun to goof off and entertain the people around him

Do they have any creative hobbies?: Not really

Any martial training beyond their main weapon?: Malcolm trained him in swordfighting before his magic kicked in

Languages spoken: The common tongue and a bit of Tevene he picked up from Fenris

Any other unique skills they'd like us to know about?: He's pretty talented at drinking, but anything else he'd like you to know probably wouldn't be appropriate to repeat

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[askkrenko]

Krenko’s Guide to Pokemon: Gastly Line

I may or may not be afraid of some ghosts.

DESIGN: 

Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar are an interesting design combination of a creature being fully realized. Gastly is just a face, really, while Haunter has something of a proper head and hands, as well as the hints of a body. Gengar is then the full creature, with legs and everything. Meanwhile, Gastly has a very will-o-wisp look for a minor ghost, while Haunter is more actively ghostly. Gengar, meanwhile, is designed to be sort of an animated shadow of a nonspecific Pokemon that’s absolutely Clefable. It’s name, even in Japan, comes from the word Doppleganger, which is a magical being that looks like a copy of a real person. Basically your classic evil twin. 

All three designs are relatively simple, but I also think they get the point across. These things are spooks, and they’re all the same spook gradually getting stronger over time.

The only really weird and confusing thing about the trio is... Haunter is bigger than Gengar.  Forget the tiny Haunter you remember from the anime. 

Thanks, KlavernBoer for taking this picture. Haunter is 5′03″. or 1.6m. Seriously. It’s HUGE. It’s just only in the newer games that you can really tell. The anime’s wrong on other sizes, too, but the Haunter one is extra surprising because you can ride Haunter in Let’s Go.

So, the base three are fine, and then we’ve got two added forms. Mega Gengar, like many Mega evolutions, is just... X-TREME!

I don’t really have anything interesting to say about Mega Gengar. It’s just Gengar but spikier. It has a third eye for some reason... and if anything it feels like it’s devolving back toward Haunter with the forward-leaning pose and the lack of feet. It’s interesting for the Mega Evolution gimmick, but I’m really not feeling the design. You know what design I do feel, though? GIGANTIMAX GENGAR!

At over 65 feet tall, this thing is higher than many buildings, and it clearly just wants to eat everyone and everything into the netherworld that is its mouth.  According to the Pokedex, its mouth leads directly to the afterlife, and if you stand too close you’ll hear your loved one’s voices calling for you to enter. 

Those children are about to get eaten. That’s just what’s going to happen. Maybe they can fight it off, but if not, they’re snacks. I also love how Gigantamax Gengar sinks into the ground, making it even bigger than what we can see. It’s huge. It’s terrifying. I love it. EVOLUTIONS:  Gastly to Haunter at 25 is fine but I’ve already complained about how trade evolutions are kind of out of date and more of a pain than they are fun anymore. Back in they day they were fun, sure, but now it’s just a chore.  Mega Gengar was a bad idea. Many Pokemon needed Megas. Many Pokemon want Megas. Gengar was not one of them.  In fact, Gengar was so good even before getting a Mega that they had to nerf it by changing its special ability from a good one to a bad one, and it’s still an entirely solid Pokemon. Megas very clearly were distributed more on ‘what would be cool’ rather than ‘what Pokemon needs a boost’ and that makes me sad. Because part of the reason Gengar is so cool is that it really doesn’t need the boost.

Gigantamax Gengar is basically a straight upgrade from Gengar. Max Phantasm lowers an opponent’s physical defense, but Gengar’s special attack is literally twice its physical, so there’s no reason to use that. Instead, it gets G-Max Terror, which prevents the opponent from switching out. 

Art by please tell me if you can figure this out I’ve done reverse search and nothings turned up. It seems to be linked to https://theroaringtrainers.com/ but I can’t actually find it there.

TYPING:  Poison/Ghost was a really dumb thing back in Red and Blue. Ghost was the only thing good against Psychic, but there were no Ghost moves worth a damn and the only ghosts were Poison/Ghost, so they were weak to Psychic.  Now that the Psychic bogeyman’s a lot less of an issue, this type combo is a lot stronger. The Gastly line has four weaknesses, two resistances, two double resistances, and two immunities.  Six is a decent array of defensive types, and the fact that Normal, Fighting, Poison, and Bug attacks fall off Gengar like water off a duck’s back really helps.  Offensively, Gengar’s getting super-effective hits on only Ghost, Psychic, Fairy and Grass (two of which are getting super-effective hits right back on Gengar), but almost nothing resists Ghost, and Poison works just fine on most of the Dark and Normal types that do.

Grim Haunter by Dragolisco

STATS: 130 Special Attack, 110 Speed. Oh, you want to know about its other stats? ...Why? It has 130 Special Attack and 110 Speed. It usually goes first, and the other Pokemon often won’t survive. Okay, so, defensively, Gengar’s sub par at 60 HP, 60 Defense, and 75 special defense, but those stats aren’t so low that he’ll simply collapse to most hits. Just build for Special Attack and Speed, and swing for the fences. It’s not complicated. Mega Gengar has bigger numbers all around, with 170 Special Attack and 130 speed, with both defenses raised by 20. Look, if you have 130 speed and 170 special attack it doesn’t really matter what your other stats are. You’re a murder machine. 

Art by TsaoShin 

ABILITIES: Gastly, Haunter, and any Gengar in generations 3, 4, 5, and 6 has the ability Levitate. With a ground weakness and two pre-existing immunities, Levitate makes them particularly hard to stop. Shifting this line’s already defensive typing to include three immunities and four resistances with only three weaknesses is absurdly powerful, and the devs figured that out the hard way. As of generation 7, Gengar has the Cursed Body ability.

Cursed Body... is an ability that exists. It’s has a chance to disable any move that hits Gengar, and while that’s not garbage, Gengar’s relatively fragile body means you’re unlikely to see it trigger in a normal fight, except maybe on an attack you intentionally jumped in front of because Gengar’s resistant anyway and you’d rather they use again instead of switching attacks.  Yes, sometimes it’ll save your life, and sometimes it’ll really mess up someone using a Choice Band, but it’s not really a relevant part of the overall Gengar discussion. Mega Gengar has Shadow Tag which prevents the opponent from switching out.  Shadow Tag is a very powerful ability that makes sure Gengar gets to knock out what Gengar wants to knock out. There is no escape from Mega Gengar.

Pokemon x UNDERTALE: Chara and MegaGengar by Sa-Dui

MOVES:  Gengar is one of those early Pokemon that gets all sorts of moves that it has no reason to have. I have a theory that when TMs were first programmed into Red and Blue, every Pokemon could learn every TM, and then they decided that was silly and cut out the moves that really didn’t make sense... But any Pokemon programmed in after this was instead given TM moves case-by-case. My basic evidence for this is that the Pokemon that can learn Thunderbolt for no apparent reason are mostly Pokémon early in the Internal List.  I haven’t really gone on a deep dive, but this is my theory. Anyway, for attacks, every Gengar takes Shadow Ball.  Gengar gets it on level-up, it’s its best Ghost-type move.  The only bit of competition here is Hex, which requires either Hypnosis or Will-O-Wisp to set up.

Gengar’s other attacks have a lot of options. If you want a Poison move, Sludge Bomb. While Sludge Wave technically does more damage to a single target than Sludge Bomb, the added 20% chance to poison in Sludge Bomb is generally going to wind up being more damage than 5 more power. 

The only things that don’t take full damage from Shadow Ball are Dark and Normal, and while Sludge Bomb can work on them, they share a weakness in Fighting. With fighting ALSO being super-effective against Ice, Rock, and Steel, many Gengar trainers teach it Focus Blast, an absurdly strong albeit highly inaccurate attack.  Further, Gengar has plenty of special attack options like Dark Pulse, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Energy Ball, and Dazzling Gleam if you just want more options at Super-Effective damage.  If there’s a Pokemon you’re particularly worried about, Gengar probably has something it’s weak to.

But what sweeper setup would be complete without Sword Plot or Nasty Dance?  Get a moment to set up and Gengar can double its Special Attack, giving it an easy time tearing through anything that gets in its way.

On the other hand, maybe you’re a bit worried about backlash. With high speed, Substitute can make a good defensive measure and scout what the opponent’s doing.  And aforementioned Will-O-Wisp and Hypnosis can severely impact the opponent’s ability to smash your face in while also turning Hex into a 130 power attack. With Mega Gengar’s Shadow Tag, you can get even tankier. Disable and Taunt can severely inhibit a Pokemon that’s trapped in combat against it, and if you really just want to trade Megas, you can use Destiny Bond because they can’t exactly switch out.   Gengar has a lot of options, and it’s good at them.

Art by Nohbyl

OVERALL:  The Gastly line is great. They look cool, they’re powerful, they’re useful, and there’s actually a bit of a niche for Haunter to be used on its own due to having a different ability than Gengar, not that it’s a particularly good one.  GMax Gengar is great, too, though Mega Gengar is entirely unnecessary.  Gengar with Levitate was good enough before Mega Gengar existed, it’s weird to me that they added the Mega, then nerfed base Gengar. 

Anyway, Gengar’s in a great place, always has been, and I’m sure we’re going to keep seeing it for years to come. It’s also simple enough to easily show up in any region, and popular enough that they’ll never shelve it for long. 

[taetaespeaches]

“I'm pretty sure we just smashed your cowboy hat”

Taehyung x Reader (or oc)

Genre: fluff; light smut (I guess)

Word count: 6.9K

a/n: Here is what initially started as a quick scenario based on a request I got about going to the club with Tae, and turned into this nearly 7,000-word tension filled whatever this is. Can you tell my ass is fully whipped for Kim Taehyung? Basically a friends (uh kinda) to lovers fic where they go to a club together, feat. a silly dance scene. I hope you all enjoy! And as always, thanks for reading! 

MUMBLED voices echoed on the opposite side of the door, the sources indistinguishable through the barrier. Looking down the hallway, you made clicking noises with your tongue, an expression of your impatience. With a sigh, you dug into your coat pocket, fishing for your lip balm. Pulling the cap off, you brought it to your lips as your other hand went to knock on the door for the third time. Just as you brought your hand forward, the door was pulled open hastily.

A winded Taehyung, dressed in a baggy t-shirt and a pair sweatpants, dodged your fist, eyes widening in surprise as you cocked your head. "About time," you huffed, stepping forward as he opened the door wider for you. Before you could recap your lip balm, Taehyung snatched it from your hands, applying it to his own lips. You tried not to gawk at his mouth as he did so, but come on, you're only human. And knowing just how good those lips felt... it was hard not to stare.

"Sorry, I didn't hear the door," he looked at you with childlike innocence. Damn him. Putting the cap on the tube of lip balm, he leaned over your frame, his lips dangerously close to your own as he dropped the tube into your coat pocket. “I’m just running a little late, sorry,” he apologized with a small smile. Grabbing your hand, he created some distance as he began leading you to his bedroom. Walking past the room next to Tae's, you spotted Jungkook leaning over Jin's body, both of their eyes glued to the desktop screen, some game claiming their attention as they both yelled to each other and the game. Running late my ass.

“Mm, running late,” you told him knowingly, causing Tae to look back at you, flashing you a guilty smile with a low chuckle. “You know you’re the one who wanted to go out tonight,” you complained as Taehyung smiled stunningly, amused. Hearing you walk past, Jungkook's head snapped to see you following behind your friend.

"Hey!" Jungkook called out, halting you and Tae. With his doe eyes on full display, Jungkook smiled as Jin took a quick glance at you, careful not to lose focus on his game, but calling out your name excitedly.

You waved, saying a quick hello, before Tae tugged you into his bedroom, leaving the other two men to shoot each other a suspicious look. Everyone was suspicious of yours and Tae’s relationship, but it didn’t seem to bother Taehyung, so you didn’t really worry about it.

“Are they the only ones here right now?” You asked Tae as he let go of your hand and you shut the bedroom door.

Making his way to the closet, he nodded, telling you, “Yeah, everyone else is gone for the night.” You hummed in response, making a mental note that the apartment was nearly empty for the entire night. It was just, uh, good to know.

Busying yourself as Tae sorted through his clothing, you spotted a book about Vincent Van Gogh’s artwork. Perusing through the pages, you only looked up when you caught Tae in your peripheral, standing in front of the mirror wearing a blue silk pajama set, sporting a cowboy hat atop his head of blue hair. Seeing your reflection in the mirror, your eyes on him, he turned his head towards you, quirked an eyebrow, and dipped his hat at you.

“Howdy,” he greeted in his low timbre.

"Absolutely not," you said bluntly. A smirk toyed on Taehyung's lips.

"What's wrong with this?" He feigned ignorance.

Rolling your eyes, you bit back a smile, setting the book back down on the desk. "A cowboy hat? The whole point is to be inconspicuous.”

"But I need the hat. My hair is blue," he took the hat off, running his fingers through the cool tinted locks, shaking it out. "That's not very inconspicuous," he teased.

Walking over to his dresser, you grabbed a baseball cap off it, stepping towards him slowly, running your fingers along the edges of the cap. Standing in front of him, you placed the accessory on his head. "That's better," you nodded.

Taehyung shot you an unsure expression as he placed the cowboy hat on your head, causing you to cock your head and smile at him. "Cute," he grinned, sending a rush of butterflies throughout your body. With the proximity of him to you, your heart raced, and to avoid the growing tension, you stepped away from him, plopping down onto the bed.

"Go get changed," you giggled as he bit his lip in frustration. "Silk pajamas aren't very inconspicuous either." Pouting his lips at you, he turned around to dig through his closet, taking his hat off for the time being.

The tension between you and Taehyung wasn’t new, but it was increasing more and more as you spent more time together. You and Taehyung were friends. Good friends. Friends who may have happened to make out a few times, you know, as good friends do.

In fact, the last time you saw him was a few days ago when you walked him to your apartment door at 1 am after you had just been straddling him on your sofa for a good portion of the evening. You were nearly ready to risk it all that night before Tae, with all his frustrating self-control, grabbed your face gently between his large palms and pulled your face from his, disconnecting your lips, giving you a sad smile. He whispered something about not wanting to fuck anything up as he guided you to set your forehead against his own.

You told him he was annoying with a playful glare and he chuckled, nodding his head in agreement. When he left, he bid you a farewell kiss before exiting down the hallway, leaving you in your blissful confusion.

Tae's humming from across the room pulled you out of your memories, bringing your focus to the man just as he slid the silk button up off his broad shoulders, his honey kissed skin exposed, your eyes greedily scanning across the expanse of his back. He remained shirtless as he pushed clothing hangers around, taking his sweet ass time searching for a top. Kissing your teeth, you shook your head, knowing exactly he what he was doing. Fucking tease.

"Tae, just pick one," you whined, pent up frustration.

"Don't call me Tae," he looked over his shoulder at you, a smirk playing on his lips. "It's Eagle Eye."

Staring at him blankly, you processed the name, confusion setting into your features.

"It's my code name," he smiled childishly. "You can be Peaches."

Pressing your tongue to the inside of your cheek, you tried to fight the amused smile but to no avail. "Eagle Eye, huh? You don't think that will draw some attention?" Tae's eyes widened in question, though a knowing smile appeared on his lips. "And Peaches? All you ever call me is Peaches, that's hardly a code name."

"Hey, I like Peaches," he defended with a fond grin and a small chuckle, turning around to face you straight on, drawing your gaze to his smooth, golden chest. “And so do you.” Dragging your eyes down his soft abdomen, you took in the sight of the small tufts of hair leading to the waistline of his silk pajamas. Taehyung's deep voice cut through your heavy daze, his tone full of amusement. "What are you thinking about, Peaches?"

The movement of your eyes from his body to his own knowing orbs was delayed as you struggled to pull your eyes away from his frame. Once your gaze met his, you let out a small "huh?" only for Tae to snicker, casting his eyes to the floor, looking up at you through his fringe. "Your thoughts?"

Shooting him a glare, you both knowing his effect on you, you crossed your arms over your chest. "Your code names need some work," you smirked. "And you need to take your pants off."

Taehyung looked a bit taken back before his expression turned more intense. "Don't tease," he stared at you through narrow eyes.

"Aw but you liked to be teased," you smirked just before lying back on the bed and pulling the cowboy hat over your face. Taehyung scoffed, staring at you for a moment before turning back to his closet.

With your face in the hat, you listened to Tae hum as the clothing rustled with his movements. "How about Lucy and Ethel?" You asked him, cutting his humming off. "For code names," you elaborated, sensing his confusion. The names came straight from the classic TV sitcom, I Love Lucy. You and Tae had stayed up late one night watching reruns, dubbing yourselves as Lucy and Ethel, the best friend duo who always got caught up in silly, ridiculous, and often outrageous situations together.

"As long as I get to be Lucy," Tae said with a smile that you couldn't see but definitely heard as you knew he was thinking back to that late re-run night fondly. You let out a breathy giggle as your heart swelled with affection for this man. "You can look now by the way." Lifting the hat off your face and throwing it to the bed, you angled your chin down, popping one eye open to peak at him. "What you don't trust me?" He smiled.

"Trust you? And why would I do such a crazy think as that," you teased as you sat up, opening both of your eyes and taking in his appearance. He was dressed in black jeans that hugged his thighs just right and were tore at the knees. The black button down that hung off his shoulders was done up all the way to his neck and you couldn't help the thought that invaded your mind, what a shame. Standing up, you stretched your arms over your head, Tae's eyes bouncing down to look at your body as you twisted your core from side to side. As he blatantly stared at you, you watched his long fingers tuck his black button down into the waist of the jeans.

As he reached for the black leather belt, pulling it through the loops in his jeans, he asked rather suggestively, "How do I look?" Nodding, pretending to be unaffected, you walked towards him. "I chose black so we could blend in. Inconspicuous." Looking down at your black cami tucked into your black high-waisted jeans, you smiled, now standing right in front of the man, your eyes glued to that pesky top button.

"I think you just wanted to match with me," you whispered as your hands moved to the collar of his shirt. A wide boxy grin spread across his face as he observed your features. Your fingers dragged down the collar, meeting in the middle, causing his Adam's apple to bob as he gulped. "You look great, Lucy," you smirked as his tongue swiped out, wetting his bottom lip as his mouth formed into an amused smile. "But we're going to a club, loosen up a bit, yeah?" Your fingers undid the top button, moving to the next one. Looking up from your hands, your gaze met his own, and the stunning asshole had the audacity to quirk his eyebrow at you.

"Take me out first before undressing me, Peaches," he smirked. Heat flushing your cheek, you lightly smacked his chest, a burst of giggles leaving Taehyung’s lip. Shaking your head with a groan, you turned towards the door only for Tae to wrap his arms around your waist in a back hug, pressing his cheek to the side of your head as laughter flowed from his pretty mouth right to the shell of your ear.

"That's Ethel to you, bud," you couldn't help the smile that overtook your features as he swayed you both side to side. Taking your hand in his, he unwrapped his arms from your body and lifted your arm, spinning you to face him again.

Booping your nose, making you flinch back with a groan, he flashed you a big close-mouthed grin. "My apologies, Ethel."

By the time you left the dorm, Tae was wearing the black baseball cap you gave him, and had added a nicely fitted jean jacket and black combat boots to his outfit, his face unfortunately but necessarily covered with a white mask.

As Taehyung made his way down the hallway to the elevator, he was pushing his back flat against the wall, holding out a gun as if he was some sort of spy. Amused but not surprised by his antics, you simply giggled as you watched him sneak down the empty hallway, hiding from all the non-existent people. Making your way to the elevator, you pressed the button as Taehyung stood with his back to you, still holding his fake gun up.

“Don’t worry, Peaches, I’m keeping watch,” he whisper-shouted to you as he attentively watched the still empty hallway.

“Tae, you’re supposed to call me Ethel,” you scolded him.  

“Hey, you’re supposed to call me Lucy,” he turned to look at you, pulling down his face mask to sit underneath his chin.  

“Oh, shit,” you giggled at yourself as Tae fought back a grin. As he peered down at you with a fond gaze, you felt the tension rising up again, the ding of the elevator’s arrival coming at just the right time to distract you from your good friend Taehyung.

As you turned to enter the elevator, Taehyung suddenly stuck his arm out in front of you to halt you, and then tumbled into the elevator with a somersault, popping up into a crouching position, holding out his fake gun again.

“What the fuck?” You asked in confusion as you burst into laughter. Taehyung bit back a stupid grin as he held his arm out to hold the elevator door open for you, slowly standing up and pretending to tuck his gun into the waist of his pants.

“The coast is clear,” he nodded assuredly.

Stepping into the elevator you locked your wide eyes with his, still laughing. “Yeah I would hope so, otherwise some innocent soul would have been subjected to whatever the fuck that just was,” you joked, making Taehyung break character with an embarrassed chuckle.

He reached over to press the ground floor button, your eyes following him, taking notice of the dirt that made its way onto his black clothing from his tumbling move. “Dammit, Lucy,” you complained as you stepped towards him, swiping your hands across his shoulders and back to rid him of the debris. “You’re a mess.”

“What?” He questioned in confusion, craning his neck to try to look at his back.

“You got dirt all over yourself Mr. Action Spy,” you smiled, finding his wide-eyed confused look utterly adorable.

“What the hell?” He continued his efforts to see his back. “Why is the floor so dirty?”

“Good question,” you replied. “Remind me again, how much do you pay for this most expensive loft in Korea?” you teased, mocking all of the reports of BTS’ pricey dorm, earning a small glare from Taehyung before his features softened.

“Is it on my butt too?” He asked you in feigned innocence. This little bitch.

“No, actually, it’s not,” you shut him down, holding onto your semblance of control. “And you’re done,” you patted the top of his back a couple times, making him turn around to face you, which his face was strangely close to your own all of a sudden. You could feel his breath fan across your face, and you whispered, “All clean.”

“You sure?” He smirked. “Did you get a close look?” You stuck your tongue to the inside of your cheek in annoyance. Not annoyance at him, but annoyance at his proximity without being able to just grab his face and kiss him. Could I do that?

With the way he chewed on the inside of his lip, you could tell he was struggling just as much as you were to keep in control. And that gave you a surge of confidence. “Are you asking me if I checked you out?”

Tae’s eyes widened in response for a moment, giving away his surprise just for a second before he coolly recovered. “Maybe,” he shrugged. “Did you?”

“Depends,” you told him as your eyes fell to his lips. “Did I check you out just now? Or did I check you out back in your room while you were rudely dragging out getting dressed?”

Tae’s mouth fell open just slightly at your question, his hand coming to rest on your hip as he pushed you slowly towards the back of the elevator until your back was pressed against the wall. With the touch of his hand on you, and the intensity of his gaze, you felt your body tingle in excitement. As Taehyung scanned your face, his eyes searching for any signs of dissent, the elevator dinged again, alerting you both you had reached the ground floor.

When the elevator doors opened, Taehyung lifted his gaze to the wall behind you, letting out a frustrated sigh. Reaching forward with one hand, you squeezed the side of his waist, making him look down to you. You gave him a small smile and he took a deep breath before returning it.

Leaning forward, he left a lingering kiss to your forehead, the small but sweet gesture sending both warmth and chills throughout your body. Reaching up to his face, you gripped the facemask that sat bunched underneath his chin, pulling it up to cover the lower half of his face.

“Shall we, Lucy?” You asked with a smirk as you slid past him, exiting the elevator, a groan echoing behind you.

As you approached the front doors, you felt Taehyung grab onto your wrist, pulling you back behind him. “Let me lead, ok? Just in case someone is actually out here.” The serious but gentle tone he used had your heart racing.

You couldn’t see but two feet in front of you because of how closely Tae led you behind him, your vision being blocked by his broad back. However, when his action was halted and sent you walking right into him, an abrupt bang sounding against the glass door, your eyes widened as you stared at the back of Tae’s head.

A small smirk formed on your lips at the realization that Tae had just rammed right into a locked door. Stepping to the side of him to check on him, you watched him as he rapidly pushed and pulled against the door handle, trying to get it to budge, his gaze leaving the door to meet your amused ones.

The lower half of his face was still hidden behind the mask, but you could see his eyes shape into crescents, his lips surely curved up into a bashful smile.

“You’re supposed to be keeping a low profile, remember?” You teased him, only for him to dip his head in embarrassed laughter. In a series of swift motions, he had surged towards you, wrapped his arm around the back of your neck, pulled you into his body, shoved against the unlocked door, pulled you outside with him, and began walking forward, leading you backwards down the sidewalk. Your arms instinctively wrapped around his waist. The chill of the night air was counteracted by the warmth of his body pressed against yours.

“You gonna drink tonight?” He asked quietly, his lips near your ear.

Shaking your head, you told him, “I don’t really feel like it tonight.” It was the truth. You didn’t want your mind to be clouded with alcohol, instead wanting to be totally present with Taehyung. You weren’t about to tell him that though. “What about you?” You mumbled against his neck. Unbeknownst to you but very noticeable to Taehyung, your breath sent shivers across his skin.

“No,” he said simply. You weren’t going to question his answer, knowing Tae didn’t drink all that much anyway, but then he offered up an explanation all on his own. “I want to be here with you.” Halting your backward walking, you forced him to stop as well as you looked up at him, his eyes sincere. Reaching up to pull the mask down just enough so you could see his mouth, the smirk on his lips told you he knew that you knew what his words alluded to. The confidence this fucker has.

“Should I be flattered?” You sassily questioned, causing him to flash you his wide boxy smile.

“You should be,” he replied smugly, and you were. Instead of admitting to it, you pushed the mask back up his face before pulling out of his grasp, though he didn’t let you go too far, holding his arm around your shoulders as you walked side by side down the street towards the club.

The club was just a few blocks away from the dorm, so the walk didn’t take long. As the muffled music booming in the distance became clearer, the tension between you and Tae intensified, your bodies bumping into each other as you walked.

Turning the corner, the line outside the club caught your eye, stretching down the street, strangely busy for a Thursday night. “Jesus, don’t people have to work tomorrow?”

“Don’t you have to work tomorrow?” Taehyung shot back at you with a smirk.

“Shut up,” you chuckled as you made your way to the line, standing clear at the back. Taehyung removed his arm from you, turning to face you straight on so you could talk as you waited for the queue to move. “Will you hold this for me?” You held out your ID, which Taehyung coolly took out his wallet and put the card inside, tucking it back into his pocket.

Standing in silence, the air surrounding you full of pent up tension, Taehyung reached out to tickle your abdomen making you flinch back and glare at him. “Hands off bud,” you bit back a grin.

“I’m bored,” he whined, dragging out his words cutely.

“Oh, I’m sorry I bore you,” you shot back teasingly, a smirk forming on your lips. Reaching forward again, he grabbed your waist, tugging you closer to him.

“Oh shush, we both know that’s far from true,” he told you with an eye roll.

“You know, if you took your mask off for just a minute to show the bouncer who you are, we would be in there already,” you informed him sassily. The line moved just slightly, you both stepping forward.

“What, and cut this waiting time with you short? But you’re so pleasant,” he teased with a smirk, “Why would I ever want to do that?” He said sarcastically as his hand moved to your own hand, intertwining his fingers with your own. Scrunching your nose cutely, Taehyung squeezed your hand, lowly chuckling at your expression. “Why do you have to be so cute?” He asked, flashing his gaze to your entangled hands. “I can only wish you bored me,” he mumbled under his breath, the words barely recognizable to your ears. But you heard them. And your heart raced.

Stepping forward with the line again, you neared the entrance. With his free hand, Taehyung reached into his pocket to grab his wallet. Watching him struggle to dig inside it with one hand, you tried to pull yours out of his grip to offer him both of his limbs, however, he gripped your hand tighter, shooting you a stern look.

Cocking your head at him, he held the wallet out to you, smiling sweetly and saying, “help,” his smile broadening as he watched your expression turn into an amused one. Both of you using your free hands, he held the wallet open as you dug inside to fish out both of your ID cards. “Uh-uh,” he protested. “Money too.”

Shooting him a glare, you informed him, “I can pay for my own cover charge.”

Rolling his eyes, he let go of your hand to pull the money out himself. “I know you can. Just let me get this.”

“You’re annoying,” you told him with a huff, though you sported a fond smile.

“And you’re stubborn,” he replied matter-a-factly with a grin.

Winking at him, he shook his head with a low chuckle. Moving forward, you were stood in front of the bouncer, to which the man quickly checked the cards, halting as he checked Taehyung’s, looking up at your friend with widened eyes. Taehyung nodded nonchalantly as he handed the bouncer the money. Nodding back, the bouncer guided you both inside the club with a gesture of his hand.

Upon entering the club, your ear drums were raided with the pulsing beat of electronic dance music, the warmth from the bodies that filled the room hitting your skin like the sun on a hot humid summer day. However, nothing compared to the heat that spread throughout your body when Taehyung’s arm wrapped around your lower back, his hand on your hip, pulling you in close to him as a swarm of drunk men trampled past you.

Taehyung guided you to stand in front of him, your back to him, holding his hands on your hips as he gently pushed you forward, leading you further into the club. Looking around at the crowd, some people dancing, some people standing and talking with drinks in hand, others shooting their shots with a possible one-night stand, you noted how people stared at the man behind you. You were used to people staring at Taehyung, you knew people wanted him. Even with half of his face covered with a mask, his presence demanded a certain amount of attention.

Yet, as people shamelessly stole glances at your good friend, you couldn’t help the jealousy that flooded your emotions, even with his hands gripping onto your hips.

Rolling your eyes at a group of girls who were gawking at Taehyung as if he was their prey, Tae leaned in, his lips touching the shell of your ear. As if he read your mind, or maybe just your body language, he smiled, a single breathy laugh leaving his mouth. “You’re tense, calm down,” he whispered into your ear. “You sure you don’t want a drink?”

He kept his face next to yours as he awaited your response. When you turned to look at him, his eyes were wide, almost childlike. How deceiving. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Smiling stunningly, his eyes grew more intense. “Good.”

Wrapping his arms around your waist in a back hug, he moved you both towards the dance floor, both of you smiling at the affection he was showing.

Working your way through the crowd, Taehyung spun you around to face him, his hands gripping onto your hips as he started swaying you back and forth. Tucking his face into the side of your neck, you swore you could feel his lips brush against your skin in a tentative kiss, as if he didn’t know if it was ok.

Wrapping your arms around the back of his neck, you threaded your fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, massaging and tugging as he pulled you closer to him, your hips moving together. His hands moved from your hips to your forearms, pulling your arms from around his neck, spinning you a couple of times before letting go, you both dancing on your own, circling each other, your eyes glued to each other as you felt the rhythm of the music.

Lifting your arms into the air, before slowly dragging them down to run your hands through your hair as you swayed your hips, Taehyung couldn’t help but think how fucking beautiful you looked. And when your gaze met his once again, and you flashed a stunning smile that had his heart pounding against his chest, he didn’t know for how much longer he’d be able to resist you.

Not being able to remain serious around each other for too long, you started shimmying your shoulders and hips in a silly manner. Taehyung threw his head back in laughter before easily composing himself, actor Tae making an appearance, as he straightened his form, stuck his hands in his pants pockets and began popping his hips back and forth.

Taking steps back as he popped his hips, he created more distance between you both before he exaggeratedly gestured to you to come to him with a swing of his arm. Pointing to yourself, you looked around you before mouthing, “me” to which Tae nodded, pointing at you. Suddenly, he started doing his well-known heart pounding move that he borrowed from the great content creator, Casey Frey.

Swaying your hips as you made your way to him, you laughed at his ridiculous move, reaching out to his jean jacket and pulling him to you. You turned around, continuing the movement of your hips with your back facing him, your body brushing against his. With the feeling of your backside against him in accordance to the beat of the song, he reached for your hips, pulling your flush against him as he matched your movements.

In that one simple gesture of him pulling you to him, the feeling of your bodies pressed so close, the tension reached an all time high between you both as you grinded against each other. You reached back, wrapping our arm around the back of his neck. Turning towards him, your cheek brushed against his mask covered chin and he leaned into the feeling of your face against his own, leaving a kiss through the mask to the apple of your cheek.

Spinning you around to face him, he pulled the mask down to rest underneath his chin, revealing a sexy smirk, his eyes set on your own. “What are you thinking?” He asked, his hips still swaying with yours, his hands on your waist as he held you close.

“You wanna know what I’m thinking?” You asked, quirking an eyebrow. Nodding, he waited for your answer, his eyes scanning your face briefly before falling to your lips where they lingered a moment, slowing coming to meet your gaze again. “I think everyone in here wants you.”

Taehyung’s eyes widened as he smiled widely at you. “Are you referring to all these people who keep looking at you?”

You rolled your eyes at the ridiculousness of his insinuation. “If they’re looking at me it’s only in envy that I’m the one dancing with you.”

Shaking his head at you, his grip on your waist tightened. Leaning in to whisper in your ear, he asked, “And what about you?”

Craning your neck to look at him, you scrunched your eyebrows in question. “What about me?”

Licking his lips, he smirked. “Do you want me, Peaches?” Your heart pounded at the question and the pet name in the context of your current situation. Of course you wanted him. You’ve been wanting him. Before you could tell him that, he leaned forward to press a lingering kiss to your temple. “Because I want you,” he spoke against your skin.

Your hands that were settled on his shoulders moved to grab the sides of his face, pulling him to look at you, your eyes searching his for the meaning behind his words. If they were simply lustful, you knew you couldn’t go forward with this no matter how badly you wanted to. However, as you looked into his orbs, you saw the sincerity you’ve seen a hundred times throughout your friendship with Taehyung.

Resting his forehead against yours, your thumbs brushing over the apples of his cheeks, he sighed. “I only want you,” he whispered, his lips hovering over yours, though he wasn’t making any moves to kiss you.

Never feeling so sure about anything before, you pushed your lips against his in a single kiss. The action caught him off guard and before he could react, you pulled away just far enough to look at him. “Take me home, Tae.”

Reaching for your hand, he hastily pulled you through the mass of club-goers, bumping into shoulders on the way out. Bursting through the door, he didn’t slow down as he led you down the street, the chilly night air sending shivers across your body. Or maybe it was the rush Taehyung was giving you.

Once the music faded back into a dull pounding, Tae scanned the sidewalk quickly, looking from side to side, making sure there were no bystanders before gripping the side of your abdomen, his other hand coming to cradle your jaw as he gently pushed you against the wall of some building, his lips greedily meeting yours. You responded by grabbing Taehyung’s hips and pulling his body flush against your own, eliciting a needy groan from the gorgeous man’s lips against your own, your mouth swallowing the sweet sound.

Taehyung reluctantly arched his back to lean away from you, unintentionally pressing his hips harder against your own. His eyes held the same emotion they did in the elevator as he searched your face. The look of adoration, hunger, and respect that showed through his features stole your breath as you stared back at him.

“Are you sure?” He asked simply, though his tone expressed his nervousness and concern. He wanted you to be sure, but he wasn’t going to push you to follow through if you decided you didn’t want this. If you didn’t want him.

“Tae,” you whispered, him hanging on the edge of your words. “Of course, I’m sure.”

Relief flooded Taehyung’s features as a small smile formed on his lips. “Do you trust me?”

“I do,” you whispered against his mouth as he left a soft kiss to your lips, a stark contrast to the way he eagerly ground his hips into yours.

“I thought that was crazy thing to do,” he smirked as he pressed a kiss to your jawline.

Craning your head to the side to allow him more access to your neck, which he greedily accepted, planting wet kisses along the sensitive skin, you cracked a smile. “It is,” you told him, grabbing the sides of his face in your hands, guiding him to look at you. “But I’m crazy about you,” you said with a goofy grin, Taehyung’s hooded eyes brightening as a wide smile spread across his face.

“Fuck that’s cute,” he said as he pressed a big kiss to your mouth.

“It’s not cheesy?” You taunted, dodging his mouth to toy with him.

“Oh, super fucking cheesy,” he giggled, finding your mouth again as he laughed into the kiss before grabbing your hand and tugging you away from the wall, dragging you to the dorm, in a hurry to get you to his room, not wanting to wait any longer.

You both couldn’t keep your hands off each other. In the elevator, he had you pushed against the wall, finally kissing you like he wanted to in that very elevator earlier that night. Down the hallway, he had his arms wrapped around your middle, walking you backwards to the apartment door, you both stumbling and tripping but not caring as you tried to get more and more of each other.

His hands made their way underneath your shirt, greedily feeling the expanse of your lower back as he backed you into the door. He only stopped kissing you so he could see the keypad. Kissing his neck, he breathily chuckled into the air, trying to not get distracted by you as he typed in the entry code.

When the pad beeped, the door unlocking, he hastily shoved it open, pulling you inside with him. Kicking the door shut, he continued backing you towards his room, his hands on the sides of your face, yours holding his wrists.

Not so gracefully pushing you against his bedroom door, you giggled, causing him to chuckle into the kiss as well. Twisting the knob, he pushed you into the room, you both slamming the door shut, completely unaware of Jungkook who stood in the door frame of his own room, pout on his face as he groaned in annoyance. Hearing the commotion you two caused on your way in, he had come out of his room to check on things when he spotted you two connected by the mouths, making your way to Taehyung’s room as quickly as possible.

He went back into his room and came out with a blanket and pillow, shuffling to the couch.

“Scoot over,” he told Jin who was slumped on the sofa, half asleep watching television.

Looking at Jungkook in confusion, Jin slowly moved over on the couch, making room for the younger man. “I thought you went to sleep.”

“The lovebirds just got back,” Jungkook said in a grumpy tone. “They just barged in, did you really miss all of that? They literally just stormed through here.” Jin looked at Jungkook with the same confused expression, Jungkook groaning in response. “They were kissing.”

“Oh,” Jin easily accepted the explanation. A moment went by before Jin’s eyes bugged out of his head, turning to Jungkook in shock. “Wait, they were what?”

You and Tae were in the bedroom, ripping clothes off, throwing them carelessly around the room. Your shirt was the first to go, followed by his. As you tugged on his belt, pulling it through the pant loops, he grinned devilishly at you, pushing you down onto the bed. He rid himself of his pants, leaving you to stare at the exposed skin in awe. Honey kissed from head to toe, he was truly a sight to see.

He chuckled knowingly as your eyes hungrily drank in his form, the way his broad shoulders met is defined collar bones, leading to his smooth chest. Your eyes ran along his soft tummy, down the small patch of hair that disappeared underneath his boxer briefs.

Crawling on top of you, he easily found the button of your jeans, opening them up and feasting his eyes on your black panties. Biting his bottom lip, he sat up on his knees as he tugged the tight material down your legs, his gaze latched onto your limbs.  

Moving to hover over top of you, he lowered his head to kiss your lips tenderly. “You’re so beautiful.” Pulling him to lay flat against your body, you used all your strength to roll him over, a crunching sound resounding from underneath Taehyung. Straddling his hips, you registered the sound, cocking your head. Taehyung’s eyebrows pulled together at the feeling of something foreign beneath his back.

Realization dawned on you as Taehyung arched his back, his hips rolling into yours unintentionally as result, making you both release small moans. “I’m pretty sure we just smashed your cowboy hat,” you said breathily with a small giggle, pressing your hips harder against his.

Pulling the hat out from underneath him he held it out to the side as you both inspected it in its crunched form. “Do you think it’s a goner?” He asked as his hand came to rest on your ass, pulling you to meet his hips in another rolling motion.

“Fuck, Baby,” you whined. Your tone and the pet name had him groaning, tossing the hat onto the floor as he sat up, you falling into a sitting position on his lap, wrapping your legs around his waist.

Kissing you hard, he pulled away for a moment, inspecting your face, taking in your features. “You owe me a new hat, Peaches.”

Giggling into a kiss, you used your weight to push him back onto the mattress, you following him, chasing his lips. Your hands caressing his neck, you mumbled into the kiss. “In your dreams, Cowboy.”

Flipping you suddenly, you trailed kisses along his neck as he ground his hips into yours, letting out deep growls at the feeling of your mouth on his skin. His hand reached up to tug on the cup of your lace bra, his palm flattening against your breast as he squeezed, you moaning into his mouth.  

“Wait, I have a question,” Taehyung interrupted, your heart sinking to your stomach in concern. He looked down at you, noticing your wide eyes and instantly feeling guilty for worrying you. “Oh, no no no, Peaches,” he brought his hand to cradle your jaw, his thumb gently brushing over your lips. “I was just wondering if this would be considered Lucy and Ethel antics.”

Relief flooded your body, an exhale leaving your lips as you complained, “Oh my god, Tae,” reaching up to smack his arm lightly.

“Is it?” He insisted, a wide childlike smile spread across his face.

“Falling for your best friend and then hooking up with them?” You asked as you mouth slowly formed into a smile. Nodding, he giggled, lowering his head to place a soft kiss to your collar bone, trailing them up to your shoulder before he nuzzled his face in your neck, rubbing his nose against the sensitive area where your neck curved into your jaw. “I think the show would have been a lot more interesting if Lucy and Ethel fucked, don’t you think? Platonically of course,” you joked, dipping your head as he looked up at you, you catching his lips with your own, Taehyung immediately deepening it as his hand reached down to your panties, his fingers digging underneath the waist band.

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” he replied as his hand slid further underneath the material. Smirking against your lips as you gasped. “Everyone loves a little platonic friendship.”

[barkkletshunt]

A Moth and His Lady Part Three

Oh dang this is becoming an actual fic and not a short little thing I intended. This chapter is less Felix X Mari and more backstory, Chat Noir reveal, and how Felix joins the heroes. 

Also if you want to be added to a tag list just let me know! 

Part one

Part two

Part four

Felix stared at Plagg. Plagg stared back.  Felix set his mug on the counter where the Kwamii was currently hunkered over a piece of cheese.  This creature was in his house, sitting like some sort of Goblin, eating the cheese his cousin forgotten to bring upstairs to his room. 

“I am dreaming.” Felix stated out loud. “I must have dozed off at my desk. How silly of me.” “Uh, yes. This is a dream. No need to tell Adrien about some silly dream you’re having, right?” “No, not at all.” Felix turned to exit the room. “I guess if this is a dream I can relax a bit and have a glass of wine." "You know how to relax? I mean yes! Good idea! Drink!" "Since I'm grabbing the wine did you want some aged brie that I have? Since this is a dream and all. I keep it hidden since Adrien keeps eating all the good cheese." "I suppose I could be swayed to stay a bit longer." Felix couldn't believe it. Chat Noir's Kwamii was in his house. In the house he shared with Adrien. The Kwamii was Adriens. He didn't want to believe it, but there was no other explanation. He needed answers. He went into the fridge and grabbed his wine and cheese before sitting down at the island with the creature. "So dream creature, I hope it won't offend you but I am a lightweight. I'm not sure if that translates into dreams or not, but I felt like I should warn you." The more he pressed that he wouldn't remember this in the morning the more the Kwamii would feel at ease. Although he doubted the creature was too bright to start with. "Well drink up! Pour a cap full for me too while you're at it!" Three cups of wine later and the creature hadn't said anything. No hints of Adrien. Felix was feeling the wine course through his bloodstream. "I want to see Adrien!" Felix jumped from his stool, intent on seeing his cousin. He knew it was foolish but he wanted this nonsense over with. Alcohol made him impatient and he had waited enough. "But it's late and he's probably sleeping!" "But I'm dreaming so it's not like I'm actually waking him up! I just need to tell him things!" Felix marched up the stairs to Adriens bedroom. The Kwamii flew through the door as Felix turned the knob. "Felix?" Adrien was sitting at his desk, reading another history textbook. The man had taken up history after high school, slowly getting away from the model scene. Felix was proud of him. "Adrien, I have a present for you!" Felix marched over to his cousin, grabbing a chair on his way over so he had a place to sit. "Felix are you drunk?" Adrien asked. "He is drunk and dreaming! He is definitely asleep right now so he will not remember anything!" Plagg yelled out from beside Adrien. "So that's what you were talking about." Adrien sighed. "Okay Felix, what is this present?" Felix rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a single silver ring. The one that matched his. The Graham De Vanily twin rings. "I stole this from your dad the day he got arrested. It was your mom's. I mean, it was hers yeah but it was also our grandmother's. It has been passed down to each Graham De Vanily twin set. Even though we aren't technically brothers I see you as one and you're my twin and I thought you'd also want your mother's ring." Adrien stared at Felix. His cousin might have been smashed with red wine stains on his tie, but that was the kindest thing that had ever come out of his mouth. "Felix," Adrien took the ring. It was his mother's, Felix wasn't lying. "I love you, not like I love Marinette, but I love you." "Felix I'm Chat Noir. I can't keep hiding this from you. I've been a hero since I was fourteen. When you moved in here after your mother died and we became close it began eating at me that I couldn't tell you. You were there for me and I was lying to you and I hated it." Adrien's words broke through the mental dam he had built. He was no longer able to keep it back. "And when my father was revealed to be Hawkmoth I thought I couldn't trust anyone but you were there and I know you won't remember this tomorrow but you mean so much to me." "I'll always be there for you Adrien." Felix put his hand in his cousin's shoulder. "We're family. Superheroes or not." Adrien helped his cousin to his room after that, insisting that if he didn't he'd wake up sick. "Thank you Adrien." "Sweet dreams, Feli."

Felix woke up tired. His body dragged with him wherever he went, and all he wanted to do was sleep. He didn't feel sick, just tired. Adrien tried telling him to go back to bed but Felix just swatted at him. He had things to do. He needed to revamp Master Moths public opinion. He couldn't fight the heroes anymore knowing one of them was his cousin, so he had to change. For good. His goal for becoming a hero was to bring back his family, but Adrien was his family. He wasn't going to risk losing him too. So it was time for Master Moth to work on his PR. "Nooroo, let's go over the skills of the miraculous again." Felix stated from his bed. "Yes master." The purple Kwamii chirped. "I told you, you don't need to call me that." Felix frowned. "Sorry Felix." The being sat on his chest. “It’s okay Nooroo.” He scratched the creatures head. “I’m not Hawkmoth, remember? We’re partners.” Nooroo nuzzled against him. “I know.” “So, let’s think of a game plan. As partners. I can’t have anyone thinking the butterfly miraculous is evil.” Felix sat up. “Let’s see, we have both passive and active powers. In or out of the suit I have heightened empathy, that is good. In suit I have telepathy, which will help immensely. We will be using that somehow. Then we can fly, transform people, and control them to an extent.” He hummed. “All very good things when you’re a villain, so this will be a bit harder than I thought.” “I know you’ll come up with something!” Nooroo cheered. The Kwamii turned to look out the window. “I think your chance will be sooner than you think. I’m sensing a lot of fear.” “A sentimonster?” Felix guessed. “I think so.” "That means Adrien is going." "If he is Chat Noir, then yes." Felix threw his legs over the side of his bed and got up. "Then I have to go, and do what I can to protect that reckless dumbass." "You really care about him, don't you?" "Don't make me sound soft, Nooooo. I'm supposed to be the stoic one." "You're softer than a cinnamon bun, Felix." "We will talk about how wrong you are at a later date. For now, Nooroo, wings rise!" It didn't take him long to get to the monster, which just aggravated him more. He wanted to check up on Marinette first, but the monster was headed directly to the bakery. Ladybug was helping the bakers out, but one was missing. Marinette. He landed beside the bug, looking around for the blue haired girl. "There should be another girl." "Master Moth?" Ladybug couldn't believe her eyes. Her surprise hit him like a proud of bricks. His empathic abilities spiking.  "Let's sum this up quickly so we can get on with our day. I have switched sides. I no longer wish to take your miraculous. I fight alongside you and the chat until we can recover the peacock miraculous." He turned to her. "There is someone missing. A girl. Blue hair, blue eyes." "You know Marinette?" "I'm sure most of Paris knows her. How is that a surprise?" Felix groaned. "Yes I know her." "I already grabbed Marinette and put her somewhere safe. Don't worry." Ladybug seemed ready to yell at him, but the monster roared and brought her attention back to the matter at hand. "You say you want to help?" "I do." "Then be a distraction until Chat gets here." That was how Felix found himself flying around the monster, struggling not to get hit with each swing of its giant arm. The hero's of Paris watched from a rooftop, ladybug with her lucky charm ready and Chat Noir ready to grab Felix if he did anything wrong. "Moth! We won't be able to get close enough to use this until he stops moving!" Ladybug yelled. Felix cursed. He went to ladybug and grabbed her, pulling him into the air with him as he flitted around the beast. "Where on it do you need to go? I'll drop you off, Ms. Bug." "On his right hand." "You're sure about this?" "Positive." He tossed her into the air and dove down, the creatures right hand following him. He crashed to the ground and readies himself to go against the weight of the beast when Chat Noir appeared beside him. His baton ready to keep it from crushing them both. The Monster slammed it's fist down. Felix and Chat Noir kept it from crushing them, but they were struggling. Felix could feel his cane shaking under the weight. "Chat, get out of here. If either of us hand to get crushed I rather it be me." "Neither of us is getting crushed. M'lady would never fail us." The chats staff began to bend. That was Adrien. Adrien was willing to die alongside the villain who was making his life hell for the past few months for what? Honor? No. "You're the hero of Paris, don't be stupid." Felix kicked Chat Noir out of the path of the monsters fist. Chats staff couldn't take bending any farther and flung itself away, leaving Felix with only his cane. Metal, even magical metal, could only do so much. He couldn't let Adrien be crushed with him. His cane wouldn't be able to take much more either. He just hoped Marinette was safe. The Monster gave out a loud cry before crumbling around him. Once the dust cleared he could see Ladybug standing in front of him, hand outstretched for him to take. He took it and got up. "That was very brave." Ladybug said. "And stupid. You could have gotten hurt." Chat Noir nagged. "I stand by my decision. You could have gotten hurt too, and I'm sure everyone in Paris would prefer that I took the hit instead of both of us." Felix smiled at the cat. "Limit the casualties and you have a better chance of success." "That's now how being in a team works." Ladybug frowned. "Shows you how long it's been since I've been in a team." "Why did you want to take our miraculous in the first place?" Ladybug questioned. Felix knew the question was coming. Anyone would want to know. "I'm an orphan and I wanted my family back, but it turns out I have people in this world that I'm not willing to trade." Felix sighed. "My girlfriend and my brother are people irreplaceable. I'm not risking either one of them." "I get wanting your family back." Chat agreed. "But you caused a lot of trouble." "I will make it up if you give me a chance. I would rather be a hero in the eyes of those I care about than a villain."

[rainbowwing251]

Hey I just found your blog but I must say, you’re very talented😁. I’d like to make a request tho. Maybe some headcanons for Terry from fatal fury? It’s optional of corse.

I’m sorry for making you wait all this time, but I have finally finished my list of headcanons for Terry!

I haven’t played any of the games in the Fatal Fury series, nor have I played any of the games in the King of Fighters series. Nonetheless, I’m going to do my best. I think I have some good headcanons for Terry.

Terry is a ler-leaning switch that is on the border between a ler-leaning switch and a pure ler. Given this information, and his appearance, most people would assume that he hates being tickled. However, this isn’t entirely true. It all depends on who his ler is, and whether or not he is in the mood.

His worst spots are his knees and his underarms. Terry does a very good job with protecting these spots, but if you can get around his defenses and tickle him in either one of these two spots, he’ll quickly crumble under your hands.

Even so, you will likely struggle with keeping him down on the ground. No matter who his ler is, he will try to fight them back. Sometimes, this is due to genuine discomfort, and he’ll try to get his ler to stop tickling him. This is only the case if you  are a complete stranger to him. If he knows you, you better watch out. He’ll try to turn the tables on you while you are tickling him.

After he recovers from a tickle attack, he will occasionally feel a sudden twinge of sadness. Don’t blame yourself for that, though. You didn’t do anything wrong. Sometimes, tickling makes him think about his adoptive father, Jeff Bogard, and how he would tickle him and his brother, Andy Bogard, on rare occasions. This wouldn’t be a bad memory for Terry... if his father hadn’t been murdered right in front of him while he was 10.

How does this memory not resurface every time you tickle him? I don’t know for sure, but it can happen from time to time. If it does happen, don’t try to tickle him again. He might get upset with you (though he’ll never get mad at you. He’s knows that you are not trying to hurt him on purpose).

Terry only has two lers in his world: Andy and Rock Howard. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get tickled by them all that often. Andy’s spends most of time in Japan, and Rock doesn’t really care about tickling. In Smash, it’s a different story. Ken, Little Mac, Ryu, and Pit are Terry’s main lers, and they all target him on a regular basis. Unfortunately for Pit, Terry can easily turn the tables on him.

As a ler, Terry is rather fatherly! Perhaps that is a weird way to describe Terry’s ler side, but the upcoming headcanons will explain this a little bit better. At least, I hope they will.

Similar to Mario, Terry will target those who want or need to be cheered up. Instead of targeting the sides and the bottom of the ribcage like Mario does, Terry will lightly tickle the lee’s stomach instead.

If no one needs cheering up in his world, then he might go and target Rock. As his adoptive father, Terry wants to give Rock the love that he deserves, not wanting him to suffer from the same kind of loneliness that he and Andy once suffered from.

If he is in Smash, then he will target the younger fighters of Smash. These fighters won him over rather quickly, as he is very protective towards children and young teenagers. He doesn’t want the younger fighters to suffer like he did (though for fighters like Ness and Lucas, it’s a little too late for that), and he definitely doesn’t want them to feel unloved. If any one of them needs a reminder that they are loved, Terry will drill that message into their heads by tickling them silly.

He does target the adult fighters of Smash as well, but he isn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of tickling them. There are a few exceptions, but I’m not going to go over that now. I’ll talk about in Terry’s list of lees.

He prefers to use lighter tickles, knowing that heavier tickles could potentially result in injury if he is the one doing the tickling. He’ll only use heavier tickles if his lee asks for them.

He’ll give you plenty of breaks so you won’t be at risk for passing out due to a lack of oxygen. You don’t have to ask for a break, he’ll make that decision himself.

Despite his looks, he’s a bit of a silly guy on the inside, and this is demonstrated by the way that he teases his lees. He teases his lee like a father would tease their child (I know Terry doesn’t have a biological son, but in my opinion, adoptive fathers can be just as good as a biological father). The only other person who could compete with his ability to turn a lee into a giggly mess via teasing is Chrom.

In his world, Rock is his main lee. Andy is another one of Terry’s lees too, but he doesn’t get the chance to tickle him all that often, since Andy spends the majority of his life in Japan.

In Smash, he will go after the younger fighters, as I have previously stated. Out of all of them, Lucas, Toon Link, and Young Link are his main targets. These three have all gone through some horrible shit, and Terry wants them to know that they are safe and secure in Smash. If they ever feel scared, he’ll be there for them. And this doesn’t just apply to them, it applies to all of the young fighters.

As I mentioned a few paragraphs ago, Terry isn’t entirely comfortable with tickling the adult fighters. However, there are a few exceptions. Those exceptions are Marth, Chrom, Little Mac, and Shulk.

Terry has a bigger soft spot for Shulk than he does for the rest of the adult fighters. Don’t get me wrong, he has a soft spot for everyone, but Shulk is a bit more special to him than anyone else.

When he first got into Smash, he somehow mistook the young Homs for Rock. Upon realizing that he wasn’t his adoptive son, he got slightly embarrassed, and apologized to him for the mix-up. Shulk didn’t see anything wrong with that mix-up, so he quickly forgave him. After a few days had passed, Terry realized that he had developed a soft spot for the guy. He reminded him of his adopted son.

When someone told him that Shulk was ticklish, he immediately wanted to test his ticklishness. He talked to him about this, and he eventually got the okay to tickle him. Needless to say, Shulk quickly became one of Terry’s favorite lees.

That’s all I got for Terry! Once again, I apologize for making you wait for these headcanons. I got nervous about the quality of these headcanons once I got towards the end of the list. That wasn’t going to stop me, though.

P.S Me? Talented? Of course I’m going to take that as a complement, but wow. I was not expecting that at all.

[lynndoublelegacy]

just a cool dnd meme i saw

Yook so it’s less a meme and more like. a big ol questionare but hey, might as well do it. originally saw it on @/probablyottrpgideas, go check them out

1. Game Master, Player, or both? Why?

Ok so technically I’ve DMed twice but I really don’t find it fun? and don’t ever want to do it again. so. Player. I like building characters and their connections with fellow PCs more than building worlds

2. When did you start roleplaying? How old were you?

oh god, if we’re talking about roleplaying in general? I’ve been doing it basically as long as I can remember. As a kid I would play House, and then once I got older in like 5th grade I actually started making characters and playing out their stories with friends. Google+ is what made me realize this was actually like, a THING, though, and I got into some roleplaying groups there, then on DevaintArt. Dungeons and Dragons is a newer development? I got into it in late 2018 when my sister’s friend invited us to a one-shot, and... well, yea, I got hooked lol

3. What was the first roleplaying book you ever owned?

dude, bold of you to assume I really own any. I don’t have that kind of money and literally only own the Guide to Wildemount, and that was a gift

4. Describe the first game you ever ran or played in.

I mean... it’s not a game but ima describe the one shot, bc my first campaign was a hot mess without a true storyline and I used the same character for it anyway. I played a tiefling bard called Aisling Kai (I didn’t know this was a cliche combo at this point, and I honestly played her like a rogue with a music motif but Whatever) and we were a little group tasked to figure out why the hell anyone who goes into this cave never comes out. So we go in, make our way through the dungeon, fight some frog people (I made one of their ears bleed just by getting a nat 20 on a performance check to play a high f# on flute, that was fun, FWEET), and turns out yep, theres a hill giant down here. We kicked his ass and collapsed the cave on top of us (dw I think we were fine but my memory is a little screwy)

5. What system did you grow up with? / 6. Which system do you play now?

i learned on and currently play dnd 5e. I don’t really know anything else, but I’m debating checking out Vampire of the Masquerade.

7. Longest campaign you’ve run or played in?

That would be my Tal’Dorei campaign group, aka The Fatefallen! Started in the Fall of 2019 and still going to this day, just played our 45th session last week. I play Ilia Liadon, the drow grave cleric, and the only member of our party who has been there for every single session since the beginning.

8. Where did you meet your current gaming group?

...well first I feel the need to mention that I have 3 different groups (2 of them are on hiatus now for pandemic related reasons but! we’re still groups). My first group (with Aisling) was formed slowly over time as friends adopted friends into the group, I think it started as a school club? but that didn’t last long. The other two started from a different school club as well, though one has since branched out into other people as well. 

9. Strategic combat or dramatic plotlines?

I am a roleplayer first and a gamer second. Give me all of the backstories and dramatic plotlines. Don’t get me wrong, I still like combat, but story takes precedent for me.

10. Favorite RPG genre?

I don’t tend to define myself by genre? But I tend to fall into more of a fantasy, at most arcanapunk style. Give me all of the magic, and magic powered tech.

11. Your first character.

I got into her a little bit earlier, but my first character was Aisling, aka Calypso Kai. She was a homebrew subclass bard with a criminal background, who honestly? should’ve been a rogue. I’ve since rebuilt her into an Assassin Rogue/College of Eloguence Bard multiclasser, but this iteration was like. Baby her, baby me new to dnd, I did not know what I was doing. She tried to be edgy, but my mom energy came through HARD and she just. Never really had a set characterization. She deserves better and I plan on playing her better sometime in the future.

12. Your favorite character.

You are making me choose between my children. BUT, if I had to pick, either Ilia Liadon, or! Ashe Wednesday, a protector aasimar drunken master monk and my profile picture. Ashe also deserved a lot better from their campaign, so I have a massive soft spot for them, they were made during a really tough time in my life (as was Ilia) and was going through an equally rough time in-game, since I made them for a Curse of Strahd campaign without understanding what I was getting into. They’re my little rebellious asshole and I love them dearly, someone get this kid therapy. Ilia, on the other hand, is just... she’s a comfort character for me at this point. mostly soft edges, such a mom- while Ashe was me yelling “come at me” at the world while crying, Ilia was just... embracing it. Making it better. basically, if they actually existed, I would die for both of them.

13. Your most ridiculous character.

I don’t usually play super ridiculous characters, but! I would say Keothi “Bookfinder” Vaimeil counts. She was basically me looking all of the goliath barbarian stereotypes in the eye, and going “nah. she’s a nerd.” She’s literally a massive puppy dog, just the sweetest big old thing, sitting in her house and reading all the books she can get her hands on in order to make up for her amnesia. Oh, and did I mention that she’s a zombie? ...yea. She’s wacky, but I love her.

14. The best in-character line you’ve ever had.

“I need sleep. I don’t even sleep and I need sleep.”

~Ilia, after a particularly tough fight and an emotionally draining day

15. Your most epic death.

Ok so... none of my characters in game have ever actually died during the storyline? Keothi obviously has in her backstory, and Ilia might have in hers as well, it was never explicitly stated, but during the game? Nope. Ashe got stupid close, but nope. Since Keothi is my only death period, and her death was pretty epic, I’m just gonna describe that. Her parents and siblings in her Goliath tribe had all fallen ill, so she decided to go searching for a possible cure, and ended up getting conned into helping this cult, since they said they would cure her family. Turns out, yea, they were lying, they just needed a goliath willing to sacrifice themselves with a cursed sword. They made the mistake of revealing this before Keothi was actually dead, so as she was dying, she brought the entire goddamn cultist temple down to the bottom of the sea and took the cultists with her. The sword was why she was undead, in the Shadowfell, and couldn’t remember anything.

16. Your most disappointing death. 

As mentioned, I’ve never died in campaign, but I feel like I have to mention this one that happened to our party in Curse of Strahd. We were in the death house, all 5 of us, still level 1, and our barbarian falls into a pit trap with spikes. None of us realize she’s actually dead, so we send out paladin down to get her... with the monk, the bard, and the warlock holding the rope. ....yea both of them died.

17. Something that shouldn’t have worked, but it did.

I’m stuck between two options for this one. First one was the time our water genasi paladin/rogue bloodbended our gnome cleric into a bridge to keep her from falling all the way down a ravine. The second time was when our party managed to defend a small seaside town from a pirate raid with just an NPC with Control Water, a ballista, ourselves, and some explosives. Neither should’ve worked, but both did. Having a triton in your party can really come in clutch in a seaside campaign.

18. Something that went hilariously awry.

I have one that’s hilarious and one that’s horrifying. Hilarious one: in my first ever campaign, someone from Aisling’s backstory popped up and our sorcerer went “that’s shady” (to be fair, he was) and then went to investigate BY HIMSELF. He obviously got kidnapped by the mafia, and then we went all stealth mission to break him out. Stealth was immediately abandoned after our other bard used a SCREAMING SWORD to break open the locks, then we proceeded to go out the way we came, setting everything on fire on the way out, and with our bard lying their way out the front door (with the rest of us in tow as “prisoners”) by pretending to be a fellow mafia member. It was great. Horrifying one: Ilia tries to Send to a member of the party who left in order to let him know that a fellow party member had died. Forgot that he left bc his mind was invaded by a previously dead, very evil old god, and ends up trapped there with him for a while. Ended up with all of our main spellcasters trapped in their own heads while the barbarian paced around worriedly and the rogue decided he was going to get smashed instead of worrying himself silly.

19. Your most memorable in-character moment.

There are a LOT in Ilia’s campaign, but! If I had to pick one, it would actually be a pretty recent one involving Ilia and our party’s wizard, Liara. They’re basically the embodiment of head vs heart? Anyway, Liara is currently suffering from something called magic corruption, though idk if suffering is the right word. Anyway! It basically resulted in her getting... possessed? by her own magic during the night during Ilia’s watch, and they had a really, really interesting conversation regarding guilt, death, and grief, and yea basically I love them. Honorable mention to our druid’s death (he’s back and better now, but that was my first long-time death in a game, we didn’t know he was coming back) and also the moment that Ilia realized that her childhood bff/crush had been revived in a new body and that this NPC was her best friend. That was a trip.

20. The coolest item you ever got and how you came to possess it.

I got this item in the revamp of my first ever campaign and nothing has topped it since which is Sad but hey. Anyway! I got this really cool, possibly cursed dagger after I threw a knife at an absolutely eldritch being and it got stuck in him as he transformed. It looked really badass, and allowed me to cast Inflict Wounds on occasion when I stabbed someone with it. So yea, we love that. Honorable mention to my paladin/bloodhunter’s Helm of the Aberrant Gladiator which allows you to basically do a bunch of fear based affects and psychic stuff.

Numbers 21 through 30 don’t apply to me but. yea. enjoy this summary of my dnd history I guess

[deviant3lover]

OOOOOOOO! You writing for other charaters now? Cuz, here are some bois I'd like to see your take on! Pick and choose who you'd please: Zombieman, Child Emperor, Tatsumkai, Sonic, Flashy Flash, Mumen Rider, King and, (one I'd really like to see) Sweet Mask. Thanks, and happy early birthday!

Thank you~! And lmao, my birthday was like, a month ago now;; I swear my attention span is hella weak- I see a shiny thing and I 

Z I P 

Outta my work and go over to look at it for the next 3 days.

And anon… dear anon…

I will do ALL OF THEM.

MUMEN RIDER:

If I’m being honest? I honestly hated him when he was first introduced.

He cycled as fast as he could to confront the Paradisers, had a moment where he parked his bike, (a bit awkward, but I faintly enjoyed the sight) pulled off a show of confidence that implied that he knew the gravity of the situation and has a way of dealing with it effectively (the common subversive tactic: weak looking character has tremendous strength) and then got DECKED ON with one hit, showing that it was just shallow hot air he couldn’t back up.

And then he got credit for the work that Saitama did. (Albeit unintentionally.)

Not… the greatest first impression. I thought he was an overconfident guy who was playing hero, uncomprehending of the danger that he puts himself in for the sake of living in an idealised fantasy that since he’s the protagonist, since he’s the one with determination and a heart of gold, it’ll all work out. Him cycling towards the Sea King at full throttle, with him apparently not taking the hint from the Paradisers, drove that belief home to me even more.

(Wow, I sound like Garou here. :o…)

And then he launched into his spiel.

How he felt like he wasn’t good enough to take the promotion, how he knows, better than anyone, that he’s weak. That yes, he might not win- might even get killed for his fruitless efforts for it, but what matters is that he tries. Not because he feels like he can pull it off eventually, or that the monsters will submit to how ~brave~ he is, but because it’s just important to try in the face of overwhelming odds, if it means that others have a slightly better chance of surviving because of it. Willing to die just so others won’t, even when you’re dismissed as a weakling both in the present and after death.

And that made me doubt about what I thought of him.

It wasn’t until I saw him trying to convince TTM to leave Garou alone, trying to intervene when Garou attacked him, and getting his face smashed repeatedly into the concrete sidewalk for his efforts by the same man he tried to defend, that I was utterly convinced that Mumen was genuinely heroic.

This may be a little dark, but I have a feeling that Mumen’s sense of justice doesn’t entirely stem from his selfless nature, but also from feelings of worthlessness. That he goes above and beyond to be a hardworking hero because he feels he has no worth if he dares do otherwise. The Christmas extra chapter in the manga sort of sparked this belief for me. If Mumen’s sense of justice was purely selfless, he’d mention other options (e.g. Friends inviting him out, new bistro downtown, setting up a mini Christmas tree and treating himself to a nice present) and maybe consider injecting some time for himself for them, if not on Christmas day, then the day before or after. Instead, he says with a smile, that he’ll be patrolling the streets for danger with no allusion to his personal life. And that lingering suspicion still sticks to me to this day.

CHILD EMPEROR:

First impression? I didn’t think too much of him, because I didn’t have much reason to. Very little screen time in the early manga/anime didn’t get me to form much of an attachment or investment in his character.

But later on? I like him! A kid prodigy, but it’s made clear time and time again that he still has room to improve, and I’ve always been a big fan of personal growth and developing self-reflection/awareness in stories. The fact that he wasn’t a stuck-up brat who thought he knew everything, and (taking into account that he’s literally 10 years old) still had a great deal of growth ahead of him in terms of the technological and the personal…

Yeah. I’m definitely holding out my hope for seeing a side story dedicated to him.

If I had the luck to choose the idea for the plot, I would love to see what sparked his love for technology, his mishaps and successes and so-so’s when it came to developing his skills and his gadgets. I want to be able to see the people around him reacting with awe and confusion over this kid hurriedly drawing up complex diagrams on a chalkboard board for different ideas before they leave his mind, which gadgets he’s put the most work in, the most time on, and is proud of, and finally; if he had a snobby phase and is ashamed of it. Bonus points if he took a break from his work to read up on how to be more like a mature adult so that older people will take him more seriously outside of being an inventor.

SONIC:

I, uh… honestly don’t think too much of him? He never really stuck with me.

Conversely… I do, however, like the few times we get the spotlight shined on him. He’s a badass to watch, and I laughed and cringed when the infamous ‘accidental punch’ scene came up on my screen. Considering the fact that I watched the anime first before the manga, I wasn’t anticipating it at all.

Which makes me glad in this case! The animated scene feels way more impactful and memorable than the manga version. I felt the build up and the rapidly increasing dread rise in me as I saw Saitama’s fist slowly punch Sonic’s unmentionables. Animating the- ahem- impact of his punch done me in and seared that scene into my mind.

Hmm… I feel like Sonic’s a more rebellious version of Flash, whilst also having been influenced by him. The both of them enjoy taking care of themselves in more luxurious ways, with their glossy hair and refusal to be filthy or rough in any way (e.g. Flash taking good care of his hair in the shower, Sonic opting to cook the monster cells and serve them tastefully before eating them) but I feel like Sonic likes rebelling more outwardly towards how he’s been trained and conditioned as a ninja compared to Flash. He just gives off that vibe~

Expanding on that, I feel like he’s more self-reflective and subtle in his thoughts. Flash is sort of absorbed in his own business and narrow range of experiences (not that I’m blaming him: he’s a busy man) while Sonic is more rooted to reality, and is a little more mellowed out to show for it. In the audio CDs, he gains a new understanding of what Saitama is forced to go through and respects him more as a person than just a milestone to beat, and he overcomes his trauma of Saitama ‘punching him’ by accepting what happened and simply keeping the possibility of it happening again in mind; not to torture himself or blame himself for being ‘weak,’ but to acknowledge what he’s fearful of and accepting it, allowing him to move on.

FLASHY FLASH:

I was gunning hard for him to be a cold-blooded woman assassin who wants to look elegant and deadly at the same time. Femme fatale, minus the seduction.

I was a little disappointed when he turned out to be a guy, and more so when he riled up Metal Bat with his insults while telling them to cut it out (counter intuitive, but it wouldn’t have been so bad if I wanted to see that. But I didn’t want to see it so lmao-) so, apart from his cool character design, I was a little turned off in my investment in him.

I was hoping that they kept the name ‘Lightspeed Flash’ instead of Flashy Flash. Yes, I know that they’re pretty much the same in terms of meaning, but the former just sounds more dignified. Considering he’s a man who takes himself seriously in both his work and appearance, I feel like it’s more in character for him to suggest a hero name that sounds more impressive, but still shows that sort of silliness underneath when you look closely.

He gained back some of my respect for him when he directly told Tatsumaki off for stealing his kill and talking down on him. That takes mad guts and I was wondering which of the heroes are willing to risk a serious fight with her to prove that they’re not one to be trifled with.

(Metal Bat was a little different in that regard: at the time, I just saw him as another affectionate parody of the delinquent trope. Nice contrast to the rest of the older, calmer heroes, but a little generic.)

Flashy Flash… yeah. I feel like he’s willfully disconnected himself from the world both emotionally and socially. Not because he’s afraid, but because he thinks it’s useless. He’s already seen the worst of it thanks to his upbringing, so there’s no point in putting in effort to go out and explore just to discover what else is wrong with the world.

I also think that, like Tatsumaki, he feels more than competent on his own and believes doesn’t need any outside help or interference. Hence, anyone who doesn’t meet his personal standards immediately has their opinions and suggestions of him dismissed or not truly considered with respect. He thinks he knows what’s best, even when there’s opinions screaming that he’s not, because he doesn’t respect others that way.

KING:

OOF- Okay, I was actually pretty ambivalent about him.

I thought he was cool when he intimidated the Tongue monster into submission, then thought he was an egotistical, vain hero when confronted by the G4 monster, then thought he was a pitiful, cowardly man forced to flee out of necessity, and then thought he was an endearing puppy when he realized just who Saitama is to him.

And. Hm.

King is… a very genuine man. I like him. Like Mumen Rider, he’s willing to put himself on the line to protect others. What makes me a little conflicted is if he’s more, the same, or less heroic than Mumen.

More: He has absolutely nothing to defend himself with in terms of physical skills or strength. His luck is his only maxed out stat in the hero game he’s obliged to play, and he’d rather be left alone, but he still puts his life on the line to help others, even when he’s scared witless.

Less: He does have his awe inspiring, fear inducing reputation that can neutralise the monster threats more often than not, and is aware of this, using it to his advantage. So maybe he’s a little less courageous since he knows it will work in his favour more often than not.

My take on him…  King strikes me as a good man. In a normal, monsterless world, he won’t be the kind who’ll fearlessly charge into battle against terrorists, or pull off any awe inspiring feats by himself by passing life saving legislations; this man isn’t interested in grand scale heroics and would rather support those who are interested and are good at it.

No, King strikes me as a man who wants to keep to himself and offer his sincere help to those who manages to become good friends with this shy man. He may be quaking in his boots at imminent danger, but he’ll still try to stand up for what’s right when someone else is being taken advantage of, even if he’s not entirely sure of what he’s doing.

AMAI MASK:

(RECENT WEBCOMIC SPOILERS!!)

I never cared much for Amai until now.

I can’t imagine anything more devastating than working yourself down to the bone to protect and give people hope, to cultivate others into what it means to be a true hero, only to realize the people you worked so hard for was just as hideous as you used to be. This man worked so hard, and him protecting the people he cared about wasn’t enough to deter them from reacting with horror and disgust. It wasn’t even five minutes until the first of his ungrateful ‘fans’ tried stoning him.

Thank God Saitama intervened… the look on his face after he was called a cool guy was both ugly cute and heart wrenching. He may have been called dreamy or inspirational by the adoring masses, but being broken down to the very thing that you’ve been ashamed and fearful of your entire life, and still having someone who sees you as someone worthwhile must’ve meant the world to Amai. He’s a monster, yes, but he kept a vice grip on his morals and never let them go, even when his grip on them was weakening with every breath he took.

I also liked the way that ONE written his rise to fame. The build-up and anticipation surrounding how he looked behind the mask, Amai himself being bitter over the vanity of the public, learning to accept it, and gradually became obsessed with embodying the symbol of justice- this time, where everyone can see it. But it wasn’t on his own terms, no; instead of being seen as the ugly but virtuous man before, he has to present himself as a handsome idol, instead of being loved and revered for who he truly is; ugly and all. That it’s not a defect.

And I felt pity for him when I realized that’s what happened.

My opinion and takes (interpretations) of him? He’s interesting, to put it lightly.

If I think more on it, I feel like he’s losing himself to his delusions. It’s ironic: someone focusing on saving the hearts of others, yet all they can see is themselves.

True to the series, Amai reminds me of Genos. Of what Genos would’ve turned out to be if he was kept alone with no one he can truly connect with. No one who can remind him of the sweeter things in life that don’t matter. No one you have a personal, deep connection with to return home to.

Amai strikes me as a man who’s so focused on eliminating evil that he sees it everywhere, no matter how small or large it is, or if it even exists. If someone doesn’t live up to his standards or sees what he sees, he immediately has this sort of insurmountable, unseen distance from them that can’t be easily crossed.

In all honesty, I’m intrigued and worried for him. Part of my indulgent ideas for him is that he’s slowly starting to hallucinate and had started monsterize from the inside for a long, long while, and it’s only by the Association’s dependence on him and his adoring fans that keeps preserving the man that he used to be when he was purely heroic, but hideous. And even then, it’s not enough.

I feel like he’s painted himself in a corner where he feels it’s too late to try and get help for his condition, instead desperately searching for someone who can take his place. He knows how important a symbol is, and if he had the choice, would keep it up as long as he lives, but his passion for it isn’t enough to drive off what he’s becoming.

And he was right.

ZOMBIEMAN:

I may have done Zombieman already, but I also realise that I’ve missed out on some things that I wanted to include~

In contrast to Amai, Zombieman strikes me as the type of guy who’s a sort of ‘Frankenstein’s Monster’ character. Unlike the book character, Zombieman is in a society that accepts, reveres, and adores him for all he does despite his questionable history and to what degree he is ‘human.’ He doesn’t seem to believe that what he is makes up for who he is, and anyone who thinks otherwise will earn his ire; but again, like Frankenstein’s monster, he knows it’s a part of him, and that it’s still a source of discomfort for him. He needs to get that skeleton out of his closet for him to truly enjoy life.

TATSUMAKI:

Honestly, I didn’t notice too much of her character until much, much later in the manga. Prior to that, I admired her ability to take care of the worst threats by herself. Soloist heroes and protagonists were always a soft spot of mine: learning to handle the worst of what life had to throw at you and being good at it, but not necessarily good at taking care of your emotional and mental wellbeing, confiding in others about that, and showing that it’s okay to be vulnerable or lost or flawed, and endeavoring to fix that?

Yesss. Good trope. One of my favorites.

So, what finally caught my attention from her?

Her fight with Psykos.

I was sort of seething with the way Psykos was chilling smugly in her underground lair. Her plan was smart, but the way she was so self-assured and the way she thinks she’s above others; human and monster alike, sipping wine all the while?

That irritated me a lot.

So, to see Tatsumaki rip her from her cozy room and into the fray of the battle, coercing her into spilling intel by twisting her limbs and body each and every way to force it out, and striking fear into her heart with that sadistic, predatory smile of hers?

I loved it. Whoo!

As for takes… I’m not sure if I have any on her to be honest! At least, not one that isn’t already canon. She believes that you shouldn’t rely on others to become strong, or to save you, and has lived up to that idea by herself. She can back up her words and I admire that.

I do feel a little sorry for her, considering what she’s gone through. As much as I agree with her, sometimes she can take it too far.

I was a little irked by her showing little to no concern for shielding her team mates from getting crushed underneath the rubble of a building, with Darkshine stepping in to protect them, but I suppose she had a point; you have to take care of yourself on the battlefield.

Still; her total lack of concern left me a little perturbed.

This was curbed a bit by her refusing to uproot the association until she knew Tareo was safe; I feel like that added more character to her in the manga, as opposed to the webcomic.

In conclusion: All of these characters are good. UoU! Murata and One are great writers, and they made them feel fleshed out and distinct from each other in almost every way possible whilst keeping them believable. And I love them for it. :3