#like our heroes are panicking this scene

[finalfantasyx]

只因你們叫我一聲大師兄 所以在我倒下之前 你們一個都不能死 Because you all call me your eldest martial brother...before I fall, none of you are allowed to die.

[inkskinned]

no, actually, where is the whimsy?

my ex had a best friend named larry who asked me once: what do you think comes after irony?

we were at the bar where larry worked. it was a quiet night, and he'd hopped over to sit with us on the patron side. i swirled the lemon around my limoncello martini.

earnest positivity, i said, while my ex said, art self-destructs.

i stared at my ex. he stared at me.

his argument was the cinemasins argument: look how bad media is becoming! look at the loopholes and the dumb shit!

it was roughly 2011. galaxy print was still in. at the time, i had a favorite shirt that was a wolf howling at the moon. it got ripped in half in the wash and i honestly still mourn it. i dressed like effie stonem, because everyone did. and irony was the name of the thing. men liked MLP "ironically." the internet liked the kind of crass, "anti-mainstream" vibes of things like fuck romance, touch my butt and buy me pizza. we put cats in sunglasses everywhere, which was because we only liked things in irony.

and media had the same vibe in it: anti-hero white men would be "hard to love" and then storm off the scene. nobody was just earnestly trying to save the world: they were jaded, angry, unoriginal. mad you even asked them to try to help.

my ex ends up not being wrong. cinemasins becomes super popular. a lot of people start viewing media with this lens that is the cruelest, most jaded depiction. it's wrong for your character to have unexplained powers, even if the entire movie is about how strange it is she has unexplained powers - that is still considered a "loophole." characters make thoughtless, panicked choices? loophole. characters are actually kind people, despite hardship? loophole. features a woman doing literally anything without assistance? loophole. movies become hyper-aware of scrutiny, and now irony rules the media.

which means you go to a movie, and the character has to turn to the screen and say "beats me!!" or one of the side characters has to have some kind of quip like "are you seriously telling me that you think this is normal?" because nothing can happen in earnest. like a sitcom laugh track, we now anticipate the fourth-wall break: the moment that the media acknowledges it is telling a story. the media has to apologize for itself, or else someone like my ex rolls their eyes.

but here's the thing: i wasn't wrong either.

the difference might be that i am (and always have been) so soft-hearted that any crack in the light of this world will spear me into the ground. and i was the poet in the relationship. (he thought that was the same thing as being naïve and stupid). i was making things daily. i knew how all of us artists are driven by some strange desire to evolve. he notably liked to critique art, not to create it.

so yes, i've made things that are bitter and angry and even ironic. i've made long, sharp poems with all capital letters, and i've made poems about how the silence stretches out like a song. someone wrote once that we will spend our whole lives just circling the place we grew up. i think it's more that we spend our whole lives trying to remake a home. i think it's that as we age, it becomes less exciting to build the castle on the beach - we become aware of erosion, of windforce. we realize what we really want is to come home to our dog, castle or not.

and while art in the foreground is mired in white male violence and irony, and aggression, and not taking anything seriously - i don't think that's true of all art. i think more and more artists are leaning in to the things we love. the world has changed so much. they have taken so many things from us. the only thing we have left is love. at the bottom of the moving box - all we get is the faint sense that we have to appreciate what little we've got. i can't enjoy this stuff ironically anymore: what room do i have for irony? if it makes me happy, that is an amazing thing. there are so few happy places left for me. i want to be happy because of how leaves shiver beside each other like nestling birds. i want to be happy because of the color pink, and how magenta doesn't exist. i have spent so much of this life suffering, i have earned my right to a gentle ending. if nothing matters, i get to assign meaning to the nothing. i get to create meaning. i am an artist first and foremost, which means creation is my thing.

where is the whimsy? wherever i fucking put it. because if this is my last fucking chance to do any good in this world - i want to do it earnestly. i want to write things that make you happy. that make people feel heard and seen. what comes after irony has to be positivity.

it was close to my 21st birthday. in 7 years, i would end up writing a book about this relationship, which is hopefully coming out somewhere around May 2024. i come back to this bar scene in my memories a lot. i keep thinking of how pale my ex was. the look that crossed his face. how i looked back at him. how for a moment, both of us couldn't recognize the other person. like the gulf between us was a suddenly wide and cavernous thing. like we were alien to each other. he never took my opinion seriously, and he always seemed surprised whenever his manic-pixie-dream-girl ever broke free of the plot. like in the whole time we were together, i wasn't human enough.

this knowledge: where he said nothing comes after, my only instinct was what comes after is love.

[r3ynah]

To be with you three

The justice league was in critical condition, a unknown entity had breached the universe's protection, and was now creating havoc everywhere.

He called himself, Skulker. he already had captured half of the justice league. and was only interested in fighting Red hood. Something about being a Halfa or something.

Red hood was not having fun, nor was Batman. Everything was in shambles. Even the most powerful cannot defeat the floating entity. the JLD was trying the best they could but to no avail they couldn't contain it, The entity aimed his weapon at Red hood and took fire.

When all hope seemed lost, Vines sprouted up the ground and saved Red hood in the last minute. The other vines also grabbed the other heroes and made a protective barrier between the entity and the JL.

confused the heroes looked at the rogue who was floating, his expression was now with fear and nervousness, he frantically looked at his surrounding seemingly expecting something.

"Are you all alright?" A voice asked, making all heads turn towards to a woman that looked like she's in early adulthood, with long black hair cascading down to hair waists, she looked like someone that can fit into Gotham's aesthetic with her thick eyeliner and her gothic style and a couple of vines that wrapped around her body.

"Who are you?" Batman asked his guard not wavering a single bit.

"My name is Foliahàrà, And we're here to take care of that Ghost." Sam pointed towards Skulker who was looking at her nervously.

"We're?" Superman asked

"Me and my partners. speaking of them here they are right now." Sam said in a tone that no one could specify if she's bored or it's just her personality.

A loud bang shook the city, when they looked back were the entity named Skulker was now gone, In his place was a man? woman? with white hair and green eyes, he had a cloak that shrieks royalty and a black pointy crown floating above their head, Skulker was now on the ground, a crater was formed below him, he was down. he was down. and all it took was a punch from the person

Another man came to the scene he was holding a thermos of some sort. he looked normal, normal clothes and all to the very least if you ignored all the gadgets and sand that followed him, he walked up to Skulker who was most likely knocked out, he opened the thermos and it turned the entity into a liquid before trapping it inside.

"Well that's taken care of." Foliahàrà said, as she retracted her vines that was protecting everyone, she froze then turned her surprised gaze towards Red Hood and eyed him making him uncomfortable, she floated to his direction making the man take a step back, Batman tried to hit her with his batarang keyword:tried, it just went through her.

for the first time she arrived she smiled at hood then with the outmost gentle voice she said. "you're a baby ghost." She cooed as she placed both of her hands at the side of Red hood's head, which he stared at her confused more confused when the pits became quiet all the sudden.

"I've got to tell Phantom and Codelith." she stated and took flight with the crime lord in her arms, she carried him towards her partners in the sky like a newborn baby, protests from the heroes below was ignored by Sam, as she continued to fly up, when superman tried to get her, she shot out a few of her vines that successfully trapped the hero, he tried to escape but her vines was stronger, and why was this power making him weak? like it doesn't hurt but it makes him really tired .

Red hood stayed quiet, trying to comprehend what happened did he get kidnapped or something? holy shit he did get kidnapped.

"Phantom, Codelith! I got a baby!" Sam stated as she finally catched up to them.

"Holy shit, Foliahàrà you can't just kidnap someone else's child" The one with glasses exclaimed with panicked hands, as he teleported near them.

"Cool new kid, More members for our cult" Phantom said as he floated towards red hood who still held onto the Photalis, because when i tell you he was afraid to fall 30 meters from the ground is an understatement.

[koyagifs]

𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓿𝓲𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓼

pairing: firefighter!seonghwa x er nurse!reader au: first responders | non idol | genre: angst | fluff | ?) word count:3.5k synopsis: it was supposed to be a normal routine for hwa, put out a fire and return back to base. warning(s): gunshots | mention of blood | panic attack description | cursing | basing this on 9-1-1 ep. 13/14.

𐙚⋆˙˚◞♡ monday 10:15 am

You stepped into the bustling hospital, the familiar hum of activity already filling the air. It was another day in the life of an ER nurse, chaotic yet strangely comforting. Her coffee in hand, she flashed a warm smile at the other nurses clustered near the nurses' station.

"Morning, everyone," she greeted, her voice carrying over the sounds of monitors beeping and phones ringing.

"Morning, Ynie!" one of them called back, a teasing smile on their lips. It had become a little nickname among the team, and while she pretended to roll her eyes, it always made her grin.

She took a quick sip of her coffee, savoring the brief moment of calm. The calm never lasted long here, but that was part of the appeal. As she set her things down and started looking over patient charts, a familiar face popped into view—Wooyoung, standing in the hall with a playful smirk, waving in her direction.

"Good morning, Doctor Woo," YN greeted with a playful smile, her tone teasing as she placed the charts back into their designated slot.

Wooyoung returned the smile, his trademark charm practically radiating off of him. "Hello, Nurse Ynie," he replied, matching her energy effortlessly. He shifted his stance, crossing his arms as he leaned against the counter, clearly in no rush to get to his rounds.

"How's our superstar nurse today?" he asked, his tone light but genuinely curious. "Ready to run the ER like you always do?"

YN chuckled, shaking her head. "Superstar? Hardly. But ready to deal with whatever chaos comes our way? Always." She picked up her coffee again, taking a sip as she met his gaze. "What about you? Feel like playing hero today?"

Wooyoung's grin widened, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Depends. Are you going to be impressed if I do?"

"That depends," she shot back, raising an eyebrow. "Are you actually going to do something worth being impressed by, or just stand there looking pretty?"

Wooyoung feigned a dramatic gasp, clutching his chest. "Looking pretty is half the job, Ynie. But fine, I'll try to be useful too. For you."

𐙚⋆˙˚◞♡ monday 12:30 pm

Seonghwa pulled off his gloves, his hands aching slightly from the adrenaline-fueled rescue they’d just completed. The smell of smoke clung to his gear, and his face was streaked with soot. He glanced over his shoulder as another firefighter called out to him.

"Hey, Park! Want to ride with the kid? He’s asking for ya," the man shouted, gesturing toward the ambulance parked nearby.

Seonghwa’s brows furrowed in brief surprise before he nodded, tossing his gloves onto the nearest truck. "Yeah, I’ll go," he replied, his voice steady despite the exhaustion creeping in.

"See you at the station, Hwa!" Mingi called out with a grin, his voice carrying over the commotion of the scene.

Seonghwa turned, raising a hand to wave back. But before he could respond, a deafening bang shattered the moment. The sound echoed through the air, sharp and jarring, followed by a sudden, searing pain ripping through his side.

Seonghwa’s eyes widened in shock as he staggered, the sudden sharp pain stealing the air from his lungs. His knees buckled, the strength draining from his body as the world around him blurred into chaos. Voices became distant, warped, and frantic, merging with the wail of sirens and the sound of panicked screams.

His body hit the ground with a heavy thud, the impact jarring but eclipsed by the searing pain radiating through his side. His breath came in shallow gasps, the metallic tang of blood filling his senses as he pressed a trembling hand to the wound. Warm, sticky blood seeped through his fingers, soaking his uniform and pooling beneath him.

Through the haze of pain and confusion, his gaze locked onto Mingi. His friend’s face was pale, eyes wide with terror, blood splattered across his cheek and uniform.

Seonghwa’s gaze remained locked on Mingi, his friend frozen in place, shock etched across his face. Blood spattered on Mingi’s cheek glinted under the harsh emergency lights, a stark contrast to his pale expression.

“Mingi…” Seonghwa’s voice was barely a whisper, weak and strained, but before he could say anything else, movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention.

In an instant, another firefighter lunged at Mingi, tackling him to the ground. The force of the impact sent them both sprawling, the sound of their bodies hitting the pavement echoing around them.

Confusion flickered across Seonghwa’s face as his muddled mind tried to process what was happening. His body screamed in protest as he shifted slightly, trying to understand why Mingi was suddenly being dragged away.

Gunshots. The sharp cracks of gunfire rang out again, piercing through the chaos.

It hit him then. The sound that had sent him to the ground—the bang that had caused the searing pain in his side—hadn’t been random. Someone was still firing.

The firefighter who had tackled Mingi shielded him with their body, shouting something Seonghwa couldn’t make out over the ringing in his ears. Mingi’s wide eyes met Seonghwa’s briefly, panic and fear warring in his expression.

“Seonghwa!” Mingi yelled, struggling against the firefighter holding him down, his voice raw with desperation.

Seonghwa tried to lift a hand, to reassure him somehow, but his strength was fading fast. The darkness at the edges of his vision grew, threatening to pull him under. All he could do was lie there, his blood pooling beneath him as chaos erupted around them.

𐙚⋆˙˚◞♡ monday 12:40pm

YN pulled the privacy curtains closed, finishing up with her last patient. The hum of the ER’s usual chaos surrounded her, but it wasn’t until her name was called over the intercom, requesting her at the front, that a strange sense of dread began to creep in.

Before she could get far, Wooyoung stepped into her path, his presence commanding yet calm. His face was set in an uncharacteristically serious expression, his eyes searching hers.

“YN,” he said, his voice soft but firm, the calmness in it somehow more alarming. He placed a gentle hand on her arm, stopping her mid-step. “Why don’t you sit this one out?”

Her brow furrowed, confusion and resistance flashing in her eyes. “What? Why would I—” She stopped, catching the subtle shift in Wooyoung’s demeanor, the way his jaw tightened despite the gentleness in his tone.

“Just trust me,” he urged quietly, his gaze steady. “You don’t need to take this one.”

Before YN could argue back, something caught her eye—the unmistakable sight of the emergency cart being wheeled toward the trauma area. The moment her eyes landed on it, everything seemed to slow. The familiar shape of a person, covered in sheets, and the frantic voices of medical staff surrounding it filled her ears.

Her heart stopped for a beat, her breath catching in her chest as a cold wave of dread washed over her.

There, lying on the cart, was Seonghwa.

The realization hit her like a sledgehammer, and before YN could fully comprehend what was happening, her knees gave way beneath her. The world around her tilted and spun, her breath caught in her throat as she stumbled forward, hands reaching out desperately for the nearest counter but missing entirely.

The next thing she knew, Wooyoung and her fellow nurses were there, catching her before she could hit the ground.

She let out a sob, the noise raw and desperate, echoing in the sterile, chaotic environment around her. “Seonghwa!”

Her voice cracked, each syllable a reflection of the fear and helplessness flooding her heart. She hadn’t been ready for this—not for the sight of him on that cart, not for the sudden weight of what had happened.

Wooyoung’s arms were around her now, holding her steady as she trembled, her body wracked with sobs. He didn’t say anything at first, just offering his support as she leaned against him, trying to regain control.

“YN,” he said softly, his voice calm but tinged with concern. “I know you want to be there, but you need to step back for now. Let the doctors and nurses handle this. He’s in good hands.”

But YN couldn’t hear him—her mind and heart were consumed with images of Seonghwa lying unconscious, blood staining his uniform. She couldn’t sit back and do nothing.

“Please,” she whispered, the word barely escaping her lips, “please don’t let him…” Her voice broke off as fresh tears streamed down her face. She had to fight to steady her breathing, her whole body trembling with the intensity of her emotions.

Wooyoung tightened his grip on her, his expression softening as he gazed down at her. “I’m not leaving you alone, YN. But you need to let the doctors do their job.”

She felt her body shake as he looked at Wooyoung franticly - " someone.. yun, he has to know-" yn cried out.

Wooyoung’s gaze flicked to the side as he saw someone moving quickly toward them through the chaos of the ER. The person’s face was familiar, and as they neared, it became clear they recognized YN.

“YN!” the person called, voice sharp with urgency.

YN turned her head, still shaking with anxiety, only to see San and Yunho rushing toward her. The sight of them brought a fresh wave of emotion, and she didn’t hesitate before reaching for them, her cries becoming more vocal, louder.

Without thinking, she gripped onto them, her hands clutching desperately at their uniforms, seeking comfort and stability.

“What—what happened?” she cried out, her voice breaking as the weight of the situation crashed down on her all over again.

Yunho, always the calm one, was the first to respond. His face was tight with worry, his eyes dark with concern. “They were getting ready to head back to the station when Seonghwa was shot, YN.” His voice was soft, but the words hit her like a punch to the gut.

“Shot?” Her eyes widened as she pulled back slightly, looking at him, still trying to process the reality of it. “But... why? How?”

San stood behind them, his hands resting on her shoulders, his usual confidence replaced by the same tension that radiated from Yunho. “We don’t know yet,” he added, his voice thick with frustration. “The shooter’s still at large. We were all too focused on getting Seonghwa to safety... It happened so fast.”

YN’s chest tightened, her breath shallow as she struggled to stay grounded. She had to hear more, to understand. “Is he... Is he going to be okay?” The question came out in a whisper, barely audible, as if saying it out loud would make it too real.

San glanced at Yunho, a look of understanding passing between them. Yunho sighed heavily, the weight of the situation pressing down on him. "There was a lot of blood, YN," he said softly, his voice strained, as if the memory of it still haunted him.

The words hit YN like a wave, a sob escaping her throat. She grasped at her chest as if trying to hold herself together. "Someone has to get our son, oh my god, Yun," she cried out, her voice breaking with panic. Without thinking, she fumbled for her phone, her hands shaking as she tried to dial, the urgency in her movements unmistakable.

But before she could press the call button, San was there, gently but firmly taking the phone from her hands. "YN," he said, his voice steady but laced with concern, "I know you want to reach him. But you can’t do this right now. It’s too much. You need to stay calm for Seonghwa.”

She looked at him, her tear-filled eyes pleading, but San’s expression was firm. “We’ll take care of it. Just... just breathe, okay?”

Yunho stepped closer, crouching down beside her, his hand resting gently on her knee. "We'll get him. You focus on Seonghwa." His voice was filled with the same protective determination that YN had come to rely on, the same love that had gotten them through countless trials before.

YN swallowed hard, her head spinning with thoughts of Seonghwa, her heart breaking for him and for their son—her mind struggling to keep up with the chaos of the moment. But she nodded, her hands trembling as she wiped at her eyes, trying to collect herself.

“Okay,” she whispered, taking a shaky breath. “Just... please, don’t let anything happen to him.”

Yunho and San exchanged a brief look, both determined, before Yunho spoke again. "Nothing’s going to happen to him, YN. We’ll make sure of that."

And with that, YN clung to the fragile thread of hope, trusting in their words, though her heart still raced with fear for Seonghwa and the child they loved.

𐙚⋆˙˚◞♡ thursday 1:45 pm

YN sat in the guest chair by Seonghwa's hospital bed, her body exhausted from the emotional toll of the past few days. Her eyes kept drifting closed, fighting the pull of sleep as the steady beep of the heart monitor was the only sound keeping her grounded. The rhythmic sound was both soothing and a stark reminder of how fragile Seonghwa's condition still was.

Her hands rested in her lap, fingers twitching every now and then as though searching for something to hold onto. Despite the exhaustion weighing heavily on her, she couldn't bring herself to leave his side. She'd barely been able to look away from him since they’d wheeled him into the room—his still form, pale and bandaged, the evidence of what he'd been through so vivid.

Every time she did manage to close her eyes, she could see flashes of Seonghwa's face, his gentle eyes, his smile, and then the overwhelming terror of when she first saw Seonghwa.

But each time, when her eyes fluttered open, she was met with the comforting sound of the heart monitor and the sight of him still there, breathing, still holding onto life.

She forced herself to stay awake, though the world around her felt fuzzy as sleep pulled at her consciousness. The chair was uncomfortable, her body aching from the tension, but she stayed, determined not to leave his side—not while there was still a chance. She couldn’t bear the thought of missing a moment, even the smallest one, if Seonghwa woke up.

A faint knock on the door startled YN awake, and she blinked rapidly to clear the fog of sleep from her eyes. She had been drifting in and out, barely able to keep her focus on Seonghwa, but the sound was enough to pull her out of her dazed state.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Mingi standing in the doorway, holding their son in his arms. The sight of them both—Mingi’s expression filled with concern, their son’s little face full of uncertainty—hit her like a wave.

“Mingi...?” YN whispered, her voice hoarse from both exhaustion and emotion. Her eyes darted between Mingi and their son, her heart aching to hold him, to feel the warmth of her child.

Mingi’s eyes softened, his gaze flicking between her and Seonghwa. He slowly stepped inside, his voice gentle yet strained. “I thought you might want to see him... He was asking for you.”

Her son, holding tightly onto Mingi, shifted slightly, his small arms outstretched toward her. The sight of him sent a fresh wave of emotion through YN, and she immediately stood up from the chair, her legs weak but steady enough to carry her forward.

She reached out, pulling her son into her arms, feeling the weight of his small body against her as he clung to her neck.

“Mommy, where’s daddy?” he asked quietly, his voice laced with a mix of worry and innocence.

YN’s heart ached as she held him tighter, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to spill. She kissed the top of his head softly, her voice trembling but firm. “Daddy’s going to be okay, baby,” she whispered, even though she wasn’t sure she believed it herself. “He’s just resting right now.”

Mingi stood off to the side, watching quietly, his arms crossed as he waited for the moment to settle. He knew YN needed this, needed her son’s presence as much as he needed her strength.

“YN,” Mingi spoke up softly after a long moment, “You need to take care of yourself too. You can’t keep this up. He’s in good hands, and you’re needed for him, but you need to rest.”

YN sniffled, her voice small but firm. "I will after Hwa wakes up." She glanced over at Seonghwa, still unconscious in the bed, and the weight of her words settled in her chest. She couldn’t leave him, not yet, not while he was so fragile.

Mingi’s gaze softened, though there was an undeniable firmness to his words. "Why don’t you go home and wash up?"

YN opened her mouth to protest, but Mingi held his hand up, stopping her before she could say anything. "I’ll stay and wait for you to come back," he said gently, his tone steady, reassuring. "Yun hasn’t been able to sleep, and you both need the rest. I promise to call if anything changes."

YN hesitated, her heart torn between the need to be there for Seonghwa and the reality that she hadn’t rested in what felt like days. Her body ached, her eyes burning from the lack of sleep, but the thought of leaving him—of stepping away from his side when he needed her—seemed impossible.

But Mingi’s words sank in. Yun had been by her side just as much as she had been by Seonghwa’s, and they all needed rest.

"I don’t want to leave him," YN whispered, her voice tight with the struggle of what she knew was necessary. "But... okay. I’ll go, just for a little while."

Mingi gave her a reassuring smile, nodding. "It’ll be okay. I’ve got this. I’ll stay close, and if anything changes, you’ll be the first to know."

" ready to go home hun?" yn said to Yun who nodded his head before a yawn escaped his lip.

𐙚⋆˙˚◞♡ sunday 5:14pm

Seonghwa smiled widely, his heart swelling with joy as he held his son on his lap. The warmth of the moment filled him with an overwhelming sense of peace, a stark contrast to the chaos that had filled his life not long ago. His son’s little voice was a constant source of happiness, and today, it was no different.

“Uncle Mingi said we could go camping next time! He said we could roast marshmallows!” his son babbled excitedly, eyes wide with enthusiasm as he described the latest adventure he’d shared with his favorite uncle.

YN smiled at Seonghwa and Yunho as they shared a quiet moment together. Seonghwa, looking much better than he had in the past few days, grinned back at her, his tired eyes lighting up. There was still a sense of exhaustion, but the spark of relief and joy that came with knowing he was going to recover was unmistakable.

Before anyone could say anything more, the nurse who had been taking care of Seonghwa entered the room, a soft, encouraging smile on her face. “Great news, Seonghwa,” she said, her voice bright with optimism. “You’ll be able to be discharged here shortly. You’re healing well, and we’ve finished all the necessary tests.”

Seonghwa's face broke into a relieved smile, his hand instinctively reaching out for YN's. He squeezed it gently, as if telling her everything would be okay without needing to say a word.

“Really?” YN’s voice broke through the moment, her eyes wide with disbelief. After everything, it felt almost surreal that they were finally hearing this. She had spent so many sleepless nights at the hospital, fearing for Seonghwa’s life, wondering if he would pull through. Now, to hear he was going to be okay—it was a balm for her weary heart.

The nurse nodded with a soft laugh. “Yes, you’re on the road to recovery. We’ll just need to make sure everything is in order before sending you home, but you’re doing well enough that we’re confident you can rest more comfortably at home.”

Seonghwa looked at YN, his eyes filled with gratitude and affection. "We’re going home," he said quietly, as if reaffirming it for both of them. His voice was still a little hoarse, but there was a sense of peace in his words that warmed YN’s heart.

"That’s all I wanted to hear," YN replied, her eyes glossy with tears that she hadn’t realized were there. The overwhelming relief was too much for her to hold in. She had spent so long holding her breath, waiting for this moment.

The nurse gave them a few moments to take in the news before she spoke again, "We’ll start preparing everything for your discharge, but feel free to get comfortable. We’ll give you the time you need."

As the nurse stepped out, YN moved closer to Seonghwa, gently kissing his forehead. "You’re really coming home," she whispered, a smile breaking through the tears that welled up in her eyes.

"Can't get rid of me that easily, baby," Seonghwa teased, his tone light and playful, the exhaustion from the ordeal now replaced with the warmth of being surrounded by his family.

Yun bounced around the room, his excitement contagious. "Daddy coming home! Daddy coming home!" he cheered, his little hands clapping in the air as if celebrating the best news of the day.

[minus-plus-zer0]

Catching Him in His Celebrity Disguise

♡ Genre: Fluff ♡ Pairing: Bakugou x Reader ♡ Tags: Aged up

There were only a handful of people walking around the park, even though it was such a lovely day outside. You had a small lunch packed in your bag and you headed over to your favorite bench to eat when you realized a certain man was already occupying the space.

He wore a baseball cap that couldn't fully flatten his blonde spikes that poked out from all sides. His face mask obscured his expression and his tight black shirt showed off his fit body quite well. He briefly whipped off his sunglasses to see his phone better. You approached him and sat down, and when you caught his red eyes, that's when you knew you were in the presence of the Pro Hero, Dynamight.

He caught the flicker of realization on your face. He silently panicked for two reasons. One, you recognized him. Two, you were the most gorgeous person he'd ever seen.

"...Dynamight?" You must've looked like a deer in the headlights.

"...Hi?" You could tell he was shocked too.

"Oh, you're much more awkward in person! Haha! That's so cute! I'm such a big fan!"

"Lower your voice!" Dynamight said through gritted teeth, pulling off his mask to reveal his slightly pink face. "I just wanted some peace and quiet out here, don't announce my presence to the world!"

"Sorry!" Your hands flew up to your mouth. "Is it okay if I sit here? I really love how secluded this spot is. Though, I don't really mind if you're here."

"You're already sitting," he said, furrowing his brows. "Keep sitting if you want, I ain't gonna stop ya..." He glanced at you, nervously. "Do ya come here all the time?"

"Yes! But I have never seen you here before." You dug out your small lunch box from your bag. Most of your food was homecooked, sweet to the taste, and pink. Bakugou wrinkled his nose at the sight. "I didn't think you liked this city. You're always complaining about it on the news, which makes me kinda sad since it's my hometown."

"I didn't mean that shit!" Bakugou cried, putting his phone away. "I say bad things about everyone, everywhere. Don't take it personally."

"Well it's very nice of you to clarify that!" You started munching on one of your pink macaroons.

"Do you like it here?" he asked. "You think I do a good job of protecting your hometown?"

"Yeah, obviously! You saved my favorite bakery last week!"

Bakugou looked thoughtfully into the distance of the park, recalling the scene. "I remember that shit. The owner gave me such a big hassle for not defeating the villain before they wrecked the front entrance."

"Well they were able to recover anyways. I swear their food is really good, you should really go sometime!"

"You wanna go with me?" he asked, his head turning a little too quickly.

You gulped down your macaroon. "...As a date?"

"No! I--I don't fucking know! You wanna go or not?"

"Calm down. I'm only teasing you, hero. I'll go with you, okay?"

"You could've just said that from the start!"

A few nearby civilians peeked at your increasingly loud conversation and Bakugou shut up immediately, keeping his head down. You giggled.

Bakugou didn't speak until they fully passed by. "Can't believe you're laughing at me. I'm one of the top Pro Heroes of the damn country, and you're laughing at me!"

"You're not a top Pro Hero right now, are you?" You poked his cheek. "You're just an ordinary, aggressive guy hiding in plain sight."

"I am anything but ordinary."

Bakugou's stomach growled loudly. He grasped the offending thing like he could hide the noise.

"Poor hero! You must be so hungry. Here, I have some grapes you can eat!" You took out a grape from your lunch box, offering it to him. He popped it into his mouth.

"Thanks," he said between chews. "You sure you don't mind sharing?"

"I would never mind sharing with you," you said, handing him another grape. He gratefully accepted it. "You're the hero this country needs. Your face is all over our TVs when you come here to save us. And... well... you're even prettier in-person to boot."

You hid your face a little when saying that, but you wanted to take a chance to say it to his face while he was still here. He averted his eyes too. You hoped you didn't make him uncomfortable, or maybe just the right kind of uncomfortable in a good way.

You took out another grape. "Besides, you can make it up to me on our next date, alright?" You held out the grape for him.

Instead of taking it with his hands, Bakugou took the grape with his teeth from your fingers. You almost gasped.

"Tasty," he said, chewing with a smug grin. Your mouth was still agape. "Do you hand-feed all the other Pro Heroes you meet?"

You couldn't believe he just did that. He was so bold. But you wanted to be bolder.

"...No, just you," you said, your heart racing. You took out another grape. "Want some more?"

Despite his smugness, his voice was a little wobbly when he said, "Keep 'em coming."

On that day, Bakugou got to meet his belated first love.

Years later, you and Bakugou happened to pass by the same park bench in the same lonely park. You clung to Bakugou's arm, holding his hand as he strut around in public like he was on top of the world. He always felt like that when he had you around.

You pointed at the bench and elbowed Bakugou. "Look! This is where we met, right?"

"That's why I fucking brought ya here," he said, kissing your temple. "Was wondering if you'd recognize the damn old thing.

"You're such a romantic," you said.

Bakugou led you over to the bench and sat down, with you cuddling up beside him.

"You never visit this park even though we live close enough," you murmured.

"That's 'cause I wanted to take you back here with me," Bakugou said. "I've always made sure the city kept this place nice though. After all, this is our spot."

"Yeah, our spot."

[littyhoney]

If your comfortable with it could you write 42!miles and black widow!reader 'enemies to lover's ' type of thing but what if in another dimension they are older and have kids and those kids getting in dimension 42. They are twins and 15 but just them being confused couse "why were our parents so mean to each other when they were our age"

-⚡

Unexpected. (Part 1)

(part 1) (part 2)

Earth 42 Miles x Fem!Reader

(Enemies to lovers trope)

Summary: Can two vigilante ever work together? No,But the future proves otherwise.

Warnings: Mentions of blood, weapons, curse words, slight violence.

This is a request that are challenging for me to work on but you know what, we dont run from challenges. I want to make this into a long one part story but the pacing of this makes me divide it into 2 parts. Enjoy spiders! <3

The alarm goes off loudly at the jewelry store as the robber is smashing the glass case displaying the gold,diamonds and variety of gems. Each one shoving as many jewelry they can into the bag,not noticing a figure is stalking them from the dark. You slowly creep behind the slim one before hold him in a chokehold with your palm againts his mouth 2 fingers pressing lose both of his nosetril. The robber franticly try to pry your arms as he losing his concious and slump to the ground with a thud.

The other 2 robber turns around looking at the body of his unconcious raising their guns ready to shot at anything that moves, the two of them heard a few crunches of glass beside them and they blast one round of a magazine towards the sound. They stop,silent fill the room again before the figure came from behind the robber at the back hitting their skull with a baton and sweep his feet to the ground. The 3rd robber turn around firing towards the figure but the figure moves fast and agile as they jump locking their legs around the robber’s neck and pulling them down resulting to the robber smack his skull on to the floor that have glasses from the display.

You crouch standing up focusing back to the 2nd robber struggling to stand up, you take a sprint and swing your feet hitting the boot right across his face making him fall unconcious. You look down at the body not noticing the robber behind you slowly and shakingly lifting his fun to you and pull the trigger,one bulet escape the chamber, a flash of purple came from the ceiling claws piercing againts the back of the robber,ending his life.

You turn around to see non other than the Prowler, your rival. “I don’t need any help” you huff stepping over the body walking towards the button where it can alert the police incase of emergency (this is available in almost all jewelry store)

“Clearly you need help mami” The prowler pull his claw out of the body,coating it red at the tip “Your work is sloppy,it almost got you killed” he stands up, his purple mask follow your movement.

“Wow what a hero, I got saved by a clown in a neon mask” You said rolling your eyes,sarcasticly. “Unlike you,I always keep my job clean while yours is an amateur mess” You said mentioning how he always leave a bloody scenes everytime he ‘take care’ of criminals. You reach your hand under the cashier desk and pressing the button, making the alarm blare through the room.

The prowler look at you before looking down at your abdomen,annoyed by his gaze on you “It’s rude to stare dumbass” you snap towards him.

“You’re hurt” he simply says as he walk towards you. “W-what? No I didn’t-” you look down to see a red starting to seep out staining your outfit. The adrenaline starts to wear off as you now feeling the warm pain coming from the bullet wound, you put your palm over it hissing as the bullet doesn’t go all the way through “Shit..shit”. You are panicking in your head,you cant go home like this,what will your mother say? Or your siblings?

The Prowler have already on your side picling you up and over his shoulder,the police will come any minute,with your injuries you can only run so far with blood trailing behind you. “You’re coming with me” he said before running through the back and up the fire scape, using his claw to pull himself up.

“W-wait! Put me down you ass! I did not agree to this!” you hiss as your body jolt up and down by his movements as he jump from rooftop to rooftop. “You really don’t have any choice Mami,either the police follow your trail or you limp out of the store and got caught” He speak as he keeps running towards his lair. You hung your head over his shoulder,knowing he is right besides you cant go home to your mom with a bullet in your stomach.

Finally arrive at his lair the Prowler put you down on the rusty couch before goes around searching for needed equipments to pull the bullet out, this is not the first time he did this as he and uncle Aaron have been patching one another,but mostly Aaron patch him up. He turn on a light above you and take a stool to sit beside you ready himself, he reach to pull your top off.

“Woah hey what you doing!?” your face flush slightly seeing his hand reaching for your black top,pushing yourself away from him further to the couch. You hear him sigh annoyed by your action slightly “Your wound Idiota” oh. “right..right” you slump back on the couch before reaching your hand to the end of your top and pull it back up exposing your stomach,you exhaled looking at the wound.

Miles open up his mask,letting his braids fall over his shoulder so he can look properly at your wound,with a black plastic gloves on he put his palm againts your stomach using the other hand to hold the scalpel digging around your stomach carefully to reach the bullet. He is so careful and focus on your wound not noticing that you are watching him in awe.

The light from the ceiling shine from above highlight his cheekbone and jawline as he tilt his head in concentration. You have never saw someone so….beautiful but deadly, his brown eyes look like a pool of honey, kissable lips pursing brows frown slightly as he seem to find it dificult to reach the bullet. He seems to be same age as you are, a teen, but he looks much more mature���handsome even. You admit it to yourself,the braids really compliment his looks.

“Its rude to stare mami” he glance his eyes towards you before smirking slightly,finding it amusing to see you drooling over his face.

You snap shaking your head slightly “Don’t flatter yourself prick” before leaning your head back on the couch looking at the ceiling. You hear him chuckle lightly “just admit it mami,I won’t bite” you clench your hand fighting the urge to just punch him right then and there but the though vanished as you hiss out a pain bitting your hand.

He drop the blood covered bullet in a tray and start to take the needle to stitch you up, he reach behind him for some clean towel folding it and hand it out to you. “Here,just incase if its too much just bite on it”.

Right,unlike hospital they have something to numb the pain,here is just you pray for the pain to pass. You take the clothes and put it between your teeth,bracing your hand on the couch. You gave him a nod closing your eyes bracing for the pain.

Miles take this as a sign and start stitch you up,careful in every step not wanting to mess up the stitches. You squeeze your eyes tightly,body tense as you feel the pain. You bite hard againts the cloth clenching your palm againts the sofa.

“Almost there, just a few more” he says to you after he notice your body tensing at the pain,a slight guilt runs through him as he though maybe if he were quicker you would’nt be in so much pain. Somehow you find a slight comfort in his voice. You huff when he finally finish with the stiching, you turn your head to look at him finding out he is staring at you. His eyes are soft,but still held the hardness in them before he speaks to you surprisngly gentle “You okay mami?”

You gulp down a saliva resting your head back on the sofa nodding “Yeah..yeah just need a minute” You feel him stand up taking the tray “Rest up,you’re in no condition to go move” walking away to the table that have a sink to wash the blood away. You chuckle “What are you,my daddy?”

He continue to keep washing the blood away replying “I could be mami” he teases you back.

You scrunch your face “God,such a pervert little shit” you hear him chuckle.

Suddenly the place shook as a bright portal looking thing just appear at the ceiling, it caught both of you off guard but Miles quickly reach for his claw on top of the table before standing infront of you trying to protect you from whatever the hell is happening. “What the fuck is that!?” you standing up clutching your side help your arms up from the blinding light. “Shit I don’t know!” Miles ready he claw as he saw two figure drop from the portal thing before it dissapear.

The two figure groans as the bottom one push the one that falls on top of it off with a “get off!” before it stands up looking around confuse as to how they got there “The hell are we?”

Miles waste no time but to run and leap towards the figure slaming it to the concrete with his claw raise while the other is holding down the person’s throat. “Who and what the fuck do you want” Miles hiss the words through his teeth as he glare towards the figure.

The other figure screamed out “Wait stop! We don’t want anything man get off of him!” the figure try to reason with a very pissed off Prowler,well trying it’s best. You on the other hand reach for the wall to turn on all the lights In the room when you finally feel the switch you flip it and the whole room lights up showing the two mystery figure while the two strangers see clearly who are they encountering.

 The one that is pinned down by Miles face changes from anger into a shock mouth open slightly as he take a very close look at the Prowler,he blinks “D-dad?”

The one that tries to reason with Miles then turn his head to you,a same reaction happens as he blinks as he yelled out “Ma!?”

 You look at the two figures,before the word sinks in to you at what did they just called you “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?”

To be continued...

(This is my first time writing this trope it's kinda weird im sorry. But chapter 4 for Right Person,Wrong Time will be out soon stay tune for future updates spiders <;3)

[dippygamer64]

Inktober 2024 — Day 15 — Guidebook

Returning to our favorite PlayStation Heroes (or at least my favorites XD), I was wracking my brain how to do something for this day’s prompt. Eventually I thought, “Hey, the Thievius Raccoonus is basically a guidebook, right?” and I ran with it. I am proud I was able to get the writing on the front cover done pretty well since doing typography by hand is tricky for me. I’m also happy with how each hero turned out, especially with their expressions.

I actually had two ideas for this scenario. One is as seen above with Sly reading the book as Ratchet and Jak peak over his shoulders, one intrigued, the other slightly judging (or however you’d like to interpret it). The second idea would have been Ratchet and Jak reading the book themselves with Sly behind them either panicking, seething, or about to knock them out with his cane. While it was a more entertaining idea, I didn’t go with it because, A) it was a lot more complicated and I had already made up my mind with this scene, and B) I feel like Ratchet and Jak would at least respect Sly’s heirloom since it’s from his ancestors and the strongest connection he has with his family. That’s just my thoughts at least.

[autocrats-in-love]

Hero has amnesia from an injury Villain caused. villain is guilty and gaslights the hero into loving them

Don't You Remember?

Be warned: gaslighting (no fake love in this part), head injury

The villain heard something. They dropped their book and ran over to their room. In their bed was the hero, who had been passed out for two days. But now the hero was stirring, mumbling something as their eyes fluttered open and closed. The villain rushed to their side, holding their hand as the hero pulled themself into consciousness.

“Hey,” the villain said as the hero’s eyes fluttered open.

The hero stared up at the villain, who was holding them up with their arm. The hero blinked a few times.

“Um, hi.” the hero said.

Their face was covered in sweat. Their voice was scratchy. The villain couldn’t help themselves. They pulled the hero into a hug. The hero hesitantly returned it.

“Oh, wow. I’m so sorry. I just. . .I was so worried.” the villain said when they parted, tearing up.

“Um, thanks.” the hero said.

The hero put their hand to their forehead, where bandages wrapped around it to the back, where their injury lay.

“What happened?” the hero said.

The villain raised an eyebrow. “You don’t remember?” 

“I don’t.” the hero said. “I don’t remember a lot. Like who you are. And who I am.” 

“Oh. Oh, no.” the villain said. “This is bad.”

The hero frowned slightly like they disagreed.

“I don’t think it’s that bad,” the hero said. “You can help me. I’m guessing you’re my partner, right?”

The villain froze. The villain thought about the hero’s stuff that they had lugged to their own place for the duration of the hero’s recovery. They thought about the hero’s favourite foods in their fridge. Finally, they thought about the aching in their heart when the hero had asked their question.

“Yeah, yeah I am. Can you remember anything about your- our life?”

The hero blinked slowly. “Um, not really. I think I can kind of remember . .a bedroom. But it doesn’t look like this one,” the hero looked around the small, windowless room. “not at all.”

The villain shrugged. Their heart leapt in their throat. “You’re probably remembering a friend's room or something.”

“Yeah, maybe.” the hero said.

The villain’s heartbeat calmed down. “Do you want some water? Or toast? You like toast.”

The hero wearily leaned back against the headboard. “Could I get water?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll be right back.”

But before the villain could stand up, the hero grabbed their wrist. It made the villain blush. 

“Wait. What. . .what happened to me?” the villain asked.

The truth? A few days ago, the villain was trying to open an interdimensional portal. The hero arrived at the scene and tried to stop them. The villain decided the best way to stop their enemy would be to throw them through the portal. But, when they managed to toss the hero, the portal closed. So the hero hit a wall. Hard. Too hard. The villain panicked and took the hero back to their underground lair, getting their medic to patch the hero up. 

No way in hell could the villain say that.

“A metal beam fell on your head when you were walking.” The villain said. “Under a construction site.”

They got out before any follow-up questions were asked.

The villain got the hero their water and then left them to sleep. The villain needed a minute to figure out what their plan was. They sat down on a couch and flicked on the nearest television.

“-is still missing. Any information on their whereabouts can be reported anonymously to this number.”

There was a news reporter, talking as a phone number flashed on the screen. Above the numbers was a picture of the missing person. The hero. 

The villain gritted their teeth. This was not going to be easy.

[unsiredtribrid]

“You fainted…straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes.” Hizzie

No one ever warned you about the dangers of being a good friend. 

No one had warned Lizzie anyway, who completely fainted at the sight of a severed head in the Mystic Falls Cemetery. 

It was Remembrance Day and Kaleb had taken MG here for his first ever taste of live human, but everything had gone south when it turned out he was secretly a ripper.

Lizzie had siphoned the walls of the Salvatore School for an extended period of time and she was ready to arrive on the scene like a hero, maybe hitting MG with a good old fashioned ad somnum spell to help Kaleb out. Then, who knows what they would do with the body? Mom had explained so many times that new vampires usually killed eventually. It’s not exactly MG’s fault, even if it is horrible.

But nothing prepares her for the sight of it, as much as she thought she could handle it because of Caroline’s teachings.

Luckily Hope is behind her (she insisted on going, trying to steal the spotlight as usual) because the last thing she remembers is falling backwards into the other girl’s arms, the world spinning beneath her.

—

“Lizzie,” Hope murmurs, and it’s the first thing the blonde hears when she comes to again. Her head is resting in Hope’s lap, on top of her skirt, and when she opens her eyes she sees familiar blue ones peering down at her with concern.

She smells nice, almost like sandalwood and herbs, which is definitely not the first thing Lizzie should be noticing right now. She’d just witnessed her best friend committing a murder, after all.

“Where’s MG?” Lizzie demands, panicking a little.

Hope shakes her head, raising her hand to brush strands of Lizzie’s hair from her face. The gesture is so gentle and unexpected that it puts butterflies in the pit of her stomach. “He’s fine, don’t worry. Dorian vervain darted him and Kaleb helped with… everything else.” She frowns, as if she realizes how serious the situation is and feels just as awful about it as Lizzie does.

It makes her stomach churn thinking about the poor guy who died in such a horrific way, like something straight from a horror movie. But her mom’s teachings included rehabilitation and MG would get all of the help he needed, now.

She always knew MG was capable of something like this, because he’s still a vampire like the rest of them, but it’s somehow different actually witnessing the aftermath. She feels a wave of sadness for him, knowing exactly what it’s like to struggle with your own urges. She’d wrecked entire rooms at the school and almost hurt people in ways she could hardly take back, but she’d never meant to. She knows in her heart that MG didn’t mean to, either.

And if there’s anyone else who understands that, it’s Hope Mikaelson, the daughter of Klaus Mikaelson. Lizzie can’t believe there was ever a time they weren’t friends, now that Hope is in her life.

“Thank you,” Lizzie starts nervously, because it’s still embarrassing that she fainted, of all things. “For catching me so I didn’t have a bump on my head the size of Alaska. Alyssa Chang probably would’ve asked if I grew a head and was the next Malivore monster.”

A small smirk tugs at Hope’s lips and she rolls her eyes. “Shut up. If you could grow extra heads on demand, I’m pretty sure the guy MG just killed would’ve had a better Saturday.”

Lizzie gasps, because surely she didn’t just say that. “Dark humor, Hope? His body isn’t even cold yet.”

“Have to cope somehow,” the tribrid shrugs, looking nonplussed. Surprising Lizzie once more, Hope brushes the blonde’s hair from her face again, fingers gentle against her skin. It sends a thrill up her spine, especially because she’s still laying in Hope’s lap.

“Besides,” Hope continues. “You didn’t have to faint just to get my attention, so I think you’re the one going to extremes right now.”

Lizzie is speechless at that, feeling a familiar heat rush through her body because of the tribrid’s flirtation. She really had been trying to push this crush down for too long, it seemed. “Weird place to flirt, Hope, but considering your personality I guess beggars can’t be choosers.” 

“You’re the color of a tomato right now,” Hope points out in retaliation, deadpan.

“N-No I’m not,” she insists, but even she hears her own voice falter. Struggling into a sitting position, she tries not to meet Hope’s smug gaze.

“Crimson red,” Hope insists, and Lizzie feels like she might die on the spot. From the embarrassment of fainting or because of Hope Mikaelson flirting with her, she’s not sure.

[daisy-daze17]

Omori Manga Thoughts cause it was uhhh

OK so like. The thing is I only got into the omori fandom in February of this year so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

1. I'm mostly a fan of the art style-- a lot of people said that Sunny always seems to have a panicked expression so it's hard to read into him, plus the characters look a lot younger than they're supposed to (Which I find odd). But other than that, I think it does a really good job representing the scarier parts with very abstract drawings of Mari/Something. They coloured it well and thank god did Kel's skintone right. There is one particular panel that I especially love:

So much detail and it captures the feeling of seeing faraway for the first time really well ^^

Some nitpicky positive thoughts:

Sunny could have looked more distinct from Omori because the only difference I see are their outfits. Maybe make Sunny's features softer and have less contrasting values so we can see an immediate difference.

I like how they did everyone's eyes-- Sunny/Omori's are just dull and black, and everyone else with dark eyes are shown to have a light in them. (Just a nice detail i appreciated)

I like how Omori is clearly less expressive compared to sunny, but I think Sunny could have benefitted from having more emotions than surprised/blushing.

2. The pacing was weird. like really fucking weird. The basic structure of the game Omori is: Omori is in whitespace -> Omori plus the gang (Hero, Aubrey and Kel) meet up with Basil and Mari in headspace -> everyone minus Mari goes to Basil's house and learn all the combat stuff along the way -> after fixing the photo album it suddenly shifts to basil in a panicked state before glitching you back into white space again. The moment when basil shifts the mood from calm to terrifying is REALLY important.

It forces the new tone on you very suddenly and also sets up a lot of mystery surrounding Mari when Basil can't finish what he was going to say about her. By now we know that something is very wrong and it has to do with Mari, but we don't know what.

The manga is kind of all over the place the whole time. First we see the christmas scene when Sunny gets his violin. But then Mari does her whole nightmare thing and we know somethings up from the first few pages. Next we wake up at night as Sunny in the real world... yet it shows the little "THREE DAYS LEFT" as well? At this point I was super confused because basically the entire nighttime sequence is shown through a sort of montage with Sunny's mom's voice message in the background before transitioning into the day when Kel first knocks on the door. A cool thing they did was parallel Kel's knocking with the creepy knocking we get from Mari Something. HOWEVER for reasons unknown they just completely cut out the fight against something on the stairs??

Something I was really excited about was seeing how they would integrate the combat into the manga. And they do it later with the Aubrey fight (more on that later), but not now? So now I'm wondering if they'll include Sunny's three fears that he has to overcome.

So next we find our boy (KEL!!!!!) and he is asking Sunny if he wants to come to Hobbies. I did find the dialogue here pretty awkward as Kel bounced back and forth in demeanor, but that's to be expected since Sunny isn't talking. (And I appreciate how he shows some kind of reaction to seeing one of his best friends after 4 years lol)

I mean compared to this when he just jumps straight into his hobbez idea without much reaction to actually seeing Sunny lol.

The most notable thing after this is the Aubrey confrontation with Basil and the other hooligans. I DONT KNOW WHY but they chose to not show the hooligans in that scene!! The hooligans are aubrey's little gang/posse who she hangs around with all the time and the people we always see when she's bullying Basil.

It's very important to note that Basil is talking to KIM here. He starts the conversation begging for her to tell Aubrey to give the photo album back. Aubrey is actively ignoring his attempts to get it back, with basil claiming "She won't listen to me."

In the manga she appears out of seemingly no where and proceeds to beat Basil directly with her bat. Prior to this we get no setup or explanation as to why Aubrey's attacking him or what the situation is. WORST OF ALL, It's only Aubrey alone attacking him and NOT her gang of the Hooligans. The hooligans are important in showing us just how isolated and ostracized from society Basil really is after Aubrey began bullying him. He literally has a whole gang of kids who call him a creep and attack him regularly. Here it seems like Aubrey is insane and is just beating him selfless for kicks. (not that I'm justifying Aubrey's behavior in the game, but the lack of context makes this situation even worse.)

I think It's also important to bring up how they switched around the order of events because in this situation, it's not working. We're supposed to first be introduced to younger Aubrey and Basil in headspace-- their younger counterparts. Aubrey is strong-willed and excitable and Basil is calm and kind. And most importantly-- they're VERY GOOD FRIENDS. So seeing Aubrey revealed to have been bullying him these past 4 years shocks the player and makes them understand how much things have really changed. Doing it the other way around will automatically villainize DW Aubrey since we already know what goes on in real life.

And then something interesting happens-- Sunny blacks out during the fight and returns to Headspace. This is SUPER weird as we've only ever seen Sunny go into headspace while sleeping, because it's an escape mechanism he uses to avoid The Truth. Does this mean he isn't aware he goes into headspace unwillingly sometimes? And what does this mean for the continuation of the real world story? Are we going to go through the entire Space Boy quest just to get back to that scene?

Anyway, I'm interested to see how they take it from here. Maybe they'll do a continuous switchover to the real world where they jump between it more frequently. But I question what that would mean for the timeline because the events of headspace happen in between the three days while Sunny is sleeping-- so he can't be in two places at the same time. Maybe they'll write more and more random ways for Sunny to black out to do this?? They defiantly are trying to take a step back from following the game exactly. I can't say I don't like it because I don't know how it'll turn out, so I'm excited for chapter 2!

[emeraldspiral]

So having just seen Wicked I feel obligated to give you all my pitch for an Invader Zim musical. It would be called "Doomed", and not just because it's a word that was used a lot on the show. It actually has thematic significance.

So trying to reframe Zim as a misunderstood anti-hero or scapegoated good guy just inherently sounds like a parody that could never be done in earnest, which is why that's not how I'd try to present the show initially. I would start it off with Zim appearing to be the same old remorseless war criminal we all know and love.

So we're not starting off with Zim's birth and childhood innocence before something happened to embitter him or Zim actually being just a kid with a skin condition or a peaceful scientist with Dib as the villain unfairly targeting him.

The introductory number would be about the Great Assigning, ending with Red and Purple's introduction, which is then interrupted by Zim's arrival. Then Red and Purple would have a little song about their scheme to deceive Zim with a fake mission. Then GIR's introduction would get a little number. Then the Great Assigning set-piece would conclude with Zim setting out for earth singing an "I Want" song about his ambition to conquer the planet and win the approval of the Tallest. This number would end with "doom" as the last word, prompting GIR to sing the doom song. But it wouldn't be an actual number, it'd be exactly like the original; no musical accompaniment or anything, just GIR singing "doom" over and over as the curtain closes for a scene transition.

The curtain would then reopen to Zim being introduced to his class. Dib begins a number attempting to convince his classmates that Zim's an alien and Zim then sings his counter-argument, followed by them sing-arguing back and forth, which takes us into our next big musical set-piece; a song that's basically a speedrun of season 1. Zim's greatest hits such as stealing children's organs, attempting to trap Dib and his classmates in a room with a moose, and turning the class hamster into a kaiju are referenced as part of a montage focused on the rivalry between Zim and Dib. This song would do a lot of heavy lifting to develop Zim and Dib's characters, motives, and relationships. Throughout the song, every time Dib fails to expose Zim he complains to Gaz and expresses frustration with people's inability to see the truth, talks about how he's sure to get the recognition he deserves and make his dad proud as he prepares to go out and face Zim again, and during confrontations makes excuses to justify moments of unnecessary cruelty toward Zim which he won't admit are just him venting his frustrations at an acceptable target. Zim likewise vents to GIR throughout the song about how annoying Dib is, how his next plan is sure to succeed and impress the Tallest, and makes excuses to blame everyone but himself when his plans fail, all the while oscillating between panic and anxiety and delusional overconfidence. There are also hints of Zim and Dib's gradually building begrudging respect and homoerotic tension.

By the time this song is over we're still only about 15-20 minutes in. But after that long, fast-paced intro we slow things down as Tak comes into the picture.

She's introduced with a song which hints at her hypnosis powers, her true identity, and grudge against Zim. At the end of her introductory number Tak quickly strikes up a friendship with Dib.

The plot of Zim attempting to court Tak in order to learn about human affection is dropped. Instead, Zim pays her no mind as his focus is on spying on all the other invaders' progress in order to take his mind off his string of failures. Unfortunately, he finds out that everyone else is way ahead of him and Skoodge of all people has just become the first Invader to complete his mission. Furthermore, the Tallest are on a course headed straight for earth and they're due to arrive quite soon. Zim sings a song panicking over what the Tallest will think if they see he has nothing to show for all his time spent on earth. He gets the idea for a new evil scheme and then sings about the work he's doing to get it into motion.

We cut back to Dib and Tak and Dib starts singing an "I'm not alone anymore" song with Tak deceptively playing along.

Zim starts to get his plan underway and he's feeling pretty confident about it. Dib arrives with Tak to stop him and Zim sings a song taunting Dib about how he'll never defeat him even with help and how Irkens don't need help from anyone. But Zim's plan fails.

Dib is overjoyed and begins a song reprising parts of his "I'm not alone anymore" song and the montage song, believing he's about to get everything he ever wanted thanks to the first person to finally believe him. But Tak cuts him off with a darker reprise of the the "I'm not alone" song combined with her introductory number, pulling the rug out from under Dib and revealing she only pretend to be his friend and helped him defeat Zim as part of her own plan to conquer earth. Dib is devastated as Tak runs off with some part stolen from Zim's failed scheme to go enact her own evil plan.

Dib and Zim begin a reprisal of the montage song expressing their disappointment which transitions into a new song about them deciding that just this once they'll have to team up to defeat Tak (and recruit Gaz and GIR to help out).

Tak sings another reprise of her intro song as her plan goes into action. Zim and Dib then confront her together. Dib expresses his feelings of betrayal toward Tak. Tak reveals what Zim did to piss her off and tells him his mission is fake and the Tallest were coming to see her, not him, after authorizing her to conquer earth to prove herself to them. Zim refuses to believe her and Dib doesn't know what to think.

Zim and Dib manage to defeat Tak, just in time for the Tallest to see Zim blatantly committing treason and have him arrested, and that's the end of Act 1.

Act 2 is where the sympathetic retelling elements start coming into play. We open with Zim and Dib imprisoned. The Tallest come to see them and sing a song confirming everything Tak said was true and gloating about how they're finally going to be rid of Zim. After they leave, Zim sings to himself about how it's a practical joke or a set-up for a surprise party. Dib tries to interrupt with suggestions that they look for a way out, but Zim ignores him and keeps insisting they're not in real danger.

Zim gets taken out of confinement and put on trial where his crimes are revealed in a song. He's convicted and sentenced to execution, and the crowd of spectators sings a song cheering on Zim's impending demise. But Dib has been watching the whole time and things aren't adding up and he can't just ignore it. So he raises an objection and the Control Brain judges decide to actually listen.

Dib makes the case that Zim couldn't have possibly caused the catastrophic events seen in his memories. There should be no way that clogging up one tube could knock out an entire planet's power for 4 years unless the power grids were deliberately designed to fail. The Control Brains take a recess to consider the new evidence.

Zim and Dib are returned to their holding cell. Zim shows a lack of appreciation for Dib's help and questions his motives, but Dib can tell he's just doing it to avoid acknowledging all the uncomfortable revelations that have just come about. He sings a song calling Zim out on his cowardice and warning him that burying your head in the sand to hide from the truth doesn't make it go away.

They return to the courtroom where Dib proposes recreating the infinite energy absorbing blob as part of his case to prove Zim innocent. The judges allow it, and as expected, following the process shown in Zim's memories doesn't yield the same results. Meaning Zim didn't create the blob, someone else did. Someone else comes in with data recovered from the day of Zim's birth, which reveals that his code was tampered with before his PAK was even attached. A diagnostic on his PAK also indicates that his memories have been altered throughout his life. This unfortunately proves that even if Zim was framed for his worst offenses, he's still defective and must be terminated.

They attempt to execute Zim and Dib, but Zim unexpectedly corrupts the Control Brains and destroys them. Zim and Dib are then rescued by Irken rebels who've been hiding in plain sight among the spectators the whole time.

Act 3 begins with Zim and Dib aboard the rebel Irken ship. The Irken rebels sing a song welcoming them into the rebellion before they introduce them to their leader; Skoodge. Skoodge has a song explaining that the Irken Empire is a sham. The information uploaded into their PAKs at birth is selectively edited by the Control Brains to push their agenda. Short Irkens are told they can prove their worth by working hard to serve the Empire, but no matter what they accomplish the system still treats them like trash. And they're promised that colonizing other planets will give them a better life, but it really only enriches the Tallest while things stay the same for everyone else. Skoodge found all that out the hard way after completing his mission only for the Tallest to try to execute him so he wouldn't encourage shorter Irkens to set their ambitions too high. That's when he joined the rebellion and quickly assumed a leadership role. The rebellion has been going on since long before he and Zim were born and it was the Irken rebels who corrupted his code with a malware program designed to make him a saboteur and edited his memories to make him believe he was responsible for catastrophes caused by the rebels. Having seen that the malware is capable of destroying the Control Brains the rebels now want to bring Zim back to Irk to defeat it's central leadership and liberate the planet.

Zim is rightfully pissed off and sings about how he's tired of being lied to and manipulated and used to serve the ends of others.

He storms off with Dib following. We finally get the title song; "Doomed". It begins with him and Dib blaming one another for ruining each other's lives and wishing they'd never met, then lamenting how they were both "Doomed" from the beginning. Born to be losers, destined to fail at everything and unable to change their fate no matter how hard they try. But then the song becomes more optimistic as they build each other back up. They both think the other person is amazing even if no one else recognizes them. The fact that they've gotten up time and again after so many failures, so many beatings, and the universe itself seemingly being against them is a testament to their incredible inner strength.

Dib sympathizes with Zim and tells him to just take off if that's what he wants, he doesn't owe the Empire or the rebels anything. Zim is surprised that Dib isn't urging him to do the right thing, and Dib suggests that maybe the rebels don't deserve his help if they didn't treat him any better than the Empire. Maybe neither of them should be busting their ass for a cruel ungrateful world and it's a fool's errand to even try because they are after all, "doomed". But Zim ultimately decides he's going to try to destroy the Control Brains anyway because he doesn't want to resign himself to such a bleak outlook. And really, wouldn't giving in to hopelessness and apathy just make him part of the problem?

So Dib and the Irken rebels help Zim get into the Control Brain server room so he can plug himself in and corrupt them. But the Control Brains knew he was coming and updated themselves with some powerful firewalls. In cyberspace, an avatar of Zim interacts with the firewall, manifesting as Red and Purple attempting to convince him that he can still win them over if he surrenders and grovels for forgiveness in another reprisal of Zim's "I Want" song. But Zim rejects them.

The firewall then manifests as an army of Irken soldiers that Zim has to fight solo. Dib sees that Zim needs help and attaches an Irken PAK to himself so he can plug himself in to save Zim. Zim and Dib sing a reprise of Dib's "I'm not alone anymore" song as they battle the firewall together. Zim manages to break through and infect the Control Brains with a virus that destroys them. Dib disconnects just in time to avoid being destroyed as well, but it seems like Zim himself didn't make it.

Dib holds Zim's limp body and cries, singing a sad reprise of the "I'm not alone song". But of course Zim didn't really die and he wakes up and they hug and finish the song triumphantly together.

Zim and Dib are hailed as heroes by the liberated Irkens in a celebratory song. Zim's "I Want" song is reprised again as he's approached by Skoodge and the other rebels with a suggestion that he assume a leadership role as they help their fellow Irkens to rebuild. But Zim humbly declines. He knows he's not really fit for leadership and never really wanted the responsibility anyway, just the validation, which he doesn't need anymore.

Dib asks Zim what he intends to do now, and Zim says he doesn't know. Dib invites Zim to come back to earth with him.

The final song is a reprise of Zim's "I Want" song combined with Dib's "I finally found someone" song, combined with the montage song, showing the changes they've gone through. Dib still wants to study the paranormal, but no longer cares who else believes him as long as he has Zim, and Zim just wants to enjoy the freedom he never had with the Empire. Freedom to experience friendship and have fun goofing off, playing games, having sleepovers, hunting cryptids, and riding space bunnies and drinking space sodas with Dib.

[ck-stone]

How I, a random nobody with too much time on my hands, would have tweaked: Arcane Season 2, Act 2

Just picture it; the dark levels of the undercity, lights flickering in the distance, fog smothering the ground. Our heroes are running through the labyrinth of alleys, anticipating Ambessa’s soldiers or Warwick at each turn. We hear panting. We hear screams in the background. The score is silence and warning horns and low droning strings and percussion that thumps like a heartbeat (think Rio's theme (Agatha All Along) meets the Winter Soldier's theme). One of the characters is bleeding and they press on, hunted down by the strange wolf with glowing eyes. The other refuses to abandon them knowing that they may be condemning themselves as well. We were robbed.

Let me be clear, I love Arcane. I think it’s a masterpiece, I am enjoying the new season, and Lord have I never been attracted to anyone in my life as much as I am attracted to Vi, but that doesn’t mean that I’m above admitting when there’s a drop in quality. And let’s call season 2, act 2 for what it was: a transitionary chapter. Everything that happened, happened only to move the characters into place for act 3 and set the stage for the finale of the play.

So let me enrage you with some of my opinions.

(Disclaimer: This is meant to be an equally thoughtful and comedic critique. These are my opinions, and a lot of this is practice for my own work. If you don’t like them don’t come at me. I don’t give a shit.)

Bringing Vander back was unnecessary and lazy.

Why? Well easy, we already did this in season 1. We lost Vander. We as the audience knew that he wasn’t going to get a happy ending. It was a repeat of an emotional moment that worked in season 1, so they did it again in season 2. It was the same trauma, the same heartbreak, and another dead sibling. Old tricks which felt stale.

I also bet if someone were to clip all the scenes where we got teases of Warwick, it would be longer than the scene that had actual Warwick in it. Now, I know that Arcane is not above retconning League of Legends lore to suit them, but Warwick was something that sat really weird in Arcane canon. Warwick in League lore is a bloodthirsty mindless animal. Aside from his creation, that is all we know. He’s this mysterious force that lingers in the background until your character has that goddamn symbol on your head and then you’re panicking cause you can either finish with the buff you’re trying to get your team and die, or run back to base and have your team scream at you when wolfboy gets the buff even though you have more kills than the ADC cause no one appreciates a good fucking jungle player. Warwick should have been that mysterious force. We needed more intrigue, more dread, more panic, more horror-esque moments where characters are being stalked and we, the audience, are biting our nails at the edge of our seats, unsure whether or not our favourites will make it out alive.

But we get it, they needed to bring the sisters back together. I just think they could have found a different way to do it and still achieve the same outcome; that Jinx now recognises the pressure and stress and guilt and fear Vi held as the eldest, that she no longer put Vi on a pedestal and now see her as a person, and that Vi recognises that Jinx has grown up without her and does not need to be saved, and therefore can stop defining herself by her ability to protect people.

Caitlyn’s development felt as stable as a wet noodle.

In the last act we watched the rapid descent as Caitlyn lost to her anger and grief. And then Vi calls her ‘Cupcake’ and we see the rapid uptick of her story, but none of the in between aside from some skulking around as Vampire Cait (still fucking hot though). We as the audience actually have very little to go on during this time. We don’t know how much of Ambessa’s propaganda Caitlyn fell for, we don’t know how much she questioned, we also don’t see any of the yearning that Ambessa claims Caitlyn was doing for Vi (but plenty of Vi pining, just your average wlw experience). In season 1 Caitlyn was possibly the most compassionate character, and so we can assume that with a little time, she was able to recover some of her nature, but unfortunately the writers seem to be delivering this information by just, telling us. When telling stories, we often say ‘show don’t tell’ as you know, that’s how you tell a story and engage the audience.

Also, her and Maddie just seemed so out of character. Maddie is a subordinate—it is a clear abuse of power—not even to mention that it can barely be called a distraction as Maddie brings enforcer talk to the bedroom. Perhaps that is the distraction. I understand the writers were trying for a juxtaposition of how Cait treats Maddie vs Vi, but it ultimately just feels like them throwing in sex for sex sake. The only thing I can think is that perhaps Maddie is playing a bigger role that we the audience have not been clued into yet. Perhaps she’s spying for Ambessa. Who fucking knows.

And (now this may just be me being sensitive to the topic so perhaps it is not as big a deal as I’m making it out to be) Caitlyn hitting Vi needs to be addressed. That is not a-o-fucking-kay people. Yes, because hitting your partner is bad, but also because hitting your partner, your caring, sensitive partner, who you know suffered years of physical abuse at the hands of your kind (enforcers), is super uber bad. This needs to be acknowledged between the characters, especially for Caitlyn’s arc, as this is testament to her becoming the very thing she fought against in season 1. In this instance, hitting Vi was a more symbolic act than it was a simple mistake, and hurt far deeper than just physical pain. She would need to accept that this was a thing she did, for both her and Vi’s healing, and take responsibility for her actions. In season 1, Caitlyn was horrified to learn about the way Vi was treated, and then went on to shut down the lower levels of Stillwater in season 2, so she clearly still feels strongly enough about it to take action. It would need to be addressed in order for them to move on. And if they end together without having established good communication first, then they will be toxic for each other (I ship it, but I’m also realistic).

Jayce and the mystery of teleportation.

Now, firstly I just want to say that Jayce and Viktor’s stories are poetic with how they mirror and intersect. The foreshadowing was beautiful, the little details like the cog, the fact that Jayce and Viktor represent the two sides of the Arcane; that which is always creating, and that which is always destroying itself. Arcane at its core is a story of siblings, being held together by affection, necessity, being torn apart by the world and ideologies (which includes the cities, as they’re sister cities), and these two are no exception.

My complaint about Jayce is that, how the FUCK did he get to Zaun? He has been missing for months, magically reappears in a structure that surely would have some form of security, and then hobbles his way through Piltover to Zaun looking like a madman, including through the checkpoints, with a Hextech weapon, and no one seems to question it. Realistically, with martial law in place, as well as a literal army surrounding the compound, Jayce would have had a much harder time getting to Viktor. Yes, I am nitpicking, but I am not about to suspend disbelief just because the scenes were pretty.

So then Stone, how would you have approached these points?

Firstly, those three episodes could have been two (and then one more episode to expand on what they already had).

We left characters like Ekko, Heimerdinger, and to an extent Mel and Sevika, to instead focus on a story we already knew the ending of (Vander), which only serves to lessen the impact as we as the audience have gone from guessing to anticipating. There’s an army in Zaun. Surely the rest of the city would have been at least curious about what Ambessa and her forces were doing in the undercity. Even if nothing came of it, you’d have Sevika trying to rally people to do something about it, and even this in itself would have built tension.

And as beautiful and melancholic as it all was, Vander’s backstory, meeting Jinx and Vi’s mother, was ultimately unnecessary beyond that of pulling heartstrings. It would have had a place in season 1 (especially as there’s nothing in season 1 that alludes to Jinx and Vi having known Vander prior to their parents dying, so it just feels like a rather major detail to overlook), but unfortunately in season 2, it simply cramped what was already a rush to the end. We got the letters to Silco, the photos, we as the audience could piece together the rest from there, and it would feel a little more bittersweet watching the sisters piece the past together too.

We needed more Warwick as Warwick. We could have just as easily had Jinx and Vi get back together for other reasons, perhaps due to Vi’s downward spiral into self-destruction, perhaps related to the chembarons and their search for Jinx, perhaps because Zaun is unifying and they kidnap Vi as she was an enforcer for like five minutes, perhaps still because of Warwick, but rather the threat he poses, especially if Ambessa gets her hands on him, and then had them meet up with everyone else as the Noxian was still hunting the wolf. It didn’t necessarily have to be at the compound where Hammertime (shellshocked) went to assassinate Robot Jesus. We could have had those dark scenes of hide-and-seek amongst the fog and caught glimpses of Vander within, just enough to leave the audience questioning and perhaps allow Vi and Jinx to escape alive (I really wanted those dark scenes of hide-and-seek amongst the fog).

We needed more of Caitlyn's development. There needed to be some sort of acknowledgement about what happened in the previous act. It didn't need to be a conversation—that could wait until act 3—but we at least needed to see something, even something as small as Caitlyn carrying guilt. They had a chance to lean into certain themes here, explore the type of person Caitlyn wanted to be, and have her face who she has become, see her at her lowest. Would her mother be proud of her? Does she feel as if she's making a difference? Has she become the evil she sought to destroy? They could have brought back the 'what are you shooting for?' line, which would have been a nice touch. Just anything to sow the seeds of her development.

Also, does Mel not question how she survived a torpedo to the fucking back without a scratch? Cause I sure as hell am.

But all that being said, act 2 was still decent.

And fuck did I cry when Isha said her goodbyes. That hurt. Like, a fucking lot. Looking forward to whatever emotional hell they have prepared for us in the final act.

[palaxy27]

Everything will be fine...

Penn Zero Part-Time Hero comic

Warning: Contains violent scenes, blood and angst.

(Note: English is not my first language so there may be grammatical errors).

Okay... so originally I had only planned to publish the first drawing, but while I was sketching two things came to my mind, what would happen if the heroes would face some enemies in His dimension? and what would happen... if sashi would be defeated in a fight? And that's how a fanart became a comic ;)

Now putting us in the context of the story, Phyllips came back 1 or 2 years after the end of the series and recruits again the dream team for phase 2 returning to his adventures but with a bigger responsibility and facing different villains in each mission in different dimensions (It wouldn't be like facing Rippen always) but nothing so different for our heroes... until now...

One normal day after completing a mission, the tired guys were leaving but Penn had to go back to the theater because he forgot his wallet (don't ask why it wasn't in his backpack, even he doesn't know 😑) only to find two guys taking a tube with blue energy out of the portal, one who seemed to be a person from earth and the other of a bigger, more atamorizing build... he didn't even seem to be human, but an alien (Not of the same species as Rippen). Before Penn could analyze the situation, one of them pushed him away, knocking him to the ground suffering a strong blow with one hand without much difficulty for the two to flee the place.

Boone and Sahi run back to the theater to see the guys running away seeing a confused and panicked Penn about what had just happened. They inform Phyllips about what happened and he informs them that the energy tube is actually the energy core of the portal, but the core was so unstable that it was contained by the portal itself, not much was known about the two guys, only that they were from this dimension, somehow they both knew about the existence of the multiverses and therefore the power of the core, They were able to somehow evade the security system, including Karen (they didn't even seem to care about her presence), so they must recover the core soon and Phyllips warns them that they shouldn't underestimate it since they are much more dangerous since they have knowledge of the multiverse and belong to the same dimension.

They manage to locate them not far from the theater, so they start going after them discreetly but the guys realize this, so they decide to separate them.

The corpulent one interposes himself between the heroes and his companion inciting them to confront him to "delay them", penn ole asks Sashi to confront him, since he hoped that she would come out victorious, preventing him from intervening in his plan to recover the nucleus; Boone had planned to confront him too but his appearance would make him go with Penn to get the nucleus, leaving Sashi alone (something he would regret).

Penn and Boone would find him but he would use the power of the core to his advantage during the confrontation, something that neither of them had in mind, hindering their plan to recover the core, even putting Boone's life at risk by throwing himself at the man in a desperate attempt to retrieve the core, receiving both he and the man a they received a charge from the nuclear force, but they barely managed to defeat it.

The two boys with some victorious scratches and blows would call Sashi to inform her about their victory, but she does not answer, so they return to the place where they had left her expecting to see the guy easily defeated by the assistant and affectionately that's how they found him, in an alley Remote and dark on the unconscious floor with some blood stains... but it wasn't his. Sashi was found against the wall seriously injured, destroyed, breathing heavily, with her tired eyes half open (Seeing the bandages you can get an idea of ​​the severity of the wounds) while her visor was on the destroyed floor. Both boys were shocked by the scene, seeing how their friend, girlfriend and companion, one of the strongest people they knew, were in a worse state than their opponent.

The two boys took her to the theater, being greeted not only by Phyllips, but also by Penn and Boone's parents. They were all shocked to see the girl's condition. Phyllips quickly attended to her requests while her parents calmly asked them what happened, something that did not help them at all. Once Phyllips finished with Sashi, she sent the three of them home, feeling sorry for them and that they only take the weekend off, feeling sympathy for the boys. However, Sashi's parents and brother were not in town so Penn asked her parents that she stay with them until they returned and tell them what happened (spoilers: they found out before and they did not take it very well, especially their brother), they accepted without hesitation, Boone also stayed with them with the permission of his parents, since he was worried about his friend's condition and felt guilty

And that's how we get to this scene, with Penn and Sashi alone changing Sashi's bandages, even giving her his shirt as spare clothes when he has his clothes stained with blood, feeling scared and guilty for leaving her alone and the decisions he makes that lead to her. led to them getting hurt, but she tries to comfort him by telling him that it was not his fault, since they were able to recover the core and find her in time, saving her life (since she even subdued her opponent), however she was also scared, not because of him. encounter in itself, if not by realizing that she was not strong enough and that luckily she was able to defeat him and come out alive, making her feel weak and useless, apart from if she had not faced him and it had been Penn or Boone. Did they even Would they be here? However, she keeps it to herself, she has to be strong, for her own good and don't worry about her.

I don't plan to "go deeper" into the two characters but I plan to do some comivs in the future exploring different points of view on the incident, their reactions, feelings and healings. But if anyone wants to go deeper into this, they are free to do so (I would like to see it)

[thunderblessedhero-old]

(( Warning for possibly upsetting content. Themes of violence and major character death are present in this. ))

———

[Attached: A live video feed. Gizmo is following Hugh, August, and their Lucario “Fenrir” from behind as they rush through an ice-covered Opelucid City, carefully navigating over the frozen over roads and sidewalks as quickly as can. You can see evacuating crowds rushing and slipping past them as the young trainers bolt into the fray, their panicked shouts and screams echoing through the audio.

“Those Plasma assholes-” Hugh curses under his breath, panting a bit as he runs. “I never expected them to go this far…” He motions back at his friend, urging them to keep up. “Come on, we get the DNA Splicers back from those ninja guys! We aren’t letting them get away with this!”

“Right!” August shouts back, continuing to trail behind their friend. They look to the Lucario running beside them and nods, initiating a wordless communication between them and the Pokémon. He seems to understand right away, returning the gesture affirmatively.

Fenrir then turns on his heel and veers off to the side, before bouncing up a tower of jagged ice with ease. He reaches the top in a matter of seconds, and his eyes begin to scan the chaos raging around him from his vantage point- as he does, you catch a glimpse of the massive, levitating frigate looming threateningly in the skies over the city.

August and Hugh swerve to follow after him, but they stop at the sound of loud beeping noises coming from the phone behind them. They both simultaneously turn to look to the camera, raising a brow at the Rotom phone as it begins to shake and twitch.

“Gizmo? What wrong?” August asks, extending a hand out to the little Electric-type in concern.

“ZZz-zzzZZT-zzzt— zzt-” Gizmo’s inexplicable buzzing gets louder, before the screen fades to static, intercepting the feed. It stays that way for a few seconds longer… before the scene abruptly changes.

There’s an older man with white hair and a tall cap, standing in front of an iron wall. He wears a massive purple cloak that looks like it was designed to withstand harsh low temperatures, with a blatant Team Plasma logo plastered on the front.

“Greetings, people of Unova.” The man addresses the audience in a dark tone, one that would spur unease within you. “My name is Zinzolin- a sage representing Team Plasma and my lord, Ghetsis.”

He continues, speaking to the camera with a blank, firm expression. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why this broadcast has suddenly reached your device- or perhaps you’re more focused crisis currently unfolding in Opelucid City. Either way, I’m here today to issue out a warning to all of Unova- so listen to my words, and listen to them well.”

“We may be taking our leave now, but know this- the attack on Opelucid was only the beginning,” he warns. “Soon enough, all the region will be shrouded in ice, and Lord Ghetsis will then take his rightful place as Unova’s ruler! Soon enough, when his plan falls into place, you will have no choice but to yield to him!”

“And before you think your little hero of truth is going to come to your rescue once more, like they did two years ago during our previous attempt to seize power…” Zinzolin smirks menacingly as he holds up what appears to be a remote control. “I regret to inform you that Reshiram and its trainer will not be coming to your aid this time. Nor will Zekrom- she and her hero abandoned you all a long time ago.”

“Don’t believe me?” He snickers. “See for yourself. In case my speech wasn’t enough to sway you, our generous leader has gone ahead and provided a little… presentation of sorts, to remind you we are not to be trifled with.”

He presses down on the controller, and in the blink of an eye, the screen switches again. Now, a pitch dark room is shown- you can just barely see the line where the floor and wall meet. Everything is deadly silent for a moment longer, before you begin to hear what sounds like shouts and metal clanging in the background, growing closer…

A door offscreen opens up, filling the room with light for the briefest of moments- just long enough for you to see a figure get harshly thrown into the dank holding cell, before the door is promptly slammed back shut. Your blood runs cold when you’re met with a face likely many Unovans know- the hero of Reshiram… their hands are tied behind their back, and a piece of black tape is pasted firmly over their mouth.

Blake’s hat tumbles off their head as their back slams against the cold wall, a muffled cry erupting from their throat before they slide pitifully onto the ground. They’re alive, but they writhe around and recoil like they’re in excruciating pain… You don’t want to imagine what they must’ve gone through before all of this. Or whatever they’re about to endure.

“Let this be a lesson to all who dares try and oppose the might of Team Plasma,” Zinzolin’s voice can be heard booming from a nearby speaker. “Watch as the very trainer who once saved your pathetic lives is reduced to nothing but ashes, and know that you will all suffer the same fate if you try to revolt!”

A red flash fills the room, and once it fades away you hear a haunting, reverberating growl… Trembling, Blake tilts their head up, pure dread overcoming their expression as they meet the face of whatever’s about to be their end. You see the shadow of a Hydreigon looming on the wall behind them, slowly growing as the beast closes in on its prey…

Blake begins crying out desperately, helplessly flailing and kicking against their restraints, like a beetle turned over on its shell. Although their legs are untied, they seem unable to manage standing, incapable of running away as the creature prowls closer.

In the last few seconds of the video, you see the white glow of a charging Hyper Beam illuminate the room. And all that Blake can do is stare into the light, eyes bulged with horror. You catch a tear pricking through the corner of their eye right before the attack is unleashed.

A blinding, white hot light swallows the camera. You can barely hear Blake scream out one last time before it’s drowned out by a deafening explosion.

…The video feed cuts out. You didn’t get to see the aftermath, but… it’s not hard to guess what happened next.]

———

[nevermoredragon-main]

Itafushijun time travel au idea that I probably won't write because time travel is a tempting but fickle mistress.

Side Megumi

Takes place in the most current arc of the manga where Sukuna is possessing Megumi. However, our heroes ultimately fail to save him (because surely they will save him in canon. *surely*) and Megumi's soul fades away completely/and Yuji is ultimately killed with a look of heartbreak and regret that Megumi sees before he disappears. However, as he disappears, he finds himself thinking, "I wish I wasn't so weak that I could have kept him out of harm's way... I wish that he didn't have to die so full of regrets..." (or something along those lines).

Read more because this got kind of long.

Fushiguro disappears... and then wakes up a few days before he meets Yuji for the first time, when he's about to set off for Yuji's hometown to retrieve Sukuna's finger, with no memory or clue about how this could have happened. However, he feels it deep in his soul that all of that wasn't just a horrible dream, and he sets out with the intention of stopping Yuji from eating Sukuna's finger in the first place.

Because nothing ever goes right in the first loop, Fushiguro fails in this attempt, and because he doesn't know how to reset the loop yet(or if it even can be reset), he has no choice but to continue on and try to minimize the harm done. Maybe he could still accomplish his goal of stopping Yuji from dying with regrets.

Nothing goes the way he wants, and skipping forward a bit, just like in the original timeline, Yuji "dies" at the detention center. However, Megumi decides that he's not going to sit around practicing for the Goodwill Event like last time. He confronts Gojo about knowing that Yuji is actually alive, and demands to be let into the fold.

So now Megumi is able to see Yuji and be with him during his training arc, which is all well and good until we arrive at the movie theatre murder that Mahito committed. Fushiguro also is there to help investigate, and examines the crime scene early on.

But... something is wrong... something is different that has no reason to be different.

This time there is only one victim, who reportedly ran forward in a panic suddenly and then died.

This isn't what Megumi remembered Yuji telling him.

Junpei Yoshino isn't supposed to be the one that died in the theatre.

Suspicions as to why this is immediately form in Megumi's mind, but he still has no way to prove it so he continues forward.

And then he dies during the Mahito fight.

Side Junpei

This is Junpei's second time waking up a couple months before his impending death. The first time it had happened, he had wanted to assume that it had all been one awful dream. After all, he's just a normal kid. Curses? A horrible nightmare where he had died tragically?

A boy that had actually been nice to him? A friend? No way.

So Junpei continues on like normal and dismisses the dream for a while, ignoring the bad feeling he gets when things from his dream happen just like they do in real life.

Until he goes to the movies that one fateful day. Mahito appears, and Junpei realizes in a panic that it wasn't a dream at all. It was real.

He's not sure what suddenly possesses him to do so. Maybe the thought that if Mahito is real, than Yuji would also be real. Maybe the thought that he could change things for the better and be the good person Yuji thought he was, but he finds himself running forward, trying to save his bullies.

However, he's panicking after the realization that his nightmare all those months ago had been real. He messes up. Slips. And Mahito kills him instead.

Junpei wakes up again, knowing it's all real, and unsure what to do. He skirts around his distress when his mom asks, and tries to think of solutions out of this for a couple hours... When there's a knock at the door. His mother opens it to find a spiky haired boy with a uniform that Junpei immediately recognizes.

Megumi and Junpei approach each other with caution and trepidation, though Junpei reassures his mother that this boy is just a friend as they go to talk outside. He wonders if Megumi somehow knows about what he did in the past (future?) and is here to arrest him. Megumi is trying to figure out if Junpei knows about the loop like he had begun to suspect.

Eventually, after a lot of suspicious side eyes and poking at each other, the truth comes out. Megumi also sheds some light on the future, about how Yuji will die and Sukuna will be free to do whatever he wants.

Junpei is the only other person that Megumi knows of who is aware of this loop, for what reason he doesn't know.(the meta answer is shipping. The in story answer I don't know yet.) Since they both care about Yuji deeply, and share this strange fate, they decide to team up to save Yuji. With that, Megumi says that they need to hurry if they want to even attempt to try stopping Yuji from swallowing the first finger.

And that's all the story details I had that are concrete. There are a couple other twists later that I thought of that I'm not including here, and also some other themes and time loop consequences. Basically just, Megumi having a lot of complicated feelings about Gojo and Tsumiki. But the basic premise is Megumi and Junpei trying to save Yuji because they both love him while also falling for each other in the process because they both share this very unique experience.

Time travel is a confusing and fickle mistress as I said. One problem I had is that the time span between the beginning of the manga and where we are now is too long. So like, if they have to reset near the end and go all the way back, that would be... kind of a pain to write. And also my ideal ending would be a happy one where eventually they succeed, but thematically I think something bittersweet would make the most sense. So instead I'm writing the idea out here and moving onto other ideas. I guess if anyone has any ideas on how to make the idea work, I'm open to suggestions.

[jokerislandgirl32]

Varina’s Hero is Who?!?

Another little Ziolet scene with baby girl Varina in tow! Enjoy!

Zach and a six month pregnant Violet visit Varina’s preschool on Back to School Night (usually takes place a month after school starts around where I live) and Varina’s teacher has decked out the classroom with the children’s art work. The teacher pulls Zach and Violet aside to show them a piece of Varina’s art work…

Read the rest below, there are a few mildly suggestive references, so please be aware! Also enjoy a crudely drawn piece of artwork and terrible handwriting by me, lol.

Teacher: “Mr. And Mrs. Varmitech, I don’t want to alarm you, it’s not a bad thing, but I wanted to show you this so you were aware in case anyone mentions it to you…”

Violet *panicking*: “Oh no, she didn’t draw the rhinos, uhhh…wrestling…again did she?”

Zach *snickering*: “Vi, they weren’t wrestling they were…“

Violet *baring her teeth, hissing his name*: “ZACH!”

Zach *still giggling*: “Hehe, fine, sorry…”

Teacher *looking embarrassed*: “Oh no! Nothing like that! Thank goodness! It’s just….well, we had the class draw a picture of their hero…”

The teacher points to a decently drawn (for a 4 year old) picture of….

Zach and Violet *shouting*: “Gourmand!”

Teacher: “Yes, she called him Gourmy, but why I want you to see it is…well, if you can read the caption she wanted to include that we had her copy on the side…”

(This is similar to how my 5 year olds draw and write, lol).

Zach and Violet move closer and read the caption, both of their mouths drop in horror:

“Gourmy is my hero because he broke up with daddy so mommy and daddy could fall in love.”

Violet *shaking her head, she presses her hands to her temples and starts massaging them*: “Only our child would say something like that…”

Zach *gritting his teeth*: “That’s the last time we let Gourmand babysit….as soon as we leave here I’m calling that food loving loser…”

Varina *bouncing up to them, having been playing with her friends nearby in the room*: “Who are you calling, daddy?”

Zach *picking her up*: “Well…Uhhh, Gourmy, your teacher was just showing us your art work I am going to call and...uuuhhhh, tell him about it…”

Varina: “Oh good, take a picture too, he’ll love it! Do you love it daddy? I made sure to make his hat nice and big!”

Violet covers her mouth with one hand to stifle her laughter and clutches her belly with the other, muttering: “and we thought it was a good idea to have another one,” to herself.

Zach *groans and starts walking away with Varina*: “Excuse us for a minute, Vari and I need to have a chat.”

Violet *looks to the teacher sheepishly before following Zach*: “I am so sorry…we’ll talk to her.”

There is actually an “alternate ending” for this one, but it was kind of pg-13 in rating (nothing explicit but suggestive) so I opted for this ending instead, if you’d like to see the other ending, let me know!