#man. the ai bot is doing a lot of crazy shit

[caruskie]

I needed to distract myself with something simple... So yeah, don't kill me

I wasn't able to draw for last 4 days, cuz of... Stuff. I was looking after for my lil cousin for two days in a row and then I just couldn't make myself draw. It's not an art block, but kinda annoying thing. Like, you know that everything you draw rn looks terribly shitty. But yeah.. I managed to start doing something, at least for now.

I'll try to speed run all the requests tomorrow. Man, I didn't think I would get so much of them. I'm sorry for making y'all wait, but I promise I'll try to do most of them!

(Also was kinda curious about this lil fella in the sketches. He's creepy, not gonna lie)

[dean-samw67]

Talking about this here because it's such an issue and it's driving me crazy. I've noticed some things when it comes to Judy and the Cyberpunk fandom. I get Judy is a very attractive woman and a lot of people like her regardless of their gender. HOWEVER, the amount of men who say "I wish she was into men" or "I can change her mind" FUCKING STOP!!

SHE IS NOT INTO MEN AND IM SORRY IT HURT YOUR EGO THAT SHES NOT INTO YOU BUT STOP FUCKING DISRESPECTING HER SEXUALITY!

THERE ARE LITERALLY MODS TO CHANGE HER SEXUALITY AND IT MAKES ME SICK

Let me explain why it makes me so fucking mad. As a woman who is attracted to women I have actually had men say shit like that to me irl when I've been in relationships with women. And many many women who are attracted to and date women hear that shit ALL THE TIME

How would you as a straight man feel if a gay man tried to push their sexuality on you and went "I can change your mind" or "You just need some cock to help you realize"

ALSO I have spent so much time playing RPGs over the years and the amount of well written romancable lesbians in RPGs is not a lot. And if they do have them they are either weird (like in dragon age inquisition how Sera is the only romancable lesbian but she's literally freshly 18 and very obviously still got a younger, playful mindset which is okay but offer another older option for older players. It feels gross to me to romance her) OR the romance is very obviously created for the male gaze and not actually for lesbians or wlw at all.

I find Cyberpunk and I'm beyond happy to know they include a romance for every person regardless of which way you swing. And to see the amount of men who write fanfics, make ai bots and use mods that make her straight PISSES ME OFF BEYOND ANYTHING I CAN EXPLAIN

LEAVE HER ALONE SHES NOT FUCKING FOR YOU

I'm attracted to Panam but I would never get a mod to change her sexuality or disrespect that because it's not just about the game but simply about respect for sexuality in general because like I said THIS HAPPENS IN REAL LIFE ALL THE DAMN TIME

Point of this post is you can be attracted to someone without disrespecting them and their sexuality. You are allowed to acknowledge that they are an attractive person without being offended that they aren't attracted to you and without simply being a disgusting asshole.

[cutsiewitch]

You know, I find it funny and interesting that I ended up on the very niche part of tumblr with t4t horny transhumanism mechs. It’s especially funny because I am not anywhere near the actual target audience for that type of content. I enjoy it from an observer’s perspective, watching people go into detail about something very alien to me is entertaining, but I don’t get turned on by any of this at all.

I enjoy mechs and robots a bunch, and I find the idea of robots and mechs to be dope as shit. I am an advocate for the rights of AI and robots even if they are still only fictional, and would gladly help make mechs and robots a reality if I could. I, however, enjoy them from a purely mechanical standpoint.

When I see a robot, I don’t think “God I wish I could fuck her (rearrange her hardware inside her chassis, install harmless bloatware in her to make her overheat)” or “God I wish that I was a robot girl too”, I think “Oh man, her construction is fucking awesome, I wonder what her schematics are like, I bet she could do all kinds of shit. Imagine the modding potential too.”

When I see mechs, I don’t think about the orgasmic experience of jacking into it and becoming something better, pilot and mech fusing into one whole being and experiencing the pleasure of battle. I think of how I could construct one of those for myself, I imagine the parts necessary, I think of how I could improve on the design and further innovate.

I kinda know my place in this fictional world of transhumanist robot lesbians and mecha/pilot symbiosis. I’m essentially an asexual mechanic. I dont tinker with robots for carnal pleasure, I do it because I am simply preforming routine maintenance, please stop moaning you’re making this weird. I don’t see a mech and dream of my consciousness melding with its into a sacred union, I theorize how I could fit as much weaponry as possible onto it’s frame before it overheats from the stress.

I actually hate transhumanism. I am deeply uncomfortable with the idea of replacing parts of myself with machinery. If the world worked like that I’d probably be pretty odd. I service mechs and androids with passion but am adamantly against body modding or mech piloting. I’d be the weird girl that avoids stepping into the cockpit at all costs, the one that stares concernedly at the pilots who seem so out of it when not jacked in, the one who always seems a little squeamish around people with augments. I think it’s ok for others to do it, go crazy, I don’t mind. I just worry that the normalization will lead to it being harder to live without augmenting, like cars making cities unwalkable.

Idk, that was a lot of rambling. TL:DR I find mech and robo stuff interesting from a mechanical standpoint, and I like this kink for the plot. Yall keep wanting to fuck those bots, good for you!

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Dreadful Police Shooting in Queensland

Why were 4 young police officers sent out on a missing person’s enquiry to a property in Wieambilla? Is it usual to send out so many police on a basic property check to find out if this person is present? Police are saying that they are now investigating whether the missing person’s report was a gambit to lure police to the property in order to kill them. Queensland Police are saying that it was a request from the NSW Police. This is, obviously, a terrible tragedy for the families and loved ones of all those who have lost their lives in this dreadful police shooting in Queensland.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/landscape-man-people-woman-6090872/

Mass Murder of Police in Wieambilla

Once again this is ultimately about guns and is a gun death mass murder. Where did the Train brothers and Stacey Train get their guns and if they were automatic weapons - how were they able to possess such killing technology in Australia? The very fact that they had guns should be the crucial element of the investigation into this mass murder of police in Queensland. Australia fought hard to take these weapons out of the hands of ordinary Australians following the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996. Sovereign Citizens Murder Police Officers in Wieambilla The brothers, Nathaniel and Gareth Train, and their ex-wife and wife Stacy Train have been reported in the media to be sovereign citizen proponents and conspiracy theorists.

Photo by Harrison Haines: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-wearing-jacket-carrying-a-gun-3536235/ Their father, an evangelical pastor, Ronald, is another extreme influence on their early lives and upbringing. One cannot avoid the association here with right wing American evangelicals and their connection to guns and crazy shit views on life. Holding attitudes that the laws of the land do not apply to you is dangerous stuff to say the least. Armed people like this are particularly dangerous to those upholding the laws of the land. The Pandemic Was Tough on School Teachers Nathaniel and Stacy were both school principals at various stages of their lives. Heaven help our children from individuals in positions of authority holding views like this. The Covid pandemic seems to be a turning point where Stacy, who refused to get vaccinated, and Nathaniel turned off the regular road to take a twisted fork to where we find ourselves today. Two young police officers gunned down in a slaughter, along with a helpful neighbour trying to do the right thing. The pandemic was tough on school teachers but the Trains left the main line for a journey to a backwater bloodbath. Extreme religious views are highly dangerous to the lives of ordinary citizens, as we have seen over the last couple of decades. The belief that God is the ultimate authority undermines the rule of law – it always has. Far right Christian extremism is just as deadly as the Islamic variety. The Trains were brought up in this environment, full of evangelical Old Testament claptrap. The Bible is full of blood thirsty killing in its first instalment – for those who have not perused its pages. Combine this with unhappy lives and sovereign citizen conspiracy theory stuff on the internet and that rabbit hole is deep and dangerous. Australians and people everywhere are spending on average more than 10 hours a day looking at screens. The internet is a depository for reams of toxic ideas about all sorts of shit. Algorithms keep sending the same stuff your way to feed the beast. Marginalised folk can find a passionate purpose in a cyber groups and forums communicating about how they are gonna take down the state and their police forces. They may even be chatting with Russian bots and thinking that they are sharing with similarly minded human beings. A lot of manipulative dark shit is occurring in cyber space and individuals living in the middle of nowhere have no idea. Disruption is the name of the game for these actors and their AI.

Crazy people need to be kept away from guns. This is the most important message to come out of this shocking tragedy. The Australian police forces need to be doing more gun checks everywhere they can. Local councils should report gun activity on their patches. Let’s get the guns out of the hands of ordinary citizens full stop. Get off the internet and go for a run around a park or at the beach. Talk to some real people in your city or town. Make eye contact and tell a joke or something. ©WordsForWeb

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[burritodetodo]

Burrito’s Guide To Survive Coronavirus Quarantine

We got to keep social distance (1 or 2 meters each other) or stay home during coronavirus outbreak so I thought I can share with y’all some things I’m gonna watch or do doing quarantine (this is a very long post, REBLOGS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!).

BUT FIRST SOME RULES:

Wash your hands: do it for 20 seconds or a while, but ALWAYS do it. It prevents the virus from spreading. If you don’t have sanitizer, water and soap! The cheapest and best ally against the disease.

Buy everything you need: if you can, try to buy stuff so you can stay some days at home. If the place is crowded, go back home and come later when it’s more empty. Same as medicine.

You can go for a walk: stay at home all day can be overwhelming for your mental health, but unless the goverment puts a curfew or gets strict about it you can go walk outside for a while always respecting the 1 or 2 meters from other people and without making contact (chatting) with other people. This ain’t my rule, a CDC professional says. DON’T go visit your friends or to crowded places such as bars, restaurants, shoppings, etc. If you want to buy something, ask for delivery or take away.

If you have coronavirus sympthoms (high fever, diarrhea, cough, feeling tired, breath difficulties) DON’T GO TO THE HOSPITAL YET, CALL TO YOUR PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANISATION OR WHATEVER YOU GOT AND THEY’LL TREAT YOU.

(credits to whoever made this meme)

SO YOUR LIFE IS ON QUARANTINE

Let’s say your boss or your school told you can stay at home. Okay then, you gotta prepare for some days inside *Isolation by John Lennon plays in the distance*. The first thing you think is you have to prepare a batch of series and movies to watch in order to kill some time. I’m gonna recommend you some you can find on VOD or cable, if you don’t have it don’t worry because I got you covered!

Infinity Train: a yet two seasons saga about people who got to face their problems aboard an endless train. The protagonists are joined by creatures who have different nature and help them, or not, to acknowledge their issues and leave the train. It’s on CN, it will continue on HBO Max.

The Owl House: a teen girl who daydream a lot was going to be sent to a down-to-earth camp but then she crosses a portal to the Boiling Isles, a magical world where she is taken care by a powerful Owl witch/saleswoman and her adorable demon. Lots of fantasy, some action scenes and many many puns. It’s on Disney Channel, it’ll be on Disney+ in some weeks.

Primal: Genndy Tartakovsky delighted us with the alliance of a caveman and a dinosaur, two rivals in a wild world who ally after facing a devastating event. It IS brutal and beatiful, has no dialogue and keeps you watching closely. Five final episodes are set to premiere this year. It’s on Adult Swim, maybe on HBO Max.

Tuca and Bertie: for the critics, one of 2019 best shows. For Netflix, a show that had to be cut off because the studio unionized. Two friends in their late 20s face changes in their lives: from living with a boyfriend and plan a life to look a way to stay sober and get a job. Deals with trauma, ptsd, anxiety and more harsh moments very well. In fact, the creator is a vital part of Bojack Horseman! It’s on Netflix.

Aggretsuko: red pandas are cute eh? But what about a antopomorphic red panda who releases her anger and frustrations by singing at a karaoke? This awesome comedy by Sanrio & Netflix is one of anime’s big hits lately. Like T&B, has a good handle of adult problems but not going too deep just to not break the comedy. You can watch it on Netflix.

Regular Show: yeah-uuuuhhhh! Eight seasons, a movie, five Halloween specials and some others. The adventures of a racoon and a blue jay with their co-workers/friends that relies on psychadellia and 80s and 90s nostalgia. It begins good, gets better, then lowers the quality (they were producing the movie at the same time tho, give some credit) and with and after the movie ends awesome. It’s on CN web, dunno if on Hulu (US only) and proably on HBO Max.

Evangelion: it’s a classic at this point, but addictive to me because I end rewatching the series or the final movie many times. A post apocalyptic future where the world has to deal with strange creatures known as the Angels and a boy with lots of traumas has to get on a mecha to save the humankind. All the characters have traumas and issues, the interaction between them or the action makes it worth. The End of Evangelion is a movie that ends the unfinished series. Warning: at some point it becomes very twisted and there are scenes which are too much violent. Viewer disclosure etc. It’s on Netflix worldwide.

Steven Universe & SU Future: this is the tale of the gem boy who ends a galactical tyranny and brings democracy to the universe. A acclaimed show that broke through many topics like gender, identity, ptsd, relationships and many more. Besides it’s got the best scores of the Milky Way and beyond thanks to the talent of Rebecca Sugar, Aivi Tran and Surasshu. And the actors and acrtresses! I don’t forget the movie, a musical that is an introduction to the epilogue: Shippuden Future. The show is available on CN and will be on HBO Max. Worldwide? No news.

Adventure Time: something that began as an innocent boy and a magical dog having adventures in a post apocalyptic world turns into the journey of Finn Metens from childhood to almost adulthood. There is a lot of fantasy and comedy you enjoy, but there are dark moments and serious ones through S6 that find a balance with early seasons form S7 to the finale. It also has great music, memorable moments and colaborations. And guess what? There is going to be a special set to premiere on HBO Max in some weeks! You got plenty of time to catch up or rewatch before that on CN or only (!!) S5 on Netflix.

Final Space: a dude tries to save the universe with their friends, where we can find his love interest, a cat-man and his kitten son, a intersexual alien, an AI then robot that is the best of them, two particular siblings and an annoying bot that prevents insanity that makes you insane. Crazy adventures in space, lots of situations, sadness, an evil smol bean who is a space emperor, a dude who looks for revenge, space deities that can destroy the universe. Is this a lot or info? It is not, because there is more and you can watch it on TBS, Adult Swim and Netflix (the world except US).

Rick and Morty: the most powerful, smartest human in the universe has adventures with his grandson. It’s awesome, but has a very toxic fanbase. Anyway, you can enjoy it on Adult Swim or Netflix (which is up to date!) and the rest of S4 is set someday.

Bojack Horseman: a Hollywood satire about human relationships, fame, traumas with a pour of comedy. Alongside the previous series, the best adult animation of the decade. Sadly cut by Netflix because the studio unionized (see T&B), said by both the creator and Aaron Paul. You can watch the six amazing seasons on that platform.

I’m not an animated movies guy, but here are three I really like and you can watch:

Porco Rosso: a handsome Italian combat aviator turned magically to a pig has a face off with an American pilot hired by pirates to get rid of him before WWII in Fascist Italy. It’s entertaining and, like every Ghibli movie, nice to watch. It’s on Netflix and will be on HBO Max for US.

Lego Batman Movie: Batman is depressed and has to get over it. It’s wacky and has lots of comedy. Plus Will Arnett is top 3 Batman. On Netflix (Latinamerica).

Spiderverse: Oscar winner movie about your friendly neighbour Peter Parker Miles Morales. Miles sees Spiderman die and feels bad after being transfered to a private school. Then a radioactive spider from a Fisk compound bites Miles and he’s Spiderman... among other dimensions’ Spiderpeople: Gwen, Peni, Peter Parker, Noir and Peter Porker. It’s visually amazing. On US it’s on Netflix (I guess), on Latinamerica on HBO.

Some interesting live actions I watched lately

Atlanta: Donald Glover is Earn, a dude who struggles to find a job for her baby girld and sees an opportunity when his cousin, Paper Boi, has a hit and uses him to make his cos famous. Sometimes a comedy, sometimes a social satire with touches of drama. And all protagonists are now big shots, like Zazie Beetz, Brian Tyree Henry or Lakeith Stanfield. There are two seasons and two seasons set for 2021 (2022 possible beacuse of coronavirus). It’s on FX, Hulu (US) and Netflix (world)

Avenue 5: this is brand new. On 2060 space cruises are a thing, and one cruise (the Avenue 5) has an accident that leaves the crew and passangers stranded for years. The captain (Hugh Laurie) has to solve this shit with a bunch of incompetent crew, bosses like Judd (Josh Gad), except one female engeneer who is very smart. Lots of crazy things happen in this series from the creator behind Veep. It’s on HBO (it’s free in the US!).

Peaky Blinders: it has some years but damn it’s epic. A gang from Birmingham makes their way to the top during the late 1910s after the Great War and extends through the 1920s. S5 is right in the ascension of fascism in Britain. ALL THE CAST acts spectacular, names like Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Anna Taylor-Joy and a long etc. But my fave is Paul Anderson, that ultra violent junkie Arthur Shelby is splendid, then is Tommy and aunt Pol, the baddest badass woman in Britain. Blinders is going to have seven seasons, there are two left. You can watch it on BBC or Netflix.

Sex Education: speaking of Britain, excellent teen comedy. Horny, doubtful teenagers going through those hard years. Stories of sex (duh!), abuse situations, abortion, there are gay relationships either, Gillian Anderson! It’s on Netflix, go go go!

Watchmen: despite not having Alan Moore on board, Damien Lindeloff did a tremendous job with the comic. Way better and less misleading than Zack Snyder’s 2009 film, Watchmen is again at the gates of the world’s end (like today) and handles the problem of racism and white supremacy quite well. Just 9 episodes, but worth to watch. On HBO.

CAOS: Sabrina the Teenage Witch is over. Warner and Netflix made a revival of the Archie Comics character and brought her to XXI Century. But gorier, hornier, dark and magical than the nice 90s sitcom. Sabrina Spellman goes from a doubtful teen who has to decide if she has to be a witch or a powerless woman to rule Hell. How she does it? Find out on Netflix! Note: S1 and 2 take some episodes to start properly. Don’t get bored too easy.

There are A LOT MORE to recommend and I make a list: Harley Quinn (DC Universe), OK KO (Hulu -US only-), House MD, Young Justice (DC Universe/Netflix), Ken Burns’ documentaries (Netflix), Titans (DCU), Over The Garden Wall (CN), Seis Manos (Netflix), Thundercats Roar (CN), Easy (Netflix), GLOW (Netflix), Star Trek Discovery (CBS, Netflix) and Picard (CBS, Amazon Prime), etc.

- You named cool shows, but I’m not from the United States or I don’t have a subscription to (insert VOD here) because I can’t afford it

- Glad you asked, I have the answer here

Introducing Stremio. It’s an open source platform where you can watch shows, movies or even live TV on Windows, Linux, Apple or Android. You create an account, install some addons and start looking for what you want to watch.

Stremio is based on torrents, you should install addons from many known torrent sites. So maybe you find an old show, but there aren’t many seeds to watch. And it could be frustraiting, so make sure there are people sharing so you can watch it.

You can download Stremio here and check the FAQs which is very clear.

NOTE: Stremio is note quite “clean” way to watch, but if you do please support the shows you watch by posting, commenting about them, making memes, thanking the creators and crew for their work, buying merchandise if you can. They put a lot to make the shows we love, let’s give ‘em back that love and effort.

You’re tired of the same music, the same movies or need to leave something to make company? There is Vaughn Live, a streaming page where are lots of channels with movies and series on strem (not VOD). For example, there is a channel that streams Adventure Time, other Regular Show, other Sci-Fi shows, another with DBZ and so on. Take in count that if the channel has +70 viewers, the free access is cut and if you want to watch it you have to pay.

En Vaughn también hay canales en español, como Simpsonmanía, Dragon Ball, Futurama, dibujos viejos y muchísimo más. Anyway, go to https://vaughn.live/ and enjoy yourselves!

Y hablando de canales en español, pueden ir a SeriesLan donde está el mayor reservorio conocido de series animadas de entre 1960 a 2010 en español latino. Pueden encontrar tesoros desde Don Gato, los Halcones Galácticos o Street Sharks a Flapjack y Mechas XLR. Otra alternativa para que pasen el rato.

Some interesting facts:

Epic Games releases a free game per week in their store. This week will be two games. You can check in https://www.epicgames.com

Steam has good prices on games and some free ones. There even is the latest Football Manager for free until March 25th. Check on https://store.steampowered.com/

If you’re interested,

I got this playlist I made on Spotify

with songs I liked in more than one year. More than 1200 songs.

And that’s pretty much it! You got resources for a lot of days, 14 initially since that’s the quarantine time in my country. Remember: obey the indications of the Health authorities, this is no time to play the “fuck the goverment” game. We will overcome this pandemy together, helping and caring for each other. That’s why I did this guide, to keep your minds busy in these tough times! Wash your hands, keep social distance, stay at home, go outside if necessary and have some patience please. This has been a PSA.

Stay strong!

Burrito

[iron--spider]

trigger finger (whumptober - gunpoint)

Tony moves into the next room in the warehouse, and this shit is bringing up a lot of unpleasant Ultron era memories. A lot of bullshit from back when Wanda got into his head, set him off, made him go a little crazy and spawn an evil murderous super bot. As one does. There’s no bot involved here, no, just a group of dickheads who, for some reason, are able to control minds. 

 He doesn’t know where the kid is, which makes finding him priority one. Not any of the so-called important information they were supposed to be protecting in the upper levels of the building, not the corporate big-wigs who are gonna have to answer for whatever the fuck kind of experiments they were doing here that caused this. No, finding Peter immediately, like right the hell now, is all Tony cares about. They’ve got Steve and Nat for the rest of it. 

 All Tony knows is that these guys need skin to skin contact to use their abilities. So the kid should be fine. He should be totally fine. Tony covered him head to toe for a reason. He isn’t wearing the iron spider tonight, though, which is—a little bit concerning. But Tony is always concerned, when it comes to Peter. Always jumping to conclusions. He has every damn right considering what the kid has put him through, what the kid has been through, what Tony put the world through to get the kid back in his life.

 So. Tony continues on in this labyrinth, looking for Peter. 

“Steven,” Tony says, on coms, watching as Friday lays out a grid of the building on the HUD. “Hey. Rogers. Check in. Chop chop, where are you?”

 Tony gets a response, but it’s not at all what he was expecting or what he wanted to hear. It’s Steve’s voice, that’s for sure, but it’s mostly static, cutting in and out. The doorway ahead of him is open, and he walks through, heading into a hallway. 

 “Friday, why the hell is that happening?” he asks, looking back and forth, scanning his surroundings. 

 “Unsure, boss.”

 “Gimme my little dots, huh?” Tony asks, heading to his left. “Where are my little green and red dots? Good and bad guys? Christmas? Huh? Let’s go, girl, c’mon.” He’s getting testy with his fucking AI, because where in the hell is Peter? He’s not here. Usually he’d be chiming in and chirping his every precious thought, and Tony hasn’t heard a comment from him for about twenty minutes now. Since a little after they all ventured off in different directions, on their own. He tries to remember the last thing he heard Peter say. Does Friday have a recording? Is he losing his damn mind already?

 The kid’s fine. He’s gotta be fine. He’s a superhero, he can pick up a whole bus, he’s fine. He’s fine.

 But this is mind control. Tony is familiar with someone digging around in his head, and he doesn’t want that happening to Peter. 

 “Any more luck honing in on Peter’s suit?” Tony asks, continuing down the hallway, trying to stay level-headed and unemotional. He wishes Peter hadn’t tagged along for this one. He kind of wishes Peter would retire when he’s twenty one.

 “There’s something jamming my signals, Boss,” Friday says. “I’m working on it. Along with your red and green indicator dots.”

 “Thank you, ma’am,” Tony says, with a shuddering sigh. At least he’s got the floor plan, and he sees that he’s approaching the loading docks. These dudes might be heading out that way, and Tony hopes he can cut them off, stop all this before it gets too big. 

 Well, it’s pretty big already. Considering there are three—no, four Avengers here. Jesus, he can’t tell the kid he was about to discount him as an Avenger.

 He wishes he could tell anything.

 “Alright, alright,” he says to himself, rolling his eyes.

 There’s two traffic doors up ahead, and Tony can see a figure standing inside, in the darkness, but he can’t make out a face. Alright, finally, he might be getting somewhere. He can’t exactly be too stealth when he’s wearing the suit, so he decides to rush in guns-a-blazin, or more like repulsors at the ready because he doesn’t wanna kill anybody—

 He stops. Brain empty. Hands shaking.

 Peter is standing there in front of him, without his mask. He’s holding a gun in his hands, and he raises it, pointing it at Tony. He’s trembling, and he grits his teeth.

 “Kid,” Tony says, panicking wildly now. 

 “I can’t—” Peter says, and it’s like each word physically pains him.

 Tony breathes hard, trying to think fast, trying to get his hands on a solution. “Did one of them do this to you?” he asks. “Did—did they get your mask off? Get skin to skin contact?”

 Peter closes his eyes for a long second, and the gun rattles in his hands. Tony takes one tentative step closer, and he sees the rip in the suit, on the kid’s forearm. Shit. “Okay, buddy, I see it,” he says. “I see it. But these clowns should know that bullets are just gonna bounce right off me.”

 Peter opens his eyes, and he looks afraid now, worse than before. He slowly, surely, raises the gun and points it at his own temple. Presses it there hard.

 Tony’s world shifts, all the air draining from around him. He takes another faltering step forward, and the helmet retracts down so Peter can see his face. 

 “No, no,” Tony stammers. “No, hey—kid, can you fight this? I know how strong you are, buddy. I know how strong you are.”

 “It’s—it’s really hard,” Peter says, his face contorting with emotion and pain. 

 Tony keeps looking at his finger on the trigger. Everything is on the line right now, all of it, all of it, and he can see what it would look like, the horror of it, the gore, and he tries to wipe it from his mind. It cannot happen. It cannot happen.

 “Are they around?” Tony asks, retracting his previous thoughts about not wanting to kill somebody tonight. He wants to kill somebody tonight. He wants to rip somebody limb from limb. 

 “I don’t know,” Peter says, softly. He looks like he’s trying so hard to resist, the veins in his arms standing out, his fingers shaking.

 Finger on the trigger. Finger on the trigger. 

 Tony doesn’t care what happened to these people. Not right now. Because they did this. They’re doing this to his kid. They put that look on Peter’s face. 

 “It’s gonna be fine,” Tony whispers, taking another step forward, and his whole chest hurts, pinpricks and a pinching tightness. “It’s gonna be fine, okay? Promise. I promise you.”

 Peter presses the gun harder to his temple, and Tony can see the indent on his skin. Peter sucks in a big breath through his mouth, and tears shine at the corners of his eyes. “I can almost—if I concentrate—really hard—”

 “He’s gonna hurt himself!” a voice yells, from one of the open loading dock doors.

 Tony’s head whips up, and he sees two men standing there, on the platform just outside the building. He feels like rushing into attack mode, but he knows he can’t. He has to be smart. “Nah, I’m gonna hurt you,” Tony says, his anger simmering. “This is not a way to make friends and influence people.”

 “Stark,” the voice says. “You need to be a little more in charge of your emotions—”

 “You need to be a little more the fuck out of here—”

 “Precisely,” the man says. “Everyone knows you particularly want to protect the Spider-Man. And now we know why—he’s a child!”

 “I—am not—” Peter cuts himself off by pressing the gun harder against his head, and Tony sees stars.

 “Just let him go,” Tony says, already feeling desperate as all hell, because this image in front of him is nightmare-inducing, for both of them, and it’s goddamn worse that he can see the kid fighting it tooth and nail. 

 “Let us go,” the man says. “And as soon as we’re a mile away, he’ll be able to drop the gun. Understand?”

 “A fucking mile?” Tony asks, cracking his jaw, shifting on his feet. “I’m ready to just start blasting, hoping I hit something—”

 “And I’ll make him shoot himself in the head,” the man says. It’s unnerving, just seeing their shadows out there. They should be fucking running, with the amount of fire running through Tony’s veins right now. “He’ll die in front of you,” the man continues. “Brains everywhere.”

 “Shut the fuck up,” Tony says. “Just go. Get out.”

 “Tony—” Peter starts, eyes wide. 

 Tony shakes his head. He can barely deal with looking at him right now, like this. With that gun to his own head. It’s something he never, ever wanted to see. 

 “Go!” Tony yells, and the two men jump down off the platform, into the settling night. Once they’re gone, Tony lets the suit retract back into his housing unit, and he steps closer to Peter on his own two feet. “Pete,” he breathes.

 “Okay,” Peter says, blinking rapidly. “Okay, okay.” His hand is still shaking. 

 “A mile,” Tony says, standing in front of him, afraid to touch him but longing to fix this, somehow. “They better run fast. They better run fucking fast.”

 “You’re cursing so much,” Peter breathes, looking at him with pleading eyes. “Right in front of me.”

 “I know,” Tony says, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “I’m sorry.”

 “‘s okay, you’re just gonna have to put like, a lot of money into the swear jar when we get back to the compound—”

 Tony snorts, and nearly breaks into full, out and out sobbing, because he needs this to be over. Right now. Right now. He keeps looking at Peter’s finger, tight on the trigger. One false move, and it’s over. It’s over, and for all intents and purposes, they’re both dead.

 “Hey, wait, I—” Peter grits his teeth, groaning a little bit. “Hey, wait—”

 “What’s happening?” Tony asks, his eyes darting around. He glances back up where the two assholes were, but they’re not there anymore. “Kid, don’t hurt yourself, don’t do anything crazy, please—”

 Peter yanks his hand away from his head, and Tony leaps out of the way as the gun goes off, pointed at the wall. Peter tosses it away from him, stumbles back, his hand reaching up to grip his forehead. 

 “Hey, hey,” Tony says, catching him around his waist, making sure he doesn’t fall. “Hey—are they a mile away already? Did you break the mind control link or whatever? Holy shit.”

 “They’re definitely not a mile away,” Peter breathes, leaning hard against him. “Oh my God, my brain.”

 “Are you okay?” Tony asks, lowering them both to the ground. “Information needed, stat, c’mon, bud.”

 “Fine,” Peter says, wincing, still holding onto his head. “Peaches and cream.”

 “Mmhm,” Tony hums, through gritted teeth, because he’s feeling dizzy now, sick. He taps on his ear piece. “Steve,” he says. “Can you hear me?”

 “Tony! Lost you for a bit there! Find anything?”

 “Thank God, Cap,” Tony breathes, tightening his grip on the kid. “Dickheads heading due north, escaped about five minutes ago, tops. Go get ‘em.”

 “On it, you alright?” 

 “Will be,” Tony says. He directs his attention back to Peter, helps him sit up a little bit. “Hey, look at me, Pete. Look at me real quick.”

 Peter groans, shifting, and looks at him through narrowed eyes, swaying a little bit. “What?”

 Tony scoffs. “What, he says. They still in there? In that noggin of yours?” 

 “No,” Peter says. “No, it just feels like—ants in my head, now, when before it was like someone was holding my brain in their big, nasty hand.”

 Tony blows out a breath, brushing Peter’s hair out of his eyes. “Gross. Okay, did they seem to have...any real reason for taking your mask off? Do we have identity problems just in case Stevie doesn’t overtake them?”

 Peter shrugs. 

 “Okay,” Tony says, knowing he needs to think about that shit next. Just great. “Okay, I’m done with all this. We’re going home.” He considers how to tell this whole story to May. Considers not telling her at all.

 “Okay,” Peter says, which is a little concerning, considering he normally likes to see these things through. “And when we get there, I’m eating the rest of the salted caramel ice cream. I deserve it.”

 Tony nods, wrapping an arm around his waist and hauling him to his feet. Yeah, that’s more Peter. “Yup,” Tony says. “You absolutely do.”

 Peter leans into his space, and looks at him with wide eyes. “Really?”

 “Definitely,” Tony says. He glares at the gun on the way out of the room, and knows it’ll take a good week to scrub the mental image of Peter holding himself at gunpoint out of his head. “Let’s just find your mask. Next stop, ice cream.”

[crimes-and-gelato]

Only Half a Blue Sky (Chapter Four)

Rating: M Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes

Chapter Title: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

A/N: If you're still here, thank you for sticking around! But heavens, you should not trust me. :D Of course, my beta for this chapter had been nothing short but amazing. Thank you so much 12AngelOfDarkness21 (PSA: all remaining mistakes are still mine because I can't write on/at/in properly and so much other more grammar rules). I suck at chapter summary, so I'll just gotta tell you in advance that I have introduced a new character from a different universe. The competition really. So, are y'all ready for Player 3? Well, you don't have much of a choice actually. LOL! But I'm crossing my fingers that you'll like them. And off you go and hope you enjoy!

**

**

“Addiction is tricky. For example; a man who quit smoking for eleven years spent fifteen seconds in an elevator with a man smoking a cigarette. He gave in. What I’m trying to say is , I think I love you again.”

**

**

Bucky needs to tell Steve about his conflicting emotions. Not conflicting because he’s very sure about how he feels for the other super soldier. Instead, it’s the additional person that’s messing up with his emotions, making it impossible to be satisfied with what he has, when he selfishly craves for someone who is also — supposedly — his soulmate.

He wants to curse the day that Tony muttered his name so casually, no warmth or feelings. Nothing at all. Which hurt, at some point. But not as much as it hurts now, when he can’t tell Steve or touch Tony when he desires to.

Google doesn’t have much about someone who has two soulmates. It rarely happens, according to his research, with  JARVIS’ help, of course.

‘JARVIS?’ he calls out, glancing up at the ceiling, where he knows JARVIS’ cameras are located.

‘Yes, Sergeant Barnes?’ the AI dutifully replies.

Bucky likes having JARVIS around very much. The AI is such a great help these last few days, especially when Steve’s been too busy to attend to him. Not that he wants Steve to mother hen him, because that’s really not healthy at all, and besides, he’s the one who suggested independence. But he’s lost his friendship privileges with Tony after the incident .

Ah, the loathsome incident, where he’d learned that he’s Tony’s soulmate, while the engineer introduced him to Dr. Banner. And thank heavens he hadn’t uttered Tony’s name or else the genius would have found out about being bonded to Bucky.

He can’t imagine what it feels like to be tied to your parents’ murderer. What a twist of fate. Cruel, cruel fate. Tony really deserves better.

Tony’s the other person who helps him — sometimes — to ease into the current century. It’s refreshing to have him around because he doesn’t mother hen Bucky like Steve would do. It’s a bonus that he’s got a great sense of humour and a truly amazing ass.

He mentally berates himself for thinking about Tony inappropriately. He feels like he’s cheating on Steve and at the same time defiling Tony’s privacy. God, what is wrong with him?

‘J, do you know who Tony’s soulmate is?’ he asks, trying to play nonchalant again while secretly hoping the AI doesn’t see right through him. But, perhaps JARVIS does, because why else would his heart suddenly start to beat so nervously? He needs to use his Winter Soldier training and calm himself down. ‘Just out of curiosity, y’know?’ he adds when it takes time for JARVIS to reply. ‘Also, you’re not going to tell Tony that I asked, right?’

Shit! He should not have asked that at all. Maybe JARVIS has some sort of protocol that reports things back to Tony?

‘I apologise if it took time to answer your query, Sergeant Barnes,’ JARVIS says, sounding more human with his sincerity. Tony makes such awesome creations. ‘I was checking and rechecking my protocols about your first question. I have observed that Sir takes caution with the soulmate agenda.’ There’s another short pause. ‘But upon my inspection, Sir hasn’t announced the matter of his having a soulmate or not.’

Bucky tries to process the new information. It doesn’t confirm or deny his theory about Natasha and Tony.

‘And as to your last query, I would like you to be rest assured that whatever inquiry you ask from me will be kept private,’ the AI continues. ‘Unless it’s a query that conflicts with my major protocol, which is to ensure Sir’s safety along with the residents in the tower.’

He nods at JARVIS. ‘Thanks, J.’

‘Any time, Sergeant Barnes,’ the AI replies.

It’s quiet again. Bucky’s alone with his vexing thoughts.

He needs to talk to Steve. Or he’s going to go batshit crazy.

**

**

Steve’s nowhere to be found in the tower, even when Bucky’s sure that the blond’s not in the Avengers HQ. He asks JARVIS where his soulmate — his first soulmate, not Tony — is. The AI tells him that Captain Rogers is in the workshop with Sir, surprising Bucky.

The two must have mended things between them. Not that there’s something to mend about, in Bucky’s opinion. Steve wasn’t the one who killed Tony’s parents. Bucky did.

The guilt over that fact will never wear out, will never go away. But there’s still a part of him that  hopes it will.

He gets into the the elevator and asks JARVIS to bring him to the workshop, trying not to fidget with all of his nerves.

It’s only when he’s on the workshop floor when he thinks that perhaps he should leave Tony and Steve alone, for now. To catch up and go back to their old routines as friends. He’s heard a lot of this so-called friendship from Steve’s own mouth, one of the reasons why Bucky had trusted Tony with his arm, even when he had had his doubts about the genius.

‘JARVIS, are they busy inside with something? Is it okay for me to intrude?’ He doesn’t want to disturb the two’s bonding time, but he’s not sure if he’s okay being all by himself right now.

‘It’s perfectly fine to enter, Sergeant Barnes,’ JARVIS replies, and opens the door for Bucky.

He steps into the controlled chaos that is Tony’s workshop. He’ll never stop being awed by the wonders of Tony’s mind and invention. The future is amazing. And he thinks it might be sixty percent because of Tony’s brilliant mind.

‘Tony,’ Steve screams, pulling Bucky out of his astonishment about Tony’s lab.

The said man is actually up in the air. But he’s also falling, for reasons Bucky hasn’t figure out yet, seeing as he only just entered the room.

Steve’s too far to catch Tony. Captain America looks more panicky than Bucky had ever seen him on this side of the century. For a second he’s reminded of Steve’s face before he’d fallen off the train. Maybe not quite that sort of panic yet, but three steps from there.

It’s only thanks to his super soldier reflexes that Bucky manages to catch Tony before the genius can hit the cold, hard floor, saving Tony from a trip to the medical bay that they both have similar hatred for.

‘Oh my god.’ Steve has a hand over his heart, traces of his fright lingering in his voice. ‘You will be the death of me,’ he tells Tony in his patented Captain-America-is-disappointed-with-you tone.

Tony scoffs and rolls his eyes at Steve. ‘That’s impossible, Capsicle,’ he states with confidence, and with as much authority he can muster while being carried in Bucky’s arms, bridal style. He’s got an arm over Bucky’s good shoulder. Good thing the man had landed with his back on the flesh arm, instead of the metal one.

‘Well, you’re always trying for the impossible,’ Steve retorts, putting both hands on his hips like a cross mother.

The genius gives Steve a proud beam. ‘One of my personal talents,’ he agrees haughtily, which only makes Steve sigh in resignation. ‘Right,’ he says like he’s only remembering that he’s still in Bucky’s arms and looking everywhere but the Winter Soldier’s face. ‘Thanks for the catch, Red October.’ He taps his other hand on Bucky’s metal shoulder. ‘It’s okay to put me down now.’

Bucky obeys. Slowly, and mutely reluctant, but he does.

‘Thanks again,’ Tony says, not meeting Bucky’s eyes for some reason.

‘Do you need to go to medical, Tony?’ Steve asks with a concern he’s trying to mask somehow. ‘Maybe you need to check if there’s a broken rib or bone.’

Tony waves off Steve’s concern and walks away from Bucky. ‘Please, Brooklyn, it’ll take more than a fire extinguisher to break me.’

‘But it almost did,’ Steve points out in annoyance.

‘And in the end, it didn’t,’ Tony concludes, walking further into the lab. He stops near the broken fire extinguisher and a robotic arm, whom Bucky believes to be DUM-E. He pats the bot’s arm, who’s beeping in what sounds like concern. ‘I’m okay, DUM-E. It’s just an experiment gone wrong.’ There’s more beeping sounds that Bucky doesn’t understand, but it seems that Tony does perfectly. ‘Well, that’s lesson learned for you too that fire extinguishers are dangerous little shits.’

‘Tony,’ Steve scolds.

‘What?’ Tony turns to them innocently, still patting DUM-E on its robotic claw.

‘You’re not supposed to swear in front of your kids,’ Steve nags without heat.

‘Right,’ Tony agrees. He turns back to DUM-E. ‘Please don’t use words like fuck and shit because Mr. Rogers gets upset, okay?’ DUM-E beeps something back.

Bucky can’t see it but he can tell the smile on Tony’s voice as he tells his robot the instruction, while in the background Steve makes another sound of protest and mutters a reprimanding, ‘Language, please.’

Tony only glances back at Steve and gives the blond a shit-eating grin, while Steve raises both hands in the air in resignation. But he doesn’t look annoyed, Bucky notes. No, Steve looks far from irritated. The blond man actually has a fond smile on his face despite his attempt to show his vexation.

Steve looks fond. At Tony.

Steve is humouring Tony.

Steve looks fond at Tony and is humouring Tony.

Fucking hell! Steve Rogers is flirting with Tony. Not blatantly, but still... flirting! And Bucky would bet Tony’s whole net worth that Steve doesn’t even know he’s flirting, and practically swooning over Tony fucking Stark.

Of course not. Steve’s loyal to the very core and he’s not going to think about cheating on Bucky. But at the same time he’s a naive punk who won’t even know he’s got a crush even when it’s staring right at him.

And on the other hand, Bucky’s actually not jealous about Steve’s obvious-but-not-so-obvious crush on Tony. On the contrary he’s quite fine with it.

He’s fine with it. Why is he fine with it? He’s not supposed to be fine with it, right? Right? But he is fine with it.

This is a wonderfully, truly fucked up situation. What even is his life right now?

**

**

‘Remind me again why I need to be here?’ Rhodey asks dryly. His smile getting tighter by the minute. Tony also notes that his best friend looks tired.

‘Because,’ he not-whines, ‘I needed a wingman. Somehow.’

Rhodey sighs in disbelief. ‘Tony, this is not what the charity event is for,’ he lectures. ‘Finding a one night stand material isn’t why Pepper wants you in these events.’

He scowls at his best friend. ‘I know, platypus,’ he agrees, winding his arm through Rhodey’s. ‘But this is the best place to find someone of my calibre.’ The black man only narrows his eyes at him, as if he’s trying to piece Tony’s thoughts  together.

‘You’re not dying from another poisoning, are you?’ He sounds worried, and Tony hates that Rhodey has to have some traumatic stress because of him.

‘No.’ He shakes his head. ‘I just need a new distraction,’ he explains as he subtly eyes Steve from across the room, laughing at whatever Sam is telling him. He looks away immediately, in the fear of getting caught by Rhodey or Steve. ‘I’ve been thinking about settling down these last few months. Maybe.’

Rhodey only stares at him, studying Tony’s face and reading him. ‘That’s great.’

‘Yeah,’ he agrees, and gives his best friend a smile. He expects Rhodey to ask him about details for his plan to settle down, or about his soulmate. But his darling sugar plum didn’t. Thank heavens for that. Because honestly, he’s not sure how he’s going to answer that query.

How does one tell your best friend that you’ve found your soulmate, but will settle for someone else? It’s not very common for people to ignore their soulmates and marry someone else, because such relationship are often doomed. Take Howard and Maria’s for example. Only a lucky few has been able to defy the laws of the universe, been able to stay happy and together despite not marrying their soulmates.

And Tony plans on being one of those lucky few, or so help him.

Besides, if he doesn’t find a suitable proxy, Natasha did say she’ll marry him. So, he’s not really losing here. In your face, universe.

His eyes wander to Steve again. He knows he said he’s going to let go, that he needs to stop being such a fool and move on. For Steve’s sake. And for his own sake, too.

Steve’s in navy blue tux, perfectly fitting him. He looks beautiful like he always does, but even more so than usual. And he’s standing there in radiance, representing everything Tony wants but can never have.

The pain follows like it always does, because fuck his life. Nobody has died of heartache though, right? He will survive this. He’s Tony Stark. Stark men are made of iron.

‘Shall we go rub elbows with your potential spouse?’ Rhodey teases, knowing exactly when best to pull Tony out of his dark thoughts. And this is why he likes Rhodey the best.

He wishes he’d been mated to Rhodey instead. That would have been easy. It’s never painful with Rhodey, it’s always easy. As easy as breathing.

‘Lead the way, sour patch,’ he replies.

**

**

Who knew trying to find a prospective mate is as hard as looking for a needle in a haystack. The answer is to bring a magnet. But he’s not quite sure if the magnet that he often uses to make people fawn over him is enough to pull a genuine needle towards him.

And try he will to attract the perfect needle to himself, metaphorically speaking. He’s always been a firm believer in not giving up unless tested thoroughly, until the facts and evidences are as clear as day.

So, he’s going to endeavour this boring gala when he could be in his shop right now and inventing something that could change the world. Or maybe just play catch with DUM-E, U, and Butterfingers. He’d probably formulate a few new schematics out of that. That’s how boring this gala is, all pretentious smiles and fake conversations with people who probably talk ill-mannered things about him behind his back.

But he’s here for charity and Avenger business. The team needs to shake a few hands and keep their ears on the floor for any information about the current HYDRA base they are trying to track, whom they think have stolen Loki’s magical sceptre from SHIELD.

And just to reprimand himself, he keeps himself to the opposite side of the room, where he’s going to be safely away from the Wonder Twins. Steve’s a distraction enough, not to add one James Barnes into the mess that is Tony’s errant emotions.

He truly needs to stop this pining and move on. But also, why was Rhodey taken away by those military guys for “classified” conversation, when he needed someone to distract him from his own lack of self-preservation? And Pepper’s not even here to help him out either. He should have gone with her to that Spain meeting instead.

‘Tell me, Stark,’ a deep husky voice begins, ‘how’s the green energy front doing?’

Tony’s almost annoyed at being disturbed with his long distance ogling, but he reminds himself that it’s for the best.

‘I can’t say financially better than before because that would be a lie,’ he tells the other billionaire, Bruce Wayne, owner of Wayne Enterprise. ‘But it’s doing great because I’m still richer than you.’ He flashes the man a smug grin.

Wayne only gives him a tight smile. ‘And still funnier, I see.’

‘Of course, Mr. Wayne,’ he agrees. ‘That’s my best selling trait.’ He winks at the man.

The other billionaire only gives a quiet amused huff in return.

‘How is it that you two are here together when there are people out there dying to talk with you?’ Dr. Helen Cho asks rhetorically as she approaches them.

‘Helen,’ Tony exclaims. ‘You’re here. And Banner didn’t even say you were coming.’ He wounds his arms with her. ‘It feels like he’s trying to have you all to himself when he knows very much how I love talking to you.’

‘I don’t think I can say the same about you, Dr. Stark,’ she replies, a small teasing smile on her lips.

But before Tony can react and pretend to be hurt, the other man clears his throat to insert himself in the conversation. ‘Dr. Cho,’ Wayne says as a way of greeting and reaches over for Helen’s free hand to kiss the back of it.

‘Mr. Wayne.’ She offers him a smile as he lets go of her hand. ‘It’s surprising to see you in a Stark event.’

‘Makes me curious too,’ Tony adds, attention back at the other billionaire. ‘I mean, you’re usually only out of your cave for Halloween events, right?’ He looks at him from head to toe, the man wearing a dark black tux, along with everything else that’s as dark as the night. His face is also fixed on a feature that Tony would call a Resting Bitch Face. ‘Although, it’s quite refreshing to have you out and about on these special occasions and representing your goth cult.’

Wayne doesn’t react at all, doesn’t break his stoic eye contact with Tony at the unnecessary comments that most would find annoying. No, Bruce is different. He’s perfectly confident in his own skin, so banters and insults don’t stir him at all.

The black haired man studies Tony for a few more seconds as if waiting for the genius to add more jokes on Bruce’s expense. And when there’s none, he merely looks down at his glass of scotch and stirs it slowly, knowing full well that his two companions are watching and waiting for him to say something in response. But the air in him says so otherwise, Tony notes.

One businessman to another, Tony knows how to read the other like a book. Everybody has telltales, according to Natasha. And right now, Wayne isn’t up to retaliate, but he’s luring them in by acting nonchalant about Tony’s statement, making them wait for whatever is going to happen next. Not to mention the sudden mysterious pause, as if he’s contemplating on something.

And people like them value their time. So, if they are giving it some time to think it over, it means it’s important. Bruce knows that Tony knows this too and he’s taking this opportunity.

‘You might be surprised as to what pulled me here tonight, Stark,’ he states smugly before taking a small sip of his scotch, not breaking eye contact with Tony. He brings his glass down and licks his lips, eyes still not leaving Tony’s. ‘I can promise that it will blow your mind.’

Tony’s only a man. A weak man who hasn’t gotten laid in a long time, so no one should judge him if Wayne’s words pushed his mind into the gutter. And, in his additional defence, Wayne is gorgeous too, even not adding that deep raspy voice. He can imagine that voice whispering filthy things to him while Wayne fu—

Okay, not the time. Not even if he’s trying to move on from Steve and denying his growing infatuation for James. Sometimes his libido and heart just can’t work logically. Both keep wanting things that are bad for him.

On the other hand, maybe what he needs is a quick fuck to forget about Steve. Pepper won’t approve of that solution, and it’ll only get him in hot water with the redhead if he creates more scandal when they’re groundbreaking in Europe with the green energy this month.

‘Now, that’s an offer I can’t refuse.’ He gives Wayne a lewd smile, expecting the other man to either show a hint of annoyance or back off completely. But, contrary to his prediction, Wayne’s eyes only grew more eager. Interesting.

They’ve known each other for a while, since that terrible Stark Expo where Vanko extracted his revenge. And they’ve always been competitive with each other. So, he’s out of his depths as to why Wayne is even interested, and since when.

That, or Tony’s reading it all wrong. But whether Wayne is indeed promising him what Tony is fantasising, or it’s truly just business related, he’s willing to find out either way because it’s the very distraction that he needs.

‘Trust me, you won’t regret it. I’ll make sure of that,’ Wayne vows solemnly, a layer of the smugness from awhile back vanishes, replaced by a small earnest smile. ‘Shall we, Stark?’ He offers his hand out to Tony like the proper gentleman he is.

He’s not sure if Wayne’s voice was suddenly softer than they were before, or if Tony’s imagining shit again. And for the life of him, he didn’t blush. He didn’t. Or maybe he did because Helen’s trying not to smile at Tony’s reaction. He’s not actually sure what’s on his face right now because he didn’t see this coming from Wayne.

He composes himself again and puts on his media mask. ‘Well, since I’ve always been up for anything different,’ he replies lightly and takes Wayne’s offered hand. ‘I guess I’ll see you around, Dr. Cho.’ He unwinds his other arm from hers and places a kiss on her cheek.

‘Sure, Tones.’ She kisses him back and whispers, ‘Enjoy. But not too much.’ And when she pulls back she winks at him cheekily.

Tony laughs at that. Bruce might be right and he’s becoming a bad influence on her. ‘And if you see my dear Rhodey, please tell him Goth Man has me, okay?’ he says while winding his arm through Wayne’s. Helen nods. ‘And you,’ he turns to Wayne, ‘stop calling me Stark it sounds as if we’re strangers when we’re practically frenemies.’ He rolls his eyes at the man.

‘Fine,’ Wayne agrees, though it sounds more like it’s a compromise and not something he happily obliged to. And Tony needs to remember that Wayne is a businessman like himself, who often doesn’t agree to someone else’s demand. They are people who are used to other people agreeing with their condition. ‘As long as you stop calling me Wayne, as well.’

Ah, there’s the compromise.

The other man leads them away from Helen slowly, and they talk as they walk.

‘Fine,’ he agrees, copying Wayne’s — Bruce’s — tone. ‘But that would be very confusing, y’know?’ The other billionaire gives him a quizzical look. ‘I already have a Bruce in my life… Dr. Banner.’ And if Bruce notices that Tony says his name deliberately, the other man doesn’t seem to mind.

‘I’m sure you will find a way to clear all the confusion, Tony,’ Bruce reasons. Maybe he says Tony’s name like it matters, like Tony has value, but it’s not enough.

Tony needs to accept that anyone can say his name with such love and adoration, but still have him feeling like it’s not enough. Only Steve could be enough.

**

**

Bucky stays by a corner nearest to Steve because crowded places still freaks him out. He’s rounded the perimeter thrice and knows all the exits by heart. He’s counted all the people in the gala, including the guards and secret agents. The feeling of the glock in his waistband is a comforting feeling, along with the rest of the knives he brought — total of eight, and Steve only has to know of two.

He also sticks to the corner because he doesn’t trust himself. Doesn’t believe himself capable of any semblance of self-control without Steve’s close presence to ground him, and remind him that he’s at a public function; and no it’s not allowed to stab someone with a knife just because their touch lingers far too long on Tony’s shoulder, or when they bat their eyelashes at Tony.

And that’s why Bucky has to stay by Steve’s corner of the room, when he’s itching to go over across the room and pull the engineer away from the rich looking guy in all black ensemble.

It doesn’t help that Dr. Helen Cho, bless her soul, is lucky enough to have Tony’s arm intertwined with hers. So lucky. Bucky wants to have Tony all dolled up in a tux on his arm too.

But life is unfair. Well, half-unfair because he’s got Steve. He’ll always have Steve and his warm smile, that’s full of love and concern that he throws Bucky’s way from time to time. And it’s everything he needs to survive this charade.

He told himself that he shouldn’t look across the room to where Tony is. He shouldn’t because it will only hurt, and will only make him angry with everyone that’s touching Tony who’s not him.

As if that task is easy. Not even with Steve to distract him, because Steve in a deep navy blue tux is a great distraction. But it’s not enough. Not when Steve has a job to do at this party, and is usually away from Bucky’s quiet corner near the wall.

So, pining over Tony is inevitable. It doesn’t help that the man is definitely the life of the party. Every person tries to get to him like moths to a flame. Tony is in his element, shining so brightly amongst these throngs of dim people who don’t care about anything or anyone except themselves.

Tony looks beautiful like this: surrounded by great splendour and important people but burning far more radiant than all of them combined. He likes this side of the engineer, even when Tony’s smiles are dimmer than the ones he gives back home. It’s still a sight to behold.

God, what would it feel like to see it closely. If he allows himself, he wants to be pulled in Tony’s circle and listen to him talk and move those lively hands of his. He wants to be part of those secret smiles he sends Rhodey when people aren’t looking.

But he can’t. He needs to look out for Steve, and at the same time contain his murderous glare of jealousy out of the public eyes.

He’s about to make peace with himself and stay where he is, and not disturb Steve or Tony, when the rich man from before is suddenly offering his hand to Tony. Dr. Cho looks like she’s swooning. And Tony… he’s flustered. From this distance it almost seems like Tony’s blushing.

‘Steve,’ he calls as he strides towards where his soulmate is. There must have been something concerning on his face because Steve’s face is masked with worry as he excuses himself from the group he was talking with.

‘Is everything okay, Buck?’ Steve pulls them away from the group, Bucky thinks. But he’s not sure because his eyes are glued once more to Tony, who now accepts the outstretched hand shyly.

Bucky’s going to break something, or cut someone’s hand. So, he looks away and faces Steve instead, because he needs those blue eyes to ground him and to stop him from doing something he will regret.

‘Buck, what’s wrong?’ Steve asks anxiously.

Only his great training under HYDRA could have masked the real wrath he feels deep within his chest right now.

‘Who’s that guy?’ He jerks his chin sharply towards Tony and the dark-haired stranger.

Steve follows Bucky’s gaze and doesn’t see the way Bucky’s feature clouds with more jealousy and anger as Tony snakes his arm over the man’s own.

‘That’s Bruce Wayne,’ the blond supplies. And Bucky can tell the small hint of dejection in Steve’s voice. ‘I didn’t know he was coming. Tony always said he’s a reclusive billionaire.’ He turns back to Bucky with a smile that doesn’t sit quite right on his lips. ‘Well, I guess he’s not so recluse.’ He glances back once more to the leaving pair.

‘I don’t like him,’ he states in a low growl.

Steve’s attention is on him again. ‘He’s okay, Buck,’ he assures doubtfully. ‘He’s actually friends with Tony. Wayne’s someone Tony trusts. So I guess he’s okay.’

Christ, Captain America having to repeat something twice and sounding like he’s trying to convince himself, rather than the other person is a painful thing to watch. Bucky wants to shake Steve and point out the truth that’s been staring Steve in the face the whole time.

‘I still don’t like him,’ Bucky says instead of pouring the reality of his own jealousy into the picture. ‘Tony could do so much better than that goth man.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, that man is going to be Tony’s boyfriend,’ Bucky explains as softly as he can, but the venom in his voice still colours his statement.

‘Boyfriend?’ Steve’s eyes are so wide with surprise. ‘Tony’s not gay,’ he whispers.

And that’s another surprising fact he didn’t know about Steve. Well, he did know that his soulmate can be quite oblivious. Just not this oblivious.

‘Oh, Stevie, I have news for you…’ He drapes an arm over Steve’s shoulder.

Bucky’s quite sure with his facts, he’s seen Tony looking at Steve’s ass, at Thor’s biceps when he’s around. Hell, he’s even dug old files about Tony’s past life and past lovers. And by far he hates Tiberius Stone the most.

**

**

IronBatFTW:

Hello, New York! Did you all have a great Friday night? Well, probably not as great as our renowned playboy, Tony Stark, who was spotted leaving the SI charity gala with another well-known billionaire: Bruce Wayne. Some of you must have gone, ‘OMG! Is this finally it?’ I did ask the same question this morning. This could finally be the denouement of our four years of pent up suffering under their slow-burn Jane Austen like love-hate relationship that we have watched since day one after that Stark Expo incident.

You have to be blind if you didn’t see the sexual tension between these two as they try to outsmart the other with their company’s success. It’s such a joy to witness the whole enemies-to-friends trope happening right before our eyes. And now we might just have enemies-to-friends-to-lovers trope that has been everyone’s bandwagon for quite some time now. Because this is it. It might happen indeed.

Don’t worry, little ones. I’ll keep you all updated like always. xoxo

[bolbianddolanhouse]

BNHA self insert AU [Book 2]

Lost and confused? Read this post to catch up!

Chapter 6: Dear Diary, I Couldn’t Find My Diary...

It’s still one more day until move in! Luckily for me, I don’t have to babysit anyone’s brat on this fine Sunday.

“Hey mom” I called out for my mom from the couch “can we watch your iconic fight?”

“Oh sure! I have it saved under high school fights on the digital library” she yelled back from the laundry room “it should be the first one on the list.”

I scroll through the digital library on the TV and the robo doggy jumped up on the couch to take their ‘nap’.

“It still creeps me out that your robo does normal dog functions” Hoshi spoke up.

“Huh? What’s so weird about it?” I asked genuinely confused on their feeling.

“Like they bark, talk, sleep, growl and even pretends to eat at meal times” he looks at the little robo “I didn’t know these things were programed like that.”

“Oh this is the original robo dog and my mom and her friends made for their intel class project” I found the section mom what talking about as I talked “this one has a completely different set of internal devices and mechanics from what’s produced now. Uncle Jin says this AI is different too, Mr Muffins is programed to be a house pet, security bot and learning AI but this was his best at that time.” I tried to remember what else Jin told me “Oh! and his coat was hand sewn by my mom and repaired over the years to preserve the memory of her childhood pet.”

“That’s so sweet actually” Hoshi had a change of heart and pet the napping robo “looks like the rest is history huh?”

“Yup, speaking of” I click on the video “heres the video of that fight.”

We watched the video in awe on how the first two teams failed in the beginning and how my mom, Mimi and Jin just plow through the beginning like nothing. I noticed on how much they didn’t use quirks unless it was necessary for escape. Their roles changed so much in the fight and they all take turns taking the lead, that gave me a few ideas for new formations. We finally got to the part that made the fight iconic.

“Oh hey, that’s my dad and his friends” Hoshi’s eyes lit up “look how young they look! Heh I see why Nejire calls Tamaki chicken feet! Man’s feet are exposed, toes looking like they belong on a farm.”

I stifle my laugher and playfully hit Hoshi “Shut up! I’m trying to pay attention to the fight!”

He stayed quiet as the next part was crazy! I don’t even know how to describe it other than mom tricked all three of them into capture. The last part where she phased into the ground to escape the man’s grip to pop back up, naked and finished the electrical field for the kill. Ending the video with them holding hands as they cross the finish line. My jaw was on the floor.

“That was incredible! Your mom’s friends are just” Hoshi was trying to find the right words “I don’t even know what to say! Why does my dad even bother with those three? Anybody with common sense wouldn’t pick another fight with those three after an ass beating like that!”

“Didn’t they tell you?” my dad said, startling us.

“Tell us what?” Hoshi and I said curiously.

“Your mom and your dad used to date” my dad casually dropped as he took a sip of his canned orange juice “back in my first year, it didn’t last obviously, but that really put your mom on the popular scope at school. And this fight dethroned Mirio from his popular status and made your mom the one to take the spot.”

“My dad dated your mom?” Hoshi was in disbelief “that makes sense! His weird obsession with her and why your mom doesn’t want to work with him” he put everything together in his head “my dad has been harassing her for years because she was the only one that put him in his place!” 

“It’s my specialty!” Mom chimed in with a basket of fresh laundry “your dad had this whole plan to convert me into a hero because I was over powered and rare combination of double quirked. His plan fell through when he got me mad and broke up with me weeks later” she smirked “jokes on him, I hid my second quirk and gave him the slip in that fight when I showed up. If you should learn anything about me, it’s that I’m always 10 steps ahead of the enemy.”

“It’s true, that’s why you’re the queen of spars” my dad put his arm around her waist “smart, beautiful, powerful and witty...And all mine.”

Mom sneered at dad’s move on her but blushed “O si? Okay then Casanova” she phased right through him and replaced her hips with the laundry basket so he was holding it instead “you can put your laundry away, King of Order!”

“Aw I thought I got you there” dad laughed and sighed “all these years and I can’t land a single upper handed flirt.”

“10 steps ahead!” Mom said as she walked away “never forget it babe!”

“Mr. Iida, why did you continue to pursue her?” Hoshi asked like a child asking where babies come from “she was clearly out of your league in so many ways.”

“I was friends with her before we dated, we were so close and she opened up to me about her traumas when I was being nosey” Dad fixed his grip on the basket “and I kept those secrets along with other secrets. We had a deep trust and a different kind of bond that didn’t cross the line. So love wasn’t too far off and boy was I the stubborn one.”

I love my parent’s dynamic to the point of wanting what they have for each other. That gave me an idea once my dad went upstairs. “Let me show you my favorite home video!” I pull up my parent’s wedding video.

“Look how young your parents are!” Hoshi awed “OH THOSE ARE MY PARENTS!” he yelped as he pointed at a couple in the background “and my mom was pregnant so that means my brother is in there and my older brother was maybe like 2 or 3 at the time.” He sighed “what a lovely wedding, your uncle and aunty really know how to plan a wedding!”

“Right?! But my favorite part is coming up” we watch as the video transitioned from my parents running out of the church to the reception “here, the first dances are my favorite!”

Hoshi watched the dances with awe “Oh! That’s the ballroom move you came up with! This is were you got it from?”

“Yup, it’s my favorite dance move but obviously I need a partner to perform it” I sighed “I really like ballroom dancing but I was really good at ballet that I just stuck with it and didn’t do much ballroom when I was in my private lessons.”

Hoshi stands up and sticks his hand out “You have me, let’s dance together!”

I giggled “I’d be a fool to refuse a dance from you!” I take his hand and we clumsily danced to pass the time. We didn’t notice my parents looking on from the stairs.

“Is that what we looked like?” Tenya whispered “no wonder everyone pushed me to say something.”

“How do you think I felt? It took so much self control not to kiss you” Ita whispered back “but I’m afraid history is going to repeat itself.”

“Oh those poor kids are going drive themselves crazy” Tenya sighed then smiled “but I’d do it all again and fix the last part of 3rd year.”

“I’d just connect the kiss at the dance, get all the weird shit out of the way” Ita slapped Tenya’s ass, startling him “we could’ve skipped the after party and jumped straight into bed with you~”

Tenya turned red from the bold statement “Well, that’d still be one of the best nights of my high school years.”

-Dorm move in day-

Both of my parents decided to come even though I asked them just drop us off at the curb of the dorms. I don’t mind my mom accompanying me, it’s my dad I’m concerned about. He tends to get emotional every time I go through a new phase of life, it’s embarrassing.

“OH HONEY LOOK!” dad pointed at the commons room “they kept the cat tree!”

“Oh shit that means-” mom gasped as she searched for something in the room. Dad joined her in the search.

“Um, who’s the weirdos in the commons room?” asked a passing classmate that stopped to see.

I sighed stressfully “Those weirdos are my parents and I have no idea what they’re looking for.”

“FOUND THEM!” my mom jumped up with a cat in her hands “Tenya look! They’re a chonky wonky.”

We watch as my parents coo and pet the cat “Oh gross they’re baby talking the cat” I take a deep breath “it’s like they’re teenagers!”

“I think it’s cute that they act like they’re still young” Hoshi chuckled “so carefree and madly in love with each other, couple goals.”

Sensei walks out of their quarters and spots my parents “Ugh it’s like I’M in high school again” he rubbed his forehead “get a room! geez and put Clawford down!”

“It’s name is Clawford?!” my mom squealed “so cute ahhhhh! I’m gonna cry!”

“Sensei, can we get the dorms unlocked?” said the classmate “I just remembered what I came out here for heh.”

“OH? They’re locked?” sensei and our classmate walk off.

“Locked? Hmm, I wonder if I can warp in my old room” mom pondered as she put the cat on the cat tree “it’s this first one in this hall.”

“That’s the boys side?” I observed.

“The school did your mom so dirty with the accommodations our first year” my dad explained “she lived among the boys hall, used the shared bathroom with us and did laundry in the shared laundry room until 2nd year” he pointed out the window “then she moved into the proper dorms, right over there with your uncle and aunty.”

“Oh my god TENYA COME!” my mom cried out as she opened the door of her old room. My dad ran in and we followed “they got balconies! do you know how much easier life here could’ve been if we had these!”

I watch my parents geek out again, then I looked at the name plate “Hmm, this isn’t a claimed room.” I turned around to see the other door’s name plate “wanna find your room Hoshi?”

“Sure” they walk with me down the hall “I wonder what happened in these halls when your parents where here!”

“A whole lot of my mom causing chaos” I smirked “dad and his friends told me of her iconic roasts and other quips she said that caused big reactions.”

We find his dorm and called my mom over to open it from the inside “Oh this was Shoji’s room!” she reminisced before warping in and opening the door “I wonder what happened to him after that huge fight in Chiyoda a few years back.”

“He’s alive and well but he’s not in hero work” dad answered “but it has been a while since I last spoke to them, maybe we should pay him a visit soon.” 

“Well in any case, Lets get your things from the van Hoshi” mom said as she held her hand out “I’ll warp us there.”

I watch them warp out, then turned to dad “Which one was your room?”

“It was the dorm closest to the shared bathroom” he chopped to the room down the hall “or if you’re everyone else in the class, 5 doors down from the love of my life.”

“Oof that type of classmates” I laughed then I thought about what my mom said about their old classmate “Hey, are you in constant contact with your old classmates? I know the ones that come by the house and invite us to their events, but what about the others?”

“Well, as much as I wanted all of us to stay together like we used to” he fixed his glasses and sighed sadly “I haven’t seen our good friend Aoyama for 10 years, just the occasional video and card. Sato is another good friend that I know is well but runs a business and does hero work, so no time to socialize. Oh and sweet Hagakure, she’s a mystery in itself! Haven’t seen her since I married your mom! Kota travels all over the world lending his voice to help all sorts of animals, not that he talked much to humans anyways. Asui is too wrapped up raising a whole pond of kids nowadays. And I think that’s all of them.”

“Oh that’s not that many” I counted them on my hands “then your class was bigger than mine!”

“Yes but also technically your mom didn’t count in the official count in our hero class” he said as she warped in with all of Hoshi’s boxes “I was just talking about you! And the classmates we haven’t seen in ages.”

“I’m seriously missing Aoyama!” my mom reminisced “my eyes hurt every-time I look at him but I’ll be damned if he didn’t appreciate a good flashy piece!” she turned to me “Okay, your turn to settle in! I saw more people roll up.”

“Oh shit okay!” I refocused on moving in “see you later Hoshi!” Later found my room on the next floor up and took more time than I thought getting things laid out. I walk out to my balcony and see what I can put to occupy the space I didn’t plan for. Then my attention was shifted by the loud muffled music coming from the other dorm building. Mom said that intel students party hard because school rules don’t apply to them, she also said that not to crash their parties or I’m going to get my ass beat. I believe her so I’ll keep my distance. Then I looked at the balcony below me, I wonder who’s my next floor neighbor? I cut a piece from my practice muslin bolt to make a rope ladder and made my decent. I took a good look and it was Hoshi! I jumped onto their balcony and knocked on their sliding door.

“Knock Knock neighbor! May I borrow a cup of sugar?”

“What the? Lili?!” Hoshi opened the door “is this allowed?”

“What’s sensei gonna do? Oooh! I’m soooo scared to get a sticky ball on me!” I sarcastically acted out as I walked in his room “but dang your room looks so lively! I like where you moved your bed.”

“Thanks! I was just organizing my closet” he pointed to his empty boxes “I’m trying to figure out what to do with these.”

“Save them for move out?” I suggested as I was looking at his desk and a picture caught my attention “hey, who’s that in the picture?”

He looked at what I was pointing at “Hm? Oh! That’s my mom” he picked up the picture to show me “This is my favorite candid of her, I keep her around when I need a little pick me up.”

“You look so much like her” I pointed out “the same icy hair, light blue eyes and smile.” I then remembered something from when we were leaving Hoshi’s house “hey, um who’s Hime? If you don’t mind me asking.”

The smile disappeared from Hoshi’s face “Um, well that’s my...my old name.”

His tone made me realize that it was a sensitive topic “Oh, OH! I’m sorry if I hit a nerve! I didn’t-”

“It’s okay! You didn’t know and I’m comfortable enough to talk about it” he took a deep breath “I was born Hime Togata and I was raised like how I was named, like a princess, dresses in all sorts of colors and dollies. I wasn’t bratty or anything but my family spoiled me because I was the only girl but I wanted the attention of my mom.” his smile came back “I only wanted to wear those dresses and play princess with my mom because she was the loveliest person to be around. She taught me all about being good and how to be a better person to others. Imagine my poor little heart when she died, I felt like I lost my best friend and I didn’t want to wear the dresses anymore because it hurt too much. I didn’t want to play princess or smile anymore because my reason to do so was gone” he wiped his tears “then I showed signs of my quirk and my dad was extra obsessive of me and put me right to training. I didn’t want to do that either! I didn’t want to be hero or my dad’s prodigy child, I just wanted to have somebody to make me feel happy again and for things to make sense.” He turned to me “then I met you, when you played with me, that was the first time I smiled in a long time. You were different and so sure about who you wanted to be, I wanted to be like that and it gave me the courage to make my wishes come true. Things back home were getting worse and worse but I held on to that wish. At 12 years old, I decided to change my name to Hoshi and made the physical changes to be more masculine. Because it felt comfortable, it felt more like the real me!”

I was straight up crying “Hoshi what the fuck?! Like, I actually love that for you!”

“You’re actually crying!” he laughed and wiped my tears “but I have to thank you for everything. For being yourself, for accepting me, for saving me in more ways than physical.”

He held me so tightly that it knocked the wind out of me, but I welcomed it. I never thought of myself as somebody’s savior but he said it like I was divinity. Theres those warm feelings again, feeling small like a baby in their parent’s arms. How this boy reduced me to such!

“Oi Togata-kun” hollered and knocked one of our classmates, interrupting the moment “can you help us with moving Toei-kun’s furniture?”

“Uh yea! Be right there!” Hoshi broke the hug and refocused “you should probably head up your room, I’ll see you later.”

I climb up the rope ladder to my room and decide to keep it there for quick travel to each-other’s room. As I reach my room, I see all 7 of my female classmates in my room, giving me that look.

“Soooo, where does that rope ladder lead to?” said one of them.

“That’s none of your business” I responded “why are you guys in my room?”

“I was knocking and thought you died so we jumped balconies to see if you were alive” responded a different classmate “then I saw the rope ladder and figured you were busy. Then we all gathered here.”

“Come on Iida-san! We saw you come with Togata-kun” coaxed my classmate “your parents basically treated him like he was part of the family! Just say you two are a thing, we’re supportive of this ship.”

“My parents are just nice people!” I was heavily dismissing these assumptions “plus, well, Hoshi is going through a lot lately with things at home. I kinda don’t want to leave him alone for a while until things are better” I fixed my glasses and sighed “we’re just really good friends.”

“Oh I’m sorry that he’s going through it” winced a classmate “now I kinda feel like an asshole for assuming.”

“It’s all good, you didn’t know” I smiled then my stomach growled real loud “oh wow that was loud hehehe, guess we should figure out dinner?”

We all make our way to the kitchen to see there ain’t no fuckin’ food except dry pasta. Turns out (but to nobody’s surprise) Mineta sensei didn’t get all the arrangements done to get us food. And I did what any girl with my status did... I called my aunty Midnight and told her that I was hungies and there was no food. And that’s how I got whole class pizza for dinner that night.

“Iida-san you shouldn’t just call a pro-hero like that!” scolded the class rep “what would your father say?!”

“My daddy won’t say shit! He knows how I get when I don’t get food first!” I huffed as I was feeling very hangry “if anything he’d do the same thing and personally deliver it to me!”

“Thanks Iida-san! We appreciate your efforts!” cheered the rest of the class.

“See, everyone else isn’t complaining” I crossed my arms “I get things done!”

“Your daddy also got things done” chuckled sensei “he was class rep when I was in high school. Great guy but he’s so dorky!”

“My dad was class rep?” I perked up “I mean it suits him but he’s like me?”

“Yup OH! I can show you!” he pulls up a video on his phone “heres a video from our 2nd year, your mom put my friend on the flag pole by the briefs.”

“...and for the last time, just so it gets through your thick head, NO I WILL NOT GO OUT WITH YOU!” blared the familiar voice of young mom.

“AHHHHhhhhhGUAHHHHH!” cried out the yellow haired boy as an unseen force pulls the back of his underwear that hung on the top of the flag pole.

“ITA! Get him down this instant!” demanded young dad, with the iconic chops.

“You can’t tell me what to do Tenya!” yelled young mom at dad “the boy had it coming! He put his hand on my ass!”

“I don’t care! DON’T WALK AWAY FROM ME!”

“Get bent you square!” young mom retorted as she warped out.

“Dang it! DON’T WORRY DENKI! I’LL GET YOU DOWN!” assured young dad as he made some calls and got him down in a few minutes.

“I still can’t believe he married your mom” sensei shuddered “she’s not a force to be reckoned and had kicked your dad’s ass multiple times! On and off the field.”

“Why do you still have that video sensei?” asked Hoshi, almost too scared to know the answer to that.

“Every-time that girl gets to fighting” he puts his phone away “she makes it into a spectacle and at the time nobody could figure out how to defeat her. So we’d record her fights and study them so we could have an idea on her weak points.”

“Has anybody succeeded?” I asked.

“Nope, she’s too unpredictable and brash” he sighed in defeat “her roasts were too devastating that they would end me instantly without her touching me!”

“I’m suddenly feeling less and less secure on sensei’s abilities to protect us” spoke up on the the girls. And everyone nodded in agreement.

The pizza comes and it looks like my mom paid for it from the receipt notes. I didn’t think much of it but everyone else was.

“What does your mom do for a living?!” asked one of my classmates “I know sensei said that she’s not in hero work but if she’s powerful and tactful PLUS can afford to buy us all pizza on a whim, what or where does she work in?”

“She’s the CEO of RoboDog INC and works as an independent unit with the Emperor’s Coup” I say before taking a bite of my pizza.

“I WAS WONDERING WHY SHE LOOKED SO FAMILIAR!” screamed the classmate that saw her in the commons room “oh my gosh Iida-san! Your mom is one of the most powerful women in the country and she’s just roaming around in public like that?!”

“I mean, she’s just living her best life” I responded before swallowing my bite “my mom taught me that simplicity and hard work is the way to go, she’s humble and gives back to the community.”

“Yup, she’s one of the school’s biggest donors” sensei spoke up “she’s the reason we have a botanical sanctuary garden and why we have a very expansive and stable international student program” he wiped his mouth “oh and a music program, wish we had that when I was a student.”

“Wow your mom really does care” said another classmate in awe “tell her we said thank you!”

All that affirmation made me feel good. It’s way better than being treated coldly at the dance academy. That night I went to sleep feeling much better about my stance in hero school... lets see how tomorrow goes!

-Chapter 6, End-

<Previous - Next>         

[designationpinknoise]

Can I please get Drift,Rodimus,Brainstorm,Megatron and whirl. with an organic SO who has eye powers like in Kagerou daze?

Okay! I love the Kagerou daze series! my fav character is Ene, hope you don’t mind them being female? I’m used to writing for girls.●◆●◆●◆●◆●◆●◆●◆

Drift: stealing eyes/mind-reading.

Drift was very curious about his girlfriend, even before asking her out. from her love for exploring, to her upbeat attitude and smile was addictive, And nothing ever seemed to bring (Y/n) down!

Or so Drift thought, as he wandered passed Ten who seemed with someone, the swordsmech thought nothing of it, until he saw (Y/n) leaning against the wall, eyes glowing red as Ten continued chatting with her.

“I never seen them live, are they any good?”

“Ten…”

“Really? I might consider it, ever hear of Trocadero?”

“Ten?”

“Oh yeah, they’re awesome!”

Drift hummed and continued on his way to Swerve’s then stopped glowing red eyes?! he immediately back tracked; and froze, when he saw his girlfriend’s eyes glowing like two red rubies! instead of their normal (y/e) color! She noticed Drift staring and blinked her eyes went back to normal color.

She looked horror-stricken and took off running with Drift in hot pursuit which is pretty dumb of her; considering her boyfriend can turn into a sports car. he caught up to  her, and drove to his hab-suite for answers... needless to say Drift was disturbed when he learned about the Medusa ritual, he avoids (Y/n) for a little bit.

then comes back because he missed her. and realized if the other person hadn’t sacrificed themselves, then Y/n wouldn’t be with him and he would be alone.

…That and, now that Drift knows she can read minds. he can tease her, with all naughty thoughts he wants.~ and no one would-be the wiser.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

Rodimus: concealing eyes

Rodimus was stumped with his human, one minute she standing in front of him staring having a staring contest.Next thing he knew she disappears! well to his optics anyways,

his thermals scanner could see her along with some weird bubble thing.was she using some sort of cloaking field generator?

He shook his helm no, humans don’t have that sort of tech! He pouted and slowly reached over and tapped the “bubble” like it’s soapy counterpart; it popped and he could see (y/n) clearly along with her glowing red eyes, instead of the usual (Y/c).

“now, I’m no expert on humans. but, I know they don’t have red eyes…or turn invisible”

“I’m a ghost.”

“Yeah, and I’m the princess of Canada.”

“I’m serious! sort of…if only I hadn’t jumped.”

Rodimus was still skeptical as his girlfriend explained her story, her family was abusive and ignored as she was the result of her fathers cheating and one day Y/n had enough.

she just wanted to go away to disappear. so, she went to the highest place in town and jumped.

But, she wasn’t alone an old man. a complete stranger followed after her, he saved her that day. but, at the cost his own life…

“Then I woke up on bench in park nearby. I didn’t go home that night or the next” (y/n) frowned as Rodimus stared at her with a frown “So, you really think you’re a ghost?” Y/n went to yell at him.

only for a pair surprisingly warm metal lips suddenly pull her into a heated kiss before pulling away “you taste and feel pretty alive to me.” The (y/hc) face turned bright red, matching her eyes before disappearing again

Rodimus snickered and made mental note to ask if her little trick can make bots invisible too?■▲■▲■▲■▲■▲■▲■▲

Brainstorm x mute reader: Deceiving eyes

Brainstorm thought he was going crazy! he swore up and down that he saw Magnus’s and Nautica’s Holo-avatar walk passed him in the last half hour but, he just got of the comm with Nautica.

The femme swore she was with Magnus at Swerve’s, and they weren’t using their avatars! So,then who the hell was?…it was probably the twentieth time he’d seen them pass when he finally got a look at these phantoms.

Brainstorm then noticed the difference in details..The hair, was (y/c) the clothing was same, but had (y/fc) hoodie tied around their waist and their eyes were glowing red!

His first thought was a Decepticon snuck aboard! But, the more he kept looking, the more familiar this mystery person was to him.

“Y/n?” the Nautica double froze as Brainstorm curiously approached them “That is you isn’t it?” the scientist asked curiosity rousing inside him. the girl shook her head “I know it’s you, there’s only one organic on this ship.” He stated she would’ve got him but, if it weren’t for the red eyes and hair!, Now how she got her hands on an avatar projector Brainstorm would like to know!

The illusion disappeared as he scanned her body only for the blue and white mech found no projection tech on (Y/n)! Brainstorm blinked as she grinned turned into Whirl’s avatar. stuck her tongue out at him and ran with Brainstorm running hot on her heels.

When he finally caught up to (Y/n) it took Brainstorm a few seconds, to realize his girlfriend was feeling lonely and wanted his attention. Maybe after a little loving he’ll ask about her abilities later. ⇒⇔⇒⇔⇒⇔⇒⇔⇒⇔⇒⇔⇒⇔⇒

Whirl: Immortality eyes

Whirl was actually happy for once why? because (Y/n) The cute A.I. chick living in that earth crummy earth computer, finally accepted to be his girlfriend! He even had Perceptor work on this hovering orb projector so she wasn’t just stuck in the computer anymore!

She can form a holo-avatar and roam around the ship when she wants, though there was a downside; she couldn’t form her legs, they sort of faded into shiny shimmery pixels past her.

…uh what did Ratchet call it? Timbits!…no, Tibia that’s it! so she just sort of floated around instead walking.

Not that it bothered Whirl though the others were a little weirded out by it.sometimes for shits and giggles she’d hover up behind them, Her red eyes glowed gleefully. just to see how long it would take before they realized the digitized girl was behind them.

The copter bot and his girlfriend had a good laugh hearing Rodimus scream like a little femmeling as he shouted.

“where did you come from?!” and in an instant Whirl stopped laughing and paused that was good question…

Where did (Y/n) come from? sure, he heard that earth had AIs. but, not as advanced or “alive” as his girlfriend, there was always something he couldn’t shake off about her. So, one night he asked.

that’s how he learned about the Medusa legend, her and her classmates murder the lost of her body and waking up in this one. “So, you’re like me?” his claw gestured to his body his yellow optic dimmed as she thought it over.

“I suppose…”

“Do you ever miss it?”

“My body or earth?”

“Both…I guess.”

“Earth? I’m gonna have to say no, humans are douchebags! And My memory is a little fuzzy. but. I recall having some sort of terminal illness. caused me to blackout a lot. So, not like I had all the time in the world.”

(Y/n) said with a shrug

That was first time in a longtime,that Whirl felt something other then anger

Empathy.

…♪…♪…♪…♪…♪…♪…♪…♪…♪

Megatron: Petrify eyes the half Medusa girl.

Megatron was stunned when he walked into the medbay and saw the stowaway Skids had found in the vents. The woman looked up at him equally surprised

“(Y/n)That’s not possib-I… How are you still?” his optics scanned her face from the odd scale like patterns on her cheeks, Red eyes and long hair . First-aid looked between them “You know her?”

The ex-warlord nodded he explained that the two of you met on earth, when she was just child no older then 13 that was over 50 years ago! Rodimus jumped in on this; staring her directly in the eyes as the human looked up at him fearful.

“she definitely looks good for a sixty year old granny! are you sur-…”

“Yes! I am sure she…Rodimus?”

“_”

“Rodimus stop playing around!”

Megatron grabbed his shoulder and the flame colored bot, fell to the floor stiff like a statue still in his leaning position First-aid quickly scanned him.

Megatron looked on concerned when suddenly! Rodimus jumped to his feet confused and horrified before looking at the woman.

“m-monster.” and ran out of the medbay “she put him in stasis!"First-aid said showing Megatron the results; the two bots looks at the woman berth staring forlornly at the direction Rodimus ran to.

her hair wiggled in agitation before glancing at them, then averted her eyes as both mechs cautiously approached her, as Megatron spoke up.

"Why did you do that to Rodimus?”

“I didn’t mean to! he called me names and he got to close! …and.”“You were scared, hmm. How did you do it? you have no weaponry or tech that would’ve.”

“I just looked at him! my…eyes they’re special like my mothers and grandmother…I’m not a monster!”

The following weeks were rough, Rung and Magnus had come to see the so called “Monster.” only to deem her non-threatening; all she did was put Rodimus is stasis, it’s not like she did it on purpose!

Besides that ability could come in handy with their more rowdy crewmates. though, that went over like a lead balloon with Megatron.

who was obviously fond of the little Medusa, she had explained her heritage and ancestors curse to the ex-warlord, It definitely explained why she hadn’t age much is 50 years “How old are you by the way?” he asked while the sat in his Hab-suite reading.

“196, I age one year every ten years.”

“Well that’s good to know.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because now I can court you without "robbing the cradle” as you earthlings say.“

Y/n eyes widened a looked Megatron straight in the eye accidentally freezing him "Nath ah amaig!” she heard Rodimus scream and saw him frozen mid-step holding a data pad “oops.”

[wmsplays]

68 hours over 7 days... I regret nothing.

I still have a shit load of screenshots to queue but now that it’s all said and done I have so many feels and questions!

SPOILER WARNING: Don’t click the cut if you don’t want to know any major spoilers. You’ve been warned.

I can’t even begin to describe how much I loved this game! I’ve been waiting for another Mass Effect game since I finished ME3 for the first time in 2012 and Mass Effect: Andromeda did not disappoint! I'm guessing/hoping there will be at least one more in the series because so many things were left open/unanswered, I just hope they don’t make us wait too long for it.

First the ‘bad’ stuff, which is not even really bad stuff, it’s just stuff that isn’t perfect but could be fixed in the future and even if it’s not it’s not a deal breaker for me at all. Sure there were some weird animations (which aren’t as bad with a custom Ryder, just FYI) but I found them more funny than annoying, especially the weird psychotic smiles!

The things that annoyed me the most were the other issues I had. For instance at one point I had a mission to go speak to someone at a camp, but the entire camp was empty. Or the time I had to kill all Kett in one area but one of the Kett glitched and got stuck under the ground so I couldn’t kill it and finish the mission. There were also several times where my sound glitched when I exited out of the menu and it would replay the exiting sound rapidly over and over again like some mechanical squirrel on crack.

BUT all of these things can be fixed with a simple restart, it wasn’t the end of the world and it certain didn’t make me love the game any less. I don’t think I’ve ever completely finished a Mass Effect game before, like 100% completion, I’ve always just done the main story and most of the bigger side quests and left it there, but this one I wanted to finish it all! And I was literally crying happy tears after the last mission. Yes I’m a big sappy idiot, don’t judge me.

As far as the other characters in the game, I pretty much loved them all. Except Cora, or as I’ve come to know her “That whiny, self-absorbed, sheep of a woman”. I don’t know if she was supposed to come off the way she did to me but all I saw was someone who was bitter about me being Pathfinder instead of her, someone who never had an original thought in their head, and someone who couldn’t seem to function without someone telling her what to do (Alec, Sarissa). I swear if she said “I’m a huntress”, “I served with Asari Commandos”, or made some kind of reference to Asari that made me want to shout at her “But your not Asari, idiot!” one more time I was gonna shove her special snowflake arse in the airlock and space her!

The rest of the squad was like a crazy/wonderful family. Peebee was the annoying little sister who did stuff without thinking and you would clean up her mess because that’s what family do and you loved her crazy butt anyway. Vetra was totally the mum, always making sure everyone had everything they needed. Drack was the hilarious old grandpa who didn’t give a crap what people thought of him and refused to admit he was old at all because BAH youngsters don’t know shit! Liam was the cool, calm, collected, and caring older brother; always there when you need someone to talk to, always coming up with ideas to help the crew let off steam of just relax, always welcoming everyone with open arms and an open mind, occasionally doing stupid things because he cared too much.

And Jaal ... Ah Jaal. To be honest, I went into the game knowing that I was going to romance Jaal, there was no question in my mind that I had to have the big purple space lion with the puppy dog eyes. I was not disappointed in my choice AT ALL. The rest of the game could have been an absolute fail and I still would have loved it purely because of the romance with Jaal. He had me from the moment he flashed those big puppy eyes at me on Aya and then sealed the deal with “You make my heart sing.” And then his mother joining in with the love!? Sending me emails asking if I liked pie, asking about Earth because she wants tomake me feel more at home on Havarl, or asking what my favourite weapon to use against Kett is in the same email as asking about the human birthing process for “obvious reasons”!

Oh my, this post got a lot more ranty than I was expecting ... Oh well, I don’t know anyone else who’s finished the game yet so I had to get all the feels out here. And also the questions. I have many questions...

Who the hells is the benefactor!? I suspect it’s the Illusive Man because he’s the only one who had enough resources, funds and influence to pull off something so big as the Initiative. That being said, the Illusive Man feels like it’s the obvious answer so it’s probably not him.

Why were none of the other arks ever mention until the end of the game? The Quarian, Drell, Hanar, Volus and Elcor are all just floating around out there but I guess all we care about are the major races represented by the Council...

The mum reveal was kind of anti-climactic. “You’re mum’s alive and on the Hyperion ... but she has to stay in cryo so oh well.” Why bother mentioning it at all if you can’t do anything about it? I’m assuming it will come up in a later game but why not just mention it then and make it an even bigger twist? It really served no purpose to the story other than to prove Alec did what he did for love ... which didn’t need her to be alive to prove that so...

Who the hell are the Jardaan!? They sound kind of like the Protheans of the Andromeda galaxy but everything we’ve seen about them has been AI (all the remnant bots and consoles and such) so are they AI as well? 

And the most important question of all; can I marry Jaal, join his family on Havarl and have adorable space lion babies with him? Actually forget the rest, just this one.

I NEED THE NEXT GAME ALREADY!

[fanficsandfluff]

The Avengers: You Gotta Get Out More

Per request from the lovely @kuroo187 who asked for - 

“Can I request some Bucky + Tony friendship tickles? Like Tony being in crazy engineer mood again and Bucky tries everything to lure him out of his lab since Tony has been there for like two days straight without getting a break but Tony's being stubborn like always so Bucky tries his own ways to “convince” Tony to take a break.”

I really hope you like it! It was super fun to write :) 

Please Enjoy!

The Avengers (c)

Bucky had an odd relationship with Tony Stark, to say the least. Earlier on, Tony wanted to actually bash Bucky's brains in. But after a loooong, strenuous period of forgiveness and hatred, then more apologies, and then even more hatred.... and this had finally landed them here. Where Bucky would speak to Tony on short terms and they would constantly sit in rooms together without speaking more than two words to each other. Or, they'd counter each other's sarcasm and comments with more sarcasm. In summary, life was alright. Not great, but alright. 

"What's up?" Tony asked, not looking at the person who entered, as he was immersed in his many holographic screens.

Bucky had entered, holding his metal arm with his still human one, "Stark, are you busy?" "I'm always busy." Bucky sighed and he turned around, "Never mind, then, I'll just ask Doctor Banner..." and he walked towards the exit when the sliding door slid shut on him. "No need to get the Green Giant involved. What do you need?" he pushed all his screens aside with a wave of his hand. Bucky grinned and he turned back around, "I haven't been controlling my arm lately. This hasn't happened before, and I wanted to know if it was like a science thing or just a mental thing." "Not controlling as in..." Tony rolled closer to Bucky in his wheeled chair and took a look at Bucky's arm. "It's fallen limp a lot lately and it's almost numb, even though I can't feel anything in it." "Has it been spazzing or anything? Shooting out and knocking Thor's cereal out of his hand?" Bucky smirked, "No, nothing like that. It just feels separated from me." "Sit down over here. I'll take a look," Tony directed and slid down across his work station, "Friday, scanner, please." And the AI controlled a machine that looked like a thick wand as it swooped down over towards Bucky, in his own chair. The female voice spoke, "Mr. Barnes, if you would, place your arm up on the edge of the examining table." Bucky scooted over a little and extended his arm onto a metal table. The scanner came lower and a beam of light shot over Bucky's shoulder right where his metal arm was connected to his human frame. Then it slid down his arm in a swift motion, all the way down to his fingers. "Thank you, sir," Friday spoke. Near Tony, an x-ray of the arm appeared in the screen, the wires and things making Bucky's arm mobile appearing through the image. A few red wires near his shoulder were highlighted. Tony circled it, "There's your problem," he turned to Bucky. "And that problem is..." "Worn wires. They affect your motor capacity. It should be a quick fix," Tony said, "Have you been working out a lot lately?" "All the time. For years. How come this is only becoming a problem now?" "You answered yourself," Tony got a glove and some protective goggles out, grabbing other tools, "Years of wear and tear," he slid over to Bucky, "As you saw," he moved his hand in front of his face, and the screen of the x-ray appeared between him and Bucky, "The problem's kinda occurring on the underside of your arm." "So, you're gonna dig in there?" Bucky asked, a hint of reproachfulness in his tone. "It'll be good practice for my handiwork instead of having the bots do it," Tony said, looking Bucky in the eyes, "You'll be fine, don't worry. Lift your arm and place your hand behind your head," he instructed, "Like you're flexing for Steve." Bucky's cheeks blushed and he huffed, "Not funny, Stark," but he did as told. Luckily, he was wearing a tank top so nothing was inhibiting this procedure. Tony leaned in close to check where a good entry point would be. He joked, "Good thing it's metal. No BO." Bucky grinned, shaking his head, "Just get on with it." Tony began his incision and once he got through the chunk of adamantium with a special cutting laser tool he invented for occasions like such or when he had to touch up the Captain's shield. Bucky sat and watched. "Aaand, great," Tony made an opening for himself so he could change out the wires, "Now's the fun part. From what you're telling me, these wires attach to whatever parts of your brain for motor purposes. You might feel some things or make some weird movements. I won't judge." Bucky nodded, "Awesome. Hey, Stark." "Mmhm?" Tony organized some wires he had on a tray. "You've been stuck up in here for a long time. Don't you think you should spend more time with the others?" Tony glanced at the Winter Soldier before replying, "No, they're fine. If they needed me, they'd come get me." "I was in the war, Tony. And I knew the value of camaraderie, so I kept my fellow soldiers close. What you're doing is distancing yourself and that's not gonna do you any good in the long-- Hey!" Bucky jerked when a stroke of a finger traveled up the portion of skin that would've been the lowest part of an armpit if he had his real arm still there. Tony said pointedly, "You talk too much. More than I thought you did," he started reassembling and cutting wires. "That doesn't mean you have permission to tickle me," Bucky said, getting to the point since he knew that's what Tony did, under the guise of shifting to grab at a wire. "No one ever has permission to tickle," Tony grinned, "But right now, you're under my control so I think I'm granted full permission." Bucky rolled his eyes, "You act like a kid." "Really? I hadn't noticed," he poked the soldier's ribs next, smirking when Bucky jerked and gasped a giggle. "Stark..." Bucky growled. "Sit still, Barnes, I'm working through some very important configuring here," Tony said, voice dripping with enjoyment of his sarcasm. Tony got away with a few more flutters, pokes, pinches, and what not before he replaced the opening he made of the metal, "You're all done. Horrible patient, though. So squirmy," he smirked and removed his gloves and goggles. Bucky was a blushing, smiling mess by the time he was finished and he finally lowered his arm, swinging it and flexing his fingers to test it out, "Huh.... yeah, thanks, Stark..." and without more warning, he tackled the billionaire out of his seat and pinned him easily with his one metal hand, hands above his head. "God dammit..." Tony grunted as he looked up at Bucky, "I fixed your arm, so I really don't think I deserve this." "Well, you tormented me the whole way through, so you do deserve this," Bucky fought back, wiggling fingers against Tony's side. The Iron Man was about to retort but held his tongue and bit his lip, a whimpering giggle-whine spilling from his lips. "Not so funny now, is it, Stark?" Bucky dug in more, fingers scratching over the other's belly. "Ah! Hahahaha nooohohoho, dammihihit!" Bucky grinned, "You know, Tony, I think maybe you should think about hitting the gym. You've got all this extra fat from sitting in your lab all the time," he pinched the lower part of Tony's belly. The billionaire squealed and he laughed more, "BUHUHUhuhucky! NahahaHAHAhaha! Dohon't-- shihihit knohohock IHIHIT OHOHOFF!" Bucky kept scribbling his digits along the muscles and squishier parts of Tony's tummy, pinching and prodding the muscles here and there. Tony was bucking and squirming all over the place, his belly being a pretty damn sensitive part of his body. Bucky smirked, "Do you think you can maybe hang out with everyone a little more often?" Tony nodded, "ACK! YEHEHEhehehes! I'll dohohoho whatever youhu wahaHAHAHANT ME TOHOHOHO-- BUHUCKY!" "Great. Then I think you need a thank you raspberry for fixing my arm," he pushed up his shirt and blew a raspberry right over his hypersensitive belly button. "NAAAAHAHAHAHAHA SHIT BUHUHUCKY! BAHAHARNES, YOU'RE DEHEHEAD!" Bucky giggled and stood up, "Thahanks again, Stark," and he quickly hurried out of the room, waving with his healed metal appendage. Tony groaned, "Thahat's... the last time... I help him out..."