#maybe more about the origins of teddie and the tv world

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

apparently rumors are surfacing that answer is dlc

Yeah...yup.......that's what I was referring to.

Happy to have Metis back but....................................................................................... the DLC still pisses me off. Like I'm torn.

Do I buy it because that's what Atlus WANTS me to do? And it's what will get me maybe FeMC or other stuff?

Or do I boycott it, but Atlus will be like "oh they don't want the item" and I'll continue to not have said item.

I'm fucking screwed either way.

[achaotichuman]

Consuming

This is an original piece, I made. 2nd POV. Entails a character who sees and feels death around them and what happens when they finally meet them.

Trigger Warning- Slight horror and gore.

You’d seen death before. 

Knocking on the window, standing in the corridor. Waiting outside of hospitals you drove past. You’d always known it was there. 

Okay, maybe you hadn’t seen death himself. But you could feel his presence. Looming over the cradle of your dying baby brother. Standing in the corridor that let to your grandmother’s bedroom. Waiting at hospitals that housed the sick and injured. 

When your brother died you were sitting up in your bed. You had awoken because of a strange dream. You had been jumping on a trampoline, when you flipped you never hit the netting below. Rather you floated, staring at the sky as it began to erupt in a lightshow of flames. Fire fell down upon, lighting up the trees and consuming the earth. You felt at home in the heat. 

Your body jolted awake, and as you looked over across the room, to the old cradle that had been put in your room. You felt him. Standing there. You imagine what he looked like. Maybe like in the movies with a black coat and scythe. You thought about what his skin would look like. Maybe pale as the white cotton sheets squeezed between your then small chubby fingers. Or perhaps darker than your brown teddy bear, fallen to the floor from your thrashing sleep. 

When your brother’s breath was stolen, you felt ice in your veins. You didn’t remember what happened next, but then again it was so long ago. 

The next time you felt him was when your grandmother died. Middle of the afternoon with the lazy sunlight gleaming in through the windows. Splattering across your face, you felt its warmth as something distant, when the coldness overtook you again. Locking your limbs in place. You knew he was here as the panic throbbed through your chest. But what is a six-year-old to do when they feel something is wrong but are too young to understand what death is? You knew he was there but understood him as a child understood how math worked. It simply was something, a concept but not registered as something important to them. 

So you stared, as your mother passed you to bring your grandmother soup, she had been feeling ill lately. You listened to her open the door and call her mother, then ask again in a more panicked tone. Before the sound of the soup bowl shattering to the ground rang through the house. Your mother began to scream and you began to cry. 

Yes, you had seen death before. But not like this. You had observed him, watched him, felt him. Like winter passing through the world. But you had never met him. 

You were in a dream, you knew you were. Everything was nothing like the real world. 

You stood in a corridor. That same corridor. You heard a baby crying. Screaming, it was in pain, you felt it. You knew it in your veins. Panic was rising in your, begging for your body to go after the infant, but you could not move. Not even as you thrashed against invisible restraints. 

Death was nothing like what you thought. He was no mere man. 

You hadn’t used your life well. You had done horrible things, things that could be retold in a documentary. Or in some twisted up tv show. 

For that, you thought, this must be punishment. That your death would not be so kind. Your death would be brutal and slow. 

Down the corridor, it seemed never ending. The baby kept crying and you recognised it’s shrieks as your helpless brother, whom you had not even tried to save from the grip of death. 

From a door in the corridor. Slowly it creaked open. Tears were streaming down your face. Your vision was whiting in and out. 

You saw a head, a smile on it’s face. A smile too wide to be human. Reaching from ear to ear. It had no nose, but two eyes too small to be human. It stared at you, you stared at it. Unable to scream and unable to run. 

It’s neck became visible. 

It kept extending, out and out. A tentacle-like limb, it came towards you. Still smiling, still grinning like it enjoyed your thrashing. 

You tried to scream, you tried to scream so much you felt blood running down your throat, yet your mouth remained sealed shut. 

It stopped before you. It asked you, “Why are you here?”

You spoke, but the words were not yours. Like a puppet you were toyed with, like you had toyed with others in your life. Blood dribbled down your chin as you said, “For I am stained with blood that is not mine. For I was a creature unworthy of being called human.”

It’s sharp, bloodstained teeth glimmered in moonlight. Shining bright from the windows of the corridor. 

“Then as you consumed gluttony and hatred. I will consume you.”

It let you scream your pain and suffering as those gnashing teeth descended upon your skin. 

Yes you had seen death, you heard and felt him. 

Now you met him. 

And you truly felt him in every weeping part of your body, as he desecrated you. 

[crest-of-gautier]

briefly picked up pq again after not having played it in a month, i got through the cutscenes that happen when you start the second labryinth, but didn't progress past that! thoughts™ below

i basically spent my time in Many Cutscenes (all strolls available to me, the abilities 1/2/3, what do we call each other, navigational differences, and why a group date cafe) + also did the fuse xiezhai request as well as help with the trading showdown.

i think the only downside from this play session is seeing how... how badly they exacerbate teddie's "comedic" relief traits. this isn't a problem exclusive to pq (i've watched arena all the way through and am maybe halfway through ultimax, and teddie also suffers there). but MAN. it's so hard to remember that teddie has a good arc in golden sometimes 😭

bitching about teddie aside, i do appreciate him being there because teddie's origin story of being from the TV world and then leaving it to be with the investigation team acts as such a nice metric of comparison for whatever zen and rei is supposed to be. i've been over this a billion times but the way the game explicitly has made note of this in cutscenes is just so!! juicy to me!!! it does feel like a low hanging fruit for me to latch onto in terms of "clues regarding zen and rei's identity," but it's definitely the easiest to understand.

naoto prompting an attempt to investigate of the clock tower and the lore surrounding it's real-world counterpart was very interesting! i have faith in the writers for this cutscene to make sense later down the line with more context, but it does feel like a clue. i just. need some more time with the game (and possibly more details) to put things together.

i can't help but feel that rei expressing the want/hope to "go back" (in lieu of what teddie did with going to inaba) isn't going to end well... i mean, maybe it will! but to be able to "go back" (whatever that contains) is hardly guaranteed in the first place and i feel like hoping for something like this is bound for heartbreak (i would be interested in that given that rei's entire personality is based around food and zen LOL)

the velvet room scene too!! super juicy, i really enjoy all of the angles that theo, liz, and margaret all presented in regards to the distortion of the p3 + p4 casts from different times being gathered into this one place. given how the wild card power has been neutralized and changed it really makes me wonder about the power of the end-game entity... perhaps so powerful that zen and rei could be considered "shards" of that entity who forgot about that? very interesting for margaret to refer to the world as "finite," me thinks.

the game did give a brief glimpse to a silhouette sitting on a crystal(?) and was obscured by broken glass/spider web of sorts... i wonder whatever it could need from bringing TWO wildcards, i mean, yeah that's powerful but. i wanna know the motive!!! not that. divine entities and the like always have motivations in this series but. y'know. LOL.

anyway that's all for now! short progress today bc wahoo cutscenes and i got things to do but. really intriguing, i'm super interested in seeing how this gets followed up on. also i love yosuke whenever i see yosuke's animations in this game it makes me so happy!! he's so expressive and fun i love him a lot. and it'd be very interesting to play this game again on the p4 side to see minato speak but also see what has changed between versions, as well as catching any details i've missed.

[allywritesforfun]

Uhhh, a part 2 of the AweSamDude story. I don't know, maybe the court case would be cool! If requests arent open, then ignore them

um yes! I have wanted to make a part 2 for so long but had no clue where to start and this just makes perfect sense!

{Locked Up Heart pt 2} irl!warden!awesamdude x Reader

pronouns: were originally not mentioned, but now are she/they

word count: 2987

trigger warnings: mention/talk of rape and murder, court cases, somewhat angsty 

a/n: the law I mentioned is a real law but I can't remember what the law is actually called so roll with it

part one

masterlist

You stared at yourself in the body mirror. You haven't seen yourself look like this in years. All dressed up and ready to impress. You wore a gorgeous black suit with a purple inside along with sleek black pants. You looked into the body mirror, admiring yourself.

Sam let you live with him “until you could find your own place” but neither of you had intentions of leaving. You looked at apartments once online, but you knew with this on your record that you were going nowhere but some run down ghetto, and Sam knew that too. 

He knew that you would be able to take care of yourself there, he wasn't scared for your safety or any of that. He was scared that you wouldn't be able to support yourself. Finding a job was hard, all that there was these days for someone like you was online surveys that were not reliable.

Staying with Sam was the best of the both of you. He has been without a roommate for years now. He felt less alone with you being there. The first couple nights were awkward. You slept on the pull out couch and didn't have much clothes. You felt terrible about the amount of washes you did, but eventually you started to get more comfortable with Sam. 

The first sign of progression was when he offered you his sweatshirt instead of a blanket. It was a sweet gesture, you gladly took it. Later that night instead of returning it, you cuddled it to sleep. Now, its your version of a teddy bear. Nice and warm and flourished with Sam’s scent.

You only started sleeping in his bed with him a week ago. It was a purposeful accident. He offered to watch tv in his room since you two deep cleaned the couch. You've planned on falling asleep on him, but you didn't plan for it to be that day. 

It was the best feeling in the world: waking up to being wrapped around and held tight and safe. You must've laid there when you woke up for an hour before Sam got up. You pretended to be asleep so that you could play the innocent girl card. It worked.

You felt a pair of large hands caress your waist. You jumped and had a little fear-induced hiccup.

“Sorry!” Sam took his hands off and backed away. “I’m still getting used to sensitive areas.”

You two have been working on okay areas to touch. You taught yourself to be extra alert while in the prison and certain touches trigger your reflexes and others cause panic, like hips.

Because of your high murder count, you were sent to the normal prison, the non-all woman prison. It wasn't the worst in the world. You only saw males during eating times, but it was common to get grabbed like that. It happened to every single female, every eating hour. The guards did nothing about it, not that they really could. 

Sam has seen it before, not you, but to other women. He had an idea of areas to stay away from, but he is such an affectionate guy and sometimes he forgets.

“You’re okay, Sam. The more you do it, the more comfortable I’ll get with it,” You explained.

Sam was so good to you. He’s helped you through it all. Everything that you needed to heal, he gave to you. 

“Well then maybe after the trial we can get some practice in...” He swooned. 

You chuckled, “If we win. There’s a chance I won't come back here tonight. I’m lucky enough that they gave me stay at home orders in the meantime.”

He nodded, “We’re gonna win.” He kissed your cheek, “How could anyone that looks as scrumptious as you right now lose? There is no way. We have the evidence, and we have your perfect prison record. Not a single misdemeanor! They might not drop all chargers but you’re coming home tonight.”

“Home?” You questioned.

You've avoided that word for the longest time. You always said ‘the house’ or ‘your place’. Not because you didn’t want this to be your home, not the exact opposite. You wanted this to be forever home, but you never wanted to overstay your welcome. 

“Yes home,” Sam laughed. “Why wouldn’t this be home... you feel safe here don’t you?”

“I do!” You exclaimed, waving your hands back and forth in denial. “I just didn't realize you wanted this to be my home.”

Sam offered his hand out to you; you gladly took it. His soft hand gently squeezed yours as he pulled you slowly into him, embracing you, “Of course I want this to be your home. I couldn't imagine anywhere else I would want you to be. This never felt like home to me, until you came home with me.”

You breathed in his scent, instantly relaxing into him, “I like it here. A lot.”

He pressed his lips to your forehead, “Now have that same attitude in court, we got to go.”

The court room was filled, more than you expected. You looked around, not recognizing a single face except for a few prison guards who were testifying on both sides. You noticed the media set it up in the back. Your story hit the news faster than expected. You did have a great story: warden falls in love with murder. 

“Hands out,” The officer directed.

You obliged. You opposed no threat to anyone and no intentions too, but if putting you in handcuffs made them feel better, then handcuffs it was. You looked back at Sam as the cold metal locked around your wrists. He replied with a frown, which quickly turned into an encouraging smile.

His bipolarness was the vibe right now. You noticed people having a hard time deciding where to sit. There were a lot of people on both sides, but no family members of yours. You gave up on them a long time ago when you noticed they weren’t writing letters and ignoring your calls.

You didn't need them, all you needed was Sam. You have everything you want right now, except for freedom.

“All rise!” 

You stood up from the wooden bench. The judge walked in wearing the classic black gown and had a book in his hands. He nodded at a few of his guards before taking a seat. He opened up his book and looked around the room, landing on you.

“Good afternoon everyone, and there are a lot of you,” His voice was so deep that it bounced against the walls, making an eerie echo. “Calling the case of State Prison vs y/n. Are both sides ready?”

The representative of the prison and your lawyer both replied with a yes. The jury then stood and raised their right hand and made their oath, returning to the bench. 

The representative stood up and gave their opening statement: “Ladies and gentleman of the court, Your Honor, the Jury. You will find that the defendant has been charged with four accounts of murder and convicted by confession. The defendant has taken accountability for all the murders committed and has given detail about how she killed those four men. It is ridiculous that we are here in court today deciding if we can release a serial killer back into the public. With a strong motive to kill, there is no reason why the defendant should be let back into the public eye.”

Serial killer. That is what you are. No one has ever said it that way, but he was absolutely right. You fit the definition perfectly, you had a type and more than three victims. It already wasn't looking good for you.

Your lawyer took center stage, “A martyr is the perfect word to describe the defendant. They have given their life to the state to save the lives of many to come. The strength that my client displays and ownership prove that although they are guilty of the crimes, they are still human and deserve a second chance.”

The judge called you to take the stand. You sat down after taking your oath and folded your hands neatly in your lap.

“Miss l/n,” He started. “Today you are trying to get your case dismissed after confessing to your crimes. That is very interesting. Let’s go back to before the crimes were committed, what were you thinking, what were you doing in your life at the time?”

You shook your head, “Many years ago I was an activist. I enjoyed speaking to the public about issues facing the community and the world at the time. If I wasn't outside with a sign, I was inside posting on social media. I was in college, I was studying Political Science.”

“And what were you planning on doing with the major?”

You paused. It’s been so long that you had a hard time remembering why you wanted to study and what career you wanted, “I was planning on becoming a political journalist, Your Honor.”

He shuffled around his papers, “I’ve looked at your latest credit that you were working on. It was a Sociology class. Do you remember what topic you were discussing in class?”

You nodded, “Rape. The number of rapes in a year and the number of rapists convicted was the last assignment I was working on.”

You remember that assignment like it was yesterday. That one assignment got you so worked up and so mad at the world, that you just had to do something. There was no way that you couldn't. Women’s voices were being ignored and cases rose every day; repeat offenders increased everyday.

“Now to my understanding all the men that you murdered were accused of rape.”

You nodded, “Yes, Your Honor.”

“The attorney may ask questions to Miss l/n.”

The attorney stood up and adjusted your jacket, “Miss l/n, did any of those men physically harm you?”

You shook your head, “No.”

“So you took advantage of the fact that you were young to persuade the men into being alone with you just to kill them?”

You shook your head, “No, I didn’t persuade them at all. All of them suggested going back to their place.”

“But you did stalk them to find out where they were going?”

“No,” You answered. “They had their location public on their phone. All I did was look up their name and I knew where they were.”

“So these men did nothing to you at all except invite you over to their house. And you accepted the offer under no influence or threat. You killed four innocent men and you want to be let back out on the streets? This woman is a danger to society. She seeks out innocent men to end their life for no reason.” He nodded his head and went back to his desk, looking at his notes. He looked back at you and nodded, “That will conclude my questioning.”

You looked back at your lawyer, they gave you back a look of relief. Then you searched the crowd for Sam. Once you found him he gave you a thumbs up. It seemed like you were already on top of the case.

“Miss y/n,” Your lawyer started. “We all know that you killed those men, but why?”

“They raped multiple women. When brought to court, they were given a light sentence and did not do proper justice to the woman. These woman went day to day fearing for their life that they ever spoke out about the terrible things that happened to them. I couldn't let myself live knowing that there was a reason for women to be scared because their government had failed them.”

“Those women were scared? Why were they scared?” “Because they feared that they would get raped again. All of those men were repeat offenders. They would only take more victims and never be punished.”

“So you killed those men to prevent others from being hurt with evidence that it would happen again.”

You nodded, “I would never hurt anyone that had no intentions of causing harm.”

“Miss l/n just described public defense. Under the public defense law, anyone can defend the public with reasonable cause. It’s like self-defense, but for others. She shouldn’t have been committed in the first place. If those men were still alive, they would have kept raping until they were killed. Miss y/n saved lives. That concludes my questioning.”

You were dismissed from the stand and went back by your lawyer. They smiled at you, knowing that with that alone, they had won the case.

The attorney called Sam to the stand; he took his oath and sat down.

“So, Sam. You were the warden in charge of the wing that Miss y/n was being held in?”

“Yes.”

“That prison is a tough place to be, she must’ve fussed around a lot.”

Sam shook his head, “Not one bit. She does not have a single complaint against her. Everything that was asked of her, she did with speed and efficiency. She didn't have one lash out in her time.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Like I said, not one complaint.”

“To my understanding you have a relationship with Miss l/n, is that correct?”

“Objection!” Your lawyer yelled. “Irrelevant to the case. Sam was called because of his position and his professional opinion, not his personal life.”

“Sustained.”

“That concludes my questioning.”

Your lawyer stood up and nodded. You could feel that they were about to lay down the last blow.

“Sam, did this prison have any rapists?”

He nodded, “All kinds of rapists, of all ages and target groups.”

“Did Miss l/n ever have contact with these rapists?”

“Yes. Most of the time during eating hours and the occasional passing in the hall.”

“And how did that interaction go?”

“Miss l/n was given a hard time by these rapists. While waiting in line she was often sexually grabbed. During passing she was cat called and teased at.”

“And what was here response to the sexual assault?”

“Stone faced, emotionless. Every time it happened it amazed me how she would just stand there and wait to be given a direction. The most reaction she’s ever had was lightly shuffling her body to get them off, but she never lunged or reached at them.”

“And what did the other guards do when they noticed this behavior?”

“Nothing. Sometimes they yelled if it was getting close to rape, but overall nothing. We were under instructions not to react because in the past it only caused encouragement of the assault. Prisoners love any excuse to fight a guard,” Sam looked over at you. “I am so sorry that there was nothing I could’ve done. Everyday I watched as you were touched and I wanted to give it to them, I wanted to make sure that I would see them every day of their life, but I couldn't. I couldn't risk hurting you more.”

You smiled, almost tearing up at his words, but you kept yourself composed with a small sniffle.

“The main concern of Miss y/n going back into the public is that she will kill again. As said by her and concluded by a court, she only killed rapists,” Your lawyer pointed out. “As stated by the warden in charge of looking over her, she had the opportunity to kill. She had the opportunity to hurt them, but she never took it. Even after being sexually assaulted, she still kept to herself. This is undeniable evidence that Miss y/n is a changed woman. In her file it is stated that she did more than required community service and went above and beyond with helping other cellmates. Her actions within the prison prove that she is a well-rounded and caring individual. She has changed her ways and is ready to go back into the world. She did justice to the world and it is time for the world to her justice.”

You waited anxiously for over an hour to find out what the jury had decided. You and your lawyer talked about possible outcomes. They told you the sooner they made the decision, the better chances that you had. You had no error in your case and said everything that you wanted to say. The opposing side’s evidence was all proven false.

You got called back into the court, the jury had made their final decision. You rose for the judge and took a seat when prompted. You could feel your leg bouncing.

“In the case of the State Prison vs l/n...” the judge started. You looked over your shoulder at Sam. He had his hands placed in a praying position with his head resting against them. “Miss y/n is found not guilty of all charges and her remaining sentence will be dismissed. She will compensated for her time falsely spent in prison plus be rewarded another trial for her sexual assault. This case is adjourned.”

You could feel emotion flood through you. Pure happiness and joy leaked from your eyes. You tilted your head back in relief and squeezed at your heart. All of these years of the bullshit you put up with was all worth it. You hugged your lawyer and thanked them up and down, the emotion so strong in you that you almost dropped to your knees. You were caught by familiar hands: Sam. Sam pulled you up and into him. He was practically jumping up and down in excitement. He calmed down for a second to lock eyes with you. He couldn't help but smile and cry with you. He placed his hands on your cheeks and pulled you into a deep kiss. It was nothing extravagant, just a simple deep and meaningful kiss that said all the words that he wanted to say.

“I’m coming home!”

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

A Place To Call Home: Jensen’s Day

Summary: TJ approaches Jensen on how to best to handle the unexpected discovery of many of the reader’s childhood things. While the pair work out how to do that, Jensen spends some quality time with the other kids too...

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x foster daughter!reader

Word Count: 7,300ish

Warnings: language, angst, period talk, minor injury, fluffy dad Jensen

A/N: This part takes place in Jensen’s POV and after the TJ’s talk timestamp. Enjoy!

______

“Hey,” said a voice at the door. I jumped and looked over the top of the computer screen, TJ smirking. “I scare you?”

“Pft, no,” I said. I typed out the rest of the sentence, TJ wandering over to the leather chair in my office JJ normally used to read in. “I’m kinda in the middle of something. Can it wait?”

“Oh. Sorry,” he said as he went to stand. I waved him back down and shook my head.

“Read a book or something. I’ll be another few minutes,” I said. He turned his body back towards the bookcase, picking out one on homes. He flipped a few times and I glanced over at him, going back to the screen. I wrote out a few more lines and read it over, pretty satisfied with it. I set a reminder for myself to come back to it later and spun around in my chair. “So. What’s up?”

“What are you working on?” asked TJ as he flipped through the book still.

“Actor stuff,” I said.

“You always work on actor stuff with parchment paper next to you?” he asked. I looked over my shoulder and saw the paper and envelopes, TJ probably recognizing them. “Writing letters?”

“If you must know, yes, I am. I was. I prefer to handwrite them but I started this one on the road this week so I’ll write it down later,” I said. “So. What’s up?”

“Y/N started doing that, writing letters for the kids,” said TJ as he put the book back. “After the accident and all.”

“Yes, I know. What’s with the intrigue?” I asked.

“Well, you’re a sap. I needed some advice,” he said. I rolled my eyes and he cocked his head. “Oh yes. Clearly you’re a hardass.”

“Sometimes I miss the day you came over the first time and were scared shitless of me. Good times,” I said with a smile. I nodded and he got up to shut the door before taking a seat. “What are you up to?”

“Well...it’s complicated,” he said. “Like supernatural level complicated.”

“The show?” I asked and he shook his head. “TJ, buddy are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just…” he said. He reached into his back shorts pocket and pulled out a manila envelope. He handed it over and I opened it up, pulling out a few sheets of papers and photos. I recognized the face immediately, TJ sitting up on top of the desk. I smiled and TJ laughed. “You never seen baby pictures of Y/N?”

“No. We thought they were all lost. There were a few things from her parents we found but only a few boxes and her teddy bear. A few pictures but none of when she was little,” I said, smiling at the one of her in a onesie passed out asleep on her dad. “He looks young.”

“Her parents were older than you guys, right?” he asked.

“Oh yeah, a lot older. Just only ever saw them on that home video. Y/N had a picture once she said but some dickhead foster parent burned it,” I said. I pouted and felt TJ’s gaze on me. 

“I get angry about stuff that happened to her too sometimes,” he said. 

“Just don’t stay angry,” I said and he nodded. I turned my head at one of the sheets and went wide eyed. “Is this her birth certificate? How the Hell did you get this? It looks like the original.”

“It is. Long story short, I’m working on a renovation right now on the east side of town. Out in the suburbs, average home, nothing like this place or even ours to be honest. They needed an architect for like two days at most. Older couple. I got talking to them and we come to realize, I’m standing in Y/N’s old house.”

“What?”

“Yeah. It’s the one she grew up in. It’s her house,” he said.

“Small fucking world,” I said, leaning back in my seat. “I thought they ditched everything in the house after it went up for auction.”

“So did I. So did Y/N. Apparently, this couple packed up a lot of the personal stuff cause they felt wrong about throwing it out. They shoved it in some bins in the basement and forgot about it until this week. Jensen, I got bins full of photos and awards she won as a kid and stuff of her parents and did you know she was a ghostbuster for Halloween? I didn’t know that.”

“Neither did I,” I said. “Why not tell her you found this stuff?”

“Part of me is scared that she knew, that she didn’t want to deal with it. Maybe she wanted to shove it away. I don’t know. You know her as well as I do. What do you think?”

“I know she almost cried over a teddy bear when she was seventeen. I know when she saw that home video she almost cried. But I know both those times it was happy tears that would have happened. You know as well as I do this would mean the world to her.”

“I know it would which is why I need your help. How do we tell her?”

“Oh so you want to make a big elaborate thing out of it all I see.”

“I bet I could get at least your sappy letters level of waterworks,” he said.

“I’ve taught you well,” I laughed. “We’ll come up with something. Oh and I got something for you.”

I reached into a desk drawer and smiled as I pulled out an envelope. I held it out to him, TJ staring as he saw “Thomas James” written on the front.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Always keep an ace up your sleeve,” I said as I stood. I pushed it against his chest and walked past him. “It’s your first letter kid.”

“What?” he asked quietly. I turned around and smiled. “But I’m not…”

“Yeah, you are. Your dad’s a shithead and I don’t know when or if he’ll get his act together. Either way, you deserve better. I ain’t perfect. Not even close. But I do know you love your kids and for me that means all five of them. We don’t really care about blood relations around here if you haven’t picked up on that by now,” I said. He stared down at the letter and back at me. He nodded quietly and I laughed. “Read it in private and when you’re ready, we’ll figure out something for our girl.”

“Jensen. Why am I getting this now?” he asked as I reached to open the door.

“Cause you asked me for help on something that will bring my daughter joy. Cause you love her as much as the rest of us. Cause I felt like we’re at that place now where we can talk like this with no hesitation. Maybe cause you caught me writing letters and I was in a sappy mood. The letters aren’t always about a birthday or a wedding. Sometimes it’s just moments. Oh and you gotta work on your hand writing kid. Your kids are never gonna be able to read your chicken scratch.”

“I don’t…” he said as I smiled. “I tried writing one once and it sucked.”

“Considering your children can’t read yet, I think you got the time to figure it out,” I said. “Arrow and I are going golfing in a few. Wanna come?”

“I would but I have swim lessons with Allie. She’s getting pretty good. Y/N worries.”

“Never noticed,” I said. “Enjoy it. They’re only little once.”

“I will. Say hey to Arrow for me, Jensen.”

Two Hours Later

Arrow groaned as she sat down in the passenger seat of the cart. She took a swig from her water bottle and raised an eyebrow at me when she caught me staring.

“What?” she said, a little snippy.

“Can we try that nicer?” I asked. She rolled her eyes and sat back, crossing her arms. “Arrow, if you don’t want to golf with me today why’d you ask if we could go?”

“I thought we were going mini-golfing,” she said.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked. She shrugged and I turned in my seat. “Arrow…”

“You were like...excited about it and stuff,” she said. “It’s fine.”

“Well as good at this as you are, I’d much rather we go do something we both find fun. Okay, munchkin?” 

She shrugged and I drove up the path, headed back to the clubhouse.

Twenty minutes later she was in the front seat of the car with her head against the window and eyes shut. I frowned and reached over to touch her forehead. It was warm and bit sweaty but she popped right up.

“What?” she snipped again. I looked at her for a moment before it clicked. 

“Not feeling great?” I asked. She shook her head and I smiled. “Okay. I know just how to fix that.”

“Not something you can fix,” she mumbled.

“Oh, this I know how to fix. Trust me.”

“How’s that feel?” I asked when we were curled up on the couch in the TV room about half an hour later. 

“Better,” she said, a light blush over her face as she held the heating pad to herself. 

“We don’t gotta talk about it if you don’t want to,” I said.

“My friends dads don’t really talk to them about you know, periods,” she said with a wince.

“That’s too bad. They’d be able to make ‘em feel better if they did,” I said. “You’re already more of an expert on this than I am but your mom and older sisters say after the first year you really start getting the hang of what to expect and all that.”

“You can stop cramps?” she asked, happy for a moment.

“No, you can’t do that. But you learn what day it’s gonna happen and you learn what medicine works best for you, what makes you feel better best. Y/N got one of those heat pad stuffed animals for your sister. I hear heat helps.”

“Dad, this is kinda gross to talk about you know,” she said.

“Like I said, we don’t ever got to talk about it if you don’t want. Just...know you can.”

“I got that from when I got it and we had that talk. I don’t need it again,” she said. I held up my hands and returned my attention to the TV. “Dad. I’m sorry. That was mean.”

“S’okay. You got a lot going on right now inside you. I’ve lived with women a long time. I’m used to it at this point,” I said.

“Why does Zepp not have to deal with this?” she asked.

“Well...he also can’t make a baby. You got that on him.”

“A baby and cramps. Thanks genetics,” she said. I chuckled and she crawled over, using my leg as a pillow. “Why do you boys get everything? They get to not have periods and stuff.”

“The grass is always greener on the other side, kiddo. I’m sure some days, especially in the mornings, your brother would much rather be you right now,” he said.

“Huh?” she said.

“What grade do you take health class again?”

“Eighth,” she said.

“Oh. Okay. We’ll save that one. Better yet, you’ll find out when you’re thirty,” I said.

“Dad I know what sex is. Biology class. Make a baby,” she said. “Duh.”

“Oh really? Didn’t realize you were so grown up and all now,” I said, ruffling her hair. “What if you want to not make a baby?”

“They you don’t do it. Duh,” she said.

“Right, right. We’re gonna get you a book to explain all this to you,” I said, Arrow rolling her eyes. JJ wandered inside, hands behind her back, lifting up onto her tip toes. “I see someone wants to borrow the car.”

“Please? I’m just going over Tom’s,” she said.

“You’re going over the Pad’s to make out with your boyfriend you mean.”

“Tom is so not my boyfriend for the like, gazillionth time,” she said.

“Why you going to his junior prom then? As his date?”

“We’re just friends. Like, everybody does it,” she said. “I’m his best friend, like of course we’d go together.”

“What do you think? Is Tom just a friend?” I asked Arrow, a shit eating grin on her face.

“She doesn’t know-” said JJ, a loud crash happening somewhere in the house. I hopped up, the two of them following after. 

“Zepp,” I called, jogging up the stairs. “Zeppelin.”

I rounder the corner into his room, spotting him on the floor, with a hand on his head. He looked away and I knelt down, putting a hand over his.

“Let me see,” I said. He winced and I pulled his hand back, spotting a gash on his forehead. “JJ, get me a towel please. Quickly.”

I heard her leave and I saw his desk chair flopped over on the ground.

“We told you not to stand on that thing, Zeppelin…” I said, seeing the spot of red on the corner of his desk.

“Sorry. It’s just a cut. I’m okay,” he said. 

“I’m not mad, honey. Promise you won’t do it again?” I asked as JJ came back and handed me a towel.

“Yeah. Don’t have to worry about that,” he said. I put the towel against his head and looked at his eyes. 

“Did you pass out?” I asked.

“No,” he said. ���I’m okay.”

“I know you are tough guy. We’re still going to urgent care,” I said. “JJ tell Tom to come over here. It’s getting late and I don’t want Arrow home alone.”

“We’re not going with you?” she asked.

“Do you really want to go sit in a waiting room for a few hours?” I asked. I helped Zepp to his feet, glad when he didn’t stumble. She shrugged and I turned to Arrow. She looked worried and I pursed my lips. “Well if you want to come, let’s go. Otherwise, JJ stay with your sister.”

I walked out ahead of them, Zeppelin groaning when I took his arm to walk down beside him. I sighed and left them in the kitchen while I grabbed my phone and wallet.

“Alright,” I said. I shooed them out to the garage, the three of them piling in their usual spots. I put the radio on low as I drove, a call coming in quick on the dash. I pressed the button on the wheel and forced a happy voice. “Hi hon-”

“JJ just texted me that her brother hit his head and he’s gushing blood everywhere,” she said. I shot her a look in the passenger seat and she mouthed sorry. “Jensen.”

“De he is not gushing blood. He has a little cut. We’re driving to urgent care right now,” I said. 

“Mom, I’m fine,” he said from the back.

“Were you standing on that chair again?” she asked. 

“On the way home, we’ll stop at home depot, get a step ladder. Problem solved,” I said. “I don’t even think he has a concussion. We’re just being careful is all. Alright? How’s your parents?”

“Fine. I’m gonna head home early,” she said. 

“De. We’re fine. I’ll let you know as soon as he gets checked out, okay? Nothing you can do in the meantime,” I said. “Say hi to your folks.”

“Jay are you sure…” she said.

“Honey. I am absolutely 100% positive. He is fine. I promise,” I said. 

“Alright. I’ll talk to you guys later okay? Love you.”

“Love you too,” I said before I hung up.

“You’re totally freaking out on the inside,” said JJ.

“Thank you for texting your mother. Guess who’s not hanging out with Tom tonight now,” I said.

“When was I even gonna go?” she said, rolling her eyes.

“How you holding up back there bud?” I asked as I got on the highway.

“I’m fine for the millionth time,” he said.

“Mhm. Sure you are.”

Three Hours Later

“Hey doc,” I said as we finally were getting out of there with a small bandage on Zeppelin’s head and an ointment for the cut in my hand. “I mentioned to the nuse, he uh, he had a head injury when he was a toddler. It was a hard hit was all, no concussion or anything. They told us to watch out for more of them is all and I know it was just a smack to the head tonight but he’s okay, right?”

“He shows no signs of anything aside from a cut and some bruising. It doesn’t warrant an MRI,” he said.

“I know. I just…” I said, trailing off when I saw Y/N’s friend Kelly walk by in the background. “Kelly.”

“Mr. Ackles! Everything okay?” she asked.

“Zepp hit his head tonight,” I said.

“You do an MRI?” she asked the other doctor. He seemed a little miffed but shoved the chart in her hands and she rolled her eyes as he left. “He’s kind of an asshole, don’t take offense.”

“None taken,” I said. “They said he’s fine but...you know.”

“Send the little shrimp back here and I’ll take care of him,” she said.

“I always knew I liked you,” I said. I got Zeppelin from the waiting room and she sent him off for a quick scan, letting me wait in the hall just outside. “Y/N said you were going for pediatrics if I remember?”

“Yeah. Kids are less of complainers than adults typically,” she said. “How’s Y/N? We haven’t hung out in a bit. Her babies still adorable?”

“Like always,” I said. I smiled and she looked a little a bashful. “It’s okay that you watched my show, Kelly. I’ve always known.”

“Really?” she asked, pursing her lips. “Y/N promised she wouldn’t ever tell you.”

“Oh she didn’t. The you saying holy fucking shit to Y/N when you saw me in the backyard for the first time kind of gave it away,” I said. 

“Yeah, subtly isn't really my strong suit,” she said. I chuckled and she shrugged. “To be fair, like all of our friends think you’re the hot dad.”

“I know. It’s great to tease Y/N with,” I said. “Mind if I ask you a question while we’re waiting.”

“Shoot,” she said.

“Y/N. Why were you her friend? You know that’s a hard shell to crack. She doesn’t have a lot of them and most of those are TJ’s. Nothing wrong with that. Just wonder what made you say hi to the new girl at school.”

“This isn’t going to sound great but basically I had this ex boyfriend. He was like a dick once I told him I wasn’t ready to like, you know, do it yet and we broke off and like six months go by and then I had my new boyfriend at the time but this old ex was still like a super dickhead to pretty much every girl in school that wasn’t super popular. He was...he bullied her the first few days.”

“I never knew that,” I said.

“It was only a couple days. By the third day, she was fed up with it and snapped back at him. He didn’t like that so he shoved her and I just walked over and told him to back off of her. She just looked so...not scared but like, defeated you know?”

“Unfortunately yes, I do.”

“I guess we just talked about how much of a dick he was and we sat together at lunch and she eventually warmed up to me by the time we graduated.”

“She liked you before that. Trust me,” I said. “You’re a good kid. You’re gonna be a good doctor.”

“I hope so,” she said.

“So super fan. I gotta ask cause I also love to torture my children’s friends. Sam girl or the other one?” I said, giving her a smirk.

“I’m not answering that,” she said.

“In a way you did,” I chuckled. “Shoot Y/N a text sometime. We’ll get you hooked up with some con tickets sometime.”

“That’d be so cool!” she said. “If it’s no trouble.”

“No trouble at all,” I said as the door opened and Zepp came out. “How’d it go?”

“No bleeding,” said the tech that walked out and handed a slide to Kelly. She walked over to a wall and stuck it up to a light, nodding her head.

“He’s good. You guys are all set,” she said.

“Thanks Kelly.”

“I want pizza,” said Arrow about five minutes later as I texted De that everything was good from the truck.

“I want tacos,” said Zeppelin.

“I want pasta,” said JJ, looking at me. “What’s for dinner?”

“Well since we all agree it’s so simple,” I said with a chuckle. “How about cause at least two of you have felt crappy today we splurge a little and don’t tell mom.”

“Like what?” asked JJ.

“We will get italian food and tacos and the most unhealthy dessert we can find on the menu,” I said. “Eat whatever you want tonight.”

“Don’t we do that always?” asked Arrow.

“Yeah but dad’s a on a diet,” said JJ. I rolled my eyes and she held up her hands. 

“I wasn’t on a diet. I had a cholesterol test and didn’t want to get yelled at by the doctor thank you very much,” I said. “But that was yesterday and I’m a free man now. We can go home and have leftover chicken salad if that’s what you guys want.”

“Not at all what we said, right guys?” said JJ.

“That’s what I thought you’d say. Seatbelts and someone look up some menus on their phones.”

One Hour Later

JJ burped from her seat, Arrow letting out one herself, the pair of them giggling as they dug into their desserts. Zeppelin shockingly didn’t want his so I saved it in the freezer for later. I figured the pain meds they’d given him had finally kicked in. I was cleaning up at the sink, the girls in the movie room when he came up behind me and gave me a hug.

“Feel any better?” I asked. I spun around and returned it, a little surprised when he snuggled into my chest. I ran my hand over his head and he took a deep breath.

“I’m really tired, dad,” he said. 

“That’s the medicine they gave you. How about an early bedtime tonight and you’ll wake up feeling a lot better in the morning.”

“Okay,” he said, still not moving. 

“Alright, alright,” I said. I moved back and squatted down, hoisting him up, legs wrapping around my back. “You better not be taller than me or else this is gonna get real difficult once you hit your growth spurt.”

“Okay,” he mumbled, resting his head on my shoulder.

“I gotcha,” I said. I got him upstairs and set him down on his bed, Zeppelin out by the time I tugged his covers down. I pulled them up over top and kissed his head. “Night kiddo.”

I turned off the lights and went downstairs, tidying up and pouring myself a glass of whiskey. It burned a bit but the good kind, not too overwhelming. I was about to head to the movie room when I caught something on the floor. I picked up the note and smiled.

DAD CHECK FRIDGE

“Well what did you leave us,” I said to myself, opening it up. There was a casserole dish with a note taped to it and I pulled it out.

Made an extra serving of chicken penne (tons of cheese for you). Just stick in the oven and I figure you four can survive another day without mom. Tell Zepp to stop trying to crack his skull open while you’re at it. Love ya. - Y/N

“What would we do without you and your mother,” I chuckled. I heard someone calling my name and I poured more whiskey into my drink. “Please don’t be twilight again. Please please don’t be that again.”

I carried the glass over to the tv room, the girls bundled up on either side of the couch. I didn’t make a face when I saw the sparkly vampire on the screen and was pretty proud of myself. They both started to laugh and I shook my head.

“Dad we know you hate it,” said JJ. “We wanna watch one of your movies.”

“Well well, tonight is a good time to introduce you two to a little movie called Tommy Boy.”

“Night giggles,” I said, the girls heading up to bed after the movie. I stretched out and went to my room, going out on the balcony and taking a seat outside, closing my eyes as I leaned back. “So. Got another question for you guys if you’re in the mood for listening tonight. TJ found some photos and some of your guys stuff. Not quite sure what the best way to give it to her is though. I feel like some fanfare should be involved. Nothing crazy but you know, make it special. Any genius ideas and I’d love to hear them.”

I took a sip from my drink, a light breeze in the night air.

“Someday I’d appreciate it if I got a little more feedback. Just saying,” I said. “She was a cute kid. Still cute but you know what I mean. Just want to get this one right.”

I sat outside for a while, texting for a bit until I got a bit too cold. I locked up and walked around the house, arming the security system before I climbed into bed. I groaned as I plopped down, barely getting my phone on the charger before I was curling up to sleep. My eyes wandered over to the phone when a text from TJ popped up.

Read the letter. Thanks. Means more than you know. Honestly.

Just don’t forget what I said, k? Night TJ

Night Jensen

“Now if only the other three could find ones like that, then we’d be pretty damn lucky,” I said to myself. I chuckled when I saw one last text pop up. I rolled over in bed to De’s side and used her pillow, snuggling down into it. Three more days and she’d be home again to help stop the crazy. Or at least slow it down.

The Next Day

“Alright so I came up with the perfect way to do it last night,” said TJ as he walked into the gym where I was running on the treadmill.

“I hope you knew how to do it before considering you have a child or else this is going to be very awkward.”

“Smartass,” he said. 

“One of my best qualities,” I said as I hopped off. “Hit me with it.”

“A letter,” he said with a smile.

“You want to write her one go right ahead but…” I said with a shrug. “It’s definitely important but it’s not a letter kind of thing for me.”

“You literally write sappy letters for your children’s life changing events all the time.”

“TJ. I didn’t make these things or buy them for her. Her parents took those pictures. I can’t write a letter. It’s not my gift to give.”

“It’s not a gift though. It’s-”

“TJ, I’m not writing one. You don’t force that shit. Not the important shit. You should write her a letter and tell her how you found the stuff. That’d be really sweet.”

“So you don’t want to be involved in this now,” he said. I took a deep breath and stared at him. “I’m just trying to understand why you’re changing your mind.”

“I’m not her dad, TJ,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “I’m not the guy in those photos. It feels awkward if I did that. Those are her memories. You found them. This is totally your thing. You do whatever you want or I’ll help but I’m not writing her a letter, alright?”

He scoffed and I crossed my arms, narrowing my eyes.

“TJ. Enough.”

“You’re so fucking stupid. For someone really smart you’re an idiot, Jensen,” he said as he turned to leave.

���Excuse me but why don’t you say what you have to say to my face,” I said. He stopped and turned around, walking over to me, his jaw clenched. “What.”

“If she ever heard those words out of your mouth, it’d destroy her. You literally do not understand how important you are to her you idiot.”

“I understand perfectly well how-” I said before TJ audibly growled. A part of me was happy for a moment at that reaction. Obviously he was pissed and trying to do something to benefit Y/N. For the most part though I had no clue what he was talking about. “Clearly I don’t understand what this is about so-”

“You fought for her, Jensen. I wasn’t there but I know how it was when she came to this house. She ran away. She didn’t want to be here. But you made her a promise, that you cared. No one cared about her for years. I don’t think even you know how deep that hole inside of her was. None of us do. But she tried because you were so damn adamant. Everyday it terrified her. Until it didn’t. Until you got from that first day to now. Jensen you ever tell her you’re not her father to her face and I’ll kick your fucking ass.”

I blinked a few times and frowned, opening my mouth to speak but nothing came out. 

“You are her father. She had two. That’s all there is to it. If you think you’re second place or that she loves you any less, you haven’t been paying attention good enough. There is no dad that raised her and dad that adopted her. It’s just dad to her, that’s it. Why don’t you stop being the scared one for once, take a page out of her book and put some fucking trust in your daughter that she loves you just as much as her first father. Understand that?”

I swallowed and nodded, walking out the side door and to the backyard. I walked down to the dock and took a seat, closing my eyes as I exhaled.

“Jensen,” said TJ behind me.

“I got the message kid,” I said. 

“I’m sorry for...I just don’t understand why you’re afraid of believing her. What she’s saying isn’t a bad thing.”

“No,” I said as he took a seat beside me. “But I don’t want to wipe away who he was or who her mom was either. I am her second father. I didn’t get unconditional love off the bat like you do with your own children. I guess part of me is afraid she’ll decide it’s conditional again one day.”

“Do you get why I called you stupid?” he asked.

“TJ, I know how I have always felt but it wasn’t like that for her. That’s okay. But I can’t…” I shrugged.

“Can’t trust that she won’t hurt you and say it’s conditional again?”

“Exactly.”

“Funny. A seventeen year old girl found a way to trust you. You’re fifty one and you should know better than her.”

“I’m older and bigger and stronger but I’m not tougher. She had the hard job all along. Just don’t know if she knew that.”

“You know...I know some of the nitty gritty details about the accident. Y/N told me a month back. She didn’t want to but I needed to know, for myself.”

“Did she now,” I said, looking out at the water, watching as a boat went past.

“I know you’re alive because of her. I know you two fought pretty good during it all. I know she screamed at you that she wasn’t leaving you. The girl kept you alive when you should have died. I don’t know what more she has to do to prove to you that there is nothing you could do to make her not love you unconditionally. So suck it up and own that you’re her dad. Write a fucking letter, don’t write a fucking letter. Just stop being scared of her hurting you. She stopped being afraid of you a long time ago.”

“I thought you were kinda nerdy when we first met,” I said. “That was the first time Y/N called me dad actually.”

“You’re a nerd,” he said and I smiled.

“You are as kind and gentle and as much of a best friend to her as I could ever hope for. I love you kid. But I’ve never seen you mad like that. Wasn’t sure if you were capable of it. Now I know you will do anything for her, even jeopardize a relationship with me, one you need in your life too.”

“I care about you but nothing will ever be more important to me than her and my children.”

“I will think about writing a letter,” I said. He nodded and I returned it. “For the record, you so couldn’t kick my ass.”

“I could still try,” he said.

“I suppose you could. Let’s not ever test it out,” I said. He hummed and I stood up. “Thanks kiddo. Always get a little wrapped up when it comes to her for some reason.”

“Not a bad thing,” he said. 

“Can’t wait to see you freaking out over your daughter. Ah, that’ll be nice. Let’s have this chat when she’s sixteen.”

“Your daughter is sixteen,” he said with a smirk.

“Shut up. I don’t even want to think about whatever she gets up to with that boy,” I said.

“Just fyi, she’s a smart, innocent kid. Like innocent innocent. She talks to her sister. You’re good.”

“I’m totally not gonna shove you in the water now for that,” I said. “Come on. You can help me wash the cars.”

“What? Why?” he groaned.

“That’s what you get for coming in like a hothead. Come on. I might even let you drive Baby when we’re done.”

Later That Night

I’d just sat down with a sheet of paper and pen when I got a text from Y/N, tons of pictures of her from when she was little coming in.

OMG. TJ found these at my old house. Can you believe it! We’re gonna make copies of everything for you and mom.

I smiled and sat back, scrolling through them for a few minutes.

That’s awesome! We’ll take whatever we can get. You were pretty cute, tall munchkin.

I got in another bunch of pictures, stopping at a set in a frame. There was a black and white one of her and her dad from when she was little the two of them looking straight at the camera and laughing, a bit of ice cream stuck on Y/N’s nose. The one on the far right was one of us in a very similar pose after a day on the lake, Y/N cracking up. The center one was a little less crisp but it was easy enough to see that TJ had gotten a picture from the home video with me and her parents, this one of me and her dad giving each other a smile as a very small Y/N was passed between us.

TJ made this up for me. Isn’t it so cool? I love it so freaking much. It’s perfect. 

“Yeah it is,” I said. I wrote back and wiped off my face with the back of my hand, JJ standing there in the doorway when I moved my hand back. She walked over and gave me a hug and I showed her the photos, a big smile crossing her face. 

“That’s so cool. Y/N’s dad was a dork like you,” she said. 

“I’m Y/N’s dad ya dork,” I said, pulling her into a noogie. She laughed and plopped down on my knee, scrolling through my phone. I gave her a hug, JJ looking through the phone for a few minutes. 

“Dad. Why were you crying?”

“Got a little emotional for a second is all,” I said. “Sometimes I forget that I make her smile as much as her other dad did.”

“I like this one,” she said, turning the phone around, showing another one from the airport but not something I recognized from the tape. I vaguely recalled something to do with a bear and scratched my head.

“Uh oh,” I said as I glanced over at the main corridor. There was a teddy bear on the ground, not too far off from where I’d found that little girl a few minutes earlier. “Tell mom I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Don’t miss the flight doofus,” said my sister and I rolled my eyes as I stood up.

“Loser,” I said before I walked over and picked up the bear. I looked down at the other gates, knowing Y/N’s family had taken off that way. I started walking, trying to look around but these were big flights and there were a million people everywhere. 

I pursed my lips and kept going, looking all around before I felt something hugging the back of my leg.

“Hi Jay!” said Y/N, looking up at me as I spun around. I saw her mom shaking her head as her dad stood up and walked over.

“What’d we say about you staying with your parents?” I laughed. I held out the bear and she immediately looked relieved.

“You found Teddy! Daddy Jay found Teddy!” she said as she hopped up and down, squeezing the thing for dear life.

“Finding the bear might have been an even bigger crisis averted than before,” chuckled her dad. “I guess we Y/L/N’s owe you one.”

“I just saw it and figured it was hers. She’s having a rough day,” I said, glancing down as she beamed up at me.

“Oh yeah, clearly,” he chuckled. “You in college yet?”

“Uh no sir. I just graduated highschool. I might go in the winter if my plans don’t work out,” I said.

“Nothing wrong with manual work for a living.”

“I’m gonna try and be an actor,” I said. 

“Any good?”

“No idea.”

“Well, you better let me get a picture of you and the kiddo for if you make it big someday. We can say we knew you were before you were famous,” he said.

“I’d settle for not flopping on my face,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Come on you two,” he said, pulling out a disposable camera. I squatted down and Y/N gave me a hug. He took a few and laughed as I stood up. “I do not know what it is about you she’s so in love with. She’s normally quite shy around strangers.”

“Me too,” I said. “Hey munchkin. Do me a favor and stay with your parents for me? Please?”

“Okie dokie,” she said, skipping back over to her mom.

“Thanks for the bear and finding her, kid,” he said as I started to go. “I hope that acting thing works out for you. If it doesn’t, consider doing something with kids. You’re great with ‘em.”

“I don’t think I could handle more than whatever I end up making myself,” I said. “And maybe a kid like yours. She’s pretty easy going.”

“You got a long time ahead of you before you get there. Have a safe flight back, Jensen.”

“You too, Mr. Y/L/N.”

“Dad, hello,” said JJ, her hand waving in front of my face. I blinked and shook my head, smiling at the picture. “What’s that from?”

“I found her bear, gave it back to her.”

“How old were you?” she asked.

“Oh, only a few years older than you,” I said. “Still just a kid.”

“You should hang it up with our little kid pictures,” she said.

“I think I just might,” I said. “It never bothered you, us bringing your sister here, did it? You were young at the time and I knew we had a few rough first weeks but I mean even as you got older. You never felt like mom and I didn’t care about you guys as much right?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “We got a big sister. It’s nice having one of those. We just wanted her to be happy I think. She tells me more stuff now that I’m older. I literally can’t imagine living her life. I just can’t. It sounds terrifying.”

“Only a part was. We gave her a family back, including you,” I said. I booped her nose and she smiled. “So. What are your plans tonight? Hang out with the Pad boys?”

“Nah. They’re doing something with Cody tonight. I thought we could hang out if you’re not going anywhere,” she said.

“No, no plans for me tonight. Why don’t you go round up the other two and we’ll go play some minigolf. How’s that sound?”

“Okie dokie,” she said. I smiled and she left the room. I picked up my phone and shoved it in my pocket, stretching as I stood up. I leaned over to my desk drawer and put the paper and pen back inside, a few envelopes with letters already in there. She popped back into view and I closed it up.

“All set?”

“Mhm. Are we taking your truck?”

“Let’s take Baby out,” I said, walking around the desk. “After you, kiddo.”

_______

A/N: Read the Halloween timestamp here!

[ghost-in--the-room]

I really want to reboot the a team as a tv series. like there are things wrong with the original yes but that's where reboots can improve on.

I mean most of their episodes where about fighting against corrupt police, landlords and big corporations. Something I think everyone would be happy to see. and cause I guess people like overarching season plots could do with the series final about taking down corrupt government/military.

Lot more under cut

I mainly love the characters, the main reason to reboot it as shows like leverage and white collar do similar stuff. (tho there can never be enough shows like leverage)

I mean Hannibal who just goes super deep into acting monsters from trashy films. Would def have an SFX make up YouTube channel but because he is wanted by the police he does SFX on top of SFX. or just using the videos to roast and taunt the heck out of Decker.

Then B.A. who is not only the muscle guy but the tech guy being about to make anything out of anything. He is quit literally the definition of soft teddy bear on the inside as he spends all his free time doing outreach programs for kids.

Next there is Face conman grifter extraordinaire. He is materialistically greedy and always whines about doing the dirty work but he will do it and give hiss money away if it meant saving someone. Also I really want at least one Clark Kent moment with glasses.

Finally we have the most competent member of the team, Murdock. Can fly or drive anything (but the van), con with the best of them (face) and single handily save the other three. He can also be serious enough when on the job and going through his episodes (which i am not qualified in mental health enough to really comment).

AND THE FOUND FAMILY!!!!

Face a guy who is an orphan joining the army to find a father figure in Hannibal and family in the a team.

B.A. being everyone's brother (especially Murdock) arguing with them all the time but being soft when they are hurt.

Murdock finding people who don't treat him different because he isn't normal (Face and Hannibal. Even B.A. who calls them all crazy fools.)

Hannibal herding his crazy baby ducks to be the best they can be.

Face and Murdock being best friends always ready to 100% back the other up when they do something stupid in a con.

Also the return of Amy Allen who not only can be used to explain things to the audience cause the team working alone wouldn't really need to explain what the team are doing but could also be someone to bring a more civilian look into a case or maybe even like a parallel to the a team of someone trying to make a difference on the more legal side through media. Who has no connection to the a team but always ends up writing a piece on the justice that needs to be done (which is done by the a team)

And while the movie focused more on the action side I think this show worked more because of the comedy, characters and the unreal realism it had. I wouldn't make it a dark and gritty show. I'd keep it that people didn't die. That the bad guys always got beaten with only cuts and bruises. The good guys would always win because I feel like shows like this are meant to show the world there are problems in the world but give people hope that they can fix them. I.E. yeah you can make people be sad but shows are should comfort people. (would defiantly love some Face whump)

things that I would add that would never happen

Face being bi/pan/poly

B.A. being trans

Murdock being queer, having ADHD, autism and PTSD

Hannibal liking to wear making and wearing "women's" clothes even outside of jobs.

Amy Allen being Aro/Ace, having learning disabilities like dyslexia while being a well known writer.

i think i put too many tags as they kinda got messed up but oh well its not like anyone's reading them anyway.

[m0e-ru]

eight months in somebody actually asked me abt visualive instead of me immediately annoying ppl about it without former notice. I might actually write properly for once 😳😳😳

OK OK!!!!! In this essay I will.... I will.... Visualive Adachi.... Visu/BURSTS INTO TEARS/

OKAY OKAY for real I just care Visualive so much (as someone who can’t fully understand Japanese AHAHA)

First I’ll add some foundation about what Visualive really is, then I talk abt Adachi in the latter parts of it because this is technically the first time I’m properly talking about this hehe 🐿

T....table of contents???

Visualive

Visualive the Evolution

Masami Itou

Visualive Adachi

Visualive the Evolution Adachi

Terms and Legend

VL - Visualive

VLE - Visualive the Evolution

stage - shortened for “stageplay”

面白い - omoshiroi (it’s just that specific)

Yuuya - VL Hero name

Hayato - VLE Hero name

Baba - Hero

Masami - Adachi

Taniguchi - Dojima

Saotome - Daisuke

Mamiya - Izanami

I add honorifics but sometimes I forget the hyphen intentionally or unintentionally I’m sorry if it makes it hard to read lol

all links have automatic timestamps for easy viewing. i mean. i hope the timestamps work

VISUALIVE “Persona 4.” A stage adaptation of SMT: Persona 4 by Atlus. It adapts the first part of the story, from the hero’s arrival to after recovering Mitsuo Kubo from the TV world. It also ends on a cliff hanger, showing a teaser of Shadow Naoto being projected on the screen.

It takes up a speedy recapitulation of the hero’s spring life, before slowing down and showing in depth his school life in summer. A day before Morooka-sensei’s death, there is a little skit with Kou, Daisuke and Adachi. The hero walks into the conversation before the two other boys leaving, and Morooka-sensei walking in on the student and detective. The next day follow’s the teacher’s death and the Investigation Team (IT) begin investigating their new lead.

From the words “visual” and “alive,” the niche of this stage was meant to be the fusion of live acting and visual digital projections. All seen from the stageplay with the colorful cast of actors and CG animations being projected on the screen. This offers an opportunity for characters to summon their personas, perform cool visual effects, change the backdrop, or even confront their own Shadows.

Performed in Sunshine Theater from the 15th to the 20th of March 2012. The screenplay was written and directed by Shintaro Asanuma from the theatrical group “bpm.” The video production produced by Shutaro Oku, a film director and visual planner. He later takes over as director for VISUALIVE THE EVOLUTION, the sequel stage. The stage music was produced by Shunsuke Wada, with a special show exclusive vocal track sung by Shihoko Hirata.

On this note, I haven’t seen any sort of original soundtrack released for any of the stages and I’m SO SAD. The last song in Mitsuo’s boss fight was such a BANGER and literally EVERYTHING ELSE Marvelous, Wadasan please take my MONEY

Regarding the cast, there were some special accommodations for Teddie, Rise, and Nanako, all of which did not have live actors at the time. During the casting, actors for the three characters could not be found or simply left the directors unsatisfied they couldn’t cast anybody. An exception for Rise, who was able to have a live actor in the sequel stage. It has been stated that there weren’t any “pretty boy” actors that fit the “Teddie Criteria.” While there weren’t any child actors that were believed to portray Nanako well.

Teddie was only ever seen in his bear costume while Rise was busy talking through a call, all voiced by their video game cast. Nanako has never appeared on stage, only being scarcely mentioned in the script. Again, this is different in the sequel stage where her role was extremely important and was shown as a screen projection.

VISUALIVE “Persona 4” THE EVOLUTION. A sequel stage. Beginning abruptly in the middle of Shadow Naoto’s boss fight, the story continues from there until the “true end” of the game’s original story. *Certain characters are introduced while others have been reintroduced. And on a personal note, when it’s all comedic in the beginning, it’s all for what’s coming right after.

I don’t know if I’m salty or just find it really funny AHAHA I might go talk abt it some other day with more context ehehe

Performed in The Galaxy Theater from the 3rd to the 9th of October 2012, only a few months after the PSVITA Persona 4 Golden release, which is July 2012. The screenplay was now written by Jun Kumagi while directed by Shutaro Oku. And music production finally taken over by Shoji Meguro himself.

---

HAHAHA this is starting to look like a wiki page. moving on. I might start rambling rn

(warning LONG !!!! aaa,,)

My thoughts on the stage adaptations. For the first Visualive (VL) I believe it’s pretty close to canon! I enjoy the characterization and how much love and care was present when handling the entire production.

Actors were busy playing the game itself, wherein a PS2 was present in the practice room. Along with magazines and game guides explaining the game’s story and the characters itself. Actors performing together and even improv acting together to get a grasp of their characters. All of them knowing well of Persona 4 as a well loved game, delicately handling their characters and hopefully performing them right while making the audience happy.

The staff taking care of each other while the director and video producer, Asanuma-san and Oku-san, working together well to make their vision into a reality.

The same thing happened with VL the Evolution (VLE) and literally every other good stage. Except... I feel the script kinda got out of hand with too much liberty where it feels a bit more disconnected from canon. But! It makes up for it in its content, whether comedic or (INCREDIBLY) dramatic! It’s great as its own story at that point. So in this case, I like to take the first VL and get to connect it canon, while I don’t know what the hell happened in VLE to the point I’ll just enjoy it as its own content.

These opinions deserve its own essay, post whatever bc I have SO much to say abt this. ANYWAY. VL ADACHI

---

Tohru Adachi is portrayed by Masami Itou (伊藤マサミ), a screenplay writer, director and an stage actor himself. He does have a single character voice role along with a fellow troupe member in the same franchise, but mostly works as the former three. He is part of Asanuma-san’s entertainment group “bpm.” On a similar note, Masashi Taniguchi, Dojima’s actor, was also part of their group from 2011 to 2016, which may explain their good synergy as the boss and the bumbling fool dynamic. I mean, somebody’s gotta get hit in the head every few skits.

With Masami-san being an important part of the cast, he doesn’t appear as often as Taniguchi-san in backstage content like the VL bonus disk or the official blog. Mentioned in his own personal blog, he had been busy with his roles as assistant director (I am assuming also for VL).

Also fun to note, because his role is mainly comic relief, he has been using his liberty to change up the material almost everyday making each performance exciting. This also leaves some other actors jealous of his freedom in his role, such as Saotome-san, Daisuke’s actor.

---

VL Adachi really has a... how do I say this? an adorable speech pattern (THE SAME SPEECH PATTERN THAT DROVE ME MAD TRYING TO DECIPHER I THOUGHT YOU WERE A CITY BOY OSSU OSSU MY ASS /shakes you violently/). Overall, he really fits the loose lipped bumbling fool, and his accent really makes him seem more casual and invested. What I’m saying is... VL Adachi either actually has genuine empathy or he actually has more energy to fake it (compared to some other edgelord. i mean you saw my p4ga analysis. I’m sick of him lol ahaha).

One of my favorite ways to explain this (OTHER THAN CHAIR CAR ADVENTURE MY BELOVED WE’LL GET TO THAT LATER) is the rice field scene with him and Dojima. It’s overanalyzation time 🎉

(43:04)

While investigating, Adachi whines about being tired while Dojima smacks him in the head. In this case, it’s established that Adachi doesn’t want to be there, yes? It’s the country, it’s hot and it smells like green.

"Ah... Dojima-san..! Why don't we take a break? (...) There really is nothing out here... Is the criminal still even here at all? (...) I wonder if I've passed being a rookie yet. Haha, but this city doesn't even have convenient transportation. I can't go to leisure lands (recreation, amusement parks, arcades, ect.) and head home at all."

Adachi then tries to tell Dojima a story. “when I got to this city after being newly assigned, I met an interesting guy (...) Yeah, I remember that the cherry blossoms haven't bloomed yet. So, I was driving my car and got near the station and--” Dojima gets a phone call.

Adachi politely puts his hands down waiting for his boss to finish so he can finish the story. Again and again, Adachi attempts to talk to Dojima about a story he’s so persistent trying to tell someone about. It was so 面白い that he would find someone to talk to about it. Even being polite and patient enough to wait for a chance to speak. He even gets fed up with it and blows up in front of his boss, clearly irritated he’s not given a chance to talk.

Sure, it could be Adachi feeling fed up like a normal person where someone agreed he to listen to him, before being constantly ignored. Or Adachi trying to be a more annoying whiny brat, depending on where you look at it.

If the story wasn’t too “interesting” to Adachi, he would’ve just brushed it off and stopped talking to Dojima entirely, or start up new small talk, or even complain some more. But no, he had a story he wanted to voice out so bad that he got irritated that the one person in the vicinity couldn’t listen to him.

Only after Dojima told him to continue their investigation elsewhere did Adachi finally stop and focus on something else. Maybe that story was for another day, or maybe it was never meant to be told.

What if it was just original (game) Adachi? He’d find a way to squirrel out of the investigation as usual, or push Dojima to “investigate” elsewhere. “Hey boss, don’t you think it’s hot? Why don’t we go elsewhere? We’ve seen this place too many times to count and I doubt anything new’ll turn up. How about we take a break at Junes, y’know? Where it’s cool? C’mon boss,” something like that.

og Adachi is just really annoying and silly to me. Some grown man thinking he can freeload because he never gets anything out of putting in more energy and effort? I don’t care how tall he is, I will smack him in the head.

Yeah VL Adachi whines, too, but at least it doesn’t look like he’s going to escape and waste his time somewhere else. He just sucks it up stops trying to leave the situation.

Or maybe I’m getting this all wrong and VL is exactly the same and my rage just gets dampened because of Masamisan’s execution of character hmm...

SO. What was his story about anyway? The one he really wanted to share to Dojima?

I mean... it’s obvious enough

First day in town? Spring? Actually mentioned driving a car when literally out of every single persona 4 media at the time was there not a SINGLE mention of Adachi having a car OTHER THAN the same stageplay it’s being mentioned in?

A story, from somewhere around uhh four? five months ago? was something that he remembered so dearly and was willing to share despite it obviously embarrassing him even if he puts the blame on a certain somebody in the same story?

Or maybe it’s because he really had nothing to talk about ever since he realized all his stories from the city weren’t actually that funny or interesting in the first place.

BUT then that would mean out of all the things he could talk about—more whining, complaining, complimenting, small talk—he insisted about talking about this story in particular.

Okay, look. I’m just. Just. As someone who talks too much, of course I have things I actually want people to hear out of all the bullshit that comes out of my mouth. And if the thing I actually want people to listen to doesn’t even get heard, I’d go mad.

Sure, Adachi’d be fine when his complaints or intentionally unfunny jokes get brushed off. But a story of a guy that he thought was so funny, interesting, 面白い gets ignored, he really blew up, even just for a split second, maybe.

And ALL the things that happened in that story—on his first day in Inaba! His car got dented, he had to deal with a weirdo dumbass employee that knew zero personal space, yelled in his ear, who didn’t know how to do their job, got his station reputation messed up on the first day, got his ass grabbed, got (unintentionally?) mocked for his lame stories, and got his car dented for the SECOND time. Probably MORE

And he STILL wanted to talk about it /punches through concrete wall/

yes I’m overthinking about this of course i am

This little tidbit of VL Adachi kinda makes me go insane sometimes—his entire characterization in VL in particular. It was really refreshing to see and how they included both of his characters in it, his facade and how irritated he is of a lot of things underneath. And how flexible his character is immediately working with other characters when there’s sudden improv to balance the situation. Like him and Dojima, Morooka, the attendant, or even Yuuya (hero) himself.

I’ll take Taniguchi-san’s messing around in the VL bonus backstage disc in place of Masami-san being so busy he couldn’t appear in it as often as other characters.

For stagetime that lasted for fifteen minutes or less, my appreciation for VL Adachi, even if he was just comic relief, really rocketed. I say VL, bc Adachi the edgelord he’s supposed to be in literally every other media is something I analyze separately.

I haven’t even gotten to VLE oh my GODDDDD

Like I said, I don’t really regard VLE close to canon but as something to be appreciated for what it is by itself. But the way Adachi was characterized there, in or out of character, still struck me.

---

Yes, there was his strange fan-agreed-canon which is,,, now canon obsession with cabbages (not that that’s a bad thing lmao). There was also him being a lot more jumpy and intimate in a clowny way, patting people on the shoulder or even downright hugging them just to mess around. Even FORGETTING who the same goddam loser who grabbed his ass almost a year ago is. But like, can’t blame him they literally changed their actor (and screenplay writer) AHAHAHA

ha... no more comedy, only dorky sword fights now

(speaking of sword fights I think it’s a fun thought how Mamiya-san [Izanami, also one of the youngest in the cast] admitted it was his first time doing sword fight choreography and even thanked Masami-san and other staff members for guiding him)

One thing unintentionally in character was Adachi accidentally nabbing the sushi overdosed in wasabi. Masami-san didn’t actually account for a joke sushi and didn’t immediately eat it—until Taniguchi-san (who also made Dojima go off his shits compared to VL) jokingly yelled at him and even riled up the audience for him to eat it. He even went off stage to get water just for him to eat the goddam sushi.

And Masami-san did! (kinda choked, but he’s fine).

Continuing from the same scene, while being overly giddy about sushi dinner (and I mean overly--he was singing about it while hopping to the Dojima residence), he tried to remind the two, Dojima and Hayato (hero), that Nanako was sleeping. Probably where she was sick if the scene was translated from the game.

(30:07)

And... the dramatic parts of VLE

Adachi was the one who reported to the IT that Dojima was chasing Namatame in the rain. While Naoto was discussing Namatame’s journal entries, Adachi, as giddy as he is, took it from Naoto’s hands and reveled in the discovery of evidence so childishly(?). He even ran to Dojima when he began regaining consciousness and immediately called the nurses to help him wheel Dojima to the ER.

Then, The Hospital Scene™️, right after Nanako flatlines.

(1:02:02)

Adachi, who recently walked into the scene, immediately worries about Dojima and IT who were ALL crying. He looks down, devastated—before yelling how Dojima’s heading to Namatame’s room.

He yells in terror and the same grief at his injured boss, all while running past and even jumping over children, who fell to the ground sobbing, to get to him. He continues yelling in a pained fashion while immediately reprimanding Dojima to stop. He gets carried by the collar before being tossed to the ground at Hayato’s feet, all while being pat by the same boy.

Dojima makes his speech about how unfair it is for the ‘killer’ to be alive when his daughter isn’t. When he finally falls to his knees, Adachi rises from the ground, humbly saying he’ll do his best to take care of Dojima (or something like that I’m in tears I literally can’t do VLE’s hospital scene i h8 this). He finally starts crying along with everyone else, being pushed away again but still tries again, trying to usher his boss away from the door.

With the help of the guard in front of the door, they all disappear off stage

please... I know this scene doesn’t need that much translation because of how important this scene is in the entire story. and I know my narratives aren’t enough so just,,,, just watch it please it’s so much more than this. everyone’s acting was just spectacular

(1:08:47)

So, after the IT (YOSUKE. JUST YOSUKE. good job Mae-chan) stop themselves from k wording Namatame, it was ADACHI who reported Nanako’s miracle recovery. He ran to the same corridor where they all cried in, even panting and falling to the ground in relief trying to report the good news. Then he pats Hayato on the shoulder and says he’s going to Dojima.

With this... /slaps roof of half of VLE/ ALL of this....adachi.... adachisan.... he Cares™️..... holy shit.....

now. comparing to the game. do you even remember what og Adachi did? did he.. even do anything?????

(56:39)

NO!!! he just stood there!!!! being a bumbling fool but.... inappropriately!!! man. he didn’t act concerned enough.

adachi: /walks into a bunch of kids crying outside a hospital room/ “lmao why tf are y’all crying? did uhhh what’s her face uhhh nanako. did she d word or something? rip, I guess lol” LIKE????? CAN YOU IMPLY FASTER

and then he’s like “wgat hmm Where’s Dojima-san Heading Because That’s Not The Way To His Room 🤔” and only when he’s asked he actually mentions he’s heading to Namatame’s room and still needs to get choked by a first year for the room number like..... zero consideration

and his boss??? where his daughter he loves so much just??? di*s???? and he’s so devastated he’s doing what he can that very moment while he’s so numbed of thinking of the consequences???? And adachi goes “uhh boss that’s illegal” LIKE. BITCH. /punches through a concrete wall but harder/

---

And??? His confrontation scene??? Like, I know they mashed it up w his tv confession scene to save stagetime for other scenes BUT IT WAS SO MMBMBMBMMGN /gestures in a good way/

(1:15:56)

UM?? guy behind everything??? in a vulnerable area where he could easily get physically assaulted bc hes not in the tv world w his persona?? Trash talks women like he absolute misogynist he is??? getting yelled at by a bunch of kids and YELLING BACK IN THE SAME AGITATED MANNER even TAUNTING THEM then and there to GET HIS ASS?????

og Adachi was such a pussy he got caught and just scurried off into the TV world where he ended up having powers like...ok....scared of getting beat down by a bunch of highschoolers unless you have powers...ok....

he only taunted them to get him when he was in the tv world too.....he rlly couldn’t say shit in the real world huh... lol

(yeah yeah this shows how VLE Adachi knew abt his TV world powers which would make you think if he ever went into the tv world and came back out alive. Or he’s really just a badass who doesnt give a shit abt anyone’s opinions and CAN beat anyone’s ass. i have a separate thing abt this but bc i like to laught at vle rather than overthink its own lore i might. not. idk lol)

and ??? VLE Adachi can??? He can swordfight??? he doesn’t even NEED a gun—he even reflects bullets w his blade (but apparently he can still get slapped by a flying fan more often than any other attack). His fight choreo was just...so poggers. He’s like short villains done good—like??? he’s short compared to everyone else!!! but he makes up for it for stuffing all the energy inside him while is bursts out making him him the over energetic gremlin he is!!! go VL adachi!!!!

(am I low key making fun of Madono-san in the TUUSH stageplay I’ve seen four minutes of? maybe)

OK!!! Yes I was gushing abt Masami-san again back to Adachi.

It’s portrayed that while not being afraid to admit his crimes, he also goes out of his way to be a bastard and have the gall to get a bunch of kids to fight him, one on eight. He can use a katana, probably a narrative dark reflection of the hero, Hayato which I thought was nice—and he can fight!!! It also shows his persona, yes, but...it doesn’t make it clear if he’s overwhelmed by his Shadow like in the game, where his eyes were yellow and he was emitting a dark aura.

But it gets interesting how he sees he’s getting overwhelmed and starting to lose his edge towards a bunch of kids. He falls to the ground even banging the floor like a whiny brat while literally the IT tries to tell him to turn himself in. Again, like a brat he tells everyone to shut up—before getting incapacitated. While some of the IT rejoice, he bolts up unaccepting of his defeat—before getting hit in the stomach.

(1:23:54)

And his words from when he drops his katana, “Why..?” He grabs the foldable chair against his stomach, and with a remorseful look in his eyes, he says “I’m sorry..!”

THEN HE BACKFLIPS—then Hayato slashes him.

In a tone of disbelief, he goes “no way...” and collapses to the ground, being possessed by Ame-no-Sagiri.

Blah blah blah then Teddie rockets himself into the eyeball spy cam and then they both explode aaaaa

Teddie survives but I really don’t know where Adachi went. Not even a mention by Dojima if he turned himself in or was ever found—or I need to review VLE for the 48274827482nd time hehe

WHOO then the whole cast appears for the dance number at the end of show YAHOO

[popculturebuffet]

Shadow Into Light (Lena Retrospective): Magica’s Shadow War

Hello all you happy people! And welcome back to Shadow Into Light, my look at the life and times of Lena Sabrewing. We’re in the end stretch, just two more installments after this: one covering what may be my favorite episode, and the other covering Lena’s season 3 appearances, as unlike Seasons 1 and 2 she shows up outside her own episodes fairly often and most of those apperances touch on how far she’s come or her life in some way shape or form, so I really can’t skip over them. 

But before we can get to the end of Lena’s arc, we have to once again go back where she came from. Previously I covered the one and only apperance of Minima DeSpell, a character Lena took some inspiration from. But Lena is a combination of Minima and another Ducktales 87 character but this time one from the show itself, in the same episode we meet Magica no less. Given how much frank loved the original, it’s not a huge shock one of the most vital and intresting new characters from the reboot was partially taken from an episode he probably watched 80 dozen times. So how does the original shadow stack up with her rebooted counterpart? Is the episode any good? And should I watch invincible. The answers to this question are under the cut!

To answer your question on invincible.. Yeah you should. It’s gorgeously animated, has a MASSIVELY talented and diverse cast, and perfectly adapts the original source: Adding in great new stuff and shuffling things around to work better for the pacing of a tv show. And after loosing The Tick to Amazon’s greasy clutches, not to mention Danger and Eggs and Alpha House before that with no formal cancelation so they coudln’t move elsewhere, i’m not taking any chances despite the odds being far more in invincibles favor. Check it out, just mind that it has a shocking amount of gore, if you like superheroes.  Or even if you don’t, it’s pretty much guaranteed to have someone you like doing a voice. 

Enough shilling for an unrelated show though, let’s get to this one. We open with our introduction to the De Spells. Magica is hovering over a caludron with a diabolical new plan to steal Scrooge’s #1 dime. Why? 

Or at least I didn’t. I knew why she wanted the dime itself mind you: The Dime has picked up some powerful emotoinal energy from being around Scrooge all his life as he built his fortune, made his way square and fought Teddy Roosevelt. All that good stuff. So naturally if used in a spell, that spell is going to be massively powerful. I just didn’t know what the spell was.. and now I do.. i’mmm underwhelmed. She wants it to gain the midas touch, i.e. the ablility to turn things she touches into gain, using the dime as a power source for an amulet. 

 Magica, via her potions and spells has the powers to do just about ANYTHING. And her goal is.. make some things into gold. She has a giant volcano laier, whatever resources she needs to go after Scrooge, and in this series at least can buy a haunted house on a whim. She HAS money.. why would she need this. And second... the midas touch is a bad thing. You cant’ USE or enjoy anything because it turns to gold> That was the whole fucking point of the myth. If it removes the weakness than fine.. but again it seems like a lot of effort for something with a short range and heavy possible drawbacks. I tfits her personalty to a point but even then she has better spells. I’m going more with it simply allowing her to supercharge.. is it more simplisti? yes. Does it make more sense than “Give myself a power that can easily be turned back on me by just making me touch myself “ yes, yes it is. 

Meanwhile the boys dick around playing Candid Camera with a new camera Gyro gave them that is no more advanced than your average instant camera. You’d expect this new invention to come in handy against Shadow Magica. And you’d be right. You’d expect the boys to at least suggest hte idea before the climax. You’d be wrong. This big is just.. irrtating. It’s just the boys being dicks to everyone by taking embarssing photos and really adds nothing to the episode of any remote subtsnace.

Conversley Magica continues to be the highlight, as her check in with airport security gets her through as she has no fruit. Ah the days before they throughly scanned us and most tsa jokes were about shoving hands up someone’s ass. Seriously.. why. .why is that a common joke. I’ve never had it done but unless you fully consent to it it’s not fun to get your hand up there but it was an oddly common gag for a long time.I.. really don’t get it. 

She arrives in america and buys a haunted house, to the realtor’s shock but eh it’s a sale. The black mold just makes it more sinister. Magica sicks Shadow Magica on the bin, with an elaborate plan but giving the Shadow one hour to do it because otherwise it will disapate.. given it dosen’t it’s likely more Magica trying to keep her double in line, having ran into trouble earlier with shadow her trying to steal the wallet of what I can only assume to be gus goose. So he was on vacation tha’ts where he was.. from what I don’t know he dosen’t actually do work and the house of mouse hadn’t been established yet. Maybe Gramma Duck just gives him vacation days. 

So the shadow ALMOST gets away with the dime.. but accidnetly knocks over a pedestal and warns Scrooge and the Boys, who manage to chase her off. Scrooge having only one magical nemisis in his Rogues gallery, that we know of, knows who did this and prepares for an attack.  Magica.. berates her doppleganger and while she considers a spell to power her up, decides against it since what would stop the Shadow from betraying her. The shadow agrees.. and locks Magica and Poe in a closet and makes the potion herself, taking on a creepy new form and planning to raise an ARMY of shadows. 

And here... is where the split between Lena and The Shadow is very deefinite. While Frank and Matt kept the shadow and Magica really not getting along and only working together out of necisity on both ends.. the shadow here REALLY is just magica. Just as evil and ambitious, and just as sneaky. The only diffrence between the two is the shadow’s logical weaknesses of being a shadow, i.e. light weakens her and she can only hide in darkness or other shadows, and how they were born. Shadow magica is every bit as evil and devious as the main one. I do get why she stuck in Frank’s brain though: the idea is simple but ingenious, someone’s shadow gaining sentience, and the cool tricks you get with that as she ducks and darts between shadows. It’s really good stuff and frank expertly expanded it with lena, making her basically humanoid duck other than where she came from, but still using the neat tricks with the shadow itself for Magica’s imprisoned form and later the shadow army. It’s a good example of taking a really good idea.. and making it even better, by having said shadow being deal with not being considered a person by the person who spawned her and really ramping up the idea of a shadow army, which Shadow Magica eventually summons, from about ten guys to an entire cities worth. The shadows also you know come from people instead of just thin air but semantics. Point is it’s a very good concept and done really well esepcially for the 87 cartoon, and while Frank’s take was unique and very well done, it dosen’t make the original any less good. 

And it’s shown off with a cool sequence of the shadow infiltrating the manor and nearly getting to the dime with Scrooge having rigged the place to all hell with lights as a percaution. It nearly wins but louie uses a shadow puppet to scare it off. While Scrooge ponders this latest attack Poe shows up, and offers Magica’s help.. but Scrooge rightly dosen’t want it, as he can’t trust her and only agrees when the boys bring up the power bill from keeping the lights on. 

Now getting Magica on board is not an idea: The shadow’s a threat to both of them and they need each other. The next part though.. is a bit stupid and drags the episode down a bit. Magica asks for the dime to beat the thing. Now Scrooge wisely is hesitant to do so.. but everyone else treats it like his usual greedy antics. Thing is.. it’s not. We don’t, at least in this adaptation, know what Magica wants with the thing or the full extent of what she can do with it or if she even actually needs it. While getting her help is one thing, giving her the DIME well...] ]’ii98[[

Why would you give someone you KNOW wants to use the dime to conquer the world or whatever the thing she wants? It’d be like handing Thanos the Infnity Gauntlet to take out Galactus. Yes, your handling a big problem.. but your burning the world to do it. It’s just so frustratlingly dumb. There’s a good idea in there, Scrooge being forced to lend Magica the dime, but it’s buried under Mt. Contrivance! 

So Scrooge reluctantly goes along with operation:seemed like a good idea at the time, and cleverly puts the dime in an empty stadium. Unfortuantley the lights malfunction and Shadow Magica summons MORE Shadows, and now has an army. Launchpad ends up being helpful, also he’s in this episode for some reason, by pointing out shadows need light.. and thus another logical weakness as killing the rest of the lights renders them weak and allows our heroes to lure them to the vault where Magica waits> Magica is able to weaken it with the spell.. but even with that the Shadow SITLL is too powerful.. 

Enter the cameras, which take out Shadow Magica, saving the day. We get a lesson about trusting Gyro’s gadgets for.. some reason and Scrooge stops Magica from fleeing with the dime with a shadow puppet. Smiles and cheese sandwitches all around

Final Thoughts on Magica’s Shadow War: This episode is not half bad. While the Dime Thing is mindblowingly moronic, and the camera thing is REALLY poorly set up, I have not had a more apt use for that Scott Pilgrim Panel yet, the sheer concept and June Foray’s sheer force of personality as both magica’s makes it work. It’s a fun, engaging adventure and a solid chonk of classic ducktales. As for how it relates to Lena it does so decently. But with this our side trips are at an end. Only two episodes left! And then onward to the lilo and stitch crossover arc! Yes really. Kev wanted a buffer before getting to the Season 2 arcs and I loved tha tshow as a kid so why the fuck not. 

Next Time on Shadow Into Light: Lena gets welcomed to prime time bitch as Magica pulls a freddy and stalks her through her dreams. Sadly she did indeed forgot about the power glove. Can the rest of the kids break away from dreams of high school musicals, becoming a garfild, giant legs and libraries long enough to save Lena? Will we have a very queer in the best way possible musical number about Lena and Webby’s anniversary? Will I talk about Huelet? In order, yes, yes, and probably. But join me anyways won’t you. 

If you liked this reviews, subscribe for more. If you have a ducktales episode from seasons 1 and 2 of the reboot or the whole of the 87 series, drop me a line through my ask box, my dm’s or my discord, technicolormuk#6550. Reviews or only 5 bucks an episode for tv. Other prices on the blog. Or if you can’t spare that much, join my patreon. Even a buck or two a month helps reach my stretch goals and the more of those I hit the more disney content you get a month. The current one is only 5 bucks away. I’m 15 and if I hit 20 that guarantees a darkwing duck review every month AND reviews of the super ducktales mini series. But if you can’t that’s cool and I get it times are hard, it’s why I have to shill so hard. But until the next rainbow, it’s been a pleasure. 

[lofitojii]

PART [I] Guardian Angel

*★*――――*★**★*――――*★**★*――――*★*

Summary: You are a new sidekick to the number two hero of Tokyo, Hawks. You team up with another sidekick, Bakugou, in an ongoing investigation on a serial killer. Unexpected interactions happen that flip the whole case around causing new, confusing feelings which alter your relationships in ways you never saw coming. 

Word Count: 4.6k

Warning: Minor Swearing 

A/N: It’s HERE!!! The new series I’ve been working on for the last month is finally planned out and I’m super excited about it! Please let me know what you think, there will be posts made for discussions before the new part is released. 

NOTE: This is not following the current story at all. The League of Villains do not play any part in this at all, only Dabi. 

Guardian Angel Master List

*★*――――*★**★*――――*★**★*――――*★*

The fall air was crisp, every inhaled breath chilling your body from the inside out. The leaves looked as if they were on fire, the deep crimson, the burnt orange, lighting up the grey world they resided in. This was your favorite time of year, when you could visibly see the seasons change. Despite the fact the darkest part of the year was right around the corner, you were looking forward to all of it. This year was going to be different, you could feel it ridden within you.

It was your first day at your new job, completely unaware and new to the area. You had moved in the weekend prior, receiving the job through a simple phone call interview. You had no idea who or what your new boss looked like. All you knew is that you were hand picked from a group of qualifying sidekicks to the number 2 hero, Hawks. Apparently he is a very busy man, and the only thing you knew about him was that his quirk was similar to yours. Except he can’t put his wings away. 

How can you not know who the number 2 hero is? Well, coming from a rather small town where you worked 7 days a week kind of took up most of your free time, and when you did get a moment to yourself, you were either reading or spending time with the locals. You didn’t care much for TV or the news or social media. You enjoyed quality time and company, something most people didn’t really understand. 

Your quirk was known as the ‘Angel Quirk’ meaning you had white wings that grew in size under your control, whenever you pleased. You also had a healing factor to your quirk, using your feathers as a type of medicine as well. You were a Pro Hero’s sidekick back in your home town but received an email one morning that read: 

Dear Y/N,

After doing intense research and speaking to your most recent employer and university teachers, you have been chosen to accompany Japan’s number 2 hero, Hawks, as his personal sidekick with the goal of becoming one of Japan’s very own perosnal Pro Heroes. According to your employer, he has said he feels you have greater potential that you can’t utilize in your small town. Please give us a call or email us back. Thank you!

-Hawks Agency

You had no idea your previous employer had reached out until you received that letter. You didn’t mind doing small hero work here and there in your small town but when your boss stressed to you that you could be and do more, you decided to reach out. You didn’t know what you were expecting but you had received the job within the first 10 minutes of your interviewl. 

So that’s where you are now, downtown Tokyo, trying your best to understand how the train systems worked. Yeah, you could’ve just flown there but you didn’t want to make a scene before debuting with your new boss. It was just something you had decided, thinking that maybe an article would be released about a new hero coming to town rather than being seen with Hawks himself first. You didn’t want to come off as rude or arrogant, even though you knew you were probably overthinking the situation. 

You just wanted to make a good impression, regardless of what your old boss had said about you. They already have this idea of you, and you wanted to live up to that idea. Your boss did speak highly of you, you didn’t want to let anyone down, mainly yourself. 

“Damn, this city is huge,” you cursed out loud, looking up from the city map you had picked up at the subway stop before you hopped on. “So if that’s the coffee shop, then I still have about a good mile or two before I get to the agency building. Maybe I should use my wings to get the- OOF!” you were hit in the back, causing you to choke on your words and stumble over onto the cement. 

“Sorry!” You looked up to see a man, his red wings casting a long shadow over you. “Didn’t see ya there! Sometimes I’m too fast for my own damn good.” He reached his hand out, letting you tightly grip it as he helped you up. 

“You’re good, I was the one standing there like a mindless idiot,” you joked, reaching down to pick up the things you had dropped due to your collision. When you stood up, you noticed that he was already gone. Wow, so much for being polite. He said sorry but what does that mean when he just flies off without saying anything else? Whatever, you had to get to work so you just decided to brush it off. 

You expanded your white wings, trying your best to fly higher than the city clouds in order to keep people from seeing you. You thought to yourself that maybe this was the best route to work, clear yet cold skys. Not to mention you would cut your full trip in half. You landed in front of the office building, retracting your wings back to its original, small size before entering the building. You approached the girl that was sitting behind a desk, tapping away at her keyboard. You cleared your throat before interrupting. “Hi, I’m the new sidekick Y/N. Just wondering where I need to go?” You asked the front receptionist you guided you towards the elevators. 

“It’s the top floor,” she smiled. “Good luck, Miss Y/N.” You let out a sigh of relief as you stood in the elevator alone. Your day had just barely started and yet you could feel yourself already growing tired of everything. Your temper was rather short today, that man setting something off in you when he left without saying anything. Thank god you didn’t have to worry about him anymore. Tokyo was a rather large city, what are the chances of running into him a second time? You tried your best to shake off the incident that took place this morning, not wanting it to ruin your full day ahead of you. 

You walked up to the giant wooden doors, knocking twice before opening them. You were greeted with a huge open window, a single desk sitting in the middle of the room with a beautiful view behind it. There were bookshelves lined with literature you had read or had planned to read. “Similar tastes,” you whispered as you traced along the backbone of the books. The room was empty, leaving you alone to examine the things you found interesting to you. 

“You like what you see?” Wait a second… That voice... “You must be the new sidekick. How’s it going? I’m Hawks.” You turned around and were faced with the man that had knocked you over earlier. For some reason, dread took over, your actions visible to the man standing in front of you. “Why the long face?” 

“You’re kidding me, right?” you scoffed, the man giving you a blank look. “You literally knocked me off my feet earlier? I dropped everything?” He was still giving you that stupid blank look. “You’re joking…” 

“OH! I remember now. Yeah sorry about that,” he scratched the back of his head nervously. “I was in a hurry.” Wow...

“Obviously.” You rolled your eyes at his comment, unimpressed with the lack of remorse that came through his tone. You felt as if this relationship would be decided here, right now, just based on the way you were feeling as he stood there, a stupid grin plastard on his face. You let out a deep sigh, trying to regulate your breathing so you wouldn’t lash out on your new boss who was standing inches away from you. “I guess I’ll introduce myself since we’ll be working together. My name is Y/N L/N, I’m from a small town about 4 hours out of Tokyo. My quirk is known as the ‘Angel Quirk’ meaning I can do anything you can but better.” 

“Woah, woah,” he stopped you, waving his hands in the air. “That’s a pretty bold statement, newby. What do you mean ‘better’?” 

“I mean I can hide my wings if I want to, and also can expand them when I choose. They regenerate within the hour, I can use them to heal both internal and external wounds depending on how severe the injury is. I can also use them as weapons, hardening them as I please.” 

“Okay but can you use them to listen to things? Do you have the ability to use them as an extension of you? As in, can you use them to listen or to track?” He was grilling you with questions, almost as if you struck a nerve with him. It was quite amusing to see him all flustered like this.

“I can use them to track things within a certain radius, the further away from the feather, the harder it is for me to make things out.” He furrowed his brows, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff. 

“Okay yeah, your quirk is better in some parts but that doesn’t make you better than me.” 

“I never said I was better than you, I only said my quirk was better. You’re the number 2 hero for a reason, I have no doubt in your skill at all.” He really got his feelings hurt that bad by your comment? Talk about a fragile ego. 

He let out a sigh, sounding a little grumpy in his words as he went through the paperwork with you. “Oh and take this,” He handed you a bag, his cheeks flushed red. “I don’t know what it looks like but the design team came up with it since we do have similar quirks.” 

“A new costume?” You raised an eyebrow, looking at the fabric with the paper bag. It was a body suit, like an actual teddy style body suit, a pair of sheer tights, and some knee high boots. There was also a pair of yellow goggles, matching the ones Hawks were wearing. “What if people think we’re dating?” You didn’t really think about it much until Hawks gave you your new costume that was almost identical in color to his. It was balck and gold, just like his shirt, the cropped jacket being a deeper shade of brown, just like his jacket. 

“And? So what if they do? I wouldn’t mind faking it,” he smirked, winking directly at you. He began to laugh as you reached your hand to hide your crimson cheeks. They were warm, you knew his comment made you blush, and so did he.

“Shut the hell up,” you responded, biting your lip. “I’m going to request a new jacket at least. I’m sorry but this color is hideous with the black.” 

“You really think so?” he asked, looking at his own jacket. “Well in that case, I’ll ask for them to give us black ones.” 

“White,” you stopped him. “I want a white one.” 

“White it is, m’lady,” he bowed, getting up from his seat. He leaned over his desk, transitioning from his bowed state, coming face to face with you. He was so close you could smell the lingering fragrance of mint coming from his breath. “I’m excited to work with you.” You quickly got up, bowing in response all in one quick motion, knocking your head with his. It was loud, painful, and embarrassing all within the 30 seconds that it took place. “Ow ow ow ow ow,” he rubbed his forehead, exposing the red bump that was getting ready to form. 

You were quick to pluck two white feathers from the right side of your back, leaning over the desk and pressing it to his forehead. “Hold still,” you struggled to get out as Hawks winced in pain. You let out a deep breath, focusing on the feather in your hand. It was quick to dissolve, leaving Hawks in awe with what had just happened. He sat back down, watching you apply the same treatment to yourself. 

“Wow,” he breathed, still in shock from what just took place. “Your quirk really is cool.” 

“The only downside to my healing is that it’s only possible with the right side of my wings. The left side doesn’t have the same ability,” you admitted while sitting back down, your wings returning to their smaller size so you were able to sit more comfortably. Hawks just sat there, gobsmacked with the events that just occurred. “To be honest, we gotta get this whole bumping into each other thing under control.” 

“You’re telling me,” he whispered, leaning back in his own seat. He finally snapped back into reality after being lost within himself. “Go change into your new costume and I’ll put the order in for the white coat. You’re going on patrol today with one of my other sidekicks. He’s newer to the team so it will be good for you two to get comfortable with each other. I will warn you though, he’s a bit of a hot head. Short temper, super egotistical. Great guy though, you’ll love him.” 

“He sounds wonderful,” you noted sarcastically. You were soon interrupted by the sound of the door opening, being greeted with a blonde haired man with quite the aggressive scowl. 

“What the hell did you say, you damn bird?” You turned your head, taking notice to his rather large grenade equipment covering his forearms. Those have to be super heavy, the look like they weigh more than the man himself. 

“There you are! Bakugou, I’d like you to meet your new partner, Y/N! You guys are going to be working together from here on out. You’re still my sidekicks, so we’re still a team here but when it comes to the more lowkey stuff, like investigations and patrolling, you guys will be working together.” Did he really just say ‘lowkey’? How old is this guy? He’s got to be older than you, having started his own agency, right? 

“Yeah, whatever,” Bakugou growled. Hawks wasn’t kidding when he said this guy was a hot head, the vibe he was giving off really intimidated you. But then again, you weren’t one to take shit, not even from some punk coworker with a short temper. “I’m leaving in 10. Better hurry you noob.” 

“Noob?” You questioned, grabbing your things and following Bakugou out the room. You stopped before you reached the door, turning around and bowing towards Hawks. “Thank you!” 

“Good luck, kid!” He waved back, his smile sweet and reassuring. You had experienced something rather unpleasant that morning with Hawks, only to find out he was your new boss. He seemed to be quite the air head, or at least spacey in some aspect. He was interesting to you, and for some reason you wanted to know more about him. The fact he had asked for you specifically out of all the other applicants was even more interesting to you. Did he choose you for another reason? Was it because you had a similar quirk to his? As time goes on, you can only hope that you’ll uncover these hidden secrets you were so focused on. He didn’t need to tell you he was hiding anything, you could just feel something in his aura. 

You followed Bakugou who led you to the women's locker room, telling you he would wait outside the door for you to be finished. He actually told you to ‘hurry the fuck up’ but you just rolled your eyes at his demand. You thought to yourself that if anyone else would have been paired up with this guy, you were sure they would resign due to his attitude. You weren’t one to give up, though. You were here for a reason, having a set goal that wasn’t about to be ruined due to some smart asses comments. Not to mention, the children in the foster home you grew up in were mean as hell. 

When you put on the outfit, you were flustered by how revealing it was. You did mention that you needed flexibility in your costume but you didn’t think it was going to be some kind of lingerie set. Hopefully the coat you requested is available soon, thinking that maybe it would help cover up some of the more revealing parts. 

You exited the locker room, only things on you being your Hero License and your outfit. Bakugou handed you an ear piece, letting you know it’s used for the both of you, two other side kicks and Hawks himself. “So what exactly are we doing today?” You asked, exiting the building with Bakugou by your side. 

“We’ve been asked to investigate the west side of town. Rumor has it that some dick head guy has been spotted frequently in the area who has been linked to a chain of murdered victims. All the bodies have similar burn marks, as if it’s this guys sick way of marking his work. Our job is to try and see if we can narrow down his exact location.” You had read over the file prior to moving to the city, being asked by the agency so that way you weren’t too behind on what was going on. 

Description: Black hair, scars covering majority of his body, black coat, black shoes, distressed jeans. Last known location: West Tokyo. Number of bodies linked to crime: 12. 

“Well then,” you started, letting your wings grow to their full capability. You reached your hand out towards Bakugou, signaling for him to grab on. 

“What the hell? What are you doing? I don’t need your fucking help.” 

“I get that but if you let me carry you, we could cut our trip time in half and with it being fall, almost winter, it’s going to get dark soon. I have no doubt that you can get there by yourself but if we want to play it smart and more efficient,” you sang, reaching your hand out again for him to take, letting your actions finish your statment. He wasn’t happy about the idea but he knew you were right, making it obvious by his aggressive huff. 

You wrapped Bakugou up in your arms, taking off the second you knew you had a secure grip on him. With flying to the west side of town, it really did cut the travel time in half, leaving you an extra hour or so to investigate, much longer than what the estimated time stated. “Land there!” Bakugou yelled, pointing at the roof of a mini mart that was placed in between two rather tall buildings. You released your grip on him, his immediate reaction being annoyed and bothered by the ‘wind’ and you ‘flying too damn fast’. You just ignored his remarks, letting him take the lead on the investigation so he would stop complaining. 

“How long have you worked for Hawks?” You asked, taking a seat next to Bakugou. He lowered his glasses that matched both yours and Hawks’, using them to enhance his sight towards the ground below. 

“Why do you care?” He growled, avoiding any sort of eye contact with you. 

“Well I don’t but if we’re going to be working together, I think it’s important that we have a bearable relationship, don’t you agree?” 

“No I don’t. I don’t care who you are or where you come from. We’re co workers, that’s it.” You didn’t expect Bakugou’s words to hurt as much as they did. You barely met the guy and he’s already made his decision on how the relationship was going to be. A part of you wanted to just let it go, to just accept the fact that he didn’t care for personal relationships, but the other part, the part of you that always got you into trouble, wanted to know and be more with him. 

“Well I care,” you finally blurted out, causing Bakugou to finally look over at you. “I’m not saying that we have to be friends but if we want to be a strong team, we have to get to know each other on a more personal level. I can see you’re very strong and I also know that we could be really good together. So ignore me all you want but I’m not going to stop asking.” He looked puzzled, as if no one had ever bothered to speak to him like this. It was as if he was thrown into foreign territory and had to figure out how to navigate to the sudden outburst. 

“3 months,” he answered, immitadly turning away from you. You couldn’t help but smile at the small achievement you had accomplished. It wasn’t something drastic or something to celebrate, but you took it as a win regardless.  

After sitting on the roof for a good half hour, you had decided to take street view, letting Bakugou keep the high ground. You were told that the suspect wore a black coat, had dark features, but the main identifier being his scars. He wore the black coat to hide his arms and body and wore a face mask to hide the scars that are suspected to be on his face. 

After mindlessly walking for what felt like forever, Bakugou finally came through the ear piece. “Angel, there’s a man fitting our description on the other side of the street, walking towards your direction.” You were quick to react, trying to spot any signs of a man in a dark coat. You thought you were going to lose him in the crowd, having to make your way through groups of people walking in your opposite direction. 

“Bakugou, I don’t-” You were suddenly cut off, being pushed back by the force of colliding with another person. You lost your balance, falling straight onto the concrete sidewalk below you. “Ouch…” You winced in pain, the collision of your bum hitting the hard concrete rattling you a bit. You looked up to see what it was that you had bumped into, Bakugou screaming in your ear before you could put the pieces together. 

“THAT’S HIM!” You made eye contact, complete shock written across your facial features as you stared directly at the man you had been looking for. 

“Here,” he reached his hand out, offering to help you up from your fall. “Sorry about that. It’s easy to get caught up in these crowds.” You were hesitant to take his hand but did it anyways, knowing that you had to diminish any sort of suspicion. His hand was rough to the touch, as if it was scared more so than dry skin. You noticed his stitches that held his scars together, slightly grazing over them as you released. “Oh uhh.. I got these cause my quirk is too strong for me to really handle.” The man seemed to be around your age, his whole appearance matching the description you were given. 

What do I do? 

“Oh I wasn’t meaning to stare,” you hesitantly assured him, trying to awkwardly laugh off the situation. 

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” he finally changed the subject, the new topic being just as stressful as the last. 

“Oh yeah I’m new to town! Just doing an internship so I’m still kind of new to all of this. I’m just out patrolling the area, making sure nothing bad happens. Ya know, the normal hero stuff.” You awkwardly scratched the back of your head, avoiding eye contact as best as you could. In all honesty, you wanted to cut this conversation short and let Bakugou track him to wherever he was planning on going, but your mind had gone blank. You were unable to think of an out so instead, you had to let the conversation carry on until you found an opening. 

“Well I bet people will feel better having such a pretty hero like you around to keep them safe.” Woah woah woah… Did he really just call you pretty? And are you actually blushing right now at his comment?? Get it together Y/N! 

“Eh- haha. I mean I’m just doing my job, just like any other hero.” Please leave. Please go away. Please give me an opening to get out of here.

“I guess I’ll be seeing a lot more of you then?” His smile was everything but welcoming. You could see that this man wasn’t someone who found heroes pleasant to begin with. The uneasy feeling you had when you made eye contact the first time started to grow, causing you to internally panic. “Cute wings. Reminds me of another Pro Hero I see flying around here sometimes.”

“Uh… Who?” You asked, trying your best to play dumb. He furrowed his brows, your response coming off more suspicious than before. “I’m sorry. Like I said, I’m new here and I don’t even know who I work for. I was just sent here as soon as I got there so I haven’t really met anyone.” 

“Huh. Well I’m sure you’ll meet him soon. Especially if you have wings like that,” he said, pointing to your enlarged wings. “He’s a pretty big fan of people who have similar quirks to his.” 

“I’ll definitely have to keep an eye out then. Sounds like we’d get along.” 

“The names Dabi, by the way. And you are?” Did he really just tell you his name? Was the whole ‘play dumb’ act really working? Could this be some kind of message that he wants to send to Hawks since he was the one who mentioned him? 

“You can call me Angel,” you responded, knowing it was better to offer your hero name rather than your real one. You chose the hero name ‘Angel’ because it could be taken as either a hero name or even a birth given name. 

“Angel,” he repeated, barely above a whisper. “Fitting.” You didn’t respond this time, wanting to let the conversation end there which Dabi caught onto. “Well I’ll let you get back to work Angel. I hope I see you again.” And with that, he was gone, disappearing from your view into the crowd of people.

You were quick to make your way around the block so that way you could communicate with Bakugou without having to worry about Dabi overhearing anything if he had happened to still be in ear shot distance. “Angel what happened!? Did you get anything?” 

“I’ll come find you! Just keep tracking him! I’m on my way!” you told Bakugou before lifting off above the city. You were quick to spot Bakugou who was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, keeping a steady pace and decent distance between him and the suspect. Once Bakugou stopped, you took that as a sign to land on the closest building and follow Bakugou’s actions so that way you could keep a low profile since the suspect now knew who you were. You mentally kicked yourself in the butt, knowing that you should’ve just left after he helped you up. 

“What did he say?” Bakugou barked, his vision focused on the cluster of buildings in front of him. 

“Well I got his name.” 

“And?” He looked over at you, his expression completely unreadable. Were you going to get in trouble for making contact? And on the first day too? 

“Dabi.” Bakugou’s face went white, his expression telling you that maybe they knew more about the suspect than they were telling you. “Bakugou, who’s Dabi?” 

“I pinpointed the location. Let’s get back to the agency and report to Hawks what we found.” 

“I’m not taking us anywhere until you tell me who this Dabi guy is!” 

“Suit yourself you dumb bird.” He was quick to blast off, making his way back in the direction of the agency. You were in shock by his sudden outburst, creating quite the distance between you two. What is going on? You were so confused, only being left more in the dark as Bakugou ignored your multiple questions. 

Snap out of it Y/N! Follow him! 

“What- Bakugou!!”

[i-just-wanna-be-called-sparkle]

Okay. Killer Teddie AU time. Full spoiler warning ahead for P4 and even a bit of P5. Full timeline of all events in order up ahead. Smaller details and ideas at the very end of it. Some of this might not make sense or have an explanation because, at the time, I hadn’t finished base game Persona 4 and had no idea of stuff like Izanami, Sagiris, and so on and so forth. Even now, I haven’t yet finished P4G. The next time I work on this AU will be after I’ve finished P4G and have a good grasp on everything to change what doesn’t make sense and add stuff that does. For now take what I’ve worked on thus far. Sorry if some of my explanations are a little wonky. Extremely fucking long post ahead, I’m seriously not joking around this time.

And, before I start, I’m not the only one who worked on the AU! This is a team project between me and my gf! I know it’s not much to say, but I want to give half of the credit to her rather than taking all of it for myself, cuz while a lot of these ideas came from me, a lot came from her, too.

So, let me explain why Teddie’s a killer in the first place. It starts when he’s still just a mindless Shadow, and he comes face to face with a group of Persona users that existed long before the investigation team, consisting of Tohru Adachi, Mayumi Yamano, and a lot of miscellaneous unnamed characters who may or may not be made into proper characters in the futures. Why this first group existed and consists of those characters is one of those things that hasn’t been fully thought through yet. But, one thing’s for sure, they love going into the TV world and just beating up Shadows for fun every once in a while. At this point in the story, Shadows aren’t necessarily hostile yet, so basically, Teddie witnesses a bunch of his own kind get slaughtered for no reason and, probably because he’s starting to grow some kind of consciousness at this point, goes buck wild and kills the whole group save for Tohru Adachi, who manages to escape. This is how Mayumi Yamano meets her demise and also, how Teddie grows a proper body - it isn’t that bear suit of his though, it’s a human body, most likely the result of humans being the only thing he was exposed to aside from Shadows in that world. From that point forward, a fiery hatred for humans begins to develop within him.

Y’know how Teddie’s real crafty, making those glasses for the Investigation Team to use to see better in the TV world? Well, after a while, he decides he’s tired of walking around bear naked and makes himself some clothes to wear. Those fingers aren’t dexterous for nothing. Not too long after he makes these clothes, Saki ends up in the TV world - for another reason that wasn’t thought through well enough yet, but it’s something like she has a Persona too. This AU is very generous with who gets Personas, I know, please bear with it for now. She ends up bumping into Teddie, the two interact, and because Saki’s a little bitch she finds Teddie to be quite strange, what with the way he talks and how he apparently “comes from the TV world,” and is very verbal about it - very rude about it, too. This first impression with a new human + Teddie’s already intensifying hatred for humans = Saki’s gruesome demise. “Are all humans like this?” Is what Teddie thinks. “Are they all cruel? Are they all mean?” Teddie now has a stronger hate for Humanity that only grows stronger and stronger the more he’s forced to sit in that quiet TV world and think and think and think and think about it.

And along with that hate for humanity, comes a hate for his current human form. So he crafts himself that bear suit of his, and wears it all the time - I believe he also makes it so whatever he bumps into next doesn’t think he’s weird sounding or weird speaking or weird… looking, which, I’ll describe now rather than at the end of the post. Teddie doesn’t look all that different, but the main changes are that his eye colour is now a duller, greyer shade of blue, he is overall even paler, and he is also a lot skinnier. No real reason for these design choices aside from self indulgence without going too overboard. Moving on from that, not too long after he makes the suit is when Chie and Yu and Yosuke go in for the first time. Teddie keeps on a facade of innocence and happiness for a “good first impression,” and nothing changes from then up until the appearance of Yosuke’s Shadow. Since a Shadow is the side of oneself that they don’t want to acknowledge or see, it’s chock full of bad traits and negative emotions - further solidifying Teddie’s belief that all humans are just awful, sinful, nasty creatures.

One thing that Isn’t well thought out at all, and something that I have no clue where to put on the timeline, is this whole deal between Teddie and Namatame. Basically, Teddie communicates with Namatame through the TV (can’t remember if he just talks through it, or sticks his head through), and convinces Namatame to start pushing people in not to save them, but for something along the lines of how he “secretly wants them to die.” Maybe it was because Namatame shares Teddie’s beliefs of humanity being repulsing, but it’s too vague a memory to make heads or tails of it. Don’t know how things would work out without it, though, so it’s sticking around as is for now.

Also, as of right now in the AU, the IT is completely unaware of Teddie’s human form hiding right under his bear form/bear suit. Good lord, I am already tired of typing this all out, this post is so long. Still got a long way to go, kind of.

Here’s another loose idea that hasn’t been fully thought about, and it’s when Teddie encounters his Shadow in Rise’s dungeon. My memories are a bit foggy on this one, but I’ll try my best to remember. So, his encounter with his Shadow stays largely the same, with maybe a couple of his Shadow’s lines being changed to represent how not only is he hiding originally being a Shadow from his teammates, but also how he’s hiding the fact that he’s the killer they’re trying to find - all of it is too vague for the IT to piece together, though. But also a thing that’s changed is his reaction to his Shadow is a LOT more aggressive, a slip up to show a small glance of his true personality - but again, the IT doesn’t think anything of it because, Teddie’s facing his Shadow here, of COURSE he’s going to act different when he’s coming face to face with a part of himself he wants to ignore. Eventually, he manages to accept his Shadow, but for one way or another, a second Shadow starts to develop within him. Maybe it’s because he only partially accepted his Shadow, maybe it’s because of something else - like he didn’t accept his Shadow for the right reason, I can’t remember. But it starts to develop. I remember wanting to give him a second persona akin to what Akechi has in p5 - one for lies, and one for truths, but this is one of those things that will either need to be completely cut out or heavily modified in my opinion.

Teddie kills more frequently in this AU. In between when he’s helping the IT rescue people from the TV world, he’s throwing in people on the night that it fogs up so the IT doesn’t have time to see people appear on the TV/doesn’t have time to go in and save them, resulting in their deaths. Teddie so far has only thrown in people who have been assholes or scum in his eyes, and these are the only people that end up dying in the TV world even with the advent of the IT. Teddie gets away with this by sneaking out at night sometimes and either witnessing these people do disgusting things, or overhearing about it. Two candidates/victims are the two girls from Yosuke’s social link (hopefully you know who I mean) and the bully/bullies from Chie’s social link. Though, for the two girls, I like the idea of it being AFTER Teddie comes to the real world for real and shows off his human form, and starts working at Junes. He’s “working overtime,” late at night, calls up those two girls and asks them to come to Junes to “help him stock shelves” - “I’ll make sure you and your friend get payed extra for it. I’ll take it out of Yosuke’s paycheck.” Next thing you know, they’ve been knocked out and thrown into the TV because they’re heartless assholes in his eyes.

Only way Teddie would get away with a killing like that, though, is through having an outfit to disguise himself from Junes’ security cameras - so, at some point in the timeline, that’s what he does. Repurposes his old clothes from the TV world into an outfit to disguise his identity, to let him keep killing, and he keeps it tucked away either somewhere in the real world or in the TV world. He probably does this before he “becomes human,” so that his clothes are kept secret from the IT team, and that whole “I’m like a newborn in here” scene can happen.

Also, just for clarification, that hate Teddie felt for Yosuke’s Shadow? And how it solidified his hatred for humanity yet further, and his belief that they are all scummy beings? This keeps happening for every single Shadow he sees. Chie’s, Yukiko’s, Kanji’s, etc.

Mitsuo Kubo is the only one thrown in by Teddie who doesn’t die, so that the plot can progress normally, but also because it probably went something like this. Teddie sneaks out late at night to find more disgusting humans to kill, to “purge the earth of such horrendous beings,” and comes across Mitsuo killing Morooka. A human? Committing murder? A human being slaughtering another human being? How sinful. How disgusting. How treacherous. Teddie has to deal with this immediately. So he throws Mitsuo into the TV world without waiting for the fog to settle first (it’s too dire of a situation to ignore, after all). He’s kind of hypocritical, thinking Mitsuo is a terrible person for committing murder (he is, though) and then going right ahead and throwing him in the TV, aiming to kill. He’s just cleansing the world, though - that’s how he sees it.

Also, I believe for most nights when he decides to sneak out, he’s wearing his disguise outfit, so that he doesn’t get caught if he’s in a situation like that where he kills someone on a whim - or just to avoid being caught when he’s out so late snooping around for more victims. Random fun fact by the way: the idea for this whole AU started from the fact that Teddie could use his knowledge of the TV world and how it works to easily get away with using it to commit crimes. Moving on now.

Another thing that doesn’t yet have a place in the timeline is this small thing. I like to think Teddie has a tendency to stay up later into the night because of his occasional nightly outings, and he doesn’t really have enough time to fix his sleep schedule - or he actually just CAN’T. But anyways, he’s keeping himself busy at night while he can’t sleep, maybe playing on an old console in Yosuke’s room, when Yosuke wakes up and starts talking to him until he also gets tired enough to fall back asleep. He says to Teddie that he’s worried about him. “You’ve got bags under your eyes, and you’re basically made of flesh and bone.” He says. Maybe Teddie’s skinny enough his ribs show a little. “This isn’t the first time you’ve stayed up this late, either. Like you’re restless about something.” Sometimes Teddie just paces around the room until he gets tired enough to pass out. “And, what time is it, like, 2:00 AM? I’m really worried about you, Ted.” And that really gets to Teddie. He starts to cry. Here he is, devoting his time to hating humanity, to killing humans, to putting on a happy go lucky, innocent facade around his “friends” to hide his true nature and keep himself emotionally distant from them - and poor Yosuke over here is oblivious to it all, worrying for his dear friend and roommate like this is all unnatural when it’s what he truly is on the inside. And for just a moment, Teddie feels truly bad, and he just keeps crying and crying and crying, probably while Yosuke holds him and tries to comfort him, until he exhausts himself, goes to sleep, and pushes it all out of his head the next morning. But on that night, he had let his guard drop, and he had let himself be vulnerable, and he had allowed himself to get a little closer to Yosuke - a little more attached to him than before. It was only a little, but it was enough to be concerning… it was “just a little” too much for comfort. He can’t let himself get close to that thing.

Oh no, I’m starting to lose focus. We’re nearing the end now. So, you know how Teddie makes that promise to Nanako, right? That he’ll stay in their world to play with her and such? He probably makes the same promise in this AU.

I say probably, because depending on wether he did or not leads to two separate endings, and I can’t decide on which I like more.

So, if he DOES make the promise, HE’S the one who pushes Nanako in. The reason? He’s getting too attached. He’s letting his guard down around a human, and that scares him. He’s getting emotionally attached and invested, and that scares him. He’s starting to care about something that he hates with all of his heart, and that scares him. So he pushes her into the TV, because he’s not allowed to do that, because all humans are evil - no exceptions. This results in Teddie being outed because, when Nanako dies in the hospital (don’t know how that happens yet without Namatame, plothole), he can’t handle the guilt anymore. It’s overwhelming him, suffocating him, drowning him. He falls to the floor, completely breaking down, screaming and sobbing about how it’s all his fault. Then, he either runs out of the room and throws himself into a TV after realizing he’d outed himself, or Yosuke throws him into a TV in a fit of rage and because he feels like Teddie betrayed his trust by pretending to act all innocent when he was the killer.

If he DOESN’T make the promise, or at least, doesn’t get attached, Namatame throws her into the TV and things play out the exact same until they get to the top of Heaven, where Teddie completely loses his shit at Namatame. Maybe he goes to beat the fuck out of him, maybe he’s screaming and shouting at him, in any case, he’s showing his raw personality now. That isn’t what outs him, though - it’s Namatame. “I recognize you.” He says, either through his voice or his appearance. “Why are you so mad at me? I’m doing what you told me to. I’m doing what you want.” Something along those lines. “What?” The IT reacts. “Teddie, is this true? Have you been lying to us?” And the only thing Teddie can do is freeze up, and run away, out of the dungeon - probably not without beating up Namatame a little more for outing him. “Fuck you.” It’s like an endless stream of insults and vulgar language pour from his mouth. “You’ve gone ahead and exposed me, you bitch. You little shit. I hate you. It’s all your fault.”

Now on to Teddie’s dungeon. This part is, uh… Pretty dark. General content warning for death ahead.

So, to contrast Nanako’s dungeon Heaven, Teddie’s dungeon is Hell. There are two concepts for this dungeon though - one is that it’s just conventional catholic/christian Hell, and the other was that it’s based off of/is the frozen over Hel in norse mythology. Because, Teddie has ice attacks, you know? But they’re both largely the same, if not visually. In the earlier floors, there are some objects strewn around like burnt and torn up images of Teddie and the IT, Teddie and Nanako, his bear suit, and maybe one or two other objects of some importance to him. The voices that are heard at the beginning of all the early floors consist of Teddie sobbing and dealing with his inner turmoil of hating humans but getting attached to the likes of Yosuke, Nanako, the IT overall, and the like. “They’re humans.” He thinks. “They’re humans, and all humans are awful. I hate all of them. But I love them. They’re different… They’re nice to me. I don’t deserve it.” “Maybe humanity isn’t so bad after all…” “*sobbing* I’m sorry, Nana-Chan…”

You know how earlier dungeons like Yukiko’s and Kanji’s have that floor in the middle of the dungeon where you encounter the Shadows and that weird title card thing appears? That exists in Teddie’s dungeon, and on the floor right before it, the voice at the beginning of the floor is just Teddie screaming hysterically, maybe even crying. Why? Well, when you go to that next floor…

There’s Teddie. Standing in front of the hanging corpses of Nanako and Yosuke, hesitantly reaching out to them like he can’t process what he’s looking at. And when the IT calls out to him from behind him, the way he looks at them is estranging. He looks terrified, he has to do a double take because one second he was staring at Yosuke’s corpse, then the next moment, he was looking at him, perfectly alive, with the IT. They try and reach out to him, but he’s like a spooked wild animal, and he runs away to the next floor.

The later floors are now decorated with Nanako and Yosuke’s corpses, possibly even the rest of the IT, and the voices now are just Teddie arguing with himself and screaming hysterically, like he’s going insane being in such a horrible place, like he’s becoming more and more deranged with every passing moment. “This is how it should be! All those heartless monsters DESERVE to die! They deserve to hang lifelessly this! But they don’t! I don’t want them to die! I don’t think like that! But I do! But I don’t! These guys are horrendous- no, they’re my friends! THEY’RE SCUM OF THE EARTH! NO, I DON’T THINK LIKE THAT!” And so on and so forth.

When they finally reach the last floor, the deepest floor, the final circle of Hell, they find Teddie there, deranged to the point of practically being a different person. That second Shadow that was developing within him now is toying with him, messing with his head, whispering things to him that make him clutch his head and beg for it all to stop. The IT can’t get through to him now, and he either snaps, gets hostile at them for being “heartless, monstrous, evil humans,” and forces them into a fight, or that Shadow ends up possessing him (either fully, or to a certain extent), and they have no choice but to fight him and knock some sense into him. In either case, he gains his second Persona - something that will most likely be similar to Magatsu-Izanagi, not sure yet - and also, for the sake of self indulgence, it’s like he can control wether or not he is more or less like a Shadow. AKA, goopy black forearms fitted with deadly sharp claws instead of fingers.

I can’t actually remember what EXACTLY happens after the battle, aside from Teddie Goes To Prison, but here’s another battle outcome I almost forgot about that I am DETERMINED to add into the final product. Remember at the beginning, when I specified that Adachi was the only member of the first group of Persona users to survive Teddie’s slaughter? Well, at some point, he overhears the IT talking about Teddie being the killer and the TV world’s existence and decides to butt in. “Can I come along too?” He asks. “I’m a Persona user, just like all of you. You’re talking about catching the culprit here, right? The same culprit who killed Mayumi in the beginning? The same culprit who probably almost got me, then?” Something along those lines. So, he goes in with them, and would you look at that - Teddie still hasn’t forgotten his face. So, in the case of “Teddie snapping and going all hostile on them,” it’s most likely because he sees Adachi mixed in with the IT and alllll of those emotions from so long ago come flooding back… combine that with his hysteria, and boom, you’ve got a raging Teddie hell bound on taking his revenge and getting some closure before he either goes to prison or dies trying not to.

And… I think that’s it. Only thing left to mention is that at some point, right before my hyperfixation ended, me and my gf were trying to figure out a way to implement an accomplice ending and a Teddie Arcana Change, but the end of my obsession came too early in the development of both of those, so there’s not much to say. Also, in this AU, I’m thinking of making Shadows hostile because of the first group of Persona users, like how Teddie hates all of humanity almost purely because of that group. Also, small detail, he’s wearing that disguise of his during the fight - dunno how he got it, but I do wanna add it in somehow, though. This post is also already long enough, so I should stop myself here.

Speaking of that, holy fuck, thanks to anyone who’s read this entire long ass messy post. Like that is just so awesome, I commend you for it. Seriously this post took actual hours just to write down, it’s way too long for any NORMAL person to read all the way through, heavy emphasis on normal (affectionate). Asks about this AU are welcomed and appreciated, if there are any. If not, seriously literally just the fact that anyone might be reading this message at all is enough to sustain me.

[bluebellhairpin]

Video Tapes

Batfam X Batmom!Reader

A/N: It’s kind of different to the request, buuuuttt it still has ‘Birds of Prey’ vibes. - Nemo

Request: Hi! I don't know if request are open but I'm going to try can you do a batman x batmom but is that episode from BATMAN BRAVE AND BOLD where the birds of prey sing and batmom is one of them. - Anon

Warning(s): ‘Cats’ (1998 version) is mentioned. Consider yourself warned.

Summary: It is pretty common knowledge among the Wayne Household that their Mother came from ‘sketchy’ origins. The boy's all rooting through old video tapes sure as hell didn’t make matters any better, but it didn’t exactly make them worse either. Who knew old videotapes could be so useful? 

Listening to: ‘Birds of Prey’ from Batman: The Brave and The Bold - ‘While all the boys can always save the day, no one does it better than the Birds of Prey!’

Series Masterlist

Masterlist  

The boys didn’t have a habit of going through the storage room’s contents whenever their Sunday afternoons just-so-happened to be free at the same time - but here they were.

(Alfred suggested it, since they were all ‘super, unbearably bored’ and were completely getting in his way.)  

They’d already been up there for an hour, and they’d uncovered a range of items in the boxes and books - some of which were thought lost forever. 

“This used to be mine,” Dick said, holding an old - and very worn - stuffed animal gingerly in his hands, “I’d almost grown out of it when I’d misplaced it. I hadn’t seen it since.” 

“It looks loved.” Damian mumbled, choosing to ignore the smug look on Jason’s face at his ‘nice’ comment towards a teddy bear. 

“Yeah. I cried for three days after, but Bruce and Mom helped me through it.” 

“Hey guys, check this out.” Tim said, leaning into a medium-sized box named ‘tapes’ in big boxed letters. The three other boys made quick work of - almost - packing up their own boxes to go join Tim, and they were in awe at what the box held.

“Jee, I haven’t seen this many video tapes in one place in years.” Jason said, picking up a tape labeled ‘The Nanny Reruns’. “Who the hell keeps videotapes of ‘The Nanny’ anymore?” 

“Or ‘The Sister Act’.”

“And ‘Cats’.”

“Damian, what?” Dick asked, “Show me.” He took the tape from Damian, inspecting it. “That’s weird.” 

“Yeah, who watches ‘Cats’?” 

“No, Jason, it’s weird because this is Mom’s handwriting. I forced her to watch it a lot when I was younger, and even now she hates it. She told me she burned this tape in the dining room’s fireplace.” 

“Obviously not.” Jason said, taking the tape from Dicks hands to look it over himself. “But it is weird that she’d keep it. I mean, when she hates something - she really hates it.”

“Maybe it’s not ‘Cats’.” Tim suggested, thinking over possibilities while cradling the tape box in his lap. “Just ‘cause it says ‘Cats’ doesn’t mean it is. Old tapes could record something over what was already on it - I did it a few times accidentally - but it might not be 'Cats' and just has the same label." 

“So what, we put it in a VCR and watch it?” Damian asked, looking up between his older ‘brothers’.

“How the hell do you know what a VCR is?” Jason said, staring down at the young Wayne. “Weren’t you born in a cave?” 

“'Eth Alth'eban is an underground city, you uncultured swine.” 

“Okay, enough out of the both of you.” Dick said, standing not-so-subtly between the two. “Tim, do we even have a VCR player?” 

“Probably. Alfred would know where it was if we do.” 

“Well, I for one,” started Jason, moving Damian out of his way with little effort, “Am off to get this player.”

The four of them sat in silence, the screen in front of them went blank over a couple moments ago. 

“That was not ‘Cats’.” 

“I concur.” Tim said, breaking his stare at the TV to look over at Damian. “For once.” 

“I never knew Ma knew Huntress.”

“Knew Huntress?” Dick said, giving an unimpressed look at Jason. “More like ‘I never knew she was one of the Birds of Prey’.” 

“You didn’t know that?” 

“Oh, sorry Timmy, not everyone can hold the titles of ‘world's greatest detective’.” 

“We were gone a day,” A new voice interrupted. In fact, this particular voice belonged to the woman in subject, and all the boys - minus Damian, because he cannot see over the couch - turned to face the owner of the voice. “What are you boys arguing about now?”

There (y/n) and Bruce stood, Bruce’s arm wrapped snugly around her waist - and even though it wasn’t the most important subject as of currently - the day they spent with just themselves did Bruce good. He was more relaxed, and they all could tell. But back to answering the question at hand. 

“We found VCR’s in the storage room.” Tim started, “Watched the one labeled ‘Cats’.” 

“Oh wow.” Bruce scoffed a laugh. “At least it wasn’t ‘Pretty Woman’.” 

“Why? What’s on that one?” Damian asked, popping his head over the couch to send a smile over at the two parents.

“Oh, lemme guess… Not ‘Pretty Woman’?” Jason asked, standing to stretch his legs, looking over at (y/n). 

“You’re right Jay.” (y/n) said, prying herself out of Bruce’s grasp to start the journey back upstairs to find for herself the box of tapes. The boys took no time in following her so they could keep hearing what she had to say. “In fact none of the tapes in that box are labeled correctly, you’d be surprised at exactly what information is stored on them.” 

“You use them as secondary soft-copy archives?” Tim said, nodding with a smile. 

“Exactly. Without the correct equipment you cannot copy it, and they’re easy to destroy if needed.” Bruce said, following the small group up the stairs. 

“‘Destroy’? Jeez old man, what do you have on these tapes?” 

“Lots, and lots of things. Security footage. Files. Names. Places. You name it. Some top secret, others less so.” As Bruce answered Jason’s mocking question, (y/n) reached the storage room, and the others all followed as she took hold of the box of tapes.

“This one has everything we know about Superman on it..” She said, holding up a tape labeled ‘Cry-Baby’, causing Bruce to smirk, and at least two of the boys to snicker.

“Come up with that codename all by yourself Bruce?” Dick asked, smiling.

“Nope. (y/n) did that one.” He answered, almost laughing. “I wanted to name it ‘10 Things I Hate About You’.

‘Batmom’ Taglist: @eternaleviee   @super-hereos-are-my-life

[Taglist is Open!]

[marvinswriting]

old vers

ménage, chapter one

ménage: (noun) the members of a household hi! welcome to my first (posted) original g/t work! its gonna be multi chaptered, this one is pretty much worldbuilding, but there’s more to come!

riley pov

It was night time, the only light in the kitchen was the moonlight filtering softly into the kitchen. The white glow bounced delicately off the counter under the windowsill, illuminating the room. A girl entered the room, walked silently across the tile floor. She walked with purpose, seemingly already knowing what she was looking for- but paused with confusion when the counter was empty. "Where are you hiding?" There was no audible response, but the girl knew better. She looked to the dark corner of the kitchen with a grin. "Hey Audwin". 

A small figure emerged from the shadows, no more than four inches tall. The form moved across the counter, stopping when they reached the moonlight. "You're getting better at sensing where I am." His small voice traveled perfectly across the silent kitchen.

"I've been practicing." The girl said softly, crossing the kitchen. 

This was their friendship. They had two different worlds, two different lives. Yet on late night meetings, they were equal. Nobody knew they hung out. Borrowers would think the boy was reckless and humans would think the girl was crazy. So they met in secrecy. 

They didn’t talk much that night. They simply enjoyed each other’s company.

"You should get to bed." The borrower commented after a while. "You're going to be miserable tomorrow if you don’t."

The girl smiled. "Maybe."

"Definitely." 

The girl laughed. "Fine, I"ll go to bed. Good night, Audwin."

"Until tomorrow." He smiled, watching the girl get up and leave the kitchen, the room falling silent once again.

Lenna laughed, pulling her teddy bear closer to her. “That’s my favorite story.”

“Really?” I smile, closing the book. “I like the one where the borrower fights a mouse.”

“He fights a mouse?!” Lanna sits up in bed wide eyes. “Read it, Riley!”

“No no, you promised one bedtime story and you wouldn't give a problem about going to sleep tonight.”

Lanna pouts. “I’m nine! Why can’t I stay up?”

“Sorry sweets, Rebeckah said it’s bedtime. Look, Kenny fell asleep.” I point across the room to where a blond mop of hair peaked out from under to covers of another bed.

“Kenny is eight. I’m nine.”

“Oh quite the age difference, huh.” When the only response I got was a stuck out tongue, I continued, “Let’s make a deal,” I say, turning to book over in my hand. “I’ll read you two stories before bed tomorrow if you go to bed now.”

Lanna perked up instantly. “Deal!” She throws the covers over her head and I laugh. “Night, Lanna.”

“Goodnight, Riley!”

I smile, turning the lights off in the room, watching the night light reflect off the two beds. Lanna and Kenny were the two youngest children that Rebeckah is fostering. It’s hard to get them to bed when everyone else stays up so late but- I look at the book I’m holding- bedtime stories work magic.

The ‘book’ was a collection of short stories Rebeckah wrote when she was little. She still writes, but not as often. I remember her reading me stories when I was little, and now I read them when Rebeckah is busy. 

Rebeckah works hard. She takes care of six kids, has an at home job, and still has time to write stories of tiny people in the walls. She had to have at least three notebooks full and no two stories are the same. We’ve tried to convince her to publish them but she says they’re personal. Which- I understand, but also if I could write like her, I’d want everyone to know.

I walk downstairs and stop in front of Rebekah’s office, knocking gently on the door.

“Come in!”

I step into the work, holding up the book. “Just wanted to put this back.”

“Kenny give you any problems about bed?”

“No, it was actually Lanna.”

Rebeckah raises her eyebrows. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I grin, placing the notebook amongst the others on a shelf in the back of the room. “When did you start writing these books?” I ask, my finger trailing across the spine of them.

Rebekah gets up from her desks, standing next to me. “Oh, maybe I was thirteen when I wrote the first one?” She picked up one of the notebooks.

It was evidently the oldest. The spine of the book was loose and the cover was faded. Some of the pages had folded corners and the pen ink smudged in places. Rebeckah turned it over in her hand, opening the back cover. There was a small date I never noticed before written neatly in the bottom right.

“I was fourteen, actually.” 

“You were a good writer for a fourteen year old.” I say. “The stories feel so real.”

Rebeckah simply winks. 

“Thank you, Riley. Now- I’m almost done with my work for tonight but if I want to be done before eight I’m gonna need you to shoo.” She waved me away with a smile.

“Oh, don’t let me stop you.” I grin, shutting the door to the office behind me. 

It clicks shut, the sound echoing softly through the hallway. Just another typical saturday night. Rebeckah works late, Matteo makes dinner, I put the young ones to bed, and then-

“Riley!” A voice calls from further in the house.

I grin knowingly. Right on cue. “Be quiet Evan, Lanna and Kenny are sleeping!”

There’s no response, probably for the best. Screaming across the house is surely a way to wake the younger kids.

I make my way back up the stairs, creeping past Lanna and Kenny’s room, before slipping into the room at the very end of the hall. “What do the three of you want?”

“Wow, rude. You should know by now” Matteo rolled his eyes, motioning to the tv hooked on the wall across from his bed. 

Matteo was the oldest of all the kids, first to be fostered by Rebeckah, and the one with the nicest room. Him and Megan were the only two who didn’t share a room, but that didn’t mean the older kids didn’t crash in Matteo’s room all the time. I think Evan and I spent more time here then in our own room.

“Riley sits next to me!” Megan grins, patting the spot on the bed next to her. 

Evan had already gotten situated on a chair he pulled up next to the bed.

“I dunno, Meg, Matteo may want to sit on his own bed.”

Matteo and I were seventeen with Evan turning seventeen in two weeks, Megan on the other hand, was barely thirteen. Which wasn’t a problem, I love Meg, but I glanced at the horror movie queued up on Matteo's TV with a raised eyebrow.

Evan raised his hands in defense. “Megan picked it.”

“Really?!” I grin.

“I wanna try and watch it.” Megan smiled as Matteo sat next to her. 

“If you insist.” I shake my head, sitting on the floor in front of Evan. “If you get nightmares, Matteo is dealing with it.”

“I’m a teenager. I’m too big for nightmares.” Megan stuck out her tongue as Matteo hit play. 

“If you say so, Meg.” Evan teased. 

Despite what Meg said, she tapped out halfway through the movie, claiming she was ‘just tired’ and ‘ready for bed’. Matteo, Evan, and I all grinned knowingly but let her leave before finishing the movie ourselves. 

Just another saturday night. 

Rebeckah came up around eleven telling us to go to bed, and Evan and I reluctantly made our way to our room. 

“We’re too old for bedtimes.” Evan whined, changing into his pajamas. 

“Now you sound like Lanna, dude.” I laugh.

Out of everyone in the home, Evan was the closest to me. Both in age and friendship. There’s a reason I share a room with him, not Meg or Lanna. He’s the one to learn all my secrets, not that I could hide anything from him if I tried. 

“So,” Evan grinned, sitting on the edge of my bed, holding out his phone. “I was flirting with this girl, but she turned me down because she’s a lesbian. Which is understandable, but- I told her I know a gal with the same personality as me who’s always complaining about being single. Here’s her photo, and if you want, I can give you her number.”

I laugh. “I don't need you to play wingman for me, I can get all the girls I want.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Evan shook his head in disbelief.

“Hey! You’re just as single as I am, dude. Leave me alone.”

“I’m trying to help you Riley.” Evan laughed. “Do you want the number or not?”

“...yes.”

so, no g/t this chapter, bc *worldbuilding* n shit, but uh, thanks for joining me!  wanna be on a taglist? lmk! all feedback is appreciated, go drink water!

[houseisekai]

House Isekai: Shadowbringers - Finale (Part 1): The Heroes’ Gauntlet

House Isekai Shadowbringers AU Masterlist Here

—

With the deaths of Rhea and Thales, the merging of the worlds has been brought to an even worse condition instead of bringing peace.

Lahabrea and Sothis are left with no option, but to enact Plan B...

[Tears in the Rain - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers]

The world continued to shake violently as everyone tried to gain a footing.

None of this made any sense.

They had stopped Rhea and Thales.

What was missing?!

The School-Living Club helped up Class VII while Doomguy grabbed Ainz’s arm and pulled him up.

(Ainz) “...M-My thanks.”

Doomguy nodded in affirmation and turned to the others, shrugging.

(Byleth) “Sothis, can you hear me?! SOTHIS!”

“...”

(Sitri) “She keeps saying...stop them...what did she mean?”

(Lahabrea) “She meant Rhea and Thales right, did we not kill them?!”

He turned around and saw Thale’s body, but the Immaculate One was slowly starting to fade away, in the same manner Megumi, Minato, and Minako.

Before anyone could make a move, she shattered into light particles, the shaking finally stopping.

(Rean) “That...That tower is in our worlds! They’ll get killed if we don’t do something!”

(Yu) “The shadows attacking our world weren’t powerful enough to cause a major threat, but if the towers keep forming...”

(Yuuri) “We have to do something! The infection can’t reach your worlds too!”

(Kazuma) “Well what the fuck do we do, Wakasa?! No, LAHABREA! TELL US, WHAT’S THE NEXT BEST IDEA, HUH?!”

(Lahabrea) “...”

(Sothis) “...”

Byleth was about to say something before he was brought to his knees again, coughing out blood.

Everyone stopped when they saw what was happening.

Byleth was coughing white blood.

(Sitri) “B...Byleth?!”

(Akira) “The angel infection!”

(Edelgard) “We need healers, NOW!”

Several people ran up to Byleth and began casting physic, and it seemed to ease his coughing a little.

(Dimitri) “What’s the plan?”

(Claude) “You...You guys don’t even have one for this scenario, do you?”

(Lahabrea) “We do.”

(Yuri) “Well, we’re waiting!”

(Sothis) “You won’t like it.”

(Aigis) “Anything would be better than standing around doing nothing-”

(Lahabrea) “We reverse time while you all get the hell out of here.”

(Aqua) “...Okay that’s DEFINITELY NOT BETTER, YOU WANT TO WHAT?!”

(Rean) “Didn’t you say that using your...Divine Pulse or whatever was the thing causing all of this? Why would you-”

(Lahabrea) “OUR ONLY OPTION IS TO TRY THAT, OR HAVE ALL OF US GET KILLED, REAN! IF ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY BETTER IDEA, PLEASE TELL ME!”

“...”

(Lahabrea) “...That’s what I thought.”

(Sothis) “I’m preparing the portal now.”

(Yuuri) “What?”

(Lahabrea) “If we can use the energy from the Tower in Zanado, we can give you guys a way home.”

(Kazuma) “And the towers in their worlds?”

(Lahabrea) “...We’ll figure something out.”

(Byleth) “Hell no. That’s too big of a risk to gamble for everyone! What about the people left in Fodlan?! What’ll happen to us?!”

(Sitri) “There’s got to be some other way than just-”

The world began to shake again as Sothis opened up a portal back to Garreg Mach.

(Sothis) “Everyone, inside now.”

(Aigis) “Please, listen to us!-”

(Lahabrea) “This is for your own good everyone...Goodbye. Sothis-.”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

A glowing phantom of Valimar appeared behind them and shoved them into the portal.

Lahabrea and Sothis heard short screams and cursing, but they tried to ignore it as the portal shut behind them.

(Lahabrea) “...How long do you think it’ll take us?”

(Sothis) “Don’t know. We need to see the state of the tower, assuming it doesn’t collapse on us.”

(Lahabrea) sigh “Right...”

They teleported away to the Tower in Zanado...

...

Everyone landed in the courtyard in Garreg Mach Monastery.

(Albedo) “That damn...!”

(Yuki) “Ow...!”

(Akechi) “Quit you’re bitching, we’re alive. Though, if those idiots succeed in what they’re doing-”

(Teddie) “Everyone, look...!”

Teddie pointed ahead of them and they saw multiple portals near the dorms.

Each of them opened up to a specific area that each group recognized.

The Persona Users and Kazuma’s group had their homes, Ainz had the Tomb of Nazarick, Class VII had Thor’s Military Academy, the School-Living Club had the school, and Doomguy had his base.

(Kazuma) “That’s...That’s our ticket home...?”

It had been such a long time since any of them saw any part of their original worlds. Some had been in Fodlan longer than others.

(Byleth) “...It would seem that way.”

Yu was the first to approach his portal. It was a portal back into the Dojima residence. He poked his head around inside, and it didn’t feel like it would close. At least not yet.

He put his hand onto the nearest object to the portal and grabbed it, going out of the portal and squeezing it. It was just the TV remote, yet it felt like it had ages since he saw anything familiar that brought him comfort.

(Yuri) “So...it seems like he wasn’t playing you for fools.”

(Dimitri) “That’s something I’ve been thinking about...All this time, he’s been looking out for you all, even if it has been in a gruff manner. Even us, to some extent.”

(Edelgard) “If what he said about our past is true-”

(Claude) “Hang on now, we seriously can’t be considering just following what he says! Even if it does work out fine for them, what will happen to us?!”

(Byleth) “We could get caught in an infinite loop just like he was...Or rather, is.”

(Ainz) “And there’s no garuntee that we wouldn’t caught in it ourselves. After all, our memories are scrambled at the moment.”

(Aigis) “Data indicates we are in the same year as Yu and Akira, although we are in our past appearances.”

(Rean) “And, we forgot each time we were in the loop...What happens if we forget all of this? About the tower, about each other?”

[Rally - Red vs Blue OST]

“...”

(Sitri) “He...He has been the one with you this entire time, going by what he says.”

(Byleth) “What does that make me? A failed imitation?”

(Yuuri) “And...he said everything you know is because of him, right?”

Doomguy shrugged as the others similarly struggled for the right answer.

(Kazuma) “Wait a sec, Sitri. That voice we all heard was Sothis right, she was just saying “Stop them”. What if that meant...Lahabrea and Sothis?”

(Everyone) !!!

(Ainz) “What? Why wouldn’t she have said it sooner?”

(Sharon) “Perhaps the tower had something to do with it? The more violent it was, the more we were able to hear her, after all.”

(Towa) “I-I’m not sure if we COULD stop him. If he knows inside and out, wouldn’t he know how we fight and what our weaknesses are?”

(Crow) “Plus, he could summon those Phantom things, right? We’d get overwhelmed pretty quickly.”

(Yu) “Seems like the odds are stacked against us. That’s never stopped us before-”

(Dimitri) “But his aim is not to kill us. It’s to save us. I don’t think killing Lahabrea is the right answer-”

(Edelgard) “I sincerely doubt he will listen to reason.”

(Yuri) “And plus if we do wanna stop him, we gotta get to that tower! We’re all the way in Garreg Mach. If we use Rean’s golem thing to teleport, we could be lacking some serious heavy hitters!”

Doomguy checked the ammunition on his guns. It was low, and he shook his head.

(Sara) “Byleth...what IS our plan?”

(Byleth) “I...I don’t know.”

“...”

No one said anything for what seemed like an eternity. All of them faced each other or the ground, unsure of what to do.

None of this felt right. If they got it wrong, then it could mean the end of ALL their worlds, and not just Fodlan.

If they fought back, then they would no doubt get completely overwhelmed.

And if by some miracle they did reach Lahabrea, could they even stop him with both Sothis and his knowledge of them.

Yuki came back to the group, wielding a sword she grabbed from the armory.

(Yuuri) “Y-Yuki?”

(Yuki) “If you do go back...Thank you for being my friend.”

She had a relatively large bag on her as she moved towards the gate.

(Kazuma) “Hey, where the hell do you think you’re going?!”

Kazuma and his group ran over to block Yuki’s path.

(Darkness) “Are you-”

(Yuki) “I’m going to the Tower, with or without everyone.”

(Megumin) “What?! But you’d get killed, not even mentioning the journey there!”

(Yuki) “I know, but we have to try something!”

(Miki) “Yuki-senpai, maybe you should-”

(Yuki) “Think about it? Don’t worry, I have.”

Everyone turned to Yuki. She could feel the pressure of all their gazes on her, but she stood her ground.

(Yuki) “There was a promise I made to Megu-nee before all of this happened. Even if I’m scared, and which I really am, I won’t stop. I’m sad Megumi, Minato and Minako are...gone. But even if that’s the case, I have to keep going. For them, and the people still here.”

She blinked away tears she felt forming and straightened her posture.

(Yuki) “And for this case...we all have each other. Lahabrea may have called our meeting a mistake, Byleth an accident, and that we don’t remember everything, but I don’t care! Even if these feelings I have aren’t real, they’re real to me! I don’t care if our meeting was a mistake, you’re all still my friends.”

She awkwardly held the sword in her hands. In all honesty, she could barely hold it, but she refused to back down now.

(Yuki) “And if I can fight or scream or cry about it to change something, then I’ll do it. If I go into that portal now, I could never bring myself to tell Megumi I ran away. I ran away from the problems I’m facing, and that I ran away from all of you.”

“...”

(Yuki) “If you don’t want to go with me, I understand. But I’m going, and that’s final.”

(Kurumi) “Not without us you aren’t.”

[High Treason - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

Kurumi put her shovel onto her shoulders and nodded.

(Kurumi) “We’re the School-Living Club, we stick together!”

Yuuri and Miki stepped forward as well.

(Miki) “I can’t leave either, not now, not any of you.”

(Yuuri) “You have us, Yuki-chan.”

Doomguy stepped forward activating his wristblade and hitting his chest with his fist.

(Kazuma) grumbling “Fine. FINE. Just...ugh, be careful.”

(Aqua) “Hah...You know what? The Goddess of water can spare this kindness for you. With me, you won’t fail!”

(Darkness) “You have my sword.”

(Megumin) “AND MY EXPLOSIONS!”

Doomguy, the School-Living Club, and Kazuma’s group stepped behind Yuki.

(Akira) “There were many times when the Phantom Thieves faced similar odds and risks. And we never backed down from them. This time, not any different.”

(Aigis) “Minato and Minako gave their lives originally for us to continue living our lives, facing whatever may come our way head on. It would be a disgrace to abandon that chance.”

(S.E.E.S) “Yeah!” Bark!

(Yu) “We’ve faced down gods before, this isn’t too different. We’ll find the truth here, as we always have!”

The Persona users stood behind Yuki.

(Ainz) “...I decreed at our first meeting you were to be under the protection of Ainz Ooal Gown. I don’t break promises.”

Ainz slammed his staff onto the floor, the Denizens of Nazarick bowing.

(Rean) “I think I can safely speak for Class VII when I say, we will never leave a classmate behind, and we won’t run away from any challenges thrown our way, especially if it means saving our friends.”

House Isekai stood united, with Yuki looking at Byleth.

(Yuki) “No matter what he tells us...You’ll always be our one and only Byleth. And you all, our friends. Edelgard, Yuri, Claude, Dimitri...All of you. We won’t leave you to your fates.”

(Edelgard) “...Hah, amazing speech, Takeya. The Adrestian Empire thanks you all for your service.”

(Yuri) “Shame you guys didn’t work for us. Would’ve been one hell of a PR.”

(Dimitri) “I do not have the words to thank you all...Instead, I can only offer you my strength.”

(Claude) “So, we got the sappy stuff outta ‘em. What say you, Teach?”

Byleth was shocked by the sheer loyalty they had. That everyone still had.

It made his chest swell with pride for the class he had the privilege of teaching. Letting this go to waste would be a crime in of itself.

(Sitri) “...I do not think we are ones to run from our troubles, are we?”

Byleth smiled and held his sword tightly.

(Byleth) “Students of Garreg Mach...We have our mission.”

(Byleth) “Our mission is to stop Lahabrea and Sothis from using the tower to rewind time. Above all else, you WILL survive together, and graduate from Garreg Mach as proper students.”

(Kazuma) “...Wow, that was really lame-”

(Kurumi) “KAZUMA!”

(Kazuma) “What? We’re about to go stop universes from colliding and all he can do is bring up school? Psh. Even Schwarzer can come up with better cheesy speeches.”

(Sara) “...He kinda has a point-”

(Rean) “Instructor Sara you are not making things better.”

Byleth rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.

(Byleth) “When he sees us there, prepare for the most extreme resistance on the way.”

(Claude) “The Investigation Team and my group have been inside the tower once. We can lead the way.”

(Byleth) “Understood.”

(Yuki) “Um...Actually, Megumin did have a good point earlier. How are we gonna get there in time?”

(Yuri) “Something tells me you got something planned other than the golem?”

Byleth nodded and turned to Sitri.

(Byleth) “They said to us before they resurrected Sitri for her connection to Sothis. What if we tried to teleport like they did?”

(Sitri) “Can...Can I do that?”

(Dimitri) “Suppose there’s only one way to find out.”

Everyone took a step back from Sitri as she raised her hand and concentrated.

She took a deep breath and clenched her hand.

“...”

“...”

(Aqua) “Nothing’s happening-”

(Akechi) “No shit.”

KAFOOOM!

The world began to shake as a portal opened in front of the group.

(Dedue) “Huh. She did it.”

(Hilda) “WOOOH, GO MOMMA BYLETH!”

(Hubert) “Please refrain from calling her that-”

(Byleth) “I second that-”

(Sitri) “Um...”

Sitri examined herself and turned back to them in confusion.

(Sitri) “...That wasn’t me.”

(Akira) “...W-What now?”

[The Heroes’ Gauntlet - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

From the portal stepped out the Velvet Attendees.

(Marie) “Yu, why are you guys just standing around?!”

(Yu) “What the-What are you doing out of the Velvet Room?!”

(Elizabeth) “Worlds are being...how do you say?”

(Theodore) “Excuse the crude language, BUT ROYALLY SCREWED!”

(Aigis) “What?!”

(Lavenza) “Please stop asking questions, we are barely holding off the shadows in your respective worlds as it is!”

(Margaret) “Time is of the essence, go now. Do NOT stop.”

All 5 attendees pointed towards the portal, which led into Inaba.

(Byleth) “You heard the ladies, GARREG MACH, MOVE IT!”

As everyone jumped through the portal, the world began to shake.

The streets of Inaba had soldiers and police officers taking down Shadows, one of the officers being Dojima. The skies were the same pale white color they had seen everywhere.

(Officer) “D-Dojima, sir! Isn’t that-”

(Dojima) “What in the hell, Yu?!”

(Yu) “Dojima!”

(Soldier) “HERE THEY COME!”

Before the soldiers could open fire, Margaret brought out a tarot card and summoned a Persona with two large katanas which split them in half.

(Soldier) “What the hell did that Lady just?”

(Margaret) “Apologies for distracting you despite what I said, this is one of the only safe passages.”

She snapped her fingers and another portal opened up, this time leading into what seemed like an empty field.

Before Byleth went in, a massive robot similar to Valimar flew past, blasting apart what appeared to be glowing orange phantoms.

(Rean) “Isn’t that...?”

(Juna) “Instructor?!”

The group jumped through the portal and saw a massive tower in the field, the giant suits engaging the targets as students ran around with their weapons opening fire. The skies were the same pale white color.

(Kurt) “Instructor Rean? Why...are you so young looking?”

(Altina) “This is not an appropiate time to be asking.”

(Musse) “Oooh, he was so handsome when he was our age~”

(Ash) “Knock it off will ya?!”

Ash used his scythe to slice apart a Phantom that got too close to the group.

(Ash) “You gonna sit there or get your ass moving?!”

(Rean) “R-Right!”

They all moved past, engaging phantoms as they tried to find the next portal.

(Elliot) “Rean, we’ll stay and help these students out!”

(Angelica) “Need our strongest in that tower, we’d just slow you down!”

(Crow) “Meet ya when we’re done here, yeah?”

Rean nodded and disbanded with the rest of Class VII.

Through the next portal, Kazuma’s group was the first ones in, slamming straight into another girl.

(Megumin) “H-Hey, watch-!!!”

(Yunyun) “MEGUMIN, WHAT THE HECKS GOING ON?! THERE’S THIS TOWER THAT SHOWED UP AND-”

Megumin hit her with her staff and yelled.

(Megumin) “PORTAL, NOW!”

(Yunyun) “OW, W-WHAT?!”

Kazuma hit Megumin on the back of the head.

(Kazuma) “She doesn’t make the portals YOU FUCKING MORON! Sorry Yunyun, hold out as long as you can! Get Wiz ASAP!”

She nodded, obviously confused.

As they were trying to find the next exit, they saw several spellcasters wiping out more orange phantoms. They appeared to resemble soldiers, but upon closer inspection-

(Dimitri) “Are those Kingdom soldiers?!”

(Claude) “N-No, some of them are Alliance-”

(Edelgard) “Imperials too!”

(Yuri) “Think Lahabrea is trying to stop us?”

(Byleth) “No, he wouldn’t send soldiers to attack all of their homeworlds indiscriminately if he was trying to save us, I think the towers are just going out of control.”

(Aqua) “At least they’re in worlds we know, right?”

They stepped through the next portal and were immediately confronted by 8 foot tall soldiers heavily clad in armor with massive rifles thundering in their ears.

(Ainz) “Aqua do you ever know when to shut the hell up?”

The environment they were in was clearly a different planet, yet there was the tower and the pale white skies.

One of the soldiers turned around and spoke through his helmet.

(Yuuri) “Y-Yes?”

The soldier stepped in front of the School-Living Members as arrows failed to pierce through his armor.

(Massive Armored Soldier) “The Librarians spoke of your arrival. Head through the ruins ahead for safe passage. We shall guard you all with our lives, professor.”

(Byleth) “T-Thank you?”

(Massive Armored Soldier) “SPACE MARINES, ADVANCE! SHOW THEM NO MERCY!”

More soldiers clad in the same armor moved forward, their rifles almost deafening everyone as several accompanied them into a ruined building. Countless dead aliens littered the floor as they moved into the portal.

(Soldier) “May the Emperor watch over you.”

(Edelgard) “Uh-”

(Soldier) “Not you.”

The next portal they stepped into was resembled a tomb of some sort, luckily it was a wide enough area for them to enter.

(Giant Cockroach) “LORD AINZ, IS THAT YOU?”

Almost everyone had a kneejerk reaction upon seeing it.

A giant cockroach wielding a crown, cape, and cane ran up to him, hundreds of cockroaches skittering behind him as they tried to halt more orange phantoms.

(Ainz) “Kyouhukou! Everyone is to be on max alert until I get back! We’ll explain everything later! Floor Guardians, you are to defend Nazarick with your lives”

(Kyouhukou) “U-Understood milord!”

(Floor Guardians) “Yes, Lord Ainz!”

The Floor Guardians and Pleiades reluctantly followed the giant cockroach as they drew their weapons.

(Kyouhukou) “Milord, one of my children will lead the way to a portal from which they spawn!”

(Ainz) “Appreciated!”

(Yuri) “That...was traumatizing.”

(Byleth) “Keep moving!”

The cockroach on the floor led them to the portal as promised and everyone hopped through.

(Claude) “Ya know, why are we just hopping through other worlds JUST to get to the tower, we couldn’t have just chosen a place right outside the tower?”

(Yuki) “Like that?”

Everyone looked to where Yuki was pointing out.

The portal indeed led into Fodlan.

It was also being swarmed with orange phantoms and catastrophic shaking.

(Claude) “...Other worlds it is! Speaking of where are-”

CRUNCH!

Everyone turned to Dimitri, who had stepped on a crop. Or, rather several.

(Dimitri) “What in the-”

CLANG!

An orange phantom fell behind Dimitri, exploding into light particles. And where the phantom was, a young farmer was there, holding a claymore.

(Young Farmer) “Professor, move towards the Airship landing, oh and someone else who knows you will have something for you!”

(Hilda) “How do these people know who we are if we’ve never met them!?”

(Hubert) “Did you not hear what he said, GET MOVING!”

As everyone ran off, a sword dropped off near Miki’s foot, which she turned to face who threw it.

A small fairy floated next to the girl, and both of them ran from their stall over to the guards.

(Miki) “T-Thank you...?!”

Another portal opened up in front of them as they were moving and were almost crushed by several armored colored soldiers. All of them were firing their weapons behind the groups as they were running forward.

(Red colored soldier) “COME ON DIRTBAGS, HURRY IT UP!”

(Aqua Colored Soldier) “SWISH!”

The aqua colored one moved forward and sliced a Phantom in half with some sort of energy sword.

(Aqua Colored Soldier) “HOHO DUDE, THAT WAS TOTALLY FUCKING AWESOME-”

(Gray and Yellow accented soldier) “Shut up and focus Tucker. Hey! Portals at the end of the pier get moving! Everyone, onto the next portal!”

(Dark Blue Colored Soldier) “GOODBYE GARREG MACH FRIENDS!”

(Aqua Colored Soldier) “Caboose, shut the fuck up and get moving!”

The group thought it best to ignore...whatever that was and kept moving. Though they did appreciate the fire support.

The portal at the airship showed the Zanado Tower at long last.

(Kazuma) “Thank god, LET’S GO!”

Everyone hopped through it, only to plummet down from a cliff.

As everyone screamed in terror, giant winged creatures resembling pterodactyls picked them up with wire, flying them towards the tower.

(Sitri) “W-Wha?!”

As they looked around, they noticed a man in red armor flying next to them.

The armored man waved enthusiastically to them, and it was only then they noticed a cat in armor holding a small club was dangling off his leg, flying back into another portal.

As they landed in front of the tower, they saw orange phantoms appear in front of the gate with weapons drawn.

(Rean) “Alright, LET’S GET THEM-”

Another portal opened next to them, and from it, what appeared to be a child came running out, expertly cutting all of them down with a sword.

When the child finished and sheathed his sword, it looked a lot like Byleth’s.

In fact, it looked exactly the same, including the child.

(Edelgard) “Uh-”

(Child resembling Byleth) “Not a word. Don’t bring up the age, and do NOT get distracted. I have no idea what you guys caused, just fix it.”

An arrow flew out of the portal, almost hitting him as he ducked down. He reached for his hilt and turned to the older Byleth.

(Child resembling Byleth) “Oh, and tell Sothis I said hi.”

With that, he ran back into the portal, which closed immediately after.

(Aigis) “Beginning door breach!”

Everyone nodded and drew their weapons out.

(Hubert) “Your majesty, enemies approaching!”

(Darkness) “Haha...that’s a LOT of them!”

(Constance) “Do NOT MAKE THAT NOISE-”

(Ann) “Final stand?”

(Yosuke) “Yeah, you guys go kick ass!”

(Mitsuru) “Leave command to us, Aigis. Go.”

(Yuri) “Think this is more of your business than mine, honestly.”

(Sitri) “Yuuri, you and the others are with me!”

(Yuki, Kurumi, Miki, Yuuri) “Right!” “Got it!” “Feel a LOT safer that way.”

When the tower doors opened there were only a handful of people entering.

The fate of all their worlds lay in the hands of Byleth, Sitri, Edelgard, Claude, Dimitri, Rean, Doomguy, Ainz, Aigis, Kazuma, the School-Living Club, Yu and Akira.

TO BE CONCLUDED IN:

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #434

“i hate this town, it’s so washed up, & all my friends don’t give a fuck  /  they’ll tell me that it’s just bad luck, when will i find where i fit in?”

You get a text from your ex. He/she wants to hang out. How do you respond? Admittedly, I would. Do you have a friend of the opposite sex that you secretly want to be more than friends with? No. Well, there are times where I think I WANT to like-like Girt, but I just don't. And yet he's always been there for me without fail, is super funny and kind and chill... but I think we were just friends for too long; he feels like my brother by this point in time. If your partner smoked, would that be a problem for you? If it was cigarettes, yes. Even weed (UNLESS it was for medicinal purposes and not a constant thing) I'd be iffy about. I just don't want to date a smoker. Lung damage is lung damage and weed actually has more carcinogens, and I don't want to sign myself up for all that. I don't want to watch my partner wither away from nonstop smoking and also have myself suffer from second-hand smoking. When will you next see your best friend? There's no telling. Right now I'm trying to be realistic and responsible with the money I DO ever get and put it towards more important investments, but I really do want to take a plane up there at some point. But that's also waiting until Covid is in the past. Heeeell no would I be stepping into an airport right now, even being vaccinated. How many tattoos would you like to have? Too many to count, ha ha. I want LOADS. Paint me, baby. :') Do you like your first name? I actually do. Have you ever talked to a boyfriend about an ex-boyfriend? Yes. It's kind of inevitable when you go into a new relationship, hoping it'll go well and be seriously invested, that you let your partner know "oh hey, this happened and seriously affected me to where I'm going to have 'my days.'" Greatest birthday gift you ever got? My snake Venus was technically a birthday present, though I obviously picked her out. Worst memory you have? Losing Jason. I can't say enough that the night of the breakup still doesn't feel real. First memory you can remember? My brother going down our slide into the Hurricane Floyd flood in our front yard, ha ha. I was around two, I wanna say? I don't feel like looking up the date of the hurricane. Oldest object you own? When did you get it? I'm sure that would be a stuffed animal we have stored away somewhere. Or my baby blanket, also safely tucked away. Meanest person you know? Why do you feel this way? I don't "know" Colleen anymore, but God knows she fit the bill. She was so fucking rude to people (yes, she was one of those people that bitched out store employees that have no control over things that inconvenienced her), the world revolved around her problems, she started drama with the damn grass... It's funny even picturing how she was my best friend once. My standards were lower for who I could befriend back then, but goddamn. Ever been dumped? By who? Yes, Jason. Technically Sara as well, but "dumped" seems like an unfitting term? Like we just talked it out and sorta mutually agreed that it was wiser that we weren't together at the time. Have you ever dumped someone? Why? Yes, mostly because I didn't like-like them. Juan was more so because I believed a rumor by Rachel, and Tyler, I just wasn't invested in and had NO desire to put up with the "we need to talk every five minutes" crap. Where do you buy most of your food? Wal-Mart. Last house you have been to: whose was it, and why were you there? My sister's, for my nephew's birthday party. Have you ever been a drunk driver? No, and fuck you if you've ever put others (and yourself) at risk like that. One kid you cannot stand? None that I know, and that's very few. Has anyone ever saved your life? Jason and Mom literally have. Last thing you cried about? Ha ha, I finished watching another SOMA playthrough earlier, and I will ALWAYS start to cry at the end. Without fail. Would you sacrifice your life for someone else's baby? I honestly think I would if it was a split-second decision. Tell me about your latest dream: I think my APAP mask wasn't positioned well last night, because I had a SHITLOAD of nightmares. Too many to even remember. Have you ever been in a limo? No. I've always wanted to experience that once, man. Have you ever been the maid of honor in a wedding party? No. Has anyone ever seen you naked? I was born naked, my man. Mom used to give my sister and I baths together, and I took a bath with a best friend once as a kid. Then one other person has. Do you have a calendar? If so, what is the theme of it? Not a current one, no. Nicest thing you have ever done for a complete stranger: I have no idea. Meanest thing you have ever done to a complete stranger: *shrug* Have you ever been sent to the principal's office? If so, why? And how did you feel? Yes, I think because they wanted to ask the reason behind all my morning tardies. I was soooo scared, just being a kid. Person you hope you never run into again: Colleen. Have you ever streaked? Heeeeell no. Why do you hate your ex? I don't hate any of them. What animal did you last pet or hold? Roman, my cat. What color is your hair? It's my natural brunette right now. I want to dye it SO badly. Have you ever fallen asleep in someone's arms? Yeah. Have you ever had to clean a cat box before? Yeah, seeing as I own an indoor cat. Christmas is coming. Who are you buying gifts for? In the hypothetical situation where I had the money, I'd buy things for my parents, my stepmom, my two immediate sisters, Ash's kids, as well as her husband, but only because I'd feel obligated to as he's considered a close member of the family. I'd also totally get something for Sara! When somebody intimidates you, how do you usually act around them? SCARED. I get quiet, stutter if I do talk, and possibly cry. Is your favorite singer in a band or does he or she ride solo? He was originally the singer of Black Sabbath, but he's been solo for forever now. I prefer him solo, honestly. Did your parents ever hang your old artwork up on the walls? Ohhh yes. Mom still does, ha ha. What is the weirdest obsession you’ve ever had? Nothing really "weird," I think... How long can you be in a car before wanting to get out? It depends on if I have my music or not. If I do, I can last hours, but if not, I don't really like being in the car at all. Have any songs ever inspired you to play an instrument? No. Do you ever use Pandora?No. Are you better with creative writing or writing essays? Creative writing, but I'm fine with both. What is the weirdest animal you’ve ever seen as a pet? I know OF someone who rescued I want to say a baby bobcat, or something along those lines, but I didn't know that guy personally. I don't think I've ever actually met someone with a truly *strange* pet... The most unique I've seen is probably just a chinchilla. If you had to change one, would you rather change your hair or your eyes? My eyes. I don't like them much, mainly the shape. What was your favorite computer game as a kid? I loved the various Oregon Trail games, as well as one I think was called The Amazon Trail 3. Then there was a few dinosaur games I LOVED, and then there were the classic kids' games like the Putt-Putt and Fred the Fish series. Any shows on TV that you flat out refuse to start watching? 13 Reasons Why. I don't even support that show existing. Pajamas with feet: yay or nay? NOOOOOOOO, that is so uncomfortable. What is your opinion on fruitcake? That's an even BIGGER "no." Who did you last dream about? I don't remember. Do you have trouble remembering important things? Yes. .-. I barely remember anything. Which animal can you imitate the best? I dunno? Have you bought any drugs this month? I don't do drugs, so. Have you ever set foot in a tanning bed? Nope, never will. Do you know the Soulja Boy dance? Ha ha, I did as a kid. My then-best friend, younger sister, and I wanted to learn it. I don't remember it now, that's for sure. What is the best ice cream flavor? Ben and Jerry's "Phish Food" is GODLY. Wallpaper on your computer's desktop? Teddy, my late dog. Do you clean when you’re upset? Hell no, I do the opposite: nothing. Do you sleep with the door open or closed? It stays open. My cat would pitch a fit otherwise. Do you know anyone who has actually been in an alcohol or drug related crash? Yes, actually. It was incredibly tragic; the both of them were high (maybe drunk, idr for sure), and my friend was driving with her best friend in the passenger seat. They crashed, and said friend's best friend died. For YEARS she would share pictures of them together on Facebook, "talking" to her, and it was just so heartbreaking. I doubt she's forgiven herself to this day, but she seems to have mostly moved on the best she could, being married with a daughter now. Have you ever gotten a professional massage? No, and I do NOT want one. I don't want some random stranger touching me in ANY way. Do you have a good relationship with your first love? No. We haven't talked in years, so maybe he feels no hatred for me at this point, but I do for myself. I don't hate him at all. Do you feel like you have life figured out? bitch hell no What would you do if you were faced with an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy (at your current age)? Was I raped? I'd almost certainly abort because I would be traumatized as FUCK. If it was my own fault, I think I'd go through with the pregnancy, but give the baby up for adoption. There is no way I could raise a kid right now. Or probably ever. Water or Gatorade? I don't like either, really, but I HATE Gatorade. Have you ever thought about getting your nose pierced? It's been pierced twice, and I'm thinking of getting it redone again, but this time use a hoop instead of a stud to keep the damn piercing from falling out and closing in my sleep. Have you ever slapped someone? On the arm as a kid. That doesn't excuse it, though. Who are the pictures of in the room? I have a lot of posters, but no real photographs of anyone. Have your parents ever smoked pot? Dad did a lot of drugs before I was born, but Mom's never touched anything. I think. Would you ever consider moving to a different country? I'd love to live in Canada, if that didn't entail leaving my family. What is your favourite food from your culture? Cheeseburgers, alsdf;alwer Do you know any pick-up lines in a foreign language? No. What degree are you or will you pursue while in college? I've dropped out of college three times. I am never going back to major in anything. I changed my major quite a few times while I was there. Favorite arcade game? I don't really have one. One of my life goals is to go to an arcade that has Silent Hill: The Arcade, though. There are very few throughout the world, and it looks fun. Would other people consider your sense of humor inappropriate? I don't see how. Some inappropriate things can make me laugh, but it's definitely not my favorite form of humor, and I myself don't really make jokes of that sort. Who is your biggest celebrity crush right now? Mark Fischbach. :'') What are they famous for? He's a big YouTuber, aND WILL ALSO BE A MAIN ACTOR IN A SHOW NEXT YEAR. LET'S GOOOOOOOOOO. Have you ever had a controlling boyfriend/girlfriend? No, I would NOT stand for that bullshit. Do you have any gay family members? I know my mom's... cousin I want to say is gay. Somebody related to her is. Was your first kiss romantic? I feel like it was. What are you most likely to go to jail for? Pirating shit. Well, can you even be locked up for downloading minor shit? Shows what I know. Have you ever liked someone that was in a relationship with someone else? Boy, have I. Would you ever get a boob job? When (or if...) I lose all the weight I want, I can almost guarantee a breast lift will be something I'd want. Certain things happen when you lose a shitload of weight alsdkf;alkwe Have you ever tried to break up anyone because you liked one of them? Not intentionally. What would you think if you found out your ex was gay? If we're talking THE ex, safe to say I'd be shocked. Did you ever think someone didn’t like you, but come to find out they really did? It's weird, I've felt both ways with Girt? Like there were times I was pretty much 100% certain he liked me, but I'd also be like "nah, no way, he sees me as a sister." Turns out he like-liked me. Are you worried about anything right now? I can't possibly recall the last time I WASN'T worried about something. When you are home alone, do you still close the door when you shower? I don't shower when I'm home alone because I'm afraid of ever fainting and busting my ass again. What noise do you hear? I'm currently listening to "All Signs Point To Lauderdale" by A Day to Remember, and I can also hear my fan going. Do you go online everyday? Pretty much without fail. It'll probably be a cold day in Hell before I willingly don't come online, ha ha.

[oboe-she-didnt]

I just finished watching the X-Files and I have a lot of thoughts

Yes it’s 2021 and I’ve finally finished a show I should have seen ages ago. Normally I might make a YouTube video with all my thoughts but I feel like doing something more immediate and since no one I know has seen it...here I go.

Going in nearly blind (besides knowing “Mulder’s the believer and Scully’s the skeptic” thank you ATS, Mulder/Scully is one of the quintessential ships of fandom history, and there was a reboot or something a couple years ago) I found myself rather hooked from the beginning. I enjoyed the practical effects, the seasons-long mysteries (though sometimes not knowing the answers got frustrating), and the way the show managed to stay fresh for its original 9 season run. It was definitely a well-crafted show with a good balance of monster of the week episodes (further divided into procedural monster of the week - your average monster/witch/freak of science killing random people - and character-based monster of the week - the haunted house on Christmas is the first episode that comes to mind) and lore/mythology building episodes (everything tying back to the alien conspiracy aka anything that said “Written by Chris Carter”)

I can see where the Mulder/Scully chatter has come from. I was definitely shipping them very early on, and not just in a “ooh they’re rivals so of course I’m gonna ship them” kind of way I was expecting going in. They are one of those examples of fictional soulmates, platonic, romantic, two people who are essential in the others’ lives. They are the epitome of “the best romances come from people who work well together”. Literally. They balance each other, even when sometimes the roles would get flipped. You need a logician and you need a believer in your search of The Truth. I also appreciated overall it seemed an equal balance between each of the pair getting “damseled”. It wasn’t Mulder saving Scully all the time (another thing I was kind of expecting). The one thing I’m still puzzling over is which one I would consider the one main protagonist, if I had to choose. My gut says Scully, she’s the audience insert brought into this fantastical world who grows to open her mind a little. But by the end, it’s Mulder who has all his questions answered, his purpose for coming to the X-files complete. Mostly. Pretty much. There’s always another conspiracy, though.

I will stand by my early observation that my absolute favorite parts of the show are Scully’s right arching eyebrow and Mulder’s inability to function like a normal human when she’s out of the office. I never thought I’d get emotional over pencils stuck to the ceiling but it happened.

And now a rundown of thoughts on all the main characters...

Mulder: Two things I said most often to the TV: “you cheeky little shit, you’re gonna get yourself killed” and “oh honey I want to give you a hug!” I also wish I had done a little more BTS research besides figuring out where and when to watch the 2 movies because that would have saved my two season litany of “he’s gotta come back, they wouldn’t kill one of the main characters off offscreen, he’s written and directed episodes, I would have heard at some point if he got fired, Chris Carter’s just pulling a conspiracy of his own, he’s fucking with the audience by pulling him off the credits, right right RIGHT?” and then I should have figured out the reboot was LITERALLY STILL THEM so that would have saved my The Truth litany of “well all his mysteries are solved so I guess his arc’s complete, it’s a supernatural show so I GUESS you can kill off one of the mains in the finale, but there’s too much build up to save him, I would have heard about it if it had THAT kind of ending, right right RIGHT?”

Scully: Two things I said most often to the TV: “Yes you go girl!” and “oh honey I want to give you a hug!” Gillian gets all the credit for wearing those fucking heels for that long and probably didn’t get paid enough for it (though I appreciated their little callout to it in the movie episode). I’m glad they only went to the mystical pregnancy well once, though the build-up was a little too heavy-handed. I can’t wait to rewatch and see the gradual development of her knowledge and understanding, so much so that by the time it becomes her and Doggett as the team, Scully is absolutely without question the “Mulder”.

I also would say, about both of them, that they need a vacation...which they did get...probably not the vacation I was hoping for them.

And now for many less thoughts about the rest:

Skinner: flip-flopped maybe a couple too many times for my liking. Wish we knew a little more about him. Definitely the first person to ship the two of them.

The Lone Gunmen:

AKA “ahh it’s my boys!” (me squealing every time I saw their actors’ names appear in the credits). Nice little extension of the team and interesting to see technology from “back then”. Loved how they used their stories as little breathers after really heavy two-parters. 

Frohike: adorable little grump who knows his kung fu

Langly: did he just choose not to cut his hair for 9 years or did they not let him?

Byers: marry me

Smoking Man: or whatever nickname you want to call him. Yes, I know they revealed his name but I’m not bothered to look it up now. The definition of “you aren’t dead in a supernatural show unless you die on screen” (though he goes and breaks that trope too because hey fan service!). Had me saying “ugh this bitch” every time he appeared on screen so I guess he got the job done.

Krycek: also had me saying “ugh this bitch” and I wish I didn’t learn his actor’s name so early on so I would be more surprised when he showed up in later seasons. I think he worked pretty well as a secondary bad guy and is another I’ll be watching more for in my rewatch.

Marita: grew more tired of her the longer she stayed on. Became less interesting when she was revealed to be in with the Syndicate. Nice to have another female character, though.

Jeffrey Spender: my catchphrase with him was “I wanna slap his little weasel face”. I figured out who he was before it was revealed, though that I blame on my ability to recognize actors...unless it was supposed to be an easy enough twist to figure out? (I guess the actor made enough of an impression in the “greatest hits of Smoking Man: America’s assassin” episode for them to want to keep him around). Did not like him one bit until Season 9. Then my thoughts were mainly “JEFF!? They’re entrusting the safety of William to JEFF!?”

William: okay the episode “William” was pretty much me saying “what the FUCK was that?” and I’m mad I didn’t figure out the Jeffrey twist that time. As for the character, kid deserves better. I was waiting for a Once Upon a Time style knock on the door “hey, I think you’re my mom” at some point but NOPE he had a purpose and they were sticking to it! The ambiguous powers (AKA which came first, this or Stranger Things 2?) were a little annoying, I suppose, but there wasn’t enough time, or interest, to explore it all. Also, pandemic? That sure hit differently to a viewer today than it would have a couple years ago holy shit.

Doggett: didn’t like him at first, which I guess you’re not supposed to, but then he turned into a big old teddy bear. Whatever happened to him? Dude deserved a shout-out in the reboot.

Reyes: loved her from the start, a different kind of “Mulder”. HATE what they did to her in the reboot. I thought she and Doggett were supposed to live happily ever after.

Okay, I think I’m pretty much out of thoughts for now. Excuse me as I start watching all over again, free of some of this “what’s gonna happen next?” anxiety since I now know where it’s all going.

[mischief-marauders]

Harry Potter Needs To Step It Up

I think we all saw that Percy Jackson is being turned into a tv series with Disney +. We all know that no matter what, Harry Potter is THE most iconic movie franchise. Wizarding World has movies, books, a broadway play, apps, games, and even a damn theme park. But it has been lacking recently. The Fantastic Beasts movie franchise is not doing well. They have released two movies, they’re working on the third one, and JK Rowling has said that she plans for there to be five movies in the franchise. The problem is that Harry Potter will start to fade if all the content we have is fantastic beasts, especially with all of the new young adult content happening. I mean come on, The Raven Cycle is becoming an SYFY series, Shadow & Bone along with the Narnia series are becoming a Netflix original, not to mention The Hunger Games getting a prequel movie, AND there have been talks for a Divergent tv series as well. The Harry Potter universe has never had serious competition until now. The problem is the decisions being made. Fantastic Beasts should not have been made. Another faulty decision was hiring Johnny Depp and killing off Zoe Kravitz's character, which pretty much saved the second movie. Another good thing about Crimes Of Grindewald besides Leta Lestrange, was going back to Hogwarts. I think we all miss Hogwarts. These are some ideas I think that would make Harry Potter rise to the top again and not be overtaken by Percy Jackson, because let's be honest, Disney + can do that subpar book series justice. Feel free to post some ideas as well. 

1) Wrap up the Fantastic Beasts franchise with this third one and end it as a trilogy. The movie will be set in Brazil and will introduce the south America wizarding school “Castelobruxo”. It terrifies me to see what JK will cook up involving Latinx culture. Just end it there and start working on new ideas that will both satisfy old fans and entice new fans.

2) Marauders tv series or movies produced by Warner Bros or HBO max. Let's be honest, if there were ever to be a prequel following Harry Potter, it should be the Marauders. We barely got Marauders content from the books, yet its one of the most popular sub fandoms in the Harry Potter franchise. Imagine a series following James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily getting into Hogwarts and their adventures leading to them discovering Remus being a werewolf, James and Lily slow burn, Sirius struggling with his family legacy and being heir, and Remus trying to hide being a werewolf. Show me what led to Peter betraying his friends. Show me what Sirius and Regulus were like together. Each season/movie would be a year. At the end of season 1, Bellatrix Black (because we’ll see Sirius’ family obviously, The noble and most ancient house of Black is iconic) join Voldemort which leads to a spin-off or original series

3) Voldemorts rising. A show or movie being spun off from the Marauders and following how he rose up in power through the wizarding world pureblood circles. How he managed to becoming the most terrifying thing wizards have seen. What did he do, who did he betray, etc.

3) Cursed Child movie. I have never seen the play. I do not intend to see it. The son of Harry Potter and the son of Draco Malfoy time traveling and wreaking havoc but a play? There is no way a play can do that justice. A movie would be so, so much better. I want the original Harry Potter actors reprising their role, Albus struggling with being a Slytherin in a Gryffindor house (reverse of Sirius’ life). His cousins having issues and him being forced to live in the shadow of his father, mother, and brother. Give me Scorpius struggling with being related to death eaters and his father being a major piece of shit. Make it bright, make it bold. No more dark colors. I want Teddy Lupin, I want all the Weasley/Potter cousins. I want a wild adventure with humor. Think of a marvel movie. 

4) A new book. Not play, not illustrated (although please keep them coming), a new book. I don’t care what happens but we need a new book or book series. Maybe what happens a couple of years with Harry and his friends since the battle of Hogwarts. I would give everything I own for a Marauders book series. Just no more Fantastic Beasts or people we have never heard of. A book on the Noble and Most Ancient House Of Black would also be acceptable.