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the-fiction-witch · 3 years ago

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IVY P6 Cosy

TV SHOW THE QUEENS GAMBIT COUPLE: BENNY X READER RATING: SWEET AF!

I had grown rather used to having my little audience. Y/n came over almost everyday for at least an hour just to sit and watch me play chess making all her little notes and working on ivy as she slowly brought her equipment over every time she visited so I know had half a computer in my living room. But today honestly I wasn't expecting her there was a horrible storm over new york.

The subway has been down for days, no taxis working, barely a car could get thought, my poor little beatle is burried under the snow, my apartment as cold as ice as the heating was now working but not working all that well, at least I had hot water now, the windows blocked completely by snow and where one slightly leaks it has frozen shut with icicles on the inside as the water leaking in had frozen on the way in, I could hear the wind rushing through, the news reports I was getting on my tiny tv weren't good so I turned it off trying not to think about the cold.

I had two pairs of socks on, fluffy socks. My jeans on with a blanket over my legs, my black t shirt, then my black turtleneck shirt, then my green button down then my jacket and I still had to wrap a blanket around my shoulders to stop me shivering. I jumped as I heard the phone I begrudgingly got up from my chair and went to answer it trying not to loose a blanket on the way I picked it up trying not to shiver in my voice

"Hello?"

"Hi Benny" I heard her familiar voice but she had called me before from her dorm but it sounded different

"Hey y/n, what's up?"

"Quick question do you have heating?"

"Well yes. It's not very good but yes. Why?"

"Uhhh could you maybe put it on full. And also put the kettle on"

".... Ohh my god you crazy girl are you actually coming?'

"Yes"

"I thought we'd work from your from today on the phones and all"

"I was going too but most everyone else has gone home for the holidays and the dorms are so so cold."

"Where are you?"

"Uhh the payphone about a block down the street from yours"

"You're walking! Y/n you must be frozen half to death get off the phone get here as quick as you can I'll get the kettle on" I told her quickly hanging up I didn't want her on the phone any longer then she had to be I got up going to the kitchen to put the kettle on hell I'll have a hot drink as I'n turning it on and soon enough I heard fast shaking little taps, I rushed over and quickly pulled the door open having to fight against the ice around it but I got it open and she stood there on my doorstep covered in an inch of snow shivering in her usual purple coat "oohh get in here you silly girl you'll freeze" I laughed quickly letting her in and shutting the door behind us to keep the cold out

"Benny I can't feel my toes"

"I imagine you can't. Those boots don't look like snow boots?"

"There not I didn't have snow boots so I just put my thermal boots and some extra socks"

"Here let me get your coat off" I smiled helping her with her coat knocking all the snow off her revealing how cute she looked she had a little purple hat under her hood, and a long purple scarf wrapped around her about four times and had a long knee length knitted purple dress with pockets, she had little black mittens and what looked like four or five layers of thermal tights and these little boots I helped her get her boots off as somehow she had gotten snow inside her boots and she had three pairs of socks on top of her tights she slipped her mittens off and her scarf sitting them with her coat

"May I steal a blanket?" She asks noticing I had two

"You may" I laughed giving her one of my blankets

"You wanna mini hot water bottle?" She smiled pulling a pocket sized hot water bottle out of her pocket I took it curiously and it was hot I held it close feeling how warm it was

"Uuummm I will sell you my car for this tiny hand sized hot water bottle"

"It's okay Benny you can borrow it while I'm borrowing your blanket" she smiled we went over to the sofa having a sit together trying not to be too far apart as we where both warm, I feched her a tea and a I had my usual coffee "clink" she giggled tapping my mug with her own

"Clink" I laughed "fuck it's cold. Sorry I made you walk all this way"

"It's okay I wanted to come"

"I'm really not in the mood for chess today. Which sounds nuts but I'm just way too cold. Sorry for making you walk all this way for nothing"

"Not nothing, I got to see you" she smiled "and steal your blanket"

"I guess so. Guess it's kinda nice to have someone to wait out the storm with"

"Yeah someone to wait the storm out with" she smiled "why don't you get the duvet?"

"The duvet!" I jumped dashing to my bedroom and getting my duvet we both readjusted our blankets and then I threw the duvet over us both I smiled looking at her wrapped up so well against the sofa with the blanket around her shoulders and my duvet tucked up to her sipping the tea that she held so close "I like your scarf. And your little hat"

"Aww thank you" she blushed "I knitted them myself"

"You did? that's impressive. Can you make me a scarf?"

"Yeah, actually. I did bring my stuff with me" she laughed grabbing her bag getting some large needles "I have… black and white wool?"

"Can you make me a chess scarf?"

"Uhhh I don't see why not" she smiled sitting her tea on the side

"I'm going to get a book, want anything as I'm leaving the warm corner?"

"No thanks benny, Im cosy" she smiled

"Alright" I smiled back giving her temple a little kiss before leaving the duvet I already hated it I'm so cold out here, I grabbed a book or three before I remembered I jumped in my wardrobe and I saw it "ohh my god! I forgot about you!"

"About what?" Y/n giggled

"My long hot water bottle" I laughed showing her the thing i bought it years ago before going to Moscow on the assumption moscow would be cold and I ended up leaving it here it took a while to fill up as it was almost a meter long but I did it up and put the fluffy cover over it and came back beside her getting under the duvet and in the blankets laying the bottle across both our laps between the duvet and us I smiled as I sat getting cosy watching her slowly knit

"Why was your dorm so cold?' I asked her

"Most of them have gone home for the holidays, cheap place only keeps the heat on if more then two people are there and it was just me" she says "I tried to get on the bus to come see you but I had to walk"

"Why didn't you go home? For the holidays?"

"Not really much if a home to go to?"

"What do you mean?"

"My mother died in childbirth. My dad looked after me alone for most of my life. He passed away a few years ago now." She explained

"Ohh y/n. I'm so sorry, his did he die?"

She smiled slightly "he was working at nasa. In the space race and all, he was an engineer so they sent him onna test flight but… they never came back" she explained

"Must have been an amazingly smart man. I see where you get it from"

"Thank you, what about you? Why aren't you flying off somewhere to see your family?"

"Don't really have a family. Never really did. My dad died before I was even born, my mum like yours died in childbirth so my uncle took care of me he was a single guy no kids or anything but he had a heart attack when I was ten, been on my own since"

"I'm so sorry Benny"

"Its okay. Life goes on you know. Of course I miss them but… me sitting here bawling isn't gonna bring them back, lifes going to go on weather I sit here crying or weather I get on with it. So I better just get on with it"

"Yeah I see what you mean" she says "how about we play a game" she smiled

"Sure" I laughed

"Truth or dare"

"Damn it okay truth"

"Do you really love chess?'

"Not as much as I did once. I do really love chess but there is bullshit too it, the traveling sucks, there's alot of snobbery around it, I think I adored it once but… I still love it just not as much as I did" I explain "truth or dare?"

"Truth"

"... Do you really think ivy will work?'

"I'm sure of it. I know it. More then anything else in this world" she smiled "your turn"

"Okay truth again"

"What's the last thing you cried at?"

"Cried? Uhhh ohh god ugh lord of the rings"

"What?'

'the ending makes me cry okay"

"Awww that's so sweet. Yeah I cried when I read it too"

"I think everyone does. If you don't cry your kinda a dick" I laughed "your turn"

"Uhhh dare"

"Oooohhh uuuuuuughhh…. I dare you to," I began before I spotted an empty note pad so I grabbed the page and crumpled it up "eat a page"

"Why?"

"Because I dared you"

"Fine" she sighed taking it ripping it up small and slowly swallowing it "oww. That was mean"

"To be fair I really didn't have a dare set. Uuhh and I pick truth"

"You have to pick dare at some point Benny"

'ill pick dare next turn"

"Fine." She smiled "... Did you love beth?"

"What? How do you know about me and beth?"

"It's not a secret. I read about it in chess review"

"No. Honestly I don't know how I feel about beth. I don't think I love her. She's ignoring me at the moment anyway, I don't know. No. I think. I care about her but I get the feeling she doesn't care about me all that much"

"You shouldn't be with someone who doesn't care about you benny. Your better then that your worth so much more then that. You deserve a girl who adores you."

"Aww thanks y/n" I smiled "your turn"

".. truth"

"Do you…. Have a crush on someone?"

"What is this Benny a girl's sleepover?'

'come on I'm curious?"

"No"

"No you don't or no you don't wanna answer the question?"

"The second one"

"If you don't wanna answer it means you do"

"I never said that"

"Who is he? Some boy in your science class? Some cute boy who lives in your dorm?"

"No" she giggled "your turn"

"No you never answered my question"

"I do but I'm not telling you"

"Why not?" I laughed but I saw how red she was "y/n… do you"

"It's not your turn to ask questions Benny" she says hurrying her head in her knitting

"Fine. Dare"

"I dare you. To… not ask anymore questions"

"Why not?"

"That's a question"

"No, that's not how the game works. A proper dare"

"Fine I dare you go up there an stick your dick in the snow"

"Ahhhhh nooooo I don't wanna do that"

"I didn't wanna eat paper"

"NOOOO"

"Go or no questions"

"Fine" I sighed getting up already too cold without the duvet around me maybe I can just go up and climb I did it but she put her knitting down and got up too wrapping her scarf around her and getting her gloves and hat on as well as her coat keeping her hood down this time as she slipped on her boots I put some shoes on and begrudgingly unlocked my door the snow was now building up badly down my stairs so much it was up to my knees each time I took a step y/n using my holes in the snow to walk through till we got to the street it really was a blizzard I could barely see anything, my car burried the lights not even working on that streets

"Go on" she says

"No looking" I warn her undoing my jeans she looked away already turning red my whole brain screaming at me every self preservation element in my brain going nuts why am I getting my dick out in a Blizzard! I did it and by God I had never been colder in my life I of course screamed making her giggle like crazy I quickly did my jeans up in an attempted to get warm again shw tried to run inside from the cold but I grabbed her "ohh no you don't if I had to go in the snow your going in too!" I told her pushing her in the snow

"Ahhhhh!! Benny" she squealed "this. Means. War" she glared grabbing some snow and throwing it at me luckily she missed

"Ha you-" I began but she got another and got me right in the face before I even finished "fine. You wanna play this game. Fine let's play"

"No no no! You can't hit a girl Benny" she giggled

"Ohh no you threw first that rule Is irrelevant" I told her grabbing some snow and throwing it at her and it managed to get her just as she was getting up right on the butt

"AAAHHH! Benny! That went up my dress!" She screamed before she ran at me with a handful of snow and shoved it down the back of my jeans

"Ahhhhh! Y/n!" I complained grabbing as much as I could and filling her hood with it throwing it over her

"Ahhhhh!" She screamed pushing me into the snow so I pulled her down with me and we ended up with her on top of me on the snow "hi"

"Hi, you wanna go back in before we freeze to death?"

"Yes please" she nods happily getting up and helping me up out the snow too we hurried down and locked the apartment up hangout stuff by the door and getting cosy back on the sofa trying to warm up again

"So… I did my dare."

"Yep"

"So, it's your turn"

"Truth" she rolled her eyes as she began to knit again

"Do you have a crush…. On me?"

"Maybe"

"Maybe?"

"Maybe" she blushed

"No come on yes or no answer?"

"Yes" she blushed "I just… I saw you in the tournament a few years back and I just, I kinda did and when we met I couldn't help it"

"That's really sweet" I smiled giving her head a kiss "uhh y/n"

"Yes Benny?"

"The snows got no sign of stopping and I really don't want you walking back to your freezing cold dorm"

"What are you saying?'

"I'm saying. I think you should stay here tonight. Are how the snow looks in the morning."

"Where will I sleep?"

" I'll make the airbed up for you if you want, or… you can come cosy in my bed with me so we keep warm"

"I'd like that Benny" she smiled shuffling closer and resting her head in my chest I smiled wrapping an arm around her

"Y/n?"

"Yes Benny?"

"... I kinda had a crush on you too"

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keanureevesisbae · 4 years ago

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Mister Cavill, your dog is kinda fat - Chapter 2

Summary: Veterinarian Olivia Tran has zero time for bullshit. After becoming a mom at age twenty three, the one thing she wants is a good life for her daughter Vanessa. Her ex didn’t want anything to do with her nor the baby and she decided that man are officially banned out of her life. But then she meets Henry Cavill at her clinic and her ban slowly starts to crumble apart. Henry on the other hand is looking for one thing: a family. And when he meets Olivia Tran, he finds just that.

Henry Cavill x Olivia Tran (ofc)

Warnings: Mentions of vomit and blood.

Wordcount: 4.5k

A/N: Yesterday was like a dream, seeing the sweetest comments flood in. A big thank you to everyone xx If you still want to be on the taglist, it’s never too late, just tell me 🤗

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

There is one thing that Henry has always wanted in life and that was getting married and having a family of his own. Growing up with four brothers, he always envisioned himself being surround by a beautiful wife, with lots of kids.

But he has reached the age of thirty seven and though he hasn’t got a lot to worry about—his biological clock isn’t ticking—he thought that by now, he’d at least have a wife and one kid.

Now he only has Kal, his loyal canine that he adores with all his heart. He takes a sip of his beer, as he watches some lame romantic comedy. It’s Friday night and as a single man, he could be on a date of course, but his profession as an actor, makes it even harder to date.

Most women are either in it for the fame and his money.

He witnessed his relationships crumble apart and now he is back being single, sitting on the couch with his dog, staring at a television screen. Last year he was thinking about starting a family, but he pushed it aside, enjoying his life as an actor. The movies he did were going great, but after the latest movie he did…

It was kind of a flop. It didn’t meet up to the expectations of the public and since that moment, he has been living a quite boring life, not thinking about taking any other offers. He wakes up, walks Kal and thinks about ways to meet the love of his life.

Henry isn’t so sure anymore about his acting career.

His mind wanders during the movie. He thinks about a future with a wife and kids. He can already see it happening: he would roll over in bed, wrap his arms around the love of his life, to slowly wake her up, before their kids would rush into the room and jump on their bed. He can imagine his beautiful wife sitting on the kitchen counter, with a few mini versions of them sitting next to her, as he is cooking for the entire family.

Henry rubs his face, fatigue kicking in. He shuts off the television and gives the big bear a kiss on top of his head. ‘You want a little something to eat before you go to bed?’ he asks Kal.

Kal wags his tail as an answer, accompanied with a bark.

Henry can’t help but chuckle.

It can pretty hard training Kal, but with the right amount of snacks, this dog can listen to him. Sometimes he even thinks that Kal can read his mind.

They go to the kitchen and he gives him a little kibble before he sleeps. He opens up the newest Doggy Herb bag and notices a slight change in color, but he shrugs it off. He bought Doggy Herb since the day he got Kal, so maybe there is more meat in this one that in the previous ones. He throws some in a bowl and watches as Kal gulps it all up.

The two of them walk up the stairs when Kal is done eating and he gets himself ready for the night. Henry stares at the sink in the bathroom, noticing the space that is left, because he doesn’t have anyone to share it with.

Before he can feel totally sorry for himself, he spits out the toothpaste and walks to his bedroom. He strips down to his underwear and steps into the bed, Kal joining him on the sheets.

He watches Kal falling asleep almost instantly and hopefully Henry can do the same.

But he can’t.

His mind keeps racing, constantly racing. The terrible reviews of his latest movie, the way how women kept saying how they want to have his kids, but none of them is good enough. He wants to fall in love with someone, someone who understands him, who loves him for who he is. A woman that he has an instant connection with. A woman where he can be himself.

When he does fall asleep, Henry dreams about a faceless woman, who holds onto his hand, as they watch their little kids running around in the yard, Kal barking as he runs in between the giggling kids.

That’s all he wants.

Henry is about to give his faceless wife a kiss, when he wakes up from hurling sounds that definitely aren’t his. He opens his eyes, turns on the light on his nightstand, to see Kal puking out his kibble on the new carpet.

Great, exactly what he needs. This is why he can’t have new stuff.

Henry gets out of bed and sits next to his dog. ‘Bud, you okay?’ he asks, but Kal’s legs give out and he collapses to the floor. His eyes are still open, but he whimpers and his breathing isn’t going as steady as it normally is.

‘No, no, no, Kal,’ Henry says, panic dripping through every word he speaks. He tries to find his phone as quickly as possible and Googles ‘Animal Clinics London’. He calls three different clinics, but none are picking up, not even the one that he usually goes to. He sees one that is an hour away, but in all honesty, Henry would arrange a private jet to fly them off to a vet that did pick up the fucking phone and he didn’t even care if he had to travel to another continent.

The phone rings twice, before he hears: ‘Animal Clinic Westside, doctor Olivia Tran, how may I help you?’

The woman sounds friendly, that’s a good start. ‘Hello, I’m terribly sorry for calling at this hour, but my dog is vomiting and I see some blood in it. He collapsed and is breathing really heavily and I don’t know what to do.’

‘Sir, it’s okay,’ she says. ‘Did your dog eat anything out of the ordinary today?’

He doesn’t even know for sure. ‘Not that I know of.’

‘You think it’s possible for you to come to the clinic? I’d like to see the dog.’

‘Of course, of course,’ Henry says.

‘I hope it’s not too much to ask, but could you take some of the vomit with you? Especially the part with some blood. I’d like to check it.’

Doctor Olivia Tran could’ve asked him to bring three human kidneys and he’d bring it, anything for his Kal. ‘I’ll bring it with me, of course.’

‘What kind of breed is your dog, sir?’

‘An American Akita. His name is Kal.’ Henry strokes the fur of Kal, blinking away the tears.

‘I’ll be at the clinic in about forty minutes, mister…’

Henry picks up on what she’s trying to do. ‘Cavill and I can be at the clinic in about an hour.’

They hang up shortly afterwards and Kal lets out a soft whimper. ‘Hang in there, bud,’ he tells the dog. ‘You can’t die on me. You really can’t.’

≫≫≪≪

With a weak Kal in his arms, Henry rushes into the clinic, only to discover that doctor Tran is already waiting for him. He doesn’t know what he was expecting, but he certainly wasn’t expecting her. He is mesmerized by her dark brown eyes, her perfect lips and her hair that’s in a messy bun, a few strands framing her face.

This woman is beyond beautiful. He can’t believe that someone like her is even real. The way she tilts her head, while she scans him shamelessly from top to bottom, makes him feel all sorts of things.

He concludes he has been single for too long.

‘Mister Cavill?’ she asks, causing him to snap back into reality.

‘Yes,’ he hastily says. ‘That’s me.’

‘Follow me.’ She walks in front of him, into the first examination room. Her fingers tap on the table and he gently places his dog on the hard surface. She strokes the fur on top of Kal’s head. ‘Let’s see what’s with you,’ she says, putting on some gloves. ‘You brought the samples?’

‘Yes, yes, I did,’ he says, clearing his throat. He shouldn’t be mesmerized by the vet in front of him, but he can’t stop staring at her. He hands her the bag and she sets it aside, while she opens Kal’s eyes, looking into them.

Before he can say something else, he hears small footsteps echo into the room. ‘Can I watch?’

Henry looks up, to see a small girl standing in the doorway. This must be the daughter of doctor Tran, because that girl is the spitting image of the woman standing in front of him. The doctor does look young though, almost too young to have a daughter who is at least five years old.

He needs to shake the thought of the doctor off of him, he tells himself. She has a daughter, so there is a plausible chance she’s taken.

Doctor Tran doesn’t look up from her clipboard, while she’s scribbling something down. ‘If mister Cavill doesn’t mind.’

The young girl looks up at him, two hopeful eyes meeting his. ‘No, of course not,’ he says, his heart melting at the sight of the hopeful look in her eyes.

The little girl walks over to the examination table, dragging a stool with her. She stands next to Henry and even when she’s standing on it, she can barely peek over the edge of the table. ‘Mommy,’ she asks, confirming that the little girl is indeed doctor Tran her daughter, ‘should I introduce myself?’

The doctor nods, while she checks the vomit, scrunching her nose. ‘That’s the polite thing to do, sweetheart.’

The girl holds out a tiny hand and says: ‘My name is Vanessa Tran.’

‘Hi Vanessa,’ Henry says in a soft voice, before holding onto her hand, that nearly disappears in his. ‘My name is Henry Cavill and this is Kal.’

Doctor Tran looks up from the bag of vomit. ‘Henry Cavill?’ she asks. ‘Isn’t there an actor whose name is Henry Cavill?’

‘Yeah, there is.’ Henry chuckles, feeling a bit awkward, but also amused that she doesn’t recognize him. It’s nice to be unrecognizable, even if it’s for a short amount of time. ‘That actor would be me.’

Her eyes widen. ‘Oh,’ she says, but she can’t seem to find the right words to say.

‘Mommy, is this man famous?’ Vanessa asks, while not breaking eye contact with Henry. The little girl blinks her eyes, almost in disbelieve that someone famous is standing next to her.

Doctor Tran pulls herself together. ‘Yes, sweetheart, he plays in some movies. He even played Superman.’

Vanessa widens her eyes as well and yet again she looks just like her mother. ‘Wow, Superman is here.’ She starts to giggle, a sound that Henry already adores. ‘So, if you are Superman, you are really strong.’

‘He is,’ doctor Tran says, placing the vomit samples aside. ‘He carried his dog inside.’ Henry can’t help but beam with pride as he takes in the compliment from the doctor.

‘Wow,’ Vanessa says again. She holds out her arms and asks him if he can lift her up. Henry looks over at the doctor, who smiles and simply nods, a non verbal sign of consent.

Henry lifts the little girl up in his arms and she wraps an arm around his neck.

‘I can’t wait to tell miss Sue that I met Superman.’

He can’t help but laugh, the little girl and her comments already making him feel less scared about what can happen to Kal. ‘Doctor Tran,’ he finally says, ‘is everything okay with Kal?’

‘What kind of kibble do you give him?’ she asks, while she is checking his heartbeat.

‘Doggy Herb,’ he answers, while Vanessa is tugging his curls, pulling on one strand until it’s straight, before letting it go and watching it curl together again. ‘Why?’

She looks up. ‘Well, then the news hasn’t reached you yet. We’ve had multiple cases of dogs who started to vomit after they ate the Doggy Herb kibble, some of them included blood. The manufacturer changed something in the ingredients and now lots of dogs have severe reactions to it.’

This woman demands all of his attention, without even trying. She is absolutely breathtaking and if she wasn’t talking about his sick dog, nor had a daughter, he’d ask her out.

‘Oh.’ Henry feels guilty. ‘I thought there was something different about it. I opened a new bag today.’

‘How much did you gave him?’

‘A little bit, at around eleven,’ he answers.

She smiles and without her telling him something, he already feels more at ease. ‘Then you have nothing to worry about. I’m going to put an IV on him, so he can rehydrate a bit. After that I’m going to give him some medicine and I’ll give you something to give him at home. In about three hours, you can take him home with you again.’

‘Really?’

She nods. ‘Really, sir. If you could place him on the floor? That would be easier for Kal and me.’

‘I’m sorry, miss Vanessa,’ he says, before he gently places the girl back on her feet. He shouldn’t feel this desperate need to impress the doctor. However, he can’t help but flex his muscles a little bit, as he carries the dog to the corner of the examination room.

‘Wow, mommy, he is really strong,’ Vanessa says.

‘No wonder he was Superman,’ doctor Tran says. She looks through some drawers and says: ‘I figure you want to wait here.’

‘I do, I do,’ he says.

‘If you want, you can grab something to drink around the corner. Maybe a coffee will help you stay awake.’

Does he look that miserable? Does he look that tired?

‘I can tell you how the machine works,’ Vanessa says. ‘I know how it works.’

‘That would be nice,’ he admits. Vanessa takes ahold of his hand and tugs him with her. He follows the little girl and he sees himself in the reflection of a mirror that’s right next to the coffee machine.

He does look miserable. His eyes are still red from the bit of crying he did when he drove to the clinic and the bed hair looks like multiple crows have been nesting there.

‘My mommy is going to make Kal better,’ Vanessa says, before grabbing a paper cup. ‘You don’t have to worry.’

‘I wasn’t worried,’ he tells the young girl, but the second it leaves his lips, he realized he only said that to impress the doctor. God, he is lying to a little girl, just to impress her mother, who isn’t even in the same room. For all he knows, the woman is married and the girl’s dad is at home.

But, come to think of it, why would she take her daughter to work then?

Vanessa starts to frown and she takes a step to the side, so she’s standing in the doorway. ‘Mommy, can I tell Superman he is lying and that you’re not supposed to lie?’

He can hear doctor Tran laughing. ‘You can tell Superman that, sweetheart.’

Henry feels a little finger poking his thigh. ‘Superman, you are lying and you’re not supposed to lie. My mommy says that you should tell the truth, especially about your feelings.’

He is genuinely impressed. This young girl is really in touch with her own feelings and can verbalize it. That’s extraordinary for someone her age, he thinks to himself. Doctor Tran is doing a good job with raising her.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says to Vanessa. ‘I’ll try to be better.’

‘You should, you are Superman after all.’

He has a paper cup filled with coffee and they accompany Kal and the doctor again. She hands Vanessa a juice box and says she needs to fill in some paperwork, but that the two of them can keep Kal company.

Vanessa and Henry stare at Kal, while Vanessa is slowly stroking his fur. It’s obvious that she’s growing more and more tired with every passing second, but she is desperately trying to stay awake. It’s really endearing, if Henry’s being honest and really not helping with his own baby fever.

‘My mommy is also a superhero,’ Vanessa says. ‘Not like Superman of course, but she always saves animals.’

‘Well,’ Henry says, unintentionally loud enough for doctor Tran to hear it, ‘your mom is an even better hero than Superman.’

That confuses her, because she frowns. ‘Why?’

‘Because I play Superman. It’s pretending. Your mom is not pretending.’

He watches Vanessa nod, as she is taking in what he just said. ‘Yeah, you are right. My mommy is a better hero.’ She sighs deeply. ‘Mister Henry, do you have kids?’

God, the girl is barely five or six years old, but she surely knows how to wrench his heart. ‘I don’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘Why not what?’

She rolls her eyes annoyed, probably thinking he is a slow one for not understanding. ‘Why don’t you have kids?’

He clears his throat. ‘I don’t have a wife,’ he says. ‘And you need two people for that.’

Her mouth falls open. ‘Well, my mommy doesn’t have a husband. I’ve always wanted a daddy,’ she admits with bitter sweet honesty. ‘But my real daddy didn’t want me.’

‘Enough, Vanessa,’ he hears doctor Tran say in a stern voice from the other room.

‘But mommy…’

‘No, enough. Don’t talk about that with strangers.’

‘But this man is not a stranger mom. He is Superman, he can help us.’

Doctor Tran walks into the room, an annoyed look on her face. She doesn’t say anything, just stares at her daughter, raising an eyebrow in the process.

Vanessa pouts. ‘Sorry.’

The doctor leaves the room again and Henry asks Vanessa about school, hoping the kid doesn’t start about her estranged father again, though he wants to know more about that and it is a convenience: doctor Tran is single from what she just told him.

He finds out that she is six and can already read what’s on the posters in the examination room. Even though this kid isn’t his own, he can’t help but feel proud, when she recites the entire alphabet and shows him that she can count to a hundred.

But all while she’s doing that, fatigue is catching up with her and eventually she falls asleep against his arm. He carefully lifts her up, hoping that he doesn’t wake her up and walks to the room where doctor Tran is currently doing some paperwork.

‘Oh, she’s asleep,’ she says when she notices Henry standing in the doorway.

‘Yeah, she was pretty tired.’

She smiles, before holding out her arms. ‘I’ll be right back,’ she says, as she holds her daughter close to her body. She leaves the room and probably will tuck her daughter in somewhere. He sits next to his dog, looks at him, looking less and less fatigued and more like his own happy go lucky self.

‘Kal is looking better,’ she says, while she crouches down next to the dog. Kal stares at her, almost with heart eyes. ‘I recommend you switch to something like Purina One, or something like that,’ she tells him. ‘Doesn’t matter, everything but Doggy Herb.’

‘Is it deadly?’ he asks. ‘The other kibble.’

She shakes her head. ‘Well, no, wait, that’s a lie. If you give him lots of it, it can be fatal.’

‘I feel so stupid.’

The doctor looks at him. ‘Don’t,’ she says. ‘From the looks of it, you are a great owner.’ She checks the bag with fluids and says: ‘I want him on the scale for a second.’ She removes the IV from him, but from the looks of it, Kal is too tired to move.

‘Why on the scale?’

‘To determine how much of the medicine he needs,’ she tells him. ‘We don’t want to OD him, do we?’

It’s almost a cruel joke, but he can’t help but laugh. This woman is quite something and he is seriously intrigued.

Henry is yet again going out of his way to impress the beautiful doctor, but her facial expressions don’t give away much. She turns on the scale and writes down what she sees. ‘You can place him there,’ she says, pointing near the entrance. ‘Maybe the view will help him a bit. He should get moving in about half an hour.’ He places his furry companion near the door and Kal can move his head up, staring to the silent outside world, all still too deep asleep. When he looks at the doctor again, she taps the screen of the scale. ‘Now I know how much you both weigh, but I need Kal’s weight.’

Why is he feeling insecure? She’ll probably know that his weight is mostly muscle, that is shows his hard work. He steps on the scale and watches her scribble something on the paper. When Henry steps off, he notices her frown. ‘What?’ he asks.

‘This only confirms what I thought.’

‘What?’ he asks again.

‘Mister Cavill, your dog is kinda fat.’

She could’ve slapped in across his cheek and he wouldn’t be as surprised as he is now. Kal is fat? ‘Excuse me,’ he says in a defensive tone, crossing his arms in front of his buffed out chest. ‘My dog isn’t fat.’

Doctor Tran doesn’t seem impressed by his facade at all. ‘He is,’ she tells him. ‘An average American Akita weights between the forty and sixty kilos. Your dog weighs seventy kilos, while he should be between the fifty and sixty kilos.’

‘It’s muscle.’ Geez, he never thought he could get this defensive.

The doctor tries to hide a smile and her overall amusement, but she is failing miserably. ‘It’s fat, I already felt that back in the examination room.’

‘But how is he too fat?’

She shrugs. ‘You feed him too much, I guess. I’m not there with you when you feed him.’

‘I give him the prescribed amount of kibble.’ And a bit more, but his dog can’t possible get fat from that, right?

‘Do you train Kal?’

He nods. ‘I do.’

‘And do you give him snacks?’

He searches though his pocket and finds a chunk that he usually gives Kal during training.

‘How many do you give him?’ she asks, studying the snack as she takes it from him.

‘About twelve of those during a training session and I do those about two or three times.’

’No wonder he is fat.’

Does the doctor need to be this crude? His dog nearly died, could she show him some compassion?

‘Mister Cavill, this is the size of a pound,’ she tells him. She breaks it into four smaller bits and adds: ‘Dogs don’t care about the size of their snack. Instead giving him one of those, giving him a fourth, isn’t something he’ll notice.’

Henry sighs deeply, embarrassed of his defensiveness. ‘I’m sorry,’ he says.

‘For getting defensive?’ she guesses. ‘Oh no, it’s totally understandable. Someone is saying something about someone you care about. But, sir, it’s my job to make sure Kal is the healthiest he can be. Just give him seventy five percent of what you would normally give him, give him tons of walks and don’t give him the entire snack, just a quarter will do.’

He nods, taking the tips in. ‘Thank you, doctor Tran.’

≫≫≪≪

Kal is finally feeling better and Vanessa has woken up again. She is hanging around Kal’s neck, giving him tons of kisses. Kal doesn’t seem to mind, because he continues to lick Vanessa’s face when he gets the chance. Henry knew that his loyal dog was good with children, but this is on another level.

‘I’m sorry that I called,’ he says to doctor Tran, who is leaning against the counter, her white coat hanging open, revealing a thick looking sweater.

‘Why? Your dog was sick and you called a vet. It’s okay, I knew what I was doing when I sighed up for the job.’ She looks at her daughter and adds: ‘Besides, I think I have a very tired, but very happy six year old for the weekend. She got to pet a lovely dog and met Superman. Honestly, I should thank you for calling our clinic.’

Henry lets his gaze drop on the petite doctor that is standing next to her. He doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but he certainly does believe in attraction at first sight. It has been a long time since Henry met a woman like doctor Olivia Tran. She blatantly told him his dog was fat and told her daughter that she could say to “Superman” that he was lying. She is definitely something else and he hates it that he has to leave now.

‘Well, thank you,’ he says, ‘for helping out Kal. I don’t know what I would’ve done if he didn’t make it.’ He holds out his hand and the doctor leaves him hanging for a good second, before she places her slender hand in his, adding: ‘It’s my job, mister Cavill.’

‘Henry, please, call me Henry.’

She nods. ‘Okay, Henry, I’ll see you in a few weeks, for his yearly shots he needs to have according to his passport and we have to check if you are a strict enough owner, because this little fatty needs to lose some weight.’ She lets go of his hand, before scratching the Akita behind his ears.

‘Mommy, can we have a dog?’

‘No, angel, we can’t,’ she says. ‘So give Kal one last kiss and say goodbye to Henry, okay?’

Vanessa does what her mother tells her to do, because she gives Kal a kiss on his nose and walks over to Henry, who crouches down, so he is about the same height as the little girl. ‘It was very nice to meet you, Vanessa,’ Henry says.

She wraps her arms around his broad shoulders. ‘It was nice to meet you too, mister Henry,’ she whispers, still a bit groggy. She lets go of him and walks to her mom, holding onto her hand tightly.

‘Thank you, again.’

‘Of course,’ doctor Tran smiles. ‘And I’ll see you in a few weeks.’

He steps out of the clinic with Kal and sighs deeply. This was quite something, he thinks to himself. As he walks towards his car, he looks over his shoulder, only to see Vanessa being picked up by her mother, balancing on her hip. The two of them wave to him and he smiles, holding out his hand and waving back.

When he gets into his car, Kal sitting next to him, he lets out a groan. He shouldn’t have a crush on this vet, he really shouldn’t.

But Henry keeps thinking about how doctor Tran stared at him, how Vanessa hugged him and how his dog seemed to be at ease with them, loving the doctor from the looks of it and adoring the attention Vanessa gave him.

He forces himself to stop thinking about this, because for all he knows, this is the last time he would see either of them. He doesn’t even know if his favorite veterinarian will be helping him when he gets back in a few weeks for Kal’s shots. ‘Forget about it, Henry,’ he tells himself sternly. ‘You’re not a teenager anymore, with a crush on someone he can’t date anyway.’

Taglist: @thelastsock // @flhorah // @sausagefest1996 // @laufeysodinson // @xxxkatxo // @memoriesat30 // @henrythickcavill // @crimsonrae // @henryobsessed // @madbaddic7ed // @summersong69 // @lyrafraiser // @peakygroupie // @coldmuffinbanditshoe // @mary-ann84 // @thereisa8ella //@crazyandanonymous4u // @xuxszx

#henry cavill #henry cavill x ofc #henry cavill x oc #mister cavill your dog is kinda fat #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill x Olivia Tran

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honney-boy · 4 years ago

Text

Wonder (Part 1)

Rudy Pankow x Oc!Reader

gif by → @riobeth

Wonder Series Masterlist | Wonder Playlist

Chapter summary: Rudy and Nevaeh meet in person for the first time and things aren’t awkward. Yougurt cups, bananas and ice blended in a cup and maple syrup.

Full Summary and Story Concept

Warning(s): language, shenanigans, jet laggness, social media zombies, teenage girls

Words: 5k+

A/N: This is my first attempt at a Rudy fic. My first series too! But if this flops, let's pretend it never happened, okay? :) But If you guys want to read more, please do let me know. Your love and support is the encouragement I need. I got the concept from tik tok haha. Fair warning, I am handwriting out chapters with a pen and paper before converting it digitally, so updates with be spread out. THERE WILL BE GRAMMAR MISTAKES! I'm human, and Tumblr is my test run for this series. Anywho, hope you enjoy :)

taglist

One | “Social Zombies”

In Nevaeh's opinion, airports were the worst. It wasn't due to the 38,000 feet in the air flying ride or the nothingness in the sky you see your whole flight; it was the people, the airports themselves, and the limited space.

Airports were much worse than flying - especially the San Francisco International Airport. Also known as SFO Airport. The few times, literally very few times, Nevaeh has been to the airport, she had poor experiences. Now, SFO Airport is definitely smaller than LAX and not as busy - it's a nightmare. You would think with a much smaller airport, there would be fewer crowds, but no, it's like a family reunion every day but with strangers. If you bump into the wrong person, your day on the off chance will get ruined.

Along with the busy crowds, there are many places to eat. From pizza to Italian to pie, your choices are endless. That's until half or more restaurants are closed or have long lines. Nevaeh never ate airport food, so she couldn't give her opinion on it. She'll leave that to the professional reviews. She wasn't at SFO Airport to judge the food or traffic flow, not even the staff's attitude - except she already gave a flight attendant a glare. The flight attendant took a bathroom break before their next flight and griped at Nevaeh because she used the last paper towel so they couldn't dry their hands. Air drying is a thing, and it works well, she thought to herself while leaving the restroom. She was not going to let one grumpy flight attendant ruin her great mood. She was going to meet someone who she hopes is special today.

Over the past two months, Nevaeh and this person had gotten to know each other well, virtually, that is. They met online, and Nevaeh lived in San Francisco while they lived in Alaska. Countless messages, facetime calls, photos, and videos were exchanged, and a bond was formed. Who would have thought that two people could meet through a video sharing social media app and hit it off? Most people start with dating apps, meet and get to know different people, but Nevaeh met them all because a video of hers popped up on their for you page.

Nevaeh created and shared a variety of things on the app. From cooking to creating and her little hobby of disco skating. She wanted to keep her followers and supporters entertained and herself; she didn’t want to be stuck, making the same content, so she did many things. Nevaeh thought maybe one of her disco skating, videography, or cooking videos drew them in, but it was one of her mini vlogs. In the video, she showed how she would scout places before spending the day getting footage for a short montage film or scenes for a movie she is working on. Not long after the discovery, they - he sent her a message asking about a more in-depth explanation of her process, and it went up from there.

Now, after all this time of them chatting back and forth, they get to meet. Nevaeh gets to meet him.

Standing by the arrival gate, her eyes bouncing around the room at different things just to keep her mind centered and not all over the place. She wanted to pick at her nails, or hold her hands to her chest but she couldn’t hold them in place for long; she opted for playing with the white beaded bracelet he bought and sent to her in a box full of other things. It was so sweet of him; just thinking about the box she received makes her smile and her heart swell. Just last week she received a box full of thoughtful gifts. Inside were some of her favorite snacks, a movie she loved, one of his hoodies - it was the hoodie he wore the first time they facetimed. The hoodie was one of his favorites, but he had the urge to send it to her, he just wanted her to have it. And finally was the white beaded bracelet with a single aqua blue bead on it - he had the matching one with all aqua beads and one single black bead. She was having an uncreative and pretty shitty day until that box arrived on the front door step of her shared apartment.

“I wanted to surprise you, so I messaged Birdie asking her for your favorite snacks, I added the hoodie and got the two of us distance bracelets. You know, because we are long distance.” He told her later that day when they talked on the phone.

“Until you come here, or I go there,” she replied. She hasn’t stopped wearing the hoodies since and she has had the bracelet on since the moment she got it.

Nevaeh watched different people walk past her; none of them were him yet. The dirty blond mess he sported for hair shouldn't be that hard to miss, but the longer she searched, the more she doubted her assumption.

It was another couple of minutes that went by, and she didn't see him, so she pulled her phone out to see if he had sent something. Maybe he has to catch a different flight, and he forgot to tell her, or perhaps he didn't want to meet after all. Her fingers type out a message to send, but a figure stands in front of her before she hits the send button. Nevaeh could see the shadow of their body from her peripheral vision, but she did not look up, hoping they would go away - but they didn't. Sending her message, the woman was preparing to turn away until she heard the stranger's phone go off. It's just a coincidence that their phone went off a couple of seconds after I sent a message. She said to herself, then she looked up and there he was. Dirty blond hair - a little long all over, but instead of it being in his face like it always is, it was pushed back and tucked underneath a red cap. His eyes were more lovely in person. The pair ranged from a light blue to gray, depending on the day. Today they were light blue. He sported stubble across his chin and cheeks with a blond mustache above his top lip. He wore nothing flashy, just a simple red ACDC sweatshirt, cargo shorts, and a pair of vans. He looked tired, but that didn't throw off the good vibes and smile he had going on. She couldn't help but smile back. He's here in the flesh. Rudy.

"Hi," he said light-heartedly, breaking the silence.

"Hi," she echoed; the smile on her face grew some more. "Wow, you're really here in the flesh."

He chuckled, and the sound woke up the butterflies in her stomach. "Yeah, I am. And you...the pictures and videos don't do enough justice for the actual thing." His eyes scan over her, noticing the navy blue Hilfiger sweatshirt he sent to her. Nevaeh couldn't help the dust of blush that appeared on her cheek.

“Talk about me, what about you? Who knew those Snapchat filters were hiding such a god-like person.”

“Oh, stop, you’re making me blush,” he joked while bashful. No matter online or in person, Nevaeh was still able to get him flushed; it was something he didn’t want to admit, not while he was flying blind with this.

Nevaeh smiled and had a tiny giggle; the full laugh was muffled by the hand she brought up to her mouth in an attempt to hold the sound back. He could watch her smile for a while. Is that weird? “How was your flight? I hope it wasn’t too horrible.”

“It wasn’t too bad,” he admitted. “Definitely long, but nothing a pair of earbuds, music, and a couple of movies couldn’t fix.” The two quickly began walking toward the direction of baggage claim. More of Rudy just following whichever direction Nevaeh was going. She did know the airport better anyway.

“Which movies did you watch?” she asked.

“Since I had six hours to waste - Joker, 1917 and Pride & Prejudice.”

“Oh, I see you listened to my suggestions; not surprised you watched Joker again,” Rudy shrugged his shoulders with a hum. “I’m surprised you didn’t watch the Harry Potter movies.”

Rudy rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Actually, I already watched them a couple of days ago,” Nevaeh hummed as if she were to say, ‘of course’ “You can judge me all you want. I won’t pay you any mind. Just the same as I did with the guy that had the aisle seat in my row. I guess other guys find it weird that a guy decided to watch a period drama on a flight.”

“He was just jealous he didn’t think of it first. Mr. Darcy’s pinning for Miss. Bennett and the film’s overarching theme is too good not to watch.”

“That it is, who would want to miss the warnings heeded against trusting one’s first impression or prejudices?”

“Or the character arcs that grow throughout the storyline. I pity that aisle sitting man.”

“I do too,” Rudy agreed. “He missed out on a classic and had to get up to let the other person and me out to take a tinkle.” He did it again. He made her laugh genuinely. The conversation between them flowed. The small worry Nevaeh had earlier about the two of them not being able to continue the light-hearted and enjoyable nature they had over text had diminished. He seemed just the same - goofy, charismatic, charming, and caring - as he was over the phone the past month and a half. She, too, was still kind, compassionate, and sarcastic as before. Yet both of them had their own doubts about the thing they were doing; they didn’t know what it was or where it was headed, but they were willing to find out.

In the car, Nevaeh drove the route she knew from the airport to her shared apartment. Rudy sat in the passenger seat; his gaze focused out the window, watching the San Francisco scenery appear, disappear and morph as they passed by the window. The radio played while they sat in a comfortable silence - it impressed her how easily they fell into it. Wasn't it common for an uncomfortable silence? Two people who just met for the first time should struggle in an attempt to make a conversation, but not them.

To Rudy, the comfortable silence was almost expected. Granted, he did expect one of them to talk the other's ear off - he's glad neither of them was. The six-hour flight took its effect on the man, but he wasn't going to let his fatigue ruin the time they had together. He'll rest later. Spend time with her now, sleep later.

The car rolled to a stop, a red light shined on the traffic light hanging in front of them. Rudy's eyes watch a girl across the street riding down the sidewalk on a skateboard. Her stance relaxed, feet planted in a way that helped her ride easily; she was experienced, probably skated regularly. Watching her skate triggered a longing in Rudy for his board back at home. He rides on concrete and in the snow, but he was missing snowboarding the most. It was beginning to be summer, so the temperatures in Alaska were warmer. To warm for snow but warm enough for the evergreen to take over. Now he was in California, the state that was sunny all the time. The state that thrived in the summer and its soil hardly ever to never had the chilled touch of snow. His longing grew more for the chilly weather and white flakes.

The woman sitting next to him took the next couple of seconds between the light change to look at him. Catching the moment of his gaze out the window of her jeep. "I know you're probably tired from your flight. I had some ideas about the things we could do, but we don't have to do anything today." She spoke and after, glanced at the traffic light only to see it was still red.

Rudy tore his gaze from the distant image of the skater and met Nevaeh's. "I am, but if you want to do something, we can. I'm more than happy to hang out." He said.

Trying to reason, she said, "I know, but you just got off a six-hour flight."

"Nevaeh, it's fine. I'm not that burned out. Time zones are an hour apart, and seven am isn't that bad." she begins to give him a skeptical look. She heard his words but feels as if he was only saying that to make her happy. He sat by her, leaned back, and relaxed. His head sat lazily against the headrest, and the smile he was giving her was light but tiresome. She switched her gaze from him to the traffic light, which turned green, and she didn't know when. Nevaeh eased her foot off the brake and to the gas pedal. "Seriously, we can do something."

“Fine,” She says after a moment. “I won’t wear you out too much more.” Flicking her left turn signal on after checking her mirror, she merges into the lane beside her. “There’s somewhere I wanna take you - well, maybe two places, but we’re going to the apartment first.”

“Alright, sounds good to me.” Nevaeh drove them to the apartment she shared with her long term friend. Rudy followed behind her as she led the way; they only spent a few minutes there. After a short tour, a bathroom break, and dropping off a couple of suitcases later, Rudy and Nevaeh left the place. They began a walk along the San Francisco hills to the mysterious place Nevaeh had in mind.

“This place is somewhere I walk to every other day. It’s Birdie’s and my favorite place.” It was a short six to eight-minute walk. Nevaeh reassured him before briefly going into a conversation about the impressive things you see in the city. Just like Nevaeh told him, they both come up upon a corner shop with a couple of large windows to see inside and out, a brown exterior with outside tables with green umbrellas and foldable outdoor chairs. The corner shop was known as the Nasik Cafe. For a small cafe, the place was doing well. There were a handful of people inside sitting, chatting, or ordering and quite a few sitting outside.

“This place is pretty health-oriented, and like Starbucks, it has things you could make at home for free, but their stuff is great,” Nevaeh explained to the man.

"So you spend way too much on yogurt cups, fruit drinks, toast, and other food you can make at home?" She nods her head like it was evident at what he said. Rudy shook his head. "Couldn't you just spend ten dollars on a yogurt cup?"

"Oh my goodness, they don't have yogurt cups, Rudy." She shook her head in disbelief.

"Okay, so ten dollars for a banana blended with ice in a cup - still sounds ridiculous to me."

"I can't with you," She tilted her head back, but she wasn't annoyed. She found his witticism amusing. At this rate, Nevaeh should prepare to always smile all the time around him. "You should find a table out here, and I can grab us something - wait, do you want to sit out here?"

Rudy nodded, then began to scan the area but only briefly seeing a couple of empty tables. "Yeah, it's nice out, let's enjoy it. Out here is great."

"Great," she says, pleased. "I'll grab something; I wanna surprise you. I'll be back." Nevaeh turns to walk inside. The smell of strawberries, oranges, and granola invaded her nose. It wasn't a new smell to her, but a new one for the day. She would always smell fruit and granola wherever she would walk into Basik. Some days it smelt like bananas and chocolate, or honey, peanut butter, and coconut. The smells varied, but the most prominent one was the tropical smell. To her left at a table was a couple enjoying smoothies. Both cops were a little under half full. A person sat at another table, invested in their laptop. To her right, more people sat. Art adorns the walls as realism paintings along with abstract images. There was a line at the counter; no more than four people stood waiting. She took the time to look up at the big and wide wood board hanging from the ceiling. When Nevaeh told Rudy she wanted to surprise him with something, she knew what she was getting for the both of them. The colorful and fruitful acai bowls.

Nevaeh and her roommate Birdie loved acai bowls. Birdie was the one to introduce her friend to the fantastic bowls she grew to love. Now it was her turn to turn another friend onto them.

The line moved along smoothly and grew smaller by the minutes. Once Nevaeh got closer, her lips stretched into a grin as her eyes caught sight of the barista.

"Hi, what can I get you? Could I interest you in our new fall to-Vae! Hey." the blonde barista's mood brightened significantly when she realized she was taking Nevaeh's order. She leaned across the counter and grabbed hold of Nevaeh's hand, and laced their fingers together. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to pick up your friend." She said, then making finger quotations. The barista was her roommate, Birdie. Birdie was a full-time college student and full-time barista to get by. She was more than happy to talk to her friend now that she wasn't as busy - Nevaeh was the only person in line for now.

"I was - I did pick up my friend. No air quotes, we're friends."

"For now."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes at the blonde. "He's here with me, just outside." Birdie looked past Nevaeh and out the window in search of this guy. Nevaeh looked around for him, too; she didn't get to see where he chose to sit. "He's...the one with the red cap, right there." She pointed out once she spotted him. Birdie hummed and squinted her eyes to get a better look, which was difficult with the angle he sat at.

"He looks nice...from here," Birdie leaned back, so her fingers could let go of Nevaeh's and tap the terminal screen as she put her friend's usual order in. While Birdie did that, Nevaeh nodded in agreement but kept her gaze on him. "Lemme guess, the usual?"

"Kilauea; everything but-"

"No pollen and extra honey." Birdie finished with assuredness and not a drop of doubt in her answer. Her friend smiled, her eyes looking to Birdie with amazement.

"You know me too well."

"Well, you order the same thing almost every time."

"Touche," she couldn't argue with that. When it came to her acai bowl, she liked the Kilauea - made with mango juice, granola, berries, papaya, honey, and acai - the best. "And water, of course - make that two." She stepped back to look over the menu. Rudy wasn't familiar with the place, and he didn't know what they served, so Nevaeh wanted to get him something he hopefully liked. She decided to go with something not too fancy - directing her attention back to her barista friend. She went ahead and finished her order. "And...let me get the Islander acai bowl." That one was made with hemp mylk, granola, banana, berries, cocoa shavings, and honey.

Birdie rang up the rest of the order for Nevaeh. After catching a glimpse at the total, Nevaeh reached in the little card pocket of her wallet and grabbed her card. Unbeknownst to her, while she was getting her card, Birdie took her name tag and gave her friend her employee discount - she got it for half the price.

“I know you’re an independent woman and paying for the first date, the least I could do is give you a discount. Just don’t tell Daniel.” She winked, and Nevaeh gave her a thumbs up with one hand, and with the other, she made a zipping and locking motion over her mouth before throwing the key.

Outside, Rudy sat at the table he picked out for the two of them while waiting. While Nevaeh ran inside to get their order, he observed the small San Francisco scenery around him. California weather was sunshine with fluffy clouds. Just about everyone was either in shorts, a tank, and a cut-off shirt or any other summer clothing that provided them some comfort in the blazing sun. He dressed just right for the weather, though in Alaska, it was more on the chill side, causing him to wear a sweatshirt while he left. Now that he was basking in the California weather, he took off the warm sweatshirt and left it at Nevaeh’s apartment.

There were other people outside along with him. A group of girls sat a few feet away at a table in front of him, trying not to giggle as they attempted to make a video. At another table, there were two guys, perhaps brothers. They were eating something colorful from a bowl - it looked like yogurt to Rudy - and having a conversation with one another.

Rudy shook his head at the drastic difference between the two tables. Maybe it was just him, but it was amazing how much the world - more specifically America- was wrapped up in technology and social media. Sure the brothers at the one table had digital watches that told them the time and lit up, catching their attention with a vibrate when a text or notification went to their phone. But at least they could carry on a conversation without having their phone in their hands. On the other hand, those girls haven’t put their phones down longer than a few seconds. After those seconds, they tap away or show the other something they thought was worthy enough to gauge a reaction out of them.

Rudy wasn't one to judge. He didn't have much right to because while watching them and waiting for Nevaeh, he had the urge to pull out his phone. It was almost like a habit, but he chooses not to feed the temptation. He wanted to enjoy the day with Nevaeh; notice the burn on his skin from the sun, get to know her, have fun, pick up on little cues she has, and find out what he likes the most about her. And though it was kind of ironic that the two of them met through social media, he hopes Nevaeh is not one of those social zombies. Then this trip would be a waste of time and effort.

Ruby pulled his sunglasses down due to the sun starting to bother his eyes. Then he also wanted to cover his eyes and focus on something else while he waited. A minute later, Nevaeh walked out of the cafe's door backward with her back pushing the door open. In her hands, she had what she ordered; he wondered what she got. Rudy briskly stood up out of his seat to help her out.

"Hey, let me help you out," he walks around the table towards her, but she only nods him off.

"I got it, you sit."

"You have all the food and drinks in your hands; it's the least I can do." he stood off to the side, not interfering but reading despite what she said. He watches her struggle a bit and almost drops the stuff. Rudy immediately reached out, but Nevaeh had already saved herself and looked at him with a smile.

"I got it, Rudy. I was just pulling your leg." He picked up on the playfulness in her eyes, which made him pull his lips into a smile matching hers; her smile is definitely contagious.

“Alright, alright,” he raised his hands, backing away and then taking his seat. Nevaeh took her seat across from him, sat everything down before passing him the items she got him. “What’d you get us?”

“Well, I don’t know if you have had this before, but it’s my go-to thing to get here. It’s an acai bowl,” Nevaeh’s eyes caught his confused expression before he tried to cover it up with an understanding. She laughed softly and explained further. “It’s like a smoothie bowl with other things in it.”

“Smoothie bowl…” he murmured more to himself, but she still heard it.

Shaking her head, she continued. “Acai palm is the main ingredient along with bananas and granola, but you can add other fruits or peanut butter and syrups. Or take things off.”

“Like maple syrup?” he asked, looking at the acai bowl she got him.

Her face begins to twist in disgust until she covers it with a shrug and looks down at her bowl, ready to dig in. “Uh, I guess if that’s what you want, then yeah.” She answered, and Rudy nodded his head and grabbed his spoon to take a taste. Before Nevaeh tasted her own, she watched Rudy, waiting for his reaction. He took a bite, letting the flavor invade his taste buds.

“Wow, this is good,” He says after swallowing. He glanced up, catching Nevaeh already looking at him. She quickly looked away and stirred her bowl.

“I’m glad you like it; it’s my second favorite one,” she peeked back up, and Rudy was still looking at her. Laughing softly to herself, then shaking her head, she takes a bite of her own, almost moaning at the taste. “I’m surprised you haven’t had one before.”

“ I have wanted to try one, but never really went with actually going out to get one.”

“Well, maybe now you will get them more often,” She says but stops herself before taking another bite. “Wait...you aren’t allergic to any fruit, are you? Or granola?”

He lifted a brow while getting another scoop. “Oh, only bananas,” He replies. Nevaeh watches him as he lifts the spoon to his mouth and takes another bite that includes bananas before she could reach across the table and stop him in time. “What?” he looked at her. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear, her mouth opening to say something but closed when nothing came out. “Is there something wrong?”

Nodding her head slowly, she sat down her spoon and reached for her phone in her pocket just in case. "You ate a banana, and you just told me you were allergic to them." Nevaeh wanted to yell at him for being so careless, but that would mean she was too for not asking before ordering something random for him. She pretended to remain calm but was internally panicking.

"I actually eat them all the time," he held back the smile easing its way into his features. "I eat them quite often. They're a great source of potassium and vitamin C."

"So you aren't allergic to bananas?" she noted, and Rudy shook his head. His mouth broke out into the smile he managed to hold back for a few seconds. Nevaeh relaxed a bit, her shoulders dropping as she was no longer tense. "You're an asshole, you know that, right?" Rudy gasped softly, a hand placed on his chest as he looked at her, offended at her comment.

"What, me, an asshole? That can't be right, I'm really nice," he said and made Nevaeh huffed. "What do you not believe me?"

The woman shrugged, the smile still on her face when she looked down at her food. "Well, you did play a mean joke just now; I thought I almost killed you." She reminded him and picked at her bowl.

"I wanted to see how caring you were, and you passed the test. Now you love me, don't you?"

"You wish," she said, taking a bite then pointing at him with her spoon. "We're going on a road trip together, let's see if I survive that, then I'll let you know if I like you enough to be your friend or jump out of a moving car because you're an annoying little shit."

Rudy raised his eyebrows, smirking at her now. "Me being an annoying little...alright. Let's make a deal," he starts; Nevaeh gestures for him to continue. "If you survive this road trip, meaning - if you have a great time - I get to take you to my home town in Alaska. Ah, ah. I'm not finished." he held his finger up to stop her from making a comment. She rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair, attempting to hide a simple, but you could see the amusement on her face. "If you don't have a great time, I'll do whatever you want."

"So, If I understand right, If you win, you get to take me to Alaska - assuming I haven't been there already,"

“Wait, you’ve been to Alaska?” Nevaeh held her finger up, echoing his movements moments before.

“If you win, you take me to Alaska, and if I win, you do whatever I want, correct?”

“Yeah, as long as it’s not too inappropriate or impossible,” He says, already finished with his acai bowl, which Nevaeh didn’t remember seeing him eat the rest. It didn’t matter when he ate it, she didn’t care, but that was quick. Looking down at her own, she wasn’t more than halfway done. “So, so we have a deal?”

Nevaeh looked up from her food, meeting his ocean-like eyes. The pair were becoming more familiar over the past few weeks from countless photos and videos the two have shared over Snapchat. Messages over text and facetime calls. They got to know each other digitally, and now they have to learn more in person.

“We have a deal.” She says, and Rudy sticks his hand out, which she gladly took. They shook hands. While doing so, Rudy thought of a million possibilities to get the woman across from him to a great time and not just so he could take her to Alaska, his home. He found her intriguing, and he wants to take the time to get to know her better and maybe have a solid standing friendship at the end of it all. If the cosmos had a say, perhaps something more would blossom.

➣ End Note:

So, I honestly don’t know how the next few or future chapters will go but hopefully they turn out well. Here are the Revaeh interactions we all needed and plenty more to come so just you wait. ;)

AGAIN IF YOU WANT ME TO CONTINUE THE SERIES I WILL, JUST LET ME KNOW.

Wonder Taglist:

@Scooby6, @ifilwtmfc, @rudypankowswife, @themaddies-obx

[If your username is bold and slashed out it means i can’t tag you. If you want to be added to the taglist add yourself here! If you no longer want to be on it let me know. :) ]

#rudy pankow #rudy pankow x reader #rudy pankow x oc #rudy pankow series #rudy pankow fanfiction #wonder series #rudy pankow au #Outer Banks #outer banks netflix #roadtrip story #tik tok dating

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zhuilingyizhen · 4 years ago

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quarantine + social media au + the juniors✨

•Sizhui bought one of those electric hot pot things so once a week they pull out they have hot pot dinner or lunch.

•They get the instant chicken broth and water and the frozen beef/pork and the scallion and wow I'm really just pushing my childhood memories into this.

•Jin Ling sometimes makes pork ribs and lotus soup when he's feeling sentimental.

•Jingyi is the one who puts the beef in and forgets about it until it's overcooked.

•Other nights, they order pizza (half is just cheese for Ling & Zizhen, and the other half is chicken for Jingyi. Sizhui isn't really picky w/ toppings)

•They don't go out unless they absolutely need to, and when they do they make sure to have facemasks & Sizhui leaves like 5 containers of hand sanitizer and wipes in the car.

•In this hc, they're all quarantining together in the Lan's house, but sometimes Zizhen or Ling will go back to their place if they need to get something.

•The house itself consists of the basement and the ground floor. 2 bedrooms, a tiny kitchen, living room w/ couch & tv, bathroom, and a creepy basement. Wangxian used to use it for getaways and stuff.

•Zizhen vlogs everything, and the rest of them keep making their videos. Zizhen went back for like twenty something nail polishes and has transformed one corner of the basement into a mini nail salon.

•"Uh… guys, why are there literal chains in your basement?"

•Ling actually records videos in the basement, because it's pretty creepy down there. It fits the ghost theme. Jingyi refuses to go down there because he swears it's haunted.

•Jingyi usually records videos in his room, but if he's playing anything not on his pc, then he plays in the living room and you can see various juniors walking around. Sometimes they play with him, but Zizhen once just cuddled up to him bc they do that platonically ( at first ) and he doesn't know that Jingyi is recording or streaming or whatever (I'm sorry, I don't watch streams too often so I have zero clue how it works) and Jingyi doesn't realize that it could be taken as romantic in context so fucking everybody is convinced they're dating.

•Zhuiyi & zhenling & lingyi & zhuizhen shippers are hurt that zhenyi be out there dominating.

•And the quarantine drama is real. Someone @'s Sizhui & Ling asking "what do you think of zhenyi??" and Sizhui is like "it's a cute ship" and Ling's response is "wtf they're dating?"

•Take with this what you will.

•Also Zizhen & Jingyi do romance media reviews!! Movie reviews, book reviews, and more! They also review Chinese dramas. They made Sizhui and Ling read one of their romance books and tell them what they thought. They forgot to mention the trashy sex scenes. Ling almost died of embarrassment reading it. Sizhui was only a bit scarred (his parents are wangxian after all. that’s all i’m saying-)

#mdzs juniors #jin ling #the untamed #lan sizhui #lan jingyi #ouyang zizhen #lingyi #mdzs #zhuizhen #zhuilingyizhen #zhuiling #zhuiyi #headcanons #junior quartet #please i need oyzz

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what-is-your-plan-today · 5 years ago

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Stark Spangled Forever: Wings

Intro: They say that once you’ve been inked, it kinda becomes an addiction…

Warnings: Bad language.

Pairings:

Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N:This takes place in the SSB universe way beyond Endgame. You don’t have to have read that series to understand or enjoy this but feel free to check it out but be warned this kinda reveals a few things...

SSF Masterlist // WIYPT Masterlist

This one shot was written for @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan ‘s Follower Celebration writing challenge. My prompt was “Is that a new tattoo?”

I also can’t claim credit for the song contained within this fic, I just tweaked one line…all will become clear when you read!

Please re-blog and comment if you enjoy. Tagging all my usual SSB readers.

“Jamie…”Katie sighed exasperatedly as her 9 year old looked up from where he was sprawled on the rug of the den, piecing his newest lego kit that Sam and Bucky had bought him for his birthday “You need to get your stuff for school.” “Don’t wanna.” he pouted.

“Tough.”

“I don’t feel well.”

“Oh no, really?” Katie bent down, feeling his head. “Hmmmm. You do feel warm. What’s wrong?” “Sort throat.” “Oh, well… that means no soccer practice tomorrow then…and you should go straight back to bed until I can take you to the doctors later today…”

Jamie paused and looked up at her and she raised an eyebrow “Nice try Pal.”

“Mommmm”

“Don’t make me shout your father.” she used her ace card.

Jamie gave an exaggerated sigh and stood up, rolling his eyes. Katie bit her lip to stop herself laughing at the utter indignation on his face.

“It’s Friday dude.” she smiled at him. “You got all weekend to play legos if that’s what you wanna do.”

“Does that mean I can stay up late tonight to work on it?” he asked hopefully.

“Define late.” Katie looked at him.

“11?”

“Hmmmm, I dunno.” she said playfully.

“Please?”

“I’ll speak to your dad.” she said and he smiled at her, the pair of them both knowing full well that Steve was a soft touch when it came to stuff like that. He’d probably be there helping him out with it anyway.

“Ok Mom. Can you make sure Harry doesn’t touch it whilst I’m at school?”

“I’ll keep this door shut, I promise.” Katie assured him.

He left the room and true to her word Katie shut the door to the den and watched him head up the stairs, passing Aurora who was on her way down with her rucksack, Steve right behind her with their youngest placed on his hip.

“Hi mammamama!” Harry babbled at her and she grinned, taking him off Steve and planting a kiss to his cheek.

“Hi baby!” she grinned as his hand instantly went to grab the chain of her necklace.

“Jamie not planning on going to school today?” Steve asked her with a grin as Rori headed off to find her shoes.

“Tried telling me he was sick so he could stay home and play legos.” she snorted “Soon decided he was ok when I told him that meant no soccer practice tomorrow morning.” Steve shook his head, smiling to himself.

“Daddy?” Rori tugged on his trouser leg and he turned his attention to her.

“What’s up Princess?”

“I can’t find my sneakers.”

“Where did you leave them?” he asked, his hand gently dropping to the back of her head.

“Erm…” she pondered for a moment, before she looked up at her mom bashfully.

“Somebody left them in the middle of the lounge…” Katie looked at her. “So the Fairies put them away.”

“Sorry…” Rori wrinkled her nose and blinked up at her mom.

“It’s ok. They’re on the shoe rack sweetie.” Katie nodded to the kitchen in the direction of the utility room located at the back of the house.

“Thanks momma.” she said, running off to retrieve them.

“What time does Emmy’s train get in?” Steve looked at Katie.

“Just after twelve.” Katie said, blowing a raspberry on Harry’s cheek. “I’ll meet her and then take her straight to get inked…” Steve let out a breath from his nose. All Emmy had talked about since turning 21st was a tattoo. Steve wasn’t particularly sure he approved but then what could he do? She was an adult now. Katie hadn’t been bothered, but then as she’d pointed out, she had a big enough one on her thigh so it would be fairly hypocritical if she had. Emmy had won Steve over though when she’d asked him to draw it for her. She’d described what she wanted, a small Phoenix type bird that would sit just above her ankle. So after a few designs and sketches she’d finally settled on something she wanted and after a consultation she was having it done this afternoon.

“You staying with her?” Steve looked at Katie, concern etched across his face. Katie gave a soft laugh.

“She’s a big girl now Steve but yeah, I’m gonna stay.” she said, tugging on his beard playfully.

“Good.” he nodded, jerking his head out of reach. “Do you need me to pick the kids up later or…”

“No, by the time their afterschool clubs are done we’ll have finished so I’ll do it.” she smiled as Rori came back, sneakers in her hand. She sat on the bottom step and proceeded to push her feet into the pink converse, Steve crouching down on one knee to tie her shoelaces for her.

“Thanks daddy.”

“You’re welcome sweetheart.” he said, dropping a kiss to her head before he turned to look up the stairs “Jamie! Come on!”

“I’m coming…” came the surly reply, and no sooner had they heard it he appeared at the top of the steps, rucksack in hand.

“Drop the attitude.” Steve said sternly as Jamie trudged down the stairs, scowling. Steve looked at Katie, raising his eyebrow as their eldest son stalked past them, heading to the door, Rori running behind him.

“Wait for me Jay…” she called, her small feet slapping on the tiles of the hallway as she went.

“Told you…” Katie said, smirking “He’s a mini you…”

“That filthy look he had on his face? That is a Stark expression.” Steve said, looking back at her as he picked Rori’s rucksack up.

“Is not.” Katie laughed “That’s the face you make whenever someone’s pissing you off.”

Steve gave a snort before he dropped a soft kiss to her lips, making Harry shriek.

“Kissy!” he laughed.

“See you later.” Steve smiled against her mouth “Love you.” “You too” she said, and with a last peck and a ruffle of Harry’s hair he headed after Jamie and Rori, barking out an instruction for them to quit their squabble over who was sitting in the front seat.

“Easy solution…” Katie heard Steve say loudly “You can both get in the back. End of discussion.”

Their protest’s died as the door snapped shut.

Katie chuckled to herself and looked at Harry “Shall we get you ready to go too baby boy?”

“Go!” he nodded, grinning.

*******

Katie’s morning was reasonably easy. A meeting and a manuscript to review which she’d managed to do by half 11. Changing out of her office clothes into a loose pair of sweats, trainers and a hoody she headed out and made her way to Grand Central.

She spotted Emmy emerging into the main terminal and swept her daughter up into a hug.

“Hey mom.” Emmy said, squeezing her back.

“Ready to go get inked?” Katie asked, Emmy grinned and slung her satchel over one shoulder, linking her arm through her mom’s.

“You eaten?” Katie asked as they walked out into the early April sun.

“Yeah, followed the instructions.” Emmy nodded.

“Good.” Katie said. “Nervous?”

“A little.” Emmy shrugged “It’s gonna hurt right?”

“It’s not so bad.” Katie shrugged, “Some places hurt more apparently but…most important thing to remember is if you need a break just ask.”

“Ok.”

The two women walked a few blocks, catching up. It had been a couple of weeks since Emmy was home, fast approaching the last few weeks of the semester at Harvard before her exams started. All of her marks so far had been sky high, leaving her parents immensely proud, although both had taken great pains to tell her that they didn’t care what the outcome was, as long as she tried her best.

Eventually they reached the place and Emmy opened the door, stepping in. David, the man that had done the consultation a few weeks back beckoned them both through.

“Ok, so…” he said, tilting the screen to show Emmy the picture of her design he’d scanned “I gotta say I’m excited about this one, it’s pretty unique.”

“My dad drew it.” Emmy beamed.

“It’s phenomenal.” David smiled “I had to sharpen some of the lines up but there’s no major changes. Are you happy with it?”

Emmy nodded.

“Ok, and yours Mrs Rogers…” David clicked and the imaged changed. “The touches we’re adding to your thigh are fairly straight forward but this one…this is what I think it is right?”

Katie nodded.

“Awesome…” David smiled, and hit print and stood up to collect both the prints.

“Have you told Dad?” Emmy looked at her. Katie smirked and shook her head.

“Nope.” she popped the p on the word “Thought it would be a nice surprise when he gets to see it later.” “I’m not sure if I should be grossed out by that thought or not.” Emmy mumbled and Katie simply laughed.

Just over 2 and a half hours later they were done, leaving the parlour with strict after care instructions. Emmy had hardly flinched through hers, whereas Katie’s new one had been slightly uncomfortable due to the placing.

“Think that earned us a beer…” Katie said checking her watch. “Come on, we got time before we need to collect the heathens.”

***** “Show me! Show me!” Rori demanded.

“You can’t see it yet short stuff.” Emmy said fondly “It’s still wrapped up.”

“When can you unwrap it?” Jamie asked.

“Another hour or so yet.” Katie answered “So quit bugging your sister and go put your school bags away.”

“Emmy do you wanna watch Sponge Bob with me?” Rori asked.

“Only if we can sing the special song…” Emmy grinned, holding her hand out for a hi-five. Rori giggled, and slapped her smaller palm against her sister’s.

“What special song?” Katie looked at her.

“Oh just a variation on the theme tune we made up.” Emmy said, grinning mischievously

“I dread to think.” Katie muttered, watching Jamie and Rori head up stairs to deposit their rucksacks in their room.

Katie bustled around making dinner, simple spaghetti and meatballs as requested by all 4 kids...well, the elder 3...Harry merely clapped his hands and yelled “getty” in agreement. She was stood stirring the sauce when she heard Steve walk through the door an toss his keys onto the table in the hall little under an hour later.

“Daddy’s home!” she heard Rori shriek and a moment later Steve chuckled.

“Hey…” he said, sweeping her up and placing a kiss on her cheek. He carried her through to the kitchen where he greeted Harry with a ruffle of the hair as he sat by the table doodling on a pad with Emmy.

“Hi sweetie.” Steve said, as Emmy stood up to give him a hug. “How was the tattooing?”

“Good.” she nodded, “Oh, actually, mom….should I unwrap it now?”

“Errr, yeah.” Katie said, turning the heat down on the stove and accepting the kiss Steve offered. “Can you watch these 2. I’ll go help Emmy out…”

“Sure.” Steve said, “Where’s Jamie?”

“2 guesses” Katie grinned at him and Steve shook his head, smiling, knowing full well that meant he was nose deep in lego.

Katie and Emmy bounded up the stairs and returned about 15 minutes later, Emmy proudly showing off the design on her right ankle. Steve had to admit, it did look pretty good, but then he would say that, he drew it after all.

They dragged Jamie out of the den for dinner, where the boy managed 2 helpings before he ran off again, almost having a meltdown when Katie told him he had to share the den as Rori wanted to watch Cartoons. One stern look from Steve nipped the tantrum in the bud and the 4 kids departed once dishes had been deposited in the sink, Katie waving away Emmy’s offer to help, telling her to go spend some time with her siblings. It didn’t take her and Steve long to clear down and they were heading towards the living room to collapse onto the sofa together, but the shriek and cheers coming from the den made them both stop in their tracks.

“What on Earth are they watching?” Steve looked at his wife.

“Sponge Bob, apparently…” Katie said. The two looked at one another, before they headed back towards the den and peeked through the door which was open a crack.

Emmy was stood, swaying with Harry held on her hip, the pair of them laughing, whilst Jamie was doing some kind of strange running man dance as Rori bounced up and down on the sofa as the opening credits began to roll. Emmy opened her mouth and started singing along to the opening theme tune in a pirate voice.

Only she wasn’t singing the theme tune. They were completely different words.

“Who lived as a Capsicle under the sea?” Emmy paused to look at Jamie and Rori who both yelled back in chorus, Harry mimicking them as best he could whilst clapping his hands.

“CAPTAIN ROGERS!”

Steve blinked, looked at Katie, his mouth dropping open as she burst out laughing at the look of utter confusion and perplexment on his face. She pushed the door open further and all the kids turned to see their parents watching them. But instead of stopping, they continued to sing even louder at Steve as he folded his arms and leaned against the door frame.

“Saluting a hello and killing Nazis…” Emmy continued

“CAPTAIN ROGERS!”

“If patriotism be something you wish…”

“CAPTAIN ROGERS!”

By this point Katie was laughing that hard she couldn’t breathe. She doubled over, tears pouring from her face as the kids continued their relentless serenade to their father.

“Then throw a big shield and punch with your fist…”

“CAPTAIN ROGERS!”

That was it. Steve couldn’t keep his face straight any longer and he too started to laugh, grinning as Rori ran over to him and pulled on his hands dragging him into the room to make him twirl her round.

Eventually the song stopped and the room was simply filled with laughter which died down. Steve wiped his eyes and looked at his kids before he crossed his arms.

“You’re all grounded.” he smirked, and then ran as they started pelting him with throw cushions.

****

Later that night, as always, Steve couldn’t stop his eyes from roving his wife’s body as she walked out of the en-suite and into the bedroom, dressed in one of his shirts and a pair of sleep shorts ready for bed. As he lounged on top of the duvet, back propped up against the headboard, his gaze travelled down the lines of her body and he frowned as he spotted something on her thigh that looked different.

Suddenly it dawned on him what it was.

“Is that…is that a new tattoo?” Steve sat up, looking at her leg then to her face, and back again.

“Technically it’s an addition to an existing one.” Katie grinned as she made her way to the bed and knelt up in front of Steve. His hands gently fell to her hips as he examined the new ink. The area surrounding one of the 4 stars that formed part of the original tattoo had been shaded with red and gold in a water colour effect. He didn’t need her to explain, but she did anyway.

“That’s for Tony.” she said softly, “And these…” she pointed out 4 additional stars she’d had placed within the existing design “One for each of the kids.”

“Not one for me?” he eventually pouted playfully, looking back up at her.

She bit her lip and grinning slightly, pulled his shirt over her head leaving her top half naked, and she turned her torso slightly the left, holding her arm over her breasts so he could see. His eyes widened as he saw the design that was now etched onto her skin just underneath her left breast on her rib cage.

It was his wings. The wings he had worn on his helmet. The wings adopted by the Howlies as their symbol in the war. And above that sat a star that was the same as the others on her thigh.

“That’s for you…” she said softly.

Steve was struggling for words. There was something he was finding outrageously sexy about the fact she’d had that placed somewhere that no one would really see other than him. And something ridiculously sentimental about the design she had chosen.

“Do you like it Soldier?” she asked softly, biting her lip.

He looked up at her, smiling as his hands gripped her bare waist and he pulled her down with him so she was led on top of him. “I love it.”

“I love you…” she grinned, melting into his arms as his hands ran up her bare back, her nose nudging his softly.

“Back at ya pretty girl.” he smirked, before his lips claimed hers in a heated kiss.

@the-omni-princess @momobaby227 @geekofmanythings16 @angelofhell-666 @thewackywriter @marvelfansworld @cobalt-gear @asgardlover75 @jennmurawski13 @jtargaryen18 @saiyanprincessswanie @navispalace @patzammit @joannaliceevans-fanficblog @icanfeelastormbrewing @djeniiscorner @ayamenimthiriel @coldmuffinbanditshoe @disneylovingal @madzmilllz @sgtjaamesbaarnes @official-and-unstable-satan @sweater-daddiesdumbdork

#star’s celebration challenge #stark spangled banner #oneshot #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers x oc #steve rogers #captain america #mcu #mcu fanfiction #marvel #marvel fanfiction #avengers #avengers fanfiction #stark spangled forever

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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Ducktales 87 Reviews: A Drain On the Economy (CACC Part 1) (Commission)

Commissioned by @weirdkev27. The start of a whopping four episode commission as I review the original Ducktales Four-Part Serial, Cash as Catch Can! The Kishke of Macaroon decides the best way to market his once in a life time find of glowing, power producing fruit is to have the two richest men in the world weigh their money to see whose richer. Seems Legit. Glomgold of course can’t play fair but since this is the 87 version he simply hires and outfits the Beagle Boys to steal scrooge’s money instead of leaving a shark filled with c4 on the doorstep of the bin as a distraction while he tries to saw it in half with a giant buzzsaw. Tanks, childen nearly drowning and outbidding yuppies ensue. Full reviewcap with spoilers under the cut. Sadly no Sea Monsters eating Ice Cream Yet.

Huzzah! Another day another commission! And it’s a massive one too as i’m covering not one, not two, not three, but FOUR episodes of the original ducktales for 15 bucks! Thank you once again WeirdKev27 for the commission. Not saving this for the end this time, if you’d like to commission your own review, just pm me, it’s 5 dollars for one episodes, and now you get 5 dollars off for each episode you commission after 2. So for instance this multiparter was 4 episodes, so Kevin payed for only three, for a total of 15 bucks! Whatabargin! But enough shilling let’s get down to bidness. As usual for first episodes a quick rundown of my history with the show: Being a fan of the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, which I fully intend to cover here at some point and yes you can commission duck comics too if you were curious, I did want to watch Ducktales for a while but didn’t really try to until the Reboot came out. As a result I got the first season dvd for Christmas, bought the second, and while I haven’t watched all the series, what I’ve seen is pretty good. It’s a fun, fluid adventure show that captures the spirit of the Carl Barks comics while doing it’s own thing with them. Sure some aspects of the time or even of the original comics that this adapted wholesale haven’t aged well, and we’ll get to some of them, but for the most part the series has a timeless quality to it that really makes it work. I may prefer the reboot.. but I still enjoy this series and i’m glad to revisit it.

So with that, we come to one of the series handful of multiparters. For the most part Ducktales was just one off adventures, episodes that could easily be aired at any time with little regards to a strong continuity.

But unlike most shows including the rest of the Disney afternoon that at most had one pilot movie and one or two two-parters, Ducktales had 4 multi-episode story arcs. The episodes were still written with about the same episode of the week format, it’s just instead of being all wrapped up there was an ongoing storyline that tied each episode into the next and drove the action. It’s honestly not a bad format and not all that dissimilar to the Sardonyx, Out of This World, Heart of the Crystal Gems, and Diamond Days arcs Steven Universe would have.. and if your wondering yes I would cover those for the same fees, but that’s not what we’re here about.

However even among this format this four parter was unique.. and not just for the “A Sea Monster Ate My Ice Cream!” bit we’ll get to next time. The other 3 mini’s were 5-part Season Premires that either set up the show period (Treasure of the Golden Suns) or introduced a major new character for the rest of the series (Fenton/Gizmoduck for Super Ducktales, and Bubba and Tootsie for Time is Money). Though weirdly in the case of season 2 these 5 parters were also the ONLY episodes, but one oddity at a time I suppose. My point is Catch as Cash Can is not only the only one not to start a season, instead coming in mid-way through season one, but dosen’t change the show and is only 4 episodes instead of 5. It’s still from what I can remember, which only came back when watching part 1 as I got it confused with treasure of the golden suns, pretty good.. apart from the third episode but we’ll get to that, it’s just worth noting is all. So with that out of the way is this four parter any good? How do the episodes hold up from a few years ago? Well I was paid good money to find out so let’s do it to it shall we? We open in Macarooon which.. I THINK is a play on Moroco, but still dosen’t make a whole lot of sense given it’s a cookie, this episode about fruit and Hamilton’s accent as the Grand Kishke, the country’s ruler, is a vauge indian stereotype with a touch of middle eastern sterotype. Sing it with me now....

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Still not great having a white guy do a vaugely foreign accent that’s played for laughs, and yes again acceptable at the time, I don’t hold it against Hamilton camp, still dosen’t make it at all comfortable. Though it’s still, and this is VERY faint praise, better than Carbomya, an ACTUAL CANON LOCATION in the 80′s transformers cartoon that’s as offensive and dumb as it sounds and, no joke, caused Casey Kasem, who I was reminded by the article linked above quit over this.. and found out from said article is Middle Eastern himself. Huh the more you know. And SOMEHOW this isn’t the most offensive thing the franchise has ever done, as japan had mexican stereotype transformers and kiss players.. just kiss players you do not want to know, and Micheal Bay later gave us skids and mudflap and I die a little on the inside remembering that happened. Back on point there’s been worse, dosen’t make this okay, but it’s not so offensive it ruins the entire episode. Just makes the Kiskhe’s seens wince inducing.

Scrooge and Glomgold are having a poker-esque dick measuring contest over whose wealthier but for once i’ts not just because it’s tuesday in duckberg but because the Grand Kishke has called both here. As he explains, and as they know but we don’t, while going down the stairs he fell down and found a vast cavern beneath his pallace with tons of glowing fruit that could soon replace lightbulbs if marketed correctly as they never spoil and never run out, thus putting his country ont he map. While the vauge “wacky foreigner” stereotype thing is unfortunate, the Kiske is likeable and does have good reason for not doing the marketing of his biggest export himself: He’s not a businessman and has a country to run. So he felt going to the richest man in the world was the right call, but Glommy and Scroogie are tied in assets so the Kiske decides to tie break things by having the two weigh their fortunes instead as the two you know.. have large piles of stealable money around for sentimental reasons.. and because they don’t trust banks. So yeah with the contest set Glomgold sets out to do what he does best... set himself on fire with a hairbrained scheme.. no wait that’s the other glomgold. Cheat.. which this one can actually do without ending up in a bear trap, so we cut to the Duckburg jail.. which is at least in this episode just one giant cell surrounding the Beagle Boys, though given their responsible for 80% of Duckberg’s crime, and a good chunk of this series as a whole, it probably IS just that. But Glomgold using ... a .. giant floating cow balloon.. wait..

I mean I love this because .. just what the hell is this, why a cow balloon.. was it the only one he could rent? Who rents those? Did he buy this thing? How’s he going to get rid of it? How’s he not getting caught for buying this thing? Did he make this? Did he spend a good few hours building a giant cow balloon fortress/ did he dump it in the river?

You know, maybe it was schemes like this that made Frank decide to make Reboot!Glomgold into the loveable incompetent maniac he is today. I mean this sounds like one of his schemes: If your going to do something right do it in the most insane, over the top, nonseical, costly, overcomplicated way possible. As it stands though the rest of 87 Glomgold’s plan actually makes sense: he throws down gas masks and gasses the guards, though the boys think it’s ma at first. However they quickly are fine with it being their dad as Glomgold has a job for them.. though they nearly nope out when they find out it’s scrooge. This is a neat contrast to the comics where, under both barks and rosa while the Beagle Boys would get discouraged or bemoan their defeats they still kept coming. While it’s likely only for this episode it’s nice to see them have some hestiation.. at least about going after the bin directly. Which given the bin is the most heavily guarded location in duckburg no matter the contniuty and while it’s been attacked and broken into millions of times at this point, no trick works twice because Scrooge adapts. It’s what makes the continual nature of the beagle boys assualts on it here and in the comics work and why their still a threat despite always getting beaten down: sure they get in once in a while, but scrooge outwits them and then presumibly offscreen makes adjustments for next time while at the saame time their too stupid and stubborn to ever fully give up and to stop coming up with new ways to get scrooge’s fortune for themselves.

It’s a good dynamic but I like some hesitation since even the dumbest crooks get wise eventually and their being hired by someone whose utterly ruthless and might kill them or worse if they fail. But Glomgold actually has a resonable counter, that since he’s rich he can suply them with everything they could need instead of whatever they can steal he just needs the manpower and the plausible deniability. They shake on it and the die is cast. At the bin Scrooge is annoyed at having to put up with the beagle boys again ow of all times, and we soon get the second best scene of the episode as the beagle boys, and cousins storm the bin, basically doing a zap branigan and trying to throw wave after wave of their own boys at them till Scrooge’s defenses falter. It’s a great and tense action scene as the boys send beagle after beagle with some great names I sadly forgot and should’ve written down. It’s a fun sequence, though it does show why the series updated burger as he gets distracted with food... because...

That’s literally the joke and I can see why Matt and Frank retired it entirely. But other than that it’s a joy to watch. The finale is notable as Bigtime uses some armor to tank things.. until scrooge actually brings up a tank.. with just one caliber larger shells than what his armor can take, a nice little gag. But yeah scrooge pointing a tank at someone is badass and one of the only two times this episode he really gets to be. More on that in a sec. But while the boys celebrate Scrooge’s victory Scrooge dosen’t, knowing they’ll just be back in in greater numbers and thus has gone to the ludicrous extreme of setting up an automatic cannon in his money bin that fires at anyone entering.. and then forgot his cane. You can probably guess what happens next.

Yup Scrooge is thrown back, because apparently he’s immortal in this reality too, and the bin starts to break down, while the Beagles storm in and seconds up. This scene just.. annoys me. I get Scrooge isn’t unstoppable, if he was the show, and the comics and the reboot of the show wouldn’t be as fun if he wasn’t challenged at all. Scrooge himself would be disappointed if his life had no stakes. My issue here is the beagles go from evenly matched with scrooge, if both using weapons to.. casually brushing past him and the boys. And they HAVE beaten them plenty in the comics, but usually it’s through surprise or threatening the boys.. who they have right there. Instead they just.. easily beat scrooge for no real reason. It just smacks of laziness: they need the boys to get in so like scrooge and his own boys they can see the money go down a crack and thus into the sewers, but instead of having a fight or them just you know hold the triplets hostage or use a ray gun or something since it’s plausible in this setting, their backed by a billionaire for this ep and it’s an acceptable substitute. This just makes no sense to me and really baffling bit in an otherwise great episode. But as noted the money went down the tubes, so the beagles retreat.. if only because they now can just go fish it out of the sewers like that’s somehow legal. But given how the Calisota supreme court seems to never change the various terrible loopholes that nearly loose scrooge his money all the time, it’s not surprising. Seriously it was used by Carl Barks more than once: Some asshole using a bet, wager or old timey agreement to try and take something from one of our heroes usually scrooge, and other writers followed suite naturally given he set the pace for them on everything else why stop now? Though really “Slimy assholes use loopholes to run roughshod over innocent people” is such a common thing nowadays and presumably was even more so then, I commend barks for not only picking up on it but using it frequently in a CHILDREN’S COMIC. God damn man that’s some balls. Anyways Scrooge can’t quite literally slip through the cracks, but the boys can and given they are as one, they all go down follow that dough while Scrooge tries to figure out where it is from above. Scrooge goes to city planning or something like that and gets the maps to the water works, and I like the fox clerk here, but the beagles also have them. And while Scrooge chases them above the boys continue their trek bellow eventually finding the cash stash with good detective work and call scrooge , who happens to have tracked the cash and is in the general area, over from above.. but get swept out because the beagle boys open the floodgates and into the city’s reservoir. ON the bright side I now get where “Open the floodgates comes from” Scrooge heads to the pumping plant to pump them out, but finds the beagle boys and a fight ensues to see who can accidently kill some children the fastest as the triplets are buffeted back and forth over, and over, and over and over and over...

And over again till the valves break and shove the Trips into a swanky condo just as a real estate lady, who according to the Disney wiki also showed up in “Magica’s Shadow War”, good for her with the yuppies naturally wanting the condo, though the boys stop them from buying it, trick them into the elevator and then use the override to shut it down so they can’t get back up. So the Trips hold onto the loot, while Scrooge arrives.. and again since Duckburg legal policy is chosen by spinning a giant wheel and going with whatever it lands on, Scrooge can’t just you know have someone come and get his property. His solution however is clever as after a bidding war over the condo he just decides to buy the whole blasted building. And at first I wondered why their wasn’t a bit of him grumbling over the price.. but then I realized his fortune, and doubling it is at stake. While Scrooge will spend as little as ducking possible, when the chips are down he will throw his money around. And I like that it’s a nice subtle character moment showing that he knows when not to throw a big tantrum about spending money and that he has more important things going on right now, such as keeping his hands on most of it. But naturally this wins though the real estate lady wonders how he did that. Lady he owns a good chunk of the city, is in the news frequently even in this series, and owns the largest building in town which towers over every other on a massive hill and is frequently broken into or attacked, how the hell do you NOT know who he is?

Regardless Scrooge regroups with the boys but the beagles are close and are even bright enough to cut the power. I LIKE these versions better than the reboots. With the exception of a lack of character actress Margo Martendale and you know the fat shaming and all that, these beagles, while having less personality are more compient, mor eof a threat and more enjoyable to watch instead of just petty crooks who only get involved when the opportunity strikes. IT’s one of the few changes i’m just. eh on. Most of the changes, making Glomgold more insane, making Gladstone just less obnoxious enough to be tolerable, making donald less of a scallywag and more of a responsible father, not having Daisy leave donald at the drop of his hat but be an actual supportive partner.. all good. This one’s just lukewarm though ma herself is awesome, the boys are just incompitent and I forgot when watching the series that while stupid and stopped constantly the beagles just aren’t. It’s something I can give this series more than the original easily. Scrooge is about to give up and is fading out on them, tired and exausted. This DOES feel in character as scrooge, like anyone can feel worn down and he’s tried damn near everything only to be ready to loose. The boys snap him out of it.. or rather Dewey does by hucking a wad of bills at him as seen at the top of the article and it’s easily the best gag of the episode. Though it’s also the ONLY time i’ve been able to refer to the boys actions by name as while one may do something.. their the same character. Now what they are varies as the show bounces between the classic HDL characterizations: They can be like they are in the barks comics and this episode, upstanding young woodchucks who are clever, loyal to a fault, and bring scrooge down to earth when he needs it as well as an utter asset to him, mischievous young boys screwing up as children often do but learning from their mistakes or short sided goal like they are in the other half of barks comics or the later theatrical shorts.. or hyperactive , sexist little shitheads who are selfish and lazy like in the early shorts minus the sexisim or quack pack. Though I now realize just from writing that that while Huey is based on barks and ESPECIALLY Don Rosa’s version of the boys, just taken to a logical extreme as well as being autism-coded, the other boys are based on other aspects of them with their sometimes scheming nature being given to Louie and their more energetic spells and overly 80′s attitude from this cartoon given to Dewey, with again both amped up considerably. It was a neat way to give them actual personalities instead of being one person sharing the bodies of three characters.

Yeah as you can tell while I WILL say upfront I love Russi Taylor and none of this is her fault.. i’m not a big fan of the classic versions of the boys. They aren’t BAD It just baffles me why Disney, and i’m blaming theme more as some foreign comics apparently did try as did Quack Pack, never let people differentiate them or thought to really try hard at that until the reboot and it smacks of their stubborn refusal to really change their iconic characters in a significant way. I’m honestly surprised the reboot got away with it and hope the 2017 personalities are the default. I also apologize for that rant but it was going to come about at some point might as well nip it in the bud now. But that smack to the head got Scrooge back in gear and it gave him an idea.. give them the money.. specifically pile money on the elevator, breaking it, after all he’ll need to fix it anyway might as well go all in, and sending the beagles crashing down.. to the waiting police. Who called them.. probably condo lady to make sure Scrooge wasn’t lying and to report strange men breaking in. Point is Scrooge is exhausted, but triumphant.. for now. TO BE CONTINUED.

Final Thoughts: This is a solid 87 Ducktales episode: it’s fun, fast paced, has a simple but enjoyable concept, and feels like a Carl Barks comic come to life without directly adapting his stories. It’s good stuff. I had my problems as mentioned but their outweighed by the great jokes, pacing and action in this one. A great note to start out on. In the Next Part: A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM!

Until then, you can follow this blog for more ducktales every monday, check my various sub pages for more ducktales reviews of the reboot, i’ve done every episode of season 3 so far and one season 2 episode as well as a recent review of the first darkwing ep, and as noted before you can comission your own review of any animated series, ones i’ve covered and otherwise. Reblog this to spread it around if you liked it, like it if you don’t want to do that, and until next time stay safe, check your house for gary busey, and hopefully we’ll meet again.

#ducktales #review #reviews #a seamonster at my ice cream #catch as cash can #a drain on the economy #scrooge mcduck #huey duck #louie duck #dewey duck #flintheart glomgold #bigtime beagle #burger beagle #the beagle boys #macaroon #ducktales 87

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gstdaisuki · 5 years ago

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A Talk with Nathan McCree

(this is a followup to my video on Nathan’s work, which you should watch(!), and a mirror of the Patreon post)

Nathan McCree is well-known for his work on Tomb Raider. If you go digging, you’ll find he’s been interviewed about the series several times. However, he’s done quite a lot more. I’d like to fill in some of the gaps. Below are snippets from my chat with Nathan about music on the Megadrive, what it’s like to work within limitations, and music in the future.

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GST: Skeleton Krew's music is an oddity on the Megadrive. there's nothing else quite like it. I saw you mention that the soundscape was inspired by the graphics, which makes sense --they compliment each other beautifully. I want to ask what other influences you had in mind, if any. How much of the soundtrack was just created by just pushing strange sounds out of your tools?

NM: It's very difficult to say exactly where inspiration comes from. Mostly I am inspired by the kit I am using and the sounds they make, so in this case it was the sounds I was creating on the Yamaha chip inside the Megadrive. But musically at the time I was listening to a lot of psychedelic electronic bands like Ozric Tentacles, The Orb and lots of dance/trance/house music of the era.

GST: Now that you mention Ozric Tentacles, the arp sequences in Clockdrops have a similar feel to some of the tracks in Skeleton Krew. It's kind of striking, though I think the direction you went in is actually better realized because you seem to work so well within the FM on the Megadrive. (Hopefully the musical comparison isn't too offensive!)

NM: No I'm not offended by the comparison at all. I did learn a lot about synth patterns and textures from Ozric Tentacles, but again, without copying, I took what I learned and went in my own direction with it. It's important to always have a picture or an emotion of the project you are working on as this helps construct the music in a way which fits the mood of the product and as a result should gel the visuals and the animations together. The music in effect, acts as a kind of glue for the project which holds it all together.

GST: On the opposite end of the oddity spectrum, Astérix and the Power of the Gods for the Megadrive features nothing but classical songs. I'm curious if this was a decision from the game designers, or an exercise for you, or something else.

NM: It was a decision made by the game designer and programmer, Stefan Walker. Stef asked me if it were possible to convert 15 or so of the most famous classical pieces in history that were out of copyright protection (older than 90 years). Of course I said yes, and we set about listening and searching for pieces which fit that criteria and which would be suitable for the game. The conversion process from a full-orchestra down to a 6 note-polyphonic FM synthesizer was a challenge but a very enjoyable one, and the result earned the accolade "Best Megadrive Music Ever". I was rather chuffed with that.

GST: The soundtrack for BLAM! Machine Head is listed as released in 1995, which is before the game came out. Was this a promotional thing?

NM: Yes it was a promotional release of 300 vinyls. We sent a load to UK Clubs to try and get some club play time to promote the game. We succeeded a little but game soundtracks weren't really the thing back then so it gained little traction.

GST: That’s pretty amazing! That was late 1995, right on the precipice of game music leaking into the mainstream. (For reference, "Sega Tunes" came out in August 1996, "Club Saturn" in 1996, and Tommy Tallarico released his arrangement albums in mid-94 and mid-96) Did you get any feedback / reviews from the clubs?

NM: Yes we did. A few were kind enough to give us some feedback. One club I remember said about Nano-Seed, "a floor-filler!". That was good.

GST: Relatedly, what is your experience with club music? Some of the tracks on BLAM! sound perfect for the era. I wouldn't expect them to be written by someone who was previously unfamiliar with club music. Do you remember any particular songs or artists that you drew inspiration from?

NM: I was clubbing a lot in the 90s. I was going to Hot To Trot in Mansfield once a month, Renaissance in Derby in between and a few other local dance venues in Derby. In the end I was clubbing every weekend. Apart from the psychedelic bands I mentioned earlier I can't really pin-point a particular dance music artist. I was listening to so much and none of it was being repeated. I was constantly listening to new tracks. It was a very inspirational time musically and on top of all this I was writing my own dance music in my spare time outside of working at Core Design. So yeah, there was a whole lot of influence that went into the BLAM! Machinehead soundtrack. Having said that, with my writing, I always try to write something which I haven't heard before so I hope there is something unique and new about the music in BLAM! Machinehead.

GST: About Swagman: This seems like the most involved orchestral soundtrack that you had created since Soulstar. I'd like to compare the two a bit. How closely were you working with the rest of the team at this time? Swagman isn't a rail shooter so you can't match the soundtrack with the action in the levels... How much better was your gear at this point? I'd say "it doesn't sound like you struggled with your gear this time" but you actually disguised that struggle quite well in Soulstar, haha.

NM: As you say, Swagman wasn't a rail-shooter, so scripting the music to fit the game wasn't possible. Instead I used the location of each level as my main source of inspiration, and created atmospheres to fit those - The Nursery, In the Garden, Down the Well, The Crypt for example. I had some new kit by the time I started writing Swagman. Mainly the addition of the Roland JV1080 which I had expanded with the Orchestral Boards 1 & 2 and the World Expansion Board. I also had a Roland JV90 which is the keyboard version of the JV1080. That too was expanded. So I had plenty of voice-polyphony at that point and lots of very useful orchestral patches to play with. So you're right, it was less of a struggle with Swagman, but both projects were still very enjoyable to create. With Soulstar, I ended up using quite a few saw-tooth, synth-lead patches to create the brass ensembles. They actually sounded pretty good once they were buried in amongst the rest of the orchestral sounds!

GST: Battle Engine Aquila marks a soundtrack where you were freelance AND in the distant future of 2003. How much of your gear did you leave behind when you left Core Design to go freelance? And how much of it was digital instruments on your computer at this point? I ask the latter because, to my ears, this game sounds about as good as you can get without hiring a real orchestra.

NM: So obviously leaving Core Design meant saying goodbye to all the kit I had built up over the 6 years that I worked there, but of course I needed something to work with as a freelancer. So I spent a large chunk of my Tomb Raider money on a new studio for myself. Apart from the obvious stuff like a mixing desk, studio monitors and a PC, the decision needed to be made as to what instruments/synths I should buy. I had been really impressed with the Roland JV1080 so I bought one of those (and expanded it as before) and the synth geek in me also decided to by one of Roland's latest creations, the JP8000 - a fully record-able and controllable raw synth machine! With this machine it was possible to record the movement of every pot and fader straight to Cubase. A very useful tool for dance music, and to this day I still haven't used it to it's full potential. I also bought an Akai S9000 sampler which I used mainly for drums, so once again my orchestral setup was synth-based, rather than sample-based. So I started out freelance with this kit in 1998. When I got the opportunity to work on Battle Engine Aquila I decided I needed a bigger orchestra so I bought another Roland JV1080 (expanded again) and an E-MU Virtuoso 2000 orchestral synth which I quickly binned when the main controller knob became faulty and I wasn't impressed with the architecture of the signal path. I continued to use the Akai S9000 sampler for a few more years for electronic music but as soon as computers became fast enough for sample based editing inside the sequencing software, it too became a dust collector on my studio shelf along with other outboard gear which were replaced by VST instruments and Plugins. To this day I still use the 2 Roland JV1080s and my Roland JP8000, and that's about it. I'm not one of these musicians who needs to hide behind a million synths or new pieces of kit every month to convince people I can write music. I'm one of these guys who can make music from anything. A fork, knife, bottle, my kid's mini toy guitar, or glockenspiel. If it makes a note, I can use it, which I frequently have in my compositions over the years. I remember when I was working on a prehistoric game called BC, I used a metal electric fire which I scraped with a nail and hit some bricks with drum sticks to create the percussion sounds for the music. I don't need to buy new kit to be creative.

GST: I'm curious about what the limits are when it comes to crafting something unique. If you go too "far out," you'll have a unique song, but it might not resemble "music". Where's the balance between copying the songs you heard in the club and becoming autechre? Same question for non-electronic music: It's possible to get unique compositions if you go to the edge of music theory, but that can also become inaccessible. (You did seem to use odd time for the end theme of Waterlollies (11/8 by my count) though, which is always a fun technique.)

NM: Finding something new isn't about moving further and further away from music, it's about persevering with textures, ensembles, sounds, patterns and harmony until you find or create something which you haven't heard before. You have to wade through a load of stuff you have already heard until you find new waters. Sometimes that can take hours, sometimes days. You have to keep going. Adding stuff, deleting stuff. Thinking outside the box. Sometimes forgetting what you have been taught. Turning things upside down, back to front. It also helps to enter altered states of the mind when creating. This can be done in a variety of ways. Working late into the night until you are close to falling asleep for example, puts your brain into an almost dream state which helps create new things which you wouldn't normally think of during the day. This is why many creatives, and not just musicians, do their best work in the early hours of the morning. Other things can help too, drinking alcohol, but this has a negative impact on your hearing, and then of course there's marijuana which I think most musicians that have ever lived swear by! Personally for me, it's about perseverance, working at the detail and striving for perfection. Music doesn't have to be complicated or removed from tonality and harmony to be different. There are billions of combinations, it's just about looking for the new ones.

GST: One more question about the early days: Does any of the original software or source code for your Megadrive music still exist?

NM: There's a possibility that I have a copy of the programme somewhere on my hard drives but it needs a special custom built PCI card installed in your PC to work and that, I do not have anymore. You see in those days, getting access to certain elements of the games console just wasn't possible like it is today. Now you install some dev tools plugin and you have direct access to every feature of the console. Back in the early 90s we had to dismantle the machine with a screwdriver, rip out the circuit boards, making notes of the chip serial numbers and manufacturers, then calling the company and asking them for a full specification of the pin numbers and what each one did. After that, we would order the chips we wanted (or rip them out of the games console itself) and design our own circuit board which included the chips we wanted and have it all re-mounted onto a custom built PCI card which we would then install into a PC. After that, it was all about programming. We followed a similar process for the Megadrive sound chip. It was a Yamaha YM2612. So we ordered a couple of these directly from Yamaha and once we had the full spec it was pretty simple to work out how to wire it up on a circuit board. All we needed to do was to add left and right phono sockets to the output pins on the chip and send the 5v power supply to it and there you go, Megadrive synth on a PC! Of course there are the other pins (24 in total) which needed connecting up to the data bus, memory access pins, read/write request lines, interrupt request line, ground pins etc. but once we'd figured all this out it was simple enough to create a circuit diagram for the board. Once we had that we sent off the design and the 2 x Yamaha chips to a circuit board manufacturing plant in the UK. A week later our 2 x Megadrive synth PCI boards arrived. We plugged one into my PC and the other into Sean (programmer)'s PC, and we got to work coding up the sequencer. Sean took care of the machine-code level programming of the synth engine and I programmed the high-level language user interface. We had the whole sequencer up and running in 4 months. So I may have the source code and sequencer files but I don't have the hardware on which it runs. Of course I could have another circuit board made but it would take some time to get all that together again.

GST: What happened to Console Sounds / Industrial Ambiance? I can’t find it anywhere.

NM: I took the album off-line. It was available as a library album for a while but the critiques viewed it as if it was an album release and began slating it for sounding like off-the-shelf music - which is exactly what it was. It was never an album release. It was just a bunch of tunes that had not been used for anything, and I was just trying to earn some money. But when the critiques got hold of it and slated it, I took it down.

GST: That's understandable, but unfortunate. Have you considered bringing the album (or any of the songs) back on a service like Bandcamp or Soundcloud?

NM: Yes I do have ideas and avenues for a lot of my music. The first thing I want to do is to officially release all my game soundtracks. After that I'll see what's left and if there's any mileage releasing any of it.

GST: Actually, how much of your music can you release on Bandcamp? I know that the rights can get tied up...

NM: Well after the Kickstarter campaign, I am now officially a record company and publisher so I can release any of my music whenever I like. I don't need a platform like Bandcamp or Soundcloud (where often the composer/performer ends up surrendering their rights for little compensation). I don't need to do that now. I can release my music myself and retain 100% of the rights, which is a better way to go. It's been a hell of a lot of work to get to the company to this point, but the infrastructure is there now, so I'm going to continue with that.

GST: Oh, that's exciting! Do you have any idea when we can expect to see some old soundtracks released? I'm also very interested in the dance music you wrote outside of Core Design. That would be a fun throwback thing.

NM: I want to start rolling my old game soundtracks out over the next few years. I have earmarked about 10 albums which I think are worthy of release. They all require some work in terms of remastering and re-recording. Some would benefit from a live orchestral recording like Soulstar, Heimdall II, Swagman and Battle Engine Aquila to name a few, but those kinds of production are very expensive so we'll have to see how funding goes for that kind of thing. In the meantime though, I will be releasing new synthetic recordings of these soundtracks - all made using the original equipment which I wrote them on, so they will sound the same, only better! Yeah there's probably an album or two of dance type tracks kicking around which could be released. Other songs too which are still unfinished so i'll need to do a bit of work to finish those up into some releasable form. So plenty of work to keep me busy for the next 5 or so years I'd say.

GST: Where can we find news about these remastered albums? Where's a good place to find you? Is there anything else you'd like to plug?

NM: The best places to keep informed as to what I'm doing career wise is on my official FB page: https://www.facebook.com/nathanmccreeofficial/ and also my Twitter page: https://twitter.com/nrpmccree As far as plugs go, please just support my concerts. They cost a huge amount of money and time to organize and I can only keep doing them if we get a good attendance. It's really important, not just for The Tomb Raider Suite, but for games music in general, and if you do like the Tomb Raider Suite album which is free to play on Spotify, please consider buying a copy. This is how us musicians make a living and it really does help us to keep going and writing more stuff which hopefully you will enjoy. A big shout out to all the fans who have supported me so far and who continue to do so - you guys rock!

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moonsfurbyden · 5 years ago

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Before you read most of this, go check out the other full videos of Rizmo on my Instagram. It helps to see these in action, and with sound.(don’t worry, I don’t talk!) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6GdAwNglFb/?igshid=10iftw61w09cd here’s a handy dandy link for ya!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Moon bethian (@ofthemoonian) on Dec 15, 2019 at 9:06am PST

instagram

So. This is kinda my official review of Rizmo I guess. I got a lot to say about this little dude.

I suggest watching these with sound on btw, while I don’t talk it helps with what I’m about to explain.

Let me start this off with, I do not intend to throw Rizmo away, or break him. Ever. I treat him with just as much care as I treat my furby’s. I wouldn’t of bought Rizmo if I wasn’t at least interested in him visually and wanted him for that. I do like Rizmo visually and a little tiny bit interaction wise. I don’t hate him. Keep this in mind.

Now, onto the ups and downs.

I can at least say that he does do as the box suggests. Sings, evolves, etc etc. I think the biggest downfall about Rizmo as a whole is that other then the basic knowledge I had no way to know what I was in for. Hardly anyone has reviewed this toy that ISNT a child. Only one good video is what I could find with adults in it. And that’s it. So going into getting him I didn’t know how interactive he was or what he felt like or anything.

You get him, he’s a ball, with two little light up eyes. Over tune he grows a tail, and after that he evolves into what you see here. This whole function of evolving works amazingly well, the problem is that I don’t see a kid actually maintaining interest long enough. To evolve Rizmo you need to play minigames and sing(or talk in my case) to him. Which comes down to either rolling him around a lot for the mini game, or singing(or talking loudly) into his face. This took me about a hour and a half(or around that mark)to grind through. And that was me nonstop trying to evolve him. Most kids don’t have the patience for this, especially since the only true interaction you get from the toy is the minigames and singing and such. It’s bare bones basic. The only ‘interaction’ mechanically you get is he reacts to being bounced around. Nothing else. No tummy sensors, to head sensors.

And I will directly begin to compare him to Furby’s. Two generations in fact. The 1998 lines, and the 2005 lines. Both of these toys can interact in a multitude of ways. And learn over time. It’s a pet simulator to be honest and it keeps the kids interested cause it feels like they actually are interacting with you, as a person. Not just being there ready to be interacted with. Additionally it’s a small peeve but Rizmo hardly moves. His ears and tail are static. His front paws(hands?)are just fabric. And the only pieces that move are his feet, and his jaw. I friendly basic movements compared to something such as say, a 2016 furby. Who wiggles around at such break neck speeds sometimes they get unbalanced and tip over. Even something like the older 1998 furby’s are incredibly expressive, just with eyes, ears, and beak. And a slight shifting movement you can get a ton more expression. They don’t feel static. For the price of 40$, this is just... incredibly basic. Furby’s of the 1998 era were 20$ back then and very pricey, and still are today and are worth their money more.

As a extra extra side note, most people complained and still do, that original 1998 furby’s are LOUD. While I can agree some are incredibly loud, they have nothing on Rizmo. The sweet silence of my house once I turned him off was deafening almost, because he was so loud. He was loud enough to a point that when I turned one of my 1998 furby’s on, they thought he was loud. He was the same volume to them as someone raising their voice, or clapping loudly. I feel sorry for the parents who have to hear this toy.

Onto my biggest beef. This toy is fragile. Incredibly fragile. I do not know how a child won’t break this toy, even by accident. He is made of what sounds and feels like the most thin plastic ever on the side. 80% of this toy is hollow on the inside. Not a lick of stuffing seen, which makes sense for the evolving mechanics. But they chose the nose incredibly thin fur type that in a year, if your kid loves this toy will be probably losing its fur over time. Because of this thin fur you can feel the skeleton inside completely. His eyes are stationed inside the painfully hollow skull that you can feel around in through his incredibly empty mouth. I could actually unpop his eyes with no effort from the small holes in his skeleton inside. His torso has two plastic ‘rib cages’ i guess you’d call them, that expand when he evolves the first time. Once in this finally form you can feel that these are hollow shells almost that you can latch your fingers into with his loose fur. The fur is so lose intact he tends to have a bump or buckle on the top of his head in the back because it’s design to be taught to the skull when curled up. He has a light on his tummy in this form they I’m afraid I might jab since it’s precariously empty feeling as well. His paws(hands?) aren’t even stuffed and are empty tubes of fabric. His ears have a snap back hinge that I’m 100% certain a child will break. Same as his tail which also has a snap back hinge. Additionally, his whole mechanical end of things seems to have the mechanics, whole even turned off, to curl back up?? I am unsure if this is even purposeful or not. But I can see that getting jammed easily by a kid forcefully doing that. You can see me do this with both his feet, and his jaw(his ribs can also do this)and I’m hardly putting any effort into doing so.

Nothing in my mind makes me think this toy is good for children. The mechanics are easily boring, and the toy itself is fragile as heck feeling. Any kid who likes to cuddle toys won’t be happy with this. Unlike a furby who are solid, yes. But they have thick fur that makes them feel a lot more plush. And they can handle two decades worth of use and damage and still work, to this day. There’s something to be said when a toy form 2019 is more fragile and breakable then a toy in 1998 who has survived two decades of their life being played with and left in antics and yet somehow still work, and aren’t broken most of the time.

My verdict? Way until Rizmo goes on sale even more. It’s not worth 40$. And if you want one like me because it makes you think of a furby almost, wait also. It will go on sale, and when it drops down it’ll be more worth it. They already are. Amazon has the pink Rizmo right now for 30$. And the other colors for a little more.

#rizmo toy #rizmo #furby #all furby #safe furby #safefurby #allfurby #furby fandom #furby community

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vyvesvi · 5 years ago

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vyvesvi’s long awaited yesstyle review lmao :-)

ugh the keep reading isn’t working on mobile rip y’all sry

>a few Important things:

i just moved into my dorm yesterday so everything abt the pics and reviews to follow is a hot mess + i misplaced some stuff + didn’t bring it to my dorm bc it didnt work out (so i don’t have pics)

I’m not being sponsored in any way by yesstyle, i just don’t think there are enough black reviewers of yesstyle goods (but what does race have to do with anything, you may ask??? well, ppl come in all shaoes and sizes and the overlap between east asian sizes and body types and black body types is um. well. slim. that being said, i’ll give you some deets on me: i legit have no idea how much i weigh but im generally thin-ish with thicker thighs and a tummy pouch; height: ~169 cm, generally a US size S - M/4 - 6))

bc im not being sponsored, im not providing any (affiliate) links, just product names, sorry if that’s annoying

every yesstyle member (you become a member when you buy stuff) gets a reawrds code that takes a % off of my next order and the order that the code is used for, but I think it’s only like. 2% or smthng. message me and i’ll try to unearth my code if ur interested)

I ordered this stuff in two separate, similarly sized orders and the delivery time went like this (#1: ordered on- 2019-07-05 01:33 AM; split into two packages for some reason, received on like...july 22ndish? for some reason the tracking info isnt showing the delivery info. the 2nd part of this order, which was shipped a day later, arrived on the 19th. #2: ordered on- 2019-07-30 10:04 AM, received on 08/20, wasn’t expecting much bc it was shipped from hong kong during the protests but it was basically the same as the first order)

>the actual review part

i rly didnt wanna make a long post so just click for better quality sry lmao

edit: rip the quality if y’all want better photos @ me lmao

Dreamkura - Short-Sleeve Embroidered T-Shirt, Black - L

4/5- weird shape (really long sleeves for a short sleeved shirt, and really boxy too), and if you compare the placement and size of the patch vs. the one in the picture it’s not 100% accurate. still a cute shirt though so it’s fine

I sized up for an oversized look but I probably didn’t 100% need to

the black one is currently unavailable :/

camikiss - Seamless Under Shorts, Black - One Size

5/5- i wear these shorts too much. im wearing them right now. the ultimate safety shorts

the one size was a Risk but these shorts stretch well. maybe dont get them if you’re an XL and above in US sizes though

Lemongrass - Distressed Denim Shorts, Dark Blue - M

4.5/5- better quality than primark which. wow, did not see that coming

you have to cut the button hole (they seal it to show they they’ve never been worn apparently)

the button kinda like...jingles if you shake them vigorously, but it doesn’t happen when the pants are on, so it’s fine. still funny tho

im bad at wearing ripped shorts but if ur not i highly recommend

INKLEE - Round Buckle Faux Leather Belt - 105CM

5/5- kinda cheap but it does what I want which is hold my pants up lol

i could’ve sized down but that has way more to do with me not knowing my waist size lmao

Gwendolyn - Off-Shoulder Ruffle-Trim Blouse, White - One Size

4/5- i bought this bc it made me think “flyy like a butterfly” and all that jazz

it’s not my normal style but i really like it! it’s VERY sheer though

but I also got white so what did i really expect?

one-size was a risk once again but this shirt is pretty roomy, although it’s also kinda short...like not crop top short, but slightly difficult to tuck in short.

i would buy it again in black so i guess that says something

also i have like. freaky long arms (i can wave my hand over my shoulder with my arm behind my back and my elbow parallel to my torso...that’s such a weird description but uh. just know that my arms are long okay) and it didn’t look too indecent at the top to have the sleeves pulled down to my wrists! it’s a win!)

Moon City - Drop Shoulder Cardigan, Black - One Size

4.7/5- smelled weird when i opened it but I washed it and it’s fine!

one size risk but this one was also roomy af

the sleeves fit!!! god bless!!!

Edise - Couple Matching Elbow-Sleeve Embroidered T-Shirt, Black - L & White L

5/5- The white one was perfect and I love it! I sized like 2 sizes up for it to be a oversized but I would say it’s only abt 1 size oversized, if that makes sense? but I actually like it the way it is so cool lmao

3.7/5- the black one was really badly sewn on, but i reported it and got a new one for free so go me go yesstyle! they didnt give me tracking info *i think* and i wasn’t really waiting for it so it feels like it came fast lol

the moon is kinda a more awkward shape in person i think, but the stormy clouds were high quality and perfect!

i really like the material of the shirt!s it’s thick and soft and smooth? i’ve legit never felt a tshirt like that but im into it

DIYI - Plain High-Waist A-Line Skirt, Black - M

4.7/5- im wearing the outfit pictured right now and *TMI* the sewn in shorts are giving me a very very uncomfortably large wedgie tbh

it fits perfectly otherwise though

i feel like it’s one of the cheapest feeling things that i received, but it’s about forever21 quality but for only $11.45 so i’m 100% fine with it tbh

TREEZIN - Plaid Mini Skirt, Dark Blue - M

4.7/5- it’s very cute and fits perfectly! kinda shirt though and there was like 1 loose thread

the brown in the skirt isn’t super noticeable which i don’t really mind...overall i’d say that they lightened the photos considerably, which effects the color of the skirt

no safety shorts but idrc

pretty thick material

the final stretch thank god

Manicotto - Mock Two-Piece Sleeveless Mini Dress, Check - M

3/5 pretty cheap material. the skirt is true to size, but the top is like two sizes too small (i don’t have that much boob but it was still too much for this poor, poor, top). they come as separate pieces, so i brought the skirt to school with me and left the top at home. im not sure what i would tell someone who wanted to buy this abt sizing, bc of the dramatic discrepancy btwn the sizes.

A’ROCH - 925 Sterling Silver Dinosaur Earring, 1 Pair - S925 Silver - Gold - One Size

4/5, very cute, VERY small (dainty, sure) and good quality! my only complaint is that either it’s not real silver or whatever it is that they used to make them look gold is something that im allergic to. my ears got itchy

A’ROCH - 925 Sterling Silver Ear Cuff1 Pair - Cross - Silver - One Size

4.7/5, definitely 100% silver. i’d love to wear them but with my move i can’t find either pair of the earrings

they only sell them as 2 of the cross cuffs or 2 of the parallel cuffs which is annoying bc they’re pictured together but they’re good enough and cheap enough that i’d buy the parallel ones in a separate order

Euphrasia - Oxford Crossbody Bag, Black - One Size

5/5 one of my best buys hands down

its ugly cute but it’s so useful

it has so much storage space for such a small bag

im in love

Jansi - Set of 3: Heart-Embroidered Socks, Black + White + Blue - One Size

4.5/5 i wanted the dark gray that’s pictured but they edited the hell out of that photo so the blue that i ordered is actually the gray sock pictured

really comfy and cute! esp with the tops of the hearts peeking out over the tops of high top converses??? i love it sm

i have big feet and they fit me, so they’d fit most ppl i think

Ashlee - Cuffed Denim Shorts, Light Blue - M

2/5, a horrible disappointment part 1

maybe i shouldve sized up more but the critch area just fits SO BADLY i left these at home

i would return but im not paying for return shipping to hong kong so i’ll donate them

they’re also cute really badly like they don’t taper in at the waist at all

no human person is shaped like that pls ashlee

they get a 2 bc they are shorts and they sent me the right color

Rosehedge - Pleated Mini Skirt, Black - S

3/5, a horribly disappointment part 2

i shouldve sized up idky i didnt

i can actually fit into them and zip them up and everything but it’s so so short that you can basically see my entire safety short covered butt and it kinda bulges between the top of the tiny sewn in safety shorts and the actual skirt

wow thats a weird sentence sorry but you get it

has thousands of good reviews though, way more than anything on this list so that must count for something right?

3 bc it’s kinda my fault

Regalia - Faux Leather Wallet, Black - One Size

5/5 beautiful lots of storage space but still very compact, would buy again

the “forever young, made in korea” is kinda ugly but what can you do?

Prinsis - Printed Socks, Dinosaur - White - One Size

3.5/5 they’re cute, but the design is so but that you can see halves of it on the front of the sock, which is very ugly

notice how on the site every pic is taken from the side? not a coincidence

they fit fine and are comfy though

>okay that’s it thank god!

>lmk if you have any questions!!!

(@gowon-yyxy)

#ys saga #yesstyle #yes style #yesstyle review #i see there is not a market for this tag #oh well #im not editing this im too tired

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elecdarkon · 3 years ago

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nacksgameshack · 6 years ago

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A Look at the AtGames Sega Genesis Flashback HD

For many out there, the term AtGames, will leave quite a bitter taste in your mouth, and you know who you are. To put it blunt and over the top as possible, AtGames are considered by many as the one of the worst things ever to come on God’s green Earth.

I’m sure even some people will spit on it and then light it up with a lighter they got from the dollar store if they’re feeling an extra bit melodramatic, or of course just want to use their products to roast some crispy and delicious marshmallows, yum indeed, problem is, I don’t really ever eat marshmallows since they more or less just give me severe headaches, and most of the time I just prefer to sit back with a nice cold beverage like a Pepsi, this boy doesn't drink for sure, and just enjoy life as it was intended, without of course lighting a console on fire, I would not recommend something like that, if anything, I’d rather just light up some twigs and throw them at the neighbors to give them a scare. Anyways, for those who don’t know who or what an AtGames is, like seriously what is an AtGames? Well it’s not really a what more as it’s a who, in this case, it’s a company, that is mainly known for distributing licensed aftermarket plug and play consoles in North America and I guess Europe too, that may I add pretty much always dwindle down to either early Sega (Master System or Genesis) consoles and old-school Atari, with of course these being emulated, now many of these releases are more than just simple plug and plays, and some of them might I add are quite unique in fact, in a similar fashion to the huge flood of Master System rereleases that are still seen even today in Brazil from Tectoy, with AtGames, you’re going to notice that there are alot of different models and all of them like many aftermarket consoles have their own flaws that usually, especially in AtGames’s case end up being huge turn offs for a consumer, yet each model does have pluses in their own little way I guess you could argue. Regardless I’m not trying to say AtGames is a terrible company, or a great one either, most of the problems people will say about their older Genesis plug and plays and portables (yes, you heard me right they have a few portable variations of what is pretty much a mini Sega Nomad with SD card support) is the audio, and quite honestly the reputation for their poor audio, is definitely something that isn’t over-exaggerated, if you’re an audio nerd, someone who deeply cares about the accuracy of how your audio is being emulated, let me just say I do not recommend getting any of their older model consoles, or even portable for that matter, especially to note with the portable, is that if you keep it just a tad bit too high, you even have a chance of blowing out the speaker.

Now, just for some clarity, the Console that I’m going to be reviewing today, hands-on first experience I guess, is actually quite a new piece of hardware, it is a 2017 model of the latest console released by AtGames, The Sega Genesis (or Mega-Drive) Flashback HD, which yes does feature HDMI support! This console, just from the trailer is boasted to be a huge if not entire overhaul of AtGames trying to clear their bad reputation and create something that many gamers will cherish and hold onto, or atleast have fun playing without the audio blasting your ear canals and making them bleed, but a promise really doesn't mean anything unless there is real action and improvement involved along the way.

But let’s start from the basics, first off, you will notice that unlike the other variations of the Genesis consoles, this one is actually built to resemble an actual Genesis model, and fortunately even the best looking Genesis model in my opinion anyway, the Model 1. The console itself just from the looks department does sport many similarities with it being based on the Model 1′s shell design, yet also is much tinier and better compared in size to the model 3 Genesis than the model 1 or 2. One thing to be noted about this console is that, it is often compared to the NES Mini and SNES mini, and a reason for this, is because, well not only does it boast to have numerous built in games, 81 in fact, which well we’ll discuss that amount a little later, but it also does appear as said earlier, as a miniature Model 1 design, similar in fashion to the Mini Nintendo consoles, the Flashbacks also happen to have been originally released a wee bit after the NES Mini’s debut on the market. I personally haven’t touched a NES Mini or SNES Mini, so I wont do any real comparisons, rather for now, I’ll just focus on the Flashback itself and what it brings to the table of the home consumer market.

Now I've talked a little bit about the design of the console, and before I go into actually playing the thing, let me just say, when I bought this product, I wasn't expecting much from it, my expectations were quite low, from being a consumer who has gone through two AtGames Genesis consoles, I wasn't exactly disappointed with them, as for what it was, the price was a decent price, yet I did go ahead and just took them back anyways, as I just went ahead and preferred to just keep the money instead of just keeping the console, silly I suppose, but as someone who has experienced and can see why so many people are not a fan of these consoles, my expectations, as I stated were a bit on the lower side, I wasn't expecting the Flashback to compare to anything like the official Sega Genesis, but I will say that just from the super nice packaging and actually quite decent build quality of the console, already I’m quite impressed with what I have, it’s honestly kind of cool having anything miniature right? Especially something that has BLAST PROCESSING! The Console doesn't feature volume control nor does it feature a headphone jack like the real Model 1, but it’s only expected for corners to be cut, nor are such things on the original hardware even really viable to me personally as a consumer. Alls I really want is something that plays nice, and that’s what we all really want, but of course I will say this right off the bat, a huge plus of this console already is just how it looks and how it feels. The two wired and wireless (yeah, that’s alot of controllers, tell me about it *phew) controllers that you get when you purchase the console all feel great, and interestingly enough, the wireless controllers actually have two extra buttons in the middle for rewinding the game you’re playing for roughly six seconds, giving yourself a second chance at a game, or just looking at some slick moves you pulled, and also bringing up a menu that goes back to the interface of the Flashback, which yes, the Flashback does feature an interface, but I’ll talk about that a little later, the only real downside of the controllers I can say is that I’ve heard the 3-pad Genesis controllers are not compatible with the system, not just the interface, but the system entirely, that may have been fixed in a newer firmware update, but as far as I’m aware, for what I have, they do not work, only 6-button pads work on the console, which in retrospective, is not a total lost as you can still at the very least of course play games on the console with the controllers they give you, or one of your old 6-pad controllers, even though, they honestly feel just as good as the older 6-pad controllers. Overall I’d say the build quality, presentation, and design of the Flashback from a physical point of view looks quite stellar for a aftermarket console.

Alot of times, the main attraction of these aftermarket consoles is that they’re generally much cheaper than real hardware, with of course cons because of that, and alot of times, they even feature built in games, or rather some simply not only feature built in games, but they even upscale them without having to spend ridiculous amounts of money just to upscale your original hardware. Currently, as what I've seen Flashbacks usually go for around $70 USD currently, and you have to think, not only does this console promise a multitude of games, it features four controllers, a Model 1 reinvented design with some changes of course for good or worse, and even an HDMI output, something that the original Genesis would not normally support. So is this console really worth such a high price? Or is this really just a waste of money? Well before I say anymore about that, let me talk about what you’re getting yourself into behind just the little shell and controllers that are nice and pretty. The Genesis Flashback features a large amount of games, promised to be 81 built-in, which at a further glance should be noted, that not every game on here is a Genesis game, as some games in fact happen to be (another new addition to the Flashback besides pretty HD quality, time travel powers, and other things) Master System and Game Gear titles, of course the two sharing the same hardware, and the Power Base Converters existence being a thing, it only makes sense for them to add such games to the library, now there are not many of course, only a few like Fantasy Zone and Sonic Chaos, but atleast for me anyway, they’re actually quite a really nice addition that I actually really enjoy and am glad to see there, the console does feature a few other non Genesis games, that are just strange old homebrew titles, but luckily there’s only a few so it wont clutter the library, or really affect it too heavily, as in my opinion, for what you get, it does feature quite a nice library of games, from the obvious Sonic the Hedgehog titles, to some Alex Kidd games, and even the Mortal Kombat series. The Flashback also has quite a decent support of RPG games built in if that’s your goto, and what’s very cool about the console itself, is that you can actually play cartridge games on the console, as it does feature a cartridge slot, only making it even more like it’s big brother, the Model 1. In order to access any of these actual games though, you are taken to the interface of the Flashback, and while to many people it’s not really cited as anything stellar, it does what it should, and there is a bit of input lag once in awhile, and the layout requires the trigger pads, rather than the d-pad for browsing, which yes, is quite strange, it still at the end of the day does look quite pretty as you do get to see alot of nice old cover art from classic Genesis and even a few Master System titles. Now the games themselves, as far as I’ve seen and played, they all run quite well and the sound is pretty much on point atleast in terms of emulation. There is a bit of noticeable staggering or choppiness in some games like Sonic the Hedgehog, but when you’re busy enjoying the game, it shouldn't bother you too much. The games have sometimes frozen on me, but with a clear reset, they work again, and with the new addition of save states and rewinding, it does avoid soft locks quite a bit. There is quite a huge negative about the Flashback though when it comes to cartridge games, is that some games will not work at all, unless of course you modded your Flashback to play such games. Simply put, games like Sonic 3 and Knuckles will not work with Sonic 3 attached, as the console will pick up both cartridges and show both on the screen as to either choose from Sonic 3 or Knuckles, which yes, totally removes the lock on features you could get from any Genesis Sonic title that is normally compatible. Now previously mentioned with modding and taking a dangerous risk with your Flashback, you can manually add games with a micro SD, and some games that wont normally run off a cartridge can run, if it’s loaded from the system, there have even been some people who have installed retroarch on the system and enabled it to not only play Sega CD titles, with a micro SD of course, but also 32X titles like Knuckles Chaotix and the god awful Spiderman Web of Fire, actually you know what that seems awfully mean to shred on that game, I tell you what I need to give that game a try again and just see how well it fits into my modern day brain, maybe even review if I actually have motivation for such an awfu- I mean uh Sega 32x game.

With all of this mentioned, does the Flashback hold up to it’s 70 dollar price? Well besides some compatibility and minor graphical issues, I’m perfectly happy with the thing, as someone who can’t afford to collect Genesis games, this is quite a nice alternative for me, and I’d say it is for anyone in the same boat. Now for the adventurous and vanilla types, or rather just even collectors, it is of course better to just go ahead with a real Sega Genesis, as that is of course going to have the best compatibility as it is the real hardware and no emulation problems will be found. They’re also sold in a multitude of models and support addons, so if you’re into collecting that, then go for it, but say if you just want a budget hd console that can play Sega Genesis games as they were intended, well while I can’t say this does it entirely 100 percent accurate, I can say, that for the most part, all the games on this console play perfectly fine, and it is a much cheaper alternative than to just buying a real Genesis, as it also doesn't feature a region lock, unlike the real Genesis and Mega-Drive hardware. With all considered of the console, despite the flaws, I would say that this console is something that you should keep your eyes out for, if you are looking to play Genesis games on your HDTV for an affordable cost, and if you want it to come with a bunch of games of course aswell, and as I said earlier, it does feature quite a bit of controllers and two controllers ports, so if you ever have someone come over, the Flashback already has got you covered. I’d say just go for the thing, hell I got mine used on Ebay for about 50 dollars, which was probably a stupid idea in hindsight, and it definitely did lower my expectations even further then it just being an AtGames product, but with that said, despite it being used, despite it being an AtGames product, it still stands out as quite a very good aftermarket mini console, that is very much worth your time if you want something affordable, and also compact that plays Sega Genesis titles.

#atgames #sega genesis #plug in play #retro #review #master system #nackdemweasels #console #console review #blast processing #genesis review #sega genesis review

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manako-no-yami · 7 years ago

Text

when i say go, hold my hand

Read on AO3 Written for the @bkdksecretsanta exchange (I'm so sorry for the delay, I didn't realize it would end up being this big or long...), for @calcidekudine! based off of her vigilante!deku fic, the hare. I hope you like it!!!

Fandom: BNHA Ship: Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku Rating: T Wordcount: 9556 Summary:

“I’m sorry, what?” “You poor thing,” Earphone Jack says, smacking him hard on the back, “Do you feel obligated to defend his honor? Don’t worry, we all went to school with the bastard. That kind of already ruined the illusion. Now spill. I want to know everything.” “We’re uh, we’re pretty normal? Haha, no stories to tell. Nothing. Just. Just signi–uh. Boyfriends. Haha. Normal. Normal boyfriends. Yup.” Both women turn to look at him at the same time. The effect is startlingly close to facing down a pack of hungry lions while armed with a broken toothpick. Kacchan’s gonna kill me. How the hell was he supposed to know that the details of their fake boyfriends cover story had to be planned down to their imaginary sex habits?

“Hold still,” Kacchan mutters, tugging harder.

“Stop yanking,” Deku replies, “You’re gonna knock the recorder loose!”

“That’s why we should’ve gone with the button one, not this stupid glasses shit, makes you look even stupider than you already do.”

“I told you, the button mike’s audio isn’t clean enough, we run a risk of not even being able to use any of it, and since Mr. Wanna-be Number One Hero over here is ‘too busy’ to clean audio, which is utter bull shit by the way, that means it’ll be my problem and since I’m the one using it and handling the clean-up it only makes sense that I get to choose what recording gadget we use, so w–”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Deku. Shut up. I’ve heard this argument five times already. Besides, maybe this wouldn’t be such a problem if you would just,” He gives one final yank, tucks the tie in, and straightens the lapels of the suit jacket, “learn how to tie a tie , hmm?”

Deku’s face burns bright red and he huffs, hands reaching up to fidget with his collar before Kacchan slaps his hands away, hissing like an affronted cat.

Don’t you dare, his eyes read, and Deku rolls his eyes in return, settling for adjusting his glasses–his fake glasses, with a small recording device installed in the corner of the frame–higher up on his nose.

“Okay, let’s go over the plan one more time. First,” he’s interrupted by Kacchan’s exasperated groan.

“ God, not this again. Deku, we’ve been over it a million times, and neither of us are fucking amateurs.”

“ First, we locate the CEO of MightyTV.You're in charge of introducing me, and I, posing as your..." his voice gets lower. "Your. Y- Significant? Significant. O-oth--”

“Significant? Significant significant?” Kacchan mocks. “Boyfriend. Just say boyfriend. Are you sure I’m the one that needs to be debriefed again? How the hell are we supposed to pull this off if you can’t even handle saying that much, huh Deku?”

“– boyfriend, shut up Kacchan I’m trying to review the plan here–”

“Oh, so you admit that you’re the one that needs to review it, and not me? Better start cramming, since we agreed that you can’t bring the plans with you.”

“ And I, posing as your boyfriend,” Deku continues, “will begin talking to his assistant, who usually accompanies him, luring them in with the possibility of a story about Ground Zero’s civilian boyfriend, while you fetch us all drinks. Got it so far?”

Kacchan narrows his eyes, suspicious.

“No. The plan was to separate the two until you can subdue the assistant and give her the truth serum, not to leave you and your awkward ass alone with both of them.”

“What? Kacchan, no, we ended up making that plan B, this is why we need to go over it again! I thought you said you were a professional! See, look–” his hand reaches inside his jacket. Too late, his eyes widen in realization, and Kacchan tackles him to the ground before he can react, yanking at his tie and fighting to pull his suit jacket off along with it.

“I knew it! You did bring the plans with you! We– fuck , that HURT you little bitch–We talked about this Deku, it’s too much of a security risk to keep them on hand like that! Give them here!”

“No! Ge– oof, fuck. You. Kacchan. Get off of me!”

The doorbell rings.

“Not a chance in hell, give them to me right now , Deku, so help me God, before I rip all your clothes off for you!”

Deku shoves hard at his shoulder and rolls, landing on top, wrestling still with Kacchan’s hands.

“No! This suit was expensive , you’re gonna tear it! You should know, you bought it! And no quirk use in the house!”

Kacchan, that cheater, grins triumphantly, pressing his forearm into Deku’s sternum, demon smile inches from Deku’s glaring face.

The doorbell rings a second time.

“Ha! Only because your fashion sense is just as bad as the rest of you! And if you don’t want me to rip it off of you, then just be a good boy–”

The doorknob jiggles, then turns.

“–And strip for me, eh Deku?”

“ Fuck you.” Deku snaps, baring his teeth in return.

“You wish!”

When the door opens, both of them freeze, and look towards the entryway. Pro-hero Pinky, also known as Ashido Mina, stands there, eyebrows raised, hands on her hips and fingers tapping.

“Busy?”

A thick silence settles over them. The heat from Deku’s blush is enough to fog up his fake glasses slightly, and with a grunt he pushes Kacchan off of him before scrambling to fix his glasses and straighten his shirt. Kacchan simply lies back, glaring at their intruder with a sneer.

“No! We were just… just uh–”

“Yes.” Kacchan cuts in. “Yes we are. Busy. As you can see. Now get out and wait. You’re interrupting, and we’re not ready yet.”

Her eyebrows lift higher.

“And how much longer, exactly, will we be waiting for you two to get ready ?”

“However long it takes, Black-eyes. Which isn’t long at all, for your information.” He smirks.

“Kacchan!” He can’t help but feel scandalized, but he can’t deny the implications because, damn him, that would blow their cover. “Kacchan, that’s rude! It’s fine, ah… Ashido-san, you can wait in the living room instead of outside. Because some of us aren’t heathens.” He emphasizes the last bit with a glare in Kacchan’s direction, while he sneers back at him.

Pinky looks between the both of them for a moment before breaking out into full-bodied laughter.

“Aw, look at you. Don’t worry about it, all of us here are used to that fart gremlin,” both of them ignore Kacchan as he gives out a sound of offended protest, “so it’s fine. I’ll just tell the driver to keep the heater on. Don’t take too long with your Kacchan , though, we wouldn’t want to be late!” She winks before closing the door with a cheeky wave.

Kacchan groans and kicks at Deku, who dodges it with a frown.

“Fuck. Now they’re never gonna let that go... I told you not to call me that...”

Deku picks up the tie, which had been torn off during their scuffle, looking forlorn as he inspects the damage.

“It just. Feels weird. Calling you anything else.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Now hand those plans over, Deku. Did you think a simple distraction like that would make me forget that stunt you just pulled?”

After they finally make their way out of the apartment building, shoving at each other the entire way down, Deku is minus a set of notebooks, wearing a different tie (“Now we don’t match anymore…” “Who cares, Deku. Red suits you better anyway.” “But it makes us even less believable than we already are!”)…and they’re both twenty-five minutes late.

How late is fashionably late, again? Deku wonders.

When they clamber into the limo, he’s greeted by faces at once strange and familiar. Chargebolt, Red Riot, Pinky, and Cellophane are all faces that he recognizes, and he’d be lying if seeing so many of them in real life while unmasked didn’t psych him out a little. As he follows Kacchan in, Chargebolt lets out a low whistle, elbowing Red Riot and Cellophane. There’s a noticeable flush to his cheeks.

“Drunk already?” Kacchan doesn’t seem surprised.

“Nah, he’s just a bit tipsy. Gotta get past the press at the front door first. Can’t let you hog all the fun,” Cellophane quips, wiggling his eyebrows as Kacchan shoots a glare in Pinky’s direction.

“Aren’t you gonna introduce us?”

“No.”

Deku, by now, having grown, acquired a quirk, and dedicated years of his life to training and self-improvement, is no longer the shy, awkward kid he had been in childhood and his early teens. It feels almost too natural, sitting here, brushing shoulders with Kacchan, ears tickled by his spiky hair whenever they lean close as the car makes a turn. As he looks around at familiar strangers, he is struck with the thought that this was it. The thing he had longed for as a child. Sitting in the back of a limo with its own mini-bar, surrounded by pro-heroes. While his goal had never been the wealthy lifestyle, but he had always admired Kacchan’s drive for success. And here it is. Here they are.

“Hey, buddy!” Red Riot throws a friendly, albeit heavy arm around his shoulders, leaning in close, eyes squinted in happiness. He’s close enough for Deku to see the faint crinkles at the corner of his eyes. His entire being is bursting with vitality, an effusive warmth. This is a hero, he thinks to himself. “So how’d you and Bakugou meet?”

“Oh! We’ve actually known each other for quite awhile,” he says, continuing with the script they had decided on (the truth, in case someone ever tried to do a background check), “Something like childhood friends? We recently got back in touch and things…just kinda happened, haha.” Not strictly a lie, but by implication not truthful, either.

Doubt seeps in. When he glances over at Kacchan, his face looks impassive, if not mildly annoyed. Your everyday Kacchan.

Does he resent it? The plan? The goal? The endgame result that would tear all of this down, pull the career he’s worked to build down into the dirt?

“Hey, Midoriya, was it? I just wanted to say,” Red Riot’s conspiratory whisper isn’t very conspiratory. Kacchan’s eyes slide over to the right, clearly listening in, “Thanks for putting up with this guy. He won’t let us do anything about it if he can help it, but we worry sometimes, y’know? It’s nice to see him with someone else, so…take care of him, all right?”

Deku feels Kacchan’s shoulders tense as he looks away, feigning indifference.

If this plan goes through, if the entire thing goes through, this plan and the next, and the next, and the series of things they have planned and will have to plan in the future, Red Riot may be out of a job. Kacchan might be out of a job. A lot of people might be out of a job. The reigning market tied to heroes, civil service, the government, news, entertainment, marketing–everything will be overthrown into chaos. A necessary evil, he reminds himself, but the thought is grim.

When he became Kousagi he had lost something, too. He grew up with a love for heroes, too. In a lot of ways that’s what fuels him forward, drives him to fix the problem, to restore heroism to what he had believed it to be. It will hurt, tearing it all down, exposing the ugliness that hid behind the shining smiles of the brave. It will leave a scar. How could something like that not hurt?

But was it worth it?

“Midoriya?”

“Huh? Wha–yeah, yeah of course. Yes. I’ll make sure to watch out for him.” And after a moment of consideration, “You’re a good friend…Kirishima-san, was it?”

“No need to be so formal!” He laughs, giving him a good shake. “Dude, you’re solid. We should work out together sometime. I wanna know how you got these ,” he pumps his fist lightly against Deku’s bicep for emphasis.

“Yeah, yeah!” Pinky cheers, giving him a wink. “I bet ‘splodey-boy over here likes them at least as much as I do.”

“All right, that’s enough, all of you shut up and leave him alone.”

“Aw, look, see he cares!”

“Nah, he’s just embarrassed. Or jealous.”

“Yeah, you gotta watch out for that one, Midoriya. I hear possessive boyfriends can be a pain in the ass…but I guess that isn’t much different from his usual self, eh?”

"Fuck you," he says, swivelling towards Pinky, "and the rest of you idiots too."

Deku laughs. It’s easy. He doesn’t even need to fake it.

When they arrive, it’s all taken straight from the silver screen. Flashing lights, red carpet. Glinting teeth, sparkles, photoshopped perfection but in real life. When it’s their turn to step out, Deku hesitates, fingers gripping the posh leather upholstery of the dimmed car interior, eyes wandering out over the muted crowd waiting outside, faded by the tint of the windows.

“Are you sure about this?” Kacchan asked. “You’ll be right in the center of attention. And you’re not the number one most wanted vigilante for nothing, Deku.”

Kousagi made his reputation by striking fast and hard, right where it hurt. He didn’t operate in the limelight, he operated in the shadows of heroes, casted by the limelight.

“No better place to hide than in plain sight, right Kacchan?”

But this had to happen at some point. He could go on saving people, taking out the villains that were connected in the spindly, invisible web of influence, making a burden of himself upon the shadow masters of society; but to get to the heart of it all he had to brave the light of a sun powered by lies.

That’s what they’d agreed upon. That’s what he’d said. But was he ready? Right now? To stick his head into the lion’s mouth, wrap himself up in the snake’s tongue?

Kacchan turns back to look at him, and holds out his hand. Deku��s own feels weak as he lifts it.

Color, light, sounds. Life rushes back into him, through him, over him, flooding him; saturating his veins with sensation. He can smell the leather, hear the clamor of voices, the clicking of camera shutters. The warmth of Kacchan’s rough hands. Life, all of it--funneled through that single point of contact. He finds Kacchan’s gaze again, electrified, and not in the least, terrified.

And yet.

He exhales, steeling himself. Holds tight.

He’s ready. He has to be.

Mission start.

And he steps out into the line of fire.

Two minutes later, and Deku is not ready.

“Oh my God! You’re soooooo cute!” Uraraka Ochako, aka Uravity, is a beast. He’s held off a three pronged attack from both villains and multiple hero agencies simultaneously for less than that before, and gotten away unscathed. And yet, he’s been trying to escape Uravity’s clutches for the past five minutes with no success.

“Tell Katsuki to watch out, ‘cause I’m gonna steal you from right under his nose! How in the hell did he get so lucky?” She gasps dramatically. “Was he mean to you? Don’t worry, I’ll save youuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

He grips onto her back in panic as she throws her arms around him, trying his best to ignore the way her wandering hands squeeze at him appreciatively.

“Oh? What do we have here?”

Oh no, he thinks to himself as yet another well-known hero from Kacchan's class saunters up to him, twirling the earphone jacks that are her namesake around one finger. Are they all like this?

“Is this the unlucky dude we’ve all been hearing about?”

Just how many people did Kacchan pitch our story to??

He’d expected to be accosted by reporters. He’d been ready to evade questions, smile apologetically at a camera, to deny invasions to his and Kacchan’s privacy with modesty. He’d made flashcards.

Earphone Jack pats Uravity on the back and throws an arm around his shoulders, leaning close, her plugs lifting to tickle his ear, her voice dipped in the kind of easy camaraderie that reminded him of what made the most slippery of villains dangerous. He gulps.

And here it comes…

“So are you an asshole, too? Is that how it works? I bet you top. Do you top?”

...Wait, what?

“Izuku.” Deku is startled by Uravity’s suddenly serious tone. “Do you hate me?”

“…No…?”

“So you don’t want me to lose fifty bucks?”

“…I uh… Don’t quite understand the context of this…conversation…?”

“That lucky bastard, ” Earphone Jack huffs, “So you’re not an asshole and you top? What a princess.”

“I haven’t even said anything yet!” What the hell is going on?

“Oh, you poor thing. It’s written all over your face.”

“And your booty,” Uravity pitches in, giggling. Deku flushes as her hands wander a bit further.

What does that even mean???

“Pay up, Uraraka. I told you.”

“That’s like, sooo unfair! Izukuuuuu I thought you said you liked me!”

Well technically, I just said I didn’t hate you…

But truth is, he did like her. Uravity did a lot of rescue work, and her agency was set close to a low-income neighborhood. She was friendly, genuine, and a hard worker. She came from a humble background and worked hard to make her way towards the top, proving her worth the entire way. Reminds me of someone else I know… He’d been pretty excited to meet her, really. He liked to think that if he’d gone to UA like Kacchan did, like he’d wanted to, they could’ve been friends.

“Ugh, does it matter anyway? Everyone knows Katsuki’s actually prude.”

Deku chokes.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You poor thing,” Earphone Jack says, smacking him hard on the back, “Do you feel obligated to defend his honor? Don’t worry, we all went to school with the bastard. That kind of already ruined the illusion. Now spill. I want to know everything. ”

“We’re uh, we’re pretty normal? Haha, no stories to tell. Nothing. Just. Just signi–uh. Boyfriends. Haha. Normal. Normal boyfriends. Yup.”

Both women turn to look at him at the same time. The effect is startlingly close to facing down a pack of hungry lions while armed with a broken toothpick.

Kacchan’s gonna kill me.

How the hell was he supposed to know that the details of their fake boyfriends cover story had to be planned down to their imaginary sex habits?

“Deku!”

“Gotta go, the boyfriend’s calling me! Have a nice night!”

“Deku, what’s going o–”

His heart’s a large-footed rabbit, thumping a frantic beat as it jumps in his chest.

What is going on? What the hell is he doing?

His hands are sweatier than Kacchan’s. Their faces are close, their chests brushing with each awkward sway.

“Getting away from your friends.”

Without thinking, he’d grabbed his hand and tugged them both onto the dance floor. He should be searching for their target, letting the camera and mike in his glasses capture their surroundings and the faces of the people around them, but he can’t look away from Kacchan’s chest, his jawline, the small hairs at his nape.

Damn him. Deku might have wound up beefier, but Kacchan had always been taller. He’s hyper-aware of the sweat on his scalp, of how his nose is a breath away from bumping Kacchan’s chin, of how Kacchan’s lips are just below eye-level. Of a haphazardly placed hand, resting barely-there on Kacchan’s narrow waist. Afraid to touch, to feel–a drop of water on a stovetop pan, dust on a pressure-sensitive bomb.

Damn him, he thinks again.

“They’re not my friends,” Kacchan retorts, a quick-fire rebuttal, and laughter squeezes its way up past his constricting ribs, his rebelling diaphragm, the unforgiving clamp of nervousness in his throat. Why was he laughing? That’s not that funny. It isn’t.

A quick two, three steps, and they’re beneath the glittering chandelier, turning slowly under layers of dappled, crystalline light.

“Sure they aren’t.”

“You know, one of these days I’m gonna get tired of your sass and drop your ass. What’re you gonna do then?”

“Oh, I don’t know…maybe ask for help from one of my other friends –oops, sorry, is that a sore point? Since you apparently don’t have any?”

“Dropping your ass. Right now. I’m gonna do it, I’m really gonna do it, any second now…”

“I’d like to see you try .”

All it takes is a light shove, and a misplaced foot. Kacchan topples, the hand on his shoulder tightening reflexively, and Deku swoops him down into an elegant dip. Footwork had been one of the foundations of his training (and Deku isn’t one to forget his training). He grunts a little, ( Shit, he’s heavy) and Kacchan elbows him hard, right in the gut–but Deku expected that, and flexes to compensate. He allows himself a small smirk.

“Bitch.”

“Who’s dropping whose ass?”

“ You’re an ass.”

“Why thank you, that’s truly an accomplishment, coming from you.”

When did they get so close?

He’s falling, falling, falling. Spiralling. When he places Kacchan back on his feet, their faces jerk closer, and he can’t help but tilt his face upwards a bit, chin lifting. His clothes are too tight, especially around the chest, did Kacchan buy the right fit? Everything is constricting, itchy, prickles racing up and down his arms, like when he’s readying for a fight; all of it a swirl of color around them even though he knows that they’ve barely moved, simply swaying from side to side. Is that sound his heart, or Kacchan’s? They’re so close.

Kacchan gulps, and Deku’s eyes flicker down to watch before flickering up again to observe. Kacchan tenses, just a little, and looks away. Something in him seizes, adrenaline rushing cold fire through his veins, no, no, don’t look away, stay here. He seizes the moment, tugs it back.

“How about we give them all a real show?”

“What?”

Deku glances to the side, where a small crowd has gathered, whispering and pointing. Pinky looks extra excited, gesticulating wildly, not even trying to be subtle in her attention towards the pair.

“Something to corroborate our story with.”

He’s already leaning in, in anticipation. If Kacchan just lowered his head, just a bit…

Kacchan glances down at him, brow smooth, eyes serious, an unusual calm and severity falling over him. Rocks in an ocean, the two of them, steadfast and rough amidst salty froth breaks; standing still in the middle of a ballroom dance floor. He shifts his hands to hold both of Deku’s shoulders. Anchors. They’re no longer moving.

“Okay.”

Okay.

His cheek is soft under his fingers. It surprises him, just a little, that anything about Bakugou Katsuki could be so soft. When they lean in close–is he imagining it? The way Kacchan’s eyelashes flutter just a bit, the way he meets his eyes and then looks away quickly, as though his attention were grabbed by something else. He wouldn’t have thought Bakugou Katsuki could be shy, either.

Deku parts his lips in anticipation. What will he taste like? Feel like? How did he always manage to stay one step ahead, stealing his breath before their lips can even touch?

Closer now.

Closer.

Closer…

He squeezes his eyes shut.

“I’m gonna spin you now.”

And snaps them open.

“What?”

Kacchan’s arms wrap around him in a faux embrace, lips by his ear. Swivel, stop. Pointing him in the right direction.

“The back corner, by the water dispenser. There he is. Our target. You see him?”

“Yeah,” Deku whispers, hushed, eyes bright and trained on the man in question, “Yeah, I see him.”

“Good. That’s where we’re headed.”

They pull back and look into each other’s eyes. Focused. Then they clasp hands and dance, slowly inching their way across the floor, weaving between people in time with the music, in one direction.

He allows himself a moment to mourn a missed opportunity, then focuses on the task at hand.

They have a job to do.

The CEO of MightyTV is portly, with sharp stubble like thick, purple rose thorns along the sides of his face and on his chin. His quirk is electronic multitasking–not flashy, but extremely useful. Deku is slightly jealous–with a quirk like that, who knows what he could have done.

“You would’ve still aimed for heroics, like an idiot, anyway.”

Shit. He really needs to cut down on the muttering habit–Kacchan’s right, it can pose a serious security risk at times.

“Yeah, you do. What the hell did you even do without me around to get you to shut up?”

I worked alone, mainly. Talking out loud helped a bit, though. Sometimes.

“Wait, I said that last part out loud too?”

“No, you didn’t, but you’re an idiot so it was easy to tell what you’re thinking.”

“You mean I’m logical. You just followed the logical train of thought to guess what I was thinking.”

“Yeah, well, don’t get your hopes up, that’s still barely a baseline expectation for someone I’m partnering up with.”

“But I pass the rest of your expectations?”

“Don’t remind me of how far my standards have dropped.”

Deku rolls his eyes at that, to cover up the smile.

He lets go of Kacchan’s hand, leaving one arm around his waist as they walk towards the water dispenser, the casual motion belying the tension he feels inside.

You don’t need to write a script on what to say to them. Let them come to you. That’s how the paps work, Kacchan had said.

And sure enough, like clockwork, the young woman by the CEO’s side turns towards them as they part, eyes widening with recognition and then curiosity as she notices the placement of Deku’s arm.

“Ground Zero!” The CEO says, walking over. Kacchan grunts. There’s an awkward, tense pause.

Right. Ground Zero is notorious for his dislike of the press. That leaves it up to him then.

Lovely.

“Ah, hello,” Deku says with a small smile. “How are you?”

“Good, good,” the man says, smiling and running his fingers lightly over his thorned chin, “You’re a new face.”

Kacchan growls a little, “He’s with me. And we don’t like questions.”

...Why. Why is it that for Kacchan, remaining in character means being actively counter-productive?

“It’s okay, Kacchan,” ha, in your face, “ A few questions wouldn’t hurt, right?” He puts a soothing hand on his chest ( Kacchan bristles under his touch ) , a cheeky winner’s smile on his face.

Fuck you, Kacchan’s eyes read.

Now, now, pay attention, he sends back. Oh, well. He can deal with the backlash and complaints later.

“Not worth it. Babe.”

Deku chokes.

Babe? Really? Babe??

“You okay there, babe ?” Kacchan repeats, with emphasis and with almost no effort to conceal his delight at Deku’s reaction.

...He did not. Just.

Deep breaths. Don’t blow your cover. If you do he’ll never let you forget about it, and we wouldn’t want that, would we?

“Yes, I’m fine,” he swats at the (condescending) hand patting his back, “Stop that!”

“You sure, b–”

“You’re so sweet, Kacchan , but really, everything is perfectly fine. Just got something stuck in the back of my throat, is all.”

Kacchan reaches for a water cup. Deku stops him, and leans up to kiss Kacchan’s cheek. “Grab me a drink instead? From the bar?”

“Hurry,” he breathes, lips brushing Kacchan’s jaw.

They’re standing right by them now. Kacchan squeezes his elbow.

“Drink some water while you wait. I’ll be back soon. Don’t choke and die.”

Don’t choke, or I’ll kill you, is what he really means.

And then they let go, and Kacchan disappears into the crowd without another glance back.

You’re not a kid anymore, Deku reminds himself.

He’s gone undercover before. He knows what kind of smile to use to lower people’s guards, he knows he can do this. But watching Kacchan walk away from him, showing him his back, reminds him of middle school. Nervousness claws up his throat, social awkwardness weighing down on his tongue like sticky candy that’s too strong, staining the back of this throat. He’s thirteen again. Unpopular, uncool, and no one will listen to a word he says.

Now that Kacchan is gone, the pair only seems mildly interested in him. The small talk is polite and dry, meant for a courteous good-bye-see-you-later-it-was-nice-to-meet-you.

(It’s been awhile since Deku had been in an environment like this, where everyone assumed they were better than him.)

“So, what’s your quirk, if I may ask?”

Dully, he realizes he’s actually somewhat surprised. Not by the question, but the slight sting it still manages to deliver. He forces himself to relax, following the lines of their script.

“Ah, it’s nothing special. Attraction of objects, got it from my mother’s side of the family.”

“Ah, of the telekinetic kind?”

“Not quite. Mine works a bit differently. The attractive force is more…additive, than telekinetic. And it’s pretty weak, so it only works briefly on contact. The end result is basically unusually strong grip strength and the ability to hit things a little harder too, sometimes enough to counteract the inertia of an object, if I time it right.”

Complicated, dry, technical. Enough of an explanation to explain any mild displays of super strength, if he ever needs to use it in public as his civilian identity, but not interesting enough for people to take note of it. Especially not here, surrounded by the flashiest quirks of the industry. As long as he doesn’t go overboard with it, as long as he doesn’t push so far that Kousagi’s trademark lightning is shown in public alongside his civilian identity, he should be safe.

“Interesting,” it’s obvious he doesn’t actually think so, “How’d you meet Ground Zero?”

“We grew up together. Nothing special, really, just ran into each other again while visiting home and started talking again.”

“I see.”

The standard questions having been used up, the conversation trickles to a stop.

Get it together, Deku. Bring it back. Stay on track. Kacchan’s voice comes unbidden into his head.

But how does he capture their attention long enough to keep them here without engaging them so much they take special note of him?

The assistant’s fingers twitch towards her cellphone, or some other electronic distraction. She’s bored. Keep them occupied.

“Well, it was nice to mee–”

“I heard that you were going to do a new program, about quirk categorization and practical career applications! On your Tuesday 2pm talk show?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“I was wondering what your targeted audience is? It’s a topic that I think many people would be interested in. I can’t help but think the currently weekly schedule doesn’t give it an opportunity to reach its best audience.”

“Well, we wanted to test it out on a smaller scale, first, to see how it fares.”

You mean you’re afraid of the possible political backlash from the way the program seems to suggest that people should only pursue careers that suit their quirks, rather than their interests and personalities. An entire industry of specialized quirk accommodation gear would lose about 75% of their individualized commissions.

“And what do you think?” He turns towards the assistant, and she stiffens a bit, milky eyes studying his features. It’s a justifiable question, and one that hits a bit close to home. Something subtle that will hopefully snag her attention. The assistant in question has a quirk that interferes with electronics. She takes medication every three hours to balance out her body chemistry, just so she can touch a phone screen. Incidentally, she also lied about this on her job application.

“I think the program has an interesting line-up of guest speakers. Many people will like it.”

A neutral response, but a bit defensive in tone. Careful, careful.

“My quirk is pretty versatile in theory,” he continues, “But I don’t use it much for my current job.”

Not my current day-job, at least.

“Quirk-defined career paths also calls for a change in education, right? Segregation by quirk category?”

“I wouldn’t call it segregation,” the CEO quickly interjects, “It’s a practical approach that provides an accelerated route that would propel much of Japan’s youth towards success.”

“Ah, yes. Of course.” Of course. “Some quirks would simply go to waste, if not utilized correctly. Society would benefit more if people followed careers that fit their strengths. And some people just don’t know how to choose correctly.”

The words are sour on his tongue.

I’m sorry, Izuku, his mother’s voice echoes in his head, still. I’m sorry.

The assistant keeps quiet, glancing down at her phone. Taps it, as though checking for a message. Is she bored? Or feigning disinterest in order to hide the relevance the topic at hand holds towards her own life?

“Like Ground Zero, for example,” the CEO continues, unaware. “What if he had decided he didn’t want to become a hero? Lives would have been lost, potential wasted. The future of the Japanese people lies in efficiency. Efficiency is best brought by the logical use of talent.”

And talent is inborn, just like quirks. If facts were simply ideas agreed upon by the majority, then this is a fact that Deku had been battling since he was four. He fights to keep his jaw from clenching.

Right around now, Kacchan should be ordering. Just a bit longer.

“Of course. Though… I may be a bit biased, but I think Kacchan would’ve been a great hero, no matter what quirk he got.”

It’s hard to keep the steel from his voice, to keep playing the part of nice, doting boyfriend. He’s treading on dangerous territory with that statement. But the assistant straightens a bit, looking up, milky unblinking eyes fixating upon him.

“You two must be very close.” She says, lightly. “Maybe you can convince him to stop by for a real interview? We’re dying to know more about him.”

She crosses her arms, phone angled to the side.

“You’d have to ask him about it. Or his manager, though frankly they have a lot on their plate already.” They all share a chuckle, and he flashes her a charming smile. Tie her down.

She straightens, pulling at her blazer, bringing her phone in front of her again as though she were about to get ready to jot something down.

“But you could put in a good word for us, right? Or perhaps…come in for an interview yourself? You seem to have some interesting thoughts.”

Another laugh. He hates the way his mind races with millions of different ways his words could be interpreted, thousands of different hypotheses on the thoughts the other two could be having. In this way, it really is a lot like middle school.

“That would be a very short interview. Kacchan’s where the story’s at, really, and don’t deny it.”

If Kacchan were here he could keep their attention without saying anything at all . But maybe he only believes that because Kacchan had always been able to demand attention without any effort from the start. From the very, very beginning.

“But you’ll consider it? What about a joint interview, talking about your relationship? We’ll even let you do most of the talking. Pre-recorded, not live.”

God, how did he do it? What was it? Was it the eyes? The stand-offish manner? The obvious confidence lining his frame, steeled in his shoulders? There had always been an inexplicable draw to Bakugou Katsuki. It’s woven in him, his bones steeped in it, saturated with it, brimming with barely contained light and ambition. It’s impossible to look away.

“I don’t know…Kacchan’s really stubborn. Really stubborn. But that’s what I,” stop, stop, stop. No. Not here, not now. Clears his throat.

(Or perhaps that fact had simply always been overwhelmingly evident, for him. Perhaps there is another reason why Deku had wound up as Kousagi, fleeing the light. It’s too bad that Kacchan, Kacchan and the sight of his back, had always been his center of gravity, an inimitable pull that is so natural it doesn’t even occur to him that it could be any other way, nevertheless that it might be possible he resist.)

“But that’s what I think makes him so charming,” he finishes. Their eyes stare at him, piercing him from behind a protective armor of benign curiosity.

What are they thinking? What do they know?

The assistant pulls out a notebook, “Perhaps we can pencil in a date for that interview?” The notebook must be a conversion memory pad, old-fashioned tech that converts handwriting to typed notes and automatically saves a back-up file in the cloud real time. Deku wonders if the CEO’s quirk extends even to nearly-obsolete electronics like these.

“Now you’re just putting me on the spot.”

“All in the job description, my friend.” She places the notebook back in her pocket, pulling out her phone, which has the same strange sheen on it. Like a layer of thin silk. The CEO glances over, and the screen brightens as she taps on it, settling into her hip as she leans towards him, as though responding to his gaze.

“Well, it was nice meeting you,” the CEO says, with a short nod of acknowledgement. Abrupt. Annoyed.

“Wait!” He steps forward, closer, insistent, “Kacchan is getting us drinks. When he gets here, maybe we could talk about that interview? I think I can sway him. Cement the date. Write it in ink.”

“You’ll have to pass along our apologies for his trouble, but that is really not necessary.” Deku glances to the side, and spots familiar blonde hair making its way towards them.

Just a bit longer.

The assistant taps on her phone again, screen blinking.

“How about Friday afternoon?” Deku presses. Just a bit longer.

“I’ll look into it. You can contact my secretary, the info is on our website.”

Why the change? When they were so insistent on snagging that interview just a second ago?

The CEO walks closer to his assistant, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as though to lead her away. She glances down. The shiny film atop the phone screen ripples, as though responding to something. The CEO’s expression is blank, still, as though he were staring at something straight ahead but only a few inches from his nose.

Electronic multitasking. He can split his attention and absorb information from up to five different electronic sources and apply that information to separate mental tasks simultaneously.

The assistant shifts again, tugging at her sleeves. The phone screen, angled away from him, winks, screen flashing at him.

He pulls off the glasses, pretending to clean them on the corner of his shirt.

“Deku!” How much time do they have? He doesn’t know. Not enough. “Deku, c’mon,” he’s close enough to grab now, “Help me with these dri–”

And so he does. Snags his sleeve, tugs him towards him in what would look like an affectionate greeting, drinks wobbling, colorful liquid catching on the rim, ice cubes clinking--

(Footwork had been one of the foundations of his training. And Deku isn’t one to forget his training.)

--Slip one toe forward, wedge under shoe. Yank back. Tilt off balance, pinwheeling arms barely missing the assistant’s face; she steps back, startled, but steadies the phone, keeps it as still as possible, the crutch, the objective --

The drinks shattering on the ground, seeping into the front of his shirt. Kacchan’s hand fisted in his collar, eyes narrowed ( Kacchan has always been quick on the uptake), in them his own apprehension reflected back at him--

Pause.

Click. Click.

Click.

He’s balanced, just barely, on his heels. Kacchan’s hand in his shirt is the only thing preventing him from stumbling backwards. His outstretched hand still holds the glasses, positioned just so, so that the camera lens can catch a glimpse of the phone screen.

“Careful, dumbass.” And he’s tugged back onto his feet.

Play.

He whirls around, messily shoving his glasses back on his face, hands in front of him, palms up, frantic waving motions accentuating the edge of panic he puts in his voice.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Nothing spilled on your clothes, at least that I can see, I’m such a klutz, honestly, something like this always seems to happen whenever I take my glasses off, and now the drinks are gone too, I’m so sorry--”

“Deku, shut up. It’s fine.” Kacchan doesn’t even look at the other two. “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

Fill me in.

Deku nods, itching to speak to him in private, and to get a closer look at the pictures he had just taken of the assistant’s phone.

If he’s right about this...well, then there will have to be a change in plans.

Kousagi leans back against the wall, taking deep, calming breaths.

bunbun 21:18

u ready?

boomboom 21:20

r u

bunbun 21:20

yea

bunbun 21:20 lmk if u need me to buy more time

boomboom 21:24

cant believe im letting u have all the fun

bunbun 21:24

just get it done kacchan

boomboom 21:24

ever think it might be better for the HERO to detain the villain?

bunbun 21:24

no longer replying to u

A hand shoots out, clamping down hard over the victim’s eyes, another snaking around to cover their mouth.

“Shhh.”

They open their mouth to scream, and that’s when he slips the pill inside.

He skirts around the building, lying low. All right, so maybe exchanging the notebooks for squeezing Kousagi’s costume underneath the suit was a good choice.

“Here’s how it’s gonna go. You make all the plans. I plan for when all your plans go to shit.”

Sometimes, he’s amazed when Kacchan is right. Other times he’s just annoyed. Begrudgingly, he has to admit, this time he’s pretty grateful.

I can’t believe I’m doing this, he thinks for the umpteenth time.

His victim whimpers, sound muffled by the duct tape, blindfolded and shaking in their chair.

“Okay. Here’s how it’s gonna go. I’m gonna take the tape off, and you’re gonna tell me everything you know about tonight’s attack and who else helped you plan it.”

He reaches forward and rips off the tape.

“Please,” they sob, “Please don’t kill me.”

He rolls his eyes.

Seriously. Can’t believe I’m doing this.

The clock hits twenty-five and the villain emerges from the shadows, skirting around the edge of the building. A morphological quirk with two parts--for the visible part,unusually large shoulders and unusually long arms and unusually big hands. Unusually heavy and dense muscle mass, for the watch-out-that-might-actually-really-fuckin’-hurt part.

Deku figures this job must be this one’s last run. Said “villain” (commissioned performer? Career hero-fighter?) has already made two comebacks after brief stints in jail, both sentences unusually light. The first time, the papers described him as having a morphological quirk that granted him “clubbed hands”. The second time, he used cheap metal coverings, making it possible to describe it as “specialized metal manipulation”. Third, “select body enlargement”. He wonders how they would describe it this time, or if they would settle for referring back to one of the first three stories they’d cooked up. Just another villain that was let back into society only to proceed with wreaking havoc yet again.

The guy looks around furtively before darting across the corner of the open lot.

Almost there.

He curses, fiddling with the headphones.

All right. So maybe Deku was right about needing better recording equipment. Audio cleaning sucks. He doesn’t have time right now, though, anyway, so what they have will just have to do.

Below, the crowd slowly starts to congregate towards the small stage set at one end of the room. The speaker clears his throat and taps the mike.

“Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we celebrate a year of hardships, and a year of accomplishments. We look back on what has happened, review our successes, and learn from our mistakes.”

Staged. Faked. Shadow plays, strangling puppets with shadow strings. Come one, come all, to see the shitshow. Ticket prices start at voluntary incarceration, the corruption of justice, collective ignorance and one, big web of lies.

Kousagi gets ready for his cue, pulling his mask down over his face. One last glance at his lock screen, a silent text notification illuminating it briefly before it fades.

“C’mon, c’mon,” he grits his teeth so hard he’s sure they’re sparking. “God damn it!”

Slams a fist down onto the table. Looks around the room. In the corner, there is what looks like a metal cabinet. He swings the door open to find rows of switches.

Main. Overhead. Spotlight, the labels read.

All right, he grouses, all right, fine. I can work with this.

boomboom 21:26

u better make this worth my time, deku

“I come to you today, amidst all of the festivities, with a gift. A pledge. Something to end an era, and to spark a new one in its ashes. What I’m proposing, esteemed guests, is a world where villainy can be measured. Quantified. Eliminated. What I’m proposing, is peace. Just imagine it, folks! Pre-emptive action. The ability to right wrongs before they can be done.”

The crowd stirs, the murmuring like a fast-moving infection sweeping over them.

The man’s eyes are wide, the whites glistening with muted flashes of flickering, electric green. The forearm digging into his throat presses in harder. The wall shudders with the force of his flailing arms, struggling to buck off his captor.

“Be quiet,” he hisses, “and maybe I’ll let you go.”

Yeah, for like two seconds. Still. It’s the thought that counts, right?

“This isn’t just improvement. This isn’t just ideal. This is natural. There are things in this world that we’ve allowed to be just because they are. We’ve allowed it to grow alongside us, thrive alongside us, even as it threatens our livelihood. I’m not talking about education reform. I’m not talking about rehabilitation programs, or strategic population relocation. No, the problem goes further than that. I’m talking about rewriting humanity’s future. With this new project, the brightest of today’s scientific minds have brought us a solution that would allow us to have a hand in humanity’s evolution. Ladies and gentlemen–”

He’s cut off, and the room goes dark.

There’s a slight crackle, a static-y hiss, and a voice floods in over the intercom.

He backs off a little, stretching the bit of carbon-reinforced rope between his hands. The other sucks in a deep breath, and prepares to dash to the right.

“You sure about that, buddy? You wanna try me?”

But he doesn’t listen, throwing a hasty punch and dashing towards escape.

Kousagi sighs.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“–planned the attack, villain fights are actually the best source of publicity–”

“But what about the risk? The casualties?”

“Inconsequential. Or rather, beneficial. Martyrs sell headlines.”

“The projection booth! They have to be there! Stop the recording!”

The rope snags his ankle and he pulls back, hard enough to knock him off-balance. The clumsiness of his large arms make it so that regaining his balance takes just a second too long. Kousagi leaps forward, looping the rope around his wrists and tucking it back through the loose circle, jerking to bring them together before he can react.

“Okay, we’re up next,” he says, addressing the squirming bundle lying at his feet as he continues to bind him. “I hope you’re ready.”

“Why? Why all the fuss?”

The crowd begins to wake, people pushing at each other and trying to feel their way through the dark with only the light of their phones to guide them.

“What’s this about?” Someone calls out. “Is this real?”

“They need something to pressure the board of ethics into letting the project through.”

“It’s not real! It’s just another villain attack! Don’t listen to it.”

“You do realize that what you’re proposing is essentially genocide, right?”

“What the fu--”

“IT’S FAKE!”

“It’s not genocide if it’s just speeding along what would’ve happened anyway.”

“--Everybody, please remain calm. The heroes are already trying to address this matter--”

“What do you mean?”

“--We are trained professionals, please do not worry--”

“We’re eliminating the unnecessary, the unfit. Evolution, but streamlined.”

A loud crash, drywall and brick flying into the room as Kousagi bursts in, blowing a hole straight through the wall. He’s carrying the villain like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. He’s a streak of fluorescent green, landing in the middle of the stage. The spotlight turns on, right above him, and he’s at the center of attention.

Nice, he thinks, before tossing the villain to the ground and looking out over the crowd.

“Merry Christmas, heroes.”

There are small points of light visible in the darkness of the room, faint green and red dots. That’s what happens, when the press is present, no matter the chaos, no matter the event.

Perfect. The cameras are out and rolling.

“I only have so much time before one of you decides to attack me. But first, let me just say this--to all of you that act out of personal interest and turn a blind eye on the good of the public--I’m onto you. To all of you that arrogantly believe that the entirety of a person’s worth is a consequence of birth--I’m onto you. When you decide to take the easy route, when you decide to underestimate the very people you fear, don’t forget. Never, ever forget--there is always someone watching.”

This is it. This is the declaration of war.

“Remember: for I am here. ”

That’s your cue, Kacchan.

“KOUSAGI!”

He vaults himself overhead, explosions blinding, like mini fireworks in the darkened room.

“I’ve got a score to settle with you, fucker!”

Keep it simple, Kacchan had said, over-detailed plans lead to more mistakes.

So he’d kept their plan simple.

Intercept the villain. Capture the villain. Cause a scene.

But it’s never really that simple. He can see it in his eyes, in the unbridled joy and excitement, in the way he can feel his own rising in his chest.

Ground Zero intercepts Kousagi but Kousagi gets away.

Deceptively simple, if they were anyone other than Midoriya “Deku” Izuku and Bakugou “Kacchan” Katsuki.

Kacchan never loses, except when he’s handed the win. And if there’s only one thing that can said to be true, it’s that Bakugou Katsuki fights for victory.

That means this fight is for real, and the only way for this plan to succeed is to beat him fair and square.

...Without getting captured, or putting his identity at risk.

“You better make this worth my time, Deku.”

...While they’re in a room filled with other top-ranked heroes.

What the hell, Kousagi thinks to himself . Then he’s dashing forward, aiming below Ground Zero’s guard.

“Miss me?” A small wave of hot air blows past his face, the aftermath of a concentrated explosion.

“Yeah, definitely a miss. Maybe you should--”

Duck. Swipe with left foot.

“--’ve waited for your eyes to adjust?”

“Why is it that you always seem to,” Ground Zero drops into a half-crouch, digging his toes in, immovable against the shoulder ram and defending against the uppercut aimed at his ribs, “want to talk so damn much?” He grunts a little, annoyed when Kousagi ducks out of what would’ve been a headlock.

Right jab, followed by right kick. Blocked and grabbed, dodged.

He rears back. Smashes his forehead into his nose, once. Ground Zero howls, blinking rapidly against the pain, blood gushing and dripping over the bottom half of his face, but doesn’t let go.

Twice.

Thrice.

He kicks at his shin, pummeling his gut with the other fist, then rips himself free.

“What a shame,” his voice drops into a secret, just between the two of them. “You have such a pretty face.”

Even while disoriented, Ground Zero has the reflexes to dodge the kick aimed at his face. The miss throws Kousagi off balance, but the momentum from the movement is repurposed, added into his wind-up. Then he’s twisting, digging his feet into the ground, and shooting off to escape.

“I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!” Ground Zero screams in response, voice gone slightly nasally, before taking off after him.

Kousagi has the gall to laugh.

“GET BACK HERE, DEKU!”

“Shhh, not so loud!”

They’re far enough away now, lucky in that both of them having versatile quirks suited for mobility. But still, they don’t have much time. He nearly rips a hole through his shirt, trying to stick his arm through the sleeve. Kacchan tugs on his belt loops to pull his pants up as he hops up and down while trying to work the shirt buttons through their respective holes.

“Shoes, shoes, where are my shoes?”

“I don’t know, where’d you put them?”

“By the bins--and hide my equipment belt while you’re at it!”

Pants on. Shirt buttoned. Vest on. Jacket on. Cufflinks on. That just leaves--

“Deku, what the fuck is that?”

“Just--help me!”

“You are a grown man, how the fuck do you manage to fuck up your tie this badly?”

He tugs roughly at the cloth, only succeeding in tightening the tangled knot.

“Shit, shit, shit, Kacchan the glasses! I think I dropped them, I forgot!”

“Where?”

“I don’t know?”

“You fucking idiot! ”

There are voices calling out now, just around the corner. Kacchan grabs him and tugs him roughly down the hall, trying to stall, trying to run.

“Kacchan, there’s no time. You need to go, now, so they don’t suspect you too.”

They had been so close . So close to pulling this off.

“Shut up, Deku.”

At the very least, he can’t drag Kacchan down with him.

“I said, shut up.”

And then the taste of iron is in his mouth. Deku freezes, teeth aching from the force of the mouth pressed against his.

Oh yeah, he thinks, hazily, as he registers the taste as blood, I broke his nose.

“Bakugou? Bakug--oh.”

Kirishima is the first to find them, probably one of a small group of heroes sent after them while the rest stayed behind to keep the civilians who had attended the party safe. He skids to a stop at the end of the hallway, gaping at the two of them as they remain liplocked, just far enough to miss their exchange.

Kacchan pulls away, chest heaving against his, arm resting on the wall by his head to successfully shield him, his horrendous tie, and his lack of glasses from view. Deku stares back up at him, wide-eyed. And then Kacchan blushes.

“It was the only thing I could think of.”

“...So Ground Zero’s official reason for not staying in pursuit of Kousagi is that he wanted to make out with his boyfriend?”

“...Shut up.”

Deku lets out an incredulous laugh, as Kacchan stares. Kirishima approaches them cautiously, looking slightly uncomfortable.

“Dude, what happened? Where’s Kousagi?”

Kacchan growls, baring his teeth.

“He--”

Deku fists the front of his shirt pushes, flipping their positions before mashing his lips against Kacchan’s, this time in the lead.

We’re busy, is the clear message being sent here.

“...Okay, well the others have spread out searching...I guess you can turn in your report...later? Dude,” he repeats, sounding suspicious, cautious. “Dude this isn’t like you.”

Kacchan has to wrench his mouth free before turning to sneer at him. The ugly sneer, the one he uses when he’s annoyed, or panicked, or when he has something to hide.

Or, really it should be ugly. Except it isn’t, because his nose wrinkles a little when he does that, and honestly, it’s actually kind of cute.

There’s a moment of silence, and they both turn to stare at him.

Oh. Oops. Did he say that out loud?

Kirishima’s face twitches weirdly, before he wheezes, laughing.

“Oh-oh my God… Okay, I guess I can rule out ‘didn’t realize he was dating his rival’ from my list of reasons for why you decided not to chase Kousagi to hell and back, then?”

Kacchan glares at him, then looks away in what looks like shame, but is actually an attempt to hide an embarrassed scowl.

“There--there was. A hostage. Situation. I...let him go.” He says, quiet. He curls tighter around him, the muscles in his arms tensing.

Deku pretends to relax, nuzzling his neck. Like two lovers reunited, clasped in an emotional embrace. Except for the fact that he’s actually trying to hide his snicker at Kacchan’s struggle to mask the irritation he feels at having to pretend he’d let a target go. (And for the fact that he isn’t really relaxed all.)

(Inside, his heart thumps a fast, hard beat.)

“...Oh. Okay.” Kirishima’s voice is grave, but steady. “Don’t worry, I’ll deal with the press. You two can...continue reassuring each other.” He backs away, slowly.

“I’m glad to see you two are okay, though.”

Kacchan responds with a stiff nod of acknowledgement, and Deku peeks over his shoulder to offer a shaky smile.

“Don’t take too long,” he calls out, already beginning to jog away, “You’re gonna have to face the rest of them in a few minutes. I’ll help stall, though.” And then he’s gone.

...Now where were we?

“Are you sure,” Deku turns back around, whispering tauntingly into the hollow of Kacchan’s neck, “that that’s the reason? Maybe Ground Zero’s boyfriend stopped him from chasing after Kousagi because he was worried.”

Inhale. The scent of nitroglycerin, smoke. A splash of cologne, still lingering.

“Maybe Ground Zero just couldn’t resist.” His fingertips trail, up and down, lightly, along Kacchan’s side. Itchy.

Way to go, Deku. Fake dating cover succeeded, mission cleared. And now you decide to flirt with him? He’s right, you’re a fucking idiot.

Kacchan’s hand slips around his waist, gripping him tightly. His other hand wanders up the back of his neck, into his hair.

Oh, he thinks, feeling faint.

“Yeah,” Kacchan responds.

And this time, they meet each other halfway.

#clod not lefting but #bakudeku secret santa 2017 #fanfic #bakudeku #bnha #vigilante!deku #fake dating

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