#plus he has to save up for the study of the little terror now!

[lolottes]

by being a baby star, danny raises awareness throughout DC of the fact that eldrich beings are also people.

The kid is popular and even has a toy game named after him.

At one point the government or other organization will try to get their hands on the disappointment, but booster will blog directly about it live had to jump in time with the baby a week later to read the comments and do a question and answer session with his chat which inform him of developments in the situation.

The public won't let harm come to their freaky adored baby

Prompt 155

So, Booster would have loved to know that becoming the equivalent of a Time-Cop would mean meeting what is apparently the primordial being of Time itself. He would have also loved to know it apparently also came with an adoption. And a small child that was apparently supposed to be sixteen but there was apparently some sort of accident in the dimension he (was the kid a boy??) came from. So. 

He had a kid now. He… well shit, he had no clue what to do. Actually, he knows exactly what he’s going to do, he’s going to call Ted. Who will probably have an idea on what to do. Or what a four- oh you’re five? He’d probably have an idea on what a five year old might need. 

He himself would push this hysterical breakdown over the fact he’s apparently now adopted by Time Itself to a later time. A later time when he’s not holding a fragile small child. 

[sukablatnahui]

Okay guys, in the last vote everyone voted for Barbara, because in fact she is much more popular than Ly and she is known to most people who may have joined the Rayman fandom when the game Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends came out, but not a fact. So..... Here is your Barbara if she were in the animated series Captain laserhawk:

..... Yes..... The design is not the best and in my head it was much better. I apologize to everyone that someone didn’t like her image, with that white robe and glasses. However, I at least tried to come up with reasons why she looks like this. I will write only facts, since unfortunately I didn’t draw any drawings or even sketches, sorry. If I have the desire, I’ll probably draw something, but for now, no.

Let's start with who she is by blood, what her character is and who her parents are. In fact, in the canon of the game based on Rayman legends, Barbara was a Barbarian princess, but most likely she is more reminiscent of some Viking who travels to all sorts of islands and brings something from the country to her homeland. Plus, as I read information from the Internet, the Vikings used to live in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. So I decided that Barbara would be a very distant great-granddaughter of the Vikings. By nature, she is a rather cheerful girl, optimistic and can also be quite stubborn and it happens that she does everything in her own way, she also often jokes and sometimes swears.She usually wears the clothes shown in the picture, but sometimes she also wears other clothes, such as just a T-shirt with shorts or a sweater with pants.

So, she used to have a father who was just a kind, jock, red-haired man who wanted to raise his daughter with his wife, and Barbara was raised by him for the first 3 years, but unfortunately, the biological father died in a car accident. (Unfortunately, Barbara currently does not remember her biological father very well, only that he was, in principle, a good person). However, then the mother married another man and this man became a stepfather for little Barbora. He was very different from his biological father in that he was not too big, he had regular black short hair, just a slender body, and he also wore a white robe and round glasses.But even despite this, the stepfather became a very good father for the girl, whom Barbara got used to and loved very much. He worked as a scientist, so Barbara was a little interested in science. My stepfather and Barbora were inseparable, even though they were very different in character, they were always there for each other and always helped until, unfortunately, there was one fatal incident. On Father's Day, 15-year-old Barbara was at her stepfather's work where he worked in the laboratory. They spent time together as usual until terrorism occurred where a bomb was about to explode. To save his daughter, the stepfather sacrificed himself and gave his daughter the parachute that he found, put it on her and said that he loves her and will always be with her,he threw it out of the window and exploded along with the building. Barbara fortunately survived because she had a parachute with her and fortunately her stepfather quickly explained to her that she should pull the rope. However, the loss of her non-biological father greatly shook her psyche. After that, in order not to forget her stepfather, she began to wear the same glasses that her stepfather wore, and a white robe.

Facts:

Barbara is interested in her past ancestors and studies the history of the Vikings. Her family also has a very ancient Viking ax which she still keeps to this day.

She wears glasses not only because this is how she remembers her father, but because of her not very good eyesight. Of course, she sometimes uses lenses, but it is very difficult for her to put them on and take them out, so it is easier for her to put on glasses than to put on lenses.

She has her own car which is a repainted small ambulance with a Viking theme. Inside there is a table with a chair and many computers attached to the wall of the car. There is also a sofa with safety belts and a kitchen table. She usually drives her car normally, but when you are chasing her or need to get somewhere quickly, she is like the Flash, racing at the speed of light and doing all sorts of impossible stunts in her car.

Although the girl is bisexual, she is most attracted to women, especially milfs. And in principle, she likes men and women who are about 30 years old and they are people with experience. For her, an experienced couple is better than someone who is as inexperienced in relationships as she is.

She is also missing one tooth due to the fact that this tooth was already a molar and she knocked it out in a fight as a child. That's why it doesn't grow with her

It happens that she jokes about moms, especially the joke “YOUR MOM IS FANTASTIC BLYAT, IN STOCKINGS AND A BIKINI IN THE SAUNA SHE IS FANTASTIC” (This joke is taken from the Russian meme about Taxi Driver Ashot) However, this is not very often only in extreme cases when a complete fucked up, and in general we condemn jokes about moms

She also just loves to read and look at fashion magazines with clothes, because, as Barbara thinks, there are very beautiful women in very beautiful outfits and suits. She really likes them and is a fan of one model who is even familiar with Rayman. But more on that later

[wutheringmights]

bites i mean puts in three votes MYSELF. :grabbyhands: modern au :O??

ok enough people have bitten me than I am obligated to talk about this so prepare to be VASTLY DISAPPOINTED by how mundane all of my ideas are

Instead of a war, the entire drama is based around the results of a civil suit that has the potential to change the law, etc etc etc

Very important and dramatic stuff

And you know what? I wasn't planning on there being a tied in reality show aspect, but at this point, we got to do it, don't we?

The Knights of Hyrule are a law firm headed by Lincoln Harkinian, which deals with high profile cases as well as a lot of charity cases

So the backstory is that Warriors, who is in college at the time, is told to help out on a very important legal case as an intern involving his distant cousin, Spirit

Spirit at this point was also in college to study to be an engineer. he and Warriors are distant cousins from the same massive extended family that every member of the Chain is from

I should mention that this family is so massive that it can be a little unclear at times how everyone is related to each other. Have you ever gone to a family reunion and met someone who is your mom's cousin's uncle's child? Like that.

So the original plan was that Spirit would stay the summer at the Harkinian home while Warriors interns with his dad to work the case

The case is probably something like Spirit being accused to doing something illegal at his engineering internship when in reality he was a whistleblower for some massively unsafe work practices

Except Warriors messes the case horrifically to the point where Spirit not only loses but his reputation is ruined, and that's not to mention that Warriors's had terrorized Spirit the entire summer

Needless to say that this was the last straw and Lincoln disowned him and kicked him out

Warriors has nowhere else to go, so he blows his savings on a huge trip around the world and disappears for a few years

When his savings are up, he ends up having to beg for a place to stay with his extended family

Up until this point, he's been a high living city boy (like New York), but everyone in the family who isn't a Harkinian is living in farm country

So this small home town has the majority of the Chain living there more or less, and Warriors has to adjust to having a massive wrench thrown into his life plans

So Warriors begs for a place to stay, and what do you know, Time takes him in

Except, Warriors doesn't know he and Time know each other from before. See here, that same time period Warriors was working on the case, their distant cousin was also staying with him and Spirit.

Despite being older than him, this cousin had a massive baby face and hadn't hit his growth spurt yet, so they all thought he was still in high school

And now that Time has finally grown, aged, and got face tattoos; he's utterly unrecognizable

Warriors can't ever remember meeting Time before, but he also hasn't been to a family reunion for years, so he just smiles and nods and goes along with it

Between his soul-searching trip, therapy, being away from the city, and having some consequences be knocked into him, Warriors has started to get over his emotional issues and decides he wants to give college another try and maybe get into law school on his own merits

And he starts to make friends with all of his other distant cousins, who all turn out to be really cool people

(Wind is still younger than Spirit, but he's still his uncle by virtue of people in his family having babies very late and too early in life)

Plus all of Warriors's distant cousins barely know anything about the Harkinian branch of the family, so he gets to skirt by unnoticed

The entire origin of the AU is the idea of how funny a modern family reunion would be when the Harkinians are this infamous branch of the family who are both extremely successful and a total mess. Rumor has it that Lincoln disowned his kid. He and Warriors get into a fight by the open bar and Warriors splashes a margarita on him. Lincoln married some guy from the Dragmire family (who have wronged our family for six generations now!) but Ganondorf actually seems like he's ok and honestly we like him better than any of the other Harkinians so he can stay. Plus he goes to all of Warriors's school plays and talks about him and Linkle like they're his own kids. Apparently this massive bit of drama happened in their family a few years back and Time is the only one who knows what happened but refuses to speak about it because then he'd have to take a side and he's not willing to do that.

Anyway, eventually Lincoln comes back into Warriors's life because something from the case Warriors screwed up is relevant in this civil suit and Warriors's expertise would be greatly appreciated

So Warriors is flung back into not only city living, but workings of the rich folk as he tries to right his wrongs

of course he brings his favorite cousins with him (or more like they invite themselves)

And Spirit has disappeared at this point, but basically he ended up abandoning his degree and is now making a good life for himself as a car mechanic

[prettylittlebutterflie]

It All Started With A Break

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31840603

Okay, so I have fallen down the rabbit hole known as MariBat and I just can't stop all the ideas I have because of this and decided that enough is enough and I am doing it.

This is my very first fanfic - or any fic actually - but I hope you guys like it and be WARNED that some of you may find some part of this story that's similar with another and that may've been because I really liked the idea when I read it and wanna have a kinda similar thing here and the same goes with some trope of this fanfic in the future, but I'll do my best to keep it unique. I am also new to the DCU, but I'm doing research and planning to binge watch stuff and if you could please help this poor soul find a way to navigate and somehow get an idea on how that universe work (especially abt the batfam), I'll be forever grateful to thy savior.

This fic is canon until S4 Ep 1&2 (Truth & Lie) of MLU and as for the rest, I'll let you guys know.

So yeah, that's all. Enjoy and hope you guys like it. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

P.S. Sorry I kinda ranted, this is my first time actually posting smth so bear with me people

SYNOPSIS

It’s been four years ever since Hawkmoth, who now goes by the name Shadow Moth, began his reign of terror in Paris. Four years worth of akumas that have brought pain and suffering. Four years of no rest in controlling their emotions, afraid of what may come if they were controlled.

After four long years, the Miraculous Team can finally see a ray of light. Everything they have sacrificed for that one goal they all share is finally going to be repaid… Not.

Locating Hawkmoth was easier said than done, and the frustration is finally getting to them. With that, it was decided that they need a break from their hero lives — ok, maybe not. After all, Shadow Moth is proving himself to be a workaholic (like dude, don’t you have anything better to do than destroy everyone’s schedule?) — but anyways, it was clear. THEY. NEED. A. BREAK. Away from Paris. Away from Hawkmoth. Away from the frickin akumas.

So yeah, that’s how it was decided (more like forced) that they are going to America to relax, let loose, and have some fun. After all, who knows, maybe a break is all they need to get things to start getting better — or worse.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

PROLOGUE

“Alright. So, we are going to take a break—”

“For two months.”

“For two months. And because it’s supposed to be a break, that means—”

“No thinking of anything Moth related.”

“No thinking of anything Moth rela— Moth related?”

“You know, Hawkmoth, Red Moth, Shadow Moth, those Moths.”

“Right. Moths. Aside from Moths, it also means—’

“No thinking of akumas.”

“No thinking of akumas. For this entire break, we’re not going to think about—”

“Anything Miraculous related.”

“Anything Miraculous related. Alya, do you really need to do that every time I’m about to say it?”

“It’s because she knows you. We know you. It’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, how you always promise not to worry about something, especially anything Miraculous related, just to break it the moment anything related to it comes up. So, yes. She needs to say it and repeat it as much as possible for it to go through that head of yours.”

“Guys, I swear, I’m really going to follow through with this plan. I did agree that we need to unwind ourselves since we’re getting way too stressed and that won’t help us focus on our job.”

“Only after we bugged you about it. Get it? Bugged. Pfft—”

“Hey! Puns are my thing. And you shouldn’t be saying it like that. You’re making it ape-solutely obvious and that makes it not punny anymore”

“Dude, do you really have to do that? That’s so not paw-some. Pfft—”

“All puns aside, it is true that we had to convince you, Mari-hime, to agree on taking a break. Although I rarely take a break from fencing, my Mother and I are aware of the importance of having one and may I also remind you that you were the one who taught us that.”

“And that’s why I told you guys to go have one.”

“But you plus the kitty are the ones who need it the most. Remember what future-me said? About you two always leading us and how she— or rather I am the last one called upon? That means you guys are always gonna work while the rest of us may or may not be needed in some fights.”

“There is a 97.6% probability of you two showing up in fights.”

“Because we have to. It’s our responsibility as the one leading our team.”

“M’lady’s right. Besides, there were only the two of us in the beginning and with all the akumas, we just got used to it.”

“But that doesn’t mean you don’t need to rest. The music I’m hearing from both of you is filled with the stress you guys have and it doesn’t sound nice. Maybe you two unwinding will help make it more beautiful and even more powerful than before.”

“Fine. We’re all taking a break—”

“Especially you and Adrien.”

“Especially Adrien and I, for a month. Now, does anyone have any ideas on how we're gonna do that?”

“Ooh! Me, me! I have a competition coming up this summer break so I can’t really go anywhere too far since I have some training to do.”

“I’m sticking with the ape. Gotta keep an eye on him if I don’t want him messing up with the timeline. Plus, it’ll be pretty fun beating him up every time he asks for a challenge.”

“Hey!”

“The same goes for me. Someone has to make sure the correct time is recorded with not a single millisecond of it missed. Kwami knows how many times he messes it up whenever he does the recording himself.”

“Okay. So Kim, Alix, and Max will be staying in Paris. Are you guys sure that you’ll be able to take a break even if you’re in the city?”

“Yeah, we're fine. And I am totally beating you next time, little bunny.”

“Whatever. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming, y’know.”

“Anything else?”

“Oh, I have an internship in America this coming summer. The one at the Daily Planet. I just got the email and I was finally given an invite!”

“Really? Cool! Told you you’ll get it, babe!”

“Yeah! That’s really awesome, Alya! So I’m assuming you'll be accepting that?”

“You got it, girl! I mean, this is the Daily Planet we’re talkin’ about. I’ll learn so much about writing and journalism there, I’ve just got to take it.”

“So Alya’s going to America. Anyone else with plans outside of the country?”

“There will be an upcoming world-class fencing competition this summer and Mother and I have discussed my participation in it. It will be held in the States as well, specifically Gotham, two weeks before the end of the summer break. Maybe you should participate in it as well, Adrien. That way, you’ll have an excuse for your father to leave the country. I’m sure Mother will be happy to convince him as well to let you participate in it. That way, at the very least, I’ll have someone I know who’ll be an actual challenge.”

“Really? That actually sounds great! I’m sure Father would agree if your mother’s the one who suggested it. Thanks Kagami!”

“Okay. Kagami and hopefully Adrien will have a fencing competition in America too.”

“My Dad is having a tour in America right now. He’ll be having the last one at Metropolis during the summer break. He actually wants me to go with him, but I declined. It’ll be great if we all could go there and see it.”

“Dude, that’s so cool! Maybe you’ll even get to perform with your dad on stage. You did make that song with him that reached the record chart’s top. I’ve even made a playlist based on it.”

“Okay then, that makes Alya, Kagami, Adrien, and Luka going to the States. Chloe, do you also have plans to go there this summer? Maman said your mother was thinking of inviting you to be one of the models in an upcoming fashion show there.”

“She did mention something like that, but I wasn’t really paying attention to details once I found out that it’ll be outside of Paris. I’ll discuss it with her again then I can have my much needed vacation in the States.”

“So now that makes five of you going to America. Nino?”

“Well, I don’t really have any plans this summer. Just chill out and relax, y’know, make some playlist, listen to some music.”

“Ooh! How about you come with us, babe? That’ll be so cool and not all of us will be doing something most of the time while we’re there. You can just chill and relax there and maybe you could even study the kind of music they listen to and make a playlist out of it.”

“I would love to go, but I don’t think I really got the money for it. ‘Sides, my parents might not allow me to go out of the country.”

“You’re already 18 and if your parents ever say no, just tell them that you want to really relax, without keeping your emotions in check and have the freedom to let it out. I’m sure they’ll understand and unlike my Father, they actually listen to you.”

“As for the money, I have some savings and if you want I can lend you some-”

“But-”

“Lend. I’m not just giving it to you. You will have to pay me back, alright? And if you try to say no again, I’m going to insist that you don’t pay me anymore.”

“You sure? You're the best! Thanks, Minette.”

“No problem. So now that makes six of them—”

“Seven.”

“What?”

“Seven. We’re including you.”

“Me? But Alya, I already got plans this summer.”

“Plans? What plans?”

“I was planning on working on my commissions this summer an— Guys, can you all stop rolling your eyes on me and no, Chloe. I don’t need you doing it again.”

“Girl! We all agreed that we’re going to take a break this summer. How does doing your commissions sound like a break to you?”

“You all got your own thing to do this summer and mine just happens to be those. Also, the break was for anything Miraculous related. My commissions don't exactly fall under that.”

“Nope. We actually all agreed that for you, commissions should be added to the list of things you get to take a break from.”

“Adrien! I thought you’re supposed to be my partner? So much for the two of us against the world.”

“He is still your partner alright. But also, as someone who truly cares about you, he decided that you really needed a break. And besides girl, this could be your chance!”

“Chance? What chance?”

“Your pen pal! Doesn’t he live in Gotham? You could go and finally meet him. Who knows? Maybe something might happen.”

“Ooh, he’s from there? That’s awesome! You should totally go meet him. Maybe you could even go on a date or two-”

“A date?! Kim, he’s just a frie-”

“You stop right there, Dupain-Cheng! It’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! All of us already had enough with Adrikins always calling you ‘just a friend’ when it’s pretty obvious how totally untrue that statement was. We don’t need you ending up just like him, thank you very much.”

“But he really is-”

“Yeah right. If he really is just a friend, then why do you guys stay up all night talking to each other? You always immediately check your phone whenever a notif comes up and you smile like a love-sick fool whenever you read his messages for you. And don’t get me started on the way you gush about him non-stop.”

“There is something beautiful in your music whenever you talk or even think about him.”

“Your smiles are much brighter compared to before the two of you got to know each other.”

“Markov and I also have a record of your heartbeat and we have observed your heart beating faster whenever we talk about this certain topic.”

“And it's been more than a year since you two have become pen pals. The two of you are now so close that it’s a wonder why you guys still haven’t video-called each other just because you insist for your first time seeing each other to be in person.”

“I think it’s rather romantic. They’ll look into each other’s eyes for the first time then BAM! They’re finally together. But I still plan on giving him a shovel talk the first chance I get. Can’t have him break my twin’s heart without him knowing I have the god of destruction on my side.”

“What do you mean shovel talk- I mean, what even gives you the idea that he thinks of me that way for you guys to assume that we’ll end up in… in that kind of relationship?”

“He’d be an idiot if he still hasn’t fallen in love with you.”

“Literally almost everyone I know had a crush on you or have you forgotten already that my boyfriend’s one of those people?”

“I know for a fact that that’s true since I’ve already admitted that one of my reasons why I began bullying you back then was because I had a crush on you.”

“I must admit, I think I also had the same feeling towards you at the beginning of our friendship until I really got to know Luka and you helped us get together.”

“Oh! There’s also that. Do you actually know just how many people you’ve helped get together, buginette? Alya’s even written an article about it at the Ladyblog of how you are also known as Paris’s own cupid and how all of the couples you’ve paired ended up living a happy life together.”

“Everyone’s been saying how Ladybug’s the next best person they can go to if they ever want to find love after Andre.”

“And yet every time you try to pair yourself with someone, the magic just doesn’t seem to work.”

“So we all decided that we’ll be Ladybug’s cupid and pair her up with the boy she just can’t seem to get off of her head.”

“Now, you coming or what? I won’t be taking the money you’ll be lending me if you say no. I’m only going with these dudes if you also come or else I’ll just end up getting bored when there’s no one who can go around the city with me.”

“...”

“““...”””

“Fine. You guys win—”

“““YES!”””

“So here’s the final plan for the break. Kim, Alix, and Max will be staying in Paris for Kim’s competition, while the rest of us will be going to America doing our own stuff—”

“With you finally meeting your pen pal.”

“Yes. Alright. I’ll go and meet my pen pal. And during the break, no thinking about anything miraculous related. If ever there’s an akuma, only those who’ll be needed will go. Max will bring us to the akuma’s location and if there is anything going on that we can’t be excused of or if the fight goes longer than expected, Alix will bring us back in time making it look like we just went to the toilets, the usuals. Any questions?”

“““Non.”””

“Good. Operation: Taking a Break is good to go.”

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Yay! Finally got to post it. So comments? What do you guys think and who do you think who is saying what? I know there will be new holders in S4, but I decided I’ll either make them a temp or they still don’t know the other’s identities bc of stuff, so yeah. Still thinking abt it. Adios (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31840603

[the19thduckpotato]

@allmightluver  I didn’t want to spam you and I figured a few others might enjoy this as well, so here is that fluffy dream snippet I promised to share.  <3  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Toshi made a soft noise in his sleep.  The arm draped about Izuku tensed for a moment, as if trying to protect the boy.  Then it fell away, no longer a hindrance. "Nnnu... wakeup....." Izuku slumped against Toshi's chest, sticky eyelids closing. One last dissatisfied grunt, and he lost the battle to sleep far quicker than he should have. Toshi unknowingly returned the grunt, but it was a pleased, almost victorious grunt.  He shifted, Izuku's weight settling against him.  Satisfied, his breathing evened out. Golden afternoon sun painted the wall over their heads.

. .. ... .... The child clutched his backpack, eyes wide and nervous.  The roads didn't make sense here.  They should have.  They seemed almost familiar but each time he turned a corner, expecting to see home, the roads turned unfamiliar.  Home felt farther and farther away the more corners he turned. Unsettling fear crept in.  He just wanted to go home.  He looked about for help, trying to quell his panic. Everything was glaringly, dishearteningly, unfairly devoid of people.  The world loomed far too large and the child bit back a cry of terror. One more corner Surely someone is here. Please please His sneakers pounded the pavement as he rushed the next corner, as if hoping to catch the world in the act before it shifted on him again. However, he had also squeezed his eyes shut, scared that this new corner would also look unfamiliar.  So he didn't notice the big kid until he thudded off of him. "The hell?" the big kid snarled.  Behind him, two other big kids watched as the first grabbed the child by the front of his shirt and shook him.  "Why doncha watch where you're going?!" I know you The child's blue eyes lit with fear, trying not to glance at his backpack. please don't please don't please please One of the other big kids yanked the backpack from the child's hands, ignoring (or enjoying) the whimper. "What's the lil nerd got?" "Comics!" the third remarked, barking laughter.  He held up one.  "Wondorous Woman?!  That's a GIRL'S comic, you lil dweeb!" someone please "You don't need to read this crap!" PLEASE The third big boy gleefully tore the first page off, a messy diagonal rip.  The child screamed angrily and swiped at him. "Oh HO, the lil nerd's got spice!" the first one sneered.  "Let's show him what we think of that."  He pulled one meaty fist back. someone please help me!

A small figure barreled out of nowhere and shoved the bully out of the way. A (very) young voice screeched angrily "YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!!" A freckled face that couldn't be more than six years old scrunched up with anticipation  of coming pain and righteous anger. The face flickered, as if reality was glitching, being replaced with an older, more tired version of itself. Eyes of thirteen years old glared out, far more subdued and cynical than they had any right to be. Jaw locked, arms up to guard his face. Daring the boys to come closer. Another, stronger flicker, and the small body grew taller, more muscular, green lightning flickering around. Standing as tall as his five foot six body would allow, broadened shoulders yelling a silent get lost, anger contained for fear of injuring the attacking children. One last flicker, a blurry form glitching into being. Six feet tall, eyes glowing powerfully. Blue(?) wings drooping heavily to the ground, a lion's growling half-roar cut off with a choked gasp as the apparition looked at his hands. A final, somehow loud flicker occurred, and the boy dropped to his knees, his form hovering indecisively between the ages of thirteen and eight. Whh-- wuuh....

"What the hell?!?"  The first bully dropped the blond child and backed up, unsure how to react to this new threat.  Beside him, his cohorts threw the backpack on the ground (spilling issues of Wondorous Woman everywhere) and bolted.  The first bully, dismayed at being abandoned, pointed a finger at the blond--"next time, you lil punk.  Freak," he added then quickly followed his friends. The child turned about, studying this new person-apparition with naked curiosity.  One hand reached out--whether to help or just touch, he wasn't sure.  He didn't seem scared but merely waited patiently for the newcomer to decide on a form.

The flickering boy's wide eyes turned to the outstretched hand, his own hand starting to reach out. The eyes focused on the face attached to the hand, suddenly becoming wider and more uncertain. Warped sounds of stressed whimpers carried through the air around him, and he pulled his hand back, wrapping his arms around his head protectively and curling into a ball, hiding from the world around him, until-- Quiet. A child of five years old peeked out from behind his arms and unfolded himself, looking up with soft round eyes at the curious blond sunburst.

A young Toshi gazed at an even younger Izuku I know you and the ten year old continued to hold out a helping hand, this time with a dazzling delighted grin. "HI there!  I'm Toshinori!  But you can call me Toshi if ya want.  That was pretty cool what you did just now.  You look really str--" He paused, remembering a moment ago the little kid had looked like some avenging angel, enveloped in crackling energy.  But his hand didn't waver. "--SUPER strong!  Plus Ultra Strong!  How did you do that?  Is it your Quirk?  Is this your all the time shape or just what you're ok with right now?  Sorry," he added with a sheepish grin, "I ask a lot of questions."

The small Izuku didn't speak, just made a soft noise, big eyes still staring. He took the outstretched hand in both of his, pulling himself up.

Toshi felt a warm glow within, his sheepish grin growing back to that brilliant delighted smile. I'm helping someone! At his feet, the torn Wondorous Woman comic fluttered and he blushed.  "Oh no, hang on a sec--!"

Izuku reached down and picked up one of the issues that had spilled, opening it curiously.

"That's Wondorous Woman!" young Toshi exclaimed.  "She's amazing and powerful and she can fly--i think--and she has this Quirk that makes an energy field that traps bad guys and make them tell the truth and--" He paused amid his fanboy gush and blushed more, twisting one bang nervously.  "Well, -I- think she's cool," he mumbled almost defensively.

A pudgy little finger poked at a picture of Wonderous Woman, then a whole hand brushed over the smooth page. Izuku looked up at Toshi again and nodded, agreeing that she was cool. He wondered if the blond boy had ever heard  of his favorite hero. "...All Might?"

Toshi's brow furrowed, as if almost remembering some lovely dream.  Then he shrugged.  "Never heard of them.  That's an awesome name, though--did you make that up?  All Might," he said, testing the name out and unconsciously posing, fists on hips and chest puffed out.  "If I was a hero, that'd be a great name!  But..." He laughed lightly and messed his own hair up.  "I bet you'd make a great hero with that Quirk of yours!"

Izuku's face dropped, and he seemed to shrink into himself, mouth shut tight.

"You don't like talking about it?  I'm sorry!"  Toshi sat on the ground next to the little boy, then hugged his knees to his chest.  "Is there something you do like?"  The young blond smiled cheerfully.

Izuku's eyes flicked around nervously, still not talking. He mirrored Toshi's pose, sitting down and pulling his knees up. He held out the comic, offering it back if Toshi wanted it.

Toshi grinned again.  "Go ahead, you can keep it--wait!"  He dug into his backpack where a few issues remained.  "Let me get you my favorite one--and it's not torn or dirty.  Here!"  He almost bounced in glee but instead contained himself.  "This one is super important.  This is when Wondorous Woman goes up against her arch nemesis--that's a super awful bad guy," he explained to the little boy.

Izuku leaned closer, interested.

"And he's kidnapped all her friends and hidden them away and he's fighting Wondorous Woman but making her think no one is coming to help." He remembered the first time he read this particular issue.  Hiding under his blanket with a flashlight so as not to bother his roommate at the foster home.  Scared of being caught and made fun of... but even more scared for Wondorous Woman.  Whispering tiny words of encouragement to his favorite hero with each page turn, praying she wouldn't give in or give up. "And just when all hope seemed lost," he said in a dramatic voice.  "Just when it looked like she was going to lose the fight, her friends showed up!"  His eyes shone, whether with love for Wondorous Woman or for her faithful companions coming to her aid or both, it was hard to tell.  "And they beat the arch nemesis and saved the day!" And everyone went home happy. Young Toshi ran a hand over the comic fondly then passed it to the little green haired kid.  "Here!"

The small boy shook his head, pushing it back gently. "Noo... yours!"

"It's a thank you gift!" Toshi insisted.  "Please take it."

"But..." He looked at the comic in his hands, brows wrinkling sadly. "S'your favorite... dun wanna take it away...."

"But it would make me happy sharing with you and maybe you'll like her, too!"

The boy made an uncertain face, cradling the comic to his chest. His face showed a hint of a flicker, and he breathed in sharply, reflexively clutching tighter.

Young Toshi smiled.  "Thank you," he said.

Wide green eyes stared back, as if to ask what comes next? What now?

Toshi gathered the rest of his comics and put them in his backpack... then held that out to the kid as well.  He quickly looked away before he could regret it, instead looking about for the kid's parents. "Do you want to go home now?" where is home?

Izuku took the heavy bag with a grunt of effort, eventually letting it rest on the ground. Okay, I'll carry it for you... it's kinda heavy though. He looked up at the question. "...What?"

"Home?  Where you live?  Your parents?"  He tilted his head at the kid struggling and shouldered the backpack himself, then held out a hand to the little boy.  "Wouldn't they be worried you're out alone?"

Izuku's eyebrows wrinkled more, genuinely confused. "Parents?" He wrinkled his nose, vague memories of green hair and soft noises floating through his memory, but not much taking shape. A...alone? Something cold and frightening started to scrape at his heart.

"They're big people that  love you.  They feed you when you're hungry and play with you when you're bored and take care of you when you're sick and--" Toshi's brow furrowed and he brushed his free hand over his eyes.  Then he smiled sunnily down at the little kid.  "I bet you have parents looking for you right now!"

Izuku shook his head, eyes sinking towards the ground. "No." He was sure without really knowing why.

"No?  That can't be true!  You have a great Qu--" His heart hurt to see the little kid he just met so sad.  He knelt down, squeezing the small fingers twined with his. "--what I mean is, if you want, I can be uh--" a dad?  Not old enough.  Family?  But they just met.  Brother?  Maaaaybe? "--we can stick together till we find someone, ok?  How's that?  Much nicer than being alone."

Izuku looked up wonderingly. Then down at the hand that held his. He stepped a little closer, leaning against Toshi in something like a hug. I like you.

Toshi was wide eyed for a startled moment.  Then the biggest grin yet spread across his face.  And some warm feeling glowed in his chest again, happy that the little kid felt safe around him.  "C'mon," he said.  "Lemme show you my favorite spot by the river and we can read all the comics!"

A small smile sprang to life on Izuku's face, then grew to a big grin. "Okay!!" He wrapped his arms around Toshi's neck, ready to be picked up.

"Oompf!!"  The kid's weight, coupled with his backpack, made Toshi stagger and he wished for a moment that he was stronger.  But the little kid's smile fueled his energy and Toshi proudly carried both kid and comics.

Little Izuku giggled, happily looking about from his new vantage point.

Toshi giggled too then wrinkled his nose as his bangs got caught in his mouth.  He didn't want to put his little friend down.  "Cou' you ge' my 'air?"

"Huh?" Izuku took a second to get it. "Oh, uh-huh." He pulled Toshi's bang out of his mouth and dropped it, wrinkling his nose and grinning. "Eeeeeeww."

Toshi laughed even harder, his heart swelling with joy.  He jogged along the river bank, trying not to jostle the kid.  "Yeah, eating hair isn't smart," he snickered.  "Extra not my hair--it's loooong!"

Izuku took hold of the other bang, looking at it intently as he bounced along. "Shiny. Like it."

Toshi blinked as the bang's end got in his eyes.  "Thanks.  Could you hold it out of the way so I can see, please?"

Izuku held it up above Toshi's head, still gazing at it and rubbing the strands between his fingers, fixated on how gold it was in the sunlight.

The pair trotted merrily along, soon at Toshi's favorite tree.  He knew he was supposed to put the kid down now but somehow, doing so felt like losing a part of himself. weird, huh? "Uhm," he said.

"Mm?" Izuku dropped the bang and started patting Toshi's head, smushing the floof.

Toshi scrunched his face happily.  "Kid!" he said, squatting down and letting small feet touch the ground.  "Thanks, I think?"  He felt his hair, a bit messier than usual but smooshed with love.

Izuku sat down on the ground, looking up at Toshi. His gaze drifted up towards the tree branches, and he laid down on his back, staring up at them and smiling. One hand reached up as if to touch them.

Toshi flopped beside him, grinning. home? And the grin flickered to confusion for a moment.  What? h o m e? He looked to the little kid he just met, the little kid who had saved him, and Toshi felt an overwhelming desire to protect this small person with his small but powerful smiles. He too reached one hand up toward the branches.

[rsmrymnt-tea]

Hii<3 asking about how Dola feels abt Belphegor >_> and also how they would feel abt...Sally..!

Belphie!!! Cracks knuckles bc I feel like I'm gonna talk about like... Canon divergence dhjkgfd (sorry for rubber ducking on your ask+eventually going on and on on Sally's sdhfjksd working mostly off of my imagination since you don't talk about them enough!! >.<)

So like... Of course this is like, the roughest start of them all, even more so because Dola doesn't go up to see him on her second day in the Devildom like MC does in canon? As curious as she is, hearing a disembodied voice call for help in the a house full of demons is idiot behavior she refuses to do. So Lilith has to do a little interfering so that Belphie's attempts at trying to get to her work (in her canon they don't meet in the attic until much later; they first meet in her dreams where he terrorizes her for a bit until she gives in and talks in exchange for some peace).

They sort of... Surprisingly get along while they're dream chatting? Begrudgingly since he's just always there pestering her about progress on making the pacts while also sort of looking for someone to talk to in a way, so he's the most consistent constant company she has. And if she wants a good night of sleep she has to like, not upset him, so they're both pretty annoyed at each other until something distracts them from it. Their talks kind of err on the side of her updating him about stuff that happened, how his brothers are, which eventually starts getting the chance of him ranting to her and her helping him work through his feelings.

And things go well enough! It leads to her eventually getting up the attic while Lucifer's away (I'll bring you some of that sushi you like if you'll leave me alone tomorrow night) and he goes into a crisis of whether he actually *gags* likes a human.

Post-Incident uh, things are pretty rough. He's mainly saved from her never forgiving him by her coming to the conclusion that Diavolo and Barbatos knew everything was going to happen and played a part in planning it + him offering a pact in exchange for a shot at forgiveness (bc her avoiding him was making shit kinda rough for him in the HoL). Then from there it slowly goes back to them being pretty chill with each other? He does put effort into making things better between them, which she sees and accepts as points in his favor.

(idk why but I'm inclined to say he had like, a pretty longtime crush on her...? That only Beel knew about.)

Tbh they don't spend that much time together unless it's in a group with the other brothers. Dola's very anti-sloth as a person plus combined with how Belphie spends a lot of time asleep there's not a lot of times they can hang out one-on-one. Unless he hangs out in the same room as her while she's working on something, or is the one to join her whenever she needs to go out to do some nature studies for art thingz. He's probably had her teach him how to make good art and it goes... not that well shjkfhgjkfg

They're like... Idk how to word it. It's chill, simple company that's pretty laid back, but sometimes they get deep if they're alone somewhere private...? Sort of the same as how they were while he was still in the attic, but now they both update each other on what they've been doing when they're not hanging out together with the company of the others. They talk shit about the royals often and get into the occasional argument about whether Dola overworks herself or not (spoiler, she kinda does.)

He also knows his baby brother card doesn't work on her but tries anyway, then she rubs it in that it doesn't work.

AAAAAAAA okay that's a lot. time for Sally!! Which is probably shorter since I don't know her too well

Okay so for Sally I'm gonna set up a scene lmao. Let's say they meet in Goetia for the first time when Asmo takes Dola there to get her hair rescued after messily chopping something like 12 inches off mid-breakdown (canon). She knows she looks like a mess and sticks out among everyone there, probably.

When it's her turn to get up there and get her hair done, she's probably been watching Sally work for a while since I imagine they're pretty standout among the Goetia staff as well. Very good fashion, mentally taking down notes. Probably unknowingly helps set Dola up into a future goth of some form (or at least wears predominantly black and yes Sally is canon in Dola's canon now oh yes it's happening)

The death aura v death aura probably cancel out into Dola thinking Sally's really chill? Easy to talk to, can trust them with her hair. Sally's totally not the vibe she was expecting when Asmo set up the appointment. Would Sally initiate small talk? :o

Whether or not they do, Dola would come out of it pleased and contemplating having her hair bleached and colored. From then on she becomes a regular client whenever she has to get her hair done while in the Devildom (and later on just in general once she knows how to teleport. Sally gets to do whatever they want with immortal Dola's hair once it starts going out pure white every few months.)

Also I have no idea what etiquette is but I like thinking that they start hanging out outside of the salon because Dola ends up being Sally's last client of the day and it's too early to head home or they conversation's really nice so they go and grab some sort of drink of choice somewhere... Or like just walk around aimlessly when the streets are quiet while they have a chat >w<

Which is where I think Dola would start like, talking more and bring up more stuff that she has in common with Sally? I can see Dola enjoying having someone other than Satan and Lucifer to discuss art with since I imagine Sally's tastes and takes to be different from theirs, and that since I think Sally actually makes art it adds a whole new layer to their conversations, y'know? Like it's always different when the person gets it from a maker/creator standpoint.

Oooh plus Dola updated Sally on all the human world stuff, art and fashion and all? Feel like she'd enjoy coaxing whatever excitement she can get out of Sally

Oml imagine Sally being the one to start Dola off on getting together a new wardrobe during her first in the Devildom once she's finally had enough of her hoodies and jeans?? Beating Asmo to the punch? This is becoming like... Headcanons about those two more than Dola's thoughts but still sdhfk I feel like the fact that Dola would let them take her shopping says a lot >w<

You know what? Dola needs friends outside of the brothers and Solomon ahjsk this is fun

Send me a character and I'll tell you how my one OC feels about them (or if you somehow remember the names of my other rarely mentioned OCs, you can ask about them too lmao

[azems-familiar]

SWTOR characters masterlist (new and improved!)

so i know i already have one of these, but it wasn't exactly up to date with some changes i've made to characters, and i made it before starting my novelization, plus i have an entirely new canon with another person to talk about. so without further ado:

canon: start a war (with @ipreferfiction)

Lia Vhoss, Jedi Battlemaster + Commander of the Eternal Alliance

(more pictures to come as i get more)

Lia is my Jedi Knight and was Satele Shan's padawan from a young age. she's 21 at the start of the class story and along with her close friend and all-but-outright-stated queerplatonic partner J'lima (ipreferfiction's knight), she's thrust into the role of saving the galaxy time and time again. she begins a romantic relationship with Kira after Voss, takes Tau Idair as her padawan, and faces down Vitiate and Revan on Yavin and Ziost. she and J'lima are both captured by Arcann in the Eternal Empire's attack on the galaxy, but only Lia is possessed and locked in carbonite; when she's finally freed, she takes up the mantle of commander of the Alliance (and also starts a relationship with Lana, though there's a l o t of complications going on there). she's my beloved and probably could be considered, along with J'lima, to be the main character of start a war, although the rest of the cast is important as well.

Vreila Lanar, Jedi Master + Jedi High Councilor

Vreila is my Jedi Consular but is not the Barsen'thor in start a war the oldest of our combined pantheon, Vreila is the only one who outright remembers the Sacking of Coruscant: she was eleven years old and studying at the Coruscant Temple when the Sacking occurred and barely escaped with her life. Fifteen years later, she's a proud Jedi knight, formerly Syo Bakarn's padawan, and one of the most promising new diplomats in the Order. the resurgence of an ancient Sith plague nearly destroys her first assignment on Alderaan, but after she recovers, the Jedi Council places her with the Rift Alliance, first to keep the peace, then later to hunt down the Children of the Emperor. Vreila quietly marries Felix Iresso in a non-legally-binding ceremony shortly before the Eternal Empire attacks, and it isn't until after Felix is taken as a POW that she realizes she's pregnant. She and her by then four year old son end up on Odessen as a Republic emissary to the Alliance, in the hopes that the former Battlemaster now Commander will be willing to hunt down the Republic and Imperial POWs Zakuul still hasn't released custody of.

Kal'vaela Corrin, Commander of Blackout Squad

Kal is the youngest member of Havoc Squad. Ord Mantell is not her first deployment with them, but it is her last; she follows Tavus and her squadmates to the Empire without a second thought and joins in on the Imperial reorganization of Havoc Squad into Blackout Squad. when Tavus and Fuse begin to doubt their decision, Kal, not wanting the rest of her squad to get caught up in their disloyalty and seeing a chance to get a command of her own, comes up with a plan to frame them as conspiring with the Republic. after her plan succeeds and she's given command of Blackout, she turns her gaze towards destroying the Empire's enemies - and recruiting her ex-girlfriend and now commander of Havoc, Itharil Enaran, to the Empire where she belongs, as well as converting the undercover SIS agent Jonas Balker. when Itharil finally switches sides, she brings former Sergeant Jaxo and Aric Jorgan with her, and yes they end up in the most complicated horrible person polycule you have ever seen. we had to make a diagram for it

i'm not kidding. there's a diagram.

Vyl Kivan

Vyl my utter beloved. he's the youngest character in our combined canon, at seventeen when the class story starts - oh, and he's also trans. born into slavery on Ryloth then sold to a semi-powerful Sith family on Dromund Kaas, he's sixteen when his Force-sensitivity and powerful Force empathy are discovered, and after a year of training from his master, he's sent to Korriban in the place of her son, who is completely Force-blind. he's taken as an apprentice by Darth Baras for his impressive power and the ease by which he's manipulated, but treated as little more than a tool due to how he refuses to use the Dark Side of the Force no matter how he's pushed, and will only kill if it's a last resort. he learns to lie to Baras' face to protect himself as he frequently leaves targets alive, as he sends Nomen Karr back to the Jedi to heal and takes Jaesa as his apprentice, although really he's learning from her just as much as she is from him. he ends up being made the Wrath for similar reasons for why Baras took him in the first place. after some difficulty on Ilum and elsewhere in the galaxy, Vyl ends up defecting to the Republic and specifically the Jedi on Yavin after encouragement from Theron (his partner) and Master Orgus Din. he's one of the Alliance's founding members during the five-year gap and he and Theron end up bringing a very much alive Thexan Tirall into their relationship during the war with Zakuul.

Avaanla Ki, Darth Aedis + Sith Empress + Master of the Revanites

Avaanla was taken into slavery at a young age and ended up in a brothel for several years. raised and trained as a dancer, with a pleasure slave's brand on her wrist, her Force breakthrough occurs when she's fourteen years old, when she ends up killing a man for touching her. this becomes a not-uncommon occurrence over the next few years until she's finally purchased by a Sith who bargains training in exchange for work. at twenty, she's sent to Korriban, and she trains there for a while until stumbling upon a secret she wasn't supposed to find while exploring the tombs on a trial. she's saved by Darth Thanaton, who ends up taking her as an apprentice, and who enlists her in his desire to bring down Vitiate. after a mission on Dromund Kaas for another Sith, Avaanla finds herself hunting down the shadowy Revanite Master herself and taking the woman's place, and even breaks Revan free from Maelstrom Prison herself, in the goal of enlisting the powerful woman's help to take down the Emperor (and put herself in his place, of course - what's a Sith without ambition?). in pursuit of those goals, she ends up taking over the Sphere of Mysteries, gaining a seat on the Dark Council and an in to the Emperor's greatest secrets. after Thanaton's exile following his loss to Jana Vassi (newly crowned Darth Nox) in a Kaggath, Avaanla's plans are somewhat hampered, and after Darth Arkous goes rogue with a great deal of the Revanites she's forced into showing her hand early - but after it's all said and done, with Marr's disappearance, Avaanla finds herself taking the Sith throne after all, sharing it with Jana. she ends up in a polyamorous relationship with Jana and Andronikos, eventually.

Averr'iis'aloh, Cipher Eight + Legate + Keeper

Averr'iis'aloh, also known as Riisa, grew up on Csilla and joined the Csilla Secret Police at the age of fourteen. she was partnered with Tharel'elshe'reth (who later becomes Cipher Nine) and the two of them grew close (eventually starting a romantic relationship). when the two of them were in their early twenties, they stumbled upon an artifact on the Chiss world of Copero that the Empire didn't want being known - this was caused directly by Riisa's latent Force-sensitivity (just enough to get her into trouble). she and Elshe'reth were sent, reluctantly, to the Empire to join Imperial Intelligence, and the two of them worked as Ciphers to bring down Jadus and the Eagle's terror network. sent alone to infiltrate a particularly dangerous SIS spy ring, Riisa becomes drawn in to the way the Republic treats their agents, and takes the Legate role on in truth, partly driven by a complicated falling-out she has with Elshe'reth during this time. an ill-advised fling with Aristocra Saganu leaves her with a daughter (Miurani'var'ieth, Nivari) that she sends to be raised on Csilla, and Riisa ends up throwing herself fully into her role as a double agent for the Republic, getting named Keeper of Imperial Intelligence after she manages to bring down Dread Master Styrak. it isn't until sometime after the Eternal Alliance settles in as the major power in the galaxy that her deception is discovered and she's broken out of the Empire by Elshe'reth herself (now an agent for the Alliance). the two of them do, after much difficulty, end up back together and raising a family together.

[nikxation]

A Close Encounter

Summary:

All Stan knows is that, if you see huge red eyes staring at you from the brush, look away, turn around, and run as fast if you can, assuming it’s not already too late.

So, when he finds himself face to face with a creature easily three times his size with glowing red eyes, he realizes he may be in one of those “too late” kinds of situations.

Notes:

Written for @buggy-mars for the 2020 Secret Santa exchange! You wanted mullet Stan angst, so here ya go! Hope you enjoy! And Happy Holidays!

Find it here on AO3.

Beware of glowing red eyes in the woods.

It’s one of the first things Stan learns when he starts making his presence more known around the small town of Gravity Falls, though he learns it mostly through indirect means (because while Ford had been here for over a decade, Stan has barely been here a month, and asking questions might draw a certain amount of suspicion and scrutiny that he can’t afford).

Most people would call it eavesdropping, but he likes to think of it as “directed listening” instead.

It’s hushed, frightened whispers in the back booth of the diner between two buff-looking guys holding steaming cups of coffee in shaking hands.

It’s the short exchange of words between two woodsmen as they pass each other in the street, one warning the other away from a certain area of the forest for the day.

It’s a woman sending her kids to go play and warning them to be careful even as they roll their eyes and run off, young and invincible against the dangers of the world.

Of all the things he’s heard, the red eyes seem to be the thing that everyone, without exception, knows to steer clear of at all costs.

Something about visions of nightmares or poisonous quills or just pure, unadulterated terror, he’s not sure. They don’t talk about it in as many words, circling the topic like two boxers in the ring, sizing one another up, neither willing to make the first move, to say the wrong thing, to admit too much. They dance around it, never getting close enough to give him any solid answers before jumping to another subject altogether.

All he knows is that, if you see huge red eyes staring at you from the brush, look away, turn around, and run as fast if you can, assuming it’s not already too late.

So, when he finds himself face to face with a creature easily three times his size with glowing red eyes, he realizes he may be in one of those “too late” kinds of situations.

~ ~ ~

The sleet is coming down hard as Stan trudges through the melting snow, shovel in one hand and worn map in the other as he aims towards another area of the woods that he hasn’t already scribbled out in pencil. The sun is finding its way down towards the treeline, which means he doesn’t have a lot of time today before it gets too dark to be able to effectively hunt for the other journals. Plus, he has more tours to prep for tomorrow, so he’ll have to make sure he leaves himself enough time to get everything set up again for that. But he plans to take advantage of whatever dying rays of sunlight he can.

He feels dirty, zipped up tight in one of Ford’s jackets that fits him a little too tight in the arms, one he found in some back closet when he finally started going through the man’s things. But there’s only so much he can do in a worn-out hoodie in this weather, and he has more important things to worry about than how wrong it feels to be wearing his missing (not dead) brother’s clothes.

At least his hair is keeping his neck warm, so this god-awful hairstyle is finally good for something other than looking terrible.

He looks down at the map again, glancing back up to see if he can find some kind of marker he should have left for himself to know where he left off, whether it be a slash in some tree bark or a pile of rocks in the snow. Based on the map, he should be getting close to something, but at this rate, the trees are starting to thin out as he makes his way into more rocky and mountainous terrain, so he can’t quite remember what he should be looking for.

A glance back down at the map, and he realizes that the sleet has begun to smear the ink and graphite on the page. He curses under his breath, shoves it into his pocket, and looks around frantically, spotting a shadow in a rocky face that might just be a cave that he can duck into for a moment, long enough to get out of the wet cold for a moment and reorient himself to his surroundings.

He was right in assuming it was a cave, finding himself in a small dark cavern that doesn’t seem to go more than a few yards deep and a few feet above his head. He doesn’t bother getting out his flashlight to check that assumption; at the mouth of the cave, he gets enough light to see what he needs to see, and he needs to save as much battery power as he can.

He also doesn’t plan to stay long.

It’s quiet save for the pitter-patter of the sleet on the hard ground and the sound of his own breathing echoing around the rock walls.

The map is a bit soggy when he pulls it back out, and he tries his best to hold it as gently as possible to stop it from ripping or falling apart on him. He knows he could get back to the house from here without it, but it’s his only record of his search, and he’d hate to have to start from scratch. Which is why when one of the corners flops down and tears itself, he curses again, this time a bit more forcefully as he tries to hold the paper back together, willing it to not get any worse.

It’s at that exact moment that something behind him shifts, the sound of scratching on the rock followed by a low, animalistic growl that makes the hairs on his neck stand completely upright, his whole body going rigid.

The possibility occurs to him that maybe the cave was deeper than he thought it was, or that maybe, just maybe, there was something big in the way stopping him from seeing all the way back.

It also occurs to him that maybe it wasn’t his own breathing that he had been hearing.

His whole body is frozen stiff as he waits to see what happens next, too afraid to turn around, too afraid to make a run for it, trapped in place like a deer in headlights.

He hears the thing stand, claws scraping against the stone ground as it does, footsteps heavy as it slowly moves forward, closer to him.

He should run. He should really run. Running would be a very good idea.

There must be a disconnect somewhere in his brain because no matter how hard he begs his legs to run, they stand frozen in place, trapping him in the mouth of this cave as whatever is behind him lumbers closer and closer with each breath.

And then it stops, everything falling deathly silent again, and he can all but feel the thing standing behind him, and everything in him is screaming to get the hell out of there right now, but he still can’t move.

Stan doesn’t know how long he stands there waiting, probably only a handful of seconds if he had to guess, even if it feels like an eternity. He swallows slowly, his heart slamming in his chest, in his ears, as he finally gains enough control of himself to turn, ever so slowly to see what exactly he’s dealing with here.

Two red eyes look down on him from scarcely a few feet away, and that’s all his brain can register outside of “big” and “huge teeth” and “run goddamnit run!”. But he still can’t move, and the thing lets out another low growl, this one much more pointed than the last, a clear warning. But his bones are somewhere between Jell-o and stone right now, his throat tight like he’s trying not to breathe even though the thing is looking right at him and it’s too late you should have run when you had the chance—

Its eyes flash, the sudden shift from burning red to bright yellow jolting him like a bucket of cold water to the face, and he has no idea what to make of it, and he’s still stuck in place right in front of this thing that’s making no moves towards him, his eyes locked on it like he’s waiting to see a reaction from it, waiting for it to make the first move.

And then, the yellow fades, the eyes returning to that same unnatural red, and he gets the vague feeling that something happened, he’s just not sure what, as the thing takes a small step back from him and just… stares.

It’s something of a stand-off, and he gets the impression that, whatever it just tried with the little glowing eyes trick didn’t quite work the way it expected. That this thing that could kill him with one lazy swipe of its arm (leg? Hand? Paw? What the heck even is this thing?) has yet to make an aggressive move against him for whatever reason and has done nothing but stare at him, and he has no idea what to do with that.

And this, whatever this is, feels fundamentally different than even a few seconds ago. And he’s not sure how that even makes sense given that he’s dealing with some hulking creature and not anything remotely human or rational. And yet, he swears the thing went from trying to intimidate him to… studying him? Like it’s reassessing how to handle him?

He must be losing his damn mind.

The thing regards him for another excruciatingly long moment before breathing out what sounds suspiciously like a hmph and then taking a step towards him. He braces, arms coming up, his legs still unhelpfully locked into place as he expects the attack to finally come. And the thing pauses, its hackles momentarily raising and a quiet growl rumbling in its throat for barely a second before it settles, pushes past him and…

Leaves.

It just… leaves.

In the dying sunlight and falling sleet, Stan gets his first full glimpse of the massive creature as it climbs free of the cave and stretches back out, easily towering over the cave entrance by many feet. Its whole body is covered in course hair that almost resembles quills, mushrooms of some sort growing from its back and shoulders. It stands up on its two hind feet (its claws are almost as long as his arm holy shit), seems to finish stretching itself out, drops back to all fours, and then dashes off into the woods and disappears into the darkness.

It takes him a minute to fully process what happened, for the adrenaline coursing through him to finally die out and the weight of the fear and relief to settle in. It’s enough to make his legs finally give out from under him as he sinks to the hard stone floor, the reality of how close he was to death worming its way into his bones like an old forgotten friend.

And yet…

A strained laugh breaks free from his throat, the sound oddly choked as he leans back against the rock wall behind him, his chest aching something fierce.

He knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that he just had an encounter with the creature the entire town is afraid of, and he made it out unscathed. He’s sure of it, in the same way that he’s sure his brother is alive somewhere, an unquestionable kind of feeling deep in his bones that’s the only real thing he has any faith in anymore. He knows that, somehow, he got lucky, and that thing let him be for whatever reason. He doesn’t know why or how, or what the yellow glowing eyes thing was or why it seemed to not really care about him after that (then it took a step back, so was it afraid of him? No that’s not possible, why would it be afraid of him?).

He sits there a while, lost in his own head, wondering what exactly he’s missing, why the entire town is afraid of something that ultimately decided to leave him alone. Wondering whether it was luck or something else entirely.

He doesn’t have an answer.

He’ll probably never have one, if he’s being honest with himself.

It’s well after dark by the time he musters enough energy to stumble back to the empty house that isn’t his, peel off the soggy coat that doesn’t fit him right, climb into his makeshift bed on the couch, and fall into a restless sleep to the sound of the heavy tapping of sleet on the windowpane.

[rome5683]

A ‘Sociopath’s Touch

Chapter Two: A Re-Awakening

Kai x FemReader

Rated M for Mature and E for everyone- or explicit

Words: 7602

Summary: “You are fascinating. At this point, the only thing stopping me from opening your hot bod up with a knife is, well, you.” He pulled his hand away, cocking his head to the side as you started to register what he said. You swallowed, suddenly feeling small and moist at the same time.

“What makes you think I won’t open you up?” Your voice rang out with an edge, defensively. You were a little scared. Scared you were hallucinating, scared of your own mind, of your own body betraying you. “I have a couple tricks up my sleeve too, you know.”

Kai smirked, seemingly amused by your defensiveness. “No doubt, princess.” His hands enveloped your face, getting too close which took your breath away. “But daddy is the one in charge, remember?”

***

You start to get wind of the real world. Kai helps you.

——————-

Your body shifted, trying to get more comfortable as your face rested on something tense. You murmured as you started to wake, confused about why your pillow was so tough. Your eyes widened and sat up suddenly as you realized you weren’t resting on a pillow, but someone’s chest. “Kai?”

He chuckled, sitting up with his arms crossed behind his head. “The one and only.”

You furrowed your brows, concerned of how he knew where you lived. “How did you-”

“Just a couple spells here and there, wasn’t that hard when you have the person stuck in your head. Not to mention, I still have your panties.” You flustered, both embarrassed and confused at what he said. You looked around, and it was your bed, with your dorm. You couldn’t get a grasp on what was going on, so you decided it was just a dream. You looked back to Kai, apprehensive yet intrigued.

“I’m dreaming of you.” You looked at him with a small smile, almost not believing it. “You’re cuter than I remember.”

He placed a hand on his chest, feigning pain. “I’m hurt. And no, it’s just astral projection. A ten year old could do it.”

You chuckled, not really taking him seriously, “Okay. Sure. So what does that mean?” You rested your head on the palm of your hand as you laid on your side, lifting your leg up slightly. In a way, you were trying to be seductive. “Can we-”

“Touch? Yes, very much so.” Kai grinned, laying on his side as well. “But it wouldn’t be as good as the real thing.”

You shook your head smiling, “None of this is real, if we’re being technical.” Your hand grazed upon his chest. It felt so life-like. Kai’s blue eyes examined you as your hands grazed his toned chest. He licked his lips while looking you up and down, and you felt hot all of a sudden. His appearance disappeared, and you froze. What the fuck?

Kai reappeared not a second later, and you shrieked, falling off the bed. He stood up, chuckling at your surprised and fallen state. “Heh. Lost focus for a second there. Wonder why…” You sat up, feeling so lost. One one hand, maybe you were hallucinating. Maybe you were just hoping he was here, hoping he’d look at you the way he did yesterday. He crouched down, and his fingertips went to caress your face, tracing the curves and edges. “You are fascinating. At this point, the only thing stopping me from opening your hot bod up with a knife is, well, you.” He pulled his hand away, cocking his head to the side as you started to register what he said. You swallowed, suddenly feeling small and moist at the same time.

“What makes you think I won’t open you up?” Your voice rang out with an edge, defensively. You were a little scared. Scared you were hallucinating, scared of your own mind, of your own body betraying you. “I have a couple tricks up my sleeve too, you know.”

Kai smirked, seemingly amused by your defensiveness. “No doubt, princess.” His hands enveloped your face, getting too close which took your breath away. “But daddy is the one in charge, remember?”

Your panties practically melted off from the heat that overcame your body. You bit your lip, transfixed on his. You came closer, your arms coming around his neck to delve into the kiss. You heard a knock on your door. Kai looked up, grinning at you, “503, 615, 7140. Call me.” He disappeared. You recoiled, perplexed. The knock on your door brought you back to reality, and you opened it, concerned.

“Hey, did I interrupt something?”

“No, nothing.” You swallowed, not wanting to freak her out about what just happened.

“But I thought I, um, well nevermind.” Caroline chuckled, shaking her head with a smile. “Elena and I thought it’d be cool to have brunch together, plus our friend Bonnie is back and, well, after yesterday, I thought it’d be cool for all of us to talk.” You were somewhat speechless, realizing this wasn’t a dream at all seeing as Caroline was just smiling there at the doorway. After a moment of quiet, you nodded.

“Yeah. Sorry, I just woke up. Um, I’m gonna change real quick then.” You closed the door with a fake smile, and sighed. You felt so conflicted, embarrassed even. Why did you get so hung up on some random guy and hallucinate?

You opened your drawers, changing into a garnet v-neck and some sky blue shorts. You looked through your closet, and put on some sandals. Looking in the mirror, you put your (H/C) hair in a loose bun and smiled. Your skin seemed kind of clear today too. You were such a cutie.

You opened the door to see the three best friends chatting casually. “Hey.” They smiled at you, and who you presumed to be Bonnie, held her hand out to you. “Nice to meet you...Bonnie?”

“Nice to meet you too.” Bonnie smiled politely, seeming tense.

“Okay, so where are we eating?”

Caroline sparked up, “Oh! I forgot to mention, before we go, can you get your textbooks? We were looking to catch Bonnie up since she’s been gone for so long.”

Your muscles tensed, and you cursed inside your head. They just wanted to study with you, or use your notes, not really much for your company. “Yeah, I’ll grab my books real quick.” You opened the door to your room again, unconsciously biting your lip. It was a nervous habit you just couldn’t stop, sometimes even making yourself bleed. You grabbed your bag, and shook your head at how you could forget your phone. You stiffened, remembering your vision, or whatever it was, from earlier. You dialed the number as fast as you could, and felt your heart beat fast as it rang.

“Let me guess who.” Your blood ran cold as Kai’s voice registered in your mind. You couldn’t think of anything to say, and hung up in shock. You cursed aloud, looking at your phone in terror.

“This is fucking crazy. I’m fucking crazy…” You saved his number.

* * * * * * * *

You stared at your phone on the coffee table as the others talked about what they were going to do for the holidays. This new cafe was definitely a low blow as you realized why Caroline picked this place instead of the Whitmore Bar.

You guys sat in the lobby area, on red chairs with notebooks out, occasionally chatting as Bonnie asked questions about what classes she took and what she missed. You had decided to lend Bonnie your notebook in an effort to become friends, but still felt annoyed about being their answer sheet.

“Oh my god, I totally forgot to mention! A certain virgin got some action yesterday!” They looked to you, and you felt yourself redden at the thought of you and Kai.

Elena opened her mouth in disbelief, and feigned offense. “I can’t believe you told Caroline before me!”

You giggled, “In my defense, she only knew first because she caught us.”

Caroline smiled, “Oh my god, he had the bluest eyes ever. He was so cute. They were so cute together!”

Bonnie's smile tightened, but you didn’t think too much of it.

“Oh, and I got his number too.” Caroline squealed, Elena grinned in approval, and Bonnie smiled politely. “It turns out that he sneaked a note with it in my pocket while I was…” Elena raised an eyebrow, “...distracted.”

Elena shook her head, “Okay, no. I need details. Now.”

You looked down, smiling while you reminisced about him. “He had this punkish vibe. When he walked in the bar, it was like he demanded attention. He seemed a little narcissistic, and a-know-it-all, but it was cute. And his hair, he was just so freaking cute. When he talked to me, he didn’t seem interested, but then it was like he suddenly thought I was worth it or something, and-”

“What’s his name?” Bonnie interceded, raising an eyebrow. You looked at her, confused as to why she would interrupt so suddenly. You were about to answer when something appeared to your left, sitting next to you.

“Don’t answer her.” You tensed up, recognizing his voice. Nobody else seemed to notice him, and you sighed.

“Why?” You had directed it at him, but Bonnie thought it was for her.

“I don’t know, just curious.” She looked at you, challenging you. His voice whispered in your ear, and you felt goosebumps.

“She has a thing for me. Don’t worry about it, just tell her you forgot.” You wanted to look at him, at his eyes, but you didn’t. You square your shoulders, and sheepishly smile. Thank God you took drama last semester.

“This is embarrassing, but I kind of forgot. It was a heat of the moment kind of thing, and I never really got it.” Bonnie didn’t seem to like your answer.

“What did the note say?” Elena looked at her confused, and Caroline tensed up. It was starting to get awkward.

You scoffed, feeling agitated. “His number, and to call him. Obviously.”

Elena spoke, confused, “It doesn’t really matter that much, Bonnie.”

Bonnie shook her head, “Who practically sleeps with someone, but doesn’t even know their name?”

Kai bursted out laughing while you fumed, “She has a point there, (Y/N). If only she knew how wrong she was.”

Caroline shook her head, “Why are you being so judgy, Bonnie? I mean, that’s supposed to be my job, remember?”

“Because it could be Kai!” The whole restaurant seemed to look at your group, and you scratched your head, feigning disinterest. You didn’t want them to see that you did know his name, that he knows Bonnie. “I mean, the fact that she coincidentally meets someone the day after he abandoned me? Not to mention, he is punk-ish, blue-eyed, and narcissistic? It has to be Kai.”

Elena nodded at her worried best friend, then looked at you, “We need to meet him, (Y/N). The person you’re with could very well be Kai, and that’s dangerous.”

You raised an eyebrow, almost offended. “Okay, well, first of all, I can’t even get him to respond to my texts. Second, how are you so sure? I mean, tell me about this dude named… Kay?”

Bonnie frowned, “It’s Kai. And his eyes, what kind of blue were they? And his hair, it was spiky and brown, right?” You looked to Caroline as she nodded, and you bit your lip.

Kai’s hand went to rest on your thigh, and you placed your hand on the same thigh as well. It was like it went through him. Your head felt like it was spinning from all these strange occurrences. “I’m supposed to be looking for bandages, you know. But here I am, talking to someone so insignificant to me. Life is weird.”

You shook your head, cursing under your breath as you chuckled. Kai was really getting under your skin, and you almost wanted to laugh.

“What’s so funny, (Y/N)?” Caroline looked at you, seeming annoyed at your humour.

“I just think it’s so dumb. I mean, all this trouble over a boy?” You shrugged it off, downplaying the whole situation. “I mean, what is he that’s so troubling? A warlock?” They looked at each other as Kai laughed again.

“You’re actually spot on. Do you feel freaked out? I mean, I kind of would.” You purse your lips, wanting to respond, but couldn’t look crazy. Elena suddenly walked up to you, and you froze as she grabbed hold of your shoulders. You tried to pull away, but her eyes drew you.

“What’s the name of the guy that you met yesterday?” You zoned out, and were going to answer when you felt Kai squeeze your thigh, and you blinked, confused.

“Say it’s Mike.”

“Michael.” You blinked, and felt confused. Bonnie sighed, shaking her head as Elena and Caroline nodded to each other. What was that? You got up, side-stepping Elena so you could get your books.

Caroline got up, “Why are you going? Are you upset?”

You put your books in your bag, and grabbed your phone. You glanced at her, clutching your bag. “No, just tired out if I’m honest. Not to mention you guys are kind of prying, so I think I’ll just go.”

You walked out, feeling weird as you could hear Kai walk with you, but nobody else reacted to him. You hated it. “How does all of this work? I mean, am I hallucinating? What are you? Why do they hate you so much?”

“Some friends they are. They tried to compel you, you realize that, right?”

You scowled as he dodged your questions, “What does that even mean?”

He grinned, “They’re vampires. You know, blood consuming, ‘rawr’, vampires.”

You raised an eyebrow, “What? I don’t get it. Like Dracula?”

“Nah. More modern. Basically just what I said, they’re vampires and can have mind-control over you. Make you do things, forget things even.”

You clutched your purse, wondering how many times you might have walked in on something that you weren’t supposed to see. Maybe even attacked, near death. Who’s right is it to withhold information like that? You understood you weren’t extremely close, but you didn’t know exactly how to feel. “Could you take stuff like that away? I mean, you didn’t let them compel me just now?”

“Because it was in the moment. The longer it has been compelled into you, the harder it would be to take away. Painful, at least.” He rolled his eyes at me, almost as if saying I was dumb to not know that.

“Why do they hate you?” You stood your ground, scrutinizing his stance. I mean, they seemed like good-hearted people, and you’re pretty sure vampires didn’t always turn by choice. Witches were born, at least, that’s what you thought. You didn’t know anymore. All you knew is that they hated him, and you needed to find out why.

“They hate me because I kind of broke little Bon-Bon’s trust the other day.” He shrugged, crossing his hands behind his back. You scoffed, annoyed at the dismissal. You didn’t care how dangerous he was, or seemed. You had gotten under his skin once, and he’s been truthful with you so far. You were determined to know everything about everything.

“Okay, well can we just talk about how I’m seeing you right now? I mean, you said I was right about you being a warlock? I mean, we’re talking, and one minute we can touch but the next we can’t. I want real answers now. The whole truth.” You stopped, not caring what people thought anymore as you talked to him openly.

“Listen, I have some stuff to do. But how about tonight at six?” You sighed, rubbing your forehead. Reluctantly, you nodded as he disappeared. You felt as if you were going insane, not being able to wrap your head around anything. You checked the time on your phone, it was early still, eleven in the morning to be exact.

You started to walk back to your dorm, feeling annoyed at everything. A warlock? Vampires? This was so much to take in. You bumped into something and fell, “Hey! Watch where you’re going!” You saw Professor Saltzman being helped up by another guy, who had blue, almost teal eyes and the most broad shoulders. You got up, quickly realizing how rude you were. “Hey, I’m so sorry, Mr. Saltzman. I didn’t mean to be so rude, it’s just that some people on campus can walk all over you if you let them.”

He gave you a brief smile, “No worries.” He walked past you, and you had a small epiphany. You walked up to the occult professor, trying to keep up with their pace.

“Wait, I wanted to talk to you about something really quick.” The guy with blue eyes turned to you, annoyed.

“Buzz off, kid. We have real problems, unlike you.” They continued to walk away. You got annoyed.

“So do I! My friends might be vampires! And you’re an occult studies professor, so I thought you could help with resisting mind control, or… I don’t know who else to go to. Please.” They stopped in their tracks, and the guy who was with the professor just rolled his eyes. You scowled and tried to back away from him as he walked up to you, and squeezed your shoulders harshly.

“Damon, don’t!” You heard professor Saltzman call out, but your attention went to the man’s teal eyes as he looked into yours, and you began to zone out.

“Forget anything you know about vampires, and just go live your boring college life.” You blinked. You looked around, alone. You sighed, thinking about Kai, his secrets, and his witchiness. You had to go get some study time before you could go anywhere, so you went to your dorm.

* * * * * * * *

Damon opened the door for Alaric, as his best friend just ignored him. He was mad, rightfully since Kai stole Jo and was trying to kill her. Not to mention stealing the ascendant, but it was for Bonnie. It was worth it. Even Elena was okay with it, even if it was rude to Jo and Alaric, Bonnie was home now. Besides, Kai had gotten out regardless of whether or not they had the ascendant.They sauntered in, finding Elena and her two best friends chatting.

They looked at the pair of men confused. “What’s going on?”

Damon smirked, “Ready to get some revenge, Bennett?”

Elena and Bonnie looked at him skeptically, and Caroline crowned. “What does that even mean?”

Alaric sighed, “Kai has Jo and Liv.”

“What? I’m coming with you.” Elena stood, and so did the other girl.

Damon and Alaric looked at each other. Damon shrugged as Alaric grasped at his forehead. “We just need to get Jo back.” Alaric muttered, leaving the cafe abruptly as Caroline and Elena followed suit. Damon and Bonnie hung back.

The oldest vampire there looked to the witch, “Excited, Bon-Bon?”

Bonnie smirked at him, “Kai’s back. And I’m going to kill him.”

* * * * * * * *

Kai rested against the gravestone, his chained hands feeling the dirt underneath him. He smirked as the others argued about killing him, about their morals. How Alaric, Elena and Caroline wanted to keep him alive, but Bonnie and Damon wanted him dead understandably. He raised an eyebrow, realizing the magic that lies in the town and started to concentrate on siphoning it into him. He grinned, feeling it consume him.

Damon raised an eyebrow, “Wait. Why isn’t he talking?”

Bonnie scowled, “He never stops talking.”

Caroline let out a small gasp, “His chains are melting.”

Alaric yelled over the loud wind as it started to really pick up, “Is he chanting?”

Kai stood, feeling seriously pissed off. He looked over, not even smirking as he took in their shocked expressions.

Damon squinted, “You little magic sucker.”

Bonnie took a step back, “He took the magic from the traveler’s spell. All that power…”

Elena looked to Bonnie, “But you could still take him, right Bonnie?” The witch looked to the ground, “Bonnie?”

“I can try but-“ Alaric started to run for him when Kai picked him up with a wave of his hand and slammed him against a tree.

“Ric!” Elena rushed to his side as Caroline and Damon rushed to Kai. Bonnie started to chant something and Kai was pushed against a tree, groaning. Caroline held one arm as Damon was about to swing, when Kai disappeared.

Bonnie grunted, “You coward! Come back here!”

Damon groaned, “I really hate that move.”

Elena helped Alaric up, and Caroline went over to Bonnie. “Bonnie, it’ll be okay. You’ll have your chance-“

“It’s not okay, Caroline! He tortured me. He gained my trust, then stabbed me! None of this is okay.” She turned away from the blonde, walking towards their car. Damon sighed, looking at the witch’s retreating figure.

Caroline held the back of her neck, feeling guilty. Elena smiled politely, “Don’t worry, Caroline. It’ll be okay.”

Alaric grunted, “I can't believe he really took all the magic out of Mystic Falls.”

Caroline looked at Elena and Damon with a small smile, “We can go home.”

Damon pulled his phone out, “Yeah. I’ll call Stefan.”

Alaric raised an eyebrow, “What about Kai? What are we going to do about him? What if he comes after Jo?”

Elena placed a hand on Ric’s shoulder, “Bonnie and I can help protect her. If he shows himself, we’ll be ready.”

Caroline looked to the floor, thinking for a moment. Elena noticed as the others left for their cars and spoke, “Care? What’s wrong?”

The blonde looked up with a worried expression, “That was the guy from the bar. He was with (Y/N).”

Elena opened her mouth in shock, “Are you sure? What do you want to do?”

Caroline sighed, “Well we have two more problems. One, did she lie about knowing his name and is she on vervain? Because if she’s on vervain-“

“Then she knows we’re vampires.”

“That or he lied to her but…”

The brunette shrugged, “So she was lied to. (Y/N) was compelled. I compelled her..”

“No. You could tell too, right? She was trying to hide his name, and she was acting so strange. Then to suddenly leave? No, Elena. She knows about us.”

“We need to get to her before Kai does.”

* * * * * * * *

You awoke with a nudge to your face, and you groaned as you opened your eyes. It was Caroline and Elena. You raised an eyebrow, starting to get up, “How did you get into my room?”

Caroline leaned forward, “Don’t be alarmed, we’re just here to ask you a couple questions. We just want the truth.”

You immediately calmed down, smiling. “What do you want to know?”

Elena interceded, almost anxious, “What do you know about us?”

You shrugged, “You use me to help you guys study. We’re friends, but I question our relationship a lot. That’s basically it. Why?”

Caroline rolled her eyes, impatient, “How come we couldn’t compel you earlier?”

You blushed, “Kai was there. He touched my leg and told me to say another name. I didn’t understand what was happening, to be honest.”

Elena raised an eyebrow, “He sucked the magic out of you. How was he there?”

You looked down, thinking for a moment, then suddenly remembering. “Something about astral projection. I think he’s a witch, but beyond that I don’t know much about him.”

Caroline crossed her arms, “What else did he tell you? Did he mention anything about us?”

You furrowed your brows, trying to remember everything, but couldn’t. “I don’t remember.”

The blonde scoffed, “Why not?”

You frowned, “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

The brunette made a small gasp, “She’s been compelled already.”

Caroline raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, by who? I mean… who would’ve just brainwashed this random student to forget about vampires?”

You had a small epiphany, “He had teal eyes. He was with professor Saltzman, walking towards the cafe. I… asked them something and he…” You groaned, clutching your forehead. The pain went away and you smiled at the young vampires. “I don’t remember, sorry.”

“Damon. It had to be. She probably asked the wrong thing to Ric, and Damon erased her memory.”

Caroline smiles, “Huh. Well, that was nice of him.”

You nodded, rubbing your eyes and yawning. You were still tired. Elena looked to the blonde suddenly, “We need to make her forget about Kai.”

You frowned, “What? No!” You backed away, standing up from the bed. “I’m not letting you do that.”

Caroline rolled her eyes again, “Trust me, we’re doing you a favor.” Elena went up to you as you backed away.

“Stop, I don’t want this.” You kept backing away, scared. You didn’t know what was going on exactly, but you didn’t want her to do this to you. You wanted him. You craved him. “Please don’t do this.”

You felt her hands on your shoulders and you squeezed your eyes shut. Elena sighed in defeat, and Caroline groaned. “Oh, for christ's sake!”

The older vampire softly shoved the brunette out of the way and painfully gripped your shoulder. You groaned in pain, the hurt making you open your eyes and be drawn into her blue ones. “Please-“

“You’re going to forget about Kai. You’re going to delete his contact info, and you’re going to find someone not so sociopathic, okay?” She let go of you as your whole demeanor changed. They walked out the door quietly as tears welled in your eyes from the fear. But you were numb, you didn’t even know why you were crying so you wiped your eyes until it went away. You went to your phone, deleting his contact and closing your eyes. You breathed in deeply, and out slowly. Your eyes opened, blinking once. You grasped your head, suddenly getting a headache but you shook your head, withstanding the pain. You went to change into only a hoodie, leaving your pants off and just wearing some panties, suddenly feeling lonely when you heard a knock. You weren’t expecting anyone?

You opened the door, seeing a stranger smirk at you. His blue eyes shined beautifully, and his arm rested against the door frame, and his face was smug. He was very handsome, and you flushed up, realizing how exposed you were to this stranger. He walked into your room, and you raised an eyebrow at the audacity of this stranger. “Oh god, you wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had. Well, I mean it’s better now. You look so cute in that outfit.”

His gaze wandered down to your legs, and you felt yourself heat up. “No offense, but I don’t really know who you are.” His eyes locked with you, and you could see the anger in them. You embraced yourself, feeling frightened. “If-If you could leave, that would be…”

He walked towards you, making you walk backwards until your body hit the door. You had cornered yourself, and you felt stupid suddenly. His hands went to your shoulders, and you tensed. “Please, I don’t want it to happen like this.” You started to tear up as he snickered sarcastically.

“For what to happen?” You winced at his harsh tone and looked to the floor.

“My first time.” He let go of you, and you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. His voice seemed soft as he spoke.

“You’ve never..?” You shook your head and shuffled your feet, feeling awkward. He shook his head, and you hesitantly took a step forward.

“Are you upset for some reason? Does it have something to do with me?” He looked up, and you could see the sadness twinge in his eyes. But it was put away quickly as he stood.

“So you really don’t remember?”

You shook your head, “How do I not know you’re some stalker?”

Kai stepped closer, his eyes piercing yours, “Because when we talked, you told me about your family. About how you came here to get away from them, to forget about them and just-“

“Prove them wrong.” Your heart tug at your conscience, and you clutched at the hems of your hoodie. You still felt unsure for some reason. Then, he suddenly closed the distance between you two. You had wanted to push against him at first, but for some reason, his embrace against you felt right. As if it was…

“Familiar.” His hands clutched at your waist as he pulled away, and let out a small laugh.

“What was that, princess?” Your body reacted to his voice quickly. Specifically to that nickname, and you shuffled your legs, feeling frustrated.

Your hands held his face, tracing his features in wonder. His blue eyes, you could see something in them when they looked at you. “You feel familiar. Like there’s something I’m missing, and I can’t describe it…”

“I can help you remember, if you’d like.” His hand played with your hair as the other played with the hem of your sweater, you furrowed your eyebrows. It was hard to concentrate, his rings were so cold against your heated skin.

“Remember what?” He dug his face into the crook of your neck, and you sighed as he planted light kisses. You felt so confused, so scandalous as your body reacted to the stranger so well. Almost like he wasn’t a stranger at all. He sat on the edge of your bed, taking you in his lap with a hint of a smile on his pensive and serious face.

“Our thing, I guess. I don’t really know what to call it, but we have history. Your so-called friends made you forget, but I can help you remember. This might hurt your head a bit, you just have to trust me.” You reluctantly nodded, weirdly trusting the man for some reason. Instinct, you suppose. He cupped your face, and kissed you passionately as a light pain seared in your skull. You groaned into the kiss, your hands clutching at his jacket as you suddenly remembered serving him at the bar.

You pulled away gasping, and he licked his bottom lip as he let go of you. “We met at the bar. You came in…”

His hands grazed your thigh and your hands started to massage his shoulders, “To fully remember everything is gonna hurt really bad. And you can take it, but there’s always a way I can distract you.”

You raised an eyebrow, hesitant to go through the searing pain again, “What are you proposing?”

“Lay down on your back, princess.” He motioned to the bed, and you felt goosebumps rise on your skin as he spoke. You obeyed, laying down and feeling nervous about what he was thinking about doing. As far as you knew, you’ve never done anything with him before. All you knew is that you needed to get these memories back without passing out from the pain. He stood, looking down at your slightly parted legs, and your innocent (E/C) eyes. He started to climb between your legs, and you gasped as he pulled you closer by your thighs. His face went to your collarbone, lightly sucking on it and your breath hitched. He continued to suck and kiss above the hoodie’s neckline. “You don’t remember this, but my name is Kai. I’ve seen your body entirely naked, and I’m really…” His lips nipped at your skin. “Really…” His hips grounded against yours and you whimpered. “Good at loving your body.” You felt as if your skin was on fire as he grinned against you. He clutched at your shoulders, grinding against you while fully clothed. “When I start siphoning, you’re gonna be in a world full of pain. You know that, don’t you, princess?” You writhed against him, nodding.

“Kai, I-“

He shook his finger in your face, clicking his tongue in disapproval. “As I recall, you like to call me daddy.” You reddened immediately, embarrassed of your past self. He nudged at your hoodie, and you sat up to take it off. You didn’t have a bra on underneath, and he smirked as he reached to touch you. You suddenly had gathered some courage and you smirked back, and wagged a finger in his face as well.

“Nuh-uh. You need to take off some clothes too, daddy.” The name rolled off your tongue smoothly, and your center moistened. He raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused but also surprised you were giving instructions. However, he silently sat up and peeled off his jacket and shirt.

“Is that better?” You shook your head and nodded towards his jeans. He shook his head, smiling, “You’re so demanding, princess. Isn’t that supposed to be daddy’s job?” He unbuckled his belt as you traced his toned chest, down to his stomach. He stood, pulling down his jeans. All you could do was stare at his body with hooded eyes, thinking about all the things you could do together. “You should take a picture. It’ll last longer…”

You scoffed, scooting to the edge of the bed on your knees as his eyes were drawn to your chest. You beckoned him forward, his eyes were so dark blue, they were almost black. “I’d rather play with the real thing.” His arms enveloped your waist as he kissed you deeply, and pain mixed with pleasure as the memories started to come back to you. Your chest pressed against his, and you both moaned into the kiss. You tugged at the ends of his hair, and he smiled breathlessly.

“You’re something else.” He kissed you again, harder. You groaned, kissing him back as your body felt on fire with the overwhelming feelings that contrasted each other; pain and pleasure. You could feel his boner through his boxers, and you pulled away as he stopped siphoning for a second.

“I want it.”

He looked at you confused, “What? But it’s your first-“

You grasped his face in your hands, and panted as you spoke. “I want it with you. I know we kind of just met and you probably don’t feel the same way but, if everything you say is true then, you’re the only one I can trust right now. I trust you, and if it’s not now with you, with the hottest guy I’ve ever seen in my life... I’d rather it be never.”

His eyes analyzed your face, his expression indescribable. All he did was nod, pressing his forehead against yours. You looked up at him, and lightly giggled as you tried to ease the tension. “Just be careful, okay?”

He said nothing, but kissed you softly. It was sweet, then when the pain began again, he kissed you harder. You moaned as he gently laid you back, your body shuddering from the overstimulation of pain and teasing pleasure from kissing and grinding.ng against each other. He kissed your jaw, then started planting sloppy kisses against your skin on his way down to your wet core. His hands lightly skimmed the sides of your body, searing your skin as he did so. Your headache grew as he laid between your legs, his hands firm against your thighs as he hooked his arms around them. Your breath hitched as he snuggled his face against your panties, breathing you in. “You smell delicious, princess.”

Kai sits up to pull your panties down, throwing them to the side immediately. “I really missed you for some reason.” He leaned in, his breathing against your wetness making you feel light headed. His hands gripped your thighs, and the pain returned as he made one long lick against your core. You moaned, your legs clutching around his head as he teasingly peppered kisses against your intimate lips. “And being here, against you, really soothes my stressed… thoughts.”

You winced, as both the pain and the pleasure made you feel weak. He started to kiss your lips more openly, making you moan as he licked and nibbled against your inner core. You crooned, “You’re right. You’re really good…”

His tongue suddenly entered your entrance, and you squeaked aloud. “Daddy, that feels so amazing...” Your hips bucked against his mouth, and you felt a memory come back to you. He was kissing against your chest, nibbling against your chest. His voice murmuring against your skin, and you smiled. Your heart to heart conversation at the bar, the way you felt when he looked at you up and down. When he had appeared in your room the morning after, when he had told you the truth about everything, and when he had loved your body expertly. You giggled in the midst of the pain and pleasure at the same time when he nibbled at your clit. “I really missed you, Kai. Funny thing is, the pain only makes it feel better.”

He looked up at you, his eyes dark as he sat up. You smirked, “I remember you.” He gripped your thighs, his siphoning making you grunt as he pulled you pelvis to pelvis, and started to grind against you. “I remember your tongue, I remember your kiss… I remember your hand inside me.” He grinded harder, and you moaned. “I want you. Please.”

Kai shook his head as he grinded more against you, still siphoning the mind compulsion out of you. You were in euphoria as he grinded his boner against you, but you wanted more. “Why not? Please, Kai… Daddy, I really need you inside me.”

He only grinded rougher against you, and leaned closer in to kiss you. “No…” He murmured against your lips, and you moaned as he rubbed in a certain way that hit your clit. Memories rushed back as you started to build towards your climax, and you wrapped your arms around his neck. You looked in his eye as you started grinding faster, harder, more sloppy.

“Why not?” He licked his bottom lip as he kept thrusting against you, your breasts slightly bouncing, and the bed starting to creak underneath you. “Daddy, please-” You shrieked as he suddenly bit into your shoulder, practically growling as he murmured against your skin to keep calling him that. You moaned his nickname again, both of you panting against each other. You needed more. Faster. Harder.

“Princess, I’m-”

“Me too, daddy. Baby. Kai. Kai!” His thrusts stopped and he held his pelvis against you as you both climaxed. You grunted, clenching your legs around his waist as he siphoned as much out of you as he thought possible. He let go, gently resting his head against your chest as he panted with you, calming his nerves. He was looking at the floor, humming in his afterglow. A couple minutes passed when he suddenly spoke.

“You deserve better than me for your first. Someone who loves you, at least. You barely even know me.” You looked down at him, and ran your hand through his hair. You felt captivated by him, his actions, his words… Everything about him drew you in, it consumed you. You couldn’t think of anyone that you’d want more to be with you and love your body than Kai. You didn’t know why but, you wanted him.

“There’s no one I want more than you right now.” He lifted his head, looking at you in surprise. You smiled sheepishly, “I don’t know exactly what it is about you, but I just can’t get you out of my head. Even when you walked in here and I didn’t remember you, it was like I was still drawn to you. You’re so-”

He smirked up at you, “Charming?”

“Addicting. It’s like this new flavor I never knew existed and now, it’s the only flavor.” He grinned, almost sadistically, and slapped your thigh as he sat up.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, cutie. Now get dressed, we’re going on a date.” You looked at the time, it was already nine in the evening. It had already been two hours? You thought back, remembering all the compulsion Elena and her friends had done to you.

“Kai?”

“Yeah?” He slipped on his pants, going commando which had distracted you for a second, but you shook your head.

“What you did to me, the magic sucking or whatever-”

“Siphoning.”

“Yeah, that. Everything I remember now is completely true?” Your hand drifted to your neck, feeling slightly nervous about your newfound information. You started to doubt a lot of things, and you didn’t know how to feel. The man with the teal eyes, it hurt to even think about it.

“Unless you were hallucinating, why?” You furrowed your eyebrows, searching through your memories as to be accurate. You looked up at him, anxious.

“Do you know a vampire named Elena?” Kai froze as he put on his jacket, and looked at you quizzically.

“Why?” He sat next to you, a devious glint in his eye. You sighed, the feelings overwhelming you as you recalled your lost memory.

“It was a couple years ago. I was on my way home with my aunt, driving out of Mystic Falls when we stumbled across someone laying on the road. It was a girl, it was Elena. My aunt, being dumb and nice, went out to see if she was okay. My aunt talked to her, then went to the back of the car. I didn’t even see her move, she was there and then she just wasn’t. Next thing I heard is her screaming, and then nothing.” You held your breath, not wanting to cry in front of him. “I tried to be quiet in the car, but this guy with teal eyes, he found me. He made me forget what happened, told me to go to the police station and say my aunt and I had been attacked. She’s been declared missing ever since. But she’s not missing, she’s dead.” You blew out a breath, clutching his hand that was next to yours. “He made me forget my aunt was dead because of her. He buried her up. They buried her. I can’t believe she was my friend.”

Kai squeezed your hand as he knelt in front of you, wiping away the tears you didn’t even notice were there. You sniffled as he smirked up at you, “What?”

He bit his lip, grinning. “Wanna have some revenge?” His thumb caressed against your cheek, and you smiled softly.

“What? Like a prank?” Kai chuckled as he shook his head, standing up and heading over to your dressers. He started going through them, throwing some on the floor that you presumed he thought were dumb or ugly. You rolled your eyes, “I’m sorry, are those your clothes?”

He laughed at your remark, “I just think you look better without them.” You huffed as he threw you a bra, some underwear, and some jeans and a hoodie. “But these will do, I guess.”

You changed into the clothes he gave you, and left your hair down. “Okay, Kai, lay it on me. Where are we going?”

He put an arm around your shoulder as he walked you outside, “I said we’re going to get revenge. But also a date. A davenge. Yeah, that’s solid.” You shook your head as you guys walked out of the dorms. “So you don’t have any dorm mates. What’s up with that?”

You felt sheepish as you recalled how, “Well, I kind of pretended to have this mental illness where I’m a big germaphobe and would freak out about sharing a space with someone.” He burst out laughing.

“Damn. You’re a diabolical girl, (Y/N).” You smiled, kind of feeling appreciated for a change. It was always weird to be seen as the studybook, but you were someone with different sides to them. You made it out to the lot, and Kai gestured to the rest of the cars. “Which one do you like?”

You were confused, but played along. “I actually really like the black mustang over there.” He smirked as he saw your decision, and led you to it. He gestured to it, muttering under his breath. It unlocked easily, and he grinned at you happily.

“Now, it’s ours.” You scoffed, thinking about how unbelievable he was. He opened the passenger door, gesturing for you to get in. There was no alarm, so you held back a smile as you sat and he closed the door. You didn’t want to exactly condone this type of behaviour, but how could you resist his infectious attitude? He sat in the driver’s seat, caressing the car’s dashboard with a small mutter.

You raised an eyebrow, “Have you ever driven?”

The car revved up, and he let out a triumphant laugh. “We won’t die, if that’s what you’re asking.”

You rolled your eyes, smiling with a shake of your head. “So where are we headed now?”

Kai leaned over, suddenly kissing you roughly with a small groan. You kissed him back, giggling like a schoolgirl. “Answer my question, Kai.”

He pulled away, sitting upright and shifting the gear into drive. “We’re going to Mystic Falls.”

* * * * * * * *

“Okay, heh.” Elena huffed as Damon closed the door on her. She was perplexed, to say the least. Why had he acted like he hadn’t seen her?

“May have put a cloaking spell on us.” Elena turned to see you and Kai behind her. She seemed shocked, to say the least. You were glad she was shocked, scared even. You didn’t know why he had chosen to confront her, but you had wanted some type of revenge so you went along with it all. He held a tire iron on his shoulder while you scrutinized her. “How genius is that?” He chuckled, then swung the tire iron to her face.

You gasped, rushing over to her unconscious body, “You killed her!”

Kai rolled his eyes, “Relax. She can’t actually die, she’s a vampire, remember?”

You huffed, all your worry about her being actually dead gone. “Good.” He looked back at you in confusion, and you smirked up at him as you walked over. “Because that would’ve been some sucky revenge.” He raised an eyebrow with a small smile as you planted a small kiss on his cheek, then sauntered over to the car. The siphon witch put the vampire over his shoulder, then called out to you as he followed.

“How do you like your eggs?”

You smiled back at him, opening the trunk for him. “Sunny side up.”

__________

Tell me what you think!! Thanks for reading!!

Link to next chapter in the series (on tumblr): https://rome5683.tumblr.com/post/643598717629366272/a-sociopaths-touch

[sylvanfreckles]

Imprisoned (FebuWhump 03)

You can also find this on AO3

Fandom: The Witcher Summary: Jaskier finds himself at the mercy of a malicious innkeeper...luckily Geralt isn’t too far behind him.

* * *

Jaskier stared in disbelief as the innkeeper dropped the coins back on the counter. “No good.”

“No good?” the bard repeated. “You've got to be kidding me It was fine a few days ago.”

“Crown's no good here,” the innkeeper repeated. He leaned onto the bar, the muscles in his shoulders bulging from the change in position. “This is Kaedwen.”

“Ah—yes, yes, I know that,” Jaskier held a finger up. “But it only take three of your ducats to equal one Redanian crown, everyone knows that. You said it was five ducats per night, so you can take two crowns and keep the extra to cover the difficulty of changing currency.”

The innkeeper snorted. “Ye already owe me for three days, bard.”

Jaskier spluttered. “Three days? I paid in advance!”

“You didn't.”

“I did! It's right there in your ledger book,” he snapped. He snatched up the book from the end of the counter “I paid you five crowns, which is equal to fifteen ducats, so I'm all paid up for...three....”

His voice trailed off. He'd opened the ledger book where the tattered ribbon marked the latest page, fully intent on exposing the innkeeper's scheme, but his familiar signature wasn't there. The pages were filled with the innkeeper's sloppy scrawl and the marks of his guests, but Jaskier's name was nowhere to be seen. In fact, an entire page had been torn out, leaving nothing but a ragged edge behind.

“Yer not in the book,” the innkeeper sneered.

Jaskier closed the ledger and placed it on the counter, then rested both hands on the scarred leather. There had to be a way out of this. Geralt was supposed to meet him here yesterday, but obviously the Witcher had gotten caught up in his own business along the way. Jaskier should have had enough money to wait for his friend, even without supplementing his purse by performing to the inn's other customers (he'd been barred from playing here, for some reason, or he'd have plenty of the blasted ducats to pay for his stay).

“Well,” he hedged, “perhaps one of the merchants in town would be willing to exchange my coin. Give me five minutes, and I'll be back with enough for the last three nights and a half dozen more.” Or, rather, he'd slip out of town and wait in the wilds for Geralt's arrival. Surely, surely the Witcher would be happy to lend his aid...this time it wasn't even Jaskier's fault!

He backed away from the counter, only to hit a solid mass behind him. For one, fleeting moment he thought Geralt had turned up in the nick of time...but rough hands seized him by the arms and slammed him forward onto the counter.

“Yer not goin' anywhere 'til you pay yer tab,” the inkeeper snarled. He twisted one meaty hand in Jaskier's hair and twisted his face up.

“I have money,” Jaskier protested weakly. He was down to eight crowns, including the two still on the counter, plus a handful of coppers but that was more than enough to cover his tab.

The innkeeper jerked his head to one side and rough hands hauled Jaskier away from the counter and onto his feet. He was spun around to face his captor, and caught a brief glimpse of a scarred face before a fierce backhand sent him crashing to the ground. He tried to push himself up but a kick from a hobnailed boot caught him under the ribs. Jaskier curled around himself, coughing and groaning, and then the boot was descending again and again.

His ribs, his shoulder, his back...his bones creaked and his skin bruised and tore under the assault. He didn't know if he should cover his head with his arms to protect his face or keep his hands tucked up to his chest to save his delicate fingers.

Breathless from pain, Jaskier could do little more than whimper when a hand caught him by the collar and picked him up enough for the scarred man to leer into his face. “'E's kind of small,” the scarred man called over to the innkeeper.

The innkeeper was already beside them, stripping Jaskier of his coin pouch and any other valuables on his person. “Don't worry. The salt mines are always in need of a new canary,” the innkeeper retorted. “Take 'im to the cellar. Pascar'll be by in a day or so, he always pays for fresh blood.”

With a grunt, the scarred man hauled Jaskier up to his feet. The bard stumbled against the rough treatment, though an oath from his captor and a blow to his kidney had him trying to stay upright. “Please...” he tried again. The words wouldn't quite come—please don't do this, I have friends coming for me, we can pay whatever you want.

“Stuff it, songbird,” the scarred man growled. They reached the door to the cellar and stopped just long enough for the bigger man to thrust it open and shove Jaskier down the wooden stairs.

For a moment, Jaskier considered turning on his captor. He was no match for the man, obviously, but something inside him quailed at giving up without a fight.

The moment was gone far too soon, however, as the scarred man followed on the bard's heels and struck him down again. Jaskier tried to roll away—he was smaller, he might be faster, if he could reach the door—but a rough boot slammed down on his hip and ground him into the dirt of the cellar floor.

“Now you just stay down here, nice and quiet,” the scarred man said. He pinned Jaskier's hands together in one meaty palm while he fumbled for a piece of rough cording that was tangled in the slats of an old crate. “Haskins'll take it outta my cut if I have to beat you black and blue and Pascar only pays half for ya.”

Jaskier opened his mouth to reply, but slammed it shut again and nearly bit through his tongue as he fought back a scream when the scarred man twisted the rope viciously around his wrists. Then the man was climbing to his feet and—oh gods—hauling Jaskier across the cellar floor by his wrists. The rope cut into his skin cruelly, and the movement jostled the injuries he'd already endured.

“Here we are,” the scarred man announced. He looped the rope over the top of a sturdy rack that help ale casks and heaved on it. Jaskier whimpered as he was pulled up by his arms until he was sitting against the rack. Then the big man looped the rope around Jaskier's arms and wrists to bind him to the rack so that he was unable to stand, or even shift position without threatening to dislocate something.

Terror and pain were knotting up his voice in his throat, and the scarred man was crouching in front of him again. “Open,” the scarred man said, holding up a filthy rag he'd found on the cask rack. He siezed Jaskier's face with one hand and planted a fist in his stomach with the other. Jaskier gasped and choked in pain, and then the rag was shoved into his mouth so roughly he felt it hit the back of his throat.

“We'll be back in a day or so,” the scarred man said, pushing himself up to his feet. “You...you sit tight.”

* * *

Geralt knocked the dust from his boots as he entered the run-down inn. If he had known the place was in this bad shape he'd've arranged to meet Jaskier somewhere else.

“Good day to ye!” the innkeeper called from behind the counter. “If yer wantin' a room it's three ducats a night—'course if yer paying in Redanian crowns it'll be two crowns, on account of me needing to change 'em out down the road.”

“I'm looking for someone,” Geralt replied, cutting through the innkeeper's bluster. “Has a bard come through here?”

The innkeeper reddened. “Ah, n-no, no bards.” He fidgeted with a dirty rag in his hands and wiped in ineffectually across the scarred wood. “The baron outlawed 'em, y'see. One of 'em wrote a nasty little song about him a few years back, and now he can't stand the sight of 'em.”

Geralt stared at the man, then turned to study the room. He'd been due in this shithole two days ago, but a fight with a werewolf had left him laid up in a decrepit old barn half a day's ride from here. Jaskier wouldn't have left without him, not after two days. “Did anyone leave a message for me?”

The other man was staring at him now, as though the white hair and yellow eyes were finally sinking in. “Say...ain't you...”

With a grunt of annoyance Geralt twisted one hand in the innkeeper's collar and hauled him up onto the counter until they were eye-to-eye. “I'm meeting a friend here. Have you seen him?”

The man's face twitched and his eyes flickered to the side for a moment. “A...a friend?”

Geralt followed the man's gaze. A scarred man who had been lounging at the back of the inn's great room suddenly straightened to his feet, moving as though to intercept Geralt's path to the door to the wine cellar on the other side of the bar.

He didn't stand a chance.

Perhaps men like him were enough to waylay helpless travelers, but no one laid a hand on a Witcher and lived to tell the tale.

The inn's cellar was dim, but Geralt's eyes had no problem adjusting to the gloom. Even if his vision hadn't been good enough to see the drag marks in the floor, the room wasn't quite big enough to hide the body slumped against the rack of ale casks in the back corner.

“Jaskier,” Geralt breathed. He knelt at his friend's side, fury and concern twisting up in his stomach. The bard's face was pale beneath the dirt and bruises, his eyes closed in a fitful sleep. Geralt rested one palm against the bard's cheek and gently tugged at the rough gag that had been stuffed into his friend's mouth.

Jaskier came awake with a start, flinching away from the figure that knelt over him. “It's me, Jaskier,” Geralt said. He finally pulled the gag free and held his friend's gaze for a long few seconds, long enough for the disoriented panic in Jaskier's eyes to melt into relief.

“Geralt,” Jaskier wheezed. “Thank the gods.” His voice was rough and cracked. Given the state of his clothes it was apparent he'd been down here for more than a day, though Geralt would know more once his friend was safe and he could interrogate that thrice-damned innkeeper.

“I've got you,” he said as he tugged a knife out of his boot. The ropes binding Jaskier to the rack were cut through in an instant, and the bard toppled forward with a whimper of pain. Geralt braced him against his own shoulder, hoping his familiar presence would help Jaskier shake away the lingering fear of this place. “Are you hurt?”

“I can travel,” Jaskier replied quickly. Too quickly.

Geralt frowned at him. There was blood on Jaskier's doublet, and when he gently pushed the fabric away he hissed out a breath at the sight of torn and bruised flesh beneath. “Jaskier.”

“Please?” Jaskier grasped his wrist, his pale hands trembling. “I don't want to stay here.”

The Witcher heaved a sigh. “There's a barn about half a day's ride from here.”

“Anything is better than this place.”

“Right.” Geralt pushed himself back up to his feet, then bent down enough to sling one of Jaskier's arms around his neck. “Let's go get your money back first.”

* * *

You know, sometimes you just have one of those days and you need to whump the bard. You know what I mean?

[katsidhe]

Ranking Every SPN Midseason Premiere

15) 10.10 The Hunter Games. Wow, this one is real bad. Has not one, not two, but three subplots I either don’t care about or actively despise: Claire bonding with Cas (uh, he’s wearing her dad’s corpse), Rowena’s petty infighting with Crowley (bleh why), and Metatron smugly egging on Dean’s violence (why would he care?). This is deep in the slog of s10 episodes that go nowhere fast.

14) 13.10 Wayward Sisters. Is it clear yet that I really don’t like Claire episodes? Sam and Dean roasting lizards is the only real moment of fun here. I liked Kaia, so I hated that she gets used as Claire’s insta-friend/retconned love interest in order to immediately fridge her for the backdoor pilot… so that Claire, who was orphaned young, can understand loss, I guess? Pointless and unimaginative. I also resent the deeply, deeply directionless magic spear/Alt!Kaia subplot that eats up, like, four other episodes in s14-15 and accomplishes exactly nothing.

13) 3.09 Malleus Maleficarum. I like this episode for the insight we get into Ruby’s backstory, and the frank conversation that she and Dean have about demons and his impending Hell tour. But other than that, there isn’t too much to recommend it.

12) 8.10 Torn and Frayed. The next several episodes are all good, and are difficult to sort. In 8.10, Sam and Dean choose each other over Amelia and Benny, in all-or-none ultimatums. I truly enjoy how miserable they both seem to find themselves about this, about how their relationship has grown more and more isolating when tbh it needn’t be. Naomi’s control of Cas in this episode fleshes out the chilling implications we got in The Rapture: Heaven is best when its dark AF.

11) 6.12 Like A Virgin. Monsters, dragons, and Eve: the reveal of Purgatory kicks off a brand new chapter of the show’s mythology. But more importantly, Sam is fully back now! Watching him navigate this brave new world while no one will tell him anything is fascinating and more than a little sad.

10) 4.11 Family Remains. Actually frightening! I like it when the show does the ~it was just humans~ twist. And this episode has great commentary on Dean’s emotional state after his reveal about Hell last time. It’s a good MOTW.

9) 15.10 Nihilism. Dean’s bar mindscape. It’s no Sam mindscape, but it’s definitely the most interesting thing that’s been done with Dean and possession. It’s kinda fascinating that Dean’s uncomplicated happy place exists in an underdog Americana limbo without either Cas or Sam. Also gives us, at last, a good take on Alt!Michael’s motivations—he’s hunting down God. Loses points because the idea of managing to lock Michael in Dean’s mind for any length of time is still extremely unlikely.

8) 1.11 Scarecrow. Meg’s iconic introduction, Dean and Sam’s first breakup; emotional clashing over Winchester family dynamics: what’s not to love?

7) 12.09 First Blood. We’ve got Sam and Dean coping with prison very differently, then using their deaths to escape, and an action sequence through the woods: it’s just real fun. Cas breaks their deal with Billie, which ends up having, uh, no consequences whatsoever. It’s a strong kickoff to a regrettably weak second half of s12.

6) 7.11 Adventures in Babysitting. A quiet, emotional breath after Bobby’s death: Sam and Dean are deep, deep in terrible misery. The potent psychological suffering of season 7 is a delight, and 7.11 doesn’t shy away from it. Plus, it’s got Sam volunteering to get bit in the neck, and a rare example of a Plucky Teen (tm) done right.

5) 15.09 The Trap. This is just a worse 11.10. But 11.10 is amazing, so that’s still a compliment: Chuck tries both torture and the promise of various bleak futures to get Sam to cave. Even if the various futures aren’t staged that well, there is so much stuff here that’s ripe for analysis: especially on the broader stage of s15, this episode is plain interesting.

4) 5.11 Sam, Interrupted. Sam and Dean in a psych ward! They’re dealing with the extreme stress and grief of season 5, and they’re doing it badly—this episode provides a great way for their respective coping mechanisms to be forcefully stripped away. In a delightful microcosm of the show, Sam confesses his anger and gets consequently wrestled down and tied down to a cot.

3) 2.10 Hunted. Gordon Walker, whose old-fashioned absolutism is only matched by his competence, is one of the most memorable early seasons antagonists, and for good reason. We also get Ava, the queen of season 2, who has taken it upon herself to warn Sam and save his life. Then Sam and Dean using code words to disarm Gordon’s trap, and the fallout from John’s final words: quality television.

2) 9.10 Road Trip. Oh my god, what a horror show. This is an exemplary episode. Just incredible. Kinda unfair that it has to compete with 11.10, because it would take the gold by a mile in most other matchups. It’s got a fascinating character study of Gadreel, which also serves to inject interest into the s9 angel conflict; it’s the violent, hypocritical lengths to which Dean is willing to go; it’s got needles in Sam’s brain and a nauseating, horrific picture of possession; it’s got That Bridge Scene. The payoff for 9.01 begins to come due, in spades.

1) 11.10 Devil in the Details. Season 11 gets two D-tier ranks and two S-tier ranks; this is the duality of man. Do I even have to explain why I love 11.10 so much? It’s Sam and Lucifer in a room in Hell for an entire episode, nuff said. It gets better with every rewatch—there are so many great tiny moments, so much history. Lucifer’s combination salespitch/dressing-down is threatening and fascinating and mostly accurate; Sam’s rigid terror and courage and heartbreak and anger and resignation and determination are intoxicating. I want to watch them talk in a room forever.

[fea-warriorheart]

Another Life

His heart pounds as he edges around the side of the barn, peeking out into the field beyond. There's no sign of his hunter, yet he's not stupid enough to think he's safe.

He's given odd looks as he sneaks across the gap between the buildings, from people and animals alike. One of the horses gives him an indignant huff as he brushes past, and he's probably lucky there's a fence between them.

He's in a bad spot. His hunter knows it better than him. He has to get to familiar ground before-

"Found you!"

Jaskier shrieks as strong arms wrap around his waist, lifting his feet off the ground. He can hear the smug grin as the boy behind him adds, "Too exposed, lark."

The hands dart down his sides, tickling him while also letting his feet touch the ground once more. Jaskier shrieks again, but there's no fear this time; laughter and mirth sound in every sound as he squirms in the stableboy's hold.

"Geralt! Stop it! I yield!"

A soft laugh comes from behind him, and the arms around him loosen, releasing him. Jaskier turns, face flushed and split with a grin as he takes in the redhead before him. Geralt's a good head taller than him, despite only being two years older. While Jaskier spends his days studying and being proper, Geralt spends his split between helping at the estate stables and learning medicinal practices under the watchful eye of his mother. He's lean from winter, as most of the village is, but there's already muscle starting to build back up on his frame with the scraps of food he's given by a sympathetic cook.

Laughter sparkles in Geralt's fern-colored eyes, a feature many might call dull compared to some of the other shades sported by humanoid races, but Jaskier was of the firm belief it fit him perfectly. Geralt was a child of nature, just like his mother, and it was fitting for such a prominent feature to reflect that.

"Julian! Get back here!"

The brunette grimaced at the sharp tone. Geralt's expression instantly smoothed into the neutral stance most of the servants took when a member of the house approached, let alone one of Jaskier's parents.

His father stalked over, scowling at him. "You're late for your lessons. I shouldn't have to come out here and drag you around. It's disgraceful."

Julian bowed his head slightly. "Yes, father. My apologies."

An iron grip latched on to his upper arm. His father sneered at Geralt as he started dragging him back towards the manor. "Get back to work, brat."

Julian didn't risk glancing back. Geralt would only get in further trouble; he knew his father already disliked the boy for being friendly with him, but kept him around because of his old friendship with Visenna. The woman had been there for Jaskier's birth, as well as his two sister's. Plus, Geralt had a way with the animals that no one could quite explain - or replicate - and it was too much trouble in his father's eyes to find and train a new boy for the job.

Geralt is one of the few good things Julian has in his life. He won't risk him by being stupid.

-

A fierce storm is raging against the windows of the kitchen. Many of the servants are fast asleep, but Jaskier paces the room, worry lines etched into his brow. Geralt is making them both a pot of tea; a messenger had arrived in the early evening, stating that Jaskier's father had been ambushed by bandits and that his location was currently unknown. Despite being reassured by his mother, sleep had not come easy to the young viscount.

Geralt rested a gentle hand on his shoulder, bringing him out of his thoughts, and offered him a steaming cup. "Sit down," he murmured. "You'll do nothing for no one wearing holes into the floorboards."

He sits with a flop, tracing a finger along the edge of the cup as he waits for it to cool a bit. Geralt sits beside him, something they're only allowed to do in moments like this; moments of solitude in a life full of company. "You know I worry."

"Yes. It's why I knew you would seek me out."

Jaskier glances at him. Geralt's coat is drying by the fire; he'd accompanied the messenger to the manor through the storm, soaking both of them through, and his mother had insisted the poor boy stay the night. He'd taken a place by the kitchen fire to stay out of the way, and had been waiting when Jaskier slipped inside.

With Geralt, Jaskier is able to be... well, Jaskier. He's able to laugh and tell stupid jokes and not care about being proper, but only with Geralt. With all others, he must be Julian Alfred Pankratz.

It's no wonder why he feels drawn to the boy.

He sighs softly, leaning against Geralt. "What if they hurt him?"

"He's a hardy man, you know. This isn't the first time he's had to fight."

"That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."

"I know, lark." Geralt gives him a one-armed hug-squeeze around his shoulders. "He'll be alright. Probably just lost his way in the storm, is all."

Jaskier shrugs miserably, sipping at his tea. They sit in silence for a while; Geralt eventually stands to clean their cups and dry them off. He's placing them back in the cupboard when the door slams open, startling both boys and causing the fire to give a threatening flicker.

Two figures stumble inside; one is unmistakably his father, while the other has broad shoulders and wears a thick cloak, obscuring all but the chestnut beard with gray flecks peppering it. The stranger slams the door shut, bolting it against the wind, and Jaskier's father stands there for a moment, breathing heavily as he takes in the two boys.

The stranger turns, then, and Julian's heart clenches when he sees the Witcher's medallion hanging around his neck. He pulls down the hood of his cloak, golden eyes reflecting the light of the fire. His gaze is on Julian, studying him curiously.

He turns back to Julian's father. "I assume you didn't expect either of them to be here. Which would fulfill your payment."

The man tenses, then shakes his head. "No, I expected my son to be here. He always waits up when I'm late. The stable boy, though- bah. You can take him."

Julian feels his world slow to a halt. When he looks at Geralt, he feels like he's moving through pine resin. The redhead's eyes are wide with shock and fear, and his mouth opens and closes a few times, though no sound leaves him.

"Fine. I doubt I have enough rations to bring both of them with me, anyways." The Witcher turns back to them, crossing his arms. "Your name, boy."

"No!" Julian's voice starts working again, and he stands between them. "You can't take him!"

"Julian," his father hisses, storming over to him and yanking him away. "He claimed the Law of Surprise for saving my life. It must be fulfilled."

"No! He can't take Geralt! Please, father, you can't let him!" Tears burn his eyes. Geralt still isn't moving, still hasn't looked away from the Witcher.

Golden and green gazes snap to them as Julian is backhanded. The Witcher is there in an instant, gripping his father's wrist enough to make the man cry out.

"I don't take kindly to those who would abuse a child for caring for a friend," the Witcher says softly. "Touch him again and lose your hand. Your oath has been fulfilled. Leave us, now."

"Wait." A small voice sounds from the corner where Geralt stands. He's trembling, eyes darting between the Witcher and Julian. "Can I- Can I at least say goodbye?"

Something in the Witcher's face softens, and he steps back, nodding. "Do you have any family?"

"My mother, she lives in the village..."

"You can say farewell to her as well and grab some spare clothes. Make it quick."

The Witcher leans against the fireplace, and Geralt rushes over, wiping at Jaskier's tears with soothing motions. "It's alright, lark. Don't cry... It'll be okay..."

"Geralt... Please, you can't leave me..." Jaskier gripped his shirt, twisting the fabric in his grip. A gentle hand brushes through his hair.

"You know I can't just ignore this, lark... I have to go, but we'll see each other again eventually, yeah...?"

Jaskier sniffles. Geralt lifts his chin, forcing their eyes to meet. He smiles gently, and for the life of him, Jaskier can't help but feel the truth in his words. He nods, even as his bottom lip wobbles. "Yeah."

The Witcher steps in again, a hand on Geralt's shoulder. He hands the boy his coat, and with one last look back, Jaskier's best friend vanishes into the stormy night.

-

He learns in Oxenfurt how few boys survive the Witcher mutations. He does not want to believe it, but part of him mourns his friend. Geralt was strong, but verging on too old for the Trials; his body would be more likely to reject them than to adapt to them. And besides, Geralt was a farmer, a healer, not a monster hunter.

So Jaskier does his best to move on. But there are nights, often dark with storms, where he curls in on himself and wishes things had happened differently.

He graduates Oxenfurt a master of the arts and top of his class, and then he just... wanders. He plays as a bard in taverns and inns, earning enough coin to stay the night and occasionally buy some new clothes. He takes lovers, but never partners; he loves too much and yet too little, flitting from person to person as his very being rejects each and every one.

He's nineteen, playing in some backwater village. The road there had been harrowing; he had been lucky to join a group of merchants at the last town. A nest of monsters - he wasn't sure what, he hadn't paid attention - had been terrorizing most travelers in small groups for weeks. They'd even been so desperate as to put up a notice for a Witcher.

Despite all of the stories, Jaskier hasn't seen another since that night. He's beginning to wonder if they're just a figment of everyone's collective imagination; perhaps the monsters just kill themselves off or migrate elsewhere when the pickings are slim.

He's just finished a song, collecting some meager coin as the door opens. Jaskier is retreating to his table when a hand rests on his shoulder; his mind runs through anyone he might have pissed off. He hasn't been in town long enough to anger any husbands, fathers or brothers, and no one would have followed him through such a dangerous area. So truly, for the life of him, he doesn't know why-

"Lark."

His world goes still in a way that has happened only once before.

He turns slowly. He's no longer a head shorter; his eyes are about level with his nose. His skin is paler than Jaskier remembers, contrasted with dark armor. A wolf's head gleams above it, snarling at his foes, and two swords are visible on his back.

Snow white hair brushes his shoulders, tied back clumsily. Jaskier can't find the strength to breathe as he finally looks him in the eye.

Gone is the green of ferns and grass in the spring; molten gold takes their place, slitted pupils darting in minuscule movements as he searches Jaskier's face. For all the differences, he's still the same boy - still the stable boy Jaskier knew.

He's still...

Jaskier is breathless as he whispers, "Geralt."

A small smile spreads across the boy's - man's, he's twenty, twenty-one now - face. He takes Jaskier's hand in his, squeezing it gently. "I told you I'd see you again."

//An indulgent thing that I came up with out of the blue. Lost steam at the end which is why it sort of trails off, but hey, if anyone's interested in a part two.... (bold presumption, I know.)

[horrorslashergirl]

The Lurking One: A Shadow Horror Story

Authors Note: Decided to write a story for my newest Slasher OC, Shadow. People seem to really like him, despite him not having a face claim. lol

Warning: 18+ for horror, gore and torture, plus add in trauma

Words: 2.4k words

It was one of these late at night study sessions for the ones that slacked during the year and had to catch up with what they lost; Giula was one of them and she cursed herself for letting her time be filled with sorority activities and parties.

The Northeastern University campus was empty save for the security guard; Guila being the only student who was currently in the library catching up to a project that was due to tomorrow. She could have done it back at the sorority house, but she knew the girls would distract her and tempt her with other activities such as preparing for a college festival that was in two weeks.

Her grades were more important than social activities that would print into her status, not to mention her parents who had a talk with her about the fact that college wasn't a gateway for drinking and hooking up with guys.

Guila sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, checking the old antique clock of the library.

10:35 PM

Her gaze moved back to the tons of files and books on the wood desk she was sat at. She just finished the project, but she needed to revise it to make sure everything was perfectly done. The grade for this project was important and she wasn't looking for another discussion with her parents and the headmaster.

She will look it over in the morning; she needed to be fresh tomorrow for the presentation and looking like a crackhead in front of the judges wasn't a pro in the book. Putting everything back into her bag neatly, she pulled her hair out of the tight ponytail, letting her auburn locks fall freely down her back, almost to the hips.

Walking out of the library and locking the door; thank God the old library lady was a sweetheart and left the keys for her to close. She walked down the hallways and taking the old victorian ascensor to the low floor. Before she could exit the building she stopped by the cubicle of the security guard, handing him the keys.

"All done for tonight, dear?" Arthur asked, taking the keys and setting them on his desk.

"Well, finally so. I will have to own Mrs. Hariot for leading me the keys to the library." Giula told the old man with a smile.

"Ahhh...She's an angel among here. Trust me, it was her pleasure." he old the girl, sitting back down at his desk, a copy of  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was on the desk.

"Have a good night without incidents, Sir." Giula told the gentleman guard who nodded.

"Nothing ever happens around here. Kids nowadays don't read books anymore, so I don't think someone will try to break into the library." Arthur joked, making Giulia giggle and nod, although feeling a little by what he said.

"I suppose so. Good night." the girl waved off, stalking towards the exit.

"Likewise, dear!" Arthur called after her, going back to the classic novel.

As she opened the door, a chilly air hit Giulia in the face, making her wrap her arms around herself. It was definitely colder than when she got in the morning here. It was earlier spring, the days warm, but the nights reminding that the winter just recently moved away.

She was wearing a white button-down with dark blue jeans and some ballet flats that made her legs all shaky; her light brown cardigan not helping at all. She couldn't wait to get back to the sorority house and bask in the warmness of her bed and away from the coldness of the night.

It was just a 20 minutes long time walk to the house, but it seemed like much more to her now that she was all alone and shivering like a hairless cat.

Mentally, she cursed her parents for not letting her drive, always scolding her that she wasn't ready. Overly protective parents and their old school mentality always made Giulia feel like she was still a baby. She was 22 and in the second year of college for Christ's sake.

She couldn't wait to finish college and get a job; Oh the dream of having her own apartment and not having to deal with doll-like girls who owned Porches all because of their wealthy daddies. Now thinking more about it, she was the only one who didn't have an overly rich family; maybe the girls kept her because she was the only one who was first to clean a mess, make breakfast when the others were hungover.

The streets were all deserted, none was outside, most people here being locals since birth or college students who basked in cheap beer and gossips at this hour.

This neighbor that gave off hostel-like vibes made her skin be covered in goosebumps, smelling a faint scent of weed, beer and hearing the music blasting from the apartments above. The police wouldn't come to stop the noise, since there was none to be bothered by the hypnotic beat.

Guila could feel eyes on her, but every time she turned around to take a look there was none, just the slight wet streets and alleyways that adored this place. Each time she passed one, she would halt her walking, afraid two big clawed hands will brisk her away into darkness.

She rolled her eyes as a guy from above cat-called her, probably drunk off his ass, and his girlfriend a few feet away from him at the window making out with his best friend.

Boston really was filled up with these types of students, getting great opportunities and throwing said blessing out the window because of blinding hormones, and the idea of being young means I'm indestructible.

'Just 10 more minutes and you will be home.' Giulia thought to herself, but it quickly went off the window as pain shot through her scalp, before she knew it she was dragged into the darkness of an alleyway.

One strong arm wrapped around the middle section of her waist, but the other moved to her neck, feeling the prickle of something cold against her neck; a blade, a knife, something that was indeed sharp.

"Scream and you can say arrivederci to your precious vocal cords." the person that held her spoke, voice raspy and very eerie, definitely a male.

"P-Please...Don't kill me." Giulia whispered, afraid that if she raises her voice too much, he won't keep on his promises.

"Shush now. I heard that line all too many times and it gets very monotonous." the man spoke right by her ear, running what she assumed was a scalpel over her cut, not slitting her throat, but surely making a small cut to show that he wasn't playing games.

She was panicking, her breathing getting more on the hysterical edge, then she did the first thing she could think of. She kicked him in one of his shins, making him groan, but he didn't back off. He did throw her in the opposite direction of the alleyway against the brick wall. Giulia grunted and whimpered as she hit the ground right into a puddle.

Her hazel eyes looked up and she felt terror strick her as he stalked over to her wet and bruised form, like a panther ready to pounce on its prey. She could scream, but the music from the apartments above was so loud she wouldn't have a chance in someone hearing her.

One cold leather-gloved hand wrapped around her neck and he slammed her back into the wall, showing so much strength that got her the image of him snapping her tiny neck like a twig.

"That was some dirty move you put up there, little wench. Although I am a very patient man." he whispered, and now that he was in front of her, she could make out what he looked like.

He was wearing all black, probably a very expensive tailored suit with a scarlet red tie, not even a glimpse of skin was shown. What really caught her attention was his vintage-looking fedora and the creepy raven like a mask. 

A doctor purge mask? She heard of them from her brother who was very into history.

"W-Who are you?" Giulia choked, his hand tightening around her throat at the question.

He hummed like he was deep in thought.

"I think the public eye has birthed me as the Shadow." he answered her question.

It took only a few seconds for Giulias eyes to widen and her body to tremble. She heard on the news about him; the unknown brutal killer, never seen, none to survive to tell the story and how they described his murderers on television.

The killer known now as Shadow chuckled at her horrified face.

"Ahhhh....So you heard of me. Good. I hate to explain information to someone who cannot even work their brain enough to avoid someone dangerous." he mused, making the young woman whimper and cry, then she began to swing her legs in an attempt to hurt him.

Only for her head to be slammed multiple times against the brick wall until her vision blacked and she fell on the dirty ground by the pristine black Oxfords he was sporting.

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

The lightbulb above flickered to life and Giulia opened her eyes, looking around like a desperate animal caged, or more like chained by her neck, a metal collar digging into the skin of her neck and creating red and purple marks.

Her doe-like eyes looking around and stopped on the black-clad figure.

The Shadow.

"Ahh...I'm glad you're awake. I might think I hit your head too many times on the brick wall. I usually prefer drugging my victims, but you were acting like too much of a mindless animal." he began to spoke so fluently, calm, like everything that was going on was a normal occurrence for him; like discussing the weather over a few drinks.

The man was laying some tools neatly on a metal table; surgical tools, like scalpels, forceps, scissors, retractors, and clamps. Giulia felt a bile form in her throat, starting to tug on the heavy chain that was bounded against the concrete wall; no luck.

"Let m go, you fucker!" she screamed and in an instant, her back meet the cold wall, gloved hand grasping her jaw tightly as the leather beak of the mask brushed against her face.

"You smell putrid, although there is that faint strawberry scent of your perfume." he commented, fingertips digging more into her jaw and making her whimper and sob.

In his free hand, he held a pair of surgical retractors and her eyes widened when he forced her mouth open, one finger pulling her upper lip to expose her pearly white teeth and pink gums.

"You have a nice set of teeth there. I adore your canines especially." he whispered, then he grasped one of her canines with the retractor, tugging on it and forcing a pain-filled scream from Giulia; the next twin teeth following. 

Her tears filled eyes looking as he held both canines between black covered fingers.

"Very impeccable indeed." he murmured, going back to the table.

The metallic taste of blood and sterisol filled her mouth, scarlet dripping down her chin.

She knew this was far from over as his thumb run over the shiny scalpel.

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

Giulia didn't know how much time has flown; one month, maybe two? She hadn't seen the light of the day in so long and she wished dead would overcome her.

She was in so much pain; the things Shadow did to her. First the canines, then her fingernails went off and when she spat on his mask she thought she was going to die as he poured acidic fluid down her scalp; her beautiful long hair was just a burned memory.

Dead was supposed to come, but the sadist treated her wounds like an expert at the hospital, only to remind her that death was far away from her.

Then the begging, telling him what she will do anything, even getting on her knees and possibly giving him new ideas. His words were absolute humiliation.

"I know what you're implying, ignorant wench." he told her as his gloved hands were running down her naked hips, then he left her.

"I'm not a rapist, darling. Never found any fascination with taking someone against their own will in that way. I prefer my slave to be willing, but you're not. So I advise next time you keep these sick fantasies to yourself." he told her, mocking and making her feel even more stupid.

She caught glimpses of him doing awful things to the other girls; one of them skinned alive and every muscle on full display.

"You're just too perfect, aren't you?" he told Giulia, making her a confused mess.

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

She did manage to trick him when he was busy piercing her earlobes multiple types, having to bite her tongue as she stole the keys to her chains.

Then when he found her moving down the hallways; she almost got her leg blown off when he used a shotgun after her. She had opened the door to the exit and was meet with the night. Running through the forest, looking behind her over and over.

Her luck was finally getting to the principal road and a car passed by, getting in, and again she was in danger. The old man tried to rape her, but she was brave enough to jump out of the car when they were in town.

After 30 minutes of limping around the streets, she finally spotted a police car that was patrolling.

Interrogations followed, but she always spoke the same words, too traumatized by the events.

'He is tall and in all black. He doesn't seem human. No human could do this. He pulled all her skin off like she was a rabbit. His voice, makes me wanna throw up, it's so raspy it makes me wanna be deaf so I cannot hear it anymore in my head. What he did to the other girls...I cannot describe. He said that I'm perfect. What was that supposed to mean?'

Her parents were devasted when they found out about everything that happened and her mother fell on her knees crying over and over when she finally saw Giulia face to face.

The worst was that she could no longer be let on her own; nightmares, voices, aggressive outbursts, and feeling like she was constantly followed. She was scared of her own shadow.

When the police found the whereabouts of where Giulia was held everything was gone, not even a spot of blood like there was none there in the first place.

Why clean it all up if Shadow wanted the bodies to be found in the first place?

Needless to say...Nights in Boston weren't safe anymore.

[popculturebuffet]

Mission Hill Review: Plan 9 From Mission Hill or I Married a Gay Man From Outer Space!

Commission for @weirdkev27​. Hallowen Havoc marches on! For my first commission ever, I take a look at the cult classic mission hill’s final produced episode and one of it’s most loved. Kevin’s visit to an x rated movie pays off less with boobs and more with a friendship with his elderly gay neighbor and film buff wally and a new appreciation for cinema, only for this new friendship to nearly end over Kevin’s good natured attempt to spotlight Wally’s only film, the man from pluto. Gay spaceman, a touching gay love story, and a surprisingly likeable guy with a neckbeard insue. Spoilers and full recap FROM PLUTO, under the cut. 

Well this was a nice suprise. After the utterly draining process of my review of “Let’s Get Dangerous”, it was a nice suprise to find out one of my handful of fans had tried to comission me a while back and I hadn’t realized it, and I was happy to oblige him. I was even happier when I found out what his commission was: Plan 9 From Mission HIll, an episode i’d planned to cover for pride but got squeezed out due to how little i’d planned the month out in advance, a lesson I still REALLY need to learn. Regardless not only was it a nice, funny, and heartwarming ep to cover after the sheer amount of analysis and recapping the last one took, I realized it ended up fitting the spooky season, as there’s just as much fun to be had in truly fantastic horror movies like “Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Get Out”, “Child’s Play”, “Tales from the Hood” and “The Thing” as there is from so bad it’s great horror films like “House (The Japanese one), C.H.U.D. II: Bud The Chud, Terror Toons and House Shark. Seriously watch House Shark i’ts hilarious. Hell I fully plan on watching the Gary Busey film Hider in the House tomorrow. I mean it’s a film about hollywood’s favorite nutball  living in the walls and attic of someone’s house. What’s not to love? Maybe it might be entirely boring but that’s the risk you sometimes take to find so bad it’s gold filmaking. Plus cheeestastic films like these are the reason we have the classsic and incomprable mystery science theater 3000 and it’s succesor rifftrax. So while I need to watch more of them, I have a spot in my likely overtaxed heart for this kind of film, and as a result this episode resonated with me on rewatch in a way it didn’t the first time around, even if it was still my faviorite. 

Backing up a bit as usual I like to give my history with a show first time covering it: Mission HIll was one of a handful of shows picked up by Adult Swim in it’s early days. Since most of Adult Swim’s early originals were 11 minutes at a time when this was still a new and radical thing they were doing having 11 minute shows that weren’t sold as half hour pairs of 11 minute episodes, they likely needed more shows to fill up the air and clevelry simply bought the rights to several shows that had only had one season, along with Family Guy and Futurama which as history would bear out both made the shows into huge names in the animation industry but brought both back.. though in Family Guy’s case sometimes dead is better. Point is, several shows got a second life thanks to Cartoon Network if sadly not more seasons, with the sole exception of the utter classic Home Movies which I really need to talk about at some point, and thus are really more associated with Adult Swim than their original networks. Hell before doing this review I genuinely didn’t know what Mission HIll’s original networks. But now you know the framework this show came out in what IS Mission Hill anyway? 

MIssion Hill was a cartoon from the wonderful brains of Bill Oakely and Josh Weinstein, no relation to the MST3K one who due to this confusion now goes by J. Elvis Weinstein instead, who showran the simpsons and did some great episodes, my faviorte of there’s being $pringfield, aka the casino one. 

The show was about Andy, a 24 year old slacker whose happily lazing about after college in his loft with his friends Jim, a stoic but friendly stoner played by Brian Posehn, and Posey, a sensitive hippie. However when he goes to pickup his childhood dog he ends up with an unexpected roomate: His nerdy, sheltered and neurotic brother Kevin, who has a love of sci fi, a type a personality and a habit of going bling blong to focus when studying or just whenever. He’s also voiced by future robin and future psychopath claming to be robin Scott Mellinville. Also in the building are Carlos and Natalie, an unemployed artist and college professor and their baby Nameless.  I forgot they existed.  And of course saving the best for last we have the brother’s neighbors, and a very early gay couple for animated television Wally and Gus, played by the legendary Tom Kenny and Nick Jameson who hasn’t done much of note but does a great job anyway. Wally is a fastudious, Gus is angry and very brooklyn, but the two genuinely love each other, makeout frequently, with their first showing off the two as a gay couple, and are an adorable but very beliviable couple. It’s part of WHY I wanted to spotlight them. The late 90′s/early 2000′s, the show originally aired in 99 and into 2000 and aired on adult swim in the early 2000 for the curious, were not a great time to be gay in animation with most gay characters used as punchlines and hardly any queer stories. Not only that but just a year earlier will and grace had to have one overly camp chracter and one “regular” gay character in order to get made. Granted that show has it’s issues but still, the point stands having a gay couple that plays fairly realistically, is shown to both be sexually active and love each other and who’ve been together for decades was a hell of a step for a medium where Family Guy around the same time had a joke with the punchline “Whoa transvestite back off!” Granted Family Guy would do far worse to both the gay and trans communities, but we’ll get to that someday. Or sooner if you commission me, but I swear if you do I will pull a gary busey on your house. Point is not only is it INCREIDBLY forward for it’s time but it holds up even now. There’s a reason the creators are working on a spinoff/revivial focused on the two and a reason these two tend to be one of the most talked about elements of the show. That and frankly their hilarious having realistic banter.. and also having one episode where Gus has a knife in his head for a whole episode. It helps that this episode, their spotlight one and the last one produced, is also one fo the series best. So with all that build up let’s take a look shall we? 

We open with Kevin passing a theater showing x rated movies and are shown, over a bunch of times of him passing it him condeming it publicly but his tone clearly telegraphing the classic battle between a teenage boy and his dick. Dick wins and Kevin heads inside and gives us... this. 

.... If you will excuse me, please enjoy the musical stylings of the late great Zorak while I go shower the “EeEEEEEEUUUUGGggggggHHHhhuuuuuuggghhhhhhhhewwwwuuuuugggghhhhggooooodddddddwwwyyyyyy” off me. 

God rest his soul. Okay i’m good now. Thankfully this isn’t an episode about Kevin getting addicted to x-rated theater, and they already did an episode about him masturbating. No really it actually had a good message as Kevin was so embarassed about the incident, he nearly let two other guys, granted not remotley good people who were stealing from there anyway, take the fall. Andy even ends up giving a great speech coming to his defense

“People, you mock this boy, but it's your fault he's here today. Your hypocrisy has made this boy a prisoner, terrified of his own sexuality. So much so that he'd rather send two relatively-innocent men to prison than admit he looks at pornography! He thinks his natural urges are filthy and perverted, and why? Because of your conspiracy of silence! Nobody dares admit the truth - that you're all just like him!”

IT’s a damn good moment and a good message. That sadly is still relevant as America still views sex as worse than violence for some weird reason. At least he has the internet now. Anywho when Kevin goes to see what’s up he runs into Wally who explains the confusion: He’s just showing old “X-Rated films”. Now some of you are probably wondering “Wait non-porn films used to use that?” Or “Wait what’s an x-rating?” Well while I knew some films did used to do that I was honestly curious myself as to why it was retired and why porn films got to use it and took a quick hop to google to find out reading both the wikipedia article for the rating and this vulture article on the subject to get a slightly deeper look at it. 

It’s actually quite intresting as I genuinelly also didn’t know when the MPAA ratings started for films: When the rating’s board started in 1968 there were four raitings: G, GP (Later flipped to PG), R and X. X was the modern equivlent of today’s R really, and films like Last Tango in Paris, Midnight Cowboy and a Clockwork Orange, with Orange even having a poster up at the cinema in this episode and Midnight Cowboy being part of the plot very soon. We’ll get to that in the moment. Point is it allowed filmakers to push the envelope break barriers all that good stuff and makes me curious about those very films, which is a good thing as i’ll admit to not being exactly a film buff.  But as Kevin’s confusion here shows, eventually the porn industry took a hold of it, using the X as a way to get sex movies into regular cinemas and have an air of legitimacy, hence why Debbie Does Dallas was a mainstream hit.. and yes that’s an actual film that I only know about thanks to I Love the 70′s. If your wondering why the MPAA just couldn’t you know, tell them to know or why they didn’t take over other ratings it turns out for some weird reason why the G and R ratings were owned by them, and later PG , they forgot to trademark X and by the time they even thought of it it was too late. Hence terms like XXX rated and what not or the ungodly stupid XXX porn parodies. Just.. just give them actual names and slap “A porn parody” ont he end if you want to avoid a lawsuit.  Naturally the film industry struck back and X soon went from a way to have daring, interesting films.. to basically a threat by the MPAA that your film wouldn’t be carried by any major distributors if it had one, with Dawn of the Dead having to just go unrated just to get distributed. The 80′s brought the killing stroke: With the rise of big theater chains, mall theaters with restrictions I wasn’t aware of, and big home video outlets like blockbuster that didn’t carry porn, the x rating was well and truly dead and the MPAA lukewarmly added NC-17 which serves the same bullshit purpose as theaters still refuse to carry them and the MPAA still uses it for essenitally the same reason. Nothing changed! If your wondering why people sometimes have problems with the MPAA, yeah there’s your answer, as they could’ve campaigned harder for NC-17 but clearly enjoyed having a raiting to hold over films heads. 

So yeah if you don’t know, know you know bud, let’s move on. So yeah Wally explains the confusion and decides to educate Kevin on film by showing him Midnight Cowboy, with John Voight “Before his head looked like a radish” and Dustin Hoffman. Also Andy brings up Sphere.. a film I also know nothing about. Hang on... checking Letterboxd and okay. It’s a Dustin Hoffman starring Sci-Fi film about a research team investigating a mysterious sphere at the bottom of the sea. Huh.. I prefer Cube myself but to each his own.  But once Kevin clams up he really enjoys it. Will grant the episode lays it on a tad thick, with Kevin comparing the film to , of all things, Armageddon. I mean I get MIcheal Bay is a good metric for crowd pleasing schlock but still, even nerds have standards. My standards aren’t very high at times mind as I still want to watch this sometime today. 

But I still think even awkward teens have better standards. Then again one of my faviorite films at the time was Saving Silverman which while I can’t hate it due to nostalgia , having watched it from 5th grade well into my teens, I can see was not very good. Though it did have R. Lee Ermy being both really funny and turning out to be gay so that was awesome. 

And he does make a good point that heroes like Ratzzo Rizzo don’t go well on Taco Bell cups.. though it also feels weird to me in 2020 where while not big sellers films with deep stories and unlikeable heroes are some of the biggest on tv and one of them was one of the greatest animated series of the last decade, so things must’ve been pretty damn bleak in 1999. The two also run into Gus who wants dinner and a fight ensues between the couple about the fact Gus owns a restraunt, could just bring his lunch etc. It’s hilarious and as I said I like how they feel like a couple you’d meet in real life. Sadly I don’t have an elderly gay couple in my neighborhood but here’s hoping. Or maybe i’ll be the neighborhoods wally when I grow up who knows. Also Tom Kenny’s delivery is great. 

Kevin later relays his fun day to his loftmates, with Andy expressing genuine suprise at Wally’s job and love of art house cinema, as none of them knew what he actually did. Andy’s genuinely shocked and mildly appalled they’ve lived near Wally for so long but having no idea what he does.. but really I had a sweet old lady, Delores who lived next to me for almost my entire life before she moved to be closer to her family, visited her house frequently pet her cats, went to her house after school at one point.. and I cannot tell you what he did, so it’s incredibly relatable. However in a scene that’s both hilarious but also really, really sweet, the three relate that they do know him well and due to being neighbors after all and know Gus and Wally’s morning routine: They wake up at 8, Wally brews the Coffee, Gus reads him the funnies, then they shower together while singing college fight songs, and then, with Jim saying this part so picture it in Brian Posehn’s voice please you won’t regret it, argue or have gay sex and then it’s off to work. It’s really sweet, both in showing off their well worn dynamic with each other, and the fact that the loftmates really DO know these two even if they dont’ know everything and they are close in their own way. Kevin can only give out a “Hm” in response... which is probably the closest he can get to saying touche without breaking into nerdy giggles. 

Cue the good times montage as Wally introduces Kevin to Ingmar Bergman, who I have heard of even if i’ve never seen any of them, and some director I never heard of who made old timey comedies apparently. IT’s a really nice sequence. Kevin also shows 2001: A Space Oddesy to his friends, who are bored to tears by it while Kevin’s enraptured. Which I would say was another heavy-handed swipe at late 90′s cinema but being a teen myself who had mostly watched things like Star Wars, I did not gel with 2001 and need to rematch it at some point, so I totally relate to his friends utter boredom and confusion with it given it’s rep. It’s a visually stunning film. I will however stand by not liking Star Trek: The Motion Picture, as that film TRIES to be 2001 but is instead just really, REALLY boring. 

But naturally things can be entirely good natured bonding between an elderly gay man and , as Wally puts it in the best line of the episode “The son god never wanted me to have”, as Kevin notices a film coming up that Wally apparently made, and looks to star gus. Wally panics and shoos his young protégé away... which yeah he could’ve just you know told him he doesn’t like the film or anything else and prevented this episode but then we wouldn’t of seen the gay equilvent of plan 9 from outer space so fair enough. 

At the Gus’ Diner, the loftmates and their neighbors I mentioned earlier look over the poster, and we find out from Gus that that is him, and he starred in a movie.. and naturally Wally explained never showing it to his husband in the simplest way possible: By claming a shark ate it. You know while I watched the show I didn’t quite get it when I was younger and it’s probably why it took me decades to revisit it.. but I wish I had sooner this show is REALLY damn funny and i’m really looking forward to that spinoff with Wally and Gus. 

Wally continues to dodge Kevin, so Kevin, trying to find info about the film and it being lost, goes to the video store.. back when those existed. Something I have to give the show is honestly the use of vhs, visits to video stores, and the movies Kevin mentions are the only things that really date this film. While swapping another Dustin Hoffman film in proved impossible, it is plausible Kevin would see it streaming somewhere. and it’s easy enough to swap Armageddon for Rise of Skywalker given that film’s just as good.. Last Jedi was excellent though. Point is this story REALLY holds up, which is the sign of a good story: where even if some elements are stamped to the time, the story itself could easily be told again with few changes. It’s also why i’m not AGAINST Reboots, as my coverage of ducktales makes obvious: As long as stories can still be told or you can retell a story in a unique and intresting way, it’s fine to reuse something. I do think hollywood overdoes it, but I’ve never thought there was genuine harm in it or reviving old franchises. It’s all in how you do it.  But yeah while the local video store dosen’t help at all, Andy happens to know just the man for the job, though Jim and Posey nope out of going with them. Also something to note is the series animation: It’s animated like an old 30′s cartoon or a comic strip, modernized a bit in color and realisim, but still having comic strip stuff like shaking head lines, heat lines coming off coffee that sort of thing.  I really love it. 

Anyways the brothers head off to a funky out of the way video store, I wish there were more hole in the wall used media stores where I lived. We mostly have chains like Vintage Stock and Half-Priced Books, though I genuinely love both of those stores and VIntage Stock is the modern equilvent of places like blockbuster honestly. Anyway after Beardo confuses Kevin for an Employee kevin asks him about the man from pluto which Beardo reveals he knows about but is very rare and has few prints. I like Beardo.. he’s a neckbeard who seems more liable to complain abotu some reboot on the fact their rebooting it again rather than “gasp” women are involved. I prefer my neckbeards just a tad pretentious rather than you know, sexist, homophobic, deranged assholes with nothing better to do. I mean i’m still living at home and didn’t get out much before the pandemic either but you dont’ see me bitching every time a franchise gets a female lead. 

Anyway, Kevin is inspired by that and with help from everyone gets the word out about the film. As you’d expect though this can’t end well, as Wally tries avoiding the premire entirely (And we get a great bit where Jim happens to see him trying to flee down the fire escape and Wally’s expression is priceless) 

Huh.. I bet that’s what Rob Reiner when North had it’s premire. As you can probably guess the showing dosen’t go well: The film itself is a hilarious combination of the day the earth stood still (the general plot as we’ll find out more in a second) and Plan 9 From Outer Space (A cheestatic no budget film with a hulking man brute who can’t act as the lead), and in catching the feel of a b-movie it’s utterly perfectly done. This film would go perfect on MST3K and the audience’s howls of laughter agrees with me. 

Wally however is utterly humiliated and doesn’t want to speak to Kevin which.. yeah is about the only issue I have with an otherwise marvelous episode. While I get Wally’s humiliation was Kevin’s fault.. Kevin GENUINELY meant well. While Kevin is book smart at his core he’s a dumb kid who didn’t know any better and didn’t realize Wally hated his film and it’s Wally’s own damn fault for not telling him.  Sure Kevin should’ve picked up the hint, but given the kid is oblivious and didn’t even know what an x raiting is it’s clear he’s not the sharpest crayon in the box when it comes to life experince. Wally had every opportunity to just explain his story but didn’t. And I put most of the blame on Wally when he’s you know, the adult. He’s a 60 or so year old man. He should know better. But it really doesn’t take away from the episode entirely.  But the loftmates clearly love the film and are quoting bits from it, with jim having a fishbowl on his head, when they run into Wally, though Wally is fine with them admitting it’s crap and he knows it is. We then get what REALLY makes the episode and really makes me primed for a spinoff: Wally and Gus’ backstory, which also makes it obvious the crew was probably going to use the two more had the series got another season. 

Anyways it was the 50′s, Archie Andrews was an average teen and not shredded both in muscle and by a bear that one time, Fonzie was out and about and eyying, and Wally was a first unit director given a shot as the studio asked him for a script having utter faith in him. HIs script was a day the earth stood still esque parable on the Cold War.. until he met Gus who, naturally for Gus, was outrunning a ton of police having stumbled on set and likely defeated them all bare handed because Gus is as incredible as the hulk and likely also comes back through a glowing green door when he dies.  So Wally made the tragic mistake of mixing his love life with his career, and lost both Kurt Douglas, who he bumped down from lead for Gus, and Charleton Hesston who just walked off and they got a dinkier stage and worse actors as a result. The resulting film ended Wally’s career but he was able to sell the rights to cinemas to make enough for them to start over in mission hill and buy the diner.. and at least they had each other. It’s a really great story that explains why it upsets Wally so much: This was his baby and while he dosen’t even for one second regret meeting gus or the life they’ve had, he regrets that his one film was a total trainwreck and goes off to the theater to mope as he plays his film for laughing crowds, as it was naturally held over. I mean when you get the next plan 9 from outer space, this was a bit before the room mind you, you hold onto that shit. 

Kevin, who heard the whole thing, goes to mope by watching what is likely a MIcheal Bay film, who was a target even then folks. Oh you poor poor fools you knew not how much worse it could get... i.e. robot testicles. Just.. robot testicles. And their MAKING A DELUXE MOVIE DEVISTATOR. Why. Just.. why who wanted this after that scene. He’s sworn off good movies as he feels he no longer deserves them. Andy however bluntly tells him to cut the pity party, while he’s moping his friend really needs him and when you love somebody, you put your pants on for them. When you love somebody you see it to the end, when you love somebody the conclusions forgone when you love somebody you put your big boy pants right onnnnn! ... I’ll put the song at the end. Point is Kevin goes to help his friend, and as Wally is moping in the projection booth and wonders what he was thinking Kevin tells him the obvious truth: He was thinking of how far he’d go.  “You taught me the best films are personal stories.. and this film is your valentine to Gus” While Wally starts to break a little, he does point out it doesn’t make it good.. but Kevin rightly counters that he’s not so sure of it. Wally sees the audience enjoying the film and goes down, with all of them carrying red light bulbs like the one gus has to show when he’s mad in the film. And Wally finally realizes waht I got to in the beginning: It doesn’t matter if a film’s good or bad, what matters is someone enjoys it. A film can be utterly terrible, and still be good. It can be a mess and still have merit. And Wally finally realizes it doesn’t matter if it’s the film he wanted, it’s the film he made for his future husband, it’s a film that brings laughter and sticks in people’s heads and really  brings them a godo time. It’s a film worth remembering and Wally finally accepts that and his film as his own.  Later that night Kevin and Wally exit the theater, with Wally no longer mad at him and the two still friends or as Wally puts it in the second best line of the episode “As close as an elderly gay man and a straight boy can be” Awwww. The two depart and we get a touching final scene as Wally comes home and finds a bottle of wine and a note from gus saying he has a suprise for him> Turns out Gus put on his old space helmet.. but fell asleep in it. So we get a really nice tender moment as Gus takes the  helmet off, smooches his husband on his bald head and smiles brightly as the episode ends.

Final Thoughts on The Man From Pluto or I Married a Gay Man From Outer Space: Before you ask each episode had two titles for funzies, the first one to get past the censors and the second for fun and likely what they would’ve gone with if they could. As for this episode.. it’s spectacular. It holds up well even 20 years later, it’s touching, sweet and really damn funny and makes me want to rewatch the show as a whole again. I highly recommend seeking it out and hope mission hill is eventually made officially available somewhere. Till then you can find the whole series including this episode on YouTube and despite being the last one you could easily watch this one first if you want and it’s a decent enough intro to the show as a whole. I highly recommend it, an utter pleasure to watch.  If you liked this review, you can comission your own by PMing me on this very blog, just mention you want to do a comission and we can talk it out. As this review proves, it dosen’t have to be a show i’ve done before or even one that’s remotely recent. Hell i’d gladly do Fonz and The Happy Days gang, the animated happy days spinoff that’s like dr. who but with the Fonz. Yes really. Whatever you want i’ll do it as long as it’s not porn for just 5 bucks an episode and 10 for a movie. YOu can also join my patreon, and for 2 dollars a month get acess to my discord (that i’ll start once I get patreons) and once I get enough patreons exclusive polls or 10 bucks for all of that and a review of your choice each month. You can find said patreon right here. And even 1 buck a month would be apricated if you can spare it and if not simply reblog this and share it around.  You can also follow this blog for weekly ducktales, loud house and amphibia coverage as they come out.  I’d also personally thank WeirdKev27 for both being a long time fan of this blog and for the comission. 

Until we meet again say safe, wear a mask, check your atttic for Gary Busey and happy Halloween! Play us out Mr Heere!

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Bottled up

Summary: It’s fathers day and Shouto Todoroki is having to process a lot of feelings he would rather ignore.

Warning: hinting of abuse, bodily injury, I think thats it...

W/C: 1928

a/n: Sooooo when it comes to dads I really connect with Shouto, so i decided to try and vent through the fic. I’m not sure if it turned out how I wanted it to, but it did turn out into something. Thanks again to @mindninjax and @bullrunpicnicker​ for editing!

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“Todoroki?”  Deku’s concerned voice called across the common area.

From where he was sitting, Shouto was isolated from the rest of the group. The others were on the couches watching reruns of that year's top heroes announcements. He had been actively avoiding watching it all day, but Class 1-A couldn’t stop talking about how much things had changed at the top. Deku especially was constantly analyzing all of the heroes and what made them the best of the best. He had already filled up two more notebooks on the Pro-Hero Hawks.

Shouto didn’t look up. It's not that he didn’t hear Deku, but it didn’t quite register as he flipped through his english textbook. It was one of the rare areas he actually had to try in. His thoughts had been jumbled all day, he was drained, and any more stimulation might set him over the edge. 

“Hey, Todoroki, you okay?” Deku’s face was now directly in front of Shouto and it was hard to ignore the annoyance.

“Midoryia,” Shouto responded dryly as he looked up. “Do you need something?” He tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice, but from the flinch in the other boy's smile it had failed.

“Well, uh, you were just really quiet, which isn’t unusual I guess, but you were sitting all alone, which i guess also isn’t unusual, but something seemed off so I wanted to make sure everything was okay. Although now that I think about it maybe it's none of my business, but I just thought-”

“Midoriya.” Shouto tried to halt the boy from his muttering.

“Oh, uh.” He seemed to snap out of a daze and a sheepish look crossed his face. “Sorry.”

“Listen, I really appreciate your concern, but I need to study and I’m finding it increasingly harder to do that here.” He snapped his book closed for emphasis and began to pack up his stuff. “Again, thanks for the concern, but you needn’t bother yourself.”

Shouto walked away and headed toward his dorm room, a little ashamed at having shut down his fellow student so rudely. The anger wasn’t meant to be directed at anyone, least of all Deku, and truthfully he wasn’t even sure if anger was the proper word for what he was feeling. Shouto decided he would apologize later for his impoliteness. For right now though, isolation seemed like the best option to avoid any more unpleasant interactions. 

The door to the dorm swung open easily and the simplicity of the sparse room, the lack of stimulation, settled Shouto, and he could feel the irritation leaving him. He laid his books down on his desk neatly and collapsed on his bed to stare at the ceiling. It would pass, these feelings, they always did after a couple of days, but the first day was always the worst.

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That evening a knock at Shouto’s door startled him out of his restless sleep. When exactly had he fallen asleep? He quickly rolled out of bed and went to open the door, surprised to find Deku there with a bowl of cold soba noodles.

“Um, you missed dinner, and I thought maybe you’d be hungry.” Deku said quietly with his head bowed, “plus, I thought I would apologize for making you upset earlier.” 

Shouto sighed in frustration and rubbed at his eyes. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Midoriya. I apologize for snapping at you. It was not my intention to do so, but nonetheless I am sorry.” 

Finally Deku looked up. He could barely contain the questions that were bursting in his mind, but eventually he gave a small smile. 

“You should still take the soba, it’s cold. I know that's how you like it, and I brought some of the special sauce, too.” He held it out, and Shouto took it. He hadn’t realized he was hungry.

“Thank you, Midoriya. This was unnecessary, but I appreciate it all the same.” Shouto moved to close the door-

“Um, Todoroki.” The door stopped mid arc. “I just want to make sure you’re really okay. The reason I approached you earlier was because you looked really sad.”

Sad, was that what he had been feeling earlier? It definitely fit more than just simply angry, but it still didn’t encompass everything. How much could Deku really pick up on? He was clearly perceptive, he wouldn't have been able to pick up on Shouto’s distress if not, but could he understand why he was distressed? 

They were friends of course and Shouto trusted him more than most of the other classmates. If anyone was going to understand, it would be him. After all, Deku was the one that saved him from himself last year at the sports festival, he would understand...right?

“It's Father's Day.” 

Shouto turned and left his door open as an invitation for Deku to come in. This conversation wasn’t one meant for the hallway.

The messy haired boy entered hesitantly looking around at the pristine room before closing the door. Shouto gestured to the chair by his desk while he took a seat on the bed with his soba noodles. They sat like that for a while before either of them said anything. Deku was too afraid of upsetting Shouto any further and Shouto was unsure of what to say next.

Finally Shouto took a deep breath. “I’ve been feeling conflicted all day.”

Deku nodded. “About your dad.” 

It wasn’t a question. They both knew the complicated relationship Shouto had with his father Endeavor.

“Yes, about him. To be honest with you, I’m not entirely sure what I’m feeling. Hearing everyone talk about their father all day had been confusing.”

There was more silence. Deku feared that if he spoke Shouto would stop, and he so desperately wanted to help his friend. 

“Everyone says how great it is that he’s my father. Everyone praises him constantly. There are even students here that want to be like him or aspire for his position. It makes me sick, but I can’t blame them for that. They don’t know.” The last part was spoken in a whisper, unsure and unsteady.

“It...is strange to see him broken into two people like that. The Endeavor they know as the number 2 hero, second only to Allmight, the all powerful fire hero, and the Endeavor I know. The one I call father, the one who used me for his own purposes, the one who drove my mother away, the one who…” Shouto stopped and took a shuddering breath, finally feeling what he had not allowed himself to feel all day.

The bottle of emotions had been opened, and Shouto knew that it would be hard to put the lid back on tonight. Embracing it wasn’t an option either, that’s not something that someone could think through logically, try as he might. His vision began to blur and part of himself, the part his father had raised, screamed at him to stop. This was a weakness. One that needed to be eradicated to be hidden and never shown to the world. Something to be hidden behind icy walls.

“Todoroki.” Deku said gently. He moved a little closer to the edge of his seat and closer to his companion across the room.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, Midoriya, you shouldn’t have to hear this.” 

It was no use though. The tears were there, present and unwilling to be hidden, and Deku was looking right at him. His gaze wasn’t pity, never pity, but sadness and maybe anger.

“Todor- um, Shouto,” he tested, the name feeling foreign on his tongue. “You are allowed to be this upset and angry and hurt.”

Shouto shook his head. Suddenly, he felt the bowl in his hand begin to heat up, and the tears sizzled as they fell to his hand. “I know I’m allowed, logically it makes sense, but he's still there. I still have to call him father, I still have to respect him, I still hear him in everything I do.”

The flames grew hotter, but Shouto either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “I can’t make a single move without thinking about him, without wondering if I made the right choice. No, not the right choice, the choice he wanted me to make.”

Deku’s hand was suddenly on Shouto’s and the whimper of pain that came from the kneeling boy snapped Shouto back. Hiis flames extinguished immediately. A look of terror crossed his face as Deku pulled back his now singed hand. The soba noodles had dropped to the floor.

“Midoriya, I-”

“I told you this once before Todoroki. You are not your father, and he is not in control of you.” He smiled, and Shouto felt overwhelmed.

“I can understand how difficult it is to hear about him and for him to be constantly in everything we do. But, you get to decide what kind of hero, no, what kind of person you get to be. I don’t know everything you’ve gone through and it would be stupid of me to say that its in the past, but its not in the present.”

Shouto’s hands were shaking and he avoided Deku’s eyes, but his words dug into him more and more. They were helping, but they were merely an ointment for a long scarred burn. Everything he felt, everything that he was feeling right now, it was important, and Shouto knew Deku was just trying to ground him.

“Todoroki, you shouldn’t keep all this bottled up, and I’m not sure I’m the one you should talk to about it. That is to say, not that i won't listen, I just mean, maybe you know someone more qualified than me to actually help should. I’ll always listen if you need me to, it's not a bother at all, just maybe, you know, an adult?” Deku had become flustered again, and suddenly Shouto found himself laughing.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he was laughing, but there were so many pent up emotions this might as well have been the one to surface right now. All the tension had left his body, and Deku’s muttering had been so earnest and endearing, and Shouto was so drained, laughter seemed the only option.

“Midoryia,” Shouto said, regaining his breath. “Thank you, honestly. I know this has nothing to do with you, but it seems you’re always in the right place to witness my most vulnerable moments.”

Deku smiled again. “Well, technically everyone witnessed the first one.” 

Shouto frowned. “Ah, yes, I had almost blocked that entire event out. Thank you for reminding me of it.”

Deku sputtered, fearing he had messed up again, but then Shouto smiled as if they were both in on a joke no one else knew, and they both devolved into fits of laughter. A grunt from Deku as he tried to stand up brought clarity back to the situation. His hand was still injured.

“We should go to Recovery Girl and get your hand healed before it scars.” Shouto muttered as he grabbed his coat. 

Deku nodded. “She’ll be ecstatic. It’s not my usual injuries.” 

They both knew that wasn’t true. As they headed out of Shouto’s dorm, they wondered how they would explain the incident. Shouto knew that he would eventually need to fully address everything he was feeling, and that simply venting to a good friend wasn’t a cure all. For now, he focused on Deku’s mutterings as he ran scenarios that may explain their current situation, and just for a moment, any thoughts of his dad flew away.

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I hope you guys enjoyed it, I know it was intense to write! Remember request are open on my blog and I would love to hear some feedback!!!

Shout out to the discord for putting up with my ramblings!  @veryrealunicorn, @dokidokibunni, @vic-toryoftheaces

[lordofthenerds97]

You’ve Got To Be Kidding

Masterlist Warnings: Mild cursing, obviously cliche tropes because look who’s writing it, love triangles galore, all of it  Chapter 2

“Who’s Y/N?”

Jim scrubbed a hand down his face as he looked at the girl in front of him. “She’s my niece. She’s like you, El.”

The girl frowned. “Like me? What do you mean?”

He paused for a moment, not quite sure how to answer the question. “She knows the Upside Down. And she has a number too.”

Her eyebrows furrowed and her dark curly hair fell in her face. “Really?” That surprised her. She’d had brief flashes of memories, seeing one or two others in a room with her. But she hadn’t ever thought much about it.

Jim nodded. “She’ll be here in a few days. And she’s gonna have someone else with her that can help us.”

El nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. She might be young, but she knew trouble when she saw it. She’d been through her fair share. And this situation smelled exactly like trouble. She wondered how Y/N would react to being back in Hawkins, especially if she came from the lab. El was still having her own difficulties in processing things. She wondered what type of power Y/N had, if she even had a power at all. But from the way Hop was talking, there was something special about the other girl. Something that El didn’t know if she wanted to trifle with.

~*~*~*~*~

You scowled at the car in front of you, crossing your arms and not looking at the man beside you. He snorted at your displeasure, more amused than anything.

“Just get in the car, Y/N.” he said.

“Just get in the car, Y/N,” you mocked, turning your sharp glare on Bucky. He just raised an eyebrow as you continued your rant. “I have absolutely no intention of getting in that deathtrap with you.”

Bucky let out an exasperated sigh, a few strands of his hair falling into his face. He was getting tired of your attitude. In reality, it was anything but a deathtrap. It was one of Tony’s nicer SUVs, one that had plenty of room for the both of you plus the few bags you were bringing.

You’d always had a weird thing about riding in cars. Well, anything that ran on a motor, really. You’d gotten so accustomed to simply blinking to where you wanted to be that being in a vehicle actually scared you. And being scared wasn’t something you liked to experience.

“Look, if it’ll make you feel better, I won’t go very fast.” He knew what you were trying to do; trying to delay this little excursion for as long as humanly possible. He didn’t really blame you. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to it either. But you didn’t see him procrastinating.

You narrowed your eyes and gave him a scrutinizing gaze. You knew that was a lie, but you appreciated the effort he was trying to put into this. The effort he was putting into trying to be civil. The response you gave came out as more of a mumble than anything else, but he took it as confirmation. He grabbed the duffel from your hands and threw it in the back with his before putting his backpack on the floorboard behind the driver’s seat and climbing into the Ford. “Coming?”

You huffed in response but followed his example. The messenger bag you carried with you held your laptop and a few hard copy files that you planned on studying during the trip to Hawkins. You were obviously uncomfortable with the situation, and Bucky could see that. But his attitude wasn’t really helping things either.  

“Look, I’m not any more excited about this trip than you are, Y/L/N, but let’s try to get through this without ripping each other’s head off, alright?”

“Fine. Whatever.” you snapped.

Bucky growled at your attitude. “And that’s not helping.”

You just glared, not bothering to answer him. It wasn’t worth the fight it would bring.

“Goody for me,” he grumbled under his breath, gripping the wheel with his left hand and shifting it into gear with his right. You glanced at him as you settled yourself into the seat and got comfortable. His jaw was clenched, making the muscle pop slightly, and his eyes were focused in front of him.

Catching yourself looking at him for longer than you thought appropriate, you quickly averted your eyes to the floorboard. As he began to drive, you felt your heart began to race. Your breathing became a bit shallower and your grip on the door became tight knuckled.

“It’s okay, Y/N.” he said quietly. “Just breathe.”

You looked at him, wondering if you’d heard him correctly. Did he just try to provide you with a small bit of comfort?

He didn’t take his eyes off the road, though he could see you out of his peripheral vision. He didn’t need you having a panic attack before even getting off the compound property. “Deep breath in. Let it out slowly.”

Shaking the thought off, you followed his advice and felt yourself gradually relax into the rhythm of the car’s movements. It took a solid twenty minutes of tense silence and a few brief moments of terror. But needless to say, you were calmer now than you were when you first got into the vehicle.

Realizing that you spent that much time in an awkward silence, you reached for the radio. When you popped the button to turn it on, you and Bucky both jumped at the death metal that came blaring through the speakers. Your already sensitive ears rang with the sound of the loud guitar and Bucky visibly winced.

“Sorry,” you muttered, quickly turning it down and changing the channel.

He didn’t say anything, just clenched his jaw more. The thought struck you that if he kept doing that his face would stick in that position. The thought made you crack a smile that you had to hide behind your hand and a laugh that you had to cover with a cough. You knew this was going to be one of the longest trips you’d ever taken, but maybe you would be willing to shoot at being civil with the super soldier for once.

“Something funny?” Bucky asked, glancing sideways at you.

“Keep scowling like that and your face’ll stick.” you said with half a smile. You made sure to put a light edge to your tone so that he would know you were only joking. It seemed to work, as all he did in response was roll his eyes.

Having the radio turned to a rock station and the volume down low seemed to help ease a bit of the tension that still hung in the air. You were still on edge and you figured Bucky was as well. He didn’t say anything, but you could tell from his movements and his posture that he wasn’t relaxed. Sighing quietly to yourself, you closed your eyes and leaned your head back against the headrest.

There was a lot of work you had to do before you got to Hawkins. Hop had sent you as much as he could without getting on the government’s radar, not that it really mattered. He still wasn’t hip on the idea of sharing that much sensitive information over the internet despite how many times you reassured him that it wasn’t traceable or hackable.

Feeling the heavy weight of the necklace on your sternum, you glanced down. The onyx colored gem was glowing slightly, the weight of it warming your skin. And that was yet another issue that you had to work out. Whatever was interfering with your connection to the Dimension was getting worse. And it was having a physical effect on you.

You were normally stubborn and feisty to begin with, but your attitude over the last few weeks had worsened. You snapped easily at everyone and your moods were constantly shifting. You’d even thrown Sam across the compound for making an ill timed joke.

Everyone tried to be understanding of what was happening, but you knew it was wearing on them. And you weren’t sure how much longer they were going to put up with you. Tony seemed to be the most resilient, as he had known you the longest. But even so, his patience was being tested.

“Can I ask you something?” you said, turning your attention to the super soldier on your left.

Bucky raised an eyebrow as he glanced at you. “You just did.” You rolled your eyes and bit back a snarky response. Seeing the effort you put into not being sarcastic, he nodded. “Shoot.”

“Do you ever feel…alone? Like you don’t belong with everyone?”

Bucky was taken aback by the question, looking away from the road to examine your expression. Judging that you had no apparent ulterior motive, he answered carefully. “Sometimes,” he said. “I know I’ve done a lot of really bad things in the past. I don’t think Tony has forgiven me for what happened…and I don’t blame him. I think that puts a damper on my presence.”

You pursed your lips, nodding slowly. Tony was always like a big brother to you. You knew him inside and out. And you knew he still held some resentment for the super soldier beside you. But you also knew that he wouldn’t let those feelings get in the way of cooperating to save the world.

Deciding to approach the topic cautiously, Bucky phrased his next question carefully. “What about you?”

You nodded. “Yeah. My powers aren’t exactly user friendly. And it makes me volatile and dangerous.”

Bucky glanced at you briefly. Your knees were pulled up to your chest and you rested your chin on them. Emotion rolled off you in waves, but there were so many that he couldn’t make heads or tails of what you were feeling. But tears welled in your eyes as you continued staring out the windshield.

“I don’t like it…” you said after a moment of silence. “I don’t like what these powers to do me…what they make me do to everyone else. I’m not even me when I use them. I don’t even know who I am anymore…”

He let out a sigh and gripped the steering wheel. He may not know exactly what you were feeling or what you were going through, but he had some semblance of an idea. “Look…putting yourself back together after having your identity stripped away isn’t easy.”

You snorted. “Yeah. Like you would know.”

Bucky held back a growl. He was trying to reach you, not push you away. “Actually, I do.” he said.

That gave you pause. You knew a little bit about Bucky’s past, but no one, including him, had been eager to talk about it. So you learned what you could from the museums. Half of which you knew to be nothing more than made up stories to get better press. You knew there was something deeper, some sort of dark secret that no one wanted to tell you. But before you could say anything, he continued talking.

“I was an assassin for an organization called Hydra. You know enough about them and have taken down enough of their bases to know what kind of terrorists they are. I wasn’t the only human experiment they had, but I was the most effective. I was sent to kill Steve.”

Your eyes widened. You didn’t know that.

“To make an extremely long story short, he managed to break me out of the trance Hydra had me in. They would periodically wipe my mind of all memories except core instincts. I was the perfect fighting machine. I don’t know how he did it, but he pulled me out of it. He unlocked some sort buried memory.”

He paused to take a breath and you waited patiently for him to continue. You could tell how difficult it was for him to open up about it. And you doubted he talked about it with many people. Hell, Tony probably didn’t even know the whole story. But the fact he was opening up to you of all people spoke wonders.

“Since then it’s been nothing but a mess of me trying to put my memories back together to find out who I am. I’ve had to remake myself. And that wasn’t easy.” He glanced over at you at the tail end of his sentence, trying to gauge how much of what he was saying was actually reaching you.

You were about to say something when you happened to glance up. “Bucky!” you screamed, grabbing his flesh arm with a bone snapping force and throwing yourself back into the seat.

Surprised by the sudden outburst and with his reflexes taking over, Bucky immediately slammed on the brakes, making you scream once again as you were thrown forwards, the seatbelt the only thing keeping you from flying towards the windshield.

Your breath came in ragged gasps as the vehicle went skidding across the road, Bucky barely able to control it. Your grip on his arm increased and you thought he hissed in pain as the SUV came to a sudden and rapid halt.

Bucky glanced over at you before staring straight ahead, noticing for the first time the large black hole in front of them.

He made sure that you were still breathing before he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. “What the hell?” he muttered to himself.

“Bucky, Bucky no!” you exclaimed, trying to free yourself of the constricting seatbelt that had you strapped in place. It wouldn’t come undone, even with you yanking on it.

Bucky on the other hand was standing beside the front of the car, looking at the portal with interest. That’s what it was. A portal to the Dimension. But he didn’t realize that. And if you didn’t pull him away from it in time, it would swallow him.

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