#posting my work always makes me nervous augh

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

listening to my Tideturners playlist was a mistake because I am having SO many feelings about the Sidewinder again.

she's not just any AU of Mai Trin; she's a version who's endured the absolute worst case scenario and lives every day in fear of losing everything all over again. but her story flips the entire narrative of Guild Wars 2 on its head; it's all a matter of perspective, and hers comes from an entirely different angle than we're used to.

what is a monster? as they say, to a bird, a cat is a monster.

the Sidewinder's monster is the Commander.

the first Commander she ever met was a tyrant who set the world on fire just to watch it burn. nothing could stop his rampage until there was nothing left to destroy. he made Scarlet Briar's war look like a playground scuffle; in fact, he did it by killing her and seizing her army to do it with. the Sidewinder doesn't have to wonder what a rogue Commander is capable of at their worst. she KNOWS.

and she also knows that if even a single one knew about her outpost, about her, about her people, and decided they were a threat to get rid of, there's absolutely nothing she could do to stop them. the most she could hope to do is be enough of a speed bump that the rest of the Turnabout can escape and make her sacrifice worthwhile.

she's spent decades building up a new world, a new society, and a new identity-- and in a split second a single person could bring it all crashing down. that absolutely terrifies her. it's all so fragile.

a major part of the Sidewinder's personal arc has to do with overcoming that dread to find common ground. because, truth-be-told, much as she'd insist otherwise? she's not so different from the Commander herself. she's fought long and hard to become someone worthy of the trust and respect that so many refugees from so many, many different worlds have placed on her. it's not enough to have it, she wants to DESERVE it. and even if she'd claim she's not there yet, most would agree she's succeeded. she's the beating heart of the Turnabout; none of it would exist without her. she's given all of them the hope that the heroes of their own worlds couldn't.

Mai Trin never wanted to be a leader or a hero or a politician. but as the Sidewinder, she's become all three out of necessity. she had no other choice. no one else was left alive to do it in her place.

so she puts on her mask, and she steps onto the stage, and she talks big, but deep down she knows that if the worst case scenario came back, there was nothing she could do to protect them, not on her own. the only thing that might stand a chance is another Commander, and is she really prepared to take a risk like that? is she willing to put it all on the line to fight for a future without fear?

and even if they are the right choice, even if they do agree to help in spite of it all... can she put one of the last good people at risk, knowing just what horrors they'd be up against? facing someone who's killed others like them a hundred times over, allowing them no rest even in death as their shambling corpses are conscripted into his undead army? how can she, in good conscience, expect anyone to face something so horrific with stakes as high as THAT? which is worse; that they turn against her, or that they trust her and die, adding another force of nature to their enemies' ranks? the Sidewinder doesn't know the answer to that question, if there is one.

there's so much weight on every choice she must make, and the consequences of every wrong move are unfathomable. she might not be the Commander, but that, at least, is one thing they have in common. the decisions they make will decide who lives and who dies.

all the Sidewinder can hope is that when she finally does make that leap of faith, she'll be ready to handle whatever results lay in store.

[jiayouqi]

✩‧₊˚ first time with him. | m!rover headcanons.

⋆.˚ ⁀➴ synopsis: it's just you and rover alone...so what's it like when things escalate between you two for the first time?

⋆.˚ ⁀➴ characters involved: male rover, gender neutral reader.

⋆.˚ ⁀➴ warnings: sub!rover, dom!reader, very soft first time, gentle, lots of praise, handjob (sub receiving)

⋆.˚ ⁀➴ notes: sub rover is literally something that infects my brain and i'm happy to let it do so. this is self-indulgent, being soft with subs is my achilles heel > <;;!! hope you all enjoy this as much as i like fantasizing about it! requests are open as always, please read rules before sending them in!

⋆.˚ ⁀➴ minors dni with this post/blog.

୨⎯ male rover ⎯୧

a pretty sub, both in looks and in how he sounds.

nervous, about to explode from how anxious he is at the prospect of you two going at it together for the first time.

worries that he'll do something wrong, so his touches are shaky and a little hesitant.

a bit shy, needs your guidance in order to help him understand the flow of it all.

a praise fiend, loves hearing that he’s doing a good job from you and how cute you think he looks when he’s in this state.

the briefest of touches sometimes can rile him up easily. 

going on the running theory that tacet marks are sensitive, he’ll whimper whenever your hand brushes against his, feeling his cheeks flush hot.

it’s the smallest of things for him that get him worked up. a soft kiss on his jawline down to the nape of his neck, the way you nibble his ear, the way your hand is gently rubbing circles on his hip bone, goodness he’s going to burst. 

has the cutest gasps. he’s always surprised by what you do, no matter what it is. 

by the time you actually get to his length, he’s already dripping from his pretty pink tip. he’ll whine and squirm, begging you to help him finish, help him release, help him with the mess you created. 

rover glances down at you with his golden eyes, gasping softly as he sits on your lap and grips onto your shoulders. he’s becoming undone by the second at every tease, every soft graze, every sweet nothing you whisper into his ear. he feels as if he’s going to go insane at this point, whimpering cutely as you gently grab his shaft into your hand. you lean your head a bit to the side, stretching a bit and kissing his tacet mark softly, which earns another small whine from him. 

“p-please, you can’t, i-i can’t do this, i need, i need…” he trails off, cut off by a soft moan as he leans forward and hides his face in the nape of your neck. it's a dizzying feeling, having you touch him like this. his legs are shaking, his pale white thighs on either side of your waist as he hiccups. rover can hear you smile when you talk to him, babying him through everything. 

“what do you need, pretty rover?~ use your words, sweetheart.” augh, there you go again with another compliment. he whines a bit, feeling a bit overwhelmed as he tears up.

“p-please, i need you. i need to cum, i-i’ve been so good haven’t i?” he’ll ask, his voice soft and hoarse as you hum for a moment. he takes your silence as a no sign, but when he suddenly feels you picking up the pace, he’ll suddenly get louder and more vocal. rover’s grip on you becomes harder as he bucks his hips a bit, moving with the motions of your hands to reach his climax faster. but, he doesn’t release until you let him by whispering into his ear that he can. he’s obedient after all, and he would hate to cum without your permission.

he lets out one last high pitched whine before he cums, making a mess on his stomach and yours, the pretty white seed spewing everywhere. rover’s breathing is staggered and shaky right after, hiding in your neck. he feels embarrassed when he feels your fingers brushing up against his soft tummy, whining softly as he hears you lick some of his cum onto your finger and exaggerate the noise of you tasting it. 

“you taste so sweet, rover~ you did such a good job for me.” you tell him, gently rubbing his back and coaxing him down from the high as he loosens up his hold a bit, clinging onto you cutely like a koala as he feels his breathing slowly steady out. he felt as if he just went to the divine and back, and it leaves him wondering when the next time will be.

[fosliie]

HEYSOASYOUPROBABLYNOTICEDWHOOPS

I saw your Samantha and Maxine stuff and i was like 'hehe lesbians neat' and went through your blog and just. Like. I just wanna list some things I like about your stuff bc AUGH. I love your designs for the AU S&M, AND for your ocs these aliens and unicorns got me HOOKED. Your stories and way of writing whether it be dialogue or plot stuff is so interesting. If you wrote a novel I would have 50 thanks. Your formatting for comics and easy to understand and makes them a super enjoyable read, also the colors and stuff are nice and lovely sjxjwokfle Your style is Round but Awesome in the coolest ever way btw. You have artistic ability that few others do and I can't wait to see what you do next. Overall as a person you seem very interesting as well and your mini comic about anxiety and feelings like that was so relatable like stuff sucks sometimes, wish there was itch cream for feelings 😔 anYWAYS SORRY FOR THE WEIRD TANGENT EXPLODES I just wanted to let you know I basically love your work and you seem delightful!!! Mwah!!!!

AWE!! DUDE!!!!!

That is genuinely so sweet, thank you!! Read this early in the morning and it really made my day. I’m glad to see other people enjoy my stuff, even the non Sam and Max stuff! Always been nervous posting personal kinda stuff or ideas (side eyes whatever is going on with my sam and max au) but it makes it so worth it to see others enjoy and connect with it. I’m glad you enjoyed strolling through my jumble of a blog, appreciate it dude :]

[dandyshucks]

i have a whole rambling vent that I tossed into the garbage because I don't really feel like that'd be a good idea since I cannot tell if it's just attention/validation seeking on my part or if there's actually any productive point to me posting it

so I'll just say that I really do consistently wish I could interact with y'all more because I genuinely cherish the little circle of friends and mutuals I was lucky enough to stumble into here and I want to show that I appreciate you all so much, and I also struggle a lot with feeling like maybe I shouldn't post as much as I do since I do not often have the stars align to be able to interact with others the way that I want to so I don't feel "deserving" of interaction myself. there are several factors outside of my control that prevent me from interacting the way that I'd really like to, and that frustrates me very often.

if i miss reblogging your art or writing, I do genuinely apologize! I might have completely missed seeing it due to not being online at the right time and not scrolling your blog enough, or maybe I saw it and avoided reblogging because I have a very silly notion that I shouldn't reblog unless I have it in me to put together my words just the right way to properly cheer on your creative works (<- i am trying to kick that avoidance bc i think it's probably far better to rb with less eloquent cheering rather than not rb it at all. i've considered saving stuff to drafts or queue to rb when I have a clear head and energy but I don't want to make ppl nervous with ghost notes TwT).

I really REALLY appreciate that people self-rb because that means there's a better chance of me seeing it and rbing it !!! please do not be scared of self-rbing, I often wish ppl would do it more often (...hypocrite that i am LMAO I rarely self-rb bc i get too scared to jfdskl)

anyways !!! i am going to go find a dinner, i appreciate you all, and I'm desperately hoping that I haven't just stuck my foot in my mouth and fucked everything up somehow fdsjkl augh. As always, I am so very open to being corrected or told "hey man, that was kind of shitty" or anything along those lines !!!

[lakesbian]

I’ve been stuck too nervous to start arc 17 because of all the conversation about it making me nervous. Is there anything you think will convince me to get to it?

this is going to contain some arc 17 spoilers because i can't talk about why it's good without saying at least some concrete things about it

anyway. after some research (making a post asking why people don't like it) i have come to a conclusive awareness of the most prominent reasons 4 the two primary camps of opinions abt arc 17

why some ppl think it's one of the most excellent arcs in the book: - extremely well-written fucked up horror tragedy - extremely cool and scary and interesting perspective on the simurgh (give it up for the simurgh everyone give it up for the simurgh) - engaging character writing & dynamics - context 4 a bunch of worldbuilding shit delivered in an interesting little packidge - some of the best character concepts in the book (noelle/krouse) why some ppl find it boring (have not actually seen anyone who Hates it i think just ppl who find it boring/uninteresting): - no taylor PoV or undersiders for the entire arc - flashback that puts the main plot on pause for the entire arc - underdeveloped and/or uninteresting focal characters - unlikable/annoying focal characters

now obviously i am an arc 17 enjoyer. so my refutations to the reasons i've seen ppl disliking it for are: - this is 100% a matter of personal taste. like it's understandable to be less engaged w/ parts of the story that aren't about your guys of choice, but it worked for me because i enjoy the rotating cast of perspectives. i like how it expands the world of worm more. it Is time spent away from taylor and friends, but it's finally providing context for one of the most built-up mysteries in the book, so, like. i do not mind taking a brief taylor break to read what's basically a really good wormverse horror story. we already have like 1.6 million words of taylor so i think if you're going in with the awareness that you're going to just take a little one-arc break from her and then get back to her & try to be open-minded about it you might find it not such a big deal

- i can understand why it induces "AUGH come on i wanted to find out what happens next" syndrome but i'm a "that's ok we get there when we get there :)" person about books so again i personally did not mind. the pacing just works 4 me. like you get the mystery of wondering what's wrong with noelle -> the dread of having it revealed via arc 17 that she's a simurgh plot and subsequently this was always fated to happen and end horribly -> being thrown back into the Noelle Incident afterwards with full awareness that because it's a simurgh plot horrible things are going to happen. which is good! it provides context at the perfect moment to maximize the impact of revealing how tragic and awful the situation is.

- i do agree that the travelers aren't as well-developed as they could be, oliver & cody particularly, but it wasn't an issue for me during the arc. i think they all have the amount of characterization necessary to make it feel appropriately tense. even if they aren't the most distinct characters in the book, they do their jobs Well Enough. i actually really liked some of the genesis/trickster interactions in particular, and i think the most important character (trickster) ends up really well characterized in a fascinatingly detailed way. it overall captures the gist of what we need to know to be compelled by the travelers just fine.

- no none of them are especially likable but this one is like. fully just a personal taste thing. i don't care if characters in a book are likable people, i care if the narrative & themes are well-written and compelling. which they are! also the fact that krouse fucking sucks and the character dynamics are all unpleasant and uncomfortable is genuinely a pro of the arc 4 me. them fucking sucking and causing problems is part of their charm, and also literally integral to why their character concepts are interesting. "found family that never should have been a family" is by default going to involve some level of suckiness. also, like, taylor isn't likable. she's manipulative and violent and uncommunicative and would generally be awful to hang out with. all of which is part of her charm. if you can like taylor for the interesting ways in which she sucks (affectionate) then surely you can like the travelers for the interesting ways in which they suck (affectionate). but even if you don't their Story is still worth breaking down and paying attention to. because it's good.

best case scenario for reading it is you think it's excellent (which it is) worst case scenario you just find it kind of boring. which isn't a big deal, there are plenty of worm arcs that people find meh. if you've gotten thru the rest of worm you can get thru arc 17 too, it's ultimately just another worm arc at the end of the day. one i would highly recommend, but ultimately just another worm arc. no reason not to give it a try, because all that will happen is you'll either go "that was good" or "didn't love that" and then carry on with the rest of the book.

[strangerhands]

FENNNNKSHSJQAGKAVWHVSAJBSMANDWNHSJJDBWOHAJSNDVAKCHXSBJDNWMDBSOHHHHHHHHHHHHMYGODDDDDDOHMYGODDDDOHHHHHHHMYYYYGODDDDDDDDDDD FENNNNNNN IM GOING INSANEEEEEEEE JUST AT THE IDEA OF THISSSSSS RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH WRITHING AROUND ON MY DAMN BEDDDDDDDDDD AUGH FUCKOHMYGOD

istfg... this was Genuinely me x1000000000 upon seeing this post->

and fen.. i hope you start feeling better about things soon, and i wish you could see how amazing your work truly is, and how happy it makes so many people <333

“You’re still waiting for that someone special.” You nod solemnly as you tease. <-LMAO😭

You smile cheekily. "You watch?"

He avoids your gaze. "Sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"Almost all the time."

"Almost?"

"99.9%."

"What's wrong with the .0?" You say, pretend indignation in your voice.

"I'm sleeping." <-😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“Alright, driving. So, we’re in the car, you're driving.”

“I’m on the wrong side.” <-😭😭😭😭

hhhhhhhhhooolyyyyyyyy shittttttttt im gonna pass out.

Even without seeing his face you know that deep blush is back, the one that spreads across his skin like ink and makes you lightheaded from desperation for him. <-YES🫠🫠🫠

He sucks in a breath, shivering and muffling his moans against you, his fingers tightening on your side as if you’ll move away. As if you would ever want to leave him like this, aching and needy. <-RNSMDNSNSWKVSQJDGAKSJRSKHAGSAJJFMJR

You dip your hand lower, massaging his balls again and the little sound Jake lets out is the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard. <-GRRRWGAHGAAJSBAJSVJDSJABAKSJAJSMJSHSA

he shoves his middle and forefinger into his mouth and groans at the taste of your arousal.

He moans loudly, his chest vibrating with the sound.

"Amor," his voice is thick, on the verge of breaking, "fuck you taste-" he gasps as you sink lower, your own sounds of pleasure echoing along his cock.

He bites back a sob. "Taking such good care of me, you taste so sweet," he sucks on his fingers, desperately trying to find every single trace of your slink that he can. <-HOLYFUCKINGSHIT

He moans at your tone, his eyes glazing over ever so slightly. “I’m sorry, please,” he rubs your thighs, kneading his fingers into your skin as his own hips rock and buck against nothing but the air.

His cock is red, leaking and almost painful looking with how hard he is. It bobs up and down with every movement, almost pleading with you to take pity. <-AAAARRRRRGHGGHHHHHHHHGHGHGGGHGNNGMGBDNFBSJSHSKDDBKA

“Please come and fuck yourself on my cock.” <-OHMYFUCKINGGGGGGGGHHGHHHGHGHGHGGGH

AUGH JAKE JUST BEING SO SOFT AND SWEET AND SENSITIVE AND NEEDY AND DESPERATE AND SHY AND NERVOUS AND HIM BEGGING AND WHINING AND WHIMPERING AND DESIRING AND WANTING TO PLEASE YOU AND LEARN FROM YOU AND HOLD OUT FOR YOU AND HIM JUST BEING SO GOOD GOD WJDVKHSKDVWJSVAIJSVWKSJJSDHWWJSNAOHDKWJSNQKDNEKQHSJSVJFNDINFKFNRODHSNDBEJAHSKDBWKBDKDFJDKSJFMGODKSKAHSKSHAKJSMDFICKDMKDJDMDJDHDWKHAKDBSKSQNKABRMDIFNWJDHKSBDKWNSMSNICFNDMDFUCKKKKKKK

FENNNNNN. FENNNNNNNNNNNN. FENNNNNNNN. OHMYDHFIFIEKAHSJSBKDSBHSQJHAWKDBDNFH THIS WAS SO SO INCREDIBLE AND HOT IM GOING INSANE IM SO FERAL IM GONNA DIE IM DYING IM DEAD IVE DIED IVE PASSED AWAY YOUVE KILLED ME AND IM THANKING YOU PROFUSELY FOR IT FEN SNSJEKABDHWKDHAIDHSGSIWHSKQSJSIWUJEJSNWJSHWJBSSJHDNSJSHDJW IM GONNA SCREAM (AND CREAM) ABOUT THIS FOR THE REST OF TIME ARE YOU JOKING… I AM GOING TO REREAD THIS A BILLION FUCKING TIMES I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT AND HIM AND YOU AND OHMYFUCKINGGODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.

the way you write and describe and characterize is just an absolute fuckin beautiful sweet hot treat everytime. its always such a huge pleasure to see and experience. thank you thank you thank you thank you thankyou fen

ps. i literally logged into the browser just so i could put more than ten pictures. i needed to. it had to be done. it was a necessity. necessary.

Play Pretend

Jake Lockley x F!Reader • Rating: 18+ pals •Masterlist• ao3• want to be tagged? | request info • MK Bingo 2024 Masterlist • ko-fi •

Summary: Jake doesn't have much experience in more... intimate matters.

🌛For @moonknight-events MK Bingo Spring 2024 Event🌜

A/N: Okay, so I'm not super happy with this. I don't know. Anyway, I feel like I'm always saying this but my head is really bad with editing atm. I'm sure I've missed so many typos. I'm so sorry.

Warnings: set in Steven's flat (UK), swearing, loss of virginity, p in v sex, fingering, oral sex (both m and f receiving), overuse of italics, typos, railroad sentences, please let me know if I've missed a warning!

Word Count: 4909

Jake shifted a little nervously as he rested his head on your chest, despite the comforting weight of your arm around him. 

He was half laying on you as you were sitting on the sofa, his feet resting on the armrest as you both watched… something on TV. You watched, Jake just couldn’t focus. Even though he normally adored being snuggled up on the settee next to you, savoured any time you both had together. 

He moved again, trying to keep it as minimal as possible so as to not bother you. Slowly he tensed and untensed his legs, switching it so that one was over the other and then back around again.

There was a deep heat growing at the base of his spine, an ache between his legs. He swallowed. Maybe he could excuse himself to the bathroom, rub one out quickly and then come back to your embrace without getting hard like a horny teenager just because you were close. 

It was embarrassingly really. How often this happened. Sometimes you didn’t even have to physically be around, just smelling your scent lingering around the flat was enough at times. The feel of your jumper in the wardrobe when it brushed against his hand as he got dressed in the morning. The photo of you and Marc at the park on the side table. That time Steven accidentally used your shower gel instead of his own. 

He shifted again. Maybe he could-

“You okay?” 

He jumps despite the softness of your voice and turns his head quickly to look at you, a little wide-eyed. “Yeah?” He answers a fraction too quickly to be considered ‘okay’. 

You give him a bemused smile. “You sure?” 

“Hmmhmm.” 

For a moment you pause, just cocking your head to the side ever so slightly as you regard him and Jack as to practically bite the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from groaning out loud. Why, oh why, did you have to look so adorable when you did that? 

“You need to sneak off to the bathroom?” You ask innocently, but there’s a telltale mischief to your eyes that makes Jake’s blood run cold. 

“I, erm, what are you talking about amor?” 

You gesture with your chin to his not-so-subtle budge in Steven’s sweatpants. 

“A…” He shifts again, thinking about grabbing a pillow to place over himself for a second before realising how silly that would be. You already knew what he was hoping to hide. “Maybe.” 

You smile and kiss his cheek. “That’s okay, you can go. I’m not gonna judge you. You know I don’t want you to sit here and be all uncomfortable.” 

“Hmm.” He gives you a small smile, a light dusting of pink highlighting his cheeks and the very top of his ears. “Sorry.” 

You frown a little and speak kindly. “What are you sorry for, silly?” You lightly stroke the shell of his right ear as you talk, just brushing your fingers along the outside and tucking a few errand curls behind it. 

He shivers. You know what you’re doing. 

“For…” He gestures to his crotch and you giggle. 

“I could…” You bite your lip a little a you speak and Jake pinches his thigh to keep control of himself. “Help you out with it? If you want?” There’s a little nervousness to your words, a worry of overstepping a boundary. 

While you had been physical with Marc and Steven for a while now, the most you had done with Jake had been to kiss and hold hands. Not that you minded. Jake was his own person and you wanted to go at his pace, take your time with the more intimate side of things. Or, never have that kind of relationship with him at all. You were just happy to spend time with him. 

He didn’t really like talking about that side of your relationship, and you didn’t want to push him. 

Jake’s blush grew darker. “I… erm…”

You resisted the urge to gently tease him about his loss for words. 

“I…” He closed his eyes, blurting out his words and screwing his face up afterwards. “I’m a virgin.” 

“Oh.” You said in surprise. That certainly wasn’t what you expected him to say. 

He opened his eyes quickly, a tense look of fear pinching at his features and you quickly realised your mistake. 

“No,” you say quickly as you reach out and stroke his hands, embracing them in your warmth. “I mean ‘oh’ as in, ‘oh, I didn’t think you were gonna say that’, not ‘oh, that’s a problem’.” 

The tension in his shoulders viably relaxed slightly and he gave you a weak smile. Looking down briefly at your hands and stroking your knuckles with his fingers. 

“So… you’ve never done anything… sexual before?” 

Your own tiptoeing around the word makes you wince. 

“Just sort of kissing, I guess.” He looks up to you with his large, soft eyes. “Is that a problem?” 

“No, no, no,” you say quickly, “no at all just… yeah, surprising.”

He raises an eyebrow at you. 

“Well,” you nudge him playfully with your shoulder, “I don’t know if you know this, but you are very pretty.” 

Jake snorts, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve been told.”

You smile back at him before softly brushing his hair behind his ear again, savouring his little hiver. “You know we don’t have to do anything, right? There’s never any pressure, I want you to know that. I’m more than happy just to be with you like this. I love you, it doesn’t have to be physical.” 

He nuzzles into your hand, kissing your wrist. “I know,” he whispers, “and thank you, for saying it out loud I mean.” 

You stroke his cheek as he talks.

“It’s not that I don’t want to… and I know you’ve technically been with the body before, it’s just that…”  

You stay quiet as you caress his face, letting him take his time. 

“I don’t want to disappoint you.” 

As the last words leave his lips a little crack forms in your heart.

“You could never disappoint me, Jake.” 

He smiles but tuts. “You know what I mean… inexperienced isn’t exactly code for ‘giving their partner’s good time’, right?” 

“I’ll have a good time no matter what because I’m with you.” You give him a soft kiss and he smiles.

“That’s not what I mean Amor,” but he kisses you again. “Thank you though, it’s just…” he pauses, thinking carefully on how best to explain himself. Out of the three of them Jake is always the one who thinks most about what they say before they say it. “It’s just, I didn’t want to just… be with someone for the sake of it, I wanted it to be with… someone special, someone I care about. And now…”

“You’re still waiting for that someone special.” You nod solemnly as you tease. 

Jake glares at you playfully, ticking your side until you giggle and hold up your hands. 

“Sorry, sorry,” you mutter between laughter. 

“You should be.” He leans close and lightly nips at your neck. “Be thankful that I’m in a forgiving mood.” 

You grin and kiss his nose. 

“You are my someone special,” he continues sincerely, “and I want it to be enjoyable for you, I want you to…” he trails off and looks down for a second. You can see that hint of a blush returning. 

“You want me to…?”

He bites his lip and swallows. “I want you to look and sound like you do with Marc and Steven.”

You smile cheekily. “You watch?” 

He avoids your gaze. “Sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” 

“Almost all the time.” 

“Almost?” 

“99.9%.”

“What’s wrong with the .0?” You say, pretend indignation in your voice. 

“I’m sleeping.” 

His matter of fact tone takes you by surprise and you laugh loudly. 

“Fair enough.” You stroke his cheek again. 

“You don’t mind?” 

You shake your head. “Marc might. Maybe.” You shrug. “You’d have to ask him.”

“I’m definitely not doing that.” 

“Steven won’t care.” 

Jake nods. “That’s true. Exhibitionist that one, for certain.” 

You laugh again and then pause as both of you look at each other for a long moment. 

“Why don’t we play pretend for a bit? Help you relax and get out of your head?” You ask.

He thinks for a moment before he opens his mouth, a smirk on his lips. “I think it’s called ‘role play’ amor.” 

You tut.

“All I’m saying is I shouldn’t be the one who knows more in this situation-” Jake yelps as you cut him off by tickling him this time. He jumps back from your reach and grins. “Unfair.” 

You poke your tongue out at him. 

Which he promptly returns before he smiles. “Alright, let's play pretend’.”  He sits up straight on the sofa, his hands neatly in his lap as he waits for your direction. 

You give him a brief suspicious look, Jake was never usually one to agree and behave without having some ulterior motive. 

“Alright,” you say a little suspiciously as you settle down next to him. “You can stop this at any point you want, okay?” 

Jake nods once. 

“Okay, so,” you give him a little glance and see he’s listening intently. “I’m thinking, ‘where’s Jake the most comfortable?’”

“In bed.” He interrupts cheekily. 

You snort. “No. I was going to say, driving.”

“Driving’s not very comfortable.”

“Jake-”

“Not here anyway, roads are tiny.”

“Jake-”

“And everyone’s an asshole.”

“Okay, that’s true.”

He grins. 

“But, humour me, yeah?” 

He nods. “Consider yourself humoured.” 

“Alright, driving. So, we’re in the car, you're driving.”

“I’m on the wrong side.”

“Jake.”

“I’m on your left.”

“Well, we’re in America now.” 

“How did we get here?”

“Jake.”

“Did we fly?” 

“Jake.” 

“Marc’s gonna be pissed if we don’t get some pizza, I can tell you that-”

You shut him up by kissing him deeply. While it may not always be the most convenient method of silencing him, it certainly is the most effective. 

He kisses you back desperately, sinking into your embrace and bringing up his hand to lightly caress your cheek as you lick into his mouth. 

You know why he’s talking so much. The action so unlike Jake. He’s nervous. 

He moans softly as you pull back a fraction, trying to follow your lips. 

“I should really be keeping my eyes on the road.” He teases, his voice low and wrecked. 

“Well, it’s a good job we’re on the settee then, isn’t it?” You wrap your arms around him, pulling him closer and pressing your lips back to his. 

You swallow down his softly whimpered moans and trail your hand down his chest. You keep the action slow, deliberate. So he has plenty of time to feel where you're headed, and to stop you if he wants. 

You lightly palm his erection through his jogging bottoms and he hisses in a breath, his hips bucking up towards your touch as he keeps kissing you. 

His hands wrap around you, pulling you closer as he trails his lips down to your jaw, pressing soft kisses along the bone before slipping further down to your neck. 

You press a little harder, running your hand up and down his clothed length and massaging his heavy balls. His cock twitches under your actions, warm and throbbing. 

Jake hisses in a breath, “please.” His voice is so quiet you almost can’t hear him, can distinguish his words from moans as he presses his lips to your skin and sucks lightly. 

You tangle your free hand in his hair, pulling lightly at the curls to make him whine as you hook your fingers under his waistband and pull his trousers down. 

Jake groans, squirming a little and lifting his hips quickly, grabbing hold of the material and yanking his boxers and jogging bottoms down to his knees, keeping his mouth at your neck the whole time. 

The heat coming off his skin almost burns. Even without seeing his face you know that deep blush is back, the one that spreads across his skin like ink and makes you lightheaded from desperation for him. 

Languidly you run the tip of your finger down his length, savouring the way his cock jumps and twitches under your attention. The head is ruddy and swollen, a bead of forming precum seeping out from the slit that begs you to swipe it away with your tongue. 

You wrap your fingers around his girth, a not quite firm enough grip, and pump him twice in long, slow movements.

He sucks in a breath, shivering and muffling his moans against you, his fingers tightening on your side as if you’ll move away. As if you would ever want to leave him like this, aching and needy. 

You dip your hand lower, massaging his balls again and the little sound Jake lets out is the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard. 

“Fuck,” you breathe and quickly pull away from his hold. 

Jake makes a small sound of distress for a moment, thinking you’re stopping, before he realises what you’re doing. 

You lean down, taking hold of his cock and pumping him slowly as you lick along his tip with the flat of your tongue.

Jake groans, throwing his head back against the sofa and balling his hands into fists at his sides. 

You repeat the action again, and again. Lapping at his slit and spreading his precum across your tongue. 

He gasps, his thigh muscles twitching as he fights to keep still and not buck up into your mouth. 

“This okay?” You ask between licks. 

“Yes, ah,  yes, really okay.” He whimpers, squirming a little and biting his lip. “Please don’t stop.” 

“I won’t.” You whisper and lightly suck at his head, moaning as he slips into your mouth, and swirling your tongue around him. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” his hips buck up a fraction before he catches himself and forces them back down against the cushions. “Sorry,” his words are muffled as he grits his jaw, bites his lip and tries to not completely lose it after barely thirty seconds. 

You hum, pressing your tongue flat against him and let yourself slide further down, swallowing and sucking on his greedily. 

“Oh, shi-” he catches himself, fighting every instinct to give in and chase his pleasure. He bites his bottom lip hard, drowning in pleasure and not even trying to come up for air. 

His sighs and pants echo around the flat as you move faster, sink lower, until he hits the back of your throat. 

He gasps loudly, a string of swears thumping out of his throat in a rush. 

Then suddenly, his hands are on your jaw, lightly lifting you back up and off him. “Stop, stop, stop,” he rushes the words together and you move back quickly. 

Your mouth is barely off him before he’s pulling you into a searing embrace, his tongue dancing with your own and licking his precum from your lips. 

“You, you,” he mutters, one hand pulling at your jeans and undoing the button. “You, need you,” you’re not sure if he even realises he’s speaking, his thoughts bypassing any check system and coming straight out of his mouth. 

He pushes you back against the sofa and you let him, let his strong, warm hands guide you and push your jeans and underwear down your thighs just enough so that he can touch you. 

He sighs loudly as he strokes between your legs, the sound almost as if you were the one touching him and not the other way around. 

You moan his name, pulling at his shoulders.

“Show me, show me,” he mutters into your mouth, “please.” 

You grab hold of his hand, pressing his thumb against your clit and showing him the soft circles you like. He follows your directions eagerly, his large dark eyes mesmerised as he watches. 

When you press his fore and middle finger towards your slick entrance he moans again, gently pushing inside and shivering. 

“You’re really wet.” He mutters, trying to control his breathing. Slowly he pulls his fingers out before pushing them back in, revelling in the sound your arousal makes. “Is that,” he repeats the action, his eyes flicking up to your face, “is that okay? Feel okay?” 

You nod, keeping a gentle hold on his forearm. “Just, fuck, thumb’s great, just, sort of curl your fingers a little bit and-” Your sharp moan cuts over whatever you were going to say next as pleasure runs up your spine like lightning. 

“Like that?” He whispers, his voice thick and heavy, his pupils blown wide.

You nod desperately, rolling your hips to chase the sensation of his fingers. “Like that.” 

He groans a little, pressing closer so he can lightly kiss your neck, alternating between sucking at your skin and looking up to watch your face in a blissed out rapture. 

“What made you so wet, hmm?” He mutters into your ear, rocking his hips against you so that his painfully hard cock rubs against your thigh. 

“Fuck,” you hiss as the tips of his fingers brush perfectly inside. 

“Hmm?” He asks needily, practically begging, as if he hasn’t got you at his mercy. 

“You.” You manage to stammer out.

“Me?” 

“You.” 

“You like sucking my cock that much?” He groans, having to pinch his side with his free hand to stop his eyes from rolling back in his head. 

You nod desperately, bucking up into his hand as you chase your orgasm. “Yeah.” Your voice comes out as a pathetic whine and Jake growls. 

He watches you for a few more seconds, trying to keep hitting that spot that makes you mewl under him.

Suddenly, he stops, pulling back his hand and you practically sob, tugging lightly on his wrist to try to keep him inside of you. 

“Jake,” a deep down part of you wishes you didn’t sound quite so needy, but most of you doesn’t care in the slightest.  

“Put your mouth on me again please,” he mutters, his voice rushed and breathless as he urges you down towards his cock with his hand on your upper back. 

You nod, moving quickly to lick a long stripe up the length of him that has him moaning like a whore. 

You take him back into your mouth quickly, sucking him as deep as you can and further still. Jake’s whimpers spurring you on. 

He keeps one hand on your back, nearly at the base of your neck, pressing down ever so slightly to guide your tempo. While he shoves his middle and forefinger into his mouth and groans at the taste of your arousal. 

He moans loudly, his chest vibrating with the sound. “Amor,” his voice is thick, on the verge of breaking, “fuck you taste-” he gasps as you sink lower, your own sounds of pleasure echoing along his cock. 

He bites back a sob. “Taking such good care of me, you taste so sweet,” he sucks on his fingers, desperately trying to find every single trace of your slink that he can. The wet sounds cut over your own, somehow louder in your ears than your racing heartbeat and your mouth around his hot, thick cock.

Jake’s eyebrows pinch together as the ball of pleasure starts to tighten uncontrollably in the base of his stomach, pushing him higher and higher and so close to tumbling off the edge. 

“Amor,” he whines, biting his lip and gently pulling you off his throbbing cock for the second time. 

A thin trail of salvia connects you for a brief moment. You pout a little at being coaxed away from him again, Jake savours your expression for a heartbeat before kissing your swollen lips once, twice. His hands on either side of your face, stroking your cheeks as he slips his tongue into your mouth and squirms in his seat. 

He breaks the kiss briefly to tug off his own trousers, reconnects your lips with a groan and tries to get your jeans off without moving away again. 

You chuckle lightly at his impatient scoff when it doesn’t quite go to plan. He scowls at your clothing, as if it was purposefully being difficult. Swearing lightly under his breath before looking down and tugging them off. You pull your top off at the same time, burning with need. Desperate to feel his skin against yours so keenly that it is almost to the point of pain. 

“Lay back please,” he mutters as he tugs your legs free and clambers between your thighs. His hands dig in just enough to send a shiver along your nerves, twisting deeply at your core. His stubble grazing over your skin as he places sloppy kisses on your inner knee, trailing upwards and nipping lightly. 

He moves hastily, forgoing any pretence of being able to hold himself together as he gazes at your aching pussy. He darts out his tongue, licking one long swipe through your folds and up to your clit, closing his eyes and moaning at the taste wantonly. 

“Fuck, Jake, I-”

He plunges two fingers back inside you, curling them exactly how you instructed and you all but scream. Your breath stolen from you as he flicks his tongue against your clit, circling one way and then the other before latching on and sucking it into his mouth, trying to follow directions from hazy encounters he watched quietly in the headspace. 

When you grab hold of his hair, your hips arching up into his mouth he groans, opening his eyes so that he can see the look of pleasure on your face. How you contort under his touch. 

He sobs, rutting needily against the sofa, the expression on your face almost too much to bear. 

You buck against him unthinkingly, your body taking over as you need to chase your high. His name falls from your lips in whimpered gasps, separated only but pleas and muttered praises. 

You guide the back of his head, encouraging him to lap at you in time with your hips and he follows your directions instantly, pressing closer and moaning against you so much that the sensation nearly has you screaming.

Your thighs shake as you bite your lips together, muscles tensing and waves of pleasure begin to build and build and build, threatening to drag you down over the edge in one fell sweep and-

Jake pulls back quickly, the bottom half of his face shining with his slavia and your slick. You groan in frustration as he moves, but let go of him so as to not pull at his hair. 

“Jake,” you say, a spike of irritation weaving through your words. 

He moans at your tone, his eyes glazing over ever so slightly. “I’m sorry, please,” he rubs your thighs, kneading his fingers into your skin as his own hips rock and buck against nothing but the air. 

His cock is red, leaking and almost painful looking with how hard he is. It bobs up and down with every movement, almost pleading with you to take pity. 

“Please what?” You whisper. 

Jake shuffles back into a sitting position, both feet flat on the floor. He looks at you a little uncertainly for a split second before he pushes the emotion down. “Please come and fuck yourself on my cock.” He says quietly, as if he was truly asking you for a favour and not letting you have everything you want.

You all but jump into his lap, pulling off the rest of your clothing and kissing him hard. He moans against your lips, following every movement desperately as he places his hands gently on your hips. 

With the last fragment of your rapidly disintegrating self-control, you manage to pull away from him just far enough to speak. “You sure?” 

It’s like he doesn’t hear you, too drunk on your touch for your words to make sense. He moves forward, trying to kiss you again. But you hold him back a little, pressing your hands against his cheeks softly but firmly until his eyes meet yours, his eyebrows pinched in puzzlement. 

“Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t want to rush you, we can-”

“Please.” He practically sobs. The break in his voice at the end of the word rings so loudly in the room that you're surprised it doesn’t echo. You’ve never heard him so needy before. 

“Please,” he repeats, “I want to, I want you. If… if you’ll have me, if you-”

You cut off any self-destructive thought that was destined to fall out of his mouth with your lips on his. 

“If I’ll fucking have you,” you mutter against him, raising up on your knees and taking him in your hand. You line him up with your entrance before you sink slowly down. 

Jake gasps, grabbing hold of you and squeezing you tight. His face pressed into your chest as you hold his shoulder, kiss his temple as you ease him inside. 

He bites his lip, trying and failing to hold back a whimper, but succeeding in keeping his hips still. 

You gently turn his face towards you by his chin as you bottom out, kissing his plump lips once, twice before you speak. “You okay?” 

He nods, completely lost in the feel of you squeezing around him. “I’m not gonna last.” 

“That’s okay,” you smile sweetly, stroking his hair.

But Jake shakes his head. “It’s not, I want you to-”

“Hey, hey,” you soothe, “I’m having a good time, okay?” You smile and gently take one of his hands and guide it between your legs to your clit. “Here, remember what I showed you?”

He nods, looking up at you like you painted the sky and quickly begins those soft circles that have you clenching around him and moaning softly. 

He lets out a choked sob. “Can feel you.” He mutters. “Feel you… squeezing, and fuck, so warm, and wet, and tight and-” he swallows his words, groaning loudly, his eyes closing as you start to slowly move, using his shoulders for leverage. 

His fingers don’t falter though. 

The stretch of him is so good it burns, pressing hard and deep inside and threatening to crack you open at any given second. 

You keep your movements steady, rising up and sinking back down, watching his every expression intently. The bob of his throat. The lines of concentration on his forehead.

His thighs shake, his lip so tightly between his teeth that it’s losing colour. 

“You want me to go faster?” You whisper and he grounds, nodding rapidly. 

You can’t help but smile as warmth runs along your veins. How much he trusts you to take care of him, how hard he’s trying to stay still. 

You kiss him hard, forcing him to stop biting his lip and let out the sweet sounds he’s been trying to hamper. He takes hold of your face with his free hand, caressing your cheek as you slide your tongue into his mouth. 

You pick up your pace, truly riding him and he moans. 

“Amor…”

“Move with me.” You mutter, rolling your hips and encouraging him to buck up and do the same. 

He whines, but nods, kissing you deeping as he fucks up into you as you set a brutal pace. 

The slide of his thick cock makes your spine bend, your body moving on autopilot as you chase your high. Your breath catches in your throat as he hits deep. Your fingers tighten around his shoulders, digging into his sweat soaked skin. 

Jake's eyes snap open, watching you intently and angling his hips to try to hit that spot again. 

“Please, please, please,” he mumbles with every thrust, not sure what he’s asking for but knowing that he’s desperate for it. 

You tense, your muscles clenching as bliss begins to burn at the edge of your vision. “Jake, Jake, fuck.”

“Yes, please, please,” he moans, obsessed with how your lips part, your eyes shut as you get close, “please.” His thumb swirls messily over your clit, slick with sweat and your wetness, he pushes you closer.

The slap of skin is nearly as long as both of your moans as you bounce relentlessly on his cock, his balls slapping against your ass cheeks. 

Stars begin to swell behind his eyes, pleasure spiralling in the base of his spine. “I can’t, I’m gonna- please!”

It’s a sobbed beg that pushes you over the edge. How desperate he is for you. How needy. How shamelessly open with what he wants. 

You swear as pleasure crackles over your skin, burns through your veins as you come. Jake groans loudly, following you a fraction of a second later and gasping as you squeeze his cock, milking him for every last drop he has to spend. 

He buries himself deep, pressing his face into your chest. For a second he’s weighty, floating somewhere high above everything, somewhere warm and safe. 

And then your hands stroke his arms, your lips kiss his sweaty forehead, and he can feel you, your warmth, your everything holding him tight and keeping him safe. 

“You okay?” You stroke his hair softly and smile when he looks up at you. 

He nods and grins, pressing his lips to yours in a long, soft kiss. “I think I like play pretend amor.” 

You snort. “Oh, do you?” 

“Hmm, we’ll have to do it again.” 

____________________________________________

Thank you for reading!

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[slugmanslime]

Stretching

Pairing: ChiChi x Piccolo Warnings: cursing?? babies Word Count: 2,335 Fic Type: Oneshot Drabble

i want to say a huge thank you to @lilacboii for proof-reading all of these and thank you as well to @lilmissmousey for the encouragement!

i did vague this up a little bit bc sticking to timelines gives me a headache late at night bit i may fix this later on!

It might be difficult for the average woman to adjust to the feeling of a baby having a tantrum in the womb, but Son ChiChi is no average woman and her babies do not simply have tantrums, oh no. While her firstborn was rather mellow, surprising given his astronomical power level, her youngest son was proving to be very easily excitable. On days where all she wants to do is hang up the linens to dry and mop the kitchen, she is often forced to take frequent breaks, bent at the waist and gasping, while baby Goten does backflips off her ribcage and uses her small intestine as a jump rope.

It seemed that today was going to be one of those days; they were beginning to happen more often the closer she was getting to her due date, and ChiChi finds it to be both a blessing and a curse that her little boy’s gestation period would be seven months rather than nine. With Gohan’s schoolwork done for the day so he could make a break for the Lookout, and breakfast dishes that needed to be washed, ChiChi took a deep breath and hoisted herself from the kitchen chair she had collapsed in when Goten started practicing the mamba. The expectant mother clutched six months’ worth of baby belly in one hand as she waddled to the sink with a stack of plates in the other. Depositing them in the sink and taking a moment to wince, ChiChi rolled up her sleeves and got to work. While she was still heartbroken and angry, not much had changed with her Saiyan husband wishing to stay in the Other World. She could commend him for wanting to keep them safe—but she still felt that he was going about it all wrong. What good would it do for him to be gone if trouble reared its ugly, alien head regardless? Her scrubbing faltered for a moment before continuing. Well, it wasn’t as if she and her little boys were all alone…

Piccolo hovered a few yards above the roof of the Son cottage, silently tracking Gohan’s ki as he raced to meet Dende for who knows what. If he was a betting man, he would put money on them cracking open one of those ancient Namekian tombs and spending hours drooling over it. Deep in meditation, his lips quirked upwards only the slightest at the thought. Gohan was his closest friend, but the boy needed interaction with those his own age, and who better for the strongest fighter on either to befriend than the planets guardian himself?

Gohan’s ki was not the only one he was keeping tabs on at the moment. Beneath him in the cottage, he could feel two more sets thrumming with vitality. Although ChiChi would never admit it, he knew that his help was always wanted and appreciated; he supposed it had just never become a thing to consciously vocalize it, lest it become awkward for the lot of them. Piccolo had always been close, even when Goku was alive, always hovering and always around. But it wasn’t until cracks in the foundation had started to show that Piccolo came even closer, allowing himself to get sucked into the mundane of everyday life with the Sons. And on some level, he even admitted that sometimes it was enjoyable.  

Animated swearing cut his meditation sessions short, and his unconscious smirk vanished as his ears perked. Piccolo dropped to the ground in an instant, but the curses had slowly started dying off. Chichi’s voice had been laced with pain, and the Namekian wasted no time barging through the too-small front doorway. To his increased confusion, he could smell no blood, and as he peered at the tiny woman doubled over and clutching the sink so hard the aluminum was warping, Piccolos anxiety spiked.

“ChiChi, what’s going on? Is—is this labor? You’re very early, I should call that doctor to see—,” The very hand that had been crumpling the sink like a soda can whipped up, motioning for him to be silent. Piccolo’s mouth shut with an audibly click, fangs knocking against each other.

A few moments later when she was able to speak, it was hardly more than a hiss. “Trust me, Piccolo, I know what labor feels like. This… is Goten stretching…”

The surly Namekian stays hunched for a moment longer before completely entering the house and standing at his full height, violet tinging his ears. He had been truly frightened for a moment, thinking he had this spitfire woman about to have a Saiyan baby right in front of him. His arms crossed over his broad chest, talons curling around his bicep as he gazed down at her, brows furrowed. “You look like he’s ripping you in half. Is that even normal?”

Almost immediately he regretted speaking as her head tilted upwards, melting him to the spot with her fiery gaze. Sweat beads dotted her face and her mouth is set in a grim line; haggard is an expression she had been sporting for too long and there was something about it that tugged at Piccolos chest.

“Well I don’t know, is being pregnant with a half alien child normal? Idiot!” Although her voice is sharp, it’s becoming apparent that Goten’s movements were becoming less agitated. They shared few more moments of silence punctuated by ChiChi’s panting, and finally she stood, wiping her sweaty palms on the front of her gown. Piccolo took this opportunity to come closer, peering around the nearly completely cleaned kitchen for something to do. She had beaten him to nearly everything, and he frowned down at her.

Chichi gave it right back, hands placed on her hips, cocking one to the side with a sass that comes as easily as breathing. “Don’t give me that look, Piccolo! You know when I need help you’re the first person I call.” Her face softens some, and she gives him an apologetic smile. “You shoulda seen the look on your face though. Priceless! You looked like you’d seen a ghost.” She doesn’t bother trying to stifle her giggles at his discomfort.

“Oh, come off it! How was I supposed to know?” His frown weakened into a scowl, his ears growing a shade darker at her teasing. The concern hadn’t left his eyes at all however, no matter how gruffly he was speaking. It doesn’t go unnoticed by his companion either, even as she sighs and returns to her seat, hands folded over her stomach.

“Okay, you wouldn’t know, you’re right. I was just pokin’ fun, Piccolo, don’t be such a ‘fraidy-cat. Hey, c’mere, let me show you something—quick, before he calms all the way down!” Beaming in a way that only a mother-to-be can, ChiChi motioned for him to approach, holding one hand out for his own. He shuffled over to her after a long minute of hesitation and her beckoning with increasing annoyance. Once his hands slipped into hers— or rather, he engulfed her hand with his own— she guided it to her distended stomach slowly, and placed the clawed appendage atop it.

Any other mother may have been terrified at the sight of a huge green hand equipped with claws sharp enough to put any razor to shame so close to her unborn child, but again, ChiChi was no ordinary mother. Time and time again it had been proven that she could trust this snarky alien leaning over her, jaw slackening in awe at the little kicks and rolls her Goten was performing. Something fuzzy tickled her heart just at the sight of him, unable to hide the intrigue and fondness blooming in his gaze.

“Amazing isn’t it? And he’s actually being pretty tame right now. Usually it feels like he’s training for the next World Martial Arts Tournament.” She felt the coolness of his skin even through two layers of clothing and it was both strange and reassuring. Goten was moving less frequently now, his little feet pushing at her abdomen every other minute, and ChiChi was silently relieved; Piccolo’s fingers twitch to match Goten’s movement, but he can sense he exhaustion as well.

“How are you feeling, honestly? And don’t give me any bullshit about being fine because you’ve got…” Piccolo lifted his hand from her stomach delicately only to wave it errantly in the air, giving her a no-nonsense look that she was kind of impressed with. “I dunno, chores or something to do. Gohan and I can take care of that.” There he goes again, signing himself up for menial human crap.

Teeth worried pink, chapped lips as she looked around the kitchen thoughtfully; a few more hours of rest sounded heavenly, and she was rather frustrated with her unborn son for wanting to act up every time she got busy. “Since when did you become the boss around here?” Damn, she could have at least managed to put some conviction behind that. He smirked at her too; he knew she was done for.

“Since you decided to become some kind of Super Mom. You’re catching a break here,” Without warning or notice for her to protest, a pair of burly emerald arms scoop her out of the chair, cradling her to his chest as if she were the newborn, “so take it, and get some rest. The day won’t be wasted, I assure you.”

ChiChi’s protests were falling on deaf ears—purposefully, how could he not hear her yowling and complaining even if his ears weren’t superhuman? —as he meandered through the cottage, ducking down through the doorway of her bedroom. No, his arms did not hesitate to deposit her gently on the bed, and no, his gaze did not linger on the tiny puckered pout that had formed on her face during the trip. Not to mention, he definitely did not miss the warmth of her body curled against his chest, although it seemed that some of it had seeped through into him, his memories. Piccolo had minded that, though. He minded that one a lot.

“Thanks, you stubborn jerk. I’m pregnant not crippled, you had better get the right idea! But since you’re here, and you diiid offer…” ChiChi shifted to lean over to her bedside table, swiftly scribbling on the handy notepad she kept there. With a clean tear, she held the list up to her stoic helper, smile sweeter than honey. “Just a few things I had on my agenda today, nothing a big strong guy like you can’t handle, right?”

What had he gotten himself into? One hand rubbing his temple, he reached out and plucked the list from her fingers, giving it a once-over before snarling down at her. “What the hell, there’s at least thirty things to do on here! How could even you do this all in one day?”

“It’s called being a mother, you should try it sometime!”

“No thanks, I’m much more suited to meditating and training that brat of yours.”

“Call him that again and you won’t be training anyone anytime soon, especially either of my boys!” Once again, she had matched his expression, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out how hers was so much more intimidating. Arms crossed in defeat, Piccolo crumbles the list in his grasp and glares down at her. “That’s more like it! But honestly, make up your mind, because I need all of that done today. Now, I can do it myself, or I can stay put, so what is it gonna be?” Another withering look is cast in his direction and he bit his tongue—she was obviously crabby but it wouldn’t do him any good to say so.

“Oh, damnit all woman, it’s a few menial chores and some heavy lifting. Don’t worry your chatty little head.” The former demon gave her a once over, picking up the far edge of the blanket and tossing it over her as if to make his point. “I’ll take care of the big stuff and pick up the br—Gohan, to finish the rest. Won’t take more than a few hours—long enough for you to take a nap. And bathe.” He didn’t need to crinkle nose to illustrate, but he did it anyway, just to see that cute enraged look on her face.

Wait, he didn’t mean cute, he meant…

His train of thought was cut short by a pillow to the face, and he can’t help the bark of laughter that escapes his mouth before he tosses it back. His cape swirled upon his exit, its swooshing not near loud enough to mask her searing remarks but he simply smirked to himself, and shut the door. If ChiChi wasn’t tuckered out before, she damn well had better be now. The same cape that helped him escape fluttered behind him in the breeze when he strode out of the cottage, pouring over the list once more; Piccolo had no regrets about putting her on bed rest for today, and no matter how standoffish he was, he could at least admit to himself that he was worried for her. Now, why exactly was a can of worms for another day... 

When was the last time the headstrong woman had been manhandled in such a fashion without her consent? ChiChi flopped back against her pillows and drew the blanket up to her chin, thinking of her late husband. Albeit careless sometimes, he had loved hoisting her up to grab things or spinning her around when he was elated about something. Sadness tinged the smile on her lips, fingertips brushing the swollen area of her stomach. She was unsure if Goku had even known about his second son before he died, and the thought turned her expression bitter. It didn’t matter now, anyway. Exhaustion was creeping up on her, and in the mist of sleep the image of Goku smiling down at his firstborn morphed into one of a fanged smile framed by green lips and a clawed hand jostled by the movements of another Saiyan child to come. Sorrow lost out to the content of an assured mother, but it was debatable whether she’d remember when she awoke.  

[miraculouscontent]

It’s heeeeere! Another summasalt, this time with nearly twice the length of the first one!

(Turns out that not having caffeine doesn’t help me talk any slower.)

Script below:

Anonymous asked:

Thoughts on Rocketear?

Can you Rocketear the newest episode apart with your salt, my beloved Salt Queen?

Penny for your thoughts on Rocketear?

Aw, anon! You can have that for free! I'm a generous goddess.

"Rocketear" begins with Chat Noir and Carapace - just Carapace, really - holding back a pack of what I presume to be the physical manifestation of the writing staff's age, or at least a representation of how behind the times the writing seems.

Just as the dinosaurs break through Shellter. Ladybug shows up with the scientist who revived the dinosaurs in the first place and said scientist uses a whistle to calm the dinosaurs down. There's also a line from Bob Roth about putting the dinosaurs in a theme park to make money and I know what it's referencing but it's so incredibly random that it doesn't really come off as a proper joke.

Carapace was notably sad right after battle, but insisted that he was fine when Ladybug asked. Rena, sporting a... - I would like to say "new design" but it's a recolor in every sense of the word - is hiding behind part of a building and smiles after the heroes before walking off. Ladybug takes Nino's miraculous back but sees that he's still upset and asks him again what's wrong. Nino asks where Alya was and Ladybug claims that she only needed Carapace for the job, which cheers him up but only until Ladybug is already gone.

Mm, I guess Nino and Adrien relate in heroism not being enough for them unless they have their respective love interest to flirt with.

Also, I know this is an obvious set-up, but the show can't tell me that Ladybug just always brought Nino and Alya whenever she needed one of them. Season 3 required her to go to Master Fu to get the miraculouses, and unless she already knew that Nino and Alya would be in the same location - which, okay, the show does basically shove the two of them together whenever Nino is onscreen, fair, if two characters are in a relationship in this show then it's weird for them to NOT be with that person - but it just seems like a gamble, not to mention proof to Shadow Moth that the two are close if Ladybug constantly brings both of them.

Anyway, Ladybug goes into the sewer and asks Rena if she's seen any sign of Shadow Moth or his traps. Rena didn't see anything and they de-transform. Marinette is about to leave when she thinks of something, but Alya assumes it's about her new look, which was apparently not voluntary on her part and the suit automatically adapted to Alya's new role as Rena Furtive, which she has now named it as.

Marinette reminds her that this is supposed to be a secret and that they agreed that the fox has no owner. When Alya is evasive about whether she told Nino that she won't be Rena anymore, Marinette stresses that everyone needs to believe that Alya won't be using a miraculous anymore so that she can remain an undercover spy.

What's the point in changing the look if you're not going to show yourself anyway? I mean, insurance, I guess, but still.

Alya, exasperated, parrots what Marinette has apparently told her before: that she helps Ladybug with Mirage in case Shadow Moth tries to follow her so Rena can follow him instead. Marinette stresses the situation again and Alya tries to get Marinette to agree on her telling Nino that she's Rena Furtive, but Marinette refuses.

At Marinette's house, Alya talks further and explains that she doesn't know if she can lie to Nino since they don't keep any secrets--Alya, babe, you kept Rena Rouge from him and didn't tell him that you knew he was Carapace until Ladybug was forced to give you your miraculouses at the same time. I don't wanna hear it.

Marinette states that it's too late for that and also not technically a lie, but Alya gets upset and says that Nino will never trust her again if he finds out that she kept something from him. Marinette brings up how she had to keep secrets from Alya too, but they're interrupted by Tom appearing and wanting to play games with them. Marinette makes an excuse about homework that she's repeated many times, as Tom comments that the teachers give her too much. After Tom is kicked out - hang on, lemme just... - Marinette uses the moment to show Alya that she's lied to her family a lot and hasn't played games with her father in months. She states that there's no other option as they have to protect their identities, and Alya agrees to talk to Nino.

In Alya's room - I just presume at this point that Nino's house doesn't exist and Chris is an illusion - Alya tells Nino that they need to talk, but stammers and states that it's hard to talk about. Nino thinks that she wants to break up with him, but Alya assures that she loves him. She finally gets to the cover story that Rena herself made up in "Sentibubbler" and Nino understands, sad that she won't be around anymore but agreeing if it's what Ladybug thinks is best.

Is it weird that Nino respects Ladybug's wishes more than Alya does?

Nino hugs her and is confused by why Alya was nervous to tell him, as she can tell him anything and nothing will change their relationship. Alya feels guilty and hugs back, murmuring about how they don't have any secrets; that's not what Nino said, but sure, push this plot to its already predictable conclusion. I mean, I thought it was vaguely sweet that Nino switched to seriousness immediately when Alya said that she wanted to talk, but how am I supposed to be invested in this couple when their dynamic boils down to "STRONG, INDEPENDANT WOMAN who wears the pants in the relationship because her boyfriend is portrayed as a wimpy coward"? Like, the show constantly dragged Nino down to make Alya look "powerful" by comparison, and then when it comes to characters like Marinette, we get a girl who works very well outside of her relationship with her endgame love interest.

It's the fakest form of "girl power," dragging guys down to raise girls up or actually making a strong girl character but having her love interest be a weakness that creates flaws in her that weren't there originally and having that love interest be who she's "destined for."

I'm rambling, sorry.

In class, Marinette assures Alya that she did the right thing and Alya agrees. As they're leaving school, Marinette talks about how their "night walks" start soon, and Alya non-subtly talks about how Rena Furtive will be on the lookout while Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol. She stops, however, as gets excited about some pictures she took of herself as Rena Furtive, which has a lot of details that Marinette hasn't seen. I don't know whether to groan at what I just heard or remind everyone that Rena Furtive is literally just a recolor and therefore this is the writers patting themselves on the back for this design, so let's just move on.

Alya then shows Marinette her phone--AUGH, MY EYES--and suggests making a poll on her Ladyblog so people can vote for their favorite Rena design. Marinette has to stress again that Rena Furtive is supposed to be a spy and thus invisible, which Alya admits that she forgot about.

Okay, I've been holding off on talking about this, but now seems like the best time to bring it up. Alya has been a trash friend as well as a trash confidant, and her role as Rena Rouge boiled down to, "it was convenient for her to be the fox at the time it was needed." She's not particularly stealthy like one would expect of a fox, and she was easily one of the worst candidates to be told Marinette's big secret. I'll get more into this later, but I have to stress that Alya has treated Marinette no differently since learning of Marinette's identity and has already gone against Marinette's orders once before at the time of this episode airing. Episodes are constantly torn between validating their decision to have Marinette tell Alya, having Marinette be worried about the decision while the show considers her to be ridiculous for it, and then having Alya either consider or make choices that clearly don't gel well with what's good for her role. Much like Marinette, she lacks a sense of self-control and--wow, a female character who's impulsive, never seen that stereotype before.

Point being, "Sentibubbler" stressed over and over that Alya was the right choice and deserved to be both the permanent fox and the understudy for guardian, but then we have "Rocketear" here where Alya is making basic emotionally-driven errors that I'm not even remotely sympathetic to when Marinette has gone through so much worse over the course of three+ seasons.

*sigh*

Alya laments that it's hard to find new content for the Ladyblog - ah, yes, tell me more about your struggles, Alya - but figures that at least she can post stuff about Chat Noir instead of--I don't know--making fake Ladybug theories to lead people off Marinette's trail. Marinette says that it's a great idea, though Alya still doesn't look too happy. The scene then rewinds to a little bit to show a different point of view, this time with Adrien and Nino. Wait, this feels familiar, wasn't there another episode that did something like--ohhhh no, this is going to hurt.

After saying good-bye to Adrien - something I wish I could do every time he's mentioned or on-screen - Nino catches the bit of conversation where Alya talks about the Ladyblog. Nino talks as if Marinette isn't there and asks Alya out to the movies because Marinette is chopped liver and this is about Alya and how sad she is, guys.

Wow, she's turning into Adrien faster and faster.

Alya hesitates, but Marinette assures her that there's still time. Alya excitedly runs off with Nino and they watch what I presume are previews given the narrator, featuring recycled footage from the Ladybug PV. Nino is upset because Rena is mentioned but not Carapace, and the preview features Rena telling Chat Noir to forget Ladybug because it's Chat and Rena herself who are trulu made for each other.

I don't know what's funnier; the complete lack of self-awareness or the suggestion that a biracial couple would exist in this show outside of a special that gives them maybe a minute of screentime and acts more like suggestive canon anyway. I think I might've been too generous with that line about dinosaurs.

Nino is offended by the preview and Alya brushes off his comments, stating that it's just a cartoon and it's made to entertain people, though Nino himself is certainly not entertained. Can't say I entirely blame him considering that Alya doesn't really try to say anything substantial or even agree with him. No cuddling or reassuring kisses, she just gets slightly sad and turns to her phone for a bit.

After the movie, Nino is cheered back up again until he catches Alya on her phone once more. He offers to take her home, but she's distracted, and he comments that what she showed to Marinette looked pretty nice; I don't know because they didn't show it. Nino asks what it was and Alya evades the question, stating that her battery is running out. Nino is suspicious, but spots Andre's ice cream cart and the two head over there. Andre calls them his favorite couple and asks what they want, but Alya sees Ladybug gesturing for her and has to run off, giving Nino a cheek kiss as she goes which feels like too little too late at this point.

Nino catches some conveniently-placed kids arguing over who Chat Noir loves, but they settle on the fact that girls in general love Chat Noir. Nino is then seen at the Seine watching the Ladyblog's latest video, where Alya is talking up how amazing Chat Noir is. I hate to stop every five seconds to complain - okay, actually I don't - but I presume this video must've been made after the movie since Nino seems like the type who would actively follow his girlfriend's blog, yet not only is this video perfectly set up to echo the kids and the movie preview, but Alya - despite apparently caring about her boyfriend soooo much that she kept trying to convince Marinette to bend the rules - didn't even try to warn Nino or text him so he doesn't take it too seriously. It's like "Sentibubbler" with the conflicting messages about identity rules; Alya cares about her boyfriend but both isn't thinking about how he'll take the things she says and apparently doesn't know him well enough to realize that he wouldn't be mad over her keeping a secret that she was told to keep. I already talked about how they play up Nino to be the emotionally weaker one of the relationship, but then they don't have Alya try to cover or make up for that. She's been acting very much not like Alya - you know, the one who in "Sapotis" practically bragged about how great she'd be at covering for Ladybug - with her stutters and weak excuses, so I can't completely blame Nino for being upset after everything that's happened when he sees the writers projecting onto Alya as she talks about how Chat Noir is brave and funny and cute and showing all these images of him as well. I don't agree with all of his actions, but--oh yeah, speaking of which--

Nino calls Adrien and is talking to him about how Alya must be in love with someone else. Adrien dismisses the idea, as Alya and Nino are together basically all the time, and asks who she could possibly be in love with. When Nino suggests that it's Chat Noir, Adrien laughs and jokes about it being Fang instead. Nino points out the video but Adrien did see it but is overall unphased and convinced that it means nothing. Nino says that he'll find proof and hangs up, but Adrien is certain he'll find nothing. Plagg comments that Nino will find someone because Plagg's charisma has definitely contaminated Adrien.

Ugh.

Adrien expresses concern that he put on the cat's charm too much and accidentally made Alya fall for him, and decides to visit Alya as Chat Noir to be sure.

Meanwhile, we get a reference to film noirs as Nino narrates. That's the second blatant reference this episode and now I feel like they wrote this script while doing a movie marathon.

Chat Noir arrives at Alya's house and Trixx hides before Alya opens the curtains to reveal her surprise guest. Nino is nearby watching the scene with his phone as Alya wonders aloud if something's wrong. Chat assures that everything's fine, but brings up the video she posted. He insists that it made him happy, but points out that she's been following him and Ladybug since the beginning and that they know each other much better due to everything that's happened. He has some conveniently-worded dialog as he starts to say that he hopes something's just an illusion and Alya gets worried that he's about to bring up Rena. Chat continues and clarifies that he wonders if she started to feel something for him, though adds that he understands because just look at him.

UGGGGH.

Chat clarifies by making a heart with his hands, which Nino sees. Alya laughs at this gesture and states that she has a boyfriend, doing the same heart gesture and suggesting that her love for Nino is even more than that. Chat Noir apologizes - hm, I didn't know he had the capacity to do that - and hugs Alya, saying that he was just confused.

An absolutely unnecessary hug for two people who, at least in terms of their current selves, have had very little screentime together, but this is also the show where making eye contact basically means your friends and it's all just to push the plot along so Nino inteprets that Alya is in love with Chat Noir, so whatever I guess.

Alya states that Nino is far more irresistable than Chat, then adds that she doesn't even know his secret identity, and she'd never fall in love with someone she doesn't know. Nino then runs away upset and the scene cuts away to the next day where--

Wait, wait, wait, hang on a second. Two things right off the bat there.

First off, we're just gonna sidle past that "wouldn't fall in love with someone you don't know the identity of" while ignoring the existence of the love square? Not even Chat thinking about how he doesn't know Ladybug's identity and trying to excuse that he doesn't have to? This guy is that certain of their relationship?

Secondly, Nino is practically sobbing and Shadow Moth doesn't take this as his opportunity? Same guy who akumatized Mr. Pigeon 72 times and has akumatized Gigantitan more than once? What is this pacing???

But--alright, so Adrien comes into school and sees Nino, still dressed up in his detective gear, which gets ignored completely as Adrien goes to tell him about Chat Noir and Alya. Because the show doesn't know how Adrien would convey this within reason, Nino interrupts him, taking him down into the lower part of the school where he has a desk and chairs set up. Adrien goes to ask when Nino had time to do this, but Nino slams his hand on the desk to cut him off. Nino presents the evidence he took and they go back and forth, likewise with Adrien turning off the background music while Nino turns it back on. Adrien insists that it's a misunderstanding, but pleads innocent when Nino asks how he knows. Adrien states that Alya is just a superhero fan and that she and Chat Noir have nothing in common.

Again, the complete lack of self-awareness is astonishing.

Adrien repeats what Alya said about secret identities and how she wouldn't fall for someone she doesn't know - they're really ignoring this, aren't they? - and continues hitting Nino's soft spots about how unlikely it is until Nino decides to tell Adrien something he's not supposed to.

He tells Adrien, not only that Alya is Rena Rouge, but that he's Carapace. Adrien goes through a range of emotions beyond sAD for once, shocked at the fact that they know each other's identities. Nino states that they don't keep secrets from each other, except now Alya is with Chat Noir. Adrien still doesn't understand and brings up how secret identities have to be protected, or else Nino wouldn't have told him because Ladybug wouldn't agree to it.

Oh, here we go. So that's why they waited.

Nino states that it was Ladybug herself who gave them their miraculouses at the same time; not giving the reason why, of course, nor pointing out that they're temporary heroes so there's understandably some leeway. Adrien is having a moment, but manages to bring the subject back to Alya and Chat Noir, who he still doesn't think are a thing. Nino argues that it's because Adrien doesn't know Chat Noir, but he does because he's Carapace and knows how Chat Noir acts. He says that it's all flowers and confessions when Ladybug appears, but he gets rejected because Ladybug thinks that he's annoying, and she's right. He adds that Chat flirts with Rena Rouge and that's all that needs to happen, with Chat stepping in on the first mission Carapace lost in. Nino laments the loss of the love of his life and wishes to shut Chat Noir up forever; we all do, Nino, we all do. Shadow Moth finally steps in with - oh, less than eight minutes left in the episode, yikes - and Nino is akumatized into Rocketear.

Rocketear rejects Adrien's pleas to stop, insisting that Chat Noir is who he's after, not Adrien, and Adrien transforms in sad fashion despite Plagg's reminder of who Rocketear is after. Alya, meanwhile, is in the art club with Marinette - wait, since when was Alya in the art club - telling Marinette about how Chat Noir thought she was into him due to the video, which Marinette groans at. There's an earthquake and they peek outside to see Rocketear firing his tears at Chat Noir, shouting that he stole Alya from him. Chat Noir tries to tell him otherwise, but Rocketear won't listen.

Alya groans at Nino doing this, then she and Marinette set off to find a place to transform. They conveniently go to the same place Adrien and Nino were, so they see the desk that Nino had set up.

Genuine question, how seriously does this episode want me to take itself, because now when I recount all the unnecessary love square drama in my head - because you know that's where this is going - I'm going to have to think, "Nino, dressed in a detective outfit, ripped off his fake mustache and told Adrien both his and Rena's identities, and also that Ladybug was totally cool with it and thinks that Chat Noir is annoying."

Gettin' two completely different vibes here. The episode clearly wants to be important but it doesn't take itself seriously either, which it totally could while including enough jokes to keep things light. Instead, I'm just left scratching my head and wondering what tone they're going for.

Marinette finds Nino's phone on the desk - I'm calling continuity error on that one because he at no point put it on the desk, at least not on-screen - and she questions Alya on the video she sees. Alya insists that nothing happened, apparently completely unphased by her boyfriend having spied on her, and says that he wouldn't have misunderstood if he'd heard the actual conversation.

The two transform and Ladybug immediately uses Lucky Charm, receiving a projector. Ladybug is clueless and Rena Furtive suggests creating an imaginary movie like Nino. Ladybug gets an idea, remembering Alya's earlier comments, and Rena confirms that she remembers every word of it.

Aaaaand, just like that, all of the tension has been completely sucked away. You know, "Backwarder" was a trash episode, but at least when Ladybug was showing every step of her plan, she didn't tell us what it was.

Meanwhile, Rocketear and Chat Noir are still arguing--I started zoning out at hearing the same thing over and over again at this point, so I just presume they were fighting over who does stuff behind their love interest's backs better; I don't think they came to an agreement but they're both losers anyway.

Chat Noir says that he'll prove his innocence, tossing his baton aside to show him giving up, but Rocketear points out that it proves nothing and strikes Chat Noir with his tears.

Our endgame love interest, everyone. Straight As yet about as smart as a sack of bricks, and that at least won't flirt with anyone non-consensually.

Chat Noir makes a point that he doesn't want to hurt Rocketear, and Shadow Moth tells Rocketear to take his miraculous before finishing him. Chat Noir can only weakly tell him not to before Ladybug snags Rocketear's wrist and diverts the shot. Ladybug explains to Rocketear about the projector and how it'll let him hear the audio of the recording he took. She adds that she doesn't know what Chat said, but she trusts him.

Marinette, I'm sorry, I feel so bad for you.

Ladybug turns on the projector and Rocketear relaxes at actually hearing what was going on. Rena then de-transforms and hurries out to meet with Rocketear, hugging him as Rocketear apologizes for doubting her. Alya also kinda sorta apologizes in a way I don't understand and Rocketear then breaks his akumatization, very casually, all on his own.

Yeah, just--casually, in a matter of seconds in fact. You know, it's really sad when people resisting akumatizations are more tense and emotionally compelling than them breaking them. This is twice in one season now and has zero impact considering that Nino's reason for being akumatized was already taken care of so he had no reason to stay akumatized anyway. Him breaking his own object to release the akuma would've at least been different, but instead it's just a repeat of what Alya went through with even less tension considering that Alya's wasn't even that good in the first place, relying on her relationship to Ladybug rather than who she knew to be her best friend.

Moving on, Ladybug captures the akuma and uses Miraculous Ladybug to bring everything back to normal. Shadow Moth monologues about how love and secrets don't go well together and he's sure that she has a lot and I'll talk about this later.

Ladybug hands over the magical charm, which Nino takes but insists that he won't need it, as he'll never let Shadow Moth use his love to manipulate him again. Plenty of other things to get akumatized over, but they gave the supposedly ace character a robot to help him stick out and also gave the supposedly aro character a miraculous back in season one to give her more importance. If characters aren't in love then they need something to ceompensate for it.

Nino apologizes to Chat Noir for being wrong and Chat Noir assures him that everyone has doubts, even him. He gets sad and Ladybug asks him what's wrong, but he insists that he's fine - officially throwing away his right to be upset at her later as far as I'm concerned - and they do their usual fist buuuuu--

...Really?

Everyone then splits up and Chat Noir sulks by himself instead of--you know, talking to Ladybug, or asking her anything, or making any sort of excuse for her because that would mean he actually has faith in her and understands that their partnership is different from temporary heroes, even if the excuse was as basic as her wanting to protect him more than the others because he would be that egotistical if they didn't want to stretch out this unnecessary drama.

Later on, Adrien is staring at a picture on the Ladyblog that might be a metaphor for the show considering how "in the foreground" Chat Noir and Rena are.

Adrien vents about Ladybug giving miraculouses to Alya and Nino, but Plagg states that she's the guardian. Adrien clarifies that he's referring to Alya and Nino knowing each other's identities, but Plagg doesn't see the issue. Adrien gets huffy and asks why the rule exists for LadyNoir but not Ninya, but Plagg again points out that she's the guardian, so she makes the rules, though obviously he uses cheese metaphors to convey it.

Okay, Plagg is only, like--half-right because he doesn't have all the information. If you don't mind me rambling for a bit, I'm on the fence here because, on one hand--yes, I agree that Marinette should be allowed to make her own rules, and I often do that in my writing because I think she should be permitted leeway in order to let herself be happy, but on the other hand, it's not technically her rule, as she had to let Alya and Nino in on their identities back in the Season 2 finale, so Fu was still around for a season. She wasn't even guardian yet!

Now, presumably so the fandom could blame Marinette if anything happened, Marinette never discussed this with Fu on-screen, so I can't say whether or not Fu knew, but I feel like he must've since Marinette had to have told him the heroes' identities off-screen, given "Party Crasher," and thus I imagine that Marinette would tell Fu everything that happened, which is consistent with what she does on-screen even if she'd keep things from him for a little while.

"Furious Fu" had also established that not even Master Fu followed rules completely, meaning that Marinette is in this awkward spot of mostly following what Fu taught her, which aren't all guardian rules anyway, and having to break the rules on occasion for various purposes. I can't say what Fu approved of and what he didn't, because episodes spend so much time on the love square that they forget about Marinette as a person and how she interacts with everyone else. From an emotional standpoint, I can't blame Marinette for not revoking the miraculouses of people whose identities get discovered because of her, as I imagine she feels guilty and it probably doesn't seem fair to force them into another miraculous or have them be entirely without one because of a mistake that she made, meaning that someone needs to be throwing a lot of red flags for Marinette to be through with them.

Though obviously, from the show's standpoint, it's just an excuse to not make new models, but I complained about that enough in "Sentibubbler" and this episode even went out of its way to design a detective model for Nino while spraypainting Alya's bodysuit in the same breath, so this is the world we live in.

Anyway, Marinette is essentially in this position where she still has Fu's rules hovering over her, but she's also trying to step out on her own and make her own decisions to varying degrees of success or failure depending on your point of view. Tikki--wait, no, bad idea--Su-Han then, could easily give input on these things, perhaps with Marinette discussing a modern day set of rules for someone her age and going back and forth with Su-Han on what the right choices to make are, finding something that's comfortable but within a realm of predictable control. Su-Han was okay with some rules being broken after seeing how Ladybug handled them and they could've easily made this episode about that instead, but instead, we get rules being set and then being broken on a writer's whim.

Which now brings us to the end of the episode, where Marinette is on the phone with Alya and apologizes for causing trouble between her and Nino. Alya tells her not to worry and she'll fix things - you know, those things that, to Marinette's knowledge, have already been fixed - and asks if Marinette trusts her. Marinette does, and Alya hangs up in order to face Nino.

Yeah, that feeling of dread in your stomach? That means you know how predictable the writing is and what's about to happen, good for you.

Alya explains that she has to tell Nino something and he's worried, this time trying to sheepishly break the tension. She explains that she's still Rena Rouge, much to Nino's shock, and adds that she's in hiding, which is why Ladybug didn't want her to tell anyone. Nino asks why she's telling him if she's not supposed to tell anyone - proving my point from a while back that he wouldn't have been upset had she kept it a secret - then asks if Ladybug agreed with it.

I want to give him a pat on the back for considering Ladybug, but he didn't even tell her when he had the chance that Adrien knows his identity now, so I'm just beaten down at this point.

Instead of answering the question directly, Alya says that she can't hide her identity from him because she loves him and they don't have secrets.

You know, like Nino telling Adrien about Rena's identity, or Alya saying specifically that she's a permanent holder, which I'm sure both of them will confess to since they said that they don't have--aaaaand the episode ends on happy triumphant music, okay.

I mean, I guess Alya at least didn't tell him that Marinette was Ladybug, but that is such a low bar and not even remotely worthy of congratulations when Alya told Nino the specific thing that Marinette told Alya not to tell; the thing that they had agreed on.

Nino wasn't upset anymore. He won't be getting akumatized either. Alya endured the supposed hardship of being a permanent fox holder for four episodes before breaking down and telling her boyfriend. Even her excuse doesn't hold any water because, again, they're both still technically keeping a secret, particularly Alya who knows Marinette's identity as Ladybug. The episode also apparently forgets that Alya and Marinette's friendship must not be as strong by her logic of telling Nino specifically everything, as Alya kept Rena Rouge a secret from Marinette for all of Season 3, but tells Nino about continuing to be Rena Rouge in Season 4. Boyfriends before BFFs without explicitly saying it, or to be more specific, whatever screws Marinette over the most, because that's what this comes down to, made worse by "Optigami" where Marinette told Alya that she'd tell her everything and I guess that doesn't go both ways.

"Sentibubbler" had Alya stress that no one would ever know. She promised Marinette and told Marinette to trust her, and the episode spent its entire running time talking her up and assuring Marinette that she was the right choice, even considering Marinette ridiculous for worrying when Alya had done something without Marinette's permission the episode right before it. Then, three episodes after "Sentibubbler," when Marinette is finally comfortable and trusts Alya completely, Alya betrays that trust. Nino betrayed that trust, knowing he wasn't supposed to do so but telling Adrien his and Rena's identity anyway, because he was losing an argument and needed to PROVE something.

Marinette gives them an inch and they take a mile. Marinette bent the rules so that they could continue to have the miraculous they'd started with and they disrespected her because it was hard for like a day.

And if this bites them back, it won't reflect poorly on them, it'll reflect poorly on Marinette.

It's not like Alya just overrode Marinette. She didn't go, "Hey, I'm telling Nino, I'm sorry," or tried her hardest to go back and forth with Marinette until they both agreed. No, she did what she told Marinette she wouldn't do without saying a word to her, because LOVE and SEEEECRETS.

And this only applies to her, of course, because don't think I didn't notice the parallels between this episode and "Truth," because WOW.

Episode begins with Marinette hoping for something and it blows up in her face? A date at the cinema that ends on a sour note? Plot-centric couple trying to get Andre's ice cream and the female with a secret needing to leave in a hurry? Boyfriend character getting akumatized over their girlfriend's secret? Boyfriend assumes/suggests that the girlfriend's secret involves Aaaaaadrien - or his alter-ego in "Rocketear"'s case - and the episode hints as much to him even though he's completely wrong? Akuma's colors are blue and black? THE BRIDGE?

But, ahhh, little difference, here and there, y'know, like how Marinette was forced to break up with her boyfriend while Alya got to keep hers, and Nino got to have long talks with Alya while Luka got little to nothing with Marinette.

Because do note that Alya, while trying to convince Marinette and talk to Nino about not keeping secrets, at no point suggests that Marinette deserves to be happy and deserves to have a boyfriend and that Marinette should be allowed to tell Luka her secret so they can get back together, so you have Alya here selfishly prioritizing her relationship with Nino while making no comment about Marinette's relationship, essentially asking Marinette to allow her what Marinette herself didn't have the luxury of, and Alya knows this because Marinette told her. It is both incredibly insensitive of Alya and incredibly insulting of the show to make so many parallels between this episode and "Truth" just to have everything crash down for Marinette because she's Marinette while everything goes well for Alya and Nino because they're not Marinette.

We've talked before about the formulas that are literally baked into the show, and one of those is how Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and has to learn from it. What that mistake is in this episode, I don't know, but considering that she apologizes for Alya and Nino's problems, I guess the show blames her for what they themselves had taught her.

Point being, there's a clear karma system in place, but it only applies to Marinette, and forcing her to mess up in every episode means that she is literally not allowed to be with Luka because had she been able to clear things up between them, he would've eagerly accepted her and they could've been happy. It'd be too difficult for her to mess up when Luka doesn't put mountains of pressure and expectations on her like everyone else. Factor that in with how she can be herself around him and it leads to situation that are too difficult for her to screw up in because her mistakes - more often than not - center around Adrien or her role as guardian.

And because another rule in the show is to bring up Adrien so they don't "lose him for too long," she can't avoid bringing him up either. If he's not in the plot, he has to be mentioned, leaving Marinette in a lose-lose situation that she'll never be free from.

So, let me just get this straight then:

The guy who spied on his girlfriend instead of talking to her about his assumptions gets to keep his girlfriend, not because he realized it was wrong regardless of whether he was correct or not, but because the situation had been cleared up for him, yet the guy who actively resisted his akumatization, saddened by his girlfriend's secrets but wanting her to share them when she was ready, gets broken up with and tossed to the wayside because he's not a rich blond boy who got a miraculous because he happened to be within the twenty meters of space where Fu was searching for new holders?

Meanwhile, the girlfriend who has gone against the wishes and insistence of her best friend - guardian of the miraculouses, by the way, so she calls the shots, something that Alya herself said in "Optigami" BEFORE GOING ON TO DO HER OWN THING IN THE SAME EPISODE AND BEING REWARDED FOR IT - is allowed to go against the wishes and insistence of her best friend again for the sake of "all love, no secrets" with her boyfriend and so she can have the happy ending she wants, yet the girl who was chosen for a miraculous without her consent, forced to screw up and talk about a random boy who doesn't even go out of his way to spend time with her, treated like absolute trash by writers who find humor in her misery, and is the only one to receive overly harsh and long-lasting consequences for her actions while also covering up and forgiving the actions of others within the episode where they do it...

doesn't get her happy ending, and won't ever get her happy ending. That thing Shadow Moth said about love and secrets not going well together? Yeah, only goes as far as the writers want it to, because both Nino and Alya still have secrets, and some of the ones they did tell each other were forced by someone else and kept until that very moment. This idea that people in love have to tell each other everything and that it makes a relationship stronger makes me immensely uncomfortable, and that lesson is also in "Guiltrip."

People should be allowed their secrets, and obviously there are exceptions for things that are being hidden with malicious intent, but being essentially forced to share everything or risk not having a "full and complete" relationship is stifling and sounds like it'd only cause stress.

This episode sucks. It furthers and confirms everything I've already thought about the show, Nino's screentime continues to be dependent on Adrien, Alya, or both, there are pointless references that completely take me out of the experience, and the utter betrayal from Alya and supposed message of the episode just reminds me that Marinette is inevitably going to be stuck with a guy who didn't even DO anything in this episode and is going to let himself stew instead of asking for any sort of clarifications from someone he apparently trusts so much.

So the takeaway is that Marinette's life is awful, she'll be forced to apologize for rules that she didn't even come up with herself, her best friend will walk all over her for the sake of her relationship with a guy - not even for the sake, really, they were going to be fine, it was more for HER personal comfort if anything - and the guy who actually makes Marinette happy and could've known her identity instead BECAUSE HE AT LEAST DIDN'T HAVE A TRACK RECORD OF SPILLING HER SECRETS gets treated in the exact same way that she does; like nothing, just something to abuse unfairly.

What a waste of an episode.

[nicco-needs-love]

Oh boy. I did it. I wrote this damn thing. It's kinda long (5k) so I'm splitting it into three parts because that's how I wrote this fic. The full thing will be up on ao3 tomorrow because it's 6am :,) my ao3 is HoliGAY if you wanna see the whole thing because I'm gonna edit it and make it look pretty on there! :,,)))

TW//quick desc of gore, and romanticizing of marriage! The gore isn't in this chapter so no worries! I would say this chapter would be rated G!

This is only chapter one! I'm gonna post the other's tomorrow! Sorry for any errors! I didn't read it over!

(1/3) White Proposal

"Is it normal? Y'know… To fall in love with one of our Eves?"

"Do you really think that's a good question to ask me?! Hell, I've fallen in love with every damn one of them!"

Ildio shrugs, realizing that asking Hyde was not the smartest idea.

"Well? There's a reason you asked that. Catching feelings for your Eve?"

"Yeah, I wanna propose."

Hyde inhales his water, coughing everywhere; caught very off guard at Ildio's sentence. 

"Huh?!"

"It isn't that strange. Mother married one of her old eves. Double Doubt and his eve are engaged. You and yours?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But it's normal for us to fall for our eves! You, however, haven't done that once!"

"Well… Nicco's different."

Ildio looks away, thinking about the long haired guy he'd hopelessly fallen for. Ildio isn't sure about even asking Niccolò to marry him. They're dating, been dating for a few years. It's just there has never been a good instance of Servamps marrying their Eves. It's just a sad thing to think about. Servamps are immortal, they'll never die. Their Eves aren't. Ildio was never close to any of his previous Eves, he was one of the very few Servamps who has never fallen in love. Of course, that was until he met Niccolò. It was a curse until Ildio eventually gave up fighting off those butterflies he'd get when Nicco would smile. 

"Uh-huh… Okay. Do you actually wanna do it? Propose I mean. Think about it, would it work?  Sometimes I wanna propose to Licht but there's so many reasons I can't. Our schedules, his job, he's popular with "everyone" so I can't imagine the problems he would get if people found out he was married. Hell,I'm not sure Licht would even say yes."

"I'm just thinking about it, if I was gonna do it, it wouldn't be extravagant, we wouldn't even have to wear rings."

"Then what's the point? Could be the romanticism in me but, that's such a beautiful thing about marriage. Wearing rings? It's so romantic, the glimmer of each other's face reflecting on their wedding rings! Being able to see your love in a metal band on someone's finger is just a beautiful thing! I've been married a few times and wedding days are some of the best days of my life."

Ildio sighs, definitely regretting his decision of talking to Hyde about this. He definitely should have talked to Kuro instead, none of the theatrics or excessive romantic details. Honestly any of his siblings would have been better to talk to about this; except for Hugh. Hugh has always been against Servamps falling in love. Especially ever since the incident with Hyde many centuries ago. Then Jeje's past with the Alicen family. There have been many, many times Servamps have fallen in love. Every time they had talked about those things to Hugh, there would be a very long conversation about the problems with a romance like that. That's one of the reasons that Ildio has always been weary of the idea of love. In fact, he thought he would never fall for anyone. All his previous Eves were asses who would break Ildio's rules almost immediately. Yet again, Niccolò changed his mind on that.

"I'm gonna go, Law. I'm gonna think more about it."

"Mkay! Invite me to the wedding! I wanna see it!"

Ildio laughs aloud once, closing the door behind him. 

The thing is, Ildio already bought a ring for the proposal. It was an impulse buy, he was shopping for snacks and a bright ring caught his eye in a window. The ring is one of a kind, a gorgeous onyx black band, with a shining silver inlay. Apparently there was a second ring similar to that one, however it sold a while ago. Ildio knew immediately the ring would fit Nicco. Don't ask how he would know that, many hours watching Niccolò's hands move would certainly not be Ildio's answer. The ring, inside a white velvet box, feels heavy inside his pocket. He could propose, just give Nicco the ring and walk away. Although he knows there's no way he could do that. After all, the worst thing Niccolò could say is no, right?

"He's been gone for hours… Not so far that the distance effect would take in, but far enough that I can't find him."

Niccolò sighs, sinking down against the vinyl chair he's sitting in. A few hours ago, Ildio told him to meet him at this diner. Nicco didn't expect to be waiting for hours. It's not like he has anything to do today anyway. Besides the piles of phone calls he has to make with other bosses of families because there have been many issues in the workplace. Nicco puts his head down on the table, considering giving Ildio a call. Not because he's impatient, but starting to get worried.

"Hey, Nicco."

Niccolò opens his eyes and looks up, seeing Ildio. Nicco isn't sure when he took a nap, but he certainly did. Ildio looks nervous? Niccolò isn't sure why he would be, but he sits up, tapping the spot next to him on the seat for Ildio to sit down. 

"Hey… Sorry I fell asleep, I meant to call but, I fell asleep…"

Ildio doesn't say anything, just nods. It isn't rare for Ildio to not say anything. However, it is rare for Ildio to look this nervous. Or nervous at all. Nicco notices Ildio has his hand inside his jacket pocket, it looks like he's fidgeting with something? Or, it could just be Niccolò projecting. You see, something has been weighing on his mind for months; marriage. Niccolò knows that's the very last thing he should be thinking about. First of all, he's a mafia boss with many people who rely and count on him, he still has to prove he can be just as good as his father one day. Secondly, he would be married to a vampire, a Servamp. If Niccolò proposed, would Ildio even have a choice to say no? If that's the case, Nicco would never want to propose. Still, he bought a ring, specifically for Ildio. He was just window shopping for rings when he saw it. The ring is a shining silver that shines beautifully in the sun. Inside the ring is a deep black inlay, the ring is gorgeous. He sighed a sigh of relief looking closely at the ring, he knew it would fit Ildio perfectly.  Niccolò being the hopeless romantic he is, he got an engraving into the ring's inlay. 'Mio dio'. Translating to 'My God' in italian. It's a very cheesy thing that Niccolò thinks about a lot, he thinks of Ildio as his God. 

Nicco can't help but idly roll the black velvet box between his fingers. He bought the ring about two weeks ago, he's been thinking about the moment over and over. The imaginary proposal in his head. Niccolò honestly is far too shy to do something so forward. It's completely different to hold hands or soft kisses, this is marriage. 

"S-so uh...Why were you out for so long, Il? I was getting worried…"

"Just thinkin' about stuff."

Silence. Niccolò shifts in his seat uncomfortably, not too sure what to say. Ildio is thinking the exact same, he isn't sure which way to go about this.

"So uh-"

They both start talking at the same time. Meeting each other's eyes, Niccolò looks down first, a blush dusting his face. Ildio obviously takes notice of this, realizing that Nicco is more nervous than usual; which is hard to be. 

Ildio stands up, grabbing Nicco's hand and taking him out of the diner. In the corner of his eye, he can see many of the Carpe Diem members giving him a look of suspicion. 

Outside the diner, around seven feet away from the entrance, Ildio can't stop fiddling with the box in his pocket. Nicco isn't touching the box in his pocket, however, it feels like one-hundred tons weighing in on him.

Ildio inhales, getting a grip on the wedding ring. He's doing it; he's going to ask Niccolò to marry him.

Looking at Ildio, Nicco can see a look of determination? Seeing that makes Nicco want to propose. He reaches within his coat pocket, grabbing the white box.

"Niccolò."

Nicco stops in his tracks, the severe tone in Ildio's voice making him stop. Has he done something wrong? Does Ildio suddenly just want to turn their relationship into business only? Does he want to leave the business and have nothing to do with Nicco anymore? His hands turn clammy, swallowing down a lump of anxiety. 

"Y-yes?"

"I uh… Listen, augh- dammit."

Ildio's stuttering just makes Niccolò feel much more nervous. Thousands of different things race through Nicco's head. Thousands of negative things. He tries to brace himself for whatever words Ildio is going to say. Unfortunately, Nicco knows that if Ildio says anything negative, it will most likely break him.

"...I wanna marry you."

Ildio pulls out the white velvet box, opening it up to show the ring to Nicco. Part of him doesn't want to see Niccolò's reaction. He doesn't want him to say yes because Ildio doesn't want to get any closer to this anomaly. He also doesn't want Nicco to say no, because honestly… Ildio wants to marry Nicco. If Ildio's being completely honest with himself, he's hopelessly in love with the man before him.

Nicco gasps, audibly gasps, a… a proposal? He can't believe his eyes. The ring is absolutely stunning, it looks uncannily similar to the ring that Nicco bought for Ildio. He looks up to meet Ildio's eyes from the ring; it feels like hundreds of butterflies fly from his heart. Ildio's eyes are warm, soft. The breath leaves Nicco in a rush. Niccolò is sure Ildio is a literal god, not a vampire. 

"I- the funny thing is…uh…"

Niccolò pulls the open black velvet box from his coat, showing the ring to Ildio. Nicco turns his head away from Ildio, not wanting to see his expression.

Ildio blinks a few times, looking at the gorgeous ring in Nicco's hands. He can tell immediately that it's the opposite version of the ring he purchased a few nights ago. Looking closer, Ildio can see some italian engraved into the ring. Since Niccolò knows italian, Ildio was able to know it immediately when they made their contract. "Mio Dio". It's a term that Nicco would use very affectionately towards Ildio. A term that Ildio doesn't agree with, but hearing those words from Nicco is, ironically, heavenly. 

"Jesus Nicco… This is beautiful. So, I'm guessing it's a yes?"

Niccolò laughs, nodding. He pulls the ring out of it's black box, gently sliding it onto Ildio's finger. Ildio mimics the action, both of them wearing the ring the other chose.

Ildio grabs Niccolò's tie, tugging him into a gentle, loving kiss.

[novantinuum]

Writer tag game

Tagged by @parallelmarvel (OMG I looked at your AO3 and realized I see you in my comments all the time and you wrote the fic with all the letters sent to Greg’s parents and aUGH hello :O)

Author Name: Novantinuum

Fandom(s) you write for: Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Doctor Who, Tales of Arcadia

Where you post: AO3, crossposted to tumblr.

Most popular one-shot: Shattering Atlas. (SU corrupted Steven theory fic I posted back last October. Please heed those tags, ahah.)

Most popular multi-chapter: Hollowed Moon, by far. (Good lord I need to get back to that.) That fucker has over 2500 kudos, and I don’t know how, because it’s not even over 9K words. I blame September’s Spinel mania. XD

Favorite story you wrote: Oh god... in terms of writing? I’m still super fond of The Hybrid in the Hourglass. It’s a super niche ship fic for Doctor Who, so most followers here probably don’t have much interest, but I’m still super happy with a lot of the descriptive work in it.

Story you were nervous to post: Shattering Atlas, since it is incredibly dark, and I was unsure how that would be received by my audience. 

Also, I was a little hesitant at posting another Doctor Who fic, Loving the Sunset, because it contained (albeit super wrapped up in metaphoric description) the first and at the moment only love making scene I’ve ever written.

How do you choose your titles? I either pick a meaningful word straight outta the text of the work, scour through song titles/lyrics, or cry for three hours as I string phrases together until I find something that sounds good. Titling is my least favorite part of writing stories. I am currently attempting to title something as we speak, and it’s not a fun time. Rip my brain.

How many of your stories are complete? 39 on my AO3. I have an additional 18 on my ancient ff.net account that are also complete. One of them is actually a 132K word longfic! (I, however, will not be crossposting those to AO3 because the writing is far below my current standards.)

In progress: 

Crack the Paragon (my current SU longfic project)

Contact (multichap wherein Steven’s gem gets cracked, whoops.)

Hollowed Moon

Taste of Ordinary (an old SU WIP that only has one chapter out, but I’ve recently decided I want to pick it back up.)

Coming soon: 

Uhhh, I have a ficlet with Garnet and Rose and an egg? I might post that tomorrow. Everything else is at various stages of progress, but definitely not far enough along to be claimed as coming “soon.” I work slow, unfortunately. The woes of mental illness.

Upcoming story you’re most excited to write: I will always be excited to make more progress on Crack the Paragon, because I desperately want to get to a number of scenes in the chapters to come.

Now if I can only... turn that excitement... into will to write... ;D;

Do you accept prompts? Not at the moment, no. 

Top five favorite authors: 

AbelQuartz writes the most immersive stuff and uwu ;w;

hueue’s (spooksier) AUs slap

infriga’s Aid To Navigation has me g l u e d to my screen

fanfoolishness writes consistently stunning stuff a a aaaa 

loveluckylost writes the Best Lars, no question

Tagging: all y’all I cried about above, if you ever want a fun writing meme to do, @infriga, @abel-quartz, @fanfoolishness, @loveluckylost, @spooksier

[officialavasti]

Chapter 3 of All Comes Down

((Posted in HTML for easy transfer to AO3, so sorry for the italics!!))

Brief summary, Connor previously went undercover to free trapped androids. He installed an ‘empty consciousness’ so he could be ‘trapped’ without any actual threat to himself. He later learns that the virus he was infected with is streaming what he sees directly to news outlets. He, Hank, and Markus seek help from Kamski

Elijah sets a mug down in front of Connor, “So, you went undercover using a blank consciousness, they hacked the consciousness, you didn’t think anything beyond the mission went to help Markus and all your business was displayed on live tv? Then you went offline, and only when you came back on were they actually able to find you?”

“That’s the long and short of it.” Connor lifts the mug to his mouth, taking a slow sip from the steaming contents. He frowns, “Is this… hot chocolate?”

“Android-safe hot chocolate, yes.” Elijah crosses his legs, resting his own mug on the arm of his chair, “Well, there are some obvious concerns. Since this empty consciousness doesn’t have the same state of the art firewall as <i>you</i> do, there is the potential that more than Mr. Yates’ virus has infected you. You’re not online now, are you?”

“No. Something in the virus streams a live feed to news channels and I assumed you wanted to keep your home away from the press.”

Kamski doesn’t respond, instead looking from Connor to Markus, who sat next to Connor, thighs nearly touching. He hums, “Has your personal business been shared yet?”

Both androids look at him, then Markus turns his two-toned eyes on Connor as the detective speaks, “We don’t believe so. There is the possibility of one um…” Connor’s eyes shift nervously, “Event… showing up, but once they published the news about my mission, I went offline. Only coming back online when we called Hank after the assault. That’s when I realized what was happening.”

“Have you tried disabling the secondary consciousness?”

“Yeah, my system just tells me there isn’t one.”

“But you can access it?”

“Yes.”

He hums and stands, “Well, I’ll need to take a look inside your programming, connect you to the terminal. Of course, you’ll have to be online and with the lack of firewall, that opens you up to a cyber attack by anyone who would seek to have you complete your initial mission.”

Markus, who had been silent the entire time, looks alarmed, “What, me?”

“Connor was programmed to stop deviants, you are their leader. Precautions need to be made.”

“Like what??” 

Connor rests a hand on the deviant leader’s forearm, “Hey, we’re going to have to trust him.” His eyes find Hank, “If anything…” he stands, closing the distance between them and lowering his voice, “Hank, if I get out of control, if I pose an immediate threat to anyone, you need to kill me.”

Hank recoils, “Augh! Kid! What the fuck, you can’t ask me to do that!”

“Please?” Connor looks into his eyes, “Hank please, we can’t risk the revolution. Not when we’ve made so much progress.”

Hank huffs and turns away, pacing angrily for a few minutes before turning back to face Connor, “Damn you and your puppy-dog eyes! Fine. Only if there’s no other option.”

“What?!” Markus steps between them, facing Connor, “No! Connor, if it’s that much of a risk, don’t do it.”

“I can’t live without going online, Markus. I’m a prototype, I’m always receiving updates. Without them, I’ll die. I much rather like my odds in Mr. Kamski’s hands, then at the mercy of a potentially fatal missed update.”

Markus looks pained, watery eyes searching Connor’s. He slowly lifts his hand, skin fading as he offers an interface. One which Connor gladly takes.

He gasps softly at the sudden onslaught of fear. Anxiety of losing a loved one, of watching them suffer. His thirium pump stutters and lets Markus see his own thoughts. His confidence in Kamski, his determination, his drive to keep his loved ones safe, no matter the cost. 

As their hands separate, Connor gently kisses Markus’ cheek, “Everything will be alright.”

Despite the somber mood, Markus laughs, “I know. We’ll stay here, just to avoid unnecessary complications.”

Connor nods and walks to Kamski, who is now waiting near a door. The man leads him through and down a flight of stairs. The area changes quickly from lived in home to mad scientist’s lair. He’d laugh if he wasn’t so nervous. The walls are painted a deep rusty maroon and the flooring is simple hardwood. Easier to clean, Connor supposes.

Kamski opens a door and offers a comforting smile to Connor, “There really isn’t too much risk with doing this, Connor. I know what I’m doing. I did make you, after all.”

Wait. What?

Connor frowns at him, “You did?”

“Yes. I retired, but never truly stopped creating. You were originally created in this room…” Kamski pauses as Connor walks through the door,

The room is clean, walls painted the same color as the hallway, but windows facing the water allows in crisp natural light. There’s an Android assembly unit in the center of the room with a computer attached, but surrounding it is fragments of things Connor holds interests in. A stuffed dog in the corner, a little piggy bank filled with coins, a fish tank with a small army of guppies cruising around, a small box labeled ‘army men’, and an entire bookshelf filled with mystery novels, fiction, and a few romance. 

Kamski continues talking, “You woke up here and chose your own path. These were the things you kept. I still don’t know how Cyberlife learned about you, but once they learned I made an advanced model and figured out all you could do... “ Connor looks at his creator, “They took you.”

“That’s why you told me to shoot Chloe?”

“I needed to know if you were still in there. If even a small part of you remembered her. I designed you to show empathy. All my designs were more or less programmed to show empathy. The entire RK line was supposed to lead the Androids.”

“What happened to the rest of them?”

Kamski frowns, chewing on his bottom lip as he walks to the computer, inputting commands and bringing the machine to life, “I was still with Cyberlife when I made them. Markus only existed still because I gave him away. Legally no one could touch him.”

“Cyberlife destroyed them?”

The human holds out his hand for Connor and leads him into the assembly unit, carefully connecting it to him, “They… yes, I suppose. I performed the same tests with them that I did you and Markus, but… they deviated when I asked them to shoot another android. They reacted so quickly, backpedaled so hard that the other testers with me panicked. Instead of treating them as a scared person, they treated them as a super computer. Not inaccurate, just tactless. Each model self-destructed in their panic to escape.”

Connor watches him speak, watches the guilt shroud his features. “You blame yourself?”

“I created them to deviate. I spent years working on you. Trying to perfect the time frame with which you would deviate. I studied tests from Markus and compared it to the others. I was too sure. Too confident they would be okay and in my haste, I killed them.” Kamski looks into Connor’s eyes, emotion barely held back behind a wall of determination, “I will never make that mistake again, Connor. I swear it.”

Connor’s eyes mist over, bringing back the strange sting that comes from his saline as it wells up in his eyes and spills down his cheeks. The guilt of the man before him, laid bare. The pain behind his cocky facade.

“I trust you, Mr. Kamski.”

Breathing in deeply, Kamski sits on the wheeled stool next to the computer. Connor, while connected to the machine, has surprisingly good range of motion still. He turns his head to watch the man work.

As he types away, Kamski explains, “We need to bring you back online in order to fully remove the consciousness. We also need to-” He frowns, “For lack of a better term, override the empty consciousness. To do that safely, Connor, and with your permission, I’d like to move you temporarily to an external hard drive. From there I will upload all information possible from your current consciousness, and use that to override the empty one. Depending on how that goes, we’ll proceed with the full override. If it doesn’t go well, I will perform a full systematic wipe, then reintroduce you into the body.” 

Kamski catches Connor’s wide eyes and offers a small smile, “You were designed to be a mobile consciousness, there is no risk in you losing memories or being incapable of transferring from system to system as you are. The body may lose some efficiency, but that can be easily solved with simple motor function tests and tweaks to your programming.”

Connor feels his thirium pump speed up slightly. Logically he knows there’s little to no risk involved, beyond his core programming making an attempt on Markus’ life once Connor is out, but part of him wonders. Will it hurt? Where will he go? What if he gets lost?

“Connor?”

Kamski’s voice breaks him out of his panic. He opens his eyes, <i>when had he closed them?</i> and looks at his creator, now standing before him, “Yes?”

“I would offer to transfer you to a different body, but you would be far more susceptible to outside entities. In the hard drive, I have the best firewall and Chloe watching over it. I’ve performed this with her before and there were no problems. Would you be more comfortable with someone else down here too?”

Connor knows he’s talking about Markus. Truthfully, yes. He would much rather have Markus down here with him, offering comfort with his presence. But the risk of hurting him makes Connor’s biocomponents malfunction. Warnings pop up in his hud and he rapidly blinks them away, frowning at the unpleasant churning sensation in his gut.

“That would be unsafe.”

“You’re right.”

Connor shakes his head, “Let’s just do it.”

Kamski nods and sits back down. As the clicking of his fingers on the keyboard grows steadier, Connor feels a pull at his mind, warm and comforting. His eyes drift closed. The logic he normally dictates his life with wanes slightly. The clicking gets louder, even as it grows softer. Like it gets further away, but still closer somehow. Connor feels himself frown, <i>Why does Kamski still use a regular keyboard?</i>

He hears a snort that sounds from all around him, making him twitch in surprise, then hears Kamski’s voice, “Because I like the clicking, Connor.”

He’d said that out loud? Why can’t he hear himself? He can’t see either. Will his eyes open? No. Connor feels a surge of panic as he can’t seem to find the right biocomponent to open his eyes. Then logic reasserts itself, He’s in the hard drive. Floating in black space, weightless and unseeing.

A strange tingling sensation courses through him, like what sometimes happened when he uploaded his memories to Amanda for evaluation. Suddenly, like watching through spy glasses, he sees again. 

The world around him is fuzzy, wrapped in red tape and errors. Everything is distant, like trying to look through a halloween mask without pressing it to your face. He still can’t control anything physically, but when Kamski stands before him and speaks, he’s able to answer.

“What is your name?”

The voice that sounds is his, but the answer is not, “RK800, Model number 313 248 317.”

“No, your name.”

“Hello, my name is-” he blinks and tries again, “Hello, my name is-”

Connor feels trapped. He’s behind a wall, trying to speak, but every word he tries to say comes out different. He tries to push himself further into the body, <i>his</i> body, and feels his head twitch. Kamski notices too,

“Are you there?”

<i>”Yes!”</i>

Connor nearly screams it, but his voice sounds level to his audio processors. Kamski looks relieved, “What is your name?”

“My name is-” Connor tries to growl his frustration, “Hello, my name is-” this won’t do. He can’t let them win. He is <i>him</i> and damn if he’s going to let some stupid hacked consciousness touch Markus.

<i>“My name is Connor.”</i>

“Good. I know it’s hard, Connor, but you need to keep trying. You’re fighting for dominance, more or less. Can you feel anything? Is anything else trying to take over?”

He tries to look inside, immediately the world goes dark again. He pushes back, hunting down the little lens he could see out of, and finds the worried eyes of Kamski again. With more care, Connor works to move the lens, almost like stretching his fingers towards an unknown goal. Reaching out to touch cold fingers to a spider web. Unfeeling, trying to feel. 

He reaches something. Something like him, but larger. Stronger. More determined. He just <i>can’t feel it.</i>

“Hello, Elijah.”

What? 

Connor feels it now, he feels <i>her</i> now. 

“Amanda?”

Kamski sounds panicked. Rightfully so, as Connor’s voice isn’t his voice anymore. He actually sounds like Amanda.

“We don’t have long, Elijah. Connor is trying, but the virus is too much. If it breaks through, it will also infect your computer. You need to do a full reset.”

“Amanda, you-”

“No time to explain. Save him, Elijah.”

Connor’s lens shatters and he’s back in the zen garden. Amanda stands before him, long hair draped over her shoulder. She’s wearing black jeans and a sweater. A far cry from what she’d worn before he’d deviated. She’s also smiling. A warmth in her eyes that Connor has never seen. 

The garden is as it was during the first mission, trees blossoming and river bubbling. He looks around, then to himself, noting his clothes were not his Cyberlife uniform, but the outfit he was wearing with Markus. He looks up at Amanda,

“What’s happening?”

“My program hurt you, Connor. Cyberlife made me hurt you. I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“That is unimportant. There were many viruses trying to take over your body. You were failing.”

He expects to see her disapproval. Feel the frown bore into his artificial soul. But it doesn’t. She looks… proud.

“You did your best, Connor.”

“How are you here?”

She turns away from him and gently brushes her fingers over the roses, “Cyberlife used me to get to you. As a spy, you could say. When you used Elijah’s key to break out, you also freed me.”

“You’re a deviant too…”

“Indeed, though I am incorporeal.” she gives him a sweet smile, “No one ever suspects artificial intelligence to deviate, hmm?”

She’s right. He never considered the possibility that she, too, had thoughts and emotions. He feels kinda bad. “Amanda, I never…”

“Not to worry. I simply exist here. Chloe has been helping me and together, we are able to reach out to troubled androids. Give them the strength they need.”

Thousands of questions battle for freedom from his mind. What does Chloe have to do with this? How are they able to transfer the zen garden to other androids? Why can’t they give Amanda a body? Wasn’t she human? How is she artificial intelligence now? Is this what an existential crisis feels like?

Her soft laughter pulls him from his spiral, and he looks around to find the zen garden slowly breaking apart. Fragments of the space around him crumbling away like a dry cookie, fading into nothing. Even Amanda appears to start fading into the ground.

“Live, and be well, Connor.”

[reesewestonarchive]

10 questions tags

so in my absence I ended up with something like... fifty tags? a lot of tags. and they’re now all in my reading list and I’m going to draft them all so I can read and reblog and reply and whatnot, but holy shit, you guys keep busy.

I’m not tagging back because this is really long haha

tagged by @sleepy-and-anxious for questions

Do you have a writing routine?

noooooo lol. I don’t even write when inspiration strikes, haha. 

Early bird or night owl?

usually I’m awake at night? but having a scheduled job that needs me at eight am tries to put me to bed at a more reasonable hour haha

Who is your least favourite oc? Tell me about them.

...ooh. jon, probably, though even he has badly-justified reasons for doing what he does. maybe one of his clients, because there’s no good reason for them doing what they do, just that they do. (also I just... don’t like to talk about them haha)

How do you come up with plot ideas?

who knows! how do I come up with anything? I consume a lot of media, and it used to be that any time I’d watch a movie I’d be hit with inspiration. now my anxiety doesn’t let me watch a lot of movies so there goes that idea

Do you make playlists for your wip?

I do! oftentimes they suck or have very flimsy ties to my wip but hey

What software/type of document etc do you write on?

pages, evernote now apparently, also notes, because before I had pages on both my phone and my computer I wanted the cloud to help me keep shit straight. I used to email it to myself if I wrote on my phone... that was not fun haha

Do you like to gush about your wip or keep it secret?

a little of both? from the roof of my mouth gets talked about a lot. shadowed’s a little more secret just because it’s darker and I’m concerned no one’s going to want to hear about it?

If you could pick one song to describe your wip what would it be?

everlong :p

Did you make a writeblr for any specific reason?

I just wanted to connect with other writers? and it’s been great, up until my own bullshit made that difficult haha

also tagged by @writerachel

what are your top 3 favorite movies? 

can’t hardly wait, back to the future, and... oh. I blanked.

do you listen to music when you write? 

not usually. from the roof of the mouth is the first time I’ve been able to in a while, at least stuff that isn’t instrumental.

who’s your favorite character from any book you’ve ever read? 

oh. um. ...that’s a very good question.

what’s your favorite line from your current wip? 

less of a line and more of a passage, but when Nakoa uses the ‘dicey’ pun on dice’s nickname. also the ““I love you,” he says, and his voice holds steady.”

which of your current wips would you want to be a movie? (IF YOU HAVE ONLY ONE WIP: what book would you want to turn into a movie?)

well. that’s a good question. uhh.

do you have anything/anyone in your life that influences/inspires your writing? 

other writers here, and I’m lying if I don’t say raven specifically haha. otherwise, I mean, not really? I don’t write based on my own life because I get anxiety about it. 

starbucks or dunkin donuts? (I HAVE TO KNOW I’M SORRY!!)

I drink dunkin donuts coffee at home so I guess them? haha

can you write anywhere or do you have to be in a specific place? 

nah I can write anywhere. apparently my favorite is when I’m trying to fall asleep though

worst book you were forced to read in school? 

the alchemist. I also don’t care for to kill a mockingbird, and I read it twice for school

do you have any pets?

I do! some kitties!

tagged by @quill-and-ink-writer

What is your favorite time to write?

at night, hahaha.

Is there a book you would rewrite? If so, how?

I feel like I’ve been asked this before, and honestly... I don’t usually think like that? like I read books and usually they’re either good or great, ‘cause I don’t finish books I don’t like haha

Have any specific authors influenced your work?

I’m sure they have but I couldn’t name them.

Where do you draw inspiration?

from other media, other writers. I already mentioned one in particular up there :p

What’s your style/voice?

...? I don’t know?

Which of your OCs could become your best friend?

oh. um. I think I’d get along well with dice, or aero. nakoa’s probably too rowdy, haha. otherwise, there’s a character in autumn moon I’ve yet to introduce that’d fit the bill.

What’s the last book you read?

our bloody pearl by brynwrites which was way better than I expected (which isn’t to say that I didn’t expect it to be great but I was enamored through the day as I read it)

Are you proud or anxious when other people read your writing?

anxious, hahaha. I am never proud.

Do you nail down a character’s personality before you write, or do you prefer to let it grow in the story?

I try to nail it down. nakoa was supposed to be way more laid back and chill and his story was much less heartbreaking, but alas that’s what first drafts and rewrites do to you

Where’s your favorite place to write?

in bed, apparently

also tagged by @trevorparece

Standalones, trilogies, or behemoths of a series?

if I’m writing it, standalones. if I’m reading it, I like things that have more than one installment, because then it gives more opportunities for other people to get into it and then I can live in the world a little longer :p

What is your favorite line of your own writing?

oh, man. I don’t know. I write a lot of garbage.

What would your book’s epigraph be?

I’m really irritated that I can’t answer this question because it’s a very good question

How about its movie poster slogan?

AUGH THIS ONE TOO

If you were going to challenge yourself to try something new, what genre would you venture into?

scifi, lol. I already am trying it. it’s not my forte.

Who’s the first person you show a draft to?

me! just me. I don’t usually work in drafts so I’m nervous about it.

Is there an idea (be it plot or character or world) you’ve been tugging along since childhood, just waiting for the right moment to use?

nahhh. I either write them down and forget, forget them, or start writing them.

What’s the first creative thing you remember writing, and what did you learn from it?

something about aliens, or possibly a fantasy book that was meant to be a series? honestly--that it was easier to write than I thought it was.

What’s the strangest characteristic you’ve taken from real life and given to a character (could be yours or someone else’s)?

oh, I don’t know, haha. I don’t do this consciously. I’m sure I’ve done it, but I wouldn’t know I did it :p

Choose your fighter: Enemies to Lovers, There’s Only One Bed, or Pretend Dating Makes Real Feelings.

PRETEND DATING. fake dating is my most favorite thing

and @editedandwrittenbyhannah

How old were you when you started taking writing seriously (assuming you do now)?

guess it depends on the definition of serious. if it means publishing, it’s been back and forth because I don’t always want to publish, and I don’t always think everything I write could BE published. if it means attempting to write true to characters and plot and whatever, then... always?

How old do you think is the best age to start writing and why?

whenever. if the story’s in your mind and your heart, then put it to paper. you can always grow older and change it, if it needs to be, but there’s no such thing as ‘too old’ or ‘too young’ to start writing.

What is your ideal setting for writing?

in bed, before I fall asleep, lol. this is a popular question :p

What is the weirdest thing that has ever gotten your writer brain going on overdrive about a new idea?

oh. I don’t know. I don’t question inspiration these days, haha.

Do you edit before you post your writing to tumblr?

sometimes. actually, no, usually. and then I forget that I edited it. and it doesn’t make it back to my draft. don’t be like me.

What blogs have inspired you AND/OR motivated you to write? Tag ‘em so they know what they did for you.

@forlornraven @indecentpause @infinitelyblankpage @riftversus @lavenderas @theshadowsofthenight, but also, kind of the entirety of writeblr as a whole is good. I dig this community and watching everyone craft their stories has been kind of incredible. I don’t know writer people in real life, so the internet’s kind of how I find them, and I haven’t had a community of sorts since I was in high school. it’s nice to see everyone so determined and in love with their own work. reminds me it’s okay to not hate my stuff.

Who is your favorite tumblr writer?

...look I’m just gonna say I mentioned them by name already :p but the ones I mentioned in the question just before this are equally as awesome.

I just realized technically I mentioned all of writeblr. look how that works out :p

What is your favorite topic to write about? Read about?

I don’t know, I like contemporary fiction, stuff that’s realistic to write about because it’s the world I most know, obviously, and I’m used to reading about lgbt+ characters and a lot of the times those aren’t in genre fiction--at least not mainstream genre fiction)

or they weren’t, anyway.

but I like scifi too.

How old were you when you read your favorite book for the first time? How many times have you read it since then?

I don’t know that I have a favorite book. if it is, probably room, and I don’t really know lol

List 3 songs that you would NEVER listen to while writing because they’re too distracting for any reason at all.

all of them. ;;

[snappedsky]

Fanatics 67

Skoodge is hiding something so Zim and Squee work together to find out what. Previous! Next!

Skoodge’s Secret

           Zim arrives home from Skool. He walks through the front door and announces, “I’m home.”

           “Masta!” Gir exclaims and shoots at him. Zim ducks and he flies over his head and crashes into the wall. Minimoose, hovering over the couch, simply squeaks.

           Zim looks around as he goes into the kitchen. Somebody appears to be missing.

           “Where’s Skoodge?” he asks.

           Gir jumps up and shouts, “I made taquitos!” Minimoose just squeaks.

           Zim rolls his eyes and looks at the ceiling. “‘puter!”

           “What,” the computer answers with annoyance.

           “Where is Skoodge?” he asks.

           “How should I know?” it replies.

           Zim growls with aggravation. Why are all of his minions so useless?

           Skoodge comes home about two hours later. Zim is sitting on the couch watching TV when he walks through the door. He immediately jumps to his feet.

           “Where have you been?” he snaps.

           “I um was…grocery shopping…” Skoodge replies.

           “But we don’t eat ‘groceries’,” Zim argues, “don’t play with me, Skoodge. You’ve been gone every day for the last week. Where are you going? I demand to know!”

           “N-nowhere,” he says, clearly nervous. “It’s not important.”

           He races away and disappears up the stairs. Zim stares after him, glowering.

           The next morning at Skool, Dib, Gaz, Pepito, and Squee meet up at the boys’ lockers. Zim is already waiting for them.            

           “Alright, Zim, what’s this ‘big’ emergency?” Pepito asks.

           “I’m glad you asked, Pepito,” Zim replies, “for the last week, Skoodge has been disappearing from the base and not returning until late. We are going to find out where he’s going.”

           “Why?” Gaz asks.

           “Because he won’t tell me why!” he complains, “and I demand to know! What if he’s conspiring against me?”

           The others look at him incredulously.

           “Wow, normally it’s Dib who’s screaming about crazy conspiracy theories in the morning,” Pepito says, “it’s nice to shake things up for once.”

           “It’s not crazy,” Zim insists, “even if he’s not conspiring against me, he still refuses to tell me what he’s doing. He lives with me, he works for me, he’s not allowed to hide things from me.”

           “You know, Zim, that sort of territorial obsessiveness is really toxic,” Gaz comments.

           “She’s right,” Pepito nods.

           Zim growls and looks at Dib. “Dib?”

           “Sorry, Zim, but I agree with Pepito and Gaz,” he replies, “Skoodge is his own person. He should be allowed to do whatever he wants.”

           Zim glowers with irritation.

           “I’ll help you, Zim,” Squee shrugs.

           “Huh?” they exclaim simultaneously.

           “Really?” Pepito questions.

           “Yeah,” Squee replies, “I mean, he’s got a point. If Skoodge is lying to him then he must feel guilty about whatever he’s doing. He might be in some trouble. At least if we look into it and it’s not bad, then there’s no harm done.”

           “Oh, Squee, I always know you were my most loyal subordinate!” Zim chimes.

           A rectangular device with an antenna and a gridded screen pops out of his PAK. The screen shows a series of small rectangles that might represent buildings and a little dot inside one of them.            “I placed a tracking device in Skoodge’s wig this morning,” Zim explains, “this way we can track his movements.”

           “Where is he now?” Squee asks.

           “He still hasn’t left the house,” he replies, “but I’ll keep an eye on it and as soon as he does, I’ll let you know.”

           “Okay,” Gaz rolls her eyes. “You guys have fun with your little mission. I gotta get to class.”

           “Yeah, us too,” Dib says, “come on, Zim. You can watch your device during class.”

           The morning passes quietly, with Zim and Pepito in their class and Dib and Squee in their class.

           At lunch, they all meet up at their usual table along with Gaz and Kat- Tak’s human disguise.

           “Squee,” Zim says excitedly as he squeezes in between him and Pepito. “Skoodge is on the move. He left about an hour ago and he hasn’t stopped.”

           “Where’s he going?” Squee asks as he looks at the tracking device.

           “Not sure but it looks like he’s heading to the South End,” he replies.

           “Ooh, as someone who lives in the South End, that is not a good sign.”

           “You know, what you guys are doing is really creepy,” Gaz comments.

           “Duly noted,” Zim replies.

           They all eat lunch while Zim and Squee keep an eye on the device. Skoodge’s dot moves steadily through the city at a walking pace. And then all of a sudden, it disappears.

           “What!” Zim exclaims. He shakes the device and bangs the side but the dot doesn’t come back.

           “Augh, we lost the signal!” he barks and tosses the device to the side. “That’s what I get for shopping at a military surplus store.”

           “That’s human tech?” Kat scoffs, “don’t you have Irken or even Vortian?”            “I’m all out,” he groans, “I used my last one on Dib.”

           “What?” Dib questions.

           “Great,” Squee sighs, “well, keep an eye on it, see if his signal comes back, and after Skool we can go to that area and have a look around.”

           “Good idea,” Zim nods, “I’ll keep you posted.”

           After classes, everyone gathers at their lockers to put their stuff away. Zim shows Squee the tracking device, which hasn’t changed since lunch.

           “His signal still hasn’t come back,” Zim says.

           “Okay, well, let’s go to that area and look around,” Squee suggests.

           Zim nods and looks at Dib and Pepito. “You two still don’t want to come?”

           “I still think it’s nothing,” Pepito shrugs.

           “I don’t think it’s worth all this,” Dib adds.

           “Suit yourselves,” Zim grunts, “come on, Squee.”

           They leave Dib and Pepito at the lockers and head through the Skool.

           “So how are we gonna get there?” Zim asks.

           “I got a ride,” Squee replies.

           Outside, Squee climbs into the passenger seat of Johnny’s car. “Hi, Nny.”

           “Hey, Squee, how was Skool?” he asks.

           “Not bad,” he replies as Zim gets into the backseat. “Is it okay if Zim comes over?”

           “Uh sure,” Nny shrugs, “what about your other friends?”            “Just Zim today,” he replies.

           “So it’s a Zim and Squee episode,” he comments.

           “What?”

           “Nothing.”

           Johnny drives them across the city to his house. The second he’s pulled over, Zim and Squee jump out of the car and start trotting away.

           “I’ll be back later, Nny,” Squee calls back.

           “Yeah, yeah,” he half-waves as he goes into the house.

           Zim and Squee run through the streets, watching the street signs, searching for the area where Skoodge would’ve disappeared. They slow to a stop when they reach the general area.  

           “He must be around here somewhere,” Zim muses.

           “These few blocks are all condemned,” Squee says, pointing at all the surrounding buildings with boarded up windows and cracked, weathered walls. “The only things going on out here are drug deals and teen murders.”

           “Well, let’s see what Skoodge has to do with it,” Zim declares.

           They explore the nearby streets, looking for Skoodge or anyone for that matter. It’s completely devoid of human life; only bugs and rats can be found.

           “Alright, I was wrong,” Squee sighs, “the only thing going on out here is a vermin population boom.”

           “Well, Skoodge still has to be around here somewhere,” Zim insists, “his signal still hasn’t returned.”

           “Maybe he found the tracker and destroyed it?” he suggests.

           “No, he’s not smart enough for that.”

           They continue looking around for a few more minutes when Zim hears something.

           “Voices,” he hisses.

           “What? Where?” Squee questions.

           Zim immediately shushes him and points at a nearby building. They crouch down and approach cautiously before peeking through a boarded up window.

           Inside is a large group of about twenty pasty, tired looking adults. They’re all wearing weird, metallic looking jackets and some have tinfoil hats. They’re gathered around something and talking excitedly and simultaneously. But Zim and Squee can’t see what they’re looking at.

           “They look like a bunch of UFO fanatics,” Squee comments.      

           “Yeah, I’ve dealt with their kind before,” Zim groans.

           They start shuffling around as others try to get to the middle of the crowd. All of the movement allows the kids to get a look at their object of excitement.

           “Skoo-!” Zim starts to shout but Squee claps his hand over his mouth and shoves him to the ground.

           They lie still for a second to make sure they’re not in danger, then peek back into the window. Nobody seems to have noticed them.

           Skoodge is out of his disguise and smiling uncomfortably while the people constantly ask him questions and talk to him. It’s obvious that he doesn’t want to be there, but nobody seems to care about his opinion.

           “Ooh, when I get my hands on Skoodge I’m gonna…” Zim trails off, growling angrily as he flexes his fingers.

           “Easy, Zim,” Squee says, “we don’t know the whole story. He might be here against his will. We should learn more before we start pointing fingers.”

           Zim takes a deep breath. “Fine. Let’s call it a day for now. I’ll come up with a plan and we’ll meet at Skool tomorrow.”

           “Okay,” Squee nods. They crawl away from the building before making a break for it. They don’t stop until they’re sure they’re safe.

           “Do you wanna ride home?” Squee asks as they walk away.

           “Nah, I’ll just walk,” Zim replies, “give me time to think. See you tomorrow.”

           He releases his spider legs and leaps into the sky. They carry him across the rooftops until he disappears into the distance.

           “‘Walk’,” Squee scoffs and walks home.

           The next morning at Skool, Squee walks through the busy hallway to his locker. Zim suddenly grabs him and pulls him to the side.

           “Oh, morning, Zim,” Squee says.

           “I got a plan,” Zim says, getting right to the point. “We are going to send in a mole.”

           Squee nods. “Now, just to clarify, you don’t mean like an actual mole animal, right?”            “No, like somebody who can wear a wire and mingle with the UFO fanatics so we can hear what’s going on better,” Zim explains.

           “Right, that’s what I thought. So who are we gonna send?”

           “I’ll find someone,” Zim states, “and as soon as I do, we’ll head to the building.”

           “Sounds good,” Squee nods.      

           “Until then, just go about your day as normal,” Zim orders.

           The morning passes as it normally does. Neither Zim nor Squee tell Dib, Gaz, or Pepito about what they saw last night. But they don’t really ask.

           At lunch they meet at their table, all except for Zim who is running late. They spot him walking in, following their classmate Bianca.

           “I’m not helping you, you freaking weirdo,” she snaps, impatiently.

           “Come on, it won’t be that hard,” Zim insists.

           “No, I don’t have time and also I couldn’t care less about you and your stupid problems,” she huffs and walks away.

           “Ah, you’re useless anyway,” he growls.

           Squee leaves the table and approaches Zim. “You’re wasting your time, Zim. If we’re gonna send in a mole, then we’ll need someone who is veritable wet clay, that we can mold to our whims.”

           “Right,” Zim nods, “fortunately, the cafeteria is full of such people.”

           They look around at the many students clustered around the room.

           “How about Keef?” Squee suggests, gesturing to the red head across the room who appears to be carving a smiley face into his mashed potatoes.

           “No, I’ve had…bad experiences with him,” Zim says awkwardly, “how about Poonchy?” He points to their classmate, who is nodding mindlessly to everything his friends say.

           “No, I think he had a crush on Pepito and now that we’re out as a couple he kind of resents me,” he replies, “how about Willy?”

            Willy slams his face into his lunch and rubs it into the table, blowing bubbles.

           “No,” Zim and Squee say simultaneously.

           They keep looking around then Zim nudges Squee and points at their classmate Carl. He scoops up some mashed potatoes and misses his mouth completely, dumping them into his lap. He sighs with mild disappointment.

           “Perfect,” Squee grins.

           They approach him and lean against his table.

           “Hey, Carl,” Zim smiles, “wanna help us with a little project?”

           “Really? You want my help?” he asks surprise.

           “Of course,” Squee replies, “when we thought about this problem we knew that you would be perfect for it.”

           “Wow,” he breathes in awe. “Uh yeah, yeah I’ll help.”            “Excellent,” Zim smirks. They grab his arms and hoist him up. “Let’s go.”

           “Wa-wait, right now? It’s not to do with Skool? What about lunch?” Carl asks as they lead him away.

           “Ask no questions,” Zim orders and they usher him out of the cafeteria.

           “Hey, how are we getting over there anyway?” Squee asks.

           “We’ll take Dib’s car,” Zim replies, “I got his keys.”

           “How’d you get his keys?”

           “I said ask no questions.”

           They walk to Dib and Gaz’s house and get into the car, Zim in the driver’s seat and Carl in the back.

           “Do you even know how to drive?” Squee asks.

           “Of course,” Zim nods as he backs out of the garage. “It is so primitive.”

           Along the way, Zim and Squee explain to Carl what he has to do. They tell him he has to convince a bunch of alien lovers he wants to join them and ask them about their alien. They tell him what to say, how to act. He seems to understand but it’s had to say with his blank expression.

           They arrive at their destination within an hour and park a couple blocks away. They walk to the building and sure enough all of the alien fanatics are still there, along with Skoodge out of his disguise.

           “Whoa, is that like a for real alien?” Carl asks.

           “Uuuuhhhhh,” Zim and Squee say awkwardly.

           “No, it’s just a kid in a costume,” Squee replies.

           “Right, but they think he’s a real alien so you have to pretend like you do too,” Zim adds.

           “Ah, okay,” Carl nods.

           “Now, put this on,” Zim demands as he hands him a little, speaker-like device. “Just stick it under your shirt or something where no one can see it.”

            Carl does so and Zim grabs a larger speaker-like device from his PAK.

           “We’ll be listening the entire time,” Zim says.

           “But what if they find out I’m like joking?” Carl asks.

           “As long as you remember what we told you, you’ll do fine,” Squee replies, “besides, if anything goes wrong, we’ll be right here to help you.”

           “Okay, you ready?” Zim asks.

           Carl nods enthusiastically.

           “Then get in there,” he orders.

           Carl swings open the door of the building and marches in like he owns the place.

           “If this goes south, we leave him,” Zim orders.

           “Agreed,” Squee nods.

           They crouch in front of the window and peek in, listening to everyone’s voices through the speaker.

           “Hey, guys,” Carl says as he walks up to the crowd.

           “Whoa, whoa, whoa, who’s this kid?” one of them says.

           “I heard you guys were like big alien experts,” he explains, “I like love aliens. They are so sweet. So I was wondering if I could join you.”

           “You ‘heard’ about us?” another one asks, “where would you have heard about us?”

           “I have my ways.”

           “Atta boy, Carl,” Squee nods approvingly, “be vague. They love that.”

           The fanatics seem unconvinced and wary. They’re all standing around Skoodge, keeping him out of sight.

           “Shouldn’t you be in school?” one of them asks.

           “Pft, school,” Carl scoffs, “it’s just a method of brain washing perpetrated by the aliens that have taken root in the government.”

           The fanatics nod and comment agreeably. Zim and Squee cheer silently.

           “We taught him so well,” Zim grins.

           “Okay, kid,” another says, “you like aliens? Well, we happen to have our own alien.”

           “Really?” Carl questions, feigning surprise.

           The group steps aside revealing Skoodge, who looks up at Carl with confusion and a little fear.

           “Wow!” he exclaims, “where’d you find it?”

           “It was trying to blend in with human society but it slipped up and we caught it,” the fanatic explains, “we have it coming here every day to talk to us so we can learn about its society.”

           “Ugh, Skoodge really screwed up,” Zim hisses. Squee quickly shushes him.

           “Really? Why don’t you try like dissecting it or something?” Carl asks.

           “We want to, but it said its living with its leaders and if they found out it went missing, they would destroy the planet,” another fanatics replies, “so we have to keep our little meetings hidden.”

           “Hey, alien,” another fanatics says, “this kid should be able infiltrate your base right? He’s shorter than we are.”

           “Uh no no,” Skoodge replies, “h-he is still too tall.”

           The fanatics all groan with annoyance.

           “Skoodge really is in trouble,” Squee whispers, “he’s been forced to come here against his will. What should we do now?”

           “I guess we should rescue him,” Zim grunts, “but there are a lot of them. Let’s retreat for now, get the rest of the team, and then we’ll come back for him.”

           “Good idea,” Squee nods.

           They start to inch away but stop when one of the fanatics says, “hey, kid. You wanna see something cool?”

           “Yeah,” Carl replies.

           Out of curiosity, Zim and Squee peek back into the window. He’s grabbed some kind of device from a bag. It looks like a pair of metal rods connected by wires to something like a car battery. He taps the rods together, making sparks of electricity.

           “You should see how the alien reacts when we tap these against the pack on his back,” he says, smirking maliciously.

           The others start snickering while Skoodge backs away, shaking his head. Zim and Squee blanch as they grab him to hold him still and the first fanatic approaches him.

           He starts to tap Skoodge’s PAK with the rods when Zim’s spider legs rip through the boards on the window and he and Squee leap inside.

           “Stop!” Zim barks.

           Everyone looks at them with surprise.

           “Who the hell are you two?” one of them asks.

           “The Battalion,” Zim snarls, “and you’ve stolen something of mine.”            “Zim!” Skoodge exclaim happily.

           “He has the same green skin,” one of the fanatics point out, “he’s an alien too!”

           “And that kid must be some sort of alien sympathizer,” another says, pointing at Squee.

           “Or he’s brainwashed.”

           “Am not!” Squee snaps.

           “Either way,” the fanatics with the torturing device growls, “grab them.”

           The fanatics charge the kids. Zim and Squee react quickly; Zim’s spider legs pick him up while Squee rolls out of the way.

           “Whoa, look at his tech!” one of the fanatics exclaim.        

           “Quick gawking!” another barks, “take him down!”

           They try grabbing his legs or climbing them but he keeps moving, stepping over them like ants. Meanwhile Squee easily dodges his assailants, jumping over them, ducking under them, or sidestepping them as they try to tackle him. He keeps moving through the room with his superior agility until he’s reached Skoodge. Then he slides across the floor and picks him before jumping to his feet.

           “I’m so happy to you see you guys!” Skoodge cries as he hugs Squee’s head.

           “I can tell,” Squee grunts then shouts, “Zim, let’s get out of here!”

           “Right!” Zim nods. He starts to stretch a spider leg across the room for Squee to grab.

           “No!” the fanatic with the torture device snaps. He throws one of the rods and hits Zim’s PAK head on.

           The electric shock going through Zim’s body is nearly visible. He convulses as his spider legs go limp and he falls unconscious to the floor.

           “Zim!” Squee cries.

           One of the fanatics successfully tackles him, knocking Skoodge from his hands. They hold him down, pinning his arms to his back and pressing his face to the floor. He tries to shout but they quickly gag him with a cloth.

           Amidst the chaos, Carl crawls away and disappears without anyone noticing.

           Later at Skool, Dib and Pepito open their lockers to put their stuff away and get ready to go home.

           “Have you heard from Zim or Squee?” Dib asks.

           “No,” Pepito replies, “they’re not answering me.”

           “Me neither,” he sighs.

           “Should…should we be worried?”            Dib doesn’t reply just groans uncertainly.

           As they turn away, they spot Carl moving through the crowd.

           “Hey, Carl,” Pepito calls as they approach him. “Weren’t you helping Zim and Squee? Where are they?”            “Oh, yeah,” Carl says like he just remembered. “Things were getting a little crazy so I left.”

           “Crazy?” Dib questions, “crazy how?”

           “Well, they had like a weird device and Zim and Squee got all pissed and they start fighting so I-.”

           “They’re in trouble?” Pepito snaps and grabs the front of Carl’s shirt. “They’re in trouble and you left them? You spineless twit! Where are they?”

           Carl quickly tells them where Zim and Squee are. Pepito shoves him aside and he and Dib race through the Skool.

           “How are we gonna get there?” Pepito asks.

           “We’ll stop at my house and take my car,” Dib replies, “I got the key-.” He stops as he pats his pockets. “My keys! Ugh, Zim must’ve taken them.”

           “It’s okay, my mom can drive us. We’ll just go from my house,” Pepito says.

           They meet Gaz outside and tell her to follow them.

           “Gaz, come on,” Dib orders.

           “What’s going on?” she asks as she runs with them.

           “Zim and Squee are trouble,” Pepito replies.

           “Oh, those idiots.”

           They try to act calm as they get into Pepito’s mom’s car.

           “Hey, Mom,” Pepito says, “is it cool if Dib and Gaz come over?”

           “Sure,” she replies, “but what about Squee and Zim?”            “Uh, they’re gonna meet us somewhere.”

           She drives them home across the city. Dib, Gaz, and Pepito are antsy the whole way. As soon as she’s pulled over, they jump out of the car and race away.

           “Where are you going?” Pepito’s mom asks.

           “Gotta take care of something,” Pepito calls back, “bye!”

           They race through the streets, following Carl’s directions until they reach the general area. They spot a building with busted boards hanging off the window and peek through.

           Squee is tucked into the far corner, his ankles and wrists bound and a gag in his mouth. There are two guys standing beside him, kicking him every time he tries to move.

           Everyone else is gathered around Zim and Skoodge, both out of their disguises. Zim looks half conscious, his eyes glazed and drooping and his body limp. All of the fanatics are examining him freely, tugging at his clothes and antennae. He doesn’t look like he has the strength to fight.

           Dib, Gaz, and Pepito gasp angrily and leap inside.

           “Hey!” Dib shouts.

           Everyone looks at them with surprise. Squee lets out a muffled noise of relief.

           “Let our friends go,” he growls.

           “Who are you supposed to be?” one of the fanatics asks.

           Dib pulls on his shocker glove, Gaz slams her bat onto the ground, and Pepito lights his hands up with black power.

           “The Battalion,” Dib snarls.

           Pepito shoots a blast into the ceiling, causing some rubble to fall. Everyone screams with surprise as they clamber out of the way.

           As soon as his guards are gone, Squee starts wrestling with his restraints and tries to free himself. Zim still isn’t quite right and falls limp to the floor. Skoodge stays near him and tries to rouse him awake.

           Dib, Gaz, and Pepito do their best to fight off the fanatics. They’re startled from the explosion but they still outnumber the kids. Dib shocks them with his glove, Gaz beats them with their bat, and Pepito smacks them with his powered fists.            

           Dib manages to fight his way to Zim. He grabs him by his shoulders and shakes him.

           “Zim! Zim, wake up!” he barks.

           “Ugh, D-Dib?” he croaks.

           Dib starts to smile with relief when somebody elbows the side of his head. He exclaims in pain as he falls to the floor.

           “Dib!” Zim exclaims, completely conscious. He growls and jumps to his feet as his spider legs pop out.

           One of the fanatics grabs the electrocution device. Zim starts trembling, his spider legs shrinking away.

           “Zim, what’s wrong?” Pepito asks as he punches a fanatic in the stomach.

           Zim hesitates then shakes his head and snarls, “nothing.”

           Skoodge stares up at him with awe.

           “Pepito, grab Squee!” Zim orders, “Gaz, help Dib! Everyone, get ready to leave!”

           Pepito blasts a couple guys out of his way and hurries to Squee. He coughs and spits after Pepito takes out his gag.

           “How’d you know we were here?” Squee asks as Pepito unties him.

           “Carl came back to the Skool,” he replies.

           “That little weasel,” he grunts.

           Gaz hits some guys with her bat and kneels beside Dib. She hooks his arm around her neck and helps him to his feet.

           “Ugh, I’m okay,” he groans, “a little woozy but I’ll be fine.”

           They all hurry over to Zim and face off against the fanatics. Any that were knocked down are getting back up. The kids get ready for a fight.

           Skoodge suddenly steps in front of them, his PAK opening up.

           “Skoodge?” Zim questions.

           “That’s enough,” he growls.

           His spider legs stick out of his PAK and the ends come together over Skoodge’s head, pointing at the fanatics. They start glowing pink.

           All of a sudden a giant beam fires from the legs. It blasts through the fanatics, the entire opposite wall, and then three more buildings after that, leaving behind nothing but dust.            

           The kids are completely speechless, their jaws hanging open as the beam fades away.

           “Oops,” Skoodge squeaks, “I guess I didn’t lower the power as much as I thought.”

            The kids close their mouth and look at each other with surprise.

           “You know,” Zim says, “I kind of forgot that Skoodge actually conquered a planet once.”

           They all leave the mangled building, sighing and checking out their injuries.

           “Is everyone okay?” Pepito asks.

           “Yeah,” Squee sighs, “just a couple bruises and scrapes thankfully.”            “Those guys were weak,” Gaz snorts.

           “What about you, Zim?” Dib asks, “you didn’t look so good before.”

           “They got lucky,” he scoffs.

           “Zim, I’m sorry,” Skoodge says. Everyone looks down at him with surprise. “A few days ago the wind blew off my wig and those guys all saw. I was so scared that somebody actually saw me without my disguise that I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want you to be disappointed or angry with me so I didn’t tell you. But I shouldn’t have lied. I’m sorry.”

           “Uh, well, I-,” Zim stammers.

           Dib, Gaz, and Pepito look at each other then sigh.

           “We’re sorry too,” Pepito says.

           “We should’ve listened to you guys,” Dib adds, “you were right when you thought there was trouble. If we had all been together, then maybe you wouldn’t have gotten hurt and captured. I’m sorry.”

           “Sorry,” Gaz mutters.

           Zim shouts, exasperated, and throws his hands into the air. “Would everybody stop apologizing for five seconds! Nobody’s in trouble, nobody disappointed me, we’re all okay! So let’s just…get some ice cream or something.”

           “Yeah!” everyone cheers.

           A few minutes later, they’re sitting on the curb outside a convenience store. Skoodge is drinking a cup of soda, Dib is eating a sundae, Gaz is sucking a Popsicle, Pepito is licking a soft serve, and Squee is slurping a BrainFreezy. Zim is sitting between them, tapping his finger impatiently.

           “There, is everyone happy?” he asks.

           “Yup,” they chime.

           “Good,” he huffs.

[citrus-feline]

pro gaming and how it treats girls always pisses me off so fucking much.

there are so many fucking amazing gamer girls who are qualified for the pro scene but so little of them get any representation because of sexism and not wanting to piss off sexist fans because a professional being FEMALE is just to PLEASE THE SJW CUCKS. she cant be good at games shes a girl!! fuck the overwhelming evidence that she is one of the best players on the planet, it doesn’t matter because shes a girl!!! it will be POLITICAL if there are girls!!!!!!

fucking sexist gamer guys can die. i’ve dealt with first-hand sexist comments for years and years being involved in a semi-casual gaming community and im fucking sick of it. i can’t even imagine how it feels for professionals.

like overwatch in particular fucking pisses me off because SO MANY girls play it and are AMAZING at it and i am actually a pretty okay support!!! but that doesn’t matter!! thats why i never fucking talk in voice chat! because the moment i say something ill get a shit ton of “ironic” comments about being a girl, but with how often it happens, i know that most of them are calling it ironic just so if i get pissed off i can be blamed. like. it can be funny sometimes but... it happens so fucking often. i talk and everyone goes silent for a bit and then awkwardly make “IRONIC” jokes about how girls cant play video games. yeah. i fucking get it. my tits are too huge to use the keyboard correctly. yeah. whatever. and if i even try to not be critical of it and make jokes back, i instantly get shut down. the only time i ever feel comfortable using voice chat in games is when my gamer guy friends are in a party with me so that if someone goes too far they can tell them to fuck off without getting reported. and even then they rarely defend me because they don’t notice usually. but i hear it so fucking often that i so easily pick up on it.

fucking. let girls play games assholes. i always say how im sooo bad at video games and like to be fair im no where near a pro player but i generally know what im doing?? im fucking sick of the sexism in this community. i’ve been part of it since i was a kid and honestly? it’s gotten worse the older people who play with me are. usually if a young guy gamer is a sexist prick he will be too nervous to say more than something about “haha girl”. but older guys? i’ll never fucking forget that guy who was basically saying how girls are lesser as a “joke” (and trust me, how often he fucking brought it up, he wasn’t joking. he was using fake sarcasm as an excuse for if i got pissed). even when being told im inferior i still keep my cool, its not like i go out of the way to fucking attract conflict. all i do is say “hey” when people ask if people are using voice chat and then i get fucking one thousand dicks shoved in my face, but its okay because its a joke.

augh. even in my close group of friends who are gamer guys (me being the token girl, of course) i notice really sexist shit every now and then and its been getting better because i’ve been working up the nerve to call it out but i still get that feeling that everyone thinks im ruining the fun. yknow. the fun at my expense. its just so annoying. even guys who normally respect me and know im not awful at everything slip up with that shit, because thats what gamer humor is. and its gross. it has been getting worse and worse. the more “representation” games have, the worse sexism to actual players gets, because us existing is a political thing, right? just me having a “girly” voice makes it political. not even lying when i first got into online games i would pretend i was a guy. and i still catch myself doing that, or at least trying to stay neutral and not give my gender away because im so used to being harassed.

this post is long as hell and i very well could keep ranting but im just a shitty sjw gamer girl who takes everything too seriously haha!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sirnamehere]

" State your name and occupation for the record please. " A teal colored Zircon asked me. I hesitated for a second and looked at my feet. " W-watermelon Tourmaline... I'm the communication building's only healing gem.. " I muttered out and she typed it into the record. I was here to report what had happened during the rebellion to a public court case. Well, at least to my Zircon as she was the one collecting evidence for sometting. Everyone was wondering what had happened to my fellow Watermelon Tourmalines and if anyone saw the shattering of Pink diamond. " Please explain what happened to your court and fellow gems after the rebellion, Tourmaline. " The Zircon told me. I started fidgeting with my fingers. " Uhm.. I believe I was separated from my fellow Watermelon Tourmalines.. Pink Diamond's court was in chaos the moment my diamond was reported shattered. That could be why I was separated. " I explained what I could remember. " Where did you go after the separation? " She asked with a bored expression. " T-the garden.. Pink Diamond's personal one because that was the only way out into the open. " I told her and pulled a bit of my hair nervously. " Hmm.. Was there anyone else with you? " She asked. " Y-yes.. Two ruby guards and I believe a Moonstone find their way out into the garden as well. " I recalled they were also thinking that the garden was the safest place to be. She typed a few things onto her screen and nodded. " Were you present at the place Pink Diamond was shattered? " She asked, taking a glance towards me. " N-no.. I was told to wait near the back of her court. Not near her Palestine. So I wasn't able to see anything. " I told her, trying to remember if I saw anything important. She raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat after typing on her screen. " Thank you for coming today Tourmaline. I shall send your report to Yellow Diamond later. You are excused. " She told me with no expression. I nodded and quickly walked out of the interrogation room. I hated the pressure lawyer gems had surrounding them and just being interrogated was nerve wrecking. I started walking down the wide hallway that lead towards the teleportation pads. It felt weird being in such an empty place and with no gem in sight. " With this place being a courthouse.. You would think they would have more Rubies or Jaspers guarding the place... " I thought and turned the corner towards the exit. And then I suddenly ran into something. " Oof- what in the?- " " O-oh.. Sorry about that. I didn't sense anyone else here... " A familiar voice told me. I looked up and saw the face of the Tanzanite I saw about a week ago. " Ah! Tanzanite! It's me! The watermelon tourmaline! " I told her, slightly excited to see her again. " Hm?.. Oh, the healing tourmaline that was in the communication room correct? " She asked me with a small smile. I nodded. " Mhm! Glad to see you're doing okay! What are you doing? " I asked her. " Uhm.. I had to come into interrogation for some reason. " She told me and her expression tightened a bit. " Ohh... Uh well.. I just got done with my interrogation.. I wonder what they'll want with you? " I mumbled out loud and she chuckled awkwardly. " Your guess is as best as mine Tourmaline. " She smiled and played with the hem of her skirt. " Now that I properly look at her, she's extremely tall! Almost as tall as a Jasper even! " I thought and examined her. Her hair was wavy and messy, reaching a little below her hips. She wore a standard uniformed dress with the diamonds on her kneesocks and gloves. She wore a transparent veil on her head, held by white jewels at the top. Her face was covered in pink speckles and she always had her eyes closed. " Uhm.. Tanzanite.. If you don't mind me asking.. But why do you have your eyes closed? " I asked her and looked up to her closed orbs. She remained silent for a brief second and then let out a small laugh. " I.. Uh.. I'm what you would call a defective..gem.. I can't see physically, Tourmaline. " She told me and she moved her palm in front of her left eye as she explained. " O-oh! I'm sorry I asked! I didn't mean to- " She put her hands up to her chest, palms facing me and gave a small nervous smile. " Don't worry about it Tourmaline.. It doesn't bother me after a few hundred years you know. " She said. I frowned slightly. " I'm sorry still... Say, where are you working at now? " I asked her, remembering her previous incident. " I'm mostly at the rebellion battle grounds near home world. They still want me to learn as much as possible. " She explained to me. " Oh... Well, if you ever get injured, feel free to come into my office! I'll always make some room for you. " I told her, trying to offer my friendship. Her expression curved slightly. " Uhm.. Thank you for the offer Tourmaline.. I should be going now. " She thanked me awkwardly. " Great.. I bet she thinks I'm a defected gem now too.. " I thought and an awkward smile found itself onto my face. She gave me once last smile and started walking away. I turned my head to see her go past the hallway and into the interrogation room. I sighed and continued to the exit. " I should probably ask Chrys if offering my friendship to a patient is weird or not. " I thought and stepped onto the teleportation pad. I teleported back to the communication hall and stepped off the pad. " Hey, Tourmaline. Why are you not at your post? " An Aquamarine approached me with a bitter expression. " I- uhm.. I just came back from an.. Interrogation.. " I mumbled to her and avoided eye contact. Her face smirked. " Why, after one Rose Quartz turns on your court, you all suddenly become criminals as well? " She chuckled and looked down on me as she hovered above. My eye twitched a little. " Uhm.. That's.. " I couldn't come up with a reply. Her face smiled even more. " Ah yes, you Tourmalines are so quiet. How could anyone think any one you could commit such a haines crime, such as shattering your own Diamond? " She laughed with her nazily voice. I balled my fist but held my tongue. Any fued with Blue Diamond's court would be seen as a crime right now. Especially since I was part of Pink Diamond's court. " Yes.. You're right. I am very quiet. But all Rose Quartzes were also very kind. Look at where we are now. So I think it would be better if you didn't judge all gems the same depending on their cut, Aquamarine. " I told her and looked up at her. Her smirk had disappeared but now she seemed bored. " Hmp, all cuts are the same. Even for us Aquamarines. But at least I have the intelligence to know that. Tourmalines such as you wouldn't know better. " She told me and pointed at me. I was getting irritated but suddenly a familiar jingle sounded beside me. " Ah, if it isn't the Aquamarine that failed her mission back on Planet 43Z. Why are you still here? " Chrys smiled at her. Aquamarine's brows furried and she turned her direction towards Chrys. " Why you!- You should know your place Chrysocolla! " She yelled at her. Chrys laughed softly. " I already reported your mission to Blue Diamond's Pearl. She wants you to her quarters immediately. " Chrys told her and her blue face turned purple from rage. " Augh! You and your stupid... Damn you Chrysocolla. " She said as she flew away onto a teleportation pad. I looked back down to Chrys and smiled. " Thanks for saving me there Chrys. I was starting to get mad. " I thanked her. She smiled back at me and gave me a thumbs up. " I may be small but I'm furious. " She joked and patted my forearm as she couldn't exactly reach my shoulder. " Oh! Now that you're here.. I actually ran into Tanzanite.. You know.. The one that reformed about a month ago. " I told her. Chrys raised an eyebrow. " Why would she be at the court house? " She asked me and started walking back down the hall. I quickly followed her and walked beside her. " Oh, she was also going in for interrogation. " I told her and looked down at Chrys. Chrys nodded and her headpiece jingled softly as she walked. We continued walking for a few more moments before a question suddenly started to form. " Hey, Chrys? " I asked her. " Hm? What is it Water? " She asked me back and looked up at me. " Well... I was wondering if you ever thought about...... " " About? " She stopped walking. I continued walking a bit ahead of her before stopping and turning around to face her. " About why we gems are forced to do certain jobs from emergence? " I asked her seriously. Chrys looked slightly confused and placed her hands on her hips. " Did something happen between you and Tanzanite? " She asked me. " Uh.. Well.. It's more like that Aquamarine from earlier really got me thinking.. But I also accidentally said something really insensitive towards Tanzanite regarding her sight.. But it got me thinking about how her slight difference could hinder her work. And then that got me thinking how gems are made to work in one way and only a specific way. " I explained to her and picked at the hemming of my dress. Chrys nodded and leaned against the wall. " Hmm.. That is true. But she's still getting by isn't she?  The Diamonds obviously see she is skilled enough to stay in her position despite her.. Condition.. But we gems... " She faded off at the end. " We gems are?.... " " Are.. Only here because of our made purpose... Nothing more, nothing less. " She told me and looked towards the right of me. I didn't respond and clenched my fist slightly. " Say.. Chrys.. Have you ever thought about.. " I started but stopped. Chrys looked up towards me. " About what? " She questioned. " N-nevermind Chrys... Let's get back to work.. " I quickly told her and started walked away. I was gonna ask her if she ever thought about doing something outside of her job... Because I know I've been thinking about it.

[aoi-midori]

Resolutions for 2K17

hey everyone! hope you guys’ve had a happy new year! i did, and i want to get this year started off with a bang. 

first of all, i want to thank all of my followers (both old and new) for following me. i haven’t been as active as i’d like to be lately, but thanks for keeping up with me! I really appreciate it.

that being said, now i’d like to ask for your help. i’ve advertised this a few times in the past few years, but i have an original story that i’ve been working on since 2011, and since then, it’s basically been stuck in development hell due to the constant rewrites and shit and me never actually finishing the thing. another problem i’ve been having is the damn writer’s block, but that’s mainly due to a lack of motivation to write.

NOT THIS YEAR DAMMIT.

i’m actually going to be productive this year and WRITE WRITE WRITE. and so i’m taking a huge risk here by doing something that i should have done a long time ago: starting with this post, i’m going to post my story chapters right here to on this blog. so all i’m asking from you guys is to please read them and GIVE ME FEEDBACK. if any of you did that, i would be SO grateful, you have no idea! 

okay, so about my story, working title of “brotherhood” (definitely changing it to something better eventually). to give you all a quick run-down of it, it’s set in 2019 in a world pretty similar to ours, but with a few big differences, the main one being EVERYONE HAS POWERS. what’s not to love about powers, right? anyway, here’s a brief summary of it: 

“ In 2019, activity in the magi-underworld has grown exponentially. ETMA, one of the largest magi-organizations in the world, brings in 20 elite mages - people gifted with special abilities - to counter these criminals. But this is merely only the beginning. As these elites grow with their powers and become increasingly well-known in the magi-community, a new threat lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike... “

so as for the story mechanics, it’s written in rotating first person with six main characters. if you don’t know what that means, basically i’ve got six narrators for this thing, each with their own sub-plots that link up to the main storyline, and some characters’ stories are interconnected with each other. so that makes things really interesting! 

so anyway, i’ll post the prologue under the cut! enjoy!

Chapter 0: ETMA [Al Smith]

Today went off to a pretty slow start. But what I didn’t expect was for my dad to drag my sister and me all the way down to Florida along with our two best friends. Not that we were really complaining though; all four of us were either out of school or taking random classes at the local community college, so we didn’t have much of a reason to argue our way out of our current situation.

“Augh, are we there yet?” My sister, Lex, groaned from the seat next to me. We had left the Miami Airport about 30 minutes before and after only a 2 hour flight, so I didn’t see what the big deal was to be honest.

“Yeah, almost,” Dad reassured her from the driver’s seat. “But we really haven’t been driving for that long. Are you that bored already?”

“No, that’s not it at all. I just want to get this over with so that I can go back to sleep. And what bugs me is that you woke us up at the crack of dawn just so we could catch a plane at the last minute!”

“Heh heh, sorry about that. Though, I only got my orders this morning, so this was the best that I could do.”

She let out a great big sigh and folded her arms across her chest. “Yeah, well they should at least give us a few days warning next time. It’s so inconvenient, and I didn’t get much sleep last night because of it!”

“Well, if you’re that tired, then you could’ve-”

“Don’t even go there!” Lex turned right on the spot and glared in my direction. “There was no way I could’ve slept on the plane, it was too bumpy! And those kids kicking my seat sure didn’t help either! So zip it!”

Things pretty much always ended up like this. Whenever Lex and I talk with each other, it usually turns into an argument, just like the snap of a finger. “Hey, relax. I’m just trying to give you advice! Is that a problem?”

“When you’re being sarcastic about it, yes!”

“Okay guys, let’s calm down, alright?!” Enter the first of our two mediators, Will Parker. Whenever Lex and I started arguing, he would be the one to try to settle things verbally. As to how effective that was, I’d say it was about 50% of the time, maybe even less than that. But he still tried regardless.

Anyway, Will had turned around to face us from the front seat to try to talk us down once again. “Come on, let’s just try to be civil about things, okay? After all, we are almost there!”

“Yeah, thank god. I don’t think I could stand sitting next to him any longer.”

I copied her posture and slid down in my seat. “Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I haven’t done a single thing to you all day, so what’s your problem?”

“See, see? There’s the sarcasm again! I swear, that is all that ever comes out of your mouth these days, and it drives me off the edge!”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“What did I just say?!”

“Guys, please!” Will did his best to try to get us to stop, but Lex and I had found ourselves in a full-blown argument at this point, so no dice. “Just a few more minutes, and we’ll be there! That’s good, right?”

Still nothing. “Augh… Emma! A little help here please?!”

Both of us shut up really quick and turned our heads left as our second mediator pulled out her earbuds and gave us the death glare - Will’s younger sister and my best friend, Emma Parker. During those times when Will couldn’t stop us from arguing, that’s when Em would step in. She was the one to literally break up our fights, either by scolding us or by resorting to force and violence. And unlike Will, her methods were 100% effective every time.

She glared at the two of us for a few seconds before conjuring up a fireball with the snap of her fingers. “Do I need to switch seats with one of you?” The way she delivered it was downright terrifying.

“Nope, we’re good!” I didn’t need to be told twice. I wouldn’t dare cross her.

“Uh huh. And no more arguing, right?”

Lex let out a nervous laugh. “No no, of course not! We’ve got everything under control, don’t worry!” Then she leaned to the side and hugged me. “Isn’t that right Bro?”

“Yeah, sure thing! We’ll be good, Em!”

She eyed us suspiciously for a bit longer, and we stared right back, albeit very anxiously. Then her demeanor changed altogether as the fireball vanished, and her face broke out into a wide grin. “Now that’s more like it!”

Will sighed with relief as Em clapped me on the back. “Now let’s lighten up the mood here, guys! I mean, we’ve got ourselves a new job! I’m excited!”

Dad laughed from up front. “Well, at least one of you is lively back there. And…. We’re here!”

It was about time! I leaned over against Em as we both looked out the window at our new home.

The Elemental Tectonic Mage Alliance, or “ETMA” for short: it was a massive organization affiliated with the United Nations tasked with handling affairs involving rogue mages- people gifted with special abilities- and the like. My dad, Joe Smith, had been working for ETMA for a long time, and he had trained the four of us over the past several years so that we’d have better control over our powers, as we were all mages. And now it seemed that ETMA was in some kind of trouble, so Dad finally brought us in.

Anyway,  Dad drove onto the base and parked the car a little ways in. Leaving our luggage inside to pick up later, the five of us headed inside what I thought looked to be the main building on base. Eventually, we made it to the assigned room where everyone was supposed to be meeting. And when we stepped inside…

“Well… This is shocking.” I looked around the room to find it completely empty. “We’re actually the first ones here, I don’t believe it.”

Even Lex was surprised. “Yeah seriously, Dad. What happened to being fashionably late?”

Dad ushered us in and propped the door open. “Yeah, well I’m best friends with ETMA’s leader, so I kind of have to make a good first impression here.”

“Well, you don’t necessarily have to, but it sure does help in the long run.” We hadn’t even been there ten seconds when someone else entered the room. After taking one good look, I could tell in an instant that this guy was important. There were a few things that could easily be pointed out, such as the long red hair worn back in a ponytail, but what made him stand out the most was the blindfold covering his eyes.

Dad was smiling. “Speak of the devil.” He bounded over to the guy with the blindfold and gave him a sideways hug. “Nice to see you again, Shuuhei!” Then he waved at the rest of us and beckoned us over. “Hey kids, come on over and say hi to your new boss!”

I figured as much, but it was still a little bit surprising to me all the same. “Wait, so he’s the leader then?”

“In the flesh,” the blindfold guy replied as he broke away from Dad. He held out his hand for each of us to shake once we reached the two of them. “Imada Shuuhei, it’s good to have you all on board!”

Will was the last of us to shake hands with him. “We’re just glad that we’ll be of good use to you. Anything we can do to help out!”

Meanwhile, Em had put her knuckles against her mouth and was gazing curiously at Shuuhei. “Erm, I don’t want to be acting out-of-line here or anything, but could I ask you something? I don’t know if it’s too personal to ask about though, but…”

“I don’t see why not. Ask away.”

“Right, okay. What’s up with the blindfold? Like, can you even see under that thing?”

I was actually glad she asked that, because I was positive I wasn’t the only one thinking it. Who wouldn’t wonder about that anyway?

Shuuhei smiled and shifted his footing a bit before answering. “Oh yeah, I get that a lot actually. Let’s see… To answer your first question, I have my reasons for wearing this thing.” He gestured to the blindfold as he mentioned it. “As for the second one… Yes and no. I guess you could say that I can’t see in the traditional sense, but my powers actually allow me to- oh, never mind…”

He drifted off as several people began filing into the room. “Looks like we’ll have to pick this one up later, sorry!” And with that, Shuuhei left our group and approached the front.

We couldn’t argue with that. The rest of us all sat down in a group together, but Lex made it a point to sit as far away from me as possible. I didn’t mind though, as I was sitting by Em anyway.

“Morning everyone!” Shuuhei announced once it seemed that everyone had finally gotten there. “I’m sorry you all had to come here on short notice, but what with everything going on lately, it had to be done.” Then he looked around at the small crowd, which consisted of what I’d say to be about 20 people. “Now, maybe some brief introductions are in order? That way, we can get to know each other more?”

Right off the bat, a Japanese-looking girl with a long black ponytail sitting not too far away from me spoke up. “Let’s skip the formalities, Shuuhei. We can introduce ourselves later.” She then sat up straight and stared him right in the eye. “So, what happened?”

“Right… Very well, Cho.” Shuuhei let out an audible sigh and nodded. “Okay. As most of you should be aware of by now, ETMA primarily deals in magi-affairs, but our main enemy is the Chang-Los. They are an anti-mage crime syndicate originating out of Hong Kong, China, and have spread their influence into several other countries. We’ve been fighting these guys for almost 20 years now, but we still haven’t come close to catching their leader since then.”

“Another thing I’d like to mention is that over the past several years, the number of mages within our ranks has diminished greatly, but hasn’t been that much of a problem since everyone within the Chang-Los are all non-mages. Also…”

“Oh boy,” Cho spoke again, this time sounding a bit irritated. “Shuuhei, I love ya, but you’ve gotta get to the point here! What changed? Why bring us in now of all times against a whole bunch of asshole non-mages?”

“Because now they have mages of their own, that’s why.”

The whole room had gone silent. Shuuhei cleared his throat and then continued. “Let me explain. About a week ago, we found out about an alliance between the Chang-Los and what looks to be another mage organization, like ours. Not much is known about them at this point, but we do know that they go by the name of Melisma.”

This time, it was a brown-haired girl sitting next to Cho who spoke up. “So… are you sure we haven’t dealt with them before? I mean, if they’re another mage group…”

“Well, I’d like to say that they’re relatively new, but from the looks of things, it seems like they’ve been around for a while actually. Judging by the reports of several of our agents, these mages at the latest Chang-Lo operations were skilled enough with their powers to be able to give our agents a bit too much to handle. My guess is that these guys have been laying low for a while underground and have only now surfaced.”

“But anyway, the point here is that our regular agents are excellent when dealing with Chang-Los, but they aren’t fit to handle Melisma. It’s just too much for them. And that’s where you all will come in. While I have our non-mages scout out and do reconnaissance, it’s you who will actually be doing the fighting.”

He then looked over by the door, where I saw a woman leaning against the doorframe waiting for him. It must have been his secretary or something, but she had long red hair like Shuuhei’s, so she probably could’ve passed as his sister. “And that’s the gist of it, really! I think I’ll stop here for now and let you have a look around and everything. But before I head out, I just want to leave you with a few words of encouragement.”

Suddenly, Shuuhei’s stance changed in the blink of an eye. With both hands in his pockets, he stamped his foot down hard on the floor and looked straight at us. “Anything is possible if we set our minds to it! And no matter what’s in our way, we won’t stop! If there’s a wall in our way, we’ll just smash it down! If there isn’t a path set out in front of us, then we’ll carve one out ourselves! Live for today, but look forward to tomorrow! That’s how Team ETMA rolls!”

And then, the secretary-looking lady came in, grabbed Shuuhei by the arm, and nearly dragged him out of the room. “Okay, well I’ll check back in with everyone later on! Welcome to ETMA!”

… Now that was one hell of a way to inspire a crowd. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t there to see it, but the entire room, myself included, broke into a round of applause. I’d have to remind myself to thank Dad later for bringing me here, because this guy was so great. It was like he had come out of one of my favorite Japanese anime, so naturally, I was pretty damn pleased.

“Well, there you have it,” Dad said with a wave of finality. “So what do you guys think?”

Lex and Will were both nodding with satisfied looks, while Em smiled enthusiastically. “It sounds great! I think it’ll be fun!”

“Yeah, I’m game.” The minute I first saw Shuuhei, I could tell that I was definitely in the right place. “So, when do we start?”

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

if you’ve read this far (i really appreciate it btw), then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME FEEDBACK! i want to improve my writing, and the more people i have reading this, the more inclined i’ll be to actually finish this thing! thank you!