#props and kudos to everyone out there drawing things by the way

[sirgwaiine]

I need Leigh Bardugo’s next book in the ninth house trilogy to come out NOW

[dise7se]

threshold

by: @spideysforce (7k)

rating: general/teen and up audiences

relationships: peter parker & tony stark, peter parker & mj & johnny storm & gwen stacy

characters: peter parker, tony stark, michelle jones, johnny storm, gwen stacy, &  ned leeds

summary:

peter: 17, a little shit camper, teenager, about to leave for college and it’s the end of summer

tony: a tired, 27 year old man, turns into a teeangers dad

buzzfeed unsolved au, a msyterious warehouse at summer camp, and found family

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When Peter first got to camp, it was tortuous. It felt like aunt May was sending him for some kiddie math camp, for fuck’s sake, he was 17. 

Stark Camp was an elite stem camp, only the brightest minds arrived here, no matter what their demographic, income, or social status. He applied, or was forced to apply by May, to work on robotics projects whilst there. To Peter’s absolute horror, whoever this billionaire trust-fund guy Stark was, was his camp counselor. 

His fucking camp counselor. 

Peter heard about the first summer camp session, he was participating in the second, which started at the beginning of August. His friends came back home to Queens from Stark camp, a ghost rattling in the old shell of their bodies, their soulless eyes begging for reprieve, the dark circles under their eyes indicating their primal instinct for victory in the camp competitions, to impress the mysterious genius billionaire they so desperately wanted to rob.

He spent the entirety of the summer trying to escape the camp, it was like everyday Mr. Stark (no, he won’t call him anything else,) targeted him only, saw some sort of promise in him, but he’d merely point to his friends and take the burden of being recognized off of him. May’s math camp. No. He can’t be noticed here, because maybe they’ll start talking about college, and how to prepare for college. Yuck.

Not that Peter was avoiding going to college, of course he’s applying. But it’s summer. His last summer before college, he needs to go out with a bang. Not some nerd camp in upstate New York. At least MJ is here. He’s 99% sure she joined to make fun of everyone’s projects, be condescending, and cause as many issues as she can while simultaneously keeping productivity to the bare minimum by scaring everyone. Yeah, that’s MJ right there.

He peeked back at her from over his shoulder and away from his robotics equipment during their scheduled tech building time, she sat at the table behind him to talk to the group about, 10 minutes ago, Peter forgot while he secretly executed Plan Ghouls, (yes MJ named it), while Tony oversaw everyone in the recreation center at camp, and maybe it’s because the Stark family is fucking rich they don’t deserve any money at all, this building looks way too nice to be here. 

It was like Tony Stark, this billionaire who is barely even 30 years old, was fucking with him, Peter Parker personally. Did he enjoy tormenting his group? He acted warily around MJ, like finding a wire in a maze leading to a fuse. He’d never seen anything more glorious; a nearly thirty year old man scared of a 17 year old. Peter analyzed the older man and concluded that he is an eight year old with the wisdom of an eighty year old.

Ned promised he’d call every single day of camp, and Peter thought he’d actually die without his best friend at camp, disintegrate on the spot like some formidable being pulling apart every atom, until he’s lost in the atmosphere, drifting away like he never existed. He missed his best friend, okay? Who else would he talk to about.. the thing, his weird spider senses, and possible crime he could stop from 100 miles away from Queens.

His guy on the computer had other plans for the end of the summer, his family was going to visit their cousins that Ned conveniently was ecstatic to go on, leaving Peter to rot and die alone in summer camp. A haunted summer camp.

Peter snuck another entire circuit board into his pocket. Morally, this is very wrong. He reprimands himself over it. But, technically, he paid for this with his camp fee? 

He uses less equipment for his actual projects than.. their secret project. He will use the same amount of equipment, just one is not prohibited because he technically can’t make secret projects on the side that may or may not pertain to the spooky warehouse half a mile out that Tony Stark refuses to comment on.

“Hey!” MJ yells right beside his ear, and he fumbles the lego pieces he contemplated taking in his hands and screeches. She laughs, holding her side, “Did I scare you?”

Peter plasters the best glare he can on his face, “No, you didn’t, I just yawned.” She will not win, whatever contest she made up in her head for the…. ghost catching competition, he will be two steps ahead of her and he will win. No matter how many horror movies they watch, and no matter how scared he is of her when she has no reaction except for laughter during their movie nights in the woods at night with the rest of the camp.

Countdown to Plan Ghoul’s execution: 3 days, 6 hours, 20 minutes.

—

They became acquainted with the weird, annoying show-off Johnny the second week of camp. So, last week. Peter wouldn’t call Johnny his friend, maybe not even acquaintance, but Johnny wears ugly cargo pants and stuffs them with extra robotics lab equipment like beakers, (what the fuck do they need beakers for?), and somehow stuffed a Kit in his shirt. He’s sure Johnny is going to forget and sit down with a beaker in his pants and break his ass with glass.

MJ was the first to initiate the alliance at the beginning of camp. They’ve been here for the second half of their summer, so of course she devised a devious plan. 

They both hated Johnny at first, and that is exactly why Peter watched MJ reel Johnny into their plans once they’re in the Stark Camp Lab. MJ acted dryly and sarcastically around everyone she hated, drawing her to Johnny and Peter suffered the consequences. Peter lost count of the amount of times Johnny showed off his projects to the camp counselors, not long after stealing parts from a group nearby. MJ watched, intrigued, and Peter would always end up with his head down on his desk. And MJ would follow suit with Tony’s back to them, she would gather up all of Johnny’s wrenches, bolts, his keychain, and he’s pretty sure she got an arm of the collaborative robot in the corner.

And then the next dewy morning, the humidity was too thick and their eyes were unable to open from the night before because Tony told a story about a demon coming to life at the campfire, it’s real Tony has totally seen it, MJ and Peter were on breakfast duty with the camp counselors. The smell of tinder reeked on their flannels, but Tony pulled out the chocolate chips the moment he arrived, the other camp counselors shot glares at him. Peter had to turn away to hide his snicker.

This is when they met Gwen. She was part of another camp counselors group, and the two of them had their hair done, Gwen had cool piercings, even one on her face, with a vinyl knapsack by her feet full of patches. Her camp counselor has an itinerary, and oh, my god, it’s laminated, and Peter’s eyes widen and he thinks his pupils turned into the shape of hearts. The last time he saw an itinerary and Tony did not lose them while hiking was the first day of camp. Gwen’s camp counselor, Jen, even brought snacks for all of them. 

MJ propped herself up on a nearby table in the kitchen and Tony rambled on about how his father never sent him to camp, and if he knew he’d practically be a boy scout out here in the woods he might’ve considered it. Peter thinks he heard the man say he was working towards his bachelor degree at their age. What a weird guy.

Johnny walked in, and Jen, the cool camp counselor reads out his last name and it’s Storm?! Peter imagines Johnny is the type of guy to steal his hypothetical sister’s toys and bury them in his suburban backyard and blame it on ghosts, and of course he tells MJ this theory.

MJ flips pancakes on the stoves, the hiss of the pancake mix to heat loud enough to drown out her inconspicuous whispers Peter nearly drops his spatula from her blaring whisper, “I sketched a prototype and stole Tony’s pencil. Our first prototype is called the Poltergeist Machine.”

He lowers his shoulders and sends his best glare, snarling and pointing with his head at Tony who is two feet away and yelling at someone on the phone about the physics kit they needed for today. “Are you crazy?! Also, that’s the ugliest name I’ve ever heard.”

MJ snarls back and throws her arms up, “Okay, well maybe names are not my forte!” And when Peter mumbled maybe under his breath, he really did know from a sixth sense that her shove was coming. And his shoulder nudges into something, and ouchie, that hurt, and it’s fucking Tony, off the phone and staring at them with his eyebrow quirk. Peter thinks he practices it in the mirror every night before bed, like brushing his teeth. He does it every day. He had never seen the man’s reaction into Peter physically bumping into him, though they did like messing with him. He was their counselor, they were bound to test his boundaries to see how much it would take to get in trouble, they’re sweet teenagers and not heathens. 

Tony did nothing, and awkwardly shoved him away when Peter just stared and gawked at him. 

Johnny and Gwen talked about college with Tony, who stayed on his phone and muttering, “Yeah, kids, you’ll get in,” and, “sure, yeah, we can work out a letter of rec,” and Peter pondered over his inability to plan more than three minutes ahead and felt a drop low in his stomach, because in two weeks he’d be beginning his college applications for senior year. 

He and Ned had their own college plan, to keep his guy in the chair nearby while he could vigilante his college town and get a physics degree. Ned gravitated toward an engineering degree or a journalism degree, he’d probably double major. That was the best plan they’ve made so far. This, and their plan ghoul, Ned had sent cryptic messages about the nearby warehouse being abandoned and never showing up on maps online. Ned had yelled very loudly over the phone to be careful because this might require Spider-Manning, and Peter yelled over his voice so nobody else could hear. 

Johnny had glared at him from ten feet away in the field during that phone call and walked away.

And he looked at him the same way now. This little shit. I  will get into college. Maybe I’ll get my own Tony letter of rec without showing off. 

Peter knows what’s going to happen next when he turns to stomp away, his foot caught in the strap of MJ’s backpack she left thrown on the floor and sends him skidding. Geez. He hears metal clanking, and what the fuck, did he knock over a table or something? And MJ throws herself towards her backpack before his brain can connect her actions to conclusion, and there’s a robot hand skidding across the floor the same, resigned way he did. 

The robot hand. The fucking robotic hand. 

They’d have to face Mr. Stark’s wrath, and he feels like he’s entered Hell, forget the commandment and We should fear and love God so we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him and he hears the robotic and smash into the table and break, and Tony lunges at it like it’s some family heirloom that he intentionally broke.

“MJ!” He squeaks, like he hasn’t been through puberty and is nearly an adult. Johnny’s mouth falls open and he tugs on Gwen’s sleeve as if everybody here to cook breakfast wasn’t staring in awe, and he hears war cries from MJ demanding whoever planted these supplies come forward and reveal themselves or she’d send a witch to curse them. 

It was like a 1995 school drama show, the pancakes burning on the stove and the unamused camp counselors fiddle with the ends of their shirts and Tony stares at the sight of devastation and MJ sheepishly smiles. Gwen is the first to break the silence, she snorts unattractively and covers her face. “Sorry. That was a little funny.”

Tony merely zeroed in his gaze  on the two of them, hovering over them though he wasn’t much taller, attempting to humble them with his menacing face. He points two fingers at his eyes in the I’m watching you way, signaling his two fingers back to them. It’s not like they hadn’t witnessed Tony the day before steal the flags for their ‘capture the flag’ game because they kept losing.  

--

Stem camp was camp, Peter woke up scrambled every day, usually covering his face from the morning sun when Tony would pound on the door and swing it open and let the morning sun blind him. He isn’t sure how he woke up MJ, but he always waits 15 minutes after he wakes up Peter, and he thinks he hears gentle knocks and a little, “Good morning!” before he takes off to begin his day with way too much caffeine and energy.

Tony, in all his glory, is a hot mess and begs his supervisor to let him join the kids’ activities, and she usually says no but he jumps into the lake, anyways, yelling at MJ and Peter to use life vests. The camp supervisor, Virginia Potts, is usually in leggings and a t-shirt or tank top, her strawberry-blond hair in a ponytail, and always has her clipboard in her arms with tidied stacks of paper. She is always smiling, is modulated and soothing, like honey in a comb in the sun. Whenever Peter runs into her, he immediately straightens his back and wonders if its worth borrowing the robotics equipment before they put it back for plan ghoul. 

Pepper usually stands at the edge of the lake, a fixed gaze set on a floating Tony, her tin tucked in and her hip out. The first time Tony decided to ditch his camp counselor duties and join in with them and was approached by Pepper, he waved to her from the top of a rock enthusiastically. “Tony!” she exclaimed and everything she lectured him about seemed to go in one ear and come out the other.

“What is the number one rule of being a camp counselor, Mr. Stark?” Pepper had asked, while Tony striked Peter with a toy lightsaber they built that afternoon, and he nearly doubled over but was grabbed by the shoulders and held up by the menace in question. The weight of the saber wasn’t very heavy and it was made up of plastic, but Peter yanks the cool metal sword from his counselor’s arm. He’s never had any siblings and doesn’t know if Tony has either, but talking about baseball and college and physics having someone surprisingly grounding and comforting when he wandered off while hiking and busted his knee, for some reason Tony was good at first-aid.

--

“We totally  deserve a team pet!” Peter huffed at the campfire, their group settling in after a round of night zip-lining. 

“For God’s sake, we will not adopt a stray racoon for the team,” Tony yells from inside the cabin, bringing his stash of s’mores supplies he kept hidden and possibly explains the ants on the premise and not secured in the kitchen. “A mascot, maybe.”

“Please, this is Cranberry Lake, we do not need a pet to keep us from the ghosts,” Gwen declares, and before she can continue Peter screeches.

“So, you do admit there are ghosts!” 

Tony shivers dramatically once he rejoins the group in front of the campfire and the fire crackles in his face. Peter gasps, and Tony turns in worry, fearing the fucking kid is fucking asphysxiating. “You see! Tony just shivered when you mentioned the ghosts.” “Lowering your voice won’t do anything, you dipshit!” Johnny unnecessarily adds, getting tossed by a marshmallow and being directed into the direction of the nearby trees to sit in timeout by the all-knowing being Tony who declared if they cussed anymore they’d be sent to timeout, the Goddamned Almighty. 

“One more bad word out of you guys and next time you’re going to watch me swim in the lake, using all of your floaties while you watch from the dirt, wallowing in your own despair.” 

“Can I go back to Jen’s group?”

“Absolutely not. You three are keeping me alive at camp as it is,” Tony informs them as if they hadn’t noticed the man was really an 8 year old in an adult’s body. “Even Pepper agreed. She says my campers keep me alive.”

--

Tony floats on his back in the outdoor pool, the cold water reflects the sun and Peter floats nearby on a yellow inflatable pool float with printed dandelions on it. 

His friends chatter nearby, but his head leaning against the plastic floaty drowns the sound out. He hears his inner ear and hates it. Tony grunts, moving to grab his glass with juice and a small umbrella in it. This billionaire, the head of a company producing the world’s greatest and innovative technology was ridiculous. 

“Queens is..” Peter starts their conversation again, afraid he’s too quiet and the older man didn’t hear him. “Queens is my home. May and Ben raised me there, and being away from it sucks. I can’t be there to help.”

MJ sits at the other end of the pool on the hot cement, gasping when she lowers her legs in. She sounds too far away to them, in their own little corner. He raises his head to see if Tony had even heard him, but he seemed sipped from his drink and hummed to himself.

He waited for an answer before he nearly blew his cover again.

“Hometown of Parker. On Long Island, Citi Field, and supposed home of a vigilante, I think,” Tony supplies an answer, and Peter thinks, shit, he knows, “Once, Spider-Man dropped a hot-dog on my head.”

Peter laughs, freely, and shit, act natural, Peter, because the older man that he trusts but can’t seem to get the words off his tongue, his identity reveal, he’s never wanted to tell anybody else. Ever. It was his responsibility, his alter-ego, but he trusts him, for some reason.

The earth aligned them together, and whatever brought them together doesn’t make any sense. 

A mentor who understood him, who was a mere 10 years older than him, who had regrettably become friends with his Aunt May, and those two were forces in his life he wouldn’t know what to do without. Maybe that’s what happens when someone mentors you all summer and genuinely cares.

Tony was brilliant. Sure, him being here was confusing, but he wanted hands on experience in his company. Tony told them stories of the previous campers and which ones reminded Tony of them. When in the college application workshop the camp offered, he revised Peter’s papers and saw another piece of him on paper. 

Tony Stark was caring, gentle, he was a walking encyclopedia, his skepticism had kept a barrier around him at the beginning of the summer, but slowly thawed out the more he lived. If words have had no weight his entire life, he’s owing it to every teenager here to keep his promises and Peter wonders if anyone has ever kept their promises to Tony. A glass barrier, built from sand and liquid and carefully molded to protect him and encase him. 

Practically a kid when he lost his parents. Peter had read about it in the papers and saw news channels open every fragile wound on TV, and he remembers the news reporters surrounding Uncle Ben’s death. 

He isn’t sure what else has the older man so guarded, but he knows they are slowly breaking the crystalline around him, his meddling heart wrapped around this camp and the brilliant minds. He knows Tony is good, past his cynicism is pure optimism, and is is an excessive coffee drinking, smells of motor oil and marshmallows, mentors anybody he can, and the damaged heart he hides, who makes special tech presents for the students, smudged ink on his hands from his blueprints, is good. 

And Peter hopes he can model who he is after Tony. Spider-Man can strive to be someone like Tony, because the 27 year old understands what it means to invest in his community. And Queens is his home, he’s sure Tony will take care of it once he’s gone for college. Tony is human, he bleeds, he hurts, he doesn’t crack under pressure but quakes alone.

The man who emerges from the tech lab every morning at 6am because he forgot to sleep, yeah, that’s Peter’s mentor. How’d he get himself in this spot?

He turns back to Tony, “My uncle Ben used to tell me people are ugly, unlovable, they are their failures, but then they’d constantly prove him wrong. He wasn’t a pessimist, he was the opposite. But he saw the ugliness in New York, in Queens. But then he’d see sons hugging and kissing their mothers, he’d see local students building churches from scratch, and older siblings wiping their siblings’ tears when they played outside.”

Tony quirks a brow, but listens. He really listens, and he doesn’t know if he can finish. “He talked in constant epithets with our neighbors. Their gardens, his wisdom, and about how people always came together. Always.

“Maybe that’s who Spider-Man is trying to save, trying to represent in Queens. I think it’s what people like Ben would want to help. And I don’t want to leave, it’s my little sanctuary. This is the longest I’ve been away from Queens.”

Tony playfully flicked water towards Peter, who dodged it and splashed water back. He could be petulant, too. “I hope this spider-guy is watching over you in Queens. I know your Uncle Ben is. And I know, I know, it’s cheesy as hell, but he really is. I remember my Ma used to visit me in my dreams at my worst times.

“I had no one to go to. My family was gone, and I wanted to do better. Be better. At my rock bottom, I was brought back up by my dad’s best friend. He stayed by my side since they died.. And when I found out he wanted to steal the company from me, I knew I could never let people like that taint more kids in the future in this field. In any field, really. I think I have a responsibility with this camp, and I know my mom would be proud of me. And I know your uncle will be proud, too, because I’ve got your back, too.”

The breath is knocked out of Peter, because oh fuck, this camp counselor who was unwilling to budge, had opened up and was vulnerable and was scared of being stabbed in the back but trusted him.

Tony cracks a smile, supine on his back over the water again in no time and drags the pool floaty with him after he kicks off the wall. They float over to the group, and the weight in Peter’s sternum subdues. An ache he forgot was there, learned to live with, and Tony’s words ring in his head the rest of the day. He tells May about it and never stops missing her.

--

Peter reached into his canvas duffle bag with the initials, ‘BFP,’ embroidered into it and found the white baseball jersey he last remembers seeing when he was twelve years old. His cabin is chilly today, so it must be cold outside. The sun hides behind the clouds so he shrugs a long sleeve shirt on, then the jersey. 

They were going to play a game of baseball this morning, his muscles still aching from rock climbing and hiking the previous day. He was Spider-Man, he had a lot of endurance, but he hadn’t been exercising for a while. He missed feeling this; feeling fatigued but not from a night out as a vigilante. He and MJ climbed the rocks at least three separate times, their ropes clipped snugly to their bodies and Tony had reached the top to tie their ropes. They stupidly swung over the edges, dangling over the forest and had views of the lake. Johnny wasn’t scared of heights, but yelped every time his foot slipped and loose gravel jerked around him. Gwen swung back and forth, in a way that made Peter’s heart lurch when she kicked her feet off the rocks and threw her head back, lowering herself down.

It was an exhaustion that had a lightweight feeling to it. 

He wasn’t dizzied from the adrenaline of catching a perpetrator in time, or whatever criminal of the night presented themselves in Queens. 

Johnny had chased Peter, while rock climbing, and Peter felt genuine warmth for his friends. His best friends. They sent videos to Ned, Johnny and Gwen had been on a Facetime call with them the day before and declared whoever is friends with Peter, are their friends now. MJ shared her flannel, the one she wore around her waist once she noticed Peter’s calloused and cold hands when they brushed hands on the ropes. Gwen threatens to beat the shit out of Johnny if he bumps into her again, and once they reach the waterfall past the mounds of boulders they push each other in. 

Tony had sat on the side, pretending that he didn’t have a camera strapped around his neck and two bundles of film gathered from the summer.

And seeing the initials on his dufflebag this morning, Peter wishes he could march into his home, what it was once before, and announce his future profession to Uncle Ben. Because he’s stuck. Ben Parker would laugh, reminding Peter he wasn't much of a scientist himself, yet they’d ponder over every possibility they could. 

Ben, who smelled of cinnamon and coffee and New York, and Tony knocked on his cabin door before he could wrestle the baseball jersey on because the sight of it sent him reeling. Maybe May had accidentally packed it? Did she do this on purpose? They knew he would become homesick; he hasn’t left May’s for long. The longest he stayed away was for his DC trip in freshman year.

“Come in!” Peter calls.

“Hey, kid,” Tony opens the door, dressed in basketball shorts and a sweatshirt, with bags under his eyes that he seems to have everyday. He looks young; but he can notice the signs of smile and worry lines around his young-adult face. “You’re late. The kiddos sent me to check on you. We’re all waiting.”

“Sorry, I just needed to get dressed--”

Peter cuts himself off, breathing in the baseball jersey while he slides it over his head. And it was a smell he hadn’t smelled in years. May was more of a nostalgic and sentimental person, and held onto Ben’s objects. They’d peer through photo albums together, and Peter would silently grief sometimes, but he was back at the Mets game Ben fought to buy tickets for and took to. The fresh air, the golden sun, Ben’s oversized hat covered Peter’s forehead and eyes. Ben was in every stitch of the material. His mind retrieved whatever image of Ben it could, and Peter couldn’t breathe.

“I--” His breath wavered and betrayed him, and Tony looked at him with a concerned face. 

Peter can hear his phone buzzing with texts from Ned, probably responding to his breakdown over possible college majors he sent in a daze this morning when he saw an article about comets in their solar system, composed of water, dust, ice, and carbon monoxide. And he felt like one of those comets now, launched into the air with no destination and freefalling. 

The jersey was his actual size now, and Johnny yelled from outside the cabin, “Pete, hurry up or you’ll be catching the whole game!” Tony stared back at Peter in concern, maybe he could see through him. He hadn’t hidden his teen angst that much this summer, maybe Tony still remembers teen angst. Hopefully he didn’t call him out over his childish brain losing it on a Saturday morning at camp. Was it homesickness? Tony probably only dealt with kid campers being homesick.

“Sorry, shoot, I just lost track of my sentence,’ Peter says and it comes out like a question. 

He didn’t expect for Tony’s face to soften; the usual distant and withdrawn appearance is replaced with a small smile and a squeeze to his shoulder. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s play ball and possibly pop one of our shoulders out of our sockets by accident again.”

Peter snorted passed the burning tears threatening to spill, wiping them across his sleeve and noticed the man take a step back towards the door. “Yeah, right, ‘us.’ That was you, old man.”

Tony ducks his head, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulders and leaving a gap of space between them. He gives him a slight shove to the field, and Peter catches the ball in time before it strikes him in the face. Of course, that was MJ’s doing. 

They played until Peter fell over on the floor, dust spreading in the air around him on the field and stinging his eyes. He definitely hurt his shoulder.

Tony had half the mind to chortle at him once he sat Peter up, already sending Gwen to grab an ice pack and the first aid kit. He couldn’t help it; he’s clumsy. His spider senses are quiet here, only arising once this entire summer: when Tony followed him, Johnny, Gwen, and MJ down the rocks and found Tony huddled on a narrow precipice clutching his chest. He had a distant look in his eyes; Peter thought he had recognized that look on himself before. He was out of breath and his face was pale. Gwen chimed in from behind, “Are we still canoeing later today? Or is today archery?”

And that was smart. Tony schooled his face, and he must have tons of practice if it came so easily. He wouldn’t have guessed Tony was working himself out of a panic attack if it weren’t for the paleness of his face, but Gwen’s questions were good. They were about fifty feet off the ground, and he had almost slipped. At least, that’s what he heard.

The quietness of his spider senses didn’t scare him. It should have, but it didn’t. Maybe it would soon enough. Johnny sits down on the other side of him, asking Peter to squeeze his hand if he needs to. 

“Ah, shit, I promise it’s not that bad,” Peter says, already heading towards the nearest wall to reset his shoulder himself. He’s done this once before, thinks; once, there was an apartment building fire and he pulled out dozens of people, smoke fumes messing with his vision and chest. He had to reset his shoulder before pulling out a teeanger, grunting and pushing his arm against a nearby wall with the fire on his heels.

“Hey, kid,” Tony asserts, holding his hands up. “Can I? It hurts more if you do it. I can promise you that.”

Maybe it was because of being emotional over Ben’s baseball jersey, or missing May’s hugs and Ned’s hugs, meeting him by his locker every morning and how much he’ll miss them all for college that is a year away, was just stupid. And stupid over being upset over having to leave the nerdy stem camp and leave Tony behind. 

It wasn’t fair for him to be attached. He was like a mentor, an older brother, just from the past month. It wasn’t fair for him to ask for advice constantly, but has a feeling this man was more than a camp counselor to their group. For fuck’s sake, he shed a tear in front of him and the man let him.

Peter nods to his answer, already ducking his head and inhaling a deep breath. “Good, yeah, deep breath. You’ve got the right idea,” Tony says, grabbing his shoulder. There’s a slight pop when Tony pushes, and Peter bites back his pain and tastes blood. 

Tony holds onto his arm, and nods towards the rest of the concerned group, searching for any indication that Peter is okay. Gwen wipes a tear from his cheek, and he wonders what he would’ve done this summer without them. And what he’ll do if he doesn’t see them again. Maybe they’ll keep in touch, or apply to the same colleges. He didn’t want to lose them and the safety he felt with them.

--

“Okay, Peter, I told you for the millionth time, you connect the black wire to the circuit to get R2’s voice commands working,” Ned ordered the phone, and had given him, Johnny, MJ, and Gwen directions to the abandoned warehouse. 

It was kind of Tony’s fault for demanding a nap and leaving the four of them with another camp counselor that wasn’t as competent as he was.Well, to call Tony competent is a bit of a stretch, his methods are nonchalant. Hence, MJ is in the corner reading them murder stories from the 1930s and remindingthem the ghosts still linger in the woods of upstate New York, right where they are.

“Yeah, yeah, MJ, the eighty-year old ghost is here to haunt us,” Peter mutters, ignoring Ned’s directions because he is totally wrong. “Ned, no. Absolutely not. What is this, LEGOs sensors?”

“Oh, my God, if you’re going to tell a joke then make it funny,” Johnny groans, “It looks like a UFO.”

“Fuck you, Johnny!” Peter yells, tossing a wrench and then deciding he shouldn’t have done that, and hoped Johnny ducks his head in time, “It’s not UFOs! It’s R2D2, you stupid piece of shit!”

Maybe Peter was a little unhinged today. 

“Hey, ghost, knock this bookshelf down if you’re mad at us,” Gwen declares, drawing out her voice like she’s reading a ghost story to kids, “Or hold a candlestick in the middle of the room.”

The warehouse is small, it’s dark, and they use the sunlight as their lightsource. It was probably really stupid of them to break in, but this is it. Plan ghoul. And it’s the second to last night of camp, and they had vlogged the entire venture to the warehouse. 

MJ had kept all the equipment they gathered from the summer. Either Tony was completely oblivious, unaware of his surroundings at all times and chose to ignore the lack of passion in their projects all summer for this, R2D2 and Johnny’s soccer laying robot, and Gwen’s killer robot obstacle course, or Tony didn’t care. 

He was a billionaire. MJ still yells at the older man over his salary, but yesterday, he asked MJ to consult as an intern for his company and have input on the charity work the company participates in. And it was perfect for her. This was how they were wrapping their summer up; some of them receiving internships, letters of recommendation, and Peter stayed the same with the sick feeling in his stomach that he’d ruin his own life, or never be as far ahead as his peers. 

“Peter, I have the same kit in front of me. I gave you these blueprints!” Ned yells into his ear, and Peter drops his phone and breaks off R2D2’s arm. Gwen laughs, pointing out how much uglier the robot is.

“Can your ugly R2 even fit in my obstacle course?” Gwen asks, playing robot soccer with Johnny. Their controllers are loud, they beep too much, and the obstacle course is ugly. It’s really not, but he’d never admit to his new best friend how beautiful the course is and he wishes he could shrink down and play in it.

“Ghouls!” MJ yells, fiddling with her tiny robotic sensor that he’s pretty sure is a tracker she’s been planting. He makes a mental note to check his things later before leaving camp.”My bot says Johnny is in first place!”

Their robots race across the obstacle course of the filthy warehouse, the sun’s going down so they placed flashlights around the room and the golden hour sun basked the room as it set on the horizon. The room was full of laughter, MJ’s ghost monitor with activity levels he can’t understand, and Gwen runs into their pseudo soccer field to knock R2D2 over. 

They spent the rest of the night planning for college, planning to keep in touch, and devising another plan to take over Stark Industries once they all get jobs there. Peter knew he needed to go to college. He knew he couldn’t risk his family and friends and his identity.

They hear a crash outside, all of their movements hault. Peter doesn’t dare breathe, they all let their hearts pound in their chests. The sun had set by now, and Peter discreetly used his senses to listen and smell what, or who was outside. Gwen shows Peter her arm, the goosebumps set all over and she grabs the flashlight to use as a weapon. He’s impressed with her pose, but oh, shit, is it another camp goer? Did MJ fucking summon a ghoul?

Johnny shushes them, o-fucking-kay Johnny, shush the quiet group. Obnoxious. Peter blows out MJ’s candle, while she gets out her Poltergeist machine, where did she even keep it?

“Hide!”

The kids scatter, and MJ rambles through her theories of clues she’s found. “Is that a fucking bat?”

“Is it fucking Batman?”

“Peter, shut the fuck up!” Gwen chastises, elbowing him while they search for refuge behind the nearby bookcase full of dust and spiders. The shadow from outside looms, and the room is too dark to make out whoever kicks the door open.

The door was kicked open, and the group screamed. His brain clicked, his senses didn't go off.

It was fucking Tony.

Tony fucking Stark, with a casing of gold metal under his arm. And it’s his gold and red robot. 

Let’s just say Tony dragged the four of them back to the camp after destroying their robots in robot-killer-soccer. 

--

Tony does not know the impact he had on each teenagers’ lives. Maybe it was just Peter, and he was being sappy, but it was the last day of camp and the sun was setting and he was tired of the pinewood. It’d take him at least a week to get the smell of earth out of his clothes.

MJ shows affection, she hugs Gwen before they depart. Oh, God. They’re really gonna miss camp.

The summer is ending, case closed. Everybody’s packing their bags, and Peter’s pretty sure he will never recover from his scare during plan ghoul. Who would’ve known Tony had the same idea as them.

His friends, who wear his hats, who steal his food, and who wipe his tears are leaving. He has MJ. He has Ned. 

Peter had set his flannel on fire but they put him out. It was really stupid. 

Peter talked to Tony about Ben one night. He used metaphors, but he knew about Tony’s parents' loss in a car crash.

“Kid,” Tony says, pulling his attention away from the camp departures. Peter practically hopped on his toes of anticipation, walking closer to the older man. A father-figure? No. Older-brother figure? Maybe. Yes. 

“You better work hard on your college applications, kid, because I’m going to need a student researching with me at MIT,” Tony smiles, kindly, and Peter blinked. 

It still hadn’t set how much Tony believes in him. He knows he could be saying this out of kindness, out of pity maybe, but he had been the one to pull him from his reeling thoughts all summer long. 

Tony had welcomed him in the threshold, their own threshold they built together, when Peter needed someone there, to take him in, and he continued to stay in once school began. This had been the place Peter spent half the summer in, did summer homework at the poolside with Tony’s help, he accidentally left candy wrappers in Tony’s cabin and left even more ants, and grew comfortable.

“Pete, when you go off to college, I’m not kidding, don’t forget to call,” Tony says, because Peter probably looks too intense right now and doesn’t know how to unweb himself from his comfortable cocoon of a summer, and he admires his camp counselor so much.

“I’m scared,” Peter breathes, and shit, his eyes well up. And Tony is there, the smell of coffee and some sweat, pulling him into a hug and he closes his eyes and tries to breathe.

“Oh, kid,” Tony says, “Remember all the shitty advice I gave you. Do exactly what I wouldn’t do. And remind Aunt May I’m just a camp counselor and to stop yelling at me on the phone.”

Peter chuckles, because, oh God, knowing Tony and May, they’ll both team up to watch his back. 

“I don’t want to let go of everyone here. I don’t want self pity, or anything, but like, this is the first time I felt like I’ve lived, as cheesy as that sounds,” Peter admits, wiping his sleeve. 

Gwen is the first one to tackle the both of them, then Johnny, and Tony curses to the air. “Why did I become a camp counselor. The little boogers won’t leave me alone.”

“Stop lying, you know you came here for Pepper,” MJ snorts, “Old man.”

At the end of the summer, Peter is a teenage vigilante with a secret identity, but chose to relish in being a teeanger this summer. He was his grief or loss or anxiety, he was Peter Parker. And he wouldn’t ever just be Peter again. He thinks about what he wants, and he knows he wants them in his life. And Tony had given him this threshold, one that felt like a home away from home, and a family away from his small one.

[moscarific]

Some of you might have noticed that I have a new fandom. As often happens, the fandom itself isn’t new: Roswell, New Mexico, has aired for two full seasons on the CW, and a lot of the fans jumped on board at or near the beginning. I, on the other hand, sauntered in late, martini in hand, and binged the whole thing on Netflix in a week to get my mind off the fact that my HVAC had died in the middle of a heat wave and nobody could figure out how to fix it. The stubborn appliance is now fixed, and my condo is now a placid 74 degrees Fahrenheit throughout, but in the time it took, I not only watched all of RNM but wrote and posted my first fic in the fandom. It is a classic case of new fandom glow, and all it took was an aggressively mediocre TV show about attractive queer aliens and two weeks of sustained negotiation with the heating-cooling repair company.

Since I have friends in the fandom and they seem happy that I’ve shown up - especially since I brought martinis for everyone - I’m now on a Discord server where a lot of the RNM fandom stalwarts hang out. (Discord: yet another fandom platform that reminds me that the days of Livejournal were terrible but also makes me feel ancient.) Here I am, two days after joining the server, giddily chatting with my fellow nerds and plugging away at fic #2, when someone starts fretting that everyone is leaving RNM fandom and there will soon be nobody left. 

In my mind, this fandom is vibrant. My Tumblr dash is full of new gifs, fanart, and stories. The Discord is not overwhelming, but there is plenty of action, most of it on topic. AO3 listings indicate a steady stream of new material. It’s possible that things have slowed down since the initial boom, but this fandom is still moving at a healthy clip - especially since, as someone else on Discord pointed out, we’re in the middle of a long show hiatus (made longer by the pandemic and by some behind-the-scenes tsuris) after a season that mostly separated the fandom’s consensus OTP. 

My reaction to this concern is that RNM is the kind of fandom that has legs. At first, that was an inkling, fueled by the desire for more Malex fic to be injected directly into my bloodstream, but the more I thought about it while folding laundry (You know what else got fixed last week? My dryer. I am so happy. Never get old, kids.) the more I saw myself responding to a pattern. The upside to being old - and by old, I mean that the Star Trek fans I used to hang out with on a Yahoo Group dubbed me a Brassy Old Fandom Queen in approximately 2002 - is that you have perspective. 

At this point, I have written upwards of 200 stories in something like 50 fandoms. (Not all of these stories are on AO3; some of them are buried on Dreamwidth where they belong.) You know what still gets read? Stories in fandoms with a large amount of canon that is readily available on a major streaming platform. I haven’t watched a Gilmore Girl since there was a Bush in office, but I still get kudos almost daily on Rory/Paris fics that are older than the characters were in the first season of that show. Sometime around 2011, I wrote Mass Effect femslash because I was modding a fic exchange and took a difficult sign-up for the team, and that thing still gets read all the time. Not only are my own Star Trek: DS9, Teen Wolf, and Firefly fics still being discovered by new readers, but I continue to find new fanworks for all of those fandoms on my Tumblr dash and on AO3, mostly created by people who just now took a deep dive on Netflix and fell in love for the first time. Some of these canons have become dated, and several were not great in the first place, but they’re easy to become obsessed with and to say fresh things about. They’re also easy to maintain interest in. I’m not really creating new works in any of these fandoms anymore, but I eagerly pick up new fanworks by others when they come my way. One of the best fics I’ve read in the past year is a sparkling Garashir AU that you should read if you have any DS9 feelings at all. I’ve been disillusioned with the central Avengers storyline of the MCU for years now, but I’ll be damned if I ever stop reblogging Stucky gifsets.

You know what doesn’t get new fans or fanworks? Short, time-dependent fandoms that everyone consumes at once and then gets tired of quickly. I got a bajillion kudos in the first 48 hours when I wrote my one and only Venom fic, and I don’t think anyone has touched that thing since. It’s a pretty good fic, but nobody cares anymore. A decade ago, everyone was wild for Kradam, but I suspect that if I ask the dewy-eyed college students on my dash what a Kris Allen is, they will blink at me with sweet incomprehension. Last year, when Good Omens was the place to be, I followed a bunch of fandom-specific side blogs, all of which are now either abandoned or so slow they’re effectively defunct. I have dim memories of lingering on endless LJ photosets of Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson at some point in 2008, but I think we have erased this from our collective memory. In all of these cases, people got all their ideas and excitement out in one explosion of fannish energy, and then they moved on - usually drifting back to the large-canon fandoms they’d come from.

The flavor of this month is The Old Guard. Everyone is making gifs and writing fluffy backstory for Nicky and Joe. Almost everyone will be bored with this by Halloween. By then, there will be some other movie or RPF ship or live musical extravaganza that we are all either obsessed with or incepted into via fannish osmosis. Fandom needs these large, centralizing events to remind ourselves that we can all feel something in unison. But they don’t last.

That’s not to say that one kind of fandom source is better than another. Gilmore Girls is not a purer or more admirable source text than Lost Girl simply because you have forgotten that one of these shows exists. It’s just that some canons are better equipped than others to draw in and retain new fans, while others can’t sustain themselves without collective fannish energy to prop them up. And the best way to sustain any fandom is to lure your friends and neighbors into it, whether by talking up the merits of the canon or linking everyone to That One Fic or reblogging pretty gifsets until they give in. If everyone’s leaving the party, make a fresh batch of martinis. Chances are, a lot of people wanted to keep hanging around anyway, and a bunch of others were lurking by the door, wondering whether it was safe to come in.

[everything-withered]

Aperture, an Ichiruki fic

For @darisu-chan​‘s prompt below, special thanks to @aesthetic-virgo​ for helping me find it because tumblr hates me.

 The shot is beautiful. Goes without saying. Ichigo's always had an eye for beautiful things, and as a photographer, it's practically a requirement of the job.

But his latest Instagram post has the industry abuzz for reasons that have as much to do with his year-long hiatus as it does the subject of the image itself.

It's a pair of legs; one crossed over the other, set in a slant of lazy nonchalance; toes pointed as if the model were mid-stretch. There's a slash of pale skin, raised higher in the frame implying movement of the upper body, the hint of a chin catching in the shadow as if tilted in challenge, or offering.

It's the absence of, that attracts attention.

There's no face to attach the model to, shrouded as she is in darkness, but it's provocative nonetheless; ripe with secrecy and innuendo, captured in perfect contrast of shadow and light.

The consensus is her beauty, her mystery, the untouchable allure of her.

There's no looking away. Ichigo agrees.

More pictures are posted, bit by bit. And the quality and stylistic choice of the images are the same.

Like breadcrumbs, Ichigo unveils who they agree must be his muse, in snapshots of similar, potent and frustratingly teasing photos.

Whoever she is, there's something otherworldly about her.

There are delicate pale hands clutching flannel sheets under the watercolor softness of the dawn, the retreating night hiding the softness of her forearms before tendrils of dark hair and a pale forehead graze the bottom of the frame like the trailing fingers of a caress.

In another, there's that same spill of dark hair, a pale temple from that same forehead, a sharp, cleverly arched brow with wrinkles at an eye they haven't been graced to meet yet; against an overexposed wall. The sun, like a spotlight, is merciless and harsh, but the dimple at her cheek is more amused rather than afraid.

They start to think that if Ichigo doesn't love her yet, he will.

Washed out in honeyed yellow light is her legs once more. One of them is hooked over the arm of a chair, a black pump dangling from the toes while the other foot is propped up, shoeless, against it. Her knee just kissing at her chest before it's interrupted by another strategic glare of darkness. It's the same casual sort of stretch; automatic, unthinking, intimate.

There's a suspicion that the shots have been made to look that way, that the intention had been to convey snatches of a romance, dreamlike and fleeting; that Ichigo's model is just a foil for a muse in a metaphor of voyeuristic suggestion.

But he's made use of the dark to so carefully shelter her from his gaze even as the little she bares tantalizes him for moremoremore that they second guess it all together.

Perhaps that's why he's holding back. Ichigo's letting them see what he sees begrudgingly, an idea made more clear at the announcement of his next photo gallery.

He hasn't replied to any of the comments that have bombarded each post with questions in the three months since it all began which isn't surprising given that every image thus far had been devoid of captions, explanatory or otherwise.

A management made post changes that to announce that Ichigo's next photo gallery show is called Lover, and the accompanying picture is taken overhead of a table, coffee rings, and chips in the wood with a professional camera and a host of unidentifiable reels of negatives. It's suitably impersonal and meaningless, but it's so out of character that people take notice immediately.

The floor chosen for Lover, unsurprisingly, is packed to the rafters, and while the announcement photo was bland, the host of posts Ichigo actually did make previously to it is more than enough of a draw.

Each canvas lovingly renders his mysterious muse, bathing her in light whilst cradling her desperately, jealously in the dark. She appears to the audience in parts and pieces as she has on Ichigo's Instagram page like she's beckoning them to puzzle her out as Ichigo has.

And they think they do as they catch glimpses of the defiant lift of her chin, the tease of her grin and the flirtatious wink of her eye.

There are glimpses of her life in the lightning strikes across her skin, the damaged elastic of her body around her thighs, her stomach. There are other scars that litter her, less obvious in origin, that have healed in different shades of pink and white and brown.

She has freckles; flecks of starbursts in snow on the outside of her shoulders, the nape of her neck, the tip of her nose.

She squints a lot, the lines around her eyes aren't just for the quickness of her smile, though that's obvious too.

Her lips are full, but chapped. She bites at them, an oral fixation which more than one photograph attests to; teases her for, with every exposure of her teeth mid twirl of a straw, spoon stretching her mouth and lollipop bobbing from rosebud lips.

And while there's a rigidity to her posture when she knows she's the subject, there's also a fluidity in the splay of her arms, the relieved arch of her neck, the slump of her shoulders.

She's not used to being the center of attention, but according to Ichigo, she deserves to be. And in his eyes, she is all he would want to pay attention to at all.

For all that this is his show, Ichigo is nowhere to be found, and his muse is not amongst them either; ethereal creature that she is, they're convinced they'd know it was her by her sheer presence alone.

The opening night of the gallery ends without either of them making an appearance.

The following morning, an Instagram post is uploaded, and most would think it's a simple thank-you from Ichigo's management for everyone's support of the event. Instead, what it actually is, is a video:

It's from the evening before. Most of the overhead lights have been switched off though, except for one, and the gallery is empty save for one woman, and one man. Ichigo.

Their backs are to the camera, but his bright hair is an easy enough identifier.

But for all that she's standing there before their eyes, his muse; she's hidden from them still with the comforting bulk of Ichigo's shadow to guard her. Still protecting her, still hoarding her for himself.

As she stares at the photograph illuminated by the only light in the gallery, she murmurs, soft and brittle and hopeful, "Do you mean it?"

"Rukia." It's an incantation, a plea. The single word trembles in the whisper it's encased in.

Her inhale is shaky, "Do you mean it, the way you see me?"

And they all hear the undercurrent of her question: like I'm precious, like I'm lovely, like I'm fragile, like I'm perfect, like I'm not; like I'm yours?

His reply is a ragged exhale.

The video stops.

The caption reads: I wouldn't look anywhere else if you let me.

Kudos | Ko-fi

[thehoneyedhufflepuff]

2019 Top Five

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2019. Tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

thank you for tagging me @ninemagicks @sourcherrymagiks @f-ing-ruthless-baz @sharkmartini 💜

2019 was the year I found Carry On & this lovely fandom. It was the year I started writing & drawing again after many years of being creatively stagnant (& I wrote a LOT; over 310k published on AO3 & who knows how much is currently sitting unpublished in my Google Drive). It’s been a bit of a bumpy ride—lots of self-doubt & uncomfortable feelings about my own work—but this book ultimately gave me my creativity back, & some wonderful friends, & self-growth, day by day. I’ve been in a bit of a funk since the end of the countdown, & especially these last few weeks, so I think this will be a good opportunity for me to reflect on the things I’m proud of & try to say some nice things about my own work. Let’s get the party started.

1. Between the Lines

Y’all probably aren’t surprised, right? I feel like BTL has really helped me grow as a writer while telling a story that’s very personal & important to me. When I first started this fic, it was meant to be just a little bookshop AU. I’m very proud of what it’s become, & the reception it’s had has blown me away. I appreciate everyone who’s read it/reading it/yet to read it so very, very much. I never would’ve guessed that I’d still be working on this fic, let alone how long it would be. I think it’s probably my best work stylistically & in terms of the story, even if sometimes I cringe when I reread the beginning. (I either cringe or really like my work when I reread it, there’s no in-between.) (I mostly really like this one when I need to go back & study it.)

IDK, I’ve talked about BTL a LOT the last eight months. I’m not sure what else I can say about it right this moment, but I’m sure I’ll think of something eventually, & hopefully y’all aren’t sick of hearing about it because I don’t think I can help it.

🦖💛💙🦖

2. A Pair of Splendid Morons

This fic is still near & dear to my heart. I like to say it was the first fic I finished in the fandom, but it was actually my second (I don’t...like to talk about Merry Gentlemen. At all. I think I’ve been scarred since I got a scathing anon review in the comments [which is why I no longer allow anon comments on AO3, RIP].) (I made some...choices with that fic. ANYWAY.)

So Splendid Morons was the second fic I finished in the fandom (it’ll be a year old on Valentine’s Day; can you believe?!). It’s my second-longest (after BTL, of course, lmao) & I wrote it in just six weeks, which is lightning-fast by my standards. (This set me up to think I was a fast writer. I was sorely disappointed when I discovered that’s not the case.) It’s also my most-read fic, though BTL is super close to taking the crown.

My writing’s improved a lot since I first posted APOSM, I think, but I also think it holds up pretty well! (I do worry sometimes that I wrote Simon too soft, & there are a few mistakes I made by not properly researching [ahem, looking at you, Suitgate].) (One thing I found slightly amusing was the influx of readers this one got after Wayward Son, lmao. This fic is not in the vein of WS at ALL.) (Okay, that might be sort of false? I do mention trauma etc. in the fic, but I guess the main difference is that Simon & Baz really try to face these things together instead of apart. And also they communicate, albeit somewhat awkwardly. It’s a dream come true.)

For anyone who hasn’t read it, it’s a Carry On-era canon first time fic, & it spawned my post-Carry On series that is now an AU. I still have stories to tell on that timeline, but it’s sort of hard to forget Wayward Son completely, you know? When I first started writing this, it was technically still possible. Now it’s only possible as an AU, which is fine. (I’m not really sure where I’m going with this...I just have weird feelings, lol.) OH, also this was the first time I ever wrote a sex scene. I think it’s actually pretty good for a first time (mine & theirs, lmao).

3. Housewarming

Sort of cannot believe I’m picking the smuttiest thing I’ve ever written as one of my top fics of the year, but also??? I’m proud of this fic. It’s super hard to write smut—no euphemism—& I reread this one recently & thought I did a pretty good job. (I was actually slightly ashamed after I posted it, but I got over that once I got some nice comments. Nice comments are always very helpful.) I’ll share one here, which I think is fine since AO3 comments are public anyway:

Your writing just has so much LOVE in it and you write their companionship and connection so beautifully. You know, I wasn't going to read First Bite because that's not my kind of thing and usually grosses me out, but I've loved your other stuff so I gave it a shot. Turns out, it's just that stories like that tend to focus on the kink and grit, but you focus on everything that's good between them instead. And then you show how those good things lead to the perhaps more-than-vanilla coupling.

This fic, too, is grimy and steamy, but it's also sweet because you include the right details... This is not a smut fic of the rough kinky variety. It's a smut fic about two people reveling in a sacred space/act they've created together. Props to you because the difference is palpable. (I have never in my life written so much about sex on a fic review so sorry about this ramble lmao)

Y’all...this comment meant so much to me. This is what it’s really about, you know? I’m trying to show them expressing love, & this just made me so happy. Numbers-wise, stories with a focus on sex seem to get fewer kudos/comments, & I think part of that is the anonymity factor (which I totally understand), but I just want to say that something like this means A TON to those of us who write stuff like this. Many thanks to @sappho-said-i-could ; this comment single-handedly made me much less self-conscious about this particular work. 💜

4. Crashing Through

This is one of my favorite ficlets from the countdown, & also my most popular countdown fic on Tumblr in terms of notes (not that that’s a deciding factor, but it DOES make me happy). It’s a little alternate ending to WS (just a what if? for the beach scene at the end of the book.)

Like many, Wayward Son hit me really hard. I love Wayward Son a lot, but I spent days feeling so emotionally drained, & then weeks just unable to write. This was one of the first things I wrote that even had anything to do with Wayward Son, & fun fact! I wrote it all by hand in the car on a day trip. While it’s obviously not a canon-possible scene at this point, I still really like it. (I reblogged it yesterday as part of my Fandom Anniversary Reblog Thingy that I’m doing, & I read it & thought, Huh. Sometimes I’m decent at this whole writing thing.)

I actually felt stuck when I went to write Be With Me after this, because I didn’t think I could top the way they said I love you in this one (I still...sort of prefer this to the scene in Be With Me but oh well, what’re you gonna do).

5. “Love”

Can y’all tell I don’t normally name my art pieces? I don’t normally name them. I’m super proud of this one; it was the last piece of art I made in 2019, & I think it’s one of my best. It’s one of my least “popular” pieces in terms of notes, but I still really like it a lot & I did a side-by-side comparison of this next to my first fanart last year & it was super encouraging to see my progress. Sharing art has been scarier for me than sharing writing, but seeing how far I’ve come since June was very helpful.

ANYWAY! BTL is super close to my heart, as y’all know, & I had a moment where I just really wanted to draw them in this moment where they’re finally getting some time to just be together & enjoy the newness of their relationship. This was done in copic marker for the most part, though I also used colored pencil for their blushes (my brand 😏) & Baz’s sweater. (At one point I thought I’d completely ruined the whole piece because of how Baz’s sweater was looking, but then @knitbelove gave me some sweater advice & I went back to work & held my breath & everything turned out okay in the end.) This is also the last traditional piece of art I’ve done, & I should probably change that soon. (Please give the original post some love if you’re so compelled. 💜💜💜)

I think I’m a few days late in terms of doing this, so I’m not sure who all has gone yet! I’ll tag @warriorbeeofthesea @krisrix @pipsqueakparker @icarus-n-flames @vkelleyart @singerofsimplesongs @fight-surrender @knitbelove @annabellelux @pitchpatronus @subpar-selkie @neck-mole @cynopoe @gibbarts & anyone else who sees this & wants to do it! Seriously, that means you! 😉

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

2020 Megaman Valentine’s Day Contest - Cat. 1 (Talent) Results!

Thank you to everyone again for your patience! This is getting posted way later than I wanted to. As much as I try to keep it short and sweet, I never do, so bear with my walls of text. 

For the talent category this year, the theme was about killing Mega Man with kindness. More specifically, entrants had to create their own original love/Valentine’s-themed Robot Master or equivalent boss character that was created to defeat Mega Man with the power of love! Even though the theme title and concept alluded more to the classic Robot Master character contests, designs for any series were acceptable. But other than one Navi and one Reploid entry, everyone stuck to a Classic-series themed creation. So you were all pretty consistent! 

There were a total of 16 entries for this category this year. Thank you all for your participation! It was extremely hard to choose winners for this category, because you all had really clever and creative concepts based off of this theme. So thank you for thinking up such clever and cool characters!!

Also thanks to Reploid 21XX for the coloring book prizes and for some additional insight. 

Again, raffle prize winners will be contained in both posts, so keep an eye out between your name and your art. Not all raffle prize winners are contained in this post. I’ll be contacting all winners soon enough, so sit tight! Might be late after work tonight, so don’t panic if you don’t hear from me right after this is posted.

Your category winners and full gallery of entries are right here, after the break:

Category 1 (Talent) -  Dr. Wily’s Greatest Creation: Killing Mega Man With Kindness

[Full Talent Gallery]

1.) @mo-sketchbook​:

*For coming in 1st, mo-sketchbook has won $100 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value AND a Rockman 7 Coloring Book.*

First and foremost, I appreciate all the effort you put into covering so many aspects of your creation, from the various design viewpoints, weapon get form for Mega Man, and showing the weapon in action. I really loved all the things you integrated into the design to give off the feeling that it is a love-based character. The “love bug” form, cherub-like Heat/Plug-type facial features, and how you utilized hearts in different ways for his design and powers. 

I’m no Keiji Inafune, but I feel like this is a concept he would greenlight, in terms of it following his Robot Master design formula. It doesn’t need to be super detailed or flashy, but still fits the mold very well! The thought of the hearts missing their target and love energy then getting weaker is actually pretty clever, too. Cute, and I wuv it. 

2.) @peachycircuits​:

*For coming in 2nd, peachy has won $50 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value AND a Rockman 7 Coloring Book*

As usual, on the technical side of things, your art is one of the more polished and clean entries of the bunch. Combining a couple different aspects - swans as a creature known as a symbol of love, bonded for life like in marriage, and turning that into an inseparable pair of Robot Masters, was a clever way to think about your design, in terms of the theme of this category. 

And then echoing that with the iconic Swan Lake, making them ballet dancers, is like taking Tundra Man and Gemini Man’s concept up another notch. Plus, not gonna lie, amused seeing Mega Man getting equipped with a tutu. LOL So even if it’s not as heart-themed as most of the other entries, I totally liked how you thought outside the box a little bit for this. 

3.) Komito Amae:

*For coming in 3rd, Komito has won $25 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value*

I figured a cupid-styled arrow theme would pop up in a bunch of entries, but your Reploid, Beta, here caught my eye. Both in terms of the hearts, arrows and wings incorporated into her armor, and the pretty sweet looking buster that she and X both have equipped. 

While I’m not sure how it would play out in the game, I think it would be interesting to suddenly take control of random enemies in a stage, and be able to change perspective as them for a short time, after you have shot them. Whether it would be to take out an enemy horde, or perform a task X can’t that the enemy could, it would be different! Can’t see it quite having the same powerful effect on a Maverick boss, but it’s certainly neat to think about how that could work!

And the rest of the wonderful entries, in alphabetical order by alias: 

@autobot-bumblebee​:

*Raffle Prize Winner*  Dreamwave Comics: Issue 4 Page 15

I’m sorry you didn’t win a cash prize this time! Please don’t take me hostage! I totally loved the creative vintage chocolate factory mascot backstory, along with making your entry like an Ariga-styled character sheet page. Certainly get that retro feel with her clothing design. Her rose blade kinda reminds me of other hand-turned-blade-like-weapon characters, such as Alan Gabriel in the Big O or Ed transmuting one in FMA. Which is always a snazzy transformation for a robot!

@drewblossom​:

In all honesty, if I hadn’t placed you in the humor category, I think this would have very likely been somewhere in the top 3 for this category. A cuddly teddy bear with a massive Ariga-Quick Man-sized heart for a chest, extending flailing tube arms, who just wants to hug Mega Man to death is so amusing and awesome of a design. Hugs for everyone!

FluffyFrostyFury:

Your take of heat-seeking arrows and the added high jump powers were certainly a different take compared to the other cupid-styled creations. Definitely would be nice gameplay bonuses when equipped. I like how Mega Man also has the wings sprout out of his head, to mimic Cherub Woman’s pigtails, rather than the usual spot you would assume, on his back. 

HealerCharm:

Hahaha, I love how your creation has caused Mega Man to wave the white flag after falling in love...wait, it isn’t White Day, and he should be giving her a gift if it was! XD Her hair tied up into a heart was a creative touch, much like how her dress flows into all those heart shapes. Adorable!

@inanehipsterslang​:

Um, can...can I count on you to vote for Bernie this election year?

Remember kids, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, looks don’t matter. Everyone deserves love, even those you consider ‘vermin.’ This was certainly an unexpected take on the theme, and gave me a good laugh, too. ‘Boiling-hot water...with a hint of citrus!’ It burns, but it smells so lemony-fresh!! XD But the two different moves fit together well, to protect and attack. 

I like how you still incorporated a heart shape into Rodent Woman’s design with, both in her chest shape and the “nostril” area which is echoed in the Rodent Rover. And also props for giving her the non-armor form, unique compared to other entries. 

Mattasaurs:

On the one hand, your design feels so different for a Robot Master, and maybe more Navi-like. But then I get the Astro/Galaxy-type eye vibe, and sort of a Plant Man~ish body with Devil hands feel, and see how it’d fit into Classic. It’s a unique look, and I liked it the more I inspected it. I really do love the idea of the heart bubble entrapping more and more enemies, and the big ol’ group hug ending up bursting their love bubble. It’s a different concept that stood out!

Minnie:

Our Navi of the bunch combined the love bug and cupid design, but your concept changed up the attack to suck out the energy of it’s target. Which almost made me think she should have an arrow-like mosquito nose, to feast on her target that way. XD I liked your wing shield concept and RiCO-styled skirt of hearts. Rock gets some cool shades in his Love Soul/Cross form, and I get the ProtoSoul vibe, with the shield transferring to his arm as well.

@pstart​:

Another Heat/Plug-type design Share Man looks cute and sleepy, but is also “clumsy and weak.” His ability is to share body parts, so “the danger is in him sharing his less than ideal parts with his opponents.” It’s a totally neat concept, to see Mega Man lose his buster almost by accident, and now be powerless to stop Share Man. His split color scheme drives home the concept that his parts might not all be his own, and sort of a Frankenstein bot at times. Props to that idea!

While his weapon gives Mega Man the power to make enemies docile and sleepy, I really almost want to see Mega Man get dumb parts of enemies, too! Helmet switched to a Met helmet, Batton wings, a big Suzy eye! It’s now I’ve got your power...but...but what am I supposed to do with it? XD

RetroNinjin:

Unlike most others, your entry pushed the heart theme heavily in her armor design around the entire head and shoulder parts, so I definitely felt the love vibe. The color scheme fits well. Just would have liked to have had seen a little more information about her attack and concept.

RoninApprentice:

Mega Man having a “Wing Man” to set him up is a hilarious and clever idea! I give you kudos for thinking outside the box a bit on your concept and theme here. The shipping chart certainly drives the idea home, too. You still give him a classy/formal look, and keep the wing man aviation origin apparent in his attack style. Certainly a different idea having the heart bowtie transfer to Rock’s helmet in the form change, but it really doesn’t look that bad there, opposed to around his neck like it would be normally.

@star-crossed-swords​:

Different from the other cupid concepts, Eros Woman utilizes a Search-Man like targeting system to hit her targets. I like the heart scope addition over her and Rock’s eye when they go into firing mode. You took a different approach to the wing concept compared to others, echoing Cinnamon’s hairstyle in many respects. But it certainly fits with the rest of her design nicely, and looks good for Mega Man’s equipped form.

@star-shaped-soul:

Love that you were able to both include a drawing and your own sprite, to mix in with the weapon equip ones. That is one powerful crush Mega Man has on his enemies now! I feel bad for Crush Man with how big and heavy those snare trap hands of his are. This seems like a Robot Master too cute for Wily to design; more like he stole him and added horrible, cruel hands onto him! This is taking a crush on someone to a whole different level! XD

Yuri Kadry:

When equipped with Cupid Man’s power, I like the visor Mega Man gets. I think this is also a clever use of the weapon, having enemies shot attracted to one another, causing them to collide into each other. Well thought out! Love the original sprite art, and he stands out nicely against the pinks and purples in the background. 

[teruthecreator]

hi i know im 3 days late to the party but

I am emotionally unequipped to process the things that just happened in this ep??? And I’m???? Screaming?????? 

for one, we’ve got aubrey and ned, who just....lord. major props go to travis and clint for making that confrontation scene The Shit Absolutely Jaw-Dropping. to have this confrontation--that basically we’ve all been waiting for since it was established that ned was at the house when it set fire--and then have it go...completely not what I or I think anyone really expected is just...wowza. Like, we all know aubrey’s super impulsive and her emotions very much steer her actions, but to have that calm and cool demeanor when she goes “I don’t hate you for that,” and then switches into her rant abt how he should have told her???? LIKE. NOT TO MENTION, GOING BACK FOR A SECOND, AUBREY CUTTING NED’S RANT OFF LIKE “what did you do???” UMMMMMM UR ACTUALLY NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT TO ME. PLEASE GO TO JAIL. 

also i could literally talk for hours about ned in this episode (and i probably will, knowing my brain’s affinity for that gay crime bastard) but I just gotta say kudos to clint almost making me have an emotional breakdown when he started with “I fucked up” like, thank you sir! You have ended my life! 

this is also one of the rare eps where duck’s interactions are mostly lighthearted (despite, ya kno, the abomination charging toward him) and lemme just say. A Welcome Diversion From The Pain. but also i was 100% convinced--before griffin mentioned it was a delivery truck--that indrid was gonna come speeding down in the Winnebago and ya know what? now that i’ve said it im gonna make a quick one-shot of that scenario bc thats Equally As Good As Canon Events. 

AND FINALLY (bc i could make this post 100 years long w my thoughts but im reducing it down to the Big Ones) THE PIECE DE RESISTANCE.....THE ENDING. 

THE ENDING. 

id just like to take a moment. one singular moment out of your life, out of my life, out of everyone’s lives. and im gonna take this moment to lay down on the ground, limbs spread out much like a starfish, and wail up to the heavens in complete adoration foR THE ABSOLUTE MADLAD GRIFFIN MCELROY BRINGING MY GODDAMN WIFE BACK IN THE COOLEST WAY POSSIBLE. 

I HONESTLY AM GOING TO BE LISTENING TO THAT ENDING FOR THE NEXT MONTH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. IT DOESNT FIX ALL THE HURT YOUVE DONE, BUT IT CERTAINLY MAKES ME HAPPY. 

EVERYONE PLS DRAW MORE MINERVA ART/WRITE MINERVA FICS. 

SHE IS BACK IN OUR LIVES AND WE NEED TO TREASURE HER. 

[eorzeasntm]

ENTM Tumblr Cycle 11 

Round 4: Crystal Makeover Close Up

Last week I asked our models to switch up from their usual style and try on some new clothes, throw on a stripe and a new candy hair color, and take a close up of their new look.  The judges were delighted with the changes in our models, but the most astonishing transformation this week went to: 

Ni’ko Shae

Who is this mercenary and what did he do with Ni’ko?!  Between the hair, the glam, and the shiny silver gun, you look like the protagonist on the cover of a manga.  Quite a change from the usual bouncy neon kitty we’re used to seeing around ENTM!

For all of the models, the judges this week want to express how well everyone did and that this was one of the hardest weeks for them to judge since everyone did so well.  It’s clear you are listening to their feedback.  Thank you, models! 

Our guest just this week was Kai Ulric, the host of ENTM Tumblr Cycles 4-8 and the manager of our Discord server. Thank you Kai!  Please look forward to her next special cycle of ENTM after Shadowbringers, in the fall.

For all the models, critiques from the judges are below the fold.

Judge Kai

Adam: You did a wonderful job with the lighting in this shot, and it definitely fits the theme well. I also love that you went very dramatic with your shot. That said, it was a lot to take in. Between the background and all the colors you incorporated, my eye wasn't quite sure where to look first. I think if you'd kept more of the dramatic coloring to your hair and makeup, then the focus would have centered in better. But, I did love the pop of color in your bangs to help put the eye to your face. Nice job.

Yomu: Like Adam above, you did a great job lighting yourself and fit the theme. But, I feel like you're the opposite of his image. I love the colors that you picked for your hair. It's a great pop of color that draws the eye straight to you, no arguments here! Unfortunately, that's the only part that really catches my eye. The rest is a bit plain and doesn't hold much interest for me. So, great job on drawing the eye right to your makeover. But, try to keep the rest of the image interesting without letting it overshadow your character! 

Peaceful: Great job with the lighting and I love the background that you've picked with the different textures and light sources. It's interesting without being overbearing. I also love the color theme that you came up with for your makeover. That said, looking over the image it does become a bit monotone in the sense that a lot of the colors in the background are echoed in your character and there is no one color that really pops out and grabs your attention. I do love this image, and I think you did a great job with it. I just feel it's a bit too coherent with the background.

Kota: I'm impressed with this image. You have a lot going on between you and the lighting and the background, but you still manage to pop and catch my eye in a very busy image. I like that you stuck with mostly light colors against a darker background, and the overall look is different for you. My only fuss would be that I'm back and forth on the face mask. Part of me feels that it matches the theme you have going very well. Another part of me is sad that it obscures so much of your face. That said, great job and very well done.

Bria:  I do love that you made this image all about you. How close you got up, and the lighting is great. You also used the AST card in a very interesting way as your prop, all well done. The color looks good on you, and it makes your eyes pop, but I think you could have pulled out just a bit. You have the camera in so close that you're cutting off your ear and part of the earring. I also feel the makeover could have been a bit more dramatic. In your original entry, you had black hair with a purplish tone of highlights. I would have liked to see you go with a tone you wouldn't normally use. But, it's a nice shot, and you made yourself 100% the star.

Ni'ko: Ni'ko, where did you go?! You went from a pretty in pink kitty to a rough and tumble camo cat looking for his next target! Lighting is great, and I love that you did a total 180 on how you normally look. Somehow you have managed to go total gun-ho commando without blending into the background, and I am all over this look. I mean, I really don't have much more to say... from the look on your face to the setting and makeover as a whole, I think you pretty much nailed it. Great job.

Halia: This is beautiful, and I love how much you just pop out of this image and are demanding my attention. It was smart to pick such a muted, dark background to go with this makeover. I have to compliment you on the lighting as well. When you're more of a pale tone, it can be a challenge to find the right lighting so you don't look overlit. The same goes for white hair, and you managed both perfectly. Just fyi, the look on your face makes me wonder if you're plotting something with your buddy behind you, lol. Wonderful job this week.

Yojimbo: This is a nice image with good lighting, and I give you kudos for going into a trial to get this weeks image. I know that must have been a challenge in and of itself. Love the makeover and how the bright yellow of the makeup draws my eye to your face. I also like how you tried to make your overall look complimentary to Garuda's. The only thing I'm confused about is what you were going for the background. You're very centered and then Garuda is slightly off. I'm not sure if this was purposeful, or if you were trying to make the image as centered as possible. But, nice job overall!

Judge Nadede

Adam Evershot:  First off, did you happen to go and raid Ni’ko’s wardrobe?????? Also, where are you beckoning us to follow you to? Might it be a trap? Everything is so calming that I wouldn’t sense any danger until it was too late. I didn’t even notice that your lights in your image are upside down at all, which would make one cautious if they actually noticed them XD (one of my favorite dungeons btw) I actually like the shot from you this week. The lighting I thought was nicely done and how peaceful the colors within your image are. These elements and the color of your hairstyle also bring out the color of your eyes even more and first time I’ve actually noticed that they are of two different colors! Nicely done and keep up the good work!

Luma Lee:  Penny for your thoughts Luma? I want to know what you’re thinking about or if you need help figuring out which way you need to go next. Granted the latter would not be wise from me because I’m constantly lost XD. I do have to say good job this week. It appears that you are taking in what is being said in critiques and it paid off for you this week. My favorite image from you so far! The lighting is nice here in your image. Maybe a small tweak in a rim light behind you so that your hair doesn’t try to blend in with what is in the background. The only thing that I see that really detracts from your image is the flower that appears under your raised arm. When you take your shots, try to think if there is anything within the image that might take away from a really good shot and adjust from there or be ready to defend your decision if you meant to have it there. Keep on improving and I can’t wait to see next week’s image!

Peaceful Ursa:  Peaceful, please, PLEASE tell me you’ve heard of a sitcom from the 90’s called Home Improvement?!?!?! If not, google it immediately and look for the character named Al. That is who I was reminded of when I saw your image this week! Your image brought a smile to my face, not only because of that, but because you also have been taking critiques in and it shows! I actually love the colors you have within your image. The look on your face, that look…. Just makes the image priceless. Only thing I can think of is maybe put just a smidge, and I mean just a smidge, of lighting on your face from the front. Overall, keep taking in those critiques and keep on improving!

Yomu Kazul:  Yomu, Warrior of the Steppe should be your name now. You look as if you’re ready to face whatever it is that you are looking at off screen and has me waiting to see what that something is. This is one of my favorite images of this week. The lighting is very nicely done and how it is done, along with the choice of blue for your hair, actually helps that you don’t blend into the image. Oh, and another model where I can see that you have different eye colors! I can’t find really anything that might need worked on or addressed here at all. Keep it up and looking forward to what you have in store for next week.

Kota Tumet:  Okies theme song from Mortal Kombat just finished playing in my head which started playing as soon as I saw your image Kota. This is my favorite so far from you! Your image is another of one who has been taking critiques in and improving upon what is given to you. I am glad to see that you are wearing colors that helps you pop out a bit more from the background and your image is one that best uses that filter you used that I’ve seen so far. It helps gives that feel that you are jumping off the screen of a fighting video game. The only suggestion I can think of is work on using backlighting just a lil bit to help you come out from the background just a bit further. It does not have to be much as a little bit can go a long way. Play around with it to see what you can come up with. Good job though this week!

Yojimbo Kasai:  Yojimbo, I think you took this week’s theme a bit too literal. While the colors you used are very nice, I feel that you could have done a lot more with the image, especially with Garuda in the background. The overall image feels so very stiff to me. Don’t stray away from using an emote in an image and I’m all for trying to push the limits of a theme, whether if it works in your favor or not. I think I see where you are going with Garuda in the image and this is where trying to make the composition interesting and exciting comes into play. Also don’t forget to use Kat and other past judges/models for help and take what feedback they give into serious consideration. I am happy though to see that you are also wearing colors that help make you pop out from the background a bit more and now let’s see if you can work on the lighting just a tad bit more to help enhance your image more. Oh another thing that might help you out is read what the judging are saying to others in their critiques. Sometimes you can take something away to help you out when reading someone else’s critique. Good luck and hoping to see you improve for next week’s shot.

Haila Wetyios:  Haila, this week you seemed to take a step back for me. It is not one of my favorites for this week. I do not get what is going on in your image with the beastman in the background. This would probably be where a small blurb would have helped. I do wish that you had went with a hair color that was not the total opposite of what you had auditioned with. It feels like you played it safe by going with a white for your hair color this week as well as using black for the band across your eyes. I also want to challenge you to stray from using side views and/or ¾ backshots in your images. Those seem to be an automatic go to for you and I don’t know whether that is a conscious decision of yours or not. I know what you are capable of and I want you to show it. Good luck with next week’s image. 

Ni’ko Shae:  !O@IU#LKNFlksl What did you do to the Ni’ko we all know?!?!?!?! THAT can not be Ni’ko! I saw your image this week and that was my first thought and I’m sure everyone else’s as well. Remind me not to make you mad at all because Commando Ni’ko here might very well show up  from out of the shadows and take me out. Very good job from you this week. VERY GOOD JOB. You seemed to have stepped up your game this week and the risk that you took really paid off. The lighting is very nice, composition nicely done, just damn. Now let’s see if you can keep up this momentum that you have going for you going into next week’s theme. Keep up the good work!

Bria Rirsa:  Please say that whatever my card reading is that it will be a good one. This is a very nice shot from you this week. The lighting is done very nicely and that you actually don’t blend into the background this week. That said, I wish that you had went with another hair color than one that is close to what you used in auditions. I also wished that you could have zoomed out just a tad bit more just so that we don’t have a patch of skin tone just below the card that throws off your image just some. It does look as if though you are taking critiques in and encourage you to keep doing so. Can’t wait to see what you come up with for next week and keep on improving.

Judge Terrini

Adam: You certainly have flip flop your coloring around to become someone completely different, which must be why you're in the Antitower, clever use of background in a glamor shot. Your colors remind me of a certain Au Ra in cycle 6. Nostalgia aside, your lighting is great and really helps you pop. The choice of dyes for your wardrobe work, but I'm stuck on the silver accents on the gloves not matching the gold accents on the coat. I like effect of your hair looking like a candle flame and you could be interpreted as a melting candlewax with your glamour and pose. 

Bria: The pink eyestripe was a nice choice to really make your eyes pop and the glamour is seriously femme fatale. The ice crystal wall is also a nice color contrast, but I am wondering if this is a Tarot reading out in the cold. Great composition either way. 

Haila: I like the high contrast with your background with your choice of coloring here. The white limbal around your red eyes with the black stripe makes for a haunting effect. The shoulder pad of this outfit is very prominent and I think it would have felt more satisfying if you had something similar with a red accent there as it would thematically tie yourself to the beastman behind you. He fills the empty space nicely but it would have been nice to have something more to reason why this particular makeover ties you with this beast tribe.

 Kota: Not only did you get a makeover, but it seems you turned cyborg! Did we take a wrong turn into Cyberpunk 2077? The aesthetic you have going here is so cool, but your lighting seems to have become so stark as to start washing out details and I'm not such a big fan of that. You put all this effort into this cyborg look and then the nice vibrant colors lose emphasis with the harsh light. Dropping the intensity a few degrees might be nice. 

Luma: I love your color co-ordination here, and how nicely it ties in with the setting you chose to fill out your background. Your pose is also so whimsical, but your face is so bland... maybe stacking on a /confused expression would add some more oomph onto this pose? 

Ni'ko: Such a drastic change from Pink Party Puss to Green Guerrilla Grimalkin! This works particularly well in having the lighting emphasize your face while the other elements fittingly fade into the background which brings out both the theme of the round as well as this lovely camouflage effect. Seeing the red goggles even tying in with that touch of red behind you is just so satisfying too! 

Peaceful: Subdued color schemes seem to be your personal preference and it really shines through with the composition of this image. Your glamour is immediately striking, and the setting makes you seem like a demon, so perhaps this change has come about because you were possessed? It's really neat. I would say your choice of coloring is probably the biggest risk here but the way you've got the two tone it's clearly "dyed" even though the actual color is natural and I think you managed to get the pay off on it as your picture just makes me want to smile with you. This is definitely my favorite picture of yours so far. 

Yojimbo: I see you were going for a color scheme to match with Garuda, and that did succeed, but you are just standing there and I don't really see much reason for trying to match Garuda with this outfit. If you had tried to frame it to make it look like Garuda's wings were your wings though... that would have been really dramatic, even if you are just standing normally. 

Yomu: You strike such a strong figure in this shot! Your glamour compliments the desert backdrop and at the same time stands out from it and your makeover blue hair really stands out. Are we in a new Breath of Fire game with a blue-haired dragon boy? The sky above you might be a little too empty but it does add more drama to your gaze by being there, so it's a small risk that ended up adding to this shot.

Judge Ona

Bria – black with pink tips to pink

Ok so I have to admit, I have not seen either your hair or outfit ever before. I panicked and messaged Katarh to make sure they weren’t a mod, because I did not want to miss-judge you if it broke the rules, THAT BEING SAID… THIS WAS THE LITERAL BEST CHOICE FOR THIS IMAGE. I applaud your composition, the color choice, the pose. It slays! I think you did a fantastic job this week.

Things I loved: the turn of your face and the expression. You’re smirking, and you’re not smiling, but your eyes are speaking volumes. The tips of your fingers on top of the card – which grounds the card in the image – and the fact that the card slightly covers your face, but not so much to lose the expression. I also love the choice of background for this image. It honestly reminds me of school portrait choices.

Nitpicky stuff: Your ear is cut off. Your lips are more purple than they are pink, and your hair is some shade between your mask and your lips. I don’t like them all to match, but I’d try to make at least two of them be the same, or maybe a black lip to tie it into your outfit. Also, try to reduce the amount of pixelization you have in an image. Your hair is wispy, and when you create too hard of edges or are zoomed very close in, they tend to pixelate more. Regardless of those things, please continue with images like this!

Haila – Black to White

Your image is framed nicely allowing the viewer to see you and the enemy in the background. I am just not sure of the enemy’s purpose. Your outfits don’t match, so you’re probably not fighting along with him; but you’re not engaged in combat, so It would make me assume that he’s friendly to you. I can’t tell the story you are telling here. Your outfit has some distortion in the pixels in the image, causing something to look blurred over your right shoulder as well.

I love the choice of hair, as you are normally a blacked haired raven. The white hair, the pale skin, and the red eyes paired with the black band make your eyes pop. It’s a bold choice, especially when there are so many “unnatural” colors to choose from! I really appreciate this simple, but effective approach!

Next time, I would recommend making sure the extra items in the image help to tell a story, or at least to sell the image more. The enemy just didn’t add much, and stole the focus from your beautiful self.

Ni’ko  - Pink to Green

I was told to critique Ni’ko, but I can’t find his image.

...

In all honesty, Ni’ko, this choice of color was top notch. It’s definitely not you, which makes it stand out tremendously. I will say it again, top notch. The two toned green in the hair, which matches the green in the band and on the hilt of your gun is perfect coordination. Also, the entire image hovers on shades of 4 colors – red, black, white, green (and of course your skin tone). You really picked a great location to ensure that the end color scheme could be achieved.

Nitpicky stuff: The outfit being black makes me think of a ninja, but you’re carrying a pistol. Likewise, I am not sure how the goggles play into the glam. It works, I just wonder if there was a different headpiece you could have chosen to tie everything together more seemingly.

Altogether, this is a strong image. Your expression is menacing, and your pose reads as someone waiting for the moment to strike. I also love how the details on the image are not too terribly pixelated as it can sometimes be with close up images. You did a wonderful job balancing the focus and field blur there!

Thank you for being green this week Ni’ko. It ain’t easy being green. I would know, I’m Greene everyday!

 Yomu – red to blue with aqua

So Yomu, have you been hanging out with Mad Max? I’m pretty sure you at least raided his wardrobe. Either way, I would recommend continuing doing just that. Also, blue suits you. You look like an Au Ra I don’t know that I would mess with, and I’m an Au Ra too.

The entire image is literally a poster from an apocalyptic wasteland movie. The outfit works incredibly well and I immediately felt as though you were a warrior in a deserted land. Your expression is strong and menacing and I genuinely love how you are looking off into the distance. I also absolutely love the slight shadow across your left cheek.

Nitpicky stuff: Watch for pixelization on these close-up images. It not too bad, but perhaps a little more depth of field or manual focus ticked back a bit would have softened some of the pixels. Also, try to reduce some of that sky to avoid empty space that detracts from the rest of the image.

Stay blue …. Seriously.

Judge Wulf (Kusuh)

Bria: I really get a rockstar kind of vibe from this picture! The outfit along with the hair, lips, and eye stripe all come together in a very cohesive way. My favorite part of this is the perfect timing of you holding the card so that it partially obscures your face. This is one of my favorite pics this week, and I can tell you put a lot of effort into the freeze-framing and angles. Honestly, I don’t have really any notes for your shot this week, so good job!

Luma: I absolutely love your use of filters, Luma! You have a good balance of light and shadow in this picture. I am super in love with the scenery and how serene everything looks; I want to go there right away! The one thing I’m having a bit of trouble with is your expression: with such a beautiful place, why do you look like you don’t want to be there? I don’t have the context of a character personality, so so without some sort of greater context I find myself a little confused by the grumpy expression. That’s just a small thing to keep in mind for future pictures, you’re doing great!

Ni’ko: This is quite the makeover, Ni’ko! I honestly didn’t know it was you, were it not for the caption with your name on it. Like I’m noticing with a lot of shots this round, yours gives off a very aggressive vibe, which is very cool! I feel like this could come out of Metal Gear Solid or something similar, given the military-green vibe and the forest background. I only have one nitpick this week, and that is that you seem very squished into the frame! I’d either include less of you or switch the camera to landscape mode, while keeping the zoom. Hope that helps, and I can’t wait to see your next shot!

Peaceful: First off, lemme just say that I see you’ve been taking notes since the last time I judged your picture, and I wanted to commend you for that! I like the devilish design and expression you’ve got on your face, and the darker background really makes me hear the “Mwa-ha-ha-ha” in this picture. My main note for you this week is admittedly a small one is that I’d try angling the camera a liiitle bit upward, with the camera a tad lower to be more imposing. That’s really small, though. Good job this week!

Yojimbo: Look out! Oh no, air pods! etc etc. I love how this picture is very much a “moments before disaster” kind of deal. I can’t personally tell if you’ve been tempered by Garuda or if she’s about to swipe you out of frame but either the way the sense of dread is something that I’m really enjoying. The note I have for this week is: you’re not doing much else. Even though a headshot has to be close up doesn’t mean you can’t do something with you arms, shoulders, hands, and head position. I feel like adding those elements would only make the picture stronger! Can’t wait to see what you have for next time!

[ty-umbra]

Survivor EoE drafts

Wow, that was quite a premiere. Kudos to the editors, they even made EoE look cool. Anyways, I'll be picking my winner drafts for the season again. There'll be 4 picks total: 2 returnees, 2 newbies. Is it a cop-out to draft 4 out of 18 players? Maybe, but due to the uneven emphasis given to returnees, it's hard to decipher this early if they're winning or just finishing their storyline. Fingers crossed that I maintain my streak.

Returnees:

Wentworth: Full disclosure , I'm a huge Wentworth fan. Bias aside, I honestly think she has a good chance this season. Her opening confessional was winner-material, and she got the all-important post IC confessional, even when she wasn't at risk. Most of the tribe seem to vibe with her, and she looks well-positioned. I'm gonna sound like an asshole here, but I honestly feel that her head injury is the best thing that could happen for her fame. Not the secret advantage, not staying in the majority, but suffering a forehead gash in the opening challenge. Hear me out: her injury helps dispel her "legend" status, lowering her threat level and giving her a way to slide through the bigger personalities. Lest we forget, the exact thing happened 5 years ago in BvW: Tyson dislocated his shoulder in an early challenge, played up his injury, and managed to disappear from everyone’s radar until he won it all at the end. It’s still early, but the Wentworth stan in me wants to believe.

David: Surprised? So am I. For a supposed early out, David had an excellent premiere. On paper, he should have been the first target: returnee, weak at tribal challenges and a huge merge threat. However, he seems to have ingratiated himself well into the tribe, mixing with both the cool kids and the outsiders. He's taking a more proactive role this time, and time will tell if he can take it all the way.

Why not Joe or Aubry? Joe's opening confessional was promising, where he talked about shedding the Joey Amazing label and reducing his target. Such self-awareness and willingness to learn and change normally bodes well for returnee seasons. However, the statement was immediately undercut by him teaching his tribe to build a shelter, make fire, prop the logs at just the right angle... This inconsistency casts doubt on his success in the game. He is sure to go far, but I don't think he will win. And Aubry? Her only confessional were about Joey Amazing and hiding in the grass like a snake. On a Captains season, returnees are guaranteed to stand out, so I'm not too high on her chances.

Newbies

Hmm I don't really have a good feel of any of the newbies. Some of them stood out,but not convincingly enough. Does this herald a returnee win, or is this lack of exposure a norm of returnee seasons? I'm inclined towards the latter, so Imma do my best to break the newbies down. So many were invisible or UTR, while the remaining were questionable. Aurora only waxed lyricals of Joe, Wendy and Reem were set up as the boot targets, Eric the fireman came across shifty, Gavin seems to be overplaying too, Julia saved them in the challenge but was invisible otherwise, Ron was idol fixated, Lauren was Wentworth-centric. Only Wendy, Julie, Victoria and Rick. Rick and Wendy seem to be set-up as the fan favourites. Hence, my two picks are:

Julie: she talked about coming from the big city, and finding it difficult to adapt. I'd place my bets on her being an early out or getting the journeyman edit. I just don't see her winning, but I really hope she surprises me.

Victoria: she is my best bet of the newbies. Her opening confessional was the stuff of legends: childhood dream of playing survivor, triple threat, wanting it the most. And it looks like she has an ally in Gavin too. Given his insistence of getting the returnees out first, it's likely he'll draw a target on his back sooner or later. Having him as a shield could help Victoria make it to the mid-merge before blowing up ala Nat Anderson. Therefore, I think she has the best chances among the newbies.

Edit: After a day of reflection, I have to draft Eric instead. His premiere hit all the same notes as Victoria’s. Personal content? Check. Triple threat? Check. Over aggressive partner? Gavin says hi. Eric has the edge over Victoria as he had a confessional to explain his game plan, which is to use Joe as a shield and cut Aubry early. It wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, but in a premiere dominated by returnees, any content is good content. Eric, having the chance to speak about his game and personal life without coming across gamebot-ty or facetious, bodes well for his longevity in the game. Sure, my original criticism of playing too fast remains, but it could be interpreted in a new light: he wants to play hard, and hence allies himself with the more overtly strategic player in Gavin. Come merge, people will go after the most obvious threats. By allying with Joe and Gavin, Eric has managed to set up his defenses with a meat shield and a strategic(brain? cerebral?) shield respectively. Joey Amazing is far and away the biggest physical threat out there. Gavin may not necessarily be the more strategic of the pair, but is likely to be perceived as such compared to Eric himself. And in a game like Survivor, where perception is reality, Eric has managed to surround himself with bigger targets. I can definitely see him playing hard without being seen as the “head of the snake”. When the numbers begin to dwindle, the remaining players will rush to get rid of the conspicuous threats and when the dust clears, he could sweep the jury votes for playing on the dominant side. For all these reasons, I’m betting on him to take home the title.

(Updated) My final draft is:

1. Victoria Eric

2. Wentworth

3. David

(gap)

4. Julie

I got it right with Nick last season, so I hope lightning strikes twice again. Although with my luck, I'm probably 100% wrong.

[head-and-heart]

The 100 Highlights - “Eden” (5x01)

Hey there fam! I’m starting this series in honour of the new season of The 100 that is now airing. Basically, it will function similar to review of the episode, except I will be pointing out the highlights of the episode - the things that I liked (not what I was critical of).

In light of 5x01 airing, it has become increasingly clear to me that - no matter how good an episode is - it is too easy for this fandom to get caught up on the negative aspects of it. (And yes, that includes myself sometimes.)

Being critical is good - it is a part of consuming fiction - but it is also important to recognize the positive aspects of literature as well. If not for anyone else, than for your own sanity. So that sparked the purpose of this series: for me to take a step back and think about what I enjoyed about the episode, and then share it to spread a little positivity in fandom. 

I intend to do this for every episode of Season 5, and possibly for later seasons as well (assuming we get renewed) depending on how it goes. 

So, for my first post, I will be talking about “Eden”. 

In no particular order:

The camera following the Ark and speeding down to Earth as the very first shot of the season was pretty cool and really captured the atmosphere of the episode as well as what the heart of the show seems to be: the connection among people even when they are apart, and the ways in which they fight to get back to each other.

Looking back, the cinematography of this episode was honestly stunning. The dull and bleached colour pallet of the scorched Earth versus the vibrancy of Eden is a shocking contrast and there were so many beautiful shots throughout the episode.

Loved the little callbacks to past places and characters - like the stones where they signalled to Luna, Jasper’s goggles, the stick from L.exa’s throne, Maya’s iPod, the rover, etc - it shows how all these people are still very present in Clarke’s mind (and how they are indirectly keeping her alive, keeping her centered).

The attention to detail was really strong in this episode (see above point) with all the props and the music choices (eg. playing the CL theme when Clarke finds L.exa’s throne). Due to this it ensured that, in spite of the time jump, the heart and history of The 100 remained present.

Seriously, there were sooo many cool shots. The shot of Clarke driving as the dust/lightning storm approaches was super neat. I loved how they depicted what life on Earth looks like after Praimfaya, the devastation of the planet. And also the shot of her staring into the flames as she burns the bodies of the villagers was stunning.

Having the entirety of the first 27 minutes following Clarke (and narrated almost solely by her) really nailed home the impact of her isolation and was, not to mention, a very bold storytelling decision

Music was used expertly in this episode. Tree Adams did such a great job at pinpointing when the music was needed, and when the episode was better served by using it liberally (and, on occasion, not at all). In the shot of Clarke sorting through Arkadia, the music is very light, the most prominent sound the whistling of the wind, as if to accentuate the fact that the world has gone completely silent following Praimfaya. It is also used as an homage to old characters who have passed, such as Maya, or L.exa, which I appreciated.

The scene where Clarke finds Jasper’s things was absolutely beautiful, and Eliza killed the scene with her acting. When I watched 4x13 last year I was disappointed to find that the scene where Clarke found Jasper’s suicide note was cut from the finale (it was in the leaked scripts) because I thought it meant Jasper’s memory would be forgotten. In retrospect, I’m happy that they did it this way instead, when Clarke is completely and utterly alone, and she can finally allow the emotions to hit her properly. There were so many amazing callbacks to characters from previous seasons who are no longer around anymore.

“Anyway ... in case this is the last time I get to do this, I just wanna say .. please don’t feel bad about leaving me here. You did what you had to do. I’m proud of you.” We’ve all had over a month to mentally and emotionally prepare ourselves for this line, since the trailer came out, but it remains just as beautiful as the first time.

There’s just something so badass about Clarke driving through an empty post-apocalyptic wasteland, listening to EDM on one of the last remaining pieces of tech on planet Earth. Clarke finding Maya’s iPod was the gift I didn’t know I needed.

Kudos to the makeup department for depicting their female lead realistically after almost dying of dehydration and radiation burns in the desert - sometimes this is not easy to find on a CW show.

Clarke’s frequent radio calls/narration offers up a fresh and interesting way of telling the story in this episode, revealing how Clarke has grown and reflected over the years.

There were soooo many parallels to previous episodes (eg. Clarke rising out of the water like Octavia in 1x01, the irradiated dining room in the village visually paralleling Mount Weather in 2x16, Clarke confronting her map like she did in the very first episode of the series, the shot of her face through the flames as she burns the bodies of the villagers is very reminiscent of 3x12, and everything to do with Madi and Clarke parallels the Blakes. And, of course, Charmaine’s “it means we’re not alone” is an obvious callback to Clarke’s words in the Pilot.)

No emotional beats are missed in 5x01. Clarke finding the child on the step outside the church is just one example of a gutwrenching moment in this episode that emotionally impacts us just in the way that all good media should.

“I’ve lost track of how many bodies we’ve burned since reaching the ground. God, this would be so much easier if I knew you were alive, if I knew I was going to see you again.” My Bellarke heart is singing!

Clarke gushing about berries. Enough said.

The filming of Clarke’s encounter of Madi pays homage to the horror genre, with her appearing suddenly in between the trees, or in the window frame. While not scary, it holds the same mood as 3x12 and 4x07 did - two episodes most strongly associated with typical horror films. I really enjoyed the mystery and intrigue associated with the way they approached Clarke meeting Madi.

By displaying Madi as fearful of flamekeepers, it demonstrates an alternative perspective to the Grounder faith that we haven’t gotten to see before: resistance. It also shines a light on the brutality of the conclave system in a way that is rarely addressed in the show (but perhaps should be).

Clarke performing surgery on herself? SO ! BAD ! ASS !

Clarke’s drawing of Madi was beautiful. And the little girl’s smile after seeing it? Precious.

Clarke spearing a fish? I’m turned on.

They did the absolute MOST gorgeous transition this show has ever done in this episode. And you all know which one I’m talking about. When Clarke is looking up at the stars and says, “What about them? Do you think they’ll come down too?” AND THEN IT SMOOTHLY SHIFTS TO THE ARK, BELLAMY STARING OUT THE WINDOW LOOKING DOWN AT HER AS SHE LOOKS UP AT HIM - BOTH UNKNOWINGLY. And the MUSIC. The music, oh god. Everything about it was stunning. The camerawork, the music, the thematic implications of it all. I just can’t be coherent about how amazing that transition was. Lemme go watch it another five times before I continue.

Raven beating Echo. Raven laughing. Raven. 

The dynamic among the space squad is really intriguing, and Jason Rothenberg communicated so much with so little. With just a few short scenes and lines of dialogue we can perfectly understand everyone’s role on the Ark, the tension between Bellamy and Raven, the uncertainty of Echo paired with the internal struggle of Monty, the way Emori has so seamlessly fitted herself into the group, and how Murphy has just as easily removed himself from it. It’s fascinating to me to watch how these characters interact with each other; how things have remained constant, and how they have shifted.

The fact that “Murphy” is considered one of their chores on the Ark will never not be funny (and equally heartbreaking???).

“Seconds?” “Yeah right, I choose Murphy.” I will never be over Monty’s poor, cute, little hopeful face here. It was adorable.

The Murphy and Bellamy fight scene was a blessing in every single way. First of all, Bellamy being cheeky is my lifeblood. Second of all, Murphy’s story this season is super intriguing to me. And third of all, Bellamy holding Murphy in a headlock as he forces him to admit he’s not worthless is a scene I never would have imagined I would need this much.

“You know what I think your problem is? You like being the hero; only up here, there are no heroes.” I LOVE this line because of how it delves into Murphy’s psyche and also displays him in a different way than Murphy typically is. It shows that, deep down, he really does care about more than himself. When he has so much time to wallow in his own self-loathing, he feels he needs to live up to his own expectations, and he acts out. If he can’t be a hero, then he’ll be what he knows he can be. A dick.

Also ... “there are no heroes” = “there are no good guys”. I love my otp

Bellamy is the biggest dad and I am LIVING for it.

“I’ll make sure it’s my only choice.” Cue Kate’s Bellarkean death.

“Non-violent offenders with me?” “Yeah, both of them.” Okay, I’m sorry but I’ll never stop laughing about this.

“Relax, McCreary. You’re still my favourite mass-murderer.” I loved this little exchange because it hints at the dynamic between all of the Eligius crew. Again, Jason does so much with so little words. It clearly indicates just how different these prisoners are from The 100 - how dangerous. Also ... is Zeke a mass murderer, then?

Monty and Harper’s scene together was enlightening. I’m so excited for Monty’s journey this season, and it makes complete sense for him to go in this direction. What’s intriguing is that him and Harper have almost shifted places from where they were in Season 4, where Harper wanted to give up and Monty was insistent on the need to keep fighting. He brings up a good point now: “No one should have to be that strong.” Because isn’t that the whole truth? I also really appreciated the callback to Monty’s mom, as well as Jasper, as there was a serious concern as to whether those deaths would just be swept under the rug because of the time jump. I’m happy to see that my concerns were for nothing.

Emori and Raven’s friendship is EVERYTHING. 

Nothing is brighter than Raven Reyes’ smile and that’s a fact.

Lindsey and Richard continue to have stunning chemistry and they both feed off each other so well, no matter how you see their relationship.

Ending the episode with the single shot of the fight ring in the bunker and Octavia (and her “royal guards”, so to speak) observing blankly from above was absolutely chilling. And the best possible way to lead into the next episode. 

Hope you enjoyed reading my highlights! Feel free to share some of your own. I’ll be back sometime next week following “Red Queen”.

[naruto-oc-critiques]

Haruno Kozue

Hello! I’m Mod ATB, and I’ll be reviewing your OC this time around! So, let’s get started!

Pretense: Diverges from canon somewhere after Shippuden Name: Miyara Kozue Clan: Haruno Gender: Male Age: 10-19 Time set in: Begins 2 years before Boruto Birthplace: Narakami (IDK if there’s a canon name for the capital of Hi no Kuni) Lives in: Haruno residence

(ATB: All of this looks fine, but I would add in the meaning of Kozue’s name. And his birthday as well. Adding in astrological signs or blood type is up to you but would add more to his character, too.)

Appearance As a child, Kozue was small for his age. He had brown eyes and pale pink hair, the mark of a Haruno clan member. He has a fair amount of scars on his body, gained from his time as a shinōbi, but the 3½ inch scar on his stomach came from his time before the Academy. As a teen, Kozue is still rather short (standing at 5'3). He wears his hair short, either slicked back or held back with a hairband.

(ATB: While some things are missing, such as skin tone and weight, I can get a general image of what he looks like. Everything looks good to me, but I would add those two, just to get a clearer image of Kozue. And maybe a sentence describing what kinds of clothes he wears. You don’t have to go into specifics, but maybe try adding if he likes casual clothes, what kinds of colors he wears often, etc.)

Family • Miyara Kikyo: Kozue’s mother; ran away from home at the age of fifteen to be with her yakuza boyfriend (who grew up to be Kozue’s father). Kikyo had Kozue when she was in her late forties. He remembers her as a fiery, intelligent and persevering woman who loved to dance. (ATB: You could add in a brief reason explaining the reason why she ran away. You don’t have to, but I think it would be good to know.)   

• Miyara Chiriko: Kozue’s father; a yakuza boss. He inherited the position from his father; despite his occcupation, Chiriko was known as a gentle and kind-hearted man whose passion was helping people. (ATB: I think it quite interesting that his father, the leader of a yakuza group, was known as “gentle and kind-hearted.” And not in a bad way. I think adding in a little more between Kozue and his father’s relationship would be great, because we know how Kozue felt about his mother but not about his father.)   

• Miyara Atsumu: Chiriko’s adoptive son / brother. (Atsumu was found as a child during a raid. Chiriko adopted him as his “little brother” to protect him. He is closer in age to Kozue than Chiriko). Atsumu was a michievous and friendly type whom Kozue viewed as a brother.

• Haruno Kizashi is Kikyo’s estranged older brother. He is also Kozue’s grand uncle. (ATB: One tiny thing: if Kizashi is Kikyo’s older brother, that would make him Kozue’s uncle. Not his grand uncle. A grand uncle would be the brother of his grandparents.)

• Uchiha Sakura is Kozue’s first cousin once removed. (ATB: Sakura would be his first cousin.)   

• Uchiha Sarada his first cousin twice removed. (ATB: And Sarada would be his first cousin once removed.)

Occupation: Shinobi (Active duty) Rank: Starts as a genin, becomes a chūnin around fifteen, and tokubetsu jōnin around nineteen (ATB: This looks fine and reasonable.)

Team: Team Five • Tsuzumi Ushio: She was on the team that brought Kozue and his family to Konoha. As his sensei, she is a tough and unrelenting teacher, determined to make tough shinōbi out of her students.   

• Yakushi Ken: Son of Yakushi Kabuto. He is protective of his dad and will defend his family honour against anyone who dares try to slander it. He tries his hardest to look smart, but in reality his true interests lie in body building, not medical jutsu. He is the team’s taijutsu specialist.

• Imada Junko: Junko is a chipper person, the sort who can cheerfully sing and dance at five in the morning in freezing weather. She is Team Five’s ninjutsu specialist.

(ATB: For Ken and Junko, I would add in maybe a sentence or two describing how they and Kozue feel about each other.)

Relationships • Haruno Kizashi & Mebuki: Kozue stayed with them for his first two years in Konoha. He moved out shortly after becoming a genin, but he still drops by their place for dinner every now and then if he can.  (ATB: This is fine but, again, maybe add a sentence detailing how Kizashi and Mebuki first felt about Kozue. I can’t help but wonder how they - especially Kizashi - felt about his estranged older sister suddenly contacting him and then the circumstances under first meeting Kozue.) 

• Uchiha Sakura: She was one who saved his life the day he came to Konoha. She visited him regularly whilst he was in the hospital, and they bonded. She will sometimes drop groceries off at his place, or scold him playfully for not taking care of himself.

• Uchiha Sarada: Kozue and Sarada acknowledge one another as kin and sometimes chat a bit, but they’re not really close.

• Uzumaki Naruto: The Hokage was one of the first people Kozue saw when he woke up. They are on friendly terms, but they’re not close.

• Uzumaki Hinata: She was another person who visited Kozue when he was in the hospital, though her visits were not as regular as Sakura’s. As the wife of the Hokage, it was important for the public to see her caring for injured children, especially if said injured children happen to be related to Haruno Sakura. (As herself, Hinata just happened to be genuinely compassionate). Kozue never forgot her kindness. (ATB: Very interesting point about her role as Hokage’s wife, and I do think that is a very good  way to have Hinata and Kozue interact.) 

• Uzumaki Boruto: They’re friends, but only after Boruto was convinced that Kozue does not, in fact, have a crush on his mom. (ATB: Haha, that’s really cute!)

• Uzumaki Himawari: She has a crush on Kozue, who thinks Himawari is really pretty, but at the moment he isn’t really looking for romance. 

• Uchiha Sasuke: He is the entity that comes with Naruto, Hinata and Sakura. Kozue has always been a bit unnerved by his cousin’s one-armed spouse, but has never said anything about it. (ATB: Really like this and think it’s a nice touch. Sasuke would come off as a bit unnerving to some people, and I think that says a lot about him that even a yakuza heir would be wary.)

• Tsuzumi Ushio: Kozue and his sensei have a good relationship; outside of training, she doesn’t treat him like a child or handle him with pity; she treats him like an adult, and in turn Kozue feels as if he can trust her with things he wouldn’t even tell Sakura. 

• Azuma Nobu & Imada Junko: Nobu and Junko often invite Kozue to hang out after training, usually to catch a film or eat out.

(ATB: His relationships have variety, which is great. He has his family, he has friends and he has his acquaintances - he’s not close with everyone but he also isn’t completely detached from them. The only thing I would suggest is maybe add in who Azuma Nobu is, because I didn’t see him mentioned in the team section and you didn’t specify who he was. Also, on some of the characters, add in how Kozue feels about them (or how they feel about him). But, other than those couple things, his relationships look good.)

Personality For the survivor of a traumatic tragedy, Kozue is surprisingly well-adjusted. He has friends and (healthy) hobbies outside of shinōbi work, and he isn’t particularly obsessed with revenge. He’s had therapy and no longer shuts down when put in enclosed spaces, though he’ll never be 100% comfortable in them. Kozue is a good peacemaker, and he has the ability to make people comfortable and open up. Being raised as a yakuza heir has given Kozue a certain confidence. He gives off the impression that he couldn’t care less what people think of him, and this draws people to his side. If there’s anything he’s inherited from his mother, it’s her charisma.

Around his friends, where there’s no one to impress and no part to play, Kozue is comfortable enough to just sit back and be a listener. He’ll laugh and roll his eyes and just be a teenager. It’s the only time he really, truly relaxes. 

As a shinōbi, Kozue is a careful planner. He’s calculative, and more practical than sentimental; he’s the type who would readily end one life to save ten others. He sometimes has difficulty relating to people’s emotions.

(ATB: Really gotta give kudos to you have adding in him having therapy. It’s something that I personally don’t see very often. And I give props for the therapy not completely “curing” him, but instead making his life more comfortable and manageable. I like that his being raised as a yakuza heir gave him a confidence and charisma - I could totally see that being truthful. And, I think it’s great that you add he only really relaxes around his friends; it communicates that he’s really been affected by his previous status (always have to put up a certain front or “be” a certain kind of person) and, that despite everything, he’s still just a teenager.

I also appreciate that he has trouble with relating to others’ emotions, which is once again good at tying in his background. I will suggest thinking about if his inability to relating to others’ emotions affected some relationships he has - or could have had.)

History Kozue was born the heir to a major yakuza syndicate located in Narakami, the capital of Hi no Kuni. He lived a relatively normal childhood, constantly accompanied by his adoptive older brother, Atsumu.

When Kozue was ten, word spread that the government was planning to crack down on the yakuza. Gangs began to merge; at the end, there were only two gangs were left standing: the Hisuikumo-gumi, to which Kozue and his family belonged, and the Aoishishi-kai.

The Aoshishi-kai were a ruthless group that had no qualms against extortion, loan sharking, and drug trafficking. The Hisuikumo-gumi had been, under Kozue’s grandfather, just as bad, if not worse, but since Chiriko’s rise to power they contented themselves with mostly gambling and smuggling. The two were rival clans, but for sixty years they’d had a truce, each clan keeping to their own territory.

Everything changed when the Aoshishi-kai were busted for drug deal. They blamed the Hisuikumo-gumi for snitching; a gang war ensued. The Aoshishi-kai vastly outnumbered the Hisuikumo-gumi; Chiriko knew it was only a matter of time before things would go south.

Thus, one night a sleepy Kozue found himself shaken awake and bundled into a carriage with his mother, a couple servants, and Atsumu. Chiriko stayed behind to help his men; the plan was for the three of them to flee to Konoha and hide with Kikyo’s older brother, Haruno Kizashi, and perhaps hire Konoha shinōbi to help boost their odds of winning.

That never happened. Kizashi received a letter in advance from Kikyo; a vague letter that simply stated she wished to make amends, and that she and her sons would arrive in three days. She never showed up; a week later, returning team happened upon a locked and abandoned carriage a few miles from Konoha, the piled up bodies Kikyo, Kozue, the driver, and the two servant girls inside; there was copious amounts of blood everywhere, and a body matching Atsumu’s description was found a few feet away. Kikyo and the two servant girls were both dead, and Kozue, trapped under their bodies and sporting a stab wound to the chest, was delirious and half dead at the time of discovery. He would have died, had it not been for Sakura.

Kozue spent three weeks in the hospital. When he woke up, he was informed that his father and his men had all been killed by the Aoshishi-kai. He was later given over to the care of his grandparents. Two years later, he joined the genin corps.

(ATB: Really interesting background, especially with introducing yakuza. I also think you chose an interesting way to incorporate a canon character as a relative, and I think it’s cool you didn’t make him and Sakura siblings. But, I would suggest adding in how Kozue felt during his life in Konoha.

Also, adding in the reason why he joined genin corps and how his life with his grandparents in Konoha was would be good for more characterization. You didn’t add them in his relationship section, so I wonder if they were on bad terms with each other. I would also add a little more to his childhood. 

While I think it’s charming he had a relatively normal childhood despite being a yakuza heir, I think actually detailing how he was raised would tie into nicely with his personality. You already have his background affecting personality, so why not go the extra yard to really put the pieces together.)

Abilities Kozue has no Kekkei Genkai. His taijutsu and ninjutsu is about average; he’s best at genjutsu, but his real speciality is his tactical thinking.

(ATB: His abilities actually look pretty good but the information is a bit lacking. Maybe add in some genjutsu techniques, how well he does with shurikenjutsu or talk about his speed or stamina, etc. to flesh things out. You could even talk about what kind of tactics he favors in battle.)

Other: —

ATB’s Final Thoughts:  Overall, I think Kozue is an interesting character. I especially have a soft spot for gangs and yakuza politics in the Naruto series, so good on that because it’s a perspective I hardly see. The only thing I would personally suggest is expand on some of his profile. Flesh out his childhood, hobbies, relationships, abilities and maybe even add some trivia. He’s good as he is now but he could be even MORE with a little bit more information on these various points. But that mainly depends on you as you may not even be finished creating him - or you just may not want to, which is also fine.

So, yeah, I really like Kozue and I thank you for your patience and for sending in your OC!

[theteablogger]

Andy’s Instagram

I said in my "I'm back" post that Andy is still engaged in some of his old behavior patterns on his Instagram. He said last fall on Facebook that he has "no real interest in maintaining the big public persona fandom thing," but that was and is obviously not the case. Here is a run-down, with screenshots in case he deletes things. Other people's faces and usernames will be censored and comments will only be included if they're relevant in some way.

Overidentification with a fictional character

This is the most obvious element of Andy's Instagram behavior: the majority of his photos concern or are linked to Bucky and the MCU in some way. Until very recently, if he wasn't actually in costume for the photo, his comment would talk about how much his hair looks like Bucky's, he'd refer to himself as Bucky, or Bucky would appear in the tags. To some extent, this is normal for cosplayers on Instagram and other social media platforms; however, given Andy's history, it seems like a terrible idea for him to engage in this sort of behavior.

Remember, this is the guy who verbally, emotionally, psychologically, sexually, and otherwise abused a number of people for years and tried to excuse his actions by claiming that his mental illness/es had caused him to believe, among other things, that he was the embodiment of various fictional characters and some real people, and/or was in contact with them as they existed in parallel universes, and that everything he did was necessary to save the world. Only four years ago, he said that he'd been writing something from Neville Longbottom's point of view and suddenly started to see and hear this fictional character in the room with him. Within the last three years, he was explicitly tying in Destiel with his relationship with Brittany in SPN meta posts. Just last year, he was claiming to have very specific sense-memories of New York in the 1920s and '30s, but lampshaded it by saying that he probably picked up some information during "the gap-filled years", which he felt made him even more like Bucky. This was around the same time that he started talking about how his hair had mysteriously changed color all on its own to look exactly like Bucky's, much as it changed when he "became" Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom.

As I and others have said time and again, if Andy honestly believes that he did horrible things to people due to mental illness making him unable to differentiate fantasy from reality, why would he ever engage in behavior that risks triggering an event like that again?

Here are just a few examples:

#buckyhair and #buckywiththegoodhair come up a lot.

Andy’s hair just naturally looks like Bucky’s. Yup.

Of course a fictional character's training has any bearing at all on Andy's real-life abilities.

This post has nothing whatsoever to do with Bucky, but note the hashtag.

I find it very hard to believe that Andy's really been planning this tattoo for years and that it has nothing to do with Bucky. I guess we’re supposed to believe that it’s a huge coincidence that the current design and his future plans for it coincide so well with the placement of Bucky’s metal arm. Without explicitly saying so, he offers this as evidence of how he’s “so connected to Bucky”.

Yes, Andy himself is a superhero.

Again, there is no actual Bucky in this post.

Here, Andy over-dramatizes his actions while being hit by a car to make it seem as if he responded in much the same way that a highly trained supersoldier would. Someone replies, "You are literally Bucky oh my god are you okay??"

Andy also says on his Instagram that his Bucky cosplay has motivated him, more than anything has before, to work out and to get in better shape. While this is a good goal to have, it's worth noting that talk of/promises to change lives for and by means of fandom (and characters that Andy channeled or embodied) was a major component of the BagEnders and DAYD cults. In the latter case, getting into better physical shape was part of it, with “Dumbledore’s Boot Camp” and the cross-country hikes.

Tying fandom in to real-life politics and world affairs

This was also posted on tumblr. The text is a paraphrased quotation from The Avengers, from the scene in which Captain America saves the life of an elderly German man (by implication a survivor of the Nazi regime) who is the only one brave enough to stand up to Loki.

Andy is hardly the first person to conflate being a slash fan with political or social activism, but considering his history, this gets an extra hard eyeroll from me. People's lives are at stake due to LGBTQIA persecution in Russia, so naturally it's an extremely emotionally charged issue, and Andy is right there to take advantage of that. He also talks about learning Russian, supposedly for career reasons, although people on tf-talk have pointed out that the Russian film system is closed to outsiders, the field is rather crowded in Eastern Europe, and oddly enough, people in countries that are not Russia tend to speak primarily non-Russian languages. (A Russian class did not appear on Andy's Spring 2017 transcript, so he only took it for one semester, if at all.)

I also notice that he says he's "about to learn a lot about Russian time zones", as if he's never had a Russian friend before. One of the women that he emotionally manipulated via tumblr and Skype is Russian and lives in Russia.

This is not the only post of Andy as Bucky wearing a POW/MIA shirt as part of his cosplay and using hashtags like #honorourvets and #powmia. If he really wanted to honor military personnel, a minority group, etc., he wouldn't use them as props to draw more attention to himself.

Another post about cosplay and slash fandom as a form of activism. What a shame that his cosplay partner puts his real-life relationship ahead of "being a tree by the river of truth", and that his fiancée puts her discomfort with "anybody else gettin' their hands on her man" (as Andy says in the video) ahead of their great chemistry. [/sarcasm]

Andy has repeatedly made passive-aggressive comments about this man's being unwilling to do Stucky photos because of his and his fiancée's boundaries. I didn't think much of it until I noticed that a comment giving Andy kudos for showing respect had been met with pontification about how he would really love to be able to do Stucky photos, but "real life romances come first" and he wouldn't want to do a Stucky shoot with a "stunty, stilted, or no-homo vibe".

I also think the way he refers to his "wonderfully devoted fan following" in Russia speaks volumes about how he thinks of them. Everyone is just a means to an end, and usually that end is narcissistic supply.

Here's some post-election political Bucky art. Run through Google Translate, the caption reads (bolding mine):

I'm sorry that my Russian is bad, small and new. I'm grieving for America tonight. I do not believe in religion. I believe in God. I do not think I found this place by accident. Here I learned that a place can have bad leaders, bad laws and good, strong, kind people. It's Russia. Now it will be America too. I hope we can change and have good leaders and good laws.

He continues to portray himself as wise, compassionate, and haunted by the fact that the rest of the world is not equally so. This also continues his old pattern of imparting mystical significance to his participation in a fandom.

Using superhero imagery "to highlight the problems faced by real world vets" on Veterans Day seemed disrespectful to Andy…so instead, he posted a picture of Cap and an apology to veterans for Trump's having been elected. Because that's completely different.

International Women’s Day. See previous point about his use of people and issues as attention-getting devices.

Courting younger, politically-minded people with condescension and a hefty dose of misinformation

Here are just a couple of Andy's posts about the 2016 presidential election:

I can't even tell you how many times Andy made tumblr posts inviting random strangers to his (his parents') house to hang out and have fun; this is the same old story from another angle. Anything to lure new people into his influence. (This video is incredibly condescending, by the way.)

This (part 2) (part 3) is the Instagram version of this misleading tumblr post. I'm going to go ahead and admit that this and several other tf-talk comments about his BS surrounding the election were from me because I was incredibly angry about Andy's once again taking advantage of people's completely justified fears about a volatile situation.

See also this brief but masterful takedown of his "shh everything will be fine" tumblr post after the election.

Here's a completely unironic post (part 2) (part 3) about how back in the day, only intelligent, right-thinking people had the ability to share their opinions with large numbers and wide ranges of people—but now any jackass pleb can get on the internet and spin anything in any way that they want, to reach any nefarious end. "Credentialed experts, not Instagram gurus. Data, not anecdotes." There he is again, hiding in plain sight.

Talking about how poor he is

It mainly takes the form of the usual posts about doing or making XYZ impressive thing on a shoestring budget because Andy Is Wise and Resourceful, but there's also this (part 2).

Stupid art school! Not only do they expect Andy to take art classes instead of just accepting that he is The Most Talented; they also expect him to purchase supplies! Thus he can no longer attend VA ComicCon…unless his friend knows "a magic money tree or a way to get free tickets." One or the other must have materialized, because he made it to the con anyway. Obviously Andy's friends are free to pay for things for him if they want to, but remember that he has a history of lying or "bending the truth" to get money out of people.

Making and endorsing extremely poor decisions

Yes, he says that he only had one Oxy with his giant tumblr (sic) of wine. That doesn't matter. It's unwise to mix any amount of opiates with alcohol, and equally unwise to discuss it publicly, especially given his tendency to encourage much younger people to regard him as some sort of font of wisdom and life advice.

This is how Andy achieves the one-armed Bucky look. Yes, a lot of people can pop their shoulders in and out of joint at will, but it's a bad idea, especially given the amount of time that he spends with it in this condition.

I spoke with the same doctor whom I consulted about the horrific binding injury that Andy claimed to have sustained. They said that repeatedly dislocating one's shoulder is very likely to cause instability of the joint, which can be debilitating (and quite dangerous, I would think, if his shoulder went out while lifting weights or something). Additionally, every time his shoulder is popped out and reset, Andy risks incurring torn muscles and stretched or torn ligaments/tendons, a trapped nerve, and vessel damage. Some of these effects become increasingly likely the longer it's out of joint. Andy, if you happen to read this, please stop doing this stupid thing. I may not like you, but I don't want you to injure yourself, for fuck's sake. And please stop instructing other cosplayers in how to accomplish dangerous things for the sake of a costume.

I have no idea whether Andy was checked out by medical personnel after he was hit by the car. I hope so. It's the #noexcuses tag that really gets to me. Attention, everyone: never, ever assume that you are 100% okay to engage in strenuous physical activity after an incident like being hit by a fucking car. It doesn't matter how slowly it was moving at the time. Without a thorough physical examination, you cannot be sure that you haven't sustained a non-apparent injury that will cause trouble later. Something like this is absolutely a valid reason not to go to the gym the next day, as intense cardio or weight training may exacerbate damage of which you are not yet aware. This post of his is incredibly irresponsible.

Promoting DAYD

Last October, in a post that featured photos of the GoT feast, Andy referred to DAYD as "a fairly popular HP companion novel", as if it were the HP equivalent to the Star Trek novels rather than a fanwork.

Andy continues to urge new people to check out the fan novel that he used as the basis for the second cult of personality in which he manipulated and took advantage of a great many people. (Also, DAYD got a neutral, one-line mention in an Atlantic Monthly article alongside Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, but okay.)

He is so hoping that someone will ask about that tattoo.

Grooming female companions

I'm not sure what other word to use for Andy’s relationship with this person, as public information about it is limited to what appeared on Instagram. Please understand that I am not judging her at all and do not wish to identify her in any way. Considering Andy's behavior with Abbey, Brittany, L, Silven, and others among his female friends/followers, I think it's important to talk about it.

This is the first overtly romantic cosplay picture that Andy has posted in MCU fandom. His cosplay partner’s comments are very telling:

It really was the best day for me. … I love you my handsome cosboyfriend you seriously are my best friend my love and I truly believe my partner I know when you call me "your" Natalia that I am loved and care for more than I could ever imagine. I love you

If this person is roleplaying as Natasha, it makes no sense to refer to Bucky as her "cosboyfriend". She is talking about Andy. Whatever is going on here is pretty fucking intense. And given his proclivity for redheads, it is not lost on me that he has selected a character who’s had a canonical relationship with a red-haired woman in the past, giving him an excuse to act out scenes like this.

Here is a romantic photoset of Andy with the same woman, to whom he now refers as "the cosgirlfriend". She replies,

I love you my beautiful cosboyfriend … By the way you owe me roses now … [you're] the beauty im the beast

A commenter asks whether this is "canon, or just two beautiful people being beautiful together," wondering whether Andy and this fellow cosplayer are an IRL couple. Andy neatly dodges the question by referring to the comics.

Andy's "cosgirlfriend" has also called him gorgeous, left a suggestive comment on one of his bathbomb photos, talked about missing him/his face, and referred to him as "baby" and "dear". All of her comments were left within ten days, and of course Andy didn’t respond publicly to any of them. In my opinion based on what Andy has done many times over, the little information that I have (not all of which I am comfortable sharing) suggests that this may have been another situation in which he love-bombed a woman and quickly established what she felt was a very close, deep relationship with romantic possibilities, and then backed off just as quickly. As of 5/30, Andy had taken down the first picture of the two of them and she'd asked for the second to be removed as well. He did so earlier this month. I have not attempted to contact this person, as I feel that would be crossing a line, but I'm guessing that she requested their removal because she’d received negative attention and/or warnings about Andy.

Miscellaneous

I will not share screenshots of these, but Andy has posted several pictures of himself with young children. He loves kids, perhaps in part because they tend to be so much more credulous than adults and they make great attention-getting props. In one notable instance, he posted a picture and video of a little boy from Romania, who he said was a huge Captain America fan who'd love to hear from Sebastian Stan. Andy and some of his friends tagged the actor several times in the posts and comments. All the boy talked about in the video was his Pokemon fan creations, while Andy tried hard to drag the conversation around to Cap and Bucky. The picture that he posted was also Pokemon-related, as was a later image of a drawing the child had made. It seems likely, given his past behavior, that Andy is using this child (who may or may not be interested in Marvel characters at all) to gain the attention of the actor who plays the character around whom his life currently revolves.

Andy has consistently referred to the kittens as "our babies" for a couple months now, which is understandable because he lives with them, but also makes me nervous because of his history with the rabbit, the mouse, and Boo.

He recently shared a picture of himself with a very good Seven of Nine cosplayer and called back to his days in the Star Trek: Voyager fandom. Reminding people of the first time that you lied your ass off to a fandom for attention is probably not a great idea, Andy.

Here he is using another flimsy excuse to humblebrag about his alleged genius IQ, which he's been doing from the very beginning. Andy never changes.

Andy also now has a Patreon on which he is offering a tutorial for Bucky’s metal arm. Someone at tf-talk has noted that his bio includes a different origin story for his costuming interest than he gave in Viva La Cosplay. Then, he wanted to appear charmingly naïve and to make his work look more impressive by claiming a lack of experience. Now, he wants to look super legit to attract more patrons.

The higher reward tier includes a 20-minute [Facebook] messenger session for Q&A and for Andy to talk the patron through customizing the arm for themselves. A) Facebook’s policies mean that a lot of people will have to give Andy their RL names for this...which is one reason that he likes using Facebook. B) That doesn’t seem like very much time to go over customization. Would any cosplayers like to weigh in on this?

[chainsawbettyloo]

Title: Just Let Me Take Care of You, Okay?

Pairing: M!Corrin | M!Kamui / Marx | Xander 

Rating: Everyone

Tags: Fluff, lovey-dovey, sweet, domestic 

Summary: It’s rare for Corrin to fall ill so, of course, he’s babied quite a bit by his siblings. However, the spoiling crown is given to Xander, who makes the heartfelt plea of ‘allow me to take care of you, please’. 

A/N: Thank you for the request! I had a ton of fun writing this and hope you like it! 

Also available on AO3 if you’d prefer to read it over there! Prompt requests are still open so send ‘em my way if you got ‘em! Reblogs, kudos and comments are much appreciated, thanks!

-

Propped up on a mountain of pillows, his feverish but still alert gaze trained on the book propped open in his lap, Corrin kept his ears trained for any sound of his sisters returning. He had already been chastised by them three times for not sleeping (he understood that rest was important for recovery but he couldn’t force it to happen - wasn’t just lying down and being inactive good enough?) so if he heard their familiar footsteps approaching, he was prepared to slam the tome shut, hide it under the covers and start pretending to be asleep.

Hopefully, if that were to happen, they would just stick their heads in to check before retreating and he would be allowed to continue with his reading. He had never been one to be able to force sleep to happen so just lying there, nothing to occupy him just sounded immensely boring. While he did appreciate their care, it was a little much. He really wasn’t that sick - just a normal winter’s cold, nothing more. Sore throat, bit of a high fever, coughing, headache, hint of a chill and shiver, and an annoying amount of mucus being generated that was both running freely and clogging up his sinuses, making his head feel heavy but still, nothing really out of the ordinary or anything to be worried about.

They, however, were acting as though he had caught death itself - Elise had already tried to make him down multiple different potions, each more nastier than the last and the last she had insisted him choking down had nearly caused him to vomit; Camilla had wanted to call a plethora of different types of healers from the farthest reaches of the land, just to make absolutely sure that there wasn’t something more sinister going on. Even Leo had spent a while nervously hovering over him, offering to cast some spells to help him be comfortable or alleviate the illness in some way, while the backs of his slender fingers pressed against Corrin’s sweaty forehead, his brows furrowed with concern.  

It had taken nearly an hour to convince them that it was just a cold; he just needed liquids and rest, that was all. He had promised to not get out of bed, that he would try his hardest to sleep and would call the instant he needed help. Course, even then they hadn’t reigned it in all the way but he supposed that was too much to ask. After all, he hardly ever got sick - he couldn’t even remember the last time he had fallen ill - and he knew it was just because they cared so dearly for him. He wasn’t sure he wouldn’t do the same if one of them were sick.

Suddenly doubling over, one hand hovering over his mouth, Corrin barked out several hard, grating coughs, grimacing at the sharp, stinging pain piercing the delicate linings of his throat. His head pounded afresh with every hard exhale of air, leaving him feeling dizzy. Once the fit had settled, he dragged in a deep breath, painfully cleared his throat before leaning back into the pillows behind him. Letting his eyes fall closed, he tried to focus on something else than the burning in his throat, the pounding in his head, the shiver that had settled into his limbs and the general discomfort of being ill.

Xander was going to be back soon was the first thought that flashed across his mind. A wistful smile tugged at his lips, his spirits immediately rising at the realization. Opening his eyes, he raised his left hand over his head, smile widening as the simple, gold ring sitting comfortably at the base of his ring finger glinted minutely in the gentle light. It hadn’t been that long, only a few weeks, since the ring had first been slipped onto his finger as a symbol of his union with Xander so the sheen was still clean and bright. It fitted perfectly to his finger, resting easily above his third knuckle as though it was a part of his hand, rather than a foreign object.

Bringing his hand down to his mouth, he lightly pressed the cool edge of the ring against his lips, his eyes falling closed and made a soft sound of contentment as the beautiful thought ‘my husband will be home soon’ soared across his mind. It felt silly to be so happy over such a little thing but being able to refer to Xander as his husband, knowing that he was Xander’s and Xander’s was his filled his chest with such bursting joy that the silliness of it didn’t even matter. Heart fluttering wildly in his chest, he rolled happily over onto his side, grinning like an idiot and immediately started coughing again.

Rolling back onto his back, he sat up, the force of his coughs making it feel as though his insides were rattling around, fingers gripping hard onto the thick material of the blanket and waited for the fit to pass. It took a while longer than the last one and left him feeling drained, exhausted but eventually, it stopped. Collapsing back onto the pile of pillows, breathing heavily, sweat dripping down his face, his lungs and throat screaming in pain, he briefly considered calling for Leo but immediately disregarding the notion as there was really nothing that could be done and calling for help would just be encouraging another round of overly worrisome mother hens clucking around him.

Pushing his sweaty bangs out of his face, he carefully sat back up, a wave of dizziness nearly overwhelming him, his head pounding hard in response to the motion. A little too late, he realized that it probably wasn’t a best time to be fully expressing his jubilation. Turning just as carefully, he made to reach out for the large pitcher that sat on the bedside table but froze when the door to his and Xander’s bedroom opened.

“Oh, you’re awake.” Standing in the doorway, surprisingly not dressed in his usual armor, but instead in a simple, loose shirt and trousers, was Xander. In his large hands was a tray, on top of which were two large steaming bowls of what Corrin assumed to be soup.

“Xander!” He said happily, his voice raspy, rough and not at all sounding like he usually did. For half a moment, he had thought for certain that it was going to be Camilla or Elise, and he was about to get an earful of chiding.

After quietly closing the door behind him, Xander strode over to the bed, set the tray onto the bedside table before turning and placing one large, cool hand against Corrin’s forehead. Grimacing slightly, he said softly, “You’re burning up.”

“Well, I am sick.” Corrin responded lightly, still smiling. “Tends to happen.”

“How are you feeling?” Xander asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed, reaching up to brush sweaty strands out of Corrin’s face.

“Better, now that you’re here.” He replied honestly. Pushing his hot cheek into Xander’s cool palm, he covered the back of his large hand with his own and snuggled against his calloused skin.

Xander chuckled softly, his gaze softening, a warm smile appearing on his handsome face. Brushing his thumb over the curve of Corrin’s cheek, he said softly, “Is that so?”

“It is.” He breathed, turning his head slightly so that he could press a kiss against Xander’s palm.

“I am glad to hear it, but how are you, really?”

Corrin shrugged, “Sick. Coughing, mucus in excess, everywhere hurts to some extent, and despite the fact that my temperature is high enough to soak me in sweat, I’m freezing.”

“I’ll draw you a nice, warm bath after we eat. The heat will help clear up your sinuses and lungs as well.”

“Sounds-” good was what he meant to say but his throat abruptly spasmed, sending him into another harsh coughing fit. Turning his head away from Xander so not to spray him with germs, he pulled his shirt up to cover his mouth, eyes clenched shut and waited it out. Xander’s warm hands were suddenly on his back, gently smoothing up and down the length of his spine.

Finally able to stop, he dragged in a ragged deep breath, his eyes watering, his ribs aching and turned back to give Xander a weak smile, feeling a pang of guilt at the worried expression on his face, “Could you pour me a glass of water, please?” It hurt to talk now, and his voice was even worse, hoarse, cracking and barely audible. When he swallowed, it felt like the delicate linings of his throat had been replaced with a mixture of sandpaper and sun baked dirt.

“Of course, my little prince.” Xander leaned forward to press a quick kiss against his sweaty forehead before pulling back. Picking up the pitcher, he carefully poured some water into the clear glass and handed it to Corrin. His hand shook as he reached out to take it; fingers trembling as they closed around the slippery surface. A second after Xander let go, he was certain that he was going to drop it but with expected quick reflexes, Xander’s hold was back on the glass, keeping it from tumbling into the bed.

“Sorry.” Corrin mumbled, his face either burning from embarrassment or the fever, but probably a combination of both, “I’ve got it.”

He tried to take the glass again but Xander wouldn’t relinquish it. Instead, he brought the glass up to his own mouth, took a large gulp before leaning forward and pressed his lips against Corrin’s. Jumping back in surprise, his mouth opening in the makings of a protest, he quickly understood what Xander was doing when water suddenly flooded his mouth. Swallowing on instinct, the cold water running blissfully down his throat, soothing the scratching heat, he jerked his head away, a little bit of the liquid falling free from his lips, splashing down onto his shirt and coughed lightly. Reaching up to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, he said, “You could have just given me the glass.”

“I could have, but then I wouldn’t have had an excuse to kiss you.” Leaning down further, Xander pressed his forehead against Corrin’s temple and nuzzled him gently, “Do you want some more?” He asked teasingly.

“You’re going to get sick.” Corrin replied, placing a hand on his chest to push him away, through there was no strength behind the motion.

“We’ll be sick together, then.” Slipping his arms around Corrin’s midsection, tugging him closer, squeezing him gently, he placed a kiss on his heated cheek, followed by several more until near every inch of the side of his face was covered in little kisses. Warm breath brushed over his heated skin; in the back of his mind, he cursed his inability to breathe through his nose because he was being denied Xander’s scent.

“I don’t want to get you sick, then!” He weakly protested, fighting against the urge to just melt into Xander’s comforting embrace. Now that Xander was here and he was safely encased in his arms, exhaustion was beginning to settle over him. Tilting his head unconsciously to the side to give his husband more access, he could feel his resolve dissolving with each kiss.

With a soft chuckle, Xander pulled away slightly, just far enough that he could sweetly brush the tip of his nose against Corrin’s skin, “Alright, I understand. Let’s get some food in you, then we’ll take a bath.” With one more lingering kiss, Xander pulled away and reached over to pick up one of the bowls, “After that, some medicine - don’t worry, it’s not one of Elise’s concoctions, it’s actually one of Leo’s. Unsurprisingly, he’s quite talented at making poultices. He’s just never had the motivation to try it out before.”

Picking up one of the spoons, Xander lightly stirred the no longer steaming soup before scooping up a spoonful. Even though it was obviously no longer scalding hot, he blew on it for good measure before carefully holding it out to Corrin. With one eyebrow quirked, he looked from the spoon up to Xander, and said in a slightly agitated tone, “I can feed myself.”

“I’m aware.” Xander responded, though he made no move to retract his arm or hand Corrin the bowl or spoon. Instead, he pushed it closer to his mouth, obviously with the intention for Corrin to take the bite.

“Xander.” Corrin said flatly, his irritation at being babied evident in his voice, “I’m not so sick that I can’t care for myself.”

He had somewhat expected Camilla and Elise to baby him - that was just in their nature, but it was a bit baffling to be treated in such a way by Xander. Not that Xander couldn’t be a little over-protective and sweet, he just tended to understand that there was a limit and everyone needed the agency to take care of themselves. While he appreciated the concern and care, being treated like an invalid was becoming annoying.

“I know.” Xander replied softly.

Sighing softly, he dropped the spoon back in the bowl, set the bowl aside before reaching out to cup Corrin’s face in his coarse, calloused hands. Leaning forward, he bumped their noses gently together before pulling in a deep breath, let it out slowly and said, “You’re always working so hard, always putting your all into helping others, into helping me. Even at your most exhausted, worn out and weary moment, you’re reaching out and taking care of others. You fill me with such strength, such resolve, such warmth, and more than anything, I want to take care of you, to keep you safe. For so many years, I was denied that - my duties and my dedication to Father made it so difficult to protect you but now, there’s nothing standing in my way.”

Suddenly pushing forward, Xander abruptly captured Corrin’s lips with his own. Jumping in surprise, he tried to jerk away but Xander held him strongly in place. His lungs immediately began to protest from the lack of air but the feeling of Xander’s smooth, firm lips hungrily devouring his own made it hard to pull away. Ignoring his steadily building oxygen deprivation and the fact that he was spreading his germs to Xander, he pushed back into the kiss, opening his mouth - managing to pull in a little air - and shuddered when Xander’s hot, soft tongue slipped inside.

Eventually, the lack of oxygen became too much. Pulling away, he gasped, filling his aching lungs with air. The sudden intake caused yet another coughing fit, though this one he got under control much more easily. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he rasped, “You’re really going to get sick now.”

“I don’t care.”

“I do!”

“Corrin.” Xander said, his voice soft but insistent. Pulling his head over and up, he leaned down to press their foreheads together, “Please, let me take care of you. Allow me to spoil you. Let me indulge in being finally able to care for you like I’ve always wanted to. I want to make up for the years I was forced to keep my distance, to leave your care to others so please,” shifting back slightly, he gazed intently into Corrin’s eyes, “let me.”

His heart fluttered wildly in his chest. Even more heat bombarded his face, surely turning his cheeks an impossible shade of red. For a moment, he completely forgot the discomfort and pain in his body. All he could focus on was Xander’s kind, loving, warm eyes; the plea he had just made bouncing around in his mind. Swallowing hard, ignoring the wave of pain that shot through his throat, he dropped his gaze, his face and ears burning, happiness swelling in his chest, and nodded. He just couldn’t say no to Xander, specially not when he made such a heartfelt request and looked at him like that.

After all, if that was what Xander wanted, who was he to deny it to him? He didn't much like the idea, but he really couldn't find the strength to say no.

Brushing the pad of his thumb along the curve of Corrin’s cheek, he pressed a quick kiss against his lips before leaning back to retrieve the bowl once more. Settling back against the pillows, he resigned himself to the fact that he was just going to be spoilt. Scooping up another spoonful, Xander offered it to him and he took it without complaint. The stew was, surprisingly, still warm. Rich, meaty flavor, tinted with a hint of potatoes and carrots flowed along his tongue. His stomach immediately growled in response; he was far hungry than he had realized.

“Is it good?”

He nodded, “It is.”

Xander smiled warmly, “Good.”

Offering him another bite, which he quickly took, Corrin swallowed it done before saying, “When you get sick, I don’t want to hear any complaining when I give you the same treatment.”

To his surprise, Xander laughed lightly and he felt his heartbeat speed up a little at just how handsome he was. With a bit of a mischievous tilt to his smile, he held out the full spoon once again and said, “I’m looking forward to being spoiled by you. Now, then, eat and just focus on getting better yourself, my beloved little prince.”

Obediently falling quiet and taking the spoonful offered to him, he chewed on a tender piece of meat and tried very hard not to let how happy he was show on his face. In the back of his mind, he made a promise that he would definitely spoil Xander ten times as much the next time he fell ill.

[anomalagous]

lc’s ongoing long-ass list of what the fuck, teen wolf, and other sundry E606:Ghosted edition.

scott getting a little tiny bit snarly at the sheriff for not believing~~ in stiles gives me life

this old-ass map not only puts beacon hills on top of a real life place called scotty place which still makes me laugh, but also substantially more north and eastward than i originally estimated.

why the fuck didnt naziwolf just get the fuck outta bh?

why did he choose to stay and teach high school of all things?

california requires an 18 month accreditation course and a certain GPA of teachers who do not have an education degree, i know this from direct experience. its been three months since naziwolf busted out of his bacta tank, so what the fuck

if he forged his credentials, how

when

when did he actually learn all of the post WW2 physics and electromagnetics things he clearly genuinely knows and has a genuine interest in?

did the dread doctors read him bedtime stories from their science journals?

if so, what the fuck

i guess if youre an alpha werewolf you can sleep in the backseat with no seatbelt and its not a big deal if you crash

good job on malia being the driver and not crashing them im proud of her

reading the date of the canaan abduction in the standard american way it was april 8th, 1987, which cant be a coincidence given that’s stiles birthday (albeit pre-stiles)

if canaan has been abandoned for 30 years, who has been cutting these obviously not overgrown lawns and trimming these obviously not overgrown accent shubberies

why isnt that flag beat up or torn in any way?

kudos on giving that convertible the old 80s style california plates but why arent any of the windows on any of the cars busted out? no flat tires? no rust or missing doors?

also that shot of the ‘town’ where there was more substantial damage looked fake as hell and the crosswalk was proceeding at the wrong angle and i cant unsee it.

why is there still power running to these street lamps?

for that matter who has their street lamps scheduled to turn on in the middle of the day?

was that block party banner over the street lettered on both sides? it reads properly no matter what side youre looking at, which seems weird.

why is there blood on the carousel? was that explained? we’ve never seen the ghost riders’ gun draw blood that i can recall

im not even sure we’ve really seen their whips draw blood per se and certainly it wouldn’t have caused that kind of blood stain

also why is the blood still wet and red 30 years later? why wasn’t that newspaper rotted out? either time impacted this town to make it shitty as hell or it didn’t, pick one, you cannot have both. it still rains enough in california to totally disintegrate a newspaper in thirty years.

how the fuck did that carousel function even that tiny bit after 30 years in the elements?

why did melissa have to sneak chris argent around, couldnt he have just declined the operation against medical advice?

also good to see scott got his utter inability to lie from his mom

even if malia isnt wearing 100% stiles’ void-hoodie how could the costume department have thought for a minute we wouldnt have thought that was the void hoodie?

malia having a hallucination of theo in the same episode he comes back in for real seemed both rushed and entirely unnecessary.

in fact these hallucinations seemed wholesale unnecessary and neither scott nor malia deserved that nonsense

were all of these dead leaves already on location or did some poor asshole have to ship them in and then ship them out again

come to think of it, at first i was really excited to see coral/eucalyptus trees as they are actually trees that are in california (as opposed to the type of oak the nemeton is, which is distinctly Not a type of tree in california) but then i realized those are Southern California Trees and if beacon hills (and canaan) are that far north and close to the oregon border, the trees should be way more pines and evergreens and not coral or eucalyptus or ... any deserty tree, really.

seriously were these hallucinations just to show malia can feel sad too?

malia was wearing really subtle gold eyeshadow earlier. now it’s dark shadowing up to her browbone. does being a werecoyote also mean being able to shift your makeup at will? cause thats cool

do little girls seriously still play with baby dolls while hitting their first strides of puberty? im beginning to think i was never actually a little girl.

how much younger than malia was kylie supposed to be? bc she looks like 12 here but malia was like... 10 when the desert wolf murdered her family, right? was SHE the younger sister??

teen wolf shamelessly reusing shots with new filters on them like never before. this ain’t even the fifth time i’ve caught them doing this, this season, and i’ve literally never seen them do it in any of the other seasons.

im not sure anybody told kylie’s actress she wasnt gonna get to make out with shelley

how do werecreatures get piercings? or were her ears pierced first before the change?

why does anyone let liam make any decisions, ever?

i do not get why everyone finds naziwolf so hot

seriously i have a little tree-bush exactly like this right outside my door/garage and that shit is wild and untamed in just a month of no trimming in 30 years it would not have that nice slender shape anymore

also trees being choked to death by kudzu or whatever all these vines are dont look that healthy

is there even kudzu in california??? ive never seen so many vines in all my 10 years of living here.

the first house scott goes in theres like no tv in the living room but there is one chair (with no dining table) all alone in the dining room area, which just looks sad.

oh sorry two chairs set up in what was clearly the worlds most melancholy staring contest.

my dentist used to have that exact sailboat wallpaper trim around the top of his exam rooms.

scotts bullying a door.

have melissa and chris argent actually told the pack about the head-biting yet bc i feel like they should know

i think more people have asked scott if he’s okay in this episode than in the last three seasons, which is sad bc it’s basically just lydia and malia that do it.

that one house has some brutal earthquake damage in its exterior wall.

poseys microexpressions are so woefully underrated, he really is brilliant.

i have more grey hair than jr bourne and that makes me really angry

i like that they’re doing alchemy with druidic compounds/hedgemagic/whatever you want to call it more than i could possibly express.

why is there a porch loveseat on the step up to this one house but that FLAG IS ENTIRELY INTACT?

how convenient that all three of them were looking at that window when lenore decided to fuck with the drapery.

that said scott’s resultant HOLY SHIT?!?? face is amazing

how has lenore been surviving in this town, does she not need water, electric, heat, groceries? where did the lemons for the lemonade come from?

all this wood paneling is the most 70s thing i have ever seen in my life

i appreciate the little cast iron redwood decoration with the ‘m’ on the bottom of it.

everything!! in!! this!! house!! is!! brown!!

that piano as a busted af bass key there.

i feel like i’ve seen that other metal flower/leaf decor before. the new version of the stilinski house, maybe?

lenore has an intimidatingly large smile and i feel like that as an intentional casting choice

how come malia and scott couldnt hear her heartbeat after scott explicitly called out that there were no heartbeats? or for that matter not hear that caleb also didn’t have one? (presumably.)

im not 100% sure but i think malia is holding scott’s hand when they enter the dining room area of lenore’s house, which is adorable so i accept no other reality now.

i honestly feel really bad for lenore.

i would say the fisheye lens is s6′s slo mo but the slo mo didnt go anywhere

i dont know if its supposed to be fancy or artisinal or whatever you called that in the 80s but dont put green shit in your lemonade, green shit does not belong in your lemonade. lemons. sugar. water. it isn’t hard.

malia like chugs a good half of her glass at once, but when she sets it back down it is more full than any of the other glasses. i prefer to think she just faked drinking it to try and gain lenore’s trust than it’s a continuity error from the props department.

when lenore starts using her banshee powers to shake the house, it also magically converts the lemonade into water.

lenore has a pair of decorative ducks on her wall but they appear to be two male mallard ducks, so. gay duck decor.

so when does lydia get to have telekinesis?

i dont think im a very big fan of how angela harvey handles scott.

malia did NOT make a fist like she was really committing to trying to punch out that window.

seriously scotts the alpha he doesnt need lydia to give him permission to do things scott thinks need to be done

that being said scott going into the basement with a creepy kid when youre obviously in some kind of horror movie trope was stupid

the cameras they used for the senior pack team were super blurry anytime anyone moved even the littlest bit, its so annoying.

scott barely being tall enough to reach this tiny-ass basement window is endearing to me

there is no way a vhs tape that wet would run. i remember vhs tapes. they were not sturdy.

i feel like we used to have the same VCR in my parents’ room tho

also what the hell camcorder did they record this on that put it straight on VCR, camcorders in the 80s had weird little small VCR tapes you had to put in a converter. that was just a standard VCR tape.

also why are there jumpcuts in the home video? did somebody cut the original footage and THEN put it on a standard VCR tape?  how much fucking work was THAT??

caleb goes from 0 to 100 on the creepy poltergeist scale real quick

well okay maybe from like 40 to 100

banshee duel yessssss

literally why would noshiko do this after she saw what happened with the nogitsune

not that i necessarily think theo is as dangerous as the nogitsune but he is well bad enough

look at this worthless white boy doing this shit against all the advice of the woc around him

why does the sword do this, i thought the power was in kira and not the sword

if the power is in the sword why couldnt noshiko fix her own damn blade

look at this other worthless white boy even more worthless than the first

that looks like melissa is putting like grout on chris’ injury that does not look comfortable

oh look hes screaming imma guess it was not in fact comfortable

gratuitous jr bourne fanservice

awwww theyre holding haaaaands again

how did this kid get on the stairs the last time we saw him he was by the tv, why did scott and malia let him herd him like this

i appreciate malia’s willingness to beat up a kid poltergeist immensely

of the pictures on caleb’s walls, many are pictures of insects. one is a blue crab. one says ‘guten’ on it, which somehow entertains me a lot.

this is the second time this episode has tried to make me scared of carousel horses

the vhs footage loops while no one is attending to it which is not how vhs tapes work

malia is such a treasure

that being said having nearly drowned twice in my childhood this whole drowning-on-dry-land conceit is not super great for me

screencapping this is so gross

i love lydia’s fierce banshee scream face

so the blood was on the carousel before the wild hunt attack, as we see in lydia’s vision. SO WHY IS IT THERE??

THERE ARE KIDS RIDING ON THIS CAROUSEL WHILE SOME OF THE HORSES ARE BLOODY

poor skateboard bro couldnt even take his skateboard like rude wild hunt

i feel like there’s a lot more ghost riders here than there are in beacon hills. maybe the ghost riders just come for particular towns and the ones in bh are actually like... cora isaac and danny.

its amazing how much younger a good foundation can maybe somebody look

did liam SERIOUSLY just tell theo he can kill whoever he wants? did i hear that right? bc that is a TERRIBLE thing to tell theo, who has ALREADY KILLED A LOT OF PEOPLE, even if what you meant was ‘dont kill us you need us’.

i cant believe we got this cheap knockoff as an excuse to not have kira and then they didnt even let him have the powers he needed to do the job

otoh watching his ass get blasted back into the tunnels was satisfying

literally nobody cares if youre okay theo you murderous fuck

i wonder how many times scott had someone steadying him telling HIM he has to breathe like hes doing for malia right here

i should really keep a tally of how many times scott does stiles’ lizard tongue thing while stiles is gone

this is gross of me to think while the character is basically drowning but hey now i know what scott looks like with his bottom lip all wet and covered in somewhat translucent stretchy goo--jizz. okay. it looks like jizz.

scott mccall nearly drowns on dry land after a lifetime of severe asthma and the first thing he does after is ask if malia is ok

luckily THIS time she asks if HES okay to but jeez

he looks so shocked and confused to be asked extra jeez

more scolia handholding, this time while fleeing danger

i was literally three in 1987 and i still have more grey hair than lenore who was demonstrably an adult in 1987 I AM VERY ANGRY

that being said i realized why caleb here’s clothing was bothering me so much. nobody had shorts that long in the 80s. everybody wore short as hell shorts in the 80s. it was thighs everywhere.

these stupid motherfuckers taking theo to scott’s HOME and putting him in scott’s SAFE SPACE without even WARNING HIM oh my GOD

those better not also be scott’s CLOTHES

ok but WHY are the wild hunt trapped? did they BRING the northern lights or is the northern lights related to what’s trapping them?

excuse me but WHEN did lydia see anything related to what happens to people after the wild hunt takes them and why didnt we get to see it too?

seriously its like if scott is thinking of stiles then lizard blep

im so mad at liam for bringing theo back and putting him in scotts house i cant even see straight

and i just know that this anger that scott is being allowed will be it

and in a week or two itll be working with theo like nothing ever happened

im honestly shocked he even got this much

he even got undercut there by malias (also justified) rage

cool that the morrigan got a namedrop but i dont trust them with that story eitherrrrr

man let me tell you if this was martin and not scott and somehow he had been murdered and resurrected and was then confronted with his murderer in his pack house that murderer would not fucking leave alive

im still kind of mad that this season brought claudia back to life just to make her so sketch and make me kind of hate her, i didnt want to hate her

oh okay its a different weird leaf decor piece than the other one

oh yeah noah OKAY NOW youre starting to believe BUDDY you have faith issues