#sadly he passed away but due to old age not poor handling

[birdy-brainrot]

Saw this post by @themadscientistofthebigeviltower and knew I had to draw my own mad scientist for it, very fitting

[asian-hero]

i personally feel like todoroki would be forced to do piano lessons or something, but what if he finds someone who’s super good at piano as well as loves to play it- so you get the emotion as well (which todoroki lacked when playing because you don’t get the emotion if you aren’t motivated -❤️, who was forced to play violin and had that exact same problem lmao)

A/N: Back on my Todoroki bullshit lmao

I haven’t played the piano in so long, it’s truly a shame

There are just some hcs I cooked up just for you ❤️ anon, I hope you enjoy

When Todoroki was around six years old, he discovered the wonderful world of classical music when his sister had been practicing the piano for one of her recitals. After one of his more intense training sessions with his father, he stumbled out of the home gym, limping over towards his room to just collapse onto the floor, probably while a few angry tears streamed down his face. However, as he passed by his sister’s room, he could hear the soft sound of the piano being played. Poking his head in, he watched in awe as his sister elegantly played the piano, her fingers dancing gracefully across the keys, lulling him into a calm aura. Silently, he sat by her door frame, not wanting to disturb her, as he let the music take him to a much better place than reality

As he continued to watch, he didn’t notice his father’s loud steps coming to a halt in front of him. Normally, the elder Todoroki would be angry at the sight before him, his prodigy, just sitting around, doing nothing productive to his training, nor to his next steps to the road of being a hero. But, Enji also noted that playing an instrument, especially one like the piano, required a lot of discipline and could potentially whip Shouto into shape

So, he signed up the younger Todoroki for piano lessons the very next day

At first, Shouto was excited. He was finally able to do something that didn’t involve using his quirk, something that wouldn’t hurt him. It also made him happy to be able to produce the same beautiful sounds as his sister had, even if he was a little slow, and sometimes off key. It was fun for him

However, fun wasn’t good enough for his father, and the first time that he’d asked Shouto to play something for him, he was terribly disappointed. Rather than praising his son for doing so well at such a young age, he instead found everything wrong with his performance and critiqued him

“Why did you speed up here?” “You hit the wrong key here,” “Why have I been paying for your lessons when you haven’t learned anything?”

It’s a widely known fact that, if you want your children to be successful and enjoy their hobbies, you need to give praise and pointers rather than harsh criticism, lest you destroy their soul. For Shouto, it was that moment that made him resent the instrument. However, because his father wanted him to be the best at everything he did, he continued to force Shouto into his piano lessons, forced him to play in front of him, and then the cycle of harsh critiques would start over. No matter what Shouto did, there was always something wrong when he played, whether it be that his fingers slipped on occasion, or that his pace was off, his father always found something to nitpick. So, after years and years of playing, he found himself hating the piano, and hating the way it sounded

That was, until he met you

You had also learned the piano at a young age. However, your parents had showered you in love and compliments, praising you for your playing, even if you didn’t do the best. They’d help you out whenever you needed it, and only gave you pointers when you asked. They nourished your love for the instrument, and it helped you grow into a wonderful pianist. As the years progressed, you’d go from easy level classical songs such as Debussy’s Clair du Lune, to more advanced songs like Mozart’s Rondo all Turca. You loved challenging yourself, and nothing could beat the feeling of pride that hit you whenever you’d nail a piece. It was safe to say that the piano brought you a sense of joy whenever you’d play it, and you loved to listen to others pour their hearts into their performance

The first time Shouto hears you playing the piano is when the two of you are in the dorms. He was coming back from his supplemental classes for his provisional license, getting ready to take a shower and get ready to study. As he passed by your dorm, he found himself pausing in his steps, frozen in place as he listened to the melodic tune that was coming from your room. Hesitantly, he moved closer to your open door, standing by the doorframe, similar to all those years ago, except, this performance was different. Both Shouto and Fuyumi were forced to play the instrument, as their father wanted nothing less than perfection from the two of them, so they never truly played as if they enjoyed it

You, however, seemed to have a completely different outlook on the instrument

Whereas Shouto’s playing is concise, methodical, and nearly mechanical sounding, yours sounds as if you were allowing the music to control you, not the other way around. He continued to watch in amazement as your body swayed slightly from side to side, your eyes closed ever so slightly, simply enjoying the moment. Shouto found himself staying for the entire song, clapping for you when you had finally finished, nearly scaring the soul out of you

You felt your face heat up as you asked him what he was doing there, and apologizing if you were being too loud. He simply shook his head, taking this as an opportunity to move closer to you

“You sounded wonderful, don’t ever apologize for that,”

If you weren’t flustered before, you certainly were now

As you stuttered out a quiet “thank you,” you shyly looked up at the boy, carefully watching his expression. “Can you play?”

He nodded his head, though you could see his expression shift to a distant one, “Not as well as you, though,”

You adamantly shook your head, standing up from your spot to pull him closer to you, eventually shoving him down onto the stool before you, practically begging him to play a piece for you, wanting nothing more than to spend just a few minutes more with the boy. His face showed the pure hesitance his body was feeling, and just before you were about to tell him that he didn’t have to, that it was probably too late and he was probably tired, he gave you a small nod, positioning his hands onto the keys

You watched as he played Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, his movements slightly stiff, yet you could tell that he was trying to relax. He wasn’t sure why, but he was even more nervous to play in front of you than his father, though perhaps it was due to the fact that he had found himself enamored with you, and he wanted nothing more than to impress you. However, after years and years of being told that he wasn’t good enough, he worried that you would think the same, that you’d say the same things as his father had

As he played the final notes, he slowly placed his hands back into his lap, too nervous to look at you. After a beat of silence that felt like an eternity to Shouto, you clapped your hands together, a bright smile taking over your features.

“That was amazing! I can’t believe you thought that I was better than you!”

He could feel his cheeks turning red, but he simply shook his head, “No, I was rushing during the end,”

You took his hands in yours, shocking the poor boy with your radiant smile. “What are you talking about? Everything was perfect! Even if you messed up, Hungarian Rhapsody is such a hard song, it’s amazing that you could even play it!”

Throughout his entire life, Shouto ears had been filled with superficial praises from his father’s coworkers, his old teachers, anyone who wanted to be closer to his family. However, he’d never heard such earnest and painfully honest praises. He never experienced the unconditional praise that you seemed to lay on him, and to be quite honest, he wasn’t really sure how to handle it. Taking one of his hands from your grip, he rubbed the back of his neck, an uncharacteristic sign of bashfulness

“It’s really nothing special, there’s much I could improve,”

He watched as your smile fell, and he wished that he could take what he said back. He shouldn’t have been piling so much onto your shoulders when you did nothing but simply complimented him. Just as he was about to apologize, you squeezed his cheeks into your hands, forcing him to look at you

“I don’t know who told you that you sounded awful, or that those ‘flaws’ are something that take away from your performance, but let me tell you what I think: I think that you’re an amazing pianist and you’ve clearly put in a lot of effort into your practice. I’ve truly never heard a more amazing sound than you playing just now. You sounded like some angel,”

Slowly moving your hands, you smiled sadly at him, “I’m sorry that you had no one to tell you that,”

Shouto wasn’t really sure of how he should react, and you didn’t push him to say anything as you sat beside him on the piano bench, your hands taking over where his were, simply playing a song to deafen the silence. After a few more moments, he slowly moved his head to rest upon your shoulder, both physically and emotionally drained

As the two of you sat there, with his head resting on you, and your hands moving across the keys, Shouto realized something: while he may have hated the sound of the piano, he certainly didn’t hate it when you played

[dibs4ever]

Grieving

Nathan Gordon smiled at the little red headed bundle in his arms. So tiny, and new. Only a month old and so much had already happened to the poor child she had already gone through so much. Her mentally unstable mother running off in the night with her 4 year old brother.

Leaving her father alone with the newborn and a paper signing her rights over. Why keep one but not the other?

Nathan couldn’t understand it

Then again Barbara Keen never was exactly right in the mind

“Dad thanks again for offering to do childcare.” The voice of Jim Gordon spoke

Nathan looked up at his son and shook his head “Think nothing of it. It’ll give me something to do with my days now that I’m retired” he smiled bringing his infant granddaughter to his shoulder

Jim smiled “Well there is absolutely nobody else in the world I’d trust Barbara with. You raised my sister and I on your own which wasn’t exactly common in the 70s and 80s “

Nathan chuckled “Your mother was involved.”

Jim looked at his father over the brim of his glasses. Okay so maybe he did raise the kids on his own for the most part

Little back story on Nathan Peter Gordon

After getting an honorary discharge from the Vietnam war due to an injured leg he did what all the war men did and found a wife to marry and settle down with. It was 1962 he was 25 years old when he married Francis.

She wasn’t like his friends wives, she wasn’t sweet or doting. She didn’t ask him how is day was

She was a bitter women who wouldn’t stand for anyone who didn’t agree with her.

If he was being honest with himself the only reason he married her was because that’s what was expected of him. Women weren’t where his attraction laid. But being a gay man in the 1960s was just asking for a lifetime of criticism. Besides Francis could give him what he desired to be most. A father. Which happened in 1963 when his his daughter Hannah was born and then 3 years later when James was born

He absolutely loved being a father but always feared leaving them with Francis when he left forgot work as an attorney . She was cruel to them.

In 1970 after years of verbal abuse and accusations from Francis he finally confessed to the woman that he was gay.

They promptly divorced, Francis shocked the judge when she requested only to have the children every other weekend. Allowing Nathan to be the primary caregiver.

Something he thanked it was probably the only nice thing she ever did for him. Although he was certain she didn’t want them anyways. It wasn’t easy being a single dad but he wouldn’t trade it for anything, he supported and loved his children. Praising their accomplishments. Hugging them when they were downs and giving advice as they grew up under his wings.

Fast forward it’s 1996 and he’s holding his 30 year old sons newborn daughter.

Nathan takes care of his granddaughter every day and some nights for the next 5 years as his son worked his way up in the GCPD.

Then in 2001 she starts kindergarten and he only has her after school and some nights. It’s a bittersweet moment for both Nathan and Barbara. The two of them were each other’s best friends

Nathan waited outside the school with the other parents and caregivers. The school doors opening

“Grandpa!” The five year old shouted running across the school courtyard and into his arms with a flying leap.

She snuggled into his chest “I missed you.”

He chuckled lightly “So did I, come on little one, let's go get ice cream. It's Friday after all.” He smiled

4 years later he’s on his way to pick her up from school again. He hadn’t been feeling right . He has a coughing fit, then looks down at the kleenex...blood. Something wasn't right

Stuffing the napkin product in his pocket he decided to put on a brave face and go pick the light of his life Barbara Gordon up from school. She’d help him relax till his Doctors appointment next week

Nine year old Barbara opens the back car door and climbs in

“Hi grandpa.” She smiles leaning over the seat to plant a kiss on his cheek “Did you make any snacks at home? I’m starving.”

Nathan smiled, he almost always prepared a small snack for his growing grandauter to have when she returned from school. But today he had felt so ill and afraid due to coughing up blood that he completely.forgotten be had planned to make a her-her favorite snack of homemade nacho.

”I thought we’d get ice cream” be spoke looking back at the girl in the rearview mirror as he pulled out of the driveway

She laughed lightly he freckles doing a little dance when her nose scrunched up. He adored her freckles “Grandpa it’s only Tuesday. We only get ice cream on Friday’s.”

He shrugged “Who says we gotta play by the rules.” He winked

Barbara smiled at him

The following year Nathan Gordon passes away from cancer. He’s surrounded by his daughter Hannah, her husband and their children along with his son and Barbara.

Barbara Gordon sat in the office chair of her fathers office. Since her grandfathers recent passing her dad had yet to make arrangements for a new childcare provider.

Not that she needed a babysitter. She wasn’t a baby. She was 10. Besides the past couple months her grandpa had been so weak she basically took care of herself anyways

Her dad had been gone for a while. Where to? she didn’t know. He never told her anything anyways.

She sighed and continued drawing random doodles on the piece of copy paper she’d been using for the past 30 minutes to occupy her time.

The door opened. Her dad stepping in. But he wasn’t alone . A boy with dark hair, shorter than her but probably around her age stood at his side. This she knew wasn’t common. Very rarely did her father handle children personally like this at work. The boy was looking down sadly.

“Why don’t you take a seat son” her father waved to the pair of seats that sat infront of his desk. The boy nodded then moved and took a seat in one of the chairs

“Barbara this is Richard. He’s 10 like you. Why don’t you keep him company while I make some phone calls in the hall.” Her dad informed

She nodded and watched him walk out, the office door closing behind him

After a moment of Richard not looking up, Barbara moved and switched seats to the available one beside him

“I’m Barbara, how are you Richard?” She asked

He shrugged

“Not much of a talker Huh? It’s okay I’ll talk. I’ve been bored out of my mind all night. My dad thinks I need a babysitter but I don’t. I mean I’ve literally been sitting in this office by myself all night anyways so tell me what the difference would be if I was sitting at my home all night alone?”

Silence

“I’ll tell ya, nothing. I finished all my homework within 30 minutes of being here. My grandpa had me on a strict routine. If dad was ever around when I got home from school the past 5 years he’d know I always finish my school work promptly. What grade are you in Richard?”

“Can you call me Dick?” He spoke softly

Barbara grinned “He speaks....uhh sure I guess. Like I was saying my grandpa. He knew, he always said I should skip a grade. Grandpa knew more about me then my dad.”

Dick looked up at her “I’m in 4th grade. You talk a lot” a small smile played on the boys lips. Although his blue eyes were still filled with saddness

Barbara flashed him a smile back “Sorry my grandpa always said I talked a lot when I was nervous and you being so quiet kinda brought it out.”

Dick nodded “You and your grandpa are close? You’ve already talked about him 3 times in the past 10 minutes”

Barbara inhaled a breath at the mention “We were he Umm. He died last month.”

Dick looked down again “Oh”

She nodded “First time someone close to me has ever died. Have ugh have you ever lost someone. Maybe you could help me, give me some advice.”

Dick was silent “I’ve lost someone. But I don’t have advice.”

Barbara tilted her head “Who did you loose?”

He took a deep breath “My parents.” He squinted his eyes

Her eyes widened she couldn’t imagine loosing her father. Loosing her grandfather was tearing her up inside as it was “When?” She wondered. They were only 10. How young was he when he became an orphan?

“Tonight-they were murdered. I saw it.” He choked

Barbara’s jaw dropped. That explained why he was here “Dick, I’m so sorry!”

Tears began to flow slowly from the boys eyes

Not knowing what to do, the young girl moved her hand grabbing the fellow boys hand and lacing their fingers. To her relief the boy squeezed hers tighter. Letting her know that the small movement was just the right amount of comfort he needed at that moment. Together the two adolescents sat holding hands. Tears slowly streaming down their faces. Finding comfort in their newfound friendship and grieving their recently lost loved ones

[yamithediaperdork]

Vamps in Pamps

it was a nice sunny day as Edward drove the jeep out to his 'father's house, though while the weather was nice and Bella seemed happy, Edward was less so due to the other person sitting the backseat of the jeep, who whenever he made eye contract, grinned like a Cheshire cat despite being a werewolf.

"So Edward, hurt stories about your daddy." Jacob said, making Edward despite being a vampire blush.

"I'm sure you have mutt. just mind your touage. he's stronger then me and doesn't handle fools as well." Edward snipped back.

While Edward could get along with and hang out with Jacob, He still didn't like the wolf but put up a farce for Bella's sake who insisted that they get along.

"Will any of the others be there today?" Jacob asked.

"No, mommy took them out for a little trip." Edward said, almost right away wishing he had called her by her name but the damage was done and now Bella and Jacob were chuckling and smirking.

"Mommy huh?" Jacob asked, Grinning ear to ear.

"Heh.. Jacob.. be nice.He is the first son~" Bella said and winked, though reached over and squeezed Edwards hand on the gear shift.

"Such a big boy~" Jacob said and winked into the rear view mirror.

'this is going to be a LONG visit.' Edward thought as he pulled into the driveway.

Carlilse was waiting in the driveway for them as they pulled up and as the they all got out of the car Carlilse was suddenly there, grabbing Edwards cheeks and tsking.

"have you been fully eating or are you just snacking, again?" Edward's 'father' asked, voicing his disapproval.

"Uh.. What do you mean by snacks?" Bella asked, a vampire herself now. "I thought we had to have a-"

"We Edward sadly Bella, is famous for trying to replace a good full on meal with just snacking on rat or chipmunk or squirrel blood." Carlilse said, then smirked. "though he cut back on the chipmunk blood when he grew to be a fan o-"

"DAD!"

"the chipmunks in the 80's."

"Wait, what?" Jacob asked.

"Oh my god shut up!" Edward growled.

"Simon was his favorite, I preferred Alvin, though only because he wanted to watch it all the time with me." Carlilse said.

Edward huffed and whined and stormed off into the house, as Carlilse stayed with Jacob and Bella.

"you'll have to forgive him. he's sensitive on his little guy side." The proud daddy said.

"heh, I see. soo..you watched the show with him..did he ever sing along?" Jacob asked, and got a playful elbow to his gut from Bella.

"...You didn't hear it from me, but yes."

In the house Edward was huffing, he should of known this was a mistake considering recent events but Bella had been begging to come up for awhile and Jacob too. Still the teenaged vampire was huffing lots as they came in.

Jacob was whistling the chipmunks theme and Bella was chuckling which didn't help Edwards attuide at the least bit.

"Look here scooby doo. unless you wanna throw down knock it off!" Edward growled.

"Heh, how did you know I loved that show? scooby dooodoo!" Jacob mimicked and then winked.

"...your a scrappy doo at best." Edward growled and went to storm off.

"So you DID watch that one too~ how many cartoons does widdle Edward li-" Jacob started but Carlilse's fingers were on his lips.

"Edward, don't storm off. I thought they knew and you know how cute I thought you were." Carlilse said and letting go of Jacob, was by Edward and hugging him.

Edward huffed and squirmed, but gave in even as Bella and Jacob smirked.

"You'll have to teach me how to calm him down that quick, he gets so huffy sometimes." Bella teased.

"Oh? It's not that hard,m you just have to give him the right hugs, I got LOTS of practice with it calming him down when he'd get such bad di-" Carlilse started but Edward was slapping a hand over his fathers mouth.

"Shut uppppppp!" Edward hissed.

"Ok I'm sorry, where you about to say diaper?" Jacob asked, looking tickled pink.

Bella meanwhile was wrinkling her nose as the mental image of Edward in a massive cloth diaper with a huge safety pin though it flashed into her mind.

"No he wasn't! shut your damn mutt mouth and go wait in the car wh-" Edward started but then Esme was there, smiling brightly and holding a photo album.

"Oh, Are we talking about Edward's baby phase? That was sooo cute!" the proud father gushed.

"No we're n-" Edward started but now it was Jacob who cut him off.

"Yes. yes we were. Do you have pictures?" Jacob asked.

the only reason he wasn't being shushed or attacked was Carlilse could tell Edward was going to do something he'd regret and was holding the squirming teen vamp tight now.

"Edward settle down or you can go on time out young man!"

"Ok, somebody explain." Bella said as her mother in law ushered them all over to the couch to sit down.

"Well Edward was our first vampire, and he had a hard time adjusting to vampire life so we decided to give him some time to adjust with some age regression treatment. he fought us at first but soon he was running around happy in his nappies." She coo'ed opening the book up and showing off picture after picture of Edward in terry cloth diapers and plastic pants and tops, the first dozen or so had him growling and snarling, thick mittens on his hands to keep him from removing his diapers but then the fight went out of Edward and soon he was smiling brightly and doing poses.

"The hardest part was getting him to stop wearing after awhile, and we honestly humored him longer then we should of but hearing him cry for his nappies was heart breaking, plus he'd just go ahead and soil himself anyways." Esme giggled and d'aww, coming across a picture of Edward in a tug of war with Carlilse over a diaper.

"That was when we were trying to give the diaper treatment to his little brother, but Edward kept stealing the diapers. in the end we had to threaten him with a dress if he wanted his diapers so bad." Carlilse said.

"D-Did he take the deal?" Bella asked, eye wide in disbelief.

"NO I DIDN'T!!" Edward shouted and Carlilse responded with swift swat to his bottom.

"Young Man, I raised you better then to lie to your wife like that!" he scolded even as Edward whined and whimpered. "What happens to little fibbers in this house?"

"D-Daddy no!" Edward whined and whimpered, but it was for not as he was lead away by the ear, his buns having a date with a hairbrush and his mouth having one with a bar of soap.

As he left the room he heard Bella gasp of disbelief and Jacob's howls of laughter, and just before he was out of hearing range, Jacob called out.

"Pink is DEFIANTLY your color fang boy!"

"Dad..dad come on, you don't have to do this! You should be getting mom to stop! can't you see Bella is getting freaked out?" Edward whined as Carlilse got him into the bathroom and and pointed at a corner where a small red circle was with one hand as he turned on the water and started to get a bar of soap all foamy.

I'm more shocked you never told her about this side of you Edward, Honesty about kinks are important for a healthy marriage." Carlilse lectured and then brought the soap over.

"L-Look I tried but I found out she's super freaked out about little's ok..I figured if I didn't say anything it would be all good..I never expected you and mom to go all dotting parents!"

"See now thats where you were being super silly. If I didn't love you and wanna let you be a little guy from time to time would I of kept all your old baby stuff in the basement?" Carlilse asked then motioned for Edward to open his which the sulking vampire did.

"Honestly with all of you kids moving out me and your mother have been getting a little lonely.. So I was gonna offer to babysit you some time. " Carlilse added as he popped the soap into the sulking vamp's mouth, then tugged down the back of Edwards pants and passed for a send, chuckling softly.

"Mmmfh!?" Edward whined around the soap, bubbles forming and trailing down his chin.

"I see you're still a lousy wiper." Carlilse teased then yanked the crap stained tightie whites up and took the hair brush to Edward's poor buns.

"So.. Edward's stopped doing all of this baby stuff now though right?" Bella asked, feeling like she was in a nightmare.

the love of her life was just a big fucking baby, she was suddenly putting it all together in her head as she had flashbacks of him getting too into being teased with baby talk from her, all the cuddling.. and just how many of his 'accidents' he'd been having lately were actual accidents?!

"He mostly stopped after you and him started to date dear. Though he's come back for some treatment. Usually when you're being a little bit of a whore and getting fucked by the mutt." Esme said all matter of factually, making Bella and Jacob jaw drop.

"I'm not stupid and have almost caught you a few time...But I'm sure Edward doesn't know." she went as if she hadn't just dropped that bombshell.

"I uh.. I just.. see.. He just. I.." Bella stammered.

"Well put. you know, for someone who's getting all high and mighty about Edward being just a big baby and not telling you, Fucking around with a were wolf isn't model behavior. While Carlilse is giving Edward a spanking and a mouth washing I think you and I need to have a talk about what I expect from you and doggie here unless you wanna see what a centuries old vampire is capable of when you hurt her little man."

Bella gulped and looked to Jacob for help, while he found something rather interesting on the floor.

Bun's red and mouth tasting like soap, a tear stained cheeks Edward made his way into the living room, in just his undies and rubbing his butt as he kept glancing over his shoulder to give his dad a sour look.

"Edward has something he'd like to say to everyone, don't you Edward? Carlilse said and gave his son a thumbs up.

"A-Actually Uh..Yeah, I have something to say first." Bella said, getting up and trying not to notice that despite the bratty toddler attuide Edward was giving off, the vamp was tenting his undies.

"Edward I can't be with someone who'd rather crap himself in diapers and suck on his toes then have some beers and make love to me. I'm leaving you for Jacob, and you can just stay here and baby out." She said, then practically ran out the door, Jacob looking at Edward with a half smile.

"Look at it this way little guy, you get diapers and I get the girl. we both win." Jacob said then took off after Bella.

Edward could only stare on in shock as Bella apparently was SO eager to get out there she had started the jeep and Jacob was forced to jump in the back seat.

"W-wait..what!?" He asked, not knowing of course he'd been sent up to go back to babyhood.

that Bella's hasty retreat was because Esme had made it clear once her and Edward were broken up the skank would have 5 minutes to get off her property.

Sure, setting up Edward to be dumped like this was a little mean, but as the big baby started to brawl and cry and load the back of his undies, Mommy and daddy just smiled and gave him lots of hugs.

The end

[palettepainter]

OMG SOMEONE ELSE WHO LOVES POWER LOADER! I am such a simp for this small man 👌😔 Can i please know more about his siblings?? The one you designed?? Also your Wctoplasm x Powerloader art is GORGEOUS!

On this blog we love our tiny little dirt gremlin, honestly glad to meet another fan of him cuz he’s so underrated!

These are the ideas so far I had for Powerloader and his family and his siblings! Got a good idea in mind for his mum and dad so will hopefully draw them out later, for now this ask will just include designs for his siblings

-So Powerloader is the oldest sibling. I’ve always liked the idea of Powerloader coming from a big family, having a more down to earth upbringing before he eventually went into the city and joined at UA when he was sixteen. His parents had Powwerloader when they where still quite young, his mother had just recently turned twenty and they where still building renovations on their home (his father like himself enjoyed building and as such brought some land to build their own home). Never the less Powerloader was happily welcomed by his parents despite being a total surprise and had a very happy childhood. The next child to come along was Powerloaders younger brother, Hono

-Hono and Powerloader as kids where typical brothers, They rough housed a lot in the yard while under the watchful eye of their dad as he worked. They both rolled around in dirt, climbed trees, and tried to bring snakes into the house giving their poor mother a heart attack. Typical kid things!~ Hono, being the younger brother by five years naturally couldn’t do all the stuff Higari could do, so when his big brother pushed a heavy box he couldn’t, or climbed up a tree to get his ball with ease Hono would think he was so cool! (though Powerloader had his times of tumbling out of trees as a kid-). Their dad in particular loved to wrestle with his sons after he was finished with work, he’d more or less let his sons win of course but if he was feeling particularly playful he’d grab Hono and Powerloader under his arms like they where sacks of potates and march around with them like that, prompting many giggles from them. After Hono turned four Powerloader and him where given twin siblings, and then seven years later a baby sister

(re-did the twins designs as I felt like the yellow hair was out of place, changed it to red/brown)

-Powerloaders dad started up a mechanic business when he had finished building the family home. Powerloaders family lived and still does live in a cozy villiage off in the country. It’s got a small population and little to no villian attacks, leading to it being very peaceful. With his dad running one of the only mechanic businesses in the area, and his dad also being very passionate about engineering they drummed up a bit of business. For safety incase the business went bust their mother went out and got a proper job, and with the combined money the family runs well - for a while. Still deicing how, but before Powerloader turns sixteen their father passes away at age fourty-one. Maybe this happens in like an accident or maybe he gets a sickness, still deciding. The death left their family in pieces, and their mother heavily distraught, and heavily pregnant with their youngest sister. After the passing of their father the business gradually begins to loose popularity, and the only source of income becomes their mothers day job, leading to Powerloader having to watch over his siblings until he mother came back from work, often late and looking very tired, which only became worse after Suru was born, their mother having to take a few months off work to raise Suru until she was old enough to be left with the other kids. Their mothers crumbling mental state led to Powerloader, the child who had to take on the most responsibility, developing a habit of tugging on his hair and biting his claws when stressed (this was based off @frelmidja heaedcannones, please go check out their stuff if you’re a powerloader fan anon!)

-Both Powerloader’s parents wanted a big family, and when their father was alive both parents set aside a portion of money each month, to go towards the children’s future. Sadly with his passing, they where only able to raise enough money for both Powerloader and Hono, and only a bit for the twins - after Powerloader turns sixteen his mother hands him the save up money that herself and his father had collected for him. Powerloader’s dad also had a passion for inventing, and absolutely let his son tag along with his when he was in his work shop, and so wanted to make sure that if he wanted to peruse engineering at an elite school like UA, he’d have the chance too. It took a lot of persuasion from his mother, but after a tearful moment Higari agrees to go live in the city with relatives and apply for UA’s support course. Higari left for the city when Hono eleven, leaving him as the oldest child. His mother assured Higari they would be fine, but things aren’t fine. After loosing her husband, and now loosing her eldest child who’s now staying up in the city, their mother falls back into her downward spiral, leading to her to sometimes not be able to properly care for Higari’s siblings. Hono was confused and wasn’t sure what to do, he’d always turned to Higari for guidance, now he was alone. Hono grows up angry and violent after this, believing that Higari ditched them to start a better life without them. Hono takes on the responsibilities to care for his other siblings, and at times his mother. He had to grow up fast to care for his family, further making him angry towards his brother, who had it easy up at that decked out snobby school. He utterly despises his older brother now but deep deep deep down he just really missed him:

 Hono grows up a tempermental youth, coming off as strict and cold even to his own family - little letters from Higari make him believe he’s forgotten about them all together, leading to Hono sneaking off to the local junk yard to let off steam with his quirk. One day, Hono doesn’t get out of the way in time of his explosion, and ends up getting a big burn on the side of his body when he was twenty-six, also leading to him loosing most of his hearing in one of his ears (he doesn’t like to talk about this)

-The cost of Hono’s treatment for his burns was another loss to the family financially, as their mother lost her job due to her being unable to meet up with the jobs demands, which meant the cost of his treatment had to come out of the money their father had saved up for them. While Hono recovered the twins the twins took up part time work at a pub while their mother continued search for a job in the city. Once she did the twins quit their jobs at the pub and reopened their fathers mechanic business to be closer to home. Taiho taking priority of the prices for payment and parts and Chikara taking the role as actual engineer. After Hono had recovered from his burns he became much more softer towards his family, though the injury was a scare to himself and the family, it did open up Hono’s eyes for how immature he was being, and ever since began to act more like a proper role model for his siblings. While the twins and his mother have their jobs, Hono manages the house work and looking after their youngest sister. He teaches her the ropes of mechanics like their father once did to Higari and then Higari to him. Hono takes Suru under his wing, treating her with a lot more care with her being the youngest, so he feels naturally protective of her. The two handled the cooking and up keeping of the home and yard up until their mother retired, when Hono then went out to take up a demolition job and Suru began to work in the mechanic business alongside Taiho and Chakara

Those are all my main story points but here are some more minor points I may work more on in the future with their story:

-The family own a dog named Benji,He’s an old dog now so spends most of his days curled up by the fire, but they all love him

-All of the Maijima children have some kind of scar of injury. Higari’s digging claws are scratched and slightly chipped in parts where he would bite on them when he was nervous, Hono has a scar over his side, Taiho has a scar over his nose, Chakara has a torn ear and Suru many little scars and scrapes from her time working in the mechanic business

-All of the siblings in a way, minus Suru, are envious of Higari to some degree. While Higari got to go off and go to UA, be a hero, persure a career he loves and even get married and settle down, they all had to sacrifice their own goals and dreams to support their family. The twins never voice this as to not be rude but Hono is very open about this

-Hono hates Ectoplasm with the heat of a thousand suns. Hates hates HATES him. He thinks Ectoplasm stole away their brother and was the reason why Higari never came back, he often gives Ectoplasm the silent treatment on the rare occasions he and Higari come to visit.

-Their quirks are:

Hono - Landmine,  Landmine allows the user to bestow explosive properties on anything they’ve touched. The explosions could be detonated at will. The explosives they create are noted to not be very strong, but they’re still powerful enough to deal a lot of damage to a person if they’re used in numbers

Taiho - Cannon ball (made up quirk), he can roll himself into a perfect ball and launch themselves into objects at high speeds while sustaining little damage. 

Chakara - Super strength, name speaks for itself, she has super strength on the same level as Higari, only person thus far to beat him in an arm wrestling match

Suru - Blowtorch (made up), can produce flames from the metal caps on the ends of her fingers, she can control how hot, large and powerful these flames are 

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

Scars That Heal || Eddie Kaspbrak x Reader Series

• Ch. 1: Please Don’t Go, Girl •

- 𝗝𝗨𝗡𝗘 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟵 -

     The final bell at Derry High School rang, doors flung open and a mix of disorderly students had spilled out into the halls like sheep. Books were being hurled into the trash, lockers emptied out, papers were strewn all over - summer had officially commenced. Swept up among the madness is Bill Denbrough, Richie Tozier, Stan Uris, and Eddie Kaspbrak.

     Eddie was abnormally small for his age, his inhaler holstered in his medicine-filled fanny pack to his left, Stan. A tall boy with curly blonde hair and wore a kippah, next to him was Bill, a young gangly boy with a stutter. And Richie Tozier, who wore glasses and was notorious for being a trash mouth. He was Eddie's best friend.

     In that same moment, one floor down, Y/n L/n flooded into the hallway with her classmates, exhaling in relief. She scanned the hallways and glazed over the many figures of the crowd hoping to catch sight of a familiar head of fiery red hair that belonged to her best friend. Beverly had excused herself near the end of class for a smoke in the girl’s bathroom, naturally, that was where she was headed to find her friend.

     Y/n weaved her way through the hallway stuffed with people, walking on her toes hoping to get a better look above the mass of heads. She passed through the stairway, cringing at the sudden influx in volume caused by the echo from the rowdy students in the stairway. That's when she spotted Greta Bowie.

     Y/n cursed under her breath as she saw the 13-year-old bully heading for the top of the stairs. She got a bad feeling in her stomach and she immediately knew where Greta was headed.

     Beverly and Y/n were the bully's favorite victims, particularly Bev. And Y/n had an inkling Greta was looking for her Beverly too.

     Y/n sprinted up the steps after her, the swarm of students blocking her way. Up ahead, she saw Greta reach the landing of the second floor and she shoved herself past one of Richie Tozier's friends, who turned to glare at her.

     At that moment, two rambunctious boys who were racing down the stairs, and much too absorbed in their interaction hadn't seemed to realize they were obstructing her path. And blocking Greta out in the process.

     She huffed. "Do you mind- Hey!"

     Rather than stop, the two boys blew past her on either side, their shoulders crashing into hers as they sneered. Her heart leaped into her throat as she felt herself lose balance. She lost her footing and was sent tumbling backward down a few stairs and onto the landing, a few students slowing her fall. Luckily, she hadn't made it far up the stairs. Had she, and Y/n would have left the school in a wheelchair, or worse.

     "Fuck!"

     Laughter erupted around her and she lay there, the wind knocked out of her. The two boys never even acknowledged the damage they had caused and they were well on their way to the exit of the school. Figures.

     "Hey, are y-y-you, o-okay?" Y/n peered up and saw four boys hurrying down the steps towards her.

     One of the boys, Richie Tozier, she recognized. At Derry High School, it was almost impossible not to know about the trash mouth, but she also had a handful of classes with him. They had even been partnered up once at the beginning of the year.

     Y/n had a hard time figuring out what he actually sounded like that day, he kept switching between so many different accents.

     "I'm fine," She sat up abruptly, wincing and hissed in pain, clutching her elbow.

     "You sure?" Asked the curly-haired boy, who was peeking his slightly over his friends. "That was some fall you took."

     "You know toots, when people come barreling towards me, I usually get out of the way, but you know, that's just me." Said Richie, readjusting his glasses.

     Y/n rolled her eyes, huffing. "Ever learn how to shut up, Tozier?"

     "Nah, still trying to crack that one."

     Eddie, who had been unusually quiet, hesitantly brought his hand out to her to help her up. She took it gratefully, forcing a smile, still wincing from her fall. And Y/n muttered a thanks.

     The poor hypochondriac boy realized what he had done and quickly reached into his fanny pack, grabbing his pocket-sized hand sanitizer. He squeezed a small amount into his palm and quickly rubbed it into his hands frantically, though a small blush resided on his cheeks.

     Y/n would have taken slight offense to the kid's actions but she was far too distracted by the fact that Greta had gotten away.

     She was probably terrorizing Beverly right now, Y/n thought.

     "Are you sure you're okay? That looked like a really bad fall." Stan asked.

     Y/n forced another smile as she rotated her ankle wincing. "Yeah, I'm fine thanks. Look I rea-"

     Eddie, whose voice finally caught up with his brain, began speaking rapidly, cutting her off unintentionally.

     "You should take extra precaution with your ankle for a while. Did you know over one million stair related injuries occur every year, and people who have them, statistically speaking are more likely to experience another incident due to injury from the first fall?"

     Y/n blinked a few times, still trying to catch up with his words. Richie and Stan smirked at one another and Bill looked between his friend and the baffled girl before him. Bill remembered how it was hearing Eddie speak for the first time. It took him a couple of weeks before he could hold a conversation with him without asking him to repeat himself.

     "Uh, yeah, I think I heard that somewhere, thanks. I'll keep an eye on it. Uh, listen, thanks for the concern, and the help, but I really gotta go," Y/n said quickly, not as fast, but close to, Eddie's speed.

     The unexpected response triggered a few raised eyebrows among the three boys, and a small smile formed on Eddie's face.

     Y/n nodded and gestured to the top of the stairs behind them.

     "Excuse me," She said, pushing her way through between Eddie and Stan.

     Eddie and the rest of the boys turned and watched as she squeezed through the flood of students like a fish swimming upstream. Eventually, they saw her [b/t] figure disappear into the crowd at the top of the stairs.

     Without his eyes leaving the spot through which she disappeared, Eddie spoke up.

     "Hey, Richie, who was that?"

     Richie looked between his best friend and the stairs.

     "Y/n L/n. Why? You want to get in her pants?" He chuckled.

     Eddie's face scrunched up and he shook his head feverishly, though it didn't stop Richie from noticing the pinkish hue creeping up on Eddie's cheeks and Richie suddenly regretted his joke.

     "Aw, nothing to be ashamed of Eds. We're happy you're finally going after a woman that's not your mother!" Richie said, plastering on a smirk.

     Eddie then launched into a lecture about the nickname and the four boys continued downstairs.

     Meanwhile, at just past the top of the stairs Y/n approached the bathroom just as Greta and her posse were leaving. They were snickering and Greta met Y/n's eye and burst into laughter, her friends following suit.

     "Oh, crap." Y/n took off into the bathroom.

     "Beverly?"

     Y/n didn't need to hear a response to figure out where her friend was. She winced when she saw the water pooling out from the far right stall. Mixed into it were various pieces of garbage that were floating amongst it.

     "Beverly? It's me, come on open up," Y/n knocked softly on the stall, and she took a step back when it swung open.

     There Beverly stood, her legs and the end of her dress soaked and dripping. Beverly looked at her best friend, a deadpan look on her face. She held her drenched backpack out away from herself, it swung slightly where the handle was hooked around her finger. There were wet napkins and paper towels that still clung to her backpack.

     "Shit, I'm sorry. I tried going after her, but I... guess I fell short." Y/n chuckled weakly at her own joke, but quickly shook her head. "Never mind. Here, let's get you dried off."

×××

     "Best feeling in the world,"

     Stan emptied the contents of his backpack into the trashcan in the courtyard, his friends did the same.

     Richie turned to his friend, putting his backpack back on.

     "Yeah? Try tickling your pickle for the first time."

     Eddie, who was used to ignoring the cheeky quips from Richie, turned to the others.

     "Hey, what do you guys want to do tomorrow?"

     Richie looked to Eddie, answering as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

     "I start my training."

     "Wait, what training?"

     "Street Fighter."

     "Is that how you wanna spend your summer? Inside of an arcade?"

     Without missing a beat, Richie replied and shrugged.

     "Beats spending it inside your mother," he turned to Stan, waiting for a high five.

     Without a thought, Stan forced Richie's arm down, and the conversation continued.

     "What if we go to the quarry?" He asked.

     Bill leaned slightly on the trashcans as he replied.

     "Guys, we have the b-b-ba-barrens,"

     An awkward silence fell over them and Stan nodded in understanding. "Right."

     At that moment, Eddie caught sight of a woman standing on the sidewalk, her eyes puffy from crying. They were accompanied by bags under them, and she waited with the police. She scanned the entryway, hoping to find a familiar face.

     Eddie nodded. "Betty Ribosome's mom,"

     The boys all turned to follow his eye.

     "Is she really expecting to see her come out of that school?" Stan asked sadly.

     "I don't know," Eddie muttered. "As if Betty Ripsome's been hiding in Home Ec. for the last few weeks."

     "You think they'll actually find her?"

     Richie answered immediately, with a slight scoff.

     "Sure. In a ditch. All decomposed, covered in worms and maggots, smelling like Eddie's mom's underwear."

     Eddie cringed and began sputtering. "Shut up! That's fricking disgusting."

     "S-she’s not dead." Bill urged. "S-sh-she's just m-missing."

     Richie adjusted his glasses nervously, and he felt a twinge of guilt knowing he hit a sore subject with his friend. Bill was still insistent that his own younger brother was still missing. After his little brother's disappearance months ago, still hoping he was out there somewhere.

     "Sorry, Bill. She's missing."

     Another silence fell over the four friends. They began walking away towards their bikes.

     "You know, the Barrens aren't that bad," Richie began. "Who doesn't love splashing around in shitty water?"

     Richie was stopped in his tracks, a hand had reached out and grabbed his backpack, and before he knew it he was thrown into Stan and the two boys fell in the grass.

     Patrick Hockstetter kneeled over Stan. He wore a wicked grin and was waving his kippah in his face. "Nice frisbee, flamer."

     Stan reached desperately for it, but Patrick kept it well out of his reach. "Give it back!"

     He rose to his feet and tossed the kippah straight into an open window of a passing school bus. "Fucking losers!"

     Eddie was too distracted to notice Belch Huggins creep up behind him. He burped into his face, causing him to gag profusely and Belch gave him a shove.

     Henry Bowers, the leader of the little gang and the one who knocked over Stan and Richie, stormed passed the boys. Bill went red in the face with anger and he shouted after them.

     "Y-y-you, s-s-s-suck, Bowers!"

"Shut up, Bill!" Richie warned.

     But it was too late, Henry and his friends stopped in their tracks, turning around to face the stuttering boy.

     "You suh-suh-suh-say something, buh-buh-buh-Billy?" He asked, feigning a stutter.

     He stalked towards him, towering over him menacingly.

     "You got a free ride this year 'cause of your little brother. Ride's over, Denbrough."

     Henry caught the noise of indistinct radio chatter and he looked past Bill, at his father, the chief of police. The scruffy man took off his glasses and glared at his son. Henry tried to shake it off but he backed up slightly.

     "This summer's gonna be a hurt train, for you and your faggot friends."

     Henry licked his palm and wiped it across Bill's face. Patrick snickered and three bullies retreated the car, where their other friend Victor Criss was waiting.

     Stan and Richie joined Bill and Eddie's side, glaring after the Bowers Gang.

     "I wish he'd go missing," Richie muttered.

     Eddie nodded. "He's probably the one doing it."

×××

     Ben Hanscom grabs the handles of his bike with one hand and carefully moves it out of the rack. He was balancing a diorama of the Derry Standpipe in his other hand. He looked around the courtyard briefly, seeing the noiseless chatter of students around him as his music blasts in his ears. Completely unaware he and his bike were blocking the stairs.

     A now somewhat dry Beverly Marsh stood on the stairs waiting to pass. Y/n, who had helped her dry off in the bathroom, had promptly realized she never had the chance to clean out her locker. The duo decided to meet each other at their shared apartment complex. To kick off the summer break, Beverly was going to stay at Y/n's apartment for the night, and get a much-deserved break from her father.

     Beverly prickled at the small obstacle. She was impatient from the day's events and to get home and grab a change of clothes before her father got home from work. Eager to disappear to Y/n's next door. But the boy blocking the stairs didn't seem to know he was even doing it.

      "You gonna let me go by?" Beverly asked, bringing him out of his stupor. "Or is there a secret password or something?"

     Ben turned suddenly, and when he saw who it was before him, his stomach did flips and his heart was aflutter. He harbored a crush for the girl, ever since he first laid eyes on her in class. She never failed to make him blush, just with a simple look.

     "Oh," he turned his head down to the ground quickly to hide his scarlet face. "Um, sorry,"

     "Sorry's not," She trailed off when the diorama he had been holding fell to the ground, and he scrambled to pick it up. "password."

     Just as he had picked up his diorama, his bike fell to the ground. She felt a wave of guilt for being snarky, he was clearly sorry and at this point she knew, he had enough on his plate. Someone they both had to worry about. Henry Bowers.

     "Henry and his goons are over by the west entrance, so you should be fine," she eased, and Ben looked at her taken aback.

     "Oh, I wasn't--"

     "Everyone knows he's looking for you," she nodded.

     Ben sighed and shied away. She smiled and took a few steps forward, grabbing the headphones off his head.

     "What you listening to?"

     Ben was in shock, but he stood still waiting for the inevitable teasing she would bring. But instead she smiled brightly, making his heart pound faster and he could feel his face grow hotter.

     "New Kids on The Block," She took the headphones back off.

     "I don't even like them. I was just--"

     "Wait. You're the new kid, right? Now I get it."

     His heart sunk.

     "There's nothing to get."

     "I'm just messing with you," she assured.

     She placed the headphones on top of his head, and he promptly grabbed them, wrapping them around his head as best he could with one hand.

     "I'm Beverly Marsh"

     "Yeah. I know that 'cause we're in the same class. Social Studies. And you were..." he trailed off, and shook his head slightly. "I'm Ben. But pretty much everybody just calls me..."

     "The new kid," Beverly finished, nodded in understanding. "Well, Ben, there are worse things to be called. Let me sign this."

     She stepped forward, grabbing the yearbook she had spotted sticking out of his backpack. Bev eagerly opened it up to the front and her face fell seeing nothing but blank pages save for the word typed in black ink, 'Autographs'. Grabbing the pen from her belt, she bit the cap and held it between her teeth as she signed her name, unknowingly being watched in admiration by Ben. His eyes just poking up from the book.

     She recapped the pen and handed the yearbook back to Ben. "Stay cool, Ben from sosh class."

     "Uh, yeah," He turned to watch her leave, smiling brightly after her. "You too, Beverly."

     As he watched her walk away, she called without turning her head, acknowledging his response. "Hang tough, new kid on the block."

     Ben smirked at her clever reference to the boy bands' song, and a big stupid grin formed on his face. He chuckled, shaking his head softly, not believing his luck and her kindness.

     He called back out to her, moments too late. "Please Don't Go, Girl. That's the name of another New Kids on the Block song,"

     His words trailed off, knowing he had been too late. Hopefully, she hadn't heard it, he thought. And it seemed she hadn't. He shook his head, ashamed but relieved she hadn't heard it. Nevertheless, he had a new firm hand on his bike and diorama, determined not to drop them again and he walked his bike to the entrance, his headphones trailing behind him and his heart still aflutter.

     Who cares that no one else signed my yearbook, he thought. When the only person he actually wanted to, did.

+++

@seasidecrowbar @bevxmarsh @supernovavision @readyforitbitch @classiprincess @edsloveshisrichie @sivords @ravenclawsprincess @pigwidgexn @kricketwritesstories @sweetpeasserpentprincess23 @plum-duels @edmunds-torch @eddiegaykaspbrak @rosi3e @welcome-to-derry @beepbeep-pennywise @candycorntroll @bibliophilesquared @ongaku-ato-kakikomi @cocastyle @peachysinnermon @mochibarnes @captainshazamerica

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[zootopiathingz]

Oppression (A Bug’s Life AU)

Description: You know the story. Now get ready to see it again in a whole different light.

On an isolated island lives a kingdom of ant/human people, who struggle to harvest enough food for themselves and their allies, the Grasshoppers. After a young and clumsy inventor causes an incident that puts the kingdom in danger, the Queen's council allow him to search far off the land to make allies with warriors. But after realizing he hired street performers by mistake, he and the newest allies must keep up the act to save the kingdom.

Chapter I: Small Issues

We are not stronger by our number, but rather by our bravery.

Light was only provided by the rising sun on the hot summer morning. Everyone had already begun their daily routines by then, and most of it was cleaning their houses, and of course, gathering food for the offering. Something they dreaded but wouldn't dare express apprehension about. This was something that most had been doing since they were young.

The island wasn't too large, but it was expandable enough to sustain life for the kingdom. Most of it just consisted of the village and the castle. The village was for the harvesters, the teachers, and sadly, the homeless. Most everyone lived in that part, and while doing their best to keep it clean, failed to keep it beautified. It wasn't the worst it could be, though. As without the Grasshoppers' protection, they would be in much worse, more horrid conditions.

The castle was huge, and though very old, was in excellent shape. The marble floors, the golden thrones for the royal family, the large bedrooms, and so on. There was plenty of room for almost everyone in the kingdom, but the only residents were the queen, the two princesses, the council, and servants.

The queen ruler of the island for as long as anyone could remember. She had more power ever since the disappearance of her husband. She was old but very beautiful and surprisingly optimistic and laidback. Despite the conditions her kingdom was in, she didn't focus on the negative aspects of life. She laughed and made jokes, she had a smile that lit up a whole room.

Her daughters were much younger and just as beautiful. Princess Atta was the eldest, soon to be queen herself. She was barely older than a teenager and had the body and the beauty of a goddess. However, she wasn't as positive and calm as her mother. In fact, she was the opposite. She was always worrying about something, never seeing things the way her mother or sister did. Perhaps it was the stress of taking over soon, or the alliance with the clan of grasshopper hybrids. But she was always stressed.

As for the youngest, Princess Dot was not even nine-years-old yet. She was shorter than most kids her age, and despite being royalty, she was always being picked on by classmates. She attended an elementary school in the village, despite her sister's attempts to try to educate her herself. She liked to be positive and carefree like her mother, but it didn't help that everyone was always telling her what she could and could not do.

The offering was a large collection of food, mostly by the harvesters, near the edge of the island. It was piled up and mostly contained fruits and crops, but had some meat and desserts made by the chefs as well. Every year on the summer solstice, the Grasshoppers would arrive at the island to eat the food that had been offered to them, not even interacting with the island's inhabitants, and leave not long after. It was apart of the deal that the clan's leader and the queen made years ago. The ant hybrids offered them food in exchange for protection from outsiders. The history of this exchange was dark, and no one dared to speak of it.

The royal family would often supervise the offering, especially on the day of the Grasshoppers' arrival. They had to make sure it was perfect, or lord only knew what would happen. This was really the only time Princess Atta ever left the castle. Otherwise, she was hidden away in her bedroom or throne room. Her mother and sister would often walk through the village together, and Dot would attend her classes every weekday. But Atta lived a different life, a life she chose to keep to herself.

The sun was rising rapidly it seemed, mainly due to the tension and anxiousness in the air. Everyone felt it, but no one would discuss it. All the harvesters were in line, dropping their food onto the pile before going to collect more in an exhausting cycle. Princess Atta and her mother were standing not too far in front of it, being shaded by their servants while the council was supervising everyone.

Atta watched as the sun was rising higher, getting closer to noon. And she knew exactly what that would mean. She was nervous, despite knowing the process wouldn't involve any interaction with the Grasshoppers at all. She would constantly glance back at the ocean for any signs of boats arriving their way, even though there was already a look-out team at the coast that would blow their horns when signs of the clan were visible.

"Oh dear," She paced back and forth, rubbing her hands, "They'll be here soon.”

"You will be fine, dear." Her mother said calmly, walking over to try to relax her poor daughter. She waved her hand to dismiss the servants from shading them, in which they obeyed immediately. She took Atta's hand and stepped away from the offering, "There is nothing to worry about, honestly. It is the same process year after year. They come, they eat, they leave. We do not even have to greet them. We've been doing this since you were young."

"Yes, I know." The princess sighed, nodding. "I suppose it’s because I will be taking your place soon, and if anything goes awry, it will be all on me. I do not know if I can take such pressure."

The queen sighed, "It's not an easy job, I understand. I was just like you when I was your age. That cautiousness and unwillingness to fail is what makes a good leader. But what also makes a good leader is confidence. You need to trust in yourself that when the time comes, you will know what to do."

Atta nodded again, "I understand, Mother. I shall try." Though, she knew her mother had a point, she knew that self-confidence was something she never had a day in her life. And she wasn't going to obtain it so easily through a pep talk.

The queen smiled as she picked up her beloved dog, Aphie, a chihuahua/aphid hybrid. "If it makes you feel any less worried, my little Aphie here believes you will do a marvelous job. Is that not right, baby?" She asked, holding the dog up with pride. Atta chuckled, knowing her mother had always been fond of Aphie since forever. She wasn't much of a dog person, but whatever made her mom happy made her happy, too.

"Ditch Dot!" A boy yelled to his friend as they sprinted passed the royals, utterly ignoring the workers walking in a line. But surprisingly, they didn't bump into any of them.

"Hey, come back here!" The young princess yelled, quickly trying to chase after them. But she wasn't as fast as they were. She attempted to use her wings to lift her off the ground, but they failed to even raise her for a second, causing her to land on her knees.

"Dot!" The queen exclaimed, somewhat angrily as she and Atta walked over to her.

"Yes, Mother?" Dot asked dreadfully, already knowing she was going to be scolded for her actions.

"What have we said about trying to fly?" The queen asked rhetorically, "You are far too young to even be trying! Your wings have to grow in first."

"But Mother—" She was about to protest as she stood up properly, brushing dirt off of her dress.

Atta sighed, "Dot, you are a young princess and your wings are too little—"

"I was taking to Mother." Dot said to her sister, putting her hands to her hips. "You are not the queen yet, Atta! I do not have to listen to you!"

The queen bent down to pat her youngest's shoulder, "Now, now, Dot, be nice to your sister. She's under a lot of pressure and she does not need that kind of attitude."

"It's not my fault that she's so stressed out!" Dot scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Atta sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Yes, I know, I am not the best at handling pressure. I'm always acting like the sky is falling."

"Uhh..your highness?" Spoke Thorny, a prideful member of the council. He was in charge of counting the food to make sure they had the amount that the Grasshoppers' demanded. "We have a small issue."

"How small?" Atta asked warily.

He pointed over to a certain harvester, who was carrying a large amount of grain and fruits in his arms. And everyone immediately knew exactly who it was, and why this wasn't such a good sign.

Oh god no. Atta thought with dread, deciding to see what was going on. She plastered on a fake smile as she walked over to him, Thorny and another council member, Cornelius, not too far behind her.

Atta approached the harvester she recognized, "Flik, that's quite the amount you have there. How did you manage to collect all of this?"

Flik was someone that everyone knew, but nobody liked. He was always the one to make elaborate plans that never worked and make inventions that backfired horribly. He was clumsy and a little naive, but smart when it came to technological advancements that no one wanted. He was young, about the same age as Atta but slightly taller and not as pale.

He smiled brightly, just as he always did upon seeing her. "Oh, Princess Atta! I collected these by using my new invention for harvesting crops. We almost never have any time to collect food for ourselves, since we spend all season gathering for the offering! But this shall speed up production!"

"Another invention..?" Atta asked, failing to keep her fake smile. She didn't want to be rude to him, but even she knew his inventions never worked and were ultimately useless.

"Yes! Oh, and I made something for you, too!" He said proudly, quickly placing the food down to grab something out of the bag on his back. "Since you are going to be queen soon, you may use this to oversee production!" He explained as he pulled out a moderately sized telescope, with a small carving on the side. "It works fairly well, and I made it green since I know it's your favorite color!"

"Uh..that's very kind of you, Flik," Atta said, unsure on how else to respond. But she really needed him to cooperate and collect food the way everyone else was. He could be goofy and clumsy any other day of the year, just not today.

Flik peered through the telescope as he pointed it at her, seeing close-up to her gorgeous face. "Why hello there, Princess! My, aren't you looking lovely this morning!" He said in a playful tone, then put it down as he blushed, "But of course, one would not need a telescope to see that."

Thorny walked over and snatched the telescope from his hands, tossing it aside. "Alright, that's enough from you! The princess does not have time for this nonsense!" He said angrily, having to look up at the young man since he was taller, "You wish to help us get this done?"

Flik nodded, somewhat nervously from the man's tone.

"Then dispose of whatever you made, get back in line, and collect the crops like everybody else!" Thorny exclaimed sternly.

"Like everybody else!" Cornelius repeated, stomping his cane down.

Flik looked over at Atta, who nodded at him to do as told. "I-I'm sorry. I did not mean—" He said, then sighed as they all pointed for him to leave. "I was just trying to help." He murmured as he walked away.

Dot looked down at the telescope that Thorny tossed, then back up at Flik as he left the council. She frowned and picked up the telescope, managing to sneak away from the council as they walked over to the offering.

"New way to harvest." Cornelius scoffed, "Why, we've been harvesting the same way ever since I was an infant!"

[writermich18]

BNHA AU - Midoriya Clan are Record Keepers

Since long before Quirks appeared, hell, long before America had been taken by the British, the Midoriya Clan have been record keepers.

Izuku can remember the nights when all the doors and windows were closed and locked and he would be huddled up in his parents’ bed with his dad and mom cuddling him, listening to the whispers of his father’s stories.

Closed doors and whispered voices were a sign that a tale was being told and for you to listen for it might save your life in the Midoriya household.

The one tale that had always stuck with Izuku, however, was a tale nobody remembers. A tale whispered in the Midoriya Clan for 200 years. A tale you won’t hear about in the history books or from the People. A tale lost to Time, only remembered by the Midoriya Clan because the sole survivor of the tale told them it and asked them to keep it.

His father had called it the Tale of the Forgotten Hero.

Izuku called it the Tragedy of the Two Lost Brothers.

Even though he had only been told the tale once, as is custom in the Midoriya Clan, he remembers every word. Sometimes even whispered the tale to himself during the rougher days of elementary and middle school. It was forbidden to repeat stories already told, even to yourself, but Izuku needed to hear the story during those days.

The tale was a Tragedy, Izuku knew, but it also was a story of Hope in the Darkest of Days.

So, as Izuku watches everybody around him and holds Eri close because he’s the only one she’s letting close to him, in the hospital, recovering. He remembers the tale and the emotions it gave him.

So, as the adults in the room try to figure out a way to do the tests on Eri without causing a breakdown, Izuku carefully sets Eri down beside him on the hospital bed and adjusts their position so she’s laying next to him and they’re cuddling. Grimacing only a little bit as his injuries twitch and scream at him in irritation at his movements.

She stares at him in confusion, holding tight to his hospital gown.

He smiles at him and, ignoring every Midoriya instinct screaming at him to not tell the tale before non-Midoriya’s, whispers, “Would you like to hear a tale?” Eri blinks at him and tilts her head.

“Tale?” she whispers back. He nods. It may be forbidden, he thinks back to his instincts, but she needs this. Just let me give her something to hold on to as Hope. The instincts quiet down just like he knew they would.

“Would you like to hear a tale? You don’t have to,” he repeats the question, voice still in a whisper.

She thinks about it then nods her head, curling up closer to Izuku.

Izuku breathes in then out. He stares at the ceiling. The tale comes easily to him once he begins.

He begins, whispering the tale to Eri like all of his ancestors before him,

“This story takes place 200 years ago, around the beginning of the First Quirk Appearance. There were two orphan siblings, one older and one younger. The older brother was born with a Quirk. The younger brother was born Quirkless.”

“When the younger brother was six years old, one day on his way home from school, a van appeared and took him away. The van belonged to the government. He was sent to, what was called, the Lab.”

Eri’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, “But he’s Quirkless? I thought only Quirked people were taken .” Eri had also tensed at the word Lab. Izuku rubs her arm up and down soothingly.

“Not this Lab. This lab has been taking Quirkless children by the millions since the 20th century, long before Quirks showed up. And they had many facilities all over the world.” What’s even more of a tragedy was that this was a government-funded agency. There would be no Heroes and officers rescuing these children, not with the bureaucracy in the way. Izuku kept this thought to himself.

Eri looks up at him, “What about the Quirked brother? How did he react?”

Izuku shrugs and shakes his head. “Nobody knows. The only survivor who came forward to tell his story was the younger brother. We don’t know the older brother’s side. And this tale is lost through time so nobody knows the story.” Eri frowns sadly at that.

“The Lab and its Men in White Lab Coats tormented and experimented on these children. Few survived after the first couple of experiments. The younger brother being one of the few survivors. His birth name is lost in Time, having been forcibly changed to Subject 27 by the Men in White Lab Coats, codenamed First by the other children while they were in the Lab. For Subject 27 had been the first child since the Lab’s establishment whose body had accepted the experiments. The first who was able to access and use the powers forced inside of him and buried into his DNA. There were four other children out of the 25 million stuck in the Japanese branch’s Lab who survived the experiments. They were Subjects 100, 48, 19, and 9, codenamed Jagger, Gadget, Ruff, and Tiny respectively. When First was 14 years old, so a year younger than my age, some of the newbies started rebelling. They almost escaped if they hadn’t been killed off or dead because of the experiments, much to the Men in White Lab Coats’ disappointment. The five children who had survived the experiments had observed what had happened, using Jagger’s electronic power, noting the do’s and don’ts of escaping. Then, they conserved their energy, doing less as good on their training simulations but passing it off as their body just recovering from the latest set of experiments.” 

He pauses to take a breath and let Eri digest what she was being told. The trembling that had started up once he talked about the experiments and such slowed down when he mentioned they were planning to escape.

She looks up at him in confusion when she realizes that he wasn’t talking anymore, “Why’d you stop?” He smiles softly in response and continues.

“So, when the time was right, they struck. Jagger turned off all the power and purposely spread a computer virus to every single electronic in the facility. Unleashing the eldritch monsters some of the poor children had turned into because of the experiments due to their mind not being able to handle it. While also releasing the five children from their cages. While the poor monster children caused chaos and brought revenge upon their creators before the injuries and the experiments finally kill them, the five children escape in the chaos. Tiny gathers up all the paper evidence they will need, Ruff steals their weapons, Gadget turns each chemical component in the Lab into a bomb using the power forced upon her, and First weakens the infrastructure using her telekinetic powers. They stole an automatic self-driving car and First set the entire facility on fire while Jagger forced the electronic fence to open up then close behind them, turning up the electricity as it closes. According to First, it had set on fire soon after. They watched as the place they had known for most of their lives burn down to the ground. They knew the government agency would be after them, so they went on the run. Relying on each other to survive. Tiny and Jagger sent all the information they had gathered to the media on every platform, including the public internet.”

Izuku takes another breath and looks down to see Eri had laid her head on his chest and had her eyes closed. She was relaxed, but Izuku knew she was listening.

He didn’t realize the conversation around him has stopped. That everybody was listening to his story now, including the Pro Heroes resting in the room with him.

“First was 18 years old by the time the revolution/protests/riots they had started up came to a close. The Lab had managed to kill off every single one of the surviving kids, until First was the only one left. But thanks to their efforts, change was coming. The government agency that once was the Lab had been stripped and forcibly shut down, the remaining children freed and returned to their family. Once the public realized that it was Quirkless children who were being taken and their own who were forcing these powers upon those children, the public fairly quickly turned in favor of the Quirked population. People lost their trust in the government. Reform was demanded. Hero Society was created in response, not only to take care of the growing number of criminals with powers, but also to gain public favor again. The public wasn’t fooled. Under First’s command, the protesters stormed government capital in every country. They sat within the capital and made change upon, with the experimented-on children, the Quirked people, and other minority groups having the most sway over what will change. The rich were executed in front of their peers, politicians were stripped of their power, and the People took control with minorities having the most say as to what changes will take place. The government took back control 20 years after these reforms; unfortunately for the government though, the people had made it impossible for any loopholes or changes to be made to their reforms. Unfortunately for the Quirkless and ‘Weak Quirk’ holders, the government responded by changing public perspective on them over the next 200 years with propaganda and painting them out to be not worthy of living in this world.”

“Subject 27, or Tsunayoshi as he grew to call himself, never found out about his older brother nor reunited with him. But he never really did give up on the idea that one of these days, his older brother was going to found out what had happened to him. Tsunayoshi had decided to keep his identity a secret so by the time the reforms happened, everybody had forgotten what he looked like. So, his brother couldn’t exactly know it was him. Tsunayoshi was 23 years old when he approached a Midoriya, a Record Keeper, and asked for them to keep his story.”

Izuku finishes the story the same way Midoriya’s always finish the story, “I tell you this tale so that you may live.”

Eri had relaxed completely, glad that the Lab was gone yet sad that the two brothers never reunited. He glanced down to see that she was fast asleep and smiles. Even though it’s a sad tale… I haven’t even introduced Papa to her and she’s already a Midoriya.

“The older brother never wondered?” Someone speaks up. Izuku flinches and turns his head to see that everybody was sitting or lying in a hospital bed, looking at him.

He blushes when he realizes that he had gotten lost in the story and forgotten where he was.

Papa’s gonna be so angry at me when he founds out…

He stammers, “E- eh? I – I - …. Uh… What?”

“The older brother,” Mirio, sitting across from him, repeats, “This Tsunayoshi’s older brother. He never wondered?”

Izuku pauses then shrugs, “We don’t know. We were only ever told Tsunayoshi’s side of the story. Neither Tsuna nor any of us Midoriyas, nor the other surviving children before their deaths, learned of what the older brother’s fate was, not even Jagger was able to find any information on him. His story never got told.” Izuku had always been saddened by that, that they don’t even have a name and the older brother never learned of where his younger brother had gone.

That was why he called it the Tragedy of the Two Lost Brothers.

[marvel-and-dc-geek]

Ich bin stolz auf dich, kleiner Bruder

A friend convinced me of writing Prussia’s POV, so here you have it !

Prussia had lived many centuries.He had met many humans, animals and countries.Yet, in his opinion, there was one who was slightly more important:his dear little bruder, Germany.

There where many reasons for it.A very significant one was simple: Prussia had been responsible for his creation.After all, even tho the rest of his brother united to make him exist, they did it by the albino’s request.It wasn’t such a surprise when he ended up looking like one his deceased brothers, but he didn’t want to hurt his feelings by bringing it up.Plus, Germany wasn’t exactly like him.

Of course, as his little bruder has been created due to him, it had been his responsibility to take care of the new nation.After all, starting is hard, as there are many things a nation need.Territory, industry, finance and military are just a few.Teaching him as best as he could was his priority, one that he would gladly accept.

Germany aged rather quickly, at least for a nation.That might have been partially due to his influence, and he had to admit he kind of regretted it.After all, his little bruder was adorable, and he should’ve spend his childhood playing.Not that he himself got to do it, but it would have been nice if the blonde had.Still, in a growing world, that would have been dangerous for sure.

He decided to start with the basics, and by that he meant organization.Folding his clothes correctly was more important than that idiot of Austria could imagine, and under no circumstance would his little bruder leave his clothes in a mess.Patiently, Prussia showed Germany the best way to pack his clothes, gently correcting him if he had to.Of course, that was unless they had to be somewhere else on time.Being late could simply never be forgiven, no matter the reason behind it, except maybe a life or death situation.

Cleaning was also a priority.After all, how could a nation expect to have a decent organized government if they couldn’t keep their house like that ?Knowing what to use depending on the kind of dirt that there was and how to get rid of every single dust particle we’re necessary skills, which he made made sure his brother knew.He was able to create simple games to make his brother understand cleaning easier, tho he didn’t really need them: the kid was almost a professional.

It wasn’t that likes to brag, but ever heard that Germany made some of the best products ?That was because he learned from the best and most awesome teacher: himself.Prussia was very skilled when it came to mechanics, as the famous Julio Verne noted.The only person who could learn his secrets was someone of his family, but specifically one that would make him proud.And to the date, the blonde never disappointed him with that.

Now maybe he had been a warrior in his childhood, but Prussia didn’t like the idea of initiating his brother on military activities at such a young age.However, he knew there wasn’t a way to oppose that.Germany was barely a few weeks old when his big brother gave him a riffle for the first time.It wasn’t loaded, of course, but it was still a weapon.He had experience training foreign troops, but usually they were teenagers by the time he had to do that, and had at least held a weapon at some point.With gentle encouragement, the red eyed showed the new nation how to aim it.His bruder paid close attention, and Prussia was proud to say that he was his best student, as much as that comment would hurt Spain’s kids or America.

It still took him five years to have the courage to hand a loaded weapon to Germany.He was worried that he might somehow have gotten hurt, even if the later was rather careful.After all, in his early days as Teutonic Knights, he had accidentally cut himself with a sword.No, he wasn’t being overprotective.He was just being a concerned brother, thank you very much.But of course, his little bruder was pretty skilled when it came to handle a weapon.He hit almost every objective in the first try, and refused to leave until he hit everything on the first try.After that, he insisted in reviewing all the tactics that Prussia had written down in several of his manuals, trying to memorize them. He also never skipped a single day of training, something that he was rather proud of.Oh, he had created a nightmare for poor Italy in the future.

Of course, his brother had been a child.And child can be afraid of things that an adult would consider rather silly.Germany was once scarred of thunderstorms, to the point that he would have to sleep with his big bruder if there was one.Now Prussia might have mocked someone for that, but his little bruder was just a kid.And thunderstorms where rather annoying if you asked him.But, they weren’t something to be afraid of, at least in the right circumstances, such and when he was at home with someone who cared for him. Explaining that to the boy helped him to eventually stop being so afraid of them, tho it was rather hard not to be.

Beer was delicious, would anyone doubt that?Maybe unawesome people would, but so would anyone who had tried a bad beer.So when his brother was going to have his first beer, Prussia had to make damn sure that it was a good one.Talking with the bar owner had been rather easy, but maybe he should have tried something softer.Nah, that was for the weak.Germany had ended up so drunk that he used his own boot to toast, but hey, he still liked beer.

What was having a son like ?Unlike his two other friends, France and Spain, he didn’t know.Those two had way too many ankle biters.Okay, take that back, maybe he knew how it was like.Prussia took care of Germany, educated him, and cared for him more than he had for himself.Maybe, just maybe, he was rather his child than his brother...But he had taken a vow a long time ago, which meant he couldn’t father a child.So yep, he was his bruder and nothing else.

Of course, things couldn’t stay good forever.Nations often fall victims of bad circumstances, which lead to them having even worse leaders.And sadly, despite his best efforts, Germany had been no exception.His brother’s situation after World War One hadn’t been the best, making it easy for a terrible person to take over.He had never been glad to lose a war before.

Sadly...losing meant that he had been dissolved.His territory went to either Poland, Russia, or his brother.And since he was considered part of his brother’s territory, once Germany was divided, he himself was chosen to represent the East.Many of the nations under communist rule never understood why he had been happy to be the one chosen to have their same fate, but it was rather simple: his little bruder ended in much better circumstances, because at the very least, the allies allowed West to thrive.That was a nice nickname too, and it would be one that could be used to tease him someday.

He endured many hardships during the Cold War.Food was escarce, and he was even more repressed than before.His iron cross had been confiscated by Russia, and it was almost definitely that it had been destroyed.Many of his people fled or died attempting to do so, and it shattered his heart how many just didn’t make it.Still, there was one thing that kept him from going insane, that still managed to make him smile: West was now of one of the most important nations in the world, economically and politically.That was his little bruder after all: always strong.

The day he was able to see West again, was definitely the happiest day of his life.He ran to hug his brother, and despite him not being so little anymore, Prussia (he refused to go by East Germany, mainly to spite Russia) managed to lift him just as when he was a kid.It was mainly the emotions rushing through him, as he was starting to think that the day would never come at all.West had been a little embarrassed tho, but hugged his brother back.

He wished he had been able to enjoy their reunion more, but sadly, life was cruel.A few years after their reunification, strange things started to happen.First, one day as he was simply coming back from a rock concert, his legs decided to make him trip.He ended up having to call a cab, but tried not to tell anyone else about it.After that incident, he was no longer able to walk properly.Secondly, a dog bite took weeks to heal.Now his brother’s pet had bitten him by accident when they were simply playing, so he couldn’t be mad at it.Yet at weeks passed, that mark just make him be more worried, as even if he was a human, it was healing rather slow.Third, he was barely being able to breath.There would be times where he felt as if he was shocking, even when he wasn’t doing any sort of physical activity.

The fourth was by far the worst: after all, during all his years as a knight and then all those serving in the military, he was prone to have received several stabs, bullet shots and many broken bones.Those either didn’t bother him at first or just went away quickly, but suddenly they all began to bother at the same time.It was as if he was receiving all those wounds again, all at the same time.Yet, he didn’t want to tell West.He knew his little bruder felt guilty for what happened, and he had rather not have him be sadder.So the only one who truly knew, was his little yellow bird.

He managed to live through all that for at least ten more years.It’s not that life was easy, hell, his existence alone hurt him.Prussia knew that he was going to die, but when that day came, it was still a surprise for him.

His body was simply shutting down.Once he lied down on his bed, everything went cold.He barely had any strength left on his body, and there was no way to save him.

“West...I need to see West...”Prussia pleaded to his bird pet.He knew already that his master was going to die, so the news were hardly shocking.He chirped loudly, making enough noise to attract his little bruder.

West came running rather fast.It pained Prussia to see his only alive sibling with tears on his face, so he decided to be strong for both.After all, he was dying, so his wishes were simple: remain strong and awesome, and see Germany.

The last one was what stopped his face from losing the smile he always had.Because Prussia know that his brother would be fine, he had thought him everything he needed to know, and he had been able to survive alone after the war.Germany was now a strong nation, an adult.That was also al he needed to know to be sure he could die in peace.With the only strength he had left, Prussia lifted his hand, and gently caressed his little bruder’s face.He was glad that the little boy still loved his big bruder.

“I’m so proud of you, Germany...”he could barely speak, but he had to tell him before it was too late “Don’t forget the awesome me, alright ?Don’t forget how much I love you” and with that, he closed his red eyes, to never open them again.At least, the last thing he saw, was his dear little bruder.

[ourloveisforthelovely]

To the ends of the earth Part 1

A/n: AU Supernatural. Gabriel is tired of Micahel and Raphael’s constant interfering and dictating what's best for him. Little do they know that he’s been sneaking to earth to fall in love with you. When he convinces you to run away with him, all hell is about to break loose. 

Words: 1,645

Pairings: Gabriel x Reader

______

“The humans are really one of the worst ideas that father has had for a while.” 

Michael said as he leaned back on his throne. Raphael looked up from the book that he was writing a new “spell” in. 

“Yes, they are. You know that I have never had much patience with them. 

Michael snorted. 

“I can’t believe that I am saying this but I am beginning to think that Lucifer was on to something. He saw how humans would be our downfall. After father made them he went round the twist and abandoned us all. Abandon your children over being that you threw together in a day. How preposterous! Now we no longer have Lucifer. It is you and I, Raphael, doing everything around here.” 

Raphael frowned again. 

“Gabriel too.” 

Michael glanced across the room to where Gabriel sat peering down at the human world. 

“Our brother is too young to understand. He is just a child.

Raphael rolled his eyes. 

“He understands more than you think. Michael, Gabriel is the same level as us. You like tom just think of him as a kid. He isn’t a kid! He is millions of years old too. I think you like to think of him as the child that trailed after Lucifer. You don’t want to take any responsibility.” 

Michale was highly offended by that one. How dare Rapahel think that he was ignorant to their younger brother’s ways? 

Raphael held a hand up. 

“Before you start getting holier than thou on me...why don’t you give Gabriel a chance? Let him prove himself. He did just fine with the whole Jesus thing.”

Micahel snorted. 

“He took an old man’s voice away and threatened Joseph. Yes, he was quite successful.” 

Raphael smirked. 

“I thought that was rather funny..” 

“Of course you do. I think Gabriel is just fine here...where I can keep an eye on him.”

Michael snapped. Raphael glanced to his younger brother who was focused on human interactions. He didn’t seem to care about the bickering going on between his older brothers. Raphael felt sorry for him for a moment. The poor kid had gone through so much since their father had left. 

Raphael understood Michael wanting to protect Gabriel. He wanted to keep his baby brother safe too but denying that Gabriel was grown and totally capable of handling himself was getting a bit old. 

“I understand that you want to keep him safe, Michael. I do as well but we need to let him do what he was supposed to do. Staying in heaven and playing pranks on people is doing no one any favors. Gabriel did just fine when it was us against Amara.” 

Micheal sighed. Gabriel did more than fine against Amara. He was the perfect soldier to depend on. It took too much of a hold on him, however. Michael saw his innocent baby brother develop a villainous side concerned his older brothers. 

“I suppose you are right. Gabriel?”

The younger archangel’s honey eyes flickered to his older brothers. 

“Yes?” 

Michael shot Rapahel another cold glare for good measure before smiling. 

“Raphael and I want you to go down to earth and check on things?” 

Gabriel looked a little surprised. 

“Wow, you are letting me leave the house for once? I feel so honored.” 

The last bit was meant to be a sneer but Michael didn’t take it that way. He took it that Gabriel meant that he was generously honored by his brother’s request. Little did Michael know, Gabriel had been sneaking to earth for ages! 

Gabriel enjoyed the humans. He didn’t see them as some vile swine that Micahel and Rapahel seemed to. Gabriel hadn't really interacted with any humans (other than Joseph and that Zacarah guy that questioned him) but he had learned their ways. If he needed to, Gabriel knew that he could deal with them a little better than before. 

That whole previous thought was a total lie. Gabriel had been interacting with a human. He smiled thinking about you. If Michael and Raphael knew that he was friends with a human, they would go ape shit! Gabriel would never be let out of heaven again!  

You were the one human that Gabriel liked! In fact, you were the perfect human, minus the fact that your older brother’s were hunters. Gabriel would have been happy just to sit and watch you!

In the beginning, it as pure friendship. You were the person that Gabriel would go to when his brothers were driving him nuts. Being with you for a few moments was enough to send Gabriel back to heaven in a better mood! 

Now...things are different. Gabriel was feeling things for you that he knew wasn’t right. The last few times that Gabriel snuck down to see you he was noticing more things about you. Was he in love? Gabriel was beginning to think so. He knew that loving a human was a huge no-no! God had put together some ludicrous presentation on angels not loving humans. Now here Gabriel was falling further and further past the point of no return every time he looked at you! 

Michael’s voice pulled Gabriel from his thoughts. 

“Just make sure nothing is going wrong. Don’t talk to anyone, work any miracles, and please don't put anything in your mouth!” 

Gabriel put a hand over his forehead. 

“Mikey, you know that I am not 4 years old anymore right?” 

Michael faked a smile. 

“I can’t be too careful with my little brother’s safety.” 

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, Michael.” 

Gabriel knew exactly where he was going and it didn’t involve checking on what Michael wanted! 

You meanwhile, sat in the bunker looking at your laptop. Sam and Dean had been away for a few weeks on a hunt and you were doing their research. It had been almost an hour since you had kind of leads on anything.  

The moment that you about dozed off a set of hands closed on your shoulders. You jumped, ready to knock out whoever was touching you. 

“Easy!” 

You smiled hearing that voice. Gabriel’s voice was soft as he tried to calm you down. For the first time in weeks, you were truly happy. It had been a while since you had seen Gabriel...several weeks. He couldn't just get away from heaven whenever he wanted to and you knew it. That didn’t stop you from missing him when he was away. 

“I was wondering when I would see you again!” 

You giggled before turning and wrapping your arms around his shoulders. Gabriel was quick to hug you back. He wanted this. He wanted more than this. From the day that he had run into you while you were on a hunt until this very moment, he felt things for you that he knew wasn’t right. Gabriel was no fool. He had seen what happened to angels that fell in love with humans. They died! 

Gabriel had seen his brothers kill humans and other angels alike for falling in love with each other. Maybe at that point in his life, Gabriel too, thought that it was wrong and supported his brother’s handling of the situation. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

“I promised that I would come back. I always have.” 

Gabriel took your hand in his and pressed a kiss to your knuckles. You wanted to reach out and stroke his face but decided against it. Gabriel was still getting used to humans touching him. You decided that this was probably due to all of the abuse that the archangel had endured in his life. 

“What?”

Gabriel asked innocently. You smiled. 

“I’ve just missed you. I wish that you didn’t have to go away.” 

Gabriel looked down sadly before looking up with a mischievous grin. 

“I don’t have to.”

You frowned. What did he mean that he didn’t have to? If Gabriel stayed with you not only would his brothers come after him there was also your brothers! They had no idea that you had a budding romance going on with an archangel. For all Sam and Dean knew, you were still a virgin. The two of them would probably pass out if they knew that you had slept with Gabriel! 

“What do you mean? If you stayed here...all hell would break out! Michael and Raphael would drag you back to heaven.”

Gabriel frowned, looking slightly offended. 

“I am not some weakling, Y/n.”

You held up a hand. 

“I never said that you were! I am just saying that if you don’t go back...they will never allow us to be together. There’s also my brothers. You know how they are!” 

Gabriel reached out and gently lifted you on the table. He slowly parted your legs and stepped between them. To your surprise, Gabriel didn’t flinch when you reached out for him. He pressed his forehead against yours and took extra time to nuzzle as close as possible. 

“We could always run away together.” 

Your eyes fluttered open to see Gabriel looking at you with a hopeful expression. His amber eyes were gleaming as he leaned forward. 

“Think about it. We can go somewhere...anywhere...and be happy. We won’t have to worry about our family. It can be just us..like we want. I would run away with you ...in a heartbeat.”

Maybe it was crazy! Maybe...that was a bad word to use! This was a plain stupid idea but you were interested! You felt guilty for what you were about to cause Sam and Dean. 

“An adventure does sound fun. It being with you would make it better.” 

Gabriel’s grin widened. 

“Is that a yes?”

You nodded with a smile. 

“Let's get packing!”

______

@supernaturalways

@brokencasbutt67-writer

@emiwrites3reads

@knight-of-gleefulness (stick around for this one. It will have what you want in this one) 

@authoressskr

@marichromatic

@hankypranky

@wontlookaway

@untoldshortsofthefandoms

@spnaturalconfessions

@shaylybaby2032

@summer-novak

@fandom-trash-worth-it

@fand0maniac

@tas898

@li0nh34rt

@killtherandomness

@shitfaceddaniel

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts

@deanwherescas

@mycuddlycorner

[thievingstalwart]

8

8. The timeline in which they gain everything they want, except for the thing they wanted the most. Instead of an OOC response this became a full-on fic soooo

The cathedral of Nevassa stood tall, watching over the city as it has for hundreds of years. But for the first time in the same hundreds of years, it was a pleasant view. The fortress the capital of Daein had always been, the city of high walls and pikes atop, it looked friendlier than ever. Having retained its warrior spirit, it looked welcoming and warm, as colour entered the streets: the flags hung up above the heads, the traders’s stalls filled to the brim with goods from all over the world, windows whole and open. Even the smell of iron, the smell of rust and blood, which seemed to have been in the air for ages, had left the city for good. And he could not have been more happy about it.

The King of Daein. Is that what they called him now, huh? How did his life go the direction it did, from an orphan to the leader of a kingdom. From a boy whose life meant nothing to the one making the most important decisions. Still, it didn’t feel real. Over the years he’d changed drastically, barely resembling the fourteen-year-old stowaway on Nasir’s ship. But he still couldn’t get rid of his old habits, as he continued to sneak away at night, walking all around the city, watching and learning. Maybe this was why he was so loved: he knew the life of the poor well and did his best to improve it. 

Watching the city from atop the cathedral was another habit of his. Back in the days of Ashnard, of the occupation, he could always be found here, as he’d climb up this tower once every day. It was hard to imagine it being as structurally solid as it was that day: earlier it was crumbling, always on the edge of falling apart and killing dozens. Now that it was restored, it still remained closed to the public for undisclosed reasons: but some people sweared they saw the green scarf in its window. He was glad there weren’t enough people who could say that.

Changing his habits was hard, but it wasn’t like he needed to. And he wouldn’t. Wouldn’t even think of it, especially on.. this day.

The sound of footsteps from behind. His hand on the dagger as usual, he swiftly turned around, startling the one who came to see him. And making him chuckle.

“Still at it, Your Majesty? You are not in any danger with us around.”“Tormod, I said many times you don’t have to call me that. In fact, you shouldn’t.”“As you wish, Your Majesty,” the mage replied with a grin. “It’s too fun to tease you with it, so don’t expect me to drop it anytime soon.”Sothe could only sigh, though smiling. “The more things change, the more they stay the same, aren’t they?”“Very much so. Now, c’mere,” Tormod embraced him to no resistance. As much as he would deny it in his younger days, the mage’s hugs were always the nicest. Maybe it was because of the fire magic he wielded, maybe it was due to him being raised by Muarim, maybe it was due to their mutual feelings - it didn’t matter. They were nice and that’s all he could have ever asked for.After a minute or two, he pulled away, much to Sothe’s dismay. Maybe it was the warmth after all. Ah well. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?” the mage asked, worried. The other smiled sadly.“I’ve been doing this or five years, Tormod, I’ll be fine. And, even if it’s… not easy, it’s the least I could do. Remembrance is all I can give, so my own feelings aren’t important,” Tormod frowned. “Heh, I’ve got too soft, it seems. It’s just one day. I’ll be good.”“As you say. I’ll be nearby, so if anything goes wrong, please,” he emphasized that word, “please leave the ceremony. There are enough people who can handle it better than you and they are more than fit to finish it on their own.”“All right. Thank you, mama hen,” Tormod rolled his eyes. “No, really, thank you. Don’t know what could’ve happened if you weren’t watching over me.”“If I’m frank, me neither. But that’s not a topic for now,” he replied. “If you’re ready, everyone’s waiting.”“Then let’s go.”

The Cathedral of Nevassa stood tall, watching over the city as it has for hundreds of years. And for the fifth time since Daein’s liberation, it became a place, where most, if not all citizens gathered. A crowd that filled the square and the nearby steets, quiet, eyes trained on the lancets and the small balcony, which could only fit one or two people on it. And when the King came out, accompanied by a humble priest, dressed similarly to how she did back then, there were no cheers or noise at all. Not because they hated him. But because all knew the grief of that aay. 

If there was one thing Sothe could be comforted with, it was that he didn’t mourn alone. Even thought it had been five years, the wound still hurt and he still felt he could fall apart any minute. And if he wasn’t doing this for everyone else, every year on the same day, he might not have even left the spire. And so, he began.

“Hear me, people of Daein, citizens of Nevassa, townsfolk and villagers, hear me those who hail from afar. Today marks five years since the fateful day in the Tower of Guidance, since the day the goddess was given peace and a bitter conflict was over. Today marks five years since the day we lost the one who freed us and gave us purpose, restored our realm and our integrity. Today marks five years since we lost the Silver-Haired Maiden, five years since we lost our Maiden of Dawn, our Maiden of Hope and our Maiden of Future. Today marks five years since we lost the one we owe everything to, from our freedom to our lives. And today is the day we remember her.

Today is the day we talk of her undertakings and her achievements, of what she’s done for Nevassa and for Daein, for Crimea and for Begnion, for laguz and beorc, for Tellius as a whole. Today, as on every day, we cherish her miracles and her heroism, we share our memories of her in the fields and in the corridors. And today we walk the streets of her beloved city with her name on our lips, as we carry it to each corner of this city she had once hid in and each house whose dwellers she saved. Today we march in memory of Micaiah, the Silver-Haired Maiden. And today we pay off just a tiny part of the endless debt Tellius owes to Her. My people, the ceremony is about to start. Thank you.” 

With that, he turned around and headed back in. Laura was more than capable to taking care of things from that point on - she had, after all, also been doing this for five years. It was her job and her duty to stay on that balcony and coordinate the masses, while his duty as the King was to lead. And he did.

With the Dawn Brigade by his side, all those who fought with him at his side, all those that remember the Maiden behind, they walked the streets and boulevards, passed through the squares and plazas. Tormod was right on his left, Nolan on his right, everyone else just by. In that moment, Sothe knew he would never fully accept her death. He knew that he could never fully move on from losing someone this dear to him. And this day, when it came around, was always a good reminder of that.

But he also knew that she’d rather he forget her and move along with his life, for his and everyone’s sake. Above all, she wanted him to be happy. She wanted the people of Daein to be happy. Once upon a time, he would say that all he wanted was to know she is alive and well, to protect her life with his own. He failed at that task. And now all he wanted was to make her proud. To be happy, as she wanted him to be, and to improve the lives of his subjects. And if there had to be one day where he could allow himself to fall back, to grieve and mourn, it would be the anniversary of her death. One day of vulnerability in exchange for a year ahead. It wasn’t much time, but it was all he had. 

And it was enough.

***

All the while, there was a figure, watching the ceremony from an alley with a warm smile. “You’ve grown up, Sothe. Changed. All of us did, but you - most of all, whether you wish to believe it or not. You’ve done well so far - and so you will,” having said that quietly, they turned around and headed back, deeper into the city, as the worn and patched-up red cape disappeared in the shadows.

[asecretsummer-rpg]

Name: Julie Tayor Age: 37 Sexuality: Lesbian Gender: Female Portrayed By: Katherine Moennig Availability: Closed

“I just want this over so everything can go back to normal.”

→ Background

Phoebe and Zachary’s aunt Julie has been like a second mother to them both ever since their mum passed away after battling an illness when they were kids. She and her brother, minister of a local church, have always been pretty close. Julie isn’t religious at all despite the fact they were brought up in the same household by their Christian parents but that’s never been a problem for the two. Her brother isn’t one of those people who takes religion to the extremes, which this town does have a few of sadly, and Julie has always been able to be herself. As has her nephew and niece, who came out as lesbian years ago. Julie does sometimes wonder, however, if her nephew really accepted his sister’s sexuality but she always just figured she was being silly. Zachary is very protective of Phoebe and Julie just lets her imagination run riot sometimes. It’s hard to trust people and their motives after everything she’s seen.

She’s worked as a police officer for the local police department since she was twenty-eight years old. She takes pride in her position and the work the force does around Baberton, even though a lot of people nowadays have lost some faith in the police department due to a string of events involving a serial killer… and the way the department handled the murder of Annie Pierce - saying the girl had run away without much evidence to back that up, when her body was really buried in the woods for years. Julie knows that many people don’t trust the police anymore and she’s determined to change that any way she possibly can.

→ Back to Baberton

Everybody thought that the killing was over when Daisy Ramsey confessed and killed herself by jumping off the roof of a building with Annie’s old friends as witnesses. It started up again, however, months later and eventually Jamie Kirk was outed as the killer... but then, just as the town took a breath of relief, it somehow started up again. The mayhem and the murder. Work is hard right now, with little to no leads to follow, and she knows that the town is losing hope and patience. Years ago, she and another officer called Bradley, were secretly been assigned protective detail of Annie Pierce’s old friends (Imogen Ford, Ruby Peterson, and Kelly Sharpe), after Imogen Ford was attacked one night in the high school during a storm. Julie and Bradley were given this task by Chief Constable Gregory Sharpe himself, Kelly’s father, who entrusted them with the safety of the girls and Julie was determined not to let him down. Sometimes she and Bradley would work together and sometimes they would separate, following one girl each while keeping tabs on the third wherever possible. It’s important the girls (and whoever may be out to get them) don’t know she and her partner are there so Julie takes this very seriously. They were pulled back from this work a short while ago and now with Kelly’s suicide, Julie is eager to try and get this taken up again - those two remaining girls need protection.

When she’s not working she does her best to keep up with her family, her brother and his kids, though one of the victims was her own nephew, poor Zachary, and Julie often blames herself. She was determined to keep the streets of Baberton safe for them, so they don’t have to live the rest of their lives in fear of murder, and she wanted nothing more than to be a good influence for them, a role model in the absence of their mother. Her brother does his best and he’s an amazing father but sometimes you just need a woman’s touch and Julie is always there to offer help and support when needed. Phoebe is so important to her now and Julie is determined to keep her safe.

→ What’s Her Secret?

She doesn’t fully trust Bianca Averina, the station’s PR liaison and thinks that she’s hiding something. She doesn’t like the jokes Bianca makes about her and Leo being the only ones who really do anything round the station. The woman just rubs Julie up the wrong way and she’s started looking into her background when she has time, sure there’s something that she’s not telling them. Julie usually has very good instincts and she knows when to listen to them.

She found evidence that points to Alexandra Willis, her colleague and friend, tampering with evidence. She was using Alexandra’s computer during a storm a couple of years ago, when her own was down, and she noticed some files had been locked in a folder. She couldn’t open it but she received a text message from somebody calling themselves “-A” that led her to believe the files have evidence in them linking to the Leanne Wilmington murder case… and she doesn’t quite have enough evidence to go to the Chief as the folder on Alexandra’s computer was soon deleted… but she’s not one to let things go and she’s determined to get to the bottom of this.

If she sees the girls out in the street, despite there not being an official protection detail assigned to Ruby or Imogen, Julie has a habit of going into protector mode anyway, going back into the mindset she’d have to have had for that job a few years ago. She really does think they’re major targets and need someone watching them until this insanity is over (if it ever is).

[thenerdparty]

Aquaman Review by Tristan Riddell

I want the record to show that I am not a DCEU "hater" nor am I someone who thinks Marvel is the only way to go. I think there is enough room in the cinema for Marvel, DC, serious superheroes, fun superheroes, and everything in between. I thought Man of Steel was fine but uninspiring, I loved Batman v. Superman Ultimate Edition, Wonder Woman was good but had a mess of a third act, Suicide Squad had so much potential but squandered it, and Justice League? Well, everyone got screwed on that one. All that being said, Aquaman is at the very bottom of that list.

I didn't see this in the theater because Jason Mamoa's Aquaman never wowed me and the trailers did nothing for me. I don't find CGI bombardment entertaining and I knew this was going to be over the top. I'm not harping on CGI, it can be used well to enhance the story like with Mad Max: Fury Road, it can be integrated seamlessly like in modern David Fincher films, and it can be used effectively ala Star Trek and Star Wars. You can have entire CGI worlds and movies that service your story, such as Tron: Legacy or Avatar, but when the quality is inconsistent and it just becomes noise then you are dipping into Transformer Franchise territory. From the trailers of Aquaman, I could tell that it was going to be one long version or multiple versions of the final CGI fight between Black Panther and Killmonger. Sadly, I was correct.

On top of some it looking like a PlayStation 2 game, there were scenes that had no business being greenscreen but were and it took you out of the film. There was a training scene on the beach and no background was real. You're telling me that the filmmakers couldn't drive to the beach, go to an actual dock or film on an actual boat for a movie called Aquaman?  Sidenote: another horrible distraction was the mismatched tone of the score and some of the worst popular music choices I've ever heard in a major motion picture. Also, Temeura Morrison and Nicole Kidman's de-aging looked like they both had botched plastic surgery. This is one area where Marvel remains king among superhero films. However, some aspects were well done: the Trench sequence, Atlantis in general, and the amazing attention to detail with underwater hair. Although I shouldn't have been distracted by all of this while I was watching, I should be immersed by the story. There is a reason this made so much money internationally. The script and dialogue were not even secondary to the visuals. An international audience can go see a spectacle and not worry about reading too many subtitles or hear the horrible delivery. They can relax their mind and watch the underwater neon. Sadly, even though I knew I would have to switch off my higher brain functions, it still wasn't enough.

Story is always king, just like Aquaman at the end of the film. However, this story was more akin to a stable boy than actual royalty. First off, the writing was just pathetic in its myriad of attempts of cohesion. It wasn't funny, it was trying to be funny. It wasn't clever, it was trying to be clever. One example that is minor to the story but sticks out like a sore thumb so intensely it needs to be discussed involves Aquaman and Mera taking refuge in the mouth of a whale. Aquaman makes a passing Pinocchio reference that Mera doesn't understand. The movie moves on except when it doesn't. They are at their next location, horrible music plays, and Mera entertains a little Italian girl with dancing water. Then FOR NO REASON AT ALL the little girl hands Mera a book about Pinnochio and then walks away. Mera now understands Aquaman's reference. That one exchange is the story in a nutshell. A series of unnecessary setups and then self-imposed deliveries with little to no motivation. We see our secondary antagonist murder innocent people and then the movie frames his situation as if we are supposed to feel bad for him and his father. Willem Dafoe trains Arthur after his mother leaves him but then the movie doesn't explain how they met or why he is truly there. Does his father know? Did his mother send Dafoe? Did Dafoe just pop out of the ocean one day and say welcome to Aquaman school? The audience doesn't know, so we're just supposed to go with it and that happens too much. I'm all for a healthy suspension of disbelief, it's a superhero film after all, but don't make me constantly ask who, what, where, when, and why?

You can tell that most of the actors were trying to salvage a poor script by leaning into the dramatic skid but Jason Momoa didn't get the memo and plays it like a children's game show host. He doesn't actually deliver that much dialogue in this movie but when he does the tone is usually opposite of what the scene calls for. I think this mentality is a holdover from the overcorrection in the wake of BVS. The public had such a distaste for the tonality of BVS that it caused the mess that was the Justice League rewrites. That script's brighter sensibility feels tacked on like a word doc with Find and Replace.

It is hard to handle origin stories with any kind of ingenuity today due to the modern superhero audience being inundated with new heroes, old heroes, and countless reboots. They've been done to death so hard that Uncle Ben didn't even get a mention in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Since we've already been introduced to Aquaman, the film chose to intersperse some of the histories via flashback. This was particularly well done visually because the camerawork acted as a natural transition from present day to past. While the setup to these didn't always work, I believe the execution was interesting. For instance, Mera and Aquaman were standing on a ledge about to jump into the ocean and he was reminded of a time when his mentor taught him how to swim at that very spot. The camera encircles them and as it swings we see a younger Aquaman and his mentor. The camera continues to swing and we're back to present day. They jump but it is the younger version we see under the water. It is this type of structure and editing where the film excels. Outside of these moments, the plot was driven mainly by a shocking amount of explosions that were a surprise to the characters as well as the audience. It made me a little gun shy whenever there was a quiet moment because I kept wincing thinking we were going to be thrown back into the thick of it at any second and not be allowed to breathe.

Overall, this film just doesn't work. The pacing is haphazard, the acting is third tier even with top tier actors, the script needed to be completely rewritten, and the above water scenes needed a much more practical approach. Aquaman made more money than any other DCEU movie by $273 million more dollars. In terms of domestic gross, it was beaten only by the cultural phenomenon that is Wonder Woman. It clearly connected and found its audience. That means it's a huge success and it should be applauded for that. It has joined the ranks of some of the biggest box office global hits of all time. Such movies as Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, Finding Dory, Burton's Alice in Wonderland, 2017's Beauty and the Beast, Zootopia, and Spider-Man 3. Let this be a sober reminder that success does not always translate into quality.

2 stars

[bloojayoolie]

Andrew Bogut, Cats, and Children: Mellow and Shy Senior Girl. Finds herself in the shelter due to her owners passing, Friendly and Relaxed around Children. Housetrained. Since Coffy has never spent time around other dogs, she would like to be the only fur child in the home. 12 jears old.56 bs 30827 Coffy aka Coffey @ anhattan A CC OWNER PASSED AWAY :( Poor Coffy is already 12 years old and should definitely be in a warm, cozy home, with people that love her and a nice, quiet place to lay her head. Instead she is in a loud, noisy city shelter after a life with her owner, who sadly, recently passed away :( Coffy was surrendered by a family member - how sad is that - and her world has been turned upside down. Coffee is a little shy at first, but a friendly, waggy and mellow girl once warmed up. In her family she has spent time around children and was always friendly and relaxed around them. Since Coffy has never spent time with other dogs, she is not quite sure what to make of them and did not feel comfortable when introduced to other dogs in the shelter. She would want to be the only fur child in her new home. Coffy aka Coffey ID# 30827 Brooklyn ACC 12 yrs old, 56 lbs BROWN / WHITE SPAYED FEMALE Large Mixed Breed Cross Surrendered by the owners family Intake Date: 06-10-2018 SHELTER ASSESSMENT: EXPERIENCED HIME / SINGLE PET HOME OWNER PROFILE Basic Information: Coffy is a 12 year old, medium mixed breed female who was spayed prior to coming into the shelter. She was surrendered due to the owner passing away. Coffy has not seen a vet recently. Previously lived with: 1 adult How is this dog around strangers? Coffy has not been around strangers so her behavior is unknown. She is friendly around the family members she was exposed to. How is this dog around children? Coffy has spent time around young family members who she is used to and was friendly and relaxed around them. How is this dog around other dogs? Coffy has not spent time around other dogs. How is this dog around cats? Coffy has not spent time around cats. Resource guarding: Coffy is not bothered by her owner touching her food and toys but it is unknown how she would react around a stranger. Bite history: Coffy does not have a bite history. Housetrained: Yes Energy level/descriptors: Low Other Notes: Coffy’s owner has bathed her outside and is not bothered. She has not had her nails trimmed. Coffy will alert bark when someone approaches the house or yard. Has this dog ever had any medical issues? Yes Medical Notes : Coffy has possible arthritis in her rear hips. For a New Family to Know : Coffy is described as being mellow and shy. She has been an indoor dog, likes to follow her owner around and eats both wet and dry food. She sleeps on her bed and is house trained to go outside on any surface. Coffy knows the command sit and down and walks on leash for exercise or runs around the backyard. BEHAVIOR NOTES SAFER SCORES Date of assessment: 12-Jun-2018 Look: 1. Dog’s eyes are averted, with tail wagging and ears back. Allows head to be held loosely in Assessor’s cupped hands. Sensitivity: 1. Dog stands still and accepts the touch, eyes are averted, and tail is in neutral position with a relaxed body posture. Dog’s mouth is likely closed for at least a portion of the assessment item. Tag: 1. Dog follows at the end of the leash, body soft. Flank squeeze 1: 1. Dog does not respond at all. Flank squeeze 2: 1. Dog does not respond at all. Toy: 1. No interest. Summary: Coffy was relaxed and social during her handling assessment. She engaged with the assessor with a soft posture, but showed interest in the toy item. PLAY GROUP : Coffy’s previous owner reported that she has not spent time with other dogs. 6/12: When off leash at the Care Center, an attempt to introduce Coffy to a novel male dog was made. During the gate greet, Coffy immediately snapped and lunged when he approached her. Due to this behavior, a full off-leash introduction was not conducted. 6/14: Today, another gate greet was attempted with Coffy. She initially ignored the novel male dog before air snapping at him through the gate. Her warnings escalated, and she lunged at the gate when he moved away, so her session was ended. After a brief break, Cuffy returned for a session of counter conditioning. Coffy was given treats when she looked at the other dog and did not show any signs of reaction. She maintained neutral body as the helper dog was systematically moved closer to the gate. She was food motivated, constantly taking treats, and was able to stay focused on the handler instead of the other dog. She did show signs a stress when he was near; taking treats with a hard mouth. Date of intake: 10-Jun-2018 Summary: Barking, growling Date of initial: 12-Jun-2018 Summary: BARH, some growling during exam, placed soft muzzle as precaution ENERGY LEVEL: Her previous owner describes Coffy as a friendly, relaxed dog. She is a young, social dog, who will need daily mental and physical activity to keep her engaged and exercised. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION: EXPERIENCE (suitable for an adopter with some previous dog experience, especially with the behaviors outlined below) Recommendations: Single-pet home, Recommend no dog parks Recommendations comments: Single-pet home/Recommend no dog parks: Due to the concerning behaviors that Coffy has shown during playgroup (see GROUPBEHAVIOR SUMMARY), we feel that Coffy should not visit dog parks and be the only resident dog. The Behavior Department recommends that she be socialized in a more controlled setting until her behavior towards other dogs can be further addressed. Reward-based, force-free training can be utilized to help Coffy associate dogs with things she enjoys like toys or treats. MEDICAL EXAM NOTES DVM Intake Exam : Estimated age: Reported 12 years Microchip noted on Intake? Negative scan History : Owner surrender Subjective: BARH, some growling during exam, placed soft muzzle as precaution Evidence of Cruelty seen – none Evidence of Trauma seen – none Objective : P = wnl R = wnl BCS = 5/9 with HL muscle atrophy EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: not performed PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, CRT < 2, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Tense, not overtly painful, no masses palpated U/G: Spayed female MSI: Ambulatory x 4, moderate HL muscle atrophy, skin free of parasites, healthy hair coat, pink hairless skin nodules/skin tags at RF dorsal paw, three haired dermal masses along dorsum – all approx 1cm diameter, overgrown nails CNS: Mentation appropriate – no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: Externally normal Assessment: 1. Pink nodules at RF paw 2. Dermal nodules along dorsum 3. Muscle atrophy bilateral pelvic limbs – ro geriatric vs DM vs OA vs other Prognosis: Fair to good Plan: 1. Recommend FNA of dermal nodules 2. Continue to monitor while at MACC – specifically gait/HL mobility *** TO FOSTER OR ADOPT *** If you would like to adopt a NYC ACC dog, and can get to the shelter in person to complete the adoption process, you can contact the shelter directly. We have provided the Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan information below. Adoption hours at these facilities is Noon – 8:00 p.m. (6:30 on weekends) If you CANNOT get to the shelter in person and you want to FOSTER OR ADOPT a NYC ACC Dog, you can PRIVATE MESSAGE our Must Love Dogs page for assistance. PLEASE NOTE: You MUST live in NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Northern VA. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a NYC ACC dog. Transport is available if you live within the prescribed range of states. Shelter contact information: Phone number (212) 788-4000 Email adopt@nycacc.org Shelter Addresses: Brooklyn Shelter: 2336 Linden Boulevard Brooklyn, NY 11208 Manhattan Shelter: 326 East 110 St. New York, NY 10029 Staten Island Shelter: 3139 Veterans Road West Staten Island, NY 10309

[kurobizzlewrites]

Leaps of Faith

Chapter 1 - First Impressions

Fandom: YouTube RPF/Markiplier (with hints of Five Nights at Freddy’s)

Pairing: Mark Fischbach x Reader

Story Summary: You're a multi-universe jumping secret agent, specializing in video game universes and out to prove you're more than just a legacy. He's a famous YouTube star who's assigned to be your new partner thanks to his expertise in the horror game genre. You don't know what's worse: putting your trust in this weird dork or falling in love with him.

Genres: In-game reality, AU, romance (specifically ‘rivals to friends to lovers’), comedy, action-adventure, & horror

2

Chapter Summary: You never really liked pairing up with a partner for missions but your boss doesn't seem to care. She even went ahead and picked the most unsuitable candidate imaginable...

Warnings: Swearing & explicit language

Words: 4900

A/N: OMG it’s here on Tumblr now! I originally had this uploaded on Ao3 (if you wanna read it on that site, click here) but after a while, I decided I wanted to step into the Tumblr fanfiction world. So here I am, uploading the improved chapters of this story up on this wonderful site! If you haven’t read this story before, please keep an open mind and an open heart. This is a different take on the alternate universe & in-game reality genres and I hope that you enjoy it! Also, get ready for a slow burn/build-up with Mark lol

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Shitshitshitshitshitshit.

You were an idiot.

A big idiot.

Why in the world did you decide to take a day off in the middle of a work week?! Sure, you needed to unpack the boxes sitting in your empty apartment but at what cost? How stupid of you to think that was more important when something urgent was happening back at the office. Or at least that’s what the email subject had read. The actual contents of the email were rather vague about the matter but your line of work called for the utmost discretion. Anything more detailed would have been more alarming. You were out the door in minutes upon skimming the message and made it to your pristine office building in record time. You rushed past security, the pass hanging from your wrinkled shirt all you needed to get through the gate, and ran into a closing elevator.

You took this moment to finally catch your breath as you leaned against the mirrored wall. In between soft pants, you thought up a few scenarios as to why you were being called in. It was urgent, obviously, so it had to be something of dire importance. It couldn’t be a performance review; you weren’t due for one of those in months. And you were positive you hadn’t done anything wrong… okay, maybe 95% positive. There was that incident with Douglas but he was the one at fault. Could it be a new assignment? You were due for one ever since you had been reassigned to the L.A. Headquarters almost a month ago. All you’ve been doing so far was filing papers and maintenance work. It was high time for another big case. Deciding that was the most logical (and preferable) reason as to why you were being called in, you felt a whole lot better about the interruption. You could unpack those pesky boxes another day.

The ding of the elevator pulled you out of your thoughts. You walked out, tugging at your clothes as you strode down the tiled hallway. You reached the double doors of your boss' office in a matter of minutes and knocked one of them with a few, quick raps. You heard a muffled “come in” and opened the double doors. Immediately greeting you was an expansive view of the Los Angeles skyline and standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows was a tall woman dressed in a sharp, gray business suit. She spun around to greet you once you had closed the doors behind you.

“Hello [Name], sorry for having you come in on your day off. I really appreciate it.” She stated in an apologetic voice.

“It’s fine. What’s wrong?” You asked as you unceremoniously fell back onto one of her plush armchairs. In front of any other Branch Director, you would have been scolded for your lack of professionalism. But Evangeline Kane was different. An old friend of your parents, she was one of the few people who made an effort to look into your well-being after their passing. She sometimes came to visit you at your relatives’ home and was the only one who truly understood the tragedy you had gone through. Sadly, her visits were far and few and you soon lost contact with her once you were shipped off to Agent training after your 18th birthday. It wasn’t until you received a job offer a few months ago that you heard from Evangeline again. She was the one who personally requested for you to replace a fallen agent at the L.A. Headquarters and you quickly jumped at the chance to be reunited with her. And even after seven years apart, Evangeline didn’t look all that different. Sure, her long brown hair had some white peppered into it now and the lines at the corners of her mouth and eyes were more pronounced, but she was still the same, lovely lady who cared for y-

“We’re assigning you a partner.”

Scratch that, she was the worst.

“I don’t need a partner.” You began, pushing yourself out of your relaxed position and crossing your arms over your chest to look as defiant as possible.

“You don’t get a choice in the matter. I’m assigning you to an initial exploration case and I’ll be damned if you go in alone. That’s not how we do things here.” Your lips tightened as you held back a retort. On one hand, you detested having to work with another person. Partners just slowed you down. The few partnerships you've had during your short career as an Agent always ended as badly. However, Evangeline made an excellent point. Things were different out here and you had to learn how to adapt if you wanted to keep this position. Even if it meant you had to lug around extra weight for the sake of the mission. After staying silent out of spite for a few moments, you finally let out a sigh.

“Fine, who are you assigning me with? It better not be Douglas; that guy doesn’t know how to keep his hands to himself. Which reminds me, I’d like to file a complaint to HR.”

“He’s already been suspended till further notice so don’t worry.” Evangeline replied without missing a beat as she pulled out her smartphone. Her fingers flew across the screen, tapping buttons you couldn't see from your position before she placed the device next to her ear.

“Send him in.” As your boss placed her phone back into her pocket, you noticed her take a long, deep breath before she turned back to you.

“Now I want to let you know that I consider you one of our best agents…”

“I don’t like where this is going.” You interjected with a glare. You knew that tone of voice all too well. Something unpleasant was coming.

“And that’s why I know that you can handle a partner with much less experience than you.”

“How much is ‘less’?”

“Let’s say about… none.”

“What?!” You jumped up from you chair, ready to go on a tirade when the doors to Evangeline’s office swung open. You glanced over your shoulder to see a bespectacled guy around your age stumble in, followed by two men in suits that towered over him.

“Um… hello?” He greeted with a small, awkward wave but you only responded with a noticeable cringe as you looked over his unruly black hair and stubble-covered face. You spun back around to Evangeline in a rage.

“A civilian?! Are you kidding me?!” You shouted.

“He’s not just any civilian.” Evangeline replied calmly, motioning her hand towards the man as if she was showcasing a prized work of art, “this is Mark Fischbach.” Silence followed as the woman gave you an expectant look. You responded with a raised eyebrow.

“You may know him as Markiplier.” She tried again, putting more emphasis on his... Name? Alter-ego? You didn't know what to call it.

“Am I supposed to know who that is…?”

“Honestly [Name], I appreciate your dedication to this job but I think for your sake, as well as for the rest of this department’s, you need to get a life.” Your annoyed demeanor faltered for a moment as you were taken aback by your boss’s blunt honesty. Dammit, she didn’t have to go that far. You totally had a life outside the Agency...

Evangeline quickly took advantage of your brief hesitation and continued speaking. “Mr. Fischbach here is a celebrity in the internet world. He runs a very successful gaming channel on YouTube and has extensive knowledge on a variety of games, especially horror.” The mere mention of that genre reignited your anger tenfold.

“I do not-!”

“[Name], I am quite aware of what genres you work in and frankly I don’t care right now. You are the best agent we have and you are going to work where I say you work, got it?” The sparks that flew between you and Evangeline’s glares were so intense that Mark and the two other men took a couple of steps back to avoid the crossfire. After a few tense-filled seconds, you were the first to look away, albeit begrudgingly.

“Got it.” You spat out, your hands balling into fists. Even if you had to agree with her on this matter didn’t mean you had to like it.

Seeing as you had finally calmed down (at least for now), Evangeline turned her attention to the forgotten ‘star’. “Mr. Fischbach, thank you again for coming in on such short notice.”

“Yeah, uh… no problem? It’s not like I had a choice in the matter.” You saw Mark cautiously glance over at the suited men next to him. Poor guy; he must have been forced to come here.

“Yes well, we thought that it would be better to show you firsthand what we do before giving you an explanation. Now, follow me.” Evangeline headed for the door but momentarily stopped to look back over her shoulder.

“That includes you, [Name].” You let out an exaggerated groan but did as you were told as you followed her and Mark out, falling into step with the male instead of walking ahead. You didn’t want to get another earful from her any time soon.

“They're not coming?” Mark suddenly asked when he noticed the expressionless guards that had escorted him up stayed put just outside the office.

“Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are only security guards. They don’t have clearance to where we’re going.” You replied.

“Oh…” You looked over to him and saw a tinge of hurt pride grace his dark brown eyes. It was a look you knew all too well, having broken several men’s prides on various occasions. That’s why you couldn’t help by smirk as your assumptions came together.

“Disappointed that the guys who took you down are at basically the grunts of our secret organization?” You had expected an angry response like you had received many times before. As underhanded as it was, if you could annoy him to the point of refusing the partnership position, it would be a win for everyone (except Evangeline but screw her, she could find a better replacement). To your surprise, Mark glanced over at you sheepishly.

“You can tell, huh?” He asked, scratching the side of his neck nervously.

“It’s as obvious as this blatantly obvious secret headquarters we’re in.” You responded, your voice drenched in sarcasm to hide the foolishness you were feeling for making the wrong assumptions about him.

“We are not that conspicuous.” Evangeline stated sharply. Probably annoyed by your accusation.

“You kidnapped this guy in broad daylight. If that doesn’t scream ‘secret organization’, then I don’t know what does.”

“Well… it’s also kinda mobster-ish if you think about it.” Mark suddenly added but quickly shut his mouth when you threw a glare at him.

“Hey, I’m trying to get us out of this so stop it.”

“Get out of what? You guys haven’t told me anything yet!” The sound of heels clicking tile ceased and the two of you turned your attention back to Evangeline. She stood next to a large oak door and had on a look of complete seriousness that made you hold back your snarky tongue.

“We are a secret, international organization whose sole purpose is to protect this universe and its inhabitants' way of life. To do so, we have Agents, like Ms. [Name], jump to different universes and complete missions to assert the dominance of our universe, thus keeping it as the Alpha, or Main Universe." A tense silence followed Evangeline's explanation as all attention was focused on Mark.

"You're kidding, right?" He asked incredulously, looking at the two of you as if you both had sprouted extra limbs.

“Therefore, we had to take you in. You wouldn’t have believed us if we didn’t show you what we do firsthand.” Evangeline explained before pulling out a black card from her back pocket. She slid it easily through a card reader stationed next to the door and took a step back. The wooden door slid horizontally into the walls, revealing a thick, steel door. The steel door swung back a second later to reveal a massive, circular space filled to the brim with technology. The room itself had no lights but had large screens that lined the walls in rows of three that gave enough illumination for the large space. Manning the screens on an enormous electronic panel that covered the entire bottom wall of the room were various people in all shapes and colors, all dressed in some version of a button up shirt and black slacks. No one tore their eyes off the screens when Evangeline opened the door except the sole person standing in the middle of the room next to the only terminal not connected to the wall. The stout blond fellow waved at the three of you, urging you to come inside with a warm smile. Mark was the first to enter, although a bit hesitantly, as he looked at all the screens in silenced awe. You, however, stood by the doorway and gave your boss a suspicious glance.

“That was not dramatic at all.” You pointed out wryly.

“You know I don’t get to do this often. Will you just let me have this?” Evangeline replied with faux desperation, bringing a grin to your face. Looks like she wasn’t that mad at you anymore and honestly, you were more relieved than you would like to admit. Your snide remarks and prickly nature put most people off so it was always a blessing when someone could look past your tough exterior. Some of your fondest memories of her were the two of you bantering back and forth for hours.

As nostalgic as that was, reminiscing could wait. You went back to serious mode as you walked into the orderly chaotic room. Even from a distance, you could see the huge grin on the Head Analyst's face as he conversed excitedly with Mark, his large hand grasping the shorter man's in a firm shake. Once you and Evangeline got closer, the blond let go and greeted you both.

"Director! Agent [Name]! Nice to see you! Glad to know you are taking my suggestion under serious consideration."

"Suggestion?" You questioned.

"I was the one who thought Markiplier would make an excellent partner for you, especially if we're dealing with the horror genre and what not."

"Oh my god Chuck, you knew?!"

"What, you didn't?"

"A certain someone failed to mention it." You hissed as you glanced over Evangeline. She calmly brushed it aside as she focused her attention on the still awed Mark.

“As you can see, I was completely serious with my explanation before. This area is the center of all our operations with each column of screens displaying what our Agents are experiencing at this very moment. The Analyst in front of the screens act as a handler to that Agent by keeping track of their progress and, more importantly, their health.” She stated, gesturing to the said objects or people throughout her lecture.

“So, what you’re saying is that a real live person is pulling off a heist in the fictional city of Los Santos as we speak?” Mark replied slowly while pointing to one column of screens displaying gameplay of Grand Theft Auto V in three different angles.

“Well, a real live person’s consciousness, not their actual physical body.” Chuck corrected. “But yeah, everything you said is accurate. Agent Xander will probably be done in a few short minutes after he shoots down those helicopters.” He motioned over to the monitors where the said agent onscreen began releasing a torrent of bullets into the air.

“How is that even possible? How is any of this possible?” Mark asked, completely dumbfounded by all that was going on around him. Could you blame him though? This was a ton of information being thrown at him and you were impressed that he hadn’t freaked out yet, especially since he had been forced to come here in the first place. You weren’t sure if he was dangerously curious or so laid-back that he’d just go with the flow with his supposed kidnappers. It was starting to look like it was a mixture of both.

“Let’s start in the beginning.” Chuck began, his blue eyes sparkling at the chance to educate a new mind with the wonders of the universe. You immediately grabbed a couple of unused rolling chairs, knowing from experience that this might take a while…

“As Director Evangeline had probably already mentioned, this world we live in is part of the Alpha Universe. It’s not called that because we’re egotistical but because all other universes are born from the imaginations of the Alpha Universe’s inhabitants. When a person thinks up an idea of a new world or character, it becomes the initial spark of a completely new universe. And because there are more than a billion people on this planet alone, the number of Beta Universes that have been created or will be created is infinitesimal.”

“Holy shit.” You heard Mark whisper as he fell back on a chair you strategically placed behind him minutes before. You gave yourself a mental pat on the back as you continued to listen to Chuck speak.

“Most universes remain separate from another throughout its entire lifespan. However, if a universe gains exposure in the Alpha Universe and is known in the minds of more and more people, it will grow in power. If another universe gains too much power from exposure in the imaginations of the Alpha inhabitants, they evolve to a Beta Universe and a phenomenon known as a ‘bleed’ will occur. This is when the notable characteristics that make a Beta Universe unique begins to trickle into the Alpha through two ways; influenced humans whose behavior will change drastically based on how they are represented in the other universe and/or supernatural or mythical beings/objects. Some bleeds are positive but most will have negative impacts on society. You might remember a few headlines from years ago where a teenager shot up a school because he got the idea from some violent video game or a man eating another human being after snorting bath salts. These are incidents caused by influenced humans that we at the Agency had to cover up to avoid mass hysteria. The first incident I mentioned was much easier than the latter but we covered up that zombie incident rather well, I think-”

“Get on with it Chuck.” Evangeline interrupted.

“Right. Sorry. Um, examples of supernatural/mythical beings are what you consider urban legends and what not. Ghosts are the prime example of this since people have known and thought about the existence of spirits for centuries. However, they are not able to maintain a physical form because even though many people know about spirits, there is not one concrete idea or form people imagine. It is only when the same image or form is associated with a world or character can that item or being begin to take on a physical form. Thankfully, this has not happened yet due to our efforts in maintaining Beta Universes from becoming too powerful.”

“How does that work? You said that you send people’s minds into a game?” Mark inquired, a concentrated look on his face as he rested his elbows on his knees. Again, you were quite impressed with his quick acceptance and adaptability to the situation at hand.

“Video games, movie franchises, television shows; the Agency handles them all. We were formed when the rise of technology gave way for people to bring physical forms and images to their imagined visions. In regards to video games, we have Agents complete them like you would if you played it. Every time an Agent completes a chapter or checkpoint, depending on how the game is set, they are basically asserting the dominance of the Alpha Universe. It also adds more Alpha energy masses into that Beta Universe and creates a wall between that universe and ours. There are several different headquarters around the world to prevent bleeds in any region. We also divide sections up based on specialties and genres Here at the Los Angeles Headquarters, we focus on video game universes, predominantly FPSs, platformers, and of course, survival horror.”

“That’s where I come in.” Mark finished, looking as though he had finally put all the pieces together.

“Precisely. We’ve seen your work and your expertise in the survival horror genre. It makes you the perfect candidate to become [Name]’s partner.” Evangeline replied as she stood up. “We wouldn’t make you a full-fledged Agent since that will take up too much of your time away from your day job. However, we would like to hire you on as a part-time consultant. Less hours but with all the perks of being an agent. Which work well with how Agent [Name] operates.” You saw Mark’s eyes lit up in excitement behind his thin-rimmed glasses and you were about to open your mouth to say something but the older woman beat you to it.

“However, before you agree to anything, we need to explain one important detail of your job description.” She said so solemnly that it immediately extinguished the sparkle in Mark’s eyes.

“What is it?” He asked just as seriously but you could tell that he knew what was coming.

“When visiting these universes, you don’t get the infinite amount of lives like you would playing. If you die in a universe, you die here.” No one spoke after that and the silence around your small group was immediately filled by the sounds of games playing and Analysts speaking to one another. All eyes were focused on Mark, his minute facial expressions revealing the internal struggle to come to a decision. After what seemed like hours but were only mere seconds, he finally looked up.

“Can I have a few days to think about this? I don’t think I can decide just yet.” He asked timidly. Evangeline nodded.

“Of course. Take as much time as you need.” She stated. “Let me escort you downstairs. I’ll have a car bring you back home.” She gestured her hand over to the doorway with a warm, almost motherly smile and you saw Mark give a small smile back. Once he stood up, Evangeline went ahead to the door as she pulled out her phone, probably to call on her personal bodyguards to get the car ready. Mark followed soon after, but not without glancing over to you. Your eyes met for a moment and you could see that he was searching your eyes for some kind of answer. If he agreed, he would be your partner. Could he trust his life in your hands?

You sure as hell couldn’t trust your life in his. You didn’t want to work with an inexperienced nobody, even if he was some horror game god. Playing it behind a computer screen and experiencing it in real life were two totally different things. That’s why you returned his glance with a glare and turned away as coldly as you could. You didn’t look back to see his reaction and squashed whatever guilt you were feeling. He seemed like a nice guy but you couldn’t risk your life or his with whatever crazy mission Evangeline had in store. He would be better off going back to whatever he did on YouTube.

You saw a figure loom next to you and looked up at Chuck. He had a disappointed look in his eyes, probably from watching your interaction with his idol. “You should give him a chance.” He said as he rolled over a seat next to you and sat down. “He really is good at playing games.”

“It’s not the same as being an Agent.” You sighed, relaxing your arms in your friend’s presence. If someone had told you a month ago that the jolly, overly-excitable Head Analyst of the Los Angeles Headquarters would become the closest thing you’d have to a best friend, you would have had that person check into a mental health institution. But lo and behold, Chuck wormed his way through your cold exterior with his pun-filled jokes and welcoming attitude that you couldn’t ignore the loveable doofus even if you tried. It was a friendship you had been yearning for a while but previous experiences made it hard for you to move it past co-worker friend status. Luckily, Chuck was a-okay with that and respected your boundaries.

“Well, maybe what we need isn’t an Agent. They’re the ones who keep failing after all.”

“Are you saying I’m gonna fail?”

“Of course not. You’re the freaking best Agent we’ve got.” Your lips twitched and Chuck grinned at your impending smile before he continued. “But maybe you’ll have a better chance with someone who isn’t formally trained.”

“Maybes won’t save lives Chuck.”

“I know, I know. Can’t I just be an optimist and believe in you guys?” You glanced over at him for a moment and saw nothing but honesty shine through his baby blue eyes. You gave another sigh, this one more exaggerated, before shrugging your shoulders.

“If you must.”

“Great! Anyways, don’t let me keep you from the rest of your day off.” Chuck exclaimed, jumping up from his chair. “But before you go, I’m sure you’d like a head start on what Beta Universe Evangeline plans to send you to.” He walked over to his private, rolling terminal and grabbed a folder sitting on top of a set of colorful buttons. He walked over back to you just as you stood up.

“Warning you now, this game is pretty terrifying.”

“How fun. I’ll be sure to look at it when I get home.” Bidding a quick goodbye, you walked out of the room and back towards the elevators, taking your sweet time back down to avoid walking into Evangeline and Mark if they were still downstairs. Luckily, they weren’t there anymore and you were able to leave headquarters without another incident.

One short bus ride later gave you enough time to skim through the folder. The game you would be going into was called Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a survival horror point-and-click game. Even though it was an indie game, it got a lot of exposure during its first game for its vague lore and memorable animatronic animal villains. With the release of the sequel so quickly after the first, it’s exposure skyrocketed and was having some hazardous effects on your universe. The high death rate of the second game had taken at least 2 sets of Agent pairs so far. A part of you wondered if there were too many cooks in the kitchen, which lead to their untimely deaths but you shook your head. Stop it ego; you had to get into the new habit of having a partner. Preferably someone with a few missions under their belt.

As you climbed the stairs up to of your floor, you began making a mental list of all other available Agents at your headquarters. You were unlocking your door and thinking about Agent Xander’s qualifications when you heard someone call out behind you.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” You froze, immediately recognizing that smooth baritone voice. You hesitantly looked over your shoulder to see Mark Fischbach stepping out of the apartment door across from yours.

“I… live here?” You slowly replied, frantically praying to whatever god was willing to listen.

Please just be visiting someone. Please just be visiting someone.

“What a coincidence, I live here too!” He announced cheerfully as he closed the door behind him. “Guess we’re neighbors.”

“Yeah… Cool… Um, I gotta go.” Before Mark could say anything else, you scrambled inside and closed the door behind you a little too loudly. Probably a good thing though since you were still sticking to your plan in keeping up an assholey persona to push him away. But that was the furthest thing from your mind right now as you pulled out your phone. You went to your speed dial page and pulled up the first person on top of the list. She answered in two rings.

“Yes [Name]?”

“Why does he live 10 feet away from me?”

“I don’t kn-”

“Cut the bullshit, you’re the one who put me in this apartment.”

“I put you in that apartment because I knew you’d appreciate that spiral staircase.”

“You know I do but that’s beside the point. How long have you been planning to assign him as my partner? Before I got here?”

“What if I did? What if I’m concerned about your social well-being and that you haven’t had a partner or any social interaction outside of work for the past two years?”

“Because it’s none of your business!” You hung up on her before she could say anything else and threw your phone on the couch. Her words hung in the air but you did your best to ignore them and the open wounds they had created.

You were fine.

And you were going to remain fine. You had a good job, a nice home, and a sizeable income. What more could you need?

If Evangeline was so hellbent on making that Marki-whatever guy your partner, then you were going to do everything in your power to make him refuse the job.

[thenonconformistcurmudgeon]

Modern Love

Bates was an internet blogger with a meager following which was rapidly diminishing.  He hoped to be discovered by a publisher and become a celebrated writer of renown.  A sort of modern day Lana Turner discovered in the drugstore story which he recently found out was not entirely true.

His day job was working for the State of Nevada in a cubicle outside of Reno.  He worked with facts and figures and although he preferred pencils and log books, he had to use computer spreadsheets.  It was one of many parts of daily life he felt discordant with.  It was 4:40 on a Friday and his phone reverberated with a special ding which signaled someone responded to his last blog post which was now 3 days old. His last post was:

Writers Lament

Oh, the life of obscurity, banging away at my Underwood typewriter, with only tea and biscuits as companions.

The response came from one of his few remaining followers and she said.  You are lucky to have the tea and biscuits.  He was not upset with the response as he knew it to be true. Little did the responder know however, how lucky he truly was because he also had and would always have Julie.

Julie came into his life while working at his cubicle.  She worked in another part of the state workforce 10 minutes away in Reno and she sent weekly e-mails at approximately 4:50 on Fridays to all state employees informing them about upcoming weekly state events.  He didn’t usually think about the e-mails or Julie until one Friday the e-mail didn’t show up.  He wondered what happened to her and thought she may have gone on vacation.  An e-mail did show up the next week on a Tuesday which made him wonder even more and he suddenly wished to know more about her and what she might have been up to.

Bates went home that night to find out more about Julie.  In modern life, there is no more peeking through the keyhole as you can find out all you need to know on social media. It was easy to find Julie French of Reno on Facebook.  There, her life spread out before him.  She did go on vacation with her husband and son last week as there were pictures to prove it.  Born and raised in Reno, she was apparently quite happy with her job and family.  One could see a series of relationships before husband Bob, and the son was from a prior one.  Another relationship was of the same sex variety which made her more intriguing to Bates but she felt bad for Julie as the women left her for another woman.   She was a music fan of Liz Phair and Bates conveniently ignored her predilection for reality TV such as Jersey Shore.  It was easy to figure out her age from her Instagram and Tumblr accounts.  Bob, who managed a mini golf establishment did not have any prior children, and given their ages, he expected Bob to press for a baby.

Bates followed Julie on social media, better known as stalking.   She did have a baby with Bob but the marital heaven in the photos must have faded over time as Bob eventually left her for another man.  Bates wished he could meet her and sweep her off her feet now that she was free but it did seem depraved to look for her around town and he did have his blog that he was dedicated to.  

The day did come when he did run into her.  On this day, he found himself writing longhand an idea for a blog post about Taxidermy birds while in a health food store café.  You know the type of place that has 45 types of granola in bulk.  This particular store was so sanctimonious that it did not carry any granola bars that were wrapped. The shopping carts were made of wood, from a locally sourced tree farm that captured and released tree boring insects. They provided no bags for purchases. Staff was trained to raise an eyebrow and clear their throat if someone brought a plastic bag to carry their groceries. If it was a Walmart bag, the customer was surrounded by the entire staff with some tapping a foot, others drumming fingers on the counters, and a scarlet A was painted on the customer outerwear. Some were willing to undergo such humiliation as the organic pizza was to die for.

The café had the usual cast of characters.  Young men pierced and tattooed, thinking they were the bee’s knees, but they were not old enough to know of that term.   Young women in flowy dresses, heavily beaded, bought from local street vendors who did not believe in changing out the screens on their hash pipes or frequently changing undergarments.

On this day, Julie appeared at the cashier checking out but forgot to bring bags.  She stumbled and fumbled and was dropping some items and no one came to help.  Bates did approach her warily and picked up some items.  His first instinct was to stack them back in her arms but then they fell off again.  After a couple attempts, he realized his mistake to heap them back up and told her he would help carry them out to her vehicle and she was appreciative.  There was so much he wanted to say but was dumbfounded.  He wanted to tell her that he had no need to mentally undress her because he had already seen her in a bikini on the computer.  He wanted to tell her he would never leave her like the others but knew enough to hold that thought.  They walked out in silence, nary a comment about the weather.  Sadly, Bates awkwardness was on full display, and it was clear Julie had not the slightest interest in their meeting other than getting her purchases in the car.  The chance encounter then ended quickly with a thank you and you’re welcome.

Bates was fearful of running into her again due to his poor social execution, so he chose a different café to have organic coffee raised responsibly with well-paid bean pickers. There were photos of the highly paid dark-skinned bean farmers.  It was noted that their dental and health plans were in fact better than his.

Some years passed and Bates was in a café in Paris.  It was a shoebox sized café with tiny tables in which strangers had to share space.  She slipped in sideways like a cat and sat down at his table.  It was Julie.  The two Americans shared a conversation a long with the table.  She did not acknowledge that she remembered him from the health food store and he kept mum about what he knew about her and their prior encounter.  Bates told her he was from North Dakota.  He already knew that she now had a British boyfriend, Terry and she did say she was soon going back to London for a brief stay before returning to Nevada.  She ordered a chocolate mousse and offered to share but Bates said no.  He knew the electric sparks between them only went in one direction and the sharing of the mousse would be too much of a jolt for him to handle.  However, she took his spoon, put some mousse in it, and brought it to his mouth and said to him, “please have this little bit of instant bliss”. He succumbed.

Bates rented a flat in London for a couple months with a view of Waterloo Bridge as he had considerable time saved up from work for such a leave.  He would stare out of his window for hours with the hopes of inspiration for his blog.  His Underwood typewriter at the ready.  He would type his work out and then scan it in.  He liked how the typewriter ribbon faded at times and how it made his blog look more archaic.  One day he saw Terry and Julie cross over the river looking safe and sound.  He gazed out the window for hours more, all he needed was the sunset and he was in paradise.  He then became inspired and wrote extensively about odd topics such as showers, knives, motels off the highway, and desirable but unattainable women. His readership picked up considerably but he was not published or became well known.  

It was approaching 4:50 in Bate’s cubicle, and sure enough the e-mail came from Yvette Laliberte from the state office about 10 miles away.  He felt it was sent just for him and he treasured that time together.  A little bit of instant bliss.