#seeing that man get called a hero is my villain origin story

[helpimstuckinafandom]

Call me Dabi the way Endeavor is kick-starting my villain arc

[skzdarlings]

the rescue ; skz; aotm!hyunjin x reader

original ask: requested by @tattywood: ❛ i'm simply enjoying the view. it's not every day i get to fuck someone so pretty. ❜ would 100000% fit Hyunjin 🩶 + requested by anonymous: ❛ you're mine, and i take care of what belongs to me. ❜ with hyunjin? thank you

pairing: hwang hyunjin/reader content info: artist of the month!hyunjin was inspo here. gangster stuff, reader has been kidnapped and is in a see through nightdress, most violence off page though, bad guy hyunjin who is actually a good guy, arranged marriage, multiple smut scenes, not great communication but gets better lol. smut includes fingering, blow jobs, pussy eating, piv, spanking, light choking, husband/wife kink. word count: 6300 words.

masterlist. part of the valentine’s day stories series. credit to prompts. requests are closed.

enjoy! <3

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“I’ve already explained,” you say, equal parts frustrated and exhausted.  “My husband isn’t coming for me.” 

The gangster cronies still don’t seem to understand.  You are tied to a chair in their basement (because they are preposterously corny goons, tying you up like a comically silly damsel in a ridiculous film) while they berate you for your husband’s tardiness.    

You have tried explaining, over and over, that Hyunjin is not coming, but they won’t accept that answer.  The fools try in vain to reach him again, but his line leads straight to a dial tone. 

He went radio silent after the initial video contact, when your captors demanded a price for your healthy return. 

Hyunjin was quiet on the call.  Your husband is a quiet man in general, though he knows how to use his charms and work a room, and he has certainly perfected the art of severe intimidation.  When your marriage was arranged, one mob family to the other, you mistakenly assumed you were marrying a monster. 

Hyunjin is very reserved when not conducting business.  He doesn’t engage in any of the more debauched sides of the business, unlike the men in your family.  Evenings at home are silent and still, the penthouse view of the glittering cityscape the only real bustle. 

Maybe that shouldn’t have surprised you.  When he took over his family’s business, Hyunjin altered a lot of their practices, cutting the crueler sectors, opting for illicit crimes of more practical varieties. 

The country is in a political chokehold, government affairs conducted none too differently from the criminal underworld.  The cops are all dirty, the politicians corrupt, the wealthy depraved.  Hyunjin has taken it upon himself to alleviate the pressure suffered by the regular people, the civilians who truly pay the price of a broken system.

In a world with no good guys, sometimes only villains can be heroes.    

You think of his face now, how he certainly looked the part of a villain on the video call.  Hyunjin has a very austere demeanour, exacerbated by his severe appearance: sharp marble features and dark, vicious eyes often further darkened with heavy lining, sleek black hair, scattered scars and tattoos, and the sort of regard that judges at a glance.  He is young, but he has the air of a man who has already traversed the universe and found it wanting.       

You think of his face now, the silent perusal he gave your bound body on that video call.  You are dressed in your favourite nightgown, your underthings partially visible through the light material, but it was not willingly donned.   At the time of your kidnapping, you were attired appropriately for the wealthy wife of a famous gangster.  You were returning from a family visit when your captors intercepted you in transit from the airport. 

Either to intimidate or threaten or just because they could, they made you remove all your jewelry and fine clothes.  They rifled through your luggage and demanded you change into the nightgown. 

Hyunjin recognized the nightdress, realized you must have been stripped, and likely inferred the very worst. 

“Address,” was the only word Hyunjin said.   He ended the call seconds later.    

“Oh, he’ll come,” your captor says.  He points at you with a hand that feels more threatening than a knife.  It makes your terrified heart leap into your throat.  “Or else.” 

“He won’t, though!” you exclaim.  “You’re wasting your time!”

They are not listening.  They leave the basement, slamming the door behind them.

You huff and settle back in your bonds. 

It is only a matter of time before they realize you are telling the truth.  Hyunjin will not waste the money or resources to rescue you.  He has always been respectful of the marriage arrangement, but your husband is not sentimental.  There is a professional distance between you.  His decision will be based in the logic of all his strategies: nothing personal, just a matter of business. 

You sometimes see a different side of him, something buried under that quiet intensity.  He collects fine art and spends hours poring over his favourite pieces, listening to music, losing himself to artistic fantasies.  He always comes back, but you know there are other worlds in his mind. 

Every attempt to bridge the gap has been gently rebuffed, but there have been moments when your husband seems curious about you.  You often catch him staring.  He gets a wistful look that softens his face, even with that shield of make-up.  His eyes are gentle when you talk about your passions.  You never let his quietude deter your friendly penchant for chatter.   He seems more than content to listen.  He remembers everything too. 

You know he finds you attractive, if nothing else.  He has caved on that front several times over, though not right away.  He didn’t touch you on the wedding night, nor the honeymoon.  He left your beach holiday early to return to business, leaving you in a villa with security and his credit card.  It was the first time you realized the material world was no replacement for true companionship.  You missed his dark eyes.

Your family also had expectations.  There would be consequences if the marriage fell through.  You would be blamed, not him.  Worried he would renege on the nuptials, you did everything to try and seduce him. 

He politely rejected you at every turn. 

Just when you were resigned, he arrived home after a job.  It was almost three in the morning when he entered the penthouse.  You have separate bedrooms but they share a connecting bathroom.  You could hear him cursing above the running water. 

You only meant to peek.  The sliding door on your side was partially ajar so you tip-toed over. 

Hyunjin was standing in front of the mirror, shirtless, pressing a rag to his wounded shoulder.  There was a mess of blood streaked down his back, making you gasp at the terrible mosaic of pain, his body littered with violent scars. 

That gasp contained multitudes, for the horror, for his beauty.  His dark eyes were as severely lined as ever, expression intense as he breathed hard through the pain.  Smooth black hair fell across his face when he tipped his head. 

He froze at the sound of your gasp.  His turn was very slow, eyes peeking through the curtain of his short hair.  They captured yours.   

You held your breath. 

Eventually, he straightened, flicking his hair out of his face.  He looked in the mirror and sighed.    

“You can come in,” he said.   “This is your home too.” 

You slid the door open, just enough to squeeze through.  Your attention was utterly transfixed on his bleeding shoulder.  You could see the wound was a thin stripe.  It was not deep so stitches were not necessary, but it was slightly out of his reach as it sloped towards his back.

“Oh, Hyunjin,” you said, thoughtlessly taking the rag right out of his hands.    

In spite of the violence that raised you, or maybe because of it, you can’t stand to see suffering.   You and Hyunjin have had that in common from the start.  You were quick to help him clean the wound, wordlessly wiping all the blood then applying cream across the clotted cut. 

He flinched when the stinging cream made contact.  You went to apologize but your words evaporated when your eyes met through the mirror.  You were surprised to find him already looking at you, that expressive gaze as thoughtful as ever. 

“How did this happen?” you couldn’t help but ask, eyes rivetted to his reflection.   “You – you have people to protect you.”  You managed to rip your gaze away, looking at your task, feeling hot in the face. 

“I do,” he said.  “But I’d never ask someone to do something I’m not willing to do myself.” 

This did not surprise you to hear.   It is obvious that Hyunjin cares very deeply about the wellbeing of other people.  It is a fact known to few.  It aggravates you at times, but his reputation does not seem to bother him.  He would rather people think him a monster while he secretly does good rather than be praised in public while cruel in private. 

You have never known another man like him.  Looking at that scar that night, the realization truly struck you. 

Your fingers began to tremble where they brushed his bare skin, your eyes widening as you looked at the scar and many others.  If something happened to him, what would become of you?  Certainly, as his widow, you would be financially sound, but what did that matter?  This world would lose something irreplaceable if it lost Hwang Hyunjin.  This penthouse could be brimming with silver and gold and it would be empty, worthless. 

Tears in your eyes, you succumbed to desire, kissing him very gently on his hurt shoulder. 

“Hyunjin,” you said, your eyes closed, lips grazing his skin as you spoke.  “Please make sure you always come home, okay?” 

He did not answer at first.  When you lifted your eyes and looked in the mirror, those dark eyes were so enflamed that you were surprised nothing caught fire. 

“Hyunjin?” you said softly.   

“You mean that,” he said, not quite a question, more like a realization. 

“Of course,” you replied. You looked at his scarred back again, let your fingertips brush down the length of his spine.  It made him stand a little straighter.  “Have you ever known me to lie?” you asked. 

He finally turned around, looking at you with an long-engrained wariness, but also a hunger.  He was a starving man presented with a banquet, but one who did not easily trust when sitting at someone else’s table. 

“You’re a smart woman,” he said.  “I know that.  And I know that you’re – good.” 

Good was an exhale, like the word was too heavy for his tongue.  You realized that his wariness was less suspicion for you than hesitation regarding himself.  He was only starving because he though himself undeserving of the meal he wanted. 

“You’ve seen – and done – many bad things tonight, haven’t you?” you asked. 

Having the full force of his gaze was overwhelmingly heady.  You remember how it made your heart race like you were being chased, your breath catching over and over until you were almost panting. 

Arousal struck quickly, a sensation like you never experienced before.  You thought you understood attraction, but not until that moment when he released a breath, so close to your face, and you became truly aware of his proximity.   Of him, of all that he was, all that he did.  His character, his hidden depths.

Your husband. 

It made your racing heart thunder something fierce, your blood pumping hotly, throbbing places you did not know were so sensitive. 

You desperately wondered what was on his mind.  The gears in his head were spinning and whirring, delaying his response.  Was he feeling the same tension?  Were his thoughts the same realization?

 My wife.  

“Yes,” he finally said. 

“Is there something I can do to help?” you asked.

His tattooed hand cupped your head, tilting it just so.  It made your lips part with a gasp, eyelids heavy with anticipation for a kiss. 

He took his time looking at you, like he was scrubbing all those bad memories away, replacing them with the flustered look on his aroused wife’s face. 

“Yes,” he said again, and kissed you for the first time. 

You were so glad he rebuffed your previous half-hearted advances, clumsy seductions made out of obligation rather than desire.  It was so different to that kiss.  You would not have known how to even ask for a kiss like that.  You never knew what you were missing. 

Your quiet husband and his multitudes.  All that simmering intensity, hot just below the surface of his icy demeanour, burned right through his skin.  His kiss was ravishing, entirely possessive, like he wished to take your whole essence into him and hold it forever. 

He walked you backwards.  With a snap of his wrist, he slid the door open the rest of the way, so sharp that it tried to bounce back.  He continued onward, kissing you until you were dizzy with it.   

He picked you up just to put you on the bed himself.  Your kiss separated only then as you landed with a bounce and a breath. 

He loomed over the edge of the bed, this man who was both stranger and husband, hero and villain.   He looked at you like he already loved you.  He looked at you and saw the reciprocation.  You had fallen for him without realizing you had ever even stumbled. 

He ran his hands through his hair, the sleek black locks fluttering back into place.  His eyes were still rivetted to your face, to your body.  You were wearing the nightdress you are wearing now.  It is why it became your favourite. 

He looked down at you, the material translucent enough to see the details of your body.   It broke through that last layer of ice.  He surrendered with a choked breath. 

He unclasped a holster on his thigh, dropped a knife that was hidden in a pocket.   Once unarmed, his hands went to his belt.  You watched those nimble, efficient fingers, swallowing hard.   You were aching to an embarrassing degree, undoubtedly obvious in your desires.  No one ever warned you it would feel like this, just being looked at, never mind touched.

Then his belt was on the floor and he touchedyou for real.   His calloused hands moved up your thighs, pushing the nightdress up and out of his way.  He climbed on top of you, swift as a feline, mouth descending onto yours with that same desperate hunger as before. 

Recollection makes you crave another kiss.   You think you will always be starving for more. 

“Hyunjin,” you whispered, hands on his face, his shoulders, down to his chest. 

He took your hands and laced your fingers with his, pinning those hands to the bed.   He kissed you again, long and slow.  It was all more sensual than desperate.

His voice, however, was desperate when he begged, “Let me make you feel good, please.”  He kissed down your face, your jaw, your throat.  “Please, my wife.”  He kissed further down still, through your nightdress, tracing the curve of your breast with his tongue, wetting the material and awakening every nerve beneath it.   “My wife,” he repeated. 

“My husband.”  The words left your lips in a dizzy, delirious whisper.   

It was all the confirmation he needed.  Those deft and skilled hands, so quick to assemble weapons and pull triggers, applied themselves with a startling gentleness.  He took you apart and put you together with the same efficient ease.   

He hooked his fingers in the only material between him and his desire, tugged it out of his way.  His fingers went to you, slipping through all that wetness.  Those intense eyes rolled back even though it was just his fingers inside you, then he closed his eyes like it was too much, and it seemed he had to temper himself, murmuring nonsense as he let his fingers sink into you. 

He kissed you again, drinking down every sigh and gasp and moan while he fucked you with his long fingers.  It was like he could taste your pleasure, like he was trying to get drunk on it, every noise you made filling his mouth.  He gave them back and brought you over a peak, first with his hands, then with his mouth.  He laid between your legs and put your thighs around his head, losing himself entirely in you. 

He did not remove a single article of your clothing nor his pants, not that first time.  He simply held the material to the side as he unzipped and finally got inside you.  It made your whole body keen, coming to life like it never had before.  You forgot all your sensibilities and let every wanton sound and action loose.

He responded in kind.  His kiss tasted like your pleasure, his heart pounding as fast as yours where your chests pressed together.  You were careful near his injured shoulder, fingertips dodging scars.  Your soft touch made him whimper, this powerful man entirely undone by a few caresses. 

His skin was hot and he worked up a sweat, but his stamina seemed endless.  He always wanted more. 

You fell asleep tucked in his arms, content to believe the walls had crumbled.   However, they revealed themselves in the morning light, as concrete as ever.  He slipped away and left a note to excuse his absence as he was called away to business.   You thought about phoning or messaging him, but those lines were not always secure, not for such intimate conversations. 

When he returned a few days later, he hid behind those concrete walls, but too much had changed.  There was now an awareness of your proximity and your distance.  The lack of intimacy was not called into question before, the absence of something being a nothing.  But now that nothing was something, or had been something for a moment, and it made you both very aware of how it was now missing – and anticipating always when it might again appear.

He tried very hard to keep away, to stay cordial at best, his habitual quietude even heavier than before.  But while his silence was significant, so was his glance.  Every time you turned around, he was already looking at you, a longing in his eyes and a thought on his lips that he never dared to speak aloud. 

You granted him some distance for a time.  When it became abundantly obvious he was holding himself in check, you realized that your own vulnerability was required to bridge the gap. 

One night you crossed through the bathroom, slid open the door on his side.  You found him at his desk, dressed down in a white dress shirt and pants.  His blazer was discarded on the floor, his face still made up. 

He stood quickly when you entered, though he didn’t say anything. 

It was strange to imagine this man would need any reassurance, but you felt that was the case.   His fingers fidgeted at his sides, his roving eyes studious.

You said nothing.  You approached him, laid your hands on his chest, and gently guided him back into his chair.  He sat slowly, his eyes on your face the entire time, even when he had to tip his head back to peer up at you. 

You ran your fingers through his hair.  When you entered the room, his face was tightly screwed in an expression of aggravation, but all those harsh lines softened as you traced a thumb down the sharp slope of his cheek. 

There were some wipes on his desk.  You took one and began to carefully remove that shield of dark make-up.  His hand lifted but not to stop you, simply to rest his palm on your waist.  He began to really touch you, feeling the shape of your body through your robe as you helped him come back to himself. 

“Hello,” you finally said, looking at his bare face.  Still impossibly beautiful.

“Hello,” he replied. 

His fingertips dipped towards the hem of the robe.  Before he could distract you with your own pleasure, you sunk to your knees in front of him.  This startled him, his hand frozen in the air as you fit yourself between his open knees. 

He caught your hand, his reflexes fast, before it could reach his fly.   You could see he was already affected, a heavy bulge in the black material making your mouth water and core tighten. 

He squeezed your hand and you looked up at his face.   He tipped his head, blinked rapidly, an expression of mild confusion.

You took your hand back and unknotted your robe.  The silk fell from your shoulders and down, sliding like water right off your body.  You were completedly naked underneath. 

It clarified everything, his confusion gone, replaced with surprise.

“You—” he began.  It was interrupted when you put your head in his lap, resting on his thigh.  You led his hand to the back of your neck and kissed him through his pants.  It made his fingers clasp tighter around you.  

“Please,” you said. 

He would never deny you anything.  Not the smallest gift nor grandest gesture.  When you started a new charity to further your combined philanthropic efforts, he spared no expense in aiding the endeavour.  You shared passions, and now you shared this.

He was stiff at the start, but gradually let himself go lax in his seat.  His hand kept a steady grip on the back of your neck, not guiding but holding, like he thought you might disappear otherwise.  He murmured your name, letting his head fall back as you worked him in your mouth. 

You intended to make him finish like that, seeking nothing for yourself at that precise moment.  He had other ideas, needing more of your shared pleasure to take him over that brink. 

He lifted your face, adjusted his pants, and was on his feet in a matter of seconds.  That hand on your neck dragged you up, up, up until your naked body was pressed against his clothed one.  He clung to you needily, claiming your mouth in a wanting kiss. 

His hands moved over you, every new inch of skin making him moan as he walked you towards the bed.  The kiss only broke when you both sat down, his lips against yours as he breathed, almost smiling, “My pretty wife.”

“Hyunjin,” you said, shaking your head, feeling suddenly shy just because of a simple compliment. 

He did not allow you to curl into yourself with any shame.  When you tried, he seized you, pulling you onto his lap so you straddled it.   His eyes moved up and down your body, hands following, from your thighs to hips to waist and up. 

 “What are you doing?” you said, laughing helplessly when he kissed somewhere ticklish on your throat.  The sound made him smile, even softer than before, though it turned a little wicked as his mouth went lower. 

“I’m simply enjoying the view,” he said, then wrapped his lips around the stiff peak of your breast, ran his tongue up and over.  He licked and kissed back up to your mouth.   “It’s not everyday I get to fuck someone so pretty.” 

As he said this, he opened his pants again, eyes on yours as he grabbed your thighs and moved you so he could thrust up into you.  His hips moved with a slow roll, letting you adjust to him.  It had been a little while, and this angle was different.

And Hyunjin is not small.  Your husband is built in perfect proportion, his body a long, hard, slender build – everything inside you at that moment was no exception.   This angle made you whimper, clinging to him like  he was a life preserver in a storm.  The roll of his hips kept coming like waves and you were sure you would drown otherwise. 

Your arms were around his neck, his graceful but strong hands digging into the meat of your thighs as he fucked you.  He felt impossibly deep, every upward stroke feeling like it was bursting past something, pushing everything inside your body up to your throat. 

You swallowed again and again, the taste of him still on your lips, the feel of him inside every inch of you.  You clenched and tightened involuntarily, just pure animal reaction, and it made him moan and find all those sweet spots to make it happen again.    

“Help,” was your somewhat nonsensical request, blurted in the midst of some moaning babbling.

Fortunately, he was and is a smart man.  He understood.  He clasped you tight to his body and fell back on the bed, thrusting up into you with sharper, more focussed determination, faster until you were weeping on his chest, delirious with pleasure.  His shirt was unbuttoned and you accidentally ripped a few buttons right off, trying to press your face to bare skin. 

“Yes, yes, yes,” you said as you tumbled over a height you never reached before.  You never knew you could come just from that, stimulated somewhere so deep inside you, but it made you come undone in his arms. 

He watched you unravel and it made him follow, clinging to you as he just barely pulled out before coming between your dripping thighs.  It was all so messy and wet, your legs trembling, but it felt so good that it hardly mattered. 

He caught his breath, then looked at your face just lose that breath again.  He moaned and dragged you in for another kiss.

Then you were on your back, the night far from over. 

That second night is the one that truly opened the door to more.  Though your husband can be reticent in other regards, he is not quiet when he is inside you.  You have come together again and again, a conversation with your bodies as you look for pleasure in a dangerous world.   You always find it, tucked in the protective circle of his arms, wrapped around every inch of him. 

You have been out of his arms for too long.  Your visit to your family grew tedious before long.  Your home is with Hyunjin now and you were eager to return. 

Now it seems you may never see it again.  You may never see him again. 

No.

Just like the night when you took control for yourself, you must take control now.  You realize if anything is to happen, then you must take the reins of your own rescue.  You would not want Hyunjin to compromise himself or his important business.  You know if something bad happened to you, it would weigh on his conscious, even if it was the better business decision.  You must eliminate the need for choice. 

It turns out, comical rope bindings are truly best suited for silly movies.  When the men come to check on you again, you have slipped free of your bindings.  There was an array of weapons in the room, so carelessly disposed because the assailants never assumed you would get free – or, if you did get free, that you would not know how to use them. 

It is true, you do not like violence. 

That does not mean you do not understand it. 

You leave the two men unconscious in their basement.  Unfortunately, you cannot find your suitcase and you do not want to hang around, so you venture outside in your nightgown.  You are debating your next move when a car pulls into the driveway. 

You back away quickly, raising the gun you stole as more men get out of the vehicle.  You only stay your hand because you recognize one of them, though it takes a second to place him as one of Hyunjin’s lieutenants. 

Then Hyunjin emerges.   You have seen your husband before and after a confrontation, but never during it.  If you thought he was an intimidating figure in the aftermath, he is all danger and darkness as he storms up the driveway now.   There is such an energy radiating from him, it makes you stumble and forget yourself entirely. 

Then he stumbles, recognizing you.  You are both startled, staring at each other with the gun raised between you. 

He looks nowhere but your eyes. 

“Hyunjin?” you finally say. 

“I—”  He looks at you, the gun, the nightdress.  He shakes his head.  Some of that bravado returns when he says, “I’m here to save you.”

“Ah,” you say.  You slowly lower the gun, at a loss how to reply.  You were so resigned to the idea this was all still business.  The reality of your husband risking himself to rescue you from unknown hostiles is making your heart pound.  

In the end, all you can think to say is, “Sorry.  You’re late.” 

That wicked smile crosses his face, his tongue pushing at the corner of his mouth.  He is suddenly nothing but amused, looking at you, then at the house.

“I can see that,” he says. 

He whistles sharply and gestures to the house with a gloved hand.  His lieutenants run past you and charge the door, no doubt heading inside to finish the job you started.        

You turn to watch them go.  In your distraction, Hyunjin grabs your arm.  He is fast, effectively disarming you.  He catches the gun with a twirl before tossing it aside.

It is not the gun he wants; it’s you.

Still holding your wrist, he tugs you into him.  You throw your arms around him.  The hug is surprisingly chaste, his face in your neck as he squeezes you like it is the only thing keeping him alive and standing.

“Are you hurt?” he asks. 

When in his arms, it seems impossible to consider you could ever feel any pain. 

You shake your head, daring to kiss his cheek.  He turns his face to yours, your lips close enough to brush in a swipe. 

“I’m all right now,” you say.  “Sorry I beat you to the punch.  I – I wasn’t sure if—”

His brow crinkles.  That gloved hand goes from your wrist to your chin, seizing it between thumb and forefinger.  He tips your head so he can look at your face.  He always regards you like he does one of his masterpieces, like he can never get his fill, like there is always something new to find.  He is enchanted every time. 

“You’re mine,” he says.  “And I take care of what belongs to me.” 

You gasp when those fingers go from your chin to your throat, just enough to pull you in that last breath of a space.  He kisses you there in the sunlight, utterly shameless. 

“Do not ever doubt that,” he says.  His eyes are soft with his affection, but his voice is hard, skirting the edge of a threat he would issue an adversary.  It makes you tingle from head to toe.  “Do I need to remind you?” 

You never actually answer.  You are not sure if your answer would have made a difference, as Hyunjin is determined to show you the very second you are home. 

You reach the penthouse. There is no time to shower or decompress once you cross the threshhold.  He sweeps you off your feet, your arms around his shoulders and your legs around his waist.  You are wearing his blazer over your nightdress to preserve your modesty – not that it will last long.

He carries you to the bedroom where so many slow and subtle exchanges took place.  Now, he is not slow or subtle.  He is a force of nature.   He tells you that he held no greater fear than losing you and he tried to keep his distance, but he regretted it the moment he saw you on that video call. 

“You’re my wife,” he says, peeling his blazer off your body.  “I’m your husband.  There is nothing I should be holding back.” 

“Yes,” you say, running your fingers through that smooth black hair.  You shiver as he bunches the fabric of your nightdress, the material spilling over his fingers.   “Don’t hold back,” you say, mouth open against his, stealing his every breath.   “Do whatever you want.” 

He tells you exactly what he wants, using his words for a change, finally letting those walls come down.  He whispers every filthy thought into your ear, between kisses, between bites.   You shiver at every suggestion. 

And so, moments later, he is sitting on your bed.  He arranges you to lay across his lap, facedown in the pillows while he runs his hands down your spine and over the curve of your ass. 

“You’re my wife,” he says.  The first tap of his open palm is through the thin material of your nightdress.  It is truly just a warning tap, just enough to make you bounce.  “Don’t ever doubt me again,” he says, swinging that strong hand a little harder.  

This time a yelp escapes your lips.  You wriggle until he pins you down, a hand on the back of your neck and the other lifting your dress.   He already stripped your underthings, his open palm smoothing down all that bare skin.  

You tingle with anticipation, braced yet still unprepared for the sharp smack he next delivers.  You feel it tingle all the way up to your head, as well as the next one, and the next.   You squirm under his firm grip, groaning his name as your thighs get tense and press together. 

“Don’t say my name,” he says, and smacks you again.  “Who am I?”

“M-my husband,” you say, practically mewling like a kitten when he next brings his hand down.  “My husband,” you say again. 

“And you are—”

“Your wife,” you say, though it comes out almost like a sob, a desperate gasp as he slips his fingers between your thighs and finds a new way to torture you.   With your backside hot and stinging, the pleasure of his hand in that sensitive place feels amplified by a tenfold. 

“Husband,” you say, hips bucking.  His free hand goes from the back of your neck to your lower spine, holding you in his lap as he slowly finger-fucks you.

“Yes?” he says.

You do not even remember what you were going to say, or beg, or plead.  You are overcome with sensation, tingling all over, intensifying the press of his fingers as he curls his fingers into that soft, soft place.  Then you are really squirming, helplessly, instinctively, whining into the pillows. 

“I make you feel good,” he says.  “I take care of you.  You, who are so good, and so smart, but so—”

You cry out when he angles his hand just a little differently.  Your vision swims with stars as he speeds up. 

“So soft,” he says, his own voice going soft, just a whisper as he makes you come all over his hand in a throbbing, aching, desperate wet mess.  “Just for me,” he says in that whisper.  “Just for your husband.” 

“Mmmf,” is all the response you have left in you. 

Your thighs are trembling and your pussy throbbing with aftershocks when he picks you up.  He stands and turns, laying you on your side in the bed.  You are grateful, as your backside still stings, though you suspect he is not done yet.

He strips out of his clothes, tearing through his shirt, leaving the pants in a heap.  He forgets to remove his necklace.  All that silver is cold against your hot skin as he lays down behind you.   You do not have time to linger on it, as he gathers up the hem of your dress and adjusts himself behind you. 

He has taken you many times, in many ways, many positions.   When you are on your hands and knees, he is overtaken by a primal urge, your hips as leverage in his hands as he pounds into you like it is a chase.   When you are on your back, he sinks into you slowly and deeply, rocking his hips into yours like he intends to fuck you forever.  When you are in his lap, he rolls his hips in steady, needy waves, captivated by the sight of you in his arms. 

He lays behind you now and wraps his arms around you, coaxes your thighs apart.  Your nightdress is bunched every which way, leaving nothing to the imagination, and you feel especially exposed and vulnerable in this position somehow.  Perhaps it is the fact he is the one holding you open, keeping you in position so he can take you.

You let yourself fall into it, fall into him.  You let him tell you, with words and actions, exactly how he feels. 

Before it ends, you change position.  He lays back and you straddle his hips while stripping off your dress entirely.  He keeps rolling up into you, only stopping when you plant your hands on his chest to slow him down.  Then he practically sinks in the mattress, murmuring your name.  His make-up is smudged, his calloused hands rough on your body.  Whatever pains you experienced have been overtaken by his hands, by the smarting on your backside, still tender as you bring your body down onto his again and again.  He has completely claimed you for himself and you take the same in turn. 

“Hyunjin,” you say.  “My husband, oh—”

He kisses your hand, long and hard, like he needs his mouth on some part of you desperately.  Your fingers are curled into his pretty mouth when he comes, his hands on your hips and his cock buried inside you. 

“Oh,” is your final sound before you slump on top of him, skin to skin. 

He rolls you onto your side, though he keeps you wrapped around him, his arms around you in turn.  His hair is already a sweaty mess and you rub your thumb through some of his shadowy make-up, but those familiar dark eyes are gazing at you with so much warmth.   There is no more ice, no more cold concrete. 

“I should let you rescue me more often,” you say with a laugh. 

He doesn’t laugh back, but he does smile softly.  It should be incongruous with his severe appearance, but it somehow comes together, layers of him exposed all at once as he strokes your cheek.

He looks at you like his favourite work of art. 

“You were the one who rescued you,” he says.   “Just like you rescued me.” 

You cannot find the words to reply, so you kiss him.  It speaks volumes, and he replies, kissing back. 

You lose yourself to the sweetness, to the heat, to the passion, to all those things more, knowing there are many more to come with this man as your husband. 

[twstfanblog]

Honestly, I just love to hear you rant!!! My request is any au you choose, with Crewel, Rook, and Vil, together or separate, your choice!!! I think your rants are super sweet and sound so much like my own to my friends!!! It kinda makes me think of when I spent 30 minutes trying to find out how much a pint of ale cost in 1843 England for one sentence in something I was writing! 😅 Too bad I'm already following you, because I would totally follow you again! Can't send the Tumblr gift thingies though, because screw American capitalism.

(That price of ale thing is literally how deep I get into world building if Im not careful XD Most days I just go, IT'S FINE YOU DON'T KNOW JUST KEEP WRITING)

Hmmmm... I've written about them all a lot in most of my AU's, honestly. I dont have anything really rant worthy left to say about...I literally had a whole hour to think about it, so instead, I'm just gonna drop another AU so I can get you something new about them. My Manhwa AU is pretty self-serving, but it's got plenty of Vil, Rook, and Crewel sprinkled in.

Basic idea of the AU is that 'Villainess' type story. Yuu was seen as a villain in the original timeline, only to die and come back in time to when she was a child with her full memories. She vows to change her ways and not die in such a way again.

Crewel and Crowley are Yuu's birth parents (Because my AU's are just the same universes in different settings-oop) Crewel married Crowley 100% for the money and power since Crowley was an arch duke. You couldn't call it a marriage of convenience hard enough. But of course, Crewel had to have a puppy to fufill his duty. Crewel will openingly treat Crowley like the bumbling man he pretends to be, but he is an adoring yet stern father to his precious puppy. So you can imagine when she wakes up one day and doesn't act like herself at all. He's so concerned about her...

Vil isn't nobility, but he and his father are both rich and popular enough to buy a title. Both actors, Vil leaves for the performance to the point he was called a succubus by one of his cast stars (teenagers acting so good one falls in love but the other is like 'dude we were acting, calm down'). Vil holds onto his issues with always being casted as a villain but he holds it in much better because hes just happy that he's well liked enough to always perform. As he gets older in this AU he starts to really show his support for the arts and all who create it. He's even started looking for investors to help him fund an acting school.

Rook is a noble man, lover of the odd and offbeat art, no one but his family really accepted his art. But he tried and he shared it with everyone he could. Vil saw it during an artshow and kinda tore it apart publicly by going on and on about how disturbed it made him feel. The current brownnoser tried to 'agree' saying it was bad art.

Vil:

Vil: There's no such thing as "bad art", you toad. I said it disturbed me, I find it grotesque is a very...eyecatching way. It's not bad because it made me feel something.

So Rook falls in love instantly and basically hunts this mean beauty.

They end up working well together because Vil has FINALLY found someone willing to write him in a hero role and PROPERLY CRITIQUE THINGS WITH. They discus art and what makes something 'moving' vs 'shock value'. They fall in love hard for each other to the point Vil accepted Rook's proposal and is already 60% planned through their wedding. Only to realize he never told anyone when his dad asked if he was open to seeing anyone because he's been told many a young man and lady would like to court him.

(SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO DO!!!)

[phantoms-lair]

Trying to Organize my writing brain, so writing this to get it out of my brain meats

FFXIV x BnHA

When Izuku is (second/third grade age) he and his mother are caught in one of the early instant villain attacks. And the guy who was tagged may have had enough secondary mutations to look like he had a heteromorphic quirk, but his actual quirk was a warper. And dosed up on trigger it was enough to warp the two people closest to him (Inko and Izuku) clear to another world

Inko and Izuku are zapped to Hydaelan and are quickly found by a minstrel who seems to have some kind of precog quirk and a man with a cat quirk

The two explain that they're on another world, this has happened before and usually sorts itself, but they're happy to help

It shows no signs of sorting itself out. The adventurer mentions he at least has a house he doesn't use often in Limsa, so offers to let them stay there

Inko and Izuku are flabbergasted to discover quirks flat out don't exist in this world. Inko is literally the only quirked person on the planet.

Izuku realized in this world being quirkless wouldn't stop him from being a hero!

He's bummed to learn he still can't be a hero because that's not a job here. Like there's adventurer, but that can run the gamut from errand boy to god-killer.

The adventurer (Aki Sha'gai) helps them settle in. He teaches them about this world and things like using Aetherite travel, and listens when Inko reminisces about her old friends and Izuku talks about heroes and quirk theory. When it becomes obvious they have no way home Inko decides to get a job and he gets her an interview at the Bismark. Her knowledge of 'Doman' cuisine gets her in the door instantly.

There's a bottle of Fantasia in the house. Their host said they were free to use it as he had no use for it, but didn't want to sell a gift.

Izuku had body image problems. Nothing directly tied to appearance, but spending a lot of his formative years being told his body was wrong stuck with him. He knows at one point he's going to use it, but tries to hold out.

He eventually gives in and after playing with races and gender presentation in his dream, ends up becoming a Mi'quote like Sha'gai-san. (Roegdalyn and Hrothgar just felt too far from his image to himself, Elezen too close, and he didn't want to be short forever to Lalafell was out. He basically coin-tossed between Mi'quote, Veira, and Au Ra)

Upon waking up his mother inquired about the change and panicking (still doesn't want to tell her about the bullying) blurts out that he wanted to look more for that Dad that had to travel for work but always came back and listened and cared for him, as opposed to the man who abandoned him without a second thought.

Inko cries because she didn't realize her separation from Hisashi had bothered him so much. Aki was just 'He sees me as a father?' and immediately becomes full Dad. Izuku's okay with this.

It actually takes years for Izuku to realize his new Da is this world's equivalent to All Might. (He heard stories of the Warrior of Light, but never by given name. And none of Da's friends call him that.

It's not until he take Inko and Izuku on a vacation that they hear him referred to as such and Izuku needs a bit to cope

Aki and Inko are not in a relationship, they're just co-raising a kid

Izuku starts studying Red Magic and hope to be an Adventurer and a member of the Scions (aka his Aunts and Uncles).

Meanwhile All For One repurposes the quirk that sent them there to turn it into Warp Gate. The destruction of the original quirk reverses it's effect. Izuku and Inko are home

Neither are as happy about that as they thought they'd be. But at least between his magic and his cat mutation no one's saying Izuku can't be a hero

Bakugou: Why are you a cat?!?!

Izuku still end up in Class 1-A, doing much better as he actually knows how to control his powers here.

USJ happens. Izuku has hi rapier and is ready to fight to the bitter end to protect his classmates

The air opens with a crack and the Warrior of Light breaks through, having been trying to find his son since he and Inko vanished off the face of the Earth

The League of Villains have a bad time

[hopefulstarfire]

Do yall wanna know my actual favorite butterfly effect?

Two people fucking on a mountain indirectly lead to my favorite comic of all time, Under the Red Hood.

Let me explain.

Joseph Hugo married a woman named Sophie Trébuchet in 1797. He was a general in Napoleon's army so they moved around quite a bit. In a letter he would later write to his son, he and his wife had been on a trip on June 24th 1801 to get from one post to the next and he believed this, on the highest peaks of the Vosges Mountains, is where he believed they conceived their son, who would later become the Ocean Man and famed author Victor Hugo.

(Fun fact: Jean Valjeans prisoner number, 24601, is absolutely in reference to his believed conception date)

Victor Hugo grows up and obviously is responsible for many works, such as Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and was never one to shy away from political commentary. Thus, he was exiled from France and sent to living on the Channel Islands. It was here that he wrote a novel titled The Man Who Laughs.

Like many of his works, this one does have different adaptations. One in particular came out in 1928 starring Conrad Veidt as the character Gwynplaine, or the Man Who Laughs.

Fast forward about a little over a decade later in 1940. A comic book writer comes into work to be greeted by two artists he worked with, one who did significantly less work than the others. These three men were Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson.

Now the details of this meeting are...well, up in the air. Each man had their own account to it, and Bob Kane especially is the most unreliable given that he took credit for literally everything and we went over 70 years without Bill Finger getting any sort of credit to actually creating Batman. But what we do know is that there was a drawing of a playing card and a face for the joker card; and Bill Finger said, "Hey, that looks like Conrad Veidt in the Man Who Laughs."

They pushed further with that angle in making the character, a new villain for their hero; the obvious, Joker.

Some years later we get a little bit of an origin story in 1951, in the comic The Man Behind the Red Hood! (ALSO written by Bill Finger) Some college students are trying to solve this decades old case of a burglar in a red pill helmet that was called the Red Hood and trying to figure out who it was. Teaming up with Batman and Robin, they find out that the Red Hood was in fact Joker's old alias. He used to be a lab worker that was stealing from a playing card company with that alias. He was caught by Batman and threw himself into some chemical waste to escape, thus becoming the Joker.

This origin has stuck around in some form ever since. The moniker was unused for quite a long time after this, but would eventually find a new home in a different character.

See, in the 80s, Batman's second sidekick, Jason Todd, was killed off in a very brutal fashion after a fucking poll that people could call two different numbers to decide if they were going to save him or not. I will get into why I have so many frustrations with everything surrounding this story another day, but the important thing to know here is that the Joker killed Jason while Jason was trying to save his mother.

And for a good period of time there, Jason became a character that you did not bring back to life. Until they did.

A storyline running from 2005 to 2006 came into life, called Under the Hood. In it, Batman has to fight a new foe taking on the mantle of Red Hood, only to discover its Jason Todd, brought back to life from the Lazarus Pit, and taking on the mantle of the man that murdered him to go fucking murder the Joker and take control of crime in Gotham and do what he believes Bruce couldn't, all while dealing with trauma and feeling replaced.

So yeah. We wouldn't have my favorite character or story if it wasn't for Victor Hugo's parents fucking on a mountain and conceiving him there where "The elevated origin seems to have had effects on [Victor Hugo] so that [his] muse is continually sublime". That is a quote from that letter. Victor Hugo's mountain conception where he got a great muse is the reason for the Joker and Red Hood. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

[comicaurora]

Hey Red! Huge fan of OSP and Aurora, my question for you is what animated superhero shows would you recommend?

little bee with an incongruously elephant-themed username, you are officially my best friend

Batman: Beyond

Fifty years after Batman: The Animated Series (which I also recommend, natch), Bruce Wayne has long since retired from being Batman and become a grumpy recluse until hooligan with a heart of gold Terry McGinnis steals the cowl and the fancy suit it's attached to in order to avenge his murdered father and goes on to become the Batman Of The Future, mentored by Bruce. One of the only truly episodic superhero cartoons - almost no overarching plotlines, just character arcs and the occasional villain with their own thing going on. Has a recurring rogue's gallery but also a higher villain bodycount than most superhero shows; villains of the week are not guaranteed to survive their episode, even (and especially) villains from the original Batman run. Exceptionally horrifying plotlines include "man presumed killed in industrial waste accident actually buried alive in horrifying immobilized undead purgatory and animates living humanoid masses of dirt for revenge", "all the cool kids are splicing their DNA and shockingly the dude in charge is evil about it" and "somehow the joker has returned." Also has a surprisingly good follow-up tie-in comic series (and a few less-good ones).

Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited

The first couple seasons (aka just Justice League) are almost entirely two-parters, mostly character-driven, focused in on the main seven founding Justice League members. The finale reshuffles the status quo somewhat, and then Justice League: Unlimited vastly expands the cast and incorporates basically every other DC hero ever written, but somehow doesn't completely fall apart like other shows that tried to follow suit. Most episodes of JLU are self-contained singletons that focus on small subsets of the expanded League - like "Double Date," which focuses on Huntress, The Question, Green Arrow and Black Canary and is well regarded as one of the best episodes. Features seasonal overarching plotlines as well as self-contained episodes that work in isolation. The JLU episodes that focus on the original seven Leaguers are always fun, but it's also nice to see other heroes get spotlighted.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

Do you like lancers? Do you like sad bad boys? Do you like starcrossed love stories? Do you like self-loathing jerks with hearts of gold? Do you like it when Green Lantern is also there? Have I got a show for you! I firmly believe this show only exists to justify someone's OC fanfic romance between the world's angstiest bad boy and a sentient spaceship, and there are only Green Lanterns in it because there have to be. And it's worth it. Also features some deep pulls from the Green Lantern canon like Larfleeze, Mogo the living planet and Saint Walker the first Blue Lantern. Only two seasons and the art style takes some getting used to, but man it's got some high points. Extremely overarching-plot-driven with the occasional more episodic adventure.

Teen Titans

One of those shows that oscillates wildly between "so lighthearted it's a little tooth-aching to watch" and "so crushingly dark it's unbelievable that this is the same show as those other episodes," just how I like it. Extremely episodic which makes it easy to skip around, which is good, because a lot of these episodes are kinda dumb. Adapts some of the most iconic plotlines of The New Teen Titans, but it's a very different adaptation of all characters involved to the point where it's hard to think of them as the same characters at all. This is not a bad thing, it's just a thing. A superhero show where it feels like everyone is legitimately friends with everyone else, with shipping relegated to the background in favor of platonic dynamics. Main villain isn't allowed to be called his supervillain name because it has "death" in it and that's a no-no, so he goes by his actual legal name instead. For some reason a big deal is made over his identity and face being hidden despite his identity in the comics being Just A Buff Old Guy and his villain name being his legal name he pays taxes under.

Static Shock

Took me a criminally long time to watch this one, and I've only gotten through the first couple seasons, but it's really good. A solo hero rather than a team, Virgil's fun to watch because his powerset is limited but he's really smart with it. Turns out giving a brilliant nerd electromagnetic powers means he figures out a lot of ways to use them beyond "zapping things" or "magnetizing stuff" and it's fun to watch him figure out solutions to problems he can't just blast his way through. Also while the show had to limit some storylines to just coding and subtext (Virgil's best friend Richie is gay, but the kind of gay that's not allowed to be explicitly stated anywhere except creator interviews) the show is incredibly overt in discussions of systemic racism, police brutality, gang violence, sky-high familial expectations and how Virgil struggles to deal with all those things. Has a very brightly-colored and cartoony palette compared to other DCAU shows, making it incredibly jarring when someone hands Virgil a straight-up real gun in the first episode, which he promptly throws in the bay because he's a Certified Good Boy.

Legion of Super Heroes

Criminally underrated and only two seasons long! Clark Kent, long before he becomes Superman, gets recruited by a superhero team from the 31st century to travel into the future and help them out with a supervillain problem. He sticks around for a while learning to be a better superhero and live up to the legend he'll someday inspire, including acquiring his suit from a museum dedicated to himself. Lots of fun dramatic irony as an audience is expected to know stuff about Superman that even Clark doesn't know yet, like what Kryptonite is and why his powers don't work on planets with red suns. First season is very episodic. Everyone gets timeskipped in Season 2 and when Superman comes back he's actually been Superman for a while and is a lot better at it now. Standout character through both seasons is Brainiac 5, who is typically written romantically interested in Supergirl and in this show appears to have the exact same level of affection for Superman, which implies that his type is "kryptonians who can bridal carry me" and probably confuses the hell out of the remnants of Original Brainiac buried in his sourcecode. His "true form" is a ten-foot killer robot, which means he chooses to look like a twinky blond. In season 2 he uses a holodeck to play out dramatically dying in Superman's arms, which is around the point where "subtext" becomes "text." Superman and an edgy lancer clone of Superman spend the season 2 finale helping him out in a Battle In The Center Of The Mind versus Original Evil Brainiac, a process I am convinced only takes as long as it does because Brainiac 5 has two Supermen fighting for him and he's not gonna let that opportunity slip away. Take a drink every time he uses the phrase "twelfth level intellect" and finish the glass whenever he and Superman play out a scene that would be less romantic if they kissed.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

On to Marvel finally! Rock solid through all of season 1, the writing gets a little shaky through season 2 - some episodes are spectacular, some are just okay, and a couple verge on full-on idiot plots. Still well worth a watch, if for no other reason than the broadly incredible character writing. This show writes Captain America so well that when he's replaced with a Skrull in season 2 the audience can tell that something is missing; Skrull-Cap acts the way Captain America acts when written by somebody who thinks he's boring, while real Cap acts like a real person who happens to be an absolute paragon of heroism. This show also writes Thor really well and respects his status as the powerhouse, and broadly all the characters are well handled and make good, smart decisions for the information they have available. This is what I consider to be the definitive version of The Avengers, and its existence is why I'm not mad at the MCU when it does my faves dirty - I know I'll always have EMH season 1!

X-Men: Evolution

So, SO early 2000s! Most of the younger X-Men are de-aged so they can double up superheroics with high school drama, which means this version of Wolverine is a full-on dad and it's great. This show also invented X-23. Also if you watched basically any anime in the 90s there are a lot of familiar voices, which makes certain scenes very jarring - Light Yagami as Nightcrawler is one of the funniest bits of dissonance. Also for new God of War fans, Magneto might sound very familiar. Quality is hit-or-miss in places - the season 1 finale is kind of laughably terrible and the show mostly pretends it didn't happen - but it has some extreme high points, mostly the Wolverine-centric episodes. Almost every conflict could be resolved immediately by Nightcrawler's powers, so unfortunately he gets knocked out at the start of nearly every fight, which circles around to being very funny after a while.

Spectacular Spider-Man

The best Spider-Man cartoon, I think! Very much a solo story - just Spider-Man alone vs his massive rogue's gallery, no other superheroes. Extremely quality banter and arcs - several villains have their origins during the series, many appearing in important roles before becoming proper supervillains. Very much an overarching-plot story, and unfortunately canceled before some of those arcs could be resolved, so it ends on a bit of a bummer, which is fairly standard stuff for Spider-Man, tbh. This is a good version of Peter, which is good, because we spend a lot of the show in his head; we get a nearly-constant inner monologue from him so we always know what he's thinking, so he'd better be likable.

[journalsouppe]

Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call!! I actually discovered ordering the game from the UK with shipping was actually cheaper than ordering the American version of the game, there were no major differences that I could tell as they still had the original English voice actors.

I enjoyed this game!! Not my top favorite installment but I still had a great time and loved the new characters. The puzzles were well designed and had nice scaled difficulty and the mini games were really neat too. The Eternal Diva references were so blatant lmfao but I’m excited for Miracle Mask! I was also super exhausted when writing the summary so sorry there’s so many errors and I use the word fun a million times ToT

The Descole and Tea sticker are from JordyDrawsMerch! All other stickers are from Daiso. Writing typed below!

Rating: 8.3

Played: Sp 2024

Port: DS on 3DS

Favorite? Y

Replayable? Y

Recommend? Y

Series: Professor Layton

Comments

Emmy and BABY LUKE!!

OH THANK GOD IT’S CHRISTOPHER ROBIN MILLER

Ngl im so excited to watch the anime, I love the animation sm

Oh Layton is not taking Claire’s death well at all

I love how animated the background now is!!

Beautiful music as always

Does Clark have the same VA as Dmitri lol

THE WORLD WILL END? Damn Luke

The specter looks like one of those little kingdom hearts guys

Luke’s been a LaytonMobile hater since day one lmao

Luke is especially funny in this game

Layton taking Luke to the black market is so wild

THE PUPPET PLAY IS ADORABLE

I’m going to fight aunt taffy

Ooo we get to play as Emmy

Holy shit Emmy

GIRL FROG

Emmy asking if Layton always pokes lamps he sees is making me think he physically touches everything the player taps

The convo with the meowing man???

CHELMEY AND BARTON

Based anti-cop npc

THE DYNAMITE WORKS LMAO

Is Hershel gonna get a cask of amantillado’d T^T

The canals are so pretty i like the design of misthallery

Oh i do not like the police chief

I LOVE YOU EMMYYY

Grosky is very funny

Omg the cliff death police cover up reminds me of killer frequency which i just watched a playthrough of

FUCK JAKES

Where’s phoenix when you need him

JAIL BREAK JAIL BREAK!!!

I love descole’s voice

YAAA LADDER VS STEP LADDER

NESSIE???

The story book stories and animations are so CUTE!!

I wonder if Naiya was added to the game to hit at the Eternal Diva

This kinda reminds me of a pokemon movie but I don’t remember which one it was

^^ it was pokemon heroes when latias and latios were caught ^^;

AN OCARINA!!!

Creepy fucking factory music ToT

Oh dear. I seem to have stepped on a hexagonal spanner

Descole always serving massive cunt

Woah the golden garden is beautiful

Ohh so that’s why Luke was fork life certified in plvspw

ZAMN T^T

THE WAY THE SPRITES WALK KILLS ME LOL

I really like these little episodes from others POVS! ^_^

Summary

This was such a fun origin story for Luke and Layton. Very much a classic Layton game with world ending machinery and gorgeous environment design. I really liked both Emmy and Descole, there’s a more serious undertone than with Don Paolo as the main villain (even though I do love Don Paolo). Emmy is amazing!! I was afraid she would be sidelined like Flora was but I’m glad to she stands her ground and does what she wants to do. I alos like how we got to go on our own adventure as her to London, she’s a character that doesn’t need to rely on Hershel to solve everything. Meeting Luke was great, loved his blank stare. It was fun seeing his origins and how Clark and Hershel knew each other. I’m curious how the prequels will play into the New World of Steam, especially now that Luke’s family have stories and sprites (unlike in the original trilogy). Loved the ACAB story, v nice to play while I’m still so mad at what’s happening to university students currently. Descole was so fun, I am obsessed with his outfit and personality. Unfortunately I was spoiled on who he is but I’m very excited to learn more. I think similar to Ace Attorney, the fourth installment is that last game in the classic 2D style, which is sad but PLvsPW makes me very hopeful about 3D Layton. The overall story was fun, I really liked the sub plot about the Ravens - that was really fun (i was so tired writing this omfg). I wish we got a little more backstory on the rich guy who died, I feel like there’s more to the story. OO I loved the little episodes, especially the one about Chelmey. They added a lot of fun context and gave more life to the NPCs. Such a fun and classic Layton game, I can’t wait to play Miracle Mask! (And read the light novels). This wasn’t my favorite Layton game but I still really loved it and had a great time and loved the puzzles — that’s all I want from PL!

[palaxy27]

Everything will be fine...

Penn Zero Part-Time Hero comic

Warning: Contains violent scenes, blood and angst.

(Note: English is not my first language so there may be grammatical errors).

Okay... so originally I had only planned to publish the first drawing, but while I was sketching two things came to my mind, what would happen if the heroes would face some enemies in His dimension? and what would happen... if sashi would be defeated in a fight? And that's how a fanart became a comic ;)

Now putting us in the context of the story, Phyllips came back 1 or 2 years after the end of the series and recruits again the dream team for phase 2 returning to his adventures but with a bigger responsibility and facing different villains in each mission in different dimensions (It wouldn't be like facing Rippen always) but nothing so different for our heroes... until now...

One normal day after completing a mission, the tired guys were leaving but Penn had to go back to the theater because he forgot his wallet (don't ask why it wasn't in his backpack, even he doesn't know 😑) only to find two guys taking a tube with blue energy out of the portal, one who seemed to be a person from earth and the other of a bigger, more atamorizing build... he didn't even seem to be human, but an alien (Not of the same species as Rippen). Before Penn could analyze the situation, one of them pushed him away, knocking him to the ground suffering a strong blow with one hand without much difficulty for the two to flee the place.

Boone and Sahi run back to the theater to see the guys running away seeing a confused and panicked Penn about what had just happened. They inform Phyllips about what happened and he informs them that the energy tube is actually the energy core of the portal, but the core was so unstable that it was contained by the portal itself, not much was known about the two guys, only that they were from this dimension, somehow they both knew about the existence of the multiverses and therefore the power of the core, They were able to somehow evade the security system, including Karen (they didn't even seem to care about her presence), so they must recover the core soon and Phyllips warns them that they shouldn't underestimate it since they are much more dangerous since they have knowledge of the multiverse and belong to the same dimension.

They manage to locate them not far from the theater, so they start going after them discreetly but the guys realize this, so they decide to separate them.

The corpulent one interposes himself between the heroes and his companion inciting them to confront him to "delay them", penn ole asks Sashi to confront him, since he hoped that she would come out victorious, preventing him from intervening in his plan to recover the nucleus; Boone had planned to confront him too but his appearance would make him go with Penn to get the nucleus, leaving Sashi alone (something he would regret).

Penn and Boone would find him but he would use the power of the core to his advantage during the confrontation, something that neither of them had in mind, hindering their plan to recover the core, even putting Boone's life at risk by throwing himself at the man in a desperate attempt to retrieve the core, receiving both he and the man a they received a charge from the nuclear force, but they barely managed to defeat it.

The two boys with some victorious scratches and blows would call Sashi to inform her about their victory, but she does not answer, so they return to the place where they had left her expecting to see the guy easily defeated by the assistant and affectionately that's how they found him, in an alley Remote and dark on the unconscious floor with some blood stains... but it wasn't his. Sashi was found against the wall seriously injured, destroyed, breathing heavily, with her tired eyes half open (Seeing the bandages you can get an idea of ​​the severity of the wounds) while her visor was on the destroyed floor. Both boys were shocked by the scene, seeing how their friend, girlfriend and companion, one of the strongest people they knew, were in a worse state than their opponent.

The two boys took her to the theater, being greeted not only by Phyllips, but also by Penn and Boone's parents. They were all shocked to see the girl's condition. Phyllips quickly attended to her requests while her parents calmly asked them what happened, something that did not help them at all. Once Phyllips finished with Sashi, she sent the three of them home, feeling sorry for them and that they only take the weekend off, feeling sympathy for the boys. However, Sashi's parents and brother were not in town so Penn asked her parents that she stay with them until they returned and tell them what happened (spoilers: they found out before and they did not take it very well, especially their brother), they accepted without hesitation, Boone also stayed with them with the permission of his parents, since he was worried about his friend's condition and felt guilty

And that's how we get to this scene, with Penn and Sashi alone changing Sashi's bandages, even giving her his shirt as spare clothes when he has his clothes stained with blood, feeling scared and guilty for leaving her alone and the decisions he makes that lead to her. led to them getting hurt, but she tries to comfort him by telling him that it was not his fault, since they were able to recover the core and find her in time, saving her life (since she even subdued her opponent), however she was also scared, not because of him. encounter in itself, if not by realizing that she was not strong enough and that luckily she was able to defeat him and come out alive, making her feel weak and useless, apart from if she had not faced him and it had been Penn or Boone. Did they even Would they be here? However, she keeps it to herself, she has to be strong, for her own good and don't worry about her.

I don't plan to "go deeper" into the two characters but I plan to do some comivs in the future exploring different points of view on the incident, their reactions, feelings and healings. But if anyone wants to go deeper into this, they are free to do so (I would like to see it)

[ltstrikesback]

TLDR: Monkey Man was so beautiful and so much more than meets the eye.

Spoilers below/me being mildly pretentious:

As someone who has not gone to the movies to see anything other than queer films lately, my girlfriend got us tickets to Monkey Man. She practices jujutsu and likes John Wick and thought this movie would be similar.

I am a huge Dev Patel fan, though, when I saw the trailer before a viewing of Love Lies Bleeding, I figured I might not actually end up seeing it. I didn’t think I was the target audience. I also don’t love action heavy, guns blasting movies in theaters themselves because it’s a bit sensory overload for me. I felt myself make a mental note to watch it on streaming and already forgetting to do so. Flash forward to me and my partner in the theater and I was in awe.

This movie is about a small village who is violently forced off their land so the elite can build a factory. Dev Patel’s character—Kid—is a child the day the village is expelled. He witnesses his mother’s murder and years later seeks revenge on the man who killed her. When he fails to enact his revenge, he finds himself in a city wide man hunt, ending with him falling into a river, drowning. But he is saved! By a small community of hijra—trans women—who live in a temple nearby.

Walking into this movie I didn’t expect social commentary or politics. I anticipated a Rocky type movie, contained to the story of one individual’s hero’s journey. (People keep mentioning John Wick as a comparison. I just mentioned it in this very post but I haven’t actually seen it for the record.) Monkey Man is specifically not about one individual or one individual’s revenge. This was my takeaway. The message we see over and over is that there are things in this life bigger than ourselves. It is literally impossible to save yourself by yourself—you need community.

I’ll take a step back now to acknowledge that I am not sure how familiar everyone is with current politics in India. I myself have limited insight but have friends who are personally affected by the current climate. There is a strong wave towards Hindu nationalism under PM Modi. It’s yet another instance of what feels like the whole world turning to fascism. The movie uses real clips from real instances of social clashes to paint the landscape of this fictional city. Also, I was reading into the backstory and potential censorship of this film and learned the villain’s colors were originally orange, not red. A clear parallel to the current Hindu nationalism at hand. There are clips of crowds attacking trans people. There are boos at the mention of Muslims and Christians. There are scapegoats in this film that are intentionally pulled from real life.

Now to jump back in—I have to say I was completely moved by the entire sequence at the temple. The temple is dedicated to Ardhanarishvara—a god who is part woman and part man. The hijra community has found a home here, albeit on the outskirts of society. The leader tells Kid, “no one will come looking for you here.” Their status in society protects him in a serendipitous way. They are also the ones that nourish him and help him train for his next mission. Not only that, but we see this community smile, laugh, flirt, and fight. I loved the scene with Kid and the drummer, with the girls cat calling him from afar (same). It was so tender to see trans joy, even in mundanity, amidst persecution.

When Kid has self-actualized and essentially is Hanuman, the part monkey God the movie is named after, he takes on the political elites. There is a moment he is surrounded by bodyguards in this hotel sequence. He’s outnumbered and out comes our hijra fam to the rescue. They take down these men. And it is so fucking amazing. I mean, really, it’s so fucking amazing to see them fight for themselves, for each other and be the hero.

To wrap up, I also wanted to touch on the fight sequences’ production. I mentioned I don’t really like fight scenes because I get sensory overload but the music in this film resolved this issue for me. It wasn’t pure screams or gunshots. There was a really fun soundtrack that added a great twist to the film. Kind of reminds me when they break out electric guitars in Chinese historical dramas. Just another thing about this movie that really worked. At least for me personally.

Last thought—my take away is not necessarily to say “put Dev Patel in everything” which is happening in the online discourse. (There’s a weird opposite-of-cancel-culture thing that happens sometimes where audiences obsess and then forget about actors or artists. Idk.) Rather: let this man do whatever he wants. Give him your funding, give him your resources! He should not have to kill himself to tell his stories!

*Sigh* my heart has been so full since watch this. A huge shout out to Dev and his team.

[thevindicativevordan]

Thoughts on “Man and Superman” by Marv Wolfman?

Countless Superman origin stories, including one written and titled Superman: Year One by Frank Miller himself no less, and this is the only one that thought to copy the actual structure of Batman: Year One.

Four issues telling the story of Clark's first year in Metropolis, beginning in Metropolis from the first page. We see Clark arrive in Metropolis, struggle to get a job as a reporter with the major newspapers because he's a nobody from nowhere, wears a "proto-suit" until beginning to wear his classic outfit at the very end, botches his first few attempts at being a hero because he has no clue what he's doing, fall in love with Lois, and ultimately after much trial by fire, become the champion of Metropolis as Superman.

Familiar ground to be sure, culminating as it does in a confrontation with Lex Luthor where Superman promises he will always be around to foil Luthor's plans. If you're a hardcore Superman fan, much of this story will feel familiar to you. Wolfman outright says as much in his introduction, with the long delays this story suffered due to the series it was intended to release under being cancelled, causing similar ideas to be used in other stories. While I can't claim to know who Wolfman had in mind, I definitely saw similarities between his approach to Superman here and how Morrison rebooted him for the New 52.

Even then though, there are some fresh ideas and approaches to be found here that make this take stand out. First and foremost is their approach to the City of Metropolis itself.

This is not the clean Metropolis of Johns/Frank, or the high tech City of Tomorrow of Waid/Yu. Here, Metropolis is gritty, decaying, a City wholly rooted in the problems of today. An upcoming mayor election pits a right-wing candidate who wants to tackle crime with more police officers, vs. a left-wing candidate who wants to tackle the underlying roots of crime. The three janitors Clark works alongside have to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet, and are immigrants themselves also. A crime wave results in marital law, the curbing of civil rights, and the calling of the national guard "for the greater good". Newspapers Clark applies for tell him he needs to sensationalize his reporting more so the story will sell better. This is not a story with a wide-eyed view of what happens in the modern day when the kid from the countryside moves to the big city and tries to make it big. Despite being written in 2008. it could easily have been written today, a damning indictment of American society to be sure. Metropolis here feels real and fleshed out, and while my preference is for a Metropolis that embraces the freedom of being an entirely fictional creation, I appreciate how Wolfman digs into the human element via showing us the viewpoint of the citizens of Metropolis as Clark listens to them with superhearing, casting them as something of a Greek chorus reacting to the events of the story.

Of course not everything is perfect. Wolfman compares Clark becoming Superman to being a firefighter, a doctor, a soldier, and a cop at various points throughout the narrative. The first two I welcome and agree with. Later two however are extremely dicey, and although this is not a story that exempts our modern justice/policing system from a critical eye, (note that the main villain of the story in Lex endorses the right-wing "law and order" candidate to make sure you know which side the narrative supports) it still does not benefit Superman to have his uniform compared to that of a cop's.

As a side note, I love that Clark is explicitly poor here. I love that he struggles to make ends meet, that he's working as a janitor while he tries to make his dream of being a journalist for a prestige news organization come true. Being a cub reporter struggling to get a job, he's not living in a penthouse in the center of Metropolis. Clark is flat out broke, and living in a crappy apartment in the slums of the city. It's an approach that Morrison and Morales used for their Superman reboot, and I support that approach wholeheartedly. Establishing that Clark spent his first few years living in the poorer areas of Metropolis does wonders to support his reputation as the "Champion of the Oppressed".

In flashbacks to his Smallville childhood we see that financial struggles were a factor for him growing up, with Martha wanting to donate money to help feed families in need, while Jonathan was concerned about how tight their own finances are before relenting and agreeing. Of the entire Justice League, Superman is the one who has the strongest claim to being the "working class hero", the blue collar amidst all the blue bloods and middle class suburbanites. Most origins brush over Clark's financial situation growing up, but this one is of the rare few which does not, and I think it's all the stronger for it. Especially so given that this origin is similar to Batman: Year One in that it's really a Year One story for two characters - Lex as well as Superman.

Pitting Superman against Luthor in his first year is old hat, but what I adore about this take specifically is how Lex is explicitly in the "Bruce Wayne" role. Like Bruce, Lex has been gone from Metropolis for multiple years, and makes his return with a plan for reshaping Metropolis in his own image. He's a ruthless monster, willing to kill 500 of his own employees as part of a false flag attack against his own corporate headquarters to garner public sympathy and support. Here the playboy billionaire with a secret agenda and a complete disregard for the law is the villain not the hero. While Wolfman doesn't have the time or pages to dive deep into the rivalry between the two, the class warfare aspect of the feud between Superman and Lex really stood out to me here. Clark lives and works alongside the "little people" and helps them out how he can, meanwhile Lex callously slaughters them in pursuit of his own self-interest.

In the end Lex immediately recognizes that Superman is going to be a watershed moment in history, and is determined to change the world back to when he was on top. I would love a "Year 2" story from Wolfman that skips ahead a bit and pits Lex and another villain against Superman. He has a great handle on the star players here in Clark, Lex, Lois, Perry, and the elder Kents. Give him the Waid treatment and let him build out his own pocket universe if that's something he'd be interested in doing.

Man and Superman has convinced me that if Wolfman had gotten the chance to reboot Superman after Crisis the way he wanted to, I believe the character would have fared far better during the Post-Crisis era. Perhaps it would not have taken the character as long as it did to start putting the Dark Knight Returns stooge interpretation behind him. If this is the only major work Castellini ever does on the character, then I tip my hat to him for a job well done. Not every artist can bring a level of grit and realism to Superman's world without compromising the character, but he managed to pull it off expertly.

[hellsite-detective]

I've been thinkin' back to my time before I joined up with this place. I remember scrollin' through OTHER websites lookin' at Tumblr posts. There was one post in particular, back when Dorkly still had a website, that highlighted a story about a man called "The Villain Wrangler", a Make-a-Wish Foundation worker who, er... I think you can fill in the blanks from there.

I've heard through the grapevine that the concept's evolved pretty darn far, but... I'd still like to see the original post proper. Here's part of the post, to help with the case:

Fingers crossed. Think you can find it, detective?

this one proved to be a little difficult, mainly since there were so many imitation posts for this. but as far as i'm concerned i got the right one! i did so, but goin' to the Search Bar and askin' Google for the last sentence in the chain provided in the photograph. from there, i was able to track the post down with little problem! i filed it away at my office

here you are! shockingly hard one to track, but i did it! have a great day!

Post Case: Closed

[oristendir]

I haven't posted in a while, but I'm working on this twst oc fic (working is a very loose term because it's all in my head and I'm struggling to write anything down), so I thought I'd post an little snippet of it here.

For context, my OC is named Eve Stirling. He reincarnated from a fantasy world that had it's own magic. Backstory wise, he was an orphan on the streets who was picked up by a noble and trained to be a bodyguard/ personal attendant. The noble turned out to be the 'villain' of the story (not that anybody knows that), but Eve was extremely devoted to him, called him Master, blah blah blah. Long story short, the 'villain' got defeated and killed by the worlds hero, and despite Eve's best efforts, the hero's part did not kill him out of misguided assumptions of innocence. Ultimately, Eve died after avenging his master, and reincarnated into TWST, where he becomes a painter (only so that he can make portraits of his Master), and is desperately trying to find a way to bring his Master back to life in this world, or travel back to his original world to revive him there. He get's placed into Pomefiore during the sorting (not rlly important here but it felt right that you know)

The snippet takes place during the Scarabia chapter. Eve is commissioned by Kalim to make him a painting that captures Scrabia's essence (kalim's words, not mine lmfao).

Lotta backstory, but I feel like it's necessary lol. The snippet is under the cut!

-----------

“Can I help you, Mr. Viper?” he asks without turning around.

“Ah, yes.” Viper coughs lightly, “My apologies, but I have a request.”

Eve finishes the stroke and gently wipes his paintbrush before setting it down. Truly, what Viper thinks important enough to interrupt him after being specifically asked not to, he doesn’t know. 

“What is it?” he turns around and startles at how close Viper is standing. He didn’t even hear him approach.

What on earth…?

“There’s something in your eye. Let me get it out for you.” Viper reaches up and gently brings Eve’s face down level with his own. Their eyes lock.

The world turns black.

-

“The one you see reflected in your eyes is your master. Answer me when I ask. Bow when I command. Snake Whisper.”

-

Stirling falls, which is an unusual reaction in and of itself.

Jamil glances down at the prone form on the ground and crouches to check his pulse. He’s not dead… surely… it would be quite the hassle if Sterling did die right now, considering numerous people are interested in his well being.

No, the pulse is still strong. Not dead, thankfully. But still unconscious.

“Of all the troublesome reactions…” Jamil mutters as he drags the other man onto the bed. “You just had to faint, didn’t you? What kind of weak…”

Jamil cuts himself off as Sterling begins to shift. He prepares to knock the other man out at any sign of trouble. He can’t afford to have any unknown variables appear at this stage of his plan.

Sterling groans and sits up, clutching at his head.

Abnormal reaction. The spell didn’t work.

Why, exactly, the spell didn’t work is a mystery for another time, when Jamil’s entire life goal is not about to be shattered into pieces. He moves to grab his magic pen, only to freeze when Sterling snaps his head over. He stares at Jamil. Jamil stares back. Sterling’s face begins to flush, and the look in his eyes as he gazes at Jamil…

It’s almost reverent. A gaze of love, devotion, loyalty, relief; everything the Asim family has ever expected of Jamil, packed hypnotically in eyes so deep, Jamil almost drowns in them.

He feels like a god under that gaze.

Sterling opens his mouth, face flushing. His voice comes out wispy and faint, barley making a noise. The words seem to come out almost involuntarily, the way they push so lightly past his lips, hanging in the air with all the weight of the world.

“... Master…?”

-

Eve wakes up dazed, head pounding, staring up at the ceiling of his temporary room in Scarabia. He sits up, groaning and clutches his head as his headache intensifies. He feels the same as he did back when he trained against Master, body battered and aching. 

He grips his head tighter, and then freezes as the presence next to him makes itself known.

That aura…

Eve whips his head around, disbelieving and nearly breaks down.

A man sits next to him, glorious as the day Eve saw him last. Black hair perfectly straight, falling like silk strands around a strong form; skin pale and scarred from battle, stretched perfectly across sharp features; eyes red like the rubies inlaid upon his crown. A man sits next to him, staring down at him with amusement.

Eve could cry. 

My God, My World, My Everything..!

My-

The image flashes briefly, pale skin turning tan, sharp features turning sly, before it settles back into place. Eve’s eyes white out in pain.

“...Master…?”

[this-is-what-makes-us-fandoms]

Pretty Girl and Her Hero || Lab Rats: Elite Force ||

Requested: hey, could you create a story about kaz and reader (Female pronouns please). It can be a cute or hot story, it doesn't matter, at the moment it's very difficult to find a story about kaz around here, that is, I don't care about the style or plot of the story as long as it ends up being okay in the end 

You find yourself being saved repeatedly by a certain hero and he keeps teasing you for it. You start to find it annoying, but he thinks it cute. 

Pairing: Kaz x Reader 

Warnings: Near death situations, female reader, slight mention of assault 

Words: 3.7k 

A/N: Got a request done, finally! This one might be a little darker compared to others I’ve posted but I liked how it went. I’m trying to write these characters in a more aged up setting since my writing has matured a lot. If you guys don’t like it, I can try to go back to the original style. Let me know how you all feel! And I totally didn’t steal these scenes from spider-man.  

The first time you were saved by Kaz was a complete accident, you just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. 

You were crossing the street, on your way home from the library. It was your turn, the little walk-man shining brightly on the crossing sign. How were you supposed to know you’d gotten in the middle of a high-speed car chase? With the bad guys directly heading your way. You didn’t even see them until they were inches away from where you stood. 

Your eyes widened and you panicked, frozen in your spot. You didn’t even hear the horns blaring or the people shouting for you to move. The music from your headphones was practically at full blast. And you did try to move, but your feet were glued to their spot. The only thought on your mind was how you were about to die. You closed your eyes, bracing for what you imagined to be a harsh impact. 

It never came, or at least not the one you imagined. Something did hit you, except it was softer than what you expected from a car. Not to mention the arms holding you firmly and the smell of men’s cologne hitting your nose. You open your eyes and you’re not in the middle of the street anymore, nor did you get hit by a car. Instead, you were quite literally swept away by some stranger's arms. 

You’re met face to face with a guy, around your age with pretty, brown eyes. Eyes that you were quickly entranced with, probably because he just saved your life. For a moment, your heart started speeding up and anxiety filled your being. You’ve never been in this sort of situation, rescued like some damsel in distress by a cute stranger. You suppose you have to thank him like the heroine does after being saved. But everything you were feeling quickly went away when he opened his mouth. 

“Don’t you look both ways before you cross?” he asks. 

You’re not sure if he’s serious or not, if it's an attempt to distract from what happened or if he’s genuinely asking. It pisses you off either way and instead of feeling thankful, you’re irritated. “Well, excuse me for crossing when the light was on. What? Did I interrupt your high-speed chase?” 

He looks shocked for a moment as if he wasn’t expecting that from you before a smile forms on his face. It’s cocky and smug, and oh so cute that it irritates you more and you want nothing more than to wipe it from his face. He looks like he wants to say something but a girl behind him interrupts, calling out to him. He waves her off before looking at you, still smiling that stupid smile. 

“See you around, pretty girl. Oh, and look both ways before you cross,” he says. 

You want to tell him that no, you will not be seeing him around or anywhere. But he’s gone before you get the chance and you’re left alone on the corner of the street you were originally crossing. 

The second time Kaz saved you, it was purely coincidental. It had to be. Anybody could have been in the situation you’re currently in, you just happened to be unlucky one. 

Some wannabe villain had crashed the Centium City festival, which resulted in utter chaos. Things were being blown up and rubble was falling, and once again you were in the middle of it all. You and your friends were watching the parade from one of the open balconies of the buildings. Whoever the villain was targeting just so happened to be on the balcony next to you. Whatever wreckage was caused to them bounced back onto you and your friends. 

Which is why you were currently pressed up against the railing of the balcony. It was cracked with half the base dangling in the air and threatening to break off. You happened to be on the wrong side with your friends safely by the entryway. There was a lot of screaming, mainly from you as you screamed for help. Your friends tried to help, holding onto each other while one of them reached out for you. But when you tried reaching back, the smallest movements made the balcony shake. You’d fall if you tried to move. 

So, you stayed put, or at least tried until the ground below you shook. That was enough for your broken part of the balcony to fully break. And suddenly you were plummeting down several stories, screaming until your lungs gave out. The universe must have had it out for your or something because there was no way this was the second time you almost died. Almost being the operative word. 

You were caught before your untimely date with the ground, whisked away from the chaos. You landed on a rooftop miles away from the chaos of the festival. Safe and sound. You were extremely grateful to your savior, that is until you saw who it was. 

“You again?” you shriek. 

It’s the same guy from before, the one who saved you from getting hit by the car. And when he sees you, he wears the same smile as before. “Oh hey. The girl who doesn’t look both ways.” 

“It was my turn!” you let out a noise of frustration, instantly annoyed. “What are you doing anyway? Who are you?” 

“A little gratitude would be nice, I just saved your life,” he feigns hurt and it only makes you glare at him. “Most people say thank you.” 

“And most heroes don't make fun of the people they just saved,” you scoff, crossing your arms over your chest. You were grateful, extremely so, but he ruined it by opening his mouth. 

“Well, I guess I’m not most heroes, pretty girl,” he flashes you that same smile. 

You want to say something snarky, but you’re cut off when you hear a voice coming from his ear. You notice the earpiece and figure it’s someone who works with him. The thought alone surprises you; you couldn’t imagine someone being able to stand him. 

“Stay out of trouble, okay?” he tells you before running, or rather flying, off. 

You’re left standing alone on the rooftop of whatever random building he landed on. And you realized how you got on that roof; your hero was an actual superhero. 

The third time it happens you think you’re cursed, you must be. There’s no actual explanation as to why you’re currently dangling on the edge of a building by a fucking phone cord. 

You’d come to your dad’s office, delivering papers he had left at home. Simple enough, right? Wrong. Because of course a construction crane would go haywire out of nowhere. And of course, it would come swinging into the building you just happen to be in. And better yet, your dad’s office was right by the window that said crane was crashing through. 

You would have made it to safety if you hadn’t pushed your dad out of harm’s way. Kind of ironic since it should have been the other way around. But instinct took over and you were paying the price for it. The floor below you caved in, and you were sent falling backwards. In your disarray, you grabbed the nearest thing to you. Which was the cord phone to the phone that had once been on your father’s desk. It unraveled and stretched as far as it could until you were hanging from the edge. 

You had a tight grip on it, screaming your head off as you looked below you. Bad idea, of course. You were several stories up and everything below you looked ant sized. This time you were sure you’d meet your end. There was no way you could be saved from a situation like this and there was no hero in sight this time. And when the cord started to slowly break, you whimpered and shut your eyes. This was it, for real this time. 

The cord snaps and gravity does the rest, sending you falling through the air. You didn’t even scream this time, the feeling of falling from so high up stopping you. Until you were caught, strong arms holding you tight and flush against someone. You kept your eyes shut, adjusting to the feeling and not yet wanting to see who caught you. Even if you already knew who it was. 

“You get in a lot of trouble, don’t you,” he says. 

His voice rings through your ears and you grimace as you open your eyes to look at him. This time he looks at you seriously, but you can see the corners of his lips twitching. You know he’s holding himself back from smiling. 

“And somehow you’re always there to save me,” you huff. 

He still irks you even if you're grateful to be saved and even more by him. Somehow it felt comforting, though you’d never admit it out loud. 

“Guess I’m attracted to you, pretty girl.” 

His smile is back, smug and full of the ego you’re sure he has. Your face feels warm, and you hope it doesn’t show, his words throwing you off. You know he means it differently but the way he looks at you says something else. You’re back to feeling what you did when you first saw him, but you aren’t sure it left in the first place. 

“Can you just put me down before I fall again,” you mumble, looking away in an attempt to hide your face. 

He doesn’t say anything, but he lowers you down and gently sets you down. You don’t know if he’ll say anything or not, but you beat him to it. “Thank you for saving me again. And that other time. That’s all you get.” 

“Fine by me, but as much as I like saving you, try to be more careful, pretty girl,” his tone is stern, like he’s trying to scold you but the glimmer in his eye says the opposite. 

You scoff and send him a glare. “I told you I wasn’t—Stop calling me pretty girl!” 

“Awe, is someone shy?” he teases, giving you a goofy smile to match. 

“No, I am not! Aren’t you supposed to be saving the world or something?” you scoff, sending a glare his way. 

“Eh, it can wait,” he shrugs his shoulders and you only stare at him. 

“You’re not a great superhero, huh,” you say. 

A smile threatens to crawl on your lips at the offensive look on his face when he says that. He looks like he wants to say something, but you’re interrupted. This time it's you who’s pulled away when your dad rushes over to you. You look at him briefly before you turn back to your unknown hero, only to see he’s gone. It upsets you for a moment, as much as you bickered, you weren’t ready for him to leave. You don’t get to think about it much before your dad steals your attention. 

The fourth time was your fault, really. After the first three times your life has been in danger, you should have learned to be more cautious. You should have known that of course some maniac would rip the brakes from your train. 

The train jolts and starts to speed up, causing everyone around you to start to panic. You don’t. Even if you should have been scared, everything was telling you not to be. You had a guardian angel or something looking out for you because he always showed up. He’d show up now too, you hoped. 

But as the train drew closer to the end—a dead-end cliff that led into the ocean—you were starting to lose it. Maybe this was the one time he wouldn’t show up, or so you thought. One by one, the few people in your train car were disappeared with only a gust of wind left behind. You were left alone and the train was getting closer to the edge. Whatever miracle was happening seemed to be taking a lot longer for you. 

Or maybe you had imagined it, and you were really just all alone in this part of the train. Your brain made you see others being rescued to keep the hope of you being rescued too. The thought only made you panic, and you tried looking for a way out. Outside, buildings sped past faster than you could make out. Jumping wasn’t an option. You were utterly and completely trapped. 

Accepting your fate came faster than you’d thought, maybe because of the few other times you almost died. You sat back down and closed your eyes, letting everything else play out. Until you felt a tight grip around your waist, familiar arms holding you tight. It didn’t even matter if he’s only held you three other times, you’d know him anywhere. Your own arms wrap around his neck and you’re holding on for dear life as he flies you off the train. Everything feels like it should. Almost. 

His grip is deadly around your waist, almost like he’s afraid to let go. You don’t dare to open your eyes and look at him until you’ve landed somewhere safe. Part of you still thinks it's in your head and opening your eyes would ruin the delusion. Your feet touch the ground, but you don’t pull away, arms glued around him. His grip doesn’t seem to loosen either, he still holds you close. 

“It’s okay, pretty girl. You’re safe now,” he whispers and this time your heart flutters at how he addresses you. 

He’s so soft and gentle with you this time that it feels odd, so unusual to the other times you’ve interacted. “I didn’t think you’d show.” 

His grip tightens for a moment before he loosens it, enough to let you pull away if you wanted to. You don’t, not yet. “You’re doubting me? Ouch, I always save you, don’t I?” 

“You cut it a little too close this time,” you huff, finally pulling away to look at him. 

You expected his usual cocky grin but this time his lips are set in a straight line. There’s no grin, no spark in his eyes, nothing but a blank look. It worries you and you miss his stupid smile, even if you’d never say it out loud. You almost reach out to him, stopping yourself short and clearing your throat instead. 

“Are you okay?” you ask but it feels off to ask that. Maybe because he’s a superhero and they’re always supposed to be in pristine condition. 

“I’m fine. Are you? Sorry about the train, but we managed to stop it,” he answers, his voice matching the look on his face. 

It makes you frown, lips pursed together, and brows furrowed in thought. You didn’t really know him, you’d admit, but you knew enough to know this wasn’t his usual self. Being goofy and aloof seemed to come naturally to him, this serious demeanor felt forced. You weren’t convinced he was okay. 

You feel the need to apologize, as if the runaway train was your fault somehow. It wasn’t but you do anyway. “Sorry for making you save me again. I guess I am a magnet for trouble.” 

“Don’t. Just... You’re safe, that’s all that matters.” 

Now you know he’s not okay when he doesn’t respond with a joke back. This was about the time he’d tell you to keep out of trouble with a stupid grin on his face. Yet it never comes, and you don’t know what to say. Was it in your place to figure out what was wrong when you hardly knew each other? Yes, you’d think after he saved you four times now. 

He speaks before you even get the chance to, almost like he sensed what you were about to ask. “I have to go. I’ll see you around.” 

You don’t get to say goodbye before he flies off, leaving you at a semi-empty corner of the city. Everyone’s gone to see the accident with the train, but you want nothing to do with it now. 

The fifth—and final—time you’d been saved had been months after the train incident. 

Your luck had finally turned around and you weren’t in life threatening situations anymore. Which meant he wasn’t around to save you like always. Nor was he around in general. Centium City was a large city, crossing each other’s path was almost impossible. Especially since you didn’t know if he looked the same as a civilian, or better yet, if he lived here at all. 

It feels nice not having to fear for your life all the time and everything’s gone back to normal. But there’s a dull ache in your chest when you actually think about it. You don’t even know why, it’s not like the two of you were close. And you hardly spoke the few times he saved you, only bickering with each other. Well, you bickered and he poked fun at you. It was limited interaction, but you missed it. 

After the first month, you tried forgetting about it since you were sure you’d never see him again. Not unless you were in trouble, and you weren’t going to purposely put yourself in harm's way. The thought did cross your mind, but you’d be crazy for even trying something like that. The only other choice was accepting that you’d never see the cute superhero again. Until you find yourself in danger once again, you should have known your streak wouldn’t last so long. 

This time you were walking home at night, which was already a red flag. The city was much more dangerous at night. You were coming home from studying at the library, losing track of time. You had headphones in, and you didn’t notice the guys following you. Until you stupidly when down an alley to cut your trip short. One of them appeared in front of you, saying something that didn’t quite reach. You panic nonetheless and try to walk around him. He grabs your arm before you can, and others join him. 

You’re ready to scream for help until one by one they’re all thrown off you. They scatter quickly, throwing obscenities your way until you’re left alone. Almost alone. Someone stands away a few feet away from you, their back to you. You don’t have to see their face to know who it is, and you run to him. He turns around in time as you wrap your arms around his neck. He’s quick to wrap his around you and you’ve never been so relieved to see him. 

“And here I was thinking you didn’t need me anymore,” he jokes but his voice is strained. 

“Clearly we were both wrong,” you say, trying to joke back despite your pounding heart. 

“It’s okay, pretty girl, I’ve got you,” his arms wrap tighter on your waist, and you lean into his touch. 

It helps calm you down and you find that you never want to let go. It’s kind of funny, you don’t even know his name yet he’s already the most comforting person to you. 

“How did you know?” you find yourself asking, knowing that if he hadn’t come when he did, things would have ended differently. 

He doesn’t answer for a minute before taking a deep breath. “My team and I were patrolling the city. I just got lucky being around here.” 

“I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been here. I don’t—”  

“It’s okay, you’re safe now. That’s what matters,” he reassures you. 

“I don’t know your name. I want to at least thank you properly this time,” you say. 

You pull away from him to be able to see his face, warm brown eyes staring into yours. He looks hesitant for a moment, as if you’ve said the wrong thing. You almost think you did before he smiles, warm and genuine, and not at all what you’re used to. 

“Kaz, my name is Kaz,” he tells you. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Kaz,” you say before introducing yourself back. His name has a nice ring to it and falls nicely off your tongue. “Thank you for saving me, again.” 

“Don’t sweat it, pretty girl. It’s what I do,” he shrugs but his ears have a soft tint of red to them. 

It makes you smile how bashful he suddenly becomes, another side of him from his norm. “Still, five times is a lot. Is there something else I can do to thank you?” 

“How about your number, then?” he asks, quicker than you expected. “I-I mean, just in case you’re in trouble again and need me.” 

Your smile widens and you nod. “Sure. And if you want to go out sometime, that works too.” 

You give him your number and he saves it under ‘pretty girl’ despite your protest. Well, it’s not like you really minded, having grown used to it. And he walks you home, even as someone calls for him through his earpiece. He just turns it off, you’re more important right now despite telling him you’ll be fine. 

[the-illiterate-pirate]

No Rest for the Wicked (Villain AU La Squadra)

WARNING: Series focuses on some dark content, such as murder and torture, yandere characters, stalking, kidnapping, and may contain nsfw writing and dubious consent

The hero association "Passione" takes pride in protecting Italy and it's citizens. From the everyday purse thief, to carjackers... To the underbelly of Italy's society of villains with their arrays of dangerous powers and abilities. But with such strong super heros like Golden Experience and Napoli's own Sticky Fingers, surely you'll be safe.

Right?

Hello! Hi! Welcome to my Super Villain LS AU! V excited to finally post this because the idea has been molding in the back of my brain for a good year now. Each member will get multiple chapters for their own stories, maybe even mixing together every once in a while, I'm not sure when I'll be able to officially start posting any of them but in the meantime PLEASE ask me questions about this au if you're interested. Especially if it has anything to do with outfits and costumes because that's my favorite part hehe. *Au won't include Sorbet and Gelato x Reader but they do make their appearances!

File: Somebody's Leavin’

Alias: Little Feat

Formaggio, originally the low fame superhero "Little Feat" has only recently turned to a life of crime, but proves to be a formidable foe. This change now allows him to use his abilities to their fullest extent. With a single scratch, Formaggio is allowed to shrink any living being at will, along with manipulating the size of inanimate objects as well. With a mix of these abilities as well as hand to hand combat, Little Feat originally scouted lesser populated areas and dealt with lesser threats such as purse snatches and bank heists. Now, Formaggio uses these abilities without consequence, reaping chaos. Around this same time, a missing persons case has opened up. The disappearance includes a barista working at a popular cafe in the city Little Feat used to protect. Coincidence? Still unsure.

File: Somebody's Watching Me

Alias: Man in the Mirror

People have reported seeing faces in the reflections of their homes. When called in for police sketching, all reports include a very similar man for each victim. Well built, with fair skin and dark hair, with goggles and his lower face hidden behind a beak shaped mask. He has been titled "The Man in the Mirror", otherwise known as Illuso. Most people that have been visited by the man have stated finding his "calling card" within the frames of their mirrors. These people have wound up dead. The Man in the Mirror seems to only attack the rich and those in power, so citizens who have seen him are asked to stay calm, but alert public authority immediately.

File: Happy Together

Alias: Beach Boy

Pesci is stated to be a freshly turned villain, but despite his late start proves to be difficult to challenge as he's been found shadowing the villain "Grateful Dead", a formidable evil that has been terrorizing Italy for some time now. Though his abilities are ideally for tracking, Pesci makes up for it with brute strength and his incredible size. Studies report that not a single casualty has happened during brushes with Beach Boy, but the same can't be said for the future. It's only a matter of time for the brute to turn away from his humanity and officially become one with the super villain underground.

File: Vermillion

Alias: Grateful Dead

Prosciutto, otherwise known as "Grateful Dead", is a well known and quite popular villain. Despite his title, women and men alike fold at the knee due to his charming appearance and suave personality. Prosciutto doesn't like to get his hands dirty, but will do what the job needs him to. He mainly focuses on the gambling scene and a chain of bars and sultry clubs. His abilities are lesser known, and are quite confusing to understand how they work, but it's easy enough to say if a contract of his doesn't end with a bullet in the head, they're rotting into the dirt instead.

File: Crimewave

Alias: Babyface

Babyface rarely leaves the villains compound, and when he does it's almost always for business. He goes under the alias "Melone" and owns a booming unisex cosmetics line titled "Molto Dolce Productions", enjoyed by men and women and everyone else from all ages as his makeups and serums are vegan friendly and animal cruelty free. As Babyface, he prides himself with a remote controlled army of handmade robots who do his biding for him. His so called "children" range from entirely metallic suits and grotesque cyborg abominations. He lives in a laboratory underground and spends most of his time creating life.

File: Love is like Oxygen

Alias: Gently Weeps

Ghiaccio never wanted to become a villain, but was born into the life of crime. Abandoned by his own family, he stole to survive, he cheated people out of money and food, and at the crisp age of seventeen Ghiaccio was officially brought into the villain hierarchy. In his years of work he's rose through the ranks and has become the villain known as Gently Weeps, and uses cryokinesis. Under a fake name he pretends to be a citizen, walking among Italy's streets, trying to live a normal life as best as he can, finishing school and even joining a gym to help with his icy temper.

File: Enter Sandman

Alias: Metallica

Not much is known about him, as Metallica keeps to the shadows and has never been seen by the naked eye. He lives only to kill, every murder happening in the dead of night. Not a sound to be heard, save the faint jingle of a bell. They say before you die at his hands, you're stared down by the blood red eyes of the devil himself. Each contract dead at his hands are found with their throat cut open, and a pair of bloody scissors settled on their chest.

[thenixkat]

I cringe every time I see Justice League International/America put as essential reading for Ted Kord/Blue Beetle 2. Like no, just cause it was long-running and popular and referenced by a bunch of things, since Ted was OOC the entire time in JLI that's not essential reading for him.

This is what I've read so far that gives a good feel for Ted Kord/Blue Beetle and what he's about where he's reasonably in character:

Captain Atom (1966-1967) #83-86- Ted's first comics. Look out for period typical sexism

Blue Beetle (1967-1968) #1-5- Ted's first solo comics. Look out for period typical sexism and racism. Ted's ok with killing bad guys/won't lose sleep about it if it happens. My girl, the MVP Tracey is here as Ted's gf, lab assistant, and confidant. Issue 5 has Vic Sage/The Question showing up in his civilian persona and helping out Blue Beetle.

Charlton Portfolio (1974) #1- Ted's civilian persona gets blamed for murder and the theft of an invisibility suit. Has the first mini-Bug/Snoopy for spying on shit. Tracey defends her man's honor and chews people out for bad-mouthing Ted.

Charlton Bullseye (1981) #1- Blue Beetle 2 and The Question team up officially as superheroes taking on a villain with many mooks and death traps. Also, this story implies that Ted has been Blue Beetle for at least 10 yrs. The Question calls Blue Beetle his friend and thinks they make a good team.

Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) #1-3 [you can read more if you want but he's less prominent the further the Crisis goes on]- Ted's DC universe debut as part of the Earth 4 crew. This Ted has the Scarab and it can work as demon repellant and keep him from getting disintegrated from being touched by antimatter demons. Ted is cosmically important enough to be Earth 4's representative!

Secret Origins (1986) #2- Dan and Ted's origins are retold to fit in the DC universe. Ted does not have the Scarab. Red-head curly-haired Ted!

Blue Beetle (1986) #1-24- Ted's DC solo run. Red-head curly-haired Ted! Ted has no confidence for his secret identity which causes drama. His girlfriend/lab assistant is Melody Chase. In issues 5-7, Vic Sage/The Question teams up with Blue Beetle 2 for an arc. This run has crossovers with Legends (1986) and Mellinium (1988). Ted also starts appearing in Justice League International (1987)[boo, hiss, thankfully JLI didn't affect the plots of Ted's solo unlike the crossovers]

Showcase (1994) #2-4- Set in JLI era but Ted is pretty much himself. Ted fights cops and a city's local government b/c they stole his patents and they're fascists and he doesn't vibe with that.

L.A.W.: Living Assult Weapons (1999) #1-6- This series is racist trash propaganda. You mostly just want the first two and last two issues for Ted stuff. Ted decides to retire from being a superhero at the end of this series.

Birds of Prey (1999) #2, 4, 7, 10, 15, 19, 22-25, 33-37, 39-42- Ted makes a number of cameos initially via chatting online with Oracle as her friend. Then meeting up for an in-person date. Then coming out of retirement and joined the Birds of Prey on missions as support and a driver primarily. Then Ted gets diagnosed with a degenerative heart condition and retires again.

Robin (1993) #96- Ted teaming up with Tim Drake/Robin to track down a Jokerized werecat. Ted charms and scores a date with one of Dick Grason/Nightwing's civilian love interests.

Convergence: Blue Beetle (2015) #1-2- A return of pre-DC Ted! Set on Earth 4's Hub City kidnapped by some cosmic entity pitting heroes against each other with the survival of their cities on the line. Blue Beetle, The Question, and Captain Atom vs the Legion of Super-Heroes. My girl Tracey is here! As Ted's copilot!

[le--fruitcake]

In the meantime while I anxiously await your plentiful truths, might I ask for what cartoons you might recommend my humble self?

Ah, my vassal! I am neariy finished writing that essay, I promise. Just a while longer, I need to be sure my sources are accurate.

I will say you should watch Samurai Rabbit, despite it being almost painfully cringeworthy at times. It's surprisingly well-written, though! It's only on Netflix.

In terms of TMNT, the only one I can recommend with my whole chest is Rise of the TMNT. I like the others (mostly— 2012 is on Thin Fucking Ice with the Donnie/April thing), but Rise is the best by far! I am Extremely Biased and am going to say you should watch the Usagi crossover episodes of 2003 (S2E23-26, S3E01 [does not contain a whole lot of Usagi, but he and Leo uh. Exchange swords], S3E22-23, S4E13, and S7E13 [no speaking lines, appears as a background character only]) and 2012 (S5E15-17). The 1987 ones (S3E32/34) aren't as good, but you do get to watch Mikey slap Usagi in the face with a pizza. Fucking LMAO. All the TMNT is on Paramount Plus, but far be it from me to tell you not to hoist the colors, matey.

The Amazing World of Gumball... exists! It sure does. I really like the way they play with animation and art style, and it has some honestly amazing physical comedy, but it's very, um... 2012. I think it popularized a lot of tropes you see in more modern cartoons that make them borderline unbearable, but I found myself watching the entire thing and kind of wanting more! It's pretty good if you just want some batshit insane cartoon nonsense, but it has no story to speak of, really. The episodes are both startlingly interconnected and purely standalone. Anais is my favorite character, followed by Nicole, and honestly the men in that family are trash lmao. I think I watched it on Hulu, but it might have been HBO Max.

I like Star Wars, too, specifically Visions, Clone Wars (both 2003 and 2007), and, though I haven't finished it, Rebels. (I like the movies, too! Real shame they never made any past Episode VII. Had so much potential. Smh my head.) Visions S1E8 is my favorite thing Star Wars has ever done btw. Very Heavily Biased. All of this is on Disney Plus.

I have of course seen Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Legend of Korra, and recommend Avatar if by some miracle you haven't seen it, but tbh I don't know if I would recommend Korra. It has very interesting concepts, but the execution is um. Bad. Watching the Straights™️ frothing at the mouth over Korrasami was an Experience! "we poppin' the biggest bottles when Makorra happens tonight" is a regular part lo my vocabulary. Both are on Netflix, I think.

I like Teen Titans! I used to have the first two seasons on DVD. There are a lot of jokes I didn't get as a kid, and so rewatching it as an adult was interesting. I also didn't appreciate Cyborg enough as a kid, man has the best jokes. Robin was always my favorite, but on rewatch, I really can't say who's my favorite. I like Beast Boy's power the best, but Raven is p cool, and Starfire is wonderful, and Cyborg is funny. This is available on The Max Formerly Known as HBO.

I also watched all of the original animated Batman. Batman: The Animated Series, I think it was called? I really really liked that one, it was the perfect mix of edgy and funny, and is my favorite Batman iteration. Mark Hamill Joker also! That interpretation of Two-Face is my favorite, and made him my favorite Batman villain. I still want a silver dollar btw! I already have a $2 bill and several dollar coins, so if I get one of those and a half-dollar, I'll have one of every kind of defunct American currency. I think. I believe this is also available on The Max.

If you count anime as cartoons, Bleach and Fairy Tail are good, if you skip the filler. My Hero is... Pretty good. Mirko is of course my favorite character, and I am now only invested in the show for her sake. Crunchyroll is kinda the go-to for anime, but Hulu also has all three of these. I think Bleach might not be on Crunchyroll anymore also? Very Odd if so because it's one of the Big Ones, but I couldn't find it when I looked last.

Little Witch Academia is adorable! Lesbians abound, and features a surprising amount from actual Celtic lore. It's also quite possible the only anime featuring high school girls that doesn't make any blatant attempt to sexualize them, which is a breath of fresh air. The official anime is a Netflix original, but there apparently exists an OVA that I have not seen, and a movie, that I have, also on Netflix.

Castlevania is extremely good, but I guess it's technically an anime? It's originally in English and has some of the best lines I have ever heard come out of someone's mouth, ever, but it is heavily gorey, and S2 has some Unfortunate Rather Graphic Heterosexuality. Fortunately, one of the characters is confirmed bisexual! It is also a Netflix original.

This was a doozy to answer! I don't watch too many cartoons, per se, because I wasn't allowed watch most of them growing up. Never seen Spongebob, Powerpuff Girls, Phineas and Pherb, etc. etc. Despite that, I am a fan of animated shows over live-action shows, generally speaking, due to the liberties one can take, and the fact that you aren't limited by what you can achieve with human actors and such. The same goes for video games— I prefer heavy style to realism, though the GameCube/PS2 era games had the best of both worlds.