#seriously. well done! a round of applause for them!

[aecholapis]

Created in collaboration with @mal-co-holic who wrote an adventure fearuring these three for this year's @tf-bigbang

Please check out this amazing story!

[user211201]

Be of Service

--- Originally posted on 2024-04-06 by dumb-and-jocked.---

Round of applause to @mrrharper

I dumped my uniform and bag into the locker, my partner John doing likewise beside me. After a graveyard shift, the two of us had decided to hit the gym bright and early in the morning before sleeping through our day off. John and I had been partners since we had first joined the police force. As officers, we had done a lot together; rode together, drank together, laughed together. One time we were even in a foursome together with two chicks we had picked up at a bar.

Now in our early thirties though, we had begun to take life a little more seriously. Start choosing wisely, acting responsibly. Working out had been my idea, and after six months it had already shown some results. Both of us were average height and had gained some pudge over the years, but now we both had notable definition. I could not help but flex a little in the mirror, impressed by the beginnings of my triceps.

“Looking fire, broski!”

My eyes shifted over to one of the three football jocks who sauntered into the locker room. I was immediately annoyed by the trio of obnoxious meatheads, and I could tell John was as well.

“Have you been coming here for long?” the first asked. “We haven’t seen you around.”

“We come when we can,” I replied. “Working for the law gives us busy schedules.”

“Woah…so are you guys like, officers or something?” the second guffawed.

“Officers, yeah.” John was irked.

“Huhuhuh…cool bruh!” the third jock inserted. “You two should totally join us!”

Before we could respond, the first jock piped back in, “Yeah dudes! We could have a great sesh between the five of us. Brock here is stellar at arms, and Duke is the best at working those legs and glutes.”

“Jalen’s a pro with chest,” the second jock, Brock, finished. “And you two officer bros, what are you good at?”

I grunted, “Knowing how to refuse an offer.”

It took Brock and Duke, the third jock, a second to process what I had implied, their mental capacities obviously slower than the average male. Jalen was a little faster however, putting on a dumb smile. 

“Your loss bros, but totally understandable,” he shrugged. “In case it wasn’t obvious, we’re on the football team at the local college, so let us know if you need any workout tips or exercises.”

I barely nodded my head, offering a blunt, “Ok, thanks.” John and I then made our way past the bulky jocks, the three of them each larger than either of us. I took a breath as soon as we exited their collective earshot.

“Three cocky dicks,” I snorted. “No better way to start the morning.”

John mockingly agreed. Our workout was brutal, our bodies already tired due to our unusual sleep schedule. This, along with the occasional stare from one of the jocks, only encouraged us to work harder. Nothing was spared from our exercises, we utilized machines that hit multiple areas at once. Arms and chest, legs and back, abs and quads. At the end, we hit the treadmills for a thirty minute run, sneering back at the trio while they stood in front of one of the many mirrors and flexed their pumped arms, taking pictures for social media.

Eventually, we were back in the locker room cleaning up, both expecting the jocks to ambush us again. Fortunately, the lumbering footballers never arrived. John had joked they were probably still drooling over their own muscles in the mirror, and I had replied better they were drooling on themselves then us. I did not want their narcissistic, dim-witted reek all over me, and neither did my partner. We both opted to skip showers; we could take them back at our respective apartments before crashing into our own, cool beds.

As we left the locker rooms and headed towards the exit, we were immediately swarmed by our unwanted acquaintances. 

“You know, bros,” Jalen swung a beefy, sweaty arm around both of us. Brock paced behind me, and Duke followed suit with John. “We never caught your names? We’d like to thank you for your service, officers, whatever it is you do."

His tone was a little menacing, but I knew he would not try to pull something in broad daylight. “Darren,” I responded. “and John.”

Jalen grinned, moving his arms to pat the back of our necks. I felt a little sting at his touch, almost like an electric shock.

“Now c’mon bros, how about you come join us at the frat house where we can properly use your services.”

John frowned, and I retorted with, “I think you boys have had your fun.”

Brock chuckled, “Fun’s not even started broski.”

Duke’s response was even deeper and dumber, “Huhuhuh...dudes aren’t even ready.”

We had finally made it outside, the sun just beginning to rise over the horizon. I noticed our squad cars parked up front, we would be out of this mess in just a moment.

“Alright, this is our stop,” I exclaimed, making sure the three got my message. Suddenly, a piercing jolt was sent across my spine, traveling all the way from my brain to my toes.

“Our stop is actually over there, officers.” Jalen pointed to the two trucks past their cruisers. “Darren, you can come with me and Brock, Duke here is gonna take John.”

Robotically, my body followed Jalen’s command, tracing behind the first two jocks to their obnoxiously big vehicle. Although I could not turn my head, I could tell John’s body was following the orders as well.

“Disengage Operation Mode, security bypass JALEN, sleep.”

— —

“Engage 25% Operation Mode, security bypass JALEN, wake.”

My eyes fluttered open. I was standing in an empty room, not rigid but not slouching either. To my right, I could sense my partner’s presence, familiar with John’s aura. We were still in our dirty gym gear, although our body odor was nothing compared to the three jocks standing proudly before us. Through the windows behind them, I assumed it to still be some time in the morning, but that was the only piece of the situation that I could try to fathom.

“Bet you’ve never had a mind control chip implanted, have you, officers?”

I tried to respond with something snarky, but my mouth wouldn’t let me.

“We were just trying to be friendly, help some bros out, but you two insulted our kindness.” Jalen stepped a little closer, even from a distance I could feel his large, masculine presence. “Maybe next time you won’t mess with the son of a government-funded millionaire.”

Jalen pointed his fingers at his two goons. Brock and Duke each stepped forward, crossing the distance between them and John and I. They removed our shirts, and although I could see or move my feet, I realized my shoes had already been taken too.

“My dad gifted me some leftover mind-control chips he had built for the military, said I could use them if I ever needed them. Something along the lines of "accessing the nervous system" and "reprogramming capabilities". Didn't matter to me bros, it was all nerd-speak. I just needed the commands.”

If I could have, I would have gulped. Jalen stepped closer as the other jocks discarded our clothes.

“MC 1001, 50% Operation Mode.”

Suddenly, the feeling was restored throughout my body. I did not bother with attempting an escape, recognizing my body was still glued to the floor. When I turned to my partner, I realized John had not been released.

“What’s the plan, Jalen?” I spat.

“You were so rude to us back at our gym when you are employed to be of service” Jalen smirked. "The bros and I thought we should remind you of your duty, and what better way then by dispatching you as our new security guards who obey our every wish and command?”

“So what, you’re going to 'reprogram' us?”

“How about you see for yourself?” Jalen then turned to John. “MC 1002, engage Modification Mode, security bypass JALEN.”

“MC 1002, Modification Mode engaged, security bypass confirmed." It may have been John’s mouth that had opened, but I knew it was not him who was speaking.

“Brock,” Jalen invited. “How about you take the first swing?”

Brock laughed and scratched at his crotch, “Get him jacked bro.”

Jalen turned to Duke, “Anything specific you’d like to add?”

To my surprise, Duke did have something to add–a lot to add: “Make them former rugby players bro, cause rugby is for idiots and rugby players should serve football jocks, the real alphas.”

Jalen raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised too. “Works for me. MC 1002, enter in keywords ‘Rugby’ and ‘Jock’ to the personality frame and set both at 88. Raise ‘Muscle’ by 40 base points and remove any post-secondary education from the mainframe.”

Watching the football neanderthal list off a series of programming commands put our situation into a new perspective. My eyes grew with fear as the changes installed into John’s body. It was like watching a horrible balloon inflation, his body contorting as it expanded. John’s once meager chest bloated into two massive pecs supported by two trunks of legs. His arms cartoonishly bulged until they were practically circular, his pits filling with hair as a tattoo wrapped itself around his right bicep. His face thickened too, adopting a square shape along with a wider nose and thicker stubble.

“Keywords ‘Rugby’ and ‘Jock’ successfully installed.” John’s voice was now deeper, gruffer. “‘Muscle’ upgraded, post-secondary education deleted.”

Jalen nodded, “MC 1002, add 10 base points to his age as well.”

“Adding 10 base points to ‘Age’.” To my shock, I helplessly observed my partner grow older beside me. The skin around his body tightened, pulling in to reveal the more delicate details of his veins and tendons. Wrinkles began to develop across his body along with other age marks. It was painful to watch his hairline slowly pull back, his scalp thinning out into a well-maintained crew cut.

“Here’s the fun part,” Jalen mocked, noting my face of terror. "Lower cognitive abilities by 20 base points and independent identity by 30 base points. Install the ‘Security’ package to the mainframe and boost the ‘Obedience’ category to max potential."

Although there were no visible alterations, I could have sworn the light went out behind my partner’s eyes. “All actions executed, please confirm modifications to MC 1002.”

Jalen smirked, making direct eye contact with me. “Confirm MC 1002, disengage Modification Mode, reengage total Operation Mode.”

To my delight, I watched as John’s body reanimated completely, indicating he now had full control over his body. But any hope I had was immediately crushed as soon as he stood at command, dumbly  grinning with his arms crossed over his chest.

“How can I be of service, sir?” John asked Jalen.

“Go do a full sweep of the yard of something, bro.” Jalen tossed John a pair of sunglasses, not even bothering to hand him any other clothes. Apparently his now too-tight joggers were enough. “Oh, and by the way, you go by Hammer now.”

“Hammer…” John processed. “Yes sir, thank you sir.”

I watched as my former partner stomped out of the room, out of our reality.

“Why ‘Hammer’, bro?” Brock piped in from behind me.

“‘Cause he’ll be laying down the law of the land.” Jalen then shifted back to me. “Our other friend here will be ‘Brute’.”

I heard two empty-headed laughs from the two empty-headed jocks behind me.

“He’ll be nothing more than a wall of meat,” Jalen taunted. Before I could insult him back, he instantly shut me up. “MC 1001, engage Modification Mode, security bypass JALEN.”

“MC 1001, Modification Mode engaged, security bypass confirmed." My mouth was out of my control. I tried to fight back, reanimate myself by any means possible.

“Alright Duke, it’s your turn.”

“Same thing as last time, bruh.”

Disappointed, Jalen shifted back to Brock, “Got something else?”

I prayed Brock would not say anything too damaging “Make him huge dude,” he requested, putting me at ease before following up with: “And make him like a butler too.”

Jalen laughed, and if I could have I would have cried.

“Oh MC 1001,” Jalen merrily instructed. “Copy MC 1002’s personality frame and mainframe, and enhance body and clothes proportions to 1.5. ”

“Modifications downloading,” I stated, a sudden sinking emerging in my stomach. In moments, I sprung upwards towards the ceiling, my height soaring above the jocks to an astonishing six and a half feet. Muscles exploded out of my body, bloating me thick with bulk. My arms were plump and my hands meaty. Two juicy pecs larger than my head were now carried by my absolute barrel of a chest, stretched out and taut. My legs were colossal, so dense that I would permanently be forced to take wide, swaggering steps. Even my neck thickened, supporting my newly masculinized skull.

“Copy and paste procedure successful.” My voice was husky, low, deep and booming. “Body and clothes proportions at 1.5.”

“Look at his socks, bro,” I heard Brock snigger behind me. “Whattya think those stompers are?”

“Huhuhuh…I don’t know dude…maybe Size 15?”

“Looks like I missed something,” Jalen appeared disappointed. “MC 1001, reduce reproductive size to 3.”

“Redacting 4 base points from ‘Reproduction’.” I screamed, pleading for this to stop. But no words exited my mouth. Instead, I remained painfully silent as I felt my cock and balls shrivel down within my shorts. 

“Helps with the obedience factor” Jalen stated. “Now, let's lower cognitive abilities by 40 base points and independent identity to 15 base points. Install the ‘Security’ package to the mainframe, boost the ‘Obedience’ category to max potential, and add in keywords ‘Respect’, ‘Humility’, and ‘Subservience’."

I would not give up, I would not cave in. “Please confirm modifications to MC 1002?”

Jalen was finished with his game. “Confirm modifications, disengage Modification Mode, reengage total Operation Mode.”

After a moment, I blinked. My head felt fuzzy, empty, as if some great weight of responsibility had been removed. I dumbly chuckled to myself.

"Feeling good there, bro?” Jalen smiled. “Excited to serve us jocks?"

"Uhhhh, yeah bruh…be of service."

"Well said, Brute."

"Brute?" I smiled lazily. “What can I uh…do bro?”

"First, let’s get you in uniform.” Jalen signaled to Duke, who then tossed a black cap to me. I secured it backwards onto my head proudly.

“Now, clean the frat house from top to bottom. I’m talking dirty laundry in the machine, trash taken out, floors scrubbed–the whole deal. I want this place looking slick before the party starts tonight. Once you’re done with that, you can go patrol the lawn for any feds. Got all that?”

It took a while for me to process everything, but eventually the dumb grin came back to my face.

“Yeah bruh…whatever you need.”

[immedealwithit9855]

Clouded State of Mind

He couldn't put his finger on it. He just couldn't believe it. Him of all living beings. A girlfriend? A mate? Sitting in his chair gazing into his unorganized desktop, thinking about the female who invaded his thoughts. His heart. Obviously his pants!

It all started 7 months ago. Him and his brothers were having a bit of leisure while on patrol, decided to watch the festivities from one of the buildings. The usual con artists selling their stale pretzels at stupid prices, street artists wasting their talents for snobby patrons, weirdos walking around with their pet snakes, then he saw her. Dressed comfortably in jean shorts, converse shoes, and a leopard print shirt showcasing your well toned body.

He watched as you started dancing. The way you curved your body fascinated him. He'd been training to become a ninja all his life, he wouldn't call himself a dancer but he thought his skills as a ninja were exceptional enough to be beneficial for the team.

He could tell you were being recorded, when he noticed another female holding a camera, broadcasting your performance. You drew in quite an audience as you executed different tricks and maneuvers, earning round of applause and whistles. When the performance was over, you bid your female friend farewell and was about to depart when a men approached you. Being so far away, he could'nt hear the discussion, he could tell you weren't comfortable. Gave the man a kind wave and went on your way. However, you may have been done but the guy wasn't!

Donatello caught the guy stalking you in the crowd, alerting his brothers. They watched carefully as you continued to walk outta the crowd into a more open area.

"Follow them." He orders, as they all swiftly tailed you and your stalker.

You came upon an alley, the guy speed walks toward you. Before his flesh made any contact with your beautifully braided hair, he was stopped by a massive, scaly hand. His eyes nearly popping out of its sockets when he saw Donatello's pointed face. You turned and caught a glimpse of the turtles surrounding the stalker.

"Stalkin' women on the street? Not a good look, man. Get outta here, before my brotha breaks somethin' by mistake!" Raph growls, wishing he was the one breaking the guys arm. He didn't have to tell him twice. Dude ran faster than a cheetah hunting its prey. The guys turned to you, ready for you to scream in terror or faint. Instead, you gave them a curious look and smiled.

"Thank you. Hes been stalking me for months, he almost got me there. I appreciate you stepping in." You said with a sincere voice.

Its rare for them to receive 'thank yous' from those they've helped. So they just did their usual thing.

"Its our job, ma'am. Are you alright?" Leonardo asked, being the leader that he was.

As they talked, Donnie was getting a good look at you. Your braids were so impressive. You spoke so genuinely when explaining you're just trying to blow off steam from a stressful day at work. Enjoying New York's festivities. Leonardo began to explain the seriousness knowing of their existence, how it's important not many people should know of them. Donnie felt a surge run through his heart. What was that?

"Yo Earth to Donnie, ya there?" Raph asked, puzzled to why his geek brother was acting funny.

"Yeah, Raph. I'm good. Just....."

You turned your attention to Donatello, he jolted. You walked up to him, extended your hand,"My name is Y/N."

Some women would scream, run away, maybe even call them 'freaks.' But this woman, you just casually extended a hand of peace and friendship. You wanted to get to know him. He didn't know how to react, his body just moved, grabbed and shook he hand gently.

"Donatello. Happy to be of assistance." He said with an awkward smile.

Now here he is tapping away at his desk waiting for you to arrive. He caught a whiff of the air, that coconut and Shea Butter body wash you've been using a lot lately. He turns around and there you are, dressed casually in denim jeans, a white tank top, your braided hair in a ponytail. No matter what you wore, he was hooked. He explained that hes finishing some computer work and allowed you access to the dojo for practice, until hes able to spend time with you.

You kissed his cheek and let him focus. He sighed, your kisses always creating a bubbly feeling in his stomach. After finishing up his computer work and doing a little welding work on the truck, he decided to check on you. What he walked in on was not what he expected.

You were dancing as if you had an audition, having to perfect every move. He watched from the doorway, enjoying how focused you were as you moved your body to the beat. He caught himself tapping his toes to the rhythm. The music was at an appropriate level so it wouldn't disturbed the lair. As he watched you dance, Mikey just so happen to be passing by noticing Donnie standing there gawking at you while you danced. He knew of your relationship and knew Donnie was still in the shy guy stage, so he improvised. He took a few steps back and tackled Donnie to the ground alerting you.

You watched with amusement as the 2 terrapin brothers tussled on the floor. It was a dojo so it was appropriate, but Mikey's little plan worked as you watched Donnie get tough and rowdy for a change, rather than being shut in and isolated. It turned you on. Eventually their rough housing got the attention of Master Splinter, whom was uninterested with the way they were going at it. Using his tail to whip both their shells.

Lucky for them, their shenanigans weren't serious enough to be put in the hashi.

After things settled down, you and Donnie decided to relax in the living area and watch some TV. Watching Law & Order: SVU.

Somewhere in between you couldn't help but blurt out,"Gotta say, you were pretty aggressive back there. Wrestling with Mikey." He choked, then chuckled at your comment. It's rare for him to get that worked up, whether during training or having a scuffle with his brothers.

"Makes me wonder how you get in 'other' activities." You quivered your brows at him.

His brain did double takes, rain checks, and somersault. 'Did I hear her correctly? Does she...want me? In that way?' Rather than allow his emotions get the better of him. He nuzzled her forehead and you both continued to watch TV.

After watching 2 episodes, you started to get distracted. You casually laid your head on his shoulder, he leans into you. He could feel your pulse as you got closer. Your eyes met. Without a single word, he turned off the TV, took your hand, and slowly lead you to his lab. He held back long enough. Quite frankly, so did you.

As the door to his room closed, Mikey peaked out from his hiding spot. Sporting a Cheshire grin. "Finally. The plan worked. My bros gonna get him some!"

Raph looked down from his workout area as Mikey danced with joy to his victory. "Great. I owe da twerp $50! Crap!" He grunts as he continues his drills.

[johanna-swann]

Having seen the Daredevil Born Again trailer I gotta say: I don't think my previous worries will be proven right.

I was mostly worried that they'd miss the tone and make the reboot too Disney. After we saw Fisk in Hawkeye dressed like that and after they first re-introduced Matt in She-Hulk of all shows I was seriously worried the reboot would suck. There were rumors about writers being fired and rehired, there wasn't much info about returning supporting characters, then there's the "Born Again" title.

In general the new show seems to have a very serious, dark and violent tone matching the previous Netflix seasons really well, but as far as I understand the Born Again run was what season 3 of the Netflix show was based on, yes? And then they also use it as source material for the reboot / season 4? Still interested in how that will play out. But yeah, in general the vibes are on point.

Plotwise, Matt seems to have stopped his vigilante activities again which one could call repetitive, but I think it makes sense. He quit being Daredevil after Elektra died and the Nelson and Murdock firm broke up due to his and Foggy's conflict about vigilantism. In Defenders he briefly came back because the enemy he fought in season 2, the Hand, had resurfaced and he thought he might be able to save Elektra. Then in season 3 he only reclaimed the Daredevil identity because Fisk was back. Both times he had specific reasons to come back, he didn't just feel like putting the mask back on again. He knows it's dangerous and that often enough the people he cares about suffer the consequences.

Now I personally got the impression that the ongoing corruption within NYPD, the FBI and the Justice system in general paired with the success of putting Fisk away a second time provided the perfect set-up for Matt to go back to being Daredevil for non-specific, principled reasons and with his friends' blessing too.

The new trailer tells us that then something happened. "A line was crossed." and Matt as a result hung up the mantle again. (I assume Matt's moonlighting got someone killed. He's a vigilante with a no kill rule, this is definitely something that would shake him up.) But now Fisk is back and he is Mayor. So once again we've got the same conflict, opponents and basic prerequisite: Matt vs Fisk, Fisk thinking he's actually helping the city and with the power of the system behind him, Matt fighting a corrupt system and therefore having to work outside the law. Not new, but it's a solid concept, I'm down.

(On a side note: D'Onofrio is so good, I have so so much respect for his acting skills. His portrayal of Fisk gives me the chills every time. Charlie Cox gets so much praise and it's deserved, but holy fuck. Vincent D'Onofrio everyone. One round of applause please.)

What I am worried about right no has more to do with personal preference than what I've seen from the reboot itself so far.

It's not a big secret that I did not like Karen in the Netflix series very much. She was fine in season 1, but after that they started writing her in a very hypocritical way. She starts somehow stanning the Punisher and shortly later is super upset about Matt being Daredevil. She constantly runs head first into danger, pulling other people into her mess and then blames Matt for doing the exact same thing. She accuses Matt and Foggy of keeping secrets, dangerous secrets that affect her as well, but doesn't tell them she killed Fisk's right hand man. So yeah, not a fan of that.

At the end of season 3 though the trio (Matt, Foggy and Karen) seem to be on the same page and the Matt/Karen romance could end up as a "been there, done that, it's over" thing. If the writers handle Karen better this season and these three stay platonic besties - it could be good, but I am worried especially with the theory flying around that Foggy might be dead. Without him to balance out Karen's and Matt's reckless stunts this could turn out really bad.

The other thing is that I low-key hated how much space the Punisher took up in season 2. The Punisher storyline was very much the focus of that season while Matt the protagonist and titular character was off doing something else. It's fine that they used Daredevil as a Punisher backdoor pilot, but if he is already getting his own show - why make him the main character of a different show for an entire season? This also ties into the writing around Karen in season 2 and the Defenders. I did not have fun with the Punisher storyline at all. I much would've preferred if they had given Elektra, Stick, the Hand and that entire plot more room since that was also very relevant to the Defenders crossover while the Punisher didn't need to be so closely connected to the rest of the Netflix Marvel universe.

So him being back doesn't thrill me. I hope he's just a minor character they whipped out to create a buzz in the fandom and he won't "steal" the spotlight again. There's a long, long list of other characters I would've loved to see again instead. There's Claire, the other Defenders (especially Jessica Jones), Marcy, Elektra (if Matt can survive Midland Circle collapsing ontop of him so can she), Foggy's frenemy Brett, etc. And now that Daredevil is officially in the MCU this opens up a plethora of new possibilities too.

So. I think objectively speaking the show is looking pretty solid right now, but I'm not sure it'll hit my personal sweet spot.

[inkedkoi]

Hold On To “What If”: Overanalyzing and Rewriting Sonic Prime

aka Masterpost & References: Part One

💬 “But, Koi, Prime finished months ago…”

Hmm. What do you think I should do, Shadow?

Shadow: "Determine your own destiny, just as I have."

Well, you heard the hedgehog. What better way to celebrate the Year of Shadow than by talking about the show where he had the best characterization: Sonic Prime. I may have my own bias towards the show due to a personal connection, but overall I think the show is pretty good. Animation, voice-acting, music/sound, editing, they were amazing. The writing, aside from Shadow’s character, is ok. There are definitely some good lines but there were “eh” moments as well. (We’ll get back to that.)

I thought I would give an insight into what I thought about Sonic Prime, from overanalyzing every single frame to rewriting Season 3, and finally explain whatever the hell I had on my bingo card (the one I made before Season 3 was released).

Due to the image limit, this will be the masterpost for all of the sections:

References: [this post] // 2 // 3 Plot Holes (x) Connections: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 Bingo Card: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 Rewrite 1 // 2 // 3 Remaining Questions & Final Thoughts (x)

(also available in the "🌻 hold on to what if" tag down below)

⚠️ Spoilers for the whole series, all media here belong to their respective creators. ⚠️

✨//🌻//✨

Before we get into it…

As the internet is, I want to clarify some things:

1. I’m not a die-hard Sonic fan so some things may not be 100% accurate. I honestly entered into the fandom when Sonic Frontiers was announced. My first exposure to Sonic at all was the Sonic Unleashed Animated short film, “Night of the Werehog”, when I was like 14 so I caught myself up with Sonic lore in between releases of each season of Prime. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong about anything.

2. There's this whole debacle on whether or not Prime is part of the canon. News has recently been brought up that the Prime Team didn't acknowledge the comments made by Ian and the lore team about inconsistencies. It didn't surprise me at all. The show wasn't going to be part of the canon to begin with, which was abundantly clear by the show's writing. It feels like the writers copied from a wiki. There were so many scenes where instead of taking the moment to breathe and have character development, they put fighting scenes, more so in season three.

💬 "What about the references, Shadow's characterization, etc?"

Actually, we wouldn't have them if not for some of the crew fighting SO hard to get that into the show. The animators, storyboard artists, voice actors, editors, and many others — some are legit Sonic fans and others wanted to please the fandom. They have done such a great service to the fans with what they could, so could we just give a round of applause to the creative crew behind this? 👏👏👏 To the crew, you did what you could for us, and we can’t thank you enough.

Back to the whole "canon" thing, for this essay, we'll treat Prime as a stand-alone thing unless we absolutely have to affiliate it with canon.

3. Netflix did the weird thing of splitting up all the episodes of the series and called them “seasons”. I personally call them “batches” and I know there are some people who do the same, but for our sakes, they’ll be referred to as seasons, just so we don’t get confused. Okay? Cool!

Finally, this is for funsies, don’t take this too seriously. I want to establish that I have nothing against the people behind Prime or anyone else.

So grab your snacks, and get comfy. Now, let’s lock in, chat!

References: Part One

Here’s a list of references to other Sonic media I picked up in Prime. Some of them on the list are from Felipe Sonic Hacks YT video I saw while drafting my bingo card predictions, so you can check it out (Link). Whether or not these are intentional, that’s up for interpretation unless said otherwise.

Chilidogs (EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.)

"Gotta Go Fast" (just an iconic Sonic line)

Sonic’s iconic gestures: waiting stance (S1 EP3), finger-wagging (S1 EP6) and nose-rub (S1 EP6 + S2 EP5)

look at this lil' guy :)

[S1 EP1]

Eggman’s Badniks — the usual (designs primarily the same ones from the game Sonic the Hedgehog 1)

Sonic’s super peel-out animation — a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog CD (and other games beyond)

“...sonic boom of a headache” — a reference(???) to the Sonic Boom show

New Yoke City — a design reference to Eggman Land, he wasn’t wrong about the neon (seen in the game: Sonic Unleashed)

Sonic balancing on the edge — a reference to Sonic’s balancing sprite animation from Sonic Games (matches perfectly with one in Sonic the Hedgehog 2)

Sonic’s breakdancing — a reference to Sonic’s S Rank victory animation from Sonic Generations

I mean, Sonic definitely is a breakdancer and incorporates it in his fighting style, prove me wrong.

Orbot and Cubot — returning characters from the franchise

Side note: I screamed in joy when I first saw them :)

1992 — the year of Tails’ first appearance (Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2)

This whole scene explaining Tails' origin story — also a nod to the pixel games

Obstacle test — a reference(???) to Chemical Plant

[S1 EP 2]

Shadow’s hand back-spring in the first Sonic vs. Shadow fight — the same move done in Shadow the Hedgehog when Shadow encountered robot replicas of him

1998 — The year of Big the Cat’s first appearance (Game: Sonic Adventure 1)

[S1 EP 3]

Sonic’s free falling from an edge — similar move in Sonic Movie 2 (does that count as a reference???)

Rebel’s drill maneuver in beating the bots in the stairwell fight — same move Rouge uses in Sonic X (that I know of)

[S1 EP 4]

The Berries the Boscage Crew scavenged for — a nod to Chao Garden Fruits (confirmed to be intentional)

(right photo credits to ChaoProfessor on Twitter)

Sound FX when Sonic getting prickled by spikes — same sound FX from the games

To be continued...

Next Part

[humanradiojmp]

Murder Drones Episode 8 Blind Reaction Part 2

Contains spoilers

Cyntessa’s “kay” feels like her version of “I love doing anything.” so cocky and up for anything, but that might just be her downfall.

Guys, the nightcore song is called “BiteMe!” Can this get any better?

It actually has some motifs similar to “Uzi the Drone Killer”, arguably one of the main music themes of the series, so yes, it can.

NOOO! Not Uzi stabbing N! It’s probably a trap or a trick, but still.

Bye J

I mean, yes, but no. Or like a number of blinks and winks

Not using N’s love of dogs against him. or more like the good memories they had before this whole thing

Guys pay attention! V is fighting the abomination alone!

I like the “Let them swallow you” lyric to represent the solver’s insatiable hunger

How you like it now Cyn?

Bit of a callback to the fact they are vampires, or vampire adjacent. The burning in the sun just felt like an appropriate ending for the abomination that’s been haunting everything

Is it over?

The solver has gotten eaten. And their reaction is priceless

But won’t that corrupt/take over Uzi now? or even kill her? that’d be a tragic way to go. Destroyed the monster but you destroyed yourself in the process.

Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, e-

Oh no, she’s dead!

Nvm, we’re good. but is it over? Truly?

We really needed more Thad, honestly. So much characterization gone to waste

Heh, like mother, like daughter.

You could say their hearts are connected. Hope there’s a proper reunion. Please. Please. PLEASE! They’re literally soulmates.

OMG girl, seriously, OC?

But in all seriousness, the battle scars for what she’s gone through is such a nice touch. Her half toned eyes are there to show what happened happened, and she came out alive

And we all know everyone is going to have at least one oc with this new canon trait

It really is a hero’s journey. It came full circle. Now she’s more assured of herself, has friends, and the colony is safe.

We stan a supportive Khan. Character growth.

Not Doll’s corpse!

She’s still a chaos gremlin

Also can we just take a minute to appreciate how far the animation has come from the first episode to now? everyone at Glitch should be proud of their improvement. This series is a testament to their efforts and skills and it’s absolutely wonderful.

I really like how the end credits show everything that’s happened and how it’s changed. Like the partial solver symbol over the planet, Khan and Nori did get a reunion (YEEEEESSSS!) and N finally getting his rummy game.

DOLL?!?!?!?!

Liam Vickers 2D animation, nice touch

The funeral for Doll deserved

And the kids can be kids now. also deserved.

Honestly, everyone who’s worked on this should get a round of applause and a big ol’ “Thank You!” From the production to the voice acting, to the animation, to the sound and music, to the crazy ideas in general that happen to work so well. Thank you so much for making this series a reality. I may have gotten into it later than some others, but I love this show as much as those who’s been there day one. It is a little sad to see it’s done, but I’m also glad it ended as well as it did.

Cyn lives in Uzi’s mind now

F O R E V E R

first part

[captainx-camino]

I got Buggy done yesterday just in time for my local Japanese Festival event today so, here are some highlights:

Starting off small, here's the wig (and scarf, which I didn't make) chilling on my wig head waiting for me to struggle to put it on.

90% of the work I did on this wig is going to be covered the entire time I'm wearing it, but did I let that stop me from hand laying an entire glued hairline? Lmao of course not! That would have been easy, and we don't do easy in this house!

As stated above, I didn't make the cap I just got one online simply because I was having shit luck finding the striped fabrics I would have needed and the idea of having to sew two different stripes together was giving me hives.

Ascot, vest, gloves and glove cuffs~ In other words, 90% of the work of this costume and his accessory friends.

The Ascot was stitched together by my lovely partner via the piss poor instructions I was able to give them on how I wanted it made. Seriously, give them a round of applause for somehow decoding my incoherent babbling. This is beautiful. @kadaverc0splay did a fantastic job.

The gloves are just purchased leather fencing gloves of which I fold under the length and hide it under the cuffs I made, which are simply craft foam, paint, and buckles I had to order online with almost not enough time to get them because, for some reason, craft stores no longer find it necessary to carry and assortment of styles and sizes of buckles. *Internal screaming*

*sharp inhale* Ok. The vest. *Reconsiders every life choice he's ever made* This thing is a BEAST. It was a pain to make, it's a pain to wear, the leather belting that secures the garment closed is held on by glue, prayers, and human sacrifice via my own blood, sweat, and tears. It took me more hours than I care to even think about, let alone admit, to do all the top stitching on this godforsaken goblin of a clown man and that's not even half of the ironic tragedy that gathering the supplies for this disaster was.

Not only did I have to replace more than one of the FIVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF RIBBON AND TRIM THIS BASTARD HAS ON HIS VEST but nowhere had everything I needed in enough yards to complete anything I needed done, so I had to make several trips and buy several different things to finish any part of it. INCLUDING THE BUCKLES, which arrived here Thursday...for an event today. So, that was fun.

Oh, and also, the white ribbon is wired, but the wire refused to be pulled out, so it's just in there now I guess. Lucky me!

(the belts aren't entirely accurate, but I'll save adding the additional headache that will cause for the con I'll be wearing this to next spring. I'm tired.)

Buggy's many belts of despair and loathing...

I swear the cosplay gods are never kind to me, but tricking me into thinking this was going to go well because I was able to get some good sized chunks of real, genuine leather for dirt cheap? Not cool, guys!

The leather was chocolate brown and not black, as I had previously believed it to be upon purchase. So, it had to be painted with latex paint. (Thank you again, pretty boy, I seriously couldn't have done it without you. Seriously.) Actually , another round of applause for all the belts being painted by my partner, because they also painted the foam under belt for me. Because he was smart and got his costume done several days ago.

Not me. I'm not that bright. No. But alas, we trudge forward.

And by trudge...

These boots weren't made for walking, these boots were made for traversing through the dusty floor of the fun house you've built around yourself to forget how salty your rat ex has left you - AND IT SHOWS!

Ignore my poorly made foam buckles. I'm not going to repeat myself about that bs, lest I may sink back into a depressive state equaled only by my ability to pass it off as a joke. These crumpled, sad black asskickers were originally brown! And suede. Don't ask me how I got them to look like old, worn leather. I simply fell into a dissociative state and awoke with black boots and no memory of where I'd been. The belts are foam, and the weird pattern on his tongue is simply a quilting square from Joanne fabrics that I glued on and then mod podged over.

As stated above, the buckles are foam and painted. They look awful, but if anyone is close enough to my feet to say something about it, my foot is going to need to detach to be removed from betwixt their teeth.

The entire costume was also weathered by @kadaverc0splay (including the pants, which are not pictured here because I didn't really do anything to them) while I cried over the wig that you won't see most of so you know what, just send all your praise to them I'm not even here all I did was top stitch and cry.

All in all, and in true Buggy fashion, the build of this costume was entirely, and regrettably, failing upward. Because, hot damn, did it come together. 🔥

See you at Aki Matsuri.

I never want to do this again~!

[meraki-yao]

RWRB Feelings: Paris

Okay so everyone goes on about how beautiful and masterfully done the Paris love-making scene is, and that’s absolutely 100% true. I’ve seen comments and reactions that say they feel like they’re intruding and they need to leave the room, and all I could think was “Well that means everyone did their job perfectly.”

I wanted to share a bit on how I felt watching the scene.

Note that this is pretty personal and not me analysing it, it’s just my feelings on it.

My culture and environment are really conservative and traditional, so families don’t talk about sex. My first real exposure to it (besides biology class and the few explicit fanfics I innocently stumbled upon) was a talk at school when I was 14.

Now, my school is a Catholic all-girls school, so one point of the talk was the whole “don’t have sex until you're married thing” which I later realized is an antiquated notion: honestly as long as it’s safe and consensual, let people decide what they want to do with their own bodies.

But that aside, that talk was actually pretty good, and I was really focused on the speaker, because other than the religious notion, they also talked about safe sex, which biology class only touched on briefly and is always a good thing to learn about, and the part that I remember the most: the emotional aspect of sex, or more appropriately named in this circumstance, lovemaking.

 The speaker said: “Having sex with your romantic partner, is saying wedding vows, making a declaration for love, with your bodies.”

I don’t know why, I didn’t entirely understand it, but I found that description beautiful, and remembered it.

Down the line I grew to learn that there are different ways to have sex: it can be fun, it can be passionate, it can be painful, whatever. And among the very limited sex scenes I’ve seen in shows and movies, they mostly kind of imply they’re doing it but never show what’s happening, which is okay with me, and also, I never really watched a sex scene that matched what the speaker said, which, again, okay. It's different, it's fine.

But when I watched RWRB and I got to the Paris love-making scene?

All I could think of was that quote.

“Making love is saying wedding vows with your bodies.”

This felt like that. This felt intimate, delicate, careful. But as much as it was the first time for Henry and Alex, it felt like some sort of consummation, there's some sort of beautiful finality to them. A moment going from “me and you” to “us”. In every facial expression, every flex of fingers, every breath and beat, you can see Alex and Henry falling more and more in love, bit by bit, second by second.

I haven’t had a romantic relationship in my life so far, and while I don’t identify as ace or aro, sometimes I don’t understand the appeal of sex.  

But this was a moment where I watched it and went “Oh.”

“This is why people in love have sex.”

Seriously I cannot praise this scene enough. I feel like there should be awards for this scene alone. Round of applause of everyone involved in working on this scene, this ended up being such a masterpiece.

Sidenote: I was writing this, looking at gifs of the scene, and listening to You Matter to Me from Waitress and I started tearing up, what the fuck

[animehouse-moe]

Undead Girl Murder Farce Episode 7: Free For All

Well, another week of Murder Farce, and another week of an episode that goes by in the blink of an eye. It's truly incredible how quickly time passes while watching this series. Each episode is absolutely packed to the brim with mystery and action and humor and detail. The amount of information you can glean from a measly minute or two is something else entirely. Anyways, enough idle chatter, let's get into the heart of today's farce.

And what a farce it was. I was foolish, overconfident in my ability to pay attention until it was too late. Lupin toyed with Holmes, that's a matter of fact. And I was correct about in which ways he toyed with Holmes, but ultimately missed the mark. Erik was always to be the one that would spirit away the Penultimate Night, but that required Lupin on the inside. Lupin, who intentionally wore a cheap disguise the night prior. I was alert about eye color and other details of course, but it took until the shot of the character's feet after leaving the chamber for it to clue in. Truly, incredible direction that strings you along perfectly. It all has a purpose, a reason for being what it is.

Also, just a quick round of applause for the consistency in storyboarding/direction for this episode. The use of shifting depth of field and off-axis camera angles is used in just the right concentrations in this episode to provide a unique feel that still appears perfectly at home alongside the rest of the series.

Also also, this scene perfectly establishes the mystery! The grate that was atop the chamber is now on the bottom of it, meaning that movement through the air duct is in fact possible. Really, this series is just on another level.

Anyways, Holmes doesn't just take Lupin's routing while laying down. No, he'd already taken the Penultimate Night out of its safe and hidden it on another character. Though of course, Lupin ends up the winner at the end, making out with the diamond behind the cover of a smoke bomb. It's such a classic back and forth, but with a decidedly Aosaki-esque twist where the simplest actions appear on top.

So, Lupin's making his escape, with nobody tailing him as of yet. It's all but a done deal, no? Wrong, that's where Tsugaru comes in with his storytelling prowess, retelling the tale of Goemon Ishikawa.

While I was unable in my shallow search of the character/person able to turn up any real info, I did end up on a somewhat tangential dive into the idea and expression of Japanese Ninjas. Here, I uncovered the fact that Japan was the first to attempt to use the smoke bomb. So I didn't exactly get the correct answer, but in my wanderings I accidentally stumbled upon something close to it. Rather cool.

Did you think that was all? Oh no. Oh no no no. Lupin meets up with Erik, who's carrying the safe, and the pair begin to plan out their exit strategy. Though I should say, they were about to, if they weren't interrupted by Aya Rindo slamming the safe door into Lupin's face.

A hilarious moment that puts an incredible cap on the mystery up until this point. Seriously, expert work to put all those little pieces together to create something so silly but so intelligent. This series absolutely lives up to its name as a Farce, as both mysteries so far have had nearly "unsatisfying" ends to them.

Let me turn back time by an image here, back to the story of Goemon Ishikawa. Tsugaru's retelling was incomplete, interrupted by Erik and Lupin. The piece that is oh-so-important to our Farce here today is not the smoke bomb that I accidentally ran across in my search, but this piece of dialogue from Tsugaru himself. What an incredible detail to sneak in there.

Anyways, the intelligence behind the decision lies in the fact that Lupin entirely underestimated Tsugaru and Aya, believing the former to be a weak opponent and the latter to be a young girl with a bird cage. Personally, I believe from the first moment Tsugaru started that fight that he was playing it up, the very style of combat indicated that to me. As for Aya though, with how Tsguaru handles her birdcage things can get a little easy to miss. However, the episode kindly provides a flashback showing that Lupin never saw the young reporter's mouth and thus believed it was her talking.

With Lupin in the hot seat, and the thieving duo seemingly cornered, Erik takes the opportunity to flee, and in turn creates a rather funny moment. In tune with the idea of a farce, Erik leaves his partner high and dry, as Tsugaru simply watch as he flees.

Also, kudos to whoever took the risk to really play up Lupin's frustration here, it's really fun and feels in tune with the odd sense of humor that wafts through these scenes.

Moving on once more, Royce enters the fray and our characters engage in a free for all battle with each attempting to walk away with the Penultimate Night. But the battle is interrupted before it can begin by none other than Moriarity and his group of... unique individuals.

You know, I've yet to actually provide context to these characters at this point. They're all based on very real people characters. Infamous ones, even.

Take Aleister Crowley, the self proclaimed illusionist. They did exist in England, and they did mess with the occult, numerology, magic and other pieces.

Carmilla... well, I'd have hoped there was no need to explain, but Carmilla is a very old (older than the infamous Dracula novel, though not the first vampire novel) vampire novel featuring Carmilla as the titular (pun intended) vampire that terrorizes a young woman.

Victor.... is also one that I don't think really needs explanation. But for those that are not literature fans, Victor is the name of the scientist in Frankenstein (that is, the scientist's full name was Victor Frankenstein).

And last but certainly not least is Jack. Referred to simply as Jack, and without much to go on, is there really any fictional or real character aside from that one that they could be?

Anyways, it's plain to see the idiosyncrasies of Aosaki mesh with these characters, especially as we get to actually hear from them in proper this episode!

So how about I talk about it then? Well actually first, let's do some fanservice. Carmilla is used pretty damn well for that purpose. Dangerous, deadly, and drop dead gorgeous. She shows skin and provides an air with it. Nothing eye-popping per se, but certainly more than enough to catch your eyes.

Okay okay, on to the interest details. First is (as we later find out) Crowley. In a blink and you'll miss it moment, we see a soldier go down to poisoning. Specifically by a needle that's embedded in his neck. A great addition that keeps the future reveal in the episode factually and stylistically sound.

Moving on to Carmilla, we get this really interesting pair of comments. The first from Crowley, and the second from Carmilla.

But what do these comments mean? Well, they both point towards a single feature of Carmilla's novel: sapphic vampirism. Yes, even back as far as the mid 1800s the idea of vampirism being erotic in nature was evident, alongside the (sort of, in a mixed signal way that virgins are a thing to be coveted) concept of sapphism being equally as erotic.

To clarify, Carmilla will only suck the blood of a woman. Through all the droves of men she has at her disposal, she only partakes in the neck of the young maid.

It's really cool to see this sort of detail and aspect appear in a story hundreds of years after its origin can be discovered.

Alright, let's skip along through these next few pieces rather quick. We come back to the three-way fight of Royce, Lupin, and Tsugaru to see them quarreling over the diamond (and the fact that one is a monster). Before we can really settle into it, the trio flee their current battlefield in pursuit of the diamond, Holmes and Watson fill the gap and pick up Aya, and we cut to Erik vs number 7. Lots going on to establish events and location, but not a lot to comment on. Solid work overall though.

Back to Crowley, when he runs into Holmes & Watson (and Aya) we get a pair of names out of him. Mathers and Yeats are in relation to his time with the Hermetic Order of The Golden Crown. Mathers is one of the three founders of the order, while Yeats is a notable English poet of the era.

It's also during this chance meeting that we get the explanation of Crowley's "ability". Holmes reads it in an instant and saves Watson from being poisoned, exposing the nature of Crowley's snapping. I really love how endearing and admiring Aosaki is of characters like Holmes and Lupin, their portrayals ring so true yet creative.

Following Crowley's "proper" introduction, we turn our gaze to Carmilla. Nothing too crazy here, but I just really love how they extend Carmilla's red and blue color palette through her bloody conquest of Fogg's mansion.

Arguably even cooler than that is how Aosaki places Shizuku in opposition to Carmilla to keep the latter's character true. It has me really excited to see how things play out in the next episode for sure.

And finally, we get back to our odd trio of challengers, fighting it out in the moonlit sky. Very interesting and creative cut that puts the abilities of each on display while they deftly tuck and twist and turn in midair.

With that, our farce for today ends, the Penultimate Night stumbling into the lectern of the property's chapel, outside of the grasp of any of the three vying for control.

I don't really have anything else to add, truthfully. Aosaki is incredible, and this adaptation under Hatakeyama's helm brings out the best in it. Just crazy work, and so many details and pieces of information for people to obsess and get excited over. I really, really can't wait for next week's episode.

[jae-bummer]

Seek Me Out

Request: I was wondering if you could have mingyu from seventeen comfort and hug a crying carat after her rude boyfriend shows up at a fan event and yells at her in front of everyone? This is inspired by a dream I had the other night.

Pairing: Seventeen Mingyu x Reader

Genre: Angst

.

"He just doesn't get it," you grumbled, pulling your knees to your chest. "I don't know if any guy ever will."

Sighing, you leaned against your best friend sitting on the ground beside you. The two of you had gotten picked to attend a fan sign event for your favorite group and you didn't want to waste your excitement by whining all over the place.

"Some guys just don't understand that you aren't thirsting after other men," your friend sighed, resting her cheek on the top of your head. "He's insecure in himself, so he gets angry when you show attention to them. He insults their looks, but most of the time, you don't even care about that. It's their talent and their personalities that really shine."

"Right," you said quietly before leaning away and shaking your head. "But today isn't about him! "

"Today is about us!" your friend grinned. "It's about celebrating the boys!"

"The boys!" you cheered as you both dissolved into a fit of giggles. If there is one thing you knew could turn your day around, it would be finally meeting Seventeen.

As if they had sensed your redirection of the conversation, the crowd around you kicked up into a frantic round of applause. You immediately rose to your feet with the rest of the fans and began clapping as well. On a small stage to the front of the room, the Seventeen members had begun filing in one by one. They each took a seat behind a long white table, ready to start the fan sign. With so many members smiling and looking genuinely happy to be there, you couldn't help it as the smile started to spread to your face too. It really was going to be a good day after all.

"Y/N!" you heard faintly above the clapping as it began to disseminate.

Furrowing your brows, you tried to focus on where the sound was coming from but froze as everyone began to take their seats again. It cleared your line of sight enough to where you could see your boyfriend charging through the rows of fans.

"Y/N!" he shouted again, the anger plain on his face.

Like a startled animal, you couldn't move. You couldn't even think of a single word that would stop him from launching this embarrassing rampage. Being a subconscious glutton for punishment, you found yourself glancing over to the stage to gauge everyone's reactions. The members of Seventeen that didn't look confused, looked horrified instead.

This gave you the spark of confidence you needed to move forward, meeting your boyfriend in the middle. Grabbing his elbows, you pushed him to the side of the room where you could hopefully have whatever discussion he was aiming for in private.

"What are you doing?" you hissed between your teeth. You attempted to keep a placid smile on your face as you felt the heat of everyone's gaze.

"What am I doing?" he gasped. "What are you doing?!"

"I told you I was going to an event today..."

"Oh yeah, some event!" he shouted. "Spending more time and effort on people who don't even know you exist."

In the fuzzy corners of your hearing, you thought someone had called for security.

"Hey," you said quietly, trying your hardest to de-escalate the situation. "Can we talk about this when I get home later?"

"Oh, after you're done cheating on me?" he laughed a little too loudly. "Seriously, Y/N, slobbering after thirteen men? I thought you were better than that."

"Look loser, it's time to go," your best friend piped up as she joined the conversation, moving protectively to your side.

"I'll go when Y/N comes with me!" he yelled. "Aren't I more important than them?"

You looked over your shoulder to the Seventeen members you had grown to know on at least a parasocial level. They knew they had fans and loved them immensely. You weren't necessarily individually special, but you were a part of something that was. Without being a Carat, you wouldn't have the friends that were always there for you. You wouldn't have the support system you had fostered for years. They gave you a community and a reason to focus on something positive. They had gifted you with so much without really even knowing who you were.

You winced as you acknowledged quite a few of the boys were still watching you. A couple had even decided to get up and walk across the stage, anger now painted on their handsome features as well.

"Excuse me sir, do you have a ticket for this event?" a burly security guard asked, finally appearing on the scene.

"No, but my partner does," your boyfriend grumbled, motioning vaguely in your direction. "We were just leaving."

Grabbing you roughly by the upper arm, the whole crowd gasped in response. At this point, you could see two or three members of Seventeen now getting held back by their own security as they attempted (in vain) to deal with your boyfriend themselves.

"He was just leaving," your friend clarified with a nod, wrenching your boyfriend's hand from your arm. "Come on, Y/N."

Steering you back to your position in line, you didn't look back as your boyfriend yelled. "If you don't come with me, this is the end for us! Don't come crying to me in a few days when you miss everything we had!"

With the loud slam of a heavy door on the opposite side of the room, you knew your nightmare was at least semi-over. You grimaced as you waited for the eventual outcome of you being kicked out as well.

Luckily after a few moments, music began to filter through the room and the fan event had actually began. It seemed as if no one was concerned with you staying there, so you quietly thanked whatever Gods were watching out for you.

"Don't let him ruin it," your best friend nodded, rubbing the sides of your upper arms in an attempt to get you excited again. She reached up to wipe carefully at your cheeks, trying to dry the tears that you hadn't even realized had fallen. "We're still meeting Seventeen!"

"Yeah, and they likely think I'm an idiot now," you grumbled, crossing your arms. "Sure, they'll remember me, but as the person who started a scene at their event."

"You know what?" your friend sighed. "They probably will."

You shook your head and widened your eyes. "You agree?!"

"Of course not!" she laughed, smacking you lightly. "So stop saying it if you don't want me to."

Taking a deep sigh, you breathed it out slowly in an attempt to calm yourself. "Okay, fiiine."

The following minutes went by in a whirlwind. While you were busy mapping out every possible worse case scenario in your mind, the line moved forward closer and closer to your inevitable doom.

Eventually it was your time to begin the cycle through the members. You resolved to make the most out of each interaction.

You sat in front of S.Coups first. The conversation had been awkward, but overall pleasant. The same could be said for your interactions with both Vernon and Wonwoo following. No one seemed to have noticed you as the source of the earlier incident, or at least they were too polite to mention it.

That was until you slid into the chair placed before one of your favorite members, Kim Mingyu.

Smiling shyly as you locked eyes, he stared intensely at you before looking down at the album he was signing. Looking up again, he opened his mouth, but then closed it.

"Uh, hi!" you managed with a small wave. "I'm Y/N. I hope you've been having a good day."

It took another few seconds for Mingyu to really focus on a response. "I'm not one to tell you how to live your life," he said quietly, looking at you through his lashes. "But surely you're done with him, right?"

The forced smile slid from your face, and you began to feel the tears well up. Mingyu watched you closely, quickly realizing that what he said hadn't hit the way he was expecting.

"No, no, no," he cooed, grabbing both of your hands in his. "Please don't cry."

"I'm so sorry," you squeaked. "I didn't mean to ruin the event."

Mingyu's face dropped. In an instant, he was moving to the other side of the table. Despite the staff attempting to stop him, he swept you into his strong arms and immediately cradled your head. "Nooo, you didn't ruin anything."

"I d-did," you hiccuped. Without a thought of who was actually holding you, you buried your face into his sweater and let out a sob. Gripping into the fabric, you took a deep breath in and were surrounded by his comforting scent and warmth.

"Breathe," Mingyu whispered into your hair. "Everything is okay, I promise."

Nodding slightly, you focused on your breathing as Mingyu guided you with his own. Attempting to match his, you eventually felt your wits return to you and horror start to seep in. You were snotting all over THE Kim Mingyu.

Attempting to pull back, you were surprised when Mingyu refused. Continuing to keep his arms around you, he said quietly. "That's better. Now let me be the one to apologize."

Leaning back you looked up into his eyes. Confused, you couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

"I should have known better than to bring it up so soon after it happened," he hummed. "You probably didn't even really have time to process it before you had to come up and talk to us."

"No, I, what?" you gasped, still lost as to why this was turning into his fault.

"You said your name was Y/N, right?" he asked, finally stepping away from you. Tugging on the sleeves of his sweater, he created sweater paws, and dabbed lightly at your face. You knew he'd likely have makeup all over the pale colored fabric in a manner of seconds.

You nodded, unsure of how to salvage this conversation. You had hoped for something so much more normal and unassuming, but the memory of being in one of your favorite person's arms would stick with you for awhile.

"Well Y/N," he nodded, a small smile appearing on his lips. "I know you think you did something wrong and we'll remember you for all the wrong reasons, but I want you to know that we'll remember you for the truth. As the person who was strong enough to stand up to their bully, even when that bully was someone you cared about."

Well, so much for not crying again.

Mingyu's smile grew even larger as he dabbed at the new tears. "I hope you stay our fan, Y/N. I want you to know that I won't ever forget you. And when you have the opportunity to meet us again, you seek me out, okay? I'll always be waiting with a hug."

[tangerinesgf]

Speak No Evil (Tangerine)

Summary: Tangerine used to think that dying was his worst nightmare. But ever since Tokyo, Tangerine had been living a new sort of nightmare, one he couldn’t seem to wake up from. (5.8k words)

Cross-posted on Ao3

Tags/Warnings: angst (lots of it), mentions of blood, language, BSL, Tangerine being an asshole, non-speaking character, anxiety, denial, delusion, self-hatred, in short Tangerine is not having a great time here, Lemon is the best brother though, fluff at the end, happy ending?

A/N: This story has been my baby for almost a month now and I’m so excited to finally share it with you guys. It’s a lot of angst, but it gets worse before it gets better :) Sorry in advance, because I know it broke my heart just writing this. Another thing is that I have decided to make this a little universe so there will be more, since this is mainly Tangerine adjusting to his new condition and he doesn’t use a lot of BSL yet.

Also please a round of applause for @friedcheesemogu my beta for this fic, again thank you so much!!

Alright I’ll let you guys get on with it now, have fun!!

Tangerine used to think that dying was his worst nightmare. Countless sleepless nights plagued by the thought of leaving this life and especially his brother, Lemon, behind. He knew their job was dangerous, hell they dealt with all sorts of murderers and psychopaths on a daily basis. He knew that the risk of getting hurt or worse, dying, was always lurking around the corner. Still, he loved his job and he was really good at it. Everyone in the business knew "The Twins" and they were feared, especially after they pulled off that job in Bolivia. It gave Tangerine a sense of pride. 

Growing up in foster care meant neither he nor Lemon had a lot of money or belongings. So when both of them got recruited as ‘outside contractors’ and started making a ‘decent’ amount of money, Tangerine wasn’t afraid to let people know he had it. The luxury lifestyle suited him, the suits, the jewelry, and especially not having to worry about anything but his next job.

But high-end living aside, if Tangerine had anything, it was confidence. He was confident that he and Lemon could complete any job thrown their way. Sure they could be a bit messy and chaotic, but they always got the job done no matter what. Most of the anxiety came from his unconscious mind. The intrusive thoughts and repeated nightmares never stopped plaguing him.

Taking all of this into consideration Tangerine was pretty satisfied with his life. Or well, he used to be. Ever since Tokyo Tangerine had been living a new sort of nightmare. Everything about that job had been one enormous clusterfuck that had ended with both of them on the verge of death. And while Lemon’s stomach wound healed nicely, Tangerine wasn’t so lucky. 

When he woke up in the hospital the first thing Tangerine noticed were all sorts of tubes sticking out of him, making it almost impossible for him to move without damaging them. 

The second thing -- or better said the person -- he noticed was his brother sitting next to him. Lemon was fast asleep, but that didn’t stop him from holding Tangerine’s hand in a death grip.

When Lemon finally awakened, he couldn’t help running his mouth about everything that had happened during the time Tangerine was out, stopping multiple times to tell him how he had thought he’d lost him forever and how thankful he was to have him back. Not that Tangerine could say something back, because there was still a tube stuck in his throat helping him breathe. And even if he could, he didn’t feel like complaining about it. When he felt the blood spewing out of his neck, Tangerine himself had thought that would be the end too. 

“Seriously man, you have no idea how worried you had me.” Lemon said one last time before finally taking a breather. As much as Lemon kept on repeating how happy he was, he still had this sort of ominous/scared look in his eyes as if there was something he wasn’t telling him. 

He found out what that was soon enough. 

The bullet had not only hit part of his artery but had also chipped one of his vocal cords. When Lemon had brought him to the hospital they rushed him into surgery. The surgeons had done everything they could to repair/ replace the cord and add bulk to it. Unfortunately at this time in the process, they weren't able to tell if it worked and if it would heal properly or not, making it uncertain if Tangerine would ever be able to speak normally again. 

--

When Lemon heard for the first time while his brother was still unconscious he was terrified. Not necessarily terrified whether Tangerine would make it or not -- he was stubborn enough to survive a bullet in his neck --, but about how he would take the news. Tangerine always said everything that came to mind. He had no filter and everyone who knew him learned that fact the hard way. 

Lemon watched as whatever color Tangerine had left drained from his face when the doctor told him what the damage was. Between all the fancy medical terms neither of them understood, he could see his brother’s eyes widen at the words ‘vocal cord paralysis’. You didn’t have to be a doctor to understand what that meant. 

After only a few days in the hospital, Tangerine was getting annoyed. The only extra freedom he had gotten was sitting up because the doctors didn’t trust him enough to breathe on his own yet. Meaning he was stuck in his bed with that bloody tube down his throat for a week or two. In the meantime, Lemon had come to visit him every day, catching him up on whatever was on his mind. 

He’d spoken to Ladybug, said that he’d asked if he could come to visit. Apparently, he was ‘really fucking sorry’ and wanted to apologize. The very mention of that fucking prick made his blood boil, let alone the idea of seeing him. Lemon seemed to notice and quickly dropped the subject. 

Since talking was out of the question for now Tangerine had to find another way of communicating for the time being. They had originally started with a notepad, but Tangerine’s handwriting was unreadable to anyone but himself.

“I’m tellin’ ya man, this shit's just a bunch of squiggly lines. Who taught you how to write?” Tangerine had thrown his hands up in frustration as Lemon continued decoding his handwriting. 

The next day Lemon came to visit again, only now he had brought a tablet with him. That way Tangerine could just type what he wanted to say and they would be spared a lot of frustration. 

He wasn’t at all surprised when the first thing Tangerine typed was; This clear enough for ya, you fuckin’ muppet? 

Two weeks later, they finally decided to see if he could breathe on his own. It took Tangerine some time to adjust. The combination of the still-healing wound on his neck and having had that tube down his windpipe for a month didn’t exactly do miracles for his throat. Swallowing and even breathing hurt like hell. They advised him to breathe through his nose for now, to minimize the pain. It could take 4-6 months before they would know for sure if it was fully healed or not. In the meantime, he had to attend voice therapy to strengthen the damaged vocal cord and increase the chances of a full recovery. 

After 3 months of barely any improvement, Lemon started to worry about his brother. When they returned home from the hospital in Kyoto, he decided to move in with Tangerine to keep an eye on him. And although he could breathe through his mouth nowadays, his breaths were short and noisy. Week after week he watched Tan come home from his therapy appointment with that same look on his face. He was starting to lose hope. God forbid he admit that to anyone though.

“ ‘m fi-” Tangerine tried to get out, but got caught in another coughing fit as he always did when he attempted to talk. Even when he did manage to somehow push words out of his mouth it didn’t sound like him anymore. His voice was breathy and hoarse, it made him feel weak and he hated it. Lemon kept telling him to shut up and let his vocal cords rest, but Tangerine was as stubborn as ever, even without his voice. He knew the pain in his brother’s throat must be excruciating from the way he was holding onto his neck accompanied by the pained look on his face. It sounded like he was about to cough up a lung. 

When he finally calmed down Lemon offered him a glass of water along with his tablet so he didn’t have to speak. Even swallowing took much more effort than it should. The doctor had told them that because of his disfunctioning vocal cord, his windpipe couldn’t close properly while swallowing. Meaning it was easier to choke on water or food. Tangerine had to put all his effort into not choking while drinking. He didn’t always succeed at that, resulting in a similar coughing fit. 

“Please just give it a look, it might help you in the long run..” 

Lemon had tried to get Tangerine to learn BSL, British Sign Language. Since it seemed more and more likely that he wouldn’t fully recover from this, Tangerine would need some other form of communication. Something that didn’t require him to strain his vocal cords. Therefore, Lemon bought him a BSL book for beginners, just to get familiar with it. Unfortunately Tangerine refused to make any sort of effort to even look at it, still too proud to give in to what seemed to be inevitable right now. 

‘Don’t need it.’  he typed.

Tangerine held on to the fact that he was going to recover and therefore didn’t need to learn any sort of sign language -- at least before his next doctor's appointment. He’d thrown Lemon’s book in the bin where it belonged, not knowing Lemon had fished it out again just in case. 

It had been about 6 to 7 months since Tokyo now and this was the moment of truth. Although improvement could never be written off in the future, today they would be able to tell them whether or not Tangerine would make a full recovery. 

Tangerine was surprisingly positive going into this appointment, still hanging on to that spark of hope despite the lack of improvement in his condition these last months. How he did it Lemon had no idea, because was already preparing himself for the worst-case scenario. Of course, he didn’t want to exclude the fact that his brother’s vocal cord might heal, but it seemed unlikely to him at this point. He had tried to tell Tangerine that it might not work out and that he shouldn’t get his hopes up, but he had brushed him off. 

‘I’m gonna be fine, don't worry, always am’. Tangerine typed, combined with a look that was meant to calm Lemon’s nerves but did the exact opposite. 

It wasn’t a complete lie though; anytime Tangerine got hurt he always came back from it no matter how bad it seemed to be and he sure had the scars to prove it. He had deluded himself into thinking nothing could touch him and if it did, that it wouldn’t have any lasting consequences. 

“Right…just don’t get your hopes up too much.” 

Tangerine dismissed his comment completely, shaking his head. With his attitude, Lemon was worried about how his brother would take it if he, in fact, couldn’t come back from this. 

--

Tangerine felt his blood run cold. He completely zoned out. 

It was like every emotional and physical feeling was drained from his body. He completely disappeared from the conversation with his doctor, who after another exam had told them that the chances of a full recovery were less than 30%. He knew that the progress had been slow or, well, almost non-existent, but Tangerine still believed he could pull through on this. He’d done it before. 

A strange feeling of fear settled in his stomach as the reality of his future sank in. 

No. 

No this couldn’t be it. It can’t. He won’t let it. 

When some feeling returned to his body, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder carefully shaking him. He snapped out of his trance as the shaking became more violent, causing him to inhale too much air at once. Fuck, not this again. He’d gone almost 2 months without a coughing incident. Apparently, it took only one setback to undo all of that. 

Lemon gently patted his back, while the doctor went to get him a glass of water. 

The younger brother tried to pay attention as Lemon repeated what he missed while spacing out. Again the subject of Sign Language came up, but Tangerine still wasn't having it. Deep down he knew it was his only option if he properly wanted to communicate with people again, but something inside him just refused to do it. 

Who needed sign language when flippin’ people the bird said enough. 

--

In the days after that Lemon watched his brother completely shut down. Tangerine didn’t make any effort whatsoever to communicate with him. Lemon had offered him the BSL book again when they got home, but he acted like he was allergic to it. He had hoped his brother just needed some time to wrap his mind around the whole thing. It was a big change, he understood if Tangerine just needed a few days. But a few days turned into weeks and Lemon seriously started to worry. Whereas before he’d constantly get annoyed with everyone and everything, and tried to talk even though Lemon specifically told him not to, now Tangerine just seemed to exist. That’s all he did, just mindlessly living. He didn't eat, barely drank and Lemon could see the clear weight loss. 

However, the thing that worried him the most was his lack of expression on his face. Tangerine was a very expressive person, especially with his face. He might not always talk through his emotions, but his face has always been an open book. Lemon was always able to tell what was going on in his brother’s head, except for now. Since the car ride home Tangerine has been completely blank. There was nothing going on on his face, which meant he was bottling everything up. It scared Lemon. He had never seen Tangerine like this before, not even after their first kill. 

Lemon had tried talking to him, of course, but was met with nothing but blank stares. Even talking about Thomas & Friends did nothing for him. All Tangerine really did was read, at least he hadn’t also discarded that. 

Lemon still went on jobs sometimes, nothing too difficult. Tangerine on the other hand never left their apartment. Besides each other, The Twins didn’t have a lot of friends. In their business it was really hard to trust people, never knowing if they had ulterior motives or not. Lemon had run into Ladybug a couple of times since Tokyo. Sure his inspirational quotes were annoying, but he had started to warm up to the man. Ladybug had asked about his brother multiple times, but Lemon didn’t tell him much, sensing that Tangerine wouldn’t want him to. All Ladybug knew was that Tangerine was alive and currently recovering. Knowing their job and luck, they’d run into each other sooner or later, but for now Lemon tried to postpone that as long as possible. Seeing Ladybug would set off a bomb Lemon wasn’t sure he would be able to contain. 

Sooner or later Tangerine was gonna break, he could feel it. It wasn't healthy to keep pushing everything down, especially for someone who used to talk as much as his brother. The longer he was gonna shut everyone out, the bigger the fallout was gonna be. For now Lemon could only watch as the brother he loved so much became a shell of the person he once used to be.  

--

There was nothing going on in his mind. No thoughts or anxiety, nothing. Tangerine had gone absolutely numb, almost emotionless. Pushing all of his feelings away had felt like his only option. A way out of his mind that kept on torturing him every fucking second. He couldn’t take it anymore. 

Every irritation, every fear was pushed down. There was no room for those anymore. Whereas before his mind plagued him with anxiety and intrusive thoughts, now there was absolutely nothing.

He had no trouble falling asleep anymore with his mind not running a million miles per hour. Tangerine knew that probably wasn’t good, but he wasn’t complaining. For once his mind was quiet, just finally fucking quiet. To him, it felt like a blessing. 

The only time he allowed himself to feel something was while reading. Transporting himself into this other world, with other people and their problems forced him to focus on that and not on himself. Within the first few days after he’d heard the news Tangerine had already bought all of the books on his list. He couldn’t, no, wouldn’t deal with his own issues, so he had to find other ways to keep his mind busy. But even those didn’t spark his emotions as he hoped. 

Lemon had kept offering him that bloody book, kept trying to talk to him, but he couldn’t get himself to interact with him. He buried the book in the back of his closet along with his tablet. Out of sight, out of mind, right? 

And when it was out of his mind, he could pretend none of this was actually happening.

He didn’t understand why Lemon was so concerned about him anyways. Tangerine could feel his eyes on him every time they were in the same room, they were filled with that look of pity. He hated it. If he couldn’t even get him to care about himself, why should Lemon? But he couldn’t exactly tell him to leave.

No- don’t go there. 

It was currently 3 am, and Tangerine sat staring into space. He couldn’t sleep, the pain in his throat burning more than usual. Where on the one hand, he wished he would just fall asleep, on the other hand, he wanted to wake up. Wake up from this nightmare that never seems to end.  

He was aching for a smoke. He missed the feeling of a cigarette hanging on his lips, how the smoke filled his lungs, and the calm he felt while blowing it out again. However, the doctor had strongly advised him not to smoke, noting that it would only decrease the chances of recovery and further damage his lungs. When they came home Lemon had scoured the house for cigarettes and threw them all out. Tangerine thought it was a bit overdramatic, but in the end, he was grateful for it, knowing that he couldn’t have resisted the urge. 

After another hour of nothing but purposeless staring he finally decided that maybe a glass of water would calm his throat and finally help him sleep.

As Tangerine stumbled into the kitchen he saw the light of the fridge brightening up the room. Shit. He had really hoped Lemon would be fast asleep right now. It was almost 4 in the morning, what the hell was he still doing up?

Then again he’s here too. 

For a minute he hesitated if he should continue, not in the mood for Lemon’s chit-chat, but then decided to just get it over with anyway. He really wanted to sleep and that wasn’t going to happen with the still-burning feeling in his throat. 

He tried to draw as little attention as possible, hoping he could be out of there within seconds. But of course, Lemon never failed to strike up a conversation with him. 

“Hey I was just thinkin’ maybe you could make some breakfast in the morning, I bought bacon and eggs.” 

Tangerine made no sign for Lemon to think that he had even heard the proposition, grabbed a glass of water, and walked away without any sort of reaction, leaving his brother alone in the kitchen once again.

What was the point of making it if he wasn’t going to eat it anyway? He supposed Lemon was looking for some form of normalcy that they once had. Before Tokyo, before-

He forced the memory out of his mind.

“You can’t keep this up forever you know. It’s gonna break ya.’ he heard Lemon yell from the kitchen. 

Fuckin’ hell. 

Why’d he have to go and say shit like that? Why won’t Lemon just leave him alone to deal with his misery on his own? He wasn’t going to break, he wasn't a glass that shattered when you put just a little bit of pressure on it. The whole shutting himself off was precisely to avoid dealing with all this shit and prevent anything from happening. Tangerine felt anger starting to emerge inside him as he slammed his bedroom door closed a little harder than necessary, a bit of water spilling over from his glass onto the floor. 

Deep breaths, Tan. Deep breaths. He thought to himself.

Even after the ache in his throat disappeared he wasn’t able to sleep. He just lay in bed, while staring at the ceiling. When he checked his clock again it was already 7:30 in the morning. 

Fuck it. He could try again tonight. Right now he needed a shower, a nice hot shower. He grabbed a new pair of sweatpants and a shirt and made his way over to the bathroom. The sound of running water already started to calm him down. After he had stripped himself from all his clothing, he stepped in, he hot water on his skin washing away all the anger from before. 

Hot showers wouldn’t solve anything, but they sure made him forget about it for a second. After washing his hair followed by another 10 minutes of just standing there, absorbing the warm water onto his skin, he finally decided to get out. Normally the mirror in the bathroom was foggy because of the shower, making it hard to see anything in it. Tangerine was usually already outside before the steam cleared, purposely avoiding looking in it. 

Today however it wasn’t. 

The mirror was right in front of the shower, making it impossible to miss your reflection while stepping out. Tangerine froze as he caught himself in the mirror or well… someone that looked like him. He could barely recognize the man staring at him through the mirror. 

Before, he regularly looked in the mirror. Always checking if every hair was properly slicked back and that his mustache looked nothing less than perfect, much to Lemon’s annoyance when they were on the clock. It was part of his look, part of who he was. He even had a full-length mirror in his room. That particular mirror was now covered up with blankets.

Right now he had no idea who he was. He looked pale, too pale, making the contrast in color between the bags under his eyes even bigger. Tangerine looked himself over, disturbed by the amount of weight he seemed to have lost. His once perfectly fitted pants, now hanging low on his hips. Since he was barely eating enough to keep him alive it was an expected consequence, still, really seeing it was different. He looked so small, so weak.

But that wasn't even the worst thing. No, the worst part was the huge scar on the side of his neck. A constant reminder of everything he had lost. Tangerine stretched his neck to the side putting it on full display in front of the mirror. Slowly he brought his shaking hand up, tracing the scar along the side of his neck. 

How did he become this? This…empty shell of his former self. 

It felt like all the emotions Tangerine had been pushing down for the past few weeks came rushing back up, hitting him like a truck. Every trace of the person he used to be was gone and it was his own fault. He had been shutting Lemon out since they came back, when he had done nothing but try and help him. A sudden feeling of guilt hit him. Had it been the other way around Tangerine would’ve done the same thing for him, only Lemon wouldn’t have been a complete arsehole about it.

Lemon is the closest thing to family he had, the only person who he truly cared for and he has managed to fuck even that up. Tangerine had never been especially good with people, (mostly because he just couldn’t stand them.) and that trait only grew with age. Though that didn’t include dealing with clients, he knew how to do that. In fact, they always preferred to talk to him instead of Lemon. He was a professional after all, or at least he had been. 

Not talking to Lemon had been a dick move, Tangerine knew that, but it made sense for him. In his mind, he chose not to talk to people. He chose to. For him, it was a conscious decision to keep his mouth shut, not a disability holding him back. 

If he was Lemon he would have given up on him by now. Hell, he’d already given up on himself if the state of him was anything to go by. 

What ensued was a staring contest with the mirror. The longer he kept glaring into the mirror the angrier he got, the walls he had put up for himself slowly breaking down. Until he finally couldn't take it anymore. All his emotions boiled over and he could feel tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He couldn’t stand to look at himself anymore, but his legs didn’t listen to his brain. Unable to walk away, Tangerine fell back on how he usually solved his problems; violence. 

With as much power as he could muster Tangerine threw his fist at the mirror, breaking it into a million little pieces. 

--

While his brother was in the shower Lemon was in the kitchen making breakfast. Usually Tangerine cooked some bacon or eggs in the morning, but he hadn’t done that in weeks. Given the fact that Lemon wasn’t a great cook, he had switched to breakfast cereal, which was edible. Tangerine didn't mind, but then again he usually only drank a glass of milk in the morning these days.

His attempt at conversation last night didn’t exactly work out as he had hoped either, resulting in Tangerine slamming his door. However Lemon took the small display of anger as a win for now. He has no idea how long he was planning to keep this up, but it was getting really fucking annoying. He didn’t want to be angry at Tangerine, he knew that what he was dealing with was a real struggle, but Lemon was just about done with it. He wanted his brother back.

He just sat down when he noticed Tangerine was still in the bathroom even though the shower was shut off at least 15 minutes ago. Normally he was out of there as fast as he could. 

Before he had even taken his first bite, Lemon heard what sounded like shattering glass coming from the bathroom. Tangerine.

“Fuck.” he sighed. He dropped his spoon back into the bowl and walked over to his brother. The door was unlocked per Lemon’s request, just in case something like this happened. Tangerine hadn’t said anything about it when he had asked, however to Lemon’s relief he had actually left his doors unlocked.

“Tan?” he asked through the door. When all he got in response was labored breathing he decided to go in. The only positive point he found walking onto the scene was that Tangerine, thankfully, already had his pants on. 

Tangerine was leaning on the sink, face in a pained expression as he let cold water run over his bloody hand. The water in the sink quickly turning red. Lemon’s eyes moved from his brother to the broken mirror. It wasn’t hard to piece together what had happened. 

He crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow at him, giving him that ‘I told you ya’ look he always had when he fucked up. Tangerine was avoiding eye contact, knowing full well what Lemon was doing. 

“Gonna start talkin’ to me now, eh?” He asked.

Tangerine shot him a glare, finally meeting his eyes and clearly not appreciating the choice of words, but at least it was a reaction. Being angry was better than nothing at all. The barrier Tangerine had put up for himself had broken down and Lemon hoped that he could finally start picking his life up again. 

Lemon took the death stare as a yes, turned the water tap off, and ushered Tangerine out of the bathroom. “Go sit in the kitchen, I’ll grab the first aid kit.” 

“Don’t step in the glass!” he added once Tangerine slowly started to make his way over.

He snatched the medical supplies out of the cabinet and while he was busy he also grabbed the tablet and BSL book from Tangerine’s closet. He thought he had hidden it from him, but Lemon knew everything.

He found Tangerine sitting at the kitchen island slumped over the counter, holding his injured hand in the other. Lemon placed the book and tablet in his line of sight and took a seat next to him. He saw Tangerine look at it, but didn’t make any move to either throw it away or smash it into a wall. Progress, he thought. 

While Lemon started to remove the remaining pieces of glass that were stuck in his left hand, Tangerine grabbed the tablet with his uninjured one. Once he was done typing he slid the writing pad over to Lemon. 

‘I’ve been a real twat’ 

He refused to make eye contact with his brother. Tangerine had never been one to apologize. And even though this still wasn’t really an apology, it was a big deal for him. Lemon knew that.

He let out a dry chuckle. “Yeah, you were.” 

Tangerine winced when the rubbing alcohol connected with his hand. He’d been through this a hundred times already but never got used to it. While Lemon disinfected his wound, he debated whether he should say something else or not. He probably should. Weeks of ignoring any sort of contact had him wanting to pour it all out. Only thing was that he couldn’t. Not really. 

Tangerine grabbed the tablet from where he had given it to Lemon. He erased the previous sentence and wrote a new one, again sliding it over to him.

‘why?’ 

He didn’t need to elaborate.

“‘Cause, you’re my brother, man. You’re stuck with me, even when ya act like a fuckin’ prick.” 

Tangerine takes a moment to take it all in, a comfortable silence falling between them. He didn’t know how, but he must’ve done something right in his previous life to deserve someone like Lemon. Because despite the fact that Tangerine had been a complete and utter asshole, he didn’t hesitate to stay by his side. He grabbed the tablet again, then slid it back over.

‘I’m sorry´ 

There was a beat of silence before Lemon answered him. “It’s okay, not like any of this is fuckin’ easy. Just…let me help you, okay?” 

Finally Tangerine looked up, meeting lemon’s eyes. There was a mix of sadness and hope in his eyes. “I know you believe you can do this on your own, but if today was anythin’ to go by…well.” 

He looked down again, ashamed that he let it go this far. It took him completely shutting off, ignoring his brother, and disregarding his own well-being, resulting in a complete breakdown for him to finally get the message; as much as he wants to, he can’t do this alone.

Tangerine slowly nodded his head, finally accepting his brother’s help as Lemon finished bandaging up his hand. He let out a sigh of relief, happy that Tangerine was finally ready to move forward. 

After he cleaned up the table Lemon sat back next to his brother and reached for the BSL book. Tangerine still looked hesitant, but leaned in anyway. 

“Let’s just start easy, kay?” again Tangerine nodded in response.

So that’s what they did. The brothers spend the entire rest of the day learning the basics of sign language. In these last few weeks Lemon had taken it to himself to already get familiar with sign language. He knew you couldn’t just learn it in one day, so he gave himself a little head start for when Tangerine would come around. It would be easier for his brother to learn it with someone who already knew some of the basics instead of starting from scratch. He’d also make sure to learn all the names of Thomas & Friends in BSL, but that could wait for now. 

Tangerine picked it up surprisingly quickly in the months after that, much to Lemon’s relief. On the other hand he could have seen it coming. Tangerine never did anything half-assed; if he set his mind to something it was gonna get done no matter how long it took. To Lemon’s surprise he’d even signed up to classes every week, and once in a while he went with him. It was really effective. Of course he wasn’t fluent yet, neither of them were, Lemon read that it could take years before someone was really fluent at sign language. For now though it was enough that they could properly understand each other. 

One of the first things Tangerine had done after Lemon insisted on teaching him the signs of those fucking trains was learn all of his favorite insults. He made sure that Lemon knew them too, cuz there was no way that he was gonna insult someone without them knowing exactly what he was scolding them with.

‘If I find your dirty fucking socks laying around my house one more time, I will throw them out the fucking window, you read me?’ 

His hand movements were still a bit slow, his brain still getting used to the fact that he needed to think of what he wanted to say and then translate that to his hands. However there was so much emotion on his face, that Lemon couldn’t help but feel as if he was actually saying it. 

Lemon was very chuffed to see how Tangerine seemed to regain his confidence and attitude a bit more everyday. He would have never thought he’d miss that eye twitch whenever he managed to piss him off. It put a beaming smile on Lemon’s face. 

‘What are you smiling about?’ he signed, giving him the usual ‘are you fucking serious right now’ look. 

He was dead serious about this, as he usually was over these stupid little things and Lemon found it adorable. It reminded him of how they used to share a bedroom when they were younger and how keen Tangerine always was on keeping in neat. The thought made his smile grow wider, failing to contain it no matter how sharp his brother was staring at him. Tangerine was still that little brother of his, no matter how many years had passed. 

Eventually Tangerine gave up trying to get Lemon's attention. He rolled his eyes and flipped him off before walking away, quite literally throwing his socks out of the open window. 

“Ah man, those were my favorites!” Lemon yelled after him. 

Tangerine didn’t look back, but he was sure that he was wearing that same old cocky grin on his face. Even though a lot of things have changed since Tokyo, he couldn’t help but be grateful that no matter what life put them through, they’d always come out on the other end. 

Together. 

A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Like I said, I do plan on writing more stories in this ‘universe’, so if you have anything you want to see/read, please let me know. Next up: Tangerine and Ladybug meet for the first time again after Tokyo.

Taglist: @venusthepirate @bratdoll666 @assmaster37 @wrendermeuseless @waiting4ff @kpopgirlbtssvt @earth-elemental18 @sisterslytherinog @dontknownameauthor @avocado-writing @thegremlinofransei @sugarpenchant @notfrom-outerspace @stinygirl009 @violetexpress1 @thenarryparable @pugperson99 @ozym4ndi4s @thirstyfortangerine  (lemme know if you wanna be added or removed)

[bokettochild]

About Legend having insane leg strenght: what if the reason he never brags about that is because he's embarassed about it? He thinks that pulverizing a boulder with a kick is either something everyone can do or too similar to a bunny. One day he and Four get dumped into a monster camp without their items or weapons and Legend takes desperate measures to ensure they don't die: anihilating the entire camp with only his legs. He is unironically and literally capable of killing someone with his /1

This ask references this post btw, so, check it out if you need context!

Honestly, I loved this so much! THANK YOU!!! But I am half asleep, so the cool stuff I saw in my head is being stinky and not comng out. I'm sorry, hope you like my half-asleep drabbl of Legend being weak as shit while simultaneously having the strongest kick out of the whole Chain XD

Legend hates being at Ordon.

It’s not that he hates the people; he’s used to country folk, he was raised around them, heck, his grandparents have the same strong twang in their voices that everyone in Twi’s village does! He loves the fresh air and the sounds of animals and the sight of growing things everywhere he looks.

But he hates looking around and seeing Twilight’s entire village (even the freaking kids!) wander around lifting things that probably equal his entire body weight!

Seriously, Malo (that was the terrifying toddler’s name, right? That’s what Twilight said when he introduced them all, right?) could lift up a small goat with ease, and he was an actual toddler!

What was Uli feeding her children that they turned out this strong? Were all the village women using it? How on earth was every person in all of Ordon fully capable of throwing Legend over their shoulder?

It hadn’t happened yet, but Legend was on guard because it was only so much time before someone figured out it was possible, and it wasn’t as if he could fight them off.

He wasn’t jealous, definitely not. Not even when he saw Twilight carrying a mother goat across the village with an easy stride as he brought the nanny back to her pen. When he buried his face in his arms and sighed it wasn’t because he was remembering how much he had to tug and pull to move a basket of apples, no, it was just because the mere thought of carrying goats for the foreseeable future made him tired. Definitely.

But this strength was just an Ordon thing, right? It was totally just something that was common in Ordon, and Legend took comfort in that as he sat on the front porch of Uli and Rusl’s house and helped with the mending.

Even their blankets were heavy, what the heck?

But then Sky walked past.

And Sky was carrying a barrel, an entire barrel. One that swished and clunked with the sounds of grain filling it, and if the small trail of spilled seed that followed after the hero meant anything, then that thing was full.

Okay, so Skyloftians were strong too, no big deal.

Big deal.

Their entire visit to Ordon, helping to hide away animals and supplies before a local monster band stole them, was spent with Legend trying desperately to not be jealous as he watched everyone from Wind to Time lift and carry things that he couldn’t even knock over if he pushed against them.

It wasn’t even that most of thing things were heavy, it was just... he was weak.

Uli’s gaze when she’d figured out the truth had been surprised, eyes blown wide with shock as she watched as Legend, who’d opted to help indoors since he knew working outside would lead to him being more a burden than an aid, struggled to lift buckets of water to fill the wash basin. Dark brown eyes had followed him as he’s left the bucket outdoors and stomped inside, hissing and wheezing under his breath as he moved his attention to his bag and grabbed one of his power bracelets.

“Hun,” Uli’s soft country twang caught his attention as the woman drew close, concern filling her warm gaze. “Are ya’ feelin’ alright?”

And reputation or no, Legend’s Gran would have his hide on a hitching-post if he even so much as dropped his manners. There was something about country folk that was so inherently polite and welcoming, that even the salty vet couldn’t help but return with the same manners that his Gran had pounded into his head since childhood.

“Yes, ma’am.” Crimson trailed up his neck to blossom across his cheeks and shoot up his ears. He tried to ignore that Uli had a baby on one hip and a bushel of food on the other, breath contained and relaxes as she stood there, no hint of strain in her face or body language. His fingers trailed along the clasp of his power bracelet, shame building inside as he shuffled his feet.

You just can’t walk away when lady’s talking to you, especially if she’s being all polite like and just makin’ sure you’re okay.

“Are you injured?” The farm-wife pressed. “You were huffy something huge with that there bucket.”

And Legend would like nothing more than to sink into the earth as he glances over the full bucket of water that no matter how hard he tries, he just can’t lift. “I’m just not much of a farm-hand is all, ma’am. I’ll be right as rain in a tick, just needed to grab something I forgot.”

And while the look Uli gives him is a bright smile, he knows worry when he sees it peeking out of someone’s gaze. He tries to ignore that, instead turning back to the chores he’d been assigned and trying his hardest to ignore ethe fact that no one else was wearing power bracelets when they all came back for dinner that evening.

He’s not strong. So what? He can lift his sword well enough, and he can do most other things too when he wears the power bracelets.

Yes, he knows that Ravio warned him about not developing muscles if he relied on objects so much, but he’s never had time to work out or build any muscle mass, so when he needs it it’s a bit more important to just get his work done rather than hope he’ll develop it. He’s paying for that, and he knows it, but he can’t really help that he doesn’t have the time or space to really do anything about it.

Oh well, at least the others haven’t caught on.

Warriors hefts a huge rock over his shoulder and throws it, chuckling deep and loud as he smirks at the rancher. “Beat that!”

They’re clearing a road where an avalanche swept through and blocked off the main entrance to a local town. They’ve been at it for hours, and while Legend tries his hardest to be discreet by sticking to things he can actually lift, even if it does require his bracelets, the others have devolved into a contest to see who can throw stuff the furthest.

There’s nothing on the other side of the road except for the edge of a swamp, and even Legend has to admit that it’s ridiculously satisfying to hear each of the heavy stones go ‘plop’ as they land in the marsh.

Twilight smirks at the captain, all his sharp teeth on display as he hefts a rock that’s the size of Wild and easily bigger than half of the rest of the heroes. “Watch and learn, city boy.” Twilight grunts (well at least it took some effort) before throwing the boulder and watching with the rest of them as it soars through the air and lands with a dramatic ‘splosh’ in the middle of the swamp. Cheers erupt from the younger heroes, and a few even drop their own burdens to give a brief round of applause.

Warriors humphs shrewdly, gaze thin as he looks over at Twi, who only cocks a brow in challenge. “Anyone think they can beat that?”

Legend finds his gaze meeting Four’s swirling hazel, and they both quickly look away from the captain, both well aware that the biggest rocks they’ve lifted are maybe the sizes of their heads, and no where near the horrific loads that the taller heroes are tossing left and right.

“I’ll try!” Wild’s eyes are flashing as the kid clambers over the rock slide, eyes darting to and fro until they land on what has to be the biggest, most horrifically sized piece of rubble Legend has ever seen. The Champion beams, rolling his shoulders and cracking his knuckles briefly before taking the stone in both hands and lifting it over his head and throwing it.

The swam erupts in goop and several of their group yelp and have to dark back as smelly water sprinkles the edge of the path. Wild beams down from his perch on top of the pile, hands on his hips as he looks down at them. “Who dares challenge my strength?”

“How about you, Vet?” Warriors nudges him lightly, chuckling with a cocked brow. The man is just teasing, and he doesn’t mean any harm, but Legend finds himself irritated anyways. He doesn’t know what it is about Warriors, but the man gets under his skin entirely too easily.

“No thanks.” He grunts, hefting his own stone (so small in comparison) a bit higher and adjusting his grip as he walks over to the swamp.

Wild scrabbles around above, knocking stones aside and sending them rolling down towards the vet. Legend rolls his eyes, dodging quickly around a few and kicking some of the larger ones in the direction of the swamp.

He smiles to himself at the satisfying ‘plonk’ as each one hits the surface.

Four’s head aches and the next time they see Warriors they’re going to kick him in the shins.

The captain is good at planning, usually, but if his planning means that Four is waking up to stare around a vast room where people in red and black PJ suits are eating bananas because said plan went wrong, then they think they’re a bit justified in wanting to kick the captain.

They’d reach to rub their head, to adjust the headband that’s riding too low and letting their hair all hang in their eyes, but their hands are bound behind them, and they’re left huffing their breath and scrunching their nose in an effort to relive their irritation. Their mind is too wild to shake their head, but they let their eyes wander.

Legend’s violet gaze meets theirs, sharp fury bubbling below the surface as Legend sits across from them, hands bound behind him, a rope leading from his wrists to a hook in the wall that is definitely higher than either of the two of them can reach.

As unkind as it is, they breathe a sigh of relief to know they aren’t alone (even if being four people in one body technically means that they’re never alone as is). It’s...nice, having Legend around. They don’t know what it is, but the taller boy feels safe and that’s something that they, especially Red, fond comfort in.

But the fact that two of them are here means that Wars is getting both his shins kicked, fair is fair.

Legend squeaks in that harsh way he does when he’s angry, a poor and rather adorable attempt at a growl, but apparently, he’s unable to make any sort of guttural noise, so the squeak is the best he can do. “I am going to strangle Wars when we get back. Yiga? Seriously?”

They raise a brow. “Weren’t we fighting moblins?”

“And a Talus. Unless these guys have transformative rings, then someone messed up.” The vet grates out, but before he can try and unravel their situation any more, a masked face is shoved into the vets own, one of the pajama clad banana eater’s apparently trying to leer over the vet, breath strong and rank even behind his mask.

“So! The friends of the hero awake! You will call me Astorah! Leader of the Yiga and supreme priestess to Lord Ganon!”

“I’ll call you annoying and maybe alive if you let us go.” legend drawls, unimpressed. “Seriously lady, get your face of mine or I’ll knock it in.”

They smirk. Legend is as polite and well-mannered as can be around the country villages, but the minute he’s away from thick mountain drawls and country twang, the Vet becomes a sour and salty speaker who’s as likely to threaten you as o smile at you. It would almost be funny if they weren’t being held captive.

Astorah makes an indignant sound, hand shooting out to smack Legend across the face. The vet can’t do anything to stop it, and the blow sends his head swinging to the side, a faint grunt escaping as the self-declared priestess stands to her full height (she’s taller than either of them at any rate) and promptly orders her subordinates to see to it that the prisoners be brought to ‘the mountain’.

“The hero will be looking for his friends,” The pajama clad leader declares excitedly, hands rubbing together like a villain in a bad stage play. “So, let's help him out, shall we?”

The vet and smithy exchange a glance, each somewhat surprised at how... pathetic their opponent seems to be.

“Their screams should do the trick; all heroes listen to cries of help after all.” There’s a mad waver in her voice and the pitching is all wrong.

She’s delusional. Vio whispers, and the rest of them are inclined to agree.

Across from them, legend scowls as another red and black clad weirdo comes to grasp his binds, unhooking them from above as yet another does the same to Four.

Ideally, they would try and escape now, but legend only follows along slowly as Astorah leads them through the endless halls and up step after step, murmuring, laughing and shrieking loudly as she goes, hands fluttering and gestures erratic as Legend’s scowl grows more and more each minute.

It all seems rather pathetic, all thing considered, until another, larger, more intimidating individual stops them, voice harsh as it grates out something in a language neither hero can understand. Astorah protests and shrieks at the figure, but they disregard her and instead turn to the heroes.

“Put them back, screams echo within a cave far better than on a mountain top.”

Four’s stomach sinks. Being outside means being closer to escape, means finding the others easier and kicking Wars for landing the in a battle where two of their own had been captured by the enemy.

Legend seems to be of the same idea, his eyes flashing as he pulls at his bonds, tugging away from the guard holding onto him.

The oddly garbed enemy slaps him again, but Legend doesn’t seem to be affected, only pushing harder and biting towards the next hand that swings his way. Astorah pulls away with a light sob, shrieking when Legend’s teeth keep hold of her hand while the enemies around them erupt into action.

Fours unsure of what happens next, their head is still spinning, and quite honestly, they’re sure Hyrule will declare him concussed when they get back, but he does see blows being thrown Legend's way, blades being drawn as shouts echo around them.

There’s a dark of movement, and one of the enemies falls. Four stares in shock for half of a moment before turning their gaze to Legend, who, for all intents and purposes, looks half feral.

Blood stains the Vet’s bucked teeth and his hair swirls as he spins and ducks beneath blows. His hands are still bound tightly behind him, a rope trailing on the ground as Legend evades contact, yet somehow still manages to down another enemy.

Four would try and help, but their mind is spinning, their brain not yet up to date with what their eyes are seeing, that and they’re still bound themself, their arms are fastened behind them and they’re not even sure how Legend is managing to get blows in.

And the he sees.

The vet’s boot swings up to make contact with one of the jaws of the enemy.

Yiga. Wild had told them about them, the Yiga clan, people out for the hero’s blood. The word only comes to mind now, but they’d had to tune out of the battle for a brief moment to remember it. They’re brought back to it as the sound of an agonized scream breaks through the air, accompanied by the harsh snapping sound that Four knows too well from having broken their own bones.

Legend fights with his hands behind his back, kicking out like an angered horse and injuring any who step near. It’s impressive honestly, watching how blood spurts and bones crumple from the force of the vet’s blows, and all that without having use of his hands.

The Yiga back away, eventually leaving the room entirely as Legend squeaks out an angry Legend sound after them, before turning his attention to Four. Four says nothing, and it appear Legend thinks that that’s okay, because he darts towards the door they had been headed too, leading Four with nervous glances being thrown back over his shoulder every few minutes.

The mountain top they emerge onto is higher than Four expected, and they want nothing more than to snuggle down in the cozy parka Legend once leant him, but they have none of their items, and they’re lucky to even be out in one piece.

It takes a lot of work to climb down a mountain with their hands tied, but their fingers are too cold to make any good of the knots, and they manage in the end to climb down. They’re in the last legs when Four notices what looks like a small group of travelers below, and they can almost hear the singing of the Four Sword from them.

They’d dropped their blade in their battle, the very reason they were caught in the first blade. They’re not happy someone else touched it, but they are glad they didn’t leave it behind.

“Four,” Legend’s voice breaks them from their thoughts, and as they turn to face him, they find that Legend’s face is flushed, ears twitching nervously as he avoids their gaze. “Could you...not tell the others about all that?”

“About what?” They clamber down another stone, Legend still within sight as he trails down beside them.

“The...kicking.” Legend flushes. “I know you guys- most of them anyway- could have it handled better. I just, Wars is bad enough as is, I don’t need him bring up my lack of strength next time he decides he needs ammo to mess with me.” There’s a scowl on the vets features as he hops down and across and small hold in the mountain side. “I get it, I’m weak in comparison, they could probably have beheaded those guys with their bare hands, but mine fingers are shit o a good day and-”

Four doesn’t know if they actually figure something out or randomly spew words, but Legend’s eyes turn to them in surprise when the smithy stares down at him. “You do know most Hylia’s can’t do anything by kicking each other, right? I’m planning on kicking Wars when we get back, and the most it’ll do is bruise him.” Their voice is flat, but they let Viol take over, he always had the best endurance out of them when it came to rocky places anyways. “You kicked a man’s ribs in, Legend.”

And it’s not funny, it really isn’t, but they giggle, watching as Legend flushes before their eyes, and when the others trail up towards them, gazes curious and concerned, Four is laughing hysterically.

It could be the head wound, it could be Legend’s face, but the thought that Legend was able to kick a man's ribs in and hadn’t done so to any of them yet was both surprising and highly relieving for whatever reason, and it’s hilarious listening to Legend try and explain himself as the vet protests and struggles against the fact that apparently Hylian’s don’t usually have enough leg strength to kill people with.

Yes, people died back there. Yes, Four just watched them die. Maybe it’s Shadow’s influence, but Four can’t find that they're overly bothered. They are tired and injured and cold, and if they can laugh about something as ridiculous as Legend’s strange strength imbalance, then Hylia danggit they’re going to!

They never do kick Wars’ shins in, they giggle to hard at the thought that Legend doing so could actually break them, so they topple over before they can lift their feet.

[love-hope-faith-feels-like-a-lie]

Guys, I know we all have our hate for Season 7, but man it has its moments. Just rewatched 7x20 and god! So much of it was so well done. I love seeing Rory struggling in a relatable way. Her in bed hiding from the world, what a god damn mood! Everything with Luke and Lorelai! The comeback of the blue hat, them finding their grove despite how hard it is to find their new normal, Lorelai singing. Wait, I don’t think I showed just how much I love LORELAI SINGING I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU TO LUKE! Yep, all caps, that’s better 😂😂 No, but seriously that moment. Big round of applause for Lauren. The woman is standing there singing her heart out and still acting like the queen she is. Cos all those subtle movements, like her shrugs and stuff like that. All just showing (with the lyrics), that yeah I’ll always love you, it’s just a fact and nothing I can do about it. And then Luke smiling and then getting emotional. I can’t. Someone hold me! It’s too good. And even the stuff with Lane and Zack and granted her whole storyline this season is an unholy mess, but I love the fact despite how much Zack could be better as a character and even a partner to Lane, he doesn’t even think twice in saying they’ll both not go on tour when Lane says she can’t. He was really willing to not do something he’s so excited for so he can be there for his family, and that’s amazing. I know it’s like the bare minimum, cos come on what decent guy wouldn’t? But it’s still nice to see where his priorities are. Also, loved seeing April, even if it was just a small moment. Luke and her are adorable and I love how comfortable and father/daughter they are. Too cute. I find the Chilaquiles part at the end sooooo funny. If you aren’t screaming Chilaquiles back with the guys, then you’re doing it wrong 😂 And I promise I’ll stop after this last bit, but the ending! I just love the way Lorelai is like 😳 and then we hear Logan say her name and then it fades to black and we hear it again! It’s so well done, and obviously it’s the title of the episode which I love. Anyway, I’ll stop now or else I’ll just keep rambling forever. But idk Season 7 has its really great moments, which is great but also damn it had the potential to be really great why did they fuck it with dumb story lines? Either way, yay to the great, cute and fun moments that are sprinkled in this odd season.

[sirisuorionblack]

James the mother hen

James Potter x Hufflepuff!Reader

Requested - dude hi!! could you maybe do james potter x hufflepuff reader where the reader plays quidditch and gets hurt during a gryffindor v hufflepuff game and he feels really guilty about it and is really overbearing because he wants to help her feel better? or maybe just a sick day fic where james is helping her lol i’m just a sucker for mom friend worried james. thank you!!

Warning - Minor injuries

Authors Note - This is my first time writing in second POV so, sorry if its not great. Hope you like @riddikulusweasleys! 

“Hey, prongs, look who is coming,” Sirius dragged his syllables at the last word, looking at his best mate with a wide smirk on his face. 

James looked up from his single piece of toast - healthy breakfast before quidditch, he said when the rest three of them gawked at him - to Sirius, who was wiggling his eyebrows then across the great hall to spot you in your mustard quidditch robes, grinning as you walked toward him. 

Remus chuckled at his best friend whose hand immediately flew to his hair, making them even messier and adjusting his glasses, “Your drooling, mate,” 

“Well, I have every right to drool seeing she is my girlfriend,” James said cheekily, his focus slightly faltering from you towards his best friends rolling their eyes. 

“Hello, Mr Potter,” you greeted him, smirking.

“Hello, Ms (L/N),” he said, chuckling. 

“You two are weird,” Sirius muttered, looking between the two of you in disgust although his eyes held a shine.

“You're just jealous, pads,” Peter mumbled. 

“Hey!” Sirius glared at him and soon engaged in a nasty conversation that may or may not have cost the pumpkin juice. 

“You ready for the match?” you asked James, raising your eyebrows and smirking slightly.

James’ stomach suddenly churned anxiously. Now the matter is - he loved quidditch, he loved it more than anything but it was particularly hard for him to play against Hufflepuff ever since you became the captain of the quidditch team a year ago. You had always been a part of the reason why James loved quidditch, your moves and flexes made him much more drawn to you -smitten as Sirius would say- and one of the multiple reasons he finally mustered the courage to ask you out the start of the term.

You knew it, you knew how James felt playing against you, it was rather tough to play against...loved ones? Never have either of you actually muttered those three words to the other.

“Yeah,” James said, his voice cracking in between. 

You smiled softly, and winked, “Your gonna rock it,”

 The two of you after the conversation in the great hall only met at the quidditch pitch. 

“Shake your hands,” Madam Hooch said, motioning you and James to do so.

 A smile on both of your faces as your handshake was more than friendly compared to any other handshakes on the field. 

 The Hufflepuff and the Gryffindor teams were high up in the air, clenching the broom handles, waiting for the quaffle to release because this, after all, would determine the quidditch cup for the year.

Madam Hooch’s whistle echoed through the air as the quaffle was thrown to the players. The whistles and hollers of the crowd were so much that it almost made the players anxious. 

 “The Gryffindor captain first caught the quaffle. You're doing great Jamie boy!” The commentary was given by, of course, Sirius. He was appointed as the temporary commentator after the previous one had a major injury after very strict instructions given by Professor McGonagall. 

“Mr Black,” McGonagall warned. 

“Alright, alright. Minnie is getting mad,” he quickly added, “Oh, look at that. (L/N) has the quaffle, she is flying to the goal. Now, come on, let your boyfriend win, will you?”

You flipped him off with one hand as you flew through the forthcoming Gryffindor team players, diving and serving. 

“Woah! Hufflepuff scores one goal!” Sirius glanced at the parchment before him, “1-0, Hufflepuff to Gryffindor, very bad performance lions, I expected more,” he shook his head as though in pity.

“Mr Black, you're demotivating the players!” McGonagall warned.

“Sorry, Minnie,” Sirius apologized, not so apologetically, “Now, the quaffle is back with the Gryffindor chaser! Yay!”

You dashed to the chaser, circling around them and with one calculated, gentle push the waffle was back to your hands.

“Alright, ladies and gentleman can we give a big round of applause to my best friend’s one day, to be wife,” Sirius asked looking at the crowd expectantly and for his satisfaction, the crowd roared. 

Both James and you came to a halt on your brooms, a dark pink blush on your faces as the crowd roared even louder. But someone in the Gryffindor team had realised it was the best time to knock the quaffle out of your hold.

It was a great idea, you must give that to the red flash that passed by you but the way execution was worst. As the player swished past you, there was a harsh gush of wind and the player missed and had hit you on your elbow evidently knocking you out of your broom. Holding on the broom with one hand you dangled off it, trying to climb back on. 

As though it all were perfectly timed, a loose bulger was aimed at you by Merlin-knows-who and you lost the only balance you had that held you in the air.

The air around you felt colder as the blank spots danced dangerously before your eyes. Your boyfriend’s terrified face was what you saw last before losing your consciousness. 

 “Mr Potter, please stop fretting,” Madam Pomfrey said to James who paced before your bed nervously in the hospital wing, “Nothing is wrong with her,”

“Except?” He insisted.

“Except her ankle is broken,” She said calmly. 

“Broken!?” 

“Her ankle, Mr Potter!”

“It's still broken!”  

“Potter, if this continues I might ask you to leave the room,”

“When will she wake up?” James asked, ignoring Madam Pomfrey's threat. 

“‘M wake,” You mumbled and coughed. James rushed to your bed with some water. Madam Pomfrey sighed and left James to take care of you. 

“You alright?” James asked, taking your face in his hands and scanning every inch of them for him to admire and memorize your beauty with the reason as “checking for injuries”. 

“Yes, James, calm down,” You chuckled. 

“You scared me, did you know that?” James asked, sighing, "I'm sorry,"

"Why are your sorry?" You asked, placing your hands above his.

"I should have caught you or done something instead of Dumbledore at the final moment doing the spell," he looked down, pulling his hands out of your grip and holding your hands.

"James, you couldn't have done anything and it's okay. I am alright now, look," you pointed to your ankle that was heavily wrapped in gauze. 

You heard through your half consciousness Madam Pomfrey say to James that although Dumbledore had performed the charm to stay you afloat but you had hit the ground and broke your ankle.

James winced, "I'm going to ban whoever did that from the team,"

"James," you warned, "This is a game and that happens,"

He sighed, "I feel guilty, you know." He leaned towards the bedside table, fetching the blue potion Madam Pompfrey instructed him to give. 

“Mhm, figured it out,” you smirked.

“Drink,” James said, seriously and rolled his eyes.

You scrunched your nose in disgust looking at the blue semi-liquid potion, “No, that's-”  

“I don't need to hear it, just drink,” James said, looking at you pointedly. 

“Later?” You knew it wouldn't work but it was worth a try nonetheless.

“No,” he narrowed his eyes, “Come on, love, just gulp it,” 

With your nose still scrunched, you glanced at the potion warily. James sighed, moving closer to you and pressed his lips to yours, “Please,” he mumbled against your lips.

You huffed but obliged. Downing the nasty drink and trying not to distract yourself from the bitter taste, you pulled James once again into a kiss. 

After pulling away, James chuckled and blurted, “I love you,”

Both of your eyes widened in shock. You were the first one to regain your composure and grinned at him, “I love you too,”

“Well, it's about time!” They heard a voice very much like Sirius yell, crashes, grunts and then three people running. 

You chuckled, pulling James closer to you, “You're not gonna walk for another month with that broken ankle of yours,”

And true to his words, James carried a blushing yourself to the classes almost every day, you werent complaining though.

[triptuckers]

The Necklace - Captain Rex

Request: no Pairing: Captain Rex x jedi!reader Summary: Five times you and Rex have given each other your necklace, and the one time you wear it for the last time Warnings: major character death!!, angst, mentions of serious injuries, burning, blood, bruises Word count: 3.2K A/N: I always wonder why do I do this to myself .. anyway, my brain made me write this and put it out there. I deeply apologise for this feel free to send me ur therapy bills TAG LIST (all star wars fics): @parker-natasha​ @romanoffstarkovs​ @just-deka​

One.

It’s quiet in the Temple. You have to admit it’s rarely crowded in the halls. The Temple is quite a large building, and not nearly enough Jedi to fill it. And even if there were, at least half would be off fighting the war.

You’re grateful for the time you get to spend at the Temple. The long hallways always calm you down. No matter how long you had been away, it always felt good to come home to the Temple where you’d grown up.

It’s the place where you learned the ways of the force, where you’d spent hours reading everything you could find on the Jedi and their ways. You’d meditated in the gardens countless of times, and you’d found your family.

But most importantly, you met Rex.

He knew just as well as everyone else attachment was against the Jedi code. Still, you were pulled to one another by some sort of feeling you couldn’t explain. It made you want to spend every moment you got with him.

As your relationship blossomed, you knew you had to talk about the restrictions. You didn’t like it, but there were just some rules you had to follow, for both yours and Rex’ sake.

It didn’t stop you from occasionally sending a flirtatious wink his way, if only to watch his cheeks flush as he tried to remain focused on his tasks.

You were desperate for some kind of affection outside the safe walls of your quarters. When you were on a planet near the Outer Rim, and you waited as they refuelled your ship, you took the opportunity to check out the local market.

You found a beautiful, handcrafted silver necklace, and you just couldn’t leave it behind. When you got back to Coruscant, you showed the necklace to Rex, and you noticed how much he loved it.

When you wanted to give the necklace to him, he declined, saying it looked too good on you, that he couldn’t take it from you. So, you made a promise. The one wearing the necklace would give it to the one who wasn’t wearing it whenever they saw them, with the promise they’d be there to wear it again next time you’d meet.

Your walk around the Temple takes you through the silent halls. You don’t really notice where you’re going, your mind wandering off to other places. You turn a corner and see a door opening in the distance.

A few Jedi, Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Mace and Yoda exit the room, followed by Rex and Cody. You smile at them and they all greet you as they go their separate ways.

Rex is deep in conversation with Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Cody, but briefly stops when you pass him. He takes the necklace off and gives it to you with a smile. You return the smile as you put it on, and Rex continues his conversation with the others while you continue your walk, the necklace bouncing against your chest with every step you take.

Two.

You’ve done it a thousand times before, but landing near a battle is still something that could get your anxiety up. That creeping fear that a well aimed blaster shot could take out your engines and send you to the ground a lot faster than you intended, would never ease.

You hold on tight as the ship starts its landing.

The 501st and the 212th were already on the scene, fighting for their lives. Everyone had thought that they would manage, but that was before the Separatists sent in reinforcements. Because you and your men were closest, you received an urgent comm from Anakin and didn’t hesitate before gathering all of your men and heading towards their position.

Once you’ve landed and everyone has left the ship, you start giving out orders. Even though you’re not near the heat of the battle, you have to yell to be heard over the shouts and blaster shots from others.

You send your men to the frontlines while you take your second in command to look for the other generals and commanders.

As you’re running through the chaos, you’re contacting Anakin. Luckily, he responds almost immediately.

‘We saw your ship!’ he says loudly. ‘We’re on the right side, near the trees!’

‘Copy!’ you shout in your comm and you wave your second din command over, making for the tree line in the distance. You glance at the troopers as you’re running, trying to find Rex. He might be next to Anakin and Ahsoka, waiting for you to arrive. But you know Rex, and it’s also very possible he’s in the front lines.

It takes shorter than you expected to cross the battlefield. When you make it to the trees, you quickly spot your fellow Jedi, and Rex and Cody along with them.   Ahsoka is the first to notice you, and she waves at you as you’re running toward them.

You come to a halt in front of them, panting.

‘Thanks for coming so quickly.’ says Obi-Wan.

‘Yeah.’ you manage to say in between breaths. ‘What’s our status?’ you ask as you take off your necklace and blindly hand it to Rex, who is standing next to you.

‘We’re suffering a lot of casualties.’ says Ahsoka, not taking notice in you giving Rex the necklace.

‘You and your men are much needed.’ says Rex, and you turn to look at him. ‘We’re severely outnumbered.’ he says as he puts on the necklace.

‘We have a plan, though.’ says Anakin, and he starts explaining it.

Three.

It takes you a while to figure out what caused you to suddenly wake. You didn’t have any plans or meetings you had to attend to today, and you had planned on a relaxed morning of just staying in bed.

Your legs are tangled with Rex’, and one of his arms is swung across your stomach. Mornings like these are rare, and you wish you could stay like this forever.

No war, no pain or suffering, no Separatist this or Jedi business that. Just you and Rex, holding each other.

Occasionally, you hear soft snores coming from his side of the bed. You raise your hand to softly run it over his back. It’s only then, that you realise it isn’t his snores that woke you.

You comm is beeping furiously on the bedside table.

For one of the first times, you’re seriously considering just ignoring it. You didn’t have any plans today, you even declined Ahsoka’s offer of a training session, stating you needed your rest now that you didn’t have any formalities to attend. And with rest you meant staying in bed with Rex.

But what if it’s important? Says an annoying little voice in the back of your head.

You groan softly, reaching out to try and get a hold of your comm. You can’t reach it, but you also don’t dare to shift, scared of waking Rex. So instead, you use the Force and let your comm device land in the palm of your hand.

‘Yea?’ you say. It’s Anakin who answers.

‘Hey, Y/N, do you think you’ve got time to go over some maps with me? I’m assigned to traveling with Senator Amidala, she needs to go settle another trade incident. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but these maps sure do.’ he says.

‘Can’t Padmé go over those maps with you if she’s the going to the planet in the first place?’ you ask, not wanting to leave your comfortable and warm bed.

‘She’s on Naboo. I’m supposed to pick her up on the way there.’ answers Anakin.

‘Okay, fine. I’ll come see you at your quarters in a few minutes.’ you say.

‘Thanks!’ says Anakin.

You sigh and throw the comm device on the bed. You look to your side and see Rex is still asleep. It makes you chuckle. You could probably drop a bomb on the building, and the sound just wouldn’t wake him up.

You slowly untangle your legs from his and lift his arm so you can get up. You silently get dressed before hovering over his body.

Kisses are pressed to his cheeks, nose and forehead. Rex only shifts a bit, but doesn’t wake up. You take the necklace off and carefully place it around his neck. With one last kiss, you leave your quarters and head for Anakin’s.

Four.

You exhale sharply when you land on your back.

‘And that-’ says Ahsoka’s voice above you. ‘Is how you take someone out when you don’t have your lightsaber on you.’

A small round of applause comes from the younglings you’re teaching. Originally, they were Ahsoka’s class but she asked you to join her in some examples, and you agreed. Though she hadn’t told you just how many times she was going to throw you on the ground.

‘Impressive.’ you say as you take a hold of Ahsoka’s extended hand and allow her to pull you to your feet.

‘All right kids.’ you say to the small group of younglings in front of you. ‘You’ve seen how it works now. Pair up with someone else and go try it out yourselves.’

They all excitedly pair up and get to work. You smile as you watch them struggle, thinking back to your own training sessions as a youngling.

‘I’m pretty sure we weren’t that small when we were younglings.’ you say to Ahsoka. ‘You were.’ she says, making you raise your eyebrows at her. ‘I’m taller than you.’ you protest, making her laugh out loud.

You watch the younglings for a while, correcting them every now and then. They’re very good for kids their age, and you can tell they’re fast learnings. You’re wondering if one of them might become your padawan, and about all the things you could teach them.

Just as Ahsoka tells everyone to take a break while she explains the next useful movement, the door to the training hall opens.

The clones didn’t train much in the Temple’s halls, but they did on the occasion theirs was too crowded. Or if they had been near the Temple and didn’t feel like traveling far.

A couple of the 501st have entered the room, and you scan their faces for Rex. He’s the last one to enter and you smile at him as he makes his way toward you. When he’s almost reached you, he takes off the necklace.

Just as he hands it to you, one of the younglings gasps loudly.

‘You’re Captain Rex of the 501st!’ he says.

Rex looks at him and nods. ‘That’s right kid. Keep up your training and I might see you out on the front some day.’ he says and the younglings look up at him in awe.

You chuckle at their reaction and shoot Rex a wink. He smiles at you, waves at Ahsoka, and then returns to his brothers to start their training session.

Five.

You don’t get a lot of free time nowadays. So when you do, you use it well. You’re currently in the gardens, meditating.

When you were younger, you didn’t like meditating very much. You would much rather be working on your lightsaber skills, than sitting in one spot of hours.

But as you got older, you realised the importance of connecting with the Force, and you started to appreciate alone time more.

Luckily, the gardens weren’t very crowded when you arrived. You took place in your favourite spot, closed your eyes and slowed your breathing.

After a while, you noticed other people’s presences in the force fading away one by one. Until you could feel no one else’s presence, and it was just you.

You’re unaware how much time has passed, when you sense a familiar presence coming closer.

You smile, but keep your legs crossed and your eyes closed. You hear footsteps coming closer, until they come to a stop right next to you.

There must be no one else watching, because you feel how Rex presses a kiss to your cheek. You then feel something cold be placed carefully around your neck. You smile again and after another kiss to your cheek, Rex leaves again, and you continue your meditation.

Six.

This war had taken too much from too many people. Everyone was tired of it, and everyone just wanted it to end. You were tired, too. You’d seen too many of your friends die, and too many innocent people you couldn’t save.

You weren’t a soldier. You’re a peacekeeper. But you can’t remember the last time you actually referred to yourself as one, let alone feel like it.

Still, the war raged on, like a hot fire turning everything in its path into ashes, leaving nothing but grief and sorrow behind. The war was unforgiving, merciless, swallowing everyone and everything in its path.

You couldn't stand by and watch anymore. Especially when all the fighting got too close for your taste.

You'd been sent to a planet you visited a lot when you were a child. It was a peaceful, neutral planet. Until the Separatists came to claim it. The planet's original inhabitants didn't have the proper training or recourses to fight, so the Republic sent you and your men there.

When you got to the planet it was nothing but chaos. The Separatists had wanted to take control of the planet for its strategic location. It seems they would do anything to get their hands on it.

Including wiping out an entire race of people.

You couldn't let that happen. You had been right there to see so many people get injured or killed because of the Separatists. You wouldn't stand by and watch yet another peaceful planet be taken.

The Separatists were using a new kind of droid, one that could follow orders all at once because of one single command center. You'd sent your men to keep fighting on the front lines, and to protect the people.

You would disarm the command center, so their commands couldn't get to the droids on the battlefield.

But you weren't an expert on shutting down such a massive command center on your own. While thinking back to all the happy memories you made in the past when you visited this planet, the only option you could think of was to blow up the entire command center.

You didn't have any explosives on you, so you decided to fling both of your lightsabers into the power generator. At the time, you didn't even know if it would work. Turns out it did. Maybe it worked a little too well.

The blast was enormous. You successfully blew up the entire command center, and your men could pick the droids off like target practice.

But when your second in command didn't hear back from you, he sent a few men to go and look for you.

They found you near the center of the blast, severely injured and barely alive.

They rush you back to the ship and on the way back to Coruscant, while the medical droids aboard the ship do the best they can. But they're losing you, and it's unwise to move you at this point, so they keep you aboard the ship.

Having heard of your state, both Anakin and Ahsoka rushed to the ship you're on in the hangar.

They watch anxiously as the medial droids fuss over you. Ahsoka can see your body is as good as lost, but she can still sense your presence in the Force. It's all she can hold on to.

Meanwhile, Anakin is trying to get a hold of Rex. He'd been suspecting something was going on between you and his captain. He figured if anyone needed to be there, it's Rex.

'Yes?' says Rex when he finally answers his comm.

'Rex, you need to get here.' says Anakin, voice slightly breaking as he talks. He was so terrified to lose you.

'Everything alright, sir?' says Rex.

'It's Y/N.' says Anakin.

Rex is quiet for a while.

'Rex?' says Anakin.

'Where is she?' asks Rex, and they can all hear how he tries to keep his voice steady.

'On the ship in the hangar. They just arrived but they can't move her.' says Anakin.

'I'm on my way.' says Rex.

Anakin knew for a fact Rex was nowhere near the hangar, but he arrives there in mere minutes. He must have ran all the way here.

Ahsoka stops Rex before he can enter the room you're in. Rex is breathing heavily, pressing a hand to his side which is aching from the sprinting.

'Rex.' says Ahsoka softly. 'She's not-'

But Rex doesn't let her finish, he pushes her aside and enters the room.

He nearly breaks at the sight of you. Rex blindly reaches for something to steady him as he stumbles on his feet, and Anakin catches his arm.

Rex' eyes fill with tears as he looks at you.

This is not how he remembers you. This is not how you looked when you cheerfully waved him goodbye as your ship took off.

The robes you always wear are covered in dust and ashes. There's burn marks all over them. On some places, the fabric of the robes was completely gone, showing the burn wounds on your skin.

The side of your head is crusty with a mixture of dried blood and dirt. One side of your body is littered in bruises, from where you must have hit a wall.

'There was a blast.' mumbles Anakin. 'She blew up the generator and disarmed all of the droids. She saved an entire planet from the Separatists.'

Rex presses a hand to his mouth and mumbles something in Mando'a which Anakin doesn't understand.

He slowly approaches the bed, one hand reaching out to hold yours. His other hand is clutched around the necklace he wears.

This wasn't happening. You still had to win the war, get your own apartment for the two of you, tell war stories to new friends. This couldn't be the end of your story. This couldn't be his last memory of you.

Rex lets go of your hand to stroke your cheek.

Anakin and Ahsoka leave the room, giving Rex a moment of privacy.

'Wake up, mesh'la.' says Rex softly, voice breaking at almost every word he says. 'Wake up so I can give you the necklace. You promised you'd always be there to take it from me when we'd see each other.'

And you do wear the necklace one more time. Rex slid it around your neck, and buried it along with your body.

And every battle he fights in the future, he does in the name of his beloved General Y/L/N. There was no reason to keep it a secret any more. He'd dedicate every single fight to you. He owed you that much. He kept your memory alive.

Every night, his heart aches because of the absence of your shared necklace. The absence of your love, and your promise to always be there.

A/N: If you want to request something, make sure to read my house rules Here’s the list of characters I write for. Everything that I have written can be found on my masterlist. Please don’t repost my work, as I spend much time and effort on it!! Thank you for reading! Much love, Marit

[horrorwineaunt]

I Want Candy Ash Williams x F!Reader

Summary: Chapter 1/5 of a mini story featuring Ash and a beautiful stripper named Candy.

Warnings: Mentions of Strip clubs, drinking, drugs, age difference, and some light sexuality.

Word Count: 3399

Request?: Nope!

A/N: Just a little something I came up with because I love Ash Williams, it’s cute, it’s something nice for Ash, and it lets our boy grow a little bit. No smut in this chapter, but there will be in future chapters!

Part 2

Part 3

Ash Williams was a simple man- he liked a good baked potato, he liked good music, a beer here and there and he liked pretty girls, so why wouldn’t he like Lucky’s, where he could get all of the above? 

He sat at a table, eating his $5.99 potato and drinking the cheapest beer they offered while some good music played and a girl they called Dawn jiggled her stuff onstage. Dawn wasn’t bad to look at, hell none of the girls here were BAD per say- but they were definitely pushing the limit for what people would tolerate as far as their strippers went. 

When the song ended and Dawn stepped offstage he smiled and took another bite of the sour cream covered goodness. If he played his cards right and he was lucky, the leftover potatoes would be coming home with him that night. The prospect of having free dinner for the rest of the week was always a good one, and as he took another bite he smiled at the waitress Lucy and tapped his finger against the beer. Lucy nodded, and went to fetch him a fresh one before the DJ got back on the mic. 

“Alright gents and germs, tonight we have a special treat for you, let’s hear it for our new girl- Candy…” the DJ introduced before the song I want Candy came on and the new girl, Candy herself came out from the back making Ash’s mouth drop open. 

Candy was everything the club had been missing, she was young, she was perky- she had no visible c-section scars and her breasts were where god intended them to be. Her hands roamed over her perky little breasts and Ash felt himself shift as the blood in his body decided to head south for the winter. He watched as she walked over to the pole and for the first time in- ever- Ash saw just how that pole was meant to be used as Candy flipped herself upside down and slowly spun down it. 

Her hair was in two pigtails and he groaned at the thought of wrapping them around his hands while he made her round ass shake with each thrust of his hips. God he was horrible- he knew that- but watching her twirl onstage, he didn’t care. 

When she was done there was a raucous applause from everyone in the room, Ash pounded his hand against his table, unable to clap with Woody screwed onto his right wrist, but he still wanted to show his support. 

That night Ash left the club with five baked potatoes in a paper bag, and the promise that he would be back next week so long as Candy was working again. When he got into The Delta the slow drizzle that had started hours before had turned into a steady rainfall, and he tossed the bag of potatoes onto the seat next to him before he started the car up. As he started to pull out of there, he noticed someone walking out of the back of the club and felt his chest (and his pants) tighten as he realized it was Candy. He watched her as she looked at her phone and then looked around and sighed, trying to huddle close to the door to not get rained on too bad. 

Well hell, he was Ash Williams, he could take on armies of Deadites, he had done some seriously crazy shit over the years, so there was no way he was going to let a little anxiety at looking like an idiot stop him- it never had before. He pulled the Delta up to the sidewalk near the back and leaned over to roll down the window. “Hey, uh, Candy right?” He asked as she leaned down to look into the window. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah, hey Baby, listen, I’m driving home, you want a ride?” He asked, she looked a little unsure, her eyes flickered over him with a slight frown and he shrugged as he started to straighten up. “No skin off my back if ya don’t,” he said before he reached over to roll the window back up. 

“Wait-” he had the window rolled halfway up and he waited, looking at the girl who gave him another once over before she glanced around. “I- I mean you’re not gonna like murder me or something are you?” 

“That depends Baby,” he said and she frowned. “You an unholy bastard here to ruin my life and drag me to hell?” 

“Not on Tuesdays,” she replied, making Ash grin before he straightened up in his seat. 

“Hop in.” he replied and Candy ran to the door of the car and got in, she rolled the window the rest of the way up and pushed his bag of potatoes towards the middle of the bench seat while she fished around under her ass for her seatbelt. “Who was supposed to come get you?” he asked as he watched her lift her hips and pull the seat belt out from under her and then lowered her hips, settling into her seat. 

“My roommate,” she said and he nodded. “But he probably fell asleep.” 

“Sounds like a crappy boyfriend,” he commented as he waited for her to get settled. 

“He’s not my boyfriend.” she replied as she was buckling her seat. She put her bag at her feet and he looked down at it, seeing the pink sparkle of what he assumed were her booty shorts she’d worn onstage that night and the pink shine of her pleather boots. “-But I do have one,” she looked at Ash quickly and he held his hands up as if to surrender. 

“Hey, Baby, I’m just offerin’ you a lift. You don’t gotta go telling me all about your boyfriend to make me scared, I ain’t gonna pull nothin’. I promise. You can ask any of the people in there about me. I’m just a guy who likes a baked potato and a beer and Lucky’s got both of those and a little show.” She seemed to relax at that and he nodded before glancing at the windshield and then back at the girl next to him. “So where we headed?” 

“You know the Triple Crown apartments?” she asked and he nodded. “Well that’s where we’re going,” 

“You got it Baby,” he pulled away from the stripclub and started towards the highway, the apartments were about a twenty, twenty five minute drive, and as he drove he couldn’t help but glance at his passenger. “I’m Ash by the way,” he told her and she looked over at him. He noticed that she still had her makeup on and up close he could see that under that makeup, she was definitely still a grade A stunner. 

“Nice to meet you Ash,” she said and he nodded. 

“So uh, what brought you to Lucky’s? I mean a girl with your talent, you could be strippin’ anywhere in America,” he told her and she smiled before looking at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“I’ll have to find the complement buried under all that bullshit,” she said and he let out a low laugh. 

“Oh come on Candy, I didn’t mean nothin’ by it. Just you dance real good.” 

“Well, thanks.” she said after a moment, looking at her phone as they drove. “I um, I move around a lot.” she explained. “I just moved to town, and Lucky’s was hiring,” 

“I get that,” he said. “I’ve been all over too.” 

“Sucks right?” she asked and he smiled lightly before shrugging. 

“Sure, but this place ain’t too bad,” he told her. “Triple Crown apartments are bullshit, anyone’ll tell you, but you find a good spot to hunker down, you’re real lucky.” 

“You got a good spot?” she asked and he nodded. 

“Oh yeah, I’m over at the Golden Road trailer park. Me an my friend Eli got us a good spot there.” 

“And where’s Eli tonight?” she asked and he smiled at her. 

“He’s in his tank. Eli’s a lizard.” 

“Oh,” she let out a soft laugh. “What kind of lizard?” 

“The kind that makes girls squeal in horror.” 

“Pussies,” she said and he laughed as he pulled onto the freeway onramp. “So what is he a gecko, a bearded dragon, what?” 

“Bearded dragon,” he replied and she nodded. 

“Cool.” 

“You like lizards?” 

“I used to work at a pet store,” she told him and he nodded back. 

“Groovy,” 

They were silent for a stretch and then she looked at him. “The Triple Crown really does suck,” she said and he nodded. 

“I know,” he replied. “I heard plenty of stories about it.” 

“I’m pretty sure my roommate is a drug dealer.” 

“He sell anything good?” 

“I don’t know,” she laughed and he smiled as he looked over at her. She sat there, looking at her phone resting on her lap and he looked back at the road before glancing back at her. 

“I got a couch,” he said suddenly and she looked back at him. 

“What?” 

“I got a couch. If you want a place to crash for the night. Road’s kinda slippery and all and uh, well if you don’t want to deal with some druggie loser all night. You could come check out my lizard.” 

“What’s the catch?” she asked skeptically and he shrugged. 

“I’ve already seen your tits, so no catch,” he said with a grin. “Let’s call this payment for the show.” Candy scoffed softly before she looked at her phone again and then back at Ash. 

“Okay,” she said and he grinned. “Sounds good,” 

Ash swung the Delta off of the freeway at his exit, he’d been coasting in the right lane just in case she took him up on the offer before he drove them to his trailer. When they parked outside she seemed to take in the park around them, trailers tucked away in corners, trailers out in the open. Ash was tucked away in a corner, only one neighbor, Daryl, a survivalist who liked to move around a lot to “Keep ahead of the government”. Total weirdo, but he was entertaining for a drink on occasion. 

When he cut the engine he looked over at Candy, giving her a once over before he cleared his throat. “Hey, you mind uh…” he paused for a moment before he picked up the bag of potatoes from the bar. “Carrying my taters?” Candy laughed and he grinned at her. “It’s easier to unlock the door without shit in my hand,” he explained as he pulled his keys from the ignition. 

He got out of the car then and ran through the rain, his feet splashing the small puddles that pooled though his front ‘yard’. He got the door unlocked with his free hand and he opened the door before turning on the lights in his living room and as he grabbed a towel he’d tossed on the couch he heard the door to the Delta close and a moment later the young woman from the club was running into his living room. He looked over at her as she turned away from him and pulled the door closed behind her. She turned back to him, but her eyes scanned the room around her before landing on him. 

“This place looks like the seventies threw up all over it,” she said and he laughed in response to her accurate description of the trailer before he shrugged. 

“Hey, it’s called style.” he said before tossing the towel to her. She caught it and then held the bag of potatoes out to him and he took them, his fingers brushing hers as he took the bag while she patted her face off. She looked around before glancing back at him. 

“You got a bathroom?” 

“Through there,” he pointed to it and watched as she walked to the bathroom. He sighed as her hips swayed as she walked and then he looked back at the bag of potatoes and opened the fridge. He stuck the bag in there and then pulled two beers from the door and set them on the counter. 

When Candy came back out she had washed off her makeup, and Ash realized with a small sense of guilt that she was even younger than he’d initially pegged her for. “Thanks,” 

“No problem- say, Candy, how old are you Baby?” he asked and she looked at him as she set her bag down near the couch. 

“Let’s just say this whole air stream had plenty of time to get turned into the mobile love shack way before I was born,” she told him and he chuckled. 

“Uh, yeah, I have no doubt, but uh, I kinda need a number here Sweetheart, see the thing is, I don’t want to be aiding and abetting no runaway teenager and-” 

“I’m twenty five,” she told him, exasperation in her voice. 

“Twenty five,” he said thoughtfully. “Okay, cool, definitely not a teenager.” 

“Definitely not,” she agreed before he held out one of the beers he’d opened. “Thanks.” 

“So is Candy your real name?” 

“Nope.” she popped that p when she said it as she walked around, looking at his posters, and then she bent down at the hips, looking at Eli in his tank. “Cool. Hi Eli,” she cooed at the lizard and he grinned as he watched her before he stepped up behind her. 

“You uh, you wanna hold him?” he offered and she looked over her shoulder at him before she straightened up. 

“Maybe later,” she replied. “So, I couldn’t help but notice, your couch is pretty much a bed,” she said as she looked around. 

“Oh yeah, so it is,” he said casually as he glanced at it. 

“Look Ash,” she said as she turned to him. “I don’t know what kind of game you think you’re playing, but-” 

“The table turns into a bed too,” he told her as he pointed to the table and she looked over at it. 

“What?” 

“There’s this thing underneath, I’d do it for you, but uh, it’s easier to do with two hands,” he said and she looked from his eyes to his hands, as if she had noticed for the first time that his right hand was entirely made of wood. Her mouth dropped open and he gave her a small smile before he reached up with woody and lifted her chin. “Let me get that for you,” he said gently and she looked up at him guiltily. “Look, Sweetheart, I know in your line of business, there’s a lot of creeps, but I’m just a guy. I promise.” he told her. “Plus, I’d never do anything to get kicked out from Lucky’s. They just hired this new girl, and she’s pretty cute.” he winked making her scoff slightly, her cheeks pink with embarrassment at the moment. 

“So, how do I uh make this thing into a bed?” she asked as she gestured to the table. 

Ash talked her through lowering the table top, when it clicked into place she moved the cushions lining the booth over the tabletop and the booth, making them into a thinly padded mattress and he grinned as she sat on the bed and sipped her beer. “Comfy?” he asked and she nodded. “Well, if you do decie you wanna try out the big bed,” he pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “All you gotta do is ask.” 

“Oh, I could never put you out of your bed,” she said as she looked back up at him. “I don’t think your back could handle this,” she nodded to the thin bed she was sitting on and he laughed. 

“Oh Baby, don’t you worry about my back, it’s handled a lot worse.” he assured her and she laughed before shaking her head. 

“I’ll be fine.” 

“Okay, I’m just sayin, the offer’s there,” he told her and she smiled at him. 

“Well, I appreciate it,” she told him as she finished her beer. She stood up and set it in the sink then turned to him as he finished his own beer. 

“You want something better to sleep in?” he asked and she blinked a few times before looking down at herself. She was wearing a pair of jeans, and a sweatshirt, very different from what she’d been wearing onstage, that was for sure, but not practical to sleep in. 

“Sure,” she agreed. He went to his room and grabbed a t-shirt from a pile of clean clothes and after walking back he tossed the shirt to her. She caught it easily and he smiled as she looked at it before she turned her back to him and pulled her sweatshirt over her head. He couldn’t help but watch, something that she didn’t miss. Looking over her shoulder she saw him looking and gave him a small smile. 

“I mean I’ve already seen it,” he shrugged and she rolled her eyes before tossing her sweatshirt over at her little bed. She had a tank top on underneath the sweatshirt and Ash locked his lips as she took that off, even if her back was still to him, he caught just the slightest glimpse of side boob and he wasn’t unhappy about that. But she put the shirt he’d given her on and the spell was broken. It went down to her mid thighs and she took her jeans off under the shirt. 

She climbed onto her makeshift bed and Ash knew the moment was over, so he went back to his room and found a blanket in the cabinet before he walked back out and tossed it over her. “If you need anything, you know where I am Baby,” 

“Thanks Ash,” she said and he smiled slightly. 

“No problem sweetheart.” 

After Ash got into bed he found himself having the hardest time falling asleep. For the first time in… Years there was a girl sleeping over in his trailer, and for the first time she wasn’t sleeping in his bed with him. Well, there was a first time for everything he figured as he rolled over onto his side, he let out a long sigh and tucked a pillow between his knees before he fell asleep. 

When he woke up it was to thunder booming overhead and he groaned before he heard soft rustling in the trailer. For a blood chilling moment he was tempted to grab his boomstick before he remembered Candy was there. “Candy?” he called, his voice thick with sleep. 

“Yeah?” her voice was close, closer than the table and he sat up a little when he realized that. 

“You good Baby?” 

“... Yeah.” her voice was hesitant and he sighed as he laid back on the bed before running his hand over his face. 

“Get in here,” he grumbled and she moved into his room, the curtain separator shifting to just slightly to let her into the room. He sighed and held up the edge of the blanket and after a moment of hesitation he opened his eyes. “Look, Princess, I’m gettin’ kinda cold, so, if you’re gonna get in here, just get in here, okay?” She slipped into the bed after that and he lowered the blanket around her before sighing as he wrapped his arm around her. “What’s the deal?” 

“I don’t like thunder,” she told him in a small voice and he sighed deeply before he nodded. 

“I get it.” he replied, his arm settling over her stomach. “You wanna talk about it?” 

“Not really,” the soft spoken stripper said next to him and he nodded as he started to drift back to sleep. 

“Good,” he said simply and she sighed before snuggling into his side. Ash was still for a moment as she got comfortable and he sighed face down on his pillow. It had been a long time since he had cuddled anyone, and as he held her he realized how much he had missed it. 

But he couldn’t think like that, not him, he’d kick her out of bed when the rain stopped and drive her home and the next time he’d see her she’d be topless onstage and he’d be eating a baked potato and drinking a beer. Things would be back to normal, and maybe he’d offer her a ride home, but he definitely wouldn’t be cuddling her again.