#supervillain is gonna save his superhero

[silentstaresfanficandfanart]

Okay guys start reading halcyon or i'm going to...

*looks at my hand , the word bricks has been scrawled onto it with lipstick* * i kiss my hand to apply the listick and calmly smear the rest off on Ciero's pantsleg, he looks at me in confused offence* Im ognna eat ur bricks

not really its okay your bricks are safe i would never hurt you i will feed you gently , gently like a horse, apple in my hand, apples name...halcyon.

eat my apples tumblebeasts

eat my apples

also tell mei f you want it uploaded to a different platform i have no idea what im doing with this thing *points at the google doc thing* i couldn't think of a better solution

[bigbuffjoonie]

Holy shit WHAT A RIDE this chapter was!!

Versus | MYG, JHS - Chapter 6

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader x Hoseok

Genre: smut, fluff, angst, crack, enemies to lovers, Villains!AU

Rating: M (18+)

Warnings: mentions of weapons - blades, mentions of blood/bleeding, stabbing, explosions, fighting (hand-to-hand combat), flesh-eating bacteria, a plane nearly crashes, switching POVs, kissing, grinding, Vitality gives in to temptation, Yoongi and Hobi give in to their instincts

Word Count: 2.7k

Disclaimer: NSFW, obviously I don’t own BTS - they just inspire me

Summary: Supervillain exes Yoongi and Hoseok are sick and tired of having their plans for world domination wrecked by you, aka Vitality, the world’s most powerful superhero. When fellow villain Jimin suggests a little competition to see who can bring you to your knees, they both eagerly accept. Now the battle is on as both men engage you in fight after fight to see who will conquer you first. Will you finally defeat these two, or will they destroy you - and possibly take each other out in the process?

A/N: We're upping the ante with the battles this chapter! The lines are really starting to blur for our superhero and villains alike.

The chapter title comes from OK Go's Here It Goes Again:

I guess there's gotta be a break in the monotony But Jesus, when it rains, how it pours

Unbeta’d as usual. Please don't be a silent reader! 🥺 My inbox is always open! 💕

Chapter Five ✨ Series Masterlist ✨ Chapter Seven

Chapter Six: Jesus, When It Rains, How It Pours

As far as weeks go, you’ve had better. 

Monday started off with a bang when half of midtown was ravaged by a gila monster the size of a jumbo jet that escaped from some mad scientist’s lab after getting into some horrifically effective secret growth serum. Tuesday you took down an entire team of disgruntled ex-military men threatening to blow up the city if the officials didn’t meet their demands for, uh, actually, you never asked what they wanted, you just defeated them before they could do anything other than terrorize a whole building full of innocent hostages. 

Wednesday was nothing but meetings and team building exercises - honestly, worse than the giant lizard and the mercenaries combined. 

And here it is Thursday, and you’re once again fighting Yoongi. He’s really been on one lately, and you’re getting a little sick and tired of seeing his face. Especially when he won’t stop throwing those fucking blades at you and ruining your plans to spend the day relaxing for once. Well, relaxing as much as you can for a superhero busy constantly saving the world. So, like, eating banana Choco Pies and maybe binging a few episodes of All of Us Are Dead in between training sessions.

“Heads up, pretty bird!” Yoongi grins as another dagger hurtles through the air. You spin, avoiding the sharp projectile, and aim a high kick at his head. He manages to duck, dropping to his knees. Two more daggers slip from his sleeves and he chucks them as he laughs gleefully. 

His plan is going fairly smoothly today. It was so easy for him and Taehyung to break into the high containment lab where the government’s Disease Control department stores the deadliest pathogens on the planet under lock and key. Even easier to incite hysteria when he threatened to release a vial of flesh-eating bacteria into the water supply. He so loves to watch leaders scramble about like helpless ants, just waiting to be squished under his big black boots. 

Not to mention how much he enjoys the thrill of causing a total meltdown amongst the public at large. It’s too easy to manipulate people. They’re so dumb and panicky. 

How he loathes them.

But as much as he’d love to actually release some of these vicious viruses, he’s really only here because he knew you’d come. And now he has you trapped in an enclosed space, surrounded by vials filled with instant death, making it impossible for you to use your powers. You can’t exactly blast him to hell if it means you might accidentally smash some of these tubes and release the doom stored inside. Especially since he and Taehyung destroyed all of the room’s defenses meant to keep any breaches safely enclosed within.

“You won’t get away with this!” you hiss as you knock one of his daggers out of midair with a well-timed kick. 

“Are you sure about that? Seems like you’re fighting with clipped wings, pretty bird,” Yoongi chuckles darkly. “Careful! Wouldn’t want to let any of these icky germs get out, now would we?”

Lunging forward, you tackle him to the ground, pinning his arms down so he can’t release any more blades. You still don’t understand where the fuck they all come from - is he conjuring them out of thin air? Or does he have a whole bunch of them strapped to his body at all times? Is his pale skin just a collection of scars under his pinstripe suit? 

“What exactly is your plan here? Release the bacteria, and then what? What do you want?” 

What does he want? You, writhing underneath him, begging for mercy. It’s all he desires.

“I want chaos. I want to bring the world crashing down around us, until the streets run red and only the strongest survive. This world needs culling, and I am the reaper!” His eyes flash as he rants, fidgeting, trying to rock you off of him as you straddle his chest, keeping his hands pressed against his sides.  

“You’re the reaper? No, you’re a disease, and I am the cure!” you snarl, fist curled, winding up to deliver a knockout punch. 

Yoongi cackles wildly. “You’re the cure? Be honest–did you just come up with that, or did you rehearse that before you got here?”

Well, not that he needs to know, but yeah, you’d rehearsed that since the moment you left headquarters. As soon as you realized you were headed to the infectious disease vault, you knew exactly what you wanted to say for your finishing quip. Stupid fucking superhero banter.

“Fuck you!” A little more pithy than witty, but it’ll get the job done. Just as you’re about to smack him six ways from Sunday, there’s a stabbing pain in your shoulder. With a wounded shriek, you reach behind you and remove a dagger, point dripping with your blood. 

Taehyung stands in the doorway of the vault. Goddamn it, you forgot all about the sidekick. All the supervillains you fight always have a loyal lackey just waiting to step in and prove their mettle. Yoongi must’ve trained him to handle his blades.

His presence distracts you long enough for Yoongi to wiggle his arms free, throwing you off of him. Yoongi reaches for the dagger but you manage to keep a strong grip on it, and the two of you begin to wrestle, limbs tangling as Taehyung suddenly shouts.

“Hyung! Look out!” A vial sitting dangerously close to the edge of the counter suddenly topples onto its side, glass shattering. “Don’t let it hit your skin!”

It’s the flesh-eating bacteria. Your tussling with Yoongi has brought you right next to the counter, and your back slams into the solid cabinet doors. Time seems to slow to a crawl, every second stretching to an eternity. You glance at Yoongi before you look up, staring in dread as the contents of the tube begin to drip towards your face–

THOCK

A burst of wind ripples past your head and suddenly there’s a dagger sticking out of the wood, directly between your face and the oozing strain, catching every drop that dribbles down. Startled, you whip your head around to gawk at Yoongi. He’s frozen, arm still raised, a fierce look on his face. 

“Don’t just sit there, fucking move,” he growls, and you snap to, quickly jumping away from the counter as the lethal microbes run down the blade and trickle onto the floor where you had been a mere millisecond before. You lie on your side, panting, bewildered. Why the fuck did Yoongi do that? 

Yoongi’s stunned. Why the fuck did he do that? You were this close to becoming a bacteria buffet. If he hadn’t saved you, you’d be dead. He hadn’t even thought about it, just reacted on instinct, tossing a blade to protect you. 

Fucking hell, once again he really needs a minute to think. But now isn’t the time for any self-reflection, not with sirens blaring and Taehyung screeching in his ear that they need to leave before you shake off your shock and capture them both. He allows his confidant to pull him to his feet, and then he’s running, as fast as he can, away from the lab, away from the building, away from you and the expression on your face of total confusion - mixed with the one emotion he hates above all.

Hope.

Hobi’s made a slight miscalculation.

This thought occurs to him as he stumbles out of the cockpit of the jet, which is gradually diving towards the ground. 

See, his brilliant plan this week was to trap you on a jet skimming the upper bounds of the atmosphere and force you to fight him without your powers. After all, it’s an enclosed space about 6,000 miles above the ground. Since you can’t fly, why would you put yourself at risk by tearing a hole through the cabin or blasting one of the engines into smithereens?

The thing is, no matter how many times he had Jin sift through the scenarios and crunch the data, he completely forgot to take one factor into consideration: you’re kind of a compulsive idiot. 

“The controls are completely shot,” He hisses as he stalks across the cabin to where you’re standing, staring at your own hands. “As you in fucking shot them with that last blast!”

“I didn’t fucking mean to! Obviously!” you shout, snapping out of your shock. You’d been trying, really trying not to give in to the urge to just blow this asshole out of the sky, but he wouldn’t stop throwing punches and you just wanted to stun him, wind him enough to knock him down and pin him, except you forgot how fucking slick he is, how he moves like water when he fights, lithe body bending in ways you couldn’t even dream to, and with one smooth side step he’d avoided your blast. 

And now there’s a giant hole in the instrument panel and you’re going to die. 

Hobi should’ve prepared for this eventuality. He should’ve packed at least one parachute. 

Add it to the list of things he’ll go to his grave lamenting. 

“So what do we do now?” you ask, spinning around the empty cabin of the plane, looking for something that might help. Not that you have a fucking clue what would help. This isn’t a situation they’d trained you for when you’d started with the company. It was always assumed that if there were an air battle, one of the flying heroes would handle it. 

“We fucking die,” Hobi hisses. For once, he wishes he had Jin in his ear to tell him everything will be alright. But his communications are on the fritz thanks to the gaping maw that used to be the front of the jet. “Unless one of your stupid coworkers is about to swoop in here and save us?” 

One minute, you were on your way to a charity event, dressed to kill in your bright red strapless sequined gown, slit cut halfway to heaven up your right thigh, most decidedly not wearing the headpiece from your uniform despite your PR rep’s insistence because you think it’s tacky as fuck (and besides, it clashed with your dress something horrible), when your driver suddenly keeled over, blood spurting from his mouth, and the car went off the road. Before you could free yourself from the wreckage, you felt that invisible pulsing again, and everything went black. 

Now, as the train of your dress trails behind you, tattered from your fight, you wish you’d worn that stupid ugly-ass headpiece after all. Damn you and your fucking pride. There’s a locator beacon in the headpiece, which would really be handy right about now. You know Doc will track you eventually, but you’re not feeling very hopeful that he can do so before you become a superhero pancake.

“Save us?” you sputter, spinning around the empty cabin. “Who is this “us?” If anyone were to get saved, it would just be me, you fucknut! No one is coming to save you!” Whirling again, you aim a high kick at his head, scowling as he ducks. You chase him down the aisle, angrily tossing punches left and right, your throws getting sloppier the more irate you grow. “And you probably had that fucking radar-evading tech on again, just like you did in Argentina, right?? So no one knows I’m here and no one is going to find me until they dig my body out of the rubble!” 

Hobi catches your clumsy right cross and yanks you towards him, intending to restrain you, but the plane suddenly dips further and he ends up flat on his back, tugging you on top of him.

You huff furiously as your nose brushes his. From this close, his eyes are molten lava, burning into yours. His skin scorches you where it touches you, as though his entire body blazes with heat beneath you. 

Hobi is out of ideas. Out of brilliant plans, out of in-the-nick-of-time maneuvers. He knows his henchmen won’t get to him fast enough, no matter how swift his jets might be. So, for the first time in a very, very long time, he lets the panic take over. He stops thinking, and moves on instinct.

Wrapping a strong hand around the back of your head, he pulls you down, crushing your mouth onto his. 

There’s brief shock on your end, before the impending doom of your current situation floods your brain, sweeping all rational thought away in its wake, and you thread your fingers through his dark hair, cradling his head as you kiss him fiercely. You’re about to fucking die–why not live a little first? Go down happy. Or at the very least, anything but scared.

Of course his lips would be so plush. Of course his tongue would taste like sugar. Why would his kiss be any less irresistible than the energy flowing through him? Because it’s calling to you, again. Like a sweet siren song, an inviting melody only you can hear. 

This time, there’s no reason not to give in. 

As Hobi licks into your mouth, blindly needing to feel something, anything else right now, other than fear, and finding himself quite surprised that he is, you curl your fingers into his dark shirt and feed, pulling his energy into you. 

Hobi’s eyes go wide at the first tug. What is happening to him? It feels like something surging through him. His eyes roll shut in ecstasy. Holy shit, whatever it is, it’s fucking amazing.

You groan into his mouth, overwhelmed by the pulsating sensation of Hobi’s energy entering you. God, is this what it’s like to feed from a human? Jesus, why did you wait until death’s door to try it? You settle against him, thighs straddling his, and your eyes fly open (when did they close??) as you realize he’s hard as a rock between your legs. Is it from the kiss? From the fighting? Or could draining him of his energy feel as good for him as it feels for you?

The force building inside you is so intense, stronger than anything you’ve ever felt before - even more powerful than that nuclear warhead you’d disarmed one time by draining it dry. It’s extraordinary, how fucking good it feels, how fucking good Hobi feels, and as the sensation overwhelms you, you break the kiss, arching your back and letting go, releasing all that rippling energy in one big blast.

The jet explodes around you, disintegrating into nothing.

Hobi’s eyes widen in shock as you destroy the plane. Acting on instinct, he wraps his arms around you as you hurtle towards the earth in a freefall. He tucks your head into his neck, as if to protect you. 

Or maybe just to hold you close during the last few seconds of your lives. 

That’s when a strong hand suddenly grasps and yanks him out of midair.

“Shit, Vi, what the fuck did you get yourself into this time?” an irate voice demands, and then Hobi blinks and he’s zooming through the air as your flying teammate holds you both tightly and zips you towards the ground below. 

As soon as you’re standing on solid earth, your teammate throws Hobi down, pinning him to the soil. You drop to your knees, thankful to be on the ground again, breathing deeply as your heart continues to hammer frantically. Your teammate starts ranting about your “little stunt” fucking up his day off (as if you kidnapped yourself!). But you don’t respond, glancing at where Hobi, who lies with his hands cuffed behind his back, peers up at you. His dark eyes are turbulent, unsettled oceans churning wildly, and you know your own gaze matches his. 

Neither of you speak, and before long, he’s being whisked away by the containment team and you’re alone, staring at the dirt under your knees, marveling at how you survived but still feel completely wrecked. 

Masterlist 💜 Find me on AO3 💜 

© 2022-23 by sunshinerainbowsbts/minisugakoobies. Crossposted to AO3. Please do not copy or repost.

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If your URL is italicized, tumblr won’t let me tag you! 😤 Check your settings!

[suzukiblu]

Day twenty-eight of “obligatory sugar baby Kon” ( and the start of a new scene! ) behind the cut. prev: (( chrono || non-chrono ))

“How’s school?” Tim asks, since how’s your mom and are you still living AT school due to her being who she is as a person? is both a loaded question and too obvious an approach. Cissie raises an eyebrow at him anyway. Tim is reminded that Dick did not in any way make an illogical leap by assuming that she was the kind of person he’d be attracted to, but also is not quite there. 

No, he’s apparently just into their other resident child-star/teen-idol superhero (and HOW do they have TWO of those and WHY did he not think about how actually insane that concept actually is sooner?), or maybe he’s just into loud braggy attention-hog assholes who look unbearably good in leather pants and unbearably cute when they blush and can also put away a straight-up inadvisable amount of grilled cheese sandwiches and can’t do an ollie to save his life. 

“It’s fine, Dad, did my homework and everything,” Cissie replies dryly, still eyeing him with a faint note of suspicion in her expression. They’re both sitting at the kitchen table, which in retrospect was definitely the wrong place to do this; obviously she’s going to get suspicious if he not only sits down at the table with her but makes small talk without a plausible-deniability excuse to hand. “How’s your school?” 

“. . . did my homework and everything,” Tim lies, and Cissie snorts.

Bart zips past them in a rush of wind and zips back the way he came a moment later; Cissie just covers the top of her Soder can to make sure nothing he’s kicked up ends up in it. Tim isn’t drinking anything, so just has to worry about not ending up with his cape flipped over his head again. 

He might’ve started wearing weighted capes to the Justice Cave lately. Just because. Definitely not for any reasons related to preserving his image as team leader in order to keep being seen as the thinly-allowed authority figure that said leader needs to be in emergencies and crisis situations or anything like that. 

Look, just because that level of subtle social manipulation of his teammates and sort-of-friends is questionable at best doesn’t mean it’s not occasionally necessary. Especially in relation to preparing for life-or-death situations where those teammates all need to know that they can trust their leader and he needs to know none of them are going to decide to take things into their own hands and run off on their own, which is definitely a concern in a group with this many vigilantes who’ve done more solo work than partnered or teamed-up and just about all have very strong personalities, even if some of them are quieter about it. 

. . . he’s doing his best so far as limiting the “running off on their own” issue, alright? 

The team’s meeting up for the weekend, and they’re all just supposed to be hanging out for it–or at least that’s the plan, anyway. Admittedly something might blow up or a natural disaster might happen or a supervillain might attack Happy Harbor and then “hanging out” will once again turn into “badly-controlled highly-public chaos” he needs to avoid cameras during and they also might have to worry about more nuns or Hugga-Tugga-Thugees or another Nina Dowd incident happening to them, and then have to worry about explaining all those things to Red Tornado later, but Tim’s pretty sure that’s just gonna be team SOP at this point. 

Bart zips by again and leaves a trail of streamers and glitter and mahjong tiles scattered all over the kitchen and down the hall, and somewhere a set of speakers goes off with a burst of loud static and blaring heavy metal music and then immediately cuts out again. Tim decides to just not ask this time. The answer isn’t gonna make any sense to anyone outside of Bart’s head anyway, except maybe Suzie, and that’s frankly being optimistic. 

Definitely the badly-controlled chaos is team SOP though, yeah. Very, very much is it team SOP.

[kelexr]

When they’re in love, but one of them is also a “super” powerful hero and the other is a loser college student

Bonus:

(BUNNY NATION, YOUVE ENTRAPPED ME.)

Anyways I was gonna write a fic about this, but I was too lazy (I’m starting to notice I just draw all the fanfic ideas I have that fall through…). I MIGHT still write a one shot with this premise tho…

Basically—because I know the masses are asking…—Stan and Kyle are college aged, go to the same university, and are also childhood best friends. Stan was bitten by a radioactive drill or something and now has tool-powers, and thinks ‘I can’t put Kyle in danger blah blah blah—I have to keep this a secret!’ He, accidentally, gains unfounded popularity via his superhero escapades, but at least he’s able to be just Stan in his private life.

Unfortunately for him, Marjorine isn’t an idiot, is a supervillain, AND also close friends with both Kyle and Stan. With the help of her boyfriend (who is also her known arch-nemesis), Kenny, she plans to set them up. At first she tried to do this without the help of her secret identity, but once she overhears Kyle calling Toolshed ‘a catch’ she decides this is a case for Professor Chaos to solve.

This takes us to the present day, Kyle has been tied up for the 5th time this week, waiting for Toolshed to swoop in and save him. While an inkling of concern about why the same villain keeps kidnapping him crosses his mind, Kyle is just happy to get to chat with his ‘idol’ for a few minutes afterwards.

TLDR; They’re OBLIVIOUS.

[darling-i-read-it]

Party Outfit

Homelander x supe!fem!reader

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: the reader basically dies, grief, maybe some ooc homelander, canon type violence (death/gore is descriptive), I think that’s it but please let me know if there are more! 

Author’s Note: I gotta admit, I struggled with this one a bit! I wasn’t sure how to start and it isn’t my best work so I may come back to it again later but I didn’t want to make you wait! I hope you enjoy it regardless love! Homelander is such a tricky dude. Love him though. He’s so crazy. I love that in a man. 

Requested by anon: May I request a slow burn homelander x superhero! Reader, who has basically super healing powers like wolverine, so she’s probably the third strongest compared to homelander and Maeve. Homelander and reader are friends, because reader is one of the few people who took the time to care about him enough to look past the mask, and isn’t afraid of him. Something happens in a fight with a new supervillain, who’s power weakens everyone else’s around them. Reader saves homelander from a kill shot, but is killed themselves, and homelander just shatters and breaks down sobbing and clutching their body, after killing the villain. The Seven don’t know what to do to make him let go of the reader’s body, when she suddenly coughs and gasps back to life, shocking everyone and especially herself. It seems reader’s healing ability is stronger than anyone ever thought.                                                        I feel like homelander would be the clingiest person after all of that, lol.

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

“Are you ready?” 

Your voice sounded suddenly very close. Homelander turned around and jumped a bit at the sight of you. You were standing just beside him in your ‘party’ outfit. Vought thought it was better if you had two costumes, one of ads and one for actual fighting. It allowed them to continue the belief that they were all in on feminism while also marketing off your more ‘easy on the eyes’ outfits. Homelander only had one. Sometimes he wanted to have two, just to get some sort of diversity. Plus, you looked oh so nice in your party outfit. 

“Yup!” he exclaimed. You smiled briefly, taking a deep breath. After he and Maeve had broken up in the public, everyone had been hoping the two of you would finally call it and start dating. It would be perfect. The two most powerful supes in The Seven, a sublime situation for marriage and kids. The perfect American dream with the perfect American boy. 

You knew Homelander though. You knew that wasn’t exactly who he was. 

You also knew that he was your friend. 

“Is the President gonna be there?” you questioned, adjusting your corset. You looked at yourself in the mirror of Homelander’s apartment. His practical penthouse had become like a second home to you. You even helped him decorate it with some things he liked. You had to veto the baby bottles on the fire mantle and he agreed, it was in poor taste. 

“Likely,” he admitted. 

“Well then I’ll hide behind you. That okay?” 

“Always.” 

“Did they tell you about that new guy causing a fuss? The guy they sent The Deep after?” He rolled his eyes. 

“I’m sure a lot of killing happened then and no octopuses were assaulted.” You scoffed. “No. What guy?” Usually he tried to stay in the loop but there was a lot going on. A lot being, so many superheroes and not nearly enough Homelander in his opinion. 

“Apparently he can weaken everyone else's power around him,” you observed. You stayed beside him, adjusting his cape. He looked down at it, observing you. 

“Well he hasn’t met me yet.” You hummed, resisting the urge to roll your eyes. You put your hand on his arm. 

“The car will be here soon. Ashley still thinks I’m in my room and if she sees me in here then our engagement is gonna be all over the papers,” you joked. He nodded, taking your hand off his arm and squeezing it. 

“Prepare for the President to ask to see your power.” 

“He can catch it on the news,” you grumbled. “See you downstairs.” He nodded once and let you go. He watched himself in the mirror, allowing himself to think about you a bit longer than your presence required. You knew him more than anyone else in the world. He wondered if it would be so bad to spend the rest of his life with you. He could’ve done it with Maeve, he could have made it look good. But with you, he might be able to be happy. Be himself, whatever that was. 

He turned, adjusting the cape as he walked out the door. He had a banquet to attend. 

-

“It’s better if just you two go. I’d send Maeve but I know you’ll just end up fighting and it’ll be on the news and we can’t handle another goddamn media break!” Ashley was standing in front of you in her office. You had never actually seen her sit down at the desk, she was always so stressed. Homelander stood beside you.

“That was one spat,” you argued. “We’re over it now. I like Maeve.”

“I don’t wanna risk anything,” Ashley said. “After the…incident with The Deep, I expect full obliteration of this guy.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Homelander stepped in. “We’ve got him.” 

You both knew that the best chance of a win was the two of you. You were the strongest of The Seven. Homelander could pack the punch and you could be the shield. You worked together well. 

“Any advice on how to dim his light a little?” you questioned. She shook her head. 

“Didn’t exactly get the best information from the guy who fought him before,” she grumbled. “But it was near water and we all know who lost the fight. Be careful. If either of you die…I mean it would make for a great swing of the media’s likeness of us but I would rather not have to deal with the funeral proceedings.” You rolled your eyes. 

“Thanks Ashley.”

“I’m also sending Noir and Starlight 30 minutes after you land. Just in case.” 

“That’s insulting,” Homelander said. He had his hands folded behind his back, ever the good soldier. “We don’t need them.”

“Then they’ll just be your extraction. Now go.” Neither of you moved. She made a waving gesture with her hands. “Go. Go!” 

-

“I can’t stand the show outfit,” you muttered. You adjusted your neck in your soldier outfit, which wasn’t exactly comfortable either. It was too tight in the wrong places but at least it provided you more protection from oncomers. Homelander was walking in front of you, scanning the area with disinterested eyes. Another job. At least he was with you. 

“It’s easy on the eyes.”

“And this one isn’t?” He shrugged. “I like your outfit. It’s bold. It’s iconic.” He smiled a bit, awkwardly, at the compliment. “I need a cape.”

“It’s a nuisance.” You narrowed your eyes at him. 

“You love that cape.” The cape was his thing though and you knew he didn’t want you to stumble onto his territory. “But I digress. Do you want to get dinner after this?” 

He always had food by himself, on the road, going from one meeting or killing to another. Dinners with you were sacred and special to him. You always asked and you watched a silly movie he pretended to hate and he could tell you about his day and you listened. He couldn’t remember any other person who listened like you. 

“As long as there are no noodles.” He always got them stuck in his throat. It was embarrassing. 

“No noodles. Duly noted. We could always-” Your sentence was cut short by you keeling over. You clutched your stomach. It felt like you were being drained, like all of the sudden you were far more tired than you had been in years. It reminded you of being run ragged, like you had run a marathon you weren’t prepared for. 

“What? What is it?” Homelander grabbed your elbow, holding you up. It was like you hadn’t even seen him, let alone felt him touch you. You stood up straight, giving him a pained look. 

“He’s here.” 

Homelander turned around, searching the warehouse the two of you had entered. It was abandoned by city records and vast. Not many hiding places. Homelander’s eyes turned red with anger and concentration. 

“Come out, come out wherever you are!” He called. He let you go, not being able to focus on your pain. You stood up straight, trying to allow your body to adjust. You tried to keep up with him but he was walking with purpose. You looked around, a blur of pain around your eyes. You had never felt so weak. 

“John,” you murmured. He didn’t turn around. 

“What? Scared?” 

There was a crack behind you. You turned on your heels, watching, waiting. The pain was getting bearable as your body started to adjust to it. Perks of fast feeling. High pain tolerance. 

Homelander shot his lasers at an abandoned car. It exploded into fire. You fought the urge to roll your eyes. 

“I don’t see anything!” he exclaimed. He turned to you. Just as he turned around, you saw someone come from behind the car, a gun in hand. Your eyes went wide. “You see-” 

You shoved him aside, taking the bullet intended for his head. 

It hit yours. 

It was like slow motion. He was stumbling and then you were down, a bullet between your eyes. The blood started to trickle down your forehead as you fell over onto the ground. He watched you fall backwards, eyes open in surprise. There was nothing going on behind them. 

He rushed forward to grab you before you hit the ground. 

On the bottom level of the warehouse, Starlight and Noir walked in. Ashley had sent them in only 10 minutes after the two of you. She was nervous, understandably so. Didn’t want to lose all four of you if you were separated and she knew that sending them afterwards was better for Homelander’s ego. 

“Do you hear that?” Starlight asked. She slowed to a stop as she listened closely. Some kind of whimpering. “It’s above us.” 

Noir looked up. Starlight started forward quickly, being followed by her Noir. 

When they reached the top floor they found a decapitated body at the feet of the stairs. A man with a gun was dead, two red dots between his chest burned through the skin. He still had his spinal cord dangling from his neck, clearly removed with force. 

In the middle of the room Starlight could see Homelander’s cape, sprawled on the ground. She could see your limp legs from behind him. He was shaking.

Annie had never seen him cry before. 

Noir approached before she even thought to. She wanted to call Maeve and ask her to come down in case Homelander decided to lash out but realized there was no time. If he hadn’t taken you somewhere…there was no pulse. 

She shared a glance with Noir. This was unsafe. 

“What happened?” Starlight asked quietly. There were tears streaming down his red cheeks. She wasn’t going to get a coherent answer. “We need to get help,” she said, even though she didn’t mean it. She just needed to say something. 

She had never seen The Homelander so broken. She thought about all the times before she saw him on the TV screen when she was growing up. Even now that she knew what he was, she held onto that shred of hope that he was like he had been on TV. She had never seen that in person, genuinely, until that very moment. When his shoulders shook and he was holding his only friend in his arms, wondering if she was really gone, if she was going to leave him alone. 

Annie never felt for Homelander until then. 

She shared a glance with Noir. He gave her nothing, he never did. 

“It should’ve been me,” he whispered. As Annie slowly approached she saw the bullet between your eyes. Your expressionless face was haunting. Annie saw dead people but she never saw those she cared about. She was reminded of Hughie. Homelander was holding his Hughie. “It was meant to be me.” 

Annie could give him no solace. She worried he would level the city for you. Maeve would try to remove him completely but she wasn’t strong enough for that. She would just have to let him stand there until your body got cold or he came to his senses that you weren’t going to wake up. 

Then you woke up. 

It was subtle, a slight breath. He hardly noticed it over his own drama but Starlight saw it. Her eyes went wide. Then you coughed, the bullet falling onto the other side of your head. Your head had healed itself, just like that. You squinted up at Homelander, unable to remember what had happened and why he was holding you. 

Your movement startled him. He tried to find a clear vision in his eyeline, something to blur away the tears. You brought your hand up and wiped them away. 

“I’m okay,” you said, voice dry. “I’m alright.” 

“But-but you-” he stumbled. 

“I’m okay.” It hurt, sure. You could feel the remnant of pain in your head, like your nerves hadn’t quite got the memo you were alive. You sat up and he threw his arms around you. The superstrength almost suffocated you but you were content with putting your arms around him too. 

You saw the big bad dead on the  other side of the room, between Annie and Noir. You shared a look with them. Annie was wiping tears from her eyes. You must have been dead for longer than you thought. 

“I’m okay,” you said again, this time for the two of them. Annie nodded. Homelander needed a moment. She gestured for Noir to follow her out. They collected the remaining body parts of the villain and left. 

Homelander let you go just enough to see your face. 

“I thought you were dead.” 

He cleared his throat, attempting to regain his composure. 

“Can’t get rid of me that easily big guy,” you whispered. He wanted to cry some more, now that the floodgates were open. But he took a deep breath, allowing himself to even. You were still in his arms and that’s where you wanted to remain for the moment. It was safe here. “Are you okay?” 

“Fine,” he promised. He stood up, much to your dismay. He helped you stand, which took some wobbling. It was like you had just been born again. 

“Can you fly us out of here? I don’t know if I can walk,” you admitted. He nodded, quickly. 

“Of course. Hop on.” You made a sly smile and he rolled his eyes. You let him pick you up and carry you away, through the sunlit sky. 

-

Vought confirmed that you were okay. They triple checked your vitals but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. You had sacrificed yourself for Homelander and you had lived. It was a curious thought, one not many people understood. They wanted to test your limits further but you vetoed it for the moment. You would rather not die over and over for the sake of science. 

Homelander decided he wanted to be on every mission you were on here on out. He would make up for that mistake time and time again. 

Sitting in his apartment, a place you were used to and practically lived in, was homey. Your ‘recovery’ was spent here. He had brought you some blankets from your room. The kindness from him was uncharacteristic but welcomed. 

He vowed if he couldn’t protect himself from Vought he would protect you. 

He would protect you and your silly movie nights and matching banquet outfits. 

He would have his life with you, Vought or not.

[raineandsky]

The Villain's Housekeeper

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6) (part 7) (part 8) (part 9) (part 10) (part 11)

tw: implied torture

“[Hero], I– I’m so sorry…”

The hero doesn’t even look at the villain. Their head is bent, staring distantly at a crack in the concrete floor. “It’s okay.”

The villain had called the superhero’s bluff. Tried to, at least. They never thought a superhero could be so cruel to one of their own. But the superhero had been more than happy to prove them wrong, to make the villain watch him inflict nothing but agony on the hero until they’d finally spat out exactly what the superhero wanted.

The supervillain probably doesn't stand a chance now. They don’t care.

Even from their own dingy cell the villain can see the blood seeping mockingly through the hero’s shirt. Their palms rub together mindlessly like that’ll erase the crimson nightmare from their hands. They seem like they’re barely conscious, blankly honed into the tiny blemish on the floor like it’s a portal they’re waiting to open.

None of this is okay. The hero’s just saying that. The villain kind of wishes they’d just gone and died in the street like the supervillain had intended. At least that would’ve saved them both from this.

The hero is sitting on the floor, not moving except to scrub at their hands, but the villain is restlessly pacing back and forth. They have so much pent up energy from the last hour—it has to go somewhere.

“We’re gonna get out,” they say into the silence.

“We’re not.”

The villain turns to the hero a little harsher than they meant to. The hero flinches even from several metres away, and the villain’s heart crushes just that little bit more. “We are, [Hero]. We’re gonna get out and [Superhero] is never gonna touch you again.”

The hero makes some noise that is clearly meant to be a scoff but comes out as more of a broken sob. “Big dreams.”

The villain doesn’t bother commenting on that. “No window, no lockpicking.” They glance around for ideas. “No bribery, I’d assume. No help.”

“How long were you here before… we spoke?”

The villain pauses. “In prison? I don’t know, a few days.”

The hero frowns. The villain doesn’t like it. “Have you not tried breaking out before?”

“I didn’t think I had anything to live for before.” The villain carries on glancing around to avoid looking at the way the hero’s face twists like they don’t believe them.

-

“There you are, you little shit,” is the greeting the superhero gives the villain. “Your codes were bullshit, weren’t they?”

He glares at them expectantly. There’s a lump in the villain’s throat that words seem to be stuck behind. “I– I gave you what you wanted.”

“Like hell you did.” The superhero throws an aimless hand over his desk. The villain’s papers are all over the place, various scrawls across their pages in a clear attempt to figure them out. “Your so-called codes didn’t work.”

The villain’s mind is blank. That can’t be right. They gave him the fucking codes. He should be descending on the supervillain this very moment, but instead he’s here, claiming they don’t work—

“Wouldn’t want your special sweetheart to feel the consequences of this, would we?”

The villain’s gaze snaps back to where the superhero’s smirking at them knowingly. They want to smack that look clean off his face. He knows too much, and now he’s using it all against them. The hero is back here, suffering the fate they fell into the villain’s grasp trying to escape, and they’re back here because of them. The villain feels sick at the thought.

“I gave you the fucking codes,” the villain spits. “It’s not my fault if you’re too thick to use them.”

The superhero’s face momentarily twitches in hatred, but it doesn’t last long. “Not to worry,” he says smoothly. He waves a hand for the security guard at the door to step forward. “I’m sure I can get an answer out of you pretty easily, hm?”

For a moment the villain can feel the burn of rope on their wrists, their throat sore, their eyes hot with tears of sickness and horror and guilt.

The security guard touches a hand to their arm, and before they can think about what they’re doing they turn around and punch him in the face.

The superhero’s on his feet immediately but the villain’s already moving. A quick boot to the middle keeps the security guard on the floor, and they meet the superhero at the desk without a thought. He tries to point a pistol at them but they butt it out of his hand, kicking it across the floor for good measure.

The superhero throws a fist at them and connects with their shoulder with the fury of the sun. The villain stumbles and the superhero’s confidence throws him in for a second blow. They dodge back, just, jabbing an elbow into the side of his face. The superhero staggers with an enraged cry and the villain leaps the desk to make for the gun.

It’s in their hand before either of the two can realise what’s happened. “Okay,” the villain says slowly. Their shoulder is throbbing but they have no time to think about it right now. “I’m gonna leave, and you’re not gonna say jackshit when I do.”

The superhero laughs, the sound wet with blood. “You won’t get far without death following you.”

“My paperwork’s still encoded. I’m not too worried.”

And with that they’re out into the corridor, more than happy to spend the superhero’s bullets on anyone stupid enough to come near them.

An alarm whirrs, drooping the halls in flashing red light. They’re lost, unaccustomed to wandering the corridors alone, but it doesn’t matter. They’ll get to where they need to be. They just have to survive first.

“Don’t worry, [Hero],” the villain whispers, like saying it outloud is a promise. “I’m coming.”

(next part)

Taglist:

@runarelle @thiefofthecrowns @morning-star-whump @epiclamer

[crepes-suzette-373]

【Dengeki Blue Game Stream】Battle Fruits Nine w/ Stealth Black - Dengeki Blue carries the level while Stealth Black is Useless as always [off-camera view]

A kind of fanfic version of that one drawing I made of Niji and Sanji being Vtubers. There's no real plot. Just modern AU chaos and rambling and general silliness. Everyone's normal/happy, the Vinsmokes are a good family, no sad, no angst, no painful drama.

This all basically just a big joke because "Nijisanji" is a Vtuber company name.

[AO3 Link]

----

He’d brought this upon himself, Sanji had to admit. The last time Niji nagged him to “guest” in his livestream, Sanji said he’d do it if Niji got him Vegapunk’s new mini combi oven, just to get Niji off his back. All Vegapunk appliances are expensive, and even if their family was well-off he figured it’s still high enough up there in price to make Niji leave him alone for a while.

The oven showed up in the brothers’ shared apartment within 2 days.

Sanji wasn’t sure if he was more baffled about Niji having that much money to spare, or that Niji wanted him on the stream that badly. He still felt guilty about it, though, so he’d told Niji he promised to agree to be a guest without protest 10 times, as long as he’s not tied up with more important things to do.

Naturally, he got ambushed the very next day.

That was how Sanji found himself sitting and waiting for Niji to set up whatever it is that was required to have a second person on his livestream, and hoped that it wouldn’t be a “talk stream” session that day. Chattering idly with anyone for an extended amount of time without there being some other activity involved, like eating or watching TV or him cooking, always made him feel awkward. With a gameplay stream, at least there was the game they’d be playing.

Not to mention, “his” virtual character apparently had a specific backstory associated with it, and being on a talk stream tended to involve having to adlib some kind of fictional story on the fly. Fortunately, he wasn’t required to keep up play-acting the character the whole time, no, and he left most of the wild details to Niji. He still had to include the fictive anecdotes, though, because of… some reason he much preferred to not know.

It was very confusing the first time he got dragged into this. Niji sat him down and explained in great detail about the backstory of his virtual persona, and Sanji still had no idea why he didn’t immediately run away then. It was a complicated setting with superheroes (or was it supervillains?) called Germa 66, mad scientists, clones, and quite honestly he wasn’t sure he remembered all of it.

Niji did set up their characters to have mundane daily lives, like all good classic superheroes do. That way they can also mention some things about things they did in reality and pretend that was part of the mandatory “lore”-talk, and not have to constantly make up random stories about aliens and robots.

They still had to be careful not to reveal things that are too personal or private, though. Sanji almost called Niji by his real name instead of Dengeki Blue a couple of times at first, and Niji kicked him in the shins every time that happened. As thankful for the save as he did, he still always kicked back.

“Aaalright, and here ya go.” Niji finally finished fiddling around the computers and handed Sanji a controller and headphones.

“What’s the game gonna be?”

“We’re continuing Battle Fruits. Still remember how to play that?”

“Of course I do, damn you, I’m not a techno-peasant!”

Niji cackled. “If ya say so,” he said with an oh-so-smug voice, putting on his anti-glare goggles and rolled his chair to face the screens.

Sanji doesn’t reply. Yes, he played by random button mashing and can’t remember any skill combos. Yes, Niji usually does most of the work in clearing the missions. He still knew what button does what, though, so that still counts as knowing how to play. 

“Starting in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… And—Loyal Germa fans rejoice, Dengeki Blue is back with everyone’s favourite guest: Stealth Black!”

There’s a reason why Sanji was very glad his character was just a static image, and not a moving model like Niji’s, because he doesn’t have to worry about his movements making the model behave weirdly. Niji’s opening babble were always ridiculous, and he could never not have the urge to cover his face and groan.

The character image was not actually him, but some of his friends were regular viewers of this stream, and they will make fun of him for any character hiccups. There was that one time the image was for some reason displaying upside down, from the top of the screen, and Usopp then called him “ninja” for days upon days after.

“Black, say hi to yer fans.”

Sanji removed his hands from his face, and saw that it was not the game screen that was on, but the setup normally used for the talk stream. Immediately suspicious, he asked, “Aren’t we playing Battle Fruits?”

“It’s just a little chat. I’ll open the game in a sec. Just say hi for a bit.”

“Do I have to?”

“They already heard ya talking, so ya might as well. Come on, say something nice, or yer fans will cry.”

It was an annoying testament that he had been here for too many times when he looked at the chat box and actually remembered and recognized a lot of the names among the flurry of comments. Still, he wouldn’t deny it was flattering to see the excited welcoming remarks.

Oh, there’s Usopp. The name “GodSogeKing” flew by, and he said, “Hello SogeKing” instinctively.

“Oooh, ya said someone’s name!” Niji crowed, “Ya done did it now.”

“What? Why?”

“Yer not playing fair. The others are really mad jealous now~”

“How is that any different from saying ‘Hello everyone in the chat’?” Sanji protested.

Niji shrugged, grinning. “I don’t make the rules.”

The chat was, indeed, now peppered with new comments saying the varying forms of “Stealth Black say my name too”. Once again, it was somewhat flattering (if a bit weird), but he would never loudly admit that.

“Say, what if we make that a chat donations thing? Nothing special, ya can just say ‘thank you whoever’.”

“Are you trying to use me for cash bait? No!”

“Fine, fine, but speaking of yer fans though, ya ok with having merch of ya, at least? One Dr.Death has been a pest about Stealth Black merch forever.”

Sanji huffed a laugh. “Dr.Death? What kind of edgy junior high online username is that?”

He immediately realised his mistake, but it was too late. Niji was already hysterical beside him.

“Ya heard that Dr.Death? He said your name! I know yer there. Bet yer drowning in happy tears, aren’t ya?”

“What the hell? Did you just trick me to say that? What merch are you even on about?”

Niji shook his head, still howling with laughter. “No, really, that right there is your biggest fan. Back me up chat, tell Black what Dr.Death said. And here’s merch.” He then pulled out his phone and showed a picture of a little Dengeki Blue keychain.

Well, if it was just the illustrated character and not him having to dress up, then it’s no issue. “Okay by me, about the merch, but...”

“Yes!”

Niji proceeded to go on about the logistics of the merch, so Sanji looked at the chat box again. Lo and behold, there actually was a Dr.Death in there. The aforementioned user was vehemently denying the barrages of comments providing so-called proof that Niji was right and other teasing remarks.

Dr.Death: Hey, Black, if you’re seeing this, I was NOT like that!

It was immediately followed by a ton of more comments, all saying “lies lies”.

SuperFrankyR0b0: Bro, the previous stream chats are all still there. Everyone can see it.

Damn. With even Franky saying that it was true, Sanji decided it was definitely too weird and ignored the chat until Niji finally started the game.

Despite even the game’s tutorial recommending using different Fruit Battlers for each stage, Sanji always picked the Orange Battler. She was his favourite and no amount of whingeing from Niji or the viewers about her being useless in certain levels could change that. Niji selected the Banana one this time, probably because that’s the actual best character for the level.

“The banana matches your hair,” Sanji said.

“Shut up!”

That was true of both Niji and Dengeki Blue, so Niji couldn’t kick him. Rather, he shouldn’t have a reason to, but still tried to kick anyway. Sanji dodged it.

Many minutes into the game later, the conversation topic had turned to future streaming plans, which was mostly answered by Niji.

Someone suggested another cooking talk stream, and this was the only kind of talk stream Sanji had no problems with. One stream session long ago, he’d been dragged onto a talk stream that he’d tried to leave multiple times, until somehow the viewers and Niji conspired to finesse him into talking about cooking. He ended up staying for 3 hours. Aside from the chat being flooded by people whingeing about getting hungry, it otherwise went pretty well.

(The viewers in that session, of all people, happened to include Luffy and Ace, who both came to him demanding to be compensated with real food the first chance they got.)

Another suggested a live cooking stream. That would be a no; not unless there’s some empty kitchen they could borrow or rent. Everyone in the apartment agreed that the livestreams should never show their building. Not even inside Niji’s room.

“Winch Green? Eeh, probably doable soon. No promises on Pink.”

Then the topic turned to guests. There were frequently requests for the other “Germa 66” members to show up. Niji had set up Dengeki Blue as a part of a team to make it easier to cover up slip ups when he accidentally mentioned overly-revealing real life things in his early streaming days. The 4 of them brothers share an apartment, besides. The backstory served as a handy excuse in case of noises of people walking around or talking can be heard through without breaking character. Yonji, especially, can be rather loud.

Getting Reiju to come on the stream was naturally difficult, since she lived with their parents and had full time work, but she was otherwise very agreeable. With Yonji, it’s only a matter of catching him between homework and classes and bribing him with a ton of food.

Ichiji, well…

It was just then that Sanji looked at the chat that he had been ignoring, and noticed that there was a wall of comments about “Sparking Red”, a.k.a Ichiji.

“Why are these people so obsessed with Red anyway?” he asked, “Is it because he’s the only one who’s never been on stream?”

“Oh that…” Niji said distractedly, his fingers hitting keys furiously to execute a combo attack, “I never told ya, huh? Hold on.” He didn’t speak again until after the Banana Battler on the screen mowed down a field of enemies, and “Objective Cleared” flashed on the screen. “Red came in yelling at me once, and everyone heard him. Chat’s gone insane ever since. It’s like those crazes over trying to catch a phantom beast or something.”

That was news. It was one thing to just hear about a character through the lore talks, but Ichiji has actually been heard clearly and not just vague noises through the door.

“How long ago was this?”

“Maybe almost two years ago? Around… around after that time ya crazy weirdos kept saying I was a zombie.”

Ah yes, the Zombie Niji incident—wait a second. Sanji straightened up. Wasn’t that also around the time when…

“Red’ll murder me if I ask him to come on, but eh, figured there’s still ya guys,” Niji babbled on. “The chat love it.”

That was about the time when Niji started pestering him and Yonji to come on the streams. To think that the entire reason for it was Ichiji—Ichiji!!

Sanji fumed. He decided it would be his mission to somehow, by hook or by crook, drag Ichiji on to the stream as well. Damn it all, even if it actually would make Niji and his weird chat group happy, he would still get it done. Ichiji caused it, so he should get to experience it too.

Maybe he’ll get Yonji and Reiju to team up for this mission later.

----

The quadruplets are still in uni/college, and they live in this apartment away from home. Ichiji working at the family company, whatever it is, part time. Reiju already working there full time. Niji is a Vtuber on the side when not in school. Sanji works at Baratie part time. Yonji is just a student full time. Sora still alive. Not sure how Judge would be like TBH, maybe just a normal standoffish dad, but otherwise okay.

I'm so sorry Law, but the meme of him being a Germa nerd is too funny.

[flightfoot]

Can you rec fics in which Gabriel isn't the main antagonist?

I mean there are plenty of fics where he isn't the main antagonist, where there's no antagonist at all (ML has a lot of fluff), but I'm assuming you mean fics where there IS a main antagonist but that antagonist isn't him, and probably a more epic sort of story with an antagonist on Gabriel's scale and not like, a high school bully kind of thing (not that there's a lot of those I'd rec anyway).

---

Stitched Together by @nedjsmlfavs

Stitch Witch Marinette was just supposed to be having a nice, terrifying outing with her best friends. She never expected to find a magically trapped kitten, but here we are! Whatever happened to this poor little guy?

Poor Adrien, being transformed and chained up for ages, having no idea that he was gonna be rescued. But at least he got to have fun at Marinette’s place as a cat! 

Most of this fic is adorable, though with some dark undertones lying in wait. After all, SOMEONE chained up that poor little kitty…

---

In Direct Opposition by @generalluxun

Alya Cesaire is a brand new student to Francis Dupont, to Paris even. The first student she meets is one Chloé Bourgeois, and Alya is determined to make a friend. Things advance Chaotically. Her new 'friend' is definitely a handful, and suddenly Paris has a supervillain and two brand new superheroes! Alya finds herself balancing a lot of things, trying to live up to her ideals and those of her icons.

And then reality seems to contradict itself.

As time progresses it seems to happen more often. Becoming a hero, battling villains, staying alive, working through friendships. Something is lurking, tweaking events at times, changing them, and no one seems aware. Alya will need all her wits to get to the bottom of this. Her investigative mind can only get her so far though, and then she needs to rely on her friends. This is not a foe you can beat head on.

I betaed this entire fic, it’s really good! I adore the focus on Alya’s philosophy here, her determination to be a hero, to help people and defeat evil - and that defeating evil means trying to reform the people doing bad things when possible, to try to save EVERYONE, even the “villain”. I thought it was really clever the ways Alya would redirect Chloe and subtly encourage her to be a better person, while also trying to get the people around her to give her a second chance and keep an open mind. 

Also Alya and Chloe are an adorable sapphic couple XD.

---

The Rules of Engagement by @overworkedunderwhelmed

When tragedy sends Adrien Agreste racing back to Paris to run his father’s fashion house, Marinette doesn’t expect much from her very new, very rich boss. At least not until she is set up on a blind date with a very familiar face.

Much to her surprise, Adrien Agreste was hiding far more secrets behind his stoic business-like mask of temporary CEO. Maybe as many secrets as she had been trying to hide for years.

As they grow closer, Marinette fears her mask isn’t nearly as foolproof. Day after day, it gets harder for her to keep all her secrets well hidden from the surprisingly sweet man who insisted on staying by her side as often as possible.

Only she couldn’t afford to fail. Not when her biggest secret could spell the end of the job she’d dreamed about for years.

They might not be superheroes in this universe, but secret identities are still active here. Both Marinette and Adrien used to be involved with the Ladybug and Chat Noir movies, and both kept that a secret - Adrien especially, since if his father found out about it, there could be some bad repercussions, as he voiced Chat Noir without Gabriel’s permission. Marinette, meanwhile, is well known for making cosplay (calling herself “Ladybug” after the movie), and has been in contact with “Chat Noir” for quite some time before the story starts - not that she knows he’s the actual VA.

It’s mostly an Adrienette fic with the two of them getting to know each other after their unusual “first” meeting, where Marinette pretended to be Kagami in order to scupper the date with Adrien and get Tomoe off her back, with some intrigue and drama thrown in. Lila’s skulking around causing problems for the people around her, but she’s honestly not the main focus here. 

---

Kwami Magi Homura Magica by Crossoverpairinglover

After eighty-four loops in time, Homura Akemi takes a new path to Paris to save her friends.

The sixty-third loop after that, Homura arrived at the Agreste Mansion.

After clash after clash with the heroes of Paris and its greatest menace, events have reached a tipping point.

Ladybug faces someone verging on a second wish, a wish that endangers space and time to save a friend.

This was an absolutely AMAZING story that crossoverpairinglover dropped out of NOWHERE. Seriously, if you like Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Miraculous Ladybug, this is a real treat - but be prepared to sit down and binge, because it’s over 100,000 words and only has three chapters. 

Anyway, I adore the care that’s taken with going through Homura’s mindset here, she gets a lot of character focus. And the lore! There’s some good explanations here for the history behind kwamis and Incubators’ interactions, and the Order of the Guardians normally treats Magical Girls, and why the Incubators are wrong in their assessment of the universe needing more energy to stave off entropy (hint: it involves Plagg), and just... there was a lot of love put into this.

And the action! Most Miraculous fics don’t have much in the way of fight scenes, and what they do have is mostly just functional. This is one of the rare exceptions. There’s some really long, detailed fight scenes in this (roughly the entire second half of the second chapter has one between Ladybug and Homura), which are a treat to read! 

We also get some glimpses into a variety of other universes here, other timelines, alternate ways things could have gone down - I’m especially partial to the rather detailed view we get of one where Homura sent a message asking for help to the Ladyblog on her third time loop, and how things progressed from there. 

The ending I also thought was really good, a happy ending that generally made sense and dealt with the issue of the Incubators. 

If you can’t tell I’m really happy with this fic, it was incredible and unexpected. The length of the individual chapters can be daunting, but if you’re up for the task, I highly recommend giving it a shot!

---

Dreams of You by @chocoluckchipz

Dreams had long been his only escape. Dreams of Ladybug, the girl who had always been there for him.

If only in his dreams. And only while she was also sleeping.

Because with the first rays of sunshine gliding over her skin, with the first fluttering of her eyelashes, from the moment she opened her eyes in the morning, memories of Adrien would vanish from her mind.

She would go on living her life.

He would always be the only one who remembered.

At least until they meet in the real world and fall in love all over again, something that would’ve been easier to do if Adrien wasn't a prisoner in his own home.

Chocoluckchipz has some of the most beautifully executed lovesquare fics I’ve read, and this is no exception. Most of the fic is dedicated to Adrien wooing Marinette, spending time with her, with her own dream self acting as his wingman, giving her tips on how to get her to fall for him, all the while frustrated that she can’t share memories with her waking self, and that she and Adrien can’t share as much information as they’d like while asleep, due to limitations of the “curse” that allows Adrien to share dreams with his soulmate. 

It’s not all cute Adrienette fluff though. There’s a threat in the background waiting to erupt, as the weirdness of Gabriel’s ultimatum to Adrien about finding Ladybug or else being forced to marry Lila keeps on gnawing at him - and with good reason. This is a world with magic and kwamis still, and that fact makes itself very relevant in the last third of the story. 

It’s a well-written tale and very much worth a read!

---

[thinkingaboutbetterdays]

fantasy football. ( tecton x reader )

gif belongs to me

It was Kaz's idea to place bets on which superhero could perform the most rescues. You knew firsthand how competitive Tecton was, and when you were placed on different teams, you knew the teenager's betting would turn ugly. Soon, hero turned on hero, and you refused to be a part of the mayhem unfolding. After failing to try and stop Tecton from focusing on placing the bets against the importance of saving Normos, you grew frustrated with your husband's competitive streak that was clouding his judgment.

After failing to reach his reasonable side, you decided to fight fire with fire and stole every rescue you could, raising the stakes. It made you smirk when you saw how frustrated he was becoming when you used your telekinetic powers to toss him aside, to steal his rescues.

You were in Mighty Med when you saw the news coverage of the bridge, setting down the weights when you saw Kaz and Skylar tied to the bridge. You took in as much detail as you could, recognizing the Franklin Bridge before making a swift exit from the hospital.

Using your powers, you exited the portal you created and rested your hands on your hips as it closed behind you. "You both okay?"

"Yeah," Skylar replied.

"Define okay," Kaz responded.

You looked at Sonic Shriek, "We can end this peacefully."

"I have a better idea." He blasted you with his powers and you covered your ears, groaning due to the ringing in your ears. You tried to blast him backward but felt yourself getting weaker and crumbled to the ground.

"What is happening?"

"Her powers stem from her mind. He's blocking them with the pressure!" Kaz explained. "She can't fight back!"

You turned onto your stomach when Sonic Shriek walked toward you, relieved he had ended your torment, feeling as if your head was going to explode. Kaz looked at you worriedly when you were tied up beside them, your movements sluggish, and he looked at Skylar when she began to yell about Tecton, knowing how protective your husband was of you, Kaz joined in.

"Oh, you are so gonna pay, pal!"

You looked at the two teenagers, "While I do appreciate your admiration for my husband, can you turn it down a notch? My head is killing me."

You closed your eyes tightly before looking at the supervillain, "What are your plans? To destroy a bridge, for what purpose?"

"My own amusement and relief knowing there is one less bridge out there."

"He really hates inventors," Kaz told you.

You expected the two had endured the full monologue of his evil plans and decided once was enough. "You won't get away with this. If you destroy the bridge, you will take us with it, and you will never know peace again. You will be chased relentlessly."

"By who? Tecton." He laughed, "Oooh, I am so frightened of that towering blond -"

Tecton landed in a crouched position, his fist on the ground. He rose to his full height as he narrowed his eyes at Sonic Shriek.

"Tecton!" Kaz grinned with relief.

Tecton stepped forward, stomping, shaking the ground, and causing your capture to be blown back a few feet. He looked at you with a question in his eyes.

"He blocked my powers." You explained.

Tecton frowned deeply before turning to Sonic Shriek.

"When I heard you three were in danger, I came as soon as I could."

"Finally! A hero who is not obsessed with stats or rankings." Skylar exclaimed.

"Actually, I need the Normo rescue because that stupid runaway Ferris wheel was empty." Your husband of two years complained. When you raised an eyebrow at his answer, he quickly added, "And to save you, of course."

"You poor baby!" You replied sarcastically. "Now that you're all cried out, do you think you can get us out of here?"

Tecton sent you a look, his lips pursed to hide his amusement. "You are so adorable when you're annoyed."

After knocking the supervillain unconscious, Tecton came to your side, untying you, and then helped Kaz. You swayed on your feet when you stood up and Tecton caught you before you stumbled. Kaz freed Skylar while the blond superhero fretted over you.

"My head is killing me." You whispered, placing your hands on his chest.

Tecton swept you into his arms and looked at you worriedly when you rested your head against his chest.

Tecton looked over his shoulder at Sonic Shriek before looking at you, "Come on," He handed Kaz his cell phone and told him who to call as he tied Sonic Shriek to the bridge, trapped with bent iron bars until backup arrived.

"I'll stay here," Skylar assured him.

"Yeah, me too." Kaz nodded.

Tecton sent the two a nod before crouching slightly, the ground shaking as he shot into the sky.

When you opened your eyes a short while later, Tecton was sitting next to you reading a newspaper that was tossed aside when he noticed you were awake.

"Hi," You smiled softly.

Tecton took your hand, flashing you a smile before kissing your forehead, lingering for a moment. "How are you feeling?"

"A little tired. But the pain's gone. Sonic Shriek?"

"Enjoying his cell downstairs."

"Who won?" You asked.

Tecton grinned, "Sorry,"

You rolled your eyes, "No you're not."

"Maybe a little." He placed a hand on your cheek, "I'll find Horace."

You watched him walk away and smiled fondly. You knew how you would react if your husband was weakened considerably, losing consciousness, and understood how he was feeling.

Passing the minutes, you sat up in the bed as you read the newspaper which detailed the imprisonment of Sonic Shriek, as you waited for Tecton to return. You noticed Kaz and Oliver following Horace and Tecton and sent the two Normos a smile.

"Hey, you're awake!" Kaz grinned.

"Am I right in assuming, I have you to thank for that?" You looked at Oliver who nodded, explaining how they were able to relieve the pressure in your brain with Absolute Zero's help.

Tecton grabbed Kaz by his shirt, throwing him aside and you reacted quickly, raising your hands, stopping the teen from colliding with the wall. You sent your smiling husband a stern glance as you lowered Kaz to the ground.

"That was awesome!"

You shook your head at his excitement, looking at Horace when he explained you could go home, his only recommendation being to rest for a few days.

"Don't worry -" Tecton interrupted before you could argue about how much rest you required, "She will."

You playfully rolled your eyes and sent him flying in the air with a wave of your hand. Tecton raised an eyebrow as he landed gracefully.

"Cute."

[co-mixed]

Mark Waid’s Fantastic Four

It’s rare that a writer perfectly fits the character but when it’s Mark Waid and Fantastic Four, this is exactly the case. This was the first time when I was genuinely excited to read every new issue, and this is the book that’s finally made me like the characters. Well, not too much because Reed is still there (ugh). But you know what I mean. 

Anyway, if you haven’t read it, I very much recommend that, and if you have and want to relive it, go ahead and read the rest! 

The new look

Waid’s run starts with a meta-story that quickly points out what we’d been getting wrong all these years about the Fantastic Four. They were never superheroes, they were adventurers. And suddenly, right there everything falls into place. ‘A group of adventurers’ becomes the leitmotif of the whole run. In a way, this definition is a culmination of everything that came before – journeys through space, time, and the Negative zone, occasionally interspersed with supervillain encounters. But this is also a way to refresh the book by letting us view it in a slightly altered manner. I’d say that’s something the book needed desperately. 

It’s also immediately obvious how the book mixes the classic lighthearted tone with a more mature one. It’s ready to explore serious issues, which isn’t new for the FF, but it wants to keep things bright and colorful. That’s where Wieringo’s art works perfectly in unison with Waid’s stories. And such stories we get! 

FF is for family 

During Claremont’s run, I said that FF started to feel like a family. But everything before still had them as Reed, Ben, and two supporting characters. Even when each of them faced their own stories, and they confronted them together, they never felt like people who had known each other their whole lives. Waid gives them small interactions that remind you how close they all truly are. And it’s not just banter between Johnny and Ben, it’s the way Sue interacts with Reed, admiring his genius and mocking his poor social skills and the way they both interact with their children. The children, by the way, they play a role too. They are very delicately written into the stories, even becoming their center, but never serving as a plot device. I’m gonna go back and talk a little more about Franklin later. 

Waid allows the characters to interact effortlessly, and naturally, so they don’t feel like strangers. 

Call for four

The main four people in this graphic play are of course Sue, Reed, Ben, and Johnny. Here, for the first time ever I can say that I got to know them all. It’s both ironic and sad that it took 41 years for them to finally be portrayed as people, who you kinda want to hang out with (even though you’ll always be an outsider because ‘family’) 

I very much liked Susan here. She is shown as a genuinely happy woman, a strong hero, a great adventurer, a caring mother, and a wife. I’m not saying “good wife” because her not having left Reed years ago makes her either a legend or someone who needs serious saving. A legend if we go off this run. She still gets her jealousy moments that are not entirely justified. Sue gets jealous of Alyssa, obviously because Reed neglected to disclose the nature of their past relationship to Sue. But similarly, she goes as far as purchasing a statue of Namor to make Reed jealous. This isn’t how a healthy marriage works, Susan. And it makes me feel bad for Namor. His arrogant ass doesn’t deserve this. 

But it’s great to see her happy and joking, and spending time with her family while still trying to raise her good-for-nothing brother. 

Speaking of Johnny, Waid probably felt just like we all did - Johnny hadn’t gone through much growth before that. Yes he’d been married, and he’d saved the world, but when it came to living in it, he wasn’t very well-adjusted. Waid changed that by putting him in charge of the FF company (say it with me: nepotism!). Not just that, but we got to see Johnny navigate the business world, and face pretty unfortunate obstacles. I have to say, I felt real bad for him when Sue went off and blamed him for the stolen sample of unstable molecules. But it all worked out in the end. This is how this run started, by reassuring you that the FF has everything under control. 

We’ll get to Reed (ugh!) and everything that went wrong later. 

Back to Johnny though, he has a tough time losing popularity, he even seeks the help of Spidey to learn how to be unpopular with the masses. It leads to a funny arc that honestly, leads me to believe that Johnny’s success with women is just it - his fame as a superhero because he has zero game otherwise. 

Again, not a secret - I never liked the lovable blue-eyed Thing. He’d been quite whiny and manipulative, and from everything I’d seen so far, it was really hard for me to relate to his issues. Waid changes that too, he lets us see why the others like and appreciate Ben, which is not because of him continuously reminding them that he’s lovable, and certainly not for his textbook heroic actions that again, to me often came off as ingenuine. 

He has a sense of humor here, when he bashes good-for-nothing Johnny, his jokes really stick the landing. When he connects to Franklin, he is being 100% transparent and helpful. In fact, I think he’s one of the characters that have the truest understanding of what the kid is going through, and he doesn’t waste a second in telling him that. He is also ready to sacrifice himself and not make it a big theatrical act. And after building up that side of his character, when he dies in Latveria, it… well, it doesn’t stick, this is still comics, but it certainly affects you as much as it does his family. Waid doesn’t let us sit with this emotion but he doesn’t rush through it, showing exactly how deeply it had touched everyone. Especially probably Johnny, who conjured an imaginary version of his friend. And here, Wieringo comes back after a short break and delivers a stunning difference between Johnny’s daydreaming and real life. 

I already mentioned that Franklin stops being a prop and becomes a character. Waid makes him face the good old older child problem - sibling rivalry. When all attention immediately goes to baby Valeria, Franklin misses his quality time with his parents, especially his dad. And that gets you to see him as a little human who is going through his own set of issues. That becomes even more obvious when he is sent to hell by Doom and is traumatized by the event so much, he can’t speak. Waid showed us the toll it took on Franklin’s psyche, and he did it through the adult characters around him, without trying to imagine how it would be, and without making the kid sound wise beyond his years.

Doom politics

I’m gonna get to Reed but first, we need to talk about Doom. Because if I had to pick, I’d say this is where you can truly see the nature and the cause of the Reed-Doom war. First of all, different writers view Doom differently, and while some attempt to justify and redeem him, others go out of their way to remind you how evil he is. Waid is not a Doom apologist. He immediately shows us how ruthless he can be when he kills the real Valeria to gain mystical power and then shows us that the prosperity in Latveria is a smoke screen that’s hiding a small guillotine-equipped human disposal system. So after all the debate, Doom is still a dictator who disappears his critics to silence them and forces people to trade freedom for stability. 

Waid also does to Doom the same thing he does to Lex Luthor in Superman: Birthright. Now they both lose potential friends over a misunderstanding. Only in Doom’s case, he thought Reed had messed with the controls on his machine, which ultimately resulted in him hiding behind a mask. It’s not his arrogance now, but the jealousy he thought Reed felt toward him, that drives Doom. 

This time though, In his evil endeavors, Doom goes further than ever before: he uses baby Valeria to get to the FF, then imprisons Franklin in hell, and tortures the rest of them. He likes Valeria though, that’s kinda sweet. 

Needless to say, when the team finally defeats Doom, and even temporarily sends him to hell (but not before he disfigures Reed’s face). 

Reed (Ugh!)

Here’s the thing, this run didn’t make me like Reed any more than before. Sure, he gets his redeeming qualities, plenty of them in fact, but he keeps messing up big. He even gets mixed up in international politics, which I gotta say was written very well. As soon as Doom disappears, multiple countries (including neighbors like Hungary and Serbia, as well as the US, Russia, and China) are preparing to make a move on Latveria. Meanwhile, in an attempt to deDoomify Latveria, Reed moves his whole family there and takes over the country. That’s a terrible decision on his side, and one that he’s tried to pull off before. My question is, when is Reed Richards going to realize that he’s not a politician or a monarch and stop trying to enforce his vision upon everyone? 

Essentially, there isn’t much difference between what he and Doom are doing. They are both consumed by their own vengeance, and both believe they are making peoples’ lives better out of the goodness of their hearts. Either way, it’s the Latverians who end up suffering. Reed didn’t even make any kind of address to them, before raising his shirt as a flag above Castle Doom and pretending everyone was now free. He needlessly endangered them to prove the FF wasn’t there to hurt them and then invited everyone to loot the castle. Happy 1917, I suppose? 

The visuals in this arc are a little darker. I don’t know the process behind the decision, but this is where we temporarily say goodbye to the larger-than-life bright art of Wieringo and say hello to Howard Porter’s more realistic approach. He especially focuses on Reed’s Two-Face appearance, highlighting the more fitting side for each one of his statements.

Just like the first time around, Reed can’t seem to take over Latveria without a shadow of Doom looming over him. The first time, he was possessed by the armor, the second, however, it was all Reed, only with a physical scar left by Doom. Everyone else (except for Franklin who was in hell, after all) shook it off. But Reed didn’t. He was hell-bent on destroying everything Doom had and built just to make sure he would never return. Ultimately, it led to him imprisoning Doom (and causing his escape because when does it ever work out?)

He also shoots (and kills) Doom-possessed Ben to save Johnny.

Yeah if anyone was hoping this run would make me like Reed, they were wrong. 

Reed reminds me of Buffy. Everything does but hear me out: as the leader of the FF he drags them into wild adventures and some of them inevitably end in disaster. Then it takes writer magic to make everything work out and pretend that all the issues and idiosyncrasies don’t really matter. But they do, everything he’d done up to the end, everything he said be it in service of a bigger goal or not, still matters. He keeps making mistakes that go unnoticed when he comes out on top. 

As a reader, you can like the team and hate the person. And this run has absolutely made me like the team.

Bag of tricks

Waid utilizes so many narrative tricks like the team meeting the Kirby-god to restore the status quo. Once again, ironic meta-stories allow to push the story forward. 

Another trick was kicking the FF out of their comfort zone of being rich and popular. And that is a great callback to the first issue, in which Reed confesses to Valeria that he worked relentlessly to make sure the FF is popular and beloved to compensate for the cosmic rays incident. Because… imagine them having to live like mutants (and blame Reed for that).

Waid forces Reed to come face to face with the one thing he can’t understand - magic.

The dysfunctional Frightful Four’s family dynamics are juxtaposed with those of the original FF, and we see why one works while another keeps failing.

As the herald of Galactus, Johnny encounters a world of sentient ants, making us look back at the first FF-Galactus encounter.

Then the team meets the person behind Galactus, someone who in all honesty, is nothing more than an unimpressed hater. So… nothing shocking about him going around eating worlds after all.

And there is a moment when the team loses powers only to get them back because they can’t imagine being without them now.

All that draws these characters, lets you see them for who they are, good and bad, and leaves you wanting more. 

Final thoughts

Waid’s run is enjoyable in every possible way. It’s very 00s in terms of visuals - cartoonish and bright, with just the right amount of nostalgia especially if that’s your introduction to the comics era. Narratively, it turned out to be deeper than I expected, all the while maintaining that connection to the original Lee/Kirby era. I’ve noticed that this is a trend with Waid’s books, he tries to at least partially return the characters to their starting point, make them recognizable, and rediscover their roots. For the Fantastic Four, it works incredibly well.

If we ever get a Disney Fantastic Four cartoon, I would like it to be based on this run since it’s done a marvelous job of flashing out each person behind the uniform. 

[bookfangeek]

Could you please provide a list of each one of the power pills friends/ other important people from their part of the webcomic? i keep getting confused between each character friends….😭

:D

OC INFORMATION REQUESTED

Okay this is gonna be a long one strap in.

Also, have a little key for how important to the plot all the characters are

MAIN CHARACTER/VILLAIN | MAJOR PLAYER | MEDIUM PLAYER | MINOR PLAYER | JUST THERE TO GIVE A CHARACTER A FRIEND

TEAM SOUL SEER

CALEB BUDDE | SOUL SEER

The first member of the Power Pills. He's shy, awkward, and is somehow the unofficial leader of the Power Pills. Mostly everyone looks to him to make the final call on stuff because he's been around the longest.

GUY FOUST

Caleb's roommate and best friend. Went with Caleb during his first superhero mission and got physically shot while there.

KATE DHANANI

A friend of Guy's who eventually became a friend of Caleb's. She's the martial arts trainer for the Power Pills.

AVERY RODRIGUEZ

The first supervillain created by Future Tech. He's 16 years old and was given to Future Tech as an experiment by his parents in exchange for promotions.

TRAVIS BIRMAN

Guy's childhood friend and Merri's boyfriend. He's just the only friend character who doesn't know that his friend is a superhero.

TEAM WAX GUISE

DAN WIRSCH | WAX GUISE

The second member of the Power Pills. He's the literal embodiment of a theater kid. Despite his energetic and carefree attitude, he's one of the smartest members of the team.

JASON KENDI

Jason is Dan's roommate and the go-to costume designer for the Power Pills. He's a MASSIVE nerd and loves doing closet cosplay. He seems to have some kind of connection to Lightbringer.

LUCY CIPHER

The manager (and drum player) of Dan's band. She matches him in energy and personality.

NICO HYLAND

Lucy's fiancee and the keyboardist for Dan's band. He's the type to sit back and listen to Lucy's energetic ramblings for hours.

MAX ARMIJO

Dan's second roommate and lead guitarist for Dan's band. He's a more successful actor than Dan and does his best to help Dan get roles.

TEAM BULLETPROOF

MERRI BODKIN | BULLETPROOF

The third member of the Power Pills. She's a sweet-hearted individual with boundless optimism. She's the heart of the group. However a lot of her personality DOES come from the fact that she's a Catholic and her suppressed frustration tends to come out when she's fighting as Bulletproof in the form of a SUPER brutal fighting style.

AMBER LUPE

One of Merri's best friends. She is just as kind and sweet as Merri, but much less energetic.

PERCY VAN STONE

Merri's foil. She is energetic, she is bold, she loves everything Merri hates.

TEAM QUICKWIT

KRISTY EDA | QUICKWIT

The fourth member of the Power Pills and the resident "basically normal guy but with a bow" of the team. She's an independent artist trying to make it in the art world.

GEMMA VOSS

The sculptor to Kristy's painter. She has almost no shame and has no problems both speaking and acting her mind.

JAKE WESTLAKE

Probably also an artist of some kind but we haven't seen them do any sort of art so I'm not sure. They're relentlessly supportive of their friends.

TEAM STREAMLINE

Hahaaaa oh god sorry, Tate.

TATE PALMER | STREAMLINE

Tate is the fifth member of the Power Pills as well as the most energetic. She's a massive cosplayer and makes her living selling her work online.

TEAM THE WEB

(boy that one doesn't have a ring to it at ALL, does it)

SIBYL DEMIR | THE WEB

Sibyl is the sixth and newest member of the Power Pills. He's the resident scientist, studying biology. He's been through a lot, but once he settles into a network of supporting friends, he reveals that he is a a snarky, strong-willed man.

SEBASTIAN CROWL

A superpowered cult member who saved Sibyl and Caleb's lives when they were captured. He sacrificed himself to help the two of them escape. His status is unknown though he reassured Sibyl that the cult wouldn't kill him.

BENNY O'KEEFE

Benny is Sibyl's biology teacher and is the person who helped Sibyl through the darkest moment of his life.

VINNY RAMONE

Not seen onscreen, but he's Sibyl's ex.

JENNA BEGER

Sibyl's childhood friend who tried to trade away his life in order to join The Cult of Lacrima. Her status is also unknown.

TEAM ███████

MATT NOTTON

The recipient of the Pink Pill who needs to be put on a GODDAMN LEASH. The only pill candidate who decided to use their powers for selfish reasons.

DAMIEN BRIDGES

A man that Matt kidnapped in an attempt to learn how to control his powers. He's... god he's still there.

DALTON RENTFRO

Matt's teammate and a MASSIVE Matt hater.

OTHERS

????? | LIGHTBRINGER

The person who gives out the pills to the candidates. He's stoic but generally friendly.

??????

Only called "Scarecrow Lady" in comic so far, this is the woman who broke into Merri's dressing room in book 3 trying to kidnap her. Caleb erased her memory of their identities but she hinted that she had something "Way better" than her memories.

LONDON KURTZ

A mean girl who peeked in high school. She is obsessed with status.

PHYLLIS WORRALL

One of London's obligatory lackeys. The other of which, Lilith, apparently left London very recently for unknown reasons and has not been seen onscreen.

KRAVEN GREEVES

The owner of the martial arts dojo that the Power Pills train at. He knows what's going on with the superheroes, but he knows it's not his place to say anything.

And I reached the maximum number of images I can put on a post apparently so I have been hard capped here.

Btw if you want to see or ask more about my OCs you should check out @bookfanocs. I don't post much on there but you never know when I'll be inspired.

[heroesfixated]

50/50 Heroes Aged Up AU

I adore the show and its premise, and how it constantly reminds us that they're way too young to be actual superheroes yet, allowing them to just be kids with mostly kids' problems (that is, if we forget the existence of the mysterious figure stalking them). But I have also wondered what things would be like if the characters were a tad older, dealing with the mess that is teenage years while also leading a secret superhero life on the side. This has led me to create this Aged Up AU, and this post will explain it!

The AU takes place 5-6 years after the show, when the rise of a master supervillain and their minions forces the two siblings to put on a mask and a homemade costume and become superheroes, using the scepter's powers to protect innocent people and animals from harm.

Mo, now aged 16-17, is still the lovable dork he's always been, but now with a stronger sense of nobility and a wish to help others. His primary focus is on protecting people, but he's always there to help his sister save the animals too. He's in a relationship with Stella, and is still an in-love heart-eyed dork around her.

Sam, now 14-15, still adores animals and wants nothing more than to help them in any way she can. She's the brain of the team, while Mo is the muscle, but the siblings take turns leading their heroic operations, depending on the task at hand. She has a crush on Amber, who's recently become part of the friend group alongside Stella and Lenny, eventually learned about the Scepter and the siblings' powers, and has since become the one to aid their wounds after their battles (as I am sure this little miss perfect has gone through first aid courses).

This was just the basic premise of the AU. A lot of art for this is gonna be posted soon!

[macawritesupdates]

I got an ask to do a request sequel to the chapter "Behind the Mask" on my one-shot compilation, "A Few Simple Requests" and they asked for me to pick an option from a long comment left on the fic!

Problem is...I'm SUPER indecisive, SO I am going to let the awesome readers and followers make a choice! <3

What is going to be plot for the angsty Superhero/Supervillain Sukita one-shot? They are all good and I can't pick!

[greenlantern94to04]

Green Lantern #52 (June 1994)

Mongul, a.k.a. DC's answer to Thanos (a.k.a. Marvel's answer to Darkseid), demands a rematch with Green Lantern! The only problem is that this is a completely different Green Lantern from the one he fought last time (GL #46), but Mongul thinks all humans look alike and can't tell the difference. Does that make Mongul racist, or the opposite of racist?

Mongul has broken out of the hi-tech prison where he'd been serving time for destroying a whole city (and driving the previous Green Lantern insane), and now he wants revenge on the superheroes who put him there. The jetpack-wearing guard he interrogates doesn't know where Superman is (it's not like he's famously associated with one city), but he did see a news item about "Green Lantern" fighting a villain in LA, so Mongul steals his jetpack and flies there.

("Some guy"? Way to disrespect Ohm, DC's sensational character find of 1994.)

Meanwhile, the new, non-insane Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, is taking care of the most important part of being a hero: taking publicity photos at the beach.

Once the photo session is over, Kyle and his girlfriend/PR person, Alex, try to find out what, exactly, his GL ring can do. As far as they can tell it has endless energy, because Kyle's been using it for days without issue and it's not like it came with a battery or something (certainly not one you activate by reciting a corny oath). Also, they already know Kyle is pretty good at flying with it, courtesy of his many hours daydreaming about that as an easily distracted child.

Alex asks Kyle to try to create something he's "intimately familiar with" to see if he can conjure something more elaborate than the simple objects he used during his fight with Ohm. Kyle, who is still a child, projects a 3D model of Alex in a revealing bikini and earns a smack in the head. Apparently, the best use Kyle can think of for his ring right now is "creepy deepfakes."

Within a few hours of practicing, Kyle seems to have mastered the three basic shapes of nature: babes, guns, and motorcycles. Just when Alex suggests giving the ring and Kyle's imagination a break, Mongul comes crashing down on them and easily breaks the green shield Kyle spent hours perfecting.

Mongul says he's gonna kill Kyle (and "his female," while at it) as revenge for "thwarting" him at Coast City, leaving Kyle very confused -- he probably doesn't even know what "thwarting" means.

(Or "raiment," for that matter.)

As Mongul slams Kyle's head into the ground, Doomsday-style, Alex desperately points out that they don't even know who he is. Mongul introduces himself as "The killer of Green Lantern... for there is NO ONE to save him!"

Next issue: SOMEONE arrives to save him!

Plotline-Watch:

I said on the post for GL #50 that I didn't remember if the homeless guy who was sleeping in the alley when Kyle got the ring ever showed up again. Well, he does show up in this issue... for the last time. His name is Joshua P. Turner, and he's seen talking to some agents at a shady government agency (literally shady, it's very dark in there) about what he saw that night. He also says it's his patriotic duty to give them something he found in the alley after Kyle left: some sort of glowing green rock that, as a kid, I assumed to be kryptonite. All he wants in return is a few bucks. Instead, the agents give him a shanking. RIP Joshua P. Turner, the greatest Green Lantern that never was.

Or at least I assume they killed him. We never see the body, so it's perfectly possible that they kidnapped Mr. Turner and ran experiments on him to turn him into a hyper-muscular supervillain. After all, we've already seen this particular agency turn a crippled man into a deranged super soldier...

Before escaping the Slab (the aforementioned hi-tech prison's Jersey Shore-like nickname), Mongul releases all the other prisoners to keep the guards occupied. These include Superman enemy the Atomic Skull, Booster Gold enemy Mindancer, Hawkman enemy Airstryke, and, most prominently, Captain Atom enemy Major Force, who was also seen last issue. Hmm, it's almost like they're telling us that guy is gonna do something important...

Oh yeah, there's also a Khund warrior show's been stuck on Earth since 1988's "Invasion!" crossover, who just wants to thank Mongul for freeing him and tell him he's a big fan of his work. Mongul kills him on the spot, just because he "never liked the Khund." (So Mongul IS racist. Sad.)

The guard that Mongul interrogates/robs mentions that Superman "wasn't seen for a while" (a reference to either "Death of Superman" or the more recent "Mini-Exile in Space" storyline) and then he came back, but there's been "trouble in Metropolis" so he doesn't know where he could be now (definitely a reference to the still ongoing "Fall of Metropolis" storyline, since there's even art of Superman fighting some Lex-Men). Not sure why the guard would think Superman would be anywhere but Metropolis if there was trouble there, though. I like the idea that was trying to protect Superman by playing dumb about his whereabouts, but didn't give a shit about Mongul finding Green Lantern.

This issue establishes that Kyle's GL ring doesn't have the "being charged every 24 hours" limitation, which doesn't mean it never has to be charged, as he'll soon find out. You might get the impression that the ring's weakness against the color yellow is still valid given how easily Mongul destroys Kyle's shield, but nope, that's just because Kyle's doing a terrible job right now.

If any Mongul fanboys from Khundia or elsewhere object to me calling him a Thanos ripoff, take it up with his co-creator, Jim Starlin, who once said: "I wanted to do my Thanos over at DC. But once I got in there, I wanted to do something different, so we got the whole Warworld in there." So he was "Thanos with a Death Star," basically. I wonder if Ron Marz didn't decide to include Mongul in these issues less because of the Hal Jordan connection and more because he was also writing Marvel's Silver Surfer at the same time, which featured Thanos as a villain/supporting character.

On a related subject, I always thought it was cool that, by destroying Coast City, DC's versions of Thanos and Mr. Fantastic (Hank "Cyborg Superman" Henshaw) kicked off a series of events that eventually led to the DC vs. Marvel crossover... which, sadly, didn't feature Thanos meeting Mongul (he has a staring contest with Darkseid instead). Fortunately Darryl Banks drew that scene anyway, for a Jim Starlin Kickstarter:

NEXT: Superman! But first, we find out where Hal Jordan's been hiding... (SPOILERS: in Guy Gardner: Warrior.)

[thenixkat]

Oh yeah, I finished the Blue Beetle 1986 run.

There was a bunch of stuff I liked. Like Ted's college roommate/bestie Takamoto. And Ted being a decent caring boss/willing to fucking throw down if you try to harm his employees. Giving ex-cons chances. Willing to look out for people's families and financially support them. And caring about homeless people (granted he failed to grasp the fact that he could infact do shit to help them).

Loved the choice to have Ted's Beetle Nest be right under the Kord Inc. building. And Ted's gods awful fashion choices, good fucking lords you have to actively try to pick colors and patterns that clash that badly. Also really like Ted with curly red hair, every other appearance of him in the DC universe should have curly red hair! It looks great and distinct.

Also the whole Ted vs Dan thing and Khaji Da being a mind controlling alien parasite trying to seduce Ted. The ending felt like a fucking cop out but most of it was fun and also Dan lasered a bunch of cops which was neat.

But there was also a bunch of stuff I hated. Like the unnecessary drama of Ted not telling his loved ones about his secret identity even when it became clear that it was causing issues. OG Ted didn't have those problems b/c he told his girlfriend/lab assistant which was hot new and spicey at the time narritively.

You could have had different more interesting drama with folks knowing! Imagine how the arc where Nixon banned superheroes b/c public opinion got turned against superheroes would have gone down if there were people who knew that Ted was a superhero? Like that fucking cop got to figure out Ted's identity but what did we get out of that other than Ted getting blackmailed by that cop to do dirty work for him?

There's a bunch of plot lines that never get resolved and as far as I know just don't get resolved due to folks not really caring about Ted's of solo run. Like, poor Mr. Calhoun does not get fucking rescued after he got horribly burned, forcibly mutated and given superpowers, then kidnapped and enslaved. I didn't see a single peep about Mr. Calhoun after the Titans told Ted to go home and things will resolve themselves eventually.

Just damn, free my mans Calhoun!

And like damn, no one at Kord Inc really thought about Jeremiah Duncan much after he got kidnapped by French people. And that doesn't sit right with me. Especially after seeing what Ted did for Angie and Calhoun when they were in trouble and even that ex-con that was trying to turn his life around. Like? The fuckle?

Also the entire ending of that run felt just ... that's both a downer ending and it didn't feel super in character. Like yer telling me Ted, Mr. 'Oh no my secretary didn't show up and didn't call out and this is very not like her I'm gonna drop by her house to see if she's ok' and Mr. 'Calhoun saved my life I'm going to ride with him to the hospital to make sure he's ok/I will fight all these fucking supervillains trying to kidnap my employee so I can get that man to a fucking hospital' would say fuck yall and dip instead of helping rebuild his company?

Sure, he's pissed off at his dad and his ex but would that spite really beat out every fuck he gives for all the other people that work for him? The folks he said were like family to him that he proved pretty well that he meant it through out the story? If he quits he cant take care of the ex-con's family like he promised to. If he quits what happens to Angie? If he quits Calhoun wont have a job to come back to and its not like he could get another after being turned into a metal skinned mutant.

Nah, I don't buy that ending.

What is Ted Kord other than a bundle of guilt and responsibility, seasoned with depression and self loathing, and covered up with a bright wrapper of quips and humor?

I'm not buying that Ted Kord would leave his people in a lurch just to spite two fuckers when he could spite them by being fucking awesome and taking care of his?

[insert-joke24]

fine make movies where the protagonist a known supervillain but if you're gonna do that don't:

-make them an anti hero

-never mention/only vaguely passively allude to their superhero nemesis

Bc like. Imagine a movie all about the rise and fall of one of Gotham's most terrifying villains. Their highs and lows, their wins and losses, and the whole time in the traditional antagonist role you have fucking BATMAN. Maybe instead of setting a joker movie when Bruce Wayne is 9 years old, maybe set it in Year 1 and show us who he is. Let us follow him. Let Batman be the villain.

Theres this concept I really like wherein you divorce batman and the bat family at large if you're going for that from the context of the audience. Justice League does this sometimes but from the understanding that this big, scary, intimidating guy w no actual superpowers but fights alongside gods is on your side. He believes in truth and justice, just like you.

Now imagine you're Harvey Dent. You have this other guy living in your head, talking to you, influencing you. Telling you that all the people who used to be your friends, your allies, let this big terrible thing happen to you, they let this happen to your city. Imagine the only choice you think you have left is to allow this other guy take the lead and enact the justice you now know the system can never give.

Now imagine your former ally and friend, the masked vigilante who frequently flouts the rule of law to dress up and, well, enact the justice he knows the system can never give, tells you that you can't. That youre crazy and deranged. He and his kids and his super friends in their own cities and people idolize him. You idolized him. And then he let it happen, he didn't stop the incident at the court room. He let this happen to Gotham's White Knight and now that White Knight is gone. You're out for revenge and he wants to stand in your way.

Was he ever actually on your side?

Or imagine you're Kurt Langstrom and you've accidentally turned yourself into a monster. You can't control it and you certainly can't tell anyone. Your wife is dead. And now the so-called protector of the city won't listen. He just wants to take you down. But he doesn't know who you are. And if he realizes it, your life is over. You have to fix things but you don't know how. You're scared. You don't know who to trust.

Now imagine a Morbius movie, about a scientist trying to save his and his brothers lives and he fails. His brother turns into a monster, and he's on the way. People are getting hurt. And worse, now you're being pursued by a typically quippy and cheery superhero who's no longer quippy and cheery because people are getting hurt.

Even if your antagonist is in the moral right, they can still be scary. And a superhero who regularly proves themselves to be an unstoppable force is now hot on your tail? There's nothing more terrifying or tragic than getting sooooo close to winning, only for the rug to be pulled out from underneath you. You lose.

Against them, you always lose.