#tech bros ruin everything apparently

[kadigan2]

oh for fuck’s sake

I’m locking mine down, too. GDI.

ICYMI, there was fear that companies were scraping public AO3 fics to train their AI without the consent of AO3 or its users. That fear has been confirmed.

AO3 has written about what they’re doing (and what they’re not able to do), and they recommend restricting your work to AO3 registered users only. [Instructions here]

This gross misuse of the archive by techbros is why I’ve locked down my fics for the foreseeable future. I recommend the rest of you do the same.

[skellebonez]

So, I have a weird request: Mei, Jin and Yin with 28 and 50. I fell victim of my own au and now I just want these three to be friends and cause mayhem.

Ok, you both sent me these SO CLOSE TOGETHER BY CHANCE that I had to combine them. This is the most prompts I have shoved into one fill and I consider this an achievement.

You call this luck? No, this is all skill./That cute act is all just a lie./I was not expecting that to work as well as it did./Ok, who gave out my number? I have 12 missed calls, 4 voicemails, and 75 unread texts!/No, listen, hear me out. All we need is some really good disguises.

“Ok, who gave out my number?” Mei asked as she slammed the door to Jin and Yin’s workshop open with a harsh kick that sent it slamming into the wall, a scowl on her face. She wasn’t particularly angry, just annoyed, but they didn’t have to know that yet. “I have 12 missed calls, 4 voicemails, and 75 unread texts! I had to change my number because before I cleared the first set of notifications I had over 80 each!”

“How do you know it was us?” Jin asked defensively from his spot sitting on the nearest table, and Mei allowed her face to fall into an deadpan expression, raising just one eyebrow.”... ok, fair, it was Yin.”

“Hey!” Yin yelped as he rolled out on a skateboard from... whatever in the world it was he was working on. “Why are you calling me out like this? I thought you were my brother!”

Mei watched at the two got up from where they sat, getting in each other’s faces and arguing about “brotherly betrayal” and if she was being honest Mei almost thought that this would have been nearly enough to make up for her needing to change her number for the first time in years. Almost. It was when Jin yelled “That cute act is all just a lie!” and Yin gasped in offense that she decided she had enough amusement for the moment and whistled as loud as she could to get the twin’s attention.

“Alright gentlemen, may I ask why my phone number was leaked in the first place?” Mei asked slowly, gaze firmly centered on Yin.

“... In my defense, I didn’t post it publicly,” Yin said as he held up his hands in surrender. “I only gave it to one person and they said they were a friend of yours because I needed some tech they had and they said it was payment for the favor!”

“One person made 82 calls?” Jin asked with a look of disbelief and horror on his face. “Who has time for 82 phone calls?”

“They’re all spam bot calls and texts, it isn- Wait, go back a second,” Mei held up a hand, gesturing for Yin to speak again. “Who said they were a friend of mine?”

“A streamer guy, Bo-something?”

“BoFullStrike,” Mei said with venom lacing her words, a low growl sounding in the depths of her check. “Of course it was Bo, he’s been trying to get back at me for beating him at his best game for like 2 weeks now since our crossover stream like the sore loser that he is. He’s been trying to spam my email this entire time, apparently spam is how he gets revenge.”

“Is his name actually Bo?” Yin asked in curiosity.

“No, it’s just his screen name, but lets not get distracted!” Mei smirked, walking up to the twins and putting her arms around their necks in a half hug each. “To make up for ruining my phone, and because you like me, you two are going to help me get back at him so he will just leave me in peace.”

“Uh,” Jin and Yin looked at each other, then back at Mei and Jin continued. “Is, you know... Macaque gonna have to know about this? We’re already kind of in deep water with him as it is and-”

“No, listen, hear me out. All we need is some really good disguises.”

“And why am I being pulled into this?” Jin asked with a sigh.

“You two are a package deal.”

~

Mei had to admit, when the demon bros had someone who knew how to make a plan for them? They were scary good at what they could do. All three of their technological knowledge combined was a terrifying force to behold, and Mei could see they weren’t too shabby with designing things they weren’t tech itself either. The three of them, both Jin and Yin in their human forms, were disguised so well that Mei almost didn’t recognize her own reflection in her wig and make up. It was perfect!

What was also perfect was the absolute chaos erupting in the internet cafe they had tracked BoFullStrike down to. He really should take internet security a little more seriously, it was far too easy...

Just as it was far too easy to remote connect to the computer he was using to practice his gaming in on an alt account and completely mess with all of his controls and download some nasty nasty viruses onto it from the other side of the building. They weren’t anything too hard for the cafe to get rid of, and it wasn’t anything that would affect the entire computer network, but it was just enough to make the cafe owner pissed off enough to kick him out (that would have made her feel bad if she didn’t know Bo also lived on his own in his own house on his parent’s dime and only came here so no one would track his ISP to alt accounts, and that there were 20 other such cafes in the city for him to move to).

Now the other streamer was angrily stomping out of the building passing by the chaos trio and would have not even been aware of their involvement had Jin and Yin not yanked him half a foot into the (admittedly brightly lit and easy to see into) alleyway beside the cafe.

“Hey, BO,” Mei said with a smirk as the twins held an arm each for extra security. Like bouncers. Or very strange bodyguards she didn’t actually need. “Still angry I beat you in front of all your followers huh?”

“You!” Bo, or whatever his actual name was Mei didn’t care enough about this to remember that, said after a moment of confusion when he recognized her voice. “You humiliated me on purpose! Just like last time!”

“This time yes, that time? No, you humiliated yourself behind the scenes when you started trying to sign me up for car insurance scams,” Mei said with a sigh. “Look, guy, just leave me alone. No one except you cares that I beat you in a few matches at a game I was already on the leader boards for.”

“You just got lucky!” He scoffed, pulling his arms and tensing with a fearful look as he realized he couldn’t move.

“You call this luck? No, this is all skill,” Mei said with a smirk as she held up her phone and Bo’s face went white as a sheet at the information scrolling on the screen. “Yeah, you should probably invest in something. Like a firewall. A VPN. Literally anything. This was not hard to find at all. Dude, I kinda feel bad that you’re so bad at tech security so I am doing you a favor, just leave me alone and I will literally give you a high tech security system and never speak to you again.”

“Or... what?” Bo said with a shake. “You’ll post all my info online?”

“Hell no!” Mei winced with a disgusted look, shaking her head. “You’re being an asshole, but I’m not evil! I was just gonna sign you up for spam too until you took my offer. Ew.”

“Oh... well... I guess... sure?” The man looked mostly confused more than anything else, shrugging as much as he could before Jin and Yin let him go. “That’s... really it?”

“Yeah, dude, I didn’t want that much revenge just a little bit. Like I said, stop signing me up for spam and I will never speak to you ever again.”

“... OK,” Bo said, and yelped as Mei tossed some kind of USB drive at him. “Uh-”

“You have everything you need in there,” Mei said with a shrug, waving him off.

Bo shrugged again, still looking incredibly confused as he ran off, muttering something like “ok maybe that was kind of badass I guess” under his breathe.

“I was not expecting that to work as well as it did,” Mei said with a laugh, holding up both hands to either side. “Good job, my dudes, you are off the hook.”

Both twin’s palms met her own in very satisfying high fives, and all three thought they should totally team up for stuff like this more often.

(The next day BoFullStrike sent her an actual email with a proper apology.)

[abarbaricyalp]

hi. you still taking prompts? sambucky meet cute: the lobby of some kind of really tall building and they both have to get to the to top floors. bucky gets to the elevator first, pushes the "door close" button cause he's in a hurry even though he sees sam rushing towards it, but sam gets there just in time. he saw what bucky did so in retaliation he just pushes every single button to make bucky late. now they're stuck in the longest elevator ride, having to stop at every floor

Friend, this is not a meet cute. This is full on meet ugly 😅

AO3 link in the reblog

Push All My Buttons

Bucky was being haunted. That was the only logical explanation for how someone followed him from Brooklyn to Manhattan, mostly on foot. He’d seen the same guy on two trains, across approximately a thousand city blocks, and in the dumb cafe that Bucky squeezed into five seconds after it opened.

And now, the same handsome young black man was standing in the middle of the Stark Tower lobby, looking lost. Bucky quickly hit the close door button of the elevator that he blessedly had to himself. Apparently, he hit it too loud because the guy’s gaze snapped over to him and recognition lit on his face.

Bucky hit Close Door again.

“Hey! Could you hold that!” the guy called, jogging across the lobby floor and avoiding milling people. The fucking tourists on the ground level were killer.

Bucky was not letting a stalker into the elevator with him when he had 91 floors to get up. He hit Close Door for a third time.

Finally, the guy seemed to realize what Bucky was doing and he scowled before tossing his army bag towards the closing doors. They hit the bag and opened up just in time for the guy to jog over, grab his bag, and step inside.

“You’re kind of an asshole,” he said as he slung the duffle over his shoulder again.

“I’m late to a meeting,” Bucky said, which was true. Mostly what he wanted to say was ‘don’t kill me and wear my face as a mask’ or whatever someone who’d followed him over three boroughs would want to do.

The man looked over at him from the corner of his eyes, looked at the highlighted 91 and then reached over to smooth his hand up every single button on the machine. 2-93 lit up.

Bucky stared.

The man crossed his arms. “Now we’re both late.”

92 and 93 unlit themselves. Those were Stark’s personal suites. 2-91 remained lit.

“You fucking asshole,” Bucky groaned and dragged his hands over his face. “Why would you do that? I’m meeting with Stark. I’ve got his-his-his fucking coffee. Jesus.”

“Because I’d rather be late and piss you off than be on time and let you get away with trying to close the door in my face.”

“What was the point of following me all the way around the city? Are you trying to make my life difficult?”

Now the man fully turned to look over at him. The elevator stopped on the second floor and no one was waiting. “I’m not following you. I don’t even know who you are.”

“Are you kidding?” Bucky asked. “You’ve been on my ass since Lloyd’s, in Brooklyn.”

The man frowned. The elevator eased up to the next floor. “Why would you stop at Lloyd’s if you were coming all the way in here?”

“I like to eat on my commute, that’s not the point! You followed me!”

“Pal, I dunno how to tell you that anyone coming from Brooklyn to Stark Tower’s gotta take a pretty similar route.”

“It’s Bucky, pal.”

“Sam,” the guy said and then honest to God offered his hand out like he wasn’t actively ruining Bucky’s life.

On the fifth floor, someone stepped into the elevator, looked at the buttons and stepped back out. Bucky shook Sam’s hand with a resigned sigh.

“Where’d you get that piece of machinery on your arm?” Sam asked around floor eight.

“It’s not on my arm,” Bucky answered. “It is my arm.”

Sam rolled his eyes and punched the door close button. “Fine, where’d you get that piece of machinery on your torso?”

“It’s not Stark tech,” he answered because he knew that was actually what Sam was asking about. He let his eyes slide over Sam’s body quickly, trying to discern if Sam was here for a prosthetic. The bag on his shoulder and the silver ball-chain around his neck gave away that he was military. Stark Industries had a veterans program, so there was a good population of soldiers walking around the building at any given time. Sam was wearing pants, so Bucky couldn’t be totally sure he didn’t have a bad leg, but he hadn’t clocked any limp or awkward gait since Brooklyn. “You here for a prosthetic?” he asked anyway.

Sam snorted and shook his head. The door opened again and someone got on before reaching to press the ground level button.

“Shit,” the woman said, upon seeing everything else lit up. She quickly hit the door open button and jumped back out. “You know, if you two wanted extra time together, having the doors open on every floor was probably a bad idea.”

“That’s not what we--” Bucky started to argue, but the doors slid shut in front of him.

“Anyway,” Sam started again. “I’m not here for a prosthetic. I’m here with Colonel Rhodes.”

“Wow, big man on campus,” Bucky said drily.

“Oh, right, you’re so unimportant, going up to the 91st floor,” Sam shot back.

“I work here,” Bucky said. He held up the quickly cooling coffee in his hands. “Glorified secretary most days, but I’m supposed to be an engineer.”

“What kind of machines do you work with?”

“Not the planes or the suits. Military tech, mostly. I try to stay away from weapons when I can.”

“Did you serve?” Sam asked.

Wish I hadn’t, Bucky wanted to say. “Nah, actually I lost my arm when Stark flew into an uncaffeinated rage and threw a saw at me.”

“Whatever, man. There’s a thousand ways to lose an arm. It ain’t gotta be out in the desert.” His cheeks didn’t quite color, but he crossed his arms and stared ahead.

“Mountains,” Bucky corrected. “Special OPs.”

“Oh, right, but I’m the big man on campus,” Sam said, holding up his hands in mock surrender.

“Rhodes is a big deal around here. You think Stark’s letting him out of his sight for just anyone?”

“The Air Force is testing a new gadget. Rhodes is involved ‘cause Air Force. Maybe you worked on it.”

“Yeah, maybe. It’s a big program. Stark’s got a lot of things going on all at once. Lots of engineers and designers.”

The elevator stopped on the 25th floor and Sam and Bucky both said, “We’re going up,” at the same time to keep the group of suits from crowding into the elevator with them.

Sam kicked his bag into the corner and sat down heavily in front of it, leaning back and closing his eyes. “So you’re a soldier who works for Stark Industries but didn’t get your prosthetic from him, even though he’s the cutting edge of prosthetics and has a full-paid program for those injured in duty.”

Bucky gave up and sat down too. He cradled the coffee cup between his legs, which was probably a bad idea, but this whole morning had been bad. “My story’s a little more complicated than that,” he said. “A lot more twists and turns. My arm is still high tech, though. I asked for a flamethrower, or at least a saw hand but I didn’t get it.”

Sam laughed and, for the first time all morning, Bucky thought maybe he wasn’t so angry at him anymore. Sam laughed like nothing had ever hurt him before, which made it feel like maybe nothing had hurt Bucky either. “Well, there’s your problem. Stark would’ve definitely given you that, from what I hear about the man.”

Bucky grinned over at him and dropped his head back against the wall. It was uncomfortable and the jostling of the car every few seconds rattled his brain, but it beat standing up, or keeping his eyes on Sam for too long. “You’re still in the service?”

“Well, not all of us are so lucky to get a medical discharge on our first tour.”

“Oh, yeah, real luck of the Irish, me. And it was my second. I wasn’t SpecOps until I finished my first stint in the army.”

“Right, right,” Sam said. Then, “You joined up young.”

“So did you. I mean, I assume you’re on your second or third tour too, if you’re being asked to work with Rhodes.”

“Second. I took a long leave to do some school stuff.”

“Oh, so working with Rhodes and you’re smart. You really are the whole package.”

“I’m working with Colonel Rhodes because I’m smart,” Sam corrected. “I could probably take your job. I’m real techy.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t. I’m fond of my apartment and I definitely can’t afford it without being here.”

“Right, I assume you make buck working for Stark.”

“Eh, he’s still a multi-billionaire, he could pay us more.”

“What’s that say about the military then?”

“I’ll drink to that, bro.”

Sam chuckled again and opened his eyes to glance over at Bucky. “How does someone go from losing their arm in a SpecOps mission to working for Stark Industries.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. It’s at least a three course discussion.”

The elevator dinged on level 39 and paused, though there was no one there.

“Almost halfway up,” Sam pointed out.

“You are good at math,” Bucky joked just to see Sam roll his eyes again, which he did. “Why Air Force?” he asked when the doors decided to shut again.

“It’s gonna sound so stupid, but I’ve been dreaming about flying since I was a little kid. I wanted to be an astronaut and a lot of astronauts were in the military. So, air force. Figured if I never got to space, at least I spent years in the air anyway.”

Bucky didn’t think that was stupid at all. “You’re right, that’s pretty dumb.” Sam flipped him off with a laugh. “Are you a good pilot?”

“Pal, I’m one of the best out there.”

“God, you chair force guys are all the same,” Bucky said. He squawked as Sam leaned over to tackle him down. “Coffee, coffee! Sam, if you spill Stark’s coffee I’ll make you explain it to him!” he threatened as Sam pulled him away from the cup that had managed to remain upright by an unlikely bout of luck and physics.

Sam was fucking strong, wrangling Bucky down and holding him still. Sure, he was on his knees and Bucky’s legs were mostly trapped under him, but still. Bucky wasn’t a small guy and the prosthetic wasn’t light either but Sam had tugged him out of the corner anyway.

“Oh my God, seriously?” a guy asked on the next floor.

Bucky took the moment of distraction to dig his knee into Sam’s ribs and flip them over as the doors shut again. He locked his fingers around Sam’s wrist and held it to the floor. Sam tugged at the hold futilely.

“Shit, what’s that made out of?”

“That’s another three course answer.”

“At this rate? No chance,” Sam said and got his foot braced against Bucky’s shoulder before shoving him off. Bucky sat back and made sure the coffee was still standing. Sam leaned up against the wall by the doors. They both took in heavy breaths.

“What are you doing with Rhodes?” Bucky asked at floor fifty, when he was pretty positive they weren’t about to leap at each other again.

“Maybe that’s a three course answer,” Sam responded with a small smirk.

“I didn’t know Stark was working on planes with the Air Force.”

“Did I say plane?”

“Helicopters, whatever,” Bucky amended with a wave of his hand. “What do you fly?”

“I’m pararescue.”

Bucky let out a low whistle. “Shit, that’s more impressive than working with Rhodes, maybe. You a doctor?”

“I’ve got triage training, but I’m not, like, ready to walk into an E.R. as soon as I get home or anything.” Sam ran his hand over his buzzed hair and Bucky suddenly wanted to know what it looked like grown out, or if he’d ever kept it long. How he styled it and if he had facial hair and what he was hiding under his shirt and Jesus Christ, he needed to think about anything else.

“Well, from what I’ve seen, your beside manner probably sucks.”

Sam kicked out his foot lamely, missing Bucky’s by a mile. “You ain’t hurt. I don’t gotta give you no bedside manner.”

“What floor do you want off on?” Bucky asked after a glance at the rapidly dimming lights on on the button panel.

“85.”

“Right, yeah, Rhodes works there. We’re at 70 now.”

“What’s it like? Just offices?”

“Nah, he’s got a whole training floor. There’re a few offices, a reception area, but there’s also a gym and some space for simulated battle, sparring rooms. It’s pretty cool. You’ll have a lot of room for whatever he’s doing.”

Sam nodded and looked over at the gaping doors with the first look of unease he’d had all morning.

“You nervous?”

“You would be too,” Sam answered. “If you knew what I was doing. But, hey,” he looked away as the doors shut, “my partner’s already up there, so I can’t make any more of a fool of myself than he probably already has.”

Bucky grinned and shrugged. “I dunno about that. You seem pretty incapable,” he said sarcastically.

Sam kicked out his leg again and then stood up and grabbed his bag from next to Bucky. “You work here every day?”

Bucky nodded and took Sam’s hand when he offered it down to him to haul himself up. “9 to too late.”

“Well, I’m around for a few weeks. Maybe we could walk together instead of around each other next time,” he suggested.

Bucky ignored the swooping of his stomach. “Yeah, if you can keep up.”

Sam jostled his ribs with an elbow. “I can keep up. You’re the one with the machine on your arm.”

“Yeah, and what about it? I could hand-walk faster than you could run.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Sam snorted. The door opened on floor 80 and Sam’s mouth screwed to one side briefly before he looked at Bucky. “Maybe you’ll get my number out of all of this eventually.”

“Maybe I don’t want it after this stunt.”

Sam placed his hand on Bucky’s metal shoulder solemnly. “You want it.”

With a grin, Bucky shrugged Sam off and shoved him forward. “Get outta here, Wilson.”

“How’d you know--?” Sam asked, taking half a step back to the doors.

Bucky reached over to trace his fingers over the name patch on the other side of the bag. “I’m just a good guesser.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. What’s your--”

The door shut between them and Bucky sagged back against the wall with a sigh. His heart was racing like he was a teenager again and his head felt cloudy. This meeting was not going to go well at this point. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to focus on anything but Sam’s smile or the way he looked in boots or the weight of him above Bucky’s body.

When the elevator dinged on 91, he grabbed Stark’s coffee and let himself off and then almost immediately ran into Rhodes.

“Oh, hey, sorry. Hey, I was just on the elevator with your meeting,” he said. “Sorry he’s late. I hit a bunch of buttons on accident when I got in,” Bucky lied as he passed the coffee to Stark.

“No harm, no foul,” Rhodey said easily. “Clearly I wasn’t even down there. I was actually waiting on you.”

“Me? What for? I’m not working on anything military.”

“You’re not?” Stark asked around a mouthful of coffee. “You assigning yourself projects now?”

“You didn’t say anything about the wings being military. I mean, how would that even work? It’d put a soldier in the air bare.”

“Yeah,” Stark agreed sarcastically and clapped a hand down on Bucky’s metal arm. “What kind of soldier runs around without full body protection.”

“What are you calling the project?” Rhodey asked, guiding the discussion back to where it was supposed to be.

“EXO-Falcon,” Bucky said. “I was modeling it after some of Stark’s EXO-skeleton suits, but it’s much more compact, situated on the back with all support sitting around the chest and ribs.”

Rhodey nodded. “Can I see them?”

Bucky quickly dashed to his work bench and came back with the wings in their case. “They’re carbon fiber, which makes them a little more flexible and keeps them a little lighter weight. I had thought about doing interlocking plates like my arm, but it wasn’t working. I took some of the more basic structures of my arm and modeled a folding mechanism out of it instead. The wings retract into and out of the case.”

He pulled the jetpack on and stepped away from the other work spaces before clicking the wings open. They snapped out behind him, grand and proud. Not unlike how Bucky was feeling at that moment.

“And the jetpack? Is that ready to go?” Rhodey asked.

Bucky shifted from foot to foot. “Well, in theory. I haven’t tested it out yet ‘cause I’m not trained to do things like that, but I’ve put DUM-E into the air and nothing blew up.”

“Well, the Air National Guard guys here today will be thrilled to hear that,” Stark said. “Shall we?”

“You don’t wanna test the jets before you put it on someone?” Bucky asked, a little strangled. He trusted his design. But he really, really hadn’t put as much time into the whole human safety element as he did the ‘up and running’ element.

“We’ll strap a crash test dummy to them in over the mats. It’ll be fine. The fire suppression system on 85 is better than up here.”

“No it isn’t. It’s just further from your suites,” Rhodey said.

Stark shrugged and tossed a piece of pastry in his mouth. “It’s my building. I say we go down to 85.”

“Well, that’s where I left your trainee or whatever too,” Bucky said as he shrugged off the pack and packed it all back up. “Do you want me to grab the other pack?”

“No worries, I’ve already moved it,” Stark said. “I knew Rhodes was coming by. You’re welcome, those things are heavy.”

“Don’t act like you didn’t have DUM-E move it,” Rhodey teased. He made his way over to the elevator and Bucky followed with Stark on his heels. The ride down to 85 was much faster than the ride up to 91. It was a miracle what not hitting every button could do. They stepped out onto the floor and made their way to the training mats, where two other people were already standing.

“Barnes, I’d like to keep you on the Falcon project,” Rhodey said. “No one knows the wings like you do. That being said, you’ll be working with live test subjects now, so it’s a little more critical.”

“Hey, you don’t have to say it that way!” the blond man in the middle of the room said. “Call us, like, Top Guns or something.”

“You don’t get to choose your nickname around here,” Stark called over, propping himself up on a stack of sparring mats to watch from afar. “Ask Manchurian Candidate. He definitely didn’t choose his.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “Barnes, this Sergeant Wiatrek and Sergeant Wilson.”

Fuck.

“It’s Barnes, huh?” Sam asked, smugly crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh, Sammy, you didn’t hook up with this guy already did you?” the blond asked in teasing horror.

“Screw you, no. I met him this morning.”

“Ah,” Rhodey said with a grin. “This was the meeting you made late,” he said to Bucky.

“Yeah, we met this morning,” Bucky confirmed with a raging blush. How was this his life?

“Well, good, you can get right to work on the wings,” Rhodey said. “Let me go find a crash dummy.”

“DUM-E,” Stark called as Rhodey started away.

“I’ll find that doll first,” Rhodey challenged.

Bucky turned from their bickering and looked at Sam, then the blond next to him.

“It’s Riley,” the other man said and offered out his hand. “I’m better conversation than this one.”

Bucky doubted it. He shook the guy’s hand and then held out the briefcase like a shield between him and Sam’s teasing gaze. “Do you wanna see the wings?”

Riley nodded eagerly and Bucky moved to another stack of mats to open the case. Riley and Sam stood on either side of him. As Riley pulled the jetpack free, Sam pulled out his phone. Bucky thought he was going to film his friend inevitably crashing, but instead he turned on the auto-help.

“Hey, where’s the nearest three-course restaurant?” he asked without looking away from Bucky, without his grin faltering.

Bucky dragged his hands down his face as he looked at Sam. Riley yelped behind them after the tell-tell whoosh of the jet pack, but Sam still didn’t look away. Bucky couldn’t either.

[crusherthedoctor]

The beach trope: another one that often comes early in Sonic's quests, and this one's no different, though expectations are very mildly subverted by making it the third zone instead of the very first. (Careful Crusher, you had the audience on the edge of their seats there.)

More importantly though, it's possibly one of the most famous and celebrated level tropes in the series. Emerald Coast is undeniably iconic, Seaside Hill is just as iconic while also merging with the Green Hill setup, and Wave Ocean... is a poor man's Emerald Coast, but it's probably better than most levels in '06 by comparison, so it too is iconic, from a certain point of view. We can't forget Jungle Joyride either, even if that's mostly because we got to see the frame rate die before our very eyes.

So how do you make your interpretation stand out? How do you prevent having a Wave Ocean 2: Wave Oceaner on your hands? Well, it's actually very simple...

Creating Zone 3: Coastline Resort

3-1: Shining Shore

Remember when I said that sometimes all it takes to make an environment feel different is the time of day, or a change in weather? This is one of the first major examples of putting that philosophy into action, as compared to previous beach levels, which were usually content with taking place in the bright sunny daytime, this one takes place under a pleasant purple sunset.

This of course contrasting heavily with not only the blue sea, but also the sands, which although given a mild touch of purple courtesy of the sunset, cannot fully hide their natural shade of white.

And of course, waterfalls.

We can’t forget the waterfalls.

Despite being a true blue beach level first and foremost, there are also a few hints of plaza, further setting it apart from the Emerald Coasts and Not-Emerald Coasts of old times past. This aesthetic in particular is based heavily on the seaside town of Whitby.

No doubt Sonic would admire this place, at least when he's not forced to go deep underwater. Maybe when the adventure is over, he can come back here and have a relaxing moment with... someone. Dunno who though. I doubt Eggman would be interested, and not just because he's actually in-character. Oh well, plenty more horses in the sea.

Speaking of, what about the underwater sections? Shining Shore does have them after all, in full 3D, as opposed to making them bottomless pits in disguise. Unsurprisingly, everything's a lot more blue than purple down there, gorgeously so, but the coral reef provides its own variety of colour.

The local fishies don't seem to mind you being in their line of sight... nor do the Badniks, but probably for a different reason.

Since we're three zones in, you might have noticed by now that each zone, regardless of their overall colour scheme, has one element in at least one act that goes all rainbow with the colours than everything else. You had the flower patches in Gleaming Meadows, you had the wood barriers in Tricky Tropics with their rusting paint jobs, and now we have the coral reef in Coastline Resort... any reason for this?

Alas, the answer is a mundane one: it's just a little way of tying all the zones in Viridonia together. As this quest revolves around the mystery of the elusive Ethereal Zone, this seemingly inconsequential aspect is a way of ensuring that it will always remain at the back of your mind. It may be relatively more subtle and easy to miss than, say, a giant moon glaring down angrily at you no matter where you go on the map as it literally comes closer and closer to killing everyone, but the intention is effectively the same: the central meat of the setting and story is always present in some form, however indirect, even if the characters aren't currently discussing it.

Also, shout out to the lighthouse that helped our heroes by inadvertently blinding the pursuing mechanized orca.

You really put a dent in Heavy Gunner's strategy.

First Section (calm): Lagoony Tunes (Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced) Peach Field (Mario Hoops 3-on-3)

Second Section (adrenaline): Lost Palace (Team Sonic Racing) Hang Eight (Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back)

3-2: Crazy Rapids

Being a whimsical water park, made even more whimsical to fit the video game format, this one explains itself in a lot of areas. But let's go over the finer details anyway, shall we?

As mentioned in the fic, the park has been made to fit in seamlessly with the ruins present in the area, thus creating a Good Future-esque wonderland of nature and technology in harmony. For an idea of how the ruins aesthetic would work, imagine something akin to the Sunset Beach Resort in Jamaica, particularly the long bridge and archways you can see in both of these shots:

Kind of has an Aquatic Ruin vibe, doesn’t it?

Even then, that only applies to half of the architecture, as the other half breaks up the yellow with some white, reminiscent of a certain OTHER watery location in Sonic's past...

We also have the giant fountains sprinkled around the place. There are two types of fountains to be exact, both of which may seem familiar to the attentive eye...

The difference? They're larger. MUCH larger. As in, you can actually platform your way on and around them.

As for what’s inside? It's exactly how you'd imagine it to be, albeit exaggerated even further to befit a Sonic level.

And in-tune with the beachside mood, the Chao Garden found nearby would take a page from the one in Station Square...

...with a little extra flavor of this...

...complete with miniature water slides and the like for the adorable inhabitants... the inhabitants that Eggman currently has an unexplained interest in. How do the Chao factor into his latest plan?

Heh heh, only I and those I've discussed it with in PMs know that for now.

First Section (outside): Windy and Ripply (Sonic Adventure) Ocean Palace (Sonic Heroes)

Second Section (inside): Data Select (Tee Lopes) Wii Shop Channel - Mii Channel (Super Smash Bros. Wii U)

3-3: Aquarium Gallery

Disappointed that Crazy Rapids lacked that smooth red-on-blue contrast that Aquarium Park from Sonic Colours had? Well we can’t all be in the same league as Eggman sadly, but fear not, for the similarly named Aquarium Gallery gets right in on the action, combining red walls and an overall upper class aesthetic...

...with the expected quantities of shimmering blue that comes with the aquarium setting. And with glass tanks of great size, comes great fishies to go along with them.

The black and white checkered floor would also be a must. It's a Sonic game, we gotta have a checkered pattern somewhere. It just works. /ToddCrusher

Don't worry about the living conditions for the fish here, by the way. Eggman mechanizing them aside, the people who work at the park - and those who visit it - make sure to treat all the marine life with the utmost respect and kindness. Just a shame that they're apparently not so willing to lend that same understanding to Trudy... but it does provide an early hint that despite the few genuine bad apples who are outright antagonistic towards Trudy, most of the folks ignorant to her condition are exactly that at worst: ignorant. Meaning, despite first impressions, most of them are not bad people at heart, and with a little help and persistence, it's not entirely impossible that they can eventually learn to understand and sympathise with Trudy's situation.

In other words, they have more dimension than the background characters in Sonic Boom, where they're all mostly a bunch of one-note arseholes with little redeeming qualities and don’t deserve to be saved by Sonic in the slightest.

Anyhow, eventually, after a trip through one of those sweet underwater tunnels...

...we find ourselves in the cavern area, where red is exchanged for turquoise, and there are reflected ripples galore. Since the Marble Caves in Chile already look halfway to being a Sonic level due to its unique formations, that's the best comparison I can make here.

Too blue, you might say? Well, the sunset from earlier would be poking through the holes in the wall, adding some warm to the cool once more... the giant seashells everywhere help spice it up too.

Like these, but bigger than Ken Penders’ ego.

If that’s even possible...

First Section (aquarium): Rooftop Run - Night (Sonic Unleashed) Coconut Mall (Mario Kart Wii)

Second Section (caves): Sea Shell Shenanigans (Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex) Dire, Dire Docks (Super Mario 64)

3-4: Hydro Plant

The outside structure for this place is shaped like a giant wall, which predictably brings the Hoover Dam to mind:

And that applies inside as well, at least initially. The similarities indoors come mostly from the generators, as well as the sheer size of the place.

Since it's considerably rustier however, we have darker lighting in place, with the sunset outside preventing it from being too dark inside. There’s also a copious amount of daring graffiti caused by hoodlums... or maybe Eggman, since he'd probably be the type to do that to any property that isn't his. Some of this graffiti would look very impressive...

While others would... uh...

Look, they tried, okay?

With all this graffiti, that means there’s opportunity for a generous helping of cheeky references to previous installments if you’re able to find them... and if you can understand them. To this day, the typo in “make belif reborn” has not been corrected. Absolutely disgusting.

But as the fic dictates, the further you go on, the tidier and more high tech it becomes. Simply put, this section would remind one of Aquatic Base from '06, mainly because I've always liked the idea despite its characteristically terrible level design, so why not salvage the concept and give it a second chance?

With some added flavor to make it less monotone, mind you. Like actual water sections, some green lights to break up all the blue, giant crab robot threatening to kill you... the works.

Sonic may be glad that this zone is behind him, but little does he know, it's not the only zone with intense water action around these parts. Luckily for him, that won't be for a while, so he can breathe a sigh of relief for now. Still, we know Eggman has other ways of keeping the gang on their toes...

First Section (rusty): Wily Stage 2 (Mega Man 7) Pokey Pipes (Donkey Kong Country 3)

Second Section (high tech): Ocean Base Act 1 (Sonic Advance 3) H2 Oh No (Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex)

[angsty-aliens]

Truck Stop Knives And Other Accessories Of Childhood (3/3)

Final chapter of my inner child fic which was supposed to be a short little one shot and has evolved into a verse. 

Alien tech has manifested an inner child for Michael. And that child has a knife. 

Thank you again to the many people who helped beta and brainstorm, especially @jocarthage, @haloud, and @foramomentonly. You can read the whole fic on Ao3

***

Morning came earlier than Michael wanted. Apparently the downside to sharing a bed with Alex was Alex still operated on military time, and although he certainly tried to let Michael sleep in, by 7am he couldn’t resist tracing a finger across an eyebrow and down his cheek. Michael didn’t mind. There were worse ways to be woken up, then the gentle caress of Alex Manes touching his face.

At some point in the night, Alex ended up curled loosely against the curve of Michael’s back. He fit perfectly and it felt right. Michael could feel the swell of his cock slotted against the back of his boxer briefs, and he couldn’t help but arch back slightly, chasing the feeling. Alex chuckled, and tugged Michael flat on his back so he could peer down at him, propped up on an elbow.

“Hands above the waist?”

Michael leered with an exaggerated eyebrow waggle, “pretty sure your hands were above my waist.”

Alex laughed, “always gotta find the loophole, Guerin.”

They kissed softly, noses bumping together in their eagerness.

After a few minutes of lazy making out, Alex reluctantly separated. “Do we think Mikey is still asleep?”

Michael thunked his head back against the pillow with a sigh, “Mikey is definitely not still asleep. I never slept through the night in a new placement. Even though he should KNOW he’s safe here with me, I guarantee he’s been awake for hours.”

“Should I be worried about my cabin?”

“He’s not gonna burn down your cabin, Alex.”

Alex tried to sooth him, “I know that. I’m not worried about that.”

Michael grudgingly sat up and retrieved his pants from the floor. “Only one way to see…”

It took them a few minutes for Alex to attach his prosthetic and for them to get dressed. Alex tried to exit the bedroom quietly in case Michael was wrong about the boy sleeping, but sure enough, the kid was fully dressed and reassembling the toaster on his coffee table. The couch had been stripped of all bedding, and every quilt was folded neatly and tucked unobtrusively to the side. Alex’s laundry basket was full of neatly folded clothing. The boy obviously emptied the dryer when he woke up, and tried to tidy up on his own. He did a good job. A better job than Alex expected any eleven year old to do. He had practice at this.

Michael tousled the kid’s hair on the way to the kitchen, “do you want oatmeal for breakfast or pizza?”

The kid was focused on his task, and carefully screwed in part of the toaster, “pizza!”

Alex was distracted, “uh, oatmeal.” He looked around again, “thank you Mikey for cleaning up. You didn’t have to do that. I didn’t expect you to do that.”

The screwdriver hit the table as the boy looked up in alarm, “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have touched your stuff.”

“No, no it’s okay. I appreciate that you folded the laundry. You just didn’t NEED to do that. You’re a guest.” Alex tried to think of a way to salvage this exchange because the boy was definitely panicking, thinking he was in trouble. “If you want to help, we can give you chores. We can all share the chores. How does that sound?”

Mikey carefully picked the screwdriver back up again, “... I can do chores.”

Alex nodded solemnly at Mikey, a bargain struck, and he walked into the kitchen to kiss the back of Guerin’s neck, while hugging him from behind. “Why is he being a Stepford Wife?”

Michael continued to slowly move about the kitchen to heat up Alex’s oatmeal, while Alex held him like a limpet. “He promised to be nice to you.”

“Why is he tidier than you are? You leave your clothing everywhere and he’s cleaned everything up like I hired a maid service.”

Michael ran a soothing hand across Alex’s arms, locked tightly across his stomach. “Some houses liked that. Some houses required it. Religious freaks definitely required it. He’s just covering his bases. Don’t make it a big deal.”

Alex kissed his neck again and rubbed his cold nose into Michael’s curls, “I’m glad you leave messes. It drives me crazy sometimes, but I’m glad you’re comfortable enough to leave a mess.”

Michael pulled two cold slices of pizza out of the fridge and laughed, “thanks?”

Alex turned him in his arms so he was hugging him properly. Usually Michael was the clingy one, but the kid rattled him. Alex wanted affection dammit.

The two men stood in the middle of the kitchen, arms tight around each other when the kid waltzed in and grabbed his slice of cold pizza. The boy smirked at Michael, “good slumber party, huh?”

Michael raised a middle finger as the kid laughed.

Mikey smirked, “Just bros being bros! Totally platonic!”

And with his hands full of pizza, the boy disappeared back into the living room to finish working on the toaster.

With a sigh, Michael shrugged, “well he said he’d TRY to be nicer.”

***

Having an eleven year old alien around the house was both simpler and more complicated than Alex anticipated. The kid didn’t leave any big messes. He was actually obsessively clean. It was like there was no kid there at all. If Alex didn’t watch him sit at the coffee table, silently putting his toaster back together with the crust of cold pizza sticking out of the side of his mouth like a cigar, Alex could almost believe he was alone. Mikey was silent and contained. He hunched up small like he didn’t think he deserved to take up too much space. Apparently being ‘nice’ meant disappearing.

Guerin on the other hand left his boots kicked into a corner of his bedroom. His hat was on top of a lamp. His side of the bed was a rumpled mess. And he was currently humming a country song enthusiastically and off key. Alex had no question where Michael was at all times. He could close his eyes and still know, because Michael was an ever moving force of nature. Even when he tried to sit still, his knee bounced, his head swayed, his hands tapped out tunes on the arm rest. He was full of kinesthetic energy.

The complicated part of having an eleven year old alien in the house was Alex was pretty sure his couch cushions were hiding a myriad of snacks. The kid thought he was subtle, but he kept reaching between the seat cushions and nodding to himself with satisfaction. Michael insisted Alex leave it be. Apparently no conversations were needed about his couch becoming a vending machine.

The boy also didn’t have the habits most kids were taught at a very young age. Alex had to herd him into the bathroom to brush his teeth. And when Michael argued that tooth brushing was only required when his breath got nasty, Alex herded his boyfriend into the bathroom too. They could brush teeth together, like a family. A weird little Lilo and Stitch family.

Mikey had only been at the cabin for two days, but Alex couldn’t imagine a time when he didn’t exist. Isobel brought a bag of clothing and necessities from Walmart and he shrunk smaller and smaller every time she pulled out a new item, arms curled around his stomach. Like he was being buried under the invisible weight of the clothing. A new toothbrush made his shoulder hunch up to his ears, Star Wars themed pajamas had him hugging his knees to his chest, the new shoes made him tuck his chin into his arms and shrink. Michael had hugged his sister and ushered her out of the cabin before the kid could diminish any further.

Isobel meant well. “They’re Star Wars pajamas! The same design as Luke Skywalker’s flight suit! Because you always talked about wanting to see the stars.”

She meant so well.

Later Michael whispered that the kid was feeling the debt. He wasn’t used to people being nice to him without an ulterior motive. There was a currency to kindness and the boy wasn’t sure when the bill would come or what they’d ask of him. It reminded Alex of being seventeen in his father’s shed, handing Michael his brother’s guitar and watching his guard go up.

“Sometimes people can be nice for no reason.”

“Not in my experience.”

Things were clicking into place. An equation finally making sense. And all he could do was hug Michael a little tighter and hope he could give Mikey a better experience for as long as they had him.

The boy presented him with his toaster. Alex was positive the toaster was never really broken. The side was a bit dinged up from when it got knocked off the counter a few months ago. And the knob was stuck on 4, but Alex liked 4. It meant his toast was dark brown which was fine. It was perfectly adequate. He could live with 4. But now the knob turned freely, giving him every option of crispiness for his toast. And the ding had been buffed out. The kid made the toaster work like new. When Alex told him that, Mikey stood up straighter. The boy tried not to smile at the praise. In a fit of bravery, Alex reached out to toustle his hair like he watched Michael do, and the boy closed his eyes for a second and actually grinned. He could only bear Alex’s attention for a second before running off into the backyard. Like he wasn’t sure what to do with praise. It didn’t fit him comfortably, and he had to run away. Alex knew that feeling. Jesse Manes didn’t believe in praise either. Alex remembered the discomfort the first time a PE teacher congratulated him on his endurance. It felt like the comments had to be mocking. He was being made fun of. It took a long time to realize the coach was being genuine.

Michael sat next to him on the couch and kissed his cheek. “What are we doing, Alex?”

“I have no idea. I didn’t really write this into my planner. I guess we’re winging it.”

“Are we moving too fast? We went from not dating, to dating, to playing house with an eleven year old. I don’t want to ruin this.”

Alex covered Michael’s hand with his own, “We’ve been on and off for a decade. It’s not like we’re strangers. I think keeping things PG for a while between us is a good idea, but we can watch Mikey and it won’t ruin anything.”

The kid was running in circles in the backyard. If there was a game, Alex couldn’t figure it out. It just looked like circles for the sake of circles. Making himself dizzy enough to fall down.

Michael’s phone started to buzz. Who would call instead of text? The name “Liz Ortecho” flashed and he reluctantly swiped to answer.

Liz’s voice came out in a rush, “Don’t be mad.” “Elizabeth Ortecho, no good news ever came after the statement -  don't be mad.”

Liz continued, “Okay I know we were going to wait to mess with the disk until we could be at the lab together, but I…”

Michael scrubbed a hand over his face, “Oh god Liz, what did you do?”

“It’s not bad! Hey, put me on speakerphone so I don’t have to repeat this to Alex later.”

Michael placed the phone between them and pushed a button.

“You’re on speaker,” Alex was puzzled but supportive, “Liz are you okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine. I was pressing different glyphs on the disk and I think I may have accidentally accessed a user manual. Kind of. It sort of was like a psychic connection, either I accessed a user manual, or it caused me to have a psychotic break.”

“Liz.” Alex looked at Michael in alarm.

Her voice took on a higher pitch, “It’s fine! I took notes!”

Michael rolled his eyes, “THAT is not the part we’re worried about!”

Liz ignored them, “Okay so this is what I wrote down: the disk IS a therapy tool. Its intended purpose is to encourage the patient to reconnect with a difficult point in their life and by interacting with the construct the patient develops a healthier understanding of their past.”

Michael interrupted her, “Liz I hope this thing didn’t give you brain cancer.”

“Shut up.”

“Or worse, you could have accidentally triggered your own mini Ortecho.”

Irritation colored her voice, “Michael, let me finish. The connection wasn’t in English. It was all concepts, so I’m not sure I’m translating it right. Mikey is real. He’s a real kid and he’ll age like a real kid. You’ve gotta make peace with yourself, forgive yourself, and when you’re ready you both hold onto the disk and you meld back together. It doesn’t hurt him. He’s part of you. And if you never touch the disk again, Mikey stays. He’ll grow up like any normal child. We should probably run tests on both of you though, just to see. Kyle can give you both a physical.”

Michael shook his head, “The kid is NOT going to like Valenti.”

Liz insisted, “Kyle’s great with kids. It’ll be fine.”

“Your funeral.”

Alex elbowed Michael, “Okay so why didn’t the disk meld them back together when they both touched it a few days ago?”

Liz said, “It won’t work until Michael deals with his childhood trauma.”

Michael laughed, “Sure, I can just deal with my trauma. I’ll go see a therapist and talk about my abandonment issues that began when my family crash landed in Roswell in 1947. Easy.”

Alex put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “You could talk to a therapist and leave out the alien details. You were abandoned. Your siblings were adopted and you weren’t. You survived a string of abusive foster homes. These are all human problems.”

Michael shrugged, dislodging the hand, “Therapists are expensive. You can’t just go talk to one. It’s cheaper to drink beer.”

Liz’s voice piped up through the cell phone, “Super healthy coping mechanism, Michael.”

Michael deflected, “So ANYWAY, if we don’t touch the disk, Mikey stays? And if we do touch the disk after I sell an alien kidney to talk to a shrink, then Mikey gets sucked back into me?”

He could almost hear the grimace in her voice, “Gross way to put it, but yes.”

“Okay thanks Ortecho. Don’t push anymore buttons on the disk. Max would cry if your brain melted.” Michael hung up the phone, turned to Alex and interlaced their fingers, “I can always take him back to the airstream. We can get out of your hair. I don’t know how long he’ll be here. You don’t just get over a shitty childhood in a day and go eat ice cream.”

Alex squeezed his hand, “I want you to stay here. I want you both to stay here. We can always clean out the extra bedroom. Right now it’s full of boxes from when I packed up Jim’s stuff. I can ask Kyle to go through it and keep what he wants. It’d be easy to turn that back into a bedroom.”

“Not your creepy murder basement?”

“Definitely not the creepy murder basement.” Alex considered,  “Although actually I could probably store the boxes in there!”

Alex nodded and continued, “If the kid is here for longer than a week, we can make long term plans. I can forge paperwork. Say you’re the father and you didn’t know about him. His mother moved out of Roswell and dropped him off out of the blue.”

“I would have been sixteen or seventeen when I slept with the mother. A teenage father, how scandalous… but sort of on brand for me.”

“Maybe she was a tourist? Not anyone any of the locals would remember.”

Michael laughed, “Okay so Mikey is the result of a hook up between teenage me, and an adult out of town tourist. Yeah, this is definitely sounding like something I’d do.”

Alex was starting to become more comfortable with this plan. He loved having a plan. “So we’d need a name. Michael is a super common name and maybe she liked you enough to give him your first name, but he’d need a new last name.”

“Truman. My mom’s name was Nora Truman. I don’t care what name his fake mom has, and I don’t really want people thinking I slept with someone named Nora Truman, but he could be Michael Truman. I could have been Michael Truman if my mom got me out of the pods.”

Alex watched the boy fall down and get back up to run even tighter circles. “Maybe we can let Mikey pick out his fake mom’s name. Let him have some sort of agency, and feel involved in these choices. Are you okay with me helping you?”

“Like am I okay with you co-parenting my weird alien inner child?” Michael raised an eyebrow, “This week is so weird. Yes. Please, please help me. I barely kept myself alive for twenty one years on my own. I don’t trust myself to watch TWO of me.”

Alex tugged him closer, “you did a great job on your own. And you’d do a great job now. You just shouldn’t have HAD to have done it alone as a kid, and I don’t want you to be alone now. I want to help. I don’t think we should enroll him in school anytime soon. We should try and figure out more. But I like having some sort of idea of where we’re going here.”

“You and me, and my feral little monster who has a knife”

“Wait, he has a knife?” Alex sat up.

“Oh yeah. I didn’t mention that? It’s a pocketknife. I gave it back to him because I knew he wouldn’t stab you, and you could disarm him if he tried.” Michael appeased, “Which he won’t. I promise he won’t stab you.”  

“He’s not a little monster.” Michael seemed distracted so Alex tugged on a curl to get his attention and repeated, “He’s not a little monster. And YOU’RE not a little monster. He’s a kid and we’re gonna make sure he eats a vegetable every once in awhile, and goes to sleep at a decent hour. We can do this.”

“I mean we’re already doing a better job than any of my foster homes.”

“That bar is pretty low.”

“And yet it exists.”

They eased back on the couch and watched Mikey play.

***

Michael leaned against the backdoor watching his shrinky dink alien run. The kid was playing some sort of weird running game with rules only he knew, and that Michael definitely didn’t remember. One foot managed to get hooked behind the other and the kid landed hard on his ass. Michael winced in sympathy. “Is your butt okay?”

The kid retorted, “is your BRAIN okay?

Michael shrugged, “If your butt hurts we can get Max to heal it. We don’t let him use his powers much anymore since I turned him into a cyborg with an alien pacemaker, but he could heal your butt. You’d just end up with a shiny silver handprint… on your butt. And Max could spy on your feelings, and you’d get to wallow in his poetic angst and guilt.”

The kid narrowed his eyes, “I can’t even tell if you’re kidding. Is that real? Max can heal? But with a handprint and psychic link?”

“Yep.”

Mikey huffed in irritation, “Pretty sure you’re making stuff up, but whatever. What can Isobel do? Fly but she poops alien glitter as a side effect?”

“You should DEFINITELY tell Isobel your theories.” Michael laughed, “But no, she can get into people's brains and influence them.”

Mikey side eyed him, “does she do that to us?”

“No. She promised. Sometimes she can get inside my head but she promises she won’t try to influence us. I don’t even know if she can. She’s only tried the brain thing when she needed to tell me something she couldn’t say out loud.” Michael grimaced, “I didn’t like it. She doesn’t do it often. Apparently our brain is tough and she usually has to puke if she tries anything. SHE says it’s because we’re guarded and paranoid. I think it’s because we’re awesome.”

Michael offered up a hand to high five and the kid pushed past him to the kitchen instead. Ouch.

The kid was getting a glass of water and rummaging around the fridge which made Michael grin. It took awhile to get Mikey to stop asking permission for every single thing. But Michael remembered all the homes that had strict rules about the kitchen. The religious zealots had a lock on the fridge to discourage their charges from greed. Apparently a kid being hungry was the mortal sin of gluttony.

With his head still in the fridge the kid absentminded asked, “Max is a cyborg?”

“He ended up with a heart issue. Long story. I made him a pacemaker and he’s fine now.” Michael wrinkled his nose, “Mostly.”

Mikey kicked the door shut with his hands full of food. “That’s good. Isobel would miss him if something happened to him.”

Michael pulled down a plate to help the boy make a sandwich, “Yeah, Isobel would miss him.”  

The two of them stood side by side making sandwiches. It was good. Eating when hungry. Michael had gotten so used to caregivers forgetting to feed him, that he trained himself to ignore hunger. Unless it was really bad, it didn’t bother him so much anymore. Grabbing a granola bar for breakfast and then working straight through until seven or eight pm wasn’t unusual. It just seemed like a waste of energy to worry about what was for lunch when for so many years there was no lunch. Michael grew up loving school. Not only was it a place he excelled, but he also got breakfast and lunch every day there. He never understood the jokes about how gross cafeteria food was. For him, it was the closest thing to a home cooked meal he was ever gonna get. A sloppy joe served by Mrs. Riley every wednesday at New Roswell High, was his version of a dinner cooked by mom. Summers and Winter break were hard. No school meant no little plastic trays with cartons of chocolate milk and plastic silverware. School was a good place. Michael had liked school.

He cut the sandwiches in half like he’d watched Alex do. It seemed nicer that way. The kid carefully took his plate with two hands. No danger of dropping it. And Michael grabbed plates for himself and Alex, and took them to the table. Lunch. Yet another new thing Michael was trying.

They’d have to figure out what to do the longer Mikey stayed. Michael and Alex both took the day off of work, but the kid would need to go somewhere during the day starting soon. Maybe Max or Isobel. Max was still doing night shifts at the Pony and Isobel was taking a sabbatical from her event planning business. If they went public with the story that Mikey was Michael’s son, he could hang out in the junkyard with him. Michael could fix cars and there were a thousand things the kid could play with. Most foster homes didn’t let Michael fiddle with things. But he loved taking stuff apart and putting it back together. A junkyard was a perfect playground for an engineering genius.

Mikey and Alex were having an animated conversation about the merits of Ninja Turtles. Apparently Alex thought Leonardo was the best because he was the leader and was the most focused. Mikey insisted it was Michelangelo because of… pizza. And honestly, Michael had to agree. Pizza always wins. He grinned at his boys and took another huge bite of his sandwich. Maybe this would work after all.

***

Sleeping in Alex’s bed was never going to get old. There was a Michael shaped divot on the right side of the mattress. Even when he got up, he could see the impression of his body. Alex insisted this meant the mattress was shitty and he needed a new one, but Michael liked the evidence he was there.

He curled up closer to Alex and let his hand rest on his hip, technically breaking the hands above the waist rule but so long as his hand didn’t move, it seemed safe enough. His thumb fit perfectly in the hollow of Alex’s hip. He had rubbed a gentle circle when the part of his brain connected to Mikey pinged a distress call again. With a sigh he climbed out of bed, and hoped he didn’t wake Alex as he left.

The kid was sitting up on the couch wrapped in a quilt. Mikey picked at a loose thread on the knee of his Star Wars pajamas. Michael sat next to him and let him lean his weight against his side.

“Bad dream?”

The kid shrugged and pulled his knees up to his chest.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Mikey shook his head. A few minutes later he blurted, “I heard you and Alex.”

“Heard us what?”

Mikey rocked a little in place, “Talking about how the disk works. How you gotta talk about your emotions so we meld together like a transformer, Mega-Michael, or you’re stuck with me.”

Michael protested, “I don’t have to talk about my emotions.”

“Sometimes you gotta share your fart with the world. You keep it all squeezed up in your butt and it gives you a stomach ache. You just gotta let it out to feel better.”

“My emotions aren’t farts.” Michael crossed his arms defensively.

“But your face is a fart,”

“We have the same face!”

The kid smirked, “Nah, I look awesome. You look constipated.”

Mikey became quiet and serious. He pressed his body against Michael’s side, trying to become a Mega-Michael without alien technology. “You gotta be okay with the bad stuff that happened to us. You’ve gotta… not blame me.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“You blame yourself. I blame me. Bad things happened everywhere we went. We were the only constant factor in the experiment, therefore we’re the variable at fault. It’s just science.”

Michael wrapped both arms around the kid, “I don’t blame you.”

The boy huffed, “You’re stuck with me for awhile. If we don’t touch the disk, you could be stuck with me forever.”

Michael rested his chin on the kid’s head, “That wouldn’t totally suck.”

Mikey closed his eyes, “Alex might not be a fan of this plan.”

“Alex likes this plan.” The Michaels looked up as Alex spoke with a smile. At some point he wandered into the hallway unnoticed. His shoulder was against the wall and he leaned heavily on his crutch. He had been eavesdropping.

The kid tried to push himself out of Michael’s hug, but Michael just squeezed him tighter.

Mikey insisted, “You won’t like me. I’m a mess.”

Alex sat on the other side of him and wrapped an arm around his boys, “I like messes.”

“No you don’t. You’re clean. You make your bed perfectly every morning and you always do your dishes. You’d get tired of me. I’m loud.”

“The cabin was too quiet anyway.”

“I’m… I’m mean. I’ll say mean things.”

Alex ran a hand through the boy’s curls, “It’s okay. You can say mean things and we’ll still like you. You can still stay here. We’re choosing you. We want you to stay.”

Mikey tried to push at the arms embracing him. He kicked at Michael as his eyes welled up, “I’m gonna break all the stuff you like!”

Michael winced as a bony heel caught his thigh, “Yeah but we can fix it. Anything you break we can fix together.”

It was like someone cut the strings of a dancing marionette. The kid lost all fight and fat tear drops streamed down his face to his horror. “You’re gonna change your mind.”

Michael looked at Alex, a silent conversation happening above the boy’s head. Michael wiped a glob of snot off the kid’s face with the hem of his shirt. “We’re picking you. On purpose. We want you to stay. Do you want to stay?”

Mikey took a great shuddering breath and nodded.

Alex thumbed away a tear, “Then as long as you want us, we want to keep you.”

It wasn’t a conventional family. It wasn’t something Michael ever thought he’d have. But Michael, Alex, and Mikey could pick each other. That was a thing they could do. And they’d be okay.

[goldenmessenger]

TS Actor AU: Reach Out Your Hand Pt 1

Summary: Before recovery can come, you have to admit you have a problem first. In 2019, Roman’s been clean for about 6 years. In 2011, however? Clean is a long way away. He’s alone. Isolated. No-one to turn to. Except he might have one person. But Roman’s ignored him for the last 4 years. But then the voicemail comes.

Read on Ao3 here.

A/N: Hey everyone! So, I’m currently working on a multi-chapter fic set after the last two fics. But that’s probably going to take me a while. So in the meantime, have this fic that’s set 8 years before the others. This is some backstory on Roman, Remus, and Dillon, and how Roman got on the first steps to recovery. Also, I meant for this to be a one-shot, but it’s going to be a two-parter. It’s too long to post all at once. I apologize in advance for this, it’s really intense and a lot of whump and angst. I promise part 2 will make up for everything, and that’ll be up tomorrow.

As usual, let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! And once again, I apologize.

Content Warnings: Drunken texts, drug abuse, drug overdose, mild violence (vague mention), self-deprecating thoughts and language, whump, angst

****************************

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Sent at 11:24pm

Text from (xxx) xxx-xxxx:

happhy B-day roe

its me Rekus

Remus

i gootta new phonee 

im sorry

iwas the worts 

woest

worsr 

Cant typw

To drukn 

Miss u tho

First b-day wit out u

Do u mis me to?

See u on th news

Got that moie 

Movie deal u wanted

Hop ur doin wel 

That ur happy

M not

Mis u

Love u

****************************

Friday, March 20, 2009

Sent at 2:00 pm

Text from (xxx) xxx-xxxx:

Hey Ro, happy birthday,

it’s me again. 

I wanna apologize for the mess that I sent last year. Thought you’d like to know I’m in a much better place now.

I’m in college in San Francisco, probably gonna live there after.

Gotta boyfriend, just like you always said you would if we didn’t have to deal with everyone’s expectations.

Went to therapy, boyfriend’s idea

Though he was just a best friend then

It’s been really helpful. 

I was so awful to you. 

I honestly wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to see me again

You don’t have to forgive me, I just want a chance to talk

If you want to meet up

Just let me know

****************************

Saturday, March 20, 2010

 Sent at 10:00 am

Text from (xxx) xxx-xxxx: 

Hey Ro

Happy birthday again. 

At this point, I know you probably won’t reply

This probably isn’t even your number anymore. 

I don’t know why I keep texting you though

Closure, perhaps?

An inability to let go?

Whatever it is, it’s kinda sad

I can’t stop though

If by any chance you are reading this, please respond

I don’t care if it’s to say you hate me, or never want to talk to me again, please

I need you

I need my brother

****************************

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Sent at 10:00 am

Text from (xxx) xxx-xxxx: 

Happy birthday Ro!

This will probably be the last time I text you. 

My boyfriend, Dillon, pointed out that if you were going to reply, you would’ve already

I need to move on

I need to heal 

I still love you though 

You’ll always be my brother

****************************

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Sent at 11:00 am

Text from (xxx) xxx-xxxx: 

Ro

Ro, what the hell?

I know I said that I wouldn’t text again 

But I just saw the news

You punched someone?

What on earth

I’d honestly be kinda proud of you if I wasn’t worried

Are you doing ok? 

That’s not like you. 

I was always the violent one. 

I know what I said before, but if you need anyone to talk to, I’m here. 

I won’t be waiting for you anymore, but I’ll still be here for you, if you need me.

All you need to do is reach out.

****************************

Sunday, August 15, 2011

Missed Call at 1:00 am

Voicemail from (xxx) xxx-xxxx: 

 “Ro—Roman! Please, please tell me you’re there, that you’re alright—

I just heard, apparently you’ve been missing for two weeks? Two whole weeks, and I didn’t know—

Please call me back, or text if that works better! Please, no one knows where you are, if you’re ok, nothing!

I — I can’t lose you Roman.

I mean, maybe I did already, maybe I did a long time ago—

But that was different. At least you were alive. You were happy. At least, I thought you were happy. I’m not so sure about that anymore. 

But if by some miracle, some crazy insane miracle you still have this number, if you’re ok, please please let me know. 

I love you so much Ro. 

I don’t think I ever said it enough, but I do. So, so much. 

I hope wherever you are, you’re ok.”

****************************

The dark hotel room was illuminated only by the screen of his phone. He stared at it with glassy eyes, unseeing, as the message finished playing. Roman was leaning against the bed, sitting on the floor. His phone was gleaming on the ground next to him. 

Roman had read Remus’s texts as they came, of course, but he hadn’t thought they were sincere. That they were real. Nothing else in his life was, not even his own parents. So why should his own twin be an exception? But he didn’t delete the texts or block the number. He let the messages keep coming. And he didn’t know why. 

Maybe because part of him had wanted to hope. Why else would he be where he was now? Why else would he have used the most of the little money he had left to get himself here? Here in a dingy little motel on the edge of San Francisco. He hadn’t told anyone where he was going, not that anyone cared. Maybe Remy might’ve. Remy, who Roman realized now might’ve been his only real friend. At least, he could’ve been, if Roman hadn’t pushed him away when Remy had attempted to convince Roman he had a problem. Pushed him away just like Roman had done to everything else good in his life. 

That’s why he hadn’t contacted Remus yet. Why he’d sat here in this room with it’s flea-ridden bed and peeling wallpaper for almost two weeks now, only leaving to buy food from the nearby convenience store. Remus’s texts had seemed like he was doing well. Roman had looked at his Facebook too. Remus was in college, was living with his boyfriend, a job working as a tech at a local theater. He seemed happy. Roman couldn’t bring himself to ruin that like he ruined everything else. 

But that voicemail—he hadn’t ever heard Remus sound so frightened before. So worried. And about Roman, of all people. Why? Why on earth? Sure, they’d been close as kids, but they hadn’t even been in the same room for years. And Roman had ignored all of Remus’s attempts to make contact since. He couldn’t understand it. It made his head hurt. He was feeling bitterly jittery, and not very glittery. 

That was a weird sentence. When did his thoughts stop making sense? He needed his pills, needed them. He couldn’t deal with all of these thoughts and emotions. He needed them to go away. He needed them to stop. He fumbled on all fours for the bottle, and finally found it, open and empty. That wasn’t right, it’d been full only...only...he couldn’t remember. A wave of dizziness hit him, and he pitched forward, face planting into the ground. 

Something wasn’t right. Why was his brain so fuzzy. Everything hurt so much, he couldn’t think. He needed help. He needed Remus. He somehow managed to find his phone, and hit the contact simply labeled “R.”

The phone rang. And rang. Finally, it was picked up. And a familiar voice spoke.

****************************

Remus ran his hand through his sleeping boyfriend’s hair. It was a calming motion that somewhat helped to calm his racing mind. But not by much. Dillon had attempted to convince Remus to rest, but Remus couldn’t sleep. Not when Roman was missing. He’d gotten the news around midnight, from a former friend of Roman’s, Remy. 

Remy had been the one to tell Remus that Roman had been struggling with a drug addiction, though Remy didn’t know how long. He’d tried to get Roman some help as soon as he found out, but the other man had rejected it and broke off their friendship. Remy had gone to Roman’s apartment that morning to attempt to repair their relationship, with the hope that he could eventually convince Roman to get some help. But he was nowhere to be found. The door was unlocked, and there was two weeks worth of mail on the floor. He’d found Remus’s number on accident, on a post-it on Roman’s fridge, labeled “Bro.” That’s when he’d called Remus and, upon finding out he was Roman’s brother, told him everything.

Remus didn’t quite understand why Roman had his number saved like that, but the more pressing concern was finding Roman. Remus attempted to call Roman several times, each one going straight to voicemail.

He didn’t blame Dillon for falling asleep though. Remus would if he could. He couldn’t though. The hand that wasn’t running through Dillon’s hair had a death grip on his phone. He couldn’t stop staring at it, praying to anyone who would listen that it would ring.

He didn’t know what he expected though. Roman had never responded to him in the past, so why would now be any diff— 

“I’m a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie wooorld

Life in plastic, it’s fantastic...”

Remus startled as his phone’s ringtone filled the room. Next to him, Dillon shifted and blinked tiredly at him. 

“Why on earth do you still have that obnoxious song as your ringtone?” Dillon questioned, a little grumpy at being woken so unceremoniously. 

“You can brush my hair, undress me everywheere

Imagination, life is your creation...”

Remus could barely hear him. He could barely hear his own ringtone. All he could do was stare at the name that lit up the screen.

Lil bRO(man)

“Come on, Barbie, let's go party!”

Dillon looked up at Remus, the sleep slowly fading from his gaze as his brain slowly began to catch up.

“Re, what’s wrong?”

“I’m a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie wooorld

Life in plastic, it’s fantastic...”

The chorus of the song began to repeat, and Remus knew he was running out of time. This was something he’d wanted for years, and now, it was happening right in front of him. But he was frozen. For some reason, he couldn’t answer the phone.

“You can brush my hair, undress me everywheere…”

When Remus didn’t respond, Dillon sat up, and saw the phone lying limp in his boyfriend’s grasp.

“Imagination, life is you—”

Quick as a lightning bolt, Dillon grabbed the phone and hit ANSWER before it could go to voicemail. Almost as quick, he hit the speaker button.

There was a long moment of silence. Too long. Finally, Remus’s voice returned.

“Ro, is that you?” He asked, hopefully. “Are you ok, are you hurt, where—”

“Re. I— I didn’t acshully think you’d anshwer.”

Roman’s familiar voice leaked through the speakers like water through a broken dam. Despite Remus’s relief, however, he immediately recognized something was wrong. One look at Dillon’s face told Remus that he’d heard it too. The way Roman’s words slurred themselves together. Remus took a deep breath. He knew how to handle this. He just needed to stay calm.

“Of course I would.” Remus said sincerely. “Ro, why don’t you tell me where you are? Maybe I can come to you and we can have this conversation in person?”

However, Roman didn’t seem to hear Remus’s question.

“I meshed up Re, meshed up big time, I ran ‘way from evything ‘cause I shcrewed up, an’ now I’m losht an’ allone an’ I jus’ wanted to hear your voishe one lasht time…”

Remus felt his heart seize in panic at those words. He grabbed the phone out of Dillon’s hands as the man looked on worriedly. Remus clutched that phone like it was his lifeline. No, Roman’s lifeline.

“Roman, wait, what do you mean, one last time? Where are you, what’s going on?”

“Ate too many of th’ pret-ty white circles, and now I can’ shtand up right and m’ brain won’ work.”

Roman’s voice grew thick, and it began to sound like he was crying.

“M sorry Re, ‘m an awful brother. I can’ do anything righ’ an’ I was too much of a cow-ward to tell you I was here.”

Remus’s eyes widened in shock as his brain processed the information. White circles, didn’t a lot of pills take that form? Including addictive ones. And Roman was here? San Francisco?

He looked over to Dillon to find that his boyfriend had his own phone out, and was callling someone. Dillon caught his gaze, and mouthed 911. Keep him talking. Remus took a deep breath. He needed to keep it together. For Roman’s sake. 

“Roman, you’re going to be fine, just tell me where you are, and I’ll be right there. You said that you’re here? Where is here?”

“Th’ golden ci-ty, home of Saint Franny. Wan-ed to talk to you, couldn’ get up th’ nerve. ‘M in this shtupid lil hot-tel, it schucks. Bayshide Mot-tel, I think. Rom 320. Picked it cause it wash our birth-dayte.”

Remus quickly glanced over to Dillon urgently, and his boyfriend began relaying Roman’s location to the paramedics. 

“Ro, we’ll be right there, just hold on, ok? We’re on our way.” 

No response.

“Roman, Roman!”

Silence echoed from the other end of the line. 

“No, nononononono no! Roman, please!”

In a dark dingy motel room several miles away, the only sound was a brother’s anguished cries, and the only light was that of a cracked phone screen next to a limp hand.

****************************

AN: Again, I’m really sorry about this cliffhanger, and I will fix it tomorrow.

****************************

TAGLIST:

@ironwoman359

@galacticguppy

@trashpanda-remus 

@atticusfinchthelegend

@ravenclawunicorn1

@voidvirgil

@dogwithpants

@dreaming-about-kittens

[goliath-de-senfina-sango]

Things get darker right before they get brighter in the end, something three plucky teens are about to learn. Sometimes you just want that darkness to have never had a reason to come for you in the first place. One has to be careful what they wish for, of course.

Welcome to the end, friends

Danny was on the ground, unmoving.

The ghost left with a cheerful wave, saying, “Tata!”  Like he hadn’t just ruined their lives worse than the first time Tucker had heard Danny’s screams at their loudest.  Like it was simply a wonderful day and they had engaged in the most wonderful of conversations, not a fight that ended with one of them-

Danny was in Tucker’s arms, unmoving and pale.

Tucker was trying everything he could think of, removing most of Tucker’s tops and trying to perform every life-saving action he knew off, pressing against his chest, trying to breathe more breath into his lungs, keeping pressure on the bleeding and burnt wound when he saw it.

Danny was in Tucker’s arms, unmoving, pale, and bleeding.

Tucker knew everything was blurry because tears were clouding his vision.  He knew he was crying. He knew he was shaking with the force of his sobs and for once in his life, he couldn’t bring himself to give half a damn about that because Danny-

Danny was in Tucker’s arms, unmoving, pale, bleeding, and his heart wasn’t beating no matter how long Tucker listened for it.

Sam was doing something, pulling out Danny’s weapons, and Tucker wanted to scream at her that she’d done enough with Fenton weapons already.  He wanted to scream and rage at her for what she had done so far with Fenton Tech. He wanted to go to the Fentons and rip them all a new one for making what they made.

Because Danny was dead in Tucker’s arms, and screaming and crying were the only things he could do about it.

But he didn’t scream at Sam, he just watched as she pulled out one of Danny’s paintbrushes and dipped it in the ectoplasm of the cartridge in one of his guns.  She started drawing on Danny’s face, his arms, his chest, and then pulled out another cartridge of charged ectoplasm in another gun and poured it in Danny’s mouth, tilted his head so that he would swallow.  “Chant with me. Chant with me Tucker, we have to fix this!”

Tucker didn’t know any Hebrew, decided he’d learn both because Sam was his friend and because apparently, she could do things that could save their lives with it.  Tucker didn’t need to know what he was saying to say it, and he did say it, over and over again for the next 10 minutes, until the drawings on Danny’s body lit up like fire and every ray of light rushed toward him and everything went dark.  Tucker could hear the song of the universe dimming in his ears and knew nearly for a fact that Danny was sucking the ectoplasmic energy into him along with every other flavor of power within blocks of him. Tucker would let the sun itself go black just to hear Danny’s laugh again.

The darkness faded, Danny’s body was outlined in light, the markings were gone, and Danny groaned.  His chest rose and dropped, his heart was beating, color was coming back to his skin, he was as warm as he’d been since the accident.  Danny was alive in Tucker’s arms, and Tucker wanted to cry even harder than he already had. Instead, the put Danny’s binder back on him, Sam grabbed his shirt and jacket, and Tucker carried Danny out to their hoverboards.  They flew to Sam’s house, Tucker staying as high and close to the sun as he could to let Danny soak in all the light he needed. When they got to Sam’s house, Tucker didn’t let Danny go until he was being set on a love seat on Sam’s balcony.

There were, of course, jokes to be made about the way Danny curled up in the fleeting October sunlight and how his fluffball curls and height combined with this to make him much like a kitten.  Jokes about him being a cross between Superman and the Martian Manhunter could’ve also been made. Danny was a white-haired anime boy, that could be remarked upon with laughs aplenty. Tucker made no such jokes.

Tucker put to use the information he’d gathered at his last LARPing session at furrycon after a shank attempt by a guy who’d wandered into the park where he’d been LARPing at that took their cosplay a bit too seriously.  That being that leather was wonderful armor, silk blocked stabs fantastically when a blade slid through said leather, and that one should always wear cotton under silk anything because sweating to death after a fight near to death wasn’t fun.  He’d smacked a crazy guy upside the head and gotten a useful lesson out of that. Tucker’s older cousin could supply the leather, Sam could order fine silk jackets and pants for all of them, Danny had cotton shirts already, and Sidney offered to use intangibility to fuse the two together.  Tucker commented that the leather would look fitting on Sam since she was more of a punk anyway. She called him a furry, he called her a weeb, and they both explained the concepts to Sydney.

That was all fine and dandy against most blunt force, stabbing and slashing that even a ghost could probably do, but against ghosts and their intangibility, there were few places to go.  Sam had her magick book but Tucker didn’t want to touch on anything supernatural for a while and unless she could prove that her wards were working, he wouldn’t exactly trust Danny’s life with them.  Convincing Jack Fenton that he needed some easily worn and hidden accessory to prevent possession was almost sadly easy, the only condition being that Tucker had to wear one of those horrible looking hazmat suits.  Tucker let it hang in his closet, as he had no intention of matching Jack Fenton’s fashion sense.

One might feel that Tucerk and his friends were being a bit excessive in their measures to keep Danny padded up against the world, but such an individual hadn’t seen their best friend since age 1 die in front of them by the same person’s hand twice so that particular person could kindly go shove their opinion where the sun don’t shine in Tucker’s very polite opinion.

Danny himself was groggy for most of his recovery time and had clearly caught on that they were being extra protective of him.  While Sam was introducing Sidney to anime and videogames and Tucker was showing him the best comics and music, Danny always had whoever wasn’t with the others within arm’s reach.  He was jumpy when it came to his ghost sense telling him that Sidney was there, had his hood up whenever they were outside, and even though they’d been near forcing Agatha’s cooking down his throat at every meal they could, Danny had yet to Go Ghost.  Sam brought up the idea of taking down the shapeshifter and Danny balked at the topic, bringing up the frogs, the latest anime that she had shown Sidney or really anything else when she did this. Tucker was more than fine with this since no ghost mode meant no seeking out danger which meant that the only fights they were dealing with included Dash, Kwan and Dale making fun of them for being a furry, a weeb and a Fenton.  Seeing Sam put her martial arts to use when Dash tried to stuff Danny in a locker was worth the detention he got for tripping Dale as he rushed in to help. He spent it with Sam anyway so that was fine. If wanting Danny safer than Amity was selfish then Tucker was as far from selfless as possible.

“Hey, Danny,” Tucker said while he worked on finishing up the Spector Deflector that Dr. Fenton had started for him in Danny’s workshop.  “There’s a swap meet coming up in Harrison Park this Saturday. Wanna come with? I’m gonna get a set of dice if I can and see if I can show Sidney DnD.  Maybe we all can play even.” He grinned. “We can get you a new bowling ball so you can destroy Sam in bowling.”

“Bro, you’ll be wrecked with her,’ Danny challenged from where he drew in his art book instead of doing his homework.  Tucker was procrastinating by making ghost hunting tech, he couldn’t blame Danny. “That sounds cool.”

“Awesome.”  Tucker set down his tools and pulled up his safety goggles.  “Can you come over and poke this? Very lightly and just a little in case I’m as done as I think I am.”  Danny obliged and there was a loud SNAP accompanied by a yelp and Tucker patted Danny’s shoulder.  “Looks like I’m done with the internals. Now all I gotta do is adjust it so that it can ignore your ectosignature, and Sidney’s and Agatha’s, and it’ll really be done.”

“Done for your armor idea, right?”  Danny scoffed, slugging Tucker in the shoulder while he looked for the blueprint he’d downloaded of the part that’d track ectosignatures in the Fenton Finder.  “Sidney told me about it while we were watching Star Wars. Or should I call it his guard duty shift? Cause I know what you guys are doing and while I appreciate your concern over my safety, I’m the one with powers here.”

“20 hours straight of unconsciousness and tears say that superpowers don’t mean you don’t need protection against people with the same superpowers.”  Tucker huffed. “If we’d been wearing some armor like we’re making then that fish thing probably wouldn’t have been able to bite through me like it did.  Silk and piercing ya know.” He bumped shoulders with Danny when he went quiet and forced his lips up into a smile. “And besides, your parents have literally no fashion sense.  A leather jacket lined with silk? Leather pants, probably with studs in it since Sam is involved? Dude, that’s cool as fuck looking. You’ll be the best-dressed ghost out there.”  Danny laughed and shook his head. Tucker got to work setting up the design for the Fenton Fabricator™ to make for the Spector Deflector. He also considered asking for a cut of the royalties when the belt inevitably became a Fenton Brand item, since he’d finished it.  “You think putting on clothes in ghost form will invert their colors like your suit?”

“Fuck you, Tuck, now I have to find out.”  Danny huffed and Tucker snickered. For a moment everything was quiet, and then arms were wrapping around his middle.  “Thanks, Tuck. For everything.” Tucker looped an arm around Danny and smushed him against his side.

“That’s what bros are for, man.”  The room was a comfortable quiet after that.  The Fabricator and the generator were humming softly at the edge of Tucker’s once again human limited hearing, the only other sound was their breathing and - Tucker could swear - their heartbeats.  The air was charged with something more than ectoplasm and electricity and Tucker wasn’t sure if Danny knew that as well, but he knew that he could hardly know anything else right then. So naturally, Tucker lowered his hand at Danny’s side and started tickling him.  Danny squeaked, squealed out some giggles, and phased out of his grip when wriggling didn’t work.

“You dick!  Get over here!”

Danny appreciated the effort Sam, Tucker and Sidney were putting in for him, he really honestly did.  Sidney still went to his therapy session with Jazz which Danny could tell were helping him by how bright his aura had gotten, and between him and Jazz at school there were at least a few bright auras to go around, but with how things were going, Danny felt at least a bit suffocated.

Half the auras at school - both student and teacher - were dim enough that Danny almost couldn’t see them.  Dash and company had been especially vicious as of late, calling them every name under the sun and getting into actual fights with him, Tucker and Sam.  Between the three of them they managed well enough - being dragged to martial arts lessons with Sam and fighting eldritch abominations from the afterlife did things for your confidence in facing up to bullies - but it hadn’t ever been this bad before.  And while Tucker and Sam both were clearly brighter than everyone else emotionally, they were skirting around things in the most unsubtle way imaginable and Danny wondered how they kept anything hidden. Sam tried to get him into ghost form to see how fast he could fly, Tucker changed the topic from anything ghostly to something nerdy and Sidney seemed to stare at him as much as he did the movies they were watching.  Sure, Sidney was keeping his eyes on the screen but Danny knew ghosts could see more than just with their eyes and the feeling of being constantly watched was getting more than unnerving.

Saturday was a breath of fresh air.  Sam was maybe coming down with something and Sidney was off exploring the city on his own, so it was just Danny and Tucker buying the stuff they’d come for and laughing their heads off at their dumb jokes.  It was sunny, the crowd was bright with positivity abound, and he was having fun with his best friend in the world. It was nice.

Of course, a ghost attack ruined it.

Cotton candy erupted and flooded the place, and Danny slid under a table while the crowds stampeded away, yanking Tucker under as well.  He reached inside, past the void of darkness into the soft and splintered light at his center. It exploded out to the surface and in a flash of silver glass, shimmering shadows wove his hazmat suit around him and unraveled gravity’s hold on his body.  He shuddered, glitching out of reality - or what he was so very hopeful and sure was reality anyway - and gave Tucker a smile. “Wish me luck.” He slid down into the ground and forward, rising out of a mound of cotton candy as big as himself. There was a woman with long black hair, dark green skin, and blue scarce clothing floating over the sweets and stretching her arms.  “I understand a sweet tooth and all that, but this is a bit dangerously Much.” Danny held out a hand with a smile when a sneer was turned his way. “I’m Danny Phantom, hopefully nice to meet you.”

“ I am Desiree,” she said in some accented blend of every language that Danny knew.  It was headache-inducing and he definitely didn’t like it. “ This confection explosion was hardly my intention boy, I am cursed to use my power to grant the wishes of all those who make them. ”

“What, like a jinni?  If I find and rub your lamp and say ‘I wish I had a dick’ do you complete my tra-”

“ So you have wished it, so shall it be. ”  Her hands went up, green smoke curled around him, through him, within him, caressed that inner light and warmth that was his human body, and Danny shuddered in the wake of power well beyond his ability to fully process.  Before the smoke even cleared, Danny could hear Desiree speaking through gritted teeth. “ Yes, boy I am a Jinni.  One of your kind cursed me, both to be trapped in that infernal bottle, but also to use my power for all who catch my ear. ”

Danny was reeling when the smoke cleared, giving himself a mental review of what he could feel on himself and gawked when he realized what had happened.  “Um. Wow.” Desiree was clearly unimpressed. “Uh, well, I know a way I can he-” a ball of ectoplasma, charged up with energy, raced into Desiree’s gut and knocked her back and Danny really wished that people would stop interrupting him.

“Stay away from him, damn it!  Can’t we have one nice day?” Tucker readied another shot and Danny waved his arms to tell him not to.  “I wish I had stopped you from going into that stupid fucking portal! Then we wouldn’t be in this mess!”  crud.

“ So you have wished it, so shall it be. ”  FUCK .  Green mist filled Danny’s vision, and everything went dark.

[mobius-prime]

71. Knuckles the Echidna #3

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The Dark Legion (Book Three): Blood is Thicker

Writers: Ken Penders and Kent Taylor Pencils: Manny Galan and Andrew Pepoy Colors: Karl Bollers

This issue's intro page mostly just goes on about how Knuckles has to learn from the past to fight here in the present, so we'll just move right into the story.  Knuckles decides to use the Legion's fire idea against them, and recruits Vector's apparently incredibly eardrum-damaging headphones for the job, using the sheer volume of the music to blow the flames directly back at the pursuing soldiers.

Back up four hundred years, and there's complete pandemonium in Echidnapolis. The Dark Legion are flying all over the city and attacking, and the council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the situation when Steppenwolf, now a confident and skilled guardian, walks in. Some of the council members want to blame him, but he decides to be the bigger person.

H-hey, bro, where did you get that laser gun? Aren't you guys supposed to be the no-tech crew? I kind of feel like a laser gun would go against those rules…

In any case, Steppenwolf believes that the only way to end the conflict is to come to a compromise between both parties, which is like, actually the most reasonable thing any of the ancient echidnas have said so far. Like, in all honesty, both sides suck. One side wants to drag everyone back to the dark ages over one single guy's overreaction to a scientific rejection, and the others are basically techno-terrorists attacking innocent people because they got their TVs taken away. Steppenwolf marches out after making his point, leaving the white-wigged councilman teary-eyed over how amazing and perfect he is. Normally I'd be making fun of the writing again but like yeah, Steppenwolf is honestly the coolest ancient echidna thus far.

Back in the present, Knuckles and the Chaotix steal some robes from the unconscious echidnas (well at least I assume they're unconscious, but they did crash their hovercraft directly into a forest fire…) and fly with the rest of the recalled craft to the Legion's base, which they're shocked to see, given that it's kind of… big, and well, very noticeable.

Remember, we're seeing all these flashback scenes, but Knuckles isn't - from what I can tell he doesn't know the entire story about Steppenwolf and all that old drama, so this is entirely new to him. Knuckles' father, still watching the whole thing from afar, finally sends Archimedes back to Knuckles to help him out. Knuckles, meanwhile, lands inside the base with his friends and proceeds into the Great Hall, where Kragok announces to the room that he's apparently found the Chaos Emerald, and starts rambling on about his evil plans and whatnot. Predictably, Knuckles speaks up. Damn, my guy, can't you at least just let him finish spilling his plans first before you jump right in?

Meanwhile, in the past, Steppenwolf has arrived at the Dark Legion's meeting place for a final confrontation of his own. Any hope of talking things out is dashed quickly when he's forced to disable a few assassins that the leader had training guns on him, so Steppenwolf takes the fight to the leader himself, ripping off his mask to reveal…

Oh come on, we all saw this coming. Menniker has apparently spent all his time since his father's death mourning and contemplating his next steps in life, until he saw a green light coming from the ruins of Mount Fate and interpreted it as a sign that he should follow in his father's footsteps. He's honestly gone a bit nuts since then, with bloodshot eyes and a crazy demeanor, and, unable to reason with him, Steppenwolf uses his Chaos powers to, uh… well he does something flashy looking, and Menniker and all his followers are sucked up into a green portal, leaving Steppenwolf and Christopheles somber about this ending, though they note that things likely aren't over yet.

Back to the present for a good example of that! A fight breaks out between Kragok and Knuckles on the stage, and when the soldiers in attendance try to help their leader out, the Chaotix jump into the fray as well. Watching from his monitors, Knuckles' father does some more Chaos-magic-stuff to help out.

Without his fighting force to back him up, Kragok makes a hasty exit, and Knuckles is unable to follow him in time to stop him. The base begins to fall apart around them, and Knuckles and the Chaotix are forced to make a run to escape.

When they emerge onto the surface of the island, everything is quiet, and there's no sign of the Legion. It appears they'll have to wait another day for answers - but in the meantime, they can prepare.

And so marks the end of this three-part series! The rest of the Knuckles the Echidna series continues on in the same way, with the entire thing (barring a few exceptions) being broken up into three-issue "episodes." We won't be seeing another one until the next era, but they'll be lasting for a little while once we get there!

[supernaturalimaginetime]

(GIFS ARE NOT MINE!!!)

It seemed like everything in the world came to a pause once had heard word from his sister. Who would have thought there would actually be something lurking in the sewers? Sure, there was always that one story of there being an alligator under the city in those cheesy cartoons you used to watch; he hated every single one. Finding himself in this situation shouldn’t have been a surprise. All three of the Winchester siblings dealt with worse. Only somehow, this situation was different than others. WAY different.

Sam was still attempting to ask his older brother of their baby sister’s whereabouts. Only he followed Dean as they walked through the sewers, occasionally running into cobwebs and dead ends. Apparently Dean wanted to find their sister his own way… That was until-

“Hey! You’ve been hacked by Donatello! We’ve been informed about you by your sister and she figured you needed assistance.” The older Winchester’s phone was given a map. A red line going through the layout of the sewers as it pin pointed a route.

Sam was baffled by this, his gaze switching from the phone to Dean. Seeing the same look on his face.

“What-”

“Friends of (Y/N)…” Dean cut him off. “At least I hope so,”

—-

It didn’t take long for the Winchesters to reach the headquarters. Both of them looking around in awe.

“No way,” Sam stated.

“Yes way, apparently…” Dean added.

Once a certain (H/C) had spotted them, she quickly ran over, “Sam! Dean!” She smiled.

Dean immediately was first to wrap his arms around his baby sister in a protective embrace, “You okay, (N/N)?”

(Y/N) nodded in response, “I’m fine!”

Sam nudged Dean, “Hate to ruin the reunion but uh… You mind introducing us, (Y/N)?” He nodded his head toward the four figures that had approached.

Dean practically did a double take, “And you weren’t kidding…”

All four mutants stared, unsure of the two brothers.

“So there were aliens in New York this whole time?” Dean asked.

“Actually we’re-” Donnie started until one of his brothers stepped forward.

“We’re mutants. There’s a difference,” Raphael gritted his teeth in annoyance. The tooth pick at the corner of his mouth could snap at any split second from the look of annoyance he has.

Leonardo gave a stern look to his younger brother before stepping up, “So you’re her brothers?” He asked.

Sam answered with a nod while Dean was still trying to process the situation.

“So….” Mikey quickly stepped forward and started asking questions from the top of his head.

“So do you guys really hunt down ghosts and stuff? How are you able to do it? Wouldn’t the stuff you have in the gun go through them? What about demons? Are they just as scary as Raph or worse? What about the werewolves and vampires? Have you dealt with zombies yet?”

He had tons of questions coming all at once until Raphael had pulled him back by his shell, “Give ‘em time to breathe, ya moron!” He scolded.

Dean looked down at you, “You told them?” He whispered.

“Kinda had to!” (Y/N) responded with her hands up in defense.

Dean then turned his attention back to the four mutants, “Yes.. We’re hunters. We’re the whole package!” He said the last line with a tone of sarcasm.

“A package of packing peanuts if you ask me, shorty,” Raphael spoke with a smirk dancing on his lips while Mikey snickered.

Dean’s eyes widened at that before his expression turned to annoyance.

“Thanks for taking care of our sister,” Sam had stepped up before Dean could say anything.

“It was no problem, really,” Leonardo nodded.

“I still feel a bit skeptical about the whole… hunter thing,” Donnie spoke up.

“Believe me, Don.” You stepped in, “Everyone we helped thought that,”

The conversation seemed to go to a somewhat good start. All of a sudden, the lights had gone out in the room.

“Power shortage? No problem to fix,”

“Yeah, Donnie! Please! I need to get back to playing my video games later!”

(Y/N) immediately didn’t feel assured. She quickly went back to Dean, “I don’t think this is an ordinary blackout,” she whispered.

Sam had sauntered over as well, “Do you think it didn’t work? Do you think that spirit is still down here?”

“Nah, it worked. But this is something else.” Dean responded.

“What’re you guys talking about?” Mikey whispered as he appeared between the two brothers, making them jump.

“Never do that,” Dean warned the orange clad turtle.

The temperature seemed to get lower in the room as (Y/N) got a chill up her spine. That was until she heard a faint growling and grimaced.

Mikey had gotten stiff, “Did anybody else hear that?”

“Yeah.. Donnie?” Raphael looked in the direction of his younger brother.

“There shouldn’t be any species of wolf in the city. Not to mention having it find a way down to the sewers,” Donnie responded.

Leonardo took his turn to saunter over to the three Winchesters, “You guys see anything?”

“It could be one of Crowley’s strays..” Dean shook his head with a sigh.

“Why would it want to follow us?” Sam asked.

“It obviously wants me to go back to hell…” Dean responded, “Or it just hates all of our guts,”

(Y/N) shook her head before Mikey came near, “So um, you got any idea of what we’re dealing with, angel cakes?”

“What we’re up against is one of Crowley’s hell hounds, we can’t see them directly,” This had come to Leonardo’s attention as she explained.

“Then how do we deal with it?” The eldest asked.

“Before it rips us up like shreds of breakfast bacon, we need to work fast on this,” Dean informed them.

“We already have the holy oil and a lighter-” Sam added, “But we need a pair of glasses,”

“Easy!” Mikey went over to Donnie and took his glasses, “Sorry bro! We need to borrow these!”

—

Thankfully, it didn’t take long to prepare the glasses. Only wearing them was a tad bit tricky to to the size. As (Y/N) looked through the glasses, she spotted a blue silhouette stalking around the lounging area.

“Mikey! Jump to your left!” She informed the turtle as she readied her gun.

The youngest complied and immediately broke right.

“No, your other left!” She shouted but sighed as he was out of harms way, shooting the spot in front of where the hound stood.

The hell hound scurried, running into a couple pieces of furniture causing them to knock over and fall.

Dean had shot the hound at it’s side, causing it to let out a whimper in pain and run off back into the sewer tunnels.

“It should learn it’s place now… Of course we might get a visit from the king of bastards himself..” Dean started.

“It shouldn’t come back after that,” Sam assured them.

“Thanks for the help… But bros,” Mikey caught his brothers’ attention, “Sensei is SO sending us to the Hashii if he sees all this..”

“We can’t exactly use that one excuse of ‘the dog did it’…” Donnie informed, still squinting his eyes.

(Y/N) noticing this detail, handed over his glasses.

“Well don’t look at us, we’ve already done our job,” Dean backed up a couple steps.

With that, you all shared a laugh. Mikey giving a groan to all the cleaning they would have to do later.

—–

You and your brothers were packing up the impala that evening. The three of you were ready to head back to the bunker after the exhausting case. After meeting a couple new friends, you almost felt like you didn’t want to leave. You dropped something only to have a certain mutant catch it. Looking up your eyes met Michelangelo’s, you simply thanked him in return as you packed the duffle bag in the trunk.

“If you need some assistance. You’ll know where to find us,” Leo nodded as he had his arms crossed over his chest.

“Yeah.. 'Cause I guess we owe you one..” Raph darted his gaze to the floor as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Really, angel cakes! We could’ve been baked back there!” Mikey spoke up, putting his hands on your shoulders, “For that we worship you!”

(Y/N) simply laughed at his antics before Dean came around, “Um, excuse me? She didn’t exactly do it alone?”

Sam simply snickered, stepping up to stand beside his siblings, “We still thank you guys for finding our sister. You guys aren’t that bad,”

“Who knows! Maybe one day we’ll come back and visit. Maybe a small get together cookout?” The youngest Winchester suggested.

“Okay, okay! Slow your roll, sister,” Dean patted you on the shoulder.

“We could if we host it on the rooftop of April’s apartment complex,” Donnie informed as he adjusted his glasses and stepped forward, “Here’s something you could contact us with..” He handed her a watch, a high tech watch at that.

Another thing was that he had their contact information of Sam’s laptop and her phone. (Y/N) gave him a smile. It was noticeable how his glasses were fogging up as heat sprouted to his face. The purple clad turtle gave a nervous chuckle as he stepped back in line with his brothers.

It wasn’t long before all of them said their goodbyes. Mikey had tried to serenade the youngest sister with a song, his brothers crying out in protest. Now she find herself sleeping in the back seat, head leaning against the window with her forearm as a pillow and using her jacket as a blanket. Yeah, she was definitely going to come back to New York soon.

[somethingaboutklance]

Hey! This is my secret santa gift for @painttheworldmad! Merry Chrissmas here you go:

It’s called The Best Nap Ever and here’s the summary: 

Fighting a war is exhausting. Trying to save four planets at once is exhausting. Agreeing to cuddle with a boy who you might have a crush on is exhausting.

Lance is exhausted, but how are you supposed to rest when you don't have any time?

Bad weeks happened. Sometimes life hits you day after day of bad, no good, rotten, awful situations. You push and pull through every hour. You don’t realize how long and difficult the day was until you lay in your bed at night and stare at the ceiling and think:

“Damn.” Lance muttered, spread out in his bed. It was late into the night-or whatever counted as night on the floating giant castle ship he called home.

At the thought of, he pressed the palm of his hands against his eyes. Over the last few days, everything had begun tumbling down, in Lance and all around him.

It seemed like it was solo mission after solo mission for Lance. Everyone was in a mad rush to get supplies for a cluster of planets that were dying. It was a section of four sister planets, all in line, and had experienced trouble when the Galra raided them for their riches. Now Pidge, Hunk, and Matt were stationed on the largest planet setting them up with tech to help their day to day and to keep in contact with one another. Keith and the Blades worked to set up a defense for the next time they were hit. Allura, Shiro, Coran doubled helping the leaders ban together and call in the outside forces to help deliver much needed supplies.

And who was the one to go get those supplies? Well, it had to be someone with a big lion, of course. Had to be someone that was friendly with people. Oh, and of course, had to be someone completely separable and unuseful enough to be on the grounds.

Tada, it was Lance.

So while everyone else got to chat and relax, Lance was going back and forth across galaxies to their allies, lugging large amounts of food, clothing, and other resources onto Blue, then flying all the way back to unload it. Over and over. Hours on end.

Not to mention that he got attacked by random Galra fleets TWICE and had to fend for himself until the rest of the team arrived.

All of that was normal day-to-day paladin stress though. The worst part about it was that he kept messing up . Whether it was taking too long, grabbing the wrong supplies, or, like today, unloading the supplies at the wrong planet and having to pack it all up and do it all over again, wasting ‘precious time’.

“We do not have that much time left, Lance. We can’t afford mistakes like this.” Shiro mentioned at dinner towards the end of the day.

“Hey, all four of those planets look really similar! How am I supposed to know which one is which.”

Pidge rolled her eyes, “They are all different colors.”

“Well...it’s been a long week!” Lance shouted.

“Everyone is having a hard time, Lance.” Allura glared, “You know the direness of the situation. If one of the planets is off balance, the other three with perish as well, and with Planet K3 in ruins…”

“I get that, and I’m doing my best here! I’m not a trucker, I’m not fit to drive back and forth all day and night!”

“A what?” Allura asked.

“We all have to do what we can.” Shiro said, “As long as we work together, and work hard, we can save these people. Now, go get some rest while you can. You have an early day tomorrow.”

Lance gestured to his watch, “I only have three hours to sleep, you know. I need my beauty rest.”

“I know it’s hard, but it’s only for a bit longer. We are making real progress on K3.” Shiro assured.

As Lance walked out, he mumbled, “I wouldn’t know.”

So staring up at his ceiling, Lance breathed deeply. Back home, he knew stress, sleep deprivation and exhaustion. Although each time, he could either cuddle up with something soft, go take a walk outside, or distract himself on the internet. In the middle of space where a war waged around you, none of those things were available.

A quick rapping appeared at his door. He didn’t bother to ask who it was before calling to let them in.

Lance looked up to see Keith taking a hesitant step into his room.

Quickly, Lance propped himself onto his elbows, “Hey.”

“Hey.”

Silence hushed until Lance said, “Whatcha doing?”

Lance didn’t know Keith could look so bashful as the other boy looked to the ground and said, “Uh, remember when we had that sleepover in the lounge area a few weeks back?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you...remember how we woke up?”

Oh. Yeah, Lance definitely did. He remembered how he awoke to Keith nestled into his chest, his arms wrapped around his waist. He remembered how Keith’s hair tickled underneath his chin and remembered the warmth of the other body beside his.

He also remembered the panic of trying to pry them away from each other before everyone else noticed.

“Yeah, yeah.” Lance coughed, “Uh, I remember.”

“Oh.” Furrowing his brow and biting his lip, Keith said, “I was wondering if you wanted to…”

“Cuddle?” Lance raised his eyebrow.

“I mean, if you don’t want to it’s totally fine,” Keith panicked, “I just heard Shiro and Allura getting at you, and we don’t have that much time to sleep so it wouldn’t be-”

“Sure.” Lance said.

“Sure?”

“It’s been cold around here lately, and we don’t get to hang out as much, so yeah.” Lance explained to himself and Keith, “Sure.”

“Okay,” Keith shuffled across the floor to Lance’s bunk.

Lance lifted up the blanket and allowed Keith to make his way underneath the covers.

At first, they simply faced each other and stared.

Things between the two were different lately. Now that they didn’t see each other as often, they didn’t fight as much when Keith did come back. There wasn’t any time for petty bickering or insulting. They...missed each other too much for that.

Now when they had the luxury to hang out, they used their time wisely. They told each other stories of their time apart, played video games if they could sneak away from the group, and simply relaxed. The two didn’t realize how much they cherished time with each other until it was gone.

To anyone, it was obvious that Keith and Lance’s relationship had shifted towards the better. Although, to them, it had gradually changed to something more...powerful.

They couldn’t place what made it so strong, so different than what they had with everyone else, but there weren’t any teen magazines to figure out your feelings in space. So they let it be what it was.

Lance arched an eyebrow as he slowly brought his arm around Keith’s waist, posing a question. In answer, Keith scooted himself closer to Lance, tucking his head into the paladin’s chest.

Lance allowed his other hand to run through Keith’s hair, in a form of unforgiving intimacy. He blamed it on their human need for contact, on the cold, or on the nightmares. Not once did he blame it on weakness. As the two of them held each other, there was no weakness.

“Lance...wake up,”

Warm hands slapped his cheeks, getting him to open his eyes. He blinked and groaned, stretching his arms over his head. He yawned loudly.

“Your breath stinks.” Keith said, cheek resting on his arms, which sat upon Lance’s chest.

“Why’d you wake me up?” Lance stared at the boy on top of him, “What time is it?”

“Early.” Keith said, “We have to get up.”

Lance groaned, and pulled Keith closer to him.

Keith instantly nuzzled into Lance’s chest before they both paused.

Lance let go while Keith sat up so quick his vision wobbled.

“I’ll just-uh-”

“Yeah you should probably-”

They stared at each other for a moment before Lance sat up. He fiddled with the blanket and right before Keith went to get up, Lance blurted, “It doesn’t have to...mean anything. You know.”

“What?”

“The cuddling. I don’t know-it’s comforting to me. But it doesn’t have to mean anything. If you don’t want it too. I know we haven’t talked about. And we don’t have to. If you want it to just be casual, bro-cuddling, that’s fine. With me, that is.”

Keith raised his eyebrow, “I...I thought that was what it was? You hug Hunk all the time, and so I just assumed. Wait, has it-has this been something more for you?”

Lance yelped, “Well! I gotta go to the bathroom, and you better not leave those Blades of Marmora guys waiting. Forget everything I’ve said, I’m just. Exhausted, you know? Haha. Cool, see you later.”

Lance proceeded to lock himself into the bathroom until he heard a faint knocking and a mumble, “Bye, Lance.”

Then, he put his face in his hands, and groaned. Another long day, followed by an awful morning.

“There was supposed to be 155 rods of priopritonin. These boxes only have 152.” One of the council members of planet K1 explain after going through the load of boxes.

The people of K1 similar to the rest of their sister planets. All of them were incredibly tall creatures, thin, and looked almost like centaurs if the horse half had six legs and a tiny, chicken-like tail. And if the human part had four arms and a face similar to the aliens you see presented on Earth. Large, black eyes, no nose and tiny mouth.

In fact, with all those limbs, Lance wondered why they didn’t help him, a sad, four legged human, move these boxes.

Lance suppressed a yawn, leaning against Blue’s leg, “I’m sorry, that’s just what the Balmera up north gave me. They gave you a few boxes of rock candy for your trouble, though.”

The member glared, which was incredibly impressive with their giant eyes, “Rock candy will not save my planet.”

Lance could only turn away and mutter, “You never know.”

With the help of only a few people, he unloaded the rest of the supplies. Afterwards, he stretched and got back in his pilot’s seat. He had about one varga to spare until he was to report on K3. Apparently, after today, they were done with their assistance with the planets. They were well enough to stand on their own, and the people were going to throw them a small party for their efforts. If there was anything Lance loved about being a paladin, was the praise.

That’s if he was awake enough to take his place as life of the party.

So, with the equivalent of an earth hour to spare, Lance tucked himself into his pilot’s chair. A quick little nap couldn’t hurt anyone.

Lance asked Blue too dim the lights as he gathered a blanket from the crate off to the side. He curled in on himself and drifted off easily.

“LANCE! Lance, come in!”

Lance woke up in a shock and proceeded to fall off his chair, whacking his head on the control board.

“Owww…” Lance moaned before he managed to pick himself up to answer the call.

“Hello?” He asked, seeing the rest of the paladins on the display screens.

“Where are you?” Pidge asked, scowling.

Lance blinked, “Uh, I’m on K1?”

“No, you’re not, we’ve been looking everywhere for you, dude. You aren’t on any of the planets. You look like a mess, though.”

“I just woke up from a-” Lance widened his eyes, “What time is it?”

“You are late.” Allura called in. Only then Lance noticed that everyone was in their sophisticated dress-wear. Which were basically a fancier version of their paladin armor and included a colored cape on one side of their outfit.

“I’m so sorry, I just-I fell asleep, I’ll be there in a-” Lance got into his seat. When the screen in front of him came into view, he looked out. He was...already flying?

“Uh, guys?” Lance questioned, “I don’t know where I am.”

“What do you mean? Send me your coordinates,” Allura demanded, which Lance promptly did

The group waited for Allura’s response, but it came slow and confused, “You are in...a galaxy I’ve never heard of.”

“He’s in a different galaxy ?” Pidge asked, “How did you get there? It’s only been an hour since we’ve last touched bases.”

“Look,” Lance said, “I have no idea.”

“Let me ask Coran and the Marmore if they know of this galaxy.” Allura commented.

Lance look to Blue, silently asking her what she got him into.

Soon, Kolivan came into focus, “Blue paladin, how did you reach your current location?”

“I don’t know! I was just taking a quick nap in Blue and then I woke up all the way out here! And Blue isn’t telling me squat so can anyone let me where I am?”

“According to the information database that is kept at the Marmora base, you are in the Brand Galaxy, near a black hole.” Kolivan explained.

“Holy crow!” Lance shouted.

“Cool!” Hunk and Pidge yelled.

“No, NOT COOL!” Lance combated, “Am I gonna die? Did Blue take me out here to kill me?! Blue is a traitor to the Galra!”

Blue did not appreciate that sentiment and did a flip which threw Lance out of his seat.

“I don’t believe so, Blue Paladin, you spoke that you recently have awoken from sleep?” Kolivan asked.

“Yeah, right when they started screaming at me.” Lance said, climbing back to his seat while rubbing his head.

“Do you feel well-rested?”

Lance nodded, “Yeah, actually, super well-rested. I feel a whole lot better. Probably one of the best power naps I’ve had in awhile.”

“That would make sense,” Kolivan nodded, “I suppose this has to do with your bond with your lion. As if your lion in looking out for your health in the best way it can. You’ve been gone for twelve hours.”

“Wait, what-”

“OH!” Pidge hollered, “Oh my GOD that’s so cool!”

Hunk caught on too, “Oh, oh! I can’t believe I didn’t catch it before, gosh, I love space!”

“How can I-what is-” Lance sputtered.

Pidge leaned forward, her face almost hitting her camera, “Lance! So you are next to a black hole, right? So, like, Blue must’ve landed you at a planet at the right about of distance in order to reach that amount of time dilation. It must be a really small black hole to if it only put you forward half a day, in fact, you actually might be quite a bit away-”

Hunk chimed in, “Basically, being next a black hole warps time. So one hour for us is twelve hours where you are.”

Shiro chuckled, “You are in the future.”

“Whoooa.” Lance said.

Allura shook her head, “Although I’m glad your bond with the Blue Lion is strong, you simply must return. We are awaiting you. And where’s Keith? He said he would be here”

“He’s with me.” Kolivan announced, “He is dressed and prepared to go.”

“Then why isn’t he here?” Pidge asked, “These people are giving us looks.”

“He will be.” Kolivan smirked as he looked to the side, “He explained to me that he was...waiting for someone.”

Allura rubbed her head, “Just...everyone be here as soon as possible.”

“Wait, aren’t I gonna miss the whole thing?” Lance said. “Because I’m 12 hours in the future?”

Allura groaned, “Ugh. Keith, get over here.”

“How you getting this message then?” Pidge pondered.

“Shouldn’t he come back during this time? Since time is moving slower there.” Hunk asked.

“I’m starting my watch for the exact time Lance arrives. This isn’t science you get everyday. Lance, can you track your time on the way back? And distance.”

Lance sighed, and started up his tracker, “Nerds.”

Lance ended going through a wormhole created by Blue herself, and making it in time for the party. In fact, he got there only a few minutes after they finished the conversation.

“Ha! I beat Keith!” Lance said, quickly dawning his cape.

“That. Was. So. Cool!” Pidge jumped excitedly. “After all this time in space, I can’t believe I didn’t think about the possibility of time dilation!”

“You only like me when I’m forcibly submitted to be a science experiment.” Lance huffed.

Pidge shrugged, “Yeah, pretty much.”

“I still wonder why Blue took you there,” Allura hummed, “It’s not like a lion to do things without the paladin’s knowing.”

Shiro scoffed and mumbled, “Obviously you’ve never flown Black,” and headed off to talk to the leaders.

After Hunk and Pidge realized Lance had no idea how to answer their science questions, they left to talk to each other.

Lance realized he was hungry, and technically, hadn’t eaten for the last twelve hours, so he helped himself to the buffet line.

“Did you get a good rest?” Keith asked, appearing on the other side of the table, gathering his own plate.

Lance raised his eyebrow, “I did, actually.”

Keith nodded, “Want to sit down somewhere?”

“Apparently us paladins get a fancy table to ourselves” Lance grinned.

Keith looked down at his outfit, he had the formal paladin wear, the over-dramatic armor and the red cape, but he also was given a purple circlet to represent Marmora. It was golden with a purple diamond-shaped stone one it’s center. With the small crown resting on his forehead, he looked like some kind of prince.

Lance thought it was very regal look unnecessarily good on him.

As they were walking to their seats, Lance asked, “So did you tell Blue to take me to the Brand galaxy?”

Keith bit his lip, “I didn’t tell her to do anything. But I gave Red the information and Red...passed it along.”

“Why?” Lance asked, setting his plate down but demanding answers before he sat.

Keith shrugged, “You looked tired and with everything you said I thought that maybe me sleeping in your room was affecting your sleeping-”

“Whoa, whoa,” Lance put his hands up, “If anything, you being there, it actually helps me sleep. It’s the running back and forth and lugging crates around that’s been exhausting. And even though you indirectly sent me to a different galaxy that was...really nice. In a way.”

Keith shrugged, “It was nothing.”

“Oh, it was something .” Lance laughed. He shook his head and went to sit.

Quickly, reaching under the table, Keith slid into his seat and grabbed Lance’s wrist, “What you said before...I’m okay with that. With it meaning something.”

“What, uh, kind of something?” Lance asked, his mouth suddenly dry.

“We can figure that out more eventually, but a...more than friend? Kind of something?” Keith gave Lance the cutest, most sheepish smile that he’s ever seen.

“Is this your way of asking me out?” Lance smirked.

Keith pulled away to cross his arms, “I’m trying here,”

Lance laughed and grabbed for Keith’s arm, pulling him away enough so that he could hold his hand.

Keith took his turn to smirk, “Is this your way of saying yes?”

Lance nodded, and Keith tightened his grip on his hand.

Suddenly, Pidge and Hunk came to the table. If they noticed the other two paladins holding hands, they didn’t care because they began ranting about how they figured out the time dilation. Shiro and Allura came soon enough, and their only response was a small smile and a wink.

Keith and Lance continued to hold hands for the rest of the night, and after staying up far, far too late, they went back to their rooms. There was no question on where they would be sleeping as the two boys curled up together.

Not even a 12-hour time warped nap could compare to how well Lance slept that night.

[henqiguai]

haikyuu!! fic rec

i’ve been consuming unreasonable amounts of hq!! fic these past few months... here’s a rec list of ~70 fics for 16 ships. 

(edit: if the links aren’t working, right-click to open the fic in a new tab. sorry;;)

❤ = favorite

❤ ❤ ❤ = god-tier 

*

Bokuto/Akaashi (otp: my head, his heart)

the better boyfriend battle by norio (M)  ❤

Summary:  It's two days after their first date anniversary, so Bokuto ruins Akaashi's life.

i put my hand out, unfolded, into the sunlight by carafin (G)  ❤

Summary:  In which Bokuto Kotarou is woefully inept at conveying his feelings, and Akaashi Keiji has a sort-of superpower. Sort of.

Karma by dgalerab (T)

Summary: Akaashi pulls a muscle and Bokuto offers to help him with yoga. Akaashi knows a bad idea when he sees it, and he really only agrees because he's suddenly acquired a deeply rooted desire to see Bokuto do yoga.For multiple reasons.

Maybe We’re Airborne, Baby by sterlinglee (T)

Summary: Realizing he's got it bad for his setter is the easy part. Getting his feelings across might be the hardest thing Bokuto's ever done, not counting his literature final or putting out the flames on that birthday cake he tried to bake for Akaashi last year, or—or a lot of things, actually.But the point still stands. Reaching out to Akaashi is a leap in the dark, and he wants it more than he's ever wanted anything (especially the smoking remains of a cake he baked before he really understood his feelings, but knew that it's what you attempt with your own two hands that matters).

snowflakes by arsenicjay (T)

Summary: Bokuto is a simple wizard with simple needs; a nice date, a little romance, and he's all good to go.Or, Akaashi and Bokuto spend a day in Hogsmeade just before Christmas.

stating the obvious by ThinkingCAPSLOCK (G)

Summary:  There's a lot of things Bokuto isn't sure about now that he's in university. His program, his new team, his future. There's only one thing he's absolutely sure of. He is not dating Akaashi Keiji. Not even a little bit.

Year-Round Love by masi (G)

Summary:  In his first year of university, Bokuto realizes that he really adores Akaashi.

Rest of the rec list under the cut!

*

Aone/Futakuchi (otp: teddy and polar bear)

Got You by garbagecannot (T)

Summary:  So Aone kind of wants to see Futakuchi scream. Just for kicks. And he feels kind of awful about it.

*

Bokuto/Kuroo (ohohotp: best friends best boyfriends)

Seven Years by xwynn (G)

Summary:  Bokuto has a secret that's seven years too late.

*

Ennoshita/Tanaka (otp: it’s too early for the world to end)

baby, our love is fireproof by earlgrey_milktea (T)

Summary:

[10:52 pm] [to: noya-san] im gonna tell him [10:54 pm] [from: noya-san] U GOT TIHS GO GET UR BOY [10:56 pm] [to: noya-san] IM GONNA GET MYSELF THE BOY [10:56 pm] [from: noya-san] GET TEH BOY [10:57 pm] [to: noya-san] GET THE BOY [11:04 pm] [from: noya-san] GET THE BOY

or, the story of how tanaka tried to light a flame in ennoshita's heart and ended up setting everything else on fire instead.

hold your breath, it gets better by harklights (T)

Summary: But if there was one thing Ennoshita could trust about the world, it was that people wanted. They wanted things to bend to their will, other wills to bend to their will, odds to work in their favor, luck on their side, a shortcut, a fun time, insurance and assurance both. A security lock to be made extra sturdy against possible thefts. A frail book with tattered binding that wanted augmentation before it frayed and spilled its pages everywhere, succumbed to age. A girl’s pocket mirror that reflected falling cherry blossoms every time she opened it to look at herself. Vanity, maybe, although it had been too cute when she first saw herself and gasped.“A flying carpet,” the man before the counter wishes.“A… flying carpet,” Ennoshita slowly repeats.

Practice Makes Perfect by ToBeOrNotToBeAGryiffindor (G)

Summary: Ennoshita Chikara has had a few confessions, but this one takes the cake.

"Enno-san, can I ask you something?" "Sure." "You like guys, right?" "Yeahhhh. . ." "I think I might like a guy. What do I do?"

Why is this my life?

one step, two step by Authoress (T)

Summary:  Tanaka's made enough of a mess trying to confess to Ennoshita, he doesn't need his attention-hungry kitten getting in the mix too.

*

Hinata/Kageyama (otp: as long as i’m here, you’re invincible)

baby, i can give you wings by Metis_Ink (T)  ❤

Summary: In which there are superpowers, cats, rainstorms, realizations, split-second jealousy, embarrassing volleyparents, killer whales, electric Kuroos, unstable emotions, bad romance movie mentions, some angst, some fluff, but mostly a lot of awkward high schoolers.

The minute Kageyama walks into the gym and sees Hinata hovering eight feet over the nets he knows he’s screwed.

*

Daichi/Kuroo (otp: city boy country boy)

If I Could Change Your Mind by tookumade (G)

Summary:

“I’m kind of excited to meet him,” Bokuto says, roughly an hour before Karasuno are scheduled to arrive. “He sounds interesting.”

Kuroo raises an eyebrow at him. “I just told you that there’s not a lot about him that stands out—how is that interesting?”

“You’ve told me a lot about how he apparently doesn’t stand out,” Bokuto replies easily. “You don’t usually talk about someone so much."

(Or, Sawamura Daichi shows up like a breath of fresh air, and Kuroo Tetsurou doesn't stand a chance.)

*

Daichi/Suga (otp: honey i’m home)

Add New Contact by booksong (G)

Summary: "Daichi was leaning contemplatively on the sill of his open window, waiting for the icy breeze he was letting into his room to wake him up to how utterly stupid he was being. He’d always hated stories, real or fictional, about people doing ridiculous and self-destructive things for love, but now here he was, palming his smartphone idly and wondering with complete seriousness if it would survive an eight meter drop with substantial but repairable damage."

(Or; All Daichi's electronics are endangered the moment he realizes he can't get that sweet, patient, ridiculously attractive IT tech off his mind.)

cool teens don’t wear skinny jeans by ebenroot (T)

Summary: 'He was supposed to ask Suga for his number or ask if he was busy next Friday night and if he was interested in seeing a movie or something. Instead, he said in a slightly cracking and not at all calm voice, “I think I lost my kids.”

or

that fic where babysitter no. 1 Daichi loses three kids in the city, gets into a bunch of shenanigans, and tries to ask Suga on a date.

forever is a long time but i don’t mind spending it with you by Interconnected_3 (G)

Summary: “What else?” Daichi blinks. “What else is there? Do you want me to tell you how you like your coffee?” He grins teasingly. “I don’t know, how do I like my coffee? By the way, you’re missing something.” “Cream and two and a half sugars- wait, I’m missing something?” “Yup,” Suga says. “You forgot to mention that we’re dating.” “Well, god, Suga, judging from how we’ve been kissing and holding hands for three years and in this bed for the past nine hours since last night, I couldn’t possibly tell.”

in which daichi finally gets the day off and teaches a romantically-frustrated suga how to be honest with himself. 

extreme fluff

i do (cherish you) by gabstar (T)

Summary: The first time Daichi suggests it, it’s a joke.

“Sugawara Koushi,” he says solemnly. He’s bent on one knee, the floor is still sticky with sweat post-practice. He offers up the lost ring, found while mopping off gym floors. “Will you marry me?”

((Five times Daichi asks Suga to marry him, plus once where he finally, finally says yes.))

in the shadow of the mountain by laubear (T)  ❤

Summary:  After graduation, Daichi and Suga climb a mountain to see whether it will make them the grown-ups they’re supposed to be.

when all the songs are through by thewindraiser (T)

Summary: Daichi is out for lunch with some of his colleagues when he spots it.

The ring.

you better go catch it by laubear (G)

Summary:  Desperate times call for desperate measures. Sometimes those desperate measures involve compromising perfectly good scientific data, but Daichi’s learned to stop being surprised when it comes to Suga.

you can only take what you can carry by skittidyne (T)

Summary: Suga pulled Noya down from the chair. Daichi finally decided enough was enough. He knew he was just doing it to draw him in, and damn it, it worked (just like it always worked against him), because there was no way he was letting Suga get into one of Kuroo and Bokuto’s competitions.

Suga had their libero thrown over one shoulder by the time Daichi reached them. “Daichi-san! Look!” Noya chirped, waving the arm that wasn’t wrapped around the vice-captain.

Suga put up his free arm, flexing, and gave Daichi a wink.

(( or, alternatively: "do you even lift, bro?" ))

*

Hanamaki/Matsukawa (otp: i wear my boyfriend’s clothes, i look incredible)

and indeed there will be time by pickledplumes (T)

Summary: Between volleyball and the looming end of their high school years, Hanamaki thinks he’s already dealing with more than enough, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, no one else gets the memo.

-Alternatively: “I am not in love with my best friend!” says Hanamaki Takahiro. Nobody buys his bullshit.

hang out fall in love by carafin (T)

Summary: In which Hanamaki's humble medical practice is threatened by an intractable asshole a witch doctor who's just moved into the shop down the street. Medical/Witchcraft AU.

As far as Hanamaki’s concerned, and as far as bad life decisions go, setting up your witch clinic right next to an actual, proper, medical clinic is practically akin to setting up an all-you-can-eat buffet right next to a gym. Or a sex toy shop next to a church. Or a vegetable patch next to a goat farm. Or – yeah, the point is, this Matsukawa guy has totally cornered the market in Terrible-Life-Decision-Making-Skills.

lost with you (take my hand) by airblends (T)

Summary:  When a missed stop or ten lead to an involuntary day trip to Kyoto for Matsukawa and Hanamaki, they find that maybe the journey really is its own reward sometimes.

poolside by tothemoon (T)  ❤

Summary: At eighteen, it'd been a matter of wading.

At twenty-five, Hanamaki tries not to fall in headfirst.

plus one by orphan_account (G)

Summary: "Did you know we're dating?"

"What? Says who?"

"Says everyone apparently."

"Oh," Hanamaki frowns for a few seconds before shrugging and turning his attention back to the chocolate fountain. "Nice."

that’s what you get (for waking up in vegas) by skittidyne (T)

Summary: “There was an Elvis?” Hajime asks.

“He was the officiator. It’s the cliché, right?”

“…Officiator of what?” Tooru asks with a look down at Takahiro’s hand.

“You can borrow my phone to pull pictures from for our wedding album.” Issei reaches over and grasps the hand with the ring on it. Everyone is staring at their clasped hands like a three-headed lobster just crawled onto the table. “You were both the best men and I was very, deeply touched by how affected you both were at the ceremony,” he says in a perfect deadpan.

(( or: iwaizumi does not want to be the responsible one, and thus they suffer the consequences, or, perhaps, 'suffer' is a bit too strong of a word ))

Wet Your Whistle by darkmagicalgirl (E)

Summary:  Hanamaki gets a job as a bartender. Matsukawa likes his uniform. (Alternatively: Matsukawa tries to ignore his huge crush on his friend-with-benefits. He fails.)

*

Iwaizumi/Konoha (otp: ace and jack of all trades; alternatively: otp: i know fukurodani and seijou probably have never breathed the same air just let me have this)

Ace and Jack by masi (M)

Summary:  Iwaizumi and Konoha are neighbors and teammates. Maybe friends too. They get along most of the time.

*

Kenma/Kuroo (otp: backbone, brain, heart) 

Cat’s Out of the Bag by shions_heart (T)

Summary: When Kuroo Tetsurou drunkenly proposes to his best friend Kozume Kenma during the midnight release of Kenma's first ever video game, Kenma doesn't think anything could be more embarrassing.

But when the proposal ends up going viral, Kenma's forced to confront feelings about his friend that he's kept locked away for a long time.

Collecting Days by pickledplumes (G)

Summary: 

The silence of the crowd as they recite their vows and say I do is deafening, their cheers as he and Tetsurou kiss even more so, and Kenma thinks some distant version of him would have shied away and ran; but right now he’s in the arms of the only man he’s ever loved, locked in the most passionate kiss he’s ever known, and he feels like he can take on the world.

curiosity kills by newamsterdam (T)  ❤

Summary: Kenma rescues a cat.

Later on, the cat saves him in return.

i built you a home in my heart by newamsterdam (M)

Summary:

Yaku doesn’t let Kuroo derail him. “You don’t even have that excuse. And I’ve known you and Kenma too long to think that these feelings didn’t exist, before today.”

There’s a truth in what he says. Kuroo’s chest feels too small to contain his heart, beating giddily against his ribs. Even if he falls into his usual back and forth with Yaku, everything is different today.

“It’s not like that,” he says softly. He cups both hands around his mug, looking into the dregs of his coffee. “It’s like… I couldn’t even let myself think of it before, you know? I couldn’t let my mind even go there, because it would’ve been unbearable, to know and not be able to do anything about it.”

Yaku shakes his head, kicking at Kuroo’s legs under the table. “Oh my god,” he says. “You’re going to be hopeless now, aren’t you?”

Five years after high school— what changes, what doesn't, and what really matters, in the end.

love’s not the way to treat a friend by girltalk (T)

Summary: There’s really nothing quite as revelatory as the silent minutes spent in bed during the aftermath of a wet dream involving you and your high-school best friend.

(i must profess) by sadaf (T)

Summary:  “No!” Kenma says, voice high and through clenched teeth as Kuroo offers it to him. “Put- put that away! Put that away!”

mr. steal yo man by saintjoy (T)

Summary:  Lev's got it bad for Kenma. Unfortunately, he's already got one hell of a boyfriend.

Show a Little Faith by minijhi (G)

Summary: 

“Why are you sending me a singing Valentine telegram?" Kenma asks, mouth flattened. "It’s six months until Valentine’s Day.”

“I bought a dwarf over the summer to use as cupid.” Kuroo says. “I figured he could use some practice.”

-

Presenting Kenma as the Boy-Who-Lived, whose living becomes a lot more interesting when Ravenclaw Prince Kuroo Tetsurou starts sending him singing telegrams about defeating the Dark Lord.

Static by icespyders (G)  ❤❤❤

Summary: 

stat•ic /ˈstadik/ adj. : 1. lacking in movement, action, or change; 2. concerned with bodies at rest or forces in equilibrium n. : crackling or hissing noises on a telephone, radio, or other telecommunications system.

He hadn't taken it well when Kuroo went away.

The Wedding Hall Shuffle by icespyders (T)  ❤

Summary: Box steps for a waltz are easy, even if you've never done them before, even if you learned at a strangers' wedding from another stranger, even if you're not quite sure what you're doing. But love? Love is something else, something without regimented one-two-three-four patterns, without rules.

Maybe it's silly, but Kenma thinks he might be figuring it out.

*

Kyoutani/Yahaba (otp: mad dog and puppy)

all you have is your fire by knightswatch (T)

Summary: 

Shigeru is quickly hurtling toward the point where he’s going to have to change the relationship that he’s built with Kyoutani in ways that he can’t take back, and it’s one of the reasons that he isn’t particularly looking forward to his birthday.

No matter how he feels, Shigeru knows he can’t afford to be in love. Or at least, he can’t afford to act on it.

Close to the Chest by darkmagicalgirl (T)  ❤❤❤

Summary:  It takes Yahaba thirteen years to realize he's different from the other kids, one to figure out how to hide it, and two more to learn to be happy just the way he is. Yahaba's journey ft. an extremely annoyed Kyoutani, best friend in the world Watari, and loads and loads of good senpai Oikawa.

Mixed Signals by snoqualmie (T)

Summary:  Feelings are definitely a thing he’s having. Kyoutani is really sweet. He’s family oriented and he prefers novels with female leads and he’s in all honors classes. He kind of has a big head, totally has a big smile, definitely has a big heart. His eyes are nice, he’s got that dimple. Yahaba groans and rubs his fists into his eyes.

Room to Grow by kiyala (G)  ❤❤❤

Summary:  Kyoutani and Yahaba have enough on their minds in third year, as ace and captain of the volleyball team, butting heads both on and off the court while trying to improve their game so the team has a shot of winning this year. When they find a puppy abandoned in a park, their lives only get even more complicated.

the sunset hours by commovente (T)

Summary: 

set in an alternate sendai city where everything is almost exactly the same, except every day during sunset, each person's heart is visible to everyone else, in whatever form that may be, for better or for worse.

in which kyoutani has an actual puppy dog heart, yahaba is the most unconventional disney character alive, and oikawa is still the best senpai.

or: the story of yahaba's adventures in the big city.

This World is Just Illusion by shions_heart (T)

Summary: Yahaba Shigeru was a scientist set to work on and administer the SS-415 Serum to the test subject Kyoutani Kentarou. But when the experiment fails, he's forced to relocate with an unstable Kyoutani and make a new home for them.

(Or the story of how the Mad Dog gang was formed.)

*

Lev/Yaku (otp: angry small and dirty large)

Touch by Mysecretfanmoments (T)

Summary:  After a twisted ankle and an uncomfortable realization, Yaku starts to see a different side of Lev—one he doesn't want to kick at all. (Or, well... not often.)

Yaku and the Beanstalk by Mysecretfanmoments (T)

Summary: 

Yaku Morisuke is many things: a libero, a caretaker, a good student. He's also about to find Lev Haiba stuck in a vending machine.

(In which Yaku accidentally recruits Lev to the volleyball team and can't get rid of him after.)

*

Oikawa/Suga (otp: 100 days with mr. refreshing)

all the small things by Authoress (T)

Summary:

Sugawara Koushi.

Oikawa’s brain supplies the name of the person standing at the other end of the aisle before Oikawa can even register him, attuned to spitting out facts about other volleyball players on a second’s notice, even after all these years. Karasuno High vice-captain. 174 cm…no, more like 176 now. Skilled at raising morale and bringing an element of surprise to their strategy. Troublesome. Refreshing. Setter.

The enemy.

*

Oikawa/Ushijima (otp: don’t you ever forget my worthless pride & prejudice)

A Fish out of Water by masi (M)

Summary:  Ushijima is having a hard time adjusting to life in Tokyo.

This Insignificant Pride and Prejudice by Mysecretfanmoments, Pouler (T)  ❤❤❤

Summary:  Oikawa Tooru graduated high school with the burning desire to succeed in his college career. He'd hoped that might include taking down his arch-nemesis along the way, but when he finds that his college team hosts an offensively familiar face, he can't help but think that the universe might be conspiring against him. After all, what could be worse than playing on the same team as Ushijima?

it’s kind of like a promise by songtofly (T)  ❤

Summary:  Devotion, Ushijima Wakatoshi learns, is a two-way street.

like someone in love by masi (T)

Summary:  Oikawa tries to resolve an unexpected Ushiwaka-related problem carefully and calmly.

#notalovestory by iiejn, readerofsaph (T)

Summary: 

Oikawa Tooru, Japan's representative pretty boy actor, lands the best movie role of his career yet. Shame about who else is acting in it, too.

Dearest Oikawa,

I am sorry that you hit me at the party last week. I am confident that your reputation will survive the backlash. Hopefully we will be able to speak on better terms the next time we meet.

Yours, Ushijima Wakatoshi

On A Willful Afternoon When I Thought Love Could Choose by Zee (E)

Summary: Ushijima gets stuck in a repeating time loop on the day his university's team must play Oikawa's. Shenanigans ensue.

Planting Season by masi (T)

Summary:  After graduation, Ushijima runs into Oikawa again.

Searching Happiness by sunspearing (T)  ❤

Summary:  The five times Oikawa tries to call it quits, and the one time Ushijima does.

*

Semi/Shirabu (otp: loving is easy, teasing is easier)

don’t let this magic die  by oilpaints (T)

Summary: 

Shirabu glances out the window, listening to the soft pitter-patter of the rain, and the even sounds of Semi’s breathing. Only now, as he glances around the cramped, dimly-lit room and spots Semi’s bag, already open and spilling out clothes onto the floorboards, does he realizes just what he’s gotten himself into.

It’s just four days, he reminds himself. Four days of sharing a room with Semi, of all people, but still — he’s been through worse, right? Right.

SPOILER:

Actually, whether he’s right or wrong is up for debate, because everything goes about just as well as anyone would expect. (Which is to say: surprisingly, nobody dies, Shirabu learns more about Semi Eita than he ever would have bargained for, and that, maybe, he’s not so bad.

Maybe.)

face to the sun by oilpaints (G)

Summary: 

Shirabu Kenjirou, as told by friends both old and new.

Kawatabi clicks his tongue. “I still don’t get why you were born in spring,” he says. “You’re so bitter and cold. More of a winter child, if you ask me.”

Shirabu just shrugs lightly, lips tugged upwards in a faint smile. “But I didn’t ask you,” he says. “And besides, spring is all about new beginnings, isn’t it?”

Impulse by Metis_Ink (T)  ❤❤❤

Summary: 

"Semi’s not sure how subtle the team is trying to be, but there must be some ungodly conspiracy pointed against him. It’s working in the sense that Semi is half aware that maybe this rivalry with Shirabu is a lot more troublesome than it seems, but really, that’s all he's getting."

Or

Second year Semi Eita faces the downward spiral that is his life following the arrival of some first year setter who's way too cocky for his own good.

Scarf Trick by togekissies (G)

Summary: The last thing Shirabu wants to do is run into a naggy upperclassman after a long day.

seven day’s luck by togekissies (T)

Summary: 

(semishira week fic collection)

One: Semi and Shirabu go on a date. Two: Shirabu can't stand executive meddling more than he can't stand Semi. Three: Shirabu and Semi are just kids at reform school, discussing treason on the roof in the way only prideful teenagers can. Four: Semi is a nostalgic loser. Shirabu pushes him in a creek. Five: Semi steals some intel. Shirabu doesn't like patching him up.

*

Tsukishima/Yamaguchi (otp: when did you ever get so cool?)

blue summer sky by deanpendragon (T)  ❤❤❤

Summary:  In which Tadashi manages his grandfather's pet store and Tsukishima works at the music shop next door. Lots of exclamation points, dialogue, obvious crushes, internal (and overexcited) monologuing, animal trivia and terrible puns ensue.

by any other name by memorde (T)

Summary: 

A Concise Guide to Dealing with People Asking if your Best Friend and/or Crush is Single:

Panic

Lie

Run

campfire in your chest by deanpendragon (M)  ❤❤❤

Summary:  Kei realizes in their second year of high school that he's probably been in love with Yamaguchi since they were ten. However hopeless he might be in handling that situation, Kei prays he's at least not as hopeless as Hinata and Kageyama. But he just might be.

let’s keep this professional by laubear  ❤

Summary: 

When the first sincere gesture of Tsukishima Kei’s life costs him his glamorous job as a sports agent, only a wide-eyed, freckled accountant volunteers to jump ship with him. But if the two of them can save the careers of volleyball’s legendary Oddball Duo, things might just work out after all.

Or, the story of how Tsukishima Kei got fired, got married, adopted a kid, and fell in love. In that order.

levels of investment by skittidyne (T)

Summary: 

Yamaguchi was far less nervous in practice than any games, and he’d gotten far more skilled at serving in a few short months, so Tsukishima was utterly unprepared for the feeling of a volleyball slamming into the back of his head.

There was a beat of silence.

The ball had enough of an angle to bounce off his head and over to the other side of the net, landing neatly in front of a stunned Sugawara.

(( or: Ennoshita plots for the future, Suga wants to mess around and is intent on dragging everyone down to his level, Noya tries to become a spiker, Kiyoko is a good senpai, Yamaguchi cries, and Tsukishima wonders if he's been dropped off in the Twilight Zone without his notice ))

These Words You Don’t Hear by ohhello (E)

Summary:  Tadashi is convinced entering into his third year at Karasuno means that he is one year closer to losing what he holds most dear: his team, his friends, and most importantly his daily moments with Kei. While Tadashi wrestles with his fear of lasts, Kei struggles with how to offer him firsts.

[queen-swagzilla]

Stand Behind Me, Chapter 1

Rated: M

Summary: THIS IS AN ENDGAME FIX-IT. Most of the movie happened, except the end part because HOW DARE. We now follow Peter Parker as he interacts with Tony, May, The Avengers, his high school and the rest of the Iron Family, including Harley Keener and Priya Williams-Mehta (OFC), his #IronChildren. Yes there will be a field trip. No, Clint will NOT be in the vents. 

Like the story? Consider buying me a coffee!

Don’t know what’s going on? Read it all on Ao3!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, kid," Tony announced, striding into the lab. "We have an idea."

"What's the idea?" he asked absently, not looking up from his current project—wafer-thin screwdriver in hand. "And who's we? The last "we" was you and Cap, and that ended in Nat beating the crap out of me."

"What?" An alarmed, familiar voice demanded. Peter spun in his chair so fast that he nearly fell out of it. He would have, if not for his reflexes.

"May!"

"I already told you about that," Tony assured her. "The hand-to-hand combat lessons. So that he doesn't...how did you put it? YEET yourself into bad guys?"

Apparently, May remembers that, because she "ohhhhh's" in realization as she nods.

"Can we stop sharing my embarrassing stories without my permission?" Peter begged. "No, wait—May, why are you here?"

"We have a standing lunch date to discuss your wellbeing and development," Tony replied. "And Rhodey, Bruce and Pepper joined us today, which led to an excellent idea." He clapped his hands together. Peter relaxed a little. The idea couldn't be that bad if those three were involved. "How would you like to spend your summer with an R&D internship at our outpost facility?"

"Outpost facility? What outpost facility?"

May snorted. "According to Rhodey, it's where Tony stores his prodigy children when they graduate."

Peter stared at them blankly. "His what?"

"Apparently, there have been a few other pseudo-Stark adoptees. You're just his favorite." May smirked.

"Hush woman. You'll ruin my cred. The outpost facility is a lab just outside of Fairfield, Virginia, where I place my more mad-scientist level employees. It gives them space to invent and test without the risk of destroying property or risking civilian lives. It's where we tested VERONICA and the Hulkbuster." He explained.

Peter frowned. "Uh...I can't go to Virginia. What about Spider-Man?"

Tony and May shared a look. "We decided...well, decided is the wrong word..." May began.

"Look, we've all been through a lot, kid. We all think it might be a good idea for you to take a break—just a break—and start getting work experience and back on top of your school stuff. Just for the summer."

"What about patrols?" He demanded.

"If you agree to do this, we'll work with the other Avengers to make sure your patrols are covered," Tony replied immediately. "It'll be a good experience for you, and we'll all get the opportunity to relax a little. Especially your aunt. It's a little difficult to see you throw yourself head-first into danger after we just got you back, kid."

"Oh god, that's unfair! You're totally guilt-tripping me!" He cried.

"100%." May grinned.

"Besides, you'll meet more of the future Avengers." Tony continued. "Really, we're not KO-ing the spider. Just a...scientific hiatus. And heaps of training." He explained.

Now that sounded more tempting. Future Avengers who worked at SI's outpost facility? He loved working with Tony, but it would be cool to work with people closer to his age...who he wouldn't have to explain memes to. The science-bro Avengers of the future.

"If you're sure that Spidey won't be missed..."

"Oh, he'll be missed. No one can replace Spider-Man. But we can cover him while he takes some time to be a kid." May explained warmly.

"Learning and growing and all that." Tony agreed.

He pondered for a while—longer than Tony and May had hoped, but finally nodded. "Okay. Yeah. It sounds like fun."

"Done deal. I'll call down and have them set up lab space for you. You work on getting together a couple of ideas. I want you to get familiar with standard lab procedure for MIT or if—for some ridiculous reason—you choose not to work at Stark Industries. That means submitting proposals and getting them approved."

Peter nodded. "And who will I be submitting them to?"

"First will be your supervisor. Then if your supervisor approves, it's submitted to me." He replied. "Your supervisor for the summer will be Priya Williams-Mehta. She's intimidating at first, but she mostly doesn't like distraction. Once you learn to read her moods, she's a piece of cake."

"That's his oldest prodigy child," May explained, smirking.

"Ignore her. She's been listening to Rhodey." He rolled his eyes. "The outpost is where most Avengers tech is produced aside from my lab. It's remote and secure, and its location is confidential, so even though I trust you implicitly, you'll have to sign a crap-ton of paperwork."

"And you won't be able to tell Ned and MJ," May added.

Peter flinched. That...wouldn't be easy. "And what will I tell them I'm doing all summer? That's my best friend and my girlfriend. I'm bad at lying to begin with, but with them, it's just pitiful."

"Summer camp?" Tony suggested dryly. May elbowed him.

"Say you're helping with repairs and research projects at the compound." She suggested. "They already know that civilians aren't allowed on the grounds. Besides, the damage is awful and the terrain is hazardous, so they won't want to visit."

He squinted at her. "You've given this a lot of thought."

She snorted. "Of course I did. Have you met yourself? If I didn't have a response to everything, you wouldn't go."

He had to admit. She had him there.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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[maniibear]

AA!SteveTony - the one where the married dorks get on to becoming married dorks. Continued from this fic. For @ishipallthings <33

Word Count: ~1500 Warnings: None, only fluff

Steve opened his eyes with a start in the room he claimed as his in the SHIELD facility that the Avengers were temporarily calling home. The room was little more than a barracks; it should have been familiar, but nothing had felt familiar in a while.  

Brows drawn in concentration, Steve focused on where he knew the speakers were located.  

“Tony?” he rasped up at the ceiling, staring blindly into the dark. When there was no answer, he murmured wryly, “I’m losing sleep because of you.”

The silence which followed that confession made him shiver. Steve threw the thin blankets off and glanced at the clock, which solemnly informed him it was 3:07AM. He sighed. He’d gotten into bed at 3, but it was unlikely that he would stay in it this night, either. Restlessness was a usual side effect of a body made for battle living in relative peace, but Steve had never lacked for activities to exhaust him. Of course, that was before this haunting quiet.

For a while, it all seemed very optimistic. Sam was able to intercept Tony’s interdimensional frequency and it was as if the genius had never left. The illusion lasted as long as they were in this facility. Outside, Steve found himself distracted by the least of things. Tony’s name accidentally spilled from his lips all the time, pauses stretched in his conversations, reserving space for comments that would never come. And he still hadn’t figured out how not to panic when Iron Man didn’t answer on the comms.

But that was part of loving Tony Stark. Steve saw the sacrifice play coming from a mile away; he watched as it snatched Tony away a place he could not follow and it took every ounce of faith he had not to pit his shield where Thor and Hulk’s strength failed. Tony didn’t need rescuing; there was a path back home that weaved through the infinite multiverse, and he was sublime enough to take it.

So Steve had sent him off with the only memento he could slip between dimensions. “You’re the best friend I ever had.” You’re too important not to return.

The memory of Tony’s red metal fingertips grazing the barrier and vowing to return was safely tucked away in Steve’s photographic memory, but the loss still hurt. Three days ago, Sam lost the signal and they hadn’t heard Tony’s voice since. It wasn’t the sheer, regretful terror of losing Bucky, but Steve suspected his body dared not sleep in case he woke up too late again.

He snuck another glance at the speakers and sighed deeply. “I miss you.”

He wasn’t expecting an answer, but when the speakers seemed to sigh back, Steve raised himself onto his elbows. So he had heard something...There was another noise, like dry leaves crumbling.

“Tony?”

“Cap?” That sounded like Sam, uncertain, but not apologetic. “Cap, you awake?”

Steve tumbled out of bed and made for his shield. “I’m here, Falcon,” he answered crisply. “What’s going on?”

“We’re picking up a bio-signature,” Sam declared. “I’ve been trying to call you; the temporal and dimensional markers seem to match, but I can’t get a read on--.”

“In English, Falcon,” Steve ordered, already pushing his way into the hall. Nobody else had their lights on, but the team was well equipped to function in the dark. “Where’s the threat?”

“No threat,” Sam replied. His confusion gave way to excitement. “It’s Tony! Guys, it’s Tony, he’s coming back!”

Steve began sprinting.

-

If Tony had to guess, it was probably some ungodly hour in the night and he was doing the equivalent of banging obnoxiously on the front door. So he was an inconvenience, what else was new? He was also tired, but multiverse willing, he was banging at the right door.

And even if he wasn’t, well. Whatever’s behind there couldn’t be worse than Siberia. Or that one universe-none-shall-speak-of-especially-not-to-Cap. Timelines where things went wrong were inevitable; it was a logical fact and Tony was good with facts. And yet, he was still pathetically relieved when Sam--his brave and earnest protege, Sam, called to him from the other side.

-

As he guessed, it was an ungodly hour, but the whole team was there nevertheless. To his credit, Tony had come from the portal in style, landing on one knee instead of tumbling through like the exhausted bag of bones he actually felt like.

“So, it’s really him?” Clint asked cautiously.

“Three words, Barton,” Tony replied. “Rio; last summer.”

Clint immediately back down. “Ok, it’s him.”

One would think a group of highly trained spies and superheroes would need more proof than that, but clearly not. Tony barely shed a few pieces of armor before the hugs poured in. As soon as it became apparent that he survived being tearfully manhandled by Clint and Thor and Hulk, Sam took their place with a legit reason to cry.

“The tech,” he wept into Tony’s shoulder. “It’s so outdated and I used to work for these people!”

Tony tightened his hug in engineering-bro solidarity. “I know, Sam, I’m sorry you had to work with last year’s command system, but I’m here now.”

That seemed to console Sam. “I’m glad you’re back, Tony.”

“Me too,” Tony let the last of his armor go, and felt lighter for reasons other than the fact that he shed a few pounds of gold-titanium. He smiled over at Steve, who’d come down to the lab in his sleepclothes, shield, and little else--not even the Iron Man themed slippers Tony had ironically bought him for Christmas that Steve unironically loved.

“Looking good, best friend.”

The shield crashed to the ground. Steve made a noise that might have been ‘hello’ or ‘welcome back’, or something else Tony couldn’t guess over the force of his hug. Actually, hug was an understatement to the way Steve dragged him off his feet and pulled him close like he never wanted to let go. And Tony was sure he’d never create anything that would move as gracefully, or shift as instinctively as his body did to make room for Steve. He cupped the back of Steve’s head, chest heavy with love and longing and protective anger at the wetness seeping into his shirt.

Nobody said a thing to ruin the moment, so it stretched out long and sweet until Steve loosened his grip and Tony slid back down to the floor. They didn’t lose distance; Tony slipped his palms from Steve’s hair to his flushed cheeks. Steve took the opportunity to kiss him then and--and god, Tony had missed him. Drawing Steve’s mouth to his, he wondered how he ever had it in him to go away, to risk being lost without a chance to find his friends, with nothing but a pithy one-liner to tide them over? What did it take for Steve to keep faith in his promise to come back--Steve, who had lost everything to passing time, but thrived in a world that wasn’t his because he believed in Tony’s heroic future.

Never again, Tony thought hazily as they kissed, I couldn’t do this to you again. Steve moaned softly against his lips, and Tony already promised him the world just then.

“I want to marry you.”

Tony gasped in surprise, eyes wide. “...what?”

“I want to marry you,” Steve repeated. His eyes were damp, but earnest and hopeful and endless blue. “Whenever you want, wherever you want. And if you don’t feel the same, I...it’s alright.”

Tony searched his brain for words, but the best it could do after roadtripping through universes was a confused whimper. The team fidgeted at their periphery, interested and waiting, like Steve was, for Tony to get it together, you ass!

“I only wanted you to know, Tony,” Steve told him gently. “It’s the least I could do. You’ve never been shy about what you want and all this--” he gestured to the air without taking his eyes off Tony. “It made me realize I waited too long.”

“Yes.” Tony breathed in relief.

If he didn’t know Steve as well as he did, Tony would have missed the tiny flash of disappointment crossing his brow. Steve smiled through it; he placed a kiss on Tony’s brow and started to pull aw--why was he pulling away?

Tony tugged him back ruthlessly. “Yes. As in, yes, I’ll marry you, Steve oh my god! Why would you even think I didn’t want...you just--”

Wow, what a time for a genius brain to break.

“Come on,” came a hoot from the sidelines. “Just kiss already!”

And Steve did, with a million watt smile that made Tony’s heart soar while the flash of a camera went off. Sam and Hulk cooed at the photo in the background. Tony spotted a rare smile from Natasha while Clint seemed to be channeling every ounce of his SHIELD training to keep a straight face, which only called more attention to the tears running down from under his shades.

“Congratulations, friends!” Thor declared. “The joyous return of friend Tony and his betrothal to our good Captain calls for revels! I shall send for mead! And maidens!”

Tony leaned his forehead against the hollow of Steve’s throat, contented to note how it was flushed. “Should we be worried?”

Steve shrugged and splayed his hand along the small of Tony’s back. “Not sure,” he said as the planning of revels began in earnest. “But you’re here with me, and I think we can handle it.”

[briangroth27]

Aquaman Review

I went into Aquaman with no expectations—I've never been a fan of the character and don't know much more about him or his world beyond the basics—but I had an enjoyable time watching it! I wouldn't say I've been converted to an Aqua-fan, but this is a fun adventure film with excellent world-building.

That world-building is the best part of Aquaman and they do it much better than any other DCEU film has so far. Wonder Woman is definitely my favorite of this run of films, but I still think it was a mistake to kill off her entire pantheon; keeping them alive would've given Diana's world so much more personality, flavor, and story potential. However, Aquaman explores several different realms and offshoots of the people who came from Atlantis, giving us a wide variety of settings to visit. The scope of this movie is vast, to put it lightly. I also loved how far they pushed the boundaries of realism here: instead of trying to ground Aquaman like Justice League did—where Atlantis was one muddy, submerged ruin—this movie had everything from glistening neon underwater cities to secret hollow Earths to giant undersea monsters (voiced by Julie Andrews!) and more! I hope this proves to Hollywood that you don't have to maintain even a Marvel Studios-level of realism to be successful and that diving into the deep end is perfectly acceptable to general audiences. I also absolutely loved the colors on display here instead of the washed-out look of the Batman and Superman efforts.

My favorite character was Mera (Amber Heard). She was a great blend of cool warrior, experienced stateswoman (though we didn’t see her in the political arena, she clearly had a good grasp of what was going on politically), and Wonder Woman-esque naïveté when she got to the land. Her hydrokinesis was great and a much cooler power than anything Arthur (Jason Momoa) was doing. I feel like she would be the better ruler for Atlantis too, as her hatred of the land isn't any different from Arthur's of Atlantis, so that can’t be used as a point against her. She also knows the ins and outs of the seas and the people therein and truly cares about their well-being; concerns Arthur absolutely does not share. Any concern about her not knowing the land world is essentially moot, since bridging the two worlds isn’t really crucial at all except as the correct alternate course of action to Orm's specific battle plan. The outside world still largely considers Atlantis a myth by the end of the film, and even if they didn't a ruler's first priority should be understanding their kingdom. The assumption that it was always going to be Arthur who was worthy to lead also creates a comparable humility in Mera which should’ve allowed her to be worthy in the Karathen’s judgment too, given how she decided Arthur was.

This was the best appearance of Arthur in the movies so far, but I still don't like him much. I’m glad he's not another Special Chosen White Guy, but I’m not a fan of his bro-ish personality (Batman The Brave and the Bold’s “Outrageous!” Arthur is still my favorite version); more often than not I was agreeing with Mera’s annoyed reactions to him (eating the roses after she mistakenly did was sweet though, I’ll give him that). There’s a disconnect between this movie’s flashback scenes of Arthur being trained since he was a kid and his appearance in Justice League, where he was afraid to use that (apparently extensive) training to do anything, lest it get him killed. At the very least, I would’ve liked his fear of dying in JL to connect to what he knew about his mom’s fate. Arthur's need to reconcile his aquatic side and find a place where he truly belonged was fine, but would've been stronger if he either were more of an outcast on land (instead, he's beloved by those who believe he exists) or if he actually had any interest in taking part in the Atlantean world (since he doesn’t, he isn't losing anything by being an exile...he's still mostly free to roam the seas and do his thing). Because he hates the Atlanteans and doesn't want to be king, his arc feels underdeveloped; there's no sense of accomplishment, release, or elation when Arthur "earns" his destiny IMO, because he doesn’t want it. I understand the argument that he would be the best-suited to be a bridge between worlds intellectually but I don't feel it for a second. He ends up still being essentially who he always was after getting the trident (like I’ve seen pointed out on Twitter), except he hates Atlantis less (and, minus his flirtation with Mera, even that only came with the reveal that his mom was alive). Learning to love/appreciate Atlantis wasn't even part of his journey. I wish the quest for the trident brought Arthur through the kingdoms of the sea to accomplish just that. In the same way Mera learns to appreciate the land, Arthur learning about the people he was supposed to be ruling should’ve been important. He's deemed worthy because he doesn't want to rule, but he also has no idea how life undersea works in the kingdoms, who his people would be, or any idea how to be a leader. Also, King shouldn't be a "learn on the job" kind of gig. Humility isn’t enough, especially since fulfilling this prophecy also means that seven vastly different kingdoms will now be united and will definitely need finessing to help them get along. In short, he’ll probably be a terrible king. This could be an interesting sequel arc if it turns out he's legitimately a poor king (or that he still doesn't want this burden), but here it felt like a foregone conclusion that he's the best choice without showing us much of why he should be king (like I saw others pointing out online). I also wish it felt like Arthur was more connected to the surface world to truly be the bridge he's supposed to be. He can argue the land's pros, but I feel like it's a huge stretch to say he's some big shot that anyone in the land governments would listen to (they don’t even trust Superman; why should Aquaman be different?).

I also wish we could've gotten something more out of Arthur's relationship with his parents. Yeah they're proud of him, but they don't seem to have passed much on to him (aside from helping those in need). I definitely don't need more heroes who treat their superheroism like a mission handed to them by their parents (I was happy that Arthur seemed to be doing good just because it was the right thing to do), but I would've liked to see his parents' personalities in Arthur more. That said, I liked both Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) and Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison). Atlanna was very cool and Tom’s dedication to her and concern for his son were sweet. I absolutely wish there’d been a way to avoid the almost-certain rape of Atlanna after she was taken back to Atlantis though: her king could've just been increasingly anti-land, so she leaves after giving birth to Orm (Patrick Wilson). It would’ve been a harder road for Arthur to travel if he weren’t born to be the next in the line of succession too. Sure you’d lose some of Orm’s paranoia about Arthur, but that’s not something I’d miss if it meant excising that wholly unnecessary offscreen assault.

Orm's "they're killing us with their pollution!" argument was valid and I liked that they literally threw a lot of trash back onto shores all over the world. However, he's so power-hungry that he immediately runs right past "understandable yet misguided" into "only uses his gripe as an excuse" territory. I don’t believe for a second that he actually cares about protecting the planet, only about using land-dwellers’ accidental and careless ‘aggression’ as an excuse to take power for himself. It would’ve been a lot more complex if Orm really were trying to save everyone but were simply unable to do it. I’d rather he have been drawn as a radical who isn’t listened to than a clearly power-mad wannabe king. If he has a more complicated and altruistic goal, it’s that much more difficult for Arthur to argue or fight him.

Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) was a solid secondary villain who fit right into the story, but I don't know that I need to see more of him. I liked that Manta had a legitimate gripe against Arthur and thought his quest for vengeance worked (though the gun he turns into his helmet seemed more powerful the original way, yeah? Cool display of his tech prowess though!). I’m just not sure where he goes from here, because he certainly doesn’t seem changed by being beaten by Arthur and I don’t see how further conflicts are going to be different than the (very cool) one we saw here. As I’ve seen pointed out on Twitter, Manta provokes a nice bit of change in Arthur when Curry accepts his responsibility in creating this enemy and later turns away from killing (or even just letting people die) altogether, which plays nicely against the violent Atlanteans (the biggest personal development Arthur reaches here). In that way, Manta is even more influential than the movie’s main villain. The parallel between Manta and his father (Michael Beach) and Arthur and Atlanna was a solid look at vengeance, but again the ability to move on and forgive is handed to Arthur without any effort on his part because Atlanna is still alive. It would’ve been a stronger contrast with Manta if Arthur were able to forgive Atlantis before he knew she hadn’t been killed. The lesson there also seems to be that vengeance and hate is inescapable unless the source of your pain turns out to not truly be lost to you, and that’s...quite the downer.

The direction and pacing were really well done! The effects were also excellent, with fully believable undersea sets and creatures. The underwater conversations could’ve looked really silly with everyone awkwardly floating around, but they didn’t. There were a few cheesy moments and some cliche dialogue, but nothing that broke the tone. It was great that they weren’t afraid to embrace classic Aquaman elements like the visual of his ‘sonar’-like telepathic power and Arthur riding a giant sea horse! I also loved the adventure vibe of the film, particularly the Indiana Jones-esque quest Arthur and Mera undertook.

All in all, Aquaman is definitely entertaining and fun, but it needed something more to be great. I think there’s an interesting setup for the next film here, but I wonder if they’ll take that avenue.

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!