#that he was so hesitant to get involved in battles that his dad got mad at him

[rickybaby]

Genuine question as I am curious — I know it’s pretty obvious with his expressions/ body language that Daniel seemed shy/insecure(?) about having his braces, but has he ever outright said anything about feeling that way with them? Just out of curiosity as I am new around here!

“I feel very different in terms of looks. Fortunately, experience also bought me better looks. I’m not really too fond of showing people photos of me when I was younger”

[fckwritersblock]

Protection Forever - William Lennox

Lennox x Reader

Description: Running into an old flame at the worst possible time.

Warning: nah. Bad writing? Kinda. Unedited because I was excited. I’ll not when it’s been fixed. Somethings may not be fully aligned with the movie but I tried 😩

Word count: 2500+

Dedicated to @merakiaes hey fren!

All gifs from @meragifs too!

You were an EMT.

The two of you pulled up to meet with the other Autobots, you exiting the vehicle before he transformed. You were in awe as he and the rest of the cars all changed.

The biggest one, their leader, gave a rundown of everything that was happening once he confirmed Sam’s identity. This was just a recap for you as Ratchet had already explained. The teenage boy just stood there stuttering not really knowing how to process everything and you frowned again. That was when you really took notice of two teens just standing there. Having known what was expected of Sam Witwicky you frowned slightly.

“I don’t know about this Ratchet, he’s just kid.” You commented to the alien you had formed a quick bond with.

“And who might you be?” The one called Optimus inquired.

You gave him your name before the other yellow autobot, who you’d later learned was Bumble Bee, uttered something through his radio. It was hard for you to hear but the other robots seemed to be use to it as Ratchet responded immediately.

“The human. I like her.” Ratchet sounding irritated.

Bumblebee made another comment and right before Ratchet could respond one of the others chimed in.

“Wait why do they get humans?” Jazz asked incredulously. “I want one too!”

“Enough! Humans are not pets.” The one call Optimus Prime stated sternly, clearly tired of their bickering. You held your laugh, highly amused.

They were like siblings. A family.

“Exactly I’m just here to help and be a better tour guide than these kids can be.” You confirmed practically forcing your services on them. “Besides they need adult supervision. From the looks of it, you all do.” You grinned at everyone around you. Optimus gave a nod, agreeing.

“She stays. Let’s move.”

In that short amount of time things moved rather quickly. You watched the Autobots accidentally destroy Sam’s backyard when attempting to retrieve the glasses, you were all arrested, you escaped thanks to the Autobots, only to be arrested again.

Fail.

Finally you ended it some secret base. How get you weren’t alone. The government had apparently been on a roll with kidnapping civilians who “knew too much “.

Things weren’t going great but quickly went left when the Decepticons, the Autobot rivals, came to retrieve Megatron.

A war from another planet had officially made Earth its battleground.

You were nervous, trying to figure out how to calm everything down before things started to escalate. Nobody was going to get anywhere with all the bickering. That’s when you saw him.

It had been what? Two years?

Still, without even knowing it, without even knowing you were present, he was still able to make your heart be slow and fast at the same time. The army had aged him, but for the better making him all the more attractive but you couldn’t focus on that right now. Especially when you heard:

“The cryogenic system is failing! We're losing NBE One!”

All the soldiers begin to pack everything that they could to prepare in a fight the way they always did. It was an mirable the way Linux game orders in his men took them without a second thought. The trust there.

“That’s good. Get all the ammo you got.”

“Everything you can carry. Bring it.”

Tearing your eyes away from your former lover you grab Sam.

“Come on, we need Bee.” You reminded him, nodding in Simmons direction

“You got to take me to my car.” Sam said, then repeated when he was ignored. “You have to take me to my car. He’s gonna know what to do with the Cube.”

“Your car? It's confiscated.”

“Then unconfiscate it.” You stared blankly.

“We do not know what will happen if we let it near this thing! -“

“You don't know.”

“Maybe you know, but I don't know.”

You rolled your eyes at the insufferable mans rambling.

This was really was more about ego who was in control more than anything. The guy running the ship, clearly was on a power trip. Unfortunately for him he was facing off against soldiers . The Captain who’s eyes you could feel staring at the side of your face.

A Captain and his soldiers. Ones that really dont like to lose and take serving their country seriously.

The guy who arrested you earlier continue to argue with Sam about getting him back to bumblebee when Lennox finally pulled out his gun sick of the back-and-forth.

“Take him to his car!”

As soon as he did so all hell broke loose and everyone from both parties pulled out a weapon.

“Drop it!”

It wasn’t until One of the sector seven agents pointed a gun at the back of Will’s head that you disable to another agent and took his gun and pointed it directly and held it directly at the one pointing the gun at your ex.

“I really wouldn’t.” You warned.

You were no soldier, but Will have taught you plenty before you broke up. So did your brother, before he passed away. He actually served alongside Will but died in combat. Biking. That’s part of why you were so hurt when Will re-enlisted. When he got promoted to Captain and chose the army over you. You were terrified of losing him the way you lost your brother. The break up wasn’t that messy but you both said things you didn’t mean. In attempts to mask your own pain and hurt one another.

You know. Hurt people, hurt people.

It’s still came to no surprise that you put a bullet in someone to protect him. Together or not you’d never let anything happen to him.

“I'm ordering you under S-Seven executive jurisdiction-“ Simmons ranted.

“S-Seven don't exist.” You interjected, earning a quick appreciative glance from Will.

“Right. And we don’t take orders from people that don’t exist.”

“I’m gonna count to 5. Okay-“ Simmons attempted to threat yet again.

“Well, I’m gonna count to three.” Will deadpanned.

You knew that look. God did you know that look and it was so wrong that you were so turned on.

Finally the Secretary of defense interfered telling Simmons to do what was being asked of him. Everyone relaxed slight, weapons lowering.

“Y/n,”

“Captain.”

The Captain and couldn’t help but watch you how do you get up and prepare to go.

“So that’s her huh?” Epps commented as Will watched you run off with Sam.

“Yeah..” Will answered, mind racing.

While he knew he’d eventually see you again, he didn’t think it would be like this. You looked breath taking.

“Damn. Shorty had your back that entire time.”

“Gear up,”

“What I’m just saying I thought she was gonna put a cap in his.” Epps shouted after his Captain receiving no response.

Will knew you had his back, you always would, the same way he would always have yours. He thought of you often, the break up between two inescapable, never feeling like he did the right thing. You were always not too far from the front of his mind. Him wondering how you were doing. If you were happy. If you found somebody else. There was no doubt he regretted what had transpired between the two of you. It was his fault. He knew that. You knew that. He had ample opportunity to fight for you and he didn’t. When he was promoted Captain he felt he had to choose between you and the army. He didn’t choose you the way he should’ve. In reality he could’ve had both. However hr so caught up proven himself to his deadbeat dad that he possibly let the best thing that ever happened to him go.

Not to mention trying to atone for your brothers death. It wasn’t his fault, but he still couldn’t shake it. So without talking to you he reenlisted. Needless to say where that got him.

Now hear the both of you were in the middle of an alien war. Yeah. This is the last place he thought he’d see you.

You were numb. The battle on the highway enough to freak you out. For mommy, just a moment you thought this might be a dream but no. This is all very real. One minute you guys were just entering the city trying to lay low, next thing you know - BOOM! The explosion knocked all of you over, injuring some, killing a few. Bumblebee’s legs were partially blown off.

Getting up off the pavement you waited for the ringing in your ear to subside as you stood up, trying to study yourself when you felt a pair of arms hold you still.

You knew it was Will just by the way he touched you, you blinked hard trying not to go down memory lane.

“Are you okay?” The concern in his voice was enough to make your heart skip a bear.

“Yeah,” you nodded slowly. “Yeah I’m fine.”

Slowly you removed yourself from his grip and went to check on Sam and Mikaela. Ratchet on the other hand -

“Hmm. His pheromone levels are-“ you quickly turned on him and glared.

“Ratchet I’ll turn you into a can opener if you don’t shut the hell up.”

The robot nearly held his hands up in the surrendering position as he followed you. Will had arranged an aircraft to pick up Sam and the cube while everyone else defended themselves against the deceptive cons in a hurry to get the cube far far away before Megatron arrived. Sam was in a panic and so Michaela, you could see Will’s short fuse getting ready to exploded. It was then you decided to be an escort.

“Sam, you can’t do this alone.” Michaela fussed.

“He won’t be alone.” You commented, causing all parties involved to look at you.

“I’m going with you.” You declared.

“No.” Will didn’t even hesitated as he stepped closer to you.

“Captain Lennox-“

“No!” You grabbed him by the front of his beer and pushed him back.

“Do you see what going on out there?!” You continued to hold on to him and you yelled at him over there chose. “We’re at a war. One we are extremely ill prepared for. So get your shit together! Sam is my responsibility. I have to get this kid to safety.”

This time your hands slid up the side of his face forcing him to look at you.

“Y/n..” he breathed out leaning down toward you, and for the first time during all this madness you could visibly see he was afraid.

“I’ll be back, Will.” You assured him, briefly resting your forehead against his.

Gathering himself he pulled away, looking toward Sam then back at you.

“Go. Go!”

And then we were running.. With nothing but an M16 strapped to your back and the pistol in your hand, you ran faster than you ever have before.

The four of you were under attack once more, you and Sam doing what you had to, to avoid getting snatched up as a fight Ironhide and Ratchet defended you. Unfortunately you were too close to one of the cars that went up in flames and you were thrown into another car from the blast.

“Y/n!” You could feel the blood on your forehead as you slowly pushed yourself up. As you tried to stand you immediately stopped feeling the pain in your thigh. Looking down could see the damage that had been done. The blood surrounding the afflicted area.

“Wha- what, what do i do?!” Sam asked frantically once he took notice of your injury.

“You gotta keep going Sam. I’ll be fine.”

He stood fo his feet, unsure of what to do. When Ironhide told him the same thing.

“Go!” You screamed once more.

Sam left and continued to run without you as you, as quickly as possible, as you tore your focus away from him to pull the shard of glass in your leg out. Ripping a piece of your shirt off you tightly tied it around your thigh in order to stop the bleeding. There was no point in going forward now but the return back to everyone else and help them fight.

You just had to avoid getting killed in the process.

You seen a car steering wheel, a Mountain Dew vending machine and and Xbox all turn into one of those freaky ass robots right before your eyes. All of which you helped others fight off. It was so surreal. In fact, if it wasn’t for the constant ringing in your ear from all the explosions you definitely think you were dreaming. You almost made it back to Lennox and his men when another Decepticon stood between between you and your destinations. They were definitely taking a beating. You saw Epps shooting a green laser indicating the robot that doubled as a helicopter wasn’t a friendly and decided to do what you could to keep the Decepticon from getting any closer to them and hurting any more civilians. In an attempt to draw it away from everyone else, you begin to fire your weapon giving it everything you had.

Unfortunately, the side effective taking its attention off the others meant putting the attention on you.

You ran trying to duck and dodge a bullets now directed your way.

But Will. Will’s heart dropped. Seeing you there defending yourself alone. His pause was brief, the air forces plan already in motion, before he started the motorcycle and was speeding in your direction.

“William!” You screamed for him fearfully as he drove straight toward the robot.

The only thing you could hear was your heartbeat pounding in your ears. You almost couldn’t breathe, you don’t remember the last time you ever felt so scared in your life. But it wasn’t your life you feared for was it?

He rushed forward and slid under the robot continuing to firing the launcher. All you could do was watch as he drove toward you. Toward the danger your mind wondering if he did that on a regular basis. Was this the life of a soldier? What he went through day after day when he was deployed?

Standing up he only spared the parts of the dismembered robot a glance before shouting and turning looking for you. In a matter of seconds he was standing directly in front of you and pulling you into his arms.

Relief.

There was nothing like physically being about to touch someone, hold someone to really know they were okay.

“So…” you began, suddenly feeling nervous. “...That was hot-“

Before you were able to get another word in, he captured your lips with his kissing you roughly and bringing you closer, hands on the small of your back. You couldn’t help it kiss him back just as fiercely put in every emotion you had into that kiss.

Every ounce of passion he had in body, put into this kiss, your lips just as soft, kiss just as pure as he remembered. When you kissed, he knew he was a goner and could never let you go again.

It has been two years since the last time you guys have been this close. This intimate. Reconnected. The feeling it gave you, the indescribable feeling, was one neither one of you ever wanted to forgo again. Pulling back slowly, you both had smiles on your faces, Will pulling you closer to plant a kiss on your forehead.

“Excuse me,” Epps interrupted.

The both of you turning your attention on him.

“As cute as this shit is it’s highly inappropriate in the middle of the battle. I’m just saying we are trying to stay alive and shit.”

———————————————

Oh my fu- I don’t even know what this isssss

Couldn’t tell you what my original ideas was or nothing. I believed this was going to short-

I enjoyed writing it though! Shoutout again to @merakiaes for being on this lennox train with me lol

I’m just....I’m just gonna leave this mess here.

Bye

- Mo

—————————-

Tags: @merakiaes @lilythemadqueen

[1engele]

daybreak | sal fisher x fem!reader - 4. questions

Previous | Next

[warnings: cursing, smoking, death mention, sexual discussion, drug mention]

"every mile further, there's a part of me that slips away."

—

At lunch, you and Sal eventually locate the group's spot in the cafeteria. It felt almost like a walk of shame as the two of you approached and cautiously sat down at the table.

Todd, Ashley, and Larry all turn their heads toward you both. Normally, they'd most likely greet you as if nothing was wrong—which, to their knowledge, nothing was—but this time they were hesitant in saying anything. You could only guess they'd caught the wave as soon as you'd both sat down.

Larry looked calmer than he did in the car. You hoped Ashley and Todd talked him down.

"Alright, something's weird," Ashley's suspicious eyes flitted between you and Sal. "What happened?"

Sal looked you in the eye, before returning his gaze to Ash. "Nothing, we-"

You should have let Sal lie about it, but the fact he still wanted to be selfless and keep the peace made you angry on his behalf and was enough to make you cut in. "Something happened in class that pissed Travis off. In the hall, he fucking cuffed Sal in the face."

Larry jerks forward in his seat. You take advantage of his shock to keep speaking. "His shirt had blood all over it. That's why I gave him my sweater."

"What the fuck?" Ashley's eyes were wide, her entire expression forming into something furious. "We need to report him."

"No, we don't," Sal shakes his head. "It makes things worse. It wasn't even that bad. The blood was superficial. It didn't even take more than a minute for her-" he looks to you, clears his throat, and corrects himself. You guess he doesn't want any questions being asked about what happened in the girl's bathroom. "-for me to clean it up."

Todd swallows a bite of his sandwich and speaks up. "Sal may be right. It would make things worse. That doesn't mean it's justified, though—no matter what Travis is going through at home."

"You know what is justified?" Larry is seething in his spot. "Him getting his shit beat. When the day's over, I'm taking him behind the school and knocking the lights out of his fucking head."

Sal inhales beside you.

"Yeah—that's not going to do anything," you breathe. You feel the blue-haired boy shift beside you—like he'd turned his head your way. "I actually spoke to him on the first day of school."

Ashley's eyebrows fly up. "What? What did he say?"

"We were all in the hallway," you began to explain, slowly and steadily. "I'd seen him giving Sal weird looks earlier in class—and at that moment, he seemed off, too—just standing there at the far end of the hall."

You paused. "I don't know. I've seen it before. It was like he was gearing himself up to walk over and say something. So I took it upon myself to beat him to it. I went over, asked him what he was planning on doing—told him to pick his battles. He almost went over anyway, but I put my hand on him and told him how that wouldn't end well."

You swallowed and glanced around anxiously. "He looked at me, scoffed, and walked away."

Your hand raises to your neck. You absentmindedly drag your knuckles over your throat—a nervous habit. "I hope I didn't make things worse. If I'd known that maybe that was the reason he was pissed off today I wouldn't have done anything."

Sal hadn't looked away from you the entire time you'd been speaking. Carefully, he shifts in his seat to face you and starts: "No," he shakes his head. "He would have hit me anyway. What you said didn't make him do that. It's about what happened in class."

He glanced over the table before meeting your eyes again. "He's jealous. I think he wishes he had something like we- he wishes he had a friend. That's all. So don't blame yourself for Travis' actions like you caused them when all you were trying to do was defend me."

Tears form but you blink them away quickly. Something flashes behind Sal's eyes and he looks as if he's going to say something to console you but someone's speaking before he can. You look away first, settling your eyes on the table.

"What happened in class?" Ashley asks, slowly reaching for her bag of chips.

Sal's eyebrows twitch downward. "Nothing. I tried giving Y/N another answer and Mrs. Packerton gave us detention. That made Travis mad, for some reason."

Larry lets out a bittersweet laugh. "As funny as Mrs. Packerton giving you detention is-"

Sal rolls his eyes in your peripheral vision.

"-why would that make Travis mad? It's not like he's a goody-two-shoes. He barely gets by in school."

Sal shrugs. "Who knows. I really don't care what he thinks, anyway."

Larry is beside himself with frustration. You can tell it. He's tense and his jaw is hard. You know he's ready to get up and talk to the other side of the cafeteria and beat the fuck out of Travis but he knows he can't—because Sal doesn't want that.

"If I were you, I would have killed him already," Larry mutters. "Don't know how you do it, dude. I don't think you aren't capable of it."

The boy beside you falters. "I don't care about what he says to me. It's really about what he says to other people. When he started saying shit to Y/N—I, uh- I'll admit, I did sort of feel like hurting him."

Your heart skips a beat. Immediately after this happens, you feel like slapping yourself in the face for letting your hormones get the better of you.

You watch the rest of the table exchange glances you would've missed—had you blinked—before Ashley speaks. "Whatever. I just don't get why he lets his anger out on somebody who's done nothing to him."

After that, the conversation steadily drifts into something more lighthearted. Larry makes fun of you and Sal for getting detention for something you nearly got caught for the previous day. Todd recites facts about medieval times and Ashley for some reason thinks that it's hilarious and laughs.

You enjoy the rest of lunch, despite the earlier topic.

You've come to realize this school absolutely does not give a shit. You and Sal are accepted into detention without any further notice for your parents. As far as you know, the faculty hadn't contacted nor your mother or Sal's parents.

"Let me call my dad," Sal mumbles, as you both approach the door to detention. "When I'm not home in time he always thinks something bad's happened to me, haha."

He pulls his phone out of his back pocket and flips it open.

"I'd call my mom, but I don't think she'd care," you laugh. It isn't bitter, really—you just couldn't care less. "From how you turned out, I bet your mom is really cool."

Sal looks up from his phone. "Thank you. Uh, yeah. She was good to me."

You falter at the 'was' and ask a question even though you shouldn't have. "Are your parents separated, Sal?"

He falters, waves the phone in his hand a little. "My mother, ah- is dead, Y/N."

Dread plunges to the bottom of your gut like a heavy rock and weighs your insides down. You feel like the biggest idiot known to the world—and you feel even stupider now that you can't muster the words up to apologize to him.

Eventually, you collect yourself—only to spiral yourself downward into further shame.

"Sal, I am so sorry," you breathe. "I should have caught on sooner."

He seems almost surprised concerning your sincerity, eyebrows raising and his eyes widening. Sal quickly raises his hands and waves them, his demeanor appearing distraught. "No! No, don't feel bad. There's no way you could've known. I don't talk about family much."

You breathe in slowly. "I'm such a horrible person. Here I am, complaining about calling my mother, and.."

He blinks down at you sincerely, glances both ways down the hall, and returns his gaze to you, and speaks: "Do you want to just get out of here?"

Your head jerks upward. You swallow the saliva that had pooled in your mouth and fumble for a response. "What do you mean?"

Sal breathily laughs. "We'll get in a lot of trouble for this—but you only live once, right?" He shifts his weight and takes a step closer to you. "Let's just ditch the detention. Me and you."

Your heart jumps. "Don't you have really good grades? Sal, what if-"

"That doesn't matter," he blurts. You meet his eyes. The blue in them cast something familiar onto you—exhaustion. Numbness. The want to feel, the want to be exhilarated.

You don't know this boy very well—but you see something of yourself in him. A person who's kept between the lives most of their life, but they're just itching to break through that wall.

Sal is bored. He's sad. And he wants the thrill.

"Let's do it."

You and Sal both escape the school in a matter of a few minutes. Leaving involved a lot of unnecessary running and giggling and navigating through halls—but you make it out and breathe in the crisp, autumn air. It further dries your parched throat and rustles your hair.

"Wow," Sal breathes, beside you, as you both stand with feet firmly planted on the concrete. You're a few yards away from the school, enough distance between you and the building to where you can feel comfortable. "Never done anything like that before."

You laugh. "We ditched detention, Sal. We didn't run from the law."

"To my standards, we may as well have." He meets your eyes, the breeze blowing past his blue hair. "What do you want to do next?"

You take Sal to a playground. It takes a little while of absentminded walking and searching for something to appear, but eventually your eyes catch on that swing set and you can't resist.

"Come on!" You grin and run towards it.

He laughs behind you, and follows you a little less excitedly, taking his time with walking.

You sit side by side. You dig the toe of your shoe into the ground and push yourself into a steady rock, back and forth. The chains squeak which each movement of the swing.

"Hey, Sal?"

He looks over at you, his hair rustling with the autumn breeze. The more you look at it, the more jarring the contrast becomes—the blue against the backdrop of orange and red trees and the dull sky. "Yeah?"

"Wanna play 20 questions?"

Sal blinks toward you. He brings his hands up to grip the chains attached to his swing. "Sure."

"Okay. Just one rule-"

"Don't ask for your bra size?"

You laugh. "No. If you really want to know, it's-"

He waves a hand hurriedly. You notice the strain in his voice when he replies. "I was just kidding. What's the rule?"

"No boring questions. That's it."

Sal chuckles. "I'm a boring person, so I can't really promise that."

No, you're not, you thought.

"Prove me wrong. You go first."

"Favorite color?"

You chuckle, kicking dirt up from the ground as you push yourself into a steady rock, back and forth. "Wow. What a question. Uh... I don't know. There's a lot of great colors." You glance toward him, shivering as a gust of wind brushes your clothed shoulders. "Blue."

He inclines his head toward you. "It's your turn, now."

You pause. "I'll ask you the same thing. What's your favorite color?"

"Yellow. If you could choose a way to die, how would you? Old age or something peaceful doesn't count."

The abruptness of the shift in topic makes you laugh. "I'd like to be struck by lightning."

He peers at you curiously. "Why?"

"Does that count as one of your questions?"

Sal fingers at the chains of his swing. "Yeah, sure."

You shrug your shoulders, sucking your front teeth behind your lips. "I don't know, honestly. I'd like to know how it feels. It would probably just feel like fire, and it would fucking hurt—but wouldn't it be kind of cool? Have you seen a photo of someone after being struck by lightning?"

He giggles, lifts a foot and presses the bottom of his shoe against the other one. "Does that count as one of your questions?"

"Shut up. Have you?"

"No. What's it look like?"

You grin. "It's like.. tree roots. Or a branch with leaves on it—but it's a scar. You'd have to see it to understand."

Sal looks as though he's about to say something else—probably tease you for your strange fixation on lightning strike victims—but you beat him to the punch. "My turn. What's your favorite song?"

"Memories and Dreams, Sanity's Fall."

You raise your eyebrows. "Metal? Well, now that I think about it, you seem the type."

"Larry actually introduced me to it. I didn't really listen to anything before I met him. Alright, I'll ask you the same question. Favorite song?"

"Wonderwall, Oasis."

"That one's pretty recent," he hums, pauses, and thinks about it. "Yeah. That sounds like you. I like it."

You smile shyly. "It's not metal, sorry. Can we still be friends?"

Sal exhales through his nose amusedly. "No. You don't like the same music genre as me. Friendship over."

You laugh. "Well, I never said I didn't like metal. Anyway, my question is.. when's your birthday?"

"December 20th."

Your eyebrows raise. "Holy shit. You're nearly a Jesus baby."

Sal chuckles. "I'm far from being the second coming. It's 5 days off, anyway."

That makes him a Sagittarius. You're pretty familiar with the general traits of the zodiac signs—personality traits, physical traits, sexual tendencies—like a lot of teenagers nowadays.

Well, if he's true to the zodiac, he has a high sex drive.

Your face feels hot. You're a creep, your brain says.

A few questions pass by. He asks about your birthday, you ask him his favorite movie, etc. You're nearing the end of the game, and it's been a decent amount of time. It feels almost too soon when the sun begins to drift down in the sky.

"Alright, my turn," you say after you've answered the question Sal had just asked you.

"Shoot."

"Are you a virgin?"

A tense moment passes, and you seriously regret asking. All you can hear is your heart thrumming in your ears and your blood rushing towards it and through all of you.

He meets your eyes evenly. "Yeah. Obviously."

"I don't believe you," you reply, immediately.

His eyebrows raise. "Why not?"

You hope he can't hear your pulse. "Because. You answered that way too smoothly."

"That makes no sense. If I were lying, I wouldn't have been as cool about it."

You narrow your eyes. "That's not just it, though. Why hasn't someone fucked you?"

If the abruptness of your question shocked you, it certainly shocked him. Sal laughed loudly like he was in disbelief—swaying his head away from you. His knuckles grow white around the swing chains.

His head turns back and his eyes meet yours straight on. "What are you trying to say?"

"Oh my god," you slapped a hand over your mouth. "I sounded so ignorant just now. Sorry. I'm not shaming you—that would make me a hypocrite. I'm a virgin too."

Sal huffs out another laugh, breathily this time. "No, I didn't think you were being ignorant. That's not what I was asking you."

You pause. "Then.." You plant your feet on the ground and stop the sway the swing is in. The sun continues to drop further down in the sky, and it's golden light warms your face.

You look away from him, your heart beating against your ribs. "Hey, I have an idea."

When you turned your head Sal's way, his attention was already on you. "Yeah?"

"You said that you drive, right?"

"Yeah. Not legally. But I can drive. Why do you ask?"

You grin.

By the time you've arrived at the apartments, the sun has fully dropped out of the sky and the heavens were completely black—save for the full moon and the speckles of bright stars. This is one of the things you love about Nockfell—it's so far out. The lack of air pollution and chemicals below the clouds made the celestial bodies out there so much clearer.

"My dad's going to kill me," Sal muttered, as he forced his personal key into the door to his apartment.

"Hey, Sal, you know we don't have to-"

His head turns to you. "I never said that. I want to."

Sal pulls the key out and slowly turns the knob beneath his long fingers. Instead of easing the door at a steady pace, he holds on tighter to the knob and pushes it open quickly. For a moment, you almost scolded him for his recklessness—until you realized he'd done this so the door wouldn't whine on its hinges.

"Have you snuck in or out before?" You ask him, voice low as you watch him lean down to take his shoes off before he enters the apartment. "Why are you doing that?"

"These floorboards are shit. They creak under the carpet. Wait here."

He leaves his cornflower blue sneakers at the foot of the door and walks inside. You watch the back of his head as his figure disappears into the darkness of the room. Sure enough, he was right. His feet only emanate soft pats against the carpet and don't disturb the wood beneath—because he's only wearing socks. You hear the sound of keys before he returns to you.

"You didn't answer my question," you murmur with a teasing lilt, as he slides the door back into its place in the frame. He locks it back and turns to you.

"Not like this. I especially haven't stolen his car."

You laugh. "I hope I'm not becoming a bad influence on you. We've already ditched detention today.."

"Yeah, but that was my idea," he reminds you.

"I guess you're right. Do you think your dad will be mad at you?"

You loom over him as he forces his feet back into his sneakers. "Honestly? Probably. I've never done anything like that before. Getting detention is one thing, but leaving the school before actually attending it is something else entirely."

The both of you enter the elevator instead of going down the stairs. It's late, this complex is shit, and the stairwell wouldn't be lit.

Somehow, it hadn't crossed either of your minds that taking this elevator so late wouldn't be exactly wise either, but you'd stepped inside of the compartment anyways.

You stepped to Sal's left and watched him press the button for the first floor with his knuckle. As soon as he'd done that, and the elevator doors had slid closed, the singular light that illuminated the compartment flicked off and the both of you stood in abrupt darkness.

"Holy shit!" You exclaimed, jutting yourself into Sal's side and grasping the material of your sweater that he wore. "I'm sorry, but what the fuck? Did it just break?"

"No," he laughed, shifting his weight towards you. "It always does that in the night. I think it's to conserve power so the elevator doesn't break altogether."

You let go of him, embarrassment fluttering in your gut. You weren't sure whether to feel relief as you felt the elevator make it's descent downward. "I mean.. shouldn't there be a sign? I don't know.. that says something like.."

"'You aren't about to plummet to your death, the building's just really old?'" Sal finished your sentence for you and chuckled. "Yeah. If someone had a heart attack, they could sue. But the guy that runs this place is really old and doesn't really have family—so that would just be sad."

You're close enough to him to where you can feel him shrug. "There's an awful lot about this place that's rundown and weird and honestly sketchy, but Addison doesn't care. For instance, the college kids that live in 301? They spend all of their free time doing coke and heroin."

Your eyebrows raise into your hairline as you listen along.

"They're super nice people, and I don't mean to be rude at all, but god, you can smell the body rot inside of that apartment. It's really sad."

You look to him. "You've.. been inside of there," It wasn't a question—more of a statement.

"Yeah. I did coke with them once or twice."

You get whiplash, that's how fast your head whips toward him. "Sal," you breathe. "I don't mean to sound overbearing, but please don't do that. Ever again."

He huffs, but not of frustration. It's of resignation and understanding and shame. "I.. I'll admit it to you, Y/N, that shit is a lot more addictive than it's made out to be. I'm not going to tell you how I felt because I don't want to make it out to be enticing—but I can understand why they're addicts. I'd only done it a few times and it felt like any time I wasn't doing it I itched for it. Eventually, I got busier with school and other things—so after a while, I.. guess I sort of forgot."

You hear him turn his head to look at you. You barely make out his prosthetic face in the black. "I'll smoke cigarettes with you, Y/N, but I'll never introduce you to something like cocaine. By the way you reacted when I told you I'd done it, I hope you won't do it yourself."

You meet his eyes amidst the darkness. "You know, Sal," your gaze wanders to the elevator doors. The compartment shutters as it reaches its destination on the ground floor. Your fingers brush his with purpose. "I know of a lot better feelings that don't come from drugs."

Your heartbeat sounds like gushing blood in your ears. You feel his burning blue eyes on the back of your head.

At the same time as you're stepping out of the elevator, you've stepped into something else.

[lordkilluazoldyck]

Don't Talk to Strangers

masterlist | guidelines

summary: a reunion with an old friend

warnings: violence, cursing

author’s note: this is loosely based on the song "don't talk to strangers" by dio & 100% based in the theory that dabi is touya

-

5 years old

"Touya, don't talk to strangers. They're only there to bring you harm." Endeavor advised his young son.  

With big blue eyes, the young boy looked up at his flaming father.

"Okay, dad."

Endeavor yanked the boys arm as he walked forward. "We don't have time for this, you need to train."

The boys heart sank; he took one last took at the other little children playing tag near the park, and watched as a little girl smiled and waved goodbye.

-

12 years old

"Hey! Touya, how are you?" you asked, overjoyed to see the fiery red hair of your crush.

He gave you a small smile and waved.

"Hey, I'm alright. What've you been up to?" He sounded exhausted.

"Oh, just school. I want to practice using my quirk but, mom won't let me." You shook your head, but held a smile. "Why haven't you been at school?" You hesitated to ask, but you hadn't seen him in class in months.

Before he could answer, Endeavor approached you both, placing a hand on Touya's shoulder. He glared at you and looked down to the boy. "Touya, don't talk to women. They'll only bring you down. Let's go, your training isn't over."

You watched him walk away from you, having no idea that would be the last time you saw his fiery locks.

- 

20 years old

You had heard Touya went missing years ago. Your young heart broke but since then, you've grown up. You worked for Best Jeanist's hero agency as a lawyer, handling any court cases and law enforcement involvement in the hero's never ending battles. Your healing quirk allowed you to be a great asset to the pro hero as well, as drops of your blood healed wounds.

The League of Villains was ever persistent when it came to their goal. So, the hero's had to be just as persistent in stopping them. But, your job was more behind the scenes, so you never got the chance to interact with the League.

Until, one day you ended up having to work late on a case at the agency, so walking home in the dark was inevitable. Several coworkers offered to walk with you— even Best Jeanist himself, but you figured you could hold your own. Well, maybe you could've against some lowlife thugs trying to steal your money, but certainly not against any member of the League. So, when you were yanked into an alleyway by purple scarred arms, to say you were freaking out was an understatement. You knew of the patchwork man being in the League, as members of the agency spoke of him often.

"Get the fuck off of me!" You screamed as loud as you could. But, you felt a hand make its way over your mouth. Then a purple arm wrapped around your waist and held you tight to the man's chest.

"Doll, I'm not here to hurt you. But, if that's what'll shut you up then I can make that happen." His voice rang in your ears.

Why does he sound kind of familiar?

You bit his hand, causing him to remove it from your mouth.

"What's your name?" You could barely get your words out.

You could feel him tense when you asked.

"You can call me Dabi."

You rolled your eyes.

"I didn't ask what I could call you. I asked what your name was." You found a surge of energy and confidence to sass the scarred man.

He chuckled lightly.

"It's Todoroki Touya isn't it?" You silently prayed you were right and that he wouldn't get mad.

He stiffened, but didn't respond.

"Let me see you." You demanded.

"You don't want to see me." He shifted and spoke darkly.

"I've wanted nothing more for years" you argued.

He released you hesitantly. You turned and saw a black haired, patchwork face. He looked away as you gazed at him. Silver staples shining in the small amount of light.

"Touya, I missed you so much." You felt tears prick at your eyes. You raised your hand to his cheek and turned him to face you. His bright blue eyes met yours as you felt a tear slide down your cheek. You fought the urge to jump into his arms.

He reached a scarred hand to your wrist to take your hand away, gently.

"You're not gonna say anything about my scars?" He asked, harsher in tone than before.

"What about them?" You felt his insecurity. "I think you look pretty badass. I like this new look, black hair suits you anyway." You smiled. He lifted his hand to your cheek and wiped your tear away with his thumb. You met his gaze and felt yourself falling all over again.

"You have to call me Dabi now, babydoll. If the League knew who I was, it would... over complicate things." He was looking at you like you were the most important thing in the world.

He pulled your head into his chest and wrapped an arm around your waist. Resting his chin on your head, he slowly swayed back and forth. Softly, he whispered into your hair, "The only thing I've ever regretted, was walking away from you." so quietly you almost didn't hear it.

You smiled and looked up at Dabi's enchanting eyes. He leaned in and you felt his lips on yours.

After pulling away he leaned down and whispered in your ear, "If anyone tries to hurt you, I will kill them. I've been doing it for years."

[kuboism]

Bleach Canon Vs. Studio Clown Episode 1 (Part 2)

So in the manga Ichigo, Number One Oniichan In town, Kurosaki arrives first to rescue his family, in his fancy silly socks and armed with a bat.

This scene is also missing, and I’m slightly saddened because you can also see the little tray of food with the label “For Ichigo-oniichan” which is clearly Yuzu delivering on her earlier promise to bring him some food since he decided to skip dinner bc of his dad.

Ichigo also catches a glimpse of a hollow for the first time. Tensions are high.

You sure sound nonchalant for a person trying to stop him from literally ripping his soul apart. Manga Rukia had some urgency in her smh.

I will admit - literally being “bound” by “words” of a spell is clever and a cool visual. Doesn’t improve the rest of the episode tho....

I’m also very mad that this encounter is changed in the anime. I guess since anime Ichigo had already seen a hollow he rushes in, but this brief moment of fear and hesitation is literally the theme of Bleach.

We fear what we cannot see. What we cannot see we don’t understand. Ichigo is encountering a hollow for the first time here, he is afraid, hesitant to face it. But his love for his family helps him overcome it. He is afraid - but he still has to protect them. He fears what he cannot see, but even so, he continues walking. Ichigo decides, in this moment, to be “brave”. (If you know - you know).

Anyway, Anime fishbone talks again, absolutely ruining the slow reveal of the “nature of the monster” that happens in later chapters, but what is Pierrot if not “subtle” lol.

This part is also removed for obvious reasons.

Some of the dialogue is changed for brevity which is reasonable, but some is also changed to adapt to that fuckin filler “previous day”.

(Not exactly but go off?)

(a brazen assumption)

Manga Rukia just builds up to the reveal.

Again, manga Ichigo’s Reiatsu wasn’t “completely” suppressed - it’s literally what prevented Rukia from finding Fishbone and stumbling into Ichigo’s room. (As per Aizen’s plan, but anyway). It’s unstable and underdeveloped - but like, there. They removed Rukia’s little comment about “unseen filters”, but she still stumbled into his room, and Grand fisher headed towards his house without detours.  Pierrot can move and change dialogue all they like - doesn’t mean it’ll add up lmao.

GIRL THATS SOME BOLD CONJECTURE......

Huh?

FDHGDF DO YOU NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR FAMILY?? SHES LITERALLY FINE!

YEAH SAME, YOUR FAMILY LITERALLY GOT ATTACKED TOO DIPSHIT!

OH good YOU REMEMBER. Why start with a random ass girl THATS DEAD, YOUR SISTERS ARE ALIVE REMEMBER!!!

Anyway Manga Ichigo supremacy:

WHY IS HE CHARGING TOWARDS IT!

Instead of having Ichigo charge into battle like an idiot the manga gives Rukia an extremely human moment which changes the tide of the battle:

She didn’t mean to blame him. In the short time they’ve knowne each other,s he already feels for him, and doesn’t want him to get the wrong, self-deprecating message. She knows how it is. Her momentary sympathy towards Ichigo is what takes her out of the battle.

Which forces Ichigo, who now having seen the danger and fearing it and doesn’t charge in like an idiot, to feel responsible for the mess and get involved in the forefront of the battle. Albeit suicidal he plays it off like he can win. Which later on develops in his battle ethos - no matter how hopeless the battle, he won’t win because he’s stronger, but because he has to.

(viz translates this to “so come and kill me” completely missing the nuance of his actual line “Try and get it if you can kill me!” - It’s a brazen challenge. Ichigo, no matter how hopeless is stubbornly not suicidal. Again, it’s not about “can he win” - he “has to win”.)

Anime Ichigo is looking for a quick atonement suicidal fight 

and Rukia has to save his clown ass.

Injured manga Rukia saves a stranger that reminds her of her guilt.

In the manga Rukia’s own carelessness leads Ichigo to be forced into battle - him having to overcome fear in a really desperate position just to have a chance at saving his family. Rukia, similarly selfless, and later on as we find out, ridden with guilt, goes beyond her duty to protect him. 

Also funny how this moment is excluded in the anime, where it’s completely Ichigo’s fault that Rukia is injured, while in the manga both slowly contribute to their downfall and yet Ichigo still apologizes, coming to his senses, but ok....

Wish this moment wasn’t this bland in the anime, especially Rukia’s eyes softening, like she’s resigning that she’s about to do something extremely illegal and desperate, potentially fuelled by Ichigo’s emotional whirlwind at the moment.

Anime Ichigo seems mildly troubled by this situation.

Also didnt you like worry about a random girl’s life before your family’s, what’s with the sudden “OF COURSE I WANT TO SAVE MY FAMILY”.

This whole page of explanation 

is reduced to 

Which I can understand pacing wise, but like....I’ll take it over those 6 minutes of filler that derailed the logic of this episode so....? Also would’ve loved to hear Ichigo’s heartbeat overwhelm the scene.

Ichigo’s fear is ignored once again, and this heartwarming scene where his resolve is finally made is like, non-existent

Manga Ichigo supremacy.

They basically just skip to it in the anime lmao, thanks.

Also...confident much, Ichigo? Why??

Anime Ichigo can never live up to manga Ichigo’s charm sigh...

Sir show some emotions (nitpick)

Anyway yeah. End of episode 1. 

I didnt think this would be this draining, but here we are. 

If you’ve followed along you can see how in a world where the Bleach manga didnt exist...the anime would be fine. Yet at random ass steps they make these needless changes that just ripple throughout into nonsense. Those 6 minutes of screentime that they dedicated to Rukia and Ichigo meeting earlier could’ve just been used....for literally anything else they cut out. 

I’m so tired, thank you for reading this far!! Bye!!

[randomfandomasks]

Mafiafell Headcanons

This is probably my favourite Mafia AU just because they are so chaotic evil, and chaotic evil is the best kind of evil.

This Family love violence, and they thirst for power.

A lot of Gangs are actually really afraid of them since the won´t hesitate to kill you or to kidnap you and torture you and many other things.

Despite that they are actually very chill as long as you are respectful and polite. They are protective over their Family and their protected areas, but not for free, however they won´t force a really poor family (with little kids) to pay. They aren´t heartless after all they do show mercy.

The reason why the police doesn´t even think about to intervene is because they are really scared of this Gang, and even those who try will end up dead anyway.

This is also probably the most stylish family. The black, red suits fit their chaotic evil persona, and a lot of them also wear leather jackets in their free time.

Also, they all work in groups.

Sans, Papyrus and Frisk work together.

W.D Gaster works together with Alphys

Asriel works together with Chara and Monster Kid (sometimes Frisk comes a long)

Undyne and Mettaton are Asgores and Toriels personal bodyguards. Napstablook also works with them, but he is mostly in the shadows.

Grillby, Muffet, and Burgerpants work together.

Asgore and Toriel are estranged, but they still work together.

Toriel is the more merciful.

Asgore is the boss/don. He is very powerful, and professional. He is very strategic and intelligent. And he knows that killing all of his enemies would be bad for business. He is also more active than the other Mafia Asgores. He uses weapons and magic. And he also caries a gun with him. In a fight he uses a minigun (and yes he can carry it). Mafiafell Asgore is very tall and physical strong. He also always smokes a cigar. He likes black coffee, and he is not much of a gardener. He enjoys playing chess, and he is actually a good dad. While he can be very strict and distant, he is also very protective and he is very proud. He shows that when he sends him on a mission with extra protection, better guns, and he also always sends Sans or Undyne or Napstablook to keep an eye on them.

Toriel is also very smart and also very strong in a battle. She is mostly in the background though. She prefers doing the paperwork and taking care of the finances. But she always goes to the Mafia meetings together with Asgore. She mostly uses her fire magic, but she always has a small gun with her. She often decides if someone deserves mercy or not. The only time when she doesn´t even think about showing mercy is when someone threatens the safety of her children or children in general (hers or not). That´s when she is going to join to hunt these thugs down.

Asriel: He is a perfect balance between his parents, he is both merciful and is not afraid of using violence. Although he isn´t much involved in fights, he often collects money from certain shop owners, he picks up the supplies from Grillby, Muffet or Burgerpants, and he also threatens people that are causing trouble in the protected areas. Most of the time he works with Chara and Monster Kid. But there are also times when Frisk joins them, too. While he is uses both his magic and Weapon, he prefers using weapon than his magic. He only uses magic in playful fights since then he can control it better, but when he wants to hit his target he uses guns. He uses a shotgun. Due to his cute looking face it is easy for him to mislead people into thinking that he is very innocent and nice. This has come in handy a lot of times. He is sarcastic, and often very mean, but he is also a gentlemangoat. 

Chara: Besides joining Asriel with his jobs. Their job is also to get rid of people that are threatening, insulting, spreading rumors about the family. They always look very cold and Stoic. Their emotions are often hard to read which is why they are the perfect person for threatening people, and they are also a great people reader. With those “talents” they also make a great bodyguard. Besides, that they are actually very soft when they are at home and surround by the people they love. They are wearing leather jackets...and leather jackets only. They actually dyed their hair, now they have black hair with red highlighters. Their aim is also great, and they are also quick at drawing their gun. They´ve been taught by Asgore and Undyne. 

Frisk: Together with Sans and Papyrus they are always walking together. They are the assassins and the once that beat up annoying people. Frisk is actually very charming and kind, but their kindness hides a storm. This little body hides a dangerous killer. They're also making deals with other Mafia groups or the police or with other thugs. When they do not have to assassinate somebody, then they often hang at Grillbys bar or the help Asriels group. They are also living together with Sans and Papyrus they are Frisks dunkles. And Frisk is kind of the boss of their little Group.

Sans: He is the best fighter in this Family, but he does listen more to Frisk and Papyrus than to Asgore. They are the only reason he is actually with the Mafia. He is hardworking. Besides, beating up idiots. He is actually always collecting information about the person that they have to assassinate. And he is actually helping Undyne and Papyrus with the interrogation. He has the best aim out of them all, but he prefers to either use just his hands or his magic because its more fun. He still loves to hang out at Grillbys bar. And he actually trains quite a lot. He has a short temper and he if he isn´t taking it out on their target than he takes it out on a dummy.

Papyrus: The interrogator and torturer. Despite him being arrogant he actually loves having Frisk as their boss. He doesn´t really enjoy being a leader anyways. He also somewhat admires that his brother is so hardworking even though he would never admit that. Papyrus is too stubborn and has a big ego. His weapon is an assault rifle. He loves the art of torturing people especially if this one dared to insult or threaten a member of the Family. Sans and Frisk usually do not notice, but Papyrus always glares at everyone who even looks strangely at them. He is slightly anxious, and he always expects someone to attack them. He actually loves his scar because he got it after killing a very dangerous Mafia Boss by himself (actually Sans helped him a bit with that). 

Mettaton: He owns a MTTs resort where his worker burgerpants secretly sells weapons, ammo, drugs, and also normal stuff like food and drinks. His club is the most famous one, and people love to hang out in there because there are always music and great atmosphere. He is also a great bodyguard. With him being having a robot body he can see if someone has a secret weapon, he can sense if someones is stressed or dangerous, and he has great reaction. His laser guns are very fun to use, too.

Napstablook: This little smug ghost is a bodyguard and a spy. He is a ghost , and is it impossible to see him. If there is a target that is very hard to assasinate then he helps Frisks group. If Undyne, Papyrus and Sans need help with interrogating he is always willing to help them by spitting some acid on the person. He can also makes somebody disappear without a trace. And he is also loves gambling.

Undyne: She trains the new recruits, guards Asgore and Toriel, always makes sure that their children are safe, and she is also a fantastic fighter. Even though she has a lot of jobs she doesn´t complain. She loves it...since she is always very energetic, active and in need of punching somebody she gets almost never tired. Because of her great work she sometimes gets a lot of free days which she spends with watching Anime, learning how to cook and playing her piano. She won´t be a good assassin though, since Frisks group are mostly very quiet. The last time they took her with them she just straight destroyed the whole building with the target.

Alphys: She and Gaster work on inventing new poisons, medicine, drugs and other chemicals. Most of the time Gaster kidnaps someone and they test their experiments on this person. Also, she and Gaster often heal if someone gets injured during a fight. She also gave Mettaton his body.

Gaster: He is a mad genius. He created a posion that makes people only say the truth, and then this person dies. 

Grillby, Webber (Male version of Muffet) and Burgerpants are all dealers: Grillby deals with ammo and weapons, and he also owns his own Bar. Webber has a bakery were she sells normal food, but also drugs and posions. And Burgerpants works for Mettaton. He actually wishes that he would have a better job than only the dealer. Each of them are heavily protected by the Family even though Grillby doesn´t really need protecting since he is great in combat.

Their nicknames:

Asgore: The Godfather

Toriel: Donna, Madam

Asriel: Shotung

Chara: exterminator?, cold eye? (I don´t really know)

Frisk: little boss

Sans: bruiser.

Papyrus: Assault rifle or just rifle

Undyne: Due process

Napstablook: Acid, Acid spitter

Mettaton: lasergun.

Alphys: Doc.Poison

Gaster: sulfur

Grillby: pyre.

(Male Muffet): Webber, gentlespidey. Spidey?

Burgerpants: Whiskers,

[echo-three-one]

Chapter 24

I should really put effort on summaries, right? Anyways... Enjoy! ❤️

Table of Contents

Going Dark - Part 3

Gary "Roach" Sanderson

MacTavish Residence, Glasgow, Scotland

Roach never would have guessed that MacTavish was a big time. Their 'old' house was already a mansion, complete with guest rooms, extravagant furniture and even an outdoor pool. Roach could stay here forever.

He was laying on a queen sized bed relaxing after a tiring chase earlier when Ghost knocked on his door and let himself in.

"What's wrong mate?" he asked, lifting only his head. Ghost leaned by the door and crossed his arms.

"You know how I got into a little argument with France back in Brazil right? Well, I still regret it ever happening…" he frowned, as shown by the way the fabric of his mask twitched.

"You regret which part? The fighting or the telling her what you feel?" Gary asked, cornering the ever vague Simon. He always does that when it comes to asking for advice.

Ghost ran a hand across his face and groaned.

"Bloody Hell, mate. Why do you have to ask those kinds of things?" he complained.

"So I could be clear as to which one I should recommend you to do." He replied quickly. He was very willing to help, but if Simon refuses to cooperate, then maybe he could handle it on his own.

"There's still one thing… I've been meeting with Alexandra not just for intel… " the tone of his voice was hesitant but he took a sharp inhale and continued.

"... we've also been sleeping together. No strings attached. For her it eases her tension from all the work while I try to forget about my feelings for Francine."

Gary didn't know what to say. Simon wasn't the kind of person to give up easily, and he fully understood the reasons for his latest actions.

"Well, it looks like Francine already made her choice, right?" Gary asked, trying to confirm from Simon that he already lost the battle.

"I'm not quite sure. Everytime I see her, she's physically distancing herself from Soap but later that night, they actually slept beside each other. She's making me confused and it still makes my heart beat for her…" Ghost admitted. As tough as he is on the battlefield, so was his admiration toward Francine. Gary pondered on how to help out his friend in this love triangle situation he caught himself in, but every direction he thought of would result in Ghost actually ending up sad.

The discussion was interrupted when a plane was heard from the distance, as it approached the nearby open area. It looked like the girls made it home.

"Looks like they're here." Roach sounded excited while Ghost looked worried.

~

It was impressive how they managed to bring most of their stuff from Brazil here in Scotland. It wasn't that much but the idea of packing things for six people in a hurry made Roach impressed.

"How did you bring most of this stuff?" Roach curiously asked Maxine as he helped her carry her stuff.

"Well, Samantha asked for help from his Dad and they immediately flew to Brazil." Maxine replied cheerfully, Roach loved how she managed to see the bright side of everything amidst the panic.

"So will Samantha-"

"No. They had a long talk with his Dad and she felt much safer back here with us. Her Dad wanted to offer help now that the New York Attack was over, but Samantha insisted, especially now that they're out hiding."

"Doesn't he have the power to like, pardon us for being wanted? That would make life much more easier for us."

"I thought of that too… but they're seeing Shepherd differently now. He's gone mad. And they want to corner him. Any action involving him may result in a global cripple. And I just heard all this on the plane ride here." Maxine frowned.

"Then that makes our job of locating him all worth it." Roach smiled giving hope to Maxine.

Maxine just nodded, her face was full of fear and doubt. She just wished all of this was over.

With Soap probably asleep, Roach had the liberty of touring the girls around the house, it was huge and spacious that each of them could occupy a room with about two more rooms to spare.

"Man, I could stay here forever." Roach mused as they walked the halls of the second floor. These four rooms are already occupied, most of the empty rooms are over there…" Gary pointed to the other end of the hall. Maxine looked at France and nodded as they both agreed to stay in one room.

"What about you, Miss Samantha?" Gary asked with sophistication, imitating a butler. Samantha giggled and blushed.

"I'll actually be sleeping with Alex, thanks Mr. Sanderson." she replied, playing along with Roach's role play. For a short moment, Roach felt relaxed. He hasn't felt like this for a while and it was too overwhelming. But while the enemies hid in the shadows, he was sure the team would be up for a tough fight anytime soon.

Despite being tired, Roach couldn't sleep. He felt that there was something or someone else he needed to consult. So, he decided to get up and get himself a glass of water down the kitchen. While he could hear himself gulping down a glass of water, he could also hear faint thumping from the basement. With high alert, he began descending down the stairs to investigate the source of the sound.

It was Simon. He was still up and doing sparring rounds with a red punching bag, each of his punches sent the bag swinging violently.

"You okay?" Gary finally asked, alerting Simon of his presence.

"Can't sleep." he said nonchalantly, giving the punching bag another mighty punch. Roach took a minute to admire the huge gym Soap had, each piece of equipment probably spent a fortune. He slowly paced to the small area filled with equipment and grabbed himself some boxing mitts and a protective helmet.

"So, why don't we resume our little talk?" Gary called as he presented himself to Simon on full boxing coach gear. Simon immediately positioned himself and Gary did the same as they began training with the intention of talking it out.

Simon's punches were heavy, Roach could feel a little emotion on each hit he made and it was starting to make him unstable.

"So, anything you'd want to discuss?" Roach initiated, his hands carefully met his punches as they circled around the area.

"I've been trying to ignore her, Gary. You see me try right? But the more I don't think of her, the more excited I get when I accidentally see her. It's frustrating." He explained in between his punches. There it was, the thing bothering him the most.

"What did she say back in Brazil? She probably said something that kept you from moving on. I can't think of anything else that might cause you to feel this way, unless you're lying." Roach tilted his head so he could see Simon's reaction. His punches stopped coming and he just stood there, his hands dropped to his sides.

"She… she didn't say anything… but she distances herself to John while I'm around."

"John MacTavish or John Price?" Gary interrupted, in an attempt to brighten up the mood, but instead all he got was Simon's 'are-you-kidding-me-right-now?' look.

"But when I'm not around, she finds time to see him…" Simon continued. Gary took off his gloves and tapped his shoulder.

"She… she was being considerate." Simon concluded. It looked like Gary did his job. He could feel Simon's shoulders relax upon realizing what was actually going on.

"Despite all that… she sacrificed a little just to not hurt you." Gary added, he had no intention of making Simon guilty but now that he realized it, he was making an impact toward the relationship that was blooming between Soap and France.

"Thanks, Gary. For being a great friend…" Ghost took off his gloves and walked out of the gym.

"... and the worst therapist." He joked with a grin as he walked up the stairs and left Gary in the gym.

"I hope you find your peace, Simon." Gary muttered.

The following morning, the team was already busy walking around the house. Soap was on the phone with a long list of things the girls ordered for their restock. It was planned that for the time being, the team was to stay in the MacTavish residence while Nero and Shepherd were off the grid.

Price and Jack started their own little command center inside Soap's father's office just by the living room. They began creating connections to their closest contacts to track activity from their enemies. Ghost seemed to be not around at the moment and Gary guessed he's still asleep.

Soap nodded a greeting to Roach as he walked by him on his way to the kitchen. Maxine and France were out opening drawers and anything in the pantry to clear up space for supplies. From the kitchen window, Gary spotted Samantha, Alex and Nikolai in front of a truck. Gary overheard that Nikolai wanted to go back home and he guessed today was the day he'd do so.

"I didn't know what kind of sugar you needed so I kinda ordered a bunch of em." Soap announced to the sisters and they laughed.

"The clerk kept asking me of brown, white, confectioners and some other and honestly I don't know which." he shrugged and scratched his head.

"Hey man, I was just wondering… why did you choose the risky life? When you had everything you ever needed here?" Gary asked the question that has been bothering him since he got here.

"I dunno Roach. It's just that I knew it was calling out to me… You also sound like my Mum when I told her I'm joining the force." he chuckled. Gary just nodded but still didn't understand his logic. But he dismissed the thought as soon as Maxine and France asked for his help reaching something by the cabinets.

The rest of the day was busy. Once supplies arrived, everyone else was preoccupied. Lifting boxes, arranging items, looking for intel. It was like they made their own 141 base inside the house.

By the time they're almost free, Roach and Maxine were already in the kitchen preparing for dinner.

"So, any new dreams lately?" Roach initiated as he sliced through the vegetables they're cooking.

"Piece by piece. Last night I remembered having gum stuck on my hair on picture day. I cried a lot." she giggled. Roach smiled, he was glad she's getting her memories back which made him remember of Samantha's case.

"Ow!" Gary winced as he accidentally cut a short scrape on his thumb. He was so busy staring at Maxine that he forgot he was chopping.

"Don't worry. It's just a small wound." Gary assured as Maxine pulled his thumb close to her mouth and blew air through it, just like when you're a kid and you do that to ease the pain.

Gary couldn't help but smile at her immediate action. She also looked concerned and worried about his welfare.

"Hey Max." he whispered, making the girl turn to him, her face was so beautiful in Gary's eyes.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing… It's just that…"

"What is it? You're making me worried"

"I really really like you, Maxine Winters."

Maxine looked at him in the eye, the eye contact they were doing was starting to make the world fade behind them.

"Guys! I have bad news." Soap interrupted, causing everyone to form a small circle by the living room.

"Ghost left. With a note saying he'll try to gather more information on Shadow Company with Alexandra's help. He says thanks and that he'll see us all soon." Soap summarized the note. The room fell silent.

Next Chapter : Off the Grid

Notification Squad my Beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @enderio @smokeywhalee @whimsywispsblog @beemybee @ricinbach

[hpfannons]

Oh la la! Thats a fine choice of specimen. Thank you. :) lol. I only ask about the jealousy thing because I remember that Dick said one time that they only get to see him 2 months a year or something... I probably meant the batfam side i guess... lol but its good most Harry’s friend are okay or just roll with it... maybe I should asked some batfam moments during their stay in order hq... I really love that scene where Harry was on Dick’s lap and and the rest are just with them... I kinda want a scene with the same feeling...if you dont mind. xD thank you very much! glad to hear ur answer about fudge and umbridge. thank you so much... im really immersed in this au... looking forward to part 7. >_< thanks and stay safe y’all.

Glad you like my batfam! My best friend and I spent way too long going back and forth on people we could agree on for different characters (I think Tim and Alfred were the hardest… but it was years ago, so don’t quote me on that lol)

Sorry about the jealousy thing though, miscommunication on my part. I blame that for answering at 3 am on my phone XD

Yes, there is a lot of buried jealousy with the Batfam. Though surprisingly, most of it comes from Harry. That’s mostly because all these new family members come in while he’s at school, so it kind of feels like they’re all much more close knit with each other than with him because he’s not there for the large portion of the year.

They’re all happy to include him and catch him up with things he missed while he was at school… But there are some things you just have to be there in the moment for, because retelling the story just isn’t quite the same.

That’s not to say that the rest of the Batfam don’t have the same feelings as well, I think I’ve mentioned before that Tim and Harry especially are very close (actually best friends, on the same level as Harry and Ron) so Tim is definitely one of those people who feels Harry’s lost during the year the most.

Add on the fact it’s not really that easy to keep in touch with him while he’s at school, and it really is just hard on everyone.

As a side note, I fully believe the family would find some kind of way to make alterations to a communicator that will work at Hogwarts. Considering how many people who both use magic and have been involved with the Justice League in some way or the other, I find it hard to believe they haven’t found a work around for the whole magic screws with tech problem. At the very least, Harry would have a way to check his email from family, b/c making Headwig carry letters from Scotland to New Jersey and back is just cruel.

As far as the Batfam hanging out around 12 Grimmauld Place… They’re trying to be as non-confrontational as possible, even if there’s still some ruffled feathers from the first night. So the boys mostly go along with helping clean out the place under Molly’s orders - Jason was originally kind of prickly about it because he’s not a child (certainly not her child), so he found getting ordered around kind of insulting… Until his inner clean freak won out and yeah, this place does need a lot of work. Alfred has taught them all well, and it shows.

Tim mostly hauls himself up in the library when he can get away from clearing out pixies and de-gnoming the garden. He’s got like four notebooks full of information and Ron is a little shocked to find out Harry wasn’t kidding when he said Tim was worse than Percy and Hermione together when it came to information gathering.

Damian has less than stellar people skills at the best of times, and here he’s decided he doesn’t care very much for anybody over the age of seventeen (that’s not family anyway), so most of Dick’s time has been dedicated to keeping the youngest away from most of the Order. Not that he really blames him, Dick isn’t nearly as vocal about it as Damian, but he is also just completely done with all of them. He’s only playing nice because they’re here for Harry.

Bruce has also posted himself up in the library, reading everything he can get ahold of in regards to the history of the wizarding world trying to understand exactly what he’s son has gotten wrapped up in. Because lord knows nobody in this house is going to explain it to him… At this point he’s about one wrong comment away from telling them exactly where they can shove their ‘muggle’ excuses.

There was one notable evening though, when the boys as well as the Weasleys and Hermione were just hanging out in a parlor or sitting room or whatever it was supposed to be. Jason had been messing around with an old radio he found the other day and between him and Tim, they managed to get it working. The minute they recognized Britney Spears’s voice, there were four sets of eyes immediately on Dick who gave all of twenty seconds of resistance before he was up and dragging people along to dance with him. The impromptu party had ended up going on for hours, Tonks getting roped into the fun with them while Sirius and Remus smiled fondly from the doorway. Molly made a passing comment about bedtime, but didn’t argue back when that was quickly shot down by the other adults. Let the kids be kids while they could.

As far as soft moment’s for the Batfam… there are two that really come to mind, though they’re kind of sad though.

The first is really kind of short, but it’s after the battle of Hogwarts, and Harry’s come back from his final fight with Voldemort, and there’s just people everywhere in the great hall, but Harry knows exactly where he’s going. Bruce is standing to the side, watching while Jason’s getting patched up, and trying to keep an eye on his other kids as well. Everyone's a little banged up and bruised, but they’re all alive, and that’s the important part right now.

And then he sees Harry and there’s this almost tangible sense of relief because now all of his kids are present and accounted for, and Bruce feels like he can finally breathe again. And Harry just like collapses into Bruce who has to scramble a little bit to catch him, but then just stands there and holds him, because Harry is just completely exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally. And all Bruce hears is “I want to go home Dad.”, and honest to god Batman almost starts crying in the middle of the great hall in front of everyone.

The other is after the Triwizard Tournament, and everything with Mad-Eye Crouch, when Harry’s in the hospital wing. Everyone’s standing around trying to figure out what the hell just happened, and Harry wakes up still kind of groggy from whatever Madam Pomfrey gave him to knock him out, and he ends up breaking down crying in front of everyone.

Dick doesn’t even hesitate, he’s on Harry before the first tear even really starts rolling and just tucks him into the crook of his neck and let’s him cry it out. Except Harry’s been traumatized and he’s like full-on sobbing, almost wailing, and that just stabs everyone straight through the heart. Tim’s next, doesn’t say anything, just sits down behind Harry and tucks himself up against his brother’s back. Damian and Jason join in as well, Damian sitting on Harry’s other side and just quietly putting his head on Harry’s shoulder; while Jason sit’s down a little farther away, reaching out to put a hand on the back of Harry’s neck. Bruce is standing on the other side of the bed, and just runs a hand through Harry’s hair while they let him get it out and calm down.

And once he’s down to hiccups and kind of stuttery breaths, Dumbledore says something about leaving him be, and if looks could kill… Jason’s still armed, and he almost, almost goes for the gun. Bruce head’s it off at the pass though, saying he’ll go with them to discuss things further and also inform the league about what’s happened, but the rest of the boys will be staying.

Madam Pomfry insists on dosing Harry again, and after some reassurances that his brother’s aren't going anywhere, they get him to drink the potion. That’s as far as they indulge the mediwitch though. Tim and Damian both try to settle down in the bed on either side of their brother, though after some jostling around and being unable to really fit two teenagers and a ten year old comfortably in a hospital cot; Dick and Jason move another bed over flush against Harry’s and Dick manages to coax Damian into it with him, as long as the younger is able to keep hold of Harry’s arm. Jason retakes the seat he’d pulled up to the bedside, kick’s his feet up on the cot and settles in to keep watch over the lot of them for the night. And that is exactly where and how Bruce finds them the next morning.

[monstrous-femme]

C + Student

Written for @mcuthere for the prompt:  Maybe Paxton asks Devi to help him study for a test in their shared history class and Paxton opens up to Devi about his insecurity of people assuming he’s dumb

Read it here or on ao3.

The halls are full of noise. Football players shoving each other and landing in lockers, couples talking slightly louder than normal people ever talked (what, did they think they were on reality TV or something? There’s no hidden cameras,) and most of all, the noise that stomped its way through his brain the harder he tried not to think about the crumpled essay at the bottom of his bag.

 not good enough not good enough not good enough not good enough not

 and it’s almost midterms and last time he tried to take a test his mind had frozen up, his hands had sweat through the page like they never did before a swim meet, did teachers mark down for sweat marks on the paper, did they notice his lips moving as he read the questions to himself over and over

 Paxton Hall-Yoshida needs a fucking miracle, which was why he’s forcing himself to move, down the racket of the hallway, (and really, did high schoolers need to be this loud?), wondering if there was any good way to tell a girl you were mad at that she was your only hope if you didn’t want to retake sophomore history a third time.

 “Hey,” he says when he reaches her. His voice is so quiet that he doesn’t know if she can hear him over the din.

 But Devi, of course, looks up. She smiles hesitantly. “Hey! I’m so glad you’re talking to me. I thought you were mad at me. For lying. About us, having—”

 Paxton really, really does want to go over this all again. “I’ve thought of a way you can make it up to me.”

 “Oh?”

 He’s not trying to take advantage. He knows she has a crush on him, but he also knows that she’s brave, the kind of whirlpool of a girl who can proposition a boy for sex or talk to a coyote like it’s her dad. And he knows she’s loyal, and loves the people in her life, but most of all, what Paxton knows about Devi Vishwakumar is that when they turned in that project a few weeks ago, he and Trent had gotten by with B minuses and a suspicious glance from Mr. Shapiro. Devi had gotten an A and a little note from their teacher saying they knew she’d done most of the work.

 (He hadn’t meant to peek. He just couldn’t imagine Devi Vishwakumar getting a B minus.)

 “I need your help studying for our history midterm.”

 A favor that would have made any of his other friends laugh in his face, and here she is, beaming at him like he just brought her a dozen fucking roses, and he knows she idolizes him, but he really needs to pass this class.

 “I’ll meet you at your house after school,” she promises. “We won’t stop studying until you’re perfect to go. A+. I promise.”

 Paxton tries to smile, but the pounding in his head is getting worse. “I’ll give you a ride,” he offers. “I’m skipping practice to study. We can go right after school.”

 “Even better.”

 *

 The words in this textbook are too tiny and the section on Japanese internment uses misleading language to imply that it was voluntary. It wasn’t. Paxton might not be great at school, but he always listens when his grandpa talks to him, so he knows about his time in Manzanar, which the textbook misspells as Mazanar.

 “So, if you write down three important things from every page, it’ll help your brain anchor itself so you can remember more of what’s on here. Sort of like a mind map. Detail one and detail two will help you remember what connects them. That way you don’t have to write down every single thing.”

 Paxton nods, only half listening. The D- in his backpack is still weighing on him, and he doesn’t see how writing down three details from each page will do him any good when he wrote down every detail for the last test and still only scraped by with a C.

 “Paxton?”

 “Yeah?”

 “Are you listening?”

 “Not really, sorry, I just hate this stuff.” He tries to pass it off with a shrug, but he’s not sure it looks casual. Makes sense. He’s not feeling very casual right now.

 “What stuff?”

 “Tests.”

 “Why?”

 Paxton sighs. “I don’t know. I freeze up, and then I read the questions wrong, and I can hear everyone else writing while I’m still trying to understand what the hell I’m looking at.”

 Devi’s nose scrunches up like it does when she’s confused. “Do you want to be good at school?”

 “Um, yeah?”

 “Why?”

 “Why wouldn’t I? You know, my mom has a PHD in philosophy and my dad writes these crazy, like, sci-fi stories that I don’t understand at all.”

 “But you don’t have to be smart. You’re hot and popular.”

 He groans. “Devi, don’t do that.”

 “What? What am I doing?”

 “That thing where you refuse to notice that I’m a person because I have qualities that you specifically are interested in.”

 “Everyone’s interested in being hot and popular.”

 “Is that why you told the whole school you were having sex with me?”

 “Technically I just told them when we were going to have sex and didn’t tell them it didn’t happen. Anyway, you said that this would be a way I could make it up to you.”

 Paxton looks at her levelly. “But is that why you told them?”

 Devi hesitates. “Because you’re hot and popular?”

 “Yeah.”

 “Maybe.”

 “That’s what I thought.”

 She looks down for a moment, and this isn’t what he wanted, he wasn’t trying to dampen her spark, he’s just sick of everybody needing him for all the wrong things. All he wants to do is get into a pool and swim until his calves burn. Swimming makes sense. Taking care of his friends makes sense. Being popular makes enough sense, because there are rules to follow.

 But none of the rules should involve making someone as vibrant as Devi Vishwakumar look this sad.

 “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

 Devi shakes her head. “No. I’m just thinking about—something my dad taught me. He said he wasn’t good at tests either, so he taught me all these tricks—maybe that’s what you need.”

 “What kind of tricks?”

 She stretches out her legs, shoving the textbooks off to the side. “Have you ever read through a test and realized that one question has the answer for another one in it?”

 “Um, no.”

 “Well, it happens. And Mr. Shapiro is the kind of teacher who does that a lot, so you could start by reading through the whole test at the beginning and see what clues he gives you. And my dad had this whole thing about gum—he said if you chew gum while you study and chew the same gum while you take the test, it’ll help you do better.”

 “I don’t think Mr. Shapiro will let me have gum in class.”

 “He has to if you have a learning disability. Do you think you might be dyslexic? It’d be easy to find out and that might be why you have trouble reading quickly.”

 Paxton nods. “Okay,” he said. “Tell me more of these tricks. Maybe this’ll actually help.”

 He listens as well as he can, but his mind keeps drifting to Devi’s smile. He’s never heard her talk about her dad, except after the coyote attack. Her eyes grow soft, even as she’s explaining to him about how to phrase an answer to hide the parts you don’t know. She talks for a good forty-five minutes, and he doesn’t interrupt. Maybe he’ll get through a test for once, and maybe he won’t, but either way, he’ll be glad he got to see her like this.

 “Do you think that’ll help?” she asks finally.

 Paxton shakes himself back to reality. “Honestly? I don’t know. But if it works for Devi Vishwakumar, I’ll give it a try.”

 “So do you forgive me for telling everyone—you know?” Her fingers twitch nervously in her lap.

 “I do. Honestly, I might even owe you one at this point.”

 “I take Venmo and Cashapp.”

 Paxton laughes, and then, for the first time he can remember, Paxton Hall-Yoshida does something that isn’t in the rulebook.

 “How about this?” he says, and leans in.

 The kiss burns through him, the way Devi’s energy burns through everything. Paxton’s stomach drops like he’s thirteen fucking years old and being kissed for the first time. Only Devi’s lips are much softer, even as she moves in closer to bite his lower lip, and Devi’s hands are firmer, fingers gliding into his hair and holding him in place. He forgets to breath, but his hands have moved to her waist, and now he’s the one pulling her closer.

 And then, it’s over. And it’s just a moment. He could walk it back, like he’s done before with girls at parties who want more than he can give.

 “There,” he says. “Now you can tell the whole school you’ve kissed Paxton Hall-Yoshida, and you won’t be lying.”

 Devi’s mouth sharpens. “I’m not going to do that.”

 “Why not?”

 “Because,” she says, and there’s that fierceness of hers, that same energy she’d had when she propositioned him that first time he noticed her, the same energy she won battles with in the classroom. “You were right. I need to treat you like a person. Especially if I want this to happen again.”

 Paxton’s face feels warm. “Do you want it to happen again?”

 “If you do. If you can—I don’t know, trust me or whatever.”

 He nods. “I’ll, um, let you know.”

 Devi kisses him on the cheek, then gathers her textbook and notes into her backpack. “Knock ‘em dead tomorrow.”

 “What?”

 “The test?”

 “Right. Yeah, of course.” Paxton stands to get the door for her. “Thanks again.”

 “Any time.”

 It sounds like she means it.

 The next week, Paxton’s test comes back with a C plus.

 He couldn’t be happier about it.  

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 6

The Fall of Fabian Seacaster

OK, let’s do this.

We pick back up with Kristen and Riz who are still outside Garthy’s room. Kristen’s Detect Good and Evil from last week pings Garthy as well as the general aura of the Golden Gardens which is protected in the way a sanctum sanctorum would be but with celestial energy. Riz and Kristen improvise a not super cogent plan that involves ribbon dancing and knocking over barrels before Riz just decides to cut to the chase and ask Garthy’s guards to send for Sandra-Lynn. Once she comes out (still looked sexed up and pretty annoyed) they’re not quite sure what to ask her and Riz wants to bail but Kristen (who has cast Zone of Truth, tried to muscle into Garthy’s house, and gotten smacked down physically by Sandra-Lynn) says that she’s worried about Sandra-Lynn because she’s “not poly but [she’s] acting poly.” Being directly called out is enough to snap Sandra-Lynn out of it (and to think about Fig’s reaction) so she agrees to get her stuff and come back to the gang’s suite.

Meanwhile, Fabian is hanging out with Bill’s cult of 20-ish warlocks. They’re all super glad to see Fabian--who they assume has been sent by Bill to help them--and they want him to regale them with the tale of how he slew his father in battle. Fabian tells them the story which, as you all know, isn’t a story about besting his father in a hard-fought battle so much as it is about a story about bittersweet mercy killing. They are less than impressed, especially considering they want Fabian to defeat Captain James Wicklaw who has promised to kill all of Bill’s followers. Ego stung, Fabian says that he may not have bested his father but he did (help) kill a dragon and, more importantly, he’s gonna lead them into an ambush against Captain Wicklaw (who he sees, presumably looking for him, with 30 men).

Oh boy.

Fabian telepathically alerts the Hangman that he’s about to get into a big fight before slamming down a door and full-out attacking Captain Wicklaw. He’s able to get a good couple of attacks in and Wicklaw misses his first couple of attacks but then Fabian fails an intelligence save with a Nat 1 and gets stunned while Wicklaw tries to open his skull and eat his brain.

Meanwhile with the rest of the Bad Kids, the Hangvan alerts Gorgug that the Hangman has sped off and everyone assumes Fabian is in trouble. They all do their best to get to him as quickly as possible and, even though these scenes are intercut with Fabian’s I’m going to summarize them all at once:

Fig (w/ Gorgug in tow) Dimension Doors as close to the Hangman as she can. Then, Gorgug has the idea to try the classic pirate move of grabbing a rope, cutting the weight, and instantly flying to where on the ship you want to go. They try that and begin flying towards Fabian at terminal velocity, both dislocating their arms. Fig passably disguises herself as Jemina Joy (even with quadruple disadvantage) and tries to get a wizard to teleport her to where Fabian is but they’re going way too fast for anyone to hear her. Gorgug (also with quad disadvantage) tries to throw a hand axe and, on a nat 1, almost cuts the rope they’re swinging on.

Gilear is fully passed after a back-slap from Fig.

Adaine casts fly on Riz (because his rogue speed means he can make the most use of it) so he can go get Garthy to see if they have any teleport spells. Then, she gets on Baxter with Kristen and Sandra-Lynn (plus Tracker who follows in spectral wolf form). Kristen tries to bring up Sandra-Lynn’s relationship stuff again and Adaine casts Tasha’s Hideous Laughter on her. Adaine tries to pull from the jacket to get something to help her get to Fabian faster and she gets a Razor scooter.  

Ragh drives the Hangvan towards Fabian’s.

Riz finds Garthy who takes him to a room, pops out neon angel wings, and does some kind of teleport spell that almost seems like it moves the space closer to them rather than the reverse.

But, none of this really matters because Brennan says none of them will be able to make it to Fabian before 22 rounds of combat. Woof.

Still in the first round of combat, 2 of the warlocks manage to hit Wicklaw and break Fabian out of his grapple (right after Wicklaw says that he’s eaten many of Fabian’s siblings but let’s put a pin in that because we have so much to get through here). Fabian declares that all spells are on him for the remainder of the fight (which is maybe the last funny thing he says all night). Then, 6 of the 20 warlocks on Fabian’s side die to gunshots from Wicklaw’s men. Fabian sends his men forward then falls back and attacks with his crossbow. Wicklaw mocks him for abandoning his crew so viciously that I feel like he should have spontaneously taken a level in bard. Brennan rolls for the ten still living pirates who never got names and only one survives. Then he rolls for the named pirates (Alistair and the three I haven’t mentioned yet because this episode is A Lot--Chungle-Down Bim, Old-Young Benjamin, and Creaky McBarrel) and only Creaky dies. In two rounds, Bill’s cult is down to four (plus one guy who peaced out after Fabian said he didn’t actually brutally murder his dad).

Fabian’s tactical retreat shakes the confidence of everyone but Alistair who stays loyal (even as he gets wrecked on his next attack on Wicklaw). Chungle-Down Bim is so disgusted by Fabian’s cowardice and performance that he tries to Eldritch Blast him and misses. He says, “Yeh ain’t no pirate and Bill would spit in yer eye.” Fabian has to hold back tears. He, with a heartbreaking mix of trepidation, reluctance, and resolve, asks if there are any ropes he can use to escape. Roll a perception check. He does.

Natural 1.

Sure, Brennan says. There’s a rope that looks like it will 100% guaranteed hold Fabian’s weight. Fabian goes for it--leaving behind a stunned and crushed Alistair--and finds that it’s actually a clothesline. He goes plummeting down a quarter-mile towards the ground but, before he actually hits, he hits a bunch of other ropes and, on his last possible chance, is able to save from splatting and taking max fall damage. Lou opts to take some damage anyway because he’d feel like he was cheating otherwise.

The rest of the group shows up through their various means and all immediately assume that Fabian got jumped. Fabian is meek in a way we’ve never seen before. I’m talking Adaine with Jawbone in Prompocolypse meek. He doesn’t tell them what happened and he answers all the questions with short yesses or no’s as much as possible. The healers heal him (plus Fig and Gorgug) up and take him back to the suite. The Hangman asks if he’s alright. “No Hangman,” he says. “It’s all bad.” Cathilda brings him kippers but he feels like he doesn’t deserve them.

Garthy has a little tete-a-tete with Fig about their tryst with Sandra-Lynn. Garthy is all about getting down but not if that person is in a monogamous relationship (even though they’re against them on principle). Fig (who has been avoiding her mom since the top of the ep) says she’s only mad at Sandra-Lynn (she says Sandra-Lynn, not Mom--oof) since Garthy didn’t know better. It just sucks that this happened to Jawbone. Jawbone as in Jawbone O'Shaughnessy? asks Garthy. Turns out he’s visited (many times) and they’ve boned (super hard) which, honestly, totally tracks.  

Because she didn’t get a full night of sleep, Tracker can’t keep the Moon Haven spell up all night which isn’t great. Kristen can also gather than she’s too tired to remember anything that happened earlier in the night (ie: things about Sandra-Lynn and Jawbone). Fig, concerned that she might get mind controlled again without the Moon Haven up asks Adaine to tie her up (this actually happens before the above conversation with Garthy).

Sleeping arrangements are Fabian, the Hangman, and Riz as a bodyguard in one room and everyone else in another. Adaine trances a little early so she can regain her spells and be awake in case anything happens. Brennan makes everyone do wisdom saves. Kristen and Adaine roll high and Adaine gives her TWO (2) NAT 20 portent rolls to Fig and Gorgug. That leaves Riz and Fabian, but we’ll get to them in a minute.

Adaine wakes up from her trance and she sees Ragh get up early as well. He says he’s going to get some food. Adaine, vigilant as ever asks Ragh who his first kiss was. Ragh acts confused for a second, and then screeches and attacks her, waking everyone up. He’s been dominated. Adaine goes for a Tasha’s Hideous Laughter and subdues him. Also Fig is able to escape Adaine’s magical ropes so maybe she’s not the best person to do that next time.

Meanwhile, Fabian is having a nightmare. He dreams of Wicklaw trying to eat his brain and Chungle-Down spitting in his face and his betrayal of Alistair. He sees the ghosts of the warlock  cultists entering hell and his disappointed father. And then, he’s approached by a man. A man with a familiar, non-threatening sounding, yogurt-offering voice. Fabian, like Adaine before, feels very strongly that if he looks at this man’s face, something terrible will happen but he does take the offered yogurt and agrees to go with him without looking at him. He’s taken to a lovely, sunny, kind of museum area dedicated to Bill Seacaster. Fabian thinks it’s very nice but he starts to notice that though there are many pictures of Bill and Hilariel, there are none of him. He asks why. The man says that Fabian needs to look at him. Fabian is hesitant. The man says that Fabian really needs to look at him. The yogurt in Fabian’s stomach curdles, weakening him (and me because yogurt grosses me out on the best of days and this is not the best of days). The man turns Fabian’s face to look at him and Fabian finds himself looking at a doughy, middle-aged Fabian Seacaster. He laughs hysterically and Fabian wakes up, plunged into the sea.

Elsewhere, Riz wakes up in his room. Fabian is gone, he’s paralyzed, the Hangman has been stabbed through by Fabian’s sword and is leaking oil, and Kalina is sitting on his bed. She was able to get in with the Moon Haven spell down. She speaks to him unsettlingly casually. She sounds almost friendly as she demands Riz and his friends stop looking for the Nightmare King’s crown on the pain of their lives. Riz, a grizzled old knight to his core like all of Murph’s characters, can’t wrap his head around why she would be doing this. It’s simple. Power. She psychologically toys with him, saying that Riz throws himself into his cases (which she seems to know quite a bit about) to distract himself from how sad he is about his dead dad. Then, she says that Fabian is in massive danger and if Riz doesn’t play ball (pun not intentional but it’s staying in), he’ll die. Riz assumes she knows where the Nightmare King’s crown is and she asks why he’s sure she knows which makes him think she actually doesn’t know. Riz, who sleeps with his sword because he’s rightfully paranoid, uses it to Misty Step outside but he’s still paralyzed so he just hits the ground and breaks his arm.

Kalina meets him outside, tells him Fabian is long gone, and tries to bargain with him: information about his dad for information about what he knows. Riz counter-offers that he’ll tell her about where the Nightmare King’s crown is if she guarantees his friends’ safety. She doesn’t care about the crown. She wants to know what Riz knows about her. Riz agrees (to save Fabian) and tells her everything he knows except that he withholds the information about Adaine’s mom being involved and tries to withhold the information he got from Ragh but he accidentally gives himself away without saying Ragh’s name. That’s enough for her to put two and two together though and she leaves to kill Ragh’s mom.

Back in the sea, Fabian has to make three Constitution checks. He rolls two nat 20s in a row for the first two and is rescued two flying imp monsters (presumably sent by Kalina) who drop him off at the edge of town. Fabian, absolutely destroyed, rips off his eyepatch and takes off his Owlbear jacket as he makes his way back. He rolls one last Constitution check. Nat 1. He’s got pneumonia. Cathilda shows up in the Hangvan to pick up Fabian.

The rest of the group is still shaken up by Ragh’s attack. They snap him out of it and someone gets Garthy. Post Riz’s encounter with Kalina, Ragh bursts in, devastated and says that someone from home called and said that his mom died. The whole group is immediately suspicious because--post Gorgug/Zelda debacle--they know they shouldn’t have signal. Ragh tries to call another number and all he hears is laughing on the other end. When Riz (healed up by Garthy) looks, he sees that his phone shows 5 bars for a second. Riz, Tracker, and Sandra-Lynn also see the flicker. Possibly illusion magic. Tracker and Garthy can also now suddenly see the Shadowcat in the picture (but it doesn’t seem like the rest of the Bad Kids can). Riz thinks Ragh’s mom is in serious danger but not dead yet.

Garthy has the idea to send the group to the Leviathan Library so maybe Adaine can learn a Sending Spell to communicate with their various parents and allies in Solace. They give Adaine a note that says to let the group safely use the library addressed to one Aida Aguefort.

Fig checks in with Sandra-Lynn to see if maybe she was under the influence of something more malevolent than alcohol when she cheated. Sandra-Lynn cries, and admits that she just F’d up but that they should deal with the problem at hand for now and that’s where we end, with the bulk of the group en route to the library.  

Detention

Fabian for Everything

Oh Fabian.

Fabian, Fabian, Fabian.

I don’t think I have ever seen a series of events so driven by a single character’s careless actions.

Truly, almost every single bad thing that happened in this episode can be traced directly to Fabian losing his entire chill at the worst possible time.

All those warlocks, dead (And Alistair either dead, seriously hurt, or set on the path to show back up with a vendetta later on down the road).

Because Tracker didn’t get her 8 hours, she couldn’t do the Moon Haven properly which is why Ragh got mind-controlled, the Hangman got stabbed, and he got brain-jacked and dumped into the ocean.

It’s why Kalina got to Riz. It’s why Lydia’s in danger.

And it wasn’t just that what he did was dumb, it was also completely unnecessary. There was no plot reason for what he did and he wasn’t forced into it. It was a completely character driven decision and it was bad, y’all. It was pretty much an absolute fail parade.  

Honor Roll

Brennan and Lou for Absolutely Stellar Roleplay

Everyone had their moments this episode.

Siobhan and Zac made some clever choices. Ally brought some needed levity. Emily subtly continued her emotional threads about Fig’s relationship with her mom and her distress over her actions while mind controlled. And Murph had that absolutely stellar scene in the back half of the back half of the ep with Kalina.

But Brennan and Lou 100% carried this episode.

Brennan is such a good DM that I feel like it’s almost easy to take for granted. Like, if you visit a town, you’re gonna talk about how how cool the shops, and food, and events were. Not about how well the roads are paved. But if the roads are all janky and potholed and stuff then it’s a big issue.

This episode clearly took a major turn from whatever was supposed to happen but Brennan deftly kept pace with all of Fabian’s wild choices and made sure the roads were paved before he got there.

So much of this episode was just Brennan talking to one other person (Fabian and then Riz during the Kalina scene) and he nailed all of it. The disgust from Chungle-Down. The betrayal from Alistair. The concern from Cathilda. The quiet but sinister lilt of Nightmare Fabian. And the affable, dispassionate, Just Business evil from Kalina.

And Lou. Everything Fabian did this episode was an extremely bad idea but it is exactly what Fabian would do in the situation. Lou played him completely consistently, even when it clearly pained him to do so. 

When Lou rolled a nat 1 on his perception check for an escape rope, Brennan essentially handed him a fully loaded gun and said shoot yourself, and Lou grit his teeth and he did it.

Mad respect to both of them for keeping the tension and gravity going for a full three hours basically. That was lightning in a bottle. D&D is an amazing game.

Random Thoughts

I know there’s a significant chunk of the fandom that ships Riz and Fabian and, can I just say, RIP to y’all.

It really was narratively cool that we started out with the Sandra-Lynn plot in this crazy, over the top, comic scene and then ended with the quiet conversation between Fig and her mom on the same topic. It really was a through line throughout the episode without over-shadowing the main drama. This episode had a clear A and B plot just like a scripted show.

Also if Garthy is a powerful as Brennan is making them seem, wild that the NK and Kalina were able to bust through what is supposed to be super sanctified ground, especially since Tracker--a jr. cleric--has been keeping them at bay by herself.

Zac: This is a real Axford move.

Also Zac: I don’t understand what’s gonna happen if this goes well.

Riz and Murph Equally: We’re so stupid.

I think it’s funny how players in D&D tend to treat Zone of Truth like it forces them to spontaneously say things that are true rather than just preventing them from actively lying.

The kinda wild thing about how this whole mess started is that Fabian’s character development is part of why it happened. When he told the warlocks about the dragon and his dad, he gave everyone else their due credit, didn’t hog the spotlight, and didn’t lie/embellish the truth to make himself sound cooler. That in turn disappointed them which made him relapse into S1 Fabian who attacked Gorgug on the first day of school for absolutely no reason. I was actually going to give him major credit for that before he, you know. Made some other choices. He absolutely gushed about how cool his friends were and then invited exactly none of them to his terrible plan.

Lol at Lou being like, “I rolled to get Alistair to make a better speech?”

Bill’s cult of about 20 guys has collectively sent him like 350k gold. That’s insane! They’re all so poor!

Lou playing Fabian very confidently making an absolutely suicidal decision, and then surfacing to laugh hysterically for a full thirty seconds out of character about how he’s for sure gonna die, was such a mood. It was like Lou was being held at gunpoint by Fabian for the entire first half of the session.

Big props to Zac for trying to get everyone in on the action by suggesting the Hangvan would see that the Hangman was gone and let the group know.

OK, so now let’s talk about that line about Wicklaw having eaten many of Fabian’s siblings. Hoo boy. You know this episode was wild because that line was said and never followed up on. What might have been a headline in a different episode was a footnote in this one. No big surprise that Bill would have fathered a ton of kids. That pretty much tracks, as Adaine said last ep. I feel like this was something that was going to come up regardless, Fabian just forced it to be right then and there. This dude hates Bill so going after his kids seems like an obvious move (unless he’s bluffing I guess, but I doubt it). But, like, did Bill know about these kids? Was he fully ignorant? Willfully ignorant? Did they know they were Bill’s kids? Are there any left? Can Fabian please have a little pirate sister because I would love that so much you don’t even know.

You think Lou expected to say (loosely quoting), “I try not to cry in front of Chungle-Down Bim,” when he woke up that morning? Idk but I can tell you that I didn’t expect to hear it and feel strong emotions about it.

Chungle-Down Bim, which is short for Bimothy.

Lol, Brennan makes Emily rolls with Quadruple disadvantage and she still gets a 15 because she has a plus 11 to persuasion. No wonder she’s so quick to slam the disguise self button if there’s even a sliver of a chance it’ll work.

Adaine getting a useless Razor scooter on the way to try and help Fabian and then being like, “Well, I’m still gonna keep it,” was such a funny beat during the tenseness of that fight scene.

I need you guys to know that this is a mindflayer ability: Extract (Ex): An Illithid that begins its turn with all four tentacles attached and successfully maintains its hold automatically extracts the opponent’s brain, instantly killing that creature. Truly what was he thinking? You’re gonna eat his brain? Go ahead because he clearly isn’t using it!

You know the part of Princess Bride when Wesley is giving the “To the Pain” speech to Humperdinck? I feel like that’s what Brennan did to Fabian this episode. “Oh you think I’m going to kill you? No, that would be too easy. This fight is to the pain. You will watch your allies get slaughtered until you are forced to betray them or die. You will escape but in the most clownish fashion possible after breaking your most loyal ally’s heart. You will be beset by your concerned friends and forced to either own up to your horrible life choices or stew with them and lie by omission. You will be the reason your ultimate enemy is able to break in and attack your friends and you will be forced with your worst nightmare before being unceremoniously dumped into the sea. You won’t die. You’ll just wish you had.” Absolutely brutal.

Anyone else feeling a possible villain turn from Allistair? Dude’s a warlock so he’s already prone to dabbling in questionable power sources. And Fabian really did him dirty. I was hoping he’d at least get Kristen or Tracker to try to see if he was around anywhere for a heal but he just went into shellshock shutdown mode and they bounced. We didn’t see him die on screen so I feel pretty strongly that we’ll be seeing him again in some form.

Also, maybe I’m way off, but did you guys feel like Fabian missed a clear opportunity? I thought he was gonna ask his dad for help. Or, at least try and talk to him before the fight. Clearly it’s possible because the warlocks are doing it. Just pray for some infernal intervention or guidance or powers or something? Worth a shot when you’re in such a bad situation anyway.

Fabian never did tell the party what was going on. They all still think he was ambushed and forced into a fight somehow. I really can’t wait for the truth to come out. I wonder how long he’ll sit on that info. He better tell them before they fight Wicklaw again and they find out that way.

Every single player playing up their concern for Fabian and making a point to presume he was in the right and that it had been a wrong place/time situation to make him feel even more like garbage was *chefs kiss*.

The Hangman basically acting like a big metal dog and pressing itself up against Fabian to comfort him is weirdly adorable.

“Anyway, I’m gonna go get tied up.”/“What?”

Also I love Adaine’s reaction to being asked to do it. She’s like, “What? I mean, I’ll do it but, what?” Sidenote, Fig said she was gonna ask Riz as her first choice but that’s also a terrible choice! He has like a minus 2 strength modifier I think. Ask Gorgug!

Truly, the entire episode can be encapsulated in the fact that Siobhan was sitting there with two nat 20 portent rolls but sidelined and useless because Fabian decided to go completely rogue.

I have to give Adaine big credit for checking to see if Ragh was mind controlled because whenever I’m watching a show where a bad guy can shapeshift or possess people, I always think, “Why don’t they just have a codeword or something?” This is one of the few times I’ve seen it properly executed. Genre savviness saves lives people.

Fabian’s rolls really matched his decisions this week. It was like the dice were punishing him with all those nat 1s on crucial checks.

Also, Brennan being like, “You get pneumonia” was lowkey hilarious. Just like, insult to injury. What’s next? He’s gonna die on dysentery on the Oregon Trail?

I wonder if Fabian is considering chronomancy-ing this away? The thought for sure crossed my mind. Also, everyone was joking about everything being all a dream, but that’s something that could happen in this campaign without it being cheap because it’s been set-up that that’s the kind of bad guy they’re up against so I’m staying vigilant.

Ragh coming into the room and, voice cracking, announcing that his mom was dead cut me up so bad. And I thought it would be not as bad on my rewatch. Nope, still awful. I can’t believe I like him so much now. This is like a Steve from Stranger Things level turnaround for me. Also, the chat was absolutely blowing up when Murph was like, “I tell her everything,” without excepting Ragh’s info at first. Brennan is a nice DM for reminding him about that (despite the absolute ravaging of Riz and Fabian otherwise this ep).

Also gotta give a shout out to Murph this ep for playing Riz so well during the confrontation with Kalina. His steadfast, simple, “We can’t stop. It would be wrong. Fullstop,” mentality is so pure. Riz is such an interesting character. When he tried to withhold info, Murph said, “I have low deception.” That’s who Riz is. He’s a rogue with low deception. He’s sneaky but only in pursuit of justice. No guile at all. Kalina, who is as casual as he is wound up and amoral and he is knightly is such an interesting foil for him. I’m very intrigued to see how this develops.  

Like I said in the recap, Garthy and Tracker can now see Kalina in the picture, even though neither of them saw her when she broke in (that they know of) so the plot thickens there. I’d go into it more but I really don’t have any new theories off the top of my head and this was honestly the least of my worries re: this ep.

Also, she says that all of her abilities come from serving the NK, and she had the abilities since she was working with Pok so this doesn’t seem to be a new development. I will say though, based on the info the group got, I really thought she was gonna be a more ancient being, you know? Maybe it’s just a title and she’s just the latest tabaxi to serve him and get it? I dunno.

Truly the mood for this episode was dawning horror. Things just got progressively worse in new and interesting ways every single scene.

Speaking of, let’s talk about Fabian’s vision. First of all, Brennan did a great job real-time DJ-ing that scene. The switch to that creepy music was very unsettling. Second of all, the chat exploding when Brennan started doing That voice and everyone for a brief moment thought that maybe, Maybe, Gilear was the Nightmare King, was delicious. But, on to the important stuff: When this happened to Adaine, my guess was that if she had looked at figure, it would have been a representation of her anxiety which I think was like 65% correct based on what happened to Fabian. Her worst possible future for herself is probably herself ruled by anxiety to the point of uselessness so she would have seen that version of herself. Fabian’s worst possible future self is essentially Gilear. Which, on behalf of Gilear, ouch. But, yeah, I see why it would be. And, honestly, NK-Fabian was worse than Gilear. Gilear is pathetic, sure, but he’s pathetic in pursuit of his own goals. To be stuck in his dad’s shadow, devoid of any other purpose is the antithesis of Fabian’s whole making a name for himself thing and a sick twisting of his very real pride in his dad. It’s a real raw nerve to hit, especially right after his colossal failure that left him feeling unworthy of even his favorite snack.

I’m really glad Fabian looked at the face of his nightmare. Brennan pushed him a little (in that fantastically unnerving, cajoling yet demanding voice) but I think he would have done it anyway. Like, it’s good information for the team to have and, if anyone was gonna get hit, it made most sense for it to happen right then, when Fabian was already at basically his lowest point. Both Adaine and Fabian felt like something horrible would happen if they looked at their nightmare and I’m wondering if there’s a mechanical effect to that or if it’s just psychological. I feel like there might be some not yet revealed mechanical effect going on but, when your players are as devoted to the RP as Lou (who, again, asked to take damage from his fall even after Brennan was gonna let him off with just the shame) you can get away with just giving the character trauma and having the player hinder their own actions based on it.

Titles for this recap that I rejected include Actions and Consequences and Keyfish 2: Pirate Boogaloo (because the first part of this episode truly felt like the CritRole Keyfish incident but spread out over an hour and a half).

Yet another thing that would have been a headline item in another recap but is just a footnote here: Aida Aguefort. That’s gotta be a sibling, ex, or parent (in my order of probability). What is an Aguefort doing running a pirate library? Are they as chaotic as the other Aguefort? I think it would be very funny if Arthur is this dude in a high position in a “normal” town who is just feral and Aida is living on this insane pirate island but, like, a completely normal librarian.

Oh, speaking of Aguefort, Kalina called him out on his child soldier factory and, listen, I know she was just trying to hurt Riz but she doesn’t not have a point.

Kristen was able to discern that Tracker probably won’t remember what happened with Sandra-Lynn but I hope she keeps track of that info because if Tracker rolls high perception and finds out that she semi-willfully kept that information from her, she might be miffed.

Are all of Bill’s dead warlocks gonna work on his hell ship now? Didn’t they become warlocks specifically because they were bad at being pirates?

I notice the group didn’t wait for Fabian even after Riz presumably told them what happened. I also notice that Cathilda was able to find Fabian right away which is interesting.

Adaine solemnly Razor scooting at the front of the party towards the library is low key hysterical.

Fig better hope it doesn’t get back to Jemina that she was being impersonated.

Also, that plan was crazy but super not the craziest thing Emily has ever done and Brennan backed her up on that. He was like, “This is good. This isn’t Hilda Hilda,” which is where the bar is because Emily is crazy.

Fig: We’re gonna fail./Gorgug: We’re gonna die./Adaine: And, more importantly, we’re gonna fail school.

Riz’s “How about no dead friends,” one-liner was so good. Unfortunately, it didn’t do anything to stop his paralysis. Ouch.

I’m assuming Kalina was asking what he knew to see if there was anyone she needed to kill because they knew too much about her? Because, otherwise, it seems like unimportant info for her. I was thinking when it was happening that she needed him to give her that information so they could take it from him and he wouldn’t have it anymore, like in a weird Fae way, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s probably just the simple thing.

Garthy doesn’t leave the Golden Gardens which is probably good for game balance. You don’t want to give the players a super powerful ally who has no reason not to help them at any given time. That’s rife for PC abuse.

I have to say, after last week, I was hoping we’d be done with the pirate stuff halfway through the ep and en route to Falinel but this was such a turn. I was saying to someone last week, it’s very tempting to try and predict where a D&D game is going by using typical narrative structure as a guide but that only halfway works because you really can’t account for the improvisational nature of it. I absolutely could not have guessed that this is what this episode would be and I’m glad.

Goes without saying, this ep totally snatched the crown for Most Heart Attacks Given To Me By BLM from Family in Flames.

“The game isn’t about what you plan; it’s about what happens,” sounds like a line from an inspirational Ted Talk, and not from a man who, minutes later, said that a pirate named Chungle-Down Bim wanted to use a teenager’s mouth as a toilet.

“I feel drunk from anxiety.” Same Ally.

You wanna know how many pages of handwritten notes I have for this episode? If you guessed 16, you’re right. And I was so into the ep, I forgot to keep track of crits, which is why I had to watch it a second time.

Emily proposing “felettes” as the feminine version of fellas.

“How many HP you at?”/”I’m not telling you.”

Just, the idea of this warlock drawing on Bill’s power to try and attack his son is so raw.

Brennan, being asked by Zac if he can help with Emily’s crazy plan: You absolutely may not and, in fact, take five points of damage.”

Siobhan: What do you have to lose?/Gorgug: *Rolls a nat 1 and almost severs the rope he and Fig are holding on to*

Garthy plays the harpsichord (I have in my notes harpsichord and not harp so I’m going with that) post-coital which is definitely a choice.

The shot of levity that Brennan injected between the big fight and the NK invasion by having Garthy know Jawbone was great. I knew it was coming as soon as Fig said his name, but the comic timing was still perfect. Apparently, Jawbone’s stories are crazy even by Garthy’s standards, which is wild.

Also funny, Fig being tied up as combat started. It didn’t end up making a difference but, at a certain point, when enough bad things have happened, piling more bad stuff on top just becomes funny like, yeah. Of course. That tracks.

Ally: Sleep when you’re dead, which might be this episode.

Riz and Gorgug (and Allistair) each roll one nat 1. Kristen rolls a nat 20. Adaine has 20s for both of her portent rolls (which she gives to Fig and Gorgug). And Fabian rolled an amazing 2 Nat 20s (in a row) and FIVE nat 1s.  

Edit: Oh, forgot to say! Next week there won’t be a game because Thanksgiving is happening in the States. Early Happy Thanksgiving for y’all in the U.S. who are celebrating. I’m thankful for a week off to recover after the ordeal that was this episode. 

[Footnote: This ended up cracking 6000 words, in case you’re wondering about the ways I choose to spend my time. Shoutout to y’all for reading these and justifying the dissertation length brain dumps my dumb, former English major brain compels me to produce for absolutely no good reason.]

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Galavant Sci-fi au

Star Wars. Doesn’t exist right now.  All these headcanons are based on tropes and Star Wars with it’s deep lore has probably shook that trope up that I use as evidence.  Star Wars is just too unique with too deep of lore that every entry I make will probably have to start or end with Star Wars did it or didn’t do that.   Like I don’t need Star Wars lore to thrown at me to say that this trope is used in every sci-fi thing, with Star Wars being an exception.  It’s Star Wars of course they did it or didn’t do it that one time.   Star Wars is too special to be painted with broad strokes of no sci-fi show has a human government like this or whatever example I use.  So I thought I’ll be upfront.  I pretended Star Wars isn’t Sci-fi when looking at these tropes for all our sanities. Also I may reference other things in Sci-fi shows as shorthand for what I am talking about.  It will probably just be things like Startrek.  You know super popular and well known but if there is confusion let me know.  

ao3

Galavant is a captain of a spaceship. He is human because there hasn’t been that many popular sci-fi media with an alien space captain as the lead.   His dad was also in this universe’s version of Starfleet.  I’ll call them Knights. His dad went missing.  Gal found him years later stranded on a planet with a whole bunch of alien children he was protecting.  Probably the only au I made where Gal wasn’t mad at his dad.

Isabella is an alien.  Human societies tend not to explore many different forms of government and I can’t think of any monarchy. Alien planets tend to be more willing to explore different forms of government.  So if a writer wanted a monarchy in their Space Opera. Alien.  I would say her planet would combine the medieval aesthetic of the show but would still have the tech of this universe.  Her life probably wouldn’t be that different growing up.  The only major differences before the plots of the show would be the tech and that she’s an alien.  She ends up being the representative of her race for the Knights.

Sid could be both to be honest.  Human or alien.  He could be a human adopted by aliens or an alien adopted by humans. I’d say his parents died in a battle and was left to one of their friends in the army to raise.   He is Galavant’s second in command.  He joined in the hopes to explore the universe.  

Madelena is one of those beautiful psychic aliens, like the Asari from Mass Effect.  I’d say she can use these powers to change how people see her (shapeshifting but her physical form stays the same everyone else just sees her as something else.), read minds and can bend people to her will. Also illusions.  She is one of the most politically powerful people in her race, using her powers for her own gains.  

Gareth is also an alien.   A warrior one like the Krogan from Mass Effect or the Klingon.  He made most of his money from mercenary work and is one of Madelena’s favorite warriors to hire.  People suspect that there is a romantic tie to them but the idea makes a lot of people angry at the very idea.  A beautiful alien that everyone wants to sleep with and an ugly brute, but no one would say that to their faces.  

Wormwood (wedding planner)-  He’s like Q from Star Trek.  A powerful alien no one understands and does what he wants.  He allied with Madelena because she seemed the most interesting to align himself with. 

Roberta is human.  Her family was a part of the Knights for generations.  Out of all the Knights Steingas is the most respected name.  She joined the knights at eighteen.  She would be a red shirt in the OG Star Trek.  Not like marked for death but she would be in the military specialization. 

Richard I got two head cannons an alien one and a human one. 

The human one he is a disgraced  ship captain.  He took Madelena on board his ship because he thought she needed help but she stole a bunch of information, and it almost cost Richard his life.  He was charged with treason but was saved when his brother Senator Kingsley pulled some strings.  He was labeled incomptent and fired.  He had no hope of redemption until Roberta showed up on a mission he accidentally got involved in.  Roberta managed to use her Steingas name to get Richard into the Knights as a soldier like her when the mission was completed.  Richard ends up falling for her after that.

Alien Richard would be born on a monarchy planet like Isabella but it got destroyed by Madelena making him go on the run as the King of the planet.  He ends up joining The Knights in the hopes to protect others from his home’s fate.  He would be in a political section though.  Makes first contact and makes deals with other aliens.  

Chef is an alien from a  poverty stricken planet.  He is the ship’s cook and falls in love with ships medic/robot Gwynn. 

Gwynn was built for medical purposes.  And is one of the first AI’s made to start experiencing emotions.  The idea was that a Doctor Robot should be able to simulate emotions because sometimes you need a chipper doctor but at other times your doctor cheerfully telling you your father is dead is not good.  That was the main reason people struggled to have medical AI.   They couldn’t give bedside care and give bad news.  Gwynn was supposed to change that.  But what happened was her inventors accidentally programmed emotions into her.   No one knew until she fell in love with the chef.  She was hesitant to get into a relationship like in the show but now it’s because she was literally not programmed for this and was confused and a bit scared.  Chef was very patient with her.

Jester is a pilot.  He reminds me of Wash and Joker. He is considered an alright guy to come to if you need someone to cheer you up.  He also has a bit of a reputation for being a playboy. 

The pirates full of humans and aliens alike.  Though the captain is an alien because a lot of other space ships in sci fi media mix things up with alien side ships.  They are sometimes friends to The Knights when they give information about the criminal world or sell stolen goods. Other times a major pain in the ass for the knights, stealing from them or their allies.  Or The Knights were fucking with one of their criminal allies.  

Jubilee is an alien.  She and her family was a part of a planet wide rebellion.  The Knights came to their aide and placed Jubilee’s parent’s on the throne.  She doesn’t like the idea of her planet being a part of another government’s hold, even if the planet is under an alliance a large portion of the galaxy is in.   She figures the idea of leaving the thumb of one forgin government to jump into the arms of another is idotic.  And is working on a second rebellion.  

Enchanted Forest was an abandoned planet.  But soon a group of queer people abandoned by their families or societies mistreated them made sort of a found family and settled there.    They soon set out and found more queers to bring to the planet. And soon any queer kid that needs a place to stay knows where to go.  The planet is of course forested with weird sci-fi plants to make it look magical.  And ships are leaving all the time hunting for other queers.

[makorays]

A List of Short Bios for a Bunch of OCs so People Actually Know What I’m Talking About Whenever I Mention Them on Streams or Whatever

These are all from the Savage Worlds tabletop campaign known as The Initiative that my friends and I play. It is a modern day sci-fi story involving aliens and cosmic horror cults. The basic premise is that some very important Scellor tech was stolen and found its way to Earth, and the Scellor government contacted Earth’s government to warn them they will have to wipe out their planet if the tech isn’t recovered in time. Thus an initiative was formed consisting of renowned Earth military figures as well as Scellor volunteers to try and locate it.

The Scellor are a race of aliens originally created by a man by the name of Jukashi for tgchan. Joe discovered them and decided to write a tabletop story in that universe. He may have taken a couple artistic liberties here and there for the sake of better fitting things into his own story. Scellor are green psychic aliens with a whole bunch of neat traits I won’t go into but you can read about them here if you want: https://questden.org/wiki/Scellor

Onto the actual bios:

Sofie Edelstein

The commander of The Initiative. Over a century ago, her father revealed to her and her two sisters (Teri and Tara) that he was the head of an “angel”-worshipping cult known as Erleuchten. When Teri and Tara showed hesitance in joining it, her father killed them. Sofie joined, but plotted to sabotage the cult from the inside. Some time later she became a preserved brain, got digitized, and obtained a robotic body. Now she’s a 6′ tall 400 pound robot with advanced combat capabilities. She created a series of androids with artificial intelligence based after her late sister Tara, but none have gained sentience. Was the leader of Poland’s military as a day job. She was working for The Initiative from the inside as an Erleuchten leader, but got found out and now lives with us. She’s done a hell of a lot of sleeping around through all her years, but eventually decided to get into a long-term relationship when she met Stan.

Minyaxl

My OC. Minyaxl is a Scellor combat medic with renowned psionic healing abilities who decided to volunteer and help out the humans, partially out of kindness and partially to have a chance to demonstrate his abilities to a less advanced race. He started out as this 5′0″ little bitch who was super full of himself but his confidence has been beaten into the dirt on numerous occasions; most notably when he realized that humans, unlike Scellor, do not reincarnate after death, meaning he’s been sentencing people to oblivion during every combat mission. He’s since become desperately obsessed with saving as many lives of sentient, non-reincarnating beings like humans as possible, even if it means jeopardizing operations. He routinely finds himself at odds with his squadmates, particularly Valerie, due to their perceived lack of interest in non-lethal solutions to problems. He is the closest Scellor can get to typical human romance with Thael.

Katherine Dawson

Cey’s OC. Katie is a combat medic who was taken as a POW by a terrorist group and later forcibly enlisted into The Initiative for her abilities. She’s sort of the mom of the group. Everyone else in arbiter squad has some form of extra-ness to them and she’s the straight-woman who holds them together. She has a knack for bossing around idiots due to her upbringing with rambunctious siblings in a Japanese-American household. Dual wields pistols and does not take shit from people. Is girlfriends with Teri.

Johannes B. Otto

Kyle’s OC. It's sometimes easy to mistake Johannes for a confused German tourist. During quiet hours, he spends his time complaining about No Smoking signs and combining multiple quarter-pound patties into single full-pound burgers. But get in his way and you'll find that he's less "tired, goofy dad" and more "towering, ruthless brute". Withhold information during an interrogation, and he'll start calmly searching for a pair of pliers. Try to hurt him or his squadmates, and he'll shut you in a storage locker with a live grenade and then feel zero remorse for the gory soup that spills out (a tactic that has since been affectionately referred to as the "Deutsche Oven"). It should also be noted that Johannes is not a patient man. If we’re ever at a standstill with deciding how to proceed, he’ll start jumping a fence to go beat the shit out of a guard before taking all his clothes and spanking him until his ass is red.

Valerie Mimieux

Ragu’s OC. Valerie is a woman of class. She’s a French spy who likes expensive things and is passionate about cooking. She has a habit of flying way off the fucking handle and doing some reckless impulsive shit or just generally acting like a psycho. Will sometimes single out a particular enemy that did something to piss her off and then beat the hell out of their corpse long after they’re dead. She has raced Yakuza gang leaders for the right to win their car and then nonchalantly gunned them down when they decided to get revenge. She somehow manages to slither her way into acquiring ludicrous amounts of currency during her operations, and wants to one day take over all of Europe. Has a pet german shephard named Steve who used to be a guard dog for the enemy until she offered him a treat. She is alien-gay for Adiira.

Fayaiy

Selena’s OC. Fayaiy is a bounty hunter who crash landed on Earth and temporarily joined the cause before disappearing off to who knows where. She’s super goofy and sort of comes off as a happy-go-lucky foreigner who doesn’t entirely grasp English but loves to vibe with everyone regardless. LOVES Family Guy, thinks it’s the funniest thing ever. On multiple occasions she got faced on weed in the men’s bathroom with Stan, who I’m pretty sure still assumes she’s a trans guy because she didn’t seem to understand human gender symbols on doors. Has a pet black cat named Peanut who she took with her when she left.

Teri Grimm

A state of the art android who is so human-like you wouldn’t even know her body’s innards were synthetic unless you looked at them under a microscope. The commander’s first creation to gain sentience, and The Initiative’s token robot hacker waifu. Everybody loves Teri. She’s polite, incredibly intelligent, and has a face you just really want to protect, although she can hold her own in battles with superhuman strength. She’s rather unlucky though. Is girlfriends with Katie.

We’re actually currently playing a reboot of The Initiative. The first go around happened a few years ago, didn’t last as long, and featured the following five characters as our player characters. They did not function very well as main characters but work quite well this time around as quirky side characters.

Stan Ward

Ragu’s old OC. Stan is one of the most extra people to ever exist, roughly tied with only Bruce and Vulohon. A true American, he’s a mad bastard of a soldier who loves drugs and driving, often at the same time. Once, several members of The Initiative went out to town to relax and have fun, and he almost immediately got into trouble with the police, being chased off into the night. He came back later after swimming his way back to the base, crabs stuck to various parts of his soaking body with their pinched claws. Was somehow man enough to satisfy a 6 foot tall 400 pound 160+ year old android’s sexual desires to the point that he became her boyfriend.

Bruce Reistill

Kyle’s old OC. Bruce is an abrasive asshole who will never ever let a villain get more than 5 words into their monologue before interrupting them with something along the lines of “now y’see here I think the problem we’re having is that you keep on talking when you really shouldn’t be so I think it’d really be in all of our best interests if I were to just go ahead and...” before drawing his revolver that he nicknamed Banger.

Vulohon

The old OC of Roll, our long lost friend who just sorta disappeared to do his own thing in life. Vulohon is a fucking dumbass. He’s basically if Knuckles from Sonic Boom was an edgy anime himbo. The first time we saw him, he was doing the cool guy thing where you lean back in your chair and sharpen a blade. The second time we saw him, he was doing the same thing, but this time was sharpening a glock. The third time it was a trash can. He owns a legendary energy battle axe and can use psionic energy to generate explosions wherever he wants, but almost all of his fighting tactics involving picking up dudes and throwing them at other dudes. Either that or ripping off car doors and swinging them at people.

Stan, Bruce and Vulohon are all best bros. They moved their beds into the rec room and turned it into the Boys Room, where they sit in the hot tub together and behave heterosexually.

Thael

My old OC. Thael is a scientist who has no personality or emotions, but a really great ass. He’s a husk of a formerly optimistic young student who lost the ability to feel things after a shady government organization recruited him and forced him to conduct awful, sometimes murderous experiments on unwilling Scellor. Everyone is creeped out by him, but Minyaxl’s virgin horniness was enough to push past that as he felt love at first sight (with Thael’s back turned to him) and pursued relations with him. Thael opened up to him and Minyaxl decided to do his best to help him regain his former self. He’s getting there.

Pamiil

Selena’s old OC. Pamiil is an optimistic pacifist healer who never really got all that much screen time but she is cute and must be protected. She loves* Setel.

*by which i again mean the closest scellor equivalent to love which i guess is sorta just close friendship where you also fuck but they’re also capable of feeling proper love it’s just weird and can lead to psionic feedback loops if they’re not careful

(the following 5 pics were drawn by selena)

https://butamakingart.tumblr.com/

Orvon Valasma

The captain of the ship that a mysterious third party (referred to as the Scellor Freelancers, consisting of her, Adiira and Setel) arrived on. She’s 7 feet tall and has robotic legs that can extend to make herself even taller and run super fast. Somewhat stoic, and has gotten into fights with Adiira, but still cares deeply for her friends. The freelancers were originally at odds with The Initiative as they (somewhat rightfully) believed that we were doing a sloppy as hell job of things, but they eventually decided to join forces.

Adiira M’vora

A deadly assassin who, due to being born in the Ayaar caste, was forced to carry out political assassinations against people the Scellor government suspected of being potential state enemies. It got to her so she went rogue and is a bit of a wreck. She owns a legendary sword called Blue Midnight that can cut through the very fabric of space, and has various other psionic space manipulation abilities. She is human-gay for Valerie.

Setel Tunsai

An absolute chad of a man, standing at a towering 5′0″ (which is stupidly tall for his Orthan caste). Setel is a powerful psionic who excels at manipulating social outcomes, either through exceptional diplomacy or good old fashioned mind control. He has a talent for helping people with their emotional problems, and has acted as a therapist for people like Adiira and Thael. He is beloved by all. Is small lovefriend of Pamiil.

Korhan

Horrible. Piece of shit bitch bastard. Rightfully dead. Korhan used his position as an Ayaar operative as an excuse to live out all his sadistic fantasies. Worked in the evil-ass facility that used people like Thael to carry out their horrible experiments, and made implied rape threats to Thael if he thought about not doing his job. Responsible for everything that’s wrong with Djylana. Planted a tracking device on Minyaxl to find the location of The Initiative’s base, then came in and slaughtered innocent people for the fun of it before taking a bunch of hostages. He used them to try and make us hand over Adiira and Thael for betraying their government but we managed to clutch things out and put him in the dirt. Also he could stop time. Was basically Dio.

Djylana

Korhan’s partner in crime. A bloodthirsty animal he used to carry out much of his dirty work. After she was killed, while Korhan was lying on the ground just before Thael unloaded two magazines into him to finish him off, he said that she was his finest work, that we would never be able to truly stop her, that she would not rest until every single one of us was murdered. He had installed something called Echotech into her, allowing her soul to stay attached to her body after its death. She got up and started freaking out because her only “friend” had been killed, ready to kill us all, when MVP Fayaiy came in with the hug and helped us manage to convince her that Korhan was a piece of shit and we could be actual friends to her. She came around, like an abused guard dog finding a compassionate master, and now lives in the base as a decaying zombie. We convinced the commander to let her in despite her crimes and to also eventually make a robot body for her. She was unsure if she wanted to let us do that until someone brought up the fact that it would be the biggest middle finger we could possibly give to Korhan, at which point she vehemently agreed. I hope his piss stain of a soul somehow knows that his ace in the hole was defeated by the power of friendship.

IO

Satan.

There are other characters that I may or may not include in the future, but those are the most prominent ones.

[letstalksymphogear]

Symphogear, EP.4

Last time on Beverly Hills 90210!

Hibiki begins to understand the true nature of the Sam Reimi Spiderman trilogy as she lives the life of a superhero by night and a normal student by day in the most miserable way possible. Constant cockblocking from the duties she explicitly chose to do distance her from her significant other Miku, as it drives wedges into their friendlationship. As Hibiki breaks off a plan prepped weeks in advance to see rocks fall from the sky, she takes out her frustration on the local Kamen Rider villian rejects before coming up to see Tsubasa, only to be greeted by a new face...

Let us continue!

As the situation tenses between the three gi- hey! Hey, wait a minute! This is a flashback! That’s no fair. You’re just going to throw this to us while we’re trying to do this stuff? Get it together, show.

The show hauls our asses to a flashback, because God knows we needed one right now. It’s not just any flashback, though. It’s a flashback of our favorite redhead, Kanade!

In a straightjacket.

While everyone is staring.

“i dont usually do this but you’ve got a bad case of catch-these-handsitis”

“oh god, she’s so wild, and angry... i... why am i hoping she’s single...?”

“aye. this is the fate of all rabiosexuals out there.”

Kanade is tied down because she’s the sole survivor of a Noise attack, and more importantly, she really, really wants to fight the Noise. What she doesn’t know is that she is potentially a new candidate for a Symphogear relic.

“oh... we’d pair so well... our colors are diametrically opposed...”

“GIMMIE A FUCKING GUN AND A TEN PIECE CHICKEN MCNUGGET MEAL YOU GUY FIERI LOOKING ASSHOLE”

Genjuro, who suffers from Compulsive Child Adopting Syndrome (CCAS), immediately comes to the conclusion to adopt this tiny gremlin. It helps that her parents are, well, dead.

Fatherly instincts vibrating intensely.

Genjuro talks to this small child, who is currently 99% anger and 1% chicken fluff, scanning their conviction towards working to the goal of fighting the Noise.

In retrospect, his methods are a bit weird. Feeding into the extreme edginess of a 14 year old scorned isn’t exactly the best thing in the world. Unfortunately, as we established before, the only thing that can fight Noise are Symphogear, and the only reason he’s not in the front lines is because he can’t wield one.

Kanade naturally obliges this deal, her braincells having long since perished alongside her parents. Then Perish indeed, Kanade.

“buddy im being trained as a samurai in modern times and i still could not fathom going as hard as you”

The pact is sealed. The child is adopted. Genjuro’s adoption addiction relapses, and he’s going to have quite a long talk at AA (Adopters Anonymous).

The thing about Genjuro that makes him an interesting character is that he actually really, really, really hates the idea of having to pit children in fighting these horrible threats. Unlike a lot of male characters who have a strong sense of manliness but a poorly written way of expressing it, Genjuro manages to be a compassionate person in the face of all this terribleness. He’s the only person to think about throwing parties for these girls, and trying to give them any sort of sense of happiness and normalcy to their lives, now changed forever by machinations he has been put in charge of. He’s the Anti-Gendo. He doesn’t tell Shinji to get in the robot. He makes sure Shinji is well enough to be in the robot, and would never do so otherwise, knowing the mental toll.

That’s why ultimately, he is The Dad.

So, with that in mind, they prep Kanade to recieve the relic assigned to her. One of the major elements of using relics is compatibility. Kanade is not naturally compatible to Gungnir; they have to slowly ease her into it.

“mumble mumble cant wait to kick their asses mumble mumble”

This is a process that takes years. The show doesn’t do well in showing this, but it takes many, many years for her to be compatible after endless medical examinations and controlled situations.

The experiments, naturally, hurt like a bitch to boot.

“genjuro she’ll be okay, right?”

“flip a coin on it, tsubasa”

“oh shit yall see this news? pornhubs gonna buy tumblr! damn, i can make an all in one profile now.”

When you’re forced to watch your newly adopted daughter torture herself to be compatible with an ancient, musty cursed relic.

After all that, Kanade still isn’t compatible. Of course, nothing is simple with Kanade. You may ask yourself, “Why did Genjuro have to tie up Kanade in a straitjacket? That seems pretty abusive.”

Simply put, it’s because Kanade has never fucked around in any second of her life, having taken off all the devices on her, taken a direct syringe of the stuff she’s trying to synchronize with, and directly inject it into her, herself.

Fear.

“i am so SICK, and TIRED, of all this namby pamby wimpy ass standard shit. YALL MOTHERFUCKERS THINK I WONT GO FULL THROTTLE?! MY LIFE IS FULL THROTTLE. I! AM! GONNA! GET! SHIT! DONE! TONIGHT! BOYYYYS!”

Tsubasa, likely already going through puberty by this point, simultaneously understands both the concepts of fear and arousal witnessing this near suicidal display of absolute madness immediately.

Holy shit, Kanade.

You know shit’s bad when even Ryoko is afraid.

Turns out, however, that Kanade did the right move in becoming compatible with Gungnir, at a very physically demanding price.

Really, physically demanding.

“shouldnt have had that massive spaghetti carbonara before doing all this shit but fuck i really liked that fuckin’ spaghetti slorp slorp go the sauce ooooooooh god this is bad”

“HAHA IM FINE- IM FINE EVERYONE- THIS- THIS IS JUST THE SPAGHETTI- I HAD BEFORE THE- BEFORE THE PROCEDURE IT’S NOT- IT’S NOT BLOOD I SWEAR- OH I AM FEELING LIGHTHEADED- DON’T WORRY YOUR PRETTY HEADS IM GOOD! OH- OH FUCK-”

The scientists, who have been easily staring at this entire situation for more than 5 minutes or more, have not stepped in to do a single damn thing, as if overpowering a 14 year old to stop her from injecting a dangerous thing that could directly kill her is completely out of their paygrade. Genjuro wakes them the fuck up and likely briefly contemplates firing some of these morons.

“so this is what’s called... getting lost in the sauce...”

The scientists scramble to keep Kanade from vomiting more marinara sauce but Kanade exerts but a mere fraction of her now developing Symphogear abilities, knocking them all out with ease.

“this is some shit right here, damn”

Kanade pulls some Independence Day theatrics on everyone, as a 14 year old on the verge of death typically would if given the opportunity. Death may be certain but you at least get to go out in style. Will Smith would be proud.

The half-life of Tsubasa’s fearousal reached completion as it has mostly decayed into fear at this point.

However, the relic pendant begins glowing. This is likely the one thing that keeps Kanade from dying. An interesting comparison given Hibiki’s own survival and gear manifestation.

Kanade achieves super saiyan.

“THEY ALL SAID I WAS LOST IN THE SAUCE... AND THEY ALL THOUGHT THE SAUCE WAS LOST IN ME. BUT NOW... I AM THE SAUCE!”

Tsubasa’s fear directly transmutes itself back into arousal per the first law of alchemy. Something to note is that Tsubasa was naturally receptive to her own gear; she didn’t need to go through the medical process Kanade went through. It’s because of this that Kanade earns Tsubasa’s admiration for life, even long after she dies.

“THE SAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUCCCEEEEEEEEEE”

And so, the unambiguously gay duo known as Zwei Wing formed. Singers by day...

Noise slayers by night.

Saving the country, singing in the country, bonding together... in the country. Truly, there is no more iconic duo than these two.

“yall sing pretty”

“anyway bye”

Kanade’s initial motivation for getting Gungnir was to kill the Noise indiscriminately with no hesitation. It slowly dawns on her, though, that helping people... is good?

“the sauce lost me. i got lost in the sauce. i became the sauce. but... why don’t i... share, the sauce? because... people like sauce... and i like sauce... and we can bond together... liking sauce!”

Kanade and Tsubasa have a Captain America moment running together as Kanade muses about how singing for other people feels way better than just pure murder funtimes.

“hey, uh... tsubasa... it just hit me. i like sauce. and... you, you like sauce. do... do you want to share sauce together?”

“kanade as your girlfriend ive literally heard you talk about sauce metaphors for the last several years and if you dont think i wont slurp your sauce down without hesitation you’ve got another thing coming”

“hell yeah! ive still got some of my original leftover marinara to share!”

No heterosexual explanation whatsoever.

Not a damn one.

Oh yeah...! Because by shedding tears, the reality you face is...

Nehushtan? Weird end of a sentence, but okay.

We’re thrust back into the present time, present day, as we’re back in our three way throwdown.

Genjuro is an extra large McFuckingPissed with Large Fries and a Shake, supersized.

“you want some sauce with that? lmao, sorry, too soon”

As the werewolves come out in full force, the tension strengthens while a battle brews nearby...

“yall think you’re getting your hands on this goddamn armor without realizing im officiating this here gay pride parade. and guess what? you’re cancelled.”

“didn’t know clowns were part of the acronym, let alone capable of managing it. either way, you’ve gotta be at least this tall to use the armor.” 

“so why not make like a hobbit, drop the armor, and burrow back to whatever hidey hole you came from, bimbo baggins!”

“guess you didnt read the books, moron. last i checked, bilbo doesn’t lose his traveling partners.”

“that low blow only comes at the cost of outing yourself as a fucking nerd.”

“im not ashambed. im gonna blow your mind with some math: my foot, plus your face, subtracting the teeth from your mouth, equals an ass kicking.”

“NOTHING IN THAT FORMULA INVOLVES ANY ASS WHATSOEV-”

Hibiki gets in the way immediately, citing the ethical ramifications of fighting humans as opposed to talking to them, conveniently forgetting this was the same person ready to body her merely an episode or two ago.

“hey first of all please don’t say bimbo thats really degrading, and second of all clowns aren’t actually in the acronym but im sure there are some gay clowns out there so please dont talk like that and thirdly im sorta short and that hurt my feelings and fourthly killing is fucking bad, tsubasa, let us not commit human on human murder”

both of them, in unison, i shit you not:

“yo, you like murder? shit. i like murder too!”

“like oh my god! murder is my favorite hobby. i take it back, you’re chill. still gotta die, though.”

Hibiki is casually tossed aside from this fight, given her very ideas are anti-thetical to fighting as a whole.

A real sick battle ensues.

Something to note is that our spunky opponent has another relic at her disposal which summons Noise. This relic is called Solomon’s cane. You’ll learn more about it later.

Not a pretty sight.

Tsubasa is losing. Not only is she losing, but the enemy cool kid reveals a very notable detail of her plan: She was distracted Tsubasa on purpose. The real plan...

Was to kidnap Hibiki.

In an ironic twist, Tsubasa’s inability to work with her teammate not only put her teammate in danger, but explicitly allowed her opponent to fulfill her mission of trying to capture her.

“i changed my mind kick her ass please oh god”

Hibiki still has not learned her lesson.

Tsubasa gets her ass kicked. Her opponent pulls every punch in the book, with some lowdown dirty fighting.

Unfortunately, Tsubasa, having learned from the Kanade Amou Private School Of No Brain Cell Combat, she pulls the last ace from her sleeve.

“lmao bitch whatre you gonna do, sing?”

“i didnt design my hair like a fucking 8th note for nothing, you cabbage patch kid”

“then let’s hear it, motherfucker.”

[just-homo-thingsxd]

Best Friend. (Endeavor x Male reader)

"Enji Todorki. Why're you always so mad? You always look so grumpy."

The red haired Male turned to face you. Unsurprisingly he looked less than happy.

"If I look grumpy that means I don't like you. So I'd suggest you leave me alone."

You shook your head side to side. Not like you expected this conversation to go any better.

"For a guy who uses flames. You're pretty cold. I'm not here to be your enemy or get in your way. You're very powerful and more smart than you let on. I wanted to be your ally. Maybe a friend?"

He gave you a very questioning look. Before he snickered and turned away. His back facing you now.

"When I'm number 1, I won't need friends or allies. Glad you realize my potential though. That means I'm making myself known. The man who will become the number 1 hero is me, Enji Todoroki. Don't you forget it."

"Yeah yeah. I don't need the monologue. Look an important part of being a hero is being able to work and communicate with other heroes. You'd have a much better chance if you knew any social skills at all. If you'd like I can show you sometime."

Flames reared up around his neck and face. He turned back to you with a bloodshot eye staring directly at you.

"Why are you still here. I told you to leave. Even after all I've said you still wish to befriend me?"

"Well yeah. Thought that was obvious. I don't think you're a bad guy. You just need some people skills. Luckily for you I got those. Whaddya say, partners?"

His flames died down and he turned away once more. Heading down the hall.

"Once we graduate from U.A I begin my mission to become the greatest. You can follow me until then. After that we're no longer 'friends' got it?"

"Hah. I'm sure in the meantime you'll grow to love me! You'll be begging me to join your agency."

"I already regret indulging you as much as I have."

"Well get used to it. Now then let's work on some social interaction. You can't just ignore and monologue to everyone forever...."

Your eyes opened. Another dream about him. Endeavor. The Number 2 hero. He was true to his word. After you both graduated U.A it was impossible to get in touch with him. Even though he was always so focused and angry. You knew deep down he was a good guy who got misguided somewhere along the way. You knew for certain when you'd first seem him. His aura was so calm and alluring. Sure his personality wasn't the same, but he didn't show any sign of malevolence.

Your quirk when activated was just that. To see the auras of people you make eye contact with. Their aura was the closest thing to a soul that anyone could see. It's that gut feeling you get whenever you lay eyes on them the first time. Your quirk definitely wasn't battle effective, and you've known that from a young age. That feeling of powerlessness was bestowed upon you from your parents. Constant abuse and neglect left you with an empty husk of a boy you once knew. When you were 18 they threw you out and U.A was the only hope you'd had all your life. Somewhere away from them, so you could begin to mend what was broken. After taking the entrance exam you made it to U.A and caught wind of some of the highest potential people one of them was an inspiring pro hero by the name of Endeavor, you tried to befriend Endeavor, he looked like he had a lot of anger and malice, and nobody seemed to hang around him or make any kind of contact with him.  

You wanted to show him that it's okay to open up and have friends to lean on.  Break down his shell so he could have an easier time in the future. Arguably a valuable asset to becoming a hero is making faux partnerships when the need arises. Whether that be a large scale villain group or a well planned heist.

Whether he payed you any mind or not is up for debate but regardless you did what you could.

There was one event in particular that let you see past his anger. This is what made letting go of him after graduating so difficult and confusing.

One day you were just leaving the building after class when some jockey looking students started calling out to you from behind.

"Hey, it's the know it all from general studies. Top of the class my ass, doesn't even have a good quirk. What was yours again? I cant even remember it it's so lame."

You turned to face them and gave a deadpan stare.

"Can I help you? I usually charge for tutoring lessons you know."

The 'leader' of the group took a few more steps closer.

"Hey, watch your tongue little man. You don't know what you're getting into."

"Oh please. I might not be combat oriented but I don't need a quirk to beat someone like you. You might as well quirkless."

This made him angry as he let out a growl and charged forward with a left hook.

In today's society heroes are always around to stop villains from hurting the innocent. You knew that wasn't true, but on the off chance they were you would gladly take their help.

On the other hand if they weren't you had to fend for yourself. Especially against your parents. You'd only gotten into one physical altercation with them, and that's why you were kicked out at 18. It was on your birthday. Dad was drunk and didn't like what you had to say about it. In his rage he lunged at you and hit you multiple times.

After that you took several self defense classes for a few months. While not being combat built you are combat effective, knowing how to control the ebb and flow of the battle to your advantage.

Dodging the hook you used your right hand to grab at his wrist and put all your weight into a shove into his torso. Using your left hand to support it as well. It wasn't enough to knock him over, but he did stumble. That opening was all you needed. In a swift movement you did a low sweep to his legs and knocked him over.

Taking a quick jump back you readied yourself once more.

"Tch, not bad but let me show you how outclassed you are."

The air around you began to chill until it solidified into a block of ice. Beginning to shiver you get low to ground unsure of how to get out of this ice cube.

"See? Quirks are quite the equalizer aren't they? I can freeze the moisture in the air around me or someone else. You're quick on your feet, but when you can't move you're not that good are you?"

Go figure. You had the upper hand, but here you were eating your words.

It was easy to miss, but in a bright flash of red the jock who used his quirk to freeze you erupted into an explosion and was knocked on his ass.

The two other goons quickly scurried off.

Enji walked past the one on the ground and came to the block of ice.

"I was going to let you handle it, but it seems like you couldn't."

Salt to the wound was all it felt like.

"Yeah.. I guess not."

The look on his face changed with that response. It was out of character. Normally you'd have something quippy to say, but right now that wasn't possible.

Placing his hand on the ice he melted it and you quickly ran from the steam.

"Thanks, Enji."

He studied you without saying a word. Then turned back to the kid on the ground.

"Leave, now."

Without hesitation he did so.

"You had good moves, I didn't expect to see that from you. You always seemed feeble."

"I might as well be. I've always been this way, and I was stupid for thinking I could change."

He went silent again. Just staring at you.

"Follow me."

You followed him off school grounds and went into an alley way. Had you not been able to see he wasn't a malicious person you would definitely be suspicious.

"Why am I following you exactly?"

"I wanted to talk. It's not like you to be so hard on yourself. Why is that?"

Instantly the memories of your childhood came rushing back to you and instinctively you tensed up.

"I'm hard on myself because of my past. I've never been strong enough, and I never will be. To protect myself of the ones I care about. I've never been able to."

If you knew him it would take a moment for him to resp-

"You can be strong enough. You took on that guy without a quirk. You have the potential to be strong. So don't let one bump in the road bring you down. Besides. When I'm a pro hero you wont need to worry, there wont be anyone brave enough to commit a crime anyway."

You stood there for a moment. Baffled by what just came out of his mouth. The sharp tongued, angry Enji Todoroki just gave you advice and positive reinforcement.

"You've opened my eyes to a lot, (Y/N), I suppose I owe you at least this much."

"You don't owe me anything. I don't want you to think I've been your friend for all this time because I want you to repay me for it. It's because I-"

You paused for a moment and looked down at the ground.

"You seemed lonely when I first saw you, and I know how that feels."

He turned to face you and scoffed.

"I told you before, I don't need friends where I'm going. When I'm a pro they'll only get in my way and want some of my success. People are greedy, so I suggest you do the same. Stay solo for your best interest. I still stand by what I said when you first approached me. That will never change, but you're not a bad guy. So take my advice."

There was a tight knot in your chest as he spoke. Is that what he thought of you? That you just wanted to get close to him and mooch off him? Graduation wasn't that far away, and now you knew he was serious with what he said the first time you spoke to him. He doesn't want a friend, and most of all he didn't want to be involved with you.

"Is.. Is that what you think of me? That I'm going to use you? You should know better by now that I'm not that kind of person, but you know what? It doesn't matter Todoroki. If you think that lowly of me you're no better than anyone else on this damn planet, because it seems everyone does!"

In a fit of rage you quickly ran off and kept going until you were in a park surrounded by trees. Alone with nothing but yourself and the trees. All this time you thought you could have opened his eyes at least a little bit, yet here you were. Alone again, and your only 'friend' turning out to not care for you and still remaining adamant he doesn't need anyone. Whatever. Deep down you knew you were fighting a losing battle, and there wasn't anything you could you do about it. You sat below a tree and brought your legs to your chin and wrapped your arms around yourself.

"Why can't I just feel accepted, am I really that much of a burden on everyone? All I wanted was someone I could turn to when I fall and someone who felt they could do the same.. a best friend."

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 163: Reunions and Provisional License Training

Previously on BnHA: Gran Torino and Naomasa cornered Kurogiri in the middle of the woods somewhere. It looked like they were about to capture him, but then this big Goron-looking dude stomped in out of nowhere and we cut away from the scene, so who even knows what’s going on with that. Back at the hospital, Deku had a chat with Mirio, who was amazingly cheerful -- the last thing Nighteye said to him was to keep smiling, and he intends to follow through with that. Deku had a moment of guilt-stricken weakness because Mirio had been so amazing while he himself had needed help from everyone. He started to offer Mirio One for All, but Mirio cut him off and said that even if it was “hypothetically possible” for Deku to give him his quirk, he wouldn’t accept because that would only leave Deku in the same situation that he’s in right now. He also said that Aizawa told him they would be working hard to figure out a way to restore his quirk. And Nighteye’s last prediction was that he would be an outstanding hero, and he believes in him. Having been successfully cheered up, Deku returned to school with the other kids. The next day, BAKUGOU AND TODOROKI HEADED OFF TO THEIR PROVISIONAL LICENSE COURSE. YOU GUYS. THEY’RE BACK.

Today on BnHA: The internship kids return to their classmates who have been WORRIED SICK and don’t hesitate to inform them of this. Ochako and Kirishima have quiet moments of reflection about why they want to become heroes and how far they have to go, respectively. The next morning, Bakugou and Todoroki head off to their supplemental training course, chaperoned by All Might and Present Mic. We learn from All Might that Gran Torino and Naomasa managed to capture Kurogiri, but were in pretty bad shape after their confrontation with the Giganto dude, who apparently leveled half the mountainside during their battle. Over at the license exam training course place, Endeavor makes an appearance, having come to watch Shouto train. He also says he wants to have a chat with All Might. Meanwhile Shouto is greeted by his new best friend Yoarashi Inasa (who is still my favorite), as well as For Reals Camie, who we’re meeting for the very first time. Also Seiji of meatball quirk fame is here as well just for laughs. The chapter ends fairly abruptly, but it’s all good because this is going to be a good arc full of fun times you guys.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 187 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

(ETA: apparently the 3rd popularity poll results were released with this chapter! I had to go hunt down the color page and the full results because they weren’t included with the scanlation I read. so I’m adding in this ETA as of finishing volume 18 and belatedly realizing there were supposed to be poll results somewhere in there lol

Bakugou in the number one spot once more! that post-Kamino character development was so good that his popularity managed to withstand 40 straight chapters of being completely absent from the plot. pretty impressive

there is literally only ONE vote separating Shouto and Deku, oh snap. Shouto’s popularity also held up pretty damn well during the Internship arc. absence truly does make the heart grow fonder

Kirishima has moved up a spot! fucking superb you funky little rock man

and a surprise guest breaking into that no. 5 spot, Iida fucking Tenya! wow! beat out Aizawa by a good 400 votes. in this post-ponytail world, that is truly shocking to me. once again I will chock it up to his being absent for so long and making us realize how much we truly loved him. although a more likely explanation is that the anime had just finished up the Hero Killer arc right around when this poll was being conducted in the tail end of 2017

I’m delighted to see Kaminari here at number 8, even before his Kacchan moment which is coming up in this very chapter! I love him so much

Shinsou’s got himself some dedicated fans, let me tell you. they are doing the lord’s work, using this poll as a way of not-too-subtly hinting at Horikoshi to drop Mineta from 1-A and replace him with this kid instead. we’ll keep holding out hope

so that’s it for the top ten (with shoutouts to Aizawa, All Might, and Ochako because I didn’t mention them specifically but OBVIOUSLY I LOVE THEM TOO OF COURSE). I think the full list is in one of the omakes, so I’ll cover that at the end of this chapter.)

[mario voice] here we GOOOOOOO

so we’re back at the fanfic dorms (I MISSED THESE TOO), and the internship kids have finally made it back after going through all sorts of “inquiries and processes”

Mineta’s screaming “THEY’RE BAAAAAAACK” and honestly it’s one of the few times I’ve empathized with him so strongly

are you kidding me. you fit 18 fucking kids into this panel but you couldn’t fit Bakugou fucking Katsuki

also I always die any time Shouji is wearing one of his legendary ponchos. lmao

honestly, even without Bakugou (and who else is missing, though? ... oh shit, Tokoyami), this one panel still feels more like BnHA than the series has in ages. I missed this

(ETA: wait a sec, was Tokoyami out on his own internship while this was all taking place? is that why he’s not here? do I need to stop dragging my feet and force my ADD brain to sit still for five goddamn minutes so I can finish the arc I’m currently on?)

Kaminari’s shouting that Kirishima and Deku (a.k.a. the two who were also involved in Rescue Squad Jr.) are always getting mixed up in crazy shit and they need to stop scaring them

they were scared, then. of course. that’s fine, it was only to be expected. it’s not like I’m tempted to stop reading right this second and go look up post-Internship Arc class 1-A genfics on AO3

but like, I really did want to for a minute, and y’all know how badly I want to see Bakugou again, so please understand that I’m loving this scene just that much

Hagakure’s hugging Tsuyu and Ochako awww

what’s this

Shouto got a mysterious text? Shouto is always on his fucking phone I s2g. get off social media for two seconds and say hi to your friends

(ETA: this seems like a good place to share my headcanon that Endeavor texts like Captain Holt from B99 and composes all of his texts like formal business letters with perfect grammar and begins them all with “Dear Shouto” and signs them all with “Sincerely, Endeavor.” yes he signs them as “Endeavor” and not “dad” or even “your father” because he’s just really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad at being a dad. you guys.)

Iida is divebombing in front of the returning kids and screaming at everyone to calm down

;_________;

IIDA BRINGING THOSE CLASS 1-A FEELS. THAT’S OUR CLASS PREZ

but Deku’s waving a hand at him and thanking him for being considerate, “but”

oh my god

loooooool

“ARE YOU SURE, MIDORIYA. BECAUSE I JUST MADE A PRETTY BIG FUCKING SCENE RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW”

LOOOOOOOOOL, BUT NOW THAT HE HAS THE GO AHEAD...

IIDA FUCKING TENYA I MISSED YOU TOO YOU BIG GOOBER

Momo is running off to make some tea for them

and Satou is literally shoving cake into Deku’s face now

for some reason Ochako is being very quiet though

oh. oh no

honey it’s not your fault!

shit. this is the first job-related death they’ve experienced, though. of course they’re all going to be traumatized by it to some degree. no wonder the staff wanted to brief them thoroughly

I hope they offered counseling. they fucked up with Bakugou and they need to not do that again. class 1-A keeps accumulating various traumas and if these kids don’t get mental health support they’re all going to be a hot mess by the time they graduate

in the meantime we at least have Aizawa “Mom of the Year” Shouta on the job

is it just me or does Aizawa not even pretend anymore these days. he’s so fucking maternal. he loves them all so much, and he’s not even mad about it. they’re good kids

so Ochako is having what we call a Deku Moment

staring at the hands and everything

is this the first time she’s said this? remember, previously her goal was to become a hero so that she could provide for her mom and dad. very selfless, but she was still in it for the money rather than the whole “rescuing people” thing. so I think this is the first time we’ve heard her voice this particular sentiment out loud. and it’s great

Kirishima’s looking at her with a quiet expression that suggests that his own angst is brewing beneath the surface omg

and Sero’s slinging an arm around him aggressively

this is nice! he needs this!

aww! Mina too!

NO NOT REALLY

KIRISHIMA ;_____;

WHERE IS BAKUGOU GODDAMMIT

GASPPPP

ever the antisocial one

HERE HE IS IN HIS OWN PANEL FINALLY OMGGGGGG

omg

so he’s listening in with his resting bitch face, because of course he was worried just like all the rest of them, but like hell you’ll catch him joining in with the obnoxious crowd of people swarming them all at once

but this way he can still see that they’re all right. and maybe he can talk to Kirishima later. and maybe nod at Deku or make awkward eye contact for two seconds and then pretend like nothing happened. you know how they do

LOOK WHO’S HOPPING OVER AND MAKING THE SAME OBSERVATIONS OMG

excuse me WHAT DID YOU CALL HIM JUST NOW? AHEM??

(ETA: this is disturbingly high on my list of all-time favorite BnHA moments)

is he allowed? is this allowed?? what is this. this is the childhood nickname that only one person has ever been allowed to use. (and that one person has apparently never been told to stop using it, either, because you know he would have if Kacchan had actually asked. or demanded. and yet he still uses it, exclusively. and somehow I’ve never essayed about this? what have I even been doing with my life. but now is not the time. maybe in an ETA when I’m not so fucking hyped)

(ETA: so I did in fact write a whole big essay about this, and it got so long that I ended up removing it from this already-lengthy post and putting it up as its own separate thing. because it’s definitely something I’ve been meaning to talk about, but it was pretty off-topic.

but anyways, I just wanted to say that if me writing a 1200 word BakuDeku essay out of fucking nowhere doesn’t perfectly sum up my reaction to him being back in the manga, then I don’t know what does. lol)

I don’t know what to get excited about first. the fact that he noticed Kacchan was in fact sulking in the corner being worried but pretending like he wasn’t. the fact that he came over to bother him. or the fact that he just casually called him the nickname, again most likely to bother him, but he didn’t get blasted into oblivion for it so oh my god. does Kacchan even realize that’s just giving him the green light to do it again later

anyway so Bakugou is making a classic grumpy retreat now

YES

and also he has his provisional license course tomorrow too!

Ojiro’s asking if he’s really just going to skulk off without even saying a word to their returning traumatized friends. Ojiro have you even met Kacchan before

and actually Todoroki is now bidding everyone good night as well

and getting the exact same “what are you a grandpa” response from Kaminari to boot. Kaminari is on fucking fire tonight

oh man. this is going to be one of those chapters where I just post and comment about every single panel, huh

you see, I have to post this one because (1) bunny! and (2) Tsuyu isn’t even surprised about Bakugou. they’re all used to him going to bed this early. see, this is exactly the kind of shit I need to make a note of for when I inevitably start to write fic. this kid is early to bed early to rise

it’s literally 8:30 and Kacchan’s in bed, lights off, glaring at the ceiling

and Shouto is glaring at his phone

I swear I wasn’t originally going to post both of those panels. but I just wanted to comment that (a) Bakugou has an OtterBox-style case for his phone (which makes perfect sense, because he probably abuses the poor thing every day and throws it when he gets frustrated and tries to blow it up at times, and honestly he’s probably managed to destroy it once or twice even WITH the case. and I bet he has the special warranty that includes quirk damage. and I bet they regret ever giving it to him), and (b) I’m getting an inkling that whatever reason Shouto had for retiring to his room early, it didn’t actually have anything to do with the next day’s training

someone on tumblr told me that we would be getting Todoroki Family Drama at some point. but I’m pretty sure that’s still like 20 chapters off. but maybe this is early set-up for it? hmmmm

and now panels of the four intern kids lying in bed wide awake thinking angsty thoughts

FYI, that’s Satou’s bedroom with the light still on in the middle of the 5th floor. and below that, on the fourth floor, that room is supposed to be unoccupied lmao. so that is presumably a ghost right there. next to Bakugou’s bedroom

here, I’ll post the layout so you can see

so I’m not sure if Horikoshi maybe just spaced out and moved everyone’s rooms down one from where they’re actually supposed to be, and this is supposed to be Bakugou and Todoroki’s rooms with the lights on. but if we go by our canon reference, Satou is doing some midnight baking and the fourth floor is in fact haunted

anyway, we’re now cutting to the next day and Bakugou and Todoroki are walking to the train station

every sentence Todoroki says ends with dots

is this the arc that’s going to make me ship TodoBaku. it is isn’t it. it’s already happened for Deku, Ochako, and Kirishima, it was only a matter of time before Strawberry Shortcake got in on this too

(ETA: we’re at a solid “I’ll read it if it’s there and the summary intrigues me” level, FYI)

oh my

first of all, I highly doubt that. Bakugou strikes me as being way too much of a type A to ever be late for anything, and Todoroki also has an air of impeccable punctuality about him

and second of all, OH MY GOD

All Might looking spiffy as hell in that tailored suit with his manly satchel. and Present Mic’s out here trying to poke Kacchan in the fucking eye

so Aizawa was leading the course previously, then? he’s the one who supervised whatever insanity led to Shouto’s nose getting broken and the two of them basically looking like they’d been hit by small cars? I guess he’s only a mom when he feels like it huh

(ETA: so when All Might says “leading the group”, what he really means is “accompanying the two kids to and from their lessons for safety purposes.” which makes more sense. and means that contrary to what I just said, not only does Aizawa continue to be a mom, he’s now a goddamn soccer mom on top of everything else.)

OH SHIT I’M BEING BOMBARDED WITH SO MUCH INFORMATION AT ONCE. THIS IS GREAT. I CAN HARDLY KEEP UP

so apparently they needed Aizawa to help with Eri’s quirk! so this presumably means she’s awake? hopefully he’ll be able to help her

and Aizawa made Mic come along to protect All Might, because he cares! that’s right!

(ETA: and also, maybe not a good idea to send two of the League’s known targets and the son of the current number one hero out into the world all nicely grouped together without any backup. yeah, good call Aizawa.)

and Kurogiri was indeed captured!

but Gran’s team suffered some “serious blows” apparently

!! “there was another individual we couldn’t do anything about”

yessss tell us more about this!

oh shit he done fucked them up proper

he was that bad? bad enough that you weren’t sure whether Kurogiri was worth letting him escape? holy shit

oh snap

was this like. an entire mountain that he fucking leveled here? good lord

anyway, so All Might’s telling them to board the bus

Todoroki is acting weeeeeeird you guys

what the fuck is this kid hiding all of a sudden

so now they’re at some building and the kids’ crazy uncles are dropping them off and waving

this is the cutest fucking shit. the boys look so tiny. All Might looks like he just dropped them off at pre-k

OH SHIT

WELL WELL, IF IT ISN’T THE CURRENT NUMBER ONE PIECE OF SHIT

“I wanted to have a proper chat with you” he says, the veins in his eyeballs reaching critical levels

why does he always do this. can’t you ever just have a normal conversation without dramatically cornering someone in a random hallway

Present Mic is all “I’m going to fuck off now, so good luck”

“I’ma go buy some coffee. it’ll probably take about five hours. just to be safe. see you later”

so apparently the text that Shouto got was just his dad telling him he’d be coming to watch his training the next morning

“I hope he doesn’t bump into All Might,” he thinks. Shouto, does that sound like the kind of thing that’s likely to happen. think about you and your life and how it’s generally gone up until this point. exactly

EYYYYYYYYYYYYY

IT’S MUH BOIIIIIIIIIII

OH HUSH. HERE I THOUGHT KATSUKI WAS GOING TO BE THE GRUMPY GRUMP. COME ON NOW

(ETA: and also there are like, eight people in the whole damn class. how exactly were you planning on avoiding him)

and who’s this?

!!!!

HOLY SHIT IS THIS THE REAL CAMIE

holy shit?!

so this means she’s not dead or kidnapped or whatever! well that’s obviously good!

but just. I have so many questions all of a sudden omg. I should just keep reading

apparently she’s never seen Baku and Todo before? wouldn’t she have seen them at one of the previous courses though? I guess maybe they split up into different groups in the previous sessions?

oh hey look at Kacchan asking these important questions for me

oh my god

right, he was in the character page for this volume

but he didn’t make it past the first round! what gives!!

is that why Camie’s here too, though? were they not invited to attend previously, but then the examiners had a change of heart?

once again Kacchan is acting as my proxy here

at this rate we’re going to have more people observing than actually taking the course

I wonder what Actual Camie’s quirk is? and is she also observing or are they allowing her to take the course with them?

do they even realize it wasn’t her who passed the first half? I mean obviously her teachers and classmates must know, but are they just playing along to help her get her license now?

well at any rate, it looks like these kids are ready to throw down

WE SHALL

BONUS:

people who are too low on this poll: Mina, Mr. Compress, Nighteye, Jirou, Tsuyu, and FUCKING MIRIO, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME THOUGH

for real?? 41st place? beaten out by Stain, Overhaul, Endeavor, Seiji, and fucking Mineta??!

I’m sorry, I was going to do more commentary on this, but honestly my brain just kind of quit in outrage. honestly this poll should be ashamed of itself. the best fucking character in the manga and he didn’t even crack the top 40. for fuck’s sake