#too bad we can’t teleport money aside

[miss-floral-thief]

Guess I’ll check to see if the smoothie place is fully closed or not

[azucanela]

chapter iii

pairing: bakugou katsuki x fem!reader

warnings: cursing. mentions of violence. mild violence. 

word count: 2k

summary: the internet is enamored with the idea of y/n l/n and bakugou katsuki, two renowned pro heroes, dating. the first issue? the pair rarely interacts. the second issue? apparently, they hate each other, not that anyone knows about that bit. of course, after one night of many mistakes, the whole world knows.

series masterlist

MAYBE SHE WAS OVERCOMPENSATING, but at least overall productivity of the agency was up. If Y/N was honest, throwing herself into her work probably wasn’t her best idea, in fact one might consider it self destructive. But.. she was frustrated. And the pent of emotions of not only herself but those around her had to go somewhere. 

And what better place to put that energy than her work?

Of course, as she slams a villain into the wall of concrete before bringing their hands together and handcuffing them, all Y/N feels is boredom. Dissatisfied, unfulfilled. Although it had taken her a while to separate her own emotions from that of others when she was younger, it doesn’t take much effort to determine that those feelings are entirely her own. 

In a job like hers, boredom was something to be grateful for, something to welcome with open arms all things considered. And busy season would be coming up for heroes, so Y/N probably should be grateful for the lack of activity. And yet… The calm before the storm was always rather unnerving. 

Y/N can hear the sirens of the police, brows furrowing as she sighs. Dragging the man she had just apprehended along with her despite his grunts of protest. Y/N watches as a police car pulls around by the entrance of the alley she’d cornered him in.

He was just a petty thief, but Y/N had been trying to keep out of the spotlight for the time being, unless her assistance was warranted. And thus far, it hadn’t been.

Inhaling deeply, Y/N watches as an officer exits the car, a smile coming across their face as they see her. “Hey Empatha!” They wave, and Y/N can’t help but offer a small smile and wave of her own back as she hands the criminal over to them.

“Hi, everything alright at the precinct?” It’s meant to be a polite, simple question, but Y/N can practically— literally— feel the way the officer lights up at the question. As though they’d been meaning to bring it up. Y/N had interacted with most of the Police Department briefly, so they weren’t entirely unfamiliar but… that didn’t mean Y/N wanted to stick around for long.

They shrug, pushing the thief into the back of the car despite his protests and shutting the door on him. “We had some plumbing troubles earlier— or something like that I don’t know… but yeah. Everything has been good. Kinda.” 

Unsureness is bleeding into their tone, so Y/N raises a brow as she finds herself asking, “something on your mind?” 

The officer offers Y/N a sheepish smile, “we could really use your help on one of our cases, the Stain Copycat, I assume you’ve heard?” 

Nodding slowly, Y/N finds herself wanting to exit this conversation, and soon, “I can look into sending someone from the Agency but it’s Hawks’ choice.” She looks around with a frown, “I have a feeling the press will be here soon so I should get going, but I’ll be in contact.” She says with a smile, taking a step back before disappearing into the shadows.

Telen’s ability. Y/N borrowed it frequently, and from the soreness of her body, Y/N had a feeling that they’d had quite the day as well. He was capable of teleporting through shadows, light was a major inhibitor but it was an incredibly useful ability and had saved her life a countless number of times. Whether that was literally or from… conversations like that one. 

Y/N had been avoiding Endeavor’s agency since far too many of her old classmates were sidekicks there. As much as she wanted to help, her presence wasn’t necessary. And she had heard about the Stain Copycat case, the one who had yet to be caught, the exception. Hawks had mentioned it during one of their calls recently, so technically she wasn’t lying when she said someone would be sent over to help. 

Just not her. Anyone but her. 

With a sigh, Y/N finally appears in the locker room of the agency. Welcoming the smell of blood, sweat, and probably tears.

It had been a long day, and Y/N quickly decided there was no better way to amend that than with coffee. She’s changing into her civilian clothes— having ended her shift at the agency for the day— inside the locker room dedicated to such things. Patrol had been mostly quiet today, which she was grateful for, but that didn’t make her any less suspicious as to why things had been so quiet. 

Y/N makes her way out of the locker room once she’s changed, and through the agency, offering a smile to Telen as she finally steps out of the agency doors. “You alright today? I can feel the soreness.” She says, walking backwards as she speaks to him, while he holds the door open for the both of them. 

Telen offers her a smile, “yes. It appears I took quite the hit.” He brings a hand to the back of his neck, “not the best day.”

Y/N raises a brow, “wanna come with me? I’m gonna get a drink, maybe something to eat at the café a few blocks from here.” She’d always enjoyed Telen’s presence, he was calm, quiet, but good company nonetheless. Someone who listened, but could certainly maintain a conversation. They’d been working together for a few years now and Y/N had grown to like him. That and she would be returning later regardless seeing as Lorelai had requested a coffee herself. 

Telen shakes his head, “I still have one more patrol, but if I happen to come around there, I might stop by.”

She nods, raising her hand to wave to him as one final goodbye before turning on her heel, and almost instantly a rush of wind is hitting her, though she finds it refreshing as she stares to the sky, a grey color, clouds shielding the sun from view. 

It’s a nice day, she decides, looking to her left. Hawks had placed his agency rather strategically, and by strategically, that meant nearby a café she had been going to for longer than she could remember. Y/N was close friends with the owner now, and many of the employees there. So her presence wasn’t anything astonishing, though Y/N had offered time and time again to advertise their business, they’d always declined. The owner had insisted it was nice being a small business, rather than one swarming with customers. 

Y/N had made the shop her safe space, most of the time, those who recognized her seemed to understand her desire to be left alone. And it was relieving, to be normal for a moment. Not to say that she was special or anything, but life as a hero was… an overwhelming one. She’d been lucky to evade the press earlier.

It doesn’t take long to arrive, a short walk is all it takes before Y/N is opening the door to enter the small shop. Almost instantly, she’s greeted with a bag of chips to the face, having been thrown by a grinning Lily, one of the longtime employees that Y/N had known for years now. “Hey superstar.” 

In response Y/N groans, moving to cover her face in the scarf she’d worn and bury her face inside it, cheeks warming in embarrassment. “Shut up, Lily.” Her eyes drift around, “where’s everyone else?”

Lily shrugs, already moving to make Y/N’s usual as she replies, “we’re a bit short staffed today.” She looks to Y/N, “we haven’t seen you in a while. Been too busy for us, have you?” Her words are teasing, but Y/N finds herself feeling bad for not visiting more often. Her schedules become more busy as the time for announcing the top heroes draws near, more meetings, more events, more press conferences. And with her little scandal with Bakugou, she would likely have to give up even more of her time.

“Never.” Y/N finally replies, moving to stand at the counter and placing her bag of chips there. Y/N pulls out her wallet.

Lily waves her off, “on the house.” 

Y/N rolls her eyes, “I make a ridiculous amount of money, let me spend it.” She says, pulling out a few $20 bills, though Lily simply looks to her pointedly. This only encourages Y/N, causing her to keep eye contact with her as she drops all of the bills into the tip jar. “Split it with the rest of the staff.” 

It's true, Y/N’s salary was… more than enough. Hawks had never been frugal with his money, his employees were well off and she was grateful for it but at this point she had more money than she knew what to do with. She was no Number 2 Hero but her bank account spoke for itself. 

Despite this, Lily glares in response, before sliding a drink over to Y/N. “Regardless, how have you been, aside from getting black out drunk at a very important Gala and then proceeding to talk shit about—”

“I doubt she wants to talk about that Lily,” The bell by the door rings, signaling that someone has arrived, and of course, there stands Rosalyn, another one of the employees. Her hair is greying now, but she still bares the same smile and calming persona that she did when Y/N first met her. “Sorry I’m late, traffic was bad.” 

Y/N is grinning as she walks over to Rosalyn, throwing her arms around her as the pair hugs, “good to see you Ros.” Lily pretends to roll her eyes at the sigh of physical affection, though she smiles at the sight of the reunion, before heading through the door behind the counter.

When they pull away, Rosalyn pats Y/N’s head with a smile, “and you! It’s been a while, look how you’ve grown.”

Y/N’s brows furrow as a small laugh escapes her, “I doubt I’ve grown any.” If she’s honest, Rosalyn and Lily hadn’t changed at all. Y/N wondered if they viewed her the same as they used to after all these years as well. And maybe she was scared of the answer, and that’s why she never asked. She could see it, Y/N doesn’t necessarily know or remember when, but she can recall the first time she noticed that they looked at her differently. 

Things had changed at one point, and maybe Y/N’s visit to the coffee shop was just her attempt at holding onto the past. A past where she was happier, where things were simpler. 

Moving to remove her jacket, Rosalyn shrugs, “perhaps I’ve shrunk. Happens with old age I suppose.” The woman heads over to the small entrance that leads to behind the counter, which also happens to have a door to the backroom. “I’ll be back shortly,” she says. Offering Y/N a smile that she quickly returns before heading into the backroom. 

Y/N nods, taking the chips and her drink to one of many tables by the window and placing them down there to save her spot— though the shop is currently empty, she has no doubt that the busier hours will start soon. Regardless, Y/N comes to a stand to move to the display window filled with different pastries. Their new selection is certainly interesting, the sight makes her miss baking. Not that she has the time nowadays.

With a sigh, Y/N straightens her posture, when the bell rings, indicating that someone has entered. Turning Around. Y/N’s eyes widen as her mouth gapes open due to the sight of the one and only Bakugou Katsuki.

note: shorter chapter but i hope it was worth it hehehehehehe

[riversofmars]

The Doctor and her friends try to escape a deadly trap as Dorium’s bar and the planet burn up. Meanwhile, River is continuing her research into the Timeless Child...

Chapter 5: The Pieces Are Moving

The Maldovarium, 52nd Century

The sun was blazing down and Dorium’s bar, built mostly from metal, was heating up even faster than the surface of the planet. The sun was growing bigger in the sky, it was getting closer.

“The Master must have found so much more in the Matrix than he led on.“ The Doctor pressed through gritted teeth as she considered how this was possible. “This is like the Time Lords of old, able to wheeled so much power… what they became in the Time War… he wasn’t there in the final days to know the horror…“ She mumbled, trying her best to prioritise her thoughts. Time was changing around them. They were in grave danger. There was no time to wonder how the Master had accomplished this, there was any number of ways he could have done it and finding out which it was would not help save them. She looked around back to her friends who awaited an explanation.

“You shouldn’t have come. This is far too dangerous for you.“ The Doctor realised, slowly shaking her head. “He knew I’d come here. Perhaps a Matrix prediction… it’s a game and he’s one step ahead of us at every turn.“ Her mind was reeling but they had more immediate concerns. The sun above the planet was growing closer, they appeared to be heading towards it and the temperature kept rising. “Dorium, do you have a way off this planet?“ She asked and stepped into his line of vision.

“I’m nothing if not well prepared, Doctor, there is a shuttle for emergencies outside, but we can’t just abandon my bar, this is my life’s work!“ Dorium protested. “What is happening out there?“

“If you don’t get out of here right now, you won’t have a life.“ The Doctor interrupted him. “One of you will have to carry him. Get to his ship.“ The Doctor gestured towards the box and Yaz complied while Jenny rushed to support her wife who looked as though she was about to faint. Vastra’s body couldn’t regulate its temperature at all. Yaz and Jenny seemed to have trouble breathing the hot air and even Strax was beginning to show signs of struggling as beads of sweat formed on his head.

“But Doctor…“ Yaz wanted to protest, trying her best to hold Dorium’s head level.

“This planet is being dragged into that sun, get off world and quickly.“ The Doctor shut down any protest and glanced out of the window again. The sun continued to grow bigger and the temperature inside the bar was becoming unbearable. They didn’t have time to argue. She could sense that this was only the beginning.

“But we have the TARDIS, can’t we just…“ Jenny jumped in but the Doctor interrupted her:

“No you don’t. I need to find the Master and I’m doing it by myself, it’s far too dangerous.“ She looked around, assessing what she had to work with. “Get off this planet, I’ll be in touch and pick you up to take you home but right now, I need to find him. He is messing with the fabric of time itself and while you’re close to me, you will be in danger!“ She explained hastily and rushed to a computer terminal in the corner.

“Doctor, you can’t.“ Vastra protested weakly.

“A Sontaran does not run away!“ Strax exclaimed, outraged.

“Whatever we’re doing, can we do it now? It is really very stuffy in this box!“ Dorium called from his box.

“We’re coming with you.“ Yaz insisted but the Doctor shook her head.

“No, you’re not.“ She stated and sonic-ed the computer terminal. A teleport beam engulfed her friends.

——

Shuttle outside the Madovarium, 52nd Century

“Ugh! That insufferable man! Woman!“ Vastra collapsed onto the floor as they found themselves in a shuttle. The temperature was bearable, the insulation for space travel was far superior to the bar, but temperatures were rising even in here.

“I hate to be the bringer of bad news but unless we leave this planet right now, we will be fried, and I’m lacking hands to operate the controls.“ Dorium realised the Doctor had managed to engaged his emergency evacuation teleport. He was glad to have spent the money. It wasn’t like he could have walked anywhere in the event of a disaster and it had proven a sound investment already. “So if you wouldn’t mind.“ He glanced to controls, having no better means of pointing.

“How do we fly it?“ Yaz sat his box down by the controls hoping for instructions. She pushed her anger at the Doctor’s actions aside in favour of getting off the planet in one piece first.

“Step aside. A Sontaran can operate any kind of combat vehicle. Strap in. Someone secure the head.“ Strax instructed pushing her aside.

“We can’t just go without her.“ Jenny launched a weak protest as Strax started the engines. He engaged the shields and the temperature dropped significantly, allowing them all to breath more easily.

“It seems we have very little choice, my dear.“ Vastra replied weakly, as her wife helped her to her to a seat. “She will come to her senses.“ She had been the Doctor’s friend long enough to know that they couldn’t change their mind by force.

“Unless she gets herself killed first.“ Yaz huffed as they launched and shot off into the atmosphere, away from the planet that was hurling towards its doom. Below, the Maldovarium caught fire.

——

The Maldovarium, 52nd Century

The Doctor checked the computer console. Her friends had reached the shuttle and set off. Good. Step one. She looked around herself, the building had just caught fire. The temperature was still rising. Judging by its speed, she calculated she probably had about seven minutes: three minutes until the air would be too hot to breath and she would have to use her respiratory bypass, five until her skin would start to blister and seven until her core temperature would rise so high that the proteins in her body would break up and she would die. She’d have to work quickly.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard on the computer terminal as she pulled up the security camera footage of the last five minutes. Good old Dorium, of course he wanted his establishment well protected. She fast forwarded through it and there it was: one moment, everyone was having a lovely time, the next blazing sunlight streamed into the bar and the customers disappeared into thin air. Some screamed, some just looked confused, but they all vanished. Time was being rewritten. They had never come here because the planet was not where it had been. So the planet had moved, not the star.

She wondered how far back the footage would go. Would it go back far enough to show who brought Dorium back here? Unlikely. He’d probably had to rebuild and set up everything anew upon his return. She had about a minute of breathable air left and she was struggling already. She looked around, the TARDIS was in the other room, she would need a minute to get there at least and above her, thick smoke started gathering. She would have to feel her way forward at this stage. Her mind was racing. Any clues she would find here, she’d have to find now or they would be lost forever. She couldn’t think. The moment had passed and the air had become too hot to breathe.

“Think, Doctor, think!“ She snapped with her last proper breath, she ground her teeth. When I arrange for your death, I expect you to stay dead. The Master’s words echoed through her head. Nothing was gained if she she risked her life chasing after clues that probably weren’t there. The Master was too clever to leave traces; which begged several questions: why would he reveal himself to Dorium; why allow him to see his face, knowing a description would point her straight towards him? Arrogance? Was he trying to taunt her? Or did he just not care? Did he think he was so far ahead of her, that it wouldn’t matter? Something about this didn’t feel right. She had to get back to her TARDIS before the fire bared her way. The skin in her hands was starting to go red and raw.

——

Space, 52nd Century

“That was a close call…“ Jenny breathed a sigh of relief when they cleared the gravitational pull of the planetoid and the sun alike. It wasn’t a moment too soon, the planet was beginning to burn as it hurdled closer and closer to the sun.

“How was that even possible? You can’t just move a planet…“ Yaz shook her head in disbelief as she watched the destruction on the monitors.

“You and I might not be able to… but anything is possible, given time…“ Dorium mused.

“The Master is a dangerous foe but this does appear beyond the capabilities they have displayed so far.“ Vastra sat in the copilot’s seat as she recovered, her body temperature normalising.

“Maybe he’s not working by himself…“ Yaz mused. “Last time we saw him, he’d allied himself with the Cybermen… maybe he realises he can’t do it by himself… Maybe he’s found new friends.“

“A sound stratagem.“ Strax commented.

“What do we do now?“ Jenny asked. They had retreated to a safe distance nearing the outskirts the solar system but they had yet to determine a new destination.

“Wait for her to come and pick us up?“ Yaz suggested half-heartedly, she didn’t believe the Doctor actually would be back so soon but she decided to try and be optimistic.

“We have no way of knowing when that would be. Besides, we don’t know if she will even be successful in her endeavour.“ Vastra retorted matter-of-factly.

“Then what do we do?“ Jenny asked, feeling at a loss. They all so desperately wanted to help but the Doctor had cut them off.

“We have hyper speed travel, yes?“ Vastra turned to Dorium who was watching the screens, looking melancholy at the loss of his life’s work.

“State of the art systems, I only purchased it last week, what a shame, the hull is all blackened…“ He sighed, pulled out of his thoughts.

“We made a promise to the Professor to look after her child and so far, we’ve failed. We will carry on, even without the Doctor.“ Vastra decided, pulling herself up. “Perhaps we will find whoever is responsible faster than the Doctor weighed down by her hunger for revenge…“

“Excellent. It would be most disappointing if we were to miss out on the fight and the opportunity for a glorious death.“ Strax announced with glee.

“Where do we start?“ Yaz asked, nonplussed. She couldn’t help but feel abandoned by the Doctor, and so soon after her previous disappearance. She was, however, glad for the company she found herself in. If she was going to be stranded in the far future without means of time travel, an ancient lizard woman, a potato-headed warrior, a Victorian maid and a blue head in a box seemed like appropriate company. “Where could the Master possibly be? Would he have taken the child with him or maybe he’s got a base and people who work for him? Or maybe, this is the Master earlier in his time stream? Maybe to him, the destruction of Gallifrey hasn’t happened yet…“ All the questions were becoming overwhelming. It seemed like an insurmountable task, particularly without the Doctor at hand.

“We can’t discount any possibilities.“ Vastra agreed. “We are rather more limited with our means of travel but there is one point of interest in this time period. Somewhere where the Doctor is stubbornly refusing to look.“ She had given it some thought and a plan was forming in her head.

“Where?“ Jenny asked and her wife smiled:

“The Library, of course. Professor Song might be able to tell us where to start looking.“ She nodded decisively and turned to Strax to provide coordinates for their destination. “And if nothing else, she deserves to know the truth.“

——

The TARDIS

The Doctor slammed shut the doors to her TARDIS. She took a deep breath, fresh oxygen reawakening her senses. She rushed to the console. As sturdy as the TARDIS was protected by it’s shields, she didn’t want to tests its limits by staying on this doomed planetoid any longer than she needed to. She ran a final scan, searching for the shuttle her friends had escaped in, and noticed with relief that it was just clearing the solar system. They were safe. Safer than they would be had they stayed with her. Content - if not happy - with her decision, as she launched the TARDIS into the time vortex.

The Doctor gave a sigh of relief once she had left the Maldovarium behind. She stepped away from the console but didn’t get very far. As her adrenaline levels normalised, she felt weak and became aware of how close she had come to reaching her physical limits. She struggled out of her coat that was singed in places and sank to the floor, trying to catch her breath. Her hearts hammered in her chest, her hair was sticking to her head with sweat, her hands and face were red and raw. She had to pause for a moment, gather herself, before she could carry on. The TARDIS circled around the vortex waiting for coordinates, buying her time by staying where time didn't pass.

“Perhaps I just need a moment… maybe some after-sun…“ The Doctor mumbled to the TARDIS that hummed and wheezed in response, almost scolding her for having been reckless.

The Doctor didn’t like stopping, even for a moment. Those where the times when she had time to think and those things that she had been trying to avoid, those feelings she had been pushing down, had an opportunity to catch up with her. She was in no way closer to finding her son. In the absence of her friends she allowed herself a moment of weakness. The tears stung on her burnt skin of her cheeks. What would the Master want with her son, apart from torture and hurt her? He was being used as a pawn against her. She would make the Master pay for this.

Slowly, she got to her feat. Unsteadily, she staggered back to the console, deciding on her course of action. She wouldn’t be able to properly rest until she had found her child so she had to keep going. For now, the Master was her best lead. It was time to see the destruction she had left behind as she had fled Gallifrey. If the Master had found a way to escape death, she would find answers there.

——

The Library, 52nd Century

“Someone is having you on. Whatever it’s meant to be, the Timeless Child, it doesn’t exist.“ Anita closed the book she’d been reading and pinched the bridge of her nose. She couldn’t focus anymore. “There is no reference to it. Anywhere. Are you sure that’s the phrase we’re looking for?“

“I’m certain of it.“ River confirmed but couldn’t deny she was getting frustrated as well. They had been at it for days now. Or was it weeks? River was starting to lose track of time. And they had nothing to show for it. Initially, River had enjoyed finding stories about the Doctor’s past; adventures she didn’t know about that she hadn’t been part of. It had been entertaining for a while, as were the essays written about her and the Doctor. Who would have thought they would become such a popular subject matter for students at River’s alma mater?

“Well, it’s not mentioned anywhere.“ Anita sighed, leaning back into the cushions of the sofa. “How did you learn about al this anyway?“ She hadn’t pressed River for information so far but it seemed about time.

“Those words, those exact words, the Timeless Child… Dorium was so sure that’s what it was.“ River closed the book she was reading as well. It was time to stop.

“Well, maybe he got it wrong.“ Anita shrugged.

“Maybe…“ River couldn’t deny that it was possible. In her head she recounted the message Dorium had sent her. He had mentioned a Time Lord giving him the information, as if it would give weight to it. Since he hadn’t given a name, part of River had believed that it might have been the Doctor himself. Perhaps he was keeping his identity hidden for any number of reasons; most likely not to interfere with his own timeline… But now she wasn’t so sure.

There were other Time Lords out there. The Master. The Corsair… From what the Doctor had told her in their time on Darillium, Gallifrey was still out there. Not just the Gallifrey of the past, before the Time War that River had visited not so long ago. Gallifrey had never been destroyed in the final days of the War, just hidden away in a bubble universe at the end of time. Maybe they were starting to emerge again, taking a few tentative steps back into the universe but why now? Why this? Were they maybe just trying to mess with her? Or the Doctor? Had all this just been a pointless goose chase and she had walked right to her death on a fool’s errand? She shook her head to herself. No. There was something else, something she couldn’t quite remember. It was right there at the edge of her mind.

“How long have you been at this?“ Anita asked, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know, you tell me, I’m starting to lose track.“ River chuckled half heartedly. She had always had a very special relationship with time, being the child of the TARDIS, but inside the Library computer, cut off from reality and actual time, it didn’t seem to matter anymore.

“No, I mean before this, before you came to the Library. You said you’d been researching this before and couldn't find anything and you hoped there would be answers here…“ Anita prompted.

“There clearly aren’t…“ River stated in frustration.

“How long, River?“ Anita frowned, noticing her deliberately evading the question.

“Well, let’s just say it wasn’t obvious I was… expecting when I left the Doctor and started researching.“ River answered at last, her bitterness evident in her voice. Anita remained quiet for a moment. They had hardly spoken about River’s pregnancy and son, bringing it up seemed to make it all the more painful.

“Did you find anything at all? What were you doing?“ Anita tried to steer the conversation back to the subject matter.

“All sorts… I knew it had something to do with the Time Lords so… that’s where I went looking first and of course I got myself involved in yet another of the Doctor’s adventures… younger Doctor that time, very young, couldn’t tell him who I was of course… I went to Gallifrey but I had no time to look around really, not with a fight for the very fate of the universe going on…“ She gave a half smile. When wasn’t the Doctor fighting to save the universe? As much fun as it had been, it had distracted her rather… As she recounted her adventures in her head something occurred to her. She blinked, confused. How had she forgotten about it? How had she failed to make the connection? “But there was something…“ Maybe the trip hadn't been entirely wasted.

“What?“ Anita frowned, confused by her sudden wistfulness.

“As I… things went a bit pear shaped. I was pulled inside the Matrix.“ River revealed which suddenly seemed a whole lot more significant than it had at the time. She considered how furious the Doctor would be if he ever found out what she had put herself through whilst being pregnant. She couldn’t deny that she herself had been incredibly relieved to find her son completely healthy at birth. She hadn’t exactly been taking it easy. There had been a few close calls in the early stages which was why she settled for desk research when she’d become less agile on her feet.

“What’s that?“ Anita asked. “The Matrix?“ She’d felt like she should know what she was talking about but she didn’t.

“The Matrix… it’s like a super computer, not unlike this one. Time Lord minds get uploaded as they die so it’s the sum knowledge of their race, so to speak… Algorithms generate prophecies, predictions, extrapolations, possible futures. In the golden days of the Gallifreyan Empire, they would base their interference around time on them and heed their warnings.“ River tried to explain the best she could. “I used my… affinity for all things Time to help the Doctor: bring him back to where he needed to be. Only barely got out of there myself in the end… but while I was in there… I can’t quite remember but there were flashes of something… I was very preoccupied, mind, but I think subconsciously they did register… maybe the Matrix sensed that I was looking for answers…“ She hadn’t thought it significant at the time, she had had bigger things to worry about but the more she thought it about, the more she believed it couldn’t have been coincidence. The images were beginning to take shape in her mind, as if she was only now able to remember.

“And you saw the Timeless Child?“ Anita asked perplexed, wondering why she hadn’t mentioned it before.

“I don’t know… maybe…“ River tried to focus, struggling to reproduce the images in her mind. “It was a little girl, standing in front of a gateway…“ River closed her eyes as the image became more clear. Why hadn’t thought about it until now?

“A girl though? Didn’t you say you had a son? Then it’s probably not related to you?“ Anita mused disheartened as it seemed like just another dead end.

“Time Lords don’t take the whole gender thing very seriously…“ River couldn’t help but chuckle as she continued watching in her mind’s eye. Someone was approaching the girl.

“River…“ Anita reached out for River’s arm, trying to get her attention.

“Just hang on…“ River was doing her best to remember. She didn’t recall seeing any of this before. Apparently her subconscious had picked up much more in the Matrix than she had realised.

“River!“ Anita insisted, her voice urgent and River opened her eyes, ripped from the otherworldly portal she had been watching but she didn’t find herself in the cosy living room the Library computer had generated for her. Instead she found herself in a laboratory. She jumps to her feet in shock and not a moment too soon, as the sofa also disappeared from under her. Anita looked around utterly confused. Was this a computer glitch? There were other people too: the woman who River had seen approaching the child and the child herself, sitting in a chair being examined.

A/N: You may have picked up on my using the events of Doom Coalition here which canonically are set between Darillium and the Library, if you happen to have been following those Big finish audios. I thought it could work really well with the whole being pulled into the Matrix thing. I know a lot of people don't know the audios though so I'm trying to write it in a way that you don't have to know them and anything significant will be explained. I hope that works for everyone. Please let me know if you find things confusing at any point <3

[the-bee-graveyard]

You’ll Thank Me Later- A Newtmas fanfiction

So this is the first fan fiction I’ve ever put on here (or anywhere) so I hope it’s not terrible. Sorry about any spelling/grammar errors, I proof read but I’m not attentive enough for it to be effective. I’ll probably delete this later but whatever.

Summary: Thomas ends up coaching his brother Chuck’s soccer team and developed a crush on a fellow coach. Minho causes a little bit a chaos and plays cupid, but nothing too bad. A little bit of Brendresa because what was I meant to do. Everyone ships Newtmas because I say so. Child!Gally but you’ll see what I mean later. 

Thomas didn’t know how he got talked into this, spending his Saturday’s and Wednesday afternoons coaching his younger brother Chuck’s football team.

His twin sister Teresa had coached it for three years, but she’d taken a job offer out-of-state and she and her girlfriend Brenda had moved away about a month ago, leaving his mother to pressure him into coaching instead.

That’s how he ended up standing on a sideline on some football field handing out red shirts with “Team A” printed on the back to thirteen year olds on his day off, his best friend Minho (who agreed to be his assistant coach) starting to assign kids to position.

“Have you seen my goalie gloves?” Thomas heard Chuck holler as he handed a shirt to some kid named Winston.

Thomas stole a glance at the other team to see what they were up against (just because he didn’t want to do it didn’t mean he wasn’t invested, it was just part of his competitive nature). The other team (their shirts read “Team B”) seemed to be made up of mostly girls, and one skinny boy who seemed more invested in picking at the grass than warming up with the rest of the team.

The coach was in short the most beautiful person Thomas had ever seen.

He was lanky, with warm brown eyes and fluffy looking blonde hair. He couldn’t be older than Thomas with his young face.

“That’s Newt,” Chuck said, suddenly standing next to Thomas. He swore that kid could teleport sometimes. “His sister Sonya’s the best on their team, he’s been coaching for longer than Teresa did. He picks Sonya up from school.”

“I don’t need his whole life story Chuck, I just need to know how good his team is,” Thomas rolled his eyes.

“Good,” Chuck replied. “They won the championship last year. Sonya and Harriet are their usual forwards, and things rarely get past them, and Aris and Rachel their defense are really good even if they don’t look like much.”

“How good’s our defense?” Chuck pointed to two kids Thomas was pretty sure were named Jeff and Clint who were trying and failing to pass the ball to each other. “Okay, we can work with that.”

“Teresa made it work,” Chuck corrected. Thomas glared at his little brother.

“Are you doubting my ability to coach a team?”

“Absolutely.” Chuck paused, looking past Thomas. “He’s coming this way?”

“Who?”

“Newt.”

“Hey Chuck,” A voice said from behind Thomas. Whoever spoke spoke with a thick British accent. “Where’s Teresa?”

“She moved with her girlfriend,” Chuck said. “This is Thomas, he’s our new coach.”

“Hey there Tommy,” Newt said. “I’m Newt, I coach Team B.” They shook hands, Newt had soft hands. “Good luck out there.” Thomas stared as Newt ran off and started talking to a dark haired girl that looked like him.

“Do you enjoy coaching a lot better now?” Chuck asked with a smirk.

“Go get in net,” Thomas rolled his eyes and went back over to Minho.

They got completely destroyed. Thomas had no idea a bunch of thirteen year old girls (and one boy) could be so vicious. Aside from learning thirteen year old girls were the meanest people in the world, he learned that his own team would need a lot of work if they wanted to get even close to the championship.

“He's kind of hot though,” Minho said as they packed up the equipment. Most of the other kids had left with their parents, only Chuck and his friend Gally remained, who Thomas promised to drive home. Thomas could see Newt out of the corner of his eye, talking to Sonya (who Newt called Lizzy) and Harriet, the two best players on Newt’s team by far. Poor Chuck never stood a chance in goal.

“Who?” Thomas asked his friend.

“Newt, and don’t be lying to me shank I see you noticing too,” Minho said, slinging a backpack over his shoulders and smirking evilly. Thomas hit his friend in the shoulder lightly and picked up a bag.

“We’ll get them next time,” Thomas said. he suddenly remembered he promised he’d call Teresa after the game and pulled out his phone and called his sister. 

“Hey Tom, how’d the game go?” Teresa’s cheery voice said. 

“Absolutely horrible,” Thomas said. “It was twelve to nothing.” Teresa started laughing.

“So you played Team B I see,” Teresa said. “They’re the only real competition, we’ve never been able to beat them even with me as coach. I’ll tell you what Tom, you get them to the championship game and Brenda and I will drive back for a week and help you against them. Deal?”

“Deal,” Thomas replied.

-Time Gap-

They’d just won the semifinals and Thomas agreed to take the whole team out for ice cream. They were at a place Thomas’s friend Frypan owned, and he agreed to give them a discount since they were a team and Thomas  and Minho clearly didn't have the money to pay for every kid.

“Have room for three more?” A familiar accented voice asked. Thomas looked up to see Newt standing there with Sonya and Harriet next to them. 

“Of course,” Minho said. “Take a seat, any seat.” Sonya whispered something to Newt before she and Harriet went off to sit with the other kids, Newt sitting down at the table with them, right next to Thomas. Thomas could see now that even though Newt was slender his arms were actually quite muscular. “So I assume we’ll be playing you in the championship came next week?” Minho’s voice broke through his train of thoughts.

“You will,” Newt confirmed. Thomas couldn’t take his eyes off of Newt’s eyes, the way his eyelashes seemed to move in slow-motion every time he blinked. He didn’t come out of his haze until Minho elbowed him in the arm, making him knock his ice cream onto Newt’s shirt.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Thomas said.

“No big deal Tommy, just ice cream,” Newt said. “I don’t fancy walking around in ice cream though. I’ll go grab some napkins.”

“Thomas’s got an extra shirt in his car, don't you Tom?”  Minho smirked, and Thomas finally figured out why Minho really elbowed him. It was all part of an elaborate plan. “Why don’t you two go grab that and I’ll watch the kids.” Thomas would’ve flipped him off if there weren’t kids around, instead he got up and walked out to his car, Newt following him.

“Might bit a bit large on you, but it should do,” Thomas said, handing Newt a gray shirt he pulled out of his trunk. He always kept a spare shirt in his car, just for incidents like this one.

“Thanks Tommy,” Newt said, pulling off his shirt covered in ice cream and putting on Thomas’s gray one. Thomas looked away, trying to hide the blush on his face. “I’m going to go put my shirt in my car, no need to wait up.” Thomas nodded and headed back towards the ice cream place.

“I hate you,” Thomas said, sliding down next to Minho, who still had that stupid smug look on his face.

“You’ll be thanking me for that one day,” Minho replied.

-Time gap-

Thomas forgot Teresa promised to come help out with the game until her white car pulled up next to his in the parking lot next to the football field as he got the equipment out of his trunk. She got out of the car along with Brenda and threw her arms around her brother, almost making him drop the equipment.

“Hey Tess,” Thomas said, smiling at his sister. “Hey Brenda. Nice haircut.”

“Thanks,” Brenda said.

“Enough chit chat, we’ve got a game to win,” Teresa said, officially in coach mode. 

“Please tell me she didn’t bring the whistle,” Chuck groaned as he got out of the car. Teresa pulled the infamous whistle out of her pocket and blew it right in her little brother’s face.

-Slight Time Gap-

“Alright guys, let’s get it together!” Thomas called to the team. “Chuck, Teresa suggested you and Winston starting as forwards, Gally, you get in goal. Zart, Nick, and Alby, you guys play midfield. Jeff, Clint, you take defense. Got it?” Everyone nodded and ran off to their positions.

“Aye Tommy, I see you called in reinforcements!” Newt called, gesturing to Teresa and Brenda.

“I can’t tell if he’s flirting with you or insulting you,” Minho commented. 

“I smell a ship, how come no one told me?” Brenda asked. 

“OTP,” Teresa grinned. Thomas glared at them before turning his attention to Newt’s lineup. He’d put Sonya and Harriet in defense and had Rachel and Aris as forwards. A girl Chuck said was named Beth was in goal, and those were the only people Thomas recognized. He thought the odds were pretty good, but they’d have to watch out for Harriet and Sonya.

“Who’s starting with the ball?” He asked Minho as the referee walked onto the field with the ball.

“They are,” Minho replied. “I’d say Chuck and Winston can get the ball from them fairly quickly, it’s getting through their defense that’s the problem.”

“Play towards the middle,” Teresa blurted out. “Sonya and Harriet always seem to go towards either side. If you play towards the middle there’s a better chance of avoiding them.”

“Chuck! Winston! C’mere a second!” Thomas called. Chuck and Winston ran over to them. “When trying to get around their defense head towards the middle, it should buy you a second. Good that?” Chuck and Winston ran back onto the field and the game started about a minute later.

It was on.

-Slight time gap-

Double overtime. They’d dragged the game out to double overtime. Thomas called a time out before the overtime started.

“Alright guys, we’ve got a strategy,” Thomas said. “Since it’s next point wins, we’ve just got to keep everyone busy enough for us to score. Jeff, Alby, you keep Sonya and at least one midfielder cornered at all times.” Newt had moved Sonya and Harriet back to forward at halftime, and Rachel and Aris were back in defense. “Clint, Zart, you take Harriet. Nick, support Chuck and Winston. The three of you should be able to get around midfield together, it’s Sonya and Harriet you’ve got to worry about. Shoot from the sides on Aris and Rachel, they congregate in the middle. High shots, Beth gets the low ones. Remember I’m proud of you no matter what happens out there.”

The team ran back onto the field, starting with the ball. Chuck passed back to Nick and began to run up the field to get passed to. Harriet ran to get the ball but Zart got in front of her before she could. Nick passed to Chuck and he zigzagged through their midfield before passing to Winston. Winston got around  Aris, and just as Rachel got up to him he passed back to Chuck, who kicked the ball into the goal.

The ref blew the whistle and Thomas hugged Minho he was so happy. He saw out of the corner of his eye Teresa kiss Brenda. He watched as the whole team ran and congratulated Chuck. 

They all lined up to congratulate the other team, Thomas in the way back behind Teresa, Brenda, and Minho. As he high fived the kids on the other team Thomas realized how much he enjoyed coaching the team. Before a few months ago he thought Teresa was crazy for wanting to spend her time coaching a middle school football team, but he was starting to pick up on the fact that his sister was right on a lot of things, whether he liked it or not.

“Good game Tommy.” Newt said as they shared a high five. What Thomas did next he probably wouldn’t have done under any other circumstances, it was the pure joy from winning the game speaking.

“Would you like to go get ice cream with me?” Thomas asked.

“Like, with both the teams?” Newt asked.

“No, just us.”

“So, like a date?” Thomas could feel the blush creeping up his face.

“Yes, exactly like that.”

“Bloody finally.” Newt rolled his eyes and Thomas felt puzzled.

“What?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask for weeks, you twat, it’s been driving me mad. I didn’t even think you were interested, but Minho said ‘wait’ anytime I voiced my concerned.”

“Minho?!” Thomas glanced over at his friend, who appeared to be talking to Teresa and Brenda.

“Yeah, he came up to me about a month back and told me he’d help me get you to ask me out if I wanted to.” If looks could kill Minho would be dead from the one Thomas served him. “So, um, ice cream?”

“I’ll come find you in the parking lot after we take pictures with the trophy, okay?” Newt nodded and blew Thomas a sarcastic kiss as he ran over to Minho, who’d apparently witnessed the whole thing and was grinning like crazy.

“Told you you’d thank me later,” Minho said.

“About that, we’ve got to talk about your lack of ability to mind your own business.”

[raffinit]

legacy; sylvaina rg au kid fic

“Sylvanas.”

“Mmph.” She snuggled deeper into the blankets, tucking her face into the pillow. The prodding at her shoulder persisted gently.

Jaina’s voice was warm and low with amusement. “Sylvanas, you need to wake up.”

“‘s it a craving?” she mumbled, rolling onto her back sleepily, throwing an arm across her eyes. “I had a long day, sweetheart, sorry. C’n it wait till t’morrow?”

Jaina laughed softly then and Sylvanas twitched at the kiss pressed to her cheek. “It’s not a craving, dalah’surfal.” A hand came up to shake her gently on the shoulder again. “I’m in labour.”

Sylvanas hummed, sucking in a heavy breath. “That’s nice, dear.” She sank back into bed for a moment longer. Just as she was settled in comfortably, the muscles in her shoulders locked and her eyes snapped wide open.

“Wait, wh—”

She bolted upright so quickly she almost caught Jaina in the chin with her forehead. “What?!”

Jaina reeled back slightly, reaching out and grasping Sylvanas’ arm to balance herself as she tipped slightly under the weight of her belly. “It’s alright, I’m okay —”

Sylvanas scrambled out of bed, tossing the sheets aside and staggering to her feet, fumbling for her clothes. “How long have you been in labour?! Are you dilated?! Has your water broken??” She yanked on her tunic, one ear bent awkwardly as it caught between the front lacing. “Oh, gods —” She reached down to yank up her breeches, hobbling on one leg as she went. “Where’s your bag?! I need —”

There was a muffled shredding noise as her breeches split down the middle at the seam before she fell forward on her face with a loud thud.

“Sylvanas!” Jaina cried, leaning over the end of the bed worriedly. “Are you alright??”

The tunic appeared upright, a disembodied ear poking through the collar. Sylvanas’ voice came muffled through the fabric as one eye appeared through the front lacing gaps. “We need to call your mother!”

Jaina shook her head fondly, smiling down at Sylvanas despite the slight wince she made as she pushed herself to her feet with effort. “I’m fine,” she soothed, reaching out to help the elf up. She gentled the tunic over Sylvanas’ ears and smoothed it over her wife’s shoulders. “My water hasn’t broken yet. It’s just contractions.”

“We have to go to the healers,” Sylvanas insisted, reaching down to caress the swell of Jaina’s belly worriedly. The swollen globe of her wife’s stomach was usually supple and warm; instead now it was stiff, rippling. Her eyes widened as she stared down at it, stroking her hands anxiously over the top of it. “Anar’alah, Jaina. It feels like they’re ready to crawl out of you.”

Jaina gave her a nervous smile. “Will you help me with my slippers? I sent along a little message to my mother before I woke you. She should be on her way here with a healer.”

--------

Sylvanas could still remember the moment the twins were born. It came to her as fresh as the first kiss of sunlight in the morning; imprinted behind her eyes.

Cradling their small, delicate bodies in her arms and marvelling at the fact that she could see so much of Jaina in their faces. She held in her embrace, not just the legacy of two of the most powerful houses of Azeroth, but proof of the unwavering love that was shared between them. She cooed at them and purred low in her throat, calling to them as their beautiful pointed ears twitched and shuddered at the new noise and their yet-hairless brows lifted in surprise.

Hearing their first snuffling, shuddering breaths and watching their milky eyes open for the first time. The mincing blink they gave her almost as one — their son and daughter.

Windrunners.

Proudmoores.

Nestled against the plushest pillows money and magic could provide, Jaina watched them with a tired, beaming smile. Her beautiful golden hair loose around her shoulders, sweat-damp from the exertion known only to mothers. Weary and wan, but her freckles were as bright as ever on her face, her brilliant blue eyes glowing.

Sylvanas had never felt so in love.

“They’re beautiful,” she whispered. “Perfect.”

Jaina smiled radiantly at her again. “They’re ours.”

------

“They’re mine!”

“No, They’re mine!”

“Mine’s the one with the anchor!”

“Is not! Yours are the ones with the stag and crown!”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

Sighing deeply, Jaina lowered her report with a loud thud onto the table. Before her were her children — the apples of her eye, the heirs of Silvermoon and Kul Tiras combined, the darlings of the capital. Deeply beloved, deeply cherished—

—and deeply infuriating.

“Children, please,” she said sternly, levelling them with a hard glare. “My ears are ringing. Linaria, stop chewing on your brother. Darion — put her down.”

Dangling upside down by a leg and mid-throttle by her brother, Linaria Windrunner-Proudmoore —born exactly two minutes older than her twin and endlessly proud of the fact — grumbled. Around her mouthful of said brother’s arm, she said, “He started it.”

“It doesn’t matter who started it,” Jaina sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose tightly. “Just stop it. Darion —”

Rolling his eyes and heaving a much put-upon sigh, Darion Windrunner-Proudmoore proceeded to drop Linaria headfirst onto the floor. “You know that the anchor-hilted daggers are mine,” he said hotly, folding his arms. Two minutes younger but two heads taller, he stood at matching height with his minn’da. Short of his freckles, there was precious little Proudmoore blood that came through except for in his personality.

Staggering to her feet, Linaria glared back at her brother. Squaring her shoulders and thrusting out her chin, she was all Proudmoore with longer ears and brows. “You can’t even use them, you suck at aiming.”

“I am not!”

“Do not start this again,” Jaina barked, weaving an impatient rune into the air. She snapped her fingers and in the next instant her children were on either ends of the room, facing opposite ends of the wall.

Linaria writhed against the binding rune viciously. “Mum!”

“You do realise we’re adults, Mum?” Darion huffed, trembling slightly from effort as he braced against the charm. “You can’t just put us in the corner.”

“I can if you’re going to act like children,” Jaina replied testily, rounding the desk and levelling them both with an impatient glare. “What on earth are you arguing about? Anchors? Stags?”

“My good hunting knives,” Linaria said. “Minn’da and I were supposed to go hunting together. Darion took them.”

“I did not,” Darion protested. “Gran gave me the anchor-hilted ones, you know she did.”

Jaina sighed and willed herself to calm. Bad for her blood pressure. Bad for her sanity. “Haven’t I warned you before about keeping your things?” she said, pinching the ridge of her nose.

“I did keep them,” Darion insisted. “Lin stole them.”

“Lies and slander,” Linaria gasped, wriggling until she could face her brother — if only just to stick out her tongue. “I didn’t steal, I took it back —”

Waving her hand sharply, Jaina shook her head in defeat. “Enough. We’re settling this now.” She marched over to them, grabbing Linaria by the collar before hauling the girl over to Darion to do the same. Grasping both children firmly in hand, she opened a portal and shoved them through before stepping in.

Stepping over the crumpled pile that was her children, Jaina marched towards the figure perched behind the overbearingly large desk in the middle of the room. Gesturing irritably, she said, “Address your children before I teleport them to the Twisting Nether somewhere.”

Sylvanas lowered the parchment in hand slowly, arching a brow. She darted a look behind Jaina at the twins and then back at her wife. Calmly, she asked, “What have they done now?”

Linaria and Darion scrambled upright, shoving each other along the way before turning to their mothers. “Darion took my knives!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

Jaina’s eyes flashed and she jabbed a finger behind her as she stared at Sylvanas incredulously. “Listen to them, Sylvanas —”

“Alright, alright,” Sylvanas sighed, raising a hand peaceably. Rising to her feet, she braced both hands on the desk and levelled the twins with a low look. “Dalahn’dorei.”

Linaria stiffened at the words, mouth snapping shut in an audible click as she turned to Sylvanas warily. “Minn’da.”

“Do you care to explain why you’re squabbling like children?”

Darion pointed at his sister. “Rinn’da took my daggers!”

“I did not!” Linaria sputtered. “Mine are the anchor-hilted ones. You know this, minn’da!”

Sylvanas peered between them, rounding the table to place herself by Jaina’s side. Cocking her hip and leaning it against the edge of the desk, she folded her arms and frowned curiously. Tilting her head, she asked, “And why, as trained rangers, are you misplacing your daggers?”

Darion swallowed, straightening upright slightly. “We didn’t lose them,” he said. “She thinks mine are hers.”

“Because they are mine.”

Sylvanas wrinkled her nose slightly. “Didn’t your grandmother give you one of each?”

“No,” Linaria said quickly. “She gave me the anchor ones. Darion the crests.”

Arching a brow, Sylvanas peered at her dubiously. “I distinctly remember her giving you both a matching pair.”

“Linaria…” Jaina sighed.

Linaria darted a look at Darion nervously, giving her mother a sheepish grin when Sylvanas levelled her with an expectant, pointed look. “Uh...maybe?”

“...Linaria.”

The girl threw up her hands in defense. “Maybe I swapped them before Darion could see, okay?? I liked the anchor ones.”

Darion jabbed a finger at his sister accusingly. “I knew it!”

It was Sylvanas’ turn to huff indignantly. “What's wrong with the royal crest?”

"It's boring,” Linaria whined. “We see it everywhere.” She gestured towards the hanging tapestry behind Sylvanas’ desk in emphasis. “Everything anyone ever gives us has the crest on it. Especially from anyone on the sin’dorei side.”

“The Windrunners represent a legacy of heroes in the history of Silvermoon, darling,” Jaina said patiently. “You can’t run away from your legacy, but that doesn’t mean you have to abide by it. It also doesn’t mean you get to steal from your brother.”

Linaria folded her arms, grumbling quietly. “Stags and crowns are boring,” she reiterated.

“It's your family crest, Linaria. You'll have to see it for a fair bit longer,” Sylvanas replied mildly, gesturing between the two of them. “Now give Darion back his dagger. Fair is fair and your grandmother gave you one of each for a reason.”

Ears swivelling with annoyance, Linaria rolled her eyes petulantly. “Yes, mother.”

Sylvanas waved them away. “Now go before I decide something should be done about this insubordinate behaviour of yours. You’re almost adults and you’re still bickering like children,” she chided them.

“Can’t blame them all that much,” Jaina muttered. “Given how you and your sisters —”

“Go,” Sylvanas said, squinting at Jaina. Linaria and Darion took their leave, snickering slightly behind their hands as they left the room. She watched as they departed, shoving each other as they went.

Sighing, Jaina reached up to pinch at the bridge of her once more. Glaring sidelong at Sylvanas, she said, “This is your doing, you know. This is your genetics at play.”

Sylvanas’ brows lifted high on her forehead. “My genetics? Have you forgotten which of us carried them, my love? The one who refused to believe she was in labour until Linaria was all but crowning?”

“I’m not the one who stubbornly refuses to use anything but her own bow and arrows to hunt, simply because they’re hers and anything else is lesser.”

Sylvanas sniffed haughtily. “We’re each allowed our preferences.”

“Exactly,” Jaina drawled, jerking her head at the door. “Where do you think she got that from?”

They stared at each other for a moment before the Ranger-General broke into a fond grin, chuckling quietly as she drifted closer to Jaina. She slipped her hand along her wife’s waist, pulling them hip-to-hip. Leaning down to press a kiss into her wife’s hair, she said, “They’re absolute devils, but I wouldn’t have them any other way. Or with anybody else.”

Sighing, Jaina leaned into Sylvanas’ embrace, tilting her head up until she could feel the warmth of lips pressing to her cheek. Smiling despite herself, she said, “Well, at least they’re a lot more mature about sharing now. Mostly.”

“I hope you realise that elves mature far differently than humans,” Sylvanas murmured, grinning against Jaina’s cheek. “They’re half-elves, but I’m quite sure they’re still going through puberty.”

Jaina paled slightly with horror. “Gods, how much longer with them like this?”

“Who knows? Half a decade or so, at least.”

“Shit.”

[elisaphoenix13]

A Full Party

Thanks to a donation, this has been made available to read!

Athena and Tibbs greeted them like anyone else that was considered a friend, they barely even paid any attention when they stepped off the elevator. Athena briefly flicked an ear in their direction before returning her attention to the rare belly rub she let herself enjoy that Bucky was giving her, and Tibbs rubbed up against their legs before he dashed over to Peter when he shook the treat bag. But Flynn? His reaction was...interesting to say the least.

Everyone was relaxing and spending time with each other while Wanda and Cassie made dinner and snacks for their regular team bonding day (otherwise known as movie night), when the fox suddenly screeched. Quill was on his feet quicker than anyone could turn their heads, but when he saw who the kit was screaming at, he groaned and stomped over to pick him up by his scruff.

"Hey! Relax! Do you see Athena freaking out?" The god huffed and Flynn immediately fell quiet. Whether it was because he was safely in Quill's grasp or if he understood him was a mystery though. "They're friends!"

Shuri bent over cackling and T'Challa merely shook his head as Flynn squirmed in Quill's grasp to try and get to his shoulders. The celestial held him up and let the fox curl around his shoulders, and Flynn sniffed the fingers that Shuri offered after she was done laughing. She pet his head a few times before he playfully snapped at her and she took her hand back.

"I swear he's not racist." Quill said. "He doesn't do that shit with Sam or Rhodey."

"They're new to him. He hasn't seen them before." Stephen said as he approached them. "I'm glad you could find some time to get away." He said to T'Challa.

The king smiles. "We needed a break and we wanted to visit."

"You came at the perfect moment. We're having our monthly movie night. How long are you staying?" Stephen asked as Quill stepped away.

"A week if that's alright." T'Challa said.

"No can do kitty-cat." Tony says from the couch. "There's no room. You'll have to sleep in the dumpster outside."

Stephen rolls his eyes. "Don't listen to him. There's plenty of room. You can stay on Sam's floor."

"Thank you."

T'Challa and Shuri step out further into the floor to socialize, the king going over to Steve and Bucky, and Shuri of course joining the teens. She did eventually end up with Diana and Valerie a little while later and both girls were enraptured by stories of her brother's good deeds. It was nice to see the baby warm up to her so quickly since they rarely saw the royal pair. But it also rubbed Stephen the wrong way because that meant she was becoming less attached to him. At least in his mind she was. If he asked anyone else, Valerie was just as attached to him as she usually was. She was the baby that he could have every single day and wasn't expected to change back to normal within 24 hours or completely miss out on. He enjoyed when the boys and Cassie had been changed but they weren't actual babies. Valerie was, and she was growing up too fast. Sometimes it felt like he had been snapped again because it seemed like just yesterday that he brought her into the world.

He missed her tiny hands and feet, the way she curled against him, and even missed the times she would fall asleep on his shoulder and drool all over it. It was amazing how much he had changed. The old him before the accident would have scoffed at the idea of having kids. Now, he actually thought of the accident as a blessing in disguise. It humbled him. Gave him the opportunity to meet Tony, to have this huge family instead of being alone for possibly the rest of his life.

Stephen really did want another one. He could have ten and Tony would barely blink. He'd just look at however many kids Stephen brought home (whether adopted or magical) and put aside some money for college for every single one of them. He already did that for the twins. Everyone joked about Stephen bringing home the next kid, but sometimes he thinks they forgot who brought home the first two.

Peter and Harley were Tony's first. Stephen just swooped in and took over. Peter very easily cracked the ice around his heart, Harley stuck a chisel in it, and Diana dealt the finishing blow and smashed the ice to smithereens when he accidentally brought her into the world. Stephen's heart was now soft and mushy, and grew with each kid.

He was the fucking Grinch of kids.

"Honey, why do you look like you ate something sour?" Tony asked and Stephen looked at him.

"I…" he blushed. "No reason. Just thinking to myself."

There was another screech from Flynn and an irritated "why are you like this?!" from Quill and Stephen looked over to find Carol on the balcony. Considering she didn't use the elevator, she probably flew here and might have spooked the fox, so he didn't really blame Flynn this time. Tibbs happily trotted over to the woman and rubbed up against her leg before looking around her.

Carol laughed as she crouched down to scratch behind his ears, "sorry fuzzball. No Goose this time."

Tibbs actually sounded like he meowed in disappointment, but he enjoyed the scratches and followed her back inside.

Carol smirked as Stephen approached her. "Have any popcorn?"

"It's for movie night!" Cassie called from the kitchen and Carol raised an eyebrow. "Dinner's almost ready!"

"Guess I'll go get cozy." She said as she scooped up Tibbs in one of her arms and sauntered over to the couch.

Peter seemed to give up on the cat once Carol arrived, knowing Tibbs would spend as much time as possible with her since he rarely saw her. She was in the top three of the cat's favorite humans, Peter and Tony being the other two. Quill finally found himself on the couch again with Flynn contently curled up on his lap and both T'Challa and Carol looked at them.

"Even I know the fox is new," Carol said. "What was with the screaming?"

"Stephen thinks it's because you're new to him. I think it's just because he's a brat." Quill huffed. "The universe decided that I needed the neediest fucking animal alive."

"He can't be that bad." T'Challa said and Scott snorted from his spot on the ground where he was playing cards on the coffee table with Sam and Clint.

"He's that bad. He cries if Quill goes anywhere without him. Hey! I saw that!" Scott said to Clint who had tried to slip a card away for later.

Things got a little too busy for Valerie so she joined Stephen on the couch when he finally sat down. Athena did too once Bucky finished giving her obnoxious belly rubs, and dinner ended up having to be brought to the sorcerer and Valerie when it was ready. Thankfully, Vision was kind enough to do just that and they both thanked him. Tony managed to find his way next to Stephen with his own dinner, and when everyone was settled with a plate, a family friendly movie was started. If only for the sake of the younger children. Once they went to bed, the older kids would go watch another movie in one of their bedrooms, and the adults would drink.

Stephen really needed a night to let loose. It had been a while.

So when the younger kids went to bed and the older kids squirreled away into one of the bedrooms with endless snacks, Stephen didn't even bother replacing them like he usually did. Tonight was a freebie. He was going to drink and he would let his kids get sugar high and consume a concerning amount of other junk food. They knew the adults were going to be drinking, so they knew leaving the bedroom would be at their own risk. It was a good thing William knew how to make portals and teleport.

"Mom, I swear if that's a bottle of wine I see, I'm going to stage an intervention." Clint said with a groan.

Stephen raises a brow as he opens the bottle in the kitchen, then rejoins everyone. "This is mine. I don't know what you're all going to drink." He said with a smug smirk.

"Oh, wow. Who's being a bad influence on him?" Carol asked.

Everyone looked at Thor who looked back with a little offense.

"Why are you all looking at me?" The Asgardian asked.

"Thor had nothing to do with it." Stephen said after draining a fourth of the bottle. Tony had watched in amazement with a hint of concern. "I just need this. I parent...I don't even know anymore." He mumbled.

Sam cackled after he came from the bar with bottles of hard liquor and every single shot glass Tony owned. "I'll drink to that. We children are pretty wound up from missions."

Everyone else laughed and started off with a shot before deciding on a drinking game. Stephen took his time on the rest of his bottle of wine while everyone else decided on a game of Never Have I Ever. Steve, Bucky, Thor, Carol, and Quill drank Thor's Asgardian stuff to even the odds, but even then, everyone was pretty shit-faced pretty quickly. They all knew a concerning amount about each other's sex life or whatever else they were drinking to, except Scott and Quill's sex life wasn't a surprise. Shame wasn't in their vocabulary.

Stephen finally polished off his bottle and joined the game just as Laura said, "Never have I ever done it while a child was in the room."

Stephen and Tony each took a drink and everyone stared at them. The sorcerer simply chuckled and shrugged.

"Valerie was asleep."

Bucky was the one to burst into laughter. "Even I didn't think you'd go that far!"

"I take it where I can get it." Stephen said. "Whose turn is it?"

"T'Challa's." Scott hiccupped.

"Never have I ever been thrown out of a bar or club." The king said.

No one was surprised when Quill took a drink.

"It's not what you think!" He exclaims after swallowing the ale. "It was during a fire. One of my buddies actually threw me out the window...it was before they knew about my powers."

"He probably always wanted to do it." Sam laughed and Quill shrugged.

"Probably."

"Alright," Natasha said to get everybody's attention. "Never have I ever sent a sext to the wrong person."

Every single person took a drink. The ones with kids blushed bright red...and Quill even grabbed the bottle of ale while mumbling something like, "Cass and my work buddies probably need therapy."

Stephen coughed at the god's words and his eyes water from the burning in his nose. "Please don't tell me you sent your daughter an unsolicited dick pic."

Quill groaned. "I did. Thankfully we were both home so I was able to keep her from seeing it. I never got out of bed so fast."

"I should put filters on the kids phones." Tony mumbled. "Or add their personal AI's or Friday to them. Friday, make a note of that."

"Yes, Boss." The AI said.

The game went on for another couple of hours until everyone passed out where they had been sitting. It was weird seeing the king of Wakanda passed out on the couch from drinking, but Tony figured the weird level of that was very low on the list of what he'd seen. He hadn't drank nearly as much as his friends and decided to go out on the balcony and sit in a chair with a cigar. It was something he rarely indulged in, but it was the perfect time to do it. The kids were all asleep and the smoke wouldn't bother anyone, but halfway through it, Stephen had gracefully stumbled out onto the balcony and landed in his lap.

Tony chuckled. "Hi honey. Thought you were dead to the world."

"You left." Stephen mumbled. "Are you smoking?"

"A cigar. A rare treat." Tony admitted.

"Hmm...I like the smell on you." Stephen hummed pleasantly.

"When you're not in danger of puking, I'll make it up to you."

"That's too bad." Stephen whispered. "I thought maybe we could do it right here."

"Tempting...but we do have thirty something kids." Tony laughed.

"I want another one." Stephen slurred as he dozed off on Tony's shoulder and the mechanic rubs his shoulder with his free hand.

"I know. Soon." He promised to his sleeping spouse.

He liked having Stephen in his lap like this. Maybe next time his wife would be sober and they could enjoy the stars from next to the fire at the lake house. He would indulge in a cigar again, have the man cuddled up to him in his lap just like this...and they would look up at the stars. Better yet, it would even be relaxing for Tony. No triggers from looking up into the vast expanse of space, just pure enjoyment.

"We'll have as many as you want." He whispered before placing a soft kiss to Stephen's brow.

[irarelypostanything]

Operation Gamestonk

[A short story I may or may not have written while drunk]

Lewis’ entire family was slaughtered by the hated Hedge Fund Knights — they foreclosed his home, stabbed his parents, and set the manor on fire in less than a millisecond. This was the work to be expected of the Hedge Fund Knights: They could kill, flee, and rob people faster than their victims could comprehend. Even the Goldman Company warriors Lewis’ family had hired were beheaded…Lewis himself survived by some act of fate, God, or Satan. Regardless, he dedicated his life to vengeance. He made friends, shared stories, brokered alliances in the only form of currency he knew could match the violence he was grappling with. Lewis did not fight with a sword and shield, but with information. He built his own power on the back of blackmail and betrayal, and in time he afforded himself the opportunity to slaughter those who had wronged him.

But the Hedge Fund Knights returned with renewed vigor, the same way cancer was never truly gone. With nowhere left to turn, Lewis made his way to the one place no one could touch him.

Part I. The Big Short Squeeze

The Palace of Joe Rogan was protected on all sides by water and gorillas. Rogan’s island was fabled throughout the entire world for growing the finest mushrooms and the most exquisite weed. Here, thanks to Rogan’s diplomacy, there was no war. Visitors were free to negotiate as they pleased, but anyone who spilled blood on these sacred grounds was forced to smoke a blunt so potent, only Rogan himself had ever survived its vaporized sweetness.

The palace was made of gold. The armed gorillas who guarded the palace gates nodded to Lewis as he passed, lowered their guns, and stepped aside. Just outside the gates, Lewis could make out the outline of children attempting to catch a glimpse of what was inside. The courtyard featured a massive gorilla statue, along with a statue of their god: Elon Musk.

Rogan was in his chambers, drinking scotch and smoking a blunt. He recognized Lewis immediately.

“Sup, dude!” he said. “Have you ever tried to fight a gorilla?” Rogan was not a tall man, but in his mind’s eye Lewis could envision him sparring with a gorilla and winning.

“Another time,” said Lewis. “I come bearing gifts.” Lewis reached into his bag and produced two sculpted hands, both of them encrusted with diamonds. “Diamond hands.”

“Sick.”

“The time has come,” continued Lewis, “to speak to Musk, our lord and savior. You are the only entity capable of communing with Him, for your weed is powerful enough to summon even a god.”

“Okay.” Rogan crushed weed in his hand, then lined it on the ground in a Tesla logo. As soon as he finished, the powder turned to fire.

“This will take around 30 seconds,” said Rogan. “By the way, have you been in touch with my new friend, Lord Robinhood?”

“Lord Robinhood?” asked Lewis. “How did he become a lord?”

“Not sure.”

“Don’t you need to be rich to buy lordship? If his product is zero commision, how does Lord Robinhood make money?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Elon Musk was said to have been a bridge between gods and humans, someone who took a mortal form so that ordinary men could speak to someone they understood. Musk would end climate change, build a massive tunnel, and provide humans with immortality long before AI would have the chance to commit mass genocide. But the words of Musk were cryptic. When he spoke, it was through a medium. His words only came several characters at a time.

“Gamestonk,” said Rogan.

“What?”

“That’s all he said. Gamestonk. Do you know what that means?”

“I have to go.”

“Don’t you want to stay and talk about gorillas, first?”

Lewis would sail to his hometown, as quickly as he could, and when he got there he would send ravens to every great king, lord, and priest in the land. The time of reckoning had finally come.

Part II. The Diamond Hands

The city of Gamestop was lame and inefficient — you had to talk to a person to buy anything, and unlike the city of Amazon it had some really bad customer service. When Hedge Fund Knight Kenneth rode in, the Gamestop peasants treated him with scorn…for people so stupid, these ones learned quickly. Before they had time to flee, Kenneth had killed 20 of the town’s youngest children and left a still-bleeding head in the bed of each child’s respective mother.

Their mission was simple: They were going to pretend to supply Gamestop with stores of food and horses, when in reality their intent was to watch the peasants die. They had bet on it. If Gamestop withered and died, like they knew it would, the idiots in Burry would be forced to pay out their lost bet. The Hedge Fund Knights, in their frequent pillaging and raping, knew that it was only a matter of time before Gamestop fell.

But something was off today. Everywhere he looked, Kenneth saw mysterious markings that consisted of a diamond with hands. What did this mean? He caught a hooded man attempting to paint these symbols on a store. In an instant, Kenneth had him by the neck.

“What are you doing?” Kenneth demanded. With surprising force, the hooded man wriggled free. Kenneth drew his sword, produced a magical (and high) frequency, and teleported it direct beneath the hooded man’s throat. As soon as he attempted to make the killing blow, the hooded man grabbed Kenneth’s throat and threw him.

And just like that, in an instant, Kenneth was dead.

The hooded man discarded his robe. He had slicked-blonde hair, sunglasses, and a $20,000 suit. His hands, which had apparently granted him superhuman strength, were no ordinary hands. They were made of diamond.

Around him, the villagers could hear the dreaded high frequency of the Hedge Fund Knights. One by one, each knight reappeared to kill the troublemaker — just as quickly, each Hedge Fund Knight died.

“It can’t be!” said a villager, in disbelief. “Are you…are you with WallStreetBets?”

The man nodded. The first villager kneeled.

“Why are you kneeling?” asked the second villager. “WallStreetBets is nothing but shitposting dumb ass millennials. You know about as much about investing as your average 4Chan user does about being charming.”

“Forgive him!” cried the first villager, “he knows not what he says. I know of your the heroic actions of ControlTheNarrative, as well as your selfless box spreads! You are our saviors, and you are the only ones capable of saving us.

“Now tell me, oh great one, will you save us?”

The man nodded.

“Thank heavens! Musk be good! Will you take Gamestop out of its position?”

“I’ll take it to the moon,” said the man.

Part III. The Citadel

The forces of WallStreetBets were divided. For five days they had held against the combined forces of House Citadel and House Melvin, but their provisions were running low.

It was the afternoon. It was 100 degrees. Lewis thought that this blonde man’s sunglasses were fitting, but not his suit. He must have been sweating bullets.

“Options!” shouted a nearby fisherman, “get your options while they’re fresh!” Lewis ignored him, as did DiamondHands.

“You’ve managed to seize Gamestop,” said Lewis, “what’s your plan now?”

“Hold.”

“What?”

“Hold.”

Lewis was incredulous. Since the Robinhood embargo, a move some believed was the direct result of a bribe from the Hedge Fund Knights to Lord Robinhood himself, many of the WallStreetBets forces had died. Some had taken gold and fled, obviously benefitting from the attack without bearing the risk. Some, in fact the majority, had simply shitposted. They probably died, too, but no one could really keep track of that sort of thing.

“WallStreetBets is chaos,” said Lewis. “Some of you are brilliant, some of you are simply in for the ride. What was all of this for?”

“Hold.”

“Did you ever have a plan? Was this an act of vengeance, a self-interested coup for the sake of profit? What is this? What do you believe in?”

“Holding.”

“Your forces are dwindling. All of this might come apart.”

“It won’t come apart if we hold.”

Lewis looked out at the burning city, the diamond hands flags, and the flag of the shiba inu. He wondered what was coming next.

[thetruemek]

𝖄𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝕹𝖊𝖜 𝕭𝖔𝖘𝖘 𝕱𝖗𝖔𝖒 𝕳𝖊𝖑𝖑 has updated!!

52. Fire and Whispers

This time you actually feel how you get resurrected even though in your first waking moments you struggle to remember how in the hell you died in the first place! The last thing you recall is being left in the blood-spattered conference room where Alastor had killed Happy Feet, no imminent danger anywhere near you and then… nothing. You groan silently when the feeling returns into your nerves but no matter how hard you try, you can’t open your eyes!

   “Hold still or I will make this hurt!” Blackhat growls in irritation and grumbles something else under his breath while you instantly try to lie very still, which is suddenly the hardest thing you’ve ever done because your body wants to jerk up and make sure it’s really in one piece again! After a few moments you feel a cold hand nudging yours and you cautiously open your eyes. The red of his shirt fills your field of vision, the black coat nowhere to be seen. His sleeves are rolled up and you can see the last traces of a greenish glow leaving Blackhat’s ashen skin that is once more moving and surging beneath the surface, quickly making you look up from his arm and into his face, immediately regretting it.

He looks furious. So something must’ve happened that had spoiled his fun with Alastor, and apparently he’s blaming you for it!

   “Wh- what happened? Why did I-“ you start carefully and try to sit up, when his hand darts forward like a cobra, grabbing you by the collar of the jumper and yanking you up. His teeth make an alarming crunching noise before they part in a growled answer to your unspoken, and apparently idiotic question.

   “For your bloody information: We all got torn into atoms and I had to reform your entire useless form just now! One of those pathetic nuisances that dared to challenge me blew up the submarine with a remote detonator and by one of those I mean the one you were supposed to kill!” He snaps and you bristle instantly, furious at the accusation and angry at yourself because he was probably right, but like hell would you admit to that now. So you grab the wrist of his hand and bare your teeth as well, ignoring the piercing glare from his eye that’s turned a gleaming red.

   “Why the fuck is it always my fault when something goes wrong, Mr. I didn’t know my enemies would have superior tech than I expected?! For all we know it could have easily been one of those you didn’t kill or even Alastor’s damn fault!” then you pause and look around the room, which is, surprisingly, his office in the hat manor. You realize you’re lying on the recliner to the side of the huge door but apart from your boss and yourself, the room is empty. “Wait, where the hell is Al even?” Blackhat releases you with a shove and rises from where he has been kneeling in front of the recliner.

   “Back in Hell. Where he apparently encountered the soul of a certain someone I had hoped you would have slain in your hunger for vengeance but it turns out you can’t even do that right! Once Flug gets back here I will have him tutor you personally on the rules for villains!” He rambles on as he walks up to his desk, snapping his fingers to summon the black coat from out of his literal body. You swing your legs off the recliner and stumble after him, experiencing a severe case of whiplash at the instantaneous return to business as usual without addressing the elephants in the room first! Not even half an hour ago you had still been shackled and more dead than alive, locked up 3000 feet beneath the ocean and trying to come to terms with your newfound memories of a life you once had and the possibility of dying only to get blown up by a nuclear warhead… and now you were just supposed to brush all that aside and get back at it?!

   “No.” you simply say and stop in your steps, swaying slightly from the vertigo you’re feeling. Blackhat slowly turns his head around to you, his single eye widening in disbelief. You just shake your head and shrug with a tired chuckle. "I won’t do shit, boss. Not before you and I had a serious talk! And after that, I’m going to lie the fuck down and sleep for a week straight because that is what you still owe me! Some goddamn peace and quiet! Got it?!”

Blackhat turns to face you, tilts his head to the side and drills one ungloved finger into a definitely non existent ear, clucking his tongue.

   “Pardon me, I still seem to have sea water in my ear canal, for a minute there I thought you actually had the audacity to make demands after you disclosed all my organization’s secrets to my enemies and almost let one of them escape with said secrets before I graciously intervened.” He chuckles and rights himself back up, the visible eye streaked with furious veins, the skin beneath it twitching. You scoff and throw your hands in the air.

   “Of course… of course you wouldn’t let that slide! It wasn’t my fucking fault for getting drugged and psychologically tortured, okay?! That’s on you, too, because they used your organization’s truth serum! Too bad the stupid GOAD-helmet got blown up as well, huh? Bet your money-grabbing ass would’ve love to turn that into cash, too!”

Black tendrils shoot out of his coat and at you, but you react in time and blink away. Unfortunately you don’t seem to have an awful lot of control over your new ability yet and promptly crash into the wall next to the door, where you’re easily cornered by Blackhat, teleporting right in front of you and caging you in with his mere presence.

Keep Reading

[wordcubed-writes]

My villain OCs: The Problem-Solvers

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Fanfic: untitled AFO!Izuku AU

Context: As promised at the end of my AFO!Izuku AU timeline, here is the first of several posts about my fic's villain OCs.

Today's bunch are minor characters I created because I needed to solve a problem. They don't get much, or any, development. They exist simply to enable the plot to happen, and most only appear in one or two scenes. They’re so unimportant, I only have placeholder names for them at this point.

While their Quirks are all incredibly useful, many also have side affects that make them impossible to use without hurting people. 

____________________

The Universal Translator

One of the goals of my AFO!Izuku AU is making the world feel bigger. I can't have Japan be the heart of hero society if we never see anything outside Japan, can I? But that raises another problem: how the heck can I have people from different sides of the planet casually talk to each other? Easy! A universal translator Quirk.

Babel works for the Consortium. With a touch, he can make a person fluent in every language (that has living fluent speakers on Earth). Obviously, this is so incredibly valuable that it needs one hell of a downside to explain why he can only find work as a villain. (Not that he's reluctant. Babel is totally okay with his Quirk's cost; it's not like he's the one paying it.)

For every person Babel "gifts" this way, he has to assign another person to lose the ability to speak, write, and understand language—any and all language. This victim is left unable to understand or communicate with any person or media around them, for the rest of their life. (Babel's villain name makes sense now, doesn’t it?) And that "rest of their life" is usually short, because no victim of this has ever lasted more than a couple years before killing themselves—being that isolated, that alienated, is unbearable for a human being.

But it gets worse! Victims and recipients are paired. Within several hours of choosing and touching a recipient, he needs to choose and touch a victim, or else suffer the downsides of his Quirk himself. When a victim dies, their paired recipient loses their universal fluency (and vice versa if a recipient dies before the victim, though this rarely happens). Thanks to the high suicide rate of his victims, Babel needs to constantly create more of them.

Obviously, the only people who'd be okay with this cost are pretty awful. The Consortium is canny enough that they help Babel choose victims who either won't be missed or that the Consortium needs silenced (which they can literally, thanks to Babel).

Random bit of backstory for Babel: his personal paired victim is the only one he's forcibly kept alive. He hasn't lost his universal fluency for almost twenty years now.

The Medic

Hurtswap exists because I felt that Inko's faction needed a healer on their side. Hurtswap's Quirk allows them to swap an injured body part with someone else's healthy body part. This has obvious downsides: they need access to uninjured people to heal any injuries. And unlike Babel, they can't delay the exchange for very long; if Hurtswap heals someone, they need to assign the injury to someone else within a few minutes, or else suffer the injury with their own body.

Inko takes Hurtswap in when they're still a kid, but by time Izuku starts at UA, they're in their twenties, and they're pretty skilled. They've gotten creative, and can swap injuries onto animals, provided the animal has the right anatomy. For example, Hurtswap can give a human's broken femur to any animal with a femur (and the human's femur will be healed), but they couldn't do this with, say, an insect, because insects don't have that kind of skeleton.

I've been going back and forth on how to write them. Sometimes I think it'd be interesting to make them a Mad Doctor(tm) who enjoys using their Quirk, mostly because I like the idea of giving Himiko an adult in her life who sympathizes with, or even adores, how creepy and stabby she is.

Other times, I lean towards making Hurtswap a woobie who hates hurting people or animals, but still feels obligated to save other people. Someone who reluctantly swaps your broken arm onto a rat, then completely ignores you and cries and dotes over the now-injured rat. This version obviously allows for more angst, and possibly more character development, but I don't want to write Inko pressuring a kid into using a Quirk they hate.

We'll have to see which direction I take them.

The Wealthy Sponsor

So like, where is homeless single mom Inko getting the money to establish a found family villainous empire? Answer: somebody rich is using her shelter to launder money.

I also wanted to address an issue that canon BNHA doesn't really touch: class. In-canon, Shinsou has a "villainous" Quirk, and needs to follow the straight-and-narrow rules just to get a fair shake. In this AU, Inko's sponsor also has villainous Quirk, but he’s rich and powerful. The law protects him, but it does not bind him—the inverse of Shinsou.

Secret Thief's Quirk lets him know the secrets of the people around him. Its strength is based on distance. Across the street from you? He can learn secrets that would be mildly embarrassing to you if the wrong person learned them. Shaking your hand? He knows the secrets that could destroy your life if they got out.

Secret Thief got booted out of UA for being a real mean son of a bitch. (Not by Aizawa; Secret Thief is actually slightly older than him. Also he was, naturally, in the management course.) But Secret Thief's family was also rich, so he had options; he ~redeemed~ himself by going on an apology tour, donating money and even personally volunteering at various charities. At one of them, he meets Inko, and immediately picks up on all the secrets she's keeping.

Secret Thief sees Inko as easy prey. She works in a sketchy part of town with sketchy people (her shelter is one of the few with a "no questions asked" policy, so a lot of people with "bad" Quirks, or who're skirting the edge of the law, end up there), and she treasures her son, Izuku.

As far as Secret is concerned, he's being very nice: Inko gets legitimacy, money and aid she needs to continue her work, a contact among rich and influential people, and a more robust cover for her illegal activities.

All he gets out of it is a pet project to build his reputation and skills with, a legally-separate organization to funnel and hide resources in, easy access to desperate people willing to work under the table, and plausible deniability if anyone finds out. Oh, and Secret makes it very clear that if the public ever learns what Inko has done, she manipulated him, and she will take the fall.

Secret Thief comes the closest to getting a character arc. He's obviously in a position of power over Inko, capable of destroying her life. But later, after Inko's gang has built ties to powerful groups like the Consortium (and even dangerous people like All For One), Secret Thief realizes she's outgrown him—he's just one of many influential contacts she has, and the rest have power he can't touch.

The Secret Keeper

So with all sorts of secrets to be kept, and especially with Secret Thief and other mind-readers prowling around, how do villains keep the wrong information from getting out to the wrong people?

Censor is a freelancer for other villains. Her Quirk, Classified, makes it so that if you learn any new information when it's activated, you become unable to share that information with anyone else—unless the other person themselves already knows it. This applies to everything, not just important secrets.

For example, if you learn a new fact about octopuses, you won't be able to talk, write, or otherwise signal it to another person unless that other person already knows that same fact. Now replace "octopuses" with any information you don't want people finding out.

Her Quirk is one of the few counters to psychic Quirks, outright blocking information from them. Censor's character debut is when the Consortium reaches out to Inko, and they want to share information with her despite the possibility that she may refuse to join them.

Random bit of backstory for Censor: she's from a big family, all with similar Quirks. They have close ties to the Consortium, and were some of the few "civil servants" of the supervillain dictator era to side with that group instead of All For One's League of Villains.

The Teleporter

It gives me a lot more options in the story if characters can just sometimes appear where they need to be.

Tesseract can shift the space within a thirty-meter-across cube around himself into a higher dimension, both surveying and quickly relocating to any other spot of his choosing. He is very busy, since teleportation Quirks are rare and obviously valuable, so it's not like he hangs around the Important Characters moving them whenever. There are plenty of times when someone has to shrug and take a 12-hour plane flight.

Tesseract's Quirk has no major downsides, aside from the fact that he doesn't look human—just a vaguely-humanoid shattered pane of multi-colored glass. He's relatively young (late teens), but he's been groomed since he was a kid by CORE's own longtime (and elderly) teleporter to be her successor.

____________________

Notes: I’ve put way too much thought into these, despite how unimportant they are.

Tomorrow: Two other OCs. Both close to Inko, and they actually get character development!

[blizzardfluffykpop]

True Love

Summary: Harry Houdini who? I only know Park Jinyoung. 

Oneshot

Jinyoung X Reader 

"Come one! Come all! To see the one and only Jinyoung!!! A man of sleight of hand, a man of wonders, making reality into mystery!"  I hear being hollered outside my shop, I laugh, like the great Harry Houdini, that's how Park Jinyoung is. Both the greatest witches of their time; inspiring crowds to marvel at the wonders of the world. Sadly, one of them is my best friend, the man who makes people feel cold for even being infatuated with him. Thank Merlin, I'm not in love with him or anything,... okay maybe I'm lying to everyone including myself. That man would be the one and only Jinyoung, the man making reality into mystery. 

Park Jinyoung is an interesting man, his mother and father both witches, teaching him the tricks of the trade; instead of investing into a metaphysical shop, like most witches. This man wanted to be like his hero Houdini, and surpass him. With magic on his side, he has it made, his dreams bigger than Saturn. I've always been his biggest supporter making little flyers as a kid for other kids to come watch Jinyoung do card tricks. While he was busy with card tricks I was busy with tarot cards and geomancy. I liked the psychic part of magic, for that was my family's specialty in witchcraft, his family liked incantations and potions. When we graduated high school, I took over my parents metaphysical store; Jinyoung's family has their potion shop right next door. Both of our stores giving out tickets to see his shows, since he was successful straight out of high school. 

Now of days, Jinyoung has been trying to teach me spells, not so successfully, but when he is not performing he’s here at the shop. He wants to learn tarot, and I want to learn incantations, so it’s a fair trade. I’ve learned different spells and I want to pull a fast one on him and turn him into a frog. The thing is, I completely forgot the reversal spell,… There he was looking up at me crossing his little froggy arms, raising what I would guess his eyebrow is, looking at me with that searing look of disappointment. I knew something was going to go wrong today, fuck, what do I do?!?! “Jinyoung help me--Oh right you can only talk in croaks…” I pick up his little body and run to his parent’s shop and his dad looks at me, “Why do you have a frog?” I close my lips, wondering how to tell his parents he was a frog. “You turned my son Jinyoung into a frog, didn’t you?” His mother chimes in when she sees us, “I-I didn’t mean too!!! I was just gonna pull a fast one on him, and,... and… he can only talk in croaks…” I set him on the counter. His parents start laughing, “Jinyoung did himself in, he taught you that spell,... I remember him turning you into a frog, wasn’t that funny, honey?” His mother claps her husbands’ shoulder laughing at Jinyoung, and Jinyoung lets out a sour croak. “There is only one way for you to reverse it” I clasp my hands, in a pleading motion, “You got to kiss him” I look at them like they are crazy, “Um frogs are gross-” Jinyoung croaks at me as if he was saying, ‘imagine if you were me right now’ I roll my eyes, “Sorry, can’t you guys kiss him--” His mother smirks at me and shakes her head, and I roll my eyes and kiss the prick who was croaking away at me.

I squint my eyes at Jinyoung, ‘you really gonna make me do this?’ I lean in and place a quick kiss on his froggy lips. Lo and behold I open my eyes, and I’m kissing Jinyoung, I pull away and scoff at him, “I’m gonna wash my mouth out with Listerine.” The fact that I kissed a frog disgusted me even if it was Jinyoung, and it was kind of weighing heavy in my heart that I kissed Jinyoung too. I was not about to let Jinyoung know that my heart kind of belonged to him. Little did I know, is that everyone knew but I’m too stubborn to admit to my feelings, even to myself. 

I walked over to my shop and into my room, washing out my mouth with Listerine a few times, thinking about my feelings, and that I kissed an amphibian even if it was Jinyoung, that didn’t matter. Maybe I do like Jinyoung, bah, I can’t like him like that, he’s always been my best friend, how could I change my feelings on that? No, but just maybe, he is cute and if I’m being honest with myself, he is a good kisser, but that doesn’t make him a suitable lover. No, he’s much more than suitable; he is funny, kind, respectful, and so much more than I can name. He’s Park Jinyoung, the man all lads and ladies want. Maybe, just maybe, I’m included in that bunch, after all, who wouldn’t want a man like Jinyoung? 

I come back downstairs after washing my mouth a few times, to see Jinyoung standing there. He smiles at me, that right there is my weakness, “I got a few books for you to read over, while I’m gone, I got a gig in London, and I’ll see you in a few days.” My heart sinks as I take the books from him and place them on the counter, “I’ll miss you, Jin” he nods, putting his arms out a little and I quickly wrap myself in them. “I’m so proud of you for getting such a big gig though, that’s my Jin!” I grinned at him, and he smiles, “I’ll make sure to make you proud, (Y/n)ie” He moves away and with a snap of his fingers he disappears from my sights, that’s probably why he was in my shop earlier to tell me he was going to London. 

When I close the shop for the night, I walk up to my room and read the first book, about basic spells every witch should know. I get bored halfway through it, pushing it aside I look at the other assortment of books he gave me, and see a fairytale. “Witches and Frogs” it reads, why did he give me this book? I roll my eyes, he probably put it in there by accident, but nonetheless since it’s in my pile I decide to read it. 

Once upon a time, a witch turned someone into a frog, they tried everything in the books to turn the frog back into a human. I roll my eyes, watch it’s gonna be true love’s kiss that turns him back. Reading the next three pages it turns out that the witch finally figures out that true love’s kiss will reverse it. Oh, such a cliche ending, but the book didn’t end there, the story was finished, but it had little spells in the back. The back titled, “How to turn someone back into human or how to turn them into animals”. That’s probably why he gave it to me, I get to the frog spell and it says the only way to turn a frog back into a human is true love’s kiss. That’s when it clicks, no fucking way, I must be reading it wrong. I re-read it over and over, and it still says the same thing. Then, what does this mean for Jinyoung and I? That,... he would have to like me too, for me to turn him back, and not just like me, but for our love to be pure and true. 

I scream into my pillow, and Jinyoung just had to leave, I’ll sort my feelings out later, I say turning off my lights, forcing myself to sleep. All I could dream about was Jinyoung, his stupid smile, his stupid laugh, the feeling of his lips on mine. It was all that kept playing in my head. When I wake up I look up Jinyoung’s London gig and he’ll be there for a few days. I can’t wait that long, I flip through the other basic spell book I was reading before that, “Witches and Frogs” fairytale rooted in truth book. 

I find the spell I’m looking for and begged my father to run the shop while I go see Jinyoung. The knowing smile on his face kills me, my mom applauds me and tells me to get my man, they’ve known all along. I swear, I laugh and kiss their foreheads and concentrate on being with Jinyoung in London, and snap my fingers. I haven’t been in London in years, big ben still intimidates me to this day. I look around and find Jinyoung’s apartment complex, I knew it wouldn’t land me next to Jinyoung but close enough. I was right in front of the complex and Jinyoung decided to walk out. I see him and my heart beats wildly, finally, knowing what it wants. I smile at him and his mouth was agape looking at me, and he hugs me, “You figured out how to teleport, I’m so proud of you!” I hug him back trying to calm down my heart, “I read ‘Witches and Frogs’” He visibly gulps, “And?” He looks at me wondering what I’ll say, “I knew it all along, but I-but I pushed those feelings away, because you’re my best friend. But I love you Jinyoung… and nothing can change that” He holds me tighter to him, “I love you too, can we do that kiss again?” I look at him, raising an eyebrow at him, “You want me to turn you into a frog?” We chuckle, and I kiss him, and it feels like everything is right in the world. 

Park Jinyoung just like Harry Houdini, became an escapologist, and the bonds he refused to break was with family, friends, and I. It’s been some time and we've been married, I’m still not good at spells, and he’s still not good at tarot cards. He is a master of escaping most things except for love, for love is something you never want to escape. Although I may be bad at spells, I still got one down, whenever Jinyoung starts being a nag I turn him into a frog. If he still keeps trying to argue I refuse to kiss him until he croaks out a supposed apology. If you’re wondering, I did learn how to speak croaks, and I kiss him when he cleans up his act. Or I just do it for fun to irritate him, but he’ll get me back turning me into a frog. I still own the metaphysical shop, and Jinyoung’s sisters take care of the Park’s metaphysical shop, and Jinyoung still makes his money off of his grand escapes with a little help from magic of course.

[a-lilacsong]

Elena of Avalor Live text reaction: Giant Steps

I enjoy reading other people's posts where they watch episodes of shows and write reactions to things in the episode while they're still watching it. So I decided to make one for this new episode: Giant Steps. 

Reaction starts under the cut (Spoilers for the episode since this is a reaction)

She needs a crew 

Wait has she gone to Australia 

Also I love that fish on the wall 

To bad it wouldn't be able to sing most likely

Is that a wanted poster for the bat on the wall?

And it looks like she's selling Esteban’s hat as well 

oooooh I think I feel a song coming on

 also the letter text is so clear I could probably translate this

if I felt like it 

Man, Elena is a fast writer 

I really like the accordion in this song but so far it's been pretty casual 

I don't know, I guess I was just expecting a big old villain song 

What a cute parrot! Naomi should get a parrot

Oh that's a sword for a second I thought it could be a chainsaw 

Don't mind him that's just casual Joe, casually showing off his casual sword to his casual friends Casually 

Wow there's a lot of lens flares in this song, was it directed by JJ Abrams?

Maybe it's not even a big threat Naomi's coming to warn them about, maybe she's just going to come back to say hi at this point, she seems like she's really missing Elena 

This is why she needs a crew, then she wouldn't be lonely 

Having a good cry together?! All of the hurt comfort and angst fanfiction possibilities! 

Oh look there's the not-Ash little girl 

yes the Elena and Naomi feels are strong with this one 

Ship does not rhyme with fate! this is the second time a line hasn't rhymed and it bugs me 

And she's broke

Maybe she should have asked for some money along with a ship eh?

The Bat Wanted poster Is hilarious 

And so starts her career as a bounty hunter 

“So how much gold are you giving for his capture?” “heaps of it.” “But how much gold exactly?” “HEAPS. OF. IT.”

Yeah when you just draw bags of money on the poster it's probably a scam 

Naomi unrolls the wanted poster, Me: *Gasps out loud* They all look so good!

 I wonder if you captured those three along with the bat if they give you an extra gold for that or if they just only give you a reward for the bat

You probably wouldn't get any gold though cuz it's probably a scam

Sudden zoom in on the poster while there's a bell in the background like what

 reminds me how they always always seem to do that during dramatic moments in Star Trek

What's in the bag a knife, a phaser, or is she just giving her the bag 

Maybe a special knockout powder?

Oh cool it's one of those endless Space Bags 

also what a cute red bird 

This episodes giving lots of birds 

But the Winged being I want to see most is Chatana

Oh look she sells harpoons! What does the store not have?

The necklace, of course she wants the necklace, I was thinking about was oddly noticeable with Naomi wearing two necklaces so of course she's going to have to give one away

Will she give it to her, Probably

Yep now she has the Magic Bag

And she got the take the wanted poster as well?! Wow !

It's not illegal to take down wanted posters?

Boy there is probably some kid out there who has fifty wanted posters just up decorating their room because they are very well drawn 

I mean if I lived in that world and knew I couldn't get punished for it I would totally have a few of them up 

Ash and Chatana just look so snug in their pictures, when why was Esteban just looks so innocent compared to them 

Wait so ash gave Chatana the diadem off screen? okay...

I've been waiting months for this, yes, YES team Ash team Ash team Ash YES!

Now I finally get to see more of Chatana

 I will finally get to see what her personality is really like yes

~~ but now I have to eat supper so intermission

Sarah give me spoilers Darn it ~~

 Anyway

 the bat can shape-shift!? wow I always thought that Esteban’s teleportation powers would take them to Vestrella but I was wrong

Of course they're seen immediately, probably because of Ash’s yelling

Wait if you Caught the Jaquin babies, what would you do with them Esteban?

He seems better at this villain stuff than I thought 

Also both Ash and Chatana seem way too confident about this 

I'm predicting it will be their Achilles heel 

Bold of Mateo to assume that she would be looking for her friend instead of the villains 

Probably spied on Naomi before 

It seems Mateo's more Curious boy Then I thought he's willing to spy on someone if they're a friend 

And she's right there, she probably ran past Armando and everyone else that's why they didn't get it notified of her arrival 

Like she always does 

Yay clumsy Mateo

And he didn't drop it!

No one expected you back this soon Naomi not even the audience 

Lesbians lesbians lesbians 

It's great other than the crippling loneliness 

Mateo asks the kind of questions that I asked on tumblr ask blogs anonymously 

“Ancient at least I thought she was ancient '' if she said that to Chatana’s face which you take it as a compliment or an insult I wonder?

Also continuity!

And of course she's only going to bring Gabe because he is the only guard She Knows by name 

Sarcasm aside though I'm glad that these four will get to have another adventure together 

They are the Ultimate Adventure team 

Well Isabel is always welcome on it 

But it is illegal for her to try to fight Esteban 

Or Witness Elena seriously killing him 

Wait is she going because she wants to be with Elena 

Or to get the prize money 

Probably both 

I sure hope Elena doesn't feel betrayed if Naomi tries to get that prize money I mean she has to make a living somehow 

Yes Elena, the team 

It is the only team strong enough to defeat the evil team 

Oh boy every time Chatana walks she looks like she's on a Runway! She is so poised and confident looking 

Also it seems that they have gotten past that cloaking spell 

And Esteban gets smacked in the face

They just love you using him for slapstick don't they?

I just love it how bat says casually that they're being watched 

And Ash and Chatana flip out like they're about to be caught by the thought police 

Okay, Esteban is hilarious 

*Ash Eyeroll*

I wonder who has done more eye rolls in the series Ash or Esteban?

And she blocked it again, I guess it wears off over time?

SOME kind of cloaking spell!? it looks like the same one they were using before!

I sure hope Philly wasn't conscious with Chatana all those years

She CAN fly!

And we finally get to see her make a monster and it's so cool!!!

Spiders spiders everywhere!

Flying spider tornado!

Ash and Esteban’s reactions are valid

BABY spider Eagles! that changes everything 

Now that means that they're really cute 

I would still be distracted by them though

Esteban sass 

Ash threats

If they weren't so evil they make a great sitcom team 

~~~break to watch final episode of Pride and Prejudice with my family~~

Gabe makes yet another strategy which will be most likely ignored or never brought up again 

Points for trying, Captain 

Oh good, that’s just webs, thought it was something else for a moment 

Down they go, too bad she can't use levaloop with that sceptre and they're going to have a hard Landing 

Woo he didn't use levaloop he's learning new spells 

Yay team Ash back views! I've been needing these for artistic purposes 

Did Phili just spit fire Let me back that up 

Wow I think he did

Awww,  “Little one”

They must train together a lot, Ash just needs to give Esteban a look and he does what they need 

That's the same unlocking spell as before

 do the Maruveians only have one kind of lock spell

Also wait did Chatana teach that to Ash at some point?

Because she certainly didn't use that on the gate before to unlock Chatana...

Oh nice unlocking effects 

some...BODY ONCE TOLD ME

MAMA <--May I also mention that my theory was right 

Wait all of Chatana's creatures are locked up here?

I guess there are the Sunbird jars 

True she was captured, (much better excuse than Pink Diamond’s)

And here is Esteban, the king of sucking up 

In a way, Kizin Reminds me of Sarah

He Likes the tall funny man 

Good recovery Esteban, you didn't make any snide comment that time 

And now everyone else sucks up 

Except Phili 

Chatana smile 

Kizin has other friends? AWW, he Just wants to help his friends! 

Ash has done nothing other than that spell so far except yell and complain to others

And there goes a bat

We will probably get him later... or maybe we will just leave him

Oh look will team Avalor attack him immediately or will they try and reason with him first 

If you needed more guards why didn't you just grab them in the first place 

I know Migs and Skyler are Guardians but couldn't you have gotten another Guardian to go and get reinforcements? 

Elena never planned ahead for things

Gabe the running LOL 

So you're going to just attack him instead of reasoning with him? okay 

I think that trip wire might be a little high Naomi

Wait Shouldn't Elena and Mateo wait on the other side of the tripwire so that they can surround Kizim just in case 

Naomi tie the tripwire you won't be strong enough to hold it up yourself 

Or maybe you will you are pretty strong 

Hey look there's the bat

No Naomi, no Naomi no tie the rope Naomi, and then go after him 

Tell Elena of your financial troubles don't risk it all 

(to quote Ash:) foolish child....

Looks like the bats in the bag 

Also why was he attacking ships in the first place, for the LOLs?

More Gabe running 

*Sigh* should have tied it...

She hurt him he hurt her 

Very good, Gabe protect 

See Don't Use Magic on Kizim, use Magic on yourself 

Oh yeah use the wizard to unlock the pots

And then an extra 

You know it seems like every episode where Elena could do a lot more she gets injured and then another character has to save the day 

It happened in the episode with the merman Prince 

Naomi just sort of stands there and watches 

Okay that scene is funnier in context than it is in the trailer 

First aid! Someone actually knows how to do first aid!

Mateo disobeyed a plan and now Naomi disobeyed the plan

When will they learn that disobeying plans always leads to bad things 

Sorry Princess I'm broke 

And Too Proud to Beg 

Okay, this is a complicated situation, on one hand Naomi is a big help in defeating villains on the other, why don't they just get a royal guard who is good with a lasso? 

I mean there are definitely some personal emotions running here 

But also it might have been better to wait to become a Captain until after the villains had been caught

I just think this might be both their faults

Although running out to the bat and not tying the Rope yeah

Little scared Mateo noise

I thought it was just going to run head-on into a wall 

LOL if one man can't do it get the other guy to do it

Gabe with magic well that would be interesting…

Well yeah, he's normally there 

Wait he's not going to attack Keatamos is he?

Gabe and Matteo wouldn't allow that 

“Hello friends” awww

Uh-oh is right, that many shaking pots is never good 

And now they're here to save the day 

When you forget you have an injury 

Although she Naomi should have felt the arm first to see how the sling should be set 

He likes one cousin and dislikes the other

Wait magic wands are handed?

Don't worry that Blaze probably didn't hit the wood that's everywhere around here 

How would releasing the bat help, I feel like he'd be on Kizim's side 

Couldn't you have just caught him in the bag with the bat still inside 

Actually no, the bat would get squished 

Well Gabe, you are bringing the burn today

Esteban reacts to waiting for things the same way I do 

Esteban knows he's the universe is punching bag 

Ash facepalm 

Chatana does care 

And Phili never will 

OOOOh Other allies!??!

It just seems like the Delgados inexplicably know about every different darkforce and possible magic thing there is 

She is angsting, Naomi, Which she always does alone 

Wow her arm is in a cast

Couldn't they just fix it with magic?

Does no one in this world know a healing spell? 

Actually that wouldn't surprise me.

Get a room you two! Oh, you do have a room 

now kiss 

They love each other 

You know you can hire your own ship crew at some point right?

I mean Captains classically command other crew members.

Wait is she coming back to the council

No Naomi don't ruin your life with politics! 

Get out while you still can! 

Wait, Naomi doesn't know she was replaced 

Well it would be easier on Julio if he didn't have two jobs… 

Which is the responsible thing to do 

She lives to serve 

Hugs 

Every episode with Chatana so far has had Elena Naomi angst 

That's the end of my reaction.

~~~~~

So here's my Mini review. Overall I liked the episode, sure the big conflicts could have been avoided if people actually talked with each other about their feelings first before the disasters, but that happens so often in TV shows I'm almost used to it. I loved seeing the villain force again (especially Chatana). Hopefully we will see them again soon. I wonder what job Naomi will get now, (Maybe being the minister of ships)?

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 286

I gotta finish this damn liveblog, and that means I gotta get rid of this Kid Buu jerk. 

Are you prepared for the kind of death you’ve earned, little man?

There’s just one problem.  Vegeta’s so badly hurt from fighting Kid Buu that he can’t clear out of the path of the Spirit Bomb when Goku throws it.   He tells Goku to do it anyway, or else everything they did to reach this moment will be for nothing.   But Goku hesitates...

... long enough for Majin Buu to realize that if he sticks close to Vegeta, Goku won’t launch that thing at him.  I assume this means that Buu understands that the Spirit Bomb could definitely kill him.  Otherwise he’d just attack Goku, or stand his ground and let it hit him.

Down in hell, the bad guys are all watching this.   Hey, Cell.

And Frieza mocks Goku for being soft.   You know, how cool is this?  This is the sort of thing I might have imagined as a small child, and this show went all out and did it.   “All the bad guys are watching from hell.”  It’s so simple, yet so brilliant.   And Frieza’s doing most of the talking, but for my money, what makes this work is Dr. Gero’s salty expresssion as he watches his hated enemy struggling to save the universe.   Cell doesn’t seem to care much, and Frieza’s just being a punk, but Gero seems to genuinely be rooting for the universe to die, just so he can watch Goku suffer.

Also, for some reason, Babidi has switched sides?   Before, he was rooting for Goku, because Buu murdered him.  Maybe the appearance of Fat Buu confused him.  “Well, the fat one killed me, so if the fat kid is fighting him then I guess I’m on Team Kid now.”

All Vegeta can do now is appeal to Goku’s Saiyan heritage.   Goku has to do this, whether it kills Vegeta or not.   Another Saiyan wouldn’t hesitate, and neither should Goku.   And Goku’s like “Yeah, but...” 

And that’s kind of Goku’s relationship with Vegeta in a nutshell.   It’s usually Vegeta telling Goku what a Saiyan is supposed to be like, and Goku appreciating some of it, but not all.   What doesn’t get as much attention is that there’s a pushback there, where maybe Vegeta’s vision of an idea Saiyan isn’t true, and maybe on some level Goku is showing Vegeta what a Saiyan is supposed to be like.   Vegeta’s already begged the Earthlings to support his plan.   Hell, Vegeta’s plan isn’t very Vegeta-like at all.  He’s using Goku’s technique and Fat Buu’s durability and Mr. Satan’s popularity to make it work.

So it’s not very Vegeta-like at all, but I’d suggest that it is very Saiyan, because it’s a band of weaker fighters taking down a stronger enemy.   All we’ve heard about the Saiyans is that they crave stronger and stronger opponents, and they never balk at a challenge, no matter how difficult.  I think Vegeta, and others like him, got that whole idea mixed up, and thought that the goal was to simply be stronger than the competition, so that you could take them down all by yourself.  For someone like Vegeta, that wasn’t such an impossible thing, since he was the strongest Saiyan for so long.

But you have to figure that for most Saiyans, the ones who are used to getting outgunned on the battlefield, they also became accustomed to finding unorthodox solutions to win the day.   They had to, because if they didn’t they’d all get killed and the species would go extinct.    You look at the Saiyans depicted in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, and they’re a lot nicer than you might expect.   That’s because they know they might need one another when the going gets tough. 

I think that’s why Goku can’t throw the Spirit Bomb with Vegeta in its path.   It was Vegeta who got them this far, and they may need him again some day.  Goku refused to kill Vegeta when they were enemies.    How can he kill him when they’re allies?   That’s what his Saiyan heart is telling him: “You’ve got to find another way.”

Then Buu starts taking potshots at Goku, since Goku can’t move or throw the bomb.   I dig this part a lot, because when I first watched it, I wondered why Buu was just waiting around to see what would happen. 

I didn’t get a good screenshot of it, but a few of these blasts hit Goku in the dick.   Anyway, maybe Goku has some kind of force field around him to soften the blows, but still, this is some nuclear heel heat on Majin Buu right now.  

Mr. Satan is horrified, but what can he do?  What can anyone do?   But then!

Fat Buu is up!

And he’s piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissed.

Satan tries to hug him, because he’s so happy that he didn’t die, but Buu just slaps him aside, because he’s got work to do.

So Fat Buu tackles Kid Buu, then calls out to Satan, who grabs Vegeta and runs for it.  He apologizes to Fat Buu, then tells Goku to throw the Spirit Bomb now, before it’s too late.

And Kid Buu tosses off Fat Buu just in time to catch...

... a big ol’ facefull of this!   Whatcha gonna do now, Kid Buu?   Whatcha gonna do?!

Oh, well he caught it.   I guess that’s what he’s gonna do.  Well played, sir.

Meanwhile, Goten and Trunks choke on corn.   Piccolo wants them all to head for the Lookout, where they can sense the outcome of the battle more easily.  

So  they arrive, and Gohan snap-vanishes behind Videl all suave-like.   “Hey,” he says, “I’m Ultimate Gohan (Elder Kai Unlock) now, nbd.”

So Videl starts chewing him out for maybe being dead and then actually being dead and not being in heaven and so forth.  

D’awwwwwwwwwww.

Chi-Chi’s kind of irritated that Gohan is ignoring her, but then Trunks and Goten show up and she remembers she’s got two boys. 

But it’s not over yet.    The problem here is that Goku’s ki is so weak from fighting before that he can’t push the Spirit Bomb against Kid Buu’s resistance.  Remember, when Goku used this thing against Frieza before, he really didn’t even need to “push” it.   Frieza tried to knock it away, and he simply couldn’t do it.    But Kid Buu can, which requires some effort by Goku, except he doesn’t have enough power left to make it happen. 

I assume there’s some sort of “leverage” involved with the Spirit Bomb, where the guy throwing it has the upper hand against the target, even if the target is physically stronger.  Otherwise, how could Goku be holding out as well as he is?  

There seems to be two solutions to this problem.  One is to increase the power of the Spirit Bomb itself, except everyone who could have contributed already has.  I’m confused how you can add on to the Spirit Bomb once it’s already been deployed, but what do I know?   The other solution is to fix things on Goku’s end.  Make him stronger, and he’ll be able to see this through.    Dende could heal him...

...Except there’s no way to get Dende to Goku, because Kibitoshin gave all his power to the Spirit Bomb, so he doesn’t have enough juice left to teleport.

So Vegeta tells Mr. Satan to ask the people of Earth to send more power to the bomb.   But King Kai warns him that if they try that so soon, they’ll all die.   Remember, they gave everything they could the first time around, so they need to rest.   Is that Farmer With Shotgun?   They keep sneaking him into these things, and I’m pretty sure he’s the one guy on this show who never could have come back.    Unless he’s some sort of Tom Bombadil-type figure.   Yeah, that might be it.

But Vegeta insists, since they can always wish the Earthlings back to life again if it comes to that.   Mr. Satan almost agrees, except he now realizes that this isn’t just a dream, and if this is really happening, then he can’t bring himself to betray his fans that way.   He won’t do something that would allow people to die, however temporarily. 

That says something interesting about Mr. Satan.  In this whole situation, he seems to finally have the kind of awesome power that he’s often bragged about, and now he realizes what a terrible responsibility it is to have it.  Vegeta’s been in this situation his whole life.    He may not relish this option, but he knows better than to waste time deciding. 

So he angrily reminds Mr. Satan that they have the Dragon Balls, and can just wish everyone back if they need to.   Hell, they still have a wish left on Porunga and--

Oh, yeah.

Dende asks Porunga to restore Goku’s power to normal, and Porunga’s like okey-dokey, Smokey.

One thing that makes this episode so great is how, in this moment, we finally see Goku give in to despair.    He feels totally alone, no because anyone abandoned him, but because they’re all too far away or too badly beat up or too weakened to help him.   It’s all up to him to make this work, and he just doesn’t have the strength to pull it off.  

At this point, Buu has already pushed the Spirit Bomb back towards Goku, and he’s preparing some sort of counterattack.   There’s just nothing Goku can do.  Z stands for the end.

But not yet.   Dende tells him that Porunga should have restored his power, and I guess Goku couldn’t tell unless someone told him first, but whatever. 

And then he gets his old fire back.   Goku thanks the Dragon Balls, which is kind of appropriate, because they’ve helped him out so many times since he was a boy.

So then he pushes back on the bomb with authority, turning Super Saiyan 1 just to be safe.  

And now Buu’s in deep doo-doo.  He had some difficulty pushing back on the bomb before, and this time Goku’s fresh as a daisy.

I always thought Goku should have used SSJ3, just to be thorough, but I do like how he’s sticking to the classic Super Saiyan.  No need to overdo it, after all.    As he shoves the bomb down, he praises Buu for his epic performance.  He fought everybody, multiple times, and withstood everything everyone had to throw at him.  Goku can’t help but be impressed, but it’s time for him to die.

He asks Buu to be reincarnated as a good guy, so that he can Goku can fight again some day.

Only then, Goku wants it to be one-on-one, as he promises to be much stronger when that day comes. 

Can Buu even hear him from down there?  

¡Adios, muchacho!

Is it just me, or does this look kind of pleasant?   I mean, I know the idea is that he can’t hold it any longer, and he’s getting engulfed in this big explosion, but it looks kind of fun at the same time.   Like getting immersed in this big huge ball of glowy energy.    Maybe that’s why the Spirit Bomb can’t hurt good people, because bad guys are too salty to appreciate how fun it is.

Big collage of everyone telling Goku to finish him off.   Awesome.   Very awesome.

And then arrrrrggghhh!    Yeah!   Eat it, boy, eat it!

Yeah, take your medicine, you no-selling bastard!  Welcome to Goku Town!

Sorry you couldn’t stay.

And that’s the end of Majin Buu.  Well, the bad one anyway.  It’s surreal how he’s finally beaten.   After 55 episodes, you just get used to the guy re-forming himself after a big move.  But not this time.   

Goku powers down and he looks wiped out.  But it’s finally done.  

Classic Vegeta, right there.

Mr. Satan can’t believe what he just saw.

And then Goku and Vegeta exchange hearty thumbs up for a job well done.

I really love how the narrator has to emphasize that Buu is really, honest-to-goodness dead this time.   Though I do enjoy the dub narrator pointing out how Goku and Vegeta have become friends through the course of this battle.    Maybe that was all they really needed.  They never spent a lot of time working together before this, and that was sort of the point of the last 18 episodes.    Everyone else is dead or unavailable, so it’s up to them to put aside their differences and join forces.  

And this is what they came up with.    First they fused, then they removed all of the guys Buu had absorbed, then they decided to take turns fighting Kid Buu, an when that didn’t work, Vegeta devised this whole plan using his idea, Goku’s technique, and eventually Fat Buu and Mr. Satan joined in as well. 

This arc was about teamwork.   The Babidi Saga showed how badly things could get when the heroes weren’t really working together well.   They had every advantage, but snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.    The Majin Buu Saga showed each of these guys trying to handle things on their own.   Buu kills Baidi, Mr. Satan befriends Buu, Vegeta tries to fight Buu by himself, and Goku tries to prepare everyone but him to tackle the problem without him.   None of it worked.   Then things finally came together here, when they all stopped bickering and joined together in earnest.    And that’s a really beautiful thing.  

The Kid Buu Saga is a bit weird, in that we just got rid of Kid Buu, but there’s still five more episodes to go, but they’re satisfying episodes, because the characters really earned this victory.  

[brachyurans]

tw3 moods, part 3

THE GWENT QUEST NEARS ITS CONCLUSION. zero cards left to be won from players of no renown. three cards left in skellige. then...then it is only the four cards left in novigrad: the fucking passiflora tournament

no i definitely did not spend my first three hours on skellige bopping around signposts to grab all the gwent cards before doing anything else

technically after this i also have to go get the skellige faction deck and other assorted cards from the dlcs but this is not in my Miraculous Book of Gwent so we shall not worry about it yet.

i love skellige and how much people in skellige respect Geralt and how nobody calls me a freak while im walking down the streets here. i also love how half the time voice actors can’t quite decide if they want to pronounce the final E in skellige or not.

finally cleared the skellige part of following the thread and got lambert’s card right before the karadin meeting. idk if they wanted us to believe jad actually changed but his voice actor is the most insincere-sounding motherfucker and anyways the whole Aiden business aside, you can’t make up for engaging in the slave trade by sending a polite letter and donating to local schools, fuck off. i probably wouldn’t have killed him myself (we were in his house, he had no armor and his kids were next door, i don’t like to kill in cold blood) but since lamby was willing to do it for me, well,,

i finally found my girlfriend !!! geralt loves yen so much, i love yen so much, i will literally implode, i’m so happy i got to run a heist with her making sarcastic comments and helping me not die of taxidermy-related hallucinations (sorry mousesack, i regret nothing)

geralt be running and scrambling and hauling himself up ledges while yennefer teleported across ten minutes ago and has been Waiting. shes so extra i love her

i can’t believe yen brought the unicorn all the way to fucking skellige. i mean i can because it’s yen but goddamn, woman, you do not travel light. i have been trying to figure out what yen finds erotic about the unicorn and i have yet to reach any conclusions. would she be interested in fucking on a stuffed horse? is it the unicorns/virginity thing? is it just proving that geralt loves her enough to do anything for her? if it’s the last one, yen, honey, peg him with your massive troll phallus or something, there is no need to haul a life-size unicorn across the fucking ocean

all that said im pausing on skellige for now to clean up the last of the velen/novigrad points of interest, grab the unmarked sidequests, dig up the last of the continental witcher gear diagrams, and finish out my contracts. this should also net me a few extra levels before i start tackling skellige monsters which will be Nice.

POIs are fun because i went all the way down the western coast of velen by midcopse cutting through lvl5 bandits and lvl4 drowners like wet paper and then hit a guarded treasure with a lvl28 hag out of nowhere and booked it the fuck away from there. are these high-level points of interest in with the low-level ones specifically to wreck the shit of overeager newbies?? what the fuck.

i let gaetan go. killing him is probably the more moral choice but i was underleveled for the quest and i don’t love combat in this game so i just didn’t want to fight him. whoops. also iunno, still feels bad to try and kill a guy in cold blood, ’specially when he just got pitchforked in the gut and is clearly at a disadvantage from pain.

while going to consult dijkstra about assassinations i found a male sex worker in the other side of the passiflora who ISN’T hacking his lungs out and geralt can’t even talk to him properly, all he says is “sod off.” i think this is extra homophobic.

i love sigismund dijkstra an unreasonable amount what the FUCK.

i also love dandelion, i would do anything dandelion asked of me, however absurd, including dressing up as a bandit and concealing my identity by putting a scarf over my mouth while doing nothing about like, the cat eyes, or the two swords. dandelion is a himbo.

i’ve done a lot of sidequests and so far i think my favorite has been Scavenger Hunt: Cat School Gear. kiyan is just. mm. his story is so fucked up on multiple levels and i love him. close second might be gaetan’s quest just because i like cat witchers.

best non-witcher sidequest so far was absolutely “shock therapy” wherein geralt is asked to “scare” a druid who ~suddenly became mute~ back into speaking. what does he do? proceed to just. annoy the everliving shit out of the poor druid. like, in no way is putting out the fire every time he lights it to try and warm up a form of shock therapy, that’s just being an asshole! also geralt’s surprised/guilty face when he realizes he got tricked into playing a practical joke on this man. geralt you dumb fuck i love you so much. you should have been suspicious the minute the guy offered you a gwent card rather than coin.

other really good sidequests include aeramas’ trial of the cheeses and “fool’s gold.” i haven't finished “reasons of state” yet but i suspect i’ll also really like that one because, well, dijkstra

i have all the enhanced cat gear and all the enhanced griffin gear and the cat gear is just, far superior aesthetically just by virtue of not being green. sad it gains sleeves when you upgrade it but i am a fan of the cowl and it will make me less chilled when we go to skellige. i wish it was black but we are far too low a level to touch beauclair yet. sad to let my goth imperialist look go but the nilfgaard set finally became underleveled u_u

i finally became sort of rich selling everything to novigrad smiths and then immediately hit a wall with crafting ingredients for potions. no longer can i cobble them together from stuff i picked in the forest and stripped from monster corpses. nooooo i need to buy alcohols and craft secondary ingredients. i am spending an obscene amount of money on cordials to make all the white gull i need.

solved my bomb problem by investing a skill point in becoming immune to bomb secondary effects. now i just need to learn how to aim for shit

[lattelesbean003]

1-50 for the asks lmao (if you feel like it, but you don’t have to lskdjfls)

1. What’s your sexual orientation?

I’m lesbian! 🏳️‍🌈

2. What are you obsessed with right now?

Uhh, I’m really into Haikyuu!! again. I’m still kinda obsessed with Marvel though lol.

3. Ever done any drugs?

Only prescribed drugs.

4. What piercings do you want?

Ohh, so many. I want three piercing on the lobes of both my ears and a couple cartridge piercings. I’ve kinda thought about a nose ring? But I’m not sure. As a start though I need to get over my fear of needles and actually get my ears pierced.

5. How many people have you kissed?

None.

6. Describe your dream home.

Okay okay. I want a one or two bedroom apartment in Montreal, Quebec. (NYC would be the dream but hahahhhh way too expensive). The kitchen would have dark cabinets with a white counter top, a nice deep sink with a movable faucet, obviously a dishwash and stove, a pretty big stainless steel fridge, a stainless steel microwave, and a toaster. I’d have a nice, big, comfy couch in the living room. There’d be lots of plants (I love plants), and a little table by a window for a ‘dining’ room. Bedroom would be big enough to fit a double or queen bed. Oh! I’d also have bookcases everywhere cause I love books and manga lol.

7. Who are you jealous of?

There are a few fanfic writers that I’m jealous of just cause they’re really good at writing and my dumbass feels inferior and bad about myself. It’s one of the things I hate about myself. I get insecure wayyy too easily.

8. What’s your favorite show to binge?

Right now, Haikyuu!!. I binged it pretty quickly and it’s turning into a comfort show for me lol.

9. Do you watch porn?

I have before, but it makes me uncomfortable.

10. Do you have a secret sideblog?

I do have a blog that I run that I haven’t told anyone about.

11. If you could teleport anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?

Florence, Italy. I wanna go back so baddd.

12. What’s one of your fantasies?

Living a good and happy life and not feeling insecure about literally everything

13. Do you have/would you get your nipples pierced?

No I wouldn’t. Exposing my chest to anyone makes me very uncomfortable. Also, the idea of nipple piercings is very bizarre to me but hey, you do you boo.

14. How would you spend a million dollars?

I would buy way too many books and clothes lmao. Also food. If I didn’t set aside some of it for college, I’d spend it on dumb stuff like that.

15. Are you in a relationship?

No, but I wish. I’d love a girlfriend.

16. Do you follow porn blogs?

Nope!

17. Are you angry with anyone right now?

I’m not angry with anyone, just feeling insecure about my relationship with a couple people cause my brain is stupid.

18. What tattoos do you want?

I want a full sleeve tattoo! Idk what the art would be, mostly because I haven’t actually thought about it toooo much because tattoos involve needles and pain and those are two of my biggest fears. (Failure takes the number one spot though.)

19. If you could change your name, would you? What would you change it to?

Oh uh, idk man. I’ve never thought about it. I’d just stick with Jen.

20. What is something you’re obsessed with?

For fandoms, Haikyuu!! right now, but I love sweet things way too much. Also, bread.

21. Describe your best friend.

Tall, adventurous, takes no shit, smart

22. Tag someone you think is hot.

@ms-bookdragon ;)

23. Who are five of your favorite bands/musical artists?

I mostly like specific songs, rather than one artist. Here are my top five at the moment:

Piano Man / Billy Joel

My Love Will Never Die / AG, Claire Wyndham

Toss a Coin to Your Witcher / Samual Kim, Black Gryphon (I like the remix more than the original)

Dance Monkey / Tones and I

The Sound of Silence / Disturbed

24. What are three places you want to travel?

I really want to go to Quebec (and I might be able to this summer!!), Japan, and Greece. (I also wanna return to Italy).

25. Describe your perfect Friday night.

Sharing lots of laughs with friends.

26. What’s your favorite season?

Spring! I don’t mind winter if it snows, but where I live it mostly rains and it’s annoying lol. We’ve only had like, four dry days since the new year.

27. What’s your pet peeve?

LOUD CHEWING OMG I CAN’T STAND IT. Also when anything scraps against metal. Makes me cringe and tense up like nothing else.

28. Who is the funniest person you know?

A gay guy in my chem class. Also my neighbor. They both have very weird senses of humor but I appreciate them lol.

29. What’s the most overrated movie?

Avengers: Endgame. :3 (I will forever hate that movie lol.)

30. Tag someone you want to talk to but have been too shy to message.

Oh god why you gotta do this to me. @voxofthevoid. Ahh he only knows me from my main not my sideblog. 😭

31. Do you like paper books or ebooks better?

Paper books don’t hurt my eyes as much. I don’t think I could read a paper version of a fanfic though.

32. If you could live in a fictional world, what world would you pick?

Oh oof, uhh none of them? They’re all kinda shitty worlds lol. 

33. If money was no object, what would your wardrobe be like?

Lots of button-ups and sweaters. Jeans, converse, scarves, nice dresses and skirts. I don’t have a specific wardrobe, I mostly buy whatever catches my eye.

34. What’s your coffee order?

Depends on my mood, but I mostly buy ice caps at Tim Hortons. Sometimes a french vanilla. At proper coffee shops, I buy a latte or mocha. I can’t handle a normal latte yet though, so it’s normally a caramel latte or something. At Starbucks, I typically buy a caramel frappuccino. When it’s cold, a mocha latte. (The peppermint mocha is yummy.)

35. Do you have a crush on anyone?

Nope, kinda wish I did though. 

36. Do you still have feelings for any of your exes?

Nope! I have on ex and mostly avoid him lol.

37. Have any tattoos?

No, but as I mentioned above I’d love a full sleeve tattoo.

38. Do you drink?

Nah, I’m still underage, alcohol is gross, and I’m not popular enough to be invited to parties.

39. Are you a virgin?

Yis. Still haven’t gotten my first kiss too.

40. Do you have a crush on any of your mutuals?

No

41. How many followers do you have?

On this account, tumblr claims 39, but it’s actually 24 lmao. I have a joint account with another person that has over 1000 followers though.

42. Describe the hottest person you know.

She has a long mousy brown hair, a bunch of ear piercings, really adorable dimples, and a very nice smile. I’m like 99% she’s straight though.

43. What’s your guilty pleasure?

I indulge too much in junk food. 

44. Do you read erotica?

Yupp. I mean, if you count fanfic with sex in them plus the occasional doujinshi.

45. What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?

The one date I’ve been on wasn’t too bad, but the dude I went out with thought we were a couple after the one date. I feel kinda bad because I led him on for two weeks, unsure how to break it to him that I discovered I was gay soooo.

46. How many people do you follow?

100, but like over half of them aren’t very active.

47. If you could marry any celebrity, who would you pick?

Hmmmmmmm. I don’t have a specific crush on anyone, but maybe Sebastian Stan just cause I wanna be his friend. He’s too old though lol.

48. Describe your ideal partner.

A girl (obviously), who’s could drag me to social events, but also enjoy a quiet night at home. Funny, encouraging/supportive, kind. Also lots of cuddles. I love cuddling and hand holding, plus cheek kisses!! Ahhh

49. Who do you text the most?

Two of my irl friends. They’re both great. I also text the person I have a joint blog with.

50. What’s your favorite kind of weather?

A warm spring day. The sun isn’t too hot, the grass is a lush green, and there’s only a handful of clouds in the sky. On the flip side, if I don’t have to go to school, I love snow. Walking around my neighborhood when it’s totally quiet and peaceful is one of my favorite things to do.

[tiredfandomtrash]

Something a little bit different for today, since it’s the lover’s days and all, me and @paraisles I can’t at them tumblr please did a writing collab for a nice and sweet Valentine’s story  Haha posting my writing for the first time here, oof  Anyyways, without further ado, enjoy! (I wrote the beginning, Jackie and Marvin’s parts)  ---------- Valentine’s day. Such a special day for some. It’s all about the love, hugs, little kisses and sweet gifts.. Right? Well.. Not for everyone. Chase woke up, opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for good 10 minutes before even considering getting up. It’s not that he even knew what day it was. He lost track of time a long time ago. And maybe it would’ve been for the best if it stayed this way. But it seemed his friends had a different plan. After eventually dragging himself out of bed, the man did his morning routine, went downstairs and to his surprise, there was a knock on his front door. With slight confusion, since he doesn’t get visitors often, he opened the door. It was the postman. “Mr. Brody?” “Um.. Y-yeah.” “A letter for you. With a special message from the person. Since she gave it to me herself.” The man cleared his throat, then started reciting said message. “My love for you is bigger than the whole universe and you’re the best dad ever, mommy said we can see you on the weekend but we wanted to give you this card earlier so you can remember how much we love you.” Chase was listening in some sort of disbelief. But a soft smile curled up his lips. “Did she really tell you all of that?” “Word to word, sir. She really insisted that I tell you that. Sweet girl.” He handed Chase the letter. “Yeah. Yeah she is. Thank you.” He said with a nod. “Have a good day, sir!” “Yeah.. You too, man.” He turned around, closing the door with a small kick, since he was too focused on looking at the letter. He went to the living room, flopping down on the couch. After opening the letter his heart skipped a beat. He forgot it’s the day. The one that reminds him of good memories, that hurt more than anything right now. He bit his lip, staring at his daughter’s handwriting. They just wanted to make the day better for him. Inside was a nice, very glittery drawing of Chase, Lily and Tommy. His two little angels. He chuckled, smiling sadly at it. With a small sigh, he got up and hung it up on the fridge. Besides the drawing, a small sweet letter was inside. He read it and couldn’t help but tear up. He misses his kids so, so much. But knowing that they still love him so much makes it hurt a bit less. Since he wasn’t sure what to do, now that he knew what day it was, he sort of sat on the couch, thinking back to everything. When did he start crying? He’s not sure. Thankfully, another knock to the door helped him snap out of it. He quickly wiped his tears away then went to open the door. Who is it this time?? “Morning, Chaser!” A familiar voice greeted him, beaming with positivity as always. “Hey, Jackie..” The father responded, with obviously not as much enthusiasm. He let the hero inside, closing the door behind him. “You’re looking a lil gloom. Bad thoughts?” He questioned, worry growing inside of him. Chase waved his hand, shaking his head. “Don’t worry.” He murmured, looking up at him. “Whaddya want?” “Well, first of all, I always worry about you. And second, I just thought I’d drop by before going to work to check up on you and all that.” He shrugged a little, smiling. “And also might’ve brought you a gift-” “Jackie-” “I know, I know, you don’t like when we spend money on you. Listen, I don’t care and I'll say it as many times as I have to for you to understand.” He reached to his hood, and pulled a small teddy bear that was holding a heart out. He grinned and handed it to the other. “Happy Valentine’s day, bro.” “….You kept it in your hoodie-” He took the bear from him, squeezing it a little. “Listen I ain’t gonna carry a cute red bag with hearts or something around when I'm in my suit, that’d just. Look odd-” The hero explained, a little pink spreading on his cheeks. “So you kept it in your hoodie.” “Yes.” Chase let out a small laugh then hugged the other. “You’re such a dumbass sometimes, but I still love you.” He muttered against his chest. Jackie happily hugged back, ruffling the younger's hair. “Love ya too, Chaser.” They stayed like that for a moment. He knew that Chase needs the comfort. But he has to go whether he likes it or not. “Alright buddy, I'll catch ya later, alright?” He said, pulling away. He put his hands on the other's shoulders, squeezing them gently. “It’ll be alright, Chase. Don’t think of it too much.” “I'll try.. Thanks, Jackie. I owe you one.” “You don’t owe me anything, bro. Just try having a good day, kay? I love ya.” He gave his friend one more smile before exiting through the window. Extra as always. He shot his grapple hook up and was gone in a flash. Chase sighed, squishing the plushie tightly. As much as he appreciated that small gesture, his thoughts were eating him up too much. He set the bear aside, noting to take it back to his bedroom later, then decided that if he wants to clear his head, he’d have to go for a walk. But first, he opened the fridge. He didn’t feel hungry. Even thought he probably should eat something. With another louder sigh, Chase grabbed a bottle of beer, closed the door, then went to the cupboards. He took out a protein bar. “Better than nothing.” And so he left his apartment, trying his best to not think about all the things that this day always brings back. Some time later, he sat at a bench in a nearby park, using his remaining motivation to take a sip from his bottle of alcohol. This day wasn’t looking too well so far, and he wasn’t very excited about it since he was alone again. In a few minutes, a young fellow started to approach him, wanting to lift the depressed male’s spirits. “JJ? How are you here?” He spoke in a low, sluggish tone to the cheerful fellow. “Marvin told me that he sensed your sadness, and he sent me to go cheer you up. Now, I’m here! What’s wrong?” JJ signed, showing a smile in return. “I’m okay, bud. Don’t worry.” The male lied, trying to cover up the alcohol that was clearly being able to control his voice’s tone. “Don’t give me that excuse. I know something’s wrong!” JJ’s facial expression became worrisome, and he started to worry. Chase knew that he couldn’t get past the ol’ chap, no matter how hard he tried. He set down his bottle and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Alright, you caught me. Something is wrong. In fact, everything’s wrong. Stacy left me and took my kids. They don’t have a father to teach them what they need for survival in this world. I recently got evicted from my home, so now I had to get a new place to stay at. That’s what’s wrong.” Chase let out a heavy sigh once again, noticing tears stain his gray shirt, but he attempted to hide them under his hat. “Come with me, please.” JJ signed once more before he helped Chase up and walked with a hand on the capped male’s shoulder with a big ol’ smile. “Where are we going?” Chase questioned the ol’ chap, and JJ stopped walking. “Somewhere where you’ll be happy.” That was JJ’s final sign to his fellow friend before they continued walking on the bright street. After the long walk he and JJ took, the dapper man had to leave. As a goodbye, Chase gave him a long hug and some "Thank you's" then they were on their own way. The father stood there for a while. "Look at you two. So cute." A familiar, soothing voice called. Chase jumped where he stood, whipping around to look at the magician he knew far too well. His expression went from surprised, to angry, to just a little shocked. "You're going to give me a heart attack one day." Marvin chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sorry, sorry. I know I shouldn't just teleport behind people randomly." Chase rolled his eyes and sighed. "Don't give me that look, hon, you know that I only ever want the best for you." "You're not wrong there. What is it this time, though?" He questioned, tilting his head. "Well." The magician put his hand on the other's shoulder. "It's my turn to put a smile on your face, hm?" Without further questioning, he hooked their arms together and started walking. "I'm taking you out to lunch, so there's something other than alcohol in your body." "you're acting like my mom, Marv-" "Well someone has to!" The magician objected, putting his other hand in his pocket. "And if it means I'm going to mother you, then so be it." He hummed, nudging Chase's side lightly. The other chuckled softly, looking up at him. "We're gonna have some nice hours, okay? No sad thoughts, no overthinking things. Just you, me and some nice food." "That does sound appealing.. I'll give it a shot, ha." Chase always knew that Marvin was really caring. Deep down, he was the softest and kindest soul out there. He just puts on a tough face, because he knows how unkind the world is. But in all honesty, he always felt like he and the magician had a special connection. He just seemed to always know what he needed most at a certain time. And he always appreciated it more than anything. After maybe 10 minutes of walking, they got to the place Marvin wanted to take him to. "Looks cozy." "Just like you like it. Simple but cozy." He led him to one of the tables. Seems like it was reserved for them. "So, sweetheart, got any upcoming plans?" He questioned, smiling at his friend warmly. "Oh.. Um.. N-not really? At least none that I can remember." He shrugged, responding with a smile as well. "I guess I'm just kind of.. Going with the wind, y'know? Whatever comes my way, I'll take it on." He rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling. "But things aren't that bad. So.. I guess that's a nice change." Chase didn't go out all that much, so it felt a bit weird.. Being surrounded by other people. People that minded their business and didn't care about him. They didn't even see him, nor did he see them. All that really mattered right then and there was talking with Marvin. And.. It helped. It really did. He talked about surprisingly a lot. And the magician listened, gave him some advice and reassuring words. It was nice. He really did feel.. Happy. Yeah. Yeah, he felt happy. For the first time in a long time, he just let loose, forgetting about his worries. Cracking jokes every now and then, smiling, laughing. He even ate something. It was the nicest feeling of all. Carelessness, but the good type. You stop worrying just for a moment, not bothering to think of the things troubling you. Because you should live in the moment, right? And god, did he miss that. It felt like taking a breath for the first time in a long time. And that's something Chase needed. He's more than happy that he has the others in his life. He'd be so lost without them. And once they were done with their food, and talking for now, it was time to go. "You know, I really enjoyed all this." He said, smiling at the magician. “And.. Just, thanks, Marv. For helping." Before he could even say more the other crushed him in a hug. A nice, warm hug. He wrapped his arms around Marvin and hid his face in his shoulder. "Thanks for all this. Really.." "You know that it's no problem for me, sweetheart." He responded, rocking them to the sides lightly. "I love you, Chase. Don't forget about that, okay?" "How could I? You remind me about that at least twice a day." He joked, looking up at him. Marvin chuckled, kissed his forehead, then smiled. And Chase smiled back. "I love ya too. I really do." "I'll see you later, hm? Just like every other week?" "I don't have lots of plans so you know it." One more squeeze and they pulled away. "Cya around, Marv." "Have a lovely rest of the day. You deserve it." "You too, buddy. You too." And so, they both went their own way. And once Chase was back home, he didn't get lost in thought as usual. Actually, he was just thinking to all the things that happened today and how much they lifted his spirit. How nice it was to feel alive again. Henrik knew very well what this day was. It was Valentine’s Day, and he was battling some things of his own, but he shoved them all aside just for this day. A certain someone needed a check-up. “Time to visit one of my recent patients...to check on how he’s doing.” Henrik seemed a little sluggish, but that was a normal trait for him. After all, he was the best doctor in all of town. “Geez…” A thick German accent came out of his mouth, yet he walked casually down Chase’s street and quietly knocked on the door. Henrik didn’t want to disrupt his patient, so he would always be patient and knock quietly. “Henrik, what brings you here? Sure, I visit you weekly, but that doesn’t really require you to visit my house, ya know.” The capped male smiled sadly with a pity laugh. Henrik didn’t say much, but he returned the smile out of pity and entered the home. “I have come in favor of myself to ask you one thing. How are you doing? I know things have been hard with your wife and kids, but I promise that things will be better. We’re here for you. I’ve been informed that JJ, Jackie, and Marvin all cheered you up a good bit.” Henrik chuckled while sitting on the sofa with his patient beside him. “I’ve been doing fine, Henrik. they helped me with the pain a lot, actually. Their time with me helped me forget it for a while. I’m glad you visited, actually. I know that Jack’s anniversary for the channel is coming up, so if possible, could you extend the waiting hours for longer? I was wanting to visit him by myself.” Chase asked, hoping and praying that Henrik would approve of the request. “I’ll see what I can do, Chase. I promise that you’ll be able to visit him.” Henrik smiled and was given a genuine hug by Chase and returned it before he left. Chase let out a heavy sigh as he entered his littered car with one thought in mind. He only wanted to visit an old friend of his. He was able to get Henrik to extend the visiting hours for everyone, so he was able to stay longer than usual. Once he entered the hospital, he tried his best to keep his heart rate down while he asked for Jack’s real name, and arrived at the room. “Hey, buddy.” He spoke in a quiet tone with a sad smile, but all Chase wanted was for Jack to wake up. He just wanted him back, but he knew that would be a rarity of events. “Listen, if you hear me right now, just know that we’re here for you. We’ll be here for you when you wake up.” Next thing Chase knew, his hand inched over to grab Jack’s. “You know, I remember the first Valentines after Stace left. And how you spent the whole day with me and wouldn't let me even think about her for a second. I miss you buddy. I really do.. But I would lie if I said that things aren't a bit better now." Chase smiled with a sad look on his face. He missed his best friend. If anything, the others missed their best friend as well. “I’ll be back to visit you later, alright? Please...don’t forget about us and everything you’ve created. We love you and always will.” Chase placed a kiss on the limp hand before quietly leaving his seat and the dark room. He only wanted Jack to get better.

[morethanithoughtofficialblog]

Chapter 3: They deserve to be heard too... well. Some of them.

Spoiler: Sans is finally here.

You are welcome. 

*Your POV*

After agreeing with Mr. Dreemur and W.D. Gaster, my work partners just watched them go, then they stared at me. Those looks, the hate in their eyes, and their whispers made me uncomfortable. When I'll be able to do something without being criticized.

But at that moment, I didn't care. I nervously laughed, then went to my office to take care of some business, that including the cleaning. It's not as bad as my apartment, but it's not the cleanest place in the world either. And that's how it went; cleaning and typing. Lots of fun, of course.

I arrived at my apartment and... I don't remember clearly what I did. Probably the basic. Or well, maybe not the basic, since I bet I didn't sleep that much.

'Cause after that nap I was eating fucking cereal at 5 am, not to say I was already showered.

"Stupid brain" I muttered, feeling tired yet excited. Today marks the day I sold my soul for the monsters and to show humanity that these creatures aren't freaks. Well, I'm not sure. I haven't met enough, after all.

After eating, I put some makeup in my i-want-to-die-but-not-yet face. Just a bit, since society asks for it. I really hoped it wasn't like this but, hey, I can't change everything! Besides, a lot of girls like makeup, so I feel obligated to at least look "presentable" in that aspect.

And then, my day started. At 5:15 am. Just great.

Since I'm just a young person who's still dealing with college, my money it's not enough to actually buy a car. But hey, I have a bike. And public transport. And that's what I picked.

The underground subway was somehow a quiet place, mostly because everyone's still craving for their beds. I strongly relate to these people, if I'm honest. Everyone's minding their own business, too tired to talk or to make a strong scene.

I silently put my headphones for a bit, listening to those classics of rock. Yeah. This is pretty much my life. Hell, even my ringtone is a rock song, that being "Sweet Child O' Mine" from Guns N' Roses. I was thinking to change it into something more... professional. Then I remembered that nobody should give a damn, so I shrugged it off.

A whole playlist was enough to make the trip more bearable, trying to not lose my adulthood on those legendary guitar solos or in Bon Jovi's wonderful voice. Those little yet powerful details on each song reminded me why I still had faith in this world. And the sign indicating my destination brought me back to reality. I sighed.

I walked a short distance and finally arrived at that living hell called the Congress. Being part of this greedy government it's completely out of my standards, but now, I wasn't regretting it at all.

I took a seat in the non-workers area, looking like I was a mad teenager coming to reclaim her rights. Except, that I was looking pretty calm and patient. I checked quickly my phone and see it was 6:10 am. Oh well. At least I can play Mario Run for a bit; it has been ages since I did.

While a simple yet pretty loading picture showed up on my screen, my mind only had one thought: "What if they decide not to show up?"

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*Frisk's POV* (lol)

I was giving my hair the final touches when I heard Goat Mom shouting my name. I rushed down the stairs and met with everyone- well, almost everyone...

"SANS! WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE IF YOU DON'T COME!" Papyrus screamed in a horrified voice, looking at the clock for the thousandth time.

"gimme a sec bro, k?" Sans answered lazily, not even making an effort to raise his voice.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID TEN MINUTES AGO!" Papyrus cried, again, looking at the clock.

And then Sans teleported, wearing the same freaking clothes.

"Are you serious?!" Undyne exclaimed, visibly angry for such a waste of time, then we all rolled our eyes when he just winked and shrugged it off.

"Now that we all are ready, let's go!" I exclaimed enthusiastically, carrying Flowey's pot while I tried to forget that episode with Sans "We are still in good time! We have exactly... HOLY COW! FIVE MINUTES?!"

"welp, shit" Sans muttered like it wasn't his fault, getting some glances from his brother.

"Let's run, then!" Undyne cried out, carrying Alphys and starting to run.

I ran after her, Papyrus with Sans in his shoulders following me. Hell, even Mettaton was running like crazy. We can't miss this opportunity; this is our only chance!

We ran between students and boring workers, most of them with a hint of hate in their eyes. However, there wasn't any time to feel intimidated. God. If humans weren't so inconsiderate, we could have just teleported thanks to Gaster's powers. But nope. They are not allowed to use any freaking magic.

Well, I shouldn't be thinking like this. I need to be positive for everyone's sake. But still, I feel confused. Is this what hormones do? But wait, they only act like this when you are- oh. I'm twelve years old. I somehow forgot.

We ran and ran until we arrived. "Congress", the sign read. The building had an old look, but it seems it was purposefully done that way. The place itself looked pretty boring, so I just secretly prayed to don't fall asleep.

The door was slammed open, and people's stares gave us an uncomfortable welcoming. Sans climbed down of Papyrus's shoulders, realizing how bad it looked.

"*About time you take things seriously" I signed to him, with a teasing smile on his face. He looked like he was about to give me the middle finger until a young lady approached us, with a kind smile on her face.

"Hello," she said sweetly, making me relax for a bit. "My name's (Y/N) (L/N), and I'll be the one helping you through this".

Oh, so she's (Y/N)? I never thought she would be THAT young. She's really pretty, I must say. Bright (e/c) eyes that match perfectly with her skin tone. (h/c) hair not too long neither too short. She was tall, yes, but not a giant. She looked really fine. I wish I look like that at my twenties.

"Hello, Miss (L/N)" My mom intervened my thoughts, bringing me back to reality. "I'm really pleased about your kind behavior. I just hope we won't bother you that much..."

"Nonsense!" she exclaimed with a cheery tone, trying to put any awkwardness aside "I am more than open to receiving all of you in my office. Just follow me, we'll discuss everything more privately upstairs".

She guided us to a place where two elevators remained. Since we were too many people, we had to divide into two groups. Lucky thing there were elevators in the Underground, so this wasn't anything new to anyone.

When she made sure everyone was on the fourth floor (asking us how many we were), she started to guide us through the hallway. Everyone was mumbling while looking at their surroundings, staring at some paintings of famous politicians. Well, I don't think they are that famous. I've only heard of them thanks to my history books and those cringy contests on TV. Like, knowing who was the president at 1895 doesn't make you the smartest kid in class. You are just a freak who talks too much with an old man, mostly being your grandfather.

Suddenly she stopped, then opened a door with the number '486' on it.

"You can come in now" She sighed sheepishly. Wonder why. "Let me know if there aren't enough seats".

The room was quite huge, actually. She had at least ten chairs in front of a dark chocolate desk, that had an intimidating and elegant seat behind it. That must be hers, that's for sure. She had a plaque with her name on top of her desk, a small glass with pens, and a Lenovo laptop. Strangely, she had no photos of her family.

It turns out we had enough seats for everyone, but we all couldn't be in front, so we ended up doing two rows. It looked like a really small cinema. One problem, though, was that Asgore couldn't fit comfortably on his seat.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Dreemurr?" (Y/N) asked worried, watching the embarrassing scene of Asgore shifting into multiple positions. Oh God, why me? Before he or anyone could answer though, she went for her fancy chair and started to move it.

"Oh, Miss (L/N), you don't need to-" He was cut off by the impotent seat in front of him, with a slightly panting girl a few inches away.

"You can seat here, Mr. Dreemurr" She smiled widely, probably 'cause of the King's shocked face. And yes, I just remembered I should think of him as the King. Then, (Y/N) took the other chair. "I'll sit on here, don't worry".

After making that move and putting the big chair in the center, she finally took a seat. She looked insecure for a brief moment but smiled anyway. That kind of reminds me of someone...

"Now that we are all settled up, I guess we can start" She stated. And with that, our talk began...

...

It was less boring than I thought. Yes, she asked us a lot of how life was in the Underground, but none of us seemed to mind. What we mind, though, was Sans's stupid puns which, surprisingly, made her giggle quietly. He seemed to notice this, so he kept them going. It's not like I don't like puns, but this was just too much. (Y/N) didn't seem to bother at any moment, though.

But, hey, everyone felt comfortable. She made some comments now and then, most of them full of irony and sarcasm. It was fun and for a moment we forgot about our problems. It just felt like meeting an old friend again, but that's impossible. I mean, I hadn't met her before, so... yeah.

But, as soon as the conversation started, it ended as well. Everyone shook hands with her, including me.

"*Are we going to see you tomorrow?*" I asked in signs, not thinking at all.

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*Your POV*

"*Are we going to see you tomorrow?*" Frisk signed with a smile that immediately made me feel shivers down my spine. That's not something I see often, that's for sure. Frisk looked at me worried, though. Guess I did some expression that wasn't supposed to be there.

"...sure thing, Frisk," I said, way quieter than I wanted it to be. Quick, change your tone (Y/N)! "We have a lot of work to do, after all!"

She let out a sigh of relief, along with other few. It was a nice feeling. Knowing that they wanted to see me again made me ridiculously happy. And I didn't put it away.

We were already out of the elevator, on the main floor. The sun was setting, painting beautiful colors in the sky, like always. The thing is, monsters couldn't say that before. Heck, some even didn't get the chance to look at this. Whole generations, I bet.

"Miss (L/N), is it okay if we have your number?" Mr. Dreemurr asked, and smiled wider once he probably saw my shocked face. It just caught me so off of guard I didn't have the words. A short skeleton just smirked at my reaction, then I could finally talk.

"S-sure thing!" I exclaimed, which made the skeleton laugh. Just great, I'm being shamed by a skeleton shorter than I am. Way to go, (Y/N).

I reached for my presentation card, and with hesitation, I wrote down my personal number on the back. Wow, it's been ages since I've done that.

"Here it's my business number, and in the back, you can find... m-my personal number" I reluctantly said, knowing it sounded really weird. Why I wrote it down, again?

I looked away slightly, only to notice that skeleton smiling again. Oh no. I swear to God if he says anything weird, I'm going to-

"kinky" he chuckled, containing laughter. I want to kill myself so bad right now.

"SANS, WHAT'S KINKY?!" A taller skeleton asked, and I mentally cringed. And I quickly took note of that name, since it's familiar as fu- oh wait.

"Sans? Like, Comic Sans?" I asked bluntly, forgetting the whole other topic.

"oh, so now catching my name?" he joked with a wink, making me feel worse. "nah, just kidding. but, yeah, that's my name. it's 'catchy', isn't it?"

I sighed, while he just chuckled- again. This Sans guy is making me look bad. And Asgore just watched this whole scene. Great.

"Great! We can add you to our group chat, sweetie!" Mettaton (who I learned their name in the middle of the 'celebrity topic' conversation) winked. What's with the winks today? I feel like they are kink-shaming me (which it's probably what this guy and that skeleton are doing).

"And we'll just call you with the business number if it's something more serious" Mrs. Dreemurr added, obviously unaware of Mettaton's intentions. I gulped. I just hope he doesn't spam me with lewd stuff or something like that. Already happened at high school, and honestly, I feel like an immature teenager again.

Then they all gave their quick goodbyes. Some shooked my hands. Some hugged me. Some smiled. And others even cried.

"Thank you so much for giving us hope." A female (judging by her voice) skeleton said, sobbing quietly on my shoulder. I froze in shock, but I eventually returned the hug.

"It's no problem, believe me" I muttered softly, while a soft smile made its way to my face. "After all, you deserve to be heard too".