#whatever at the end of the day i thonk i just liked him for his looks

[brisk-tea-rex]

+++++

[koishua]

𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚 𝗝𝗨𝗡𝗚𝗪𝗢𝗡: 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗟 𝗕𝗢𝗬𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗

an entire sweetheart mixed with a decent amount of a pain in the ass. he had been your friend before anything, so you know how he functions, having spent years with him. honestly, calling him your bf makes you feel a tad bit weirded out for a seconf because you had always called him your best friend for so long ugh

it’s always a good kind of weird though :( it feels very surreal. 

none of you wanted to risk breaking your whatever sort of tension filled friendship going on.

he had actually prepared to confess to you on multiple occasions with all of the scripted words and all that jazz, but each time, when push came to chove, he would chicken out lmao

same would be for you, too nervous to do the deed and just. freaking. confess???

honestly, life would have been so much easier for the two of you had either of you put on your “big boy pants” on lmfao

your confession would end up being a spur of the moment kind of deal

rest is under the cut!

you’d be play-fighting each other in his room since he wanted to test out his new taekwondo skills on you smh (which reminds me!! you definitely have had a few bruises because you challenged him bahahaha)

and you’d roll around on the floor trying to outmaneuver each other and lock them down

bam.

your forehead smashed against his and then the back of your head ended up thonking on the side of his mattress ;-; pain. 

he is dying out of laughter when that happens :’) he is wheezing and struggling to breathe, immediately going over to your side to pull you up and cradling your head in his arms

not thinking about anything because it all seemed very funny, he would press a kiss on your forehead where you had bumped into him :((((((

and then

yeah he would burn bright red when he realised what he did sdfbvhfcb

you’d just sit there, frozen and baffled by the events that had just occurred.

cue the awkward silence because you are teens and have to make everything so awkward lmfao honestly his blinks are so cute istg he would be looking like a deer caught in headlights

you would wordlessly decide not to talk about whatever that had just happened to each other and bring it up huhuuhuh. 

the tension would still linger the following days though djbvfj every brush of your hands, every stray look casted at each other, every smile and laugh would feel so much more different than they were before. 

one day you would both have enough of stepping around egg shells around each other and just burst :(( cue the awkward teen confessions hehe oml he would feel like crawling into a hole and just... stay to rot because he stumbled over his words a few times while trying to say that he likes you ;-; cute.

after that, it’s pretty smooth sail though wbk yang jungwon best boy :(

your friends would look suspisciously at you whenever you’d have one of those silent conversations with your eyes during class :’)

jungwon isn’t sappy, he hates mushy gushy yucky sweet stuff bahahaha. that’s why it still feels like you are just two best friends who sometimes hold each others’ hands for a little too long, stare at each others’ faces for a little more than usual and stuff :(((( just very wholesome without being too djcnvldfjkbd if you know what i mean 

that doesn’t mean that he won’t do sweet gestures to you both at school and when you hang out together outside :(

he would take your bag out of your hold without giving it much thought, walk according to your own pace and let you rest your head on his shoulders to take a nap during breaks if you felt tired ;-;

istg everything feels so natural with him once you get past that awkward “are we friends? are we more than friends?” stage :’)

you would attend his tournaments and cheer for him ugh <//3 his heart would definitely burst when he sees you on the side with his mom and sister sdjcbjcb (i’m imagining this and busting a big fat uwu internally because tournaments have such a special atmosphere imo. i miss it oof- ;-; )

he would definitely be shy whenever his friends tease him about his actions near you dfuhbdfj wants to curl into a ball and roll away merrily lmao

would walk you to your classes if you have seperate ones :( 

also, r.i.p because he would definitely be giving you funny faces whenever you try to give a presentation or answer a question on the board bahahah

a lot of high fives for any small accomplishment lmao it’s very endearing

always searches around for you whenever he is happy or nervous :(((( just- he is always on the lookout for you okay? he feels more relaxed if he knows you are there

when you two are alone, he loves to sneak his fingers through yours and intertwine them together, loving the way it would feel. it’s very comforting for him :(

also, he doesn’t mention it, but he dies and cries a little inside whenever you play with his locks because IT. FEELS. SO. GOOD. IT’S SO CUTE. PLEASE NEVER STOP TOUCHING HIS HAIR.

he somehow remembers every detail about yo and the smallest things you ever mentioned :( uses that ability to surprise you ;-; <//3

also, play dates with maeumi ;-;-;-;-;-; you’d run around and goof off, just the three of you :(( he always has a blast with you and just generally loves the time he spends with you <//3

he loves teasing you and judges you for your horrible decisions a lot lmao like that one time you decided to mix two unmixable ingredients together in your smoothie and almost ended up throwing up the drink in his kitchen sink lmfao

he has so so so many blurry pictures of you taken at who knows what hour and where because you literally cannot make out anything from the picture except the fact that it’s you bahaha

he has his homescreen set as you :(( he kept the shot of you playing with the plushy claw machine with your wide eyes and excited jumping when you managed to win a llama plush toy as his wallpaper for the longest time even though the quality wasn’t the nicest since he had also been just as excited as you were :’(((

smiles dumbly to himself any time he opens his phone lmao he also has blackmail material with your meme faces he had manage to catch vidsjkcn;jk not that you don’t have the exact same stuff as him >:)

you caught him singing once and would never let him down because HE. SOUNDED. SO. GOOD.?????

you would beg to make him sing any chance you got because everyone deserved to be serenaded by his honestly very unique and loveable voice ugh

he would end up agreeing to participate in a mini karaoke event that had popped up at your school, goofing off for you but still sounding amazing istg how is he real???

you have more than a few recordings of his dance covers he would show you sometimes and you would learn new choreos together :((( you’d almost die laughing the first time you saw him popping in his sleep, a recording of that stashed in your phone storage bahaha

also, jungwon may not be clingy at school or outside, but whenever you have sleepovers together,,, oh boy is he soft ;-;

once he is tired and ready to just crash and sleep, he would let down his teasing and transform into a softie <//3 i just cry at the thought of his holding you by your middle and not letting you go anywhere while he starts dozing off ;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;

he is a shy boy when it comes to physical affection, so no pda lmao not in public he would absolutelu combust :’)

but when no one is there to watch, he smiles so wide when you pepper his face with kisses ;-; 

i’m soft <//3

loves waddling slowly around while hugging you, swaying left and right while his arms are wrapped around you and you try to just go the living room to grab your phone from the table sjbfdhcb

loves it when you cup his face and run your thumb over his dimples ;-;-;-;-;-;-; 

oof- anyways, i’m getting carried off omg okay bye this is the end of it <//3

[randomwriteronline]

His wrist beeped. When he looked down, a few messages saluted him from the thin bright screen.

5:45. Bad news: caught the plague. quaranteening, wont come to work

5:45. Good news: no fever, just clogged nostril n throat kinda sore

5:46. Bad news: entire body fucken hurty

Ah. That's where she was.

5:47. agony?

5:47. Good news: dull ache

5:47. Bad news: annoying as hell

5:48. good. rest up.

5:49. Im gonna watch all of raikou man in one sitting

5:50. seems excessive.

5:50. I cantbpunch

5:51. Raikou man punch for me

5:51. Fucken grab those bastatds

5:51. Did yoy know theres a guy called mr no in raikou man

5:52. no.

5:53. DO NOT LOOK IT UP HES LOOKS LIKE A DIVK

5:53. Did you know. Its based. On a paldean gifaragaig

5:53. Giafarigarf

5:53. Falafal

5:54. girafarig?

5:54. No

5:54. Other bastard

5:55. Long ruckwn neck

5:55. tropius?

5:56. How tf dis you understand tropius from my attempts

5:57. long neck.

5:58. Whatever not important

5:59. After that. Lady oscar time baby

5:59. all of it?

6:00. Yeags

6:00. please sleep.

6:01. Oh im fucjeb gonna my head is heavy

6:02. Anyways. Is the ramen packets good for tonight bc i dont thonk i can do anything other tahn cjop veggies

6:03. you cant come.

6:03. ??? Yes???? I can??? You will eat bic

6:03. Bicth

6:03. Birg

6:03. Shat

6:04. take your time.

6:04. Im bitng your spleen

6:04. Oh wait no the goddamned. Plague. I agce it. Fuck

6:05. yup.

6:06. Eat

6:06. will do.

6:07. You better you fpeixe of fuck

6:08. My stomach is shifting to the side its veey annoying n uncormfortable

6:09. gross and concerning.

6:10. Yea

6:11. But anyways

6:11. Good day on the traisn

6:11. Kick ass

6:12. Ill ve here stretching my back and napoing probably

6:13. have a good nap!

6:13. Gnap

A couple hours later, his wrist buzzed again.

8:45. Mawile

8:46. B sent

8:47. Emolga with letter cover wnvelope envelope to your home

8:48. Falvour flavour packet inside

8:49. Flavour shrimp

8:50. When see envelope under door worry no

8:51. Remember eat when home

Emmet smiled a little.

8:52. thank you. is briosa asleep?

8:52. Yes

8:52. good.

8:53. Fememberd remember dinner

8:53. a bit early for that. but i will. thank you.

8:54. Remember!

8:54. will do! thank you mawile. take care of briosa.

After five minutes he got a thumbs up. Good to see they had found the tab with the emoticons.

At around midnight, while Emmet failed to force himself to wash the dishes, his Xtransceiver rang; he positioned it on the dinner table, at a good enough distance from himself so that his hands could come into view clearly.

“Hello,” Briosa croaked at the other end as he waved. “Did you get the flavor packet Guts sent you?”

Emmet nodded.

“Made yourself dinner with it?”

“Had a nice bowl of broth.”

At that she brought her own bowl into view as if it to toast with it: “That’s the life!” she laughed. “I had some... Fucking, spinach, in it, whatcha put in yours?”

“Cut some maccheroni and put them in.”

“Ourgh, fuck yes. Pastina. Did I ever bring you the turtlén?”

He shook his head.

“Gotta make ‘em. Gonna make some while I’m stuck here and bring ‘em over. You know, uh... Wanton soup? They’re kinda like that, but not fried. And it’s, I mean you’re not... Supposed, to add stuff. To, uh, when you make soup with... Turtlén - I mean you can also eat them dry with sauce, but broth is... So good.”

“So good.”

“So good.”

“Sooo good.”

“I’m gonna make stock broth and turtlén since I’ve got all this time. I’m gonna put that fucking delight in a bottle and drink it nice and lukewarm on shifts.”

“Not really hydrating, is it?”

“Yeah... Gonna put the broth in a bottle and boil the turtlén in it for you. When Mustrudi comes I’m gonna make you a lil’ bag of ‘em.”

“Why on Mustrudi?”

“Ah, tradition! You eat turtlén on Mustrudi eve. All the rest is usually stuff you can make cold, but not turtlén. Turtlén in broth on Mustrudi, with the snow out...” and she leaned her head back and gave a gurgle that sounded disgustingly funny: “Absolute delight. Peace and love on planet Earth.”

Behind her, Seismitoad made a long croak echoing the sentiment.

Emmet laughed softly.

“I’ll make ‘em,” Briosa promised, words slurring a bit. “Gonna steam clean ‘em and lock ‘em in the fridge for quaranteen and once I’m out it’s over for you.”

“Alright.”

“Over I say!”

“Go to sleep. How are you? Still hurts?”

“Nah, not much. Dull aches, but overall good. You?”

“Am alright.”

“Nice. Ok! Wash the dishes and get the hell to bed. You got work tomorrow. I’m gonna go sleep too. In solidarity. And also because I’m, kinda tired.”

“Good, good.”

They waved each other goodbye; Emmet finally managed to get himself to the sink, soap and sponge in hand, and slowly but surely cleaned his bowl and the little pot that had seemed like such a gargantuan task moments before.

[romancemoving]

My initial impression of Virote: Just a super funky lil' guy trying to vibe along in life despite his world constantly crashing down 25/8... His personality really do be like a colourful firework going off at 3am out of no where to throwing a shiny pebble across the calm sea and watching it skip a few times in ease before it drowns... And with his demeanor, he makes me feel like anything is possible to do / achieve, even if it's generally considered to be very wild to get into, or show him an art part of me feels it's not well done yet his presence is still somehow chill enough to make me feel like he'd be proud of me. I think the duality of his chaotic-ness and chillness stand out to me the most. I love how loud and chaotic he is, but also, he is also very patient and understanding, when you really stick around with him for a good enough of time. I love that Virote makes me feel like going on the best rollercoaster, while also feeling at home, listening to some lo-fi songs while drawing or just anything creative related. I don't think it's very easy to write a character who can really capture and deliver both the chaos and chillness equally, so the fact Virote is like that so well honestly amazes me! Truly, what a delightful character.

✨ @antigoddex. meme. still accepting!

if u throw that pebble too hard, it skips across the entire sea, back to land again, and hits someone in the head. and then it boomerangs back into ur hand ( that would be a great, petty, immature weapon to have......... gkfjgh just a tiny rock u skip and then it thonks someone in the forehead and returns to u .... ) u kno whats funny about vi’s level of loud... like in terms of how he talks. his loud is still kinda soft for a lot of people because his voice is pretty soft to begin with.... so its just kinda cute. esp when he insults someone across the room.... smh. having his cute ass voice telling someone to go fuck themselves and die.....  anyway omg thank u.... he has a big heart and a big, big sense of self. even if he isnt the most confident at times. at the end of the day, he does believe in himself. its almost scary how resilient he is. his resolve and will have been his strongest points........

he would absolutely b proud of whatever art u make! whatever art anyone makes as long as there’s heart in it! he can sniff out bullshit art from miles away... like shit from banksy and ppl like that lol. he encourages everyone to do art. even if theyre not good at it. whatever good means to you or anyone else. as long as there’s heart in it. that’s kind of all he’s ever asked for, especially art an art therapist.

anyway u know i luv leek................. luv u, glad to have u around again, was worried id never see u again!!!

and now i leave u w. this

i hope the first 7 minutes of this rainy,  breezy loop makes u think of vi.........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gtQuKQVknk

[stray-tori]

TPN S02E04 - Initial Thoughts (anime-only)

viewing + post-ep talk with my friends: Google Drive (sorry, youtube denied me again)

(i) Translations are in the English (USA) CC (including the english bits as well for those who struggle with the audio/language, etc.)

pls validate my efforts and watch it.

there’s some anime-only talk about the adaptation towards the end, I wasn’t trying to be arrogant, just mention it to my friends based on some things I’d heard and without spoiling them about what is different that I do know of specifically. But if you want to avoid that, feel free to!

I definitely said it a bit too in favor of the anime, and obviously my friends’ just got my simplified thoughts on it? Like when they said it makes sense for the anime to move on quicker, but that’s not really what’s different. 

So yeah, please forgive the dubious things in that segment, I really just didn’t think about my words a lot.

.

. Random thoughts

The fish bug scenes were delightful TvT Also the animation during them trying to grab them???

The OST during Isabella’s scenes???? take me

I think we also heard the OST sneak peak from a while ago during the cave confrontation with the army force human

Don is a useless nightwatch, goddamn it Don

Don is an epic chairman.

Loved the shot of Ray shooting at the big demon (why didn’t Emma get a cool shot? :THONK:), very dynamic, very epic.

Also them running together to push the man off the cliff was... something haha.

I’m losing my mind that we’re actually just ending on the way ep1 started. Same animation loops too, eh. to be expected, and obviously adjusted for different clothing and items but. still as someone who wants to praise for not re-using animation, rip.

EMMA HAVING SLEEPING CHILDREN AROUND HER AWWWW

Eyy Ray took a bath with the others too, yay

.

. The bunker

So, the twist was that there was really.... no twist at all. Minerva was a good guy, he tried his best, he got discovered and chased.

And yet, I don’t think the bunker was previously discovered by the farms, which would at least warrant a “scare” like that, effectively making it a trap. They may have been aware of a shelter’s existence, but I don’t think they’ve been there before.

You could probably assume that the Troup that attacked our characters may have also removed the previous escapees from the scene --- but if that was the case, why leave all of the letters and other things in place. Not getting there immediately is understandable, they seem to arrived by foot (what? do you plan to keep an eye on the children the whole like 5 day march back or however long it took?? dang). So that’s not it.

So: what caused the HELPs? the person writing in the book seems to have been abandoned or more likely, are the only survivor of their group (maybe the only person in the group at all). Now it’d be an option for them to have found this safe haven and decided to just spend their days there, slowly losing their minds and doing the things on the wall. But then the message in the book, on the other hand, seems traumatized and sad, but not as lost as the carvings on the wall.

So either, they calmed down after going crazy and then once they did, they decided to leave.

Or it’s from two different people (or multiple), the one after the “HELP” one probably leaving the uplifting message in the book nearby of the scribbles.

I’m not sure which I’d find more likely, but all in all, I’m not sure why they didn’t just have the demons already know of the place and just have the letter (they probably wouldn’t have searched everything in the place) not be as obviously placed and then boom, they could still have made all discoveries they needed and when they found the help wall, it would have been from children trapped in the room while the men searched the bunker, wanting help.

* Clearly that’s not what they were going for, since there’s also day-counting things, but even that you could have explained by saying, they missed a child and the other escapees convinced them that they died, somehow and so they were left behind, traumatized by their friends being taken back and giving up for a while. It still runs into the same “but how can it be the same person?” doubt that my friend brought up, but I think that it’d justify the shock value of the wall more. Still not really making the whole “HELP” thing add up though, since that just sounds like there’s an immediate threat, when there isn’t. The only other thing I can think of is that the entire wall wasn’t one instance, so the counting could be solitude, the HELPs acute danger and the names probably also solitude. The drawing on the right also makes me think it was probably a child as well, fairly young. Poor kid.

Unless there’s something more to it I feel like it makes a little more sense, but still not a lot (WHY’D YOU LEAVE YOUR SNACKS, BRO) but seeing as we’ve left, I don’t think we’ll get to know.

.

I’m assuming the way the farm knew now is either a) they were aware but didn’t see any reason to go there unless there were children there, b) they saw the coordinate carvings (thanks Ray) or c) the pursuers contacted the farms (which would make sense, and again, thanks Ray).

.

.. the farm has a military force???

I also find it kind of funny that the farms have a military force??? Because so far, we’ve never seen them use guns to do anything. Which makes me think they might not be farm-intern but from an outside force, maybe the humans who are more “on-level” with them?

Like, what do they do all day. They’re probably not part of the buff demon guards and.... idk man haha-

.

. Isabella

Ahh I was happy to see her! I was even happier to be like “hah, prison. Knew it.” and then later reacting to the offer, even though that wasn’t exactly what I called, but damn. the pride. my fucking expression too lol, i couldn’t hide it at all pff.

Her jump in motivation is a little weird, but I do see it as, someone who has basically accepted their fate, and when that gets challenged, the will to live takes over. 

I’m also not quite sure how she’s supposed to capture them if she can’t leave?

And then of course there’s whatever they promised her aside from “freedom” (which, if that just means being let outside, good luck ma’am there’s demons everywhere) - or is the transportation to the human world included? :D

Based on her clothing in the OP, I might have guessed it’d be “become a grandma” but that doesn’t really go well with the promise of freedom so.... I don’t know where that entire thing is going pff-

We don’t know a lot about what drives Isabella but one of the few things we do know is a) will to live and b) Leslie (????), hence the lullaby in “stressful” situations.

She already got the will to live with the baseline deal, so the only thing I can think of that would make her react more than freedom would be that Leslie’s alive and she can see him if she helps.

I’m not sure if she’s interested in anything else, like how the world works or what she can do for anyone, like.... hm. Of course it could totally be something that we just don’t know yet but yeah I guess that’s my guess.

They probably won’t give up Ray and seeing as she’s more concerned about his brain than anything, I don’t think even if they did allow her to take him with her, it probably wouldn’t mean a lot to her. Plus, why lose another high quality cattle.

I guess it could be, she did seem she wanted to be a proper mother figure, but idk something tells me it’s probably not something like that.

It would also be more “???” than “OHHH” of an reveal. Then again, Leslie is also an obvious choice so.

Maybe it’s something entirely new, we’ll see :D

.

. The possibily wrong date

So when Anna writes a journal thingy, we see this

And, well, their escape happened in January 2046, so... for that to be true, somewhere along the line, an entire year would have had to pass.

I’m assume this is a production error because

they didn’t get to harvest once

they wouldn’t wait a year to talk about the plan to go back

Ray wouldn’t need an ear patch for so long, he only has a cut

the montage only showed 22nd and 23rd, if an entire year had passed, we’d have been shown more varied dates, etc.

then it makes even less sense for why the army shows up one year later out of nowhere :D

...

Smh, CloverWorks, what can you even do right.

.

Yee, thanks for reading!

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

So I would have done this earlier, but my day decided to start with a headache, and I only just got the medication to kick in to handle it, so. Let’s see how Izuku’s training goes in the second half of the chapter.

(Reminder: Don’t clean up trash dumps without proper safety gear and tetanus shots, that’s how you get sick with like twenty different things and die.)

[No. 2 - Roaring Muscles]

They meet again at the Dagobah- I mean the Takoba Municipal Beach Park at 6 AM, which is an hour that would daunt many. The narration from Izuku notes that receiving the power won’t be so easy, while transitioning to the first scene of said training:

Really, Izuku? Starting a bit on the high end of the scale there, aren’t you? Well, I mean, compared to the actual trucks and stuff, I suppose it’s not the highest end, but still. Also, that All Might shirt, I’m cackling. And All Might just sitting on top of the fridge and giving commentary, ah, my exact weird niche of humor.

(Nice ‘no dumping’ sign there. Seriously, so many trucks and cars just in that one pile??? How??? Did they get there??? I suppose strength / telekinesis / whatever, but still, this seems excessive.)

Izuku, naturally, flops to the ground in defeat while All Might makes light of the lack of progress. Izuku mentions that All Might is 274 kilos alone, which All Might corrects to 255 - at least in that form, anyways. Izuku then finally gets to asking why he’s hauling garbage across the beach.

His hands are so fucking big what the hell. Also ouch, All Might’s blunt statement of fact making Izuku slide into a depressive spiral, complete with tears. He quickly clarifies that he means Izuku’s body isn’t ready, which pulls Izuku out of said tearfest with the most hilarious ‘what the fuck’ face I have yet seen.

Like I’m sorry I’m just cackling at literally all of this, it’s just portrayed so fantastically. All Might taking all the pictures, Izuku’s confused face, then the horror in his expression as he imagines his body exploding. Man, remember that time he was worried about losing his limbs? Good times, good thing he’s going to immediately forget that once he has his quirk.

Izuku, chapter 2: My limbs!!!!

Izuku, chapter 4: Friendship ended with limbs. Now OFA is my best friend.

Also, before I move on and forget, another description of OFA provided here - it binds the physical strength of many people into one. Aka, a stockpile of power. I wonder if anything else also gets stockpiled with that physical strength, hmm… [thonk]

Another addition from discord, since I didn’t notice the translation error: All Might says his quirk is All For One there. I can’t believe he was the true villain of the series all along.

Izuku repeats to clarify - he’s at the beach to train his body by hauling trash. All Might gives him a yes and a thumbs up, before continuing on to explain how the beach has been like this for years, with Izuku agreeing, bringing up the currents and how people add to it by dumping garbage there, even when they shouldn’t… not that anyone who lives around there ever comes there.

Holy fuck All Might stronk. That was a tap and it went cronch.

Right, All Might goes on to explain that young heroes are only after fame and glory, but that heroism is all about volunteer work, no matter how unglamorous, and that they’ll strive to bring back the beautiful view - as he puts his hand on top of the fridge and crunches it down hard enough to send debris flying all around it.

All Might calls this Izuku’s first step on the path to becoming a hero, and Izuku  looks around and hesitantly asks whether All Might really means all of the beach, as the scene zooms out to give a sense of just how much work would be involved in that. All Might asks if Izuku wants to get into UA, which Izuku confirms, because All Might went to UA, so he definitely wants to go there if he can.

BABEY. Also All Might calling him a blind fanboy, which I mean, it’s true, but still.

All Might tells Izuku that, as he said before, it’s not possible for someone quirkless, and that that’s the sad reality of things. He also explains that UA’s hero course is the toughest there is. Izuku picks up on what All Might means - he has ten months to make his body ready to take on the power of One For All.

All Might turns back around with a sheaf of papers that… where did he pull them from even? Magic, I guess. He explains that those papers are his self-designed ‘Pass The Test, American Dream’ plan.

...huh, from the sound of that, if Izuku had stuck to it, he might have finished earlier than he did in canon? Which I guess makes sense with how he set himself back being a dumb, desperate teenager, but still weird to think about. Izuku notes that even his sleep schedule is planned out, and All Might whispers that it’ll be really tough, and asks if Izuku can do it. Izuku says he can, and that he knows he has to work harder than anyone to make it.

And so began ten hellish months. Starting out with dragging an empty locker set up to Toshinori’s truck and running around with tires over his shoulders.

We transition over time, seeing Izuku in class looking exhausted and thinking about dealing with another ten months of that training. He then starts thinking about his time left and his training schedule, and then about possible self-training right after he was handed a tailor-made schedule to follow by his hero and idol. What a legend.

...wait, we can calculate when this is, since the entrance exam is noted to be February 26th (which for my purposes is going to be a Sunday, for reasons I’ll get into next chapter)! So that’s 294 days, plus the week’s space Izuku wants…

Since he’s in class, I’m going to assume this is actually ‘Monday, May 2nd’ and the week he’s giving himself isn’t exact. So this is already a bit into the training, considering that we know the following:

Japanese school start the second Monday of April

Katsuki was still 14 the day of the sludge villain incident

His birthday is April 20th

That first training session had to be on a weekend

The Sludge Villain incident had to be either the 14th or 15th, with that training session at the beach two days later, on the 16th or 17th. This means that Izuku’s been training for two weeks when he starts considering how to alter his training.

Math! Where was I again? Oh right, Izuku considering how he won’t finish in time with the limited hours he can spend actually doing strength training, and what time he can afford to shave. His muttering is pervasive enough that the entire class pauses to stare at him, before the teacher finally knocks him out of the fugue by extending his arm and knocking him on the head, asking if he hit his head during the villain attack (which is again called the mudman, but I love how the fandom just collectively decided ‘sludge villain’). While the class calls him ridiculous, neurotic, and creepy, he realizes he also has to factor in study time for the exams. Also of note:

No reaction from Katsuki. Hmm.

We next get into a montage of the training, showing all the hard work Izuku is putting in. His studying is being pushed way too late at night (yikes, that’s 2:10 AM), and there’s books to translate there. I can’t read all of them, but I’ll see what I can do.

Top shelf:

ヒーロー [hiirou] 大会 [taikai] (assembly, conference) ???

Not confident on the kanji, but it’s something hero related, and I suspect would have to do with heroics laws or history.

Bottom shelf:

アメリカン [Amerikan] [H or N-styled kanji??]

Some kind of book on American… something. Possibly related to politics or history, or perhaps literature?

Yeah, that’s all I can pick out, the rest is just too small for me to discern confidently. We can probably assume it’s stuff relevant to his studies, though.

Back with the montage, Izuku’s got some bags under his eyes for a good number of these, showing how much sleep he’s putting off and how much he’s overworking himself. He’s practically asleep in class, he throws up during training, and then we get to his breaking point:

How do we keep forgetting he has both a truck and a segway? I seriously want to know what happened to both of them.

Toshinori initially thinks Izuku’s just giving up for the day, but then he actually takes a look and realizes Izuku’s overworked himself. He explains that his plan was designed specifically to get Izuku’s body ready before the exam date, but that Izuku’s hasn’t stuck to it. He notes that overdoing it is no good, and asks if Izuku really wants to pass.

Izuku, heaving for breath, says he does, but he doesn’t wanna just pass. He has to work harder than anyone else, or else he’ll never catch up, and that he wants to be like his mentor, the strongest hero.

Such desperation! Toshinori sees it as well, and realizes Izuku’s focused on the far future. He swells into All Might, picking up Izuku and calling him a blind fanboy with dumb zeal, and that that’s exactly what he likes to hear. Also, RIP Izuku, you’re fucking dead bro. He says he gets where Izuku is coming from, but that this isn’t a time to panic, and that he’ll modify the plan for him. Izuku shakily replies that All Might isn’t old.

And so we transition one last time, to February 26th, 6 A.M. - Exam Day.

That is a well earned roar of victory, considering that’s the last of the trash on the beach, already moved to position to be shoved into the truck and dropped at the dump. The entire place is spotless (asides from all the seepage into the sand, but we won’t worry about that) and Toshinori is impressed at the timing and the exceeding of his expectations. I’m gonna assume he was gone for a while in order to be impressed with the difference and the final appearance of the beach. He’s so impressed, in fact, that he swells right up into All Might.

Izuku wobbles and slips from the top of his pile, just to be caught by his mentor, who tells him well done. Izuku pants out that he did it, though he’s still got those eyebags… seriously, kid, pace yourself. All Might is impressed, and shows him his phone while Izuku shakily gets to his feet.

Seriously his hands are so fucking huge what the fuck. How does he type on his phone in that form. Also, that difference between the limp noodle of ten months ago, and the Izuku heading into the exam is notable:

Holy heck he buff now. All Might says Izuku is a true vessel now, and Izuku shakily replies that he feels like he cheated, what with all the help he got, and that he feels blessed for it. All Might thinks that that’s wrong, it’s because of his own efforts that he earned it. He tells Izuku to quit being a crybaby, and that it’s time for the award ceremony.

While plucking a hair from his bangs, he mentions that there’s a big difference between being born with a silver spoon and working your butt off to get it, and that Izuku should take to heart that he earned the power fair and square. Izuku thinks it’s like a twist out of a comic book, right in his reach, and then:

Fantastic. All Might says it doesn’t matter what it is Izuku eats, so long as he gets his DNA. Izuku mutters that it isn’t how he’d thought it’d go, and the narrative mentions the exam begins in three hours from that moment. And so the chapter closes out, with a lot of work put in by our green bean hero-in-training.

Even knowing this is what happened from the anime and fanfics, I’m still surprised Izuku actually sort of defied / ignored All Might’s plans and advice to push himself harder. I imagine this is a trend we’ll see a lot of going forward - even in his hero worship, he also lacks the restraint that keeps him from injuring himself as much as he does.

Also, forget teacher All Might, where’s the personal trainer All Might / Toshinori fics? He’s clearly a LOT better at that tailored, one on one physical training, as opposed to the class teaching or lesson planning stuff. On examination of the evidence and what went into it, we can determine the following about Izuku's training plan and the events of the chapter:

He would have been ready for OFA before the day of the exam, and probably gotten in just enough combat training in order to be able to handle the robots.

He would NOT have finished cleaning the beach at that point; it probably would have been a project Toshinori had him finish over the month between the exams and the start of high school.

At some point soon, I’ll put together a side document that’ll keep track of estimated dates for stuff. I’m sure there’s more thoughtful and accurate ones out there, but, well. Might as well make one of my own. Meanwhile, I’ll get up that character sheet for Izuku and then head into the third chapter.

[platypanthewriter]

Switch Your Partner Round And Round (pt 1)

for @ihni​.  The second half will post on Ao3 Sunday, here next Weds!

Steve’s head pounded, and he squeezed his eyes shut against the flickering light and heat on his face. The hard plastic of the steering wheel dug into his cheek, and as he groaned, something slid off his hair and fell on his leg, then clinked to the floor. He blinked to see flames, and jerked his head up, then swore at the blurring lights and rush of pain in his skull. He blinked his eyes again, registering Robin next to him in the passenger seat, her head lolling against the seatbelt. The Camaro they’d t-boned—the Camaro with Billy Hargrove in it—had burst into flames. Billy jerked back against the seat, then started scrabbling at the inside of the driver’s-side door, and Steve pushed his own door open, staggering towards the Camaro.

Billy looked up, his eyes widening, and Steve yanked harder at the door, the heat from the engine block crinkling the paint on the hood. The seat next to Billy was on fire, around a lidless bottle of Everclear. The handle wouldn’t work, and Steve had to put a foot next to Billy’s door to yank it open. Billy yelled, holding his arms up defensively and coughing black smoke in a cloud around them, but Steve grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him out just as the whole passenger seat of the Camaro burst into flames in the air flow from the door, throwing them both to the ground. Billy rolled over him as they fell, hacking the smoke in huge gouts— at least the monster’s gone, in this heat, Steve thought, his brain fading out again as the night as the air filled with sirens, and the sky lit up blue and white.

When he woke again, he wished he hadn’t. Every part of him ached—his whole right side and hand were alternately numb or throbbing, his head hurt even worse than before, and his throat felt like he’d thrown up cement.

“Don’t freak out,” someone hissed, and Steve groaned, trying to swallow.

He tried to move, and his wrist clinked against something. He yanked at it, curling on his side, and it clinked again. Steve slowly opened his eyes enough to see he was handcuffed to a bed, then shut them again against the shooting pain of the fluorescent lights.

“Don’t, stop it,” the voice growled. “Keep your chill, Harrington, christ. Sssh, they’re coming, keep your damn mouth shut!”

Steve groaned again, wanting nothing in the world so much as water. He registered a shower-curtain noise, and squinted up, only to have a man in scrubs address him as “Mr. Hargrove”, and ask him what day it was, and whether he knew his name. He tried to correct him, rasping out a “Haaaa...harrrr,” but the man realized he was dying of thirst, and left to search for a cup of ice cubes.

The second the nurse was gone, the bed next to him squeaked, and the curtain was yanked aside to show him his own face, bruised, cut, and weirdly shaped outside of a mirror. “Shut up, Harrington,” it hissed, and Steve made a noise in the back of his throat, like a dog. “Shut up. If you say anything, they’ll lock us up, cool your jets—”

Steve tried to talk again, and made a perfectly reasonable squawk this time.

“Shut up shut up,” hissed his face. “They won’t believe you, we’ll never get out of here—” It yanked its arm, and Steve registered it was handcuffed as well. That thought was reassuring, and Steve drank the water when the nurse returned and pressed the straw between his lips, falling asleep content that the thief that had stolen his face wasn’t going anywhere.

The next time Steve awakened, he was still in the hospital. He stared up at the ceiling for a long while, waiting to hear someone say, “You’re awake.” Nancy, maybe. He set his jaw, telling himself not to hope for anyone else.

No chairs shifted. No throats cleared, and Steve closed his eyes, smiling tightly at the knowledge nobody was impatient to find out how he was. He rolled his head to frown at the bed beside him, where what looked like his body lay, and wondered again whether he wasn’t awake. I’m in a coma, he thought. S’weird watching myself. Maybe somebody will visit. Try to kiss me awake. He squished the oddly tickly pillow with his face, glowering over at his body. Maybe nobody told my mom I got in a wreck. Maybe everybody forgot I was even here.

Just then, his body snored, and Steve jerked, clacking the handcuff on his wrist against the bed rail. Do coma, uh, coma people, he thought muzzily, do people in comas snore? His body rolled over and curled up, flinging an arm over the edge of the bed—there were all his moles on that dangling arm, and he thought indignantly, how come I’m moving if I’m over here— and then he blinked when the brown eyes that belonged properly in his mirror and not on another person opened and blinked back at him.

“Harrington,” hissed the imposter. “You’re finally awake, jesus. Don’t say anything, okay, they—they’ll think we’re insane, we can’t figure this out any easier in a mental hospital—”

“Gimme hair back,” Steve mumbled, holding his un-handcuffed hand—it was full of tubes—up to block the weird person who’d stolen his face. “Ha! I can’ see you.”

“God fucking hell dammit,” the thief groaned. “Go back to sleep.”

“Thief,” Steve hissed, trying to pull his blanket up, and groaning. The other bed squeaked, and then his bodysnatcher tucked him in, and Steve let his eyes slide closed.

When Steve awakened again, the thief was sitting up, and Robin was hugging him. Steve wondered whether he was having an out-of-body experience, until the thief stared at him over his shoulder, mouthing, “Who the fuck is this?!”

“I guess you’re too dumb to die,” she sobbed, hugging him again, and Steve snorted. The thief stared over at him, and made a kissy face, pointing at her head. Steve shook his head, wide-eyed, and drew his fingers across his neck, sticking out his tongue. The thief looked even more bewildered, pulling his arms back, and Steve wanted to laugh, but he’d just realized the tickly stuff against his face was hair.

He lifted his extremely-entubed hand to squint at a fluffy curl of sun-bleached, chin-length hair. “...gonna complain,” he mumbled. “Hospital putting wigs on me.”

His body-snatcher started cackling, and Robin shot him a weirded-out look. “Sorry,” he wheezed. “I—I’m just—I think I’m still in shock,” he tried, and Robin nodded, ignoring Steve entirely.

Steve wondered what else they’d done to him, and patted his face to find a fake mustache, which he immediately tried to yank off, which hurt. “Ennnh!” he whined, as the guy with his face that his best friend was hugging laughed his ass off.

Robin left fairly shortly after, with a suspicious glance towards Steve, like he was the one stealing faces.

“You’re so high,” the thief laughed, and Steve flipped him off.

He woke again to something hitting his face, and groaned. Something smacked into his nose, and he rolled his head away, curling on his side.

“Harrington,” his doppelganger hissed. “Wake up.”

“Nnngh,” Steve told him, and felt something prod his butt.

“Wake up,” the thief said. “I told them to come back, I said you had a concussion, but they’re gonna want to know what happened—”

“Stole my face,” Steve told him, going to rub his own face, and finding the mustache again. “...what the hell. You should be handcuffed. Stealing my face.” The end of his bed shifted, and Steve raised his head to squint up at his own face, attached to his own body, sitting on the edge of his hospital bed. “Am I on...morphine or something? Am I dead...?” He swallowed thickly, blinking at the ceiling.

“Shut up, come on,” the bodysnatcher hissed, then grabbed the IV stand, and tilted the chrome arm towards Steve. “Hopper lemme loose, he thinks I’m you, he’s gonna start asking questions— look! Look at your face!”

Steve looked at his reflection, mostly out of annoyance, to see... Billy Hargrove’s face. Billy Hargrove’s mouth dropping open, Billy Hargrove’s hand grabbing the mustache Steve could feel on his own face. He sputtered. “What? No. That’s—that’s—no, that—shit,” he whispered, yanking at a handful of curls. “Need a razor.”

“Don’t you fucking dare. What do we tell people?” his face— Steve’s face—asked, and Steve stared.

“...Hargrove?”

Billy snorted a laugh. “Catch up, Harrington—”

He cut off, because Steve had grabbed his nose. Steve turned his own head, with Billy Hargrove inside it, to the left, and then the right, eyes narrowed. “How the hell,” he mumbled.

“Stop pinching by dose,” said Billy, with Steve’s vocal cords, and Steve yanked him closer by the head. “Mmmfng,” said Billy, crawling up the hospital bed as Steve’s thumb pressed against his lower lip. The room was chilly with air conditioning, and Steve warmed his fingers on Billy’s face as it reddened.

“What’d you do,” Steve whispered, wishing his brain wasn’t so fluttery with whatever was making his side and head hurt less. Billy braced himself over the bed, letting himself be pulled in close so he was doing a push-up with his hands on either side of Steve’s shoulders, and Steve realized something. “Wait, how come—” He squinted up, blinking. “How—how come I haveta hurt, you set yourself on fire?”

“Just lucky, I guess,” Billy whispered against his fingers, and Steve squished his own face with both hands until Billy looked like a fish. His breath was warm on Steve’s face, stirring his borrowed mustache.

“Sucks,” Steve mumbled, staring into his own dark brown eyes. He surveyed his own moles, and the way the skin under his eyes squished up when Billy started laughing with his face. “...fuck you,” Steve sighed. He thought, then thonked their foreheads together, and Billy-in-his-body winced, snickering.

“Why’d you save me, anyway?” Billy whispered back, grinning away. “Walk up to a burning car. Pulled me out of a burning car, Harrington—how long you been wanting me—”

In a burst of insanity, Steve rolled his eyes and tried the next thing that came to mind. He was thinking along the lines of magic, and fairytales, and he grabbed Billy Hargrove around the back of the neck to give him a firm kiss.

He expected to get shoved, or hit, or maybe, hopefully, to switch back to his normal body, like waking up a princess, or transforming a frog. What he did not expect, and what actually happened, was Billy scrambling closer and opening his mouth, turning his head and sighing as his tongue slipped warmly against Steve’s. He hummed, smiling, and Steve opened his own mouth, the whole body he was in seizing towards the warm heavy bulk on top of him. He felt like every single cell was rushing an urgent message towards his dick, and when Billy pulled away, panting, Steve wheezed out, “Dude, I think your body is gay.”

“So’s yours,” Billy hissed, flinching back. He took a deep breath, smiled, and leaned in to make Steve’s whole body go tingly and stupid again. “Wanted me so bad you hauled me out of a burning car, Harrington—how long’s my picture been in your locker? You’re gay as shit, who’re you pointing fingers at—” He ran a hand along the skin at the edges of Steve’s bandages, inside his starchy hospital gown. “You’re gay as hell, for me,” he mumbled, laughing shakily. “Saved me. Even after I kicked your ass, you—” He leaned in, pressing messy kisses along Steve’s hairline.

The gentleness made Steve’s breath catch and his eyes sting, which didn’t help his argument any. “M’not,” he muttered. “We—we need to fix it, we need to—”

“Shut up, Harrington. Jesus, you’re freezing—”

Steve forced his tear ducts back into submission, squeezing his eyes shut, then opened them to see Billy Hargrove laughing at him.

“You scared?” Billy asked, and Steve growled, lifting his head to meet Billy’s mouth so fast their teeth banged through their lips, and Billy grunted back in his throat, wide-eyed.

“Not scared, I’m a ninja,” Steve hissed, relishing the break from lying staring at the ceiling and counting his aches. “My body’s just gay ‘cause you’re in it,” he informed Billy, who snorted, biting Steve’s lip more gently and letting it slide through his teeth. Steve groaned, closing his eyes and squirming against the feeling of rough hospital sheets against his dick. “Like fifty percent gay now,” he muttered. “S’weird.”

“What?!” Billy started laughing, and Steve tried to lift an arm to punch him, then pinched his side. Billy yelled “Screw you, Harrington—” in his ear, and Steve snickered.

“‘Cause you’re gay,” he whispered, and Billy growled.

“Shut up, I’m—if I am, you are too,” he hissed, and Steve squinted back at him.

“It’s all you! You’re a hundred percent into me?” The math didn’t seem quite right, and Steve narrowed his eyes at the ceiling. “No, why’d you beat me up? Six...sixty percent? Thirty.” He wished Nancy was there to figure it out.

“I’m not—you’re—what have they got you on—” Billy asked, propping himself up to squint at the IV.

“If you’re only thirty percent into me, half of thirty is fifteen,” Steve told him, confident, yet disappointed at the size of the number. “...think maybe Nancy was fifteen percent into me too.”

“You can’t—that makes no—”

“I was hundred percent into her,” Steve announced sadly. “‘F we’d switched, that’d have been. More.”

“You need me to find you a girlfriend, Harrington?” Billy raised his eyebrows, and Steve tried not to laugh, but he started shaking, imagining Billy Hargrove wandering around shirtless and glaring at everyone, wondering why he didn’t get laid.

“Pffffft,” he finally exploded into giggles. “Ow, oh my god. You just get laid ‘cause you look like you— don’t—don’t look like—you’re such a smug asshole —not a compliment—”

“You just need tighter pants,” Billy told him seriously, his eyes crinkled with laughter, and Steve laughed harder.

“How do you move,” Steve wheezed, rubbing the tears from his eyes on the pillow.

“You were lookin’, huh?” Billy mouthed around Steve’s jaw to his ear, breathing hot across the damp skin. “You kissed me first,” he whispered. He laughed as Steve shook his head. He looked weird, Steve thought, both eyes crinkled as he grinned, and he kept laughing. It was impossible to imagine Billy’s regular face that delighted. “You can’t lie to me now, Harrington, you gave yourself away.”

“I was just trying something,” Steve told him, trying to breathe slowly. “Thought—thought maybe it’d work. We’d change back.”

“Let’s keep trying,” Billy whispered back, grinning. “‘Less you want me to stop.”

“Don’t you dare stop now,” Steve growled, squirming. It was deeply weird to see his own face smiling back, so he closed his eyes. “S’like making out with a funhouse mirror,” he mumbled between pants. Everybody makes out with awful people sometimes, he thought. Doesn’t matter.

“S’hot,” Billy told him, laughing. His hands were warm in the hospital’s AC, and Steve arched against them. “Just admit it.”

Steve fell asleep again with sweat cooling on his skin, his face and side warm against Billy. He woke as the warm weight shifted away, mumbling protests, and felt a soft kiss at his forehead.

“S’alright, I know you love me now,” Billy whispered, laughing, and kissed his ear.

“Fuck off,” Steve muttered, squirming closer. He hooked a foot around Billy’s leg.

“Be right back,” Billy told him. “Never get rid of me now. You gave yourself away, Harrington.” He squirmed to slide off the bed—Steve winced, gritting his teeth as the bed shifted—as the door opened, and twitched the curtain between their beds back just enough to hit his own bedsprings as the nurse pushed a cart alongside Steve’s bed.

He stared at the ceiling, bewildered, as she changed his IV, offered to give him a sponge bath—he yelped a no, remembering the sticky mess dried on his stomach, and heard a muffled snort from the bed through the curtain—and then she tried to interest him in some Jell-O, and the laughter behind the curtain turned to snickering as he grilled her on available flavors.

As soon as she left, Billy was half on top of him again, kissing his cheek and smiling into his face. Steve squinted his eyes against the warmth, trying to remind himself that the gentle hands feeding him Jell-O, cleaning jizz off his belly, and offering him sips of cool water were Billy Hargrove’s. The teasing, soft kisses, and offers to suck his dick were from Billy Hargrove, in his body, after Steve had rescued him from a burning car, and also he was definitely going insane.

When Steve came to again, there was finally somebody in the chair next to his bed, and he squinted blearily. The chair creaked as they tipped back and thunked their shoes on the edge of his mattress, and he groaned in complaint.

“...so, heat,” came Billy’s voice, from his body. “Heat of the fire exorcised me. Should have been some pea soup.”

Steve was glad they didn’t actually leave scalpels around like in movies, because he wanted to stab Billy in his own foot. “Seats’re for visitors,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, you’re getting so many of those.” Billy snorted. “Your parents get in a wreck too?”

“Shut up,” Steve hissed, rolling his head to stare the other way, at the curtain.

“You pulled me out first, though. Saved me when I was still trying to murder a bunch of kids,” Billy laughed. “They’re fine, though. I mean, it worked, they—they went home, I guess. The sheriff told me.”

Steve took a deep breath, nodding.

“That Robin girl says she’s fine, but I think she thinks you’re like...a spy? For the Russians? Or something?”

Steve started snickering, which hurt, and he started coughing. Billy grabbed a cup of water with a straw and held it close enough to drink, but Steve took one sip and shuddered. “It’s warm, you spit in it, didn’t you—”

“I didn’t spit in your drink,” Billy shot back, dropping his legs and the chair legs to the floor, and stalking out with the cup of water.

“...fuck you,” Steve mumbled. Probably they’re all busy, he thought. With the fucking Russians. And the monster. And they don’t have time to hang around here.

Billy returned with the cup, and dropped in Steve’s visitors’ chair again, holding the straw to Steve’s mouth.

Steve stared at it.

“Rinsed it out. I let the water run until it was cold,” he said, nudging Steve’s lips with the straw, and Steve opened his mouth for a chilly sip, then kept swallowing, as his thirst hit his brain.

“Dry air in here,” Billy said, tilting the cup so Steve was getting water instead of air. “Want some more?”

Steve stared up at him, stuck on the idea of asking Billy Hargrove for favors, or having to thank him, or really...talking to him at all. “Why’re you here?” he asked, finally, and Billy laughed.

“Shit. Uh. I know I—you—you stopped me,” he said, tipping the empty cup back and forth so it rattled. “I pay my debts, Harrington—”

“Saved your life and I get a sippy cup,” Steve muttered, feeling cheated.

“I can’t go back and—and fix shit,” Billy growled, the cup creaking in his hand. “I can’t—I tried shit, okay, I drank bleach—”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Steve sighed, and Billy kicked his bed—carefully, since it didn’t hurt.

“Piss off and—” Billy cut off, leaning his face in his hand. “Look, I can’t fix anything, I can’t—I can’t time-travel back and not show up at the Byers’, I can’t—do you want more water, that’s—I can’t—”

Steve did, but he bit his lips together, feeling the weird scratchiness of Billy’s mustache against his lower lip. He glared up at the ceiling.

“Shit,” Billy whispered. “I can’t leave anyway, since I’m apparently you.”

Steve snorted. “Gimme my body back. Beat me up, almost killed my friends, stole my body.”

“...yeah, I know,” Billy laughed, lowering his head. “...I can’t—I know sorry isn’t good enough, I don’t—”

"Look,” Steve told him, wishing he could sit up, “—that—that thing in your head, that wasn't your fault."

“Shoulda set myself on fire sooner,” Billy muttered. He glanced over, grinning. “Wouldn’t be having this problem.” He was kind of...hunkered down, picking at Steve’s blanket, and Steve blew air through his cheeks before speaking.

“Rather have this problem,” he admitted, and Billy’s head jerked up. Steve stared back, cursing his own honesty, but Billy’s smile was small and shaky, and Steve couldn’t quite regret his words. “...you’re still a shithead, though,” Steve told him.

“I know,” Billy laughed again. “I—I’m—just. Sorry about—that night. At the Byers."

“Fffyeah,” Steve growled, getting his consonants in a frustrated jumble. "What the hell was that?"

"I was—I was pissed, and drunk, and—he said I had to bring her back. HAD to. He—it was—or else." Billy kicked the little cart, and it rolled to a stop against the curtain.

"Or else what," Steve asked, his face hurting as he frowned. He watched Billy’s hands, clenched in the blanket, and Billy’s face, sweating in the cold air of the hospital, and reached out to squeeze Billy’s fingers. “What d’you mean, ‘or else’?”

"O-or else, I don't know!" Billy snarled, jerking back from Steve's hand, and Steve stared past him at the curtains, putting together Max and Billy’s defensive growling.

“...okay,” he said, reaching out again, but making sure he waggled his fingers, and Billy saw. “Okay,” he repeated. “I mean, it’s not okay, asshole, but—” he stopped, twining his fingers with Billy’s cold ones. They were shaking, and Steve rubbed Billy’s knuckles with his thumb, waiting for him to look over. “Okay,” he whispered. “Gimme some more water. Thanks.”

Billy stared at him, then down at the cup. “You—you’re just thirsty,” he whispered. He wasn’t crying, but Steve recognized the signs—his voice was husky, and he kept taking deep breaths.

“Yeah, so get me some water, water boy,” Steve hissed back. “Work that shit off. You know how many cups of water it’s gonna take? You’re gonna be hauling water ‘til you die—”

“Jesus, okay,” Billy said, but his smile came back, wide and uncertain, as he slid off the edge of the bed. “Whatever you want. Be right back. You, uh, you want anything else?”

Steve tried to think of something outrageous to say, but finally just shrugged. “Tell you if I do. I’ll run your legs off.”

“Yeah,” Billy grinned. “Make me work for it.” He winked, licking his lips as he slid through the door, and Steve’s dick twitched. He groaned, pulling the pillow over his face.

Steve opened his eyes next on Nancy, pushing the curtains back with a “it’s so gloomy in here, let me—” She stopped when she saw him, her lip curling a little, and he wanted to tell her. “What’s he doing here,” she hissed at Billy. “Don’t they know what he did?”

“He’s asleep,” Billy told her, kind of mumbling.

Steve opened his mouth, and then saw Nancy’s mom, dad, and little sister as the curtain moved. Mike wandered in, crossing his arms. Nancy’s mom stared over at Steve, in Billy’s body—she looked sick, he thought, pale and sweaty, and Steve glanced at Billy, in his body, who was staring at Nancy’s mom.

“How’re you feeling?” Nancy asked, grabbing Billy’s hand, and he managed a weird grunt.

“...fine,” he said eventually, and she nodded, firming her jaw for a narrow-eyed glance at Steve.

“Nurse said your football career would be fine, Harrison,” said Nancy’s dad, punching Billy in the shoulder, and Billy stared at him. “I’m...I don’t play football?” he said, just as Nancy hissed “It’s Harrington!” Nancy and Billy shared a moment, cocking their heads in confusion at Mr. Wheeler. Steve bit back a grin.

“Do you want a ride home, Steve?” Mrs. Wheeler asked Billy, who unaccountably reddened, and glanced at Steve. “We can drop you at your house. I bet you’d like a real shower!”

Billy widened his eyes, biting his lips together, then nodded. “Ye—yep. Thanks, ma’am,” he said, so woodenly that Nancy reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

Steve was so wrapped up in figuring out their weirdness he didn’t register Billy’s urgent stare, but he finally remembered and cleared his throat. “What, you gonna miss me, Harrington? Fuck off and let me sleep.”

Billy snorted, his eyes widening further as Mr. Wheeler promised to return after he was discharged, Mrs. Wheeler suggested they all celebrate his release at the diner with burgers, and Steve dozed off again, smug in the knowledge that Billy was about to have an incredibly awkward afternoon.

~

When Dustin finally escaped his mom, got his bike to the hospital, and found Steve’s room—despite people stopping him to ask if he was lost—Steve was gone. His bed was a mess, so Dustin figured he hadn’t gotten far, and shot a glance at Billy Hargrove in the other bed. He was grinning, for some reason, and Dustin wrinkled his nose.

“Where’s Steve?” he asked, and Billy’s mouth quirked. “Whatever,” Dustin hissed at him. “I’ll find him myself.”

“Henderson!” Billy yelled, as Dustin yanked the door shut, and Dustin repressed a shudder at the thought Billy Hargrove knew his name.

He (eventually) found Steve on the roof. “Hey,” he called, running up to lean over the railing next to him. He bumped their shoulders together, and Steve half stared, half glared, tossing a cigarette stub on the ground. Dustin rolled his eyes. “How hard you get hit on the head, buddy? I been meaning to talk to you about that. You know who you saved, back there?” He reached up and knocked on Steve’s head, and Steve just narrowed his eyes, his fingers twitching. Dustin slapped Steve’s shoulder, trying to get his brain to engage. “That guy’s the one that beat your face in at the Byers’, Steve. I know your shitty memory, but seriously? Seriously. Billy Hargrove? There are babies in this hospital that have less oxygen ‘cause he’s alive, Steve, who’s the hero now.”

“What?” Steve asked, and Dustin sighed, letting himself drape over the railing.

“Billy Hargrove, Steve. Nancy said he knocked you on your ass in gym.”

“I know who he is,” Steve gritted out, and Dustin looked him over, wondering whether somebody’d already given him a hard time.

“Jesus, take a chill pill, you had to be the hero, I know. Like Batman. Didja ever think, though, if Batman just killed Joker, he’d have saved, like, a ton of people? You gotta think about these things.” Dustin grinned over, and realized Steve had his hands clenched, white-knuckled, on the railing. “Just some friendly advice, man. Don’t die trying to save the bad guy.”

[imacrowcawcaw]

Their emotional/moral weak spots - for Sam 🖤

Oh damn, I'm really gonna have to thonk about this one - that's okay, though, I like a challenge! 🌻💗🕊 Thank you for asking!!

Sam's Weak Spots

Shopping: We've probably all seen the pics of Sammy and his lover boy (referring to Danny lol) at the mall with fans. They went when they were younger, and they still go because it's a fun place to hang out and, hey, cool stuff for sale! Sam loves clothes and jewelry, old books, music, anything interesting. Almost any store they come across will have something that he wants, even if it's totally impractical (like, why does he need a brand new electric drill? What is he planning???) Now that they have money it's not as much of a problem, but he still always ends up with at least 2 suitcases full of random junk he's collected throughout the tour just because it looked neat in the window. His brother's are worried that he's becoming a tad bit of a horder - because he doesn't like throwing things out, either - but that's a problem for later

Pretty eyes: in dogs, babies, girls, Danny. If you want Sam at your mercy, give him those big baby seal eyes and he'll do whatever you want. Danny knows this. Sam knows that Danny knows this, but he doesnt even care because Danny's has such large, lovely hazel eyes with those long, thick lashes and he could stare at them all day.

Being Alone: Sam doesn't like being alone. Sure, he could use some quiet time every now and then to do his own thing without being interrupted by one of his brothers, but being really, actually alone kind of terrifies him. Maybe it has something to do with when he was younger, super scrawny, brace faced, awkwardly humorous and not fitting in with the rest of the kids. The twins could only hang out with him so much, being in different grades than him, so that year or so he spent without any really good friends was rough. He remembers nightmares: needing somwone but no one being there, everyone leaving him, getting lost and deceived. They only happened a few times, but they were the kind of dreams that will stick with you for a long time. Now, though, Danny is there and Sam knows he won't ever be left alone again

[dw-writes]

Light[s] - One.

Hey there everyone, and welcome to Light[s]. This is a Kingdom Hearts original story, featuring Riku x Reader! I’m really excited for this story, and I’m introducing a LOT of different ideas and worlds that haven’t been visited in the Kingdom Hearts franchise yet! So, I really hope that you guys enjoy this? Let me know what you think, and if you’d like to be tagged!

Thank you~

The bookstore was something of a mystery to you, despite the fact that you worked there. It had always been in your city, perhaps there before the city even existed. You remembered, during school, that everyone had rumored that the city popped up around the bookstore.

Did that stop you from applying? No, of course not. Nor did it stop you from accepting the job and IMMEDIATELY making your way up to a keyholding position, AKA, one of THREE managers that worked the ancient two story building. Because of that, you knew the building inside and out, all of its nooks and crannies, the best places to read, all of the inventory.

So…when you found a leather bound scroll you didn’t recognize in the hands of a curious student, you had to take it. “I’m sorry, we can’t sell this, I don’t even know where it came from,” you admitted to them. They just shrugged and went on to find something else, leaving you to examine the object. It was a solid scroll, carefully wound with a supple leather strip and tied with a bow. The bow itself was held together by a metal, circular charm, like something on the end of a string. You spun it around the knot of the bow, searching for a way to take it off.

All you discovered was that it was silver, a little tarnished, and held the engraving of a heart, its single looping line forming curls in on itself, each curve carefully touching to form a deep indentation. You set the scroll in the top drawer of your desk, locked it, and returned to work.

But ‘out of sight, out of mind’ didn’t stick. You kept thinking of the scroll as you worked, wondered just what it could be and why you had never seen it before. You sent associates home, counting the tills, locked up the safe, and all the while wondering what the heck was inside that leather.

Finally, at eleven pm, you stood in front of your desk and stared at the drawer. Heaving a sigh, you unlocked it and yanked it open. The scroll smacked against the front, tilting until it couldn’t anymore, and from the back of the drawer you heard a gently ‘tink’. Pulling the scroll out, you reached it and patted until your fingers hit cold metal. It was a pin, maybe an inch long, and as thin as a needle. You thought back to the charm as you picked it up, the indentation right in the middle of the heart.

“No…” you whispered to yourself as you took the pin and stabbed it down into the heart charm.

It fell apart. You yanked at the leather ribbon until it was on the floor and the scroll was rolling across your desk. There were…outlines? Trails? Of different, oddly shaped planets that moved around the aged parchment. Some lines overlapped, others didn’t even touch. You leaned closer to it as one moved closer to the front…of…the perspective? You squeezed your eyes shut and shook your head. It was like looking at a video? But on paper. Drawn onto paper, and moving? You rubbed your eyes and looked at the parchment again.

The orb closest to the surface of the page was your city, with the bookstore in one spot, and the spire of the university in another. There were other landmarks of your hometown: a wrought iron clock, a stone bridge across the deep set lake, the single largest coniferous tree that was always in red and oranges no matter the year. You stared until you were cross eyed. The sketch took up the entirety of the parchment.

You rolled it back up into the leather and shoved it into your bag.

The world was quiet as you walked home, with a warm breeze and a clear sky. You clenched the straps of your bag as you walked, looking around at the neighborhood you found yourself in. If you looked at the map, would it be on there? Was it actually a map? The thought slowed you down.

It was then that you heard a sound, a scuttling, like shoes dragging on concrete, only faster, like a little kid running too fast. You looked around for the source There weren’t even any cars on the road. But, from beneath a bush, crawled a slender rainbow white creature, with ears that twitched in the air like a cat, head twitching from one side to the other. It clung close to the ground as it moved towards you. Another appeared on the wall beneath a window flower box, then melted into a white that dripped towards the sidewalk. The street lamps cast oily, broken rainbows against their white fur.

You turned in a circle. More, and more, and even more started to appear. The wind started to gust around you. Thunder roared in your ears and you looked up see a storm in the once clear sky.

The ground shook. A massive creature unfurled from behind the narrow townhomes around you, stretching so far into the sky you thought it might touch it. You gripped your bag until your fingers went numb and your stomach dropped.

It was, in all honesty, the last thing you remembered before waking up in a brightly lit courtyard, curled up on your side. Someone leaned over you, gently shaking your shoulder. You couldn’t hear a word they said as you stared up at them, struggling to bring your eyes into focus. There were large round things on the sides of their head and a massive, gloved hand lifted your head from the stone ground. You squeezed your eyes shut, counted to three, opened your eyes. His face came more into focus and you found yourself staring into a massive, now smiling, mouse man.

“You’re okay!” he squeaked.

You promptly rolled backwards and out of his grasp. Your head thonked against the stone beneath and you groaned. “I’m something.”

The mouse man followed you as you rolled again and onto your knees. “You should be careful! You took a pretty nasty fall there.”

“From where, I was on the street?” you groaned. You looked up and watched as he moved closer. “Who are you?”

“You can call me Mickey!” he answered. He shrugged, hands opening at his sides. “As for where you fell from, well…you fell from the sky!”

You lost your balance and rolled onto your butt, staring up at him. “The sky?”

“Yup!”

You thought of the storm. “Was there a storm here? Like at home?!” You climbed to your feet as you spoke, touching your shoulders. “Where’s my bag?!”

“Woah, now, hold on!” He held his hands out as you spun around, stumbling. “Take a deep breath, you’ve been through a tumble!” As you stopped, raking your hands through your hair, he balled his hands on his hips. “What storm?”

“There was this storm, and these little – well not little – little white cat things and this massive thing and the storm came out of nowhere—”

“Oh no…” Mickey’s hands flew to his mouth.

You stared at him. “ ‘Oh no’?” you asked. “Do you know what happened?”

“Well, it hasn’t happen in a long time! But, it sounds like your world was swallowed by darkness!” His hands waved as he spoke.

You just stared at him. “Michael—”

“It’s Mickey!”

“Mr. Mouse,” you continued, “My…what, did what?”

As he opened his mouth to explain, a chorus of voices rang out through the courtyard, “King Mickey!”

You stared at him, eyes narrowed, mouth agape, trying to figure out if this or the map in your bag was more disorienting. You rubbed your face. “Okay,” you mumbled, “Can we start from the beginning? Please? It’s been a very long day.”

“Of course we can,” he said as he turned to you with a brilliant smile. You tried your hardest to return it with one of your own. “I’ll explain whatever I can!”

“Thank you, Mickey.”

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

im gonna just keep punching thru my WIPs so here’s some ~ign gun stuff~. i know everyone wants to talk about the new trailer and calypso stuff, i mean i do at least, but `checks list` i still have a lot of old stuff to get thru 😵

god i’ve been working on this for *three days* (yes! im not dead!)

tl;dr: i mostly just wanted to talk about how the CoV is using slag to power their guns to give them infinite magazines and ended up getting more proof for my ‘the calypsos are using eridium/slag to quickly mutate their followers and give them special powers’ theory. Also some interesting stuff about troy’s sword and his tattoos and his lil necklace things at the very bottom, if you’re interested. mostly ties it all into the new Eridian glowing stuff we’ve been seeing. they’ve moved on from purple -> red. which brings up some interesting questions...

So first I’m going over the individual IGN weapon videos, which you can find on their site here and on youtube here through HayderHype (doing god’s work). i recommend checking out this version because the ign player is not spectacular.

now to be honest im here to talk about three things from this particular vid: the areas we see in the gameplay, the new funky alien parts, and the CoV guns. the manufacturer perks are cool and all, but we already know most of that stuff. so I won’t be showcasing every gun from the video, but instead the more interesting/important bits I’ve noticed as I watched it

cool? cool!

the first area we get is definitely space rocks, im imagining this is similar to the area we see Zane in on that one promo sheet, 

(this one)

and, more importantly, the area where we will find that bigass space laser gun thing. i do believe that giant-ass gun is somewhere within Promethea’s asteroid belt.

(this one)

i am curious why the planet below doesn’t appear to have any asteroids surrounding it. maybe the giant space laser destroyed them. which i do discuss in this post here, if you’re interested in a very long read.

it could be that we’re simply on the side of the asteroids. which then makes me wonder, why are they all clustered there? it’s probably because the fuckin moon was destroyed. maybe by the giant space laser. which is also discussed in the post above 👀

it could also be elpis! the rocks are definitely gray enough lol and we don't exactly have a very good frame of reference for ‘asteroid’ vs ‘moon’. the giant space gun is out of shot, afterall.

ah. alien guns. 

i don’t think these are related to the bl1 eridian guns- not the kind we’ve seen that look similar to the Guardians in-game

that is:

this is all the same sort material as the Guardians, with their bug bits and armor and shit and these new alien barrels are all organic and squishy. (oh also take note of that purple thing on the eridian lightning, im going to bring it back later)

these new ones are definitely fuckin creepy looking, but not very bug-like at all. if they are related to eridians, it’s not through the Guardians. (as for the ACTUAL Vault Guardians/Monsters, yeah, it’s possible. i’ll get to that in a secco)

for the tentacle stuff, i know the Destroyer (not a Vault Guardian- it was imprisoned) is all ‘tentacles and disappointment’, but tbh i don’t see the asphalt lookin chunks being part of the Destroyer. and i especially don’t see manufacturers themselves harvesting the Destroyer for gun parts (Hyperion aside lol)

i could see them tying it in with the Rampagers (both fleshy with the black armor bits) but also... they’re not very tentacle-y. and how would manufacturers be getting the rampager stuff anyway? i suppose if that really is a teleportation network, then they would be on all the planets we visit. making them more available for farming. but still.

and yeah, the rocks probably have some sort of relation to Eridians, i mean we’ve seen rocks like these at Eridian dig sites and we know of a Vault Monster made out of similar-looking rocks

plus

this shloot gun, which i will get to later, appears to be made out of the same rock. 

so wtf are these tentacle things? made by eridians specifically for weaponry? a different version of the eridian guns we find on Pandora? did the manufacturers find a whole stash of these things and start making their own? instructions on how to build them? we know eridian writing is stashed across the universe, afterall.

maybe they are meant to be something different...

i honestly don’t know, and im getting off topic here, so let’s move on.

not a crashed ship. i haven’t seen ALL the eden-6 gameplay, but i’ve seen a few and they had only gone through the ship AI quest with ice-t and the very uncomfortably long jabber section. seriously, tf was that? 

also i still don’t trust wainwright. that fucker is totally gonna betray us for the key once we get him the pieces. also did you know one piece of the promethean key is on Athenas? wildin’. wait this game is just One Piece in space... fairy vearth i am coming for you... oh god, do i have a type? i think i have a type when it comes to media. ... hm.

oh, but the facility. i wouldn’t be surprised if it were Atlas. the red stripes also got me like ‘old Hyperion’, but again tf would Hyperion be doing on Eden-6? plus that one shot with Hammerlock in the new Eden-6 video makes me think it is, in fact, Atlas. 

(side note, i love when i search my blog for a post with the word ‘eden-6′ in it and i get literally everything EXCEPT the post where the hyperlink is literally eden-6. tumblr! you suck! your search function is terrible!  https://cruddyborderlandstheories.tumblr.com/post/186858618497/eden-6. but yeah this is where that hammerlock shot is, if you’re interested)

specifically this little thing here

reminds me of this labeling system that we see on Promethea, which marks different parts of the city (red and blue are the 2 i’ve seen so far)

which then begs the question: what was ATLAS doing on eden-6? back when i thought this planet was promethea, that was fine. but... it’s not. so wtf are they doing here? 

personally, i think they were researching whatever Typhon Deleon found here (or thought he would find here). We see he has historical markers across the planet, so i would not be surprised if he found something. 

to add to that, we know there’s eridian things on planet, because a. we see a eridian log in the moze gameplay. 

and b, which is new info from the recent community Q&A: those purple crystals we see contain eridian writing, and we use a “special tool” to dig them out

so glad we finally know wtf these are for lol

“There’s Eridian Writing, and you need a certain tool to get the Eridian writing and once you do, you find this across there (the planets i assume) and this Eridian Writing opens up certain things for players”. which has certainly gotten me INTERESTED AS FUCK

i know i mentioned in my post about these crystals that maybe these were parts of eridian artifacts and stuff that tannis would help us with and turn into gear. but honestly given how vague he is by saying ‘opens up certain... things’... i almost want to say skill upgrades. 

i’ve mentioned before (and actually it’s come back recently in an ask) that I really, really, REALLY want our VHs to get bonus skill trees due to Siren powers being unlocked (cause like if we do graduate to Vault Guardian then who is to say... we won’t?) and, like, sure, if they can’t break the ‘6 Sirens in the universe at a time’ rule, then mayhaps we will get some sweet Eridian upgrades through these writings to our already available skills. maybe new standalone action skills, since they’ve made it very clear you can equip any action skill you want. lorewise, it could be like how Fl4k’s skag becomes an Eridian Skag (cough LostLegionEternal cough)

or, maybe, they actually are schematics and Tannis will help us build them and we’ll get cool gear out of it. maybe vehicle upgrades or something. maybe even something pertaining to Guardian Rank (which I still think is us graduating from Vault Hunter to Vault Guardian and if thats the case then i really hope siren = vault guardian becau- okay i’ll stop sorry.). I don’t think it will be something that we MUST do for the plot, so it can’t be THAT important to the lore. Like i said in the old post, we probably will break one or two for the main story after getting the stabby brass knuckles, then we will be let loose to collect the others on our own free time. 

but yeah, the wording of “opens up” is doing me a big thonk because... well, he’s making it sound like an entirely new aspect of the game we have yet to hear about. of course he could just be using a very literal sense of the word in that we are literally opening up the crystals by smashing them open and freeing whatever is locked inside. especially because he says that specifically the Eridian writing, which we acquire with the tool, is what opens up those certain things. 

also guessing we get this glowly stabby tool from Athenas now, instead of from Atlas. I’ll explain in the Athenas post!! I promise. we have LOTS of stuff to discuss there, i’m very excited to work on it.

jesus i got off topic.

but yeah. i imagine Atlas would be researching whatever Eridian stuff Typhon Deleon found here. there’s clearly writing all over the place, with lots of eridian logs

it could also be that this is like Supamax MFG or some other production facility that was shut down and abandoned. doesn’t always have to tie back into the deep lore, as much as i want it to lol

but moving on. because good lord im not even like 2 minutes in on the first video and i have 2 more to go after this.

this area feels like the inside of the asteroid base.

there’s nothing but rocks floating outside! so i guess the theory about this being on the side of the asteroids was correct! huzzah!

poor promethea. they didn’t deserve it. also may just be some way to link up the promethea teleport system (because yeah im still standing by that theory) to the rest of the planets. or this is some way to activate a temple, or a Vault, or something Rhys wants exploded like Maliwan HQ... so many possibilities. Maybe it’s just that Maliwan was sky-bombing Atlas-held areas and he sends us up here to stop it.

so many possibilities. so little time.

moving on

looks like the place amara visits in her character trailer. given we’ve also seen the area Fl4k visits, im excited to see if we’ll also be visiting the areas from Moze and Zane’s trailers.

eyy more looks at that facility. definitely feeling like this is Atlas.

also, this appears to be similar to the window brick, mordecai, and tina stand in front of in that one shot. i know i already mention this in that VERY old post where i organized all the areas of the dev and reveal trailers, but still. good to see it’s standing up

also, if you’re wondering why i have yet to mention or show any of the athenas clips, it’s because im saving those for my next post. athenas all day babey (i am trying to use self-restraint, it’s very hard for me to not just blather on about stuff i want to talk about lol)

this appears to be the tink stripper area lol

thanks gearbox i hate it

why

big varkid!! with what looks like the HBC in the background. possibly some named badass enemy we kill for hammerlock? i can’t imagine this is big enough to be vermi.

the area with the ferris wheel!! i hope we can ride it. also that rollercoaster in the claptrap presents pandora video? omg i want to ride it sooooo badly

ah this is the jakobs family thing. part of the ship from the eden-6 demo

iirc this was where Moze is using Iron Bear during the We Are Mayhem trailer. I wonder if that’s Rhys’s office in the back or smth. very fancy

okay. finally.

the Children of the Vault Weapons. I’m actually going to showcase a few of these, because I think it’s important.

remember, the CoV weapons have infinite magazines (not infinite ammo)

so if you’ve noticed the similarities between these weapons: they all seem to be powered by eridium/slag. some have the purple piping (and with the fire/corrosive/shock elements, i have to wonder if this is similar to how slag mutated enemies will get elemental affinities) and shards of eridium sticking out of the detailing. 

given the piping will change colors depending on the element used, i definitely don’t think the glowing purple is just for aesthetic purposes and i 100% believe this plays into their infinite magazine size. i think this is somewhat similar to the Eridian weapons, in which they have infinite magazines and rechargeable ammo

(using the eridian thunder storm as reference here)

the CoV weapons don’t have rechargeable ammo, but they definitely have infinite magazines, which i imagine is a step in the right direction to recreating these eridian weapons with slag/eridium

so is this the reason that slag pool we see is ‘Holy Holy Holy’?

^ this is a glimpse at the structure below in-game spewing out eridium/slag, so we know what the full version looks like

and below is a version without slag/eridium:

i mean, it’s not like there hasn’t already been a precedent for worshipping guns and what provides them. just take a look at the bloodshot ramparts, the bloodshots worshipping Marcus as a god for providing guns to them.

i mean, even the eyeball symbolism is pretty familiar here.

and yes, this could 100% replace my other theory that the twins are mutating their cultists with eridium/slag. but tbh, i think it proves it even further.

remember this?

that piping looks really familiar, doesn’t it?

and we know goliaths in bl2 were mutated by slag/eridium/ruin exposure- it’s explained that a lot of the bandits teetering on the verge on non-human were mutated because of eridian ruins/tech (the key in sledge’s mine). so why would it be hard to believe that the twins are accelerating or activating this process using their own store of eridium/slag?

i won’t go full theory on this, because you’ve already heard me rave about it, but i think this is very nice evidence, so long as our previous assumption about the slag/eridium powering the CoV guns is true. which i believe it is

(From the Eden-6 teaser trailer)

(from the We Are Mayhem trailer)

very similar

so what the hell is in those vials?

looking at them, it’s clear the first matches up with the slag gun and the second with the fire gun. all well and good. maybe they’re bottling up that elemental goodness as sort of an ‘oh shit’ button, or just as a way to stand out in the cult, show off your allegiance to them by mimicking Troy’s vials (which i suppose i’ll have to touch on in another post, because iit will derail everything)

so i imagine this is provided by the cult- maybe because they are powering up their cultists using slag, in a very similar way to how they’re powering up their guns. forcibly mutating them and all that- speeding up the process that normally happens somewhat slowly on Pandora. afterall, isn’t that what the cultists are being promised? ‘special powers’.

but there is more

we know Tyreen’s power is to absorb the powers of people. Phaseleech or something. and when she does it to lilith in the new cutscene, lilith simply has her Siren powers taken away and is left in a near-death state. 

which is all well and good, but when Tyreen does it to her cultists... hell, even the Sun Smashers, something different happens:

we’re even allowed to watch the process take place

even before he’s fully dead, this psycho is turning to stone, which doesn’t happen to lilith. there’s a few reasons this could happen

1. Tyreen didn’t have intent to kill. she wanted to leave Lilith for the dogs- the Eridium-tier cultists

2. Lilith’s Siren powers are sort of like a shield- instead of immediately turning to stone under the effects of Tyreen’s powers, she instead loses her abilities

3. the bandits are different from Lilith, and that is because of her abilities as a Siren.

im going to go for the 3rd option.

we know bandits on Pandora are mutated by the slag/eridium/eridian ruins surrounding them. Krieg, an off-worlder, is taken into a hyperion testing facility and tested on with slag, which turns him into the badass psycho we know today. that gives him the exposure to slag/eridium/eridian ruins/tech. you get the deal. (im just going to call it eridium in reference to all eridian ruins/tech/slag/eridium.) and like Krieg, we see badass psychos roaming the wastes, even before Hyperion slag testing began to take place. this is because of their exposure to eridian ruins/technology across pandora- eridium hadn’t appeared until after the first Vault opened. 

so i dont think it hard to believe that these bandits are still being affected by exposure, to the point that eridium had begun to build up in their bodies, leading to these physical mutations and new elemental powers. this happens to the wildlife of Pandora, too. Badass elemental skags, fire spiderants, even bloodwing shows (a speedrun version of) this in the WEP. some muted bandits include badass psychos, goliaths, burning psychos, slagged psychos. etc, etc.

i think Lilith, being a Siren, is protected from the effects of ‘background radiation’ of eridium. she’s able to process eridium without any byproduct, and we can assume she’s converting it fully into energy/power (as Sirens are able to charge Vault Keys with it). we could argue that her Siren skill gain in borderlands 1 is explained by her being near eridian ruins for a majority of the game (slow buildup of background ‘radiation’), then in bl2 her skills skyrocket to an entirely new level (teleportation) because of her direct contact with pure eridium. and since she’s able to convert eridium into power, she doesn’t turn to stone when Tyreen absorbs her lifeforce- she has no buildup in her body.

unlike her, the bandits who spent a long enough time (7 years is long enough for the Sun Smashers, I would imagine. also probably long enough for Vaughn to start losing it- just a little bit) on Pandora to continuously absorb this eridium have a significant build-up in their bodies, so when Tyreen absorbs their life forces, the eridium already inside them is drawn out, or reacts with her powers, and turns them to stone/eridium crystals.

anyway.

moving on to more gun stuff

Borderlands 3: Every Gun Maker and Their Perks

like the last vid, im just going to be going over some interesting areas and guns if i see any.

>hold down the trigger to charge the gun and release a powerful pulse shot

did they fix Maliwan guns??? iirc from the demo you had to charge them to shoot at all! that’s wonderful!

also

looks like Zane might have an ECHO log somewhere in the Meridian Metroplex, if the VHs don’t have ECHOs in their inventory as starting gear (im curious if the ones on Sanc-III are supposed to replace that, or if they’ve only been put there for the demo...)

the reason im assuming this is an ECHO is because ur character’s icon will only appear if ur coop player is speaking and they’re far away from you (no coop partner in this clip), or if you’ve activated an ECHO log. there may be a as-of-yet unrevealed option, like maybe the twins playing back a recording, but we’ll see.

so, ahhh if ur in this general location, be on the lookout for anything glowing like a quest item

also also im surprised there are players who are using Zane and not playing with 2 action skills. that’s like... sort of his biggest thing.

ah well, that’s literally the only interesting thing outta this video, so moving on

5 of the Craziest and Awesome Guns in BL3

yeah this is the one gun i wanna talk about- i said i was going to be bringing it back later on and i wasn’t joking

so it should be pretty obvious by now this thing is Eridian. if the symbol on the top didn’t convince you, and the rocks didn’t either, then the diamond should, bc apparently that’s just, like, an Eridian thing now. apparently. no im not salty this shape just started appearing only in the 3rd game. that’s ridiculous.

... okay, only a little, i guess.

personally, i think this gun exists to explain why the Vaults and Vault Monsters drop loot that is... from our world/time period. Feed it Eridium, get guns out. how does it actually make gun? iunno. looks like it’s powered by fire, though. or whatever is in Troy’s sword/the cool knife knuckles

this stuff

orrrr

this stuff.

which... makes me think Troy doesn’t use his sword in the intro fight because he doesn’t have it yet. he might be waiting to get it back (upgrade?) or until he’s strong enough to hold it- or he just hasn’t found it yet. 

i mean, the boy can’t even pick himself up off the ground and suddenly I’m supposed to believe he can wield a sword that’s probably heavier than he is? he’s probably waiting to be full strength to use the damn thing.

and if he doesn’t have it yet, i would imagine they find it on Athenas or in one of the other temples while using the teleportation network (i will die for this theory until im proven wrong) and yoink that shit. i mean, who wouldn’t?

which also is making me wonder if the stuff around his neck is the new (old? before/after eridium?) Eridian energy/power. which i guess means we’re looping all the way back around to theory #1: wtf are those things around troy’s neck lol

it would be interesting if he’s gotta hold onto this for his powers or something. double interesting if Tyreen is making him use it because he’s useful, even though it’s killing him- if he’s useful somehow (like thru distributing the powers Tyreen holds, like i’ve been saying with my input/output twins theory for quite some time now) then Tyreen NEEDS him to do this for the cult.

i mean, his tattoos do glow the same color as the Eridian tech when they’re transferring what i assume is energy between the two of them

so it's not too hard to believe that his tattoos are somehow tied to this eridian tech mess. 

i almost wonder if this is like... a new version of Siren we haven’t seen yet. one not linked to Eridium like the other Sirens are. maybe created before/after the eridians had access to eridium (before they discovered it/locked it away in the Vault of the Destroyer), or an artificial one produced by the red-based eridian tech- and that’s why his tattoos are the same color as all the new eridian stuff we’ve been seeing.

but, eh. it’s whatever. this is a gun post, not a Calypso post. i’ll go in depth in a later post :^) (i am trying to stay on topic now. we’ll see how long this lasts lol)

[platypan]

「Part One」 「My other Teen Wolf stuff on AO3 」 For Shaycora22, may your day improve!

The deputy slowed well before they approached the motel.  Derek wasn’t in any particular hurry to get there--he knew Laura was taking a twentieth or thirtieth shower, trying to wash the greasy ash residue from her hair and nostrils.  Still, he wanted to be curled in the cheap, scratchy blankets hearing her bitch about the quality of the free shampoo much more than he wanted to be anywhere else, too far away to hear her thumping around and her heart beating through the bathroom door.  “Sheriff said to make sure you got something in your stomach,” the man grinned, wandering down side streets to a small diner. 

Derek blinked, trying to remember when he’d eaten last.  As the deputy pushed him into a booth, something thudded heavily against the side of the building.  The deputy shoved Derek back into his seat, rolling his eyes.  “Sit down, I need to make some phone calls.”  He slid out of the booth and stalked out to the phone booth on the street corner, and Derek was left with the cheery server asking him what he wanted from a seemingly endless list of beverages.

“Chocolate milkshake,” said a small, wheezy voice from the booth behind him, and he flinched.  

“Strawberry milkshake,” he told her, ignoring the whispered “Boooo,” behind him.  Once she was gone, he frowned at the menu.  “...what’d you do, ride your bike?” he whispered back.  “You smell gross.  Why are you following me?”

“He knows,” the little voice whispered back, panting. 

Derek’s milkshake thumped down on the table in front of him, and the server turned to lean down into the next booth.  “What are you doing down there, St--”

“Sorry!” the kid’s limbs flailed against the padded seat, but also thonked against the table and table leg, and Derek grimaced in sympathy.  “I sure am hungry like a wolf, can I get some curly fries?”

The menu crumpled in Derek’s hands, and he quickly flattened it as Deputy Brûlébois came back in and dropped in the seat across from him.  

“Take your time.”  

Derek nodded, wondering how it was to not be able to hear hearts racing.  His felt like it was about to explode.  

“Just trying to sniff out something to wolf down!” the boy behind him stage-whispered to the server, who laughed.  “What’s smoking hot today, uh, Velma?  Just burning with potential?”

She snorted, leaning in to talk him through the specials, and Derek registered the deputy’s voice like it was coming from the other end of the train tunnel instead of across the table.  

“Kid,” the man sounded annoyed.  

“Y-yeah,” Derek refocused on the menu.

“Who’re you winking at,” Velma cackled at the terrifying ten-year-old behind him.  “I’m old enough to be your grandmother.”  

“Sister, definitely,” the kid thumped his elbow against their adjoining seat cushion.  “Just a sister.”

Derek felt his throat closing again, choking on a huge breath as he registered the Deputy’s hands on his, smacking his arm.  

“Order a fu--why don’t you just order a burger?” Brûlébois slammed his fist into the table.

“A burning hot sister,” the kid repeated, and Velma smacked him with the menu, cackling, and spun over to face Derek and the deputy.  

“Hey, you guys ready to--you okay, honey?”

Derek kept his lips pressed between his teeth, eyes lowered, wondering whether he would regenerate if he wolfed out, terrifying the deputy and the waitstaff, and got shot in the head.  He gave a belated nod, feeling across his nails with his thumb before pointing at something on the menu.  Velma paused, and he realized he’d selected the Little Princess Rainbow Sprinkle Strawberry Stuffed Sparkle Waffles, but she wrote it down without comment, and turned to smile at the deputy.

“Gimme whatever you’ve got on tap, it’s gonna be a long day,” he leaned back, eyes narrowed at Derek.

“Tip your milkshake,” the little voice behind Derek whispered.  “He’ll have to go clean up.”

When Derek froze, staring down at the table, the back of the booth thumped him again.  “Come on, dude, it’s just strawberry.”

Derek turned, knocking it with his elbow, and Deputy Brûlébois swore as it dumped across the table into his lap.  He slammed his fist into the seat, teeth bared at Derek, then yanked himself out of the booth and stomped off to the restroom.  The kid scrabbled out of his booth and hauled at Derek’s shoulder.  

“Okay, dude, come on, we gotta go--”

Moments later, Derek found himself shoved into the phone booth.  “Call her!  Call your sister, I heard them, they were staking her or something.”

His shaking fingers misdialed once, but she picked up on the second try.  “Laura.  Something’s--I don’t know what--”

“Derek!” she gasped back.  “Are you okay?  There’s a--there’re a bunch of--”

The kid grabbed the phone.  “Get out of there, go to--” he rattled off an address, as Derek tried to get his claws to retract.  “Scott’s dad’s an FBI agent.  You can get in from their roof.  I don’t even know what the hell, but they said they were gonna stake you guys or something and they had real guns--”

“Is Derek okay!?” Derek could hear her scrambling around in the hotel room.

“I’ve got him, we’ll meet you there,” the kid said, standing straighter, and Derek reached for the phone just as she hung up.  The next thing Derek knew he was manhandled onto a shiny purple bicycle, the kid clambering on behind and grabbing at his jacket.  “Go go go!  Summon your bats!”

“What?!” Derek pedalled, feeling somewhat relieved--since this had to be a dream, maybe some of the last week had been.  “What are you talking about.”

“They were all eating garlic!” the kid yelled over the air rushing by, slinging an arm around Derek’s shoulder so he could flail directions.  Derek swung the bike around the corner so fast the tires screeched.  “They had crossbows!  They called you monsters--”

Derek focused on pedalling, knees nearly to his ears, following the flailed pointing fingers out of the corners of his eyes.  Behind them, the deputy’s siren started in the diner parking lot.  

“Shit, here, turn--” Stiles yelled in his ear, directing him down a driveway and a yard, and they crashed through a three-foot high pile of sword ferns to get to tree cover.  It was clearer under the massive California pines, and Derek focused on avoiding ivy.

“So are they just all crazy?” the kid asked, once Derek slowed enough to stay on a winding trail.  “They said you could transform.  They had to get Laura before she transformed.”

“...with you standing there?” Derek was glad the hunters were idiots, but it seemed convenient.  

The kid scoffed.  “I was in a locker.  I was trying to steal more handcuffs.”

“...more handcuffs,” Derek repeated, nearly crashing them as he tried to frown over his shoulder.  

“And I want a crossbow,” he whispered in Derek’s ear, and Derek was forced to consider the possibility that if werewolves were real, so, possibly, were goblins.

“Are you a vampire or not,” the kid smacked his shoulder, and Derek couldn’t help snickering.

“Not.  Vampires aren’t real.  Neither’s Santa.”

“I know that!  They weren’t hunting Santa!”

“So you’re useless.”

Yeah, Derek thought, pretty much. “I’m good at riding bikes,” he powered up a hill, and heard the kid going “Oooooo.”

The house was deserted when they pulled up, and Derek tossed the kid up to the roof over the porch before jumping after him.  “Hey,” Laura’s voice came from the window.

“He says you guys aren’t even vampires,” Stiles sighed, clambering through the window and landing mostly on his head.  

“...he’s right,” Laura bit her lips, then grabbed Derek as he climbed through the window, hugging him tightly.  “Are you okay?!”

“I didn’t get my sparkle princess waffles,” Derek admitted, and she laughed into his shoulder, her voice rough.

“Who’re you?” she asked the kid.

“Some goblin,” Derek ducked away from the kid’s flung pillow.  “He kidnapped me from the diner.”

“Well,” Laura dropped to sit on the stranger’s bed.  “Thanks.”

“I should call my dad--” the goblin began, and she shook her head, holding her hand out.  

“Thank you very much.  But we’ll go now.  I’ve got a full gas tank.  We’ll be okay.”

“Oh,” the goblin deflated, shaking her hand.  “...kinda sucks you aren’t actually vampires.”

“It would be convenient,” she nodded.  “Except during the day.  Thank you, goblin.”

“I’m not--!  What--!” the kid stomped.  “I saved you!  I gave up my curly fries for this!”

“Yes you did,” she leaned to pull him into a hug with Derek, but they both frantically wriggled free, sharing a wide-eyed look.  

“G’bye, non-Draculas, I guess,” the kid waved, then folded his arms, and Laura snorted, dragging Derek to the window.  

“Bye, Goblin.”

He flipped them off, grinning, and Derek ducked after his sister through the window, back across the roof, and jumped to the ground next to the small bicycle.  He’d pedalled so hard those first few miles he could smell the tires.

“G’bye, stupid humans,” the kid stage-whispered from the window, and Derek turned and waved, before Laura drug him into the car.

“What was that,” she laughed.  “What was he, like seven?”

“No idea.  He heard them talking about crossbows, and killing you before you transformed,” he took a shaky breath.  “He was hiding in a locker, trying to steal handcuffs.”

“...maybe he was a goblin,” she blinked at the road, and smacking the map into his hands.  “Welp.  Goodbye forever, Beacon Hills,” she yelled out the sunroof.

Derek grinned.  “Goodbye, Goblin!” he joined in, yanking his sweatshirt from the back and inhaling.  It still smelled like home, and he swallowed, making a mental note to put it in a plastic bag.  He cleared his throat.  “Let’s stop for milkshakes.”

She nodded, snorting a laugh, and wiped her eyes.

「My other Teen Wolf stuff on AO3 」

[copper-wasp]

Ignis Scientia x Reader: Kisses (Part 5/?)

From an ongoing series of short one-shots regarding kissing our favorite pretty boy quartet.

Also posted to AO3

Rated: T

Words: 1919

You were late. Very late.

Late for the bus home and your stepmom was going to kill you if she had to come pick you up again this week.

The door to the bus loading area was in sight, and you pushed open the door to find... that your bus had left already.

“Son of a...” you swore, dropping your bag at your feet. “Shit! If only I had my own car, I wouldn’t have to deal with this crap!” You groaned, bending down to pick up your bag. You walked back inside the school, heading to the main entrance to call your stepmom, mentally preparing yourself to be chewed out.

Pulling your phone out of your pocket, you scrolled to her phone number, thumb hovering over her contact to call her as you walked past the music room. You tapped on her number, hearing the phone ring on the other end as you stepped past the door. You quickly backed up though, stopping at the slightly ajar door and turning your head as you heard the piano being played. You quickly canceled the call and slid your phone back into your pocket. Slowly, you moved your head to the small rectangular window in the door, just letting one eye peek into the room.

It was a boy from your English class, Ignis, seated behind the piano, fingers tracing over the keys. You didn’t know much about him, but he’d help you get oriented if you started daydreaming during class, always telling you which page number you were on in whatever dry, old book the class was reading. You sat with him at lunch sometimes too, whenever you couldn’t hide in the art room. He always had some immaculately prepared meal, and you were severely jealous, as food was one of the great loves of your life.

I didn’t know he played the piano, you thought to yourself, moving your head to the crack in the door to hear what he was playing unobstructed. The song was vaguely familiar to you, also very beautiful, and you pushed open the door just a bit more, sticking your head fully into the room. Luckily the piano was situated so that you were watching him from the side, and he’d only be able to see you if he looked over to his left. You smiled to yourself as you watched him play, completely engrossed. He made it look effortless, his slender fingers dancing over the keys. You quietly moved yourself completely into the room, sitting down silently on a stool by the door.

You were completely enthralled, and you rested your chin on your hand, not taking your eyes off of him, until your phone rang, loudly, in your pocket, OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson” quickly overpowering Ignis’s skillful playing.

“I’M SORRY MISS JACKSON - OOH - I AM FOR REEEEEEEAL.... NEVER MEANT TO MAKE YOUR DAUGHTER CRY, I APOLOGIZE A TRILLION TIMES....” sang André 3000 as you scrambled to extract your phone from your pocket, finally silencing it. You looked up guiltily at Ignis, who was very amused.

“I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you, I was just walking by and I heard you playing and I thought I’d just sneak out when you were done and I guess that was my stepmom calling me back because I missed my bus and I need a ride home and-“

“It’s all right,” he interrupted your ranting, giving you a smile. Your phone vibrated again, and you looked at the screen to see it was your stepmom calling you back. Giving Ignis a withering look, you stepped out into the hallway, and answered the call, the chewing out immediately beginning.

When you crept back into the music room, Ignis was just letting his hands flit over the keys, a natural melody forming. He glanced over at you when he heard the door open again, and you grabbed your bag, ready to walk home, as your stepmom was not willing to come get your for the second day in a row.

“Everything okay?” he asked, pulling out another booklet of sheet music from his backpack on the floor.

“Fine, yeah. I just have to walk home because my stepmom won’t come get me. Because I’m apparently very irresponsible,” you said, rolling your eyes, very salty about the whole thing.

“I can drive you home,” he offered, flexing his fingers before setting them back on the keys.

“Wait...really?” you asked, pulling the second strap of your backpack on.

“Sure. I’d like to practice for a bit longer though, if you don’t mind waiting.”

“No, no, of course I don’t mind. That would be great, thank you so much,” you said, shrugging out of your backpack. You sat at one of the free chairs near the piano, dragging your heavy backpack behind you. “That’s really nice of you to offer, Ignis. I was really not looking forward to walking home in these shoes,” you commented, wagging your feet, clad in a pair of wedge sandals.

His eyes flicked to your shoes before he chuckled, focusing his attention back on the piano.

“Can I ask what you were playing before OutKast ruined it?”

He smiled again, meeting your eyes over the rim of his glasses. “It was Chopin’s Nocturne No. 2.”

“It...uh, sounded really good,” you replied lamely, crossing your legs.

“Thank you. I hit a lot of sour notes though, some of the trills are difficult to nail.”

“I didn’t notice,” you said with a giggle, “but I am just uncultured swine.”

“I saw you reading Siddhartha the other day in English class after the test, believe me, uncultured people don’t read Hermann Hesse,” he said, and you flushed just a little.

“Well, don’t let me keep you from practicing. My phone is on silent,” you deflected.

He nodded, and immediately began playing again. This one you knew very well, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. He stopped and started up again a few times, making sure he got each part just right. You leaned back in your chair, letting your eyes flutter shut as he played the first movement a few times.

You didn't know how much time had passed when you heard the thunk of the fall as it covered the keys. You opened your eyes to look at Ignis, who was packing away his music. "Ready to go?" he asked, zipping up his backpack.

"Sure. Thank you again for offering to drive me home. And for letting me listen to you play. It was...wonderful," you replied, standing up and gathering your things.

"You are very welcome," he said, gesturing towards the door.

You started "missing" the bus conveniently on Mondays and Wednesdays when Ignis would stay after school to practice. He picked up pretty quickly that you were doing it on purpose, but said that he was glad for the company, and he would gladly drive you home. You, on the other hand, picked up pretty quickly that you liked him; more than just a casual acquaintance or someone you sat next to in class.

You were in your usual seat in the music room as he played Für Elise, and your eyes were glued to him. Not to his hands, but to his face, watching his expressions change as he lovingly stroked the keys, seeing his tongue dart out to moisten his bottom lip as he would go through one of the more difficult sections. You couldn't keep the smile off of your face as you looked at him, saw his passion and dedication with each note he played.

Taking a break after playing for a while, he glanced over at you. "I never asked, do you play at all? Since you seem to enjoy listening to the piano so much."

You looked at him for a moment, before a small smile tugged at the corners of your mouth. "Well, of course I do, Iggy." You stood quickly, smoothing your dress down and marching over to the bench. Motioning for him to scoot over, you sat next to him, clearing your throat and dramatically stretching your arms over your head.

You proceeded to pound out the jankiest version of chopsticks that you could, hearing Ignis burst out laughing on the bench next to you. You soon joined him, leaning against his shoulder. "I told you I could play," you said after getting your giggles under control.

"That was the most perfect rendition of chopsticks I have ever heard," he said, stifling another laugh. You moved to stand, but felt his hand on your wrist. You looked over at him, with an eyebrow raised. "You can sit here... er... if you want," he said quietly, and you were sure it was the first time you'd ever heard him sound nervous, ever.

"Okay, but won't I be in your way?"

He shook his head, moving to hover his hands over the keys once again. He started at the beginning of Für Elise, and you were even more enraptured watching his fingers delicately work, now that you were infinitely closer than before. Whenever he would have to reach towards the right hand side, his forearm would gently brush against you, but it didn't seem to throw off his rhythm. Your eyes traced up and down each finger, moving up to his wrist, then his forearm and bicep, and on to his neck. You licked your lips, eyes pinned on his, parted a little as he played.

You turned towards him on the bench, raising your hand up to place it on his cheek, turning his face to yours. His hands slipped a little on the piano as he met your eyes, a little confusion reflecting in his very green ones. You surged forward, pressing your lips against his, and you heard a discordant thonk as his hands pressed down on the keys. He didn't kiss you back at first, but after just a moment, you felt him place his hands gingerly on your neck, his lips applying more pressure to yours. It was a nervous first kiss, your heart racing and breaths coming hard and fast, but you were glad that you had the courage to initiate.

You broke apart for a breath, but were surprised when Iggy's mouth chased after yours, kissing you more fervently than before. His lips were soft and warm, and so were his hands, still on your neck. You draped your hands over his shoulders, rubbing your fingers on the soft fabric of his shirt. When you broke apart again, you could see his cheeks were bright red, and you were sure yours were too. He smiled at you, leaning in once more to place a soft kiss on your cheek.

"I'm not even remotely complaining, but can I ask why...you just...?" he asked, searching your face.

You bit your lip. "Because... I like you. It felt like the right moment... I guess?" you replied, nervously wringing your hands and looking down at your lap.

He tilted your chin up with a finger, leaning in again to capture your lips in another gentle kiss. "I like you too," he said, grabbing your hand and running his thumb over your knuckles.

You tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear, looking in his eyes again. "Okay, Mozart, will you play for me some more?" you asked, trying to break the awkward tension a little.

"Only if I can kiss you again when I'm done?"

You smiled at him. "Of course you can."

Thank you for reading!!

The songs played are: Nocturne Op 9 No. 2 composed by Frédéric Chopin Moonlight Sonata (1st Movement) composed by Ludwig van Beethoven Für Elise composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

Ms. Jackson composed by André Benjamin, Antwan Patton, David Sheats, Richard Wagner, Stan Watts & Shuggie Otis

Find me on:

AO3: copper_wasp

Twitter: copper_wasp_

[girlbookwrm]

ok but why isn’t it called avengers assemble tho

AKA THE GREAT MARVEL REWATCH PART THIS-IS-NOT-AS-GOOD-AS-I-REMEMBER-IT-BEING-WHEN-I-FIRST-SAW-IT

Avengers is a movie that has not aged well for either me or The Roommate (aka @goteamwin) and we had a whole conversation about how at the time it came out we were excited about Avengers, even though neither of us were yet hip-deep in the Marvel fandom. But we were !excited! because !Joss Whedon! and now we are ?disappointed? because ?Joss Whedon?

This movie, in retrospect, might be The Tipping Point of Joss Whedon’s career? like? It contains everything that was Great about his movies but also contains the seeds of his ultimate self-destruction.

ANYWAY ON WITH THE REWATCH, AKA STEVE ROGERS AND THE CUBE THAT WOULDN’T FUCKING DIE

this opening scene is so expositiony and on the one hand at least it doesn’t contain a flashback but on the other hand? it’s bad?? It’s a bad start???

sidenote by The Roommate: so i know that it was recently confirmed that Loki was being mind-controlled in Avengers but also. Was there ever any question about whether Loki was being mind controlled? or am I just That Fangirl

Sidenote to the sidenote, By Me: She is not That Fangirl, but i suspect that she was perilously close to becoming That Fangirl at some point in her past.

oh hey phil’s here

i do appreciate that they’re prioritizing evac. that’s nice attention to a detail that usually does not get addressed.

the line about the tesseract “misbehaving” being followed immediately by a line about the Tesseract “behaving” dRiVeS mE FUCKING B O N K E R S I HATE IT SO MUCH????

anyway

Every once in a while I forget how hot Jeremy Renner is. 

The Roommate: Yeah it sneaks up on ya.

IT’S JUST BAD WRITING? MISBEHAVING AND BEHAVING ARE LITERALLY ANTONYMS.

ANYWAY.

“You have heart” is also maybe kind of bad writing.

We had to pause and rewind to confirm that yup Loki trips there, because he is having A Trouble (at The Roommate’s urging. Perilously close, my good dude.)

Loki like a labrador getting to ride in the back of the truck for the first time. The Smells! The Sights and Sounds!! The Wind In My Hair!!! THE EXPLOSIONS!!!!

Phil says: “what do we do” and I look at my roommate and say: “The dialogue in this movie is.......... not good.”

it’s just so out of keeping with the Professional Military vibe these three have going otherwise? it’s very ooc sounding to my ear??

anyway

I actually really like this scene with the Black Widow and the russians and that’s all i have to say about that.

actually, you  know what really Makes It for me? Phil bopping along to the sound of  Nat beating up bad guys like it’s on hold music. That’s Just Great.

“‘‘“““budapest”‘‘““““‘‘ aka a clip from later in this movie but flipped.

we can’t talk about the brucenat yet that’s for the aou rewatch

“i’m sorry, that was mean” GOD RUFFALO IS SUCH A GOOD BRUCE???

also Natasha is clearly having A Moment whERE ARE MY 8000 METAS ON WHATEVER NAT IS CLEARLY HAVING A FLASHBACK ABOUT

hey it’s these shadowy figures from the shadowy global organization

“it’s won by Soldiers”--transition to--> Steven Grant Rogers this is an A+ transition and it just makes me angrier that we did not get the full Sadsack Steeb scene from the deleted scenes which is EXCELLENT.

SERIOUSLY. THAT’S A GREAT SCENE. I LOB IT.

*steve’s butt comes on screen*

Me: Ohhhhh say can you SEEEEEE

*the flashback happens*

The Roommate: THis is Un. Necessary.

Me, looking at her, knowing that the first time she saw Avengers she had not seen The First Avenger yet: ..............

Me: un necessary? UN? NECESSARY???

has Steve been sleeping at all tho?

“C eLeBRaTingG??” CELEBRATING WHAT, NICHOLAS? ALL HIS FRIENDS ARE DEAD???

“he’s... not from around here.” THAT IS WILDLY OVERSIMPLIFIED.

“Shoulda left it in the ocean.” 

“shoulda maybe left me in the ocean too” *tired old man sounds.*

Tony is. So Neurotic. About Everything. I Lob Him.

I Think the problem is at least partly that some of Joss Whedon’s lines (in this movie especially) are just so transparently set ups for Snappy Comebacks™

Pepper Potts is also equal parts mom and girlfriend and it seems likely that this is exactly why No Kids, Tony.

Oh Phil.

sidenote from me: Phanboy Phil is a perfect example of something that is Unexpected but Not Out Of Character. Joss Whedon loves doing The Unexpected but he’s not always so great at making it Not Out Of Character

“need a little old fashioned” I WOULD LIKE IT KNOWN THAT AT THIS POINT I WAS IN FACT DRINKING AN OLD FASHIONED CHEERS I DRANK TO THAT BRO

To Loki: Hey bro. how u doin? (spoiler alert: Not Great) u let ur hair grow out and i hate it.

MA’AM he calls her MA’AM steve is such a N E R D

sidenote, at this point i had to pause the movie because i was having An Emotion, because Steve is all sadsack talking to Fury and then equally sadsack talking to Phil and then he comes out of the Quinjet like “Ma’am. Dr. Banner. Word Is You Can Find The Cube. Why What A Wonderful Day It Is Here In The Future Golly Gosh I Sure Do Love It A Lot” in his Olde Tyme Radio Announcer Voice.

and it made me s a d

The Roommate: Well of course he’s talking like an olde tyme radio announcer he has anxiety and this is a stressful situation, so he’s using his Please Don’t Hate Me™ Customer Service™ Voice™

*sadness intensifies*

The Roommate: Steven. I know you were in the army but surely even you know that submarines do not have flight crews.

Maria Hill here, assessing Cap’s assets.

I talk (and will continue to talk) a lot of shit about this movie, but it gave us a lot of Really Good Things, and Nerd!Phil is one of those good things.

Cap’s suit is VERY MUCH NOT ON THE LIST OF GOOD THINGS.

Okay i hate to go on about this (no i don’t) 

But at this stage of the movie, the Avengers have only met Captain America. Like, he’s in the spangly suit, he’s got his Customer Service Voice on, his hair is pomaded to kingdom come, he tucks his plaid shirt into his khaki pants

This is Captain America

This is Not Steve Rogers.

None of the avengers have met Steve Rogers yet and that is just so

* S A D N E S S   I N T E N S I F I E S *

Who built this eyeball device? why? where does it come from? how do they get it? why is it like this? IT IS SO! UNNECESSARY??

“you crave subjugation” loki. Loki. LOKI. i feel like you are talking to yourself. this feels like you’re talking about you. just say you’re a bottom, find yourself a nice service top to take care of you and stop making these poor bastards part of your Extra™ Nonsense.

“we ended up disagreeing” said Captain America.

“nOt TOdAY!” OH HEY STEVE IS HERE GOOD TO SEE YOU STEVE.

“FoR an OldER FEllOW???” WHAT AN EXCELLENT TIME TO POINT OUT THAT TONY STARK, AT THE TIME OF THE AVENGERS, IS, LIKE, FORTY TWO. AND STEVEN ROGERS IS, LIKE, TWENTY-SIX.

*lightning happens*

The Roommate: OH YOU GUYS ARE SCREWED NOW

“I have a plan. Attack.” TONY TEDWARD STARK THAT IS NOT A PLAN.

Last Known Instance of Steve Using a Parachute.

Loki: I’m listening.

Me: Thor is already Gone. so that snappy comeback™ is for whomst???

CHILDREN. STOP FIGHTING. GRANDPA IS HERE.

“are we done?” yeah, they’re all just too Manly to say owwwwwww

Upon Rewatching It Is Painfully Obvious that the Producers Had No Idea that the Mind Stone was in the Staff.

“I understood that reference”

I know it’s overused, but it’s still a Golden line

Steve is so proud of himself.

Tony’s eyeroll is Un Paralleled.

God this is such a group project, and they all fit into their roles so well.

Thor: Well Meaning but Entirely Useless Jock

Steve: Neurotic Organizer With No Applicable Skills

Tony: Genius. Would Be MVP If He Could Be Persuaded To Give A Single Shit. Keeps Suggesting They Do Something Else.

Bruce: “uhhhhhhhh i just wanna finish my work here, and--”

Also: No one in this room is wrong, and that is actually pretty good writing, imo.

“I’ve got a cluster of shrapnel...”

Tony.

Honey.

That is not at all the same thing.

Stop comparing those things.

S T O P.

Thor: In my youth--

Me: THOR YOUR YOUTH WAS LIKE TWO MONTHS AGO.

so this scene with Loki and Black Widow feels very Blocked and Staged but that does not stop it from being Very Good, IMO and no I will not be taking input on that assessment, I really like this particular interpretation of the Black Widow.

Steve: Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. Uses the Cube to make weapons. Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me.

HEY LOOK IT’S STEVE!! STEVE THIS IS EVERYBODY, EVERYBODY, THIS IS STEVE.

Fury: BECAUSE OF HIM.

Thor: me????

Me: THOR HAS LITERALLY DONE NOTHING WRONG LEAVE HIM A L O N E

a) clint rly likes that bow move but more importantly b) clint? u ok? does the brainwash gang get naptime? u look like u could use a nap, sweetums.

TONY LAST MOVIE U HAD THAT PACKED IN A SUITCASE WHY IS IT IN A BANK VAULT???

Did Bruce invest in some kind of specialty pant company? like? kickstarter or something?

Steve goes outside like It’s Cool I Don’t Need Air. 

digi steve is VERY DIGI.

let it be known that thor is coming into this VERY BLIND he has LITERALLY NEVER SEEN THE HULK BEFORE. is he just like, internally ???????IS THIS NORMAL FOR HUMANS?????????????????

“It seems to run on some form of electricity.”

AW STEVE’S HERE AGAIN. 

captain sassmerica

Steve does an awful lot of high kicks and i’m pretty sure he learned those on the Star Spangled Circuit

that arrow-in-computer thing is R I D I C U L O U S.

On the one hand, I definitely shipped Clintasha when I first saw this movie, on the other hand, I can totally see a brother/sister “we were raised in the same dysfunctional foster family” dynamic and I do actually like it.

“It’s Barton”

Natasha: *clint???* *HE HAS CHILDREN.* *AUNTIE NAT POWERS ACTIVATE* “this is agent romanoff. I copy.”

OH NO PHIL

do you remember when character deaths had meaning?

good times.

good. times.

sidenote:

The Roommate: I actually really like this Clint/Nat fight scene there’s no monologuing just Real Fighting

Me: Yeah, with Real Hair-Pulling and Real Biting.

*THONK*

Me: And Real Concussions.

LOOK EVEN PHIL KNOWS THAT LOKI IS BEING MIND CONTROLLED SERIOUSLY WHY WAS THIS EVER EVEN A QUESTION

god it’s so sad that phil is like “no this is fine. it’s cool. we all know that someone has to die in order for them to stop fighting like children.”

let. phil. clock. out.

Tony Stark: I Am Very Dramatically Leaving.

“old fashioned” NICK THAT IS R U D E. YOU K N O W WHAT YOU’RE DOING TO STEVE HERE.

“big and green and buck ass nude” THIS GUY. I LOVE THIS GUY.

what is this insta filter.

“cognitivive recalibration” becomes a meme in shield. like, that butterfly meme but the guy is saying “IS THIS COGNITIVE RECALIBRATION” and on the Butterfly it just says TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY.

Possibly The First Ever Steve Rogers Door Lean Scene™

The Roommate: The subtext that I got, from this scene, the first time I watched it, was that those cards belonged to Nick. Like, Nick had his own vintage set in near mint condition that he bloodied up

I just think it’s adorable that that’s where her brain went with that information. it’s nice. it must be nice for her.

Dear Dr. Selvig: Should You be gendering the Tesseract?

JESUS DID THEY DIP LOKI’S HEAD IN ELMER’S GLUE? IT’S SO GROSS AND GREASY??

“We’re damn sure going to avenge it” 

The Roommate: That’s not a good tagline.

Me: In their defense, it’s not a great name, and they were kinda stuck with it by this point

tony’s dead, these people are dead, maria’s dead from that grenade she caught earlier everyone is dead dead dead dead dead

The chitauri mean. Nothing. to anyone. and they don’t mean anything until Infinity War roles around, you know? that just. sticks in my head.

“did you stop for drive through??” YES. YES THEY DID. THERE WERE NO MEALS IN THE BRAINWASH GANG AND STEVE WON’T SHARE HIS THIGH ZIPPER SNACKS.

is it madness? Is It?? IS IT???

Peggy’s reincarnated husband???

“As a team” STEVEN GRANT ROGERS THAT IS NOT A PLAN.

bruce’s motorcycle: Puttputtputtputtputtputtputtputt

Nat and Cap are so in sync? It’s almost like they were trained by the same person?? But Where Could Natasha Have Learned How To Fight Side By Side With Someone Who Had Gotten The Superserum??? W I L D??????????

“And he didn’t invite me?” It’s ok tony u don’t invite him to civil war so.

Hulk And The Marvelous Wonderful Yes Good Very Smash Day.

he’s just having so much fun?

The Roommate: Steve in this suit is very Adam West Batman

Me: Tiny Turtle of Freedom!!

The Roommate: Yeah especially when he does that.

Clint: Nat whAT ARE YOU DOING??

Me: HER BEST

Jarvis is so tired. “IT’S THE SAME THICKNESS FROM THE INSIDE AS FROM THE OUTSIDE SIR.”

the SHIELD pilot here is very chilled out for a man about to commit mass murder.

“What, are you getting sleepy?”

aw steve’s here!

The Roommate: Pepper Potts’ superpower is saying no and calling the authorities. Her kryptonite is phone calls.

#accurate

no shawarma for you, loki

pooter!

“where are the Avengers?” TAKING A DAMN NAP. THEY’VE EARNED IT.

god that shot with the tesseract STEVE’S FACE JESUS CHRIST.

steve wear a helmet.

“...is to court death”

Thanos: *grins*

Me: IT IS SO PAINFULLY OBVIOUS THAT THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW THEY WERE GOING TO DEVELOP THANOS. LIKE THIS IS A CLEAR FORESHADOW OF THE THANOS/DEATH SHIP AND THAT! DOES! NOT! HAPPEN!

om nom nom nom nom nom 

(ps yes we did eat shawarma whilst watching this movie because of course we did)

[syntriah]

For the character thing,, how about Jeremiah :3c ~Quelline

HOO ALRIGHTMIAH HERE WE GO AGAIN

1: sexuality headcanon ok I ACTUALLY DONT KNOW, DONT HAVE A HEADCANON FOR THIS? he confuses me. like he seems to be not interested in anyone?? but then there’s broose, and like miah doesnt even seem to know how he feels about him “brother i never had” YEA SURE MATE

2: otp i guess with broose… i mean im goos with em just as frens most of the time,, but eyes emoji,, come on hes obviously dyin for broose asgdh MIGHT BE ONESIDED BUT HES DYIN

3: brotp ok i see bro and instantly think of jerome LIKE COME ON,, joker twins… it would have been perfect (like they fite each other a lot but also work together when needed… or just annoy each other, imagine em having social media and just… pure chaos tryin to prank each other, certain “pranks” dont end well for gotham, or broose)  ok but also selina and miah bein good frens is all i ever wanted too asdjasd he shot her but she stabbed him… and they are both ok now! they cool! sometimes they try to kill each other again but its ok, its gotham– sometimes u wannna kill yer frens, but then u can just hang out too 😌

4: notp not includin jerome cause thats his bro… imma say alfred bECAUSE WHY IS THAT A THINGADGHJ

5: first headcanon that pops into my head DID THE SPRAY FIX HIS EYESIGHT OR IS HE GOIN AROUND ALMOS BLIND,,, DID THE SPRAY ACTUALLY CHANGE HIS EYE COLOUR OR IS HE WEARIN CONTACTS??? as cool as his eyes changin colour is ,,,  they kinda stayed black in the spray scene?? and in the 10 year skip they normal again? HMM thonk emoji ,, also im convinced he watched the rocky horror picture show and sweeney todd with ecco after he blew up the bridges (i actually have a dooble comic of this but.. i never finish anythin.. one day) 

6: favorite line from this characterOLE!, ok but i cant choose i love everythin that he says god, and how he talks in season 5 asdghasjd it just kills me “I wanna be the star of the show!” YOU ARE!! YOU DESERVE TO BE!! also i had to look it up cause i have no idea how to write but “verisimilitude trumps precaution, you see.“ what are u sayin boi, why are u talkin like this u ñerd asdghjaskdl— also this aint exactly lines but the whole “dig a little deeper” scene and the oswald meetin scene…. i love so much

7: one way in which I relate to this characterasdfg i guess i relate more to prespray miah… cause i am terrible with social interaction, would rather be livin in a bunker, im paranoid someone will recognize me online so i go by different alliases, and uh… engineerin…? neither of us can run, and of course, i, too, am a dumbass (this applies to all miah)

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character WHEN ROME GIVES HIM A KNIFE ON THE STAGE AND HE GOES ALL AAAAAAAAA AND TRIES TO ATTACK HIM ONLY FOR ROME TO PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE ASDGHJASDK oh. also. i mean this aint on him really, but when he gets sprayed and they stretch his face with cgi or whatever,, come on, why do that to his face 😔

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave? I GUESS THE LAST ONE

AND THATS IT! THANK FOR SENDIN THIS AAAAAAAA 😭😭😭

[corona-the-nightcutter]

@the-great-nome-authority

Tick Tick-tick Tick-tack “mmm.” Tick-tick-tack “huh,” Alliddar’s eye slowly opened, his vison heavily blurred from sleep. He blinked a few times before he could see his’ and Beaux’s room clearly. It was lit only by the glow of the full moon, the gleam shining through the stain glass doors, cascading soft colorful beams on the opposite wall. TACK-TACK!! The sudden noise startled him, causing him to jump and slightly shift the bed, making Beaux moan in his slumber. Alliddar glanced toward the stain glass door of their room, noticing the tiny pebbles that were just visible through the yellow, red and green glass. TACK-TACK-TACK!!! Three more pebbles bounced off the door, settling on the balcony floor with the rest of them. Alliddar   then caught two unmistakable, anxious voices outside who were doing a terrible job at staying silent. “Are you trying to wake the whole dang house Xander?” “I’m sorry De’ Brockoff, but he’s one hell of a heavy sleeper!” “Well their mother isn’t, so ease up for Mayuri sake!” Alliddar groaned. He knew why they were here, what was coming next and was overall not pleased. He had told Ellza and Xander this morning he was not participating in their little “heist”, and he still wasn’t now. After another rather large rock was vaulted at his door, this time making Beaux roll to face away from the window, Alliddar groaned and sluggishly heaved himself off his delightfully warm and cozy padded slab and stumbled toward the colored panels. As he pushed them open, he was greeted by the slightly cool air of night and the settle of dew to greet him and his siblings for the following morning chores. He yawned before he spoke “guys I told you I’m not…” CA-THONK! Another large rock was thrown up, aimed for the door, which was now where the exhausted Stormcutter stood. It slammed right in the center of his crown, causing a rattle in his nasal plates. He yelped out in pain and gripped his head with the bend of his upper wing, causing another stir from his rider in the room. “NICE GOING JAZMIN!” “ME?! LOLA TOLD ME TO LAUNCH IT!” “SHHHHH!” Alliddar’s head perked up. He drew his head away from his wing and froze in surprise. Jazmin being here was an obvious fact. She and her brother are always up for mischief in the middle of the night but… He peered over the side of the railing. All four of his closest friends were standing below him: Ellza, Jazmin, Xander and Lola. “Do all older siblings develop the ability to sleep through anything?” Ellza asked, tilting her head to the left “What are you doing here? I said no!” He cried out as loud as he could, the fear of waking his rider, siblings, and parents weighing heavy on his shoulders. “isn’t it obvious? We’re here for the prankster of honor.” Lola answered, the tone in her voice making him extremely nervous. “How in the name of Glasheera did you get out?!” he asked, looking down at the night fury princess “That’s beside the point, now get down here! We’re going pranking.” She declared. Alliddar shook his head “Nuh-uh, no way. I’m not going.” He declared back, edging back into his room. “You’ve been sulking for a week! It’s time for you to get back out and do stuff!” Ellza said. “I’m not sulking!” “Then prove it and get down here!” “NO!” he ended, backing up and shutting the door. He turned to go back to his bed when a flurry of rocks flew up against the panel. TICK-TICK-TACK-TICK-TACK-TACK! “huh?” Alliddar froze. ‘No-no-no please don’t wake up.’ He repeated over and over in his head as he anxiously watched Beaux roll and turn underneath the furs and sheets, before settling back into deep slumber. Alliddar let his breath exit his chest and his heart beat returned to normal. He furiously, yet quietly, yanked the door open, his golden eyes now glowing with visible anger. Three of his friends immediately jumped when they saw him, Jazmin even squealed a little. Ellza, on the other hand, did not hold any guilt in her eyes what-so-ever, instead choosing to examine her wing claw and the jewel decorations she wore around it. Alliddar could only guess who threw the flurry of stones. “Are you trying to break the window?! Or wake up my family?!” He whispered-shouted, glaring hard down on the still shameless She-cutter. “Maybe.” She sighed, setting her claw down on the ground and glancing up at him. “Well stop!” “Not ‘till you get your sulking butt down here!” “I’m. Not. Sulking!” he stated. “Yes, you are, Alliddar.” Lola piped in. “We know Dim hurt you, but we’re trying to make you feel better!” she added. “By forcing me to help you prank her?” “You do what you have to do to help your people.” She said merrily, swaying her head to emphasize the point. Alliddar only growled. “C’mon Alliddar, it’s been a while since all five of us have done something like this together, and this could be the last chance we get for a while. Half of our group is going to the Guardians academy in a fortnight, and Lola has alpha training and Xander and I are going to start helping our families on other islands.  Are you really gonna pass up something like this before we all go separate ways?” Jazmin proclaimed, rather unnecessarily dramatic. Lola, Xander and Ellza stared and raised their scaled brows at her. “Was all that needed?” Xander asked. “Yes.” Alliddar sighed, finally accepting defeat. She did have a point, they all were maturing and expected to take on more responsibilities and such. They might not have another chance to have a simple get together in the middle of the day to just talk, let alone a night where they all had the energy to prank someone. Especially Dim. “Ok fine, whatever. Let’s do it.” He said, his voice didn’t carry any annoyance though. He glanced back over his shoulder, smiling at the still sleeping Beaux, then slowly slid the panel shut. He left it open just a crack, so he could get back in then spread his wings and glided down to his friends “Oh, come on! It takes a dramatic-Jazmin speech to convince you?” Xander complained. “Now you have to appreciate all my speeches.” Jazmin said smugly, bumping her brother’s shoulder with her claw as Alliddar touched down. “Even if I said no again, Ellza probably would have just kept throwing rocks at my window until it broke.” He said. “Then I’d have to explain a broken window to my parents.” “You know me too well, Cryderman.” Ellza remarked, narrowing her eyes in playful manner. “Ok, enough talking. Time to start pranking.” Jazmin declared, followed by her best impression of evil laughter, making the others chuckle. ------------------------------------------------- “So, I probably should have asked before but, what exactly are we doing? Or were we going to decide when we got here.” Alliddar asked. Lola, Ellza and himself were sitting on the ridge that over-looked the De' Brockoff house, while  Jazmin and Xander had excused themselves halfway to their destination to “gather the supplies”. “Well, I might have a few ideas.” Ellza started, her voice reeking a mischievous tone. “Why do I get a feeling your cooking up something extra dirty in that mind of yours?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. “What makes you say that, Alliddar?” Lola added, catching on to Ellza’s game. “I don’t know. Maybe the fact that she sent the Saratha siblings to get the shit while we sit and stare at my ex-girlfriend's house?” Alliddar said, throwing his upper wings up in the air to emphasize. “So, you are excepting the title of “Ex-girlfriend” huh?” Ellza teased. “Tell Beaux and Tori and I’ll send my sister after you.” Alliddar threatened, staring her right in the eye. Ellza scoffed with a smile and a roll of her eyes. “Fine, fine. But it’s not like it’s going to stop them from teasing you anyway.” “Oh, wow what supportive friends I have.” “Will you guys shut up?! By the way, Double-Trouble is back.” Lola said, gesturing with her head to the incoming silhouettes of the Triple Strykes. As they dove in to land, Xander through the large, leather, draw-string bag he was carrying at Ellza as soon as he was close enough, then landed next to his sister. The navy Stormcutter caught it with ease, but hastily put it down and backed away from it. Jazmin simply let her’s drop but she moved away from it as well. “Ellza, we’ve done some crazy stuff over the years, but this is beyond insane!” Xander exclaimed, pointing to the bags to make his point. Ellza rolled her eyes. “I’m simply making it even, in one blow. Also, keep your voice down, we have a dog.” She said. “What’s in the bags?” Alliddar asked and used his wing claw to pull open the top of the bag Xander was carry. He instantly withdrew and screeched when he saw the shiny, slimy, smooth bodies of river eels. Ellza squealed. “Don’t let them out you idiot!” She screeched, quickly pushing Alliddar away from the bag and pulling the string, closing the opening he made. “Xander’s right, you are insane!” He said. “Thank you, Alliddar.” “Did y’all not hear a thing I just said!” Ellza stated. “But its eels! As in actual, living, disgusting eels!” Alliddar made one quick glance to the other bag “Whatchya got in the other one? Snakes? Spiders? Maybe even a legless rat?” he rattled off. “No, nothing living. It’s barrels of spoiled goat milk.” “Oh, Draco and Glasheera help me” Alliddar groaned, slapping his claw to his face. “When did that come into the plan?” Lola asked, walking over to the second bag, recoiling at the odor when she got close. “Last minute add-on. So, the dog and guardians won’t smell us.” “That’s…actual really smart.” Alliddar   admitted. “but does it have to be goat milk?” “Quickest thing we could get at last minute. Alright here’s the plan.” She quickly swept the leaves and stick away from the spot where she was standing and began drawing the basic outline of Dim’s room. “We need to block off any small openings and piece of furniture in Dim’s room, then fill it with the eels.” “But what about Kenjen?” Alliddar asked. Like most bonded pairs at this age, Dim and Kenjen slept in the same room. “You’re gonna have to move him.” “You move him. This is your idea.” “It’s my idea, yes, but you are the reason we are here.” “You are the reason I’m here Ellza!” Alliddar shouted, slightly butting his head against hers. She returned it with a slight growl. “How about I move him then!” Jazmin piped up. “NO!” The Stormcutters said in unison. Lola squeezed herself in between them. “How about I move him.” “Fine by me.” Alliddar said, looking down at her. “Fine, whatever.” Ellza continued. “Since Lola is moving Kenjen, you are going to help me move things around, so we can get all the eels in.” Alliddar shivered in disgust. “What are we doing?” Xander asked, coming up beside her. “You two are going to make sure everyone else in the house stays asleep.” Ellza answered. “Boring!” Jazmin proclaimed. “You get to watch Lola struggle.” “Not boring!” Jazmin said, earning a growl from Lola. “We all good now?” Ellza asked. Everyone else nodded. “Ok then, lets get this over with.” She walked over to the leather bag containing the barrels. She pulled the bag open and exposed the two awfully smelling containers inside. She then used her claw to pry the lid off one. As soon as the lid was cracked open, the fumes from the curding milk were released. It looked worse than anything imaginable, and it smelled even worse. The solid chunks floating on the surface didn’t help, making them urge to hurl their dinner onto the ground even more prominent. All five dragons recoiled when the scent filled their nostrils, Lola and Jazmin even gagged a bit. “So, who wants to go first?” Ellza asked, using her wing to fan the gas away. They all look at one another, and grimaced. What have they gonna themselves into?

[ask-joeydrewstudios]

Wrong Reflections, Part 4 [END]

[submitted by: @disneyphantomlover]

 It had been surprisingly easy to usher Bendy out of the room. Not that the little devil liked it, but he’d only argued with Joey once before turning tail and marching out the door. Once the thick door had been swung shut, Joey could hear a thump on the wooden floor accompanied by a goofy squeaking sound. Like a certain toon plopped himself in front of the door in lieu of being a sentry. He could only guess that Bendy felt a slight kinship with this reflected one, and was a little more cooperative when it was a copy of himself who had asked for a private word.

Speaking of the copy… Joey faced the mirror once more, and noticed that this Bendy’s face was a little more somber than before. His notched eyes were still a startling dark green instead of the black like before, but they were starting to fill in with black again. Said eyes were staring down at a piece of yellowed paper as the small toon wrote on it. His energy seemed a little different, but Joey merely chalked it up to whatever the toon wanted to talk about. When Bendy finally held up his paper, the entire sheet had been written on and Joey needed to lean in to read the smaller print more clearly.

“There’s no real easy way to say this. My Joey is dead. And he did a lot of bad things before he died. Me, Boris, and Alice are lucky that Henry came back. I don’t even know if you have a Henry but he was really, really good to us. He’s even taking us to his home tomorrow. Boris is worried he’ll be a bother and Alice is sad at everything that happened. But I wanted to talk with you. I wanna be sure you’re not like-” Joey noticed there was a terribly scratched out “me” there before it continued “- my Joey.”

… Wow. He had to put a hand over his heart, and felt the comforting weight of the pocket-watch in his vest pocket. It was not the first time he was grateful for the fact he knew the date of his own death, but he didn’t expect to be reminded of that today. It was a sobering thought for sure. Human mortality was like that. And then there was the scratched out “me”. That was puzzling to think about…. Was this Bendy based off Joey? It wasn’t that uncommon to base a character off oneself, but he hadn’t done so with Bendy. Maybe others had?

He jumped when he heard a thonk, and looked down only to see that the notepad had slid off his knee and landed on the floor. God, he was scaring himself now. How ridiculous… Leaning down, he snatched up the pad and was already writing out his own response when he sat up. “I do have a Henry. He’s a good animator and an even better man. And while I’m glad to hear yours is coming for you, I’m not your Joey. I’m sorry he’s gone for you. But I’m not him. And no matter what he did I don’t think you’re like him.” He made sure to underline that last phrase a few times for emphasis. He didn’t need to know what the other Bendy meant by “bad things”, but old habits died hard. He needed to reassure his child that he was good.

The reflected Bendy’s face didn’t change much as he read the notepad, his widow’s peak still pinched up and a sad smile on his round face. And those green eyes tearing up with black ink. He didn’t bother wiping away the tears that were running down his face when he grabbed a new piece of paper, writing rather slowly this time. The poor thing was so hesitant to explain himself…

“Thank you”

Joey tilted his head in confusion as he read that single phrase. Even when Bendy set the sheet down and began to write again, the animator had no idea what to say. Or write. He just wanted to reach through the glass and hug the small demon himself. That feeling only grew when Bendy held up the paper again, his hands trembling ever so slightly. “It’s a long story but it’s hard to not think I am Joey sometimes. He cared about us. Me and Boris and Alice. I think a lot of the bad things he did were because he thought it was right. He was desperate. He hurt his two best friends over and over but never got to say he was sorry. He hurt a lot of people because he didn’t know stuff. But he was heartbroken when we started to melt. Tried to make us better to the point he died doing that.”

His heart felt like it was in a vice as he carefully read over Bendy’s explanation. On the one hand, it hurt like hell that a version of him somewhere was desperate like that and hurt others. He couldn’t even raise a hand to his friends here in the studio. But it was also comforting in a strange way that “he” still cared for his Creations. There was no doubt in his mind that he’d move heaven and earth to help his created children. Maybe even die for them. Not that he’d wish that on them, but… If worse came to worse, he’d die happy knowing that Bendy, Boris, and Alice were safe because of it.

A gentle rapping on the glass knocked him out of his thoughts, and he saw Bendy looking up at him. Those eyes were back to being a vivid dark green, but there was a tender smile on his face as he held a hand against the mirror. For some reason, his mind thought of how ironic it was. Eyes were windows into the soul. Sure, he didn’t have one himself, but there’d been a handful of people who told him his eyes were too blue to be natural and how weird they were. And they were right in an odd way. But Bendy’s eyes… They were someone else’s. That poisoned, envious kind of color didn’t belong on a playful imp like the Dancing Demon. Bendy was alive because someone else wasn’t.

…

Then he felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. The man in the photograph was recognizable because he’d seen him once before. Well, kind of. Seen him in a strange sort of dream when Sammy Wes had been here. A dark haired man with expressive green eyes and his own voice. That same man who had hurt his two friends by telling Henry to go and die like a good man, and took advantage of Sammy Wes’s loyal nature.

Yet….

“Tried to make us better to the point he died doing that.”

… If he died making Bendy better, than he was okay with that. Anything else the “other him” did was moot at that point. He died a bad man, but he’d done so to make the cartoons.

With slightly trembling hands, he wrote down a question on his notepad before holding it up to Bendy. “Can I see the photo again? No hiding the others this time please.”

The reflected toon nodded, proudly holding the small, broken frame by the sides. And Joey saw himself, not only in the pride the demon had, but in the scratched photograph. At one point, this Joey had been happy. So happy he was laughing as a man in ratty overalls held onto his arm to keep him supported. A barrel-chested man with dark circles under his eyes was grinning as he pointed to the sign that hung above them. “Joey Drew Studios”.

Well. The world was small, but he didn’t realize just how small. He removed his glasses and wiped at his own eyes as the weight of it all sunk in his chest. He should feel angry. Or upset at least. But all in all, he couldn’t make himself feel that way. His other self -or selves at this rate- were desperate, angry men. But at the end of it all, he cared about his Creations. That integral, caring part of him was a constant. Maybe he was selfish, but dammit. He needed something to believe in if he was reduced to the antagonist in his own studio. Leaning over the desk, he quietly mouthed the words “thank you” as he touched his hand to his lips before swinging it down.

It was Bendy’s turn to look puzzled, and the picture frame slowly lowered from view as he set the image in his lap. His eyes had reverted back to pitch black ink, but there were still little droplets of his own tears in the corners.

Well, he did need to explain himself. After a moment or two to scribble in the notepad, he held it up to Bendy. “Sorry. I just needed to see that. Your Joey had good friends. What is it you wanted to tell me earlier? To not be like you? Or your Joey I guess?”

Bendy read it once, then twice before reaching behind and rubbing the back of his head in a shy manner. Guess he felt a little guilty being caught, but not by much. Leaning over, Bendy seemed to be looking for an unmarked piece of paper before writing down something. “Never be like my Joey was. He was DESPERATE. He wanted to make the impossible possible. No matter who got hurt. Never be desperate. He had good friends. You do too. And never trust The Mechanic. Murray Hill can’t be trusted.”

Joey was grateful for being a fast reader, because he barely made it through before the mirror began to crack. “Wait!” He jumped to his feet, picking up the mirror of the desk and holding it in his hands. Even the reflected Bendy seemed startled at first, staring up at his own human copy. It was getting harder to see through the splintering glass, but he knew he saw Bendy smile once more before the mirror completely shattered. After a beat, the wooden frame began to splinter as well. But he was too stunned to drop the mirror, and winced as wooden pieces got stuck in the soft parts of his palm. In literal seconds, the mirror to that other place had turned to shattered glass and splinters.

And while it made him curious on what exactly caused such a reaction, he supposed that he’d think about that a different day. One brush with existentialism and mortality was enough for today. He sighed as he sat back down in the chair, smiling at his now-mangled hands. “…Bendy! Would you mind getting Wally up here?”

He’d tell Bendy what happened later. But right now, he needed to process all that happened. He needed a moment to be selfish given that wrong reflection in the mirror.

((OKAY. Re-wrote this chapter no less than three times. And one time it went really, REALLY bad. But I like this one best. And yes, that photo is the one Sammy Wes had in his wallet in “Similarly Spiteful”. Really was fun attempting to write both Joey’s in this one. Hope you liked it!))

((YES I LOVED IT :O oh my gosh i loved this whole chapter, joey trying to comfort mirror bendy oh my lord,, he’s so nice. and.. does joey drew is bendy?? xD for real though, this is a wonderfully somber chapter, especially when mirror bendy talks about the details of his world… and joey having that little appreciation for the fact that he universally seems to care about his creations?? MM 👌 👌 👌 and i love that little bit of continuity where the photo in the frame is the same photo wes had. heck ye. danke for the fic!! <3 <3 <3))

part one | part two | part three | part four [END]