#while normal people just draw I have fun reading On Death & Dying to tell it right (interesting yet sad ;w;)

[zu-is-here]

TRAPPED [ Sans ]

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[autism-spectral-theorem]

hi posting third chapter of my death note fic on this account whatever. not a lot happens yet but L appears in this one. (ao3)

(first chapter)

(previous chapter)

It was as if only a second had passed when he opened his eyes to the ringing of his alarm. Usually, he could wake up at whatever time he wanted with no need for an alarm, but he had set it as a precaution so he would not be late to school in case he accidentally fell asleep during one of the last few sleepless nights. He sat up in bed and stretched. It would probably take several more nights of good sleep for him to be completely well rested, but he no longer felt so sleep deprived, and his hand hurt less. For the sake of his health, he was definitely going to have to ease up on the judgements.

“Thought you’d never get up.” Right. There was a demon in his room.

“Good morning, Ryuk. I hope you didn’t cause any trouble at night.”

“Hyuk, hyuk. The human world is fun. I flew around and ate some apples.”

Light decided not to press about where exactly he had acquired those apples, but made a mental note that the shinigami’s affinity for apples may come to be a useful piece of information. “Alright. Have fun, but don’t let other humans know you’re here, or they might catch me and your fun will be over.”

***

A group of his classmates was gathered by the entrance to the school. Everyone appeared to be animatedly discussing something. Could it be? He greeted them. “What’s going on?”

A quiet girl from his class whom he had never really talked to previously (though he did recall watching her draw in class, creating near photographic representations of their classmates and teachers) turned towards him. “Have you read the news?”

“I haven’t really been online the past few days. Busy studying. What happened?”

“So busy with your studies that you barely remember us simple mortals, of course, Yagami. Last night, in the span of less than an hour, ten of the world’s richest people donated all their wealth to charity and dropped dead. Then, people on social media started noticing that the past few days, people have been dying under similar circumstances. Some members of criminal organizations around the world have turned themselves and their accomplices in before dying immediately after. Serial killers, rapists, child abusers. It would seem obvious that this is the doing of some government, maybe the CIA or something, but the thing is, corrupt government officials have been dying too, and the events of last night probably eliminate this possibility. Some people have even been saying it’s divine judgment, that those who harm others are being eliminated. It’s just speculation of course. I’m sure everyone here would be curious to know what you think.”

It was all going according to plan. Light suppressed his smile and pretended to be deep in thought, as if taking in this information for the first time. “Very interesting. I can’t say I have heard of something like this happening before, though that much is obvious. Normally, I would say these are just accidents that happened to coincide, but the probability of such a series of coincidences happening is so unlikely that if this was a scientific study we would be forced to conclude something else is going on here. My guess as to what exactly is as good as yours though.” He told everyone he would see them in class and politely excused himself. 

For once, Light was grateful he did not have to pay attention in class because it gave him time to reassess his situation and plan ahead (while ignoring Ryuk’s antics in the background). His initial actions were hasty and based on limited information. He had done the best he could with the large number of unknown variables, but now that he knew for certain that he was in for the long run, it was essential to assess every aspect at play and pursue the optimal course of action.

So far, he was pleased with the results, but it was too early to tell how everything would play out, and if any unpleasant surprises would surface. What he did the day before was a necessary gamble. It was a bold move to go for some of what would seem like the most important targets so early, and he had hesitated. He was not an idiot and it was obvious to him that it was unlikely that all billionaires would suddenly start giving away all their money and restructuring their enterprises according to the principles of worker democracy. The far more likely outcome would be that they would store their assets in offshore accounts, with the bonus of tax evasion, and it would be anywhere between extremely time-consuming and impossible for him alone to figure out who owns what. Perhaps at that point he could rely on his supporters (at this point in time, he did not know of any supporters, but he was sure there would be many people who would see his righteousness eventually).

Given this, it would seem to any reasonable observer that this was an impulsive move expected of a teenager given too much power. But to Light, this was a lower-risk move compared to starting by eliminating “bad” political leaders to make a point, because it was more attention-catching yet did not pose as much of an issue with finding replacements. And just as one cannot win a game of chess using only pawns, he could not achieve his goals by going only after small targets.

***

Bathed in the blue glow of monitors in his dark office, L stacked a dozen sugar cubes into his tea and pressed on them with a spoon, watching the hot tea seep into the sugar, softening and dissolving it. He stirred it slightly, took a sip of the slightly crunchy sugary slush, then brought his eyes back to the screen.  

An unlikely series of deaths around the world had caught his attention in the past week. Such things were not extraordinary in his work, but what was extraordinary about this case was the worldwide spread of victims, lack of any kind of physical evidence, and almost deliberate conspicuousness, as if the killer (if there was one, and this was precisely the point that led L to suspect there was) wanted to be noticed. It was so conspicuous, in fact, that he predicted it would be a matter of a few days before law enforcement agencies noticed and contacted him.

Something caught his eye. Impossible! He took this thumb out of his mouth and stared. There was no doubt now.

His phone rang.

[mitamicah]

Spoilers from both Trollhunters the book and Trollhunters the series!

While reading the book I was really impressed with how many differences there were between the character so I have worked on giving my take on six characters from both media, book vs series, and how they differ from each other :3 

I should mention that while there was illustrations in the book I tried for the challenge not to copy those but follow along the describtions in the book - when possible - to give my own interpretation of the characters ^v^ 

Steve

First up we have Steve. Starting out as the stereotypical bully in both version their paths seperates quickly resulting in two different ending for the musuclar blond Jorgensen-Warner is the book version of Steve. Here's how he is described from our first encounter with him: "He was handsome but in the oddest way- He eyes were too small and his nose piggish: he had a ridiculous amount of hair and a couple of teeth that looked like fangs. Yet somehow in combination these features were sort of mesmerising. His unnatural muscular bulk and odd way of speaking -crisply, politely, as if he were a foreign student who had learned English in class - completed the strange package." page 21-22 For his outfit I went with the description of him on page 224 "[my clothes] ... didn't cast me in the best light when compared to Steve Jorgensen-Warner, who looked rather rakish in blue jeans and a shirt - definitely not a blouse - opened to the third button. He dribbled the ball casually with his left hand." The bold passages is added by me   This Steve is later revealed to be a changeling aka a troll   Before we go on: can any of you explain to me what a "ridiculous amount of hair" even means :'D? I had a lot of trouble with this prompt because isn't this so darn subjective :'D? and the official art look way less ridiculous than I'd figure it'll be :'D x'D Palchuk is the series version of Steve. His facial appearance being way less specific (I'd say he has normal sized eyes, a big roman nose and some more or less normal teeth) and his way of speaking is definitely not polite. Like book Steve, this Steve starts out with pushing smaller guys into lockerrooms yet after that he becomes way less of a terrifying bully and much more of a silly goose who brings a lot of the comic relief in my opinion Douxie says it best in Wizards when he calls Steve the "village idiot" x'D I do not recall seeing Steve being that sporty in the show, he is much more interested in becoming homecoming king  no basketballs around x'D While book Steve is revealed to be the enemy (a troll) series Steve joins the "good guys" creating the creepslayerz with the character Eli Pepperjack

Blinky

Blinky is just called Blinky in the book  Here's a bit of description of him "The third [troll] had scarlet eyes, eight of them on long stems. (...) The thing from my house glided toward me with a surprising grace for something with an indetermined number of legs, all of which were hidden behind a patched kilt scaled with layers of medals, prizes and trophies and award ribbons. An incalculable tangle of tentacles twined around one another as if dying to squeese something to death. As it passed the oven, the firelight revealed olive-green skin, reptilian texture, and lacquer of slime lubricating its undulating appendages Its moth a horizontal gash.. " The bold passages is added by me   So yeah this Blinky is quite something :'D I stopped caring to draw tentacles after a while but overall this was silly but fun to draw  since his teeth later is described as big as traffic cones I believe he must be very tall :'D Also he's close to blind   Has a bit of a dirty mouth but in a very "read" way if it makes sense :'D cannot seem to stop calling Jim dimwitted and tiny and Tobias big :'D Blinky's full name in the series is Blinkus Galadrigal  he has six eyes instead of eight and they are all working just fine, thank you very much x'D His tons of tentacles and legs has been replaced by four arms and two legs and while he is still olive-green he is now made of tone like texture just like the other trolls  the kilt turned into shorts and he is quite a bit smaller now not even as tall as Jim  He still has this very academic way of speaking yet he is way nicer to Jim calling him "Master Jim" instead of "the short one" x'D

ARRRGH!!!

Book ARRGHHH!!!s full name is Johannah Mmmm ARRRGH!!! and she is a pretty big deal warrior among the trolls in the book - she's so badass in fact Blinky has decided to call her by her last name to honor her for her deeds for trollkind   Here's a qoute from the book describing her appearance   "The goliath emerged from the tunnel as comfortably as a dog from a doghouse, coarse black fur pouring into the chamber before I could make out any actual arms or legs (...) Even beneath the fur I could see loops of muscles flexing. (...) ARRRGH!!! was built like a gorilla but three times larger: Two arms, two legs, and, thankfully, just two eyes. Horns, curled like those of a ram (...) The thing's orange eyes cast about with animal perceptiveness, and it used its snout and sniffed. Its jaws fell open to reveal a purple, slavering mouth armed with haphazard daggers of teeth." Page 75-76 The bold passages is added by me   (Also worth mentioning: the qoute is from before the protagonist knows of ARRRGH!!!'s gender which is why he calls her an 'it') At other times in the story we learn that ARRRGH! has quite scarred arms and really wishes for better tooth hygeine; so much so that Tobias actually end up making her a brace out of chicken wire :'D Idk I find it quite adorable :'D Now unto the serie's ARRRGH!!! - first up he is male, his name is Arghaumont and he is famous for another reason than Johannah: he was a general of Gunmar but retreated from the war making him a traitor to his people yet a hero for the good trolls in the series. Series ARRRGH!!! is likewise built like a gorilla but made of stone and having a mane long and green like it is moss  his horns is way smaller and less curvy and his teeth hygeine is never brought up  also his face is way less dog like x'D 

Tobias 

Book Tobias' full name is Tobias M. Dershowitz yet he is going by 'Tubby' or 'Tub'. Here is a describtion of him from the book: "You could call Tobias Dershowitz chubby, if you were being cute, or husky if you were being diplomatic. The fact is he was fat, and that was only the beginning of his problems. His hair was a thick, orange, out-of-control hedge. His face spilled over with the kind of freckles that make kids like Tub look like overgrown toddlers. Worst of all were his braces, marvels of modern torment: whips of stainless steel crisscrossing each tooth seperately and lashed to a dozen silver fasteners. The braces clicked so much when he spoke, you expected sparks. At least he was tall..." page 27 The bold passages is added by me   The outfit I went with is described on page 259 like this: "He stood in the driveway decked out in his best approximation of a ninja: black tennis shoes, black sweatpants, a black hoodie, a belt made from a red curtain sash, and an oversize fanny pack holding his gear (...) It was unfortunate that the fanny pack was lime green..." To describe Tub is a bit difficult because sadly he is not much in the story as I'd liked - mostly he is being quite serious and let us know he is not happy by being sidelined not speaking troll nor being invited on hunts which I completely understand tbh :'D What I do find interesting is how Tub and series Jim has seem to have switched roles a little bit: In the series Jim is the one giving a speech about how he is insecure about his place in life and how he wants more - in the book this is Tub in more than one occassion: "We have to accept who we are. And before you ask, I'll tell you. We're nobody. We have no life. We have nothing to look forward to. We're not special. I just want it to go away. All of it. The stupid being scared. Doesn't it seem we've been scared forever?" page 37 "Jim, you're wrong. We were meant to do this. This is exactly what we've been waiting for. They've chosen us. Of all people! Us! (...) Jesus, Jim, take a look at my life! You know what I'm worth! To anyone? Zero! Nothing! I'm a fat loser and will always be a fat loser. Until this. This is like a present. Full of, man, I don't know. Hope?..." page 196 (talking about trollhunting here btw) Oh yeah and book Tobias gets this badass scene where he uses his dentist's tool to kill trolls I loved that   Now series Tobias is way different :'D first up his name is Tobias Domzalski and his nicknames are Toby and Tobes. He is way shorter and has more neat hair (what is it with the series neating up the hair :'D? x'D). He also seems way cheerier and pretty happy with his place in life more or less  Unlike Tub, Toby is in it from the start being an important player in the story   He doesn't have the same drive to be something more than he is as Tub has instead Toby is going with the flow starting out quite afraid of everything troll and ended up being as brave as the rest of the team *tbh Jim's scared out of his wits too so they mimic each other x'D* Where Tub has dentist tools Toby gets a badass hammer so I'll say its an upgrade  

Claire

First off we have Claire Fontaine, a foreign student from no other than Scotland with a taste for military clothing and liqourice   Here's how she's described in the book   "She tucked her long dark hair behind her ear and left ir with an adorable smudge of white dust. I thought she was beautiful, though she wasn't in the classic sense. The popular girl would say she wasn't skinny enough. They would also point to the fact that she didn't wear makeup or do anything to tame that hair. And her clothes -well, what could be said about her clothes? Her boots were not sexy and knee-high: in fact, they were ankle-high and rubber-soled and looked picked from military surplus racks, an array of pea-green coats and multi-coloured slacks, all of which looked as if they'd been through actual World War II combat. And that beret she wore before and after school wasn't of the look-at-me-I'm Frensh variety: it was more in the style of I'm-going-to-invade-your-country-and-be-your-new-dictator. Only one thing didn't make sense: that bright pink, exceedingly girlish backpack that inexplicably hadn't one anti-establidh patch sewn onto it (...) Oh, I forgot to mention that Claire Fontain came from the UK. That's right- the girl had an accent. I think you are starting to get the picture." page 30-1 The bold passages is added by me It is hinted at that Claire is quite tall and a great deal taller than Jim (more when I get to him) and she is actually a whole year older than Jim since they both have birthday May 2 but Claire is 16 while Jim is 15  Since Trollhunters in this story is not a "protected title" (aka the chosen hero type) Claire ends up being one herself even though nobody even herself didn't know: AND. SHE. KICKS. BUTT! She's even better than the guy that had 40+ years experience so yeah safe to say she's badass :'D Even before that she has a hilarious scene calling out Steve in the wildest shitstorm of Scottish slang I lived for it x'D She's described quite a few times with lots of bracelets, sometimes made of wire so I gave her a bit of both   She's not really a part of the popular group but has her own thing going on   Now onto Claire Nuñez the series' version of this badass   Here Claire is hispanic and pretty much one of the most popular girls seen around  her style is way more ... I've called it punk rock in purple but Idk exactly what to call it x'D she's shorter than Jim and slimmer looking than her book counterpart   She enters the story not as a trollhunter but as a victim of having her brother stolen by changelings and as time progresses she becomes a fastlearning and quite competent sorcerer dealing in shadow magic   Unlike Fontaine, Nuñes is seen wearing make up, shorter hair with dye in it and hair clips instead of bracelets  

Jim 

First up we have book Jim. His full name is James Sturges Jr. and lives with his single parent, his dad, after his mother went away the day before his birthday in start May and never returned. Sturges Sr. had been traumatized loosing his brother to trolls although none of the characters didn't know this yet - only Senior had seen the creatures making him paranoid and in turn making Jim very embarrased about his father. At the same time Jim seems to honestly worry for his father and his behavior too makes Jim very cautious and fearful a character. Book Jim is pretty much a typical teenager for the most part  He is seen to be a tad clumsy and not exactly brave really. And the author's choice of basically not describing him anywhere made my job way harder trying to be book accurate :'D So I've mostly inspired him of the official illustrations in the book   Here's what I could find about our little trollhunter   First off: he's a short fellow  that is first mentioned on page 14; "Sunshine is important for growing boys." (...) "I am not growing" I took after my dad when it came to size and was still waiting for that growth spurt everyone kept raving about. "In fact I think I'm shrinking." This is brought up most of everything Jim through the movie from him not being able to reach a point of a chalkboard (page 32) to people's dissapointing sighs taking meassurements when he is chosen as Romeo (107) and him wearing super high heels for the same reason (224) but also Blinky directly calling him a "little fellow" (page 127) On page 27 we learn that he is getting a bruise on his chin after being slammed into his locker by Steve  Lockers he has been thrown into enough to have learned to open them on the inside :'D He is a skinny fella which Tobias so politely call "lack of muscletone" due to "glandular" at page 120 He is not very good at anything describing his room full of stuff from hobbies he tried and failed at (page 63) The longest describtion about his appearance is probably page 105: "I lowered my eyes and regarded the chewed, dirty fingernails holding my script, thes scuffed shoes on my feet, and realized that these were the symbols of my pityful life: worn-out, insignificant, ready to be thrown beneath Dad's industrial mower" It pretty much says it all when this is the longest quite I could find :'D For the outfit I mostly went by the small describtion on page 89-90: "I tucked the medallion beneath my shirt. After a full day of wearing it, maybe the rest of the suffocating fear would go away too. My plan was to dart into the kitchen, grab my sweatshirt and be out of the house. " I added jeans since he is said to wear jeans on page 283 - the medallion sneak out beneath the sweatshirt/shirt on page 97 which is why I added it on top here as well   Now since there's a bit more to both versions of Jim due to their role as the protagonist I've added in a little extra features here being the medallion in the book vs the amulet in the series and the weaponry given to the characters   For Sturges we have the medallion who's described like this: "It was a bronze medallion conntected to a rusty chain. It was engraved with a foreboding crest: a hideous, snarling face; indecipherable markings of a sevage language, and a magnificent long-sword across the bottom." page 9 The medallion is treated like it is a common artefact if a bit rare in the book - its purpose is to translate trollspeak for the wearer. Jim is giving two swords in the book; a rusty longsword he calls Clairesword (do I need to explain this one?) and a cutlass he calls Cat #6 after the one cat at Tobias' house that liked Jim  x'D For Sturges' personality my feeling about him is that he is a bit more ... passive than his series counterpart. He is not really standing up for himself that much and would rather blend into the background. This qoute from Claire sums him up pretty nicely I believe   "You're a good person, Mr. Sturges. A bit gloomy, but good" page 246 I do like that Jim in this version is a Taurus  (I am a taurus too x'D) born on May 2nd so that's a plus   It is probably also worth mentioning that in this world trollhunters aren't a chosen hero type like in the series: trollhunters or paladin was once a title held by many warriors yet now there's very few left. Sturges was a proud paladin family making Jim a chosen candidate for the honor of becoming a trollhunter but he is not the only one - or even the best - in the book. In fact out of the three trollhunters we learn about I'll say Jim is the weakest (and he is not even the least trained; ouch :'D) Jim doesn't get a nice armour like his series counterpart either but is seen in the illustrations wearing a blue hoodie (like the one in the little doodle)   The full name of Jim in the series is James Lake Jr. He is the child of a single parent and lives with his mother whom Jim "mothers a lot" (Tobias' words in the first episode) This Jim is pretty "tall for his age" (Jim's own words uttered quite a few times across all three series) yet with quite skinny legs (he is called out for this by multiple characters). He is much more competent in life than his book counterpart being an exceptional cook, good at Spanish, seemingly alright in PE and at school he seems to stand pretty good if only holding himself back. Unlike book Jim, series Jim seems much more active and longing to be something more than he is - he is seen to be quite brave and protective of his friends, very kind and selfless. Also even from the start he seems much more nimble than his book counterpart being able to climb the robe (a feat book Jim didn't do before later) and with his training as trollhunter he becomes even more badass   Trollhunter status in the series is way more important since the title is given to only one chosen warrior of Merlin chosen by the amulet of daylight (the medallion in the book). This also makes the amulet way more special and important in the series which probably explains its shine up from rusty bronze thing to silver and blue. While Lake Jr doesn't have named sword he does have a magical armour and sword made of daylight   We do not know the exact birthday of Lake Jr but the creators have replied to a fanquestion saying it would be around fall especially October so by that estimate Jim is probably a scorpio  pretty far from the before mentioned taurus in the book   While Jim Lake Jr isn't seen with long lasting bruises in the original series he does get two more permanent scars in Wizards  

[annab-nana]

Is There Something There - Tom Holland

During an interview that you were doing with Tom for Endgame press, some of the questions catch you both off guard and one leads to you two talking about something you’ve both been feeling about each other.

A/N: I’m going to be honest. I don’t really like this one because I already feel like I use a lot of dialogue as a writer and this is an interview so there is a lot of dialogue, but I also like the story here so that why I decided to post it. Also, it’s my first Tom fic so I hope you all enjoy and feedback is greatly appreciated!

Warnings: some curse words

Word Count: 4.1k+  

--------------------------------------------------

“I can’t believe you didn’t know who Obadiah Stane was,” you giggled with Tom as you two left the room you had just been in doing an interview to head to another one in a few minutes.

“He asked what an Obadiah Stane was, so I thought it was a thing, not a person,” he defended, his smile stretching as his words brought you more laughter.

“I’m sure Robert would love to know that his little buddy didn’t even know the name of the villain in the first Iron Man movie,” you teased Tom while he chuckled along with you. “But I will give you the infinity stones question. All I could remember was the reality stone and the time stone, but you rattled off the first five in a matter of seconds and then the last one came to your mind shortly after. It was impressive.”

“Thank you, thank you,” he stated sarcastically with a bow and a tip of his head. “You know what was funny? When you said Sebastian would be a bad baby name. That was hilarious,” he brought up before dying of laughter again at the joke you made earlier in the interview.

“Yeah, and I can guarantee you that he said my name too when they asked him which MCU name would be the worst as well,” you told him while laughing along with him.

“This is it I think,” the man who had been leading you to your next interview announced to you both before opening the door.

“Ladies first,” Tom said to you while holding a hand out to show you the way. You playfully rolled your eyes at the dork you had been paired with for the day as you walked into the room.

It was no secret that Tom Holland could not keep his mouth shut when he needed to. He just gets too excited and has to tell someone. He along with Ruffalo were terrible secret keepers and when it came to interviews, they had to do them with someone who could pay attention to them and catch them before they slip up. Benedict got paired with Mark and you obviously were with Tom.

“Good morning you two! I imagine you both have been very busy today,” the woman who would be conducting the interview asked when you and Tom walked over to her and got settled in your spots on the couch after you each shook her hand.

“Yes ma’am, we have been busy, but it has been loads of fun I would say,” Tom responded first while he got comfortable on the couch and stretched his arm to lay against the back of it before you nodded your head in agreement at his previous statement.

“Super fun especially since we get to do it together,” you spoke to the lady before meeting the dashing brown eyes of your partner for the day.

“She’s just saying that because she has to be with me. She actually hates me,” Tom teased while you rolled your eyes at him.

“I do not hate him. Does he get a little aggravating from time to time? Yeah, but I don’t hate him,” you played along with the boy’s joke as he chuckled lightly at you.

“Wait, y/n has to be with you, Tom?” the interviewer inquired, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion as to why you were forced to be with him. She probably thought it was a little weird that you, the actress who plays Guardian of the Galaxy Willa Adler, and Tom, the actor of Peter Parker who was also known as Spider-Man, were doing press for Endgame together. If she saw Infinity War, she knew you were both onscreen together a good bit in that movie, but still she most likely was wondering why you were not doing interviews with Chris Pratt like you normally were since he played your older brother figure in the past few Marvel films you have done.

“Well, yeah, someone has to be with me because I can’t keep my mouth shut and y/n is good at telling when I’m about to say something I shouldn’t, so she is here to help me not spill the beans on anything,” Tom laughed while a slight blush of embarrassment dusted across his cheeks.

“Yeah, I have been told I’m good at reading people and we’ve become really good friends lately, so I guess I better at reading him than some of the others. I don’t know. I think it’s funny that he has to be with someone, or he’ll spill all the information on everything,” you giggled as you responded to the question too.

“Oh well, I guess it’s good you two have been paired together and later on I’ll have some questions specifically for the both of you. Anyway, I spoke with Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan and that pair,” she paused for a chuckle, “They like to tease you two, don’t they?” As soon as she mentioned their names, you both knew where the question was headed and you and Tom both nodded towards the woman.

“Yeah, we have quite the rivalry with those two, don’t we?” Tom led the answer for you to continue.

“Yes, but it’s all out of love,” you reassured the interviewer while you all shared a laugh.

“It’s all love, for sure. I think it’s because we are the youngest and easiest to pick on because we take the jokes well and we’ll shoot them right back. I find it funny how it's them against us. We will tease them and they’ll tease us, but at the same time, we split it up and it’ll be me and Mackie going at each other, and y/n and Stan will pick on each other quite a bit. It’s like the big brothers teasing their younger siblings and they each have their favorite one to pick on. I love it. I find it so hilarious,” Tom told the woman, a chuckle falling past his lips.

“Especially the juice box joke,” you laughed. “That one is my favorite.”

“Juice box joke?” she asked, her emerald eyes dancing between you and Tom while you both wore huge smiles on your faces from all the laughing you both had been doing.

“Yeah, Mackie likes to joke and say that ‘I need my juice boxes or I’ll go crazy without them’ that I need the sugar or something,” Tom expressed using air quotes with his fingers to show Anthony’s words. “They say I need juice boxes and y/n needs water bottles.”

“Why’s that?” the lady quizzed at the second part of his sentence as a light laugh escaped her mouth. You audibly groaned, knowing which story was about to come up next.

“She forgets to drink water sometimes and then she’ll get dehydrated and when we’re shooting harder scenes or if there’s a lot of light on her and it gets hot, then it doesn’t end well,” Tom told the interviewer honestly before she looked to you to continue or confirm his statements.

“It was one time and I just forget to drink water sometimes. I’m okay,” you reassured before taking a sip of water from the glass next to you.

“One time?” the blonde woman inquired further. You loved doing these interviews, but at times the people conducting them tended to be a little pushy and don’t pick up on the hint that you don’t want to share this story. You knew she wasn’t going to give so you spoke.  

“Tell the story, Tom,” you instructed with a sigh before turning in your chair to face him better. His hand still rested on the back of the couch behind you and he brought it down slightly to rub at the top of your back and play with your hair a little, a friendly and comforting gesture that you were very thankful for at the moment as he was about to share one of your more embarrassing experiences.

“Okay, so you know that scene in Infinity War where the Guardians, Strange, Tony, and I are in that spaceship and the Guardians are coming at us because they think we’re with Thanos?” When she nods her head, Tom continues with the story.

“Well, that particular day, y/n forgot to drink basically anything and in the makeup and suits and stuff, it gets really hot. It’s the scene where Willa has Peter Parker in a chokehold and Peter Quill has a gun to my head. So, when we were shooting that, y/n has her arms around my neck, not tightly obviously. She’s not actually trying to choke me, but you can feel it, you know. So, as I said, she wasn’t holding me tightly, but I felt her arms loosen from around me before she was supposed to, and she leaned against me a little.” The interviewer let out a slight gasp before looking at you and you nodded towards her, letting her know his words were true.

“I turned my head and asked her if she was okay, but she just nodded her head. She didn’t say anything, just nodded her head, and right then I knew something was wrong just by looking at her. I turned around and grabbed her before she fell and sat down with her. Chris came as well and was checking on her while Benedict and Robert went to get help and some water. But we got her some water, and she was good to go shortly after.”

“That must’ve been scary for the both of you,” she commented while her widened eyes jumped from yours to the set of honey brown ones to your left.

“It was honestly one of the scariest days on set for me,” Tom added before looking to you, his fingers still switching from rubbing small circles into your neck and twirling your hair between them.

“I was in and out of it, so I don’t remember much. All I remember is leaning against him and him helping me down. It was more embarrassing to me and I hate thinking about it, but now I will never get to forget about it because Anthony and Seb won’t ever let me live it down,” you told the woman with a small laugh which she joined in on along with Tom.

“Your characters both have this relationship with someone older than you that you look up to, Peter Parker with Tony Stark and Willa Adler with Peter Quill. How was it for you both to do your death scene in Infinity War with those people?” she asked you and Tom. Tom looked to you for you to start off the question so you do.

“Both Willa and Peter have had it rough as far as a mentor or someone who can really help guide them in life because they keep losing them. Peter lost his parents when he was younger, then his uncle, and then he disintegrates in Tony’s arms. Willa lost a lot of people in a short amount of time. Quill and Willa were both taken by Yondu at different times for their own good to save them from their terrible fathers, so she didn’t have anyone to look up to on Earth. Then she lost Yondu and feared she lost Quill when things with Ego went down. Then in Infinity War when they are all trying to take the gauntlet off Thanos, she finds out that she lost Gamora, the only girl Willa has ever had by her side, so that breaks her even further. Then after the snap, she watches all of her found family turn to dust around her. She watches Quill turn to ashes right before she can get to him and then she tries to run to Nebula who is the only person she has left before she goes with the rest of them. Right after that, we watch Peter and Tony hold each other and Peter goes so the scene overall is a terribly sad one. It took a lot of emotion for both of us I think.”

“Yeah, like she said, both of them have experienced great loss. Peter is a little more used to it while Willa loses someone before she’s done grieving the last person she lost. She definitely had to put a lot more emotion into it, but Willa is also the kind of person who holds her emotions in. You can see in that scene she was talking about, Willa tried to hold it in when she found out about Gamora but started to break down as she saw everyone she loved dissipate into nothing. Peter was emotional of course and he didn’t want to go like he just saw everyone around him do but at least he went out in the arms of someone he loves and looks up to a lot,” Tom added to your explanation with his own.

“I would say that scene after the snap with you two is the saddest in my opinion. So, to lighten the mood a little, there is a lot of talk about the family feel that the cast has, and the people wanted to know if that is true?” she asked as she flipped through her cards.

“Yes!” you immediately agreed.

“Of course, we all get along and it is super fun especially in films like these where we get to be together. Peter got to be with Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy and it was amazing filming with everybody. I loved it, didn’t you?” Tom pushed the question over to you.

“Yeah, it was super fun. I always get to film with a large group of people, but I got to film with Chris Hemsworth and then later on with RDJ and Benedict and Tom. It was great to work with so many amazing people,” you commented while you shifted in your seat a little, trying to get comfortable again.

“Mackie and Stan are like our annoying older brothers as I said earlier,” Tom mentioned with a light chuckle.

“Yeah,” you giggled before continuing with his analogy. “RDJ, Evans, and Hemsworth are like the fathers, the founding fathers really since they’ve been there since the beginning. Umm, Pratt and Rudd are the funny uncles. Elizabeth, Zoe, Karen, Scarlett, and Danai are the cool aunts. And then you’ve got people like Benedict, Chadwick, Pom, Letitia, and Tom who are absolute sweethearts. Everyone is just super cool and fun and sweet, and we couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with.” The lady awed at your words while Tom’s eyes softened at them.

“That was really sweet, y/n, and you are amazing to work with as well,” he grinned as he spoke which you returned him on as well while you nodded at him. His hand shifted down to your shoulder and he kept it there, something you didn’t mind at all. “Everything she said was spot on and everyone we get the opportunity to work with is awesome and they’re great people. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“Do you think your characters will appear onscreen together in the future?” the interviewer questioned before she looked up from her card to the both of you.

“Um, I’ll take this one,” you said to both of them, but mainly to Tom so he knew he wouldn’t have to add anything or spoil anything without knowing it. “So, Peter normally protects Queens, and Willa’s territory is all of outer space. In Infinity War, you saw that Peter’s experience in space wasn’t the best and Willa had a terrible life on Earth though she didn’t know it at the time because she was so young when Yondu took her. I don’t see them crossing paths again in the future if everything gets ‘fixed’ like everyone is hoping for, but if another space titan comes to destroy half of all living things or something big like that, then yeah maybe you’d see Willa and Peter onscreen again, but I don’t think it is likely,” you told the woman as she nodded her head.

“Marvel is full of surprises though, so you never know what is going to happen,” Tom added, earning a laugh from you since you knew firsthand how true the statement was.

“The fans love seeing you two together and you both clearly have good chemistry so what is it like working with one another?” the blonde asked before pushing some fallen hair behind her ear.

“I’ll go first,” Tom stated as he turned a bit in his seat and smiled your way. You playfully rolled your eyes, getting ready for him to completely roast your ass.

“She’s mean, a total diva, a drama queen,” he started listing off several false claims before busting out laughing at your pouting face. “I’m kidding,” he chuckled while he leaned over to grab your chin, forcing you to look at him.

“No, go on. I’m thinking about teaming up with Mackie and Seb and all three of us can rip you to shreds,” you sarcastically smiled at him before you dropped the grin and shot him a death glare.

“Okay maybe I wasn’t lying about the mean part,” he joked causing you to smile again. His brown eyes lit up at the sight and he finally continued with answering the question.

“No, but for real, she is amazing, as a person and as an actress. Every time I watch her, I am reminded of how phenomenal of an actress she is. You all have seen the gag reels of me and how I can’t keep a straight face if my life depended on it, but I watched her and the person she was filming with slipped up. She kept a straight face until they started laughing so she started laughing too. If that was me, I would’ve started laughing before anyone even messed up. And even when she’s feeling poorly, she performs so well. Y/n is so incredible to watch and work with. She is truly a great person and an even better friend. I’m glad we have each other to lean on when we get teased for being the youngest out of everyone,” he chuckled after literally just melting your heart. You leaned over to wrap your arms around his torso, his arm going around your back to rest his hand on your side.

“That was really sweet, Tom,” you whispered while giving him a little squeeze before pulling away from him. He did not remove his arm from around you though, so you scooted closer to make it more comfortable for you both.

“He may say my acting is good, but I’ve got to brag on his as well. He is so good at improvising and going with the flow of things. I am a very ‘follow the lines and stick to the script’ kind of person, but his improv makes his scenes and character so much better. That may be because he is basically Peter Parker in real life so when the cameras are rolling, it is truly interesting to see. He lights up any room he walks into and makes every day easier when we are working. He is a delight to work with and just generally be around and I’m glad we’re friends.”

“Thanks y/n,” he grinned down at you and you smiled right back.

“How is he like Peter Parker in real life?” the woman further inquired as she adjusted herself in her seat to sit more comfortably.

“For one, he is a major dork,” you started before snickering at Tom’s furrowed brows and stuck out lip.

“You just said all that nice stuff and then called me a dork,” he huffed and turned his head from you. He dramatically removed his arm from around and placed his hand in his lap.

“Oh, come on. You know it’s true,” you told him to which he sighed.

“Yeah, it’s true,” he gave in before nodding at the interviewer.

“So, there’s that,” you continued to answer the question. “He’s a little awkward, but in a charming and lovable way. He cannot keep a secret at all. There’s probably more, but that’s all I can think of right now. Everybody loves Peter Parker and everyone loves Tom Holland. I mean it when I say they are the same person.”

“So, there is a good bit of speculation of a budding romance between the both of you and the people want to know if there is something there,” she stated before playing with the rings on her fingers.

Before you could open your mouth to deny the suspicion, Tom grabbed your hand in his, interlacing his fingers with yours. A blush crept up on your cheeks when he placed his lips against the back of your hand.

“Do you want to tell her, babe?” he asked as he shot you a wink, the small act telling you it was a joke. The growing grin on his face told you his actions were false as well, but you couldn’t help how your heart fell that it was all a lie. You once again rolled your eyes at the boy who held your hand.

“You can tell her, sweetheart,” you giggled while Tom held your hand in both of his and you leaned your head on his shoulder.

“Y/n and I have been in a relationship for a little while now and that relationship has been completely platonic and we are just friends,” he laughed as he placed your hand back in your own lap. You would be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t miss the feeling of his hand in yours, but now was not the time to think about that.

“Yeah guys, we’re only friends,” you chuckled, making eye contact with the camera that was filming the whole thing while you lifted your head from its previous resting place on his shoulder. “Nothing more.”

Later after the interview, you and Tom are walking to the car that was going to take you both back to your hotel and the events of earlier kept circling through your mind. The way it felt to have his arm around you and you leaning into his side. You craved that feeling. His hand in yours and his lips pressed to the back of it. You wanted more of that. Just being with him, you strived to have more moments with him, but you always thought that it was because you were really good friends and you liked having his presence near. However, you feared that you were into something more that he was not going to be interested in.

“You did good with the whole dating joke. That was funny,” you giggled lightly as you bumped his shoulder while walking by his side.

“Hopefully, you didn’t think it was too funny,” he mumbled, his own eyes widening at his slight confession. Your eyebrows drew together in confusion and your feet stopped moving forward.

“What?” you spoke the only word that was running through your mind at the moment. Tom stopped walking as well and turned to face you.

“I kinda liked holding your hand and I kinda like you,” he stated sheepishly, his gorgeous brown eyes looking everywhere but at you.

“What are you saying, Tom?” you asked, knowing exactly what he was saying but you wanted to be sure. He stepped forward a bit and took your hand in his, interlocking your fingers just as he did before.

“I’m saying that I like you, y/n, and I want to be with you. We can just try it out for a little bit?” he asked more than stated.

“You mean we can try out being together?”

“Yeah, we can keep it quiet until we’re sure and then if you want, we can go public with it. I was not lying when I said I love working with you. It wasn’t because you’re great to work with because you are. It was because you are great to be with. So maybe we try this out and see how things work with us while we do press and see how things work after this when we are separate and doing our own thing. We can go from there and see if this is something we want to continue or announce?” he questioned nervously while his eyes finally locked with yours. The corners of your mouth turned upwards in a huge grin, happy to be hearing what you had wished to hear for a while now.

“I’d love to be with you, Tom,” you gushed, grinning ear to ear.

“Well, that’s great, babe,” he chuckled after using the nickname he called you earlier. His other hand slid around your waist, pulling you closer to him. You felt his breath fan over your lips before he closed the space between you two.

“But you know that Mackie and Seb are going to pick on us about this too right?” you reminded him when you pulled away slightly and he giggled.

“Yeah, we’re never going to hear the end of it.”

--------------------------------------------------

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[shirtlesssammy]

15x20: Carry On

Warning: Boris is a salty, sad fangirl right now so the first part of this recap might be more bitter, reductive venting than is necessary. Please skip ahead to enjoy Natasha’s far more nuanced and enjoyable second half of the recap.

The Road So Far: Cue Carry On Wayward Son

Then:

Salmondean Winchester, the boy with the demon blood and daddy’s blunt little instrument, finally defeats Chuck and gets a taste of true free will

Now:

*Fun domestic montage*

Sam Dean gets a dog! (Okay, fine, Miracle is super cute, and a complete stand-in for Cas --but that thought just sends me on another anger spiral.) 

Dean squeezes the shit out of that dog, and I hurt for that touch-starved man. 

Sam goes for a run, so like, I guess his life is the same. (thanks to Dean always protecting him and allowing him some normalcy in life) (I’m bitter, remember?) 

Dean Sam makes breakfast! Dean brushes his teeth! Sam is SHIRTLESS one last time! 

*Shirtless Sammy Alert*

Dean’s room is INEXPLICABLY messy! I do get what this whole montage is doing, and it’s nice, but I’m pretty sure when Becky said the fans like the domestic stuff, it was supposed to include CAS AND OTHER FAMILY. Basically, overlay the Where’s the Angel? gif all over this sequence for me. 

And finally, we find the boys are still hunting. Because freedom is just a length of rope. 

Dean finds a case, but first they have to stop and get pie! Yay! Dean loves pie, and women, and fast cars. Grumpy-faced Sam humors his big, dumb brother. Yay! 

Dean Sam thinks about Cas and Jack. Dean brushes off the thought with a Wherps, gotta keep moving attitude, and I already WANT TO SET THE WORLD ON FIRE. Sam then pies Dean in the face, so we have that. 

In suburban America, a mother starts to ready her children for bed. There’s a knock at their door and the father answers it. There’s nobody there, and as he turns around, he’s knifed in the back, his wife looking on in horror.

Skull masked killers enter the home. The mother and children run upstairs. The mother is quickly dispatched, and the kids soon follow. 

Agents Singer and Kripke check out the crime scene.

They learn more about the parents: exsanguinated and throat ripped out father, tongue ripped out mother. The children are missing. The cop shows a drawing of the killers. Dean (in a wildly out of character move!) uses his photographic memory to remember a case his fucking father botched back in the day. Dean pulls out the journal (MY GOD THERE’S BEEN NO GROWTH) 

For TFW Science (because Cas is the tree):

They determine they’re dealing with a roaming band of vampires. 

At night, a couple of vampmimes arrive at a house. Dean beheads one right away. Sam shoots the other with dead man’s blood. Dean removes the mask to reveal a normal looking vampmime. Why the masks?? Dean wants answers, and Dean “I’m not a killer” Winchester threatens the vamp with a quick death or slow death (with a spoon). The vamp spills the kids’ whereabouts. 

*Much Anticipated Barn Scene Alert* 

(Psych! Don’t get your hopes up, what lies ahead is bullshit.) 

The masked vamps are crawling all over the joint, but Dean and Sam Winchester can handle it! This is a milk run! They get the kids free and face the big bads. 

Fight! Chop! Slice! The boys are overwhelmed. Sam gets knocked out one last time. Dean’s held down to the ground so OMG GUYS!!! JENNY IS BACK!??!?!!? I CAN’T FUCKING BELIEVE THEY GOT HER BACK!! (This joke is so old by now and it’s only been 3 days, sigh.) I did not remember her at all (but then I’m a TFW purest and tend to not watch the early seasons ---and I NEVER HAVE TO AGAIN!) (Natasha: coughs and points at our recap list.) (Boris: shit.) Dean remembers though, and talks just long enough for Sam to wake and chop her head off. See ya, Jenny! 

More fighting! 

Sam takes out another vamp and Dean tussles with the last one ---and is pushed backwards right into the rebar hook in the wall. So that happened. (I’m trying to stay calm, but I’m a ROILING CESSPOOL OF ANGER AND CONFUSION AND BITTER RIGHT NOW.) 

Sam kills the vamp. He’s ready to find the kids and leave. “Sam, I don’t think I’m going anywhere.” 

Dean pulls Sam close. HE’S BEEN IMPALED! Poor little snowman. Dean makes Sam promise not to try to resurrect him. He tells Sam that he’s proud of him and that he’s always looked up to him. That he was scared to be rejected by Sam in that very first episode when he went to get him from college. “I must’ve stood outside your door for hours. Because I didn’t know what you would say. Tell me to get lost or to get dead.” JESUS SHOW JUST LET DEAN LIVE AND BE LOVED. (Boris: In the alt version where Cas is there too, he’s instead telling Cas about watching him outside the Gas ‘n Sip. why do I do this to myself?) 

Sam cries, afraid to go through the world alone. Dean tells Sam to always keep fighting, tells him he loves him, and DIES. He dies clutching his chest and the whole season we think we’ve been getting heart and chest imagery as a symbol of love but instead it was just? Foreshadowing? Of getting impaled through the chest cavity and dying? 

Dean dies, and Sam is wrecked, and I call up 911 to inform them that I have been ROBBED of one Dean Winchester finally getting to live his life. (This is indeed, a beautifully acted scene. I just...wish I couldn’t feel a damn thing about it.)

Sam burns Dean on a lonely pyre, with nobody else around but the dog.

For Sam Gets a Dog but at What Cost Science:

Sam wakes alone, in mourning. There’s no dialogue - only a Sad!Sam montage of remembering the people he’d lost in the bunker. (Was this script only like 5 pages?) One of Dean’s cell phones rings. It’s a sheriff who’d been referred to Dean by Donna. (DONNA DOESN’T KNOW FML) There’s a case, so Sam takes off. He shuts down the bunker and it goes dark.

We cut to Dean in Heaven. It’s beautiful - a wilderness of mountains. Dean’s greeted by Bobby sitting at the quiet Roadhouse. Bobby tells Dean that he’s free - and Heaven’s free. Jack opened Heaven and tore down the walls before he took off for places unknown. I am GLAD ABOUT THIS. It’s about time for Heaven to be a true reward, but this show took Dean TOO SOON. “It ain’t just Heaven, Dean. It’s the Heaven you deserve.” Bobby drops one last reveal: “Cas helped.” 

They drink together. “it’s almost perfect,” Dean says. 

“He’ll be along,” is Bobby’s quiet response. (Our hearts rise thinking about Cas.) Time’s different in Heaven, Bobby explains. (Boris: Jeremy Bearimy, baby!) “What are you gonna do now, Dean?” Dean decides to go for a drive. He gets into Baby and drives away to the tune of “Carry on my wayward son.”

Cut to a montage showing Sam raising a child with “Dean” on the coveralls. (To quote a friend of mine: That goes against basic child safety, Sam!) While Dean drives, Sam raises a son.

In Sam’s house, the portraits only show pictures of the original Winchesters: Sam, Dean, Mary, John. Me to set dressers: EXTREME SIDE EYE - way to show Sam’s “full life.” Sam kept the Impala in storage, and possibly sits in it and weeps from time to time, as one does.

Much later, Sam dies in his home of “old age disease,” as someone on Tumblr put it. “It’s okay, you can go now,” baby Dean tells Sam, mirroring Sam’s words to his brother. AAAAAND Sam out. Remember, words can kill, kids!

Dean stops on a beautiful bridge and gets out to survey the world.

Dean smiles and the camera pans out. “Hey, Sammy,” he says. The boys are wearing the same outfits as the first episode because SYMBOLISM. (Boris: Symbolism? Like there was no growth or change or...Boris will stay out of your mentions.) (Natasha: Exactly.) They hug, and I do get emotional, because I’m not the burnt and broken shell of a fan that I may appear to be.

We get a “thank you” from Jared and Jensen on the bridge, and then the camera pans away to show the crew. We send them a giant box of MASKS FOR FUCK’S SAKE. And then we set this episode aside as unfulfilling fan fiction and move on with our lives.

Am I sad to see this show end? Yes, I am! Were there things I liked about this episode? Sure! Were there things I so viscerally disliked that I’m still sleeping poorly? Absolutely. That’s love, right? We’re still raw, but we WILL BE BACK on Monday with a new recap of an old episode. See you all then!

Quote on My Wayward Son:

I don’t have a choice. This is my destiny

It’s like running into somebody from high school, you know? Somebody you don’t want to see

Stay with me, please

I’m not leaving you. I’m gonna be with you right here, every day

Cas helped

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[toaarcan]

I’ve realised that I’m kinda... still not over V8C14.

Like... it’s the first time in a long while that I’ve felt... actively disappointed by the show. Like the last time was probably V4, which is a good while ago now, and it sucks because the rest of V8 is so good. For most of the volume, CRWBY were firing on all cylinders, and then in the last episode and a half they just... beefed it. 

V8C13 has its upshots, but C14 just... isn’t good, and I think that’s because none of it feels really earned.

Cinder... is a mess. She really is. CRWBY can’t really seem to decide whether she’s a villain protagonist that we should be able to draw catharsis from, or if she’s just the fucking worst. We get given the whole sympathetic backstory reel, and it had me going for a couple of days but none of it really justifies the amount of murder and the sheer delight she takes in it. I think her winning was meant to be kind of a “Yes, slay queen” moment and it really didn’t land for me, largely because, well.. her character development and the steps she takes to grow from it just don’t add up.

Like, the idea they’re going for is that, after three volumes of using her powers like a cudgel, and basically just running into fights and blowing things up with her flamethrower-hands, Cinder wises up and starts playing to her strengths again, wielding her powers and her brain in equal measure.

RWBY’s no stranger to this, it did the same thing with Weiss in V5-7, having her unlock her summoning and then start relying on it entirely in fights, leading to her near-death in V5, after which she properly worked it into her existing combat style. 

Unfortunately, the V8 finale is written in such a way that Cinder’s smartest possible option is to just run in and blow things up with her flamethrower-hands. The use of fear that was key to her V3 strategy... basically all fell on Watts choosing the right time to cut off Jaune’s broadcast to cause the most confusion, and then it was right back to the Leeroy Jenkins playbook for Cinder. She actually played smarter in V5, when she was supposed to be at the nadir for her reliance on power above all else, planning to isolate her target and a single ally, and then steal the powers there.

And it’s not like she outplanned the heroes at all. They just kinda forget that she’s out there and might be a problem, while she gets to know their exact plan and how it’s going to work, basically because Neo turned out to be way more basic and single-minded than I gave her credit for.

(That’s another thing, I expected Neo to be kind of a wild-card in all this but nope, she was fully loyal to Cinder besides some snark, which was just so boring)

What’s supposed to be Cinder’s big moment of getting her mojo back feels mostly identical to the way she’s been acting since V4 ended, but this time it works because she read the script and the heroes forgot she existed.

I’ve said it before, but nothing sums up Cinder better than the fact that she got her hands on an all-powerful artefact of creation, which she could use to make just about anything... and she used it to make fire.

But then the thing that really settles it for me is Penny dying. I could’ve taken Cinder’s plot-mandated victory a lot better if they hadn’t packaged it in with Penny dying and just... torpedoing two volumes of character development. 

I’ve seen people wildly speculating that Penny’s going to return from the dead for a second time somehow, and I almost believe it, what with Pietro having one more resurrection in him, but what’s telling is that the belief that Penny will be brought back isn’t based on foreshadowing, but the thought that, with all the time spent on her arc and the ideals and thoughts put into it, it would be at best dodgy writing, and at worst, outright antithetical to the show’s themes, if she really did stay dead.

It’s not “Penny will come back because this hints at it”, it’s “Penny will come back because killing her for real would be bad writing”.

And the thing is... they’re kinda right?

Like, we’re shown that Penny has been enduring dehumanisation from Jimmy Copperdong even before he leapt off the slippery slope and became a full-blown fascist. Everyone around her in the Atlas military, apart from Winter, views her as a machine, and not a person. She’s not allowed friends, or time to herself. Even becoming the Winter Maiden isn’t enough to convince anyone outside of Winter, Pietro, and the protagonist gang that she’s a person. Then when she turns against him, Brassdick pulls Watts out of jail to hack her, violating her bodily autonomy in a way that forces her to attack her friends, causes her serious injuries, and will eventually cause her to die, and the only thing she can think of to escape is to willingly die and chose her successor as the Winter Maiden. Her friends talk her out of this, and manage to put together a whole plan that will free her from Tintodger’s claws and allow her to live freely, but will in turn put them on an even tighter time limit to save the people of Mantle and Atlas... and it’s all looking good... and then it all gets fucked up so Cinder can have a win.

Like the turnaround between “Suicide and choosing your successor is not the answer” to “Actually suicide and choosing your successor is the answer” is like... two episodes. 30-40 minutes. I’m watching Penny ask Jaune to stab her and I’m like “Didn’t we just spend an episode and a half on dismissing this as an idea and finding a different option?” 

In this show that’s supposedly “hopepunk,” Penny’s story ends with her being mortally wounded for trying to protect her friends from Smirks McFlamethrower, and choosing to die being her big act of freedom. Which is just outright depressing.

And it’s not as though CRWBY decided they couldn’t have a Maiden among the heroes, or they needed that useless goddamn Stretch Grimmstrong arm to work for once in its life (That thing is 0/3 against Maidens) and give Cinder the powers, because the powers went to Winter anyway.

I want to stress that I’m not normally anywhere near this down on RWBY’s writing. I generally really like the show. V7 was great. V6 was bloody brilliant, and it was the point where I started liking RWBY more than RvB. And most of V8 was on-track to becoming my second-favourite volume, and then it did that. This isn’t meant to be a RWDE thing or anything to do with those dipshits that hatewatch the show for some fucking reason. If I didn’t like the show, especially the past few volumes, I wouldn’t be nearly this ticked off by V8C14. So if you’re about to go “Hur-hur the whole show’s like that”, please fuck off. I guess I just wanted to vent a little about this.

I am looking forward to V9, though. Afterlife shenanigans should be fun, and the fact that RWBYJ are in a different dimension entirely to Cinder means the writing quality will skyrocket compared to the end of V8.

[ren-c-leyn]

After yesterday I'm super curious My Enemy, My Ancestor. Can you tell me more about this wip? How did it came to be? What are the main themes and characters? @writingonesdreams

Hey, thanks for stopping in ^^ This is going to be a bit of a ramble, so I hope your seat is comfy.

My Ancestor, My Enemy was a nano project. I didn't reach my word count with it, life got in the way that year, but the story was so interesting that I decided to keep it, much like The Firewalker and now Orion's Oblivion.

I don't entirely remember where my inspiration for the project came from, I know some of it was dungeon crawler rpgs, but that came later after I had settled on the concept itself. I do remember why I settled on writing it the way I did, though. Every nano I try something different with my writing. Sometimes it's a technique, like The Firewalker and My Ancestor, My Enemy, and sometimes it's an entire genre, like Orion's Oblivion. My Ancestor, My Enemy was me playing with a format I had recently learned about where a story is told from the point of view of like letters or journal entries. It sounded like fun, and then I decided to up the challenge by making it a primarily one woman cast instead of the giant casts of colorful characters I normally work with.

I'm going to preface the explanation of the story itself with: this is 100% a dark fantasy, borderline horror story, and some of what follows in this explanation is going to be a little gory. I was allowed to open my mental drawer of literal and metaphorical monsters and it got a little out of hand, but dear goodness was the result a striking tale.

My Ancestor, My Enemy is told from the mandatory field journal* of Lierin, a high ranking elven hunter, as she's sent on a mission to a human village that's under siege by her ancestors' monsters to find out the fate of one of her colleagues and, if she can, finish the mission he did not complete, which would be exterminating all of the monsters.

She finds out that it is sooo much worse than anyone had even dared to fear. It's not just a pack of monsters, it's an entire ecosystem of them living in the nearby caverns, the cavern systems her colleague disappeared in, according to the locals.

So, she goes into the darkness alone. A several month ride away from backup, she doesn't have a choice. The people are dying, being murdered in the night by these things, and she needs to either retrieve her ally, proof of his death, or proof of his abandonment of his duties. However, I'd be lying if I said that was her main interest when she first dove in. No, her main interest was butchering as many of the monsters as she can, and every time she succeeds, she dissects them, looking at what their organs are, where potential weak points she didn't find could be, and then writes about their anatomies, behaviors, environments, and how they fought in her journal.

But her missing colleague's mystery quickly starts filling her mind as she tracks him between hunts. The signs are... strange, and she can't make heads or tails of it. The deeper into the caverns she gets, the more confusing the clues he left behind get as well. It haunts her as much as the monsters themselves do, and she spends many dark nights in the caverns pondering the mystery of this place, while it ponders how to kill her.

* So, the mandatory journals link back to what I was talking about last night with the elves evolving entirely to fight their ancestors' creations. Every hunter has to carry a journal with them while on a mission, and has to record every day of that mission down in said journal. They are also expected to do what Lierin does and dissect the monsters and record every detail about them in that journal. Some of them even go so far as to draw anatomical drawings of the monster.

These journals are read through by the higher ups after the mission's completion and then stored in a giant library of these things. Young elves who are going to be trained to hunt are forced to obsessively read them for the first several years of their training to stuff their brains with the knowledge of the kinds of 'abominations' they may find themselves hunting. More experienced hunters also obsessively read these things, willingly and without a master hunter standing over their shoulders, as 1, they are pretty much the only books allowed and 2, there's a lot of different monsters and hunting techniques that could be helpful.

~

While I absolutely adore this project, as dark and intense as it is, I, unfortunately, ran into a bit of a problem half way into the first draft. I couldn't pick an ending for this story. It's not that I didn't have an interesting ending in mind. No, I had far too many and they all fit and they were all amazing, and my brain just kind of melted when I tried to decide. XD I put it off as long as I could, hoping something would come up that would help me decide, but I finally reached the point where I absolutely have to pick an ending and drive the narrative towards it. If I wait any longer I won't be able to properly foreshadow and lay down the ground work for it all to make sense. It's been sitting for awhile, so I was thinking of going back to it after I finish the first draft of Forgotten Gods, rereading it, and seeing if time and a fresh perspective might help me work out where this tale ends.

So, yeah, that's My Ancestor, My Enemy. It is definitely one of my darker projects.

I hope you have a lovely day/evening.

[liddolwhynot2000]

Hey! So, I was wondering if I could get a levi x reader where the reader runs the tea shop levi goes to to get his tea and they slowly become friends before realizing they’ve fallen in love with eachother?

Aiii one of my first fic supporters ⭐ I'm so sorry for answering this so late. But I got you.

Here we goo. I hope it lives up to your expectations! @dove-music

____________________________________

Apricity

____________________________________

Summary:

After all, Levi had gotten into a relationship.

With a woman who baked cookies and drew his face on them for fun.

___________________________________

Pairings: Levi/Reader

____________________________________

Genre: fluff, romance, Levi-does-not-know-romance, kinda funny

____________________________________

If Levi had to pick any place in the world that gave made him feel something akin to contentment, it would be the little tea shop that was a 10 minute walk from the Survey Corps.

It wasn't some big, fancy cafe, overcrowded with civilians and soldiers, like other establishments were. A small, cosy little shop in the corner of the street. The shop made good business, he could tell, with its modest furnishing and quality to tea.

He had stumbled upon it in a dire time of need- right after losing his beloved friends to titans. He had accepted that he would stay in the survey corps but he hadn't been willing to make friends at the time. He didn't want to get drunk with his fellow soldiers, or visit brothels. He had just wanted some quiet.

Levi had been walking along the street by himself, in the dark, when he had stumbled upon that cafe. It had been on a whim that he had decided to go inside and actually order something.

He would try to convince himself that it was a one time thing, that he was simply trying some of the luxuries the surface had to offer. But one time turned into two, two turned into ten and so on.

He was rewarding himself with good tea, Levi told himself, that was why he kept coming back. He fought titans for humanity, the least he could do was use his paycheck to buy himself a nice beverage every once in a while. It was treat to himself.

The sweet owner of the cafe had nothing to do with this. Nothing at all.

Yeah sure Levi nobody believes you

Shut up four eyes or else-

____________________________________

'Sir, here you go.'

'.. I didn't order this.'

Levi looked at the plate set infront of him with indifference, although a part of him wondered if it would taste as good as it looked. It was a chocolate cake slice, with some sort of white cream on it.

'It's on the house sir.'

He looked at you, feeling bewildered at the sight of your smiling face. Was this sort of shit normal in the surface? Just giving each other food? There had to be some sort of catch right?

'.. What do you want?'

You blinked at him in confusion.

'Er- nothing sir. We sometimes give free meals to customers. You're the lucky customer this week.'

Levi felt compelled to ask one more time.

'So I owe you nothing for this?'

'Absolutely nothing.'

'Right... Thanks.'

There was no more clarification he could ask for, not when you had used that firm tone. You excused yourself and walked away, leaving Levi to his treat.

Huh. The people here weren't so bad after all.

Maybe he would come back to try some more dishes later.

It's not to see you again hell no stop it Hange- it's NOT-

____________________________________

He later finds out that you're the owner of the cafe. You could just hire help and let others manage the cafe, but you prefer handling it yourself. Levi can't help liking that- so many people would just sit on their asses, but you're actually working hard.

He doesn't get around to going to the cafe again until a month later. It's after a grueling expedition and he's beyond irritated with everyone. For some reason, they've started calling him 'humanity's strongest' and frankly, Levi finds it to be a dumb title.

Becuase even with all his strength, he hadn't been able to save everyone.

Wanting to get away from overeager comrades and a sugar high Hange (somebody give moblit a raise poor boi), Levi decides to head to the cafe.

Yet again, you're the one who welcomes him. He silently thanks you when you seat him in the corner of the shop, an area where hardly anyone would see him and he wouldn't have to see anyone else. You had perhaps understood from his uniform and exhausted face that he wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone, so you had hand him the menu and quietly tell him you'll be back in five minutes.

Once you get him his chosen tea, you also quietly leave a plate of another desert with it. This time, Levi doesn't bother asking questions. He nods at you gratefully before allowing himself to indulge in the delicacy infront of him.

He can't help but want to ask your name.

Aww Levi you drew a heart on that paper with her name on it-

No what the fuck YOU drew that four eyes-

___________________________________

He frequents the cafe at least twice a month for the next five years. It's become a tradition of sorts, going there after a tiresome mission, enjoying a meal made by you. You don't always let him have food for free of course, but it's often at a discounted rate. And as someone who has never enjoyed any privelege whatsoever in his entire life, he guards the special consideration you show him close to his heart.

The two of you don't interact much at the start, but Levi notices you. The way you give your workers decent time off, how you don't hesitate in offering monetary help or letting someone take the day off, even if it means you're overworked. He hasn't talked to you much, but he has a good opinion of you. He finds you fascinating, the first speck of kindness he's seen in his life, since Isabel and her desire to free a bird. Levi doesn't bother approaching you directly, because he doesn't even know what to say.

The two of you have a full interaction six months into his routine, the day Levi accidentally stays till its closing time. It had been good luck on your part--that when the drunk garrison soldiers had stumbled into your cafe will less then innocent intentions, Levi had been there to deal with them. As far as the garrisons were concerned, it had been the worst night of their lives. No amount of alcohol would ever be enough to make them forget what had happened.

Look at you, so protective of your woman even then-Levi where did you get that knife from--wait no - Erwin HELP-

He strikes a tentative friendship with you after that. You had been beyond thankful for his intervention, knowing you might not have made it out with your life if he hadn't been there. You made him cookies the next day, coming all the way to headquarters to give them to him.

Much to his despair, you meet his self proclaimed friend--Hange, and the two of you become friends too. He tries not to mind it, however, the day Hange flashes a cookie with what is clearly his frowning face drawn on it, he has to be held back by five soldiers from throwing Hange out the window. He marches to cafe, intending on letting out his ire at your insolence. But somehow, he doesn't tell you off like he had planned. Instead he finds himself asking you about your baking and art skills-even he would admit that the drawing of him had been spot on.

He does ban from making them again. You honoured it, until the two of you became good friends. Suddenly, every holiday involves at least one tray of grumpy Levi cookies. Even Erwin had enjoyed them, much to his exasperation. It had lead to his vow of never trying one.

They tasted amazing, I really think you should have tried them- OUCH that hurt shorty-

It doesn't take long till he finds himself purposefully visiting at closing time, knowing you'll just make yourself make a meal too, sit nearby and read a book. You engage him in conversation at times, telling him about the books you read. The two of you bond over food and fictional stories. He let's his walls down for you, little by little. You end up becoming the first person he let's in, his first friend, since the death of Isabel and Farlan.

Levi likes to think they would have liked you.

It's nice, spending time with you. You don't look at him like he's some God with all the solutions, like his comrades do. You aren't in some high risk career where he'd have to worry about you dying. You're stable and peaceful, exactly where you are.

Everytime he sets out for an expedition, he mentally prepares himself for not making it back without at least half his cormades. When it comes to you, his friend, he has no worries. You're safely tucked away in your cafe, out of reach from the titans grasp.

'friend' sure Levi, you write love letters for your friends.

Four eyes where the fuck did you get those from, give them back-

___________________________________

It's a peaceful day, as evidenced by the birds chirping and general pleasant atmosphere. One could say the weather is perfect. Just the right amount of sunshine shining in the streets, children enjoying themselves, chasing each other.

Even Levi is in a good mood. Of course, his good mood is amplified by his current location. His favorite cafe.

He's sitting inside, but the windows are open, letting in fresh air. He has a nice cup of tea on the table, with a plate full of sandwiches. You were seated in front of him, drinking some tea so sweet he could smell it.

You're telling him about a book, how you've analysed its villainous characters. He enjoys listening to you, often finding your ability to guage complex characters with relative ease to be startling. It makes him trust you more, knowing that no matter how fucked up something occurs, you wouldn't take it at face value.

You wouldn't judge him like that.

The two of you are interrupted as the bell chimes and someone enters the cafe. It's a young man, maybe in his 20s. He's dressed well, a white shirt with a brown vest on top. You put down the book down and smile as you go to greet him.

Suddenly, Levi doesn't feel as peaceful as before. He keep his eyes to his tea but his ears are perked up as he listens to you chatter with the man.

'Hello. Its been a while eh?'

'It has. I've been in Wall Sina getting some work done. Finally finished it, those damn nobles ask us for way too much-'

The man places an order for a bag of biscuits, ones you had already made. You give him a discount, which Levi smugly notes isn't even half of what he gets, and he tells you he has to leave soon. Levi's relieved really, he doesn't know what he's feeling, but he knows he doesn't like him.

'.. Maybe next time, I could take you out on a date...'

Even though you gently reject the man, who takes it well, Levi can't stop frowning. Once you take your place in infront of him again and continue your explaination, he turns his attention back to you and tries to brush off that feeling in his gut.

But it doesn't work.

____________________________________

When Levi had been taken in under Kenny's (questionable) care, he had learned a lot of things from the man. How to hold a knife, how to break bones, make deals, the sex talk that Levi would like to never remember etc. Kenny had taught him plenty of life skills.

However, his methods had been crazy to say the least. More often then not, Levi found himself on the recieving end of sparring sessions where he was sent flying into trash cans and expected to get up and attack again. Kenny had been ruthless, but it had been for his own good. He wouldn't have survived that hell hole otherwise.

Levi recalled a specific moment in his early days of being with Kenny all too clearly. He hadn't fully understood why Kenny was making him train like this, and frankly, he had been exhausted being treated like a punching bag. In his anger, he had yelled at Kenny, half crying, about how his mother would never let him get hurt like this and how much he missed her.

Kenny had stared at him blankly for a minute once he had finished, and with the speed of lightning, the man had punched him in the stomach.

It had been extremely painful, taking his breath away. Kenny had then proceeded to beat him senseless--telling him what would happen if he wasn't strong enough with each blow.

He would always remember that pain for the rest of his life. Nothing had ever come close to it, or at least that's what he had thought.

But right now, sitting at his desk late at night, Levi feels like Kenny had punched him in the gut again. He was, yet again, experiencing a feeling he would never forget. It wasn't pain, but it's intensity was just the same.

Love.

..sittin in a tree, K I S S I N- AHHH

Section Commander, are you okay!? How did you fall down the stairs??

___________________________________

Levi and the rest of the soldiers had the night off, and while usually he was more inclined to simply stay away from their parties, he allowed his squad to drag him. It had, as expected, turned out to be a mistake. Everyone had been too drunk. Especially his squad.

When Olou began singing, Levi listened with mild amusement. His voice actually hadn't been too bad.

When Gunther and Eld began drunkenly trying to dance together to his singing, he might have actually smiled while drinking his beer.

When a very drunk Moblit collapsed next to him, muttering about that crazy four eyes, Levi decided to put his foot down and end the party. With Petra's help, he had carried Moblit to his room. The poor man had muttered the entire way there, mostly about Hange and Titans and needing therapy.

The punch in the gut, figuratively, had taken place on his way back to his room. Courtesy of Petra.

He hadn't noticed it, which had been stupid of him in hindsight. His ginger haired comrade had been harbouring feelings for him- feelings he knew he didn't return in the slightest. He had turned her down as gently as possible, not expecting her to loop her arms around his neck and beg him for one night together.

'... Please captain, just one night. If you still feel the same in the morning, I'll never bring this up again.'

Maybe in another universe, he would have said yes. After all, despite the age gap between them, Petra was rather beautiful. And any man would want to enjoy a night with her.

Alas, the moment she had looped her arms around him, his breath had suddenly left him, as though Kenny had punched him in the gut again.

He wasn't seeing his ginger haired cormade leaning into him, confessing her love to him. He was seeing you, your hair in that messy bun, that sweet smile, saying all those words. Practically begging him to make you his.

The moment Petra repeated her statement again, however, the vision fell apart and he pushed her away. After a firm rejection and some tears, he wandered back to his office, feeling dazed.

Sitting down in his chair, he had stared mindlessly, thinking about you.

You and your sweet words. Your obsession with reading. Those special discounts for him. That gentle smile. Even those absurd grumpy Levi cookies you baked.

Levi was a Capricorn--and capricorns were practical people. Rational. And in the interest of being practical, Levi decided to admit his feelings to himself. It would only drive him crazy if he didn't.

He was in love with you.

___________________________________

In his thirty something years of living, Levi had never been in an relationship. He had been too busy navigating the dark realms of the underground, trying to find enough food to eat. He hadn't cared for sex either, too traumatized by Kenny and his (shudder) talk. By the time he had gotten older and more stable, he had been so disgusted by the flithiness of the act, that he didn't even bother seeking out partners.

Which was why, here was, in love with a woman who probably deserved better then him, unable to do figure out what to do. Should he tell you? Or just keep it to himself? He wasn't sure if you felt the same, but the part of him that was in love with you knew he'd die happy if he held even the smallest part of your heart.

He was at a loss really. Maybe he could find a book about this crap.

Kenny's voice rung in his head for a few seconds, before Levi shut it off. He would rather die single then get a girl using Kenny's advice. He could do better then this. Maybe Erwin would have a book, there had to be somewhere the blonde bastard learned his charm from.

... You gotta be upfront kid. If you want her to be yours..

Levi wouldn't listen to Kenny. No. There was no way...

.. Don't beat around the bush brat, just tell her...

...he would do as Kenny had advised him to.

... Kill her if she doesn't like you back okay..

Okay that wasn't happening. Even if some of it sounded like it made sense, he still wouldn't do it like Kenny would.

No.

Freaking.

Way.

__________________________________

The next day, Levi silently wondered if his mentor was still alive. If he was, Levi resolved to stab him in a heartbeat. Because he just knew, that if Kenny could see him now, he would laugh his ass off.

After all, Levi had gotten into a relationship.

With a woman who baked cookies and drew his face on them for fun.

And it was all because he followed Kenny's advice.

Goddamit.

___________________________________

A/N: This ended up being longer then planned whew. My fingers were numb at some points, bc I wrote this in 3 straight hours. I hope y'all liked this! Am I the only who thinks grumpy Levi cookies would be amazing? I had to give Kenny a role in this, it was too tempting not to. Overall, I liked this one alot. I actually have a plan in mind involving this Levi and reader, which I'll hopefully write soon. Till then, take care everyone!

[lucky-sevens]

mechanisms fanfiction recommendations

this began as a compilation of my own works for my about, but i decided to recommend some others as well!

i have kept this list to 20 of other people’s + all of my own, because i have a lot of mechanisms fanfiction saved and didn’t want to go overboard! in addition, i’ve made sure that everyone i draw from is a different author, vs. several by the same person, for the sake of variation and giving more people a spotlight! i’ve also made sure everything is complete, which sadly means i’ve left out a few of my favorite longfics. i’ve also tried to have a decent balance of album-focused things vs crew-focused things.

a note; i’ve tried to have a variety (of both genre and length), but my tastes skew towards angst and longer oneshots, so that’ll be a lot of that sort of thing. (please mind the tags on some of these fics!) this is also all sfw, as i’m a minor, but it’s not all gen.

edit: i copy-pasted the summary from each of these works over to this post!

no matter what you do it won’t go away by AssyEr

Brian coming to terms with being made of metal.

Hatter and Hare Top 5 Gay Moments!! [NOT CLICKBAIT!!!] by shella688

Majors Hatter and Hare grinned at each other as they shook hands.

Then, all of a sudden, the grins faltered slightly as a realisation went through both their heads.

Oh no, the realisation went. He's cute.

Date Night: New Midgardian Prison Edition by OnceAndFloral

The Mechs cordially invite Lyfrassir to date night in their prison cell. And by "cordially invite" I mean "orchestrate an elaborate scheme".

eternity will see her dead by Garecc

Rose Reds are made to die, and eternity will see them dead, sent off to another bitter end.

cold as numbers by alderations

Ivy starts at the beginning.

Every morning, Ivy starts at the beginning. Rubbing alcohol, scalpel blades, sensations that should be twisting and cutting and crushing, if the words could coalesce into feelings. A subdued voice, a cool hand on her forehead. She is Ivy Alexandria. She starts at the beginning.

beat inside your heart by zinabug

Jonny and Nastya sibling oneshots part two. (Note from @lucky-sevens- they all function on their own.)

And Sew by fracnkie

The benefits of teaching your Toy Soldier to do the following: sew, do makeup, how to cure a sore throat, and how to shoot a plasma blaster.

Ashes To Ashes, Dust To Dust by CloudDreamer

It was the two of them against the world. But then the two of them against each other, and that seemed so much harder than fighting all the worlds combined.

Wayfarers by Oblivion_Wanderer

Nastya and Lyf meet in the cold of space; Nastya adrift after leaving the Mechanisms and Lyf fleeing from the destruction of the Yggdrasil system. Each feeling lost in their own way, they decide to travel together.

No Heart To Break by meteornight

The Toy Soldier was not real. It could never be real, not if it had any say in the matter. The widow had said that the toy was real, that it had once been a real man with a real heart. The toy knew that was a lie, for if it was a man, why would she treat it like a toy?

is it piety is it purity is it virtue by consumptive_sphinx

“Percy’s blunt, not stupid,“ Mordred says when Kay asks why they’re even friends, “and anyway she’s great, she never calculates anything, she just says stuff and makes everyone else deal with it. I could never be brave enough.”

This is because Mordred absolutely does calculate every word that comes out of his mouth, except sometimes when it’s two in the morning and everyone except him and Galahad and Percival has gone to sleep and he can argue as passionately in favor of peace as he wants with the only two people who won’t call him a traitor for it, and while he doesn’t not appreciate this trait of Percival’s, like hell is he going to admit to his real reason.

orpheus, the soldier, and the short-billed dowitchers by alexsandr

orpheus finds rest with an unexpected friend.

No Violins Allowed by Alienea

Lyf had been having a very peaceful and fulfilling few decades, at least in terms of work fulfillment and being able to afford to bail out of the system at the very first moment anything happened.

So of course that was when the Mechanisms appeared over the horizon.

Labyrinthine by DuskDragon39

Your story is a labyrinth.

Your story is built along wandering lines and windings so vague that you, its architect, cannot trace your way out. It is your scream at its center, your pain that fuels it.

(Or: Daedalus and the stories they tell about him.)

Baking With Goggles (Safety First!) by eminorseven

Marius tries to justify bringing Jonny and Tim to the kitchen. Brian daydreams. Jonny stabs many walnuts. Tim gets locked out and explodes things.

Typical baking stuff.

Surprising Salvage by OddmentsAndTweaks

A normal boring morning is made infinitely more exciting by the prospect of a ship boarding. The Mechanisms prepare for chaos and murder and some really good violence. What they get is one very defiantly defended ruined vessel and a morning no one expected at all.

I wanna stay here with you by SnailArmy 

Loki and Sigyn get to be wives, in stolen moments. 

As It Was by i_am_made_of_memoriies

Jonny walked down the corridor, his steps burdened by an invisible force. His face was passive, and where there was usually manic glee, there was only a hint of curiosity–someone was trying to enter through the airlocks, and he was going to kill them.

Nastya returns to the ship formerly known as the Aurora to find the mechanisms at the end of their time.

burned out from a joyride by spiralingcosmos

ashes has a nightmare; as a result, they make a new friend.

In Which Nastya Is The Narrator Of The Deaths by nonbinary_frog

(Note from @lucky-sevens: There is no summary included, but I feel like the title works well enough.)

---

my heart in your hands

How Jonny d'Ville's mechanization came about.

i’ve got a map of your eyes (but i’ve never seen your face)

That’s not the real Rose. All the memories and feelings were merely planted in her head.”

 “Very true.”

 “And given the effective age difference, it’s unlikely they’ll have much of a life together, not to mention the massive amount of trauma they’ve both endured.”

 “Absolutely.”

 “Not only that, but everyone else they’ve ever known or loved is dead and they’re trapped on a planet full of corpses in a vast interstellar empire that is going to suffer the most horrendous power vacuum and associated bloodshed the galaxy has ever seen. Oh, and they’re both known war criminals and will likely be on the run for the rest of their lives.”

“Like I said. I love a happy ending.”

-Ever After

the death of a phoenix

You are Ashes O'Reilly, and you are twenty-three, and you are dying.

an exercise in futility

Post-Lashings.

ballast

The Aurora doesn't have a daemon, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have a soul.

marching ever through the black

Whoever’s uniform you wear No loyalties to hold or share No burning hate, no bitter fear No heart to break, so shed no tear

TMA Is The Mechanisms’ Podcast (series)

The Magnus Archives is a podcast distributed by the Mechanisms, a crew of immortal space pirates roaming through the galaxy having fun, violence, violence, and violence. They have an inane distaste for laws, and so refuse to put their podcast under any kind of copyright law whatsoever. Today's episode was cowritten by Ivy Alexandria and Nastya Rasputina and performed by Jonny d'Ville. It was produced by the SS Aurora and directed by Jonny d'Ville- well, no, but sometimes he wants to be in charge of things and the other Mechanisms don't find it worth arguing about. To comment on episodes, make donations, and view links, images, and show notes, simply throw yourself into space and the Mechanisms may or may not find you. Probably best if they don't. Thank you for listening, though why you choose to spend your time like this is beyond the Blogbot's understanding.

thank you for reading! i’d highly suggest trying these!

[steve0discusses]

S4 Ep37: Return of O R B S

Heyyyyy boy, look who’s back, it’s orbs!

So we’ve seen a lot of orbs on this show and I fully admit that I kinda started...I started feeling a kinship for the orbs. Something about these mysterious death balls of Yugioh that we see over and over just became really relatable during a pandemic. Being trapped in a bubble and unable to get close to anyone you know is such a 2020 vibe, youknow?

These orbs that are apparently so normalized in this universe that everyone is just max chilling in an orb and just doing their best at not thinking about whether or not they’ll still have to poop in this completely transparent orb in front of all of their friends.

Also, welcome back, Yugi. Apparently he was just taking a nap this entire time. That’s canon and you know what? Good for him.

And then everyone else just kinda showed up, tired, in an orb, feeling kind of frustrated because there’s literally nothing else they can do to get out of this situation. It’s basically a zoom call in 2020.

(read more under the cut)

TBH if Pegasus was in a zoom call, you know he’d just be talking about wine. You know he’d just be in a zoom call with a bunch of straight-laced teenagers just going off about the weird wine he got from a subscription box that he bought when he was day drunk a week ago. You know he’d just be like “I mean is it good? Should I keep it? Should I drink it anyway?” While popping the cork on stream and just pouring it directly into a cereal bowl.

I can feel the orb life going on here. I can especially feel Seto Kaiba, who fell asleep during the zoom call without turning off the camera.

On the other side of the room is people dying as they get sucked directly into their impending doom.

Long ago, about...last year I think...I recapped an episode from the beginning of the season where Pegasus introduced this blank card--that I assumed was blank.

But that card from that episode--it wasn’t actually blank. It was a symbolic blank card and the show runners were like “our child audience will surely get that we just don’t want to spoil the ending” as I, a full grown adult, completely thought this card was blank.

But like...this is Pegasus. You can’t just be tossing out blank cards like that!

...anyway...it’s fine, because we get a little bit more about the time that Pegasus donned that quantum hat that is sometimes square and sometimes round and then just harassed a bunch of people in Egypt until one guy tore out his eyeball and replaced it with a Christmas ornament.

I freakin have the hardest time believing this guy was married once.

PS, now I know that when you uh put people’s hair into strips like this, it’s a lot of effort to animate and it doesn’t look anything like hair. Glad Yugioh taught me that none of us ever need to do that. Ever again. Erase that idea from your to-do list, it doesn’t work.

Anyway, Pegasus lets us know that while he was trying to revive his dead wife and putting a cold compress on his new golden eye-socket, he was also like...obsessed with finding these three dragons.

And he was like “but they didn’t exist anywhere else!” He looked in outer space?? In atoms??? all over the place (this was in the show, PS, he looked on a molecular level for these duel monster dragons) until he was like “ah! That’s because they DID never exist!”

PS...are there...molecular duel monsters?

Just asking for a friend.

...so they did exist, they just had exactly the same names they do now, but were humans so I guess Pegasus just...didn’t realize that they were the same. Kinda like how when I used to read manga as a kid or watch anime and they’d go into chibi forms I thought those were different people. It’s just like that.

Anyway if dragons are turning into humans please don’t tell that to Kaiba. Blue eyes white dragon wife is much funnier as a dragon.

But like...I get that mechanically, in the game, you have to change them to human to make the cards work but...why do we care if they’re human or dragons anyway? Dartz comes from a world where most people turned into monsters. And like if no one’s trying to date them, not even Kaiba...who cares? Dartz’ wife is a freakin monster and I don’t remember seeing him divorce her at any point.

Anyway, it was an odd thing for the show to throw in there about cards we have no relationship with. It’s a complicated season, and we spent way more time on our minibosses than we ever spent with the three tragic dragon characters that are going to actually save our asses.

Now back in the soul hut, Dartz has decided to do the strategy where he convinces Pharaoh to give up. Which youknow...

The show acts like Pharaoh has any idea of who he used to be and it’s like do you even know how long Marik spent trying to teach Pharaoh anything about his past? Like Marik stood there with his back exposed and was like “I wrote it down! See? That’s about you!! Read my back scriptures!!!” and Yami kind of squinted at it and was like “Nah...” and then the island exploded.

So anyway, the only way that Dartz can convince Pharaoh to kill himself is to show Pharaoh the invite code to the orb zoom call. And so Dartz like “your friends are having so much fun in death zoom right now, don’t you want to hang one last time? Don’t you want to see what they’re up to? Don’t you want to hear them complain about working from home and how small their orb is and how their back is cramped all the time because the park is closed so they never go on walks anymore? Don’t you want to hear and secretly enjoy how much weight Joey gained from eating Doritos for 8 straight months? Don’t you want that in your life, Pharaoh?”

And then he just...decided to possess his bean because obviously that wouldn't work.

Freakin Usagi Tsukino over here.

Speaking of:

I’m also imagining that this scene in the big ol bathtub was probably...longer...in the original version? Just saying that because...what’s the point of putting a shirt on the boy? Unless it was implied that at some point you saw the whole boy? Maybe I blinked and missed a shot of the whole boy?

Anyway this scene felt heavily edited, that’s my hypothesis, if it wasn’t and someone was like “yo put a shirt on the boy” then I...don’t know what to say about that. It’s a pair of shoulders. I’m pretty sure half of their cards are racier than that.

Do you like the evidence that we have here that Tea and Tristan totally biffed it last episode? I do.

Anyway, as the Orichalcos shrinks and threatens to take Pharaoh’s soul, the puzzle taps into his dark powers, and the power of friendship and also all the minibosses who died kinda formed a ring around him and bumped the orichalcos back into place.

Nice that Mai got added to the friend pile, but only in death. Also, I’m pretty sure Alister is here and Pharaoh never met him? But there’s more of a reason as to why the mini bosses are here, since they have their own agenda outside of Pharaoh and being his best buddy so I won’t question that too much.

This is friendship from Yami’s perspective, and like...Yami kinda wants to be friends with most people. Hell, if Bakura were introduced this season, he’d be here, too. That’s just how Pharaoh rolls.

Yami decided that, although he’s a huge mess of a human being and screw it at every possible opportunity, his core isn’t made up of a dark magic curse with a crusty soul left over from some kingdom that botched it 5000 years ago. He’s decided that he’s moving on from that sort of anxiety--becoming his own sort of person--separate from Yugi, separate from his past, and separate from the powers that he’s often defined by. And it’s about time. It’s about time he recognizes that he needs to stop clinging to the ancient past (although I’m pretty sure his ancient past will be the entirety of next season)

He should give himself a real name while he’s at it, but youknow, he's not going to. Yami hasn’t quite figured out names yet.

Nightmare foreshortening, that’s what this is. Like you have to just roll a dice when you do foreshortening, and sometimes you get snake eyes, the rest of the time, you get this.

So not only are these guys voiced by Seto, Yugi, and Joey, they have faces that are like a blend of Valon, Raphael, Mai and Alister (yes that was four people for three dragon people, just go with it)--but the show doesn’t really focus on that, or at least not in this episode.

But, it does give the three mini bosses a reason to be chosen by the Orichalcos, if it’s inferred that they were some reincarnated version of the original dragons. Especially since Valon had the ability to just punch out the Orichalcos when he was still alive, and apparently that is the same thing this card does.

I can’t believe that him punching stuff was foreshadowing. I should have known. The answer in this show is always punching.

And so the episode ends with some...something that happened, but don’t ask me about it.

One of the reasons I don’t go over card games here. I mean...c’mon.

Come the freakin on.

Anyway we have some more episodes before this is over but at least this guy is at 0 hp so like...how long can you draw out one single play of cards? (I say, knowing they can stretch this game out...infinitely)

anyway, here’s where you can read these from the top. Hope y’all are staying safe!

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[toutallyahoe]

Also, because I feel things are gonna go south with the gang. Give me any and all gang-family headcanons. Also pls headcanons for when the gang was like three people, a raccoon and a horse. Aka when Arthur was a child, just adopted by everyone's dads, Hosea and Dutch. I may use these headcanons for a thing that I'm writing while procrastinating on dying from canon angst. Is that too many hc requests? Idk Love you, bean

"I feel things are going to go south with the gang" oh... oh you precious, precious darling... :') but asdfghjkll FAMILY HEADCANONS YOU SAY?!? AIGHT THEN BUCKLE THE FUCK UP BECAUSE I HAVE SOME ASDFGHJJKL

also, bean, there is no such thing as "too many hc request" for ya :'3 i would literally write a whole goddamn book for you if you ask me too so asdfghjkkllncc

⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃⁃

• when the Van Der Linde gang was still small, only members was Hosea Matthews, Dutch Van Der Linde and the newest addition, Arthur Morgan, it was... a ride

• a very bumpy and rickety ride that is

• both older men didn't know what to really do but they tried

• they absolutely tried

• they were no innocent men

• no. they were outlaws

• dangerous people

• they saw the world in cruel ways

• so, they taught the youngest how to survive the cruel world

• Hosea taught Arthur reading and writing obviously

• Hosea was patient to Arthur with every step of the way in teaching the teen

• Arthur was kinda a fast learner

• was willing to please his new father figure so he was good on reading and writing

• would ask help when he doesnt know how to pronounce some more fancy words

• but he did good

• Hosea was proud

• Dutch was the one who taught Arthur how to be cunning and how to shoot properly

• Dutch was a man known by his charisma and charms

• taught Arthur how to try and defuse a situation or sweet talk their way out

• Arthur doesn't use that much though

• sweet talking or defusing the way out

• Arthur preferred to shoot his was out

• but back to this family stuff

• they were like a family

• a very weird and also very fucking dangerous family

• they were outlaws afterall

• btw, Arthur was rowdy when he was young

• like

• very rowdy

• he was stubborn and hotheaded

• didn't use his brain much as he acted rash and indecisive

• he was also loud

• very fucking loud

• got into troubles because he couldn't kept his mouth shut

• Hosea is so done

• especially when Dutch gives encouragement to Arthur with that

• help him

• he wants to either shoot himself or both Dutch and Arthur for being chaotic dumbasses

• but back to the family dynamic shit

• should I add [Name]?

• whatever, imma add [Name]

• [Name] was taken after three or fours years after Arthur

• so Arthur was now seventeen/eighteen while [Name] was sixteen when he joined

• should I add that [Name] probably tried to steal something off from Dutch?

• because yeah, boi tried to steal from Dutch and Dutch is like "this kid... LET'S ADOPT HIM HOSEA!"

• so they did

• the family grew to four and they were happy

• [Name] and Arthur did not like each other that much for awhile

• probably because [Name] kinda beat Arthur when he was chased when he tried to steal Dutch' satchel and Arthur chased him

• got Arthur some nice bruises like he did aswell

• so yeah

• their first impression of each other wasn't good

• but they warm up though

• Hosea and Dutch were happy to see their adopted sons being close now

• they also kinda regretted it though

• [Name] and Arthur now got into trouble TOGETHER

• chaos

• absolute chaos

• Hosea and Dutch adopted demon childrens I tell ya

• DEMON CHILDRENS ASDFGHJJK

• but legit though, they are happy family

• then came John Marston

• twelve year old boi getting into trouble and Dutch saving his greasy ass

• Arthur was already around his early twenties or so

• and [Name] was eighteen

• they took John is and had taught John what they learned from Hosea and Dutch

• Arthur and [Name] had to be very fucking patient for this greasy trash raccoon looking ass bitch when teaching how to read and write

• "but it ain't even inportant! what am I gonna do? read them to death?"

• boi

• Arthur wanted to slap this boi

• [Name] was understanding though as he tried to reason out to John

• "what if ya get lost and have a map? how would ya know where ya are when ya dont know how to read?"

• that shut John up

• but the twelve years old was still a whiny bitch

• Hosea and Dutch enjoy watching their adopted gremlin children know what they had been through to teach them how to read and write

• but anyways, here's some nice headcanons for ya

• Arthur and [Name] tease John a fucking lot

• it is the big brother asshole duty of theirs

• like, the three were told by Hosea to take a bath in a lake and both Arthur and [Name] make fun of John for not knowing how to swim

• like

• a lot

• John cried the first time

• and a few more

• [Name] panicked because FUCK DONT CRY ASDFGHJKCBXNWODJ

• Arthur laughs

• he doesnt continue laughing though when he and [Name] got disapproving looks from their father figures

• lesson learned: dont tease John

• well, dont tease John too much that he cries and rats you out to Hosea and Dutch that is

• but yesssss

• also, when there are fights? it is chaos

• the "HE DID" "BULLSHIT" type

• like, these three boahs wont tell the truth unless they dont get punished for it

• so like

• when chaos comes, it is pointing fingers on who was the reason for the mess

• "ARTHUR DID IT!"

• "LIKE HELL I WILL YA SHIT!"

• "MARSTON THReW THAT MOLOTOV!"

• "FUCK YOU [LAST NAME]!"

• "BITCH"

• "JERK"

• "DIPSHIT"

• Hosea cries

• why was his sons so fucking chaotic dumbasses?

• Dutch

• Dutch

• help me parent them

• "I HAVE A PLAN!"

• "THE FUCK YOU HAVE"

• god its chaos

• but a chaos in a good kind that these dumbasses knew will work out in the end

• btw, Dutch taught Arthur to draw a bit but Arthur learned much more by practicing

• John learned how to shoot a gun because of Arthur and [Name]

• Hosea was the only decent cook at the five

• Dutch and Hosea often disagree but it works out in the end #marriedcoupleamirite

• Arthur and [Name] enjoys to spend time with their little greasy raccoon brother (even if they dont say ir show as such)

• they tried to have John a normal childhood as much as they can

• but John being John

• he wanted to prove himself and that he is cut out with the outlaw life

• there were fights with the three that John was too young for it

• Arthur disagree about John trying to be an outlaw

• "YOU STILL HAVE A CHANCE OF A NORMAL LIFE!"

• John disagrees a lot

• "LOOK AROUND YA?!? I AINT GOIN TO HAVE THAT NORMAL LIFE!"

• [Name] is torn. he wanted John to have a normal life but he also knew that John wont accept it and that it is more better that John sticks with the group than leave on his own

• those fights were the worse

• it makes the three boys tenses

• [Name] tries to be the bridge for the two to talk again though

• such a good middle brother :'D

• but yeah

• after awhile, they all ease up and calmly talk it out... kinda

• an agreement that John doesnt go looking for trouble and that his two older brothers are always there for him

• asdfghjkkcbndowurhr god i love the family dynamic

• but anyways, yeeeeeeee

• they are a good family

[clean-bands-dirty-stories]

The Best Things ~ J.V. (Part 6)

A/n: Things boutta get bad so like... I'm sorry. Practically nothing but angst this part won't lie. Side note: I know I don't actually have a lot of Jerome x reader content yet, but I wanted to show the reader's descent into madness before they're officially a thing. I promise you it's coming, and very soon :)

Word Count: 4300+

Playlist

MASTERLIST

Y/n shot to his feet, only for the guards behind him to draw their guns. Alfred held up a hand. "Is he alive?" Y/n demanded. He might have lost his mind just a tad, but Bruce was still one of the very few things Y/n Wayne cared about and no one was about to put that boy in danger.

"Yes," Alfred soothed. "I said he WAS kidnapped. We have him back now." Y/n calmed and Alfred seemed to almost smile, as if seeing the amount Y/n cared was very reassuring. That tracked. "He's been brainwashed or something though, and I've gotten special permission from Commissioner Bullock himself to let you out to help me bring him back. If we play this right, we might even get you released permanently. We can figure this whole thing out. You can come back to us. We can be a family again." Y/n thought about that. Seeing Bruce again. His brother meant everything to him. He cared about Alfred too, honestly. The man had been a good father figure to both of them, and a good friend even when their father was alive. Y/n would have a real home, without killing or chaos. He'd be working for the good guys.

Right?

He thought about that word. Good guys. Cops were supposed to be good guys, weren't they? But he'd gotten locked up in Arkham just for being associated with Jerome, and then gotten the shit kicked out of him when he'd simply been himself. He hadn't killed anyone, or hurt anyone. He'd shown affection to another man and had nearly gotten beat to death for it. He'd leave Arkham, the only place he'd ever really been accepted for being gay. Maybe not by that one guard, but everyone else seemed to not care since no one cared about him at all, except maybe Jerome. Oh god Jerome. Y/n would have to leave him. And Harleen as well. The new friend who really got him and had his back the best she could in a place where her words practically had as much affect as Y/n's did. He had a boyfriend and a potential best friend and room to be free... except that he wasn't free.

Why was this so hard?

"Y/n," Alfred interrupted, eyes wide and pleading. "Bruce needs you."

The last time Alfred had said that, Bruce had just witnessed their parents' murders. Y/n pushed down the boy he used to be that was fighting to resurface, trying to find at least a. Middle between then and now. They were so different... there was suddenly a battle again himself, and he was losing.

Finally, he just shut it all down. Everything else could wait for another time. "When can we leave?" Alfred smiled at his words, but Y/n suddenly had a terrible feeling in his gut. Why did he get the sense that everything was about to get really, really bad again?

-

"Penguins alive?" Y/n relaxed in relief.

Alfred frowned. "Yeah. Um-" He swallowed. "You've kind of really been involved with all the worst people recently, eh?"

Y/n actually scoffed at that, his lips curling in amusement. "I've met far worse people than Oswald, Alfred." He looked the butler in the face. "You might not like to hear this, but that redhead everyone in town hates so much? He wasn't the one who did this to me." Y/n motioned to his own face. "But the officer who did, did it for no other reason than because I'm gay." He let that settle for a second. Alfred seemed shaken a bit. It seemed to finally be dawning on him just what Y/n had been going through since his parents had died. "Now, enough about me." They'd finally pulled up to the GCPD building. "Let's get inside. Like you said: Bruce needs us."

Y/n had been required to be handcuffed, though he hadn't been put in a straight jacket and had been allowed to change into normal clothes as not to upset Bruce upon seeing him. He was still beat up pretty badly though, and had developed a limp as the adrenaline wore off and as his beating really sunk in. Alfred had to keep him handcuffed as they walked in, and the whole place went quite. It was becoming a habit that Y/n could walk into any room and immediately bring silence with him as he did so. All of Gotham had gotten to the point that they couldn't exactly make an opinion on Y/n Wayne. How did someone like him get born into a family like he had been, and turn out like this?

Gay and insane.

It had been in the newspaper. Someone, somewhere had gotten hold of the news that Y/n Wayne was gay and it had been released everywhere. Y/n had read the article a while ago. It's what had prompted Jerome to finally be more affectionate around other inmates, instead of just at night when they were in their cell together. People might give Y/n shit for being into dudes, but no one was going to mess with Jerome. He'd put his neck out for Y/n... It was becoming clear that few others would do the same. Maybe it was the insanity.

Y/n was brought to a room that was a different color than the walls at Arkham. The color outside had been overwhelming after seeing muted versions from a distance through windows that now, the dull color was kind of refreshing. Inside the room was Bruce, but he looked different. Y/n couldn't imagine the last time his younger brother had worn a turtle neck. His father used to try to get the boys to wear them all the time, but, especially in their youth, the boys had hated them and eventually their father had given up. Bruce hadn't worn one since they were both seven, when he used to just do whatever their dad told him to. And since when did he wear anything other than dark blue or black? Y/n found all his usual jokes about Bruce being a casual emo slip from his mind. He didn't know how to approach this new boy. He didn't know him.

To be fair, Bruce didn't really know him either.

"Hello, brother," Y/n greeted, unsure of how to go about this after all that stood between them.

Bruce narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here?"

Y/n sat down, scooting over as Alfred joined him with a second chair. "Just checking in," Y/n responded slowly. "Alfred told me about what happened. Getting kidnapped. Been there, it's not too fun."

Bruce rolled his eyes."You got kidnapped by a brainless psychopath. I got taken by someone who was trying to help me."

Y/n scoffed. "Help you? Bruce look at you. You're not yourself."

"I'm better," Bruce shot back. Y/n went quiet at that, looking at Alfred with raised eyebrows.

Alfred ignored the look. "Now we can talk all day, but what really matters is that you tell me what you meant when you said someone else was coming to Gotham. I thought that old fellow was the leader of the Council of the Owls, who else would be coming?"

An expression rested on Bruce's face. Far too complacent and calm. The Bruce Y/n was familiar with had the tendency to brood- this Bruce seemed to have no tendencies at all. No cares or anything. It was disturbing to say the least. "I want you both to leave."

"Well that ain't gonna happen, is it mate?" Alfred immediately matched. The butler crossed his arms. "You can't get rid of either of us that easy. Your brother here found time around being locked up to be here for you. Not much is getting us out of here."

"Especially with the city in chaos," Y/n cut in. "Not even your pals in the GCPD will be here to drag us away. Might as well end it now."

When Bruce didn't respond, Alfred leaned forward. "You have to remember who you are."

That seemed to set Bruce off. "I know who I am." Y/n scoffed. "I have a destiny," the younger boy continued, his volume raising as Y/n's mocking noise irritated him.

"Now you listen to me." Alfred had gotten very quiet. "That man that wanted you to detonate that bomb, whatever he promised you- freedom from pain, power - none of it, none of it was real. I want you to remember what is real."

"I know what's real!" Bruce yelled over the end of Alfred's sentence. Y/n tried not to smile. He really did. Bruce glowered as his older brother grinned at him. Mocked him. "You come in here and mock me? You're the crazy one. Don't you dare laugh at me like I'm the one who's lost my mind! I got vengeance for our parents' murder. That's real, and better than running around like an idiot with a lunatic murder!"

"You know NOTHING about lunacy," Y/n interrupted. "I've seen crazy. I've seen grown men beat on teenage boys and call it power. I've seen cops chase bad guys to predictable set ups and act like it wasn't the most obvious thing in the world. I've seen so called heroes save to be said innocent people, and then those evil little shits turn on those same heroes the first chance they get. I've seen love get ignored and then twisted. I've seen people laugh at pain and enjoy the suffering of others and then call themselves sane because that person who was dying was a bad guy, so who cares, right? I've seen people define good and bad like it's a dictionary entry and then immediately break the rules they lay down and still try to pass off as the victim of the story. THAT was real Bruce." Alfred put a hand on Y/n's shoulder, and it was only then when he realized he was crying. "I've seen stories about how evil and corrupt men are and how much women are victims, and then looked at Gotham and seen women in charge while I, a child, was raped by a woman again and again who was only using me for power." He cleared his throat. "Not to say that other people don't suffer, I just mean that everything is a grey area. What's real is bullshit and what's fake is seemingly the most honest option of those presented. Not everything is as clear as it pretends to be, Bruce. I'm supposed to be the crazy one. I was supposed to be the one who failed. I was supposed to be the screw up, but we're both in handcuffs and you were the one who was trying to ruin the lives of thousands of people just minding their own business. What was my crime, huh? Trying to be happy? Trying to be true to myself?" Y/n scoffed. "If only mom and dad could see you now."

"YOU SHUT UP!" Bruce screeched.

"Both of you calm down," Alfred snapped. "I was there when your parents had both of you. I took care of your mum and was there as you grew up. You used to be inseparable. No matter what anyone else did or said or thought, the Wayne brothers always had each others' backs. Good and bad is clear. Everyone is capable of it. Everyone does it. No one is innocent of evil, even in small amounts. Both of you have been idiots." He took a breath. "But you're also both my idiots." He looked between the two boys. "You're both my boys, even if I haven't been there for both of you." He looked at Y/n as he said that. "You want to talk about what's real? What's good?" He looked at bruce. "What's real is when you were sick as a kid, and your mum used to sit up with you every night and read to you when you fell asleep. That's real. Or when you were seven and you took that rowboat out and you got lost in that storm. Me and your dad were out, shouting and screaming, losing our minds, and when your dad found you, how he cried. That's real." He looked at Y/n. "When you were twelve and you came to your parents in tears because you couldn't understand why all the girls your age were talking about kissing you and you couldn't stop thinking about kissing the other boys. Your mum calmed you down and your dad told me that no matter what, they'd love you and you thought I didn't know but I did- all this time, I knew." Y/n felt his chest tighten. He felt terrible. "That was good, Y/n." Alfred gripping Y/n's shoulder. "When everyone came to your dad talking bad about you and they thought he'd laugh along, but he put an end to it immediately because you were still his son and he loved you. He was proud of you. When the news people came after you for secrets and they were nosey and pushy. When they crowded and stalked you because they'd caught wind that you had a dark secret and everyone wanted to know what the oldest Wayne son failure was hiding, and your dad nearly lost his mind on all of them, if your mum hadn't stepped in and stopped it cordially. THAT. Was. Good." Alfred returned to looking at Bruce, keeping his hand on Y/n's shoulder. "Your parents died in that alley four years ago, and maybe that man took away the pain of that night." This time he looked between the two boys. "Life has been hard since then, but there is no life, no love, without pain." He squeezed Y/n's shoulder and when the boy nodded, he returned his attention to Bruce. Bruce was the main focus right now, but Y/n had gotten the message. "He could not take away the love that your mum and dad gave you, that you still have in you- that you still have-" his voice broke as he reached over, pressing his hand against Bruce's chest, right over where his heart would be. "Right here." His hand finally dropped after a pause as he continued, "The same love I have for you. For both of you." His face flecked with. "I love you, Maser Bruce. Master Y/n. I would do anything for you. I would die for you. You must-" he cut off, focusing on Bruce. Y/n kept thinking Alfred was done focusing on him, but then Alfred would look at him again, and he hadn't felt so cared for or looked after since his parents had died. It all felt silly now... "You have to find that love again."

Every word hit home. Alfred was speaking to Bruce, but it was becoming more and more obvious that he was talking to Y/n too. Y/n reached over, his hand resting over Bruce's. "We both have to," he whispered softly. "You don't have to do it alone. I know it's been hard and chaotic, but I'm still your brother, Bruce. You're still my brother. And no matter what, you always have me."

Alfred leaned forward. "Come back to us, Master Bruce." There was a commotion outside and Alfred sighed before telling Y/n, "I'll be right back," and then leaving.

Bruce looked to his brother. "Did you mean what you said? I can depend on you?" Y/n nodded immediately. "Then get me out of here." Y/n went to argue but Bruce interrupted. "You can come with me and make sure I'm safe. But I HAVE to do this. I need to finish it. I need to see it through. I need to know if this really is my destiny. I need to understand-" he cut off, choked with emotion. But Y/n knew what he meant. The same thing that had driven him to follow Jerome Valeska of all people. That had gotten him to follow Penguin and ditch his family to begin with. There are just some things you have to do. So Y/n looked around, found a pen, and Bruce pick the locks on both of their cuffs before they booked it, side by side and headed for... something. Bruce hadn't cued Y/n into the plan this far.

In all honesty, it was just nice being by Bruce's side again.

They made their way through the city streets of Gotham at night until they got to a red door with the word "Yuyan" on the front. Bruce went in. Y/n followed. Inside was the statue of what looked like some kind of demon. There was a lot going on. Bruce didn't hesitate- he stepped up and began analyzing it. Y/n was still taking it in when he pulled something and the wall opened up, revealing a hidden passage. The brothers went inside, Bruce having to take Y/n's hand to get the older boy to follow him now.

The two walked down a staircase and through a tunnel. It seemed eery. Weirdly light and far too silent and empty. When people appeared, Y/n regretted his lament about there not being anyone around- they immediately attacked him. "No." Bruce said firmly. They stopped. Y/n looked at his brother with shock. Bruce's expression remained calm. Y/n's would be attackers simply pointed Bruce onward, making way for him to follow their direction.

Y/n hadn't been this scared in a long time. Surely he wasn't in danger. This was Bruce he was talking about. Golden Boy Bruce Wayne who used to cry when they were really little and Y/n would step on a bug. Who shut down after their parents died because he loved them so much that seeing their murder changed him... except that his heart of gold kept him from corrupting like Y/n had. He was driven by justice and refused to let up until evil was destroyed. Bruce Wayne was a hero.

And yet, when Y/n looked at the back of Bruce's head now, he didn't see his younger brother. He saw a man in a child's body. He saw a straight back that was well trained and perfectly postured. He saw clothes Bruce would never wear and a silence Bruce would prefer not to bear, especially with Y/n around to talk his ear off. He saw Bruce leading them down a tunnel of doom, being completely docile after someone tried to kill him. After he almost poisoned maybe hundreds of people with just the press of a button. After, of all people, he had chosen some random old dude weirdo over Alfred and almost killed one of two family members he still had left.

Very suddenly, Y/n realized that he hadn't realized how bad Bruce was. How dumb it was to follow after him right now. And he was more scared than he'd ever been. More scared than even when he looked in the face of a cold blooded, sadistic murderer who had completely lost his mind and only saw an endless world of things to fascinate him. More scared when the doors would close and all he saw was red lips curled in a devious smile as the one person he trusted the most took advantage of him. More scared than when that stupid guard had locked him in that room and he had really thought he was going to get beaten to death for being gay.

Bruce pushed two double doors open with each hand. They creaked as they opened slowly, revealing a room with a green pool in the middle. Bruce leaned over and Y/n stepped forward, reaching out to stop him. Then he felt a pain at the back of his head and everything went black.

-

Y/n woke up alone.

It was dark, but it only took him a few seconds to remember everything and realize where he was. He looked around- the pool was still there. Otherwise, the room was empty. Y/n groaned as he sat up, looking around again for signs of those people that had attacked him earlier. When he still saw no one, he stood and began walking back the way he'd come. It was even scarier now that he was alone. "Bruce?" He whispered into the empty hallway. He jumped at every noise, resulting in him eventually misstepping and tripping. He would have face planted if his scrambling abilities hadn't improved recently due to all the running away from cops and other crazies alike in his days by Oswald's side. Thankfully he didn't fall because, as he was noticing while trying to get his feet under him, there was blood on the floor.

Oh my god there was blood on the floor.

He sucked in a breath, beginning to look around again. "BRUCE?" His heart picked up and he felt the back of his eyes burning with tears. "Bru-" his shoulder hit a wall and he screamed. Shaking his head to calm himself, he pressed his lips together and retraced his path that he'd taken with Bruce to get in here. Eventually it lead him outside. Weirdly enough, the wall was open again. Which meant that he didn't have to figure out how this side of the trick worked... but it also meant he wasn't alone.

The night air outside was cool, the sun rising in the distance. He looked down at himself- he was filthy. He took a second to think. To remember. The last thing that had been clear to him was that he was absolutely terrified of Bruce.

That's right. Bruce wasn't... right anymore. Well, that meant he couldn't go home. He also couldn't just walk back into Arkham. They might think he'd done something if he came back, dirty and hysterical, without Alfred. So he went to the GCPD department instead, because where the else was he going to go?

He was inside for maybe a second before he saw a familiar face. His eyes went wide and his heart nearly stopped- in his vulnerable state, of course it would be the guard that almost beat him to death that would be there to greet him. The man smirked, tilting his head. "There you are. We were wondering when you'd find your way back." He approached the teenage boy, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Someone else approached. Y/n almost melted in relief to see Harvey Bullock. "What's going on here?" His eyes laded on Y/n. "What... I thought you were in Arkham."

"He was," the officer responded. Y/n had already forgotten his name from when Harleen had said it before. "Alfred Pennyworth came and got him out for the day. Needed him for some Wayne business. I'll be taking him back now."

Harvey looked confused by that. "Why? We were already debating letting him go. Now he's out, there's no reason to immediately put him back in." The guard seemed horrified by that idea. Harvey put his hands on his waist. "He didn't do anything wrong."

"Do you know what this boy is?" Y/n's heart sunk. "He's a homosexual."

Harvey's eyebrows rose. At first Y/n thought it was in surprise, but then he said, "So what?"

The guard looked stunned. "He needs help, Bullock. He was canoodling with Jerome Valeska in Arkham. In public. Like there's nothing wrong with that."

Now Harvey was surprised. Y/n swallowed his emotions and met the older cop's gaze evenly, sticking his chin up. Harvey sighed. Y/n didn't even have to say anything- the old man just seemed to... immediately understand. "He turned to someone who accepted him in a world of people who hate him." It was Y/n's turn to be surprised. "That's not punishable."

The guard scoffed. "Son, have you ever killed anyone before?" Y/n looked away. He thought about the first time he'd ever killed someone, and then thought about all the many times after that he'd done it himself or helped. Another experience he'd picked up while hanging with Oswald. "The thing won't even deny it. And he's proud to be with that redheaded psycho. There's something wrong with him, Commissioner. He needs to be detained and get some help."

Harvey and Y/n both knew that was not the reason the guard wanted Y/n back in Arkham. The two men looked at each other, both put down at the fact that they couldn't stop anything happening. Maybe Y/n should have lied. Maybe he should be fighting. Unfortunately, he'd just lost his little brother and he had no idea what kind of shape Alfred was in. Currently, he had to assume that Alfred was either dead or would be soon, if Bruce could help it.

The guard tugged Y/n's arm and they were headed back outside toward his car. "Thought you were gonna get away from me that easily, did you?" The guard growled under his breath, leaning close to Y/n so the Wayne boy would be the only one to hear. "I finally have a reason to get at you, you little shit. Things are only gonna get worse for you from here. Now I can say you've killed people. No one will stop me from knocking you now."

Y/n looked at the city one more time before he was shoved into the car. The guard pulled out a pair of cuffs and put him in them. He looked at the city the whole time. The entire ride, he took in every inch of it. Every dirty corner. Every dirty human. Every inch of the buildings- no matter how close, far, tall or small they were. If he could see it, he took it in as much as he could. Above everything else, he took in the sunrise.

Maybe it was the fact that Y/n might never see it again outside of Arkham, but it wasn't overwhelming this time.

It was beautiful.

[apex-academy]

Chapter 5: Caring Is a Hazard to Your Health (#32)

I didn’t realize how much of a blessing our sports day was until now. I’m usually perfectly fine with spending time alone, but that’s with billiards tables available, or at least the knowledge that I could go talk to someone if I wanted to. 

And I wasn’t especially worried I’d find a dead body if I tried.

“...”

I toss my book onto my bed and stare at my lunchbox—dinner box?—one more time. I’m not even hungry yet, but I'm tempted to eat just to have something to do.

This feels like the last place I should be sitting around doing nothing. Even if I should be trying to relax...

Maybe I should have looked for bath bombs or something, I don’t know. There are still only so many times I can clean off in one day without drying out my skin enough to hurt. Know that from experience.

“............”

Let’s not think about that.

Okay. Things to do. Uh... Wouldn’t mind some cooking practice or something, but even that’s a no-go.

Maybe I will go ahead and eat. Ugh.

I actually open the box and stare inside. Nothing exciting, just my attempt at hand rolls. Had a lot of seaweed and stuff out this morning, so it seemed appropriate. Even if this might feel a little too samey after the onigiri for breakfast.

“Well, this one’s not color-coded.”

Not that my breakfast one was, either. Just everyone else’s. Apparently my assigned color is normal nori color. Oh, well. As long as I end up with mine instead of... what was the weirdest one? SPAM in Kaichi’s?

That’s just wrong.

I wash my hands and choke down my dinner before dropping onto my desk chair again. I could work on my mastermind notes... Not that I have anything to work with. This motive doesn’t tell me much besides “outlandish,” which I pretty much had already. I’m tired of trying to decode Itsurou’s notes, too. Wonder if Aidan would have any luck. His whole thing is communication.

Not really like this, but. Whatever. I only have so many options. One, actually, if I haven’t for-sure crossed anyone else off the mastermind list.

“Though maybe Kaichi...”

Mm. Either way, if I’m asking for help, it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

I stare at the ceiling a while before resuming my light reading. I got some kind of country western, just for something different. Don’t hate it, at least.

I still end up turning in pretty early. Wake up a couple times from nightmares I can’t remember. Eventually get up for the morning.

I wait in my doorway as people assemble. I swear I hear that tearing sound at some point again, but I’m still not seeing what it is. Somebody playing with packing tape in their room or something?

Might end up resorting to that myself at this rate.

“Oh... Is Kaichi still not up...?”

“Kanagi, either.”

“Not precisely unusual for them...”

“Welllll, Kaichi’s door is closer, so we can all go knocking there first, right?”

“Ooh, it’ll be like ding-dong ditch!”

“Except there’s kinda no doorbell and we’re not running away.”

“Why would you call such a thing ‘ding-dong ditch’ when neither of those is happening?”

“Let’s just get knocking, shall we?”

In the weirdest welcome party I’ve ever been part of, we assault Kaichi’s door, then Kanagi’s. It takes a little persistence, but we manage to wake both of them up.

“Cool, lesseet.”

...Mostly wake both of them up.

But we manage not to get into more trouble from here all the way to the cafeteria. Yuki, Mahavir, and I go ahead to the kitchen, with Yuki dragging Tsunyasha in with us this time. More of that color-coded onigiri, apparently. Better than letting the dyed seaweed go bad or something, I guess.

Either way, less work for me, so I won’t complain, even if another pickled plum breakfast only contributes to the monotony.

I’m sure that will be offset plenty since we’re all assembled for the morning. Never a dull moment with this crowd.

At least there aren’t any more death threats before Aidan calls the meeting to as much order as it’s going to get.

“All right, everyone! We don’t have to put up with our current system for much longer now! We’ve been doing well enough so far, so please continue to follow our safety guidelines! Possibly more strongly than you have been already.”

I would ask what that’s supposed to mean, but it feels like a callout. You didn’t exactly kick me out yourself, sir.

“...”

“I take it you intend to impose more upon us now?”

“Not at all!!”

“I’m certainly not cutting more slack, but I do have another group event.”

“Already...?”

“Do you intend to pick up where we left off on sports day?”

“Not so soon.”

“Like, of course not.”

“It’s every bit as exciting, though!”

“Are we gonna blow stuff up?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Yes, no explosives, please.”

“I’m actually planning to hold a game demonstration!”

“It’s a Western board game I don’t think most of you have heard of.”

“The rule set is notoriously complicated, thus why I’m framing it as a demonstration rather than a game proper. Though we can certainly play it afterward if you like!”

“Like, I’m not good at complicated stuff, so.”

“If you aren’t interested in the demonstration, you can always attend and play something else in the same room.”

“You mortals truly love these pitiable simulations, hmm?”

“ ‘Love’ might be phrasing it a little strongly.”

“I am not sure I would be interested in the demonstration, but I can tag along...”

“I have no idea what we’re doing, but it sounds fun!”

“ ‘m not much for board games, honestly?”

“I mean, fun way t’ piss people off ‘f you pick th’ right ones, but. Kinda not sounding like Monopoly there, brah.”

Yeah, board games must be pretty tough with his condition.

Though something tells me he’s weaponized them all along.

“Understandable. And yes, it’s nothing so well-known.”

“If so few people are interested, we don’t need to do it.”

“Oh, I can come...”

“If there aren’t enough people to make a group event, we can still play in the hallway as long as it’s four of us, right?”

“That’s correct. Does that seem like a better solution to you all? Anyone uninterested would just spend the time in his or her room instead.”

“I’d totally rather do sports again, though?”

“Some of us may need more time to recover.”

“Yyyyyeah, rest ‘sn’t a super bad idea, seems like.”

“Bogus.”

“Yeah, ‘t be like that sometimes, though.”

“I would be perfectly happy to continue sports day tomorrow—Misters Attenborough and Riseiin certainly have a point.”

“So! If we’d rather split the party, which three of you are most interested in the game demonstration?”

Literally no one jumps at the chance.

“Well, beats sitting in my room all day.”

“That it does. Anyone else?”

“Pass.”

“I’ll play...”

“Or watch...? Well, whatever we’re doing...”

“Room for one more.”

“I’m not particularly interested, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah, like, I’m super not.”

“Yo, if not enough people sign up, then can we do sports today?”

“I’m pretty sure there’s even less interest in sports than in the board game right now.”

“Certainly. There’s no joy in fighting against such little competition.”

“I’m afraid any further sports outings really ought to wait for now, yes.”

With a frustrated grunt, Kanagi slams her hands down the table. She immediately flinches back and swears, shaking out a hand.

“You good?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you hurt your hand...? Let me see...”

Before Yuki can even start for Kanagi’s table, the latter pulls her hand back to her collar.

“Nah, I just, like, sprained it a little yesterday, I think?”

“You sprained your wrist, but you want to immediately go back to doing what hurt your wrist.”

“C’mon, dude, you’re a sports, you understand.”

“I... No? No, I don’t.”

“I can help you wrap it if you like?”

“Nah, I can handle it. I got bandages ‘n’ stuff in my room.”

Mahavir just grunts. And so the group parents have been sated.

“If Miss Yuukei’s injury is taken care of, can we finalize planning for the game? Miss Tsuynasha, Mister Tokino? Would either of you be interested?”

“Oh, very well. There’s no need to beg... yet.”

What, is she going to show up and then have us grovel before she actually pays attention?

“Surely I ought to keep an eye on you sinners, given the opportunity.”

“...”

“Okay! I can just draw and stuff.”

“All right, then!! We’ll plan for this evening. Miss Kurokame, Miss Kogamino, and Miss Tsunyasha, I’ll come door-knocking when everything is set up.”

“We’ll stay in the hall, so if anyone else would like to watch from his or her room, feel free to keep your door open.”

“Shoots.”

“I’ll look forward to it, hummmmm...”

“Yeah.”

No one has any other suggestions for today, so the rest of the morning is just finishing breakfast despite distractions—

“Have you considered chewing?”

“Sounds bogus.”

—and then more food preparations. Then it’s a wrap. Time to go back to my room alone for several hours, I guess.

Whoopee.

[BACK] [NEXT]

[onmywaytobe]

Rejected Lines From My WIP

In celebration of my WIP Descendants of the Earth nearly being done, I’m going to be posting lines that I cut from the book as I was editing that I wanted to do something with. Most of the time, they were OOC, or they were too repetitive, or too purple prose-y. 

So here they are for you to enjoy! Hope this is enough to whet your appetite while you wait for me to publish it somewhere y’all can read it... some of these are pretty wacky out of context so I guess you’ll have to just stay tuned for the final book so you can find out wtf is going on 

Chapter 1

He hated the feeling. It happened to him often enough that he was used to it, but that didn’t make him like it any more. 

Chapter 3

There was no sound but the crickets and the occasional frog as his friend disappeared into the deepening gloom.

Chapter 5

He was having enough fun that he had nearly been able to get his mind off of his father. He thought back to all of the long, sudden “business trips” Sam would take and wondered how many other missions he’d gone on for Brian Percival.

Chapter 9

He caught Margot and Logan’s voices the most, but couldn’t make out what they said. Owen started to worry. Am I dying? he wondered.

Chapter 11

They resembled little more than an undershirt and a loose pair of shorts, both cut from odd tan fabric. Cam of course looked like a model with all his bulging muscles, and Owen felt slightly self-conscious next to him, though less so when he looked at the other boys who wore the same thing.

Chapter 12

Cam gestured down to his leg, which was wrapped in a bandage made from fabric strips torn from his shirt. His toned stomach was now exposed, but that seemed a small price to pay for covering his burned flesh.

Chapter 13

Owen wasn’t completely sold on the idea, but as no one had a better one, they all began to prepare for an attack the following night. 

Chapter 15

“Leave that to me,” Logan interjected. “I think I know a way around that.”

Owen frowned at Logan’s eagerness, but he supposed that if he were trying to prove his loyalty as a reformed bad guy he would also be eager for chances to help. The one thing that bothered him was that Logan hadn’t already gotten a car for them at the airport.

“Would you just tell us what the plan is already?” Owen said impatiently. “I wouldn’t keep interrupting if you just went a little faster,” he explained, seeing Margot was about to tell him off.

“I was just getting to it!” she exclaimed, but continued on a bit more quickly.

Cam looked slightly surprised that Owen was so confidently making a plan, and Owen was honestly a little surprised at himself, but he carried on.

Owen was starting to feel hopeful again, and it looked like Margot and Cam were feeling it too. Logan was the only one who still seemed dour, but that was his normal disposition.

Chapter 16

He felt like he could fly. He wanted to jump above the trees, touch the sun. He nearly tried, but common sense stopped him before he did anything too ridiculous. He had forgotten his mission and his friends, so absorbed was he with this newfound sensation of power.

There was altogether too much mountain behind him now.

It hit him in a sort of anticlimactic way how his life had become unbelievably strange.

Chapter 17

Owen wondered how he could take something so magical for granted. Yes, the sun went down every day, but what an exit it made! And every day would be different. Every sunset he saw was a sunset he had never seen before and would never see again. Something about this sunset hit him hard, left him feeling like his soul was gasping for breath. He felt reinvigorated to take on the world and keep on swinging.

Owen was unable to describe the sensation of Fire using words, he just knew that Cam was looking in the wrong place.

Chapter 18

But he’d made it this far; he wasn’t going to stop trying now. Mostly because he didn’t have much of a choice if he ever wanted to get back to civilization.

Chapter 19

When they had the ability to make anyone breathe underwater…

Owen turned away quickly to hide his grin. He didn’t want to scare Logan off with too much newfound camaraderie. 

Now that they had stopped moving, Owen realized just how tired he was. The deep, heavy sort of tired that weighed down his bones. The sort of tired that pinned him down and when he blinked he forgot how to open his eyes for a moment. The trials of the last few days hit him all at once and he stumbled, grabbing onto Cam’s shoulder for support.

“I think we should rest,” he managed.

Cam nodded, drawing his arm across Owen’s waist to keep him upright. “Yeah, we can work out an escape plan tomorrow.” Margot didn’t look particularly tired, but she agreed nonetheless. Logan, too, was starting to fade, now that the adrenaline had worn off.

Cam helped Owen into the cave, and the moment his head hit the sand, he was out.

Chapter 20

They started back at camp. It was eerily quiet, none of the vibrant life and laughter that Owen had become accustomed to during his time there. He stood by the flagpole, turning in place to catch a glimpse of something, anything normal.

Lucas Mallory marched out of the dining hall, his footsteps echoing in the silence. He was wearing a long black cloak for some reason, and trailing behind him was Simon, who was looking much better than the last time he’d been with Owen. He was paler than usual, and his arm was wrapped in a sling, but he was upright. Clearly the Darkness had some kind of healing power over wounds inflicted by shades. Owen glared at the two of them and tried to go stomping over to confront them, but his feet felt glued in place. He was simply an observer, not allowed to interfere.

“Cabins! Roll call!” Lucas barked, his voice unnaturally amplified. Simon looked bored as campers hurried out of their cabins and stood in shaky lines. Owen had never realized how small a group of eighty kids could look until he saw them like this. He scowled as Lucas and Simon stalked down the lines. Most of the campers averted their eyes, but some, like Fabian, were giving the two of them death glares.

Owen’s heart leaped into his throat when he saw the Fire Head Boy. Fabian looked tired, and he had a black eye. The more he looked, the more Owen noticed campers with various injuries, more severe than the normal scrapes and bruises that came with balancing. He wasn’t left wondering why for very long– as Simon shoved an Earth boy roughly into place, someone with a bandaged hand stepped into his way. Lucas backhanded the boy, sending him sprawling to the ground. As he lifted himself to his feet, groaning, Owen recognized the boy as George.

“Careful, Mr. Evans,” Lucas Mallory purred. “You don’t want to end up like your friend Ms. Wallace, do you?”

Wallace? Owen didn’t know anyone with that last name. But as he looked around frantically, he realized that he didn’t see Diana anywhere. Oh no... What have they done to her?

Once again, Owen tried to pull himself free and rush towards Lucas and Simon as they continued through the ranks, but he was sucked into another dream.

He watched as several people in dark clothes ran past, trying to get away from a tornado that was hot on their heels. He was suddenly very glad that he and his friends never had to face anything like that to get the Air Ring, and realized what he was seeing was not in order.

One of the Darkness’s followers was unfortunate enough to be pulled into the sky with a scream, but another raised their hand and forced the tornado to take another path.

Chapter 21

It was one thing to go to the Darkness, and quite another for him to know they were there. 

[someone-always-cares]

[image description: a q&a for the webcomic someone always cares. full desc under the cut because its long and wordy sorry]

post chapter 3 Q&A

first - previous - next

thanks for yalls questions!! it was fun to answer! if anyone still has questions feel free to ask whenever i am always 100% down to ramble. even if i did go slightly off topic in some answers

additional: went off topic with the hair question a bit. their bright hair is all part of the transformations. regular hair dye does exist though. best way to tell is that if the eyebrow matches the hair its probably not dyed. also, quartz’s hair is naturally ginger.

also for more on ages, check out the character bios here

also was gonna keep this in the tags but thought i might as well actually try to answer it: the question i found it hardest to answer was someone the song one. my taste in music is. a mess really. ive been listening to like the same 5 songs on repeat all day. more under the cut because i was rambling again and now its uhhh half 1am

if it helps at the time of answering that specific question i had home by cavetown on repeat, and that song reminds me of both rami and lewis. but that may be because i project onto those two a lot, and as a aro trans dude. who sucks with people skills, yeah of course i love that song.

specifically the vibes of like not knowing how to communicate (rami is fine with his friends but other people are different), the lines “ Turn off your porcelain face, I can't really think right now and this place, Has too many colors, enough to drive all of us insane” idk what the porcelain face line is supposed to mean but im picturing it as like. a mask. that you need to take off and stop hiding and rami does tend to hide when hes feeling upset, and the next two lines kinda could tie into that, like the feeling of when youre overwhelemed and just want the world to stop so you just hide somewhere. also the colours could go with chapter 3 with the chromatic abberation.

also the bit with “ my eyes went dark, I don't know where, my pupils are, But I'll figure out a way to get us out of here” just kinda sums up ramis whole hero thing with his powers and all. anyway this has turned into less what songs rami would like and why this particular song reminds me of him and lewis (lewis specifically has the hair cutting/chest hiding, [big transmasc mood], and also messy haired trainwreck who doesnt know who he is yet. also the ghosts bit)

i did end up picking upbeat songs because ramis a dude who like to try and be upbeat even if things arent. even if hes not really feeling it he will pretend to.

[full description: Anonymous said to someone-always-cares: “hi ily!!! do characters like quartz who have colored hair have that naturally or did they dye it?”

“its both natural and not! while most supers can do a magical girl ish transformation, including a change in hair colour, there are some exceptions.”

theres two small full body drawings of rami, one in civilian clothes, one fully transformed.

“if a superhero were to have a biological child, the child will inherit the powers of the parent(s). however, the child will not inherit the full transfromation. they do inherit any physical transformations, but not the outfit.”

theres a drawing of a woman in blue, quartz’s mother, fully transformed, holding her mask in her hand, smiling down at a much younger quartz as a child. hes smiling back up at her with the same blue eyes, pointy ears, and blue hair, but hes still in normal clothes.

“in the case of quartz, both of hisparents had superpowers, and he inherited those powers and the physical transformations.he can also pick and mix whatphysical traits to change.“

next is a headshot of adult quartz, his face split down the middle with one side having hair and eye like his mother, the other like his father. theres a list of traits from each parents, blue hair and eyes and pointy ears from his mum, and purple hair and eyes and pointy teeth from their dad.

 “Anonymous said to someone-always-cares:  Are all the characters the same age? If not, how old are they? Are they irl friends or just superhero friends?”

theres some headshots of rami and his team lined up with ages labelled: cam is 15, rami himself is 17, lin, mateo, and dante, are all 18, and cap is 20.

“rami and xandra were somewhat friends before she got superpowers, so when, after the incident with her old team, she found rami had developed powers, xandra stuck close to him. their other teamates started off as superhero friends but soon turned into irl friends too”

theres a headshot of lewis and jade. theyre both 17

“when lewis first decided to start being a vigilante,jade quickly found him and decided to help train himand offered to be a mentor of sorts, as they both have similar powers. that quickly derailed.”

“ cinder5555 said to someone-always-cares: How long does it usually take to make a comic page? I'm curious because they're so freaking good that they must take FOREVER”

theres a drawing of myself, a fluffy hair tired bastard in a hoodie, smiling

“Thanks! Ive been doing this shit since like 2017 and i still have no idea how long it takes me. i can get a page done in a day if i have nothing else to do or if its a simple page, but if i have work then maybe 2-3 days? i spend like, most of my free time doing this.“

another drawing of me, now looking frustrated muttering “how the FUCK does time work”

“but i can never do it all on one sitting.i will inevitably get distracted and zone out daydreaming mid drawing so its very hard to get an accurate read on how long it takes. so however long a piece of string is i guess“

the only qustion not from tumblr is a discord message from RuneStone Cabin:

“Q: Can you talk about the incidence of superpowers in this world? Like many people are supers, which powers are more or less common, how long they've been a thing for, stuff like that. Also does Omen know I'd die for them “

theres a drawing of omen pointing at a date circled on a calender marked “decembuary”, theyre saying “i know. i already wrote your death in my calender.”

then a giant wall of text reading: “Supers have only existed for a relativly short time, since the early 1940s. momento mori was the second person to have ever gained powers.

Only a small number of the population are supers! the chances are higher in more populated cities, but unusally london has oneof the higher percentages of supers. while nobody in universe has any idea of the origins of superpowers, it does seem that powers are more likely to occur in people who would actually use their powers.

as for what powers are most common, after making a badly catagorized spreadsheet of every superpowered character ive made for this world (70% of which will probably never even be seen), turns out that elemental powers are the most common. although not all elemental powers manifest as the straight up 'controling this element' as seen in characters like lin or tsunami. for example, iris's powers would fall under shadow elemntal powers, but theyre a lot more weird that just controlling shadows.there are some abilities that have never been seen before,such as ressurection or full on time travel (aka anything that could bring a character back to life), but powers are certainly allowed to toe the line eg healing, powers involving undeath, immortality, pausing or manipulating time.

aside from that, anything goes. you could get plain old superstrength, but you could also get the ability to create dogs with your mind. other not quite rules, more guidelines are that supers are immune to their own powers hurting them (unless they were pushing themselves too hard), although the way the imminuties occur may be inconvinient to the super.

while some powers may be 'more powerful' than others, powers dont really get to be way underpowered or overpowered in comparision to others. sure being able to talk to animals may feel a bit useless compared to someone who can lift 4 tanks at once, but nobodys going to end up with a power like 'can turn into a goose but only once' or 'can grow toenails twice as fast' or 'if i sneeze i can change my hair colour'. at the same time, youre not going to get someone with the power to snap their fingers and level a city, or instantly blow up the moon or whatever.

“Anonymous said to someone-always-cares: I love rami PLEASE tell me his favorite song(s) and why. I will die for you”

a drawing of rami saying out loud “i dont really have any specific favourite song, really? i just listen to whatever sounds catchy and then listen to that on repeat for hours until i hate it. i guess i do like upbeat songs? ones that make you feel happy even if the lyrics are sad”

“ un1c0rnhh said to someone-always-cares: tell me,,, please,, cam,,, are they a cat person or a dog person?? ily"

theres a drawing of cam a metre away from a cat lying down. she has her arm out and is making ‘psspsspss’ noises at it. end id]

FUCK i am so glad i didnt hand write all of that, it would have been a major pain in the ass to write it all and then have to transcribe all that next. but nope i could directly copy paste the asks and word answers. cheers if anyone made it this far down. if anyone wonders why this is uploaded late, you know now.

[an-american-teen-against-crime]

Rant about ur fav superhero ready go

Okay so like I have a lot of favorite superheroes loool but thank you so so much for this Alyssa I adore you I CRI

Before we start I believe it is my civic duty to inform you that when Animated BatmanTM (aka. superior batman) walks in the batsuit the cape falls around him and he just kinda shuffles across the floor and it’s the cutest thing my eyes ever done did seen

okay so Imma pick batman cuz i was recently reading a batman comic. I feel like sometimes batman gets flack and like yeah no one is perfect but a lot of times it’s because batman is written incorrectly. But thankfully whatever version of him I don’t like I get to write off lol because superhero canon is so weird. 

I wanna do a full analysis of batman some time but I think what originally drew me to the character is that he’s like the emo dude dressed like a bat, something that I feel is normally reserved for villains? Like the darkness-coded character was the good guy. That was so cool to me. He’s an amazing detective, he is incredibly smart and resilient, and he helps people not just as Batman but also Bruce Wayne. 

What sticks out to me about Bruce is that not only does he have his strict no-kill rule (COUGH COUGH BATMAN V SUPERMAN U GOT THAT WRONG) but he also is the type of guy that genuinely cares and will try to save even villains. And like not just save them from falling, like he will try to help them get back on their feet and stop following a life of crime. 

He has like a huge heckin family because he adopted so many kids but not only is that adorable because he’s the orphan who lost his family who finds them a family but he also makes a new family for himself. He trains the robins and tries to be there for them so that they never feel the same way he did, which is kinda his whole mission.

Everyone makes jokes about his parents dying, but the thing is as an eight y.o. kid that would be extremely traumatizing, no wonder he’s so messed up. You see your parents gunned down for no reason, and then you’re all alone in the ally. Not knowing if the dude is gonna come after you next, and you cant do anything, the two people you’ve always believed would protect you from anything are dead, and you saw it happen. 

Bruce runs away from home, from his past, from Gotham. He doesn’t want to be found. But he chooses to come back. Because he doesn’t want anyone to go through what he did- he fights for those scared lonely kids left on the street alone. Side note, I also love how sweet Bruce is to kids, like here’s this big hulking shadow of a man dressed like a BAT and he’ll kneel down and try to calm some poor kid down and distract them from what they’re going through, or write that he likes some kid’s drawings of him. 

Also, Bruce is heckin dramatic . Like SO DRAMATIC I love it. He makes everything bat themed because he understands branding. He fights silently but then he will make these really dumb snarky jokes and I love him for it. Also he some how always gets the upper hand on other people, like he’s so freaking smart. Like he can genuinely freak people out and outsmarts em. And I love how he’ll appear out of nowhere and scare the crap out of people lol. Also, the dude just has PRESENCE. And if you hurt someone he’s comin for your butt.

He’s also really really bad at communicating and getting across his emotions, like he’d rather jump out a window than confess he cares about someone. Like. Which is bad cuz sometimes his kids need to hear that, but I also think that they kinda know. Bruce will literally go to the ends of the UNIVERSE for the people he cares about, and I honestly think he’s a really emotional guy he just has no clue how to express his emotions. Like he comes off super grumpy but idk. I think it’s kinda funny.  

And like always, he’s always a hoe for self sacrifice. Like Bruce. Stop. I know you have a death wish. But maybe don’t be so gun-ho about it. 

 I just love the concept of Batman. Just this dude. Runnin’ round the city. Chasing baddies. Ordered coffee where you work last week at 2am. Gave you a crazy big tip. He has like 50 children, and a really sick car. Oh also there’s this Bruce Wayne dude that is a rich orphan who also has coincidentally 50 kids, and he’s like such a himbo but you love him and sometimes he really pulls out some sick burns???

 I feel I’m missing so much but thank you for the ask, this was so much fun. Love you Alyssa <3

(included are. some short clips of why I love Bats. You will notice none of them are from the Dark Knight trilogy, and while I am grateful to those movies for getting me into batman, they do not do him justice. At all.)

Batman and Ace

(if you want them. just batman best moments on youtube itll pop up) (there’s literally so many)

ALSO THERES THIS ONE TIME THAT WONDER WOMAN TRIES TO SAVE THIS TOWN FROM LIKE A FALLING PILLAR OR SMTHN I DONT REMEMBER AND SHE LIKE GETS CRUSHED UNDER IT STOPPING IT AND BATS IS THE FIRST TO RUN OUT AND HES LIKE TRYING TO DIG AND PULL HER OUT like this dude is the weakest one of the justice league yet he’s always trying to help and somehow he always manages to keep up AND HES LIKE FRANTIC and Supes tells him they can’t get her out and he looks so freaking upset but then she lifts up the pillar thing and reveals herself to be okay and everyones so happy and she’s like :))))) “YOURE VILLAGE IS SAVED” and goes and stands by the other heroes. and . when she does. she looks down and sees Bats’ muddy gloves and smiles and he like quick hides them under his cape I just-

The Justice League animated show made me a WonderBat shipper okay and it’s never gonna go away 

okay I’m finally done thank you for the ask ILY