#wow he defeated the bat!!! insane

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STRIKEOUT. ( PART 2 ) — KEN SATO x Male!Athlete READER

Summary: An after-party. A conversation-turned-confrontation. Kenji finally meets the esteemed Toyo Bullet and struggles to define the difference between anger, terror, and infatuation.

# # TAGS: Even More Tension, Kenji Has a Good Relationship with His Team, Intense First Encounter, Domestic Sato Family Shenanigans

# # WARNINGS: Mature Language, Alcohol Consumption, Nothing Too Crazy, No Beta Again We Die Like Onda

Note: Okay, here we go: the actual second part. Again, I am so sorry for accidentally publishing my draft earlier — I am ill with embarrassment. But I’m very happy to know that people look forward to it! If you read the false-post, then you’ve only read half of the chapter. This one has over 3000 words more! Enjoy.

“It was a nail-biter of a game here at the New Tokyo stadium tonight, folks. Right off the bat, both teams were going neck and neck, toe-to-toe. And it seemed like neither one was willing to give an inch! Our home team managed to pull off a narrow victory in the end, and by narrow, I mean narrow, Kiba.”

“That is absolutely right, Sasaki. I truly have never seen anything like it in my entire career. And you know- you know I know a lot of baseball. You know I’ve been doing this for many years, but wow! Just- insane.”

“Truly a close call. Eight additional innings? To break the tie? I cannot believe it. Let me tell you, neither the Hiroshima Toyo Carp nor the Yomiuri Giants wanted to lose today.”

“If you look at the crowd, It looks like everyone’s been wanting to go home.”

Exhausted was an understatement. Kenji hadn’t felt this drained after a game since, well, only months ago: when he was still juggling the responsibilities of raising a baby Kaiju, carrying the weight of being Ultraman, and maintaining his reputation as a well-known baseball player. All of these, on top of the sleepless nights, no longer hindered him from his work. He usually left the stadium feeling brand new every single time — regardless of whether they won or lost. He had grown and learned to lean on people, to ask for help, accept defeat. Which was good and all that, but the point was: he was exhausted from this game. You had him panting for air like an overworked dog.

Shimura had Kenji on the field for longer than he should have been. While his younger, more egotistical self might have loved his moment in the spotlight, running base to base for six innings in a row was unsurprisingly really tiring. The teams had hit a clean tie by the ninth inning, and the tie-breaker lasted for eight more. You were eating their rookies alive and having their journeymen for dessert. When Shimura realized that Sato was the only one batting your pitches, he had him play for every round after the tie. The only times Kenji wasn’t on the field was when you weren’t either. Which wasn’t a lot. It scared him how you looked like you could throw that ball for days.

“Hiroshima’s L/n is just- an absolute unit, isn’t he?”

“He certainly is, Kiba. He certainly is. I mean his performance was near inhuman tonight. Each pitch was a gem and we- he really wanted us to know that he’s here, he’s ready, and he’s willing to change Japanese baseball. He was a major force out there on the field.”

“I cannot agree with you more. But credit where credit is due, we all know that the only reason the Giants are coming home with tonight’s win is because of none other than Ken Sato himself.”

“That’s right, Sato really put up a fight. L/n was throwing him off balance every time, but he always found his footing. I think tonight might have been the hardest I’ve seen him work. You know he- he usually makes his plays look effortless — disregarding last season’s slump.”

“I say he held his own very, very impressively. The team was right to rely on him. I know we’ve spoken a lot about their tension, but I’d say it’s their dynamic that really drove the point home. They were like- mirrors of each other out there. When you put two equal forces together, they deflect. You know what I’m saying?”

Kenji’s hand shook with a weakness he wasn’t familiar with. He stared at his calloused palm and noticed his fingers twitching. Shit. It really was some game. He might have been hitting the ball, but he was barely getting it through the field. Not only were your pitches fast, but there was weight to them, too. He was witnessing the caliber of your capabilities; understanding why you were the talk of every city.

The rest of the Giants came walking into the locker room, jeering and laughing amongst themselves. “That L/n is a real piece of work, ain't he?” Shirakumo, number 24, sat himself next to Kenji, unlacing his shoe. “Never seen anything like it.”

“Did you see the look on Tateoka’s face?” Yuki laughed, smacking his thigh. “Dude was scared shitless!”

“Hey!” Tateoka frowned in reply, tugging his jersey off his arms. “You try standing in front of that guy and telling me you don't feel a little threatened.” He shuddered, remembering the look in your eyes. Dark and pointed and menacing. “He was staring me down like he was gonna—”

“Eat you alive?” Kenji scoffed.

The team went silent, then erupted into a cluster of teasing ‘oooh’s. God. It reminded him of highschool.

“Oohh, yeah.” Yamada, number 21, slid over to him with a teasing tone. He wrapped an arm around Kenji’s shoulder and squeezed him closer. “I don't think I've ever seen Sato so shaken!”

He laughed, playfully pushing him away. He was also actually really sore on that shoulder. Hell, he could already feel the pain he’d need to go through just to get up tomorrow. He was going to need another ice bath. The rest of the boys jumped in on the jokes.

“Did you see the way he was looking at you Ken?” Tokuda opened his locker, grabbing a shirt from the top shelf. He whistled. “Like he wanted your head on a plate.”

Tanaka chuckled. “He wanted you dead, man!”

Kenji rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. Let's not get carried away. I never said I was shaken.”

“But that last bat was sweet as hell.” Yuki nodded. “I doubt any of us would've gotten through the guy if it weren't for Sato.”

“Well, duh.” Shirakumo shrugged. None of the Giants denied it. Ken was their star player. And tonight proved it more than ever. “We owe you for drinks, bud. Give us a date and we'll treat ya’ to someplace you like.” He slapped Ken’s back affectionately, which elicited a pained groan. “Shit, sorry.”

Kenji’s watch started beeping. He flinched at the sound, eyes widening slightly. “Uh, see you in a sec, guys. I gotta take this.”

He was there a moment, then gone the next. Kenji rushed himself out the hallways and into an empty locker room to answer Mina’s call. “Hey!” he greeted, anxiously. A screen projected itself from his watch and lit up his face. “Hey. Hi. What's wrong? Everyone alright? I know I said I'd be home soon, but the game took way longer than–”

He was interrupted by cheering. His father clapped and whooped with excitement as Emi occupied the background, screeching with glee. Kenji could see the ground shaking as she was jumping around and doing her special dance. One of Mina’s arms was protruding from the wall and waving celebratory flags. It immediately put a smile on his face, easing the tension from his shoulders. He was always happy to see everyone alright, and even happier to see them as their silly selves.

“Kenji!” cheered Hayao. “That was an incredible game! You were unstoppable!” The professor chuckled. Emi picked him up into a hug, slightly toppling the camera over. His legs swung like a ragdoll’s. “Okay, okay girl-”

Ken laughed, slightly shaking his head. “Easy, Emi. Put Grandpa down.”

“It was a very impressive game, Ken. Perhaps one of your bests.” Mina’s calculative yet affectionate voice echoed from his watch.

Hayao fell to the floor with an ‘oof’. “You didn't tell me you were playing against THEE Mets’ Bullet!” He scrambled to stand up, barely leaning on his cane. “I wasn’t even aware that he was signed into the Carp!”

Kenji’s smile immediately faded. “Okay.” He rolled his eyes. “He was alright, I guess. And we don’t actually know if he signed into it or if he was traded. We barely heard anything about him from the press.”

“Alright?” Professor Sato gasped, appalled. “Kenji, he was spectacular! He’s a lot like you, you know. I’ve always suspected that the both of you equalled in skill, but to see it in action? Phew.” He wiped some pretend sweat off of his forehead. “What a show! Eight extra innings to break a tie? Unbelievable! I highly doubt that he was traded. Who in their right mind would purposely lose a player like that?”

Kenji scoffed. “He wasn’t that good.” His sore limbs would like to say otherwise.

“He had you chasing after his pitches like a dog!”

“I don’t like that analogy.”

“I ought’ to rewatch that documentary they made about him. You know they’ve done studies on the physics of his throws.”

“Dad.”

“And how fortunate for Hiroshima to have gotten him out of all teams! I can tell that this season is going to turn around really fast. Just today he’s already scored-”

“Dad!”

“Oh. Sorry.” Hayao chuckled. “I’m just very excited to see the both of you on the same field.” Kenji sighed, nodding his head. “Anyway, congratulations on the win, my boy. I’m so proud of you. I always am. Get home safe. It may be late, but we still have a lot of leftovers from dinner!” Emi made a noise that let him know she was waiting, too.

Going home sounded like heaven. Ken wanted nothing more but to rest. Maybe kick back and have a chocolate shake while he and his family watched cartoons to fall asleep. It was the perfect way to end his night. It had been an unexpectedly long day and he looked forward to tomorrow’s well-earned break. Eight extra innings might even win him a second day of rest. Or a third, if Shimura agreed not to schedule him for the next game. Which, he doubted, if it meant you’d be playing.

“I’m on my way.” He ended the call, and opted to take the fastest way out, desperate to avoid the press.

Ken collapsed onto the floor, snuggling into Emi’s arm. Having washed up and eaten his dinner, he felt the last remains of his adrenaline-fueled strength die out like a dwindling flame. He felt as if his limbs were about to fall off. “Ugh,” he groaned. “I’m going to be so sore tomorrow.” Emi didn’t much care. She seemed to be preoccupied by the new ( gigantic ) stacking blocks that Mina made for her. Ken sighed, sinking deeper into her arm. “She always smells so good after her baths.” The baby Kaiju’s warm and heavy grasp felt like a weighted blanket. It was a comfort that Ken would find nowhere else.

Professor Sato walked past them, chuckling into his coffee mug. “That, she does. You should have seen her earlier, you know. I’ve never seen her so invested in a game.”

Kenji hummed. “Is that right?” He rolled onto his stomach, facing Emi. “Hey. Baby.” He poked her cheek. “Is that true? Did you cheer for Daddy? I bet you did.” Giving into his cuteness aggression he rubbed at her cheeks. Emi expressed her annoyance through a small squeak. “God, that mean old Bullet had Daddy running laps, didn’t he? We hate him, don’t we?” Kenji pushed her cheeks up and down, leading her into a nod. “Yes we dooo.”

Professor Sato laughed. “Whatever happened to sportsmanship?”

“Whatever happened to loyalty?” He pouted. “My own father, rooting against me. I would never root against you, Emi.” Wanting to return to her blocks, Emi lifted Kenji up by his torso and placed him on her head. The batter laughed, laying on her with no protest.

“What!” The professor exclaimed. “I never said I was rooting against you. I was just— feeling enthusiastic, that’s all. For both teams.”

Mina entered the room, her mechanisms humming faintly. “Good evening, everyone.” The Sato’s greeted her accordingly. “I have a message for Ken.”

The mentioned Ken slumped into his daughter, rolling his eyes. “Here we go. I bet it’s the press.” He scoffed. “Let me guess, at least 30 emails asking for my statement. Or, better yet, it’s Shimura warning me not to miss the next game.” He raised his fist, mocking a reporter’s tone: “We’ve witnessed baseball history tonight, folks! Blah, blah, blah.”

“Actually, it’s an invitation for something else.” Mina hovered closer. “An event.”

This caught his attention. Kenji tilted his head. “For what?”

“A party, hosted by various sponsors.”

“Bit too early for an afterparty, don’t you think?” Ken sighed, resting his head on folded arms. “We’ve only won one game.”

“I suppose it’s to celebrate Mr. L/n as well.” Mina would shrug if she had the shoulders to do so. “His coming to Japan is quite a big deal.”

“Great.” Kenji was half-asleep by then, eyes already closed. “All the more reason for me not to go.” The professor had settled himself onto one of the desks, getting into some light reading. Emi had grown tired herself, and decided that she was not interested in the blocks anymore. Waddling to her spot, (with Kenji still on her head), she yawned, and opted for some much-needed sleep.

Mina’s light blinked. “I think you should go, Ken.”

The rightfielder cracked one eye open. “And why would I do that?”

“I think it would benefit you to interact with Mr. L/n more.”

“Mina, that’s literally the last thing I want.”

“Is it?”

Ken frowned. “What do you mean, ‘is it’? Of course it is.”

“Your vitals seemed to say otherwise earlier.”

Kenji scoffed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I was keeping careful watch of your vitals, as I always do. I have your daily status tracked and recorded.”

Kenji couldn't get rid of Mina’s voice in his head. Even amidst the warm crowd, with chatter swaying smoothly atop of light r&b music, he felt as if he could still hear her words ringing in the back of his mind. It remained vivid, though she had told it to him days ago. It was as clear as day. Like a broken record.

“Believe it or not, the heart beats differently for every emotion. There is a difference between fear, anxiety, excitement, and—”

Kenji stared at you from across the room, watching as you conversed with your team, nursing a glass of cold, hard whiskey. He watched as you bowed your head and smiled, listening for the faint, muffled sound of your laughter. He wondered what you were talking about; what joke might have made you grin that hard. He wondered why you seemed to illuminate a room, and why everyone seemed so drawn. His eyes were caught in the way the colorful lights sank into your hair.

“—Infatuation.”

You looked up, and your eyes met his. Kenji flinched. He felt his heart skip a beat. Shit, he thought. Mina was definitely going to catch that. She had probably already marked it down to tease him for it later. You held his gaze for longer than he could have standed and greeted him with that same annoying wink. The same one you gave him on the field. Confident, snarky, playful. You lifted your glass and took a sip, eyes still trained on his.

“What you may perceive as frustration for him might just be the opposite.”

Kenji's jaw clenched. Mina had no idea what she was talking about.

And he would prove her wrong tonight.

Like a soldier marching into battle, he waded through the party to make his way towards you. Was he intimidated? Yes. Unfortunately, he was. But he knew his way around a crowd, and his weapon-of-a-tongue knew all the right talk to make a conversation work. He was sociable like that. He was a poet, a wordsmith. If you weren't careful, one little exchange could have you wrapped around his finger. Some people called it his charisma, some blamed it on his irresistible good looks. Either way, Ken took it. He wasn't going to deny the fact that people loved talking to him — though he, admittedly, didn't really like talking to them in return. But he could do it. He could make it work.

Besides, how bad could you be?

With a newfound confidence, Ken dared to get closer. The distance between you and him lessened, and– oh, fuck, was that your cologne? He blinked. You smelled so good. Why did you smell so good? “Hey. Hi.” Shit. Abort mission. No, it's too late. Too awkward to back out. You were already looking at him. “L/n, yeah?” He spoke your name like he only just remembered you upon seeing you. When in truth, he hadn't stopped thinking about you since that damn first pitch. “Some game, huh?” Ken held his hand out for you to shake. ‘Fuck, I hope he doesn't notice how clammy it is.’

“Ken Sato.” It was the first time he heard your voice, as well as the first time he heard you say his name. He didn't like how his body reacted. There was a small shiver down his spine, a tingling flutter in his chest. You took his hand. Yours was cold. So cold. Kenji concluded that the icy glass of whiskey you had placed on the counter was to blame. He could feel your callouses against his. Your hands mirrored one another, marked with the battlescars of your sport. He was oddly sensitive to every detail. Touching you was.. a sensation.

You gave him a firm shake before promptly letting go.

“That's me,” he said, miraculously. Ken was oscillating between panic and confidence at a speed that likely wasn't normal. He was holding his own, though. Like the real champ he was. It was surreal to be standing in front of you without a ball to keep you apart. No bat, no competition. Just you, and a few shots of alcohol. “You adjusting into Japan alright?”

“As well as I can.” You shrugged. You had a tone to you; an elegant air of grace and self-assurance. You had no need to raise your voice because you knew he'd do his best to listen. It was pissing him off. “It's definitely different from the States.”

“I gotta say, I'm pretty surprised to see you here.” Ken usually knew what to say when it came to conversations. He never blanked out at interviews, nor left dead air hanging at conferences. But speaking with you made him feel like his vocabulary was on a limit. “After a game like that?” He whistled. “A lesser man would've taken a week off.”

“But we're not lesser men, are we, Ken?” A waitress passed by. Without the need to look, you had grabbed two shots of vodka from her tray. You handed the other one to him. “That's why you're here, too.”

He stared at you, brows furrowed slightly. “Exactly.” He took the shot from your hand and bumped the rim against yours. “Cheers.”

You grinned. “Cheers.”

Kenji tilted his head back, downing his drink, tasting the fire run down his throat. His face screwed up a little, but not enough for you to notice. You did the same, sighing the heat out of your nose. You allowed a small laugh to slip past your lips. “Japan’s liquor is surprisingly stronger.”

Kenji chuckled. “Yeah. If you know where to look.” The music felt like it was growing louder. He leaned in to speak to you better. “You know, I can't believe this is the first time we're meeting.”

You nodded. “Neither can I.”

“The Mets and Dodgers have always been at each other's throats, and yet—”

“Our schedules just never lined up.” You scoffed. “What are the odds of that, huh?”

It really was such a coincidence. If Ken had known that your interactions would've fired the press up as much as it did now, he would've fought to face you sooner. “When was it?” He snapped his fingers, trying to remember. “Playoffs. 2019, I think. The Mets were set to face the Dodgers.”

“2019,” you repeated, brows raised. “I was there.” Kenji took notice of the way your head slightly shifted to the side. Like you were trying to get a better look at him. He swallowed thickly. “I was there.” You shrugged. “You weren't.”

“I was overseas.” He was wanting another drink. But, speaking to you was surprisingly not horrible. “Didn't get back until 3 months in. And when I did—”

“I wasn't there,” you chuckled. “Alright. I remember. 2019, I was gone for half the season. Injury.”

“The world was in shambles.” Ken grinned at you. A second waiter passed by. He grabbed you another glass of whiskey. He took scotch for himself. “See what I mean? It's like– divine intervention.”

“Big word.” To say that fate had a hand to play in yours and his meeting was beyond your beliefs. You didn't place your trust in things like that. But to know that he had thought about it was charming.

“Hey.” Ken shrugged. “Ya’ never know.”

The music shifted, and so did the lights. There was a moment of quiet between the both of you, and in that time, you found a common interest in people-watching. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, nor the absence of something to talk about. The two of you merely agreed upon the minutes it took to watch the party unfold. A good number of the guests were already drunk. The dance floor was alight and occupied mostly by women. Ken rested his weight on one foot, sighing at his still-aching muscles. He wondered if you were any sore too.

“They love it, don't they?” You leaned your back against the counter, arms crossed over your chest. Ken took quick notice of the necklace worn loosely around your neck. A silver dogtag, similar to his. “The drama. The intensity. Even the things that go on beyond the field.”

Ken shrugged. “It's baseball. Who doesn't?”

“Exactly.” You smiled. “Which is why it's important to always let the home team win the first game.”

It took a moment for Kenji to process what you said. He was distracted by the colorful lights, his favorite song coming on, and a tray full of hors d'oeuvres. “Mhm.” He reached over to take one, before— “Wait.” His brows knitted together. “I'm sorry, what?”

“Hm?” You had your lips pressed together into a thin line. Your expression feigned innocence, a stark contrast to your bold statement. “I said it's important to let the home team win the first game.”

Kenji made a sound between a scoff and a laugh. He couldn't believe his ears. Had he been standing by the speakers for too long? “No, I heard what you said. What I'm asking is what you're saying.” It was a dare of a reply, with a tone that commanded: go on. Clarify.

Your smile refused to leave your face. Nearing the batter, ever so carefully, you whispered:

“I'm saying you won because I let you.”

Kenji blinked.

And there it was. He knew you were too good to be true. Goddammit, he knew it! Beneath your seemingly-perfect self was something cold and rotten and he called it. He fucking called it. How thrilled he was to be correct, and oh, how utterly terrified.

But this was good. This was absolutely good. He needed something to hold onto, something to keep himself afloat. The next time he found himself drowning in your eyes again, he'd only need to remember that you were a grade A asshole. That you had the audacity to claim that you were in full control of the game. Surely it would solve all his problems.

Kenji broke out into a laugh. It started out as a small cluster of sarcastic chuckles, but erupted into actual laughter. You were funny. So, so funny. Unbeknownst him, you were watching with amusement. “Because you let me!” Kenji repeated, smiling, but, exasperated. Two can play at that game. “Right. Of course. Totally not because you're an average pitcher and I can bat anything you throw.”

“If that helps you sleep at night.” You shrugged. Your attention wasn't on him anymore. You were watching the crowd, disinterested.

Kenji felt his eye twitch. “That's big talk coming from someone who got struck out by a rookie.” He was referring to the eighth inning, when Tateoka managed to bat your pitch into a homerun.

“That's right, Sato.” You laughed, low and sultry. “Batted by a rookie. How could I have struck you out at the last inning but be batted by a rookie?” You tilted your head at him, brows knitted together. You spoke in a sickeningly soft tone. Like you were helping a toddler understand something simple. “Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, does it?”

Kenji was growing flustered. His face was warm and his fist was itching to meet your cheek. Nobody spoke to him this way. Sure guys had been mean to him before, but it was mostly because they were threatened by him. They'd tried to put him down and pick apart his flaws, but what you were doing was something different. You weren't claiming that he was weak, you were claiming that you were stronger. You didn't deny the amount of talent that Ken had in his body, but you were fully convinced that you had more. You were bigger, smarter, and better. And you had him under your control.

“Oh, c’mon. Seriously?” God, your voice. It infuriated him. It drove him insane. You leaned in, closer, whispering your words, as if hearing you through the party wasn't hard enough. He could smell the whiskey on your breath. It mingled with your cologne. It was intoxicating. “Are you blushing?”

He scoffed in disbelief. “No.” Except he totally was. He could feel the heat radiating off of his face. His breathing had gone shallow, his heartbeat rapid. “Why would I– Tch. You— You don't know what you're talking about.” Holy shit. He was a mess.

He wanted so desperately to blame it on the alcohol, but he knew damn well he wasn't drunk enough to be acting the way he was. He was stumbling over his words stone-cold sober.

You were smiling. He was dying, and you were smiling. “You amuse me, Sato.”

Ken took a cautious step back, knowing that being that close to you for too long was only going to make him worse. “Who the hell do you think you are, huh?” He had to retaliate somehow. Like a soldier fumbling for his sword, he had to get up and do something. “You don't think I don't know what this is? Where you're heading?”

You tilted your head. “Do enlighten me.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Sure. Celebrity-Athlete from America waltzes into Japan thinking he's the shit— that he can rule the world. He's a shiny new toy and everyone's just dying to catch a look. Nevermind that his old team traded him off, nevermind that he goes home to an empty penthouse. He's got the stats to prove his skills and he thinks he doesn't need anything else.” Ken dared to retake a step forward. He sort of regretted it when you didn't take a step back. “Well, guess what,” he continued. “I've been where you are. I know how you feel, what you're thinking.

Everything you're trying to be is a shadow of what I already was.”

There was a beat of silence. You weren't smiling anymore. You were staring at him, stone-faced, seemingly indifferent.

Kenji narrowed his eyes. “So don't go talking to me like you're any better.”

He didn't know what to expect. You were quiet for such a long time that he thought you were going to snap. He partially expected a punch to the chin. But you were calm. There wasn't a trace of irritation on your face. Instead, you set your glass of whiskey — now empty — on the counter behind you. With a sigh, you shoved a hand in your pocket. “Are you done?”

Kenji blinked.

“Let me tell you something, Sato.” You raised a brow at him. Ken felt his heartbeat pick up again. Your once-approachable gaze shifted into something cold and commanding. He swallowed thickly. “There is a difference between you and me. And that difference is the fact that I don't settle.”

Kenji was glaring at you, brows fixed together.

A teammate called you from the other side of the room. You nodded at him, once, then returned your focus to the Yomiuri Prince. You placed a hand on his shoulder, tauntingly, smiling at him as if you'd known him your whole life. “I hope last season’s slump accustomed you to the feeling of losing those points.”

Kenji wanted to say something, but his lips refused to move. Somehow, the blaring music in the background had faded into a muffled blur. All he could hear was your voice. Like a moth to a flame.

You winked at him. Again. And like before, his body reacted in ways he didn't like. You squeezed his shoulder once, before leaving to go to your friend. With your back turned against him, Kenji released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He clutched his chest, watching wide-eyed as you moved through the crowd. He could still smell your cologne. The last thing he heard from you was,

“I'll see you on the field.”

taglist: @fairy-lenaa @moonjellyfishie @witchygod — Thank you for your patience!

[haveihitanerve]

“Where the hell is bats?” Superman looked up in surprise, finding a very angry looking Green Lantern standing above him, hands on his hips. Clark turned and did a quick scan of the tower. “Uh, meeting room with Barry and Ollie-” “Thanks.” Hal bit out quickly and turned on his heel, storming for said meeting room. “Hal wait-!” Clark stumbled to his feet and sped after him but Hal seemed to have no intentions of stopping and plowed right into the meeting room, slamming both doors open. Clark, unbelievably, heard Bruce sigh. “When the fuck were you gonna tell me?” The Lantern demanded. Bruce had removed his cowl, standing at the table with the other two men, who had both removed their costumes and were dressed in sweatpants and a Batman hoodie. Hal gave them both unimpressed looks. “Really?” “what?” Barry defended, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “B is the only one who actually has a change of clothes here thats comfy.” “Something that needs to change by the way.” Bruce informed him, pointing his pen at them. “Thats Dick’s and Jason’s and while Jason is sure to be fine with it, Dick gets a little stiff about sharing his hoodie.” Oliver raised an eyebrow, setting his feet on the table as he sharpened an arrow. “Really? He doesn't share hoodies?” “Oh he shares them.” Bruce corrected. “Just not that one. Not often.” Hal smirked, seemingly understanding the underlying meaning, then his face turned back to anger. “Ahem.” He growled. Bruce sighed, turning to face the man. “Why do-” “if you're about to ask why i even care i will shove his arrow up your ass.” Hal fired off before Bruce could finish. Bruce rubbed his forehead. “Its not a big deal.” “Its most definitely a big deal, especially since I only learned about it because fucking Damian threw an ingraved katanna at me that had it on it.” Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Really?” “Thats fucking scary and insane Bruce!” Hal shouted. “A katana?” Barry asked, interest piqued. Hal gave a quick nod. “Yeah. its actually pretty cool except it has that written on it and he didn't tell me.” Bruce sighed, slumping into a chair. Clark hovered in the doorway, extremely confused. “Why didn't you tell me?” Hal demanded, still standing. “I never intended for you to find out?” Bruce offered, wincing. “Wrong fucking answer Bats.” Bruce chuckled. “I know, I know. Its just- it wasn't important?” He offered instead. Hals face grew positively murderous. “Are you serious right now Bruce?” Bruce sighed. “Its- its not a big deal!” He defended. Hal scoffed. “Right. As if. I bet you even jason showed up. Thats how ‘not big of a deal’ it is.” Bruce sighed once more. “Jason- he shows up for it no matter what. Its- hes more reliable than Dick in that sense.” Hal glared at him. Bruce deflated. “Okay. Okay alright im sorry. I’ll- well you know now so..” Hal shook his head and looked at Oliver. “Were you there?” Ollie glanced at Bruce then back at Hal. Hal scoffed in disgust. “Wow. Wow. Barry, I don't even have to ask. I was wondering why you were vibrating the other day. Was the cake good, huh?” Barry rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry um, I’m still unclear as to what we’re talking about.” Clark finally intervened, stepping into the room. Hal glanced at him. “Oh. Bats here forgot to tell me it was his birthday.” “its not that big of a deal!” Bruce protested. Hal shook his head in defeat. “Alright whatever Batsy. It doesn't even matter. I got Dick to promise he’d invite me next year so whatever. But I am buying you dinner!” He pointed a threatening finger at the male. Bruce’s lips twitched. “Alright Lantern. If you insist.” Ollie chuckled and Hal finally released his anger, slinging an arm around Bruce’s shoulders. “I really do.”

[wpdarlingpan]

Hello! I recently follow you and read your writing of DC. I love it, your writing are really good! For a request, i have this idea...

Platonic yandere Damian wayne with twin sister reader. Maybe, when they were kids, he used to be hated her because she was excelent in everything and have a little care and love from Talia. But she really care for his brother and then Ra al-ghul put them to fight among themselves on a cliff to see who was going to be the future leader and in a bad move, they ended up hanging up in the cliff. Then his sister, not wanting to see his brother die, brings him back to the surface and she ends up falling. Damian didn't know how to react and only receive a slap from his mother .

How about, after Damian goes to live with Bruce and being the new Robin, in one of the fights with Slade and his partner, this partner decides to let himself be trapped so that Slade can escape. In the Batcave, they take off the mask to discover that it is their sister, but someone very different, with another personality, cold, somewhat insane, hostile and very intelligent like that, because she was submerged in the Lazarus pit by Slade, who consider as a parent. Maybe Damian will try to reason with her and apologize for what he did to her. She tells him that it is too late and a smoke bomb explodes to reveal that Slade came for his daughter. She, determined, goes with him, but Damian tries to stop her, but is defeated and tells him that he should never have saved him, to see how Damian tears up and before leaving, he laughs and says "I didn't know that demons cry "

it could be possible? Thanks!!

Ukht: Sister in Arabic

Title: Not Again

Talia was surprised when she gave birth to twins. The boy a few minutes sooner than the girl. She was glad as well as they had two lethal weapons instead of one.

Two children with the blood of Talia Al Ghul and The Batman.

There was a boy she named Damian and she name the girl Y/N. She cared for them a short time after they were born then they were cared for mostly by maids.

As they grew older Damian began to despise his younger sister. She was perfect at everything and he was always second best. He believed she got all the love of their mother and grandfather and left him with none.

They were 10 when they were dropped at the top of the tallest mountain on their land and told to fight to determine the next Leader of the League Of Assassins. They were equals. They fought for hours as they each met each attack with one of equal force same with defense. They were bloody and bruised and Y/N couldn’t bare to hurt her brother anymore. But we she was about to give, she didn’t notice how close to the edge they were. The stood facing each other with their feet barely not over the edge but as Damian attack he knocked himself over the edge because he lost balance as he grew angry and let his emotions over ride his training. But as he fell he grabbed onto his sisters leg and she was pulled down with him. The didn’t fall far as they ended hanging onto a small ledge not to far from the top of the mountain.

Y/N knew what she had to do, but did she have the strength to do it is what she was questioning to herself.

She grabbed the rope she had attached to her belt and used one hand to toss it up and luckily for her it landed around a tall rock while the other end flew back down. The two ends of the rope were next to her and she leaned over and attached the rope to Damians belt as he struggled to hold on. He looked over once he felt the weight on his belt and he looked back at her questioningly.

“I love you Damian.” She said as she grabbed onto one end of the rope, pulling Damian up to the top as she used as much of the weight she could to work as a pulley system. She didn’t want him to bed up falling back down so as soon as she saw he was safely to the top, or as safe as you could be on the top of the mountain. She let go.

Damian screamed as he saw his sister fall beneath the clouds to her death, and he couldn’t do anything. He hated her all of his life for reasons she could not control and he didn’t realize that he never triplet hated her until he realized he never had been without her. She patched him up after fights in the middle of the night so he couldn’t protest, gave his pieces of food, tried to show him love but he wouldn’t accept it, not from her. 

He regretted it now.

A assassin flew a helicopter up to the mountain with Talia in the back going to collect Damian. Once she arrived and Damian had fought the pain and walked onto the helicopter, Talia slapped him sending him to the floor with a red hand print on his cheek. He wouldn’t cry, never.

They arrived back at the compound and Talia led him to Ra’s. Of course they talked about everything he did wrong then made him practice for 5 hours until it was perfect. After they sent him away to sleep he had nightmares of his sisters death, and how he hated her all those years.

The next day he was sent to live with his father after the league was attacked and Ra’s was killed. His mother handed him off and later on he decided to stay with his father even after he was to be brought back to the league. It had been a few months since then and Batman and Robin were in the middle of a fight with Slade otherwise known as deathstroke. He was a powerful force to be reckoned with. But even worse now, as he had a sidekick.

A fully masked figure wearing fighting gear and knifes strapped to their thigh, not to mention the very sharp Katana they were wielding, it was a difficult task for them both. But Batman dodged a stroke from the blade and the blade hit a gas pipe, as it was about to explode Slade ran off and Batman was about to go follow before she tackled him to the ground. They fought for a good couple seconds before Robin joined the fight and she was knocked out.

Batman and Robin swung out of the warehouse with Batman holding the masked figure as the pipe exploded leaving behind a burning building.

They put her in handcuffs and put her in the back of the batmobile as they drove home.

“Who do you think she is Batman?”

“I’m not sure.”

They drove home in silence, when did Slade get a partner?

Once in the bat cave they tied her to a chair before Alfred fixed up their cuts. The figure began to slowly wake up and she struggled in the chair before settling while staring at the duo.

“Why were you with Slade? A partner? Sidekick? Apprentice?” She doesn’t respond and continued to glare. The Bat stared right back and couldn’t help but think she was very short, just a inch or two below Damian. Her eyes seemed young as well but didn’t hold any innocence.

“You heard him, who are you?!” Damian demanded by Robin put a hand on his shoulder

They still didn’t respond. But, an idea came to mind. If she gave away her identity it would distract them enough for her to initiate a plan.

“Take off my mask Damian and see.” She spoke ominously while they both looked in shock that she knew his identity. He got over it and quickly ripped off her mask and he was staring into eyes alike to his own.

“Y-Y/N?”

“Miss me? I’m sure you didn’t.”

“Who is she Damian?”

“He never told you about me?” She asked with a fake point then proceeded to smirk.

“Damian?” Batman questioned further but all domain could do was stare.

“I’m his twin sister.” If there was a time the bat had showed that he was shocked it would have been when he found out about Damian, but this one rivaled it.

“W-What?”

He looked over to Damian but Damian turned away.

“Yep, his little sister only by a few minutes.”

Damian and Bruce took off the masks looked at her. Bruce saw the resemblances, between Damian and her, between her and himself.

Damian knelt in front of her and stared into her eyes.

“Forgive me ukht, please forgive me.” Tears gathered in his eyes surprising y/n. Damian crying? That’s not possible.

“Forgive you for what Damian?” Bruce questioned staring at his children.

Y/N had her lips pursed so Damian responded.

“Our mother and grandfather put us against each other in a mountain… it was a fight to the death to determine who would be the heir to the league. We fought for hours before I let me emotions lead and I fell. I grabbed onto y/n and she came down with me. We felt onto a ledge with barely enough room for us to hold on.” Bruce’s eyes are wide and slightly teary. “She grabbed her rope and made a pulley system. I was slipping, she tied it to my belt and jumped, telling me she loved me. Pulling me to the top as she Plummeted down. She fell, or rather let go so I could live.”

“And yet here we are.” She spoke snarky glaring at Damian.

“How are you here then?” Bruce questioned feeling as if he knew the answer. Jason was a standing example.

“You already know Bruce. The Lazarus Pit. Just like how it brought back Robin #2.” She smirked as he glared slightly. Damian glared back at their father as he needed to calm down.

“But did you know something Batman?” 

“What is it Y/N?”

“We always have a back up plan.”

With that the wall bursted open and Y/N shook of the robes she had been working away with a small knife. She held up a small tracker she had on her and smirked at their surprise faces. The duo threw on their masks even though their identity’s were already known.

Slade walked in with swords at the ready and he threw one to Y/N.

“Nice to see you.” Slade smirked at her.

“To you as well.”

“Ready to go?” He questioned her ignoring the bat and the bird.

“Ready when you are.” They nodded slightly and

Slade attacked Batman while she got Damian. With the help of a smoke Bomb and their disorientation from the information that she was alive, they were fairly easy to take down. They knocked the duo down to the floor and tied their legs together, just to give them enough time to escape.

“You can’t go! Not again.” Damian yelled with tears streaming down his face. He couldn’t lose her, not again.

“Wow look at that Slade.”

“What is it Y/N?” He played along as they turns towards the whole in the wall.

“I didn’t know Demons could cry. You learn something new everyday.”

Slade tossed another smoke Bomb into the cave as the last dispersed, distracting Damian and Bruce since they had almost gotten out of the rope, and got far away from the duo.

Damian stared at the hole in the wall in a mix of anger and sadness. Bruce in shock still.

Damian sobbed and fell to the floor in tears.

“Not again.”

~*~

Hopefully you liked it! Sorry it wasn’t too Yandere, I wasn’t sure how to make him a Yandere with this. But I how it was still good. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day! ♡

[thecaptainhelm]

Shut Your Mouth Pt.2

hahaha, daminette part two, wasn’t a one shot, gn gn gn.

Marinette sighed as the shower warmed up, rolling her neck and relishing in the light feeling of accomplishment. Ever since Hawkmoth had been defeated, a mere two days ago, things had been tense. Hawkmoth, now known as Gabriel Agreste, was arrested along with his assistant Nathalie Sancoeur who had since retired as Mayura the year before. It was a stroke of luck to discover that the Guardian had the ability to forcibly renounce a broken Miraculous. Something Gabriel hadn’t known, granting them extra time as he futilely tried to ‘fix’ the brooch. While that happened, she managed to finally convince Chat to at least keep him as a suspect if not out of suspicion, then to actually strike him from their list. It didn’t take long rack up evidence against him, especially after learning from the Bats of Gotham. 

The battle was quiet, in the early hours of the morning, where the city forcibly cut the power to the Agreste mansion, and it only took one Venom for each while they slept defenselessly. It took only a few minutes to find evidence that he was at least working with Hawkmoth, and when they found the miraculous pin and brooch, it was confirmed that he was, indeed, Hawkmoth with Nathalie working as his henchwoman Mayura.

Soon, with what was probably the fastest trial of the century, Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur were declared guilty and sentenced to serve life in prison and an insane asylum respectively. It had only shocked her for a moment that Mayura pleaded guilty and asked to be sent directly to rehab for mental help, by reason of insanity wrought by grief. What did surprise her was that she was the one to take the miraculous and give them to the Agreste couple as an anniversary gift, ultimately setting off a chain of unforeseen consequences.

That was a whole other cake she didn’t want to bake just yet, so she decided to finally just take a moment to breathe for what felt like the first time in five years. 

So it was only normal that her smartwatch chimed on the hook of the shower caddy, a picture of a frowny eagle glaring right at her. She cursed her luck, yeah, no breaks was still her usual routine. It must be real hard for the universe to break out that particular habit.

Then she remembered that she set this particular picture and ringtone for the one person who had never called.

Robin, the vigilante that she might have, kind of, definitely made an enemy of.

Who was also her crush, so that was just. Great.

In her defense, she was a human being, and human beings were capable of amazing feats. It was just that her amazing feats were more amazing bouts of stupidity. Seriously, why did she do it? Just where did her common sense escape to make her think that was even a remotely good idea, because she wanted to go there and never come back.

She had kissed-- no! She made out with Robin, the most notoriously ill-tempered member of Batman’s team. The only reason he didn’t deck her in the face was because, because, well she didn’t know! Was it mercy, a misplaced feeling of pity, perhaps?

No, actually, it was more likely that he was frozen stiff with rage. Marinette couldn’t blame him, heck, she’d be angry too, suddenly getting passionately smooched in the middle of livid rant. 

She had planned on giving him her contact information for the longest time, since they'd come to the understanding that they only wanted to do what was best for everyone, the kind of understanding that only leaders could have. And to maybe get closer to him as much as professionalism allowed. So, it stood to reason that she had to go ahead and ruin that, too. She really couldn’t believe herself sometimes, who randomly kisses someone, hands them their number, and then trots off back to work? Marinette Dupain-Cheng apparently.

In fact, it was about time he called. She had pretty much an entire year to prepare herself for what was sure to be a concise and frigid rejection, maybe even a “Stay for away from, lest I stab everyone in this room and then jump out of a window out of utter disgust”? She might as well get it over with and then move on to be alone for the rest of her life.

She wiped the water out of her eyes and squinted at the text message, before jumping out the shower with a loud curse. She hurriedly dried off and put on her clothes, before heading to the Miracle Box, rereading his message.

Emergency evac, one person, requesting Pegasus’ portal twenty kilometers horizontally above sea level precisely fifteen minutes after this message. Coordinates attached.

The message was sent ten minutes ago. How long was she catastrophizing for?!

Max was partying along with the rest of Paris while she took a breather in her art studio. Even with the full fifteen minutes she wouldn’t be able to find him in time. Shit, would she even be able to transform in time?

She grabbed the glasses from the box and Kaalki appeared in a proud flash. 

“No time, there’s trouble,” she panted. “Ready?”

“Hmph, of course,” Kaalki tossed her head. “Let’s go, shall we?”

“Kaalki, transform me!” She eyed the time, two minutes left. She memorized the coordinates as she searched for a suitable place for him to land, and realized she was going to have to catch him in her storage closet.

One minute left. She opened the door and cleared space in the center of the room.

Thirty-five seconds. She stood on an old chair that she moved into the center of the room.

Twenty seconds, and she called, “Voyage!” and threw the portal up towards the ceiling.

Zero. She braced for impact and caught a body that plummeted through in a free fall.

“Ow,” she closed the portal with a groan, amidst the shattered pieces of what used to be a pretty sturdy chair.

“Don’t complain, it could have been worse.” A deep voice rasped.

Wow, to think she missed him, that asshole.

“Shut up, Robi-- oh my god your arm! Get up, getupgetupgetup!” She hauled him up as gently as possible, annoyance giving way to concern.

Robin was, putting it lightly, a mess. He had lost his mask, his eye was swollen shut and his face was bruised with cuts all over, and he was sticky with blood practically everywhere she looked. It was his arm that she was most concerned about, however. It was set in a splint, but he must have been in a rush because it was set wrong, his thumb facing perpendicular lyaway from his body.

“I am fine,” he sagged into her, weary. “I just need a place to stay for the night.”

“If you weren’t so grievously injured, I’d throw you out for that,” she remarked. “But guess what? It’s your lucky night monsieur, and I’m a trained field medic.” Robin looked at her, maskless, and she had to dart her eyes away from his maskless face.

“Oh, so Ladybug finally started replacing her subpar lineup? About time, either she benched them or Hawkmoth would kill them at some point. They were woefully incompent.” Yep, this was definitely Robin, no doubt about it with that attitude.

She called off the transformation and was somewhat pleased when he reflexively jerked his head away. She pulled him into a princess carry and made her way back to the bathroom, inwardly delighting at his reaction. She would never let him live this down.

“It’s me, Robin. Ladybug. Pegasus couldn’t make it, so you’ll have to do with me instead of a random stand-in.” She raised her brow, not that he could see it.

“Unless that bothers you, Boy Wonder?”

“...I’m not,” he mumbled.

“Hm?”

“I’m not Robin anymore.”

What. What.

“What?”

“I’ve retired, effective as of nine months ago today, Robin’s cape has been hung up for the next generation.”

Relief didn’t come yet. “Oh, so you’ve taken on a new mantle? Or are you finally the next Batman, though it would take some time to fill those shoulders. Literally, I mean that literally, um.” She observed his downcast expression and once again started walking to the bathroom. When had she stopped?

“I’m not taking over anything,” he said sullenly. “I can’t. Not after what I did.”

“Come on, it couldn’t have been so bad,” she opened the door with her heel as she backed them towards the stool by the sink. She set him down carefully, taking full stock of his injuries.

“It was. Batman’s cowl has always represented a strict moral code, one that I’ve always...struggled to adhere to.”

Marinette bit her lip as she kneeled in front of him. He didn’t say anymore, and she couldn’t think of anything to say. She sighed and brought out her med kit from the towel cabinet. She was always like this with him.

With Robin (now not Robin?) she had always drawn a blank. She could read his emotions somewhat well, had a good grasp on his moods, and could have genuinely insightful conversations with him. It was only at crucial moments like this that she struggled. Even with Adrien she had always known what she wanted to say, but Robin was different. Everything about him screamed “one chance only” and that caused her mind to go blank. It was so unbelievably frustrating that she could scream.

Marinette handed the glasses to Kaalki and nodded towards her purse hanging on the door handle. The kwami zoomed towards it and soon disappeared into it with the miraculous.

“Robin,” she called gently. He didn’t move. “I’ll have to cut your shirt off, okay? I need to see where the blood is coming from.”

“It’s not mine.The blood.” He kept his gaze away as she froze.

“Well, we’ll have to reset that arm,” she tried again. “It’s not...it’s not looking good, to say the least.”

He looked towards his mangled right arm and nodded. 

It took some time to undo the splint and she tried not to think about where he had been for him to only have rotted wood and prison rags on hand. She cut his shirt off at the sleeve and down his middle, pulling it off and exposing a painful canvas of mottled bruises, scrapes, and cuts. She handed him her towel and he stuffed it in his mouth without a word. She gently untied the splint.

“Are you ready?” She gazed at him resolutely. He nodded and braced himself as best he could.

“On my count, one, two--” She re-broke his arm a count early on purpose.

“Arrghh! Ffuk!!” He jerked out of her grip.

“Hold still!” He spat out the towel and glared in response.

“Mizq dhiraei allaeaynat 'aw aidbitha!!!” She only understood ‘rip’ and ‘arm’ but she got the gist of his screaming.

“Alright it’s done now, I’m setting it, so stop moving,” She couldn’t help but sigh under his vicious scowl.

“Tsk. Be grateful that I can barely discern your features Ladybug. You’re on my shit list and I don’t feel like kicking your ass today.”

“Wow, thanks for saving me Ladybug, I could have died if it weren’t for you!” Marinette couldn’t help but snark at him.

“...tsk!” Yep, that was as good as she was going to get in his condition.

After years of fighting akuma victims she was able to observe the complex and hidden emotions of her opponents and the civilians that she rescued. And right now, her experience was telling her that Robin had more than his pride ruined. His self-confident, courageous, and taciturn nature seemed to be regressing as he fell back into what was probably a self-defense mechanism. For him to be like this instead of exhausted in his current state told her that he must have been through a lot since she last saw him.

She started to gently clean the blood off and noted the bruises underneath definitely came from an intense melee battle. Most of them were in places that made her cringe just looking at them. At least he doesn’t have any other broken bones, or stab wounds. Lucky him.

Robin put an ice pack to his face in the meanwhile and wouldn’t look in her direction.

It was quiet for a while. “So, what should I call you, then?” And she had to open her big fat mouth, didn’t she? Now it was awkward. It was awkward, and he hated her, and she was never speaking again, ever.

“Damian.” Uh oh.That didn’t sound like a moniker.

“Um, nice code name?” She started disinfecting his cuts and scrapes, trying not to panic.

“I no longer require such aliases.” Ok, process that later, heal Robin now. Process. Later.

“Ro--, Damian, uh, well,” She sighed.  “My offer still stands, you know?”

He made a quiet noise. 

“Last time I saw you, I mean. I had left in a rush,”-- after kissing you senseless-- “but I’m always here to listen if you want to talk about what happened.”

Robin, or Damian now, she still wasn’t used to that, froze. His brows furrowed and he strangely went red in the face, before sighing, slumping against the sink.

“I...the blood’s not mine. It hasn’t been my for a long time, but it might as well be for how long I’ve carried it. I’m not a good person so much as to blame myself completely, but I do recognize some of the fault as mine. I’d gotten help, and I was making progress, but it wasn’t enough. I started falling back into old habits and I hated it. I tried and I failed, and I kept trying and failing for months and I…” He gained a look of despair, the first real emotion she’s seen on him since he dropped in.

“I couldn’t do it anymore. I just kept disappointing everyone and I hated it so much,” he dug his fingers into his matted hair.

“So, I left. I decided to go on a journey to try and repent, and it was working, at least I thought it did. But, then I had stumbled upon a Shadows base and I…” He peered unseeing at the floor.

“It was like I lost all sense of reason. I lay siege to the entire facility and found my way to the next base. It all turned into an endless cycle, all the way until I reached headquarters and inadvertently met up with high ranking members of the Justice League, teaming up to diminish their power. We were successful, but a candidate for the position of the Demon’s Head activated the self-destruct module. Everyone was scrambling to get out and suddenly my mind felt clearer than it had ever been.” He took  a deep breath and Marinette moved closer to offer some comfort. He leaned towards her gratefully.

“The Justice League had already had an escape route, but the Shadows were in disarray for some reason. After I was sure my old comrades were out, I locked all the doors, and dived down to a ceremonial bathing chamber.”

“And that’s where I came in,” she whispered. I think I’m starting to like him more than I should. What is wrong with me?! Who made me this way?! She had some complaints in regards to that.

“You saved my life,” he inclined his head in an informal bow. “Thank you, Ladybug.”

“...Marinette.” She croaked suddenly. She was left reeling from his info dump and her intense, romantic feelings. So, why not go for a confession? 

Damian whipped his head up in disbelief.

“My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Enchanté, Damian.” She smiled at his bewildered state, wiping away a bit of blood under his chin. She opened her mouth to say more, but didn’t get the chance.

Damian leapt up, furious. “You fool! I knew you were a space cadet, but I didn’t think your brain drifted beyond the stars! How utterly moronic!”

“Wait, why are you so mad?!” She panicked. She kind of had a spur of the moment idea to kiss him on his split lip, but that was looking less and less likely to happen.

(Damn it.)

“You told me your name!” he shouted.

“Yes, and you told me your’s?” She retorted. 

“Have you forgotten Hawkmoth?! Your enemy that can read the minds of the emotionally disturbed should he decide to possess them!” He started to hobble out of the bathroom, still half-treated and mostly in pain.

Oh. 

Oh!

“I have to leave, now! If I can stay calm long enough to reach the trains then I’ll be moving too fast for a butterfly to suddenly get me.”

“Uh, Damian?”

“No, it might already be enroute to someone else and might even already be on board,” He winced and stumbled on the tassel rug in the hallway.

“Woah, hang on a second Damian,” she grabbed him before he could fall, but he pulled out of her grip.

“We don’t have time for this, I can guarantee that I would be one of the worst akumas you’ve faced in your hero career, nevermind the insider information I hold within my mind.”

“Yes, but listen to me,” Damian moved towards the small sitting area, not listening to her. 

Again.

“This safehouse should be around one hundred kilometers from the city limits, you’re safe for now, but Hawkmoth’s estimated rate of growth was--”

That’s it!

Marinette grabbed his jaw and slammed it closed. She had had enough.

“This isn’t a safehouse, we’re in my art studio,” she snapped. She could see the rage begin to build to new heights in his eye.

“No, shut your mouth, and listen!” A vein in his forehead started to pulse, but he didn't move to speak.

Good.

“Hawkmoth has been defeated as of last week, and the trial was concluded a couple days ago. Going by what you told me, you've been out the loop for almost a year, so you don’t know that my team and I had closed in on Hawkmoth’s trail some time ago and were able to build a solid case that’ll go through in a court of law,” She carefully let him go.

“So, you’re safe, I’m safe, and Paris is safe too.” She’d already started to calm down in the middle of her explanation, and idly noted that she should probably take an anger management class.

And sign up for therapy. Lots of it, preferably.

Damian nodded slowly as he rubbed his jaw and she couldn’t help her wince.

“Sorry, did I handle you too roughly? Come here,” she started to pull him back towards the bathroom. He resisted.

“No, it’s fine, no damage just from that much force,” he tugged his arm away but she quickly moved behind him and began to push him through the bathroom door.

“Well, I’m not done treating you, so get back in there.” He grabbed the door frame and pushed back, and her calm demeanor left as quick as it came. Was it even truly there to begin with?

“I said,” she picked him up and threw him back on the stool where he grasped for stability.

“Come here.” She leaned in close to his bruised face, and wow, the one eye that she could see was so very, very green. “I’m not done with you, yet.”

“...okay,” he whispered. He kept his head down.

It didn’t take long to finish disinfecting the rest of his wounds, and soon she started applying ointment to the worst of his bruises. She had enough, but she was definitely going to be restocking in order to play his nursemaid for the next week or so. She rose to her feet and started packing away her kit.

“I’ll give you some pain meds for the night, I’ll leave you to take care of the injuries under the rest of your clothes. Come find me in the kitchenette. I’ll make something for us, though it won’t be anything fancy.”

“That is fine.” Marinette frowned at the strange husk in his voice. Did someone try to suffocate him? Why hadn’t she noticed until now?

She kneeled beside him and reached around him for the water bottle she had left in there earlier, but noticed him twitch and start to blush. Did he get a fever too?

She observed his red face and clear, but dilated eyes. Merde, did she embarrass him from earlier? She knew he had a large ego, but it was his own fault for being stubborn.

“Here, get yourself some water from the sink,” she handed the glittery black bottle to him and hurriedly strode out of the bathroom, calling,

“Holler if you need me!” 

Completely aware of the flustered state she left Damian in. Though not for the reason she thinks, at least.

[hasquetzorkukudoneanythingwrong]

Take down the Bat

(Minor summer 4 spoilers)

After Xook had been taken care off and Hokusai managed a victory against Melt, next was to go to the Rakuza casino. But instead of a regular casino it's more like a district in a Japanese town. Filled with shops and the like.

Mari: this is nothing like the others.... why come here?

Rex: well the next swimsuit swordmaster is here.

Quetz: si.... it's a bit more complicated tho.

Ed: like how?

Rex: well this is all being run by Nobunaga, of the demon king variety.

Mari: Washi ja lady? Damn, can't take her seriously.

Quetz: si, and she has her own group of Daimyos too!

Ed: eh?! Isn't that a bit much?!

Rex: it would be but..... well let's go to the first Daimyo and you'll see my point.

Hokusai: a whole bunch of daimyos?! It'll be thrilling taking them down!

Rex: right......

But as they went on to each headquarters of all the daimyos, each and everyone of them had been defeated already, by someone else.

Hokusai: what's going on!? Every single one of them! Gone!

Mari: damn, sad.

Ed: who could be doing this?

Then they hear panic throughout the town, and people running away.

Quetz: que es eso?!

Rex: let's find out!

The group run to the outside to try and find the source of the panic.

When they do go out, they see two figures in the sky, duking it out at high speeds. The two were so fast, they were like a blur.

Mari: que es eso?!

Rex: good question...

Then one of the figures falls after a strike from the other, landing near the group, it looked to be Okita.

Hokusai: wow there! What happened to you?!

Okita: urgh. Kind of a long story, but I was busy with something then that thing attacked me!

The group look up again to see the figure flying stationary, staring down at them. It was Camazotz once again. The group had finally run into him again.

Quetz: Camazotz!

Okita: you guys know him?

Mari: unfortunately

The creature immediately flew straight upwards before going into a dive bomb towards them.

In an immediate response, Okita manages to get back up and block the monster's talons with her sword.

Okita: they seem to have it out for you all!

The monster flies back up into the air. Possibly to try again.

Mari: yeah he does, I've had to deal with this asshat's bullshit for fucking ages!

As she says this, she walks forward and seems to be preparing for something.

Mari: but not anymore! Now I'm gonna beat his ass!

Hokusai: master, you're concerning me.

Ed: si, you've seemed to have gone a bit mad with power.

Mari: well yeah, try going mad without it, it's boring.

Okita: if you're going to fight him, let me help. He's already gotten in my way far too much today!

Hokusai: what are you trying to do anyways?

Okita: I need to win that grail! If not, I won't make it through the day!

Hokusai: what?!

Ed: huh!?

Mari: fucking shit.... let's try and make this quick then!

Then out of Mari's back, grew large feathered and skeletal wings. Ornamented with purple and black feathers, with a large red talon at the bending point.

Hokusai: whaaaaat?! Master you grew wings?!

Mari: yeah, came with absorbing those chips!

Okita: how good are you with those?

Mari: hmmm.... let's just get started!

Rex: I am not filled with confidence....

Then both Mari and Okita soared into the air, within Camazotz's sights! The bat monster immediately flew towards the two, in an attempt to attack.

Okita readied her sword, meanwhile Mari's hands grew feathers and large claws ready to attack.

They both parried Camazotz's talons, and before retaliating!

Okita: is this your first time flying?

Mari: on my own, yeah! What about you?!

Okita: couldn't do it before I got this jetpack, but I've already gotten the hang of it.

Mari: great to hear!

After a bit more time fighting, Camazotz backed up before summoning his swarm of tiny pterosaurs!

Okita: what?! He can do that?!

Mari: unfortunately, yeah!

Meanwhile on the ground

Rex: you think she'll be fine?

Quetz: I hope so...

Hokusai: ya think we should try and help her?

But as they talked, another figure approached. Seeming to have been injured, from a previous bout. It was the Demon King version of Nobunaga.

Rex: oh shit Nobu, you look like shit.

Ed: oh hey! Washi ja lady!

M!Nobu: washi ja...? Whatever, where the hell is that Bat Monster?

The rest of the group pointed upwards, promptint the Demon King to look up at Mari and Okita trying to fend off the beast and his swarm.

M!Nobu: ah...

Hokusai: also, what in the hell happened to you?!

M!Nobu: well... I was just running my super legal business-

Rex: totally wasn't legal

M!Nobu: when out of nowhere Okita came and attacked me! I was nearly finished if it wasn't for that bat monster busting in and attacking her.

Quetz: now what do you plan to do?

M!Nobu: I'm taking out that bat! He's ruining everything!

Hokusai: even though, he technically saved you?

M!Nobu: I mean, Okita probably had her reasons to attack me. Also I just don't like this dude.

Quetz: well do something fast!

M!Nobu: I got it, I got it!

Back to Mari and Okita, the two were still struggling with the swarm.

Mari: ok! I got an idea!

Okita: what is it?!

Mari: first, get down!

Okita then flew down, allowing Mari to have enough room to safely release a huge cloud of toxic gas!

Most of the swarm fell thanks to the toxin.

Mari: hahaha! Get fucked asshat!

And as Mari celebrated, she heard her mother call out to her.

Quetz: Mija! Get down!

Mari: huh?!

Demon King of the Myriad Heavens!

As soon as Mari heard this, she dropped to the ground, baring witness to the hail of Bullets hitting the remaining swarm and Camazotz.

M!Nobu: ha! How do you like that!

When the dust cleared tho, Camazotz was still in the air. But he was visibly injured.

M!Nobu: dammit....

Hokusai: maybe another go?

M!Nobu: that already took the majority of my current mana to pull off!

Then soaring back into the air, Mari and Okita were ready to finish him off.

Mari: don't worry! We've got this!

Okita: unfortunately, my jetpack been damaged. I could probably only pull off one last attack before it's over for me.

M!Nobu: wait, what?!

Okita: it's very long and complicated, but this Jetpack is my life support now and without it I'll die.

Mari: then let's stop wasting time and let's go!

Okita: right!

The two flew up towards the monster! Ready to deal the finishing blow!

At insane speeds, they circled forward through the air before finally!

CROSS COMBINATION SLASH!!!

The two simultaneously sliced at the monster, finishing him off for good! But as this happened, Okita started to fall. Mari just barely managed to catch her as she landed.

Mari: Okita! Okita, speak to me.

Okita seemed to not have much left in her. Her eyes losing the life in them. The rest of the group came in to see her final moments.

Ed: oh no....

Hokusai: Okita....

M!Nobu: dammit.... not like this...

Okita: it's ok everyone. I had a good life, with master and Nobu and even got to meet Master's children too, I even got to fight alongside one of them aswell. And I finally got my swimsuit, it may not have lasted long but I got the Supreme victory I wanted in the end.

Mari: no... Okita please... I barely got to know you...

Okita: it'll be OK, Maria. I'm sure we may one day... be able to meet again... just know that.... I'm happy to have shared my final fight alongside you....

And with that, Okita seemed to have died. The battle was won... but came at too high a price.

Then MHXX came along.

XX: oh hey everyone! Where's Okita?

The group all looked at her, silently before she saw Okita laying in Mari's arms.

XX: ...what happened?

M!Nobu: she's gone.... her life support cut out.

XX: huh? Oh that! That shouldn't be an issue! Turns out, she was fine the whole time! Didn't need life support at all, I was just confused from her already not so good health. She should still be just fine.

The group then looked back at Okita, only for her to open her eyes again with a DEEP red blush on her face from the embarrassment.

Mari: Okita...?

Okita: hmmm... DEATH TO MYSTERIOUS HEROINE XX!!!

XX: Huh!?

And immediately Okita got back up, and attacked XX.

A/N: Finally! The next installment of this story! Took me too long to get here! Hopefully I'll be better with this going forward. Not much left anyways, but still... hope yall like it!

@hasbbdoneanythingwrong @haskamadoneanythingwrong @havetheavengersdoneanythingwrong @hasjalterdoneanythingwrong @hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong @hasnightingaledoneanythingwrong @hasmerlindoneanythingwrong

[ickle-ronniekins]

only human, george x reader

request: from anon: 2 of 2: Could you do 34, 39, & 42 if you have time? You’re writing is so good! Every time I get a fic notification I get excited. / I sent in those two requests sorry for not putting the twin I totally forgot! I was hoping for George for both and the prompt I was looking at was the list valwritesx had linked in the fic you reblogged. I hope you’re doing requests from that one. Thanks and sorry for the confusion! | oh my gosh, no need to apologize! i’ve been brainstorming in the back of my mind for the past few days how to incorporate these prompts into a story and i woke up with a start this morning and came up with an idea, so...i hope you like it! as usual, i am nervous but please leave feedback if you wish too, i am always open to constructive criticism :)

prompt(s): “you’ve got me wrapped around your finger”, “i know you might not think so, but you look really good right now”, “will you play with my hair?” | reader finds george to be an annoying git who’s very obvious about the way that he feels and won’t give it up but when he puts her in an uncomfortable situation she realizes she may actually have feelings for him too

warning(s): i dunno it’s just like an intense makeout session with some missing clothes and implied sexual content so i guess ~proceed with caution~ if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing

“Saw you watch the match yesterday,” he was grinning so cheekily it looked almost painful. “What’d you think?”

You scoffed and didn’t take your eyes off of your homework on the table in front of you. He was talking low, as the Great Hall was flooded with students working on their assignments. To him, you said, “I think the girls had a great game.”

Next to you, you could almost feel George roll his eyes and run a hand through his tangled hair, the same thing he always did when he didn’t get what he wanted. And what he wanted, was you.

It was so bloody obvious; it wasn’t even a challenge trying to get him to admit how he felt. That boy wore his heart on his sleeve.

“C’mon, Y/N,” he tried again, poking you in the ribs. “I know you were watching me yesterday. Just admit it.”

You shut your textbook and placed it inside of your bag, glanced at a tired George and told him, “See you later,”

Cheeky disappointment smeared itself across his face.

If he wasn’t joking around, you reckon he would’ve looked absolutely defeated, but two seconds later you heard him snickering with his twin, their laughs bouncing across the Great Hall. You just rolled your eyes and made your way to the girls dormitory.

A few moments later, you finally found some peace and quiet. You placed your books on your bedside table and removed your tie, your shoes, and your tights—you couldn’t wait to get out of this bloody uniform and put on some real clothes. You were busy unbuttoning your shirt when you heard a cheeky, “Well hello there,”

You’ve got to be kidding me, you thought.

You whirled around, completely forgetting your unbuttoned shirt, your chest and abdomen now completely visible to him. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and eyed you up and down before grinning again.

Your cheeks flushed red when you watched him watch you.

“What the bloody hell are you doing up here, George?”

“Mmm, enjoying the view,” he purred, his grin growing alongside your annoyance. Before you could say another word, you swore you heard the voices of McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey making their way up the steps to the girls dormitory, and horror set in on your face.

“Shit,” you murmured.

In a confused panic, you quickly grabbed George, threw him onto your neat bed next to you, and shut the drapes to your four poster, heart now pounding with worry. You sure as hell weren’t going to let your good reputation be ruined by this redheaded bastard.

You were sitting on your knees, trying to steady your heartbeat and listen closely to the women’s voices who were now getting closer and closer. You’d almost forgotten George was there. To you, he said, “I know you might not think so, but you look really good right now—”

In an attempt to shut him the hell up, you positioned yourself on top of him, now completely straddling his lap and you cupped your hand over his lips. “Shut up, Weasley—I swear to Merlin—” He giggled slightly, and his hands made their way to your waist, his fingertips lightly grazing your skin, but you didn’t even have time to scold him. Just then, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey entered the room, and everything became eerily still.

“—let’s gather her things, shall we? I believe her four poster is the last one. Oh, have you been able to owl her parents, Minerva?”

“They’re leaving shortly, traveling by Portkey to pick her up,” McGonagall said. You heard bustling in the corner, and you imagined that McGonagall had probably flourished her wand and gathered up this student’s belongings rather quickly. You hoped they’d leave immediately.

“Poor dear, a bat bogey hex gone horribly wrong,” Madam Pomfrey was saying as the two women headed towards the door.

When the room was finally silent, and you knew you were safe, you took your hand off of George’s mouth and attempted to tie your hair back. Thank Merlin they hadn’t found the two of you—you couldn’t even imagine how long you’d have detention for. You were about to open the drapes when George pulled you back on top of him and smirked sensually at you. Teasing you with stupid, silly phrases beyond belief, he asked you, “Will you play with my hair, Y/N? Be a nice girlfriend and stay here with me,”

Girlfriend? He had it so bad for you.

You nearly snorted. You pulled the drapes aside and jumped off of your bed, watching as George pulled himself up and sat with his elbows on his knees. “You’re out of your mind, George Weasley.”

He smirked again, pulled gently on your unbuttoned shirt so your body was touching his, and he said softly in your ear, “We’ll see.”

The Common Room was loud and busy and absolutely insane—it was Friday night, after all. The blustery snowstorm had given loads of students the idea to stay indoors which meant two things: butterbeer and firewhisky. You couldn’t wait to get your hands on some after the week you’d had. You quickly climbed through the portrait hole and upstairs to your room, itching to get into a comfortable sweater and some jeans.

By the time he walked in this round, your shirt was completely off and you were sliding the zipper of your skirt down when you noticed his presence. This time, he asked, “Wow, you have even less clothes on than the last time we met here—does this mean I’m about to get lucky?” You rolled your eyes and groaned.

Not today, you thought.

“George,” you barked out, whirling around again and staring at him, not even caring that you were half naked in front of him. “Why is this the second time in a week that I’ve caught you up here while I’m coincidentally taking my clothes off?”

“Just lucky, I guess,” George told you, his hands slammed into his pockets, as a smiled tugged at the edges of his lips.

Annoyed beyond belief, you stomped over to him, pulled him by his tie and pressed him up against the wall. His eyes were swimming with anticipation of what was to happen next. Gripping his arm tightly, you asked him seriously, “What the bloody hell do I have to do to get you out of here?”

His 6’3 frame swallowed you whole.

George just laughed as you pulled even more so on his tie. “Come on, I’m only human after all. You’ve got me wrapped around your finger, love, just take advantage of it, will you?” He asked you, slight annoyance settling in.

But before you could even answer that ridiculously cheesy phrase he just threw at you, he leaned in and pressed his lips to yours. It was surprising, to say the least, but it was soft and slow, the way first kisses should be. When you pulled away, you both peered at each other slightly, not saying anything—just casually moving your eyes from his to his lips, and wondering what both your heart and your head were doing.

“Christ,” you said aloud.

“What?” George winked, knowing exactly what had happened during that first kiss.

Tugging on his tie again, you pulled him back towards you, slamming your lips onto his. This one was nothing like the first—it was messy and disorganized and clumsy—and before you knew it, his shirt and tie were on the ground, and you two were getting entangled in the sheets of your bed. With a quick flourish of your wand, his clothes folded themselves up neatly and were placed underneath your bed, hiding his presence perfectly.

Sitting upright, you placed yourself on top of his hips and continued to kiss him fiercely. He pulled back for a moment and you groaned, but it was just to glance at you admiringly for a moment before his hands were all over you once again.

How long had he wanted this?

His messy hair and disoriented kisses were driving you absolutely mad. He moved his lips from yours to your neck, nipping slightly and leaving stinging bite marks all over. Flipping you over so he was now on top of you, he kissed you again, placed his hands directly on your hips with a firm grasp, and pressed his body hard against yours. To your surprise, a small moan escaped your lips, and you could feel his smile against yours.

“I love the way you sound,” he murmured. It was hard not to grin at him.

His fingertips danced across your skin, in every single place he could get them, hungrily attacking your body with his. Through panting breaths, you told him, “Bloody hell, man—I’m going to have marks all over me tomorrow morning,”

In response, he just growled, silencing you with another searing kiss, as if it were air to him, like he needed it in order to survive, like he’d been waiting years to get his hands on you.

“Georgie?”

It was Fred, and you pulled away, groaning.

“We’re having a game of exploding snap, mate, c’mon down and join us?” Lee’s voice reverberated off the walls in the stairwell up towards the dormitory, and you swear you heard the two of them laugh to one another.

To George, you asked, “How often do the three of you sneak up here, unaccompanied for?” He smiled at you and bit his lip, thinking of a response for his friends. You pulled him close and whispered warningly in his ear before leaving trails of kisses along his neck, “Be discreet.”

Peering down at you and running his hand through your long, wavy hair, George let out, “Nah, mate—I’m trying to shag my girlfriend, here—”

Through wild laughter and smiles so seductive you could barely breathe, you just rolled your eyes and slapped his chest with the back of your hand. Fine, girlfriend it was, then. You groaned.

“Ugh, Weasley!”

tag list: drop me a message if you’d like to be added: @mintlibri @georgeweasleyx @seppys-return-to-madness @fopdoodledane

reblogs + feedback are always appreciated loves 🥰

[gofancyninjaworld]

Why do you think Genos isn't weak? I agree that he can fight monsters but he won't stand a chance against strong monsters. He has been with Saitama for the longest time but he never learned anything. His naivety is the reason why he is weak, he is still consumed by the "normative awareness". His reaction to Amai Mask's transformation is a proof of that. His mindset never grew. He respects Saitama but does not understand him, which is why he is weak.

Please let me apologise in advance. First, this is long. Second, I do have a lot of thoughts.

Yeah, But

There isn’t a character in this series where the fanbase disagrees with the writer so deeply as this guy.  When interviewed, ONE insouciantly said ‘Genos is rather strong, even for a Class S hero,’ and fans went, ‘huh? You could have fooled us!’  It’s not without cause.  No matter how well his fights go, ONE always makes sure that we can append an asterix to it, that we can go yeah, but*

Right from the get go, every victory is downplayed. He thrashed Armored Gorilla, but we had no idea how strong Armored Gorilla was. Not for many, many chapters, until a much-shrunken, unarmored Armored Gorilla killed a tiger-level monster with one punch.   He clears a city and defeats two troublesome demon-level monsters in a matter of minutes? Yeah, but look at the state of his arms and oh! see, see, he just got flattened by that other monster!  Bang needs to save Garou from his clutches?  Yeah, but what if Garou was well?  He’s turning monster after monster into Cubist expressions without getting a speck of blood on him? Yeah, but it’s not like we can see what’s going on – the camera pans everywhere else.  He does the unbelievable against Elder Centipede?  We start going wow, followed quickly by – yeah but the monster regenerated, he’s fated to always lose.  He destroys G-5 without effort?  Oh My GAWD!  The Honour of Atomic Samurai [1] Has Been Besmirched!  (me: huh how does that follow? No, don’t explain – I do understand. Because Genos is seen as weak, if he does what another character couldn’t, then it’s seen as a disgrace to the other character, not an achievement for him.)

battle without honour – if he beat Garou, then he’s a bully, if he didn’t, then he’s a wimp

Of course, the converse is also true. If Genos is having a bad time, the camera lingers in 4K with extra slow-mo. And if the action switches, like when he went from struggling against G-4 to working out how to shut the robot’s lasers down and pull it into punching range, the camera pans away, returning only to feast on the grisly aftermath.

The final clincher is Genos himself, who never reacts with the slightest sense of celebration or triumph no matter how well a fight goes.  His lack of joy in fights is something that ONE has emphasised to Murata.   Being able to celebrate with characters is half the joy of watching them fight.

by contrast, hell yeah, Metal Bat! The story leaves no room for doubt that Metal Bat’s to be found awesome. And he is!  :)

The reason I go into all this is that I get it: Genos is presented to us in a way that gives us cause to doubt his strength.  In that, he’s like the opposite of Saitama, who is presented to us so we can have no doubt as to his strength, but to the internal audience in a way that keeps raising doubts in their minds.

But Genos is strong. He’s physically very strong, very fast, and versatile.  And he’s far less fragile than he is popularly made out to be. There is no reason he shouldn’t be able to take on very strong monsters, subject to match up (like almost every other hero [2]). However, ONE will make damn sure that Genos does not get to appreciate how much more powerful he has grown. What’s it going to be? What’s it going to take this time to knock down Demon Cyborg? Are several cadre going to attack him at the same time? Or will the super-insane monster that looks like the lovechild of Smaug, better-looking Sauruman and a hydra perched at the top of the mile high tower do him in first?  What’s going to *keep* him down? Place your bets, folk: the outcome is sure to be gruesome.

Which actually brings me directly to addressing your assertion: “…but he won’t stand a chance against strong monsters.“  Because it presupposes that Genos MUST be weak, any monster he defeats can’t possibly be strong.  A more honest rephrasing would be ‘I’m not prepared to accept that any monster that Genos could defeat is strong.’

No mental growth? Really?

That’s the physical part.  Let’s go onto mentality.  Annoyingly, I have to treat the manga and webcomic as separate entities at this point.  If you like the detail, I’ve written an extensive side-by-side comparison essay: link. You can skip it for this answer. :)

You know what would have made me think Genos weak?  If Saitama’s fears for what might be happening to him the morning he caught up with Garou had come true:

Before Elder Centipede showed up, Genos had told Garou that he’d finally begun to understand what Saitama had been saying to him about strengthening his spirit.  And then ONE put that to the test when he put Genos in the worst pinch the latter had ever been in: chopped in half and about to be devoured by a monster, with the only heroes watching those who’d proved impotent [3] to do anything to the monster.  Instead of giving up the way he had against Mosquito Girl, Genos dug deep and not only saved himself, but counter-attacked and burned the monster from stem to stern.  That is excellent: there is no place for a character who cannot find self-efficacy in a pinch.  

Without doubt, Genos has further to go, but in the manga it is wilful blindness to claim that he hasn’t developed mentally.

Now, let’s move onto the webcomic.

Even though ONE has done far less with his character in the webcomic than he has in the manga, Genos is back and fighting when most of his classmates are still rolling on the ground, unable to come to terms with losing. There is a real strength to getting up again and moving forward. 

It’s not that Genos doesn’t have any doubts: he does.  From his crushing realisation that he had made a mistake in giving up his human body to asking if he can really become stronger by changing his parts, Genos is very aware of a sense of stagnation and appears very worried by something.  But still, he’s not giving up and he’s not stopped looking to make progress.

even as Saitama despairs of being able to help, he cannot fault Genos for his determination

Still, why cheer for a loser?

There’s a real cognitive dissonance in fans who praise to the high heavens and write as inspirational Saitama’s words to keep trying and moving forward, no matter what, and yet are happy to mock Genos for doing exactly that.

There’s no honour for you if you laugh at characters taking Saitama’s advice

It’s amazing.  Does anyone imagine that before Saitama became too strong, he never failed? Really?  Saitama himself will disagree with that!  Sometimes success looks like reaching the summit of a mountain, but often, it’s only visible in the rearview mirror.  We saw it took Saitama a long time to finally accept that yup, he was just the strongest.

Something I came to realise a while back, people say they love seeing struggle, but real fights don’t sell well in mass media (yes, I have more extensive thoughts on this, here). We like the struggle, but we want the assurance that the underdog has something in their favour that will guarantee that we’re backing a winner.  At one level, we know we’re just watching *how* Garou is going to succeed… at least until Saitama body-checks him to great dramatic effect.

Goodness knows that everything is arranged against Genos and success. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble recounting most of them:

His lack of a biological body to train up.

His dependence on a mechanical body with its set in stone limitations.

His dependence on the cleverness and resources of others.

His lack of innate talent or heritage (and if he had any, they’ve long since been binned).

His stubborn persistence on a pathway we’re sure cannot possibly succeed.

His mentality, which is getting better, but isn’t there yet.

His persistent psychological problems that put him at high risk of turning into a monster instead.

The unresolved mysteries surrounding him, which make lots of fans think there’s a devastating revelation at hand from which he cannot recover.

And oh, he’s not the most likeable or relatable character out there. It shouldn’t be a factor, but it totally is.

And yet, Genos hasn’t stopped moving forward.  No idea how far he’ll get, but so far, Genos has not set himself a limit to the number of times he’s willing to get himself up and try again.  Not only that, he’s raised his sights higher, not lower.

For that and more, I’m not only happy to call Genos strong, but I’m willing to follow along with him however far or short his journey ends up being.

The risk of heartbreak is worth the excitement of seeing a real fighter working out his uncertain destiny.

no one can accuse him of lacking ambition. Gambatte!

Asides

[1] I know there’s a meme going round about Atomic Samurai being weak, but it’s as much in jest as the one about King being strong.  Anyone believing Atomic weak has piss-holes for eyes.

[2] There’s a reason Phoenixman highlights four heroes in particular – Blast, Tatsumaki, Metal Knight and King (Saitama).  They’re the heroes who are so strong that they’ve broken out of the tyranny of match up.  Everyone else has something they can’t deal with.

[3] You’re calling two old men impotent? Have you no shame?! In general, no, I haven’t much shame.  In this specific instance, it is entirely warranted.

[darkpoisonouslove]

“The Shadow Phoenix” Thoughts

Here comes the last special. Honestly, I am kinda nervous about this because they are shoving the whole season 2 in one episode and I have a feeling that that will not go well. Unless, of course, they thought of making more but abandoned it after this special but I highly doubt that since I think I’ve seen the final showdown in s2 being in this special. Hopefully, it won’t be a full disaster. I just don’t know what to expect anymore.- “her ghostly sister - Daphne”? This recap is on thin fucking ice (pun unintended). Careful with the wording there! This sounds horrible. There are better ways to put it.

- Wait, new outfits for Winx? Really? Ugh!

- Shadowhaunt is happening already. But hey, it’s Layla! And she managed to free the pixies! Wasn’t that supposed to fail, though? Or are they just trying to save time and remove the second trip to Shadowhaunt for the pixies? (Hey, does that mean no Amentia? Please and thank you!) I hate Darkar’s new voice.

- Oh, no! He got them back. But were those shadow tendrils in the original? I think I would remember them if they had been.

- Well, Layla got to Alfea fast. I know they are trying not to waste time but this is cutting down on the suspense. At least she is already bonding with Winx (and especially Musa).

- That scene with Darkar freeing the Trix was completely destroyed. First, they never got to show why Lightrock is so horrible (and it is horrible even to me although I haven’t had an evil routine). Not to mention that they never said how Darkar learned about them which was in s2. And they’re back at Shadowhaunt. What happened to Gloomix?

- Nvm, he gave it to them but they never got to try it on Lightrock guards. Such a shame! Also, calling him “master”? And even repeating it twice? They are acting like docile stupid minions. Say what? The Trix would never! I am pretty sure that wasn’t in s2 even if they still knelt. This is fucked up, them kneeling in front of him. Talk about wrong implications.

- Why did Faragonda only send Bloom and Stella? So that we can’t have the others in a scene? Or so that they can lose against the Trix who just had a power-up? Also, how is it that when they think no one will know they are sneaking around, the one they’re trying to ambush always knows that they’re there?

- Yeah, just send the fairy of sunlight underground where there’s no sun! Logic! And they didn’t recognize the Trix at first? Those are obviously not “things”, Bloom. Though, she might have suffered a concussion from the way they blasted her into the ground.

- “Shadow whirlwind”? What, did Darkar somehow imbue them with his own essence through the Gloomix and now they have shadow powers? I also resent the implications in this so, hopefully, I am wrong and this is just a coincidence.

- What did Darcy do to Bloom? And will they just keep calling him “The Phoenix” instead of Darkar? Please, no! That is somehow actually worse than Lord Darkar.

- Ugh, fake Avalon. Here we go. Though, at least he wasn’t in the first 1/4th of this. That’s something.

- The bonding with the pixies is cute. But did Tune just say “you rock”? Tune? The pixie of manners? What have they done? Smh.

- But can you keep them safe? Can you really, Faragonda? You sent them in Shadowhaunt instead of going yourself! Or at least accompanying them! And you’re not gonna get better at protecting them from here on.

- Daphne is too little in that dream of Bloom’s. If she was still a kid when Bloom was born, that means that she should be aging while she’s a spirit and we already saw that she was all grown up when Bloom was a baby in that flashback in “Revenge of the Trix”. This is illogical and she actually looks even younger than she does in the corresponding dream in s2.

- Ugh, that scene with the flowers! Why are they all crushing on him? And he’s using it against them. Also, is it possible that it was him that somehow brought on the dream about her parents? How else could he tell that she had a dream? Shouldn’t they discuss her birth parents in private also? Everyone is there listening. At least they’re back to their normal outfits.

- Is Sky jealous just from hearing Avalon’s name? That was better done in s2. They are really just chopping off everything that isn’t absolutely necessary and it kinda fucks up even the necessary things.

- At least it was Helia that offered them to see his sketches and not Stella grabbing them from him... which I think was what happened in s2.

- Are the Trix just gonna steal the Codex right now? From this celebration? Otherwise, they will have to go to Red Fountain twice and half the episode is almost up. Well, I guess not. Instead we get more Bloom and Sky stupidity. Bloom isn’t nearly as obsessed with Avalon as she was in s2 (she hasn’t had the time here) and he has no reason to be acting the way he is.

- “Listen, Sky, do me a favor and hang up the phone.” XD I love it! She finally told him off! And she really looks more interested in Avalon’s help with her parents rather than with him here. All I know is that I’m on her side this time while in s2 both she and Sky were being stupid but I understood him more. But he keeps being his douche-y self.

- Flora just daydreamed the monster that was supposed to attack Red Fountain but didn’t? Wow. Wow! WOW! ... Okay.

- Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, my god. Scratch everything I said about the Bloom and Sky drama. She not only started talking about it to Avalon, she hugged him! Wtf! Bloom, you do realize that you’re just giving Sky proof for his words, right? Maybe she was looking for consolation but she could have sought it out with her best friends aka Winx who we’ve seen absolutely nothing of (except for Flora but that is only because they just introduced Helia). That was so not in s2. I would have remembered that fuckery. And then Avalon goes all “perhaps you’re better off without him”. This is predatory behavior! He is distancing her from the people that care about her. I loathe all of this! Bloom, please, I have a little more faith in you than I did in s2. Snap out of this! I know he will be the one turning her dark but that can still happen if her dealings with him are only because of her parents. Can we end the nauseating undertones of this?

- “You may leave a message after the tone. But not if it’s you, Sky”. *bursts into laughter* I’m sorry. This is just too sassy, I can’t. It’s good. Even if Sky is actually the lesser evil.

- At least Flora isn’t having Layla snooping around in Helia’s room this time. She just decided to go for it. That’s better.

- Well, we’re finally back with the Darkar plot. But wait... The nostalgia spell is actually... how he gets to Pixie Village this time? Winx didn’t stop it? I know they’re saving time but damn! His plans have a very high success rate in this case (since everything has worked so far) which will just make it more ridiculous when they defeat him.

- Why are the Pixie elders actually in Pixie Village? The Codex is just one part? They’re gonna skip the whole “going to every school and Pixie Village to steal all four parts of it” thing? Well, that’s stupid. There was no suspense whatsoever here. We don’t even know what the Codex does! And Darcy and Stormy have also gone MIA like everyone from Winx except Bloom (and Flora). This is really just gliding downhill with the speed of light.

- Bloom, you stupid bitch! Now she’s kidnapped. And they just butchered the whole storyline of s2. Also, guess it was the real Avalon that was evil. Great! Then Faragonda fucked up even more by letting him in Alfea. Still think you can protect them? And now she’s sending the students to rescue Bloom alone... again. I know she’ll get there eventually but, goddammit, this is illogical, not to mention irresponsible.

- Why the fuck are there four pixies of the Codex if there’s only one part of it? You make no sense, writers!

- Yeah, Shadowhaunt is underground but you can totes get there with a ship. Makes perfect sense!

- Darkar was Avalon all along? EPIC LEVELS OF FAILURE ON FARAGONDA’S PART! She didn’t even for a second realize this? Isn’t he supposed to, idk, give off insane levels of dark energy? What the hell?!

- Well, of course, he has an army... that he won’t even control himself. I hate all of this! All of it!

- Helia has had exactly three seconds of characterization and about as many lines. The whole thing with him not wanting to fight was just erased. Not that it went anywhere even in s2 but still. It was a touching point for him and Flora who is also anti violence. And here there is zero ground for a romance between them. They just met, like, five seconds ago and never had the opportunity to get to know each other... at all. Which reminds me...

- Layla never became a part of the team. She was just with them in the previous mission to Shadowhaunt but none of the bonding was here. I know that they didn’t have much time at all for anything but they could have put one or two super short scenes in which some bonding happens between her and the rest of Winx. Because here she is pretty much a stranger to both them and the audience. We don’t even know what she’s like and what little we saw of her wasn’t exactly the way it should have been. Oh, look, they barely even gave her a transformation! Epic fail here as well.

- At least Bloom wasn’t strapped to that table like she was about to be sacrificed to the darkness... which was actually kinda what happened.

- Did they just got rid of the Trix? What was even the point of bringing them in? Darkar could have done absolutely everything on his own. All of this was absolutely useless! I. Hate. It!

- We never even saw Kerborg as a bat. He is just that monster now. *sigh*

- “Did you really think we would not come to help?” Well... The only reason I thought they would help was because I knew they would since I’ve already watched how this goes down in s2. But honestly, they’ve been leaving their students to deal with everything so if I didn’t know where this was going, the answer would have been “Damn right, I thought you wouldn’t”.

- “That was a workout”, he says after crushing a monster out of existence by being magically enhanced. What is wrong with the writers? Although, I guess this is better than him boasting he handled the monster on his own like in s2.

- Watching the portal open with just one part of the Codex is so wrong. And anti climatic.

- Of course, the pixies of the Codex can just open the door to Relix. Of fucking course they can. Makes perfect sense. Honestly, I am mad about this but the original with the color “riddle” wasn’t much better anyway. At least they didn’t waste time on it here so I guess this is better on that account. I mean, if it’s not gonna make sense anyway, might as well just take the shorter one, right?

- Did they fire against Bloom or was it just a coincidence that their powers disrupted her concentration.

- “You saved my life once”? Are they gonna pass what happened at Magix as saving his life? Because I am pretty sure in s2 he meant what happened in 2x10. And this is also stupid. It shouldn’t work after that drama they had. Everything was all over the place and they never got the chance to fix it. Not to mention that no part of the other bonding they had happened here. They only showed one moment they had together in that flashback, because that was all they got. They never really connected so this shouldn’t work!

- Oh, Darkar started absorbing the Ultimate Power already? Not that it matters. That last attack is more intense at least. But I am still pretty pissed about a lot of things. Including the fact that they never explained about the Shadow Fire and that it is the opposite of the Dragon Fire.

- They defeated the Shadow Phoenix but they can’t even get a decent photo.

I was wildly disappointed in this. I thought it would be bad considering they are shoving the whole season in one special but I could have never expected that it would be... this! Most of the suspense is drained from it thanks to the butchered storyline. If you put that aside and consider it its own thing, the plot got resolved but the pacing was horrible and there was no build-up to anything. Not to mention that there were things that felt like they were a second thought and were out of place (aka the Trix and the whole Flora and Helia subplot that went fucking nowhere.) It was pretty bad as a reimagined version of s2 and pretty meh as a standalone thing.

[itsakpopalypse]

Nakamoto Yuta  Astrology Ask: How he loves

“That“Hello!  Can you please do an astology post about hpw yuta from nct 127 loves ? With all the fluffy and nsfw details included ? I loved the ones yo did already and I was wondering if you’re interested in look into his chart? Thank you 😊😊🌸” - @marinemousemarie

A/N Of course I am happy to! Thanks again for your patience !!  ALSO THIS HAIR IS KILLING ME ON HIM OML   thank you for your request!!!

what is he so perfect for????

Alright !!!!

Yuta’s chart is HEAVILY water influenced

which right off the bat means he is very in touch with his emotions

His SUN AND MOON AND VENUS AND PLUTO are in Scorpio

someone help me I am c o m p r o m i s e d

that is so daddy 

so even though he HAS these very deep emotions, he will still come off as mysterious and likely has a wall up

Scorpios exude sex appeal honestly I knew his sun was Scorpio but he makes so much sense with his moon there too 

His rising is Capricorn (by estimation)

so he is likely really thoughtful and analytical too, especially when you first meet him and a very, VERY hard worker

he even REALLY fits the physical description of a Scorpio honestly

his north node is Libra so even though he has a lot of Scorpio (typically a less social sign because they tend to be a bit... suspicious)

he probably desperately needs a tight knit group around him he trusts,and leans on them only when he feels he can’t handle it alone

 also his trine is at 90 degrees between sun and lilith so he is COMFORTABLE with the darker sides of his personality

he probably revels a little bit in the parts of his nature that stir him

..... i’m going to let you deduce what I feel about that until we get under the cut cause uh

a bitch is shook

so SUN in Scorpio means he is quieter at first, tends to ask more questions instead of revealing his own feelings (which are there and are strong)

puts off a really entrancing seductive mystery that draws people to stare and commands attention on it’s own

MOON in Scorpio means INTENSE 

Lunar Scorpios can cut right through anyone’s bullshit

there’s no point in faking emotion around him he is going to know immediately 

and have you ever seen such intense side eye from another sign???

They are incredibly all or nothing. if you are in their good graces they respect you and will show it 

if you lose that respect it is GONE forever

they are also courageous and tend to be on the cutting edge of fashion and social issues he has a golden heart and a steely gaze oh lort 

his mercury is in Libra which is the best place for that sign tbh

the negotiation skills this man would have is uncanny

tbh this makes me feel like he has the silverest of tongues

between Scorpio’s natural affinity for privacy and mystery and Libra’s skill with mediation, he will be effortless at wrapping someone around his finger

has a very solid sense of justice though, so it will only be used for good 

desires someone to sharpen his mind on

wants to be able to verbally spar and debate- always done in a friendly way though!

Mars and Jupiter in Sagittarius  so he is the kind of person who wants to travel, is governed by a strict moral code all his own

and really just wants to enjoy the experiences of life 

these things can impact his desire to settle down however so his focus has to be on a relationship part of his life before he lets that happen.

his VENUS being in Scorpio well.

that’s ah. the exact opposite of his mars and Jupiter tbh

so they balance out a bit, but basically his venus says “when you are ready to settle down you settle down, and you don’t mess around.” 

they are loyal and sensual and they need emotional connection that goes both ways

they LOVE commitment and they expect FULL devotion

they wanna pick you apart and know every little thing about you because they want to fill all your cracks with little pieces of themselves so that you are hooked and sticking around

wow 

but they aren’t fully forthcoming with their own emotions

with his Mercury being Libra if you can GET him to talk, it’s fine because he will express it well

but you will have to be fantastic at deciphering different emotions in his eyes

there’s actually a lot of Capricorn in his chart, so even though he has a lot of Scorpio ( a very self sufficient sign)

he also probably has a few places where he can be a bit harder on himself and a little self defeating

he probably won’t need MUCH encouragement though, considering the really active fire sign in his Mars 

in relationships this boils down to 

you meet and he seems very withdrawn

polite but there’s a mystery behind his eyes you can’t quite pin down

no matter how much he likes you, he will not tell you 

no he will hint by initiating really subtle flirting

you’ll find him guiding you by two fingers on your low back, a gesture of helpfulness that will linger a few seconds too long

prolonged eye contact from across the room that drives you insane because you can’t figure out what it MEANS

the raise of one brow if you say something that he considers a little flirty back

he wants the push and pull to see if you are really interested  

after some playful non verbal flirting he will probably make sure you know he thinks you’re attractive more explicitly

his mars is Sagittarius so he will frame it casually but he would really need you to know

so say you dressed really nicely

he is going to make sure you get a compliment from him

“That fits really nice.”

and you will thank him only to realize he’s smirking and you know it is more than a basic compliment he is low key dirty okay

He’d be the type to have someone else invite you to a group gathering and then monopolize your time 

he would ask you a million questions about yourself until he knew you better than you do

and then he would flirt more

as he drank more his compliments would get softer and more kind and less borderline sugestive

and that’s how you know he genuinely likes you 

like he’s tipsy and it’s “You’re so sweet and I like being around you.”

“why won’t you ever rub my head like you rub Mark’s?”

“Why do you laugh at all of Johnny’s jokes and not mine?”

“I really just wish you’d love me too.”

and you’re like   👀👀👀👀👀👀

AW YUTA YOU’RE A SECRET SOFT

he will deny it like... one time and then he will cave hard

might lay on you and play with your hands while he talks about what he likes about you

and you’re in shock because he rarely speaks about how HE feels and usually only asks you things

and you realize his feelings are real and you finally just say “If I’m so great why won’t you date me?”

and he will 0.0 

because why didn’t sober him think of that ???

he did but also he doesn’t want you to know how MUCH he did you feel me

so he will just be like “okay, then it is what we’re doing now.”

and you expect him to forget but the next day he is at your house with flowers and he wants to do cute shit

domestic shit like changes your name in his phone to a shit ton of cute emojis

listen

will

spam you 

with love via text while he is away

just one after another of CHEESY ass heart and flower pictures

and the most adorable good mornings and goodnights and every meal time he texts to be sure you’re eating

is genuinely so sweet and open with you once you are together

loves to lay in your lap and stare up at you 

run your hands through his hair while you do what a dream though

back hugs!!

front hugs!!

he wants

HUGS

how precious I 

AIGHT STRAP IN CAUSE THIS CHART IS SMH

18 + below the cut let’s get spicy

CAN HE NOT

you don’t understand I am incoherent

GUYS THIS CHART

remember  THIS “  his trine is at 90 degrees between sun and lilith so he is COMFORTABLE with the darker sides of his personality “

GUYS

i usually don’t agree when people insist someone IS a specific roll in the bedroom but

Yuta is a whole dom

HE SAID IT FIRST HOW MANY TIMES HE GOTTA SAY IT

Comfortable with his darker sides... comfortable with his kinks

willing to explore and not in the SLIGHTEST concerned about what society thinks

if he likes it he tells you and you guys will decide if it’s something you wanna do

ALL THAT SCORPIO. Sun, Moon, Venus,and pluto all being in scorpio I mean this dude I FUCKIN CAN’T

 Scorpio is known for being passionate, sensual and incredibly unrelenting 

a bit egotistical about their abilities

not in a bad way, in a “I got this and I will show you that I do”  kind of way

which 

whew

Yuta stop that’s hot

This is not romantic sex

this is not lovey dovey handholding sex

Yuta FUCKS

He wants you incoherent and lost in pleasure

he wants to dominate you and watch you beg

listen he really loves the power rush that comes with it

maybe choking look don’t kill me he strikes me as a choking type

Libra mercury so his dirty talk is ALWAYS ON POINT AND EXACTLY WHAT YOU LIKE

seems like the type to be a LITTLE into degradation

I’m sorry look I don’t mean anything too serious

just “You’re a slut for me aren’t you? Such a good girl all day but you can’t wait to spread your legs for me?”

that kinda stuff

TEASING

Orgasm control/Denial

TEEEEASING

Toys

holds a vibrator to your clit while you beg him to stop

finger fucks you while he does

Maybe a sir/daddy kink 

the type to buy you a “collar” made of diamonds and smirk every time someone who doesn’t know compliments it

public RISKY BEHAVIOR

“Don’t cum and don’t let anyone know and I will reward you at home.”

while he fingers you under the table

thinks it’s funny if you have minor slip ups

fast, accurate strokes that leave you seeing stars

sometimes deep, soul shakingly slow strokes that roll your eyes back into your head

scratch his shoulders he likes that shit

spanking and biting are definitely a yes

aftercare is SO SWEET

cuddles you and shhhhh’s you

strokes up and down your arms with his fingertips

lays your head in his lap and smiles softly at you

asks you what you need to calm down

wraps you in the softest robe or blanket

makes you feel safe and loved

tells you how well you did 

a good boyfriend wow

here you go !

thank you for your patience !!

I hope you enjoyed it !!

[fuckedurbias]

superhero!baejin pt.2

PART 1

it had been almost two months since the robot ordeal

that villain was successfully defeated, captured and locked up in prison

but there had been a couple more seperate incidences since then

by different, lesser known villains

they were nowhere near as drastic and destructive as the whole robot thing

but still pretty scary and threatening

and at both of those newer situations

he was there

this, spider boy

you’d been researching him ever since that day

and paying a lot more attention to jinyoung

and putting the pieces together, slowly but surely

whenever something bad happened

and there was attack of some sort, even minor

jinyoung would suddenly disappear when nobody was looking and distracted

seriously how did nobody else notice?

or more importantly

how did jinyoung think nobody would notice

well, they didn’t so he was right

but you noticed,,,, so somebody did

anyways

during this time as well

you and jinyoung were becoming closer

and, much to your dismay

you caught feelings

as if you didn’t have them already and were just in denial

you caught them hard

and it was very hard to hide it

part of you wanted to avoid him and never see him again

the other part wanted to be around him any chance you got

but obviously you couldn’t do either of those things

so nothing really changed in the relationship

except you two becoming closer

texting each other a lot

and hanging out more

but they weren’t dates!!! at least you both told yourselves that

but,,, never said to each other it wasn’t

‘haha wow fun date today jinyoung!!’

“haha yes i agree!! haha a date how insane would that be if it was one?!”

the banter flirting,,,

it turned into more,,, real flirting

and just intensified

everyone else in the group was just so confused

a very large part of you felt like

BUT YES ANYWAYS SUPERHERO STUFF

you knew it was jinyoung

how couldn’t it be

if it wasn’t you’d be genuinely gobsmacked

n e ways

this particular day, you and baejin were once again

hanging out at the largest shopping centre in your city

,,,with your friends of course,,

but it didn’t feel like they were there at all

you n jinyoung were in your own little world together uwu

you and jinyoung were sharing a frozen yoghurt

and talking about anime you were watching together

COME ON HOW DO YOU NOT THINK HE LIKES YOU WAKE UP!! U WEENIE!!

when all of a sudden

the glass roof above you smashes and starts to fall

and the most horrible, eardrum shattering high pitched noise runs through the entire centre

you cover your ears and scream, full of pain and terror

jinyoung acts quickly and gathers your group and pushes them all under the table while everyone’s trying to block out the noise

it stops shortly after it started but the glass is still falling

you’re all sitting under there

and you unintentionally look at jinyoung

with the most pleading look in your eyes

you had the worst feeling of dread in your stomach

you didn’t want him to go and fight whatever the fuck was causing this

you had a feeling this one would be really dangerous and scary

what if he got really badly hurt? what if he,,,, couldn’t do it?

you don’t even know when

but he had grabbed your hand at some point during you being inside your own head with worry

and was holding it tightly, squeezing it with reassurance

you didn’t know it yet but,,, he knew that you knew

but you just took this reassuring hand squeeze as him just trying to comfort you

with his free hand he softly pats your head, telling you ‘it’ll be okay’

when all the glass had fallen and it was safe,,, enough,,,, to at least try to get safety

jinyoung pulls you all out from under the table and chaos has ensued

people running in fear all around you

‘run!’ jinyoung yells at everyone

your legs won’t let you

you’re so worried about him

jinyoung, who hasn’t let go of your hand

has to start running with you for your legs to subconsciously start running

your chest is so tight

you were trying not to cry and lose it

you were so scared that you were going to be hurt

and even more worried that he could be hurt or,,, worse

at some point jinyoung let go of your hand and left you

you didn’t even realise because you were just so scared

you didn’t even know where you were running

not to an exit, not to somewhere safe

just, away

from whatever this was

you eventually ran into a store

specifically a doc martens

why that one? you didn’t know

there was a few people already hiding in there

you hid near the front window, so you could try and see out

you looked up at the roof, where the sky was very visible

and saw a villain floating in the sky that you recognised

he was fairly new and fairly young

but recently he’d been determined on causing chaos

he had a few very strong, very dangerous powers that you knew of

for someone his age, he was very chaotic and strong

he must’ve emitted a sound wave to smash all the glass

while watching, you start to see something horrible

these scary dog/bat/rat like creatures start running in from the now open roof

running on the walls and ceiling like bugs

separating onto each of the floors before running off to cause havoc

your breath hitches in your throat, quickly but quietly hiding under the sill of the window

you look back into the rest of the store, seeing the other people covering their mouths trying not to scream as they look on with nothing but horror in their eyes

you just sat there in silence, listening

you could hear the creatures roaring and growling in the distance, but none of them sounded close enough yet

suddenly, you heard noise coming from where the villain was

he was talking to someone

oh no

the feeling of dread in your stomach came back and you wanted to vomit everywhere from how strong it was

you tried to listen and see up to where he was

but it was hard without possibly exposing your face to the creatures outside if they were to pass by

you lifted your head, your forehead and eyes were exposed in the window but you didn’t care

you needed to see

you needed to see if he was okay

you couldn’t hear much but from what you could make out

it sounded like ‘i knew that my little plan here would bring you out’

that made you mad

what the heck was this asshole on about?

during your eavesdropping

you made one grave mistake

you blocked out your surroundings completely

and you didn’t notice a creature coming by

and spotting you

you only noticed

when it pounced on the window and roared in your face

scaring the living daylights out of you

before it figured out there was an entrance

you quickly crawled back, getting up

yelling at everyone else in the store to quickly go to back in the stock room and hide in there

when you faced back to the window the thing was gone

it was slowly crawling into the entrance

it seemed to want to back you into a corner

it was in the pouncing position, slowly crawling towards you

you had a plan

you walked back slowly, making it look like you were doing what it wanted

you walked closer to the shoe rack that was next to you

with your arms behind your back

you stopped right behind where the rack ended

and when the creature was close to you

right in the middle of the rack

you quickly grabbed it with both your hands

and forcibly pulled it down

making the entire rack come crashing down onto the creature before it could escape

after processing what you just did, which didn’t take long

you sprinted out of the store (after locking the stock room door so the people inside were safe)

the other creatures quickly saw you and started chasing you

there was no point in running to an entrance, they’d continue following you

and you’d just bring them out onto the streets

so you made an impulse and rather silly decision

that you should try and fight

so you quickly turned the corner

into one of the restaurant sections of the centre

you ran up to the seafood restaurant

and yanked off the spear of the fisherman statue outside

you quickly turned it around and pointed it at the creatures that were slowly beginning to circle you

you tried to look threatening but you doubted that you did

holy shit, you were really about to die

at least you were going to try and last a little bit longer

it’s not even the fact that you can’t fight,,, at least not with a spear??

just that you were really outnumbered

and didn’t have any superpowers to defend yourself

suddenly someone jumps down in front of you

it was him

spider boy-wait no,,, jinyoung

he quickly wrapped his arms around your waist as he shot a web up onto the roof

as the creature right in the middle pounces

you quickly swing and whack it hard right on its temple, sending it flying

and very much unconscious

the other creatures quickly start to try and jump up and bite you both as jinyoung swings away

he swings you both of the now open rooftop

which was definitely a bad idea

because the villain immediately started chasing you both

shooting laser rays at you both out his hands

you screamed a little, tightening your grip around jinyoung’s shoulders

burying your face into his shoulder, squeezing your eyes shut

bracing yourself for what felt like the inevitable

jinyoung was being very speedy and agile however

going in between buildings, turning corners really sharply on his webs

once it seemed like he lost the villain,,, for now

he landed on a balcony

as soon he placed you down he started stroking your hair, checking over your face

‘why did you come save me? how did you even know i was in danger?’

‘i’m a super, duh. i always know when someone’s in danger’

you grab his hand and snatch it away from your hair

‘no, i’m not stupid. you shouldn’t have come to save me and jeopardised your own safety and the success of defeating that asshole, you’ve put yourself in danger because of me and now if you get hurt or even worse,,, die! because of me i will never forgive myself.’

‘baby, i’m a super. this is my job, i got this’

god even with his mask and you struggling to hear his muffled voice, him calling you that for the first time made you want to cry, especially in this dire of a situation.

‘i don’t care, jinyoung. i am not worth the risk’

he reaches his hands up and grabs his mask

oh fuck

you realise what you just said and,,, oh fuck

and he slides it off

oh shit,,, he looks so beautiful with his hair all messy like that oh god your heart is going to burst

he just gives you a cheeky smirk

‘i knew it. i knew you knew’

‘well it was pretty obvious, you didn’t even try to hide it’

‘ yeah i did a pretty bad job but hey, nobody but you seems to know so,,,’

he grabs both of your hands and pulls you closer

‘also,, you were literally about to die as if i’d just let that happen’

‘hey i think i’d last at least 6 seconds of fighting those things before i’d die’

he just chuckles in response as his gaze falls to your lips

your smile

he slowly leans in

and you close your eyes as you instinctively lean it too

but you hear a loud wooshing noise

and you open your eyes to see

the villain floating right behind jinyoung

you scream and try to push jinyoung out the way

but at the last second, jinyoung turns around and jumps in front of you

he gets hit right in the stomach with the laser

you scream and try to catch him in your arms as he collapses

the villain just smile as he watches on

turning around and flying away when he feels happy with what he’s seen

what he’s done

you can’t even yell anything at him

no noise will come out of your throat

jinyoung open his eyes a little

he weakly grabs your hand

and places it on his chest

‘press,,,,, press the button’

you’re confused,,, what button??

then you realise

the spider in the middle of his chest is the button

you press down frantically and it lights up and blinks rapidly

in what seems to be morse code

you press down a few more times

even more frantically

you don’t even know what it does but you’re desperate

jinyoung pulls your hand away and just holds it weakly

rubbing his thumb over the back of your palm

‘it’s okay baby,,, it’ll be okay’

you give him those pleading eyes again, tears brimming

you can tell he’s so desperately trying to stay conscious and it hurts

it hurts so bad seeing him in pain and trying so hard to keep you from crying and worrying

suddenly

you hear someone landing behind you on the balcony

you turn around frantically to see

another super that you know very well

and another one floating beside them

it’s the two popular supers from last time

the one behind you smiles at you as they step over you to get to jinyoung

the other one picks you bridal style

you squeal out of shock

but you didn’t feel scared

they must’ve been here to help

that must’ve been what jinyoung’s button was for

sending them a message to come help

the other super picks up jinyoung the same

and they start to fly you somewhere

really fast

the villain seems to notice somehow

and starts to chase them too

they speed up even more

and take you through a tunnel

and they aim for a sewer hole entrance

you scream

how the heck are you gonna fit through there?!

you brace for impact

though it never happens

you open your eyes again and suddenly you’re in the sewer

they’re flying through, the villain still trying to catch up

and you go down further and further into the sewer

and suddenly you’re at what appears to be a base

the supers quickly place you and jinyoung down on the floor

‘we will be back shortly’

they quickly go back up and stop the villain from entering

chasing him away

when you can’t hear them anymore you sit up and look down to jinyoung

he seems better already

you grab him by the chest part of his suit

and pull him up to you

and kiss him quickly and harshly

‘please, don’t ever scare me like this again’

he smiles, kissing you again, really softly and delicately

‘only if you promise to stop putting yourself in danger’

you scrunch up your face, before kissing him again

it was a deal

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E5; Chapter Five, Dig Dug - [Pt. 4 - FINAL PART]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

After a run-in with Will, a troubled Y/n teams up with an unlikely ally in her search for answers. “Bob the Brain” tackles a difficult problem.

Warnings: Racism

||3rd Person POV||

"Alright," Bob calls out. "I got 2.5 inches. What'd you got?"

"I'm not sure" Mike calls from Joyce's room. "Mrs. Byers."

"Hold on!" She calls, stretching the measuring tape around the corner.

The group had set out to find the x on the maps. With Bob's help, they were able to pinpoint most of the locations depicted through Will's drawings. Unfortunately, they had yet to find the spot where Hopper was. Bob was at the kitchen table, mapping out coordinates while Mike and Joyce measured the distances between marked areas.

"Twenty-one feet, four inches."

"What about Tippecanoe to Danford Creek?" Bob asked.

Joyce's face scrunched up as she thought of where she last saw it.

"Da-Danford, Danford?"

"Dining room!" Will answered excitedly. Joyce joined him with the measuring tape. She turned to face Bob who was in the other room.

"Sixteen feet, ten inches."

"What about Danford to Jordan?"

Joyce sighed, hurrying across the room to Bob's side.

"That's gotta be enough?"

Bob began sputtering, shaking his head sadly.

"It's not. It's really not."

"Can't you f-figure it out?"

By now, everyone was regrouped around the table. Everyone was watching Bob hopefully. He shrugged.

"Well, it's hard. The ratio isn't exactly one to one. I-I mean, if you're twisting my arm, and you're twisting my arm, I would say the x is" he drew a few lines on the map with his ruler, double-checking his math. "maybe, a half-mile southeast of Danford?" A beaming smile found its way onto Joyce and she exclaimed happily.

"Thank you!"

She leaned down and planted a big kiss on Bob's cheek, bringing a smile of his own to his lips.

Grabbing the map, she took out of the room, Mike, Will and a confused Bob behind her.

"What? Are we really going?"

×××

Dustin pulls his bike into the Wheeler driveway. Hopefully, Mike was home. And hopefully, he'd have a pretty damn good explanation as to why he wasn't answering his coms! He stood at the front door, repeatedly ringing the doorbell and waited impatiently. He could have sworn he heard a muffled voice call out.

"Ted, can you get that please?"

When Mr. Wheeler opened the door, Dustin tried to remain as cool and collected as possible though it was difficult. He looked Mr. Wheeler in the eye and spoke carefully.

"Your line has been busy for over two hours, do you realize that?"

With the same unimpressed look painted across the man's face, as it always was, he nodded simply.

"I do realize."

"Is Mike home?"

"No."

"No?" Dustin repeated, his composure cracking. "Well, where the hell is he?"

Mr. Wheeler's usual plain and tepid voice raised suddenly as he looked behind him into the house.

"Karen, where's our son?"

"Will's!" Came Mrs. Wheeler's voice from inside.

Mr. Wheeler calmly and disinterestedly looked back to Dustin.

"Will's," he said simply.

Dustin sighed heavily.

"No one's picking up there. Nancy, what about Nancy?" He tried.

"Karen, where's Nancy?"

"Ally's!" She answered shortly.

"Ally's," Mr. Wheeler said and he shrugged. "As you can see, our children don't live here anymore. You didn't know that?"

Dustin felt all his hope evaporate as he looked at the dull man.

"Now, are we done here?" He asked pointedly.

Dustin sighed heavily, all efforts to be polite were long gone.

"Son of a bitch, you're really no help at all, you know that?" He said over his shoulder, as he walked away.

Ted called put lazily after the boy, his heart not fully in the fight.

"Hey, language!"

Dustin had returned to his bike, he picked it up hotly, now feeling completely on edge. His ears perked up when he saw a car pull up near the sidewalk. He watched in curiosity until he saw someone unexpected climb out. Steve Harrington. He was lazily carrying a bouquet of roses that hung at his side and he was nervously muttering to himself as he made his way across the lawn.

"Listen, I've been thinking, love you, I'm sorry. 'Sorry', what the hell am I sorry for?" "Steve!"

Steve was equally surprised to see the Henderson kid eagerly making his way towards himself. He stopped as the kid approached him, and he gestured to the flowers in his hands.

"Are those for Mr. or Mrs. Wheeler?" He asked.

Steve gave the boy an odd look and shook his head.

"No, they're for-"

"Great," Dustin ripped the bouquet from his unsuspecting hands and headed for Steve's car.

"Hey, what the hell? Hey!"

"Nancy isn't home," Dustin answered simply.

"Well, where is she?"

"Doesn't matter. We have bigger problems than your love life. You still have that bat?" Steve watched as Dustin opened the passenger side door and looked to him expectantly.

"Bat? What bat?"

"The one with the nails." He replied, obviously.

"Why?"

"I'll explain it on the way."

Dustin climbed into the passenger seat and only then did Steve snapped into action. Breaking into a jog, he couldn't help but ask.

"Wh-? Now?"

"Now!"

With that, Dustin closed the car door and watched impatiently as the boy made his way to the front seat.

×××

Hopper groans as he swipes yet another handful of dirt behind him. He stops for another break though he knows he shouldn't. If it hadn't been for his watch, he surely would have lost all sense of time. And all his had managed to show for it was a hole in the wall two feet long that barely fit his torso. An overwhelming sense of defeat blankets the man and he feels himself slide down the wall of dirt and onto the floor.

He could feel the tickle in his lungs grow stronger and he coughed weakly. Despite the tightness in his chest, he does what always brings him false feelings of comfort. He pulls out his pack of cigarettes. In his weakened hazy state, Hopper fails to notice the small but thick tendrils of vines snaking their way towards his legs.

Before he can do anything to stop them, he sees the thick ropes curl around his ankle and he jolts at the sudden contact. He scrambles to his feet in a panic, momentarily losing his balance.

"Son of a bitch!"

He bends down and begins to claw frantically at the vines. Stopping himself before he can waste more time, he searches his pockets until his fingers land on the cool metal of his knife. Quickly, he pulls out the tool, unsheathing the blade and he brings it to the vines that are now up to both his knees. Unfortunately, he is too focused on the vines at his feet, he fails to notice the vine that has made its way up to his back and around his neck.

Hopper grunts as his back hit the ground, knocking the air out of him. Hardly any time passes for him to be completely ensnared in the sentient undergrowth and his cries for help are quickly smothered and snuffed out, buried underground with him.

×××

"And that was the last we ever saw her. After that, she was just, gone. I can't believe it's been that long, it feels like yesterday." Lucas finishes.

Max nods, a concentrated frown on her face.

"Yeah, I mean, I bet," she says, lifting Lucas's hopes. "Wow"

Lucas nods, a sense of relief washing over him at how the skeptic was taking it. She had, for the most part, remained silent during his story. She didn't show any effort to hide her confusion but seemed to go along with it.

"It's crazy, I know."

"It's crazy, but," she shrugged. "I really liked it."

It was Lucas's turn to be confused. "You like it?"

"Yeah," she frowned slightly, a tight smile on her face. "Well, I mean, I had a few issues?"

"Issues?"

"I just felt it was a little derivative at some parts."

Lucas was flabbergasted, and his high hopes came crashing down to the ground.

"What are you talking about."

She shrugged simply, tucking her palms in her lap as she looked at him with irritation. "I just wish it had a little more originality, is all."

Lucas could feel anger bubbling up in his chest. He leaned forward, a frown etched into his brows.

"You don't believe me?"

Max chortled and gave the boy a pathetic glance. Her voice began to rise steadily, her own anger taking over her false intrigue.

"Lucas, come on, seriously? How gullible do you think I am?"

"Why would I make this up?" Lucas shot back.

"I don't know! To impress me, or something? Or, you're just like, insane." "I tell you all of this," Lucas declares hotly, rising to his feet. "I mean, top-secret stuff, risking my life, and this is how you react?"

Max scoffed, still not allowing herself the possibility of believing what he had told her to hide the small seedling of fear that had burrowed itself inside her. She did as she had learned to survive. Brush it off. She looked at him with an amused expression painted on her face.

"'Risking your life?'"

The frustration festered inside of Lucas at the girl's unwavering amusement at the traumatic experience.

"Oh, so this is funny to you?"

"Yeah, I mean, kinda funny?"

Lucas only glared at her, and a smug smile finds its way onto her face as she rises to her feet.

"Stupid, but funny."

Shrugging him and the properly burrowed feeling of fear off her shoulders, she waltzed towards the door, her board in hand.

"Where are you going?"

She stopped and gave him a passing look. "Story time's over, isn't it?"

Lucas feels the harsh sting of her words and decides he wants to put in a few of his own. As she strides out of the arcade, he stays on her heels.

"What is wrong with you? I gave you what you wanted."

"I wanted to be a part of the group, not apart of some joke."

Her mask of anger had begun to crack, and shining through was genuine hurt. Lucas did his best to convey his seriousness, though at this point he didn't know how much good it would do.

"It's not a joke," he said again slowly.

"You did a good job, okay?" She said, nodding though Lucas could still detect a hint of sadness. "And you can go tell the others that I believed your lies and get your little experience points, or whatever."

Quickly, she turned on her heels, her red hair whipping over her shoulder and he quickly followed, grabbing her arm gently. She turned to look at him shocked, but he quickly released her and spoke softly once more.

"We have a lot of rules in our party, okay? But the most important thing is, friends don't lie. Never, ever, no matter what."

"Is that right?" She said confidence dripping from her words knowing she had caught him. "Then how do you explain this?"

This time, she gestured for him to follow her. They turned the corner and into the isle of games. She swiftly ripped the piece of paper from the screen that read, OUT OF ORDER, and stuck it on Lucas's chest with remaining bits of tape that resided on the back.

Lucas sighed, ripping the piece of paper off his shoulder and gave her a pleading look. "I had to do that, to protect you."

Max snapped once more, her anger and her own frustrations getting the best of her. "Protect me from who, exactly?" Max's voice began to rise in volume. "The big government baddies at Hawkins Lab." She rested her board against the machine, and she angrily stuffed her hands into her pockets for coins before inserting them into Dig Dug as she yelled at the boy.

As calmly and discreetly as possible, he spoke to her as his eyes darted around the arcade.

"Keep your voice down."

Her demeanor shifted to quickly to that of exaggerated understanding.

"Or maybe to protect me from the Demogorgon from another dimension."

"Max, I'm serious, shut up!"

Ignoring him, and his voice still rising, she turned to him, this time speaking with exaggerated excitement.

"No, no, no. I know, it was Y/n and her other superpowered friend, what was it? Eleven-" Max's eyes widened when Lucas suddenly threw his hands over her mouth. His eyes were pleasing and he whispered under his breath, begging her.

"Stop. Talking." He glanced over her shoulder worriedly. "You are going to get us killed. Do you understand?"

Only then did it click for Max when she saw the desperation, the fear, in Lucas's eyes. It was enough to chill her to the bone. She pulled his arm away from her face and looked at him seriously for the first time since he tricked her. Desperately, she searched his eyes. For anything, any sign of humor, any hint that he was putting up an act to convince her. But to her horror, she saw only fear.

"You're serious?"

He stepped back, his voice still low.

"I really wish I wasn't."

She quickly recovered, and while she had begun to believe, her skepticism was quickly trying to convince her otherwise.

"Prove it."

A defeated look washed over Lucas. He shrugged lightly.

"I can't."

"So what? I'm just supposed to trust you?" He nodded solemnly. "Yes."

She shifted on her feet lightly and something clicked.

"Can't Y/n show me her little trick or whatever, just-"

A car engine roared to life outside, cutting her off. She sped to the window and much to her chagrin, it was exactly who she had suspected.

"Shit, I gotta go."

Pulling yet another surprise from her sleeve, she faced Lucas and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She looked deeply, but briefly, into his eyes, giving him a pleading look of her own.

"Don't follow me out. Okay?" She whispered gently.

She released his hand and opens the door, heading out. Lucas couldn't stop the words that left his mouth in desperation.

"Do you believe me?"

She never answered, and he watched solemnly as she scurried to the blue Camaro and scrambled inside. Someone pushed past his shoulders trying to get by, the door still cracked open unknowingly giving away his presence to Billy Hargrove. Max scrambled inside the car, tucking in her feet and her board and closed the door. Billy, who had his head resting on the headrest and looking out of the window seething.

"The hell I tell you?" He growled.

Max gave him an odd look.

"I'm not late."

"You know what I'm talking about."

Swallowing her fear, she quickly recovered and masked her face with confusion.

"Oh, Lucas?"

Billy scoffed in disgust, his brows furrowed under his sunglasses as his anger rose.

"So he has a name now, huh?"

She cursed herself for stammering, knowing he would pick up on it but prayed he didn't.

"It's a small town, okay? We weren't hanging out." She assures him.

Billy shrugs lightly, and his voice lowered. "Hmm. Well, you know what happens when you lie."

Max shook her head.

"I'm not lying."

For the first time in their exchange, Billy looks at Max. His head lazily rolled over to his other shoulder and he searches her face quickly. Thankfully, he seems to buy it and returns his gaze to the road, his left arm still hanging out of the window and the car speeds off. After the car is gone, Lucas seems it safe to exit and he scurries to the parking lot, watching the car disappear. Worriedly, she looks out the window behind her before quickly looking forward in fear of being caught.

×××

El and Y/n watch patiently in the kitchen as Becky cuts an old towel in two. She holds it up to them, the cloth now the perfect size and shape for a makeshift blindfold. "Like this?"

El nodded, her chin still resting gently on her palm.

"Yes."

The three returned to the living room, and Y/n, per El's request, had turned the volume up on the television set so the static echoed throughout the room.

El sat on the carpet, legs folded beneath her as she folded the cloth into a proper blindfold. Becky sat to the left of Y/n, who sat criss-cross just a foot or two away from El, giving her space.

"It's okay if I sit here, right?"

"Yes," El said, securing the blindfold around her eyes.

"And I won't mess it up or anything?"

"No," El answered, growing short.

"Okay." Becky licked her lips nervously, looking longingly towards her sister.

"If you talk to Terry, will you tell her that I love her very much? And that I'm sorry that I didn't believe--"

"Stop talking," El said crossly.

"Okay, sorry," Becky mumbled.

Y/n caught her eye, and she mouthed a 'sorry'. Becky's lips pressed into a firm line, shrugging, implying she didn't take it too seriously. Her attention was mostly concentrated on her sister, and Y/n had begun to feel the same as Becky did. In the aspect that she felt out of place while El communicated to her mother.

"Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow." Terry mumbled, her fingers twitching and lips twitching. "Run. Breathe. Sunflower."

El awoke in the familiar dark landscape, her toes curling slightly in the imaginary water.

Her mother sat before her, just as she looked moments ago in the living room.

"Run. Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow."

El timidly made the journey forward, growing closer to her mother which each step. She only hoped this would work.

"Three to the right, four to the left. Four fifty. Run."

"Mama?"

"Sunflower. Rainbow."

"Mama, it's me..."

"-four to left. Four fifty."

"...Jane."

Her heart was hammering in her chest, but she did her best to remain calm. Her mother was only feet away, she was upset with herself for being nervous, she had wanted this her whole life. Yet, the closer she got the more nervous she became.

"Breathe. Rainbow."

"I'm here now,"

"Four fifty."

El took the final step, now only inches away from her mother. After the words left her tongue, everything happened quickly. "I'm home."

The women's head snapped in her direction, her eyes boring into El's, desperation clouding them.

"No."

Terry reached for her daughter, her hand reaching out and snatching El's hand, startling her. El was jerked forward and before she knew it, she felt her eyes open on the black landscape. Instantly she had been transported further into her mother's mind, but she had yet to figure that out. To her it felt as if everything was rebooted, like she had only just now woken up in the void and the last few moments hadn't happened.

But she was alone.

"Mama!"

Her wails were interrupted by uneven footsteps scurrying behind her. El whirled around to see a woman in a long orange dress running to the right. Eagerly, she followed and she watched in horror as the woman she now recognized as a younger version of her mother, had begun to slow. She was grasping her very pregnant belly and panting heavily, seemingly trying to catch her breath and continue on. Before she could reach out to her mother, try to talk to her, El found herself watching curiously as her mother looked worriedly over her shoulder.

Her eyes were filled with sorrow and she whimpered, her lip quivering as she tried not to cry. Curiously, El turned to see what her mother was looking at and her eyes widened at the sight. El noticed she was wearing a hospital gown similar to the one she wore back in Hawkins lab. Her [m/b/t] (mother's body type) figure wobbled tiredly across the landscape, heading straight for them. She was panting heavily like she had been running a great distance, and her speed was rapidly decreasing. Behind her, a swarm of angry men in uniform - bad men, El realized - hot on her heels.

"Terry!" She cried. "Go! Now! You can still make it! You know where to go-!"

The woman was tackled to the ground, and she wailed in pain. El jumped back in fear even though she wasn't too close. El got a better look at her, and she watched in sorrow and guilt as the woman was grabbed roughly and yanked to her feet. She was dragged away, screaming and kicking, fighting for her life.

"Terry, what are you waiting for?! RUN!"

El watched aghast as the [m/b/t] (you're mother's body type) woman was pulled farther and farther away, her screams never ceasing. Unlike anything she had ever seen in the void, she could make out the bad men turning a corner and they disappeared around an invisible corner. Before El could make put what happened, a loud bang was heard and the screams stopped. El stumbled back in fear, tears streaming from her eyes. Her ankle caught something and she fell backward into the thin pool of water. She hid her face in her hands, the panic rising in her chest and she realized she was hyperventilating. The sound of her mother's wailing brought her out of her panic, or at least it redirected it.

Her mother had similar tear streaks running down her cheeks and El knew her mother was in the same boat. But her eyes fell to her mother's large stomach and she finally noticed the emerging bloodstains running down her dress. Throughout the whole ordeal, El wondered why her mother didn't take the woman's advice, why did she stop? And where was she telling her mother to go? Millions of questions like these had bounced around her brain as everything unfolded, too caught up in the horror of what just unfolded to try and answer them. But now El knew.

She knew why her mother stopped. She was in pain and she was bleeding a great deal. She scrambled to her feet to help her mother but she did not know what to do.

"Mama? Mama!"

Just as soon, her mother groaned in pain and stumbled to the ground, grasping her stomach. El immediately and tearfully knelt beside her sobbing mother, laying a shaky hand on her mother's arm.

"Mama! Mama!"

The woman wailed, clutching her stomach, completely unfazed by El's presence.

"Oh, my baby!" She cried worriedly.

"What do I do?" El asked frantically. "Mama, what do I do? Help me!"

A familiar voice echoes out, calling out fearfully.

"Terry? Terry!"

"Mama, what do I do? How do I help you?"

"Terry, where were you? Oh, my God!"

El looks up in the direction of the voice, only for everything to blur. El is transported outside, nothing she can identify but she sees the face of the familiar voice. It's Becky, she's younger and she is looking right at El.

"Oh, my God," she sniffles, looking around worriedly. "Okay, breathe. Just breathe, alright? Breathe."

She sees her mother lying on the grass yards away from a house, and now she knows she is not seeing through her own eyes. She is reliving her mother's past.

"They're on their way, okay?"

El sees her mother's hand reach for her bleeding stomach and look back at Becky.

"They got her. [y/m/n], they got [y/m/n]. I have to go, I have to leave! I have to get her out, I h-have to get her out-" Terry wails in agony, clutching her stomach. "She did it. She got... her out... I need to go- AAHH"

Becky shakes her head, reaching out for her as she takes Terry's hand in comfort.

"Terry, no! Just breathe, alright? You need to breathe, I've told you, no one is coming for her, alright?"

"They wanted her, and they're gonna want Jane! Don't make me do this," she wailed, shaking her head.

She lets out another wail of agony and everything begins to fade.

"Terry!"

Everything goes black and the next thing El knows is she is being wheeled through a hallway, two nurses looking at her.

"Stay with us, darling. Stay with us."

El sees her mother writhing in pain on the moving bed, clutching her stomach.

Big lights swarm her vision, and she looks around as several people in green clothing and latex gloves stand and move around her. El sees her mother groaning on the table in pain, and slowly a gloved hand brings a mask of some sort to her face.

El sees a small blade glide across her mother's skin, blood dripping from the cut and the next thing she sees is a tiny infant come into view. It cries with its small high voice, visibly animated in movement. El realizes it's her, and her mother is fighting to stay awake. A set of eyes, all too familiar to El, come into view. The man's face is mostly covered by his mask, but El knows all too well it's Papa. Confirming her suspicions, the man pinches the white mask and pulls it down to his chin revealing the face of the man that tortured her for years.

Everything goes black once more. It is quiet, and for a moment El thinks the vision is over. But a bright light reveals itself, and the first thing El can identify is a vase of sunflowers.

Her vision plans over to see a tearful Becky. She gives the weakest of smiles and speaks, El can hear the lump in her throat as she is holding back her tears.

"Hey, there."

Her mother stirs awake on the hospital bed. She groans, and looks around worriedly.

"Jane? Where's Jane?"

Becky shakes her bowed head, tears clouding her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She croaks, reaching forward and taking her hand. "Honey, she didn't make it. I'm so sorry, Ter, I'm so sorry."

Terry shakes her head, anger and panic rising in her.

"No, I saw her!" She said simply.

Becky shook her head.

"No, no, she wasn't breathing."

"She was crying!"

"No."

"Oh, God." She breathed, the memories swarming back to her. "Becky, it happened. I saw her, an-and he was there! He was there! He had her and-!"

"No," was all Becky could muster, sniffling.

Becky took a deep breath, still shaking her head, unable to meet her sister's eye right away.

"Terry, no, I'm sorry, I wish that were true-"

"It is! Becky, I'm telling you, I saw it! We have to get her! He took her!"

"Who was there, Terry?" Becky asked, trying to calm her through her own tears.

"He took her!" She said, growing more frantic.

"Terry-" Becky warned.

But Terry had already begun to sit up despite her sister's efforts to keep her in bed.

"No, no, no! Don't take it out! Terry!"

She had ripped the IV out of her arm, and seconds later a nurse came in, holding her down.

"No, no! I need to get her! Becky, I told you!"

"Terry!"

"-I told you this would happen! I need to get her!"

Terry was soon restrained, several members of the hospital staff were pinning her down and El watched as a syringe was plunged into her skin. The scene quickly changed, she could see several papers and file folders strewn all over the floor. She could hear her mother's voice nearby.

"Three to the right. Four to the left." She mumbled.

She sees the dial of the safe click to the zero, and her mother opens the safe. Inside, sitting atop several papers and envelopes is a gun. Shakily, her mother picks up the gun, she sighs as she stuffs several bullets inside.

Her mother is now in a car. She takes a deep breath, collecting herself before exiting the car, purse clutched tightly in her hand. She closes the car door and El sees her mother cross the parking lot to the familiar building she escaped from. Trailing behind a few similarly dressed women, she blends in effortlessly with them. That is until she stopped by a security guard.

"Ma'am, can I see your badge?"

Terry stops, taking a deep breath. She turns around, pulling the gun from her bag. She aims it at the man and anybody that tried to approach.

"Stay back. Stay back!"

She sees the guard reach for his gun and she panics, pulling the trigger. The last thing she sees is the guard falling back before everything goes black once more. She can hear alarms blaring, and Terry is now rushing down a hallway, several people in lab coats jumping aside. She hopes from door to door, peering inside and asking for her daughter.

"Jane? Jane?"

She looks over her shoulder and that's when she spots it. The rainbow room. A door across the hall with a small rainbow painted on the inside of the doorframe.

Eagerly, she opens the door. Inside, she finds two young girls playing, one of them she knows to be her daughter. She steps forward cautiously, but happily. Each of them give her an off look and she smiles, leaning down to her daughter.

"Jane... No!"

She is pulled away from Jane before she can grab her. She fights and kicks to the best of her ability but the men's' hold on her is too powerful. The girls watch curiously as she dragged away and Terry only fights harder.

"No! No! She's my child! No! She's my child!"

The sight of the tiny rainbow painted on the walls is the last thing in focus as she is dragged far away.

The next thing she sees comes in flashes. Hands struggling and hair whipping around as Terry struggles the grip of several bad men.

"No! No."

El watches helplessly as her mother is roughly pinned down again once more, several straps fighting around her form. As she struggles, her head falls to the side and there before her is Papa. Standing still, watching as she is restrained.

Her cries of protest are muffled when they place a rubber mouth guard between her teeth. A pair of gloved hands bring two metal rods to her forehead, Terry becomes increasingly frightened, like she can guess what comes next but El does not.

"Four fifty," Papa says.

One of the men nods, reaching over and setting the dial on a silver and black box. A low hum grows louder as he sets the dial, she can hear it in the rods and she knows what's coming. Terry's muffled screams cry out in protest, but it does not stop the man from flipping the switch. Her mother begins to convulse, her muscles go stiff and she writhes and shakes in pain. Her hands lose grip on the metal poles of handles at her side and she goes limp, tears in her eyes and she pants heavily.

Everything starts over in quick flashes as she stares at the ceiling. All of it, happing in short spurts.

"RUN!"

BANG.

"Oh, my God! Okay, breathe. They're on their way."

She's wheeled through the hallway.

"Stay with us, darling."

Jane crying.

Her eyes open and El can hear her mother's voice.

"Sunflower"

"He was there!"

Nurses retrain her.

"Three to the right. Four to the left."

She unlocks the safe and shoots the gun.

She sees the room.

"Sunflower."

The dial turns.

"Four fifty."

"RUN!" A gun goes off.

"Breathe." Jane cries.

Flowers at her bedside. "Sunflower."

Gunshot, she approaches the door. "Rainbow."

The dial turns. "Four fifty."

She convulses.

"RUN!"

"Breathe,"

"Three to the right. Four to the left."

"Breathe"

"Sunflower."

"Rainbow"

"Three to the right."

"Breathe."

"Four fifty."

"Breathe."

"Rainbow."

"Three to the right."

"Run!"

El rips the blindfold off her eyes in panic, her breathing heavy and uneven. As she is brought back to reality she looks up at her mother in her rocking chair. There are tears in her eyes and she is sadly uttering the same words.

"Run. Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow. Three to the right. Four to the left."

El feels a pair of arms wrap gently around her and she can feel her own shaking, her shoulders rising and falling rapidly. She feels a hand grab hers and she knows it's Y/n. She squeezes her hand for comfort and Y/n gently runs her thumb over the back of her hand, showing her support.

No one says anything for a while, and apart from her mother's mumbling, she sits in silence embracing the support given to her as she tries to calm her racing heart.

×××

"There's nothing. There's nothing here." Mike says worriedly.

Mike, Will, Joyce, and Bob were all packed inside Joyce's Ford Pinto in search of where they believed Hopper's location to be.

Worriedly, Joyce spares a quick glance at Bob who holds the map in his lap.

"Are... Are we close?"

"We're in the vicinity," Bob replies.

"What's that mean, the vicinity?" She asked worriedly.

"It means we're close. I don't know. It's not precise." Bob sputters, feeling the guilt and pressure weighing on his chest.

"But we did all that work!" Joyce exclaims, exasperated.

"I told you, the scale ratio is not exactly one-to-one. We needed to take--"

"Turn right!" Will shouts suddenly.

Unbeknownst to the group, Will had closed his eyes. Taking Mike's advice to heart, he took advantage of the information, his now memories, stored in his brain. Quietly, he had sat, his eyes darting back and forth sporadically under his eyelids as he searched the tunnels in his mind.

"What?"

Everyone looked to Will, even Joyce, but she made sure to return her attention to the road.

"I saw him!" Will answered.

"Where?"

Joyce began looking around, squinting around the vicinity and Will feels the panic boiling I'm his chest. He leans forward urgently, his words turn to a quick panicked shout as he tries to convey his words without missing the turn.

"Not here. In my now-memories"

A knowing gasp falls over Mike and Joyce, while Bob whirls around to look at Will, flabbergasted.

"In your what?" Bob asks.

"Turn right!" Will yells again.

Everyone is thrown to the side of the car, Will bumping into Mike, and Bob nearly falling on Joyce as the car violently jerked to the side. A horrible screech filled everyone's ears as the tires flew across the pavement. Everything happened in a matter of seconds as the car took down a sign attached to the wooden fencing, as well as several clumps of hay that temporarily covered the windshield. Before they knew it, they were thrown forward when Joyce slammed on the breaks, stopping only inches away from the back of Hopper's car.

Joyce whirled around to look at Will, then Mike.

"Are you okay?"

Will nodded and she faced the front once more. Everyone was panting heavily still, collecting their breath.

"Superspy," Mike confirmed between breaths.

"What's Jim doing here?" Bob asked, recognizing the car in front of them. "Joyce?"

Ignoring his questions, Joyce returned her attention to the back seat and looked between Will and Mike.

"Boys, I need you to stay here."

Will shook his head frantically as she climbed out of the car.

"No. Mom, Mom, Mom, it's not safe." He called desperately, leaning over to look at her.

"That's why I need you to stay here! Stay here!" She ordered.

Slamming the car door, the boys sat in silence as they felt the car shake slightly. Bob and Joyce trudged across the field, careful not to step on the many rotten pumpkins.

"Hopper!" Joyce's worried and shrill cries echoed across the field and into the night.

Easily spotting the small crater in the dirt, Joyce descended the hole Hopper had dug and Bob followed cautiously. His arms were outstretched after Joyce who held her arms out for balance as her feet slipped across the unstable dirt.

"Hey, be careful." He shook his head, nervously spewing commentary in disbelief. "Just going down the hole."

At the bottom of the pit, a large circle roughly the size of her dining room table had caught her eye. Bridging the gaps over what normally would have been a hole in the ground, was what looked like several worms the size of large snakes. But they weren't, they were a dark purple-pink and they did twist and move, constantly interlacing themselves, seeing themselves together in a big lump, it soon became clear to Joyce what these were. Hopper's last few words to her echoed in her mind.

"Vines." She gasped.

Hesitant to break her gaze away for too long, she gestured to shovel that stood near Bob's feet.

"Give me that."

"The shovel?"

"Yes, give me the shovel!"

Compliantly, he handed the shovel to Joyce who eagerly grabbed it tight in her hands. With all the strength she could summon, she brought the metal spade down into the vines. They shrieked and hissed, and her contact had hurt several of them. Unfortunately, this came with a splash of dark smelly goo sprayed from the vines and painting Joyce and Bob's clothes.

Cringing, but quickly recovering, Joyce began to repeatedly stab the colony of vines. They hissed and squealed once more but they one by one they hastily recoiled back into the dirt. Deciding enough room had been made and enough vines were gone, she threw the shovel to the side and whirled around to face Bob, a determined look in her eye.

"I need you to help me get down there." She ordered.

Growing frantic and increasingly worried, Bob hunched over slightly and waved his arms.

"Joyce, what are you talking about?" "Bob! Now!" She roared, extending her arm.

Joyce gasped in horror when her feet hit the ground, her eyes had adjusted to the dark almost at once, and she was panting heavily at the sight around her. Not allowing herself any more time to waste, she stepped further into the tunnels.

"Hopper!" She called. "Hopper! Hopper!"

Frantically, she looked between the two directions the tunnel stretched in. She didn't know how much time she had, but she knew it wasn't much and she certainly couldn't risk checking each path. She heard a thud behind her, and she turned knowing Bob had descended. Sure enough, she wobbled slightly, catching his balance from the long drop and he collected himself. "Joyce, what is going on? Where are we?" Stammering, she reached out to Bob and looked him up and down, making sure he had safely made the drop.

"Bob, are you okay?"

Bob's attention was pulled to his surroundings once his eyes had adjusted. He looked around in amazement and shock.

"Tunnels. Is this Will's map?" He asked.

She had reached into his jacket pocket, knowing he always kept a small flashlight for emergencies.

"Hopper!" She called, scanning the tunnels for any sign of the chief.

"Are we in Will's map?" Bob asked once more.

Biting the bullet and picking a direction, she began navigating the tunnels, calling out for the missing man.

"Hopper! Hopper!"

"We're in Will's map," Bob mumbled excitedly, following Joyce close behind.

"Hopper!"

"We're actually inside Will's map!"

"Hopper!"

"How did he know all this?"

They both quieted when they reached a fork in the path. Glad Bob had kept his flashlight on him, and glad she had used it, she stepped forward when the light caught a broken cigarette on the ground in front of the left tunnel.

"Bob! Over here!"

She knelt down by the cigarette, she picked it up and showed it to her boyfriend.

"It's his! He's gotta be this way! Come on." Before he could respond, she took off down the left tunnel, mindful of her steps and the large ridges protruding from the ground. Giving one last uneasy look from where they came, trying his best to memorize the details of the path, he quickly fell back in line after Joyce.

Just outside above the entrance, Mike and Will had exited the car and slowly approached the edge of the crater.

"Do you see anything?" Mike asked. "I mean, in your now-memories?"

Will shook his head, watching the ground uneasily. The sound of several engines captured the boys' attention and they turned around to see several vehicles flood onto the field from where they had come. To his horror, Mike recognized the white vans labeled HAWKINS POWER AND LIGHTING as the very same ones that had chased him and his friends the previous year. It was a fleet from Hawkins Lab. He was suddenly grateful Y/n had left, wherever she was, she would be safe from them. At least, he hoped.

The tunnels below their feet were filled with the echoes of Joyce's cries for Hopper. The pair had reached a cavity in the tunnels, the walls had pooled out into wide space that Bob silently identified as the x from Will's map. Joyce was much too preoccupied with the task at hand, the beam of the flashlight scouring the ground and she felt her heart leap into her throat when she caught sight of a large arm poking out from underneath a pile of vines. The pile of vines, she realized, had almost completely covered the man.

"Oh! It's his arm!"

She scrambled forward, Bob close on her heels and they collapsed to the ground beside him. Handing the flashlight to Bob, she began clawing at the vines around him, several of them breaking and snapping. Bob pointed the flashlight to Hopper's neck, the man lay fighting consciousness and Bob began tugging with his free hand at the thick vine surrounding his neck. "It's choking him!"

Joyce redirected her efforts to the vine that struggled to tighten itself around Hopper's neck. Much to their surprise, Hopper spoke in a strained voice. "Knife!"

Joyce looked around desperately for the tool, but Bob was quick to answer. The beam fell across Hopper and next to Joyce. "It's over there!"

Sure enough, just inches away from Hopper's grasp, was the man's pocket knife.

Quickly, she got to work and it wasn't long until the vine around his neck snapped, Hopper gasped for air, and looked to his hands.

"Hands!"

Joyce cut his arms free next and he was able to fight back. He took the knife from Joyce's hands, cutting himself loose from the tendrils surrounding his chest while Bob and Joyce continued clawing at the remaining restraints. Finally, Hopper broke free with a maddened cry. "Bastard!"

He sat up, swiping the blade across the restraints on his ankles, once more the goo erupted from the screeching vines, by now he was covered in it but he didn't give two shits. Bob and Joyce helped the man to his feet and Joyce hurriedly checked him for injuries, and she took his face between her trembling hands.

"Oh, my God. Hopper, are you okay?" She panted.

"Joyce."

"Are you okay? Are you okay?"

Hopper nodded, patting her on the arms gently and she released him. He swung his arm behind him and patted the man beside him.

"Hey, Bob."

"Hey, Jim."

The trio huddled together, backing away from the advancing vines. Joyce turned and jumped in fear when she saw a figure next to Bob, dressed in a hazmat suit.

"Oh, my God!"

"Go! Go! Go! Clear the area!" The figure ordered.

The trio did not hesitate to evacuate the area, heading back through the tunnel each of them had ventured. When the three were out of range, the figure, who had been properly equipped, aimed his device and a violent spurt of fire erupted from the end. The vines writhed and shrieked violently as they shriveled up.

At that exact moment, Will - who had been waiting worriedly outside as the army of men surrounded and descended after his mother and Bob - collapsed to the ground. Mike dropped to the ground quickly after him, grasping his friend trying to get him to calm. But it was no use. Will was now lying on the grass, his entire body felt like it was on fire. His vision was as white as the white-hot searing pain running through his veins.

"Will, what's wrong?" Mike wailed, feeling helpless.

Will convulsed uncontrollably, his limbs on fire, spreading as rapidly as the flames in the hub below. As the vines screamed in agony, Will screamed too. He was now on his back, screaming violently into the night. Mike jumped back startled, watching helplessly in horror as his best friend writhed in the grass, his mouth wide open and his eyes rolled back into his head as shrieked in agony.

+++

Tag List: @dickkwad​ @aimee-lucass​ @iblesstherainsdown-in-africa​   @miscellaneoustoasts​ @happyandlonely​ @missmulti​ @youpi-chan​ @peeperparkour​ @ba-responds​ @bibliophilesquared​ @blogforhoes​ @witch-of-all-things-soft​

DM me if you want to be added!

[fluidityandgiggles]

Dalton Big Bang day 1 - The Canadian Girlfriend Experience

Writing Masterpost, AO3 Link

Notes: So... y’all. Dalton fam. Hear me out.

I understand that y'all are gonna be mad at me for staying up until (four? five?) five in the morning to post this, but I'm something like 90% sure I'd forget to post it in the morning (afternoon), and I have to write tomorrow's fic anyway, so... here's an extra early fluffy mess. Hope y'all like it.

I had to write this one... I really really had to. Han's girlfriend is a big deal to me. I hope you understand it.

(And for the uninitiated in pathfinder - the rank system is wild, feats are taken every two levels or so, Logan’s character is basically invincible, defeated only by Dwight’s monk and the absolute insanity that creating a monk in pathfinder can end up being.)

—————

"I really have to go to sleep," the familiar (by now) high-pitched voice said through the headphones, stifling a yawn. "My drama class is moving props to the auditorium tomorrow for our exam and my mom would be mad at me if I don’t go to sleep in the next thirty minutes."

"So go to sleep, Lils. I won’t be mad at you."

"Okay! I’ll text you in the morning! Love you, bye!"

"Good night."

Han finally let himself snort a bit after his girlfriend hung up, watching as she disconnects from the game a few moments later. He did say he’ll only play Starcraft today so long as Leah is available, and now that she’s offline…

He just closed the game and went back to working on his Pathfinder session prep.

Han met Leah at the San Diego Comic-Con last summer. On day one, she approached him because she thought the Westwoods’ Bat family cosplay was really cool. On day two, he approached her because her Arwen cosplay was flawless. By day three they’d already ditched the con to have a not-date lunch at In-N-Out, found out they’re in the same guild in World of Warcraft, Han found out Leah has a voice acting channel on youtube, they exchanged phone numbers, and by day four they may have not spent the whole day together but they certainly went on a date-date at the end of the day.

They’ve been rather inseparable for the following three weeks, but by then Han had to face the reality of it all. Leah’s phone number was weird to him from the start, sure, and he was willing to pass off her accent as a speech quirk, but it wasn’t until those three weeks ended that it finally sunk in that she’s not American. And like most good things, her visit too has to come to an end.

Maintaining a relationship online just… didn’t feel the same.

1 Unread Message

‘Merril: Can I suggest an idea for Mishka’s character arc?? You can say no, I just had an idea is all!’

Caterpillar: I’m all ears

———

"While this mess of a… bargain is happening," Logan called as Merril and Reed tried to catch their breaths from laughing. "Can Dwight and I get to the diplomatic debate?"

"Sure," Han sighed, watching his party quickly derail the session. "But let’s take a break first."

The first to disappear at the sound of "let’s take a break" was Lucy, who ran to the bathroom, accidentally knocking off Logan’s dice tower in the process. Merril got the brownies out and on the table, everyone pulled their phones out…

Han could take a couple moments to look at the pictures Leah sent him earlier. According to her, they were not yet done with lighting cues, and she was going crazy, but seeing her in her period piece of a costume and leg brace prop made him feel excited for her, somewhat.

Caterpillar: wish I could been there to see it 

Jabba the Hutt: Oh no! Don’t say that! Jabba the Hutt: I’ll send you the filmed version when I get it, but it’ll probably be really bad anyway.

Caterpillar: im sure it cant be that bad 

Jabba the Hutt: Han, it’s a high school production of the Glass Menagerie. Jabba the Hutt: My class is also doing the play version of Spring Awakening. Jabba the Hutt: It *can* and *will* be that bad. Jabba the Hutt: Trust me. 

"Han?" Merril called before he could answer that one. "Hansel, are you listening?"

"No, I wasn’t. What was it?" He grabbed a brownie, leaving his phone aside for a second.

"Wizards of the Coast announced a new edition of D&D," she said again, smiling gently. "Do you think you’d want to try it?"

"I’m already one step ahead of you there. I’m going to playtest it when it— excuse me…"

Jabba the Hutt: WE FINALLY FUCKING FINISHED THIS Jabba the Hutt: I’ve never been happier to say I’m getting offstage, I need someone to punch me!

Caterpillar: dont you mean pinch?

Jabba the Hutt: I meant what I said and I said what I meant.

Han tuned back in time to hear Logan say "I just really don’t want to have to mess with the power system again", which resulted in Dwight throwing a bag of chips at his head.

"Fourth edition has a very special place in my heart, Wright. Don’t talk shit about it around me."

"Yeah, why all the hate for the power system?" Lucy frowned (when did she get back from the bathroom?). "It’s not all that different to how feats work. Would you complain about getting a new feat every odd level once we switch systems?"

"Not going to happen, Lucy."

"Aw man, but I wanted to play Vampire the Masquerade next!"

"And we already said Merril is going to run it," Han reminded her, checking his phone one last time. "But we’re not switching our current game to another system. Not gonna happen."

There was a quiet "hell yeah" from Merril as Han’s phone buzzed with a new message, but before he could even read it, it was snatched by Lucy.

"Wha… who are you talking to, Han?" She laughed a bit, scrolling up, and then her eyes went wide open. "Well… damn."

"Don’t act like you’re surprised, that’s my girlfriend. You met her before."

The silence in the room was so tense, Han swore he could hear a pin drop. 

"...a girlfriend?" Dwight was the first to ask, raising a brow. "Since when?"

"You know, I honestly thought she would’ve forgotten all about you after two weeks…"

"Since a few months ago," Han told Dwight, taking his phone back. "Can we continue, please?"

"No! It’s interesting!" Merril joined in, resting her chin on her hand as she got closer, pushing some papers a bit. "How did you meet? Where is she from? Can we meet her?"

"We met at Comic-Con and no, you can’t meet her. She’s… not from here."

"...is she Canadian?" Logan raised a brow too, starting to laugh.

"Noooooooo…?"

"Oh yeah, Han’s Canadian girlfriend."

"She’s not— let’s start to fucking play, this session isn’t going to end itself."

By the end of the session, Han couldn’t say he’d be surprised if the whole school found out by tomorrow. And if anyone (namely the twins) made fun of him for his "Canadian girlfriend"... so be it. 

———

"Is this Canadian girlfriend of yours coming to prom?" Julian’s tired voice came through the phone, sounding like he was about to pass out. He just arrived at school earlier today, already tired from the flight, and immediately got coddled by Logan.

"She’s not Canadian, Julian. You’re the twenty-fifth person I’ve told this already."

"So where is she from? Would you please tell just one person?"

With a quick glance at the security footage, to make sure Logan wasn’t listening, Han whispered "her name is Leah, I met her at Comic-Con in San Diego last year, she’s from Israel and no, I doubt she can come to prom. She has her own prom to attend."

"...okay, so this Israeli girlfriend of yours. Got it."

"Thank you."

"Are you sure you want to keep her a secret…?" He clicked his tongue. His laugh sounded a bit rougher than usual. "You know how things can end up. You of all people."

"I… I’m just not sure I’m ready for… dude. Is Logan drooling on your shoulder…?"

"Give him a break, Westwood. He’s adjusting to his new pills."

"I asked about the drooling."

"He does that sometimes. I just let him be."

"...why is everyone so interested in my girlfriend? Is it really any different from David and Katherine?"

"I don’t know how to break it down to you, Westwood, but you’re not exactly the type anyone would expect to even have a girlfriend."

A shift in the camera footage made Han cuss silently, covering his microphone.

"...she said she’ll be here for graduation. Hers is in late June, but she finishes school in May."

"Yeah. May. When prom is."

"Do you want to talk to her yourself?" He could hear Julian snort. "I’m not kidding. I’ll give you Leah’s phone number and you’ll convince her yourself. I can’t."

"Because that totally won’t be crazy."

"Julian."

"Hansel."

"Just fucking ask her, you absolute nerd!"

"Can you stop ordering me around? This isn’t Hollywood. This is my girlfriend we’re talking about."

"Can you at least send me a picture of her? So I’ll know she’s real?"

"...fuck you, Larson."

Han sent him a picture anyway. A picture of the two of them that Lucy insisted to take while they were in San Diego. They coordinated somehow, Han with his LOTR shirt and Leah with her whole Arwen cosplay. It was the happiest day he could possibly remember.

And then, a snort through the phone.

"...so you’re Leah Appelbaum’s mysterious Maryland boyfriend? Huh. Didn’t know you lived in Maryland."

"...you know Leah?"

"We had auditions in the same building two years ago and she approached me because she’s a fan of Something Damaged. She insisted on keeping in touch. How did you meet her?"

"At Comic-Con… please be gentle about this, Julian."

"Okay! I just… wow. I know where you live now. Sweet."

"Don’t you dare try to blackmail me with that information, Larson."

"I won’t. There’s nothing to worry about."

———

"...you know what?" Han sighed as the last session before prom was about to close off. "Roll sense motive."

The clatter of dice hitting each other and everyone cussing filled the room, quickly picking up their dice and looking.

"Fifteen!"

"Seventeen!"

"Five!"

"How’s you get a five, Lucy?"

"I’m a barbarian, what do you think—"

"Thirty-four."

Dwight practically glared at Logan. "What the fuck, dude?"

"I play a half-elf cleric, Dwight," Logan answered, straight-faced. "Plus two to wisdom straight away, rolled extremely well, I have a plus five modifier to wisdom and the alertness feat. I took a single rank in sense motive every time we leveled up and now I have ten ranks. On the tenth rank in sense motive or perception, you get a bonus four to the skill instead of the usual two. Thus, ten plus four plus five equals nineteen, plus the fifteen that I rolled. That’s thirty-four. Do I sense motive?"

"...everyone who rolled above a fifteen, and that definitely includes Flint—" Han could see Logan smiling smugly. "Everyone who rolled above a fifteen can see that this woman is telling the truth. Anyone who rolled a twenty or above, Flint, can also sense that—"

There was a knock at the door. There was never a knock at the door. But now there was. And as Reed got up to open the door, Han silently hoped it wouldn’t be anyone who shouldn’t be there—

"And this is your boyfriend’s room," Julian’s voice came through as Reed’s jaw dropped. "Thank you for picking Julian Larson to be your tour guide, we hope you enjoyed the trip."

"Very! Oh, hello!" The girl at the door waved at Reed, who waved back. The whole party waved back. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"No, those nerds are just playing dungeons and dragons. You have nothing to worry about." Reed finally returned to his seat as Julian kissed the girl’s cheek, chuckling at the shock. "Logan, I’ll be expecting you to pick me up at six. I want my pre-prom sushi."

"I promised you I will, Princess, don’t panic."

"Okay, just making sure."

As Julian left, the girl went to sit on Han’s futon and look at everyone. Long brown hair, half of it bleached; dark eyes behind a pair of green plastic-framed glasses; a bit on the heavier side, like Han himself, and wearing a floral summer dress and a pair of short leggings. Her face was flushed red, her lipstick a dark blue, and her nails painted black that just started to chip.

Han missed her so much.

"So… hi." She waved around again, a bit confused. "What’s up…?"

"Who’s this?" Dwight was the first to speak.

"My girlfriend," Han replied, sounding rather insistent. "We were just about to finish our session, Lils. Can you wait?"

"Mmhm! Absolutely! I’ll be so quiet, you’ll forget I’m even here!"

Nobody forgot she was there. Merril kept looking over to her, Reed and Dwight seemed skeptical as ever, and the only person who was normal about it was Lucy. But it wasn’t news for Lucy, she’s met Leah before after all. All the while Leah sat there, chuckling at the game and waiting patiently for Han to finish, which he did twenty minutes later. Dwight practically ran out, followed by Logan who needed to pick his own boyfriend up for dinner, but…

"So where are you from in Canada?" Merril asked first, making Leah smile. 

"I’m… not Canadian. Did Han tell you I’m Canadian?"

"Where’s your lipstick from?" Reed asked next.

"Umm… it’s, it’s from NARS, I picked it up on the way here, I forgot to pack my own makeup and—"

"Is Han taking you to prom?"

Han choked on his water at that. "I can’t leave my room for prom, Merril. Health risks."

"You can have an indoors prom."

"We planned on watching Battlestar Galactica and ordering takeout," Leah admitted. "But… an indoors prom would be nice. I’m not going to mine anyway. My class is writing this… really offensive skit about one of the math teachers and I don’t want to be a part of it."

"What’s your prom even like…?" Reed squinted, sitting back down. "That you do skits."

"It’s… not really a prom. Israel doesn’t really have the promenade culture, it’s just like a showcase the whole class does for family and friends before graduation… I’ve never liked this practice, you know, I think it’s just…"

As Leah rambled on, Han took his time to clear the table and silently hope Merril and Reed leave soon. Those two have prom dates after all. And neither are a Canadian girlfriend.

[ain-t-bovvered]

SEASON 14 FINALE

bunch of tired and caffeinated Europeans ( plus a sleepy American) scream together, and then die and try to get on with their day ( lol AS IF)

Hello and welcome:

@purpleskiesandcherrypies  (Nat)

@dean-winchesters-bacon  (Kat)  

@waywardbaby  (Zee)

@ain-t-bovvered  (Giulia)

     * MASTERLIST of season 14 commentary *

CRY WITH US

Giulia: JOHN

Kat: THE FEELS OFF THE BAT

Giulia: OH THERE IT IS

Zee: Carry on.

Zee: Perfect

Giulia: DONT Y CRY NO MOOORE *air drumming*

Zee: Michael pigeon

Kat: AAAAAAHHHHHHHH

Giulia: *headbanging*

Nat: You and Michael trapped for eternity wink wink

Giulia: But I flew too hiiiigh

Giulia: I CAN T

Zee: I am Winchester

Giulia: literal chills and also didn’t need to see those fingers again

Nat: ya right

Kat: If I have to see that thing with Nick’s fingers again....

Zee: They’re mocking us

Ok but Jack is fucking scaaaaaary here alright. I don’t like being afraid of my son.

Giulia: Those glowy eyes tho

Nat: ok but that shot is good

Giulia: I HAVE [1] FEAR

Dean *in Jensen JiB10 voice *: we’ve done fucked up

Kat: JACK BABY NO

J: You LIED!

Giulia: OH FUCK

Zee: Jack stop

Nat: FUCKING TANTRUM MAN

Giulia: GREAT OFF TO A GREAT START well at least he didn’t kill them all already. He definitely could have

AAAAAND he flew away.

Nat: Ya, I think I have to leave I have an appointment to shoot myself

Zee: Stay coward

Kat: SIT YOUR ASS DOWN

Giulia: Nat !hold the door for me

Kat: DON’T MAKE ME GET THE ROPE

Zee: I’ll tie you both. Shut up

C: You should never have tried to lock him away.

Giulia: YES TELL HIM CAS

D: You know what? You're right. I never wanted to put him in that damn box. I wanted him dead.

Giulia: NO DEAN

Nat: Dean, you don't mean it babe

Giulia: NO

D: He's dangerous, Cass, and you knew it! You've known it for a long time! But that's okay. You know why? Because me and Sam, we've killed just about everything, there is. And this -- Jack -- oh, we'll find a way. Because he's just another monster.

Zee: Dads fighting

C: You don't mean that.

D: The hell I don't.

Giulia: THE TENSION *licking lips*

#PRAYFORSAM

                          #PRAYFORME

SOUL BOMB

Giulia: NO BAD IDEA

Nat: YOU SHUSH YOUR MOUTH

Giulia: i mean good idea BUT BAD

S: Okay.

D: Sam, I know this isn't easy, okay? He -- I know how much he meant to you. He meant a lot to me. He was family.

Nat: I wanna cry, Sammy, let me hold ya

Giulia: we are gonna do the ugly thing

Zee: Sam’s face gonna stay like that forever

Giulia: Of course it’s not the first time

Kat: If I’ve said it once I’ll say it again. Jared’s acting is A+ this season

Giulia: This doesn’t look good

Kat: Oh jack

Zee: Oh hello

Kat: No babe

Nat: My god but Jack needs to be contained. Someone should show him the waaaaaaay

Giulia: SNORTS i read that in Jared’s dumb voice

Nat: I WROTE THAT IN JARED'S DUMB VOICE SO

S: She thinks it's dangerous and insane.

well she right

*Sam aggressively getting out the car*

Zee: Nerds

S: Takes one to know one.

Giulia: WE VE BEEN KNEW. DEAN’S A NERD

D: Okay. All right, yeah. But I'm nothing like these, uh, you know, gaggle of Zuckerbergs.

Kat: The cutest little nerd

Sammy...my smart baby

Nat: Yeah, but I'm not...uh..

Dean with his charming smile on

D: Hi. I'm Dean Winchester, and I'm looking for the devil's son.

Giulia: AHAHAH

Zee: What?

Giulia: oooh

Nat: OH NO

Giulia: Right

Nat: He can't lie

Nat: BUAHAHHAHAHA AWKWARD BEAN Oh my god

Giulia: Oh wow Jack should have done that at the starts of the season

D: I meant [Clears throat] I'm Dean Winchester, and I'm looking for the devil's son. This badge is fake.

Giulia: AHAHAHAHAHA WHAT

Kat: D Y I N G

S: Well, it's like you said. [Chuckles] It's Celine Dion. I mean Celine Dion. It's Celi-- [ Stammers ] Dean, every time I try and say "Elvis,"  it comes out --

Zee: Sad horrible truth

Nat: Imagine that happening

Giulia: Das me

Kat: The I hate everyone guy is me

Nat: I HATE EVERYONE.  I feel that dude

Giulia: Meaning this

Nat: OH MY GOD DIG AT TRUMP.  I AM LIVING

Giulia: That thing needs to happen tho

Kat: Dying over the Trump part

Giulia: Trump soul deal CONFIRMED

Misha wrote this part

Giulia: BECAUSE Y ALL LIED TO HIM

Nat: Also why are they both so pretty

Zee: Stapler queen

Giulia: I AM THE [CENSORED]

Zee: What is Cas doing ??!!!

Giulia: oh the cage

Nat: I'm just like...crying in my coffee now

Giulia: GASPS

Zee: Chuck!!!!

I love Rob with all my heart.

Nat: Ya, now you show up huh

Zee: About fucking time

Kat: 🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐

C be like......heLLo fAtHEr

Giulia: No jack

Nat: Ah babe no why you go to your grandma

C: God

G: .....EH

C: Chuck

.G: There you go.

Giulia: Hi chuck bb

C: How are You here?

G: You called me?

Giulia: OH SHUT UP NOW U ANSWER

Nat: Jack's a problem. YA THINK

Zee: He’s a problem. Ya think?

Giulia: Ooooh that’s bad

Cass is like .... *protective father activated*

Nat: Oh no, don't tell him

Zee: Puppy eyed jack

Zee: Bad eyed jack

D: When people can't lie, the Internet gets real quiet.

Dean Winchester ep. 14x20

D: yeah, guess your life isn't so perfect after all, EightPackMommy.

S: What?

D: Yeah, she's got this blog. Yeah, you know what? Your kids aren't that cute. And that gluten-free popover looks like crap because there's no gluten in it. [ Chuckling ] You know what I mean?  I'll stop talking.

Kat: Dean’s an insta stalker lol

Giulia: AHAHAH

Zee: Jesus

Nat: My god Dean, stop talking

Zee: Three yoghurts. Seems legit

Nat: I just wanna be loved.  I feel that too

Giulia: That crying lady. Das me

Kat: I change my answer, that’s me lol

G: You see, this is why people need to lie. Keeps the peace, you know

C: Seems like an odd stance for...you.

G: I'm a writer. Lying's kind of what we do.

Cass, having none of it : SAM!? DEAN?!

Giulia: I WANNA SEE DEAN INTERNET CHRONOLOGY

Nat: What's a dad bod

Nat: how to remember what i did last night

Kat: Porn

Giulia: what’s Bi

Nat: hot chicks in kansas

Nat: hot men in kansas

Nat: hot pie in kansas

Giulia: hot in kansas

*God casually walking in*

Dean : adwbrgoidqifhowhdiahf whet

G: HEY GUYS

Sam: adhouehfwoihegwpirhgjsadjaijd

G: I know what you're thinking - it's been awhile, and I still look pretty good.

S: No, that's -- that's not what we were thinking.

Giulia: YAS DEAN! 

a sec later 

….OH

Nat: NO NOT THE GUITAR

Kat: I bet Jensen has fun doing that

Giulia: damn Chuck chill

Dean mentally: I REGRET EVERYTHING, BUT ALSO NOT

G: So.....how’s things?

Sam, Cass, and Dean: MAJOR BITCHFACE

Kat: Ugh Chuck SHUT UP

Giulia: WE ALL HAVE QUESTION BITCH. CHUCK U FUCK

G: I built the sandbox -- you play in it.

Zee: How bad do they want to sucker punch him?

G: You want to go up against -- what was it? -- the "British Men of Letters"? Okay. Little weak, but okay.

Giulia: Little weak but ok

Nat: I totally read suck and punch him

Giulia: Chuuuck my fucking god

Zee: And the other apocalypse

Giulia: Oh that’s when he steps in

Kat: Jensen’s fucking model face

Zee: Accurate

Nat: The world kinda went insane... ya think?

Giulia: WHAT

Kat: Queen is a lizard I knew it

Zee: Baffled moose

Nat: "I'm god Sam"

Giulia: I M TIRED OF PEOPLE SNAPPING FINGERS

Nat: So he could actually fix jack too  If he wants to

Giulia: i wanna punch god

Kat: I’m having such a hard time rn. I need to leave ( giulia: this bitch already knew just fyi)

Nat: Dean stop pouting, you are distracting me

G: Not really....but you can

Dean is like....what the fuck ?

Zee: Dean needs to shut his face

Giulia&Zee: What The fuck

Kat: Pretty gun

Giulia: GOD U NERD

Zee&Nat: Equalizer

Nat: The hammer what

Giulia: TIME

Zee&Kat: Hammurabi

S: So you've had this the whole time and -- and we're just now getting it?

Giulia: sam asking the right questions

G: I just made that sucker.

S: So you don't even know if it works.

G: If I say it'll work, it'll work.

Kat: Eye for an eye ( edit notes 24th May....you fucker, I just now noticed)

Nat: Hey, can I punch god? Am I allowed to punch god?

Giulia: Oh i don’t like it

Nat: It doesn't use bullets

Sam is so done

Giulia: I really don t like it. Let me guess, Someone has to die

Nat: Dean, shut your fucking face

Listen...Cas should have understood that ok?

Kat: I swear they made them dumber

G: Uh, whatever happens to the person you're aiming at also happens to you.

Giulia: ...there it is

Kat: Eye for a fucking eye

Nat: NO

Nat: I MEAN OF COURSE DEAN WANTS TO DO IT

C: I don't understand why we're talking about killing Jack.Y-You can fix him.You can -- You can restore his soul.That's why I called you.

Giulia: CAS ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

S: You're God.

Nat: I MEAN WHY ARE WE EVEN WATCHING

G: I mean, after what he did?

ooooh Chuck you bitch , don’t use mama Winchester come on , that’s low

Kat: Fuck you Chuck

Giulia: why is everything that complicated.

Giulia: CASS BABE

Nat: DON'T INTERRUPT YOUR BOYFRIEND. DEAN SHUT UP

Zee: Cas is beyond pissed

C: And Billie said the only way to defeat Michael was to lock you in a box

Giulia: DEAN NO. oooh cass is pissed

D: Now, I know you don't like it, and I don't really care. 'Cause you just heard it from God Himself that this is the only thing that can kill Jack,

Zee: Grounds for divorce

D: so either get on board or walk away.

Cas walks away.

me: YOU ARE DOING AMAZING SWEETIE

Kat: The fucking smirk

Giulia: What’s that face Chuck tho?

Nat: No, I mean, do we really have another death as a cliff hanger

Kat: 🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐

Zee: Of fucking course

Giulia: I FUCKING KNOW  i mean must mean something

Kat: I could spoil but I won’t

Kat: BRO TALK

S: This is where you tell me you're gonna pull the trigger?

Giulia: Thanks dean we knew

D: Yeah, it is.

Nat: Sam, did you think that Dean wouldn't do it? I mean, come on you were in the last 14 seasons too

D: He killed our mom.

Giulia: OH BOO HOO

Giulia: dean come on

Zee: Rational Sam

S: But, Dean, we haven't even tried to save him.

D: He actually blamed Mom for what happened.

S: He doesn't have a soul.

Giulia: Thank u sam

S: I'm the one who brought him back, and I brought him back because he's family.And then he came back, and he burned his soul off to save us 

--you and me.And now what? You.. Now you -- you want my permission? [ Stammers ] You want me to say I'm cool with losing him and losing you all at once? 'Cause I can't do that. I won't say that, 'cause I... No. I've already lost too much.

Giulia: HE DID THAT. SAM...BABY, I’M SO PROUD OF YOU.

Nat: Hey, why do we let ourselves get hurt all the time when we actually know that Dean's going to wanna go through with it

Giulia: why does it feel like Dean is a fucking train going straight and not looking at anything else? Because we know it’s wrong, and we know dean knows it ‘s wrong

We know that dean knows that he knows it's wrong but he won't accept that he knows that it's wrong

Zee: Have you been watching this show bb?

Nat: No, I think I've never watched it

Giulia: What’s a supernatural?

Cas angry af

Giulia: not gonna lie, got a little sweaty there

Giulia: Look at cas hugging his boi with no hesitations

Kat: Ugh back to Chuck

Zee: Is that really chuck tho?

Giulia: U know? Got a feeling too

Nat: Ya, I think it's not Chuck, honestly

Nat: It's all kinda wrong

Giulia: Feels that way

Kat: Ugh I wanna scream at y’all

Nat: It's probably the empty. i don't know

Kat: I am actually screaming at y’all, just not typing it out

Nat: or an evil version of god

Nat: Chuck wouldn't sacrifice Jack and a Winchester

Giulia: Chuck god damn it ( later note: LITERALLY)

Nat: Anyway, anything to keep Sam safe, right?

G: One's in reverse. In one, there's no yellow. One -- One of them's just all squirrels.

Giulia: But I wanna see all their versions tho

S: So, Michael said that you create these worlds and you just toss them away like failed versions of some book.

G: And you believe him?

S: Was he lying? Is that what you're doing to us?

G: you and your brother, of all the Sams and Deans in all the multiverse, you're my favorite. You're just so interesting.

Sam is like .....that’s creepy

J: I used to hate myself for it. But I don't feel that way anymore.

Giulia: Can I hug my son ??????

J: I don't feel anything.

Giulia: LET ME HUG HIM

Nat: Aw bb didn't kill his grandma

Giulia: Thank god he didn’t kill her. Oh wow

Zee: One type of Winchester pain is not enough for you ?

Kat: All this Sammy-ness

S:  Do you watch us? When you're not here, are -- are you... watching us?

G: I mean, you're my favorite show.

Giulia&Zee: I MEAN SAME

S: Why, when the chips are down, when the world is -- is failing, why does it always

Zee&Giulia: You’re my guys

Giulia: Ooh Sam I love sam this season ok

Zee: Scared god

Kat: So damn good

Nat: I WANNA PUNCH CHUCK SO BAD LET ME PUNCH CHUCK

Giulia: This

Zee: Get in line

Kat: YOU JUST FUCKING WAIT

Giulia: I’m coming with u

Kat: EVERYONE BEHIND ME OKAY . NOT HELPING KAT I GET FIRST CRACK I’M NOT TRYING TO

Giulia: Please give Jack his soul back sobs

J: All I ever wanted was to be good.

Giulia: OH NO

C: We just need time to fix this. We need to go somewhere safe, somewhere where no one can find us.

CATCH ME SOBBING BECASUE CASTIEL LOVES THIS BOY SO MUCH

Zee: Misha ffs. Shut your face

[ an angry Dean appears]

Zee: Oh perfect

Nat: Ya, sure boyfriend has a tracker on yo phone cas

D: Cass, step aside.

Giulia: I DON T LIKE THIS. hate this HATE THIS

Cas putting himself in front of the most powerful being. LOL SOBS

Zee: Detest

C: RUN

Giulia: HATED THAT TOO

Nat: WTF

Giulia: dean no

Nat: DEAN

Giulia: Oooh he so doesn't t wanna do that. HATE THIIIIS

Nat: not like that

Giulia: my heart I can t breathe

Nat: That back tho. SHUT UP NAT

Giulia: Those thighs tho. SHUT UP GIULIA

WHAT IS THIS STRESSFUL MUSIC

Nat: SAMMY

Giulia: HELP  LET ME BREATHE

Nat: MY GOD

Kat: RUN SAMMY RUN

Giulia: NO HALPP I CAN T

J: I understand.

D: *Eye twitch*

Nat: DEAN YOU HEAR HIM YOU JUST STOP

Giulia: MY HEART IS POUNDING

Zee: Mine stopped

*wild God appears*

Giulia: SHUT UP JACK

Oooooh Dean is so conflicted

Kat: CHUCK SHUT YOUR FACE

S: You're enjoying this.

Giulia: SHOOT CHUCK

G: shhh

Kat: HIS FAVE SHOW

Nat: Chuck's enjoying this

Giulia: MY GOOOOD

Nat: fucking hell

Giulia: SHOOT CHUCK

Nat: OH MY GOD I FORGOT HOW TO BREATHE

Kat: THE TEARS IN DEANS EYES

Nat: BREATHE NAT BREATHE

Giulia: WHAT IS BREATH

Question....What the fuck is Castiel doing anyway???? WHERE HE AT?

Nat: I THINK I STOPPED BREATHING

Kat: BREATHE BABE

Giulia: OH THANK GOD

Nat: OMG I'M CRYING

Oh there , Cas is back

Giulia: OH CHUCK

Kat: GET READY TO SCREAM

G: No! Pick it up

Zee: Wtf?

Giulia: no NO WHAT

Nat: WHAT

Giulia: OH COME ON

Nat: WHAT?

Giulia: OOOF COURSEEE

Nat: CHUCK

Kat: CHUCK IS THE FUCKING WORST OKAY

Giulia: THE BOOKS

Nat: NO YOU FUCKING PRICK

Giulia: snorts CHUCK WTF

D: The hell, Chuck?

G: This isn't how the story is supposed to end. Lookit, the -- the -- the gathering storm, the gun, the -- the father killing his own son.This is Abraham and Isaac. This is epic!

Nat: NO OFFENSE? OH HE SAID THE WRONG THING NOW

Zee: Can’t process

G: So pick up the gun. Pick it up...pull the trigger...and I'll bring her back.Your mom.

Giulia: CHUCK NO U BITCH

Nat: WHAT

Zee: WHAT?

D: No. My mom was my hero. And I miss her, and I will miss her every second of my life, but she would not want this.

Giulia: OH THANK U DEAN

Kat: DEANS BETTER THAN THAT YALL

Nat: HEY, SOMEONE FUCKING SHOOT CHUCK OR I'LL DO IT

Zee: CHUCK IS SUCH A BITCH

D: And it's not like you even really care.

Giulia: YES DEAN

Giulia: This is really biblical tho

Nat: It's like the Truman show

S: Just sitting back and watching us suffer so we can do this over and over and over again -- fighting, losing people we love? When does it end? Tell me.

Giulia: YAS SAM

Giulia: Yas you go

D: 'Cause this --this isn't just a story.It's our lives! So God or no God,you go to hell.

Nat: TELL HIM BB

Oh hey....God chuckling never looked scarier

Giulia: NO

Kat: AND THERE'S THE SCREAMS

Giulia: NOOOO

Nat: NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Giulia: WHAT THE FUCJ

Nat: WHAT

Giulia: GEOWNDNSKCJA FHSISNDBSKAL JACK

Nat: SHIT

Giulia: N

Kat: SAMMY BABY NO

Giulia: NO SAM

Nat: OSHGOIEWAHGOIEHGPOIEWHGLIRHGLFDNLKDNGLKSNGLDSNGLKDSNSD

Kat: ALSO YES

Nat: DSLNFLISAGLDSNGLISANGLSNGLSNGLDS

Giulia: OH THANK

G: Story's over. Welcome to The End

Kat: HERE IT COMES

Giulia: NO

Zee: WHAT?

Kat: PEOVOWOGOGOAOFGOOAVKELKskv

Nat: YOU DONT FUCKING DARE

Kat: FINALLY YALL BITCHES GONNA SEE

Nat: NLDSKNSLKDNFLSNFLSDFSIEJIESJFLSKFD

Giulia: SINCE WHEN CHUCK IS SUCH A DICK

Nat: LSNGLISNLKDSNLKSANFELIEWFSKNFLKDSNGLKDSNF

Giulia: JACK

Nat:SDLHOIDSHOEWHRLWNVLKDSNVLKDSANGLSIDHOIHGODSHFSLNHFLDS

Giulia: JAAACK I CAN T

Zee: What the fuck is going on??

Nat: I CAN NOT ENGLISH

Giulia: CAS’ FACE.....I CAN’T STAND IT

C: He's a writer. Writers lie.

Kat: WRITERS LIE

Giulia: HATE THAT

Nat: WRITERS LIE

Giulia: NO

Nat: WHAT NO

Giulia: PLEASE

Nat: JACK

Kat: JUST WAIT FOR THIS SHOT

Nat: NOOOOOOO

Giulia: MY BABY

Zee: This hurts

Kat: THROUGH THE DAMN EYE

CRY WITH SOME SOUNDTRACK

Giulia: WHAT THE FUCK

Nat: FUCK NO

Nat: WHAT IS FUCKING WRONG

Giulia: THIS SONG

Nat: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH SPN

Giulia: WHY IN THE EMPTY

Kat: THE MUSIC ID FUCKIG PERFECT

Giulia: NO

Zee: Can they stop with the song?

Nat: HE'S IN THE EMPTYYYYYYY

Giulia: THAT IS CREEPY

Kat: BILLIE

B: We should talk

Giulia: WHAT

Kat: WAIT WAIT WAIT

Nat: OH

Giulia: IM SORRY WHAT

Nat: She doens't want Jack to stay ded

Kat: WPOGLWOVOAOFKWKSKFLEOVOEKVKWLOGOGKSKC

Nat: I like Billie

Giulia: THE FUCK IS THIS

Zee: What?

Nat: what happens . Souls from Hell

Giulia: GOD WAS NEVER ON YOUR SIDE

Kat: JUST YOU SEE

Giulia: IS THAT THE ONE FROM THE FORST EP

Kat: WOMAN IN WHITE

Nat: It starts all over again

Giulia: FUCK

Kat: THE CLOWN

Giulia: NO GACY

Kat: BLOODY MARY

Nat: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

Giulia: OH FFS

Giulia: JFC

Giulia: JESUS

Giulia: FUCKING

Giulia: CHRIST

Kat: EVERYTHING THEY EVER KILLED IS BACK

Nat: EVERYTHING'S JUST A GAME FOR CHUCK AND I HATE HIM

Giulia: CHUCK U FUCKING ASSHOLE

Kat: SEE I TOLD YALL CHUCK IS THE WORST

Giulia: WELL THIS IS FUCKING CREEPY MY GOD

Kat: THEY DONE MADE GOD THE ULTIMATE BADDIE FOR THE LAST SEASON

Giulia: IRON. Grab all the fucking IRON

Nat: But to kill them all again they would need more than one more seasons tho

Nat: I MEAN...

Giulia: LOVE IT

Kat: Nah they just going to have to do something epic

Giulia: GOD WAS NEVER ON YOUR SIDE

Zee: Appropriate

Nat: they can shove epic in their ass

I

STAN

TFW

Kat: PERFECTION

                      [ after credits comments]

Giulia: WHAT WAS THAAAAAT

Giulia: OOOH GUYS

Zee: Thanks Satan

Nat: YA ......SO

Kat: See not so much crying as just being mad af

Nat: WELL

Giulia: APOCALYPSE WORLD 2k19. IS THERE GOING TO BE APOCALYPSE AGAIN BECAUSE IM HERE FOR IT

Kat: WE DON’T KNOW

Nat: Alright me has to work I DON'T KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO WITH MY FEELINGS THO

Giulia: GOOD LUCK

Kat: NNNNOOOO SCREAM WITH US

Giulia: DON T STEAL YOGURTS

Kat: OR STAPLERS

Zee: How can y’all still write ??

Nat: I'M THE KWEEN OF STAPLERS

Zee: This was all kinds of fucked up

Kat: Because I’ve been processing for hours

Nat: Good luck with your day babes

Giulia: Ya know imma make that gif with little dean heads and the caption: [CENSORED]

Kat: Can you put my head on hers lol

Giulia: No imma put [CENSORED]

Giulia: That song is gonna be on repeat till next season tho

Kat: But but

Giulia: Because it’s the fucking truth

Zee: Salty this early?

Giulia: And honestly ...that chuck was weird tho I didn’t like him

Zee: Agree

Giulia: That’s why I thought he was not OUR chuck. I’m not that mad at Dean anyway. He did good. Baby….you did good.

Kat: He’s finally showing his true nature

Giulia: But Sam and Cas have my ass ok. Good fucking morning writers. This season I mean. Yeah we all know D. E. A. N. But this season they wrote Sam and Cas in a real emotional way and i can t. Like not just supports to dean character but their own. Loved it

Zee: Who has the rest of you ?

Giulia: Myself. I’m my own woman

Zee: Perfect.

Giulia: And I must say, i did actually liked this end

Kat: I do too More than I thought I would

Giulia: And boy do I want apocalypse world back

Giulia: Also this thing about that chuck. Just reinforce my idea that Cas is going to choose to be human.

Zee: What're six months?

Kat: Makes me wonder how long they knew 15 was gonna be the last

Giulia: Before season 14 , pretty sure. Or at least at the start. Like...they played too much on the letting go and be grateful for the time we had shit

Kat: I think so too

Zee: Imma leave too. Spending the day in the city

Giulia: Same, Spending the day crying

.

.

.

Thank you all for staying with us during this painful season.

See you in season 15, which will be even more painful, but he-heey we are used to it ....right?

. @wayward-angelgirl @destiel-honeypie     @mariekoukie6661     @dragontamerm      @closetspngirl   @rainflowermoon    @mattiecat      @bunnybaby121115  @aliaitee2   @jacks-word-of-the-day     @4evamc       @dammitsammy     @legendary-destiel   @winchesterprincessbride    @destielhoneybee    @castiellover20   @jacks-word-of-the-day  @ravenhg @evvvissticante  @legendary-destiel @dustythewind 

[onepunchmiss]

OPM s2e6 Live Blog

“The Monster Uprising”

Sorry this is later than usual. I’ve been having some personal issues lately that have been rather time consuming. But anyway yall ain’t here for that! So let’s get on with the episode. As always, I’m watching from the perspective of someone who has read both the manga and web comic

Once again, picking up right where we left off! Suiryu finally makes his fighting debut. He’s been introduced like what, 3 episodes ago? But honestly idgaf about him nearly as much as

MAX MY BOI I KNOW HOW THIS ENDS FOR YOU BUT I’M ROUTING FOR YOU ANYWAY. Oh god I gotta say, I forgot Suirya has a couple nightmare faces yikes. Also, I love how the Sea King keeps having an impact on heroes so long after his defeat. First Prisoner during the alien invasion, then Max and I know in just a bit Snek too. What a villain. Jeez, the mildly ominous music really isn’t subtle about making Suiryu out to be antagonistic, yeah? Also, this is the most we’ve heard him talk so far- Suiryu’s voice is exactly what I imagined I love it. MAX NO ITS OK I LOVE YOU ANYWAY AND SUIRYU IS A DICK ITS FINE YOU DID GREAT

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is the sixth episode this season and i STILL pause every time Zombieman is in the intro. Even his tiny silhouette at the end. just

NGAH BEST ONE YET MY BBY GIRL

Ok ok back to the action. Genos makes a good point and I wonder that, too. Saitama broke his limiter through sheer willpower right, like thats crazy but also not THAT crazy. Is he REALLY the only person EVER to have done that thus far (aside from probably blast)? Thankfully no monster ever has otherwise we’d surely know about it. Is Saitama really just THAT insane? Its not even like he had an extreme desire his whole life, he just beat some crab guy and snapped one day? OH OH GENO’S PHONE OS RINGING MONSTERS! MONSTER! MO N S T ER S ! aw wait no go to the monsters hey

OH WAIT NEVERMIND THIS IS OK SNEK SNEK S N E K OK I actually really like him?? He’s like they show’s resident butt-monkey but also just a good guy.

OH HEY THAATS DIFFERENT!?!? Wow ok so in the manga, it just happened by chance that the cheering in the stadium was so loud that no one heard the monster evacuation alarms, but here they’re setting up Bakuzan preemptively as an asshole who actively disregarded the alarm and everyone’s safety (although he kinda has a point?). Because the way he acts later on is clearly not evil enough already? I feel like that’s unnecessary but it doesn’t add or detract from anything really so whatever I guess?

FUCKIN KEK DAVE. Top tier humor ffs the random mundane name joke will never get old fite me ooh Oh good god OK Choze’s face is also terrifying oh no. Dude you don’t need a monster cell you ALREADY LOOK LIKE ONE but OK

YASSS GENOS SLAY YAAASSSSS He finally wins a few rounds WITHOUT losing any limbs! IM JUST! SO EXCITED TO SEE HIM FIGHTING YASSS WAIT NO GO BACK HEKK so much jumping around is making this more difficult to maintain any semblance of coherency asdfghjk

HAH you know what? When I was rereading the manga and came across face ripper, I thought to myself he looks like he would be some tan/ olive/ pale purple color or something so I bet the anime will be like HAHA RED BITCH. and looky here. I’m catching on finally. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Genos my boy my son you are such a bad ass and I love you hhhhhhhhhhhhhh HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAA AWAKENED COCKROACH AWAKENED COCKROACH ALREADY FUCK THIS EPISODE IS HAPPENING FASTER THAN I ANTICIPATED HECK HECK THERE GOES MY HEART RATE I THOUGHT I WAS PREPARED ALAS I AM BUT A FO O L

HAH I think this is anime-only too?? I dont remember it Why is this so funny what the fuck?? “Dark Hell Killing” Juijitsu omg calm down you absolute edgelord literally half of that name would have been sufficient.

FFFFFFFFFF The slowly building intense music just cut off like- I was so distracted by Bakuzam’s freaky murder face i forgot this happened DAMNIT SAITAMA i NEED my LUNGS to BREATH but no i LAFF and then the silence in the stadium turns to TRIUMPHANT MUSIC as if that was some valiant victory and THAT SOUR FACE FACE FUCK IM DEAD ITS TOO GOOD IM DEAD

Aw Tareo Sweetheart its ok noooooo also side note don’t they also mention Metal Bat is hospitalized? Hey! HEY! TALK ABOUT MY OTHER SON WE DONT EVEN SEE HIM FOREVER HEY oh oh I spoke too soon my b my b

Well shit it’s Shiny vs Shiny jeezus. I don’t have a particular issue with the coloring of Genos’ arms and such but this is just very noticable- Roach could’ve done without the SHINE. Eyyyy a complimentary Sonic for all yall SOS fans out there HAH “No matter it’s still fatal” r u sure about that child r u sure

AAHHH THE WIFE AGAINNNN yo I have A Lot Of Thoughts ™ about the females in OPM that I think I’ll make a separate post about because of the inevitable backlash of Super-S’ design.

OH FUCK COOL SHOT COOL COOL OH FUCK THAT WAS COOL TOO OUT OF NO WHERE hey wait was that supposed to be the Hell Storm attack? WHAT REALLY. AW MAN I was getting hyped about how that would look cmon

Super-S with messed up hair is perfection just saying

Also, Tatsumaki is the definition of Yandere and its terrifying jeez.

Terrifying, but also this. HEK

Aw snekm nooooo I BELIEVE IN YOU OK HES A DICK DONT LISTEN TO HIM YOU JUST WAIT A FEW EPISODES SWEETHEART THEN YOULL SEE

Oh weird dude seeing the Madhouse animation in the middle of season 2 is weird  not jarring which is good because at least to me that means JC staff is keeping up well enough but still weirdddd

“Everything about you disgusts me” me too snek DONT LISTEN TO HIM HES A DICK

((((((((((((((((((((ew amai mask go away)))))))))))))))))))))

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I SCREAM FOR THE FIRST TIME OUT LOUD I WAS HONESTLY DOUBTING HED BE SHOWN CAUSE THEY SKIPPED SOME OTHER MONSTERS BEFORE BUT THERE HE IS NYAN NYANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

OOF OUCH I FELT THAT KICK THE IMPACT IN MY BONES

ok post credits scene i have an idea of what it might be and I’m shaking in my seat but hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK

yoooooooooooooooooooooo I WAS NOT IMAGINING GYOROS VOICE LIKE THAT HONESTLY I WAS READING IN ALL IN URSULA’S VOICE LIKE FROM THE LITTLE MERMAID BUT OK THIS IS GOOD OH FUCK GOUKETSU OH HECK OK HEY AT LEAST HES NOT RAINBOW COLORED BUT HECK OH GENOS NO

OH HEY BITCH YOU DIDNT DO SHIT AGAINST METAL BAT YOU GOT LUCKY HE DOESNT COUNT

THERE IS LITERALLY NO AVOIDING IT NOW NEXT WEEK CHILD EMPEROR MY DEAR AND DRIVE KNIGHT AT THE VERY LEAST LIKE THIS IS LITERALLY CONFIRMED AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Good Episode GOOD EPISODE OK so my least favorite thing easily was the cop-out on Fubuki’s Hell Storm attack but otherwise my favorite thing was??? I dont know?? Like this episode was a lot of build up for next week’s episode but also so much happened anyway?? I loved seeing Genos in action and also BDSM Wife AND OROCHI AND GYORO and also also I know a lot of people have an issue with the existence of the tournament thing in general but I don’t mind it because its hilarious honestly and all of the happenings otherwise feel well balanced enough sooooooooo yeah I’m SO PUMPED for next week like bring me THE S CLASS BRING ME BRING 

[mattzerella-sticks]

Buss Down (Bruce Banner/Thor, Steve’s POV, 2.7 k)

Steve forgot the reason he went down to the labs, thoughts derailed after catching a glimpse of Thor's godly assets. Now he finds himself in league with a few others who have made it their mission to keep Thor's bottom up until a certain scientist can't take it anymore before turning green with envy.

It's naughty... but it feels so nice. What's a Boy Scout like Steve to do?

(Link to Ao3)

           Steve walks into the lab to a strange sight. Thor, bent down within a cupboard, his ass pushed out as far as he can make it and his back arched like a smooth valley. He stares, hypnotized by the jiggle of Thor’s cheeks as he rummages around for something. Fingers snap near his ear, and that shocks him out of his trance. Grabbing for the source of the sound, Steve raises his fist. Steve only lowers it down when he realizes it was Tony who snapped.

           Tony winces, “Sorry, forgot that was a trigger…”

           He rolls his eyes, releasing Tony’s shirt from his grip. Steve can’t stay mad, his focus drawn back to the god of thunder.

           Tony snorts, taking him by the arm and leading him away. “Come on,” he says, “if you’re gonna stare at least do it without being a roadblock.”

           Steve blushes, ducking away to gape at him. “I wasn’t… I’m not –“

           “It’s okay, trust me,” Tony says, “We all do it.” They stop at Tony’s worktable, where others have gathered. Natasha, Wanda, Scott, and Sam have spread out across the surface, each gazing at the same spot.

           Steve’s breath stutters. “The hell? What are you all doing down here?”

           “Enjoying the show,” Natasha shrugs, holding the popcorn bowl out to him, shaking it, “Want some?” He pushes it back towards a waiting Scott, who crams a handful into his mouth. A few fall to the floor, but Scott barely notices as somehow Thor’s ass rises higher. Steve’s face flushes a splotchy red.

           “Guys,” Steve whispers harsh and commanding, “This is not okay. Thor’s our friend, we shouldn’t be… ogling him like some painting on the side of a fighter plane!”

           “Wow,” Natasha says, “dated reference much?”

           “That’s not the point –“

           “Steve, chill,” Tony says, arm comfortingly coming to rest on his shoulders, “This is all for a good thing.”

           “…If you say Thor’s ass is the good thing, Tony, I swear –“

           “No, no – well, it is a good thing, but… that’s not what I was talking about.” Suddenly, Tony’s eyes shift and scan the room as if Hydra would swarm in any second. He leans into Steve’s ear and tells him. “We’ve got a bet going on, about who can get Bruce to hulk out and do something about Thor.” Tony then nods his head over to the other scientist a few tables over.

           Steve hadn’t noticed Bruce was in the room at all, an embarrassing misstep given how aware he usually is. But as he takes him in now, Steve sees what Tony meant. While Bruce keeps his eyes glued to his research, his control over his other half is tenuous at best. He holds onto a beaker too tight, a spider web of cracks branching out from where his fingertips meet glass. His tan hands are streaked with green, shaking every few seconds.

           He looks back to Tony. “Why would you want to do that?”

           “Because Bruce has the biggest crush on Thor.”

           This is news to only Steve, as everyone else barely bats an eye after Tony dropped that bit of information turning half his mind to dust. “What?”

           “Yeah, and he won’t do anything about it even though Thor’s totally game,” Tony sighs, dipping his hand into the bowl for a few pieces of popcorn. “So I thought I’d help push things along by dangling Bruce’s favorite piece of our friend in front of his face – really, he should learn how to not talk in his sleep if he’s gonna pass out here.”

           “But then what are all they doing here?” Steve gestures to the rest of them. Wanda slaps his hand down when it blocks their view.

           Sam sighs, joining their conversation. “We all found out what Tony was doing at one point or another and offered to help, I mean… any chance to watch Thor’s ass clap like it’s making thunder.”

           “And you turned it into a bet,” Steve says, pinching the space between his brows. He bites his lip, thinking about what he wants to say next. “Is it only you five involved?”

           “No,” Tony tells him, “There’s also Peter –“

           “Which one?”

           “Both. Quill’s been through the entire galaxy and hasn’t found an ass like Thor’s,” he says, “And what kind of pseudo-father figure would I be if I didn’t encourage Parker’s budding sexuality? I send them both pictures with every new task we give our thunder god.”

           “I seriously can’t believe all of you –“

           Before he could begin his lecture, Thor stands. All around him, the others whine as their sun sets. “I don’t think your phone was in there, Tony.” Steve notices Tony duck his hand, the one clutching said phone, behind the table. Thor notices him before he could reveal their friend’s trick. “Ah, Steve! What brings you down here?”

           Steve nearly answers him with the first thought that comes to mind. He screws his mouth shut before the words ‘your ass’ break free. Instead, he mumbles out between hard-pressed lips a non-committal grunt while he turns into a tomato.

           Thor skews his head to the side, concerned. Tony swoops in and saves Steve though. “He’s just here to hang out, aren’t you Cap?” Steve manages to nod without embarrassing himself. “And about my phone… maybe it’s in the next cabinet over?”

           “Are you sure?” Thor asks, “Maybe it’s somewhere else? I could search one of the shelves up –“

           A chorus of ‘No’ cuts him off, as if Steve and everyone else by Tony’s workstation was a holy choir. Thor’s mouth hangs, eyes darting between them all. Natasha steps in this time. “You know how short Tony is –“

           “Hey!”

           “He never reaches for anything on the shelves on his own, it’s much more likely he dropped it grabbing chemicals or wrenches or something.”

           Steve hides a snicker as Thor takes her suggestion seriously. Thor nods, “Yes, that makes sense. All right, I’ll check the next one.” Without prompting, Thor bends back down and resumes his search. Scott chokes on a piece of popcorn as his butt wiggles and bounces. Sam slaps his hand twice across Scott’s back to dislodge the kernel; Scott coughing it out onto the floor with the other discarded snack pieces.

           “Well,” Tony asks Steve, “you gonna pretend to have the moral high ground or admit you’re enjoying this as much as we are?”

           Steve glares at Thor’s ass as he tells Tony, “Shut up.”

           “See Cap, you’re no better than us!”

           He makes himself comfortable in the gutter, taking Tony’s stool for his own use and pecking at the remaining popcorn. Silence returns as Thor and his ass take center stage. Steve studies the defined curve, curious as to why he’s never noticed it before. All his life, he has appreciated the male form as well as the female one. And he had fully functioning vision – even better than most people’s because of the serum – so Steve knew Thor was gorgeous. Like Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart, but teeming with muscles and surrounded by a cloud of static that followed his wake. Steve assumed that Thor’s eyes were the most beautiful part of him, even now when they’re two different colors. He hadn’t accounted for his lower end. And maybe because it was never on display like it is now. The thin gym shorts leave nothing to the imagination, and Steve’s hand twitches as if to reach out.

           Tony presses himself against Steve’s back. “Hey,” he whispers, “pull yourself away for a sec and look at our friend, Mr. Incredible Self-Control.” Steve glances at Bruce from the corner of his eye, the scientist’s shoulders trembling now. Listening closely, he hears fabric ripping and Bruce muttering mantras. “Looks like I’ll be winning this one.”

           Steve sighs, “When did you all get so ass obsessed?”

           “We’ve always been like this,” Scott says, “I mean, don’t you remember our first plan to defeat Thanos?”

           Shuddering, Steve recalls Clint’s idea and how he demonstrated it with an arrow and a watermelon. They all knew it was a lame attempt at a joke, but Scott seemed too into it at the time. When Thanos was ultimately defeated, Scott was slightly miffed Carol landed the final blow and his size-shifting abilities weren’t utilized the way he wanted.

           “This is insane…”

           “How so?”

           “I… I…” Steve falters, “I mean –“

           “Look, Steve, this isn’t even the craziest thing we’ve made Thor do,” Tony says, “Right guys?”

           They all meek out their assent. Scott tells him how he shrunk down and broke pipes every now and then so Thor could fix them, even if he had no knowledge of plumping. Wanda used her powers to untie Thor’s boots whenever Bruce was around – and sometimes when he wasn’t. Sam started yoga so he could show Thor, and together they would stretch and bend in the common room during Bruce’s breaks from his research. Natasha chose the simplest route, pulling up videos on YouTube and teaching him how to copy the dance moves.

           “I discovered his true namesake,” she chuckled, “Thor, God of the Thunderthighs.” The others laugh at her wordplay, Steve’s brow furrowing in aggravation.

           As much fun as it had been for everyone involved, Steve included, he couldn’t let the bet carry on any longer. Tearing his gaze from the Asgardian’s backside, he puffs his chest up switches into his leadership stance. “This ends now.”

           Tony ignores his order, clapping him on the shoulder. “Sorry, Steve, this goes on until Bruce claims that ass for himself.”

           In between his eye roll and withering sigh, Thor frees himself from the second cabinet. “It’s not there either…” he says, “Tony, where on Midgard could your phone possibly have hidden itself?”

           Like it’s wont to do, Steve’s brain implements a set of actions without having had time to think it all through. Thor provided a great distraction, allowing him to sneak Tony’s phone out from his grip. Then, he dropped it to the floor, thankful that the casing absorbed any sound that might give him away. Steve kicked it a good ways away, watching it slide to a stop a few feet away from Bruce. The only one to notice this is the scientist himself, but with how tightly wound he already was he couldn’t say anything.

           Steve breaks apart from the group, pointing at the phone where it now rests. “Were you all blind this entire time?” he asks loudly, “It’s right over there!” They all turn to where he gestures, startled by his statement. Tony checks his hand, glaring at how empty it was.

           Thor breaks out into a smile, “Steve! You prove yourself the sharpest amongst us once more!” He thanks him for the compliment, following Thor over to Tony’s phone.

           Corralling him so that his backside faces Bruce, Steve nods at Thor, “If you will.”

           Thor bends down. However, as he does so, Steve hooks two fingers into the waistband of his shorts and tugs. Only after he glimpses the forbidden skin does he realize what a bad idea this was. Especially once he sees Thor forwent underwear that day.

           A cacophony of sound surges over him, from Thor’s gasp as the cold air hits his skin to the cry from the peanut gallery at the sight they were treated to. Over it all, however, is the distinct shredding of clothing. Everyone, including Thor, whip over to Bruce. His glasses lie broken in front of him, and his lab coat’s sleeves tatter around his now broad shoulders. Bruce hadn’t turned fully green, but his verdant eyes complement the stripes of similar color highlighting where his veins were.

           “Bruce,” Thor says, fixing his shorts, “What are you… what’s going – woah!” Bruce lifts him over his shoulder, stalking out of the room with furious intent. “Bruce!” Thor shouts over his grunting, “Where are we going?”

           “Bedroom. Now.” Thor’s response remains unknown as the metal doors slide closed behind them, giving the two privacy. Steve watches them leave, sighing in contentment. His calm dissipates when he finds five faces glowering menacingly at him.

           “What?”

           “I can’t believe it,” Sam starts, “All it took was mooning him?”

           “You’re not even in the pool!” Wanda shouts, fingers sparkling with red energy, “How much time and energy I spent untying shoelaces –“

           “That was low, Steve,” Natasha says, “Even for you.”

           Scott kicks at the floor, slumping in on himself. “Now where am I going to look at an ass like his?”

           Tony let the others vent their pent up frustration before stepping forward. He reaches into his pocket and stuffs something into Steve’s hands. Upon closer inspection, he sees several folded bills. “I hope you’re happy Steve,” Tony says, “You can buy yourself lots of charcoal pencils with this allowance.” He whistles, rounding up his troupe and leading them away from the lab as well.

           Steve stays, still confused over what dominoes he knocked over.

Epilogue

           He hasn’t left the Tower yet, going through paperwork Fury sent him from the rebuilt SHIELD compound upstate. Steve sits alone in the break room, rubbing at his tired eyes. There’s only so many times he can stare at numbers before his mind starts shutting down. He’s saved from his duties by the sound of a door opening nearby.

           “Hello Steve,” Thor greets, moving over to the Keurig to make some coffee, “What are you doing here so late?” He can’t speak; too shocked by how his friend wears nothing more than a fresh lab coat that hugs him tight in all the right places. Steve waves his tablet, communicating his tasks silently. Thor understands, smiling. “A leader’s job is never done I suppose. Wouldn’t you rather do this though from your apartment in Brooklyn?”

           Steve shrugs, clearing his throat. “Rather keep a work-life balance…” he says, voice hoarse from the tension.

           Thor chooses not to remark on Steve’s mood, grabbing a nearby mug and pouring his drink into it. All the while, Steve’s conscious harasses him for the terrible thing he did. Circles overhead, calling him names and saying he was no better than the others. He takes all he can until he breaks, when Thor pours sugar into his coffee.

           He apologizes, rushing out his words before they could stick to the roof of his mouth. When he finishes, he clamps his eyes shut and waits for Thor to verbally strike him with lightning. A long beat passes with nothing happened. Steve blinks his eyes open, finding Thor staring at him in confusion, sipping at his coffee.

           “Uh… what was all that?”

           “It was… I’m saying sorry,” Steve tells him, “For exposing your… you know.”

           Thor clucks his tongue, understanding. “Oh, you don’t have to apologize for that.”

           Steve splutters, features morphing to express his frustration. “What do you mean?”

           Setting his coffee down, Thor leans against the counter. “It was all a part of the bet wasn’t it?”

           “You knew about the bet?”

           “Of course I knew about the bet,” Thor chuckles, “You think I didn’t notice everyone staring at me like the juiciest leg of mutton left on the banquet table?”

           “Then why… why did you –“

           “Go along with it all?” he says, “It’s not like I’m ashamed of my blessings. Plus I love the attention, especially from a certain nerdy scientist with anger issues…”

           “So you’re fine with all that happened?” Steve asks, “What I…”

           “I got what I wanted, and you won the bet,” Thor says, smirking, “All in a day’s work, I say.”

           The weight in Steve’s stomach still doesn’t sit right. He digs around for the money Tony gave him, pushing it across the breakfast table and over towards Thor. “You should have this, I don’t feel comfortable –“

           “Nonsense, Steve,” Thor says, “You won that fairly. To the victor belong the spoils.”

           “You deserve it though, for putting up with all of us.”

           Thor shoves the money back across towards Steve before walking over to the door. He pauses, glancing at him over his shoulder. “You should know me well enough by now that I don’t put up with anything I can’t handle. And like I said… I got everything I need from this.” He winks, leaving Steve alone in the break room once more.

           Steve sighs, staring at his dirty money. “I’ll give it to Bruce,” he decides, “He won’t turn down free money.”