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itsclydebitches · 4 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Divide”

Hello, everyone, and welcome back! It feels good to be doing some normal RWBY-ing in this strange world of ours. First, some supplementary materials.

Number One: In response to any (valid) questions along the lines of, “Hey Clyde, it’s now been a full year since Volume 7 was airing and you still haven’t answered my ask about it. Or the ones about Volume 6… what’s up with that?” I’ve created what I hope is an informative video detailing the problem:

vimeo

(I assure you, the Earth, Wind & Fire was a happy accident during the screen recording.)

Needless to say, there’s a lot and I’ve known for some time now that I will LITERALLY never get through all my asks. Which doesn’t mean I don’t want you to send future thoughts in! Just know that as we head into Volume 8 territory I’ll most likely prioritize those, as well as any Volume 7 asks that aren’t woefully out of date. But I do want everyone to know that I read all the asks I receive, appreciate them immensely, and think too much about hypothetical answers, even if I don’t have time to actually write them out 💜

Number Two: There’s a bingo board this year!

Jury’s out on whether I’ll remember to update it, but at the very least this serves as a decent glimpse into my — and others’ — expectations going into this volume.

Number Three: I’ve collected a list of things I’ve heard about Volume 8 from what seem to be reputable sources. I did this because RT is developing a tendency to talk up certain points and then fail to deliver, either because something was taken out of a volume/moved to another, or because RT apparently has radically different ideas about what including something means. So this might be handy to keep on file and ask ourselves two months from now, “Did RT actually deliver on what they promised?”

Emphasis on Ruby’s leadership and how Summer’s death has impacted her

Insight into Ren and Nora’s flaws

May Merigold will supposedly have a larger part

More information about The Long Memory (Ozpin’s cane)

Theme of the volume is that you can respect someone but that doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with them

Very short timeline (supposedly just two days)

Yang in particular is very suspicious and distrustful

I was also going to include a list of all the threads that need to be continued/wrapped up, but honestly that would have taken too large a chunk off my life. Let’s just throw out the highlights:

Are we really going to have Qrow gunning for Ironwood?

Clover is dead regardless. Press ‘F’ to pay respects

Oscar bb you got shot please acknowledge this

Ozpin bb you got done dirty please acknowledge this

Penny is a Maiden now. I feel like the fandom has been sleeping on this (myself included)

Queer baiting, queer baiting… you’re on thin ice at this point, RWBY. Just skate on over to the queer snack bar before you fall straight into the lake.

Ren spill your deep dark secret already and it had better be something more than just ‘Oh no Nora might someday die :( ’

Salem is here so how the actual fuck is the cast surviving this?

Will Ironwood likewise survive his descent into antagonism? Yes or please yes no?

I think that’s all the biggies. I strive to keep lists like this in mind while analyzing, but honestly RWBY has a hundred moving parts that are abandoned or changed or simply retconned at the drop of a hat. So an attempt will be made.

Number Four (last one I promise!): Normal disclaimers and reminders for Recaps apply:

Please don’t fill up the already full inbox with flames. It’s still 2020. No one has time for that nonsense.

There will absolutely be typos and wonky parts because I try to get these out the same day an episode premieres. I have now been working on this for ten hours, nearly straight, and have no more energy for edits. Apologies in advance and RIP to my Saturdays.

I reserve the right to use stupid GIFs and memes at my discretion.

I strive to keep my focus on recapping/analyzing but salt tends to worm its way in… If you’re a die-hard RWBY fan with little patience for criticism, let alone (at times) snarky criticism, please proceed with caution.

No wait I lied, this is the last thing:

Okay, got that out of my system LET’S DO THIS!

We start not with the episode itself but rather Rooster Teeth’s (RT’s) strange non-promotion of it. If you follow my blog you may have caught the post where I pointed out that there was nothing on RT’s website to suggest that one of their most popular shows—if not the most popular show—was premiering today. Nothing on the main page. Nothing on the RWBY page either, not unless you count the Volume 8 poster background (easily mistaken for the Volume 7 poster) and the trailer buried all the way down past Episodes, past Merch, in the Bonus Features section along with videos like Live From Remnant and the volume intros. RT… the promotion of your feature show is not a bonus. This should be front and center! Honest to god, five minutes before the episode dropped I was checking the website for a Volume 8 section, a countdown, anything that would tell me the episode was imminent without relying on fans on tumblr to keep me in the loop. We got nada, zilch. I’m not sure whether that speaks more to RT’s iffy management of the series or simply the website’s horrible design—RIP losing RWBY on Youtube—but I was surprised when I saw the episode a few minutes after 11:00am. At that point I honestly expected to hear about a dely.

So that’s the mood I entered the premiere in, but truly? We start off strong. Things take a pretty severe nosedive later on, we’ll get to that, but I was impressed with our beginning and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that we start with our villains.

We open on a Cinderella character, Cinder, and thus I’m immediately pleased that we’re getting something about her backstory after all this time. Seven years! She appeared in episode one, folks! To say we’re overdue is an understatement. There isn’t a whole lot to go on, just a younger Cinder sadly scrubbing the floor, poised under a spotlight. What we learn, or potentially learn, is based far more in cultural knowledge than this scene. We know Cinderella’s story, which includes the abusive family, the longing for more, the eventual escape, and thus we’re able to read all of that in this image, despite the image itself not telling us any of this overtly. That means we could be wrong in our interpretation, but if we’re not it’s an easy shorthand in an already packed story.

What I’m really impressed with is the sound bridge between the scrubbing and her nails on the back of Neo’s chair. Fantastic way to confirm that this is Cinder as well as showcasing just how far she’s come. The sound of her labor has been replaced with the sound of her power and given that Cinder’s power is stolen, tied to a grimm arm, the property of a genocidal maniac… that’s messed up. It’s a Cinderella story gone wrong.

So yeah, Cinder tells Neo to head straight into the creepy, grimm infested blood cloud to see Salem and Neo is like, ‘Uh… no thank you?’ lol.

RT does a good job this episode with her expressions, ensuring we know exactly what she’s thinking despite an unwillingness/inability to speak.

Poor Neo might be in too deep, but I quite like the overall atmosphere of this opening. Say what we will about Salem’s awful characterization, at least she has style. This woman knows how to make an entrance and, piggybacking off of the Apathy, RT knows how to infuse horror elements into their fantasy. The red and purple coloring of the clouds, spiked whale teeth peeking through, bright orange in the background looking like explosions… that’s all 👌 Including the intro card.

The only thing I want to gripe about is this:

I’m sorry, why does the whale grimm have landing pads? Or something like it?? The whale otherwise works because it’s poised between the natural and the fantasy synthetic. It looks like a real grimm whale on the outside, but is sporting a throne room, a control panel, and other unnatural elements on the inside. It’s a visual indicator of Salem’s ability to control and change grimm. Now though, the additions are wrong, infringing on the line between organic and tech, the line between what helps the grimm individually (giving monkeys wings) and what just helps Salem. Every other aspect of the whale straddles that line wonderfully, adding to the creep factor, like a grimm version of the Uncanny Valley: it’s not quite a whale anymore… but landing pads? That looks ridiculous. Why does Salem even have that? How many ships are her people feasibly using? Why are there five?

Take it away, please.

Cinder waltzes in like this is a normal home visit, but Neo has an appropriate ‘What the actual fuck?’ face going on.

They approach Salem on her throne where Cinder immediately kneels, greeting her with, “My queen.” I mentioned during my trailer breakdown that I think Cinder is lying her ass off here, and I still think that based on a line we’ll get in a minute, but now at least we have a sense of how she can pull this off. A woman who started out as a (presumed) servant is going to know how to mimic subservience, even if her heart isn’t in it. Salem is very good at playing the girl who will still kneel and scrub the floor for you. She will scrub the floor, she’ll do everything you want, she’ll just be plotting her own rise to power while she does it.

There’s quite a bit of interesting cinematography in this episode, not all of it good, and I think one of the mistakes is here when we get a closeup on Salem’s mouth as she greets Cinder. A closeup like that should be reserved for more significant dialogue—“Rosebud”—and yet we get this shot again when Cinder tells Emerald to be quiet. It’s awkward and coupled with the numerous eye closeups we got in the trailer, I think RT is playing a little fast and loose with the camera. Each shot should add something to the scene, not distract from it. If you don’t have a reason for including a technique like that then leave it be.

Back to the actual dialogue though. We knew that Salem knew Cinder was alive and now it seems that she just expected her to come back? I’m slightly lost. It feels like we’re missing something here. Cinder goes off to secure the lamp, fails, nearly dies, wanders on her own for months, and then randomly shows back up on Salem’s whale doorstep, yet Salem isn’t angry at all? Did she have faith that Cinder would return when she has something to offer? Did she just not care about Cinder, considering her return an unnecessary but otherwise welcome surprise? That would make the least sense given that she holds the key to accessing Beacon’s relic… but that circles right back around to why Salem is seemingly indifferent to Cinder’s comings and goings. Surely she can’t actually believe that Cinder is loyal?

“So I trust you wouldn’t return to me empty handed,” she says. Yeah, trust means nothing in this show, Salem, didn’t you watch Volumes 6 and 7? Again, I simply don’t know. I suppose I’ll just chalk it up to confidence, that if Cinder did bail Salem knew she could track her down again. Deciphering her motivations and beliefs is a lost cause when the show continually gives us so little.

The important thing now is that Cinder does indeed have an offering and you can see that Salem is somewhat surprised at being handed the relic.

Cinder, of course, takes credit for the victory and we’re given another wonderful shot of Neo. ‘YOU took it?’

Oh, Neo. Best get out while you still can.

Tyrian appears having obviously made his way to Salem’s ship sometime between her arrival and now. The exchange is pretty standard for this group. He insults Cinder for failing and needing this victory to make amends, talks about how any win against Ironwood says more about his lack of intelligence than her skill, and Cinder… doesn’t have a whole lot of comebacks, actually. I’d say Tyrian won that verbal spar, enhanced by a better use of the camera when we get his tail looming menacingly towards Cinder and Neo.

He goes on to say that Watts was a “necessary sacrifice” so, uh… I’m just going to toss out the ask I answered yesterday. Based on our intro I’d say Watts is still significant to the volume—hacking Penny is my guess—but by the end? He could be in trouble.

(As a side note: I plan to analyze the intro next week. It’s just easier when it comes first.)

Tyrian also calls Neo “little one” which I just found absolutely hilarious. In an on brand creepy manner, that is. Not that Neo couldn’t kick his ass, but there’s something wonderfully chilling about having the serial killer use an endearment towards a potential victim, one that comments on her size while he’s looming.

In contrast, Cinder refers to Neo as a “valuable asset” and we get our third mood of the episode.

Who’s going to start a Neo reaction image collection?

It’s true enough on the surface—who wouldn’t want an ally who can turn into anyone else?—but we’re still bumping up against question of why Salem needs this. She’s immortal! She has an endless army! Magic! This scene works well with a villain who needs a skillset like Neo’s to succeed, but Salem doesn’t. RT is doing a great job writing a story thus far, just not the story we’ve previously been given. This isn’t the story they set up.

This will come back up when we reach the RWBYJNOR group. Just wait.

Before that though, the gang’s all here as Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel show up, all in new outfits.

I think I like everything except for the weird Xs on Emerald’s jacket—it’s way too distracting and frankly makes an otherwise good look ugly—and the fact that she’s showing her midriff in Atlas. Hazel doesn’t have any sleeves! Oh my god, why doesn’t anyone dress for the weather in this show?

Frankly, I found their reunion to be kind of lackluster. I mean, there was nothing wrong with it. Emerald does sound briefly excited, she does run, and it’s in character for Cinder to cut her off… it just didn’t resonate with me emotionally. I thought after two volumes of thinking she’s dead, then working through the knowledge that she’s alive, that I would feel Emerald’s shock and relief more, but I didn’t. And I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t want to level any accusations at the voice acting because frankly I know next to nothing about that skill (and from what I’ve seen it’s usually praised in the fandom), but I will say that throughout the premiere I was noticing it more than I ever have before. The lack of emotion here and some awkward deliveries later, like when Yang goes, “Ruby, there is no way Ironwood will cooperate with us” and I immediately thought, “Wow, that came out stilted.” These observations stick with me because, as said, voice acting usually isn’t on my radar. It’s not something I’ve studied or had practice analyzing. If you’d never told me that Ren or Qrow’s VA changed then after a year hiatus I literally wouldn’t notice… but there’s something about this episode that didn’t sit right. Anyone else get that sense, or was it just me?

Regardless, the arrival of our other three villains really doesn’t amount to much, though I’m happy for all the Emerald and Mercury fans who get to see them in new outfits. The focus is still on Cinder as she delivers a line indicative of her true motivations: “That power will be mine.” Yeah, she’s not loyal to Salem, she’s just power hungry. Of course, Salem immediately takes note of this and raises her hand, in another nice use of the foreground, reminding her that she hasn’t given that order.

Cinder is shocked, angry even, but quickly covers it up with her “Without you I am nothing” line. If I caught it right I think she also calls Salem “Ma’am”? Hilarious. Again, skilled at playing the servant.

Also, before I forget, it’s worth noting that almost everything from our trailer appeared in this episode. Yeah, there are a few details like Nora attacking some tech and the group on their bikes, but on the whole we’ve already seen the majority of our promo material and will likely get most of the rest next week. It makes me both interested and nervous for what another twelve episodes are going to hold.

Salem opens her whale, or opens a portal type view in it, something that gives us a long-distance look at Atlas. I don’t know what exactly is going on here, but it’s pretty so I’ll take it.

She also delivers the frankly badass line, “Just because you’re more valuable to me than a pawn does not make you a player.”

She waves them all away with perfect ‘You mean nothing to me’ attitude and we sadly leave our villains.

Sad not because I don’t love my farm boy, but because things are about to get a whole lot messier.

Oscar has made his way to a camp of civilian survivors… all of whom are just hanging out in the supposedly deadly cold. Yeah, there’s a single fire, but at least four of them aren’t anywhere near it. Three of them also aren’t wearing gloves. What was that survival rate again?

A nice if gruff dude gives Oscar soup—water?—while showing off his… badger claws? I don’t know what kind of faunus he’s supposed to be, but he feels like the sort of two second, minor character who could easily become a meme lol.

Oscar thanks him (my polite son!) and hands the bowl back after a single sip. Which is impressive because I would have assumed the guy was giving me the whole bowl and just taken it. Hell, I’ve done that even when I didn’t assume it’s all for me. A Starbucks barista once approached me with a tray and a plate of samples, I knew I was supposed to take just one, yet for some reason my hand went to take the whole goddamn plate. He had to tell me off, then I was trying to explain that I didn’t actually want or think I should have eight shots of cappuccino all to myself, I don’t even like coffee, he clearly didn’t believe me… it was awkward. So good job, Oscar. You’re less awkward than me (though that’s not saying much).

Now a question, Oscar. Darling. Brilliant boy who has been through too much: why the fuck aren’t you talking to Ozpin? This will be A Thing later when he presents a lack of time to talk as justification for keeping more secrets (we’ll get to that too…) yet here is time! You’re just sitting there for who knows how long, with plenty of privacy to hide a supposedly one-sided conversation so the Mantle citizens don’t get weirded out or suspicious. Talk to Ozpin. Our headmaster gets two lines in this episode, utterly inconsequential lines like his airship scene, lines that feel like they exist to say, “See? He’s still included in the story!” even though he absolutely is not. Two volumes of mostly silence, a perfect setup to start the reconciliation process, but we’re going to put it off again?

Instead Ruby randomly and conveniently appears. I want to know how she found him. Oscar isn’t wearing a tracker. He clearly didn’t call them because he’s surprised when Ruby shows up. He fell alllllllll the way back down to Mantle and then wandered to a random part of the slums. You’re telling me they flew over the entire city—after beginning this search thinking he was in Atlas—and somehow managed to spot him from up in the air? C’mon. I would have rather had a beginning where Oscar makes his way back to the group himself, giving him and Ozpin time to hash things out.

“Need a lift?” Ruby says, eliminating that potential. Sigh.

Oscar immediately starts beating himself up when he gets onboard, saying that he “was stupid to think the General would listen.” Nah, you were stupid to buy into Ruby’s nonsensical confidence and for telling Ironwood he’s as bad as Salem. Sorry, Oscar, but everyone is written badly these days. I will, however, say that I am THRILLED at the group’s reaction to his return. Ruby says that she’s “just glad you’re alright.” Nora has a wonderfully tender moment where she hugs him gently rather than her usual glomp.

That? That added a year to my life. Everyone else seems relieved that he’s okay too, so kudos there. After four years of Oscar being an outsider in the group, this is one of the few moments that feel like he’s 100% accepted. Really glad to see it.

Now let’s see if it sticks after they learn Ozpin is back...

They fly to the Happy Huntresses’ base and I again feel like I’ve missed something crucial. When did they team up? I mean, RWBYJNOR was working directly under Ironwood up until the last hour and Robyn ran off to fight Tyrian/Clover in the last couple episodes. When did she have time to explain her (briefly) changed allegiance and why would the Happy Huntresses trust the group without that? Did Robyn share that Blake and Yang went behind Ironwood’s back for her? Do the Huntresses instinctively trust them because they’re now wanted by the military? How did they even run into each other?

Again, I think we would have been better served to have an episode before all this. Let Oscar make his way back and let the group struggle with the magnitude of their situation on the airship, before they find new allies. Transferring directly to, “They have help and a secret base and a plan in the works!” makes me feel like I missed the real premiere last week. You know, the one where Salem unexpectedly arrived and we left the group like this.

This is where we’ve ended up though. The group is cozy in this hideout, getting info from Joanna, and my only other thought is, “Why is she giving all this exposition?”

Shouldn’t it be May? I mean, we were told that she was going to play more of a role this volume, a promise that’s pretty important imo given her status as a (so far off screen) trans character, so why not put her in the role of mediator between the Happy Huntresses and RWBYJNR? Giving her that setup as a leader among her people as well as lots of lines would be meaningful. A trans character just existing and being a part of this fight! May could obviously still fill that role—I’m well aware that we’re only one episode in—but it just seems like a missed opportunity to me. Out of all the undeveloped Happy Huntresses, our premiere focuses on the one who has the least importance to the fandom.

As said, Joanna talks a fair bit but what it basically boils down to is trying to get everyone to the crater below Atlas. It’s apparently not safe, but it’s warm, which is what matters right now.

So… let me get this straight. You want to gather everyone into a not safe crater, by leading them through an army of grimm, so that they can wait there in case someone moves the Staff, thus dropping an entire city on top of their heads? That’s the plan? Which admittedly isn’t Joanna’s fault. This is another instance of RWBYJNOR having information that a leader does not and they should really consider speaking up about it. But of course they don’t.

Also, how long does everyone have in regards to the cold? Shouldn’t there be dead civilians by now? The time it would take to find the Happy Huntresses, team up with them, get settled in the base, and find Oscar says that things should be pretty grim right now (pardon the pun), yet every non-aura user in this city seems content to just hang out in the snow. Either the cold is deadly enough to justify moving everyone to the crater, or it’s mild enough to let everyone survive this long, not both.

After hugs are given everyone obviously wants to know what happened to Oscar. His response?

“It’s a… long story. I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.”

That’s a check for the bingo card! We’re halfway through the first episode and we’ve already got another secret. Yes, this is a secret. Oscar actively chooses not to tell anyone that Ozpin is back—something Ozpin himself comments on—and then skillfully draws attention away from himself with “I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.” Indeed, all eyes go to Penny. Oscar’s plight is forgotten, which is what he wanted. His justification?

Ozpin: “You’re not going to tell them?”

Oscar: “You and I aren’t done talking yet.”

Along with this look.

Oscar no. There’s so much wrong with this I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s create a list.

As said, you had plenty of time to talk to Ozpin and chose not to. Miss me with this excuse.

You are now doing to your friends exactly what you and your friends did to Ironwood, which in turn is what Ozpin did to you! I can’t believe we’ve got Oscar critically side-eyeing him when they are still—still—repeating the behavior they drove Ozpin away for.

What is there to even talk about now? Oscar didn’t punch himself/Ozpin (lol) but he did steal Jinn’s name from Ozpin in the first place. You got what you wanted, drove him away, and have been lying and keeping secrets ever since. The only thing they should be talking about involves apologizing. Any further criticism—which is what Oscar’s expression and curt reply suggests—is beyond hypocritical.

Seriously, what needs to be discussed? There’s no reason not to tell the group unless Oscar wants to talk about whether they should tell them. There’s no good ending here...

Don’t you think it would be nice to know that Ozpin is back and you’ve got super magic powers while making plans to save the entire world?

This is all especially stupid given Oscar’s “Salem wants to divide us” reminder to Ruby in a moment. Oscar, you are doing the most to divide the group right now. By not forgiving Ozpin. By refusing to work with him. By keeping him secret from everyone else.

This is bad, friends, I worry for what the rest of the volume will bring…

The story is done with Ozpin for now so I guess I will be too. The group continues filling Oscar in and we get some shots of the base, including a rather prominent poster of what I assume are two Happy Huntresses. Did they die in battle perhaps?

It’s a little strange.

Oscar: “Where’s Qrow?”

Me: “Likely still making bad decisions.”

No one knows so they just drop it. Which I kind of get, only so much you can do to find him if he’s not out on the streets like Oscar, but it still reads as kind of iffy that two nieces look down at the ground for a hot second and then move on with their plans, content to leave Qrow to whatever fate befell him. In a minute we’ll see Yang firmly take Ren’s side regarding helping the people they can in Mantle, which frankly comes out of nowhere for her. I think an easy motivation would have been Qrow. Ruby wants to save the world, Yang wants to find and save their uncle, and that just happens to align with Ren’s desire to save the civilians who need immediate grimm and cold help. Don’t get me wrong, I like that there’s finally some division between the sisters, I just wish it hadn’t come about so abruptly. Ren had setup for standing up to Ruby. Yang did not.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Joanna lists the grimm horde and no heat as the major threats to everyone. The group agrees.

Me: What about Salem?

Joanna says that this is all doubly dangerous because there’s “no more military protection.”

Me: Oh, so now you want the military?

This is all so disjointed. Even more-so when Joanna mentions that Ironwood has stopped all evacuations to Atlas, likely due to the “hard light shields” that are the only thing standing between Salem and the city. Thing is, the show never makes this connection, I just did it myself based on this scene and the one that comes later. The show presents Joanna’s line as a pure condemnation. Ironwood won’t let more evacuees in because… he’s just evil, I guess. Yet there is a justification here, namely that continuing the evacuations even while he’s stuck without Penny leaves him wide open to a Salem attack, the death of everyone currently safe, but that argument is never presented to the viewer. I don’t need people to agree with Ironwood’s perspective, I just wish that perspective was offered as an option. The show is very good about acting like RWBYJNOR’s opinion is the only justified opinion, or simply the only opinion at all.

After everything is laid out Weiss goes, “We’re never going to sleep again, I just know it.”

I could make a crack about the lack of continuity and how the group should be collapsing right now… but that was a funny line. It can stay.

What is far more of a problem is the fact that no one is talking about Salem. Okay, that’s a lie. They do talk about her, but in a roundabout way like her presence isn’t impacting every decision they make. That’s the real issue. They’re acting as if Salem isn’t here right now, like she’s off far away, maybe approaching slowly, and they’re arguing over how best to prep the world for her eventual attack. There’s no emotion here—let alone action—to reflect that the series’ Big Bad has arrived and is poised to murder them all. Literally what is this? Ruby is yelling about warning the world and, ignoring the continued question of why that’s a good thing when the world can do nothing to stop Salem and knowledge of her continually drives people to horrible acts, she has yet to acknowledge that… she’s the world? Ruby is the world in this conflict. She, Mantle, and Atlas. Salem is here for you all. Right now. You are, this instant, in the situation you want to warn others about, so why don’t you try to do something about it? Or at least acknowledge it. Ruby wants to warn the neighborhood about a potential fire while her house is actively ablaze, and the fire could have totally killed her by now but decided not to for… reasons.

“Ruby’s right,” Nora says. They have to tell the world so “they can prepare.” How? How are they supposed to prepare for this? The story cannot continue ignoring Salem’s immortality.

“Ruby’s right,” is all Blake says and I’m starting to thinks that’s why her character exists now, to agree with Ruby. It’s great that she’s getting a little distance from Yang, but man.

As Ruby asks whether Pietro can get Amity up and running despite it not being finished (called it) we start an incredibly odd sequence of flashforwards to their individual missions. I’ve seen a lot of praise for this already and though I agree that, in theory, it’s a good way to save time, I found the actual execution to be jarring. Upon thinking back through our timeline, it became clear they were flashforwards, but while watching I thought they might be flashbacks (especially since that’s more common).

Some of the shots, like Nora’s, just look awkward when you’ve got the exact expression and pose transplanted from one scene to another, like she’s a cardboard cutout behind a green screen. To say nothing of how the flashforwards ruin any suspense (I use that word loosely) in the conversation itself. If the question is, “Will they decide to go to the military compound?” then that question is answered when we see Ruby scoping out the compound, not when the group actually decides on the course of action.

It just made an already muddled scene worse for me, so I hope this trend doesn’t continue.

And of course, Amity can be used despite all the info last volume claiming that it wasn’t finished. Pietro suddenly acts like it is finished and the only thing standing in their way is Ironwood providing access. If that were the case, he would have used Amity weeks or days ago like he wanted to! When was it finished? Not after Watts commented on how incomplete it was. When did they get back the resources they needed from Robyn? It’s as ridiculous and retcon-y as I thought it would be.

Yang points out that Ironwood will never listen to them and Ruby counters that “he doesn’t have to.” They’ll just take the access from him. Because why wouldn’t they in a series where they’ve already stolen two airships? Stealing from the super evil military that Joanna wishes were helping them right now is just the group’s go-to plan nowadays.

Pietro isn’t sold on this plan though. He lists at least three obstacles they’d need to get through “and then… oh boy, I might need to think about this some more.” “And just to clarify,” Oscar says, “This is the easy option?” Um...no it’s not? We also know there’s an access point in Ironwood’s office so… why not go there instead? They really think the Academy is less guarded than the military base? There’s a potential justification here along the lines of, “After Neo and Cinder broke into his office Ironwood will have the place on high alert,” but unless I missed it the group doesn’t assume anything like that. They just listen to Pietro point out all the ways they can’t get into the military base and jump straight to that being the best option. It feels like a transparent way to create conflict for the group. We’ll just have them taking the most dangerous route despite an easy route being offered alongside it. Why bother mentioning his office at all? Just have the access in the military base. Boom, done.

It’s that conflict and the fact that Ruby tends to hear “You can’t” and digs in her heels. You can’t go to Atlas. I’ll just steal a ship then. You can’t defeat Salem. Watch me. You can’t break into this base. Guess what I’m doing! She’s dangerous in her fairy tale, meta-driven insistence that everything will turn out her way because she wants it to.

Speaking of, we finally—FINALLY—get someone challenging Ruby. Sort of. Not actually but it’s the closest we’ve ever gotten:

Yang: “Ruby, when we came here we said we’d follow your lead… but things haven’t exactly worked out.”

Now, there are two things to take away from this moment. The first is how utterly shocked Ruby and the others are. I mean, take a look at these expressions.

Ruby straight up can’t believe what she’s hearing. Weiss put her hand to her mouth like this is the most dramatic thing to ever happen to her. Oscar looks down in a ‘Yeah, I agree but please don’t look at me and make me admit that’ way. And Nora looks indifferent in the screenshot but animated she goes sort of stern, likely pissed that Yang would dare say that given her own agreement with Ruby. This not only reiterates that Yang’s challenge came out of nowhere—seriously, how did we move from following Ruby no matter what to this? Last volume she asked a single question along the lines of, ‘You sure?’ and when Ruby said ‘Yes’ Yang was entirely on board—but also demonstrates that no one has EVER said no to her before. Ruby is amazed that someone would challenge her. The act of challenging Ruby is, in and of itself, shocking. This group has gotten so used to following Ruby blindly that the teensiest little pushback is greeted with this.

Because it is teensy. This is the second takeaway: Yang barely challenges her and that challenge leads nowhere. She doesn’t accuse Ruby of anything, she doesn’t question her continued authority, she just broadly implies that things could be better. We followed you, now things are bad, take from that what you will. It’s incredibly mild as far as criticism goes, making the shock all the more, well, shocking, but it also amounts to—wait for it—nothing! Because Yang didn’t truly challenge Ruby’s leadership. She’s still in charge, she’s still calling the shots, and they’re still listening to her. We might have gotten some change if this division had been allowed to play out, but instead Jaune comes in with a, “Let’s go for both!” solution. It let’s both groups get what they want which, in turn, releases them from the need to grapple with whether they’ll listen to Ruby when she’s advocating for something they don’t agree with. We have now lost the chance to see whether, when push comes to shove, Ren and Yang will cave to Ruby’s will or stick by their own beliefs.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s more conflict than we’ve gotten in years, but that doesn’t mean it’s particularly compelling conflict. It’s good by RWBY’s standards, which doesn’t necessarily make it good. The actual issues at hand—Ruby’s dangerous arrogance, the group’s loyalty, her choices up until now—are just swept under the rug. For all the visuals we get insisting that there’s this great divide in the group… there’s really not. Not in any way that matters.

Also, Ruby is an idiot. Okay, that was mean, but she really is in this scene. She’s actually not an idiot overall because she was written as wonderfully intelligent in the early volumes, but now? Lately? She makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

“But that’s how Salem got this far,” she cries. “By dividing us!”

Ruby… oh my god, Ruby. No one should have to explain to you that dividing people means turning them against each other, not literally dividing your team to complete separate tasks. This girl honestly thought that because there was this teensy disagreement and that half the team would complete Plan A while she and the other half completed Plan B, both of which notably work towards the goal of, “Protect people from Salem,” that this was somehow what Salem wanted. That is was dangerous. Honestly, it’s a scary look at her view of leadership too: If everyone doesn’t 100% agree with me and do what I say, that’s an objectively bad thing that the grimm queen wants, right? Does Ruby think that unification means following a single person (her) without question or variation? That would explain a lot...

The fact that Oscar needs to explain the difference to her is not good. It really doesn’t say great things about this version of Ruby. Though he was comparing Ironwood to Salem last volume, so really they should all be wearing dunce hats.

Penny offers to take the relic directly to Salem in exchange for her leaving the kingdom alone. I honestly didn’t expect that. If anyone took that risk I would have put my money on Ozpin (but of course, during all this talk of the women he knows best, he’s kept quiet). Oscar is again the voice of wisdom, pointing out that they have no reassurance that Salem will keep her word. At least Penny is thinking about Salem as a threat though, so kudos for that. When this plan is shot down she volunteers to get Ruby past the military security instead and, uh, she’s a little intense about it.

I’m not entirely sure what is going on with Penny. She disagreed with Winter but then seemed to come around to her point of view, enough to help anyway. They had another (stupid) disagreement about the value of individual lives, so that helps to explain why she’s teaming up with RWBYJNOR (if you ignore that Ironwood is also trying to save individual lives...). Did watching Fria die shake her up? Is it being the Winter Maiden that’s not sitting right? Does Penny have lingering feelings about the framing that haven’t shown up until now? Her status as a ‘real girl’? We’ve got a lot of reasons that could definitely explain this sudden need to fight, but we’re not told which—if any of these—is the driving force.

We’re then given a lot of little details. Someone points out that if Salem gets the staff and “create[s] anything else” then Atlas will fall (so yeah, let’s move the people underneath it). We still don’t know what exactly the Staff does because “creation” is kind of broad and “powering a city to float” doesn’t seem to sit within that category at all. Pietro gives Yang the keys to his lab so they can get the bikes. We see the group dividing in the flashforwards, something I do like, especially since the show has gone out of its way to break up most of the usual duos. Nora in particular is pissed at Ren for his choice.

“Oh, I’m saving Mantle because I actually believe we can do this.”

#yikes. Well, I did say I wanted a conflict other than ‘Oh no, one of us might die’ and it looks like I got it. But Nora, the only reason you can do this is because the plot is in your corner: none of you are collapsing from two major fights, you didn’t lose your aura so the cold isn’t a danger, the military is barely a threat all of a sudden, Salem is helpfully hanging out in her whale instead of killing you, and the story decided that Amity can function so long as you all are the ones who get to use it. That’s why you can do this. Ren, who follows in-world logic and doesn’t want to risk a whole kingdom’s worth of lives on a pipe dream, thinks differently, oddly enough.

As they leave though Penny gets a call from Ironwood. I know precisely what the fandom is going to say here: “This evil man is just trying to use Penny to open the vault!” Of course he is. He needs it open to save everyone he can, Penny included. Plus the concept of “using” her is a double-edged sword. What do we think the group is doing right now? Using her to get past the security. Penny’s power is a tool any way you slice it. Granted, Penny volunteers to help the group, but notably here Ruby speaks for her. Penny seems torn and Ruby takes the scroll away with, “She’s not going anywhere until you change your mind about Mantle.”

Sorry, Ruby, but coming from you that sounds less like a reassurance for Penny and more like just an order for Ironwood. Remember Harriet? We’ll stop attacking you provided you do what we want. Ruby has yet to learn about compromises, let alone acknowledge that she might be wrong. How about you let Penny decide where she goes, especially since by all logic she should have a lot of loyalty to Ironwood. She knew him before she ever met you. She’s worked with him since she was rebuild post-Volume 3. Despite what Penny has said, if the story would just let her think about his actions for a hot second—making her the protector of Mantle, sticking up for her after the framing, sending her to the party, teaming her up with Ruby, etc.—she might realize that the ‘He doesn’t want me to have friends’ and ‘He just treats me like a tool’ assumptions are just that, unfounded assumptions. But no, Ruby speaks for them both because Ironwood is evil now.

“If she makes it through our defenses,” Ironwood says, “everything that follows will be on your hands.”

That’s true! Kind of like how it’s own Qrow’s hands that Clover died. When you insist on making a bad situation worse you hold responsibility when the shit hits the fan. You know though that Salem won’t get through their defenses now, somehow, so that there’s no chance RWBYJNOR will be blamed for it. Or, by that point Ironwood will be so crazed that anything coming out of his mouth is dismissed, no matter how accurate it might be.

We then transfer to the Ace Ops who are, despite what the fandom theorized for many months, clearly upset about Clover. Also pissed. Which they have every right to be. Their friend and leader was killed. Imagine for a moment that Ruby had been murdered by Tyrian with an allies’ help. Exactly what do you think the group would do? Swallow it quietly and get over it? Ha.

I’ve already seen some speculation that Clover survived due to details like showing us the bandage and his room being listed as for a “Patient,” but he looks pretty dead to me.

He got gutted through the chest and left out in the snow for who knows how long. We saw him slip away. Qrow screamed over his dead body. He’s not breathing now. If RWBY suddenly claims he survived this, I’m calling BS.

Most of the other visuals we get here were already dropped in the trailer. Winter is pretty injured from her encounter with Cinder, likely permanently based on her new outfit. Ironwood had to replace his arm—and I am calling BS on that “Losing his arm is reflective of him losing his humanity” commentary from RT. Please go read up on a couple decades worth of ableism in media and then get back to me.

We get Ironwood’s line about the light shields and, notably, a whole lot of empathy. Regardless of what he might want Penny for, he still called her with compassion. He’s watching the Ace Ops mourn their friend. He’s talking about protecting his kingdom. The first thing he says to Winter is, “Thank you, Winter. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Ironwood has a heart! It’s always on display, which makes this scene utterly ridiculous.

I literally don’t know how to respond to this. The gunshot made me jump, both because it’s a gunshot and because, again, what the fuck? I know I said that next volume RT might just have Ironwood descend into full villainy, shooting whoever he pleases now that he’s shot Oscar, but I didn’t actually expect them to do it. Because he never should have shot Oscar in the first place! I wanted the story to let Oscar grapple with it a bit and then quietly backtrack, acknowledging it as the mistake it was. The concept that Ironwood, empathetic Ironwood, rational Ironwood, always thinks before he acts Ironwood, let’s kids yell at him Ironwood, tried to team up with Robyn Ironwood, did everything Ruby wanted Ironwood, won’t kill Watts after he destroyed his arm Ironwood would shoot this guy just to shut him up is absurd. It was absurd then, it’s absurd now.

That being said, there’s a possibility he didn’t actually shoot the council member, but rather just (“just”) gave a warning shot down the hallway. I say this because the reactions to this are pretty tame. Everyone looks startled, yeah, but after the initial shot there’s nothing that I would expect if there was now a guy bleeding out on the floor. The council woman doesn’t scream. Winter doesn’t seem overly shocked. No one is running to try and help him. Basically, if Ironwood had just killed a political figure in front of six witnesses, entirely unprovoked, I would expect a bit more of a reaction than this. This feels far more like a, “Damn he’s not joking around, letting off warning shots to get people to leave him alone” not “WOW, our general just killed someone in cold blood!”

What I really hate though—beyond just assassinating his character—is how many fans think my friends and I are delusional for calling it character assassination at all. I hopped onto the RWBY tag for five minutes this morning and was bombarded with posts about how Ironwood needs to be murdered horrifically, anyone who likes him is sick, the Ironwood stans are as bad as Adam stans, you’re an idiot if you want him redeemed… because apparently the concept of a story writing a character badly doesn’t compute. I’m not here to argue that Ironwood didn’t do these awful things (regardless of whether he actually killed the guy or not). I’m not here to argue that they’re not awful. I’m just here to say that we never should have gotten these scenes in the first place, or if we were going to get them, we deserved an actual descent into murder at the drop of a hat territory. I’ve already explained extensively on this blog how early Ironwood was not accurate foreshadowing for this, and Volume 7 certainly wasn’t setup, but it looks like the majority of fans aren’t interested in examining whether any of this adds up. Which makes my job, as someone trying to examine this series somewhat objectively—in as much as that’s possible for any single viewer—as well as simply enjoy it as a show, really hard. It’s bad enough when a story keeps taking the characters you love and villainizing them, and doing that badly, but then when you turn to the community and see them rallying around the idea that you’re awful for being dissatisfied—you’re the bootlicker, you’re the blind stan, you can’t see what’s ‘really’ going on here… that sucks. For those of you happy and satisfied with Ironwood’s arc, that’s great! I’ve also seen a lot of posts hyping up the complexity of his character now. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying what we’ve been given and I’d never want to imply that just because it’s not what I wanted it’s somehow wrong. I’m honestly thrilled that after a year of worry so many people have adored our premiere, including this scene. I just wish that I could say RWBY had given me something I didn’t want in a persuasive manner and that the fandom as a whole was a bit more welcoming of differing criticisms.

Not that I didn’t already know the RWBY fandom had its flaws, but still lol.

That’s basically it for our premiere. Nice note to end on, huh? Our final scene is of Salem using the lamp to set her bloodhound grimm on the city. Why doesn’t she just go herself? What was she planning to do here in Atlas in the first place, considering that getting the relic was a surprise? Who knows. Little about this holds together. But we do end with another awesome shot, so small favors.

It’s always strange concluding a recap, but even more-so when it’s a premiere, during a historical moment in the U.S., amidst all the nonsense that is 2020. So for now I’ll just conclude with three quick things:

The updated bingo board will be listed at the end of each recap, provided I don’t forget about it lol. Today I’m checking off tone (not nearly enough freaking out about Salem), the team keeping secrets (Oscar), and major plot point dropped (Amity is suddenly finished). I could also probably check off the cold not killing civilians and getting Amity up and running, but we’ll see if any changes with those.

I’m including my Ko-Fi link at the end of recaps now. Not with any expectations. Not with anything resembling pressure. I thought long and hard over whether to include it at all—let alone mention it here—because I love doing these and never want anyone to feel like it comes with strings attached. But life is a little harder and weirder than it was last year, so I figure it can’t hurt. Feel free to pass on by and I won’t be bringing it up past this note.

Far more importantly: thank you for reading! :D

(Bonus 4. Editing this was an absolute nightmare — damn you, tumblr! — so I apologize if anything is super wonky when I finally post.)

See you next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps

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kagetsukai · 4 years ago

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OTP ship questions

So... this ship questions list has been making the rounds, and since I’m neck-deep in trying to finish up the story for Sam and Benji, I’ve decided to fill out ALL OF THEM. In one go. I’m extra, sue me.

(under a cut cuz I actually like you people) :P

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

1. How did they first meet?

Sam moved to Wayhaven and into Benji’s apartment complex. They didn’t start talking until Sam was getting mugged while on her run, Benji jumped in to help her, and then she punched him on accident. Benji does like to call it “love at first punch”

2. What was their first impression of each other?

Total heart eyes on both sides. They are both total cuties and they were eyeing each other before they actually started talking. Benji thought Sam was a little withdrawn and grumpy, while Sam thought Benji was really weird for grinning like a maniac all the time.

3. Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?

I mean, Tina was the driving force from the very beginning and super invested in those two idiots getting together. Once it was apparent how cute Sam and Benji were together, the entire damn town wanted them to get/stay together. Sam’s cousin Liz was like “please enjoy yourself with the man”. Hell, even Benji’s ex was happy for them!

4. Who felt romantic feelings first?

Benji. The man wears his heart on his sleeve AND is incapable of holding back. He also has more experience with knowing what such emotions feel like so he can recognize them quicker. He’ll also claim that he fell in love with Sam the moment she punched him, so there’s that.

5. Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

Both of them, actually! There’s a time limit on how long Sam will be staying in Wayhaven so both of them knew falling in love was a very bad idea. But they are so well-suited for each other that it was inevitable.

6. If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

I think there would be an overwhelming “hell yeah!” on both accounts, because of how strongly they feel for each other. Sam would feel a sense of relief, because she grew up hearing stories of how her sperm donor (aka bio dad) just impregnated her mother and left her behind, so knowing Benji would actually stay and love her would be a happy news. Benji would be ecstatic to know Sam is his soulmate and would probably tell everybody who stopped long enough to be told. Deep down, he’d still doubt himself and the knowledge, because he has a long history of abandonment. Even with regular reminders, he’d still be afraid that Sam would decide one day that there had been a mistake and leave.

7. What would their lives be like if they had never met?

Sam would become a bonafide workaholic with a limited number of friends - to Liz’s constant frustration. If she managed to find someone that she liked well enough, she’d probably settle down with them eventually, but maybe not feel a great passion for them. Just a decent, average life in California.

Benji would have gotten together with Felix and have a happy, fulfilled life with him. He’d probably get turned into a vampire at some point, too.

GENERAL

1. Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

Benji initiated it. Sam rejected the idea of dating at first, but after some cajoling, she agreed to keep going out with him.

2. Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

The first date was very casual and not really an official date - they went for dinner at a crab shack. Their second date was a little more dressy, with a dinner and a movie, and they both put in more effort into everything.

3. What was their first kiss like?

Amazing. Sam got a little tipsy and decided to leave a lipstick print on Benji’s neck as a way of “flirting”. Since the man is a slut for neck kisses, he took that as an invitation to have proper kisses and smooched her senseless right there and then. Sam did NOT complain.

4. Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

Sam had never had sex with a man before Benji (only had experiences with women), so it was a big deal when it happened. Benji made sure to take it slow and gave her a fantastic first-time experience.

5. What’s their height difference? Age difference?

Sam is 5’10 and Benji is 6’3, so there’s about 5 inches of difference between them. There’s about 2.5 years of difference between them in age.

6. What’s their relationship with each other’s families?

Sam ends up having a decent relationship with Rebecca, after some time. It’s a little difficult to interact with someone who is barely around, but Sam tries to be nice all the same (since it’s important to Benji). She definitely has a much closer relationship with Benji’s found family, Tina and all the older ladies who appointed themselves Benji’s guardians. They all love Sam dearly and the feeling is mutual.

Benji has a fantastic relationship with Liz and her husband/kids. The kids in particular looooove hanging off Benji and using him like a jungle gym. Benji and Liz have this pact of sorts where they would murder a bitch in order to protect Sam from harm - and be each other’s alibi, too. They did start off on a slightly wrong foot, but it got cleared up quickly. That being said, Benji is not fond of Sam’s extended family - they can be challenging.

7. Who takes the lead in social situations?

Benji, always. He’s the resident extrovert and will behave like a shield for when Sam feels overwhelmed with crowds or situations.

8. Who gets jealous easier?

Benji. He rarely acts on the emotion, though. At the beginning of the relationship, he’d just get quiet and in his own head a lot; later on he’d casually bring it to Sam to make sure he has nothing to worry about.

Sam still gets jealous, though it’s not as common. After all, her man is fucking sexy and *of course* women would want to poach him. Gotta stay vigilant.

9. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear?

They are BOTH culprits of that one. Very often those are VERY explicit things, but mostly it’s just passing comments or even just sexy glances. Those two are *into* each other.

LOVE

1. Who said “I love you” first?

Sam, strangely enough. Having your life flash before your eyes sure makes you more willing to take chances with love ;)

2. What are their primary love languages?

Sam

Give: Acts of service, touch Receive: Quality time, touch

Benji: Give: Quality time, touch Receive: Touch, quality time

3. Who uses cheesy pick-up lines?

Benji, hands down. He’s a cheeseball.

4. How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?

As often as they can get away with it. They are both touch starved idiots with a variety of abandonment issues, so being glued to each other is a natural state for them.

5. Who initiates kisses?

Benji, more often than not. He craves that physical reassurance from Sam ALL the time.

6. Who’s the big and little spoon?

Benji will want to be the little spoon as often as he can get away with it. He loves being held and having his hair played with, so settling half of his body into Sam’s lap is literally his favorite thing. That being said, when they sleep, he’s usually the big spoon.

7. What are their favorite things to do together?

Hiking and being active. When Benji was recovering from his stint at the hospital after Murphy, Sam would go with him on hikes to make sure he wasn’t pushing himself too much physically. Then they never stopped. Benji loves going places to photograph Sam for the millionth time. They will also go to the gym together, if their schedules align. They also love doing the couch potato things together: watching movies/Netflix or him playing video games while her feet are draped all over him as she reads her current murder mystery.

8. Who’s better at comforting the other?

Sam might be just a little better at it than Benji, but only because he has shitty impulse control and often will blurt out things he shouldn’t. Sam will generally sit and listen to Benji, cuddle him, pet his hair, etc. Benji will do similar things, but his need to crack jokes about inappropriate things gets him in trouble relatively often.

9. Who’s more protective?

Benji. He would NOT hesitate to murder a person in cold blood to keep Sam safe. It’s not exactly a healthy thing, but we all know the man needs therapy.

10. Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

Benji is a cuddle monster and would be wrapped around Sam 24/7 if allowed. That being said, since Sam is a little reserved about verbalizing her feelings for him, anytime she says “I love you” first, he feels absolutely ecstatic.

Sam’s family wasn’t a very outwardly affectionate people, so she’s not used to either type of displays? That being said, since Benji is always a walking furnace, she absolutely loves when he gives her cuddles. It’s her favorite thing.

11. What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

*opens up their playlist*

Camila Cabello - Easy Amber Run - I Found Dermot Kennedy - Power Over Me X Ambassador - Unsteady Hozier - Work Song

12. What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

Benji calls Sam “baby” all the time. She usually just calls him Benji, but also occasionally “mi carino” or “my love”. Pretty sure he dies every time she calls him “my love”.

13. Who remembers the little things?

I feel like they’re both pretty good about remembering the little things. Sam is better about remembering significant dates, but that’s because she has a digital calendar and isn’t afraid to use it :P

DOMESTIC LIFE

1. If they get married, who proposes?

Benji is the one who proposes. It happens on a random night while getting ready for bed, while they’re both in the bathroom in their bedclothes. It’s adorable and very them.

2. What’s the wedding like? Who attends?

The wedding would most likely happen in Wayhaven. I can’t imagine either Benji or Sam wanting a huge ceremony, but since they’ve become the town’s favorite lovebirds, it kind of goes out of control. Once some of their supernatural friends get involved, it really goes a little crazy. It ends up happening at a city park so it can fit all of the attendees. Some of Sam’s family flies in from out of town. Tina is Benji’s best “man” and Liz is Sam’s matron of honor. Benji absolutely loses his shit when he sees Sam in the wedding dress walking down the aisle and totally disrupts the ceremony to try to kiss her out of turn. Other than a ridiculous number of people there (seriously, probably at least half of the town shows up), it’s a pretty chill party, with lots of remembrance of Sam’s mom and Benji’s dad. Let’s just say it was a good day :)

3. How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?

There are a few AUs for these dorks, but in most of those they have two kids: a girl and a boy. Ella is precocious, outgoing, clever, and energetic. Liam is a giant cuddle bug with a gorgeous smile and a big heart, who prefers to tinker with things in a workshop than get involved with his older sister’s shenanigans.

4. Do they have any pets?

They eventually end up with two dogs that they take on their hikes. They only have one dog for the longest time because apartment living isn’t exactly conducive to pet ownership. Once they get a house, they expand their menagerie. There might be a stray cat they sorta adopt, too.

5. Who’s the stricter parent?

Sam, hands down. Benji is a giant pushover for his wife and children, and would let his kids climb all over him, as long as they were happy.

6. Who worries the most?

That really depends on what about. Benji is perpetually worried about keeping his family safe and provided for. Sam has anxiety about a variety of small things and it’s not hard for her to worry about random stuff.

7. Who kills the bugs in the house?

Depends on the bugs. Benji loathes spiders so Sam’s in charge of removing those. Sam absolutely cannot deal with centipedes and roaches, so Benji gets to kill those.

8. How do they celebrate holidays?

When it’s just the two of them, they either go visit one of their friends in town and spend it with them. Once kids arrive, they do holidays at home and tend to go big in the food department. Rebecca is always invited, but it depends on whether she can make it that time or not. They like it when holidays are warm and filled with happiness/laughter.

9. Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

Benji. If he’s not working that morning, he would not want to leave the bed and would do everything in his power to keep Sam in there.

10. Who’s the better cook?

Sam. Benji isn’t terrible at it, but Sam is so much better that he rarely bothers with it. Also, Sam tends to treat cooking as stress relief (chopping veggies is great anger management), so he lets her do the thing in peace. That being said, if she’s too tired to cook, or it’s been a long day, or the kids are demanding her attention, Benji feels comfortable enough in the kitchen to take over and make dinner.

11. Who likes to dance?

Sam, hands down. Her mom loved to dance so she grew up around it. Unfortunately, Benji has two left feet so she doesn’t have many opportunities to flex those muscles (outside of occasional slow-dancing in the kitchen). She will occasionally drag Tina out for a night of dancing and go to a salsa club. It can really hit the spot.

#oc: Samantha Lopez #foc: Benjamin Fox #Samji #the ship that occupies my brain #living rent free in my head

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mysterioh · 5 years ago

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The Ignorant Beauty and The Beast of New York - Ch. 14

PAIRING: MOB!STEVE ROGERS X READER

SYNOPSIS: Y/N is an exhausted bio major. Steve is danger with a capital DANGER. She thinks he’s a sarcastic prick with an impressive knowledge of art history. He thinks she’s cute even if she’s only running on one brain cell. All he wants is a single date, but she’s adamant upon denying.

Warnings: mentions of death and light depressive thoughts.

A/N: I reached 400 followers today! Which is my first month anniversary! Wow thank you so much for all the love! 🥰

Masterlist

Stay With Me

Steve waits in his car, tapping his fingers along to the beat of a lazy tune he was humming. His fingers brushed along the four ring symbol embedded into the center of the steering wheel of his Audi R8.

The windows were down letting the heated rays of the sun shine on his arm lining the window pane.

It was one of those weird days again. A clear sunny day in the middle of January. Being an avid lover of hating the cold, he wasn't complaining, but he knew that an out-of-place summer day in midwinter was a foreboding omen that Mother Nature was brewing a deadly storm.

He sighs looking to his side and out the window to see students walk by. Some in a hurry and others not so much. His lips twist into a crooked smile when he catches a few passersby ogling the curves of his car like she's some hot babe on the beach. Some of them even spotting the Adonis sitting inside, lowering their glasses to get a real good look. He liked the attention.

Steve was never taught to be prideful. What was his today could be someone else's tomorrow. But as a rich man, he couldn't not show off a bit. And where else to show off than in front of his girl's school?

Well, she wasn't "his girl" yet but he liked to think she was. No harm in that? Right?

Steve sits back in his seat folding his hands over his chest while smiling to himself. He texted you earlier saying he'd pick you up from class today for the sole reason of saying he missed you.

You obviously argued with a burning blush on your cheeks, saying you could go home on your own. He only replied with a "I'll pick you up at three."

It's fifteen minutes past three and he's wondering where you are. He gets out of the car to stretch his legs and get a good dose of Vitamin D. He leans against the car, one pocket in his hand, the other holding his phone, thumb tapping away until he finds your contact.

"You better not be dipping." He texts.

The typing bubble pops up almost right away.

"Don't get your panties all in a bunch. I just had to make study group plans."

He smiles, starting to type something snarky. He stops half way when you send another text.

"God, I can see your hideous face from all the way over here. 👹"

He looks up and sees you walking over, bag slung over one shoulder with a textbook in your hand. He smiles and waves as you approach him with two girls.

"Hey, loser," you greeted with a lazy salute.

He snorts, slipping his phone into his pocket. "Have you looked in the mirror lately?" he retorted.

Your lips form into a pout and you huff through your nose.

"Are you going to introduce us to your friend, Y/N?" One of the girls asked with a sly grin. She was pale skinned with jet black hair and striking blue eyes.

"Oh, um, this is Steve," you pointed at him. "Steve, these are my friends. Jane and Darcy," you introduced by motioning to each one.

"Hi nice to meet ya," he waved.

"Sooo," Darcy drawled. "Are you Y/N's boyfriend?"

Steve's cheeks tint a light pink and the girls don't miss it. They chuckled as he started spewing out random words. "Uh well uhm, I don't–"

"Tsk, tsk, Y/N," Darcy teased, "you leading him on?"

"It's not like that!" You retorted, a bit loud.

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before," Jane spoke up. "Are you a model or something?" She asked.

Steve laughs heartily. "No, no, I'm not, but thanks for the compliment."

"Back off, Jane!" Darcy exclaimed, a common trace of mischief streaking her tone. "That's Y/N's man!"

"Darcy!" You grumbled, clutching the book in your hand tighter and ready to swing at her if she didn't shut up.

"Oh my gosh, of course, I'm so sorry," Jane chuckled. You sink behind your book as Steve scratches the back of his neck in embarrassment. "You two make a really cute couple," she complimented.

Steve beams at her words. "Thanks!" He exclaims. You glare at him, eyes shooting daggers at him. Sadly, it does nothing to stop him from smiling like an idiot. Nothing ever really did.

"Woah, fancy car you got here," Darcy remarked, sliding her hand against jetblack metal. "Imported?"

"All the way from Germany," Steve boasted with a smile. He was proud of his baby.

Darcy smirks at his tone, she looks over to you. "You have good taste," she winks and Steve can't help but let out a chuckle.

You swing your book at her, face red from her constant teasing. "Oh shut up!"

She takes a step back, laughing like a maniac. Jane hooks her arm in Darcy's.

"C'mon, Darcy, let's go," she tugs on her arm with a wicked grin splayed on her face. "We don't want Y/N, to be late for her date."

"It's not–oh forget it," you gave up, your shoulders dropping in defeat.

"Have fun, you two," Jane waves goodbye.

"You two need a ride?" He offered.

"No, not this time, but maybe the next," Jane replied with a smile as they headed off.

You groaned quietly. "Shall we go now?" Steve asked with a smile.

"I guess so," you nodded, walking to the other side. You open the door and get inside. "Sorry, they're kind of annoying."

"No, I like them," Steve shakes his head, starting the car.

"Like dissolves with like, I suppose," you shrugged.

Steve rolls his eyes as he shifts into drive and gets out of the curb. "Alright, Princess, where to?"

"Home would be nice," you replied, looking out the window, secretly swooning because of his nickname.

He boldly takes your hand resting on the textbook in your lap and tugs on it gently. You look over at him. It’s a sight to behold, one hand over the steering wheel and the other in yours. It's a picture you like and there's a strange feeling of intimacy in it all.

He shares his eyes between you and the street as he asks a question.

"The long way or the short way?"

You chuckled, wishing he wasn't so cute.

"The long way, please."

"Do they call you Godfather?" you asked without any context.

Steve chuckles, walking beside you in the park beside the East River and under the Brooklyn Bridge.

"No, that'd be kinda weird if they did," he replied. "Besides that's an Italian thing and I'm Irish."

"Right, I guess my view of the mob is very skewed," you said.

"Maybe just a little," he chuckles and measuring with his hand.

"So when did you actually start?" you asked. "Like how'd you know this was what you wanted to do?"

"My family's been running the Brooklyn mob for ages," he informs. "I was the next in line so I had to take it."

"You were forced into it?"

"No, not like that, it's more of a duty, an honor so to speak," he replied. "It just seems kind of wrong if I left everything my ancestors built to screw around."

"I get that," you nodded.

"Does it bother you?" He asked.

"What?"

"Me being in the mob," he elaborated, feeling somewhat ashamed.

"No, not really," you shrugged with a shake of the head. "Okay, maybe when I'm being chased down the street it does," you said, a chuckle coloring your words and he chuckles along. "But other than that I'm alright. I believe you shouldn't really judge a book by its cover," you smiled at him and he follows.

You skipped around him and over to the side of the path, stepping onto the blocks that held the fence along the river. Your fingers curl around the metal rods, letting you balance yourself on top.

Your hair twirls in the briny breeze that passes by as hues of orange and pink begin to paint the sky. Steve stands beside you, his back to the river, head turned to look up at you.

"So what about your family?" You asked.

Steve tenses for a second. "Just me,” he replies with a lopsided small. “My mom died of cancer when I was a kid. So my dad raised me by himself,” he turns over and rests his elbows on the rail.

“He never got married again?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “He didn’t want to. He used to say no one could ever be Sarah and he didn’t want anyone else but her.”

“He really loved her, didn’t he?” you said.

Steve turned to you with a smile, the wind blowing through his blonde locks. “He did,” he smiled sadly, “They’re happy together now.”

“What happened to him?”

“He was killed a while back. Got shot through the heart three times,” Steve told you. Truth is, he hated talking about it.

“Because he was the kingpin,” you connected the dots. He nodded and a cold shiver runs down your spine. The reality of the mob really started to sink in.

“Don't you ever feel afraid? That they might do the same to you?”

Steve raised his shoulder in a half shrug. “Not really. I've been in the mob all my life. I’ve never really felt like I needed to be afraid,” he explained, “Besides it’s not like I really have much to stay for, if I left I don’t think it’d really change the course of things.”

Your lips part to speak but there aren’t any words. Steve never seemed like the one who’d have such grim thoughts. He was cheerful and warm as if he didn’t have a care in the world. But anyone could wear a mask. That was something you knew all too well.

Steve notices sadness written on your face and he takes your hand in his. “But lately I’ve been thinking,” he brushes his thumb over of your hand, admiring how soft it is, “that might not be entirely true.”

“It isn’t,” you replied with a shy smile, “I can name a couple of people that’d want you to stay. Me, being the first.”

He smiles with a quiet chuckle, pulling you closer by the hand. “Yeah? I thought you hated me?”

“No, I don’t hate you,” you retorted with a roll of the eyes, “I don’t really know what is that I feel when it comes to you but it’s certainly not that.”

Your back hits the railing behind as he turns to stand in front of you. He gives you a smile that is so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness and it sends an unexpected warmth through you. “You’re really cute when you talk like that,”

Your cheeks burn bright, laughing at him. “You know you’re the first guy to ever make me blush so hard,” you told him with a shy smile.

Steve dips his head, leaning into your space. “I guess that makes me special?”

“Maybe just a little,” you mused. He rests his forehead against yours and the two of you start giggling like children.

When you look at him, Steve smiles warmly like the morning light, but there’s something solemn swimming in his eyes.

“Y/N, about what happened that night," he recalled.

“Yeah?”

“Um, I-” he tries to find the words. “It’s just. It’s not going to go away. They’ll come back and it could get worse. Maybe not tomorrow but someday,” he warned. “What I’m really trying to say is that as long as you’re with me it’ll be dangerous.”

“Are you telling me to leave?” you asked, your voice laced with worry.

“No," he shakes his head in denial. He says it too fast, maybe a bit needy. "Never," he intertwined his fingers with yours. “Only when you want to. But I’m hoping you’ll stay.”

A small smile forms on your face. “I want to stay," you replied. Your hands squeeze his tightly in assurance, keeping him from floating off into space. "With you."

Steve's heart fluttered like a butterfly caught in a heavy gust of wind. Battered back and forth between thick walls, just trying to make it through without falling.

Steve smiles wide, the blush on his cheeks growing evident. Who would've thought the kingpin could blush so much? Let alone fall so hard for one girl when he had a million on his tail.

He had the world in his hand but all he really wanted was you. And it's like his dream was finally coming true.

"Besides, if anyone tries to mess with me I'll be sure to give 'em what they came for," you remarked, playfully punching him in the chest.

“A real Brooklyn Baby," he jested with a laugh.

“Oh shut up," you retorted, a chuckle coloring your words.

“Make me," he goaded with a grin.

You pulled him gently by the collar of his shirt, bringing him closer until his lips hover over yours. Your breath brushes along his lips, but you don't make another move. You're teasing him and it drives him crazy. Crazy to the point he forgets all that's around him.

Unable to bear the gap in between, Steve takes your face in his hands and pulls you into a bruising kiss. Your arms wrap around his neck by instinct, pulling him in deeper.

By the cool currents of the East River and under the fading heat of the setting sun, you feel warm in his arms and loved in his embrace like there's nowhere else in the world you could ever truly belong.

TAG LIST (OPEN): @ashwarren32 @scuzmunkie @chuckennuggets1213 @rootcrop @siriusement @savedbystark @little-dark-empress @imsonick @great-goddess-of-sin @calwitch @achishisha @captainchrisstan @thirstybunz @littlebees-things @voltage-my2dlove @booktease21 @rinkashirikitateku @harleyscheekheart @allegra-writes @dancingunicorn113 @miraclesoflove

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stardustryewriting · 4 years ago

Text

A Learning Process (2)

Part 1 3 4 5

AO3: here

Social Learning

It’s been exactly three days, since the mess that was initially meant to be ‘a fun shopping trip together’. Since then, the only interaction between Bakugou and Midoriya had been angry looks Bakugou threw at him, whenever he had the audacity to breathe too loudly. Or when he looked like he wanted to talk to Bakugou. Or every time his head decided it was time to think about feelings again. Bakugou didn’t really feel bad. He was convinced it was all Deku’s fault anyway, for dating such a social airhead.

Said social airhead didn’t like Bakugou throwing mean looks at his boyfriend. More often than not, Todoroki gave his own mean looks back or he even said something about it. Bakugou was close to challenging Todoroki, both to settle the argument and to blow off some steam, but he wasn’t really into the idea of getting house arrest from Aizawa, again. So he just showed him the finger, every now and again.

Something which always, without fail, got Kirishima on his case, saying that his attitude was ‘uncalled for’. And maybe, yeah, he had a point. But also, there was a part in Bakugou that loved all the attention he got from Kirishima, a voice in his head that demanded more. His hatred for that voice translated to the outside and he told Kirishima to get off his case.

So, everything was going great.

And then everything had to go to hell. There wasn’t even any time to prepare, Bakugou didn’t see the storm coming. ‘The storm’ came very inconspicuously, in the form of Kirishima knocking on his door, to ask if he wanted to play a game of Monopoly with him and the rest of the gang. Bakugou wanted to protest that there wasn’t a ‘gang’, only people who insisted on spending time with them, but he thought better of it. He had that argument with Kirishima one too many times. Then he simply wanted to say no. He couldn’t do that either.

Because, of course, it was Kirishima, who asked. If it had been Kaminari or Sero or even fucking Mina, he could’ve easily said no. But when Kirishima asked and then looked at him - eyes shining hopefully, lips turned into an expectant smile - there was no way Bakugou could say no. The voice in his head yelled ‘yes’ very enthusiastically. He toned that enthusiasm down several notches and threw in some annoyance to keep up appearances. Kirishima was impressively not impressed.

“Great”, he cheered and walked ahead to the elevator, “we meet in the common room in thirty. Don’t be late.”

Bakugou wanted to scream that he’d never been late in his life, how dare Kirishima imply otherwise, but he thought better of it. That would make him seem lame. Kirishima was always going on about manly men, being lame didn’t fit into that scheme. Bakugou paused, wanting to hit himself for that thought. It didn’t matter what kind of men Kirishima liked. And even if it did (again, it didn’t), that wouldn’t mean Bakugou would just simply change himself. Who even knew if Kirishima liked men like that?

Bakugou kicked his trashcan hard, in an attempt to get his mind off these things. The result was him being distracted and his room being a mess. He really needed to let off some steam soon. Or make a real attempt of sorting through his feelings.

Maybe Aizawa’s potential house arrest wasn’t that bad.

__________________

Monopoly proved to be very bad for Bakugou’s blood pressure. It started out very tame, except for Mina getting three throws - and by extension three properties - in her first turn, because of her way too good luck. Bakugou’s got himself one of the pink properties, which was decent enough. Kirishima also got a pink property and started bothering him about trading almost instantly. Sero got one of the train stations, which was nothing special, so Bakugou paid him no mind and Kaminari was deemed the loser of the first round, when he bought a light blue property.

It turned out that was the biggest mistake of the evening.

An hour later, with almost all of the properties on the board gone, Kaminari looked more and more like the winner. How he did it was beyond Bakugou and everyone else in their circle. He really only owned the light blue properties, but he somehow managed to get four houses on each of them and landing there took a big chip on everybody's wallet. Sero proved so very impressively, two times in a row.

Meanwhile Mina, who had the infamous dark blue properties, was a minor inconvenience at best. She only had one measly house and even though it still hurt, it was nothing compared to what Kaminari took from them, every time someone was unfortunate enough to land on his field. At this point, jail was the best option. He was really envious of Kirishima, who spent most of his time there.

He and Kirishima had formed an alliance halfway through, when Mina and Sero turned mad at Bakugou for refusing to trade and threw money at Kaminari, while encouraging him to build houses. Kirishima stuck by him - accusing Mina, Sero and Kaminari of bad sportsmanship - and Bakugou in turn helped him complete the pink street. Kirishima only had two houses on each of his properties, but he made decent enough money to not be in constant danger. He also told Bakugou not to worry, should he ever land on Kaminari’s property, because he would bail him out. Mina and Sero immediately used this statement to declare bad sportsmanship.

“Okay, as long as you don’t throw a five, seven or eight, you’re safe”, Kirishima declared, nodding at Bakugou encouragingly, as if that would help. As if the outcome of the throw was determined by anything other than sheer luck. This wasn’t the luckiest evening of Bakugou’s life. Nonetheless he took a deep breath, he could feel the tension in his fingers. Landing on Kaminari’s property now would cost more than he currently had. He couldn’t afford it. He let go of the dice, watched them spin and hoped against common sense, that Kirishima wishing him luck would be helpful in any sort of way.

It wasn’t.

The dice showed a seven. Kaminari and Mina erupted in cheerful laughter, Sero happily declared himself ‘Not-the-first-to-be-bankrupt’ and Bakugou wanted to blast all three of them to smithereens. He probably would have done it, too, hadn’t he been interrupted by Kirishima at the very last second.

“How much do you need?”, Kirishima asked urgently, while Mina, Sero and Kaminari still happily celebrated Bakugou’s apparent defeat in the background. That surely wouldn’t last long.

“About four hundred”, Bakugou grumbled, while his friends slowly calmed down, focusing on him and demanding money they knew he didn’t have. He could see Kirishima moving out of the corner of his eyes, while he stared the other idiots down, hoping it would calm them down. It didn’t really, but it felt better than just sitting there and doing nothing.

“Here.”

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Kirishima waving money under his nose, grinning like a maniac. Bakugou raised his eyebrows in a silent question and Kirishima rolled his eyes at him, like he was an idiot. Bakugou would be offended, if he were any less confused.

“It’s 450 Ms”, Kirishima explained, calling the Monopoly money ‘Ms’, because none of them could figure out how the currency was actually called, “to bail you out of your debt.”

That got the other three idiots back on track, protesting loudly against Kirishima just giving Bakugou money, because ‘That’s not how the game works’. Kirishima shrugged, reminding them of them just giving money to Kaminari near the beginning, while still waving his money into Bakugou’s face.

“I don’t want your money”, Bakugou finally said. Not because the three idiots protested, he couldn’t care less about what any of them thought, but because he’s always prided himself on his sportsmanship. He could win without any support and he could win even when his opponents didn’t hold themselves back. He had to, if he wanted to be number one.

“Just take my money. I’ll be your sugar daddy!”, Kirishima said jokingly, winking at him playfully and eliciting a laugh from all of their friends. Except Bakugou didn’t laugh, because his mind went immediately into the gutter. He took the money out of Kirishima’s hand swiftly, ignoring the comments on his ‘bad sportsmanship’. Anything to get his mind off of these particular images.

“Fuck off”, he said, more for the effect. It didn't work very well, because his cheeks still felt somewhat hot and Sero wasted no time in pointing that out. Snitch. Kirishima just laughed good-heartedly and then moved on, as if this were a normal occurrence.

And maybe for Kirishima it was just a normal thing, a friendly jab between, well, friends. Nothing big, no harm done. But the voice in Bakugou’s head that had been entirely too insistent that what he felt for Kirishima could be a crush took these words and went wild with them. It took every ounce of self-control Bakugou could muster to not blow himself up for these thoughts, which made concentrating on the game basically impossible. He vaguely registered that Kirishima went back to jail. He heard Mina make a joke about sugar daddies and prostitution. He knew he didn’t stand any chance at all at winning.

He didn’t win in the end. But, to his immense satisfaction, Kaminari didn’t win either. That idiot built hotels on his properties, which in turn meant throwing some of the houses back in the bank. Houses which Kirishima swiftly bought. It only took two more turns and some very unlucky throws for Kaminari to get bankrupt and with the light blue properties also under his belt, Kirishima was deemed the default winner of the round by Mina and Sero, who just gave up. Bakugou, of course, didn't give up, it just wasn’t in his nature. He lost anyway, because Kirishima possessed almost the entire board and lived a happy life in jail, while Bakugou had to pay him. It took only three more rounds for Kirishima to become the ‘Monopoly-Overlord’.

With how happy he looked after he won, Bakugou didn’t have it in him to be mad.

Because really, Kirishima’s eyes sparkling happily, while he humbly gloated about his win, was too good to be mad about. And after he threw his arm over Bakugou’s shoulder to explain that technically, Bakugou won too, because of their alliance, he knew he was a goner. A warm arm over his shoulders and Kirishima close enough that he could feel his breath, that Bakugou’s nose would’ve touched his cheek had he moved his head even slightly, felt like a win in itself. The voice wanted him to move so desperately it almost hurt.

Bakugou moved alright. To push Kirishima’s arm off his shoulders, while declaring the whole game stupid. And to make a very swift retreat, before the voice in his head got any other terrible ideas. He’d take a cold shower and then he’d go to bed. There was an early training session waiting for him, the next day, after all.

And maybe, just maybe, he could humor the thought that he had a crush on Kirishima some more. Just consider it a bit more seriously. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt.

__________________

It was absolutely and without doubt the stupidest thing Bakugou ever considered.

How does one even know if they have a crush? An hour and three google searches later, Bakugou had exactly zero answers. The only thing he accomplished was getting his patience to the lowest level it had in years. Weren’t teenagers supposed to have crushes all the damn time? Apparently it was impossible to even properly define what a crush was.

He wanted to scream at whoever was trying and failing to define stuff like that. Not that Bakugou would ever admit to reading it in the first place. That would make him everyone’s laughing stock until the end of his life. Probably even after that.

‘A brief, but intense infatuation with someone, especially someone unattainable’

This entire thing was so far off the mark, it would have been laughable. If it were any less frustrating that is. ‘Brief’, ‘intense’, ‘someone unattainable’ weren’t really the words he would use describing Kirishima. Or his relationship with Kirishima. Or his feelings towards Kirishima. Then again, Bakugou had no idea how he would describe his feelings towards Kirishima. That was the whole problem.

Nonetheless, he knew that google wasn’t any help in quest to find out about these stupid things, that bugged him more than they had any right to. He just knew that he either needed to figure them out and get rid of them, before they actually messed with his friendship with Kirishima. He liked being friends with that idiot well enough.

But if the internet wasn’t of any help, what would help him then? Unfortunately, there was no ’Feelings 101’ he could consult. And even if there was, Bakugou would probably blast it, if it was written anything like these terrible articles he wasted an hour reading. He could ask someone, but that probably wouldn’t yield any results. Most of his classmates were way more sentimental and in touch with all of their feelings than he was.

Most of them, anyways.

He already knew what a terrible idea that was.

__________________

Nonetheless, the next saturday, after his morning run, he found himself in front of Todoroki’s dorm room. He prayed that the social airhead was both there and alone. If he saw Deku, he would definitely blow something up. And then he would crawl in a hole and die, because even that was better than asking advice from his childhood acquaintance. (Yes, he refused to acknowledge this ‘friendship’ Deku was always going on about.)

He released a deep breath, staring at the door as if it had personally offended him. This is the worst, he said to himself, while simultaneously raising his balled fist to knock. There was no way this would end well. He gave three firm knocks, to not betray his shaking thoughts and waited for Half-and-Half to open the door. It felt like forever. Realistically, it was probably five seconds.

Todoroki opened the door slowly, because other than Bakugou he was in no haste. He did raise his eyebrows just the slightest bit when he saw who was standing in front of his door. Otherwise his facial expression stayed exactly the same. Bakugou could still read the surprise and it irked him, even though he couldn’t exactly be mad about it. There wasn’t really any good reason why Bakugou was standing in front of Todoroki’s door. Even the reason Bakugou had for actually being there felt mediocre at best.

“Bakugou?”, Todoroki said, nearly entirely neutral, so you could barely hear the question in his voice, “Do you need something?”

“I’m not talking about this in the hall”, he grit out, knowing full well he had no right to ask for entrance into Todoroki’s room. Todoroki granted it to him anyway, albeit just by wordlessly taking a step to the side to let Bakugou through the door. Bakugou made his way inside quickly, paranoid that someone else might see him, if he were any slower.

“You’re not waiting for shitty Deku, are you?”, he made sure, eyeing Todoroki suspiciously. Deku barging in and hearing the conversation he was about to have was his worst nightmare. He’d rather be in the clutches of the sludge villain again.

“He’s not shitty!”, Todoroki defended his boyfriend immediately, “and he’s training with All Might.” He crossed his arms after that, looking at Bakugou like he was expecting an apology. Bakugou waved him off, relieved to know Deku wouldn’t stop by anytime soon. His training sessions with All Might always took quite some time.

“What are you doing here anyways?”, Todoroki wondered, uncrossing his arms and moving to sit on his bed. By the looks of it, he was reading before Bakugou came by. He was sure he’d heard Sero talk about that exact manga just a week ago. Shrugging it off, Bakugou moved to sit on Todoroki’s floor, back to the wall and legs crossed. Todoroki mustered him curiously, so he crossed his arms in front of his chest, before trying to sort out what he wanted to say. He really should’ve thought about this beforehand.

“This conversation needs to stay in this room”, he demanded, before anything else. If Todoroki went out to tell anyone what he was about to talk about, he might as well just end it there.

“Okay”, Todoroki gave in easily, even agreeing when Bakugou demanded that not even Deku was allowed to know about this. With that, the second biggest hurdle was taken. Now he was standing in front of the biggest, and damn him, he didn’t have any idea how to tackle that.

Well, if the water is too cold, you don’t go in slowly. You jump in all at once.

So that was his new game plan.

“How did you know you liked Deku?”

“What?”, Todoroki asked, looking entirely caught off guard. It was one of the rare times, when his carefully crafted stoic expression dropped and you could see perfectly what was underneath it. Bakugou would gloat about it, if he were any less tense.

“How did you know you liked Deku?”, he emphasised again. At least now he had Todoroki’s undivided attention, if the look in his eyes was anything to go by. This clearly wasn’t how Half-and-Half had planned his morning to go. In all fairness, Bakugou could imagine more pleasant things, too.

“Is this going to be one of these ‘shovel talks’ that Uraraka warned me about?”, he finally answered, after several seconds of careful consideration. Bakugou could feel his headache starting to throb from that answer alone. He would like to scream at the idiot for getting such unwarranted ideas, but he really didn’t want to draw any attention to them.

“The hell? No it isn’t. I couldn’t care less about who the idiot is dating”, he almost whisper-yelled and then he continued swiftly, because Todoroki looked like he wanted to defend Deku again, “Now answer the damn question! How did you know you liked Deku?”

“He’s not an idiot”, Todoroki protested and Bakugou considered leaving for a solid five seconds. Unfortunately that would get him nowhere closer to figuring out his feelings and he already was at his last option. He wouldn’t be there, if he had anything else, that was promising to be helpful. Todoroki, meanwhile, looked like he was in deep thought and Bakugou didn’t know if that should make him hopeful or fearful. Probably a mixture of both.

“I don’t know”, Todoroki finally concluded, “I guess I just knew.”

Bakugou wanted to claw his hair out. That was by far the least helpful answer he could have possibly gotten. If it were that easy, he wouldn’t have consulted the internet and there would have been no need to talk to Todoroki in the first place. Why did the bastard insist on being the least helpful being on the planet?

“Are you shitting me? There had to be something”, he argued, less in hopes of actually getting some more information from Half-and-Half and more because it was a convenient outlet for some of his frustration and anger. Why did he feel like he was going backwards, instead of making progress?

“Not really”, Todoroki murmured, again looking to be in deep thought and not even talking to Bakugou properly, “It just feels nice, you know? Warm and welcoming and safe. Like I can be myself and it would be just fine, but also like I wanna be a better person, just for his sake. Does that make sense?”

“Not even a little”, Bakugou deadpanned, because really this was probably even less helpful than what he said before. Even worse, it was sappy and hearing Todoroki of all people say it made Bakugou feel like he needed to vomit. This proved to be an even worse mistake than he originally thought it was.

“There had to be a moment where it hit you. Like the realisation!”

“No”, Todoroki denied, shaking his head to emphasize it, “I think it’s been there from the beginning. He was always special, since he shouted at me during the sports festival. It just went from there.”

“What a weird thing to say”, Bakugou grunted, not even a flicker of kindness in his voice, which didn’t seem to bother Todoroki in the slightest, “It sounds like your feelings had a mind of their own.”

“Maybe.”, Todoroki agreed, shrugging his shoulders and looking at Bakugou couriosly, “Maybe, if you tell me what you feel, I can compare it to what I feel. That might be more helpful.”

It really spoke about how desperate he was, that he actually considered the offer, for a solid minute. Would it be so bad, telling Todoroki about what he felt and trying to figure it out from there? He didn’t have to say a name - the fact that he was confused about Kirishima could remain his secret for just a little while longer - and they agreed that nothing from the conversation would ever leave the room.

He only had to jump over his shadow. He knew he couldn’t do that.

“Fuck off”, he spat at Todoroki, who in turn only smiled at him, like he expected that answer. Was Bakugou really that easy to read? If even someone as socially stunted as Todoroki could figure him out, he must have been an open book. He hated that thought with a burning passion.

“Why not spend some time with them?”, Todoroki suggested, propping his arm on his knee and his head in his hand, “You know, just the two of you, like a date, but without it actually being a date.”

Bakugou leveled Todoroki with an annoyed glare. Not only was their entire conversation meaningless and a complete waste of time, now the bastard also made fun of him. Setting up a date, as if Bakugou knew anything about that. That wasn’t on his list of things to accomplish on his way to become number one. Therefore it was deemed unnecessary until five seconds ago.

“Yeah sure. How would I go about that then, in your opinion?”, he asked sarcastically, to make a point that he would under no circumstances do that. As always, the sarcasm flew right over Todoroki’s head.

“Invite them to walk, eat something together afterwards, have some deeper conversations than usual. I’m not too great with dates either.”

Bakugou left the room wordlessly after that. Todoroki was crazy if he really thought Bakugou would take that advice.

__________________

After his talk with Todoroki, Bakugou went to the kitchen, instead of his bedroom. There was no way he could concentrate on anything right now, so he would just make himself a cup of tea. To distract himself and to calm his nerves. And maybe, just maybe, it would help him stop thinking about Kirishima all the time.

Fat fucking chance, the voice in his head taunted. Maybe it was time to get his mental health checked.

Just when his water was hot and he was about to finish preparing his tea and then vanish for the rest of the day, to sort through the mess that was, apparently, his feelings, the front door opened. And in walked no other than Deku himself. That was just his luck.

Even worse was that the nerd was closely followed by Kirishima, who not only spotted Bakugou immediately, but also walked over without a second of hesitation. Which wasn’t unusual, to be fair, but it was nothing that Bakugou wanted right now. He had enough Kirishima-related problems, even without Kirishima standing right in front of him.

“Hey dude”, Kirishima greeted, smile shining like the sun itself and Bakugou would have hit himself for the sappy thought, had he been alone, “You’re back early. Don’t your morning runs usually take longer?”

“Usually”, he replied, trying to sound disinterested, “had some stuff to do, so I came back early.”

“All right”, Kirishima said, not the least bit deterred by Bakugou’s tone, “I think your cup is full.”

Bakugou stared down at his overflowing tea cup, which he had completely forgotten the moment Kirishima started talking to him. Luckily, it only ran over a little bit, Kirishima prevented the worst. Still, he cursed under his breath, while he cleaned it up. It wasn’t like him to get this distracted.

“That’s unlike you”, Kirishima commented and Bakugou could hear the smile in his voice, “what made you so distracted? A crush?” Bakugou knew it was a joke. He still wanted to die at the spot.

#kiribaku #tododeku #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #shoto todoroki #kirishima eijirou #bakusquad

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chromium7sky · 6 years ago

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Damirae week day 2: fake relationship | I'm a sucker (for you)

"You suck, like seriously. "

Jason told Damian as soon as Damian explain the situation that become tangible. Oh how he did wish to turn back time and said NO but... This time, he said yes. Especially to a girl who seems to come out of nowhere.

But seriously, he involved in deep shit and know it seems all the media and reporter are trying to smell some scandal from the Wayne Family, especially from him, the blood son of Bruce Wayne.

"That all you have to say? " Damian raised his brow.

"Well, there's much more of that, Dimwit but I was wondering. Why her? Just because she has an animal and to specific, a bird name, you fall head over heels for her? " Jason smirked as he teased the young heir while smoking at the open window.

Damian, annoyed as always, took the cigarette from Jason's hand and put out it by pressing the lit against the window panel. "Where did you get that stupendous theory?" he sneered at the white streak lad.

"Come on, Damian. The Bat and co. knows it. Tim, Barbara, Cass, not to mention Dick and Steph keep screaming when they see both of you together. " Jason shrugged idly with annoying face as he remember the noise Dick and Steph made during their 'Stake out' for the young man.

"It wasn't even a real date!" Damian exclaimed.

"Well by the look of your face at that time, you seems enjoy it. " the red hood huffed as he show the picture where taken.

"You... Dare! " Damian were about to snatched but with Jason quick reflexes he quickly store in his jacket inner pocket.

"So tell me, little D. What is it? "

"It has nothing to do with you. " Damian grumbled as he sending death glare to Jason which the older brother seems to immune with it.

"Yes it does because I would really like to meet a girl who could make a brat fall head over heels for her. " Jason smirked and what he's really impressed is this haughty assassin prince seems to act gentlemen towards her like it was almost natural.

"So, care to talk? " Jason played the good cop.

Damian sneered at him and lost in the end. "Fine. We talk at the balcony." as he quickly paced towards the area followed by Jason Todd.

As Damian sit at the chair in the middle of the balcony, he put his hands together and close his eyes as he tried to retrieved some information store in big brain of his.

"It was about a criminal I was after, rather a peculiar one. His name is Eric Forrester. I've been trying to track him for months after serial incident happen at rural area nearby Jump city. " As Damian explained.

"And? " Jason with his armed crossed as he listen his story.

"I've found the exact same pattern case nearby. Until.. "

"Until you met Raven? "

Damian silence for a while as the flashback playing on his mind like it was happen yesterday.

####flash back####

"Help me! "

"What?! " Damian were kinda busy at time when a girl suddenly appear as he walked down the street with coffee and bagel on his hands.

"Something happening to my roommate. " The girl mumbled and shivers. She pull his arm and ran towards a flight of stairs and God knows, the girl is really terrified.

As soon as they reached her apartment, the door were wide open. Damian pulled the girl's wrist behind him incase something bad happen. As they slowly pacing in, they saw the girl's roomates, blonde with attractive build now facing down and with bluish color skin.

Both of them were horrid and Damian quickly call 911.

*********

"I'm sorry about your friend. " said Damian as he stood besides the girl who is now, hand shaking while holding a cup of tea and space out.

After the interrogation session it seems that the dead girl were died but unnaturally. There's no trauma or force that apply on the corpse.

"Caroline...she has a bright future. But why... " she cried as she used her sleeves wiping her tears.

"What happen actually?" as the young man sip his coffee, to warm his body in this cold weather.

"I was just gone back from art exhibition party at my college and as soon as I reached my floor. The door were wide open! I thought, it was burglary!! But nothing was taken, and I found my roommate lying on the living room." as the scene still freshly painted in her mind.

Damian sighed as he sip down the black coffee. Well, he tried to bite down his curiousity, questioning her alibi and finding evidence because this, this is exactly the same case happen at the Jump city where the woman found dead unexplained in their home.

"I was hoping if you know more about what happen, i mean, is there anyone your roommate met recently like colleague, friends?" Damian stared at the blue haired girl.

She took a couple of sip and as if something came up on her mind. "Well, there is someone she's kinda close in her workplace. I think that was her boss. " the girl rubbing her chin as she refreshed her memories.

"I did stumbled some flower gift outside of our apartment. " she paused. "and its say from a guy name Forrester. I bet that's his name. "

Damian jolted as soon as he heard the named quickly turn to her. "Forrester?"

"Yeah. Probably a well-known playboy somewhere. His name kind of familiar. " she mumbled.

Damian has found his lead for the case. Quickly he finished his coffee and throw the cup into the paper recycle bin.

"Well, I hope after this you need to move away from the apartment. I think you might in danger. " Damian turn to her as he advice her.

"I can't. This is the only apartment i could afford. " she cluthes her cup.

"Still, your life is on the line, miss." as his stared at her.

"I know. I'll just becareful. " she sighed and throw her empty cup to the recycle bin. "Anyway, thank you for helping me. " she give out her faint smile.

"By the way, I'm sorry to be rude for not introducing myself. I'm Damian. " as he held out his hand towards her.

"Raven Roth. But you can call me Rav-" as she grab his hand she jolted and so as Damian. It was like a surge flowing between them.

What he sees in his mind is something sinister, a clue, ANOTHER murder. Quickly he pull of the hands and both of them gasping for air.

"What the hell was THAT?! " he spit out. What he felt is new and mystical, also prophetic.

"You, felt it too? " her indigo eyes went large as if it was new to her.

"What do you mean you felt it too? " As Damian furrowed his eyebrows wanting some explanation about what happen.

"I--"

"Who the hell are you? " Damian start to feel hostile. His suspicious grew towards this girl name Raven.

"Please do understand me. I didn't cause any harm to anyone." Raven kept her cool face as she held both of her hands as the sign to pacify the current situation.

"I've seen horrible image in mind. Are you -" before he finished his sentence Raven snapped out as she knew what he going to say.

"I'm not what you think it IS! "

Both of them took time to breath in and out calming down themselves.

"What? " Damian still puzzled.

"I had a forecast about what happen to Caroline and rush towards the apartment. " her shaky hands at her sides. "I fail to save her. " again her tears rolled down.

Damian sees her vulnerable and somehow it reminds of him when he tried to save the children from Dr. Pyg in his old case. It's frustrating and guilt.

"Why didn't you tell to the police about that? " he was curious with her ability, this forecast thing.

Raven scoffed as she heard that. "They probably put me in asylum, Mr. Damian."

"Just call me Damian."

"Damian... " as she corrected her last sentence. "But you saw what I saw just now..." her lips formed a solemn smile. "Its more than enough to prove that I'm not crazy. "

Damian silence as he heard her.

###flash back ends###

"Wait, wait!"

Damian sneered at Jason.

"I haven't finish yet, Todd. " Damian grind his teeth in annoyance.

"So, both of you had the Zap thing and you guys dating each other because of that?! " as Jason try to understand the chronological of the event.

" We are not even dating! Its just a cover! For her!" Damian sighed as he ruffled his hair.

"You're saying she's not your type? "

"Bullshit! It was for her safety. There's a maniac keep harrasing her in the college!"

"So you do like her! "

Damian just can't get with Jason who always on his nerve.

"By the way, how about the maniac that makes THIS happen? "

"Already take care of it. " Damian crossed his arm.

"You kill him? "

"No. "

"Send him to authority? "

"Worse. "

"A 20 years sentences? "

"I ensured it. "

Jason pursed his lip in approval and nod slightly as he heard it. Don't mess with little D's girl.

A standard ringtone breaking the silent atmosphere and Damian quickly pull out his phone. He glanced at the scene and answer the phone.

" Any new Forecast?"

Oh, that question made Jason grew excited! Damian were talking to HER! Quickly on his impulse he grab the phone from his little brother.

Damian wanted to protest but Jason quickly put his hand on the angry boy's mouth as he speak to the mysterious girl on the phone.

"Hey, Raven right? "

At first there's silence but then she saying yeah to confirm her identity.

"Well, this weekend Damian is kinda having dinner at his house, Don't you mind joining in? " Jason casually invited her through the phone. Damian's 'What? ' at the background can be heard the moment Jason said dinner at their house.

"Uh, I don't know. Who am I speaking to?"

"His Father. " Jason lied. He could hear she gasp on the speaker.

"Sorry to disturb you discussion between you and your son, Mr..."

"Mr. Wayne. "

"Mr. Wayne?"

"Yes. " Jason heard the conversation been cut off in a sudden. Jason then seen the screen shows call ended. "She hang up?"

"What did you do?! " Damian quickly snatch his phone back and saw the screen. Then he set his infamous death glare at Todd. "You scared her!! "

Jason amused with his reaction, the spawn of satan really like this girl.

The phone ring again, quickly Damian answer it. "Look, I can explain." Todd quickly at the other side trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Sorry to make you worry, i was shocked that I dropped my phone. Did I annoyed your father for sudden hang up? " Raven's voice faintly heard.

"That fine. He just need to go somewhere minding his own business. " Damian sneered at Jason then gesturing his hand to buzz off. "Anyway, about the Forecast, i got one about 1 hour earlier. And I could make out the name of the place, Jackal's Sanctuary."

Damian pull out a pen and write on his palm Jackal's Sanctuary name. "Great. We'll met there within one hour. "

"On it! " Both Raven and Todd answer it. Damian then looked at Todd who has walked toward the door while holding the his phone. He sneered deducing that his brother is up to something.

"Damian, is your father still there? "

"No...no. He went somewhere else. " as Damian continue to glare at Jason who has gone inside.

Meanwhile, Jason text on his phone about Damian meeting the girl at Jackal's Sanctuary on a group chat call The soaring Birds that has Dick, Babs, Steph, Cass, Timbo as active member. Duke tries to stay out of it but of course, Dick won't let any Bat and Co. left behind and sometimes Duke follow their investigation about the girl who Damian said having "fake relationship".

The picture of the group made Jason cringe sometimes. It was a picture of Damian and Raven capture from a far, with motto written in cursive neon coloured "Make it come true."

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weartirondad · 6 years ago

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Let In Light (At Christmas Time) 7/12

FF.net I ao3 I masterpost

Featuring Rhodey ‘cause there’s no Tones without Rhodey, tbqfh

Wednesday, December 19th: buying/ hiding gifts

“Hey Tones, I was wondering when you were planning on picking up –“

Rhodey breaks off and stops walking halfway through stepping into his best friend’s sanctum and workshop. His feet is hovering over the floor, leg braces whirring softly at the oddly timed halt.

“What the fuck,” he whispers softly when he can’t see past the first few meters of the lab because of the mess it is in and finally sets his foot down. “What the hell, Tony?”

And, James Rhodes knows messy. He’s known Tony for decades now and he’s familiar with the special kind of Tony Stark messes, but this? This is something else. What he is looking at right now puts messiness on a whole new level. Hell, it probably redefines the meaning of the word.

“Over here, honey bear!”

His best friend’s voice comes from the far end of the room, hidden behind various long pipes and piles of what looks like junk to a regular bystander and – is that glowing paint?

“Would you mind shutting the door and F.R.I.D.A.Y. put us into stealth mode again, please?”

Rhodey feels like an idiot but he can’t help staring at the messy shock of dark hair that’s peeking out from somewhere behind the – debris? That’s really the only word he can think of for this. “Stealth mode? What the fuck is going on here, Tony? Are you trying to blow yourself up again?”

“Language, platypus.”

He blinks. Then rubs his hand over his face in exhaustion because – what in the hell is he supposed to make of that? Has Tony been freaky-fridayed without telling anyone? (He probably shouldn’t be considering the option quite as seriously as he currently is.)

“Can you please come out of your cave and enlighten me what’s going on here?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he hears him mutter and shuffle through his materials, “give me a second. What are you here for anyway? Did you see the Christmas tree we put up? Pretty cool, right?”

That – that just stops him dead in his tracks for good like the final straw of sanity he has managed to hold on to through years of dealing with the man.

It’s not that putting up a Christmas tree is weird or unheard of. Just – that it kind of is.

In the all the years Rhodey has known Tony for, he has never been this excited about Christmas. Hell, he has never been excited about Christmas. Period.

When his parents were still alive, he used to hate all the public functions they would have to attend with Howard and not even his mum and Jarvis could really make up for how much Tony despised being put in the spotlights, especially during a time that was supposed to be quiet and peaceful. Christmas used to stress him out in his teenage years, would make him so anxious that he tried to hang out with Rhodey and his family whenever his father would allow.

Then came The Time After The Accident.

He’s not sure Tony has much recollection of the Christmas in 1991 but Rhodey does and it’s done enough of an impression on him to never let his best friend alone over Christmas again.

It didn’t matter whether there was a SI thing going on, some party or board meeting or whatever the heck could come up – Rhodey was either there with Tony or Tony wasn’t allowed to go at all.

For years he tried to hold on that much tighter around Christmas to not let him slip through his fingers again. He never wanted to see him that broken, that lost, that horribly gone ever again.

It got easier when Pepper came into the picture, especially when they started dating, but there’s still a big part of Rhodey that goes on high alert as soon as the holidays roll around. The unease to let Tony go on his merry way never really left and albeit he knows that the man is in a much better place now than he was before, he can’t help but worry.

It’s instinctual, so deeply ingrained that it has become second nature to him.

That usually means checking up every other day and this year that has mostly been limited to calls. Apparently, though, someone else has been looking after his friend and he has a pretty good guess that someone is also the one behind the whole Christmas Tree Miracle.

“You put up a Christmas tree?” he asks him when Tony has dug himself out of his own mess, oil-stained towel tucked into the back pocket of his jeans, Black-Sabbath- shirt hitched up to his elbows and a huge dorky grin on his face.

For a brief moment Rhodey wonders who that person is and what he has done with his best friend. Never, in a million years, would he have thought the man would smile so close to the 16th like he is now. It makes an anxious part of his heart settle for the first time in literal decades.

“We did,” the disaster on legs in front of him confirms, plopping down on the couch and motioning for Rhodey to join him which he does without hesitation, albeit more slowly. “Peter and I picked it up yesterday and, you know how much I hate patting myself on the back, but I think we did a pretty fantastic job. You should take a look before you head out again.”

The other man lets out a laugh, leaning back into the soft pillows and he slowly relaxes into the conversation. “I can’t even begin to imagine how much it must’ve hurt you to make that statement,” he jokes, “But what on earth have you been doing back there?”

“Uh,” Tony rubs his ear, smearing some of the dirt still on his hands into his temple and he looks downright sheepish. “Well, I’ve been working on Christmas presents. For Peter mostly,” he adds as if there has been any doubt in Rhodey’s mind about that at all.

“I have no clue what to get him, Rhodey,” he whines when he’s only met with a chuckle, “I’ve been working on a smart watch with panic button, integrated A.I. and all that jazz and I’ve been thinking about a car, obviously, or maybe upgrades for his suit? But he’s getting those anyway! Or what about –“

“Tony, Tones,” Rhodey breaks off his rambling, “Breathe, alright? Just. Breathe.”

Of course he doesn’t listen. When has Tony Stark ever been able to listen to anyone?

“The thing is – I’d be giving him this stuff anyway! He’s just – What am I supposed to get him that is special? I’m awful at this.”

“I honestly think you’re overthinking this,” he tells him quietly, hand coming out to rest on Tony’s knee to make him look at him and to ground him before he hyperventilates. “You know Peter and you know he doesn’t really want any of that –“ He shushes him with a raise of his hand before he can argue, “Of course he’d be over the moon if you got him any of that stuff but think about something that would make him really happy, Tony. He likes your tech good enough but do you know what he really loves?”

God bless this mess of a human being who just gives a halfhearted clueless shrug.

“You, Tony. That kid adores you and if you want my advice, I’d say get him something personal, something only you will ever be able to give him. No matter how small it might be, it’s going to be the biggest fucking gesture you can make. It’s going to mean the world to him.”

“Language.”

Rhodey laughs at him but Tony’s not even in the same room with him anymore. He’s jumped up and has started bustling about the room, pulling out papers and blue prints and sending them flying to the floor again, all the while muttering to himself like a maniac.

“Will you be okay?”

“What? Yeah, yeah, I’m good. Thanks a lot. Oh and don’t forget to look at that tree! Gotta get back to work! Love you, bye!”

He leaves him to his work after that, still reveling in the fact that his best friend seems fine. Genuinely, legitimately fine.

For the first time in years he doesn’t have a lump in his throat when he’s leaving him to his own devices because he’s working on something fundamentally good, a Christmas present for his sort-of-son. He’s not biding his time until the next panic attack hits or riding out his anxiety by coming up with new blueprints for some fancy new tech. It’s a long way from where he’s been. It’s progress.

Making his way upstairs to the penthouse Rhodey briefly considers warning Pepper about the changes in her fiancé but ultimately thinks better of it, a little smile tugging on his lips when he tries to imagine the baffled look in her eyes when she realizes what a sap he has become over the week she’s been making deals on the other side of the Earth.

Although, come to think of it, Pepper probably knows already. She’s ridiculously intuitive in handling Tony and foreseeing his mood swings, it’s downright scary sometimes. She’s truly a –

“Woah.”

Yet again his train of thoughts gets interrupted and he’s left speechless at the sight of the huge ass Christmas tree that’s shining with what looks like at least a thousand fairy lights, topped off with tinsel and a finishing touch of wooden hangers.

It’s not just the tree, though, the whole living room has been turned into the epitome of Christmas. There are glowing stars and corny stockings, an expensive-looking wooden pyramid turning ever so slowly and a nutcracker next to a bowl of walnuts and mandarins and candles, so many candles in all sizes, colors and forms.

Most importantly, though, and almost a part of the scene is the teenager crouched down in front of it, looking completely at home right where he is, albeit a little jittery with a neatly wrapped parcel in his arms.

He’s about to make his presence known when the boy turns around with a small wave of his hand.

Right, enhanced teenage superhero, he forgets that sometimes.

“What are you up to?” Rhodey asks him closing the distance until he’s standing beside him and then, because it feels weird to just tower over the much smaller kid, goes to take a seat next to him – carefully situating himself, mindful of his legs.

When he hears the soft whirring of the prosthetics, Peter scrambles to help him adjust, almost dropping the present he has been holding onto in the process. Only when the older man is comfortable, does he answer.

He looks sheepish, mirroring Tony’s expression from just minutes earlier to a tee.

“I, uh, I wanted to be the first one to put a present underneath the tree. And, uh, I,” he meets his eyes conspirationally, “I think Mister Stark is already working on his gift and, uh, it’s probably going to be something super fancy and if I get more time to think about it I’ll probably just throw it away because I’ll realize that it can never be good enough but right now I still feel pretty good about it, so basically I’m forcing myself not to back out by already putting it here where everyone can see it.”

To Rhodey’s delight he takes in a deep breath after finishing, seeing as he has completely forgotten to stock up on air while talking. Really, he gets why Tony loves this kid so much. They’re basically the same person.

“That sounds like a good plan,” he tells him, “And I’m sure Tony’s going to love it.” He loves you, kid. He really does. I hope it tells you that, too.

Peter smiles a little at that, fingers drumming on the package in an irregular pattern, “I think so, too. At least, I hope so. Anyway, what are you doing here, Mister Rhodes? Do you need anything?”

“I went to check up on Tony and when he mentioned a Christmas tree I just had to see it for myself,” he tells him with a grin and points to the huge thing with his thumb, “Gotta say I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

“It’s amazing,” the teenager agrees, smile spreading until his whole face is alight with joy and his eyes sparkle with the Christmas lights they’re reflecting.

“Also,” Rhodey adds because suddenly he feels like he needs to say this at least once and who knows when he’ll next meet the kid without his hovering mentor. “I wanted to thank you.”

Peter frowns, genuine confusion evident in his eyes. “What for?”

“Just,” the older man sighs and meets his gaze, trying to convey how much he means his next words with his eyes alone, “Just for being you and for being here. I have never seen Tony this happy on Christmas and you’re a big part of the reason why. So, thank you for giving him something to celebrate this year.”

As if just realizing what a major role he’s playing in his mentor’s life Peter’s expression morphs from surprise to determination. Rhodey watches in awe how he shoulders the responsibility that comes with it without missing a beat and straightens his posture, truly looking like the superhero he is and a lot more mature than most adults he knows.

“Mister Stark deserves happiness, especially on Christmas,” he declares seriously, “It’s the least I can do, after,” he waves his hand in the air, “after everything he did for me.”

“Still, thank you,” Rhodey repeats earnestly, gratefully and then, because this is getting too serious for such a joyous occasion asks, “So. What did you get him?”

Peter’s eyes go wide in excitement. “But you have to swear not to tell anyone.”

What do you think Peter’s getting Tony? And what is Tony going to end up making for his kid? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

#12fluffydaysofchristmas2018 #12fluffydaysofchristmas #irondad #iron dad #irondad fic #iron dad fic #peter parker #tony stark #james rhodes #josis fic #let in light (at christmas time)#christmas #fluff #christmas fluff

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hekate1308 · 8 years ago

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Witch

Walpurgis Night feels different this year.

She has been celebrating it on her own for centuries now, since she and covens don’t mix well, so that’s not it.

Neither is it about the fact that she just watched another fight between Mary Winchester and Dr. Hess.

She can’t decide which one is more obnoxious.

But it is Walpurgis Night, the only sacred day she has ever known, and she is determined to celebrate it.

But even on the hill she found, the night dancing around her, magic pulsing beneath her fingertips, she doesn’t feel like chanting.

She hasn’t been able to get Fergus off her mind.

It’s ridiculous, really. She wasn’t worried about him when he ran around and wreaked havoc as a boy, so why should she be now?

Maybe the Winchesters finally realized he’s a liability and ended him. The angel might have fallen, but he still has his blade.

But... no. Somehow, illogically, she’s convinced she’d feel it if her son died.

She closes her eyes and focuses on the energy around her.

Walpurgis Night. It’s supposed to be special.

And then something bursts through the trees at the foot of the hill.

A week ago

Aaron doesn’t get angry.

At least not the way Dean tends to. There are no quick, sudden bursts of anger, not even the aloof silence Cas usually goes for when he’s mad.

So it is something of a surprise when their friend, still hunting down Nazis in Germany, starts screaming at him over the phone.

Really, all he did was clarifying where they stand with the Men of Letters because he mentioned them and Aaron asked.

And now this.

“I have a go-lem! That is practically an ar-my! Someone wants to wipe you off the face of the earth and you don’t call me!?”

“You have better things to do – “

“They want to kill you! You saved my life once! What do I care about freaking Nazis – “

“Aaron – “

“Hold on, I am checking for flights – “

“You don’t have to – “

“See you in a few days.”

“You don’t even know where – “

Aaron hangs up. Dean stands there, stupefied.

“Looks like we’re getting another guest” he tells Cas.

“You look spooked” he observes gently.

Dean shrugs.

“Never imagined I’d have Aaron scream at me because of the British pricks, that’s all”.

“I... had a similar talk with Claire the other day.”

“Oh?”

Claire’s been hunting and keeping in touch, but they decided for good reason not to let her know everything that’s gone down. She’s too young to worry about freaking genocide. Jody knows, naturally. They wouldn’t risk her wrath when she found out on her own.

“I was tired. I might have mentioned Crowley and the spell he’s under... And then I had to explain.”

Dean smiles. Cas has never been able to say no to Claire since they met again.

He’d make a good father.

Dean shoves that thought far away. That’s not...

Claire. Yeah, that’s better.

“And what did she say?”

“She was upset. She let me know she’s not a child anymore, Castiel.” He pauses.

“She usually calls me Castiel when she’s angry with me.”

“She’s still a teenager, Cas. She’ll get over it. And hey, now that she knows, we can invite her to visit. I think she’d like her own room.”

Dean knows best how important it is to have a home base. Yes, there’s Jody’s, but she could always use another place to crash. Just in case.

“I love you” Cas tells him.

He grins, his fight with Aaron long forgotten.

At least until he breezes into the States three days later, calls him and demands to know “Where the hell they are.”

“Nice digs” is all he says when Dean opens the door for him.

“You can say that again. Everyone’s in the living room, except for Crowley. We had to put him in solitary confinement a while back.”

“Did he try to betray you?”

“What?”

Sometimes it’s way too easy to forget that the demon who is currently solving the New York times crossword puzzle is still the King of Hell.

“No, he’s a friend. He was placed under a spell.”

“I really missed a lot.”

“You have no idea”.

He suddenly realizes he never even told Aaron he’s dating Cas now. Sure, his angel came up in conversation now and then, but did he ever make their relationship clear?

What’s Judaism’s take on gay couples again?

Bisexual couples.

Whatever.

“Yeah, so... right now, you’re our only – “ he glances at the golem who’s entered the mansion after Aaron “guests. So this means it’s you, me, Sammy, my boyfriend, Mick – I’ll explain later – and the King of Hell in his room.”

Aaron doesn’t even blink.

Well then.

After they’ve all been introduced – and Dean has already decided he’s going to ignore every suspicious glance Aaron throws Mick, he’ll learn he’s not one of the bastards anymore – they tell him and the golem what they need to know.

“Also, we’ve prepared a room for you. For him too, of course – “

“Thank you, Matan is comfortable everywhere.”

Huh. So he did end up giving him a name. Makes sense. You spend so much time with someone, you want to know what to call them.

“It means gift in Hebrew” Cas will tell him later.

Aaron and Matan go to see Crowley.

“He’s not exactly what I pictured when I imagined the King of Hell” Aaron comments when they return.

“His soul is much lighter than I expected” Matan chimes in.

Food for thought, certainly, but it doesn’t really help them with the spell.

“I think” Dean announces after another few days of fruitless research, “We need to find Rowena”.

“Yes, but how? She’s either with the Men of Letters or she’s shielding herself pretty well” Sam points out.

“Walpurgis Night” Cas says abruptly.

“In three days, it’s April the 30th.”

“That’s big for witches. They celebrate on hills, perform spells, all the fun stuff” Dean answers, thinking quickly. “She’s bound to participate, right? And if she banks on the Men of Letters keeping her safe from us – they certainly must have some kind of deal – she’ll probably stay near their base.”

That they haven’t switched locations speaks of their arrogance. Hell, Crowley practically blew the place up and according to their friends, they just rebuilt it.

Dean is going to enjoy bringing them down.

First things first, though.

Set Crowley free.

“I can find her” Matan announces. “I will bring her here.”

“Thanks man”.

“It’s no problem”.

That evening, Dean and Aaron share a nightcap.

“Matan seems more... human these days.”

“He’s been learning how to interact properly with people. I don’t like keeping him in a box.”

Dean nods. He understands that.

“Not as human as Cas, though” Aaron says, smirking.

“What can I say? I’m an awesome teacher”. Dean winks.

“I bet.”

After a short, comfortable silence, Aaron begins, “Do you mind if I ask a question?”

“No idea until you do, but go ahead.”

“What happened? When we met, even the idea of a guy hitting on you made you uncomfortable.”

“Officially yeah, but I actually thought you were kind of cute”.

“I – ah – you –“ Aaron stutters, blushing a little.

“But to answer your question, Cas happened. What do I care whether I’m gay or bi or freaking pan if I can have that?”

“You seem very happy together.”

“We are. You know, when the world’s not ending for a change.”

“Kind of feels like it is.”

“What?” Dean puts his glass down.

Aaron raises his hands.

“Not like that. It’s just... I’ve made some contacts in the European hunting community. Over there, it’s still very much like it was in the States when I left – the supernatural on one side, the hunters on the other. This feels like a new beginning.”

“It does.”

It really does. What they’re creating... It feels good. Fair. Balanced.

“I can help. I’ve got a lot of practice fighting against maniacs who want to commit genocide”.

Dean just grins.

Now The creature just grabbed her and dragged her away after binding and blindfolding her.

And it’s fast.

She registers it’s a golem, which means it’s immune to spells.

No problem.

At least she thinks so until it doesn’t even react to her demand for the roll in his mouth. Not even when she speaks Hebrew.

His rabbi must have found a way to shield him.

“Let me down!”

It doesn’t listen to her.

“I said let me down, golem!”

“I heard you, but I am not going to. My rabbi and I are helping our friends.”

She can imagine who these friends are.

She’s proven right when, after what feels like hours, she gets carried into a house and the blindfold and bindings are taken off.

“Don’t even think about it. Matan is immune to spells, as you well know, and he’s stronger than you”.

“Dean. Castiel.”

She turns her head.

“Sam.”

She doesn’t recognize the other men in the room.

“Rowena. Long time no see.”

“Frankly, I think it could have stayed that way.”

“In that case you shouldn’t have bewitched Crowley” Dean barks and she’s taken aback by the expression on his face.

That’s not just anger.

There’s worry there as well.

He can’t be worried about her, so it must be –

He’s worried for her son.

A hunter is actually worried about the King of Hell.

He’s not just an asset for them, a weapon to use as she thought when they first met.

He’s a friend.

Against all odds, Fergus found a family.

An insane, rather bloodthirsty family, but still.

“I – “

“You got a good offer, let’s not pretend it was anything but.”

“Dean” Sam interrupts him gently.

“What? You know I’m right!”

“You are” she admits. “They promised me Hell in exchange for the spell. And no one would ever come after me.”

“Yeah well, that’s not turned out so well, has it.”

“No. A golem... I have to admit I am impressed.”

“Thank you very much” the smaller of the men says. So he’s the rabbi then. Doesn’t look like one.

“So how can we break the spell?”

“What do you care? You’ve clearly kept him locked up somewhere. He can’t do any harm like this.”

“You’ve bound his free will” the ex-angel says gravely. “You’ve made him obey his enemies. It’s not right.”

Here, too. Nothing but concern for her son.

As a matter of fact, they all look worried. Even the golem seems affected.

“Come on. Time for a family reunion”.

As usual, she’s allowed to walk beside them unbound, even though she’s their prisoner. The Winchesters have always been rather chivalrous when it comes to things like that.

The mansion surprises her. It has clearly been erected by Fergus – she can clearly feel his power, although it seems to be... cleaner than before – but the care he has taken to ensure humans can be comfortable here is astounding.

As is seeing him properly. When she cast the spell, he was upset – understandably so, she can still hear the panic in his voice as he called out Mother, please – but here in his – home? He looks more relaxed than in years, like he actually found something like peace.

“Mother” he says, shooting Dean looks that clearly warn him to get her out of his sight.

“Fergus”.

She takes a deep breath – and stays silent.

She could order him to attack. He can’t leave the room, but they’re all in here, and he could keep the golem occupied long enough for her to slip away –

But.

Fergus would attack his – his –

“One word and I’ll shoot you” Dean hisses at her, having understood what he meant.

One glance was enough.

She takes another deep breath.

“I said – “ Dean begins, but she beats him to it.

“I release you from your bond. I release you from the power I put you under. Be free.”

She never told Hess it’s that easy.

Fergus grimaces and crumbles down on the floor.

“Crowley! What did you to him, you – “

He gets up, clutching Dean’s arm.

“It’s over. I’m free”.

“Are you – sure?”

“Mother, order me to do something”.

He turns to her, his eyes stormy. She wonders if she’s about to die.

“Punch Dean in the face” is the first thing that comes to mind.

He looks at Dean and waits.

After half a minute, the hunter relaxes. Then he apparently surprises everyone in the room, including himself and Fergus, by pulling him into a quick hug.

“Thank God. Good to have you back, Crowley.”

“Good to be back.”

Sam, after grinning at her boy, immediately starts scratching out the sigils they used to keep him in his room with the two other guys and the golem helping.

The group trades glances as they are working, suggesting to her that her end might be near.

Especially since Fergus has his full power back.

“I say, let Crowley decided” Dean suggests. “She’s his mother.”

She expects her neck to get broken any second, but he just studies her.

That’s not the same demon she came to see a few years ago.

She was right. There’s something different about his powers, something... nicer for lack of a better word.

“Get. Out.”

“What?”

“Get out. I never want to see you again. Stay away from me and my friends. And Hell” he adds almost as an afterthought. “And if you should help the Men of Letters again – “

“I’m dead. I know.”

She turns to go. But she hesitates when she reaches the door.

“Fer – Crowley. I’m – glad you found what you were looking for”.

Because, she thinks when she’s finally back in the fresh air, watching the lake glisten in the sunshine, he has, whether he realizes it or not.

A few years ago, Crowley got himself new enemies.

Somehow, someway he’s found a family in them.

#my writings #destiel #rowena #crowley #aaron bass

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