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kitkat1003 · 3 years

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Where the Sea Meets Earth

Ao3 Link

Summary:

Tang's life has fallen into a steady, comfortable routine, one he feels no need to change.

So he doesn’t.

Until he has to.

Note: Hi! Lowkey used an idea from @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off when it came to Pigsy's rival. They make great content, give them a look! As always, shout out to my beta reader, @imnotcameraready, the most kind and patient editor out there. She edited this all in one night, the mad lad. Send love her way!! She goes by UncrownedKing on Ao3, check out her stuff! Anyway, have fun!

Tang’s routine is simple. Get up, watch Pigsy make breakfast. Steal an egg or two that Pigsy definitely didn’t make in preparation for such thievery. Follow Pigsy around as the noodle shop is set up for the morning. Listen to the hiss of oil in a hot wok, water bubbling in a tall pot, knife against the wooden cutting board, each slice precise with practice.

Admire the way Pigsy’s arms bulge with muscle as he lifts heavy boxes of spices, meat and vegetables. Watch the sweat on his brow build up as he tosses the ingredients in the wok, stirs the broth, sticks a pinkie in before pulling it out to taste the concoction, tilting his head to the side in thought every time before reaching for a different spice—

Chuckle when MK scrambles down the stairs, a second before being late. Wave back when MK greets him enthusiastically. Listen to Pigsy bark orders. Watch MK vanish out the store door, listen to the sound of the delivery cart starting up. Wait for the customers to come in.

Sometimes, between the breakfast and lunch rush, he will vanish into the town. He’ll peruse the shelves of a bookstore, maybe get a book or two. Then, he’ll come back to the restaurant and watch Pigsy work until closing, with the occasional interruption from MK or Mei. Pigsy will make dinner, and they’ll eat while watching TV before ending the night, asleep next to each other.

It’s a steady routine, one Tang feels no need to change.

So he doesn’t.

Routines are brought on by repeated motions and consistent action. He finds himself considering them more and more, these days. Tang follows the lines back, through time, to trace where each routine began, as Pigsy yells at MK to get going.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He lives off a trust fund from his late parents, as well as a few checks from his work in historic preservation. His family has passed down the stories of old for years, and he knows them well and by heart, because at 18 his memories had come flooding in, and suddenly he was older than time itself and yet just old enough to have sake enough that creating books and speaking on historical inaccuracies is easy to turn into a living.

A few years ago, he gave it up because it hadn’t seemed important to bother anymore after his parents died. The next year he’d wasted time coasting through town after town, sharing random tales for a meal, trying to forget that he was alone, until….

Two years ago, he watched Pigsy throw a customer out of his shop, threatening the unruly guest within an inch of his life, and thought Well then. Something interesting.

Tang had actually gone to the rival noodle shop first. It seemed a bit more inviting. Pigsy, for all his culinary achievements, is still very closed off, and his shop certainly reflects that. Sometimes, Tang wonders if Pigsy would get more customers if he’d change his attitude, but he never brings it up, because what would Pigsy’s Noodles be without Pigsy?

He watches from afar a few days, until the Pigsy’s rival shop owner not so subtly nudges him over, and the moment he walks in, he’s knocked to the ground by a very exuberant noodle delivery boy.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry—are you alright?” Tang sits himself upright to the sound of frantic apologies, seeing a kid no older than 18 fretting over him as if he’d been stabbed instead of simply knocked over.

“It’s fine,” he starts, a little annoyed but not rude enough to make the boy more panicked than he already looks to be.

“MK, what did you do?!” Comes the familiar gruff voice from the kitchen, and the boy—MK, Tang has gathered—helps him stand as the chef walks out of the kitchen, hands on his hips.

“I didn’t notice him coming in—I just knocked into him—it was an accident!” Tang worries, then, because MK seems scared, but those worries are swept away when the chef takes a deep breath and slowly, his stance relaxes.

“It’s fine, kid, just get those deliveries out, ‘kay?” his voice is so gentle, Tang remembers now he was taken aback. Now it feels so natural for Pigsy’s voice to be gentle. “I’ll take care of this.”

MK nods to that, jittery and anxious, and walks out with a forced slowness that Tang can tell is from worry and guilt. Once he’s left, Tang turns back to Pigsy, who lets out a breath and mutters something about how ‘this kid is gonna be the death of me’ before looking up at Tang with what Tang later learned is his customer service expression.

“Alright, c’mon in. Welcome to Pigsy’s Noodles, home of the longest noodles.”

At that, Tang has to snort. He saunters over to the barstools and sits as Pigsy goes back behind the counter, into the kitchen.

“I don’t know if long is the metric you want to brag about,” he snarks, settling easily.

Pigsy grunts in reply, already back to cooking.

Two minutes later, Tang gets a bowl of noodles placed in front of him.

“On the house,” Pigsy grouches, before Tang even thinks to reach into his coin purse. “For the trouble.”

“That doesn’t seem like a very sound business practice,” Tang laughs, taking a sip of the broth after it cools a little.

It was the best he had ever tasted.

“Don’t get any ideas about it.” Pigsy fidgets with his chef’s hat, face settling into a scowl, and yet Tang can tell it was all bluster with no substance.

He pulls a pair of chopsticks out of the free container, snaps them apart, and eats as customers flit in and out of the shop.

Despite the fact that he never stays in one place for too long, Tang finds himself sticking around more than just a few weeks, trailing through the streets and eventually finding himself back at the noodle shop. The noodles are delicious, cheap, and he finds the company of the chef a comfortable one.

Things get far more interesting when the delivery boy, MK, comes down late and gets an earful for it.

“Sorry—I stayed up late drawing the autobiography of Monkey King and I missed my alarm!” MK bows in apology, frantic, and Pigsy runs a hand over his face, pointing MK to a dirty table to clean.

MK gets to work quickly, but Tang turns to him with a curious expression.

“You like Monkey King?” he asks, and he hears Pigsy groan from the kitchen.

“Here we go,” Pigsy mutters, but he does nothing to stop MK from turning to face Tang with a wide, blinding smile on his face.

“Do I! He’s so cool, and strong, and handsome, and interesting! I’ve watched the animated series like, fifteen times!” he rushes up to Tang, pushing a very worn, bound together book.

Tang flips through it, more out of politeness than anything else, and finds himself pleasantly surprised by the intricacy of the sketches, the love poured into pages, notes on the stories themselves scrawled out next to the drawings.

“This is...surprisingly accurate,” He glances over at MK, who preens at the praise.

“Thanks! I’ve been drawing these, since, like, forever! It’s going to be Monkey King’s autobiography. Uh, unofficially, anyway,” MK rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. Tang pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“It’s always nice to see the younger generation so interested in history,” Tang grins with pride as he adds, “You know, I know essentially every Monkey King story. I even wrote an academic paper on them. Published.”

He watches MK’s excitement grow. “Really?! Oh my gosh, that’s so cool! Can you tell me one? Pretty please?!” He’s bouncing on his toes, and Tang can’t help but chuckle.

“I could tell you a tale or two,” he starts, watching as the shine in MK’s eyes grow. “But I need something in return. A bowl of noodles, perhaps?”

MK’s smile drops, and he fidgets.

“I don’t know if I have the money…” he mumbles, mostly to himself, and then he turns to Pigsy, a question in his eyes.

“No,” Pigsy says, immediately.

Tang has never seen someone use puppy dog eyes like a weapon before, but MK pulls them off like a pro.

MK’s hands are clasped together. “Please?”

“I got bills to pay, kid! I can’t be giving free meals to strangers!”

“Well, I’m hardly a stranger,” Tang teases, smile widening when Pigsy reddens. “We met yesterday, remember~?”

“Shut yer yap,” Pigsy grinds out, but Tang has seen Pigsy far angrier, from his reconnaissance days at the shop across the street, so he isn’t worried.

Pigsy turns back to MK, mouth clearly open to rebuff the kid, but MK’s puppy dog eyes have been turned up past 100%. Tang watches as Pigsy crumbles beneath their gaze.

“Fine,” he grits it out between clenched teeth. “But this is a one time thing! I don’t have time for freeloaders around here. And not now! I got ten orders to make, that you have to take out,” he points to MK, who is nodding his head so quickly his face becomes a blur.

“Okay! So, in like an hour, okay Mr.Tang?” he turns to Tang, who grins, calm as ever.

“I’ll be here,” he responds, voice even, and MK busies himself with cleaning up the tables before Pigsy hands him the orders.

When MK disappears, Pigsy sighs.

“You know, pretty sure it’s rude to use kids to get free food,” he says, and Tang can only chuckle again.

“I’m not sure what you mean. I’ve used my knowledge to score many a meal before, this is no different. You’d be surprised what people will give for an interesting story.”

Pigsy snorts, at that, and rolls his eyes.“You a good storyteller, at least?” he asks, and Tang puffs out his chest proudly.

“The best.” After all, his papers got him a pretty good amount of wealth, so he’d hope he’s good enough to earn that.

Pigsy turns back to his prep work, shaking his head, but Tang sees the barest hint of a smile, before Pigsy turns away.

Despite protests from Pigsy, Tang comes back the next day with another story and receives the same free bowl of noodles. He doesn’t get noodles every day, not stupid enough to think that Pigsy could afford to give him one daily, but he appears at the noodle shop every day regardless, if only to watch the hustle and bustle of the place, watch Pigsy work.

Pigsy works with practiced motions, not a single measuring cup or spoon appearing in his hand. Pinches, handfuls of colorful spices thrown in with fresh vegetables. Tang watches him string out the noodles from fresh made dough, dropping them in the broth, stirring, always test tasting, constantly adding something else, another pinch of spice, until he’s only somewhat satisfied.

It’s a familiar feeling. The need to constantly make better, the chase for perfection. Is it any wonder, then, that Pigsy’s shop thrives? Customers learn that deliveries are often better than eating in, because Pigsy’s attitude is abrasive and he’s loud in the kitchen. Regardless, he runs a big enough business and makes good money, enough to keep MK as an employee despite MK’s many missteps.

Tang learns, through snippets of conversations, that MK lives upstairs. Pigsy gave him the job and the room. MK doesn’t talk of his parents, or any of his family really, but he has a friend, Mei.

Mei is as loud as MK is, and she’s familiar in the same way Pigsy. These people he meets at the noodle shop who come for company just like he does, lives slotting into each other with ease. Talking to them is like picking up a conversation left off a thousand years ago, stumbling only for a second before falling into the familiar groove.

Tang slowly learns the group dynamic, learns that MK’s parents haven’t spoken to him since he was kicked out, that Mei stays as far away from her home as she can for as long as possible, that Pigsy has nothing to his name besides his shop and himself.

Sees the family, the foundation, centered around the little hole in the wall restaurant, and keeps himself rooted, just for a little while.

The shop is closed every third Sunday of the month. That is the only day that it is consistently closed. Pigsy works seven days a week, twelve hours a day, without fail, except for that third Sunday. Tang forgets, one month, and catches Pigsy heading out in the early morning.

“What, forgot you can’t steal food today?” Pigsy greets him with a frown that softens into something like a smile.

“Maybe I don’t come for the food,” is Tang’s snappy reply, and he watches with satisfaction as Pigsy pauses, thinks, and then turns a dusty rose color.

Turns out, Pigsy’s ears blush with his cheeks. “Anyway, going on a walk? I might join you,” he turns.

Pigsy stares at him, as if he can’t tell if Tang is serious or not, before he sticks his hands in his pockets and starts walking. “I’m going shopping. Don’t get in my way,” is the response, and Tang takes it for the acceptance of the company that it is, and catches up to Pigsy with ease, stepping in time with him.

The perks of having long legs.

Tang watches as Pigsy charges his way into the market, eyes sharp for the best ingredients, the ripest vegetables—or, the vegetables soon to be ripe, to save for the later weeks. He gets a practiced amount for every ingredient that goes into his food.

“Have to get the meat weekly, but the produce can last if I make it,” Pigsy explains, and Tang nods.

“That makes sense. I never notice a drop in quality, regardless of the week,” he comments.

Pigsy rolls his eyes. “Pretty sure anything tastes great to a freeloader,” he grumbles.

“I’ll have you know I have a refined palette,” Tang huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

Pigsy laughs then, raucous and loud, a sound Tang has never heard from him before. His heart pitter-patters quickly in his chest, and he thanks everything that his scarf hides his face and that Pigsy is short enough to not be able to spot his blush.

“Okay, wise guy,” Pigsy’s voice draws him back in. “You ever cooked yourself a meal before, then?” He elbows Tang gently, or as gentle as Pigsy is able to be, and Tang stumbles a bit before replying.

“Well…,” his voice alludes to the obvious answer, and Pigsy laughs at him all over again.

Tang decides he likes the sound.

A few months after Tang has cemented his spot at the noodle bar, Pigsy goes to usher him out of the shop one evening as he closes for the night and stops, right before heading up the stairs. He turns to Tang with an unplacable look.

“Where are you even staying?” Pigsy asks. “Not a resident, I think I’d’ve noticed a newcomer that was moving in.”

Tang shrugs at the thought. “Wherever.”

Typically, he’ll head out to a busy bar and ingratiate himself to someone, convince them to let him join their party, and sleep on a random couch. He’s always gone before anyone wakes up, to be sure he misses the questions that would come from the house’s inhabitants. If he can’t manage that, well, he’s not above sleeping on a bench somewhere. It isn’t cold out yet, so he doesn’t worry about it.

Tang very well could get an apartment, with the amount of money he has saved. He could, but then he’d be trapped.

He’d have to say that he’s settling down, that a place is going to become home. And no place has really been home, not since his parents died and he walked through empty hallways and empty rooms that once meant something and now meant nothing to anyone besides himself. He’d sold the house, stored the memories away, burned the rest and ran before the smoke cleared.

How could he stay, when there was nothing left? He’d settled in for the long hall, cemented himself as something soft like the earth, and then it had been ripped away from him like roots, tearing up the soil and leaving a mess in its wake.

So he became stone, and left without a word.

Pigsy stares at him, something almost like concern on his face. Tang watches Pigsy’s eyes glance up towards the stairs, and then back to him. Deliberating. Tang tilts his head to the side, ever curious about the concern. He knows Pigsy cares, and he knows Pigsy, beyond the gruff exterior, is pretty soft, but he’s surprised by this development. He didn’t think that care would be extended to, in Pigsy’s words, a freeloader.

Then, Pigsy sighs.

“I’ve got a couch, if you’re interested,” he says, and Tang

Tang just follows Pigsy up to his apartment. There’s a hallway at the top of the stairs, a door they pass by that Tang can hear pop music playing in.

“MK’s place,” Pigsy says, before Tang can ever ask the question.

They reach Pigsy’s apartment door, at the end of the hall, and head in.

It’s a cluttered space. Well, everything save for the kitchen is cluttered. The kitchen is pristine, so much so that the rest of the apartment pales in comparison. It’s not dirty, there’s no trash or dishes left out, but there are just random items, magazines, cookbooks strewn about the rest of the living space.

“Sorry about the mess.” Pigsy says as he pulls off his chef’s hat and coat, hanging it up by the door. He takes off his dress shoes, and pulls out a pair of slippers from a bin, putting them to walk on the carpet. He glances back at Tang expectantly. Tang pulls off his scarf and hangs it up.

“It’s no problem. I wasn’t an expected guest, I’m guessing?”

Tang takes off his shoes and pulls a pair of slippers from the bin. He isn’t surprised by the kitchen being clean, but he is a bit confused by the clutter. Pigsy takes care to keep his work space pristine, scrubbing it to sparking at the end of each work day. Perhaps this is a product of that, and Pigsy just is too tired to care as much in a space that is more his than it is his profession.

Somehow, that makes Tang concerned. He can’t pinpoint why.

Pigsy pulls off the random items from the couch, throwing them aside but scattering them further. He grunts in response to the rhetorical question.

“I’m gonna get a pillow and blanket. Don’t break anything.” Pigsy trudges off, and Tang looks at the clutter, and then at the perfectly good, half empty bookshelf.

By the time Pigsy gets back, Tang is sliding the last book onto the shelf. There’s still the other items that are less easy to categorize, but Tang would be remiss if he left perfectly good reading material to collect dust on the floor.

Pigsy opens his mouth to say something, and then abruptly closes it. He tosses the pillow and blanket on the couch.

“Uh...bathroom’s down the hall on your left. Night.”

Then, he vanishes into his room.

Tang finishes cleaning, and then goes to bed himself.

It becomes part of the routine. Pigsy never demands he come upstairs, but he never shuts the door on Tang, either, and Tang will never shoot down a free place to stay. Pigsy gets used to him, even. Sees Tang sitting on the couch, makes dinner, hands Tang a plate whatever it is and drops down on the couch to watch TV.

If it isn’t making fun of trash TV, Pigsy screams at cooking shows.

“You can’t just throw onion in it and expect it to work out!” he shouts.

Tang laughs. “Very bold from the guy who only serves one type of dish.”

Pigsy turns red. “I can make other food!” The argument is sound.

“I know,” Tang assures him, taking a bite of the steak salad Pigsy prepared. It’s the best he’s ever tasted. “You just choose not to, which I don’t understand. Why only noodles?”

The question throws Pigsy off guard, and Tang waits patiently for him to collect his thoughts. Finally, Pigsy sighs.

“They’re what I like to eat, I guess. Besides, if I made a full scale restaurant, I’d hafta get more cooks, hire waiters, ugh,” Pigsy looks disgusted just thinking about it. “The kitchen’s my place, I don’t trust any two bit cook to get it. I mean, just look at the ones on TV!”

He gestures to the television, as if Tang hasn’t been watching. Tang nods, glances at the screen anyway. “I like how the shop is. It’s small, but it’s good. Bigger doesn’t mean better.”

At that, Tang has to laugh. “You would think that,” he responds, and at Pigsy’s confused look, he gestures to Pigsy’s stature.

“Shut up,” Pigsy says with a blush. Tang can’t stop laughing, and Pigsy cracks a smile.

Living with Pigsy, Tang finds out, means dealing with all of Pigsy. This includes the moments where Pigsy can no longer keep a lid on his already hair-thin temper.

The clutter of the house suddenly makes sense when he comes up to the apartment to see Pigsy throwing books around the room, raging face red and pained and furious in a way Tang has never seen before.

“Bastards!” Pigsy shouts, voice hoarse.

He’s been clearly shouting for a while. His knuckles are bruised, and Tang spots a few dents in the wall.

“I’ll kill em! I-,” He freezes, upon seeing Tang standing by the door.

Tang watches as Pigsy reigns in his rage, somehow, forcing his shoulders to drop, standing up straight, letting out a breath. It looks painful.

“I see something’s bothering you,” Tang comments, direct and gentle as one can be when trying to talk to someone on the precipice of blind rage, as Pigsy breathes heavily.

“Leave.” Pigsy spits it out with a vitriol that is not aimed at Tang, but at something Tang isn’t a part of.

Tang knows this, and he won’t let Pigsy drown in it. He stands still, as the storm rages in blue eyes.

“No,” he is stone, hands clasped together. Pigsy grits his teeth, clenches his fists. The wave rises and crashes down.

“GET OUT!”

It’s loud enough to make Tang wince, but he doesn’t flinch.

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”

At that, Pigsy goes boneless, slumping down on himself. Tang steps forward, carefully, quietly, and directs Pigsy to the untouched couch.

Untouched because it’s Tang’s bed, Tang’s space. Because Pigsy would only destroy himself and his things, would only rage at the things he deems worthy, and Tang wonders, why does Pigsy think himself worthy of this hatred, the anger that sits in Pigsy’s heart?

Pigsy sinks into the cushions. Tang takes his bruised hands and holds them, letting Pigsy breathe.

“MK’s folks,” Pigsy finally spits out. “They found out the kid’s got a good job and an okay place, and now they want a cut of his earnings.”

The tone of Pigsy’s voice is nothing short of derisive, and Tang understands the fury now. It’s funny, that he knows Pigsy enough to tell the difference between rage that’s performative and fury that’s real, but it’s not that hard for him.

Fury like this comes from care, and there is no one Pigsy cares more about than MK. MK, the boy with the sunshine smile who likes Monkey King and drawing and will work himself to death for anyone’s approval.

“I’d have told em to shove it, but MK’s got a soft heart, and they told him it was paying back for all the trouble they had raising him.” Pigsy laughs, and it’s very, very bitter. “Like they raised him. Mei probably was a better parent than they were, and she’s his age. Bastards.”

Tang swallows the information, takes a deep breath. He wouldn’t consider himself easily angered, but this? This makes him furious. He doesn’t express his fury like Pigsy does, isn’t destructive, is cold and quiet and deadly. But he saves that for later, for when he can look up MK’s parents and figure out how to ruin them when it comes to their jobs, their social standings, their lives.

“Technically, that could be charged as harassment,” he suggests.

Pigsy snorts at that, at least.

“Yeah, but MK’s only 17. He’s turning 18 in a few months, but until then they could drag him back, charge me with kidnapping, ruin his whole life just because he isn’t their fucking lap dog,” The rage returns, and Tang watches as Pigsy carefully clenches his fists, as if he were too quick about it he could hurt Tang.

It strikes Tang, then, that he has never been afraid that Pigsy would hit him. It never crossed his mind. Because how could it?

“I’m gonna commit a felony,” Pigsy mutters.

Tang snickers. “I’ll drive,” he responds.

Pigsy looks up at him, and Tang hopes the expression on his face bleeds the sincerity he feels.

“As if I’d let you anywhere near the driver’s seat of my car,” Pigsy smirks as he says it, and he relaxes a bit more, the anger draining out of him like water through a sieve.

Tang wasn’t aware that he was tense himself, but he relaxes a bit, too.

“But you’ll get blood on the steering wheel. And besides, it’s no fun not having a criminal record. I ought to start it sometime, right?”

“You don’t know anything about me, if you think this’ll be the beginning of my record,” Pigsy half laughs.

Tang shrugs. “You’re right. But, I’d like to.”

Pigsy looks up at him, then, the red in his face smoothing to something dusty and rosy and beautiful. Tang looks away first. “But, first, you need some ice and bandages for your hands.” He gets up to grab it.

When he comes back, Pigsy tells him all about the boy who would come in with exact change for the cheapest bowl of noodles, once a week every Friday. How the boy would ramble on and on about everything, and Pigsy would listen out of politeness, and somehow that turned to a fondness he couldn’t shake. How that boy came rushing in, half soaked in the rain, hiding out just for the moment before he was going to keep running. How Pigsy had thrown caution to the wind and moved mountains to get the kid to stay.

Tang listens, disinfecting the areas on Pigsy’s knuckles that are cut instead of just being bruised. He wraps them, gentle, and places ice on both. Even then, he doesn’t let go of the hands, lets them settle in his grip like they’d always belonged there.

“You’re a kind person, you know,” he says, when Pigsy is done. And he means it, too, thinking of MK alone on the streets, thinking of MK turning out like he did but without the funds to support him, a drifter with nothing and no one. It makes his stomach churn.

“Nah,” Pigsy shrugs his shoulders. “Just had a lot of time to get into practice with it.”

He doesn’t elaborate. Tang lets the conversation end, and turns on the TV. He cleans up the room when Pigsy falls asleep.

Pigsy makes him noodles the next day, without comment. Tang smiles and eats.

A lot of people miscategorize Pigsy as fire. Tang would like to propose a different point of view.

When he sees Pigsy, he sees the sea.

The ocean is never calm, but it can fall into a rhythm. Small waves, rippling waters. Crashing against the obstacle that is land, constantly pushing, constantly trying, constantly moving.

Pigsy will rage like a storm, he will shine like water in the sun, and he will fall into a rhythm as he works. He will push back against the rock that is indifference, and, like the ocean, he surrounds anything and everything, connecting every person he comes into contact with, as if they were the continents themselves. He ebbs and flows, forcing himself into the issues that plagues those he cares about, and yet pulls back and gives them space, never demanding anything other than their time, if they could give it.

The ocean is not harsh, nor is it merciful, but it is a force of nature all the same. And, if you weather its storms, it will carry you wherever you need to go.

And Tang sees a man who gives MK a reason to stick around when all MK wanted to do is run, Tang sees a man who never lets Mei skip a meal regardless of her status and wealth, Tang sees a man that makes sure Tang has a warm and safe place to stay, and sees the ocean carrying battered ships to shore.

Learning about MK’s family has opened up certain topics. Tang knows it’s only a matter of time before Pigsy asks about his life. That doesn’t stop him from stiffening, from going stone faced, when Pigsy finally brings it up.

“I don’t hear you talk about your folks,” Pigsy mentions offhandedly.

When he turns around and sees the expression on Tang’s face, he frowns.

“No,” Tang responds.

He says nothing else. Pigsy doesn’t press. Just turns back to making dinner. And Tang stares at his reflection in the teacup. He takes a sip. It burns his tongue, but he doesn’t feel it.

“They died. Nearly two years, now,” he finally says, and it’s like dropping a weight off of his shoulders.

Pigsy grunts in acknowledgment. Doesn’t give him the sad stare, the ‘oh I’m so sorry’, he just glances back with something softer than pity and closer to empathy.

Somehow, it lessens the dull ache in his chest.

“They good ones?” Pigsy asks.

Tang smiles, just a little. “Yes,” he breathes, and it hitches, thinking about how they pushed him forward, how they never demanded but always encouraged. Tang wasn’t good at making friends, not close ones anyway. But that never mattered, because his parents were there.

And now…

“Mine are gone too,” Pigsy says, after some time and mostly as an afterthought. “It ain’t easy, dealing with it.”

Tang huffs a wet laugh, pushing up his glasses to wipe his eyes.“No, it isn’t,” He responds.

Pigsy slides a bowl yanduxian soup, with some some skewers of meat, and sugar coated haws for dessert. Quite the array of a meal. Pigsy sits across from him, and starts in on his own meal.

Tang eats. It’s the best he’s ever tasted, as always.

Looking up at Pigsy, something in his chest warms. He thinks about his parents and it doesn’t hurt as much as it used to.

“I think they’d have liked you, if you’d met them,” he says, softer than he feels, because he’s never said anything about love but this is as close as he can get.

Pigsy looks up, cheeks glowing, and he smiles and Tang melts, just a little.

The apartment becomes lived in. During one of their shopping trips, Pigsy gets Tang a different outfit, muttering something about Tang needing something to wear when his clothes are being washed. Two outfits becomes three, becomes four, all hung up right beside Pigsy’s sleep shirts and chef coats. Tang gets his own toothbrush.

He buys himself books and they fill up the empty space on the bookshelves. He buys alcohol, stores it in Pigsy’s fridge and laughs off the comments about his poor taste in baijiu. He was never one to settle in, he never thought he could again, but slowly Pigsy’s apartment becomes their apartment and the change in his mind as he thinks of it leaves him wide eyed and spiraling.

Pigsy takes it all in stride, greeting Tang in the morning with something on his face that looks...pleased? Tang doesn’t understand it, and yet it makes his face feel warm when he thinks about it.

The winter months roll in, because while they have a weather tower to regulate weather it does not mean that they can ignore the need for seasons, and the apartment becomes colder.

“Do you not have A/C?” he curls up tight, beneath his blanket, and still shivers.

Pigsy rolls his eyes. “Maybe if you didn’t freeload all the time, I could afford to use it!”

Later, Tang will find this all as a facade. He knows Pigsy would never blame him for being without the funds to pay for heating. In fact, the noodle shop does better in the winter months, because of the desire for warm, filling food to combat the chill. He will later find out that Pigsy forgoes the A/C in his apartment to save up money to give MK a yearly Christmas bonus, both as a present and so MK can heat up his room.

In the moment, however, he just turns away with a huff.

Pigsy sighs. “The bed’s warmer,” he says.

Tang stares, blankly, until it finally hits him what Pigsy is suggesting. “Why, you cad! Trying to bed me when we’ve barely courted!” He leans back on the couch dramatically.

“Shut up!” Pigsy looks very flustered, and Tang grins, leading Pigsy to snap some more. “You were the one complaining about being cold!”

Tang sips his tea, and shrugs. Pigsy turns back to dinner to hide his blushing face.

That night, he moves to sleep in Pigsy’s bed. It’s a pretty large one, it isn’t as if there isn’t room for the both of them. The move is purely practical, after all.

Pigsy sleeps in a tank top and boxers. Tang wonders if the tank top is for his sake. They both get in the bed very stiff, neither wanting to acknowledge what’s happening. Tang curls up under covers, back to Pigsy. The bedroom is indeed warmer. Tang imagines the small heater sitting in the corner is likely the reason.

He turns his head. Pigsy is already asleep, trails of light from the outside signs segmenting his face. He’s snoring. He looks calm.

Tang stares for longer than he thinks he should, before he lets his eyes slide shut.

It becomes routine.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As whole, as Tang reminisces on the moments bringing him to his position, he’s quite glad he decided to stick around. It’s a strange place, this city, full of danger and mystery, now that MK is the monkie kid, now that the demons are free, but at the same time little has changed, and that is something Tang can appreciate. Every morning he settles at the noodle shop and lets life continue, predictable, comfortable.

And maybe that’s his mistake. That he thinks he can coast forever. The sea is many things, but predictable is not one of them.

The downfall starts when Mei mentions that one of her aunts has been trying speed dating.

“She made the mistake of signing up for the straight couple’s night. She told me that when she realized, she left faster than the speed date itself!” Mei taps her fingers on the noodle bar, giggling along with MK at the thought.

“Speed dating doesn’t make sense. I mean, how can you figure out if you like someone in a minute?” MK crosses his arms over his chest and ponders.

“Well, I’m pretty sure I knew I liked you in sixty seconds,” Mei boops Mk on the nose, and he laughs, before making a face. There’s a mixture of emotions there—disgust, confusion, fear?

“Yeah, but that’s different. We’re friends,” he stresses that last word, looking at Mei expectantly. “Just friends.”

“Well, duh! I was just saying,” Mei rolls her eyes.

Tang watches the tension roll out of MK like a breeze. He wonders...but will never waste an opportunity to snark, so he sets the thoughts aside for a moment and leans back on the counter.

“I’m sure I could charm anyone in sixty seconds. Where is this happening, exactly?” he asks.

Mei gives him a look. “I’m pretty sure speed dating isn’t for people who are already taken,” she tells him, and Tang blinks, confusion painting his features.

“What do you mean?” he asks.He jumps when Pigsy’s knife slams hard against the wood of the cutting board, harder than normal.

Tang frowns. “Pigsy, you alright?”

“Peachy,” Pigsy growls out, from the kitchen.

Tang stares, before shrugging it off. Pigsy’s moods aren’t entirely predictable, after all, and it isn’t as if anything terrible has happened today. Pigsy’s cooking smells as heavenly as ever.

He turns back to Mei and MK, but they’re disappearing out the door, MK with the next batch of deliveries in hand. Tang tilts his head to the side in confusion, before shrugging.

Oh well.

Pigsy is still stilted, when they head upstairs that night. He’s quiet during dinner, quiet after dinner, and instead of watching TV he goes back to the kitchen to make a dessert. Tang follows, sitting at the kitchen island, watching how Pigsy shuffles about, glancing occasionally at a recipe. Cocoa powder, flour, eggs, different ingredients come out. The oven is preheated.

“Something’s clearly bothering you,” Tang says, finally.

Pigsy stiffens. Runs a hand down his face. Sighs.

He keeps working, throws the dessert in the oven, sets a careful timer.

Tang waits, and waits.

The kitchen is silent, save for the ambience.

“What is this, Tang?” Pigsy’s voice is hard, hands resting on the kitchen counter, shoulders hunched as he finally speaks up. He sounds exhausted, from days and days of work. Tang frowns. “You steal food from my shop, you sleep in my house—you live with me, for pete’s sake, you—what is this that we have?”

And Tang, Tang doesn’t know what to say.

“Is this even something?”

He’s basked in the freedom to be himself, with Pigsy. A label defines, a label makes you inseparable. Tang comes and goes as he pleases, he doesn’t get pinned down, he’s one and alone, with Pigsy by his side.

He has called himself a ‘father figure’ to MK, but that is inherently different. There’s a degree of separation, with that label. He can still leave, and MK will not be too bereft. MK has others, Tang is just one. Pigsy wants more than that, he doesn’t want the separation, and Tang is always unsure.

“I just—” And there’s something quiet and breaking in Pigsy’s voice.

Tang says nothing.

“Whatever you want from me, Tang, you have it. I’ll-I’ll give you everything, just—”

Blue eyes, like the constant tide of the ocean, meet earth in Tang’s brown ones.

Tang is afraid he could erode.

If he stayed.

What would he become, if he shifted his foundation?

“Is there a point to this?” Pigsy asks. “Or am I just something you keep around? To say you have one?”

Tang knows that he is a man of words, of stories, knows he is Triptaka, is Tang Sanzang, and myriad others placed in the body of a single man, knows he has more knowledge in an inch of his brain than most gain in their entire lives, but he has nothing to say now.

His thoughts halt at the wounded expression on Pigsy’s face.

More than just anger and softer than just hurt, settled between an aching heart and a broken one.

“I…,” he starts, and then his mouth clicks shut, because he is, before and now, a coward eventually.

Whether he is captured by demons or putting his foot down against others’ bad behavior, he falters. And he is terrified, because the swell of his heart, the affection that warms him enough to burn, is too much to bear, to articulate.

So instead, he says nothing at all.

And he knows he’s erred, because Pigsy turns his back as the timer dings.

He pulls the set of mini cakes from the oven, sets them down on the counter with forced gentleness. Tang flinches at the harsh bang of the oven closing. Watches Pigsy’s chest rise and fall with harsh breaths that hitch with an emotion Tang can’t place, before Pigsy swallows, steels himself, stills. Clenches his fists as if readying himself for a fight. Tang doesn’t know what the battle is, wonders what side he’s on.

“Forget it.” He hears, finally, and Tang feels his heart jump in his throat.

The words sound like a relent, like something giving way. It strikes him like a spear through the chest, and he suddenly finds it hard to breathe.

The mini cakes cool in a few minutes, but it may as well be hours with how silent and still the kitchen is, and Pigsy sets one on a plate for Tang, placing it in front of him with a fork. Chocolate lava cake, something Tang had mentioned off handedly as an interesting dessert to try. Of course Pigsy remembered. Why wouldn’t he?

Pigsy vanishes into his room. The door slams shut. Tang eats.

It’s the best he’s ever tasted, like always.

He sleeps on the couch. It’s cold.

Pigsy doesn’t open the shop, the next day. Tang leaves early in the morning, before breakfast, to give him some space, and comes back from his leisurely morning walk to a closed sign hanging on the door. Unlike the last time, MK waves at Tang, hopping down the stairs excitedly. Pigsy gave him the day off, because Pigsy isn’t feeling well, apparently.

Tang sees the worried lines in MK’s expression and promises he will make sure Pigsy is okay. MK runs off, to meet Mei at the arcade, and Tang heads up the stairs. He passes MK’s apartment door and stands in front of Pigsy’s door.

He knocks.

“Pigsy?” He calls, loud enough that he can’t be missed. “It’s me. Can I come in?”

Silence.

Tang doesn’t know how to handle rejection, didn’t think it possible, from Pigsy. In the two years they’ve known each other, he has never been rebuffed. Has never been told, in no uncertain terms, to leave. Pigsy has shouted it without heat, before, but it has never rang true.

He stands outside the door for twenty minutes, trying to swallow something akin to fear crawling up his chest, as he slowly realizes the door isn’t going to open. He waits another ten minutes after that, processing the realization, the pain in his chest.

“Alright,” He says, finally, and he prays Pigsy doesn’t hear how his voice shakes. “Get well soon. I’ll see you in the shop.”

He should demand to be let in. He should kick down the door, do something. Be bold, be brave, courageous.

But he never was a fighter, so he turns on his heel, and leaves what is left of their relationship on the welcome mat.

He walks through the city, again, because he has nothing better to do now. There is no comfort from stepping into the noodle shop and feeling like home. There is no barstool with his name on it, no random bowl of noodles appearing at his seat inconspicuously, no begging for a story from MK, no fond looks from blue eyes in the kitchen.

Tang had settled into routines and expectations. The rug has been pulled from beneath his feet as he tries to grasp the idea that the comforts have crashed into dysfunction. He tracks every minute of the two years he’s spent here, tries to trace the beginning of the end like a true crime investigator, and still, he can’t decipher why the equilibrium shattered.

Change is a product of existence, Comes a memory from his days as a monk. You must let life flow like a river, accepting the directions it will take.

But Tang isn’t a monk anymore, and he is not flowing like a river or any such nonsense that sounds far more like what Sandy would say. He is analytical, he is intelligent, he is knowledgeable. Despite all of that, he is stumped by this situation, by what he is to do.

The answer, of course, is the simplest, but Tang is pretending not to be ignoring it, because acknowledging the solution means making a choice he can’t undo. To decide if he wants this to be set in stone. Can he tie himself down like this, can he make that choice to stay, forever if it comes to it?

At the same time, hasn’t he already? Just a day without being able to go into the noodle shop leaves him aimless. A day without Pigsy and he is lost, without much to do or see. He has centered himself about the warm air of noodles and the gruff smile of the chef making them.

And that is so, so terrifying. When you give everything, when someone is your everything, what happens when they leave? He’s dealt with that enough with his parents, and to become a pair, to be a part of something, he doesn’t think he has the strength for it.

But Pigsy gives and gives, and promised Tang everything, if only Tang would stay. And Tang is a coward, but not enough to ruin something so simple, so kind, and so honest.

He makes a decision, and heads to the bank.

The next day, the noodle shop opens. Tang is there when it does, settling into his barstool without fanfare. He follows Pigsy’s movements with sharp eyes, notes the rumpled form of his shirt, how his pants aren’t tucked into his dress shoes, how his feet shuffle against the tile instead of stomping with purpose. Pigsy moves slow, turns to look at Tang and has bags under his eyes—or could they be red from crying? Tang isn’t sure.

His heart aches, as Pigsy regards him with something like heartbreak. Pigsy says nothing, turns back to his work, and Tang watches.

Step one.

He heads to the market between the lunch and dinner rushes, picks out the ingredients from memory. He’s walked with Pigsy enough times to know what it is that he has to get. He comes back to the shop with an armful of grocery bags, heading upstairs to their apartment. Pigsy never locks it during the workday, and Tang uses that fact and knowledge to his advantage.

He has no idea how to do this, but he chops the vegetables and meat and sets the water to boil. Brings forth the memories of two years of watching Pigsy make the same thing over and over, and maybe looks up a recipe or two on his phone for reference.

By the time Pigsy comes upstairs, when the shop closes, it’s ready. Tang pours the servings into two bowls, and nearly jumps and drops everything when the door opens.

“Welcome home,” he says, braver than he feels.

Pigsy stares at him, at the bowl of steaming broth, and sets his chef’s hat on its hook. He pulls off his shoes, puts up his chef’s coat, leaving him in a t-shirt and slacks.

Tang watches Pigsy’s movements instead of thinking about how to approach the situation. He gets a little distracted, until Pigsy hops up onto one of the island chairs, pulling a bowl towards himself. Tang sits across from him, waiting for Pigsy to take a sip.

Pigsy takes the chopsticks offered, as well as the spoon. He takes a sip. His face remains carefully neutral.

Tang takes a sip a few moments after. He promptly sputters into his bowl, and laughs.

“God, this is terrible!” he can’t stop laughing, and he can see a smile peeking at the edges of Pigsy’s mouth. “I tried to make it like yours, but I guess I’m coming up short,” he glances at Pigsy, looks him up and down.

Pigsy’s face is dusted with a pleased blush. “Shaddup. And hey, it ain’t worse than my first attempt at cooking.”

Tang snorts at that one. “I doubt that. But, do tell. I don’t think you’ve ever told me why you decided to become a cook in the first place, anyway.”

This is the start. Tang makes Pigsy a meal, and Pigsy tells him a story.

That night, he sleeps next Pigsy, like usual, and traces the way the moonlight sets upon Pigsy’s face. He needs to do more. He needs to be more, and he’s pretty sure financial support would be somewhat helpful, so he schemes.

Step two.

A few days later, as the air between them settles into something like normal, he appears one afternoon, change in his pocket and bills in his wallet.

“A bowl of noodles, please.” He sets the money on the counter. It’s enough for at least three bowls of noodles, but that’s by design.

“Keep the change.” He evene winks, like it’s a joke

Pigsy eyes the money and then gets the most offended look on his face, as expected. Before he can make a move to either argue or even respond, Tang pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and explains.

“Didn’t you know? This month is my charity month. I go to different establishments and pay to keep them afloat.”

Pigsy rolls his eyes. “Pshh, I don’t need your charity to keep this place runnin’! Pigsy’s Noodles is a thriving establishment,” he rebuffs.

“So you’re refusing my service?” Tang responds, like a challenge.

He raises a brow, and watches as Pigsy gets redder and redder.

“One bowl of noodles, coming right up,” Pigsy manages through gritted teeth.

Tang hides a laugh behind his hand as Pigsy scoops up the money and grumbles, shoving two of the bills into the cash register and one into the tip jar.

Because MK had been bemoaning a lack of sketchbook paper, a lack of money for replacing such, and just like every time MK talks about something he wants, off handed or to complain because that’s how he deals, Pigsy will take some of the money that should go to the shop into the tip jar when MK doesn’t look, smiling to himself when MK excitedly realizes that, thanks to the tip jar, he can get what it was he thought he couldn’t—

Because Pigsy gives and gives and gives, pieces of himself scattered across and holding together the people he’s chosen to keep close, regardless if Pigsy is the one who ends up falling apart in the end, and Tang wants to fill up the spaces that Pigsy has lost from his generosity.

Tang takes his bowl of noodles and smirks, like he’s won. That night, when they’re sitting on the couch and watching TV, Pigsy leans his head on Tang’s shoulder.

“You coulda just said you wanted to start payin’ rent,” he mutters.

Tang snickers. “Where’s the fun in that? You got so red, I thought you were going to become a tomato.”

At that, Pigsy sits up.

“I’ll show you a tomato—c’mere!”

Maybe it’s a bit dangerous to challenge someone who knows all of your ticklish spots. Tang laughs until he cries, and concedes to Pigsy’s victory.

Step three doesn’t really register. He doesn’t think about it, because the first two steps have brought him back into that comfortable routine. Maybe he might have fallen into the same bad habits, if not for his hyperawareness of Pigsy’s moods in the following weeks. He doesn’t want to miss something, like he did before. He wants to be attentive, be kind.

He wants Pigsy to never again think of or ask the questions he did, that night. He wants Pigsy to know, immediately, what they are. Even if Tang is afraid to define it.

It’s a typical day at the shop, but Pigsy is a bit more tired than normal. Some days, this happens. Pigsy would never hire another chef, even though he has enough business to afford it, and being the only cook in a bustling restaurant means little breaks and consistent exhaustion.

Tang still makes them dinner, most nights. He tries a new recipe each day, because why not? Pigsy takes to each one like a food critic, and his descriptions have Tang in stitches every time—

“I never thought you could turn broccoli into soup.”

“Okay, so I cooked it too long!”

“You liquified a vegetable! Without blending! That’s like...did you use magic on this? Tang, did you use magic on this.”

—He’s not a very good cook, yet, but Pigsy eats anything he makes anyway.

Today, Pigsy is already tired, and he clearly doesn’t have the energy to deal with an annoying customer.

He has to anyways.

“This isn’t what I ordered last time! I ordered your original noodle bowl two weeks ago, and it tasted far better than this!” The irate woman slams her empty bowl on the counter.

Tang wonders if she understands the irony of complaining about a meal she finished.

“Ma’am, I make every bowl of noodles the same. I’m the only cook here. You either ordered somethin’ else, or your taste buds changed in two weeks.” Pigsy isn’t polite to customers like these, but Tang has to commend him for holding back, for still calling her ‘Ma’am’. Tang has a few different names he’d call her.

“I know what I ordered, and my tastebuds didn’t change. You clearly made it wrong! I demand a refund immediately!” She shouts in his face.

Pigsy goes from pink to red. “Look, lady, you finished your meal. I ain’t giving you back the money for shit you ate.” He spits, and she leans back, aghast.

“The nerve!” She leans back, aghast. “I don’t know what I expected from a pig—”

She freezes as a pair of chopsticks sticks its way between the two angry faces.

“Excuse me,” Tang starts.

His glasses flash, and he doesn’t bother standing. His arm divides the space, as he leans back in his chair with a bowl in his free hand. He pushes her back, ignores the look of confusion on Pigsy’s face. “I suggest you get over yourself. This behavior certainly isn’t doing anything for your looks.”

The woman leans back, crosses her arms.

“And you are?” She hisses.

“I’m his partner,” Tang says, and surprises himself with how easily the title falls out of his mouth. “And you don’t get to talk to him that way. If anyone is acting in poor taste, it’s you.”

Pigsy’s face is slack, his eyes are wide, and the red of anger on his face has given way to the dusty rose Tang has come to expect as Pigsy’s blush.

The woman opens her mouth, finger raised. Tang raises his eyebrow in waiting. But then she huffs, turns on her heel, and leaves.

Tang doesn’t give her a second thought, turning back to his own bowl of noodles—which have tasted the same in the two years he’s been eating here, so she’s full of it, clearly—before glancing over at Pigsy, who is staring at him with eyes full of something.

He has never seen Pigsy’s eyes shine like that before.

His face warms, and he buries it in his scarf and bowl. Pigsy smiles, and turns back to work.

That night, they’re sitting on the couch after eating another concoction that could barely be called food— “You’re getting better at this.” “You don’t have to lie to me.” “Bold of you to assume I would spare your feelings when it comes to your cooking skills.”—and Pigsy’s hand slides away from his lap and rests on top of Tang’s. Casual.

“My partner, huh?” Pigsy says over the buzz of the television.

Tang flushes. “It seemed an appropriate word to use.”

“Sure.”

Pigsy’s voice holds a laugh, and Tang could leave it here, he could. It would be far too easy to settle, to let it fall complacent.

But Tang has let the ocean lap at his heels, and now all he wants to do is dive.

“Hey,” he turns Pigsy’s face towards his, and—

Pigsy’s lips are warm.

Pigsy’s eyes are blown wide, and Tang closes his quickly, worried about the response, worried about Pigsy’s reaction.

Dimly, in the back of his head, he thinks ‘It’s the best he’s ever tasted’ and he has to squash the laugh that bubbles up his throat, because it isn’t appropriate right now. Pigsy's snout practically crushes his nose, and the sharp hairs on his face prickle Tang's skin.

He breaks away. Pigsy’s smile is blinding, a rare event. His face is flushed, both of them are flushed and Tang fidgets with his glasses. There’s a beat of silence, as they stare at each other, before they both turn back to the TV to avoid the ever so awkward eye contact.

They watch whatever’s on, for a minute of crushing silence.

“Alright,” Pigsy finally sighs, long sufferingly fond, and he leans against Tang as if tang were his rock. The ocean crashes against the sea, and the rock stays steady. “Guess I’m stuck with you.”

Tang inclines his head so it’s resting on top of Pigsy’s. The rock erodes, and becomes something new. Moves with the ocean, given enough time.

“Where else would I get free food?”

Pigsy laughs.

#lego monkie kid #freenoodleshipping #Tang #Pigsy #kitkat1003 #monkie kid tang #monkie kid pigsy

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Static Shock: Shock to the System and Aftershock Review

“You know what? 13 years ago, me and some friends sat in a restaurant all night and daydreamed about the kinds of stories we would tell if we had the chance. We wanted to expand the concept of superhero to include characters that kind of looked like us, who had some of the same background, experiences and dreams as we did. We wanted to create something fun that a new generation would respond to the same way we responded to our childhood heroes -and damn if we didn't succeed beyond my wildest dreams. Today, Static Shock is a household name with millions of fans of all ages (Is there stuff I'd do differently? Yeah, almost all of season four but why nitpick?) Static is the most successful thing I've ever helped create and I'm both proud and gratified that people have taken it into their hearts. “

Dwayne McDuffie, Co-Creator of Static and Writer for Static Shock

This review is dedicated to Dwayne McDuffie and Robert L. Washington III. Rest In Power Static Shock is awesome. I grew up with the show watching it both first run on the WB and second run on Cartoon Network and loved it as much as I did other large parts of my childhood courtsey of DC like Batman the Animated Series, Teen Titans and both Justice League Shows. What makes this unique among the DC Properties is that Static wasn’t really a big name when he got a show. He wasn’t even part of the DC Universe.

See as I had no idea for probably a good decade, Static actually came from Milestone Comics, a company ran by and focused on african americans. The goal was understandable: While black heroes existed at the time, and there were some fantastic ones like Storm, Jim Rhodes and Steel... these guys weren’t the center of their universes. The big faces of the big companies, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash.. were white. So milestone was a shakeup of that with the main teams and heroes all being black, from Icon, an alien who’d lived among man but rather than end up in kansas like say superman ended up imprinting on a slave woman centuries ago and has been with us since, who was encouraged by an energetic teenager named Rocket to put on a costume and do something with his powers and his community, Hardware, a tech genius who had his work stolen by a white asshole and wanted to fight back and BLood Syndicate, a group of gang members all caught in the “The Big Bang”, a huge fight between all of Dakota, the midwest city where the comics take place, that ended when the police released a bunch of experimental gas that gave them all super powers.

As most of you who have watched the show already know, this is where Static comes from. Static was the company making their own Spider-Man, i.e. a nerdy teenager who suddenly gets super powers, in this case Virgil Hawkins who at the prodding of a friend took a gun to The Big Bang to get revenge on a bully. .but ultimately couldn’t go through with it, decided it wasn’t him and got rid of the gun and ran.. and still ended up in it, becoming Static, a young hero dedicated to using his powers to fight other “Bang Babies”.. a term that dosen’t really sound that great and they really should’ve thought through. But Phrasing aside the character was great and I look forward to reading more and only haven’t because I have to buy the issues gradually, but DC is currently re-releasing the individual issues of Static, Icon, and Hardware weekly in anticipation of a reboot of Milestone Coming in May digitally on Comixology at only 2 bucks a pop, and rereleased the original print collections that were long out of print for 10 bucks each, though i’m getting static on it’s own since i’ts really not that much less expensive as it only collects four issues while Icon and Hardware both collect 8, so I can wait a bit there on Hardware and already own Icon: A Hero’s Welcome.. and really need to review it at some point.

While Milestone’s output was good, at least from the two books i’ve read, with Robert Washinton III, who sadly not only ahs also passed but was fucking homeless for a while in the 2000′s.. what the actual hell, writing Static alongside Dwayne McDuffie, whose later moved onto animation writing tons of Static episodes all of them classics including the school shooting episode, the first three rubberbandman episodes and both Anasazi episodes. Point is it had good writers and artists and even had a distrbution deal with DC, so they had a leg up on the glut of other comic book companies.. but happened to start at the start of the comic book crash, a huge downturn in sales in the 90′s as the speculator boom, i.e. a bunch of people assuming every number one would be worth golden and silver age money, forgetting a character has to BUILD INTREST and this stuff takes time, and whose attempts to sell fast flooded the market with comics no one wanted,, caused the roof to cave in and with a bunch of assholes pegging milestone as a “Company for black people” rather than you know, a company trying to add fucking diversity and represntation to the comics industry, and that simply wanted a unvierse that was centered around people of color instead of white guys. The company eventually had to shut down, and was left to lisencing. This is where the show comes in. Producers HAD been trying to make shows based on Milestone for a while, as far back as the mid-90s and the company was was all for it but the closest it got was an x-men style team series using various characters whose first draft was terrible and whose second draft by Alan Burnett, a producer on various DC Animated shows who’d go on to produce Static Shock, that McDuffie and others really liked but sadly did not get picked up. eventually though with presistance Static ended up getting a series and as I said McDuffie went on to write for it though he did not develop it. Some changes went into place naturally to make it work for an early 2000′s kids show and while i’ll probably miss so since again, only read one issue as we go. But due to Milestone coming back my intrest was peaking, hence finally reading the copy of Icon I had to buy from the library years ago due to keeping it overdue but am now EXTREMLEY glad I own as i’ts incredibly rare and really damn good, and wanting to read static, doing so lately since it’s finally on digtiial and again not too expensive. So join me as I give you a shock to the system and revisit this hell of a series to see if it holds up.. which just to cut that short it does and i’m only holding off binging MORE because I want the first two eps to be fresh enough in my head to review properly.. and also go over the various voice actors because that’s a thing with me now and charcter co-creator dwayne mcduffie because he’s awesome.

As I like to do when covering a series first episodes, let’s run down the voice cast.

First up is an UTTER LEGEND, and I use the term voice acting legend a lot, and mean it every time and have good reason to use it when I say it, and Phil LaMarr is a GOD in the buisness, having done a metric ton of voice acting roles, and being easily the most proflific black voice actor in animation. He’s also done some acting work, mostly in pulp fiction which I have not seen, but his true staying power and talent is in animation so here’s just the roles I feel are most notable or may not be very notable but i’m bringing up anyway because it’s my list.

His roles besides Virgil include Lester Payton the Texas Ranger who showed up for one very good episode of king of the hill to be badass and show up the hickish, stupid and very punchable local Sheriff, Gearld’s obnoxious older brother Jamie O on Hey Arnold, Hermes Conrad from futurama, Carver from the Weekenders (PUT IT ON PLUS DISNEY), Axel Foley for exactly one bit in Clerks the Animated Series, but anyone whose seen it will know exactly which one, Micheal on the Proud Family, Black Vulcan on Harvey Birdman (In His Pants), Hector Con Carne and Dracula on Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Evil Con Carne, Jack on Samurai Jack something I didn’t know for decades (and I didn’t know about the carver thing till today though i’ts obvious in hindsight), John Motherfucking Stewart on Justice League and later Steel and Adult Static in the Unlimited seasons, Osmosis Jones on Ozzy and Drix, Bolbi Strogofski on Jimmy Neutron (And yes i’m just as shocked as you are.), Wilt on Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Marcus on Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Bull Sharkowski on My Gym Partner is A Monkey and Also a Sociopath Please Help God My Life is a waking nightmare..... okay the rest of that title is implied but we all watched the same show, we all know in our hearts that was the title

Moving on, he was also, and yes there’s MORE: Maxie Zeus on The Batman, Philly Phil on Class of 3000, Both Robertsons AND Fancy Dan on the Spectacular Spider-Man, Jazz on Transformers Animated, Kit Fisto and Bail Organa on Star Wars the Clone Wars, Gambit and Bolivar Trask on Wolverine and the X-Men, Aquaman I, L-Ron and Green Beetle on Young Justice, J.A.R.V.I.S. and Wonder Man (Simon Williams) In Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Gabe and Carny on Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters (Really miss that game and have been snapping up what cards I can get lately), Baxter Stockman in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (And there’s also an awesome photo of him with 2003 Baxter... the two best together in one place. I got chills), Dormammu (I’ve come to bargin) in various Marvel Shows, Noville in Mighty Magiswords, Zach’s dad Marcus in Milo Muprhy’s Law, Craig’s Douchey Brother Benard on Craig of the Creek, showing he’s clearly come full circle, And Mr. Scully on the Casagrndes. And given It took about two paragraphs to cover all of this, yeah, I MEANT legend.

Next we have Kevin Micheal Richardson as Virgil’s Dad Robert, and it’s the first time since I started introducing Voice Actors on a show that i’ve overlapped. I already covered him during the second episode of legend of the three caballeros, but for the short version he’s also very acomplished, very damn good and I somehow missed he played the old blind guy in hey arnold> Needless to say the dude is awesome.

Virgil’s Sister Sharon is played by Michele Morgan who was in the rap group BWP and did some smaller roles outside of this the one exception being Juicy on the PJ’s, which I have not watched much of but REALLY do not like, though i’ll at least give it credit for being a decently long lasted black claymation sitcom at at time when there were, and hoenstly still aren’t, many black animated shows.

Back to long casting sheets, next up is Jason Marsden, who is one of my faviorites as i’ve realized recently as Ritchie. As I also found out only recently he started on the Sitcom Step By Step and while that show is .. ehhhhhhhhh, he is great in it because he’s great in everything. He also apparently has his own internet variety show which I have to watch now. His roles include Max Goof, ironically given I was just talking about that role a few days ago, Haku in the english dub of Spirted Away, Micheal, the kid being yelled at by a bunch of 80′s cartoons characters not to take drugs in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue!, Nermal in the DTV Garfield movies and The Garfield Show, Tino on the Weekenders (SERIOUSLY DISNEY), Snapper Carr on Justice League, Rikochet on Mucha Lucha! for the last season (Why I do not knkow and while I love the guy he was not the right choice), Felix on Kim Possible, Chase Young on Xiaolin Showdown (WHich I did not realize was him and now I do easily his best role and I REALLY should’ve), Red Star and Billy Numerous on Teen Titans, Speedy on Batman Brave and the Bold, Impulse/Kid Flash II on Young Justice, and Fingers on Kaijudo. He hasn’t done as much lately which is a shame but hopefully i’tll pick up again.

Next up is Hotstreak, Virgil’s brutal bully turned unhinted pyromancer played by DANIEL COOKSY, another actor i’m happy to talk about and another faviorite I haven’t seen much of lately. Daniel was an actor from childhood, playing Budnick on Salute Your Shorts, but he quickly gained a long and storied catalogue of VA Work: His first big roll was as Montana Max on Tiny Toon Adventures and if there is a god he’ll be back for the reboot, Stoop Kid on Hey Arnold, the incomprable Jack Spicer on Xiaolin Showdown, far and away his best role and part of why Chronicles sucked so bad was he was he didn’t get to reprise the role, The titular Dave the Barbarian, Django of the Dead on El Tigre (Had no idea), Kicks utterly insufferable big Brother Brad on Kick Buttowski and apparently he’s back at it again after laying low for a bit as he’s voicing Snag in Long Gone Gultch.. which I already really needed to watch but hot damn, I missed him. Sign me up.

Frieda, Virgil’s crush and close friend who in the comics was his main confidante and love intrest but here is eventually pushed aside, is voiced by Danica Mckeller whose work didn’t seem all that familiar.. until I found out she was Ms. Martian on Young Justice. Hello, Megan. Very talented and she did get a major role in a dc show eventually so good for her. Can’t wait for season 4.

So with our major players out of the way, let’s talk about Dwayne. McDuffie is an AWESOME man and my respect has grown for him more and more with time. A writer and editor at Marvel, McDuffie has a decent resume doing smaller but awesome books, which I got most of for free last year when Marvel was giving out free digital collections due to the lock down, like Damage Control, a sitcom set in the marvel universe about the company that picks up after superhero battles and the logistics and antics that insue and Dethlok, about a pacfist trapped inside a cyborg zombie. He was as mentioned one of Milestone’s founders, and wrote Icon, Hardware and co-wrote the first few issues of Static. He’d go on to a pretty stacked career in animation, writing on this show and Justice League before becoming story editor and show runner for Unlimited , even making a return to comics as a result writing the Marvel miniseries beyond and an arc of Fantastic Four in which Black Panther and Storm filled in for Reed and Sue while the two of them worked on their marriage after Reed did.. pretty much everything he did in Civil War. He also became head writer and show runner for Ben 10: Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, revamping the franchise a bit, and Alien Force, at least the first two seasons are awesome and I feel people overreacted on the changes. Ultimate Alien is okay, but has it’s problems but the finale was awesome and left the man’s legacy on a high note.. as he sadly passed in 2011 due to heart complications. He is truly missed and produced some utterly amazing stuff whlie he was alive. So on that melacholy note let’s see what happens when his creation hits the tv screen shall we?

Shock to the System:

This episode is written by Christopher Simmons, who is apparently a huge art designer guy.. but i’m not sure that’s the same chirsptoher simmons. Much more notable is the writer of the episode after this Stan Berkowitz, who was showrunner for season 1 and has done a LOT of DCAU work and is suprising talent, having written a lot of awesome Justice League episodes including Secret Society and The Royal Flush One. Point is we’re in first class hands. Before the episode itself I want to talk about the intro and how it’s unique among DCAU shows. Like most Western Animation the intros for DCAU shows didn’t change much over the seasons with the most I can see is JLU changing up the footage to preview the current episode and later adding Hawkgirl to the intro after her return to the team. I THINK superman the animated series changed some of it’s footage too, but I can’t confrim it and may of just been imagining it. As i’ve talked about on my blog it’s normally a pet peeve of mine, mostly because shows you know, change after season 1, characters get added some one shot characters used for the intro never return, and after a while it can feel dated especially in more recent shows where the status quo is not at all set in stone and things change quite a bit. But sometimes it can be good enough that either the dated elements don’t matter or general enough that you don’t need to change it and i’ts just that good.. and given Batman the Animated Series has both in spades, you can see why i’ts probably my golden standard for intros and after superman the animated series DC mostly followed suit. But being part of the teen superhero boom of the 2000′s Static is unique in that it splits the diffrence: It’s intro gets the character across perfectly like a good intro should starting with Virgil getting out of bed and running a comb across his head before showing off to his sister to bug her and literally running into his dad who hand shim his bag and smiles, silently showing off his family. He then runs to school and runs into some trouble.. and said trouble changes for each intro, with Rubberband Man for season 1, Kanga (Whose name I only know because I happened to run across it) for season 2 and your guess is as good as mine for seasons 3 and 4, though Hotstreak is a constant. They still save some money for seasons 1 and 2 by recycling some animation.. but that’s alright with mea s it was good animation, and the improtant thing is cycling out old villians for new ones, while Season 3 is the only out and out redo to show off Richie taking on the Gear identity, adding about 10 seconds of intro to let him show off. Seriously it’s an utterly great intro and like the other DCAU intros outside of superman, stuck in my brain.

The other change that’s ENTIRELY diffrent from the rest of htem is that the music changes each time. The first two have the same formula just with a difrent vocalist and backing track: a superhero theme but with some hip hop beat boxing over it. The first intro is fine enough, not specattcular but stilll god. The second song.. is eh. Not really great and feels like a marked downgrade from season 1 and just dosen’t blend an ocrehstiral superhero theme with the beatbox elements NEARLY as well. The third song though is my faviorite.. even if I HATED Little Romeo as a kid because I really did not like his nick show, it’s more a straight up rap song, but it has a faster beat that fits the intro better, and Romeo’s bragging fits Virgil’s character and penchant for Spidey quips perfectly. I also find it ironic that the theme that blends in with the dcau the most, the first season’s, is the one from BEFORE they decided to put it in the same universe. Still this season’s intro slaps, I just like the LIttle Romeo one a bit more. The opening scene is picture perfect. Some masked crooks looting a warehouse are loading some stolen TV’s into a van when suddenly the lights come on one by one above one of the crooks before his tv switches to various channels before going haywire. Cue our heroes’ entrance. Let’s tak ea good look at him

Static’s Costume is awesome. While I prefer the season 3 redesign, and clearly DC agrees as the redeisgn was used for both pre and post new-52 when they used him, and while he’s getting a fresh design for the reboot, said design takes a lot of cures from said outfit. As for how the outfit differs from the comics itself this is the design he had in the comics

It didn’t change much from the first issue, with the exception of his now iconic big puffy jacket which was added pretty early into the character’s history but I was unaware of that and just assumed he had the bodysuit the whole time. The more you know. But as you can see outside of the cool puffy jacket over a costume the two couldn’t be more diffrent. While the Dakotaverse outfit is more a standard superhero outfit, with some regular clothes touches on top the first cartoon outfit comes off more realistic, looking fantastic, but still coming off as something two teenagers could realistically have thrown together with what clothes they could buy, while still looking awesomely superheroy. IN short it’s perfect and only topped by the season 3 onward look...

But the slicker look, with an even cooler jakcet and the new colors all fitting the lighting ascetic better, but fits: not only has Virgil come along farther since he started, but with Richie now having a genius brain as Gear, he can provide a far slicker, far more professional superhero outfit on the budget the two have. This show is just great at costume design.

So getting back to the episode at hand, Static puts up a huge sign in elecrticy saying “Bad guys here”, PFFFT, and then hides away and narrates that a few days ago he’d be the last person anyone would’ve expected to be a hero. Cue Flashback.

We meet Virgil Hawkins on an average day: rapping into his razor, getting into a petty argument with his older sister Sharon, as a younger brother myself I relate to this, and talking to his dad who tries to get them to cut that out. We find out his mom has passed via his sister making really terrible eggs and saying that’s how mom made them. Exposition! Though we do get a great bit through this as when his sister gets distracted by her boyfriend calling, he uses the opportunity of her leaving the room to dump the eggs.. after having earlier jokingly prayed to his mom for a way out of breakfast. “Thanks for looking out for me mom” That’s both very sweet and very hilarious.

This is a change from the comics it turns out as I was utterly flored to find Virgil’s mom alive and well when reading the first issue of Static. Turns out this was a change made during development and one Dwane McDuffie admitted in the interview I got the tribute quote from to not liking as he had a good reason for having Virgil have a nuclear family, as most black families in media at the time were just one single parent and a kid or two with the other having either left or died. He wasn’t too bothered by it as while he preferred what he came up with in the first place, the show DID get some really good stories out of her being gone and didn’t just have her be absent because shut up. Virgil is still working over her death and the way HOW she died ends up playing an important role in this episode and gives Virgil a dislike of guns, as she died to gang violence. So the change wasn’t for stupid or racist reasons, but likely both to keep the character count down while giving them something to work with for storylines. Or it could’ve been for stupid reasons and the writers simpily made lemonade out of that very dumb lemon, either way it ended up working. Virgil also plans to ask his friend Frieda out. Frieda was a bigger deal in the comics, being Virgil’s friend and confidante as well as his ocasional love intrest, but here while she was inteded to at least be his love intrest here, that sorta fizzled out. As for the best friend role we meet her replacement in Richie, which McDuffie conceded was the kind of change a studio would make swapping out a female character for a male one. That being said the crew made the best of it and Richie is awesome, a bit of an overcompensating dipstick at times, but a good sounding board and pal for virgil and funny as hell too. He was also gay, something only revealed post series by McDuffie.. but unlike say Dumbledore, it’s a bit easier to swallow here: The early 2000′s were an even worse time for gay characters in tv let alone cartoons, and if they couldn’t kiss or have sex scenes on regular tv, there was no way we were getting any representation in a children’s show. So it was largely just hinted at by Richie overcompensating in how “into girls” he was and i’m once again fine with this being word of god as it was literally the best they could do and his counterpart in the comics was also gay, if not as relevant. Ritch encourages Virgil to work on his opening to ask her out as it’s awkward as heck, hits a bit close to home.. but I do appricate the show just .. having him try and ask her out from the first episode. They likely would’ve drug thigns out a bit granted had they used Frieda more, i’m not blind to the convetions of the time. .but as someone who got the very wrong idea from tv that just waiting around meant a girl would like you eventually, when no you need to actually try even if rejection happens, I honestly wish we had more of this in media than the other garbage morals at the time.

So he prepares to , not helped by her mentioning guy after guy is asking her out.... but before he can F-Stop, the future hotstreak, shows up. F-STOP

That being said...... it’s not as bad as the original gangster name for the comic’s version, Biz Money B. Yes BIZ MONEY B

So yeah while F-Stop is no more intimidating, it at least means I can stop laughing. Francis, because I can’t type F-Stop without laughing and this review is already behind, shoves Virgil out of the way and agressively hits on Frieda, even saying “you smell good”, the international sign your a douchebag and also to call the police. Virgil steps up to the guy and gets PAINFULLY slammed into the lockers, something I give the animation team a lot of credit for, as you can FEEL how fucking painful that was. Virgil is saved by Wade, another local gangbanger who in the comics was a close friend of Virgils but here saves him seemingly just because.. seemingly.

On the way home though Virg’s problems don’t end as naturally, the giant sized asshole with nothing better to do has his goons corner virgil before VIOLENTLY beating him.. off screen but the noises, and the clear brusies including a black eye, on virgil afterwords.. just holy damn i’m suprsied they got away with this but it shows just how horrifing it was and that this is a step above regular bullying, which make no mistake is absoluttley terrible and the series would later do an episode on it and school shootings, into straight up gang violence. Wade shows up again and gets the bastards to flee.. but also makes it clear he can’t keep doing this.. and forces Virgil to meet him at his base under the bridge. And it’s a tense sequence, with Virgil KNOWING this is a bad idea but having no real choice and Wade making it abundantly clear that he wants Virgil to join his crew, and makes a chilling point: while Virgils dad RIGHTFULLY dosen’t want his son to join a gang as Virgil points out.. he can’t be there for him all the time and eventually one of those times, Francis will be around. And he may not surivive that. Virgil nods noncomittaly. At home it gets even more grim as he dosen’t open up to his family, understandably as his dad would jsut say to call the police and well.. we’ve seen how the police treat black people. At best they’d just try and use Virgil as an informant and that likely wouldn’t end fucking well for Virgil. Ritchie points out he can’t join a gang, virgil’s mom died that way.. see told you it’d be important to the plot.. but I like how the story dosen’t offer an easy answer.. well okay he gets electric powers soon enough but without the fantastic element this is just an innocent kid caught between either joining the very thing his mom hated or hoping a system not built to protect him will keep him alive. It’s utterly saddening and chilling and holy shit is it amazing a cartoon in the early 2000′s was able to get away with.. ANY OF THIS, and they handle it great, paired down a bit from the comics but even then it’s still incredibly balsy they got THIS much in.

Naturally Wade calls in his favor and our hero is forced to come running.. and soon finds out Wade’s brought him in for a massive gang war. Welcome to the big bang, baby. He hands Virgil a gun as things get started and Virgil.. drops the thing and tries to escape, in a harrowing sequence.. and runs into Francis because god apparently REALLY hates this kid today. As if to prove that the police show up and while that prevents a beating, they demand they disassemble. then release untested gas on them because of course they do.

As a result the big bang truly begins, with the various gang members getting mutated.. and naturally so does virgil. Though he wakes up the next day seemingly fine. How’d he get home? Does his dad know where he was?

I don’t know and we’re not getting any answers, but Virgil soon finds weird stuff happening like his clock shorting out, change being attracted to him and his razor going wild. It’s only once he get sback to his room he gets an inkling of what’s going on and calls Ritchie to meet him at the Junk yard.. though it is a bit of a dick move as he dosen’t you know, tell him anything about Wade or Francis right away. He does at the yard though.. and that he has powers, having finally figured out how to use them to a point. And the series does provide a decent justification later as to why he’d get this so quickly: Virgil is a smart kid, gets great grades at school and apparnetly there’s even an episode later where he gets a scholarship to a fancy genius school. So him getting how elctromagntisim works or being a quick study on it makes perfect sense.

Richie suggest the obvious.. to become a superhero. And the thought.. hadn’t occured to Virgil. It’s honestly a nice twist on the old trope. That he hadn’t thought of it, not because he’s selfish or any of that or needs to learn a hard lesson, those have been done.. simply because the rush of getting his powers, and implicitly of having a way out of his current predciament, a way to keep Francis off his back and keep Wade from pulling him in further. His own path. But once i’ts brought up.. he jumps on it. Part of it is being a nerd like you or I, of course he wants to.. and being a good intetioned one, he knows this is the right thing to do. It’s waht makes a superhero a hero: Anyone can get powers in a universe like this, esepcailly the dcau, but it takes true courage and heart to use them selflessly and knowing you’ll be in danger. It’s why I love surperheroes: they often didn’t ask for this but they do it anyway because somebody’s gotta. We also get an intresting wrinkle is superman is, at least I think in this episode I could’ve missed it or misremembered things, mentioned as a fictional character. That’s because originally like the comics this wasn’t part of the DCAU.. but eventually the crew decided it shared staff from it, shared a network, both first run and on reruns, why not just make it part of the DCAU proper. I fully support this decisionf: While i’m midly annoyed unlimited never really used anything from static shock outside of Static himself in the time travel episode, despite you know Static and Gear having BEEN to the tower and not being much younger than Kara and defintely older than Courtney, I chalk it up to weird rights issues or something like that. But having Batman, Batman Beyond, Superman, Green Lantern and the Justice League itself all guest star was a good idea, and expanded both static’s universe and gave the DCAU something differnt as most heroes in it were older and more experinced in contrast to the up and coming virgil. Again really would’ve been nice if he and gear could’ve been a part of the expanded league but production might of just been too far ahead or, given he had his own series, they might just have wanted to stick to toher characters. Also begs the question why Icon or Hardware wasn’t adapted for the expanded League but hey, questions for later and the tricky logisitics of the milestone rights might’ve been the issue. I don’t know I wasn’t in the room.

So we get a costume montage, including Black Vulcan from Superfriends, who again ironically would be voiced by Lamarr not too long after this, though weirdly they DON’T use his outfit from the comics for this montage. I mean why not? It fits the gag and would’ve been a good second to last choice.But what could’ve been aside we get our winner and cut back to present day...

Thanks boys. Static finds out one of the things in the warehouse is a shipment of computers for the school and can’t help but show off, showing up to the school, where Frieda and Richie are setting up for the dance, and dropping off the computers, and even saying his catchphrase for the first time “I’ll put a shock to your system” (Which Richie chimes in with awesome line and I agree, great catcphrase), before helping set up and flirting with frieda.

Though as Richtie says he’s a natural. He’s not wrong as he can work a crowd. .but back it up too as his first run out had him easily taking out the crooks, and as many teen superheros and fans of heroes of hte type, myself included will tell you, getting it right in one is not easy. Not even Miles MOrales was immune. All Static needs now is a villian.

And the end of the episode provides one as we see, in horrifc and once again damn suprising detail most of hte new metas aren’t doing so good and are melting and other stuff and we catch up with Francis whose burning up.. and naturally given that hair, though given he named himself F-Stop it’s the least of his problems, he’s got fire powers and escapes to “Have me some fun”

So with that we end episode 1. And it’s excellent, a great way to introduce the hero and while the warehouse opening is a bit superflous, it is a decent addition, showing our heroes first outing in costume and giving us a bit of an action scene to get us through the very heavy rest of the episode. But the rest of the episode is no less grippping, telling the tale of a teen caught in an unwinnable scenario who suddenly finds a way out. And speaking of which waht of Wade? Will we see him again? Is he perhaps Ebon, the series big bad as I thought when I was a kid? What comes of the man who directly caused static’s origin?

Yeahhh that’s the one mistep I think the pilot makes. Frieda is understandable as that was likely a simple change in creative direction. This though? Why build this guy up if your not going to bring him back. I mean where he went was probably the grave, as he probably did due to his mutation, but it’s still VERY weird to spend a whole episode focusing on this guy, building him up as a big personal threat to our hero.. and NOT have him become the series big bad. And maybe he WAS supposed to be ebon and they just changed their mind. I don’t know but it bothers me it bothers me a lot. Otherwise though flawless. ONe more to go.

Aftershock: We open outside an electronics store, as our heroes watch the news reacap what happened in the first episode, with the media dubbing it the Big Bang and revealing their could be hundreds of “Metahumans”, as Virgil dubs after deciding the media’s term “Mutant” dosen’t fit, a nice wink to the fact that that’s the term used in dc comics and I believe milestone but could be wrong there. Me I like the term, has a nice ring to it.

At the store while Richie mulls over waht this means Static finds out he’s a human CD player.... this was before mp3 players and streaming on your phone made them horribly obsolete mind you and if you don’t know what one is congradualtions you live in some sort of bubble and you made me feel really old junior.

Frieda happens to be there and Virgil quips “What’s the matter they run out of britney cds”. Dude she’s not bad. Also be careful what you wish for man. Nickeback returned the year after this. You have not truly suffered through bad music yet my young friend. They spot a kid looking feverish, and he soon turns into a purple werewolf, as you do. It’s a bang baby.. those are richie’s exact word and you may not want to start a panic there bud. Just saying your best friend is one. THeir not all like this. Our heroes book it only to run into Francis who naturally refuses to let them leave and only doesn’t try to beat up Virgil because Virgil points otu the werewolf and nonplussed, he goes to fight it, scarring it off by revealing his own powers. He’s now dubbed himself Hotstreak which points for getting an actually good name kid. No points for what happens next as unsuprisingly getting powers did NOT mak ehim a better person and he attacks Virgil who blocks with a garbage can lid and thankfully is blasted into an ally. Richie tries to guard frieda for damn obvious reasons but gets hsi shirt burnt up because shut up Thankfully Static shows up, and we get our firsdt full on superhuman fight as both fight each other with aplomb, and it’s a damn good fight.. and one that goes pear shaped for Virg as he’s caught off guard when he finds out Hotstreak can use his powers to fly, and tackles him and his previous trauma causes him to freeze up. Thankfully , as Frieda put in a call earlier, the fire department arrive and HOt streak has to retreat, though Virgil is bummed that he “Choked”. And I love this as it not only shows Virgil’s inepxerince, as this is his first time fighting a bad guy but that just because he HAS power now dosen’t mean trauma and his previous fear of Hotstreak goes away or you won’t freeze up from time to time. It dosen’t make him weak or anything like some assholes would call it .. it makes him human. Humans make mistakes, and it makes him all the more relatable that he’s not pefect and that he did freeze up as I know I certainly would at last once in the circumstances.

Things don’t get better at dinner as Sharon and Pops argue over the bang babies with Pops calling them a meance and Sharon pointing out Static exists so they can’t all be bad. See assuming a group of superhumans are bad because a handful of them ar edick sis why the x-men had to get their own island nation. You can only save an ungreatful populous so many times before you say “fuck it i’m getting my own island, pay me for life saving drugs, save your damn selves and stop doing genocides on us. Kay thanks”. But he does bring up a valid point that rattles his son: We don’t know anything about the Bang Babies or their biological structures and it’s likely they might further mutate into monsters, Static included.

Virgil, understandably, wants to check this and thus he and richie compare blood samples in science, to no real conclusion. She he checks out with his doctor who assumes he’s sexually active in a great getting crap past the radar bit and a bit of realisim, but he agrees to the test though if something came up he would have to tell Virgil’s dsad and is up front about this. Nice dose of realisim.

That night City Council has a meeting and the Mayor TRIES to deflect Papa Hawkins questions about the bang babies which again, while being a judgmental ass as not every person hit was a gang member (Virgil, and as we discover later some others), and not every gang member is there by choice, some by circumstnace some, like virgil almost was, because they HAD no other option. Again years of reading x-men may of just made me a bit touchy on assholes admitely assuming superpower people bad. But it’s clear the public is upset and while she says an investigation is underway... Virgil and Richie are not only not convinced, but figure she’s actively covering it up. And unlike everyone else there who probably suspects the same, they can do something about it and tail her. It’s during this, and cleverly as I didn’t realie till writing this using similar skills to his human cd player act, Virgil listens in and discovers whose behind it: Edwin Alva, whose apparently richer than bill gates and a beloved phinarophist Alva, as it turns out, was actually the arch enemy of Hardware in the comics, taking advantage of the guy in his civiliian idtentiy and thus casuing him to launch a war on the asshole. He does transition into this series well though, being the one behind the gas that caused it and with the mayor agreeing to back off, planning to simply dump the info about the big bang on a disc then destroy everything for now till the heat dies down. Yup sounds like a corprate douchebag.

Static tails him, finds the lab and infiltrates it, stealing the disc.. but getting caught by Alva’s goon, and trapped in a glass prison, forced to use ALL his power to escape and barely getting out alive, but not before bouncing off alva’s car. Still he now has the proof.. and meanwhile Hotstreak, who I was wrong did get captured, is forced to take pill sbut spits them out once the orderly is gone. Dude.. WHY DIDN’T YOU WATCH HIM. Make sure he swallows that shit especially since, as he has no powers right now and can’t harm you.

Hotstreak escapes off screen and our heroes discuss the disc before he shows up, and we get a REALLY fucking amazing scene: Virgil ducks into an Alleway and ritchie is worried.. and Virgil disarms him with just one word responses Ritchie: Virg you can’t take him. Virgil: Gotta. Ritchie: Well at least wait for the fire department Virgil: Can’t. It’s simpile but it gets the point across: This is his fight, he can’t wait for help, and people need him. And this is what makes a true hero: It’s easy to be a hero when everythings going well.. but it’s the true ones who stick it out against the odds and fight anyway. And he’s going to. So we get one hell of a fight, though naturally Hotstreak burns up the disc. And I do like this as it dosen’t feel contrived.. yes Static could’ve left it with ritchie.. but he wasn’t thinking in the moment and dind’t really have time to think abotu the disc, only that people were being hurt and he was all they had between them and Hotstreak. It was no choice at all. Still that pisses Virgil off that the last night’s work is now worthless, and he fully charges up and curbstomps francis who retreats into a clearing. Hostreak brags when static follows, as even he’s figured out Static needs to be around metal, as he’s usually on his disc or the street, and in the park there suppodsidly isn’t any. But he’s not THAT smart as Virgil points out two things: one, he hoped to do this on PURPOSE so they wouldn’t be around people and no on e would get hurt and 2).. this is a city, there’s metal everywhere.. and he awesomely and cleverly proves it by unlodging a sewage pipe with his powers and dousing his foe, winning and proving his stuff. I love this solution, it’s a clever spider-man type way to disarm him, using smarts and the einvroment instead of just brute forcing it. Though the sewage part wasn’t intetional our hero still won and gets praise from the people dumb enough to follow the fight.

However at home Virgil points out it was Pyrrhic Victory and shows off his smarts by telling the tale behind it, which I didn’t know,because tv tropes didn’t exist yet: king pyrhus fought the romans and WON.. but had so little armies left that he still lost overall. That’s what this feels like to Virgil: he beat hotstreak but any chance at a cure for Bang Babies and Alva going to jail for causing them is gone. His mood does get a boost though as the doctor calls and reveals he’s fine, he just has a bit too much elctrolytes and just needs to lay off teh salt. He celebrates, we get a quick gag and the episode ends

Aftershock is another stellar episoe, giving us Virgil’s first super foe and a personal one at that, while showing some growth. As richie tells him he’s not virgil anymore he’s static and he can’t let his past get to him.. and he does’nt going from cowering in fear to easily beating his foe with simple logic. It’s a good followup that answers questions you may have from the first ep, like what does this do to virgil’s body, who supplied the gas, and why has no one done anything about this, and sets up another villian for Static in Alva. Great stuff. I highly recommend these episodes and the show as a whole: it’s fast paced, grounded and enjoyable, having just enough levity to not be too dour but just enough tension and stakes to be intresting. A throughly fantastic superhero show and one that i’d certainly love to revisit on this blog If you have an episode of static or the dcau in general you’d want me to cover, my comissions are open and details are on a tab on my blog or can be gotten simply by asking me via ask or dm. Tommorow we’re going deeper underground, there’s too much damage in this town as the Lena Retrospective continues. So expect gay ducks, straight ducks and some terrfirmains. See you next rainbow.

#static shock #static #virgil hawkins #richie foley #robert hawkins #sharon hawkins #hotstreak #milestone comics #dc comics #dc animated universe #dcau #dwayne mcduffie #robert l washington IIII #kids wb #hbo max #2000s #animation #black lives matter #black history month

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retphienix · 3 years

Text

Alright fuck it I'm doin' it.

I've had this voice in the back of my head saying "You should play through FF1" "You should finally beat the original game" for years now and it's only gotten louder in recent times, so I'm gonna.

But also, I'm not?

I'm doing something I want to do even more that only kinda counts as beating FF1 lol

I wanna play an expanded hack of FF1, that just sounds really fun to me.

Enter, Final Fantasy Ultra Champion Edition.

A hack of FF1 that, to my understanding, is geared towards fixing the things that don't work, adding "some" more content (like dungeons but not a metric ton, a reasonable amount [4]), making combat more interesting through adjusting movesets and formations (and adding more health and fixing some broken features like regeneration), and yada yada I don't know all the jazz I just know it looks really interesting.

I don't even know yet if combat is classic "You can swing at nothing so you need to pay attention and git gud" or if it has the popular new-school retarget system incorporated. I kinda hope it's the oldschool system because I hated that as a kid but it intrigues me today- and because all my experience with FF1 is on the GBA remake which had the fix- so I'd like this to be a bit different to that.

What I DO know is this!

MORE CLASSES, BAYBEEEEEEEE. (ignore name inconsistency- used quick gif recorder and it didn't handle it well)

I won't lie, all that other stuff is really cool, but I saw that this hack meaningfully expands (as in thought was put into balancing things) the class roster and it made me excited to try it.

Now I THINK a trade-off for this is that classes don't upgrade after you meet the dragon or whatever, which is a double edge sword.

On the one hand the upgrade is one of the most recognizable and cool moments of FF1- it's what I strove for as a kid playing the GBA version and it was always really cool to do- it's MY favorite part.

On the other hand, if this is true then that means you don't have to worry about over-leveling at all because in the original version the upgraded classes had better stat growth but this wasn't retroactive, so you could nerf yourself if you grinded too much before the class change.

We'll see. All said I'm calling it a neutral change, assuming it's true. I'm gonna miss the class change a lot if it doesn't happen, but with more options from the start I think I'll be okay.

Now the main draw for me are the new classes and there is arguably too much to say on them all right here and now, it's best to say "There's a readme for this game, check that out"

The gist being each class is MUCH more specialized than before, and there's more of a spread of options for where you get your magic from, as well as every class utilizing only one weapon type.

So my initial thoughts were to go Paladin to tank, Viking because I'm obviously bringing the big damage swinger into the mix, Ninja as a fill in because I wanted someone with a sword and she sounded alright, and Sage because BIG HEFTY MAGIC DUDE sounds divine.

The thing is...

I AM more interested in bringing more buffs and debuffs than I am having a ninja that shoots off a spell from time to time.

I'm torn between Monk for more utility or Ninja almost exclusively so I have someone who can use any good swords I find.

AAAAh. I'll go Ninja. Sure the magic is more boring with Ninja but I am vaguely remembering a good deal of strong swords in FF1 and it'd be a shame to run a full party of 4 who can't use them.

As interesting as the Monk's magic options are, it is a lot less interesting gear wise to go Monk, and look, I love a good monk. Monks in FF are some of my faves, but this is FF1 and there are really interesting items to find and he doesn't get to play with nearly any of them (probably why this mod gives Monks all the indirect spells in the first place).

#RetPlays #Final Fantasy #FF1 #Final Fantasy Ultra Champion Edition

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fires-of-ninjago · 4 years

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Dr. Hybrid - Prologue

Okay, I’ve been working on this for a while. While I did want to post this as a complete chapter, I thought that it might be better to split this part up into a prologue.

Also, @dangerbuffed I’m tagging you because you asked... Enjoy part 1! ;)

Word Count: 1,315

TW: None

PART 01: The Old Office

“Wow, I can’t believe your dad actually used to teach here,” Jay said as they unlocked the old lab door. Zane was excited; he didn’t even know that his father had once been a professor of Electrical Engineering at the Imperial University of Ninjago.

“I know,” Zane replied. “He never mentioned what he did before he moved out to the woods. I wonder why he left?” It was kind of bizarre in a way; Dr. Julian had been a very private person, but Zane thought they knew everything about each other… Zane stepped into the old office; if it weren’t for the thick layer of dust covering everything, Zane could have mistaken the room for still being currently occupied. Then they turned on the light, and saw the mess that the room was in.

“Huh...I guess your dad wasn’t really all that into organization,” Jay quipped as they looked around. Kai however, didn’t miss a beat with his own observations.

“Yeah, because it totally couldn’t be all of the giant monster battles that nearly destroyed the city multiple times!” Zane had to agree with Kai’s assessment; the university was close to the South Docks of the city; all of the seismic issues stemming from their battles, not to mention the general number of earthquakes this part of the continent experienced were more than enough to wreak havoc with a space like this.

“This is why the University wants us to clear it out; there’s some kind of liquid draining into the labs below.” Zane searched the room for anything that could be the culprit, but everything looked like it was in order.

“What I don’t get is why the school didn’t clear this place out when he left?” Kai asked as he looked at some of the old technical books on one of the shelves.

“According to my scan of the real estate deed, it would appear that Dr. Julian owned this building, and was leasing it to the University,” Pixal replied.

“Wait, what?!” Jay asked as he dropped one of the files he was looking through. Zane didn’t miss a beat as he too pulled a few files from one of the many cabinets.

“Yes, my father held several patents that are still quite lucrative. How do you think I have been able to afford the Bounty’s fuel all these years?” Zane put the file back, after reading through everything in there. All that he found were the answer keys to various tests that his father used to administer.

“So let me get this straight: Your father built an entire building for the University, claimed a floor of an ENTIRE WING for himself, and they just, what? Left, like, a quarter of the building, completely locked-up for 50-odd years?” Kai asked incredulously. The Nindroid understood where he was coming from, but he didn’t really have an answer that he knew his brother would like...Primarily because he didn’t like it either.

“Well, yes,” he began. “The University had no legal authority to break in, and my father was also paying for all of the building utilities. If they had, then, as per their leasing agreement, they stood to forfeit their usage of the rest of the building. Which would have cost the school a large amount of not only money, but prestige.”

“But...this is a public college; they haven’t charged tuition since the Royal Family of Ninjago became the sole sponsors!” Jay said in his own confusion.

“It still costs metric fuck-ton to relocate a bunch of classrooms and equipment to another building, Jay!” Kai chimed in. Zane nodded in agreement as he opened another filing cabinet.

“Wait, how do you know that?” Jay asked.

“Believe me Jay, I know…”

“Kai spent a lot of time looking at colleges with me before he became a ninja,” Nya replied as she checked-over some old computer terminals.

“Nya was doing pretty good in school...really good. But, our system out in Ignacia only went on until you hit the age of 13 or 14, and then you were done.” Jay took a seat as he thumbed through an old text book while he listened, but Zane could see that he didn’t like the possibilities of what could have happened if they’d never met.

“We were looking into a bunch of different programs for me when Sensei showed up.” Zane perked up at the

“Wait, are you telling us that the only reason you two stuck around was because of me?” Nya chuckled as she leaned against one of the bookshelves in the back.

“We stayed because Lord Garmadon was still a threat,” she started. “And...because Kai knew better than to stand in the way of me making my own choices.”

“Well, I’m glad that both of you decided to stay,” Zane said as he tried to open one of the cabinets on the other side of the room. He struggled with the handle as he rattled the doors.

“What’s going on? Is the door stuck?” Kai asked as he came up beside him. Zane nodded as he let go of the handle.

“I believe that it’s rusted shut,” he said. “Perhaps you can use your fire to help loosen the lock?” Kai frowned as he grabbed the handle and gave it a quick jiggle to test it’s range.

“It’s pretty bad,” he said. “I can try, but we might still have to destroy the door.” Zane gave him an understanding nod as he stepped back. Kai grabbed the handle and began heating it up slowly. Zane could see the rising temperature from his thermal vision, but the handles didn’t appear to be budging. Just as he thought that Kai was about to give up, a loud ‘CRACK’ sounded from the other side of the door.

“Hey-hey, I think I got it!” He said triumphantly as he twisted the handle down freely. Kai pulled the cabinet doors open quickly to see what was inside.

“Well, what’s in there?” Nya asked as she and the others stepped over to see what they were looking at. They heard her gasp in surprise as she saw the interior. The back wall of the cabinet had been removed, and instead of containing files or old experiments, its doors hid an extra entrance to a whole other room.

“I think we found where that leak’s coming from,” Kai said as he took a step into the hidden room. Almost in a trance, Zane followed him inside; taking in the number of glass water tanks, and computers that lined them.

“What is this place?” Pixal asked as she picked up an old clipboard. Zane touched the glass pane of one of the empty tanks closest to the door; looking it up and down. Somewhere deep inside his mind, he started having flashes- Little blips and images of being inside of one of these tanks. After a couple of moments of silence, Zane finally responded.

“I think,” he began; “I think this is the lab where my father created me.” Zane stared at his own reflection in the glass, trying so hard to dredge more of those memories to the surface.

“Uh, guys? I don’t think we’re alone in here…” Jay said from further down the line of tanks. Zane shook himself out of his riviera to see what he was talking about.

“What do you mean? What’s-HOLY CRAP!!!” Kai yelped as he reached the tank Jay was staring at. Zane ran up to see what they were talking about, but nothing prepared him for what it was. He looked into the tank to see his own face staring back at him. Except...much much younger. Looking down the rest of the line, he could see that there were other versions of him in most of the tanks...along with a tag at the very top with read: ‘CLONE STATUES: DECEASED’.

#Ninjago #Zane Julian #Ninjago Zane #Kai Smith #Ninjago Kai #Nya Smith #Ninjago Nya #Jay Walker #Ninjago jay #Pixal Borg #Ninjago Pixal #Dr. Julian

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cosmicastrogazer · 4 years

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Storytime!

Once upon a time, me and some folks I gamed with were playing a good ol’ game of D&D—3.5ed, it being the most recent at the time. At the time, the group had a number of fun house rules, such as the 3-20s Rule (in combat, if you roll a 20, and confirm the crot with another 20, you get to roll again, and if you get a third 20 in a row, whatever you’re fighting is dead. Even the Tarasque. Especially the Tarasque. Yes, that happened once.), and the one where elemental spells always have an effect on the environment—burn, freeze, melt, etc. Ostensibly this was to force spellcasters into being more tactical and circumspect with spells. In practice... actually it usually worked, because the one guy who always played a paladin made it work. At the time of this game, the perpetual player of paladins was not able to join us. So. Anyway.

The DM (not me for once) aside, the party consisted of:

• Air genasi wizard, CN, spoiled brat

• Halfling bard, CE, in it for the lulz

• Human ninja, TN, in it for the life debt to the bard

Note that ‘evil party’ and ‘evil game’ were nowhere near the cocept for the game, and due to circumstances, the game so far had consisted of the party mostly running away from the bounty hunters the wizard’s family had sent after her, and thus had had little chance to cause any real mayhem, and this was about three months of this campaign in meatspace, meeting every week.

In the course of Running The Fuck Away, the party had found themselves in a forest, along a forest road, and beset by forest bandits. A lot of them. Something like ten minions and a dangerous-looking leader. Mind, we were all level 4, maybe level 5 at this point, so the metrics looked pretty bad.

Luckily, every single one of the players was an adherent of the philosophy of Always Go First: we all had DEX 18+ and Improved Initiative (+4 to initiative), and easily topped the order. Three simultaneous sighs of relief whispered around the table. A mild look of consternation crossed the DM’s face; one might suspect that he, also an adherent of Always Go First, had built his mini-boss with this in mind.

The players all exchanged looks. The wizard player thoughtfully hefted a handful of d4s. The ninja player nodded.

(At this point, it’s worth noting that the ninja was also a cook, and dressed the part. He also carried multiple bottles of cooking oil in a net sack. It clinked and clanked and gave him a penalty to move silently. “Nobody will believe that I’m a ninja,” he said.)

The bard, who had won initiative, grinned, and said at his most salubrious, “My friend, you have picked the wrong party to accost, I am sorry to say.” And cast grease. No saves were made. Once again, a look of consternation flickered on the DM’s face:

Them’s the breaks, you could hear him thinking, perhaps wishing he had invested in a DM screen.

“I hold my action until after Ninja takes his,” the wizard player stated, knowing already what the ninja player was going to do.

“All right,” the DM said, curiosity evident—though controlled—in his voice. “Ninja?”

“I throw my whole bag of oil at the boss.” He hit. The boss—and a good chunk of the minions around him, and some of the forest after splash calculations were said and done—was soaked with oil.

The DM, after that, seemed rather confused. That confusion lasted only long enough for the wizard’s player to say:

“Burning hands.”

And once again, no saves were made.

Which is to say, the forest also failed its save, and caught ablaze.

Luckily, the wizard had knowledge (geography), and knew where to find a river appropriate for hiding in as the raging forest fire went on.

“You also,” the DM said, as he continued describing the results of the geography roll, “know that there are two villages in the forest.”

“That’s nice,” the wizard’s player said.

“It’ll make it easier to loot latet,” the bard’s agreed.

The DM looked at us, one to the other and the other.

“Don’t you want to try to save them?”

“Not really,” said the ninja’s player. The ninja, it should be noted, was a shipwrecked foreigner with no connections to the local lands.

The DM looked at all of us again, and a look of profound resignation coming over his face.

“None of you are good aligned, are you.”

“Nope,” said the wizard’s player, popping the P in the most obnoxious manner possible. The bard’s player simply shook his head.

“I’m the closest, I think,” the ninja’s player said, raising his hand.

With the deepest sigh in history, the DM let us calmly wait out the fire in the safety of the riverbank. We kidnapped the brigand boss, who was only mostly dead, and made him our hireling until he ran away, and looted everything in the former forest.

#d&d shenanigans #d&d #I was the wizard it was me #an ex of mine was the dm #he was a terrible everything except dm #he was a fucking amazing dm #most of the time #storytime

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sasukerevolution · 5 years

Note

Any chance you have a list of Naruto episodes that mainly focus on Sasuke? I kinda want to rewatch, but only remember the arc with Sasuke vs 5 kage/Dei/Ita/Danzo.

Not right on hand, no, but I can comb through and let you know which parts I tend to watch when I miss him! You only listed eps from Shippuden but I’ll include original series anyway ^^ I organized this by arc; beginning part has my commentary and then just a list after. I bolded the ones I actually do rewatch a ton.

This got really long so here’s a tl;dr for the parts I recall/can be bothered to find and the rest is under the cut.

ORIGINAL SERIES: 3-5, 6-8, 10-15, 16, 19, 22, 24, 28-30, 33, 39, 66-68, 75-76, 81-85, 101, 107-110, 128-135.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: 1, 51-53, 113-114, 115-118, 121-126, 135-beginning of 139, 140-141, 143-144, 152, 202-203, 204, 208-211, 212-216, 220, 331, 333, 334-335, 337-339, 341, 366, 370, 373, 474-479.

ORIGINAL SERIES

Prologue - Land of Waves

There’s pretty decent focus on him for the first part basically up until he passes out in the Forest of Death. Episodes I like to rewatch a lot for Sasuke specifically are 3-5, and 16, which is where Sasuke sacrifices himself protecting Naruto (I usually prefer to read the Zabuza arc bc I feel like the battles drag out too long in the anime). A more comprehensive list would probably be like… 3-7 (one of Sasuke’s first battles with the Demon Brothers is there), I really don’t like watching Zabuza’s battle with Kakashi in the anime but episode 8 has Naruto and Sasuke tag-teaming to help free him, episode 11 and maybe (?) 10 have Sasuke and Naruto eating a lot and training and etc., and then 12-16 cover Sasuke fighting Haku and Naruto eventually showing up to help. Sasuke wakes up and they ask Kakashi some insightful questions in 19.

3-5, 6-8, 10-15, 16, 19

Chuunin Exams & Konoha Crush

I don’t really rewatch this one a ton but episode 22 is the Rock Lee Beats Sasuke’s Ass ep, 24 is the Sasuke Figures Out You’re Supposed to Cheat on the Chuunin Exams Test ep which I enjoy personally but also don’t really watch a lot, 28-30 for the Sasuke vs Orochimaru stuff in the Forest of Death, 33 for Sasuke going sicko mode on the Sound ninja, 39 for Sasuke using Lee’s jutsu to beat that one guy’s ass in the prelims, 66-68 is Sasuke vs Gaara but I don’t rewatch this a lot and prefer reading it in the manga bc the anime drags it out way too much imo, I actually don’t rewatch their confrontation in the forest much either but I think (???) it’s eps 75 & 76.

22, 24, 28-30, 33, 39, 66-68, 75-76

Search for Tsunade

I watch 81-85 a lot. That’s where Itachi returns to the Village and we get our first real bit of insight into Sasuke’s past– this is usually one of the first things I’ll rewatch when I’m missing Sasuke. He’s in a coma for the rest of the arc, though. I also watch 101 which is the Kakashi’s mask filler ep and doesn’t really focus on Sasuke particularly but it’s fun watching him freak out.

81-85, 101

Sasuke Recovery Mission

107-110 cover Naruto and Sasuke’s rooftop fight and Sasuke making up his mind to leave the Village. A lot of things about this piss me off a lot lol so I actually don’t rewatch a lot. 128-135 is Sasuke and Naruto’s battle at the Valley of the End. There’s a lot of Uchiha lore embedded here and I like his fight with Naruto so I rewatch this battle a lot.

107-110, 128-135

I don’t watch any of the filler after this.

So to summarize, the Sasuke parts of original series that I can recall are: 3-5, 6-8, 10-15, 16, 19, 22, 24, 28-30, 33, 39, 66-68, 75-76, 81-85, 101, 107-110, 128-135.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

Kazekage Rescue Mission

The first episode teases Sasuke’s later return and is also just generally nostalgic if you’re into that. I also just like the opening for this arc lol.

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission

Sasuke’s first appearance in part two and his reunion with Naruto are episodes 51-53. I don’t rewatch these a lot mainly just because I rewatched them all the time when I was 14 and got bored of it.

51-53

Itachi’s Pursuit Mission/Master’s Prophecy and Vengeance

Finally good stuff. Episodes 113-114 cover Sasuke killing Orochimaru– I prefer reading this in the manga to watching it so I don’t actually rewatch it a lot. In 115 Sasuke picks up Suigetsu and the episode is a bunch of filler stuff that wasn’t in the manga but it’s fun so I rewatch that one a lot. 116-118 are where he picks up Karin and Juugo and forms Taka which is *chef kiss* golden content. 121-122 are Taka looking for Itachi… I find this stuff kinda boring so I don’t rewatch it so much unless I’m in a particular mood. 123-126 cover Sasuke’s battle with Deidara, which is awesome, but I prefer reading it in the manga, and Taka taking care of him, which is very cute… 135-138 and the beginning of 139 are Sasuke’s battle against Itachi, which is also golden content that I rewatch a lot (though admittedly I tend to just type “Sasuke vs Itachi” into YouTube and watch it there than actually watch the episodes for some reason). 140-141 are Sasuke finding out the truth about the Uchiha clan– I think along with episodes 81-84 in the original series and Sasuke vs Danzou these are the episodes I rewatch the absolute most. 143-144 are Sasuke and Taka joining the Akatsuki– 144 specifically is the Taka vs Killer Bee fight which I watch a lot.

113-114, 115-118, 121-126, 135-beginning of 139, 140-141, 143-144

Pein’s Assault/The Two Saviours

If I recall correctly, episode 152 is where Sasuke speechifies at Tobi and tells him he doesn’t care if people see him as childish, he wants to destroy the Leaf, blah blah. This speech is real good but I tend to read it in the manga– I’ll bold it anyway though because I read it a ton.

152

Five Kage Summit/The Assembly of the Five Kage

You mentioned this one in the original ask but since we’ve come this far anyway I’ll say the parts I like. I love this arc, it’s definitely one of my favourites in the entire series. I think 202 is where Sasuke fights all the Samurai, 203 is where Sasuke meets Gaara again and they fight (lmfao I opened the episode on Crunchyroll to check that I’m thinking of the right one and look where I stopped last time)

Maybe I like SasuGaa? Anyway, in 204 Sasuke ditches Taka to go after Danzou, then Danzou vs Sasuke and Sasuke’s betrayal of Karin is 208-211, which I mentioned above is among the like, top three things I watch the most when I’m missing Sasuke, along with Itachi vs Sasuke in both original series and Shippuden. 212-216 are Team Seven finding Sasuke again and Sakura trying to kill him and Naruto and Sasuke talking to each other in their heads and blah blah… the only part of this I tend to watch a lot is Sasuke’s interaction with Kakashi because I find this part really annoying. In 220 Sasuke gets eye surgery.

202-203, 204, 208-211, 212-216, 220

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax/The Great Ninja War - Sasuke and Itachi

Crunchyroll’s not super great about breaking the next parts into seasons and I’m lazy so I’m basically just gonna talk about the rest of the war arc. I know it’s a million parts long but I just think of it all as “The War Arc” anyway.

Sasuke’s out cold recovering from surgery from most of the beginning of the War arc and doesn’t wake up til 331 (there’s also good Taka content in this ep– Suigetsu and Juugo looking for Sasuke, and Karin breaking out of jail). He catches up with Itachi in 333 - I rewatch this one a lot but I’m more likely to reread it. 334-335 is Sasuke and Itachi vs Kabuto, and 336 is too but it’s more Kabuto-focused. Focus comes back to Sasuke and Itachi for 337-339– and 339 is where Itachi says the “I will love you forever” line. I rewatch that episode a ton. In 341, he meets up again with Suigetsu and Juugo and brings back Orochimaru– I tend to reread this a lot in the manga but not watch it. 366-370 are when he gets Orochimaru to bring back the Hokage, but most of it is Hashirama talking, so the Sasuke-focused ones are 366 & 370 (I tend to rewatch this entire part a lot though because I love the Hashirama & Madara stuff). In 373 he joins back up with Team Seven and says he wants to be Hokage and blah blah blah. I think that’s basically the last episode of the anime I actually bother watching sometimes. I thought about combing for the Team Seven stuff where they’re fighting aliens and the prophecy and whatnot, but everything is really fucking scattered after this part and I tend to just skip around for Sasuke content in the manga because I can’t deal with the anime, especially because this is around where the anime famously released a new episode weekly for a year and only eight of those episodes weren’t filler. The Naruto vs Sasuke stuff is 474-479 and a whole metric ton of it is filler that makes me sick to my stomach so I never watch it, but I figured I’d mention it anyway.

331, 333, 334-335, 337-339, 341, 366, 370, 373, ?????????, 474-479

So to summarize, the Sasuke parts of original series that I can recall/bother looking for are: 1, 51-53, 113-114, 115-118, 121-126, 135-beginning of 139, 140-141, 143-144, 152, 202-203, 204, 208-211, 212-216, 220, 331, 333, 334-335, 337-339, 341, 366, 370, 373, 474-479 (which you couldn’t pay me to rewatch).

I love recapping so, tl;dr:

ORIGINAL SERIES: 3-5, 6-8, 10-15, 16, 19, 22, 24, 28-30, 33, 39, 66-68, 75-76, 81-85, 101, 107-110, 128-135.

SHIPPUDEN: 1, 51-53, 113-114, 115-118, 121-126, 135-beginning of 139, 140-141, 143-144, 152, 202-203, 204, 208-211, 212-216, 220, 331, 333, 334-335, 337-339, 341, 366, 370, 373, 474-479.

Happy watching!

#sasuke #naruto #naruto shippuden #a guide to only caring about sasuke uchiha #lmfao #ramblings #Anonymous #anon: do you have a list #me: i guess i do now

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dreamy-skz · 5 years

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skz in a zombie apocalypse 💉

y’all know i love au’s....also the pics are screenshots i took from their MVs so sorry if some of them are clearer than others, it wasn’t intentional !

listen to: gold guns girls / metric

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chan 💉

obviously the leader of their pack, i think that’s a given lol

always takes care of his team before himself

like if they’re running low on food he’ll eat less so the other boys get better portions

since the world went to shit they only have each other so the boys aren’t just his friends, they’re literally his family

so he’d do anything for them, including putting himself in danger to save one of the others

never leaves anyone behind

his biggest skill is strategizing and organization, and he can handle any firearm

minho 💉

the most protective member, although he’s not allowed to go on missions with some of the younger boys anymore because he can be scary

like if he’s out on a mission and one of his members is endangered somehow he goes into a blind fit of rage and starts killing any zombies near him lol

jeongin is still scarred from this one mission but we won’t talk about that

ultimately though minho is a great asset because he’s super strong as well and has lots of stamina so he usually takes on longer missions (like multiple days/nights)

his biggest skill is his charm, he can always talk his way into a really great negotiation with other people they come across

changbin 💉

uses his quiet exterior to such an advantage, like on missions he basically activates ninja mode

never makes a SOUND and is the group’s token sniper cause he’s good at quietly climbing trees/etc. to get up high enough to snipe

that being said he normally spends a lot of time on the roof of the compound making sure no zombies can get close to them

also since he’s the hyung who spends the most time at the compound with the younger boys he’s very close to them and they can comfortably confide their fears or worries in him

i already said it but his biggest skill is his stealth and his aim with a rifle 🤘🏽

hyunjin 💉

is the best at putting on a good front during the daytime but also secretly cries at night to himself a lot :(

altho they all sleep in the same room and at least one of the others wakes up and goes to his bunk to comfort him

most times tho they all wake up and end up falling back asleep together in a huge cuddly pile with hyunjin sniffling in the center (ow my heart)

a sensitive baby but he’s able to shut that shit off during a mission, is usually the most stoic out of everyone

he’s naturally v in control of his body so his biggest skill is hand to hand combat, altho he’s good with knives too !

jisung 💉

the state of the world has hardened all of them quite a bit but that doesn’t stop him from trying to cheer the others up 24/7

forces himself to be optimistic even if he personally has doubts

he’ll come back limping from a mission and while the others are worried and try to treat him he’s smiling like “hey its just a scratch”

likes to sanction off some alone time each night to truly let go for a bit and be by himself (being the ‘happy’ friend is exhausting)

altho the others obviously see this and baby him when they can, like if they have a bigger meal they all try to feed jisung from their own plates

felix 💉

honestly can be a bit of a wild card, he’ll have really good days but he’ll also have really bad days

however he’s normally jisung’s sidekick in the cheer-up department and puts on a happy face often

is also chan’s right hand man when it comes to strategy or making mission plans

that being said he goes on almost every mission because he knows the in’s and out’s of it

is on the smaller side but don’t doubt him, he’s a hella good fighter and is as strong as minho

the one who starts (quiet) sing-a-longs at night to brighten the mood !

seungmin 💉

he’s truly not to be fucked with, like his weapon of choice is a crossbow

u heard me. a crossbow. (its his biggest skill)

can be scary on missions only because he’s one of those people who seems calm even if they’re angry or upset

so he’ll be hitting headshot after headshot on this wave of zombies and he barely even reacts

he was never that emotionally expressive so he’s even harder to read nowadays, tho that doesn’t stop the others from trying

he’s probably the reason they started having therapy-like sessions every week so they can all individually get shit off their chests (it helps seungmin a lot)

jeongin 💉

the one who’s alway kept in the center of the pack when they leave the compound

because he’s the baby and they protect him at all costs no matter what

he likes hearing his hyungs tell stories about the old days at night when they’re all huddled up together

likes it bc certain things really fascinate him (ex: chan’s first frat party, woojin’s first kiss, hyunjin’s favorite class in college)

but it saddens him too because they’re experiences he will never have

his biggest fear is one of his hyungs never returning from a mission

skilled in working with radios + is in charge of their transmissions and such

#stray kids imagines #stray kids reactions #bang chan #lee know #minho #seo changbin #hwang hyunjin #han jisung #lee felix #kim seungmin #yang jeongin #stray kids #kpop imagines #skz #au #apocalypse

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virovac · 4 years

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New Kaiju Stats: Ikazuchimaru

Good Mythical Human/Toad

Method of travel: In Human form

Height: 55 meters

Length: 130 meters

Weight : 37,500 metric tons

Appearances: The Magic Serpent (1966)

Powers

Jaws: Unlike actual toad, the maw of Ikazuchimaru has an assortment of sharp teeth

Horn: Ikazuchimaru has a horn on their nose with which to attack foes

Claws: The monstrous paws of Ikzauchimaru possess claws

Fire breath: Ikazuchimaru can shoot a sustained stream of fire from his mouth

Speech: Despite being shapeshifted into a giant toad, Ikazuchimaru is capable of human speech.

Weakness: Being forced to swallow water can temporarily disable his fire breath. If fighting in a battlefield with a body of water, most roll a d10 each round. If a 1,OPN is halved and his attacks lose the possibility of FLAME properties..If fighting an aquatic or amphibian kaiju, the negative effects happen if the roll is a 1-4. Exception:Rule does not apply if all contestants are fighting are afraid of water such as Barugon, Death Ghidorah or King Ghidorah (MVerse),

Personal Primal Number-66- Ninjitsu Magic-Ikazuchimaru gains comfortable enough familiarity with his new form to pull of some Jitsu. He makes another attack roll FOR WHICH THERE IS NO Defense Roll. All foes must each roll a d6 whether or not it is a successful. If a 1-3, they forfeit their next attack rolls out of being horrified at the hero's sick sense of humor.

Special Rule:Ninja!

Ikazuchmaru is not only a giant fire breathing toad, his true form is a human ninja.

If a manned Battlefield-element, such as the Godzilla Tower,would target Ikzauchmaru in battle, he and his ally the invincible Jiraiya,may possibly arrive riding a cloud to stop interference in the battle.

Roll a D10 BEFORE THE BATTLE BEGINS. If a 1-6, they disable the Battlefield element before the battle begins.This does not work on automated systems (such as the Laser cannon in the Battle Dome) as they does not understand how to disable such technology, just how to beat up everyone who can push the button. This does apply to cowboys, the defenses of Ogasawara (due to being able to evade them in human size), daleks, and sorcerors tied to battlefields.

youtube

#tw blood #twdecaptiation #ninjas #kaiju tourney stats

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abundantchewtoys · 4 years

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Homestuck Meat p13-16

Page 13

Oh jegus god.

So, Dave has a little version of Brain Ghost Dirk - a semi-manifestation made from years of abuse and the self-therapy that followed, giving him an accurate gauge of what Dirk/Bro would do in most any situation. Really, the more you ready of the Candy path, the more it seems as if Dirk had been vaguely influencing the post-game Earth versions of his friends all this time too, with vague feelings of approaching doom.

Okay, for a moment I feared that the figure Dave met would have been one of the following a) Bro Strider (Dirk transformed) b) Lil Cal Or that Dirk would have turned into a slob, now that his control of the timeline (and the people in it) was gone.

But, well.

Gamzee. The fuck? Did Calliope send him over?

He claims Dirk told him what to say, but his vaguewave nonsense zen mode can't really be trusted.

Though that reference Gamzee made:

"GAMZEE: YoU dOn’T gOt AnY nEeD tO gO aNd CoNcErN yOuRsElF wItH hIs MoRtAl FlEsH bOdY oUt HeRe In ThIs CaNdYcAnE wHiRlPoOl BeYoNd ThE iNfInItE bLaCk WiNk Of ThE wIcKeD sInGuLaRiTy, My NiNjA."

That's something else. It almost seems to imply the Candy path, by virtue of not being essential, true and relevant to canon and all that... Is located INSIDE the black hole in Paradox Space. As if they automatically transitioned into a vaguely dreambubble-like state. Gog.

Of course, now that I think about it, it could also just imply that the Candy path is outside of the Green Sun's domain, and therefore also the Black Hole's... Yeah... That's probably more likely.

Still.

So Dave goes into the basement (Dave: Descend), and finds the Rosebot that Dirk was working on.

The note he finds has dark implications, of course, but given who we're dealing with, I wonder if it says

"bro come to the roof bring the robot."

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Page 14

What the shit.

Well, I was wrong.

That was gruesomely over the top.

And a parallel to when Dirk ensured Jane's presidency in the other timeline by climbing the bell tower and shooting for Jake. (No, wait, I misremember - he was aiming for Jake before shooting Jade. Still.)

Wow.

I wonder as well if the narration will be "claimed" by someone, or whether this is just meant as Andrew Hussie's quiet opinion on Dirk Strider.

It seems Dirk did not in fact have any backups, nor a desire to stay in a non-alpha timeline. Now I remember Game Over Dirk, who disippated into the glitches...

It seems as if Dirk has a tendency to be connected to everything regarding his ego, be it impressions people have of him, or alternate timeline shootoffs...

And at the same time, his ego doesn't seem to lend itself to continued existence if it isn't his alpha self.

Blaperile has a good point - think of what that means for the Alternate Future Dave's Bro, whom Davesprite attested he had never seen again...

Where is this going to go, are we really going to see more of this timeline? Will Dirk be proven wrong, and something else narratively important will come from this timeline? I suspect so.

Still, very egotistical of Dirk, no. Unable to find meaning in the fact that there is no grand design, meaning he could've finally loosened up.

---

Page 15

Wow. That was a huge page. And yes, like what was said, it's only fitting Dirk's eulogy is a metric shitton of words.

I didn't figure we'd get this but we did.

And it figures Gamzee went and upset the scene at some point. Still, the least that came out of this is that Roxy's enamoration with him has ended.

The little Prospitian-passing paparazzo was adorkable.

Heh, of course John would accidentally break up (or at least, delay) this timeline's version of Dave and Karkat hooking up for the first time. And Jade's still flirting black with Karkat. Of all things in this timeline, that's actually the most normal thing, almost, even how far out of left field it came during the session.

Dave and John talking about resetting the timeline was a conversation I didn't think we'd get or needed, but I was wrong on both accounts.

Also... The fact that John's retcon powers are gone... Wow. That means this timeline isn't going to be left in any easy sense. It seems to imply that things are irrevocably outside of "canon" now.

I like how John's still struggling with all this. It's a parallel to his deeper depression in the Meat timeline. And it would figure that he's ending up with his "other" main girl in this path.

The chances are high he wouldn't be able to contact Terezi anymore if he tried, either!

It seems he's going to be letting go of his sense that something's wrong, and just enjoy this Lotus Eater Dream, sort of speak. I wonder how much of a timeskip is going to follow this page.

Are... are there actually going to be progeny of the characters (biological I mean, outside the adopted Vriska expy) shown in this path???

Calliope's remarkable in her absense. If she's the narrator of this path, than we'v sure gotten a good idea of what tales she wrote for Callie Ooopee, or what was it, her fantroll.

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Page 16

Wow.

So.

John IS still able to contact Terezi.

And Roxy's pregnant. It figured it would lead up to this. But a real child, that... Damn. Now I don't want this John to leave Earth C, or anything bad to happen to him.

... I'm going to do like John and ignore what's going on with Jane, Jake and Gamzee. It just doesn't compute.

And it seems that all is not well in the Candy path, after all! Seems that where Dave and Karkat were pushed by Dirk but something positive came out of it... Well, in the candy path, with no-one actually pushing them, they keep revolving around each other without breaching the subject... All teasing and no pay off. Slow burn but no ignition.

Meanwhile, I'm more and more getting the feeling that this version of Terezi is the one John met in the Meat timeline in the Furthest Ring and brought with him to his Earth C. She's avoiding to talk about her "mission" in detail, she's avoiding talking about finding Vriska... In fact, I'm starting to suspect the only reason she contacted Dave and Karkat is because John mentioned them. She wasn't "ghosting" them, she just had no idea they would enjoy hearing from her. Not sure how it works of course, but I think that messages from the Candy path aren't received by Terezi unless she sets her client to receive them, something like that. And she just wanted to see what this other version of John was up to, whether he was happy. Knowing her, she'd understand that his choice for going back to fight Lord English would have spawned an alternate timeline!

The additional exposition on what kismessitudes should entail was nice. And it settles what Terezi was looking for, and found in John!

#homestuck #homestuck candy #reaction #liveblogging homestuck #homestuck epilogues #dirk strider #john egbert #dave strider #gamzee makara #terezi pyrope #roxy lalonde

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cchellacat · 5 years

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Dinner and A Movie

Love All The Marvel Ships Challenge

Day Three ~ Watching A Movie

Darcy Lewis had a secret. An embarrassing, mortifying secret that she would admit to no one, ever. Ever since the eighth grade she had had the hugest, most ridiculous crush on James Buchanan Barnes.

There had been love hearts and flowers doodled in her text books next to his picture and she had even managed to get her hands on an original Bucky Bear, which, to this day, still slept in her bed with her.

When the news had broken that her girlhood crush, was in fact, still alive and well and looking just as fine as he did in 1945, it was like dream come true. She had followed every news article avidly as the whole story unfolded and her heart broke for him.

The whole thing brought back her crush in full force. Then, barley a year after she and Jane had moved into the Tower to work for Stark, James Barnes, Bucky, had come back to the USA. All the legal troubles had been cleared up, he’d been exonerated for his action while in Hydra’s control and Tony Stark, even if still a little bitter about the whole Steve lied to him thing, had given them a floor in the Tower while the Avengers got their shit back together.

The last eighteen months had been torture. She couldn’t ignore the guy after all, but it was increasingly difficult to be around him. Her crush just got bigger and bigger. Like Steve, he was always unfailingly polite, but he was also a smooth son of bitch that flirted like other people breathed. Not for a second did she ever take him seriously when he flirted with her, that way lay madness. So, she endured and tried not to look like she was avoiding him, while she avoided him.

The down side was, that with him constantly in her head, the thought of dating anyone was pointless, so she’s had a pretty long dry spell. All she’s done for months is work. She’d not stepped outside the Tower for anything other than grocery shopping or science conventions in over a year and she was bored and dying from the isolation. She had to start getting herself out there again. She couldn’t wait around to get over this silly crush, she had to go out and meet people. Preferably no one that worked for Stark, because that would be all kinds of terrible when it didn’t work out. She needed a wing woman and a night out dancing.

It had taken a week to convince Jane to take a night off from work and just relax and Darcy had been adamant that they needed to get outside for bit. Darcy should have known that nothing could possible be so straight forward.

First there had been a Tower wide lock-down which meant all residents had to have their bio-metrics re processed. Then one of the interns had broken one of Jane’s deep space telescopes, and then, when Jane had finally finished re-calibrating it, once the new pieces had been installed, the data it had started running off sent her into science spree.

“I’m sorry, Darcy, really, but I just can’t wait, I have to start working through this right now, there are numbers here that just don’t make sense, we could be on the verge of a huge discovery.”

So here she was, all dressed up and no where to go. But fuck that, if Jane wouldn’t go out with her, well, there was no reason she couldn’t go by herself.

Except… except. She really didn’t want to go sit in a bar on her own… ugh. Why couldn’t she just catch a break?

“Hey Doll, why so glum?”

Darcy looked up to find Bucky Barnes, aka, The Winter Hottie, frowning down at her, from where she was slumped on the couch.

Just what she needed, the guy she crushed on looking at her with pity when she explained how pathetic her life was. Would there be no end to this torture?

“I’m fine.” She muttered grabbing her bag and standing. There was no point being here when she could be curled up on the couch in her own apartment with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s and a bottle of wine.

“Hey, don’t be like that, come on, tell me what’s going on.”

The worst part is he really sounds like he cares, and she knows it’s unfair, but it just makes her feel worse. There’s no way a guy like him would ever be interested in her. She wasn’t a super cool ninja assassin like Natasha or smart like Jane or a CEO power goddess like Pepper Potts, she was just Darcy. Short and what could generously be called curvy, with a gap in her teeth and frizzy hair that never stayed where she put it no matter how much time she spent with product and a straightener. The truth was, spending time around him was almost painful, she wanted to hug him and run her fingers through his hair and….. yeah, she was getting away from herself again. She sighed, there was no point being rude, she’d tell him the truth and accept the pity and obligatory pep talk and be on her way.

“Jane stood me up, we were meant to get dinner and maybe go clubbing for a bit, but she went all science on me and now I’m a lame single on date night with out even my platonic go-to girl.”

“I’m real sorry to hear that, Doll. Pretty girl like you shouldn’t ever be stood up.”

His eyes crinkle when he smiles at her and her thighs clench, she’s pretty sure every panty in a ten-mile radius just dropped.

“Thanks, Barnes, be sure to tell Jane that if you see her before I do. I’m just gonna go home and wallow in my misery.”

She gave him a crooked smile and made her way out of the room, aware of his eyes following her till she stepped into the lift.

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Bucky watched her go, shoulders slumped and defeated. A pretty dame like Darcy shouldn’t be alone on a Saturday night, she outta be out having fun and kicking her heels up. Hell, if he thought she was interested he would have asked her out months ago, but she never responded when he flirted with her. Didn’t eye him up the way the other women in the Tower did, didn’t bat her eyes or smile coyly. She was always sweet and kind and would go outta her way to help if she could, but she was just being nice. He sighed in frustration.

Being free to get back to some semblance of life had been a relief but actually settling into the fast-paced modern world was a little more complicated than it looked. Things were different. People were different. Sometimes it seemed like he’d landed on some alien planet.

Truth was, the only person other than Steve that made sense to him was her. She was exactly his type of girl, with her soft curves and pouty lips and the dark chocolate curls that seemed to have a mind of their own, just like she did, she was everything he dreamed about. She had a mouth on her when she was in temper, stood up for herself and didn’t take shit form no one. But he had no idea how to approach her when she never seemed to let her guard down around him. He figured she was nervous around him at first because of his part, then over time when she still didn’t relax completely and still didn’t respond to any of his pick up lines he’d come to the conclusion that he just wasn’t her type. But that didn’t mean he had to let her be miserable on a Saturday night. He could still be a friend. He wasn’t exactly comfortable in large crowds these days, but maybe she’d still like to get dinner, maybe see a movie after.

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

Darcy had barley got through her front door when there was a knock on it. Who the hell could it be? Opening the door to find Barnes on the other side was the last thing she was expecting.

“Hey…. Ummm… did you need something?” she asked feeling confused, her head tipping to one side as she looked up at him.

“Yeah… uhh. Look, I know you’re not interested in me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be your friend Doll. The reservations for your dinner still good? Figured if you want some company, I’d be happy to go with you. Can’t really go clubbing, but we could catch a movie maybe?”

Darcy blinked…. She knew her jaw was on the floor and snapped her mouth shut with a click of her teeth, but the apparition in front of her was still there. Had she fallen asleep somewhere and was dreaming this? Had Jane made the lab explode and she was now in a coma, a very nice coma, where handsome super soldiers asked her out on not dates because she wasn’t interested? What planet was he living on? Not interested? Wait a minute…

“You like me?”

Bucky frowned at the disbelief in her voice.

“Well I wasn’t exactly subtle about Doll, I’ve been flirting with you for months.”

“You flirt with everyone….”

“No I don’t…”

“Yes, you do, Jessica in accounting was practically in your lap in the cafeteria last week.”

“I wasn’t flirting with her, she stopped to ask me the time.”

“Well, Tracy from acquisitions was feeling up your arm last month in the stairwell and you had your arms around her.”

“She nearly fell down the damn stairs in those stupid heels she wears, I caught her before she broke her neck.”

“But….. you like me?” she asked, quieter now, trying to work out if he meant it.

“Doll, you drive me outta my damn mind. You have to know you’re the prettiest dame in the state of New York. But you’re kind too, and funny and the way you smile makes me crazy.”

Darcy bit her lip hard to keep from grinning as her cheeks flushed red.

“So…. If I was interested… would this be a date?”

The smile he gave her was blinding and she couldn’t help but return it.

“Dinner and movie sure does sound like a date sweetheart.”

“I’ll get my coat.”

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“Then what happened?” Jane asks her demandingly.

“We went to dinner, had a blast and then we watched a movie together.”

“What movie?”

Darcy shrugs a little helplessly.

“I can’t remember.” She hisses.

Jane gives her a knowing look.

“Was the movie any good?” Jane tries again as Darcy feels her cheeks flush in embarrassment.

“It was great.” Darcy crosses her arms defensively, then relents. “We had a great time not watching it together.” Jane squeals in glee and giggles.

“Did he do the thing?”

“What thi…. Oh, the thing!” Darcy smiles wildly and sighs with a mock swoon. “He was so smooth, full ten points for style and execution. The yawn and stretch in all it’s traditional perfection. But then I’m pretty sure he probably invented the move in the first place. He did it so well it wasn’t even cheesy.” In Darcy’s defence she had tried to roll her eyes when he’d pulled it off, but the wink and grin he gave her was so hot she had just went with it and snuggled in.

“So, are you seeing him again?”

“Yup, we’re going to have dinner tonight in my apartment and watch some Netflix.”

“Watch?”

“Shut up.”

Jane shakes her head in amusement, her eyes bright as Darcy potters off to her office.

When Steve had cornered her last week and told him about Bucky and his unrequited crush on Darcy she had been lost for words. Between the two of them they had plotted out the whole thing. Steve got the tower into lock-down so Bucky couldn’t go for his usual walk about. They had had movie posters in every advertising space in the building and she had paid Leona to break the telescope just in time to pull off her rather complicated science emergency. Getting Darcy to meet her in the common room before breaking the news to her had been timed down to the second so that Steve could make sure Barnes walked in at just the right moment. Neither of them would have appreciated her or Steve meddling so it had been more complicated than it had to be.

“Not bad Foster.” Jane nearly jumps out of her skin as Natasha appears beside her.

“I liked the touch with the dinner reservations, the table was in the best position to offer Barnes a comfortable line of sight.”

“They can never know.” Jane says seriously.

“Know what?” Natasha shrugs as she leaves, a tiny smirk at the corner of her mouth. It was good when a plan came together.

@captain-rogers-beard

#Watching a Movie #wintershock #Darcy/Bucky #Love All The Marvel Ships Challenge

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