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august-anon · 1 year

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Jitters No More

Sequel to Showtime

i finished this. almost a year ago lol. i need to stop hoarding my finished fics lol

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Fandom: Julie and the Phantoms

Ship(s): Gen (hints of Juke)

Characters (lee/ler): Switch!Julie, Luke, Reggie, Alex

Word Count: 1488 words

Summary: Another gig is coming up soon, and Julie finds herself nervous once more. She forgot to account for the fact that the boys could actually touch her, this time.

[ao3 link]

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They’d done it dozens of times before, all sat in the studio in near silence as they did their own things, but this time it felt different.

Maybe it was Reggie sitting on the ground, leaning up against her legs as he restrung his bass. Maybe it was Luke, draped inelegantly over the couch next to her, taking up so much room that his head rested in her lap. Maybe it was Alex, who had squeezed the back of her neck on the way to the chair he was currently sprawled in, practicing keeping rhythms on his thighs.

Julie, for her part, sucked all the warmth in— and that was odd, too. You’d think ghosts would be cold, even if they suddenly got the ability to touch humans (or, at least, Julies) again, but no. They were just as warm as any living person— as she tipped her head back against the couch and hummed under her breath, testing harmonies for tomorrow in her head. She closed her eyes and let her fingers dance in the air as if she were playing her piano, trying to work the muscle memory into her fingers.

Luke’s head shifted on her thigh, and that warning was the only reason she didn’t jump when his voice rang out into the quiet room. “Ready for the gig, Julie?”

Julie snorted, dropping her hands and opening her eyes. “Yeah, ask me again tomorrow.”

Alex made a sympathetic sound, stilling his own hands as well. “Nervous?”

Reggie glanced up at her, still slowly and carefully tightening the new string on his bass.

“I guess, yeah. I don’t think I ever won’t be. But like you guys said, right? You learn to use it.”

“And you also learn ways to calm down.” Luke said.

Julie glanced down at him, mouth open to reply, but the words quickly died in her throat as she watched that slow, sly grin spread across his face. Very pointedly in her direction. All of Julie’s breath left her in a woosh, and she felt a nervous smile try to rise up on her face.

“Now— wait just a second!”

Alex grinned, scooting forward to the edge of his seat. “Are we tickling the jitters out of Julie?”

Reggie plucked his new string, a perfectly tuned A ringing out in the room, and then carefully placed his bass aside. “I think we are.”

“I think we are not!” Julie called out, trying to shift out from under Luke so she could crawl up from the couch and make a dash for the door.

Luke rose slowly, turning his body with it so he could face her. He reminded her a bit of a tiger about to pounce, every movement slow and smooth and deliberate. And that stupid sly grin wasn’t doing anything to make her feel less like prey.

Unfortunately, watching Luke like a cornered animal gave the others more than enough time to get into position. The first squeeze at Julie’s knee, bare through the giant rips in her baggy jeans, made her yelp and jump. The second made her squeak and break into giggles while she tried to jostle her leg to dislodge Reggie’s hand. Reggie’s fingers on her leg were swiftly joined by a set of fingertips at her neck and ears, Alex having snuck behind the couch for his own attack while she wasn’t looking.

“Guys— come on!” She said, her voice embarrassingly shrill and peppered with involuntary giggles.

Luke tsked at her. “Julie, Julie, Julie. Did you really think we would have forgotten?”

She shook her head against Alex’s fingers, which Luke must’ve taken for an answer, because he laughed.

“Good, cuz we didn’t. I mean, come on, it was only a matter of time.”

She squealed and kicked out as Reggie started squeezing up the exposed portions of her thighs. She really regretted wearing those jeans today. She was never gonna wear them around the guys again, her legs wouldn’t be able to take it. Reggie just laughed, which only made her laugh more, because his laughter was so contagious.

“Reggie!”

“That’s my name!”

“Cut it out!”

Reggie hummed, like he was actually considering it. “Mm, no. Maybe later.”

She let out an even more shrill noise when Luke’s fingers finally joined in, callused fingertips sneaking along the sliver of stomach exposed by her crop top. Never again, she swore, just like the jeans. She’d never wear anything even remotely exposing ticklish spots in front of the boys again. It was all long-sleeved turtlenecks and snowpants from here on out.

“This so isn’t fair!” She laughed out, shoving at Luke’s hands.

Alex laughed, his breath ruffling her hair. “Who ever said anything about fair? You saw that last tickle fight.”

Tickle fight. That was right.

Julie lunged forward, flopping off the couch onto the rug below. Luke hissed out a startled curse, jumping back on the couch a little bit almost like a startled cat. Reggie yelped as she tripped over him, and she made a note to apologize to him later. Alex himself looked about ready to launch over the back of the couch himself.

“Julie,” he said, eyes wide and concerned. “Are you okay? Did we go too far?”

Julie huffed out a heavy breath, a grin still tugging at her mouth. “No. I just figured it’s easier to get revenge from down here.”

Reggie seemed to realize very quickly that he was the only person on the ground, yelling as he tried to scramble up onto the couch. Julie laughed and pulled him back down, scribbling under one of his arms so he couldn’t pull himself up again. With her free hand, Julie reached up to scrabble at Luke’s knee through his jeans. Even with the fabric in the way, it seemed as though her nails were killer, based on the way he laughed and tried to flinch away.

Alex shrugged, seeming to be fine with this new direction, and hopped over the back of the couch so he could wrap Luke in a bear hug and pluck at his ribs, just like last time. Luke’s laughter pitched up, and Julie grinned when she realized his now-trapped position meant he couldn’t successfully squirm his way away from her hands.

“Who’s laughing now, Luke?” She said.

Alex laughed. “I think it’s him.”

Then Julie shrieked and crumpled as Reggie managed to slip his hand up under the arm she had raised to tickle Luke. She slammed her arm down to her side and fell back into laughter, literally, as she collapsed on Reggie’s chest.

“Oops, never mind,” Alex said. “It’s you, again.”

“Shut up!”

Julie gathered her strength and managed to get control over her hands once more, sending one to skitter up Reggie’s ribs and the other to scribble into his stomach. Reggie squealed and gave up his own tickling, instead trying to curl into a ball around Julie’s hands.

“I’ll save you, Reg!” Luke called, and it was all the warning Julie got before Luke broke free of Alex’s grip, landing on the ground just behind her and digging his hands into her ribs.

Julie squealed, arching her back, but only let her fingers falter on Reggie for a moment. Alex laughed and slipped off the couch, lightly scribbling one hand against Reggie’s nape and the other against Luke’s stomach. Julie pulled one hand away from Reggie to squeeze at Alex’s side, just because he wasn’t getting tickled enough. Luke seemed to like that idea, because he did the same, laughing even harder as Alex pulled away from both of them to curl up just like Reggie.

After that, the tickle fight tapered off bit by bit, until they all laid in a tangled pile on the old rug. Julie’s head rested on Alex’s stomach, his fingers absent-mindedly stroking through her hair. Luke’s head rested on her stomach, and Reggie was sprawled across his torso in a way that looked rather uncomfortable for the both of them, but neither seemed inclined to move.

“You probably need to tune again,” Julie murmured, staring at the ceiling with no desire to move. “The strings will have relaxed some by now.”

Reggie groaned, fumbling around until he found her hand to hold, the other grasping onto one of Alex’s. “I’ll do it later.”

Luke huffed. “Shut up, I’m trying to sleep.”

“You shut up,” Julie said.

“All of you shut up,” Alex said.

“Ready for the gig tomorrow?” Luke asked, as if he had not just told everyone to stop.

“Might need another round tomorrow,” Julie felt relaxed enough to admit. “I’ll let you know.”

Reggie laughed, squeezing her hand. Luke reached up and tweaked her leg, making her yip. Alex groaned, but she could hear the smile in his voice.

“Well, at least we can finally deal with your jitters ourselves, now.” Luke said.

“Watch it,” she said. “I can deal with yours, too.”

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medea10 · 11 months

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My Review of My Hero Academia

Okay…okay…

It’s done. It’s taken me 10 whole years, but I finished Gintama. My long-running comedic/drama nightmare has come to an end until they decide to come out with another damn sequel. But for now, it is DONE. And now, I can finally sit down and make good on a promise I made with one of my best friends. I will now watch Hunter x Hunter.

Huh?

No. I said Hunter x Hunter.

Tough shit, loser. You’re watching this shit!

Sorry, Marcus.

Yeah, My Hero Academia has been around for a couple of years now. It’ll emerge every couple of years in the anime world and the manga has been a massive hit. Not as big as Demon Slayer, but then again, no one can be as awesome as Demon Slayer. I had my chance to pick this series up, but I picked Black Clover instead. I made my decision and I stand by it. But once I noticed this series had several films and over 100 episodes to its name, I thought it be best to save this anime for after finishing my long-numbered series. Once I was able to get through Gintama, we can set this up.

Quirks or super powers are in about 80% of humanity. These quirks can vary from being super flashy, awesomely strong…or it could be like the Crest Man.

I was going to make this joke one way or another.

(He’s living in his car)

Many of these people decide to become heroes, especially those with potential. Now what about those 20% of humans that don’t have a quirk? Can they one day become a hero even though they have no power to their name? I guess we’ll find out with a young lad named Izuku Midoriya (or Deku). He has no quirk, no chance of developing one in his later years, and yet still wants to attend an academy that’s specifically for those with quirks.

It wasn’t until he was given a chance by Japan’s #1 hero All Might who sees potential in the young Deku to pass down his powers to him. Due to an ugly fight a few years ago, All Might can only stay in hero form for 3 hours at the most a day. In the span of two episodes, Deku was able to go through 10 months of All Might’s training, inherit his power, and get accepted to UA, the academy for potential students with amazing quirks who want to become heroes. Let’s enter UA to meet all the special students and administration with amazing powers and see who’s going to be a smashing hero one day.

Do keep in mind that I’m only summing up the first couple of episodes from the first season here. Each season has much more going on as Deku and his classmates learn what it means to become a great hero.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: You know, the five years of me not picking this anime up, I would take a look at these characters and say to myself, “Yeah, you’re totally voiced by this person”. Look at All Might, if that guy isn’t voiced by Chris Sabat this world doesn’t make sense. Oh look, it really is Chris Sabat! Hey, it’s a main girl and loved by majority of fans. Gotta be voiced by Luci Christian! It’s like I’m fucking psychic! Sexy big girl, gotta be Jamie Marchi! Wow! Strait-laced megane boy! My lady-loins are on fire so that could only mean a role by J. Michael Tatum. Okay, let me give it a try in the Japanese.

Screaming…

Nobuhiko Okamoto! I only need the word “screaming”. I didn’t need to look at any character profiles to know this. Thank God Bakugo’s screaming didn’t get on my nerves the entire time. I sometimes have a problem with characters who scream so much that you just want to rip their mouths off their faces. Bakugo…he makes me laugh. He’s a tsundere with a short fuse, what’s not to like?!

As you can tell, I watched the majority of this series dubbed. The cast had a wide variety of seasoned veterans and modern favorite voice actors. Juli Erickson was also in the cast for a short time before retiring from voice acting. I’m glad I got to hear her one more time. There was another replacement in the dub. Alex Organ voiced Mr. Aizawa for the first season. After that however, Christopher Wehkamp took over and has remained since then. Scheduling conflicts, I suppose. I wasn’t even aware of the change until I read about it.

Oof. Both the sub and the dub have some great people behind these heroes and aspiring heroes. Let’s just say I give a gold star to everyone here. Even Tomokazu Seki was in this series as the spotted seal hero Selkie. Love it. Love everything about it! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Deku is played by Daiki Yamashita (known for Goh on Pokemon Journeys, Yushirou on Demon Slayer, Joro on Oresuki, Umino on Sailor Moon Crystal, and Shion on UtaPri)

*Bakugo is played by Nobuhiko Okamoto (known for Gladion on Pokemon SM, Accelerator on Railgun/Index, Rin on Blue Exorcist, Garfiel on Re:Zero, Usui on Maid-sama, Ryou on Food Wars, and Liebe on Black Clover)

*All Might is played by Kenta Miyake (known for Giovanni on Pokemon, Scar on FMA: Brotherhood, Avdol on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pt. 3, Cocytus on Overlord, Zodd on Berserk 2016, and Takaoka on Assassination Classroom)

*Uraraka is played by Ayane Sakura (known for Nero on Black Clover, Tomori on Charlotte, Gasper on High School DxD, Tsubaki on Your Lie in April, Haru on Nisekoi, and Shimotsuki on Psycho Pass)

*Todoroki is played by Yuki Kaji (known for Clemont on Pokemon XY, Eren on Attack on Titan, Koichi on Jojo’s Pt. 4, Finn on Black Butler, Issei on High School DxD, Kuga on Food Wars, and Kenma on Haikyuu)

*Aizawa is played by Junichi Suwabe (known for Greed on FMA, Yami on Black Clover, Victor on Yuri on Ice, Archer on Fate/Stay Night, Hayama on Food Wars, Undertaker on Black Butler, and Grimmjow on Bleach)

*Shigaraki is played by Kouki Uchiyama (known for Soul on Soul Eater, Rui on Demon Slayer, Yurio on Yuri on Ice, Benedict on Violet Evergarden, Ikuya on Free!, Yuuki on Shiki, and Ichijou on Nisekoi)

ENGLISH CAST: *Deku is played by Justin Briner (known for Shou on Fire Force, Luck on Black Clover, Yukito on Cardcaptor Sakura: CC, and Mitarai on Danganronpa 3)

*Bakugo is played by Clifford Chapin (known for Connie on Attack on Titan, Touya on Cardcaptor Sakura: CC, Cabba on DB Super, Langris on Black Clover, Kamui on Psycho Pass 2, and Hamazura on Railgun/Index)

*All Might is played by Chris Sabat (known for Armstrong on FMA, Vegeta & Piccolo on DBZ, Kurabara on Yu Yu Hakusho, Zoro on One Piece, Yami on Black Clover, Ayame on Fruits Basket, and Christophe on Yuri on Ice)

*Uraraka is played by Luci Christian (known for Wrath on FMA, Nagisa on Clannad, Yukari on Azumanga Daioh, Medusa on Soul Eater, Nami on One Piece, Huni on Ouran HSHC, and Alois on Black Butler)

*Todoroki is played by David Matranga (known for Tomoya on Clannad, Bertolt on Attack on Titan, Ookami on Wolf Children, Hinata on Angel Beats, Usui on Maid-sama, and Himura on ef – a tale of memories)

*Aizawa is played by Christopher Wehkamp (known for Ruijerd on Mushoku Tensei, Nyanko-Sensei on Natsume’s Book of Friends, Sylvester on Ascendance of a Bookworm, Hinawa on Fire Force, and Miles on Ace Attorney)

*Shigaraki is played by Eric Vale (known for Kimblee on FMA, Trunks on DBZ, Yuki on Fruits Basket, Sanji on One Piece, Tamaki on Deadman Wonderland, Kisumi on Free!, Arthur on Fire Force, and Nishiki on Tokyo Ghoul)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: I’ve gone through this over and over in my mind. There were a lot of characters I’ve grown to admire and ones I think are pretty nifty. I still can’t believe I was able to keep track of so many characters in this one series, but I think I did a pretty good job. Yes, I have a guilty pleasure for Bakugo. But that’s just it, he’s a guilty pleasure. I like him and am amused by him, but at the same time I can get annoyed with him. But if there was one character who I enjoyed the most out of all the characters that have appeared so far, it would be her.

Tsuyu Asui (a.k.a. Froppy; Tsu)

I love Tsu. She’s best girl. And that’s all there is to it!

DISLIKED CHARACTER: Ooh boy, you all knew I was going to discuss papa of the year over here! Long before I started this series, I was well aware of the existence of a shitty parent by the name of Endeavor. I thought if I sat through this long enough, I would switch my hatred from Endeavor to Overhaul. It didn’t happen. I’m still on this hate-train. Endeavor has had this unhealthy obsession and rivalry with All Might and wanting to surpass him. Thinking he could never reach that position of #1 hero, he stuck to the next generation by making it with another powerful quirk user and have babies.

He had a total of four kids. One of his son’s is presumed dead due to trying to impress his father (wait until season six for the truth). One of his son’s hates Endeavor for what he’s done to the family. His daughter tries her best to keep things together, but you can tell she’s feeling uber stressed. And (Shoto) Todoroki still has daddy issues. I guess you can chalk all of this up to these kids upbringing. Todoroki witnessed his father’s physical abuse first-hand as he was rough with trainings. Not only that, but the abuse of his own wife that led to her mental breakdown giving Todoroki his trademark scar. And somehow Todoroki’s eldest had the worst of it all. All he wanted was his daddy’s approval and was just left for dead. Again, season six has the answers there. Bottom line, Endeavor was a very bad father. But, he is trying.

You cannot expect your fully grown children to pretend that everything is okay now that you’re going to change and be father of the year. Natsuo was partially saved by his father and was unable to give him any satisfaction. And it seems like Todoroki is just using his father to further his quirk and can easily get into work study programs because of him. As for his wife, you know Rei may never forgive him for all that has happened to this family. That’s just my two cents on the matter. I think every one of the Todoroki’s might eventually forgive Endeavor…not the older two sons.

SHIPPING: Guys, seriously. There are more important things to discuss here than which characters should shack up. Japan has a severe problem with villains and these kids specifically signed up to be in an academy focused on serving the public as heroes.

I support Uraraka x Deku

And aside from a few dropped hints by Uraraka, I seriously find no other ship that could…

I also support Kirishima x Ashido

But aside from those two, this show is strictly about kids wanting to be heroes and let’s keep it that way.

Mineta x his hand tonight

Yeah, I had to add that silly ship.

ENDING TO SEASON ONE: It’s been well established since the beginning that All Might was one of the greatest heroes, if not THE greatest. A symbol of peace and justice! And now, he’s a teacher at UA. So, everyone pretty much wants a piece of him. During a field trip to a simulated area filled with terrains and weather patterns, Deku and his classmates were bombarded by villains. This is not a drill, these guys mean business and they also want All Might. While their teacher Mr. Aizawa was busy taking care of some of the bigger villains, the students were being separated so the enemies can learn about what quirks these kids have. Some of the more powerful classmates like Bakugo and Todoroki were able to get rid of their batch of baddies with little-to-no problem. Others, it was a little more challenging. Even Aizawa found himself in dire-straits. Meanwhile, where is All Might?

We all know about All Might’s injury. It’s just that everyone else isn’t aware of it and All Might goes to great lengths to keep it a secret. Rightly so! If it’s learned by the wrong people that All Might has at most 3 hours a day in hero form, villains will swarm the area to cause havoc. Thankfully, dude shows up in the knick of time before these bad guys could do damage to Deku and the rest. Unfortunately, All Might already saved the day in another area and is at his max of what he’s capable of handling. Now these villains don’t know the specifics of All Might’s power, but someone controlling them from the shadows dropped hints about All Might being weaker than in his heyday.

Bad guys Shigaraki, Nomu, and Kurogiri definitely put a dent in All Might, but All Might didn’t let up his bluff in front of the bad guys. But that steam coming from his body is not a good sign. And yeah, the only one who knows about All Might is Deku and Deku was worried about All Might dying on his feet or someone about to find out his big secret. Thankfully, Iida was able to escape and call for backup. The administration at UA came and they were able to put an end to the situation. It’s unknown how much extra damage was done to All Might and it seems like his time where he can spend in hero form has been cut drastically to only 90 minutes at the most. But for now, All Might and Deku can relax for a second knowing their actions saved a whole class of freshmen from being harmed or worse.

Now as for those bad guys like Shigaraki, who is filling his head with ideas that there might be something wrong with All Might? I guess that’s an answer to be filled in another season. Because now we’re about to head into a tournament arc!

Okay, good introduction to the students of UA. Get our feet wet with all the quirks the students have. Even though Deku isn’t a full zero to hero quite yet, he’s certainly one hell of a strategian when it comes to problem solving. And from here on out, the series gains more episodes. This season is the only one with 13 episodes. Every season from here on out will have 25. Just how many chapters are there for My Hero Academia?

SEASON TWO: One recap episode and one Anime Festa OVA later…

The entire school is about to hold their annual sports festival. This sports festival is a big freakin’ deal. Hell, it’s even a bigger deal than the Olympics! Okay, I wouldn’t go that far. The students have opportunities of being discovered by a hero agency and might even become a sidekick for a famous hero. Other opportunities also include having kids from the lower-level classes get nudged up to a higher-level class. After the events of season one, Deku and the kids of class 1-A were getting a lot of fame and news coverage as the students who took out the league of villains that infiltrated a highly secured building of UA. As for the sports festival, Bakugo took home the gold.

Pfft. Watching him bound and getting forced with the gold medal is truly a laughable moment.

This season, we learn about what’s driving these students to excel at UA. Uraraka wants to earn money to help her struggling family. Todoroki wants to escape the grasp of his legendary father, the #2 hero Endeavor. Iida tries following in his big brother’s footsteps in a bit of revenge after someone injured him. And Deku wants to make a name for himself as All Might’s power has weakened significantly. Again, Deku’s the only one who knows.

After the sports festival, the students end up as apprentices for either hero agencies or heroes themselves. This part of the story focuses on Deku learning to control his power and Iida finding the hero killer (Stain) who severely injured his older brother. Dealing with Stain was a very difficult task. Deku, along with Todoroki and Iida were all caught up in that fight. They beat the dude, but couldn’t get any credit due to bureaucratic issues with the police and certified heroes. As a repercussion, Iida ended up doing permanent damage to his hand and it might be the end of his career as a hero (unless the surgery is a miracle). They make this a big deal here, but I don’t recall hearing any more on that subject from season 3-6. Moving on!

The end of this season consists of Deku learning the truth about his power One For All and the originator All For One. This guy is still out there, he’s a dick, and guess what, he’s the head of that league of villains that was behind the attack at the end of season one. Other than that, it’s exam time for class 1-A. Let’s have them fight against the teachers! Aside from two teams failing, everyone did pretty well considering they were up against UA’s greatest. And this was to be especially difficult for Deku as he had to be partnered with Bakugo and fight against All Might.

The final episode consisted of Deku being cornered by Shigaraki. Yes, the guy behind the Nomus and the attack from season one’s finale. We finally see his face and we get a bit of foreshadowing of things to come from the League of Villains. The heinous group has recruited several new villains who we will see more of come season three. Speaking of…

SEASON THREE: It’s time for summer training camp. And for funsies, let’s add class 1-B too. These kids will be pushed to their limits to enhance their quirks. Because while everyone has improved in other departments, their quirk powers haven’t moved much since the beginning of the semester! Gee, wouldn’t it suck if a bunch of villains come in and ruin everything? The League of Villains has arrived with new powerful members including Dabi and Toga. Their target this time is Bakugo! Their attack on the UA students kinda broke a lot of morale with not just the students, but the faculty as well. The end result was that many of the students and the faculty watching over them wound up injured and Bakugo was kidnapped.

Saving face didn’t go as smoothly as anyone would hope. Deku got four of his classmates to defy orders to try and infiltrate the League of Villains to save Bakugo. At that very same time, several ranked heroes did their own rescue mission. It did not go well for either side! On the plus side, Deku and friends were able to save Bakugo without breaking the law by fighting crime without a license. But then All For One wrecked the whole place. He took out so many villains and heroes in his way. I think he might have killed one of them. Didn’t matter to him anyways because he was after All Might! This fight took everything from All Might.

All For One exposed All Might to the entire world his ugly secret. Not only that, but dropped an unfortunate fact bomb involving All Might’s sensei and Shigaraki. And to top it all off, injured him so bad that All Might will never fight crime again. After all of that, the students of class 1-A were highly requested by the school to live in the school dorms from now on. Most parents agreed to it, though Deku’s mother was the most worried. Long story short, he’s living in the dorms now. Not before seeing this poor woman cry again.

The next big arc after the fall of All Might was the provisional hero license exam. We meet a lot of brand-new soon-to-be heroes much like the students of UA from other schools across the land. The end result of that exam, everyone except two students from class 1-A got their provisional license. And surprisingly those two were Todoroki and Bakugo! Bakugo is so obvious that I don’t even need to waste the time explaining why he flunked. Todoroki on the other hand had someone from another school get under his skin with a comment likening him to his father Endeavor.

While Bakugo was angry about not passing his provisional license exam, something else has been grinding his gears and for some time at that. Bakugo’s anger hits fever pitch when he confronts Deku alone after the exam about his relationship with All Might. And throwing punches! Despite that thick layer of anger he puts up, Bakugo is a sad boy who loves his favorite hero All Might. He was of course jealous that Deku got to be his protégé but guilty because Bakugo thought it was because of him being kidnapped that caused All Might to lose his powers permanently. All Might reassured the boys of everything. And then the boys were on lockdown for breaking curfew to fight. In the meantime, the League of Villains is still at it despite All For One being in a maximum security prison. Toga infiltrated the hero provisional license exam by posing as another student. Shigaraki is growing more menacing. And then there’s Overhaul…ooh boy, I can’t wait to talk about this guy in the following season.

And class 1-A got to meet the top students of the third-year class (a.k.a. The Big Three). The strongest of the three (Mirio) wiped out the entire class by himself. Big difference between the power of the first years and this pant-less wonder!

Okay, this season had its ups and downs. But the ups were definitely worth it and we had a big payoff when it came to scenes involving All Might and All For One. Now let’s see what’s going on with that movie that came out around the same time.

TWO HEROES: We got a glimpse of what to expect with this movie in an episode during the third season. Meaning, they gave us a filler in the middle of a tournament arc and are introduced to a movie character for five seconds. Let me guess how this movie goes; this in no way connects to any villain currently in the series, there is no character growth, serves no purpose to the main plot, and the new character introduced is the bad guy.

Most of what I said was pretty true! Deku gets invited by All Might to go with him to a special island that is full of people who manufacture AI technology. Most of the class ends up there under some special circumstances and yes, it’s just the popular ones fans like most. All Might’s friend from his younger days David wanted to help All Might regain his strength (he just doesn’t know the true story of why he’s losing his strength). And David ends up in cahoots with terrorists that took a whole island hostage. And these terrorists are also connected to All For One. Okay, I was wrong, All For One is somehow connected (or at least mentioned by the leader of the terrorists).

SEASON FOUR: So, it’s not just Bakugo that caught onto Deku and All Might’s relationship. It leaked to the press! One reporter knows there’s a protégé out there. And thankfully he has the right mind to shut up about it! Onto the main stuff! Deku and the rest of class-A are about to go through work study programs. And the League of Villains are ready for their next move. But right now, we gotta watch out for a lone Mafioso causing mischief.

Deku winds up doing a work study with All Might’s previous side-kick Sir Nighteye. Several other characters like Kirishima, Tsu, and Uraraka also got a chance for a work study program. Deku unfortunately got a lot thrown at him in the drama department. He learned that Nighteye had a falling out with All Might due to the fatal injury All Might acquired and made worse once he decided to give Deku is One for All power.

Next, all of these students I mentioned, plus their mentors, and the three 3rd years are all caught up trying to take down a lone Mafioso and some of the League of Villains in order to save one little girl. Overhaul was trying to use this young girl (Eri) and her power in order to suppress and end hero powers permanently. Eri has a quirk that can rewind a person’s body. But due to her age, she’s unable to control it properly and that has caused a lot of mental damage to her. Overhaul is quite the disgusting little shit abusing this poor girl. Thank goodness after this long, hard-fought battle, the heroes were able to prevail and save Eri.

But at what cost?

Deku was able to survive with not so many injuries to his person. Some of the other heroes and classmates involved in the giant raid were not so lucky. Kirishima and Fat Gum sustained heavy injuries. Mirio’s power might have been altered permanently due to Overhaul and his gang having these serums that can erase quirks. And Eri (the girl they all saved) is forever haunted by the psychological horror she’s endured. But worst of all was Sir Nighteye. During the fight between the heroes and Overhaul, Nighteye literally got impaled and was at death’s door when All Might, Deku, and Mirio spoke to him. Up to this point, we really never saw death strike any of these characters. This was a heart tugger! Shit is getting real now for Deku. All I can say is…wait until season six. Meanwhile, Overhaul not only got his ass kicked by Deku, but was left powerless and crippled by Shigaraki.

The last half of season four revolved around UA putting together a culture festival. This is both a wise and stupid decision. Wise because these students deserve a little fun after everything the students of UA (especially class 1-A) have gone through. Stupid because UA has been a giant target for villains since All Might became a teacher. And if one little thing happens with a villain coming near the area, the festival is going to be called off. At that exact same time, a new villain emerges and wants to break into the festival. Of course, he does!

This guy is a tea-drinking gentleman with a side-kick I’m so not comfortable seeing together with him. I’m sorry, but this combination makes me feel a little ill inside and confused. Thankfully, Deku happened to be in the area and prevented the festival from getting shut down. Not only does he want to give his school this moment of peace, but because Eri is coming, he wants to make sure she has a great time. Thankfully, Deku was able to break through to this confused villain and he turns himself in with no more damage done. But most important for Deku, the festival went off perfectly. Class 1-A was commended for their performance on stage and Eri was able to smile and enjoy herself.

We end the season off with some severe changes. First of all, Eri is going to attend UA. She’s stable enough to stay out of the psych ward and is all healed up. Deku and Mirio must protect this girl’s smile! And then my question was answered. I thought to myself, will there be another #1 hero now that All Might is retired? Yep, there’s a new top 10 and a new #1 with Endeavor taking the top spot. Will the world see him as the new symbol of peace? Endeavor is put to the test when he and #2 hero Hawkes got attacked by an overpowered Nomu. This was a tough fight as Endeavor was tossed around a lot. Thankfully, he won. He went beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

Also, is anybody else thrown off by the Endeavor fanboy? It doesn’t help that he looks like Natsu from Fairy Tail, but did the English version REALLY have to get Haberkorn to play this guy too?

HEROES RISING: In the second movie, it almost looked like we were getting some action between the UA students and the League of Villlains. In actuality, the villains of this movie get into an alliance with Shigaraki. These new villains end up attacking a lone island that Deku and his classmates just happen to be on as part of hero work. The villains want this one kid on the island because of this special quirk he possesses. We get some pretty primo fight scenes where Deku and Bakugo are actually working together to beat the villains. I’m going to be legit and ask, did anyone fall for that shit about Deku giving his One For All power to Bakugo? Yeah, me neither. There are two seasons after this movie. No way in hell Deku is losing his power this early in the game.

SEASON FIVE: Endeavor’s fight with the superpowered Nomu came with a lot of baggage. His popularity as the new #1 hero is steadily rising. It’s just that people really saw him get his ass kicked pretty badly. And now, dude has a pretty gnarly scar on his face. Just like his son! I almost want to say something here, but…nah, bad taste. On top of that, Endeavor is now going to start acting like a real father instead of the bastard he’s been up to this point. Meanwhile, Deku has been getting visions during his sleep of the past One For All users and kinda using his power while sleeping. It got worse when his powers decided to go haywire during a class competition with class 1-B.

I will say this. The stuff with Deku and controlling the powers of One For All was the only interesting part of the first part of season 5. I checked out when there were many episodes dedicated to class 1-A and 1-B fighting each other. I know several class 1-B classmates showcase their quirks in a big way in the following season, I just wasn’t a fan of this arc of the story. In the second part, work studies seem to be back in effect. And now that Bakugo and Todoroki finally obtained their licenses, they can finally catch up to the rest of their classmates. Geez, you only now realize that we’re halfway into season five with 100 episodes in and these kids are still only first years. Deku ends up joining Todoroki and Bakugo to work study under the world’s #1 hero…the current one.

Okay Endeavor, let’s see if you can redeem yourself a little more. Actually, we only got a few episodes dedicated to Endeavor, his family, Deku, and Bakugo. There was an altercation between some rando villain and Endeavor’s son Natsuo. It happened, Natsuo’s safe, we moved on. Okay, now it’s time for My Hero Academia to turn into My Villain Academia. The League of Villains found themselves in severe trouble as another group of baddies ambush them. This was an ugly showdown as it pushed many of the league members to their breaking points. Himeko almost died and Shigaraki was pushed to remembering his own past.

Yeah, we got the typical backstory for a villain of Shigaraki’s caliber. Misunderstood child, abusive father, enabling family members to abusive father, accidentally murders the entire family, yep, it’s all here on the checklist. Several seasons prior to this moment, we learned that Shigaraki’s paternal grandmother was Nana Shimura. Yes, the same Nana Shimura who was All Might’s mentor and previous carrier to the One For All quirk. Well, Shigaraki’s father was really resentful about his mother because he felt as though he was abandoned by her. That birthed a hatred for heroes and he would get angry if his children mention heroes or wanting to be one. So, there’s that. Shigaraki wound up gaining a quirk and much like Eri in season 4, his quirk went haywire and it took out his entire family. After being a sudden orphan, no one came to Shigaraki’s aid. Not one single hero! All For One did however. He took the boy in, gave him hands of his family members, and gave him a new name and purpose in life.

Shigaraki, while almost broken to the point of no return, he took out Re-Destro and his gang of baddies. This led to an alliance. Shigaraki’s League of Villains and Re-Destro’s Meta Liberation Front have joined together under a new name, the Paranormal Liberation Front. We end the season with class 1-A showing off what they’ve learned from their work studies. Oh, and Hawkes is still infiltrating the newly formed league. Okay, I’m going to say it. This season was pretty lousy. Don’t get me wrong, I liked several moments in this season including Endeavor trying to atone for his sins, Deku’s new ability, and the My Villain Academia arc. But that class 1-A vs. class 1-B crap was for the birds.

There’s a third movie sometime after this. I really don’t feel like talking about it since I felt so disinterested with it. Blah, blah, Deku is wanted by the police, blah, blah, big fight, blah, blah, no one’s going to die here!

SEASON SIX: Hey, I caught up when it was airing!

Shit’s about to go down! There’s a heavier tone in this anime everywhere you look. Even in the eye-catches halfway through an episode. The professional heroes, teachers from U.A., class 1-A of U.A. and even a few other students are all part of this sting operation to take down the newly united villain squad, the Paranormal Liberation Front. Besides going after that group, some of this sting is to get this doctor who was behind the creation of the Nomus and is also shielding Shigaraki until he’s 100% and then some. Shigaraki was in rough shape near the end of the fifth season, so he's being constantly monitored. But during the sting, Shigaraki awakened.

The awakening of Shigaraki led to a domino effect of destruction everywhere. One of the giant villains couldn’t be controlled and ended up wrecking a lot of pro-heroes. Shigaraki’s decay power went berserk and took out the entire area. Deku, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Endeavor went toe-to-toe with Shigaraki and ended up putting a dent in him. Shigaraki is terrifying now, but because he wasn’t finished with the doctor’s experiment yet, his power isn’t what it could be. That’s when All For One took over Shigaraki’s body for his own…even though he’s in super jail. Yeah, I know that doesn’t make a lick of sense, but just roll with it because Shigaraki is going to be a puppet for a while. Moving on!

And now for the moment I’ve been anticipating! League of Villain alumni Dabi comes in to drop a bomb on the Todoroki family. After Shigaraki ended his rampage, Dabi came in to break the news to not just Endeavor and Todoroki, but to the entire world. He put out a video prior to the current chaos to announce that Endeavor, the #1 hero is his father and went into detail about what a horrible father he was. Dabi (or Touya Todoroki) was Endeavor’s eldest son who was thought to be dead. This broke Endeavor inside causing him to look upon both of his sons fighting. Yes, I’ve been looking forward to this story. The Todoroki family story intrigues me.

This giant fight that lasted several episodes (if not half of the season) is finally coming to an end without a happy ending. It’s much worse than anyone jumping into the anime without reading spoilers could have imagined. Many characters got messed up badly. Worse than in any other season. Deku winds up in a coma. Bakugo was impaled, but survived. Mr. Aizawa sliced off his own leg to prevent losing his quirk from one of those quirk deleters that got Mirio the other season. Midnight and several prominent ranked heroes are dead. On the antagonist side, Twice ends up dying by Hawkes after he admits to betraying the front. Many of the villains were arrested including the doctor, Re-Destro, Mr. Compress, and Machia. Himiko is on the loose. Shigaraki ended up torching several prisons releasing many convicts with powerful quirks on the public along with All For One. This leaves the public to wonder if they can ever trust heroes again. If it took all of these heroes to take down all of these villains and they still couldn’t complete the mission, what good are they?

That’s not my take, that’s just public opinion…except the public was a lot crueler when it came to the heroes.

AND NOW THE START OF THE FINAL ARC: With All For One taking over Shigaraki’s weakened state, he can get what he truly wants. The quirk, One For All. Shigaraki mentions it during the giant battle during this season and it catches the attention of Endeavor, Hawks, and even the angry media demanding answers about everything that has happened. Deku decided to make some pretty big decisions once he got out of his coma. Up to this point, Deku’s quirk was only known to All Might and later on Bakugo. Now, he decides to let the rest of his classmates know before he leaves U.A. Deku teams up with All Might, Endeavor, Hawks, and Jeanist to take down the rampant crime going on everywhere. Since season 5, Deku has been seeing past wielders of One For All and slowly unlocking their powers. A lot is riding on Deku with this ultimate power as he can’t pass the power down like All Might did. His life expectancy might be cut short. Kinda like Eren Yeager in Attack on Titan. And he’s getting prepped to take down Shigaraki with no regrets.

I make the Eren Yeager reference here because this is the part of the story that things take a harsher, somber-er tone compared to previous seasons. This includes the opening theme, ending themes, eye-catches, the preview, the background, the music, and Deku.

Endeavor also made a promise to his family that he will take down Dabi (Touya). But for now, we are focusing on Deku teaming up with the top 3 heroes and All Might to take down every kind of crime from small stuff, misplaced anger, and anything involving the escaped convicts from the several jail breaks. With all of the other One For All quirks unleashed, Deku is able to make use of every one of them with his mission. It came in handy when going up against a former hero and present-day convict Lady Nagant. She is one of the escaped convicts. While All For One told nearly all convicts to do as they please, he had other plans for some special ones. He used Nagant to try and take down Deku. But Deku got through to her near the end of their match and it looked like she was going to see life for more than what she was used to. Unfortunately, things have a funny way of working out when All For One is involved.

He planted explosives on Nagant. I’m pretty sure she’s a goner. This did not sit well with Deku. And neither did All For One’s taunt where he copied All Might’s infamous line, “now it’s your turn”. Rogue Deku is in quite the state. And now, let’s add his classmates to the mix. They’re going to bring him back to the academy by any means necessary. One Deku with 7 quirks vs. 19 classmates of his. With many flashbacks and a lot of push and pull, the class was able to subdue Deku and bring him back to U.A. which is currently being used as a refuge area. However, the people are not liking the idea of having Deku in the same place as them because Shigaraki’s looking for him and he has One For All. Thankfully, some kind words from Uraraka and a few supporters, the angry crowd came together to let Deku in.

All For One and Shigaraki’s big threat seems to be looming closer. It’s hard to nail down how long the heroes have. All Might wound up getting this information from the hero-killer Stain. Yeah, you remember him, right? The guy that wrecked Iida and his brother back in season two. I remember Stain always wanting to kill All Might. But seeing All Might the way he is now, either he doesn’t know it’s really him or refuses to believe that’s really All Might. Well, rest up class 1-A because season 7 is gonna be a doozy from what I’ve heard. At least it will be for Bakugo from what I’ve heard. Oh, and we meet America’s #1 hero for a sec, Star and Stripe (voiced by Romi Park).

Wowee-wow-wow-wow! I did not expect to like this series the way I did. I mean, I really do love My Hero Academia. I know I had the opportunity to watch this but chose to watch Black Clover instead. I don’t regret that decision; I just wish I got to watch this a lot sooner and maybe start on the manga. Now that doesn’t mean this entire series is flawless, far from it. There were some seasons that fell flat on its face. I think we all can get on the same page of which season was the one that is the flat can of soda out of this six-pack.

The answer is season five. It’s always going to be season five. No amount of My Villain Academia you throw at the audience is going to undo that. But I suppose that’s where that arc landed and call it bad timing. Long-running manga series have really awesome arcs and really slumpy arcs. Case and point, the anime Food Wars is a good example to bring up here. Their first 2 seasons were really good, but after that is when things started falling by the waist-side. When it comes to My Hero Academia, I had several hits of highs and lows watching. The field trip at the beginning season three, the culture festival at the end of season four, and the majority of season five were my lows. I only put that moment in season three up as, I have to be honest in this review. That arc actually got really good faster than I thought. The other two I mentioned just dragged on. Especially the class competition! I love watching class 1-A in action, but this was just so exhausting to sit through.

I think I’ve beat that dead horse enough. Let’s talk about the characters. I’ve always had the hardest time keeping up with the many characters an anime might have. Especially animes that are set in school and we focus on one particular class. Despite my love for the series Assassination Classroom, I could not remember every single person from that class. With My Hero Academia, I think I was able to recall every classmate. Just class 1-A though. Maybe it’s because of their quirks, some of their looks, or their quirky behavior. The same can be said about characters outside class 1-A like the professional heroes, the villains, the townspeople, Bakugo’s mother…yeah, you have to see the woman who gave birth to a feral, screaming grenade of loud noises.

I do have a legit question for manga readers. Do these kids finally become second years at U.A.? You don’t notice that these kids are in the same grade until it’s season five and you see a Christmas episode and you’re like, “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me, they’re still in their first year”. Don’t answer that. I know they’re probably going to age soon. Okay, enough of my dumbassary here. If you have a lot of time on your hands, I give this a full recommendation. If you’re able to sit through 100+ episodes of this, yes definitely give it a watch. And also keep in mind that Studio Bones animates this and they’re the ones who did Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Mob Psycho 100, and Soul Eater. So, that’s a pretty big incentive.

I know I said some pretty rough things about several moments of this series. But here’s how I would break it down. Season one was a nice start as we get an introduction to Deku and what he’s going to go through to become a hero. Season two was wonderful with more of a build-up to the antagonists of the story. Plus, a tournament arc! Season three had a bit of a slow start, but once you get to Bakugo’s kidnapping and All Might vs. All For One, this season was a sure-fire hit. Season four starts great, but it hits a lull spot. Okay, I guess I can accept that as these kids do deserve some time off. Season five had some good moments with Deku learning a little more about the previous users of One For All and the My Villain Academia arc. Other than that, this season was nothing to write home about. Season six will rock you like a hurricane. It’s almost a little overwhelming in the first half with all of these heroes and villains going up against each other. But never a dull moment.

If you would like to watch My Hero Academia, several sites have the series streaming including FUNimation, Crunchyroll, and Hulu. It is also a staple on Adult Swim’s Toonami, so if it’s on, check it out.

Okay, now that I finished this long series, I think it’s high-time I watch Hunter x Hunter Urusei Yatsura! Huh? Okay, guess we’re doing something else instead.

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ben-the-hyena · 1 year

Note

9, 25, 27, 40 and 47!

Sorry for the delay !

So keep in mind I may have more than one ship for those but the rule is to pick one so I'll just say one for each !

9. Would be toxic in real life but it fits them in fiction

SkekSil X SkekUng from the Dark Crystal franchise. In the movie, I can't help but see them as very angry bitter exes who still have feelings deep down (SkekSil didn't kill him and SkekUng not only stopped the others who were about to rip him to shreds and accepted him back in the court later) hidden under anger, insults, fights, revenge and humiliation not helped by their common ambition : wanting to become the new Emperor. They regularly fight as much physically as verbally and hatefuck inbetween and feel cheated when one fucks someone else even if they are no longer together, but that doesn't stop them both to move on and to enrage the other. But even when they were together in my HC or even in @dracocheesecake's and mine Native AU in which they are still together, they would angryfuck, backstab each other, argue very often, kill one's enthusiasm and even going as far as hitting. But they are evil bastards, it just FITS them and feels "sexy" and funnt for them y'know

25. Power duo in their profession

Dogamy and Dogaressa from Undertale. A canon married couple ! They are very in love with each other often kissing and being affectionate and if you choose to kill one the other is extremely sangry feeling empty but determined to avenge the other by killing you and being more dangerous than when they were 2, but they still are very professional and not blinded or distracted. They are equally good at their Royal Guards job, don't stray from their mission, form a very good duo attacking in sync with a good strategy to get their enemy, they are not just a couple they are a duo

27. Dumb and dumber

Scratch X Grounder from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. NO They're not brothers, they're not more brothers than the other robots who still get together but nobody say a thing like Breezie and Junior, why is it any different for them ? That said, they're absolute dumbasses who keep bickering because that's all their artificial brains can do, but they do care, have very sus moments that had teenager me go "BRUH" and THEY EVEN MADE A KID TOGETHER

40. Old married couple

SkekGra and UrGoh from The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance. They technically are the same person but when splitting with their own personalities they feel whole together and want to feel even closer by wanting to fuse back. SkekGra fucking became GOOD for UrGoh and his morals which is a huge exploit from a Skeksis who are meant to be the darkest part of UrSkeks, and UrGoh himself isolated himself from the other UrRu because he wanted to be as active as his other half rather than waiting like the others. They also bicker over anything or are annoyed without being too much annoyed, and are old funky men. They have been together smoking weed and playing puppets for centuries in the middle of the desert so I guess it counts as old husbands

47. Soulmates

Jen and Kira from The Dark Crystal. Not only was it fate that they would meet, restore peace and more or less "repopulate" as the 2 last of their kind (even if the sequel comics had them childless with lots of Gelfling popping up from nowhere), they have an instant connection, not just a cliché love at first sight but the first time they see someone of their species, the first time they can be as intimate as dreamfasting, learn from each other, and finally know happiness. True soulmates

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datawyrms · 3 years

Text

Happy DannyMay everyone! i say while dropping this. For day one, Memories. sorta kinda sequel to this Half a Decade Late

He said he’d never hate them. Back when he thought it would only be a matter of time until he found a weakness, a flaw and squirmed free. He always had before. He didn’t like being captured, and he certainly didn’t like getting shoved into cages, but it was always temporary. A terrifying inconvenience. Something he’d shrug off eventually and forget. Lately he was starting to realize he’d forget that he ever considered thinking charitably. Just like all the other things he couldn’t quite remember.

They took everything. His freedom, his limbs, his skin, his voice. So many things he had the misfortune of learning he could recover from with enough time. Really broke the idea that anything about you was special. Did it matter that they ripped him open when the green slime he was made of would eventually cover the hole without even a sign of the pain it caused him? He just stopped caring. Ghosts didn’t feel pain. Maybe if he believed that enough, he wouldn’t need to feel it. Hurt was just a matter of perspective.

He was changing, apparently. The spectral copies of his human organs they stole over and over again stopped being perfect copies. Sloppy. Apparently his body was forgetting what the real ones were like. He didn’t remember the last time he’d been human anyway. That was fine. It was the only real way he could bother them now, being ‘less useful’. Obviously he didn’t need them that badly. He envied some of his fellow prisoners. They were just green inside. Nothing the vultures wanted, nothing for them to mutter and prod at while he struggled uselessly.

He didn’t really know why he still bothered to do that. It never worked. Some impulse. Just better than keeping still. He never really was a human, was he? Humans didn’t treat other humans like this. So he wasn’t one. So why did he ever think he was?

Tie was weird. Maybe having a soul made you act all funny. He’d been tempted to change her name, to no-mask or just face, but the words didn’t feel right, sort of caught on his tongue. Even when he didn’t have one sometimes! Tie just slid off easily. Like he’d said it a lot, or something like it.

So the newbie remained Tie. And Tie was weird. A good kind of weird? She didn’t just tell him to shut up, anyway. Most of them were boring like that. Though not getting shocked into unconsciousness did make the days tend to drag a bit more. She did make his head hurt sometimes, with all the weird reactions Tie made. It always passed though.

He kept playing with the lights up there so they would flicker and crackle, just to check if it was a Tie day. Sure, that got a good amount of shocks when it wasn’t Tie, but they were always grumpy after he’d lost a limb or two. It was almost amusing again. That was the word. Maybe?

“You don’t remember Amity at all?”

Frustration and anger that was directed at him, but also not. Tie was super strange like that. “Why would I?” His response just made her eyes narrow more, but she didn’t do anything to take it out on him. It was hilarious.

“That’s where you’re from.”

“News to me.” Might be a lie, might not. Gun grunts said lots of weird stuff. He shifted position, watching her while upside down didn’t make it easier to tell if humans were lying or not, but did make her scowling funnier. “That’s where you’re from then? Or that other name you keep using.”

“You can’t actually be him. Fuck.” She was rubbing at her forehead, looking away at nothing. “You remember ghost hunters but not Amity Park?”

“Hey! Names are hard, Tie. Isn’t like you know the name of every town you’ve ever been in.”

“No, but I remember the one I lived in most of my life!”

“Good for you! I’d clap but I’m kinda under armed for the task.” Under armed. He snickered as she only rolled her eyes at his joke, but it only made him think of another one. “Isn’t like a ghost lives anywhere.”

“You’re in here for hell knows how long and you can’t get better jokes?!”

Tie’s irritation just made it funnier. “These are gold! Way better than the stuff you guys laugh at.”

“Like what?”

“Oh you know.” The humour of the moment passed as he got back up, wondering if he should give the old ice trick another go. The noises were fun. “Like how the ghost won’t eat, but ghosts don’t breathe either. So the ghost can’t do much to stop ya.” As if Tie didn’t know. She still made the weird pinched expressions though. Why bother? It didn’t really matter if she actually had a soul still. Those ones just quit and then there’d be a new newbie. “Lots of you think that’s reaaaaal funny.” He stuck out his tongue, gagging. “Gross gun grunts.”

“That’s not funny either.”

“Try breaking your funny bone a few times. That’ll fix it. Or was that computers?” He frowned, rubbing his fingers against his chin. Computers. What was it about computers again? Re-re-something? Like with bones when you...did something…

“Phantom!”

That jerked him out of his considerations. “Still not him!” Now that he checked, Tie looked like she’d been trying to get his attention for awhile again. That, or she’d figured out how to teleport closer to his cage. Both were very possible. Probably.

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you.”

“You were talking?”

“For someone who says he isn’t Phantom, it sure gets your attention fast.”

He shrugged. What did Tie expect? So what if he noticed it? It didn’t mean anything to him, personally. It was like comp-whatevers. “You could say the coats were coming and I’d do the same thing.”

“Doubt it. You remember Jack and Maddie maybe?” Tie hesitated, as if saying something to him actually mattered. “Your parents?”

“I’m a ghost. And possibly a starfish. Since I do the whole regenerating thing.” He’s pretty sure it’s starfish that do that. “I don’t think they’re big on families.” He thought that was pretty amusing, having like. Little voiceless things that cling to rocks as parents. Actually had a bit in common if you thought of his cage as a rock? Tie didn’t agree, based on how he was biting at her lip and clenching her fists. Still no shooting. Still super weird.

“Be a mercy killing at this point…” Tie wasn’t actually speaking to him, but it was interesting. Killing what? One of the other ghosts maybe. “Sam, Tucker? Any of them ring a bell?”

He certainly didn’t have a bell in here. “Sam...and Tucker are names?” He guessed, shuddering a little. Weird names. Made the gooey mess of ectoplasm he was made of wriggle when he said it. Like when he was struggling to digest something, uncomfortable and heavy and just making him want to move when he couldn’t. Though he could this time. Zipping up to the top of his cage helped shake the feeling off, at least. He wasn’t saying those again, no thank you. “You have weird tricks, Tie”

“They’re just names. I didn’t do anything to make you fly up there. I half thought you couldn’t do that anymore.”

Tie did have a bit of a point. When was the last time he’d flown up here? “Think I forgot I could?” He didn’t really move much in general. Not like he had anywhere to go, his cage didn’t really change.

She just looked tired. “This isn’t fixable.”

He wasn’t really paying attention, poking at the edges of his cage with his feet was pretty entertaining. It tingled a bit when he got pushed back, but flipping over in the air was easy. Why didn’t he float more? “Gun grunts don’t fix things, so Idonno why you care.”

Tie wasn’t paying much attention to him either, muttering to herself. “Manson would kill me for doing it. No way she’d believe you’re like this. Let alone the Fentons...”

Well, that was boring. He busied himself with counting how many seconds it took for the shock to stop coursing through him when he touched the walls. Though it was a bit tricky to keep track between tries.

“Skulker? Ember? You at least remember the ghosts, don’t you?”

“Are you just making names up now Tie?” They just sounded silly. The thought of someone named ‘Skulker’...who was also very tiny. Now that’d be funny. Kinda liked that idea actually.

“Probably don’t even remember the guy who put a million on your head…”

“A million whats? Questions? That’s more a you thing, Tie.”

“No, Vlad. The mayor?”

“The what?” Things weren’t funny anymore. He wasn’t cool and passive. That word, there’d been others but he didn’t even care what they’d been. The V had been enough to set his core to a furious pulsating heat of fury. His ice claws clung to the wall even as the buzzing in his skull grew stronger as the field tried to shove him back. “WHERE” He snared, not caring how his throat burned from the partial wail trying to scrabble out of his throat. Tie didn’t matter, nothing mattered and he actually missed his arm since not having it made it harder to keep his grip and snarl at the one backing away from his prison. “WHERE IS HE?” Oh he’d order anyone, and they’d listen or he’d shred them as soon as he got through- but his claws were cracking- green and red staining and corrupting the fine edge he’d honed so often. Why did he care? He didn’t know, didn’t want to know, he just had to act and now, just in case. The chance might slip away and he wouldn’t, they’d pay they’d pay, they’d PAY.

“Danny! Stop hurting yourself, he’s not here!” Tie was blathering, but at least backed away when he shrieked at her. Stupid Tie. Didn’t know anything. “Hell. You don’t even know why you’re mad, do you.”

He kept slamming the ice back in place, even as his arm weakened and started oozing. He didn’t need his legs, he didn’t need arms, he didn’t need anything. Just OUT. NOW. He snarled and snapped at the metal that grabbed his back and slammed him hard to the ground of his cage. It ignored him and the awful warmth that had consumed everything. He never won against it but now he had to keep trying because-because the anger? Because of something. The metal easily ignored the green surging pulses of electricity, just kept pressing down on him until he wasn’t solid enough to struggle, not strong enough to scream at it. The awful stabbing feeling in his core wanted him to act, but he couldn’t even defiantly flick his tail as he grew colder and slipped out of consciousness.

Everything hurt and it wasn’t even Friday. At least. He didn’t think it was? He’d have to ask Tie about it...if Tie showed up again. Something about her gave him a stab of unease. Might have something to do with all the green stains in here. Didn’t remember getting shot though. Strange. Must have done something. Maybe. Didn’t really matter.

#Danny Phantom #Dannymay2021 #dannymay #valerie gray #many terrible implications #i couldn't help it i had more pondering #vals no good day mark 2 #now to endlessly not decide if i should make a compilation on ao3 #or just stick things to the ends of the phic phight stuff i'm doing

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skrutskie · 3 years

Audio

It’s that time again! Presenting: The OATHS OF LEGACY playlist—the songs that fueled me while plotting, writing, and editing the sequel to BONDS OF BRASS. They’re roughly in story-order and appropriately dramatic for a book where Gal emp-Umber is steering the narrative. Make of that what you will.

Supermassive Black Hole // Muse // i thought i was a fool for no one / oh baby, i’m a fool for you // a song for a prince behind enemy lines

POWER // Kanye West // screams from the haters got a nice ring to it / i guess every superhero need his theme music // a song for gal approaching the throne

Bad Blood // Bastille // and you said you always had my back / oh but how were we to know? // a song for the first conversation in a month

Bad Blood // Taylor Swift // and time can heal but this won’t / so if you’re coming my way, just don’t // a song for flicked sugar and bitter coffee

Castle // Halsey // if you wanna break these walls down, you’re gonna get bruised // a song for keeping your head up in front of the cameras

Life Itself // Glass Animals // come back down to my knees / gotta get back, gotta get free // a song for gal scheming

Made In Gold // Nova Rockafeller // i’ll be in the ditch / i’ve been through the wringer / but i’ll be standing at the top waving my middle finger // a song for wen in the pilot’s seat

Hate That You Know Me // Bleachers // sometimes i hate that you know me so well / sometimes i wish that i wasn’t myself // a song for peeling away at the denial

Two Evils // Bastille // you and i, oh you and i / we’re not that different, you and i // a song for two emperors, two sides

The Mighty Fall // Fall Out Boy // your crooked love is just a pyramid scheme / and i’m dizzy on dreams // a song for a brand new front

In The Next Room // Neon Trees // you play me like i am made of strings / i’m the violin, a melody / i want your lips to sing // a song for a deliberate wall and how little it’s working

Obsession // OK Go // and it’s physical / it’s like standing on the edge / your blood starts to pump ‘cause you’re worried you might jump // a song for temptation

Steal My Girl // One Direction // everybody wanna steal my girl / everybody wanna take her heart away // a song for not a love triangle, but a loyalty triangle

You Belong With Me // Taylor Swift // if you could see that i’m the one who understands you? / been here all along, so why can’t you see? // a song for the question of who really gets wen?

Cold War // Foreign Figures // it’s a cold, cold war between the vain and valuable // a song for weighing how much your image can take

DNA. // Kendrick Lamar // i got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA // a song for bloodright

Headphones // Walk The Moon // it’s just another chain reaction / when you make the big mistake / suffer all the satisfaction / of learning something // a song for meeting an old friend unexpectedly

Empress // Morningsiders // and i was a fool for loving her over you / and if i fall, i really hope you call me ‘cause i’m not over you // a song for the thaw

Fake It // Bastille // so don’t turn over, turn over the page / we should rip it straight out / then let’s try our very best to fake it // a song for trying to move forward and hold on to reality at the same time

Higher // The Score // but i hear the drumming / now my veins are pumping // a song for imperials on the battlefield, coming into their own

Burn Down This City // Felix Hagan & the Family // but i would burn down this city / to keep you from the cold // a song for waiting in a hospital

Lightening Tent // Wildlife // the past is just a bridge we burned down behind us // a song for the illusion collapsing at last

Invincible // OK Go // when they finally come to destroy the earth / they’ll have to go through you first // a song for a suited knight

World In My Pocket // The Unlikely Candidates // and when you look at me i believe i can see a kingdom in your eyes // a song for “no empire”

Cold Cold Man // Saint Motel // you’re the only one worth seeing / the only place worth being / the only bed worth sleeping’s the one right next to you // a song for choosing, for real this time

Are You Gonna Be My Girl // Jet // i know we ain’t got much to say / before i let you get away // a song for that part they forgot

Highway To Hell // AC/DC // hey momma, look at me / i’m on my way to the promised land // a song for an unscheduled road trip

#booklr #bonds of brass #oaths of legacy #emily skrutskie #the bloodright trilogy #playlist

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mystical-flute · 3 years

Text

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (SFWeek Day 6)

Actors AU or Social Media AU

AO3 || FFN

@mysteryandnonstopfun

“No, Baelfire!”

“It’s okay, Leia… all magic comes with a price, right? I’m happy paying this price if it means - ” he winced in pain as the magic drained more of his strength. “If it means you and Henry will be safe.”

She sniffed, a tear landing on his cheek. “But - but Henry doesn’t even remember you. He never got to see you again!”

“I have faith you’ll break his curse…”

“Bae…” came the broken voice of a father.

“Papa,” despite him dying, he had never felt more relieved to see his father. His sacrifice worked. Papa was safe.

Rumplestiltskin sank to his knees, taking his son’s hand. “Oh my boy. No, I’ll - I’ll stop this. I’ll make sure it takes me instead of you.”

“Papa, you can’t! It’s too late. It’s already begun. You have to let me go. Please.”

“Baelfire…”

Baelfire turned his gaze back to Leia. “Go… find your happiness… without me.”

A final breath escaped him, although his eyes remained open, glassy and empty, as they stared off into the bright light above him.

“CUT!”

Director Killian Jones’ voice sliced through the somber scene, chatter beginning to buzz as assistants, producers and camera operators continued the work that had been stalled while the cameras rolled.

Neal Cassidy blinked, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the studio lighting, and sat up, off his co-star, Emma Swan’s, legs. “That was the first time I’ve ever died in a movie before. Gotta say, I don’t recommend staring directly into the spotlight above your head.”

Arthur Gold, ‘Rumplestiltskin’, stood and stretched out his. “You two are good,” he remarked. “Really just thought you two were just pretty faces, but you two got real acting chops,” his voice dropped lower as Victoria Belfrey, one of the most cutthroat producers in Hollywood, strolled by, “ - especially if you haven’t been scared off by her, yet.”

“Ah, she’s not so bad,” Emma said with a shrug. “You just have to know how to butter her up.”

“Yeah, I mean, sooner or later, it’s going to be our generation that’s the big time producers,” Neal added.

Arthur blinked slowly, then smirked. “That’s the spirit. That will get you both far in this town.”

He ambled away in the direction of catering, and the mood shifted immediately when the two stars were left alone.

“You got snot on me when you cried.”

“Your breath stinks like garlic.”

Oh, Neal couldn’t stand to be near Emma Swan. But Regina Mills’ Misthaven had broken record after record for books and social media posts, so it only made sense that, when the inevitable movie adaptation was announced, Neal Cassidy and Emma Swan, both riding high from their own worldwide successes, would play the two star-crossed, tragic lovers - Baelfire the Spinner and Princess Leia.

He glared. “Yeah? What time did you get to your trailer last night? Two? Because before Elsa worked her magic on you, you looked like - ”

“That is enough out of you two!” Killian snapped, a clipboard tucked under his arm as he approached the sound stage. “I’d heard you two were trouble to work with, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

“Well maybe if - ”

“I don’t care. Neither of you are scheduled to film tomorrow, so I’ve set up a bit of a… bonding exercise for you. Don’t worry, your agents gave the okay.”

Neal and Emma shot Killian incredulous looks. “You did this behind our backs?” “What the hell, man?” They protested at the same time.

“Oh, look at that. It seems to be working already,” Killian smirked, handing them sheets of paper. “Meet there at nine o’clock sharp. Spend the day together. Get to know each other - without trying to rip the other’s throat out.”

Neal thought he might have more luck jumping into a zoo exhibit, but he really didn’t want to lose his reputation or everything he had worked for.

So the next morning, he was slumped in the back seat of a car, Emma doing the same on the other side. The ride had been quiet, neither of them much in the mood to talk.

Maybe if they learned to just ignore each other, that would be enough for Killian? Hell, it was already working.

His brow raised as they turned off the main highway, heading into the woods.

“Okay, I know Killian’s annoyed with us, but is he really going to murder us in the woods?” Emma whispered.

“Please, if they did that, Misthaven would tank, and that wouldn’t be fair to Regina Mills,” he replied, although the thought had crossed his mind as well.

“I didn’t think you cared about anyone but yourself.”

“I guess I’m just full of surprises.”

Finally, the driver stopped outside a cabin. “Alright you two. I’ll be back at three, Mr. Jones’ orders. Have fun and don’t do anything that might require an ambulance.”

“It’s like they don’t trust us or something,” Neal said, watching the driver pull away.

Emma didn’t laugh as she glanced at the cabin. “This is a joke, right? God, it’s like being back on Dad’s farm.”

“You grew up on a farm?”

“You gonna mock me for that?”

Neal held up his hands in a gesture of surrender as she unlocked the cabin door and stepped inside. “I was doing nothing of the sort. You just don’t strike me as the “farm girl” type with all the leather you wear.”

“I shed that image. I was never a fan of small towns or - or farms. They’re nice to visit, but I’m a city girl through and through,” she said, frowning as she looked around. “No TV?”

“Jones did say this was a bonding exercise. They probably figured we’d spend all day watching TV or going online and ignoring each other.”

“That sounds like a good idea to me.”

“Well, they ended that dream before you could fall asleep,” Neal said, flopping down on a couch. “Why don’t we talk more about that little farm thing you grew up on?”

“It’s a farm in Maine. Dad raises sheep, cows and chickens and has crops. Really not all that interesting to talk about, other than I hated getting up at the ass-crack of dawn to collect eggs. That was more my brother’s speed.”

Neal raised a brow. “Maine, huh? You don’t hear a lot about people from Maine.”

“Suppose not. Where was it you were from, again?”

“New Orleans.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? No offense, but you don’t sound like it.”

Neal chewed the inside of his cheek, before sighing. “My manager didn’t think it’d get me far if I kept the accent,” he said, slipping into his normal voice. “I really don’t think I’d have gotten Misthaven if I sound like this, do you?”

Emma shrugged. “I think the accent sounds fine, but I guess I can see what you mean. Still shouldn’t mean you couldn’t use it in other work or in interviews. Your manager must be a shark.”

“Cora Miller. And trust me when I say she wasn’t happy when she found out about this little adventure.”

“Ah, that explains it.” A pause. “Did you read Misthaven? The book, I mean.”

“I did. I think it’s bullshit that Baelfire dies.”

“You’re just saying that because that means you have to die and miss out on the last half of the movie.”

“No, no! I’m serious! Baelfire fights so hard to reunite his family and revive his father, and he knows the ins and out of magic, and he still pays the ultimate price? When others who did so much worse get to survive? Even if he and Princess Leia don’t get together, he deserved to be with Henry, at least,” Neal replied, frowning.

Emma tilted her head. “I guess that makes sense. And Baelfire returning a hero after being out of Princess Leia’s life for so long would have made for a great redemption story. Maybe Regina Mills will figure out a way to bring him back in the sequel.”

“Wait, she’s writing a sequel?”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to come out in a couple years. I didn’t know you were such a big reader.”

“You kiddin’? English was my favorite subject in school. I got a whole wall in my house dedicated to books.”

Emma sat back in her chair, clearly surprised. “Huh. It was mine too.”

Neal crossed his legs. “I guess we got more in common than we thought. What do you say we start over?”

Emma smiled. “Sure. I’d like that.”

#sfweek2021 #swanfire #emma swan #neal cassidy #ouat #once upon a time

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ariainstars · 3 years

Text

Congratulations, We Fell for Another Love Bombing or Thank You, Disney, You Did It Again

Sigh. Luke Skywalker is back. And Din Djarin and his child had to say goodbye. I never thought I would curse and say “Oh no!” when Luke appeared in that fateful corridor.

I wonder why the Disney studios are doing this - trying to "make up” for the oh-so criticized sequels, I suppose?

The Jedi have made their time. It was shown and proven over and over again that their attitude is wrong and needs to change, and Luke was the last of the old school Jedi. Again, a Force-sensitive child is all but kidnapped by a Jedi: he obviously did not like to go. Mando is no longer the hero of the story, he was stripped of his agency and all of his personal choices were questioned and valued for null and void. But the Dark Saber is in his hands now, so he’s the heir to the throne of Mandalore I guess. Like he ever wanted that.

This show, which grew to be so well-beloved in only a few episodes, now is not “The Mandalorian” any more. Its new title is “Luke’s Skywalker’s Comeback”. Hardcore fans may be out of their minds with joy, but for us, who admired Mando both as a badass hero and as a father figure and loved the dynamics between him and Grogu, the whole purpose of the show is destroyed. And here I naively had thought The Rise of Skywalker was bad enough to teach the studios not to repeat its mistakes.

~~~ more under the cut ~~~

Star Wars ought to be a fairy tale. It is and always was one. I can understand that the prequels had to end in a tragedy, we all knew that from the start, but why the sequels? And now, why must this generally acclaimed and beloved tv show again appease hardcore fans of old with Luke coming to save the day, cancelling in a matter of minutes what the story had built up within two entire seasons - the relationship of the two protagonists, heart and core of the narrative, as it had been with Rey and Ben Solo? And when both of them had their relationship just getting started - Rey and Ben kissing, Din calling Grogu by his name and the latter seeing him and touching his face? Why make Rey a queen without her king, and Din a father without a son?

Again, a Force-user is denied having a home: „Jedi training” matters more. By Luke of all people, the guy who never was trained in the first place (only very briefly), who except for a few lessons with Obi-Wan and Yoda was self-taught in the Force, and never understood that his strength lay with his compassion and his connection with other people, not with his alleged „superpowers”.

Think back to how Anakin, Luke and Rey were before they met the Jedi: unaware of their powers, compassionate, idealistic, brave. The Jedi mindset tainted their characters and lives, making them believing that they are (or have to be) untouchable and invincible, compelling them to live for duty instead of love, condemning them to a lifetime of loneliness. Will the Jedi never learn?

Though I practically grew up with the classic movies, I loved The Last Jedi; I can accept that Luke failed, and also that Han and Leia did. Nobody is perfect, and the Jedi mindset as well as the universally accepted idea that „Jedi” is a synonym for infallible saint-like hero was wrong in the first place, else the Empire never would have risen. Making Luke not the cavalry who came to save the day - until the battle on Crait, that is - but a man who failed and picked himself up again was much more meaningful, and I know not a few fans who felt inspired by this. Luke had saved his father choosing love over power, not the contrary. Some fans just never get it. To appease them, why not simply give him a new storyline of his own, instead of making him intrude in other Star Wars related shows? Why stop the new stories in their tracks just to bring him back?

Instead of seeing Luke as the grand kickass hero in a tv show that never had anything to do with him until now, it would have been more to the purpose to finally shed light on the thirty years between his father’s and his nephew’s death, to explain us where the Jedi and the Skywalker-Organa-Solo family failed to make such an outcome possible - the granddaughter of Palpatine taking over with their own blessing. There must have been a huge build-up between the end of the original saga and the fateful night at the temple when Luke briefly panicked looking into his nephew’s mind. Many fans still are convinced that „Kylo Ren just chose to be bad” because we hardly know how the relationship between these two was in the first place. (A very easy plot twist would e.g. have been Snoke warning Ben that his uncle sooner or later would turn on him, frightened by his power. The fulfilment of that prophecy would have made the night at the temple much more impactful.)

I understand that the studios want to tease us, to make us watch the other shows, too. But honestly, I’m getting tired of feeling duped. Tired of getting attached to new heroes to have their purpose smashed just so the Star Wars dudebro fans can sleep quietly at night because „some Jedi will take care of it”. First the characters from the sequels, now the ones from The Mandalorian. You get to love the new characters, you root for them to find happiness or at least some closure, and then, at the last moment, poof!, the hero of old comes back and the story development stops right there.

It is not right and it never was for the Jedi to take Force-sensitive children away from home, to enforce „you have to become a Jedi, like it or not” on them, to teach them not to have attachments, to make them focus on the Light Side thereby bringing the Force out of its much-needed balance. While Ahsoka saw that Grogu has formed a strong attachment to Din Djarin, Luke obviously did not, or he did not care. The irony is that he always wanted a father, and knows the pain of losing a father you’ve just found.

The Mandalorian felt like a consolation after Episode IX, a blessing for the fans for whom heart and soul are more interesting than nostalgia and „Jedi superheroes”. Now it’s just another kick in the guts. It’s painful and embarrassing to get to love characters so much, to get invested in their story so deeply, and then to realize again that they seem to mean nothing in the shade of the heroes of old. Ben Solo died young and miserable and Din Djarin and Grogu can now, I suppose, be miserable too. Can someone please explain to me why after the classics, no Star Wars film or show had an uplifting ending any more? With the possible exception of Solo, which was a nice filler but not a really important storyline. (I do not count Episodes I and II, they officially had a happy ending but it was tainted by the knowledge of what was to come.)

Fans are not blind. We saw the parallels between Darth Vader and Din Djarin as well as the differences - both being cool and tough but the latter not disdaining to be a caring father at the same time. The entire show lived from the dynamics between the gruff but kind bounty hunter and the innocent-looking powerful child, ever from the first episode. Two years of build-up for nothing, as it was with the four years of the sequels. Mando has to relinquish Grogu, Rey loses Ben. What was all that for? Both Mando and Rey are fighters, they have done nothing else their entire lives. What is to become of them now that they have nothing to fight for any more, nor anyone to live for? Except staying on a planet that is foreign to them and, for all they know, inhabitable or at least inhospitable?

With Rey and Ben Solo, the situation was different: she had proven good intentions but bad attitude (arrogance, violence, judgement) over and over, unable to deny her heritage, and even impaled her „antagonist” once while he was only defending himself. He had been the head of a criminal organization for years, and had committed patricide. Of course there are nuances to these characters and I still believe that they would have deserved another chance; I understand however that would have been unfitting to let the sequels end giving them a happy ending.

But in the case of Din Djarin, a man of honor, who has made friends and brought peace wherever he went throughout the galaxy? Grogu, the last surviving padawan of the old Jedi temple, who saved both his and Greef Karga’s life despite the danger for himself? What did they do to deserve being ripped apart like that?

So, all I can say: thank you, you did it again. And, once more, just before Christmas. I wish at least these depressing endings would be released at some other time.

I would dearly want to see a galaxy that finally learned from its faults, where family and attachments and Balance and free choice are not contrary to being a Jedi. I am in my late forties and I’m beginning to give up hope that I will live to see it. By now I am wondering whether George Lucas himself will live to see it.

I always loved Luke. He is one of my favorite heroes. But now he’s become an insensitive know-it-all who suffered from his own daddy issues to the point that he almost died crying out to his father for help, yet did not learn not to separate fathers from children and vice versa and, on the contrary, is doing it over and over again. He did not even tell Mando his name, or where he could reach him. We don’t have a clue as to if, when and how the Clan of Two will meet again.

I get it that since this show is set five years Return of the Jedi, it would have been difficult to ignore Luke’s existence altogether. And of course, we can rest assured that Luke will do his best for Grogu. But still: he has made his time. I wanted to see the new heroes going their own way, not hanging on the sleeves of the former generation. Mando is a man of honor, he had promised to bring Grogu to his own kind and he relinquished him despite his own wishes. (Not to mention that technically, since he identifies as a Mandalorian, by being a Jedi Luke is his enemy.) Why did Luke have to take the child away? His greatest strength always was that he was first and foremost himself and only in the second place a Jedi. What became of his trademark compassion?

Before The Mandalorian, we have never seen a healthy and working father-son relationship in the saga. It was incredibly refreshing and heart-warming to see these two traveling through the galaxy and living through adventures together; also, contrarily to Yoda, Grogu saw a lot of the bad things happening in the galaxy with his own eyes, which certainly was good for his character development.

But in the end, both he and his „father” did not go anywhere. Like Rey in Episode IX, they found a) power and b) a surrogate place, but neither got what was actually his heart’s wish - a home. I can’t understand why. Deliberate cruelty? We never knew whether Han and Leia and Ben felt how painful it was to break up their little family for the sake of „Jedi training”. You bet Din and Grogu did feel that pain and loss.

Both as a person with a heart and a brain and an almost lifelong Star Wars fan I am sickened by the readiness of the studios to end all that this well-made show had built up, for the appeasement of Jedi worshippers who just don’t want to see that the Jedi mindset needs urgently to change. It can’t be that difficult to renew them for the better; there is no necessity to erase the Jedi completely and there is nothing bad with making them grow wiser and stronger by finally understanding and accepting the importance of attachments and family ties. Yes, I realize that being a father also means learning how to let go; but here we are speaking of a literal child, not of a young adult who chose his own way in life.

I thought that George Lucas knew why he sold his franchise to the Disney studios, given their tradition in telling stories about family and friendship. This development is not a triumph, it is unworthy both of the studios and of the entire Star Wars saga. I’m tired of producers bowing down before fans who see every shred of the saga through „Jedi are always right”-tinted glasses respectively who value coolness over compassion even though it always was the saga’s central message.

Whatever happens in Season 3, countless fans will only be watching it asking, „Where’s Luke?” If Grogu should choose to join Mando again, everybody will be like, „But how can he want to leave Luke Skywalker of all people?” Some already see Grogu die prematurely, killed by the oh-so-bad guy Kylo Ren, for no other reason than to just to further prove how evil he is. In which case both Ben Solo and Grogu will have lived and died for nothing except for leaving a lot of heartbreak behind.

There must be another and better way to honor the legacy of both Luke Skywalker and the original trilogy than to think up new heroes and then destroy their purpose for the sake of old times’ glory. Lucas himself had said that Star Wars is basically for twelve-year-olds. It seems not: it’s for the fans who were twelve years old forty years ago, when the first movies hit theatres.

There are enough voices crying out for the sequels to be erased from canon. Who knows? This may be the next step into the past instead of the future. The sequels were hinting at a better future (Balance), Grogu was, too (family). But the grand past is so reassuring. The sequels tried to tell the audience to grow up and learn to do without their heroes, to see that even they were flawed and that the new heroes could grow beyond them. Fie on them, said the hardcore fans. Now it’s the turn of the younger generation, who got to know and love the saga with the sequels or The Mandalorian, to be like „WTF”.

Rogue One also had been a huge disappointment to me. Not that I found it badly made, but I went into a depressive mood for three days for the same reason: I did not like that I had grown so attached to all of these characters only to see all of them die. The infamous Darth Vader scenes and the design with the huge hints at the classic movies were no consolation. Nostalgia does not make me happy. Heart does. Rogue One, the sequels and The Mandalorian were all, in the end, deprived of all human feeling except loss and regret and many, many thoughts about what might have been.

The Mandalorian was an excellent story on its own. It did not need Luke Skywalker. It is and ought to be Din Djarin’s story, who lost or gave up everything because he was afraid to lose the child: and now he did. It’s not comforting that he lost him to the alleged Good Guy. Luke of course won’t turn a hair on Grogu’s head, but he can’t offer him a home, we already know that. Ahsoka saw the attachment between the two and she knows the dangers of it; Luke does not know what drove his father to his terrible fate. If the sequels remain canon, then we already know that Luke will not allow his pupils having and keeping healthy attachments. And that does not promise well for the child’s future.

Unless the studios commit the madness of officially erasing the sequels and starting the saga anew, we can only hope that the child will not stay with Luke for long since it’s a good five years before he will start his own Jedi temple. Maybe he will die of a broken heart, poor little guy. And Din Djarin might become the new ruler of Mandalore, though sad and alone. But who cares: Luke is back. Please: I did not subscribe to Disney+ wanting to see Schwarzenegger movies. The lonesome hero can ride into the sunset for all I care, out of sight and of mind. Star Wars’ greatest strength always was its heart.

My own take was that Grogu is meant to be a healer, and since Luke is not, there is no way he can teach him this particular skill in the Force. Anakin was a pilot and a mechanic, Luke and Ben also were pilots. None of them were Jedi by choice. Grogu is older than Luke and he was already trained at the old Jedi temple: he’s more likely to be a teacher to Luke than the other way around. Grogu as the first Force-user who values attachment and family over power and Jedi training, that would indeed have been a new hope. This backpedaling is shallow and useless. Even if Luke sends Grogu back to Din Djarin, this won’t teach him not to take a child away from its home, since only a few years later he will do the same thing to his nephew. (Although it would admittedly be an interesting plot point to see a small Ben Solo interacting with Grogu for a while.)

Please give us back The Mandalorian the way it was, with its characters and dynamics. The themes and messages of The Last Jedi already were almost all aborted in The Rise of Skywalker; we didn’t sign up on Disney+ to see the exact same thing happen with The Mandalorian. I for my part am fed up with this kind of love bombing followed by a quick and coldblooded let-down. Star Wars may be a cult, but it need not be the kind of cult where you get hooked and then unwittingly follow a carrot hanging before your eyes. I thought the exaggerated Jedi cult was mostly made by the fans: the studios did not need to jump on this ship. This is not the Way.

Now everything I feared is flaring up again - fans jubilating because “the Jedi are taking matters in hand” instead of accepting the failure of the Jedi mindset at last; and even insisting that since things are going so well, all Disney needs to do is to cancel the sequels from canon and everybody can be happy again.

Please, please, give this tormented galaxy a chance to heal at last. We don’t need Luke Skywalker to save the day by killing all the bad guys. We don’t need the oh-so-powerful and perfect Jedi. We need faith in the Force. We need a home. Don’t take it away from us again. Thank you.

P.S. If we see Luke again in Season 3, at least give the role to a live actor. That digital “rejuvenation” made him look wooden. Luke’s best trait, apart from his compassion, always was his smile.

P.P.S. What’s with Boba Fett claiming Jabba’s throne? I thought Jabba had a son. What in the galaxy happened to him?

P.P.P.S. I don’t mind kickass women, but honestly, I’m getting somehow tired of them. What became of the ladies of Star Wars, the diplomats, the good queens, the loving mothers, the accurate librarians, who contribute to the galaxy without killing (or hurting) anyone? I’m feeling kind of underrepresented here...

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katie-writes24 · 3 years

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I’ll Be Your Safe Place

Pairing: Ruben Marcado x reader

Warnings: Language, suggestive material, mentions of sex, hurt/comfort, two insecure confused fools, violence, Ian Price, Jason Cole, angst, and lots of sad Ruben.

Part 1

This was not supposed to be a continuation...buuuut, here we are. This is a sequel to ‘I’ll Be Your Escape.’ I honestly got whiplash writing this so I hope you all enjoy! Ruben deserves everything, especially more content. Let me know if you want to be tagged. Leave some feedback! Thank you @tinywhim for your constant encouragement! Enjoy!

“Does it hurt?”

“Not really.”

“Then why are you pulling back?”

“It’s just…” Ruben lowered his head, as if in shame and bit the inside of his cheek. His sweaters comforted him, they definitely hid the lines on his forearm that Y/N slowly ran her fingertips over. He was sort of glad she didn’t see them before. No matter how much guilt filled his stomach when he looked at them, he couldn’t help but shiver at the small touch she was currently giving him.

“It still kinda shakes me up,” She looked confused, so Ruben cleared his throat and took a breath. “I was thrown around like that in high school, you know. There were always bullies, but this. When he ran his fingers in my blood… I was scared that it would be so much worse than it was.”

Y/N dropped her hands for a moment, and Ruben could see the tears in her eyes.

“It hurt. I didn’t try to resist, I couldn’t,” He chuckled as he thought about it. “Guess that’s kind of pathetic, right?”

“Not pathetic. No, Ruben, you’re not pathetic. Please understand that it wasn’t your fault. Please? I need you to understand that Ruben.” Y/N held his face so softly that Ruben felt his eyes shut. He was so tired, it was all so overwhelming.

“I need you to say it.”

Ruben blinked and shook his head, “Say what?”

“That it wasn’t your fault.”

He didn’t understand.

Jason came up to him and asked about his work. He seemed genuinely interested, asking questions and writing down little notes. He asked Ruben for a small favor, asked if he knew about certain aspects of the brain. Ruben was just a chemist, but he learned a lot in college, and what Jason asked of him was a bit extreme. It certainly wasn’t the small favor he asked for years ago.

But Jason asked so kindly, always visiting Ruben in his office every day. Jason looked at Ruben so differently, like he was some blessing that came from the sky. It made Ruben feel warm, it made him feel good. He’s never been paid that much attention before he met Jason.

Jason asked a lot. He kept Ruben working long nights, took a lot of his time away from his real work. The doctor told him so many things that he made sound like a promise, but was just an act.

Jason got him into this mess. Jason got him hurt.

Ian damaged him. He carved his skin, gagged him up and made him feel so small. Ian made him feel useless, stupid. A coward. Ian dragged him to a club all as a pawn just to get on his ‘good’ side. Just so he could get into his head and tell him theories that sounded insane.

And for a time, Ruben believed that he would continue this cycle of insecurity and pain.

He was sure that night at the warehouse would be his last day alive.

Then he met Y/N, and he’s never felt so….

Well, Y/N drew Ruben into a feeling he never knew was there.

He could see how gorgeous she was, obviously. She caught his attention as soon as he saw her, hanging in the shadows while everyone around them got higher than the clouds. Ian had told him that she was a bit shy, but as soon as he had her in a room, Ruben seemed to be the shy one.

It was an unforgettable experience. He still remembers the way she whispered his name, remembers her legs shaking around his head as she came. He remembers her looking at him with bright eyes, remembers her praising him.

He remembers feeling on top of the world.

Ruben didn’t think he’d ever lose his virginity at the age he did, certainly not in a slimy room in a warehouse filled with even slimier people. But he certainly didn’t think he’d meet someone like Y/N there, either.

Y/N was kind to him, never judging him. In that small amount of time that he was with her, he felt like he was being heard. Even after he shut her accusations down, she still spoke to him with such sincerity.

He would have never thought they were so alike.

They both were birds trapped in a cage, looking for an escape but every turn led to the same place. Half of him didn’t even want to know what the girl had gone through, the other half wishes he could just hold her in his arms and never let go. He barely even knew her, but he was so lucky to have her.

And it made him realize that he shouldn’t have her. He often wondered if he would feel so in danger if he hadn’t made any face-to-face contact with Ian that night in the elevator, if he walked away from Jason when he yelled at him about selling Blackout, if he did sell Blackout. Well, Ruben would probably be in the sun in Jamaica right now, not a care in the world.

Instead he sits on a bed in the smallest apartment he’s ever seen with Y/N across from him, looking at Ruben with such care. She’s holding his face gently, not like he could break, but with a grounding touch. And looking at her makes him think about every decision he made all over again.

So how can Ruben lie and say that it wasn’t his fault? He kept helping Jason, he made the drug.

“Ruben?”

He looked into her eyes, which were wide in concern. Her thumb was caressing his cheek and he could melt from the simple act.

“I…I don’t know if I can.”

“What?”

“I mean it when I say it’s complicated. But I just...I did something, that I shouldn’t have done in the first place. I pissed Ian off and if I hadn’t then maybe I wouldn’t have these sca-”

“Ruben, please listen to me. What Ian did to you was not your fault. And- and maybe I don’t know what exactly happened, but I know you couldn’t have done anything that would make this your fault.” Her voice cracked and his heart shattered.

If only she knew the full story.

Ruben’s silence had caused her some sort of frustration, and Y/N lowered her hands and hesitated before asking, “What do I need to do to prove it to you?”

“No, Y/N, it’s not like that, it’s…I don’t know. Maybe I’ll believe it one day, but I just can’t right now, and I don’t think there’s anything you could say to make it better.”

The woman shook in front of him, and he felt a little guilty. But it was the truth. It was a situation she couldn’t control, not with words, not with actions.

“I’m sorry,” Ruben took her hand in his, rubbing her knuckles slowly. “Does that make me a bad person?”

“No, I understand what you mean. I’m sorry I pushed, I just...it’s not fair. It’s not fair that you have to feel this way.”

There was nothing more to say, Ruben wanted to change the subject. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and moved to kiss her cheek. He kept his lips planted on her skin for a few extra seconds, and he felt Y/N lean into the touch.

Eventually, Ruben leaned his head on her shoulder, enjoying the contact. Y/N was playing with his fingers, gradually moving up his arms and tracing over his scars again.

He wondered if she would ever just let it be, like how he currently is. That’s how he’s coping, because how could he blame Ian when he took him to an amazing party where he met an amazing girl?

But Y/N lifted his arm to her lips and pressed the most delicate kisses against the lines.

They stayed like that for a while, moving back and forth between different spots. They always ended up in each other’s arms, and when Ruben felt his eyes drifting shut when Y/N ran her fingers through his hair, he cleared his throat.

“I should go.”

“You could stay.”

But it wasn’t like that.

They’d seen each other three times since that night. Ruben had been ignoring Jason’s and Ian’s calls for days, and he was only just going back to work tomorrow. He knew that neither of them would be happy, and he probably shouldn’t care what either of them think, it serves them right.

But that’s not the person Ruben is. He can see himself getting right back into routine in a matter of days all because Jason will say his name in a pleading voice.

Y/N gave him an address, not her phone number because it’d be too risky. She spent most of the time tending to Oz’s beckoncall, but on the rare occasion that there was no huge party, she stayed in this small flat.

She told Ruben she was comfortable here. She trusted Ruben with that.

But they weren’t a thing. He didn’t stay.

“I have work tomorrow.”

“Oh.”

Her arms grew tighter around him.

“Does Ian bother you at work?”

Ruben snorted, “Kinda, yeah.”

She just shook her head to herself, letting Ruben go and bringing her knees up to hug her body. Before Ruben could feel hurt from the treatment, he couldn’t help but notice that she looked so small.

“Y/N-”

“It’s not fair.” She whispered, running a hand over her face. Ruben would agree, but again, she doesn’t know the whole story. This was just the way things were for now.

He reached out his hand and she kissed the center of his palm before standing up and wrapping herself around him once again. And Ruben did the same.

Because now that he’s got a taste of Y/N’s affection, something caring, physical, and emotionally soothing, it was like a drug.

“When can I see you again?” Y/N whispered softly against his neck.

Ruben didn’t know if he’d still be alive tomorrow, it all depended on how pissed he made the two men.

“Soon,” He kissed her forehead as she clung to him. “I promise.” Y/N tilted her head up and tilted his chin down with her finger. She kissed him softly before sucking his bottom lip.

With one final kiss, Ruben stood up, and it felt like he was being ripped apart. It was an odd feeling.

“You should sleep, sun’s coming up soon.” His soft hand ran over her forehead as she laid down in the bed. In a way it felt domestic, it felt right.

He hoped it wasn’t just his previous lack of physical affection, and that he was actually starting to have feelings for Y/N.

“You made me tired, with all your fancy talk on being some doctor.” Y/N’s eyes were closed but she smiled when Ruben giggled.

“I’m a chemist, boring people is what I do.”

“Shut up.” Y/N reached out to shove him but missed, and Ruben had second thoughts about leaving. But he fought through, because if he ever wanted to run away with her, he would have to get out of here and go to work. He would have to be patient.

As Ruben looked for his shirt, Y/N sighed deeply behind him. “Has anyone told you that you have the nicest ass?”

Ruben choked on his own spit.

“I-uh, no, heh, no. That’s a not a normal conversation starter for me, no.”

Y/N giggled and got up from the bed, walking towards him slowly as he fumbled with the fabric in his hand. Ruben swallowed as she pulled on his belt loops.

He knew that he could stare into her eyes forever; now that he’s thinking of it, he was probably hypnotized the first day they met. It felt like time stopped when he’s tired into those bright, yet dark orbs.

Y/N’s nose grazed his as her hands moved to frame his ass, and Ruben let out a shaky breath. It was quite the feeling.

She chuckled, “What? That too much?”

He shook his head, “No, it’s...it’s nice.”

Y/N hummed and paused for a moment. She squeezed both cheeks as she stared into his eyes, and Ruben felt his face heat up.

“Would you ever let me fuck you?”

“Christ, Y/N.”

His mouth easily fell into hers, moving with rhythm that seemed so easy. When Y/N pulled back, she smiled cockily before turning to walk back to the bed, tucking herself under the covers like she didn’t just easily give Ruben a boner from her words.

“I hope you’re satisfied with yourself.”

“Oh I am, thank you,” Y/N smiled before throwing him a kiss. “Sweet dreams.”

~~~

It was overwhelming how quickly Ruben got attached to Y/N. Maybe it was from the way she would whisper in his ear stories from her past, or how she would kiss his forehead during moments of vulnerability. Maybe it was the way she smiled, blushed when Ruben complimented her. Maybe it was the way she was so genuine when giving Ruben praises, so honest. Whatever the reason was, it made it more difficult that Ruben couldn’t send a quick text to see how her day was going, or even ramble about his own.

Like right now, as he sat listening to the endless amount of voicemails left from the one number that made his blood boil. From the two people who asked so much of him.

Nothing was working, a screen staring at him that only showed a negative. Nothing was working.

“Ruben, where the hell have you been?”

It was a cycle.

Maybe he should have known that this was what it would always be like, that Jason wouldn’t give a shit about him, not unless he stepped a foot outside this hospital, and at that point, Ruben must be insane to do so. He wouldn’t care unless he miraculously found a cure for him. Jason wasn’t concerned about him missing, he was concerned that Ruben wasn’t in the lab.

So he confronted him, tried to anyway. Why would Jason care about Ian’s threats to him, towards his family, as long as he was back at his desk, right? And Ruben was about to burst, about to tell him there’s no hope, it’s pointless, it’s impossible-

He didn’t know what the truth was anymore with Jason. He promised a lot, made sure to tell Ruben time after time just this once. And those were lies. And who’s to say that Jason having a son isn’t a lie, either? Why should Ruben care about Jason’s family, when Jason doesn’t care about Ruben’s family?

But even he said that there was nothing he could possibly say to apologize to Ruben.

He was right.

Turns out Ruben was gullible.

He worked again and again, trying different elements and twisting certain angles. Nothing was working. Ruben was so gullible that he completely forgot that Ian could easily find him, too.

Despite his words, he didn’t seem very happy to see Ruben, having a harsh tone and sharp eyes. It was like jumping back to the beginning, where Ruben was nothing but terrified of the man. He said that he wouldn’t hurt Ruben, but who was he to trust Ian?

A lab rat. That’s what he was, right? That’s all he was meant to do.

“Well maybe you need to be a little better...what’s the word, motivated?”

Ruben felt his stomach twist.

“You know while you were playing hide and seek, I had to go to parties all alone. Oz keeps his promises, always one of the most thrilling party hosts. And you know, there’s always one girl that always peaks my interest at these things.”

Ruben swallowed hard.

“But this time, she seemed a bit...distracted. So, you know me, ever the gentleman, I just wanted to make sure she was okay. So I waited around till the crowd died down, and when I saw her leave, you wouldn’t begin to imagine what I saw.”

Sometimes I feel like I’m being watched. But I guess that’s what I get right? I mean they all know that I’m...different from Oz’s girls. They probably think I’m up to something.

Ruben was sweating.

“You know, I should tell her to invest in some curtains. You never know who might be peeking up from the street to see her bouncing on some dirty, lying chemist’s dick.”

Don’t worry, I don’t need them. Besides, if you ever see a light on, you’ll know I’m home. You can always come up.

Ruben tried, he tried not to give himself away, tried not to blow their cover, but Ian was intimidating. He was threatening and he could see right through Ruben. Everything was over. There was no way this would end good, whether the drug worked or not. There was no escaping this lab, this drug, Jason, Ian-

“So, think about all the good things that will happen if you make the drug, and think about all the bad things that will happen if you don’t.”

“I’m just saying, it’s complicated.”

Ian didn’t understand because Ian wasn’t the one under so much pressure. Ruben really was doing everything he can, even if Jason didn’t deserve it, even if it wasn’t meant for Ian. Whoever would ultimately be affected by the drug, it wasn’t working. There were no signs or chemicals that could treat it properly.

And what could Ruben do about it? In one corner he would have to keep working and working and never stop until he got it right. In the other corner he either got it right or he dies. Who’s to say that he won’t die in either outcome? Who’s to say that he gets to run and live on the beach with his lover? Who’s to say his family would be okay with his disappearance? Who’s to say that any of them win in the end? Nothing good could come out of-

“I think my prescription is ready.”

Ruben couldn’t believe it, one that he actually did it, and two that he actually did it.

He also couldn’t believe that it had worked under the watch of Ian.

But it did, and now the two of them sat there for hours. Just as Ruben felt his eyes drift close, he would hear Ian shuffle behind him, and jolt awake, reminded how much danger he was in. Ruben would rather grow exhausted then be stabbed in the back in his sleep. Though he knew Ian needed him right now, still, it wasn’t a comforting thought. Maybe Ruben would pass out from exhaustion.

“So tell me, what’s she like?” Ian leaned against the desk.

“What?”

“Y/N, what’s she like? She’s a tough one, ain’t she? You know, I’ve been trying to hit that for months, but she stands her ground. She knows what she wants, and somehow, she wants you, Rubes.”

He was not going to do this right now, he was not going to talk about something private and something he found comforting to Ian Price. Ruben was not going to reveal his thoughts on Y/N, not what she’d like in bed, not how he feels about her, even though he’s made it quite obvious. He was not going to listen to Ian taunt him for the next three hours.

“Really, you should be thanking me for putting you two together. I never thought that it would get this far. I mean, I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I tried, and she just wouldn’t budge. It was almost annoying, you know?”

Did Ian hurt you?

They talked about all kinds of things, from how the subway gives them both the creeps, to dream houses, even how they wanted to start over. But they never got to talking about Y/N’s past with Ian.

Ruben would never force her into telling him anything. But he showed her his scars, something he was insecure about, something he was ashamed about. It seemed a little unfair.

“Did you touch her?”

Ian chuckled, “Excuse me?”

Ruben shouldn’t have said anything, he should’ve kept his mouth shut, gave Ian the drug and he would leave him alone and leave. But he needed to know what had happened. He needed to know if Y/N was in as much trouble as he was.

If he wasn’t lost in his own thoughts, then maybe Ruben would’ve heard Ian get up from the chair. He would’ve heard him approaching. But instead Ruben was face down on his desk with Ian’s hand pressed down hard against the back of his neck.

He winced and struggled but Ian only scoffed.

“What kind of person do you think I am, Ruben? Huh? What has that bitch been telling you?”

“Nothing, nothing! She didn’t say anything about you.”

“Don’t lie to me, Ruben. I think you know better.”

He couldn’t breath, he felt overwhelmed. What time was it?

“Y/N’s just jealous, always has been. Of the attention, the action that she doesn’t get. She’s been stuck on the sidelines for forever, and just when I give her a better offer, she thinks she’s better than everyone else. So, don’t you accuse me of something you know nothing about Ruben, or maybe you’ll be put in the same place she was in.”

The hand was suddenly gone. Ruben choked. He was shaking.

“You’re lucky, Ruben. It’s showtime.”

He was confused, but as Ian rolled up his sleeve, Ruben’s fear of him doing something much, much worse disappeared, and realized that it was almost 8:25. But he couldn’t do it, there was no way. There’s too much risk, too many things that could happen, and Ruben felt pain in his neck and knew that this wasn’t going well.

“Think about what’s important to you, Ruben.”

“And you’ll leave me alone? You’ll leave my family alone, Y/N alone?” Ruben swallowed, thoughts already forming in his head. What about Jason?

“Of course, unlike Jason, I’m a man of my word.”

He promised.

As Ruben turned his back, he clenched the needle in his hand, another one going in his pocket. Ian kept his eye on the clock.

“Don’t think about it as taking a life. Think of it as saving two; mine and yours.”

Mine and Y/N’s.

Ruben stared at Ian, wondering how easily this could go wrong, how it wouldn’t work, how he’d be dead in an instant if Ian got his hands on him again.

But he had to try.

Ian shoved him back and growled, “Give me the drug.”

As Ruben punched the needle into his arm, he looked at Ian, waiting for a reaction. Time was frozen and they both just looked at each other.

Ruben saw the exact moment when Ian came to realization.

“You lied to me!” He swung out an arm but Ruben jumped out of the way, reaching for the door. But he wasn’t fast enough as Ian grabbed onto his coat and threw him backwards, his back hitting the cabinet.

Not only was Ian growing weaker but his body was starting to shake, a classic signal that he was starting to shift. Ian kneed Ruben in the gut and as he cried out and toppled over, he felt Ian fall to the floor beside him.

His first instinct was to hold him down, keep him still until he passed out, but Ruben was so shaky, so scared, there was nothing he could do except watch the scene with wide eyes and a rapid beating heart.

Ian called out his name one more time faintly, like he was in the distance. It still easily sounded like a threat.

Ruben didn’t move for what felt like hours, but was most likely a few minutes. He didn’t move until he saw Ian’s breathing even out, eyes closed. He honestly didn’t think he could pull it off that easy, he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

As his fear crept closer, he grabbed his laptop and papers, shoved it in his bag before walking out of the lab, leaving an unconscious Ian behind and in a dire search for Y/N.

#ruben marcado x reader #ruben marcado #do no harm #do no harm show #my writings #ruben marcado IS HERE #lin manuel miranda

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ichika27 · 3 years

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The World Ends with You

(Yeah, it’s the same screenshot I used for my post about ep. 1. I couldn’t get a new one so...)

Ah, first week without the TWEWY anime to look forward to. I’m actually kinda sad cause I’d miss waiting for the episode every Saturday night (Ani-One posts theirs on that day here). I have some stuff I wanna say about the anime so I thought I’d make one of these plus this is a good way to end the twewy anime blog post series I make every week. I’ll try not to spoil until the very bottom of this post which will have a spoiler warning.

Also, this will be very long and rambly as most of my fandom posts are haha.

Story:

A boy named Neku wakes up in the middle of Shibuya with no memory and finds himself as a player in the Reaper’s Game. For a week he must partner up with a girl named Shiki and both of them must complete missions, battle creatures called noise, and survive as failure meant erasure.

Characters:

Neku Sakuraba - our main protagonist who somehow lost his memories and is now playing the Reaper’s Game. He’s a loner who isn’t too keen on getting close to anyone let alone working alongside anybody - unfortunately for him, it’s a requirement if he wants to survive. As a player he has an assortment of abilities to fight off noise and other enemies (in the game this meant he can use a lot of different pins).

Shiki Misaki - the nice and friendly Shiki becomes Neku’s partner in the Reaper’s Game. Unlike Neku she has knowledge of the game and fills Neku in on things he doesn’t understand. Her ability is to control her stuffed toy called Nyantan/Mr. Mew which she uses in combat.

Beat - the tough skateboarding player, he’s somewhat more like the typical hot-blooded shounen protagonist when compared to Neku. He’s protective of those he care about especially his game partner, Rhyme. He uses his skateboard in battle.

Rhyme - Beat’s game partner who is a lot kinder and calmer than him. Rhyme tends to be the one to reason with Beat when needed and the two are always seen together.

Yoshiya Kiryu - a mysterious boy who seem to know more than he lets on and acts at times acts suspicious. He prefers to be called by the nickname Joshua.

Sanae Hanekoma - a cafe owner who helps out Neku and the others and would give them advice. His advice prove to be very helpful and Neku takes them to heart. Seem to have a lot of knowledge about the Reaper’s Game but doesn’t seem to be a reaper himself.

Thoughts:

(I tried my best to not be spoilery in the character descriptions so some names weren’t written in full)

The World Ends with You (or in the original Japanese “Subarashiki Kono Sekai”/It’s a Wonderful World) is an anime based on the video game of the same name. It had to compress an entire game’s worth of story within it’s 12 episode run which meant they cut out a lot of things and combined some scenes to quickly run through them. It’s theme song is the anime version of the game’s original OP “Twister” although this wasn’t what was originally planned but an incident involving the band who sang the original theme forced them to make changes. The original voice actors from the game also reprised their roles for the anime. The series is created to be watched before the release of the long-awaited sequel game.

The art style is made to be similar to it’s game version (with a bit of change to adapt it as an anime like when it comes to body proportions). They also retained the effect of the characters from the UG (players/reapers) being brightly colored while those from the RG having darker/muted colors. While the noise are obviously cg, I personally liked this since they’re said to be from a different plane anyways so it’s a nice contrast to those from the UG and RG. They had to update the setting though as years had passed since the original game’s creation and they had to model anime version of Shibuya to what it’s real life counterpart now looks. The characters are also given smartphones instead of the flip phones they had in the game (anime-only watchers who are gonna play the game would have to get used to them still using flip phones though lol).

Okay so story-wise... it’s rushed. Of course it is. They shortened it so that what’s left would mostly be important plot points from the main story but they cut out many scenes that consist of character interactions and several little things that could’ve fleshed out the characters more. The gameplay is also made simpler with some mechanics taken away and the mini games weren’t adapted (RIP to Reaper Creeper and Tin Pin Slammer, especially the latter as you’re severely missed). The game boast an assortment of characters and some NPCs have their own stories but due to the anime’s limited run time, they had to either be cut out (and are just given cameos) or given smaller roles (and their stories weren’t adapted). They did, however, give a few bits and pieces of information that weren’t in the game such as some details about certain characters and one supporting character was given a bit more screentime that they did in the game version.

Despite the rushed nature of the series (which may or may not affect how one views the story itself), the anime made sure to adapt several important scenes and the dramatic stuff is made worse... like, they really had to make some deaths harder to take. The battle scenes were nice as well although my biggest complaint about them is that the boss fights were over too quickly. There were scenes that were changed for the anime version and there are those that I liked and those I didn’t but there are many which I think was as good as the game’s version.

Do I recommend the anime? The game is better, the characters and story are more fleshed out and the way the character/relationship development happens is better paced so of course, me, biased already would tell you to play the game instead if you haven’t yet. Do I recommend those who played the game to watch the anime? Yes! Yes I do. I think the anime is better watched when you’ve played the game and know the stuff that they cut out cause it’ll make better sense that way. Plus I found it enjoyable seeing the scenes from the game animated and the characters are speaking whole dialogues and moving. It’s great!

Even if the anime wasn’t perfect, like I mentioned before, they did their best to condense the entire main story in a 12 episode series and it tried to be as faithful as it could to the original story so despite the deviations when it comes to how things got to the way they did, if you summarize important plot points, they would be the same (with some details changed). Overall, it was very enjoyable and it wasn’t as bad as I feared when I heard how many episodes the anime was going to have.

Some spoiler thoughts:

It would’ve been better if the anime had more episode count than just 12. Cramming a 3 week story of game into just 12 made the thing very rushed with Week 1 only getting three episodes, Week 2 getting four, and final Week getting five. They had to get to the good stuff so they cut off a lot of scenes where the characters are interacting with each other which means they suddenly get character developments and relationship developments too quickly. It might not be that obvious to anime-only watchers but to me, it felt kinda sudden and it feels like it doesn’t work out well story-wise since Neku had to learn how to trust other people and make friends and with how he started vs. how he came out of it contrasting each other.

By the way, they made the characters look good in the anime. Especially Joshua. Have you seen Joshua? He’s so pretty in the anime. I want a picture of him I could stare at anytime I want to (I do not own a phone, sadly).

I like how they gave Eri more scenes though and that they changed her outfit for the anime so she won’t look exactly like UG!Shiki. All of her scenes though made me feel like I wish the anime gave closure to Shiki’s own story by showing us her and Eri making up. Another scene I liked in the anime is Neku’s fanboying of CAT when he finds out the truth. It was adorable.

Some info was taken away from the anime. Beat and Rhyme leaving home had scene dialogue and unlike Beat just narrating it in-game but they didn’t mention specifically why he was angry and his trouble at home. Joshua wasn’t present when Sota and Nao gave Neku a pep-talk either which is a shame cause I think that helped Josh as well.

I mentioned before how the anime made things go too fast. They cut off chunks of not-main-plot story that let the characters interact with each other more which means each game day is shortened as well. I think it made sense that Neku wakes up at the scramble in the end and not stressed out because he didn’t go through as much as his game counterpart did. That said, game Neku learned a lot from more than just the main cast in the game compared to the anime so I like his character development in the game better.

They took away Tin Pin Slammer. I am sad and disappointed. I was hoping so bad for Another Day to be adapted even if it’s an OVA. That and the ramen incident are part of Josh’s week which meant some side of him wasn’t shown (I mean, anime fans don’t know he wasn’t there on week 3 since he’s busy playing a kid’s game elsewhere and how he could talk about food like he is from a cooking anime). Speaking of Josh, they made him very suspicious from the get-go in the anime. I understand as there’s a limited run-time and they can’t really afford to be subtle about it but it meant some of the fun interactions with Neku is gone and so are some scenes where they actually got along. At least they had ice cream together, I guess?

(I have more to say when it comes to Joshua cause he’s my fave character but this is long and my thoughts on it would make this way longer. I might make another post.)

In the end, it wasn’t perfect but the anime was fun and enjoyable enough that I found myself looking forward to it every week. Seeing scenes I recognize from the game in animated form (with voice acting!) felt exciting and awesome. I’ll miss this show and I still wish it was longer.

If you’ve read this far well, thank you. And also I’m confused why but still hopefully that was a good time-killer. I have so many other things I wanted to comment on but that’s for another time. Maybe.

#Subarashiki Kono Sekai #subaseka #the world ends with you #twewy #sana_post

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toughguywithbossygirlfriend · 4 years

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Dark Nights :Death Metal #1

After DC Comics Amazing event “Dark Nights : Metal” centered on Batman, we get a sequel called “Dark Nights : Death Metal” centered on Wonder Woman (with even more Batmen everywhere...).

Written by Scott Snyder and Penciled by Capullo the new event looks even more nuts then the first one and I have to say .. I love it ... one of the first pages presents what is left of the DCU after the fight against the evil all powerful Perpetua and the Dark Universe’s “Batman Who Laughs” ... Obviously our Heroes lost the fight and survive as best they can in what’s left of the DC Multiverse

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

What’s left of their Universe’s Earth is a world looking like a Bat, with a head, a body, and two wings. Is it even useful to add that the main Lands are related to :

-The “Head” of the Bat... the Brain ... Batman (at least the one who laughs)

-The “Body” of the Bat... Themiscyra ... Wonder Woman..

For the first time for as long as I remember a Crisis level Event seems centered around Wonder Woman, and of course Batman. Usually it would have been about Superman and Batman or eventually about the Trinity... but since the start of Rebirth I have the feeling the wheels are turning for Diana, slowly but surely she climbs up to and mabe one day will take over Superman’s position ... and unlike Clark Kent she has the potential and the history to be paired up with the real undisputed King of DC Comics : Batman.

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

While the “Batman who laughs” is the King of this World ... Diana exchanged her tiara for a crown and is the “Queen of the Underworld” ... giving us a little taste of the DCAU where her “father” wasn’t Zeus but Hades (Lord of the Underworld) ... She rules over Themyscira and Guards the gate to Tartarus ... Obviously she agreed to that role because the Batman Who Laughs uses others lives as leverage (including her Amazon sisters).. In this first Issue She is summoned by her Evil Master to his Castle-Bat ... One thing is very clear she doesn’t consider any of those numerous “Dark Universes Batmen” as “Batman” ... there is only one she calls “Batman”, her Bruce ... the others are just “monsters”, “demons”,...

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

Once she arrived at Castle Bat and faces the Batman Who Laughs and his countless Batmen variants (some are really weird but its really a lot of fun)... in the middle of the meeting, she suddenly gets a telepathic message !?!.. from the one and only Batman, her Batman. Of course she is stunned there is no J’onn J’ozz to establish such a Link ... it reminded me of Diana’s statement in DC Comics “Superman : Heroes #1″ when she told Bruce that he can do everything Superman does, some even better then him...

Obviously he can copy the Martian Manhunter as well.

Once the shock is over, Diana’s first reaction is to worry for his safety ... “Just PLEASE tell me you’re far from here.”. Yes ! Diana can panic ! we’ll get proof of that later ;)...The answer he gives her is of course meant to reassure her : “Across the Universe”... Little test, who believes that ? ... Yeah, figured as much XD... Then we learn that he knows that she started to melt down her Invisible jet but he couldn’t detect its magic moving !?!! ... copying Zatanna or Constantine here ? ...

Who needs a Justice League if you have a Batman ! XD... Diana, my Dear, catch that guy then you can start a full Justice League with just the two of you ;)

Batman and Magic ?? This may seem surprising but in reality it has already been addressed in Liam Sharp’s “The Brave and the Bold : Batman and Wonder Woman” Issue #2. In it you can see Bruce suggesting Alfred they should build something able to detect magic... (second picture below - we’ll talk about the first later)

(Edit from “The Brave and the Bold : Batman and Wonder Woman” Issue #2)

Lets not forget Batman was the one who searched, hired and befriended Madame Xanadu (the Sorceress Nimue from the Arthurian mythology) recently in “Justice League” and already knows a bunch of Magic users that he can gather knowledge from. He knows, if Wondy is involved, most of the time it is about magic and if he cares for her (quite obvious in Justice League Dark(2018) #12)... he’s got to get a better knowledge of Magic.. plus If you wanted to make a longer series of comics based on Wonder Woman and Batman (a sibling to Batman-Superman) you would need the Dark Knight to understand better what he would have to face ... Maybe that’s what DC wants to do in the near future... Superman’s power are useless against Magic, but Intelligence is always accurate no matter if its about Science, Magic or anything else. And Batman’s main power is his genius level IQ...

But lets return to our comic.

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

After mentioning it in “Dark Nights : Metal #5″, the “Batman Who Laughs” can’t help but to tell Diana again that there are Worlds where the “Dianas and the Bruces” are Lovers and Parents, ... Just in case she forgot ...XD ... (considering what Scott Snyder said about the sales of this comics, as well as his previous Event, we may assume that most of the comic readers are now used to the fact that those too can be a committed pair).

The “Batman who laughs” knows Diana really well and understood that she was hiding something from him. No doubt he hunts his alter-ego with the greatest attention ... he knows how dangerous he can be. So he threatens Diana to kill whats left of he parliament of Trees, leaving her with no choice... and threatening Diana is something the real “Batman” obviously can’t allow ... Bruce shoots a non-lethal crossbow bolt on the BMWL, revealing himself, to distract the BMWL from Diana ... it worked.

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

"BRUCE... NO.” ... Like I said Diana can panic if it is about Him ... XD

I Wonder if the BMWL threatened Diana on purpose knowing very well this would be enough for his Alter-ego to reveal himself if he was near enough. The “Batman who laughs” explored enough worlds to know how much those two care for each other... Lovers ... Parents ... you get the drift...

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

While Diana was a rather obedient servant to her “Master” because she knew her sisters lives as well as her friends lives where at stakes, she gives up every care and opposes the evil Batmen to give Bruce the opportunity to flee. Much like in the “Blackest Night : WW”, Diana puts Bruce over everything else, Bruce’s safety trumps the safety of every one that the BMWL keeps as leverage against her ... she has to know there’s gonna be a cost.

But Bruce/Batman doesn’t flee, ... not immediately ... because if he did she would be punished for her action ... instead he stays, awaiting the Horde of Evil Batmen to kill him... something that distracts the “Batman Who Laughs” from Diana enough to forget or excuse what she did. But Bruce is always prepared, and this isn’t different ... God knows how but he found a Black Lantern Ring and uses it to raise a little army of undead warriors in the mood to rip some evil Batmen into pieces.

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

While Diana has been easily “frozen” by the Bat-Mage, and once the Fight between Bruce’s undead soldiers and the evils Batmen is started, Batman knows his Enemy is distracted enough to forget about Diana’s rebellion., .. plus the BMWL would keep her alive just because she is the best way to lure Batman out of his hiding as just proven ... She will be safe, so he leaves.

This Event is fantastic and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.

I guess Scott Snyder loves the Idea of Bruce as some sort of “God of Death” even if he is mortal. see my previous post :

https://toughguywithbossygirlfriend.tumblr.com/post/190316770026/diana-goddess-of-war-bruce-god-of

A mortal “God of Death” ? It is a concept already explored by Fritz Lieber in his Collection “Sword and Sorcery” about the Heroes “Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser”. Basically if the “God of Death” gets killed (a hard feat) he re-incarnates a little later in another body because without a “God of death” nothing dies.

(Edited from DC Comics Wonder Woman (1942) Issue 202 back in 1972)

Who would have thought that Diana (with Selina) already had an encounter with the Heroes of that World ... so the concept of the “God of Death” being a “mortal” shouldn't be new to her ... ;) ...

In "Death Metal”, Diana is the leading Character and she obviously has not the same goal as Bruce: Diana wants to kill the BMWL and restore a Rich and Infinite Multiverse while Bruce wants to play it small, very small.

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

Bruce’s behavior seems a bit OOC but we will surely get some explanations later in the event as to why. Diana seems to take over the “Dreamy Positiveness” of Superman while Batman holds his “Pragmatic Strategic” line of thinking.

Of course Diana is fiercely independent, and even if she highly values Bruce’s POV she follows her own ... I guess the “Batman Who Laughs” knew her better than she thought, because he first repeated her Bruce’s plan ...

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

Then teases her about her own ... and I am sure everyone reading the comic was ecstatic the moment Diana ripped the BMWL into pieces with her Chainsaw of truth ...

A move, we will learn later, that her own Bruce tried to avoid with reason ... a move the BMWL planed and expected, if not provoked, because it enabled him to ... upgrade to something infinitely more Powerful... Bruce was right ... again...

Even if Diana leads she will still need Bruce if she wants to win because it is true, ... it seems she can’t out plan the BMWL... only her Batman could do that ...

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

I think these re-incarnation in new Bodies is a way for DC Comics to make Bruce Wayne Immortal while keeping him a weak and mortal human (or not as for the BMWL). This has been explored for quite some time : starting with the “Dyonesium” and the “Final Invention”, Batman Last Knight on Earth, and now the BMWL’s death and return as ... “Final Bruce Wayne” ;)

With this there would be no need to reboot the universes to keep Bruce “Batman” Wayne young ... “every generation will have its Batman” ... If Bruce gets Killed ... you just re-incarnate him in a new younger Body ...

(Edited from DC Comics “Batman : Last Knight on Earth” Issue 1)

Diana is already immortal, Bruce would be as well but “re-incarnation” based, and if needed you just give Superman one more power to his already very long list (lets say “Solar re-rejuvenation” or something) ... For Bruce and Diana this would provide more reason to pair them up ... Without the need for more reboots their usual partners (Steve Trevor, Selina Kyle, ...) will now grow older and pass away... Public persona “Bruce Wayne” being with the Amazon could help cover up his weird immortality as gifts from her Gods... All the kids could grow older and new kids could be added more and more without loosing the 3 Big players.

But that’s speculation and we will have to wait and see what DC Comics is going to do and there are still open questions, but I would enjoy something like that.

(Edited from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal” Issue 1)

The complementarity of both Heroes is expressed here again : Bruce is the “shield” while Diana is the “Sword”... so basically Bruce is the “defensive” while Diana is the “offensive” ... over writers use the reverse : “Wonder Woman was made to protect the innocent while Batman was made to punish the guilty” .. Wonder Woman is the “defensive” and Batman the “offensive” ... Depending on who writes them they will be one or the other but they are just naturally always the Yin and the Yang to each other.

#wonderbat #wonder woman #diana prince #batman #bruce wayne

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aethelflaedladyofmercia · 4 years

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Alright, I’ve been saying I’m going to do some Masterposts for my 25 AO3 fics, so here we go...

For those who don’t know me, I write Acespec Ineffable Husbands, and my specialities are historical adventures, character studies, and gut-punching angst. My main series, Sawdust of Words (SoW) contains all of these in spades! Check the TW on anything rated T, as that usually indicates non-graphic violence, threats of violence and physical/emotional abuse.

Please select desired angst level:

I just want something warm and fluffy!

Finding the Words: G, 4509. Aziraphale has something he rather desperately wants to tell Crowley. Immediately after the Ritz. (SoW)

Blizzard! Broken Thermostat! Only One Bed!: G, 1438. It’s snowing — I mean BLIZZARDING — and Crowley has no choice but to pull over at a conveniently located luxury hotel. No choice! Will his cunning plan succeed?

Perception: G, 715. Crowley puzzles over one of the great mysteries of the universe: why isn’t EVERYONE in love with Aziraphale?

Reflections: G, 1229. Aziraphale’s simple question, Do you think I should change, hides a world of doubt. Fortunately, Crowley knows just what to say.

Quarantine: G, 554. Aziraphale and Crowley are quarantined in the bookshop! Wait...why? Half PSA, half clueless flirting!

I want some feels and a happy ending.

Early Days: G, 19,459. In the Beginning, an Angel and Demon met on the Wall of Eden. The next day they really started getting on each other’s nerves. See the very beginning of this relationship for the ages! (SoW)

Careful: G, 1664. For nearly 6,000 years, Aziraphale has been careful to control his actions, his feelings and his thoughts. Until Crowley makes a request that could destroy them both. Divergent AU starting with the fight at St James’s Park.

The Dark of Eden: G, 2980. On their last night in Eden, Aziraphale and Crowley walk together trough the Garden, each reflecting on what he’s lost. But perhaps there is something they have gained. Intended to be fluff, came out sort of melancholy. Direct follow-up to Early Days (SoW)

Sealed: G, 5835. London, Three weeks after the Apocalypse: Crowley finds a certain document tucked away in a forgotten book. / Mercia, 1020 CE: An angel and a demon meet to finalize an Arrangement... (SoW)

Reckless: G, 6303. After Aziraphale's reckless confession, he and Crowley must make plans to keep themselves safe. But the worst happens when certain uninvited guests arrive at the bookshop... Sequel to Careful, one more part expected.

Mystery Science Theater 6000: The 1992 Screenplay: G, 8528. An angel and a demon sit down to watch (and mock, and analyze) a movie that probably shouldn’t exist. A little heavier on the feels than originally anticipated. (Only covers the first 30 pages of the Screenplay, so there may be another chapter or 3 in order.)

Of Poetry and Valentines: G, 3435. Crowley can’t stand what Valentine’s Day has become. If he has to look at one more heart-shaped cake, he’s going to be sick. But it wasn’t always that way. Guess which holiday this was written for!

Our Side: G, 1172. After the end, on the bus ride home, Aziraphale despairs. But Crowley shares a new dream... A ButterOmens fic started by @sani-86!

Anniversaries: G, 2422. Just over a year after the apocalypse didn’t happen, Aziraphale and Crowley’s picnic is interrupted by an old enemy. A ButterOmens fic started by @n0nb1narydemon!

A Cunning Plan: G, 11,275. Two angels and two demons decide to get their revenge on the traitors. But holding Aziraphale captive turns out to be harder than expected. Can they break through his defenses before Crowley mounts a successful rescue? ButterOmens fic begun by @kaz3313!

I want LOTS of angsty feels! (Note: endings range from happy to hopeful)

Give Them Hell: G, 1179 words. After the Apocalypse, Aziraphale and Crowley discuss plans for their upcoming trials... (SoW)

Someplace You Belong: G, 5326. London, 1800, Aziraphale finds he must come to terms with the unexpected emotions of his near-promotion. With gentle prodding from Crowley, he reveals a secret. Something of a follow-up to Obedience, but you will likely still feel sad! (SoW)

In Love with My Car: G, 3287. London, 1933, After 70 years of naps, Crowley meets someone who just might change his life. It’s the Bentley! (SoW) Also has a podfic by @exmarks

What it Means to Be A Demon: T, 32,284. Mesopotamia, c. 2400 BC. After an especially harrowing trip to Hell, Crawley arrives in a tiny Mesopotamian village, where he encounters a familiar face. But Aziraphale soon realizes Crawley isn't acting like his old self. Between his foul mood, his mysterious injuries, and his refusal to talk, the demon is certainly hiding something. What has brought Crawley to Gu'Edena? And is there anything Aziraphale can do? So many TWs — please tread carefully! (SoW)

Boundless Love: G, 54,200 (some chapters approach a T rating). 17 stories of Aziraphale and Crowley, 17 chances to fall in love. Written for @drawlight’s Advent Challenge. (Note: these stories are thematically connected, but they are separate stories, not a single plot.)

Aziraphale’s Path: G, 524. Many years later, Heaven and Hell come for them. Aziraphale returns home too late. Is Crowley gone forever? Part of a ButterOmens chain started by @holycatsandrabbits — links are in the fic!

Never Alone Again: G, 9577. They're on their own side now. But they aren't free yet. After the Apocalypse, Aziraphale and Crowley risk everything in one final, desperate gamble to break free of their old sides and truly start their life together. Bus Ride, Body Swap and Trials, overlaps Give Them Hell and ends just before Finding the Words. (SoW)

Kindly rip out my still-beating heart.

Obedience: T, 1797. Before Eden, before the Fall, there was a War in Heaven. Somewhere amongst the eternal fighting on the endless battlefield, one angel learns the consequences of disobeying an order. This one is an absolute gut punch you have been warned. (SoW)

Three Little Words: G, 3361. London, 1849, Crowley has something he rather desperately wants to tell Aziraphale. But there are some things a demon can never say. Sad ending! But only because this is part of a larger series! It’s going to be ok! (SoW)

Claimed: T, 4182. A dinner of crepes. An angel who's ready to talk. But Crowley's evening is interrupted by the arrival of two demons. And they're not here to deliver a rude note. Made for @whiteleyfoster’s contest. Downer ending, though this one may get another chapter or two in the future to mitigate that.

—

Please feel free to save/reblog to help spread the word!

#good omens #ineffable husbands #good omens fanfiction #master list #masterpost #aziraphale #crowley #good omens prime #my writing #sawdust of words #ao3 fic #ao3 link #sorted by angst level #asexual ineffable husbands #ace omens

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there-must-be-a-lock · 4 years

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Lost At Sea (But I Am Home) [Part 1]

Dean x Reader

Word Count: ~4600

Warnings: Smut (vanilla, but explicit) and Dean emotions.

A/N: This came from a request by MJ on the occasion of her birthday. It was supposed to be done, like, months ago, but there was much loss of sleep, tearing out of hair, rending of garments, wailing, etc. before it came together. I hope it’s worth the wait. I missed these two.

This is not a coda, exactly, and not a sequel, exactly, to Marked. It’s a fic of its own, but you might want to read that first. There will be two more parts to this.

Big thanks to @thoughtslikeaminefield @fangirlxwritesx67 @justcallmeasmodeus @mskathywriteswords @itmighthavebeenintentional @fookinghelljensensthighs and all the rest of the gay screaming crew for your brainstorming, reading, and inspiration help. Y’all are the best.

We show great loyalty to the hard times we've been through. We are filled with riches and wonders. Our love keeps the things it finds, and we dance like drunken sailors, lost at sea, out of our minds. You find shelter somewhere in me, I find great comfort in you. And I keep you safe from harm. You hold me in your arms. And I want to go home, but I am home.

“Riches and Wonders,” The Mountain Goats

Dean used to think that love might feel like safety.

When he pictured a relationship, a family, a partner, he used to picture apple pies and picket fences. Love, in his mind, was always tied to comfort, PB&J with the crusts cut off, security, and all the other things he knew he’d never have again. The person he is, the things he does… he wasn’t meant for that soft kind of love.

Dean’s gotten so used to hiding his softness behind sharp edges and impenetrable walls that sometimes he forgets it’s still there. The sort of woman he once thought he could love would be shredded to pieces before she could get close to it.

Then he met her.

When he tries to talk about it, tries to describe the way she makes him feel, he ends up stuttering and stumbling over the words, because it’s nothing like a quiet house on a suburban street. It’s not safety that he feels when he looks at her; it’s nothing so simple as that. She makes him feel about as safe as a fucking hurricane, except that when the wind is howling around them, when rain is falling and the churned-up waves are rising, Dean looks at her and knows, with absolute certainty, that in spite of the storm raging around them and within them and between them, they’re going to be okay.

So, yeah, Dean was wrong about love. He’s starting to realize that he was wrong about a lot of things.

Dean storms into the kitchen and almost rips off the cabinet door in his haste to get a glass, and he doesn’t notice Cas sitting at the table until he’s slamming the whiskey bottle down on the counter and going for the first gulp.

Cas just raises an eyebrow.

“Don’t give me that,” Dean grumbles. He knocks back the rest of the glass and pours another before sitting down across from Cas, slumping in his chair and glaring down at the pitted surface of the table like it’s done him some personal wrong.

“You had an argument,” Cas says, gravelly and implacable.

“You listening in?”

“It wasn’t a conscious effort. More like an unfortunate inevitability.”

Dean winces. “Guess we were a little loud at the end there.”

“Yes.”

Cas doesn’t ask. He just sits there, drinking his tea. Dean really didn’t intend to spill his guts, but fuck, his thoughts are rattling around in his skull, too loud to hold in.

“When something’s wrong, you’re supposed to fix it,” Dean blurts out. “Right?”

“What sort of thing are we talking about here?”

“Just… she was pissy all day. Fuckin’ quiet, and trying to avoid me, and… fuck, I don’t know, I just kinda snapped eventually. Mighta lost it on her a bit. And she was having one of those days, I guess. Had a nightmare last night.”

“And… you apologized?”

“Well, yeah. She just wasn’t having it, said she needed space to sort through it on her own. ”

“And that bothers you.”

“Fuckin’... yeah. Because if she’s mad at me, I’m the one who’s gotta fix it, right? I’ve gotta take care of it, I’ve gotta make things right, and she just won’t fuckin’ let me. How the fuck am I supposed to make her feel better if she won’t let me?”

“Did you ask her that?”

“Well, yeah. She said it wasn’t anything I could fix, it was just… something she had to deal with. Went to work, wouldn’t let me drive her. The fuck am I supposed to do with that?”

Cas gives him a look like he’s being the densest motherfucker on the planet.

Dean scowls down at his glass and takes another sip, trying to sort through the tangle of his emotions. His insides are a mess, disorderly and beyond his control, and it’s infuriating.

“I wish I could fuckin’ do something,” he says softly, swallowing around the knot in his throat. “I want to just… take care of it for her. Make it better.��

“Even though she said you couldn’t,” Cas prods.

Dean shrugs helplessly. “If she’d just let me,” he says feebly, all too aware that he sounds petulant and whiny.

Cas rolls his eyes.

“Fuck off, Cas. She’s just… out there. Walkin’ around without me, and I don’t know what she’s thinking, and there’s nothing I can do.”

“What exactly are you afraid of?”

Dean bristles. He opens his mouth, closes it again, and then takes a sip of whiskey to cover his confusion.

“I just don’t like it,” he admits gruffly. “Not being able to do anything.”

“Did she say she’d be home later?”

“Yeah. After work.”

“You know that she loves you.”

“Fuckin’... yeah, Cas, Jesus.”

“You believe this is something you’ll work through?”

“Yeah,” Dean says, without hesitation, almost surprised by how much he believes it.

“You trust her. You know she can take care of herself.”

“Yes. What… what’s your point?”

“My point is that she is a grown woman, a remarkably capable and strong one at that, and there are going to be moments when she does not want you to fix her, or take care of her, or make things right for her. Clinging to the illusion of control is only going to make things worse.”

Dean feels like a fish, opening and closing his mouth stupidly. Part of him wants to get angry; it would be easier than dealing with the uncomfortable ache in his chest. He knuckles at his eyes and takes another drink.

“Fuck, Cas, don’t sugarcoat it or anything,” he mumbles. “Should never’ve introduced you guys.”

“I’d say I’m sorry, but…” Cas shrugs.

Dean makes a face at him. There are a few minutes of comfortable silence as he listens to the ever-present background whisper of the air circulating through the bunker, like the lungs of some gigantic underground beast, and to the steady rhythm of his own heartbeat.

“I miss her,” he says hollowly.

Cas gives him a wry little half-smile. “I believe they call this personal growth.”

Dean scowls. “Don’t patronize.”

“You weren’t the one slamming the door behind you. You admitted you wanted her to stay. That’s new, for you. Growth.”

If Cas wasn’t so fucking right, Dean would probably hate him right now. As it is, he has all too many memories of walking out on Cas, or shoving him toward the door… it’s either cry or laugh, at this point, so Dean digs the heels of his hands into his eyes and huffs out a laugh.

“Shove it up your feathered ass. You gonna have a drink with me, or what?”

Years ago (probably before he was technically old enough to be meeting girls in bars) Dean met a girl — Sasha? Sandra? — in a bar. He doesn’t remember her name, but he remembers the freckles on her pale shoulders and the long corkscrew curls that framed her face when she lay down, like a tangled halo on the pillow.

After, as they caught their breath, Dean played with her hair, twisting one curl around his finger and releasing it again, fascinated by the way it bounced back into its spiral. He remembers putting his arms around her and telling her she was beautiful, and he remembers that she looked away, eyes suddenly shuttered.

“It’s okay,” she said softly, and started looking for her shirt. “You don’t have to pretend it means anything. That was fun.”

He learned quickly, from her and from others, what was expected of him. They wanted him to be confident, if not cocky; strong, but not too rough; kind, but not exactly sweet… they wanted him to be charming, and fun, and not much more than that. Above all, they wanted him to leave.

He learned. Leaving became second nature. Leaving was better than waiting around for the inevitable day that they would leave.

Women didn’t want tenderness or romance, at least not from him. Maybe they wanted those things from someone who might stick around, but Dean would never be that guy. Dean might be the thrilling story they told their friends the next day, a fondly scandalous memory, just dangerous enough to feel like an adventure: I can’t believe I did that.

He learned to take what he could get. He learned to separate the emotional from the physical. He learned to hold back, to tell stories without showing the scars they’d left, to share tiny slices of the truth without ever really revealing the messy whole. He learned to wall off his soft, vulnerable places. Nobody wanted to see those.

It was easy to put those walls up, even easier to hide behind them. Dean started to think he was safe there. He thought his carefully constructed fortress was stronger than any storm. Then she happened.

She keeps proving him wrong. Dean’s getting used to it.

She still hasn’t gotten home yet, by the time Dean bids a bleary-eyed goodnight to Cas. She had the late shift, and he knows that, but his stomach is jittering cold under the blanket of whiskey heat, and he doesn’t expect sleep to come easy.

He hears the echo of Cas’s voice as he tumbles into bed: you know that she loves you.

He falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.

When he wakes up in the middle of the night, there’s wet heat and suction enveloping his cock, and he’s thrusting up into her mouth helplessly, rock-hard, gasping her name into the darkness before he’s fully conscious. Dean’s caught in the limbo between waking and sleeping, trying to separate reality from his dreams, but this feels too good to be a dream. Dean’s never dreamed anything this good.

She’s rubbing her thumb along the cut of his hipbone, stroking sweetly even as her tongue does something that should probably be illegal. He reaches down and grabs her hand, lacing their fingers together, and she lets out a low, pornographic moan, her throat vibrating around the head of his cock.

“C’mere,” Dean pleads, hoarse and sleep-slurred. She pulls off with an obscene slurping sound and crawls up his body. She must’ve taken off her jeans before she got in bed, but she’s still wearing her shirt and underwear, and Dean’s pretty sure he hears something rip as he wrestles with the fabric. If the harsh way she’s panting is any indication, she doesn’t care either.

“I’m sorry,” she says fiercely.

“Missed you,” he whispers. His voice sounds broken, pathetic, but it doesn’t matter; she’s here, warm and soft in his arms as they fumble in the darkness.

She’s finally naked, straddling him, and Dean reaches for her blindly, pulling her down for a kiss that’s more of a clash of teeth when they both misjudge the angle. Dean wraps an arm around her lower back and crushes her to his body, fisting the other hand in her hair, holding on for dear life as they exchange deep, bruising, biting kisses. She clings right back, fingers stroking his jaw and his neck like she’s trying to read the Braille of his skin and bones.

Dean’s breathless by the time she breaks the kiss to wriggle back and line up. His eyes have adjusted enough that he can see the faint silhouette of her body, charcoal against jet-black, but the important thing is the way she feels, like solid ground or safe harbor in a storm.

He thrusts up helplessly, stuttering out a nonsense string of vowel sounds as she takes him in all at once, slick and welcoming. Dean’s spine bows with the way it drags pleasure from every part of his body, wrenching and twisting through him, winding him tight. She leans in and rests her forehead against his, so close they’re breathing the same air. Dean digs his fingers into her hips and feels the way she flutters around him, smooth silky wet skin, living heat, pulsing like a heartbeat as his body answers with its own heavy thud of arousal.

“You came home,” he chokes out.

“Of course I did,” she says.

She rocks her hips and Dean surges up to meet her, grinding in deep, pulling her down against him. He’s closer to her than he’s ever been to another person, and it’s never close enough.

Home.

Dean considers himself a giver, when it comes to sex.

It’s always been a point of pride: no matter how casual it was, no matter how easy it was to walk out the door afterward, he put his partner first. Not like it was a fucking chore, anyway. He’s heard stories, heard the way women talked about other men, and it genuinely confuses him sometimes; those men have no idea what they’re missing.

It’s not often, in his line of work, that he gets to make people just feel good. He hasn’t brought anything positive into the lives of most people he’s met; he’s brought danger, and bloodshed, and nightmarish fucking violence. Those rare moments when Dean can bring someone pleasure, instead, have always felt like a gift.

He remembers the first time he figured it out, the way the girl (Jenny? Jessie?) sounded when he found the right spot, the face she made, the way she twitched around his fingers, and he remembers the awed, wonder-struck glow in his chest. He remembers thinking, I did that. It was satisfying in a way that had nothing to do with his own orgasm.

Getting off is great and all, but Dean’s never cared too much about comfort or pleasure. He takes a utilitarian approach to the basic needs of his own body, whether it’s sex, food, sleep, or whatever else. He’s always been fine with his hand, a burger, and four hours of shuteye on a crappy motel bed. He’s never asked for much more than that.

Watching someone else enjoy themselves, though? That’s worth taking his time, doing it right, appreciating every moan and every spasm of pleasure that flickers over her features. It’s not so much about what he wants. It’s about what he has to give.

Dean’s never been a morning person, but he’s starting to understand the appeal. It’s just them, in the morning, before they’ve had time to pull on the invisible armor they wear when they have to face the rest of the world. It’s a nakedness he never thought he was capable of.

He wakes half-sprawled across her, one arm over her chest and a leg hooked over her thigh, like he was worried about her escaping from him in dreams. His face is tucked into the side of her neck. He inhales deep, immersed in the smell of her shampoo and her sweat and her skin.

He traces the soft lines of her body, running a feather-light touch from the round of her shoulder, across her collarbone, down the center of her chest and then back up to map the curve of the underside of her breast. He rubs his thumb back and forth over her nipple, feeling the skin start to respond to his touch just as she sighs and stirs, and then he trails his fingers down to brush the inside of her thighs, down and up, one and then the other.

It’s not like he’s trying to tease, he just can’t stop touching her. He could spend eternity running his fingers over her smooth skin, dips and curves and hollows and swells like an entire landscape under his hands. He maps it all, awed, until she’s breathless and squirming.

In the end she just grabs his wrist and shoves it down, showing him exactly what she wants. She holds him there, cupping her hand over his, rocking up, hot and slick under their entangled fingers.

Dean waits until she’s trembling, straining, close.

“On your side?” he whispers, and kisses her cheek. He doesn’t pull his fingers away, just rolls with her and fits himself against her back. She arches, raises one knee, and she lets out this desperate throaty moan when he has to move his hand for a second to adjust, but then he sinks in and he can feel her shudder down to her toes.

He’s been so focused on her that he didn’t realize how hard he is, but he’s dizzy with it, suddenly, like every drop of blood is rushing to his dick and throbbing, his nerve endings on fire with the searing slippery friction of her body opening up for his. Jesus, he’s so close it should be fucking embarrassing.

She’s whimpering on every breath, clenching and dripping around him as she grinds into her hand. Dean reaches forward and slides his fingers under hers again, and he can feel the way she squeezes, muscles pulsing in waves of silky heat. He rolls his hips and she arches her back, biting out an anguished sound.

They’re barely moving, rocking against each other gracelessly without the leverage for more, just a push-pull-shove-tug that builds into something powerful and unavoidable. Dean can feel it pounding through him with every shallow thrust and every little groan. He’s losing control, swamped by the sensations, barely holding on.

Dean focuses on the way she feels under his fingers, the rhythm, pressing and circling, working her just the way she likes.

“Not yet,” she gasps, practically writhing in his arms. “Want to feel you.”

“So fuckin’ close, just -”

She hisses, grabbing his wrist in a steely-strong grip like a handcuff and forcing his hand away as she snaps, “Dean, come for me.”

He can’t help himself. It hits him immediately, sucks him under, sweeps him up and whirls him around, until all that’s left is how fucking good it feels: her sweaty skin against his, her soaked cunt squeezing him over and over again as she comes, wringing it out of him, and her fingers bruisingly tight, a bright spark of not-quite-pain around his wrist, as pleasure twists in his gut and spirals out and carries him away.

He’s dimly aware of the way she’s shaking, the sound of her voice, but it takes a conscious effort to understand the ragged words: “So good, Dean. So fucking incredible, feeling you fall apart for me.”

They’re both trembling. She loosens her grip on his wrist and brings his hand to her mouth, kissing the center of his palm and then every fingertip in turn. The sweat between them starts to tickle as it cools.

She turns in his arms, pulling back to look at Dean with a sparkling smile and a curious, level gaze. He can see the gears working behind her eyes, cogs clicking into place, but he can’t for the life of him figure out what she’s seeing as she stares. Then it clears, and she’s just beaming at him, giving him the same open, tender expression he sees every morning when they wake up together. He can see it all over her face, how much she loves him.

Dean’s not sure what he did to deserve that smile, but he’ll spend the rest of his life trying to earn it.

He’s heard it so many times: take care of your brother.

It wasn’t just Sam, though. It was always very clear to Dean that being a man, being strong, meant protecting others. It meant making the hard choices, putting on a brave face, shouldering the weight so that others didn’t have to… no matter how he felt, no matter how hard it was sometimes, his job was to take care of the people he loved.

He remembers smiling, hugging his mom, trying to make her smile again: It’s okay, Mom. Dad still loves you. I love you, too.

He remembers putting a hand on his dad’s shoulder, looking into bloodshot eyes: It’s okay, Dad. I’m really glad you’re home.

He remembers setting his jaw, holding his head high: Shoot first, ask questions later. Watch out for Sammy. He remembers that curt, military nod he got in return: That’s my man.

So that’s what Dean did. He protected people. When he loved someone, he did whatever it took to keep them safe. It was the foundation on which he built his entire life; it was the cornerstone of every structure, every wall, everything that held him up and held him together and kept him from falling apart.

You’re going to be okay, Sammy. I’ve got this. I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. I’ve got it all under control.

Then she happened. He couldn’t keep her safe from himself. He failed.

He tried to push her away, after. He tried to rebuild all those walls, for her sake, but she just knocked them down again. She demolished everything, right down to his crumbling foundations, and she loved him not in spite of what she saw in the wreckage, but because of it.

Dean has always believed that he isn’t a man, isn’t strong, isn’t worth loving, if he can’t protect the people around him. She claims he’s wrong. He was skeptical, at first, but she keeps coming home to him; it’s hard to argue with that. They’re building something new together, and it feels solid.

“Get your fucking moose hands off me, Sam, I’m fine,” Dean snarls. “Motherfucker, you’d think I never needed stitches before. Stop fussing.”

Sam lets go of his arm with a huff, and Dean sits down on the bed a little harder than he meant to.

“Welcome home,” she says flatly from the doorway.

“Maybe you’ll have better luck with him, I give up,” Sam growls. He shoulders past her, closing the door behind himself.

“It’s really not a big -”

“Lie the fuck down, you moron,” she snaps, eyes blazing. “Bad enough you have to go and get yourself half-torn to pieces. If you make things even worse because you’re too fucking stubborn to deal with basic first aid, I swear to god -”

She’s got that face on, the one that means it’s pointless to argue.

“Okay. Okay, see? Lying down. Jesus.”

Dean settles back against his pillows, trying to hide his wince as the movement sets off shooting pains down his side. She stands next to the bed, looking down at him, and her jaw is set as she takes in the big gash across his ribs and the swollen punctures in his shoulder, visible through the shredded, blood-stained remains of his shirts.

“We’re gonna have to take care of that,” she says briskly, but her voice is shaking. Dean can see the fear in her eyes, and guilt twists in his ribcage.

“I can deal with it,” he protests automatically. “It’s not a big deal, I’m fine, you don’t have to -”

“Dean,” she interrupts. “Don’t. It’s me.”

I’m fine, it’s not a big deal, I don’t need you. It’s the first line of defense, has been for as long as Dean can remember. In all those years, she’s the first person who really bothered to break through. She makes it look easy, too, like a tornado going through a crooked old fence.

Dean feels off-kilter and flayed bare, suddenly. Now that he’s not bothering to keep up appearances, he just feels raw inside, like the monster clawed something deeper than his skin.

She bustles around for a moment, gathering up bandages and antiseptic, and Dean’s throat feels too tight. He missed her. He always misses her, and now instead of letting him hold her, kiss her, touch her, she has to patch him up… and part of him is so pathetically grateful that he doesn’t have to do it himself, even though he knows that he could. He can take care of himself. He should be the one taking care of her.

He just wants to hold her. He wants to reassure them both that he’s still breathing, that he’s home, that he’s safe.

She comes back with scissors. She gently moves the ruined flannel aside and then snips up the front of the t-shirt, biting her lip intently and then scowling as she pulls the fabric away from his skin to reveal the livid bruises that are already blossoming across his chest.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” he tries. His voice cracks on the last word, and her eyes snap up to meet his gaze. She opens her mouth to argue, pauses, frowns, then closes it again.

She’s studying him. Dean feels a prickle of embarrassment, cheeks flushing under the weight of her stare.

“What is it?” she asks softly.

He wants to say, just come here, hold me. He can’t seem to force the words past his lips.

Dean raises his less-injured shoulder in the barest suggestion of a shrug. It hurts. He rolls his eyes at himself and clenches his jaw. He can’t quite look at her.

She watches for another second, and then she sighs, putting the scissors down on the nightstand.

“Okay,” she whispers. “Can you sit up? At least help me get that off you.”

She slides into bed carefully, doing her best not to jostle him, and Dean sits up, gritting his teeth against the pain. She helps him ease the remains of both shirts off his shoulders and then tosses them aside. Dean settles back, fitting himself under her outstretched arm, shifting slightly onto his good side so that he can rest his cheek on her chest. He has to squeeze his eyes shut tight to ignore the way they’re burning.

“I’m really glad you’re home,” she says, hoarse and fervent. She brings her free arm up to cup her hand to his cheek, and her thumb brushes back and forth in a soothing, mindless rhythm.

Dean wants to apologize, wants to reassure her, wants to thank her… he fucking hates scaring her.

He wants to promise that he’ll never scare her again, but that would be a lie. He wants to ask why she bothers, but they’ve had that conversation one too many times before; Dean’s starting to accept that there’s nothing he can do or say to convince her that she’d be better off without him. She’s stubborn that way.

“I love you,” she says softly. “I got caught up. I’m sorry.”

Jesus, Dean can barely breathe.

He wants to ask, What did I do to deserve you? He wants to ask, How do you always know?

“Just for a minute,” he whispers.

“As long as you want. I’m not going anywhere.”

He’s choking on all the things he wants to say, variations on thank you and I’m sorry and I love you.

He listens to her heartbeat, feels the rise and fall of her chest under his cheek, takes in the smell of her shampoo, and he reminds himself that he’s home.

It’s nothing like the home he used to dream of; he lives in a bunker, no fucking picket fence in sight. He’s bleeding from a half-dozen places, and no matter what he might think in the brief stretches of peace between apocalypses, he’s never really safe.

In this quiet moment, she could be mistaken for the soft sort of woman he used to imagine falling in love with, but she’s so much more than that. This tornado of a woman is sharp and tough and smart enough to break through every wall of bullshit he hides behind, and it’s terrifying, being exposed like that, but Dean wouldn’t have it any other way.

It’s not what he pictured, but this is home. This is love.

He doesn’t say anything. He has a feeling she’ll understand anyway; she always does.

Next part is here.

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