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lunawings · 2 years

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On Anime Boston for the first time through the eyes of a returned long-time expat

*inhale* *exhale* So, I...

I had a really, really good time at Anime Boston.

I’ve talked about this here and there in the past, but I know a lot of people are interested in hearing about the differences between anime events in America and Japan (including people I talked to at the actual event) so while both are still fresh in my mind and my emotions are still raw I’m going to talk about it.

Disclaimer: Of course, these are my own personal opinions based on my own personal experience.

In Japan there aren’t really any varied, all-inclusive anime events such as the cons we have in America. There are basically two kinds of anime events in Japan: Official events which are more like concerts and you buy tickets to them as such (like Tales of Festival) and the fan driven “comic markets” (”Comiket”) , which are usually free for entry.

Admittedly I haven’t been to many Comikets, but from what I can tell, a Comiket is more or less the combination of only two things: Doujinshi sales and cosplay. And not much else. The reason I stopped going to Comikets is because I stopped buying doujinshi and because, honestly... cosplaying at Comiket was not very fun for me. So let’s start here:

Cosplay In Japan, you aren’t allowed to arrive to the event already wearing your costume. (I assume this is at least partially if not mostly because they don’t want to cause problems for neighboring businesses with people taking photos or whatever.) The would-be cosplayers go into big changing rooms together where they get changed and leave their bags behind. Then, they go out to the designated photo areas to pose for other attendees. People are usually pretty serious about their cosplays being immaculate. Wigs and often contacts are a must. In America, it’s super chill, everyone just shows up in and wears their cosplay everywhere. (I saw people putting on their wigs on the subway! I even saw people getting on the bus to go home still in their cosplay!) You can also take pictures anywhere as long as you ask the cosplayer’s permission. There are a fair share of serious cosplayers of course, but for a lot of people it’s super casual. It’s not uncommon to see someone wearing a cosplay outfit with normal sneakers, or carrying around a big ugly backpack/messenger bag. (Or even better, an itabag for a totally unrelated character haha.) Natural hair popping out of your wig, or just no wig and all? Psh, no problem.

I have to admit seeing the American style of doing things after so many years in Japan was kind of jarring at first. But. Ultimately, I do agree casual is better. It actually makes me want to cosplay again for the first time in a long time.

Itabags In Japan, they will usually be in the image color of the character, and every inch of them will be covered with pins/straps of that character. Usually the same exact pin over and over and over again, actually. In America, not all but most of them are fairly sparse. A few different pins/straps of that character, or characters from the same anime, or even characters from all different anime, y’know whatever.

I recognize American itabags being sparse very much isn’t a choice since I saw straps on sale in the dealer’s room for $13-20!? JEEBUS. I used to buy the exact same thing in Japanese resale shops for 300-600 yen. That’s just depressing. Also, in America there’s no squatting in an anime cafe buying more and more pins and trading with others to get those 50 copies of the same thing as we do in Japan. It’s kinda nice that America is, once again, anything goes BUT MAN bottom line damn do I miss easy access to merch... I guess that’s really what this section is about. Of course Japan is better for having/buying things.

Sitting In Japan, you cannot sit on the floor at the venue. I mean yeah, you can sit during the show if you’re at an official event, but if you’re doing merch before the event or at Comiket or waiting or whatever there’s nowhere to sit. Even outside, we were always being shooed away from sitting in various places at Tales of Festival. As a result, all the nearby cafes and restaurants are PACKED with event patrons because there’s nowhere else to go. So it’s nearly impossible to get into said cafes/restaurants (and if you do, you’re holding down the fort). In America, you can sit on the floor on the sides of the hallways. As a result, I was shocked to find the nearby cafes and restaurants weren’t that bad. I was able to go to Dunkin Donuts for coffee in the morning and sit at the window. They only had like five seats and ALL OF THEM WERE EMPTY. AND IT WAS RIGHT OUTSIDE THE VENUE!? WHAT!!!?

No contest the American way is so much better oh my god.

Female Otaku Male otaku tend to look fairly similar in both countries, I think. But the girls... In Japan, nearly all female otaku are stealth. By that I mean, they look like any hyper-feminine, made up, typical Japanese girl you might see in a magazine... and then they pull out an itabag. In America, the average female otaku can definitely be picked out in a crowd. Unconventional fashion, dyed hair, anime shirts, cat ears, etc., you do you girl!

I like that in America I can easily identify people who might have the same interests as me. Honestly, I think this was one of the reasons I had a hard time making friends in Japan. On my last day, my LAST DAY in the office I found out one of my coworkers knew about King of Prism. The entire time. I was so crushed.

Now for some odds and ends:

America’s lack of Japan’s endless vending machines and convenience stores made it really difficult for me to get casual drinks and snacks on a whim. But as a result, I think I really saved a lot of money. In Japan, I was constantly buying drinks whenever I constantly saw vending machines. Anime Boston had free water instead!

Uh... um... so... I guess... Japan doesn’t have furries or at least not visible ones. I noticed this at my local comic con too: In America, Fursuiters will go to any con just for the chance to dress up and be themselves. *shrugs* I mean, go for it, why not.

This is another awkward observation and I hope I can find a respectful way to discuss it. I thought to myself that... In America, we have many more anime fans with disabilities? But then I realized, that’s probably not exactly true. It’s just that again, they are probably just more visible. Probably because American events are more accessible to differently abled people. Which makes my heart ache for all the differently abled Japanese otaku who can’t, or perhaps think they can’t, attend events. Wow... damn...

And this is a pandemic-only one, but, last I heard, in Japan, events (or at least Love Live concerts for one) are still masked and silent. Clapping only, no screaming, cheering, or even laughing if you can help it. In America, as long as your mask is over your nose ARE YOU READY TO MAKE SOME NOOOOIIIISEEEE!?!!!!!!!!!!!!? (At Anime Boston, I was encouraged to scream louder several times.)

And Finally:

Socializing This one goes for Japan as a whole, but in Japan, people don’t usually socialize outside of their group. Everyone is kind of in their own little bubble. In America of course, people are very friendly with those around them and won’t hesitate to chat with someone about what they have on their bag or what they are wearing, etc.

Honestly, the Japanese way was comforting to me because I felt safe in that bubble. I could walk around without the anxiety of making a fool of myself or accidentally being rude if someone talked to me. I... do miss this in a way. I felt very awkward, anxious, and scared a lot of the time during the first two days of the con. But by the third day, once that bubble was fully popped and I was finally able to relax, it... it felt good. Really good, actually.

In conclusion...

I will always miss going to official events and seeing the Japanese voice actors. But.

BUT.

I am just... incredibly humbled by how much love goes into putting on an event like Anime Boston. All the people who have donated their time for years and years. It was a completely different feeling from any event I ever went to in Japan. It was also just one of the warmest, most positive, most accepting spaces I've ever been in. I loved being an otaku in Japan and there’s no doubt there were a lot of various advantages to it, but... I have a whole new appreciation for what I have now.

The whole grassroots, fan-driven, “we have no official events so let’s make our own” history of American anime cons has resulted in so many quirky and wonderful traditions that, if they exist in Japan, I never saw them. Such as cosplay chess, AMV contests, cosplay skits, anime game shows, fan panels, the list goes on.

I was particularly moved by Saturday afternoon’s Idol Showcase. Seeing all these girls of all different shapes, sizes, and abilities putting themselves out there, making their dream of becoming an idol come true on the stage. And the crowd’s reaction to them, so warm and supportive to every single participant... It made me realize...

Maybe

Just maybe

Maybe it’s not too late... Maybe it’s not too late to be an idol after all. Maybe I’m not too old or too fat or too uncoordinated or too whatever. Maybe... I could actually do this.

And just like that

For the first time in a very long time, I had a dream.

It’s going to be hard, really hard, especially because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to form a group in the very specific place I live and I have nowhere to practice. But I can’t get it out of my head. I spent Saturday night happy crying and looking up various videos to narrow down possible performances that I might actually be able to do.

Even if it doesn’t end up happening for me, I’m still grateful to Anime Boston for just giving me the feeling that it’s possible. I’m grateful for American anime cons and their patrons everywhere, for making fans dreams come true.

PS.

B-kun looks so much like Kakeru it was driving me crazy all weekend OMG.

#anime boston #anime con

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

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IOTA Reviews: Sole Crusher

Well... It's finally here... the episode introducing the new bee hero. And what do you know? It looks like I was right about how the new character would be portrayed.

It's kind of funny how I made predictions exaggerating what could happen, and they were surprisingly accurate. Isn't that funny?

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Let's just get into the seventh (chronologically the seventh and the seventh episode in the season to air after “Mr. Pigeon 72”) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Sole Crusher. Damn, I hate that a pun this clever was used for the title.

We get to the point pretty quickly with the first scene being Zoe arriving in Paris and getting a tour of the city. She asks to stop at the Dupain-Cheng bakery, where she meets Marinette through some brief Unfunny Marinette Slapstick. The two quickly strike up a conversation.

I mean, it's not like Zoe is the sister of the absolute worst human being in existence, right?

Marinette compliments Zoe's shoes, and she points out that she designed them herself, and wrote every good thing anyone has ever said to her on them. But because she only has one friend, there's only a standard “I <3 U” on the left shoe.

So Zoe leaves the bakery and heads to Le Grand Paris where she meets her mother, Audrey. Unlike how she talked with Marinette, Zoe pretends to be just as snobby as Audrey in order to fit in. She then meets up with Chloe, who criticizes her for having poor person things like a phone without any diamonds embedded in it. And then she sees Zoe's shoes.

Look, that meme was already dated when it was referenced in Black Panther three years ago. Please don't try to reference memes in 2021, Miraculous Ladybug.

Chloe offers some golden heels while saying that those kind of shoes are for winners to wear and crush the losers underneath. This is the only episode to mention this kind of ideology, and believe me, it gets worse when Chloe decides to teach Zoe how to be like her.

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Get used to this. This episode is all about demolishing any semblance of likability in Chloe's character. Now that Astruc doesn't have to bother with writing Chloe with decency since she's not Queen Bee, watch as he turns her into an absolute caricature of her former self.

Yes, Chloe has ordered her father to give her a lot of frivolous things in the past, but she has been shown to care about him, like immediately rushing to hug him after she was safe in “Origins” and showing concern for when he was akumatized into Malediktator while apologizing for causing it. For the love of God, one of the first things she did when she allied with Hawkmoth at the end of Season 3 was to have him unto her parents' akumatization. I guess she only cared about her rich parents for their status and not because she actually loved them right?

Next up on the list of Chloe's positive qualities to ruin is her friendship with Sabrina.

🎶It's seven o'clock in the morning🎶 🎶I can't believe they made this scene🎶 🎶With the writing Astruc's enforcing🎶 🎶It's like he's trying to piss off me🎶

Yep, Chloe doesn't view Sabrina in a twisted view of friendship anymore. Now she's a slave. I'm not exaggerating by the way, he actually said that in a tweet.

THIS IS WHAT THOMAS ASTRUC ACTUALLY BELIEVES

Okay, so I guess all those times we saw Chloe playing superheroes with Sabrina in “Antibug” and “Miraculer” were just a slave driver playing with their property. Actually apologizing to Sabrina for getting her akumatized in those episodes? Protecting her from the Scarlet Akumas in “Ladybug”? She was just interested in keeping her slave around. I think Astruc may have slept through the slavery unit in his history class. Yes, Sabrina was mostly used as a joke to show how controlling Chloe could be, but there were still semblances of an actual friendship between the two.

Chloe arrives at school and introduces Zoe as her half-sister, despite being the same age and having the same mother. Because I guess we can add basic biology to the list of things the writers don't understand. Now that we're at school, Chloe's friendship with Adrien is next up on the chopping block.

Yep, despite being Adrien's only friend and making a big deal about valuing his friendship to the point where she threw a big party just to make sure he wouldn't leave her and risked cooperating with an Akuma to save him, now Chloe just sees Adrien as a rich meal ticket. Two of the earliest episodes to show Chloe had a more compassionate side to her, and they just undid them. Even as much as I hated the episode, “Felix” showed Chloe was willing to cooperate with Marinette and her friends just to find a way to cheer Adrien up on the anniversary of his mother's not-death.

For the love of God, Astruc, 1984 was supposed to warn people about what could happen if they rewrote the past, not encourage people to rewrite the past. He probably finished Animal Farm thinking Snowball really did work alongside the humans, didn't he?

Marinette comes up and Zoe pretends to hate her, leading Marinette to wonder why she did that. She texts Zoe (she gave her number to her earlier) and invites her to a concert on the Liberty, but Chloe finds out. Zoe thinks fast and pretends it's just so she can torment her more. Chloe then takes out a book listing all the ways she can torture Marinette. I wonder if this is a metaphor for the writing process behind most of the episodes last season.

Zoe decides to go outside for some fresh air, and Andre comforts her. Funny how Andre bends over backwards to give Chloe whatever she wants, yet he's willing to actually talk to Zoe like an actual parent. Andre tries to cheer Zoe up, but she talks about her past where she had to put on an act so she would be liked, but (bet you've never heard this before) she just wants to be accepted for who she truly is. The surge of emotions is enough for Shadowmoth to akumatize her into Sole Crusher.

In addition to having one of the most clever puns for an Akuma name, I actually like Sole Crusher's design. Not only is it a good excuse to reuse Chloe's character design, it makes sense thematically, as Chloe was trying to mold Zoe into a copy of herself. The gold and diamonds also make sense given Chloe's love for shiny things. Her powers tie into the bizarre belief Chloe has about stepping on the winners. Whenever Sole Crusher kicks or steps on someone, she absorbs them and gets progressively bigger, making it easier to do so. While it's not cracking my top ten anytime soon, it's still an interesting character design.

Sole Crusher heads to the hotel to get Chloe, and she manages to get away pretty quickly. Maybe in an alternate universe, she's a track star? For some reason, she runs to the Dupain-Cheng bakery and then... Oh my God... pushes Marinette's parents so they get absorbed by Sole Crusher, before trying to do the same with Marinette.

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When has Chloe ever done something like that? Whenever she endangered someone during an Akuma attack, it was unintentional or a result of her naivety. She was only trapped in Pixelator's dimension because Adrien tried diving to save her, she only alerted Rogercop to Ladybug's presence because she eagerly called out for her, and during “Zombizou” she only tried to throw Sabrina towards the horde of kissing zombies once, and that was meant to highlight her growth. The only person to actually do stuff like this consistently is Lila, but I guess she got vaporized by Big Brother offscreen.

This episode is determined to make the audience hate Chloe by retconning everything about her character while portraying her as a complete monster. As bad as Chloe could get, she was never selfish enough to use anyone as a human shield. This kind of behavior honestly could be explained by saying Chloe was lashing out as a result of losing the Bee Miraculous permanently, but the events of the Season 3 finale aren't mentioned ONCE, not even in the next episode that introduces Queen Bee's replacement! How the hell can you set up the next Bee hero without explaining why the original needs to be replaced in the first place?! And trust me, I'm going to talk about Zoe replacing Chloe later.

Sole Crusher grabs Marinette in her hand, so the Horse Kwami, Kaalki, uses her power to teleport over to Adrien's house and inform him Ladybug needs help, meaning once again Adrien did nothing in this episode before becoming Cat Noir.

At the Liberty, Chloe offers more victims to Sole Crusher in the form of the band Kitty Section (consisting of Luka, Juleka, Rose, Ivan, and Mylene) and theatens the giant golden supervillain she can send her back to Paris, even though she's really not in a position to bargain right now. And she STILL continues to insult her. Do you hate Chloe yet? Come on, do you? The writers won't stop until you do.

After we see Sole Crusher's conflicted emotions, Marinette is set free by Cat Noir and transforms into Ladybug, immediately summoning her Lucky Charm, a shoehorn. They only learn Zoe's sneakers were where she were akumatized thanks to Chloe's ranting, so the episode unintentionally made Chloe save the day. Ladybug breaks into Le Grand Paris and breaks the sneakers where Zoe hid them, using the shoehorn to open a door. So Sole Crusher is de-evilized, Ladybug fixes the damage, and gives yet another charm to Zoe.

Afterwards, Zoe goes to the Liberty, apologizes for the act she put on, all while divulging to the audience her “tragic backstory”.

Of course, everyone welcomes her with open arms.

And right here is where the biggest problem I have with Zoe as a character. I normally hesitate to use this term given how often it gets thrown around when criticizing characters these days, but I really can't say anything else.

Zoe... is a Mary Sue.

For those who don't know, the term Mary Sue originated in a Star Trek fanfiction from 1973 satirizing several self-insert stories at the time. Most of these stories showed a beautiful young woman joining the crew of the Enterprise and immediately gaining the attention of the crew. Mary Sue parodied this character archetype by showing how much she was appreciated by Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, the latter being driven to tears at her funeral despite his species being emotionless normally.

What does this have to do with Zoe? She has the exact same storyline as Mary Sue in the parody fanfiction. Her mere presence is enough to make Chloe act extremely out of character in an attempt to make her look better, and as soon as she apologizes while giving a frankly vague backstory, everyone just accepts her as their friend, and I mean everyone in the entire class. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't feel earned. Why was she bullied at her old school? What did her bullies have against her? What caused her to stop going along with her peers, and why did everyone turn against her? How the hell did the bullies who put cockroaches in another student's locker get no punishment while the victim was forced to transfer schools? It's an intentionally unclear backstory designed to make the audience feel sympathetic towards Zoe without actually doing anything else.

I want to ask anyone reading this who watched the episode a question: Outside of her backstory, what do we actually know about Zoe?

What is her personality like? She's nice? Socially awkward? We've never had a character like that in Miraculous Ladybug before! Sorry Marinette, Adrien, Juleka, Nathaniel, Mylene, and Marc, there's a new character with more personality than all of you combined!

What are her goals? She wants to be an actress? Great, but why? Even though there's no clear answer for why Marinette loves fashion, or why Alya loves journalism, or why Nino loves DJing, you can still see the passion in their lives when they do something related to their goals. Zoe only says she wants to be an actress, connecting it to her people pleaser backstory (and given how it ended, she must be a terrible actress), and in the next episode, she immediately gets the lead role in a student film.

When Mylene got the starring role in the movie in “Horrificator”, we at least got snippets of her acting skills in the same episode that established her desire to be an actress, which is also implied to be because she was inspired by her father in “The Mime”. She didn't just say she wanted to be an actress and got the leading role. She still had problems to overcome like her cowardice, which threw her own self-confidence into doubt. Here, Zoe just says she wants to be an actress, and is rewarded for no reason the very next episode.

Zoe basically exists only to be a foil to Chloe, and the writers had no idea what to do in terms of a personality, so they just dumped a bunch of extremely likable character traits onto her without thinking of how her character could come off. And like I said, she's a Mary Sue.

I'm not the only one who thinks this. I've seen a handful of posts on this very site calling Zoe a Mary Sue. In fact, I even asked another Tumblr user @anxresi to quote their take on Zoe being a Mary Sue, which I couldn't even top in terms of accuracy. They basically listed off five things that made Zoe a Mary Sue.

She has to have a ‘tragic backstory’ so all the other characters will fall in love with her. Usually within minutes, in the very first episode they’re introduced.

She has to have a supercute design so that the audience at home will fall in love with her. And if they don’t, they’re automatically dismissed as ‘haterz’ even if their objections are purely from a writing POV.

Her only flaw will be thinking too little of herself. “What, lil ol’ me as the Bee Miraculous holder? With my shyness, colorful shoes, chic beret and personalized pink strip in my hair? Gosh, who’d have thought it?”

The contrast to her half-sister will be a constant plot point, with Chloe always getting dumped on. “You see, kids? Bad things happen to bad people. But you see this super-sweet girl over here? She gets a free DAD. Instant FRIENDS. To star in her own MOVIE. The chance to be a SUPERHERO, even though she only arrived last week. Who cares if she has no depth, no personality and barely any reason for being in the show, apart from being a massive ‘Up Yours’ to all the Chloe fans out there?”

What about character development, Mr Generic Zag Guy? “Development? What’s that?! Zoe is already perfect as she is. The only ‘development’ she’ll receive is having her hair done in the first episode she’s introduced. Besides, That‘d’ word is banned here at Zag studios. Why do you think we abandoned Chloe’s stillborn arc so quickly? This is a KIDS show, why bother trying to create a complex character with more than one dimension?”

This is essentially who Zoe is. She's perfect, has no character flaws, has a cute design so the audience will love her already, and was designed only to replace Chloe as Queen Bee. That's all she is.

So the episode ends with Zoe feeling happy at all the new friends she made while we get one of the most blatant attempts of symbolism in the ending card I've ever seen.

See, look. While Marinette is happily talking with Zoe with the image of Ladybug next to them, Chloe is to the far left with an EVIL purple aura, showing how bad she is compared to how great Zoe is. Only a braindead moron would actually like Chloe over the super awesome and pretty Zoe!

I'll give my final thoughts on the episode in the next part where I analyze this plotline as a whole.

LINK TO “QUEEN BANANA” REVIEW

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #thomas astruc #thomas astruc salt #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #cat noir #chat noir #chloe bourgeois #queen bee #queen b #zoe lee #vesperia #sabrina raincomprix #andre bourgeois

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retrievablememories · 3 years

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what happens at night | taeyong

title: what happens at night

characters: vampire!taeyong, reader, BP jisoo, side character ocs

genre: vampire!au, fantasy, angst

summary: There has been a vampire sighting in a nearby town. You and a few other amateur vampire hunters flock to the area for fun, but are soon in over your heads when you come face to face with a real vampire.

word count: 2.6k

warnings: some violence, use of weapons, mentions of blood and blood drinking, cursing

a/n: i got the prompt for this fic from this writing prompt post

writing vampire fic just reveals that i am maybe a little too intrigued with finding different ways to describe blood, lmao

also, this picture...are you fuckin kidding me

"Y/N, look. You aren’t gonna believe this.”

Adrienne holds the digital ledger out in front of you, and you look at it with tired, uninterested eyes until your brain registers what you’re seeing. Your eyes light up as you recognize whose face is on the screen.

“Taeyong.”

You take the ledger from her as she offers it to you, holding it tight with both hands.

“The Vampire King?” Jisoo perks up and gets up from her seat to rush over to see the ledger, peering wildly over your shoulder. Likewise, Percy makes his way over to the rest of you at a slightly speedier gait than his usual unaffected amble.

“Can’t be,” he says, shaking his head in quiet disbelief even as he looks over your other shoulder.

“But it is.”

The ledger’s screen displays the seal of Hawthorn Academy and its vampire registry, which holds the name, age, suspected location, and family lineage of every registered vampire in the world, along with a plethora of other pertinent details. On Taeyong’s profile, there is the familiar portrait of him you’ve always seen—his hair styled perfectly and curling over his forehead, and his eyes dark, piercing, and shining vermillion.

Under the list of Status Updates, there is a new entry from yesterday—a sighting nearby in the city of Dresden. Within that entry, there is a blurry, zoomed-in photo of a man in a dark trench coat and black boots, walking away from the viewer and down a shadowy street lit up with lampposts, almost too vague to be worth deciphering to the average viewer; but that silhouette is unmistakable.

“When was the last time Taeyong was seen out in public? I can hardly believe it,” Jisoo says, her voice practically trembling with awe.

“If he’s letting himself be seen, he must have specific intentions...whatever those are,” Percy notes.

“Let’s go pay Dresden a visit,” Adrienne announces, darting off to her desk and starting to gather up her essentials—phone and silver staff among them.

“Go? Pay it a visit?” Percy echoes, his mouth rounding on the word go and his eyes widening.

“Of course! Why not? Isn’t this exciting? A sighting of the Vampire King so nearby, and so recently,” Jisoo replies, grinning with all her teeth.

Percy narrows his eyes at her, uncertainty marring his features. “Yes, but what about dangerous?”

“Come on Percy, it’ll be fun,” you chime in. “Think of it as a field trip for baby vampire hunters. Dresden is huge, anyway, there’s like zero chance we’ll actually find him.”

“Just take it as more skills training,” Adrienne adds, grabbing her backpack and heading off to her quarters to get the rest of her things. “Except this time, we’re actually in the field instead of that same boring facility.”

Percy grumbles to himself, but he knows there’s nothing much left to argue about; when the three of you outvote him on a topic, he has no choice left.

By the time the four of you arrive at Dresden, it’s dusk. The perfect witching hour for the vampires to be out, with the last bleeding streaks of the sun fading out of the sky. The lack of sunlight unnerves Percy even more—you can tell by his disturbed countenance—but he says nothing. He quietly follows you out of the train once it stops.

On the outside, you all look like four regular sight-seeing young adults, taking a trip from the next city over and ready for a night on the town; but most of your weapons and gear are concealed within your clothes and the backpacks you wear.

“There’s a slight blood scent here,” you note, taking in a deep lungful of air once you notice it. Indeed, there is the lingering hint of sweetness and iron, and something more musky and earthy underneath it—like decaying organic matter. The smell every vampire hunter is trained to be able to recognize—the odor of a vampire who hasn’t taken their scent blockers.

“There is, though I’m just barely picking up on it,” Jisoo agrees, waving her hand across her nose and screwing her eyebrows up. “God, I’ll never get used to that.”

“Do you think he’s been here?” Adrienne asks, leading the pack as you all walk through the train station.

“I would think a high-ranking, old-ass vamp would know better than to leave their funk trailing everywhere,” Percy disagrees. “Maybe it’s a younger one.”

“Maybe we could get an actual kill tonight, then. Our first,” Adrienne suggests, and though her tone is nonchalant, her expression betrays her enthusiasm.

You chuckle. “Wishful thinking, but maybe that would make the seniors stop treating us like children for once.”

Your group ends up bouncing from the train station to a pub and then to a nearby park, where a festival is being held. There’s bright lanterns, food, dancing, singing, and little kids running around galore, which makes you think these citizens either don’t know about the recent vampire sighting in their area or don’t care.

You all spend an hour mingling around and checking out the festival’s fun-filled offerings, chatting in low tones about the recent vampire appearance and trying to put your skills to the test to scout out any other vampires that might be hiding in plain sight within this mass of people.

“Hey!” Adrienne’s shout rings across the area, and you whip your head around in shock as you watch her take off running behind some teenage boy, maybe 12 or 13 at most, who has managed to nip the digital ledger from her belt and take off with it.

“What the fuck?” Percy barks, and you all shoot each other a wild, surprised look before you and him follow behind her.

“Guys, really? Don’t leave me here!” Jisoo calls out from behind you. “You don’t need three people just to get the ledger back!”

You and Percy round the alley corner that Adrienne disappeared behind and spot her farther up ahead, still hot on the boy’s trail and cursing him profusely. He’s a lot faster than he looks. Just before you can get a good look at him, he’s turning down another road with her behind him.

“Maybe we can cut him off. I’ll go down one of the connecting streets,” Percy suggests.

“Wait, what? Shouldn’t we stay together?”

“That ledger is too important to lose to some street urchin, and the seniors will never let us leave campus again if we come back without it. You go that way, I’ll be down here.” He’s ducking into an adjacent alley before you can even respond.

“Shit…” you sigh and shake your head before running down the road he indicated.

You unstrap your silver staff from a hidden section of your pants and extend it, just to be safe.

This land is not overly familiar to you, with you only having been to Dresden a couple times before. You carefully navigate your way through the maze of interconnecting streets, listening for Percy’s and Adrienne’s footfalls, which have become distinctive to you by now, and the sounds of Adrienne’s yelling. There are few people on the streets, most of them at the festival or in their homes, which makes it easier to navigate and watch for the others as you catch glimpses of them rushing past neighboring alleys.

Percy bursts into the same alleyway Adrienne is running down, finally trapping the boy between them on either end of the narrow passageway. However, the boy remains undeterred from Percy charging toward him as he deftly jumps up onto a nearby closed dumpster and uses it to launch himself over the older man.

“Shit!” Percy makes a mad grab for the end of the boy’s shirt, but the boy is a few seconds faster and narrowly gives him the slip.

“Are you serious? You can’t catch a damn kid?!” Adrienne shouts; Percy only curses again and whips around to follow the boy.

You hear the commotion from a few roads over, and you make a beeline for the area.

Just before you make it there, Adrienne screams. The sound almost startles you into dropping your staff, and you tighten your grip around it. “Adrienne?! What’s happened?”

You reach the alleyway, your shoes skidding on the ground as you nearly overshoot it, but Adrienne is nowhere in sight. You look around confused and alarmed with your chest heaving, but there is no trace of her — when she was there only seconds ago. “Adrienne?” Repeating her name still doesn’t bring her out, and you see nothing as you walk farther into the narrow back street and search every shadow and corner. Something dark and distressing settles in your stomach, and when you catch a whiff of that blood-decay smell on the night breeze, your unease turns into an avalanche of fear.

“Percy,” you whisper, and you take off again. “Percy!”

Your heartbeat rushes in your ears, nearly blocking out all other sounds, and your legs and arms burn as you run. You are abruptly stopped in your tracks as there is another shorter sound, like someone suddenly being cut off in the middle of a scream.

You desperately want to call out for him, and the syllables of his name crawl up your throat though you struggle to contain them. The blood-decay smell still inundates your senses, and whatever vampire is skulking around this maze of streets with you is likely still present somewhere. You don’t want to call any attention to yourself with a shout, though it may already be too late.

With a spiny chill driving itself down your back, you realize everything is suddenly silent. No insects, no night birds, no other people on the streets surrounding you.

Pushing the button on your staff ejects the silver blades from both ends, and you hold it for dear life as you stand in the middle of the dim alley, shivering despite your sweat and waiting for any hint that the monster is approaching you.

It happens so quickly that it’s almost outside of your perception.

The air around you grows significantly colder even with the existing chill from the early-winter season, and you shudder once more, your jaw clenching and molars chattering against each other. When you blink again, he is standing in front of you.

Taeyong.

Melting out of the shadows and becoming one with them all at the same time, a strange liminality similar to his existence—being alive and dead in the same time and space.

His mouth and chin are wet and red from blood, presumably that of your friends and teammates, which sends an intense ache through your stomach. The newness and excitement of the vampire sighting has drained out of you, replaced with stone cold dread. You’re not sure what any of you were thinking. Percy tried to warn you, but now he is likely dead for it.

Maybe it’s a foolish move. All your training has gone out the window in your panic and fear. You make a sloppy, sudden swipe at his front with the blade of your staff; and the next thing you know, it’s flying out of your hand and clattering feet away. Behind him, and out of reach.

It takes a second for you to realize he’s knocked it out of your hand without even touching it or you; his own hand is still raised with the movement of telekinetically shifting the object. “You came terribly unprepared. I guess I shouldn’t expect anything more from you fledglings.”

Your sweaty palm slides against the other leg of your pants where a smaller silver dagger is concealed in a tearaway pocket, but that idea is useless. In the time it’d take to get any weapon out, he could kill you.

“The Academy has really been in decline the last few decades. This is the caliber of hunters they’re putting out now?” Taeyong sucks his teeth, and he takes a step closer to you. Your entire body is on high-alert, but you feel too stiff to move a muscle, and you vaguely wonder if this is somehow his doing, too. Only in the stillness of this moment do you realize that you cannot detect any of that blood scent coming directly from him, though the putridness of it still lingers in your nose. It’s coming from somewhere else, then. This confuses you more.

When he realizes you aren’t going to speak, he stops approaching you and takes a moment to really study your face, his big and curious eyes blinking slowly. The redness of his irises and the shiny, pale quality of his skin from the moonlight shining on it make him look just as surreal as he truly is.

“You’re a pretty thing. Maybe I could make you one of mine.”

“Never,” you blurt out, and it’s the first thing you can bring yourself to say to the Vampire King.

“Oh, so you can speak.” Taeyong reaches for your chin. His fingers brush the underside of it, the coolness of his skin freezing you, before you snatch away from his touch, stumbling backwards. A flash of irritation sparks on his face.

His hand reaches for you again, this time clasping at the back of your neck, and it is impossible to move away quickly enough. “Don’t waste any more of your time fighting. This will all be over soon. Well—this life, anyway.”

His teeth in your neck are sharper than needles, making your nerves twinge with stabbing pain; and then it’s strangely pleasant, like having painkillers injected into your veins. You can’t feel anything anymore except warmth and endorphins and his fangs inside you as the alley around you smears into a bunch of incomprehensible shapes—bricks, streetlights, strewn trash, Taeyong.

When you wake up, you’re in an unfamiliar place. An unfamiliar bed. You startle out of unconsciousness sweating and frightened, but with barely enough strength to push yourself up on your elbows. Looking around doesn’t provide you with many more clues; this space is murky with darkness, and your vision is foggy. You think you can make out the rectangular shape of a large curtained window, but it’s unclear.

You’re still wearing your clothes from the trip, although your backpack is now gone. Your throat has never felt drier in your life, and the pounding in your head threatens to split it clean apart.

You feel sick and feverish, like your body is trying to fight against some virus it’s picked up, but you haven’t the slightest idea where you could’ve contracted anything—you didn’t even eat at the festival—until you remember—

A door opens with a bang somewhere in the distance, and it isn’t until the footsteps grow nearer and a blurry figure approaches the bed that you realize the door is the entrance of the room you're in.

“You’ll want to feed soon.” As soon as those words break the quiet, you’re struck by the pungent smell of blood. Unlike the relative lack of response it would elicit any other time, its aroma pokes at a sudden and peculiar craving inside of you, and you find yourself futilely scrabbling on the bed to reach the source. “Lucky you. I have just what you need.”

There is a cold hand tilting your face up, the press of equally cold glass against your bottom lip, then the tang of blood entering your mouth. It is the best thing you have ever tasted, and a slowly dying, still-human part of you is horrified.

You finish the blood quickly. It doesn’t really seem like enough, but it does make you feel a little less like you’re actively decomposing. Despite your hazy vision, there is no misreading the small smile on Taeyong’s face.

“Happy Birthday, little one.”

#taeyong scenarios #taeyong imagines #taeyong angst #nct vampire au #vampire au #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct fic #taeyong fic #nct angst #superm fic #superm scenarios #superm imagines #superm angst

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only-johnny-deppp · 3 years

Photo

“Whatever I’ve gone through, I’ve gone through. But, ultimately, this particular arena of my life has been so absurd...”

Johnny Depp’s NEW INTERVIEW!

Last saturday, August 14, The UK Times, released a new interview with Johnny for the Sunday Times section. It was realized sometime earlier this month, in London, probably on the same day he and Andrew Levitas were recording for the Q&A for the “Minamata” release in UK. This is Johnny’s first interview since the UK trials in London last year, and released three years after Johnny’s major interview for the British GQ Magazine. Here Johnny and Andrew Levitas speaks about “Minamata”, his future as actor and a thing or two about his personal life, although he cannot talk about the court case.

For those who couldn’t read yet, here is the FULL interview: Enjoy.

***

“I’M BEING BOYCOTTED BY HOLLYWOOD”

Johnny Depp has a new film out this week. In the opening scene his character, the real-life photographer W Eugene Smith, says, “I’m done. I’m tired. My body is older than I am. I’m always in goddam pain. I can’t trust my f***ing dick any more. Constantly in a foul mood. Even the drugs bore me.”

I ask Depp if Smith’s despair resonated with him. Depp stops. Rocks back and forth. “That’s interesting,” he replies with painful hesitation.

“I didn’t approach playing Smith in that way… Although you bring your toolbox to work and use what is available. Having experienced...” He stops again. Depp takes any questions that might refer to his calamitous libel case last year slowly, in a mumbly, croaking drawl. “A surreal five years…”

In the film Smith needs to revive his reputation. In real life Depp’s task is even more daunting. Thanks to the judgment, everyone can call him a “wife-beater”. Now he must convince a Hollywood still convulsed by #MeToo that he’s not toxic — and that any attempt to rebuild his career is a risk worth taking. This is Depp’s first interview since the case.

We are speaking over Zoom, Depp in his London home, in front of a gold-framed painting. The 58-year-old is wearing a lot of clothes. Earrings. Floppy hat. Sunglasses. Bandana. Scarf. Checked shirt over a T-shirt with an indiscernible slogan. If you saw him on the Tube*, you might think he was off to work at the London Dungeon*, to play most of the characters.

PS. For those who are not familiar with British words: * Tube = British slang for London Underground, the subway trains. * London Dungeon = is a walk-through experience that recreates scenes from London's scary history in a mixture of live actors, special effects and rides.

Depp resumes, talking in broken sentences about the new film, Minamata, in which Smith, via Life magazine, exposes the brutal mercury poisoning of Japanese villagers in the early 1970s.

“How do we do this?” he asks rhetorically, meaning how to speak about the elephant in the Zoom. “Well, there’s no way one can’t recognise the absurdity of the mathematics.” He grins. “If you know what I mean?” No. “Absurdity of media mathematics.” He talks in riddles. “Whatever I’ve gone through, I’ve gone through. But, ultimately, this particular arena of my life has been so absurd...”

He trails off again. He is holding a big brown roll-up of some sort. “What the people in Minamata dealt with? People who suffered with Covid? A lot of people lost lives. Children sick...Ill. Ultimately, in answer to your question? Yeah, you use what you’ve got. But what I’ve been through? That’s like getting scratched by a kitten. Comparatively.”

Last July, I went to the High Court in London to watch Depp on another screen — a video from the socially distanced court where the Hollywood star was losing a libel action against The Sun after it called him a “wife-beater”. It was the grottiest showbiz trial of the century. There were photos of the actor passed out in a foetal slump, socks on show. One lengthy exchange involved faeces. Another urination, inside or outside a house, after a violent night with his ex-wife Amber Heard.

This had all been going on for a while. In 2016 Heard applied for a temporary restraining order against him. The couple had long endured a narcotic, booze-filled, childish relationship, but that does not matter — 12 incidents levelled against Depp were proved, said the judge, and abuse is abuse, regardless of how badly they both behaved. Depp wanted to appeal, but the court said no. Next April in the US he has a $50 million defamation case against Heard relating to an opinion piece she wrote about being the victim of domestic abuse. It may be his last roll of the dice.

In the 1990s Depp was a sensitive heart-throb. Cooler than DiCaprio, edgier than Pitt. In this past year he has been stripped of his status and dignity. On day three of the trial Sasha Wass QC, representing The Sun, asked Depp about daubing a penis on a painting. He could not remember. “That would be quite a big thing, painting a penis on a picture?” Wass asked. “Quite a big thing?” Depp asked.

It was a well-delivered line, but Depp was on show. Performing. Now he is more timid, less lucid. His people say he cannot talk about the court case given the looming US trial, yet it hangs over everything. The director of Minamata, Andrew Levitas, is also on our call — as a pub trivia aside, Levitas is married to the Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins.

The two men clearly get on. “With regards to journalism, it was important for us to put across in the film the power of truth,” Levitas says. Depp nods. “The responsibility of journalists to look after citizens of the world. [Our film] coincided with the moment important publications had to put Raquel Welch on a cover to get enough eyeballs to sell enough ads in order to put something meaningful inside. A result of that is clickbait — it’s destroying the purpose of journalism,” Levitas continues.

“You said it beautifully,” says Depp, one of the world’s most pinned-up men, who built a career on magazine covers. “I couldn’t say it better than that.”

Last month Levitas wrote to MGM, which bought Minamata for the US market but decided not to release it. He accused MGM of being concerned that “the personal issues of an actor in the film could reflect negatively upon them”. Then the letter got really strong. Levitas accused MGM of failing in its “moral obligation” to release the film and said it needed to explain to the victims “why you think an actor’s personal life is more important than their dead children”. He then attached Smith’s photos of ghastly deformities that shocked the world 50 years ago.

“It’s important that the movie gets seen and supported,” Levitas says. “And if I get an inkling it’s not going to be, it’s my responsibility to say so. Where it goes from there? I don’t know. But we have responsibility to these victims . . .”

You can see why he’s passionate. The film is good. MGM bought the film because it is good. Depp is good too. He disappears into the role, far from his more recent pantomime parts. It’s being released worldwide, just not in the actor’s homeland.

Depp, who also produced the film, interrupts. “We looked these people in the eyeballs and promised we would not be exploitative. That the film would be respectful. I believe that we’ve kept our end of the bargain, but those who came in later should also maintain theirs.”

“Some films touch people,” he adds. “And this affects those in Minamata and people who experience similar things. And for anything…” He pauses, as he does. “For Hollywood’s boycott of, erm, me? One man, one actor in an unpleasant and messy situation, over the last number of years?” He trails off. “But, you know, I’m moving towards where I need to go to make all that…” Again, he trails off. “To bring things to light.”

The fact, as I think Depp knows, is that for his career, the court that matters is not one of law, but public opinion. On social media, where a lot of minds are made up, Depp’s good reputation will always outweigh the bad, thanks to his frequently blinkered fans.

Outside the High Court, as Heard arrived, I saw Natasha, 30, yell: “Get hit by a truck, Amber!” She is extreme, but the persistent way his fans demand that others think their idol is a saint shows a career revival will happen. After all, most filmgoers do not follow his private life at all. To them, he is Jack Sparrow, Edward Scissorhands. To them, he is a star — and a star can take an awful lot of heat before it burns out.

“They have always been my employers,” Depp says of his fans. “They are all our employers. They buy tickets, merchandise. They made all of those studios rich, but they forgot that a long time ago. I certainly haven’t. I’m proud of these people, because of what they are trying to say, which is the truth. The truth they’re trying to get out since it doesn’t in more mainstream publications. It’s a long road that sometimes gets clunky. Sometimes just plain stupid. But they stayed on the ride with me and it’s for them I will fight. Always, to the end. Whatever it may be.”

Depp will talk like this for ever — about his “truth”. Minamata is the last film Depp has listed on the industry site IMDb, where actors usually have half a dozen in development. So, yes, fans of the actor can see Depp in a new role now — it is a return, but is it a relaunch? The film was finished in 2019, way before last year’s court case. Is that it? His last film? He thinks and looks off to his bookshelves, at biographies of Betjeman and Olivier.

“Er...no,” he says, eventually. “No. No. Actually, I look forward to the next few films I make to be my first films, in a way. Because once you’ve...Well, look. The way they wrote it in The Wizard of Oz is that when you see behind the curtain, it’s not him. When you see behind the curtain, there’s a whole lot of motherf***ers squished into one spot. All praying that you don’t look at them. And notice them.”

I would ask him to explain, but I am not sure he is an explainer. Watch this space, I guess, but he is already taking a first step back. After we speak, it is announced Depp is getting the coveted Donostia award at the San Sebastian Film Festival next month. Some people are just too famous to fail.

~ Interview by Jonathan Dean, in London, for The Times UK (released on August 14, 2021)

#Johnny Depp #New Interview #Interview #Minamata #Justice For Johnny Depp #I Believe Him #Johnny Depp is Innocent #The Times UK

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beelsnack · 4 years

Text

Obey Me! Boys and the Cute Date They Would Take MC On

Lucifer: “I feel like I don’t belong here.”

When Lucifer had mentioned that an orchestra was going to be performing, they had been so excited to go that they nearly vibrated out of existence. But now that they were here, that excitement had morphed into a heavy lump of anxiety hanging out somewhere between their heart and stomach.

Lucifer glanced down at the human with a raised eyebrow. “And what in the Three Realms would make you think that?”

For a moment, they were quiet, looking around at the crowd of demons dressed to the nines. Elegant silk evening gowns and smart tuxedos abound. Their black slacks and dress shirt made them feel so under-dressed that they might as well have shown up naked.

Lucifer, sharp as ever, pulled them closer and leaned down the speak in their ear. “You needn’t feel intimidated, my dear.”

“I don’t feel intimidated, I feel stupid.”

“That isn’t any better.”

They sighed, casting another look around the hall. Golden mantle pieces, an elegantly-winding staircase, chandeliers absolutely dripping with crystals...everything made them feel incredibly insignificant.

“Should I have gotten more dressed up?”

Lucifer chuckled. “So that’s what has you worried?”

He lead them away from the entrance into the hall proper. “All of these demons are dressed the way they are because they must work at being beautiful. You, my dear,” he stopped in front of them, reaching down to carefully hold the peacock pendent hanging from their neck - the only piece of jewelry they wore. “Are the only one who is naturally radiant enough to wear my symbol. These peasants could turn themselves into pure gold and they would only shine half as bright as you do.”

They could feel their face grow hot enough to catch fire. They opened and closed their mouth like a fish, intent on refuting Lucifer’s compliment, but he gave them no option. With a deep laugh that they felt travel up their spine, he offered his arm to them in a move straight out of a Victorian romance novel.

“Now then, shall we go? You’ll love this orchestra, I promise.”

Mammon: “I can’t believe there’s street fairs in the Devildom!”

It was surprisingly similar to something you would see up in the Human Realm. Strings of fairy lights lit up the cobblestone street that was lined with all kinds of stalls. Food stalls selling a variety of things that probably shouldn’t be deep fried but are anyway, games of chance, craftsman selling their wares - “Don’t buy anything from that one, all of their crap is cursed and they charge a fee for removal.”

“Come on,” Mammon clicked his tongue as the two of them wandered throughout the fair. “Did’ja think the Devildom was all doomed souls and torture chambers?”

“...Yes?”

The demon paused before shrugging. “Ya know, that’s fair. But we have an image to keep, don’t we? Can’t have the little humans knowin’ about our bitchin’ carnivals.”

“I’ll take the secret to my grave.”

Somewhere a little down the street, they could hear the spinning of a roulette wheel, and Mammon immediately perked up.

“Aw yeah, now we’re talking! Come on, human, you get to see the Great Mammon in all of his glory!”

A thin spike of fear ran through their body as Mammon grabbed their wrist and tugged them through the crowd. “Didn’t Lucifer ban you from gambling? Like, forever?”

“Whatever, what he don’t know won’t hurt ‘im,” they finally reached the roulette booth. “As long as I don’t lose and you don’t squeal, we don’t have anything to worry about!”

“Mammon, there’s a big, gaping hole in your logic there - “

“Have a little faith, human!” Mammon grinned and he slapped some Grimm down on the counter. The glint in his eyes was damn near predatory, and it sent a different kind of shiver down their spine.

The demon behind the counter chuckled gleefully as they spun the wheel. The crowd surrounding them hooted and hollered and shoved each other to be able to watch the wheel, but Mammon looked surprisingly calm. He stood with his arms crossed, eyes trained on the pointer at the top of the wheel.

If they hadn’t been standing right next to him, they wouldn’t have noticed him rhythmically tapping against the sleeve of his jacket.

It was almost imperceptible, but the clicking of the wheel appeared to be following the beat that Mammon was tapping, slowing as the pauses between beats got longer. Eventually, both Mammon and the wheel stopped...

Right on the number he had bet on.

The crowd groaned as Mammon collected his winnings, some hissing at him as they dispersed. The Avatar of Greed looked truly in his element as he flipped a Grimm in the air. “Told ya.”

“You were...using magic?” the human looked back and forth between the wheel and Mammon. “You manipulated the wheel.”

“Aw, man, I was hoping you wouldn’t catch that.” he sighed, pocketing his earnings. “Can’t ya just pretend I have incredible luck?”

“I will if you buy me food.”

“Deal.”

Leviathan: Going to the arcade on a Wednesday at noon was definitely one of Levi’s best ideas.

“Why does your aim suck so bad?”

“Oh, you are SO lucky this game doesn’t have friendly fire, Levi.”

“You couldn’t hit me even if it did.”

They were standing close enough that it wasn’t difficult for them to learn over and bump him with their shoulder. His grip on the orange plastic gun slipped and the virtual bullet went flying off into cyberspace. By the time he managed to correct himself, the zombie he had been aiming for was in the process of devouring the character on screen.

“Hey, what gives?!”

“Oops, sorry. My aim really sucks, you know.”

“That doesn’t even make sense!”

Despite their dirty tactics, Levi still wiped the floor with them, cackling gleefully as their scores tallied up on the screen. "Beat that, normie!"

They pouted and blew a raspberry at him. "Jerk. I want a rematch!"

"You're on!"

Satan: If they hadn’t been in the Devildom for so long, they probably would have been scared out of their mind.

That being said, they had been in the Devildom for a while, and seeing an intricately detailed panorama of a demon cat devouring a person alive was only a little unsettling at this point.

“Wow, that must have taken a while,” they got up closer to the exhibit. “It’s like I can hear the screams of agony.”

“Apparently the artist spent a century just on the expression,” Satan came up behind them, slipping his hand into theirs. “It shows, doesn’t it?”

The Devildom Art Museum was having a special exhibition on Demonic cats, and of course Satan had managed to snag tickets for the two of them. They didn’t particularly want to know how he had managed that.

“So, where to next?” they asked.

“The next room has a collection of cursed cat collars.” Satan nodded his head towards the door. “Apparently there’s one that causes whoever puts the collar on their cat to choke to death.”

“Okay, but if there are any there that harm the cats we’re firebombing the place.”

Asmodeus: “See, I told you this place was cute!”

He hadn’t been lying. The little cafe was tucked into a little side street, and the outside seating provided one of the best views of the lake that they had seen aside from being inside the castle grounds. The moons were just beginning to appear as they sky transitioned from the dark lavender color that served as the Devildom’s “day time” into full darkness, and the reflection from the lake made everything sparkle like diamonds.

“How did you even find this place, Asmo?” they asked as they were seated by the host. “This is pretty hidden.”

“Didn’t you know, darling?” Asmo laughed, reaching across the table to weave their hands together. “Some of the most beautiful things can be found in the strangest of places.”

“That’s pretty, but it doesn’t answer my question.”

“I slept with the owner’s son.”

They couldn’t hold back the definitely-not-cute snort. “Yeah, that tracks.”

“I never pass up an opportunity to fuck someone who can cook.” he said sagely. “I want to be fed before I have to do my walk of shame.”

“Don’t you have to have shame for that?”

“Hush,” Asmo giggled. “Here, they have a human-safe section.”

Beelzebub: “I don’t know, Beel, this place, seems awful expensive.”

The conversion rate between human currency and Grimm sometimes threw them off a little bit, but anytime you say three zeroes it was never a good sign.

“Does it?” Beel glanced up from the menu to look at them quizzically before peeking down at the prices again. “Ah, I guess it would. You don’t have to worry, I’ll pay for it.”

“That’s not - “

The server arrived, cutting off their protest. From the sheen of sweat on their brow, the human took it that the staff knew Beelzebub and his famous appetite. Even just the appetizer was enough to feed a whole family. When the waiter finally turned to them, he had to flip over to a new page in his pad. He looked rather relieved when they simply ordered water and fried bat wings (which they had discovered early on tasted a lot like chicken wings and it was therefore their go to.)

When the server dashed off to place their massive order, Beel turned back to the human. “What were you saying?”

“I don’t...” they sighed. “I won’t be able to pay you back.”

“Why would you have to?”

They blinked, tilting their head. “Huh?”

“I don’t mind paying. Plus, I get a discount here.”

The human glanced around the fancy dining area. “This doesn’t look like the place to give out discounts.”

“A lot of places give me and my brothers discounts. Well, Mammon lost a few of his, I think.” Beel shrugged. “I think it’s because we’re considered nobility? I usually leave the discount as a tip though.”

That explained the grin the host had on their face when they sat them.

They smiled up at him. “You’re so sweet, Beel.”

Belphegor: Nights in the Devildom were surprisingly peaceful.

Once you got past the ideas of torture chambers and crypts, the nights were just like ones up in the Human Realm. Quiet, lazy, and on clear nights, you could see the stars.

“Do you know what that one is?”

The human followed where Belphegor was pointing. “Hm...Orion?”

“Ding.” Belphie laughed. “I knew you would be good at this.”

In typical Belphie fashion, he had texted them out of the blue and told them to meet him in the courtyard at midnight. They thought about just ignoring him and going to sleep, but now they were curious. Which was probably the demon’s plan.

When they arrived, Belphie was laying down on a blanket he had spread out on the grass.

“Took you long enough,” he yawned. “I almost fell asleep waiting for you.”

“It’s only 12:02!”

“Bold of you to assume I can’t fall asleep in two minutes. Are you going to sit down or what?”

And that was how the two of them ended up cuddled next to each other and stargazing.

Belphie knew a surprising amount about constellations.He was able to point out which star was named what, and knew most of the myths that the constellations were named after. Unsurprisingly, listening to him talk was very soothing, and they could feel their eyelids drooping.

“If you want to sleep, you can.” he finally murmured, sounding close to drifting off himself. “We can keep each other warm.”

“...I don’t think Lucifer would appreciate finding us passed out on the lawn.”

“All the more reason to do it.”

#i just needed some fluff okay #this is self indulgent #obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me asmo #obey me beelzebub #obey me beel #obey me belphegor #obey me belphie

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

Text

Riding High

Ch17: Welcome to Miami

Chapter Summary: Frank, Fliss and the Circle Of Truth take a Road Trip….

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW) No under 18s!!!

Chapter Pairings: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 16

June 2018

“How’s Fliss?” Gregg asked as Frank leaned back in his chair, hand curled round his bottle of beer.

Frank looked at his friend and took a deep breath “She says she’s ok. I think it’s the waiting that’s the worst. Knowing the board’s been held is one thing, not knowing the outcome….” “I know it’s hard and easy for me to say this but…well, even if he gets out he won’t be allowed anywhere near her. As I explained to her likely hood is he’ll be tagged and on a curfew and movements restricted to the state of Mass.” Gregg took a sip of his drink “And if it isn’t done automatically, through the appeal process I can file for further restrictions as well around him contacting her in any way, shape or form…but I’d be surprised if that isn’t a condition.”

“I know.” Frank said, “And she gets that…I think it’s more anger about the whole thing now you know?” “It sucks.” Gregg nodded “He spent so long abusing her and he’s still managing to do it in a way through all this.” Frank raised his eyebrows and took a drink of his beer, nodding to Jake and Simon as they approached their table.

“I know I don’t need to ask but…” Frank started but Gregg raised a hand.

“You’re right, you don’t.” he understood immediately that Frank was asking him to keep quiet, and he nodded as their two friends arrived at the table. After the greetings they all settled down reaching for a beer from the bucket that sat in the middle of them all, the conversation easy. Frank was happy to see the boys, he hadn’t in a few weeks so he’d grabbed the opportunity for a few beers happily, Fliss and Mary practically shoving him out of the door as they had some girly night in planned with Roberta consisting of popcorn, pizza, facemasks and a Marvel DVD, Fliss and Roberta assuring him whole heartedly they were watching it because it was a good film and not merely to perve on Chris Hemsworth or Evans or whoever the hell the Chris was in this particular one.

Whatever, sweetheart.

“So…” Simon said, looking around the table “Are we still on for a weekend somewhere? 22nd to 24th June?”

They all made noises, and Frank nodded. “Schedules cleared, baby sitter lined up…we just need to decide where we’re going.”

“Well, I got something to suggest to y’all…” Jake grinned “Greg already knows about this, but basically, the Company we’re doing the promotional work for has offered us up to 10 each for the Miami Rocks Concert which runs that weekend....so if you’re interested.”

“Rock music?” Simon looked at him, and Jake shook his head.

“Not just rock.” he said, leaning forward “It’s a combination of tribute acts and the real deal…and there’s different stages each with a different genre, and the main stage which contains the big acts.” “Ok, I’m interested…” Frank leaned forward.

“So the Friday night is a rewind to the 70s, 80s and 90s… headlined by none other than Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Mr Will Smith himself…” Frank let out a snort and looked at Simon who had started bopping in his seat, clicking his fingers.

“That finishes about midnight and then Saturday is the big one. You got 5 Seconds of Summer, George Ezra and Liam Gallagher from Oasis headlining that night.” Jake continued “The other stages rage from all sorts. Mo-Town, Indie, Chart, Reggae…and then there’s a party after which continues until early hours, run by Hot Dub Time Machine.”

“Shut the front door!” Simon snorted “Hot Dub?”

Jake nodded.

“Dude I saw him one New Year’s Eve in New York a few years ago.” Simon said “He was brilliant!”

Frank sat and listened as his friends started to discuss the concert in more detail. He had to admit, it sounded like a pretty good idea, and just the distraction Fliss could do with.

“Hate to be the voice of logic…” Simon said. “But if it’s only like three weeks off, wont’ we have trouble getting hotel rooms?”

“Fuck that, I’ll sleep on the back of the truck.” Frank said, causing the rest of them to laugh. “No need Frankie-boi, I got a client who works for the Hyatt Group man.” Jake shook his head “Three rooms already reserved out in the Regency, about 10 minutes’ walk if that from Bayfront Park where the concert is…just in case you fancied it. $100 a room for 2 nights, including a late checkout on the Sunday coz, well, we’re gonna need it.”

“Three?” Frank frowned.

“You and Fliss, Simon and Bonnie, and Me and Greg…” “What about Zara and Lisa?” he frowned “I thought this was a couple’s thing, not a boys weekend away…”

“Well it was going to be…” Greg shrugged “But Zara’s away with the kids that weekend, decided to go back to California as her sister is being taken in for a C-section, and of course she has to be there…”

“And it’s Lisa’s idea of hell…” Jake supplied.

“So why don’t we re-arrange?” Simon asked.

“Fuck that!” Jake snorted “I’m got a child and fiancée free pass for the weekend.” “Amen brother!” Gregg hi-fived him.

“But you two can bring your girls, no problem…they’re cool” Jake gestured between Frank and Simon with his beer bottle. “Thanks for your permission…” Frank raised an eyebrow.

****

Naturally, Fliss was over the moon with the promise of a music festival, especially when she looked up the acts that were on. So, when the Friday in question rolled around, after dropping Mary at school, with strict instructions she was to behave herself as Frank WOULD be checking, they set off in Fliss’ jeep, Frank driving as she lounged in the passenger seat, eyes hidden by her aviators, hair pulled into a loose side pony tail as they made the four hour down the coast and across state to Florida, stopping half way for some food at a roadside diner.

Simon and Bonnie weren’t due to arrive until just gone 5 ish, Bonnie having to finish the morning’s classes before she could leave, whilst Jake and Greg were here having come down the night before, so when they had checked in they decided to freshen up and go for a walk, Fliss eager to hit Lincoln Road Mall. They spent a few hours just walking and looking in the shops, eventually finding a Pandora one which Fliss headed into wanting a new charm for her bracelet as a memory of the weekend. She paced the shop eventually settling for a silver palm tree with a small diamond in the middle of the trunk and Frank batted her hand down when she went to pay, instead producing his card. The usual argument about who was paying ensued, which eventually Frank won by telling Fliss that he wanted to be the one that filled that bracelet for her, and she relented, smiling softly. Frank didn’t miss the relieved look on the shop assistant’s face as she finally waved the out of the store.

They met Jake and Greg in a bar not far from the hotel, and they were joined by Bonnie and Simon for a drink before the two girls announced they were heading off to get changed and ready for the evening. Frank left it until about 20 minutes before he needed to be ready and headed up to their room, pulling on one of his infamous hideous Hawaiian shirts which he had brought especially. Fliss looked at him, shaking her head with a fond smile on her face as he innocently asked her what the problem was. She laughed and told him nothing at all, before she gave him a kiss and they headed down to meet the others.

The walk down to the Park took them 10 minutes. Fliss was walking slightly ahead with Bonnie, her braid swinging down her back, gently brushing against the yellow off the shoulder top she was wearing. Her bottom half was dressed in denim shorts, a pair of pink converse boots on her feet. She’d certainly embraced the Festival Vibe, opting for bright colours in honour of the fact they were heading back musically a few decades. They arrived and joined the queue to exchange their tickets for wrists bands which took them about 15 minutes, and then they joined the lines to get through the main gates. That didn’t take long at all and once they were through they followed the crowd before Greg stopped, and looked around.

“We get split up…” “We all got phones!” Jake snorted “What are you, 50?”

“Sorry, force of habit with the kids…” Greg let out a groan as everyone laughed.

“So the main stage is that way…” Jake said, pointing to his left “Right at the back. DJ stage is there, and the other stages are dotted about…anyone got any preference on where we go?” “Other than Will Smith I really wanna to go the 80s stage!” Fliss grinned and Bonnie Hi-Fived her.

“Yeah we got some Duran Duran to dance to.” she agreed. “And Erasure.”

“And Wham.” “And Culture Club….” “Yeah, we get the picture…” Simon rolled his eyes.

“Oh and I want to see the Queen and AC/DC tributes.” Fliss finished.

“Anything else?” Frank looked at her.

“Beer.”

“Well we need tokens.” Jake said, “No cash at the bar, tokens only so…the tent is over there…”

They all set off, Fliss and Bonnie hanging behind chatting away, but it wasn’t long before their chatter died down and Frank turned to see that, actually, it hadn’t died down, they’d disappeared. “Where the hell are the girls?” Simon asked, looking round as he realised they were missing.

“Knowing Fliss in some tent getting her face painted…” Frank paused, turning on the spot before he spotted them. Fliss was stood as Bonnie was sat on a stool, having some sort of Festival glitter painted around her temple and eye socket. “Yup, there you go…” Simon followed his gaze and snorted. “Fucking hell…what are they, 8?” “Leave ‘em be.” Frank said fondly “Come on, let’s go get the drinks sorted.”

He waved at Fliss, before pointing to where they were going and she gave him a thumbs up to show she understood, before Bonnie stood up and she sat down. Frank smiled at her face as it lit up and he headed off after Simon.

By the time they had gotten the tokens and ordered beers for them all, the girls still hadn’t joined them, and it didn’t take long to realise why. They were both in a tent which contained 2 electronic dance mats, right in the middle of a very energetic dance off.

“It’s like having a pair of kids…” Simon mumbled the boys stood by the entrance to the tent whilst Frank simply grinned. As they watched Bonnie made a mistake, the mat flashed red, and then another one, before Fliss made one too. The two girls’ foot work was ridiculously fast as the song gathered pace and finally the routine ended. Fliss grinned and hi-fived Bonnie as their scores flashed up, Fliss winning by 60 points.

“Yesss!” she punched the air as Bonnie shook her head and the man handed them both some really tacky bright pink beaded necklaces for taking part.

“Re-match…” Bonnie said, looking at Fliss as they both dropped the necklaces over their heads.

“Maybe later, I’m fucked now…” Fliss said, bending over, hands on her knees as she drew her breath “I need a drink!”

She turned and saw the boys in the doorway, Frank raised an eyebrow and held up the beer and she grinned.

“I knew I bought you for something.” He rolled his eyes and then Greg suggested they head off to the first stage for the start of the 80s Tribute acts. They only intended to stay for a short while but Fliss begged Frank to stay longer, and was backed up by Bonnie as the Duran-Duran band came on. Fliss told Frank if he wanted to go and meet up later he could, but truth be told he didn’t want to. This was as much a weekend for him and her as it was for him and his friends, so with that in mind Simon and Frank both decided to stay with the girls and that they would find the others later.

And Frank was glad of his decision, as about 20 minutes later, when Hungry Like the Wolf started to play, Fliss was bouncing around like a lunatic. He knew it was one of her favourite songs, and seeing her cutting loose was making him a little horny if truth be told. He moved up behind her and grabbed her hips, swaying with her in time to the music as he dropped a kiss to her shoulder, gently singing along as she danced in front of him, occasionally brushing up against the front of his shorts, which was doing nothing to help his current situation.

“Someone’s definitely on the hunt down…” she teased, pushing her ass back into his crotch whilst she turned her head to face him as the song morphed into Rio. He grinned and gave her a kiss.

“Not hunting, I already got you.” “Hmm, yeah you did…” she murmured against his lips.

The continued dancing with one another, Simon and Bonnie doing the same before the 4 of them all decided they were ready for another drink. As fate would have it, they found Greg and Jake already at the bar. They muscled their way in, grabbed another beer and then all turned to head towards one of the tall, standing tables which were dotted around not far from the bar. Frank waited for Fliss as she had ordered a bottle of water too, and the guy serving had forgotten it. When he came back, apologising, Fliss waved him off and thanked him as Frank picked the bottle up and stuck it in his pocket. He reached for Fliss’ hand, and they were making their way over to their friends when suddenly he felt Fliss yell out and she stopped dead. He turned to face her, seeing someone had bumped into her and her beer had spilt all down her top.

“Hey, come on man…” Frank looked at the guy as Fliss pulled her hand out of his to wipe at her top “Be careful huh…” But the man wasn’t looking at him, his eyes were fixed completely on Fliss. “Yes, wouldn’t want an accident now would we, Felicity?” At the sound of her full name Frank instantly knew this had to be someone to do with her ex-husband and he reached out for Fliss as he saw her stiffen and slowly she raised her head to look at the man, her eyes widening and she swallowed.

“Richard.” she spoke softly.

“Fancy seeing you here. Must be nice to be free to do what you want.” “Yeah, well, making up for lost time. I didn’t exactly get a lot of chance to have fun when your brother was beating the shit out of me.” Her chin raised a little defiantly and Frank felt a surge of pride as she stood up for herself, the anger evident on her face.

“You’re a fucking liar…” Richard said and Frank immediately stepped in.

“Ok that’s enough…” he spoke sternly, glaring at the man “We’re not here for any trouble, we’re just out for a good time with friends, and I’d like to keep it that way. So, if you don’t mind, we’re done here.” he turned to Fliss and slid his arm round her waist, making to steer her away.

“You need to be careful.” Richard spoke to Frank’s retreating back. “Now she’s got her claws into you, you’re done…first sign of trouble she’ll be accusing you of all sorts.”

Frank sighed, he’d tried to be reasonable, but the anger felt like it was bubbling from his feet and he whirled round, placing himself in between the man and Fliss. “Listen, asshole, why don’t you just fuck off?” his tone was laced with venom. “Your brother is a nasty, wife beating piece of shit.”

At that Richard stepped forward, drawing himself to full height, still a good 3 inches shorter than Frank. His fists balled as he clenched his hands at his side, his mouth curled up into a snarl.

“She’s a liar.” Richard pointed at Fliss, before his attention turned back to Frank. “She lied and because of her, John’s life and career is ruined…” “His life? Ruined?” Frank barked out a laugh “Your brother got nothing more than he deserved, and so will you if you don’t get the fuck outta my face.”

“Frank…” Fliss pleaded with him, pulling on his arm and desperately looking around for help before this descended into a fight. Thankfully, she caught Jake’s eye who hit Greg on the shoulder, who in turn tapped Simon, and the three of them plus Bonnie hastily started to jog over.

“If he was that bad why has he been considered for parole?” Richard shrugged “An appeal his lawyer is convinced he’ll win…” Richard said, taking a step back as the other men approached. “And that’s all because they finally saw through her lies…” Frank made an angry noise but Greg pushed himself in between the two men, patting Frank on the chest.

“Come on buddy…” he said. “Whatever it is, leave it…” Jake went to grab Frank’s arm, but he jerked it out of his grip.

“I’ll tell you this…” Frank pointed at Richard “If he gets out, you can tell him from me, he stays the fuck away from my girl, and the rest of my family, you got that? Or I’ll put him in a hospital, see how he likes it.”

“Big man making all the threats huh?” “It ain’t a threat, it’s a god-damned promise.” Frank snarled. Richard gave a snort of a laugh before he allowed his wife to steer him away, shooting one last contemptuous glance at both him and Fliss.

“What the fuck?” Simon turned to Frank, who completely ignored him and moved to where Fliss was stood, her arms wrapped cross her front, hugging herself, Bonnie gently talking to her.

“You ok?” he asked her gently and she gave a nod as he took her in his arms, hugging her tightly, hand falling to the back of her head.

Greg gave Frank a questioning look, which Frank answered with two words “His brother.” “Who’s brother?” Jake pressed, “What just happened? I’m so confused.” “To be fair that doesn’t take much…” Frank heard Greg say which earned him a “Fuck you” in response, and the two men began to bicker as Fliss stepped back from his arms. Frank looked down at her, taking her face in his hands. “You good?”

“Yeah…” she nodded “You shouldn’t have risen to him.” “Probably not.” he shrugged “But I’m not having that piece of shit or anyone associated with him trash mouthing you.”

“My hero…” she rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face told him he wasn’t in too much trouble. He gave a snort of a laugh and dropped a kiss to her head. “Can we go back to the dancing now please? And I need another beer, that ass hole spilt mine.” “Is it time for tequila yet?” Bonnie asked, offering Fliss a drink of her beer. Fliss took a sip, shaking her head

“I swore after last time I would never drink that shit again.”

“But that was a lie, right?” Bonnie looked at her as she passed her pint back over.

“Yup, a very big lie…” Fliss agreed, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

So they did their tequila. Several shots of to be intact and spent the rest of the night wandering stage to stage, lapping up the atmosphere. Frank kept a close eye on his girl who seemed none the worse for her encounter as she danced the night away with him and Bonnie, the 2 of them disappearing at one point for a walk around the various stalls that were around the outside, coming back with a packet of interlocking glow sticks which they proceeded to activate and make head wear out of.

Will Smith took to the stage at about 10 pm and Frank was beside himself with laughter as Fliss reverted to some kind of school kid. She seemed to know every single word to every goddamned song he had, and when it came to Men In Black she launched expertly into the dance routine that half the crowd were doing, in time to the video showing behind the stage. Simon and Jake tried to copy her before they both gave up and when she finished she turned around and Frank raised his beer to her and she bowed, as they all laughed. Deciding that they didn’t want to stay for the after party, considering they knew it was going to be a really late one the next evening, instead they agreed to head down to the beach. They managed to find a guy who was walking round with a cool box selling beer and they bought 2 bottles each, for twice the price they should be but, whatever…

When in Miami…

As they walked across the sand, Frank looped his arm round Fliss’ shoulder whilst they weaved themselves through the various mini-parties which seemed to be going on as people were set up all over with small fires, beer, drinks and music playing. Frank had a sneaking suspicion half of them were probably intending on sleeping there too. Eventually they found a clear spot and flopped down onto the sand, under the illumination of one of the boardwalk lights and then Simon stood up, heading over to a group of teenagers sat a bit to their right.

“What’s he doing?” Greg asked.

“I think he’s reverse bootlegging.” Jake said and Frank gave a snort of laughter.

“What?” Fliss frowned, “What’s that?” “Instead of selling alcohol to underage kids he’s buying it off them, look.” Frank said, nodding to him. Fliss watched as Simon slipped one of the kids a twenty and took the bottle of vodka he was offering to them, raising it up as he walked back.

“What the fuck man?” Greg snorted “That’s…”

“Shameful.” Jake nodded before he chuckled, shaking his head. “I love it.” With a grin Simon dropped down next to Bonnie, standing the bottle of vodka up in the middle of the circle they seemed to have made as Fliss sat between Frank’s legs, leaning back against his chest. His spare hand ran up and down the outside of her thigh softly as they all sat chatting about the evening, comparing their best bits and what they were looking forward to tomorrow evening. Eventually, someone, Frank wasn’t sure who, decided that they should play Never Have I Ever, and Fliss eagerly agreed, jumping in with the first question.

“Ok, never have I ever driven a boat…” Fliss smirked.

“What, that’s a crap one!” Frank snorted “Everyone here’s probably driven one…including you.”

“Nope…”

“Bullshit!” he snorted “On our first date, and several times since…”

“I sailed it Frankie, I didn’t drive it…”

He paused for a moment and then looked up as everyone in the circle grinned.

“She’s right man…” Simon conceded “I sailed mine too…” “And me…”

“And me…”

“Oh fuck you!” Frank spluttered as they all laughed at him. Fliss handed him the bottle, which he took from her with a glare taking a mouthful. Fucking hell, he could tell it was cheap as it burnt like paint stripper as he swallowed, wincing.

That was basically the way the game went. Each trying to deliberately catch everyone else out. Simon caught Jake spectacularly, forcing him to reveal a tale about how he got locked out of a hotel room, naked on the balcony and climbed down 2 storeys to go and get a spare key from reception, Simon repeatedly got Bonnie on a number of occasions before Frank caught Fliss out with the tale of how she had once called her University Lecturer “Daddy.” by mistake.

“Ok, Never have I ever…” Fliss paused, before a wicked grin spread on her face and she looked at Frank “Called anyone else’s name during sex.”

“Oh God…” Frank heard Bonnie mumble from where she was sat, but before he could even open his mouth to call Fliss an ass hole, he saw Greg reaching for the bottle.

“No WAY!” Fliss spluttered, looking at Greg “What? When!”

“I was about 21…” Greg said, scrunching up his face. “I was in bed with a girl and, well, I called her mom’s name.” The entire group fell silent before Jake, Frank and Simon all let out a roar of laughter, and Fliss snorted, grinning from ear to ear.

“That’s…impressive.” Frank nodded as Greg put the bottle down and Fliss picked it up and handed it to Frank. Everyone turned their attention to him as he narrowed his eyes and grabbed it from her.

“Spill.” Simon pointed at him.

“I err, well…look, it…” Frank stuttered over his words “I was…look we don’t need to discuss this…” he said, knocking back the vodka and avoiding Bonnie’s eyes, shaking his head “I plead the 5th.” There were various groans around the group but when they realised Frank wasn’t going to budge Greg shrugged, calling him a pussy, and picked the next category.

“Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex.” he said, with a raised eyebrow. Both Fliss and Bonnie moved for the bottle at the same time, and the boys all cheered.

“Was it each other?” Simon grinned “Please tell me it was…” “Ok,no…that…” Frank began to protest, hiccupping slightly. “That would be weird…”

“No it wasn’t each other.” Bonnie grinned at Simon “I was 17, playing spin the bottle and had to kiss this girl called Eva…” “And that’s it?” Simon asked.

“Yeah…” she nodded, taking a drink from the bottle before she passed it to Fliss.

“Spill…” Frank instructed her, his hand on her hip where she was still nestled in between his legs.

“I was 19…and, yeah, well, I experimented” she shrugged. “A few times…”

“Wait, there was…” Frank looked at her as she turned her head to grin at him “You did more than kiss?”

“For me to know and you to find out Sailor…” she winked. Well fuck me!

Another 15 minutes or go they’d exhausted the bottle of vodka and decided to call it a night. Bonnie was faring the worst out of them all, her and Simon walking a little behind everyone as he kept his arm round her to keep her steady. Frank noticed Fliss was remarkably with it considering what they’d drunk, but then for such a small person she did have quite a high tolerance, and she’d drunk a hell of a lot of water as well.

At the hotel they bid everyone goodnight and headed up to their room where Fliss decided she needed to shower to get rid of all the glitter and sand and sweat from dancing. Frank was inclined to agree so let her go first, swapping over after 10 minutes or so with an exchange of a soft kiss in the bathroom doorway. By the time Frank got out of the shower Fliss was sat cross legged on the large bed dressed in a camisole and boy-shorts set which was white with multi-coloured polka dots on it. It was the set he had bought her for Valentine’s Day, along with a set of baby-pink lace underwear. He loved seeing her in lace, but there was something about the lounge sets like the one she was wearing now that gave her an innocence, made her look so comfy and so settled that he adored seeing her wearing them around the house and to bed…even if they didn’t stay on long.

She grinned up at him as he smiled, crossing to drop a kiss on her head.

“You raid the minibar?” he asked, nodding to the packet of chips she had ripped open.

“Yeah.” she shrugged “Figured fuck it, why not?” “Well…”he crossed the room and opened the fridge which was under the TV unit “In for a penny…” he pulled two beers out, popped the tops and passed her one.

“Don’t you think we’ve had enough?”

“Can you see straight?”

“Yeah…”

“Then no.” he said and she laughed, taking it from him.

“You’re a bad man Frank Adler.” “I try.” he quipped. She shook her head, smiling before she reached for her phone which had just gone off. Frank whipped the towel from around his waist and stepped into a clean pair of boxers before he roughly dried his hair.

“Bonnie says her and Simon are hitting the beach during the day tomorrow…do you fancy it?” “Sure.” he nodded, dropping to the bed, laying down on his side, propping himself up on his elbow as he reached for a Dorito.

“At least I think that’s what this message says. ‘Going to the Bitch…’ I mean that’s gotta be beach huh?”

Frank snorted as Fliss scrunched up the empty chip bag and tossed it across the room where it settled just besides the bin. They both looked at it for a second before Fliss shrugged. ”She was trashed.”

“I’m not surprised.” Fliss said, moving to toss her phone onto the night table before she too settled on her side, facing Frank, elbow on the pillow “Simon was deliberately asking questions in that game where he knew she’d have to drink…” “Oh and you weren’t…” he looked at Fliss who shrugged, grinning cheekily “Never have I ever called anyone else’s name during sex, I mean seriously! She was right there!”

“I know, which is what made it so funny.” “Funny is not the word I would use…” “Oh whatever, and as if Greg has done that too!” she said, chuckling as she also settled on her side “He’s a dark horse…” “So are you…” he looked at her taking a long drink of his beer. “In fact….I think you need to tell me more about these lesbian encounters you experienced whilst experimenting aged 19."

"They weren't proper lesbian encounters, I was teasing you...."

"I don't care, make em up." He said and she let out a laugh.

"If I do will it get me something nice?" she grinned.

"Something very, very nice." He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Fliss grinned and then launched into a clearly made up bullshit story about some girl called Candy and Frank completely zoned out. He was simply too caught up concentrating on the childish, teasing expression on her face as she spoke. Her eyes were shining in the dim light of the room as she talked and grinned in the same manner she had been doing all night. Not even the encounter with that asshole’s brother has dampened her spirit. She was just enjoying herself, freely. And so was he. She said she couldn't remember the last festival or concert she had been to, and Frank had admitted the same. It had to have been easily 10 years ago. It felt good to be recapturing that part of their lives they had both given up (albeit for very different reasons) and making new memories together that he knew would last a lifetime.

A lifetime...huh, how about that?

He zoned back in just in time to hear Fliss' very risqué story telling, and dropped his head with a sight that was half laugh, half groan at her filthy tale.

"...and her thighs were so strong, it was ridiculous, my ears were squashed so hard, I felt like my head was in a vice. Still, I managed to-"

"Ok..." he said, taking her beer off her and setting it down on his nightstand along with his, before he leaned over Fliss, caging her with his arms "I'm getting kinda jealous...and a bit turned on...it’s very confusing.

“You asked…” she muttered as his face dropped her hers.

“Yeah, I did…” his lips brushed against hers “And I promised you something nice…” “Very,very nice…” Fliss said, her hands sliding up his arms to his shoulder.

“Well, I’m a man of my word…” he grinned, lips pressing to hers harder this time in a soft, deep kiss which he pulled away from and ran his nose against hers. “Turn over…”

“What?” she looked at him, her eyes widening slightly.

“You trust me?”

“Of course I do…” “Then turn over…”

She took a deep breath, and looked at him and he looked straight back, fully understanding what she was thinking. He’d never asked her to do that before. “Lissy, I promise I’m not gonna hurt you.” “I know you’re not…” she shook her head, before she bit her lip and he moved back so she could turn over onto her stomach. With gently finger tips he brushed her hair off her shoulders, sweeping it to one side gently dropping soft kisses down her neck as his hands traced down to her hips. He gently grasped her top and she moved to allow him to slide it up and over.

The sheets on the bed rustled slightly as he moved downwards, pressing his lips to the small of her back, watching her reaction carefully as he saw her fingers clutching softly at the pillow. He continued his affections, lips and hands exploring every part of the soft skin on her back until he was fully led over her, thighs bracketing hers, his mouth gently sucking at that spot behind her ear that drove her wild. And right on cue she let out a low groan and he felt his groin twitch at the noise. Fliss could feel his hardness against her back and as his teeth gently grazed her ear she felt her spine arch slightly.

He moved away, and his hand gently slid to grasp at the hem of her shorts, and she tilted her hips up slightly so he could pull them down, hurriedly departing with his own boxers before he resumed his previous position.

“You good?” he asked her softly and she nodded in response.

With gentle hands he reached down between her legs to finding her hot and wet for him already. At his touch she arched her back again. Frank let out a grin and moved slightly so he could part her thighs with his knee. Repositioning himself, he led flat, his arms sliding up hers so he could lace his fingers with hers, palms resting on the backs of her hands and he gently pushed into her, the pair of them giving a groan at the feeling and tightness of this angle. He gently thrust, his chest sliding up over her back, and she moved ever so slightly with him, her head tilted back slightly and she turned her face towards his where he caught her mouth in a slow, sloppy kiss. Frank continued his languid, deep movements, listening to the quickening of her breath and eventually he felt her hips beginning to rise in slow circles, her whimpers increasing.

He gently knelt up, and pulled her hips so she was perched on her knees, pushing into her slowly, deeply, letting her get used to the position that they’d never tried before because Frank knew it wasn’t one she had good memories of but right now, her body was relaxed and she was giving him everything. His hand reached up and he traced down her spine before he leaned over and placed another soft kiss on her neck before he moved and grasped at her hips again, his pace gently quickening, a low moan escaping his mouth as Fliss pushed back onto him, wordlessly telling him she wanted more. He thrust forwards again and again, pulling her back onto him at the same time, his eyes focussed on where they were joined, the sight of him sliding in and out of her made him moan with desire.

“Don’t stop…” he heard her half pant, half whisper and he picked up the pace ever so slightly, leaning over to gently nip at the back of her neck, causing her to shudder, a deep growl rumbled in his chest as her walls briefly squeezed around him.

“Fuck, baby…” he groaned as her hands clutched at the bed sheets whilst he buried himself deep inside of her stilling for a moment.

“Frankie…” she whined and squirmed as she turned to look at him over her shoulder. Once glance at his clenched jaw and she knew he was trying to fight back his high as he picked up his previous movements, just a little bit faster. She was close, quietly moaning his name as she dropped her head back down, forehead against the pillows, her spine arching as he continued to thrust.

Frank groaned again “Come on sweetheart...” his voice deeper like it always was when he was in the throes of desire, “let go for me.” He rolled his hips forwards, five or six more times before she was done.

“Fuck, Frank, I…” she let out a broken cry as her core spasmed again and again and her entire body trembled as a loud lament spilled from her lips. He was done himself, and with a groan of her name his relief washed over him with an intensity he couldn’t even begin to describe.

Fliss collapsed forward and Frank tumbled with her, his chest onto her back, his weight crushing her in the best way possible for a second ot two before he rolled onto his side. Reaching out, his hand gently across her bare back as Fliss face, which was pressed into the pillow turned to face him.

He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss, brushing her hair off her face.

“Okay…” she mumbled, nodding at him “I’ll concede. That was very, very nice…”

******* “You behaving?” Frank asked Mary as he and Fliss lay in bed the next morning, the phone held at arms-length so they could both see her.

“Yeah, of course…” Mary rolled her eyes “Bill took me to the yard last night and Joanne helped me tack Monty up and then Bill walked round the field with us so the dogs could have a run and it was awesome!”

“When I get back we’ll do the full trail ride.” Fliss smiled at her “Takes a good hour, we can go one evening before it gets dark.”

“Cool!” Mary grinned, bending down and then suddenly Fred’s bemused face filled the screen. Frank snorted as he was instructed to say hi to Fred, which he did, before the cat settled down on Mary’s lap and she continued to chat to him about what she had done the night before…which was basically staying up until gone midnight with Bill watching Harry Potter in the movie room.

Eventually they got her to pass the phone over to Verity, who assured Frank she was no trouble, and then they cut the call and decided to get up and head down for breakfast to meet everyone.

The day was spent lazily on the beach. Fliss hardly moved at all, simply soaking up the sun as Frank and Simon continuously brought her and Bonnie a supply of drinks as the man remained by the bar at the top of the sand.

“I gotta ask…”Bonnie said, turning to look at Fliss “And tell me to shut up if I’m outta line but yesterday, that guy Frank looked like he wanted to kill…who was he? Simon says he’s never seen Frank that angry…” “Oh, err…” Fliss rubbed her head “It was my ex-husbands brother, he was being an ass hole.” “Oh.” Bonnie frowned “I take it you don’t get along…nasty break up?” “You could say that…” Fliss said, taking a sip of her drink, tapping the straw lightly on her lips. “John…my ex…he er…he used to beat me. Badly. He’s actually in prison, well, for how long we don’t know as he had his parole hearing about 4 weeks ago so..” “Oh shit…” Bonnie dropped her gaze “Sorry, I didn’t…” “It’s ok.” Fliss said, waving off the usual apologies that came when she told someone about her past.

There was a moment of silence before Bonnie sat up and looked at Fliss.

“Wanna go for a dip?”

Fliss glanced at her, then down to the ocean and grinned, nodding.

Yelling to the boys to watch their stuff they headed down to the waves, Fliss happily diving straight in, simply allowing herself to float. She was calm, relaxed, and couldn’t remember a time she’d ever felt so happy before.

Eventually, it hit 5pm and Fliss was hungry. So they decided to pack up, grab a bite from the bar and then go change ready for the evening. Fliss had to smile as she saw Frank and the rest of the boys stood at a table by the beach bar all clutching pints and laughing. He was dressed in a pink shirt, black shorts with a baseball cap on the wrong way, glasses shielding his eyes.

“I never realised what an overgrown Frat Boy I’m dating.” Fliss mumbled to Bonnie who snorted as they made their way up the wooden boardwalk, beach bags in their hand.

“Hey pretty girl.” Frank smiled as Fliss slid under his arm, reaching for his pint. With a roll of his eyes he watched as she took a huge drink. “You know if you want one I’ll get you one…” “Tastes better when it’s someone else’s.” Fliss shrugged.

“Yeah, why is that?” Bonnie asked.

“Because it’s stolen.” Simon looked at her “Well known fact, forbidden fruit just tastes better.”

Fliss went again for Frank’s drink and he jerked it out of her reach “Piss off, look, here…” he said, reaching into his pocket and handing her his wallet “Go to the bar.” She grinned and dropped a kiss to his lips, turning away, Bonnie following.

“Dude you’re so whipped.” Jake snorted at him.

“Yeah, I don’t much care.” Frank shrugged, burping slightly as he looked at Fliss, taking in her appearance. Her hair was falling around her face and down her back in a mass of long, messy salt and sand tangled waves and she was wearing a pink crochet slip over her black bikini. He would happily admit he was well under her spell and that she could whip him all she fucking wanted to.

They grabbed a bite to eat, headed back, changed and made their way to the park for their second night of music. It went much the same as the night before, Bonnie and Fliss taking off on their own adventures, and Frank keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of John’s fucker of a brother, but he didn’t see him.

By the time Liam Gallagher came onto the stage, Fliss was drunk. And so was he. But it didn’t stop her from going wild. Once again she knew every single word to every single song and when he launched into Rock and Roll Star she started pogoing like a person possessed. Mind you, so was everyone else on the dance floor in front of the stage, so Frank joined in. He quite liked this song and, well, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em…

He ended the set with Live Forever, Frank’s favourite song that he had done and Fliss sighed happily.

“He’s sooo good!” she said, “Why does he have to go?”

“Because his set has finished.” “But why?” “Because it has!” Frank laughed “He’s been on for almost an hour and it’s 1 am!”

“Hey, Liss, don’t worry…” Bonnie hiccupped “Hot Dub starts in 20…just enough time for a drink…” “Yes…” Fliss agreed, pointing at her. “But I think I need some water too.”

“Pussy…” Frank looked at her and she narrowed his eyes at him.

“I’ll carry on drinking beer if you want, but you’ll be clearing up my puke later.” He snorted and held his hands up, palms out “Water it is.” Hot Dub Time Machine was surreal. He was on for about an hour and took them through a load of the best party songs from the 60s right through to the present day. One minute Frank was doing the Twist and Shout with Fliss, and the next they were all in a circle air-guitaring to Immigrant Song by Led Zep.

By the time they left the park it was almost half 2 in the morning and Fliss decided that she didn’t want to walk and insisted Frank give her a piggy back. He rolled his eyes but crouched down and she took a jump onto his back as he carried her the 10 minutes or so back to the hotel, Simon groaning at him as Bonnie kept complaining he wouldn’t carry her.

“You’re showing me up, dude!” he glared at Frank who simply shrugged as Fliss smirked.

“I like riding him.” She hiccupped, as everyone burst into laughter and Frank shook his head as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“You’re a fucking nightmare” he sniggered and she shrugged.

*****

The next morning everyone was feeling the effects of a heavy weekend, and Frank was pleased that they had the late check out option. Eventually, after dragging themselves out of bed they managed to shower, pack up and head down to check out. There was another argument about who was paying for the room, this time Fliss winning as she put her foot down telling him he was paying for New York and that she really wanted to pay for this. She’d told Frank before about John never letting her have any financial control over anything and Frank knew that it meant a lot to her so he relented, and instead bought them brunch before they set off home.

They got back in time for a roast dinner, and then they headed back to the annex to watch a film, Fliss crashing out halfway through. She left them to it and headed to bed and was flat out by the time Frank made his way upstairs.

“I can’t believe you got the day off!” She moaned at him over breakfast on the Monday morning.

“I can’t believe you didn’t” he shot back

“I can’t…clients and stuff.” She pouted, biting into her toast before she groaned again. “I’m too old for partying all weekend…I can’t hack it anymore.” Frank snorted and took a sip of his coffee before Fliss grinned at him. “Can we go again next year?”

Frank laughed “The Circle Of Truth have already decided it’s going to be an annual thing from now on.” he said, standing up and with a kiss to her head he moved to the stairs yelling for Mary to get a wiggle on. She came down the stairs, Fred and Thor following before she ate her cereal and then Frank bustled her out of the door to drop her off for the last Monday of the school term.

Wednesday lunchtime, however, their happy little bubble burst.

Frank was actually in the sales part of the shop, discussing the benefits of different types of engines with a customer, having been asked to give some advice. He spotted Fliss’ jeep pulling up and as soon as she climbed out and turned towards him, he could tell from her face what was going on.

“Excuse me for just one second.” He politely told the customer, and glancing at his boss he jerked his head towards Fliss. His boss, a nice enough guy called Andy, knew vaguely what was going on and nodded in understanding as Frank stepped outside.

“Baby?” he asked tentatively as Fliss stopped in front of him.

“He did it.” she whispered softly, stepping into his arm, pressing her face into his chest. “He made parole. They let the fucker out.”

**** Chapter 18

#riding high #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #gifted #gifted fan fic

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lokigodofaces · 3 years

Text

list of variants/timelines i want to believe exist (and probably canonically do now)

this got long so i'm putting in a cut

a world where all of the events that happened in the Framework are real

bonus if the Framework world has their own version of the Framework that is like the real world in aos

Steve fell off the train, not Bucky. bc of the crap Zola did to Bucky, he survives in ice and well, and everything happens the same but Steve and Bucky's roles are reversed

Coulson doesn't bother to keep it a secret that he's alive, and the mcu is mainly just aos but with all the main characters as well (in other words, there's mainly good writing)

also in that world Steve and Bucky love Lola

Steve doesn't go back in time to live with Peggy

to all the people claiming aos isn't canon: Sylvie just made everything canon y'all. aos absolutely happened, and while i will argue that it happened in the main timeline, if you don't want to believe that it still happened in a timeline

Bucky didn't remember Steve soon enough, not until he killed Steve

Steve killed the Winter Soldier and didn't know who it was until he removed the mask

Hydra didn't hunt down Jiaying and by extent Daisy, so Daisy was raised by Jiaying and Cal who are not crazy bc they didn't have the same experiences they did in the main timeline

Thor never takes the others to Jotunheim, so Loki never learns he is Jotun

Fitz didn't survive almost drowning

Ward wasn't recruited by Garrett, but by literally any non-Hydra agent so he is a good guy

Coulson and May listened to the agent telling them to not send May in at Bahrain, heaven knows what happens there

the government gives the Avengers more than a week to go through the Accords, so they all get to the enhanced-people-have-to-wear-trackers, giant-underwater-prison, enhanced-operatives-can't-investigate-politicians, no-trial-for-enhanced, no-investigation-for-enhanced, etc sections so they all decide to not sign and just don't care what the government says

this is random, but i feel like Bucky as Ghost Rider would be a cool aesthetic.

the Avengers meet Robbie bc he keeps assassinating their targets bc they're targets of Ghost Rider's

Daisy dies instead of Lincoln

Daisy kills Lash before he can save her

Loki never "dies," so he is sent back to Asgardian prison after tdw

Radcliffe never reads the Darkhold, he just gave it to AIDA, so most of s4 doesn't happen

Dreykov comes after Natasha between Avengers and CACW, leading to the Avengers beating his *ss (like Yelena said, the god from space doesn't need an ibuprofen after a fight)

everything's the same but no Joss Whedon going on and on about Natasha not being able to have kids

whatever ship scenario you have is canon now

Loki gets all panicky after the Hulk beats him to a pulp, having now realized what he's done. Thor believes him, and this leads to Thanos being killed in 2012-13

Deadpool sits in the back of everything, shouting comments like "Yay! Superhero landing! But don't do that, it's bad for your knees!"

Peter Parker's parents never die

the Cavalry is an Avenger

Yondu brings Peter Quill to Ego, causing the universe's destruction

Gamora and Nebula get along their entire lives

Gamora and Nebula switch roles (Gamora becomes the cyborg, Nebula the guardian and Thanos's favorite daughter)

Heimdall actually bothers to look for Loki, seeing if they can find his body for a funeral, to find that he is being tortured by Thanos. Odin refuses to send anyone to save him, making Thor realize just how awful he is. Thor, Sif, and Warriors 3 go with the help of Heimdall to save Loki

Odin and Frigga are actually good parents, creating the most iconic trio ever

tw suicide for the next bullet point

Bucky commits suicide between TWS and CACW (Sebastian said in an interview once that Bucky was suicidal)

Loki keeps coming back as DB Cooper for fun or bc he keeps losing bets

the Eternals did interfere

the shrapnel kills Tony

this one thing i made about Mr Rogers adopting Loki

Robbie is part of the Avengers in 2012, but when he sees Loki he immediately says that Loki isn't the issue and goes off to fight Thanos single handedly (and wins)

for whatever reason Coulson and May do legally adopt all the Bus Kids

Hunter and Bobbi both go to break Fitz out of prison, and they stick around for the rest of the season

Fitz and Jemma never meet (saddest of sad days)

Loki for some reason is in FFH and he sees Mysterio's illusions and just laughs bc he's such an amateur

everything's the same, everyone's just obsessed with classical music and it's constantly playing so i get happy watching it

Asgardians are like the elves in LOTR (books, not the movies), so they're constantly singing and dancing and all

Loki is shown playing a Norse flute-like instrument (we know they exist, we've found them, they're different than your typical flute and we don't really know how they sound but i want Loki to be a flautist and no i'm not not projecting (note the double negative) and yes i headcanon Loki to be a flautist i don't care what anyone says)

everyone gets therapy

someone (Monica or Jimmy) hits Hayward on the head, knocking him out (the same way Gandalf knocked out Denethor in ROTK when Denethor told everyone to flee) and the rest of SWORD works with them because clearly Hayward has issues

Stephen commits to not texting and driving

somehow Luis becomes He Who Remains just for one timeline so the entire story is told like how he tells his flashbacks

Coulson doesn't help Fury and Carol escape

T'Challa does not survive and M'Baku becomes Black Panther

the suit in Iron Man 3 is not garbage the entire movie

Tony doesn't find a way to save himself in time

Ross dies in Incredible Hulk

Loki has a pet flerken he just always carries around

by the same logic, Bucky has a kitten he meets between TWS and CACW that he always carries around. said kitten attacks people when they attack Bucky

Bucky becomes Captain America instead of Sam

when Thor goes back to 2013 Asgard, he drags Loki with him back to 2023

Clint tests the time travel by going to Sokovia and drags Pietro back with him

Steve comes back an old man, but they use Bruce's attempt at time travel to turn him back into the 30 something Steve he was

literally anything happens other than Thanos killing Loki bc Loki only used knives when he isn't even tall enough to reach Thanos's neck

Sam and Bucky straight up kill Walker

Daisy never goes through terrigenesis

Loki somehow ends up a tutor for Daisy

Bucky joins the aos team after they find him on the run from Hydra

Bucky plays baritone saxophone bc bari saxes are awesome and it adds nothing to the plot but he spends at least half an hour in each movie playing bari sax

everything's the same but John Williams is the composer

S.H.I.E.L.D. uses GH-325 to revive a bunch of composers (Mozart, Dvorak, Beethoven, Bach, Bizet, Holst, y'know, all my guys) because they for whatever reason have their bodies because of some wack mission. and now they have a bunch of classical composers alive who insist on writing more music. and what are you going to do, tell Bach to stop composing?

by that same logic, someone working at the Guest House decides to steal Freddie Mercury's body so that they can revive him bc he just loves Queen that much

Thor realizes how awful Odin is and makes it his goal to get revenge for what Odin did to his little brother

Thor meets a bunch of Loki variants (most notably gator Loki) and just decides to stop questioning anything ever

Mobius teaches Loki how to ride a jet ski

Loki arrives at S.H.I.E.L.D. and informs everyone he wants to go to school and learn about politics and run for president and S.H.I.E.L.D. is like "okay whatever just don't tell anyone you're a literal god" but have no way to stop Loki from telling anyone

y'know the "shot heard 'round the world" thing from the Battle of Lexington (first battle in American revolution, if you don't know what it is, we have no clue who made the first shot & both sides were telling their troops to not fire. once that shot was fired the battle broke out)? yeah well that was Loki i'm pretty sure

Loki comes to Earth and becomes an Avenger and all but only ever introduces himself as DB Cooper. Thor doesn't ever come to Earth, so everyone just thinks DB Cooper found the secret to not age and just showed up to save people. he disappears for stretches of time & everyone stops being confused bc he was in hiding for decades of course no one's gonna find him (he is actually on Asgard)

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slashingdisneypasta · 3 years

Text

Classic Heavy x OnPeriod!Reader || Oneshot

Title: Period Horniness Mixed With Boredom and a Busy Boyfriend?

Notes:

Please let me know if I haven't used AFAB correctly! I just didn't want to back y’all into too small a corner. So, this is meant to be ‘Reader who gets periods’. Could be a cis female, transitioning trans female, gender-neutral or agender person with a vagina, etc. Just, provided you have a vagina.

I know he isn't on the list but I wanted to try someone new! I don't play TF2 but I’ve read what there is of the comics! I loved them! ^^

Plot: So...

You decided that it was a good idea to sext Chevy.

Warnings: SMUT (Penis in Vagina). Period sex (He licks it once but that’s it in the way of blood to mouth), dirty talk, Daddy kink, dirty names, etc. *Cough* Creampie also. Lets hope videogame characters cant procreate or contract STD’s. I meant for it to be nasty smut, but due to my lack of experience and fluff brain I dunno if it actually is 😅 So beware.

~~~

As you are bored out of your mind and reading smuts (Dean Winchester. Beetlejuice. Herman Carter. Oh boy), causing your libido to get even more aggressive in your current hormonal state, you shrink down further into the couch cushions and groan from pain.

Not from cramps; You don’t get them as bad as others anymore, thank god (And besides, you have a hot water bottle underwear your shirt and the top of your sweats), but from the fact that your very huge, very hot and very lusty boyfriend is stuck in a meeting elsewhere!! Pouting, you drop your phone onto your chest and drop your head to the side, staring at the ceiling.

You sigh.

Ross, on the other couch across from you, rolls his head to the side and puts down his magazine to raise his bushy brows at you. “What is yer problem??”

“Hm,” You sigh again. “Nothing... “

As Ross looks back at his Lifestyle you get an idea, a cheeky smile slowly skidding across your lips as you peak down at your phone on your chest. Ooooh... Snatching up the phone, you open up Chevy’s message tab and start tapping out a text. “Heheh... “

You: Hey Chev. If you could do anything to me and I h a d to say yes, what would you do?

Then quickly you turn off the phone and set it back in its place screen down on your chest. You wonder, what would he say if he responded? What would you really agree to?

... actually lets not wonder that. We may scare ourselves. Lets just say; Much.

A few minutes later your phone buzzes and you take a moment, calming your nerves and your excitement before you pick it up and open the messages again.

Chevy: Ohhh, I wouldn’t go there sweet bottom. Very, very busy right now.

Chewing on your thumb nail, you grin broadly at the screen and wonder even more what he’s thinking.

You: What should I do while I wait for you then? If you’re so busy I’ll be so wet when you get here...

You: Already am pretty soaked actually. I tried to handle it myself. . .

Okay, this is the great thing about Chevy, realise. You can say whatever you like, sex-wise, and you wont ever be embarrassed. Because you know he’s always up to fuck, and he’s usually thinking about it first.

Chevy: Oh, are you just teasing me or are you gonna send proof? This is a dangerous game your playing princess/prince.

Oh dear. You cant send proof! How can you deflect this? “Ahh... “ Thinking as you look around the room, muttering in a panic ‘Um. Um. Um. Um-’, “OH!” You hop up from the couch and duck behind it, pull the front of your shirt forward and quickly snap a picture of your chest, before fixing your clothes and jumping back onto the couch, laying on your back again. Cheeks rosy from the adrenaline. Ross looks confused at you, nose scrunched up and beard askew, but you just waive him off and send the picture. You don’t type anything this time.

“Squirrely... “ Ross mutters in annoyance, shaking his head back at his reading material.

Your phone buzzes again and you try to keep a straight face as you read the block of text, and watch the attachment, the bottom half of your face hidden comfortably behind the collar of your shirt to hide your frazzled-ness.

Chevy: Baby, you know that’s not what I meant... But look what its done to me. Devil person.

*Chevy Attached: A video of his lap shifting, and there’s a slight bulge in his black pants.

Eyes wide at the video he must’ve taken on the sly under the table, of his gently growing prominence, as he shifts to get more comfortable with it. Its just enough movement for you to imagine it thrusting onto your aching section and it makes you hide even more of your face under your shirt. “Jesus... “ This may have been a bad idea.

Bad I cant stop.

You: I love that

Chevy: I know

*Chevy Attached: A picture of his grinning face from below, looking off assumedly to the slideshow or whatever they’re being shown in that meeting.

Why is that cocky, mischievous look on his face, which some (Including yourself sometimes) would call an asshole look, hotter then the outline of his huge, ever loving cock?? It just doesn't add up!

This is becoming a cruel, and unusual form of torture. You’ve never tried sexting before today, and you regret it.

Ohhh, god. You wish he was here! Closing your eyes for a moment and furrowing your eyebrows from frustration and longing, you shamelessly imagine how Chev would lead you to the nearest empty room with a door (Any room. Laundry? Kitchen? Your room? His? Someone else's?? It wouldn’t matter to him, and by the time he got your favourite weapon of his out you wouldn't either. At least, that’s the way things were the last time you checked.) push your body against the wall and thrust his cock deep into you as he plays torturously with your front with his huge hands...

And it wouldn't be hard. You’re already totally slick, with blood and slick.

Oh, god. You love that he’s there for period sex.

As you imagined, you had let your head fall to the side slowly relaxing. And, as you imagined further, fantasising about your orgasm building up and feeling your pussy ache for pressure in real life you start to hear h e a v y footsteps coming towards this room in the hall.

Just as you realise that your knight in shining cargo has come you snap your eyes open and there that man is, standing behind the couch above you, jaw taught. You cant see his lower section due to the back of the couch obscuring your view but a broad grin rips across your lips anyway at the speediness of his arrival and the forcefulness - in other words, desperation, - in his face. You immediately, kind of hilariously, yank out the hot water bottle from your clothes. “Well, hi there!- Oh,”

He just leans down, fixes his ginormous, manly hands around your waist and plucks you off the couch with ease, literally throwing you over his shoulder - your ass by his head, - and starts walking with just as much force as he came towards the exit. Oh, here we go...

Your pussy sings at the pressure of his broad shoulder pressing against it, and bumping against it as he walks, and you would be embarrassed by that but instead you just promise it that its going to get its real treat, real soon.

“Baby girl/boy, you’ve been a real, desperate, whore.” Cheavy growls out as he finds a room and turns on his heel, getting you both inside and kicking the door hard closed. You take that as a sign of how hard he’s about to fuck you, tingling with excitement. He lifts you off his shoulder and plops you down on the washing machine - or dryer? You don’t know. You just know its on, and its sending delicious vibrations through your core, - making you moan at the sudden, total attention to your cunt. But you’re also occupied sitting still, caught in his stern, smirking expression. “I really shouldn't reward you for behaviour like that, kid.”

Knitting your eyebrows together and shifting forward on the machine, opening your legs so he can nestle himself between them and running your hands around his neck so you can guide him forward you whine. Simping. “You don’t want to leave either, though, do you... ?” You smirk slyly.

“Right.” He smirks back, even more mischievously then you. It makes you wonder, and your pussy yearn. “That’s why I’m doing this for me.” One of those hands, your favourite hands in the entire world (Well apart from that of those who fight for minorities rights every day *Sit com wink into the camera*. ) moves between the two and latches onto your mound, making you jolt forwards into it as he cups and massages it. His hand perfectly cups it, too. Palm big enough to press against the lips, thumb strong enough at the top to rub up and down the top and the rest of his fingers just warm it all up. “Are you gonna be an obedient, disgusting little cock sleeve?” Caught in his gaze, and almost too turned on to respond, you stay still for a moment, thighs just clamping around his hand.

Almost.

Quickly, when he stops his movements on your core you nod fervently. “Yes! Yes, I am.”

“Hmmm?” He tilts his head, looking down as he unbuttons your jeans and makes your breath hitch as dips a thick finger past your underwear, into you and immediately takes it up again to his lips to taste, smirking at your stupefied expression. Blood... he just... tasted... your... He does this every time you two engage in period sex, just to see this reaction from you but you never get used to it. How does he do it?? “What do you call me when I fuck you, Y/N?”

You break yourself out of the moment, getting back to reality. “D-Daddy. Sorry. Sorry, Daddy... “

“That’s right, baby doll. I’m your Daddy, and you are... ?”

“Your amenable, disgusting little whore.” You respond obediently, like a student... yeah. A student right out of a porn video.

“Correct, now... Undo my pants now, wild cat. Somethings just begging for your aching, pretty cunt.” All too happy to do so, your hands dive down - well, not without feeling his chest up on your way down which is made so much easier as he’s just wearing a normal t-shirt instead of chest armour, - and wolfishly unzip and push down his trousers, revealing a fully, entirely enlarged and throbbing penis hidden behind worn cotton boxers. You chew on your lips as you go to pull down those, too, but Chevy chuckles and and gathers your eager hands in one his, reclaiming control that he never really lost. “Oh, not yet. I told you this was for me, didn't I?- “

“When are our carnal relations ever any different, Chev?” You ask, scrunching up your nose cheekily. Then, “Ah,”, remembering your place for the moment, you correct yourself carefully. But, you still smirk. “I mean... Daddy.”

“Get on your knees and use your mouth. You are so good at that- your best quality, really.”

Scrunching up your nose at his snark this time, scowling, you do as he says anyway hopping off the machine and coming face-to-dick.

Because you are a whore.

In this moment, at least.

And, besides; You are really, really good at this. If you do say so yourself. if you do it just right, his animal instincts will completely take over and he’ll really use you. He steps closer, feet on either side of your thighs making you crane your neck to not be motorboating his freaken balls. Pulling down his boxers, finally completely exposing his, admittedly perfect - for you, - , genitalia and sigh as you get to wrap both your hands around the girth. Its so thick. God, you love it.

I would love it a heck of a lot more if it was nailing me into the tiles right now instead of nearly poking my eye out... but there are ways we can make that happen.

Moaning, like you’re taking the first bite of a really good sandwich you take as much of his hot, leaking cock between your lips and your hot mouth. Immediately one of his hands cups the back of your head and firmly pushes you further, the girth disappearing into you until hair tickles your nose. You can only imagine how you look... and it kind of turns you on even more.

“You are the best cocksleeve, sweet’eart... “ He says, voice not betraying anything so far. You can change that.

Utilising the tip of your tongue, you begin to stroke the the bottom, all along it to the tip and you suck - gently at first, - and slipping your lips along the shaft over and over, like you’re eating an icy poll. Its a slick, spit sheening mess by the time he’s literally spilling spurts of cum into your mouth and chin, which you wipe off. Not a full orgasm, but enough to grant you what you really want. And damn, is it hot.

As you slip off of his head again, licking up the creamy substance from the very tip, guided back by his hands in your hair gently but authoritatively he lets out a loud growl at the pleasure you give him. “... Tell me, who’s your Daddy?”

You just innocently lean forward and nuzzle his thighs in response, making him shudder and get down to the floor with you. Frustratedly, like this has to happen right fucking now, Chevy lays you on your back on the cold floor and straddles you after tugging down your pants and your underwear, and shoves himself fully in you all at once.

Its an easy fit, spearing into your searing, red, mess of a hole like it can only be one time of the month and when you have sex with Chevy. He grunts, and starts absolutely thundering into you over and over, like you’re the best feeling cunt he’s every experienced. You believe it. And, because of the way he makes you feel with that gorgeous, stone-hard cock of his you hope it is really true.

The sounds that it causes you to make are completely pornographic, and can absolutely be heard outside the room. The strength he uses to pound your dripping pussy both presses your bare ass into the cold tiles of the floor and pushes you up across the ground, and you whine. So hard... “Oh my god, oh my god!!” You cant help how your legs spread as wide as possible at the thighs but your ankles press tightly to his back. You arch your back to meet him, listening to the squish sounds that come out of you and his growly, fast breathing. “So good, Chevy!!”

“What.” He says quickly, wrapping his hands around your waist to keep you still and not sliding up the floor- so his hits find their target every time with an agonising strength. Pounding your pussy in a way you wish wouldn't stop.

Pushing his chest up so you can relocate, and get a different position, making him sit and you straddle his waist, hands up his shirt and fingers spreading across his hairy chest. “I meant Daddy.”

“Yes you fucking did.”

He always gets so cranky when he’s close to blowing.

Its not a bad thing, cranky is sexy on him- provided his penis is shoved inside you.

Grinding in his lap now, you do much of the grunt work, until he cant take your torment this time and takes your waist in his hands again, lifting you and jamming you back down on his rod over and over again, until he explodes cum inside you.

The outburst fills you up completely, the funk dripping out from between your walls and around his base, dripping on the floor pink from your period causing you to see stars come too, a moment later as he slams you down on his manhood once more.

Catching your breathes, you two stay sitting there like that, letting your shared fluid ooze out of you from around him, until his cock softens totally in you. When that’s done, he lifts your body off his and sets you down on the ground away from the puddle you two made. Your legs feel shaky, your breath is hard to catch, and your pussy feels battered.

This was a good session.

Chevy seems to think so too, as he grins and picks you up again, sitting you sideways, carefully on lap. “Oh, did I do well, Daddy?” You blink innocently, happy to keep playing the game but tired.

“Mhm. As always. You’ve got the perfect cunt, baby girl/boy.”

You look up, waiting for a kiss. “Oh, hope so.” Your lips meet, finally, tongues playing together gentle. You exchange long, open mouthed kisses with each other for a while after your session, making out lazily and dining on each others tastes as desert.

#Classic Heavy x Reader #TF2 Cheavy #TF2 Cheavy x Reader #Classic Heavy #Teen Fortress 2 #TF2 Chevy #TF2 Chevy x Reader

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starkatana · 4 years

Text

Safehouse

Jason Todd x Female Reader

Red Hood x Female Reader

Summary:

Red Hood gets injured and calls you for your help. Very fluffy and sweet.

I needed fluffy and sweet after working on this angsty story.

Warning: Light swearing, mentions of marijuana

Before Reading:

Your hero name is: Black Cat

Imagine your suit to look a lot like Selina’s (Catwoman’s suit)

Since his return your relationship with Jason has been tense. You still have feelings for each other and this is your first interaction together not ending in a yelling match.

At this point in the story you two are 22/23; while at prom you were both 18 - seniors in high school about to graduate.

Thanks! And shout-out!

The prom section is inspired by this post by @geekandnerdworld

I used a prompt from this post by @writing-ideas-inc

Author’s Note:

So, here begins my various one-shots of Jason Todd/Red Hood x Reader//y/n AKA my current obsession. I may compile all of them into chronological order once everything is done. I just really wanted to write and post something. I just have too many WIP’s right now that I need to focus on.

Sorry if it's a little out of character, this is just based on my knowledge that Tumblr has given me.

Enjoy! ~<3

You received an SOS from Jason with his location. You haven’t heard from Jason in a while, but you weren’t going to ignore an SOS from him. Quickly getting dressed as Black Cat, you rush to this location. The coordinates lead you to his old orphanage; you had been here a few times before with Jason. Volunteering to hang out, teach, and play with the kids.

You parked your bike out front and carefully climbed the fence. The orphanage was warm and inviting. The upper levels of the building were dark, it was nighttime and you knew that’s where the kids slept. The downstairs, the main entrance light was on along with the outside lights. You creep up quietly to the front door and saw a note in Jason’s writing that said: ‘Back door.’

You follow your instructions and go to the back. You knock on what you remember to be the kitchen door and the friendly face of the orphanage care-taker answered.

“Black Cat.” She opened the door wider for you, “Come in.”

You nod and stepping in Jason, as Red Hood, was sitting on a chair in the kitchen.

“Cat.” Jason looked over at you, “You came.”

“Of course I came.” You walk over to him as she closes the door behind you. “Are you okay?” You ask as you instinctively begin to look over Jason’s wounds. Nothing stitches wouldn’t be able to handle. Maybe some bruising, but nothing too crazy.

“I’m fine.” He winced, “I need some help getting home. Miss wouldn’t let me leave unless someone went with me.”

She sighs. “You can stay here Ja-” the orphanage caretaker stops herself, “Red Hood.”

“No, it’s okay.” He gets up and you instinctively go to reach for him in case he falls over. “I’ll be back to get to the bottom of things, but right now, I’m going home.”

She sighs, “You heroes and your secrets. Be safe out there.”

“Always am.” He makes his way to the door, “C’mon Cat.”

You nod and follow him out, once the door shuts behind you two, he winces over.

“Jay.” You help him up.

“I’m okay.”

“C’mon, let me carry you.”

He agrees and they continue to walk.

“Thank you.”

You don’t respond knowing how much it probably took him to say that. You only smile to yourself and walk over to his motorcycle.

“I have someplace we can go to close-by that’ll be safe.”

“Okay. I’ll drive you just give me directions.”

He agrees. Getting on his bike, you put your bike in automatic drive and send it back to the Batcave knowing that Bruce’s tracking device was still set up on it. Jason gives you the key for his bike and you start it up as he sits up behind you on the bike.

“You good?” you ask.

“Better.”

Arriving at the safe house, you almost missed it because the safehouse was a flower shop. It was four stories, the fourth being a large greenhouse looking level.

“Are we at the right place?”

“Yeah.”

Jason unlocked the garage and pushed up the door, as you pushed the bike in. Inside there are a variety of flowers and arrangements. Jason led you upstairs to the third floor. He unlocks the door and gestures after you.

Walking in, it was a very open space with beautiful red brick walls and black framed windows. The apartment, if you want to call it that, had an open floor plan where the living room, dining space, and kitchen flowed into each other. It was nicely decorated with a variety of houseplants hanging around. There was a little section that dipped down with a couple of stairs and above you was a glass-paneled roof with black trim.

“How is this a safehouse?” you ask him still looking up, “There’s an entire section where the roof is glass.”

“I just said it was safe, not a safehouse.”

“I suppose. This looks like it could be one of Ivy’s lairs.”

He shrugs, “you could say that.”

“Is it?”

“I mean, making money by selling some sweet kush isn’t a bad side job.”

You let out a light chuckle, “I guess not.” You look up and around, the sky had cleared and the stars were out.

“It’s bulletproof glass.”

“I wasn’t concerned about the glass and getting caught. I was just looking at the sky.”

He nods and looks up with you, “Can I be frank?”

“No.” you shift your eyes to look at him without moving your head, “I’d like you to be Jason.”

You could practically feel him roll his eyes at you under the sliver of moonlight. “Glad to know your jokes are still terrible.”

You move your head to face him with a smile you haven’t worn in a long time, “What’s going on?”

“To be honest, when Ivy first offered me the place and I saw this brick wall and the large window roof, I could only think of you and I hoped that I’d have another chance to look at the stars with you.”

You purse your lips. That was really cute. “I don’t understand. What about Artemis?”

“You caught me. You were right, I was only with her to hurt you and make you jealous. She knew. You knew. I was only kidding myself. She broke up with me, if we were even dating, told me to quit being a little bitch and to give up my pride and go back to you.”

You don’t respond. “Where's the first aid supplies?” you ask changing the conversation.

“Bathroom.”

You nod. “You try to get out of that suit. I’ll be right back.”

Jason let out a hiss of air.

“You okay?” you ask pulling on the stitch to tighten it.

“Yeah. It just stings like a son of a bitch.”

“Always does. Okay. Take a breath and let it out slowly.

Jason listens and at the time he exhales, you make another stitch, followed by a knot. “Alright, you’re done.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” You say, “Let’s get some rest.”

“Yeah. You can have the bed.” Jason offered, “There’s only one here.”

“Does it have this view?” you gesture to the window ceiling.

“No.” he gives you a half-smile, “I can get the bed out here for you.”

“Not with the new stitches I just put in. Thanks, Jaybird, but the couch is fine for me.”

There’s a noticeable pause between you two.

“I haven’t heard that in a while.”

“Hm?”

“Jaybird, I miss it. It’s either Red or Jason now. I feel like people only call me Jaybird when they aren’t mad at me.”

It had been a while since you called him by his nickname. He was right though. Since he’s been back, you’ve been upset and always called him Jason or dickhead. In your alter egos, you either call him Red, Hood, or Red Hood. Yet, you haven’t had a real conversation with Jason in a while.

“Well, it’s been a while since we’ve had a civil conversation.”

“Yeah... why did you answer my call?”

You pause. He was right. You had no reason to answer his call. You didn’t need to answer anything. He’s been a major dick since he’s been back and you two haven’t had any positive contact. Yet all you could answer, “Why wouldn’t I?”

He pauses.

“Here’s a question for you, why call me?”

There’s another pause.

“Do you want something to sleep in? I have some spare T-shirts in the bedroom and some shorts you could tie at the waist to fit you.”

You give up the conversation. “Please.”

He leads you to the bedroom. The room screamed Jason Todd, it wasn’t a mess but it wasn’t neat either. There were a variety of books, a closed laptop, spare Red Hood helmets, and a domino mask or two.

“Here.” He gives you a clean shirt and a pair of shorts.

“Thanks.” There was a tense air between you two. You wondered if he could feel it too. There was so much to say and it just didn’t feel like the right time to say it all. “Good night, Jay.”

“Y/n,” you look at him expectantly. You weren’t sure what you wanted him to say, but you stopped to listen. “Good night.”

You smile at him and show yourself out of the bedroom. Going to close the door behind you, you take one more lingering look at Jason, who makes eye contact with you giving you a sad look. You turn away and click the door shut behind you.

After changing into his T-shirt, you don’t put on the pants, his waist was just too big for you. You go lay down on the couch. This was what Jason smelled like, it was a comforting, familiar smell. You missed it a lot. You brought it over your face, this was Jason and he was real. You stared at the stars in the sky and remembered the first time you two went star gazing, it was prom night.

You and Jason had just left the prom, went out to eat at your favorite diner, and went back to Wayne Manor. An overall perfect night. You two stayed dressed in your formal wear and made hot chocolate in the kitchen. Not wanting to call it a night just yet, you two laid on the manor’s roof watching the stars.

You two were laughing and giving each other shit.

Jason sighs and lays down next to you, “Y’know, I’ve never had a real friend before.”

“Whatever.” You roll your eyes.

“It's true!”

“Okay.” You mock, “Let me just call Roy.”

“Oooh nooo, what's Mister Bow and Arrow, what’s he gonna do?”

“Dump your ass so you definitely won’t have a ‘real friend’.”

“Then my point still stands:” you could hear the cheekiness in his voice, “I have never had a real friend.”

“Well, I am your friend, Jaybird.” You say turning your head to look at him.

Jason looks over at you with a big smile on his face.

“What?”

“I’ve also never had a girlfriend...”

You roll your eyes and shake your head looking away from him and back towards the starry sky. He’s quiet and in your peripheral vision, you could see that he was still staring at you.

“Y/n,” his fingers gently brushed against yours. Not grabbing your hand just being close. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

You look back over at Jason and swallowed hard. He was being serious. His blue eyes glimmered under the light of the moon. He had on a soft smile that he only shares with you. The time that you two spent together training, going on patrols, dancing, school, laughing, mischief-making, the short amount of time you knew Jason you couldn’t imagine your future without him.

You gently move your hand and lock your fingers with his. “Yes.”

He smiles and lifts your hand to his lips kissing the back of it. Letting his lips linger over your hand as his soft breaths tickled your skin as you stared into each other’s eyes. You never wanted this moment to end.

You hear a door click open. You sit up and Jason is walking into the main area.

“Sorry.” He says, “I was just grabbing some water.”

“No worries.”

“Can you sleep?”

“No.”

“Want some hot cocoa and watch the stars?”

“Yes.”

Jason made you some hot chocolate and took a seat on the ground while you laid on the couch. Getting into a conversation about the year. You explained to him what you tried to do, fighting through waves Joker’s men to get to him. How you wanted Joker to suffer for killing Jason. Then explaining that you were lucky when the other bat fam members showed up to save your ass.

“Then Dick went after Joker and manage to successfully beat him up. Bruce had to step in to stop him before they put Joker back in Arkham.”

“Again? When is he going to get that’ll never work?” Jason rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. We didn’t get much of a say, I was in the infirmary and the girls kidnapped me to NYC before Bruce could say anything.”

Jason was quiet before he said, “You and Dick are the only two in this family that I fucking respect. Trying to kill Joker like that. Badass. Thank you.”

You smile and finish your cocoa. He didn’t even know the half of it. “Your turn. Where were you? What did you do? What happened while you were away?”

“Recover.” he shrugged, “I was going through rehabilitation. Physical therapy. I sat around in the Lazarus Pit,” he gestured to his white tuff in front. “That’s where this came from. Don’t know why we just didn’t do that sooner.”

“And here I thought I’d never see you again. You were suffering all by yourself.”

“There was one more thing,” Jason turns around to face you, “Bruce thought it’d be a great idea to give me the letters you wrote me. I don’t know why, but I got your letters. So, I wasn’t completely alone. It was when Peter came into the picture when,” He said the next part slowly, “I…got…jealous.”

“Wait? All of them?”

“I’m assuming. He gave me a lot.”

“Oh my god!” You sat up on the couch, “I wrote so much in those.” you covered your face from embarrassment. “I didn’t think anyone was going to read them!”

“Hey.” Jason got on the couch with you and gently grabbed your hands to uncover your face, “They gave me hope that I’d see you again. Your letters made me feel like I wasn’t so alone.”

“And now I’m mad!” you took his hands back and pointed a finger in his face, “You had all of my letters! You had an idea of how I felt while you were gone! And you still pulled all that shit, Jason Peter Todd!”

“Yeah,” he held his hand up in defense, “I’m sorry. It was dumb and stupid.”

“You’re dumb and stupid.” You gently shove him away.

“I mean you’re right.”

“Stop. I don’t mean that.”

He smiles, “I think after all the shit I pulled, you can be mean to me.”

“I don’t want to be,” you sigh leaning against your arm propped up on the back of the couch, looking at him “I’m tired of fighting.”

“Me too.” He begins, “This was nice. Thank you.”

You nod and he matches your body language. Sitting in the silence of each other. It didn’t feel odd, it didn’t feel the same, it felt new. Like a door had opened where you could both move forward.

“And so you know this still stands. Reading all your letters, talking tonight again, even after me being a dick to you. I’ve never given much thought to others’ hopes and dreams, but when you talk about yours, I want them all to come true. I only want you to be happy.”

You smile and for the first time, you touch his arm gently in a manner of love and affection.

“Y/n,” he says with his hand over yours.

“Jaybird.”

“Please don’t give up on me.”

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tsarisfanfiction · 3 years

Text

Long Way From Home: Chapter 12

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Family/Friendship Characters: Scott, Tracy Family

Watch me forget to update again last week, whoops. This is also the final chapter of this ‘arc’, so we’ll be taking another break for a while because uni means I don’t have time to keep writing at the moment (and a certain character is being awkward in the next chapter). Still, I hope you’ve enjoyed this pile of Scott&Other-Gordon, and I’ll get back to work on this when I’ve got the time.

For now, enjoy!

<<<Chapter 11

The subject wasn’t broached until they were back in the car, Scott feeling comfortably full as the food settled in his stomach.

“I guess there’s nothing I can say to persuade you to finish the trip now?” Other-Gordon sighed.

“I’m not quitting,” Scott said firmly. “It’s just some sneakers. I’ll try them on, find the ones that fit best, and we’ll be done.”

He half expected Other-Gordon to contradict him and tell him something was different about buying shoes in this universe, but he didn’t.

“That’s the spirit,” he said instead. “I’ll keep them talking, like the last shop.”

“Thanks.” Scott appreciated the thought; if they were distracted with Other-Gordon, then they’d be focusing less on him.

He was looking forwards to being able to wear comfortable shoes. Other-Scott’s fit well enough, but after several hours in them he was starting to feel the rub of an unfamiliar style.

“Mr Tracy!” he was greeted as they stepped through the door upon arrival. “Is there a problem with your last purchases?”

“Oh no, not at all,” Other-Gordon cut in, inserting himself slightly ahead of Scott and into the flustered-looking man’s line of sight. “You’ll have to forgive Scott, he’s gone and lost his voice, but he really liked them, so we’re here to get a couple more pairs,” he assured them.

The fluster turned to relief and then delight as the man no doubt realised he was going to be making another expensive sale to round off his day.

“Of course!” he beamed. “If you’d like to follow me.” They were chivvied along to a section of the shop lined with various designs of sneakers all along the wall, which Scott immediately started to eye up. The designs were varied, and none of them looked exactly like he was used to, but he could definitely see a few that looked hopeful.

Ignoring both Other-Gordon and the salesman, he walked over to the wall to get a closer look. You’re Scott Tracy. He just had to take the initiative instead of hovering awkwardly and waiting for a cue, and then it would be fine.

No-one would suspect he was the wrong Scott Tracy.

Behind him, Other-Gordon was talking a mile a minute, playing the distraction he’d promised, and after the day they’d had it was almost effortless to trust him. The other man had proven time and time again that despite the bizarre nature of the situation, he cared and wanted Scott to be as comfortable as possible.

It wasn’t even a case of just trying to preserve his brother’s reputation. Just as he was Scott Tracy, Other-Gordon was Gordon Tracy. They might not be each other’s brother, but they didn’t need to be related to care. The man that had guided him out of two panic attacks and subtly grounded him at the first sign of other ones had done it because he cared about him.

Scott was used to being the rescuer. He was used to being the one picking up strangers, helping them find their feet and offering whatever aid was needed until they were safe. He’d never been so thoroughly on the other side before. It was terrifying, he realised as he picked up a hopeful looking sneaker for a closer inspection. Putting all your trust in someone you knew of but didn’t know was much, much harder than he’d ever realised.

What Other-Gordon was doing for him wasn’t quite the same – his life wasn’t in danger; he didn’t need snatching from the jaws of death – but the parallels were there. Scott was lost, and there was no denying that he was scared of what had happened, why it happened, what it would be doing to his brothers right then, and Other-Gordon was offering a life line. Something he could cling to while he found his feet, and caught him when he stumbled.

“Scott?” the man in question asked, appearing beside him. “How are you doing?”

Scott looked at him, the heart-achingly familiarity of his face even though it wasn’t the same, and the searching amber eyes that were exactly the same, right down to the concern shining through, and nodded. He’d only known him for a few hours, but Scott trusted him, and that was enough to keep what-ifs and concerns about recognition at bay.

He could do this.

The sneaker in his hand looked like a good start, so he held it up, drawing attention to the selection.

“Would you like to try that pair on, sir?” the salesman asked. Scott nodded confidently, and handed it over so he could bustle over to the store room to retrieve its partner.

Other-Gordon didn’t say anything, even after they were left alone, so Scott continued looking around, searching for another design that looked hopeful. He could feel the other man’s eyes watching him, but he wasn’t asking if he was doing okay, or attempting to provide other reassurances, and Scott wondered if he could tell that he was, as much as he could be, relaxed.

He probably could.

By the time the salesman returned – this one called John, it transpired, but with black hair and brown eyes it was just another man with a common name, and not a painful reminder of his younger brother – he’d found another three to try on.

Four times pacing and then jogging around the room, jumping up and down and feeling a rush from being active, even if it was just rather aggressively putting through sneakers through their paces, and he ended up walking out the shop with all of them. It was easier than picking two when they all felt right.

There was also the nagging feeling that Other-Scott didn’t test shoes quite the same way he did, judging by the look on salesman-John’s face, and the panic had started to bubble up when he abruptly remembered that Other-Scott had only been there recently. Grabbing all four pairs and nudging Other-Gordon into paying for them so that they could leave – a nudge that, yes, might have comprised of four smaller ones that instantly sharpened amber eyes – had been the easiest way to avoid questions and quell the panic.

Other-Gordon didn’t outwardly hurry them out of the shop, but Scott felt the underlying determination as he quipped about getting late and the flight home as an excuse for their departure. The amount of money the quartet of sneakers cost definitely went a long way towards distracting the salesman from anything else.

“Are you okay?” the ginger asked once they were settled back in the car. He didn’t mention that Scott had been fine for most of the time, but the unspoken observation hung between them.

Scott took a deep breath and pressed his head back against the headrest, feeling the hat digging in. He was looking forwards to taking it off. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m okay.”

“Too much cooped up energy?” Other-Gordon asked, clearly determining that he wasn’t about to panic and turning the engine on. “You were mighty energetic in there.”

“They’re nice sneakers,” Scott defended, not responding to the secondary observation.

“So it seemed,” Other-Gordon shrugged. “Well, unless there’s anything else you need, I’d say it’s time to head back to the airport.”

Scott glanced at the backseat of the car, where a small pile of bags nestled.

“That should be enough,” he agreed. “I don’t suppose I can persuade you to let me pilot back?”

Other-Gordon did a double-take.

“What happened to ‘different technology’?” he asked. “You’ve not understood anything here. I saw you looking at the car earlier.”

Scott shrugged. “Apparently the only thing that is the same are plane controls,” he admitted.

Other-Gordon groaned. “You mean you actually were judging my piloting?” he whined.

“I didn’t say anything about your piloting,” Scott defended. Other-Gordon huffed.

“You didn’t need to, but I figured you were just comparing it to what you were used to,” he said. “It didn’t occur to me that you knew exactly what I should have been doing when.”

“So you’ll let me pilot back?” Scott tried hopefully.

“Sorry, fella.” He couldn’t stop his shoulders slumping in disappointment at Other-Gordon’s firm answer. “Look, I would rather you piloted, because I’m not daft enough to think you’re not better at it than me, but you don’t have a pilot’s license here, and it’s not my call whether you sneak by on Scott’s.”

The argument made a frustrating amount of sense, and Scott sighed. “Can’t we ask him?”

“He’ll say no,” Other-Gordon said confidently. “Unless you’re telling me you’d let someone pilot on your license with only his word he’s as good as he says.”

The ginger, annoyingly, wasn’t wrong. Scott wouldn’t.

“We can add it to the things to talk to him about when we get back,” Other-Gordon pointed out. “Still, if planes aren’t so different, maybe that’ll make the training easier.”

He had a point. Scott hadn’t considered that the Thunderbirds might have the same controls, when the jargon seemed so different. “I saw a few external differences,” he said. “Didn’t get a good look at the cockpit, and her engine makes a different sound.”

“Why aren’t I surprised you took all that in?” the ginger asked rhetorically. “Then again, I suppose in a way she’s ‘yours’,” he mused. “Good luck fighting Scott for her.”

Scott groaned, well aware that no matter how good a pilot he proved to be, he was never going to wrangle primary pilot of this universe’s Thunderbird One.

“I don’t think I’ll bother,” he muttered. “He won’t give her over unless he has no other choice.”

“Voice of experience?” Other-Gordon asked, amused. Scott raised an eyebrow at him.

“The last time I let Gordon near her he tried to turn her into a submarine. Virgil hates piloting her, Kayo is banned from going near the pilot seat, John prefers being a passenger in Two if he’s down from orbit and Alan’s too inexperienced,” he listed. “No-one pilots my girl except me. No exceptions.”

Other-Gordon laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me; Scott’s the same,” he confirmed. “But who’s Kayo?”

Scott had forgotten he hadn’t mentioned Kayo to anyone except Tin-Tin yet.

“My Tin-Tin,” he said. “She’s a hell of a pilot, but her ‘bird gets damaged even more than Three. Too many stunts.”

“Hold up.” Other-Gordon even raised a hand to emphasise his words. “Her ‘bird? Do you have six or- but Three? No, you said more than Three. Who pilots Three?”

That was entirely too many questions, and Scott dodged most of them.

“Tin-Tin doesn’t have her own?” he asked in return. “I know she’s an engineer, but so’s Virgil.”

“Tin-Tin co-pilots Three sometimes, but otherwise she stays on the island,” Other-Gordon told him. “Your- Kayo goes out?”

They think we’re delicate flowers, Tin-Tin had more-or-less said. Scott hadn’t made the connection with participating on rescues.

“I get the feeling Kayo would give you all a heart attack if you ever met her,” he said. “There’s no stopping that girl when she gets an idea in her head.”

He should know. He’d tried. It normally ended in shouting matches and her doing whatever she wanted anyway. Sometimes he wondered if building Thunderbird Shadow for her had been a mistake, but then he remembered how miserable she’d been without her own reliable transport.

Other-Gordon eyed him. “There’re more differences than technology and fashion, aren’t there?”

“Yeah,” Scott confirmed. “I haven’t decided if more is the same or different yet. Most of it seems to be small things. Just enough to be off from what I’m used to.”

“Like us,” Other-Gordon sighed. “Sounds like we were too hasty with this trip,” he added. “Even if you needed new underpants.”

Scott shrugged. “We were never going to know all the differences.” He wouldn’t have thought to ask about the minor details, and none of them had even considered that the family business – the actual one – would have a different name.

“I guess that’s true,” Other-Gordon conceded. “But we should still have given you a little longer than a few hours before taking you off the island. Sorry about that.”

He wasn’t wrong, but, “what’s done is done,” he said. “I survived.”

“Get yourself straight in the Ladybird when we get to the hangar,” Other-Gordon said. “If anyone tries to get in your way, ignore them. I’ll get Scott to soothe any ruffled feathers later.”

“I can handle it,” Scott protested. “Jones, right?”

“You don’t have to handle it,” Other-Gordon told him firmly. “It’s been mighty awful day for you, and the last thing you need is Scott’s airfield buddies bothering you. Those fellas know Scott better than anyone else we’ve seen today.”

Scott had almost forgotten that. Other-Gordon was right; returning to the Ladybird was when someone was most likely to notice something wasn’t right. The sandwiches from earlier felt uncomfortably weighty in his stomach all of a sudden.

He couldn’t afford a panic attack in the hangar; Other-Gordon wouldn’t be able to take off, so they wouldn’t be able to get away from Other-Scott’s so-called ‘airfield buddies’.

It would be an absolute disaster.

“Okay,” he agreed. “But I’m not leaving you to load her alone.”

Other-Gordon rolled his eyes. “Maybe it’s different where you’re from, but here we have valets for that sort of thing. Appearances and all that – although Dad’s got them trained to be extra vigilant if it’s me. They won’t let me pick up a single bag, just you watch.”

Other-Gordon’s back hadn’t even occurred to him, but if even his family were treating him like glass, Scott supposed it was no surprise there was hired help to stop him straining himself.

“I don’t know how you stand it,” he admitted.

“Aw, it’s not always so bad,” Other-Gordon admitted. “Helps with the cover. No-one would expect poor, crippled former Olympian me of still being an active aquanaut, let alone be capable of pulling the stunts those fine young men in International Rescue manage.”

That was true, Scott supposed.

“Look,” the ginger said. “If it makes you feel better, you can run through her pre-flights while I’m dealing with the chaps on the ground.”

Scott startled. “You trust me to do that without supervision?”

“I know you were watching me when we left the island,” Other-Gordon shrugged. “I figure if you do come across something unfamiliar, you’re not daft enough to let me take off without getting it double-checked it first.”

Scott could accept that.

“Besides, no-one’ll find that strange around here. It’ll look more strange if Scott Tracy isn’t doing all the checks himself.”

“You could have just said that in the first place,” Scott pointed out. Other-Gordon scoffed, but said nothing.

Jones wasn’t amongst the men that seemed to be waiting for them when Other-Gordon rolled the car up behind the hangar. Scott supposed his shift was over for the day, and in a way that made it easier to reluctantly leave the car and head straight for the hangar. The T.A. was a beacon, and once the door opened, the red of the Ladybird stood out amongst the many planes housed inside.

“Hey, Scott!” an unfamiliar voice called. He ignored them, remembering what Other-Gordon had said about them all knowing Other-Scott and knowing he couldn’t handle trying to interact with any of them without the ginger to act as a buffer without making them suspicious.

Pre-flight checks. Those, he could do.

He slipped into the cockpit, taking the pilot’s seat for the moment although Other-Gordon was doubtless going to shove him over when he arrived, and immersed himself in the blessed familiarity of flicking switches and running all the checks that had long since become second nature to him. While the Ladybird was a far cry from Thunderbird One, she wasn’t so far from more conventional aircraft that he couldn’t work her out.

Engrossed in the task, he barely noticed the ground crew flitting around as their shopping was loaded into the cargo hold under Other-Gordon’s supervision, or the questions about him being fired the ginger’s way, only to be expertly deflected.

He did notice the jab in his shoulder when Other-Gordon clambered up to join him.

“Finished?” the ginger asked. Scott ran his hands over the controls one last time, before reluctantly pronouncing himself satisfied.

“She’s good to fly,” he said.

“Then budge over,” Other-Gordon retorted. Scott reluctantly shimmied over into the passenger seat. “Everything’s fine?”

“Just like our training jet at home,” Scott promised. “I taught Alan to fly with controls like this.” He glanced over at the ginger settling himself into the pilot’s seat. “Gordon, too.”

“You’re calling the Ladybird a training jet?” Other-Gordon asked. “I’d like to see you tell Tin-Tin that.”

Scott chuckled. “Anything’s a training jet compared to my usual ride,” he pointed out.

Other-Gordon rolled his eyes. “I’d like to see you tell Virgil that.”

“His girl’s not a jet,” Scott retorted. “Not unless that’s got a very different definition here.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Other-Gordon conceded, before reaching for the radio. “Tango Alpha Ladybird to Auckland Air Traffic Control. We’re ready for take-off, over.”

Static crackled for a moment.

“Auckland Air Traffic Control to Tango Alpha Ladybird,” the radio responded. “Clear to proceed to runway three-bravo, over.”

“Tango Alpha Ladybird to Auckland Air Traffic Control. Understood. Proceeding now, over.” The hangar door opened and Other-Gordon taxied them out onto the tarmac. Scott occupied himself with looking out at the other planes as they travelled past. Some designs were instantly familiar, while others looked very different to anything he’d seen in his own universe.

Other-Gordon made a few more calls over the radio as they finished taxiing into position, and Scott settled back in the seat comfortably as they waited for permission to take off.

He had to admit he didn’t miss all the bureaucracy with Thunderbird One, and John acting as his ATC wherever he was in the world. VTOL launches helped.

After another half a minute or so, the all-clear was given, and the Ladybird rumbled to life, surging forwards and up under Other-Gordon’s hands.

“Auckland Air Traffic Control to Tango Alpha Ladybird, your route is clear,” the radio crackled again. “Have a safe flight. Over.”

“Tango Alpha Ladybird to Auckland Air Traffic Control,” Other-Gordon replied. “Thank you. Over and out.” He fiddled with the radio for a moment. “Ladybird to Tracy Island, come in.”

“Tracy Island receiving you, Ladybird,” Not-Dad’s voice filtered through. “How’s it going, Gordon?”

“We’ve just left Auckland, Father,” the ginger said. “Estimated ETA in two hours.”

“I’ll let your grandmother know,” Not-Dad replied. “You boys didn’t have any problems?”

“No, sir,” Other-Gordon said, to Scott’s relief. “No problems.”

“Well, I expect to hear about your trip when you get back,” the man told them. “I’ll see you then. Tracy Island out.”

“Thanks,” Scott said after the connection ended.

“I’m still telling Scott,” Other-Gordon reminded him. “But you can thank me by not judging my piloting the whole way back. Stare at the clouds or something.”

Scott chuckled. “I’ll do my best,” he said. Other-Gordon just groaned.

“I am never piloting you anywhere ever again,” he swore. “Cloud watch. Don’t you dare look at what I’m doing.”

Scott rolled his eyes but obliged.

Like the outward journey, their return one passed in mostly silence, Other-Gordon focusing on piloting and Scott doing his best not to make idle comments whenever he didn’t react to changes in the air currents the same way he would.

He liked to think he was successful at it. The aquanaut would no doubt disagree.

“I can still feel you judging me,” Other-Gordon grumbled eventually. Scott wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it seemed like they should be nearly there.

Up ahead was a small, rocky island. It looked utterly unfamiliar, but Other-Gordon was straight on course for it.

“Home sweet home,” the aquanaut commented when he caught him looking at it. “The same?”

“The only similarity is that it’s volcanic,” Scott answered. “Ours has twin peaks, to start with.” This Tracy Island seemed to have some sort of plateau mountain, rather than the jagged peaks he was used to. It also seemed less like it was making up part of the lip of a caldera.

“That’s interesting,” Other-Gordon hummed. “Your house is nothing like ours either, is it?”

Considering he’d needed a map to find Other-Scott’s room earlier, Scott thought that was rather obvious.

“Not at all,” he said. “Even the pool’s a different shape. Ours is a regular Olympic-size pool.”

“Really?” Other-Gordon asked. “I suppose that makes it easier to retract, though. Easier to pilot through, too?”

“If I ever get the chance to compare, I’ll let you know,” Scott replied. Other-Gordon laughed.

“I should let them know we’re on approach,” he said, reaching for the radio again. “Ladybird to Tracy Island.”

“Tracy Island receiving you, Ladybird.” It was Other-Scott on the line this time. “You’re clear to land.”

“F.A.B., Scott,” Other-Gordon acknowledged.

“How much damage control have you left me with?” Other-Scott continued. “Dad says you said there were no issues?”

“I’ll give you the run-down once we’re down,” the aquanaut told him. “There was paparazzi.”

“If I don’t like what they publish, you’d better watch your back, Gordon,” Other-Scott warned. “I’ll meet you two in the hangar. Tracy Island out.”

“Well, no sense in putting it off,” Other-Gordon commented as the line went dead. “You want to hang around for the debrief?”

Scott shook his head, having no wish to stand around and listen to an account of what he’d already lived through. “Just him,” he reminded. “I’ll get changed while you do.”

“You finally get to change underwear,” the ginger commented, and Scott rolled his eyes. “Coming up on the landing now.”

Sure enough, there was the runway, protruding out onto a pier and lined with palm trees. Definitely Thunderbird Two’s runway, and now that they were approaching it, Scott could see the cragged rockface that no doubt moved somehow to reveal the giant cargo plane. A little way up was a white building, built into the cliff.

He filed that away to ask about later, not wanting to interrupt the aquanaut as he brought them down onto the tarmac with a slight bump, decelerating until they were taxiing towards an open hangar door. It wasn’t quite central to the runway, further cementing Scott’s conclusion that Thunderbird Two was just behind the cliff face.

To his relief, Other-Scott seemed to be alone, standing next to the blue beauty he’d spotted earlier, as Other-Gordon brought the Ladybird to a stop and started the post-flight checks. Wherever the rest of the family were, it didn’t seem like they’d planned a welcoming committee, at least.

“So?” the older man asked once they left the cockpit, already at the cargo hold and looking at the bags. “Dad seems convinced everything went fine, but you didn’t tell him about the paparazzi, did you?” He was clearly talking to Other-Gordon, but his eyes flicked to Scott.

Scott shrugged and reached past him for the bags. “Gordon’ll give you the run-down,” he said. “I’m getting changed.”

“Don’t forget the underpants!” Other-Gordon chirped at him. He rolled his eyes and walked away, but not fast enough to avoid overhearing the start of the conversation. “I’m sworn to silence to everyone except you, and you’re only the exception because he’s your clone, so don’t even think about telling anyone,” the ginger said, quietly but not so quietly Scott couldn’t hear while he waited for the elevator to swallow him up. “Which definitely includes Dad, by the way, but-”

The elevator doors clanged shut, cutting off the conversation. Scott jabbed the button labelled second, which was also the highest option, so he assumed that was the bedroom level.

It was, and to Scott’s private delight there was no-one in the landing, so he managed to slip past the door to the lounge – out of which piano music seemed to be coming – and into the guest room designated as his without being intercepted.

Once there, he upended the bags over the bed, letting the neatly-wrapped parcels of clothes fall out haphazardly, before picking up clothes to get changed into.

It was a relief to finally get out of the waistcoat, shirt and slacks belonging to his counterpart, and even more of a relief to find himself wearing something that much more closely resembled his idea of casual.

Setting the discarded clothes to one side, he rummaged through the rest of the new clothes and set about hanging them up in the closet. His uniform was where he’d left it, he was pleased to see. No doubt Other-Brains would request it at some point, but Scott intended on supervising his investigations. It was good that it hadn’t just been taken while he was out.

A knock on the door startled him just as he was hanging the last pair of jeans.

Who would that be? It could have been anyone on the island – although he suspected Other-Alan might be less inclined to seek him out, and Other-Gordon would probably announce himself, if he didn’t walk straight in.

It was honestly weird having anyone knock rather than just walk in. His brothers had long since stopped waiting to be invited in, although Virgil and John did at least announce themselves with a knock most of the time.

“It’s me. Can I come in?”

Other-Scott.

Scott supposed he should have expected that one. Did he want to talk to his doppelgänger? Most of the island’s residents he could probably predict how the conversation was going to go, but ironically, Other-Scott seemed to be the hardest to read.

He guessed it was because he had no idea how he’d react if things were the other way around, and Other-Scott had ended up in his universe.

His gut told him he probably wouldn’t give up trying to have a conversation if he was going out of his way to initiate it.

“Yeah,” he called back, closing the closet door. The door opened and Other-Scott walked in, closing it behind him.

“Is that what you wear at home?” he asked, blue eyes scanning the clothes Scott had changed into.

“As close as I could get,” Scott shrugged, sitting on the bed next to Other-Scott’s discarded clothes and folding them up, mostly for something to do with his hands.

“Dad’s not going to approve,” Other-Scott warned him. “But if it makes you more comfortable, I don’t see the problem.” He picked up the hat and discarded sunglasses. “You’ll have to stay out of sight whenever we have visitors anyway, so no-one’s going to see you.”

There was an awkwardness about the other man that Scott thought was uncharacteristic of himself, until he realised it was the same awkwardness he was feeling, because there were no guidelines in any training he’d undergone about how to interact with an alternate universe version of yourself.

“Are you checking up on me?” he asked abruptly. It made sense if he was, after getting Other-Gordon’s account of the day, and Scott thought they’d do a lot better if they stopped trying to test the waters.

From the quirk of Other-Scott’s lips, it was a shared opinion.

“I heard what happened,” he confirmed. “Gordon was adamant you don’t want anyone else to know, and I can understand that.” He sighed. “This is weird,” he said, and Scott gave a wry smile in agreement. “And maybe, considering you’re literally another me, I’m not the best person to talk to, but. I’m here. If you have questions, or want sane conversation.”

“After a day with Gordon, sane conversation is sorely lacking,” Scott quipped, and Other-Scott laughed.

“I owe him a billiards match or ten now,” he said. “Remind him he can’t actually beat me.”

“Little brothers,” Scott shrugged. “Give them an inch, they’ll take a mile.”

“Some things don’t change wherever you are,” Other-Scott agreed. “Gordon said you recognised the Ladybird’s controls?”

“Yeah,” Scott confirmed. “We’ve got a plane like that at home.”

“I’ll talk with Dad about taking you for a flight,” Other-Scott said. “Once we’ve established how much is familiar, we can figure out anything else.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Scott agreed. Other-Scott grinned.

“I wonder which one of us is the better pilot,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing you fly.”

That thought hadn’t occurred to Scott. “Best pilot gets primary dibs for Thunderbird One?” he dared.

Other-Scott laughed. “If it’s my ‘bird on the line, I’m not going to go easy on you,” he warned.

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Scott replied, and they both laughed.

“Well, I’m going to go teach Gordon a lesson or ten now,” Other-Scott said. “You’re welcome to join us if you’re not sick of his company by now.”

Scott chuckled. “I’d like to see that,” he said. “He might be better at chess, but if he’s anything like mine, billiards is not so much his territory.” He stood up, gathering the dirty clothes. “Where’s the laundry room? Might as well drop these off.”

“I’ll show you,” Other-Scott said, opening the door again and stepping into the hallway. “It’s next to the games room.” Scott followed him, letting the door close behind him.

Chapter 13>>>

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds are go fanfiction #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #tsari writes fanfiction #scott tracy #long way from home #gordon tracy #jeff tracy

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p-artsypants · 3 years

Text

I’ll Handle This (6)

In Which Plagg is Annoying

So, my beloved Fiancé really likes Magic: The Gathering. He’s taught me how to play it, and talks about it a lot, but I still don’t really understand it. It’s a complicated game. So this chapter has sections of me purposefully badly explaining the game, sorry if that bothers you lol.

Ao3 | FF.net

—

Adrien awoke curled in a ball. His bed was extremely soft, and he sunk right into it.

Oh, except it was a pillow. He was still in Plagg’s tiny Kwami body. Great.

He yawned and stretched, realizing that he was alone in his bed.

“Plagg?” He asked the room.

There was no answer, but the bathroom door was closed.

Plagg was most likely getting him ready, or his human body, ready for school.

Before Adrien could imagine the worst case scenario, the bathroom door opened, and Plagg emerged.

Adrien stared, and then declared loudly, “NO.”

“Yes!” Said Plagg, flouncing into Adrien’s closet.

“How—why? When?!”

Plagg brought his pre-chosen outfit into the main room, and started to get dressed, carefully slipping the purple tiger striped shirt over his expertly gelled Mohawk.

“Did you not see me buy that ultra super strong hair gel yesterday?”

“I didn’t see anything you bought yesterday,” said Adrien with frustration. “I was in your pocket the whole time, remember?”

“Oh, then you’re in for a treat!” He slipped on an over shirt, that was black with orange leopard spots.

“Oh god...”

“You should have been more careful about what you brought home from shoots,” Plagg sang. “Love the leopard spots. Though I’m just a black cat, mixing up my coat on occasion would be fun.”

“I kept that shirt because I thought it was funny, or it would be good for a costume. You can’t honestly wear it!”

Plagg blew him a raspberry. “Oh suck it up buttercup! It’ll be fine!”

Adrien watched with other things on his mind as Plagg finished dressing. Brown pants, rolled up with mismatched argyle socks, and then the same green sunglasses to cover his cat eyes.

“I think I have a photo shoot with Lila after school,” said Adrien.

“And?”

“And you should probably attend it. I know you want to piss off my dad and blow off responsibilities that aren’t Miraculous related, but modeling is my job. I’m still under a contract and I get paid for it. That money goes to my college fund, which I intend to use to pick my own career.”

“What’s one missed shift to the son of the company?”

“A strike against me, and a loss of around a thousand euros.”

Plagg swiveled his head to look at him. “That much? Is Lila making that too?”

“No.” Adrien chuckled. “I am in high demand and so I make more. She makes around 15 euros an hour. That’s why she always drags photoshoots on for so long. Me and some of the other models get paid per gig.”

Plagg scoffed. “That’s stupid.”

“So will you behave for three hours?”

“No,” said Plagg, smoothing his shirt and hair. “But I’ll participate in the shoot and play nice with the photographer. Lila, on the other hand, I have plans for.”

Adrien looked at him warily. “...alright.”

Doing a once-over, Plagg declared, “just one more accessory, the piece de resistance...” he reached into a plastic bag from his shopping yesterday.

Adrien gaped in horror. “NO. NO NO NO!”

—

Gabriel walked from the kitchen back to his office, coffee mug in hand. Dealing with Adrien’s rebellion had been a PR nightmare, but he was able to spin Adrien’s outfit yesterday, as out of character as it was, as merely a phase. A phase which he would grow out of soon, but one that was necessary for Adrien to grow, to explore his own style, to learn fashion in his own mind. The media ate it up, and several articles would be coming out in the next week or so.

Then the boy in question streaked by him in a kaleidoscope of color.

Gabriel sputtered on his coffee, staining his suit with the brown liquid, but not caring a bit.

“Adrien?!” He shouted, beyond horrified. He couldn’t tell what was worse, the patterns? The colors? The hair? NO.

“Where did you get crocs?” Gabriel asked, as Adrien reached the unfortunately unlocked door.

He turned for just a second, long enough to shout. “Ask my butt, old man!” Before the door shut behind him.

Gabriel had to call those magazines back.

—

Plagg arrived at school, drawing the attention of every student mingling there. Some stared in horror, while others held in laughter.

A student passed Plagg and raised a fist. “Nice duds, dude! Stick it to the man!”

Plagg responded with a gleeful grin and matching fist bump.

“Oh my god,” said Nino, as he arrived. “You look amazing.”

“My dad spilled coffee on himself this morning, and the look on his face was totally worth it.”

“God, I wish I could have been there.” Nino sighed.

“It was pretty amazing, not going to lie.”

“Oh, while we have a second...I was hoping to have a sleepover this weekend. Marinette and Alya would come over for the evening, and then leave in time for dude’s night. You in?”

“Just you and me?”

“Yeah, if that’s cool.”

“Absolutely! After school tomorrow?”

“Yeah! Marinette said your schedule was open.”

“Marinette knew that? I didn’t even know that.”

“I think she keeps track of that stuff for class activities.” He cleared his throat, not looking at him. “And for no other reason besides that.”

Plagg chuckled to himself. God, Nino was the worst liar. “I understand. Someone’s got to know my schedule if I don’t.”

“Marinette is the best, after all.” Nino puffed up his chest, doing his damndest to be a good wingman.

Plagg didn’t think he needed to try so hard, but props. “She is the best, isn’t she?”

Nino smiled widely, like he had a secret joke that wouldn’t make sense to anyone.

A pair of arms wound around his own, squeezing tightly like a boa constrictor. “Good morning Adrien!” Lila chirped.

“Morning,” Plagg returned, playing casual in front of Nino.

“I need to talk to you about the photoshoot after school.” She turned to Nino. “Can I borrow your buddy for a minute?”

“You can have him for five minutes.” Nino winked.

Lila giggled, sounding pretty realistic to an untrained ear. “Thanks Nino!” Without waiting for Plagg’s permission, she dragged him away to a sequestered corner of the courtyard.

Before Plagg could even ask what was in her mind, she turned and faced him, expression full of vitriol and rage. It was not a face he’d seen on many mortals.

“Don’t think I can’t see what you’re trying to do, Adrien.” Her voice was cold, sharp, and harsh.

Adrien shivered in Plagg’s pocket.

“And that would be...?”

“Trying to weasel your way out of our little agreement.”

Plagg blinked, remembering the arrangement they had prepared a while ago. It’s what had gotten Marinette un-expelled. Just schmooze with the brat and she’d leave Marinette alone. But it was very apparent she was ready to take any violation of this agreement as an invitation to jump right back into her conniving ways.

Plagg would hold out for now, play the long game. He had a plan, and if that failed for some unexplainable reason, then he had another one lined up. It was just a matter of finding out what bait Lila would take.

He feigned a gasp, as well as she would, and laid a hand on his chest. “Oh Lila, whatever are you talking about? I’m just having a little disagreement with my dear old dad. It’s nothing against you! Honest!”

She squinted at him. “You’re still on the schedule to model with me later today, so I’m assuming you didn’t actually quit modeling. If you had, this would have turned sour.”

“What do you mean?”

“Modeling is our ‘fun friendship’ activity, and if you try to get out of it, I’m going to assume you don’t care about Marinette after all.” She shrugged.

He laughed, a dark sinister laugh that didn’t belong on his handsome, sweet, cherubic face. “You mortals are just so cute when you think you can win against me.”

The look on Lila’s face was perfect. Part confused, part terrified. “What?”

He spoke with a voice older than time, conjuring magics from the ancient unknowns. “Dos valok th’um krosis!”

“Did...did you just cast a spell on me?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. How do your lips feel?”

She pursed her lips. “I don’t know, a little—“

“CHAPPED?” Provided Plagg, with a shit-eating grin.

“Oh my god.”

“Do not test me, Lila Rossi. You won’t win.” He gave her a pleasant little smile.

She stared in bewilderment, before chuckling right back. “Boy, you had me for a second.” She pulled out a tube of chapstick and applied some. “Are you trying to psych me out? Cause it’s not going to work.”

“Well darn,” said Plagg with a little snap of his fingers. “Thought my necromancy could spook you off. Well, if that didn’t do it, I guess you really do want to be my friend, no matter how quirky I can be.” He gave a happy little sigh.

Lila was immediately suspicious. “Sure, I want to be your friend...?” It wasn’t supposed to be a question, but Lila wasn’t convinced.

Unless Adrien really was that naïve.

“Great!” Plagg clapped. “I have to go talk to Marinette, but we’ll hang out at the shoot! It’s going to be so much fun!” And he hurried off.

Lila narrowed her eyes back in his direction. There was definitely fishy about that exchange. She couldn’t very well text Gabriel and say, “there’s something suspicious about your son. He actually wants to be my friend. Also he chapped my lips.” That would be too confusing and send all the wrong messages.

So she resigned to wait until the photoshoot after all. Since, of course, he couldn’t keep up this act for several hours in a row. She could, but she was a professional.

Her musings came to a halt as she heard the wonderful noise of Marinette’s scream. “MY EYES!!”

Lila hurried from her nook to find out what had happened. Had someone sprayed her with mace? Pocket sand?

No. Adrien was merely striking poses in front of her, and she had recoiled in horror.

“Adrien!” She stated, aghast. “How could you?!”

He posed again, butt in her direction. “You like?”

“It’s foul. Are those crocs?!”

“Yep! I contemplated on getting the little ladybug plugs for the holes, but I didn’t really think it was worth it. After all, how often do you look at a man’s feet?”

“In that outfit, it’s going to be too hard to tell what part is the worst.” Her eyes bounced over the competing patterns and made her dizzy. “Well here,” she handed over a hanger covered with a trash bag. “Your sin against fashion has been committed. I’m willing to do more, but don’t attach my name to it.”

Adrien just laughed. “Don’t worry, Pooh Bear, your secret is safe with me.”

Lila’s lips curled in disgust at the nickname. Obviously, she would tell Gabriel that Marinette was enabling his behavior. Maybe she could spin it as her influence all together. Yes, yes, that would work. Two stones and all that.

—

After school, Lila rode with Adrien to the photoshoot.

Boy, if she wanted a taste of what the day would be like, she certainly got it. And she should have taken the chance to run.

“So Nino and I started playing this game with the guys in class,” Adrien had begun, without so much as a greeting. “Have you heard of Magic: The Gathering?”

“...no?”

“Oh okay, so I’ll tell you all about it.”

As a master manipulator, Lila understood the masterful art of conversation. There were several strategies she had developed over the years. Her favorite was ‘talk passionately and allow for natural lulls in explanation so they can ask questions’. It made people feel engaged and kept them coming back for more, while she was perceived as interesting and smart, but also humble.

However, it seemed that Adrien was utilizing the beginners mistake of ‘poorly explain a subject you’re not really passionate about without letting the other person talk’. Like an underpaid substitute teacher filling in for a class they don’t know much about.

“So like, there are these cards with different landscapes on them, and they’re all different based on color, right? So there’s water or islands for blue and mountains and stuff for red, right? And each one is worth mana. And you have to use mana to play a card. Except for lands, I think. You can play those whenever, except you have to draw them, you can’t just go searching through your deck. Unless a card tells you you can.”

Finally, they arrived at the shoot, and Lila nearly fell out of the car in her haste to get away for some peace and quiet, just for a second.

Who knew that boy could talk so much?

—

Plagg and his mohawk were led to the makeup trailer. Thankfully for the hairstylist, it came with a salon sink, so Adrien didn’t have to go home and shower.

“Sorry, Mr. Agreste,” the stylist said as she draped a cape on him. “We have to flatten the mohawk.”

“That’s alright,” Plagg assured with a polite smile. “It served its purpose.”

“It was very well done, honestly,” she said with a laugh. “For not having the sides of your head shaved, that is.”

“I had to work with what I had.”

The stylist just hummed in understanding, as she started to rinse his hair, the gel melting and washing down the drain.

The stylist sighed, and gave a little huff to herself.

Plagg normally wouldn’t care, but if his meddling had inconvenienced someone else’s job, that would reflect poorly on Adrien. So, he asked. “Is everything alright?”

“Umm...” she paused, biting her lip. “Look, we’re friends right?”

Plagg didn’t even know this person’s name. “Of course.”

“Are you close to Miss Rossi? I know you guys are friends...”

“I hate her guts.” Plagg declared with a broad smile.

“Oh good!” She relaxed. “I really really hate working on her. And so does everyone else, and last time she was here, she was just—Ugh, the worst. I got so frustrated because Giuseppe and your father like her, so even if I complained, nothing would happen. Likely, I’m the one that would get in trouble. You remember Alexander, right? The lighting assistant?”

No. Not one bit. “Yeah?”

“Well, she yelled at him one time during a shoot, in the back. Apparently, she wanted coffee and he wouldn’t get it for her, even though that’s soooo not his job. So she complained to Giuseppe and got him fired! Honestly, I don’t know how he didn’t get akumatized over that.”

“I don’t either!” Plagg said, with surprise. “I knew she was a pain, but yikes...”

“I think you’re a really cool kid, Adrien. But she’s going around and telling everyone you got her this job and—“ she sighed. “People are getting resentful.”

Now Plagg was mad. It was immediately apparent that Lila had a ‘if I can’t have them, no one can’ attitude, turning the staff on Adrien if she couldn’t win them over with her outlandish lies. Adrien couldn’t afford having that many enemies. He was too soft.

“Actually...” Plagg began to explain how Lila had wound up with her job, lying to Nathalie and Gorilla to get access to his house, lying to his father to get on his good side, and all the things she did to Marinette, who he took the bullet for to protect. “She means a lot to me,” Plagg said, in regards to Marinette. “So I didn’t mind having to pretend to be Lila’s friend if it meant she could come back to school and not be harassed anymore. It seems that Lila has a loose form of friendship.”

The stylist wiped her eyes. “Oh Adrien, you’ve got such a heart of gold. I’ll set everything straight with the team. Don’t you worry!”

“I actually have a plan, that you might let everyone in on. And I apologize in advance.”

“Lay it on me.”

—

By time Lila was called in to get ready, Plagg had been groomed into a normal looking boy with normal looking hair and clothes. Though normal protocol usually had Lila in hair and make-up alone with the stylists, Plagg sat in a chair nearby, separated from her by a curtain.

“Adrien? Shouldn’t you be out there?”

“Oh it’s okay, I wanted to keep telling you about this game.”

“Oh, well, you shouldn’t keep Giuseppe…”

“He won’t mind. So, there’s a bunch of colors, right? Red, Black, Green, Blue, White, and…one more. I think there’s one more.”

A sigh was heard from the other side of the curtain.

“No, no I was right, there’s only five. But you can combine them. But not like, mix them? It’s like, Blue-Black, and Red-Black. And Green-Blue. And so different colors have different themes, right? And the themes are different based on the set. Oh yeah, there’s different sets and Wizards of the Coast release like, two or three sets a year. I think. Like they had this one that was all about Dinosaurs and pirates. But they usually aren’t that wacky. Unless it’s a joke set. Which that one wasn’t. I can’t remember the name of it right now, but it started with an ‘I’.” And he was off, explaining all he could remember of the game, from what Adrien had told him, to what he had heard while the boys played at school. If he could find a point to elaborate on, he did.

Every once in a while, he’d make eye contact with a staff member, who would in turn grin and give a secret thumbs up.

He started to run out of steam while Lila was in makeup.

Thankfully, one of the technicians with a grudge noticed, and helped him out. “Would you ever play competitively?”

Through the mirror, Plagg could see the lightbulb go off over Lila’s head. “You know, my grandfather was one of the chess masters of the world. He won lots of tournaments, and I’m sure he’d love to give you some pointers if you were interested, Adrien.”

The technician answered for him. “Chess? We’re talking about Magic: The Gathering. Two totally different games. The tournaments are pretty fun too, but I really enjoy playing at pre-releases. They usually only allow you to play with the set you’re buying, so you can’t look at them beforehand…”

Plagg beamed at the guy, thrilled with how quickly he had shut Lila down.

Lila, however, was undeterred. She met the eyes of the female stylist and just shrugged. “Boys, right? So, this weekend—“

“Shh,” the stylist hushed. “I’ve been trying for weeks to learn this game.”

Lila crossed her arms and sat silently for the rest of the session.

Once the models were all dolled up, they were escorted out to the set, and Giuseppe got to work with posing.

Here’s where Lila tried to make up for lost attention.

“Oh Giuseppe! I had such a wonderful idea for the shoot today! Since the gardens are in full bloom—“

“Which reminds me!” Plagg snapped his fingers. “Green-Black combination cards are really unique because they create a bunch of minions. Like, the cards in them have the ability to spam the battlefield with like a bunch of little guys called tokens that take a lot of extra work to get rid of. Well, like, not a ton of extra work, because they only have like one HP, but like, it's more work then you would have had to do. Wait, white, not black. Actually, I think white is the best at tokens, my mistake.”

Despite her best efforts, Lila could not suppress a full body eye roll.

It was exactly what Plagg was waiting for, and he jumped in for the finisher. He turned his sad kitten eyes to her, looking like Puss in Boots from Shrek, and asked, in the most pathetic voice he could muster. “Am I annoying you?”

Lila stared at him, as the staff and Giuseppe looked right at her, to see her response.

“I…I…” she stammered. “N-no, not at all, Adrien. I…love hearing about this game.”

He beamed. “Good! Because I have to tell you about my favorite combination of Blue-black. It’s really high in conditions and making things difficult for the opponents, right?”

Lila’s nostrils flared, but she held back any other sign of frustration. It was remarkable, really.

Plagg was quiet while Giuseppe gave directions, and during the actual shooting, but in between takes, when he didn’t have to be ‘professional’ he filled in the silence with whatever jargon he could find. He was wearing her down.

“Alright,” Giuseppe finally said. “We’re all done with you, Lila. Now it’s just Adrien’s solo shoot. But you can stay if you like.”

Lila was already halfway to the trailers. “I’m so sorry Giuseppe, I have somewhere I have to be this evening, so I’m going to head out. I’ll see everyone next time!” And she practically sprinted off set.

Once she left, Giuseppe gave a loud sigh of relief. “Now let’s get some real work done.”

—

Later that evening, when Adrien and Plagg had returned to the mansion, Adrien sat on the desk as Plagg scrolled online. Homework had been completed with ease, and it was still too early for bed.

“What are you reading?” Adrien asked.

“I’m trying to slog my way through the lore of that video game you like, the one with the Dragons. I have to have more ammunition the next time I deal with Lila. I almost ran out today.”

“Is that what I sound like?”

“What?”

“You today, when you were talking about Magic. Is that what I sound like to you? Do I ramble on?”

Plagg screwed up his lips in thought. “Mmmm, sometimes.”

Adrien hunched in on himself.

“But look. Culture and creative medium has grown astronomically in the last 200 years since I’ve been asleep. I want to know about what’s out there. I like hearing about things that you enjoy. Even if it is annoying sometimes, I still care about you. The reason I pulled this strategy is because Lila likes to talk, and she doesn’t like to listen. Even if I was talking passionately about something I knew a lot about, I doubt she would have cared. I hear how often she interrupts class.”

Adrien hadn’t thought about it like that.

“You know who Pavlov is, right?”

“Uh, the guy that did the experiment with the dog, right? He rang a bell and gave his dog a treat, and eventually the dog came to associate the bell with treats.”

“Precisely. Humans are the same way. Knowing this principle is the easiest way to win people over. You have to make them associate you with good feelings. If you treat people well, be friendly, courteous, and funny, eventually, people will like to be around you. The same works in reverse. If I can associate myself with frustration and annoyance for Lila, she won’t want to be around me. Being straight up mean to her won’t work because she’ll see that as a challenge.”

“So you have to be subtle,” Adrien concluded. “Thats…that’s genius.”

“I know.”

“So you don’t think I’m annoying?”

Plagg rubbed him between the ears. “I only found you annoying when you would complain about Ladybug, your dad, or Lila. But now, in your shoes, I’ve realized how easy it is to get frustrated about these things. But hopefully soon enough, you won’t even have to worry about it.”

Adrien smiled brightly. “Thanks Plagg. I hated this at first…but you really are making some progress.”

“Told you. Now, help me pack. You have your first sleepover tomorrow night.”

“My first sleepover, and I’m going to spend it crammed in a bag!”

#miraculous ladybug #ml #adrien agreste #plagg #I'll handle this #fanfiction #adrienette

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seodami · 3 years

Text

Sucked in | CSC

INTRO

Summary: After a stressful year full of work and assignments, all you wanted to do was relax in the old, cozy library across the street from your apartment. Little did you know, your plans all vanished as you suddenly found yourself inside one of your favorite Mangas ‘My little ghost’ . A totally different magical world where soulmate connections exist. And it definitely didn’t help that you aggressively hit the main characters pretty nose with a book right when you arrived. Oh and how could you ignore that adorable squish ball, who just happened to be someone who you never thought existed...your soulmate? Will you ever find your way back home or spend the rest of your life inside a comic book? Or do you even want to go back after all what you’ve went through?

Genre: Comic AU, soulmate AU, fluff, angst, ...

Pairing: Comic Character!Choi Seungcheol x reader from another world

Sucked in MASTERLIST | Previous | Next

“Why in the world do you worship this Comic so much Y/N? I know the dudes look good but...” your friend Suyeon suddenly pulled the already slightly wrinkled comic book from your grip with a frown on her face.

“But what? Leave me and my comic alone. My life is completely fine looking at them every day.” You huffed in an attempt to try getting your book back but without success. Suyeon was was taller than you and held it up high over her head. In moments like these you wanted to damn her glamorous 179 cm of height.

The tall girl shook her head aggressively with you nearly clinging onto her. “I’m serious. All I see is you reading this over and over. I’m slowly concerned about your mental health.”

You sighted. Of course you wouldn’t want her to know that she was right. Even when it was just a little bit.

“Stop it Suyeon, it’s really not that bad. I just...really like it. That isn’t bad at all, isn’t it?”

“I think it’s more of an obsession by now. You know, you could read other books. I have plenty of recommendations. Nicholas told me about some. They seemed interesting.”

You looked up to her, seeing that she unconsciously lowered the comic. You took the moment to grab it with an evil laugh.

“I don’t care what your boyfriends recommendations are. I’m perfectly fine with this one. Maybe another time.”

Suyeon besides you whined. “He’s not my boyfriend stooopp. You always tease me.” With a swift roll of your eyes and a small smile on your lips you shook your head.

“Honey, I’m just stating the obvious. Also you deserve that after you stole my comic.”

She huffed and shoved her hands inside her jacket pockets. The walk towards your shared apartment went peacefully compared to earlier and soon enough you arrived at the olive green building in the corner of the street. You always loved the building.

Inside, you quickly shook off all your extra layers and layer down in your bed with the Comic still in your hand.

You stared at the cover, wondering what Wonwoo and Nari, the two main characters of the cartoon named ‘My little ghost’, would be doing right now. Would they still try to find a way to be together?

You sighted. You knew very well that getting that deep into a fictional story was bad. Pretty bad. Sure it’s great for escaping reality but you just seemed to be way too attached to it by now. Why couldn’t you just let go? Read another comic. Go outside and get a dog or whatever. But yet, you were still here, figuring all these characters personalities out while fantasizing how it would be if they were actually real.

You quickly flicked through all the colourful pages, having read it already a dozen times. Nostalgia hit you like a truck. This book accompanied you through many years of your youth. It already felt like a part of you. And that send you in a state of slight panic.

Maybe Suyeon was right. Maybe you actually needed some more variety in your dull life. This comic couldn’t be the only thing in this world making you happy.

Suddenly you remembered the old library across the street from your apartment. The one you never saw anyone ever entering or leaving. You wanted to check it out years ago but never had the guts nor the motivation to be honest. Maybe it was time to spice it up a bit and just dare it?

With another sight you pushed yourself off your bed, leaving the old comic behind. With a quick explanation to Suyeon, where you were going, you already headed out dressed in your checkered coat since it was freezing cold at this time of the year. You only managed to grab your phone and some spare money before you left.

Like predicted, it wasn’t far away from the olive green house. The small building had a vintage look to it and seemed like you expected pretty abandoned. You took a look through the dirty window, seeing nobody inside. But what you did saw, was a small light bulb being turned on.

You grinned, heading towards the door, pulling it open bit by bit. The heavy wooden door creaked slightly from the movement but soon closed itself again as you were standing inside now.

A musty smell crept into your nose, immediately reminding you of your grandmothers house. The light inside was dim but you could still figure out where what was. Some people might would find it eerie but you surprisingly found it pretty comfortable. It felt familiar to you in some way. You couldn’t describe the feeling very well.

You took a look around. From the inside it looks way more spacious and higher than from the outside. There were golden ornaments all over the ceiling and the shelves. The corridors between were wide, which led to an area of cozy looking Polsterer chairs and round desks. From down here you could see a second and maybe even a third floor, full of colourful book shelves. It nearly took away your breath. It was gorgeous.

Regret filled you that you have never visited this place before. Such a wonderful place. It nearly felt magical being in here. Like you were in another world.

“Good Morning Miss, may I help you?” Suddenly a fragile woman voice echoed through the big room, revealing a small old lady in a purple dress. She had a nice smile on her lips. She was definitely that old lady you wanted to get cookies from and pet her cats. She seemed friendly.

You cleared you throat, forgetting for a moment why you actually were here in the first place. You stepped a bit closer.

“Good Morning. I...I think I’m fine for now. I’m sorry if I’m seeming weird, I’m just starstruck right now.” you commented smiling back at her.

“Oh why, darling? It is your first time here, am I right? Most people tend to react like that when they first visit, even though it is not many.”

All you could do was nod. “It is. I was planning to visit years ago but never seemed to have done it. I wish I would have come earlier. It is beautiful in here.”

The lady chuckled and made her way over to you. “It really is, right? I own this library for over 50 years now and I’m still in love with it.”

You couldn’t help but smile genuine over her touching words. “Now tell me what you are searching for young lady, I see it on your face.

You nodded with wide eyes. “You do? I mean I was reading this one comic book for years and years and I really loved it. But I came to the conclusions that I needed some more variety.”

She nodded with a smile still present on her face as she now was standing a few feet away from you. “So you are searching for more comic books, I see. Follow me, follow me. We indeed have a great collection.”

The old lady went ahead of you, signalling you to follow her. You noticed she was even smaller than you. Her purple flows summer dress swayed evenly with each of her steps, making you want to wear such a piece as well. It totally contradicted the cold weather outside but you loved it.

“I really like your dress. It’s pretty.” you quietly commented trailing behind her. She grinned at you from behind her shoulder. “Thank you darling. I really like it too. Seems like we have the same taste.”

“You know, you really remind me of myself back in the days. I was obsessed with comic books as well. I have the feeling this place is exactly the right one for you.”

“I was thinking the exact same just now.” You giggled amused. As you went through some more corridors, left, right and then left again and a last right turn, you arrived at a section with two big shelves full of comic books. They reached up high to the ceiling.

You gasped in awe. Never would you ever had expected such a great selection. Right across the street!

The friendly lady laughed at your reaction, gently patting your shoulder. “Enjoy yourself. Let me know when I can help. Oh, and don’t forget the key.”

You stared at all the different books, literally screaming for you to open them. You didn’t even register the lady disappearing back to her usual place probably, but you replayed her words once more. Key?

You quickly shoved it to the side when you let out an excited squeal. It was just amazing. You have never seen so many in one place, not even in other libraries or book stores.

You started tracing your fingers across the book spines while reading the different titles with tilted head. This didn’t feel real at all. How could no one know about this place?

Suddenly your sleeve got caught up by something, which made a book stumble out of the shelf and fall onto the floor. Quickly you kneeled down to pick it up again. However, you stopped in your tracks as the title chaught your eyes.

“What a weird coincidence...” you mumbled to yourself, noticing that it was indeed the book you wanted to forget in the first place. ‘My little ghost’

You wanted to put it back, when you noticed that the cover looked somehow different... both of the characters were looking directly at you, instead of somewhere different. “What? Is that a special version?”

You opened the first page and frowned even more. Instead of credits standing over the whole page, there was a small text in cursive letters printed right in the middle.

Your fingers gently stroked over the delicate words written in french. You did learn french back many years ago in school but it was a long time ago to remember everything.

“Me transporter maintenant er ici. Je Vaud tout cover maintenant.” You slowly spelled out each word after another, being surprised by your still present acceptable pronunciation.

You hummed, closing the book once again before placing it back into the shelf. You would love to read it again but that wasn’t why you were here in the first place. Variety, yes!

You quickly grabbed another comic book, which title sounded interesting and made your way towards the comfy armchair, sighting as you sat down and began reading.

You started to become more and more immersed in the new story line and soon didn’t even notice anything around you anymore.

You also didn’t notice how a huge wave of tiredness rolled over you at some point. And not even minutes after, sleep tightly had wrapped its arms securely around you.

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someone-somewheresomehow · 4 years

Text

I’ve Got Your Picture (Chapter 1)

Characters: Roman, Virgil, Patton, Logan, Janus, Remus, Thomas (briefly mentioned once)

Ships: Prinxiety, Intruloceit

Content: Enemies to Friends to Lovers trope (kinda?)

Word count: 4434

Summary: Roman sees who he knows is the love of his life at the library - but when they get off to a hostile start, he not only has to make it up to them but find them again.

AO3

“But Logan, libraries are boring!” Roman whined as Logan pulled him up the steps. “All they’ve got are old books and the only good ones are in the fantasy section, and I’ve already read all of the ones in this library!”

“You read? I’m impressed,” Logan grumbled back. “Look, you have to come with me. I’ll let you go into the fantasy section or look at the scripts for musicals or whatever you want as long as you wait for me to get what I want. Got it?”

“What’s in it for me?”

“You get to read for once, something I’ve seen you do maybe twice. Maybe.”

Logan sighed and rubbed his face in an annoyed gesture as Roman shot him a glare. “Fine. We’ll go to that cafe that you wanted to show me. Fair?”

“Okay!” Roman perked up. Logan had been avoiding it for days, but Roman just knew that he would love the cafe. It was perfect for a nerdy bookworm like him!

They entered the huge doors and walked into the library itself. Roman immediately rushed off to grab the nearest fantasy book and sit on one of the couches as Logan wandered off to god-knows-where. Probably the science section.

As he settled down, Roman took a moment to take in the surroundings. There weren’t many people in the library today. A couple of kids with their parents, a young teen wandering around on their own, the librarian - what was their name? Oh, right, Thomas - who Roman could now see was one of the reasons - or maybe the only reason - why Logan wanted to come here. Logan had started a conversation with them, and it appeared that they wouldn’t stop talking for a while.

Roman pulled open his book to finally start reading, but then something caught his eye. From between the shelves emerged someone he’d never seen before. They had purple hair and was wearing a black hoodie around their waist. A dark purple shirt covered their thin frame. As they turned towards Roman, he saw that dark eyeshadow was put underneath their eyes.

They waved at Roman, a smirk on their face, and he realised that he was staring. He sunk down more into his chair and reopened his book.

As soon as the person started moving again, Roman peeked around his book to watch them. They walked over and checked out the book they were holding - what was it? Roman couldn’t quite see - before heading towards the door. They glanced over their shoulder right at him, the smirk still on their face, before exiting the library, leaving Roman to stare at the place they had been.

“What are you looking at?” Logan’s voice startled him back to reality.

“Uh, nothing!” Roman said hurriedly. Logan’s frown deepened.

“Well, I suppose we have to go to the cafe now. A deal’s a deal.”

Roman perked up. “Oh yeah! Trust me, you’re gonna love it!”

Logan chuckled. “If you say so. But it’s unlikely.”

“That’s what you said last time!”

“And you said I would like it at the waterpark, but I didn’t.”

“Stop fibbing! You totally loved it.”

“I did not!”

After a few more minutes of bickering, they arrived outside of the cafe. Logan tried to look inside through the window, but Roman quickly pulled him back and covered his eyes underneath his glasses. “You can’t look yet!” He chided. “It’s a surprise!”

They walked in the door, the bell chiming, and Roman took his hands off of Logan’s eyes, revealing the cafe in front of them.

The ceiling was covered in a beautiful painting of stars, whole galaxies of purples and blues. The soft glows of the lanterns on the pale cream walls provided a dim lighting that shone over the rest of the cafe. At the back were bookshelves, with labels on each shelf that told you the genre of the books and various signs saying that they were free to borrow for those at the cafe. The wooden floors creaked gently under each footstep, and the customers sat around small wooden tables, speaking in soft murmurs. Behind the counter a couple of baristas bustled around, making orders and fixing drinks. Occasionally they would call out a name and someone would stand up and receive it before quickly returning to their seat.

Logan stood frozen in the doorway, so still that Roman grew worried. “Hey, Lo?” He asked quietly. “Are you okay?”

He looked over the room once more. “Do you like it?”

Logan gave a start as Roman spoke, almost as if he had forgotten he was there. “Like it?” He whispered. “It- it’s beautiful.”

Roman smiled. “I told you you’d love it.” He led Logan over to the nearest free table, Logan apparently too awestruck to do anything himself. “You can go look at the books and stuff while I go order! They’ve got all sorts of books for nerds like you!”

“N-nerds? Roman!”

Roman grinned and went up to the counter. “One medium black coffee with one sugar, and one large cappuccino.”

After ordering he went back to the table and sat down, watching as Logan browsed the shelves.

The bell chimed, drawing Roman’s attention to who had just entered the shop. And lo and behold, it was the person that he had seen at the library, their book tucked under their arm and their long, side swept bangs covering one eye. They looked around the room, and looked startled when they spotted Roman, but quickly schooled their features and gave him a small smirk. They waved, before heading towards the back of the cafe and sitting at a free table.

“Who are they?” Logan’s voice startled him back to reality for the second time that day.

“No one!” Roman answered hurriedly. “I mean, I don’t know.”

Logan frowned. “What do you mean you don’t know?” He sighed and gestured with one hand, the other holding a book. “Go talk to them.”

“What?”

“I’m presuming they were who you were staring at at the library, so-” he made the gesture again. “- go talk to them.”

Roman gaped at him. “I- um, okay.” He stood up and started walking over, trying to look as casual as possible, ignoring the fact that now both Logan and the new person were watching him.

“Hey.” He greeted the person, all casual-like.

“Hi. You’re the person from the library.”

“I am.” Roman looked at the person, and oh god it was so unfair how their eyes were the most perfect shade of brown. “My name’s Roman.”

“Virgil. They/them pronouns.”

“Oh, I use he/him pronouns. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” They shook hands.

“So why were you staring at me?”

“Oh, um. Yes. Sorry about that.”

Virgil smirked but didn’t press him.

“So do you live here?” Virgil asked.

“In this town, yes. Why?”

“I don’t. I’m just here for a concert.”

“Oh. Are you alone?”

“No, I’m with a friend.”

“How long are you here for?”

“Why are you asking so many questions?”

Roman blinked. “Um. I wanted… to be friends with you?”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed. “Sure. I’m gonna buy a coffee and leave, and you better not follow me or I’m calling the cops.”

“No, wait! I-”

“Please. Go away.”

Virgil stood up and went to the counter. Roman watched him go, not bothering to follow them - he knew that he would only get pushed away again.

Sighing, he went back to Logan who sat buried in his book, now with his coffee sitting in front of him, Roman’s sitting opposite. Logan looked up as he approached and closed the book, holding one finger on the inside to keep his page.

“It didn’t go well?”

Roman sighed again and slumped into the chair opposite Logan. “Nope.”

“You’ll find love someday.” Logan reopened his book and continued reading.

“But when, Logan, when?!” Roman folded his arms and slumped on the table dramatically. “Tell me why?”

“Ain’t nothing but a heartbreak.” Logan said in a monotone voice, closing his book again. “If I found love, so can you.”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Roman groaned and sat up, this time leaning back in his chair. “I still don’t understand how you got the attention of an extremely handsome man and-” he fake retched “- my brother.”

“Your brother is also an extremely handsome man, Roman.”

“Sure he is.”

Now it was Logan’s turn to sigh. “Just tell me what happened.”

Roman dropped his chair forward. “I went up to them and it started out fine but then it all went downhill.” He made a downward motion with his hand.

They stared at each other in silence before Logan made a gesture with his hand. “Continue?”

“That’s it.”

Logan stared at him. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!”

“Falsehood. What did you do?”

“According to them, I asked too many questions.”

“You can be annoying sometimes.”

“I- hey!”

Logan sat back in his chair. “Did you get any information out of them?”

“Um… they’re here for a concert.”

“Do you know which one?”

“Nope. They didn’t say.”

“We’re going to a concert tomorrow. Panic! At The Disco, right?”

“Oh, yeah! They look like an emo, maybe they’ll be there.”

“Perhaps. You need to remember to be on time - we meet at your place at 11.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Roman placed one hand on his chest and gasped in mock offence.

“Logan, I’m always reliable. Especially with times.”

Logan peered over his glasses at Roman. “Look me in the eyes and say that again, because it is most certainly not true.”

“I’ll be ready, Logan. And I’ll make sure that Remus is too. You have to remember that we are all going together, and you and Remus aren’t to sneak off to snog in some dark corner. Got it?”

“We won’t be doing that. And even if we are, it will be because he initiated it, so you should tell him to behave before we go.”

“He’s your boyfriend.”

“And he’s your brother. Don’t worry, I’ll be warning him as well.”

“Mhm.” Roman looked over at the door, as if he expected Virgil to come back in and say sorry.

The next day Logan knocked on the door of Roman’s house, perfectly on time as he always was. Well, except for that one time where he got distracted by a sale on Crofters and bought 12 jars. Roman would never dare to let him live it down.

Remus greeted him with a kiss and brought him inside.

“Hey, babe.” His usual stern expression softened for a moment before returning to normal. “Where’s Roman?”

Remus gasped in mock offence, a perfect copy of Roman the day before. “Logan Anthony Berry! Are you more interested in my brother than you are in me?”

“Never, love.” They shared another kiss. “But I don’t want to be late.”

“He’s getting changed.”

“Still? What’s his excuse this time?”

“He woke up late and for some reason decided to sing the entire soundtrack of Hamilton in the shower. He’s probably going to tell you that he was late because of ‘artistic difficulties’ or something.”

Roman ran out of the bedroom, pulling on his jacket. “Sorry I’m late! It’s because of artistic difficulties.”

Remus turned to Logan with a look on his face that said What did I tell you?

“Remus told me the actual reason. You’re lucky that Dee is even later than you are, otherwise you would be in enormous trouble right now.”

“I know, I kn-” A knock interrupted him and they all rushed to the door.

Logan opened it to find Janus smirking at him and greeted him with a kiss. “Are you ready to go?” Logan asked while Janus pecked Remus on the cheek.

“If I wasn’t I wouldn’t be here, would I?”

“Then let’s go!” Logan practically pushed them out the door and into his car.

“We aren’t late, Logan! It’s just a concert!” Roman exclaimed as Logan started up the car.

“You and I both know that that isn’t true, Roman. You and Remus have been figuratively talking my ear off about this concert for months.”

“It’s true.” Janus confirmed.

There was an awkward silence before Roman rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Maybe… but still, Lo, it’ll be fine!”

Logan pulled into the parking lot of the theatre. “We’re here.”

There was a moment where everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the car. Roman and Remus were practically vibrating from excitement as they walked in.

“Remember, all of you need to behave.” Logan warned them.

“I’m always on my best behaviour, Logan! You can trust me!” Remus told Logan, eyes wide with innocence.

“Sure you are.” They shared another quick kiss before Logan turned to Janus. “You need to help me keep him under control.”

“Sure thing, captain.” Janus saluted, a huge grin on his face. “Do I get a kiss as well?”

“Of course.”

Roman interrupted their kiss halfway through. “While I love seeing you lovebirds make out, we do need to elbow our way to the front as soon as we can.”

“Yes. Let’s go.” They headed off into the crowd, more than ready for the concert to start.

Roman and Remus screamed out the words to the songs at the top of their lungs, jumping as high as they could to get a look at the stage. Janus and Logan watched them in happy silence, enjoying every moment.

“Let’s kill tonight, kill tonight! Show them all you’re not the ordinary type! Let’s kill tonight!” They

hollered along with the crowd and, of course, Brendon Urie, the glorious god of singing himself.

The song ended, and the crowd cheered. Roman and Remus panted, matching grins stretching across their faces as they cheered together.

Logan tapped on their shoulders and they spun around.

“I’m going to go get some water!” He yelled over the crowd.

“I’ll come with you!” Remus shouted back.

“I’ll stay here and keep our spots!”

“Me too!”

Remus and Logan held thumbs up to indicate that they heard them and held off, holding hands totally just so that they didn’t get separated.

They soon returned, carrying two bottles of water each. They handed one to Janus and Roman kept one for themselves each.

“Roman! Guess who we saw!” Logan yelled.

It took a beat before it sunk in. “You saw them?!” He yelled back.

Logan nodded vigorously. “They’re about 10 metres directly behind us!”

Roman immediately stood up on his tiptoes and tried to see over the crowd, even though he was too short to see far.

“I’m gonna go find them!” He yelled at Logan. Logan flashed him a thumbs up and Roman moved off.

After a few seconds he found them, chatting with someone else.

“Hey!” He called, having his arms as he got closer. Virgil turned and saw him, a look of disgust quickly crossing their face before disappearing just as quickly.

Roman reached them quickly and greeted the new person. “Hi! I’m Roman! He/him pronouns!”

“I’m Patton! Also he/him pronouns! It’s nice to meet you!”

They shook hands with each other before Roman turned back to Virgil. “I’m sorry about yesterday! I seemed to have freaked you out!”

“Of course you freaked me out! You were acting like a creep!”

“Again, I’m really sorry about that! Could I make it up to you?”

There was a short pause while Virgil thought it over.

“Come on, Virge! He seems like a good guy!” Patton nudged them. “Give him a chance!”

“And how would you make it up to me?” Virgil asked Roman.

“I could buy you a coffee or something sometime?”

“You’d have to do it tomorrow because I’m leaving the day after that!”

“Alright! May I have your number?”

Virgil frowned. “Can’t we just meet up at the coffee shop we were at yesterday?”

“I mean, I guess, but it would be easier to organize it if I had your number!”

“Sure it would, but it’s just coffee. How about I meet you there at 3?”

“That’s fine by me!”

“Cool, I’ll see you then!”

This was obviously Roman’s cue to leave, and, like a fool, he took it, returning to the others.

Remus leapt on him the moment he saw him. “How did it go, lover boy?”

Roman shot Logan a dirty look before turning back to Remus. “It went fantastically well.”

“Did it now? Did you get their number?��

“I did not. However, I am going out with them to a cafe tomorrow at 3.”

“Ooh, fancy!”

“It’s not actually. It’s just fancy compared to the places that you usually lurk.”

Remus shrugged. “Same difference.”

With that, he turned back and started singing with the crowd, and after a moment, Roman joined him.

The next day Roman arrived at the coffee shop at 5 to 3 and sat down in the spot that he had seen Virgil sitting at a couple of days before.

Virgil arrived at exactly 3, though Roman watched them hover around at the door for a couple of minutes before walking in. They walked over to Roman and sat down at the table.

“You said you were going to buy me a coffee?”

“Hello to you too. Yeah, if you tell me your order I’ll go get it.”

“One small black coffee, nothing added.”

“Ew.” Roman stood up and went to the counter before Virgil could reply. He ordered, “One small black coffee and one large caramel frappuccino.”, collected their drinks, and sat back down, handing Virgil their cup.

“So,” He said. “If you’re not from around here, where are you from?”

“What?” Virgil asked, confused.

“When we first met, you said that you were just in town for a concert. Where are you from?”

“Why do you need to know?”

Roman was surprised at the sudden hostility. “...To get to know you better and see if we can hang out more?”

“Mm. We’ll see.” Virgil took a slow sip of their coffee. “If you’re so interested in us getting to know each other, then you won’t mind if I ask you a few questions.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“First of all, why are you so interested in me?”

“Because you’re hot.” Roman blurted out before he could stop himself. Now it was Virgil’s turn to be shocked. “And because you seem cool.” He added as if to cover it up. “And I was wondering if we could be friends?”

“Wait, hold up.” Virgil closed their eyes, confused. “You think I’m hot?”

“Um… yes.”

There was a moment of awkward silence.

“Um, okay. Moving on!”

“Fine by me!”

“Do you live in this town?”

“I do, yes. I have for the vast majority of my life. I live with my brother.”

“Is that the person that you came in with the other day?”

“No, that was Logan. Who, coincidentally, is dating my brother. And a friend of mine.”

“Okay.”

There was another awkward silence while they figured out what to say to each other.

“Do you want to go to the park? It’s kind of hot in here.” Roman said.

“Sure.”

With a scraping of chairs they stood up and walked out of the shop and down the street, still in silence. Talking to Virgil was harder than Roman had thought, but he was determined to get

something out of them by the time they parted.

They walked together into the park and sat on a bench, watching as kids flew kites and played

together on the playground.

“How long are you here for?” Roman asked.

“I’m leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Oh. That’s a pity. Your friend, Patton? Does he live here?”

“Yeah, he does. I’ve been staying with him.”

“Cool, cool.”

There was yet another silence, though this one wasn’t as awkward as the others.

Suddenly, Roman spotted a little shop by the edge of the grass. “Hey, look! They’re renting

kites!”

He jumped up and walked over to the stand, throwing his cup away in the bin as he did so. Virgil followed him, close behind.

Roman paid for two kites and handed one to Virgil before running onto the grass. He unrolled it and ran, lifting it high into the air. He stood and watched it flapping in the breeze before looking back at Virgil.

“Come on! Lift it into the air!”

Virgil hesitated and looked down at the kite in their hands before letting it go and lifting it into the air. It lifted high and flapped next to Roman’s. The kites both dipped and twirled together, contrasting against the bright blue sky in their red and gold (Roman’s kite) and purple (Virgil’s).

“See! It’s fun, isn’t it?”

Roman looked over at Virgil, who looked back at him. Tentatively they let themself smile, and Roman grinned back at them before looking back up at the kites. He let his go out a bit more so that it floated higher above Virgil’s. He glanced over at Virgil who frowned back at him. He looked back up at the kites and scowled when he saw that Virgil’s was now above his.

He let his out even more and frowned harder as Virgil’s floated higher.

They continued like this, trying to best each other and get theirs higher than the other, until they ran out of string and their kites were high in the air, dots high in the sky.

Then, suddenly, the wind disappeared, and their kites plummeted to the ground. They both ran forward to catch them as they came closer and closer.

Virgil managed to just catch theirs, holding it close in their arms, but Roman was too close and it landed right on his head before falling onto the grass.

“Ow!” He complained. “That hurt!”

He heard Virgil snort and whipped around. “Hey!” He cried, rubbing his head. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“It couldn’t have hurt that much!” Virgil stifled a giggle. “You were only hit with the cloth part!”

“No! I was hit with the wooden bit! It hurt loads!”

“Sure you did.”

“Oh shut up emo nightmare. How did you even catch it from that high?” He picked up the kite and they headed back to the stand.

“I’ve had practice catching large things. Patton’s always falling out of trees. He falls out of basically every tree he climbs, and I don’t know why he doesn’t tell me before he does it. Someday I’m not going to be there and he’ll get seriously hurt.”

They gave the kites back and headed back through the park towards the exit.

“Hey!” Roman said, pulling out his phone. “You wanna take a selfie?”

“God, of course you would be one of those people.” Virgil sighed. “Sure, I guess.”

Roman and Virgil stood next to each other and smiled as Roman took the picture.

“I’ve always looked bad in photos. I don’t want it.” Virgil told Roman.

“You sure?”

“Definitely.”

“Alright then. I guess that concludes our date.”

“It wasn’t a date!” Roman couldn’t quite see, but he was sure that Virgil had flushed red under all of the white foundation that they had on. Their ears were certainly red.

He grinned. “If you say so. I had fun anyway!” He held out his hand and after a moment, Virgil shook it. “Are you getting picked up by someone?”

“Yeah, I am. Patton.” Virgil pulled out their own phone. “He should be coming soon. I told him to meet me at the park earlier.”

“Great! I’ll wait with you.”

“You really don’t-”

“I insist!”

“Um, okay.”

They stood in awkward silence for a few minutes until a light blue car pulled up to them.

“Again, it was great seeing you!” Roman called out as Virgil got in.

“Yeah, it was okay.”

“Maybe we can meet up some other time?”

“I’m leaving town tomorrow, so that probably won’t happen.”

“Oh. Well in that case, bye!”

“Bye.” Virgil shut the door and the car drove off, leaving Roman standing there on his own.

A few moments later, Remus’ car pulled up to him and the window closest to Roman lowered, revealing Remus behind the wheel, a gigantic grin on his face.

“How did it go?” He asked.

“It went absolutely wonderful!” Roman answered, sitting in shotgun. “I really softened them up!”

“Ooh! What did you do? Tell me all of the juicy details!”

“Remus!”

“What?” Remus said, an innocent look on his face. Roman scrutinised it before moving on.

“So, we sat in the coffeeshop for a bit, and we each had coffee. They had a small black coffee

with nothing in it! Absolutely disgusting!”

“It is not!”

“Says the man who takes a bit out of the hotel’s soap everytime we go on holidays! Then we went to the park and finished our coffees.”

“That’s boring! Why didn’t you guys do some fun stuff?”

“I know exactly what your definition of fun is, Remus! Just let me finish!”

“Alright, alright! Jeez!”

“Thank you! And then we rented kites - well, I paid for them - and we flew them! We got into a

competition of whose could fly higher but they ended up being the same height by the time that we ran out of string. But then… tragedy struck! The wind fell and with it, our kites!” Roman gasped dramatically, placing one hand delicately on his forehead. “They fell straight down and mine landed right on my head, injuring me terribly!”

Remus, who had been silent for the most part during this description, burst out laughing.

“It fell on your head!” He managed to say through the laughter. “I wish I had seen that! It would have been hilarious!”

“Oh shut up!” Roman whacked him gently on the arm. “Keep your eyes on the road!” Remus slowly stopped laughing and Roman continued. “Somehow, they managed to catch theirs perfectly. Said they had experience from catching one of their friends, who apparently can’t climb.

“Then we returned the kites and waited at the gates while Patton came and picked them up. They’re leaving tomorrow, so they have to pack their stuff I reckon.”

“But you have their number, right?”

Roman froze, realizing his idiocy.

“Oh my god, you didn’t get their number?” Remus grinned. “You know what this means!”

“That I’m never going to see the one who is clearly the love of my life again?”

“It means that we’re going to have to combine - me, Logan, Janus and you-”

“Janus, Logan, you and I.”

“Whatever! We’re going to have to find them! And if we can’t…” His grin spread, a touch of insanity reaching his eyes. “We’re going on a road trip!”

#roman sanders #virgil sanders #prinxiety #logan sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #intruloceit #platonic logince #creativitwins #thomas sanders #my writing

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makeste · 4 years

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so, Heroes Rising.

I saw it. it was exactly as good as I expected it to be. which is to say, very, very good.

this post is going to be chock full of spoilers guys. all the spoilers. and I’m not just talking those “ho hum All Might and Deku work together to beat the villain who could have seen that coming” first movie-type spoilers either. if you don’t yet know what happens in this movie, let me assure you that it is big. like we’re talking some momentous fucking shit. so if you don’t want to know then don’t click on this! but do go see the movie if it’s playing in your area because holy shit! it’s so good! (and so worth seeing on a big screen, too -- it was awesome.)

also there are some manga spoilers here too, because this movie does take place during the later manga arcs, and I did discuss some of those little manga-only easter eggs below. so I’ve tagged this with “bnha spoilers” accordingly, but just wanted to mention that here as well.

so I’m gonna break this down into sections, I guess. first I’ll do a quick-ish summary of the movie just because that’s important for context (and if you’re looking for a real in-depth summary, I recommend aitaikimochi’s very detailed summary here).

a quick-ish summary of the movie

so the kids all get sent to some tropical island in the middle of nowhere because the hero who used to be assigned to that island retired. and so the HPSC thought it would be a good idea to send a bunch of kids to serve as interim heroes until they find another professional who can take over. that’s right, this whole thing is the HPSC’s fault. because they just love their child soldiers. before you can ask, not a single grown-up actually accompanied them there either. it’s just the kids. and just 1-A for that matter, so I guess 1-B all got assigned to their own tropical island and had their own adventures which will never be turned into a movie much to Monoma’s dismay. alas.

anyway this island has a population of like 1k and nothing ever happens there, so at least the decision seems kind of reasonable in that light! like they basically figure that the kids will spend a few weeks helping the island’s population track down all their missing pets (which, this island has like a dozen pets go missing every hour, I’m not even joking. like 90% of the calls the kids get are “HELP ME I LOST MY FUCKING PET AGAIN.” maybe if you all closed your fucking front doors every now and then!! one person lost their parrot. honestly Kouda should just immediately move here once he graduates and they’ll keep him busy 24/7 and he’ll get rich enough to live like a king). it never occurs to anyone to wonder if maybe these particular kids, who are certified villain magnets and literally aren’t allowed to go anywhere without a professional armed guard these days because villains always try to kidnap them, might not need at least one adult to go with them. everyone is just like “no they’ll be fine.” spoiler alert: they were not fine.

the two little kids in the movie are Katsuma and Mahoro. I was worried Mahoro might be annoying, but my fears were unfounded and they are both adorable. but Katsuma is like five and Mahoro can’t possibly be older than seven. and they basically live on the island all alone, because their mom is a Dead Anime Mom and their dad works on the mainland. so these two preschoolers are alone and unsupervised all the fucking time, and so I for one was not at all surprised that they get up to shit like prank-calling the 1-A Hero Squad about fake villain attacks, because that’s exactly the sort of shit you would expect unsupervised five and seven-year-olds to get up to!! geez!! their neighbors supposedly check in on them, but how much attention can they really be giving them if they haven’t even noticed that Katsuma’s been wearing the exact same clothes for a fucking week now.

anyway so the villain is named Nine and he’s the same old standard villain guy who wants to create a new world order with his pals and all their strong quirks. but his base quirk (which I think is the weather-related one, but it’s hard to tell since spoiler alert dude is rocking multiple quirks) makes him get all fainty and weak after a short amount of time, so he goes to the League of Villains to get stronger and Ujiko is all “sure thing bud I’ll make it so you can hold multiple quirks.” and so he’s called Nine because he can hold up to nine quirks. and he can do the AFO thing where he steals quirks from people! which is like a BIG FUCKING DEAL!? guys but whatever it’s a movie!

anyway so long story short he wants a quirk that can fix his whole here-I-go-fainting-again deal, and through a series of events I won’t bother to elaborate on, he figures out that one of the cute kids (spoiler alert it’s Katsuma) has a quirk that can do that, so he goes to the island to steal Katsuma’s quirk. and he and his buddies arrive and they fight class 1-A, and Deku and Bakugou protect the cute kids from Nine, and everyone else fights the other bad guys, and there’s a ton of sweet studio bones action and the kids are all fucking bosses and it’s fucking sick and I fucking love it.

and then in the end, Deku and Bakugou fight Nine but he’s too strong, so Deku has to give Bakugou OFA so that they can double team him with a OFA combo (with Deku using the embers) to beat him. and afterwards they pass out, and OFA is all “back I go into Deku because guess what I can do that!” and it does, and then Bakugou doesn’t remember anything when he wakes up. and then they all leave the island and move on with their lives and none of these events are ever spoken of again. and basically everything in this last paragraph is why some people were a bit “WHAT THE FUCK, MOVIE” about this movie (though that seems to have died down now that people are actually seeing it and not just judging it by the summary). but let me tell you guys I have THOUGHTS about all of this, but I will get to those in a bit.

so that’s the summary. now this next section is going to be some general thoughts and observations which aren’t particularly organized, but which I would like to now share. and then afterwards I will share my thoughts on each of the 1-A characters in this movie since they all got their chance to shine and it was great. but anyway.

general thoughts and observations

first of all this movie reminded me that BnHA appeals to a very wide demographic. there were a ton of kids at the theater (and I know they were there to see BnHA because they were all talking about it), but strangely enough the auditorium I was in was mostly older kids and adults! but what I figure is that since both the dub and sub versions were playing, the majority of younger kids (and/or their parents) opted for the dub. at any rate it was fun to see so many fans there and be reminded that my nerdy hyperfixation anime is actually super popular lol.

for anyone who’s been disappointed with the overall lackluster animation quality of the latter half of season 4, it’s because all of the good animators were working on this. “well whoop de do for them but was it really worth it?” you ask. and honestly... yes. yes it was. holy fucking shit. from the very first fucking scene, that answer is an emphatic, wholehearted “yes.” incidentally if you, like me, failed to do the requisite soul-searching to realize that you needed even more League of Villains car chases in your life, let me assure you that you do, and this movie has got your fucking back.

Hawks is here and of course, duh, he’s amazing. he’s just as sassy and smart as you could hope, and at one point he actually makes an out-of-nowhere deduction that was honestly a HUGE LEAP, but of course it was exactly on the fucking money because it’s fucking Hawks you guys, AND HE’S JUST LIKE THAT.

Endeavor has the scar, but he’s only shown with his Flame Face activated, so it’s hard to see unless you’re actually looking for it. I honestly think a lot of anime-onlies might not even catch it. well-played. same thing with the glove covering the fingers on Tomura’s left hand.

honestly, probably the biggest spoiler in the movie is this one scene where Nine realizes that Deku “is capable of holding multiple quirks.” like, the movie doesn’t actually confirm SIXQUIRKS!!, but it’s pretty damn close IMO. gettin’ cute with it. oh, movie.

also there’s one scene that briefly shows all of the vestiges/predecessors, who IIRC haven’t yet been revealed in the anime other than in that one Shinsou fight where they were all shapeless blobs. so that’s another spoiler I guess. but this is another scene which was only very briefly shown. still when you’re showing it on a 30-foot-tall movie screen you kind of can’t be subtle no matter how hard you try so. hm.

at one point Bakugou is lying unconscious on a futon getting medical treatment, and he’s still wearing his hero costume but his shoes are off, and he is wearing socks. this confirms the answer to the question that probably no one else other than me had, of whether or not he actually does wear socks with his hero costume. because sometimes he has this tendency to not wear socks. anyway so that’s an important fact that I took note of and stored away in my brain so I could write it down and inform you all of it. socks.

the 1-A kids are actually really fucking professional and they have this little call center-type setup with phones and computers where they can take citizens’ calls and coordinate their response teams. it’s legit. unfortunately for them all the islanders ever call in about are lost pets, as previously mentioned. they don’t deserve these kids tbh.

at one point Kaminari calls Bakugou “Kacchan” AGAIN and THEY CAN’T KEEP LETTING HIM GET AWAY WITH IT. except they absolutely can and indeed, should.

Katsuma is an Edgeshot fan and wears this little pin of him on one of the straps of his overalls lol. it’s fucking adorable. unfortunately Edgeshot is not in the movie so we don’t get to hear his sexy hero ASMR voice. I think this is my biggest regret about the movie.

speaking of Katsuma, he has the bravest moment in the entire film when he charges right toward Nine to stop him from hurting his sister. willing to sacrifice his quirk and his dream to save her and everyone else. and it’s actually the second time he volunteers to do this. he is so brave. I would die for him you guys.

so many people get bodyslammed into cliff walls in this movie but they’re all fine. the fuck are these kids even made of.

at one point a villager asks Shouto to make some ice for him so Shouto is all “okay” and goes and makes a GIANT MOUNTAIN OF ICE THE SIZE OF A FULL DOUBLE FRIDGE. because CLEARLY that’s what this man meant when he asked for “more ice.” this has left a lasting impression on me.

for the most part the movie actually makes a surprising amount of sense! there are actually very few plot holes, and I say this as someone who is very much alert for plot holes! that being said, every so often a scene still comes along that makes you go “really??” while holding both of your hands outstretched all “are you serious” (and I was very gratified to see that I was not the only person doing this at times! MY PEOPLE). but it was mostly just your typical stuff that you would tend to find in the manga as well. for instance, “holy fucking shit Shouto did you really just fucking murder that guy.” (spoiler alert, I don’t actually recall them clarifying whether he did or didn’t, so I’m just going to assume that he DID. Shouto is very sweet but every now and then he just stops giving a fuck and that’s when you have to back off.)

anyway that’s all the random stuff I can think of so now I’m gonna summarize my thoughts on each of the 1-A kids and their roles in the film!

class 1-A

Satou doesn’t really do much, but his face scares a small child at one point and everyone in the theater laughed. I feel bad about it now. poor Satou. and even though I said he doesn’t do much, I should note before I get any further that every last 1-A kid does get at least a little screentime and some villain-fighting action, and he is no exception. but it’s mostly limited to punches, and of course, being bodyslammed into a cliff wall.

Hagakure doesn’t really do anything except help lead the citizen evacuation. and actually I lied in the previous paragraph because come to think of it, I don’t think Hagakure got any action scenes, so so much for that assertion. she didn’t even get to do her flashy lightbulb move. ah well one day she’ll be revealed as the traitor and then it’ll be her moment to shine.

Tsuyu has some good rescue moments, and this one cool bit where she grabs a villain with her tongue and yanks him into a river and Todoroki proceeds to freeze the entire fucking river (along with like half a dozen waterfalls), villain and all. it was a cool combo and I was all about that. also the kids use her disgusting poison frog snot to paralyze a dude so that was also dope.

Mineta doesn’t do anything egregious and actually has some really cool moments. his best is a combo attack with Sero and Ochako, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Kouda is helping to save all of those lost pets!! all these cats and dogs and fucking parrots and shit. there’s also this one scene where a lot of birds come flying over suddenly and obstruct the vision of one of the bad guys, but I can’t remember if that was Kouda or not. but if it was then that was pretty damn sick, Kouda.

Kirishima does not get a lot of non-combat screentime, but he is there for those fights!! his big moment is also a combo (this movie could have seriously been called Combos Rising) with Todoroki where the two of them slide on a rail of ice similar to what they did in Kamino, and Kiri’s in front and activates Unbreakable to act as a shield for Todo. it’s super cool. also he does a lot of smiling at Bakugou like “oh, Bakugou!” in this way that’s just like. oh that wacky Bakugou, what are we going to do with him. chuckle chuckle. it’s cute and it’s nice to see someone else who is also way too tolerant of Bakugou’s shenanigans and just lets him get away with fucking everything because he adores him. I relate to Kiri a fucking lot is what I’m saying.

Ojiro’s tail is not made out of any substance known to man as far as I can tell. it just bends any fucking way it wants and can do whatever the fuck it wants and withstand all kinds of crazy shit. Ojiro actually has some really cool action scenes in this movie (we’ll get to the big one shortly) so props to him! but the fuck is up with that tail bro.

Shouji doesn’t do much, but he plays a key role in the final battle protecting the kiddos and he deserves your respect! also at one point one of the villains starts taunting him and is all “what’s up with your face I bet people were scared of you as a child”, which was fucking savage and completely uncalled for, and made the guy sitting next to me burst out laughing so hard I swear to god he started crying. smh.

Aoyama has not one but two fights in which he plays a key role! somehow he always seems to be at the vanguard. like his thing is firing off all his lasers until he’s exhausted and seemingly at death’s door, at which point the rest of the kids will show up to take over. he is very brave, and sparkly, and at one point he collapses holding his stomach and moaning “I think a little bit actually came out” which made me say “jesus christ” out loud while the entire theater lost their collective fucking shit.

Jirou does not do much, action-wise, until the very end when she and Ojiro (this is the big Ojiro scene I mentioned earlier) briefly take on Nine while the beaten-up Bakugou and Deku catch their breath and get their shit back together. let me tell you it was a RUSH watching Jirou take on a super powerful villain and I was HERE FOR IT. she blew up a bridge and then was almost immediately bodyslammed into a cliff but boy it was a ride while it lasted. also there is a scene where Momo is lying on a couch exhausted from overuse of her quirk, and Jirou is the one sitting there beside her watching over her, because they are gay, just a friendly reminder.

Iida is the glue holding all of this shit together. when the villains first arrive on the island and all the shit hits the fan, Iida is the one who stays calm and collected and dispatches 1-A to the various besieged parts of the island in teams as though he was Horifuckingkoshi himself. like how the fuck did he just know who to group together?? there isn’t any system to it, the teams are of varying numbers and degrees of skill and getting-along-with-each-other. but somehow it all worked out perfectly and I didn’t even question it. anyway so he also sees plenty of action and zooms around in his hyped-up new and improved recripro mode, and it’s great. I can’t remember if he gets bodyslammed into a cliff but let’s just assume yes.

Momo is right there with Iida calling the shots, and she also teams up with Aoyama in the final battle and makes not one, but two bigass cannons and shoots the fucking bad guys with them and it is everything. she also overuses her quirk in between the two big attacks by making a bunch of emergency supplies for the citizens, because she is too good and pure for this earth and we don’t deserve her.

Kaminari is mostly just used as a walking talking battery who tells jokes. there’s this guy on the island whose fucking tractor keeps dying and he keeps calling the 1-A hero agency to get a jump from them, so they send poor Kami over yet again and he puts up with it with a smile because he’s an angel. he does have one epic moment where Nine uses his lightning attack (he has a lightning attack, in case I forgot to mention that earlier) on Bakugou & Deku and then absconds, only for the two of them to catch up to him a couple minutes later all “JOKE’S ON YOU ASSHOLE WE’RE FINE!!” and he’s all “HOW!!” and it’s revealed that they anticipated the attack and made Kaminari serve as their personal lightning rod. and we cut to poor Kami sitting there in a field all crispy and doing his “whey” thing which got the most riotous fucking laugh in the entire movie because my theater was fucking shameless. Kaminari you poor brave boy I am sorry. god it was fucking funny though.

Mina had a ton of cute Mina moments which I can’t specifically think of now because it’s getting late (ETA: I wrote this up in two parts on Friday and Saturday night which might explain why it is so freaking long omg), but she was so great and I love her. but the moment that made me (and the rest of the audience) gasp out loud was when she was fighting one of the villains in a cave, and running around shooting her acid at stalactites to make them fall off and hit the villain, and being generally badass and such, but then all of a sudden the villain landed a good shot that hit her right in the leg and she gave this little cry of pain. and I swear to god it took everything in me not to leap to my feet and shout “NO, MINA!!!” because no!!!, but in the end it was all good because this moment led to...

Tokoyami losing his fucking shit, as Tokoyamis in dark caves whose friends are injured by villains are wont to do. so then he basically goes ape on the villain and it’s so great. Tokoyami is like genuinely tied with Todoroki as the third strongest guy in this movie, it’s insane. dude is so fucking strong?! also he does the flying thing from the manga too. so that’s another spoiler there for ya. these poor anime kids.

Todoroki exists in this awkward tier where he’s like at the very top of the very next character/plot tier underneath Bakugou and Deku, but he very clearly wants to be in the Bakugou and Deku tier, so he does things like inserting himself in between where they’re standing importantly, and saying both of their names while he is passing out. but in spite of his efforts the movie is all “no silly you’re in this tier” and puts him with Iida and Kiri and Tsuyu, and he accepts it with good grace in the end, but I’m pretty sure this is the real reason why he invited Deku and Bakugou to come intern with him immediately after this. just try and continue keeping him out of the main plot now, you two. anyway while I do understand why some Shouto fans were disappointed with him not having a big starring role in this movie, I think it’s akin to being disappointed that he didn’t have a starring role in Deku VS Kacchan Part 2. this was Bakugou and Deku’s movie from start to finish and that’s just how it is. but Shouto will most assuredly have his moment to shine sooner rather than later. also I seriously am pretty sure he just straight up kills a man in this film. fucking jams his entire arm down the dude’s throat and freezes him from the inside out?! this kid is still zero to sixty in the span of an eyeblink I swear to god.

Sero is ridiculously fucking cool in this movie you guys. like straight up balling out the entire time. holy shit. this kid is going to be a top ten hero and it’s time we were all done sleeping on him. also Bakugou calls him by his name for the first time ever because he straight up saves Bakugou’s life at one point and gets hurt doing so, so that made my fucking weekend, just putting that out there. and he and Ochako honest to god put up a real fight for the title of “sickest combo in the entire fucking movie” and I’m not even kidding, and I’m including Bakugou and Deku in that. but speaking of Ochako,

Ochako in this movie was almost too much for me to handle after reading the Miruko chapter earlier that afternoon lol. so you know that meteor shower move that she did back during the sports festival? she, along with Sero and YES, MINETA, pull off an upgraded version of that same attack in this film, and it is MISSION STATUS: FUCKING SICK. and in between that she’s just constantly floating people so Sero can then grab them with his tape and whip them around so they can do attack stuff mid-air, and it’s all just hype as fuck. and there were some good character moments with her too, but I’ve forgotten them all because it’s getting late now and my stupid brain is starting to prioritize sleep over writing this post. ah well.

so that’s 18 out of 20 kids! I left two out! you know which two! because they get their own fucking section because that’s just how it is.

Bakugou and Deku

well I actually wrote out all of my feelings about the whole OFA transfer, but they turned out to be essay-length, so I’m going to go ahead and put those into their own post. but here are all of my other random thoughts about Bakugou and Deku and their dynamic in this movie, which was fucking amazing.

I really need to get my hands on the fucking script for this thing, because I want to get a list of all of Bakugou’s lines, because I have a very strong suspicion that the percentage of Bakugou’s lines that are addressed to Deku and only Deku like they’re the only two people in the room (even though I assure you they are not) is significantly high.

and the looks. oh my god. he is constantly just watching him and making intense eye contact and listening in on conversations that have nothing to do with him WHATSOEVER because HE JUST LIKES LISTENING TO DEKU TALK ABOUT BEING A HERO AND STUFF, I GUESS.

there’s a scene where he’s holding a popsicle (rip to any headcanons that Bakugou won’t eat anything sweet btw) and sucking on it but then spaces out because he’s too busy listening to Deku talk to Katsuma, and at first his body language is all “la la la pretending I’m not interested” but gradually he straight up abandons the whole pretense and is basically turned fully around watching them for so long that the popsicle melts right off the stick and onto the ground and he turns around and just stares at it like it betrayed him. like, I’m not gonna go so far as to say that this popsicle is the proof of their friendship but it’s LIKE THAT.

Deku meanwhile has not one but two moments where they’re in the middle of a fight and he’s down after taking a particularly hard hit, and then something happens to Bakugou and he’s all “KACCHAN” and gets this fire in his eyes just like that because as usual you do not fuck with Kacchan when you’re around him. you just do not. YOU DON’T. meanwhile Kacchan is perfectly capable of taking care of himself but that’s never going to fucking stop Deku because Deku is ridiculous! ahhh Deku.

they are both good parents to their adopted island children and Bakugou protects them multiple times, and there’s even one scene where he saves them while letting Deku attack the villain, which is both teamwork with Deku AND saving someone, which is basically THE PINNACLE OF BAKUGOU’S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. thank you movie.

Deku has a scene with Katsuma where Katsuma reveals that he wants to be a hero but doesn’t have a very good quirk for hero-ing, and Deku tells him he can definitely be a hero. this is the scene that Bakugou listens in on while his popsicle melts away incidentally. anyway, to see Deku telling a small child the one thing that no one ever told him when he was growing up and that he wanted to hear so desperately almost made me tear up, quite frankly, and it was one of my favorite moments in the entire film.

the guy next to me kept laughing every time Bakugou brought up the whole “I’M GONNA BE NUMBER ONE JUST WAIT AND SEE I’M THE GUY WHO’S GONNA SURPASS NUMBER ONE THAT’S ME THAT’S THE GUY” thing, and I honest to god couldn’t tell if this person was a fan of Bakugou or hated Bakugou or what. but he just laughed. every single time. and I can’t stop thinking about it you guys.

Deku totally uses 100% OFA on his bad arm and that’s probably the biggest plot hole in this movie. BOY YOU DUMB. somehow he’s fine in the end though.

Bakugou breaks both of his arms too because OFA gonna OFA. I was actually really impressed/wincing because he kept fighting anyway, and we KNOW how hard his quirk is on his arms even normally. but he kept using it, and long story short I’m not sure how he didn’t manage to Deku his arms even worse than Deku. between this and chapter 262 it has not been a good weekend for arms.

at one point Bakugou decides he’s had enough of being bodyslammed into cliff walls and holds his arms up to the side of the crater(?) he’s in, and just... melts all the earth away until the crater is no longer a crater. or something. it’s hard to describe but it was the most insane thing I’ve ever seen.

Bakugou takes to OFA as naturally as he takes to everything. there was no processing time at all. just instantaneous. this isn’t even a plot hole to me, this is just Bakugou being Bakugou.

even before the OFA combo, there’s another sick BKDK combo where Bakugou grabs Deku’s hand and rotates him in the air using his quirk (it’s similar to what he did at the end of their second fight in Ground Beta) and launches him like a projectile. this fucking movie.

last but not least, the final fight scene with them all powered up is so vivid and colorful and movement everywhere and light and blurs and just ahhhhh. also, Might U at one point is just playing with no background noise. I don’t think a lot of other posts have mentioned that part; that not only is this music playing, but it’s the only thing you hear, no grunts or explosions or any other sound effects. just the music. while you watch these two work together like it’s the only thing they were ever born to do. it is everything.

conclusion

so that’s everything I can think of as far as my thoughts on the movie go, aside from the gigantic essay about Deku giving Bakugou OFA, which I will post immediately following this. so yeah. in conclusion I thought it was amazing, which is only to be expected I guess since it was relevant to virtually all of my interests. 10/10 would recommend, and please consider donating to find a solution to the ever-growing problem of children being bodyslammed into cliff walls.

#heroes rising #heroes rising spoilers #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #bakudeku #class 1-a #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #makeste watches bnha #bnha meta

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palettes-and-prompts · 4 years

Text

40 Prompts!

Prompts for the Sunshiney Character/Storm Cloud Relationship

1) A and B go to a theme park and B notices how much A keeps staring at the games where you can win stuffed animals and while A's back is turned B wins them a huge stuffed animal. 2) A realizes they've never heard B laugh before and so they spend the whole day telling them lame jokes to get them to laugh but they never do. It isn't until something bad happens to C in front of them that B lets out the hardest laugh A's ever heard. And while they're terrified of B's humor they're in love with their laugh. 3) A tries to find out more about B's interests but since B is very secretive it's hard for them to find anything out about them. But when A hears B watching wrestling they get B tickets to a match and suddenly B's out of their seat cheering for a wrestler to hit the other with a chair. A's never seen B happier. 4) While grocery shopping A is putting junk food into the basket and B is taking it out and putting in healthier options until they get to the dairy section and B puts four gallons of chocolate milk in the cart, absolutely shocking A. When B tries to explain themselves A tells them they're going back and getting the junk food they want. B lets them and doesn't take out a thing they put in after that. 5) A wears shorts and one of B's t-shirts and A keeps thinking B's sick because their face is flushed all day when they look at A. 6) A gets B some flowers because they're trying to show more affection but it backfires when B begins sneezing and getting watery eyes. (Bonus if A goes back to the store and gets fake flowers and allergy relief medication.) 7) A and B go into a haunted house and A doesn't have time to be scared because B's lightning fast reflexes keep knocking the scare actors flat on their ass and A keeps apologizing while B's trying hard not to keep doing it every time someone pops out. 8) A and B get their face painted and while A who is sunshiney gets something scary B, the storm cloud, gets a cute animal and then they go out for food. 9) A and B go to the zoo and while in the part where you're allowed to pet the animals A is trying hard to get animals to like them B is the one all the animals keep swarming and rubbing against. 10) A and B go to the beach and even though B doesn't like the beach. While A has fun in the water B has fun when the seagulls begin attacking people who brought food. (Bonus if it ends with B saying they now love the beach.)

Fluffy Prompts for the Human/Vampire Relationship

1) Everyone warns A about B being a vampire and one day when they're out with friends B casually mentions that they smell good and everyone is wide eyed until B's like "I was talking about their perfume/cologne." Which makes them all give a sigh of relief and the group spends the whole day trying to make it up to B because A really likes them.

2) It's hot outside and so A hugs B to stay cool. And for once in their life B's kind of glad they're a vampire. 3) A who is like ice feels bad they can't cuddle with B so they buy a ridiculously warm onesie and gloves to hold them. (Bonus if the onesie is extremely tacky because they got it last minute.) 4) A's jackets are in the wash so they wear one of B's without telling the. (Bonus if B spends all day looking for it since it's their favorite one.) 5) A feels bad B can't enjoy food so they spend hours researching until they find a few recipes B can eat since they're mixed with a lot of blood. (Bonus if they messed up the recipe but B thinks it's the most delicious thing ever.) 6) A can't see their reflection so B spends the whole day figuring out if there's a way for a vampire to see their own reflection. 7) In a world where humans can become blood donors as a job and pick the vampire they work for A gets lucky enough to meet a wealthy B. B is excited because A's cute and has a rare blood type. 8) A celebrates a birthday or holiday where gifts are involved and everyone thinks B's favorite color is red because they're a vampire. But they tell everyone they actually hate red and so everyone tries to figure out what their favorite color is. 9) A reads trashy vampire novels to B, a vampire, who does nothing but lay their head on A's lap and go "Oh my god, we don't even do that! That's such bullshit, that's not even what happened during the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. I should know, I was there!" 10) A hasn't been around humans in a long time and is very confused when looking at certain technology or clothing B wears.

Hurt/Comfort Prompts for the Human/Vampire Relationship

1) A has always hated vampires and when they become one B shows them how to survive in their world. 2) A gets injured and B can't help them because of their blood lust. B is incredibly jealous of C for being able to take care of them when they can't 3) A almost drinks B's blood when A accidentally cuts themself. Later A buys some rosary beads for someone at work to ward off a vampire they work with who's getting handsy or whatever. But when B finds them they're worried A doesn't trust them anymore. 4) A gets injured running away from vampires and B is a vampire who finds them and patches them up. 5) A can tell what turns B on because they're constantly listening to their heart rate. Imagine A being incredibly jealous when B sees C because their heart rate spikes. (Bonus if B just really hates C so it's nothing more than them preparing themselves to be annoyed for the day.) 6) A rescues vampire B from a mad scientist who was conducting experiments on B to see if vampires could be changed back and how much pain they can endure. 7) A is a human who's lost everything and B is a vampire who grants them eternal life and revenge against those who wronged them. 8) A hates vampires and works for a group of vampire hunters but when they stumble upon B and see how scared they are it reminds them of their past and they help them escape, this leads B to become attached to A and curious about them. A hates it until they think it's actually kind of cute. 9) In a world where humans are kidnapped and kept alive for their blood A is leading a rebellion until they're captured. B, a vampire in the cell next to them, befriends them and tells them the guard schedules and personalities and tells them they'll help them escape if they get them out too. (Bonus if A is going to betray B until their time together makes A feel things.) 10) A is the most heartless human and B is the most compassionate/alive vampire. The two meet and change each others lives, but is that for the better or worse?

Crack Prompts for the Human/Vampire Relationship

1) A makes garlic bread and B spends hours trying to figure out what they did wrong. Turns out A forgot that B couldn't have garlic bread and didn't remember when they bought, they just thought "Wow, haven't had garlic bread in a while." 2) A cuts their finger and before B can react A sucks the blood from their finger. And it wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that B moaned when A did that so now things are weird. 3) A and B go grocery shopping and afterwards they check the police records for any criminals in the area for B to drink from. 4) A is a nurse who works at a hospital in charge of blood and B is a blood thief A is constantly spraying with holy water to keep out of the room where they store all the blood. When new nurse C arrives they panic until A comes and spritzes them. When C is like "???" A is like "They do that all the time. They don't bite humans, they drink animal blood. But sometimes they're tempted to drink human blood so you gotta spritz them when you see them." 5) A wonders why B never feeds in front of them and B just tells them they wouldn't want to watch anything like that. But when A finally convinces B to actually have dinner with them they feed in front of A. (Bonus if A is horrified and lowkey loses their appetite but tries to play it off) 6) A can't see their reflection so B is constantly drawing dicks on their face when they're asleep. 7) A thinks it's hot when B speaks a different language, but when B catches on and uses it during an argument A is constantly telling them to stop flexing their knowledge. B thinks it's hilarious though but stops for a while so when A's in the mood B can talk dirty in another language. (Bonus if by the time B does that A can speak the language too.) 8) A has been staring at someone B hates all day and when B thinks A might have a crush they get sad until A admits they just have a gross blood type and can't stand the smell. 9) "You look really peaceful when you sleep, very beautiful." "Please don't watch me sleep, it's so weird, dude." "We have sex all the time, do not call me dude." 10) A getting mad at vampire B before they go out and saying some shit like, "You have something on your face by the way." And not telling B where it is because they know B can't see their own reflection to wipe whatever it is off. (Bonus if A is smug the whole time and B is like "Come on, lets not fight tonight and just...just tell me where it is! Is it my nose? My teeth? What is it?!?")

Sorry this took so long, @zoliis I wanted to give you at least 10 prompts for each one, hope these are kind of what you’re looking for maybe? If not just let me know and I’ll do some more! :)

#40 prompts #dialogue prompts #otp prompts #writing prompts #fic prompts #prompts #writer #writing #ask #hurt/comfort prompts #crack prompts #fluffy prompts #sunshiney/storm cloud relationship #vampire/human prompts #vampire prompts #supernatural prompts

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