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tteokdoroki · 3 years

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— “TRUST YOU + KATSUKI BAKUGOU.”

author’s note(s): two thousand words of pure sloppy filth written for your entertainment and inspired by an ask i got from my ♈️ anon, who asked me to imagine college katsuki teaching you how to give bjs,, so this is dedicated to them. i hope you enjoy this my fellow sinners! there’s a lot in this one so read the warmings!

warning(s): mdni, 18+. heavy smut, dark content, dub-con, forced photography, cheating, manipulation, power play dynamics, dacryphilia, slight infantilisation, throat fucking, blow jobs, cum play, facials, corruption!kink, praise!kink, fem!reader, mentions of boyfriend!sero and college!bakugou.

“suki, a-are you sure this is okay?”

your voice trembles as you lower yourself between bakugou’s thighs, both of them instinctively spread when your palms grip them with a slight nervousness. you’re so fucking stupid, so trusting but of course he’d never given you a reason to feel anything otherwise. your suki took care of you, an innocent girl from a small town— fresh look in her eyes from the moment you’d stepped onto campus.

of course you’d shaken more when you’d first met the blonde, he was big with dark and blood red eyes that spelled bad news if you didn’t look closely enough. and yet, you still trusted him because suki promised he would protect you from all the bad men and women and non binary folk on campus. he would always come swooping in to protect your chubby cheeks and doe eyed smile.

you always thought it was because he cared about you, your friends always told you that you were lucky your roommate even paid attention to you and suki always brushed away your doubts— but it was really because he dreamed of you, dreamed of taking away the very purity that shone within your bright eyes.

“‘course it’s okay princess, remember, suki always takes care of you. yer’gonna trust me, right?” bakugou reassures you, an evil glint hidden behind the soft smile he gives you while his large hand pats your cheek affectionately. his chest burns at how easily you lean into him, nuzzling his palm stupidly. you should consider yourself lucky that it’s katsuki who’s guiding your innocent hands to the tent in his pants and not some other guy from campus.

katsuki had seen the way they looked at you, watching the way your thick thighs bounced as you walked and their hungry eyes drifting down to your chest as you talked. it made him angry that other people looked at you as if you were just a piece of meat— which you were. but you were his little slab of ass and they needed to learn that. even your boyfriend; sero who made you cry twice a week over stupid things, needed to be taught a lesson.

after all; that’s how you ended up right where you were right now. between the legs of your roommate— drooling over your first cock like the dumb, hungry cock whore bakugou knew you really were. you wanted to learn how to make it up to sero and what better way to a man’s heart than a fuckin’ blowjob, right? the blonde had thought the best way to teach a virgin like you would be through a hands on experience.

he watches as the dark in your eyes takes over and your pupils dilate, fingers much smaller in comparison to the hard-on his pants hide. you palm bakugou lightly, mimicking the heavy petting your boyfriend had coaxed you into a few times before and watch with awe as your roommate shudders underneath your touch— a dark growl reverberating in his chest. “trust you,” you whisper quietly, the words slightly slurred as you begin to drool, growing hungry for your first taste of a real man. “b-but what if someone finds out suki, w-wont we get in trouble? what if sero—?”

leaning down to capture your lips, he pulls you into a honeyed kiss— grinning at the way your body leans into him, always so desperate for more. “no one will find out, sweetness, i won’t say anythin’ if you don’t,” he lives for the giggle that streams from between your lips and pats your cheek once when you look up at him earnestly. it was only a small lie, but bakugou would worry about that latter. “now how about’cha take out that cock ‘n i’ll show you how ta take it jus right.”

you nod so fast that you make yourself dizzier than you already are— the foreign feeling of lust building up at the forefront of your mind. katsuki could tell that you’d never seen a dick before, it was easy to tell from the way your bottom lip trembles at his sheer size alone; thick and weighty in a way that dwarfs your hand.

his tip is an angry shade of red that could rival that of his eyes, even while they drip with a desire to corrupt and ruin you. his mind runs wild with thoughts of bending you over the bed and fucking your virgin cunny until you’ve been given a proper reason to cry, the image of salty tears running down your hot cheeks alone causes fat drops of precum to ooze from the tip and onto your fingers.

“‘s big suki, dunno if i can take it,” you whine, lips pushing into a pout while your fingers say the opposite, hesitantly curling around bakugou’s thickness. he moans from deep within his chest at the sight of your hands barely able to close around him and bucks his hips up into your enclosed fist. you can’t help but watch, salivating at how beautiful your roommate looks while he fucks into your tight grip, spitting onto his own cock to ease the glide of your hand up and down him.

bakugou’s chest heaves, even as he starts leaning back on his elbows to get a better view— you’re doing so well for him, he can’t imagine letting you touch anyone else the way you touch him. you’re his and he plans on ruining everyone else for you. “you can. you will.” he spits out at you through gritted teeth, vermillion eyes hooded and voice authoritative. submissive as you are, you listen to him— because suki is never wrong, he knows best and if you listen to him you’ll learn well. “yer gonna start by gettin’ that mouth on me, kay sweetness? y’wanted to learn how to suck a cock butcha ain’t doin’ much suckin’.”

“but ‘suki—“

he doesn’t miss the way your hand freezes in hesitation and a nervousness takes over you— katsuki has already been so patient with you but that very patience is wearing thin, how is he going to teach you that he’s all you’ll ever need if you won’t fuck his cock like he’s asked. taking a fist full of your hair, the blonde drags you forward despite your whimpers and forces your mouth only inches from his twitching length.

“don’t you trust me sweetness? don’cha wanna get good at suckin’ dick... so your boyfriend don’t leave ya?” bakugou seethes, eyes swimming with darkness that almost scares you. you want to be good for him, nodding your head in compliance while tears sting at your pretty doe eyes. bakugou would apologise for that later, reassure you that you’re still his darling sweetness and that he never meant to make you cry but he can’t help the way his girth jumps at the view of your water eyes. your head jerks with every word he spits at you, frightened whimper sounding in your throat as you utter a weak ‘yes.’, only then does katsuki finally relent, bringing you close to his tip again and tapping it against your glossy lips. “that’s what i fuckin’ thought, princess. now open up.”

doing as you’re told, slowly take his engorged rip past plush lips— giving gentle kitten licks to the oozing centre. precum doesn’t taste as bad as you thought it would, maybe it’s because of katsuki and because of him the liquid is sweet against your tongue, making you eager to taste more. you feel so fucking good, albeit a little bit sloppy but a pleasured smirk burns against bakugou’s lips as you take him, your virgin mouth, hot and wet around him and if he didn’t know any better, he could cum in an instance.

“fuckin’ hell princess, that’s a good girl, y’sure you’ve never done this before...” he grunts out, fixated on the way you practically make out with his cock and the husky sound of his voice makes your innocent cunt flutter along with the praise. glancing up at the blonde above you, you moan at the way katsuki’s face contorts with pleasure— nothing like you’ve ever seen before and you desperately want him to make that face whenever you’re around. slurping noises fill the air as you practically make out with his cock— getting bolder and bolder with the way your tongue moves against him.

you make out with his cock like you’re kissing katsuki bakugou, he’d taught you that too.

his nails scratch against your scalp with every lap of your tongue to his length, mapping out the thick veins on the underside. you moan around him in a way that makes him shudder. the same hand in your hair moves to the back of your head, pushing you further down on bakugou’s cock and forcing more of himself down your tight throat.

“can’t believe no one’s thought to fuck your throat before, sweetness, s’fuckin’ tight. yer gonna let me use you right? yeah? you my good girl?” katsuki babbles mindlessly, intoxicated with the heat of your mouth and the way you sloppily drool all over him, a combination of your spit and his precum dripping between his weighty balls.

you’ve never made a man feel this good before, not even hanta has responded to your touch like this— and you could so easily become addicted to the way pleasuring katsuki makes you feel. the blonde’s hips jump up, cock hitting the back of your throat and you yelp on surprise— gagging at the unexpected and new feeling. hearing you gargle over his dick while you sloppily suck it down makes pride swirl in bakugou’s chest— accompanied by shallow thrusts deeper into your mouth.

what a mess he’s made of his sweet, innocent little roommate— he has you looking like pure sin as mixes of his arousal, your mascara and your tears cascade down your chubby cheeks like a waterfall. “fuck baby, suck me off, just like fuckin’ that, such a good fuckin’ girl for your suki...” he curses. “gettin’ close baby, why don’t you swallow for me— make me cum yeah?”

you do just that, attempting to bob your head up and down before swallowing around katsuki’s cock. you feel so proud of yourself when his hips and breathing stutter simultaneously— earning yourself a small victory. you want to be the reason your roommate cums, want him to be the course for his earth shattering pleasure...it’s the least you could do for the blonde after everything he’s taught you. this is your way of showing your gratitude for how much he’s taken care of you.

“gonna fuckin’ cum, gonna fuckin’ cum...atta girl sweetness,” bakugou praises you as your hand moves experimentally to squeeze at his balls, heavy with cum. his grip on you tightens and all he can think about is how pretty you’ll look when he’s stained your innocent, supple skin with all of his seed. he’ll mark you up as his, fuck your mouth so good that you’ll only ever drool over his cock. he wants you to long for him and only him. a strangled moan escapes katsuki when you let the spit gathered in your mouth, spew out against his girth and and all it takes is one sweet look from you before the cord in his stomach snaps.

“s-shit, fuck—oh god, fuck...” bakugou’s hips stall as he falls into orgasm, the world of colours flashing behind his vermillion eyes while his viscous hot seed fills your mouth and his dam of pleasure finally breaks. there’s not a thought in your mind as hot white paints your tongue, nothing aside from how good your roommate tastes and how much you yearn to taste him again.

not even sero comes to mind. he’s addictively sweet against your tastebuds and swallow every drop that katsuki has to offer— milking him for all of his worth and even lapping up the reminders of his release after he pulls from the confines of your mouth due to over sensitivity. “holy, fuck princess...” the blonde pants, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“did i do good, suki?” you ask with a muffled, sweet voice. your chin and cheeks are still messy with sticky globs of cum and the rims of your bambi eyes blackened with the traces of your eye makeup...you look like a fucking sin on legs and if he wasn’t so fucked out, bakugou would have claimed your mouth again.

using a thumb, and despite his breathlessness, bakugou leans forward and collects his arousal from your baby fat cheeks and pushes the digit past your cherry lips. he swears lowly as you eagerly suck on his thumb, cleaning it off as though you didn’t just take a mouthful of him already. “so good baby, suki’s s’fuckin’ proud of you, yeah?” he coos, patting your face softly before holding his arms out to pull you into his lap.

you wiggle happily at the praise, allowing yourself to be scooped up into your roomie’s arms as you whisper a small ‘thank you for teaching me, suki,’ to him. you’re so cute, so precious, curling in on the man like a defenceless baby before you fall asleep, a dirty mess in his arms. bakugou thinks to clean you up, but not before snapping a picture of your face dirtied with his cum.

you wouldn’t find out about it and it’s not like it mattered, you trusted your suki with all your heart...and even if he did send the picture to your boyfriend, hanta... it’s not like that mattered either— you’d thank him for it later, you always did after katsuki had taught you a lesson.

this would simply be a lesson to remind you, that you were always going to be his.

— TAGLIST: i didn’t tag you if i didn’t see an age in your bio lol

@bakugous-trauma @greenchild @luv-dum @souleatermia @younggoth136 @fullchonk @t0xic-todoroki @chou-maitresse @definitetrashlord

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worth-more-than-two-thousand · 3 years

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Omega’s Observations

Request: Congrats on starting the blog!! Pumped to have a new writer's work to read 🥰 If you need some requests, how about an echo/gn!medic reader who he develops a crush on, for a little of that sweet sweet mutual pining action✨ Dunno if you write pre-citadel or just BB echo, but I'm happy with either. Have a good weekend!! :) (@krussyfed)

Author’s Note: Whew! This took a while for me to get to a place where I felt good about posting it. Honestly, as most of my writing does, it got a bit away from me, but that’s because I love fleshing out a story, showing-not-telling, and building on events from the canon. But if I saw this through until the end, I probably wouldn’t end up posting this for months! So I hope what I have here is worth the wait, and if you want more, let me know!

Story Notes: Unbeta’ed, no obvious warnings.

🖑 🖑 🖑 🖑 🖑 🖑 🖑

Ask her brothers to describe her, and ‘still and quiet’ would not be two of the words any of them would use.

Hunter would call her curious to a fault, then ruffle her hair to let her know that he meant it in the nicest way possible.

Wrecker would boom with laughter, proclaiming her one of them (“Always ready for action and adventurin’! Let’s go get those gundarks!”).

Tech would probably consider for a moment, then use a four-syllable word. Like effervescent.

Echo would call her young and energetic, but his brow would furrow as though this might be a bad thing. Then he would inevitably follow up with a reminder to stay within sight and keep out of trouble. She didn’t mind. She knew he just worried about her. Omega would always reassure him that she would keep close to her brothers. Of course, whether it actually happened was usually another thing.

Crosshair, if he was with them, would probably call her troublesome.

But really, this was a tactical advantage. Her brothers never expected her to be still and quiet, so she could settle in and be observant when it was least expected of her.

Omega was actually quite accustomed to being taciturn, at least when she needed to be. Her time with Nala Se, after all, was mostly like this.

Watching over like a stone guardian as Nala Se pored over the capsules containing her modified brothers…

...being as unobtrusive as possible during another endless meeting with Lama Su…

...laying noiselessly and without complaint as Nala Se inserted a needle into her arm for yet another blood sample…

These days, Omega could be as boisterous and vivacious (two more words Tech had taught her) as she wanted to be, so long as there was no chance of enemies being around. The only time she was obediently still by choice during these times was when she was being treated by Y/N, Clone Force 99’s on-board medic.

Again, this was mostly out of habit from her time with Nala Se, but it wasn’t as bad. For one thing, Y/N fielded all of Omega’s questions with unending patience. And their hands were less clinical, more gentle than Omega was used to. Nala Se was efficient, not a movement wasted in her examinations. Y/N, however, always offered a comforting touch on the back after a scary encounter, and would gently but firmly place their hands on Omega’s face to look her in the eye to assess emotional well-being.

The first time Y/N had done this was on the Ordo Moon, as Y/N was finishing wrapping up Omega’s small scratches on her hands and knees from her misadventures in the underground tunnels.

At this point, not used to such close eye contact, Omega averted her eyes and looked over Y/N’s shoulder for something to distract her from the unusual awkwardness she felt.

Her eyes met Echo’s.

Her awkwardness vanished as he seemed to startle, a faint flush appearing on his neck, as he coughed, crossed his arms, and turned away, suddenly much more interested in examining the ship’s ceiling than anything else.

What an interesting reaction. Her brain filed it away, curiosity piqued.

Then, over the course of a few weeks, Omega confirmed her suspicions.

Echo was always watching Y/N. Echo liked Y/N.

Omega caught him absentmindedly gazing at Y/N’s hands as they tapped thoughtfully on a datapad while Wrecker carried new medical inventory aboard the Marauder during a supply run.

After Wrecker’s successful inhibitor chip removal on Bracca, and Tech volunteered to go next, Omega watched Y/N’s hands fly across the medical controls, fierce determination sharpening their features. Glancing up, she saw that Echo’s attention was similarly arrested, a look on his face that was bordering very close to adoration.

He seemed most captivated by Y/N’s hands, however, whenever they were treating him personally for any ailments or injuries. Echo always sat pin straight, almost comedically robotic (it would be funnier, but his history brought a sort of cruel irony to the thought) and allowing Y/N to turn his body and maneuver his prosthetic arm however was needed without any fidgeting or complaint.

But his eyes were another story. Darting back and forth everywhere their fingers touched, such a stoniness to his face that Omega was certain he was committing every graze, every feather-light touch, to memory. Y/N, as always, was so focused on the medical work that they never seemed to notice.

Omega saw things, though. Echo was like Y/N’s shadow, often slipping into the same room or area Y/N was in, like a ghost. She observed with fascination how he always angled himself to face her whenever there was a conversation in the cockpit. It didn’t matter if it was just the two of them, or if the entire squad was there and discussing a mission, it was as though he had attuned himself to wherever Y/N happened to be and was drawn to them.

Like a sunflower always facing the sun.

She saw in the field how Echo, not Hunter, was usually the one to call the Marauder to check in or alert Y/N to any injuries that would need to be treated when they returned. How the space between his brows would crease whenever they would radio in but only receive the static of communications interference.

Or worse, no answer at all.

Echo wouldn’t say anything, but Omega felt that her brother’s steps would quicken, just a little. And she wasn’t sure she was just imagining a sudden sense of urgency in the air as they completed the mission, with just a bit more efficiency, a bit more ruthlessness than was usual.

Omega saw how Echo always let out a tiny breath in relief, as though he had been holding it the whole time, whenever they returned to the Marauder with its medic unharmed.

And she would never forget that one time they had returned to the Marauder, doors blasted open, interior trashed, with no medic in sight and droplets of blood leading away from the ship.

Omega had never been in war, had only heard about it passively from the conversations between Nala Se and Lama Su, then a bit more directly from her brothers once she was allowed out of the private lab.

She had once asked Tech about the war, but his response clearly paled in comparison to the dark look on Echo’s face, as they battled their way through enemy after enemy to rescue Y/N.

Omega felt as though she understood war a little bit more after this. At least its motivations.

It took longer for Omega to figure out whether her brother’s feelings were reciprocated. Y/N’s affection wasn’t as obvious, but the trick was to watch more for their actions than in body language.

Since Y/N and Tech slept the least, they would swap bunks and so were usually on opposite sleep schedules. This meant that Y/N would stay up late into the night well after the rest of the boys had retired to their bunks, face alight in the glow of a datapad. They would concentrate fiercely, chewing on their thumbnail and pausing often to tap notes into the margins.

Omega eventually managed to snatch and break into Y/N’s data pad, and saw that they were working their way through a series of medical journals, detailing the latest treatment for prosthetics. There were also several articles on treating post-traumatic stress disorder for former prisoners of war.

Omega had even checked Y/N’s search history, and discovered that they had been using an encrypted channel to search for chatter on the whereabouts of the former 501st legion and its various members. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Y/N had much luck so far, but if the number of searches were any indication, they weren’t giving up.

Omega wondered incredulously how none of her other brothers had yet caught on to the two’s clearly mutual affection for each other. Until she realized that no, they already knew.

Once, when Omega had offered Echo some of her Mantell Mix, Echo had sniffed it, much to her amusement. Her giggles subsided immediately when Echo murmured apologetically that he sometimes had trouble digesting pretty much any food that wasn’t nutritional paste, due to half his digestive system being completely artificial.

Of course, this meant that he must have been experiencing constant abdominal discomfort, as they hadn’t had any nutritional paste on the ship since their escape from Kamino. Hunter once mentioned to her that even the plainest of rations seemed to bother him, but he gamely never complained.

One day, Hunter was giving out rations in the cockpit, and had already given Tech and Wrecker their usual. Then he pulled out a green, unlabeled squeeze packet instead of the usual rations bar, and handed it to Echo, who took it with some confusion.

“What’s this?”

“New brand. It should be easier on your digestive systems than the usual stuff. Tastier, too.”

Echo glanced at the packet skeptically, unscrewing the cap and sniffing at its contents.

“It smells...fresh?”

“Try it,” Hunter urged him, to which Echo obediently tried a small amount.

His mouth rounded in a surprised ‘oh’. Omega wished she could have captured the look on his face with a holovid. He stared at the packet in his hands, with a look that was a bit like wonder and amazement.

This didn’t escape Wrecker’s notice, who immediately stood up in protest. “What? Why does Echo get something new to eat?” He glanced forlornly at the slightly crumpled, stale rations bar in his hand. “I want some!”

“They’re too expensive for your appetite, Wrecker,” Hunter replied, just a bit too quickly, though none of the others seemed to notice. “Besides, you probably wouldn’t like it.”

“I’ll be the judge of that!” Wrecker proclaimed, swiping the packet from Echo’s hands despite Hunter’s attempt to chastise him. Wrecker took a giant slurp.

...and immediately spat it out, some of it splattering on poor Gronk.

“Blech! That tastes weird.”

“Probably because it’s made of fruits and vegetables,” Tech said dryly, “Your palette likely isn’t sophisticated enough to appreciate the subtle bitterness and natural sweetness that are characteristic of those food categories.”

Echo eyed Hunter skeptically. “And we have the money to keep buying these?”

Hunter hummed, closing the rations box and turning away from the cockpit. “Omega’s paying for it from her holochess winnings.” She startled at the sudden mention of her name. “We have extra to spare, for now.” Hunter subtly winked at her when the others weren’t looking.

“Oh. Thank you, Omega,” said Echo, looking at her with true gratitude. Omega flushed a bit, but mostly because it actually didn’t have anything to do with her. She played along, however, and insisted it was no problem. It did seem to make him happy, so there was no harm in a small lie like that, right?

She cornered Hunter later, though, and insisted on him telling her the truth. After wearing him down a bit, he finally relented.

“Okay, but you can’t tell the others, all right? Believe me, I’ve already tried to talk them out of it. But Y/N has been doing some medical work on the side, working at one of the clinics near Cid’s bar. They’ve been using the money to buy these.”

Omega’s face screwed up in confusion. “Why can’t you just tell Echo that?”

Hunter sighed. “Because they don’t want Echo to know. Figures that Echo wouldn’t like them going out on their own to work in the slums for his sake. They’re probably right, of course.” He rubbed at his forehead, a sure sign of an impending headache.

Omega frowned, then decided to go for it.

“You know they like each other, right?”

Hunter blinked at her, looking surprised. At her determined stare, he gave a sigh and muttered something like, ‘I’m getting too old for this’. He proceeded to explain patiently to her that perhaps Echo and Y/N liked each other, but pointed out how awkward or difficult it could be to have a romantic relationship in such close quarters, especially when they as a team also had bigger things to worry about.

It sounded like Hunter had given this exact speech at least twice before.

So Tech and Wrecker knew, then, but were being polite about it (or, in Wrecker’s case, had probably gotten an earful from Hunter earlier about tact and ‘minding one’s own business’).

Well. That wouldn’t do.

By the time Echo got up the nerve to say anything, he’d probably be old! (Omega wouldn’t, but she tried not to think too hard about that particular fact.)

So, she began to scheme. Quietly.

She had the tactical advantage, after all.

#fic request #arc trooper echo #echo x you #echo x reader #echo #tbb echo #star wars tbb #star wars the bad batch #the bad batch #tbb omega #echo x g/n reader #unbeta'd

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mandelene · 3 years

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Could you doneither the sleepy wondering one or the one where they call them sweetie or something please? Preferably something with the kids if that's okay. 😅

Here's what I came up with! I did it with little Matthew because little Matthew is just such a cutie pie.

Please State Your Complaint Word Count: 687

“Might I ask what you’re doing out of bed, young man?”

Matthew nearly hops into the air out of surprise, clearly not expecting to have been caught. He looks up at Arthur with innocent, cherub-like eyes, and murmurs nervously, “I can’t sleep.”

Arthur picks the barefoot five-year-old up into his arms, and asks, “Why not, darling? It’s well past your bedtime.”

“…Itchy,” Matthew whispers, scratching at his chest through his Batman-themed pajama top. He seems to be ashamed to have to admit to this because he hides his face against Arthur’s chest, afraid to look at him.

“Itchy? Why didn’t you come and tell someone?”

“I dunno,” he whimpers, releasing a sob. He’s sleepy and cranky from having been woken up by whatever is bothering him—that much is obvious.

Arthur immediately rubs his back and kisses his head, trying to prevent a waterfall of tears. “It’s all right. We’ll fix it. Come, let’s go to your room and you’ll show me what the trouble is, okay? Don’t cry, sweetheart. There’s no reason to be so upset.”

He carries Matthew back to bed, sets him down, and slips his pajama top off. And well, Arthur isn’t sure what he was mentally preparing himself for—maybe a heat rash or a small patch of contact dermatitis.

But no, the child is covered in hives of all different sizes. His entire chest and abdomen are red and inflamed, and when he turns the boy around, he finds some hives on his back as well. No wonder he couldn’t sleep! He must be miserable!

“Oh, Matthew…”

Matthew quivers from the force of another sob and hangs his head low, embarrassed.

“It’s okay, love. It’s an allergic reaction. I’ll get you some allergy medicine, and it should make things all better, okay?” Arthur says before swiftly heading for the medicine cabinet in the bathroom to find some children’s Benadryl and hydrocortisone cream. He rushes back with both of them in hand and is pleased to find that Matthew takes the Benadryl without so much as a single protest. He’s an angel in comparison to how Arthur must fight and sometimes physically restrain Alfred to get him to take any sort of medication.

Then, he opens the tube of hydrocortisone cream and spreads some across the worst of the hives on Matthew’s front. “It should start to feel better in a few minutes…Now we have to figure out what in the world you’re so allergic to.”

He’s fairly certain Francis recently bought a new fabric softener—that might’ve done it.

Matthew quiets down, and since he’s been sufficiently tended to, Arthur puts the supplies away, washes his hands, and turns his attention to comforting the boy instead. He lies down next to him in his bed, runs a soothing hand over his head, and assures him he’s going to be just fine by the morning.

“Look at me, Matthew,” he says, waiting for the child to lift his eyes. “If you ever feel unwell in the middle of the night, I want you to wake me or your papa up. We don’t want you wandering out of bed and feeling like you have to hide it from us. It’s our job to help you and keep you safe and healthy.”

Matthew burrows against his side and whispers ever-so-faintly, “Okay.”

“You did nothing wrong. And it’s not your fault that you’re not feeling well. We would never punish or scold you for waking us up when something’s wrong. You come in and you state your chief complaint loud and clear. You can even shout if you have to. I'm old—my hearing sometimes fails me, and I might not hear you, so you have to yell like Alfred does when there's a problem, okay?"

“…Thank you, Daddy.”

Arthur lets out a long breath and pulls him into a hug. He worries immensely about Matthew, especially because he knows he's less vocal than his brother. “You don’t have to thank me, silly boy… I’ll stay with you until the medication starts working. Go to sleep, love.”

“G’night.”

“Goodnight.”

This child is going to be the death of him.

#hetalia #aph england #aph canada #hws canada #hws england #hws face family #aph face family #drabbles #sleepy upset matthew #hurt comfort

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cablesscutie · 3 years

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Inspired by @hayleynfoster’s comic and some hilarious headcannons about the littlest steambaby with Hayley and @favlie

Read it on AO3

The day Avatar Aang comes to meet his second niece, Fire Lord Zuko refuses to let his youngest child out of sight. Katara rolls her eyes, and reminds her husband that neither of their children had ended up psychologically disturbed because of their flights. “Not,” she adds, pointing at Aang, “that I am allowing a repeat, but I think just holding her while firmly on the ground will be fine.”

“Mmmm,” Zuko hesitates, curling Kallik closer to his chest. Her big eyes blink up at the adults guileless from her blanket. “No.”

“You let Azula hold her!” Aang argues.

“She doesn’t do anything with the babies!” Zuko shoots back. It’s not strictly true, he knows, but his sister’s ritual with newborns is unsettling in a much different way. She simply stares deep into each child’s eyes upon being handed them, until some kind of understanding passes between her and the baby. Results have varied, but the most important part is that there was no threat to life and limb.

Katara’s raised eyebrow says that she also doesn’t believe Zuko’s words, but she doesn’t say anything. They are, after all, a united front - to the children, to politicians, to their friends. In the privacy of their chambers, however, he knows he will be hearing about this.

Katara and Zuko take the kids to spend Kallik’s first birthday at the South Pole. It’s a tradition they’ve observed with all three, and Zuko always looks forward to going to visit her family. The house is loud and chaotic, full to bursting with people, the exact opposite of his own lonely childhood. There is no posturing, and everyone loves and squabbles openly. On this particular visit, they have overlapped with Aang’s stay with Sokka and Suki, so Gran-Gran’s house is in even more of an uproar than usual by the time Zuko and Katara arrive.

Kya immediately dashes off to coo over her little cousins as they toddle around behind Pakku, pretending to be otter penguins. Satoshi runs to the kitchen to be showered in kisses and cookies from Gran-Gran. Hakoda finds them barely out of their parkas and already thoroughly abandoned.

“I could’ve sworn you had at least one other child,” he tells Katara, scratching his head as he pretends to search for his missing grandchildren. She laughs and hugs her father tight. Neither of them let go for long moments, and Zuko’s throat feels tight when he notices his father-in-law’s misty eyes. He looks down at Kallik, thinks of his other two children, and wonders for the thousandth time how Hakoda could ever forgive him for keeping Katara so far away. It’s why he hands his daughter over easily when her grandfather waggles his fingers expectantly and says, “Alright, give her here.”

Hakoda settles Kallik on his hip with practiced ease, and pulls Zuko into a brief hug with his free arm. “Good to see you, son.”

Zuko clears his throat. “You too,” he says, and Katara laughs softly at his awkward shuffling, amused by how he doesn’t know what to do with his hands without a baby in his arms. She answers his question by lacing their fingers together as she leads him deeper into the house to find her brother and their friends seated around the hearth fire watching the kids run around.

Hugs are exchanged all around, and Zuko settles into their familiar company. Hakoda joins them after taking Kallik to say hello to Gran-Gran and Pakku, and bounces the baby on his knee to make her laugh. Aang makes silly faces at her that have her letting out piercing giggles and reaching out to try and grab at the wooden beads of his necklace.

“Well clearly she’s bored of me,” Hakoda says, making to hand her off to her uncle. “Here you go -” Zuko leans over and intercepts.

“Oh no. No baby catapult,” he says, shaking his head.

Aang gives him a pout to rival Momo. “Come on, we’re indoors!” Katara clears her throat, and when Zuko glances over, her eyes are narrowed at him. With a sigh, he holds Kallik out to Aang.

“Fine. But I’m watching you.”

Extended family vacations to Ember Island always sound like a good idea to Katara. At first. When her husband is burnt out and aching, and the kids are climbing the walls, and she just wants to lie in the sun with a book, it seems like the cure for everything.

And then they arrive. Somehow, much like she forgets the excruciating pain of childbirth, she never recalls the onslaught of chaos and catastrophe that comes every vacation. Like the time Sokka got stung by a jelly-ray. Or the time Suki and Zuko got in a fight about disciplining each other’s kids. Or the time every single one of the kids managed to get sunburnt and couldn’t sleep. Every year, it’s always something, and somehow, it usually ends up being at least partially her problem to solve.

This year, though, is somehow turning out alright. They reach day three without major incident, and almost entirely without tears - a near miracle for a vacation involving five children under the age of ten.

“I’m almost done with my first book already,” she tells Zuko as they rock slowly in a hammock on the deck, whispering in hopes of keeping any listening spirits from knowing that she’s gotten her hopes up.

“Good, you deserve the break,” Zuko says. He looks on the verge of sleep despite the fact that the sun is still climbing in the sky. The dark circles beneath his eyes are already faded almost to nothing. She sighs happily and grabs her book, but before she can actually crack it open, she hears Toph cackling and her Mom Senses light up. Zuko calls after her in surprise as she leaves the hammock swaying wildly behind her, but she doesn’t look back on her way to the beach.

When she arrives, it is just in time to see Toph pick up Kallik, a wicked smile on her face. Sokka and Suki’s twins are further down the beach standing beside Aang, both of them jumping up and down with excitement, waiting for something.

“Go long, Twinkle Toes!” Katara’s eyes go wide, and faster than should be possible, she reaches them, yanking Kallik out of Toph’s hands. “Hey!”

“Absolutely not!” Katara says, scowling.

“I was gonna catch her!” Aang shouts. Katara shakes her head.

“This is not happening. No way.” Then, silently lamenting the loss of quiet time with her husband, Katara looks at the twins and asks, “Who wants to go get some ice cream?

At Zuko’s request, his birthday is not a big deal with his family. It’s a combination of the fact that the entire Fire Nation loses its mind about the day anyway, so he is all but forced to spend a day attending a festival in his honor, and the fact that he is used to his birthday being a marker of all the disappointments he has been in the past year. It is a long-standing compromise with his wife that she is allowed to throw him a small, family-only party, to be kept within the bounds of the garden. He enjoys the excuse to get everyone together without a barrage of meetings involved, and the rest of their family is so boisterous in comparison to him, he can almost forget that the day has anything to do with him at all.

For his thirtieth birthday, he makes the further concession of allowing Uncle to set up his new phonograph so there could be dancing. Zuko is manning the crank, watching Katara and Kya swing each other around while Aang sits next to him, flipping through the records looking for the right song.

“Do you have a request too?” Zuko hears him ask, and turns to see Kallik has toddled away from Uncle Iroh and approached the Avatar. She puts her hands on his knees and starts bouncing, flashing him a smile that shows all of her new teeth. “You want upsies?” Aang coos, and reaches to scoop her up by the armpits. Zuko clears his throat loudly, shooting Aang his best murder eyes, and the Avatar shrinks back into the collar of his robes a little. “What about dance party?” He lets Kallik grab onto his fingers and starts hopping around with her to the beat, hunched over and both of them giggling.

“Oh Uncle Aaaaang!” Kya sings, striding out into the garden where Appa has just landed. She has Kallik on her hip, and Satoshi follows along at her heels, excited to see Appa and Momo again. His pockets are already full of lychee nuts for his fuzzy friends.

“Hey guys!” Uncle Aang calls, his gangly arms waving excitedly. “Are you the welcoming committee now?” He lands in front of them on a gentle breeze, setting down his bag and grinning broadly.

“Mom and Dad are in a meeting,” Kya informs him. “But somebody wanted to go for a little flight.” She hitches the toddler higher and winks conspiratorially. “If you catch my drift.” Uncle Aang’s eyes go wide, and he looks between the kids with unease. Satoshi feels terror grip his throat. He knew his big sister was crazy, but would she really…?

“Oh I dunno, your Dad was pretty...adamant...that you all are grounded until further notice.” Satoshi lets out a sigh of relief.

“Dad’s in a meeting,” Kya reiterates, as though being in a meeting involves entering another dimension. She should know better, her brother thinks to himself. Mom and Dad always find out when they’re up to no good, and as the sibling who’s usually leading the charge into trouble, Kya should definitely have that figured out by now. Uncle Aang should absolutely know that by now, but with horor, Satoshi realizes that the Avatar is looking a little bit convinced. “And we’re not gonna tell on you,” she wheedles. Speak for yourself, Satoshi thinks, glancing around to see if there are any guards within earshot if he calls for their parents. Sadly, it seems nobody has realized that the Avatar requires careful supervision.

“Well…” Uncle Aang considers, then comes to his decision, smiling once again. “Alright, I guess one can’t hurt. Who’s going?”

Kya moves to offer Kallik to him, her tiny hands reaching out and making grabby motions. Satoshi’s world goes into slow-motion. There’s a roaring in his ears, and as if from outside his body, he hears his own voice say,

“I am.” Kya and Uncle Aang blink at him, stunned. Their uncle is the first to recover, and asks,

“Are you sure, kiddo? I mean, you weren’t the biggest fan when you were a baby…”

“I want to try again,” he makes himself say, despite his sweating palms. Uncle Aang grins and ruffles his hair.

“That’s the spirit! You get that from your dad.”

As his uncle’s hands grab him under the armpits, Satoshi hears Kya mutter, “It’s the self-sacrificing idiot gene,” and then he is gone. As he soars through the air, he wonders if maybe his body hasn’t even left the ground yet. He can’t feel anything. Maybe he just died of panic and this is just his soul taking off for the spirit world.

Then he reaches the height of his arc and starts plummeting back to Earth, and the sensation of all his internal organs rattling around asserts the fact that he is very much still alive and experiencing this. He closes his eyes before he gets anywhere close to the ground, so it comes as a surprise when he comes to a sudden stop, cradled briefly by robes smelling of hay and bison fur, before being deposited back on his feet.

“How’s the weather up there?” Uncle Aang asks him, patting him on the back. Satoshi doesn’t know what the weather was like. He doesn’t know anything except that solid ground beneath his feet may have replaced his mother’s hugs as his favorite feeling in the world. He meets Kya’s eyes, and sees from her horrified expression that he must look like as much of a husk of a child as he feels.

A quiet, affectless “Thank you,” is all that he can manage to say, and then he is wandering back into the palace, where he shoves his head into the nearest antique vase and screams.

“Psst.” A small sound behind him has Aang on alert. The Fire Nation Royal Palace hasn’t been a place of danger for years now, but with Toph and Sokka around, the probability of sneak attacks has risen a hundred fold. He doesn’t see anything though, and goes to turn back around, only to be caught by a surprisingly firm grip on his cape. About two feet below where he’d expected to find his assailant, Aang comes face to face with his youngest niece, Kallik. Her expression is the same determined furrow of the brow that Katara and Zuko have shared for so long it is impossible to tell which parent bestowed the trait on her. It has the eerie effect of summoning the terrifying force that is their combined will. Aang already knows that whatever she wants from him, he’s going to cave, and it will probably get him in trouble. “I hear you’re in the business of yeeting kids. I want in.”

Aang sighs. Zuko has been trying to prevent this day since the moment Aang met Kallik, and Kallik has been trying to evade her father’s overprotective tendencies since the moment of her existence. It is a battle Katara has elected not to fight, likely remembering her own impossible stubbornness and the futility of trying to stand against it. So it is with all of that knowledge that he says, “Okay.”

“Flameo!” Kallik cheers, punching at the air.

“Well ‘flameo’ was actually more of a greeting -”

“Let’s save the fun facts. I wanna fly.” With a creeping sense of dread, Aang follows the child pulling him along by the cape until they reach a courtyard. Kallik turns to face him, plants her feet, and rubs her palms together. “Alright,” she says, spreading her arms wide. “I’m ready.”

“Here we go...I guess,” Aang says, glancing over his shoulder as he reaches out to scoop her up by the armpits. The coast is clear, so he swings her around in circles a couple of times to get ready. As his niece starts to giggle, the garden blurs, and wind ruffles his robes, Aang feels the giddy anticipation of liftoff.

He hoists Kallik, up, up, up.

And then her momentum carries her out of his hands, and the wind that has built up around them propels her even higher. Her already small body shrinks until she looks more like the shadow of a bird in the night sky, clearing the palace roofs. A happy shriek pierces the air. Aang smiles, feeling her wonder as if it is his own. This is always the best part of someone’s first flight - witnessing them discover the wind anew - and while taking Air Acolytes to glide at the Northern Air Temple is fun, nothing compares to sharing this part of his culture with his nieces and nephews.

Kallik tumbles back into his arms, eyes wide with wonder, ecstatic grin plastered across her face. “Again!” she cries, the moment breath rushes back to her.

Aang laughs and holds her on his hip. As he always does, he asks, “How’s the weather up there?”

“The moon is huge! And I could see the whole city! And the ocean!” Kallik’s pudgy hands move in broad, sweeping gestures so similar to her mother’s bending as she speaks. He still remembers Katara’s delighted gasp the first time she flew, Toph’s bruising grip, Zuko’s shocked laugh. This moment, too, will be another piece of the Air Nomad legacy living on.

As Aang tosses Kallik yet again, Katara finds Zuko leaning against a pillar at the edge of the courtyard, watching. She approaches her husband, curious to find that he isn’t having a coronary at the sight of their daughter in freefall, and takes hold of his arm.

“You gonna yell at him?” she asks, feigning nonchalance. He doesn’t look away from them, but he is smiling, serene.

“Eh, she seems fine.”

#zutara #steambabies #zk fic #my writing

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lettheladylead · 3 years

Text

Not Your Aunt

Chapter 2: Della [ao3 link]

She didn’t trust the lady. Not for one second. Not for one teeny tiny eenie meenie little extra small second!

Not when Uncle Scrooge would always come home looking like he wanted to cry or scream and he’d mutter Goldie’s name under his breath and then lock himself in his room for the rest of the day. Visiting him was supposed to be exciting and cool and fun and if they had the terrible timing of coming by right after Goldie, then the trip was basically pointless.

Not that she wasn’t also sad to see her uncle sad! That also sucked a lot.

Last time they’d seen Goldie, she’d stolen their map and left them behind in some woods in the middle of Iraq. Sure, she’d oddly left them a clue to help get into the ziggurat safely, but that didn’t make up for the betrayal of stealing their stuff! And Donald was so sour about it for days and days. He really thought it was his fault, as if Miss O’Gilt wasn’t always stealing and leaving. It was pretty much her whole thing.

She tried to convince him that but he just grumbled and sighed about it. He was really hung up on how he called her “Aunt Goldie” when she’d told him not to. So what? They always did things adults told them not to do. It didn’t usually make them run away like little babies. And Della was confident that that wasn’t the reason why Goldie left them behind - not like the lady needed a reason, she clearly just did it for fun - so she knew she’d have to convince Donald of that so he’d stop being so mopey.

Conveniently, Goldie visited the manor again only a few months later. They were at the dinner table with Duckworth when they heard a suspicious sound coming from upstairs. Uncle Scrooge and Duckworth made eye contact and then started walking towards the stairs, so Della and Donald followed out of curiosity.

As they reached the source of the sound, which started as some kind of stomping but had turned into maybe a sliding? And Della could’ve sworn she heard a groan? Anyway, Duckworth opened the door and Uncle Scrooge peeked into the room for a half-second before suddenly shouting “GOLDIE?!” and running in.

Duckworth followed him, but Donald and Della stayed at the door and just looked inside. They could see Goldie was on the floor and Scrooge was some mixture of tending to her and yelling at her because, and Della wasn’t yet an expert on this but she’d had some experiences, there was definitely a pool of blood underneath her. Goldie muttered something and Scrooge muttered something back but neither she nor Donald could understand what they were talking about.

The twins made eye contact, silently agreeing to head inside, when Duckworth suddenly exited the room and closed the door behind him, leaving them out.

“You two should go finish your dinner.”

“What? But what about…” Della motioned towards the door.

“Ah, he’s right, Della,” Donald muttered softly, accepting defeat too easily for Della’s liking. “It’s not like we can help.” He started to walk away, looking just as bummed as he had been for the past few weeks.

Della pouted and thought about how she was hoping to improve Donald’s mood when Goldie returned, but of course the old lady had to make it more complicated than it needed to be. As Duckworth gently pushed them towards the stairs, she turned her head and looked up at him. “Is Aunt Goldie okay?”

Duckworth raised an eyebrow at her and decided not to comment on the name. “Goldie O’Gilt is harder to kill than a cockroach. She’ll be just fine.”

The kids chuckled at his comparison and rushed back down to eat. As soon as the kids were gone, Duckworth sighed and walked towards the bathroom, knowing he could find one of their First Aid kits in there.

The rest of their meal was quick, both kids just wanted to finish so they could go back upstairs and find out what happened to Goldie.

“I’ll bet she was fighting a sea serpent over a single gold doubloon and it just completely tore her arm off!”

“No way! She probably got into a back alley knife fight when she tried to rob a guy that was too tough to rob.”

“Oooh, or maybe she was making her way through an ancient tomb when all the traps went off and she’s just got a ton of arrows poking out of her, leaking her blood all over the floor and the side of the mansion while she climbed up the wall!”

“Ew, Dumbella! That’s so gross!”

“How is that grosser than her arm getting torn off?!”

“I dunno, it just is!”

They argued over Goldie’s potential source of injury for a few minutes as they finished their food. As they agreed to head upstairs, Uncle Scrooge came down and plopped himself and his cane right in the entranceway so they couldn’t leave.

“Kids. I’m sure you saw that Goldie’s here.”

“Yeah, kinda hard to miss,” Della said with an eyeroll. “Did she steal anything from you yet?”

Scrooge blew out some air and tapped his fingers at the top of his cane. “Not yet. And yes, she probably will. But...it might be a few days.”

Donald and Della looked at each other incredulously. “Days? Like...more than one?”

“Probably at least a week.”

“Wait, what?” Donald stepped towards his uncle, looking concerned. “Is she, like...actually really badly hurt? What happened?”

Scrooge looked up towards the second floor when he thought he heard a noise before sighing and looking back down at the kids. “She hasn’t given me all the details, but she’s...she’s not in the best shape. She’ll need a few days to recover.”

Della was already thinking back to her guesses for Goldie’s injuries. She’d been kidding before, but maybe she wasn’t too far off?

“You two don’t need to do anything, Duckworth and I can take care of her just fine,” Scrooge said softly. “But we might need to postpone our trip to Svalbard until she’s better.”

“Boo!” Della whined. “Aunt Goldie ruins yet another adventure! Can’t we just leave her here with Duckworth?”

Scrooge’s eyes widened and he sputtered a bit at her words. “I-I, um...no, she’s...what?”

“C’mon, Della, it’s just another week,” Donald commented, not noticing his uncle’s discomfort. “Uncle Scrooge probably wants to make sure she doesn’t steal anything while we’re gone.”

“Um...right,” Scrooge muttered, still not over what he just heard. He remembered Donald referring to her as ‘aunt’ the last time they’d seen her, but he kind of thought that was just an odd little one-time thing. Now if Della started doing it, too, then he didn’t know how to handle that. Goldie would absolutely lose her mind if she found out. “You two shouldn’t bother her so just stay away from the guest room two doors down from mine.”

The kids shared a look before looking back up at their uncle simultaneously. “Okay, Uncle Scrooge!”

As Scrooge nodded and walked away, seemingly headed towards his office, Della and Donald quickly rushed towards the stairs so they could go bother their new houseguest.

They peeked into the room together and saw the mess of blonde hair strewn across the pillows. Goldie definitely looked like she was asleep, which was very disappointing, but they decided to walk into the room anyway and see if she was just faking.

She didn’t react to them coming closer. Della leaned towards her brother and whispered, “She’s sneaky and sharp, right? So she probably knows we’re here even if she’s asleep!”

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Donald whispered back. “Look at her arm! She’s probably just really tired and hurt.”

Della followed his pointer finger and saw that there were bandages all over Goldie’s right arm - from her wrist up past her elbow. Clearly she’d been pretty badly hurt from something and Della desperately wanted to know what it was. She took a deep breath and walked the rest of the way towards her bed, ignoring Donald’s shocked protest behind her.

“...are you awake?” Della asked quietly, not sure how she should approach this.

Goldie didn’t respond, which just made Della pout.

“Aunt Goldie!” she said suddenly, at slightly-higher-than-normal volume. “What happened to your arm?!”

That time, Goldie’s eyes were wide open, but she was simply staring up at the ceiling and taking deep breaths. Donald noticed and joined his sister at the older woman’s bedside.

Another few seconds passed and Goldie closed her eyes again. Della wondered if she thought they were just a nightmare she was having. Well, that wouldn’t do.

“Aunt Gooooldie!” Della smacked her little hands against the top of the bed. “Did you get bitten by a shark? Or stabbed by a guy on the street? Or shot by a laser?”

“Or did you fall from a tower in the sky and land on your arm and it got all gross and beat up?” Donald added, feeling his sister’s contagious enthusiasm.

Goldie groaned and opened her eyes again, clearly wishing the kids weren’t really there. “Is there any way for me to get you two to go away?”

They just smiled at her innocently.

“...if I tell you what happened, will you let me sleep in peace?”

This time they nodded, completely in-sync. Goldie would’ve felt a little creeped out if she wasn’t used to them mirroring one another.

She turned back towards the ceiling and sighed. “I got burned. Badly.”

“Burned?” Della and Donald said together. Neither of them expected that. “Then what was with all the blood?”

“I wasn’t careful enough on my way here,” she said casually. “Burns got scratched up, started to bleed. Hurt like hell.”

Della climbed onto the bed, plopping herself down far enough from Goldie that the bed didn’t shake but close enough to get a better look at the bandages. They were definitely a little red and her arm looked inflamed. “So how’d you get burned? A dragon?”

Donald leaned onto the bed. “A flamethrower?”

“It was some kind of magic.”

“Oohh,” Della crooned. “Did you meet Magica De Spell? Uncle Scrooge complains about her sometimes.”

“She sounds scary.”

Goldie closed her eyes for a second before looking over at the kids. “It wasn’t my first time crossing paths with her, but yes. She had some stupid fancy magical artifact with her and caught me off guard and now I’m stuck here ‘til I can remember if that healing spring was in Caladrion or some other dimension that starts with C!” She started to move her arm and then hissed in pain before setting it back down. “I’ve got enough vicodin in my system to keep me from remembering the name but not enough to stop my arm from hurting. Great.”

Della and Donald looked at each other again. “...Aunt Goldie?”

“Please for the love of God, stop calling me that,” Goldie groaned, closing her eyes once again. “What do you want now?”

Donald took his sister’s hand and tugged her off the bed. “Do you want any tea or anything?”

Goldie froze momentarily before turning to look at the kids again, seeing surprisingly innocent looks on their faces. She almost felt bad for snapping, but god was she tired. “...no. I just want to go to sleep.”

“Okay,” Donald said quietly. “We’ll leave you alone now. Right, Della?”

Della nodded. “Yeah, okay. Sleep tight, Aunt Goldie!”

They headed out the door as Goldie groaned one last time and tried to get back to sleep. Donald shut the door behind them and glared at his sister. “She said to stop calling her that!”

“Yeah, but I wanted to get a reaction outta her!” Della responded, putting her hands on her hips. “You said it made her run away last time, but this time she’s still here!”

“She doesn’t exactly have a choice,” Donald muttered, crossed his arms over his chest. “I bet she’d be running if she could!”

“Nah-uh!”

“Yeah-huh!”

“Nah-”

“Della, Donald.”

The twins turned to see Duckworth standing at the end of the hallway, giving them a suspicious stare.

“Miss O’Gilt is trying to get some sleep so she can recover faster. Perhaps the two of you could continue this argument somewhere else?”

The kids nodded sheepishly and rushed past Duckworth on their way to another room to argue and play in. Duckworth watched them over his shoulder for a few moments before turning back towards the room that housed their current uninvited guest. He thought back to the last time Goldie O’Gilt had stayed in the mansion and how Mr. McDuck’s mood was lifted and then subsequently crushed when she inevitably left in the middle of the night.

Though he thought this time would probably be no different, having the kids around would make her stay a bit more interesting, he was sure of that.

#ducktales #goldie o'gilt #della duck #donald duck #scrooge mcduck #duckworth #scroldie #fic #fics #not your aunt

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commentaryvorg · 3 years

Text

Digimon Data Squad Dub Comparison Episode 3 - The Return of Thomas!

This is a companion to my commentary on the original Japanese Digimon Savers! Reading my commentary on the original version of this episode (which you can find here) is recommended before reading this dub comparison.

Original name ~ Dubbed name

Masaru Daimon ~ Marcus Damon

Yoshino Fujieda ~ Yoshino “Yoshi” Fujieda

Tohma H. Norstein ~ Thomas H. Norstein

Sayuri Daimon ~ Sarah Damon

Chika Daimon ~ Kristy Damon

Captain Rentarou Satsuma ~ Commander Richard Sampson

PetitMeramon ~ DemiMeramon

[Since several characters share the same name between the original and the dub, quotes from the dub will always be in italics, while quotes from the original will not, in order to distinguish them.]

In the original, Masaru’s VA is always the one reading out the title card, but the dub mixes it up with different characters depending on the episode. This time, we get Miki and Megumi reading it, complete with fangirl squealing over Thomas. Uh, thanks, dub.

Sarah: “I think Agumon has been a really good influence!”

Marcus & Agumon: “More, please!”

Sarah: “See, he even says ‘please’ now.”

Agumon giving Marcus a reason to wake up early on a non-school day, that makes sense, but Agumon giving him a reason to be more polite? I dunno.

As you can see, there is no dub equivalent of “Agu-chan”. This is understandable and not the dubbers’ fault since English lends itself a lot less to casual terms of endearment like that, but it is a shame.

Marcus: “You served him first?! What did you do, adopt him while I wasn’t looking?”

Marcus says this like it’s not exactly what she’s literally done, and also like it’s not what he’d want. Don’t you want Agumon to be your new little brother, Marcus?

Sarah: “Keep it up, tough guy, and I’ll give your portion to him, too.”

Her affectionate ribbing calling him “tough guy” is cute.

Sarah: “After all, Agumon is a growing boy.”

A neat little nod to the time Agumon said that about himself in episode 1 (even if it didn’t make sense for him to have known that human phrase, but).

Agumon: “I won’t hand over the last of Sayuri’s fried eggs, not even to you!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Boss, the only way to get this last fried egg is to take it out of my belly.”

Alas, since dub-Agumon is only referring to this particular last fried egg, we lose the future relevance the original line will have. The dub is not watching ahead to be able to pick up on these things.

Chika: “What a child…”

~~~~~

Kristy: “What a doof.”

Similar snark – he definitely is a doof – but there’s something I like about Chika calling her older brother a “child” that isn’t quite there when all she’s calling him is a doof.

Most of Thomas’s shower scene is cut. I will grant the dub that one improvement it consistently makes is doing its best to remove all the unnecessary fanservice bits.

[as Agumon tumbles from the bike basket]

Kristy: “…Doof Two.”

Agumon: [sighing] “I guess…”

What do you mean, Agumon admits and agrees that he is a doof (and implicitly agrees that his boss is one as well). Original-Agumon would not have nearly enough self-awareness to acknowledge that.

Marcus: “Why can’t you travel in the Digivice like all the other Digimon?”

Agumon: “Those other Digimon just show up when they’re called, but you’re lucky. You have me all the time, Boss!”

Unlike in the original, Marcus does actually bring up how Agumon ought to be in the Digivice. But Agumon doesn’t protest with “but I don’t like it in there”, despite him having made even more of a point of not liking cramped spaces in the previous dub episode than he did in the original. If the dub was going to have them discuss this onscreen, it would have been better to take the claustrophobia angle and show Marcus respecting Agumon’s wishes than to make it seem like Agumon’s just being contrary for the heck of it.

Marcus: “This one? No? Oh, just press everything!”

I enjoy the dub being even more obvious about how Marcus figures out which button on his earpiece is the right one to press.

Street punk #2: “Nothing’s going on at all…”

PetitMeramon: “Nothing at all!”

~~~~~

Street punk #2: “Nothing ever goes on around here any more…”

DemiMeramon: “I agree!”

This is significantly different – here, the DemiMeramon isn’t just parroting the dude’s words, it’s definitely expressing its own opinion about things. The implication here is therefore that it starts setting things on fire because of its own boredom, and these dudes here who happen to also be bored have nothing to do with it. That is categorically not how this is supposed to work.

Masaru: “Let’s fight!”

PetitMeramon: “Fight…”

~~~~~

Marcus: “There it is! Fightin’ time again!”

DemiMeramon: “Oh yeah?!”

Again, it’s not parroting his words; it’s responding on its own terms like it’s lucid and thinking for itself. Not how this should work.

Masaru: “You’re not solid enough, damn it! If I could just hit you once, I could get Agumon to evolve!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “It’s not solid enough to land a blow! But I’ve gotta punch it to start the DNA Charge! Otherwise, Agumon can’t Digivolve!”

The original version of this line sounds reasonably naturally like Masaru is just expressing his frustration at the PetitMeramon. But in the dub, it reads a lot more like awkwardly stilted exposition just to make sure the audience understands why this is a problem.

Marcus: “Stop setting things on fire! I just got these shoes!”

This is one of those dub additions for comedy, but I’m not sure I like the resulting impression that Marcus is somebody who cares that much about what he wears, because Masaru definitely never seems to be that kind of person.

Agumon: “Now be a nice fireball and let us punch you!”

Pfft. This episode in a nutshell. More of that dub-Agumon trait of saying things that would be snarky if it didn’t sound like he obliviously means them completely seriously.

Gaomon: “Yes, Master!”

~~~~~

Gaomon: “Sir, yes sir!”

“Yes, Master!” (spoken in English) is Gaomon’s catchphrase in the Japanese, and… I have no idea why the dub couldn’t just keep it exactly as-is. “Master” is a perfectly reasonable thing for him to call Tohma (especially since he’s a dog!), and it even comes already translated.

Instead, he calls Thomas “sir”, which on its own is… fine, I guess. But in particular, the “sir, yes sir!” catchphrase just makes dub-Gaomon come across as some kind of army grunt, rather than as the very good and loyal dog that he is.

Masaru: “Damn it… That thing pissed me off…”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Urghh… I am exhausted. Whew!”

Masaru here is complaining that he didn’t win, but Marcus is basically just neutrally expressing being exhausted without any sense that he’s specifically frustrated at the DemiMeramon for getting away from him. Since the entire ensuing several scenes are supposed to be a lot about Masaru’s frustration that he’s not good enough, the dub is not starting this off on the right note.

Yoshino: “Well, I didn’t think it would go easily for you from the start.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Don’t worry, Marcus, you didn’t let us down! No-one here at DATS actually thought you could do it anyway!”

Yikes, that’s some way more backhanded reassurance than she gave originally. And also, why does she even feels she needs to “reassure” him? Marcus was not expressing any sort of notion that he felt like he’d failed in the first place.

Agumon: “Hi there, pal.”

[Gaomon ignores Agumon and walks past him]

Agumon: “Hmph! No birthday present for that guy!”

How does Agumon even know about birthdays, and birthday presents, and the concept of giving birthday presents to people you’re on friendly terms with? These are not things he should reasonably have learned about yet when he’s only been with humans for like a week.

Masaru: “You bastard! You took away my prey!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Hey, you! When we talk, you listen!”

It makes perfectly reasonable Masaru-ish sense for him to be mad about Tohma winning what was supposed to be his fight. But Marcus? Isn’t even thinking about the fight, apparently, and is instead just being a jerk.

So far, all Thomas and Gaomon have ignored is Agumon’s greeting and a brief “who are you, blondie?” from Marcus (the “blondie” part is dub-only, unsurprisingly), which is a little rude but not really warranting this response already. Heck, “when we talk, you listen” implies Thomas has been ignoring something substantial that Marcus has been trying to say to him, rather than just a question and a greeting.

There’s a record scratch in the BGM as Thomas ignores Marcus’s attempt to challenge him to a fight and just walks past him. I liked the comedic record scratch they had in episode 1, but this one feels a little cheesy and unnecessary.

Megumi: “His stern-looking profile is so wonderful!”

Miki: “It really is!”

~~~~~

Megumi: “He’s so on top of things!”

Miki: “He so is!”

I appreciate the dub changing the topic of Megumi and Miki’s fawning into admiring Thomas’s work ethic, rather than the original admiring of his appearance. (He is fourteen, you are adults, please stop.)

Tohma: “…it seems rather peculiar that there are a large number of Digimon detected in this country lately.”

…

Satsuma: “Is the frequency not as high in EU?”

Tohma: “No. It must be because it has a larger area.”

~~~~~

Thomas: “It seems there have been an unusually large number of Digimon appearances lately.”

…

Sampson: “Hmm. So do you think these numbers could eventually overwhelm the Data Squad?”

Thomas: “No. But of course, that all depends on having the right team in place.”

Seems the dub is ditching the fact that it’s specifically this country that’s been getting so many more Digimon appearances. Instead, Thomas just takes the opportunity to be a passive-aggressive jerk about Marcus sooner than in the original.

Satsuma: “Oh, let me introduce you. This is…”

[Tohma barely even glances at Masaru; Masaru gets angry]

Masaru: “Hey! I don’t care if you’re called Tohma or Tonma… but around here, I’m your senpai! I’ve only been here for three days, but make sure to call me ‘Daimon-san’ or ‘Daimon-senpai’!”

~~~~~

Sampson: “Oh. Go ahead and introduce yourself, Marcus.”

[Thomas barely even glances at Marcus. Marcus gets angry]

Marcus: “Say what?! Why doesn’t *he* introduce himself to *me*?! I’m the one with seniority, even if it’s only three days.”

This reads a lot less like Marcus getting angry has anything to do with the way Thomas just barely even looked at him, and more that he’s mad at Sampson for thinking he ought to introduce himself first. In that vein, it’s somewhat more reasonable for him to go ranting about seniority, I suppose. However, I liked the way that Masaru suddenly ranting about that with no real provocation was unreasonable and was very transparently him trying to assert some kind of superiority, not really about the appropriate-honorific-respect that he tried to insist was the point.

Marcus: “Who does he think he is, anyway? Look, kid! Agumon and I are the top fighters around here, and don’t you forget it!”

Meanwhile in the dub, the lines specifically asking for honorifics have no English equivalent, so we get this to fill the gap. I guess it has a reasonably similar effect and is a similarly uncalled-for assertion of superiority.

(I do like the “kid”, trying to make Thomas seem beneath him despite their equal age.)

Satsuma: “Already blazing down the warpath, eh?”

~~~~~

Sampson: “You are completely out of line.”

Satsuma was being reasonably tolerant of Masaru’s argumentative nature, accepting that this is just how Masaru is and he’ll hopefully be able to rein it in if he just understands the situation better. But Sampson is simply having none of it.

Sampson: “Marcus, Thomas is *your* superior. Deal.”

I guess it’s a lip-flap issue, but Sampson just telling Marcus to “deal” sounds weirdly colloquial for him. Also, “superior” is not quite the same thing as having seniority in terms of just having more experience. This implies that Thomas is going to have the right to give Marcus orders and Marcus will be obligated to follow them, which is not quite it.

Marcus: “You mean I have to take orders from him?”

…Okay, apparently that literally is what the dub wants us to think, even though this is not how things are actually going to work here.

(This is in place of the line establishing that Masaru and Tohma are the same age, but that will be a fact that gets mentioned in a later dub episode.)

Satsuma: “Be sure to get along with each other, as you are colleagues.”

~~~~~

Sampson: “Unlike some teams, *they* have got discipline.”

Satsuma was trying to mediate between the two, but instead Sampson is very clearly taking Thomas’s side, which he really ought to know is only going to rile Marcus up more.

(If Marcus and Agumon’s lack of discipline is really such a big dealbreaker for you, Sampson, why did you even want to recruit him in the first place?)

Tohma: “I think it will be futile to do so, Captain Satsuma. There is not a chance that this person could benefit DATS.”

~~~~~

Thomas: “Commander, please allow me to say a few words about the new recruit. Based on my first impression, I feel he could never benefit DATS in any way.”

Thomas is being a lot less out of line here, asking politely to speak his opinion and qualifying it as being only based on a first impression. This is also not him pointedly refusing to even try and get along like Tohma was, since Sampson didn’t ask him to. The blame in the dub version of this argument is a lot more heaped onto Marcus’s side rather than equally with both of them, and Sampson obviously siding with Thomas doesn’t help matters.

Masaru: “Say that to my face! Look into a person’s eyes when they’re talking!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Say that to my face! Look me in the eye! If you have the guts!”

There’s slightly less emphasis on Marcus caring about people looking him in the eye when they’re talking to him, since he turns it into a general jab about Thomas not having any guts, but I do appreciate that it’s pretty much still here and unchanged.

Marcus: “What fighting skills does Your Highness possess, you royal jerk?!”

Ehh, I don’t really like Marcus bringing in jabs about the nobility thing at this point. Thomas has just insulted his fighting strength, and in that particular fighting context, Masaru would not care about anything except his opponent’s strength and would not make uncalled-for jabs at something unrelated.

Yoshino: “This is the worst… Go ahead, do whatever you want.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Oh well… Good luck. Protect yourself.”

This is after Marcus refuses to put on his headgear in the boxing ring. Yoshino sounds like she’s just exasperatedly washing her hands of his self-destructive recklessness, because hey, at least she tried. But Yoshi still seems to be genuinely trying to help him, even as the “protect yourself” falls kinda flat because he literally just refused to do so. (It doesn’t sound especially sarcastic – the “good luck” at least sounds very genuine.)

Tohma: “Why did you join DATS?”

Masaru: “Huh?! It was so I could win, obviously!”

Tohma: “Against who?”

Masaru: “Against strong guys!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “What made you join DATS in the first place?”

Marcus: “Huh? It was so I could meet guys like *you*!”

Thomas: “Seriously?”

Yoshi: “He means, he wanted to fight. Strong guys, like you.”

Marcus: “Not him…”

I think what the dub is trying to get at with “guys like you” is similar to a change they made last episode, in which Marcus apparently specifically wants to beat up bad guys, and Thomas is totally one of those, right. I guess props to the dub for at least trying to keep that vaguely consistent? Even though it’s a change that I very much do not like.

I presume the “not him” after Yoshi just said “strong guys like [Thomas]” is Marcus wanting to insist that Thomas isn’t strong, because it otherwise wouldn’t make any sense for him to deny the thing that he literally just said himself.

But, hey, notice something else here? Yoshino doesn’t have a line here in the original. They edited the footage to take away Marcus explaining his own goals and put those words into Yoshi’s mouth instead. Why? Why would you do that. I’d say that maybe they only did so to remove some of the punching from the fight because oh no violence (there will be some Issues the dub has with removing punching from this anime which is very heavily about punching), except they still keep the bit where Thomas punches Marcus in the stomach, so that can’t be it. They actually keep all the punches in this fight uncut, which is Rare for the dub.

Tohma: (He’s beyond help.)

~~~~~

Thomas: (I’m getting tired of this.)

Thomas’s thought is a lot less unreasonable than Tohma’s. Thomas is still coming across as significantly more in the right than Marcus in the dub, rather than them being equally as bad as each other.

Masaru: “A fight doesn’t end until one side admits defeat!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Sorry ‘bout that. Why don’t you run along and catch up with Sampson. Maybe you can read a report together.”

Ughhh, I really, really don’t like this. The dub has apparently decided that, since Marcus is A Jock™, he must be disdainful of Nerds™ like Thomas and make jabs about that. Masaru doesn’t frigging care! He does not give a damn in the slightest how book-smart and workaholic Tohma is; the only thing that would ever matter to Masaru is how he fares in a fight.

And we get this instead of that fun line showing Masaru’s philosophy about street fights, giving more insight into why he insisted on getting up and continuing the fight even after the “match” had ended.

I also don’t like Marcus’s “apology”. He is very obviously not sorry for deliberately punching Thomas, and trying to act like he is when he obviously isn’t is such an insincere dick thing to do that would never even cross Masaru’s mind.

Yoshino: “Tohma’s beaten Olympic champions in the past.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “I’ve seen Thomas routinely beat Olympic champions in that very ring!”

…What, in that ring in the gym that’s presumably at DATS? Even if this is the dub assuming it’s not at DATS and is just some gym somewhere nearby in town, you’d have thought that if Tohma had fought champions, he’d have gone to them to do so, rather than inviting them to him. To them, he’s just some random rich kid; why would they go that far out of their way for him?

The “routinely” also serves to make Thomas’s talent sound even more ridiculously over-the-top than it already was.

Yoshino: “Really, the only things worthy of a gold medal around here are your pride and your competitive attitude.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Marcus, I’m not impressed by your bragging, and Thomas isn’t even in the room!”

I miss the snark. A lot of characters the dub makes snarkier, but Yoshi kinda becomes a bit less so, it seems.

Kudamon: “If even a small flame from PetitMeramon’s body remains, it has the ability to develop and multiply in a short time. It should have been prevented from doing so earlier.”

~~~~~

Kudamon: “A DemiMeramon can regenerate itself over and over again, multiplying a hundred times in as little as half an hour. Apparently, the area wasn’t sealed off earlier.”

The dub manages to completely leave out the part where this is Masaru’s fault because embers from the PetitMeramon were scattered everywhere from his failed attempts to punch it and then he ran off and left things on fire for new PetitMeramon to regenerate themselves from.

Instead, apparently DemiMeramon can just multiply… whenever? It doesn’t do so from the flames it leaves behind, it just copies itself? Except, if Thomas secured the single DemiMeramon that there was to begin with, it literally should not have been able to do so. Sealing off the area would have been irrelevant once it had been safely turned into an egg. The only way it could have multiplied itself like this is if it did so before Thomas neutralised it – but it clearly didn’t do that in front of Marcus, so this is hardly his fault.

Marcus has the same flashback to punching the DemiMeramon and the same thought that this is his fault, but this makes absolutely no sense with the information the dub has given us. Great job there, dubbers.

Sampson: “And now, the DemiMeramon has been left on its own to multiply at will!”

Um, dub? Do you not remember the part where Thomas brought in the DemiMeramon’s egg? It was not left anywhere. That is not how this happened and not why this is (supposed to be) Marcus’s fault.

Masaru: “Wait! Those fireballs are ours to beat!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Hey! Hold on a second, that’s our case!”

They really are watering down any sense that Marcus sees this as being about finishing his fight. Instead he’s apparently invested because this is a case, like he ever really cared about the official DATS investigation side of things.

Masaru: “Damn right! We’ll pull it off somehow using our spirits!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “You bet! And we’ll do it with style, too!”

I miss the “somehow”, making it clear that Masaru has absolutely no idea how he’s going to do this and is willing to basically admit that, yet still wants to throw himself into it anyway.

Marcus: “You two can’t handle that many alone! We’ll help!”

The “we’ll help” is a dub addition, but I am surprised by the notion that Marcus sounds willing to just help Thomas, essentially working together with him. That definitely shouldn’t be something he’d want to do right now. (Suddenly the dub is making Marcus come across as more reasonable and less of a jerk than it’s been doing the entire time, because what is consistency.)

Megumi: “His lightning-fast techniques look great!”

~~~~~

Megumi: “His reflexes are lightning fast! And he’s cute!”

Okay, never mind what I said earlier, I guess the dub is still keeping the idea that the computer ladies think Thomas is cute, adding in a reference to that where there wasn’t even one originally.

Agumon: “Wow…”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Cute?”

And because of that, we also lose Agumon being in awe of Tohma and Gaomon’s performance and accidentally making Masaru feel worse, in place of him simply irrelevantly questioning Megumi’s comment.

Kudamon: “Aren’t you going to stop him?”

Satsuma: “Leave him alone.”

~~~~~

Kudamon: “You’re not going to say anything?”

Sampson: “Not yet.”

So apparently, Sampson is planning to give Marcus some kind of talking-to about this at some point probably fairly soon. We’re really losing that sense from Satsuma that he understands that Masaru will be Masaru and is being patient and giving him space to sort his issues with Tohma out on his own, which I enjoyed and am sad to lose.

Agumon: “Aniki… Why are you angry?”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Don’t be upset, Boss! Just because Thomas is better than you!”

Originally Agumon didn’t really understand what was going on in Masaru’s head. Meanwhile, dub-Agumon seems to have Marcus figured out perfectly – and yet is also tactless enough to outright say the thing he’s already realised is upsetting him.

Agumon: “Well, I think Tohma and Gaomon are nasty guys too, but…”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Boss, I’m sorry I said that about Thomas. You’re better than him.”

At least dub-Agumon realises this and apologises after Marcus is clearly not thrilled by it, but his “you’re better than him” reads as pretty empty reassurance when he just said the exact opposite.

(Meanwhile, original-Agumon still didn’t realise this had anything to do with who’s better than who and just thought it had to be about Tohma being kind of a dick, while still being confused at how that would make Aniki this upset…?)

Masaru: “No… It’s myself that I’m mad at, not them.”

~~~~~

Marcus: “No, I’m not. I’m just pig-headed and I let my pride get in my way.”

Marcus, like Masaru, is capable of realising that the problem is himself here… but he goes way further than Masaru does as to why that supposedly is.

And the thing is, this isn’t actually supposed to be the problem in the original! Originally, Masaru’s issue was that Tohma is “better” than him simply in the sense that he’s a stronger and more capable fighter, making Masaru face the fact that he might not be as strong a fighter as he thought he was. But here in the dub, apparently the problem is that Thomas is “better” than Marcus because of Marcus’s personality, because Thomas is supposedly just a better person than some pig-headed arrogant jerk like Marcus.

Which is not the point! Masaru can be reckless and prideful sometimes, but it’s never in a way that makes him a bad fighter or a bad person. He’s been a bit of argumentative jerk in this episode in particular with regards to Tohma, but Tohma himself has been equally bad in that regard in his own very different way. The original was great in having both Masaru and Tohma be equally the problem in this clash between them, in very parallel ways.

Yet apparently the dub wants us to think that, no, Thomas is a perfectly reasonable guy and the problem really is that Marcus is such an arrogant jerk compared to him. Which I guess is somewhat consistent with some of the small changes they’ve been making to the rest of the episode to make Marcus slightly more of a jerk and Thomas slightly less of one, and having Sampson clearly come down on Thomas’s side, to make it look like Marcus’s attitude alone is the problem.

But, urgh! I hate that the dub is doing this to Masaru’s character, presenting Marcus as more of a jerk and as if this is his biggest character flaw, when that has nothing to do with what’s going on with Masaru and just makes Marcus significantly less likeable! Why would you ever think this was a good thing to do with the story’s main protagonist, seriously.

Masaru: “Damn it! What am I doing? Really… what the hell am I doing?”

~~~~~

Marcus: “It’s time I realised it. I still have a lot to learn. Face it. I’m not the ultimate fighter.”

And now, while originally Masaru was unable to properly articulate what it actually was that was frustrating him about himself, Marcus has just fully completed this 100% self-aware reflection. From this, what you’d assume it’d lead into would be, presumably, Marcus trying to be less “pig-headed and prideful” and more like Thomas, since apparently Thomas’s way of doing things obviously makes him better than Marcus as both a fighter and a person?

Yeah, raincheck on that supposed character development. I’m sure you can already tell that’s not what’s going to happen here, since it isn’t in the original, because it doesn’t freaking need to be.

Also, remember how I made a point of how the original changed Masaru’s “already the number one street fighter” into Marcus’s “trying to be the ultimate fighter” in episode 1? That’s becoming extremely relevant right here.

This whole episode is a bit of a wake-up call for Masaru in terms of realising for the first time that maybe he’s not actually the greatest fighter like he thought and there’s still more growing he can do. But Marcus? He’s supposed to have already known that. “Face it, I’m not the ultimate fighter”? You literally never said you were in the first place. You were supposed to already know you had a lot to learn, so why is it only just now “time I realised it”?

There wouldn’t necessarily be anything inherently wrong with the dubbers changing Marcus’s ultimate fighter thing into this if they’d made sure to follow through on it and also change every character moment he gets to be consistent with the new version. Buuut they’re not doing that. I don’t think they realised how meaningful of a change it even was to make in the first place.

Old man: “It’s hard lighting up a fire… The sparks go out easily whenever the wind gets a little too strong.”

Masaru: “Well, obviously!”

~~~~~

Old man: “I’m having trouble starting a fire, though. Y’see, the flames keep dying out on me because the wind’s too strong and it keeps blowing it out.”

Marcus: “Yeah, that’s happened to me, too.”

Unlike Masaru, who was just expressing exasperation at this old guy telling him something obvious like he didn’t already know that the wind blows out flames, Marcus appears to be… getting the metaphor? His own experience that he’s referring to could just be his literal problem of not being able to punch fire, but based on what he’s just been reflecting on a moment ago and also judging from his tone of voice, that doesn’t seem to be it.

Which makes me sad! Masaru is a ridiculously straightforward doofus who wouldn’t know a metaphor if it punched him in the face, and I am disappointed to see the dub water down that delightful part of his character and make Marcus into some kind of regular person who can actually recognise that kind of thing.

Old man: “But… once I get a larger flame going, it burns strongly no matter how much the wind blows. Fire is an interesting thing, isn’t it?”

Masaru: “…This is…”

~~~~~

Old man: “Well… If you learn to use the wind instead of fighting it, you can make the fire burn brighter than ever before. Harness power, don’t extinguish it.”

Marcus: “…He’s right!”

But then, the dub’s version of the metaphor becomes something quite different. Instead of saying that Masaru’s “flame” will soon get so strong that no wind can blow it out, he’s saying that Marcus should harness the “wind” to make his “flame” stronger.

Originally, the metaphor was basically meant to be a reassurance to Masaru that he’s already doing fine – that he just needs to keep going as he has been and continue to grow and soon enough nothing will be able to stop him. But here in the dub, the metaphor appears to be prompting him to take new action of some sort, warning him that his flame will keep getting blown out if he doesn’t do whatever “harnessing the wind” is supposed to mean.

It’s ambiguous exactly what the “wind” could represent here. If it’s something that was getting in Marcus’s way until now, is it meant to be his “pig-headed pride” that he was just thinking was his big problem? Is the point of this supposed to be the old man telling Marcus through metaphor that actually he should keep being exactly the way he is and should just do that harder?

On the one hand I’d be okay with that because hey, guess what, newsflash, there is actually nothing wrong with Masaru being the way he is, and the dub is wrong to try and act like his personality is the issue and to distort his personality into being more of a jerk to make it an issue. But then that just serves to completely undermine the supposed realisation that Marcus had back in the tunnel and set him back on the track of not trying to change at all. (Which, yeah, again, spoilers, he’s not going to; of course he’s not going to be actively trying to make himself more like Thomas, because that’s not something that Masaru would ever do. Masaru has very strong convictions in who he is and wouldn’t change that for anyone.)

And somehow, despite this metaphor being a lot more metaphorical and ambiguous than it was in the original, and despite this being Marcus, he appears to completely understand what the old man is trying to say to him and take those words to heart. Whatever those words actually are. Somehow.

…I suppose it’s possible that actually the “wind” in the metaphor is supposed to represent Thomas, and that this metaphor is trying to encourage Marcus and Thomas to work together to make each other stronger. This would sort of make sense, since GeoGreymon uses fire-based attacks while Gaogamon uses wind-based attacks, and we’ll actually be seeing some metaphorical stuff being done with those attacks of theirs in the next couple of episodes. Still, if that’s the case, it’s nonetheless definitely not what Marcus gets from this metaphor right here.

But you know what else this dub version of the metaphor very much isn’t? It is not remotely useful literal advice about how to punch fire. At no point does it explain the part where a stronger flame won’t be blown out by anything (and will therefore be punchable). So whatever Marcus is getting from the old man’s words here, it isn’t that. This is kind of important for what’s about to happen next.

As Marcus hears about the trouble at the gas tanks and rushes off, the old man has an added line that’s just silence in the original:

Old man: “See what good fire does?”

…which makes even more of a point that this is definitely only meant to be some kind of metaphor. Though, wasn’t he trying to say that the wind would do Marcus good? Marcus already is the fire in this metaphor, so stressing that fire is good seems besides the point. I’m getting increasingly convinced that the dubbers just didn’t have an actual meaning in mind for their version of the metaphor at all and were half-assing this entire conversation. (Yet they somehow still felt they knew better than the original writers enough to change it at all.)

Thomas: “There’s no chance he can secure the DemiMeramon. There’s too many!”

[cut to precisely *three* DemiMeramon flying around]

Yep, sure, three of them is totally too many. Originally the “too many” comment wasn’t there, and Tohma thought Masaru couldn’t do this simply because he hadn’t shown he could handle any PetitMeramon at all. Numbers are not supposed to be the issue here, or at least not the primary one like Thomas is making it sound like it is.

Masaru: “Fire sparks easily go out whenever the wind blows on them. But… Once they burst into flame…!”

[Masaru leaps to punch the Meramon quite solidly in the face and lands with his Digisoul flaring]

Masaru: “They won’t be extinguished so easily!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Just like the old man said, a fire can be blown out by the wind. Then again… you know what I always say…!”

[Marcus leaps to punch the Meramon quite solidly in the face and lands with his DNA flaring]

Marcus: “You gotta fight fire with fire!”

So… yeah. In the dub, the old man’s words were not actually advice on how to solve this problem, and Marcus’s decision to deliberately make the DemiMeramon stronger had nothing to do with what the old man told him. He had no reason to believe this would work. He really was just being dangerously rash and hot-headed with no sense of actual plan or strategy, and it really did only work out of sheer luck.

(I mean, okay, maybe he could have just figured on his own that making the fire stronger would make it punchable. But Masaru is definitely not supposed to be the kind of person who could figure that out without being nudged in the right direction by someone else. And if Marcus really is perfectly capable of figuring that out on his own, why did he not do so the first time?)

Thomas: “Marcus made Meramon Digivolve on purpose so he could activate his DNA…”

It is very debatable that this was on purpose here, Thomas.

Megumi: “Not bad!”

~~~~~

Megumi: “Marcus proved he could do it!”

Thanks, dub, we needed it made obvious that this fight was about Marcus proving himself, because we couldn’t figure that out on our own.

Thomas: “Don’t get cocky. You just got lucky this time, that’s all.”

This line is basically unchanged, but guess what? Thomas is right to say this, where Tohma wasn’t.

Tohma: “Don’t be absurd. You don’t come up with any strategy or tactics. Do you think using force all the time will let you win at everything?”

Masaru: “Hah, sounds like a sore loser to me.”

~~~~~

Thomas: “Just as I thought, you had no plan and no tactics, just raw power.”

Marcus: “Hah. For a genius, you’re a real sore loser.”

Still basically the same, but again, Thomas is right this time, not being a sore loser. In fact, the added ��just as I thought” (and this line comes after the cut back to HQ, so there was conversation prior to it that we didn’t hear) suggests that Thomas has just heard from Marcus himself that, yes, he really did just recklessly charge in with no plan.

I mean, sure, in a sense Thomas is still being a sore loser because Marcus’s raw power still worked. But the point of the sore loser line in the original was that Tohma insisting that Masaru used no tactics in and of itself was him sorely refusing to admit that maybe Masaru actually did have some idea what he was doing after all.

Tohma: “What did you say?”

Masaru: “Wanna make somethin’ of it? I’ll knock you out with one hit to the face this time!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “What did you say?”

Marcus: “Oh, just this: I’ll take my raw power over your tactics any day!”

Granted, outright saying he’d prefer raw power over tactics is definitely something Masaru might also say (of course he would; look at how he never tried to point out that he actually did have a strategy because he doesn’t care about that). But this is a bit of a different way for the dub to show Marcus having his confidence back, since his “conflict” this episode was apparently about “oh no what if raw power is bad and I should be more like Thomas”.

(…Did the dub actually deliberately remove the part where the metaphor was literal advice about punching fire so that Marcus could win through nothing but raw power in order to facilitate this complete backpedal in what briefly appeared to be some ill-advised character development? Ugh, but even if that was on purpose, it’s so much more interesting to show that Masaru actually can do strategy sometimes, and it’s just that his strategies are a lot more risky and head-on than Tohma’s!)

Tohma: “You want me… to act alongside him?”

Masaru: “You’re joking! I’ll never accept him as my partner!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “But sir, he’s completely undisciplined!”

Marcus: “This clown?! I’ll never be his partner – he’s way too annoying!”

Thomas and Marcus get given specific reasons to object to working together in the dub – and while Thomas’s complaint of “undisciplined” is perfectly reasonable, Marcus’s complaint of “annoying” seems rather beside the point. Too pompous, too uptight, (too makes-him-feel-like-maybe-strategy-and-not-just-raw-power-might-be-useful); something like that would be more relevant to Marcus. Is this supposed to be another Marcus Just Hates Nerds™ thing? Because ugh.

Overall differences

Oh boy. There’s a lot going on in terms of changes in this episode, and basically all of it is bad.

Rather than Masaru and Tohma both being presented as equally out-of-line for their own reasons in their initial arguments, the narrative firmly comes down on Thomas’s side by making Thomas less unreasonably harsh in his comments and by having Sampson clearly taking Thomas’s side.

The bit where they explain how DemiMeramon multiplied makes no sense and certainly doesn’t logically leave it as being Marcus’s fault at all, yet he still claims it is for no reason and we’re just expected to believe that.

Then there’s Marcus’s whole, ahem, “character arc” for the episode, if it can even be called that. Rather than some delightful subtle exploration of how Masaru deals with the realisation that he’s not necessarily the strongest fighter out there like he professes to be, it becomes this heavy-handed thing about how Marcus’s whole problem is that he’s Such A Big Arrogant Jerk. Marcus is way more self-aware about his supposed exact problem than someone like him really ought to be (including admitting he’s not the ultimate fighter when he never said he was), and for a moment it seems like his character development is going to be about him learning to be less of a jerk and more like Thomas. Except it won’t, because this won’t happen in the original, because this is not remotely Masaru’s problem in the original.

Then there’s the old man’s metaphor. Originally he was effectively saying that Masaru is doing fine the way he is and just needs to keep growing and getting stronger like this. Here, the metaphor is changed to imply that Marcus needs to take some kind of new action, except what new action is extremely unclear and is not actually going to happen, because, again, not how it went originally. Marcus apparently somehow gets this metaphor, which is ridiculous because I’m not even sure what it was on about, never mind that Marcus should be the last person who’s any good with metaphors, just like Masaru is.

And then there’s the part where the old man’s changed metaphor had nothing to do with teaching Marcus how he could literally punch fire and defeat the DemiMeramon. So his victory in the climactic fight really was complete boneheaded reckless luck without a semblance of strategy, and Thomas was right to call it that.

This entire dub version of the episode firmly wants you to come down on Thomas’s side and agree that Marcus is a huge dumb arrogant jerk whose personality is the entire problem here, and, urgh. I hate it. I hate it so much. I hate that the dub writers consciously chose to do this to Masaru’s character. Masaru does not deserve this.

(You’re probably starting to see why I’m actually quite glad that Masaru has a different name in the dub. Marcus may be a somewhat different character that the dub is insistently making worse, but at least Masaru will always be untainted and separate from the dub’s nonsense.)

#digimon #digimon savers #digimon data squad

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jamestrmtx · 3 years

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Fairytale Complex - [Undertale | Sans x Reader]

[Gender Neutral, Frisk's Parent Reader | Slow Burn]

Chapter Eight | Dating Start! (Part 3 of 3)

[First] | [Previous] | [Next]

Thankful he seems to be taking this just as seriously as you are, you begin with, "Back at that restaurant, you mentioned you could've most likely hurt anyone who passed beyond the Ruins, regardless of who they were, right?" He nods, so you add, "Why did you choose not to hurt Frisk, if that's the case? What…. What stopped you this time around?

"It used to be like that, yeah," he says, blunt. "But I made a promise not to do that not long after I was assigned to the job. Not that I even, well, favour killing innocent people to begin with, but that was the job assigned to me back then."

"And couldn't you have searched for another solution?" You're left in disbelief and think on how closely his words match with the rumours beginning to rise about monsterkind, most of it leaked by people like the man on the bus after your hospitalization -- through clips and videos of your incident at the bus, all of these posted on social media. "Just how many lives did you take before you made that promise?"

Your initial, more tolerant view of Sans diminishes the longer you give thought to that interrogative.

Monsters were said to be merciful and kind, yet the first rumour you unmasked as true since that day at the restaurant was that of Asgore having ordered to kill seven humans for their souls?

"You-" you stutter, ire clouding both coherent thinking and structure alike. "You're just another hypocrite, aren't you?"

You peer down at him, his shorter height helping you maintain authority from within.

"Frisk talks all about how kind, nice, and friendly you monsters supposedly are, but in the end, you- you've spilled just as much as blood as any other human being." Your voice breaks, the thought of Frisk passing away in the hands of a monster sending further ire down your body. "Frisk could've died in the hands of people like you, so I have no right to listen to how you deserve seeing them again, let alone a goat lady who claims she sees them as her child instead of mine." The thought of Sans being more guilty of a person than you once thought crumbles whatever kind view you had since meeting him. "I… I refuse to let Frisk see any of your kind again!"

A near foreign expression reaches his face just then -- almost hurt weren't you so used to him being all chill and unbothered a solid ninety-nine point nine percent of the times you've been around him. You refuse to believe he's been hurt by your words, though that changes when you see him recover from that expression once you don't show any signs of backing away from what you said. His irises turn dim, though he tries to recover with a soft breath out.

"And then... That's it?" he asks, masking whatever emotion he was feeling just a second ago. "So even those who haven't done anything bad get repercussions for it?" The patience in his tone snaps, though his expression remains the same, mellow and waiting for you to regain some calm yourself. "Humans have done more harm than we ever have. Asgore did that just so we could be set free."

"And you think that makes you guys doing it justifiable? Maybe six deaths seems trifling over your freedom, but did you consider those people before ending their lives?" You're quite frankly pissed now, incapable over -- and unwilling of -- hearing him speak without wanting to snap at him with every response he gives you. "Did they willingly sacrifice themselves for your kinds' freedom, or did Frisk have to fall down here and make you understand none of this was ever okay?"

The monster tries to reach a hand out for you, yet you avoid him, only realizing why he does that when you trip, hitting the edge of the river. He grabs your arm to make up for it, though you prove to be too heavy for him, sending you both to the water. A loud splash accompanies your fall, yet the strangeness of not feeling wet prompts you to open your eyes then, these having instinctively closed the second you tripped. Limbs left uncovered sting with the strength of the fall rather than over water splashing you, and that observation finally makes you look around to witness a thin veil of blue magic keeping you from falling into the water.

"I get that, as a parent, you're overreacting right now, but I'll stand by what Frisk's said about you and what I've learned about you since we've met." A beat of silence passes as he waits for you to calm down. "I know you're still a patient person underneath all that you're pullin' off on me."

"All that what, exactly?" you ask, a glare returning to your face. "And you think I'm overreacting? Didn't you hear what I said?"

"I heard you, and I know my kind's gonna pay for the damage they caused to other people." You try not to wiggle away and stay under him with how fragile his magic seems, so you're forced to look up at him as he stays hoisted over you. His hands are kept suspending the faint, magic veil, preventing the two of you from falling into the water. "If it makes ya feel any better, I'll let you in on a weakness I've got."

He sits up on the veil and takes your arm again, trying to sit you down with him. You resist, waiting until he stands up and walks back to firm land for you to do the same.

"My magic relies on Karma, meaning I couldn't possibly do you nor your kid any damage, if I even tried."

With him sounding so tired now, you can't decipher much over his change in tone. He has his back turned to you all the while, though his magic remains underneath you, still keeping you from falling into the water. His hands slip into his pockets and his veil disappears only after you climb out of it and make it back to stable ground.

"If nobody does any damage, then nobody gets hurt. Simple as that. Your kid didn't hurt a fly goin' through the Underground, so even if I would've attempted to hurt them in any way, it wouldn't've had any effect."

You find it hard to believe him, yet follow along for the moment, eager to see where this would lead on to. "...So that means it doesn't work the same for all monsters?" You pause, considering his words and the abilities his younger brother had shown when play-fighting with Frisk the last time you picked them up at Toriel's home -- the day Frisk managed to convince you over continuing to be tutored by both Toriel and Sans alike. Thinking back on that day also brings back the memory of the gift Sans had given you, though you brush it off as quick as it comes to avoid being influenced by any of it.

Clearly, Papyrus was capable of attacking no matter what the circumstances were if he could use his magic to simply play around with Frisk, but then what about him?

What made Sans the exception?

"What are you supposed to be, then?"

"That's a bit of a rude question, don't ya think?" He turns back to you, an amused glint present in his gaze and grin. "No offense, pal, but I'm tryna be patient with ya here. And you're makin' it hard by being so stubborn." He chuckles, winking at you. "Though I guess that makes sense, considerin' how determined Frisk is. Like parent like child, huh?" His gaze lingers on yours as he says that. "We'll hafta go to Hotland now to make that fiery attitude and hotness of yours match with the climate."

"...Did you just wink at me?" You tense up, the lilt you catch in his words worsening your assumptions over that action.

Of course, you'd seen Sans do that countless times before -- regardless of family, friend, or even yourself at certain times -- but his current tone and the subtle and upward, goofy curve to his grin makes it feel as if he's far from being friendly about it. "Oh, God. Are you hitting on me for real now, Serif?"

Finally, for what once seemed like a skeleton too laid-back for his own good, he shows shock through the tense of a smile and the flicker of his irises. His posture turns awkward and confidence vanishes from it, only masked surprise remaining.

"...What?" That's the only thing he manages to say, gaze landing on your hand, a ring found on it. "Whoa, whoa, whoa there, pal," he blurts out, a chuckle bursting through, more nervous than humoured in comparison to past times. "Don't, uh, jump to conclusions so fast. I know Jerry's not in the picture anymore, and I dunno if you're seeing someone else right now, but..." He falls flat on his words, a hand going to the back of his skull, scratching it as a befuddled look overcomes him. "Are you? 'Cause ya found me out, if ya really did think I was flirtin' for real now."

"I'm not seeing anyone," you reply, letting out a sigh as you bring a hand to your nose, massaging the bridge in search of calm. "But what made you think it was okay to try and flirt with me now of all times, if I'm here barking at you like this? Sucking up to me won't erase my anger." You let go of your nose, forehead creasing as you take a quick breath in and chest tightening when you try to let your pride and grudges go, needing more humility for your next statement. "I'm eternally grateful your kind looked after Frisk while I wasn't there, but I just... I simply can't let things like what Asgore ordered to be done to my kind or even what Alphys supposedly did to her own kind slip by. I know I'm still only just figuring stuff out, but if these rumours have some truth in them, I… I don't think I'll be able to let this go so easily."

"So you acknowledge you're overreactin' a lil'?"

"I'm not. I'm simply calling your kind out on their hypocrisy."

Sans returns his hand back against his neck and stretches it; how restless he looks makes you believe he's close to running out of ways over getting back into good terms with you.

When he lets go and huffs, patience returns, though not nearly at the same level as when he first approached you about the subject. "Even so, I... I'd say you're still overthinkin' some stuff up. Tori didn't even say she wanted to keep Frisk's custody all for herself. She just wants to see the kid every once in a while -- like she's doin' right now."

Notwithstanding, you place your hands on your hips and refuse to let your scowl fall, your display of gratitude from earlier ago seemingly nowhere present anymore. "Say what you want, but I still think it's ridiculous I have to let this matter go just like that."

He rests his back against a nearby, rocky wall, gaze facing down and focusing on a puddle. "Have it your way, then. I still think Frisk should decide if they want to see us or not again. 'Cause at the end of it all, they proved themselves capable enough to free us from the Underground all by themselves, and that's enough for me to give them merit over their capabilities for a lifetime."

You don't say anything back and lay against the rock next to him, eyes landing on the waterfall and the river bubbling with its force.

While you knew it was unreasonable to prevent Frisk from seeing every monster around rather than a few of them, you refuse to give in anymore. Pride over being right in your judgement drowns every other sense of amiability. You had to stand your ground now that you'd gone this far; backing away would only show your weakness.

Silence keeps itself between you for some time, broken by him not long after your mind comes up with the idea of exploring the Underground on your own. Having him show you around didn't seem so fitting anymore. "So... You're really not seeing anyone else? But then why the ring?"

His question takes you off guard, until you think back as far as three whole years ago, back when Frisk was still a toddler. They'd used two quarters to buy you a faux silver ring rather than the bubblegum they mentioned they wanted to try out; they gave it to you with as much pride as they did when telling you about a good grade or deed, and to quote, "It's to replace the one you had before!" -- 'one' referring to the one you stored away for emergency funds not long after ending things with Jerry. To this day, it's still right where you hid it -- and thankfully so. You hoped then and even now you still hope over never having to sell that ring away for funds; not because of any emotional attachment whatsoever, but due to you wanting to strive your best in order for Frisk to live a good life.

It's almost a vital part of you now, and -- hadn't Sans asked you about it -- you wouldn't've acknowledged it to such an extent.

You quirk a brow as you give thought to his question -- sounding genuine despite how blatant it is -- and find it difficult to answer despite how long it's been. Caught on a weak spot, you cross your arms and look away the second you meet with his irises, beyond embarrassed. "Frisk, um... Frisk gave it to me as a gift -- some time after my divorce."

"Ah." It's almost as if you can feel when his posture tenses again, a strain present in that sole sound he lets out. "Sorry 'bout asking."

Again, he sounds earnest, though you're not about to befriend your antagonist. "It's alright. But please don't try to flirt my anger away ever again."

A more brazen look takes him over, and you can only brace yourself for whatever he plans to say next, his intent on pissing you off clearly set on high. You engage in a staring contest as you wait, arms now crossed in a more defiant manner -- firm over your chest. If the monster said you were stubborn, by the Sky above, you would stay true to it. If he was set on teasing you to such an extent, you would do the same, multiplied by ten. An easy fight was in no way an honourable one.

"Enemies to lovers is a thing, though."

"Only in low-quality romcoms."

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#sans x reader #undertale x reader #lgbt #lgbt themes #gender neutral reader #male reader #female reader #mother reader #father reader #parent reader #chubby reader #long fic #romcom #adventure #mystery #platonic relationships #slow burn

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softboywriting · 4 years

Text

Haven Port | Chapter Two | Shawn Mendes

Summary: Shawn and his pack have moved to your tiny town of Haven Port. You’ve never met werewolves other than your dad before and you’re infinitely curious. You may be only half werewolf but you and Shawn have a connection that will send you on a wild romantic journey in this small town you call home. [hybrid reader] [werewolf shawn]

Word count: 3.5k

|Masterlist In Bio|

Shawn walks into the shop no more than ten minutes after you open the next day. It's a thrill to see him, your stomach flip flops and your heart soars. It's been a long time since you've felt like this. He's in just a sweater and jeans and for a moment you feel bad, knowing his coat is at your house behind the front door. If you'd known he was coming by you would have brought it to work with you.

“Morning,” He smiles warmly and you lean against the counter, grinning ear to ear. Something about him makes you so excited that you can't control your face when you see him. You feel like you must look like a doofus.

“Good morning. What can I get started for you?” You giggle, yes, actually giggle. Good grief he has you giggling like a teenager with a crush.

Shawn crosses his arms and saunters along the length of the counter. “I want something warm," he looks at your sweater clad chest. "Something sweet," he looks at your lips and you can feel your hands sweat. "And I think maybe something with a toasty brown color,” his eyes go to your brown fuzzy ears. “Oh and I'd like it for here, not to go.”

“Hmm, I dunno...I could suggest maybe a chai tea with honey?” You say playfully, grabbing a small glass mug off the rack by the counter for dine in guests. You know he's teasing you, describing you as his drink. "Maybe a-"

Shawn leans over the counter and grins, stopping you mid sentence. He motions for you to lean forward, to come closer and you do. He hooks his finger over the front of your apron and plays with the fabric between his thumb and forefinger. “Is there anything sweeter?” he whispers, eyes on your lips.

“I-I don't know,” You mutter, suddenly aware of how suggestive this was getting.

Shawn chuckles and releases your apron, eyes soft as he leans away, understanding you've gotten nervous from his attention. “Chai with extra honey will be fine.” He purrs softly, voice low and still in flirt mode.

You turn around quickly, cheeks flushed hot as you begin to prepare his tea.

It takes a few minutes to steep his drink and you peek over at him while he browses your gift selection. He picks up gift baskets and looks them over before setting them down again. Occasionally he will smile to himself and steal a glance back at you.

“What do you do?” You ask, and he looks up from a breakfast basket you made just a few days ago.

“I used to work with my dad. He owns a couple garages.”

“You're a mechanic?”

Shawn approaches the counter and you slide his cup toward him. “I was, yes. I've also been a carpenter and a landscaper.” He hangs his head and chuckles inwardly. “I guess I've done a lot.”

“What kind of work are you doing here? Or have you found a job yet?”

“I'm still looking. I'd like to get a job in town here but I'm not too keen on working on a fishing boat. I can't leave my pack for weeks at a time.”

You turn to the back counter and grab your phone. “I know someone who could use help. He's a friend of my Dad's. He works on the boats at the docks.”

“Repair work?”

You nod. “Repair and maintenance. I used to run the parts room and answer his calls for him when I was eighteen, it was my first job. You'd be perfect, you're young, strong, and I think with your experience you would be a good fit.” You slide a piece of paper with a phone number on it next to Shawn's mug.

“You don't have to do this,” Shawn mutters, looking the number over before pocketing it. "Thank you though."

“I know I don't have to, but I want you to stick around.”

“You do? Why's that?”

“I like you." You smirk, wiping down the counter as another customer walks in. “You're interesting, I've never gotten to know a wolf before.”

Shawn smiles and takes a seat while you help the customer that came in. The order is big, it's for a boat crew that has just docked. By the time you finish, Shawn is gone. You sigh, hoping you'd have gotten more time to talk. Maybe tomorrow or something, maybe you could get his number. Yeah. You'd ask for his number.

_____________________

“So you're the girl the alpha is gaga for?” A voice says behind you at the market the next day and you turn around. A tall curvy girl in a bright pink coat beams at you. Beside her is a guy about your age who is taller and built like Shawn.

“Um...you mean Shawn right?”

“Uh huh,” she giggles and thrusts her hand out excitedly. “I'm Ava and this is David.”

You take her hand and shake, her skin is incredibly warm compared to your partially frozen hand. Unfortunately high body temperature was not a trait you inherited from your dad. “Are you from Shawn's pack?”

“We are! We just got in two nights ago. David and I decided to come get some real food since Shawn has been surviving on snacks and coffee since he got here.” She rolls her eyes and you stifle a little laugh. Shawn didn't seem the type. “Anyway, I knew who you were because Shawn came home smelling like you the last two nights. I hope that doesn't sound weird, because I don't mean you smell or-”

David taps Ava's arm. He signs something with his hands and Ava shakes her head. David seems to insist. Ava makes a motion with her fist and scowls at him. This silent argument goes on for a good thirty seconds before Ava realizes you're staring, lost to the silent conversation.

“Shit, sorry. David is deaf. I get a little caught up when he is being so annoying.”

“What did he say?” You ask. “I mean it's okay, I'm not going to be offended if it's about me.”

Ava sighs and signs to David. He repeats his question. “He wants to know if your ears are able to be hidden, like can you shift?”

“Ohh, no. I can't shift. I'm stuck like this.” You reach up and scratch your ear a bit. “I'd actually never met a wolf other than my dad before I met Shawn. Can wolves partially shift?”

“Nope. It's human or wolf, no in between.” She signs to David and he nods. “Would you wanna come over for dinner? You could meet the rest of the pack, and I'm sure Shawn would absolutely love to see you.”

You look down at your basket of vegetables and snacks. “Well, I was going to make a chop salad for dinner, but I can make it later.”

“Make it and bring it over!”

“Oh, okay, sure. Where do you live? Shawn said it was outside of town and I don't have a car so...”

“We'll pick you up, is 5:30 okay?”

“Sure, I think I should have enough time to make a salad and shower.”

Ava claps her hands and signs the plans to David. He smiles and nods to you. You say goodbye and finish your shopping, suddenly nervous about the dinner plans. What if the other wolves didn't like you? What if Shawn wasn't happy with you coming to his place? Shit.

_____________________

It’s ten after five when you hear a car pull into your driveway. You look out and see it's Shawn's Jeep. You grab a coat and check Parker's water and food dish in the front entryway. He's set for the evening. You grab your bowl of salad and head out into the crisp evening air.

Shawn rolls down the passenger window and leans over to see you as you approach the Jeep. “How did Ava convince you to come to dinner?” He laughs and you pass him the salad through the window.

“Well I knew you would be there, and I want to meet more wolves. It was really a no brainer.” You crawl up into the Jeep and Shawn rolls up the window. "I hope it's alright."

“Yes, it's fine. Ava told me you were coming over tonight and I nearly flipped because of the short notice but it's okay. The house is in no shape for visitors yet, well, it wasn't.” Shawn backs out and heads for the county road that leads in and out of town. “I'm going to have to ask you to understand that wolves are...well we're animals. Things happen.”

“What are you talking about? What things?”

Shawn turns down a dirt road and heads into a patch of woods. “We get a little rough with each other.”

“Alright? You giggle, eyebrows raised. “I'm sure you couldn't have wrecked the house already.”

“Wolves don't like change. They get a little rambunctious, and my pack just moved in. There were some fights for bedrooms and what not.”

"Ah, like siblings then?"

"Yes. Like siblings." He says oftly, chuckling a bit. "That's a very good comparison."

A few more minutes of winding through the woods and the trees open up to a big flat area. The home you're approaching is a large cabin like structure. It's got several rooms by the look of it. Its nice though, well kept outside and no signs of damage. There are two other cars in the driveway and suddenly you realize you don't know how big Shawn's pack is. You have no idea how many wolves you're going to meet.

“We're here.” Shawn announces, parking the Jeep and sighing. “I should warn you, some of my wolves are very excited to meet you.”

“Why? I'm just some girl from town?”

“You're some girl I like a lot and they know it.”

You raise your eyebrows and he raises his back. “Not much of a dater are you?”

Shawn shakes his head and chuckles. “Not really. Come on, I'll keep you from getting mauled.”

As soon as you walk in with Shawn you're met with three wolves you hadn't met yet. Two girls and a guy, all similar in age to you and Shawn. They don't look particularly excited like Shawn said and you feel anxious.

“Hi,” you smile nervously, giving your name and offering the salad bowl out in front of you. “I made salad.”

“Is that supposed to feed all of us?” The guy asks, eyeing the bowl skeptically.

You look back to Shawn and swallow hard. “Um...yes?"

Shawn growls softly. The three wolves look down, seemingly reprimanded.

“I'm Jo, this is Lindsay and Ryan,” the shortest girl says, stepping forward and extending her hand. “Shawn has told us about you.”

“Good things I hope,” you laugh nervously. You swallow harshly and Shawn puts his hand on your back.

“Familiar much?” Lindsay says, eyes on Shawn's gesture.

“Be nice Lindsay. Why don't you three take the salad into the kitchen and start setting up dinner?” Shawn says firmly.

Ryan takes the salad bowl from you and follows the two girls out of the entryway. You look up at Shawn as his hand falls from your back. “I thought they were excited to meet me?”

“They were. I don't know what the problem is. I'm not really happy with them.”

“Oh. Well Ava and David were very excited when we met in the market. Did I do something wrong?”

Shawn shakes his head. He tucks your hair behind your ear and strokes it before you can pull away. The gesture sends a wave of warmth through your body. “Ava is always excited about everything. She's the most lovely person I've ever met. David is her mate and the poor guy gets dragged everywhere. But, no I don't think you've done anything wrong. I just need to talk with my wolves.”

You nod and allow Shawn to lead you into the dining room. The table is lined with spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, sauteed vegetables and your little bowl of salad. It looks like enough food to feed a small army.

“Come! Sit!” Ava cheers, patting the seat beside her.

“You heard the lady,” Shawn smiles and you take a seat, Shawn sitting on your other side.

Clanking of dishes and banter over the food and daily activities fill the room for the entirety of dinner. You remain quiet, eating slowly as you listen to the wolves around you. They are your people but you couldn't feel any more out of place. Only Ava and Shawn attempt conversation but even then you are reserved, answers short and sweet. A few of the wolves stare at you from time to time. You know it's your ears they see. Not you.

Dinner ends after what feels like forever and everyone helps clean up while you sit awkwardly in the living room all alone. Of course you offered to help but Ava said you were a guest and guests don't clean up.

You try to lessen your awkward silence of sitting alone in the living room by going to the bathroom. On your way back you stop in the hall when you hear harsh whispering.

“Did you see her ears?” What sounds like Jo, giggles. “They kept moving anytime someone on the other side of the table would speak up, I was purposely asking Ryan questions because it looked ping pong with her ears.” You peer around the corner to see Jo and Lindsay snickering.

“Ping, ping, ping.” Linday says, motioning her right hand, and then her left up by her head to mimic your ears.

The wall is cold when you lean back against it, heartbroken. You hadn’t heard someone say something like that since you were in school. Numbly you make your way back to the living, deciding to go back to the safe zone where no one could hide in the corner and make fun of you.

You chew on your thumb nail, peeling it off nervously when Shawn and Ryan walk into the room. Shawn sits down and puts his arm over the back of the couch behind you. “You're stressed, what's wrong?” He asks in a low whisper.

“It's nothing. I'm just not used to being around so many people.”

“Would you like to go somewhere quieter?”

You nod and Shawn stands up with you. The other wolves start to walk in the living room and you step closer to Shawn. He puts his arm around your back and walks you toward the stairs. You know every wolf in the house is watching you as Shawn leads you up to the second floor. It makes you sweat.

Shawn leads you into what is clearly his bedroom. It's the master bedroom if you were to guess by the size. There's a large unmade bed in the center of the room with dark sheets and a dark bedspread. The room is very cozy, lush and inviting. The window to your right rattles loudly and makes you jump. The wind must be picking up and you realize you hadn't checked what the weather was supposed to be like for the evening.

You pull out your phone as Shawn apologizes for his mess and makes the bed for you to sit on. You pull up the weather and sure enough, a storm was coming in. A snow storm and you're at least fifteen minutes from home in the middle of the woods. Great. Even if you left now, there is a slim chance of getting home without getting stuck.

“What's wrong?” Shawn asks, looking up from where he's tucking the top sheet under the mattress. “Your ears are down like you're upset.”

“It's snowing,” you mutter, going to the window and looking out at the soft flakes floating to the already covered ground below. “A storm is coming in and I can't go home can I?”

“Of course you can go home. Why would the snow stop you?”

You look over at him and raise your eyebrows. “Snow storm means very little visibility, slick roads, you name it. I can't have you try and drive in that.”

Shawn shrugs and shakes out his comforter. “I'd find a way, but you are welcome to stay the night.”

You cross the room and sit on the edge of the bed. For a moment you think staying would be the best idea ever. For just a split second you forget that it's not just you and Shawn in the house, and then reality comes tumbling back. The conversation in the hall between Jo and Lindsay. The looks at dinner, the greeting when you arrived. It's weighs on you.

“I don't think your pack likes me,” you sigh softly, lip trembling a bit. You're not sure why but it's getting to you, it shouldn't, you've dealt with it your whole life. Maybe it's because you had high hopes of being accepted for once with these people being wolves and all.

Shawn sinks down on the bed beside you and takes your hand. “I think they're nervous,” he squeezes gently, fingers lacing between yours naturally. “I think maybe they don't know what to do wit h you because they don't know how I'll react.”

“So it's you? Not me?”

Shawn nods.

"But..." You're about to say something about Jo and Lindsay but you stop yourself. Starting drama wouldn't solve anything. "I guess. I think I'll stay the night, if it's really okay. I don't want to try and drive home in this weather. I think...I think I'm comfortable enough with you to stay.”

“Good, because I really didn't want to have to drive in this storm,” he chuckles softly. “Let me find you some clothes to sleep in.” He gets up and goes to his dresser, sifting through until he finds a tee and some pants that are not your size but you accept anyways. You change, back to him as you carefully fold your clothes on top of his dresser.

“Why am I so comfortable with you?” You ask, looking back at him. “We barely know each other but I feel almost like we're connected, like I've known you forever.”

Shawn looks over with a smile as he pulls a clean tee on over his head. “It's the wolves in us. They instinctively crave each other.”

“I'm just half wolf though.”

“Mmm it's strong enough, I can feel it, you can too if you let yourself.” Shawn walks over to you by the dresser. “Have you ever trusted your instincts?” He moves behind you, placing his hands on the dresser on either side, caging you in from behind.

“Shawn... what are you doing?” You ask, heart racing. He's so warm, his heat radiating onto your back. His closeness makes your breath hitch.

“Close your eyes,” Shawn purrs close to your ear. Your eyes fall closed and you bite your lip. “Relax, focus on what you feel.”

“Nervous. Anxious.”

“Push past that. Try not to overthink, let the instinct do the talking.”

You let out a long breath and try to push aside the nerves Shawn is giving you. Focus, relax. Warmth spreads over you, starting at your cheeks and flooding down to your stomach.

“Yes, good,” Shawn purrs and bumps his nose against you ear. “What does your instincts want, what do you want?”

“I don't know,” you mutter. Your heart races and it's not the nerves from the closeness anymore. “I can't tell.”

“You can. Focus.”

You shift your weight, bumping Shawn before pressing yourself against the dresser and shaking your head. You tilt your head back, ears pressed against Shawn's chest. “My instincts want...no, I want a companion.”

“A companion?”

You nod. “I want you, my instincts want you.”

Shawn wraps his arms around your stomach and you melt into his hold “I know they do. You do to. See what I mean? That wolves crave each other?”

You rub your head back against his chest, enjoying the feeling of his warm shirt against your ears. “Do all wolves have a connection like this?”

“No,” Shawn says, nosing your hair and walking you toward the bed. “You're special.”

“Psh, liar.”

“Alright, I lied. But most wolves don't find a mate in this day and age. We're so scattered around that usually wolves find a human mate and settle down.”

“Mates huh?” You laugh, pulling away from him and flopping on the bed. “That sounds cheesy.”

Shawn shrugs. He grabs an extra blanket from the end of the bed and shakes it out beside you. “I like to believe that mates exist.”

“Maybe it is something that exists, I dunno if I believe it though. I do like you a lot, I know that for sure.”

Shawn sits next to you and puts his arm around your back. “Can I ask why you don't like your ears touched?”

“I was teased a lot in school. Sometimes kids would pull on them and I'd cry because they're really sensitive.” You flatten them back against your head. “I just don't trust people not to hurt them.”

“Not even an alpha?” Shawn hums, running his fingers through your hair. “An alpha with a gentle touch, who knows how a wolf likes to be petted.”

“Shawn...” You mutter, leaning back in to his hand. His fingers brush the tip of your left ear and you press into the feeling. “Please be careful.”

“Of course pup,” he promises and you let him fully run his palm over your ear.

You lean into him, eager to get closer as he rubs your ear between his fingers. You fall onto his lap and he chuckles, keeping his hand in your hair and scratching behind your ear.

Shawn's chest starts to rumble. A low growl vibrating through his body into yours. “Your hair is very soft,” Shawn purrs, fingers rubbing your ear in big circular strokes with his thumb.

“Thank you,” you mutter, eyes closed as you rub your face into his leg.

Shawn scoots back and you follow him up onto the bed, positioning yourself so he is spooning you. He keeps stroking your hair and ears slowly as you give in to sleep. He feels so right. You feel safe and relaxed under his touch, something you haven't felt in a very long time, if ever.

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

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thepatricktreestump · 4 years

Text

Crush pt1 - peter parker imagine

crush masterlist

part 1 - study hall

Although none of the other girls in your class would agree with you, you were convinced that Peter Parker was the most attractive guy at Midtown High. He had stolen your heart from the very first day of AP Chemistry, confidently answering some basic questions concerning the structure of carbon compositions, and you basically swooned. You found smart guys unbelievably sexy, and ones who were humble were twice as good. Parker was a quiet kid, very sharp and sensible, but also friendly and courteous. Unlike the other boys at your school, he wasn’t loud mouthed and cocky, throwing outrageous parties and trying to hit on every girl within a five foot radius. It was refreshing to see a guy your age not be obsessed with copying down your homework or trying to invite you to a college frat party. Peter Parker was different, and you liked that about him. You liked it a lot.

He kept to himself and two his friends mostly, MJ and Ned, which made you more interested in him and his life. Most days he either wore these adorable blue V-neck sweaters or these goofy science pun t-shirts that looked as if ordered in a bulk pack from Amazon. He was a proud member of the photography club, robotics club, debate team, and Science Olympiad. He was one of the smartest people you knew, and in turn, that simply made him the most attractive. Perhaps it was your father who had established your high standard in boys, seeing as he dabbled in astrophysics and technological engineering as a hobby. He was Ironman after all, being an overachiever was practically a household expectation. You were pretty smart yourself, and although it could be looked upon as rude or inconsiderate, the truth was you liked to surround yourself with others who either matched or challenged your intellect.

Since establishing your crush on Peter Parker, you strived to spend more time with him. You told yourself you could start it off as a friendship with a silly crush and see how things went from there. Towards the end of the class one day, you were determined to talk to the boy. The plan was to ask him to go over some of his notes with you, maybe make it a study date situation, hope he didn’t call your bluff. It wasn’t that you didn’t understand the lesson, you understood everything perfectly fine. Hell, you could probably speak stoichiometry in your sleep. However, you needed a good reason to introduce yourself, so you hoped for the best and decided to take a leap of faith. Nervously smoothing your sweaty palms down on your thighs and gathering your books up from your desk, you walked over to where he was talking to his best friend Ned. “Hey,” you tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around, staring at you with his soft hazel eyes, brunette hair swept up neatly, eyebrows raised in curiosity.

“Oh hi,” he gave a warm smile and nervously cleared his throat. “What’s uh, what’s up?”

“I’m y/n, I sit over there,” you pointed out as an introduction.

“I think I’ve seen you around. Aren’t you Tony Stark’s daughter?” he cocked his head to the side and you groaned slightly, ever the exhausted with being immediately associated with your father.

“Yup that’s me,” you sighed. “Uh, anyways, I noticed you seem pretty caught up on this lesson and I was having some difficulty understanding some of the concepts, I was hoping maybe I could borrow your notes sometime? If that’s okay?”

“Oh?” he seemed surprised, but flattered, blush rising to his cheeks. “Sure! Of course. I’m Peter by the way, Peter Parker.” He gave a nervous laugh and then shook his head. “My notes aren’t the neatest in the world but if you think they could help, I’d be more than happy to lend you them for a night or two.”

“Thanks,” you nodded. “That would be great. I think I’ve seen you in my lunch period too, so I could always just return them to you before class then.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he agreed. “Or uh, if you wanted, we could always hang out at the library afterschool and I could explain it to you. Protein structural components can get a little tricky sometimes.”

“For sure,” you chuckled, realizing how lame you probably sounded laughing over chemistry. “I’m usually free afterschool, as long as you’re okay with it, that sounds great to me!”

“How afterschool tomorrow?” he offered. “Just for an hour or two?”

“Perfect,” you couldn’t help but blush yourself. “Thanks, Peter. Really.”

It felt like your heart was beating out of your chest as you walked away, envisioning his adorable smile still in your mind. He was so sweet, and kind, and understanding. Pretty eager too. You had to stifle a laugh as you heard Ned slug Peter on the shoulder and whisper shout, “Dude! You just scored a study date with Y/n Stark!”

“See ya, Parker,” you turned around and winked, walking out of the classroom and towards your locker.

The next day in class, you kept glancing back in your chair to look at him, smirking to yourself every time you caught him staring back. He was shy alright, and nervous, but it made him all the more adorable. That morning you made sure to fix your hair up and put on a little bit of lipstick, and after being thoroughly interrogated by your overbearing father, you were able to get out the door in one piece. It wasn’t that you were overexerting yourself into catching his attention, but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t hoping to have him compliment you. The rest of the school day, you caught yourself using the rest of your attention to calculate how much time was left until you could rush to the library and actually talk to him for once.

“I thought you’d never show up,” you teased as he took a seat next to you at one of the tables, setting his backpack down on the floor and sighing.

“Me either,” he groaned. “Ned wouldn’t stop bugging me about this being a date.” He gave a nervous laugh and turned to you, but you weren’t laughing. Instead you looked at him, smiling sweetly, unable to resist your temptation.

“It can be a date,” you shrugged, opening up your textbook and waiting for a response, only to catch him dumbfounded, struggling to find words to say.

“Oh, I mean- I-” he stammered and you chuckled.

“I’m just playing with you, Parker,” you playfully reassured. “Now come on, open up those science notes so I can take a good look. I’m still lost on the GPCR structure similarities.”

“That’s what doesn’t really make sense to me though,” he mused, doubtful as he instead swiped your notes across the table, reading them over and pointing at your diagrams. “I think you do. All of these are mapped out perfectly, and your comparisons are spot on.”

“Well there’s no harm in getting clarification,” you replied, trying to grab back your notes but he held them out of your reach, narrowing his eyes. Peter didn’t buy it.

“Why do you need my help, y/n? You’re literally the smartest girl in school. Your father is Tony Stark for heaven’s sake, you don’t need tutoring,” he insisted. “If anything, you should be tutoring me.”

“You?” you scoffed. “Pete, you’re varsity on every academic team there is. No way.”

“I just don’t get it,” he admitted. “Why’d you ask for my help? It’s obvious you understand the lesson perfectly fine.”

“Well…” you blinked at him, shocked at how quickly he had seen right through your cover. “I uh, I don’t know.” Your face turned a bright shade of pink and you began to feel queasy. “Can I be honest?”

“Of course,” he nodded, concerned but also curious as to what you had to say.

“I just wanted an excuse to talk to you,” you confessed, embarrassed. “I always see you around and you seem so smart and you’re a part of all these clubs and teams and I don’t know…”

He looked surprised, almost confused, but then smiled. “Me? Why me?”

“I dunno. You seem really sweet.”

“Thanks. You too.”

“I was thinking maybe we could be friends? If that’s not too weird or-”

“No, no that sounds, that sounds great,” he insisted, clearly flustered. He looked up at you, eyes sparkling, lips curled up in a smile. “You could’ve just asked you know.”

“Yeah I’m uh, I’m clearly a fool when it comes to those kinds of things,” you laughed nervously, scratching the back of your head.

“Well, since we’re here anyways,” Peter decided. “Want to do homework together instead?”

“Sure,” you agreed. “That sounds great.”

Both of you spent the next couple of hours solving Gauss-Jordan elimination matrices and memorizing resistance series equations. In a lot of ways, Peter Parker was just as much of a nerd as you were. It was comforting to know someone’s brain worked the same way yours did, excited to be challenged with theorems and calculations, determined to find solutions and build upon your already established intellect. When the library eventually closed, you walked to the cafeteria vending machines and grabbed some chips and sodas, exchanging conversation and making each other laugh with stupid jokes.

“Sit at my lunch table tomorrow,” Peter invited after having added you on snapchat. “MJ and Ned will be there, and you can bring some of your friends if you want too.”

“Okay,” you grinned. “Count me in.”

Walking home, your entire stomach was filled with butterflies. Things couldn’t have gotten better. He was genuinely funny, and clever, and really sweet too. You hoped and prayed things would go well between you two. Practically skipping to the elevator, you tried to hide the stupid smile on your face in hopes that your dad wouldn’t pry too much. However, you instantly cringed when you heard JARVIS’ voice greet you as the doors slid open and you reached your floor.

“Good evening, Miss Y/n. It seems that you have finally arrived home from school,” he chirped and you groaned, knowing what was to follow. “Your father has requested that I alert him upon your arrival, he has been inquiring about your whereabouts-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know JARVIS,” you mumbled, setting your bookbag on your chair and frowning. “I came home late, I was at study hall with a friend.”

“You are approximately three and a half hours late from your usual arrival,” JARVIS informed.

“I am aware,” you insisted yet again, noticing your dad march towards you from a hall. Part of you was surprised he even noticed you were gone at all. Most of the time he was either out with the Avengers on a mission or cooped up in the lab working on a new project.

“And where were you afterschool, young lady?” he inquired, arms folded, peering at you above the rim of his glasses.

“I was at study hall with a friend,” you repeated, chewing at your lower lip, trying to play it off. “It took a little longer than I thought it would, I’m sorry.”

“You couldn’t give me a call at least?” he asked, annoyed.

“I didn’t think you cared,” you shrugged.

“Well I’m your father, so I do,” he argued and you nodded, growing quiet and waiting to hear whatever scolding you had coming to you.

Sometimes you wondered why he was constantly on your case. Maybe with him being an Avenger and all, always exposed to threats and danger, it translated to him being constantly worried about you. You knew it was just cause he cared, but at times, it did get a bit overbearing. You’ve learned by now to just nod your head and respond with “yes dad” and “I’m sorry dad” interchangeably.

“Much less, why are you all dolled up?” he looked you up and down in disapproval. You glanced down at your skirt and sweater, remembering the way he had inquired about your hair and makeup this morning. He wasn’t wrong. You rarely ever put any effort into your appearance when it came to going to school. You usually threw on some jeans and a hoodie and made your way out the door. “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were trying to impress someone.”

“I’m not,” you lied, rolling your eyes. “I just felt like changing it up today.”

“Uh huh,” he drew out. “Twenty bucks says your little friend at study hall was a boy.”

“Dad!” you whined and he smirked.

“That’s all I need to know,” he threw up his hands defensively, secretly proud of himself. “Hey kid, get your homework done and then meet me in the lab. Bruce has a project for you concerning some Dijkstra’s algorithms that are right up your alley.”

“Lucky for you I already got my homework done in study hall,” you pointed out. “So let me grab a snack real quick and I’ll meet you down there.”

“That’s my kiddo,” he smiled proudly. “See ya in a bit.”

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

Text

Riding High Ch 19: Unfair Comparison

Part 2

REMINDER! Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words in this part!

Please read Part 1 first

The next few weeks skipped by fairly uneventfully, bar the almost meltdown Mary had when it was revealed to her that she wouldn’t be going back into Bonnie’s class when September rolled around. Frank tried to explain to her that wasn’t how school worked but she was besides herself, declaring she wasn’t going back to school if that was the case, leaving Frank groaning about the possibility of repeat of the scene they had the previous year.

In the end, it was the twins that managed to explain it to her. Steve and his family came over to visit again for 2 weeks in the middle of August and the boys Charlie and Joel spent a lot of time at Fliss and Frank’s for sleepovers, Fliss loved having her nephews to stay. One night when they were all sat in the lounge, Frank overheard Charlie telling Mary all about how he was looking forward to moving into the bigger classroom and learning cool news stuff. He could see the cogs whirring in her head and after that the whole issue seemed to go away. Thank fuck.

Fliss had to laugh though, as one person who was NOT looking forward to the return of the school year was Bonnie. One Thursday night she called Fliss begging her got on a girl’s night out as she needed to blow off some end of holiday blues. Fliss agreed and arranged to meet up with her on Saturday evening. The weekend rolled round fairly quickly and Fliss was in a good mood when she arrived at work, a few lessons to do before she could head home and start getting ready. She was just heading out to the first one when her phone rang. The number was withheld but that wasn’t uncommon as a lot of people called about lessons in such a way.

“Fliss Gallagher…” she answered. No one spoke in response. “Hello?”

Nothing.

With a shrug she cut the call and replaced it back into her pocket, making her way over to the paddock, when the phone went again. She repeated the process and there was still no one talking on the other side.

“You ok?” Joanne looked at her, as Fliss frowned.

“Yeah, I just had 2 silent calls…” Fliss shrugged

“Probably someone ass-dialling”

“Yeah, maybe…” Fliss said, not voicing where her mind had instantly gone, straight to John. She stuck the phone in her pocket once more and strode into the paddock, greeting her client.

There were no more calls that day, which made Fliss comfortable enough that it wasn’t her ex. If it was and he was playing some stupid game he wouldn’t have stopped. So by the time Mary appeared to do her stable chores and ride Monty she was in fairly good spirits. Fliss decided that they were going to do something a little different on Mary’s lesson today, and she placed a few poles on the floor and had Mary walk Monty over them first, then do them in trot. It wasn’t hard for the pony, and he knew his job but it was different for Mary, making her concentrate fully on where she was going. Frank leaned on the paddock fence watching the pair of them as Fliss walked along side Mary, chatting away to her before she stepped back and allowed Mary to try it on her own. The smile on Mary’s face was all Frank needed to see and he nodded to her as she looked over to him, his hand falling to Thor’s head as the dog had jumped up, leaning his paws on the top of the fence.

“Alright buddy?” he asked, scratching his ears as Thor panted in response, giving a sharp bark at Fliss who turned to look at them, grinning.

One the horses were fed they all made their way home and after dinner Fliss grabbed a glass of wine and headed for a shower and then to get ready. 40 minutes or so later she emerged dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a white off the shoulder top that had large golden pineapples printed on it and on her feet she wore a pair of gold sandals. To finish the beach-chic look, her auburn hair was pulled back into a messy bun at the nape of her neck and she was wearing a pair of gold hooped earrings along with her Pandora bracelet.

“You look lovely.” Frank smiled at her, and she grinned back. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah…” she nodded “Can we pick Bonnie up on our way?”

“Sure.” Frank nodded, turning to Mary “Come on Stack. We’ll swing by for ice cream on our way home.” “Yesss….” Mary gave him a hi-five as they all headed for the door.

It took them about 15 minutes to get to Bonnie’s and Fliss hopped out of the jeep heading up the steps to the small villa. Frank watched her go, quite happy to appreciate her ass in the shorts she was wearing, and smiled as she turned round, Bonnie following her down the steps.

“Hi…” She greeted Frank who nodded to her as she climbed in the back of the jeep. “Hi Mary.” “Hi Miss Stevenson…” “You can call me Bonnie out of school.” The dark-haired woman chuckled

“I know.” Mary shrugged.

Bonnie hesitated for a moment as Frank and Fliss exchanged a look, the pair of them grinning at Mary’s blasé tone before Frank shook his head

“Mary…” he chastised her gently.

“What?” she looked at him.

“Just…oh, I dunno, whatever.” he mumbled, setting the car going again. Fliss and Bonnie struck up a gentle conversation about where they were going, Frank not particularly listening to be honest. His right hand absentmindedly dropped to Fliss’ bare thigh, his thumb gently rubbing at her skin and she dropped her left hand on top of his, gently intertwining their fingers.

He was almost disappointed when he pulled up outside Rio’s that she had to let go.

“Have a good time.” he said as she leaned over to give him a quick kiss.

“Will do.” she smiled “See you later Mary.”

“Yeah bye!” Mary said, hopping out of the backseat to take up the vacant front one.

“Ice cream or hot dogs?” Frank looked at her, tearing his eyes away from Fliss as her and Bonnie headed into the bar, already knowing full well what Mary’s answer would be.

“Dur…” she looked at him “I got me a hankering for some Cookies and Cream.” Frank snorted and with a final look at the bar set off towards The Shack.

****

“Did he just…” Fliss looked at Bonnie, her eyes flicking from the young man in front of her to Bonnie, then back again. They’d had a few drinks at Rio’s, then headed up to another bar a few doors down and had wandered over to see what was going on round a pool table, soon finding themselves watching three younger guys as they were racking the balls up, ready to start a game of killer. By this point they’d had a fair amount of beer and shots, so Bonnie, clearly emboldened by alcohol, had cheekily quipped to the boys that Fliss would kick their arses and one of them, a tall guy with floppy sandy hair had responded with an equally cheeky little smirk and invited the “Grandma” to join them.

“Yeah, he so did…”

“Fucking Grandma…” Fliss glared at him, snatching up a pool cue. “I’ll have you know, kid, I’m 34…not that old…” “You got 13 years on me.” he looked at her.

“Experience…” Bonnie nodded sagely “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.” “You offering?” the lad looked at Bonnie who burst out laughing

“Sorry, we’re both taken…” “With each other…” Fliss said, causing Bonnie to snort again into her drink “We’re lesbians.” “Awesome!” the guy grinned, looking Fliss up and down before he arched an eyebrow at her. “I’m Joe by the way.” “Oh, I’m Felicia and this is Linda.” Fliss said, this time causing Bonnie to choke on her gin.

“Nice to meet you…now…” Joe clapped his hands and then everyone around the table looked at him as he began to write their names on the blackboard adding 3 lines after each. The game was simple, you took your shot, if you potted you kept a life, if you missed you lost one. The last person standing was the winner.

“Money in and…”

“Oh, hang on…” Fliss looked around “I didn’t know we were competing for money…”

“You chicken?” One of the lads looked at her.

“No, I just…you know what?” She shrugged, pulling a $10 out of her purse. “Fuck it.”

“You can break.” One of the lads said and she shrugged. Taking up position she hit the ball, deliberately hitting the group of colours in the wrong place ensuring she didn’t pot one. The lads all took a turn each and on her next turn she sank a ball into the pocket, then on her next go she missed again, deliberately.

“Ok,ok…” she said, as the guys started to tease her. “You’re all so confident double up…double the money…” “Whatever…” Joe snorted, pulling another $10 note out of his pocket. Bonnie, grinned and started to play along.

“Felicia,…is that…” “Shut up Linda I got this…” She lined up and took another shot, smashing a ball at the top straight into a pocket. The lads all exchanged a look, shrugging and continued, the game. Fliss continued to nail shot after shot and eventually it came down to her and Joe on the last ball.

“So if I manage this…I win?”

“Yeah…” “Ok, top right…” Joe let out a groan as the ball dropped into the pocket. Fliss straightened up, leaning on the cue smirk on her face as she turned to the boys who were all laughing and shaking their heads.

“Here’s a tip…” she said, taking the money “Don’t call people grandma…pleasure doing business boys…”

Bonnie laughed, sliding her phone back into her pocket, as Fliss looped an arm round her shoulders and steered her back to the bar.

“Shots?”

“Yes…” An hour later they were multiple shots down and half way through a crucial game of Fuck, Marry or Kill.

“Ok…” Bonnie looked at Fliss “Fuck, Marry or Kill. All the Chrises…Evans, Hemsworth or Pratt…” “Oh man…” Fliss groaned “I mean…I’d probably kill Pratt. No offence but I couldn’t murder Thor or Cap…I just…no, not possible”

“So…which ones getting the one night treatment and which one is here to stay…”

“If I marry him does that mean I’m fucking him as well?” Bonnie paused “Yeah, I would assume so.”

“Ok, in that case I’d fuck Hemsworth, marry Evans.” Fliss said, shrugging. “Do you not think Frank as a bit of a look of him…in the face?”

“I’ve not thought about it…” Bonnie shrugged, before she grinned “I think you just have a thing for guys from Boston…”

Fliss frowned as Bonnie looked at her, her face dropping. “Shit, Fliss, sorry, I mean Frank…” Fliss couldn’t keep her face straight any longer and she burst out laughing “I know…”

“Bitch!” Bonnie nudged her on the arm and Fliss smirked, picking up another shot.

********

Frank was sprawled on the sofa, channel surfing when he heard his phone go. It was a WhatsApp message from Fliss and he opened it, giving a loud laugh as he saw her holding a shot of tequila, her face screwed up in a huge fake crying gesture.

“Bonnie is making me do shots…”

“Course she is…” he replied “And did Bonnie make you hustle those boys at pool too?” “How do you know about that?” “It’s on Facebook sweetheart, Bonnie uploaded the photo of you winning. Those poor kids stood no chance” “In my defence they called me grandma…cheeky bastards.”

Frank laughed out loud as he could just see her indignant expression. “Well that’s just fucking rude. How much did you sting em for?” “Sixty…we’ve nearly spent it all now!”

“Sixty bucks…” he mumbled to himself with a snort as he tapped his response “That’s my girl.” “Always…” she replied back, with a winking emoji and he smiled again before dropping the phone back on the coffee table as he stood up to go and grab himself another beer. Simon had already called him to say he would pick them up, which was a relief to Frank as he knew he couldn’t drag Mary out of bed at whatever time they were ready to come back, and he also wasn’t one hundred percent happy about her cabbing back alone. Stupid, he knew that, she was a grown ass woman but still. Thankfully, Simon had been on the same wavelength. With a fresh beer in his hand, he flopped back onto the sofa and resumed his channel hopping, grinning when he found that American Pie was just starting on one of the movie channels. Tossing the remote down he settled back against the cushions to watch the film, Thor jumping up besides him, his head resting against Frank’s thigh.

He had seen this film countless times, but it still reduced him to tears, and Fliss for that matter. He watched, laughing along and the end credits had just started to roll when his phone buzzed again.

“On my way to collect the girls and just a warning, Bonnie sounds smashed. Fuck knows what state they’re in” With a snort he replied “I didn’t expect anything else. Thanks Si.” He stood up and threw his empty beer bottle into the recycling, debating whether or not he wanted another. Deciding he would leave it he started to clear away the remnants of the nachos and popcorn he’d been munching on, gently re-arranged the damned scatter cushions that Fliss had made him buy, which he grudgingly had to admit were actually pretty comfy and then grabbed the recycling box and headed out to toss it into the containers, Thor hot on his heels. Just as he had finished he looked up to see Simon’s Audi pulling up at the road and he made his way over.

“Hiiiii!” Fliss grinned at him as she got out, Thor stopping by her legs and she gave him a quick pet.

“Hey…you have a good time?” Frank asked, as she gave a giggle and nodded.

“Bonnie’s fallen asleep. She can’t handle her alcohol.” she snorted and Frank looked round her to see that Bonnie was, indeed, passed out in the passenger seat.

He shook his head and leaned down to speak to Simon “Thanks pal…”

“No problem.” Simon smiled, before he cast a look at Bonnie and then back to Frank “She said she was tired, not drunk…” “And I’m the Queen of England…” Frank snorted as Simon let out a huff of a laugh. “Good luck with that…”

“Well hello your majesty…” Fliss hiccupped and Frank looked at her, grinning as she winked at him, her eyes glazed.

Simon shook his head and Frank rapped the top of his car twice as he pulled off and headed back up the road.

“Frankie…” Fliss looked at him as he dropped his arm round her shoulder.

“Yes baby girl?” “I’m hungry.” “Are you gonna stay awake long enough if I throw a pizza in the oven?” “Hey, I’m not like Bonnie, I can handle my tequila…” “Yeah, you say that now.” he grinned “Bet you won’t be tomorrow.”

“It’s Sunday…I can die on the sofa.” she shrugged, heading up the steps into the house. “But now I really need food.” Frank snorted, “Ok, I’ll throw one in. Go get changed.”

“Can you undo the button at the back of my top?” Fliss asked, spinning around. Frank obliged, gently sliding the silver pin shaped tab through the hole at the back of the collar, his hands gently rubbing her bare shoulders as she dropped a kiss to her neck. “Hey, Bonnie made a good point before…” she spun back to face him, he hands smoothing over his chest.

“And what was that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Both of us, as in me and her…have seen you naked…” she grinned, arms connecting round the back of his neck.

“Jesus Christ…”he groaned, his hands falling to her hips.

“And you’ve seen both of us naked…but we’ve never seen each other naked…” Frank looked at her for a moment, “What?” “Me and Bonnie I mean… don’t you think that’s unfair.”

Frank looked at her for a moment, stumped for words before he gave a snort of laughter at her face. She was grinning wickedly at him, mischief shining out of her eyes. “Yeah.” he nodded, seriously, fighting to keep his face straight. “Really unfair. In fact, I think it’s so unfair you should do something about it.” “You’re a pervert.” she narrowed her eyes at him as he laughed and shrugged.

“You started it…” “Technically you did when you fucked her.”

“Ouch…” Frank raised an eyebrow at her as she smirked up at him “Low blow sweetheart”

“I’ll give you a low blow later…”she winked and Frank’s eyebrow arched further up as she pulled his head down to kiss him softly “But first I need proper food…” “Well let go o’me and I’ll make you that pizza.” he reasoned.

With a final smile she kissed him again “Love you sailor.”

“Back at ya cowgirl.” he grinned, watching as she made her way to the bedroom, reasonably steadily as well all things considered, Thor padding along behind her. With a final snort and shake of his head, knowing full well she was going to be hungover to shit the next day, he turned and headed back towards the kitchen to make her something to eat.

#riding high #frank adler x ofc #frank adler #gifted fan fic #gifted

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mauserfrau · 4 years

Text

Last Night At Jawgrim’s - Bordertober

Happy Friday! Have some artsy nonsense with a side of drinking and gore.

I remember— it was really a pretty sunset that night. It was truly a sight to see. You know, that night. The last time I went down to Jawgrim’s for some bathtub tequila.

You’re saying holy people don’t drink. But ah, you’re wrong. We all drink on that planet.

I got chest up to the bar. Jawgrim kept it awful high, but he was a big man. Yes, I’m sure it wasn’t Grimjaw. Yes, big in every dimension, but he wore his old bandit mask off to the side of his head like a Promethean girl at a summer festival.

I was trying to catch his eye, but he didn’t see so good. Hazard of drinking too much of his own moonshine.

I figured he’d come around sooner or later. Anyway, he had Trash Fire and her boys to water, the cobbler from down in the gulch. A couple Hyperion types who wandered in. The usual raff and riff. Actually, Riff wasn’t around…

Only realized Deupree showed up ‘cause he let in a gust. He had a knack for that and swagger and conning ladypersons out of tables. Wasn’t any need that night. He put his feet and his pack up, pack half-open, just daring somebody to go looking inside. Yeah, I know that’s part of What’s In The Box.

But by then I’d got a drink and Trash Fire was on it. I’d say lit, but I mean, Trash Fire…

I tried to make it last. Great stuff. Made your ears ring or your nose run depending on the batch. I miss it. I was missing it that night while I still had a glass and the air still smelled like air instead of whiskey puke.

So of course you know the next gust, it’s all sweet and chemical. Thought somebody busted a slag rifle over somebody else’s head outside. That would have explained it. But I’ve still never smelled anything like her.

Wasn’t unusual to see strangers at Jawgrim’s. Only bar in town. Wasn’t unusual he acted like they weren’t there. No point if they didn’t know him. Wouldn’t tip.

So this woman, she’s got a scarecrow with her. I’m mean, I was looking at this guy… I guess it was a guy… nobody asked. Nobody ever asks on that planet. Looking at him I got so stuck on autumn, pumpkin for supper and getting scratched to bits in a field of maize like back on Halcyon 1.

The fan came around. I got another whiff of her. Stared into my glass after, trying to figure just what was in the ice that night.

The scarecrow slid in beside me. He flashed he wanted two fingers for two people and Jawgrim gave it to him right up.

I remember, he drank before the woman. She made a face when she did. I mean, more of a face. Shoved her pour back at him after one sip. Him now, he drank it like it was water. Left the glasses on the windowsill too.

Anyway, the woman, she got over to Deupree and she sat with him. I thought maybe he’d turned over a new skull plate. Don’t start, I was there for too long. I thought good for him.

But he looked out from under his hat. Could see it in his eyes— he didn’t know this woman, but he smelled her like I did.

“Well, hey little lady,” he said, all smooth. “Do you know what tonight is?”

And she said back, “What’s it matter to me what day it is?” That was a new one.

No, I don’t actually remember myself what day. I was a holy person on that planet. I didn’t know what two times four was half the time.

Now, it took him about two seconds, but they were the longest two seconds anybody ever spent at Jawgrim’s I’m sure. Deupree came around though. He smiled, gold canine winking out of his mouth. “How about I make it matter?”

“You can try, I guess. But I’m pretty good at What’s In The Box.” I couldn’t see the look she gave him. She’d swung around the side of the table so it was just him and the scarecrow got any view.

Now, the thing I forgot to mention about Deupree was that he used to be a chemical engineer. His bar bet box would have been the stuff of legends anyplace else. But on that planet, he was small time.

Should have known there was something funny about her ‘sides the smell. Why’d she care so much about a hustler in a no-name town? Why’d she say, “What’s the bet?”

“Hundred.”

“Cheap.”

“Well, what’s rich then, if you wanna play that way?”

“I dunno. You?”

“Me?”

“Bet me your soul. I always wanted to try that.” She made this movement, tugging on her sleeves, like wrapping the idea around her. And I think she raised Deupree the scarecrow once he finished laughing, but Trash Fire threw a cherry at me and said this was my job and I’d better referee.

I shook my glass at Jawgrim and I went over. Deupree and the woman nodded.��

She had blue eyes. Parts of them seemed red. Not like a white cat’s. Like they just were red sometimes. Just ‘cause.

Now, Deupree’s box was black, and the finger slits, they leaked shadows. I don’t know how he did it, but I wouldn’t put my hand near the thing. Nasty looking business even if the effect was just carbon and crossed fingers.

No, I didn’t think it was unholy. I know unholy when I see it. Or, I did at some point. Look, it’s complicated.

The woman reached towards the box. She touched the tip of her pinky to the shadows crawling on the outside. Then she pressed it back to her mouth, tasting with all of her tongue. How she smiled, all hungry and certain. Her attention locked on Deupree as she reached into her coat.

“It’s a sheep’s eye like this one.”

One splattered on the table. It sat there, staring up.

So this woman had been walking around with an eyeball in her pocket. That’s what I’m saying.

Deupree gave it a hell of a look. His laugh, that came out hollow. Still did manage to laugh, but still. He slid the first compartment open and dumped out the eye. His was all discolored from whatever he’d used to pickle it. “I’d say that’s cheating.”

I didn’t have any plans to allow it, until he got to his but.

“...but I can feel the love in your efforts. OK then. One of the compartments tonight is new and you can’t guess it even if you are a fangirl of mine. The other? Nobody’s guessed that ever. Not in seven years.”

The woman looked on. Her smell and her satisfaction got all fierce-like. People were taking their own bets in the back now, Jawgrim pouring as fast as his chipped mason jars would let him. She put her hand— yes, her whole hand —in the furthest compartment. She didn’t once take her eyes off of Deupree, but she reached behind herself, gesturing to the scarecrow.

He came to her, both their glasses in one hand. One he tipped into the opposite palm and it clanked. No, I don’t remember what he smelled like. Never got that close to him. Anyway, he shook the two together, whispered some gibberish and held the bottom one out to the woman.

The contents splattered on the table when she dropped it. “Unlaid vinegar pigeon eggs. You could have just peeled some grapes.”

“Ah, but grapes are awful hard to get here.”

Vinegar pigeon eggs? Oh, people on that planet ate them with the local meat. Made it taste less bad by comparison.

I went to call it again.

Deupree gestured slitting his throat. I guessed he meant shut up. ‘sides Jawgrim shoved another glass in my hand. My last drink there. Soapy and familiar. Made my eyes swim and my guts stammer hard as Trash Fire’s laughter.

“Last round,” said the woman. Her concentration broke for half an instant. She told the scarecrow, “Oh, nice knowing you.”

He pretended to weep.

No, I didn’t notice he hadn’t spoken, but… You’ll see. Hang on.

Picture her, reaching into the center slot, her whole hand again. Some thoughtfulness got on her lips this time. She closed her blue eyes. The bar buzzed and chirped and hiccupped.

Her fingers when she pulled them out were stained with dark, old blood.

She hummed. I fought to get Deupree to look at me. He was all eyes for her though.

As she said: “This is the heart of a boy named Eucariah. He died a long, long time ago in a valley on the other side of the planet. Mama said not to go out after dark. Oh no, he did anyway. He could hear the bandits singing. He had to do it. He had to not listen to Mama and wasn’t that sad? Wasn’t that the hardest thing ever? Listening to somebody else. Hell, he didn’t even listen when they tried to do his autopsy. It took the town doc an hour to cut open that thick skull of his and then there was nothing inside.”

She dropped one more thing on the table. A metal toe tag. The kind like they used at the old Dahl camps ‘cause the only paper they had rotted in the heat.

Deupree said nothing.

The bar, we were laughing, you know. She was bullshitting so hard.

She just had to be.

Deupree said nothing. He wasn’t even breathing. He could not look away from her. Not even as the scarecrow loomed over him and placed a hand on his back.

“Well,” said the woman. “Say your prayers or…”

“Or what!” he cried. His voice cracked so hard.

“Get out. Get out of town. We don’t want you here.”

We? Who was we? I wondered half this damned awful second.

Deupree turned the table over as he bolted. Glass and guts spilled everywhere.

And the woman, she reached out to me. I guess she wanted to wipe her hand. I flinched. One terrible moment I met her eyes myself, but she turned to the scarecrow and she shrugged. “I guess we should catch him before he hurts his little self. Or not. As long as he’s gone.”

The scarecrow shook his head. He pulled her to her feet even though her hand was still filthy. He showed her out, all formal and bowing.

For the rest of us, he said “Peace!” and slammed the door and went laughing out of Jawgrim’s. Everybody behind him? Quiet as a graveyard by that point. Everybody except for me.

I remember, I ran outside after them. Why? Dumb curiosity, I guess. I was the only one after all.

Maybe it was the bathtub tequila or maybe it was that too pretty sunset or maybe, God damn them, it was real, but the streets of that town? All full of gusts and ghouls. Not even sure half of them were people before they died, warped as they looked, but they were definitely dead, smiling through their skulls in the dusk. The woman walked down the line of them and they chattered, all of them, their teeth and their ribs shaking, body slime dripping from the old ones. I heard them say mother; mother something.

You know, I heard her name, but my brain won’t let me remember it. Know it’s in there.

But I couldn’t. I can’t. I didn’t look away. I stood there crossing myself as the streets swelled with dead.

I don’t know what snapped. One touched me. Or something. Anyway, it was by the grace of God I ran.

I ran all the way back to my room in the back of the whorehouse. I grabbed my things and I left that place— that town, that planet, that galaxy. I’ve had no drink since. OK, except for what I needed to ween myself off of the stuff. And this glass with you. I’m sorry, I’ve got no taste for real tequila.

I still smell her, sometimes in the autumn. Smell that woman.

I smell her and I pray.

#borderlands #borderlands 3 #fanfic #fanfiction #bordertober #border-tober #Tyreen Calypso #Troy Calypso #Calypso Twins #OC PoV #gore #drinking #surreal business #unreliable narrator #heavily implied murder

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onf-headcanons · 4 years

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ONF MEMBERS AS YOUR SIBLING (U & Laun version)

Either you are related from Yuto or Minseok side and either one of them later joined the family. Confusing? OK example you are Yuto's sibling by blood and then later Minseok joined. Or in reversed, Yuto joined later.

Or You are the youngest sibling (could be in terms age when the family comes together or you being born later)

Or, You are the eldest.

Any scenario that is suitable to your own imagination. Also there will be some repeated ideas fron first universe because i would like to keep characterization consistency.

Btw this pair of sibling would be one of the less noisy siblings of all.

My recommendation, your birthday is in older than both of them. But you can totally imagine that your are younger ones. I will try to elaborate both, I hope i won't confuse you guys🙈

Also i recommend, if you are going to imagine yourself as eldest, you are 2 to 3 years older. While if you are the youngest, you would be 5 to 7 years younger.

Scenario 1

If you are related with Yuto and Minseok is the new join

You Defo speaking Japanese comfortably

Your parent moved the family to Korea (or minseok family moved to Japan is doable too).You and Yuto attending school at Korea so you two speak somewhat decent Korean.

And your parent met with Minseok parent then they decided to tie the knot.

Your parents decided to have a dinner before wedding so that you kids can know each other before hand

Btw it would be a lie if you did not once considered Minseok is cute (non romantic way)

Maybe Minseok is not studying in the same school as yours/Yuto's. But it is doable too if he is. Even being classmate with Yuto

(It will a callback to onf meme if your side of family is maternal side so your parent took in Minseok family name. And then Mizuguchi Yuto also known as Kim Yuto lol)

Minseok already excited to have Yuto (a Japanese) as sibling, even more excited to have you too. Especially if you are the elder sister/sibling

Minseok explaining to Yuto about meme or idioms or weird metaphors seen in TV

You found out Minseok sneakily munching ice cream in the fridge in early morning to wake himself up (which is a weird way in your common sense) and then understood he cannot handle coffee. If you are an employed sibling, you might offer to drive him to school/University and let him sleep in your car while you are driving. (this is if both Yuto and Minseok attended different schools/University)

Minseok has many questions, asking about both of your experience in korea, asking about Japanese cultures, and even asking you both for help on Japanese

Minseok taking Japanese classes online and dedicated to one day properly converse in Japanese with you and Yuto

Learning some Osaka dialect from Yuto and you. And maybe both of you talks in the dialect so much that it affects Minseok's beginner Japanese. Cues in Minseok once flustered when his online instructor asked why his intonation sounds mixed with osaka accent.

Of course you both will chill him a bit mentioning is fine because you both are OK with korean too. But Minseok looks up to the effort of both of you learning a foreign language, hence he continues with learning Japanese until he is somewhat fluent.

As Yuto's sibling, you know your brother is the quiet side when he is trying to adjust. Bonus if you are a sister and you hope the boys could bond, you might help out by leaking some information of Yuto's preference to Minseok. Example like Xmas gift or birthday gift

Once they opened up, your job is done 👌. Maybe you move out and then once in a while return home and seeing them two playing games together or even inmersed in dance cover/tutorial videos

If have the same characteristic of laughter as Yuto, Minseok's usual ☺😊 is very unusual to you

Maybe you might ask "Minseok ah how can stay calm and smiling like usual when we are already dying of laughter?"

Minseok just scratches his head and replies you with his innocent eyes, "I was laughing and nearly losing my breath though?"

Them two defo bond with dancing and songs they like. But mostly dancing. Could be something one of your parents brought it up during the dinner and both Minseok and Yuto's eyes glimmers for a short while as if they found comrade lol

By the way of you happened to be the younger sibling of Yuto in this scenario, Minseok being a new elder brother is just the best thing of all. He will share food or stuff with you the most. I do feel he will do that more if you are a sister. Not sure because he is the new joined, he is trying hard very much to be attentive to everyone. Or, he just does not want you to feel left out as now there is 2 boys in house and you did not have a sister to bond with

When you have problems, both Yuto and Minseok will listen to you attentively. Depends on what problem was it you will go to different person to consult with. Yuto is your sibling and he knew you long and well enough, so if you want a more unbiased view you would go to Minseok.

Yes Minseok smiles alot but when he is concentrating into something important (also means listening to your concerns), his expression goes into a serious mode and you never knew he had that.

Also it will be a nice contrast if you are the fearless one and the boys are the scaredy cat. I will elaborate at Scenario 2

Scenario 2

If you are related with Minseok and Yuto is the new joined (by the way if not sibling, Yuto honestly as exchange student is also definitely doable for this one. I wont be separately writing about this soon I will mesh this into sibling au.)

Even thought alot similar with scenario 1, I will try to add more variety

Both are excited to meet Yuto

prior to your parents wedding, they decided to have a dinner hope you kids can know each other before hand

You and your brother noticed the new soon to be sibling is quite quiet in personality.

He smiles alot

One of the parent brought up dancing and mentioned it, you definitely saw them two looking very much brighten up and cannot wait to talk to each other to find out more.

You 3 exchanged numbers but mostly is just Yuto and Minseok texting each other more. And you are happy that your brother get to know someone with similar preferences

Maybe in this scenario its only Minseok who is dedicated to learn Japanese.

Probably you 3 bond by playing games, Mario kart maybe? And that is the first time Yuto showed himself. Loud laughs, loud wails when your car accidentally bumped on his.

Only then he starts getting more comfortable with his new siblings

Yuto's laugh is contagious.

Sometimes in charge for dinner and he cooks japanese style

Also you might see Yuto tapping on Minseok with music on just to teach him about the beat in the music when they are discussing on choreography. And your brother just sits there receiving all the tappings (this happens in other scenarios too but its more significant here)

Learning some Osaka dialect from Yuto. And maybe Yuto talks in the dialect so much that it affects Minseok's beginner Japanese. Cues in Minseok once flustered when his online instructor asked why his intonation sounds mixed with osaka accent.

Nope, its a bad idea to bring them to haunted house. Not even roller coaster. Maybe there is once your parents brought you 3 to Japan for vacation and you all stop by at Fuiikyu Highland (a theme park in japan) that day and both of your brothers regret their life choices for placing Fujikyu first and Universal studio for the next day.

One of them maybe "WHY CAN'T WE JUST GO TO UNIVERSAL STUDIO AT OSAKA INSTEAD?!!!!!"

Another one nearly crying " WHY CAN'T WE SKIP TODAY AND FAST FORWARD TO TOMORROW INSTEAD?!!!!"

Scenario 3

If you are the child that born later from your parents marriage

This timeline, Minseok and Yuto has gotten more comfortable with each other mother tongue but still learning

They are best buds right now

They value you a lot. Leo is very attentive and showering you with straightforward love and Pisces is a bit of tsundere but a lot of small gestures showing his affection towards younger sibling

I think both brothers will cradle you when you are still a baby. Of course involving some panicking when they first time trying to hold you. Minseok loves to gently rub his cheek on yours, he cannot help it lol(yes like how SoonYoung/Hoshi from Svt). And Yuto always love to caress your head

Overall they are very protective. In a bit different ways. Minseok would be the attentive protective type, while Yuto be like "Run along my young one, but remember big brother is here."

I dunno why but I do see you converse with Yuto in Japanese and Minseok in korean

Sometimes being the middle person to teach/help them with the unfamiliar language. You grow with 2 languages that is why in comparison, you might be the most fluent person handling and juggling 2 languages in the household

Scene like Minseok trying to express himself in japanese with Yuto and he kinda stuck with the word and your second brother turn to you asking you whats that is korean and you just nonchalantly tell Yuto what Minseok has been trying to convey

Purposely integrate this here. You 3 are very interested in dancing. Guess its in the blood if you sort out the equation. I also think that you used to watch them dancing very much and it got into your trait/character

Maybe your memory is not the precise type so they coach you alot regarding to sequence. No worries when it comes to the strength and timing when comes to dance moves, you are their sibling after all.

Uploads dance covers of you 3 to YouTube

Either you are not the scaredy among the sibling or maybe you are also the scaredy cat lol

If you are not scaredy cat, they might look at you with amaze when you dared to watch horror movie, ALONE.

I dun think you would be the evil prankster sibling in the household. You might lean on the omg why can't they understand the beauty of horror

People definitely are going to "cannot believe their ears" when they hear you 3 conversing in both Korean and Japanese, switching the language back and forth

A/N: is was longer than i expected? I got info from kprofiles that they are both isfj. Which makes actually them are the quiet ones compare to other hyungs. Hope its not too boring for your preference. Anyways see you soon!

#onf #onf imagines #onf scenarios #onf headcanon #onf headcanons #sibling!au #sibling!onf #sibling!minseok #sibling!U #kim minseok #mizuguchi yuto #onf laun #onf u #queued #scheduled

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calamitascalliope · 4 years

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Vriska and Rose=====>Make Them Pay

My submission for @ladystuck2020, written for @haruspeks. You can also find it on Ao3 here. Enjoy!

From the day she was born, everyone knew Rose Lalonde was a peculiar child.

Most children, when brought into this world, scream and cry and generally make a huge fuss about things. Rose, on the other hand, made not a single sound as the doctor brought her out into the light. No screaming. No wriggling. Nothing.

It was so alarming that Rose was immediately placed into intensive care, fearing that her lungs had not developed properly. But after multiple tests and several weeks of head scratching it was discovered that no, Rose was perfectly healthy in every way. Aside from the strange fact that she never cried.

While this certainly made her mother’s life easier, a poor woman who was woefully unprepared for raising a child, it lead to a lot of concern as this pattern continued into Rose’s older years. When she began eating baby food, she never made a mess of things. When she fell over while learning to walk she shed not a single tear. When she became a toddler, she never threw a single temper tantrum.

On paper, Rose would seem like a perfect child. A child who never fussed? What more could a new parent ask for! In practice however, Rose was exceptionally unnerving.

It was on Rose’s thirteenth birthday that her existence took a turn from unnerving to terrifying.

It had been a small affair. Some family had been invited, but all that really amounted to was her uncle Dirk and cousin Dave. Dave was what you would expect from a thirteenth year old boy. Loud, full of energy, and never staying in one place for too long. He was everything Rose was not.

As Dave tore a path through the living room, playing with a small toy bird he had brought with him, Rose sat delicately at the table, taking careful bites of her cake. Rose’s mother was chatting with Dirk on the couch, with Dirk having to occasionally tell Dave to not try and jump off of high places. It was a rather peaceful scene.

Until Rose was lying on the floor, completely unresponsive.

One panicked rush to the hospital later, and Rose was in a hospital bed, dozens of monitors hooked up to her small body. Her heart monitor was the chief among them. Every so often, her heartbeat would begin to beat sporadically, nearly tripling in speed for less than a second before returning to normal. It had been decided that these palpitations were what caused her fainting spell, but they were still trying to figure out why they were happening.

After a tense couple of hours filled with tests, tears, and nervous pacing, Rose opened her eyes and did something she had never done in her thirteen years of life.

She screamed.

Rose screamed with a fury far beyond her age, and began to violently try and tear apart the many apardi that was attached to her body. A panicked nurse rushed over to try and calm her down, to tell her she was safe, but Rose snapped at the woman like a mad dog. When the nurse tried to approach her again Rose kicked her in the stomach causing her to stumble backwards, doubled over in pain.

Rose’s heart rate, obviously high due to her sudden physical exertion, spiked higher than it had ever gone. Rose fell back in her bed, going unconscious once more.

After that they got permission from Rose’s mother to strap her down.

When Rose next awoke, she was her usual self. Confused at her location, but nowhere near the violent state she had exhibited earlier. A few doctors spoke with her, asking if she was okay and if she was calm. Asking how she felt. Asking why she attacked that nurse. Rose answered all the questions with her usual calm demeanor. All except the last one. To that question she simply gave a confused look, and said that she did not remember that happening.

The doctors were stumped, but Rose seemed to be doing fine. The palpitations had stopped, and while her behavior was not normal by any stretch of the word, she was her usual self once more. Rose was prescribed some medication that would hopefully stop this from happening again, and she was to make regular checkups to ensure that she was doing well.

Exhausted, Rose’s mother took her straight home. She held her daughter tight, trying her best to ignore how detached and cold Rose felt in her arms. She eventually fell asleep, but Rose did not. When her mother’s breathing leveled out, Rose carefully slipped out of her grasp. She planned to head to the kitchen to find a snack, but her plans were put on hold when she saw something that would change her life forever.

Floating lazily near to the ground was a small girl. Well, girl would not be the proper term. Sure she was small, and sure she had a messy tangle of long hair, but no one who saw this thing would describe her as just a girl.

Her skin was a mottled grey, flaky and ashen. She looked as if she was a snowman made of ashes. Her tangled hair was not just dark, it was the color of the blank night sky. The color of nothing. Sprouting from between her impossibly colored hair was a pair of brightly colored horns that clashed heavily with the darker tones of the rest of her body.

She had eight eyes, but they were not arranged in the way a spider’s were. Two of her eyes were in the places one would expect them to be, and the remaining six were placed in a circle around her left eye. The sclera of her eyes was not the typical white, but instead a bright orange, and her iris seemed to be missing in its entirety. Her pupils were slits, much like that of a reptile, and all eight of them were darting around the room sporadically.

Rose stared at this strange figure for several seconds, and a few moments later the figure took notice of Rose’s attention. She gave a cautionary glance behind herself, before turning back to Rose.

“You can see me?”

The creature’s voice was deep, and had a chittering to it that Rose could not fully understand. A good comparison would be trying to understand someone with a heavy Scottish accent when you have never heard of Scotland in your entire life.

“Yes.” Rose said, a bit hesitant. “Who are you?”

“Vriska. I think. How did I get here?”

“I’m not sure. Um, give me a second.” Rose turned towards her mother, and gently shook her awake. “Mom?”

“Oh, uh, yeah?” Rose’s mother woke up with a start, looking dreary eyed around the room. “Yeah, sweetheart?”

“Do you see that weird grey girl?” Rose asked, and could immediately tell by the lost expression on her face that the answer was no.

“What do you mean Rose?”

“It was nothing, just a, uh, dream I had.” Rose assured her, and within a few moments her mother passed out once more. Rose turned back to face the strange girl, Vriska apparently, who was nodding.

“So only you can see me. I guess. That is real fucking weird.”

“Your flippant use of crude language is....Interesting. Although not surprising given your situation. ” Rose spoke with the voice of a sixty year old woman, and Vriska scoffed at it.

“And who’s gonna fucking st8p me? You’re the 8nly one who can see and hear me, so try it 8itch.”

“How did you say the eight with your mouth.”

“Fuck y8u that’s h8w.”

Rose paused, her rational mind slowly turning to try and fully comprehend this situation and figure out the best way forward.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to be antagonistic.” Rose said. “It has been a weird day for me, and I’m assuming it has been a weird one for you to.”

“That is putting it lightly.” Vriska’s words still carried a sharp tone, but Rose could tell that she was settling down a bit.

“I know your name, it is only fitting you know mine. I’m Rose Lalonde.”

“That’s a pretty long name if you ask me.”

“Well, it is usually just Rose. Lalonde is my last name.”

“What’s that?”

“Well,” Rose was prepared to go into a long winded history lesson on the use of last names in ancient times, but she figured that she had better things to do. “Never mind. So….What exactly are you?”

To that Rose received a lazy shrug from Vriska.

“Hell if I know. All I know was that I woke up inside of a tiny pink monkey’s 8ody and I felt extremely pissed a8out the whole thing. Then I passed out again and woke up here, talking to you.”

“So you have no memories about why you are here? None at all?”

“There is nothing 8ut my own name in my head.” Vriska said. “That and a lot of anger, 8ut I’m not exactly sure what I’m angry at. As we’ve been talking its been going away though so now it really is just my name.”

“Can you….Do anything?” Rose asked, and upon realizing the vagueness of her question she clarified. “I mean we know that no one can see you except for me, but can you interact with the world around you?”

“Dunno.” Vriska contemplated for a moment, and then reached down to try and pick up a toy bird Dave had left behind in the panic after the party. Her hand phased right through it, but the toy trembled slightly. Almost as if it had been blown by a slight breeze. “I guess the answer to that question is kinda 8ut not really.”

“To be perfectly honest, I am not entirely convinced that I’m not hallucinating right now.” Rose said. “I have just undergone an extremely traumatizing experience, my brain playing tricks on me should almost be expected.”

“Well I am very much real, 8ut I have no clue how I could possi8ly convince you. I can’t touch anything, and….” Vriska paused for a moment, her eight dark eyes focusing on Rose much in the way a cat does when it is preparing to pounce.

Vriska pounced.

Rose jumped at the sudden movement, and was doubly shocked when she felt her . Vriska’s body crashed into Rose’s, toppling them both to the ground.

“Okay! You’re real! Get off!” Rose said, but Vriska did not seem to be listening to her. Vriska’s eyes were still massive, all eight of them looking directly at Rose’s chest. Vriska raised one clawed hand, flexing her fingers before burying them into Rose’s chest.

There was no blood, there wasn’t even a wound, but Rose felt Vriska’s sharp nails burrow into her chest. Rose screamed, thrashing about to try and get Vriska off of her, but it was no use. While Vriska seemed capable of attacking her, Rose’s own blows passed right through Vriska.

The screaming did alert Rose’s mother. The poor woman woke up with a start to see her small daughter screaming her head off and flailing about the floor for no apparent reason.

Meanwhile, from Rose’s perspective, Vriska was still tearing into her chest. The pain was gradually growing unbearable, and Rose was beginning to feel the room spinning around her as she grew faint. She was on the edge of losing herself once again when she felt her hand wrap around something solid.

No, wait. That wasn’t her hand. That was Vriska’s hand. Vriska’s hand had wrapped around something solid. Why had Vriska felt Rose’s hand?

Rose wasn’t in her living room anymore. She was weightless, floating in an empty abyss. She couldn’t feel anything, anything aside from the rhythmic pumping of Vriska’s own heart.

No, not Vriska’s heart. HER heart. Why did Vriska keep doing that?

No, she’s not Vriska, she’s Rose. Why was her mind all over the place, where-

The dark void around Vriska lit up into a brilliant gold, blinding Rose’s eight eyes. She saw a sigil, burnt onto the bottoms of her eyelids. A small sun. It was everywhere she looked. She could close her eyes for hours on end, but Rose could not escape it. It pulsated in time with her heartbeat, with their heartbeat.

Vriska and Rose woke up in Rose’s room, already tucked into her bed. It was dark, the small digital clock on the nightstand reading eight pm.

“What….What happened?” Rose mumbled, holding her head. It felt as though someone had smashed her head in with a hammer.

“I’m not sure.” The voice came out of Rose’s mouth, but Rose was not the one who controlled it. “Something in my head clicked and I just acted on instinct.”

“Vriska? Is that you?”

“Yeah. Not sure how 8ut now I’m, like, a part of you.”

“Why’d you do that?!”

“I dunno! Like I said, something just clicked in my head and I lost control.”

Rose swung her feet off the edge of the bed, and was about to stand up when the same sun sigil flashed into view. Rose her own body stand up from the bed as she was about to, and saw her foot get punctured by a knitting needle that had been thrown onto the floor.

Rose was suddenly sitting back in her bed, just about to stand up. Taking a moment, she peered down onto the floor and sure enough a knitting needle was lying there on the ground ready to stab her in the foot.

“Tell me you saw that too.” Rose asked.

“Uh, yeah? It would have 8een pretty hard not to.”

“Did we just see the future?”

“I think a more correct way of putting it is we saw what could have 8een the future, and then we changed it.”

“Were you able to do that before? Was that just a thing you could just do?”

“No! At least, I don’t think so, I,”

Vriska was interrupted by another vision, this time showing Rose’s mother walking into the room. As soon as it ended Rose leapt back into bed and pretended to sleep, getting into position just before the door opened.

Rose held still as her mother walked into the room, and gentle tousled Rose’s hair. She had likely heard Vriska and her talking before, and came in to check on them. Or, to check on her. Rose specifically. She didn’t stay long though, and before long Rose and Vriska were alone again.

“So what now?” Rose questioned, her voice in a low whisper. “We are now two people squished into a thirteen year old body, and we can sometimes see the future.”

“What’s a year?”

“Will this ever stop?” Rose ignored Vriska, continuing with her worrying. “Are we just stuck together forever? How did this happen? Why did this happen?”

“Okay, I think you are starting to panic. I can tell because it's starting to ru8 off on me. Come on, this isn’t the worst thing in the world.”

“And why not?”

“Well, for one you’ve got some gr8 company with me whenever you want it,”

“Oh, what a relief!” Rose rolled her eyes.

“And two, you can see the future! Sometimes. How cool is that!”

Rose let out a yawn, and started to feel her body grow weary. Despite all the sleep she had gotten in the last twenty-four hours, her body was still begging for more time to rest.

“We can figure this out another time.” Rose mumbled, already feeling her consciousness fade. “Another….Time….”

The following day was school. Rose’s mother tried to insist that she stay home, but Rose wanted nothing more than a sense of normalcy to return to her life. She managed to convince her mother that she was completely fine, and that she just wanted to see her friends at school. It was this last part that convinced her mother to allow it. She had always been concerned about Rose making friends, and was worried that Rose was going through her schooldays sitting alone and silent. She was right to worry because that was exactly what Rose had been doing.

As they had been preparing for leaving the house, Rose ran Vriska through a few ground rules. Vriska was not to speak unless the two of them were definitely alone. Rose was going to handle all of the talking. Vriska found the rules annoying, and a lot of complaining and grumbling came from her, but she eventually promised to keep her mouth shut.

Rose sat in her usual seat on the bus. Three rows up from the back on the right side. It was snowing out, and Rose was sweltering in her oversized sweater due to the constantly humming heater just below her feet. Rose tried her best to deal with it as she watched out the window at the slowly falling flakes.

That was until her eyes flashed with another vision.

This one was short, less than a second in length, and by the time she processed what it had shown her the small wad of paper had already smacked her in the face.

It wasn’t painful, but it was extremely surprising. It probably wouldn’t have been that bad if she hadn’t been disorientated by her powers flicking on. Rose looked up to see a small group of boys giggling and holding an open notebook, a page evidently torn out.

Rose rolled her eyes and turned back to the window, but Vriska butted in.

“What the fuck are y8u d8ing?” She asked, having the courtesy to at least keep her voice at a low whisper. “Get them 8ack!”

“It doesn’t matter. If I give them attention they’ll never let up.”

“N8, if you don’t do anything it’ll show them that they can walk all over you. Then they’ll never let up.”

“That’s not,”

Another wad of paper pelted her in the face. Rose tensed, and then sighed.

“This isn’t worth it.”

“It most definetly fucking is!” Rose could see the boys preparing another wad of paper out of the corner of her eyes. As she saw them prepare to toss it she could feel her heart racing in her chest, her muscles tightening as the sigil of light flashed in her eyes.

“ M a k e t h e m p a y .”

The sigil flashed brilliantly, and a lot of things happened at once. The boy preparing the wad of paper, a wiry kid with red hair, managed to give himself a papercut, and a pretty severe one at that. His finger began to bleed quite a bit, and his two friends pulled away from him to avoid getting it on their clothes. As this happened, the boy closest to the wall, a larger boy that Rose knew was on the school’s soccer team, placed his hand near the window of the bus. The bus hit a massive pothole at this moment causing the boy in the middle to bounce upwards and hit his head on the ceiling, and the window came undone and flew downwards, crushing the larger boy’s finger beneath it.

The bus driver noticed all of this sudden commotion due to the screaming of all three boys, and he pulled over quickly. He grabbed the first aid kit and ran to get them some help. All the while Rose sat in her chair, taking deep breaths as her heart rate returned to normal.

“Did….Did we do that?”

“I don’t….know.” Vriska mused. “It certainly felt like we did something. What are the odds all of that happened on its own? Right as we were freaking out and seeing shit?”

Rose looked around the bus. Everyone was either minding their own business with various projects or looking at the three injured boys. Everyone except for one person. A young girl with long, extremely curly hair and brilliant green eyes behind round glasses. This girl, despite all of the chaos, despite being able to do literally anything else, was looking directly at Rose. It was unnerving, and Rose looked away from her as soon as she was able.

“That girl….”

“What the fuck are you worried about? How could anyone possi8ly connect anything that happened back to us? 8esides, they had it coming.”

Rose sat in silence as the bus resumed moving, heading towards the school. Thoughts of the new power she wielded swirling through her mind, and the potential they could have going forward. While Rose sat in silence, thinking solemnly about the potential these new developments provided, Vriska did not work like that.

“Think about what we can do with this! We can get 8ack at anyone we want and there is no way we could ever be caught and punished for it! We could predict what people are going to do! Rose….With this power we could be gods.”

Rose could not see Vriska, but she could picture her smiling deviously at that. That was probably because she was also smiling at the prospect.

#2020 ladystuck #haruspeks #homestuck #rose lalonde #vriska serket #janethegaygal

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lollytea · 4 years

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What are your opinions about Jungle cubs? I loved that show as a kid!

hi hello!! thank u for humoring me!! i love getting asks about the stuff im currently obsessed with that nobody really cares about, it makes me feel valid! also i dont have well constructed opinions, i just have a very messy, manic head so i just babble all my thoughts. for that i am sorry

im not gonna say jungle cubs is the best damn cartoon to hit the tv and maybe its just my own biased love speaking when i call it a good show but it means a lot to me personally. it brought me comfort as a little kid, i came back to it as a teen when i was feeling very alone and came back to it again as an adult just cuz of my recent love of baloo and talespin and needing something to keep me upbeat during the quarantine.

and ive watched quite a few cartoons i loved as a kid that i dont really vibe with anymore. i tried rewatching gummi bears. its not my thing. but jungle cubs is?? really good?? its just so charming to watch. i love the expressive animation, i love the smooth flowing dialogue, i love the playful and naive tone it has of just a bunch of kids being kids, i love the depiction of these characters, i love the performance of the voice actors, i love the layers it adds to the original film. layers that were never intended to be in there in the first place but isnt that just the beauty of interpretation and ones own imagination.

its such a formulaic concept isnt it. to take a classic show/movie and make its protagonists babies for a spinoff. but i dunno, i always got the feeling that whoever was the backbone of this story actually cared about the characters they were writing and took a sincere approach to it.

they thought in-depth about how to devolve them from their current personalities in a realistic way and what aspects of themselves are so core to their being that they would have been ingrained since childhood. the cubs feel pretty three-dimensional and considering theyre cash grab spinoff babies, that is an amazing feat.

but also, i love it for the very very very simple reason of its really adorable. bagheera especially. to see such a stoic and levelheaded character in his earliest stage as a child just Hits for me. cub bagheera is clever, hes cautious, hes a little stuck-up, all traits he has in the movie. hes also not the best hunter, doesnt know how to roar yet, is a little cowardly, sorta awkward at times and is often trying to prove that hes the best even though hes aware that he is nowhere near the best.

like its easy to believe the kind of person he grows up to be but at the same time, its really interesting to see the more childish aspects of himself that he eventually matured past. and hes adorable dude! baby bagheera voiced by EG Daily is the sweetest goddamn thing, i love him so much

also shere khan who is a fuckin doozy. hes very interesting in this too. everything about his attitude is reminiscent of a preteen who says mean things to you on voice chat while playing overwatch but if you tell him you’re gonna call the police on him, he starts panicking. thats shere khan’s vibe, a real edgy little tiger who thinks hes hot shit cuz he probably caught something bigger than a mouse like one time and its gone to his head.

hes constantly stalking around, subtly bragging about what a natural predator he is. but at the same time, he’s still around?? hes still hanging around with the other cubs cuz hes ALSO a cub and likes to play around with other kids his age. and he fucking loves his friends. the amount of times he’s scared off bigger animals who were about to harm them. and its really sweet cuz they like him too. while his attitude is definitely annoying sometimes, they still consider him their friend and enjoy his company. its just wholesome.

plus hes also pretty vulnerable as hes a cub. he doesnt stand a chance when they come across a grown animal as a threat. he gets scared just like the rest of them, hes just so arrogant that he never admits it.

in fact the appeal of the show in general to me, is the vulnerabilities of all the characters that comes with being in their most immature state. they dont know any better when it comes to stuff. this show is real dumbass hours

EVERYTHING about baloo is just great. he does not change even slightly. he is exactly the same except hes little and his voice hasnt broke yet. his child voice is amazingly fitting also.

i mean i guess one thing that differentiates him is adult baloo had some semblance of a philosophy. he was wise....in a way. baby baloo does not know shit about shit. he does not think. he just vibes, okay?? i love him mwah

i dont have much to say about the others but i DO like this interpretation of them more than their adult selves. it also just feels bittersweet that they grew up to be such dicks. Haithi is lovely, i love that hes just out here TRYING to be a colonel but he lacks the authority that comes with being a grown elephant and he doesnt have the self confidence to command anybody yet. he is simply babey.

louie is a very cute little dude, i love him and baloo as just an idiot squad. he also has a very good voice

kaa.....i dont trust. on one hand, hes very sweet as a child but on the OTHER HAND he grows up to be the creepiest fucking creation disney has ever put in a movie so that snake will always rub me the wrong way even when im trying to like him.

also ONE THING thats driving me crazy about this show is like. it has the best depiction of pre-adolescent boys that i have ever seen in a cartoon ever. just the way they behave. theyre sweethearts one minute, extremely mean the next minute, going from building eachother up to lightly bullying eachother, lots of unprovoked play fighting, laughing over dumb shit, rude to strangers for no goddamn reason, theres just a lot.

it fuckin knocked me back like 15 years cuz it reminded me so much of kids i used to play with. and these arent even human children whose brain development is documented, these are animals, this show had no business being this spot-on.

i dont like season 2. it has a few gems here and there that i get a kick out of. but as a whole, its really disappointing. since the show swapped production companies, they seemed to uproot it completely and start from scratch. and its kinda sad cuz i think they were TRYING to do something poignant when it came to a future narrative but it just didnt land. firstly there was a huge animation downgrade and looking at the two season in comparison is kinda depressing.

also they redesigned the characters, some looked worse than others. baloo looked fine but i still preferred his og look. bagheera....was the worst. rip bagheera.

they all underwent a huge personality change. and not in the way that showed subtle maturity, i mean a vapid exaggeration of their original personality. the only characters who were left relatively alone in this regard were baloo and kaa. and i dont mind gradually changing a character since there IS an adult version of them that they should be growing into. but the season 2 depictions are literally the furthest things from their adult selves that its unbelievable.

another pet peeve is they changed a few of the voice actors and.....i love these season 2 voice actors in other work theyve done. dee bradley baker and cree summer specifically who are both very talented people. but they did not fit these roles in the slightest. (not to mention having cree summer play an APE and suddenly having her do a LOT of monkey noises that the previous va never had to do. im not gonna get into all that BUT hmm.) and if youre gonna recast the characters to make them sound “older” as least make them sound somewhat similar to the jungle book actors, so you can picture them eventually growing into those voices.

also the tone shifted so much between seasons. the way they tried to make this jungle more of a “society” with shit like talent shows and sports games and celebrities and like fuckin. STOP. theyre animals. just let them be animals. along with that the writing just feels really off and its just. not fun. i dont like it

and as i mentioned, they WERE trying to do something here. the fact that the cubs didnt hang out with eachother as much and were starting to drift apart is kinda sad and wouldve liked it see it handled a little better. but instead i got season 2, which was stupid. and im 21 and im petty.

anyway i am very sorry that ended so negatively and im very sorry that rant was completely all over the place i have no sense of proper organization i just wanted to gush about what i love. but on a positive note i love jungle cubs!! its very dear to my heart and makes me very happy and i wish it had gotten more episodes

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ilovethetalkingclock · 4 years

Text

A Not-Sew-Magical Sequel (LALALOOPSY CREEPYPASTA)

(WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS CONTENT LIKE LANGUAGE, GORE, DEATH, PARASITES, DROWNING AND DARK COMEDY. IF YOU GET SCARED BY THIS, DON'T YELL AT ME FOR IT. YOU CHOSE TO READ IT.)

(story under the cut, based on a dream I had)

(don’t worry, it’s not a screamer, i’d never do that.)

No matter how many years passed and will pass, I liked and will still like Lalaloopsy. All the characters and concepts were and still are very interesting (though Jewel was always my least favorite) and the couple episodes I saw of both the original show and the reboot of Netflix were cute and in the case of the reboot actually very emotional. I also watched all the movies and while a majority of them were slightly flawed one way or another, that didn’t stop them from being good. Hearing the toys being discontinued and the Netflix show canceled indeed made my heart sink.

But that’s not all what I wanted to talk about. Onto Lala-Oopsies.

If you don’t recall, Lala-Oopsies was a spinoff line. As the name suggested, the characters were in mixed rainbow colors and body proportions that deviated from the usual Lalaloopsy dolls, looking like, in my own words, mutants. They came as princess/ballerina hybrids and mermaids, with the ‘Littles’ (which in the original Lalaloopsy line, were the younger sisters) as fairies. They had one movie, “Lala-Oopsies: A Sew Magical Tale”. It was like all the others, cute, a bit funny, and a simple Lalaloopsy adventure with the Lala-Oopsies.

What I never knew was that they were apparently planning on a sequel.

I was at a garage sale of sorts (i know, very cliche) when I found a blank DVD case. Here’s what it read:

“LALA-OOPSIES-SEQUEL(UNFINISHED)”

“Is this a joke?”

“Oh, that!” The owner of the sale noticed me and casually went on “I worked at MGA Entertainment… they were making a sequel to the Lala-Oopsies movie… some guy decided to make that, apparently as a joke, and he was fired as it had quite a bit of… crazy stuff. We decided to cancel it altogether as we didn’t have any other ideas... We were handed copies of it from the guy who made it before he was fired. The footage is all there. There’s a lot more stuff that happened after that, but I don’t really wanna go into full detail. If you wanna know completely, it’s worth only a dollar. Not somethin’ I’d wanna watch again.”

Out of morbid curiosity, I agreed to buy the thing.

So I went home, made sure to get my DVD player on, and opened the case. There were two discs. One that read “MOVIE” and another that just had random scribbles on it. I tried to make out if the second one actually said anything, but I couldn’t read it for shit. I got out the one that read “MOVIE”, making sure it was the film itself, and placed it in.

Hoo boy, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

There was no menu or trailers, though that was kinda expected considering it was unfinished. It just went straight to the movie.

It all looked official one way or another. Some scenes were fully animated, others were simple animatics, others were in between. But I’ll just say before we get on that it was not at all the usual Lalaloopsy fare. There was no sign of anyone’s pets at all throughout the whole movie. There wasn’t any music, like, at all, and that just made it a bit more unsettling.

Well, most of it wasn’t. It started off like your usual Lalaloopsy movie. Bea was walking down a path and singing a song about math to herself. A rather bad one, if you ask me. So bad, I have easily forgot about it. While walking, she finds the door that leads to Lala-Oopsies Land.

As the first movie took place in mostly a story that Bea was reading, she is surprised that apparently Lala-Oopsies are true. She leaves to find her friends, the rest of the Original 8 to be exact, and tell her all about it. This exchange from the conversation is what mainly caught me off guard.

Jewel: “So you just managed to find something from a story you read once in reality? I don’t believe it one bit.”

Spot: “Jewel. This is felting BEA SPELLS-A-LOT we’re talking about. The brains? The genius? The nerd? The know-it-all? She doesn’t seem to be making it up.”

Was felt their way of saying fuck? That was not in the other Lalaloopsy stuff I knew, as it was aimed at young children. I figured that was at least one of the reasons it was never finished. I decided to keep watching to find more reasons.

The Lalaloopsies were at the door to Lala-Oopsies Land, and as she didn’t believe it before as shown by the previous exchange I wrote about, Jewel was understandably dumbfounded. “Felt me, there really is a Lala-Oopsies Land…”

So of course they all opened the door and entered. Only as it turned out Lala-Oopsies land… wasn’t exactly as the story told.

The skies were orange like the original, but were more of a sickly shade of it. The ground was grey, rotted, and corpse-like. The mushroom ‘trees’ looked much more like actual fungi, and the strawberry-milk rivers and seas looked spoiled and curdled, and I could even make out a skeleton (presumably of a drowned Oopsie) in them. Bea probably put it best.

“Well… it seems the book apparently romanticized a couple details…”

The group decided to venture in and explore anyway. I couldn’t help but bring up the fact that a couple of them coughed quite a bit when they went in. Okay, scratch that, they were coughing violently, like they just inhaled smoke.

Pillow: “Felting seamstress, this place is polluted.”

As they were walking through, some sort of large insectoid jumped right on Peanut’s face Alien-style. Now I could really see why this movie didn’t make it. Obviously, everyone was panicking at the sight and trying to get the bug off. It wasn’t until like half a minute that Bea managed to find a stick on the ground and strongly swatted the insect away from Peanut’s face, though it seemed she also hit the face from this dialogue...

Peanut: “TRY AVOIDING THE FACE YOU IDIOTIC FELTING STITCH.”

...and stabbed the insect multiple times, pink-ish blood spraying from the body, gore getting everywhere. The other seven were so disgusted that Crumbs vomited right on-screen from the sight. Organs were coming out of the creature as Bea stabbed, and as I looked close enough the organs seemed rather human-like. That was pretty weird as the insect didn’t look human at all.

Well at least I found another reason for this movie’s rejection.

Before Bea turned the monster into an unrecognizable bloodied mush, I could make the colors of the insect to be that of the Lala-Oopsies fairy Lilac, hot pink and sky blue. Nah, I’m pretty sure it was just a coincidence. And yet…

Oh, that reminds me of another scene that happened later on.

The eight were venturing on into the islands riding on some sort of old rusted boat they found, and then suddenly some sort of sea serpent or something like that i dunno with the same color scheme as the mermaid Water Lily rose from the rotted strawberry milk oceans. Bea tried to row the boat away, but the monster attacked and even picked Jewel up and devoured her. There wasn’t any doll stuffing or anything cute like that. Jewel’s remains actually spurted crimson blood and human entrails as she was being chomped down on and eventually swallowed. Screaming as if the actress herself was getting violently disemboweled.

I can still hear her agonized screams as I write this, so that’s pretty annoying.

Pillow’s reaction perfectly described mine.

“HOLY FELTING SILK.”

My god... how the heck was a doll said to be sewn from a dress able to have human blood and guts?! Then again, it was a cartoon… a rather gory one if ya ask me.

In all honesty though, Jewel’s death was horrific yet satisfying for me. I never liked her the slightest.

During the attack, Mittens and Spot fell into the strawberry milk ocean as the boat was destroyed. It didn’t show the rest of what happened to them so I can safely assume they were either eaten or drowned. Or both.

So the ones left were Crumbs, Peanut, Dot, Pillow, and Bea.

They latched onto the boat’s remains as they headed to a large island.

The island’s inhabitants were all the princess ballerinas, both in the first movie and toy-exclusive, mutated to grotesque proportions, their hair all mussy and in tangles. Most of the princess’s faces were obscured by their hair, but the ones I was able to see were distorted in such a way I can’t really describe that well, though I’ll admit they looked pretty damn cool. Oh, their clothes were also a wreck too so yeah.

Crumbs became an idiot and decided to go up close to one (can’t remember which, i think it was Saffron?) to try and approach it friendly enough.

Saffron, like a wild animal, lunged at Crumbs and proceeded to violently rip her to shreds, and sure enough it was just as gruesome as Jewel’s death.

I remember just thinking to myself, “what the hell was this person on when making this?”

And yes, the remaining girls were horrified by that too and ran from the princesses as fast as they could.

Remember the scene I mentioned earlier with Peanut apparently getting attacked by that bug? Welp, they didn’t forget about that. Peanut immediately fell over, having a rather violent fit as she struggled for breath, her skin deteriorating as multi-colored insect larva ate their way out of her everywhere, some even lunging out like the chestbursters in Alien. (yes I know I already made that comparison before but still) They then proceeded to lunge at Pillow and devour her alive as she could only scream and the final two, Bea and Dot, could only watch.

As Pillow was honestly one of my most favorite Lalaloopsy, I just felt awful watching that.

Another princess, Anise, which I recognized full and clear with her pink and blue coloring, approached what remained of Pillow and grabbed some of the larvae, putting it in her mouth and devouring it, as her mouth was coated in a rainbow goo like that one My Little Pony episode with the zombies.

I would say it was disgusting, but a mutant doll eating a worm was the least of my worries.

She managed to speak words, which was strange because the princesses here were, again, mostly animalistic. Her voice was rather gravely, only vaguely sounding like the original.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING COMING TO A PLACE LIKE THIS?”

Okay, they weren’t even trying with that line.

Anise proceeded to grab Bea and beat her, but thankfully Bea was able to kick Anise right in the face, knocking her out before the grotesquely mutated princess could finish the job. Dot swiftly took Bea’s hand. Struggling to get up at first, the badly bruised Bea managed to get on her feet and run as Anise came to.

As they ran, Bea and Dot finally found the door where they came in. It tugged my heartstrings seeing the two tearfully look back, apparently reminiscing their friends, before leaving Lala-Oopsies Land for good.

It then cut to Bea in bed, very ill. She was apparently covered in radiation tumors and her hair was almost gone. Apparently the island was highly radioactive. Dot was next to her bed in tears, as Bea weakly said her final words.

“I’m sorry, Dot… sorry… for everything...”

Violently coughing blood, Bea finally kicked the bucket as Dot sobbed hysterically. The movie cut to black and ended there with, surprise-surprise, no credits whatsoever.

All I thought of was “How the hell did Bea get sick from radiation poisoning but Dot didn’t?”

So anyway I took the movie disc out and put in the one with all the scribbles.

It was a compilation of recorded clips, all of them surprisingly in the MGA Entertainment headquarters itself I presume.

One clip I remember was a Lala-Oopsies Princess Anise doll flying, chasing a random employee as said employee was in a panic. Yea it was a weird one.

Another consisted of another employee testing out a Princess Juniper doll. As they were squishing the head, (the Lala-Oopsies dolls had squishy foam heads) the doll suddenly started to bleed violently. Not gonna lie, I laughed at what the employee said.

“GOD DAMN IT GARY WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT MAKING THE DOLLS BLEED.”

Last one I remember was two employees talking to each other. One of them asked the other,

“What exactly was your motivation in making this weird-ass movie?”

The other employee just responded in a weird reverse demonic gibberish I didn’t have time to translate. The first employee’s only response was a flat “what”. Exactly my reaction too. I decided that was enough and took out that disc and put it away.

Where’s the case now?

In one of my shelves. I’m keeping it. I just think it’s pretty unique in a way.

Not like it’s cursed or anything.

The End

#lalaloopsy #lala oopsies #creepypasta #story #my art #trollpasta (mostly cause theres quite a bit of comedy elements)#scary #horror #death tw #dolls tw #body horror tw #parasites tw #gore tw

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