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maple-the-awesome · 27 days

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The Chain Meets You, His Partner || 2/3

Part 1 || Part 3

Pairing: Hyrule, Sky, Wind x GN! Reader

Requested by @temporarilyablog: i see requests are open still so im coming to you with a thought i had recently:how about a Link from the Chain interacting with the reader, another Link's s/o from their original adventures, when *their* Link isn't around. i can see some teasing another Link with the reader that they've only known through little stories here and here, or others grilling the reader relentlessly because another Link was so shy about their relationship and partner, and wants to know how that Link is like around someone he allows himself to relax.its kinda like when the Chain met Malon for the first time and interacted with her for stories about old man Timeand as always stay awesome, i love your writing!

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Concerningly delighted or eerily eager - the Chain can’t quite agree on which descriptor best described their teammate the best once he realized they had all landed in his Hyrule. Bubbling with excitement ever since while maintaining a pace some of the other boys have to jog after, Link doesn’t waste breath saying where he’s leading them, although that giddy smile upon his face - as much as he tries to hide it - is plenty for the wiser heroes to get the hint…

Hyrule's time is 'rough around the edges', to put it easily, not that it can't be expected considering all the stories he's rather casually told the others about regarding both his world and adventures. Even the Kingdom's Castle - usually a centerpiece to the land - is beaten down and, in most aspects, less...impressive compared to what most of the heroes are accustomed to seeing, although for a simple traveler like Hyrule, it still holds quite a bit of significance.

"I just want to speak to the Sovereign before we move on - to let them know why I've been away," He rambles his explanation to the Chain, his outward emotions suddenly undergoing yet another change. His once untroubled smile becomes wary, his hands unstill as he fidgets with his sleeves. That prior excitement he had held when first suggesting they even go to the Castle has now turned into what the other heroes misjudge to be poorly hidden nerves, "I don't want them to be left assuming I'm dead in a ditch somewhere."

"Makes sense," Warrior nods, keeping a careful eye on Hyrule's behavior. Being a captain in charge of so many, he can spot a shift in confidence from a mile away, "You have been gone for a while."

"We're not going to be - I don't know - arrested on the spot or anything, right?" Legend asks, his focus more on the guards who maintain obvious glaring suspicions towards the group despite allowing them inside once confirming their famed hero's identity.

"Why would we be arrested?"

"You mentioned how much of a hardass your Sovereign can be," The Vet clarifies with a casual shrug, "And a paranoid one, too, if these guards leave anything to the imagination. Leaders like that don't usually need much reason to throw someone in a dungeon. Nine random heroes showing up while claiming to be from different timelines, all chasing some shadow lizard through magic portals? We'll sound insane."

Hyrule frowns and maybe even takes some offense to Legend's observations which is why his rebuttal is so swift, "They -...They aren't like that! The previous King died suddenly. They were forced to take on the throne without much notice and at a young age, too! After everything Ganon put this kingdom through - Of course they're going to be paranoid, but they're reasonable and fair. There's nothing to worry about. Besides, we don't have to mention the exact reasoning for our meeting. I just...I would just like to see them while I can…"

The red on Hyrule's cheeks would've no doubt been noticed if not for the Chain's collective attention being stolen elsewhere, focused upon a pair of large doors that open into the Castle's throne room. Inside, a series of guards line the walls and at the opposite end sits the very subject of their conversation.

Your expression is stern and cold as you sit upon your claim dressed in expensive, colorful garments fitting for a proper monarch of your time. The golden crown upon your head shimmers in torch light, yet its glow is quickly outshined by your eyes which go wide with delight once you recognize your hero amongst this crowd of ragtag travelers.

"Link…!" In an instant, you rise, your smile as grand as your divine beauty. Whether you gracefully walk or float down the stairs, there would be no visual difference. What is true is that you meet Hyrule at the bottom of those four measly steps, welcoming him with a strong embrace he's eager to return.

"...Your Majesty..." He doesn't realize just how quiet his voice is, whispered beside your ear as he forgets about the world while in your arms again. Oh, how he's missed this feeling!

The Chain is left in awe - No, it would be more accurate to say they're completely dumbfounded. Hyrule has always spoken favorably about the Royal Family of his time, tying especially pleasant compliments to the kingdom’s head. As stern as he admits you can appear, only good things have been attached to your name from your wise leadership to the love you hold towards your people, however not once - not a single murmur or breath - had ever dared mention your very apparent fondness for each other which certainly goes beyond the ordinary relationship of a monarch and their realm’s savior.

Even after your embrace, it's obvious that you hold nothing except the greatest of affections towards your hero. You look at him as if he's the sun that gives your kingdom life; the courage that keeps you going despite such challenging times. Hyrule's, of course, no better when it comes to you. It's not until now that his friend's realize they're previous mistake in assuming he was afraid to see you. No, that wasn't fear before, it was shyness. The thought of you had him feeling both delighted and sheepish. Now that he's here, though, his grin is uncontrollable.

"Your Majesty, I'd like to meet the friends I've been traveling with -"

"- A Sovereign?! You're dating the freaking Sovereign and you didn't think to mention that small detail earlier?!" Legend suddenly shouts, demolishing the silence that had befallen the Chain.

He can’t help it! He feels utterly scammed! Hyrule had told everyone a great deal about his kingdom’s Sovereign, yet had only confessed to his predecessor during a late night heart-to-heart that he holds deep feelings towards a mysterious someone back home; someone he fears telling of his secret endearment. Not once - Not a single damn time - had he so much as let on that they’re the same person!

Legend isn’t sure what strikes his nerves more: the fact that Hyrule would be dumb enough not to add the important context that it’s royalty he’s in love with or that he’s dense enough to somehow believe you don’t love him back despite it being clear you’re totally whipped for him! Is he blind? Completely and utterly dull in the brain?!

Poor Hyrule's whole face explodes in red after Legend's outburst, and his condition is made no better when the others add in their own comments to this already awkward situation.

"Now it makes sense why you wanted to come here so badly," Wild nods in understanding, having previously been confused as to why Hyrule would care to go out of his way to let the royal family know of his whereabouts if he had no ties to them.

"To think our humble traveler could land a monarch. I mean, good for you and all," Warrior crosses his arms with a smirk, hoping to mask his slight jealousy.

The Traveler is left stammering for a response, finding himself suddenly overwhelmed.

"‘Dating’? Well, this is certainly news to me," You frown with a hand placed delicately above your heart. Turning to your hero, you can only look betrayed, "Link, I would've hoped you'd tell me. I could've cleared more of my schedule to be with you in that case."

"E-EH?!"

"And all those suitors the advisors have been arranging - I’ll have to tell them to abandon their efforts! Excellent, seeing as I didn’t truly care for their match-making attempts,” You huff, not giving Hyrule anytime to explain himself as you get right to business, waving your maid over to make a note, “But that should free up a considerable amount of my time…Will you and your friends be staying long? I can have the kitchen staff whip up a nice feast for later if you do.”

“Um -”

“- Can we?! My feet are aching!” Wind whines, practically deflating on the spot. The only thing holding him up is Warrior who scowls at his poor manners and forces him to stand upright.

Time is quick to step in front of the group and bow, hoping you dismiss their lack of grace, “If you don’t mind, Your Majesty. We wouldn’t want to trouble you.”

“Not at all. It isn't often that we receive guests. I’ll have word sent to the kitchen right away. In the meantime, Lady Impa here can show you to a room where you may rest,” You finish writing on the paper she holds, allowing her to take both the paper and quill before once again giving your full attention to the travelers, “I have a meeting with the Zora Queen in precisely ten minutes, but following that the rest of my afternoon should be clear.”

You then face Hyrule, smirking at his flustered state, “Once that meeting is over, my time is yours, Link, if you wish to fill me in on your recent endeavors. I must say, I’m particularly interested in learning just how long we’ve supposedly been dating for.”

“...R - Right…Of course…” The poor boy squeaks, unable to process many thoughts beyond the feeling of his face overheating when you press a quick kiss to his cheek before leaving the room with your guards. Even the weight of Legend’s arm over his shoulder is barely enough to break him from his trance when the past hero leans in with a smug whisper:

“You’re welcome, buddy.”

From the moment he first stepped through that last portal, Sky has been radiating with pure glee. Anyone could understand why. He’s finally returned to Skyloft, a place he’s been missing so dearly ever since the start of this adventure months ago. Of course, home isn’t the only thing he’s been dying to be apart from.

Most of the other Links have long taken notice to Sky’s heartache which has been poorly hidden behind dreary melodies played on his harp and heaps of carved projects to distract from lonesome silence; somebody’s been on his mind, their absences from his life slowly driving him insane despite his efforts to remain focused.

That said, it’s no wonder that Sky is excited to be home again, moving at a hasty pace some assumed he’d be incapable of. Even the jolly greetings and curious questions from locals don’t slow him down much, his steps swift in bringing him to the doorstep of a brightly colored home no different from the many others that surround it, but it’s still special for what it holds inside.

There’s a short internal debate to be seen on Sky’s face - one where he hesitates to open the door because wouldn’t that be rude to simply invite himself into someone else’s house unannounced? Then again, it’s not like proper manners have ever stopped him before, and they won’t start today. He decides to impatiently let himself in. Forgiveness can be sought after later.

Every ache of his travel-worn body and each gloomy thought surrounding his collective adventures melt away like magic by the mere sight of you. You must’ve just been about to leave - that or you recently arrived home, because you’re still in your knight’s uniform, caught mid-adjusting your belt when you look up at the man standing in your doorway.

Surprised for sure, yet it’s also a welcomed feeling when you rush to meet your lover half-way. There’s no words for the amount of joy you feel in holding him tight, possibly even shedding a few tears as he decorates your face in dozens of butterfly kisses, one for each second he’s thought of you while apart.

It takes some time and a loud clearing of someone’s throat for the Hero of Sky to remember his companions who all wait awkwardly around the doorway. Even when snapped out of his trance, he’s still grinning ear-to-ear like a lovestruck fool, his arm unmoving from where it remains wrapped around your waist as he introduces you.

Needless to say, it’s nice to finally be able to put a face to the name sighed so often. You’re sociable and polite, yet if that sword upon your back is any indication, you must be a strong fighter to have secured yourself a position amongst the knights of Skyloft.

To the Chain’s luck, it turns out you had just arrived home which grants them plenty of time to bend your ear. They have lots of questions, their curiosity only being natural since your place on the timeline is so different from their own. They ask about your life in the clouds, job as a knight, and most importantly, your relationship with Sky who’s thrilled to expand upon such a wonderful topic himself by sharing his own honored memories.

“‘seems our Skylofian here is truly whipped,” Twilight chuckles at the end of Sky’s latest story, although truthfully he’s starting to have trouble hiding his boredom.

At this point, Sky’s been rambling about his affections towards you for well over an hour, sparing no detail from your first meeting as children to practically each and every date you’ve shared since becoming more than friends. As happy as the boys are for him - truly, they are - they do have their limits for how much lovey-dovey they can take in one day. Legend in particular looks like he’s seconds away from banging his head against the table.

“I am~” Sky exhales lovingly while staring at you with hearts in his eyes. You find his attention endearing and give his hand a squeeze as it sits intertwined with yours on your lap.

“So, when’s the wedding?” Time queries, half-teasing and half-genuine.

“Oh, I don’t know…” You scratch the back of your head bashfully, but when your attention falls back to Sky, you find him still staring at you, this time with a pout no different from a baby remlit’s. Rolling your eyes, you lean into him with a dramatized sigh, “He’d have to ask me first, but I’m hoping being around you eight will give him the courage to do so soon. We’re only getting older, after all.”

“Why drag your feet? You’re clearly in love.”

“You’ve got a willin’ partner right here. No need to hesitate.”

“You know, we’ve passed a few merchants who sell rings during our journey.”

“Yeah, cheaply made ones. If you want something fancy, Castle Town is the place to go.”

“Not too fancy. A simple yet well-thought out gesture can go a long way.”

“A strong protection spell wouldn’t hurt, though.”

“I know a Gerudo who handcrafts the most beautiful jewelry. If we end up in my Hyrule, I could introduce you.”

“Oh, or Tetra’s crew has a TON of jewelry! Maybe you can find a nice ring in their stash?”

Sky laughs awkwardly as the other heroes suddenly bombard him with their ‘helpful’ suggestions, chattering away as they begin putting together the pieces for a proper proposal. When he glances your way, you’re not-so-subtly hiding your amused smile behind your hand, clearly looking forward to whatever plan they end up holding him to later. Hopefully, you won’t have to wait long to find out.

Wind’s destination isn’t too far from the last portal opened which is good because the others have a hard time keeping up with the younger boy who effortlessly dashes across the deep sand-covered beach, heading directly to one of the few huts on this small island they’ve found themselves on.

He doesn’t wait for his companions to catch up. He might not have even noticed they fell behind. His focus is primarily on reaching home, practically overboiling with excitement at the prospect of seeing his family again. It’s always a relief for his dear grandmother to see him safe, shedding many tears as she hugs her grandson with a grip unthought of for a little old woman.

Wind’s grandmother has a list of questions she asks at the speed of light which must not be unusual seeing as he answers each just as skillfully, telling her where he’s been, who he’s been with, and confirming that yes, he’s well fed. Of course, it’s only natural that the same questions are also asked of each and every hero who steps through her front door, after all, curiosity is second only to her naturally nurturing spirit. Who cares how old some of them are? No matter the age, they’re no different than her grandson in her eyes!

A sudden shrill of jubilation scares the group half to death mere milliseconds before a small girl comes racing through the front door, leaping into her older brother’s arms with similar cries about how much she’s missed him. She’s followed by another adult who’s much calmer in their approach, yet nevertheless gleefully smiling as they eagerly accept their turn in hugging the teen while welcoming him home.

You attend to Wind tenderly, quickly pulling away from the hug to check over his face and account for any new scars. Your hand then lingers on his cheek as you sigh at his smiled reassurances, looking down upon him with an amount of love and care not too far off from how his own grandmother had.

It’s only after ensuring his well-being that you address his traveling companions. You’re barely fazed by the large group when you introduce yourself, having become accustomed to Wind’s strange ability to make friends with almost anyone during his adventures. They seem to be a bunch of respectable young men, anyway, judging on their politeness, and as you tell them, friends of Wind’s are always welcomed.

After introductions - which are short seeing as most in this room share the same name - Wind’s grandmother suggests a tour be given to your visitors. Being such a small community on a more lonesome edge of the map, newcomers are rare, so Wind and Aryall immediately leap at the chance to show their new friends around the island that they love. Who would you be to deny their adorable puppy-dog eyes?

Realistically, there isn’t that much to see aside from a few landmarks, interesting locals, and a population of chubby pigs, however if there’s any benefit to being surrounded by an ocean, it’s that there’s lots of good places to swim and seeing as most of the Links are long overdue for some quality time spent as normal teenagers, they’re happy for the break.

Most of the boys partake in jumping from the rocks to see who can create the biggest splash, although Legend and Sky favor staying on land to help Aryall build a sandcastle for her seagull friends. You, meanwhile, relax in the sun, keeping a careful eye on all activities which has simply become second nature to you at this point. While Wind may be a fourteen-year-old who has sailed across the entire ocean, you don’t think you’ll ever stop worrying for his safety.

“Those kids seem rather fond of you.”

You glance up to the oldest Link of the group - you believe you heard the other’s refer to him as ‘Time’ - as he invites himself to sit next to you in the sand. Despite several pleas for the other boys, he had turned down their attempts at getting him in the water. Maybe for the best, since they’re now starting to toss each other off the rocks.

“I would hope so. I’ve known them both since before they could walk.”

“I take it you’re their guardian?”

Humming at his observation, you turn back to watch the younger kids and teens, “...People on our island have always kept an eye out for each other, but…Well, when Link and Aryall’s parents passed, I guess you could say I felt extra inclined to help.

“I don’t have any family of my own here and there’s only so much their poor grandma can do at her age. Unfortunately, keeping up with two lively kids can be a struggle for her, so I’ve done what I can to remove some of that stress from her shoulders. With no kids of my own, I have the time and quite frankly, I enjoy the opportunity to feel…-”

“- To feel like a parent?”

“...Yeah…” You frown, pulling your knees to your chest with a sigh, “Of course, I don’t go around calling myself that. I wouldn’t want to overstep any boundaries, you know? Especially not for Link. Aryall - She was so young when they lost their parents, so I think it’s always been easier for her to see me as fitting the role, but Link…He was five. He still remembers them, so I doubt he’ll ever exactly see me as any kind of replacement.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Time objects kindly, following your gaze out to where Wind fights to wiggle himself out of Warrior’s grip. Seconds before he can be pushed off the rock, Wild and Twilight come up behind the two, shoving Warrior overboard just as Wind slips away, “I suppose I can’t speak directly for him, but I can say he refers to you as his parent quite frequently around us.”

“...Does he?” You blink in surprise. Wind’s never said anything in particular that would make you think he sees you in that light, but now that you think about it, when you first met Tetra, she referred to you as Wind’s parent, too. Did she say it out of mistaken observation like you assumed then or because Wind told her?

“From the sounds of it, you’ve made quite the impact on his life, one he admires greatly.”

You once again look back to the group, catching Wind’s eyes. He perks up, immediately waving as he shouts for you ‘Watch this!’ before running and leaping into the water with a giant cannonball and nearly on top of Warrior’s head much to the older boy’s annoyance. Once resurfacing, he searches for your attention and beams when he finds your proud smile reflecting back at him.

You’re thankful that he becomes distracted by the other boys jumping in, because as soon as he looks away, you can feel yourself becoming teary eyed. Perhaps you’ve been overthinking things this entire time. You were so focused on giving him space and not forcing a relationship that you failed to pick up on the little signs that he’s already accepted you. Wind has always been close to you, never shying away from hugs after his adventures while always seeking both your attention and approval; something he only does with his family.

#reader insert #x reader #linked universe x reader #linked universe #link x reader #lu hyrule x reader #lu sky x reader #legend of zelda x reader #lu wind x reader

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maverick-werewolf · 3 months

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Werewolf Fact #72 - Returning to Human Form

Time for Werewolf Fact #72! Wow, that's a lot. And that's not counting all the books and articles and ask responses and other things I've done over the years. It's been a fun ride.

But for now, let's turn our attention to something a patron pointed out I've never actually discussed... what makes a werewolf return to human form?

I'll be honest: popular culture has taken much more of an interest in laying out the details about returning to the human form than did folklore, overall. In folklore, the act of changing to and from was certainly the centerpiece of the horror, but popular culture and its emphasis on werewolf characters led into a deeper evaluation of such an experience. Folklore also generally discussed the transformation into a monster much more than out of it, at least in more laborious and horrific detail (see Lykaon, Niceros, etc).

We see painful transformations to the werewolf form in folklore quite a bit, as I've discussed before. In fact, the prime example is one of the earliest surviving recorded werewolf legends. And yet even turning into the bestial form was occasionally painless in folklore, involving donning a magic skin or performing a simple ritual to suddenly become a wolf. As for the werewolf returning to the human form, as far as folklore is concerned, that often seems almost or entirely effortless.

Obviously, in popular culture, it's much more common to have the dramatic to or from in either form. I'm personally a big fan of this, as you'd know if you've read any of my fiction (be sure to check that out at my website!), but if you really want to get down and dirty with werewolves being true to folklore, frankly it is overall common for neither transformation to be painful. And certainly it is even less common for the return to human form to be a particularly traumatic or jarring event. That doesn't make for a super dramatic story, though, so we see - especially in past werewolf stories, ones that emphasized horror more - the traumatic tos and froms.

With that out of the way, here are some methods of returning to the human form in folklore...

End of certain timeframe - The most common of triggers to return to the human form, many werewolves will reassume the human form after a certain amount of time has passed. For instance, werewolves in Greek myths like those of Arcadia could return to their human form after seven or ten years, if they hadn't devoured any human flesh. Likewise, other werewolves would return after a certain number of days or even weeks had passed, with or without other circumstances.

At will - There are cases of the werewolf returning to human form at will throughout folklore, or else it is unspecified if there are any other required circumstances or acts.

Removing the magic skin/item - This can vary from being difficult (such as with Sigmund and Sinfjotli) to being as easy as "peeling back the wolf skin," such as in the tale of the werewolves of Ossory. There are many other examples as well, with varying degrees of difficulty or triggers.

Using a salve - In some stories, a salve is rubbed on the body to reassume the human form. This is also the case with assuming the wolf form. This is more common in the Renaissance/Early Modern period, overall, often with Satanic werewolf or even witches-rebranded-as-werewolves-by-modern-scholars, though there are a few cases otherwise.

Putting on your clothes again - In some stories, a werewolf who sheds his clothes turns into the wolf form, and in order to don the human form once more, he must return to his clothing. Sometimes, the clothes turn to stone in the meantime, until he returns to put them back on. Or, such as with Bisclavret, the clothes may be hidden, trapping the werewolf in bestial form.

Curse removal - In some stories, whoever cursed the werewolf must lift the curse in order to return the werewolf to human form. This is the case in tales wherein the werewolf doesn't go back and forth at all but is someone cursed to become a wolf and stay that way until said curse is lifted, less like a traditional werewolf.

Daybreak - Some werewolves returned to the human form at daybreak. While this didn't appear in stories directly very often, it is mentioned in assorted sourcebooks, such as Baring-Gould and Summers discussing werewolves and how "the desire comes upon them at night." It can also be speculated based on events in stories, such as Niceros's Tale, but the circumstances there were never explicitly stated. So this one may be slightly more questionable than the others if you want direct story sources, but I'd say there are plenty of sources around enough to justify it being on this list.

I am not including those funky ones you see all across the internet that weirdos bandy about in their clickbait list articles, like "tossing iron over the werewolf's head" or whatever, because I need a lot more cross-referenced actual examples of those to include them in a list such as this, as opposed to unfounded Google results that D&D players then like to grab and turn into le silleh memes.

Note that this list, as always, doesn't cover every single possibility seen in folklore. I'm not even going to pretend I'm trying to do that here. That will be in the future Werewolf Facts book that I'm publishing in a few years (yes, I am working on that).

And that just about covers the general overview! Hope you enjoyed the post. Be sure to check out the links below. Until next time!

( If you like my blog, be sure to follow me here and elsewhere for more folklore and fiction, including books, especially on werewolves! You can also sign up for my free newsletter for monthly werewolf/vampire/folklore facts, a free story, and book previews.

Free Newsletter - maverickwerewolf.com (personal site + book shop + free fiction) — Patreon — Wulfgard — Werewolf Fact Masterlist — Twitter — Vampire Fact Masterlist — Amazon Author page )

#werewolf #werewolves #werewolf fact #werewolf facts #werewolf wednesday #werewolfwednesday #folklore #folklore facts #mythology #wolf #wolves #lycanthrope #lycanthropes #lycanthropy #shapeshifting #shapeshifters #resources #popular culture

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anti-katsuki-lounge · 6 months

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I'm not really an MHA guy, most of my exposure to it is from fanfic, but would I be right in assuming its setting is one of those things where the status quo is genuinely fucked, but everyone who's against it or up for changing it is either painted as wrong or is conveniently over-the-top evil?

With MHA it’s weird. On one hand you have people constantly calling out the status quo and being portrayed as sympathetic/right. Izuku, Class 1-A, and the future heroes are constantly portrayed as learning how to be better than the past heroes. You got the LoV, who despite being mass murderers, are given sympathetic backstories that showcase the suffering caused by the status quo. You also got Endeavor, who understands that he’s shitty and plans on retiring once he’s no longer needed in the war against the LoV. You also have Stain, a guy whose message is that there are a lot of fake heroes, and his message is one that is framed as being correct and one that sticks around throughout the series, even when he’s defeated.

On the other hand, Hori will outright contradict his own messages. Katsuki, a direct benefactor of the status quo, is coddled by the narrative, never meaningfully called out, constantly praised, and gets everything handed to him on a silver platter. Endeavor’s abuse is brushed aside by everyone. Now someone might mention that it’s because Dabi’s murdering people and they need Endeavor to stop him and the LoV, so they’re just tolerating him for now. This would be true and perfectly valid, if not for the fact that Hori has actual characters not care about any of the revelations. You have Inasa admit to Dabi’s face that he doesn’t care about what Endeavor did and you have Endeavor’s sidekicks ignore the allegations just because he does his job well.

Then there’s the fact that anyone with valid criticisms about the status quo and how things are done are immediately demonized. When people were booing Katsuki for savagely wailing on Ochako rather than ending the fight quickly (something he could’ve easily done if not for the fact he thought Izuku gave her a strategy), Hori has Shota talk to them as if they were misogynistic pigs. When the journalists rightfully point out Katsuki’s horrible attitude and U.A’s incompetence, Hori frames them as being vultures and not really understanding Katsuki (Shota literally says that Katsuki deserves to be a hero cause he works hard). Endeavor’s critics are treated as nuisances rather than people who understandably don’t want an abuser to be the new #1 hero. The angry mob that forms as Izuku’s being brought back to U.A is framed as horrible people willing to let a kid die. While it’s true that they were willing to let Izuku die, they literally saw no other option as the heroes have failed them numerous times. The last war was a disaster even though they managed to drive the villains away and both Endeavor and the HPSC, two centerpieces of hero society, were exposed for their crimes. Finally, there’s the fact that the LoV, the biggest source of criticism about heroes, are mass murderers for absolutely no reason, which limits how effective their message is to the audience. Even Stain falls for this trap cause he kills heroes that aren’t All Might indiscriminately, even good heroes like Tensei, a hero who is framed by the narrative as a charitable and true hero.

Ultimately, I think Hori’s genuinely trying to criticize the status quo, but the problem is he doesn’t quite understand how to do so and he lacks the writing skills to do so. Hori does this thing where he creates all the moving pieces but is afraid to make them come together because of his inexperience and because he’s too afraid to criticize his favorite characters too harshly, characters who benefit from the status quo.

Lol that kinda turned into a rant but hopefully it answered your question 😂

#anti katsuki bakugou #anti bakugo katsuki #anti bakugo #anti bakugou #mha critical #bnha critical

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misc-obeyme · 7 months

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For your Flufftober event, could I possibly request Asmo with the prompt, “planning a special date night for MC”? 😍

Hi Jes!! I hope you're having a lovely day! <3

Okay, I loved this prompt, it's so Asmo. I just feel like he'd go all out! I really enjoyed writing this one as I'm really quite fond of Asmo.

Thank you for submitting a prompt!!

FLUFFTOBER 2023

GN!MC x Asmodeus

Warnings: none!

The moment he was able to secure plans with you for a date night, Asmodeus got to work. He knew exactly what to do and he was careful to make sure you had no idea what he was up to.

The truth was that Asmo had been looking forward to this date for a long time. The idea came to him when he was watching you in the garden, smiling happily with everyone. It was always dark in the Devildom, but you were like a little light, attracting every single demon right to you. There was something bright and warm that emanated from you. Maybe the others didn't realize, but Asmo could see that it was your love, your shining human heart.

And whenever you turned your eyes on him, when you said his name or smiled his way, it made him feel like he was the center of the universe. It was a feeling he was constantly chasing in his long life, but he found it so easily with you.

So when you looked over at him, out in the garden that night, Asmo was overwhelmed by his feelings for you. He knew in that moment that he wanted to try to give you just a fraction of that feeling that you always gave him. He wanted you to feel like the sun in his solar system - every part of him revolving around you.

For days, Asmo was going from place to place, gathering everything he would need for your perfect night. Then he just needed to keep you out of the garden while he set everything up. Fortunately, Asmo was able to convince Belphie to fall asleep on your lap for a bit, so that if you left your spot on the couch, Belphie could report back.

Asmo had purchased a new outfit, a well tailored black and pink suit with just enough sparkle to add a bit of flourish. He had just finished getting himself ready when Belphie poked his head into Asmo's room, letting him know that you had left the couch. Likely you were preparing to meet Asmo by the front door, as the two of you had planned.

Asmo hurried down the stairs and waited by the door. He was surprised to find he was actually a little nervous, the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He smiled. How unusual it was for someone to make him feel that way. But of course, there was something special about you.

Even though Asmo hadn't told you the kind of outfit to wear, you had clearly assumed you would be on a fancy date. You came down the stairs looking absolutely stunning and for a moment, Asmo forgot all his grand plans. For a moment, he was mesmerized by your light, shining so brilliantly, filling him with warmth.

You reached him, meeting his eyes and smiling. "You look so handsome tonight, Asmo."

Asmo shook his head a little. "You're the one who's practically glowing right now, MC!"

You laughed, a sound just as sparkling as you were. "Where are we going tonight?"

Asmo put his arm out for you to take. You put your own through it and he pulled you closer to him, just to feel you against him.

He didn't answer your question, but opened the door for you, leading you out into the House of Lamentation's garden. The moment you entered it, you let out a little gasp.

In the middle of the garden was a table, covered in tasteful decor in the form of a tablecloth and centerpiece, with a lovely array of delicious looking dishes and an unopened bottle of Demonus.

And all around it, radiating out from it on multiple different surfaces, were what looked to be hundreds of candles. Some of them were on little pedestals, others nestled in tall candelabras, still others held in the hands of beautiful statues. More could be found tucked inside little lanterns that hung from the trees. The whole space was illuminated with the warm glow of the candlelight.

"Don't worry," Asmo said. "I had Solomon fireproof everything. It looks so different, doesn't it?"

You turned to look at him, your eyes wide. "This is amazing."

Asmo felt the blush that crept up in his cheeks, but he didn't let it derail him. He took both of your hands in his. "MC, you always make me feel like I'm the most important demon in the world. I wanted you to experience that feeling, too, even if it's only for tonight."

Asmo watched as you blushed, too. Your expression changed rapidly, as though you were feeling several different emotions and you couldn't quite figure out which one to display. In the end, you settled for a bright smile that nearly made his heart burst.

"Asmodeus, don't you know that you always make me feel that way, too?" you said softly.

You had the sweetest look in your eyes as you said this and Asmo couldn't hold back. He stepped closer, putting a hand on your waist, and kissed you. And as long as your lips were pressed against his, you might as well have been the only two beings in existence.

flufftober | kinktober | masterlist | Thank you for reading!

taglist: @anxious-chick @t0tallycoolname @libidinous-weeb

#obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me flufftober #obey me shall we date #omswd #obey me asmodeus #obey me asmodeus x reader #obey me asmodeus x mc #obey me asmo #om asmodeus #asmodeus obey me #om asmo #misc flufftober 2023 #misc writes

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nutklcker · 2 months

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(I'm mostly thinking abt my boys here but I decided to use like OC language cuz that's what most people relate to)

My favorite thing abt lethal company OC's that are or contain an entity/monster that's now working with a crew/on the crew's side is the idea of someone watching them in the terminal

Like, like if you have a masked then on the terminal they'll show up like a dead player body, blue with the sight triangle thing, but a duller blue than the living employee's blue on the terminal, and like imagine trying to hook that baby up to the terminal cuz usually the terminal only follows the players that signed in on it, I got off track

Or like, friendly Bracken? How the hell you hook that guy up. Or like if the terminal person isn't used to their new monster buddy yet and they switch to someone being followed by a red dot and momentarily they panic and try to walkie in "TURN AROUND!!!" And then they check the helmet camera and it's just that person turning around and looking at the friendly Bracken, who then waves awkwardly or rustles uncomfortably a little, and then back through the walkie "oh that's just our Bracken <3"

(More under the cut)

Or like, if you do get a monster hooked up to the terminal and end up able to track it, I expect most scrap teams would let the monster go off on its own cuz if it's something like a Bracken or Coil or something like that they expect it to be tough enough to scrap collect on its own safely, but like imagine switching to it on the terminal and seeing not just it's red dot, but another one nearby. Like. You know??? Cuz what if, hear me out, the friendly red dot is sitting still, what if they're staring at a coil head? What if they're trying to not be spotted by a nutcracker (cuz those things kill anything <3 I think LOL)? Or, dare I be angsty, what if they're hurt? Alternatively what if like a loot bug found them and went "woah what a funny thing that's gonna be the centerpiece of my hoard" or what if a spore lizard found them and using cat theory was like "this thing is ignoring me... I trust it. My friend now, I'm staying with it" Or like your team's Masked running other Masked and they have a little funny guy party

Or, another fun idea, what if you switch to your monster buddy on the terminal and see a blue dot with them, so you assume all is well and you switch to the next teammate, and the next after a while, and back to the last one, and you get confused cuz monster Buddy isn't there, so you switch back to them and now there's another/more blue dots, and it sets in there's another team. Imagine radioing to your team "guys there's another team, and they're staring at our coil, you gotta go save him" or what if your Buddy is one of the simpler monsters like a Snare Flea, Loot Bug, or Spore Lizard and you guys have to genuinely go fight those people off so they don't hurt your baby???

Two bonus ideas just posited by Rend: what if the monster teammate isn't moving or doing anything about the other team because they ALSO have a monster teammate with them? What if, in their panic, your terminal person doesn't notice one of the moving blue dots is a little duller and the other team is essentially talking to your boy like "omg friendly Bracken!!! We have a friendly Masked, wanna join our team?" and your Bracken's just sitting there trying to figure out how to express it's taken, OR what if the other team DOESNT know they have a monster with them, I'm thinking like Maskeds who have their mask on under their helmet, Bracken's pretending to be employees, loot bugs in a trench coat /ref

Okay Rend's other idea, because he's full of himself /lov, was what if your monster teammate is a Nutcracker, and you're watching it essentially open up, look around, close, continue walking, and then the blue dots move. And slowly you notice they're getting closer, and you notice on the camera one of them has a shovel, and you have to walkie to your buddies they need to go save your semi indestructible protector who split off to hunt down a spider that caused some trouble

Ough the terminal just offers so many fun ideas for monster and crew collaborative teams my mind is buzzing /pos

#host #rambling sorry tee hee #long post #rend helped a little so I'll do his funny tag #👁️#I love thinking abt this

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twistmusings · 1 year

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Can i request leona, azul, jade, malleus, and jamil reacting to someone trying to hit on their s/o? Yay tension lmao. Also, happy holidays!! Love your stuff ❤

Happy holidays! Thank you so much!!

How would these five react to someone else hitting on their significant other?

TW: Emetophobia warning (Jamil's part, nondescript), jealousy, Octavinelle implied to do illegal shit (as per usual).

Note: Their partners do not reciprocate the flirting here, and these also assumes that they have never discussed having open or poly relationships with their partners in the past.

Leona Kingscholar

Well he isn't going to react well that's for sure! Leona is pretty territorial when it comes to the people he cares about without even realizing he is, but especially so when it comes to his partner. Now, it would be a different story if his partner would have approached them and maybe they had talked about it beforehand, but that's not what happened and it pisses him off.

And if his partner doesn't want to be hit on or is uncomfortable because of them? There will be hell to pay. If you're going to disrespect him, you had damn well better respect the person he loves if nothing else.

He immediately gets into their personal space and put himself between the person trying to hit on them and his partner and uses his height to his full advantage. If his partner looks closer, they can probably see his tail bristling too.

"Why don't you go find someone else to bother before I make you regret waking up this morning." Leona's voice is cold, and there's the low rumble of a growl from deep in his chest . He scowls at the intruder, lip curling in distaste.

They shrink back, apparently not expecting him to step in. Leona without looking behind him, reaches a hand behind him to where they are, brushing his knuckles against them gently so that they know that the anger isn't directed at them. They didn't do anything wrong.

Azul Ashengrotto

So long as his partner doesn't flirt back then the situation will be fine. Azul is too level-headed to jump to pure rage at someone flirting with his partner, and there was probably a misunderstanding somewhere that lead them to think that they were single.

More than likely things would be just fine... so long as Jade and Floyd aren't there. While Azul is the sort of person who takes an indirect approach, those two would be more than a little likely to go to bat for his honor without his prompting.

It's fine... ah, that's... como se dice a fucking lie. Azul would be furious, and all the more so if it makes his partner uncomfortable. If neither of his two right-hand-men are there at the time, he will step in and make sure his partner is okay and that they are aware they accounted for... and then then will be hell to pay later after Azul calls in a few favors.

"Ah, there you are, dearest." Azul says it loud and clear, enough to startle both of them. He will offer his hand to his partner, smiling at them warmly. "Could you come with me for a moment? I would like to get your opinion on a few centerpieces I'm considering."

And then, when they get close, he will link their arms, fingers curling around their bicep fondly as they do.

And, perhaps, as he and his love walk away from their uninvited guest, he may just throw a rather cruel smile their direction, knowing that his revenge is soon at hand.

Jade Leech

Jade isn't nearly so patient as Azul is. The moment he sees someone else is hitting on his partner, it upsets him. Not that anyone would be able to guess that with the carefully monitored expression on his face, but to his partner it's probably exceptionally clear that he's angry.

He slides right into their conversation like he belongs there. After all, they had enough nerve to step on his toes, didn't they? So why shouldn't he? His lovely partner is spoken for, and they certainly haven't discussed adding anyone, so to him this is a threat to someone he holds very, very dear to him.

He smiles a little wider than usual, just to be extra sure to show the sharp points of his teeth so that they're well aware that should they do something stupid and try to fight him they're outmatched in size and natural weaponry.

"A friend of yours dear?" He said, giving his partner a quick glance to see their response. It takes little more than a shake of their head for him to immediately know how to proceed. "Oh, I see. How kind of you to strike up a conversation then."

Jade perches his chin on his knuckle, eyes narrowing and a wide grin splitting his face, transforming his usually gentlemanly face into a perfect visage of the predatory animal he really is. It's just a quick flash, but it's deeply threatening.

"It truly is a shame, then, that we should be needing to get along on our way, dear." He places a gentle but firm hand at the dip of their back. "Come along, now."

Jamil Viper

Jamil is normally pretty good at keeping his anger and frustration under wraps, but I think that given everything he's been through that seeing his partner being chatted up by someone they've never met might just be the thing to make him snap.

Jamil is... well, a schemer. It's what he does. Especially if the other makes his partner uncomfortable. He's not the kind of person who forgets, nor is he the sort to forgive easily. He'll be sure to thoroughly think out the best plan of action after he gets his partner away from them.

Jamil is glad that his partner seems to be in better spirits after having had some time to themselves away from the interloper who'd been pestering them this evening. They're at a table with friends-- ones that Jamil trusts-- so he has no worries about an encore performance as he stands.

"I'm going to take a quick trip to the bathroom, I promise I'll be right back." He murmurs, pressing a soft kiss against their temple.

"Don't take too long, food should be coming soon." Jamil smiles, smoothing a hair through their hair softly.

"I know. I'll make it fast."

He enters the bathroom and makes quick work of doing what he needs to, and as he's washing his hands, he hears the slam of the door behind him. He glances into the mirror with just enough time to see the unknown flirt from earlier scamper into the restroom. It's barely a moment before there's a rather painful sounding retch, and Jamil smiles at his own reflection rather smugly.

Syrup of ipecac is good for more than just emergency poison treatment. He says a silent thank you to Kalim for helping him to be prepared for a moment just like this.

Malleus Draconia

Malleus isn't angry perse. It is a pretty understandable mistake-- most people weren't aware that they were dating as of yet because of his status as prince. Now that doesn't mean that he's not upset. He definitely steps in to interrupt even if he can't exactly out their relationship just yet, though.

It starts to storm. Violently. Which is weird because the weather reports said it should be clear. And if it just so happens that the thunder claps whenever the intrusive flirt opens their mouth, that's just a coincidence. He swears.

He is not pouting. (He is. He's quite grumpy about this whole situation.)

The moment his partner shows even the slightest sign of being uncomfortable with the other's presence, he's sweeping them off to do whatever other thing he can find to do.

"Child of man, shall we dance?" He says it abruptly, smiling at them in a manner that looks just a touch forced.

"Oh? Sure." They reply, honestly a little surprised at Malleus being so forward, but there is no hesitation at all as he takes their hand in his own and guides them away from the conversation, shooting a very visibly cruel grin over his shoulder toward the suitor whom he'd swept the rug out from under. They gape after the two of them, and Malleus can't help the cruel seed of joy that brings him.

"Have you ever ballroom danced? I can show you the steps if you'd like." He chatters, though his emotions show in the tense line of his shoulders. Truly, he'd like nothing more than to sweep them away to his room and into his arms until the both of them forget this little social faux pas. He, quietly, promises himself that as soon as he is able, he will proclaim to the world who his beloved is. He would truly like to see who would be brave enough to flirt with them in front of his face then.

#answered;;#twst #twisted wonderland #malleus draconia #leona kingscholar #jamil viper #azul ashengrotto #jade leech

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sinkingteethinwhitenoise · 9 months

Text

Limoncello - Chapter 2

Pairings: Nick Folio x fem!OC, Bad Omens x fem!OC

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: Fluff, mentions of eating dinner, one mention of John Mayer and Dear John.

Series Masterlist

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” ~ Audrey Hepburn

Maeve was most definitely a morning person. Many of her early mornings consisted of tending to her gardens. She would always start in the backyard, where she grew her produce, pulling weeds and harvesting whatever was ripe. Afterwards she would move to the front yard, where all of her flowers grew, making sure they all looked just as pretty as the day before.

It had been exactly a week since the band had moved in across the street. She had been put into a group chat with them shortly after giving her number to Folio. Maeve had told them that she figured it would be best to wait a week before she had them over for dinner, to give them time to settle in. She would never admit it, but it was mainly so she would just have time to plan. The band was okay with that plan, and they also let her know that whenever they were practicing, she was welcome to come over and listen. She took them up on that offer.

She had cleaned her house the day before and went out to tend to her gardens first thing Saturday morning. She’d already done her work in the backyard, harvesting all of the ripe produce and herbs she would need for later in the day. Now, she was tending to her flowers while also trying to pick a few so that she could make a nice flower arrangement for the centerpiece of her dining room table.

Folio was not a morning person. At all. Yet, he was awake. Early. On a Saturday morning. He had tossed and turned all night because all he could think about was their plans with Maeve. His excitement was akin to a hyper child waiting to see what Santa Claus had left under the tree on Christmas morning.

He had not been up this early during the week they had lived in the house. Now, at 8am, he was the only one awake. He groggily shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing his tired eyes as he went to grab a bottle of water. As he took a sip, he found himself glancing out the window. He was surprised to see Maeve hunched over her flower beds. Surprised, but certainly pleased. In only his pajamas, which only consisted of a pair of basketball shorts, he slipped on some shoes and cautiously stepped outside. He noted that the bright morning sun was already beginning to warm the air as he walked down the driveway and across the street.

“Whatcha doing?” he asked as he approached Maeve, his voice raspy with how tired he was.

Maeve gasped and jumped a bit before turning around and looking up at him. She let out a sigh of relief, “You scared me.” She said with a soft laugh. “You snuck up on me like a ninja!”

A soft smile painted his features as he crouched down next to her, “Sorry.”

She couldn’t help but smile at how cute he looked. His hair was a mess, eyes droopy, his smile small and tired. His morning voice also caught her by surprise, in the best way possible. “To answer your question,” she started, pausing to wipe a bit of sweat off her forehead with her forearm. “I'm just doing some gardening.”

He nodded and furrowed his eyebrows, “You always up this early?”

“Of course,” she chirped. She didn’t think that 8am was that early, but he obviously did. So, she kept that thought to herself. “I’m assuming you’re not, though.” She raised an eyebrow at him and pushed her glasses up her nose.

He looked down at the ground as his cheeks started to heat up and shrugged before looking back up at her. “Not usually, no.”

She nodded, “So how come you’re up?” It didn’t come off as accusatory or rude, just genuinely curious and possibly concerned.

“Honestly?” he chuckled, “I’m just really pumped for dinner tonight. Couldn’t sleep.”

Maeve had to bite back a giggle as she playfully nudged him. “Oh stop it. You’re not being serious.”

“I’m being so serious. And that doesn’t happen very often.” he laughed.

This time she let herself giggle, “Well go home and try to get some sleep, you zombie.”

“What if I want to hang out?” he asked, getting a little closer to her.

“You’re gonna be bored. I’m just gonna be picking flowers and prepping food.” She raised her eyebrows at him and bumped his shoulder.

“I doubt I could possibly get bored around you.” He chuckled, wrapping an arm around her and shaking her lightly.

She started to laugh and she rolled her eyes teasingly, “And I doubt that I’ll get anything done if you don’t go home. I mean that in the nicest way possible.”

“Oh fine,” he playfully groaned before standing back up. “We’ll see you tonight then.”

9 hours and a pot of coffee later, Maeve was setting the table. The guys were due to arrive at any moment. After placing the last fork on the table and adjusting the vase filled with yellow roses and pink sweet peas in the center of the table, the doorbell rang. She rushed to the door and fluffed her hair in the mirror that hung next to it before taking a deep breath and opening the door.

There stood the guys. They were dressed in all black, a major contrast to her and her home. She wondered how hot they must be, wandering around in the summer in all black. “Hey! Come on in!” She greeted them and stepped aside to allow them to file in.

“Thanks for having us, Maeve.” Jolly grinned, pulling her in for a brief side hug, which she returned happily.

She watched as Noah and Nicholas stood side by side and looked around, almost in sync.

“Your place is really fucking nice,” Noah muttered in awe, not even looking at her as he took in his colorful surroundings.

“Yeah,” agreed Nicholas, “It’s like…one of those collector’s dollhouses.”

Maeve was grinning from ear to ear, “Thank you! I take pride in my living space.” Then her eyes drifted to Folio, who had been awfully quiet, but was taken by surprise when she discovered that he was already looking at her. She noticed that he looked less tired than that morning; so hopefully he took her advice and got some more sleep.

It seemed as though the eye contact snapped him out of whatever trace he seemed to be in because his eyes drifted to the side and the slightest pink tint bloomed on his cheeks. “Smells good in here,” he said to her softly.

“Well, the food tastes better than it smells,” she said with a giggle. “Let’s eat!”

They had an amazing dinner. If you asked the guys, probably the best dinner they’d ever had. They were especially shocked at how colorful the food was. That was how they learned about how she loved to garden. They were surprised that such a sweet and colorful girl wanted to be friends with them. The girls that looked like she did were the girls that usually avoided them at all costs. But not Maeve.

They insisted on helping her clean up. Ever the stubborn hostess, Maeve continuously denied, but they eventually broke her down. She quickly put a playlist on shuffle before they got started.

Folio raised his eyebrows at the song that began to play. “Domino? By The Cramps?” He questioned.

Maeve looked over her shoulder at him as she rinsed some dishes, “Yeah. It’s one of my favorites.”

Then Nicholas piped up, “Didn’t expect that.”

Maeve turned off the tap and dried her hands before turning to face them. “Oh yeah?” she questioned. “And what did you expect.”

Then Noah cut in. “Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat, John Mayer-“

“Oh god not John Mayer,” Maeve cut him off. “Have you ever even heard ‘Dear John’?”

A small smile grew on Noah’s face, “Oh yeah. I like this girl.” He tapped Jolly on the arm.

When the dishes were taken care of, Maeve offered up some of her famous Limoncello and suggested they watch a movie.

They all sat on the couch with glasses of Limoncello and Back to the Future playing on the tv. Maeve sat between Jolly and Folio on the couch, while Noah and Nicholas opted to sit on the floor, despite there being plenty of room on the couch. Not even halfway through the movie, Folio felt a head drop onto his shoulder. When he looked over, he saw Maeve’s head on his shoulder. She had fallen asleep.

He couldn’t help the smile that crept into his face at how peaceful she looked. He figured that she must have worked really hard on this dinner for her to just pass out like that. He felt her soft puffs of breath tickle his skin and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

Jolly looked over with a chuckle, “Damn. Guess she’s got a favorite.”

Folio glanced up at him, “She’s asleep. I’m not her favorite.” he whispered.

“Well her subconscious leaned on you.” Jolly shrugged.

Folio took a deep breath and looked down at her again, but practically ignored what Jolly had just said.

Once the movie ended, they gently woke her up and told her that they were going to head out. When they walked back across the street, Folio could still feel the warmth and weight of her leaning on him as she slept. The ghost of a smile stayed on his face for the rest of the night.

#bad omens fanfiction #bad omens fanfic #bad omens x oc #nick folio fanfiction #nick folio fanfic #nick folio x oc #sinkingteethinwhitenoise #limoncello series

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besthimbomachine · 1 year

Text

my love when it counted. 04

summary: The company Christmas party rolls around and when Kenny sees you with a certain cowboy by your side, he can't stop the jealousy from burning within him. Returning to his usual plan, he tries to avoid you, but can't keep his eyes from going back to your form. However, just as he is about to leave, something else happens that shakes his night completely. pairing: kenny omega x reader word count: 8346 warning: there be high consumption of alcohol in this one, nothing way too intense but there is some drunkenness chonky boy, good thing I managed to keep it down to around 8K cause that's my cap. we got a bit of stuff happening in this one but I hope it doesn't feel like too much. thank you everyone for coming this far with me, leave your feedback and what not, I'm really always happy to have you all here!

04.

The minute you stepped foot out of the cab, a sharp pain shot up your ankle, almost breaking your smile into a grimace. You wouldn’t let it, though, not right now. The poor excuse for a joint could flare up all it wanted tomorrow, but right now you were trying to look your best for the company Christmas party. It was going to be your first at AEW, and you weren’t just about to let some dumb, unlucky fall fuck it up for you. You were tougher than that.

“You alright there?” Adam’s drawl breaks through the chilly night air, hitting your ears almost hearty and smooth as he extends his hand to help you out.

You look back up at him, fixing your smile again as you take his offer, putting your weight on his warm and strong grip as he pulls you up. When you finally stand, there is not much more than a hand of distance from the two of you. The air between you feels warm from his breath, and it smells like his perfume, tobacco and honey, and you can’t tell why, but it seems fitting the cowboy would smell like this.

“Guess I’m still feeling this week’s match,” you laugh, and he follows suit, sound enveloping the space as he nods in understanding, “but thanks, I’m gonna be fine.”

With a sunny smile, Adam nods to you once more, relief washing through your body when he doesn’t press you further. He had been serving as great company so far, you were both staying at the same hotel and he’d offered to leave with you for the party together and share a cab - an offer you were happy to accept. The man was a welcomed mix of familiarity with something new, back in Japan you generally didn’t spend much time together - at least not without Kenny around - so you only got to know him more now. And sure, you weren’t completely blind to his less conspicuous interests, but it’s not like you minded.

Adam removes his hand from yours and for a moment you miss its warmth. Though, he soon places it on the small of your back, heating the skin through the clothes as he ushers you inside the doors to the building where the party was being held. He makes chit chat with you as you walk down the halls and stop to leave your bag at the entrance. Soon, the both of you pass through another set of large doors, finally being met with the vast hall that actually housed the event.

The inside of the hall was warm and brightly lit with multiple decorative lights. Their colorful glow bathed the place in what you could only describe as a very holiday feeling aura. One that was only reinforced by the absolutely immense Christmas tree decorating one corner of the place. It almost reached the ceiling, and you wondered if it was even legal to cut down a tree this big - and, you assumed, this old. Well, it must have been, and regardless, the thing now stood as the centerpiece of the event, long branches heavily decorated in ornaments, lights, and fake snow. A far more beautiful and welcoming sight compared to the plastic trees you'd seen in the arena on your previous show.

It wasn't long into the party when you arrived, but the place was already full enough that the voices and noise of clinking glass and laughter could be heard under the beat of the music. The center of the vast hall stood empty of tables or chairs, a few people dancing around the space already as you arrived - you assumed the number would grow as the night went on and alcohol did its thing. Surrounding that there were scattered tables with seating for multiple people and a few separate armchairs.

To both of your sides stood large and long food tables, with all sorts of dishes laid over their deep red table cloths. As you entered, you could see waiters passing by you with water and all sorts of non-alcoholic looking beverages. On the opposite wall from the entrance stood the bar. Of course, anything without alcohol was free, but the alcohol you'd have to pay for. A classic, you didn't love it, but you knew it was the smartest choice for a company to make.

Adam's hand trails from the small of your back to your shoulder slowly as he leans in close to your ear. You can feel his hot breath against your neck as he speaks, the deep drawl of his voice having a shudder running through your spine as you hear his smooth baritone calling your name. The sound feels almost soothing on your skin. You look up at him, and he is so close, inviting blue eyes pulling you in as his face stands inches from your own.

"Already this full, huh? They really went all out this time," he laughs, and you follow suit, sharing in the warmth of the sound. "Listen, I have some people I need to talk to, mind if we split now and meet again later?"

He winks at you and something bubbles under your skin, a smile coming to your lips. "Sounds fine by me," you nod at him and he thanks you, squeezing your shoulder before he is off somewhere else.

Alone now, you let your hunger get the best of you, making your way to one of the food tables before you even thought of talking to anyone. If it looked full from far away, it looked even more from up close. The thing was stacked with all sort of winter foods and decorated with fake candles and elaborate flower arrangements. Just as you were making a plate for yourself, though, you heard Nick's voice calling from behind you.

"Well, well, look at who is here on time? Arriving in the first hour of the party? Surprising," Nick teased you in a cheerful tone as you turned to him, one of his arms hugging you around the shoulders as he held a plate in the other hand. "Though, did you just come for the food?"

"Look at who is talking," you laughed, pointing at his own full plate as you slapped his free arm.

"Hey, I'm taking this for the wife," he retorts in feigned offense before laughing alongside you, "you should come see her, you know. Find our table and come say hi before you go spend your evening with your date."

"Shut it, Nick," you roll your eyes, slapping him in the arm again as he smirks at you, his undertones fare more clear than you'd like, "I don't have a date. You are blowing things out of proportion."

Just as he is about to reply, you both hear another voice call your name, this time it's a clear feminine tone breaking through the noise of the crowd. Nick is quick to quiet down as you both see Willow Nightingale approaching, a bright and cheerful smile adorning her face as she throws an arm around your shoulders. You swallow thick, hoping she hadn't heard what Nick said, and you wouldn't have to be explaining anything.

"I hadn't seen you here yet, did you just arrive now?" Willow's words come in the sweetest tone as she speaks to you before turning to Nick. "What you two up to?"

"Just congratulating her for being here on time. You know, she has a bit of a track record for being late for things," you shake your head as Willow just looks in your direction, laughing as Nick raises an eyebrow. "I was also telling her she has to pass by my table, gotta see my wife. You haven't seen each other since your debut here, months ago."

You make to respond, but Willow is faster, the arm around your shoulders tightening a bit as she brings your body closer to hers. "I'll remind her of that, Nick, I give you my word," she straightens up her back, mocking a salute Nick's way before continuing. "But right now, I'm gonna have to drag her away, 'cause she said she'd be here fifteen minutes ago."

You bite your lower lip, brows creasing as you try to make your best pleading eyes to Willow. It was possible that you may have gotten a bit distracted by the large and comfortable bathtub in your hotel room - just maybe. You simply weren't the best with punctuality, something that didn't really change over the years. Shit, at least it was just fifteen minutes this time. Nick openly laughs at your situation as Willow looks at you in judgment, waving a hand at you both before he turns around and makes his way to his table. Just as Nick is out of earshot, Willow turns to you with mischief tainting her usually soft eyes. You could already guess what she'd say before she even did it.

"Now," she starts in an almost whisper, "before you go anywhere, did I just see you arriving with a certain blond cowboy?"

It had been something over two hours since Kenny arrived at the party when he saw you. Honestly, he was expecting to go a bit longer without this inevitability happening, seeing how he’d arrived early at the event. Matt had helped organize things, and Kenny wanted to be there for his friend from the start. And he had wanted to buy himself more time before he’d have to start plotting what parts of the party to avoid so everyone - including himself - could have a fine enough time.

Well, so long to that now.

Sipping from his soda, Kenny tried his best to keep his eyes away from your form. But he knew he was fighting a loosing battle. Your image had some sort of magnetic pull on him - and they made visions from that fateful video he’d recently find pop back into his mind. You looked beautiful. Gorgeous even. A sight to behold in true splendor as he watched you laughing in cheerful joy alongside Willow Nightingale. It had been a while since he’d seen you laugh so earnestly, and Kenny was ashamed to admit it brought warmth to his heart. You were more beautiful when you were laughing than any other time. Though, as he looked you over again, a bothersome worry took home in his mind.

Kenny had seen you taking quite an ugly fall on the last show, you’d managed to salvage what you could of the move, not letting the audience know how bad it had been, but he still could tell. Besides, from what he gathered of the backstage talk, the ring-side doctor hadn’t been all too happy with the looks of your ankle, something about being twisted and it being safer to immobilize. So, what he was expecting when you appeared at the party was to see you at least in a brace. And yet, he saw no brace at all.

Sure, he wasn’t a doctor, and he hadn’t seen you walking around just yet to try and guess if you were truly ok. But it still didn’t sit right with him. Maybe it was because he clearly remembered you being too proud and careless with your body, constantly pushing it beyond its limits. A crime Kenny himself had committed, and paid the steep price for. He watched you like a hawk as you held conversation with Willow, intently observing your fidgeting and posture until you two finally moved, walking towards one of the tables.

“Staring? Seriously, Kenny?” Matt’s voice snapped through the background noise of the party, pulling Kenny’s eyes towards him.

“It’s not,” Kenny grunted, Matt looking straight at him, eyebrows raised in mocking incredulity. “Listen,“ he looks towards you again, voice low and quiet, “didn’t she take a bad fall on her ankle last show?”

Matt looked in your direction, keeping silent for a moment before he answered Kenny’s question, not even looking back at him. “Yeah, now that you mention it,” he trailed off, squinting at your form as you walked.

Kenny nodded to him, muttering something about you being stubborn. This time the man had a reason, Matt did remember you’d taken quite the dangerous fall earlier in the week. The ring-side doctor had wanted you in a brace, that much he’d heard, but he didn’t really know the details. All he knew is that it looked ugly, and if it had been him, he’d probably be in the damn brace.

“Hmm,” he muttered, more to himself than to Kenny, “I really thought she’d be in -” Matt cut his words off as soon as he noticed where you were going. Or rather, to whom. “Well, maybe she is fine, and we’re just overreacting, come on.”

Matt tried to take Kenny’s attention away from you the minute he noticed you’d left Willow and were making a beeline to Adam Page. Sure, he imagined his friend had already noticed that Adam had been acting pretty friendly towards you for a little while now. Kenny wasn’t dumb, but Matt thought it’d be better to just keep him away from witnessing the thing himself. The last thing anyone needed right now was for the tenuous peace between you to be broken.

Too bad Kenny had already noticed the scene.

When Kenny saw the direction you were walking in, something in him froze. Hangman. You were making your way to Hangman Adam Page. The cowboy had been a common sight around you, he knew. You often prepared for matches together, he knew. The two of you had become fast friends, he knew. He was well aware of everything, he wasn’t blind, but the sight still had the air in his lungs turning to ice in the blink of an eye.

He watched as Adam greeted you with an arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer as you two laughed at something. Spying in silent pain as you two fell into step together, the cowboy’s hand soon slipping to the small of your back as you walked towards the bar. To Kenny, his interests were clear as day. Especially because he’d been aware of them since way back in New Japan.

Adam had taken a shine to you even before you had started dating Kenny. However, the man had been too slow and when Kenny started dating you, he knew better than to tempt fate. It was an ugly thing to admit, but even if Adam tried nothing through your entire relationship, he still sparked a burning jealousy in Kenny whenever he showed up. It was wrong, he knew, and it was worse now, sensing the remnants of that feeling coming back to life. A scowl slowly forming on his face.

“Come on, Kenny” Matt shook his shoulder, strong grip pulling him out of his thoughts, “let’s go check up on Nick.”

Kenny knew what Matt was trying to do, gaze almost begging him to just leave it be and go do something else. The hand on his shoulder remained there, holding strong until Kenny nodded, eyes lingering on you and Adam before he turned around. If his jealousy was wrong before, he had absolutely no right to it now, and he knew. He could acknowledge the lingering feeling, but he wouldn’t feed it - least he’d fall into old behaviors. So he turned around, following Matt to see wherever Nick was. Making a quiet promise to himself that he’d try not looking your way anymore for the night.

The warmth of Adam’s large hand once again heats the skin in the small of your back, warmth spreading through the fabric of your clothes. He keeps you close by as you both maneuver through the people in the direction of the bar, hand slipping to hold onto your side as you pass a specially narrow space. You can feel his clothes ruffling against yours as your hips brush against his and your shoulder pushes against his side.

It was a space you could have easily passed in a line, but you weren’t about to complain. Not when his strong grip dug into your skin in the most delicious way. And not in the least when you enjoyed so much the smell of his perfume and the way his body warmed yours so completely. His touch bringing goosebumps as his fingers trailed from your side to the small of your back.

“So,” Adam’s deep voice reached your ears just as your hands touched the cold marble of the bar, “what we drinking?”

You looked at him, eyes meeting his own just as he leaned on the hard counter, shooting a gorgeous smile your way. The hand that was on your back now holding onto the pockets of his pants. Mirroring his pose, you raised an eyebrow before responding. “We?”

“Well,” he paused, a small laugh escaping his beautiful lips before he shrugged his shoulders, “though I’d match you for now. And my treat, of course.”

“Adam, you really don’t need to,” you replied.

“But I want to,” Adam’s words were earnest as they spilled from his mouth, he paused in silence for a second waiting for your answer, when he saw your hesitation he pushed again, “come on.”

“Yeah,” you shook your head before accepting, turning your body to the front again and fully resting your forearms on the cold marble, “if it’s my pick, we are having a highball then.”

Well, it seemed you were in the presence of a gentleman cowboy. To be honest, you thought Adam’s attempts at chivalry funny, if not endearing. It was not something you really cared about, but it seemed to fit well into that aura he had about him. It also probably helped that he had those gorgeous blue eyes that stirred something within you with an ease you wouldn’t admit. Anyway, you hoped he’d prove to be great company for the night. And who knows, maybe tomorrow you wouldn’t have to wake up in your own hotel room.

Time passed by pretty fast as you were with Adam. And sure, the alcohol certainly helped it feel like that. But it’s not like it could have done the job all by itself. The man had a magnetic charm that kept pulling you towards him at all time, and his company was definitely a highlight of the night. When you first saw him again, on the day of your debut for AEW, you thought he looked like something straight out of a barbie movie. Just a pretty dumb blonde, and you'd had your fair share of these already. Though, he quickly proved you wrong, and now he had you interested.

You’d spent a good part of your evening with him. Talk about one thing turned into talk about another with the ease of a well trained dance. You’d trade looks and light - sometimes accidental - touches with each other more than you’d had in any of your previous interactions. Sure, the fair amount of alcohol was helping along with that too, working as the social lube that eased the movement along. You’d say you were pretty enthralled by the whole game if it weren’t for the damn pain starting to rise in your ankle. And you were a bit drunk now too, that wasn’t helping.

At some point in the night, you and Adam had gotten into something of a drinking game - you wouldn’t even want to call it a competition per se. It wasn’t quite so much an open and clear thing, but Adam had teased you about your taste in drinks and you didn’t take teasing too lightly. He probably wasn’t aware, since you’d spend very little time around each other back in Japan, but you were something of a heavy drinker. An old habit that a few times saw you needing Kenny’s help to haul your intoxicated ass back to safety. But most of the time you were fine, out drinking a lot of the guys in your group. So, you weren’t willing to let the sweet talking blonde do you dirty like that.

But maybe this time you just might have bitten off a bit more than you could chew. Perhaps it was because Adam was some sort of bottomless pit for alcohol, or perhaps the pain you were feeling was making you weaker, but you seemed to be a bit more affected by the drinking than he was. And he clearly was affected, but he was still gulping the beer down like nothing and you had started feeling like calling it a night.

You were drunk, tired and in pain from your ankle, and all that was starting to take its toll on you. Between staying in the - standing room only - counter of the bar and being taken to dance by Adam, your hurt joint seemed to be getting a bit more action than it wanted. You had managed to take a break and find an empty pair of armchairs for you and him now, but the thing was still complaining. No matter how well you tried to pretend it wasn’t.

Rubbing your ankle lightly through your boots, you caught Adam returning with your beers from the corner of your eye, quickly wiping the grimace from your face. You at least wanted to save face about this - at least in front of the guy you had spent the whole night flirting with. He quickly sat down on the empty chair, handing your cup to you with that perpetually bright smile. In turn, you shot the best one you could muster - you’d salvage at least your pride, even if you couldn’t fully have what you wanted from the night.

“Really, Kenny?” Matt sighed loudly again as he looked at his friend, sulking in a quiet corner as he stared in your direction. “Try not to bore a hole through them while I’m out, okay?”

Kenny shook his head, breaking his eyes from you and towards Nick, who was looking at him with a mix of pity and judgment that felt deeply offensive. “You leaving already?”

“No strength to keep on this time, man, I’m dying to fall asleep. Sorry, I’m gonna have to leave you alone,” he paused for a beat, eyes glancing in your direction for a split moment before coming back to Kenny, “and hope you survive.”

Matt pulled Kenny into a hug, wrapping his arms around his friend’s shoulder and holding strong for a second before letting go. Part of him wanted to stay, help Kenny not do something so self destructive as spying on his ex girlfriend and the guy she was flirting with, but he was exhausted. He’d chosen to leave now exactly because the man had stayed very well behaved through the night, so to see him slipping right as Matt was about to go home had him worried. Though, worry still couldn’t beat his need to sleep right now.

“I’m gonna be fine,” Kenny paused, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to convince Matt or himself, “I should be going soon enough too, just talk to a few more people and get on my way home.”

“Sounds good,” Matt replied, trying to sound as confident as possible, but Kenny could feel the uncertainty and disbelief through his friend's voice, “just take care ok?”

With that, Matt left, and Kenny was alone in the vast hall, hands in his pockets as he fidgeted in tension. Matt was right to be judging him, he knew he shouldn’t be doing this. He knew, but something burnt in the back of his head, something that wasn’t exactly his jealousy. As his eyes turned back to you - despite his friend’s best advice - his brows furrowed in tension. He was certain you looked to be in pain. With Adam having returned to his seat, Kenny couldn’t get a perfectly good look to be sure, but even from distance he could tell you were in pain. And what pissed him off more was how Adam didn’t even seem to notice.

You’d spent probably about another hour just sitting, drinking, and talking - and flirting - with Adam when his Dark Order friends appeared. You couldn’t tell if you were annoyed at how loud they were, upset they cut your flirting short, or happy to catch a break from the drinking when they barged into your conversation out of the blue. They were all clearly drunk too, and soon enough they started dragging a profusely apologetic Adam away in the direction of the bar. You told him it was fine and you could talk more later, just as they pulled him from his chair and went on their way.

The minute they were out of sight, you extended your legs, breathing in a deep sight of relief as you relaxed your pained muscles. The ankle was hurting badly and you were pissed off at the whole thing, trying with all your might to shove the pain to the back of your head as you got up. Though, the moment you were on your feet a new problem appeared as a spinning dizziness took over your senses. Still, you really needed to go to the bathroom and no pain or vertigo would be able to stop you.

Kenny was on the back hallway, on his way to the parking lot so he could go home, when he saw you ahead, walking slowly into the darkened corridors. You hadn’t seen him, and for a second he considered just letting you go your way before he went his. Though, that all went astray when he noticed your uncertain gait, a slight stumble that had him on alert. You had been drinking all night with the cowboy, so you were certainly drunk. However, he couldn’t be sure if that was just the alcohol, or if your ankle was actually hurt too. Either way, worry got the best of his mind, and before he could stop it, his feet were carrying him to you.

“Hey there,” he approached you from behind, holding your arm as you stumbled to the side, before you could reach the wall, “you alright?”

His voice registered in your head before the warmth of his large hand could, a shiver running down your spine at the surprise interruption. You didn’t realize how close Kenny was until you turned to the side, his large blue eyes staring deep into your soul. On instinct, you took one step back before wincing, pain flaring up your ankle again. His brows furrowed and his other hand came to your shoulder, steadying you in place. His hands heated the space they touched, and you could feel your heart racing for a second before you found your words again.

“I’m fine,” you slurred out the words, pulling your arm from him in an almost swaying motion, the hand on your shoulder following suit and releasing you, “what are you, my caretaker?”

Kenny stifled a laugh at your reaction, he knew you’d probably not be happy with him around, but even in your state, you were still too proud to admit you weren’t fine. Some things just don’t change over time, and for some reason that thought put his heart at ease. Standing so close to you now, he could feel your perfume, you smelled like chocolate and roses, yet another thing that hadn’t changed since New Japan. Though, even under the strong sweet notes, he could still smell the remnants of beer on you.

“No,” Kenny spoke softly, looking over your clearly bewildered form, “but you don’t really seem fine,” he pauses for a second as you roll your eyes and huff in his direction. “I mean, you are clearly drun-”

“Oh,” you cut him off, hands coming to your waist as you shot him your best death glare, which with half lidded eyes and a slurred voice wasn’t much, “you controlling how much I drink now?”

Kenny takes a deep breath in, frustration building up in him but still not drowning his worries. “Nope, I’m more worried about that ankle.”

“I’m fine,” you repeat your words, but your unsteady voice does nothing to reinforce the message. Kenny can clearly see you get on the defensive when he motions to your feet, and if what he knew of you was still true, he could clearly see through your lie. “I don’t need you to babysit me.”

Before he can protest, you turn on your good heel, stepping towards the stairs ahead with a level of certainty only alcohol can give. You move to descend the short flight of steps, but the moment your feet hits the first one, your ankle gives away. To your dazed mind, it all happens in a flash. You let out a small yelp in surprise and next thing you know, a pair of strong arms wraps around your torso, pulling you away from the incoming ground.

You feel your back hitting Kenny’s large chest, the warmth of his body spreading through yours like water, flowing into every part it touches. His hands hold tight to your sides as his arms pull your body into his. You hear him grunt, a deep and rough sound right against your ear, hot breath fanning on your neck and causing goosebumps down your spine.

A dizziness takes over your mind, and you can’t tell if it’s from your feet not touching the ground or if it’s his scent taking over your senses. He smells like coffee and wood and the slightest bit of leather, almost like a coffee shop in the morning. It seems so different from what you were used to, just the leather remaining from his New Japan days, the only connective tissue to a time that felt so distant.

“Hey, no hush now,” Kenny laughs against your skin, descending the stairs in long strides, two steps at a time and in a moment he is done, slowly putting you back on the floor.

His arms didn’t leave your body until he was sure you were steady on your foot, and even then Kenny still hoovered close by in case you’d fall again. Or so he told himself. Yes, he was worried about you, and he was truly trying to help, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t enjoyed having you in his arms again. He’d be lying he said that having his lips so close to your neck and your ass so close to his crotch didn’t have an effect on him. But now the moment was gone, he wouldn’t dwell on it, and he was still left worrying about you.

Kenny watches as you slowly come out of your daze, body swaying slightly as you found your ground. He couldn’t blame you, you were pretty drunk, and he was sure almost falling to the floor hadn’t helped in any way. It’s a long moment before life comes back to your eyes, you rub one hand against your temple and Kenny can only imagine that the alcohol was already working its undesirable side effects on you. Steadying your breath, you blink rapidly a few times before turning back to him, your beautiful eyes still transpiring some confusion and pain. Once more, he finds himself wanting to hold you, but he knew you’d find no safety in his touch.

“Thank you,” your words come in an almost whisper, like they were a secret shared between the two of you.

“It’s nothing,” he replies, voice as soft as his blue eyes, he knows he has concern written all over his face, clear for anyone to see, even as he takes a step back to give you more space. “You know that’s not good, right?”

He gestures with his eyes to your ankle, and you’d be surprised by the gentleness in Kenny’s quiet tone if you weren’t so annoyed by his insistence. And by the voice in the back of your mind reminding you that he was right. But you didn’t want him to be.

“Come on, Kenny,” your words lack their usual edge, and you know that, exhaustion and pain overtaking your annoyance at him.

“You just fell from climbing down one step,” Kenny’s voice remains quiet, and somehow it feels wrong. By this point you’d expect the irritation, the strong imposing tone, but not this melodic half whisper. It baffles you in a way that only aggravates more your current sense of confusion.

“And why do you even care?” There is still a slurring to your words, but this time your frustration comes across. Huffing out, you glare at him, but his blue eyes don’t bulge as he stares deep into your soul. It irritates you to no end.

Kenny feels annoyance start to gain ground on his mind, slowly trying to erode his patience. Part of him wants to leave you here, if you don’t want his help then so be it, let your newfound friend deal with this issue. But you were in a vulnerable position, drunk and hurt, and the cowboy was way too many beers in to even notice. So he fights his frustration with your stubbornness - besides, he knew you had a reason not to trust him after all - pushing it to the side as he takes a deep breath in.

“Well,” he pauses, having absolutely no answer he knew you’d like to hear, jumping to whichever one comes to his mind, trying his best to keep his voice calm and low, “we are supposed to be colleagues, right? I’m sorry, but in our profession that's what colleagues do, take care of each other.”'

“Don’t give me that flack,” you roll your eyes again, turning around and braving through the pain as you start making your way towards the bathroom.

“I’m sorry if you can’t believe that I care, but I do,” Kenny has to stifle a laugh again, still finding humor in how headstrong you were.

He watches your unsteady gait for a moment before following suit, reaching your side in just a few long strides. You were walking slowly, an unnatural sway to your movement. Kenny could tell you were fighting both the pain and the alcohol in your system. It was difficult to watch as you struggled through what seemed to be a loosing battle.

“I saw your fall last show,” he continues, voice tainted by his worry as he tries to make you come to reason, “you saved face, but it was botched. Matt said the doctor wanted you immobilized, I know that under those boots your ankle is badly twisted.”

“It’s not that bad,” you turn to him for a second, half lidded eyes meeting his annoyed gaze before you turn forward again, “I’m gonna be fine.”

Kenny shakes his head and you bring a hand to your temple, mumbling something he can’t understand before your step falters and you stumble in his direction. His reflexes are quicker though, and before you can lose your footing he extends his arm to you, your hand finding the exposed skin of his forearm. His other hand finds your shoulder again, pushing you to back into balance slowly with a gentle grip. It all goes by in a moment, and you seem to barely register it as you keep on walking, free hand touching the wall beside you for purchase.

“Oh no,” he grunts, soft tone holding a tint of mockery, keeping pace with your sluggish steps, “I think you are way too drunk to make a trustworthy assessment of yourself right now.”

You make a sound of genuine bafflement that has Kenny’s chest shaking in silent laughter at your reaction. “I’m not that drunk,” you look at him like he had offended your honor, but the slurring of your voice and the way you dragged out the word ‘that’ only makes it funnier to him.

“I can’t tell if your stumbling is your ankle or the alcohol,” Kenny’s response comes in a playful tone and he smiles at the pout it brings to your face as you look forward again, “and you are even holding onto my arm for support.”

Kenny’s smug grin is broken by a full laugh as he watches your eyes widen in shock, a small gasp escaping your lips as you hurriedly pull your hand away from his arm. He mouths an apology but keeps on laughing as you pause, eyes fitting him with a mix of irritation and offense. He knows the moment is serious - and he still worries about you - but he can’t help his reaction. It had been so long, but now he was remembering, he’d always found you an amusing drunk.

“Fuck you,” you mumble in his general direction, doing what he could only describe as a power limping your way ahead.

His laughter dies down a little as you both reach the bathroom, looking back at you just to find that annoyed pout in your face again. “How did you even get in that shape anyway?”

You stop to look at him, hand already holding the door open as you rest your shoulder on the door frame. “I was trying to prove a point,” you squint, leaning towards Kenny and he can almost feel your warm breath, “I refuse to be fucking out drank by someone younger than me, let alone someone who looks like he came straight out of a barbie western movie, I didn’t grow up stealing my father’s whiskey for nothing.”

You turn your back to him, letting the door slam as you enter the bathroom. Oh, yes, this whole mess had Adam’s fingers all over it, even more than he’d previously thought. Kenny had never known you to be so bad with your drinking. But you were generally an easily excitable social drinker. You’d want to match whoever you were drinking with - or worse, out drink them - and things could easily escalate from there. This was a bad mix when he took into consideration the cowboy’s less than laudable drinking habits.

Kenny rests his back to the wall just as the door closes, taking a deep breath to quell the burning sensation that had returned to his veins. He knew this was not the moment to be feeling jealous, but the image of Adam flirting so openly with you still brought a knot to his throat. Worse, the thought that maybe the man could have been trying to use alcohol as a fast lane into your pants made him angry and sick to the stomach. Though, this time, something else burned alongside his jealousy and rage.

He had known the cowboy to be a flirt - and sure, Kenny didn’t think you needed his protection or that you’d be looking for a relationship just because you were flirting back. However, he’d expect the man to at least not be so careless towards the person before him. It was hard to believe he couldn’t notice the state of your ankle - at least while he was sober - and despite your stubbornness, the right thing to do would be offering to help. And yet, here he was, with you drunk and no Adam in sight.

Shaking his head, Kenny tries to purge Adam from his brain, willing his mind to remember that adorable annoyed pout you’d shot his way just seconds earlier. “Oh,” a slight amusement returns to his tone as turns his face to the wall, voice louder now so you could hear it on the other side, “you were trying to out drink the cowboy. Word of advice, I don’t even think he has a liver anymore, so you really don't wanna win this competition.”

There is a moment of pause before Kenny hears your voice coming from the other side, confusion and annoyance spilling through your tone. “Wait, why are you still here? I’ve entered the bathroom, you can go.”

He laughs, sure you’d be reacting like that, you were still under the impression you could do fine without help. “You are very drunk and very hurt. I’m sorry but I gotta be here to make sure there is someone to help in case you fall, or throw up,” he pauses for a moment, shrugging before he speaks again. “Or both.”

A few seconds of silence goes by before Kenny hears a noise coming from inside the bathroom. It has him on alert, calling out your name as he knocks on the door, then repeating his call when you don’t answer immediately. At least he hadn’t heard any gagging or any other noise that would indicate you were sick, but the situation still has him on the edge.

“I’m ok,” your voice comes muffled from the other side but still brings him a level of relief, it doesn’t last long though. “It was a small miscalculation,” you reassure him as you open the door, but it doesn’t quite work as you stumble once more just as you step out of the bathroom.

Kenny is quick to catch you, your hands falling to his large chest as he steadies you on your feet again. His eyes scan your face as you step on your hurt leg, discomfort clear as day even as you try to minimize it. You hold onto the door frame for support and once Kenny is sure you won’t fall again he drops to look at your ankle. The heavy boots you are wearing don’t let him see much, but as his fingers press against your joint you hiss, and he can feel that something is badly swollen under there.

“Yep,” Kenny responds, voice serious as he gets up again, “that’s it, I’m taking you to your hotel room, can’t really leave you like this.”

You grunt, tone rough from the pain you were trying to mask. “Kenny, it’s fi-”

“Don’t give me an it’s fine,” he cuts you off, any playfulness leaving his voice as he stares directly into his eyes, “I can see it isn’t. Even through the boots, I can tell your ankle is swollen. Listen, if you really want me to drop it, I will, you can stay here. But do you really wanna risk falling out there in the middle of the party? And then risk staying out of the ring for a month?”

There is a long second of a heavy and defeated silence as you avoid his eyes. Kenny knows you don’t want to go with him, you don’t want to accept his help. He wishes he didn’t need to press, to put the both of you in this situation, but there isn’t much that can be done. And he really hopes you don’t force him to leave you alone right now.

“Listen,” you turn your eyes back to him, they are raw and filled with something that he can’t quite tell, a mix of vulnerability, distrust and pain that breaks his heart, “if you are doing this ‘cause you think I’m going to -”

“I don’t think anything,” he breathes in deep, voice falling close to a whisper as his brows form a crease above his shaken blue eyes, “and I know where you are going with this, but hell, I don’t even care if you are going to still hate me after this, I’m not even trying to get you to forgive me, I just wouldn’t feel good with myself leaving you out here drunk and hurt to fend for yourself.”

There is a pause as you consider his words, he can see you swallowing hard and almost touch the weariness that grips at your mind. It hurts him, but he understands where it comes from, and he understands right now isn’t about how he feels. He knows you are well aware of your drunken state, and just how open it leaves you. It’s understandable that you wouldn’t want to be around him right now, but you both have no other choice.

“Look, I know you,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair, “I know you are going to hide this from everyone else. And the only people I trust to help, well,” he pauses for a moment, running a hand over his face as he gestures to the party still going on, “Nick hasn’t noticed shit ‘cause he is spending time with his wife and Matt has already left the building. Fuck, you can still hate me tomorrow when you wake up cozy in your hotel room, but if I leave now and discover later that you got a broken ankle after this party, I’m gonna feel real bad for not helping.”

Kenny is breathing hard as he finishes his words. Part of you doesn’t want to listen, screaming for you to just leave, walk out and make him prove what he meant when he said he’d drop it. But you knew he was right. The pain on your ankle was only getting worse and you were too drunk to be walking around like this right now. You’d seen Nick with his wife, they were happy and you’d rather not cut their good time short. Now, with Matt having already left, it was really only you and Kenny.

You bite your lip, avoiding his eyes for a long second as a heavy stillness hangs over you. Sighing, you look back at him, blue eyes engulfing you in a strange feeling as you nod in agreement. “Ok,” the word is barely a whisper, but Kenny hears it, nodding back to you in acknowledgment.

“Alright then, I got my car in the parking lot,” he responds in a gentle tone, offering a small smile of reassurance.

You try to walk forward, taking slow, tentative steps. But the pain in your ankle flares up again, making you wince as you stumble forward, Kenny’s warm hands catching you by the shoulders. You reach out and hold onto his bicep, trying to steady yourself as you step forward. Still, it helps very little and you wince, grunting in rage at your uncooperative body. Before you can notice it, Kenny lowers his body and you can feel him pull your hand towards his shoulders.

“Come on,” he mutters, urging you to accept his help.

You still take a second to consider before finally giving in. Your ankle hurt and you were tired and all you wanted was for this night to be over. And right now, Kenny was your best bet for that. As much as you hated it, these were the cards you were dealt. You slide your hand over his broad shoulders, holding on as you wait for him to lift you from the side so he could help you walk. Except, he had other ideas.

Kenny pulls you by the hand, swiftly placing your body on his back, arms slung over his shoulders. Lowering himself a bit more, he adjusts you in place before hooking his hands under your knees, pulling your legs up and straightening his posture. With a quick motion, he pulls you up on his back, curving forward not to let you fall. You were still dazed by the alcohol and the sudden shift in position certainly didn’t help, but you still managed to catch your grip on his shoulders as he got up.

“What are you doing?” You almost shrieked as your body shook with the movement, holding tight to his shoulders, fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt.

“Faster this way,” he said, adjusting the position of your legs around his sides as he began walking towards the doors at the end of the hall, “besides it takes the weight off of your ankle, let’s try not to make it worse.”

“Humiliating,” you mumble, earning a laugh from Kenny that reverberates into your body.

“Well,” he shrugs, pausing for a second as you grunt, “you should have just worn the brace.”

Kenny shrugs a little, and you can feel the movements of every muscle in his broad shoulders. Part of you wants to rebuke him, fight out of his grip, tell him you didn’t need help, but you felt too tired, and your ankle was really hurting after the whole night. He was right, the bastard, and now he was helping you, despite not really having a reason to actually care. Kenny wasn’t exactly the one person you’d think to help, and yet, here he was. However, that was a complex thought that you were too drunk to untangle.

Breathing in, you accept your fate and try to calm down, no use overthinking when the alcohol still had your mind hazy. You relax your grip around his shoulders, fingers releasing their death hold on the soft fabric of his button up. Kenny walks in silence with you on his back, the only sound being his shoes hitting the floor. The quiet has you hyper aware of the warmth of his body against you and the smell of his skin so close to yours. You can feel the movement of the muscles in his back, time his breathes by their rhythmic expansion.

He was larger now than before, broader than back when you were together. It’s not like you hadn’t noticed it, but only now, seeing it from up close, the difference actually downed on you. You could see the way his shirt tightens around his size, fabric stretching over his broad shoulders and thick arms. You could feel his muscles straining under your weight, even though Kenny made carrying you seem effortless.

Getting to the end of the hallway, he pushed one of the double doors open with his feet and stepped off into the parking lot. The air outside felt cold, and though you knew it never bothered Kenny, he still sped up his pace. Soon you were met with his car, he opened the door and unceremoniously dropped you in the passenger seat before heading to the driver’s side.

“Alright,” he spoke softly just as the doors clicked shut, looking at you, one hand gripping the wheel as the other turned the keys, the motor instantly roaring to life, “let’s get you to your hotel then.”

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popculturebuffet · 8 months

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Beetlemania: Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle Volume 7 #1-7 review) (Patreon Review/comissoin for Brotoman.exe)

Welcome back all you happy beetlemaniacas to beetlemania, my look at the three men to wear the mask.. and at last we've come to the breakout of the bunch, the latest and co-greatest, the one whose movie debut inspired this whole project, Mr. Jaime Reyes.

Out of the three Beetles, Jaime has gotten the most appearnces in other media. His two biggest roles were in Batman Brave and the Bold, where he was one of the most featured guest stars, eventually joining that shows version of the Justice League International, with Ted also getting some apperances. More on that next week. He was the centerpiece of Young Justice's second season, with the reach, the beings behind his armor, being the driving force of that season's plot and from what I can tell he's still been decently featured in later seasons. He's also shown up on smallville , justice league actions and in dc's direct to video teen titans movie before they killed off that universe and yes it still bothers me.

But before we can get into who Jaime is, we have to ask whatever happened to ted kord? Short answer...

But when have I EVER taken the short route when I can ramble a bit?

So around the mid point of his solo book, Ted joined the Justice League International. This is where I met my boy and where most people met ted, Ted being thrown in there, along with the later addition of Captain Atom, to show off DC's charlton cast.

JLI was a diffrent sort of justice league book. Most of the big 7 weren't avaliable, with Wonder Woman and Superman busy being rebooted, flash now being Wally West who wasn't ready for it, and Hal Jordan and Aquaman

So with just Batman and Martian Manhunter representing the old guard, writers Keith Giffen and JM Dematis decided to go in a diffrent direction; Make it funny. The comic would be both a sitcom and superhero action with real stakes and status quo changes.. but also batman punching the team's green lantern and ronald regan loving macho dumbass Guy Gardner in the face after Guy challenged the goddamn batman to a one on one fist fight, sans ring.

Have I mentioned JLI is one of my faviorite comics of all time and something i'm LONG OVEDUE covering in some form? Well I have now.

The book was a hit for most of it's run and a fan faviorite for years and had both a great legacy for ted.. and some cruddy after effects. The good was that it kept him in the public eye for some time: Ted was on the team from the beginning to the end of Giffen and Dematis run and into the 90's, including Death of Superman. He also gained his best friend and comedic other half Booster Gold out of the deal, a janitor who traveled back in time with some future tech to make himself a superhero and promote the shit out of himself and whoever paid him to promote the shit out of them. It left ted a fan faviorite for generations and guaranteed he woudln't be forgotten.

The problem was a LOT of people were idiots about the bok and assumed because it was jokey the characters within were jokes. I mean the team wasn't immune to some pretty.. bleh characterizations: Power Girl was an angry man hating sterotype of a feminist as opposed to being an actual feminist now a days, Animal Man was routinely mocked despite Grant Morrision working wonders and ole billy batson was routinely but of the joke as he was well. a 12 year old in a childs body to us but a childish man to everyone else.

As a result many didn't really think to use ted after. There was an attempt at using the charlton characters that fell flat, but otherwise Ted's only real big run I can think of post justice league was in the pages of Birds of Prey, where he showed up having retired and nursing a massive crush on barbra gordon, so do most people attracted to women , can't blame him. The two had good chemistry but ultimately with the spectre of dick "King of all tush's" grayson looming, Ted never had a shot.

So ted was left off to the side, showing up for jli reunions but otherwise unused... until Infinite Crisis. In a fit of irony that had to be intetional, while it's predecessor brought ted into this world.. the leadup to it's sequel would take him out of it.

And thus we come to countdown to infinite crisis, a one shot leading into four mini series that lead into the event comic infinite crisis. CTIC is infamous to some: it portrays ted as a joke in the superhero community and pretty gruseomly kills off an infinite character. And as someone who hates killing off a b or c list character for the shock.. I think his death absoltuely works and is one of the most tragic and well written deaths in the dc canon and lets Ted go out on a high note.

The diffrence between this and say the slaughter of the freedom fighters or the various titans c-list deaths in the book proper is simple: Weight. Ted's death is given a lot of build up, weight, tragedy and is something that is never forgotten afterwords and has a serious impact on several characters.

So ted finds a conspiracy involving Maxwell Lord, formerlly the comically money hungry benefactor behind the jli now a megalomanical supervillian bent on killing all metahumans and superheroes except himself using the OMACs, a last resort batman built after he found out the justice league mindwiped him.

The takeaway is ted found out and with booster injured, Babs busy with a lot of shit, and no one taking him seriously, Ted was left to his own.. and sadly as seen above Max beat the shit out of him, tried to flip him and then shot him in the head. But again part of what makes it work.. is that Ted goes out on his own terms. He could've just given up, he knew going in he had no real chance of winning , no idea what he was facing when he did, and no one to back him up.. but he didn't. He didn't give up because that's not who he is. that's not the man who put on this mask. That's not the man dan asked to put on the mask. He began his career trying to stop a threat only one othe rperson knew about.. and ended it the same way. And it was THANKS to his tragic death everyone else was able to unravel things in time. As a result wonder Woman was able to snap the bastards neck before he killed superman, see above gif, and Lord was stopped.

Problem was Brother Eye, the AI Batman built to create and control the omacs was still mostly loose and the omacs copoted by the big bad of infinite crisis, Alexander Luthor, relelated to exactly who you think's.. alternate good counterpart from a mirror universe. Thankfully Ted's devistating loss inspired Booster to do something, so he went back to the future, grabbed as much info as he could, declared "never again" and found the scarab, which had ended up in el paso on the back of one Jaime Reyes and recutied him since he was invisible to brother eye. With a team of other heroes they saved the world from batman's greatest blunder.

The questions remained though. Who WAS this kid wearing the armor? What happened to him after? And how did he feel about the weight now on his shoulders? All important questions abou tot be answered as we dig into the first arc of Jaime's Solo, Shellshocked.

This comic comes from us from Writers John Rogers and Jm. Demattis. JMD of course co wrote jli, while Rogers is a screenwriter whose written a few comics and later would take sole writing credit here for this run and is part of the reason it slaps so much.

We begin with our hero landing in the desert, having no idea what's going on as he's attacked by captain punched in the face himself Guy Gardner, whose response to Jaime putting up a shield to defend himself after Guy shouts at him "WHAT ARE YOU" is

So an average first meeting with Guy all things considered. We flash back to Jaime's life before he got super armor and had a guy trying to kill him while he looks like he just.. badly wants to go home. The art here by Cully Hamner is fucking awesome and hamner also designed jaime's now iconic outfit, complete with having his mask look similar to a luchadors. It's gorgeous stuff and while Ted had the cool bug eyed goggles and giant ship, Jaime really looks insectoid. while still giving his mask enoough expression.

So in the flashback we meet one of the best parts of the book, Jaime's best friends Paco and Brenda. Paco is a boisterious loudmouth with a heart of gold while Brenda is a type a trying to encourage the other two to study more. Paco has shown up in the brave and the bold but the two don't get adapted much.. including, disapoitningly , for the film , with other characters seeming to take up their rolls instead, paticually Jaime's sister taking paco's roll as she was aged up for the film. I don't hold it against the film makers hard: as much as I miss them I get them trying to both do their own thing and not having room for them, focusing more on his family. Their might be room in sequels, one can hope.

For the comics though I like the two a lot and through every attempted revivival creators have been smart to keep them in it. They both provide a nice shoulder for jamie, Paco being his more fun and games type buddy, while Brenda keeps him grounded. While this type of trio, moderate voice of reason who has to pay referree to a smarty pants and a loudmouth isn't new in fiction, Paco and Brenda feel like real people. Their conversation feels like two real friends arguging with Jamie understandably tired of being their refree.

Things take a turn when Paco is judo throwingly dickish, sniping at Brenda she "thinks she can become a lawyer".. and rightly gets tossed on his ass for it. Brenda also takes akkido.. though the why is heartbreaking as she let's it slip her dad hits her. I also like the diffrence in where the two want to go" Paco dosen't care about school becaues he knows he can't afford college and has to make his own way, while Brenda desperatley hopes to because she has no other option to escape her abuser.. or so she thinks but we'll table that for now. For now Jamie finds the scarab. If your curious HOW Dan's scarab got here, he had it for a while, it seemingly blew up when it reinamainted dan from the dead to fight Ted , and then it somehow ended up on the rock of eternity. Then gods vengance got horny and then got angry and blew it up, and here we are.

We cut back to guy breifly and .. it's more of Jamie getting beaten up as his armor reacts on it's own to pull out canon to defend itself. Then we cut back.. but before we do.. I have to comment on how jarring this is. The scenes themselves aren't bad: the past stuff provides valuable info on who jamie is , his family, his friends, lots of ogod setup and the fight with guy IS necessary: not only is his over the top reaction to the scarab foreshadowing, but it leads to one of the best scenes in the entire series later on when he comes back about a year later.

It just feels a bit jarring here: even having read infinite crisis it feels incredibly abrubt and entirely unfriendly to anyone who didn't.. and trust me as someone back then who , while not reading this series monthly (that came years later when I finally got the chance via comixology unlimited) was picking up books week to week as a high school dork, not everyone could afford the big event series. I'm not doubting most comic book fans had read this.. but to someone just picking up the trade without knowing what an infinite crisis is, it's a bit of a head flip. They DO explain jamie's time in infinite crisis and fill us in on that stuff, it's just a lot to take in getting into the book wether you know the event or not.

Jamie banters with his kid sister milagro, in the comics as I hinted at earlier only about 4 or 5 versus slightly younger than jamie in the movie. The two banter, his mom tells them not to fight (And she knows because it's tuesday), and he goes to help his dad. It's a nice little scene that helps establish the dynamics: he and his sister fight but in a very natural sibling way (Jamie was annoyed she asked him to help with the remote for the 80th time) and his mom is.. well see above: she's tough but entirely fair.

He then goes to see his dad, and we see a scene tha'ts new to us but feels like ti's happened a thousand times: Jamie's dad's car shop isn't doing well but he refuses to let his son eithe rdrop out to work shifts or even do more with school, just wanting him to be a kid longer. I'ts.. heartbreaking and well done.

We then cut back to the fight. Guy is winning.. but breaks the face of jamie's armor so he sees it's just a kid and REFUSES to keep fighting despite his ring's recommendation. This is a REALLY awesome character moment that shows the duo really get guy. Not a suprise form Dematis obviously, but it still shows h'es not the same asshole he used to be. He's still.. well guy, seen here leaving earth for a tour of duty on oa with his usual grace and dignity

That comment tells me Batman''s seen that ass before Batman knows an ass that needs a shaving for he is the night.

Guy explains why he went nuts.. for once with an actual reason: the ring went fucking crazy, and wanted to kill the shit out of Jamie, but Guy isn't a killer.. which is a bold faced lie but hey you try telling a kid. Guy says he'll be back.. and isn't seen for a year in publishing time and months in story. Look he has a lot of people to moon and not a lot of time before he was due back on oa, cut him some slack. The one important bombshell though is contrary to previous lore up to this point, the Scarab.. isn't magic. Which isn't a shock to anyone whose seen jamie in anything else, but is still a nice way to drop that bit of retcon. And I do like it: it dosen't horribly contridcit previous stories and if anything Lewis Lovhag made a VERY good case in his blue beetle retrospective for how it all ties together.

So the scarab retracts, Jamie is left naked and in pain and we cut back to the past. The scarab bonds with him and he speaks it's language breifly.

Jamie then walks with Paco and brenda and runs into a strange girl.. a strange girl who turns out to hav eno eyes. While his friends pass it off as jamie starring at .. something else, it's clear he saw something. It's part of the scarabs power set naturally.

So we end the issue with Jamie naked and having no idea what to do next. We pick up exactly from there next issue: jamie is naked and wondering through the desert wondering how the hell he'll explain this to his parents, when we flash back to the past again. Their at school and Jamie once again sees thigns that arne't there. We find out why as it turns out Probe, the girl from earlier's friend has a power that allows him to make people undedticable. Curious about his own powers they want to invite him to join.. but the scarab attacks probe some how and, not knowing it wasn't Jamie's idea, her friend vows revenge. Back in the present, we get a neat scene as Jamie , with no other options rifles through a guys trunk only for a guy to point a rifle at him. The guy in question being white and having a sweet trucker hat, you'd assume he's going to be a dick.. but in a nice subversion and an even nicer random act of kindness.. the guy simply gives Jamie some clothes, offers to call his folks and is just in general a sweetheart. Given the series takes place in texas, el paso to be specific it's just a nice show that not all people are ignorant monsters. Some people will just.. help someone because it's the right thing as they should.

We get one last flashback, as Jamie gets targeted by Probe's friends we get another breif superhero fight with the scarab activating on it's own. Gain it's a bit.. chatoic, but on second read.. it feels a lot more deliberate than it did. The fight not only shows just how dangerous this thing is when left to it's own devices, but even the posse's leader is starting to tell that whatever Jamie is he isn't a baseline metahuman.

Back in the present day, the friendly trucker man who I genuinely wish we see again some day, such a peach talks to Jamie and tries to convince him his parents will be fine. Jamie insists on sneaking in.. and finds a freaked out Milagro in his bed... and sadly for our boy and his poor family.. that isn't the ONLY suprise awaiting our hero.

It's a hell of a reveal and one that's entirely well done and set up.

To properly explain it I have to get into DC's linewide status quo at the time. Blue Beetle came out in the aftermath of the big event I mentioned, infinite crisis. Heroes lived, a LOT of heroes died, and in the aftermath Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman all stepped away for a bit: Superman was depowered in the final fight of the series, Wonder Woman wanted to reconnect with humanity despite being perfectly connected under any writer who wasn't Geoff Johns, and Batman, after all his paranoid antics leading up to it, decided to take a year off with his adopted sons Dick and Tim. Damien didn't exist yet if you were curious. And so every dc book jumped ahead

Complete with this nifty Sticker. Every book shifted it's status quo with a year having passed and like any good time skip left questions as to WHY things changed while we weren't looking. One Year Later was my first time skip and to this day is one of the best i've seen in comics. At the time I was reading Teen Titans, which shifted to a whole new roster in the wake of superboys death and a lot of turnover off screen, adding in two of my faviorite titans Ravenger and my boy eddie aka Kid Devil, who I'm bound to cover one of these days. It was really good stuff. Other books had roster changes, massive status quo shifts and all sorts of good stuff and most used it beautifully. It's what gave me a love of time skips and what you can do with that.

Given Jamie didn't come in till Infinite Crisis he wasn't obligated to use the gimmick and looking at his first two issues, they cleverly DIDN'T plaster the sticker on there, as to not give away the twist. There was no way a reader would know this had a one way time jump going in and no way a modern reader will know reading the trade. It also means they didn't HAVE to use it.. but i'm glad they did: Jamie being gone and his family and friends dealing without him leaves a massive gap and seeing how it was before allows us to discover how it is now alongside our boy. Some truly magificent storytelling.

We open issue 3 with..

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I'm not kidding... we open with Peacemaker, complete with tatoo's. .talks about dreaming 'Blue dreams".. while casually beating up some guys holding up a convience store. He has a friend in the area he just dosen't know it.. god help him.

Back with Jamie, his mom.. dosen't belivie a word and neither does his dad, thinking it was drugs or something. His mom even calls it "this fairy tale". Now in MOST stories i'd get it: it's a LOT to take in and a lot to believe.

The problem is in the details: when Jamie disappeared.. the world was in danger: robots were swarming the sky, an army of supervillians escaped. There was mass destruction all over the world and an army of superheroes engaged in a massive battle for the fate of it. All of this happening around the EXACT same time Jamie disappears in a world where superheroes are entirely common and have been a fact of life since world war II. It dosen't wreck the story for me, Jamie's mom is fairly practical she probably didn't want to kid herself, I get her not thinking that till now.. but it's still VERY weird that none of them think MAYBE this is true.

So with really no other choice.. Jamie armors up. Which solves the "she thinks you were on drugs problem: but the result.. is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in comics and the one thing I was least looking forward to re-reading this story, a scene that's gotten me EVERY time.

It hurt to even put that on there. And in a lesser book Bianca's thought wouldn't have any nuance... but as Alberto explains and somehow makes this hurt even MORE

It's a beautifully heartbreaking segment and part of what makes this time jump work so well: Jamie's disappearnce had a tangible, painful effect. It's an exploration of what just taking ONE person out of the world for that long would do. I also love the end of what I showed you. Alberto explains to his son why Bianca's doing this.. but assures him he's still his boy and this will pass. I also like that they don't just have bianca be evil .. it's simply the SHOCK of all this getting to her, of having to come to the grips with the fact that Jamie is a person.

So he has Jamie go out for a bit, let his mom work through stuff.. though he pointedly dodges Jamie's question about him now walking with a cane. For now Jamie still hasn't gotten a grip on what the suit can do, and tests it, using arm blades and the canon from earlier before popping back naked again. Thankfully this time the Scarab shows it can make him some clothes.

So Jamie goes looking for his friends.. but both places he tries sputter out: Brenda's moved during the year and Paco isn't at school. Turns out though the Scarab can track anyone Jamie's met, and he acknowledges how creepy that is before heading for the border.

So turns out Paco is WORKING with Damper of the posse, the guy who makes the invisible stuff happen.. but just as their on the bridge here come the men in black, and the MIBS are working for someone named la dama and have cable sized laser rifles. Thankfully before they can blow a hole in paco and damper, Jamie swoops in just in time and blocks it. The MIBs decide "Fuck it this guy wants it big willie style" and attack jamie who struggles to get the scarab NOT to murder them, but manages to take them out then swoops off with Hector since homeland security are you know.. homeland security.

Jamie explains things to hector before stopping on a roof with him.

It's a touching and MUCH needed bit of cahtarsis. After going through a LOT of shit in the past three issues.. Jamie's finally given a proper welcome home.

Paco also helps with Brenda... turns out things got even WORSE with her dad and the bastard put her in the ICU. As paco brilliantly put it, there apparently really IS a god as a week later he died, and Brenda's beloved great aunt took her in. Paco's still visiting but hasn't told her about the posse. Jamie's reunion with brenda is just as sweet if a bit .. less huggy.

Yup.

So we open issue 2 and Jamie is doing his homework. He finds ted doing this without powers cool.. until he gets to the bullet in the brain part. Clearly a bit unnerved he moves on to dan, who at least gives him a clue, the scarab gave dan powers.. but he wonders why it skipped over ted. That's when he gets a visitor on the web: Oracle.

For those who haven't seen this version of her, Oracle is barbra gordon. During the killing joke the joker , wanting to drive Comissioner Gordon to madness, shot barbara. That wouldve been the end in many cases but not liking this one bit, writer John Ostrander turned her into oracle, who works as most superheroes go to help line, paticuarlly the bat family and her own operatives the birds of prey. She TRIES to recruit Jamie: Ted was her friend and this makes it her buisness... but instead of opening with "Ted Kord was my friend I just want to help" or something like that which might not have worked but at least would've softballed you know, hyjacking his monitor, Jamie instead blows up at her, mad the other heroes didn't find him (In her defense they had no way of knowing he was missing as Booster never told them and isn't around due to his fate, revealed in the series covering the missing year 52, not being known at the time this comic was published),. Jamie blasts the screen and tells her to go to hell while Black Canary, who is both barbra's best friend na dmain field operative needles her a bit. She likes Jamie though and it's clear she gets it: to Jamie the superhero community abandoned him, and heroes don't do that, and he simply needs time to process the fact their humans and they fuck up.. and that guy DOSEN'T represent them. Though Babs didn't HELP with that one by saying "if he wanted you dead you'd be dead" which is factually true but dosen't exactly calm down the scared teenager babs.

Anyways Jamie's mom takes him to the doctor where they find nothing. Jamie points out that's a good thing: if he HAD found the scarab, which can retreat into Jamie, there would've been a LOT of questions and possibly the government on their asses. We do see Bianca's come around a bit: after jamie apologizes Bianca tells him he has no need to: it's not her fault and she has to stop thinking that.

We cut to La Dama's place. While Brenda leaves for school, La Dama talks with her minon Diviner... and given he oggles brenda a bit before La Dama just bluntly tells him if he does it again he dies, no metaphors either she just straight up says she'll have him killed. Direct. I like that. But Diviner is an ass, but he's a useful ass so La Dama wants him to test the new beetle, try and break him. See if he's of any use since as far as she knows, the Scarab is still magic.

And reinforcing my point from earlier, Jamie getting back into school.. was incredibly easy. A lot of weird shit happened around the crisis so he just had to fill out a form. It's a great gag and makes perfect since. All Bianca had to do was say he disappeared in a beam of light. Brenda shows up , getting out a half our earlier as naturally having a rich aunt means she can get a nicer school and the three riff like nothing happened. Diviner finds Jamie easily.. but realizes Brenda being there complicates things, so he decides to stage a false flag attack: test jamie with a monster and save her to score points with his boss at the same time.

They go to their old hangout spot we haven't seen before but fair enough, we just met these guys. Jamie asks them point blank: what happened to his dad. Both are shocked no one told him and while Jamie got the cliff notes version, he got hurt at the garage, he knows their not telling him the whole truth.

And shockity shock, they weren't. His dad got shot. Turns out the unreliable guy Jamie was trying to fill in for... was in with drugs and Alberto got shot. Jamie.. blames himself. He was going to get to work summer hours. Thankfully Brenda says fuck that noise..well more don't blame yourself, this isn't a mature readers book.. and in a nice moment Paco.. agrees for once.

It's not hard to see why Jamie's connecting those dots as he lays them out: he disappeared, the cops questioned paco and brenda, her dad nearly beat her to death as a result, Paco joined the posse... but Paco makes it VERY clear it's not his fault.

It's a brilliant moment that shows for all his bravado.. paco is very EMOTIONALLY intelligent.

Then some groots attack. Well ents but they look grooty enough. Jamie tries to fight them but the scarab won't damage nature. Foreshadowing for later. For now Jamie takes command and points out when it complains there are plenty of trees, tracking where the magic is coming from.

Jamie is able to stop it and it foils Diviner's attempt to seem like a hero.. that and Brenda KNOWING him, knowing he always hits on her aunt, and not trusting him whatsoever. The fact he uses the word "ruffians" to describe jamie and paco dosen't help.

And with this Jamie's full circle knows. It was one of the big word of mouth things I heard in wizard magazine and other places back in the day... and rightfully so. While most teen super hero works have the hero hide it, especially during the 2000's cartoon teen superhero boom that was going on at the time, Blue Beetle.. has everyone find out within issues 3 and 4. Jamie HAS to reveal it to his parents as a result of his missing year and Paco and Brenda learn organically as he has to save both of them in ways that don't feel contrived: Paco was already working with some metahumans and the attack on him introduces la dama.. and makes it a big reveal that this crime boss is Brenda's aunt and guardian, while Diviner was attacking Jamie anyway. It allows jamie's FAMILY to deal with this situation with him instead of him having to hide it and the books better for it.

Am I saying EVERY hero needs to tell their loved ones? no, if you have a godo reason for them to hide it in your story your good. But if there isn't they should know. It's why most 2000's superhero animated shows, while not telling the parents in most, had the friends know at a minimum. It's more intresting to explore how this effects those around them rather than just having them have to hide it.

So the issue ends with Jamie having Paco call on the posse for a meeting.

Issue 5 begins with Jamie waiting for the posse. He ends up instead meeting the Phantom Stranger. For those curious the Phantom Stranger is.. the phantom stranger is...

I TRIED looking it up but he has no concrete origin. He's a mysteroius man in a trenchcoat and fedora who appears related to magic stuff or to help someone with a critical turning point. For instance brave and the bold had he and the spectre, the horny ghost of god's vengance, wager over wether batman would kill Joe Chill or not. Golly this review is giving me a LOT of ideas for OTHER reviews.

At any rate he says Jamie's not what he thought he was, and then bounces. The posse's rep, Damper the invisible guy from the flashback with probe is ycordial: as long as Jamie dosen't try anything their cool. Turns out Paco is actually really close to him: As he revealed to jamie earlier they aren't into drugs or anything, and as it turns out blocker dude was so upset because one of the other posse members he hurt was his girlfriend who since then has had a baby . And since Paco explained it wasn't a concious decision on Jamie's part, there square for now. He also finds out the stranger was invisible to everyone else and asks the scarab to tell him next time.. and finds out they can't hear the scarab either. Though i'm sure the voices thing went down better as Jamie HAS explained at this point the thing has a mind of it's own. It turns out though a guy working for Diviner is following them.

While that's going on Brenda has lunch with her aunt, who asks her about the boys. She also knows about the Posse though Brenda vouches for Paco, telling them he just hangs out with them. La Dama also wrongly assumes Brenda has a crush on jamie and I like changing this dynamic up: normally in this sort of trio the main character and the girl of the group have the unreseloved romantic tension. Here.. well..

I love the art here too. It communciates very well that no , Brenda's not denying she has feelings.. she's just utterly mortified anyone remotely thinks she has feelings that aren't there.

So while the Posse gives jamie ten minutes to talk, Divinier begins his plan, summoning a religious hunchback to do his bidding

Said hunchback uses harlot a lot and is easily tricked into stealing Damper (Shield guy) and Bonita's baby... and i'm suddenly wishing firefist would come back stupid outfit and all.

It turns out Probe is missing and we find out why while also finding out more about La Damia and the Posse: La Damia was originally just a coyote, someone who helps people from the border in exchange for cash or drug trafficing. Some are more benevloent than others, and ran a whole orginzation of them but has gone up in the world over the time skip.

She's also decided after the crisis she has to step it up hence gathering magical artifacts and metas, collecting them for her own team. And it also turns out Paco was ENTIRELY correct about the posse being good guys and harmless: they run stuff like bingo, smuggling and getting people across the border, but as Paco vouched no drugs or anything serious. They do crime.. but it's only because with no real superhero presence down El Paso way, no one on either side of the border is looking out for the little guy. Paco is one of their non meta guys, used for the more day to day stuff. They also figure Beetle's already being "tested".. before bonita rushes in talking about the hunchback taking her baby and accusing Jamie

We cut back to lunch: La Dama continues to grill Brenda, but Brenda both admits everyone likes jamie and gives the beam of light story: while La Dama dosen't buy it Brenda gives good reason for her loyalty: jamie was there for her when she showed up brused at school from her dad, took her lying about it in stride and simply offered genuine support... and with that La Dama clearly realizes she has an issue as she's targeting her adopted daughter's best friend.

Everyone else gets her calmed down.. and Jamie offers to get her back. It's a nice chekovs gun: since he met them earlier, that means he can track the baby using their combined dna. While one of the posse questions if Jamie's a superhero now Jamie dosen't know about that but says "It's a baby, I can't let anyone hurt a baby". While jamie may not WANT to be a hero and given all the shit it's brought down on his life, no one can possibly blame him... it's moments like this and the stuff mentoind by brenda that show WHY he's a hero. Without a moments hestiation he helps two people using something he really dosen't like simply because a child is in danger and he's the best bug for the job. It's jamie's core feature: his heart> he's just a good kid who loves his family ,friends and tries to do the right thing. That's it. It's why his friends and family are so key to his character: they show off he's human, he jokes, he fights with his sister, he's a normal teen.. but also show he's an honest good kid who does wheaver he can to help them, letting Brenda have an escape from her abusive home, helping his parents however he can, just being there. Jamie Reyes is one of the purest, most lovable heroes in the dc universe and this one moment encpasulates.. all of that.

Jamie fights the hunchback of notre slut shaming but has a problem since you know, he has to also rescue the baby then hold it. He traps the guy under a truck but it barely slows him down. thankfully help arrives: Peacemaker shows up on motorcycle and grabs the baby. Which is badass. but he calls jamie the blue monster.

Jamie is able to easily beat quasimodick though ,as the guy WANTS to die and the scarab drains it clean, despite jamie's wishes.. and as it turns out the news was watching. The whole world now knows there's a new blue beetle.. for better or worse. Something I want to note before we wrap up the arc proper next issue: ther'es a runner that while jamie has great power.. he has NO idea to fight. And I like that. He gets by with his gadgets and such but it creates a nice contrast between the previous two beetles: As we've seen while Dan Garret had powers, he was a brawler, while Ted was an acrobat and used movement as his primary weapon. It creates a nice contrast that jamie really only has his brain, much like ted, and brute force at first: no finnese simply because he hasn't had TIME to learn it yet.

So we come to the finale of our introductory arc, and yes ther'es still another issue to cover after, i'll explain when we get there.

We cut to some time after last issue with Jamie having found La Dama's compound. Turns out he didn't know he could do the tracker thing himself, it's why he had to ask the posse about probe int he first place but now he can it was easy enough. He has Paco stay behind though.. not out of malice or anything but as Jamie rightly points out he's can fly ONE person out if things get dicey. They need an exit stratgey. And when paco worries if Jamie's just trying to protect him..

Our heroes sneak in.. but turns out La Dama naturally ha senors and their soon spotted. The place itself is.. paradise. A really nice garden, plenty of testing. It's clear while La Dama has been taking kids in.. she isn't stupid enough. I mean she still has grunka lunka dunkity darmed guards, but when the guy in charge talks to them he not only tells them they could've got vistors passes. A fight quickly breaks out as our heroes naturally don't assume the best of these guys and one of them spinner, who can swap powers being a dick to the posse dosen't help. A full fight breaks out whlie outside Paco is chasaed. We cut to La Dama who.. handles things well, simply wanting it calmed down and notably giving Spinner an infraction... more on her later as we cut to her other problem, said car chase as Paco tries not to die, while Jamie takes the head guy out of the dome.. and thus the Phantom Stranger finds what he was looking for. it's a lot at once. All good stuff though.

La Dama arrives and ends this nonsese. She also brings out Probe, who turns out is staying of her own free will. As Stranger, whose now visable to all puts it , it's the finest prison.. one of their own will. He's also here BECAUSE La Dama's been hiding magic people, but she counters it dosen't break rules as she's doing it to keep them safe. Which given every the majority of supervillians are still unionized under the society at this point and the goverment's track records includes "send a guy who was used for experiments because he had a rape and murder charge to deal with the new green lantern and hope he dosen't do somethign serial killery to her girlfriend and oh look what's in kyle rayner's fridge".

So Damper makes an offer; since la dama offers saftey, he promises they'll be safe now El Paso has it's own here: Jamie. and Since jamie has no intent to go anywhere and is a good kid he agrees despite just being volunteered for this. La Dama also agrees: they can come and go as they please

As you can probably guess, La Dama isn't pleased and has a one on one with Jamie, who recognized her as Brenda's aunt. She knows who he is as like Ted jamie isn't the best at keeping secrets.. in this case the fact the Blue Beetle showed up right after jamie disappeared with a very flimsy explination.. it's too obvious and it's clear earlier she was just trying to get Brenda to tell her. As for why she put in the effort he's a threat.. and she's not wrong: he upended a massive operation of hers simply by doing the right thing and so far dosen't have any idea what the hell he's doing.

But as you can tell by this point La Dama's smart and it's part of why I love this character so much: she's a crime boss and she's defintely doing some shady shit.. but she's not a horrible person. She genuinely cares from brenda and sh'es far from stupid when doing her dealings. She was kind to the various metas instead of imprsoning them and when faced with a superhero.. she simply makes an offer. And not "you need to work for me or else" like say the kingpin would a simple one: keep doing what your doing but don't fuck with my operations in a major way, which also neatly dosen't stop jamie from say stopping a dealer or a robbery or something if it's on her dime and he didn't know it, just stops him from dismantling them, which with his powers he likely could. She's still antagonistic, offering to paint him as a villian in the media if he does.. but Jamie shows he's not afraid: she does this, he'll tell brenda. He's clearly bluffing, La Dama can see it.. but the risk is too great not to agree. Also in case you were wondering if things were a bhit TOO concidental with Brenda's new happy life.. Jamie had the same thought...

Honestly I like that the crime boss in Jamie's life ISN'T some big kingpin style villian. And I love me some kingpin and his dc equivlent blockbuster. No question. But I like that La Dama.. isn't evil. Ruthless, a criminal and someone more than willing to kill yes, but she's complex: she loves her niece, and while she did kill her dad and it's mildly fucked up she did so given the son of bitch hit her regularly then beat her so bad she had to be hospitlized, I have absolutely no sympathy for him. She did what she had to and the complexites of that including what Brenda will think once she finds out, all nicely add some Drama. La Dama says Jamie won't be able to figure out the scarab without her resouces.. when Peacemaker enters and drops the bombshell.

And this is PART of why I wanted to cover issue 7: it ends on less of a cliffhanger. That and it ties up some necessary EMOTIONAL loose ends too.

So we open our last issue. Jamie recaps his landing to earth and has taken the Reyes Family, Paco and Brenda to the crater it left, with Alberto having them gather some soil samples his cousin can look at. I .. genuinely dont' think this comes up again.

MIlagro suggests retracing his steps.. but still recoils when her brother tries to touch her. It's painful to see. Peacemaker joins the group and understandably Alberto wonders what the strange man wants with his son. Turns out he got the scarabs database, i.e. the instruction manual and more, beamed into his head on a tour of duty. We get our first flashback to inifnite crisis. We also get a few nice bits: Jamie wonders what monster built brother eye with Bruce deflecting it onto Green Arrow. He also later tells them to say they met superman, it'll go down better.. and when we cut back he has. Well most of them take it okay

Speaking of Peacemaker , Alberto dosen't trust the strange tatooted man and isn't comforted by Peacemaker casually talking about working off the books during the dominon and qurac wars, both wars Alberto served in. It's both some nice character to find out alberto served, and something that leads to one of the series best moments later, and both of Alberto's tours are some nice dc continuity nods: The Dominon War was the DC crossover event Invasion! , where the earth was invaded by the dominators. It didn't have a ton of impact and I mostly know it for two reasons: there were tie ins at the time in most books , in paticular Wonder Woman, JLI, and Suicide Squad for me personally, and Doom Patrol's next relaunch came out of the event and it'd later be the origin story for Crazy Jane. god I also have to do some doom patrol content at some point. Not enough hours in the day I swear.

We also get Paco and Jamie's thoughts on the la dama thing: While Paco is worried she's Jamie's "nemesis" jamie.. is fine upholding the truce. La Dama has stopped the worst of her actions, could easily have him ground into paste if she wanted as she likely knows someone as powerful at him but with more experince, and is being good to brenda. There's no REASON to shake that hornet's nest for now.

We get the rest of what happened on Brother Eye: Dinah suggests blowing up the bitch, I forgot she'd already met Jamie at this point, and they blow it up.. and as we see it REALLY was accidental: the scarab cloaked itself upon seeing Jon Stewart and then Hal Jordan.. and thus our hearts get broken one last time ... this arc.

It's one of the best scenes in the whole run and one of the most powerful.. and as I hinted at the main reason WHY I wanted to do this issue. At last, Jamie fully has his family back with him.

As for why he went forward in time it's simple: Brother Eye was already out of synch with time, its's how the scarab could track him since it used similar technology as it's creators, but with Brother Eye busy exploding and everything chaotic Jamie got shifted out of time and phase and thus wound up a year later.

So everything's good right.. except.. peacemaker raises a VERY valuable point as we end on a cliffhanger I CAN live with.

And we'll get to that some other day as I intend to cover the rest of this series sometime on my own time.

For now though when I finally got to read this run last year.. Blue Beetle became one of my faviorite comics of all time. It was probably easy to tell given i heaped almost nothing but praise on it. It has SOME small growing pains but once we're firmly in the present and everything set the book just keeps going and tells a magnifcent coming of age story. It's not hard to see why DC keeps going back to Jamie or why they thought he could anchor his own movie: He's a wonderful, loveable character with a rich and fleshed out supporting cast. While Ted's death was tragic it paved the way for a book about family, legacy, duty and being who you are versus who people expect you to be. Blue Beetle is a masterpiece and there are trades collecting both halves of John Rogers run out now thanks to the film. Snap them up. This is good stuff and it only gets better. For now though that concludes the main portion of beetlemania, but tune in next week for more beetle as we focus on both boys as they get brave and the bold and we wrap up this retrospective. Thanks for reading.

#jaime reyes #blue beetle #ted kord #peacemaker #barbra gordon #guy gardner #batman #milagro reyes #alberto reyes #bianca reyes #paco #brenda del vecchio #the posse #la dama

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postwarlevi · 1 year

Text

Masquerade

Content: 2.4k words of trying to figure out who is the one you are meeting at a party. (barely proof read! Forgive me. A little rushed and simple but please enjoy)

"A ball?" You wonder.

"A masquerade!" Sasha squeals.

"At whose place?" Did you hear right?

"The new girl, Pieck!"

"And, we're invited?" You don't know her very well.

"Everyone is invited!" Sasha was not officially invited but assumes at this point it's an open invitation.

"Well, it's not at her place. She's renting a hall out." Sasha clarifies now that she's taken it down a notch.

"Oh?" You question. That sounds expensive. Just where is she from?

"Don't worry! We're creative. Besides, no one I know has enough funds for an elaborate costume. Fabrics store, here we come!" And when Sasha says you're creative, she means you.

It all sounds fun and soon you here people talking about it and decide you'd like to go, so spend half an afternoon with Sasha and another friend Historia getting supplies.

The day before the party it's all anyone can talk about and you're busy putting costumes together.

"Okay, I need a break." You say after all the cutting and gluing and sewing. Most of your outfit is done and you still need to put accessories on the mask.

The three of you go to a local coffee shop and get some snacks, sitting on a comfy community couch.

"I haven't talked to anyone else lately, who else is coming?" You ask of some of the others you usually hang out with. Everyones been so busy it's hard to keep up. It's no wonder people are looking forward to tomorrow.

"Most everyone I think is going to be there." Sasha confirms she talked to Connie earlier.

The last week everyone you usually see and hang out with has been doing their own thing either separately or in other smaller groups and you haven't been able to keep up.

"Hello." You hear a sweet voice to the side of you and look up, seeing Pieck herself.

Even in the cooler weather she's in a long skirt and sandals. She seems a little odd but nice enough.

"I'm glad you are coming." She says with a smile.

"Us too, thank you so much!" Historia smiles back.

"Oh, I have something for you." Pieck says your name and you are shocked she even knows it.

"Thank you." You say taking an envelope from her.

Just than her name is called and she waves goodbye and goes towards a blonde man with slicked back hair who you realize has been staring.

So, her friends are peculiar too, apparently.

"What is it?" Historia asks excitedly.

"Why didn't I get one?" Sasha asks and Historia rolls her eyes and shushes her as you open the envelope to find a beautiful card.

"Thankfully you didn't." You say wide eyed as you read the first line. Sasha boyfriend would be none to happy otherwise.

It's from someone, you're not sure who, who would like to meet at the party.

"A secret admirer?!" Historia can't contain herself as she reads over your shoulder.

"Who?!" Sasha doesn't even hear the 'secret' part as she tries to snatch it out of your hand.

"Stop it!" You push her hand away and hold it closer as you read, trying not to blush.

"Hello milady…" It starts. And continues on about how this person feels about you, and that you're both going to be at the party and they will be waiting for you all night, and if you'd like to meet, as the clock strikes eleven all will be revealed if you are standing alone by the main centerpiece.

"Oh my gosh!" Historia and Sasha finally get you to read it out loud and can't stop gushing.

"Who do you think it is?" You ask them both.

You've never gotten anything like this and your nerves seem to be louder than any other emotion, no matter how nice this is.

The girls are more excited than you as you talk about this letter and as you make it back from the shop your hands can't seem to still enough for you to decorate your mask. Thankfully you have help though.

"Don't be nervous!" Historia says as she glues pieces for you.

"Easy for you to say!" You insist.

"Who do you hope it is?" Sasha asks THE question, instead of continuing guessing.

"I…don't know." Who could it be? There is one, maybe. But no, you won't let yourself jump right to that.

You think of those who are attached and rule them out. No Niccolo, Armin, Ymir.

Connie? No, you two are close friends, nothing more.

Jean? Same there. You two joke because you can and are comfortable.

Eren? Hmm… he's a flirt, but no. He's been in an on again off again relationship that no doubt would work out.

Reiner? You barely know him, but he's said hello a few times. He seems to have a thing for Historia though, much to Ymirs great dislike.

What about the the one staring at you today with Pieck? You don't even think you know his name.

Later with your costumes finished you say your goodbyes and somehow get a good night sleep, dreaming about what awaits.

"Hello! You look amazing!" The next evening Pieck greets you at the front door of the massive hall already holding many people.

You all match in simple ball gowns, Historia in red, Sasha in purple, and you in green, all dark tones with some black. Your masks match your dresses.

"You too!" Historia says as Pieck pulls her, then Sasha, and finally you, into a quick hug.

Pieck is dressed exquisitely in dark blue and silver and it's hard not to feel plain next to something that obviously was not stitched together by an armature. But, she seems sincere in her compliment.

You know Historia and Sasha feel good about your costumes and try not to be your own worst critic. Honestly, after taking a deep breath, you feel a little more optimistic.

As you all walk in Pieck puts a hand on arm. "Don't be nervous."

"So, you know." You have been wondering if she did.

"I know enough. They asked for a bit of help. I know it'll all work out." It's easy to believe her and you are more at ease and looking forward to enjoying your evening.

The hostess goes to greet more people multiple times before finally staying in the main room.

You're in awe at the decorations and other costumes. Everyone looks almost regal.

You stick with who you came with for a bit before they're swept away by their partners.

"We'll be around!" Historia promises not to leave you alone all night.

"Don't worry, go!" You smile and wave. You'll be fine.

You watch everyone dancing or talking and try to figure out who you know. It's hard to tell when everyones masks on.

"Pardon."

You turn to see a man holding out a white flower to you. Your heart skips but you realize it's too early and you are not at the right spot for your meeting.

"H-hello." You say hesitantly. He has the wrong person.

"For you." He pushes the flower towards you but you fist your hands, making him smirk.

"It's not from me." He explains.

Oh. Then, you notice his hair. The thing not hidden behind his outfit.

"Oh! You were with Pieck the other day!" The creepy staring one.

"Well, I'm with Pieck now." He bobs the flower up and down and you finally take it.

"You're in on this too?" You try not to blush but feel you might be a little red.

He gently takes your arm and leads you onto the dance floor. "I guess. I was told to keep you company for a bit."

Turning to face you he holds a hand out. "This alright?" He is asking you to dance.

"A little weird." You admit but, why not?

So without crushing the flower in one hand, he pulls you in hold.

"Names Galliard by the way." He's pretty sure you don't know that.

So you step and turn and dance and Galliard has a comment once in a while. Just when you're getting the hang of things the song changes and he stops on the edge of the dance floor.

"Well, I hope this wasn't too awkward for you. Good luck." He does a slight bow and you watch as he sprints over to and up the stairs where Pieck greets him with a kiss.

He pulls away and says something and they both turn and spot you, Pieck giving a wave and a smile.

You wave back as you are on your own again. Looking around you spot two blondes dancing which can only be Annie and Armin. You are pretty sure you hear Historias giggle somewhere but can't see her.

"Hello." And there's another voice, and you freeze again for a moment before turning.

"Connie?" You recognize him straight away and he laughs.

He also has a white flower to give you.

"You're in on this?" You raise an eyebrow and he shrugs.

"All I now is this is yours and may I have this dance?" He gives you the flower and you are dancing again.

"When did you get here?" You ask, relaxed with your friend.

You talk and waltz (not perfectly) and catch up from the last week.

And then, just like before, you see something click for him and a new song starts and he's got you off the floor.

"We'll hang this weekend, yeah?" Connie tells you and you watch as in the swarm of people he finds Niccolo and Sasha, making you chuckle.

What next?

"Good evening." You feel yourself smile at the new voice and giggle when you see who it is.

"Armin?!" He smiles back and hands you another white flower.

"What is going on?" You ask, looking around to see who else might be near.

"Annie knows why I'm here, come on." He lets you know his partner is cool with all this and Armin is smiling as much as you are.

"You know." You state and he nods but won't say anything more. So, he does know who it is.

White flower four comes from Reiner. The big guy is a little awkward on the dance floor but you don't mind.

The little bit you get to spend with him, you find out he's really very nice.

"We'll have to hang out sometime." He says.

"Yes. Thank you." You tell him. It's sweet of everyone to be doing whatever this plan is.

You are soon left alone again and just as you go to look at the standing clock to check the time, a pair of hands cover your eyes from behind.

"Not yet." A voice insists, making you sigh.

You turn to find bright green eyes and pulled back hair.

"Eren. Hi." You half expected to see him at some point.

"Number five." He's keeping count as well as he hangs you the next flower.

"How many more?" You ask and he shrugs.

"It's getting pretty late." He mentions as he takes you in hold.

How your flowers aren't getting smashed when you are having a hard time holding your arm up another mystery of tonight.

It's near the end of another song you realize he's putting you in a specific place as he leaves you.

"See you." He says with a smile.

Another sigh passes your lips. It's just before eleven.

Right under the clock another man with a white flower is waiting.

His mask covers much more of his face and he's waiting for you to come to him.

You try to pick up on any identifies but even squinting can't tell.

So you head forward with your flowers and step to him just as the clock hits eleven.

"Number six." You say as he hands you the flower.

He gently reaches out and brushes your hair back.

You know the cologne he's wearing.

"Do you know the purpose of six white roses?" He asks, and you know that voice.

"Jean." You let out a breath. It's him. It's eleven. It must be him!

"One through five signifies different types of love." He speaks as you listen intently.

"Love at first sight, nothing will stand between us, I love you."

As he explains he lets you take off the mask covering his face, revealing underneath one covering just his eyes, like yours. Somewhere in your mind you realize somehow his costume matches yours.

"And six?" You want to know.

You hear him gulp. He's still nervous. "I want to be yours."

That's all it takes and your arms are around his neck, flowers tickling his ear as his arms go around your waist.

"Yes. Yes!" You repeat and he laughs.

You pull back and crash your lips into his, taking him by surprise.

"All of this?!" You almost scream as you forcefully break away.

"You didn't like it?" He is out of breath.

"I…didn't know. It didn't have to be all this. I'm, not mad. I just didn't know." You ramble a little bit.

"So, next time I wanna tell you something maybe I should just say it?" He teases.

You thrust the flowers at him.

"You can, but it better be good." You make it known you will accept nothing less.

He nods. "You happy it's me?" He can't believe the outcome.

"So happy." You nod as well and pull him in for another kiss, silencing any doubt he has left.

"But why did you have me dancing with all the guys?" That has you confused.

"I wanted to make sure you had a good time. You like dancing." He knows that about you.

"Only with you from now on." You make clear.

Jean nods and mumbles an 'okay' as he kisses you.

"How'd all this happen, anyway?" You wonder how he got everyone involved.

"It was a long week without you. Let's enjoy the rest of the night." He'll explain later how he met Pieck and they got others involved. And just how long he's been wanting to do this.

As you both head into the center of the room, together this time, you spot those who assisted and are cheering you on. Sasha and Historia are also nearby with Niccolo and Ymir, rooting you on as well.

You'll ask them later how much they knew.

As you pass Pieck she reaches out and takes the flowers from Jean so you two can dance together. You'll have to thank her for her part in this.

The next song starts and you and Jean hold each other close.

"I love you." You whisper, confirming what you already knew.

"I love you." He says after a moment, wondering if he'll get used to you saying that.

"So, what do you have planned for Christmas?" You joke, both of you laughing as he tries not so elegantly to dip you.

"You'll have to wait and see."

Whatever it is, you look forward to it.

a/n- one day I will write an established relationship with this man. But not today! Also, first time featuring warriors in a story?? :)

#aot #attack on titan #jean kirstein #jean kirsten x reader #jean x reader #jean kirstein fluff #historia reiss #sasha braus #pieck finger #also featuring #connie springer #eren jaeger #porco galliard #armin arlert #reiner braun #i think this one got away from me but that's alright enjoy anyway

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snootlestheangel · 3 months

Text

This isn't going to be COD related, it's an Overwatch rant like thingy so feel free to ignore, I just needed to put this down somewhere to organize my thoughts

So next season is going to have a mythic for a support. At least I'm assuming based on how they've been doing it. There's 3 DPS with mythic skins, 3 tanks now, and only 2 supports. I would assume they're gonna do another support mythic next

Anyways!

I've been dreaming about a Mercy mythic so here's my idea. It has the possibility of being the most customizable mythic skin if they do it right. But also the most ambitious mythic skin.

There will be some image references at the bottom of the post 😊

Nymph Mercy

In other words Water, Earth, Fire, and Air/Sky would be the main designs behind the skin.

The outfit of the skin I'm still not sure on what it could look like. Perhaps just some kind of dress type outfit that you would believe a Nymph would wear should they wear clothing. Like I have a partial image in my head but I can't convey it in words and unfortunately I cannot draw for shit so 🤷🏻‍♀️

The areas of customization would be Weapon (obviously), Wings, Hair, Halo (headpiece), and Color. Every Mercy skin has some variation of her hair and a headpiece of some sort: whether it is a typical Halo or some type of hat/horns/crown.

There would be 4 options of customization behind each area, which would all be based on the different Nymph types. For example, there would be a Water weapon choice that you could elect to pair with the Air Halo and the Earth wings.

I always feel like for mythic skins there's the base theme which inspired the customizations. For example, the Wing option to make them appear like a waterfall would work best for the blue color scheme, however would still look good in green, red, and white.

Just like other mythics, the color scheme selected would affect the weapon/wings/hair/headpiece but not the style. For example, on the Kiriko mythic skin, you can customize the crown and hair. The hair styles and crown styles stay the same based on the color, but the colors of the rope tying up her hair changes.

Weapon

The first choice would be the water weapon. Her caduceus would be made of sea glass and would appear to have water moving through it. The centerpiece would be an orb that resembles water and glows yellow when healing and a bright blue when damage boosting. The color of the sea glass and liquids would change based on color selection. The blue selection would resemble water; then you can have green sea glass and "water"; then red; then white/pearlescent.

Her pistol would appear similarly to the staff, with color affecting the color of her bullets. (She normally fires yellow bullets)

The "earth" weapon would appear to be made of vines and twigs, with flowers! Works best with green color scheme but still looks good with other selections. This is because the base would be a brown color that appears to be a branch. This will not be affected by color, but instead the thin vines wrapped around it and the flowers change color.

"Fire" weapon would be made of stones with a magma like substance visible between the rocks. The stones will go from a dark black in the red color scheme to a light gray in the white scheme, a semi dark gray in both blue and green.

The "air" weapon would be like clouds surrounding a lightning bolt. The clouds are always white but appear to glow with the color of the bolt, which changes based on color scheme. White scheme keeps a yellow bolt, but still fires white bullets (like she's shooting little clouds at you 😊).

Halo/Headpiece

The "water" headpiece is a silver halo that has droplets and water lillies. The droplet colors change based on color scheme.

Earth headpiece is a crown of a brown base with thin vines wrapped around and flowers. Thin vines and flowers change color based on scheme.

Fire headpiece is a stony helmet that has "flames" coming out the sides. The fire/magma changes color based on scheme.

Cloud headpiece is a glowing halo based on color scheme.

Hair

Water hair would be a long, blue black, flowy style that doesn't have any updo of sorts.

Earth hair is a dark brown that is tied back in a fancy braid.

Fire hair is short, choppy, and a very dark red color.

Cloud hair is very light colored hair (blonde, silver, or pearlescent) that is tied in an updo around her head so it appears short and puffy.

Wings

Wings are designed similarly to her weapon.

Water wings appear like a waterfall

Earth wings have a dark base with vines.

Fire wings are stone with flames

Cloud wings are literally just glowing clouds (at this point)

And obviously color schemes are Blue, Green, Red, and White.

Not sure what the special voice lines would be but I honestly don't care. She could have no new special voice lines if this was her mythic and I wouldn't care.

Although now that I have this mental image stuck in my head, I know that no matter how good her actual mythic ends up being, I will still be a little disappointed. Cause this would be a fucking phenomenal, never to be topped, mythic skin

Also gonna go ahead and say if anyone that's good at art that wants to make this a reality, go right ahead. Just tag me/credit me for the inspiration.

Image references for how the customization appears/how it affects hair styles and headpieces as seen in Kiriko's mythic

#mercy overwatch #overwatch 2 #overwatch skin ideas #snootles overwatch moment #certified snootles moment

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kandi-tutorials · 1 year

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Hourglass

oh yeah. it's time

rough estimate of materials here. this is a VERY BIG project and I ran out of some supplies (like string, so I changed the amount from 100yds to 300 just to be safe)

i highly suggest setting a timer for two hours so you can remember to eat and such, especially if you're prone to hyper-focus like i am.

also, if you want more pictures of this, i have a bunch of them on my ko-fi. they're absolutely free to view. if you're stuck, DM me or send me an ask, or check there!

you know this video??

i saw it and went 'oh my god i need to have it'

and now it looks a bit like this

im making another one for my boyfriend for christmas. better to go big than go home, right? so, while i was doing that, i decided to do a write-up on it. but first..

design creds go to ghostinthecrowd on tiktok. their linktree is right here, so you can buy them a coffee or check out their instagram. they also have a BLM carrd linked. i 100% suggest their page if you're looking for any big projects.

now... this hourglass took me about a month of on/off work. this is a hefty project. it sizes about forearm length, and its probably 5ish inches wide. this would make a great centerpiece for decoration, or an amazing trade! anyone who receives this is sure to be over the moon about it!

pre-emptive warning: this post isn't going to contain many pictures. im writing this assuming that you have basic kandi knowledge (ufo cuffs, carousel cuffs, x bases). if you don't, or this is your first project, i admire your determination! ill link various tutorials for things next to what i'm doing so you can follow along too! my first project was an x-base, and i'm not going to tell people to do something easy if they're that determined. i think you've got this.

in addition, i made this a bit out-of-order. if my pictures look like i jumped ahead, or didn't finish a part, don't stress out about it.

without further ado...

hourglass!! time!!!

hold ur horses. first. compare with these pictures as you go to see if ur doing it right. it should look roughly like these when ur done (i say roughly, because i assume youre using diferent colors). also, as you go, im gonna reference my hourglass pictures a LOT. reference those as you go

i started by putting 33 beads on a string. whatever you go with, i'd suggest that it fits around the bottom of your forearm, near your elbow, if you want to wear it. if not, just go with 33 honestly. the amount you go with has to be a multiple of three. (33,36,39,42, etc). this color will be the top of your cuff, that's in a carousel cuff style, and we need two Xes. (x-base tutorials here, and here, and here). don't finish it off after you have two Xes, after that we're just changing colors. at the end, actually, we'll have 14 Xes (thats a LOT of Xes).

change colors to the first main color of your hourglass. mine was green. now it's red. make 4 Xes from that.

change colors to the sparkly bead you'll use in the future. mine was a sparkly green. make one X from that.

change colors to the second sparkly bead you'll use, this one was pink. make one X from that.

change colors to the second color of your hourglass, mine was just a light pink. make 4 Xes from that

change colors back to the color of the carousel cuff, or the color that you first used. in the pictures, it's black. make 2 Xes. finish and tie off.

Carousel Time Pt. 1

carousel cuff tutorials here and here. if you don't know how to make them, watch that, then come back here. if you know how to make them, still read through this. it's a carousel, yes, but it's a bit different.

we're doing this with two columns! that's right baby, this is multi-layered. for reference, here's pictures of it when done.

you know when you make ufo cuffs, and you start by making those Xes? like you have spikes, then you bring them down a bit to make, like, 3d Xes? we're starting by doing that. ufo tutorials here and here.

3d x example

through connector beads (the middle of the xes on the x base), string 5 beads, and go through the connector to the side of it. do this all the way around and you'll get nice spikes. go through the middle bead on those spikes, string 2 beads, and go through the connector below. i do not know any better way to describe this, honest to god.

go through that first black connector bead, right below the yellow. make more yellow spikes. bring it up by going through the same connectors as before. beading needles help a lot here. actually, i'd call them necessary. don't have one? a bent paperclip works perfectly. just straighten it out and make a loop at a end so it works as one. pliers are good for that.

those r some sick xes. lets make them sharper. stick ur string through one of the points sticking up in the middle of a 3d x, string 7 beads on, and go to the next middle. do this all the way around on the top and bottom. it might look kind of wonky, just keep rolling with it. when ur done, your spikes should look like those red ones on the bottom

columns! the ones described in carousel cuff videos. this is what makes a carousel cuff a carousel cuff. on the point that's sticking out (or the fourth bead) put a string through it. put both of the ends together, put on three beads, put both ends through the bead on the opposite spike, left string through left side, right to right. do two square knots, and do this all the way around.

also, a tip. make sure your strings dont cross when putting on beads. they have to stay parallel otherwise itll be jankey.

do this same thing to the bottom of your cuff. itll look something like this when done

there's more, though! through that fourth bead, string through, add 9 beads, and string through the next spike. do this to the top and bottom, all the way around. make more columns of three on the 5th bead. it'll look like this when done (ignore the black, thicker portion. we'll get to that later)

do this to the bottom, too. connect the points with 8 beads on the top and bottom of both carousels. for the 8 beads, dont pull the string that tightly. it keeps it from being stiff, it looks better if you just pull it together.

i do not know why the image is pasting sideways. just turn your phone or find the correct version on my ko-fi.

the middle. this is the main bulk of the cuff. start by making spikes of 5 beads that go through the first connector bead near the top. make Xes there.

make another row of Xes through the bottom connector bead, going upward.

and in the place where you made the spikes for the bottom-- string through there and make more spikes that'll go up into the bottom of the top Xes. spikes picture below...

it's a tight fit-- that's ok. that's part of what makes this project look really bulky. it might look kinda scuffed but keep going, that's normal.

do that all the way around, making three Xes

i do not know when i will hit the image limit; however, i am horrified to find out so i refuse to count my images

at this point, it's really connecting everything. that was the hardest part (to understand at least). put your string through the center of an X on the top, string 5 beads, and make a spike going to the next X center. do this all the way around...

and bring it down like this

make spikes on the bottom and bring them up, and then we're done with this section!

cool. do this again on the lower half

string through the last red connector bead, closest to the yellow part. add 5, go to the next one. do this all the way around, and bring it up to make a 3D X to the connectors vertical and right above it.

make another row right below it, stringing through the connectors you used to bring down the top spikes. bring it down to the connector vertically below the one you just strung through

once again, no fucking idea why it's sideways ._.

go through the bead you were using to bring it down-- it's the same connectors you were just using. pick one, go through it, do more spikes of 5. bring that last one down to the connector vertically below the one you were using to make spikes.

also, dont worry about it looking weird. itll be buried later anyway, it doesnt have to look great.

make spikes of 5, bring them down. make spikes of 5 on the bottom, bring them up.

ok. we're 3/4 of the way there. this is the final stretch!

go through the center of one of the upper layers of Xes. it doesn't matter if you do the top or the bottom. put one bead on, and string around and through that same center bead from before. string 5 to the next point. string one, go around. repeat all the way around on the top and bottom. pull this part REALLY tight. tie off at the end, snip. do the other side.

this is where i say good luck if you chose to use thick string.

go through the connector where the first spikes, closest to the yellow, started. it's on the base on the cuff, right about here

as you can see, add 5 beads and go through the next connector. do this all the way around. go to the other side and go through the last solid connectors and do the same thing: 5 all the way around.

on the top, string three through a spike, go to the bead sticking out below it, string 3 more, go to the next top spike. here's an illustration demonstrating this.

the purple line is the bead to go through. that one is the one that was put on top of a solid red spike. the blue lines are the three strung beads. thee green are the spikes you're moving through on the top, and the yellow-green is the rest of the top spike. do this all around the top.

do this on the bottom too, except stringing through the third bead in the straight string of 5. 3, string, 3, spike.

make these columns of two using the same method to make the carousel cuff columns. make one, skip two, make another. do this all the way around.

this might sound complicated so bear with me: thread through the same beads you were using for the top of the shiny red spikes, and make more spikes of 5.

if this doesn't make sense, PM me or send me an ask.

do that all the way around.

UPDATE: ok i ran outta supplies. and i kinda can't buy more at the moment, money's tight. so we're pictureless now! i'll try my best to be clear and consise.

After making those five, connect them down to the next section by stringing through that solid black bead on the base, stringing 2, going through the center of the 5 from before, and stringing 2 again. Do this all the way around.

This is essentially doing the same thing that we did on the top. From the black connectors on the base near the very top, string 5 all around. From there, string 7 around. Start stringing those parts together and making bars. Here's pictures of what it should roughly look like

For the side parts where they connect the top carousel to the bottom, pick a bead on the lower side of the carousel, connecting to a bar, and bead it going all the way down. original video used wire for this, but it was too hard for me to work with and i used non-stretchy cord instead. It should connect down at another bead connecting to a bar on the other side.

The rest from here is flare. I liked stringing through some beads toward the top of the clear, sparkly overlay and just stringing down. That's the clear sparkles/rainbow sparkles you see in the photo. After, I decided to make a single that I just threw on there (The pearl rainbow in the middle in the photo).

Get creative! Maybe add something that's really 'you'. Special charms or small perlers come to mind.

...

Hoo. Okay. That's it. I originally wanted to make this for my boyfriend for Christmas, and this post is going out mid-March. I seriously hope this isn't gibberish. Depending on how I feel down the line (likely years from now) I might make this tutorial into a video.

DM me or send me asks for questions. I'll try my best to get to your question ASAP. and as always, pictures of your kandi are always welcome in my inbox, i'll be sure to post them :)

best of luck, you got this.

#long post #like REALLY long #kandi hourglass #tutorial #kandi tutorial #scenecore #scene #kandi #buy me a kofi if you're feeling nice :) but no pressure ofc #also i'm thinking about expanding this blog into more than kandi #obv i still love kandi but that hourglass burnt me tf out and i have other neat hobbies!#idk it's a thought #hourglass #3d art #art

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agentravensong · 2 years

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While I'm here, I wanted to say something else:

I'm pretty sure Tenna is going to be the main boss of chapter 3, not Mike - and I don't think Mike is going to be the secret boss either.

Between the damn_you_tenna page (btw, has anyone picked up on the url maybe being a utena reference? just me? cool) and the Twitter Q&A, it seems pretty clear that a) the TV (Tenna) and Mike are separate characters, and b) that Spamton hates the TV/Tenna, but cares about Mike. Perhaps even considers (considered?) him a friend.

The two things that make me think Tenna will be the main boss of the chapter are:

a) We've gotten multiple direct hints to their existence now, from both all this and in-game, with the smile appearing in the TV static as the last image we get from Chapter 2. An obvious cliffhanger - too obvious for their existence to be a surprise like with the other secret bosses. I mean, they're called "secret bosses" for a reason. Remember, Jevil gave no hints about Spamton, but he *did* give a hint about Queen.

b) The tweet makes a reference to "THAT [Cathode]'s CREW". If we assume this is referring to Tenna, which makes sense based on the use of cathodes in CRT televisions (and recall the line from Spamton's fight about turning "THOSE [Cathode Screens] INTO [Cathode Screams]"), then it makes me think there are multiple other characters working for Tenna. Miniboss-type characters that our crew will have to contend with over the course of Chapter 3. (This is also supported by Spamton saying "EVERYONE WILL PAY" except Mike, implying that there are multiple people at fault in his eyes, even if it all comes back to Tenna.) And, structure-wise, it makes a lot more sense for the main boss of the chapter to have a bunch of encounters with lackeys building up to their battle than the secret boss.

Now, as for Mike... my thinking with him is that, again, he's already been hinted at too much to be a proper secret boss. Though, it could start being a trend now that we're two of seven chapters in that secret bosses start getting hinted at, I suppose.

The other thing is that he seems to have been Spamton's friend, specifically during his Big Shot era, whom he lost contact with (likely, cut Spamton off). And yes, Spamton is a boss (in video game terms), but what elevated him to the level of climatic secret boss was his attempts to transcend his Darkner status by taking the NEO body and then Kris's SOUL... not just being a salesman who appeared on TV sometimes. Maybe Mike has gone off the deep end since then, but at current, for as little as we know about him, he just seems like... some guy.

My prediction for him right now is that he'll be more of a Sweet Cap'n Cakes type, where we fight him - perhaps because he initially thinks we're working with/for Tenna - but then he becomes our ally, whom we may actively try to protect from Tenna's crew.

That all being said, it's worth keeping in mind that Spamton is... an unreliable narrator. It's possible that Tenna and their crew aren't actually that devious; that they aren't the bad guys.

...then again...

...maybe not.

EDIT - I almost forgot one other thing that makes me think Mike won't be the secret boss:

Tenna as the main boss of Chapter 3 will put the focus on the entertainment side of this Dark World. I'm sure there will some personal ties back to the Dreemurr family with them being the TV that got unplugged by them some time ago and being the centerpiece of the living room (I can only imagine the things they've seen/heard), but, at the end of the day, they're a TV character in a TV world.

So, it would make sense to me if the secret boss is derived from a different element of the Dreemurr household more specifically focused on Dreemurr family backstory. Something like the discarded flowers in the trash can, or the missing green crayon, or any other number of forgotten, non-TV related items. Which, assuming Mike is a microphone or something similarly tied to the TV / its shows, would not include him.

#deltarune #deltarune spoilers #image descriptions in alt text #tenna #mike

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blackbutlerfandomnerddomain · 1 year

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The Butler, Romantic

"Remember, we'll meet here after two hours, okay boys?" Said Lizzie, a smile on her face. Beside her are Sieglinde, Doll, Paula, and Mey-Rin. Across from her is Sebastian, Joanne, Ciel, Alois, Bard, and Finnian. Sebastian place a hand to his chest and bows, "We will see you then my lady."

And with that the groups left into separate directions. The season was winter, it's cold yet nice for a typical February month, just a few days away from the holiday that is Valentine's Day.

"Isn't Valentine's Day lovely?" Said Joanne as he sighs happily as the men walk into a floral shop. The air was thick with many flowers of different sweets and textures around the room, causing Ciel's nose to scrunch up in a flinch. "I guess you can say that... Just different now since all of us have someone on this day." Said Bard with a shrug of his broad shoulders. The shop owner looked at the lot at last and spoke up gentle, "What can I help with you gentleman?" Sebastian stepped forward, a warm glow to him somehow, and spoke firmly yet... nice- "We have come to purchase some flower arrangements for Valentine's Day sir." The shop owner smiles a beaming gleam as he nods, "You have chosen wisely men!" Suddenly, the man pauses and stares at the Earl of Phantomhive who stares back in confusion. "What is it?" "Erm, I'm sorry. I just thought I saw two of you."

Ciel snuck a glance behind Finny after the shop owner walked to talk with Sebastian more, looking to the young man with peacock gem eyes and dark short hair. "Sorry Ciel." "It's fine Ciel."

Unlike the usual outings, a new guest has joined in the form of the real non dead Ciel Phantomhive, who many of the public assume is either dead or too sickly to be Earl. No one besides the group and the household know of the two working together taking turns of the names, and on special outings like this do the two truly look like twins with matching clothes and eye patches to not throw off people around them.

The ladies sat at a isolated table a busy tea room, roses decoration all the table centerpieces creating a sweet smell with the scent of tea and perfume, among each member is a box wrapped with their bags. Lizzie claps as they sat down, "I'm so happy we're doing this. We haven't had the pleasure to go out just us girls often and just before Valentine's Day as well." She giggles at the last part. Paula giggles beside her, "I agree Lady Lizzie, this is most exciting." The lady Midford glanced across the table to Sieglinde, who's dark hair is still cut short in an adorable bob while dressed in a lovely green dress, and Doll, who at the moment is wearing a lovely blue gown handed down by Lizzie herself with a scent of roses coming off her neck.

The previous circus performer smiled and spoke, not hiding her accent as much, "This certain is a new thing for me. I never had a partner nor had a excuse to shopping." Mey-Rin, who sits beside her and who's hair is tied in a bun dressed normal, looked to her and joined in, "I agree, yes I do! Never have I ever thought I'd ever find someone to spend Valentine's day with."

"What are your guys plans for Valentine's Day anyway?" Asked Alois as he stands by Ciel looking at the wild roses and daisies. Finny, not missing a beat and holding a large group of white lilies, with sparkling eyes and a big smile said, "I'm taking Valentina to the gardens for a nice picnic! She mentioned how much she wanted to see the stars and thanks to Mister Sebastian I can cook some good Mofongo!" Bard smiles as he picked up a pansy, "I'm grateful Lady Elizabeth gave me permission to use the kitchen and the garden gazebo for the night, I can't wait to dazzle my woman like the angel she is!" Sebastian chuckles, "You have been married with Paula and Finny and Miss Valentina has been engaged for hardly a month already and you're energies are over the moon." The chef lightly shoved the butler, "Come on now you should know why. What are your plans for your lil' lady?" The butler in black smiles and pluck up a red rose before sniffing it, his eyes shining, "I plan to cook her a grand meal and take her to a ballet. She's been talking about seeing this one performance of Cinderella so I figured I take her on the very first night."

Alois giggles and spoke up, "Does that imply the Phantomhive manor will be mostly empty? A whole empty manor for the young Earl and his Valentine?" He giggles as Ciel shoved him and his brother, out in public as "Sirius", speaks, "What are your plans anyway?" Ciel thought for a moment before answering, "Maybe some dinner and a London stroll."

Meanwhile, the ladies' pastries and tea has arrived to the table and conversations of the date in plan are being spoken. "I swear I have a sneaking feeling Alois will spoil me and Smile." Sighed Doll as she sipped her tea, her eye beaming in whoa after she took that sip. Lizzie giggled and asked, "Does he always though? Surely you'd be used to it by now." Doll shook her head, "Nah, even if I should I can't get over it. It's a nice feeling though, being pampered by a cutie like that, especially at night." With a eyebrow risen, Sieglinde queried, "Why at night?" All the women looked to Doll who simply grins with a look in her eye. It didn't a while until it sunk in her meaning.

"M-My Goodness you already have-!?" Mey-Rin shrieked silently in a flush face, shocked her master would be already be doing such things with two people, even if it's been a whole two years since most of the relationships started. Doll chuckled and shook her hand, "No no, we haven't gotten that far yet, just some touching and maybe some-" With pink cheeks Lizzie scanned the area fast while speaking a hushed warning, "Doll! You should speak about things like that in public!" The brunette tilted her head and glance around. "Why? No one's listening and it's normal."

After a moment of silence, a surprise of Paula speaks up, "Baldroy tends to look rather hungry in the bedroom." "Paula!" Doll snorted, "Well I can't say I'm too surprised you both are already there." Paula blushes as she speaks more softer, a small shy smile on her lips, "He seems the type to be rough a bit but he's actually quiet gentle... he even ask what I prefer a lot." After a small sip of her tea, Mey-Rin surprise everyone even more, "When you guys... have those moments with your partners... do you take the reins or-?" "Damn, does Suit let you take charge?" Asked Doll, surprised most with the maid's question. Mey-Rin, blushing more, answers with a small squeak, "W-Well he's mostly tired after work, he is..! A-Also, he tends to smell a lot like peppermint which is very nice, it is."

The three, then four after Sieglinde chimed in, chatted a bit of the men in their lives while Lizzie watches. Then, watching and listening got dull with her so she joined in, "So, you know how Sebastian sometimes roll his tongue when speaking his Rs? Well, on certain times he tends to do that when he kiss-" The table squealed some and giggles and continued to chat around.

One the morning of Valentine's Day, it seemed like a normal day at first, until both Phantomhive Lords and the servants gotten some cards and roses sent from those whom they too have sent cards and roses too earlier on.

After breakfast and the normal schedules of the nobles until lunch the plans of the day itself was no pushed into swing. Food being prepared, flower assembles being created, settings made, last checks of things done.

Everything by the end is perfect when the night comes and the respected parties go to here the other halves of their hearts to start the day as planned. The manor, besides Finny in the garden with his fiance, was as planned mostly empty with the real Ciel Phantomhive off to Joanne's gardens of his manor with Sieglinde, leaving the other twin in the manor with the two he planned to spend time with. Doll snuggled against his shoulder as they ride the carriage back to the said empty mansion, Alois holding his hand the side next to him, boxes of new clothes and things tied together in the spare seats across from the three.

On the other side of the trees in the city of London walk a man dressed in a lovely shade of emerald greens and blacks beside a beautiful young lady with hair of fine gold done up with a black ribbon wearing a lovely red dress side by side down the street of night, a happy glow among them like a bubble of sorts. "That ballet was lovely Sebastian. The outfits were beautiful and the music was lovely!" Said Lizzie with a giggle and a snuggle of his arm, smiling at the rumbling chuckle of his chest, "I'm glad you enjoyed that." A moment of silence filled the two as they walked more, the candle lights of the street glowing so hauntingly beautiful. Finally, the lady spoke, "Sebastian, what do you think Valentine's Day will look like for us years ahead?"

The butler pauses and ponders, he surely would want to amaze his lady ten times every year but would she want that in the end? "Well, I would want to see you smile much more. I would even say I would want to you smile every day from this day forth my dear." Lizzle giggles, stopping when the man stops walking. "The first time I met you, you were crying over the lose of a boy whom you knew wasn't who your heart truly wanted to please to the rules of the world. Over time I began to see the you you tried to bury away from the eyes of everyone, and for that level of trust made me love you more and more beyond your dear precious smile..."

Lizzie watched as Sebastian free himself her gentle grasp and slowly knelt to her, a hand to his heart, as his voice grew tender as he speaks, "I swear to you my dear that I will always try to make you smile, to love every piece of you, cherish you to the fullest and continue to do so long after your last breath. I promise to stand beside you through every battle, big or small, and treat you like the Queen you are to me." Her breath gets stuck in her chest that grew tight as she sees him reach in his breast pocket, her eyes widening and filling with tears fast. "I may not know much of the traditions of human culture, I may not be the man society wish you to have, but I swear to you with all my being I will never ever stop loving you for not a single day goes by where I haven't loved you after you shown me so many beautiful things to know..."

Carefully, he takes out a box and opens it, showing the maiden the lovely ring inside the velvet walls, his eyes clearly growing misty as a lump grew in his throat as it became clear from his words, "My dear Lizzie, I understand it's custom to bring forth a piece of jewelry to create a bond stronger than anything I've seen, and so I did just that. With proper permission from your family, as the world ahead of us as my witness, with the bottom of my heart...will you do me in doing the honors of making me the happiest being of all the world can more can offer....and marry me and be with me for the rest of time...?"

Lizzie hiccuped as she cries, her gloved hands covering her shaking lips, her heart beating so fast. Sebastian shifted to stand as he quickly formed an apology, "Li-Lizzie, I'm sorry-" The man was stopped with the force of his dear jumping onto him, her arms tightly hung around his neck as her voice coats her ears as the two fell to the ground. "Yes! YES! I would be more than honored to marry you..!" She sobs into his neck, her face pink and such a mess of tears and makeup but neither care at the moment. A smile appears to Sebastian's lips as he sits up, gently takes Lizzie's hand and slides the ring onto her gentle finger. Lizzie sniffs and hugs him again, this time their lips connected as one as their hearts beat as one.

This is part of my Black Butler AU, mostly word for word from a RP me and my sister did recently, still heavily dedicated to @annoyinglyshinycherryblossom, @nullb1rdbones, @sebalizzie, @docmartensanddietcoke, and @onehellofashadynerd

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