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polonium-snap · 3 years

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The Beauty & the Deku chp. 2

Summary: Izuku and Katsuki somehow get trapped in a book of fairy tales, to get out of it they decide to play their part in the stories. How far are they willing to go to fulfill the romantic plotlines? Will Katsuki be able to play the role of a fairy tale princess?

ao3

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When Katsuki comes to, he is washing some stairs.”Wha-? This again? You’ve got to be forking kidding me.” He stood up, inspecting his clothes, some raggedy top, and pants, which at least is not a dress, and went to a nearby well, staring at his reflection on the water, scowling.

“Kacchan?” He heard Deku’s voice from behind, and the blonde turned to him.

“Deku!” Katsuki said. “As you can see, we are still trapped in this nightmare.” He frowns. “What do we do now?”

“Let’s continue trying to go along with the story, maybe if we do it enough times, we’ll get out of here.” Izuku suggested.

Katsuki growled. “Shut up! What do you know? This is probably your fault since you didn’t have to be at the house in the end.”

Deku frowned. “Oh yeah, Cinderella totally broke through a door like you did.”

The blonde scowled back, blustering and turning to look away from Izuku. “Whatever.”

Which was Kacchan-speak for ‘I’m sorry, you’re right', good thing Deku was an expert at reading his childhood friend. “We should continue trying to go along with the story, this time as much as we can with the original.”

“No way, nerd. I already gave that a try and we are still trapped in this hellhole.” Katsuki argued. “It makes more sense to try and make the story different, if it doesn’t let us move on we can find the reason more easily.”

“What if that just makes us be stuck here forever, Kacchan?” Izuku argued back. “Let’s do it like the story says one more time, then if we are still here we’ll try your thing.”

The blonde frowned but sighed. “Fine.”

Izuku let out the breath he was holding and stared into red eyes. “Thank you.”

Silence hung heavy for a second between them for several seconds. “I’m sorry…” Bakugou mutters, surprising Deku. “You know, for kissing you at the end…”

Izuku blushed furiously. “Oh! Uhm, i-i-it’s ok Kacchan, that actually made us move on, so…”

The implication of the previous statement weighs on them, and the silence only makes heat rise faster and more intensely into Deku’s face. If the kiss was what made them move on, did that mean they would have to again until they were out of there?

The most obvious answer was there, if they were in Snow White, like Izuku suspected, that meant they had to kiss to be able to continue with the story.

“Wh-What story are we in anyway?” Katsuki asked if only to fill the silence.

“O-oh, I think we are in Snow White.” Izuku reasoned.

“How are we meeting so early then, isn’t the prince supposed to kiss snow white at the end?” The blonde tried to remember.

“No, I think they met right at the start of the Disney movie.” Izuku explained.

“Crap I can’t remember.” The taller teen rubbed his hand on his face. “How am I going to go along with the story if I can't remember how it goes?”

The green-haired boy bit his lip, he couldn’t blame Kacchan, apart from this being a stressful situation, it has been a long time since either of them either saw the movies or read any books with fairy tales on them. “I think I know how it goes, just make sure to go near the forest and run away from the huntsman and look for a small house, it belongs to some dwarfs.” He explains. “Make sure they let you stay, cook and clean for them or something, the evil queen will look for you, to kill you, she will give you an apple, bite it, I’ll take care of the rest and then we’ll ride off to the sunset.”

“My prince.” Katsuki said sarcastically, and Izuku glared, but his cheeks felt hot. “I got it, I got it, I’m just tired of cleaning stuff, like I knew old men hate women in these stories and think their only use is to cook and clean, I get it, old news, but it’s annoying as heck, you know?”

“I get it Kacchan, I’m sorry, but I really think that we can get out if we follow the script as much as we can.”

“Yeah, except we can barely remember how it goes, you lame nerd, even just talking like this can change the story.” The fiery teen started to raise his tone. “We’re already doomed.”

Izuku cringed. “You’re right, but there must be plot points that make us move on, you know like in Cinderella, the background repeated until we did what it wanted, to move on we need to keep doing just that.” He tried to placate the other man. “This is the best plan we have right now, just go with it until we can think of something better.”

Katsuki stands staring at the other teen for a few seconds, glaring, but pondering what was said all the same. “Fine, but we better get out of this, or I’m going to explode.” He turned away and started walking toward the palace. “See you later, nerd, don’t you dare die.” He closed the doors, leaving Izuku staring.

The wardrobes the stories were putting the blonde in were killing him, he looked so handsome, even in dresses. Now the blonde wasn’t exactly wearing a dress, but elements of it were clearly borrowed, Kacchan was in rags but still looked amazing.

Izuku shook his head, this was not the time to be fawning over Kacchan, he turned around and left the grounds of the palace, unsure of what to do with himself. Jesus, fairy tale princes really were useless and had one shitty line, like Kacchan had said, though maybe like this, he could look for clues.

He looked down and sighed, even his clothes were boring.

۵��-The Beauty and the Deku-⚜۵

Katsuki changes his clothes because he is not staying in some ugly rags, besides he is 70% sure Snow White wasn’t dressed so badly, she needs to be marketable, little kids wouldn't buy merch of her if she looked ugly right?

He went near the forest, as Deku had said, and sat on a rock, at least the scenery was always interesting in these stories, as Katsuki had never gone out of Japan, he could almost pretend he was visiting Europe or some shit.

“I’m sorry, princess.” Said a voice, which startled the fuck out of the blonde.

“Jesus fu-!” Katsuki turned around to find Rikido Sato, from his class. “Sato?! You are the huntsman?”

The other man’s eyes widened. “You know my name?!” His eyes watered. “The queen has never called me by my name.”

Katsuki hadn’t either until just then, but he wasn’t about to say that to a man with a weapon while he remained quirkless. “Yes, of course I know your name!” He lied, he was lucky with Sato’s last name, he was between Sato and Sota. “I’m going to be the next ruler of this kingdom, and you my loyal subject.” He was talking out of his ass. “How could I not know your name?”

Sato dropped the knife. “I can’t do it!” He cried. “The queen is trying to kill you, your best option is to run as far as you can and hope she never finds you!”

Katsuki stood up from the ground and scrubbed the dirt off his clothes. “Right, thank you, I guess, for not killing me or whatever.” He jogged into the forest, enjoying it more than he normally would, maybe because it had been a while since he had been able to make one of his mornings runs.

At some point, his foot got tangled on some tree roots and he came crashing to the ground. “Argh!” He exclaimed. “Dumb tree, dumb story, dumb Deku!” He raged, and sat on the ground, finding the cabin could wait. As he lay on the ground feeling sorry for himself he felt small tweets from above, and slowly, animals from the forest came out and stared at him.

The blonde groaned. “One of you better not be Dunce face or Hair for brains.” He couldn’t take any more woodland animals as his friends, although thankfully it seemed none of them was anyone he knew. “What are you doing here then, If not to torture me?”

All the animals started to walk toward somewhere, and Katsuki, having nothing better to do went with them, only to find the small house Deku talked about. He opened the door, finding the insides absolutely filthy. And as much as Katsuki had complained he disliked cleaning, he disliked even more letting it stay filthy.

‘Fucking fine’ He thought because only in his mind he could use his favorite words. “You win, stupid Deku, I’ll clean this pigsty.” Katsuki picked up a broom and started sweeping the comical amounts of dust and dirt, the animals around him started to do the same, and for the first time, he didn’t mind the small woodland animals that seemed to follow him lately.

When he finally finished he realized how tired he was, it had been a few days since he last slept, so maybe now he could take a nap. Bakugou climbed the stairs, peering at the small beds with the dwarf's names, he pushed some of them together so he could fit in and dropped like a log on them, paying no mind to the few small animals that cuddled him, he was too tired for that shit.

He closed his eyes and lost consciousness.

۵⚜-The Beauty and the Deku-⚜۵

“What is that? Is it a ghost?” Said a fearful but familiar voice.

“Ha! There’s no such thing as a ghost.” An angrier voice said.

“Who cares, ghosts can’t touch you, let’s just sleep and be done with it.” Said another voice that sounded just like Aizawa.

With his sleep finally disrupted Katsuki decided to sit up and fuck up anyone who dared wake him. When he rose from the bed, multiple gasps were heard. “What is it now?” He said, the blanket still over his head, which he removed slowly.

When he finally could see, he found seven eerily familiar dwarfs looking at him and gasping once again.

“Prince!” One of them exclaimed. “What are you doing here, young prince?”

Holy shit, this dwarf was All Might. Katsuki gaped at the blonde dwarf, his face a picture of the man’s old glory.

The teen looked at the others, Aizawa, Present Mic, Koda, Kirishima, Kaminari...and Endeavour?!

“Let me guess, you,” Bakugou pointed at Aizawa. “Are sleepy, you,” Present Mic, who let out a very loud sneeze. “Are Sneezy, you,” Koda blushed. “Bashful.” Then Kirishima. “You are Happy, I guess.” Kaminari. “Dunce face, you are obviously Dopy.” Bakugou laughed. “This must be Todoroki’s old man, Endeavour.” The red-haired dwarf fumed. “That leaves you All Might, I guess you are Doc.”

All Might smiled. “Yes, young prince.” He eyed Katsuki as if searching for answers. “What brings you here?”

“Yeah, that, the queen is trying to kill me or something.” The younger man dismissed carelessly.

“The queen is trying to kill you?!” Several of the small men exclaimed.

“Yes, so let me hide here, I’ll cook and clean, or something.” Katsuki forced himself to say.

“Like we would let a stranger stay here in our h-” Endeavour started to say.

“Of course you can stay, my boy!” All Might said. “Isn’t that right?”

“Yeah!” Kirishima, Kaminari, and Present Mic said, Koda blushed, and Aizawa grunted his approval from where he slept.

Endeavour growled.

The next day, after making the seven nuisances breakfast and them lining up at the door to go to the mine, Kirishima took of his stupid hat and watched Katsuki expectantly.

“What do you want.” The blonde said, but he had started to piece what hair for brains was silently asking, the redhead wanted a kiss on his forehead, Bakugou fumed, missing the cracking sound of his quirk. The thing was Snow White obviously did so in the movie, and if he wanted to be truthful with what he promised Deku, he had to kiss the foreheads of these dumbasses and thank god they wouldn’t remember, or at least he hoped so.

He reluctantly kissed Kirishima’s forehead, cringing when the dwarf continued in his way. It didn’t take long for the rest of the short men to follow suit.

Kaminari laughed and thanked him with a teasing smile. Katsuki struggled not to punch with his bare hands. Koda, bless him, just blushed and continued on his way, Aizawa grunted, Present Mic whooped in happiness, and All Might thanked him.

Lastly, there was Endeavour, who Katsuki categorically and morally opposed kissing, as much as he hated the half-and-half bastard his old man was trash and he wasn’t about to ignore that. But he had made a promise to stupid Deku who was probably living it large somewhere as a prince.

Katsuki swallowed his pride if only because he was a man of his word.

He slowly bent to press his lips on Endeavour's dwarfed forehead, closing his eyes to avoid extra trauma, and gave him a lightning-quick kiss.

“It’s not like I wanted you to, brat!” What the fuck? Was Endeavour a tsundere?

Bakugou would never be able to look at the number one hero ever again.

While Katsuki baked a pie in the old-fashioned oven he heard some commotion on the outside. Bristling Katsiki let go of the hot pie and peeked through the window, only to see Shigaraki dressed in black rags and carrying a basket of apples.

Holy fuck, Shigaraki was the queen?!

Katsuki couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing. “You?! Your crusty musty ass is the queen? HAHHAHA” He was nearly crying, Shigaraki looked worse than normal, and that was so hard to do in the blonde’s mind that he had to give the man kudos for surpassing himself.

“W-what? No, I’m no old queen, just an old man offering such beauty an apple.” Shigaraki stuttered, quickly jumping into convincing the teen into taking the blood-red apple in his ugly hands.

Katsuki wiped his tears of laughter. “I’m just, haha, sorry, It’s just been an annoying day.” He explained. “But alright, since you made me laugh so much I’ll take the apple, thank you for the few hours of peace, while that stupid Deku makes it here.” The blonde bit the apple, promptly falling asleep as he heard Shigaraki’s pathetic laugh.

۵⚜-The Beauty and the Deku-⚜۵

Izuku panted as he followed the forest’s animals toward the dwarf's house, where he knew Katsuki was waiting for him, the queen, whoever they were, was probably already chased off a cliff and Kacchan was placed in a crystal case.

He arrived at a clearing, watching as the dwarfs mourned Katsuki’s apparent death.

Wait. Was that Endeavour?! No. No, no time for that, literally everyone they knew was becoming a supporting character in these stories, it was entirely possible Endeavour was too.

...Was he supposed to be grumpy?

Izuku shook his head away from those thoughts and focused on Katsuki’s relaxed face as he slept and the dwarfs took away the glass casing on top of the snoozing blonde. Deku had always wondered why on earth the dwarfs just took off the case for some random prince to kiss the princess? What if it was just some creep? Though he had heard the age of the actual prince was 31, while Snow White was 14, which, what the hell.

Anyways he was getting sidetracked, maybe due to the nerves of having to kiss Kacchan, and the intense gazes the dwarfs were sending the green-eyes teen. He gulped, approaching the other man’s face, suddenly feeling very hot. It's not like they hadn’t kissed before, just two days ago Kacchan had kissed him, and there was always that one time they were 4 and wanted to know what kissing felt like.

However, both times it had been Katsuki who had initiated, not Izuku, Deku had never been the one to kiss someone, and the fact they were not conscious was really bothering him. It was morally incorrect to kiss someone who was unconscious, even if he somewhat knew Katsuki would be ok with it.

He felt dirty, like a 31-year-old prince kissing a 14-year-old girl, well maybe not that dirty.

But still, he did not feel great about this.

Finally, as his lips were millimeters away from Bakugou’s, Deku avoided the pink plump lips of his classmate and kissed the other’s cheek swiftly and reeled back. Katsuki’s eyes remained closed for dreadful long seconds, until red eyes fluttered open, sleepily batting long blonde eyelashes at Izuku.

“Took you long enough, nerd.” Katsuki complained as Deku offered him a hand and a taller teen rose from the adorned crystal bed.

“Sorry Kacchan.” Izuku said, relieved that the kiss on the cheek was enough to wake the other up. “Let’s go?”

Katsuki blinked. “Oh, yeah, you said we now ride into the sunset.”

“I-I mean, y-yeah, that’s how I remember it ended.” Izuku stuttered.

“Thank god.” Katsuki launches himself at Izuku's horse, waving at the dwarfs and animals as Izuku himself mounts it.

“Are you ready?” Izuku said, feeling like he forgot something.

“Yes.” The blonde rushed, a fake smile plastered on his face as he waved. “Let’s go you stupid piece of crap.”

“Right.” Izuku instructs the horse to start moving toward the horizon where a large range of beautiful reds and oranges paint the sky.

“Thank you for nothing!” Katsuki waves again, this time his smile is more genuine as he does a pg version of his usual cursing at the dwarfs and animals that probably don’t hear him due to the distance. “Hope you trip on your horrendous beards and die!”

The green-haired teen sweat drops as Bakugou finally settles down.

That is until he notices the horizon only seems to get further away. “No! Look, we aren’t moving on!”

Deku has to agree, as he notes his surroundings, while the background isn’t repeating, there seems to be no end to the valley even as seconds turn into several minutes. Well, if it isn’t the consequences of my actions, Izuku thought as he meditated the best way to confess why they may be unable to finish the story.

“Darn it!” Katsuki growled in frustration. “I swear I did everything you told me.” He tried to explain. “I even kissed Endeavour’s old geezer head.”

“I know, Kacchan.” Izuku reassured, gulping as he realized he needed to come clean. “It is my fault.” He confessed.

“What?”

“So you know ten minutes ago when I was supposed to kiss you and wake you up from the sleeping curse?”

“Yes…?” Katsuki nodded. “What’s your point?”

“I may or may not have kissed your cheek instead of kissing you in the lips like in the traditional story.” He said sheepishly. “...Sorry...?

Katsuki slowly turns to look at the dumbass he called childhood friend. “What did you just say?”

“...I’m...sorry?” Izuku’s voice got weaker.

“What on earth is your problem?!” Katsuki bellowed, his eyes glowing red. “You SAID that we needed to follow the story to get out, you made me PROMISE I would go along with it just this once.”

The other man cringed. “I know, I know.” He whined. “I’m sorry, it’s just when I had to kiss you, you were unconscious and it just felt wrong since you never explicitly agreed that I could kiss you.”

“It was implied that I wanted to kiss you!” Katsuki yelled and then blushed, Izuku did too. “I mean, it was implied I was ok with it, you bumbling buffoon!” He screeched.

“Buffoon...?” Izuku mumbled as he stared in surprise at red embarrassed eyes.

“Ughhh!” Katsuki said in frustration. “Being this mad without using my quirk is making me lame.” He explained to himself, he took the reins of the still moving horse and yanked it so it stopped. Then he threw his legs over the animal so Bakugou was fully facing Deku. “Let’s just kiss so maybe this can be over, you piece of garbage.”

Katsuki pulled Izuku roughly so their noses were touching. “Don’t think for a second I’m not going to kick your ass into the next century after we get back to UA.”

Before Izuku could respond, their lips smashed together, harder and deeper than necessary, all while he was vaguely aware the world started to crumble and fade into white once again.

#izuku x bakugo #bakudeku fan fiction #bakudeku art #bakudeku #katsudeku #katsuki x izuku #the beauty and the deku

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amarits · 3 years

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M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

So very many, but rather than go through them I’ll share a scene from Camp Murder. I’ve got a couple chapters of that one written that I keep almost posting. The kiddos are middle-schoolers attending a summer camp, and Roy is having a good ol’ sulk in the woods.

Roy had been following rabbit tracks for ten minutes when they stopped abruptly at a set of large cat tracks. He crouched beside them, studying the shape of the pads. Were those cougar tracks? This close to camp? He took pictures of the clearer tracks and started following them. Backwards, of course. The last thing he wanted was to actually find a cougar. But maybe if he could get an idea of where it was coming from, he’d know if it was a risk to the campers. Usually, cougars avoided areas with people.

He followed the tracks on a winding path out of the thinner, friendlier woods that surrounded the camp into the thicker, untamed forest that stretched on for half the state. He and Ollie had hiked for days through this and never gotten close to the other side.

In a mile, the flat ground would start rising in small hills that eventually became mountains. They usually did a camp trip to one of the smaller hills at the end of the week, and had a cookout at the top to celebrate “conquering the mountain”. He snorted. It was ridiculous. He and Ollie had climbed real mountains and that took days, not a couple of hours of casual walking.

He lost the tracks at one of the low rock outcrops stretching out from the mountains. That was probably good. The mountains were where the cougar was supposed to be. Far from camp, and unlikely to bother them when they came out as a group. Still raised the question of why it had come so close in the first place, but maybe it was hunting a deer.

He walked around the outcrop, looking for more tracks. He should probably start heading back towards camp. It was already going to be almost dinner by the time he got back, and Ollie was only gonna get angrier the later he was.

His eye caught on another cougar track and he turned to inspect it. It was next to what appeared to be… shoe prints?

“Hello!” a voice exclaimed at the same time that a small figure swung down to dangle upside down from a branch directly in front of him.

“Jiminy Christmas!” Roy exclaimed, stumbling backwards and raising his hands in… was that supposed to be a martial arts position? Stupid. What was he going to do, karate chop the threat?

“What are you doing out here?” the figure asked. Now that it was still, Roy could see it was a boy about his age with black hair, blue eyes, and deeply tan skin. Mexican, maybe? His bright orange camp shirt hung down around his shoulders and he swung back and forth on the branch by his knees.

“What am I doing out here?” Roy asked. “What are you doing out here?”

“Talking to the birds.” He had an accent, but it didn’t sound the same as the Mexican kids he’d met. More European.

“Talking to the… What are you, a Disney princess?”

The boy grinned like that was a compliment instead of the insult it was meant to be. “Maybe.” He swung harder and let go with his legs, flipping to land on his feet in front of Roy. Roy stepped back to avoid being hit, but shouldn’t have bothered. The boy moved like he was born to fly.

“I’m Dick,” he said.

“Roy,” Roy replied cautiously. “Do you even know where you are?”

“Sure!” Dick exclaimed, turning his whole body to point. “Camp is that way.”

Roy silently pointed in the actual direction, about 40 degrees clockwise from where Dick was pointing. He’d made sure to keep track of landmarks and the sun while he walked so he wouldn’t get lost.

Dick kept his finger raised. “What makes you think you’re more right than me?”

“I live here,” Roy said, also continuing to point steadily in the correct direction. He could keep this up as long as Dick could.

“In the woods?”

“Basically. My dad’s a counselor. I’ve been here for months.”

“Huh,” Dick said, mulling this over as he lowered his hand. “That sounds awful.”

“I know, right!” Roy exclaimed. It was the first time someone had said “awful” instead of “great” or “fun” and he felt vindicated. “I am so tired of everything. You’re new, though. Why’d you skip out on activities?”

“They were trying to make us sit still and make bracelets and it was sooooo boring.” As if to punctuate his point, Dick flipped backwards into a perfect handstand, and then just stayed on his hands while he talked. “I asked to use the bathroom, and then a bird was singing at me and that seemed way more interesting so I followed it.” He whistled in an actually pretty good imitation of a chickadee.

Roy felt weird talking to Dick’s feet, so he crouched to look him in the face. “Well, you’re lucky I found you. You’d probably be lost forever and die.”

Dick didn’t seem at all concerned, which probably meant he was stupid, but at least he was interesting.

“What are you doing out here?” Dick asked, swinging his legs back and forth without his upper body moving at all.

“Following cougar tracks.”

“Cougar?” Dick asked. Roy wasn’t sure if he didn’t recognize it because he was used to a different name for them or if English wasn’t his first language.

“Puma,” Roy said. “Mountain lion.”

At ‘lion’, Dick’s face lit up and he flipped back onto his feet. “Where?”

Roy pointed at the ground under him. “You’ve trampled all over that one.”

Dick lifted a foot and looked down at the muddled track under his hand and shoe prints. “Whoops.”

“I’m sure there’s another one nearby,” Roy said, searching in the direction the cat seemed to be coming from. There were more shoe prints. Big ones. He glanced back at Dick’s feet. Definitely too big to be his. Poachers, maybe? He scowled. That would explain why the cougar left its territory.

“What?” Dick asked, trailing behind him.

“Nothing. Here.” He pointed at another pawprint. This one also had a shoe print overlapping the edge, but it was cleaner.

Dick hurried over and stared down at it. His eyes narrowed and he tilted his head. “That’s not a lion track,” he said. “It’s a tiger.”

“It’s not either,” Roy said. “Mountain lion. Lions and tigers live in Africa.”

“Not all of them,” Dick said.

“All the ones that don’t live in zoos.”

“Nuh uh,” Dick insisted. “We have a tiger.” Roy rolled his eyes at the blatant lie. “We used to have a lion too, so I know what the prints look like.”

“Mountain lion,” Roy repeated. “You don’t even know what animal I’m talking about. Mountain lions are smaller and eat deer.” He held a hand at about waist height. He thought that was right. He’d never actually seen one in person, though he and Ollie had turned around a few times when they saw tracks.

“Then this is definitely a tiger,” Dick said. “Because the prints are tiger-sized.”

Roy gave up on trying to talk sense to him, following the shoe prints instead. It looked like there was more than one style of tread, but it was harder to tell on the dusty slope up the rocky outcrop. They were big, though. Definitely not kids. Could be counselors, but he didn’t think it was likely. Could be a band of poachers. They followed the cougar, not perfectly aligned, but definitely traveling parallel.

“What are you doing?” Dick asked, following. While Roy tried to walk lightly, separate from the trail he was following, Dick barged through like Godzilla entering Tokyo, destroying the path underfoot. At least we’ll have no problem knowing which way we came from, he thought, annoyed.

“Tracking poachers,” he said. “Probably. I guess they could just be campers.” He didn’t think so, though. Not with how closely they were following the cougar tracks.

Though to be fair, that’s what he and Dick were doing too.

Dick gasped. “They want to kill the tiger?”

Roy felt the last of his patience slipping away. “It’s not a ti—!” His voice didn’t so much trail off as just stop, the rest of his word swallowed by a silence more complete than the end of their voices and steps. There were no bird sounds, he realized. He should have noticed earlier. Prey animals disappeared when predators were around.

At the top of the outcrop, a man lay much too still, a bleeding gash in his side. Roy knew he was dead before his inhale became an exhale. There was too much blood. His skin was too white. He thought he could see actual guts through the sliced skin, and he was not going to throw up. He was not going to…

Oh, god. He had to at least check. He knew first aid and CPR and pretty much every emergency medical procedure they’d teach a thirteen-year-old. Normally when he was hiking, he had a simple med kit in his pouch, but he didn’t have it, didn’t have any gear at all because he hadn’t planned to be hiking. Stupid, stupid. Ollie had taught him to always be prepared, and the first time his training would have come in handy he was completely useless.

Dick reached the man before him, crouching down and pressing his hands against the open wound. Roy felt like he was pushing through water while Dick ran alongside him on the shore. He finally reached them what felt like minutes later, falling to his knees next to Dick and reaching for the man’s throat. He adjusted his fingers three times.

“There’s no pulse,” he said, his voice sounding hollow to his own ears.

“There must be something we can do!” Dick exclaimed, pushing harder against the wound.

“We can’t save someone who’s dead!” Roy yelled. His eyes lingered on the blood trailing over Dick’s hands. It took his brain a few minutes to register why. The wound was fresh, or it wouldn’t still be bleeding. Recent like the cougar attacked the man, then wandered a couple of miles towards the camp?

Or recent like it came back?

“Dick, we need to go,” Roy said, standing up and backing away, looking into the woods around them for any sign of the big cat. Or anything, really. The birds were still silent. He didn’t hear any rabbits, or squirrels. He didn’t hear anything.

“We can’t just leave him!” Dick said, turning tear-filled eyes towards him.

“He’s dead!” Roy repeated. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. No signal, of course. It barely even got a signal in the camp. He and Ollie had high-powered walkie talkies and SEND devices for hiking, but he didn’t bring his because he was stupid.

He turned on the camera instead and started taking pictures. The body with Dick still holding his blood-stained hands to the wound. The surroundings. Anything that might be a landmark.

“What are you doing?” Dick snapped, like he thought Roy was some kind of sick paparazzi.

“We need to go get someone and bring them back here,” Roy said. “I can get us back to the camp, but I’m not positive I could find our way back here.” He pocketed his phone, still backing up. “Come on, I’m serious. We need to…”

He stopped. Dick’s head snapped up at the same time, so Roy knew he heard it too. Something that sounded like deep breathing, like a motorcycle revving up, like purring broadcast through a sound speaker. He jerked his head back and forth, trying to find the source and not seeing anything.

You weren’t supposed to run from a cougar. They’d think you were easy prey. You were supposed to try to look big and intimidating. Fight back if you had to. Grab a stick or a rock.

But he didn’t see it. It might not see them. It would be a lot simpler to just not encounter it at all than to convince it they weren't easy prey. They were such easy prey. Who was he even trying to kid?

“Run,” he whispered.

Dick didn’t have to be told twice.

#roy harper #dick grayson #batman #young justice #batfam #ask game #ask #anon #wip #camp murder

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ninetyfivepercentdantomasik · 4 years

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She-Hulk: Thoughts

There’s this image going around the internet comparing two versions of Marvel’s She-Hulk. The argument (because there’s always an argument) is that one version shows an Empowered Woman, the other shows Hulk With Breasts.

I wanted to offer up my take to the endless void. Make of it what you will, dismiss it if you prefer.

Jennifer Walters (aka She-Hulk) is the cousin of Bruce Banner (aka The Incredible Hulk). After receiving a blood transfusion from him, she acquired a similar version of the anger-induced transformation that is “Hulk”. As her anger increases, so too does her superhuman strength. However, unlike her cousin, she retains her personality and intelligence while transformed.

More has been added to the character throughout the years, but for me, this was always She-Hulk in a nutshell. I knew her origin story and character pretty much exclusively from The Incredible Hulk animated series. Over the years, I’ve caught bits and pieces of her in other media, and while she’s always been somewhat overlooked for her bigger, stronger cousin, I think we’re in a period where a She-Hulk series could do a lot of good.

She-Hulk has rarely had center stage. It’s hard getting out of someone’s shadow when even your name is one of those “Established Character with Feminine Prefix” tragedies. Much like Supergirl, people always compare you to the original and dismiss you as a derivative knockoff designed to pander to a specific audience. Fact is, She-Hulk’s powers are canonically defined as a “milder” version of Hulk’s. By intent, she is weaker than him. Worse, if a job calls for a hero with super-strength, she’ll be overlooked for other heroes who are recognized for the distinct super-strength specific to them, as opposed to a weaker version of someone else’s. From such a perspective, it seems practically impossible for growth and recognition to flourish in the character. There will always be that giant, Hulk-sized shadow looming over any of her superhero achievements. Then again, people often misjudge what makes a strong character.

One of the things I always particularly liked about She-Hulk was that her design told her story, which is a difficult thing to do. Looking at her, the green skin and muscles create an instant association with the Hulk. Distinct vestiges of super-strength, durability, and extensive property damage. That said, this is generally where the similarities with her and Hulk end. Build-wise, She-Hulk's musculature is less like a giant wall of biceps and more akin to an Amazonian physique, like something a normal person could dream to achieve (okay, an Olympic athlete, but a human Olympic athlete). In terms of costume, her trademark look is effectively an aerobics leotard*, something that stretches and adjusts comfortably for either form. Furthermore, the character has a clear personality that comes across in both her expressions and body language which paints a pretty solid picture of exactly who you’re dealing with. It says, “I’m a woman, I’m a hero, I can think, and I can break you in half, too”. It’s a confident, energetic persona, equal parts intimidating and inspiring. All this creates the image of a person who has achieved harmony with their super-self, something rare in comics or reality.

Where She-Hulk really shines is when she’s allowed to do things other heroes, including and especially the Hulk, are unable to do. Part of every superhero’s story is conflict, be it with their nemesis(es), their fellow heroes, or themselves. Calm, well-adjusted individuals generally don’t become heroes. There’s always got to be something to drive them into another adventure, be it duty, survival, tragedy, etc. Worse yet for their fragile psyches, the job never ends. Even death doesn’t get you a pass in this line of work. You keep going until the superpower life has ground your character into the dirt and you become so unpleasant to be around that you either get replaced or rebooted. She-Hulk has an somewhat unique niche in this sort of demanding, never-ending universe of pain. Put simply, it’s a functioning ordinary life.

A moment’s pause to consider what that is to a super.

Jennifer Walters’ superhero identity is publicly known, removing any kind of “secret alter-ego” struggle. She has a level of self-control with regards to her powers few heroes ever get a chance for. In addition, her super work is entirely legal, usually at the request of any number of publicly-recognized hero organizations, as opposed to a certain blind lawyer in Hell’s Kitchen who will immediately lose his license to practice law if his vigilante extracurriculars are ever exposed. Possibly most important though, is that Jennifer Walters is able to maintain a career as a legal attorney in her She-Hulk form. Having the kind of peaceful coexistence within oneself to walk into court in a suit and green skin is a true marvel. Because the fact is, she’s a Hulk in a courthouse (read as “bull in a china shop”) with confidence, self-respect, and legal skill to make her a role model for women, heroes, and lawyers. As for her struggles, they’re just as eternal as any hero’s, but since literally no one expects her to match or beat Hulk at being Hulk, they are much more grounded in relatable, day-to-day life. Balancing work, a social life, relationships, giving her clients the best legal representation possible, staying in shape (believe it or not, still important even as a Hulk), and it never ends. As for her super struggles, there will unfortunately always be those who see her as a monster, a freak, and a menace. That said, she’s in a better position to prove such bigots wrong than most. Her record is cleaner than most heroes, her discipline is inspiring, she’s highly educated, a widely respected legal professional, and she’s invulnerable to most conventional and unconventional weapons. She is a strong, confident, independent woman who is unfathomably difficult to put down.

My stance on this Old vs New She-Hulk argument is that muscles and strength are not nearly as important as character. Making her stronger and/or more like Hulk is missing what makes She-Hulk most interesting. Moreover, we already have plenty of superhero media that’s all about fighting supervillains, saving the world, punching things really hard, etc. I’d love another series like Jessica Jones or the first season of Daredevil that gave us a different take on being a super. The intriguing worlds of private investigation and law, placing emphasis on characters instead of superpowers, dealing with non-super threats, and finding a place where you belong. I hope we get something like that. In the event Marvel/Disney decide to lean more towards the stronger, angrier, bigger She-Hulk, who knows? Maybe they’ll finally figure out how to make a good live action Hulk. Last thing I’ll say is this, the old version wouldn’t require CGI to achieve.

*My stance on the legless leotard and over-sexualization of comic book women is thus; I kinda get where it makes logical sense to be legless if your thighs are prone to suddenly exploding with muscles and you don’t want to ruin leggings. That said, there’s no reality where that thin strap of fabric is sufficient for a superhero expecting combat. Stretchy aerobic legwear that goes all the way down is more than doable. Plus, again, it emphasizes the foresight Jennifer is able to put into her costumes to suit herself in human or She-Hulk form. As opposed to Bruce who goes through clothing like coffee paper because, uncontrollable rage monster.

#She Hulk #She-Hulk #character #marvel #old vs new #hulk #disney #superhero #superheroes #heroines #jennifer walters #super lawyer #superhuman #superpowers

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spongeguyandlelouchvibridankia · 4 years

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SpongeGuy Reviews Every Episode of Disney Cartoon Ever!: The Buzz On Maggie (1.1 and 1.2): “The Flyinator” and “Ladybugged”

My original review for this was deleted, so now i’m even angrier. this is a show about teen flies. FUCK MY LIFE.

The Buzz On Maggie is a fucking show about fucking flies being fucking teens and doing nothing original. It’s an animated sitcom with nothing in it. I’m gonna write my old review here, but like, angerier.

AAAAAAAAAAAA

Like, this is just nothing. There is nothing in this, it’s shallow and stupid and lame, and Bonkers is only worse than it because that one somehow pissed me off more.

SUMMERIES: When Maggie can't see the same movies as Aldrin she starts trying to be better than he is; she sneaks into an R-rated movie to be better than he is.

When Maggie thinks up a theme for the school dance, it is quickly threatened by a new student, who apparently has a better theme.

COMEDY: 1 Out of 5 (”The Flyinator” and “Ladybugged”)

Comedy. Ha! More like FUCKING NOTHING. This show has all the same old jokes. You’ve seen em, you’ve heard em. It’s a bunch of stupid gross out gags and teen gags and characters have one personlaity trait let;s just do that over and over and OVER AGAIN.

There ARE some fly jokes, but most of them are about barfing on food. It;s fucking stupid. I chuckled ONCE. That’s it. Mostly I was bored out of my mind, barely remembering anything. There’s no value here, no humor. Just the same old SHIT.

And speaking of that...

CHARACTERS: 1 Out of 5 (”The Flyinator” and “Ladybugged”)

I like Jessica Diccocio’s voice. I also like Cree Summer’s voice. Sadly these two titans can’t do much with such shit writing.

Every character is so recycled and old, every trait is so predictable. We have our vain and (not too much in these ones but still) selfish MC, our best friend, our bully older sibling, or annoying little sibling, our baby, our ASSHOLE PARENTS WHO SHOULDN’T BE PARENTS. WE HAVE EM ALL FOLKS!

Nothing is complex. No one has a twist on them. Maggie’s series goal (as if that’s an actual goal, the first two EPISODES couldn’t give less a shit about that) is becoming famous. Bravo. Hannah Montana was a thing. NOW STOP REMINDING ME.

I JUST... I HATE THIS SHOW. THE PARENTS ARE OK WITH THEIR DAUGHTER BEING SCARED SHITLESS BECAUSE IT’S FUNNY AND SHE LEARNED HER LESSON, AND NOW THEY’RE LIKE OH WELL GUESS WE HAVE TO SEE IF SHE’S OK, WHO CARES ABOUT OUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD, RIGHT? AND EVERYONE IS ONE DIMENSIONAL AS FUCK BECAUSE WHY BOTHER MAKING COMPLEX CHARACTERS WHEN WE CAN JUST DO THE SAME OLD SHIT!

STORY AND HEART: 0 Out of 5 (”The Flyinator” and “Ladybugged”)

THERE IS NONE. It’s just a “I want to see a scary movie, oh shit I did” plot (the only fun twist being that the other movies don’t scare Maggie, but we never talk about how stupidly over protective and strict the parents were) and “Oh look there’s a mean girl and she’s telling everyone how they should be I WONDER WHAT THE LESSON IS” episode. THat’s IT.

THIS SHOW IS SO EMPTY, THERE’S NOTHING TO SAY. I CAN BARELY REMEMBER ANYTHING. IT’S SO BASIC AND BORING, ALL IT HAS IS AN OK THEME AND SURPRISNGLY GOOD EL TIGRE ESQUE FLASH, FOR IT’S ERA AND FOR DISNEY’S FIRST THAT IS PRETTY GOOD BUT THAT’S IT! GOD THIS WAS SO SHIT!

FUCK THIS SHOW, FUCK THIS REVIEW, FUCK MY LIFE. HOW ARE THERE 4 SHOWS WORSE THAN THIS? CAN I GET A GOOD SHOW PLEASE? I DO NOT REGRET HOW SHORT THIS REVIEW WAS BTW.

FINAL SCORE: 2 Out of 5 (”The Flyinator” and “Ladybugged”)

Lower score than Bonkers, still ranks higher. NEXT.

BIG CITY GREENS? THANK THE MAKER! TIME TO GIVE AN UNDERRATED SHOW THE PRAISE IT DESERVES!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/194d3gsPrhlOsFPYsXU-lJirY4sWncrBl/edit#heading=h.84fdd1xjdu5a

#disney #disney channel #disney cartoons #the buzz on maggie #spongeguy #every Disney Animated Show Reviewed

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amandajoyce118 · 5 years

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Agents of SHIELD S6E06 “Inescapable” Easter Eggs And References

In this week’s episode, Fitz and Simmons find themselves reunited, but sharing a mindspace while the Chronocoms want them to work out time travel. It leads to some unexpectedly therapeutic tracking through old memories.

As usual, there are spoilers. Again, SPOILERS if you haven’t yet watched the episode. You’ve been warned.

Spoilers.

Seriously.

Last warning.

The White Room

This is probably unintentional, and the white room they end up in is likely just meant to look like the blank slate it is, but… it made me think of another white room from Marvel Comics. Specifically, the White Hot Room. That’s the name of the Purgatory like space that the Phoenix Force inhabits pretty often. It’s also where Jean Grey recharges and accesses all of her memories when she and the Phoenix re-merge. It’s just a very striking similarity since Dark Phoenix was just in theaters (and the movie doesn’t use that comic book aspect at all).

Fitz’s Proposal

If Fitz’s proposal sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve heard it before. Last season, when he found Jemma, she couldn’t hear him, but he gave her nearly the exact same speech. (Edited to add: She also answered him the same way he answered her when she proposed last season. Nice. And she knew exactly how his speech would end, which means she must have asked him at some point last season how he proposed when she couldn’t hear him. Also, right before Fitz proposes, you’ll spot his bad hand twitching a bit, a nervous tick Iain has kept using since his season two injury. Love the character consistency.)

Alice In Wonderland

A hole appearing in the white room that Jemma escapes through and Fitz following her into her own childhood bedroom feels like a very intentional nod to going “down the rabbit holt” and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Jemma’s Room

I know I’m going to miss some things in Jemma’s room, but there is so much going on in here. Obviously, the book about her and Fitz, but there’s more. We see she’s a Jane Goodall fan because that photograph features prominently. There are stars on her ceiling, likely a nod to the times she spent studying the stars while recovering from surgery as a kid. She has so many samples on her shelves that I wish I could actually see what they all are. There’s a Winnie the Pooh which doubles as a nod to the Disney parent company and it being one of those very English animated properties (edited to add it is technically Canadian) for kids. Not to mention fellow MCU alum Hayley Atwell starred in Christopher Robin. Right next to Winnie is a Paddington Bear, which is a nice touch. Also, the butterfly painting on her wall that looks like it’s a little mixed media with butterfly pieces on the bottom? That was in Jemma’s Hydra apartment in season two. (I remember that odd detail because I used it in a fic.)

Edited to add that Jemma has a serious thing for butterflies that makes me curious. In addition to the butterfly print from season two, there are framed butterflies on shelves, and sample vials of other butterflies in her collection, and even butterflies on the tea set that she and Fitz have in the white room. I wonder if it’s because they were easy for her to study as a kid, or if she was fascinated by their transformation, or something else. Is that something else, perchance, something to do with Sarge’s Snowflake? She does like to go on about how people become beautiful butterflies after she stabs them. Is this just a weird bit of foreshadowing? Showing a connection between them? Is Snowflake another’s world’s version of Jemma? Oh, that would be weird. But food for thought.

Also edited to add: the book doesn’t just feature Fitz as the prince in the stars and Simmons as the princess looking for him. It also features Mack as a strong bear and Daisy as a quick rabbit, which are interesting choices. I’m assuming it’s them only because they’re the friends they call later in the episode. I mean, it could be that the animals are Daisy and Piper since they went to space together, but that would make Davis the monkey? lol

Cuttlefish

Okay, I’m editing this one in because it struck me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to include it until I looked up the sea creature. So, I initially thought this was a nod to Jemma talking about fish in the pod at the bottom of the ocean in season one. And maybe it is. But, the cuttlefish is actually from the same taxonomic class as squids... like the symbol for Hydra. Nice nod either way.

Fitz’s Academy Dorm

Hey, Bonus mention of Anne Weaver! I enjoy her. The show should try to get her back for a cameo or two.

Okay, I’ll admit I was too focused on them processing the memory to focus on everything in Fitz’s room, but I did spot that massive Manchester banner. Just a reminder that’s Fitz’s team and Hunter is not a fan, as we learned last season. I might catch more on a rewatch, but feel free to tell me what I missed in both of their rooms.

Edited to add: Fitz is wearing the “same” dark blue hoodie that Jemma wears around the base in season three when she returns from Maveth. It’s not actually the same, but we’re clearly meant to think it’s the same one that fits her because it is far too small for Iain to be wearing it over two more layers of clothing. Also, even before Jemma mentions Fitz being manic, you can actually seen hand drawn monkeys on the wall like what Fitz did in the prison cell. Only a few before they start discussing his state of mind and then show Jemma looking at them on the wall. Also, the tie that Fitz wears when they meet Coulson is hanging on his coat rack.

Side note: I found it interesting, though I loathe the term, that Jemma says she friendzoned Fitz in that scene. That means that Jemma at the Academy must have had some inkling that Fitz had a crush on her. Or, this is just Jemma looking back on it with the benefit of over a decade of experience with Fitz and realizing it. Either way, it confirms that Fitz always thought she was the coolest, even while he was busy arguing with her.

Jemma Needs Therapy

I love that Jemma’s problems locked in a box are an amalgam of all her traumas. (Also, it’s funny to me that she has a little pink safe on her dresser that she could have locked her troubles away in, but instead, it’s the easy to open jewelry box.) This version of Jemma looks like a monster, but she’s wearing her shirt from Maveth and shreds of her Kree-slave attire, carrying the shiv from Maveth, has gold paint on her forehead from her time in the future. (Edited to add: she’s also covered in dirt with a hoarse voice, and I’ve noticed some people think that’s a nod to her emerging from a grave in the Framework, which is a good catch. I thought it was simply to make her look more like a monster, but it makes sense that it’s a nod to what she discovered in the Framework now that I’ve watched the episode again, and this “monster” only emerges after they’re faced with the Doctor.) She’s the embodiment of all the bad things Jemma has gone through, and Fitz is right that she’d be better off with therapy instead of keeping the English stiff upper lip.

Meeting Coulson

The scene where the two of them meet and get recruited by Coulson makes me wonder if it happened immediately before we meet them in the pilot episode. Why? Because they’re wearing their pilot episode clothes, though the hair, of course, is not exactly accurate. (Edited to add: Simmons telling Fitz, “yes, I’ve heard the stories, don’t be weird” is a nod to Coulson’s death being on record. They weren’t at a high enough clearance level to actual know he was alive.)

Edited to add: can we talk about how significant it is that Fitz “fights” the demon version of Jemma on the part of the quinjet where he first thought he was going to lose Jemma? It’s where he couldn’t get his parachute on in “FZZT” and Ward went to save her instead. I just found that location choice interesting. It’s not the bus from season one. It’s definitely an updated quinjet, probably because they don’t have the same exact set pieces anymore, but it looks strikingly similar. Demon-demon asking Fitz if his lungs or bones will go first? That’s a nod to the scene of she and Daisy torturing an alien this season when they were looking for Fitz. Clearly, though she saw the intimidation and torture as necessary, it left it’s mark on her.

Also, I didn’t mention in when I initially posted this, but I think them choosing Daisy and Mack to save them speaks more to how they view them than just what cast was available. We’ve seen Hunter literally pull Fitz out of prison, yet he chooses Mack to save him from Jemma. Why? I feel like he might trust Mack with Jemma’s trauma more than he trusts Hunter. Because Mack was there for most of it, and because Mack was there for his own recovery in season two before he became closer to Hunter. Likewise, Jemma calling Daisy and not May, or Elena? That’s because Daisy has had her back for a year in space. She’s seen Daisy literally take out an entire room of badguys while drugged up on puffies, so of course, Daisy is her first choice. Daisy has also already had the Doctor in her own head when Fitz had his psychotic break last season, so it’s a bit of symmetry there too.

Trapped In A Pod

Okay, so it’s sweet that they realize they don’t just have to rely on one another and call Daisy and Mack for backup against the dark parts of their minds. I enjoy that, as well as the symmetry of them both getting to see each other’s worst parts. What I really love here though is that this is the angrier version of the season one pod scene. The two of them run away from their troubles only to be trapped together in an enclosed space, yet again, to yell at one another about all the things they haven’t had the chance to argue about before. Watching the scene, I literally said that the only thing that would make it better would be if it was actually at the bottom of the ocean. Of course, they realized that and it filled with water. Of course. The arguing in the middle of the water, just as it did in season one, leads to their confessing their feelings. It’s a lovely, symmetrical, story of their relationship, this episode.

That Makeout

Leopold and Demon Jemma going at it while Fitz and Simmons argue? This just further proves that all that bantering in the early seasons was really foreplay, right?

That’s all I’ve got, for now. I’m sure I missed some things just because of the nature of the episode. It’s taking us on a walk through memories, some we’ve seen, so there are likely more that are harder to spot. Let me know what I missed!

#agents of shield #aos season 6 #aos spoilers #aos easter eggs #fitzsimmons

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katesofheaven · 7 years

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Caldwell Academy chapter 20

previous chapter chapter one

tw: gun violence

The movie theater is cold. Dan and Adrian make their way toward the exit, thanking the usher, slinging on their coats, walking out the door and taking a left to make their way home. They talk about the movie; Adrian had loved it and Dan had thought it was “pretty good”—they argue about it lightheartedly on their walk through the downtown area. Dan notices the buildings start to look more decrepit as their journey progresses; polished brick morphs into dingy concrete and the streetlights are dim. Strange people sit on street corners. He remembers walking through this district as a kid and clinging onto his dad’s coat, waiting to get to the safer, residential neighborhoods on the other side. He quickens his pace and pulls Adrian along with him, looking around vigilantly—only a few more blocks to safety.

“Go faster, Adrian.”

“I don’t appreciate you pulling me by my hood—“

“Hey.”

Dan falters, the foreign voice catching him off guard, but pulls Adrian along faster in an attempt to ignore the stranger, and this time his little brother complies.

He doesn’t hear footsteps but suddenly there’s a firm hand on his shoulder, clapping down and stopping him in his tracks; Adrian stays close with wide eyes.

“Hey, mate, my car’s run out of gas a few blocks over and I need some money to fill it up, would you help me out?” The man has dark circles under his deepset eyes and stringy brown hair pulled into a ponytail. He looks at Dan with pale irises and large pupils, and keeps his hand over a lump in the pocket of his jacket. Dan stares from the man’s eyes to his hand and back again.

“Sorry, I don’t have any cash,” he says warily, attempting to pull his brother with him once again. The man grabs him by the shoulder, harder this time, and Dan’s palms flare but he doesn’t do anything. He waits for the man to speak.

“I don’t believe you.”

Adrian tenses and Dan grips him harder in what he hopes feels like reassurance. “Look, we’re just trying to get home—“

Dan hears a click from the man’s pocket— his heart beats faster. His palms are aching.

Normal people can’t know.

“I really need some money, mate.” The man takes the gun out of his pocket slowly and lets it dangle at his side; Dan quickly shields Adrian behind him and holds his hands up.

“Okay. Calm down. My wallet is in my coat; I’m going to reach for it. Is that okay?” The man nods, watching Dan intently as his hand creeps toward his pocket; he doesn’t want to move too quickly and startle this stranger holding a gun. His fingers grasp his wallet and slowly pull it out, handing it over to the man, trembling slightly. He takes it and rifles through it, eyes widening and looking again, turning it upside down, an old library card falling out but nothing else, no money, no credit cards. The man swears and raises the gun to Dan’s face.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Where’s your fucking money, man?”

Dan stares into the black barrel of the gun, the man’s eyes wide and white behind it, teeth bared.

“I told you— I don’t have any money, please—“ he keeps holding Adrian behind him as if he’s trying to hide him, the stranger is getting angrier, Dan keeps pleading.

“Look, please, just let us go, we need to get—“

It’s the loudest sound in the world. It echoes around the neighborhood and Adrian holds his hands over his ears, waiting to stop hearing it, but they don’t seem to be working properly; a loud ringing is all that remains. He waits for a body to fall to the ground. He keeps waiting. His brother is dead. He doesn’t want to see. His brother is dead.

Nothing falls to the ground.

He looks.

Dan is still standing there. The man is still standing there. A bullet hangs in the air, still spinning, halted three inches from Dan’s face.

What?

Adrian straightens; he looks up at his big brother. Dan looks absolutely dumbfounded, staring at the bullet looming inches away from killing him. Adrian sees something flicker in Dan’s eyes, a blank expression, like that of a shark, before it’s replaced by calm. Dan holds out his hand and the bullet falls neatly into his palm.

“Wh-what… What the f-fuck?” The man backs away, eyes wide, looking at Dan with terror before turning and sprinting away down the street, disappearing around the corner.

Dan is still staring at the bullet.

“…Dan?”

Dan looks at him quickly, expression changing to one of panic; he had forgotten his little brother was even there.

“Shit—Adrian—“

“Dan, what…?” Adrian takes a step back, gazing at his brother in alarm. Dan shakes his head violently.

“No—I didn’t—please,” He stumbles, holding his hands up in surrender again, the bullet rolling out of his palm and clinking on the ground. “Don’t go, Adrian, please.”

Adrian pauses. Dan lowers his hands. He looks around warily.

“We need to get out of here.”

~~~

The dinner table is quiet, filled only with the sounds of forks scraping across plates.

Mum takes a sip of wine. “So, how was the movie, boys?”

Adrian looks at his brother pointedly, chewing his food. “It was okay.”

“He loved it,” Dan says breezily. He drinks some orange juice.

“I was surprised by the ending, though,” Adrian retorts, “It was pretty unexpected.”

Dan scoffs. “Oh, please, I think you should be pretty grateful, considering how it could have ended.”

Mr. and Mrs. Howell gaze back and forth between their two sons like they’re watching a tennis match.

Adrian slams his milk down on the table a little too hard and a few drops slosh over the side. “I just wish someone had told me sooner so I could have some time to process it; I was kind of caught off guard.”

The two brothers stare at each other across the table in a tense silence.

Dad clears his throat. “Didn’t you guys see a Disney movie?”

“Animated feature films are a lot darker these days, Dad,” Dan says, standing up with conviction. “I’m not hungry, I think I’ll go to bed.” He turns on his heel and leaves. Adrian tries to take another bite of his food but finds himself pushing away his plate and thanking Mum for dinner, then following his big brother to his bedroom.

He knocks slowly on the door and doesn’t hear a reply, so he walks in.

“That’s very polite, Adrian, thank you for entering without my permission.”

Adrian ignores him and sits on his bed. He looks at his feet.

“Dan… what’s going on?”

Dan sits up and looks at Adrian steadily. “Don’t tell Mum and Dad.”

“Okay, fine, just tell me what’s—“

“Adrian. Don’t tell Mum and Dad.”

Adrian looks up at him, blinking. “Okay.”

Dan closes and locks the door without moving from the bed and his brother scoots back slightly, alarmed, waiting for an explanation.

“I can move shit with my mind.”

Adrian stares, dumbfounded. “Jesus.” He glances around, looking for inspiration, and asks, “How long have you… you know?”

“It started when I was eight; you were little.”

“Jesus,” he repeats. Something dawns on him and he stares at Dan again. “Is Phil… can he move shit with his mind, too?”

Dan blushes at the mention of him. “No.”

“Okay, phew, that would be a little—“

“Phil’s a mind reader.”

Adrian ogles; Dan can almost see the little gears turning in his head.

“So, what, you like, go to Hogwarts or something?”

Dan laughs. “Not quite.”

“But your school…”

“Yeah.”

“Dude.”

“I know.”

“Can you show me?”

“Yeah, I…” Dan trails off. His heart sinks. What if… what if that other side wakes up? What if he hurts his brother?

No. He can never hurt Adrian. He can’t risk it.

He had felt it flutter, earlier. He had felt that excitement, that malicious glee, which characterized his other half. He had almost let it take over for a bit—for a split second—but fought it back into its slumber before it could do any damage. Adrian can never see him like that. He can’t tempt himself.

“Dan?”

“No.”

Adrian blinks. “What…why? You were just about to—“

“I don’t…” Dan sighs. “It’s complicated. No.”

His brother rolls his eyes. “Fine, weirdo, whatever,” he says, getting up to leave.

Dan holds his hands in his lap and stares at them; the door swings shut and Adrian’s footsteps retreat.

His phone vibrates in his pocket and his heart flutters; he has a text message. Is it from Phil?

It’s from Adrian. It’s the middle finger emoji. Dan can’t help but crack a smile at that. His phone vibrates again.

From: Phil:)

i miss u. when are you free? x

next chapter

#dan howell #phil lester #danisnotonfire #amazingphil #phan #superpowers #telekinesis #au #phanfiction #kickthepj #crabstickz #chaptered #boarding school #tw

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