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late-to-the-party-81 · 1 year

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Let's delay our misery

AN: This fic was written for @sweeterthanthis Bittersweet Symphony Challenge (and yes I’m down to the wire with it!) I chose the prompt “So take this wine and drink with me, Let's delay our misery”. I’ve subverted the theme of forbidden romance slightly as, while our reader and Frank do something they shouldn’t, it isn’t them having the forbidden romance. But I hope you like it Lau! All aboard the angst train!

Beta’d by @lfnr-blog-blog-blog

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Moodboard/Banner by me

Masterlist

Relationship(s): Reader x Husband!Matt Murdock, Frank Castle x Karen Page, Matt Murdock x Karen Page, Reader x Frank Castle

Word count: 2k

CW: Cheating, Angst, excessive alcohol consumption, vomit, Drunken sex (not explicit), the odd fluffy moment amongst the heartbreak, no happy ending, but maybe a hopeful one. Alternate Universe (no one is a vigilante)

The bile rose in your throat, threatening to escape your mouth and all over the hardwood floor of the bar you were in. Why Frank had invited you to a public place to drop this bombshell, you didn’t know. Maybe he thought it would help you to control your reaction?

“How long, Frank? How long has it been going on?” It took all your control to keep your voice level.

You turned your glassy gaze at your husband’s best friend, who looked back at you with an expression of mixed pain and pity.

“And how long have you known?”

His large, calloused hand reached out to cover your own. You looked down at the table, and marvelled at how it didn’t feel like your hand. You felt disconnected from reality, apart from the all encompassing pain in your chest. Was this your heart breaking?

“I’ve known for two days, sweetheart. Two days in which I’ve agonised about what to do. Whether to tell you or not. Whether to confront one or both of them. Then when Karen told me they were having to stay overnight in Jersey for this latest case, I knew I had to tell you. Then we can work out what to do, together.”

Despite your resolution, you couldn’t stop the silent tear rolling down your cheek.

“Aaww, fuck. Come ‘ere.” Frank pulled you to him. The soft cotton of his shirt rubbed up against your face, the familiar scent of him, that you’d never really dwelled on before, filling your nose. He was Frank. Your husband Matt’s best friend.

Matt worked at a small law firm, with his friend’s Foggy and Karen. Frank was a PI. and had been pulled into one of their cases. He hit it off with all of them, especially Karen and they’d gotten married within the year. You’d met Matt when he’d pulled your distracted ass back from the edge of the sidewalk, stopping you from getting pancaked by a drug-driver. The pair of you had gotten married 9 months after Frank and Karen. It was always the four of you. Group holidays, summer cookouts, theatre trips that made the boys groan. The four Musketeers.

But it was all gone. Blown up and destroyed. Because Karen and Matt were having an affair. Frank had invited you out to the bar tonight, not an uncommon occurrence when both your spouses were out of town on work.

Ha!

On “work”.

Was there actually work to be done, or was the whole weekend just an excuse for them to have some time together. You could feel the bile rising again.

“Nope. Don’t go there, sweets.” He rubbed his hand up and down your arm. “Come on, you wanna get drunk? You and I are never miserable when we’re drunk together.”

You let a sound that was part chuckle and part sniff, from your safe place in Frank’s embrace. “Yeah, we’re always the last ones standing. Think we can still go til dawn?”

He eased you away so he could brush his knuckle against the underside of your chin. “I’m game if you are! Pick your poison.”

You gave him a watery smile and swiped at your eyes with your sweater covered arm. “Oh it’s on, Castle. Shots. First to barf pays for the cab home.”

So you drank. And danced. And drank. And played pool. You lost the contest, you always did. There was no way you could out-drink Frank, but every time you swore that this time you’d manage it. But after your inelegant dash to the washroom and the support of the random drunk women that are always present, you rinsed your mouth, (vaguely) fixed your make-up and headed back out to continue. Frank smiled his charming, wonky smile at you and placed another shot in your hand. You smiled back and clinked your glass against his.

Frank helped you out of the cab, and you fisted his jacket for support, singing all the while.

“SAVE TONIGHT! WE’LL FIGHT THE BREAK OF DAWN! SOMETHING SOMETHING! I WANT TO WATCH SOME PORN!”

Frank chuckled in your ear as he fished your keys out of your purse.

“I’d forgotten how flirty and horny you get when you’re drunk, sweets.” He opened the door on his third try and somehow steered you through it, bouncing himself off the doorframe twice.

You grinned, closed one eye for focus, and with your index finger, pressed his nose.

“Boop! You’re such a good man Frank. Unlike that lousy Matt. Stupid Matt.” A frown made its way across your features as you dropped down on your couch. “I loved Matt. But he doesn’t love me.”

“Nope, nope, baby girl. Come on. Cause if you get sad, I’m gonna get sad, and ain’t no one want to see that.” He half collapsed down next to you, and pressed a sloppy kiss to your forehead.

“Aaaawww, you kissed me, Frankie!” You giggled and started to sing again. “Me ‘n’ Frankie, sitting in a tree. F U C K I N G.”

His massive hand was suddenly covering your mouth, trying to halt your saucy rhyme. “Wow, your mood is swinging both ways. But d’ya gotta be so vulgar, sweets?”

You giggled behind your makeshift gag and then licked his palm. He let out an “Eew!” and drew his hand away, scrubbing it down his jeans. You turned to face him and ended up half on top of him.

“I’ve always been like this, and you know it. Why you gotta be so warm?” You rubbed your face against his t-shirt like a cat. He laughed and you felt the rumble in his chest.

“Cos I’m hot stuff, sweets and you know it.”

You sat up and gave him a shove. “So humble!”

Frank sniffed dramatically, and gave you a poke back in the shoulder. “‘S not my fault you don’t appreciate my masculine allure.”

You snorted. “Married, but not dead. I can still window shop…hey!”

He pulled you back into a cuddle.

“So you thought about it then, sweets? Thought about me?” A part of your drink-addled brain was trying to wave red flags at you. This was not a conversation you ought to be having when the pair of you were drunk and feeling betrayed. You shooed the thought away.

Frank was silent for a moment, just absentmindedly stroking up and down your back, and then he spoke again, his voice quiet this time. “Thought ‘bout you too. But we’re the good ones, ain’t we, sweets. We’re the ones who look but don’t touch. Cos we respect our vows.”

You could feel the change in atmosphere. It was as though you were both on the cusp of something. Both of you knew what it was, but it was going to come down to who voiced it first.

Which turned out to be you. You started to trail a finger over Frank's thigh, the fingernail catching on the thick denim of his jeans.

“What if I don’t want to be good no more, Frankie? What if I wanna touch and be disrespectful? They started it? Why should we feel bad?”

You tipped your head back so you could look at him, his half-closed brown eyes looking at you with warmth and affection.

“I’d say that, right now, in this moment, I feel the same.”

You both moved and your lips connected gently.

It should have felt wrong. He was your friend. Your husband's best friend. But you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. You revelled in the feeling of a different pair of lips on your. Rougher than you were used to. It was… tantalising. The little devil on your shoulder asked you what else would be different about him. You pushed up onto your knees, but refused to break your connection. With your hands resting on his impressive chest - you’d noticed, you were only human - you threw your leg over his lap and sat down, straddling him. Frank’s hands slid up your back instinctually and the kiss deepened.

You were both hurt, both lonely and both drunk. That’s what you told yourself in the morning but, in the here and now, there was just need. A need to stick your middle fingers up at the world in general and Matt and Karen in particular.

Clothes were shed and more kisses were exchanged. Kisses that turned into sighs and moans. Nails clutched, fingers and mouths and tongues explored. There was no finesse, but neither of you were looking for that. There was sweat and saliva, bites and scratches, all slightly out of focus, and then there was nothing.

“Uuurrrggghhh.” God! Whatever you’d drunk last night tasted awful. You stretched out your arms and… why was one feeling carpet and the other a broad thick chest… Noooo!

You sat up with a start, your head reeling and your stomach lurching at the sudden movement. “Oh fuck…” You turned and retched into the plant pot, conscious of Frank’s naked and slumbering body on the floor next to you.

You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand and just stared at him incredulously… and Jesus Christ! You grabbed a pillow and dropped it on his crotch, and then pulled the throw off the back of the sofa and wrapped it around yourself. Bringing your hand up to your mouth you started to chew on your thumb nail.

This was bad. Really bad. Two wrongs didn’t make a right. And Frank was your friend.

Your stomach flipped and if there had been anything left in it, it would have come up.

Frank stirred and sat up, one hand clutching his head and only one eye open. He looked down at the green fabric square in his lap and over at you wrapped in matching wool.

“Mornin’, sweets. Think we got a bit carried away last night, huh?” You just stared back, open-mouthed. A look of concern came over Frank’s face and he extended his hand out towards you. “Woah, you okay?” You shook your head and shuffled away, out of his reach, looking down at the floor. From the corner of your eye you could see his dejected expression and it made you feel awful.

“It was a mistake, Frank. We were drunk and upset, but it shouldn’t have happened.” Your voice was rough and gravelly, and in any other circumstances you’d have laughed. Unfortunately, laughing was at the bottom of your agenda now. You were heart broken and guilty, and to top it off, hungover.

You peered up at him from under your lashes. He gave you a brusque nod of understanding and, holding the pillow to himself, got up and found his clothes. He dressed out of line of your vision, but then returned, and crouched down beside you. You still couldn’t look at him. He placed a warm hand on your shoulder and it took all your willpower not to lean into him. It would be both too easy and the worst mistake.

“I’ll speak to you at some point, sweets. They get back this evening. I’m gonna tell Karen that we know, and that for her and me, it’s over. You let me know your decision, when you know, yeah? But I think… I think I’m gonna pack up and move away. Start somewhere fresh. You take care o’ y’self.”

You bit your lip and nodded, still staring at the carpet by your toes. He sighed, a heavy and sad sound, and then he was standing up again, and walking across your floor to the door. When it thudded closed the finality broke you. Your eyes shut, and for the first time since this nightmare started, you allowed the tears to fall.

Dragging yourself up, you made your way to the bathroom, letting the almost scalding water from the shower wash over your skin. You welcomed the sting as it cascaded over bite marks and scratches. The pain was absolution, but you hated that you felt so guilty, when Matt was the one who’d betrayed you.

As you stepped out of the hot steam, and roughly rubbed yourself dry, it felt as though, at least for the time being, that the water had also washed away the sadness, leaving a burning anger in its wake.

You went back to the lounge, and ignoring the reminders of your night, searched for your phone. You dialled a number and waited for it to connect.

“Hi, Foggy! Yeah, it’s me. No, I don’t actually care when he’s due back. I was wondering if you could recommend me and Frank the name of a good divorce lawyer.”

Tag list: @jobean12-blog @tuiccim @yarnforbrains @sidepartskinnyjeans @flordeamatista @krissy25 @bodeckersdiamonddoll @goldylions @luxeavenger @wheezy-stucky @doasyoudesireandlive @chemtrails-club @talia-rumlow @peaches1958 @pono-pura-vida

#frank castle x f!reader #frank castle x reader #frank castle angst #late writes #frank castle x you #bittersweet symphony

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fiadorable · 2 years

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67 Great Things in Serene Squall

Strange New Worlds season one episode seven... we're starting a mutiny 🏴‍☠️

T'Pring gets the opening monologue!

Long distance relationships are hard - I like the ritual of Spock and T'Pring both sitting down with a PADD and a glass of wine to try to bridge the distance

Spock narrowly avoiding a spit take as T'Pring drops "I have been doing research on human sex" right out of the gate

T'Pring rightly does some research on human culture to better understand her boyfriend, but seems to skip the part where she confirms that Spock is ready to embrace or even acknowledge that part of himself

Spock being distracted while walking with Chapel is delightful

Chapel helping a friend out with his relationship trouble

"Spock, are you telling me your girlfriend is moving too fast for you?"

"Don't try to be smarter than the truth"

"Also - pro tip: Pay better attention to me when I'm talking because…" "You are very charming and I am completely missing it?"

Dr. Aspen/Captain Angel's character is so cool, they are a treat to watch laying the groundwork for the takeover as early as this dinner (calling Pike a boy scout to prompt him to take risks later on in the episode)

Pike is 100% Starfleet's boy scout, in the best sense

Looks like Pike made lasagna for dinner, but La'An interrupts with the announcement they've arrived before they can eat

Bridge troubleshooting!

Finally! Someone in Trek who listens to music that sounds like it was made later than the 1960s. It's the antagonist, but it's a start.

"Interesting. He hasn't snipped his emotions yet."

Pike and Ortegas bridge banter I

The sound design for the ship moving through the asteroid field is great - all of the external ship stuff is great in this episode. I feel like I have a real sense of how the ship is moving in relation to its surroundings.

Asteroid laser trap!

Camera shot from behind Pike so we see what he sees on the bridge - I like it

Kaboom!

The laser net is a great first test for Spock - if he fails, then I'm betting the trap would disable the ship and then the Serene Squall would swoop in and attempt to take over the Enterprise. But if he passes, then not only does Enterprise get to continue on and reach the point where the crew is separated, but Spock is now off kilter from being forced to use his "gut". Either way is a win for Angel, although I'm betting they were hoping Spock would be able to solve the puzzle so they could fuck with him some more

Visible sigh of relief from Number One and Ortegas as the puzzle deactivates

Angel's little crab-legged ship is cute

Spock and Angel's "maybe you're neither" nonbinary discussion

Pike and Ortegas bridge banter II

In the future people will be accepting enough of other people's fashion choices that they will deliberately ignore the increasingly villainous vibes from a self-professed humanitarian aid worker's wardrobe as they approach their destination

Headcanon: Pike had Una and La'An do rock paper scissors to see who was going to be on the away mission with him

And as Pike beams away with the chief of security, there's Angel's first check, but not mate

Very clean takeover of the ship all things considered

Spock is a beast in hand to hand combat, dang

Everything about Remy the pirate is a win as are Pike's very reasonable, non-threatening-yet-not-impressed facial expressions

Number One death glaring at Spock from down the hallway as they march her to the transporter room 😂😂

The entire interrogation scene from "Handsome and witty. Aren't you a charmer" to "What's wrong with my cooking?"

Chapel is wearing the perfect white jumpsuit to be camouflaged on this empty white ship

I know those are Jess Bush's actual tattoos on her wrists and hands, but I would love to see an in universe explanation for them, it's an interesting character beat

Action!Chapel and her Hypospray of Doom

Pike butters up Remy like he's a dinner roll at Golden Corral while dishing out chili (?) to a pirate crew - it's a nice parallel because he's using the same tactics as Angel

Never ever put the senior staff together in a holding cell, come on, guys

"More good news: I convinced these guys to sell us to the Klingons."

Bahahaha Number One is suspicious (and rightfully so) and Ortegas is convinced Pike's lost his mind

The idea that Pike and Number One regularly start mutinies on away missions gone wrong is amazing and I need fic, please

Chapel trying her damnedest to get that SOS out to Starfleet

Chapel is the fault in Angel's plan - she's the worst person who could be left on the ship with Spock

Once Captain Angel reveals themself, their sarcasm gives me life

Great twist that they don't need any information from Spock, they just need Spock himself as bait

Gasp STONN???

T'Pring immediately starts out with "Who are you", no hi hello nothing, just who are you and why are you calling me

Sarcastic death threats have never been sexier

Angel's look of incredulous disgust as Spock insists that Vulcans aren't swayed by emotion 😂😂😂

Angel being pissed that Chapel is on the stupid ship in the first place, ruining their little back and forths with Spock

"Love is the only thing that makes the cold loneliness of space bearable"

Setting the mutiny in motion 🏴‍☠️

"Now let's get those transporters hot and trade lovers" 😂 what am I watching

"Spock, you are failing to communicate effectively" 😂😂😂😂

"Oh, you guys are fun"

Angel's plan going completely to pot because one little nurse got missed when they took over the ship

The pirate ship has a goddamn steering wheel

Backdoor codes!

Pike and Ortegas bridge banter III

Chekhov's necklace

"The question isn't what you are. It's who you are"

"Our mutiny is still in progress" as pirates literally climb the walls in the background 😂

Just a normal shift on the bridge, on the way back into Federation space to deliver some pirates to the authorities. Then out of nowhere… "Arrrrgh me mateys!" Your captain affects an old Earth pirate accent and demeanor from behind you. It is hilarious and sudden. The Dad vibes are off the charts. You beg the captain to stop before you burst into giggles on the bridge and ruin the carefully cultivated image of "where fun goes to die". You feel his frown and hear him sit back in his chair, but he desists and ship travels on. Your reputation is intact and the morale is lifted.

T'Pring's unwavering faith in Spock's faithfulness is beautiful and heartbreaking, as is Spock's relieved "of course" as T'Pring confidently says the one thing he's wondering if he's capable of

"So I know for certain there's no feelings between us" uuuuugh the angst… the mutually unrequited feelings (because I do think Spock does feel something for Chapel even if he can't or won't accurately quantify it right now)

With this episode ending on Stonn and T'Pring walking to Sybok's cell together, I wonder if he helped her do the prisoner swap - maybe he was even on the ship with her and we just didn't see… hmmm…

Sybok and Captain Angel had better return in Season 2

#star trek strange new worlds #serene squall #st:snw #snw great things #such a good episode #such a palate cleanser after the previous week #i proofread this 11 times but if i messed up angel's pronouns someone have mercy on me and let me know

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armyhome · 1 year

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Lost In Your Love Story | Yeonjun

⇢ summary: Hwa Suji is a very skilled makeup artist who works at her best friend's salon, serving major Korean entertainment companies and that includes the artists she is a fan of: Tomorrow x Together! One day when protecting one of the members, she ends up having a car accident that takes her to another universe! The universe of your favorite fanfic called "Winter Song" but the thing is, life is not a strawberry, her new universe got a target on her back, she's the villain and has no idea how survive this cannon.

⇢ pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Hwa Suji.

⇢ Chapter 1 : Life is not a strawberry.

⇢ Chapter 2 : Love is a Disease.

⇢ Chapter 3 : Made a little cookie...

⇢ Chapter 4 / 5 / 6

⇢ Chapter 7 : Why Don't You Stay?

Chapter [08/16] : Beyond this Universe

I wake up with my cellphone going crazy, it was so many notifications, somebody tells me to die more quickly and stop bothering her otp, another call me crazy b*! I was all over the campus blog because of a video of Ji Eun talking with Taehyun about my Hanahaki. To the otherwise the fans of my youtube channel start to defend me like warriors, they fill my social media with love and nice comments, how so many people like me? Oh yeah, they like the true Suji, I take a deep breath, ignoring all Ji Eun calls, not because I'm mad at her, but because I need time to wear my armor to fight this.

"Yah! Hwa Suji! Answer the freaking door!" Soobin screamed smashing my door, I got surprised, was not part of his personality this kind of approach "If don't answer I'm gonna put this door down!" Nah, he wouldn't "One..." Okay, maybe "TWO" Okay, he convinced me, I run to open the door, he doesn't say anything when see my face, just look at me like was searching for something wrong, and I realize that I don't need to play the strong person for him so, when Soobin closes the door behind him, I cry about everything, my death, my disease, my broken heart, and he hugs me and just hears my crying in silence when I can bearly open my eyes because of all crying thing he thinks if safe to talk again "I'm so sorry that's happening, that people are trash…. It's not like you would choose to be sick like that!"

"I'm sorry too, I ruined our trip" We sit on the couch and Soobin takes out his pocket, yeas his pocket an ice cream pot, the big ones, from his pocket! I look inside, is he a magical being? There's no way that this was there! Suji you're forgetting a detail, you are locked in a manhwa! Chocolate with caramel pieces was the flavor, everything that I need right now, glucose shot!

"You don't ruin anything! But think about answering Ji Eun's calls, she's close to collapse!"I put a spoon full of ice cream in my mouth.

"I'm not mad at her, I was just needing time to get more strong, don't wanna cry as I did early in front of her" Soobin stared at me carefully.

"You know that we're your friends right? That there is no reason for you to ride yourself from us! We always go to you when we have problems, so you should come to us when you need it, this is what true friendship means!" He was right, I always try to solve my problems alone, the fact I just jumped in this world make me doubt and no trust in them when they didn't do anything to deserve this, I need to be more honest with them "So, what you will do today?"

"Spend the whole day in bed, waiting for death while I eat ice cream?" I honestly don't wanna show my face to anyone.

"No, request denied, we have to find something cool to do, even inside of this hut!" I try to think about something but my mind was stuck in the hate comments, so I remind myself how the fans of my channel were doing to protect me.

"I know! But I'll need your body"I can hear Soobin gulps "Let me be more specific, your face! And maybe, Taehyun, Ji Eun and Hueningkai too! Let me create a group for us!"

Between them has different types of skin and tons too, so many tutorials could be doing, different concepts, daily makeup, date, Christmas, prince, and fairy! I write on these concepts on a piece of paper, cut and double. Ji Eun and Taehyu almost apparate in front of me when I send the message.

"We are so sorry," They say together.

"I believe, I'm not mad, but I need to use your guilty in my favor guys, you both gonna be my models for my tutorials vídeos!" I smile at them, but they don't dare look sad or mad at me, Taehyun and Ji Eun just accept.

"Now I see the villain," Hueningkai says entering the hut.

"MUUAHAHAHAHA!" I answer him "You include little lion!"

"Rawn" I don't know why I got so sensible when he roars like that, and I swear that I saw this somewhere before!

"Okay team, we got ONE mission, make five tutorials, pick your paper, and accepted your destiny!" Soobin got prince, Hueningkai Christmas, Ji Eun date, Taehyun fairy, and I daily makeup. So I snap my fingers, stretch my arms, it's time to do my magic! The thing I love doing.

From the moment I learn about the power of makeup, I was able to spend hours doing others and my makeup, it was therapy for me, as some people like run, read, or sing, I like to learn about makeup, how they're made, how to apply, whats get better with a specific skin type or color, concentrated in my friends face details, I do a video for each one, and finished doing my daily makeup.

"Okay, we are too pretty to stay at home," Hueningkai says "Let's go somewhere, I know nice places!'

"Please say they have food! I'm starving!" Taehyun complains.

"Pizza, I need a big pizza!" Say's Ji Eun and Hueningkai smiles.

"I know the best place!"

Never in my life, I thought I was gonna eat pizza on the beach, like sitting on the sand! Accordingly Hueningkai, the owner decided to open it because never see anyone doing it, and he denied to accept that pizza and ocean didn't match.

This moment was my dream of haven, be next to the ocean always calm me down because in my past life my dad's hometown was close to the ocean and we travel there every single weekend in my childhood, observing my friends smiling eating pizza, telling jokes, and history, with my forever TXT, and my beloved Ji Eun, my heart miss Yeonjun, but I don't wanna think how he is reacting about all this.

Was sunset when we decide to walk by the bay, me and Soobin get behind at some point, the ocean was so beautiful that I need to look protractedly, when the sundowns an amazing surprise, phosphorescent corals, that was the most magical thing ever, I film a little bit, I need carry these memories with me, I point the camera in Soobin's face he smiles for me.

" I was thinking about how you met Hueningkai, It's very similar to how we met," Soobin says looking at the ocean "I know we were neighbors at the time, but we never talk before that day..." The best part of being here if found about the character's background, and release that leaders got too much attention and what I learn since I got here the second characters are more interesting "I don't know if you remember but, it's hard to forget an accident as you have, and today I still don't understand how a six-year-old kid could find a way to broken a glass table!" I feel like I've been punched, that history, was part of my past life history, maybe this accident is a karma thing? "I broke my arm during your recovery, the other kids on the school were calling you monster and scar because your face still had some steaks on, but this didn't bother you, but when the kids start to make fun of me because my Half Blood Camp uniform, you stand for me, saying that your dad will make get all their parents unemployed, then you turn to me and say 'Don't worry damigod, this normies will not mess with you anymore' I was truly surprised when you tell me that you were from Atenas daughter, you were so courageous, still are..." So I laugh.

"Anabeth is one of the bravest and courageous demigods that ever exist, and she is Atena child" I defend my favorite character with everything I have, Soobin turns himself at me he smiles was so lovely.

"That's why you are my first love" His confession makes me freeze, I remember the day I died in my past life.

Soobin was saying to me that he confessed his feelings to the girl that he likes, I don't know why my eyes are full of tears, but I miss my old life, call my mom late at night, I know the Ji Eun in the other world is take care of her, I let a policy for my mom so she doesn't need anything.

When I realize I'm in Soobin's arms, he put his head above me, I can hear his heart that way, the sound makes me calm, we observe the ocean in silence.

"Would be more simple if today we were in love with each other," I say, and I can hear his heart beating faster.

"Yes, it will" Soobin holds my face in his hands "We should try" I can feel Soobin warm breath against my face, his nose touches my cheek softly, our lips are so close, so my eyes closed, but something falls on us, better-saying someone, Choi Yeonjun.

"I'm so sorry! I was trying to take a selca, I didn't see..."Soobin helps me get up and clean the sand off my arms "Oh that's you guys! I swear that I didn't see you were there! I'm so sorry! Are you coming back to the hut? Let's go together!"

Yeonjun holds my arm putting himself in the middle of us, and start to drag us so fast that I bump into a stranger, the guy was all wearing, black which is strange for someone that was on a tropical beach, he looks into my eyes, for last than a second, and after keep walking fast.

"Sorry," We say together, but he doesn't answer, why does he look so familiar?

[ While this, in our universe...]

DANNY: Today we got real news about our oldest subject, the stalker was identified!

DAVID: He was an old trainee, that was Yeonjun college before he debut...

DANNY: His identity was not revealed to the public yet, but fans are doing their job as always and looking for the suspect!

#txt fanfic #yeonjun imagines #txt #choi yeonjun #yeonjun fanfic #yeonjun fic #yeonjun #choi soobin #soobin #choi beomgyu #kang taehyun #hueningkai

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thecatduet422 · 1 year

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Chapter Eight: Evening the Odds

Fandoms: Batman (Arkhamverse), Jessica Jones (TV)

Pairing: Jessica Jones/Jason Todd

Rating: Mature (for language, depictions of violence, and adult themes)

Tags: Slow Burn, Angst, Crossover, Alternate Universe- Canon Divergence, PTSD, Shared Trauma, No Beta

Summary: After escaping Kilgrave, Jessica moves to Gotham and starts her new life as a PI, even starting her own agency- Alias Investigations.

Yeah, criminals keep trying to hire her, and some bat-fetished vigilante keeps sending his kid over to "check-in" on her, but for the most part, Jessica's life is pretty stable.

Until some guy in a hood wants her to follow Bruce Wayne.

Chapters: 8/? (42,524 words)

One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

AO3 LINK

Chapter Eight: Evening the Odds (10.7 k)

What are you up to, old man?

It was a question that possessed him, even with the whole consumption of meetings, weapon checks, and training. Jason couldn't stop thinking about it. He had to figure it out. If the old man was onto him…

Jason shot at his target relentlessly, the sound of the bullets echoing is discontent. It was loud. Agonizing.

Fearful.

But he let the noise drown everything else out as the question started to make its own sound; a static, exactly like a broken TV. It would tighten, squeezing into this piercing pitch that made Jason almost wishing he was the target..

The shooting range was the only place where he felt peace now, as the panic of Batman potentially knowing what he was up to left Jason questioning everything.

And during the night, in the silence where Jason had nothing to fight them with, the questions really sunk in.

Do they have enough tanks? Enough men? Do they have enough tech? Is everything good enough-

His pillow ruffled against his ears as Jason helplessly buried his head under it. Eyes closed, the thoughts could take image now…

Tied down, helpless against the pain as he spat out blood and felt his ribs crack, his bones break. He would look up at Batman, begging for help, begging to be saved.

But Batman wouldn't listen, because he was the one beating him.

Jason couldn't let that happen. Not again. So he decided to strategize, to figure it out, to keep things even.

Jason figured that if Robin was around Jessica, it was because Batman ordered him to. But Jason figured that was more out of a precaution, not as an outright threat.

That's where Jason went wrong.

But at the same time, why? For the most part, Jessica wasn't a threat. Yeah, she was a metahuman and her occupation was unfortunate, but she's not really causing trouble. And even if she was, she wasn't Superman . She's not trained. Jason imagined taking her down wouldn't be too hard. So why be planning something now?

Unless something did happen at the gala…

“Did Bruce see you?”

"Nope. Too busy making speeches and whatnot."

A muffled chuckle broke the silence of his room.

What a load of horseshit. Of course Bruce would've noticed. Like hell does Dick 'just so happen' to pop up.

Still using your sons to do the dirty work? Well, old tricks never die…

And Jessica decided to talk back, seeing if she could weasel anything out of him. Of course, Jason could've told her it was pointless. No way would Dick give anything up. At least, not to her.

“Nothing. Just that Bruce Wayne apparently loves cars and is asking his CEO for upgrades…"

A throwaway comment to play into Wayne's persona. Only people who knew the real Bruce would catch that Dick was talking about the car.

Jason briefly wondered if it was a throwaway at all. Maybe the old man was asking for a lot of upgrades…

He wondered why…

No. He's getting in his head. Batman didn't know… right?

And just like that, a whole domino effect of paranoia was created, causing Jason to toss and turn in his cot.

I know something you don't know…

Soon enough, nothing could calm him anymore. Dark purple circles rested under his eyes. The weight of his suit was making him feel sluggish. Jason found himself heading to the shooting range more and more, using the sound of his gun to keep him awake, but then it started to make the static in his ears worse.

He just wanted it to stop .

“I think we should move up the Batcave operation.”

An air of surprise hit the conference room. They were only a couple of weeks away from Halloween. Changing the timeline now would be risky.

“What do you mean? We're doing that next week,” Slade told him, as if Jason forgot .

“Yeah, and I want to do it now,” Jason argued, feeling irritated and worried.

He could feel the room grumble, and Jason could imagine it was somewhere along the lines of, what's one week gonna change?

And what Jason wouldn't give to respond.

Everything.

“And what, exactly, has brought on this?” Crane questioned, a lift of amusement peaking through his gravelly voice. “Is there something we need to know, Knight?”

Crane started to creep forward, slowly wrapping around the table. “You’ve assured us that we are prepared. In fact, you've made a point to mention it in every meeting. Why now, is that suddenly not the case?”

He finally stopped in front of Jason, dangerously close.

Crane leaned down, red eyes taking over Jason's vision. Red eyes that flashed into a red smile. Just for a moment.

“What do you know?”

The question was asked softly, but it possessed the entire room.

Jason just shrugged, his mechanical voice coming out relaxed and cocky. “Nothing. Just a feeling.”

And he could see Crane’s eyes trying to pierce through, to find the lie. A tactic Jason was all too familiar with.

After awhile, Crane stood up straight, looking satisfied. “Fine, Knight. Infiltrate the cave if you so wish. But you will be doing it alone, and if you get caught,” his voice dropped into a whisper, “the consequences will be dire.”

Wow. So scary.

But that seemed to be the end of it. With Crane's seal of approval, everyone else seemed to back down, on the outside at least. Jason could still feel the pissed off glances thrown his way (most of them from Slade.) They prompted Jason to lag behind after the meeting, choosing to be the last to leave.

Or at least, he was trying to be.

“I’m not sure what you’re planning, Knight,” Crane said, back willfully turned towards him. Instead, he faced the hologram, where the Cloudburst's blueprint was displayed, zooming in on different aspects of the machinery. “But I trust your judgment remains untainted after Cobblepot’s little accident .”

And there was something about the way he said it, as if Scarecrow knew about…

He was bluffing.

Jason stood up from his chair. “Just wanna make sure the job’s done right. Night, doc.”

It was then that Scarecrow turned towards him, the hologram's light shining on the hidden side of his face, the demented glow of his eyes popping out from his deathly sullen face.

"Sweet dreams, Knight."

Later, Jason was back in his room and his helmet was off. The ringing in his head had faded away, and the long-relief of silence convinced him not to go to his computer or to his gear, but straight to his cot, finally feeling the willingness to sleep . The type of sleep that brought nothing but mindless, pitch-black nothing.

As his eyes fluttered closed, Jason briefly wondered what Jones was up to, hoping she was laying low like he told her to.

Then again, hope never got him shit, now did it?

****

Spat-out coffee splattered all over the magazine stand.

“The fuck-?!” Jessica cried, the inside of her nose burning from the spit take. She ignored it and picked up the magazine, cheesy yellow font now murky and limp.

Patsy’s New Mystery Man?!

The photo must've been taken by some pap. It was of Trish walking out of her building, her head down and sunglasses on. She was holding a guy's hand. He had his head down too, but Jessica could still pick out his face, clear as day.

“ Fucking Dick, ” she said his name like a curse, and conveniently for Jessica, it actually was one.

“Hey! You gonna buy that or wha’?” The guy at the stand asked her.

Jessica gave him a dirty look before rummaging through her pocket. She pulled out a wad of dollar bills and threw it at him. She glanced back at the magazine, shock settling into anger.

Jessica huffed arrogantly at the image before rolling it up, tucking it under her arm. “You fucking dick…”

She pulled out her phone and dialed for Trish. It rang once. Twice.

“Hey, it’s Trish. Leave a message.”

“Trish, please call me .” Jessica begged after the beep. “I know I've been a bitch for the past couple of… months, but you have to listen to me. Do not trust that asshole . I’ll explain everything. I promise. Just… please call me back.”

Then something moved from the corner of eye, causing Jessica to turn her head. All she saw was the fire escape on the building across the street. No one around her seemed to have noticed it.

Fuck , it was probably just a cat or a raccoon or…

Heart racing inside her chest, Jessica continued to head down the street. She kept calling Trish.

Gotham’s light turned from sky-gray to the fluorescent rainbow of the streets, highlighting all of the shadiness happening around the corners; dealers slumped against buildings began to stretch out, move, become more social. Scantily clad women seemed to get more brave, walking up to stopped cars and tapping on the windows. Cheap looking business men began to buzz through the streets, always with a hand shoved in a pocket. And sprinkled all around were the people just trying to make a living. The waiting staff for the bars and clubs, the twenty-four hour diners, all rushing to catch their train or wave down their taxi with a little more vigor than the regular nine-to-fivers.

Jessica couldn't blame them, not with all of the other crazy bullshit going on.

Normally, Jessica would maneuver around everything, keep her head down, beat the shit out of anyone who tried something. But right now, she was trying to reach Trish. The assholes were starting to unnerve her, their chaotic energy rubbing off, and Jessica had this feeling…

Eyes following her…

Fuck, it was crazy. It really was, but she could feel it; the heat zoning in on her back, prickling her shoulders and neck, tensing her body up like she was on a tightrope…

Jessica…

Was someone really watching her?

Jessica tried to shake it off, but she couldn't. Not even when the rain came in, providing a small shield between her and whoever it was. She put up her hoodie from beneath her jacket and tried to ignore it, to just mentally give them the finger and focus on Trish, but that was proving to be pointless as well when Jessica kept getting the her fucking voicemail.

“Hey, it’s Trish. Leave a mess-”

Jessica grunted with frustration, wiping off the raindrops from her screen before trying again. She spotted a coffee shop on her right. Jessica ducked inside, and even then, under the warm glow of the café and comforting aroma of coffee, she could feel the gaze through the window, hidden beneath the darkness of the outside world. It was like she was stuck in a horror film, waiting for the jumpscare…

“Voice box full-”

Jessica hung up. She looked around the café. No one was here, not even at the registers.

Jessica looked back over her shoulder, glaring, as if the creep was somehow responsible for the lack of business.

This is what they want, right? For her to be alone? Well, whatever. Sooner or later, the fucker’s gonna slip up and Jessica’s gonna catch ‘em.

She waltzed up the counter, hoodie up and hands tucked into her pockets. Jessica tried to act aloof while feeling the eyes on her. If she was a believer in the supernatural, she would say it was a ghost; some creepy spirit from Wayne Manor she managed to disturb. It certainly felt like it, but Jessica was realistic, and her main guess was that Bruce Wayne hired his own PI to follow her around. They must be good too, considering how Jessica hasn’t caught them yet…

Where the fuck was the barista?

“Uh… hey?! Can I get some goddamn service please?!” Jessica called over the counter.

A small “oh shit” came from the back, followed by the sound of something falling to the ground.

A young lady came racing up, securing her apron as she panted out, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t hear you come in.”

She seemed sincere, so Jessica let it go. “It’s fine. Just a small black coffee.”

The bell chimed behind her, announcing a new customer. On instinct, Jessica glanced back to see who it was. A guy, wearing a long brown coat and very nice shoes, armored with a briefcase and a laptop bag.

The barista recognized him before she did.

“Oh, Mr. Drake! How are you?” she asked with a smile.

“Hey, Maddie,” Tim Drake greeted, taking a moment to wipe the bottom of his feet on the welcome mat. “Not much.”

“Long night?” Maddie joked, her little crush blatantly obvious through the googly eyes and the red cheeks.

Drake shrugged obliviously, heading over to the counter. “I’m used to it.”

Maddie nodded, the dreamy gaze still on her face before she suddenly remembered that Jessica existed. “Oh! Uh, black coffee right?”

Jessica nodded as little as possible, not wanting Drake to notice her.

“Great! That will be four dollars.”

For a small black coffee? Fuck off.

Jessica sighed and rummaged through her pockets before remembering she spent her last bit of cash for the day on the magazine. Great, now she has to make a scene and fish out her card from her bag…

“Here, I got it.” And that’s when Drake walked up to her right, swiping his platinum. He glanced over at her curiously. Jessica tried little to move her head.

“Thanks,” she mumbled under her breath.

“No problem,” he said good naturedly and maybe because he seemed genuine about it, but Jessica thought she was in the clear for a moment.

But then just her fucking luck , when Maddie turned around to make their orders, the kid decided to start a conversation.

He nodded towards the magazine rolled up under her arm. “Good read?”

Jessica shrugged, trying to give off as many ‘ leave me the fuck alone’ vibes as she could. Which was a lot. It seemed to work 'cause the guy shut up for a moment.

“Small black coffee?” Maddie came back up, holding out Jessica's cup.

Jessica took it from her before turning away, starting to head out, but right when she turned around- she heard it. A small, very faint, “knew it.”

Oh. So the asshole was in on it.

Jessica abruptly stopped, slowly turning back around to face Drake. She pulled down her hoodie.

"Knew what?” she asked, her voice booming throughout the café.

He must’ve picked up on it, because Drake scrambled to explain. “O-Oh! Nothing. You just seem like a ‘black coffee’ type of person, is all.”

And then he winced, mentally clocking his own excuse. Jessica spotted the dark circles under his eyes, how his shoulders seemed to slump from fatigue. She could also see smudges of eyeliner.

Was he out partying?

Doesn't matter. The guy was clearly sleep deprived and it was making him slip up.

Jessica put her weight on her hip, questioning him loudly. "Cause I seem like a black coffee type of person?" She took a step towards him. "How?"

"How?"

"How do I seem like a black coffee type of person?"

Come the fuck on! Just say what you really mean, asshole.

But Drake just looked at her up and down, as if to say, because of your everything?

Jessica scoffed, looking away for a moment before staring back at him frankly. “And what the hell do you know about me? You know what, scratch that- how do you know me?"

She got in his face, threatening. "Just tell me, Drake. Who did he hire?"

“Tim! Small black coffee to go!” Maddie chirped out, looking cheerfully strained. Her grip on the coffee cup was tight, and she looked just about ready to chuck it at Jessica.

Drake calmly took the cup, shooting Maddie a small thanks before turning back to Jessica. He held up his own cup while looking at hers, a small smile on his face. “Well, look at that. We have the same coffee order.”

Jessica gave him a dirty look, declaring loudly, "It's a very common order!"

Then, out of spite, she shoved the magazine right into Drake's face, the wet pages clinging to him.

Drake struggled to get it away, and Jessica allowed herself to feel amusement over the scene before telling him, “Stay away from my family."

She put her hoodie back up before stepping out. Heavy drops of water once again pelted the top of her head, her shoulders. Her feet gave away her anger, stomping hard into any puddle she came across and splashing her legs and anyone else’s walking by. She could still feel it, the eyes following her. It was seriously starting to piss her off. Whenever she waited for a crosswalk, she would look around, trying to catch them, but she still couldn’t find anything.

And everyone else walked around her, completely unbothered by her obvious case of paranoia.

Puddles grew bigger, their reflections mirroring the colors of the city, catching the lights of the buildings, the streets. Until they reached the sky, where a clouded moon hung above.

And lighting the black clouds next to it, the symbol of the Bat. Jessica's seen it many times now, but she tries not to think about it. Batman brought up too many memories, and besides, why give a fuck unless it messed with her work? Then Robin showed up, and then he started popping up regularly. Always while she was working. Always when she wanted to be alone. Always bringing up shit she didn't want to think about. Then Jessica started looking at the symbol with annoyance, wanting to cuss out the asshole who viewed her as a problem . Just because she was a metahuman.

But this time, with the eyes watching her, Jessica wasn’t in the mood to be pissed. At least, not at that . She picked up her pace, fueled by the nervousness soaking into her bones. Surrounded by the lights, and the overall feeling of being watched it… it was starting to freak her out

Where are you going? Get back here, Jessica…

She finally reached her building, boots squeaking with each step as she tracked water in the lobby. On the elevator ride up, Jessica could feel her hands shake. From the cold, or the oncoming feeling of panic, frustration, anger…

Probably all the above. Fuck , she needed a drink.

But that became the last thing on her mind once Jessica reached her floor.

Someone was waiting at her door.

Trish was leaning against the wall when Jessica appeared, wrapped safely in her high-end raincoat, umbrella held neatly in her hand. Though, Jessica could see that both items were completely dry, letting her know Trish has been waiting since before the rain.

Jessica sighed with relief, walking over while pulling her keys out. "Would it kill you to answer your phone?"

"Not so fun, is it?" Trish quipped, crossing her arms as she waited for Jessica to let her in.

Jessica nodded in acknowledgment before turning the key. The door swung open, and Jessica stepped inside to turn the light on, scaring away any ghosts or shadows that might've been lurking in the corners. Jessica headed in, making her way towards her desk when suddenly she slid.

"The fuck?" Jessica asked, startled, catching herself on the desk. She looked down.

There was water on the floor.

Was… was someone in her apartment?

She looked up, catching Trish's eye before storming through her place, roughly going through every hiding spot she could think of; the closets, under her bed, behind the shower curtain.

"Jess!" Trish called from the hallway. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Someone was in here!" Jessica barked, heading back towards the living room, ignoring the panicked look on Trish's face as she walked past.

What the hell would they want?

Shit. Her desk.

Jessica rushed over and began pulling drawers. Thank fuck she actually listened to Jason. The burner phone was hidden away in a vent, but Jessica had other shit hidden away. Personal shit. Pictures of her family, of other cases , the newsletter about Rita…

Pictures of Luke.

Fuuuuck.

"Jess-" Trish cut herself off, seeing how Jessica was just rummaging through everything. "What makes you think someone broke in?"

"There's water on the floor," Jessica told her, continuing to look through everything. She couldn't find anything missing.

"... You mean the water you tracked in?"

Jessica stopped, looking up at Trish in annoyance. "No. The water in my apartment before I walked in."

Trish smartly didn't argue, knowing it would only piss Jessica off more. Instead, she opted for reason. "And is anything missing?"

"No, I-" Jessica paused, eyesight catching on the beeper, still in its place in the first drawer. She mentally cursed herself for not hiding that as well, but then…

Wouldn't they have taken it?

Trish seemed to have sensed her doubt because she put her hands on her hips, as if waiting for Jessica to fess up.

Bullshit. Jessica knew someone was here.

She rushed over to the couch, maneuvering around Trish so she could get to it. She started taking off the cushions, letting them fall to the floor as she looked for a bug or anything . She looked underneath it, on the sides...

"Jess, you're destroying your own apartment," Trish told her, seriously concerned.

"If the asshole didn't take anything, then that means they left something behind," Jessica determined, putting the cushions back once she was sure the couch was clear. "Help me look."

But Trish stayed put as Jessica rushed over to the lamp, checking out the inside of the shade. She started feeling the end table it was sitting on, hands running underneath the edges.

Trish still didn't move, just twisted her face into a look Jessica knew by heart. Worry. "Jess… I was standing outside the door for almost an hour."

Jessica ignored her, moving back to her desk. Did she check underneath it? She couldn't remember. Maybe the bottom of the drawers?

"If someone broke in I would've heard them," Trish tried to convince her. "A-And if they came by before the rain, then there wouldn't be water on the floor, right?"

Jessica sighed, then stood up.

"Uh, they could've just been really quiet?" she mocked.

She headed over to the boarded up fireplace, feeling the mantle.

"Okay," Trish conceded, crossing her arms. "Then what about light? They would need a flashlight to see, right?"

Jessica paused as she thought about it. "Unless they had night goggles or some other stupid shit." Then she went back to searching, heading over to the windows, moving to pull up the shades-

"Jess!" Trish grabbed her shoulder, turned her around. "You need to stop ." Trish's other hand did the same, holding Jessica in place. "I'm really worried about you."

"For fucks sake, Trish!" Jessica shoved her away. "I'm a PI! Someone was in here. I know it!" She headed towards the kitchen.

Trish followed. "Are you in some kind of trouble? Did you make a deal with a mob boss or something?"

Jessica started searching the table, the chairs. Trish just watched her, leaning against the wall. "Okay, what about Dick then? You called him an asshole?"

"'Cause he is one!" Jessica called out from her spot on the floor.

Trish shrugged. "Seems like a good guy to me. What makes you think he's an asshole?"

"Besides the fact that he tried to get into my pants at the gala, and then he's on the front cover with my sister?!" Jessica asked sarcastically.

Trish winced. "Okay. That is kind of sloppy."

Jess sighed and stood up, empty-handed.

"I mean, that's it though?" Trish asked. "You said not to trust him. You need to give me more than that, Jess."

Jessica looked back at Trish, guilt ripping into her. After all of the missed calls, all of the attempts at pushing Trish away, she was still here. She refused to leave. Jessica didn’t deserve that type of dedication, and yet she had it.

She would be a dumbass to throw it away, but she couldn't talk here.

“Fine,” Jessica sighed, grabbing a hold of Trish to lead her to the bathroom. She shut the door behind them, turning around to run the shower and the sink.

As the sound of running water filled the room, steam slowly wafting in, Trish gave her a look, but thankfully, didn't argue.

Jessica leaned against the sink, facing Trish, who was standing in front of the door. She thought about it for a moment, then asked, defeated, “You ever heard of Jason Todd?”

Trish looked confused for a moment, trying to place the name. “Uh, no? But the name sounds familiar?”

“He’s one of Bruce Wayne’s sons,” Jessica told her.

Trish’s eyebrows shot up, remembering now. “Oh, that’s right . He’s the middle one. Didn’t he die in a plane crash or something?”

“Skiing accident."

"Okay…" Trish nodded carefully. "So what does he have to do with this?"

Jessica winced before confiding in her. "I think he’s alive.” She shook her head. “No, I know he’s alive. I just need some goddamn proof.”

To her credit, Trish didn’t call her lazy. At least, not yet. Instead, she asked curiously, “What makes you think he’s alive?”

Jessica sighed, knowing this was where the real crazy bullshit starts. “One of my clients hired me to follow Bruce Wayne. His name is Jason.”

Trish crossed her arms, silent. She let it sink in for a moment before saying frankly, “Jess, that doesn’t mean anything.”

“I know ,” Jessica argued. “But the guy’s sketchy as hell! Plus, he has a ton of money, and he’s from East End, same as Todd.”

“And does he look like him?”

“I don’t know," Jessica whined. “That’s another thing; there’s no picture of Jason Todd anywhere on the internet. At least, anywhere I can find legally.”

Trish didn't respond, and her body language told Jessica that she still wasn't convinced.

"He has a scar," Jessica added quietly. "And it’s not one you find in a skiing accident, Trish. He looks… he looks like he’s been branded or something.”

“Branded?” Trish asked. “Like, human trafficking?”

Jessica sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe. If so, he fought like hell to get out.”

Gun cocked, ready to shoot. Face filled with rage…

“And…” said Trish, breaking Jessica from the memory. “You think Bruce Wayne is behind this?”

“Who else?" Jessica asked. “Who else has the money and resources to pull something like that off and get away with it?”

“But why?”

“'Cause he's a rich guy with a very traumatic childhood?" Jessica suggested. "He has to be fucked up.”

Trish shook her own head, trying to make sense of it. “But Bruce Wayne is huge in the philanthropy scene. He puts a ton of money into the city. There are even rumors that he funds Batman-”

“I know. But that’s exactly my point; his claws are deep into Gotham, and with his shiny reputation? No one would think to look into it!”

"Vickie Vale would look into it," Trish mumbled, thinking of her competition. She sighed. “I don’t know, Jess. I’ve been to a couple of his events. He seems genuine.”

“Really?” Jessica asked, astonished. “You think that weirdo is genuine? He’s probably Gotham’s Patrick Bateman!”

Was she really the only one who could see it? From the Hogarth's office all the way to the gala, Jessica could smell the bullshit a mile away, and his behavior in the office…

Serious. Scary . Dangerous.

That was the real Wayne.

“And so you think he’s after you?” Trish asked.

Jessica nodded, still picturing that night, the glare on Wayne's face, how the shadows seemed to latch onto him like a magnet. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Jessica rolled her eyes, knowing how bad it was going to sound bad. “Jason told me he would.”

Trish's eyebrows shot up as she crossed her arms. Silence for a moment, then, “Wowww, Jess…”

Jessica groaned. “I know how it sounds, alright?”

“Oh, you do?” Trish asked skeptically. “‘Cause it sounds to me that this guy is a con man, and you’re falling for it.”

“No, I'm not."

Trish gestured around the bathroom, now completely filled with steam.

Jessica begrudgingly turned off the water. “Happy?”

“No.” Trish said honestly. “Jess, I’m… I’m worried for you.” She tightened her arms, leaning back against the door. “I mean, you quit seeing your therapist, you’ve been drinking, you moved away to Gotham , one of the most dangerous places in-”

“Okay okay!” Jessica interrupted, feeling on the verge of a migraine. “I get it. Just, spare me the lecture, please .”

Trish looked at her sincerely, pausing for a moment before adding quietly. “You haven’t even told me why . Why did you move?”

A lump ran down Jess’ throat, the pictures of Luke burning her brain.

When it was clear Jessica wasn’t going to answer, Trish gave up. “I have to go. Dick and I are heading back to Blüdhaven tonight.”

Jessica followed Trish out of the bathroom, feeling the cool air of the rest of her apartment. “Oh, so now you’re traveling together? How cute.”

“It’s a coincidence,” Trish turned back around, stopping in the living room. “We happen to be heading back at the same time.”

“'Coincidence' my ass!” Jessica snapped. “How am I the one being played? You just met the guy!"

"It's not like that," Trish defended. "Dick's just a friend. A friend who understands some things."

Jessica scoffed. "Yeah, like having a fucked-up sibling?"

Trish sighed, too tired to argue. She just adjusted the purse strap on her shoulder. “Bye, Jess. Hope you don’t get scammed."

Then Trish turned around and headed out the door, shutting it behind her.

Jessica stood there for a moment, letting the quiet and the dark sink in before turning around, boots shuffling against the floor.

She wasn't crazy.

Jessica walked around her desk, grabbing the fresh bottle of Jack resting there. Back to the classics.

She slumped down in her chair and twisted off the cap. Jessica took a swig and swung around, facing the wall.

Clutching the bottle like a lifeline, her eyes strayed to the windows, thunder rumbling softly on the other side.

Jessica squinted curiously at it, the feeling of the eyes speaking to her in the outside light peeking through the shades. A hesitating hand hovered in the air, and then she thought, fuck it .

She pulled down a flap and looked out. Her apartment was at the level right where the light and the dark met, the multi-colored street lights below fading up into the night, revealing the bricks and last upper windows of the building across from her, and then nothing.

Pointless.

Then lightning flashed , striking a bolt through the sky, matched by a rumble of thunder just as fierce and sudden as its partner. The building across from her illuminated in full scale, just for a second.

"Jesus Christ!" Jessica reeled back in terror, the whiskey in the bottle swishing along with her. Heart thumping wildly in her chest, she found herself struggling to breathe.

That was…

Philip holding up a toy-

Jessica flinched, pushing the image away.

That was-

Philip, dressed up for Halloween-

No.

Jessica lunged forward, pulling up the shades by the string. She looked again, another bolt of lightning coming through, smaller, but enough.

And nothing.

With a shaking hand, Jessica pulled the string again. The shades zipped down, landing on the window sill with a loud whack.

The other hand, shaking just as much as its twin, brought the bottle back to her lips, taking a slow but large gulp of booze, letting it run down and burn her back to life.

The memory came back clearly then, and Jessica couldn't stop it.

Philip wearing the mask and the cape, holding up his pumpkin basket for candy. He would run down the driveway, screaming, "I AM THE NIGHT!"

"More like the Dork Knight," Jessica grumbled before yelling at him to knock it off so they could go .

Fuck, Trish was right. She was just being paranoid. A result of repressed memories and emotions finally spilling out, making her see shit.

That wasn't Batman.

****

“All units. We gotta code ten in Chinatown. Possible 2-11.”

Any second now.

Jason waited patiently in the shadows, bracing himself for the loudness that was sure to come.

And it did. The heavy vroom of the car’s engine roared into the night sky, screeching as it made a turn.

He could always count on Batman.

Once the sounds of the car died out, Jason jumped out to read the system.

His scanner told him it's been updated since he was last here. Gee, now it’ll take him a whole five seconds to break in. Whatever shall he do.

Jason snorted and did the work, disengaging the sensors. He walked down the path as silently as he could, but the cave picked up the sound of his boots regardless, small thumps bouncing off the walls, rustling the bats that slept above. That just proved that he had to take his time, to be careful . One small disturbance can catch Alfred's attention and then, Batman's.

He could feel the heat of his own breath from inside the helmet, a complete contrast from the cold, damp air of the cave that sinked into his hands, the gloves doing little to save them. The small twittering of the bats following the wind, and Jason carried this small sense of peace with him, letting his motor memory kick in and lead the way.

After all, old habits never die.

He reached the Batcave, stepping onto the catwalks up above. The bats were more skittish here, having to deal with more noise disturbance and light, but they didn't bother Jason as he observed.

Nothing but the small hum of the Batcomputer. No Alfred.

Jason ziplined down, until he was close enough to jump to the floor. Once he landed, he made a beeline for the computer, fighting the urge to look around. He only had a few minutes before Lucius' fail-safe kicked in.

Jason inserted the flash drive and started to download everything on the Batmobile. It wasn't a long download at all, and Jason even took the time to skim through some stuff.

Okay, Bruce. Jason had to hand it to you; this was a bit different from what he expected. It looked like Bruce was beefing up the car for heavy attacks, giving it the firepower of a tank but keeping its mobility…

Smart. Jason will make sure to do the same then.

He was about to exit out of the system when something caught his eye.

The Knightfall Protocol?

Jason clicked on it, but it came up empty.

Too secretive to have a file, but important enough to have listed under 'commands'? Oh, that's definitely something.

What are you up to, Wayne?

Jason sighed, deciding to let it go. For now. He ejected the flash drive and speedily went to the security logs. Once he stepped out of the cave, the sensors would engage again and boom- it was like he was never here. Erased from the world once again. Just how everybody liked it.

He turned around, helpless to his wandering eyes as they caught onto the things he missed before. The foundations were still the same. The Batcomputer was where it always was, as was the med area, and the parking spot for the car, the jet. The tech area expanded a bit, its table bigger than Jason remembered and with more blueprints pinned up on the board. He wondered briefly if that was due to the New Robin taking on his own ideas.

Jason remembered Bruce rejecting all of his.

He went to walk away before a flash of red hit his peripherals. Jason almost ignored it, but then he caught the yellow of the cape.

What?

Jason squinted, zooming in on his scanner.

How did Bruce get it back?

And before Jason realized it, he was standing right in front of the glass, seeing it all up close; the chewed up mask, the slashes on the arm sleeves, the bullet hole in the chest.

Bang.

Jason thought he was going to die that night… Come to think of it, he thought he was going to die every night…

What the fuck was this supposed to be? A show of remembrance? Of what, his failure as a sidekick?

He wanted to smash-

The heavy sound of a door creaked through the cave.

Shit. Alfred.

Jason ziplined up, anger forgotten as Alfred tiptoed down the stairs, and to Jason’s horror, immediately headed to the computer.

There must've been an alert about the sensors.

Fuck.

Jason crouched down, hiding up in the catwalk. It's fine. This is fine. All he had to do was back away towards the exit.

Jason started to inch back. He could see Alfred typing on the computer below, and Jason could feel the incoming terror that was him being found out. It urged him to run, to just book it out of here and don't look back.

The bats twittered harmlessly above him.

No. He had to do this cautiously, slow. Jason took a careful step back, then another, his vision of Alfred slipping away.

"Alfred," Bruce's voice boomed through the cave, causing Jason to almost jolt up in fear. The bats above him shrieked, ruffling their wings.

Shit, shit, shit.

Jason remained crouched, holding his position in an attempt to keep them calm.

It worked. The bats settled down as the conversation continued.

"Sir," Alfred greeted. "I take it there's more trouble than usual tonight?"

"Hardly. The robbery in Chinatown was handled within seconds. The upgrades on the car have been more than beneficial."

"Well, I'm sure Mister Fox will be pleased to hear that. And, dare I ask, how has our 'friend' been tonight?"

"On edge. I think she knows someone's following her."

Are they talking about Jones?

Jason tilted his head.

"Hm. Master Drake did mention a run-in with her earlier. According to him, Miss Jones seemed pretty, on edge, to say the least."

"I saw. The photo seemed to have done the trick. Tim was right. The sister is the key."

They're going after her sister?

"I'm switching tactics over to surveillance. Oracle is tracking Jones through CCTV's, and I managed to plant a bug in the apartment while she was out."

"Probably for the best, sir. You don't want to waste all of your time following her."

Oh. That's not good.

"The only downside is Jones herself. She walked in and immediately caught on that someone was there."

"Getting sloppy, sir?"

"Well, it's not like I have a gadget that can stop the rain."

"Pity. Well, perhaps that should be the next project," Alfred quipped dryly. "Any updates on the panic button?"

"No. Jessica hasn't taken it out since the gala."

"Hm, someone who doesn't want Batman's help? That's a rarity."

"Or, she somehow knew we could track her with it…"

Oops.

Jason felt himself smirk a little.

"We need to keep in mind we're dealing with another detective. The usual tactics may not work…"

He could hear the frustration in the old man's voice.

Jones not as easy as you thought she'd be?

If Wayne thought she was annoying, wait till Halloween.

"Don't worry, sir. We'll figure out who hired her," Alfred assured him.

Jason began to creep away, before he overstayed his welcome.

Besides, he had to get that bug before Jessica opened her damn mouth.

****

She was sitting in her chair, doing nothing, her heart rate incredibly fast.

She's scared.

Jason continued to watch her from outside, using his scanners to see. He couldn't call her without possibly being heard on the bug, and if he tried to catch her attention at the window, Jessica could freak out and scream.

And if he went in as a civilian, there's a chance Oracle could pick him up on the cams…

The bright blue outline of Jessica moved to bring a bottle to her lips.

And she's been drinking…

Shattering glass right next to his head-

Whiskey breath in his face, screaming about how they tried to sell him off, how he wasn't even good enough for that-

Jason hasn't seen drinking like that since he was a kid.

Jason couldn't make the first move. He had to wait. So he stayed there, perched on the roof across from her, waiting for her to get her ass up and look out the window.

He was totally going to be late for his flight…

And as if Jones could sense his irritation, she annoyingly stayed put, not getting up until the cold wet of the rain was thoroughly seeping through his suit.

When she finally got up, Jason had to blink a couple of times to see, his eyes feeling dry from the scanners. As much as he was annoyed, Jason was genuinely surprised that Jessica was able to stand at all. He knew she was a drinker, but this…

Jessica swayed slightly before heading to the kitchen.

Jason followed her, swinging to the other side of her building as Jessica moved around in her kitchen. He was able to sneak down to a firescape across the street, facing a window in front of her sink. It looked like she was getting a glass of water.

Good.

Jessica went to fill the glass before her gaze naturally strayed up. Then she froze, heart rate accelerating once again. She saw him.

Don't worry. He comes in peace.

Jason proved it by giving her a wave.

Jessica tilted her head, but otherwise didn't move. Jason nodded his head to the side, telling her he was going back around. He's not sure if Jessica understood, but she started to follow when Jason swung to the otherside, back to the office.

When Jessica got there, looking out from the window he was facing, Jason pointed at it and motioned for her to open it.

Jessica hesitated, not sure if she should.

Come on, Jones.

Finally, she pried it open and stepped back.

Jason shot off his grappling hook, latching onto the window’s ledge. He let the wire zip away and carry him over. When he got close enough, he pulled himself up and jumped through. He landed in the office silently, years of practice kicking in with ease.

Jessica stood in front of him, fists clenched at her sides, chest heaving with anxiety, waiting to see what the Strange Metal Man would do, ready to fight if need be.

Jason held up a finger to where his mouth would be, signaling for her to be quiet. He slowly crouched down to the floor and placed a hand under her office chair.

Gotcha.

Jason pinched the bug between his fingers and brought it up to show her. Jessica’s eyes widened in shock. She looked ready to berate herself.

She forgot to look there, didn't she?

Jessica exhaled heavily through her nose, looking pissed. When she looked back at him, she arched an eyebrow curiously.

Jason imagined it was something along the lines of, and who the fuck are you?

And yet Jason could see the slight anticipation underneath, as if she already had a guess.

Jason didn't answer, silently opening a drawer instead. He dropped the bug inside and carefully closed it shut.

The mechanical voice filled the room softly, capturing the sound of his relief. "There. We should be okay now."

The question still burned on Jessica's face, and Jason had a feeling she wasn't going to say anything until he answered…

Fuck, how did this become so messy? Jason's talked his way out of shit many times before, but explaining this? What could he even say? 'Hey! I know what this looks like, but I promise I'm a sane individual totally not planning on taking over the city. Please don't go to GCPD!'

Maybe he can bullshit- say he's keeping an eye out for Batman. Jessica already suspects that she's being followed. If Jason played it right, maybe it could come out convincing…

But then, there's always the chance Jessica figures it all out. She already had his name. She already knew he had history with Batman. It certainly wouldn't take rocket science to figure out Batman's identity now, and that's the type of leverage Jason really wants to keep to himself.

"Are we really going to do this?"

Jason sighed with defeat. The look of impatience on Jessica's face told him that his time was up.

The sound of air escaping from the helmet announced his surrender. Jason took off the helmet, expecting a lash of questions and accusations that he would have to maneuver like the Matrix.

But Jessica just looked entirely unimpressed.

" This is your costume?"

Uh…

"Yeah," Jason shot back defensively.

Jessica looked him up and down, then snorted. "You look like an army commissioned dildo."

"Gee, thanks," Jason shot back, feeling insulted as he rested the helmet on the desk. "Only millions of dollars worth of the latest technology and combat wear, but yeah. Let's be reduced to a sex toy."

He walked over to Jessica, leaning in to sneak the bottle of booze out of her hand before marching over to the couch. Jason plopped himself down, uncaring that he was drenched. Jason took a swig from the bottle, tossing his head to gulp it down, eyes and throat burning from his lack of practice.

"Hence, army commissioned ," Jessica retorted, sitting down next to him. She sighed, giving him a tired look before snatching the bottle back. “If you expect me to play hostess, forget it. I’m not in a very hospitable mood.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Jason commented, watching guiltily as Jessica took the final swig.

She was just about to get water before he dropped in.

It was silent for a moment, the both of them just absorbing the other’s company. Jessica decided to be the first to break it.

"So, are you planning to fight crime or something?" she asked slowly.

Jason shrugged. "You never know who you're gonna run into…"

Jessica looked at him suspiciously. "Really? Like who?"

Her eyes strayed down to the patches of armor on the shoulders and chest before catching the red on the stomach.

The symbol of the militia.

Jason clasped his hands, resting them on his stomach in a show of casualness. As soon as he did, Jessica's eyes traveled back up, meeting him curiously.

The smart thing to do would be to tell her nothing, but Jason couldn't do that either, not unless he wants her running to GCPD.

What would Bruce do?

And then Jason figured it out. He'd let Jessica come up with her own answers, feed into her own theories about him. Play into whatever act that was already there.

"You already know," Jason told her.

Jessica rolled her eyes, annoyed. "You mean Bruce Wayne?" she guessed.

Jason thought for a moment, curious. "How much do you know about Bruce Wayne?"

Jessica huffed. "You asked me this question before, remember?"

"Yeah, but I mean now that you've gotten to talk to him."

"Now ?" Jessica echoed. She thought about it then shrugged. "He's exactly how I expected him to be. Same as before. Billionaire playboy with too much time on his hands." She rested her chin in her palm. "Respectable gentleman on the outside, skeevy asshole on the inside."

"Skeevy asshole?" Jason questioned, slightly amused by her choice of words.

Jessica shrugged again. "There's something fucked up about him, okay? He tries to hide it but, being a fuck up myself, I can see it. The dude's hiding something..."

Jessica looked back over to him, waiting for him to say something.

But Jason just gave her a grim smile. A silent confirmation that she was right.

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Jessica guessed.

"Why do you think I hired you?"

Jessica sighed, leaning back against the couch to stare up at the ceiling. "Why am I the only one playing twenty questions here? Why won't you answer any of mine for once?"

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to." Jason copied her, leaning back against the couch himself. "I will say, you're right about everything so far."

Jessica glanced back at him, sullenly silent for a moment before asking tentatively, "He gave you the scar didn't he?"

The red hot poker burning his flesh, just barely aware of the blood-curdling scream chasing after it…

Not exactly. But he might as well have.

Jason clenched his teeth, swallowing down the intensity of the memory.

And again, Jessica took it as a sign that she was right.

"Why? Did he try to sell-" But Jessica cut herself off, as if she was rethinking the question.

Jason picked up on it though. "Did he try to sell me?"

Jessica just shamefully looked back at him, eyes wide as if she was scared.

Scared that the answer was 'yes'?

The act that was already there. That was it. Bruce Wayne sold Jason off to, who? The mob or something? Funny enough, that exact shit did almost happen to him, but with his birth parents.

"So you know who I am?" Jason asked instead, unable to smother the strain in his voice.

Jessica pursed her lips, noting that it was another question. Still, she indulged him. "You're Jason Todd, his son."

Jason didn't verbally confirm. He just raised his eyebrows in response, as if to say, And?

Jessica sighed, sinking further into the couch. "And I'm guessing you've been wronged. Many times." Her eyes strayed to the scar. "And I'm also guessing it was some seriously fucked up shit."

Thrown you away, like an unwanted puppy…

"Yup," Jason finally remarked.

"And he told the world you were dead so no one would catch onto him."

"Just like Bats and that new kid of his."

"Even got a new son and everything," Jason confirmed.

"And that's why you hired me." Jessica's eyes shined bright with validation. "You want revenge."

"Not revenge, no." Jason couldn't help correcting her here. "Justice."

"Justice?" Jessica asked dubiously. "Justice is going to GCPD, not to me."

"You know how powerful my dad is," Jason defended.

Here . He could catch her here.

"He even has Batman under his thumb."

Jessica reeled away, letting out a sharp breath. "Shit."

She stood up abruptly, running a hand through her hair. "He really was here. Fuck, I have the fucking Batman coming after me!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Jason stood up, trying to reassure her. "It's fine. I know how to deal with him, trust me. "

"Trust you?!" Jessica snapped. "Why should I? You're the one who dragged me into this shit!"

Jason went to grab her arm. "Jessica, listen. I-"

But Jessica pierced him with a death glare, warning him off. So Jason backed away instead.

He struggled to speak, unsure of what to say, but knowing he needed to calm her down, convince her to stick with him.

"When I found out Bruce pronounced me dead… I didn't believe it," Jason confessed honestly. "Bruce was my father . Not the asshole that tried to sell me off, but him-" An old feeling of hurt managed to creep up and make him croak. Jason watched Jessica, desperately searching to see if he won her over yet, but her face was unreadable.

So he went on. "For the first time in my life, I felt accepted. That I had a place here. I…"

Grief clogged his throat, and Jason tried to speak through it. He really did. But it was coating his throat so much that Jason almost felt like he was drowning, unable to scream as water filled his lungs, rendering him helpless.

"My own father…" he tried, but his voice died out.

Jason cleared his throat again. Harshly. His eyes burned from the intensity of it, but Jason managed to do it. He tried speaking again, having to take breaths in between to keep it together. "During everything I… I still thought that Bruce would come for me. Save me. Get me out … But he never did. That's when… That's when I realized… He didn't care."

Anger pinched his face, pricking his eyes, but Jason commanded to keep it in. For the sanctity of his mission. For now.

He let it turn into passion, determination. "That's when I decided that he wouldn't get away with it. Couldn't. You have to-" his voice cracked again. Fuck.

"You have to believe me," he finished.

Jessica's face was still blank, and Jason couldn't help but feel how stupid he looked right now. She's going to run to GCPD. Jason's going to have to stop her. Do what he should've done before, but…

Jessica stepped up, now inches away. She didn't move to comfort him or touch him, and neither did Jason want that. He didn't want to feel like he was broken. He was more than that.

But Jessica's eyes still dug deep, their own shine speaking with, what? Sympathy? Understanding? Whatever it was, it remained safely locked away in a stare. The boundaries were still up.

Nothing else will be broken tonight.

"You're not useless," she finally told him. "You're human. A complex, breathing organism capable of emotion and pain and a whole bunch of other shit."

Jason huffed in amusement, feeling the tide of emotion still receding.

"No one should be treated like that. You aren't some thing for people to own."

And Jessica sounded so sure of it, so confident that Jason couldn't help himself from sinking into that energy, feeling his own dipleat.

Jessica nodded. "Okay, Todd. I'm with you. So, how do we deal with Batman?"

It worked?

Jason looked back at her quizzically.

"You know how to fight him, right?" Jessica asked. "That's what the suit is for?"

Jason nodded, coming to his senses. "Yeah. I do."

"Good. He's the biggest problem." Jessica broke the air between them, going back towards her desk to lean against the edge. "And then there's Dick."

"Dick?" Jason asked.

"He's after my sister."

Oh, right. Jason remembered the conversation in the Batcave.

"Dick was supposed to chase after me, remember?" Jessica reminded him. "Not my sister."

He glanced down, noticing the grip Jessica had on her arms, nails digging into her skin…

“He's not gonna hurt her," Jason assured her. “Bruce probably sent Dick out to see what she knows, but that's it. He won't do anything else. Once Dick figures out she doesn't know anything, he'll let her be."

Jessica nodded worriedly. "Yeah, I just… She's my family."

"I get it. I do, but trust me. She'll be fine."

Jessica’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “You say that a lot. Trust me ."

“Because you can. I'm the only one who really knows Bruce, right? You gotta believe in that."

Jessica sighed, adjusting so she could sit on the desk fully. "Okay, so what do we do about the other problem?"

"Batman?"

"Yup. The fucking Caped Crusade himself." Jessica drawled tiredly.

"Well, we've got his bug, and we know he's monitoring you throughout the city…"

"Oh, we do? " Jessica asked sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah. We do." Jason dragged out the guest chair, sat down. He took out the flash drive from his pocket. "We also have this. "

Jessica looked at it curiously. "What the hell is that?"

"Insurance that we're one step ahead." Jason put the flash drive back in his pocket.

Jessica snorted. "Doesn't feel like it."

"I know, but we are." He almost said it again, the urge to say those words almost rising up.

Trust me.

Instead, Jason analyzed. "Right now, his attention is on you. He's sure you're up to something, or at least, is working for someone who is."

"Funny enough, he's right," said Jessica.

Jason's mouth twitched up in amusement. Bruce was right. He was always right.

"So let's ease his suspicions," Jason suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"We'll make you the sheep. You keep him distracted while I work behind the scenes."

"Behind the scenes?" Jessica asked skeptically. "What the hell does that mean?"

"In order to take down Bruce, we need to take down what makes him powerful. His company. Batman. His family. All of these things I know how to get to."

"And so you wanna work on that while I play the victim?" Jessica asked cautiously.

Jason nodded.

"No thanks."

Jason sighed. "I don't want you to be, but at this point it's the only way. For now, you'll be the bad guy. Unless you can come up with another way?"

Jessica looked down. She couldn't.

Finally, she said, "Let me think about it."

"Fine," Jason groaned, moving to stand. "But we don't have a lot of time. It's us versus him now."

Jessica watched as Jason made his way towards the window, feeling that something wasn't right.

Wayne made sense. He was weird and suspicious, and Jessica had a feeling about him from the moment they met.

But Batman… Why work for Wayne? Were the rumors about WayneTech true?

"Hey, you good?"

Jessica twisted around, finding Jason in front of the window, about to leave. His helmet was back on, but Jessica guessed he was concerned.

"Yeah," she told him. "Just been a long day."

Jason gave her a small nod, understanding. "Drink some water. Get some rest. You need it."

Jessica winced. "Gee, thanks."

"No, I-" Jason cut himself off, trying to explain. "I just meant take care of yourself, yeah?"

Jessica looked back at him thoughtfully. Even through the helmet and the voice filter, she could tell he was genuine. "Yeah. You too."

Jason turned away, back towards the window. “You’re probably not gonna he-”

“-hear from you, I got it,” Jessica cut him off. “Funny enough, I still do.”

Sitting on the ledge, Jason looked back one more time, helmet glowing under the night.

“Good riddance then, right?” he joked before jumping out.

Jessica waited a moment before tentatively shutting it. Of course, when she looked out she saw no sign of him anywhere. She pulled the blinds down.

Yeah. Good riddance.

Her phone buzzed, blinking on with a text. Jessica looked at the notification.

Trish: 11:38 p.m

You’re right.

Followed by another.

Trish: 11:38 p.m

I’m sorry.

And then an attachment.

Jessica immediately unlocked her phone and clicked on it.

It was a picture of a picture, the frame sticking out, letting Jessica know Trish found this in someone’s place. But she put that aside when she saw who was in it; Bruce Wayne, his hand on the shoulder of a boy. Jason, carefree and unscarred. They both smiled at the camera, openly.

Just looking at it, Jessica would never be able to tell that anything sinister was about to happen between them. Jason looked happy, and Wayne looked… carefree.

They looked like a regular father and son duo. So when exactly did it go wrong?

She wanted to find out.

****

After the long trip back to base, thinking about everything that happened, the last thing Jason wanted to deal with was Crane.

But alas, the good doctor was waiting for him at the landing.

Fucking great.

Jason walked up to him, not saying anything, and Crane waited until the plane engine died down to do so.

“Arkham Knight. I trust your trip was a success?”

“You tell me." Jason spoke through the helmet, the filter hiding how tired he really was. Jason pulled out the flash drive and tossed it at Scarecrow. He didn't need it anymore. Jason already looked at it on the plane (and cleaned it up of any 'junk' the others didn’t need to know about.)

Jason began to walk away, towards his room.

“Knight,” Crane called after him.

Jason sluggishly swung around in response, only to find Crane posed, arms folded behind his back. “We have a problem.”

Fucking great.

They wordlessly headed to the control room, Crane slithering in front of him.

“As you know, your information about Barbara Gorden has been extremely useful in preparing our efforts for Halloween. We’ve been able to analyze Batman’s informant and how she operates.”

Crane made Babs sound like a test subject.

Jason's stomach twisted inside him. Scarecrow shouldn’t know about Oracle. It felt wrong. The devotion to keep Batman’s secrets were still ingrained in hus skull, but after Arkham, Jason convinced himself to be more, lenient.

And if Jason truly wanted to save Oracle, then he needed to rat her out. Just this once. She'll understand. Besides, they had a deal. Crane won't lay a hand on her.

So Jason nodded instead, letting Crane talk.

“Our hackers have been able to get into all of the CCTVs in Gotham, using Miss Gordan's own signal for cover.”

They reached the door. As Crane went to turn the knob, he looked back at Jason tauntingly, “We found something troubling.”

Oh shit.

They got to the room, Crane closing the door softly behind him. Jason was surprised to find two of his men standing at attention, facing him. The hologram on the table was turned on, showing footage of…

Yup. Just like Jason suspected…

Crane walked forward, hands still behind his back as his eyes glued to the image of Jessica. “It appears Ms. Jones is still alive.”

Jason’s hand remained calm and ready, discreetly hovering over his holster. His finger twitched, just slightly, brushing against the cool metal of his gun.

He tried to deny it. “I shot her."

“And yet she’s still alive.”

“I shot her in the head ,” Jason continued, seething with the lie. If he was right, thinking his men were loyal to him, Jason needed to keep acting innocent.

Crane just glanced back at Jason mysteriously.

Then, he moved, bringing up a hand to show the remote. Crane clicked it, and an old medical file popped up, replacing Jessica's face.

What caught Jason's eye was the logo on top.

Luthor Hospital?

“It seems there is an explanation for that," said Crane.

What?

Jason eyed Crane skeptically, but the doctor seemed to be absorbed with the file.

“Our new friend in Metropolis was able to find this for us when Deathstroke visited...”

Jason winced. Ah, so he wasn’t completely off the hook. Crane found out he's been passing off duties to Slade, but compared to everything else, that was nothing.

Jason stepped forward, reading the file through the scanners in his helmet. He could see Jessica's name, clear as day.

How did he not see this?

Jason zoomed in on the date listed. Sixteen years ago…

“The car crash happened in Metropolis?” Jason asked. But it was in the Blüdhaven newspaper…

“It turns out the good doctors at Luthor Hospital were focusing on some promising new medical tactics. That was, before the Daily Planet came out with an article denouncing it."

Crane scowled. "The fools…"

He turned back towards Jason. “It appears that Ms. Jones was one of the last patients before the program shutdown. Hence, the coverup."

Another click with the hand, and Crane changed the hologram again. Sequences of DNA, RNA, doctors notes. They were all coming up so quickly, Jason didn’t have time to read them.

Crane spelled it out for him. “Super strength, flight… I wonder where Luthor got the inspiration…”

Crane leaned in, telling Jason in a hushed whisper, "We are dealing with a metahuman. It is a high possibility her abilities saved her from your, dedicated wrath.”

The hairs on the back of Jason's neck stand up.

What was that supposed to mean?

“Luckily for us, I've reviewed her medical files, and have concluded that she's not immune to gas. My new strain of fear toxin should do the trick."

Crane shoved something into his chest. Jason grabbed onto it and looked down.

A canister.

Crane smirked. “So the same mistake shouldn't happen twice…" He turned away, heading towards the door. “And I will need a very detailed retelling of Miss Jones’ reaction… for scientific reasons, of course.”

Fuck.

Jason felt the weight of the canister in his hand, letting it drop to his side.

How the hell was he going to get out of this?

#catduet writes #aka knight #crossover fic #jessica jones fic #jason todd fic #jessica jones x jason todd #batman fic #plot fic #marvel x dc fic

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shallowseeker · 2 years

Text

I’ve come to terms with my evil finale meta where Sam and Dean kill that little family. (And also, the family is Cas, Dean or Kelly, Sam, and Jack. At first I thought it might be John, Mary, Dean, and Sam, but it's the older brother who looks like Sam and wears the exact same hoodie as Sam later in the episode.) It’s Agents Singer and Kripke. It’s right there! They’re (spiritually) possessed.

Actually, no. No, I haven't. I have things to say: (I write a lot of evil meta for fun, but THIS is one I actually believe was intentional.)

WHO'S WHO

First some notes about who we're watching here. We're watching demon roleplay ("miming") with terrible consequences:

Singer is laughing about the pie. It's Singer-Sam that pied Dean here at the pie festival.

Kripke-Dean (machete) killed the cute family’s dad

Singer-Sam drained the dad's blood for bullets.

Singer-Sam cut out the mom’s tongue (little blade).

Singer-Sam shot the vampire-that-looks-like-John in the head, the same way Bobby Singer* did to his dad.

Jenny is a reference to Dead Man’s Blood, so it’s trying to draw your attention to the fact that Singer-Sam drained that man for his bullets.

Singer-Sam was the most different in character from Sam as we know him. It was an acting choice.

The Ghostfacers music over the murder scene and the general shadowey nature of the mimes with masks are trying to show you who the killers actually are.

THE CHUCK OF IT ALL

Maybe Chuck-Carver-Edlund did want better for the boys, after all. His ending was better for the legacy of the boys as heroes. At least it wasn’t character assassination.

ROBBIE?

I pray that vampire-John is a nod to #TheWinchesters and he's Robbie Thompson speaking out to us with a nod to all the Charming Acres coding and simply taking the narrative back to Safe House with soul eaters and reliving traumatic things.

They’re not dead

They’re with the nest

We…take a harvest

Every few years, grab a couple kids, raise them up, feed them right, juice them.

We don’t do fast food.

GOTCHA! THAT'S SO META!

I mean, we ALL know we're watching a story. As story-god, you either let the universe's rules be a certain way, or you don't. The in-universe rules sort of reflect the meaning and the morality of the story you're experiencing.

You could show a story of trench warfare, for example, and show all the compelling things that happen good and bad during war...and then you COULD pull out to show a single man stabbing himself and killing all his puppies. Right? But that would be...stupid. And really, really pretentious.

It could make a good short story, but not a fuckin 800-page novel. Get me?

You could also show someone one of those "I can't believe it's not cake" shows and switch it out the cake-dog with a real-dog so when you cut into it! Ha! I got you! That's a REAL dog! How meta is that thing I just did? *indulgent, self-serving smile*

METAWRITING IN GENERAL IS FAST-BECOMING "MEH"

It’s so, you know, edgy. Like a fifteen-year-old writer who spent a couple hours navel-gazing and decided, “Hey, I wanna teach everyone that stories are delusions. Yeah. That’s gritty, man. Deep.”

But your story is on the CW, man. If I order a cheeseburger, do not serve a pretentious something else and pat yourself in the back for the sleight of hand. Being “meta” isn’t the genius you think it is. It’s fast-becoming a mark of a lack of integrity and the educated overwriter.

DANGERS OF METAWRITING

Metatron toed the line, and so too did Chuck, but it's because the characters still appeared to be struggling within the framework. Whereas having Sam and Dean murder a family just to save it? Eh. Many viewers left feeling, "Who gives a rat's ass?" and "What's the point of watching the whole thing now?" -- This is why. Viewers could FEEL that Sam and Dean were the killers, even if they didn't pick up on it immediately. (TBF, many didn't bother rewatching it.)

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Here's an example of what this whole thing feels like: "See that girl over there? She's allergic to shrimp, but she's eating at a restaurant. Doesn't she know restaurants can't be trusted? They lie about their ingredients! Know what we should do? GIVE HER SHRIMP. Then she'll know restaurants aren't to be trusted! I'm so benevolent to teach her this. Don't worry, she's got an epi-pen, so she'll be fine. What a memorable LESSON I'll leave her with!"

But I ordered a cheeseburger, dude. I've had a long day at work, and I don't want an existential lesson. I just want my damn cheeseburger. I get enough hard knocks in...actual life.

You made it too much about yourselves, my dudes. Some writing works through insights about trauma, and then there's writing that feels so overwrought and pretentious, you get the sense they've never actually struggled with anything in their lives. They just like the power of writing and trying to be callous and appear intellectual with bleakness like, "Gotcha!" There is a trend, especially among pulp and comic book writers, to keep on dumping in hopelessness and bleakness and depression like it's salad dressing and will make the story more meaningful. Or that sprinkling satire and intellectualism concerning craft will somehow make it more.

I didn't start reading Candide, dude, I'm reading Frankenstein. I'm watching a show on the CW. Miss me with that Don Quixote pretentious crap. UGH

And you ruined Sammy and made him into an obsessed, delusional madman that lives in a bunker and either dreams or roleplays all this crap. That's just sad, man. Why bother watching the show. And I mean, it was there, kinda there, with Thinman, Slumber Party, the Ghostfacers, and Everybody Hates Hitler... But I think GOING there with Sam and Dean was a bad move. The tension was that the main character fought the real stuff because they'd been cursed by the audience-gods and stuck in a story.

That was better than the Sam delusion "it was all a dream" shit they pulled. It's like they fucking wrote to the stupid Kansas song. "Get a glimpse beyond this illusion. Yeah. That's deep. I can't believe how clever I am, man."

I will now accept nothing LESS than the headcanon that the mime stuff were just Kripke and Singer roleplaying. Good riddance.

P.S. If you're a GIF maker, I'd LOVE the scenes I mentioned here:

#Kripke #singer #anti 15x20 #anti finale #spn meta #spn finale #supernatural #audience beware #the winchesters #robbie thompson #my meta #cursed thoughts

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choatekonradsen9 · 2 years

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justmickeyfornow · 5 years

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1) gay things and-stuff I'm sick and drowsy rn so idk if the way I word this question will even make sense but we'll see. So I was wondering if you're going include Argo city being alive/not destroyed (idk what other words to use) In PI? I was thinking about It because Kryptonian culture and Kara's past seems to have played a very big part of the storyline for PI, what with her sharing that part of her life with Lena.

Wow! Now this is my type of ask! The second part of your ask is actually a super brilliant idea btw! Why didn't I think of that! It could be like

Paranoia Incarnated Season 1 - - > Defeating Fright and Lex Luthor

Paranoia Incarnated Season 2 - - > Lillian Luthor is back

Paranoia Incarnated Season 3 - - > Resisting the pout of Leia Danvers Luthor

Oh God! I could literally see it happening! It would be such an awesome project. But it would also make PI 100 chapters longer wouldn't it?!! I don't know if I'm ready for that commitment to be honest. My commitment issues are tingling! But I'm also at the same time really tempted to do it!!

As far as how long I expect PI to go on... Well let's just saaaaaaaay.....

This story was supposedly supposed to be only like 5 or 6 chapters long!

Definitely not 40!

But now that's its 40 chapter long, I expect it to last until maybe - maaaaaaaybe - chapter 50. Basically in the next 10 chapters I have to include the following list of things

Defeat Lex luthor

Cure Kara

Plan a first date for Kara and Lena (can you believe 40 chapters later and they STILL haven't gone on a single first date??!! Talk about complicated!)

Have Kara and Lena say "I love you" (yup they still haven't said I love yous yet either!)

Adopt Leia

Maybe have Kara and Lena get married or something

+ a bunch of other plot holes that need to be tied that I can't remember at the moment (if you remember any, send em my way)

And I figured I could probably fit all of that in about 10 chapters so I've decided 50 would be the number to stop.

(I say this with the upmost uncertainty since I tend to change my mind like a teenager changes moods... A LOT!)

But, your idea seems like a nice way of extending the PI universe while at the same time putting an end to things in a way. Season 1 would be over but season 2 we would see a new villain just like how TV shows are usually. Don't know if I would be able to do it, but I'll definitely think about it!

And now moving on to Argo!

Let's get into it shall we! Now as we all know, Argo City is supposedly not "dead" per se, but is actually the only piece of Krypton still intact (and I say per se because eventually it does die... Sorry if that was a spoiler for some people). Protected by a dome around it, Argo City was saved from the destruction of Krypton by Kara's parents Zor-El and Alura. Not too sure how the CW Supergirl writers explained it, but this is what I know from the actual comics.

When I wrote the Krypton Chapters - which can I please mention that they're probably my favorite chapters!! - I had no intention of bringing back Argo City. At least not in the semi-plan I had in mind when it came to PI's plot. I knew that Argo was "alive" and I toyed with the idea of maybe putting in a small detail that acted as foreshadowing that Argo was still out there. But then I felt it would distract me from Fright and her arch, so I decided against it.

I figured maybe somewhere in the very long run, maaaaaaaybe. But I didn't have it planned that's for sure. Truth be told, the main reason behind the Krypton Chapters was that I I needed what I like to call "The Calm Before the Storm" type of chapter.

Basically it goes something like this. Your readers are reading a conflict filled story with a villain on the loose that hasn't been defeated yet. As a writer, you give them a little something to make them feel safe, some happy moments, some laughs, some making out on the couch, make them forget about the villain a tad bit and then BAM! You bring back the villain, shoot the main character, unleash hell, kidnap the love interest, evil laugh here, evil laugh there, and a gun to the head!

You wanna make it even worse for your readers? Tell them what's gonna happen! Show them the horrible thing before bringing the happy moments. Sorta like what I did in PI. I showed the scene where Kara got shot and then ended it on a cliffhanger. Then made the next scene to be a flashback just before the scene where Kara got shot. I put in two whole chapter of beautiful bliss, where Kara and Lena were never happier, having ample amounts of sex, making out randomly while preparing dinner, talking about their childhoods to one another, jokes and laughs, and pretty much all the good stuff! And then BAM! The next chapter is the scene where everyone was left at in the present time!

At the same time, I wanted Kara and Lena to really really connect after the whole reveal fiasco. A lot of my readers were a bit confused after the reveal as to how they would get back together when everything seemed like shit. If you recall, back in the chapters about the reveal, Lena was in a very very dark place. And Kara was equally in a dark place for feelingg guilty about lying. And many people thought that it would be impossible to build that trust back. And the Krypton Chapters were written on the basis of rebuilding that same trust. The first part of the Krypton Chapters was Kara telling her about Krypton and the second part was about Lena telling her about Lex, the Lex from her childhood. And that was something that Lena had never done before, not with anyone.

So, to answer your question, no I don't have a plan to bring Argo into PI. At least not yet. If I do, then get ready for PI to be extended to 80 chapters!

For now, I want to close all the plots I already have opened! Maybe take the two on a proper first date for God sakes!

#Phew!#That was a long one!#Oh man #To bring Argo in would mean to add 10 extra chapters and I dunno if I'm ready!#But it would be epic #Can you imagine the emotion and the angst that Kara would go through!#And to take Lena with her!#To Argo!#Oh God! Now I'm more than tempted!#Maybe I could do a one shot in the PI universe?#Ask #Gay-things-and-stuff #Mickey answers #Paranoia Incarnated

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omnitf · 3 years

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Credit for this image goes to @dissolving-time. Story is mature for some language. This is another story from the Coach Stone universe. I hope you all enjoy it. :D If you’d like to see more of these stories, please join my Patreon.

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

Stone Cold

“Coach said you have to get your shot, bro.”

I gazed at the meathead that had once been my fellow prisoner. He’d already donned the dog tags that were locked in his footlocker. Muscle rippled over his body as he gazed at me holding one of the biggest rifles I have ever seen in my life.

“Chapman, do you know what that is?” I asked as I eyed the gun warily. The caliber alone would be enough to splatter my brains all over the wall.

“The name’s Champ, bro.” He said it so casually, so matter-of-factly. Had they really brainwashed him so thoroughly?

“Your name is Lance Chapman, from Enfield, North Carolina. You specialize in computer programming, like me. We were brought here against our wills, remember?”

“Nah, bro.” “Champ” let out a deep vapid chuckle. His camouflage draped over his legs, but I could see the hints of growing muscle bunching, just waiting for a good pump to press them tightly against the confines of the cloth. “Coach wants my bod first, my brains second. Huhuh.” He grinned at me, revealing perfectly white and straightened teeth.

I’d hoped to reason with him, but it was clear he was beyond that. I brandished my own pair of dog tags. Like I said, computers were my thing, both programming and the hardware. It took me a while, but I managed to get my lockbox to open, too. And without reducing myself to a wannabe army poster boy. “I have my tags, Champ. You can’t keep me here. You know once I get my tags, I’m supposed to leave. I’m supposed to report to Coach, remember?”

“But you’re not gonna, are you, bro?” he asked seriously as his brow furrowed. “You just wanna get out.”

“I have to get out to see Coach, now don’t I?” The exit was right there in bold black lettering. The lock had already disengaged on cue when I seized my tags. I just needed to get past him. If I could distract him somehow or incapacitate him, I could run.

Chapman spread his legs in a broader stance as he planted himself firmly in front of the door. “You’re not ready to see Coach yet, little bro. And Coach hasn’t called you.”

“I am ready.”

“Prove it.”

I knew a few basics from martial arts training in my youth. I’d been fortunate enough to keep up the practice in my free hours. The meathead in front of me may have had a weapon, but we were in tight quarters. It would be difficult to get that barrel pointing at me if I could stay close. And while he may have had raw strength, I had experience. I also still had my wits about me. I sighed and let my shoulders droop as I approached him. “Look, Champ, just ... let me go, okay? You and I both know this is wrong. It’s against the law to kidnap someone.”

“No can do, little bro. Coach says we need more training. Coach says we have a project to help with. Coach says muscle CHAMPs like me need to train and obey. I listen to Coach. I obey. This Champ o—”

The mantra was what I was waiting for. It doesn’t matter how big you get if you haven’t got the trained reflexes to deal with a sudden change yet. And Chapman’s mind had been either short circuited or rewired to reinforce his thuggery. I’d heard it enough times through the door. It wasn’t soundproofed. I think that was deliberate on the part of this “Coach” to give us a taste of what’s in store. Demoralizing a captive is a large part of ensuring that he or she remains compliant, after all. And I’d heard enough, “This meathead obeys,” to know this was a fulltime operation made heavy on the brainwashing. It had to be to change someone so drastically. This wasn’t just a sign of subtle change. This was downright breaking them and building them back up again into the equivalent of obedient machines.

In this case, it played in my favor, and I hate to think of it this way, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was grateful for it. The mantra made him vulnerable. I laid a hand gently on his shoulder, being sure to get close enough that he couldn’t put the barrel against me. His eyes were glassy and unseeing as he uttered the mantra that he and everyone else like him had been conditioned to speak.

Then I took him down. It was simple to sweep his feet out from under him, and the move flowed like water. Bruce Li would be proud. I followed up with a heavy blow to the side of his head with my boot. Part of our imprisonment had included removing our personal affects, so I had no idea where my street clothes were. I didn’t give the blow enough force for any serious damage, but it would be enough to daze him, maybe even knock him out if I was lucky.

I threw the door open while he groaned on the floor. I managed all of maybe two steps before my arms was seized and I was slammed against the wall. I swear, my bones vibrated from the impact. I saw a helmet with a reflective visor and the broadest chest I had ever seen in my life. This man was huge. And unfortunately for me, he was also very skilled. My arm was yanked behind my back faster than I had time to process. He pulled, and I felt my socket strain to send stabs of pain through my arm and neck. Another faceless mook strode forward. But unlike Chapman, this one was decked in full body armor.

“Well done, recruit. You’ve passed Coach’s test. You will serve in Coach Stone’s cyber unit and in Research and Development. You will obey.”

“Like hell, I will,” I swore. That rewarded me with another painful jerk of my arm while a targeted blow forced me to my knees.

“Meathead recruit will comply.” The man withdrew a syringe from a side pocket and tapped the chamber to dislodge any air bubbles, then pulled off the protective cap with a deliberate casual air of the well-practiced. The substance was green, and the soldier had no qualms over pulling my sleeve up. I squirmed, but a yank of my other arm followed by a crushing iron grip on my free arm left me tense as he stabbed the needle into my arm and depressed the syringe. He removed the needle casually and replaced the cap, then inserted the syringe into another pouch.

The two visored faces stared at one another for the briefest of moments in a silent exchange. Then they nodded as the one who injected me rose, turned and entered the room where I had been held prisoner. A low groan emanated from the space, followed by a series of loud cracks.

“Rise, meathead. Follow.”

The voice that emanated in reply was deeper than I remembered. “This meathead obeys...” An even greater shock greeted me when the lumbering brute emerged. Chapman’s muscle mass had increased dramatically, and the man’s skull had completely reformed. Sharp, angular, square features blunted his face now, and his eyes were a vivid shade of green. The oversized gun didn’t look so ridiculous for him anymore.

“What the hell...?” I murmured.

“Meathead Champ will listen to orders. Meathead Champ will obey. Meathead Champ will fire on his roommate on command. Meathead Champ will prepare to fire now.”

“What?” I balked. I wanted to squirm again, but once more, my captor brought me to heel. I tried to shift out of his grip, but the hold was too strong. Even if I went limp, he’d still be able to haul me back up again. That didn’t stop me from trying, however.

I heard a whine not unlike the sound you hear in a sci-fi movie when a blaster is being charged or a bomb is being primed. The barrel was soon directed at my face. My heart hammered as Chapman uttered his mindless acknowledgement.

“Meathead Champ obeys. This meathead is ready to fire.”

“Fire.”

There was light, a strange tingling that bordered on the pleasant, and then blackness. I came to in an empty barracks. When I rose, everything felt ... heavy, awkward. The sight of the muscles bulging against the fabric of my shirt was more than enough to unsettle me as my throat clenched and my mouth went dry. I wanted to scream, but at the same time I knew better. I journeyed over my torso, my arms, everything. All of it felt in order, albeit significantly enhanced. It was my face I dreaded the most. And true to my fears, I could feel each sharply defined contour from my own transformation that was doubtless facilitated by the rifle. As a test, I ran through pi to see just how far in the infinite decimal sequence I could get. Then I searched through the other parts of my brain. I felt no compulsion, no absentmindedness, no blank emptiness or cotton or wool. I was clear, surprisingly so, given how quickly my mind seemed to jump from place to place.

“Comfortable?”

The question came out of nowhere, and I balked and bawled as my body sent me crashing into another bunk with the increased force of my new mass.

“Well, clearly not anymore,” the voice replied urbanely. I rounded on the figure only to see a man standing at least a head taller than I. His manner was relaxed and composed. His blond hair flickered like silver in the light. And though he was completely relaxed, his body oozed that smug command and intimidation that subconsciously demanded respect from those around him. “Please, take a moment to acclimate yourself. I find a blow to the shins is never pleasant.”

I decided to stick with sitting, rather than rick another launch with a body I had absolutely no experience with. “Who ... are you?” I winced at the depth of my voice. Logic only dictated it would have changed with the rest of my physique, but I had hoped it wouldn’t.

“A scientist of sorts. Biochemistry is my specialty, though I’ve branched out into many other fields.” He chuckled. “Why don’t you just stay there and we’ll have a nice chat between the two of us?” He lowered his broad frame onto the bed I had just launched myself from and gazed at me with vivid blue eyes. “My name is Stone. And you doubtless have many questions and expletives you want to voice, most likely not in that order.”

I felt like a broken record as curse after curse and swear after swear flowed out of me in an invective tirade. Denunciations and questions boomed from me like the retort of a cannon, emphasized by a number of curses and swears until that was all I heard winding down ... and down ... and down....

“Are you finished?”

A plaintive, almost defeated, “Fuck,” hissed from me as I rested my head in two massive hands.

“Glad you could get that out of your system. Now, do you have any real questions you wanted to ask me?”

“Why?” I finally managed to ask.

“You’re a programmer. You should understand. If a program doesn’t work the way it’s intended, you go into the code, find the bug, and fix it. Sometimes it’s messy work, but the end result is worth it. I’m doing that on a global scale, or at least I will in time. Getting rid of bigotry, erasing the divide between the strong and the weak to produce a better world for everyone.”

“You broke Chapman.”

“Champ is happy where he is. He chose it. He wanted it. You two had virtually the same IQ scores and talents, at least when it came to computer engineering and programming. Unlike you, though, Champ was fighting conditions that would make it so that he could never enjoy the same level of fitness and activity that you do. Such a lack eventually results in fantasies, a longing to experience what one never has had. Chapman threw it all away because he reveled in the chance to grow and swell. And, I admit, I fed that desire while he tried to hack the mainframe. I let him see where he would ultimately end up. And I gave him a simple choice. He accepted my offer to obey. He lied to you, pretended to fail, and complied with everything I told him whenever he signed in. He is living his fantasy now, and is deliriously happy to be receiving training as a part of my Meatheads.

Rage curled my lip, but I couldn’t do a thing. I wanted to lunge at the man, strangle him, but my body wouldn’t comply. All I could do was sit and watch.

“You may have noticed by now, but my meatheads can’t do anything against me. I’m their authority figure, their alpha. Or as they like to call me, Coach. You can’t attack me because I told you to stay there. And though you may want to deny it, I know that deep down, you’re enjoying the sensation of your new body just as much as Champ is.”

“How?”

“My formula.” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “It’s not perfect yet, but the iterations I’ve produced from my original notes have been very useful in extending my control. I don’t want to be a dictator, but I’m not about to let the world stay as it is either. Shadow politics, assassinations, pointless bombings and wars, genocides, suicides. This world is a mess. I have the tools to fix that mess once and for all. And I intend to do just that. To sum it up for you, I’m my original test subject. And the formula worked wonders for me as a result, but it also rendered me ... incapacitated for a time. As a result, much of my research was lost, and I’ve had to rebuild using different iterations of my creation until I can find that special mix. On the plus side, as derivatives of my original formula, it seems that anyone exposed automatically becomes subservient to me. It makes things much simpler when dealing with intruders and espionage. It also helps with recruiting.”

“Then why didn’t you just ask me?”

“Because I wanted you to sample the goods. That, and because there are still those who can resist the full effects of my injections and other sources of integration for a certain period of time. As I said, the formula still needs work. But I like to use the less effective iterations for special cases like you. Your specialty in coding and computer engineering is something I need right now. And I want you to keep your mind focused on the task at hand, rather than on weights and muscle. That’s why I’m assigning you to our MEAT department.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I think we both know you can’t.” Stone smirked. “For the record, MEAT stands for Muscle Enhancement and Accelerated Transformation. You’ll be helping us to design and improve a number of methods and technologies to help smooth subject transitions into becoming Meatheads. And more importantly, on how to preserve their skills and knowledge while still incorporating them into the collective. In other words, research and development. Your specialty, if I recall correctly.”

“I don’t want to.”

Stone chuckled. “On the contrary. I think you do.”

“I do—” My tongue stuck. My jaw locked. I tried again. “I do—” Again, I had the same problem. Again, I couldn’t finish. “I ... do....”

Stone’s smirk widened into a sneer. “Glad we got that settled. Oh, and for the safer ones, I want you to experiment on yourself. I’m intrigued to see just what a smart obedient Meathead will look and act like.

I groaned another curse, which only further emphasized my captor’s glee. “Spoken like a true Meathead.”

“Whatever....”

“That’s right. Whatever I say, Meathead.” The cocky arrogance was gone, leaving behind a chilling glare that could cut through diamond. “And you will address me with respect as either Coach Stone, Coach, or Sir. Do I make myself clear?”

I clenched my mouth shut.

“Answer me,” Stone demanded.

“Yes, ... Sir.”

“Good.” His eyes flashed as he rose from his position. “Now follow me. I’ll guide you to your lab. You have a lot of work ahead of you, don’t you, Meathead?”

I couldn’t stop myself as I rose to follow him. “Yes, Sir, Coach.”

“That’s right.” He chuckled. “On second thought, let’s get you dressed first. Then we can visit the lab.”

“Whatever you say, Coach.”

“Good boy,” he purred. I shuddered in revulsion, both at his cold dominance and ... at the jolt of pleasure that surged with that acknowledgement. If that was how it felt now, how would I feel after a few months or years of working under him? Would I be able to resist?

...

Would I even want to?

I shuddered again. Hopefully, I would be able to find a solution before Coach made me a permanent team member. Or worse yet, before I did.

#coach stone #meathead #transformation #muscle #bro #dumber #dumb #musclehead #programming #computers #science #sci-fi #fiction

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absolutebl · 3 years

Text

This Week in BL

April 2021 Part 4

it’s my birthday week! *raises a glass of pink milk*

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Second Chance Ep 4 - oh noes my babies are all so sad! Teen angst for the win. Tropes included: crying in shower, a very significant hand hold, & striped shirts. (At this point over half the cast has been in stripes.)

Love Machine Ep 1 - not gonna lie, I barely made it through the first half, this is a short run LOW budget experimental web series and it’s not good. Dropped.

Lovely Writer Ep 9 - I like it when LW gets serious because there are fewer dumb sound effects, but oof Aey, poor baby. How many Aeys have I known over the years? Rejected, broken, angry, lonely, and lashing out. On a different note, I haven’t see the “sex drug made us do it” plot device since 1980s Johanna Lindsey. Props to that cocktail rearing its ugly head. (yeh yeh) ZOMBIE TROPE ALERT. (Is this the point where I remind the world at a-play doesn’t have to hurt? Well, it doesn’t! Toys, prep, and lube people. Sheesh.) Anygay, zombie trope is put safely back underground. Please don’t let it rise again? (I KNOW, I’ll stop now.) So this was a rough episode, especially the back end. (Okay now I’ll REALLY stop.) Seriously tho, BL doesn’t do a massive coming out family drama scene often. I liked LW’s handling of this one. Hard to watch but compelling.

Close Friend Ep 1 (OhmFluke) - very cute snapshot into a LTR featuring an overworked music producer and his student BF. That’s the chassis for this whole series, each one has to do with the song & is a portrayal of that song’s message. Essentially, the theme of this one was remembering to make time for your partner. I enjoyed that. OhmFluke gave us easy casual familiar affection and a kiss, but no BL tropes, just romance.

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 3 - Pi is a total spazz & the ghost story bit was... well, it was something wasn’t it? Lots of tropes: fixing his clothes, wound tending, drag baby around, piggyback, head in lap, hand hold, and ending on a drunk kiss. I just noticed Pi uses guu/mueng with Mork, but Mork’s a year older. (So I have a new entry onto the linguistic brats list.) So rude and presumptuous. Also I gotta say this, don’t wear watches when you’re working on a cadaver, mmky boys?

Y-Destiny Ep 4 - look MaxNat have great chemistry, this ep had loads of great tropes (e.g. cheek kiss, rooftop, public claiming via phone), it’s not their fault I’m just not wild about these characters. I do like Nuea’s wanna-be idol wardrobe though. And Sun is sporting the red bag version of Tharn’s black bag that I wanted so bad in TT2. (I wonder if I can score a knock off when I’m over there?) Regardless, I basically grinned all the way through this installment, so that’s another thumbs up from me for Y-Destiny. Who knew I’d come around? Man would I love to see these two get their own series.

Brothers Ep 12 - teacher/student exposed! But the power of boys on phones will overcome all. No KhunKaow for me, so of course I found this ep tragically disappointing.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 6 - MuRen is officially a yaoi manga character in the flesh. H4′s outright mockery/subversion of tropes “don’t touch him he’s mine,” + “touch my lip & think of kissing” makes the fact that other (way more damaging) tropes are being blithely utilized without critique almost - dare i say it? - insulting. YongJie is trash but I’m the one who feels like trash because I want to forgive him. How aptly abusive & dysfunctional we all are. I don’t know whether to applaud H4 or start drinking. (Maybe this is the show I should invent a cocktail for? Who am I kidding? This is totally a jello shots show.)

Friend or Lover (Taiwan) Ep 2 - I thought this was only a microfilm but turns out it’s a web series. It’s cute. I’m enjoying it.

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 3 - subs take a while to drop but it’s still better than average. I like a secret identity trope, I love a grumpy/sunshine pairing, and the side couple is great but this ep was slow. With only 6 total (I assume) they better get the main couple together next ep or the improved quality of this series will be sacrificed on the alter of pacing issues.

Word of Honor (China) Ep 28-30 - slowed down to focus on bad guys (yawn...ooo Scorpion...yawn again). Then baby gets kidnapped, other baby goes crazy, and old friends turn up. We end on DOOM because mathematically this was an episode 11. All boxes checked.

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korea) Ep 3-4 - how is this show SO DAMN CUTE & weirdly wholesome at the same time? Another one of those: Will Korea resolve this satisfactorily in 4 short eps? But I seem to say that half way through every Korean BL. These days, I have complete faith. Warm fuzzies for everyone.

Stand Alones

Color Rush movie is the same as the series. There is a stinger at the VERY end (untranslated) but which I’m assuming has something to do with the missing mother. Is this a possible indication of a 2nd season? Hopefully someone will eng sub the stinger and post it out into the universe. So yeah, Color Rush movie = To My Star style, sadly, not Wish You. That said, I did enjoy watching with different subs. The first version I watched was fan subbed, and they were better on English colloquialisms. Viki’s subs are better on Korean colloquialisms.

Breaking News

Bunch of new press on Thailand’s I Told the Sunset About You 2 AKA I Promised You the Moon. Here’s a master post on the subject with all the links you could ever want. It will start airing May 27th 8 pm (Thai time) on LINETV.

New Thai Bl Golden Blood got a teaser trailer. Stars familiar side dish Gun Napat (Techno from LBC) as a rich kid who needs a bodyguard. Yeah, it looks to be the Thai version of Where Your Eyes Linger which is FINE. I love me a bodyguard romance. DO EETTT Thailand. Trailer contains ALL the tropes: dry his hair, piggyback, cooking together, and more, plus good smooches. It looks GREAT. Also cheeper to make then KinPorsche and it might get funded due to of residual enthusiasm. Also GOOD TITLE.

Close Friend got another teaser trailer this one for Talay & Yoon (no subs).

Taiwan has a new BL coming out... eventually. Looks to be a new franchise like the HIStory series with different couple(s) each season. It’s the first Taiwanese BL from a major in-country network. The first installment is titled Be Loved in House: I Do (seriously Taiwan, could we talk about your titles?). It stars a familiar face, Aaron Lai from HIStory: My Hero. It’s a grumpy/tsundere boss/employee office-set BL with some forced proximity to push them together. (Nods to Japan.) No release date, but (unlike Thailand) Taiwan usually doesn’t make announcements without content & serious intent.

Gossip

Taiwanese BL NOVEL Miracle dropped a trailer, no subs or translation. According to YouTube comments it was supposed to be part of HIStory3 but MODC took on its slot. Still it’s kinda fun to see what might have been.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

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indigobackfire · 2 years

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Inspired by what @witchy-push said about Achill asking his parents (the coolest nerds you know) to go to Beauxbatons and they said yes. This is an AU - even though I even don't know what the regular universe looks like xD. Pure fluff and affection.

(Witchy please tell me if you want this gone 😅🙈).

CW: Idk underage drinking and kissing (yes, I know, I know).

Please, let me know if you spot any typos cause I'm tired.

After almost 20 years since the last Triwizard Tournament, it's a new era and Hogwarts wants to redeem itself as a hosting school, the games rethought and the school under a new command, it's finally time.

Sawyer had told her friends to put her name in as a joke, she's a nerd, not a jock and despite her stellar reputation, there was nothing that's accused her of being a suitable champion for Hogwarts. And yet...

Now is the Yule Ball and Sawyer knows well the reputation of these games, and if this could be the last party of her life, there is one thing she needs to do before she goes. And it might involve a long-term crush.

Sawyer wanted to blame the Firewhiskey that spiked the cherry punch, but she only had one sip before putting it away, or maybe the Butterbeer, but she had only had one glass of it. Maybe the loud music playing on stage, but no, mid-beat song, even the lights had stopped their obnoxious white blinking to the more toned down colorfulness. So she couldn't blame any other influence except her own desire and intentions.

But there she is, excused herself away from Vesper and their friends, now marching up to him, bumping shoulders with people on the way, keeping her eyes focused on the black hair, the wide white teeth smile, and freckled cheeks - sparkling, cause one of his friends had slapped some glitter onto it -, but tall as he is it's hard ever losing him in a crowd.

Her stomach tumbles inside her, she was never insecure with anyone, her friends are older and cooler - or as cool as a bunch of Ravenclaw nerds could be - and yet she managed to stand out with her wit and charm alone, but on this occasion, she was devoid of all. He isn't dancing alone, with his old Hogwarts and new Beauxbatons friends surrounding him, others eyeing him as Sawyer herself is, but she wasn't gonna just watch, not this time, not like she had done when she was too young to date and he had someone else in his arms.

As she steps into his perimeter, some of his French friends turn to look at her, she's tall enough to tower over most of the girls but not enough to stand in height with the boys - some of which looked at her with hungry eyes, the smell of fire whiskey and wine strong.

"Hello, mon chéri," a blonde and well-built boy greets her, voice slurred by drunkness.

"Bonjour," she discontentedly responds trying to make past him and his friends.

While she's making her way to Achill whose back is turned to her now, the same guy wraps an arm around her shoulder. "Oh! Pourquoi si vite? On devrait danser!"

But Sawyer wasn't on her best nerves at this moment. "Oh, fuck off," she says stepping on his foot.

"Connard!" He shouts making people around them turn heads.

And Sawyer doesn't see it, with her stomach cold at the Beauxbatons' boy reaction, angry eyes on her, only feels the brush against her arm, and then someone covers her view with their height. With the colorful lights reflecting on his black hair is easy knowing it's him, though even in total darkness she'd know - his perfume, she recollects from the announcing ceremony when he hugged her.

"That's a champion you talking to, Louis," Achill steps in, well-humored.

"Elle m'a piétiné le pied!"

"Oublie! Bien?" He turns to her with a soft smile which she retributes, then brings an arm carefully around her shoulder guiding her a few steps away from the other boys and she doesn't notice the poisoned looks shot their way. Where their skin met, she felt like he was setting her on fire. "Hey, Saw! You alright?"

She can't help a smile forming on her lips and staying that way. "I am, you didn't have to step in like that."

He looked, to say the least, astounding with his velvet blazer jacket, which she thought fit him so well, a leather necklace with a wood-carved flower pendant visible under his black shirt, his hair brushed back, and in his hand, invisibly, her heart.

"But I know them and he is drunk, it was better I did before you hurt him."

She cackles. "There's always that possibility."

"You're a menace and the even Goblet knew. How is the Hogwarts champion enjoying the party?"

"I'd be enjoying more if mom wasn't chaperoning."

"Don't you tell me! Mine hasn't taken her eyes off of me, wanna see?" He looks to his right and Sawyer follows, on the far corner of the party along with McGonagall, Indigo, and Rowan, representing the Department of Accidents and Catastrophes, and Magical Education respectively. Achill waves with a half-assed smile and Sawyer shakes her head.

"They're unbelievable."

She chuckles. "Yeah, they are. Can I talk to you? Somewhere else..."

"Yeah, of course." He reaches for one of his friends. "Je reviens dans une minute." He turns to her again. "Please, lead the way."

She takes him by the wrist. "Keep your head low if you plan to avoid your mom." He laughs and slouches while they make their way out of the crowd. "Your French sounds pretty amazing, by the way."

"Merci! Some of them are really good with their English so it's hard to resist the temptation to speak it with them. But I've been hard on myself, if I'm in Beauxbatons, the least I can do is learn the language."

"Oui! Le langage de l'amour!"

They have reached a corridor just out of the Great Hall, making way deeper to the west side of the castle, couples pressed against the walls making her stomach twirl out of nervousness at the sight. She didn't want to judge them and be a hypocrite, but she wanted privacy for them so she keeps on walking.

"Your French is better than mine," he laughs.

"I had a good teacher."

"Who?"

"My uncle Phoenix. He speaks like ten languages and he's amazing at all of them."

At this point, the corridors had gotten dark and completely empty, and yet she kept going.

He looks back. "If you're leading me to be executed, at least let my legs rest."

But they had reached one of the corridors framing the Quad, lit by the moon, which she observes for a moment after coming to a stop, a waxing gibbous, she notes in her head.

He stands beside her. "Wow, it looks beautiful."

"Yeah, but I think I'd appreciate it more if not for the worry about werewolves transforming soon. Not everybody has access to the Wolfsbane." She wraps her arms around herself due to the wind now blowing on them. "But there it is, Cepheus."

"Beautiful as always." He takes a deep sigh. "Merlin... the Scottish skies really don't compare..."

"They really don't." She looks at him starring at the sky and wishes she'd have the courage to caress his cheek or just stay silent and stare at his beautiful coin-worthy profile. "Do you miss Hogwarts?"

"Constantly." He turns to her. "My friends, the castle, the professors, my siblin- Well, them not so much. But I know the opportunity I got, not many do."

"You're right." Inside she was hoping, revisiting the school would make him want to return, that the memories would outweigh the novelty and class of Beauxbatons.

He watches her rub her arms. "Are you cold? I can lend you my-"

"Keep it, I'm fine." As alluring as the offer was, last thing she wanted was to be seen with his jacket attracting the preying eyes of people also interested in him or earning silly comments from her friends.

"So what you wanted to ask me about?" Her expression turns grave immediately so he prompts himself. "Hey, if it's about what the Beauxbaton kids said yesterday, they don't mean it. It's just competition stuff and, trust me, the French are really competitive, they can even be sour losers som-"

"It's not because of that, Achill. I've been thinking, this competition is really tough and other kids have actually died participating in the games-"

He holds her shoulders. "You'll be fine. You're smart enough and strong enough to win even."

"You can't guarantee that."

"Nobody can guarantee anything, but logically speaking, not considering the variables of luck and chaos-"

"Just shut up. Please. Thanks. I'm saying that if I die there, cause it's a possibility, I wanted to let you know about something." There it was, out of the box and it wasn't coming back.

He folds his arms, offering an amused smile and a smug eyebrow arch. "Please, do tell."

She takes a step forward, holding all the air inside her lungs while she takes him by his jacket making his arms unfold and his cheeks turn crimson against the brown skin, and nears her face to his... but then she sees real close those wide dilated blue eyes under frowned brows, parted lips in surprised and pulls herself away like an electron being forced into another, finally set free.

It was too much, too bold even for her. She brings her hands to her face, her heartbeat like violent drums, wishing she could merge into the wall. "I can't do this. I'm a coward," she mutters to herself. "Uh, I'm sorry, Achill. Please, just go back to your friends, I'm sorry."

"Were you going to kiss me?" His voice's a whisper.

"Uhm... yeah. I'm so sorry, pretend that never happened, you don't have to talk to me ever again."

In his stealth, Sawyer doesn't realize how close he is until his hands are pulling her own off her face by the wrists, nor does her brain seem to function properly when he presses his lips against hers and all comes undone inside her. She's frozen for a moment before his hands hold her face and she melts, finally moving her lips against his.

Playing cool was not an option cause who knows when would be the next time the boy she's been in love with since second year would kiss her again?

No, no, no, he's not simply 'the boy she's been in love with'. He's Achill and his kiss is making her hands tingle because she's never been kissed like this, his hands big, cradling her head, his audible sighs through wandering lips, his smell so soft and comforting, his taste of cherry...

She pulls away. "Are you drunk?"

His hands are still on her. "Not really. I drank two fingers of that spiked crap. Why are you asking?"

"I just wanna make sure you're not kissing me because you're drunk."

"I'm sober enough to know exactly what I'm doing. Now, would you mind if I..."

His mouth is on hers again, but it suddenly becomes harder to kiss, her breath coming even shorter by her racing heart - he has voluntarily kissed her not once but twice, more intensely this time. So in response, she wraps her arms around his neck as if he would run if she didn't.

It wasn't like all those times she had fantasized about his kiss, it was better, it was real - Achill in her arms, on her mouth, his scent of vanilla and old books, his soft skin against hers, his arms strong pulling her closer, his warmth.

She doesn't know how long it's been when he pulls away, both breathless.

He runs the back of his fingers against her cheek. "Sawyer..."

A shy smile. "Achill."

It's a minute of silence before he speaks. "Was kissing me really the thing you wanted to do before you die?"

"Yes." She steps away from his arms to allow herself to catch her breath. "I've liked you for the longest time, Achill. Ever since I began invading your Arithmancy classes back in second year."

He chuckles. "You were unusually enthusiastic about those classes, weren't you?"

"What can I do? I love Arithmancy. But also because I got to be close to you. But then... you started dating Janice. And then you left for Beauxbatons. We lost touch, we dated other people, but my affection for you never dwindled. I don't know if that was noticeable in the few letters I sent you, they were rather... discreetly passionate." He opens his lips but she interrupts him. "I'm not saying you have to like me back just because I like you, I just wanted to let you know."

He puffs looking out into the Quad and she's back at wrapping her arms around herself, watching how her lipstick had rubbed off on his lips.

He smiles. "It was you I first kissed when we were... what? Six or seven?"

"I was seven and you were nine. Playdate in your house, hiding from the twins, talking how disgusting we thought that kissing thing was before we decided trying it ourselves." He turns to her chuckling. "I have a really good memory."

But then he turns back to observe outside, serious expression back on his face which made Sawyer scared this was a bad idea after all, perhaps too forward even though, technically, he kissed her.

"I hope this doesn't change things between us. Should I survive the Tournaments trials, of course," she tries laughing the weight of the moment off but to no use.

"No, Sawyer, it does change things." He runs a hand down his face before glancing at her. "You're the type of girl I could see myself falling for, the type of girl perfect for breaking my heart. And not only you dated my cousin, but I'll also have to return to Beauxbatons eventually and this only makes things complicated."

Fall for her... she holds in a chuckle. She had plenty of guys 'fall for her', she even dated one of the most sought-after boys in Hogwarts, James Sirius Potter himself, despite her regrets of doing so. But Achill has always felt like too much even for her - with his personality cooler than anyone she knew, not to mention smart, his ex-girlfriend, Janice, the siren-looking blonde who broke up with him when he decided to leave for Beauxbatons, a girl she thought to be stupidly prettier than herself, not to mention the French redhead that seemed to be glued to his side.

She fidgets with the beads on her dress. "I'm sorry."

"Don't- Don't be sorry." He steps closer and lifts her chin, holding his stare on her face. "God... those green eyes... have always had an effect on me, d'you know?"

She looks away with a chuckle. "Got 'em from my dad."

"Dads and their seeing eyes."

"We got lucky, didn't we? I mean for our 20/20 vision. We'd- I mean, I'd look even more like an insufferable nerd if I had to wear glasses. Not to mention looking so much like my mom which I already do."

"I had forgotten how much of a chatterbox you can be sometimes," he chuckles.

"Only when I'm nervous."

"I don't want you to be nervous around me." Without rush, he holds her face before laying a soft kiss once, twice, three times. "Would you wait for me?"

The question takes her off guard. "That's a serious thing to say to a girl whose feelings you've only known about for twenty minutes."

"Well, I'm that serious. And don't act like we're strangers, I've known you for many summers."

"But I've changed, ever since you left. Two years is a lot."

"Two years of heavy homesickness, Saw. And guess who's the person, besides my relatives, that reminds me the most of home? The girl I know since diapers."

It was nearly impossible keeping walls up when they are this close, when his lips had just touched her, and her heart was inclined to be a fool for him. "If you'd promise, really promise, to come back for me, I'd wait for as long as I have to. Though I hope, I won't have to wait too long."

He laughs. "I promise. Let's make the most of our time while I'm here with you, while I watch you win that stupid Tournament."

"Will you pretend not to know me if I lose?"

"I'll cheer you even harder. I'm not sure but I hope you'll end up in the top three."

She laughs loud and before she notices, she's back in his embrace, mouths on each other's once again with the new taste of joy permeating every touch and every sound. How long had she waited for this? It didn't matter, not when he's with her, real and eager and lively.

"What a show."

Sawyer pulls away from his lips while opposedly he holds her close as if to protect her. But it was no monster, no villain, no adult. Vesper crosses her arms and paces towards them with a devious smile.

"Finally got your act together, boy?"

He pats her black curls. "Hi, Vesper."

"What are you doing here?"

"Everybody started going mad looking for you, we can't afford to lose a champion!"

"I haven't been away for that long."

"More than half an hour."

"And how'd you find us?"

"Yor mom," Vesper says tapping her temple to remind Sawyer of the obvious she had forgotten, Indigo's legilimency. "They know you two are here sucking faces," Vesper sings.

"I hate when she does that." She turns to Achill. "I'm sorry, I really wanted to keep this as secretive as possible."

"I don't mind if they know. I mean, they'll be annoyingly supportive and extremely intrusive, yeah, but that's the least of our problems."

Sawyer smiles from ear to ear. "I still can't believe you're actually serious about this."

"Do you want me to slow it down?"

---

Sawyer was good with the numbers, with the risks, but not this time. She'd let herself crash and burn if that was the case, but she'd have him, love him for however long he allowed her to.

She takes his hand. "Keep it fast, whatever comes next will come."

Ha! Here I am in my yearning mode xD I wrote this a few weeks ago and only finished these past few days. It kinda sucks but I had to let it out of my system. Yes, Sawyer dated James because yes - for the drama guys for the drama.

I don't know what else to say xD I've known them for little time but I already love them.

#I did it #shamelessly #not completely but...#well it's here #sawyer silverwood lee #achill khanna weasley #beezwritez #fankids #i'm not sure what else to tag this xD

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juneviews · 3 years

Text

axelle judges bl shows > Fish Upon The Sky

/!\ (kinda small tbh) SPOILERS AHEAD

shitty summary: Pi is a dentistry student who falls in love with Mueang Nan, who seems to be the perfect guy in his eyes. After spending his first year of university trying to get close to him, Pi enlists the help of his brother Duean and his friends, the Kitty Gang, to transform his looks and try to seduce Mueang Nan. The only problem: Mueang Nan’s best friend Mork always seems to be in the way.

where to watch: youtube

grade: 8/10

pros:

- I loved the characters (except mork, see the cons.) but the three other mains? my babies. firstly I adored pi. I loved how despite being reserved, he’s not really shy. he dares to do scary things that put him out of his comfort zone. on top of that, he’s strong-headed, sure of his choices & sassy. but I loved how behind all of that you can see his lack of self-esteem gloom over every single one of his actions & words. I felt like he was a really original main lead & he was so interesting he’s one of the rare characters where I feel like I’d like to see more of him, get more background of who he is (when usually y’all know I like my shows short & my sequels non existent lol.) anyways he’s fascinating to me & I enjoyed him thoroughly, even when I didn’t agree with his choices. now for duean, he’s probably my fave character as y’all know I love my dumbass bisexuals :’) he’s rough around the edges, quite inappropriate, a big idiot... yet he’s hilarious & so caring of the people around him, notably pi & meen. his banter with the voice over guy was incredible & so was his fake anger towards mork. as for meen, he’s also on the same plane of ridiculousness as duean, just in a different font. he’s very naive, follows the rules a little too much, and is too innocent. but he has a huge heart & even though he could be inflexible, he’s actually super open-minded. he’s just a huge cutie & I loved his dynamic with duean.

- the chemistry was great. as you’re gonna see in the cons I didn’t like mork, but morkpi??? yeah I loved them so much. and most of that comes down to the chemistry those two had, so natural & fun to watch. it felt a bit different from the usual chemistry in bl shows, maybe slightly more childish as phuwin is still underage, but it actually worked in their favor in making them stand out. even the lack of intimacy in certain scenes where there should be more intimacy or awkward moments felt totally natural & cute nonetheless. I loved these two a lot despite all of their flaws as a ship, and duean & meen also had great chemistry even though their ship is much more lighthearted. it was just all very good, phuwin even had great chemistry with mix I lowkey shipped them for a minute lmao!

- the acting was just great. phuwin keeps proving himself at such a young age & he really brought life to pi in a way I’m not sure many other actors could have. as you will see in the cons pond literally saved mork from being a character I hate with his natural charisma & acting, he impressed me A LOT. neo is probably my fave comedic actor from the new generation of gmmtv actors, I’ve liked him since my tee & he’s always great in every role so I’ll probably become a fan soon. as for louis it was the first role I saw him in & I’m excited to see where he goes, he embodied meen perfectly! also mix was great as mueang nan, he was so fucking cute jcfchudyydhuc!

- probably the thing I admire the most about this show though, is definitely it trying things with the camera shots & cinematography. most bl series look, feel & sound the same if we’re being really honest, but here I appreciate that the director tried new things by almost entirely separating duean & meen’s storyline from morkpi’s one. it was already separated since pi & duean are not in the same year and don’t study the same thing, but the director created an even bigger distinction with the change of screen ratio & the narrator voiceover. this could’ve honestly been a fail for other characters, but here it worked perfectly with the silliness of dueanmeen’s ship. besides, it allowed duean to shine as the comedic relief of the show by breaking the fourth wall & having funny banter with the narrator. this made the show stand out so much from usual bl shows imo, and balanced more unimaginative moments like pi’s secret texting friend & the mystery around who is gonna confess to pi on the university roof that’s not really a secret bc we all know it can only be one person. anyways it was great!

- this show was all around incredibly entertaining & funny, which in itself is kind of a miracle since the story is so simple & more than 80% of the episodes are just mork courting pi. yet the director managed to balance it really well & I wasn’t bored at all, I was actually really invested.

- duean & meen as a side couple were great, they were everything a side couple should be. firstly the side couple should be quite different from the main couple to balance it out: here morkpi were full of drama & back and forth, so dueanmeen were much more lighthearted & much less of a headache in comparison. secondly the side couple shouldn’t steal the spotlight of the main ship: here even though I loved them, they didn’t get too much screentime or shippey scenes as to steal morkpi’s thunder. and finally, they should still get love from the writers & be interesting on their own: and here that’s totally what happens, they got a lot of scenes to develop them fairly & they were just so fun to watch get developed. THAT’S how you do a great secondary ship :)

- I really liked the sibling relationship between duean & pi (not so much between mork & meen, see the cons.) they were so fun together, and that’s when duean’s more caring personality came into action as a protective big brother. their dynamic was so much fun & the actors were great together (which is no surprise considering they played a ship in my tee & went on the y I love you tour together lmaoooo, rip morngord uihshdid!)

cons:

- mork is definitely the biggest flaw of this series. before I wreck him as a character though I once again just wanna appreciate how great pond was as mork, bc he genuinely still made him sort of likable with his acting. he was given a very complex character & still did his goddamn best so kudos to him for that. now though, I have to be honest when I say that mork is a complex character, I don’t mean that he’s really that complex. he’s just extremely hard to grasp, simply bc mork is more of an idea, a trope if you will, than a fully fleshed character. while pi is a character so full of personality with so much more to him than the romance of the show, and even duean & meen are super interesting & fun characters to follow, mork doesn’t exist besides his love story with pi. he’s firstly “perfect”, in the way that he’s too smooth of a character. he does have flaws that I will talk about in a minute, but those flaws are just writing issues that make him unlikable rather than actual flaws the writers gave him as a character. he’s popular, beautiful, good at his studies, good with his friends, good in love... what does mork NOT have? that immediately makes him boring, and we never get to see what’s under that perfect & smooth surface. but on top of that, the flaws I was talking about are kinda unredeemable. mork is EXTREMELY pushy, in the way a lot of the bl love interests often are, but here even more bc he genuinely doesn’t respect pi’s wishes & feelings at all. he KNEW pi was uncomfortable with attention & their shippers, yet he proclaimed his feelings publicly for him multiple times, he even took part of a livestream with said shippers, all of that to put more pressure on pi to accept his feelings. and I’m tired of seeing pushiness being constantly portrayed as a desirable trait for the male lead to have when it’s definitely NOT, that’s a very toxic thing to portray when it says that consent is basically worthless & that if you keep pushing you’ll get the one you love in the end. and finally, even though I could go on & on about mork, he’s not developed AT ALL. his friendship with mueang nan, who’s supposed to be basically his brother from another mother, is non-existent when it’s not relevant for the plot. he’s over-protective of his brother but we never see them have ONE cute scene together. WHO is mork outside of pi? what’s his real personality? what does he like? what’s his life story? we know none of that, and in comparison to pi who’s such a (truly this time) complex character with very real flaws & a relatable personality, mork seems not only just cartoon-ish & bland, but frankly toxic.

- the toxic & stalker-ish bl shippers trope.............. pls let it die, thank you.

- the glow up trope annoys the fuck out of me. to even try & pretend pi wasn’t cute before his supposed “glow up” is problematic. I also think there is a difference between getting rid of braces, which are an inherent temporary thing, to glow up, compared to glasses, when wearing glasses is a lifetime thing. and not everyone can afford contact lenses or even just wear them for health reasons. so as someone who’s been wearing glasses since I was 4 (yes I’m very much half blind thanks for asking ucyguhz) & also have been wearing contact lenses for a few years half of the time, I just think it’s rude to always portray glasses as making someone ugly when, while depending on the glasses it can make someone seem nerdy (as pop culture always portrays glasses as synonym of nerdiness), it never can make someone look uglier than they are. it’s just so dumb to me.

- the kitty gang was very gimmicky & frankly... kinda useless? they have a couple of funny scenes but let’s be honest, the show would’ve been exactly the same without them. similarly, I wish mueang nan would have gotten more developed bc he was peak plot device & that was a bit sad bc I felt like he could’ve been way more interesting.

- that one scene where the kitty gang wears traditional indian clothes to disguise themselves & wreck a havoc felt insensitive at best. it was just so random & the director took no accountability for it whatsoever. what makes it even weirder is that in the novel they’re dressed as teletubbies. but even if they couldn’t dress like that bc of copyright, there were so many better options than appropriating & mocking another culture :///

would I rewatch it: sure

I enjoyed this show a whole lot. There were many flaws, that’s for sure, but it was still a really fun ride & I loved the characters. Is it a groundbreaking show? No, but there are a lot of elements I still loved. I would definitely recommend it.

#fish upon the sky #fish upon the sky the series #axelle judges bl shows #bypiningbisexuals #my gif as alwayyys

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charaznablescanontoyota · 3 years

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blasetober day 22: heist.

season 23, day 93.

the thing is this: lorcan smaht (or l-rca- -m-h-, if you prefer) is scattered.

the thing, as well, is this: in eir universe, before ey was sent here, lorcan had never been elsewhere before. ey had never performed the role of undertaker, never dove in after anyone else to flip them negative. ey died before ey got the chance to.

lorcan thinks that being scattered might be worse than being incinerated, but it is a near thing. the physical effects of scattering are more lasting, a fog in lorcan’s brain that ey can’t shake. a seasickness in eir stomach that makes every step feel like one taken on the deck of a rolling boat. lorcan spends most of eir free time lying in bed, or sitting on the bench in the crabs dugout with eir head in eir hands, trying desperately to feel grounded.

being incinerated hurt less. only hurt for a minute, really. but three days ago in charleston, lorcan watched gunther o’brian burn on the field, and ey could swear that the scar on eir back came flaring back to life with white hot pain. the flash of the fire still feels seared into eir eyelids. ey can’t sleep at night without staring at the ceiling - dwelling on those screams in the choux, the dark halo of instability crackling around kaz’s antennae.

the instability passed right away. it was day 90. but lorcan knows it might not pass so easily the next time. not with the way the league has been buzzing about debt, about the exhibition game to come, about firewalkers. eir mind turns the problem over and over in every spare moment ey has, and it makes em about as sick as the scattering does. ey sits on the bench and bounces eir leg and looks away every time silvaire hits the ball, flinching, anticipating the worst. it sucks.

“i’m gonna get some air,” ey says at the top of the fourth, and gets up from the bench.

axel eyes em warily - or lorcan thinks he does. hard to tell, with the blindfold and all.

“do you want company?” he asks.

“uh, no,” lorcan says. “i’m good. i’ll be right back.”

ey’s gone before he can ask em anything else, slipping sideways into one of the many artery-tunnels of the crabitat, trailing a hand along the warm carapace. ey’s never been a big believer in the life of this place, never been one to talk to it like bertie and robbins do, but ey can feel the walls of the tunnel thrumming with energy under eir hand, and - maybe it’s worth a shot. let it not be said that lorcan smaht won’t try anything once.

“hey,” ey says, into the darkness. “uh, hi. i know we don’t - talk? but i - i’m scared. like, more than usual. i, um -”

ey swallows, and looks over eir shoulder. turns down a side passageway and starts to speak a little quieter, just in case. feels the walls, to make sure none of axel’s eyes can see em here.

“i don’t want to die,” ey says. eir voice is very small, barely a whisper. “again, i mean. i - i can’t do that. i’m sorry.”

there’s a pinprick of light at the end of this passage, though lorcan doesn’t know the tunnels well enough to know exactly where this one will spit em out. ey hears voices, boisterous ones punctuated with loud laughter, and follows them.

the tunnel ends in a knee-high, circular window into the away dugout, under the benches currently occupied by the pies. lorcan peers through it. ey sees mostly cleats, both static and pacing, some discarded bats, gloves, caps, and - there. within arm’s reach. something else.

something important. a corked glass bottle that shakes against the ground with the force of the liquid inside of it. a bottle that glows the faint blue color that lorcan recognizes as the mark of something fireproof. maybe it’s optimistic to feel like this is an answer to eir plea, but lorcan is nothing if not an optimist.

“sorry,” ey whispers, bending to stick eir arm through the window. “i’m - sorry.”

ey knows ey’s removing the protection from whoever this bottle is supposed to belong to. ey knows they won’t hear the apology. but it makes the guilt in eir stomach, the sickness of committing a purely selfish act, settle a little.

the bottle vibrates in eir hand, the liquid inside throwing itself against the sides as lorcan holds the potion close to eir chest. eir hands are shaking, too. maybe it’s the scattering, or maybe it’s the adrenaline. ey has to hold the bottle between both of eir palms to transport it unshattered, cupping it like a secret, fingertips leaving sweaty prints on the glass.

when ey stumbles back into the crabs dugout, everyone is staring at em.

“what?” lorcan asks, eir voice tinged with crackling radio static. oh. that’s new.

“lorcan,” pedro says, careful, a man treading on cracked glass. “what did you do?”

#marn writes #blasetober #blaseball #hey do you ever think about lorcan stealing a fliiiickerrriiingg fireproof potion #because i do. i do literally all the time #lorcan smaht

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ellohcee · 3 years

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Call Me

Okay so I want to throw this little bit out into the universe of one of my favorite instances of Jasper I've written. Context: He's a host for a dinky late night radio show and he has like... 10-15 listeners max and David is one of them, a college student who Can’t Sleep even between classes and his job, so he’s up late late listening to Jasper’s show. He calls in sometimes because Jasper is always offering advice and encouraging people to call in and chat, specifically about LGBTQ topics and David finds comfort and encouragement in their chats. They’ve been talking for a while but he still goes by the name Red.

- - - -

“Alright you night owls, this next one goes out to my long lost buddy, Red.”

David looked up at the radio in surprise, his pencil stilling on the page.

“It’s been a while since we’ve heard from ya and we miss you dude. And I’m gonna get hella gay up in here, but that’s on brand for me, I miss you.”

David’s breath caught in his throat painfully, his heart hammering.

“So I hope you catch this, give us a call, let me know how you’re doing buddy I’m dyin’ here, don’t leave me hanging. Cause I’ve got a question for you and you wont know what until you gimme a ring. Yes I’m gonna be that guy. So call. Please.”

The music picked back up, and true to Jasper’s word, Blondie’s Call Me started playing.

The pencil had slipped from his fingers without realizing as David tried to decipher all of that, especially that last, sincere please. Jasper missed his calls? Maybe he was just worried because David had dropped off so suddenly. It had just been too nerve wracking once he realized he was crushing on the radio host. But what could Jasper possibly want to ask him? Was it good or bad?

He was still nervous and the idea of calling in downright terrified him now, but… he at least owed it to Jasper to let him know he was alive. It must have looked bad, for him to be consistently calling about once a week and then suddenly stop with no warning, going on nearly two months of silence now. Jasper was always so nice and seemingly happy to talk to him, he must be worried. Gosh, now he had to call, he felt terrible.

David had to take several steadying breaths and about twenty good minutes to work up the nerve, but he managed to eventually press call, hands shaking as he listened to the phone ring.

“What’s up caller you’re live, how’s it hangin?”

“Um, hi...” he said quietly.

He heard a soft intake of air and a shuffle. “That you Red?” Jasper asked, sounding hopeful, the excited smile evident in his voice.

“Y-yes, it’s me,” David replied.

“Aw, buddy, good to hear your voice again man, I was gettin’ worried bout you.”

“I’m so sorry I- just- life, you know?” David hedged, feeling even more guilty because he couldn’t give an honest explanation.

“I feel that, it’s cool dude, it’s just good to hear from ya. I assume you heard my call out?”

David’s heart started beating faster, so, so antsy. If it weren’t for the guilt of worrying Jasper he probably wouldn’t have had the guts to call, but he could still be a wreck about it, easily. “Yes, I did. You... had a question?”

“Yeah! You don’t mind me askin’ live?”

“Um, sure, that’s fine,” David said nervously. It couldn’t be too bad if it was something Jasper could ask on air. Right?

“Sweet. So. Last we talked your rough waves from the coming out thing were settling. You found a boyfriend yet?” the radio host asked casually.

David eyebrows shot up in surprise, his face going so very red and he was so very grateful this was a phone call, not in person because that would make it ten times worse. “Um- n-no, I- I haven’t… um, no,” he stammered uselessly. Why was this the topic??

“Awesome!” Jasper said in delight, leading to an awkward pause. “Wow fuck that sounded hella mean I am so sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Cheese and crackers, foot in mouth Jasp, good one. Anyway! I just meant because- like, stop me if this is too weird, or hang up on me, but I was wondering if I could like… take ya on a date?”

David’s heart stopped in surprise, the blush that had just started receding coming back full force. His stomach whirled in a mix of dread and excitement, trying to go one way or the other as his brain stalled for a good long moment-

“Red?”

David sucked in a breath. “Is- are you- are you serious?” he asked softly, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

“Course dude!! I wouldn’t fuck around with you like that, hell no! I’m for super serious!”

“But… we’ve- you- you don’t even know what I look like,” David stammered, trying to find reason to turn him down, but so, so desperately wanting to say yes. He felt stupid for saying it the second it left his mouth, Jasper didn’t seem at all the type to place a lot of importance on appearances.

“I don’t need to! I’m sure you’re rad as hell, but I’m not a looks guy, okay? I like your personality, and I love shootin the shit with you, and you’re super nice. That’s the kinda stuff I’m into, and if you’re hella cute, which I’m sure you are, that’s a bonus!”

David stared down at his desk for a long moment, his thoughts a mess, one hand over his mouth as he took this all in. He had to take a moment to pinch the soft skin on the inside of his arm to decide that this was really happening and he hadn’t passed out at his desk into some dream where his crush happened to reciprocate-

“Reeeddd?” Jasper teased softly after another long pause, bringing him out of his panic spiral. “No pressure my dude, you can say no.”

“Yes,” David blurted shakily.

“Yeah??” Jasper asked, his voice picking up in obvious excitement and relief, despite his apparent brace for a rejection. “For real?”

“Y-yes, I’d… I’d like to,” David said softly, his face still red.

“Aw man, awesome, shit. Okay uh- no PI on air so uh- I go off air at 3, you’re usually up pretty late, yeah? Think you’ll be around?”

“Yes, I should be.”

“Supes, call back when you hear me sign off and we’ll hash stuff out, okay? Or at least do personal numbers to talk during the day.”

“O-okay,” David stammered, his mind whirling. “I’ll do that.”

“Sweet. Okay man, you sound a little wigged out so I’ll let you get back, and I will be counting the minutes til sign off,” Jasper teased.

“Okay, um, talk to you later? Bye.”

“Ta-ta for now!” Jasper sung.

David disconnected the call, his pulse still racing as he listened to Jasper on the radio once more, turning the volume back up just in time to hear.

“Oh my god, wack, holy shit you guys he said yes- fuck he’s probably listening and I sound like a giant goober- hi Red! Okay, anymore callers before we go back to music? Holy shitballs.”

A quick, incredulous laugh escaped his mouth before David could stifle it, his chest swirling with fear and elation. Jasper- Jasper had asked him on a date- and he sounded just as rattled as David felt. That helped a little to know it wasn’t just him- Jasper had just been loads better keeping a cap on his nerves while they were talking.

“You’re up caller!”

David came back from his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice, one of Jasper’s other regular callers.

“Oooooh Jasper asked a boy on a daaatteee~” she teased in delight.

“I know oh my god dude I’m still weak from it, I didn’t wanna mess up with Red but I like… really want to meet him and take him out, especially once he stopped calling? And no offense Red if you’re still there it’s TOTALLY cool cause that woke my ass up! Holy shit I still can’t believe he said yes.”

David listened all throughout the rest of Jasper’s show, all thoughts of homework lost as he leaned his elbows on the desk, hands clasped in front of his mouth. Anticipation made his nerves spike again while sitting through Jasper’s familiar sign off, where he bid goodnight to his listeners and started the after hours playlist. David waited a minute before taking a deep, deep breath and pressing the call button.

It rang only once before the line picked up, and a hopeful voice answered. “Red?”

“H-hi Jasper,” he replied.

“Hey dude! Hey, sorry to put you on the spot like that but- y’know, I figured it would be less creepy to everyone to just be upfront and ask you, instead of being like ‘hey call me after hours hoohoo wink wink,’ ya dig?”

David stifled a giggle, smiling. “I understand. It probably would’ve made me more nervous to have to wait that long, wondering what your question was,” he admitted.

“That too! I wanted to just… put it out there, figured it’d be best. So! You’re really cool with going on a date?”

“Yes, I… I’d like that. To meet you,” he added softly, flushed.

“Rad, okay, nice. So let’s just exchange numbers for tonight? I know you might not sleep anyway but it’s friggen late and I don’t want to keep either of us up too long.”

“That sounds good, I don’t want to keep you up either,” David replied. He gave his number first when Jasper gave the go-ahead, listening to the other man hum as he typed it into his phone, and a few moments later David heard a buzz near his ear.

“I just shot you a text so you have my number and can add me.”

“Got it,” David replied, pulling the phone away briefly to see a text notification at the top of the screen, a short string of peace sign emojis that made him smile.

“Awesome sauce. Well- shit, I’m really excited but again, we can talk later. Try to get some sleep, okay dude?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned and losing his usual casual tone. “I worry bout you.”

David smiled, touched by the thought. “I’ll try.”

“Okay, I’ll text you sometime tomorrow- today, whatever, much later. Give you a chance to snooze. Night Red, and thanks for- you know. Thanks. Night!”

“Goodnight Jasper, and thank you too,” he replied softly.

“No prob, catch ya later.”

David pulled the phone away and ended the call, his heart still hammering as he tried to comprehend everything. But he decided to pack it away for later, turning off the radio and closing the long abandoned textbook. Hopefully he could get a few hours of sleep and be a tiny bit more composed when he next spoke with Jasper.

Doubtful, but it was a nice thought.

#camp camp #cc david #cc jasper #jaspvid #ellowrites #but for real this is like #the most best i've ever been able to channel my vision of jasper?#when they meet for their date he's wearing that stupid bowling alley carpet shirt and i just #god it's so jasper #also a great example of me abusing the dash symbol #but it's my staple #also mentioning way too often about the state of david's heart but he's a sleep deprived nervous wreck SO

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doitwritenow · 4 years

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IronStrange Starter Kit - Master Fic Rec List for all Y’all Because You’ve been Asking and I’ve been Avoiding

Hi! All you anons and askers, I made a list!!! Hopefully some of these are what you’ve been after. :D

(Please reblog this, lol, I spent too much time on it...)

General rules: These are complete unless indicated otherwise, and end happily unless indicated otherwise. There’s a variety of ratings, as I have no qualms against smut, but I don’t usually read it outside of a larger plot. So I don’t think there’ll be many explicit stories on here. Word counts vary; I indicate general length but don’t go into specifics. What else, uh... Bold stuff is the headers and general subjects. I link the titles. Block quotes are author summaries. Enjoy!!

Okay so first off, there are a couple of Fandom Staples who just have leagues worth of good short stories, and if you haven’t read them, then definitely treat yourself to the array:

A Thousand Futures of Me and You - VisionaryGalaxy (Vishanti, what a legend, ily so much). This is a series of unconnected one-shots, each their own and covering a variety of tropes and moments and themes and AUs. They’re so fun (and/or painful and/or thought-provoking and/or tense and/or sexy)! In-character and amazing, consistantly.

Prompt Collection - amethyst-noir (Arbonne). (Also a legendary human). This is exactly what it sounds like: a series of prompt fills in all sorts of tones. You’ll almost certainly find something here that feels like it was just made for you!

Alright, onto the individual stories and series!

Long fics/series:

The of overqualified hands and pi figures series - lantia4ever. (This was my first Ironstrange story, and it is no less magical now.)

A series of one-shots, all set in the same alternate verse in which Tony and Stephen first meet following the events of the first Avengers and then continue to meet after that throughout the canon up until Infinity War and eventually beyond it. Becoming friends - and more along the way.

Time After Time - fancylances. (I love love LOVE this one. Highly recommended.)

Tony Stark is unstuck in time. Stephen Strange might just be the only person in the universe qualified enough to help.

Citizen Erased - Imagined. (This author. Just... such a wonderful, talented, stunning person who makes wonderful, talented, stunning works. This story is masterful.)

What do you do when no one in the world ever manages to remember you?

Anyone who sees Tony Stark promptly forgets he ever existed after mere seconds. When everyone he has ever cared about has lost their memories of him, he goes to Stephen Strange, possibly the only one who can help him lift the curse. But a terrifying danger is coming, and saving the world isn’t an easy job to do when no one can remember who you are.

if only the gods had mercy on us and it’s sequel a soul too deep - orphan_account. (Vishanti, this series... It’s so beautiful and emotional and heart-breaking and heart-warming. And it has so few views for so many words! One of my absolute favorites, VERY highly recommended.)

Tony Stark loved Stephen Strange. He loved him more than anyone could ever imagine. But then a terrorist group attacked the convoy. Then there was a car accident. In the middle of it all, there is tired, battered love. (And, maybe, a little bit of genius)

From the Top - lucifersfavoritechild. (Everyone reads this fic. Written by the blogger Monarch Of The Ironstrange Ship, it’s an MCU rewrite around the relationship. Very fun.)

“Stephen, if you’re . . . there somewhere . . . when I drift off, I’ll be with you again. I can’t wait.”

|| Personally, I think the MCU would be much better as a love story between Stephen Strange and Tony Stark. Don't you?

Starting from Iron Man, and going all the way to Endgame, with all the appropriate stops in between. Let's take it from the top.

UNFINISHED: Skin Deep - Mystical_Magician. (Super cool premise, and super interesting to read! The dynamic here is very fun.)

A battle that should have finally killed Stephen instead launches him into a parallel universe. Exhausted from centuries as Sorcerer Supreme, he chooses instead to explore this new world in any animal form except human. Having hoped for peace at last, he can't stand to be looked up to, to be responsible for others, to have the world on his shoulders.

If he'd hoped to avoid excitement, however, he really should have stayed away when he noticed an enormous explosion and a falling metal suit of armor as he passed through Afghanistan.

UNFINISHED: The End of Infinity - FriendlyNeighborhoodFangirls. (Self rec. Very long, very slow-burn. Canon-compliant Endgame fix-it. I’m trying so hard, lol.)

In 2023, the battle for the universe has been won. At a cost no one can forget, the fight is over—for all but one. Stephen Strange has an idea. An impossible idea spanning dimensions and timelines, life and death, and the lines of good and evil. But he's played impossible odds before—perhaps he never stopped.

All that Loki wanted was to fight, one last time, for the fate of his universe. So when he finds himself fighting for another, crashing into the past, he has a few intended words for the wizard that forced him there. But not before he finds a boy. Or, more accurately, before the boy finds him.

Peter Parker had been waiting for the next mission. He just doesn't expect it to come from the future, armed with a ridiculous story demanding a ridiculous quest. And he doesn't expect not to be able to tell Mr. Stark.

Tony Stark is trying to rebuild from the Civil War, knowing that someday, something will come that he needs to be ready for. And he doesn't know it yet, but two universes are trying to rebuild around him, and that something is already here.

Seven Stones. Five dead. Two universes. And one impossible quest to tie it all back together.

UNFINISHED: Sunrise in Exile - Ragdoll (Keshka). (Another fandom favorite! And for good reason. This is really really good!)

Tony does the math and realizes their best chance to save the universe is by... not confronting Thanos on his own turf.

So he steals a wizard and a spider and a space ship. And he runs.

(Three humans and an A.I in space, the alien friendships they make along the way, and discovering how science and magic might coexist in a universe where they can be one and the same.)

Shorter plotty ones:

Out of Suffering - Mystical_Magician. (So this author??? THIS AUTHOR??? Very very good, much yes, very good.)

Stephen Strange does not like people, but 14,000,605 lifetimes of fighting and dying alongside this small group have worn down his walls. He likes them, gods help him. He might even consider them friends. It’s really for the best that they all go their separate ways once Thanos has been defeated. In their eyes, he’s barely even an acquaintance.

Now if only Tony and Peter would stop surprising him.

moros - spookykingdomstarlight. (Almost got a spot in the angst section. Very good).

There were fourteen million universes Stephen had birthed into existence and let die and, in far more than he cared to count, the visitor standing before him had become something… dear.

Shaking is Caring - mariadperiad20. (This is just STUNNING. Highly loved.)

5 times Stephen's hands would shake, +1 time they didn't.

It's Kinda Chalky - DestielsDestiny. (This one’s pretty short, but definitely worth it.)

You can live an entire lifetime by looking into someone’s eyes. His sister used to say that all the time. Stephen never gave it much thought back then. These days, he can think of little else.

Something Magic - Imagined. (Beautiful!)

There is only ever one rule that matters:

do not fall in love with the enemy.

An Idiotic Theory - FriendlyNeighborhoodFangirls. (Self rec! I tried to be funny.)

His wizard has been cursed, again, and Tony's already used up his luck for the day.

(Stephen says it's not a curse. He says Tony's whole daily-allotted karma-based luck theory has minimal merit, citing the fact that Tony had come up with it while he was drunk.)

Tony really should have saved his miracle.

Love Through Time - babywarg (morphaileffect). (I love this one. It sticks with you.)

Tony discovers an old drawing of, and finally remembers, his invisible friend Stephen from when he was a child.

Alternates - doobler. (Super cool!)

After being punked by a lowbrow magician, Stephen finds himself falling through doors to otherwordly dimensions. How will he ever get home?

132 - 28ghosts. (Soulmate AU! Very fun, incorporates Stephen’s time-loop with Dormammu.)

Ninety-nine point eight percent of humans have a soulmate mark that tells them the age their soulmate will be when they meet them. Tony Stark has a mark. It's just that his is...different than most people's.

(Or: six people who aren't Tony Stark's soulmate, and one who is.)

and when the world falls (I will fall with it) - HeavenChild. (Another multichap soulmate AU. Absolutely lovely.)

Tony will give anything to those he loves.

People will take everything he gives before leaving him in shambles.

Rhodhey, Pepper and Vision have had enough.

Or the five times Tony had his heart broken and the one time he didn't.

i saw the end of the world - JumpToConclusions. (Why has no one read this fic??? It’s so good!!! Stephen knows the future since he saw it on Titan, and things grow more complex from there.)

Tony and Strange are trying to make this work, this being remaking The Avengers. ...And maybe they'll stumble into something else along the way.

Tiresome heart, forever living and dying - Mystical_Magician. (R e a d t h i s p l e a s e. The mythology is so cool and the symbolism is so beautiful and the prose is so satisfying. One of my absolute faves.)

As a fledgling crane, Stephen was too curious for his own good, and it was this curiosity that led to Eugene Strange finding and stealing away his feather robe. Trapped in human form, cruelly forged into the perfect son, not even his father's death freed him when his robe was so well hidden. He only managed to break his father's mold after breaking completely in the aftermath of his accident, and slowly gluing those broken pieces back together at Kamar-Taj, but not even magic could find what had been hidden. Enter Tony, after the defeat of Thanos.

Fluffy ones:

From The Outside - Live. (Hilarious.)

Being a sentient life-form surrounded by humanity can be hard. Especially when said humans just can't admit their feelings for each other.

Sleeping Iron Man - Golden_Asp. (Another fun one. Perfect balance of ridiculousness with a touch of angst to make it interesting.)

Stephen Strange stared at the Avengers on his doorstep, Tony Stark flung over Steve Rogers' shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "He touched something, didn't he?" "Yuup." or The one where Tony touches Sleeping Beauty's spindle, is put into an enchanted sleep, and everyone, even Rocket Raccoon, take their turn kissing him. But Tony only has one prince charming.

Doctor Ob(li)vious - lantia4ever. (One of my very favorites. So cute.)

Stephen starts getting some weird looks from the Avengers, spanning across disturbed, confused and even scared all the way to curious. He dismisses it at first until weird turns into knowing.

And knowing turns into realizing...even if the scheming teenagers had to all but paint it on the walls for him to do so. Oh wait...

Applied Combinatorics in Two-Player Games - 28ghosts. (Short and fun and full of snark.)

After a battle, Tony Stark and Stephen Strange argue about games.

“Chess is not a solved problem.”

“Has been since ‘97, Kasparov versus Deep Blue. Kasparov, 1; Deep Blue, 2; three draws.”

“Chess is a game, not a problem.”

The Courtship of Peter Parker's Father (Figures) - flyingonfeatherlesswings. (Peter plays matchmaker! Adorable.)

Peter couldn't stand to sit by while Tony and Stephen danced around each other any longer. Something had to be done.

Speaking Eyes - Vrishchika. (Not Steve Friendly. Tony is amazing in this. And Stephen is so fantastically dramatic.)

Tony has always had expressive eyes.

The Signs of Sleep Deprivation - FriendlyNeighborhoodFangirls. (Another self-rec. <3)

"Tony said to put the potato in the dishwasher, so that's what I did."

Sometimes, Avengers just show up to say hi. Sometimes, they all show up at once, and Tony makes an party out of it. Sometimes, he invites the snarky, oblivious, somewhat insecure wizard because, and Peter quotes: "everyone else is coming".

Sometimes, something needs to be done.

Show Me Your Scars (And I'll Show You Mine) - Imagined. (Adorable. Lovely. Imagined does it again.)

The worst part is that Stephen keeps tucking his hands away, just as Tony wants to hold them. He keeps hiding them, surreptitiously, no matter what they’re doing. It’s only when Tony kisses Stephen, or hugs him, that he feels the hands settle on his back, uncertain, ready to pull back within seconds.

It only makes him want to cuddle up to Stephen even more, but he backs away, not sure if it’d be welcome.

Promise? Promise. - sharonscarters. (AU, kidfic, absolutely adorable.)

A four year old Tony Stark runs away from home and finds his Guardian Angel.

What The Doctor Ordered - wakandan_wardog. (Post CW. Kind of not Rogues friendly? So fun, makes me smile. I re-read this one a lot.)

The Rogue Avengers are called back to New York because the heavy hitters are going to be needed against Thanos. Of course, there are some truths that Steve Rogers will need to accept sooner rather than later. Tony Stark has moved on and Stephen Strange will not suffer fools lightly.

Hurt/Comforty ones:

Among The Chaos of The Stars (You're My Safe Harbour) - ShootMeDead. (Oh my vishanti. OH MY VISHANTI. So so so so SO good.)

Stephen has always been able to hear the stars. Tony is the only one who can silence them.

each night like a white noise frequency - Phierie. (I ADORE THIS FIC. OKAY. I LOVE IT. READ IT.)

Stephen is no stranger to making hard choices. He doesn’t regret his actions on Titan, but months later they weigh on his mind heavier than ever; the cracks begin to show.

Just An Accident - CucumbersInGold. (I really like fics with Stephen’s hands and the difficulties thereabout. Idk, just one of my favorite things. This is beautiful).

Stephen's hands act up.

Learning, Unlearning - Caaaaaaas. (More character study than anything else. Really good.)

Whatever Stephen wanted with life, life just didn’t seem to know what to do with him.

In which Stephen learns and unlearns some very important lessons.

your eyes have their silence - doctortwelfth. (Oh look it’s another scars fic. I told you I liked them.)

Tony is gentle with Stephen’s hands even when Stephen forgets to be.

Burning Lines Into The Snow - petroltogo. (Not very Steve friendly. Short and sweet.)

Post CW: It's not just the team that's so broken they are barely able to comprehend how many parts they're missing now, how many have been ripped and twisted and torn. It's Tony as well, right down to the core, the damage so far-reaching even he doesn't know how to fix it.

And then there's Strange, who has his own way of covering the cracks.

Old Bones - CJtheWeeb. (Owch. Dumb geniuses trying to be invulnerable.)

Sometimes Stephen Strange has great days, where he was nearly pain free and his hands still enough to where he could pick up a cup of water and barely spill a drop.

Today was not one of those days.

something taken, something new - meowrails. (So in-character. The premise was a little off to me, but I’m so glad I decided to read this one. I really really like this fic.)

The ChronicConnection implement and app allows a person that lives with chronic or illness-induced pain to transfer their burden temporarily to a willing loved one.

Tony and Stephen sign up as beta testers.

Angsty ones (happy ending unless otherwise mentioned):

day one - days4daisy. (THIS IS SO GOOD OKAY IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE ON THIS LIST READ THIS).

Three days in Stark Tower. Stephen must be in bad shape if he just agreed to this.

His Merlin - babywarg (morphaileffect). (This author keeps showing up on this list because they are A LEGEND. A LEGEND I TELL YOU.)

As a child, Tony imagined himself a Knight of the Round Table. Little did he know he would grow up to be a king. And that he would have a wizard by his side to lead him to either glory or destruction.

there is no heart for me like yours - turtle_abyss. (Soulmate AU! Wonderful. <3)

Being able to feel your soulmate - a phantom touch, a bone-deep awareness - is a divine torture. To know, but not see. To seek, but not find. To feel someone holding your hand and not be able to hold theirs.

Grace - StrangeMischief. (*cries in beautiful fic* Happy ending!)

“Pain’s an old friend.”

Us...Me - StrangeMischief. (This will hurt you. So melancholy. Pepper and Tony live their life, and Tony remembers. Not a happy ending.)

“I don’t believe in happily ever after.”

One-Thousand Cranes - FriendlyNeighborhoodFangirls. (Self rec, sorry. Hopeful ending.)

After it all, a man with shaking hands makes a wish.

courtesy - deathofglitter. (Dealing with the fourteen-million futures. So good.)

Stark looked at him like he looked at the amulet that rested on his chest like a steady promise - dutiful, a bit burdened, and trying to hold a profound lack of personal emotion whatsoever, still personal enough to protect as anyone would a precious object.

La Douleur Exquise - BananasofThorns, StrangeMischief. (More pain. Pepper and Tony, and Stephen watching and trying not to wish. Very good, no happy ending.)

The before was easy. There were fewer boxes in their minds and no chains around their hearts. There was no hurt. No tears. No dreams.

But those days were long gone.

Stigmata - babywarg (morphaileffect). (AU! Soulmates again. Very interesting, beautifully done.)

Since Stephen was little, mysterious wounds have appeared and disappeared on his body, leaving mysterious scars. His mother says it's because he's one of a Pair, and he's absorbing pain meant for someone else.

*wipes brow* PHEW! That gotta a little more in-depth than I first intended... Have fun, my MysticIron friends. Happy quarantine.

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