#absolutely just yoinking them from hospitals

[starry-blue-echoes]

So weird/funny idea. What if Dual trip kinda. Keeps happening in the rest of the parts? Like, Part 4 would be pretty similar to your Hidden In Plain Sight AU just with Yukako being more stable so that Koichi has an actual Squad before he meets Rohan, and they both go after Kira for different reasons—Koichi's group of him, Yukako, and Rohan being guided by Reimi; and Josuke's group of himself, Okuyasu, and Jotaro going after him because he killed/hospitalized Shigechi.

Part 5 features Giorno doing a lot of Accidental Kidnapping/Recruiting. Koichi is one thing, but then, before he even officially joins Bruno's group he accidentally convinces Trish that he's her Mafia escort (or straight up accidentally kidnaps her) and now they're on the run. This ends up in a 4-way battle between Giorno and his ragtag group, Bucciarati's gang, La Squadra, and the lower level grunts who are fighting for their own reasons, mainly recognition from the boss. (Giorno probably Charismas a few to his side, because he's Giorno. Possibly including Sheila E from Purple Haze Distortion.)

As for Bruno's gang, Abbachio is in the same situation Joseph was in, his stand constantly giving him the Worst Possible Moments, except this time with the added benefit of Giorno somehow always looking good; Fugo leaves Bucciarati's group just to immediately get dragged into Giorno's (unwillingly); Bruno is wondering what the hell Giorno did to have things go this far off the rails thIS WAS NOT THE PLAN, and Mista and Narancia are just constantly Out Of The Loop.

I don't even know what the divisions are for Stone Ocean. Maybe Jolyne fighting for Jotaro with Foof and Anasui, and Ermes, Weather, and Emporio teaming up and getting into trouble for their own individual goals which only partially involves fricking Pucci over.

Bonus: Iggy is still serving the same role of go-between in each part. Average age for dogs be damned.

OOOOOOOOOOOO THAT’S FUN AND CHAOTIC

What if this time Yukako and Koichi have been friends for a while, perhaps they met before her crush developed into the obsessive level as canon. And their side of the plot kicks off when one day soon after their first day of high school, the both of them get shot by Keicho when they’re walking home. Yukako was doing fine, but Koichi..... not so much. And as Yukako’s running to get him to a hospital, what if they accidentally run into Josuke along the way and he subtly heals Koichi in a way to ensure his injuries wouldn’t be lethal or cause any long term consequences. This also ends up being what cues Josuke in on who’s making all these enemy Stand Users so he and Jotaro can go deal with it, getting Okuyasu onto their team

and I also had a fun idea for how Centipede Shoes could go. I’m not sure about how exactly to get there, but when Koichi goes to call for help, he wouldn’t be able to call Josuke. Instead, he ends up calling Rohan, who immediately starts panicking upon seeing Koichi’s body because he can’t heal. So in what was a VERY desperate bid for Koichi’s survival, he wrote something like “Koichi Hirose will survive his fight with the killer” and immediately started hauling ass to the hospital praying it would work

And Part 5....... oh god that’s going to be absolutely insane. What if Koichi’s reason for sticking around at first is “hhhhhh I can’t leave this 15 year old by himself, I remember what being 15 as a Stand User was like-”, plus he was a tad worried about Giorno’s living situation because of how..... alone and impersonal his room was, so his plan was to stick close to Naples and periodically check in. But what if Mr.Pericolo and Trish were in Naples at least for a little bit, and well..... seeing a very uncomfortable 15 year old girl with a man who’s clearly Mafia isn’t going to look very good, especially without the context of the situation

So what if in the middle of Polpo’s test, Giorno offers to help, yoinks her, and brings her back to his dorm at which Koichi shows up and it’s revealed that Trish is the Boss’s daughter..... but before Gio can think about how he could possibly use this.... what if Koichi ends up bringing up the possibility of her father having less than innocent intentions. 

After all, Koichi is very familiar with people like Diavlo who will do anything and everything to keep their secrets. How they will murder, tear apart families, even kill children to stay hidden. How loose threads are cut and burned before they can pose any threat without hesitation, and that a mysterious daughter he hadn’t known about is one huge thread. He brings up the inconsistencies in this story, that if her father wanted to meet her so badly, why hadn’t he sent so much as a note or reassurance of her safety? Why has he just been dragging her all around Italy without even asking her about……. anything???

He doesn’t want to scare them but..... he also doesn’t want anyone getting "dealt with” like he nearly was. And besides, even if the man’s intentions weren’t murder, this was still really shitty behavior, especially since Trish has exactly ZERO desire to meet her father

So he asks Trish. That if she could make any choice right now, regardless of the consequences or danger, what would she want to do?

And this catches her off guard. These past few weeks Trish had gotten used to being treated as something important, but mostly inatimate. She was dragged from one place to another without so much as a glance in her direction, with people walking on eggshells around her, treating her as though she were the most fragile of glass but also the most dangerous of weapons that could end them in an instant

So she’s honest. She tells him she doesn’t want to meet her father, that she doesn’t want anything to do with this. Not with her father, not with Passione, none of it

So Koichi agrees without hesitation. He calls Jotaro and updates him on the development and plans with the kids on what to do next

And for a second Giorno’s a tad..... stuck. Without knowing it, he’d accidentally made things so much easier and infinitely more complicated. There’s no going back from this, he’d already taken Trish and even if he did try returning her, that was just asking to get killed. This was in no way, shape or form his plan, but he more or less has to go with it lest he accept defeat

of course, the second the three of them cross paths with the Bucci Gang, Bucciarati nearly blows both their covered because Giorno what the fuck- 

And wow, Koichi’s really out here collecting kiddos like Pokemon cards isn’t he

(also unrelated from the rest of this but I think that while they’re on the run, Koichi should be allowed to be terrifying with Echoes. As a treat. After all we’ve seen just how much damage all the Acts can cause, and Act 1 especially can really fuck with someone’s mental state)

#this possibility LATCHED onto my brain and I'm loving it #but I'm unfortunately in the same boat for stone ocean not many ideas are vibing rn sorry- #dual trip #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #diamond is unbreakable #diamond is unbreakable spoilers #jjba part 4 #golden wind #golden wind spoilers #vento aureo #vento aureo spoilers #jjba part 5 #jjba koichi #koichi hirose #echoes #jjba yukako #yukako yamagishi #jjba rohan #rohan kishibe #jjba giorno #giorno giovanna #jjba trish #trish una #jjba bucciarati #bruno bucciarati #bruno buccellati #bucci gang #sb answers #ailingwriter

[itsnothingofinterest]

If Compress comes out of one of these portals, I'll scream in glee!~ Just iamgine him waltzing out in prison garb/hospital outfit, looking confused, but just rolling with the fact he now is back in the field to fight with his buddies again XD. On a side note, think Kurokumo took Spinner with him? He yoinked Mic, so I assume so??

(In response to this.)

Yeah it’d be great. Especially if he, as I’m hoping, comes out with an absolutely pants-ruining-ly huge villain army of PLF members coming after. That’ll add some flavour to Mr. Compress’ swagger. I hope he comes out with his hat too.

Maybe the Jailbreakers can come too. I still want my Redestro-Muscular team up. No I do not care how redundant that is.

Also yeah Kurogiri must’ve taken Spinner. Why wouldn’t he? I just hope he went outside to get the PLF lieutenants too. I mean two of them haven’t even gotten to do anything yet. And I don’t even know any of their names but I know they don’t deserve to have their roles ending with Shoji going “if we’re cool & nice enough, I’m sue heteromorphic-pejudice will sort itself out without directly addressing it.”

Please Kurogiri. Save them from that indignity.

#ask & reply #bnha #bnha 374 #mr. compress #kurogiri #shirakumo oboro #spinner #muscular #redestro #paranormal liberation front #PLF #present mic #mezo shoji

[roseamongroses]

SHURIRI! AMNESIA AU

it's about 5am and i havent slept so lemme write this rq before i pass out. shuriri! amnesia au. i barely know anything legitament about amnesia and i will not be researching it at this time because it is 5 am

queen ramonda dies ( IM SORRY OKAY) before shuri and them try to find the scientist

and in the midst of grief while fighting the fish people, shuri is severely injured at the bridge

she is saved by riri(who was nearby testing her latest gadgets) and is brought to the local hospital.

when she wakes she remembers nothing at all and due to the growing tensions/ potential for war back at wakanda they agree to let her stay in America to recover and laylow

(they also agree because amnesia! shuri doesn't really believe their story about the fish people and only really trusts riri at this point cause she was the last person shuri remembers

(angst because OUCH but theyll survive)

anyway shuri immediately sneaks out of the hospital and basically squats in riri's single room(ignore reality we're going off of fanfic reason ok)

(riri has accommodations since she started college so young + sensory issues among other things)

FEATURING:

shuri helping riri exploit the rich and lazy college students with their thriving homework business

shuri and riri pissing each other off cause being codependent and attached at the hip isn't always fun but they work through it

shuri gradually gains independence she starts working on some unresolved, internalized abelism as she's recovering physically and mentally from the attack. she starts sitting in some classes (she is excitable and the TAs lowkey hate her)

and there was only one bed

shuri decides one day in class that riri is just as interesting as science. she does not simply pine, she becomes a shameless flirt

riri not really believing shuri's advances/ shying away because of shuri's condition and how her view of riri has a savior may influence her opinions (she's had a crush on the princess since wakanda was first revealed to the world and she can't let her heart be crushed like that)

shuri discovering riri's exploits as ironheart

while all of this is going on imagine the fish people despretly trying to murk the two while the wakanda people protect them w/o shuriri noticing. looney toons type of activity in the background.

huh when is shuri getting her memories back??well funny story. shuri's actually been gradually regaining her memories back this entire time but she has been pretending that she has hasn't recovered them

why?well not only is she remembering the deaths of her father and brother (X2) all over again, her mama just died, her country is on the verge of war, and for the life of her shuri cannot figure out who made the device that detected the vibranium. she wasn't excatly running away from the issue, but she still hadn't accepted that this is her reality. DENIAL IS A

one day she encounters namor again. he confronts her, tries to make the same deal again and shes like "idk even know who the fuck made that". so he gives her a clue and shuri goes looking in riri's lab her next visit. and yeah she finds out. not a good day tbh

so does shuri turn her almost girlfriend into the fish cops? no. does she do something absolutely fucking stupid, yeah. so she leaves and makes the same deal with the fish people and gets yoinked underwater.funnily enough they end up yoinking riri too

ok in the cave jail riri and shuri fight about her marytrdom behavior. shuri accidentally reveals remembers everything and riri is flabergasted. absolutely befuddled. and insists that she shouldve left to go back to wakanda/ contact them sooner while shuri insists that she just couldn't. but wont explain why

yes they go to sleep mad.

shuri at somepoint is taken out so namor can do his weird friendship bracelet "become my queen" thing and shuri ALMOST considers it because riri is trapped, injured, and she wants to save her from being killed off.

but instead of outright agreeing she just plays along. until they can get medical care, more privilege's, etc.

this highkey looks like shuri getting courted and since riri and her are not excatly talking she cant explain the full situation yet (also guards be listening)

anyway riri is def jelly (broken arm and miss ma'am worried bout the fish man) and this leads to another arguement with shuri that somehow someway leads back to them flirting like how they did before the kidnapping

yes they kiss among other things. do they care that the guards are being nosy the entire time???a little bit

they agree to shuri continuing the game with namor to get them both out

except shuri realizes mid date that namor personally killed her mom and yeah its a wrap

from here use ur imagination and the wakanda forever movei tbh to end this BUT shuriri flirting. all throughout. they are disgusting and in love.

it is now 5:52am goodnight

#shuriri #shuri udaku #wakanda forever #riri williams #riri x shuri #headcanons #i hope this is legible god im sleepy #me paying my shuriri bills before passing out

[kallulovesu]

Yoooo! If it’s cool can I get yandere allies minus england (or just yandere Canada, America, and Russia if it’s too many) with an s/o who just a sweet chaotic dumbass?

Like they have no sense of danger like “ooo! Snake! Yoink!” *gets in a shopping cart to joust their friend* “hey check this out” *rams head through wall. Just a doing stupid stuff, they’re sweet hearts but just don’t think before they act

Gn!Reader Thank youuuu!

He felt an odd sense of deja vu, which he wasn’t able to tell if he liked or not.

Although one thing was for sure; Canada genuinely loved having you around even with your personality being rather overwhelming at times. It wasn’t anything too new, and he also couldn’t help but think that your case was cuter— if you weren’t doing anything too dangerous because god did you make him go crazy sometimes. Trust him it wasn’t fun yelling at you to get off of a fucking brown bear until his throat felt like it was going raw,

Such things actually did happen pretty frequently... but he found himself not particularly minding these occurrences because of how you worried you’d be. Being all apologetic and pampering him with delicacies you bought or by brewing his favorite cup of tea. Even soup sounded good, but he, to be honest didn’t feel like it was safe enough to let you near a stove.

Speaking of...Canada usually tries to keep dangerous objects away from you. Perhaps he was too paranoid, especially since you’d probably find a way to turn anything into a weapon— but he couldn’t help but fret over what would happen if you took ahold of the wrong things, say a knife. So he tends to keep them away from where you cant find them and only lets you use the really safe ones.

He did tend to feel like a caretaker, although that wasn’t something that he disliked all that much. Simply happy to be able to look out for you and being of help.

Matthew enjoyed joining you on your antics every now and then, finding it oddly freeing; acting like nothing in the moment mattered while he fooled around with you. Although a lot of bad things can happen while the only one usually looking out for the danger is...not really paying attention themselves. Which means the two of you have landed in the hospital at least once or twice by now.

Soulmate...the love of his life....the one that fully matches his energy!!!

Long story short; this man is absolutely enamored with you. A lot of the people America knows tend to lack the energy that he, himself owns, so there aren’t a lot of people who he can hang out with to his fullest. Which is why he couldn’t help but he beyond overjoyed when he met you! You seemed kind, not too strict, and a risk taker! It was everything that he loved in one.

There are barely any days where he can be seen away from you, always sticking to your side like an overexcited puppy and seeking all the attention you could give. He seriously doubts that you’d have any fun hanging out with aaaalll of these boring people that were only looking to ruin everything, so it would be much better for you if he went along with you. Or that’s what he usually tells you but it’s also rather obvious that he just doesn’t want anyone to take your focus from him,

pranks...oh the pranks. He adored making fun of others along with you, being an easy way to have fun with you and making others he disliked look like a fool. It definitely got the two of you in trouble but it was fun! He also got to see you laugh afterwards, which he probably cared more about than some stupid punishments.

Also, did I mention the fact that you’ve both probably gotten severely hurt when hanging out??

...

He usually tries to be the bigger person and looks out for you whenever the two of you are spending time together, although all of that gets thrown out of the window when he start having a bit too much fun...which results in at least one of you getting hurt during it. Alfred does feel really bad about it and makes sure to apologize toooons of times while treating you, giving you gifts and a lot of cuddles that were sure to make up for it!

Although— Alfred doesn’t really care to bring you to the hospital whenever this happens. It was unnecessary to him, and he already knew enough about health to heal you up as fast as possible! There was also the fact that he didn’t even trust his own country’s healthcare .

It was actually pretty cute to him, in a sense! Although he didn’t like how eerily familiar this felt.

Russia...oh, it’s hard to tell what exactly this guy has on his mind. It doesn’t seem like he truly minds your behavior; simply seeing it as your own cute quirk that he couldn’t help but love, although he has voiced concerns of your well-being over how rash you could be, suggesting that it was better to look out before something bad happens. You usually didn’t listen to him, resulting in a little accident happening just like he said. It was actually quite amusing to him.

It was weird to you how easily he could tell such things... you’ve probably even accused him of being a clairvoyant of some sorts more than once, which he only laughs at in return.

He’s always the one treating your wounds whenever you get hurt; a large smile on his face while his hands were busy putting a bandaid on the spot, giggling about how this could’ve been prevented had you just listened to what he said. How it would’ve just been for the better if you obeyed.

And he doesn’t just let it slip either— genuinely expect to be house arrested if you ever managed to wound yourself really bad. Even if he’d already force you to be bedridden until you’re healed, he’ll add two weeks extra just for the fun of it. Leaving you with but a few other sources of entertainment and himself, always sticking to you and simply saying that he was keeping guard if you ever were to ask. But it’s obvious that he just likes having you being calm so he can get his cuddles. He isn’t that slick.

#yandere #yandere america #yandere canada #yandere russia #fluff #hmm fluff #yandere hetalia #soft yandere

[secret-engima]

Hatake!Cor: just when does he drop into Kakashi's lap? *How* does he drop into Kakashi's lap and how did Danzo find/steal Cor in the first place? Also, what are everyone else's reactions to Kakashi having a genius child just as if not more feral than he was? Hell, how does everyone else even find out that Kakashi now has a kid? Because like, I'm imagining possible scenarios and they're ALL glorious chaos.

YES THIS WAS THE MISSING ASK. Thank you for resending it.

Anyway- okay so according to my garbled pile of notes, Cor was the result of 19 yr old Kakashi having a one night stand with a native Konoha prostitute, who knows why. Either trying to see if that version of "stress relief" that his comrades talk about actually helps, or maybe on a bet or maybe he was drunk for once and his group thought it would be funny to hook him up with someone. EITHER WAY. It happened. A baby happened. And since the prostitute knew the baby was a ninja baby, there's probably a protocol against getting rid of the child because of potential Bloodline stuff. I can see Konoha having rules in place for that as well as like- special funds to pay off ladies in that profession who have a ninja kid, even if the ninja parent refuses to accept the kid into their family. There's probably a bonus fee for if the kid is from a dying out bloodline like the Hatake.

And *naturally* Danzo has his greedy little paws in the hospital, specifically the maternity ward, just for the occasions that something like this happens and an unaccounted for child of a strong bloodline shows up (who wants to guess how many main clan bloodlines he has in Root specifically because of this shadow program he snuck by under Sarutobi's nose. Answer; a lot.). So when a Clearly Hatake Baby shows up in the ward with a mother who is looking to take her Baby Fee and leave, he easily has his agents in the hospital pay her off and send her on her way (and lbr probably arrange an accident for her later so she can't tell anyone) and snap up the baby to be raised in a Root approved location. Like that orphanage that Danzo canonically yoinked kids out of whenever he wanted or something, to be disappeared into Roots actual ranks when Cor was all of 3.

KAKASHI ON THE OTHER HAND does not realize he has a child until after Nyx finds out about Danzo and proceeds to furiously rip out the entire operation by the roots (heh). I have ... yet to pick when in the timeline that happens specifically but I'm thinking sometime *after* that bridge mission (Kenchi Bridge? Tenchi Bridge???) and *before* the start of the Pain arc. Also possibly before the whole Asuma arc that I haven't decided what to do with yet. So Cor is gonna be- 11? 10-11? When he gets dropped into Kakashi's awareness.

I am also majorly tempted to see if I can slip in a few accidental encounters/sightings between them over the timeskip but we will see.

Also the thing you need to know about Cor is he is not only Feral but Smart (which is a given) and probably Kakashi's first proper introduction to the concept of having a child is going to be right on the heels of his student killing a village Elder in Glorious Battle and uprooting (heh) the organization that Sarutobi was supposed to have dealt with after the whole thing with Tenzo. So he's already reeling and stressed. And then it turns out that literally everyone in Root who is 20 and under is actually loyal to this Root *kid* who managed to sneak and plot and snitch their devotion right out from under Danzo's nose in a long term plan to free everyone that Nyx accidentally blew out of the water. Just- a significant chunk of Danzo's shadow army is actually loyal to and being run by a child and congrats Kakashi. That child is yours.

Your unknown feral Hatake son is technically the new leader of Root. He was smart enough to achieve that under Danzo's nose, he has absolutely no ties or loyalty to Konoha outside a tenuous one with Nyxsuke for killing Danzo (and being a fellow reincarnation), and he is now 100% legally your problem- says Tsunade, probably, as she chucks that specific result of the blood test every Root member is going through at Kakashi's head.

Kakashi has no idea how to parent. As far as Cor is concerned that's fine because he doesn't want a parent. The verbal declaration of this opinion however does not help Kakashi, but instead sends him into a deeper crisis over the concept of trying to parent a Definitely Traumatized Genius and oh my word Minato-Sensei he owes you so many apologies for putting up with small Kakashi.

So while Kakashi probably has a meltdown or five and Nyx bemusedly tries to help the man win a modicum of respect from Cor, Imma try to speculate on some of the other ninja's reactions to Cor's existence. They probably learn of Cor's existence through the gossip mill for the most part? Kakashi's closer friends like Gai learn because he has a meltdown nearby over the confirmed blood test. But the general reactions I'm seeing are:

Reaction 1 is probably: He has a what.

Reaction 2, upon actually seeing this tiny 10-11 year old gruffly bossing around other traumatized child soldiers and traumatized adult ninja like he's a mini Hokage and/or glaring down a regular Konoha nin like they're idiots: Oh yeah I can definitely see it now.

Reaction 3, upon facing down Cor's wrath after trying to meddle in the affairs of the newly unearthed Root and/or the Hatake family situation is: help this one is even more feral than the adult Hatake. We take everything about Kakashi back, this is so much worse.

Unless you are Gai. In which case your reaction is Overflowing Youthful Tears that successfully send Cor fleeing for the hills in confusion and much Hugging of Rival in Congratulations For His Genius Child.

#SE asks #a world in grey asks #Secret Engima Rambles #Calling for Rain verse #long post

[dweetwise]

i’ve been kinda quiet while finishing a project over on ao3, but now i’m back with some riconti to share <3

ship: felix x ace (only implied; can be read as platonic if you wish!)

word count: 1640

Someone to Lean On

"—and I thought for sure she wouldn't pick me up! I ran straight into her after being unhooked, but she didn’t even hesitate calling my bluff. Well played, Spirit!"

Felix kept half-listening as Ace rambled on about their latest trial. They were walking back to the campfire together through the fog, having both been sacrificed by the ruthless katana-wielding killer.

It wasn't uncommon for Ace to wait around for him in the plane of nothingness if he didn't survive the trial. Felix had lost count of how many times he'd regained consciousness only to see the familiar, smiling figure calling over to him through the fog.

He wondered if Ace knew how much he appreciated the gesture. The gambler’s friendly banter was always a welcome distraction from the harrowing experience of having every fiber of his being torn to shreds and consequently be reassembled.

But this time was different. Felix could barely make out Ace's words, his own thoughts sounding deafening inside his head despite the silence of the fog. His body didn't feel like his own; it was like the Entity's claws were still twisting and turning around his insides. 

Felix’s feet dragged behind him and when they eventually came to a stop, Ace stopped right with him and patiently waited for their journey to continue. Only once Felix made no move to do so did the Argentine’s brilliant smile falter from uncertainty. 

"Felix?" Ace asked.

"I can't do it," Felix said.

According to people back at the campfire, it had been over a year since Felix was taken into this horrible realm. It felt even longer than that; with nothing in this world but means to make them suffer, Felix was starting to forget the things he used to enjoy.

"Sure you can, champ!" Ace grinned.

Felix knew Ace was trying to be encouraging. He knew he should go back to his play-act, should plaster on a fake smile and brush off his struggles as nothing more than a bad trial, like he’d done countless times before.

But he couldn’t.

"No," Felix said, a surprising determination in his voice. "You don't understand."

“What do you mean?” Ace asked.

Felix wasn’t sure how to describe it. The more he thought about this world and the absolute wrongness of it, the harder it was to pinpoint its exact cause.

He felt lightheaded and almost delirious. It was like he was in a dream; a terrible nightmare that he couldn't wake up from. Nothing in this place made sense, yet all this time he had accepted it as truth. What if it was all a figment of his imagination?

"Is any of this real?" Felix asked.

Ace’s smile made way for a confused frown, and his expression was the only thing in their surroundings that looked lifelike. The unnatural fog surrounding them felt neither damp nor cold, the unending darkness somehow allowed them to see perfectly, and even though there was nothing to guide them they still knew exactly which way to go.

Felix felt his breathing pick up as he only now seemed to realize the vast emptiness of nothing they were standing in. He’d been here countless times before but never fully aware of it, and his heart was racing as he frantically looked around, feeling the terror rising in his chest—

Until a warm hand was placed on his shoulder. 

"Hey, deep breaths," Ace said, turning Felix to face him.

The touch helped to ground him and the panic started to fade as Felix looked into familiar brown eyes. Ace felt real, but how could he be sure?

"It doesn't make any sense," Felix said. "The Entity doesn’t exist. It simply can’t."

Ace said nothing. Whether he was giving Felix space to speak or thought he’d finally lost his mind, Felix didn’t know.

"What if this is just a nightmare? What if I'm going crazy—having some sort of episode from work stress, and I'm really hospitalized in an institution?" Felix said, his frantic eyes finding Ace's. "What if I'm in a coma, or—or I died, and this is all my brain shutting down? What if this isn't real?"

Felix realized he was shaking. Ace looked at him silently; like he was pondering what to say. Felix didn’t think he’d ever seen him look so serious.

Abruptly, the embarrassment hit. Felix broke eye contact and stepped back. Even if he was losing it, he didn't need to drag Ace into this—

"So what?" Ace asked.

"What?"

"If you wake up in a hospital tomorrow and realize none of this was real, what does it matter?" Ace said. "It's not gonna change that this feels real."

Felix was silent, mulling over the words.

"I think that, sometimes, it's best to just take things at face value," Ace continued. "Fucked-up things like the Entity exist? Alright. One of them yoinked us into its world for fun? Sure. Whether we like it or not, right now we're stuck here—might as well try to make the most of it."

"Don't you want answers?" Felix asked.

"What I want is to get the hell out of here," Ace huffed dryly.

Felix couldn’t remember Ace ever talking about an escape before. The gambler had always seemed surprisingly well-adjusted to their predicament, but he should have known that even the most optimistic person would be eager for the chance to find a way out of this nightmare.

"But since that's not on the table, I'll take the next best thing of living to see another day," Ace said. "And if I wake up in a real bed tomorrow and it was all a dream? Even better."

"Have you never thought about it? That this could just be a product of your mind?" Felix asked.

"Briefly, yeah," Ace said. Then he smiled. "But then I remembered how shit my imagination is. No way I would've been able to come up with something like this."

Felix huffed out a dry chuckle despite the situation.

"But it's probably easier for me," Ace said. "I know you tend to overthink things. And with the kind of year you've had? I'm kinda surprised you've adjusted so well."

Felix hadn’t thought about it that way. After the numerous panic attacks and freezing from fear in his first trials, Felix never considered himself particularly well-adjusted to his new existence. He owed most of his meager success to the people around him, always there to lend a hand and pull Felix up when he wasn't strong enough to do it himself.

And most of the time, that person had been Ace.

"I had some help," Felix said, offering a hesitant smile.

"Ah, true—almost forgot about Élodie," Ace grinned. "Must be nice, having a friend like that in a place like this."

Felix didn't have the heart to correct the assumption. Having the familiar face of a childhood friend among their teammates had no doubt been beneficial for both Felix and Élodie while they learned to survive this new world.

But it wasn't Élodie who had been by Felix's side those first months. It wasn’t her encouraging words that got through to Felix when he felt paralyzed from inaction, or her who took the time to involve him in the group when Felix was too lost in his own head to participate.

"It really makes a world of difference, having a good friend," Felix said.

Ace kept looking at him, until his face spread into a bright smile at the realization.

"Well, in that case, can I offer you some friendly advice?" Ace asked.

"Of course," Felix agreed.

"Don't get too wrapped up in the 'how's and 'why's," Ace said. "It's just gonna consume you. And…"

Felix waited as Ace paused in an unusual gesture of uncertainty.

"I'd hate to lose you," Ace said.

He was still smiling pleasantly, but his eyes betrayed his real emotion; it was the first time Felix had seen genuine fear in Ace's eyes. And it wasn't from a brutal mori or the hopelessness that they might never escape.

It was from the possibility of losing Felix.

"Alright," Felix said. "I'll try."

"It's a start," Ace said, his demeanor back to the usual playfulness. "You ready to head back?"

Felix realized he felt much calmer now than only minutes prior. There was still an uneasiness in the back of his mind due to the unspeakable horrors that haunted them on a daily basis, but he felt grounded. This wasn't just about him; no matter whether it aligned with the objective truth, this was their reality.

"I think so, yes," Felix said.

"'Atta boy," Ace said. 

Ace's hand left his shoulder, and Felix immediately missed its warmth. The moment of camaraderie they had shared was exactly what he had needed. Even Ace seemed more at ease, his smile relaxed as he fell into step beside Felix.

"By the way," Ace said conversationally. "If this is all in your head, could I request you make it a little… I don't know, less guts and gore, more flowers and booze?"

Felix chuckled. "I can try."

"Oh, and while you're at it, can you give me one of those makeovers?" Ace said. "Make me like ten years younger? I think I’d look great in brown hair—ooh, and a six pack too!"

Felix listened to Ace ramble with a smile. It would never cease to amaze him how the seemingly lighthearted man could go from joking to serious and right back to silly banter in just a few short moments. Ace was like a bolt of lightning; chaotic in nature and gone in the blink of an eye, but always managing to calm the storm in Felix’s head.

"Ace?" Felix asked, interrupting Ace still talking about his hair.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," Felix said.

Ace’s smile flashed bright and warm in the darkness surrounding them.

"Anytime."

#riconti #felix richter #ace visconti #dbd fanfic #dweetwrites #dbd #dead by daylight

[lindwyrmrelinquished]

So....what are some of your headcanons for Ranbutler?

OHHHHHHHHHH BUDDY, YOU ARE OPENING YOURSELF TO A WHOLE NEW CAN'O'BEANS HERE

OKAY SO FIRST OF ALL-

(everything else under the cut because there is a L O T )

Butler's human form is predominant(which unfortunately means he does not have a tail :(), but he can make Ender noises/speak Galactic. He's got a bunch of stims and tics, and making the Ender noises is one of them! He often makes them to fill the silence, or in times of high emotion(positive or negative. just imagine a Butler bouncing on his toes while excited Ender chirps keep coming out of his mouth, or he's rambling about something and half of it is layered with Galactic). Following from that, Butler has something that Billiam calls the "monochrome form". If he's under high levels of stress, whatever dark tint of color is in his right side will start spiking into the left side, making his skin darker(and, if he has enough color in his skin from NOT FUCKING OVERWORKING HIMSELF, it can get dark enough to blend into shadows) and spreading from the little black scales on his neck and cheeks and hands(which are already claws, that's why he wears gloves), and if he's really stressed/pissed, little horns are gonna start poking out of his skull and he's gonna be completely gray/black, his teeth are already deadly but they're gonna get sharper and if you look him in the eyes he will s c r e a m and very likely tear you apart if Billiam isn't there to hold him back/calm him down.

Speaking of! Butler very much dislikes eye contact. It makes them extremely uncomfortable and the Ender part is gonna start screaming to attack attack attack and the pupil-slit thing is gonna happen. Unfortunately, he's frozen by the eye contact and cannot move of his own free will, it's all going to be instinct to either get away or attack, if he moves at all. And the moment the eye contact is broken, he starts to calm down and all the screaming in his head starts to dissipate, so he doesn't really get the chance to consciously act on the Ender side's instinct.

NEXT OF ALL, throwing canon out the window and saying BILLIAM AND BUTLER ARE FOUND-FAMILY. The way they acted in the episode is just that, an act. In reality, they actually Care each other Very Very Much and have adopted each other into their respective hybrid groups(i.e Endermen have their hauntings, Piglins have their sounders{that part's not canon to mc but i yoinked it from a fic}). Hubert jokes about how Billiam accidentally adopted Bu as his son, but both Bu and Bi deny this. Hubert also got Liaria and James in on the joke and now these two are being constantly triple-teamed.

ON THAT NOTE Liaria and James know about the Egg. It happened at the tail end of Bu's first masquerade when they started accusing Billiam of committing all the murders, and Bu kind of panicked and outed himself as the killer, he pulled out the knife and everything. Billiam admitted that he knew about this, and showed them the Egg as explanation. Now Liaria and James willingly give up their bought lives to the Egg on the regular(we might get into the lives thing later{it was also something i yoinked from a fic, and then I gave it more explanation}) to keep Billiam and his family alive, but they're not all that affected by it due to not even being near it half the time.

AND ON THAT NOTE, let's talk about Butler's relationship with the Egg! Bad. It's bad. Absolutely terrible, the two despise each other immensely. I like to say they're the closest thing to caliginous that a teenaged hybrid that lived off spite and an ancient crimson demon can be. The Egg's hurt Bu a lot, and honestly that's part of the reason his contempt and fear for it is so high. But that's also part of the reason why Billiam was pulled out of its influence despite living right above it. Because he cares for Bu, a literal child that's suffered severe mental and physical trauma at the hands(well, vines) of the Egg. Honestly? Billiam wouldn't be the way he is now if he didn't have to take trips to the Nether. Short explanation, too much time away from their home realm gets hybrids really really sick. So, about a few months or so after Bu arrived, he had to yeet back there for a week and just told Butler and Hubert to take care of the mansion. And you know what Hubert did, that bitch? He took advantage of both Billiam's absence and Butler's skill and pampered himself while throwing the entire load onto the child. And then like halfway through the week, he got the idea to introduce said child to the Egg, who before then has had no idea it ever existed aside from the crimson red aura around the mansion(it's a whole thing about Endermen and magic but again, another thing I might get into later). He hadn't even attended a party before then. So, yeah, Hubert just left him down in one of the old cells for three days. Didn't even check on him, that bitch. And then when Billiam game back, suffice to say he was PISSED. He may be a rich bastard who causes murders biweekly, but even he has standards, and hurting a damn 7-8 year old child that bad was not one of them. he can't be held responsible for child labor, bu followed him home by his own choice. again, another whole backstory thing

Bu's genderfluid! He usually switches between he/him and they/them, and the direction he nods is a little indicator of which one(up for gender, down for no), but sometimes he uses she/her. Adding on that, due to Weird Enderman Genetics, he can manipulate his hair to grow real fast and likes to experiment with it in the mornings for Maximum Gender Euphoria This means that one day his hair could be barely touching his neck, and the next it's all the way down to his waist. It's a fun little anomaly and sometimes Billiam likes to play with it when it gets longer :3 travelling on the lgbt train, Bu is also ace/aro! This doesn't have much impact story-wise(usually), but it's just a fun little tidbit :3 On other, more Ender notes, he has pretty much all the traits an Enderman does, even if he looks fully human aside from being 6 inches taller than Sir Billiam himself. With the eye-contact thing, I've got a headcanon that Endermen can kind of read minds to an extent if they look into another entity's eyes, but it gets loud and borderline painful if anything but another Enderman does the same. Meanwhile, Bu's about the perfect mix of an Enderman and a Human(later called Players and Villagers depending on their capabilities) to be able to take at least a few seconds of eye contact. He can also teleport! To about the same extent as Endermen, if not a little less. Unfortunately, spending too much time in the void between teleportations(i.e a few hours for him, though an hour in the void is a minute in reality. It's why teleporting happens in the blink of an eye to anyone but the user) has some adverse effects. Bu's either glitched, gotten some sort of void-sickness like a flu but worse, and/or lost large chunks of memory each of the separate times he stuck himself in there for too long. Pure-blooded Endermen have a longer tolerance, but even they can succumb to the void with enough time.

Bu's also hurt by water, and the first time Billiam really figured this out is when he dragged him to the roof because it was raining and for some reason, Bi really likes the rain. Bu, on the other hand, was hospitalized for a day once Billiam actually realized, "oh, he's burning" Unfortunately, Bu can still produce tears, so he's got some scars on his cheeks and hands from those, Luckily, though! Billiam got him some gloves and a facemask reminiscent of cc!Ranboo to hide those scars because bu's. really self-conscious about them :,D

But also he's got TOE BEANS,

[ahem] So Endermen are basically giant block-holding teleporting cats and no one can convince me very much otherwise. So on the one hand, they have giant hands shaped for holding blocks. On the other hand, T O E B E A N S

So Bu's got beans on the pads of his fingers and feet(which also end in claws with a black gradient because Peak Character Design <3). Billiam likes to hold his hands on the rare occasion he doesn't wear his gloves because mans likes to stim with those toe beans. Meanwhile Billiam himself has nicely-textured hands because of his Piglin hooves and Bu also likes to stim with them, so just. them holding each others hands for mutual stimmage

[ahem] anyway

Bu stims!! He flaps his hands and does thing really rapidly and harshly when he's really high-strung, which doesn't happen often, at least in front of people. Boy's got anxiety so he's had his fair share of panic attacks :,D he just knows how to disguise them so people don't see, but Billiam knows the signs at this point. But he also has a lot of vocal stims/tics, mainly lots of Enderman noises, some popping and a little screechy thing here and there. Sometimes he picks up a sound and then repeats it a whole bunch because it feels nice on the tongue :] there's also these poofs of particles that happen when he's happy, they look like mini purple fireworks and they're like an expulsion of magic, he can feel when they happen and it feels nice :]

(cw for self-harm in this paragraph and the followed copy-pasted convo)

[ahemhemhem] So y'know how Butler's an Ender-hybrid? His hands and feet reflect that(along with the ears, the eyes, the height, the abilities, but we're talking about about the hands here). Part of why he keeps those gloves on almost 24/7 is to dull his claws, which are not so much an intentional danger to others rather than an unintentional danger to himself. He's got tics and stims and is very neurodivergent and has anxiety(me projecting? noooo /hj), so he gets very nervous very easily. And one of his nervous habits rather than wringing his hands, fidgeting, and (if really bad)a heightened amount of tics, he tends to scratch at his arms. His claws can tear through the fabric easily, and more than one or two suits have been sent back to the tailors for repairs to the sleeves. However, having both padded sleeves and padded gloves nullifies that, so he always wears them special-made. If he didn't have that habit, he likely wouldn't have the gloves on as often as he does.

Friend Hey good headcanons 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 Also ohhhh my god Billiam fussing over him and his gloves until he gets them to be the right amount of padded where Bu can still do things but also not hurt himself

Me gbfhdgbhgsfhbgsfdhdf He keeps examining them every time the tailors try but it doesn't feel right until That Specific Try so he just plops the gloves back on the counter and says "Do it again"

Friend They spend an entire day doing nothing but making gloves while Billiam & Hubert take turns watching Butler to make sure he stays safe

Me Absolutely Problem is Butler can feel eyes on him. And eyes make him nervous :,) so when he gets nervous. he starts to scratch at his arms again and anxiety is too much for him to ask them to stop watching him

Friend It ends up with them just having to hold his hands, looking at random things (they can go sit on the balcony or something so they have something pretty to look at)

Me That hold on actually that's adorable-

Friend Fhhdjdjdjsjsj they're friends your honor

Me Absolutely Even Hubert contributes to keeping him safe. And Hubert's afraid of even being near Butler

Friend And then we get bonding via the oh no Billiam is busy and Hubert has to take care of Bu for the next 3 hours

Me GHDSFGSHFGS THAT IS A GREAT IDEA Butler insists he can do everything himself, nothing's different about the routine, and then he has a mental breakdown when he tries to make food without anyone else in the kitchen- Cause usually Hubert's there, even if he's making something else. There's at least another presence, and that's the sort of thing that's calming for Bu. But Hubert's off setting up the table for lunch/dinner or something and Butler makes One minor slip-up and spirals from there until he's struggling even handling spice mixing The same thing happened with cookies one time, and both times Hubert found him borderline unable to function because he panicked too much and helped him out of it.

Friend Butler is just curled up in the kitchen, trying to have a quiet panic attack because he can't cause the others any more trouble than he already is, and Hubert is very quietly upset about helping him because he was doing so good at avoiding Bu but here he is again being the only thing that's letting this kid breathe

Me Absolutely

Friend Do you think Bu passes out on him? Like Hubert (probably reluctantly) gives Butler a hug cause those help, and Bu was just supposed to stay there until he felt better, but panic attacks are exhausting and he fell asleep at some point-

Me Oh my gods he would though, especially with the amount of sleep he gets He'd have to try so hard to even stay conscious, much less do things in the manner he usually does, and Hubert just quietly tells him that it's okay to sleep; he'll take care of everything. Hu never forgets that of course Bu's always in danger around him - he has fleeting thoughts and quite often knows how to act on them - but he stands up holding an exhausted child and takes him to his room so he can rest. Butler may want him to stay; Endermen usually want someone around when sleeping. It's the security of having someone watch for nightmares, but Hubert doesn't stay. He has to go back to the kitchen and finish that meal Bu was making. But if he's still asleep by the time Hu's done with everything, he might linger outside his door, listening in for anything bad.

(Okay the cw is over now, you may now go back to your regularly scheduled content :,D)

Also, one last thing: Billiam gives Butler a bunch of gold things(including the masquerade mask) because that's what Piglins do with their sounders, they cover them in gold to show they care. And after Bu finding out the reason why Billiam's been handing off a bunch of gold things to him he does not cry, because that would hurt his face, but he does feel quite a lot of things that make him want to because holy shit Billiam feels the same

Butler is Billiam's sounder and Billiam is Butler's haunting, they are family your honor

#mod note #mod post #ask #anon #tftsmp billiam #tftsmp butler #tftsmp hubert #this is a. R E A L L Y . long post #THANK GOD FOR POST CUTS HUH #good god there is SO MUCH content in here #i just copy-pasted all my rambles from my dms- #my friends must suffer and now you will too <3

[real-jaune-isms]

RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 10 Review/Remix

WHAT the ever loving FUCK was that just now RT?? You give us several great answers and scenes we really wanted to see, and then rip all that joy away in the last 3 minutes!!! I want to sue for emotional damages, but I really can’t be mad cuz it’s very masterful writing on their part. After years of shows doing redemption arcs we finally have it... the bastardization arc~

We open, perhaps to the disappointment of some, on Ironwood staring out the windows of his office at the battlefield and city in turmoil below. He’s being given a situation update on the destruction of the cellblock two episodes back, and he takes the news a little differently than might have been expected (read: worse). Jacques apparently stayed right where he was and let himself be put back into custody, while Qrow avoided much harm by being a bird and ending up in a spot where the rubble wasn’t landing directly on him. Robyn was only slightly lucky, she was under some large debris but doesn’t seem terribly hurt and is actually conscious when Atlas soldiers uncover her and say she’ll be moved to a new cell elsewhere. Qrow isn’t about to be put back in a cage though, and flies right at the soldier who finds him. Behind a conveniently placed piece of wall he turns back and, as I was somewhat praised for phrasing it in a discord chat, he tackled that man as a man. We can assume he knocks out the guy about to apprehend Robyn, and the two make a getaway. Ironwood doesn’t like this news one bit, though he focuses more on recapturing the two huntsmen he had arrested on paranoid treason charges than the actual war criminal he lost an arm catching whose dangerous work on the city of Mantle still hasn’t been undone. Not cool, dude. He yells at the soldiers who had come to report this, and they leave to try and find the jailbirds. He stares out the window again in contemplation and tries to calm down a little before turning on his earpiece to get an update on the status of some thing or another, probably the bomb, when something massive happens.

With a blinding flash and an array of gold and green, Oscar’s staff goes off with whatever he was charging up. It’s as bright and forceful as you’d expect a nuclear bomb to be, and it knocks Winter and the Ace Ops off their feet as they were heading towards Monstra lugging their own bomb. Weiss and Nora see it from Schnee Manor, and it seems to do a real number on the Grimm around Monstra and in the city. Rooster Teeth had to give a flashing lights warning at the start of the episode for those it would adversely affect, and I can totally understand why after the crazy display this gave us. When the light fades and the noise settles, Monstra has been snapped and is fading away to dust, and in that dust cloud we hear and barely see Neopolitan skipping away with the Lamp in hand. What a little punk... Winter gets back on her feet and is quick to ask her squad for their status, she doesn’t want to have lost anyone or suffered serious wounds from whatever the hell they just saw/felt. No one is hurt, though Elm’s ears seem to still be ringing. But Marrow is very distressed, realizing they still hadn’t heard back from Jaune and the others and they may have been killed in that blast. Nobody has anything to say that would appease him, so they stay silent. Vine tries to put a reassuring hand on Elm’s shoulder but she brushes him off. Guess after they got called out by Ren she wants to show even less emotion and sentimentality than before. Ironwood contacts them under the false assumption this was the result of their bomb, and requests they return to HQ for an update on the new problem he wants to deal with. Marrow naturally points out that the destruction wasn’t their doing, and Winter decides that will be news best delivered in person, so they load the bomb back on the airship and take off. 

Cutting into the city, we see Watts and Cinder viewing the destruction of their mobile HQ from a distance. Nobody is returning Cinder’s calls but they know Salem will be back so Watts suggests they come up with a plan in the meantime. But Cinder is fully confident that they can still do what they originally intended, that being having her kill Penny and take the Winter Maiden powers after Watts brings the synthezoid to her. But this was a plan made under false assumptions, because apparently she misunderstood the terminology in his message and thought he could puppeteer Penny to go wherever he demands when really he just laid a new prime directive to send her straight to the Vault as we saw two episodes back. Hearing this pisses Cinder off immensely, especially the part about Penny being set to self destruct as soon as the Vault is open since that means the next recipient of the powers will be randomized again and she’ll have lost her chance to yoink them. Watts is too busy grumpily musing to himself about Penny having free will and a spirit that doesn’t want to succumb to his leet hacks to notice Cinder growing more and more enraged, until he turns around and she pulls him in close to yell at him. But Watts is having none of that, he works for Salem not her, and his plans weren’t made to give this flaming whining goth what she wants every single time. He’s just supposed to get the Vault open for Salem, and this is how he’s doing that. This is not the kind of answer Cinder wanted to hear, and she stretches her arm out to shove Watts to the edge of the roof and leave him on the verge of falling over to his demise. He doesn’t seem terribly fazed, calling her bluff and saying her mission was to bring him back and Salem won’t be a bit pleased if he dies. But you know what Salem is not? Here right now to stop Cinder from dealing with this arrogant self righteous prick once and for all. So she fully intends to drop him and then tear up Atlas on a fiery path to the Vault where she can intercept Penny and steal the Winter powers before tearing her to pieces herself and being the triumphant follower getting everything done that Salem really needed. And Watts just... laughs. Chris Sabat must have had a great time in the VO booth for this one, because he gets to have an absolute roast session the likes of which he hasn’t delivered since Majin Vegeta tore that clown Kakarot a new one. Naturally Cinder’s plan would be to brute force her way to victory and get glory for none but herself with her every whim satisfied along the way. Because that’s always her plan. And it always fails. She tried to storm Fria’s hospital room like that and got her ass handed to her by some teenagers and a dying woman before Penny took the powers before she could. She did the same damn thing 2 Volumes ago when she tried to massacre all her enemies under one roof in an alliance with a woman she thought she could outwit, but ended up blindsided by a surprise Maiden reveal and almost died while her outnumbered forces were on the verge of surrendering without her. And did anyone warn her not to do that? YES! WATTS DID!!! WATTS IS ALWAYS RIGHT, YOU FOOL!!! Well, okay, he’s really not. But he’s more clever and meticulous so he saw the flaws her arrogance left her blind to. And then Watts really tears into her by saying she isn’t smart, she isn’t worthy, and she isn’t entitled to what she wants because she’s suffered in the past. The one thing she is is a goddamn migraine. I’m a little mad Tyrian stole the show’s first cuss 4 years back cuz I really would have liked for Watts to cap this off by calling Cinder a bitch. This roasting literally lights a fire under Cinder and she seems ready to snap and kill Watts here and now, but instead she pulls him back onto the roof and stares off blankly into space before her fire fades and she walks off to sit on the ledge of a different side of the building to really think about his harsh words and shed a single tear. It’s a little unclear if she’s just feeling sorry for herself and realizing she’s more of a failure than she wanted to admit, or if she’s just overwhelmed by Watts reminding her of her childhood trauma. Maybe she’s realizing how powerless she’s truly remained all this time after fighting so hard for her own freedom and independence, and crying at the fact that she seems unable to escape that role she hates so much. Whatever the case, it’s real rough for her but I don’t feel like shedding any of my own tears for her sake. She doesn’t seem like she’s gonna change her allegiances so I don’t feel much need to cheer for her, but maybe she’ll reevaluate her strategy and become a force to be reckoned with as a villain because of this. I wouldn’t mind that. We’ll have to wait and see.

Back in the ruins of Monstra, we see Yang Ren and Jaune are all doing alright, and Oscar seems to be as well. Jaune is using his Semblance to help Oscar heal up quicker so that’s good to see too. Yang answers a call and sees Blake anxiously hoping she’ll pick up. The biggest smile comes to her face when she does, and the two halves of the group are ecstatic to hear the other is still alive and well. Neither are quite ready to tell the full tale of what they’ve been up to, but Weiss pulls up a map of the city and lays out a safe route through the subway tunnels that will take OYRJ straight to the mansion so they can actually reunite. Oscar isn’t about to leave Emerald behind though, and we see her knelt in the chaos holding out her hands as if hoping to catch some of the dust that was once her father figure. Yang is vocally against the idea of bringing Emerald with them, but Oscar advocates for her being every bit against Salem as them so the enemy of their enemy should be their friend. Emerald actually doesn’t seem to want to keep hanging around them and says they should just part ways, but Jaune isn’t about to let her walk free without facing any kind of justice for her past crimes. Ren thinks they need to be able to see past their emotional hang ups and consider the value in having her as an ally, and Yang is quick to remind them all that Emerald is part of the reason she lost her arm. Technically that is true, Adam was working with Cinder and if Yang hadn’t been framed as a brutal criminal she would have been around the rest of the team when everything popped off so maybe that first fight would have gone differently. But I do feel like it’s a bit of a stretch. Yang keeps going about why she can’t just forgive and forget when Em had been such a snake in the grass back at Beacon, but that’s not what Oscar is asking of her. He just wants her to try and give the girl a second chance to be better. He gets a little cryptic about how they’ve already gotten help from someone they haven’t had the best track record trusting, and Ren perfectly guesses he means that Oz has reemerged in his mind. This takes the blondes by surprise, and Oscar stands up for the old soul by saying he took the brunt of the beatings and told him how to impede Salem like he did just there. Turns out we’ll be finding out the secret of Ozpin’s cane today: It’s been made into a magical repository for kinetic energy stored over dozens of past lives to be made into a sort of bomb to set off when needed. I don’t know quite enough about physics to describe how exactly that would work, but it seems to make sense that it does. But the blast that took out Monstra used up the majority of what was in there so he can’t rely on it for that kind of attack again. It seems likely that was what Ozpin used against Cinder in the Beacon Vault, but didn’t use very much of it, and again what Oscar used to bust a hole in the bottom of the pit Ironwood shot him into. Oscar finishes making his case that Oz really does want to aid them, and the others seem convinced. What’s worth noting is that all eyes had been on him during this, but Emerald made no attempt to run away or even lower her hands. Guess she might really want to stick around after all... The moment is interrupted by the not so distant sound of a crying baby, and they all run further down the tunnel to find a subway station where the people of Atlas are taking shelter on Ironwood’s orders. Emerald starts to feel the weight of her action and those she used to side with, especially when she sees kids scared and hungry like she was before Cinder found her. They continue past the station on their way to the manor, and Oscar offers some encouragement to Emerald that they need her help in this war considering what she’s capable of. Considering the feats she performed under stress back in Volume 5, I’m inclined to agree. 

We fade away from that scene to Ironwood’s office and the camera rises up the stairs as if being held by the Ace Ops as they and Winter come through the still broken doors to give their report to the general. He’s looking at multiple holographic screens projecting from his table: one with graphics telling him the status of all the airships mechs and soldiers, one pulling up news articles and any other info they can get on Monstra presumably for the purpose of cataloguing it in case they ever need to worry about another one, the third seems to be a map of city to monitor the damage so far, and the last is all the info they have on Cinder. He congratulates the team for their work destroying the Grimm, but Winter admits it wasn’t their bomb that did the job, they still have it intact for him. This confuses Ironwood greatly, but he sees an opportunity in this twist of fate. Penny hasn’t come to the Vault like he wanted her to be programmed to do, so he assumes Watts did a shit job of reprogramming her or just intentionally screwed them over. Yet the truth is something he can’t seem to imagine, she has free will and doesn’t want to do as she’s told. Who’s the real tool now Jimmy? He informs them that Cinder broke Watts out, and he seems to consider Qrow and Robyn escaping to be an even worse consequence. Harriet seems ready to sprint out of the room and haul them back here herself, but Ironwood stays her hand... or foot in this case. With Salem temporarily halted, now is the best time they’ve got for him to have the Winter Maiden open the Vault and use the Staff to lift Atlas higher than she can reach like he wanted so badly. So he wants Winter to bring him Yang Jaune and Ren. Winter doesn’t see the purpose of that, or she does and hates to imagine it’s truly what he intends, but either way she knows she can’t do what he’s asking. He plans to make full use of the lives they hold in their hands, and he’s going to use Jaune and the others as leverage to make Penny do what he says. He acts as if he’s actually proud of himself for realizing this is an option available to him, and I think it’s his Semblance that’s partially blinding him to the moral reasons why it should not be an option worth considering. Winter is left wilting under his unaware and proud gaze, and then Harriet pipes up to tattle on her commanding officer. Winter gave the kids a chance to try and rescue their friends from inside the whale(they don’t mention that friend was Oscar so he still doesn’t know the kid survived his attempted murder), and they weren’t seen exiting before it blew up. I want to say I’m shocked and disgusted that Harriet snitched on Winter just for the brownie points of being honest and taking Winter down a peg, but I’m really not. She’s been a loyal bootlicker since this time last Volume, and this feels like payback for that whole “I outrank you so you can’t stop me from giving them a chance” thing in chapter 7. Ironwood removes the proud and probably intended to be comforting hand he had placed on Winter’s shoulder, as if ashamed to be touching her after she let him down like this. This was his last plan for his definition of success, and now it’s ruined so he can’t do anything. In a fit of rage he smashes his table like the goddamn Hulk and the Ace Ops are left to watch and wonder just how in his right mind he actually is. As he tries to catch his breath, the general gets an urgent transmission that dozens of non-military aircraft have shown up on radar. I and probably a few dozen other people watching this hoped this was an Avengers Endgame moment of tons of allies coming to the rescue of the down and out heroes. But no, its the Schnee Dust Company ships Whitley sent out. Almost forgot about that plan, whoops. Ironwood immediately recognizes this as Weiss’ handiwork for the sake of saving Mantle, because nobody would have guessed Whitley would show some humanity and make this plan himself. Winter immediately shows attentive concern hearing her sister has done this, and Harriet gives her a look as if to say “you are such a bleeding heart for these little criminals...” Ironwood makes the very one dimensional assumption that everything Ruby and the others have been doing is simply to protect Mantle, as if they didn’t have a serious conversation with May about helping Atlas as well as Mantle 3 episodes back. With that knowledge in mind, he decides he needs to make a call. 

Speaking of phones, Cinder gets a cheeky text and an accompanying selfie from Neo revealing she has the Lamp and she knows Salem will tear Cinder to pieces if she doesn’t bring it back to her. So she’s proposing a trade; Cinder gets the name to activate the Lamp, and in return she has to bring Neo to Ruby for the revenge she so deeply craves. Watts can’t see Cinder’s screen so he wonders who among their comrades has survived. Unclear if Cinder is going to tell him.

At last, we see Ruby throw open the front doors of Schnee Manor with Weiss and Blake flanking her, to see Yang and the others on the front steps. The sisters immediately embrace and Ruby sheds a tear of relief and joy that they’re all okay. Yang tells her she missed her too, and that seems to be that for the distrust and argument they had back in chapter 1. Ruby goes to greet the guys, and Yang gives Weiss a nice hug too. Then she sees Blake has taken a few steps away from the group and seems ashamed or embarrassed, unable to even look in their direction in Yang’s direction. Yang puts a hand to her cheek, her thumb softly stroking up and down as she turns Blake’s head to meet her gays gaze. Yang blushes and smiles, Bake returns the smile, and the two softly press their foreheads together. The intense sapphic energy of this deeply intimate moment was almost overwhelming, and many couldn’t help but adore it. I know I couldn’t stop myself from being a little giggly. Ren notices Nora isn’t there to greet them, and Weiss seems like she’s going to bring him up to her room and possibly even explain what happened along the way. Ruby takes this chance to go and greet Oscar with a hug, but stops short when she sees Emerald behind him. She seems real mad and is about to go on the attack, but Oscar steps between them and insists he can vouch for her, or maybe he’s saying he can explain? We don’t quite know because they get cut off by the sound of Ruby’s Scroll ringing. May is calling from the crater to say that the SDC freighters aren’t the only thing in the air right now, and she seems very panicked by what she sees. She yells for everyone to run into the mines for shelter, and an explosion is hear before the call is cut short. Before anyone has time to try and puzzle out what they just heard, a loud alarm tone goes off on all their Scrolls. It’s a fun detail that as a Faunus Blake covers her ears cuz the loud noise is especially bad for her. An emergency CCT broadcast is coming in for everyone in the kingdom, and Ruby magnifies her Scroll’s playing of it to be projected into the air for all of them to watch. The cargo ships are shown being shot down by military ships, and then the feed cuts to Ironwood standing ominously under a single light to deliver a downright villainous speech. He claims he has been trying his best to protect the technology and future of the kingdom from those who would do it harm, but I think it is VERY telling he never mentions protecting the people. Because that’s not what matters to him anymore. Not really. He says the only person stopping him from finishing his plans of making sure the currently crippled Salem can’t hurt them anymore is Penny. So he has an ultimatum for Penny and her friends, because he knows they will be listening right now. Either she turn herself over to him so he can have her do her “duty” and save as much of the Kingdom as possible and forget about trying to save Mantle, or he will nuke Mantle as punishment for her selfishness. The more he talks the more angry Ruby and the others get, and we are right there with them. He somehow thinks that if Mantle is destroyed then Penny will be free to only care about Atlas and its protection and will gladly work with him to do so. What a delusional bastard. And if anyone tries anything other than what he has said to do, he will use the bomb. 1 hour to decide how they will respond, and a hell of a lot riding on that choice.

There can be absolutely no question now, Ironwood will be the villain for the rest of the Volume and Salem will probably return at the end to ruin whatever hope putting him down will have raised in our heroes... And I’m kinda excited for how that’s gonna play out. Let’s see how team RWBY get out of this one~

#rwby reviews #general ironwood #winter schnee #marrow amin #elm ederne #harriet bree #vine zeki #weiss schnee #neopolitan #yang xiao long #jaune arc #lie ren #oscar pine #emerald sustrai #blake belladonna #ruby rose #cinder fall #arthur watts #nora valkyrie #penny polendina #no one can argue about it anymore #ironwood is a villain now #the tyranny of king ironwood

[whatissleepeven]

Evil Within Shitpost (Feat. Deanobeanoqueero)

It’s-...

It’s exactly what you think it is-

My bro @deanobeanoqueero is the one who got me into this series, and also finished streaming Evil Within 2 for me today. I had a lot of laughs and scares with you Dean, and I just want to say thank you for the wild ride!

(*Slaps roof of this post* this bad boi can fit so many JOKES)

Dean and Sleep’s Happy, Sunshine, Flowery Day With the Bois (Now Comes With Rainbows!)

“We’ve received a distress signal from Beacon Hospital. We’re en-route; ETA five minut-”

“Dean, bro, we’re almost there you can silently thirst for Joseph once we’re out of the car-”

The beginning cut-scene is supposed to be dramatic, but for the two rookies it’s just Sleep teasing Dean about simping for Joseph and Sebastian

Sebastian’s just trying to guess what might be happening so they can go in with a few ideas, and the absolute tomfoolery happening in the back is ruining the atmosphere

Sebastian sighs. “Can the peanut gallery pipe it down back there?”

Dean winks at him in the rear view mirror, not once missing a beat. “I don’t like peanuts, but there’s one half of that word that I certainly do like~”

Joseph nearly chokes at Dean’s words. Kidman turns to the side to stare out the window, raising a hand to hide the growing smile on her face.

“...Peas.” Dean clarifies, although the smug grin on his face spoke a thousand words. “I meant peas. I like peas. Get your heads out of the gutter, would you?”

They’ve all been working together for nearly a month, Sleep and Dean knowing each other for even longer (about three months). This sort of banter was familiar to the five of them, but-

“WE’RE HEREEE- Oh my good fuck.”

They all hop out of the car, staring up at the hospital. Dean’s scoping out the area, Kidman and Joseph are discussing something in hushed voices, Sebastian’s making his way towards the steps, and Sleep-

-is still by the car.

She laughs nervously. “With how hard this rain’s coming down, this place looks kinda...ominous, don’tcha think?”

Sebastian’s withering look makes her gulp. “It’s too late to turn back now.”

“Sleepus.” Dean says as he reappears, slapping her on the back and getting her to stumble forward. “All five of us are finally on a case together. Let’s just go in, hope nothing steals our toes, and get out so we can play that ghost game we bought.”

Sleep nods. “You’re right...FOR THE GAME!”

“Kidman, stay out here. You’re our backup.” Sebastian commands, removing his gun from its holster. “Joseph, Dean, Sleep, you’re with me. We watch each other’s backs in here.”

All three of them nod their heads, hands hovering over their respective weapons.

Sebastian opens the door. Suddenly, a high pitched noise reverberates throughout the hospital, and soon after darkness quickly overtakes them all...

Inside of STEM

Sebastian comes to with a groan, quickly finding that he’s hanging upside down.

He twists his head to either side of him, seeing the other (really, really dead) bodies tied up in the same manner. “What the-”

“-actual-”

“-fuuuuuck...”

Sebastian nearly yells once he hears the other voices. To his left hangs Dean, the rookie taking in his whereabouts with an equally analytical and disgusted look in his eyes. Further down is Sleep, swearing up a storm under her breath as she tries (and fails) to cut her rope.

“Oh this is not a vibe, bois.”

Sebastian shoots Dean an incredulous look. “Now’s not the time for-”

The butcher walks by them all, going for a- oh that’s a writhing body on a chain, how did they not notice that before, and now-

-Now it’s a non-writhing body on a chain, the sounds of a blade slicing flesh filling the air as something wet splatters against the floor. Heavy footsteps pass by them, and Sebastian tilts his head back to see a...a thing dressed as a butcher cutting up a slab of meat on the table.

Sleep swallows harshly. “Ahaha...yummm, ham...”

Dean chuckles weakly, a hand reaching for his combat knife. Sebastian would’ve smacked his own face if the sound wouldn’t alert the crazy monster in the next room.

Out of everyone he could’ve gotten stuck with...

He cuts himself free once the butcher leaves, dropping to the floor like a sack of potatoes. He staggers a bit as he stands up, the blood rush temporarily distorting his view, and quickly gets to work on Dean’s ropes.

Dean drops to the ground much like Sebastian did, except unlike the experienced detective he had someone to catch him. 

The rookie smiles up at him. “Thank you, Sebastian.”

“You’re welcome. Can you stand?” Sebastian sets Dean down once he’s sure he’s okay, cutting Sleep’s ropes with no remorse as she plummets to the floor.

She immediately stands back up, unfazed. She jabs a finger at Sebastian, eyes narrowed. “Is this payback for eating your gummy worms the other day?”

Sebastian moves past them with a crouch, swiping the key card from the other room. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The two also drop to a crouch, following him towards a red door to the left of the hanging bodies. Heavy footfalls start growing louder, prompting them to get through the doorway as quickly as they could and shut the door behind them.

“I was hungry! You were like “Sleep; don’t eat the packing peanuts!”, and I was digesting myself, what else was I supposed to do?!” She whispers harshly as he opens the door. Sebastian gets the sudden urge to bang his head against a wall.

They all ascend the staircase, unaware of the horrors they would face...

Dean would sometimes miss all of his shotgun shots. It didn’t happen often, but he always took a second to lament his gun afterwards while Sleep patted his back

Sebastian leads the way. If there’s danger, he’d rather run into it first than Dean or Sleep

Explosions are Sleep’s jam. Th-...That’s it, send tweet.

Dean is the master of sneaky-sneaking. He always finds hidden items and ammo, pointing out little gems like a Bioshock figurine. 

“My sneaky little gremlin hands are gonna steal all of your stuff~!”

The ragtag group’s first exposure to Ruvik begins (and ends) with Sleep insulting him. “Look, I get he wants to make like My Chemical Romance and join the Black Parade, but he clearly got the wrong memo with how much white he’s wearing.”

Long walks usually end up with Dean singing a song. A favorite is “Country roaddddd, take me homeeee, to a plaaaaace, I belonggg!”

“-WEST VIRGINIAAAAA”

The two hang onto each other like they’re in a drama film, extending their arms out towards an unseen sunset. It’s very wholesome and sweet and pure.

Sebastian wants to slam his head against a wall.

Sleep whispers the Mission: Impossible theme whenever they’re sneaking up on enemies

Dean starts singing in a panicked tone whenever there’s a high-stress situation. “AHH, I love running from zombies with my brooOOOOoOoOS..!!”

Code phrases

To release tension, Dean and Sleep say “Number 15: Burger King-”

“Don’t you dare,” Sebastian cuts them off with a hiss as they sneak around a zombie wrapped in barbed wire.

- They do it anyways

They get chased

Dean likes the Lady In Red. She’s terrifying, but she’s cool despite wanting to yoink your toes!

Sleep likes the Keeper the best. He has a safe for his head; that’s awesome!

Meeting up with Joseph = immediate simp on Dean’s end

Dean likes to share theories with Joseph, helping him work on opening doors and solving puzzles. Sleep wanders around the room in that time, poking fun at Sebastian.

Dean + Sleep = Lore Goblins, the Goblins of Lore

Dean really helps keep Joseph’s suicidal ass alive and in check; also calls him Jo Jo when he wants to get his attention

Sleep does her best to protect Leslie because he’s babey

Sleep repeatedly says “I will never financially recover from this” when something goes wrong

Dean counters with “I will never emotionally recover from this” once Kidman shoots Joseph

Oh look, Ruvik’s coming to attack them in his manor? Sebastian is tense as he dodges, but Dean and Sleep-

“No no, don’t touch me there; this is, my No No Square. No no-”

“Dean, Sleep, what the fuck are you two doing-”

Once they manage to defeat Ruvik, the trio stumbles out of the hospital and immediately go back to the office to play Mario Kart (Sebastian was forced to go)

They purchase a book called How To Deal With Trauma: For Dummies and sit in a circle and read it

#us in this game would be so hilarious and so fucked #our quotey fingers are actually just quotey quotes and we're driving Seb insane if STEM hasn't already #long post #evil within #sebastian castellanos #joseph oda #juli kidman #the evil within ruvik #ruben victoriano #this shitpost is dedicated to one of the greatest friends I have #dean bro I love you and thank you for this experience #evil within spoilers #I had to sneak in a Juicy reference too #oh wow this post is long

[meeko-mar]

One time i was legit typing away on a plot idea bunny for MHA of a battle with Shigaraki; before a lot of plot actually got revealed and the doc put Shigaraki into the vat, and before his quirk evolved in deika, as well as before Black Whip but assuming that the transfer from AFO to Shigaraki has occurred and the League of Villains went on a rampage of some sort ;

Basically kacchan gets separated from Deku. Deku is feral and fighting Shigaraki *alone*. Kacchan cusses a lot and rushes in just as Deku gets knocked out by Shigaraki and is falling (in my version they were on top of some building at the time)...kacchan saves Deku, at the last second, midair before Shigaraki can touch him with Decay, and then has to fend him off on the ground. Blows everything he's got up to keep him back and runs with Deku as soon as Endeavour, Shoto and others swoop in to take over.

Later Kacchan scolds Deku in the hospital for being reckless/taking too much responsibility for defeating All for One by himself. In a pretty Tsundere way, he tells Deku that he's got his back DON'T DO IT ALONE ANYMORE, IDIOT, you have people to help you. Deku smiles his soft smile and agrees.

But, he's clearly shook about the whole thing, and actually snaps at some of their friends when they barge in and congratulate Deku as well as Kacchan for the hell of a fight they put up, also turns out that the media was making headlines about Kacchans daring rescue, as well as coining the phrase "Wonder Duo" in regards to their teamwork up until the point in the battle where they were separated.

Kacchan wants no fucking praise for that and rejects the media circus because Deku literally almost died and HE IS SHOOK.

Anyway, later the two are allowed a soft moment at night back in the dorms and that's where I topped cause I didn't know where I was even going with it. That scene at the very least would have ended with them falling asleep on the couch until morning, and probably one of their classmates with a photo of them before Kacchan threatens to kill all of them lol But there ya go.

And now we have 284 and all. This. Bakugou. Emotion. A worried kacchan who KNOWS that Deku weakness is a need to rescue that sends him hurtling into any sort of danger imaginable.

Kinda eerily similar to where we are now?? Do we think Deku is gonna almost get himself killed this time? Is Kacchan going to yoink him from Shigaraki before a final decisive blow is made?? ENDEAVOUR, YOU BETTER NOT MISS THIS TIME!!

Also also bonus: part of my emphasis when he saves Deku is giving Shigaraki a meaningful look of absolute disdain, and making him know for sure that it was Katsuki Bakugou, the boy they sorely mischaracterized, who rejected their team when he was kidnapped, who was stealing his victory/stealing OFA away from him, protecting Deku.

There is something Full Circle or karmic about that idea that I really like.

UM ANYWAY thank you for coming to my rather brief sypnosis of a fanfic I will probably not ever finish, but felt like sharing because DANG this started as kind of just a fan dream and now Bakugou is out there carrying this thing out.

#bakudeku #bnha spoilers #bnha284 #fanfic fodder #i mifht tweak it and post it #but i make no promises since i gotta do other things #im so fed rn #i feel validation #MY BOYS #the wonder duo

[incoherentbabblings]

First Date (3/9)

Tim has one more test to pass before Bruce will allow him out as Robin. Like Dick and Jason before him, he has to avoid being caught by Batman for one night. He has already failed once, and is determined to succeed this time. Determination which might not count for much when Stephanie Brown is on the run from the mob. Her mother kidnapped as a way to threaten her father, Stephanie manages to escape and run into Tim. Unable to leave Stephanie alone when she is in need, Tim decides to try and multi-task. All he has to do is rescue Stephanie’s mother, take down the mob, avoid Batman, and get Stephanie to agree to a proper date all in one night. Absolute anarchy ensues.  Ao3 link here! 

It was not even nine o’clock and Tim had already failed the test.  He had made the foolish choice of choosing to linger in the start area, hoping to slip under Bruce’s nose when he chased a false lead.  It hadn’t happened, and Bruce watched from up high as Tim weaved through the crowds in Gotham city centre.  He had heard the sounds of a shooting around the corner, the pharmacy on Broad Street, and Bruce watched from up high as Tim began to make his way towards the junction when a blond teenager crashed past the crowd.  Unable to stop himself from interfering, Tim punched the man chasing her unconscious.

Bruce hummed to himself.  It was a very good punch.

He watched as Tim picked up the girl and made their way to the hospital.  It seemed she had been shot.

“B?”

“Yes Oracle?”

Barbara’s mechanic voice filtered through the earpiece in the Bat’s cowl.

“Shooting not far from you.  Looks like a woman was taken.  A girl was shot at.  No other casualties.”

“I’ve just seen her.  Tim has taken the girl to the hospital.”

“Tim?”  Back in the Clock Tower, Barbara leaned back in her chair.  She clenched her fists in front of her keyboard.  Bruce had seen Tim?  Already? “Oh no.”

“It’s over Oracle.”

Gulping loudly, Barbara tried to think a way around Bruce’s fatalism.  She decided not to acknowledge Bruce’s statement.  Instead, Barbara side stepped it. “How is he?”

“I haven’t confronted him yet.  The girl needed help getting to the hospital. He’s with her now inside.”

Barbara took a breath, seeing an opportunity to delay Tim’s failure lecture.  “The woman who was taken, I took a look at the CCTV in the area.  She was taken in a black VW.  I can find and follow the car?”

“Do that.”

“Yes boss.  And… oop, there we go.  Got a match on her face.”

“Anyone of importance… to the mob?”

The slow correction made Barbara want to snap, but she repressed it, and tried to remain light in tone.

“Her name is Crystal Brown, Arthur Brown’s wife…  Looks like the Cluemaster made some enemies.”

“The girl then must be their daughter?”

Some taps indicated Barbara was doing some quick searches. “Stephanie?  Looks like it.”  Barbara clicked her fingers as she looked up the girl.  “She’s a year older than Tim, they live up just across the river in Gotham County.”

“Master Bruce?”  Alfred’s voice interrupted them.  “Phone call from Central Hospital.  One of their nurses has been kidnapped on her way home from work.  A Crystal Brown?  Her daughter is being treated for a gunshot wound, though apparently it is not severe.”

“We’re tracking Crystal.  Anything more about the daughter?”

“They claimed that she was going somewhere safe.  Could not or would not give specifics.”

“One moment.”  Firing a grappling gun, Batman swung across the rooftops, landing to peer down at the hospital.  He would catch Tim’s attention, ensure Stephanie was safe, then pursue the mother.

Barbara sucked air in between her teeth.  Oh!  An opening!  Mom and daughter were separated.  Maybe if Bruce was focused on Crystal, Tim could be lost to him again watching over Stephanie, and he could get back in this hide and seek game.  If Tim was taking Stephanie somewhere safe, that meant hiding out the night in the city… if Tim was smart.  Barbara liked to think Tim was smart, but he was also like Dick in that he liked to be a hero.  Weighing up what was smart versus what was right was a problem each of them grappled with, some better than others.

Ideally Bruce would look for Crystal, and Tim would watch over Stephanie.  Getting the two boys to line up in that though, especially when Tim was out of earshot, could be nigh impossible.  She could only try to help Tim.  To do that she would help Crystal.  To do that Bruce had to follow up on Mrs Brown, and leave Stephanie to Tim.  A win-win situation for all.  But how to pull Bruce away from watching Tim?  How to ensure Tim wouldn’t get any bright ideas of being the hero to both women?

She began tapping her fingers against her desk, screwing up her lips as she searched through CCTV footage for the number plate and car that had left the pharmacy not too long ago.

Tricky tricky.

Bruce waited patiently for ten minutes.  Before either Stephanie or Tim emerged from the hospital however, the man Tim had punched out stirred across the way, rolling over into a puddle of Stephanie’s sick and blood.  Groaning, he pushed himself up, and pulled out his phone, remaining sat on the wet cold floor of the street.

There was no way Bruce could have listened into the conversation.  He was too high up and the streets were heaving with people out for the night.  Maybe he could…

“Taking the more direct approach sir?”  Alfred queried, seemingly reading Bruce’s mind.

“You’ll have to question him.  He’s another lead to find out what they want with Crystal.  You can find out through him.” Oracle cut in, almost breathless in her delivery.  Barbara was trying to get Bruce off Tim’s tail, and Bruce knew that.

She was right though; he couldn’t let the man leave.  He would know where they were taking Crystal, and what they wanted with Stephanie.

Tim would have to wait.  He watched as the man entered an alleyway to try and compose himself, then shot over above him, ready to yank him up to the rooftop.

Time to talk.

*****

Stephanie shoved her way through several people, instinctively holding herself low as they bolted through the crowds.  Clambering up the stairs was difficult, but she managed it somehow, and sliding through the gate quickly led to a panicked thought before Tim yelled for her to jump over, which she managed, pushing up and over the gate card readers.  When she landed on the other side her leg gave out, and she crumbled to the floor.  Pushing herself forward, she managed to build back up to a run, catching up to Tim, who had his hand out still for her to hold.  His grip was cold and stiff, but he wasn’t shaking or sweating.  Tim wasn’t afraid of these guys.  She looked back for a moment to see them struggling with the gates, pushing back at being refused access by the testy technology.

Exiting onto the street she pulled Tim left, away from places like Crime Alley.  He followed willingly, looking for a way out for them.

“We need to go up high.”

“The roofs?”  Looking up at the tenements and slums, she couldn’t see any public buildings for them to go through.  There were only smaller stores, barricaded up tight for the evening, and endless blocks of flats. Maybe one of the front doors had a broken lock, but it would slow them down and give the men a chance to catch up for every locked door they tried.

Tim yoinked her across the road, jarring her shoulder joint and pulling her down an alley.

She didn’t have time to protest as he was already climbing the stair framing that ran up the side of the building, using momentum to help thrust himself up a flight at a time.  He paused two stories up, looking down to see she wasn’t following.

“Do you need a hand?”  He asked sincerely.  In the dark his eyes managed to remain bright, but otherwise he had somehow managed to blend in with the shadows.

Stephanie gulped, looking down the alley.  There was a congregation of folk who were eyeing the pair suspiciously, but she could hear the mobsters shouting, they were gaining quickly on them.

She shook her head and jumped, pulling herself up and over the railings.  Pushing off the wall, she managed to leap high enough for Tim to grab her arm.  He swung her up back and forth until she could cling to the stairwell, which she then was able to climb to reach the roof.  Tim showed off, practically parkouring his way past her.

She got to the roof after he did.  Copying Tim, she held herself low once more.  They both peered over the edge, watching as the stupid men realised they’d lost them on the other side of the street.  The five men split apart, heading down different alleys and streets, trying to track Stephanie down.  One of them stayed behind and pulled out his phone.  Tim leaned forward eagerly, wanting to hear what was said.

“We found her, she got off the subway at the Bowery.  We followed her to Perry and 27th but…”

He trailed off as someone responded.

“Well I don’t know!  There was some boy with her.  Little skinny prick.”

Tim gently snorted, and Stephanie nudged his shoulder with her head.  A soft familiar headbutt that made his heart stutter.

“Gawd, do you really need her?  Isn’t the wife enough to make Brown show up with the money?”

Stephanie jolted, and instinctively Tim tightened his hold, trying to comfort the sudden tenseness.

“I’m sure the Bat has bigger fish to fry tonight.  A shootout at a pharmacy isn’t high on the list…fine.  Fine.  We’ll keep looking.  Fine.”

And that was that and the call ended.  He dialled someone else, asked for their location, and ran off to catch up with them.

There was silence as Tim and Stephanie caught their breath and tried to piece together what they could.

“My dad pissed off the mob.”

“Looks like it.”

“They want to use my mom and me as leverage.  As if he cares.”

“Hey,” Tim nudged her.  “If they want Arthur to show his face, they won’t kill your mom until they have the both of you and her in the one place.”

“They could be hurting her or –”

“They won’t.  This is the mob, not Zsasz or Black Mask.  They want money they’re owed.  There’s no point doing anything before that.  They’re pragmatic.  Your mom’s just collateral.”

She let go off his hand, letting it hang limp.  “…How can you just say it like that.  My mother is not collateral damage.  Her life is in danger.”

Tim realised he’d overstepped by her flat tone.    

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be! This is just a fun adventure for you is it?”

“No!”  He burst out, contrite.  “God no.  I’m sorry, I was trying to make you feel better.”

Her face turned beetroot with anger.  Oh God.

“How?!  By telling me that my mom is gonna die, but it’s fine, since it won’t be until I’m with her to get my brain blown out too?”

“It means we have time!”

“We?  Who the hell do you think you are?”

She pushed away from the ledge, pacing back and forth.  Tim saw her start to sniff and her eyes grow wet.  She was scared, hurt and trying to trust a stranger.  It was a lot for one night.

“Stephanie… I know this is awful.  I know how awful it is with your mom.  Please believe me.  I know you don’t know what to do, and I know you feel like you’re stuck with me.  I mean… if you want me to go—”

“No.  You’re the reason I am not dead probably.  Three times over now.” She whirled and looked at him kneeling on the roof.  “Who are you?”

Why are you the way you are?

He heaved a sigh, hearing the unasked question, and stood up.  “My full name is Timothy Jackson Drake.  My parents formed Drake Industries.  Have you heard of it?”

She wrinkled her nose.  He was loaded then.  “Yeah, a little.”

“My mom… she died a few years ago.  My dad nearly did too.  Some guy was hired to poison them.”

“Why?”

He looked back down on the street.  The Bowery was incapable of being quiet, and the sounds of sirens, distant gun shots and shouting echoed through the air.

“…I’m sorry.”  Stephanie said.  “It’s none of my business.  I’m sorry that you lost her.”

“…Not your fault.”  He shrugged uselessly.  “I don’t want anyone else to hurt like that.”

She peered at him.  “That’s very noble of you.”

She wasn’t being sarcastic.  Tim laughed sadly all the same and shrugged a little helplessly.  Stephanie fell a little more in awe of him.

“I don’t want you to leave me.”  She whispered.

He looked her straight in the eye.  “Then I promise I won’t.  Not until you’re safe in Bristol.”

She moved closer to him, close enough that they were nearly nose to nose.  He really wasn’t that tall.

“Then what?”

“I’ll contact Batman.”

“And that’ll be that.  I won’t see you again?”

She saw him try to restrain himself from looking shocked.  He once again appeared overly earnest in his usual sweet manner.  Stephanie caught herself staring at his open mouth.

“Can I see you again?”

“…Maybe.  If this mess gets sorted…”

“When this mess is sorted.”

“Hmm.  Then yes.”

She tried to lean in closer, until they were sharing their breath, but it seemed Tim was looking absentmindedly at the floor. His eyes were a hundred miles away, sparkling with hope.

“We can go on a proper date then.”  He said, smiling mostly to himself.  He realised instantly he hadn’t meant to say that out loud and his smile slid off his face.

Stephanie choked and stared at him, reeling at his openness.  “Excuse me?”

“Nothingifyouwantittobenothing.”

“Excuse me?”

This boy was bonkers.  Stephanie knew it.  As loopy as half the people in this freak show of a city.  But he was so earnest it was genuinely disconcerting.  She couldn’t make her mind up if she was disturbed or flattered by his obvious interest.  It was shallow of her, but having a cute, well-meaning boy offer to take her on a date was making her preen internally, and for a moment she flattered herself at catching a rich boy’s attention.

She was abruptly reminded of the worst aspects of her parents when she thought it, and her warm chest froze in disappointment at herself.  Besides, she couldn’t trust this boy, no matter how much she wanted to, no matter how much she tried.  Actions and words were always in conflict, and even he couldn’t make the world fit around what she wanted.  She tried to remind herself that his promises were unrealistic.

Maybe he was genuinely psycho under all that blushing and gentle demeanour.  An angry ticking time bomb that knew how to manipulate vulnerable girls.  Teenage boys were good at that.

But no.  The mortified expression on Tim’s face was pointed internally, and she couldn’t see much anger in him at all.  In the two hours she’d known him, he’d either been on the physically defensive, acting like a brick wall with a fist, or when he himself was attacked verbally or physically, he either ran or curled inward, becoming small and nimble.  He didn’t instigate.  His ego was placed on actual founded skills.

Stephanie wasn’t the best at reading people, but she soon convinced herself that Tim just wore his heart on his sleeve.  She felt her cheeks grow warm in the rooftop breeze.

“I’m sorry.”  Tim muttered again.

“You need to stop apologising.” Stephanie said, reaching for his hand.  “You haven’t done anything wrong.  I’m just not used to being someone as –”

“Dweebish?”

“Genuine as you.”  Tim was staring at their interlocked hands.  “I do want to get to know you better.  I want to see you again.  But I can’t think about it just yet.  I can’t stop thinking about my mom.”

“Well… how about you tell me about her.”  Tim said.  He tugged Stephanie back towards the stairwell, and the two slowly began to descend.

“Umm… What do you want to know about her?”

“She’s a nurse right?”

“Yeah.  An A&E nurse mostly.  It’s real hard on her.”

“I can imagine.”

“She’s addicted to painkillers.” She blurted out.  Tim turned, looking at her sadly.  Stephanie shrugged uselessly.  “I don’t know if dad did a number on her, or mentally she just needs an escape, or both but… I dunno.  It sucks.  She’s only sober when she’s at work.”

“How long has she been an addict?”

Stephanie frowned, thinking hard.  “…I don’t remember… a time when she wasn’t… I don’t think…”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.”

“No but…”

They plopped down on the ground, Tim poking his head round the corner.

“We can grab the 82 from here.”

“Okay.”

They walked, and Stephanie moved closer to Tim, almost burying into his side.

“What about you?  Your mom?  Is it painful to think of her?”

Tim blinked, as if the thought had never occurred to him.  “Not so much anymore.  We weren’t super close.  I spent so much time worrying about my dad.  He took a long time to recover.  He’s still recovering in a way.  I guess I just… regret that she wasn’t there, when I was a kid.  And now she never will be.”

If Stephanie could take one small comfort from her own relationship with her mother, it was that it still had the potential to be functional.  Maybe even loving.  Perhaps it was foolish, but Stephanie still hoped, deep down.  Tim didn’t have that chance.  

“What do you remember about her?”

“Uhhh… She changed hair colour a lot.  She dyed it blonde, red, black, brown… She used to always bring me back stuff from abroad.  A lot of it was pretty much expensive junk… but I’ve kept it all.”

Stephanie smiled.

“Was she nice?  Do you have a photo?”

“I uurrr… I don’t have my phone on me right now.”

She frowned, lips pressed together as they waited by the bus stop.  A few others were also waiting, everyone minding their own business thankfully, though Stephanie felt like one of them was leering at the couple, though his face was hidden under a hoodie.

“Okay seriously… what were you doing in the centre of Gotham tonight?”

Tim anxiously scratched the back of his head.  “Gosh…hard to explain.”

“Try.”

He was saved by the arrival of the bus.  Stephanie went to get on, but Tim tugged her back, insisting to get on first.  He didn’t step all the way on to start with, curving his head around the aisle, narrowing his eyes when inspecting those on board.  Stephanie huffed and gave a gentle push on his back.  Tripping up the stairs, he smiled awkwardly at the severely depressed looking driver.  Possibly the worst shift to have on the already dodgy Gotham bus system, Stephanie couldn’t fault him for having such a no-nonsense face on.

They quickly paid and headed for the middle rows, Stephanie sitting in the aisle seat.  The bus was nearly full.  There was a guy behind them dressed only in a tank top and speedo swimming trunks.  Stephanie tried not to ogle in horror.  She reached in her bag and pulled out her phone.  Tim’s eyes bugged out his head in a sudden realisation.

“Oh no.  Turn that off.”

“I was gonna check if news had caught on about my mom…”

Her pleading made him sympathetic, but he shook his head.  Reluctantly, she turned it over and took off the back, pulling out the battery, SIM card and SD card, putting it all back in her little bag.  The man behind them began insistently kicking her chair.  She felt her eyes roll up into her head, and she tried to keep her temper in check.  Not worth it not worth it not worth it…

“I hate this.”  She confessed.

“Being helpless?  I get that.”

Stephanie thought of what he had said about his mother, and knew he was being honest.

“How did you learn to fight so good anyway?”

“I pushed and pushed and pushed the right people.”  He sounded faintly amused as he spoke, like he was recalling a funny memory.

She leaned in close, whispering conspiratorially. “Was one of those people Batman?”

“Uh.” His face showed he’d put his foot in it, and he screwed up his lips trying to think of an answer.  His lack of response gave her the confirmation she needed.  A violent kick from behind made her jerk forward, and with a hiss she tried to continue their conversation.

“How’d you find him?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Could he teach me the same stuff as you?”

“I mean he could…don’t think he would though.  He didn’t exactly take to me with open arms.”  Tim paused, staring at their feet.  Stephanie had put one foot in between his, as if she liked being wrapped around him in some way.  Tim smiled absentmindedly, but then grew sad once more. “Still don’t think he has actually.”

“That’s not surprising.”

Tim scoffed and looked at her, eyebrow raised.  “In what way?”

“That a guy in a bat suit is easily impressed.  Like he’s the kind of guy where nothing’s ever good enough.  You’d have to like…save the world from Superman to get his approval or something.  I dunno.”

She’d hit the nail on the head, uttering something Tim had heard from Dick a dozen times before.  At first, he’d thought Dick was just jaded by his view of Bruce, but overtime Tim saw the truth in the statement.

Or maybe Tim was slowly becoming jaded too.  What could he do to impress Bruce?  Like really really impress him?

A lightbulb pinged on in Tim’s head.

A very stupid lightbulb.

“I can do that.” He whispered out loud.

“Huh-Ow!” Her query turned to a cry of shock.  The speedo man behind them had decided Stephanie’s hair was worth pulling hard.  Her head snapped back a broken gasp escaping her.  Tim whirled around and she jerked out of her seat violently.  “What is your problem?”  She asked, looming over the guy.

“Sit down!” The bus driver angrily called back.

“Stephanie.”  Tim quietly urged.

“No!  What is your problem?” She asked again.

The man was utterly off his face, Tim and Stephanie knew that just from looking at him.  But it didn’t stop either of them from being horrified when he looked up at Stephanie and called her several names that even a tattooed bloke down the aisle gasped at.

Stephanie gawked for a moment.

Tim grew angry, and began to kneel on his seat.  “Hey you can’t just –”

He didn’t get to finish, as Stephanie recovered her senses enough to utterly lose her rag.  She slapped Mr. Speedo.  Hard.

His head whipped to the side, slap and neck making a sickening snap each.  Her face was white with anger.  Everyone in the bus oooed like teenagers at the potential of a fight. Tim felt his stomach drop at the violence and the anxiety it produced.  Another part of him couldn’t help but find the whole thing cathartic for Stephanie and satisfying for himself to see such a man be smacked down like that.  He breathed an impressed laugh.

The bus driver was not as amused, throwing the breaks on and opening the doors. Stephanie lost her footing on her weak leg and stumbled down the aisle.  Tim instinctively jolted up to prevent her from falling.  He grabbed her wrist and corrected her balance.

“Off!”  Was all the bus driver said.  No, he truly did not suffer any sort of misbehaviour.

Stephanie whirled away, humiliated, and Tim followed.

They got off and Stephanie waited until the bus drove away.  Once it was out of sight, she screeched.  It was so piercing Tim actually winced and took a step backwards.

With a huff she bent in half and struggled to get her breathing back under control.  Tim waited patiently next to her.

“That was impressive.  To stand up for yourself like that.”  He tried to sound positive, but she shook her head, eyes wet as the adrenaline faded.

“Even dogs fight back when you kick them.”

“You’re not a bitch, or anything else he called you.”

“You don’t know that.”

He only sighed.  She was incapable of taking reassurances.  He doubted after learning of her mother and father that she’d ever received positive affirmation in her life.

He gave up then and looked around.

“Where to next?”  Asked Stephanie, the crown of her head still facing the floor.

“Um…”  Looking around, Tim tried to catch his bearings.  There were five people brawling with each other across the street.  Didn’t look like a mugging, just drunk people being drunk.  Tim cut his losses and decided to leave them alone.  There was a convenience store open down the way, which meant they were getting into slightly better territory.

Slightly.

For Gotham.

If they walked the route of the bus, they’d eventually arrive at the monorail, where they could head up and get back on the subway to Bristol, without doubling back to where the mob were searching for them.

“What were you saying earlier?  Before the shit grabbed my hair?”  Poisonous loathing leaked into her voice when Stephanie asked Tim her questions.  She was still pretty angry.

But oh yes.  Tim’s bright idea.

Tim thought they’d lost the mob for now.  He also thought he was still out of sight for Bruce.  It had just gone quarter to eleven.  Three hours gone, nine to go.  Easy peasy.  Bruce must have caught on to the kidnapping news, right?  He would be pursuing that.  Not Tim.

But what if he hadn’t?  And Stephanie’s mom had been abandoned by any competent form of authority?

Or what if Bruce had found out, but was hunting for Stephanie.  Did he know she was with Tim?

Oh God.  What if Bruce had already found him?

If that were true, then why couldn’t Tim go after Crystal?  Stephanie wasn’t a troublesome load, she was half fire half angry slapping.  She could climb and run and jump better than most civilians.  She wouldn’t be a burden.

She’d said she hated being helpless…

Okay, so he was deviating slightly from the initial plan.  He could make it work.  He was more than capable.

They needed a lead though.  Information on where Crystal had been taken.  Tim stared at the convenience store.

Another equally stupid light bulb went off in Tim’s head.

“You hungry?  Need to pee or anything?”

“I want a shower so I can get the puke out of my hair.”

“Right right.  Makes sense.  A sink then.  I just… I have an idea.”

“Huh?”

“You want to not be helpless.  Let’s stop running.  Let’s find your mom.”

She finally unbent her back, peering at him suspiciously, but curious nonetheless.

“Expand please.”

#dc #timsteph #tim drake #stephanie brown #my fic tag