#did they have to team up against a bigger threat and the hero got hurt somehow?

[lesiasmadness]

The villain carrying the hero in their arms for any reason. Breathe if you agree

#it's impossible to make this situation boring #do they feel sorry for the defeated hero? #did they knock the hero out and now carry them to their lap for experimentation? #did they have to team up against a bigger threat and the hero got hurt somehow? #is it for comedy and the duo aren't really that antagonistic to each other? #is the villain just physically strong enough to grab their opponent and carry them wherever? #homosexuality? #hero has some power source in them the villain is about to use? #it's such a simple but exciting idea i want more

[the-badger-mole]

Let's say you're on the writing team for Avatar when it was just an idea Bryke had. They've stepped back, letting the writers do what they do best. While Bryke certainly offer suggestions, they don't try shoehorning in their ideas.

What aspects of canon would you change and keep the same??

Would you have elements of a one-sided Kat@@ng, with Aang learning to let Katara go, or not have it at all??

If you were to write Aang as a character you actually liked, how would you do it??

Oh! I like this ask. Bet! Get a snack, because this is a long one.

In Book 1, I would keep Aang pretty much the same, but I would frame certain things he did the way they should have been framed. Like his whole deal on Kyoshi, leaving Katara to do all the work so he could flirt. That would have much more of an impact on his friendship with her. Subtle at first, but it would be the first blow against Kataang. Katara would gradually over the course of that first season have to confront the fact that she's pinned all her hopes of ending the war on a child. I think that making her face that reality would open the door to more conversations about how he felt about what the world expected him to do, and that would in turn lead to Katara helping Aang to face what happened at the siege on the NWT, and what he was being trained to do honestly.

Book 2 would be where Aang is confronted with his duty as the Avatar and what "ending the war" would mean. By this point, he knows in no uncertain terms that he's expected to kill Ozai at the very least, and his crisis of conscience happens here, and this is where he would start trying to figure out alternatives. At the same time, the people he's meeting talk to Aang and his friends honestly about what they've experienced in the war- famine; disease; loss of homes; seeing loved ones suffer and die brutally.

It all has an effect on Aang, and makes him cling tighter to Katara. Katara interprets it as platonic and doubles down on mothering Aang, even trying to shield him from the worst of the realities of the war as much as she can. When Aang tells his friends once again that he isn't sure if he can kill Ozai, someone snaps at him- Sokka I think- and tells him how the war has affected all of his friends personally, and that they don't have the luxury of feeling bad about Ozai dying, and what did Aang really think the army they were trying to gather was going to do on the battlefield, have a tickle fight (yeah...this feels like a Sokka moment). Here is where Aang finds out about Kya, I think.

Aang still goes to (the much less racist version of) Guru Pathik, and still fails to let go of his attachment to Katara. Zuko and Katara still have that moment in the caves. I haven't decided if Zuko still turns on them- on the one hand, I do think him joining the Gaang here could work. on the other hand, I think he needed to go home and see how much it doesn't fit him anymore. I could go either way. Aang still gets shot by the lightning and Katara still saves him.

As Aang and his friends travel through the Fire Nation, they spend more time with the poorest citizens. They find out how much they've suffered because of the war, and how much they also want it to end. Katara's stint as the Painted Lady lasts much longer, and she becomes a sort of urban legend, which may or may not get back to Caldera. If Zuko is on their side at this point, they start planting the seeds of rebellion on the promise of ending the war (none of the FN citizens know who he is of course). The Footloose episode doesn't happen. It's stupid and adds nothing. Instead, there's more focus on the propaganda and fear the FN leaders are spreading and finding out that there's already a rebellion brewing among certain pockets of the people. Piando plays a much bigger role in this season. He knows who they are, and helps connect them with a growing resistance movement.

Aang is still hung up on Katara, and still hasn't told them that he can't enter the AS or why. On the DoBS, he figures it won't matter since neither he nor Ozai can use firebending anyway. He keeps it too himself, and lies to his friends about being prepared to kill Ozai (well...not so much lying as telling them he's going to do what he has to and letting them assume). He still kisses Katara. They still lose this battle. The adults still sacrifice themselves for the kids to getaway.

When they get to the Air Temple, things get heated with Aang and Katara. Aang tries to run off and go play immediately, but this time, Katara lets him have it. She reminds him that she just lost her father again because he and so many other people surrendered to give them the chance to escape. She lays into him about his laziness and disregard for the people around him and tells him that he needs to shape up, or he'd get everyone killed. She becomes a lot stricter with his training at this point. Not cruel, but she's a lot less likely to tell Toph or Zuko to go easy on him, and she raises her expectations for his waterbending.

Aang gets his feelings hurt and he goes off by himself deep into the temple. He finds writings on AN culture and philosophy and actually begins learning about his people. He learns about airbending techniques he never learned. Some of it is clearly meant for battle. Aang learns that his people's views on the sanctity of life and killing aren't as black and white as he'd believed. This is also where he gets a hint of energy bending.

The Firebending Masters, Boiling Rock, and TSR still happen. Mai does not rescue Zuko and Co- that was something that never made sense to me. But then, most of Mai's characterization after CoD makes no sense to me. She's a character that needs a redo, too.

Katara and Zuko get closer during this time. Same as they do in the show. It's not quite yet a crush on either of their sides, but a lot more focus is given to the development of their friendship. They quickly become each other's go-to person in the group for support and to just hang out. Aang sees this and does not like it. It also makes his reaction to the play make a lot more sense, because he's already starting to suspect there's something between them. He confronts Katara about his feelings for her, her feelings for Zuko, and the kiss they never talk about. Katara says she doesn't really know how she feels about any of it, and she doesn't think this is the time or place to talk about it. Aang kisses her again. It's bad. Katara probably hit him this time. They don't talk alone again.

Aang is once again confronted with the expectation that he's going to kill Ozai. He has to this time, because Ozai is going to be at the height of his power, and won't hesitate to cancel Aang's subscription to Life. His friends finally realize he never actually intended to kill Ozai on DoBS, and demand to know what his plan is now. He still hasn't got one. He still hasn't told his friends about the AN philosophy scrolls he found at the air temple. He still insists that he can't in good conscience kill Ozai. Then his friends point out that millions more people will die if he doesn't. Aang goes off, gets kidnapped by the lionturtle and has the conversation with the past Avatars. They tell him he not only should kill Ozai, but he also has to let Katara go so he can use the Avatar State. Aang doesn't want to do either. Then the lionturtle gives him another way. Energy bending

The lionturle's way has consequences, though, and Aang is informed upfront that energy bending would bind him to whoever he used it on, and that it's influence was corrupting. If Aang wasn't careful, he could become as big a threat to the balance of the world as any Fire Lord had ever been. Aang doesn't understand that warning. He chooses energy bending and goes off to face Ozai.

It does not go well. There is no Rock of Destiny to magically give Aang access to the AS. There is just hyperpowered Ozai- with his decades of experience bending, and Aang, whose firebending is also strengthened, but who can't control his power as well as his opponent. He tries some of the battle techniques he read about in his scrolls. He hasn't got them down either, and some of them just feed Ozai's flames, but he manages to trap Ozai in a ball of air and suffocate him and the fire. He doesn't kill Ozai. He just leaves him disoriented long enough to energy bend him. Battle's over.

Aang brings Ozai back to Caldera, expecting to be hailed as a hero. He isn't at first, but then Iroh, Hakoda and other older and wiser people agree that it's better that Ozai gets to stand trial for his crimes. He ends up being sentenced to die anyway. Aang is furious, and then he discovers that some of his anger is Ozai's. He's bound to Ozai and now Aang has to work really hard not to let that bit of Ozai influence his personality. It's difficult, because Aang is genuinely angry enough that he can't tell what's his feelings and what is Ozai. Aang is now dealing with the fact that despite being the Avatar, people aren't willing to take him seriously, and won't not kill Ozai. He also has still not gotten over his crush on Katara and can't control the AS. On top of that Katara tells him that she doesn't feel the same way about him, and later he finds out that she's fallen for Zuko. Hard. Stupid hard. Like, they've already decided to get married in a few years, hard.

It's a bad time to be Aang. Book 3 would end with him being overwhelmed by his hurt, disappointment, and anger. Roku comes to him and suggests that he go back to Guru Pathik and learn from him. And so the last scene is Aang slipping away without telling anyone he's leaving. Toph may or may not join him. IDK.

#atla #atla critical #alternate version #not really #anti aang #but i know some people still won't like this so... #aang's arc could have been so interesting #imagine a world where he had to face the darkness inside of him #idk this universe might end with taang #i don't ship it but it might work here #zutara #because you KNOW once those two figure out they're in love they'd want to be together forever #they'd be the Crofts of the ATLA universe #persuasion reference #background jane austen au #anti kataang

[collapse-and-comfort]

Hero drugging villain for own good prompts?

Oof! I absolutely needed this in my life! Thank you so much for this ask! 🧪🧪🧪

(CW: Needles, forced drugging, death mention)

-Hero and their team have nowhere to take Villain when they capture them. They can’t kill them, or turn them in to the authorities just yet. An argument about taking Villain back to their base breaks out, but Hero cuts it short. They get a dart gun used for no-kill missions, and level it at Villain. Hero doesn’t relish the fear that flashes across Villain's face. A dart is kinder than a clout to the head, and it’s better than what Villain would do to them if their positions were reversed. But when they pull the trigger and the dart hits Villain, the fear is replaced with angry defiance, as though to accuse Hero of cheating. Villain struggles, but the drug takes a powerful hold on them. Their limbs go slack and their head falls forward as they’re held like a ragdoll between two of Hero’s teammates. “Get them in the van,” Hero tells them.

-Superpowered villain is taken into custody and held in a secure government facility. They were injured in their capture, but they got patched up. When they wake, their pain doesn’t stop them from making an impressive escape attempt. Superhero is the only one with any hope of subduing Villain. A doctor gives them a syringe loaded with a dosage that will bring Villain down. Despite their obvious pain, Villain fights and taunts Hero. They dredge up the past and make threats for the future. Villain’s words might have given Hero pause if they hadn’t sounded so desperate. The needlestick in their thigh elicits a sharp “No!” from Villain and they continue to fight against Hero. Hero is sparing with their comfort, but they advise Villain to relax and let them help.

-Hero finds Villain shackled to a wall. They’re relieved to have found them, but it’s immediately clear something is wrong. Hero had warned Villain, practically begged them, not to go up against their mutual enemy alone. And this is the result. Someone bigger and badder had outplayed them. Villain watches Hero approach and they let out a strangled growl and try to pull away when Hero reaches for them. Villain twists against their manacles and begs incoherently as Hero tries in vain to calm them. They’re forced to resort to using the hypodermic from the med bag they’d brought with them and as they plunge the needle into Villain’s prone arm and depress the plunger, Hero continues to hush them and assure them they’re safe now. Nobody deserved this.

-One of Villain’s experiments backfires on them and they are left a gibbering, frantic wreck. Hero, their one-time partner in discovery, finds them cowering in their lab. They’re grateful Villain won’t be able to enact whatever they’d had in store for the experiment, but they can’t bring themself to let Villain suffer. And they have to admit, they’re curious. They know Villain isn’t foolish enough to develop something without also creating an antidote. Finding it is the easy part. Hero’s attempts at gentling Villain fall short and have to resort to wrestling them down and forcing them to drink. Hero remains with Villain as their agitation ebbs away; it’s a slow, taxing process that  leaves Villain slumped in Hero’s arms.

-Villain is in a situation that requires them to be able to keep up with the superpowered Hero they’re in an uneasy alliance with. Without asking, Hero injects Villain with a serum they use to amplify their own powers. Villain is horrified and Hero rebuffs their “What did you do to me?!” by saying “You’ll thank me later.” Villain can feel their senses sharpen and reflexes quicken. Their strength is multiplied and their heart hammers in their chest. When “later” comes and they’re both safe, Villain doesn’t get the chance to be grateful. Coming down from the serum is a horrible experience for Villain, but Hero remains by their side and guides them through the illness and pain that they inflicted on them.

-In a battle, Villain loses someone for whom they care deeply. Hero, who can manipulate consciousness, comes upon the aftermath and they know they need to get Villain out of there, No matter how Hero reasons with them, Villain refuses to listen. Their eyes are vacant as they cradle their lost loved one and when Hero begins to pull them away, Villain rages and fights. Their hurt is palpable as they scream and weep. It’s eerie to see Villain this uncontrolled; Hero wouldn’t have guessed they could feel such depth of emotion. Hero keeps one arm around Villain’s chest and with their other hand, they place their fingers on Villain’s temple. They will Villain to sleep and as their enemy collapses in their grip, they whisper their condolences.

#replies #anon #prompts #heroes and villains #needles #forced drugging #for their own good #powers #I think cheated a bit on the last one but I really like it. #vague sci fi juice is vague #grief #fear #manhandling #chained #rescue #sedation #I had so much fun with these! #released into the wild

[piratewithvigor]

Stars

Chapter 4: 2013

In which our hero goes camping again

“Come on, we should be there soon, shouldn’t we?”

“Can’t you stop griping and just enjoy the walk?”

“How can I? You spent the three months before we moved here telling me about how dangerous this place is. Quizzing me on how to defend myself against 400 different species.”

“Aww, are you scared?”

“No!”

Kane couldn’t help but laugh. Daniel was terrified out of his wits. It was almost painfully obvious. Every time he thought Kane couldn’t see him, his eyes kept darting around the trees surrounding them. Inspecting the trees for things that might want to kill them. Which was fairly useless; everything in the Valley wanted to kill them, but nothing would dare. They knew they were under protection of the Undertaker and the creatures of the Valley respected such protection.

Even still, it just took one rogue beast to end both of them and turn them into dinner. They wouldn’t hesitate if they were hungry; the only vegan in the Valley was Daniel.

He took Daniel’s hand gently, doing his best to soothe his husband. Having had hardly any touches that weren’t meant to hurt him for decades, sometimes the gentler touches took Kane a little longer to get used to. Daniel was still the only one he could bear to touch for an extended length of time and certainly the only one he could bring himself to initiate such a touch with.

The gesture didn’t go unnoticed. Daniel exhaled softly as he squeezed a little.

He’d been excited for this trip. Hiking, camping; they were some of his favorite hobbies outside the ring. It was usually like pulling teeth to get Kane to want to come along. But he’d suggested this trip. The trip he used to take with his family on the first weekend of autumn. Spending the night in the woods of the Valley together, bonding. Kane didn’t talk about his family from before the fire too often, so Daniel was certainly not going to question why he brought it up then. Of course, at the time, the excitement had overridden the recollection that camping in the Valley was about equally dangerous as camping on a cliff face in the Grand Canyon. Except the danger was only held at bay by an unspoken supernatural promise.

So many questions from the Valley were better left unasked and just accepted.

“You’re gonna like it,” Kane promised. “It’s pretty. A lot of really soft grass.”

“I trust you.” Daniel wasn’t going to add that for as long as he’d lived there, he’d hardly seen any living grass, let alone really soft grass. Kane was excited, so he was going to keep his worries at bay. “You’re sure you remember the way, right?”

“Spent a night here every year for six years. I could find the clearing in my sleep.”

“Maybe, but that was thirty years ago.”

“Are you calling me old?”

“A little.”

“Take it back, or no s’mores for you.”

“That’s blackmail!”

“That’s life.”

“Okay, okay, I take it back.”

“Not good enough.”

Daniel exhaled in exasperation. “I’m sorry I called you old.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry I called you a goat.”

“You didn’t call me a goat.”

“I know. Now I’ve got one apology saved up for next time I do,” Kane grinned and avoided Daniel attempting a swat to the back of his head.

“You’re damn lucky you’re cute.”

“I know.”

Kane wasn’t exactly sure how he’d tricked Daniel into liking him. When they first met, they had some of the most awful fights Kane had ever been a part of. Both physically and emotionally. He hated Daniel at first. They would scream at each other until Kane was as hoarse as he’d been when he was re-learning how to talk. They were the tag team champions together and a formidable duo, but nothing like any other tag team Kane had been a part of. Everything felt wrong and off working with Daniel and it wasn’t because he felt like beating him more than their opponents. They just… had nothing in common. Except that they were both fueled with enough rage to be sent to anger management therapy together.

Kane had been gritting his teeth and hardly keeping himself from throwing Daniel through a wall every week. Until one week. The week of the trust falls.

“Daniel, just fall backwards, and Kane will catch you.”

“I will?”

He didn’t want to catch Daniel. Daniel didn’t want to be caught by Kane. Dr. Shelby was insistent. If they did this exercise, they might have a real breakthrough. Breakthroughs meant they could stop coming to these damn therapy sessions. Whether it was the promise of a breakthrough or the threat of having to do the exercise the next week, Kane wasn’t sure, but Daniel turned around.

“Kane, I trust you.”

He’d been stunned silent for a moment. Almost forgot to catch Daniel. But he didn’t. He caught Daniel’s shoulders easily and kept him from hitting the deceptively hard floor. The weight of a man who trusted him so completely so quickly was in his hands. He’d shoved Daniel upright to avoid letting him know his hands were shaking from getting so quickly overwhelmed with emotion. Dr. Shelby had been so proud of them. Moved them right on to the next phase of the exercise: working together. They were both instructed to catch some loser from the group. Even though they both put out their arms to catch him, he hit the floor hard as they pulled their arms back.

“Did you know that I wasn’t going to catch him?” Daniel had asked.

“Did you know that I wasn’t going to catch him?” Kane replied. A quiet smile had spread over Daniel’s lips.

“I think I finally understand you, Kane.”

They’d kissed for the first time that night. Still fought like cats and dogs, but in moments alone in the hotel rooms, they kissed. Sometimes they went further, sometimes they didn’t.

“We’re almost there,” Kane broke the silence, pointing with the hand that wasn’t interwoven with Daniel’s.

“Where? I don’t see any grass anywhe- holy shit…” The sight of the little clearing filled with lush, green grass seemed to take Daniel’s breath away.

“What do you think? Worth the hike?”

Daniel didn’t answer. Almost like he was dumbfounded such a soft place could exist within the harshness of the Valley.

“Daniel?”

“Very worth it.”

“You good setting up the tent while I gather the firewood?”

“Kane, I fucking swear, if you leave me alone in these woods, I will shit in your sleeping bag.”

One argument about proper firewood, one argument about tent raising techniques and three arguments about setting fires later, both of them were lying in the grass, watching the smoke from the dying fire rise into the night air.

“You shouldn’t be able to start a fire by hugging a log,” Daniel mumbled, snuggling up to Kane’s chest.

“I know.”

“How do you do that?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s weird.”

“Can we change the subject?”

“Sure. To what?”

“Dunno. Know any good camping stories?”

“Well, there was one time I went camping with AJ and she needed to pee, but the bush under her was poison ivy and-”

“A different story!” Kane groaned, shuddering at the idea. Either because he didn’t want to know what happened with the poison ivy or because he didn’t want to know anything more about AJ than he already did. She was responsible for sending Daniel to anger management, so Kane owed her for that, but he didn’t want to know anything else.

“Okay, there was a time my family had a reunion at a campground and my aunt chopped up apples and tossed them in apple pie spices, then wrapped them in tin foil and stuck them in the coals of the campfire. Smoky apple pie filling.”

“Sounds tasty.”

“Should’ve told that story before so we could have done the same.”

“Maybe next time.”

He could promise a next time. He could swear that a year from then, he would still love Daniel. They would still be together. They could lie down in the grass and look up at the stars. They could marvel at how big the universe was and how miraculous it was that they found each other.

Far up in the night sky, a red star and one a little bigger seemed a little closer together.

#Stars #Kane #Daniel Bryan #Writing

[sanktagenyas]

ok ok ok so i’m on ep 6 (about to start it) of shadow and bone and i’m not writing this ‘cause i’m full of restraint and don’t wanna keep watching all the way through far from it but i have some thoughts.

ok first things first: darklina. i love them and i think i have to attribute a lot of why i love them so much to ben barnes and jessie mei li’s portrayal and their chemistry which is just on fire. i already like book version (what i’ve read so far at least) a lot so there was a lot to live up to. that was pretty much top priority for me will they do these two justice and i have high expectations for the scenes between them now that alina’s made her turn, now that she knows who the darkling really is.

now there are a couple of changes been made from the book which was to expect but that kinda bugged me. in the book the darkling is very evasive, alina sees him very rarely which makes sense the man ought to be busy planning if they’re gonna go into the fold eventually. and so because the moments between them are rarefied there’s this anticipation to it all and i wish the show would have spaced out their scenes together more so that it would translate. i also personally thought reading the book that the darkling deliberately kept his distance from alina because she unsettles him. she makes him feel things he hasn’t felt in a long time. i always thought that if he wanted to keep her at his side and loyal he could have easily seduced her into bed a lot sooner than he tried to. after that if he’d played his cards right he could have spun her another tale to make her adhere to his plans with the fold. he could have convinced her it was the right thing to do if he really is that good of a manipulator but i always figured his feelings for her were getting in the way of him going that extra mile, hence him keeping his distance.

i got spoiled about his name and i didn’t quite get why she learns about it now. that’s gonna ruin whatever weight that moment has in the books. actually that moment won’t happen now i’m guessing.

also because since i’m being picky i might as well add that i wish this whole talk of the black heretic had gone the way it has in the books. she’s practically having to pry information out of him like his age but here he tells her about the black heretic and not just that but also how he feels about being blamed for his ancestor’s mistakes. i get it, it’s manipulation but i prefer the less open version of the darkling from the book. that version seemed more sincere, he didn’t spin a tearful tale of a boy marked unjustly and decried for his ancestor’s sins. he just said it matter of factly. he lied but at least he wasn’t being a manipulative ass about it in the book. withholding information and outright lies are bad enough but using alina’s own pain for being an outsider/undesirable against her by weaving this tale of him being one too was just a bit much.

but i think it plays a part in a bigger issue i have with the show but more on that later.

i did really really enjoy darklina so far regardless. the more open version of the darkling means that we get to see alina tease a lightness (pun intented) out of him that make him seem younger than he is, more of the innocent boy he once was maybe but then again he reverts back to that calculating cold gaze just in time. lest we forget who our villain is here. i absolutely LOVED the fact that they gave alina more agency and more of an active role in the relationship, i couldn’t be happier about the fact that we lost their original book first kiss post baghra training if it means we get to see alina kiss him first. she really blossomed once she let go of mal i don’t know if you noticed. that flashback of her hurting herself so she would fail the grisha’s test was heartbreaking to see. really hammered home for me why i can’t get behind malina.

which brings us to malina. i’ll keep it brief. i wish the show would stop shoving these two at us like you’d push a puppy onto an unwilling adopter. no matter how shiny and big those eyes are i’m not interested. the use of flashbacks to their common past and to that damn meadow was excessive to say the least and i kept waiting and waiting to feel what the showmakers were intending to invoke in their audience but i must not be the target for it because i just didn’t. there’s an appeal to the kind of ease and fondness that two best friends have between one another and in both their actions (especially mal’s actually, another change from book form) the love is apparent but that doesn’t change the conclusion i reach inevitably when it comes to these two: they are a codependant mess. they let themselves go when they’re not together as if being separated means a fate worse than death, as if they can’t function without the other. that’s especially true for alina. and they both make foolish reckless choices that hurt other people in the process of getting back to one another. but at least in mal’s case he had reason to fear for her safety and didn’t put mikhael and dubrov in harm’s way on purpose. alina’s short sightedness when burning those maps was the one moment i was genuinely fuming mad at our hero. 

and then there’s mal. a mal pov means a chance to get to know him better and go from me tolerating the guy to liking him or heck maybe even love him. if i could love mal half as much alina does it would make his scenes so much better instead of being the most boring part of any episode and i’d say natural seeing as he’s also competing with a lot of very lively and interesting characters. i mean kaz is pretty damn stoic and yet i’m never bored by him, not for one second. the issue is that mal’s scenes revolve around alina, his scenes are yet another way to shove malina down our throats and i cannot take it. i appreciate his bravery and his loyalty but his best scene to me is the one with him crying over mikhael’s dead body. a scene devoid of any callback to alina or malina. give him a story that doesn’t revolve around her, give him more to do beside being his own one man rescue team for alina. he deserves better.

now my big fear is darklina related i’m thinking because they made the darkling much more open with alina it’s all gonna seem more deliberate to her, she’s going to not just doubt and fine comb through her interactions with him to find the lie she’s going to be flat out convinced it was just an act from start to finish which means more angst. i hope they won’t go from the heat of these two together to just dead coldness and that they’d keep alina’s pull that she feels towards him. i didn’t forget how she just melted into him against herself when he kissed her again even though she was his captive then and under threat of harm. i didn’t forget how she still feels about him by that point and i hope the showrunners and writers didn’t forget. they don’t need to diminish darklina to push their malina agenda and if they do? well maybe malina isn’t as attractive of a ship as they think it is.

#shadow and bone spoilers #sab spoilers #darklina #alina starkov #aleksander morozova

[feastfic]

On my computer right now and I just spent like, I think maybe only an hour on this??? 

But hi!!! I wrote a thing! And I really want to say things about what inspired me to do this and why I thought of this, so if you wanna know please lmk! (Please I really wanna talk about this AU digjasobjn)

So since this took less than an hour and it’s currently almost two in the morning for me (and I took my sleeping meds) this is probably rushed and doesn’t have as much going for it as I wanted, so please keep that in mind!

This will be under the cut for spoilers, and tw in advance for implied/mentioned murder. Also wildly out of character behavior but it makes sense in the context of the AU I promise; but enough of me going on. Here it is!

He was just… mad these days. Well, not mad. But certainly unhappy. Upset, maybe, was the best word to use.

Ever since he and the rest of Team Snakemouth left the Swamps, he seemed a different bug. Ever since he’d killed The Beast- a rightful act of revenge, of vengeance for his previous friends- he was bitter.

He didn’t even quite know why he felt this way. Kabbu couldn’t tell if it was a new onset grief for losing his team, rage at The Beast, fear of losing the people he currently cared about. There was so much to feel about, and not enough of him to contain all of these feelings.

So he just decided not to contain it. Not around Leif or Vi, of course. There was no way he’d expressly show them how he felt. Not when these feelings were so destructive, so unlike how he normally was. Kabbu was not a bug to hate easily or quickly. But he had a feeling that that was what was going on. He hated- no, loathed; utterly despised this feeling. He wanted, needed to take it out somehow.

He didn’t seem to care about much anymore. His fighting skill wasn’t any better or worse off, but both Leif and Vi knew something was up. Other bugs that the team had previously encountered also could tell very easily that something was up with the typically gentle beetle.

Where he was once careful in battle, he was no longer. His caution was thrown to the wind, it felt like. More nicks and scratches collected themselves on his body, not out of the battles he’d won, but just out of his lack of self-preservation.

“What is up with you lately?” Vi popped the question as they took residence in the hotel underneath the termites’ dome. “Ever since we left that swamp you’ve been acting all weird.” Even her normally sarcastic tone was tinged with real and genuine concern. Not that she’d ever say that she cared any time soon, of course.

Kabbu gave her a side-eyed look, his arms held crossed as he leaned forward on the leaf bed he got when the room was rented out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He stated bluntly, his gaze focusing on the bee on the bed right across from him. Behind her was Leif, silently watching the two of them talk. The moth had gotten quieter since the swamps, too.

“You’ve been all… all- I don’t know! You just haven’t been yourself and there’s no reason for it, Kabbu!”

“We agree with Vi. You’ve had a big change in character.” Leif said, quiet but as direct as ever.

With both of them on his case, there wasn’t a lot that Kabbu could say. He didn’t want their sympathy, he didn’t want them worrying about him. How could he ever tell them that he didn’t know if he even wanted to be part of the team anymore? Well, he didn’t have to. And, well… he could always just leave out of nowhere. Not that he was thinking of doing that.

He waited until the lights of the dome dimmed- the termites were going to rest as well now. To his side, he heard Vi’s soft snoring, but had to sit to make sure Leif was asleep too. It was a good thing he was, or else this would get awkward and stressful fast. 

There was nothing he chose to bring along. Except for the explorer badge that he and Vi got on their first day as an official team. It’d be only Vi now, but she had Leif. They’d be like every other team- a party of two, instead of their devious three. And that was it- he was never the item carrier; the bag with all of their things always went to Vi, where she’d protect their belongings as valiantly as she could. So the badge was just another thing that she’d keep.

Well, that was basically it now. Bringing along nothing with his person, Kabbu slipped out of the room in silence. He took the elevator back down to the ground floor, leaving for the great doors that had welcomed him into the dome just yesterday. The guards there of course asked him about his intentions and why he was leaving- alone especially- but he just coated his answer with a white lie.

“I’m only going to take the ant tunnel. It isn’t far from these gates.”

The two termites glanced at each other, their antennae twitching between one another like they were exchanging a telepathic message.

“Well,” one began, before letting out a sigh; “alright, but just go to that tunnel, alright? We don’t need any of those Farland beasts coming through. I’m sure you understand.”

“I do; don’t you worry.” 

The other guard worked the mechanism that opened the gate. Not all the way, only just enough to let Kabbu step through. When he entered the foggy abyss of the Forsaken Lands, the gate clanked shut behind him not long after. He nearly disappeared into the pressing grey surrounding him, so much so that he could barely even see the two termites standing watch outside their kingdom. That was certainly a good thing for him, at least.

He wasn’t going to the tunnels. What he needed was time to himself. Figure out what he was going to do now. Because leaving the team was sort of a big deal, even if he’d been considering it for a while. 

In theory he could join something like the bandits, or stake off for himself somewhere out in the wilds. No, the bandit idea wouldn’t work- they’d recognize him, even if that Astotheles character gave them heed about his defeat to Team Snakemouth before his disappearance. And while he could just live off in nowhere, that wasn’t the life he wanted to live now.

What he wanted was to make a big change. Something that’d get the attention of everyone. With the Wasp King being under high pursuits and being a bigger threat, he could get away with many more things. But what? What was there that he could do? He just wanted to break something, really. He wanted to do something to take out the way he felt so crushed about everything that happened in the swampy grasslands. Let everyone know what The Beast did to him.

By doing the same thing to everyone else. 

He looked down at his carapace in the deep fog, turning over his arms to look at all of the scratches that would remain on him either until he died, or until his next molt. But he was an aged man- he hadn’t molted in forever; not since he was much younger. These scars might as well be permanent, then. All of these would bear witness to whatever he decided on doing.

Oh, did he know it was wrong. He hated himself for it. Hurting innocent bugs was still something he didn’t want to do from the bottom of his heart. It wasn’t that he felt that it was all he could do though, but it was the thing he wanted to do most. He was scared. Both of the possibility of his actions, himself, and if he’d be caught. 

Fear. 

It was what he was going to make everyone else feel.

The same suffocating, horrible, gut-wrenching fear he once felt.

If he couldn’t bring himself to be the grand hero that everyone held Team Snakemouth up to be, then he simply wouldn’t. He was no team leader, he was no Green Ranger. He was Kabbu, damned.

If he was so sure of this course of action, he’d become someone like who he was once fighting against. 

The wasps were the enemy, or perhaps once were. He’d start there. Keep the pretense of doing good.

Those troopers wouldn’t know what hit them, or any of the other damned… things he’d sparred with. 

Oh, no. He wasn’t going to stop there. He just needed a gateway. Surely he wouldn’t feel bad about hurting a few of those folk. He’d work his way up; he just needed a way to get his initial anger out is all. It just so happened that a certain kingdom worked in his favor as a target.

He’d go from revered to hated, to where bugs would fear to speak his name for the things he’d done. Where exterminating a few wasps would first be looked up upon by other kingdoms, when the numbers began stacking higher and higher concerns would rise. Nobody would know it was him, not for a very, very long time.

From hero, to anti-hero, to villain.

He’d be a bad guy if it meant he didn’t have to live in guilt and sorrow for his own past. 

Only he mattered to himself now, and he was going to make sure that nobody got in his way or tried to change this path he was choosing. 

He walked further in the fog, until all he could make out of his surroundings were the cracks in the rock beneath his feet. This would be a long path for himself. 

Many countless nights full of himself hating himself, nights where he thought this was the best idea he’d ever had. Nights where he cried, where he laughed to himself. Going from his past self to whatever he’d be called was nothing easy.

But time passed. Days turned to weeks, which turned to months. He was only a fraction of his former self. Down the line he’d forgotten most of what inspired him to go on this outburst, but there was no turning back now. He’d abandoned his humanity just a month ago- these past thirty days were the easiest he’d had in what felt like years. 

And there was no telltale signs about Leif or Vi ever since he left. He’d heard of the talk when he first left; he entered towns from time to time cloaked in leaves and scraps of fabric bugs left about, shielding himself from observant eyes. People wondered what could’ve possibly happened.

They weren’t finding out any time soon.

At least, not from him. He was a little busy with… other things.

Which reminded him, as he sat alone in a small pub off the center of Defiant Root. The bar was a common ground for other bugs in shady business, so Kabbu fit right in. Ironic. But that was besides the point.

He didn’t like calling his craft murder. Nor assassination, or anything like that. But terms meant nothing when anyone else would know what it was called. What he was doing was never anything he’d thought he’d be able to do, but as it turned out, dealing with crippling survivor’s guilt and other feelings for so long made you numbed out to such things like death.

There was no joy out of it, but he didn’t do it just to do it. There was still the motive of fearmongering. He just didn’t know how far he’d take it.

Well, he’d find out in a week.

Because on his marks right now was a certain general. That’d surely get people to talk.

#i'm both proud of this and also not #because like i said im SLEEPY #but sorry ultimax :( #bug fables #bug fables kabbu #i don't even wanna tag the characters like this feels so OOC even if it's an AU LIKE HELP PLEASE RDIHYTRGYIERUEHU #tw ??? #ask to tag #but yeah!!! give me your thoughts pwease :pleading: #bug fables spoilers

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Tell us about your bottled up OC lore

Everything below the cut. I’m serious when I say it’s long.

Loki x Sigyn (Logyn)

Incredibles AU:  Sigyn is a superhero and Loki is her sworn arch nemesis.  They’re flirted, fought, and occasionally teamed up to take on bigger threats. But, when an act passes forcing all superheroes to go into hiding, Loki finds it’s not fun being a villian without a hero. He finds Sigyn and the pair of them eventually fall in love, get married, and settle down with a couple of kids.  But even if Loki can’t deny the happiness his new life brings him, are part of him longs for the adventure and excitement of yesteryear.  He’s given an opportunity when a package arrives asking him for his “unique insight” on an upcoming project.  How can he resist?

Look, I just want an opportunity to write them both as parents and also have some awkward PTA meetings between him and Sigyn’s fellow hero co-workers.

Just a big ol’ Hunger Games AU that I literally forgot about until just now: Start of the revolution against President Doom lead by survivors of the Hunger Games with Steve Rogers and their new symbol. It’s just two random kids in this universe not one boy one girl.

Tony Stark: Stark is a favorite of the capitol and builds a lot of their tech.  He was taken into the games at 15. During the games he was blasted with some shrapnel and had to hide out in a cave.  There he met Yinsen and he took pity on Tony.  He helped Tony build a makeshift arch reactor to survive the games. Yinsen was killed and Tony survived by inventing weapons and blasting his way out.

Bruce Banner: Bruce is more of a hermit to the public eye, but still close friends with Tony.  He was forced into the games at 13.  Starting out as a rather timid and quiet boy he spent most of the game simply trying to stay out of everyone’s way, hiding in caves, trees and so on.  It came down to the last handful of kids and none of them were particularly motivated to kill the others since all of them had done what Bruce had done and hid.  To spice things up the game masters sprayed aggression toxin into the air.  All the kids were susceptible to it, but Bruce was the worst.  He ended up killing all the kids himself with his bare hands. Although the toxins did wear off Bruce still fears that anger inside of himself.  He suffers from PTSD and when he is angry he does become violent.

Thor Odinson: Thor is another one of the capitols darlings.  He and Loki entered the games together during an anniversary game in which if one was chosen and had a sibling that sibling must enter the game as well if they are at age. If by the end of the game both siblings are left standing, they can both live.  He was 16 at the time.  Thor relied on his strength with his preferred weapon being a large hammer. He was also one to form alliances with other members while Loki remained wary.  In the end there was Thor, Loki, and two other members of their alliance. Thor wanted to be fair and give the two other survivors a chance.  Loki took the opportunity to poison the water they stole from him and Thor in the night. Thor was at first disgusted with what his brother did, but over the years accepted that Loki did it to save both of them.  

Loki Odinson: Along with Thor he is a capitol favorite.  While Thor plays up the honorable warrior persona, Loki relies on the charming scoundrel. He entered the games with his brother at 15.  Loki relied heavily on his wits and traps to survive.  Once the alliance was broken he knew the other team would not kill him and Thor in their sleep, but they would steal some of their supplies.  Loki made sure to leave food and water in the open for them to take, all of it poisoned.  He does not regret anything he did in the games since it lead to Thor and his survival. What he hasn’t told Thor, or anyone, was that he knew that if Thor got in his way of living, he would have let Thor die.

Natasha Romanov: Game master for the reunion Hunger Games, Natasha is actually working for the rebellion as a double agent.

Clint Barton: He is one of the less praised winners; he makes less of a secret in his distaste with the capitol.  He doesn’t have any family for the capitol to threaten, so he sometimes says things he shouldn’t.  Clint entered the games when he was 14.  His brother Barney was chosen as well.  For most of the games Barney watched after Clint, both of them were skilled archers and shot at opponents from the trees.  Towards the end of the game Barney went down to get some food while Clint waited for him.  Barney was captured and tortured by some of the other kids to find out where Clint was, but he didn’t spill.  That night Clint heard a boom in the sky and he woke up to see that Barney was dead. Clint spent the rest of the games looking for the rest of the kids and killed them all.  Clint is more than ready to fight the capitol and shows it enough for people to catch on it, but not enough for the capitol to kill him.

Juliet Holden: Juliet remains out of the public eye if she can avoid it and spends as much time as she can with her family. She was forced into the games at 17 along with a girl named Beth who as 16.  They stuck together throughout the games.  Juliet used more hand to hand combat and hiding while Beth was more of an inventor.  During an attack Juliet got shocked and Beth helped her through it.  Juliet got out alright, but she lost a lot of her pain censors meaning she could take a hit longer.  Beth took inspiration and made some make shift gloves that could shock opponents to death.  Beth was eventually killed leaving Juliet the winner.  Juliet still feels survivor’s guilt about Beth since she was the smarter one between the two of them.  She hates the capitol with a burning passion, but unlike Clint has a very large family she needs to protect and care for.

Sigyn Odinson: Wife to Loki, their wedding was shown throughout the capitol making Sigyn as much as a capitol darling as Loki.  This was planned by both Loki and Thor to keep Sigyn and Jane safe.  If they were capitol favorites the capitol would be less likely to hurt either of them.  As a result she became one of the few non-winners to be invited to the capitol. She knows how to be charming and play the role of the dutiful wife.  Unfortunately with this new found confidence Thor started speaking more freely his dislike of the capitol.  President Doom knew he couldn’t hurt Thor or Loki or their wives so he turned to their children.  Jane couldn’t have kids so Loki and Sigyn’s children were forced into the games. Both boys died leaving Sigyn devastated. She no longer went to the capitol with Loki and was an adamant planner in taking down the capitol.

Poe Dameron x Lana Solo (Polo)

Modern AU: I wrote a sum up of it here

Bodhi Rook x Sera Darros

YouTuber AU: Linked Here

Coffee Shop/College AU: Linked Here

10 Things I Hate About You AU:

Jyn: Kat  

Sera: Bianca  

Bodhi: Cameron  

Cassian: Patrick  

K-2SO: Michael  

Baze: Mrs. Perkey  

Chirrut: Mr. Morgan  

Draven: Dad  

Male OC: Joey

Roadtrip AU:

Sera is going off the college and her adopted brother Cassian and his best friend Kay are helping her move across country.

Along the way they spot a woman having trouble with her car and offer her a ride to the nearest gas station to call a tow. The woman reveals herself to be Jyn Erso.  She’s going cross country to meet her father who she hadn’t seen since she was about eight. When she calls the tow they say they can’t get if fixed for a few days.  Sera then offers for her to join them on the trip since they’re going in the same direction.  Jyn agrees and they’re off.

They travel for about a day when the car breaks down and they have to get it fixed.  They go to a local mechanic where Bodhi is working.  As he fixes the car he and Sera strike up a conversation where she tells them where they’re going. Bodhi says that he’s going to the same school she is, transferring from junior college.  Sera then offers that he come with them since she wants to know someone when she gets there and it would be fun.  Cassian begrudgingly agrees since the car isn’t at it’s best and having a mechanic on hand would be helpful. 

They travel for another couple of days before eventually reaching a small camp sight.  They had been driving all day and all need some rest.  The nearest motel is miles always so they decide to camp out. Sera pulls what she can out of the car and makes up a camp using her blankets and sheets.  They all have a nice night bonding and fall asleep under the stars.

When they wake up the next morning they find that the car has been stolen and the only things they have left are what they took out of the car the night before.  Luckily, a couple, Baze and Chirrut, overheard they’re plight and offer them to ride in their RV.  Chirrut and Baze are both former priest road tripping across the country to see what they can see. 

Hawkeye Pierce x Elizabeth “Doc” O’Neil

Soulmate AU: Linked Here

#marvel #mcu #loki #sigyn #loki x sigyn #logyn #avengers #avengers oc #marvel oc #mcu oc #star wars oc #sw oc #rogue one #mash #m*a*s*h #poe dameron x oc #bodhi rook x oc #hawkeye pierce x oc #juliet holden #lana solo #sera darros #elizabeth doc o’neil #elizabeth o’neil

[handlewcaare]

When one read the comic books, being a teenage hero was a helluva lot easier than it was.

Spiderman didn’t have to watch his grades gradually plummet with each “emergency” meeting the Avengers set up for him. Nor did he have to turn in half finished homework because he forgot to do it when he ran off to handle a Behemoth of a beast. It was smooth sails for the likes of some friendly neighborhood vigilante.

Badd wished it was that simple.

He couldn’t complain it was all that rough. Kids at school knew of his devestating strength, so much so that a few would text him about a monster nearby. At times, he’d handle a monster in exchange for a free tutoring session for a class he was struggling in. It was a fair exchange, a life for a decent test grade.

Some people at school would greet him, but he was hardly popular. If anything, he was just as good as company as a cardboard cut out. Someone to briefly pause what he was doing to stoically pose for a photo-op. Though, some people just assumed he wasn’t as friendly as the stature he put on.

“Badd, right?”

His brow arched, momentarily breaking the signature snarl he naturally adorned (it wasn’t a scowl, it was just his face). The voice came from a girl who’s face was speckled with a constellation of freckles. He knew of her, that she was a new transfer student from H-City, but he never got to know who she really was.

“Ya know anyone else that looks like me?”

“Yeah,” the girl remarked, “hate to say it but a pompadour isn’t exactly a unique feat of yours.” Despite his frown, she went on to resume, “I was gonna ask if you had a spare hair tie.”

Out of all the things she could have asked him to do, she asked for a meager hair tie. She might as well have asked a practical mountain of a man to do her makeup. What an odd thing to ask, “how the hell do ya know I even have one??”

What should have been a snide remark about how he always had a spare hair tie for his little sister was accented with a shrug, “The girls in my track team say you do. I don’t mind using my shoelaces though—!”

“Ya can do that??” He implored as he surrendered the hair tie that was nestled within his pants pocket, “wouldn’t it be flying out of yer hair or somethin’ ?”

“You just have to know how to tie it,” after she briefly gave her thanks, she secured her dark hair within a high-ponytail. After a beat, she made a full presentation of the bun atop of her crown. “Ta-da! How does it look?”

“Like a pineapple.”

What insult would have made girls scoff or bark out a bigger insult at him only prompted a wrinkle from the girl’s nose as she laughed. Her grin radiant, almost contagious for a guy renowned for his intimidating glare. It didn’t take the girl long to skip back to her team—‘thanks Badd!’ She would chirp over her shoulder—and he offered a small wave of goodbye to her.

To say it had been the last time they spoke would have been a blatant lie. The girl, who’s name was revealed to be Hikari, would be variant in her greetings. Some days would just be utter small talk: ‘how are you?’ ‘Fine, you?’ ‘Could be better,’ and other days would be exclusively full of excitement. Most notably were they the days that she had just finished her track season or after practice:

“—what I’m saying is that Ayame started acting funny when she dropped the baton,” Hikari said as the two of them sat along the edge of the rooftop during lunch. Her brows furrowed as she plucked a piece of grilled salmon out of her bento box and set it over for Badd to eat.

“Ya still won though, right?”

“Yeah, but it was like something startled her? I can’t say what exactly, but she got a little frazzled after the tournament,” she hummed as she pursed her lips, “maybe ‘m overthinking it.”

“Ya gotta bad habit of that,” he quipped as he took a bite of the surrendered salmon, “she prolly jumped cus she dropped it.”

As it turned out, that wasn’t wholly the case.

The more he talked to Hikari throughout the months in school, the more exposure he got from Ayame. How she often would ask for one of her friends to come with her to the bathroom or how she would stay longer than an hour or two after practice. He wasn’t a psychologist, but Hikari’s concern became more understandable.

Once he was invited to eat lunch with Hikari and her track team, that was when he met Ayame.

As always, Hikari was rather jovial with introductions. Her excitability practically lightened the mood, even when some girls felt a little unnerved to be around a guy who could easily crush a monster’s skull with an indestructible weapon. Those girls he left very well alone for their comfort. The others were met with his gruff nature, he wasn’t sure whether Hikari told them he had a soft spot or not, but Ayame was the one who stood out the most.

The girl was kind and soft-spoken. She loved talking about her cat named Sakusa and she couldn’t help but find pictures of Tama to be an absolute delight. Though, Badd couldn’t lie, Sakusa was just as adorable.

The thing was she couldn’t afford to look him in the eye, nor could she barely manage a tone beyond a small murmur. When Badd would growl out a ‘huh??’ over a mean jest, she would flinch instinctively. Such a response evoked a small ‘sorry’ from the bat-wielding hero.

Lunch became rather awkward between them after that. Fortune came in Hikari’s emotional intelligence, otherwise Badd would have tried to make some means of dramatic compensation. He picked up a giant bouquet of roses for Zenko’s concert when he missed her piano recital once.

It wasn’t until school was no longer in session that he caught a glimpse of Ayame retreat to an older man. Her arms folded across her chest, though the heightened bark of the man made her flinch once more.

The man could have blended in well with the white collar types: nicely trimmed suit, slick back hair and an expensive pair of gloves that would have made Amai Mask green with envy. Their insignia was rather reminiscent to a bamboo lily.

He didn’t just have money, he had money to buy himself out of consequences.

By now, the grip around his signature bat became rigid in a white-knuckled grasp. His storm merely accented with a twirl of his instrument to rest atop of his broad shoulder.

“—and I told you to do the dishes!” The older man exasperatingly barked, “the hell were you doing??”

“I just...” Ayame paused as she shuffled closer to the masonry, “I h-had practice okay? It’s not a big deal—“

“It is a big deal!” His voice was now a tornado that swam tension within the air. His face was beet red and his fists practically quivered from the intensity of his own storm, “I had my fuckin’ brother over and—!”

Without a hint of hesitance, Badd rammed the hilt of his bat directly into the man’s diaphragm. The sheer velocity of his strength evoked a shriek from Ayame and a wheeze from the stranger. Had he known he shattered a rib or two, he probably would have offered a menacing simper.

“Do Yer own damn dishes next time,” when the man attempted to scramble to his full height, Badd hadn’t hesitated to step in front of Ayame. It wasn’t everyday he handled an abusive shithead, but they were marginally easier to handle than a stray papermache volcano come to life.

As the man scowled, his glare dripped over to Ayame, “this isn’t over—!” Once the threat had seeped, Badd simply let his metallic instrument slam into the concrete. A cobweb of weight bloomed under the strain.

“You bet Yer ass it is,”

This was a monster, no doubt, but he had heard from Daichi that some monsters liked to isolate their victims. Norte dam syndrome or something like that. As soon as the man retreated, Ayame began to present signs and symptoms of that.

“He wasn’t going to hurt me,” her voice was distant compared to the staggering man who retreated with a very polite warning. “He was just being an ass, okay? You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know what bein’ an ass is,” Badd scoffed, “and that wasn’t it.”

Being an ass meant Hikari poking fun of Badd crying in the middle of Zenko’s piano performance or Badd poking fun of Hikari not knowing how to do algebra, but being able to chemistry. Neither of them would have dared to clench their fist at the other, let alone make the other flinch in response.

Ayame only shook her head, “no, he just... he didn’t mean it.”

“ ‘s that what he tells ya?”

“Of course not, I—“ she sighed, her small shoulders slumped when she practically hung her head, “look, I know you’re supposed to be a hero, but he’s just a guy. You must have bigger priorities, right?”

Bigger priorities meaning bigger monsters; nothing like the abusive asshole nextdoor. Badd couldn’t help but wonder if that was really what being a hero meant to these people, that they were just as fictional as their comic book alternatives.

Whether the answer was blatant or not, it didn’t matter, “I don’t want ya gettin’ hurt, so call Hikari and stay with her, alright?”

“W-What are you gonna do??”

Badd simply unbuttoned his uniform jacket and let it draped over his shoulders.“ ‘m gonna go be a hero.”

It was a slow day at the notorious deadman detective agency. The gentle hum of the fan being the only company the detective had, among the various files of cold cases he tried to decipher in his day off. He didn’t mind the breaks, rather he milked them as often as he could, but they could be rather tedious at times.

Fortunately, his answer came in the form of his phone vibrating against the table. The caller ID consisted of a simple “Badd”. Chances were that the kid needed someone to pick up his sister or ask about homework he didn’t understand.

“Well, good afternoon to you too,” Daichi hummed leisurely.

“Ay, real quick!” If Badd hadn’t been huffing so much, he wouldn’t have assumed the intensity of the situation required a running start, “ya know anyone who’s got a flower on their gloves?”

There was a pregnant pause when Daichi tucked the phone along his shoulder. What sprawled evidence files had been tucked into their respective cabinet drawers, yet there wasn’t anything that could have resembled a nondescript flower. Aside from the insignia a murderer had carved into the wood of his victim’s furniture.

“What kind of flower was it?”

“Iunno??” Badd grunted, seemingly vaulting himself over a fence from how the chains rattled under his weight, “like a Lily or somethin’ ??”

Had his blood not been lethargic like tar, it would have ran glacial through his veins. He never quite noticed how reminiscent it was to a lilac flower, only that it was scrawled and messy. Though, it would have been a bold assumption to make Badd would keep him alive, “You’re planning on going after him, aren’t you?”

“Yep!”

He figured.

Hastily did Daichi retrieve his beige coat and slid his arms through the sleeves, “don’t do anything like kill him. I’ve been looking into cases like—!”

“Ah, I gotta go. I think I see him!”

“Badd, wait-! Wait, did you hear—?!” When the line was cut off to evoke a triad of monotonous beeps, Zombieman hissed a curse under his breath when he rushed to grab his keys and head to C-City. He didn’t even bother to shelf his evidence back when he bolted out the door.

Kids, he swore...

#one punch man #opm #metal bat #metal bat OPM #character study #Zombieman #Zombieman OPM #what kendall writes. #A.k.a. Badd respects girls and fights abusers #all while his uncle exasperatingly tries to collect evidence

[shyvioletcat]

Fireman AU where Aelin's room actually gets broken into (but obviously she handles it like a badass) But rowan offers her to stay (mostly out of guilt) until the doors Really fixed? 👀

This ask was absolutely perfect. Exactly what I needed.

Masterlist here

~~~~~

Aelin cursed the lack of elevator for the the millionth time. Coming home late after dinner with Aedion and Lysandra and then having climb six flights of stairs to reach her apartment was torture.

Aelin literally pulled herself up the last few steps by gripping the rail but she stopped dead on the landing. The padlock on her door wasn’t there. It was in pieces on the ground.

Her heart started thundering in her chest and she blindly felt around for the small can of deodorant she kept in her handbag. The door was only opened a crack, whoever had broken in could still be inside, making it look like nothing was amiss.

As quietly as she could Aelin crept towards her door and pushed the door open. The lights were off in the apartment and it was quiet until...

There was someone in her bedroom.

Shouldering her bag Aelin popped the lid the deodorant and gave it a quick shake. Then she was moving.

The person inside her room was was dressed in a black hoodie and was going through the contents on top of her chest of drawers. Her jewellery box and keepsakes.

“Hey!” Aelin yelled.

The person whirled and Aelin was there a moment later spraying the deodorant in their face. They yelped in pain and crashed back into the drawers, setting them rattling. They tried to barge past her but Aelin dealt out a quick jab and a left hook that had them dropping to the ground groaning in pain.

Just then the light light flicked on. Aelin turned around to see Rowan standing in her bedroom doorway.

“Are you okay?”

~~~~~

Rowan had been on his way to get his spare charger from the car when he saw that Aelin’s door was open, the padlock in pieces. He’d run in and followed the noises to the bedroom where he found Aelin standing over a groaning man on the floor.

“Are you okay?” He asked. She looked it, the only person who seemed to be hurt was the man on the ground.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Aelin said as she breathed heavily.

They both looked down and the intruder. He was rubbing furiously at his eyes and had the other hand on his stomach. He was a fair bit bigger than Aelin, Rowan was surprised she had taken him down so easily.

Aelin pulled the bag off her shoulder and pulled out her phone. Rowan kept an eye on the man on the floor.

“Hey Chaol. You on duty?” Aelin said. “Good. Someone broke into my apartment.”

~~~~~

It took about 15 minutes for Chaol to arrive with a small team of police officers. They’d shut the burglar in her bedroom while they waited, Rowan holding the door shut. Aelin had downed about four glasses on water, one after the other, in an attempt to cool her adrenaline rush. Hadn’t done much to help, except that she now really needed to pee.

“I assume you want to press charges?” Chaol had come into the kitchen.

“Yep,” Aelin replied. “Will he press charges against me?”

“If he does it will most likely come to nothing. Seeming as we’ve found a bunch of your things stashed in his bag and pockets, and you’ve left no lasting damage,” Chaol explained. “Why is your door locked with a padlock and that flimsy sliding lock? One good push and anyone could get in.”

Aelin glared daggers in Rowan’s direction. He was giving a statement to another police officer, arms folded across his chest.

“That idiot over there broke my door thinking he was being a hero,” Aelin said.

“Rowan? We’ve crossed paths working. Firefighter right?”

Aelin nodded in response to Chaol’s questions. Chaol just looked confused.

“I’ll explain next time I see you. Right now I’d like to go to bed,” Aelin said.

Chaol nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll get everyone out as soon as I can. And call me if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Aelin said.

She waited in her kitchen until everyone left. Rowan was the last. He lingered for a moment and looked like he was about to say something. Aelin ignored him and made her way to the bathroom, effectively dismissing him. She was too tired and too angry to have it out with him right now. So she opted for a shower instead.

~~~~~

Rowan felt terrible. He’d never even contemplated that Aelin’s apartment would actually be broken into. Just some vague threat that he never expected to happe. He had glanced at the sliding lock that he’d installed on the inside of the door.

It was a shocking job.

If he lent on the door hard enough he’d probably be able to get it open. When he had first installed it was fine, but his half assed attempt at installing it meant it had lasted barely a week.

He’d wanted to tell Aelin he was sorry. But she’d ignored him so he left instead closing the door behind him.

Rowan went to his car to get his charger, his legs burning as he climbed back up the stairs. When he got back to Aelin’s door he stopped. He knew what he had to do.

~~~~~

Aelin had just finished making a cup of tea when she heard a knock on her door, the door threatening to open from the force of it, even though it wasn’t a particular hard knock. Leaving the cup of tea on kitchen bench Aelin padded over to the door and opened it, dressed in a t-shirt, leggings and socks.

Rowan stood there, in his pyjamas, pillow and blanket in hand. He looked ready for a sleepover.

“I’m so sorry Aelin,” he said. “I didn’t think someone would actually break in. I’ll stay until I get the door fixed. No matter how long it takes. I’ve got this weekend off so I can dedicate two whole days to getting it sorted. I’m just so sorry.”

Aelin him in the face, at the sincerity there. “You’re just doing this because you feel guilty.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But I really should have been trying harder,” Rowan said and then shrugged.

Aelin just moved aside and let him in. He went straight to the couch and dropped his blanket and pillow there.

“I just made a cup of tea. Would you like one?” Aelin asked.

“Sure,” Rowan said as he followed her to the kitchen. “How did you manage to drop that guy anyway?”

Aelin pulled a mug from the cupboard. “10 years of kickboxing.”

Rowan let out a low whistle. Aelin smiled a little.

“I guess I’m lucky you never turned those skills on me considering the situation.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve thought about it. Especially when you came bursting in that first night,” Aelin said and laughed when Rowan’s face fell a little. “Just keep on my good side now and you won’t have to worry.”

“How exactly do a stay on your good side, Aelin?” Rowan took the mug Aelin offered.

Aelin gave Rowan a wink over the rim of her own mug. “I’ll let you know.”

~~~~~

Tags: @tangledraysofsunshine @nalgenewhore @highqueenofelfhame @galyxsy @fucking-winchester-trash @literary-licorice @http-itsrebecca @highladyofthesith @aelinfire-bringer @soup-that-is-too-hawt @sleep-and-books @3am-reading @average-girl-at-best @but-she-was-aelin-galathynius @rowaelinforeverworld @alifletcher2012 @westofmoon @tswaney17 @mydarlingfireheart

#and then all of a sudden they were roomates #well kind of 😉 #firefighter au #striking matches #rowaelin fanfiction #rowaelin #throne of glass fanfiction

[thelazyhermits]

You know, after giving it some thought, I really don’t think I’m ever gonna try to pick up where I left off with the TABF main story and continue covering canon events like the way I did with the main story. The reason for that being that after seeing recent manga events I really don’t think TABF wouldn’t go that route because of the changes I already made to canon.

So, in the end, I wouldn’t be following canon for long before it diverges into AU territory. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I don’t really see the point in trying to cover the manga’s current arc since it’ll end up being pretty anticlimactic, at least on one end, and Fortune wouldn’t even be present to see everything going on anyway. 

I’m not saying I’ll stop covering canon events period. I just don’t plan on covering every single arc that follows after the Cultural Festival arc. I just might do one shots here and there addressing certain events like how Secrets Revealed, the Shinsou hug drabble, and the Monoma drabble covered the aftermath of the Joint Training arc

I know some of y’all had been excited by the idea of me eventually covering future canon events, so I feel bad for disappointing y’all. But I just can’t see TABF going the same route as canon

Under the cut I’ll go into more details about my reasoning for this decision. The reason I’m doing it this way is since I’ll be mentioning manga spoilers and I wanted to provide a general explanation first for those who would prefer to avoid spoilers.

Okay, so not too long ago, I brought up my theory that Shigaraki’s big revival in the recent chapters wouldn’t happen thanks to Fortune’s and Nighteye’s Quirks and the fact that the heroes have the Quirk erasing bullets since Nighteye and Aizawa confiscated them before Overhaul was taken away from the police.

I still stand by that, but I wanted to add something else to that. The main reason Shigaraki revived was the fact that X-Less destroyed a machine that was still running and the live wire hit the water surrounding Shigaraki. That electric shock is what led to Shigaraki’s heart beating again. 

We’ve recently found out that the Quirk-erasing bullets that Shigaraki gave the doctor were in that machine. So, since he never got a hold of those bullets in TABF, neither did the doctor, so there would be no need for that machine to be on or even there period in TABF. Whether the doctor already had it or built it for the sake of creating more bullets doesn’t matter since there wouldn’t be a need for it to be on in that scenario. Ergo X-Less could carry on with his duty of carrying Shigaraki out of there while he’s still very much dead.

Not only that, since Nighteye is alive, I see him being a part of the hospital team so even if that machine still happened to be there and active, he would stop X-Less and make sure he carried on with his mission since by this point Nighteye has already used his Quirk and knows exactly how everything is supposed go down in the hospital.

Even if there was a way for Shigaraki to still magically revive, Nighteye would see it ahead of time thanks to his Quirk and would just use the Quirk-erasing bullets on Shigaraki before he can hurt anyone. So I really can’t see a way for Shigaraki to come out of this situation alive. 

While I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it, Nighteye ends up working with Hawks in TABF thanks to Fortune’s interference. After she gets a vision of Hawks at that rally with the LoV and MLA, she realizes just how dangerous Hawks’ position is and what the heroes are up against, so she drags Hawks to Nighteye’s agency so Nighteye can look at his future and see for himself just how bad things are about to get.

After that point, Nighteye starts working with Hawks, getting ready for the big showdown with the villain army. Unfortunately, this meeting takes place just after the My Villain Academia arc so the two forces still end up joining together.

However, in the end, the heroes still have the advantage because they have Hawks and Nighteye. After he gets let in on Hawks’ secret mission, Nighteye starts doing his own investigation in order to learn as much as he can about the LoV and the MLA. This of course includes using his Quirk to find out what all is gonna happen in the future. 

It’s because Nighteye gets involved in this investigation that he tells Midoriya to intern somewhere else during the winter since he knew he wouldn’t be able to dedicate the amount of time Midoriya needed for Black Whip. Plus, he didn’t want to risk Midoriya getting involved with the investigation. That’s why Midoriya still ends up interning with Endeavor like in canon.

So, overall, I see things ending in the heroes’ favor with the hospital team. Now, I’m not saying that the rest of the villains or the MLA will get stopped since I could see Dabi and Mr. Compress trying to run once they see the odds are not in their favor. 

Considering how upset she was about Twice’s death, I think Toga would continue fighting the heroes until someone finally manages to stop her, but it’s also possible that she could find a way to escape being captured since I know she’s not one to underestimate.

I’m not sure what would happen with Gigantomachia since he only responds to Shigaraki, so since Shigaraki would die in this situation, I would assume either Gigantomachia just doesn’t do anything or he escapes thinking he’ll be receiving orders from Shigaraki eventually. It’s hard to say for sure, but I can’t see him fighting without orders unless he finds out about Shigaraki’s death and tries to avenge him. His situation is kinda up in the air since I don’t know enough about him to get an idea of how he would act if Shigaraki is successfully stopped.

In regards to the MLA, I could see the heroes coming out on top, but it’s possible that some of the army could escape. However, in TABF, Mirio would be in the team dealing with the attack on the HQ so he would give a lot of the army members a run for their money considering how strong he is. So the LoV and MLA would be at a bigger disadvantage since I could see Mirio taking out a lot of people on his own. 

So, even though Shigaraki would be stopped, I could still see some bad guys escaping this situation so they could become a viable threat down the line after they regroup. So it’s not like the heroes would have a complete victory.

To summarize, I can’t see the LoV and MLA being successful in the current manga arc in TABF like they are in canon ergo the series’ main antagonists would be stopped resulting in a lot of future canon events not happening.

Honestly, I have no interest in attempting to write this arc since Fortune wouldn’t be directly involved. She’d be at UA with Eri during all of this, so the most I could really write is her interactions with everyone before and after it. I won’t say that I won’t ever write something along those lines, but as of right now, I don’t plan to.

I’m really sorry for disappointing everyone who was looking forward to a direct continuation of the TABF main story, but I just think this is the best way to go for the series. 

#TABF #oof I talked a lot #sorry about that lol 😅 #this has just been on my mind #after recent events in the manga #and I just finally decided to write out my thoughts #I hate that things would end so anticlimactically #but this is really how I see things ending up #I know y'all might think the villains could go after nighteye #but considering they're supposed to be laying low #and how hawks would be keeping an eye out for him #I can't see that happening #I just can't see shigaraki surviving this situation #the only reason he revived was cause of that live wire #as long as that doesn't happen #he'll stay dead #that's what I believe #all in all the day is saved thanks to nighteye #I said this before but #I really do feel like horikoshi killed nighteye cause his quirk was too powerful and useful #the villains would've had so much more difficulty if nighteye lived lol #bnha spoilers

[itsclydebitches]

Ironwood tucked tail and ran, he didn't actually consider his options he reacted with paranoia and literally did the thing the villains (Watts) told him to his face was the thing they wanted him to do. Ironwood neglected Mantle for ages, like seriously he was going to tell everyone while Mantle had a huge hole in its wall. And no he wasn't doing everything possible the whole season was all about how he was sacrificing Mantle's safety for his own end.

There are a lot of different points here so I’m going to break things up: 

“[Ironwood] didn’t actually consider his options” except he did. We had an entire, if heated, conversation about it. Is Amity ready? No. So can we use it? No. Are we in any state to keep fighting? No. Has the perimeter been taken out? Potentially. Is Salem approaching? Likely. They ran through a number of different factors and came out with two options: leave now or hold their ground. Based on what they know, Option Two is a death sentence and when no one was able to come up with an Option Three that combined saving Mantle with keeping the rest of the populace alive + keeping relics/a Maiden out of Salem’s hands, Ironwood went with Option One. People also have to remember that from their perspective she could be here any second. This is the opposite of Volume 6 where the group actually had time to come up with various options and chose not to. Here, they can’t afford to spends hours or days trying to come up with additional solutions when Salem may be on their doorstep in a matter of minutes. 

“literally did the thing the villains... wanted him to do” yeah, he did, but again... what’s Option Three? What’s the solution where Ironwood keeps people safe without creating a single bit of division among them? Right now it doesn’t exist. Just because the hero ends up doing what the villain wanted doesn’t mean that decision wasn’t logical or justified. It doesn’t mean they had another way out. It just means that the villain did their job and crafted a scenario where the hero is screwed no matter what they choose.That’s what makes Salem so hard to beat. It’s akin to a trick. She crafts plans wherein even the best solutions have horrific consequences attached, but that’s not Ironwood’s fault. This is gonna sound weird, but I’ve had that Matrix scene stuck in my head the last few days. Neo is offered a red pill and a blue pill and told to choose, now. The fandom’s response to Ironwood’s dilemma is akin to going, “I can’t believe Neo didn’t take the time he wasn’t offered to choose the green pill instead.” That green pill... doesn’t exist... Not yet anyway. 

“Ironwood neglected Mantle for ages” again, building Amity necessitated that neglect. We can argue that Ironwood never should have built Amity in the first place then---letting Mantle have their resources is more important than building a communications tower/thinking you can defeat Salem---but the fandom and the RWBYJNR team don’t get to have both. We can’t demand that Ironwood finish this project and then drag him for doing what’s necessary to achieve that. Amity was not “for his own end.” Nor were things like the military presence. We can argue the ethics of whether it’s ever appropriate to keep soldiers around town, but the intent has always been to keep the people safe. And given how many times grimm broke through the walls this volume? Those soldiers probably saved a lot of lives. If we’re truly going to criticize Ironwood for his treatment of Mantle than we likewise need to criticize the group for staying on his back about Amity. It’s because they allowed him to think that this was a way to defeat Salem for so long and pushed him to get it done that the mistreatment of Mantle continued. How do you keep Ironwood from taking resources from the people? Idk, maybe tell him that the thing he wants the resources for won’t actually save the world like he thinks it will... 

“like seriously he was going to tell everyone while Mantle had a huge hole in its wall” 100% agree there. I think it was stupid af to tell the people about Salem at all, let alone during a grimm attack. But remember that our heroes were very pleased with that development. That’s the one thing Ironwood has been praised for. Again, if we’re going to criticize him for that then Ruby likewise deserves criticism for pushing him towards telling others about Salem and then giving her  little, “He’s doing it.” As I’ve mentioned the last two volumes, my primary issue with the writing is not that the characters make mistakes, but rather the hypocrisy that occurs when that happens. Team RWBY is continually let off the hook by both the writing and the fandom despite the fact that their actions contributed immensely to all of Ironwood’s mistakes. Their mistakes are just as much at the center of all this, but no one wants to acknowledge how keeping that secret forced Ironwood to work under hugely false information. Even though we just got a whole volumes articulating how horrific that sort of manipulation was for Team RWBY under Ozpin. Their choice to repeat Ozpin’s actions had far more devastating circumstances, namely hurting Mantle in the name of a plan they knew was doomed from that start. RWBYJNR could have spared Mantle at any time. 

“...Ironwood’s plan sucks” yeah, it has a million holes in it, but again, does anyone have a better plan? If Salem’s flying grimm army is such a threat to a hypothetically sky-high Atlas, why aren’t people acknowledging what a threat those + grounded grimm are to an Atlas that sticks around beside Mantle? To be blunt, there are way bigger priorities here. No one should be asking, “But what will we do about food days/weeks from now?” when Salem is theoretically coming to kill them in the next hour. How about we survive the immediate threat first. If we’re all alive to worry about food later that will be a miracle. 

“take apart a military vehicle or two and used the material to fix Mantle’s wall” maybe he could have. We as the audience have no idea what exactly these “resources” are and how they might be replaced, but if we’re really going to nit-pick like that... why didn’t anyone else? Why didn’t Team RWBY suggest that instead of just yelling at Ironwood to fix everything himself? Why didn’t Robyn do that instead of stealing the materials on their way to Amity? Everyone keeps insisting that Ironwood isn’t united with the others, but it’s everyone else who insists that he fix everything himself while simultaneously betraying, lying, criticizing, and undermining him along the way. I likewise don’t buy the “Ironwood is the adult and he’s responsible for Team RWBY” argument I’ve seen floating around because that’s by the same group who was going, “Team RWBY are adults now Ozpin and Qrow need to trust them more” last volume. They have their licenses. They’re working with a military inner circle. They, as I’ve said before, don’t get to flip-flop between vulnerable children and responsible adults as they please. If the group is mature enough to fight this war at Ironwood’s side then they’re mature enough to go, “Hey, how about the eight of us try to think up ways to help instead of just yelling that we don’t like what Ironwood, as just one very stressed person, has managed to come up with?” 

“maybe he could have updated Mantle’s security” again, we don’t know what Ironwood might or might not have done after the Fall of Beacon in terms of updates. All we do know is that he didn’t have the one crucial piece of information that made Mantle’s security seem vulnerable: Watts is alive. Ironwood only found that out after Watts had already taken over. 

“Maybe he could have told the council and worked with his own government” sorry but this argument always makes my brain go “????” The only thing we know about this council is that they were fully backing Jacques at the meeting, which is not a good indicator of how trustworthy they were pre-his arrest. If we’re praising Team RWBY for not trusting Ironwood---someone who has been fighting Salem for years and who immediately shared his own secrets---why in the world would we expect Ironwood to trust two lackeys of Jacques Schnee? One of these options seemed a whole lot less trustworthy than the other. And I guarantee you that if we had gotten a story where Ironwood brought in the council and then we learned they had been working closely with Jacques? People would criticize him for that too. “Maybe he could have kept things quiet like Team RWBY did and not give information to a corrupt government.” It’s a lose-lose, apparently. 

“did what the kids wanted and it WORKED” literally only because the plot went wonky to accommodate them. No one freaking out, no one angry anymore, everyone coming together to sing the Remnant equivalent of Kumbaya... I’m by no means against hopeful results superseding “realistic” ones, but this was a seriously extreme example of the plot accommodating the group’s preferences. In the same way it accommodated them in Argus. It’s a deliberate choice not to have there be any repercussions to starting huge grimm battles ,or telling an angry mob about the sorceress sociopath out to kill them all, and RT grabbed hold of that choice by both hands. It’s hard to argue who is really “right” or “wrong” when the narrative itself makes sure that only one party’s actions ever have bad outcomes whereas the others always come out rosy. It has been a rigged system the last two volumes. Team RWBY’s choices are always “right” not because they’re justified, but because the writing ensures that nothing bad ever happens as a result. Even when logic dictates that it should. 

“idk maybe tell them to fight on their own they can” this would be a good option if the group were actually interested in just defending Mantle. But they’re not, their goal is to stop Ironwood from leaving Mantle behind. We get that moment where the whole team stands in front of him in a semi-circle, making it clear that if he wants to enact his plan, he’ll have to go through them first. It’s not a, “You do your thing and we’ll do ours” situation, it’s a “We’re not going to allow you to do your own thing.” So Ironwood responds to that with, “Fine. You’re forcing me to move you? You’re under arrest.” 

“maybe see about getting their system back up” Watts had complete control over the system. The conversation at the dinner made it clear that everyone was locked out: Ironwood, the council, even Jacques himself. And I doubt Watts, wherever he is now, is just going to hand that control back because Ironwood asked. Which again, comes back to time. Do they have time to interrogate Watts? No. Do they have time to sit other tech experts down and try to get them to reclaim the system? No. People keep insisting that these are all options that Ironwood willfully ignores, but every one of them results in the same thing: Atlas twiddling its thumbs as Salem slams in with her grimm army. This would be a very different situation if she were days out and they had some time to try these things, but the setup is very much, “If she’s coming she’s going to be here in no time at all. Whatever we’re doing, we have to do it right now.” Long-term “options” of these sort simply aren’t on the table. Telling someone to take the hour-long “option” when you literally have five minutes is just illogical. Rejecting that doesn’t make you a bad person, it makes you the one person thinking the situation through. As I’ve said before, Ironwood and the Ace Ops are the only ones weighing these issues in a “Is this actually possible? manner. Team RWBY is riding purely on confidence and hope. 

“there’s no proof Salem is coming” you’re right, there isn’t. We only have her promise and the silent perimeter, so no, that’s not proof. ... but are you really willing to risk that? I sure as hell wouldn’t be. There’s no way I would trust that many lives to “Well, she might be pulling our leg.” Calling her bluff is a BEYOND risky choice and the only reason the fandom thinks it’s such a good option is because we’re looking at this from a storytelling perspective. We know it’s unlikely that the group will face off against Salem before the final volume. We know it’s unlikely that Salem would start attacking the world in earnest because she’s so damn powerful that this would wipe everyone out in a mater of weeks and then, you know, there’s no story anymore. As characters in this world they have no reason to believe that Salem would lie about coming, especially after Watts, Tyrian, the chess piece, the perimeter... Salem has clearly been setting up something, but Ironwood should just ignore all that to call a hypothetical bluff, risking every single person in the process? That goes so beyond endangerment I’m not even sure what to call it. That would be the action of someone I wouldn’t trust as my leader. Risking the Maiden, two relics, and the lives of an entire kingdom on an entirely unfounded hunch. That’s straight up insanity and if Ironwood had done that I would have hoped the Ace Ops would revolt. You’re clearly unfit to serve, sir, if you’re going to risk all our lives---the entire world even---on a theory that has 4 points against it and 0 in favor. 

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #mymetas #Anonymous

[neshabeingchildish]

League of Extraordinary Geniuses || Chapter 6

I’d been trying NOT to, in case others wanted to read this story, but at this point, I’ve only seen fans of these fandoms interact, so there will be things mentioned that if you didn’t watch the shows, you’ll be lost about. So sorry if there are others here now, but I am mostly writing for those who have interacted and let me know their thoughts and feelings about this story and they’ve all been familiar with Lab Rats, Henry Danger, and The Thundermans, so… this chapter in particular has some things that it would be much too much to explain it all, from LR canon and a bit from HD too, and I’m sorry if there are readers unfamiliar with that, but y’all haven’t let me know that you’re here.

Y’all probably didn’t expect another update this soon, but what had happened was the last chapter would have been too long, so I found a point to cut it for that one. Also, a story line that I wanted to touch on this story, but didn’t realize how I would incorporate it until @kiddangers made a post about it either her or on her Instagram, can’t remember, and she sparked the topic and now it is a major story arc in this fic, which might be hella hurtful at some point, but... If you’re in for the ride, you’re in for it, Friends. 

@verified-dumbass @just-a-j-reallly I’ve decided not to continue tagging anybody else that hasn’t interacted, out of courtesy and just feeling awkward about tagging people that are nonresponsive to it.

What if I’m the Monster

Conspiracy theories were running wild and fortunately, all of the communities that had reason to think that they might be able to be linked to this scandal quickly took action to try to clear their records and discover who the real guilty party was. The bionic, supers, and non-super communities all began their own investigations as to what might have happened while the collaboration of Dystress, Shoutout, Thunderstrike and Chase Davenport were on the ground, assessing the scene themselves. Of course, Chase was the spokesperson and mission leader. That would put everyone at home at better ease. 

“Myself and a team of trusted heroes have been working practically nonstop since the torpedo attack to figure out what took place here. There were some recent developments that I’m not at liberty to speak about, which Davenport Industries had been handling, and one of our facilities was going to be attacked, when fortunately, a superhero stepped in and managed to save it and all surrounding innocents that might have been caught in the crossfire. We have recovered several remains, but they are as of this moment inconclusive. What I can assure the public of is that my current team and the Davenport brand will be working hard to get to the bottom of this tragedy and keep the citizens of Jamaica safe from any further threats…” 

He and Shoutout left the press conference and returned directly back to the crash site that Dystress and Thunderstrike were at. Thunderstrike had telepathically tunneled a lot of the water, froze it in pillars, and Dystress used her scanning systems for wreckage. With this tactic, they had found numerous parts of the jet and some torpedo shrapnel, but it wasn’t until Chase returned, with his hypersenses that they found the first possible remains of an assailant… “I don’t know how to say this,” he said. 

“With your words, perhaps?” Max offered. 

“That’s an android…” He sighed. Max unfroze the pillar, and Chase telepathically collected the android remains to them. The four looked down at it for a while. There was very little human DNA left to him. Some hair and facial components, a few fingers, and everything else was charred and shattered metal. “They’re starting to enlist them against their brethren,” Chase said sadly. “I don’t know why I didn’t think about that happening. Of course they would! Who better to go toe to toe with them than their own kind?” 

Max and Charlotte noticed that he was really upset about this. Charlotte beckoned over some Davenport analysts to quietly collect this, so that the three of them could inspect the body later. She also decided that they had been working too hard and would need a break. At the very least, Mika would, so she dismissed her and told her to try to get some rest.

“And, you probably should too. You’ve been out of your chamber for days,” Charlotte observed. Chase folded his arms and watched as the employees took the android away.

“I want to begin studying him, right away.”

“I do too, but we’re only human. We do need to rest.”

“We’re not ONLY human,” Chase argued.

“No, but we still need rest and we’ve earned it. You, especially.”

“Why, him especially?” Max asked. Charlotte just threw him a look. It was so smart of her to have a mask that covers her mouth instead of one that covered her eyes, because those looks were a weapon of their own. “Fine. But, if he’s resting, we all should rest and let the androids keep watch while the Davenport searchers keep collecting samples.”

“Is that agreeable, Chase?” Charlotte asked. 

Chase sighed and reluctantly nodded his head. He knew that she wanted him to get some rest and she had a point, afterall. The three of them went to the safehouse and tried to calm their nerves and settle in. 

You would’ve thought that they would be so drained that they would immediately all fall to sleep, but all were restless. Max passed by Mika and knocked on the door, “Hey. You gonna get some sleep, or what?” He asked. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him, the expression gesturing to the fact that she was clearly on a call. He waved his fingers at Chapa, on the screen and then pointed at Mika, “Sleep in, if you need to in the morning, but try to at least lay down for the night. You can talk to your girlfriend some other time.” 

Mika scoffed and shook her head, “Goodnight, Max.”

Chapa asked, “He thinks we’re girlfriends? Awesome.” 

Mika replied, “He said that just to be annoying. 

Max smirked to himself as he headed for the shower. Charlotte was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and washing her face and such. She usually did that before getting into the shower, so he said, “I’m goin’ in,” and she nodded. It didn’t bother her, but he liked to at least be clear. He was in the shower, sort of zoned out and thinking while she sprayed her locs with oils and finished up her preshower things. They crossed paths switching up who was in the shower and didn’t even have the energy for some risque joke about it. 

Charlotte knew that it had to be just as heavy on their hearts as it was on hers… They freed the androids and now it seemed that at least one or some of them not only didn’t appreciate it, but might make it hard enough that they could be in serious trouble for even attempting it. 

When she came out of the shower, Max was still in the mirror, doing his thing. This was the one of the quickest times either of them had ever taken in a bathroom before. He was just staring into the mirror, holding his toothbrush, though. “Hey… You okay?” 

He blinked and then looked at her in her robe, holding a jar of body butter. He smiled and nodded. “How can I not be. I’m in the best place in the world - with you.” He came over and kissed her on the forehead. “It’s gonna be okay.”

She sighed, “It better be. You and Chase let go of a lot to be here.”

“I can’t speak for him, but a lot is here for me.” He cupped her face and pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m gonna make sure Mika’s got everything she needs, then I’m crashing in your room, if that’s okay.”

“I was gonna crash in Mika’s room,” she said. “She has nightmares sometimes after a stressful day and the last few days have been hell for me, so I can only imagine what they’ve been for her.”

“You could very well imagine. You’ve been a hero for a while, now.”

“I forgot how this felt. When something serious and dangerous is staring you in the face and you literally don’t know if you’re about to die. I feel… triggered. I hate that she has triggering memories now, and one of the scariest days in her life has taken place because she’s here for me.”

“Mika is where she wants to be. We all are. We chose you, Char. Come on. Let’s check on the kid and get to bed.”

They peeked into Mika’s room and Chase was in there, moving around. “What are you doing?” Charlotte asked in a whisper. 

“She was having a nightmare. I kept hearing her whimpering, so I’m trying to calm her down or something,” he said. He looked tired and irritated, but he was also concerned. Charlotte rubbed his back and took over. She put on some music, sprayed some fragrance, handed Mika her beloved plushie, rubbed some oils on her feet, tucked her in and strummed her scalp. After a moment, she was snoring and the trio left her to it. Charlotte would be back, but she had this grave nagging feeling that she needed to make sure that they got to bed too. She felt like this was her fault, no matter what Max said to try to smooth her over. They had followed her into this and this had become tricky. 

“I’m going to try to get us a bigger space when I have time, so that you two don’t have to squeeze into the same room,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

“It’s fine. I put my chamber in your room, so Max can have the spare to himself.”

“Nice try, but I’m crashing in her room. She’s got all the good sleepy time stuff like candles and… stuff and I’m sleeping in there, as well.”

“It’s fine. You two are always welcome to crash in my room. I’ll set the mood for you.” She similarly fixed the room as she had done for Mika, programmed some things into Chase’s chamber and when both her guys were asleep, she ducked out of the room and into a video call with Jasper and Henry.

“Char! Thank goodness! We’ve been trying to reach you for days. I was starting to think that the footage of Dystress on the news was altered and you’d been taken into some underground prisoner chamber!” Jasper worried.

“Nope. Just been taken to depression town. Was hoping you had some feel good stories about the kids or something to help me cheer up.”

Henry nodded, “Say no more. Jasper’s been making all of these musical fan videos of the kids and putting them on our DingDong account.”

“Oooh, I’m gonna check those out.”

“ALSO… We got the uh… shipment…” Henry said and looked more serious now. “They’re in the Dome. Wasn’t sure if they were capable of being at Budding Flowers.”

“They’re not defected. They’re free, and want to work with children. Your charity is one of the most successful ones in the world, currently. Androids are people too.”

Jasper winced, “Only… They aren’t… and… well…”

“Ray is freaking out about the recent news that androids now have autonomy, because if you remember, a Piper from the future came back to tell us that hell on Earth was a road paved by a robot takeover. They created ones that looked like children. Jasper and I just don’t feel comfortable, at the moment letting androids interact with kids that we’ve vowed to protect…”

“Wow. You two think that I’ve kickstarted the end of the world?” She asked, feeling absolutely worse than she had before she called them.

“No. We think that you would do anything to help others and to fix the world and that there are others out there who will take advantage of that, if they get the chance,” Henry offered.

Jasper added, “Schwoz’s friend from Davenport was telling us all about an android rebellion that once almost took place. His ex girlfriend’s models are the same ones that you designed yours after. Come ON, Charlotte…” 

“She intended for them to be used for evil. There’s a big difference in our work and the results. Wow… I’m going to go check on Mika. Have a good night.”

“Char…” Henry said.

“Good night, Henry!” She hung up, frustrated and ready to cry. Not because she felt like they were being mean or hard on her. Because, they had a point and she couldn’t believe that her messiah complex had allowed her to miss it beforehand. They didn’t even KNOW about the android remains that were found. Oh God, what if she was the figurative first horseman? Conquering the academic world, looking like a savior to all because of her penchant for improving lives and society and her solutions that help and bring about peace… only to also be the reason that war and bloodshed roll in, and then famine and disease and death… How on Earth she got from messiah complex to I am literally the antichrist, she was unsure, but that was where her mind was whenever she began to doze off. 

.

Mika woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. She was gonna get some warm milk with lavender honey and maybe a patty, if there were any more in there. She found Charlotte, sitting on the patio, asleep with her head on her laptop. She went to get Max, but neither him nor Chase were in their room, so she checked Charlotte’s and there they both were. Chase in his chamber, Max in Charlotte’s bed, covered by pillows, with a sleeping mask on and the smell of candles and incense heavy in the air. She woke him up, “Charlotte fell to sleep outside.”

“What?” He asked, half asleep, but jumping out of bed, anyway. He collected Charlotte. Mika collected her devices and they put her back in her bed. Mika felt left out, and grabbed her blanket and stuffie and came into Charlotte’s room too. With her in Charlotte’s bed, Max made a little fortress on the floor and quickly went back to sleep. Mika was awake for a while, but Charlotte’s arm draped around her and she fell back to sleep. 

Charlotte got up and looked around the room. She didn’t remember coming to bed and now, she had Chase in his chamber, Max on the floor with half of her pillows, Mika in her bed and her own head was spinning, because, as she just recalled, she’d cried herself to sleep. Still, she was the first person awake and she started her day without waking any of the others. Eventually, Max and Chase came into the lab, where she was evaluating all of the diagnostics on the remains, listening to music, and talking on the phone, “Well, if I can get those remains sent to me, it will help me to determine how likely the root of that issue is and to ease your mind and maybe others,’ in the process.” Chase looked at the screen and Max went straight to the autoblender. “Okay. Thank you for your cooperation, and tell Douglas to learn to keep his fat mouth shut when he’s in the room with MY people.” She hung up and looked up, “Good morning.”

“What’s that about Douglas?” Max wondered, while Chase breezed through all of the research. 

“He was talking to Ray and Schwoz about Giselle Vicker’s plans to use androids for a hostile takeover and now, one of THEEEEEEEE STUPIDEST powerful men has ideas in his head about the free androids and a robot rebellion and… Anyway, Schwoz is gonna send me the remains of a robot from the future so that I can study it.”

Max and Chase both stared at her blankly, then looked at each other. “How long have you been awake, Charlotte?” Chase asked.

“I got enough sleep,” she snapped, shaking her head. “In another, idk 20 years or so, maybe less… there is supposed to be a robot takeover inspired by the Terminator movies. Thanks to Douglas having a conversation with Ray, he now thinks that I’ve somehow set things in motion for that to occur.”

“Well… If you have, it’s done now. Besides, the fact that you have a robot from the future to work on is all the proof you need that it was gonna happen anyway,” Max said, making a smoothie. “I wanna see the robot, though. Let me in on that.”

“You and I need to keep searching for remains,” Chase reminded him. 

“That’s not gonna take us the rest of our lives. By the way,” Max said to Charlotte as he poured the smoothie, “Told Mika to sleep in. Marx arrived today, so you can get him to do anything that she was gonna do.”

“Who arrived?” Chase wondered, because he was supposed to approve anybody that anyone was trying to bring into the loop and he hadn’t spoken with Max about anybody. 

“His personal android assistant,” a male voice said from the doorway and Chase gasped and prepared himself to attack. 

Max rushed to jump in front of Chase and said, “Sorry, sorry, sorry… It was supposed to be hilarious, but then things took a turn and I didn’t get a chance to explain to you. This is my personal android assistant, Marx. I made him in the Marcus model form to fuck with you, but I promise, he’s of no actual ties to your Marcus.”

“That you know of,” Charlotte said. “I tried to talk him and Douglas OUT  of this.”

“Douglas missed his son’s face and had some regrets and I wanted a personal android assistant. I thought it would be quite humorous to have him walk up to you one day, but fate had other plans,” Max said.

Chase was staring at the android. It looked JUST like Marcus. Why would Douglas allow this and not tell him? What if Leo had seen this thing? Marx was staring back at Chase, but he had a polite semi smile on his face. “Keep it away from me,” Chase said.

“Marx uses he/him/his pronouns,” Max said and patted Marx on the shoulder. “They/them/theirs, at the very least.” 

Chase smiled tightly, “Keep him away from me, and I MEAN that, Max Thunderman!” He stormed out of the lab and Charlotte shook her head. “I asked you to give Marx a different face.”

“I didn’t have time!”

Marx said, “If it pleases you, I could work on some programming to change my face, however, I don’t prefer to do so.”

“Naw, keep your face. Just… stay away from the little guy.”

“From Mr. Chase Davenport. Got it.”

.

Chase was livid. How could that POSSIBLY be seen as a joke? If he knew about Marcus, he HAD to know about all of the pain and terror he caused the family! That only made him feel a resurgence of hostility towards Douglas. Sure, they were on pleasant terms, but some part of him would always hold on to, at least a little bit, the things that he had been willing to do to his own. Really, he was the reason that Marcus was so terrible, then he just left him, for Giselle Vickers to find and… Chase was getting extremely furious thinking about this. Marcus had been one of the first major betrayals done to him. He thought they were friends, and not only were they actually enemies, but that was his brother who his father had turned against him and he hated that Max Thunderman would casually try to prank him by showing him such a face.

After a while, Max joined him, silently at first, but they both felt the tension there. They were silently working. A few times, a question came up in one of their minds, but neither of them wanted to break the silence, because it was uncertain whether it would relieve the tension. Finally, Max had to break. “It was messed up of me to make a Marcus model android with the intention to shake you up. I knew a little bit about the situation and not whatever it was that your memory tapped into back there. And, I really didn’t know you at the time, either. I didn’t think about how it would affect you like this and I certainly didn’t think you and me would be on the terms we are on right now. So, I hate that I took a joke so far, but it was all me. Douglas really just liked the feeling of seeing his son’s face again. And Charlotte, of course told me the entire time that it would be harmful. I just go too far sometimes.”

Chase was breathing heavy the entire time. Waiting on Max to actually apologize, not just list what happened. But, then again, why would he? He was obviously the type to get pleasure out of people’s pain and not even care about their personal trauma at the expense of a stupid laugh. He was much too smart to just “not realize it’d be that harmful,” so Chase wasn’t eager to listen to him and definitely not going to trust him. 

“I guess the perks of being raised in a picture perfect family don’t include having some respect for others who weren’t so privileged,” Chase said. And that was all he felt like he needed to. To dive deeper, he’d dig deeper into his own problems, and he still had work to do.

“My family wasn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t have wanted somebody to make fun of our problems either. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m sorry…” Max said, and it really sounded genuine. Chase almost let his guard down. But, he knew that he’d let his guard down with Marcus… With Sebastian… He’d been let down basically any time he ever let his guard down and Charlotte was the one exception to that thus far. He was fine with that fact. “Apology accepted,” he lied, and didn’t want to speak of it again. 

Max felt horrible. Chase looked like an angry little sad puppy. Like… Seeing Marcus’ face REALLY did something to him. There wasn’t a lot of information, so he only knew the highlights that had been shared with him from Douglas, and it honestly sounded like, from what he’d been given, that Marcus kinda got the shit end of the stick. Max was starting to see that Chase probably got those types of ends more than his persona of perfection revealed. “If anybody ever tried to do something bad to you, I’m gonna have your back. I’m shitty sometimes. I do mean stuff. I don’t always prove to be the best sort of human, but… You’re a good person, despite how annoying you can be and I’m still probably gonna let you down and give you shit, but… I honestly do have your back,” Max said.  

Chase sighed, “My back is fine. Can we please just finish this up?” Max got back to work, but he heard Chase mumble, “I’m not gonna be fooled again.”

.

All three of them were looking at what they knew to be EVERYTHING that could possibly have been left behind, while the other agencies went through the waters and the islands to double and triple check. Androids were surveilling them, to ensure that nobody planted anything, though Chase at this point trusted the androids about as much as he’d trusted the bionic army.

Max rarely trusted anybody, but he was trying not to waiver in his faith in Charlotte. 

Charlotte was simply defeated and trying to think. “If I have to spend the rest of my life preventing it, I will.” She looked at a chip that was more advanced than her work, but definitely carried her signature and held her emblem. The robots from the future… The ones that would revolt and enslave humanity? They were connected to her work. She threw the chip across the lab in frustration and stormed out. 

Max and Chase waited. They looked at each other and Max wondered, “What do you think?”

“I think that it’s the androids. I think that they have autonomy and that humanity won’t allow harmony and that they will rise up against them after they’ve gotten tired of being oppressed. What I will never believe is that Charlotte is responsible. She wanted to do right for someone. It wouldn’t be her fault that they betray her.” He fumed and groaned, “Androids never should have been created.”

Max scoffed, “We could say the same thing about bionics! And how do we know that it isn’t something that a human tried to do? They always try to harm anybody different, especially if they read as more powerful. It could be one of the thousands of geniuses we’ve sought out over the past few weeks, or one of the… of her trusted employees…” Max tugged his hair a little and said, “Whoever it is… We’ve got to stop them. This can’t be the legacy forged for Charlotte’s good deeds.”

“I agree with that,” Chase said, and he meant it. He summoned the chip to himself and said, “I’m going to use every skill that I have to try to find a link to someone or something that answers these questions. But first, we’ve gotta make sure our woman is okay.”  He set it down and Max nodded his head. They found Charlotte near the Man Copter, hugging Mika and sending her away, for her own safety. Mika was crying and begging her not to do this, but Charlotte was definitely in a mode right now. There was no way she could let whatever was happening tarnish this bright young girl that she loved and cared so much for. 

“I won’t leave you out. I’m sharing everything with you. I just want you out of range until we figure out who tried to attack the place, okay?”

“Okay,” Mika said, ugly crying and nodding. She added, “But as soon as it’s safe, I come back, right?”

“At the very instant!” Charlotte told her. 

“Okay.” She waved at Max and Chase, who she saw watching, then strapped herself in.

“She’s going to one of my safehouses with the twins and their nanny, and will be working remotely. She felt like I was punishing her for this.” Charlotte shook her head. “Listen… I need some physical gratification now. I’m sorry if that seems toxic or foolish, especially considering how things are going at the moment, but I have to have release. I have to feel something primal and satisfactory. So… I’m going to head to Dystopia  for a little bit, but I’ll keep contact with you.”

“Dystopia? What’s in Dystopia that will give you what you need that you can’t have here?” Chase wondered.

“Her boyfriends,” Max said, sadly. 

Charlotte wiped her face, “I just… Need to connect and I need it ASAP. I’m sorry…” 

“Don’t be. We understand,” Max said. She could tell that he was furious, despite his words, but everyone knew that Henry and Jasper were where her home is and she did love Max and Chase, but they didn’t know how to handle everything she was currently experiencing. Plus, she owed the Defenders an apology, for questioning her, when it turned out that despite the fact that the idea came from a sensitive place, the worries were valid.

“We’ll come too,” Chase said. “We’ll stay out of the way, but I don’t think that the three of us should have that much distance between us right now. We need to stick together.”

“I agree,” Max said. 

“Yeah. Of course, if you two still are in it with me.”

“Charlotte, you may not realize this yet, but… Max and I are yours, too.” Chase said. He had blurted it out, and didn’t want to follow it up, but he meant it, and fortunately, Max didn’t argue with him. “So, to Dystopia, I guess.”

“I’ll show you around while they’re having their reunion. You only ever got to visit during crises, right?” Max said, relaxing a little as he turned to Chase, feeling closer to him right now than Charlotte, after this no matter how unintentional, but all too familiar form of rejection from her.

“Yeah.”

“I have some roots in Dystopia. We’ll have a Max’s World Day Out, yeah?” Chase didn’t want to do that at all, but he shrugged his shoulders in surrender, anyway. “To Dystopia,” Max said and wrapped an arm around Chase’s shoulder, walking him away from Charlotte. She gave them a smile, and for a moment, felt like maybe she didn’t need to visit Dystopia and see the guys… But then again, that little moment of complete comfort elsewhere? Well… She’d at least owe it to Henry and Jasper to let them know that maybe her heart had moved on...

#Henry Danger #Lab Rats #The Thundermans #Chasing Thunderbolts Fic #League of Extraordinary Geniuses #LOEG Update #Nesha Fics #Multiverse Fics

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Alright 5x19 let’s DO THIS.

(Warning: This will probably be long.)

WE BEGIN...by visiting Leviathan’s underground speakeasy.

The shot of Lex in the glow of the Kryptonite is great, 15/10 iconic Kryptonian Killer.

But SPEAKING of things that are green and bad...Gemma’s outfit is stage magician meets Mera from Aquaman and WAIT, WAIT, I’m just now remembering that the character in the comics was linked to Atlantis. Is that why they’ve gone with a green motif for her all season?

Probably not. Either way, still gives me knockoff Mera vibes. (*whispers quietly* I don’t like Mera’s outfit either.)

(I’m reading the Wikipedia entry for Gamemnae and did you know: she was exiled from Atlantis for being blonde?)

Anyways!

That’s just a very long-winded way of saying that the costume is kind of a weird choice.

Then we’re back in Kara’s loft and finally, FINALLY...someone tells Lena that there are BIGGER FISH, STOP REMINISCING.

And then the Superfriends arrive on the scene and they are ready to throw down.

Honestly same bro, same.

Also M’GANN IS ON THE TEAM I love it please, SG, please, hire Sharon Leal full-time. 

What is the current door-kicking tally--how many front entrances have the Danvers girls destroyed?

“Well the joke’s on Rama Khan and his big dumb gladiator outfit because I already defeated him once.” THIS. IS. WHAT. I. HAVE. BEEN. SAYING.

THE COSTUME IS SILLY AND NOT IN A FUN WAY.

Leviathan just has terrible fashion sense, is basically the theme of this season.

Oh my gosh M’gann being the one to suggest the multiple Karas and the WINK I love her, I love her so much.

PLEASE NOTE: That J’onn was like ‘the skirt is surprisingly comfortable’ but his response to the pants is, ‘they’re gonna chafe.’ 

J’onn J’onzz, Skirt Supporter. 

Then the Alex suit reveal and ooof, ooooof, probably the wonkiest of the scenes, unfortunately. (Can’t decide if I appreciate the effort of the CGI Alex or if it’s simply too uncanny valley.)

Also, put a pin in the Alex suit reveal. We’ll circle back to it.

(Oh wait and also: Kara’s scream and J’onn’s reaction all A+.)

Breaking chronological order here to just touch on the highlights and maybe discuss particular chunks in detail SO...let’s get right toooooooo....

Rooftop scene with Alex and M’Gann! Nice! But also I was like, ‘Alex just...has a bazooka? ...Yeah that tracks.’ And then I remembered that she has the martian weapon...honestly kinda prefer my accidental headcanon that she just owns one. 

Then back to Lena and Kara and we’ve come full circle because folks...they figuratively flew to Luthor-Corp...on a bus.

Oh if only that was the actual goal of this entire plot. I would applaud it.

SG writers, always: REAL threats come in groups of THREE.

I actually don’t mind it. They aren’t given a big introduction and amount of screen time, so it’s pretty unobtrusive. 

Then we get a Luthor-Corp lab scene AND a good look at Alex’s suit so LET’S CHAT.

Okay first and foremost: not opposed to vigilante Alex! Especially if it means she can work with Kara a bit more directly.

Love the color scheme! Love the hood! Love that the boots are no longer the stealth wedge heel but are just...heels. Good, yes, good! Also love that you can see it’s basically built on top of her DEO suit which totally makes sense, as...I guess Alex is building the suit mentally, not physically, technically, but she’d still be using stuff she’s familiar with to put it together in...her...mind?

I also think the top portion sits better than the DEO suit, which had that awkward...square-ish portion that covered the front of the torso.

But hmmmmmm the eye makeup is...a statement. 

Confused as to why they didn’t go with a domino mask...maybe it was an actor comfort thing but HMMMMM not my personal favorite, admittedly. (Also don’t love the lace up look on the front portion but that’s because it’s reminding me of some of the terrible costumes from Arrow.)

And then the hair clip, which. Okay. As someone who has been struggling to find a way to pull back short hair during this time of no haircuts...can’t be mad about it.

In fact, catch me over here, taking notes.

Alright, costume rambling OVER sorry for the tangent but, you know. New super suit, it’s always exciting. 

I like that Kara had to deal with not being able to be out fighting the threat! That’s a good bit of character stuff there.

“William went after Eve ALONE?!?!?” “No super hearing!” 

“Please, be careful.” “You know me.” “Yeah, exactly, that’s what I’m worried about.” And then a HUG and they’re just the best.

 Dunno if I’ve mentioned it yet but I love the effects they use for Gemma’s ‘true form.’ Very cool and creepy.

Does Andrea just...not question Gemma’s evil villain outfit...or...?

Much like Alex’s super suit we’re puttin’ a PIN in the Brainy plot we’ll get there but FIRST...

THE KARA AND LENA CONVERSATION.

Do I think it should’ve come earlier in the season? Yes! Do I care at this point? ...Okay, still yes! But that’s another pinned point I’ll get back to, right now let us just bask in the beauty that is specifically, verbally laying out all the CRAP Lena put Kara through, and Kara making sure Lena understands THAT is what hurt her, not ‘working with Lex.’

“You never understood.” BINGO. “I know I hurt you by waiting so long to tell you my truth but what about all the ways you hurt me?” EXACTLY. 

“I made one mistake, one mistake that was only ever meant to protect you and in return, all you did was hurt me in every way imaginable.”

Then Lena finally apologizes. For, you know, the stuff that was actually upsetting Kara. So. We got there. ...Eventually.

Then it’s off to save William and he’s talking down Eve! We love a noble journalist.

Kara cauterizing the bullet wound and William being like ‘DO IT no wait DON’T DO IT’ and Kara’s just like, ‘TOO LATE, IT’S DONE.’

RETURN OF THE POWER RANGERS SUIT NICE.

And theeeeen a lot of scenes that are fine but it’s mostly just legwork to get us to the bigger parts of the episode sooooo we’re jumping to...

Andrea! Pleasantly surprised with her part in the action of this episode. Had that nice moral conflict we saw in the front half of the season. It’s a little crammed in here, at the last minute, but. Still enjoyed seeing it.

A personal quibble on the visuals: I prefer the simple elegance of the season one hope speech, (Just a lone camera, in a rundown radio station XD) but I understand they had to convey ‘scale.’ Still think it’s a little much.

Oh man, totally forgot to mention, loved Nicole’s line read for, “Maybe you should’ve been meaner.” It was GREAT.

So there’s the fight against Rama Khan and his buddies, and Kara’s trying to talk people out of a MMORPG, AND Andrea shows up ready to kill somebody. 

The drama! The suspense!

THE SCORE.

I have another quibble with the cutting back and forth on the hope speech and it’s largely to do with perhaps inadvertent implications regarding who has to grow from pain and what pain in particular, but that might just be a ‘me’ thing, reading the scene a particular way, so I’m just gonna move on and say LOVE TO SEE A HOPE SPEECH.

Also:

Supergirl: “I believe in you.”

The VR peeps and us, the audience:

Alright time to talk about BRAINY.

Admittedly haven’t loved double agent Brainy, which felt more like a, ‘let’s add some drama’ move than anything else.

I do still stand by my assessment that Brainy being a few steps behind Lex made sense given his distress re: Nia and the Superfriends.

But also...was a little wild, IMO, that he didn’t have...some way to at least circumnavigate the radiation shield? Or at the very least limit it.

But again. DRAMA.

All that said...wow. Loved the two Brainys at the end, there. Genuinely touching.

“Will you stay with me?” “Till the very end.” 

BRAAAAAAAIIIINNNNNNNNY.

How do you make another Luthor reveal work when you ALREADY pulled the, ‘It was Lex all along!’ like, twice before?

You MAKE IT LILLIAN.

Like, dang it, I enjoyed it. How dare you, SG.

But THAT’S IT. NO MORE SECRET LUTHOR REVEALS. 

The terminator look and death shriek for Gemma was fittingly creepy very nice.

But also WOW, she never interacted with Kara. I am DISAPPOINTED. 

So anyways, that second Lena and Kara conversation! 

It was fine. It’s fine. This is fine. It’s...it’s fine.

(Except that it highlights a problem with the way this whole thing was set up and it’s not something unique to SG! It’s a problem I’ve noticed with a lot of redemption arcs--which seem to be all the rage, as of late--and that is a disproportionate amount of bad things done by the one character, and putting off the turn until like, the last possible minute to increase the drama factor and thaaaaat...is not a super satisfying conclusion because it’s a HUGE amount of build up for a relatively small pay off. Like, as Kara is listing the stuff that Lena’s done, it’s kind of a stark reminder that Lena physically and emotionally hurt Kara on purpose which. Is a glaring red flag. That’s the kind of thing that needs to be unpacked, maybe! Given some space!

Which isn’t to say that characters should never be forgiven, or that they need to be excessively punished. It just needs time. So saving the ‘redemption’ part for the very end where the characters NEED TO BE HEROES RIGHT NOW IN ORDER TO HELP OUT it’s...hmmmmmm. Too rushed.)

AND SO, SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON THIS, THE SEASON FINALE, AND THE SEASON AS A WHOLE:

Wow but I did not like the focus on Lena. Not fun. No thanks.

Which is only made worse by the trashfire that is the SG fandom. 

Loved the moments of growth and agency for Kara, though. 

Loved the big crossover! It kinda made for a wonky set up of Earth-38 plot vs. Earth Prime plot but honestly anything the writers set up in the front portion of the season was going to be at the very least interrupted, if not completely derailed simply given the nature of what they intended to do with the merging of the earths.

Like give me SG’s approach to handling the front half of the season over Flash’s any day. 

Still too many characters! Still too much plot! Still weird pacing issues! XD

Forget it, Jake, it’s Supergirl.

Oh, honorable mention: The handling of Kelly! She was integrated so well into a nice intersection of plot points and characters that when she’s there to hack into the Obsidian stuff in the finale it’s like, ‘well naturally she’d be here.’ EXCELLENT WORK. 

William and Andrea win ‘most improved over their intensely unlikable introductions.’

To be clear: I liked this season finale! And the fact that it all came together as well as it did is a testament to the skill of all the folks involved, considering the awful extenuating circumstances.

Though, upon further introspection, I think I really do dislike the CGI Alex. Too far into the uncanny valley, sorry. 

IN CONCLUSION: Very, very sad that it’s gonna be a whole year, or possibly longer, before we get new SG content but, glad that the actors will have a little more time off than they usually might, and I’m all for holding off the production as long as possible, in order to keep folks safe.

WHAT are Lex and Lillian up to, like, specifically, and WHAT is Alex’s superhero name??? WILL the folks in charge of the new Superman show remember that it’s a Supergirl spinoff?!??! Find out NEXT YEAR only on SUPERGIRL! (And Superman & Lois!)

EDIT: I used the word ‘quibble’ twice which feels like one time too many, but also it IS a fun word to say. ‘Quibble.’ Ha. XD

#SG post #long post #supergirl spoilers #5x19 spoilers

[imaconstantmess]

Until Part 3/?

Part 3 to this series, sorry it’s been a while but recently I’ve had tons of online work to do, as always this is my first story so thoughts would be appreciated ❤️

Steve x gender neutral! Reader

Steve’s mind has been occupied for the past few weeks, and it’s got something to do with the recruit he’s been assigned to train.

Bit more Bucky and Sam oriented

Warnings: mentions abuse, mild threats.

————————————————————

Bucky and Sam did one last final check of your apartment, just to make sure they hadn’t missed anything important. After they got off the phone to you, their attitudes dropped slightly when they saw the damage that had been done the night before.

“It’s a good job Steve didn’t see this, he might throw the guy out of the window” sam said as he was walking around the mess Tyler had made. “This could’ve done some real damage” he said as he heard a soft crunch under his shoe. He’d stepped on a little piece of pot.

“I know, look at the size of the hole in the wall” Bucky traced the wall, the hole was bigger than a fist. “But about Steve seeing the damage, he may or may not have already seen it.” Bucky said in a quiet tone.

“What you mean, already seen it?” Sam crosses his arms over his chest with his eyebrow raised.

“Had a few issues with the camera. Y/n didn’t seem bothered...” Bucky remarked as he adjusted the backpack on his shoulder.

Sam let out a small laugh “damn it Barnes, if Steve sees the guy he’s going to rearrange his face. Not like Y/n couldn’t, but Steves got that whole hero complex going on”

Bucky wished he could argue. Even before the serum Steve would always stand up for what’s right, which wouldn’t be a bad thing if Steve didn’t end up getting jumped in alleys for it. Little punk would never walk away, always tried to hit back. Before Bucky could come up with a decent remark, the men heard the door open.

“What the hell! Who are you?! I’m calling the police!” Tyler looked frantic as he fumbled with his mobile phone. Sam and Bucky gave each other a look before Bucky snatched the phone from Tyler’s hands, and gently threw it on the couch at the other side of the room. They both pinned Tyler down with a stare, but next to Bucky, with his murder face and metal hand on full display, Sam hated to admit he didn’t feel quite as intimidating as he would have liked. With both of them making eye contact with Tyler, he recognised them. He doesn’t know if he should feel relieved or worried, because he’s only a civilian and wasnt really an avengers level threat. But then again, he had not one, but two avengers in his living room looking like they wanted to choke him. With a shaky breath and a tense body, Tyler spoke again.

“Why are you here?” He looked between them and noticed they were holding bags. Your bags. Then it dawned on him where you worked, and the people you knew. He hadn’t really paid attention to what you were saying when you went on about work, he thought you were exaggerating your position to make yourself look good. He didn’t actually think you were on speaking terms with any of the avengers except Steve and Bucky, but that was because he assumed you were cheating. He saw the way you smiled at Bucky when you met him in the street one day. He figured it had to be either him or captain fucking America. In his mind, this just proved his theory. Before Sam or Bucky could reply, Tyler carried on.

“Come to get your lovers things? Fucking typical. I knew there was something going on...” Tyler spat, aiming his little jab towards Bucky.

“Wait hold up, lover? What the hell are you talking about?” Sam was very confused, and was done with this guys shit. “They ain’t lovers. Y/n’s been loyal to you for reasons I cannot comprehend” Sam sassily gave back while gesturing to the wall. “They’ve left your ass, and we’ve come to get their stuff because we’re tight like that. You give y/n any trouble, wether it be on social media, the press, real life or otherwise” Sam got closer to Tyler’s face, being taller than him by a few inches. Tyler gulped. “shield will rain down harassment and abuse lawsuits on you so hard it might as well have come from the Holy Ghost.” Sams voice was low, and Bucky smirked at the terrified look on Tyler’s face. Sam stood straight, and walked past him to the door, bumping shoulders with him so hard he nearly fell. Picking up another bag, Sam made his way out the door and down the hallway, leaving Tyler alone with Bucky.

Tyler turned to Bucky and expected him to follow after Sam, but was surprised to find Bucky leaning casually against the wall, not saying anything and staring. It’s a technique Bucky remembered from his winter soldier days, to use on weak targets. Silence and staring made people squirm, and Bucky wanted him to be as uncomfortable as possible. Then after about 2 minutes, Bucky suddenly got up from the wall and to his delight, Tyler jumped.

That was when Bucky finally spoke. “See, people like you boil my blood. Make me wonder if it’s worth saving the planet when there’s asswipes like you walking around” Bucky was circling Tyler, voice low and gravelly.

Saving the planet. Bucky slipped that in there to remind Tyler what he was capable of, if the whirring of his metal arm didn’t do the trick. He held back a smile when he saw Tyler start to break a sweat. Bucky stopped his circling, and stood in front of the shaking mess that was your ex boyfriend. Bucky leaned in close, voice low, almost whispering.

“I know a few people who wouldn’t care how they hurt you. They would make sure your body was never found. The list includes master assassins, half of shield, a genius..” the look on Tyler’s face was pure fear. Bucky thought how the team who had superhuman abilities would react. “Thor would kill you quick. Dr banner... well you know what he’s like when he’s angry with people. Wanda would keep you alive, messing with your head. As for me and Steve...”

Bucky rolled his shoulders, metal arm making a dangerous sound. Tyler looked ready to pass out. “We’ve been in the toughest war fronts you could possibly imagine. Steve has a habit of jumping out of planes with no parachute, and comes out without a scratch, and I have this metal arm. We’re super soldiers. And you pissed us off.” Bucky grabbed Tyler’s shirt with his metal arm and pinned him against the wall.

“You’ve personally pissed off Captain America. Not very patriotic is it?” Tyler didn’t dare say a word. “I asked you a question” Bucky stared him down.

“N-no.. it- it’s not.” He couldn’t get a word out. Bucky wouldnt usually do this, but he saw steves reaction on the phone. He’s only ever seen that look when they were facing the enemy, weather it be an alien or a scumbag on a mission. If Bucky did this, it would stop Steve from seeking Tyler out personally. And you were his friend, he was mad too.

“That’s what I thought.” Bucky let go of Tyler’s shirt and hap hazardly smoothed it down. “ we’ll be back. I don’t know when. Y/ns not coming back here. If any of their stuff is broken or missing... well I’ll leave that up to your imagination.” Bucky stepped back, and walked out the door leaving Tyler almost crying.

With a satisfied smirk, Bucky made his way to the car and put your bag in the back and got in the front. Sam turned to him with an annoyed expression. “You didn’t kill him did you? You were in there a while”

“No, just threatened him a little on behalf of the team. I think he’s crying” Bucky said with a shrug. Sam let out a small laugh as he drove towards steves apartment.

————————————————————

Steve hadn’t taken his arm from you, and you weren’t moving. The tv was on, and you were just chatting quietly every now and then, just being relaxed in each other’s presence. It was a nice, strangely intimate gesture from both of you, but still remaining platonic. You got up to grab some bags from Sam and Bucky, and took them into the bedroom to find a quick change of clothes and some deodorant. As you were getting ready, Bucky and Sam sat down on the sofa with Steve to wait. Sam spoke up

“So we ran into Tyler at the apartment” he said casually watching steves reaction. He stayed still. Unnaturally still. The kind of still you go when you’re trying not to give anything away.

“ yeah?” Steves reply was short. He wanted to be angry, but he was captain America. He needed to pull it together.

“ uh huh. Went through the whole ‘I’m calling the police’ thing.” Sam imitated in an unflattering voice which made Bucky chuckle.

Bucky piped up “so naturally, we threatened him. Sam went for the ‘say a bad thing against y/n and we’re gonna sue your ass’. I went for the more subtle approach of pinning him against the wall and telling him how anyone from the team could kill him and get away with it. You know, nothing too serious.” Steve let out a smile at that, and his posture became natural again. He felt a lot better now, knowing how intimidating Bucky can be. The only thing bothering him was how he didn’t get to do it himself. When you emerged from the bedroom, you smiled at the men who were now chatting amongst themselves.

“You guys ready to go?” They looked at you and smiled, getting up to leave. When you turned to get your jacket, Steve noticed what you were wearing. You wore a tight, crew necked black shirt which showed you off in just the right way, and some simple navy blue jeans. You looked... nice. That was the word Steve would use. Seeing you relaxed in normal clothing, fresh faced and not dishevelled from training was refreshing. It made you look more... civilian. Domestic. Like you were friends with Steve past being work colleagues. Seeing you like this, made Steve strangely feel normal. And he supposed that today, he was.

He wasn’t captain America when he ordered a burger that day. He was a guy who went out with his friends, missing brunch and settling for lunch instead. He wasn’t captain America when he laughed at Sam for spilling his dinner on his shirt, or when he was smiling at you when you were in a deep conversation with Bucky explaining the plot of starwars. He was Steve Rogers. He hadn’t felt that way in a long time, and he basked in the fact that he was Steve Rogers today. He never got time to be ordinary. That was until he laughed with you. He never got to show people his ordinary side, afraid they’d prefer the star spangled man.

Until a recruit showed him how to be himself again.

Until you.

————————————————————

A/n: made this a little shorter, and hopefully easier to read? It’s my first story so as always please give criticism, especially if there was anything you didn’t like. Thank you for taking the time to read it though 😇

#steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers #marvel #mcu #bucky barnes #sam wilson #gender neutral reader

[writing-yj]

Nightwing x Reader: Mockingbird’s Betrayal (Part Four)

Summary: Dick Grayson and Mockingbird’s last meeting ended in a heated argument, seemingly snapping every connection they ever had. He was Mockingbird’s last light to cling onto, but now, her sanity is left in the dark. After capturing Avia, Mockingbird exposed everything the Justice League and her former team had been hiding from the rookie. It almost instantly turned Avia against them, and the plan was set in motion. Nightwing isn’t prepared to face Mockingbird again, especially not after their last encounter. How much did she change since then? 

Word Count: 3156

Warnings: Angst (duh), swearing, fighting, i think some blood mention? But no one dies; I would have killed someone this time, but I wanted to get this out ASAP for y’all. I’ve kept y’all waiting for too long!

A/n: Oh boy. I started this really early, but we’ll have to see if it takes months again. 

UPDATE: Lol it did, my bad

Avia stared up at her bedroom ceiling, thinking about everything that went down in the past seven days. Getting captured by you, learning that everything everyone told her was a lie, planning to turn on them like you did.

“Mockingbird is a cursed name.” Avia thought. First you, now her. Your name became hers, and your name brought betrayal.

Every movement made her wince. You knew how to cover up your tracks well; they had no idea they were being tricked. However, Avia didn’t like that you had to rough her up a bit to make it look convincing, and she especially regretted letting you break a rib.

Due to your brief observation lessons, Avia slightly noticed that Batman was keeping a very close eye on her. Avia acted just like she did before, but that was a misstep. At her age, she should be at least traumatized or have nightmares. She should be wary, have some sort of fear or should be avoiding certain things. But none of that happened. It was like you never touched her.

Batman knew this and caught onto it fast. When he wasn’t protecting Gotham, he was constantly trying to figure out your course of action. It didn’t take him long to know Avia was going to join you, but he couldn’t bring her in or detain her just yet. Batman needed to find out when and how it was going to happen, first. Thinking about it so much almost got him punched in the face while fighting criminals.

He would never admit it out loud, but you specifically always had him alert and on his toes. You always left him one step behind, with one puzzle piece missing, not knowing what was going to happen next. More often than not, it infuriated him. At any point in time, you could start attacking the citizens if you couldn’t get to any of the heroes and their “sidekicks”.

On top of that, Batman had no doubts that the reason you turned so violent and angry was because of the wild animal DNA. It changed the color of your eyes for Christ’s sake, nothing else could do that unless you became a witch when no one was looking.

Previously, Justice League members made various suggestions on how to stop you. Imprisonment wasn’t a simple task and any normal prison wouldn’t keep you in for long. Arkham, maybe, but not forever. Keeping you in suspended animation would work, but it was more difficult that it sounded.

But, no matter how permanent the solution was, Batman refused to let them kill you. He immediately shut the idea down. “No. Under no circumstances are we going to kill her.”

“Look, Batman. I don’t want to kill her either, but do you really think she’s going to stop until she’s killed multiple teens? And I have no doubt that she will, at some point, go after Black Canary,” Superman argued, “Mockingbird has already confronted and attacked the team, and even took down Superboy with Kryptonite she stole from your safe. What is stopping her from hacking into it again? What if she finds another way to hack into Mount Justice and the Watchtower? The last thing I want is for her to be dead, but what if that is the only way to stop her? We need to be prepared for the worst.”

Batman refused still, “The only conclusion I can come to as to why she is still in this state is because of her wild animal DNA. The sheer rage has clearly been preventing her body’s trances that control the DNA, judging by how the last trance she had in Mount Justice lasted for two hours. I have gotten it back under control before, and I can do it again. The formula is still in my possession.”

“How the hell are we supposed to inject her with it?” Black Canary asked urgently, “It’s not like we can just knock her out! She knows how to avoid all of us and finding her is nearly impossible.”

Before Batman could respond, Green Arrow spoke up, “Nightwing was really close with her, right?” His observation was correct. The Justice League went silent and he continued, “Maybe Mockingbird will trust him enough to give him the chance to inject her with it?”

Batman agreed; Green Arrow’s idea was sound, and Batman already knew you had visited Nightwing. How else would he have known where Avia was? And he knew the bruise Nightwing got just after you disappeared wasn’t from crime fighting. He didn’t doubt that it was from you, but he had yet to confront Nightwing about it. The real question was why you hit him.

Batman took a moment to ponder, as did the other heroes in the room. It was a plausible idea, and was better than any other plan they attempted to come up with. It would end with you not getting hurt in the process, and would stop you from harming anyone else. There was an actual chance for the plan to be executed successfully.

“That seems to be our only option.” Zatanna said with a forlorn expression. “We will need that formula as soon as possible, Batman.” Her heart was heavy for the whole meeting. You didn’t hold her as close as you did with your original friends, but you still spent a few years on the team with her. Whether you would harm her was questionable.

“This is best best we can do without casualties. We will meet again once I finish the formula.” Batman said, and the meeting was done.

The heroes dispersed soundlessly, all of them with troubled looks on their faces. Dinah, however, looked broken and she moved the slowest. Oliver stayed by her side.

“Look at what I’ve done,” Dinah whimpered, “this is my fault. Everyone was right. I shouldn’t have done this.”

“It’s not entirely your fault, pretty bird,” Oliver used the endearing petname to comfort her. “We’ll get through this. We’ll stop (Y/n) and help her be okay again.”

Dinah shook her head and tears welled up in her eyes. “You know how violent the DNA can get. Avia told us how bad it is now; I’m positive that she isn’t in control anymore,” the first sob escaped. “If we can’t help her regain control of it, someone is going to die. And it might not be her.”

Everything was ripping her apart all at once, and she all but collapsed in Oliver’s arms. They sunk to the floor as she cried and cried. She took you in as her own when you were 12, traumatized and given powers you never wanted in the first place.

You learned to embrace and love your powers under her watchful eye and guidance as her first protege, the daughter she never had. It seemed like saving you and preventing casualties was merely wishful thinking.

-

You moved your hideout back into the basement of your childhood home. You found a way to make it easier to move all of your tech back and forth, and you had a few duplicates in your other hideout in Minnesota. You observed Avia in the Cave closely, and you also caught on to her behavior. You understood why she messed up--she was only 13 and had hardly any practice--but that made things a lot harder.

You spent half of your nights holding your head in yours hands, sometimes screaming and crying at the mental torture the wild mockingbird DNA was inflicting on you. You knew what was happening, but that consciousness was held back, almost permanently. Almost. The other half of your nights were for planning, preparing, and training. You thought of tons of different obstacles and events you would need to escape, avoid, or fight. You trained until you were sore, studied battle styles until your eyes burned in need of sleep, and you allowed yourself to fall into trances that were far too brief.

Your old team had little to no hope left for you. They held on for so long, but they realized that you were more than likely too far gone to help. They could barely remember the (Y/n) (L/n) they met so long ago. Happy, determined, devoted to the team, inspiring, and a dear friend. Now you were almost completely the exact opposite. They feared you--feared for their lives if they ever came to face you in combat. Many of them were terrified to confront you.

You still didn’t know Artemis wasn’t dead, but she heard about everything. After a certain amount of time, she became numb to everything related to you. Your name fell on deaf ears, both hers and Kaldur’ahm’s. Out of everyone, surprisingly, they had the least amount of hope. They didn’t believe there was anything anyone could do to help you. The only solution they believed in was to capture you and keep you contained, even if it meant suspended animation on the moon. Yes, you were a dear friend, but an even bigger threat to everyone.

Wally was just done. If anyone had anything to say about you, he wouldn’t hear it. He wanted nothing to do with you or the situation as a whole. If Dick even so much as spoke your name, Wally would tell him to stop talking or get out. He didn’t want to hear about the Mockingbird who was broken down to an evil, ruthless individual. He wanted to remember you as the old (Y/n). He wanted to remember your smile, your shenanigans, your kindness, and the hero you used to be.

-

You stared at the monitor with gritted teeth. After hardly any time, you knew Batman noticed how Avia was acting, too. You chucked a knife across the room with a shout and a curse. The blade pierced the wall, so only the handle was visible. The time window got a hell of a lot smaller, possibly forcing Avia to make her decision sooner than you told her to. It made you angry at her, but more angry at yourself. You should have told her to act the part of a traumatized 13-year-old girl, but you forgot. You originally thought it was common sense, but you knew that wasn’t fair.

“God damn it!” You snapped at no one and started to attach gadgets and weapons to your utility belt and back. You needed to go talk to her, let her know what happened, and ask her to make her choice right then and there. You watched the cameras until you saw her go home, so that became your destination.

But you didn’t see that Arsenal followed her.

You were one with the shadows of Star City, where you spent a great majority of your time being Mockingbird--back when you were good--and when you first became a hero. Dinah and Oliver hadn’t moved in more than a decade, so you knew the address by heart.

In no time at all, you were perched on the roof; a mere few feet away from Avia’s open window. Half a second before you stepped forward, you heard another voice, not Avia’s. Arsenal.

You quirked an eyebrow and got onto your stomach to blend in with the dark roof. You tuned out all other noises and instead focused on their conversation.

“Avia, I can’t take this,” Roy sounded so conflicted. “I haven’t felt this way and I hate it, but I can’t just push you away.”

Oh.

“I-I have feelings- wait, no, I-” he couldn’t find the right words, and you felt sympathetic. You were in a similar situation not too long ago: Being in love with someone you might betray.

Avia shushed him. “Roy...”

He sighed. “I know you don’t feel the same way, I don’t know why I even said it-”

“Shut your mouth and let me talk, redhead!” Avia got his attention and he did what she said. “I have feelings for you, too,”

You cringed hardcore when you heard them kiss. You were convinced that it was an awkward kiss, but that wasn’t what you focused on.

Your eventual protege pulled away from Roy with a small and bittersweet smile. There was a sad and apologetic look in her eyes; it concerned him. She had to tell him. She had to tell Roy about you and what she was going to do--what her reason was for leaving.

“Avia, what’s wrong?” Roy asked, completely out of character. “Did you change your mind? Am I not good enough?”

She looked even more sad after his questions. “No. You’re more than good enough, and I haven’t changed my mind... But you’ll change yours.”

Your eyes narrowed on something you saw in the distance. Way in the distance. You touched an almost invisible button on the side of your mask and used it to zoom in drastically. After many attempts, you focused on the approaching figure. Then you almost broke your mask.

Batman. And he was headed your way. He had a gut feeling that it was going to happen that night, and he was correct.

“Why would I change my mind?”

“Because I’m leaving!” Avia had to get it out before it was too late. “Everyone lied to me! Mockingbird didn’t leave for power!” She turned away from him and punched the drywall, her fist going straight through it. “She told me everything. She has proof, she uncovered all of their lies! I can’t be with the people I was supposed to trust!” Avia clenched her jaw as guilt started to choke her. “Mockingbird understands me and what I feel. She was treated like shit and lied to, too.”

It took a moment, but then Roy understood what she said. He took a step back in disbelief and his heart shattered. “You mean you’re betraying us?” Roy wanted to wake up from that nightmare. “You’re going with Mock-”

You chose that moment to swing into the window and you landed on your feet with a loud bang, not bothering with subtlety. “Is she going with Mockingbird? Yes, she is,” you stood to your full height with a face of stone. You looked menacing and it scared Roy, not that he would ever admit it. “because you all lied about me. Do you regret it yet?”

“I’m sorry, Roy,” Avia’s heart was hurting terribly. “I’m so sorry.”

You heard the woosh of a cape and your irritation spiked. “We need to go!”

Batman came through the same window you did, ready to fight. he wasted no time in going after you, and he was ready to take on Avia as well. He knew Roy wasn’t going to be able to do it because of how strong his feelings were for her.

You dodged one of Batman’s punches and you hissed, “Avia! Knock him out, now!” You hoped your sheer fury behind it would prompt her to get her ass moving, and it did.

Batman was barely landing any hits; the team wasn’t the only ones you studied. While he had more experience and more fighting tactics, there was hardly a move you missed. However, you weren’t perfect. The occasional punch to the jaw left you a little disoriented and getting punched in the stomach tended to knock the wind out of you.

You then elbowed Batman’s face and then kicked him square in the chest. It briefly knocked him off balance, giving you time to choose a voice--someone close to him. Alfred.

Before talking, you looked back at Avia and Roy. Sure enough, Roy was out cold, but Avia was sitting against the wall, completely distraught, but understandably so. You were definitely going to discuss that with her later on.

Batman wound up to deliver a brutal hit, but he froze when you shouted, “Bruce, no! Please don’t do this, this isn’t you!” in Alfred’s voice. Bruce knew full well that it wasn’t actually Alfred, and that it was actually you manipulating him, but you still got to him. Alfred practically raised him and had been by his side for everything. Just the thought of hurting him-

That moment of hesitation was what gave you and Avia the chance to get out of there, leaving two unconscious heroes on her old bedroom floor.

 -

Days passed after Dick got the news that Avia left with you. Of course you convinced her to betray the team, too. He honestly wasn’t surprised. He knew Avia was being lied to, and he didn’t want any part of it.

“Mockingbird is a cursed name.” Dick thought solemnly. Both Mockingbirds turned their backs on the team, but somewhat rightfully so. He wasn’t going to allow another hero have the name “Mockingbird” ever again, no matter who wanted it.

Dick simmered for hours and hours, angry that you took Avia, angry that she left, angry that everyone let it happen. He once again didn’t interfere, and look at where that got him. He was angry at you, Avia, the Justice League, himself, the team, and the world. No one deserved any of that to happen.

After a certain amount of time, he had enough. Dick knew you were occasionally in Bludhaven, so he was going to find you. He was too furious and hurt not to. That feeling didn’t fade as he put on his suit and his utility belt. He clenched his jaw so much that it hurt. His knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping his escrima sticks.

Dick traveled from roof to roof, trying to catch a glimpse of you somewhere. It wasn’t shocking that you were practically impossible to find; you were nowhere in sight. But Dick searched and prowled the city, turning over every stone and checking every shadowed corner. Nothing. No one.

He let out an anger-fueled roar, “Come out, Mockingbird! I know you’re there! Stop hiding and face me!” Dick probably looked like a crazed man on an acid trip, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was finding you and knocking you onto your ass.

You didn’t show.

#nightwing x reader #nightwing imagine #nightwing #Young Justice #young justice season 2 #mockingbird #young justice x reader #dick grayson #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson imagine #I am so sorry #angst

[maarmendes]

Chapter 2: Unknown Territory [II]

Warnings: Swearing, fighting, mental illness... (the main characters are pretty rough around the edges)

Genre: OC insertion; angst; fluff; others.

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x OC [Anahita Shuzenji]

Word Count: 2751

Tags: @bnhabookclub​

[Wattpad Link]

Lunch with Bakugo was nicer than expected. We had a lot more in common than I thought. Besides both of us getting in trouble a lot and both getting caught by villains, we both liked old rock bands, MMA, and old action movies. No matter how nicely we hit it off, I couldn't bring myself to be honest with what happened to me. Not that Bakugo would ask me anyway. I was grateful for how understanding he was. We also shared notes on other heroes, he gave me work-out advice and I helped with some strategy studying. It felt like any gaps one of us had, the other would fill in perfectly. He was more of a strength and power type of person, as I was a speed and strategy type of person. Not to say he wasn't good at strategy, he was one of the smartest persons I've met even if he didn't show it. Bakugo admitted he had a tendency to let his emotions get the best of him. I admitted I did as well and it took some training to deal with it. But we also disagree in a lot, such as how good that sandwich place actually was. It wasn't that good. He was delusional.

"I can't believe you're eating ice-cream... It's still cold out!" Bakugo frowned.

"I've told you already like ten times! There's no such thing as the perfect time to eat sweet stuff,-"

"Except all the time... Yeah, yeah, I get it!" He finished for me with an eye-roll.

"If you're that worried, you can always warm me up..." I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively.

"I'll fucking blast you into fucking space."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Blast Boy!"

Teasing Bakugo was turning into my most amusing hobby. It's not like he'd get flustered, that wouldn't suit his 'cool' demeanor. Instead he'd get annoyed, and that's way more entertaining. Back at the U.A, we were met with Aizawa already in class.

"I told you to keep her out of trouble, not kidnap her during lunch." Aizawa glared at us.

"Calm down, old man. It was just a sandwich!"

I prayed for Bakugo's soul. May he rest in peace and find solace in his next life. Blessed be, Blasty.

Luckily, Aizawa simply sighed pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I don't have time for this... Gear up, you're training with All Might today." I jumped in excitement. Training with the number one hero? That would be the best research opportunity I could ask for. "Except you, Ana. You're with me." All excitement washed away and Bakugo muffled a laugh as he walked away.

"What? Why?!" I walked over to the teacher in hopes of begging for mercy. "Aizawa, please... I promise I will never leave without telling you first ever again!" Adding a pout for good measure was useless against this man.

"You didn't do any of your tests and I have to submit them before the end of the day." I kept pouting, hoping I could at least get something out of it, and I did. With a grunt he caved in. "You can join the rest of the class after the tests."

I threw a punch in the air in victory and wasted no time running over to get my gear, shouting a quick thanks over my shoulder. I was excited about getting my suit on and jumping back into action! It'd been a few weeks since I'd been allowed to go all out and the tests would serve as a nice warm-up. And All Might? The cherry on top of this messed up situation I call life. I was glad the girls shared my enthusiasm for our first real training session. Once changed and walking back to class, we were all having fun commenting on our suits.

"Uraraka! We're twins!" She took a good look at me and laughed.

"Oh, my God! We're like the Pink and Blue Bodysuit Crew!" I gasped dramatically. That got all the girls laughing. I had to admit, she got us a pretty cool team name.

"Then Tsu and Mina can be the Green Dream Team! And Momo, Jiro, and Toru..." I paused for a moment. "The Sexy Squad?" This time I burst out laughing with them.

I'm glad I could fit in even if I got into the class later than the others. They were all very welcoming despite the fact they knew nothing about me or why I transferred. Walking into class, a ping of sadness hit me when I realized I had to leave them.

"Sit down. All Might will be here soon to take you to Ground Beta, where you'll get special training. I'll leave the explaining to him." He turned to me. "Let's get this over with, kiddo."

I sighed and waved the girls goodbye while I followed him out. Taking one last glance over my shoulder at Bakugo, he paid no attention to anyone around him while adjusting the biggest grenades I'd ever seen around his wrists. It amused me how much they suited him.

Once outside, Aizawa didn't waste any time pushing me to the limit. From jumping as high as possible to running as fast as possible to bench pressing the heaviest weights. By the end of the tests, All Might was a long-gone dream of mine.

"Come on, get up. I've seen you do more for less." Aizawa dragged me to my feet.

"For the last time... It wasn't for nothing! I got free pizza."

"And now you get to meet All Might. Sounds more worth it than pizza." I retorted with a look. That was as much as I was willing to move. "Come on, I'll take you there."

For some reason, it still surprised me that we had to drive to some facilities in this school. The amount of resources they have will always astonish me. Once there, Aizawa guided me to some kind of control room where the class was watching some team practice All Might plan out.

"All Might. This is Anahita Shuzenji, Recovery Girl's granddaughter." Aizawa introduced me and I couldn't help but beam at the giant in front of me.

"Ah! Young Shuzenji! Welcome to class 1-A!" Some explosions on-screen caught my attention and I shot the hero a questioning look. "Ah, yes! Today's exercise! The students were divided into teams, some will take the role of heroes and others the villains. The goal is to secure the payload the villains are keeping somewhere in the building with minimal casualties."

A bigger explosion echoed in the room along with a few gasps. Looking at the screen I recognized the sandy-hair student. Bakugo was ceaselessly attacking Midoriya, leaving no room for the boy to breathe. It was the most intense battle I'd ever seen. The look of pure rage in Bakugo's face told me this fight had gone out of hand a long while ago.

"All Might..." Aizawa's tone was low and cold. "Did you just put Katsuki Bakugo in a fight against Izuku Midoriya after I told you to not do exactly that?"

I never thought I'd see the number one hero cower under anyone's gaze, but I guess Aizawa had to be the one to do it.

"I- I might have forgotten about that..."

The giant cleared his throat, avoiding Aizawa's glare. Turning on the microphone, All Might issued Bakugo a warning in hopes to calm the fight down without calling it off. To no one's surprise, that only pushed Bakugo further off the edge. With what to us was a silent scream, the boy blasted off back into the fight. Everyone was commenting on his fighting style and how talented he was, but I couldn't focus on that. This wasn't fair. This isn't what heroes are supposed to do. Heroes are supposed to protect, not hurt. During lunch, Bakugo expressed how much he wanted to fight to the top and become the best hero ever, but also admitted he wanted to protect people, followed by some threats about if I ever told anyone about it. He made it sound like we shared the same desire to make the world a better place... But this wasn't it.

"Call it off..." I mumbled as I watched the boys run towards each other with one last cry of war. "Call it off! He's gonna hurt him!" I turned to Aizawa in a frenzy but it was too late. Midoriya screams and one last explosion echoes. Uraraka deals the last blow and All Might gives the sign.

The fight was over.

"The heroes win!" The hero yelled at the microphone as I bolted out of the room. Midoriya needed immediate medical support. There are only so many blasts one can take. Aizawa tried to stop me but there was no way I'd let this go on anymore.

Running into the building as fast as I could, I get in just in time to see Bakugo standing over Midoriya, trembling with rage.

"Bakugo! Stop!" I yelled out and he froze. I spared no attention to the idiot as I run past him to assist Midoriya. The boy had fainted from exhaustion after sustaining many burns and breaking his arm. He held out for as long as it took to win the challenge and could not fight a minute longer,  yet Bakugo showed no mercy. I placed his head on my lap and brush his hair off his bruised face. Rage built up in my chest as I stared at the poor boy on my lap.

"How much of a dickhead can you be?!" Bakugo wasn't expecting the bitterness in my tone. He glared back at me but I stopped him before he could say anything stupid. "You lied to me! You told me you'd make the world a better place! You liar!" I burst out, unable to contain the emotion in my voice. "You're supposed to be good. You're supposed to be a hero! You're worse than a bully, you're a villain!"

I took the crack in my voice as a sign to stop talking and start helping Midoriya. Bakugo didn't say anything back to me. He just stared at the ground, quiet as I healed his opponent. Aizawa and All Might arrived soon with a stretcher and I followed Aizawa as we took the boy back so my grandma could look after him.

I couldn't look at Bakugo. When we hanged out, we shared the same ideas on what it means to be a true hero, to protect everyone from villains. But now, he seemed more like a villain than a hero... Maybe that's why they put us together. Two kids at risk of becoming this worlds' worst nightmare. I couldn't blame them though. I just thought maybe Bakugo would call out to me and prove me wrong.

But he didn't.

Leaving the class behind, I insisted on taking Midoriya back with Aizawa. I was worried he might wake up in pain on the drive back. I wasn't as much of a healer as grandma was, but I could at least reduce his pain and lull him back to sleep. I played with Midoriya's hair in the hope it makes him feel better. I wished I could do more for him, but I wasn't strong enough yet.

"Feeling better?" Aizawa glanced over the mirror.

"I don't know, he's still unconscious."

"I was talking about you." My attention shifted towards the teacher, not understanding what he was getting at. "I heard what you told Bakugo... It was a bit too much, Ana."

"He lied. I thought he was different, but he's just another jackass." I looked back at the bruised boy on my lap.

"Watch your mouth, Ana." I scoffed at him, earning a glare. "You shouldn't judge people when you have no idea what's going on in their lives. Especially Bakugo. That short temper of his already got him into enough problems as it is."

"That doesn't justify his actions!" My voice came out louder than intended.

"Anahita." He called out softly. "Sometimes we need to be understanding in order to help others. He messed up, that doesn't mean he's hopeless. He just needs a little patience."

I knew he was right, Aizawa was always right. He always knew what to say when I mess up. And I knew I messed up. I said something I would hate to hear and I didn't even understand the situation. There's no excuse for his aggressive behavior but there's no reason for me to be an ass too. There's no way I'd forgive Bakugo for his behavior, even if I had to apologize for what I said. I stayed silent for a while, reflecting on my actions, much as I usually do after getting told off by Aizawa.

"I'm sorry..." I sighed. "I know you're right. I'm sorry I did it... And I'm sorry I raised my voice at you."

"Don't sweat it, kiddo. I got you." He smirked at me over the mirror, making me smile and remember why I look up to him so much.

Back in the main building, I left Midoriya with Aizawa. He instructed me to change, grab my stuff, and meet him back in his office. Sometimes I wish I'd never done anything stupid enough to call for this sweatshop labor... Or at least that I wouldn't have been caught. But I did. And now I have to help Aizawa with his stupid paperwork until grandma's ready to go home.

I was making my way back to class when I spot Bakugo stomping down the hall, a distraught Kirishima trying to catch up behind him. I knew I had to apologize sooner or later, and I'm too impulsive to wait around for the perfect timing, so I might as well get this over with. Running to catch up to him, I called out.

"Bakugo!" He stopped. "We need to talk."

"I don't wanna hear it!" He faced me, clearly still upset, and got closer glaring down at me as he yelled. "You can fuck right off with your stupid opinions! Sorry if I didn't meet your dumb fucking expectations. Too bad you're disappointed, I don't fucking care! So you can fuck right off." We stayed like that for a minute. Both glaring at each other infuriated in our own ways. I tried not to forget what Aizawa said about patience, but he didn't mention anything about being polite though.

"I came to apologize, dipshit!" That remark made Kirishima wince and Bakugo freeze. "I know I was an asshole and I wanted to apologize because I know I did something stupid. Now, my 'stupid opinions' and my 'dumb fucking expectations' used to be the same as yours, asshole! You said so at lunch. That is why I'm so pissed off!" Poking my finger on his chest I unintentionally get louder. "You know you fucked up! You know you did something stupid! And, even if I was indeed too harsh, you know you deserved to be called the fuck out! I'm sorry I hurt you but no way in fucking hell I'll ever be sorry for calling you out on being a fucking dick." Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed a handful of my grandma's signature candy and threw them in his face. "And here! Have some sweets! Maybe then you'll stop being so god damn salty."

I stomped away, leaving a really scared Kirishima mumbling something about Bakugo finally meeting his match. I didn't care. I did what I had to do. If he wants me to fuck off, then so be it, I'll fuck right off just like he wants. I paced around the changing room, still pissed at the way he spoke. I knew he had some anger issues, it was obvious, but you hit it off nicely during lunch.

I thought I'd made a friend, guess it was all bullshit.

I took one last deep breath proceeding to get changed, following Aizawa's orders. All I wanted was to forget about this and get back to work. Who cares about some stupid bully either way? It doesn't matter. It's not like I need anyone anyway. I'll get to the top on my own. People are just a distraction from my goals anyway. Nothing good comes from trusting someone anyway.

That's what I told myself for the rest of the day. Helping Aizawa, walking home, doing homework, eating dinner, laying in bed...

I don't need anyone.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

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