#it looks cheap. the armor in the movies had so much more feel to it if that makes sense | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

luminetti · 7 months

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Dressed to Kill

༘⋆ Summary: In which, you, a professional cosplayer, mistake Bakugou’s hero outfit for a really good Halloween costume. ༘⋆ Pairing: bakugou katsuki x fem!reader ༘⋆Warnings: n/a, reader is just the biggest dumbass (lovingly) also, i cannot stress this enough. they are NOT CHILDREN in this. they’re both at least the age of college seniors ༘⋆Notes: huge thanks to one of my biggest inspirations for writing in general: @andypantsx3 ! this fic is lightly inspired by—and lowkey a lovechild of—her pieces, baby are you playing tricks and unconventional, so if you somehow haven’t read those yet, i strongly recommend doing so! also now that i actually have more than one piece of writing, id love for some writer/fandom moots! im very new to tumblr and would love friends :’) ao3 release

Halloween was by far your favorite holiday.

As a child, you were always drawn to Halloween, not just for the candy, but for the extravagant costumes and house decorations. Nearly every year, you stayed up late with your father, hand-sewing various details onto your costume. Finally, for your eighteenth birthday, you were gifted your very own sewing machine which officially kickstarted your interest in cosplay.

Throughout your first couple years of college, you worked on your Twitter account, posting quick mirror selfies of your various cosplay projects. Only during senior year did you finally feel comfortable enough to go out in public for your first official photoshoot.

‘Comfortable’ was a bit of a stretch. Very seldom does one feel truly comfortable when posing in front of a grandiose fountain in the middle of a public garden, fully clad in foam armor. What made it significantly worse was when the aforementioned armor looked more like a metal bikini than an actual chest plate worn into battle.

Poor character design choices aside, you loved Halloween for that very reason. With everyone dressed up–or down, for some–there was no reason to feel self-conscious during your monthly photoshoots. Sure, there was the occasional snide remark, but the number of supportive comments from passersby was enough to quiet your uncertainty.

This year you had stayed up late for the past month putting the final touches on your purple staff, even attempting an LED system that allowed parts of it to glow. It had taken two weeks to get the prototype of the dress situated since you weren’t used to sewing such a large amount of detail into your fabrics. Unfortunately, this also meant it took significantly longer to finish the outfit than expected, leaving almost no time to do your wig. But, in true cosplayer fashion, you managed to whip something together with an older purple wig, just in time for tonight.

You did, however, only realize the character also had a sword occasionally, but there was no way you were going to make that in time so the staff would have to suffice.

The night had already been proving to be one of the best so far. Starting around eight in the evening, you and some of your closest friends had gotten together for a costume party, a series of shitty horror movies, and a plethora of even shittier cheap cocktails. Despite not being much of a drinker yourself, you always participated in the annual spooky-themed cocktail charcuterie. This year you weren’t holding back. Your pride and joy charcuterie consisted of nine drinks including, but not limited to ghost-themed Aperol Spiritz–nicknamed Spirit Spiritz, Bloody Marys, and your personal favorite, Bonejitos. They even had little skeleton dudes sitting on the rim of the glass.

Unfortunately, your friends weren’t very amused by your festive drinks, even going as far to say your ingenious Bonejitos were a stretch. So, clearly they didn’t see the vision. Eventually, the party events died down as the guests began to go home, allowing the night to evolve into just drinking.

“Did you get a photo of your costume yet?” Himari, your friend from freshman year, questioned.

You shook your head, absently watching as the rest of your friends downed your masterly made Bonejitos. Liars, all of them. “‘A stretch’ my ass,” you scoffed.

Himari dug around in her bag, retrieving her camera. “Halloween photoshoot? Your fit is cute and I’m getting bored here.”

You did like the idea of photography-major level photos with none of the price involved. “I love you, Mari.”

She stuffed your spear under her arm and with that, the two of you stepped out into the cold and crisp autumn air, the breeze running over your bare shoulders and thighs. You shivered lightly, pulling up your thigh-highs and hugging the excess fabric close to your body.

Himari glanced at you in concern. “Does the Raiden Shogun not wear a jacket?”

“Unfortunately, she doesn’t.” You chuckled, rubbing your arms. “You can’t be sexy and wear a jacket,” you joked.

She hummed in sympathy, looking around for a good place to set up. The park was a particularly popular spot during Halloween, specifically known for its comforting lighting and ambience.

“What about there?” Himari pointed to a small gazebo surrounded by violets, lit up by a string of fairy lights. There were a couple groups nearby, but otherwise it was pretty much empty.

You nodded, excited. “Good eye as always, Mari.”

She handed over your spear and offered an arm,helping you step up onto the platform and underneath the gazebo. While she adjusted the lights to her liking, you took a moment to adjust your skirt and sleeves.

“Do you think it’s too short?” you asked, tugging on the cloth. Thankfully the character wore a pair of shorts underneath, but the dress was barely miniskirt length.

Himari looked over briefly before turning back to the lights. “No, not really. Why? Are you uncomfortable?”

Before you could answer, a group of college-aged girls passed by the gazebo, clearly a bit drunk. As they left, one of the girls that was hanging onto her friend’s arm looked over. “Don’t be, girlie! You look hot as fuck!” she shouted out, words slightly slurred.

You flustered, blabbering out a quick thanks in surprise. There’s nothing like a friendly drunk girl to get your confidence up.

From behind the camera, Himari gave you a thumbs up. “Give me one of these.” She mimed leaning against the wooden banister. “Yeah like that, but with your leg more out.”

The shutter clicked several times as you did your best to recreate her gestures.

Himari proceeded to guide you through a series of poses, occasionally having you incorporate your staff or the gazebo. Eventually you got used to the flashing camera and allowed yourself to melt into the character, embodying her essence as best as you could.

Time flew and before you knew it, Himari was calling you down from the gazebo to look over the photos. You hovered over her shoulder as she flipped through each one, pausing at her favorites.

“I’ll import these onto my laptop and send them back edited sometime this week,” she told you, removing her glasses and wiping them off with her sleeve.

You nodded. “Thanks for doing this, you really didn’t have to.” You rummaged through your bag, hoping to find at least a little money for her efforts. Feeling a couple bills between your fingers, you held them out to her.

Himari’s eyes squinted and you realized she was staring over your shoulder. “I think that guy in costume was looking at you,” she said, still cleaning off the lenses.

You turned to see a tall man across the park, large grenade shaped gauntlets resting on both his arms. He quickly looked away once he saw your head turn. Looking closer, you realized he was dressed in a dark black sleeveless jumpsuit with orange and green straps along his body.

He was clearly a Dynamight cosplayer. And by the looks of it, a really talented one at that.

You were almost convinced that he had real hero equipment on. His armor pieces were strikingly accurate, and you made a mental note to look for more realistic prop materials.

“He probably spent a lot of time on that,” you mused to Himari, who had already gone back to inspecting the photos.

“You should go ask him about it.” she suggested, collecting the rest of her things and zipping her bag. “I’ve gotta catch an Uber soon.”

Maybe it was the lingering confidence gifted by the girl from earlier, but you managed to muster up enough self-assurance to wave goodbye to Himari and stride right up to the cosplayer.

As you got closer, you realized just how much work must have gone into all the details. The gauntlets–a very convincing metal–had several dents and scratches, giving it a worn down look, as if it had been used frequently.

His hair looked far too real to be a wig, likely just being his natural hair with lots of product in it. The most impressive detail by far was his physique. Had he trained specifically for this? The closer you got the more you noticed. If you were lucky, maybe he’d give you the name of his supplier.

“I love your outfit!” You smiled cheerily at him.

He turned to look at you, slightly taken aback. “Thanks?” he replied, folding his arms as he looked you over, eyes lingering on your cosplay.

You felt a twinge of anxiety as he inspected your outfit. He probably just didn’t recognize the character, you convinced yourself.

“I’m a cosplayer too,” you clarified, gesturing to your dress. “But clearly not as dedicated as you.”

You watched as his chest puffed lightly at the compliment, though he titled his head, a bit puzzled.

Clearing your throat awkwardly, you tried a different method. “How long did it take to make?”

He blinked at you and shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe a couple of months? I just told them what I wanted.”

Oh, you got it now. He’s just a model. It wasn’t uncommon for people to collaborate on cosplays, especially ones where one person either commissions or buys a cosplay from an artist, and then models it themself. Either way, he was still one of the best you’ve seen.

You nodded in understanding. “Do you have social media? I’d love to see what else you’ve done.” Pulling out your phone, you loaded up your Twitter, preparing to enter his tag.

“Dynamight Official. All one word,” he replied hesitantly, looking you up and down as if he was scanning for signs of sickness.

You chuckled faintly. He was really dedicated to his role. “Well, what's your name? I follow a lot of cosplayers already. Maybe I’ve seen you?” You pulled up your profile and turned the screen around to show him in case he recognized your tag.

His arms unfolded and his face slowly morphed from confused to exceptionally amused. “Bakugou Katsuki. I am Dynamight.”

Waving him off absently, you nodded as you scrolled through your followed accounts. You swear you’ve seen him online before. “Sorry, I’m not really good at roleplay. But you’re pretty convincing.”

He leaned against the cold metal lamppost, watching you sift through various Twitter accounts. You sneaked a glance to check his facial features again, but he was already staring straight back at you.

In such close capacity, his striking crimson eyes stood out to you. Even his contacts were high quality… Fighting back the warmth that threatened your cheeks and ears, you averted your gaze downwards.

Your eyes flicked to his waist. You hadn’t noticed it before, but a thick black bomber jacket was tied tightly around his torso, unlike the real hero’s costume. Well, you stand corrected. You certainly can be sexy with a jacket.

Speaking of jackets, you had been so caught up in conversation you hadn’t realized how cold it had gotten. The soft breeze from earlier had picked up into chilly wind, rustling the fabric of your dress as it blew by.

Bakufaux–haha–seemed to notice your interest in his jacket, untying it and tossing it over your shoulders. “Bit cold for you, Princess?” he drawled. “D’nno how you’ve managed in that outfit.” He gestured to your short dress and tall socks.

You couldn’t help but notice how his gaze lingered on you for a half second longer than normal. Not that you would’ve said anything. Thanks to his jacket, you were enveloped with warm and musky scents of charcoal and sandalwood. Though, being honest with yourself, you’ve been distracted ever since you walked over.

You snapped out of your trance when he pushed himself off the lamppost and leaned over you. It could’ve been twenty degrees out and you’d still swear you were overheating.

“Ever considered cosplaying in my costume?” He asked, watching your darkening cheeks closely.

Maybe it was the shit eating grin he wore proudly on his face, or the sneaking suspicion in your gut, but you had an inkling of a feeling he knew something you didn’t. In a surge of confidence and curiosity, or perhaps just pure adrenaline, you took a step forward.

“And if I have?”

Something snapped behind his eyes and you could’ve sworn his gaze dropped to your lips. He might’ve actually kissed you if you weren’t interrupted by the sound of glass shattering and the screams of customers inside a late night coffee shop.

You felt your heart rate increase as he swore under his breath, whatever smug expression he previously had was replaced by something far more intense and serious.

‘“I’m not leaving you out here alone, stay close to me,” he urged, taking one last look at you before turning and running towards the sound.

It took you a second to realize you were running behind him as fast as possible.

As the two of you neared the coffee shop, you noticed numerous shards of glass laid out on the concrete. On a second glance, you noticed some of the smaller shards were beginning to melt, turning the ground slightly slick.

You halted to a stop, almost crashing into your new friend. You felt a warm hand snake around your waist, lifting your body off the ground and onto a nearby bench.

“Don’t touch the ground, and stay right here,” he told you sternly, before turning and rushing straight into the cafe.

You watched, frozen in astonishment, only able to hear the horrific sounds of glass and… explosions? Occasionally you caught a glimpse of blonde hair, dropping off a poor customer caught in the crossfire, before dashing straight back inside. In what felt like seconds, he had already retrieved nearly every patron from the cafe, all while the villain was still inside.

Quickening footsteps approached from behind your place on the bench. You barely had a chance to comprehend the noises when a flash of red zipped past you, making a beeline straight for the cafe. Only after several trips in and out of the building did you finally recognize the eccentric costume of Pro-Hero Red Riot as he gathered the remainder of the victims outside.

Through the ringing in your ears you could only vaguely make out shouting between Red Riot and someone else still inside the building. It was all intelligible until he turned to you and the victims. The last words you heard was look away, or at least you assumed.

You weren’t interested in waiting around to find out so you shut your eyes tight and turned away from the scene as best as you could.

At first nothing happened. But after a beat, you felt your eyes burn behind your eyelids as a blistering wave of heat surrounded you. You think you screamed, but you weren’t entirely sure. Every muscle in your body tensed as the bench shook underneath you, threatening to break.

But as quickly as it came, it passed. You couldn’t tell how long you had been trapped in that position, clutching your knees to your chest with your eyes sealed shut. A warm hand shook you out of position, jostling your eyes open.

When your eyes finally adjusted, blocking your vision of the cafe was none other than a tall silhouette, and familiar red eyes.

“Hey, stay with me, Princess. You hurt?”

You felt calloused hands hastily press against your body, examining you for injury. He took a hold of your ankle, easing you into extending. “Anything?”

Shaking your head, you gripped onto him as he lifted you from the bench to your feet, steadying you with strong arms.

“Happy Halloween,” you managed to mutter meekly into his chest.

You felt him shudder beneath your head as he laughed, surprisingly heartily.

“Certainly one you’ll remember.” His low voice resonated in your brain, calming whatever nerves were remaining. “Let’s get you home, m’kay?”

You let him navigate you back to your apartment surprisingly deftly given your shaky directions, until finally you found yourself thanking him at your doorstep and shutting the door behind you.

Now that you were home and given a chance to breathe, you weren’t sure what was real. Everything mixed together in a blur and you couldn’t tell if it was all a dream or not.

As you groggily slumped against your bed, you felt something soft bundle against your back. Sitting up, you reached behind your back to feel the cool fabric of the black jacket you had been holding tightly against yourself. Embroidered on the sleeve were a pair of initials you hadn’t noticed before.

B.K.

With a strange pounding in your chest, you pulled out your phone.

Sure enough, you had one new notification.

@DynamightOfficial followed you back

The device buzzed in your hand with a second notification. A direct message request alongside an image. Swiping to your messages, you opened the text from your new follower.

Front and center was a quick photo of Bakugou’s hero costume, laid out neatly on his bed. Directly underneath the image were two small text bubbles.

u take commissions?

ive got something in mind for ya

#bakugou katsuki #mha #mha bakugou #bnha #bnha x reader #bnha bakugou #dynamight #mha x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou katuski x reader #dynamight x reader

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vodika-vibes · 5 months

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Jango 😍 may we get something for him? I‘m not too fussy about anything in particular but I am a thirsty mess for him sooooo maybe some steamy making out?🫣👀 thank you 😊

Missed You

Summary: Jango comes home after a long job.

Pairing: Jango Fett x Reader

Word Count: 628

Warnings: Hints of sub!Jango, if you squint. (I dunno, man, it just happened but I'm kinda feeling it.)

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni

A/N: Sorry that this is so short, but you didn't specify if you wanted any written smut, so I cut the story before it got that far. BUT if you, maybe, wanted me to write you some sub!Jango feel free to send an ask! Also this is set in an AU where the clones are a thing, but Jango didn't create them willingly. So Boba doesn't exist, yet.

You hum a quiet tune as you move around your kitchen. You’d already cooked dinner, and eaten, and now is time for the oh so fun job of cleaning up after cooking and eating. Sometimes being an adult sucks. You miss the days when you could just eat and then go and play.

Of course, that’s also the only part of your childhood you miss.

You set the last of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, and toss the cleaning rag into the laundry bin, before you hit the button to start the washer, and you step out of your kitchen and into your living room.

You’re lucky. You managed to buy a decent sized home, with a decent sized yard, for cheap. Of course, you had to fix it up, but at this point your house feels like home. Which, of course, was the whole point.

You’re about to sink into your couch and turn on a movie, when you hear the familiar sound of the side door opening, and then shutting with a loud click. And then there’s the even more familiar sound of heavy armor getting set on the shelf, and a wide smile crosses your face.

Jango is home.

You cross the living room, heading to the side of the house that Jango always enters through after he’s been working. You don’t even manage to get to the door, before it clicks open and Jango steps into the house properly.

You open your mouth to greet him, but you don’t have the chance, as he crosses the short distance between you, and crashes his lips against yours. One of his arms wraps snugly around your waist as he pulls you tightly against him, while the other hand settles on the back of your neck.

He breaks the kiss and moves his lips to your throat, instinctively finding the spot on your neck that makes your knees weak, “Jan-” You gasp out his name, or, at least, you try to, and he chuckles low in the back of his throat.

“Missed you,” Jango murmurs as he lightly nips your throat, “So kriffing much-”

You release a laugh that turns into a moan when he bites down on your shoulder, “You-kriff Jango…” You gasp, “You were the one who decided to take the job-” You manage to get out.

He groans, “I know. We needed the credits,” Jango crashes his lips against yours again and walks you backwards until you tumble onto the couch, with Jango pressed into you. He doesn’t once break the kiss.

You drag your hands up his back and into his curls, and you moan into the kiss, trying to pull him even closer to you.

A low curse falls from his lips in a language you don’t immediately recognize, and his hands dip under the hem of your shirt to dance across your stomach and ribs.

“Look at you,” Jango murmurs, “So pretty. And so pliant under my hands,” His voice takes on a teasing lilt and you try to pout at him, though it’s ruined by the smile playing on your lips.

“I can’t help it, you have very talented hands.” You reply.

“I have an even more talented mouth.” He retorts with a growing grin.

“Do you? You’ll have to remind me,” You tease.

He groans and manages to get your shirt up and off, before you’re able to stop him with a light touch of your finger against his lips. “Cyare?”

“Jango,” Your smile is small and loving, “Bedroom.”

His dark eyes scan your face for a moment, and he obviously sees something that he likes, because his eyes darken with desire. “Yes ma’am.”

Delight crosses your face. You do so love it when Jango wants to play.

#star wars #star wars legends #jango fett x reader #jango x reader #star wars fanfiction #x reader fanfiction #answered asks

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middle-earth-mythopoeia · 10 months

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For the ask game: 1, 3 and 4!

Thanks for the ask!

The character everyone gets wrong:

This is tough, because I feel like plenty of people get plenty of characters wrong, but the one EVERYONE gets wrong? I don’t know. I’ll just have to pick a character that a lot of people get wrong instead…

I think the LOTR movies did lasting harm to Gimli’s character and people’s interpretations of him. They made him into comic relief and undermined the depth of his personality. This is not a criticism of John Rhys-Davies, who did a great job with what he was given! (And I fucking love that armor.) But the movies did not do Gimli justice.

Gone is his wisdom (“Faithless is he who says farewell when the road darkens”). Gone is his love for poetry and music, and the song of Khazad-dûm (which is one of my favorite scenes). Gone is his relationship with Frodo (which is a nice connection between the Hobbit and LOTR because of Glóin’s friendship with Bilbo).

Gone, too, is his open affection for Legolas, replaced by emotionally distant banter. And I like banter sometimes, but Gimli and Legolas had a very sweet friendship in the books (once they opened up to each other). After the battle of Helm’s Deep, after the competition, they were just glad to see each other alive. There was no stupid back-and-forth about the last kill—and I don’t think Tolkien’s Gimli would sit on a carcass.

Potentially even worse, Gimli in the movie (for some reason?) tries to persuade Aragorn NOT to release the army of the dead even after they’ve fulfilled their oath. There’s nothing like that in Tolkien’s books, and it just makes Gimli look dishonorable. After all, in the book, he’s the one who spoke in favor of keeping oaths when the Fellowship set out. His actual characterization in Tolkien’s books was mostly thrown aside for cheap “funny” moments.

There are still Gimli scenes in the movies I enjoy, of course, like the scene when he tells Legolas about Galadriel’s gift to him—“I asked her for one hair from her golden head...she gave me three”—and Legolas smiles. It’s one of the few sincere scenes they have together, and one of the few moments when we see more of Gimli’s inner feelings. I just wish the movies had been more faithful to his characterization across the board.

And because the movies have so much influence, I think the movie version of Gimli has replaced many people’s conception of him, which makes me sad. I don’t think everyone does this—I know there are other book Gimli lovers out there!—but too often I see fanfiction and fanart replicating the movie version of the character.

Screenshot or description of the worst take you’ve seen on tumblr:

This is another tough question, because so many bad takes compete for the top spot! I think a prime (pun intended) competitor for the worst take is the idea that Rings of Power added to Galadriel’s characterization rather than horribly detracting from it.

When the final episode of season one came out, some people were excited that it referenced Galadriel’s line in FOTR (here the quote from the book), “In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen…stronger than the foundations of the earth.” But the way Rings of Power chose to reference that line didn’t add to Galadriel’s characterization at all. It made her entire character arc dependent on a man asking her to be his queen. Galadriel’s ambition comes from HER—not from Sauron. I was very disappointed to see ANYONE defending that.

One person actually came onto one of my posts to tell me that Rings of Power Galadriel is “exactly” like she is in canon, and I was like…where??????? Tolkien’s Galadriel fought, but the idea that she would enjoy killing, like the show portrays, is just bizarre (why do I have to fucking explain this?). Tolkien’s Galadriel had the ambition of ruling a realm of her own—she didn’t go on a wild goose chase for “revenge” of all things. Tolkien’s Galadriel was extraordinarily wise and perceptive from young age, not a petty, temperamental, undiplomatic brat. Tolkien’s Galadriel was tall and strong, not short and scrawny. And Tolkien’s Galadriel never trusted Annatar—she certainly wasn’t manipulated by him, let alone nearly seduced. I cannot believe someone would have the audacity to defend this abysmal portrayal of Galadriel by arguing that it’s CANON.

What was the last straw that made you finally block an annoying person?

If people post annoying things, I’ll usually just unfollow them. I unfollow people who post too many gifs from the Hobbit movies, for instance. No offense to them, I just hate the Hobbit movies and don’t want to see gifs/pictures of them. But even a single Rings of Power gif will get you blocked. It’s not even a last straw.

Turning back to Gimli, I think the worst aspects of the movies’ portrayal of him (like the drunken scene in the extended edition) were replicated by the Hobbit movies (the unmentionable food fight, for instance) and then by Rings of Power (what exactly was the value added by having Durin burp loudly during dinner?). Tolkien’s Dwarves can be funny sometimes, of course—like when they sing about breaking Bilbo’s plates!—but they don’t have disgusting table manners. They’re actually very polite, often bowing and saying “At your service!”

In conclusion: respect Gimli, respect the Dwarves, and respect Galadriel, or perish by my axe.

#asks #Gimli #Galadriel #my writing

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eddievanhammettmunson · 2 years

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Hallows Eve (alternate)

Vampire Eddie Munson x Female reader

Author's note. Helllooooooooo people of earth. This is the Hallows Eve alternate. This one is a lot less scary in my opinion and just a bit more smutty. Now up until one point it is identical to its alternate. The difference is I reworked it to avoid having scares but it is a bit shorter so I hope you enjoy <3.

WARNINGS- 18++++ MINORS DNI PRETTY PLEASE I BEG. We got smut in here, we got some biting in here, we got some foul language in here. You know what we don’t want in here? Minors. Get out.

Summary- visiting your boyfriend at the haunted house he works at leads to some sexy spooky shenanigans 4.5k words

“Guys, are we sure this is a good idea? I know I probably sound like a broken record but I’m just saying it’s gonna be super busy cause it’s Halloween and after everything everyone in this room has been through maybe we should all just stay here and watch a slightly scary Halloween related movie” Robin said for practically the thousandth time today. Obviously feeling a bit reluctant about agreeing to go to the haunted house with everyone tonight.

“Oh come on Robin you’re gonna have a great time and if you get scared y/n and I will be there to protect you” Nancy said, covering Robin's hand with her own in an attempt to reassure her.

“Hey, what about me? I can protect Robin. Let’s not forget who got Robin out of a secret underground Russian layer?” Steve said looking wounded that he wasn’t mentioned as a knight in shining armor.

“Wait, I thought it was Dustin and Erica who got you and Robin out after you guys were drugged?” You say raising an eyebrow at Steve who was now looking very defeated.

“Anyyyyyways if you guys actually want to get to the haunted house today instead of next week I suggest you all get in the car before I leave your asses here and go by myself” Steve said obviously not addressing what you’ve just said.

You, Nancy and Robin all share a glance and smirk about Steve’s reaction and then you all pack into the car when Johnathan finally runs out of the house with the bag of snacks he almost forgot. You were so excited cause tonight was the night you finally got to see Eddie at the haunted house he’s been working at. And you’re so excited to spend time with him once he gets off work and you two can walk through the haunted houses together.

The entire drive there as everyone talks away in the car, your thoughts remain on Eddie. You can’t wait to see how he looks because he’s been so excited about working there. Ever since he died and was brought back to life in the upside down Eddie has been a bit…self conscious about his….condition. But once he realized he could work at the haunted house and he wouldn’t even need to buy a cheap vampire costume he was super excited. And you were very happy for him.

It killed you that Eddie felt bad about that side of himself and he hid it from you most of the time. You’d seen him in his vampire form on more than one occasion but it’s not something he ever liked for you to see. Sadly you felt the opposite about it. You love Eddie with every fiber of your being and you love this part of him too. Maybe just a little too much. Okay you won’t lie but you’ve fantasized about him biting you on more than one occasion. You can’t quite pinpoint why but there’s just something about him in his vampire form that is so sexy. So knowing you’ll get to see him like that all night is definitely an exciting prospect.

What’s even more exciting is the thought of what his reaction will be to your outfit. You managed to convince the gang to dress up with you so it would be slightly less awkward for you. Nancy and Johnathan decided to do a couples costume and went with Marry Poppins and the Chimney Sweep. Steve and Robin went as Doc and Marty Mcfly. Steve opted to go as Marty and Robin was pretty okay with being able to go as Doc.

You on the other hand had decided to go for something a little more risqué. You wore a cute black little witches dress that hangs down just a little too high on your thighs and hugged your body in all the right places,with long off the shoulder sleeves that flared out at the hands. With it being off the shoulder it made your breasts look even more amazing. You knew cause you’d caught Steve looking away all flustered at least 3 times today. And the final touches of the outfit were a headband that had a tiny little crooked witches hat on it and some high top sneakers and some black knee high socks. You knew this look would drive Eddie insane and you couldn’t wait.

The drive to the haunted house felt like it took forever but it was on the opposite end of Hawkins and a little further outside of town. They used a large empty patch of ground and built multiple haunted houses and attractions in the area. It’s like the fair but scary.

It doesn’t take too much longer to get to the grounds and you all go in and get your tickets and are ready to start the night's adventures.

“So y/n which house is Munson working in” Steve said, taking charge at the front of the group, hands on his hips ready to go.

“He said there was a house called Demon Spawn of hell or something? I know it was hell related cause he kept making jokes about it being perfect for him” you look at the map that was handed to you as you walked in and try to figure out which way it would be.

“Ah maybe it’s that one?” Robin says pointing to the drawing of a poorly drawn devil on the map.

“Yeah that definitely looks like Eddie’s kind of place” Johnathan says, grabbing Nancy’s hand already pulling her in the direction.

Since Eddie’s not off work yet and said he’d join you after you walk through the haunted house you realized that meant for now at least you were alone. Not completely but everyone else had a pair. Steve and Robin had each other to hangout with and Nancy was with Johnathan and here you were walking behind them all alone and exposed to the horrors of the night.

There were plenty of people in costume walking around giving our jumpscares and you were very nervous that you would become a target of one. Trying to move forward you attempt to catch up to Steve and Robin as quickly as you can.

With all the stuff you all have been through you thought this place would be a cake walk. An easy breezy evening. But you have to admit you find yourself more on edge than normal. And to make it worse you thought you’d gotten over your fear of clowns and being here tonight it’s very clear that that fear hasn’t gone away. Let’s just say you had some bad interactions with clowns as a kid and now if one even looks at you, you’re on the verge of tears and a panic attack.

Trying not to let this show you put on a smile and hold your head up high as you walk towards the front of the haunted house with your friends. The line to wait isn’t too long and luckily this house doesn’t look like it’ll have any clowns in it since the theme seems to be more hell and demon based.

Getting up to the door they stop you all and have you sign waivers and that’s when they tell you it’s because the scarers are allowed to touch you. Eddie hadn’t mentioned that. Not only did it make you think about how many people Eddie had been scaring and what tactics he may have used but it also made you very aware that the moment Eddie knows you’re in that haunted house he’ll be trying to get you.

Walking into the haunted house you and Robin automatically reach for Steve on autopilot due to the darkness of the house and wanting to stay connected. Steve upon feeling the both of you says “oh so NOW I’m the protector I see how it is' ' causing both Robin and yourself to playfully hit Steve’s arm. The first few scares are pretty tame. A few people jumping out and yelling “BOO” or screaming like they’ve been murdered.

The scariest room was called “souls of the damned '' and you had to walk through all these real live people crawling towards you on the floor in horrendous makeup and prosthetics as they reached for your legs and feet making it impossible to get through the room quickly. There was one girl in particular at the end of the room that you made eyecontact with and that’s when you knew she was coming for you. Something about the fake blood falling from her eyes and the horrendous way she was contorting her body scared you. You had almost made it out of the room when she started crawling backwards towards you while screaming and crying and laughing. It scared all of you. Robin was practically pissing herself and you could feel Steve was so tense it was like holding onto a brick wall. She gets so close to you that you step back just momentarily letting go of Steve as you guys finally make it to the next room.

It’s so dark that you can no longer see your friends, hell you couldn’t even see your hand if you held it up to your face. The lights in this room start flashing and you try to call out for your friends “STEVE!!!! ROBIN!!!??!? NANCY?!?? JOHNATHAN?!?? ANYBODY PLEASE?!?!?” But all you hear is the names being repeated back to you in mocking voices and laughter. The further you get into the room the more panicked you become as you’d lost your friends. Suddenly a girl with wings and horns and a tail jumps in your face and speaks through growls “Well well well look what fell into the demons nest” suddenly as she said this and the strobe lights continued 4 other people seem to appear out of thin air dancing circles around your clearly panicked form.

Remembering it is just a haunted house and they can’t actually hurt you, you try to continue to walk and although the “demons” let you they continue to follow you for a bit while shouting the names of your friends whom you still haven’t found. Nearing the end of the demons nest you spot a lot more demons in the flashing lights and prepare for them to scare you. And of course they do. Some run out screaming, they tap you on the shoulder, lightly tug on your arm as they all continue laughing and chanting your friends names. It’s all becoming a bit too much and a bit too overwhelming and you start stumbling backwards feeling the need to either pass out or start running. Either way you were done with this haunted house. The moment you stumble backwards a pair of arms wraps around you and grabs you. Out of instinct you elbow whoever has just grabbed you (completely ignoring the waiver you’ve signed promising not to injure the actors) but your elbow does nothing and instead all you hear is a laugh. An all too familiar laugh.

You turn around and find a familiar pair of bright red eyes staring back at you. You could see his face in between the flashes of light and you were able to see his amazing smile. His amazing smile along with his fangs which he was dawning proudly with no shame. To help his costume he also wore some fake wings and some devil horns and a tail but he fit right in with the rest of the demons. Hell he looks like he could be king of them.

“I got you baby. You look a bit frightened? Did I get ya?” He said in a tone that made you not want to admit defeat.

“Me? Scared? Pffft you wish Munson. I just didn’t want some other guy grabbing me unless it was you” you said, giving him a kiss in the flashing darkness.

It was then that you realized the demons had moved on to scare others throughout the house. And it dawned on you that Eddie might have put them up to it to try and scare you more.

“Eddie, were you trying to scare me?”

In return all you hear is a low laugh.

“I wouldn’t call it scaring. I would call it ensuring my girlfriend gets her money's worth for the night” he said as he spun you around and wrapped his arms around you from behind.

“Come on baby I know my way out of this hell hole I’ll protect you” you giggled at his words and continued to walk like that through the rest of the haunted house. You have to admit these scares are pretty good and you’re sure wherever Robin and Steve are they probably had pissed themselves. But with Eddie wrapped around you, you couldn’t help but feel anything but safe.

You make it out of the haunted house and see Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Johnathan waiting for you.

“Jesus Y/n where’d you go I was about to go back through and make sure that dead girl hadn’t eaten you or made you a part of the attraction” you laugh at Steve who is very obviously not at all worried. However you do feel Eddie has become very tense. The gang all knew what had happened to Eddie but the only time they had seen it was when he was in the upside down and even then he wouldn’t show them too much. This time however he’s on full display.

To anyone passing by obviously Eddie is just a man in a costume. But to his friends he knows this will be them seeing a part of Eddie that he keeps hidden from them.

The air becomes thick as everyone takes in Eddie’s form for a moment and Robin says through a nervous laugh “looking a little horny there Eddie” which causes everyone to look at Robin in confusion and Robin starts sputtering out words “oh oh god I meant I just meant cause he has the horns on his head the the the headband he’s he’s-“ as she points to her head and you feel Eddie start laughing.

He pulls away from you momentarily and takes off the horns and the wings and the devil tail and he runs the costume over to one of the other guys at the back of the house and returns to your side.

Other than Robin's funny comment about his horns nobody comments on Eddie’s form after that. The only words spoken are when Nancy says that everyone should head back towards the main scare grounds and clear the dark area so people can exit the haunted house.

Once you step into an area with actual lighting you’re able to get a good look at Eddie and he’s able to get a good look at you. You guys let the gang walk ahead a bit as they all

Decide on what to do next.

“My my my princess what do we have here” Eddie says in a playful tone as he spins you around to get a full look at your costume.

Once you turn to face him, you take a moment to study him. His long dark hair running down to his shoulder perfectly framing his pale face and his deep dark red eyes as he stares back at you. You reach out a hand to cup his face as you stare at his fangs and he notices the way your mouth curls into a slight smile upon seeing them.

“Take a picture sweetheart it will last longer” as he says this he grabs your waist and pulls you to him. Feeling a bit courageous in the moment you take the opportunity to lean up and whisper in his ear

“Oh no no I’m very sure you can last muchhh longer than any picture Ed’s” and you give a slight giggle as you pull away and grab his hand dragging him to go meet up with your friends again. Not giving him the opportunity to respond. Meeting up with the others Steve and Robin had pretty much decided that one haunted house was all they needed and Nancy and Johnathan seemed to be having plenty of fun running off by themselves being independent as usual.

“Okay Ed’s what house do you recommend next” you say absent minded as you continue wandering and twirling while holding his hand.

“Hmmmmm how about the butcher shop”

You and Eddie headed off on your next adventure. This haunted house wasn’t as scary to you but you made sure to play it up so that Eddie could protect you. Or at least pretend to. After going through the butcher shop and a nuclear fallout haunted house you two decided to meet back up with the group.

“So Robin and I are gonna go get food from this food truck if you guys want anything” upon hearing that Nancy and Robin were going to get food you become very excited. All the scares you’ve had to endure have built up quite the appetite.

“Eddie and I were gonna walk through another house but here if I give you some money can you grab us some and save it for when we get back”

“Sure y/n. What house are you guys going to next” Nancy asks counting out how much money you gave her. You turn to Eddie to let him answer cause you’ve been just kind of letting him guide you the entire time.

“Dead man’s cove. The one that looks like a giant shipwreck”

“I just don’t get how you two can keep going through those haunted houses scare after scare” Steve says looking at you two in slight confusion. You however are not prepared for the next words out of Eddie’s mouth.

“Oh don’t worry Stevie, I know what my girl can handle. I can keep her going the rest of the night” Eddie lightly slaps your ass as he says this and you turn around to slap his arm as you giggle. You turn to Johnathan and Steve who are now fake gagging and the words of Eddie have caused Nancy and Robin to rush off to go get food.

Before you know it Eddie is dragging you towards dead man’s cove. The line for this one was probably the longest out of the ones you’ve waited in. And you could hear large amounts of screams coming from the inside, making you quite nervous.

“I can’t wait for you to see this one baby…I’ve got quite the surprise for you inside” as he whispers this in your ear you can’t help but wonder what he could mean. What’s going to happen in there. You’re partially excited but mostly nervous at this point.

You make your way into the house and at first it’s just props like swords and bones and fake money. But the further in you get the more scarers you encounter dressed as dead pirates or hideous sea creatures. Finally you and a group of people make it to a large open room of water and it’s eerily quiet until a giant animatronic Kraken jumps out of the water causing you to scream and jump back into Eddie’s arms. And you can feel him laughing.

“Don’t worry princess I got you, no Kraken shall harm my woman while I’m here” he says in his best hero impression.

As the group of people make their way out of the room onto their next scares Eddie keeps you and him in the room.

As the room remains empty and dark for a moment you feel a loss of contact from Eddie. You begin looking around the room for him having no idea where he could have gone. The longer you look for him the more nervous you get about being alone in the room with that giant thing. You begin to make your way out of the room believing Eddie must have just walked through trying to scare you but as you walk by one wall in particular you find yourself being pulled behind the wall and you scream.

“Shhhhh y/n it’s me it’s Eddie shhhhh”

“What the fuck Eddie where did you go? Where are we”

“This is my surprise baby” he says gesturing to the very small enclosed room you two now occupied.

“What are we doing in here Eddie?”

He scoffs and pushes you up against the wall slightly

“Well baby I’m gonna make you scream back here. I’m gonna make you feel so good that everyone outside is gonna get goosebumps from hearing your screams” as he said that his hands were on the backs of your thighs lifting you up to wrap your legs around him.

He started kissing your jaw and your neck slowly kissing down to above your breasts and you were beginning to breathe heavily.

“How'd you even find this place Ed’s”

“Been eyeing it for weeks since I helped put this house up. The second I knew it existed I knew I wanted to take you back here and blow your back out” hearing him say that so casually made you begin to feel very hot between your legs and you pulled his head back up to kiss you feverishly.

You wrapped your legs around him even tighter and he began to grind against you causing you to moan.

“That’s a good girl. Make all those pretty sounds for me. I want everyone to hear you”

As he said this he took one of his hands and slipped it between you and slipped a hand under your dress and underwear. He started rubbing your clit and you decided to play up your moans just a little bit. Wanting him so bad but also knowing you can’t stay back here forever you try to spur him on a bit.

Eddie removes his fingers after making sure you’re plenty wet. He puts you down for just a second so that he can undo his belt and zipper and free his erection from his pants.

“God baby you’re driving me crazy in that dress you look so fucking good” as he says this you reach out and grab his dick, stroking him from base to tip.

“And those knee socks baby. You’re killing me with them. God I need to feel you” he takes your hand away from his dick and he pushes you back up against the wall again and you wrap your legs around him again.

He hikes your dress up around your waist and he moves your underwear to the side. He rubs himself between your wet folds a few times and presses himself to your clit. Earning a moan from you both. He teases you entrance only for a moment wanting to hear you whine and whimper for him. Once you do he presses the tip inside and you both groan. After giving you a second to adjust he fully sinks himself into you and you sink your nails into his back.

He begins thrusting into you and you can hear the sounds of you slamming into the wall, your screams filling the area.

You wrap yourself even tighter around him forcing him to go deeper and he’s hitting you in just the write spot that has you seeing stars. Eddie is kissing you and licking you in every place his mouth can possibly reach. And then he moves his head to your shoulder.

“Tell me if this is too much baby” is all the warning he gives before he sinks his fangs deep into you.

The scream moan you let out is everything he had hoped for. He knows everyone in and around that haunted house would be able to hear you. He didn’t care so much about that now cause all he could think about was how good you tasted and how good you felt wrapped around him. The amount of pleasure he felt in his body was unreal. He’d never felt anything like it and he knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

He’s never bitten you before but the sensation was amazing. You were definitely going to have him do this more often. Pretty much as soon as you felt him bite you, you began to feel your orgasm build at an impossible rate. You could feel him gulping your blood against your neck and all you wanted to know was what it felt like for him right now.

You arched your back into him and he wrapped his hand around your back holding you against him as he continued to thrust into you. You began to feel yourself tighten around him and you let go rolling your eyes back in your head as you felt your release. As soon as Eddie felt you tighten around him that was enough to send him over the edge and he released within you and pulled his teeth out of your neck. He held you up like that for a moment as you both breathed and came down from your highs.

He pulled out of you and gently set you down he took your face in his hand and tilted your chin to look up at him

“How are you feeling princess” you looked up at him with the biggest smile and gave him a big kiss and you were able to taste your blood on his lips.

You both took a moment to try and fix your appearance as he wiped your blood off of his face and you attempted to hide your bite mark with your hair.

As a next group of people slowly walked into the room, you and Eddie came out from your hidden spot in the walls and continued through the house as if nothing happened.

Eddie and yourself made your way back to your friends who were waiting at a bench with the food they’d gotten.

“Where the hell were you two your foods almost cold” Steve said as you two walked up to the bench.

The group pretended not to notice the stupid grins the two of you wore the rest of the night and they definitely didn’t mention the visible bite mark and blood and you had poorly tried to hide behind your hair. And when the gang all said their goodbyes in the parking lot they definitely made jokes about you and Eddie getting it on in a haunted house as they watched you two quickly drive off in Eddie’s van to have more adventures once the two of you got home. One thing was for certain and it’s that you ended up wearing those knee high socks for the rest of the night.

#vampire eddie munson #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfic #eddie stranger things #eddie munson #stranger things imagine #stranger things smut #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things x y/n #stranger things

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zalrb · 2 years

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Are you going to give Rings of Power a try? I just watched the first two episodes. My first impression is that it’s… okay I guess? Since everyone is feeling the need to compare the two, I prefer HOTD so far. I am not fully invested in that either, but I am at least curious as to where the story is going. With ROP, it felt like there was just too much going on at once and tbh I just felt a bit confused. But, I will give it a few more episodes. Anyway, if you end up watching it, I’d be curious to know what you think!

The thing is for me, it's not Peter Jackson's LOTR so I'm just bound to be disappointed, and I mean that in terms of the visuals. There's a great tumblr post that talks about the special effects of LOTR and why they basically stand the test of time because Peter Jackson wanted the movie to look like something out of a storybook and references this bts video about digital grading as reference

youtube

and there was this other facebook post that spoke about why the costuming in LOTR stands the test of time:

For instance with the upcoming Rings of Power by Amazon, the reason Peter Jackson’s original trilogy stands so strongly 20+ years later is partly because the production spent years hand making every single piece of armor with real metal, hand dyeing all natural fiber fabrics and designing distinct embroidery and hairstyles specific to each race in middle earth that had continuity through the story. The natural dyes and dedicated layers of fabrics for elves/weaves for hobbit wool/dyes for Men had a much more muted medieval look, yet ethereal because of the slight detail you don’t REALLY notice but the depth draws your eye to every inch of the costume regardless.

so even though ROP is literally the most expensive TV show ever made, costing eighty-nine million dollars per episode, it looks cheap to me because of the lack of this detail.

This armour looks like armour, it looks like it feels heavy, it looks real

This does not

and because it doesn't have the ethereal visual element to it that LOTR had, that sort of hazy glow

or the way they play with colour so it's not immediately noticeable but it gives you a particular vibe, like with The Shire they wanted to give off a sense of warmth so the tones of scenes in The Shire are warm, kind of toasty

and ROP just kind of plays it straight

I'm like this is not Middle-Earth. In the YT video, Peter Jackson was like New Zealand has some beautiful locations but at the end of the day, it's still New Zealand, it's still a real place so we wanted to shift it a little to the left to make it Middle Earth and the first part is how I feel with the show, where I'm like the scenery is pretty, it doesn't feel otherworldly though.

Like some things were pretty

but does it have that storybook vibe?

Not really, not to me. So, if I can't even be invested in the fact that this is Middle Earth, I'm kind of like, whatever to the rest of it?

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ericmhe · 1 year

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Godzilla rewatch: Godzilla and Mothra

My copy of this is on the other side of Godzilla vs King Ghidorah and doesn't have a subtitled track, so I'm not sure how much is dub creation and isn't. One thing that stands out is the really goofy over the top voice they give this old guy who seems to mostly be there for reaction shots. Another stand out is when the Cosmos ask Mothra not to hurt any more people and Mothra turns right around and crawls straight through a building. I'm guessing the line there was a bit different in Japanese. I seem to recall finding some of the banter between the divorced characters kind of funny, but I can't remember a specific interaction now that I'm sitting down for it, so there wasn't anything too memorable there I guess.

The overall movie feels a lot like a reboot of the original Mothra movie that's being speedrun a bit to fit in an evil twin and Godzilla. Enough of the movie is on Mothra that it feels really weird that she gets written out of the rest of the Heisei movies, or at least it seems like the Mothra Rebirth trilogy should have tied in to some degree. Kind of a Pilot with no follow up or something.

I haven't seen this movie very often though, I've just been more prone to rewatching Showa or Millenium series than Heisei, so I was a little surprised by how aggressive and effective Battra actually is, especially as a larvae. The flying form actually seems like a bit of a downgrade in battle power for him but it's still kind of cheap that he can just decide to assume it and glows for a bit while Mothra still has her whole cocoon process. When Mothra's egg hatches and she's using the ship to keep some cover between herself and the other kaiju I have to say, that ship is tough. It takes a lot of laser blasts, attacks that destroy groups of armored vehicles, like a champ. - speaking of that, the fact Heisei Godzilla is willing to blast little larval Mothra at the get go definitely establishes him as more persistently villainous than Showa Godzilla who fought Ghidorah for doing that. Heck, it took a long time for still a villain Showa Godzilla to retaliate against Mothra larvae (though he was a threat to the egg? I guess he had a small window for 'acceptable target' there)

It's mostly a case of not having many scenes in Destroy All Monsters, but I think this is the most destructive Mothra I've seen. Plowing through buildings and ships, it's kind of funny after hearing about how Toho insisted Mothra not kill anyone in 2019's King of the Monsters. Still she's definitely the least dangerous of the movie's three kaiju. Which reminds me in the first Mothra movie a telepathic link meant it was inevitable that Mothra search for the fairies/cosmos/shinobin but here they actively sing for her to come get them which I can see as coming off as much more premeditated destruction. Kind of weird when they tell Mothra to go back and Mothra doesn't take them along at first. I guess it's so the attack and cocoon can happen.

Everyone being surprised that Godzilla survived a lava bath is sort of funny with the time gap between Returns and vs Biollante in mind, but I guess this Godzilla didn't go through that, because of the time travel from the last movie? Or he both did and didn't? Dang, previous movie goofs everything up. Deep breath, it's a loose continuity, 'something kind of like the last movie might have happened, but maybe it didn't is the rule here. And YET! Mothra's still written out of the series.

Is it just me or is that climactic battle really weird looking? Maybe it's just because I'm from a rural enough an area I'm used to seeing all of Orion pretty easily, but it just does not feel like a night sky to me. Could be effects failure, but I can't say for sure without asking someone from a city with no stars in the sky. The big deal made of Battra catching the Ferris wheel before it falls on Mothra is kind of funny too, sure she's more delicate than the others, but if she can hang with a pair that fought through volcanic activity it seems odd she'd bee threatened by a heavy bit of metal. Well, whatever, it establishes that the insectoids are allies now and they can do their team up, it works fine. Battra seems to take a lot of damage easily here but I suppose there's run time to consider.

Two movies in a row there's a sacrifice to drop Godzilla back in the sea to save Japan, but this time he's not tied up in a bunch of mechanical grapples so it seems like he'd probably get back up more easily than last time even though they glossed over the fact he should be pretty entangled with Mecha King Ghidorah's body. Sigh, loose continuity.

It's a shame we haven't seen Battra again outside of side media like games and comics. I've seen people say that he and Megaguirus make each other redundant, but aside from them being spiky flying insects I feel like they have very different roles and personalities so that they don't really do that.

#godzilla #mothra #battra

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capaimagines · 3 years

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bang chan - safe

Pairing: Mafia leader!Bang Chan x Reader | Genre: mafia, angst & fluff | Warnings: mentions of a break in, fighting, mafia themes | WC: 1.6k

Request: Bang Chan mafia leader where you and Chan are having a night in when he hears someone downstairs and goes to check it out and calling for backup when he hears you scream upstairs bc one of the attackers had you !! Your got7 mafia fic was amazing

Safety and security was the one thing Chan always promised you. He wanted to keep you safe at all costs. You had put all your trust in him that he would keep his word. Being a small town girl you really had no idea about the inner and outer workings of the mafia. For a while there, you truly believed that things like that were all fairy tales and stories parents would tell their kids to warn them off of the idea of gangs and such.

When you met Chan that had quickly faded. Even then he had kept you safe, you were just an innocent passer-by. You had moved to the big city to land a good job and make money for your family. You hadn’t expected to walk—quite literally—into the crossfire of Chan’s group and another group. One of the men from the other group had grabbed you, pressing the head of his gun into your temple.

You were trembling and Chan could sense that, within seconds he had stood up. He may be a mafia leader, but he never harmed someone who was innocent. Especially a girl as cute as you. He had shot the man in the centre of his head without hesitation. Of course he didn’t miss; he never did. You had fallen to your knees in horror, trembling and shaking with nerves and disbelief at what just unfolded in front of you.

Chan, being your knight in shining armor, took you back to their base and helped calm you down after reassuring you that he only wanted to help protect you and that he or his team weren’t going to hurt you. You two started talking more and more and outside of his work, he was just a normal boy also finding his way in the world. It didn’t take long before you two started dating and he had always kept his word. He was to always keep you safe. You never had to look over your shoulder or fear that you’d be snatched when you were on your own.

Tonight though you had asked Chan for a night in. All you wanted to do was eat junk food and watch movies while you cuddled with him. A typically normal boyfriend-girlfriend thing to do. He had happily agreed and you two were sat with a tub of ice cream between you as you intensely focused on the Disney movie playing on the screen. You were so focused you almost missed the sound of glass breaking. Almost.

Of course Chan had heard it. He always seemed to be on high alert 24/7. You couldn’t blame him though. His career path was more dangerous than most and he couldn’t afford to be caught off guard, but that’s exactly what was happening right now. He had sent everyone home for the night, wanting to just spend time with you.

“Stay here and have Hyunjin ready on speed dial,” Chan told you.

You nodded, quickly pulling out your phone as Chan seemed to whip a small handgun out of nowhere. That was something that took you some time to get used too. Weapons of any kind just randomly hidden around the large home. Chan slowly opened the bedroom door before looking back over his shoulder at you.

“Don’t leave this room or open the door for anyone. I’ll come back for you,” You gulped at his words before nodding, feeling the anxiety start to take over you.

Chan quietly closed the door and you quickly stood up to lock it. You hadn’t noticed with your shaking hands that you had pressed Hyunjin’s contact and were currently connected to him. You heard someone saying hello and scrambled for your phone.

“Hyunjin! Hi! Sorry, we heard glass breaking downstairs and Chan wanted me to—HEY!”

You whipped your head around as someone plucked your phone from your ear. You did not like being interrupted in the middle of a conversation. When you had a knife aimed at your throat though, you couldn’t complain too much. The man was significantly larger than you. You had never seen him before but with the crazed grin on his face, you were happy this was your first meeting, and last.

Being the girlfriend of a mafia leader didn’t leave you completely defenceless. You knew how to defend yourself if you ever had too, you had just hoped you would never have too. You eyed the man in front of you, the glint of the metal blade hitting off the light which caused you to gulp, trying to understand how the hell you were going to knock that out of his hand without getting cut.

“Sorry, pretty girl,” The stranger cooed and you swallowed down bile, “You’re going to have to come with me,” You stood up slowly, never taking your gaze off the blade.

You briefly met the man’s gaze and clicked your tongue, “I don’t think so. You’re not really my type,” You could visibly see the man startle at your response. He obviously thought you were going to be an easy target.

“Then I guess you’ll just have to die here with your pretty boyfriend.” He remarked that you could only scoff in response as you rolled your eyes.

“That’s not really an option either,” The man looked very confused at the small figure that was talking back to him. He wasn’t here to play games though. His orders were clear. Either he brought you back with him alive or killed you there. He made his move and you quickly ducked down, thankfully Minho had taught you a few little tricks with examining one's movements.

You moved, yet not quick enough that the blade grazed your shoulder. You hissed in pain and turned to narrow your eyes at the man in front of you. He looked shocked, yet again, that you were putting up a fight. He growled, coming towards you again and you didn’t get as lucky. His knife cut into your hand as you grabbed for the blade which resulted in a hiss from you due to the pain, jumping back and that’s when he wrapped his arm around your neck.

“CHAN!” You screamed as loud as you could. You were so pent up on adrenaline you hadn’t heard anything that was going on downstairs. Now, your ears were open and you could hear banging and grunting coming from down there. You had only hoped Hyunjin was smart enough to know he should bring the others.

Thankfully, you’re assumption that Hyunjin was smart because a few seconds after you screamed, the bedroom door was kicked open by none other than Changbin with Chan hot on his heels. You were struggling against the man’s hold in hopes to wiggle out.

“Let. Her. Go,” Chan looked deadly and Changbin’s glare was no better. You were close with all the boys, but Changbin was probably one you were closest to besides Chan.

“Sorry, pretty boy, I have orders so she’s coming with me,” You felt something press against your neck and you groaned, finally letting your hands fall.

“I can’t believe this is happening again!” Everyone around you seemed pretty shocked at your words. Here you were, on the brink of being kidnapped or dead and you were making comments like that?

You heard the click of Chan’s gun being cocked and closed your eyes. You had seen the very quick flash of silver hair outside the window, signalling that it was Felix. You weren’t the one dying today at least. It was going to be the barbarian that still had his hands on you.

“Last chance,” Chan stated firmly, “Let. Her. Go,” Chan’s voice was dripping with venom and his grip on the handle of the gun was iron tight.

The man only laughed and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. You inhaled a large breath and drew your elbow, swinging back as hard as you could. It was enough to surprise him and loosen his grip, which helped you to promptly slip away and scurry towards Chan. He saw the blood on your shoulder and the cut on your hand. His eyes darkened as he turned back to the intruder.

However, before he could pull the trigger, Felix graciously crashed through the window and tackled him. His hands were bound behind his back before he could even understand what had happened. You only smirked at the man as Chan ordered for him to be brought back to their base.

“I told you I wasn’t dying today, pretty boy,” You spat the words out and it seemed to anger the man but there wasn’t much he could do as he laid on the floor and hogtied.

Chan sighed as Changbin and Felix carried him out. He turned to you with a worried smile, immediately inspecting your hand, “I’ll come with you and let Minho patch it up. But I’m fine, Chan. Really. See?” You held his hand to your heart so he could feel it beating, “I’m right here, I’m breathing and I’m alive. Now let’s go! We just got this carpet and now my hand is dripping blood all over it.”

Chan could only chuckle as he gently guided you out the bedroom door and down to the car. Once he made sure you were safely settled in, he backed out and started driving.

“Are you really okay?” He asked after a few minutes of silence. You smiled and nodded at him then puckered your lips together before looking back out the window.

“Felix is going to owe us a new window by the way. That wasn’t cheap.”

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audisamu · 3 years

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PRETTY SETTER SQUAD WITH AN OVERWORKED S/O

notes; Just like- they know you’re stressed maybe it’s work, maybe it’s school, doesn’t really matter but they know that you’re tired and being overworked. This is how they try and get you to relax and let your worries slip away, at least for a moment.

characters; sugawara koushi, oikawa, tooru, kageyama tobio, kenma kozume, miya atsumu, akaashi keiji

SUGAWARA KOUSHI

──➤ This man will do anything for you <3 he’s such a saint but at the same time if you don’t take a break he’s gonna drag you away from your desk and forcefully bring you to a spa or smth.

──➤ He begs you to take one day off to spend with him and when you finally agree, he brings you to your favorite places, including getting your favorite food for lunch.

──➤ After that, he brings you home, and as soon as you get through the door he’s stuffing cucumbers on your eyes and some, admittedly cheap, drug store face mask. It’s the thought that counts though, right?

──➤ He tries his best to keep you from thinking of your work by keeping you off your phone all he can. He even gives you a nice back massage to keep you from getting up and checking your email.

──➤ If your nice day off hasn’t cheered you up even a bit, just seeing how much he cares for you does.

OIKAWA TOORU

──➤ He has the great idea of a date night. You guys haven’t had those for a while and he knows that if he just comes out and tells you to take a break, you’ll be stubborn and just work even harder.

──➤ He whines and whines and you finally cave in. He decides that you’ll both see a movie together. You’ve been wanting to see it for a month now but had never found the time to.

──➤ The movie’s fun and when you leave, you’re bouncing off the walls with excitement. He thinks you look so sweet raving on about how the movie was so well made and asking him over and over what his favorite scene was.

──➤ You both take a cab home and on the way there, you finally start to come down from your high and loose energy.

──➤ Oikawa, like a knight in shining armor is there to lend you his shoulder to nap on.

──➤ He helps you up to your room, makes sure you clean off any makeup you may have on, and brush your teeth, he knows you’re tired but hygiene is an important part of taking care of yourself.

──➤ When you finally get into bed, you’re asleep within the blink of an eye. Oikawa smiles lovingly at you and wishes that he could maybe every day like this, one without stress and work. He knows he can’t, but he’s happy he could at least help you today.

KAGEYAMA TOBIO

──➤ He does not understand. He cares so much for you and it hurts him so much to see you suffer.

──➤ He also doesn’t really know how to go about helping you through. He’s always been very on top of his self-care routine, he always wants to be in top shape for his games.

──➤ When he confronts you about it- it comes out a bit weird. Something along the lines of, “You should take care of yourself more. It’s stupid not to, you’re just hurting yourself and I’m worried for you, idiot.”

──➤ Like yeah you got your point across and were sweet but could’ve worded that better sweetie. <3

──➤ You get what he says though and promise him that you’ll try your hardest, but it would be nice if he could keep doing what he’s doing and keep you on your toes.

──➤ He takes this so literally- throughout the week he has reminders for you to take a break from work and he is so diligent in keeping track if you’ve eaten three meals and had eight cups of water a day.

KENMA KOZUME

──➤ Kenma thinks you’re a bit of a hypocrite. You try to lecture him about his bad habits but then you never take care of yourself.

──➤ You tell him not to have his computer brightness so high, but here you are, in bed with your laptop doing work, while you should be sleeping. Why are you getting mad at him for not eating healthy when you’re over here living on coffee.

──➤ It’s gotten to the point where he’s genuinely concerned for you. He doesn’t know exactly how to get the point across to you but he wants to do it quick.

──➤ He sets his plan into action and starts doing the same things as you. You’re quick to pick up on him doing so and confront him about it.

──➤ You ask why he hasn’t been taking care of himself better and right when you think you’ve won, he reveals his secret and now you can’t deny the truth.

──➤ He makes you take off a weekend and you both go on a small vacation to a cabin. It’s a challenge for both of you, as you’re both very much addicted to technology and don’t have the best self-care routines.

──➤ But you care for each other and make sure to keep the other on top of their game.

AKAASHI KEIJI

──➤ I think Akaashi would notice pretty early on what’s happening. You just don’t seem as passionate about stuff anymore and you’ve been slower the last few days.

──➤ He doesn’t want to say anything just yet but he tries to observe what’s going on with you and does his best to make your day better.

──➤ When he’s sure that you’re close to burning out, he knows he has to step in.

──➤ He sits you down and talks with you about what’s been going on. He doesn’t want to make you feel like he’s mad at you or it’s your fault in any way, he just wants you to hear his concerns and know that he cares about you.

──➤ He comforts you a bit when you go on a small rant about what’s been going on at work/school lately and he listens to you carefully, taking it all in.

──➤ He tries to help you if you want him to but if you just need him to sit there and support you, he will. He just wants what’s best for you in the end.

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plasticnightmaredoll · 3 years

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Mortal Kombat (2021) Review

Well, well, well....here we are, a Mortal Kombat movie -- not the first, obviously. I will say, it's much better than both films from the 1990s. I will also say that, for the most part, I enjoyed it more than "Mortal Kombat 11" and its garbage DLC "Aftermath."

Come for me all you want, but I am standing by my thoughts on that game and its DLC.

Overall, I did like this new "Mortal Kombat" movie. It was entertaining. However, I have...a lot of issues with it, too, pertaining to lore, acting, and special effects.

What was the best part of this movie? If I had to pick one? Oh, definitely Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion. He is one of the best Japanese actors working today. He's one of the best actors working today. Having him play such an important character was probably the best choice the producers made.

Also, quick side note: Hiroyuki is 60 years old. HOW?! I mean, he doesn't look 20, but 60? I have my doubts.

Also, this is the first time I've heard him speak English. Interesting.

Another wise decision the producers made for this movie is casting Josh Lawson as Kano. I don't like Kano. He's a dick, but Josh gave the idiot a sort of douchebag charm that you couldn't help but be amused by.

So, what did I like, broken down:

Josh Lawson and Hiroyuki Sanada

The opening scene and final fight were the best scenes in the movie. Fantastically done, both of them.

Some cute little references to MK lore: a picture of Nightwolf, the use of "flawless victory," the use of "fatality," some suspiciously MK-sounding music cues, the massive statue of Shao Kahn...There were some nice fan service moments.

The fights, even the training ones, were all entertaining. Kind of like with "Godzilla vs Kong," the action is one of the strongest points of "Mortal Kombat" (2021).

The concept of the dragon brand to indicate who would fight in MK tournaments was actually a great choice. It does give the writers an excuse to not worry about including EVERY MK character; only the ones who have been "chosen" can fight at this time. It makes sense, it works, it's intriguing.

Kung Lao slicing Nitara in half (Sorry, Nitara -- love ya, Girl!) with his "spinning hat" technique was probably the most Mortal Kombat kill of the movie. It was extremely graphic, bloody, gross, over-the-top...it was perfect.

Hanzo toasting Bi-Han with his classic fire breath was a badass move if I ever saw one.

I did like how Mileena's mouth "worked" in this movie. She had sharp teeth and reddened skin(?) around her mouth to indicate that there was something not quite right with her face. Then she gets pissed later in the movie and opens her jaw completely, revealing an almost snake-like mouth, the skin tearing in the process. It was pretty badass. I liked it.

I actually liked Raiden a lot in this movie. I don't particularly like him in the games (don't come for me -- it's just my opinion) but I thought he was awesome in this movie, a truly intimidating but wise presence. His lack of full assistance made more sense in this movie, too (again, don't come for me because this is just my opinion).

The special effects were sometimes quite good. Sub-Zero's ice powers were well made, for example. Another example is Goro, who was fantastic (so much better than he did in the 1995 movie).

The backstory behind the main weapon of Hanzo was a pleasant surprise: it was a gardening tool to being with, and he just so happened to find it and turn it into a weapon.

Mixed thoughts:

The acting was decent overall. The only two I thought did great were Josh Lawson and Hiroyuki Sanada, but everyone else was ok. Some of the performances got a little hammy at times, but...I'm not going to take too many points off for that.

I liked Mileena but also was disappointed. She wasn't as malicious and flirty as she normally is; like she was watered down in this movie for some reason. However, she still was a dangerous fighter and her mouth was crazy! 👄

What I didn't like:

Some things didn't look so great. When Jax lost his arms, it looked...well it looked like blatant CGI. The lighting barrier Raiden created to protect his fighters from Shang Tsung looked pretty cheap as well. Some set pieces looked a bit too much like set pieces. I know we're on a set because this is a movie. However, when it looks kind of obvious, it really distracts you. I know this is a Marvel movie or something, but I think the special effects and sets could have looked a bit more refined.

I preferred the Quan Chi twist in regards to the death of Hanzo's family. It provided a much more complicated revenge story, and...I just think it was a better choice than making Bi-Han the murderer, like in this movie. I get that if they did use the Quan Chi twist, this movie would have become, like, 5 hours long or something, and would have had yet another character to develop (or attempt to develop). Still, it's not my favorite take on the Sub-Zero vs Scorpion story. So...meh.

Reptile looked impressive. He was more like a ... reptile than usual, you know, as opposed to a humanoid reptile creature. However, he didn't speak and didn't wear any armor, and his role in the movie seemed forced. It felt more like a badly executed fan service moment, like, "Heeeyyyy, it's Reptile, Guys! Ok, kill him because we have too many characters already...."

Cole was a likable guy, but I didn't see a point in his character being in the movie. He isn't an MK character from the games, and this just doesn't seem like the time to make a new character for the franchise. There are so many more MK characters to choose from, I think they could have avoided making up someone.

At the same time, though, this movie does suffer from having too many characters to focus on: Cole Young, Kano, Sonya Blade, Jax Briggs, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Reptile, Mileena, Reiko, Kabal, Shang Tsung, Raiden, Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion, Bi-Han/Sub-Zero, Goro, Nitara...I mean, damn, that's a bunch of characters to cram into one two-hour film. People who know little to nothing about MK may not be bothered by this, but fans like myself most likely will feel disappointed with how certain characters were handled in the movie.

Reiko, what...did they do to you? Did...he even need to be in the movie? I mean, he was just.....there.

Having the concept of "arcana" was just...I don't know. It wasn't a terrible idea but it also made things even less believable. No one got their unique traits due to some sort of weird-ass prophecy or whatever in the games. I suppose the writers used this "arcana" thing as a way to keep the movie flowing and avoid having it be hours long. However, it just didn't sit right with me.

I know this movie is only two hours but I would have liked a little more development for Mileena, Reiko, and even Kabal. Kabal gave us the short version of what happened to him but, again, it was so quick. Like, blink and you'll miss it. I think Mileena and Kabal are two very interesting characters in MK, and having them be so one-dimensional was disappointing.

Hanzo was barely in this movie. It seemed....weird to me. Bi-Han was out there wrecking everyone's shit and Hanzo was somehow trapped in the Netherrealm until Cole was forced to fight Bi-Han one-on-one? I mean, eh? They chose the absolute best actor to play Hanzo but didn't use him much.

I was so disappointed to see Kung Lao killed off. I mean, characters that die in MK games don't always stay dead but still....he was so much fun in this movie (as he should be).

I didn't care for the portrayal of Nitara at all in this movie.

I didn't hate "Mortal Kombat" (2021), but I didn't love it, either. I'd watch it again, and I would watch a sequel, but there is definitely room for improvement. There is a lot of potential for the next MK movie(s) to be much better (this movie had clear potential, too, to be honest). I just hope that maybe the writers will realize this if a sequel is made.

Final grade: C+

#mortal kombat #mortal kombat 2021 #mk #liu kang #shang tsung #raiden #cole young #hanzo hasashi #bi-han #sub-zero #goro #kabal #mileena #kung lao #sonya blade #jax briggs #kano #reiko

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mourntheantagonist · 3 years

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Billy Hargrove’s Exploration of Beauty

Part 6: Split Ends

also on ao3

***

It all happened so fast. Like he blinked his eyes and he went from behind an ice cream counter to a hundred feet below ground level. Tied up to a chair in front of his coworker who he had barely even known. Who he was beginning to like. And despite being told after the fact that whole days had passed, his little vacation didn’t feel so long. Having been blacked out and drugged out of his mind for the most of it. It was quick to be over with. Could have almost have been excused as a fever dream.

The events following his escape went by fast too. Coming up to the main floor only to find out that they might have just been safer underground. Hearing news of the mind flayer being back just went in one ear out the other.

Finding out Billy was among the flayed. That stuck. But he hid the fear. Suppressed it. Because they didn’t have the time to dwell on that.

Driving up to Cerebro felt quick. Considering he drove like a bat out of hell, that wasn’t that hard to believe.

Slamming into the side of the Camaro. He had his eyes closed for that one. But it went by fast. It had to. “It’s not Billy” he had chanted in his mind.

Everything was quickly paced. Moving from one thing to another swiftly. Nothing felt like it had dragged on.

Until he was up on that balcony.

And he watched as the mindflayer skewered his boyfriend through the chest. It was all slow motion. Felt like watching a movie that would never end. Watching as it went in and out. Tearing flesh and breaking bone. Collapsing to the floor with a loud thud that echoed throughout the mall. Lying there motionless. Bleeding out onto the disgusting mall tile. Dying. He was dying.

He’d later hear from Robin that when he was up on that balcony she had to hold him back from jumping over the ledge. Kicking and screaming. “I have to get to him!”

Everything following that moment felt like slow motion. Agonizing slow motion.

Driving to the hospital that held Billy. Max in the passenger seat. It was silent. And they must have hit every red light on the way.

The trip up the elevator to the floor he was on. Unbearably slow.

The line they stood in to speak to the front desk. Unbearably long.

The wait until they were ready for them to come back. It felt like forever.

And just as he was ready to pass through the glass doors into the hall of the ICU, there was a hand on his chest. A nurse of about five-foot-five looking to be in her mid-to-late forties had stopped him. “Family members only at this time.” She’d said. He wanted to yell at her. Say he’s the closest thing Billy has to family. But he kept his mouth shut. Bowed his head and ushered Max along, despite her protests.

“Go see your brother, Max. I’ll be okay.”

But he wouldn’t. Steve wouldn’t see Billy for the first time for over a month. The longest month of his life.

Months spent with Billy beginning to fade away in this never ending cycle of being alone. Waking up everyday to an empty bed. Not even being able to make a phone call just to hear his voice. Being without him in every way. Not hearing his laugh or seeing his smile or just feeling his skin against his. He tried to hold on to all of those good memories. But they were slipping away.

It all went downhill when Max had called him from the ICU. It was two in the morning and she was there with Chief Hopper, despite knowing she shouldn’t be. Steve hid his anger around Hopper, trying his best not to hate him. Because he got special privileges and Steve didn’t. It was two in the morning and he was sitting in his living room watching a random movie, curled up in a blanket and hugging a pillow. He hadn’t been sleeping very well. The left side of his bed cold and vacant.

Max didn’t usually call this late. The ringing of the phone startled him and made his heart race. Because something must be wrong.

“Steve?” Max’s voice came over the line.

“Is something wrong?” He had to get straight to the point.

The pause felt like forever. His breath caught in his throat, hands trembling waiting for her to say something.

“They want to cut his hair.”

June 10th, 1985

“I think I want to grow out my hair.”

Billy says it to him that day while curled up in his bed. Steve’s fingers tenderly combing through his curly blonde locks. It’s soft. Void of any hairspray and all natural in its full curly glory. Smell of cheap drugstore shampoo. Slightly minty.

“Grow it out? It’s already long.” Steve says. He’s not wrong. Billy’s hair is already shoulder length and that’s with his naturally tight curls. Wet and brushed out it’s even longer. About to his collar bones.

“I know that. But I’d like for it to be longer. Is that okay?”

“Are you asking for my permission? Because you know you don’t have to do that.”

“I know. Just wanted to know what you thought.”

“More hair to grab onto? Doesn’t sound all that bad to me.”

Billy laughs and leans into Steve.

Billy had been getting better about voicing his feelings about things. Finding it easier to settle into himself in the company of Steve. Gaining a trust that Steve wouldn’t look at him like others would have if they had seen a boy take pleasure in a feminine aesthetic. Painted nails and soft makeup and even sexy lingerie when the mood was just right. Things he’d never allow leave the walls of Steve’s house, but had been able to set free when he was inside.

“Can I ask what made you want to do this?”

“Max braided my hair last night, but it’s too short on top so it was all sticking out.” Steve couldn’t see the smile peek onto Billy’s face or the rosy tint on his cheeks. “But I liked it.”

Max and Dustin had come to learn about the two of them. About not only their relationship but about Billy. About the little things he does to feel beautiful. Billy wasn’t as open with the two of them as he was with Steve. But they were nice about it. Supportive like Steve was. Billy would say it was nice having someone else in on the secret. Even if it scared him shitless having even just Steve in the know.

“Good. I bet you look amazing with your hair braided.”

“Do you know how?” Billy seems timid in the way he asks. But not like he used to be. His voice is consistent in tone and there is an ounce of confidence there.

Steve’s in the middle of wrapping a curl around his finger until he reaches Billy’s scalp. “A little. I used to braid Carol’s when we were little. Not sure how good I am now.”

“Do you want to try?” Same voice as before. Hopeful tinge to it that makes Steve smile.

“Go get me a brush.”

- : -

Steve barely listens to the rest of the call. He’s already getting ready to leave for the hospital before he even hangs up the phone. Barely bothering to make himself presentable. Going out to his car wearing a pair of pajama pants and one of his father’s college sweatshirts.

Max had told him to come. So he was already out the door. Letting himself imagine what Billy might look like now. It’s been over a month so he surely looks a lot different from when he last saw him. Hopefully he looks much different considering the last time he saw him he was drenched in his own blood with a hole in his chest. Max had taken pictures of Billy at the hospital, but he couldn’t bear to look at them. He needed to actually be there the first time he saw Billy, or he might completely lose his mind. If he hasn’t already.

The hospital is a full forty minute drive outside of Hawkins. But it’s two in the morning and the roads are almost entirely empty. So he floors it. Driving fifteen over the whole trip. Releasing all of the anxiety and anticipation into the weight of his foot to increase his speed.

He’s driving like he’s heading there to say goodbye. Like he’s getting ready to say his last words to the dying man in the hospital bed. Tell anyone else he’s driving this recklessly over a potential haircut they’d think he’d be being dramatic. To put it mildly.

But it was more than just hair. Billy’s hair meant something more than just the evolutionary purpose of keeping your head warm.

Losing his hair would be like losing a limb. It was a part of him. So much of his identity contained within each strand of dirty blonde. The one thing he had control over. The one thing Neil never bothered to touch. Hair he had been growing out for the better part of five years having only recently begun trimming it, and even more recently begun growing it out again. The bulk of the hair on his head was the same exact hair that had been with him through all of it. Through every beating. Through every milestone. Always there sitting on his shoulders.

It was the thing that brought him comfort in knowing it was his. That it would always be there. It was like his coat of armor. It was like a shield. Something he always used to hide behind. Something that protected him. Something that made stepping out into the world just a little bit bearable.

But then with Steve he didn’t use it to hide behind. When he was with Steve he let it fall. He let it soften and lose the stiffness brought upon by too much hairspray. He let Steve comb his fingers through it. Touch the very thing that gave him a glimpse of comfort. Because Steve did too. Steve’s gentle and caring hands combing through tangles while they lay together in bed. The same hands braiding his hair while they sat in front of the TV. Billy on the floor with his back to the couch. Sitting in between Steve’s legs as he tries to incorporate the shorter strands at the front of his head into the cascade of woven hair. Slicking it down with water and hairspray only for the short strands to sprout up only after only a couple of minutes. Billy never did get his perfect braid.

They want to take it off. They want to take it all off. Even though it’s not necessary. They wanted to take away the one thing Billy had left after everything. After it was all taken away from him. Steve had already destroyed the Camaro. The only thing he’d be walking out of the mall with would be that fucking hair and thankfully his beating heart.

And he would have Steve. He would always have Steve.

If he still wanted him when he woke up.

Steve passed the “Leaving Hawkins” sign at a whopping seventy miles per hour. Paying no mind to potential police surveying the road. Wasting no time at all.

June 20th, 1985

Billy’s wearing a scrunchie in his hair when he comes to Steve’s house after his shift. His hair is still drying from the pool water but is still so bouncy and shiny in the evening sunlight, and the little blue scrunchie in his hair makes him melt. The way the pink and orange hues of a perfect sunset warm the color of each strand. The ways his ears are fully exposed, his earring dangling and perfectly reflecting the light. The way the little strands at the front of his head fall into his eyes. The way it’s so messy yet so elegant at the same time. His heart soars. He looks beautiful.

Steve tells him that. With a kiss on the lips before he walks through the front door.

“Where’s the scrunchie from?” Steve asks.

“Stole it out of Heather’s locker.”

Steve gave Billy a fake shocked expression. “My boyfriend? A thief? It can’t be.”

Billy walks past Steve and into the house. “Relax, I swear there’s like fifty of them in there. She won’t even notice.” He takes a seat on the right side of the couch, like he always did.

Steve sits beside him, leaning his entire body up against Billy and burying his head into the crook of his neck. Billy still strongly smells of chlorine and he used to hate that smell until it became a signal that Billy was around. Suddenly it had become one of his favorite scents.

“Well it looks like we’re just going to have to get you some of your own doesn’t it?” Steve starts twirling his finger around one of the loose strands at the front of his face. “It looks real pretty.”

Pretty.

That was a newer word for them. Dropping the ‘boy’ at the end because it didn’t feel necessary anymore. Sometimes even made him feel a little like he was implying that boys couldn’t be pretty, needing to add the specification. Billy was becoming far more comfortable with himself and embracing it all. Beginning to believe that men could be pretty and that didn’t have to detract from anything.

So Steve called him pretty. He called him beautiful and gorgeous and stunning because he was. Because Billy deserved to hear it. And because it made him happy.

“Showers weren’t working at the pool. Need to wash the chlorine out. You gonna join me?”

“Oh absolutely.”

- : -

The trip through the hospital gives Steve flashbacks. Flashbacks to the night him and Max anxiously made the trek to the hospital wing Billy was in. Every moment he was currently experiencing felt like the memory. Sweaty palms gripping the handles in the elevator while the cage slowly moves up to the fifth floor. Shoulders hunched, leaning all his weight onto the bar as he curses each time the elevator stops. Foot tapping in anxiety as he waits and waits and waits until finally the doors slide open onto the fifth floor.

Steve ignores the lineup of people at the front desk and heads towards the glass door through which he can see Hopper. He wasn’t going to wait anymore. Fully prepared to bypass the stout man they had guarding the door.

Two hands come in contact flat against his chest as he gets within a foot of the door. So close to grabbing the handle. Steve leans all his weight against the man. Straight faced like a man on a mission.

“Let me through.”

Steve knows how he looks. Adorning comfortable clothes looking completely disheveled. Hair a mess, sweat forming on his brow, practically foaming at the mouth as he attempts to push his way past. His voice determined as he repeats himself.

“I can’t allow that sir. You do not have permission.”

The man just stands his ground. Hands still flat against Steve’s chest, applying very little pressure, but enough to prevent Steve from storming through.

“Let me through.” It’s louder this time. Enough to where he’s beginning to cause a scene in the middle of the waiting area. Staff and the rest all turning their heads towards the disarranged man on the verge of a public tantrum. He looks all kinds of mad, like he belongs in a padded room, restrained and straight-jacketed. He repeats himself over and over again until his voice starts to break. The man is not budging, and Steve doesn’t have the strength.

Then there’s a strong hand grabbing his bicep. Steve’s haze still recognizes it as belonging to a separate party.

“Let the kid in. He’s with me.” It’s Hopper’s distinct voice that breaks him from the daze. The man blocking his way moves to the left and removes his hands from his chest, nearly causing him to fall forward.

Hopper guides Steve through the glass doors. This is the furthest he’s made it. He can feel Billy’s presence just right around the corner. He’s not sure if that’s just because he can hear Max’s voice echoing through the halls as she argues loudly with the nurses on call.

“Good thing you’re here. Max has been guarding Billy for an hour. It’s just hair. I don’t know what the issue is.”

Steve just looks at Hopper, completely stone cold.

“It’s not just hair.”

He storms past him and into the room where Max is standing in front of Billy’s bed with her arms outstretched while two nurses try to reason with her. Steve stalls when he finally looks past Max and gets a glimpse of Billy.

He’s pale, but still tanner than Steve. He has more stubble than he would have liked but it’s still trimmed. The mask over his mouth and nose block his view slightly. His eyes are closed and he looks very peaceful.

And his hair is longer. A lot longer.

Splayed across the white pillow underneath him, his tight waves look to be at the very least an inch longer than the last time he’d seen him. Bangs falling into his face extending all the way down to the tip of his nose. It looks soft. Shiny like satin under the hospital fluorescent. He looks heavenly and angelic and that freaks Steve out.

Heavenly and angelic.

Asleep. Dead to the world. Dead.

Except he wasn’t dead. The crests and troughs of the heart monitor proving such to be true. But it felt too close. Like it was right around the corner and he had to be careful not to alert death to their location.

Steve walked past the shouting fourteen year old without a word and approached Billy’s bedside. Upon closer inspection he notices how Billy’s body has frailed. Previously cut muscles, now soft and smooth. Yet he didn’t look sickly. He was still looking more built than Steve, even. Steve moves a fallen hair from out of his eyes, like it was blocking his vision out of his closed lids. Gently tracing his finger across his hairline to behind his ear where he tucked back another strand. His skin was warm. Blood still coursing through his veins. He was definitely alive. And somehow Steve felt his presence. Knew deep down Billy was still in there.

He’s not paying attention to the screaming match taking place behind him. And they’re not paying attention to him. He’s just staring at Billy. Like he’s looking at the Mona Lisa. Behind six inches of bulletproof glass. He can’t get to him. He can’t reach him. But he’s there. He can see him. And god he’s as beautiful as ever.

It’s not the ear piercing screams from an enraged teenage girl or the annoyed combativeness from the two young nurses that separates his attention from Billy. It’s a strong hand on his shoulder that somehow both gently and forcefully pulls him back.

“Alright everyone that’s enough!” Hopper doesn’t shout but his deep and full voice carries an intensity that shuts everybody up. “One at a time, please?”

“You have no right to shave his entire head! You only have to shave off a small patch for the surgery, you said it yourself!” Max is fuming. The only word that sticks in Steve’s head is surgery. He doesn’t bother asking. Not sure if knowing would make it easier to swallow.

“We actually do have the right. His father already gave us consent to do so. It’s you who doesn’t have the right kid.” Steve has to physically restrain himself. Looking back at Billy as his fists clenched and his fingernails dug crescents into his palms at the mention of Neil.

Neil having the final say over the one thing he never touched. That was something Steve had promised Billy he would protect him from. Not the hair. Protect him from Neil taking anything more from him.

“Besides, a man’s hair shouldn’t be that long anyway.”

If Steve didn’t have the self control he did, there would surely be a nurse with a broken nose. Instead he turns back to Billy again. Looking at him. Trying to pull some answers from him.

I wish you could just tell me what to do.

“When does it need to be done by?” It’s the first thing Steve’s said since he entered the room.

“His surgery is scheduled for nine this morning. So you’ve got around five hours.”

Steve hasn’t turned towards the nurses. Hasn’t turned his head away from Billy.

“Then give us five hours.”

Steve’s expression when he finally turns back to look at the two nurses is mean. Attempting to get it across that he’s not asking.

“Five hours.” They say as they nod their heads and walk out. Annoyed expressions on their faces.

“Steve you can’t let them -“

“They won’t.” Steve takes a long look at Billy. Taking a deep breath as he glances towards the scissors that sit on the medical tray. “I’m going to do it.”

Max doesn’t say anything, which is actually a good sign. An even better sign is when she finally removes herself from her guarded position at the foot of the bed to come join Steve.

He pulls down at one of the shorter strands at the front of Billy’s head. Pulled taut, the spiral reaches all the way just past his chin.

“You think it’s long enough for a braid?”

June 20th, 1985

After a very hot and heavy make out session against the shower walls, the two actually take a shower. Despite having done so many times before, showering together always feels so intimate. Standing with each other, naked and alone in a very vulnerable position,

just existing without jumping each other’s bones. It was nice. It was just more proof that what the two of them ran deep. Soaping up each other’s bodies. That was something so personal.

Steve was running his fingers through Billy’s soap covered hair. Billy’s back turned to Steve as he did it. Letting the water from the faucet rinse his front while he let Steve play with the individual strands of his hair.

Steve liked the way Billy’s hair looked when wet. Still maintaining a curl no matter how saturated in water it got. The way it darkened to a near dark brown and he could easily be mistaken for a brunette.

The shampoo smells like coconut. Stolen straight from his mothers bathroom. The fumes mixed with the steam of the hot water clearing his senses and making his breathing feel so easy.

Steve pulls at one of his curls until it’s completely straight. Careful not to pull too hard.

“It’s already getting longer, baby.”

Because his back is turned, Steve doesn’t see the wide smile appear onto Billy’s face. Because the water is falling into his face, Steve doesn’t see the tears of joy form into his eyes.

Yet Steve knows without seeing. He wraps his arms around Billy’s waist and pulls him in close. Presses kisses into the mole on the back of his shoulder.

“It’s gonna look so good.”

“You think so?”

“You bet. I’d say give it two more weeks and I can get these little suckers into a braid.”

- : -

Steve remembers saying that so vividly. Because exactly two weeks later would be the Fourth of July. The same day that Billy’s life would nearly be taken. It felt like some cruel joke.

Now Steve is sitting in a hospital bed with his comatose boyfriends sitting in between his legs as he brushes through his hair. Trying to hold it together in front of Max and Hopper.

Steve’s not entirely sure Hopper has been made aware of the true nature of his and Billy’s relationship. He figures he’s probably pieced it together by now. And he’s pretty sure he doesn’t really care if he knows or not. He’s too focused on Billy. Focused on the man in between his legs. Focused on making him look as beautiful as he can while his hair is still on his head. Trying not to focus that it’s going to be his hands that will cut it off. Because it has to be his hands. Or else it’ll end up inadvertently being Neil’s hands.

And he wouldn’t let that happen.

Max hasn’t said much since he’d arrived. He can tell she feels guilty that Steve had been blocked from seeing Billy for so long. Especially considering how easy it was to get him past those doors. She’s just sitting in the chair at his bedside holding Billy’s hand. He is angry. But not at Max. He’s not really angry at anyone one particular person. He’s angry at the entire situation they’re in and he doesn’t know how to express that anger to Max without screaming. So he keeps his mouth shut and gently brushes the tangles out of Billy’s hair.

“I’m going to head downstairs for some food. Do you want me to bring anything up for you two?” Hopper says. He too has been mostly silent. Clearly pretty confused about the situation.

Max’s eyes lit up. “My bag. It’s in your car. Can you grab it?”

“Sure thing kiddo. You Steve?”

“A cup of coffee would be nice.”

Hopper tousled his and Max’s hair. “You got it. I’ll be back in a bit. Please for the love of God don’t yell at anymore nurses. They’re just doing their job.”

Hopper leaves the two of them and Steve finally begins braiding Billy’s hair. Combing his hair front to back before taking three small strands and began attempting a French braid.

“What’s in the bag?” He asks.

Max smiles. Looking down at Billy’s bare fingernails. “My Polaroid. Thought maybe he might like to have some pictures.”

“I think he’d like that.” Steve’s looking down at Billy’s hand in Max’s. “You have any nail polish in there?”

“I think so.”

“That’s good, maybe we can paint them.” Steve’s being extremely focused on braiding. Making sure it’s clean and precise and making sure no strand is sticking out. And it’s going a lot better than usual. Only needing to slick down a couple stray pieces. All while carefully pressing kisses to the top of his head as he makes his way down the length of his hair. Down his neck until he’s reached the end where he finally ties it off with a hair tie off of Max’s wrist.

“How’s it look?” Steve asks.

“He looks pretty.”

Steve can’t help it anymore. Can’t hold back the stream of tears that have been bottled up and threatening to overflow since he got the call. The tears squeeze through tightly closed eyelids and roll down his cheeks as he just buries his face into Billy’s braided hair.

“He does. Doesn’t he?” Steve gently wraps his arms around Billy’s chest, careful around the dressing over his scar. Fully taking in for the first time that Billy is still here. For the past month Billy’s being alive was just simply something he was told. Never something he got to see. Now he does see it. Now he sees it and he feels the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes. Feels his heart beat against his chest. He’s right there and he was going to be okay.

He had to be okay. That was the only way Steve would be okay too.

“I’m sorry.” Max apologizes. He knows why she says it. He doesn’t need clarification.

“It’s not your fault.”

Max gives Steve a half smile and uses her free hand to squeeze his shoulder.

“I don’t want to cut his hair.” Steve takes in a deep breath. “But I know it has to be me.”

“I could do it.”

Steve shakes his head at her. “No. I made a promise. It can’t be anyone else.”

“Well I’ll be here with you if it helps.”

“Thanks.”

“Thank you for loving my brother.”

They sit there for a while in just complete silence save for the muffled chatter from outside the walls and the occasional beeping from one of the many machines Billy had been wired up to. Hopper only arrives around ten minutes later with two coffees in hand and a red Jansport on his shoulder. He hands Steve his cup and Max her backpack and takes a seat in the other chair that’s near the door.

“You two alright?” Hopper asks. He probably noticed Steve’s tear stained cheeks and the somber atmosphere of the room he walked into.

The two of them nod. Steve goes in to begin nursing the hot cup of coffee and Max begins to sift through her bag. Pulling out her camera case and two small glass bottles.

“I have red and orange.”

“Billy hates orange Max! You know this!” Steve laughs.

“I know that. Was just messing with you.” She tosses the bottle of red nail polish over to Steve. “You paint, I’ll take pictures.”

Max takes a few shots while Steve coats Billy’s nails in a shiny bright red varnish. Still in the same position of Billy sitting in between Steve’s legs with a pillow on his chest for Billy to lay back on. He brings a coated hand to his lips to gently blow dry. All the while Max is snapping candid photos of the two, passing each piece of film over to Hopper for him to put into his shirt pocket to allow it to develop.

“You guys want one of all three of you?” Hopper asks. He’s been mostly silent the whole time. Nursing his own coffee while he watched Max prance around the room with her camera.

“That would be great.” Max says, handing the camera over to Hopper before she makes her way over to the bedside. Leaning into the frame. Steve pulls Billy’s braid forward so that it’s now draped over his shoulder and visible. Intertwining his fingers with Billy’s now dry and red coated ones. He smiles as the flash temporarily blinds him.

They take as many more photos as they can until Max has run out of film. Hours pass and the hour hand is approaching eight o’clock. Meaning it’s about time.

About time to say goodbye.

The process begins slowly. Undoing the braid being the first step. Undoing the thing Billy really wanted to see for himself. The thing he’ll only get to experience in pictures. It hurt to pull the elastic from his hair and run his fingers through the perfectly woven strands.

The next part was securing it all back up into a ponytail at the top of his head. That way all Steve would have to do was make one single cut and be done with it. Allow the nurses to shave off the rest.

He knew it was going to be hard. But he didn’t anticipate it being this hard. Now holding an open pair of scissors above Billy’s head. All of his hair in between the blades. All he had to do was close his fingers together and it would begin. But he was stuck. Hands frozen still as he began to sob into Billy’s hair as Max and Hopper silently watched him. Max’s hand on his thigh and Hopper’s on his shoulder.

He couldn’t stop imagining Billy having to wake up like this. Wake up to the knowledge that his hair was gone at the hands of Steve. Wondering if maybe this would hurt him more than someone else doing it. He had to remember he made a promise. Even if it meant that Billy may wake up and hate him.

Steve’s fingers finally close the blades together and he can hear the sharp sound of cutting hair.

He made a promise.

September 19th, 1985: One Month Later

Billy’s awake.

Billy’s awake and Steve is there holding his hand as he does. It wasn’t planned, somehow fate just decided to work out in their favor.

Billy takes a while to come to. Nearly an hour before he truly recognizes who he is and where he is and who Steve is. Steve just sits there patiently while he does. Repeating over and over again that he’s in the hospital. That he’s okay. That “Steve’s here.”

Billy’s hair is short and curly now. A lighter blonde than before. It looks really good on him and he just hopes Billy is able to agree.

“Steve?” Is the first thing Billy says and Steve’s heart melts at the sound of Billy’s groggy voice.

“Yeah baby. It’s me. I’m right here.” Steve pulls Billy’s hand to his mouth and begins kissing his knuckles. Showing Billy his own painted fingernails. Maybe that will help serve as a comfort for him. “Welcome back.”

“How long?”

“Almost three months.”

Billy just nods. Then slowly moves a free hand up to scratch at his head and Steve’s heart stops. He thought he’d have more time.

His heart shatters when Billy’s hand makes contact and his half lidded eyes turn wide.

“My hair is gone.” He says before turning over to see Steve is crying.

“I’m sorry. I had to cut it. I'm so sorry.” Steve’s voice is broken and Billy takes a minute to finally register the situation. Spending about a minute pulling at the short curls in his hair before squeezing Steve’s hand with all of the strength he has. Which isn’t much.

“It’s okay.” He whispers. Pushing down his own sadness and grief over it to reassure Steve that he’s not mad at him. He couldn’t be mad at him. It hurt. It hurt to know that his hair had been taken from him. But he also knows Steve didn’t do it to hurt him. “It’s gonna grow back.” He’s not sure if he’s saying that to Steve or to himself.

Steve sniffles and apologizes again. And again. And again.

“Steve I’m too weak to kiss you so you better get down here and kiss me or I’ll fucking scream.”

Steve does as he’s told. Nose full of snot and cheek coated in tears but he does it anyway. And Billy tastes like coming home. Everything about right now feels so unreal and he just has to savor the moment before he wakes up from whatever dream reality he must be trapped in.

But he doesn’t wake up from any dream because there is no dream. Billy’s alive. Billy’s awake. And Billy is kissing him.

Things were going to be okay. He was certain of that now.

And so was Billy when Steve finally showed him the little Polaroid of him in his perfect braid. Held by Steve. Looking beautiful with his long hair. The hair will grow back. With new memories, better memories, attached to each inch.

Things were going to be okay.

next part

#harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #stranger things #fanfic #mandi writes tresh

57 notes · View notes

morgana-ren · 3 years

Note

I noticed youd said that you get more shiggy requests. So, if you'll indulge me for a sec.

We've had gatos input on how strade would be if the roles were reversed. Mc somehow had him under their control with the shock collar on.

I want your input because your writing is so detailed i know id enjoy reading what a submissive little bitch he'd become.

Please and thank you Morgana.

ily :3

Oh OH You know me so well! This is one of my favorite things to daydream about when I get angry or annoyed because since Strade is such a garbage human being, it tickles me so much to think about how cathartic it would be to turn the tables.

So as well all know, Strade, while very experienced, is not the brightest bulb in the box. He’s got years of know-how behind his expertise in kidnapping and torture, but there’s some shit that just kind of evades him sometimes. Double checking your ropes after he gets a little too excited and wants a dirty basement floor romp, for example. Thanks to his overexcitement and shit-idiot brain fungus he’s got going on, it’s entirely possible for you to slip your bonds. This mistake, in canon, costs him his life.

But what if MC wasn’t so kind?

With a level head, you might be able to scrounge around his torture room for a little bit. Maybe he has a needle with some knockout liquid hanging around for “difficult” catches. Maybe you just wait around behind the door until he walks in and smash him on the head as hard as you can and knock his ass out. Either way, he’s got plenty of restraints, and now he’s the one cuffed to a rusty pole. The look on his dumb face when he comes to is priceless.

You’re not making the same mistakes he did. He’s triple tied to that thing. You know he’s strong, and you’re playing on his home field. You’ve got to be prepared for everything. At least long enough to get upstairs and find help or call the police. Right? Right?

But what if you don’t?

What if, after he comes to and is sputtering and howling and hissing things at you in German that would make Lindemann blush, you decide not to go for help? He’s mad. He’s oh so very mad. He does not like this, not one bit. But he’s panicking beyond what you’d expect, even for a serial killer who’s been two-timed by his own victim. There’s something else in those dilated eyes. Something you’ve become very acutely familiar with over the last few days. You can still smell it lingering on you the same way it’s staining his shirt now.

Fear. He’s afraid. And not of death or capture.

I mean, he very well might be terrified of those things, but whatever it is he’s feeling right now is far overshadowing that. His face is red, and you can practically see the veins in his neck popping in rhythm with his thrumming heartbeat. He’s sweating extensively, and while that’s not uncommon for him, there’s not that macabre jolly smile plastered across his face. He’s baring his teeth and snapping at you like a feral hound, swearing to end your miserable life in a manner that would make the ghosts of his past shudder in horror for you.

You don’t put it past him to snap these ropes any second and wrap his hands so tightly around your neck that your eyes pop like overinflated balloons. Even if the cops show up and try to escort you to safety, there’s an unspoken darkness in his glare, something that promises pain in your future even if they manage to subdue him. A promise that you can’t guarantee yourself that he can’t keep.

It strikes you that you know nothing about this man.

Surely someone out there knows about this. Someone knows about him and his little hobby. Monsters run in packs and even if you can’t see them, you know they must be there. Best case scenario, they can’t have him spilling their secrets so they find a way to end his life before the police can. Worst case scenario? Worst case, they come for you.

You’ve seen enough Hollywood horror movies to know just how wrong it can go if justice is left to the authorities. You haven’t seen much of it, but this looks like a pretty nice house. If he has money, he can just buy his way out. Who is to say that he doesn’t already have a deal with the cops? Kidnapping people is risky business, especially when folks begin to notice that you’re gone. Surely he has some safety net?

What if he’s part of a network of psychopaths? There’s been enough late-night conspiracy youtube binges in your existence to know that shit like that is perfectly plausible. What if he’s just one of many? What if they have the pull to see him set free even after you’ve gone through the proper avenues to get him locked away? What if, one night, when you think he’s rotting in a 6 x 6 cement cell miles away from you, you wake up back here in this basement with even more Strades with different names and faces but each one shares the desire to see you ripped apart at the seams and devoured?

No. HELL no. You’re not going to be the cliche victim. He can bark and screech at you until his throat is sore and his gums bleed, but the plain and simple fact of the matter is that you have this monster on a leash, and you’re not about to hand that leash over to someone else.

How many people has he killed? How many have met their end in this godless basement? How many unsuspecting people has he dragged here only to take them apart piece by piece until their eyes glaze and their final breath moistens his cheek as he watches the light in their eyes extinguish? Do you even want to know? Would it make you feel better or worse to know that, at least for now, you’ve narrowly escaped such a fate?

You have to know.

His screaming turns fearful as you ascend the stairs. Again, not for fear of being caught, but because he already has been. It’s so odd to hear the phrase “Don’t leave me here!” from his quivering chest when he’s apparently in the place he values most, and there’s a sick sense of catharsis that settles in your gut as you listen to him begin to whimper and whine. You don’t let yourself dwell on it but you do slam the door behind you loudly enough that he will be forced to acknowledge that his pathetic pleas mean nothing to you.

His house is painfully average, at least for someone like him. He’s even got portraits up with what must be friends or family or someone that cares enough to pose for a cheesy photo with him. If you didn’t know better, you’d say an upstanding, if a little tacky, upper-middle class man lives here. The furniture is unremarkable and well cared for but lived in enough to not raise suspicion. His kitchen is filled with expensive appliances that might as well be fresh out of the box. His fridge, as expected, is filled with beer and various quick meals. Not much of a cook, you guess.

The car sitting in the garage costs in the six digit range and looks like it’s the most beloved thing in the entire area. It reeks of Armor All and disinfectant, and you’re willing to bet that if he was so inclined, he could put it on a showroom floor right now. He’s got tools and cables of all sorts thrown about, but not the kind you’ve gotten so used to. Maybe he actually does use them for their intended purpose sometimes.

As you walk the length of his home, you notice a distinct lack of screaming. You can’t hear anything, not even a peep from the basement, and you are very certain he’s crying up a storm down there. Interesting. He’s go this place sound proofed. You’re not sure what you’d expected, but it’s good information to have regardless.

After you’ve sated your curiosity by observing the dragon’s den, you make your way to the upper level. He’s probably not foolish enough to leave any sort of evidence behind where friends and neighbors can see it, so whatever it is you’re looking for is going to be somewhere a little bit more personal. Perhaps like a bedroom?

Bingo.

His bedroom, much like the rest of his house, looks about what you’d expect. King sized bed, wooden dresser with a TV and player on top, and a desk beneath the window. Sliding closet doors with all manner of free range dad apparel inside, and honestly, it’s the closest you’ve been to laughing since you got here. He would wear cargo shorts and plaid, wouldn’t he? A scrounge through the drawers of his dresser and closet reveal nothing remarkable, but you’re willing to bet your injured thigh that there’s something special in the desk.

Just like you’d expect, the desk is locked, but you’d noticed a pair of keys sitting willy-nilly out in the living room and you’d picked them up. About 7 key changes later and the desk pops open for you like a cheap whore. He really isn’t too bright, is he? Or maybe he just wasn’t expecting this to ever be a problem. Either way, you’re grateful he’s a moron.

Inside the drawer seems to be loads of DVDs, unmarked except for dates. It feels like you’re the unprepared cop in a serial killer movie as you look down at them. You don’t need to watch them to know what they are, but you’re going to anyway. You have to know. You need to know just who you’re dealing with here.

You pick one at random and pop it into the DVD player and the scene that greets you seems all too familiar. A hunched figure, bloodied and tied to the pole you’d become so intimate with over the last week. This person was in much worse shape than you, however. You could see shadows moving off screen and the camera fuzzes and refocuses repeatedly as what you assume is Strade messes with the controls. Not long after, he emerges, practically skipping into frame. Even though most of his face is concealed behind a hideous bandana, you can tell he’s smiling. It reaches his eyes.

He says what appears to be a rehearsed greeting and you’re left wondering just how crazy is he? Is he talking to his future self? You can see him making these videos to relive his sick, sadistic fantasies but talking to himself like an absolute lunatic is just a little disconcerting. However, you also acknowledge that the only reason you’ve even thinking about this is to distract yourself from the fact that you’re watching a homemade snuff film that you almost starred in yourself.

And then he begins.

Despite the visceral horror on display before you, the urge to vomit never comes. You watch, blank faced, as this poor soul is faced with every horror a human mind can conceive. It goes on for long. Too long. And Strade never stops talking.

The realization sets in that’s because he’s not the only one watching.

He’s not talking to himself. He’s responding. This wasn’t for him. This was for them.

If you had any emotional energy to give, surely you’d be absolutely horrified, but you don’t and you can’t. You’re not even surprised. Someone like Strade, that bubbly personality and 1,000 watt smile, of course he’d find a way to utilize his talents. He’d found a market. He had a hobby and he made money from it. ‘Love your job and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ and you are just so willing to bet he loves his fucking job.

You let the video keep playing as you sit up from his bed and leave the room. You make your way down the stairs, back to the living room, and then back to the basement door. You open it and immediately are bombarded with the sounds of his screaming and hateful vitriol. It doesn’t phase you. You’re not sure anything will ever again.

Calmly, you walk into the room and stare at him. He doesn’t cease his incessant threats until he realizes you’re waiting for him to finish so that you can speak. He finally silences himself, though he continues to rip and tear at the ropes holding him hostage as you tell him you found his little home video collection.

“Let me out.” He demands, and you realize he doesn’t quite understand that he’s not the one in control anymore. Of course a dog without a tangible leash will continue to run wild. You needed to drive the point home.

You turn your back to him and begin to ruffle through his various cabinets, searching around the nooks and crannies for something that will help him understand just what position he’s found himself in. You make a very interesting discovery next to his med kit. A collar. A literal collar.

Poetic justice.

It’s thick and burdensome and more than a little hideous. It’s definitely homemade, because not even the most fucked of BDSM sites are going to offer something like this. It’s accompanied by a small remote with a large red button and not much else. You push the button and yelp in pain, the collar clattering to the floor as it slips from your fingers. It shocked you. It was so very painful, but you’re smiling.

You retrieve it from where it fell and pop it open, observing it curiously. Strade watches you through wide eyes and sniveling, trembling lips. The look on his face is a dead giveaway that you’ve found something you really shouldn’t have. The toothy grin you flash him shows him that you understand that.

Without a word, you approach him, holding the open collar in your sweating palm. His struggles begin anew and before long he’s practically yanking his arms out at the sockets trying to get away from you and your newfound toy. He’s throwing his weight around and doing whatever he can with his limited movements to make damn sure you can’t get that terrible thing around his neck, but it’s all in vain because energy is finite and he’s been expending a lot of it over the last hour.

He’s breathing heavy and you could swear he’s begging between heaves as you clap the collar around his thick neck. His flesh bulges from the side and you’re fairly certain it was made for someone much less burly than himself in mind. You get the odd urge to adjust it on him like a necklace but he’s still dangerous, even caged. You feel weirdly... proud.

“Stop-! you don’t know what you’re doing!” He hiccups, and as he pulls his head upward, you can see he is indeed crying. “Please! Don’t!”

You’ve never thought of yourself as particularly sadistic, at least in that sense, but some ghostly force pushes your thumb down on that big red button. Watching his eyes go wide and his body convulse and seize fills you with a sense of sheer euphoria that can’t properly be conveyed. The utterly satisfying clang of his head hitting the pole at mach 5 as he shakes and bumbles almost humorously while the collar sends x amount of volts through his body makes you giggle.

When you finally pull your thumb off the button, he’s still shaking from the residual shock, drool and mucus bubbling from his mouth and nose and sloping down onto his chin. He looks defeated; utterly pathetic. Is this how you looked to him all those times he stood over you grinning as he gifted you pain the likes of which had been unthinkable to you before you met him? The desire to push down again is overwhelming but you’re determined for him to understand there’s a point to this misery.

There’s a thousand thoughts going through your mind right now faster than you can comprehend them all, but they all have the same general principal. This man is a murderer. This man is a rapist. This man is contained. This man is afraid. This man is at your mercy.

And unfortunately for him, you just ran out.

‘How many’ you ask, despite already knowing. If the videos upstairs are any indication, there’s more than he can probably count. More names and faces than he can practically remember and they’re dead because of him. He looks up at you through wet lashes with a trembling lip, already caught on to the fact that there is no correct answer. Your thumb hovers over that seductive red button and he’s quick to spit out whatever he can regardless.

“I don’t know! I don’t!”

You don’t doubt that he’s being honest, but it sickens you none he less. You press that button for half a second and he jolts up off the floor as much as his restraints will allow. When he comes to, his eyes can barely focus in on you and when his slumps over, you can see the burns from the collar already settling in on his tan skin. You’re not sure how to turn down the voltage or how lethal it is, but you don’t really care at the moment. If he dies, he dies. You’ll deal with the complications of that later.

You could sit here all day and grill him, literally and figuratively, about his track record of atrocities, but it won’t bring you any peace. You’re not sure that peace is something that you’ll ever feel again, all things considered. Meeting the monsters that dwell in the dark is drastically different than simply acknowledging that they exist, and through some twist of fate, you’ve been given the opportunity to show this particular monster that he’s no longer at the top of the food chain. There’s so much you could do, so many things you want to do, and it’s at that moment you realize you’ve spent too long staring into the abyss to try and claw your way out.

You’re being offered the chance they never were. You’re holding the controls now. He’s already crying and you’ve barely touched him, barely done anything besides shock him a little. You remember that feeling well. If you recall, you were already crying before he put that knife to your thigh on your first day with him.

Truth is, you decided the second he fell unconscious what you were going to do.

Maybe a revenge like this isn’t yours to take, but you’re taking it regardless. For yourself, and for every sorry sap that’s met their end in his cement hellhole. They died for you to have this opportunity, and you’d like to think that maybe they’re there with you in this moment. Even if you never knew them, you feel a strange kinship with them. After all, it was almost you.

He continues to babble underneath his breath, various pleas for mercy or sympathy or any form of compassion you can muster from your still aching body, and though you desperately wish you did, you can’t find any. You’re certain when you look in the mirror next, it won’t be your own eyes looking back at you anymore, but something closer to his. Maybe you did die in this basement, because whoever you were before you met him is long gone and has been replaced with something so much more empty.

You explain to him, as gently as you can, that it’s your turn now, and his resistance will only make this harder. You don’t delight in seeing him in pain (whether or not that’s a lie has yet to be determined) but it’s a necessary evil for all he’s done. You don’t believe his life is yours to take, but you’d be as terrible as him if you let him loose on the world again. You can’t trust anyone but yourself, and since this situation is so delicate, you need a bit more time to think on it.

He doesn’t seem to understand, at least until you’re binding his legs and securing his head snuggly to the pole. Maybe it’s overkill considering the man looks like he belongs in a shibari magazine right now, but there’s no precautions you can’t take. You can’t have him escaping. It’s far too soon, and you have such wonderful things planned.

Were you a kinder soul, maybe you would put him to sleep because it’s so apparent he’s terrified. Being bound like this has really brought out his inner little bitch, and the way he’s looking, he’s going to piss himself. But its a price it’s only fair that he pay, all things considered. You don’t know what time it is or even where you are, but you know you’ll return to him when you’ve been rejuvenated, eager and ready to begin on him. You’re only a few steps toward the door when he begins shouting, words barely discernible between his emphatic weeping and sobbing hiccups.

“D-don’t leave me here in the dark! Let me go, let me out! You can’t! You can’t leave me here like this!” You grin softly, turning slowly to face him, and tell him that you can and you will. You ask what he’s so afraid of, but you don’t wait to hear the answer as you step through the frame and shut the door behind you, leaving him to rot in his personal dungeon. It’s only been an hour and he’s already so pliable. You wonder what you can make him do when you really make it hurt. Psychology says it takes 7 years to brainwash someone and coerce them into absolute compliance, but you’re willing to bet you can have it done in a few months.

You already know one of his fears, and are very clearly not ashamed to exploit it. How many else does he have, you might wonder, already planning tomorrow’s festivities. Maybe you were sicker in the head than you thought. Maybe Strade just brought out the worst in you, stripped away all that made you human and left you with raw hurt and despair.

It’s tempting. To give in. To sit and massage your aching body while listening to his screams as they echo through the soundproofed basement. But you’re tired, and you haven’t slept in a bed in over a week. His looked awfully nice. Maybe after that, you’d wash the dried blood from your battered body, order some food, and appreciate the niceties that civilized life had to offer. Niceties you took for granted.

After that? Well, after that you had a new pet to train.

#snaspants #Strade #BTD #NSFT #tw torture mention #im mean just mean lmao #IM LOVE YOU GIRL!!

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karasimpno · 3 years

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{Day 24} The Party Goes With You | Kuroo x Reader

Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x Gn!Reader

Genre: businessman!poker-playing!Kuroo AU, angsty-knight-in-shining-armor moment, angst/pining

WC: ~1.3k

Warnings: suggestion of unhappy/borderline abusive marriage, alcohol, gambling, cigar use

⍋⋆*❅｡. 25 days of fic-mas mlist .｡❅*⋆⍋

And we’re dancing nose to nose Darling do you suppose, oh darling do you suppose this party could be just us two? — The Party Goes With You; 35mm (music and lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver)

You don’t speak of names or faces, but there is one face that always stands out to you.

Well, part of a face, rather, as the businessman with the immaculately-pressed suits always seems to let his hair hang down over his right eye. He’s all flashes of white teeth and heated golden gazes as cigar smoke swirls around the dimly-lit back room of the seemingly hole-in-the-wall bar. His lips move flawlessly as he tells joke after joke, keeping conversation moving as he robs the other players blind.

Though you usually work the front bar, serving cheap, disgusting drinks to equally foul men, on Saturday nights, you’re required to play dealer in the high-stakes poker game that is run out of the discreet back room of the bar. Your husband owns the place but owes money to every player, so he’s never there. But he thought his high-profile patrons could use a pretty face and a nice body to look at while they weekly gamble away some of their highest earnings—the bids rising to numbers beyond what you could ever make in a year.

Dealing is simple. The actual game itself is surprisingly not very heated, considering the fortunes at stake. But the gentleman with the hair as black as pitch and the shining golden ring on one of his nimble fingers is what keeps it so. The cant of his voice and his relaxed posture, suit jacket slung over the back of his chair, keep everyone in amiable spirits, energy flowing between them like the liquor through their veins. His lips move flawlessly as he charms his competitors, periodically lifting a crystal glass with his favorite Armagnac to them as locks eyes with you over the rim of his drink. He is dashing to say the least, and his gaze makes your body temperature rise, but you manage to keep your posture indifferent as you shuffle and flip the cards. With light conversation in sultry tones, the evenings are always interesting, as renowned businessmen do their best to outdo each other, racking up substantial bar tabs all the while.

Oh, and your favorite part.

In addition to taking the pot, at the end of every round, the player with the most winnings earns an added prize: a dance with the alluring dealer. You’d be exaggerating if you said that your mystery man wins every round, but certainly not by much. He ends up on top in a good 90% of the games.

“Sorry, fellas,” he always smirks devilishly, rising from his seat as the losing players grumble, throwing their cards down on the custom-made black felt. In spite of yourself, your heart skips a beat every time he extends his long fingers across the table to you. With a smile that you attempt to tame into mere professionalism, you accept his hand. Ever so gracefully, he lifts your joined hands over the heads of the other players, carefully guiding you from your nook in the table to the open space adjacent to it. Some of the players get up and wander into the front bar to buy more liquor. Others stick around and busy themselves chatting about their businesses and dealings. But you hardly ever pay attention to any of that, as the moment his firm hand snakes around your waist, pressing heavily but comfortably against your lower back and pulling you fast against his chest, everything else fades into the background.

He’s clearly an excellent dancer—feels like he could have studied ballroom dancing—but all you ever do with him is sway and spin as he speaks lowly into your ear, incapable of being heard by the others. He pulls you so close that you feel like every part of you is touching him as your chins hover over each other’s shoulders. He doesn’t speak of husbands or wives or work or his life at home. He always just speaks of the oddest things, some fun new fact, or something interesting he saw the other day. Neglected by your husband, this man makes you feel sexy, and wanted, and alive with your hand wrapped in his strong but surprisingly gentle one. Respecting your privacy and knowing your husband, he doesn’t ask you about yourself but you love just to hear him talk. He always comes up with the most interesting things to tell you and you love that about him.

You didn’t love your husband. Maybe you never did, but he’d grown so aggressive with you since making you manage his debts, the bar, his patrons...you had nothing left for him but resentment. But something about the dashing businessman whose name you don’t even know has you finding a spark in your life again.

“Alright boys,” he always says with a characteristic grin when he’s had enough gambling and drinking for the night. Some weekends it’s ten or eleven. Other weekends it stretches into one, two, once even three in the morning before he called it quits, his competition unraveling into drunken stupors as he stayed just as cool and collected, even as the empty brandy glasses began to accumulate around him late into the night. Your husband had instructed you to continue to deal for as long as the players were making bets.

When the man with eyes as brilliant as the sun stands to make his final call, he slings his discarded jacket over his shoulder, his other hand resting confidently on his hip. The other players chatter amongst themselves, murmurings of “maybe one more game,” or “should we stick around for another drink?” but they almost never do. When he makes his move to leave, the party goes with him. You often find yourself getting distracted watching him walk out the front of the bar with no hurry in the world, each slow step after step making your field of vision narrow down even smaller, until it only encompasses him.

You catch yourself sighing and are snapped back to the reality of what’s left behind: a bunch of men no different than any of the schmucks you serve at the front of the bar, the only difference between them being the withdrawal limit on their checking accounts. Whereas the mystery man always makes a point to thank you before he goes, his golden eyes halting on yours, the rest of the men attempt to sober themselves up and stumble out of the bar with grunts and dirty looks, leaving the mess of their indulgences behind.

And you’re left to daydream, thinking only of the man who comes in once a week, like a shadowy whirlwind of passion and excitement, dashing in and out of your life every Saturday night. The weeks are long, your husband is cruel, and the patrons at the front bar are unforgiving. Cleaning up after messy customers, you long for the weekend to come around, for the sight of that one man who makes your heart race and sweeps you off your feet before even touching you. You wish you could go back and rewrite the story of your life so that you met this man before your husband, and you could live a happy life together, just the two of you. Sometimes you catch yourself daydreaming of what a domestic life with him would look like, and remind yourself that he doesn’t even know your name, nor you his.

But when you’re dancing nose-to-nose, heat emanating from his chest and warming you from head to toe, you can’t help but buy into the fantasy that maybe he feels the same way. You want to ask him what he thinks, always desperate to know more—more about him, more about what he thinks of you, more of the way he sees the world, more, more, more from him. But the dance ends too soon, and you’re back to your role as dealer, him as player. The cards flip through your fingertips but all you crave is your fingers on his skin. The dream is as fleeting as a lead in the game.

And when he goes, the party—your life, your love, your spirit—goes with him.

A/n: okay this song is EVERYTHING to me but to me it’s always captured more of a feeling than like an easily interpretable scene for me. Phrases like “speakeasy, hole in the wall” and “cleaning up for vows in gold” and “the gayest party sad but true” just stick out to me and like I’ve always struggled to like ground it in some kind of narrative. BUT I took little nuggets in the song and became really attracted to the like singer falling in love with someone they barely know but see/serve all the time in sort of a bar setting. I was also really inspired by this scene in Molly’s Game (which is a good movie if you haven’t seen it)....I just love the idea of businessman Kuroo in like a cigar smoke-filled haze, drinking nice brandy, pulling you close and whispering sweet nothings in your ear......phew. This one is for my girl @bluntkingkuroo And THANK YOU GUYS so much for following along for such a fun event! I hope you all liked it!!! Xoxoxoxo -Elle

taglist: @slutawara @musicgetsmeoutofbed @azo-musxas @tsumurai @ghostlydiamond135 @animeboysimppp @honeybunny-sawamura @harokat

#kuroo #kuroo tetsurou #kuroo x reader #kuroo tetsurou x reader #kuroo angst #elle writes #25 days of ficmas

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yourepower · 2 years

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The year was 1997 the movie was the saint and for the tech nerd in me the film was really just part of the story what really blew my mind was not whether val kilmer played a good roger moore honestly my eyes were mostly set on that nokia 9000 communicator see for a guy who could barely afford a cheap nokia 250 at the time the idea of a phone that could morph into a communicator was stuff of science fiction it was this device along with the palms and the pocket pcs and the blackberries that helped your phone today do so much more the problem is when the flat slab took over and really for a couple of reasons i honestly think the obsession over a larger flat screen got kind of out of hand up to the point where Phone parts today are massive and really in ways that aren't always convenient like i get it that having a large screen is good for watching a video but is it just this useful when you're trying to use it with one hand like seriously think about it do you always need your phone to be large or wouldn't it be great if your phone was easy to handle when you need it but then became something else entirely when you need more this is the samsung galaxy fold 3. one of the two smartphones i've carried in my pocket for the last two months and honestly the one that i would not leave home without if i had to pick.

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i know with the iphones and the pixels that just got launched that's kind of a statement but it's because i've tested those products already that i find myself believing in that premise more and more i'm hamilah with pocket now and this is my experience with it after two months of use if we're honest the idea of a foldable tablet in your pocket is a topic of excess it's as if companies have decided to address the growing demand for larger screens about as well as lightning hitting the iron man suit power at 400 capacity how about that but if we only look at it as a Phone LCD parts or a tablet i think we're missing the bigger picture surely there's nothing a foldable can do that a flat slab can't do but if we're real regular smartphones aren't really great at everything and i don't think this z-fold 3 wants to just be a phone or just be a tablet the most important ideas here are peace of mind and adaptability i think the first is the most important actually buying this phone before was honestly a stretch because it wasn't affordable and there was no guarantee it would survive extended use given its rocky start this third generation is finally what the first two weren't it's a bit less expensive and yet manages to solve absolutely every complaint we had with the previous models we finally get ipx8 water resistance for example making me no longer worried about bringing it to the gym it also brings gorilla glass victus in the front and back match with a stronger armor aluminum on the hinge and the chassis at 271 grams it's definitely not a phone that i'd call light but again it's not just the phone ironically i think there's more genius to this phone closed than open see there's a reason why screens have become taller for the past four years the narrower the device the easier it is to hold and use.

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but the z-fold 3 takes that a step further i feel more confident holding this thicker sandwich with one hand and the taller aspect ratio of the 6.2 inch oled helps me reach most of the screen without a problem which is then complemented by a snappy 120hz refresh rate if i'm on the street and need to communicate quick this feels like the perfect phone to handle so much so that i haven't really dropped this phone at all so far this narrow approach is even easier to pocket as it snugs just right at the edge of any pair of jeans now when i'm not on the go this phone pays perfect though much to that nokia 9000 from so many years ago if we're realistic a tablet does a far better job than a regular phone when i want to either consume content or get productive and that's really what makes this phone special at 7.5 inches diagonal this is almost an ipad mini but with more resolution far less bezels dynamic refresh rate up to 120 hertz and all the great color this dynamic amoled can provide along with some of the best dual firing speakers i've heard this year much.

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blueberrypossum · 3 years

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The Daily Hardship of Loving You

Dastardly Danny x reader

Danny is love, Danny is life. Who wouldn’t want to be saved by this wonderful rat?

This is another trade with @greaser-wolf ( so freaking excited for this trade man it’s gonna be amazing!!). Part of this scene is from the movie Suicide Squad, where Joker comes in to save Harely (btw I am not comparing Danny to Joker, Danny will treat you like gold, not like trash). I love writing action scenes and partners working together and supporting each other!! This my weakness. Hope you guys enjoy!

⚠️WARNING: ⚠️This fanfic will have explicit words and violence, viewer discretion is advised. Also a lot of angst!

Big Mama’s words will be colored green

Word Bank:

Zoot Suit- A certain style of a suit

Tawdry- made out of cheap or poor quality

Pennies from heaven- Easy money

Passing the buck- Placing the blame on someone or something

The crowd cheered and booed around you as you stepped in the Battle Nexus sitting area, the foul air of sweat and snacks from the concession stand filled your nose as you took in the fight below you. The atmosphere around you was warm and rigid as you eyed the crowd, your eyes landing on Big Mama on her throne, her six red eyes darting back and forth.

Your head turned to look down at the fight below, the two yokai’s fighting were at each other’s throats, their weapons clashing against each other’s as dirt clouds danced around them.

This was only the first match, you and the boys had the whole night to do this plan perfectly.

You slowly turned yourself around and away from the yokais, the keys you had swiped jiggled in your pocket as you went down the stairs.

For weeks you had been working for Big Mama, just like the Mud Dogz, but you were a shiftly one and was able to gain her trust, the keys to her vault below the Battle Nexus practically falling into your hands. Of course you knew about the vault she had in her hotel, but Gus guarded that one like the loyal dog he was, but you knew he couldn’t be at two places at once.

You were on the first level now and took a hard right, your eyes falling on the three figures that kept their bodies within the shadows. You came to a halt next to them, your hand now wrapped around the keys as you threw them over to one of the shadows, his hand instantly coming up to catch them.

“Guessing you guys didn’t have much trouble?” You asked as the dark figures finally revealed themselves. The infamous Loathsome Leonard, Dastardly Danny, and Malicious Mickey came out in front of you, each having their own signature shit-eating grin. Leonard twirled the keys in his hands as they followed you to the basement door, “not at all, Big Mama’s guards don’t really know the difference between criminal and worker,” he joked.

You moved over so then he could unlock the door, your body slipping over to Danny as the eel and the ogre took the first few steps down into the underground.

“Where’s Big Mama?”

“Still sitting on her throne, watching as her subjects tear each other apart,” you laughed out as you trailed your fingertips against the brick wall, the indents and curves in the wall pushed against your hands. The tall rat took a hold of your hand as the stairs started to get steeper and the only source of light was from torches.

“I really don’t understand the whole torch in a secret basement thing.”

“It’s tacky.”

“I would’ve done glow worms.”

“But they wouldn’t stay in one place.”

“Exactly. It’s unexpected.”

You rolled your eyes as you all finally made it to the last step, stones surrounded you instead of dark bricks and a long hallway strolled in front of you. Danny stood slightly behind you, his thumb gently sliding over yours to show that he was still there. He didn’t say it, but he honestly didn’t want you to go on this mission. You were basically walking over landmines for them to get the keys to Big Mama’s secret vault, but if they were caught down here then you would be punished too, possibly far worse than the Mud Dogz since you had been working closely with the spider yokai.

The thought of it created a bad taste in his mouth and he quickly told his mind to think of something else, to think how after this he was going to take you to one of the best restaurants in town and buy you an expensive outfit to show you off in. His mind wandered to what kind of outfit would look best on you until you and the two other yokai’s came to a harsh halt.

All four of you had walked down the hallway and had come to a hard left where two yokai guards stood, behind them a huge metal vault door stood silently.

You eyed the two yokai, your minding working to see if they would be an easy or hard fight.

The rat laid his head on top of yours as you both continued to stare, a sneer rising against his face.

“Jeez, Big Mama must be desperate for new recruits to have two geezer’s watching over her dough,” he whispered, his breath and whiskers slightly tickled the top of your head and you gently shook him off, mouthing sorry as he gave you puppy dog eyes.

Leonard looked at the ancient weapons the yokai’s were holding and then back at the gang.

“Alright, Danny, you’re going to go up to them and distract them-”

“Hold up, why me?”

“Because you got that suit, make ya look like the richest one out of all of us.”

“Well it is a zoot suit. I’m also an ace at persuading people.”

You let out a tch as he puffed out his collar, his eyes falling onto you.

“Mickey and I will come up when you got them distracted and then Y/N will open the vault up with the passcode.”

The eel next to you snapped a bolt between his nubs as you gave a small nod, your hand landing gently on Danny’s back before he got up.

“Hey, be careful.”

He gave you a charming smile as he took the hand that was on him and gave a light kiss, his whiskers once again tickled your skin.

“Always, love.” And then he came out from the corner and headed over to the two guards, his voice flaring throughout the basement like a singer at a concert.

You could barely make out what he was saying to the yokai’s, but you could make out the words clothes, Big Mama, and tawdry. Of course he would spark up a conversation with those two about fashion.

A minute barely passed as Leonard and Mickey walked away from you, their bodys sticking to the walls like glue as they stalked over to the distracted yokais. They pounced right before the two guards had time to react, Mickey taking out one with his electric shock and Leonard busted one in the back of his head, both of them falling as Danny ended a corny one-liner about them.

One of them smacked up against the keypad that was behind them, sending off a loud alarm in the tunnels.

You sprinted behind them and quickly pulled one of the guard’s keycards, scanning it and quickly typing in the code to turn off the system and the alarm.

“Do you think anyone heard that?”

“No, and Big Mama won’t get a warning about it. It has to go off for a long while before she gets notified about it.”

The Mud Dogz let out a relief sigh as you pushed the vault door open and you entered into a golden palace. Piles of gold, cash, unicorns, and armor that looked like they were dipped into liquid diamonds were all placed in long rows. Each one of your mouths dropped at the beautiful sight, Mickey the only one squealing in glee as he dove into one of the many loose piles of unicorns and cash.

You didn’t know that Big Mama had this much cash, but it didn’t surprise you either; with her cheating on the Battle Nexus and bleeding customers and opponents dry, you wondered if she had multiple vaults hidden within the city.

Your ears perked up as Danny let out one of his roaring laughs as he dug his fingers into one of the several piles of golden coins.

“OOOH boys we’ve hit the jackpot! It’s practically pennies from heaven!” He cheered out and then he wrapped himself around you, planting a tender kiss against your lips. You took in his sign of affection and kissed him back, your middle finger flying up as Leonard and Mickey let out fake gagging noises. Danny broke the kiss for just a second to whisper against your lips.

“It’s all thanks to you, doll.”

You let out a shy giggle as you felt your face go red with appreciation, you could never get used to how Danny treated you, it had only been a few months of dating and the yokai made you feel more respected and loved than any kind of royalty. His hand stayed wrapped around your hip as Leonard pulled out the infinite small vacuum he bought in Witch Town, the magical machine swiftly sucking up every last drop of gold, silver, and diamond until there was nothing left but the afterdust of the treasure.

The battle above you roared and stomped louder as another fighter was taken down by the champion, you were honestly surprised that none of the wealth done here was painted with blood.

You couldn’t help but feel good about this, even proud. You craved for appreciation from Danny, from his friends, to the point that it almost blinded you from the trouble ahead. As Leonard placed the vacuum back in-between his shoulders, you all made your way back to the entrance of the safe.While Danny gave you his hand to help you up, Mickey looked behind with a nervous smile.

“Ah, there were two guards, right?”

“Yes.”

“Oh that’s bad.”

You looked over from your place inside the door and only saw the yokai Mickey had knocked out, while the other one had disappeared.

“Ah, I say we make it like dogs and run!” Danny ordered and you all quickly leapt off the safe door and sprinted down the hallway, your feet barely touching the ground as you kept up with the Mud Dogz. When you made it to the door, you weren’t at all surprised when the knob didn’t give in to your force and you looked down at Leonard.

He got the hint and threw the bundle of keys back to you and you unlocked the door, your fingers barely pushing up against it so you could peek out. There was no sign of any yokai or Big Mama and you briskly got away from the door, the weight of the Mud Doz trying to peek out as well almost drowning you.

They each gave their own sheepish smile as you glared at them and continued to look around. This was...strange. The only thing you could think of was that the guard went straight up to Big Mama to warn her, which meant you and the guys were gonna to be in deep shit in about five minutes.

The crowd was barely a buzz in your ears as you followed them through the building, the lights from the Battle Nexus painting inself across your body like lights.

The four of you were almost to the exit of the Battle Nexus when a large guard came in front of your path, your feet coming to a slamming halt before you could run into the bug yokai. You took a step back as he took a step forward, your body instantly bending down as he swiped at you.

More bug guards came around almost every hidden corner, giving each member of the group someone to fight. But, more and more kept coming, until you were surrounded. Each of you let out a litter of cuss words as you tried to push past, but there was no way out. Danny stood next to you, his arm barely lifted up as a form of protection. Fear screamed its way into your blood, your head racking through itself at how this plan had failed, how this could possibly be your fault for not double-checking things. And when Big Mama rounded the corner, you wondered if you would make it out alive.

Danny couldn’t help but swallow as the spider yokai walked in, her long legs creaking against the concrete floor. His tail encircled itself around your ankles as Big Mama’s henchmen came closer, their eyes like daggers stabbing it each and every one of them. He knew he should’ve told you to stay out of this one, he knew that something always bad happened to them, and now you were caught in the middle.

“Ah! If it isn’t my wonderful yokai’s, the Mud Dogs. And my new assistant,” the female cooed as she switched to her human form. She circled around you, as if you were prey and she was a predator, even though all four of you towered over her with her being human. The anger that was held within her eyes blazed into you as she stalked over to you, her finger wiggling in your face as if you were a child.

“Now, now, aren’t you a little disappointment,” she hissed, a slim finger curled under your chin and you quickly shook it off, your eyes narrowing at the woman. Big Mama only let out a rough chuckle as she snapped her fingers and you were separated from the Mud Dogz, your body barely having time to react as you gripped onto Danny’s hand. Danny instantly reached for you, the strength in his hand curled into your slipping hand as the guards came in between you two.

“Hey! Let go!”

“You keep yer slimy hands off of them!”

Leonard and Mickey lunged to help Danny keep ahold of you, their hands batting off the bug’s arms from the rat’s suit. You let out a cry as you felt the rat’s hand slip out of yours and the bug interlocked their arms around yours and slowly started to pull you away, Big Mama following behind them.

“Finish them for me, I’ll deal with this one.”

Anxiety raced through Danny’s body as they placed their hands around you, dragging you away from them, from him. He couldn’t stop himself from watching you struggle in their grip, small grunts hissing out of your mouth as you were pulled further and further away from him.

Rage didn’t even cover what coursed through his body, the blood within his veins almost boiled to the point of a fever as his nails dug into his hands. His eyes turned to Leonard and Mickey, and both of them looked at each other, because for a split second, they believed they saw murder within the rat’s eyes. Danny gave his friend’s one look and Leonard and Mickey nodded to the silent order that the rat gave and they each turned towards one of the guards.

You could barely see past the broadening shoulders of the soldiers, but you heard the brawling of fists and the heavy breaths from a fight. You struggled within the hold and then stomped your foot against the guard’s foot, your arm coming free to slam into the other guard’s face. The pain that pulsed through your hand was dull as you turned around-

And watched as Danny’s limpless body hit the ground with a deadly thud.

For the first time, your mind went blank. You couldn’t focus on Leonard or Mickey or anything else around you except for Danny. He wasn’t getting up, why wasn’t he getting up, he had to get up.

“DANNY!” You called for him, Big Mama’s arms capturing you as you tried to race over him. His name drilled out of your mouth like a siren. You’ve seen him get knocked out, beaten up in a fight, but not like this, the way his body slammed into the ground was an inhuman sound that burned your ears. Your arms swatted against Big Mama’s resistance as you continued to wait, you waited for him to wake up, to give a signal that he was fine, just one flick of your ear Danny!

“Danny! Danny get up!!” You wailed to him and you could feel the clear liquid spill from your eyes. Big Mama changed back into her yokai form and spat onto you, cobwebs spilling over your wrists and mouth. But that didn’t stop you calling for him, reaching for him over the spider’s shoulder as she took you away. You thrashed around in the grip, sobs now clogging your throat with no release as the guard you had hit lifted you up and turned the corner, your eyes never leaving Danny as you were dragged away.

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

You blinked a few times as you took in the bright lights of the Battle Nexus. You believed it had been a few hours, but you honestly didn’t know. There were no more battles and the stands were empty, it was just you, a few guards, and Big Mama looming over you.

Your eyes felt raw with no moisture and your body went weak everytime they made you stand.

Your mind was still empty, even with the female spider talking your ear off with her weird words. Your legs ached from sitting on them and you could feel exhaustion come over you like a storm. Her webs were sticky and tangled within your hands, almost as if it was sinking into your skin.

If you were caught, what about the others? Wouldn't they be next to you getting the “big” talk from Big Mama. Or maybe there was no one left to talk to.

The images of Danny flashed through your head and you tried your hardest to keep the tears at bay. You didn’t know you could be so emotional over someone, but he was Danny, he was your Danny. You hated your mind for thinking was.

You felt heat vibrate against your face as the spider backhanded you, your eyes closing hard as you took in your surroundings and the pain.

“Were you even listening?!”

“Sorry, I don’t speak dog.”

Big Mama smiled at you and lifted her hand, your face scrunched up to prepare for the blow. But the woman turned around, her fingers instead messed with her outfit as she smoothed out the wrinkles.

“You won’t be saying that when you become a chew toy for my new Battle Nexus Champions,” she chirped, a wicked smile on her face as she walked away, the echo of her high heels ringing in your ears.

You didn’t listen as the woman gave specific orders about you to the guards, how once dawn comes, you will be nothing more than table scraps.

Maybe this is how it’s supposed to go. You were nothing more than a lying thief, you went behind yokai’s backs and would tear them apart until there was nothing left but the money in their pockets. Maybe your death will be quick, maybe Danny is waiting somewhere for you, it’s almost like you could hear him calling your name.

Wait a damn minute, you could hear it.

As the bug guards walked towards you, a knife struck the ground, barely a inch away from one of the yokai’s feet. You looked up to see one of the large flying birds that was used as transportation in the Hidden City, it’s bat-like wings flying effortlessly above the Battle Nexus as it came into view.

Music blasted into the circular arena and you quickly rolled forward with it, aiming the webs perfectly with the blade as it tore your bondage into two. The guards next to you went flying towards the wall, the sound pushing them against it. Once free, your hand pulled the knife out and raced over to the nearest thing to protection, a large shield with half of it buried into the dirt of the arena.

You gave a swift peek from behind the shield and watched as sound waves were perfectly aimed towards the guards that were rushing in, not even giving the yokai time to protect themselves. Confusion jittered inside of you as you finally looked up at who was on the birds.

You could make out the band members of DIGG and you could recognize the singer, Prairie Dog, singing her heart out into the mic as her band members played their instruments alongside her.

Big Mama came running into the arena and then was slammed into the wall by the bass of the music, the uncomfortable look on her face was unforgettable.

“Y/N!”

Your body instantly perked up. Your head poked out from behind the shield as you looked for him. It had to be him, you heard it, you knew that only one voice could say your name like that, to call your name as if it was a melody.

There he was, standing alongside Leonard and Mickey, beaten up and swollen, but as you watched his chest rise and fall and as he smiled when his eyes laid upon you brought everything back to you.

As ideas and thoughts raced through your head like a car track, you came out of your hiding spot to fully show yourself to him.

When you finally showed yourself to him, Danny swore that he felt like a whole new man. After you were taken away, Leonard and Mickey fought off the rest of the guards and dragged Danny out of the Battle Nexus and went to the closest place they could think of: The DIGGS apartment. Once he woke up and treated his wounds, all six of them came up with a plan to get you back, and after stealing a few birds from the stables, it seemed that they came just in time to get you.

One side of your face was red and a dried up blood trail went down from the corner of your mouth. But you stood tall, you stood proud to show him that you were okay, and that you were ready to get the hell out of there with him.

The sound of you screaming for him will never leave his head, for years to come he will think about it, even now just seeing you the flashes he barely saw during the fight when you were taken away crossed his mind. It was as if his heart was being scorched into charcoal.

Danny was known for holding the best promises, and once he got you back, he will promise you that you would never feel like that ever again.

And when you wake up in the morning after all of this, he will remind you that he is still there, and that he was not going to go anywhere at any time, not when he had you.

You had to find a way to get up to him, even with the music blaring the guards away, you noticed they were starting to break against the mold of the music. Then you saw the rope that Danny threw down, landing perfectly in the middle of the Battle Nexus.

“Come on, darling! I’m waitin for ya!”

You released a heavy sigh as you sprinted towards the rope, the wave blasts of music barely missing you as you felt the guards chase after you. Every fiber in you was being burned but you made yourself go faster, and once Big Mama started to spit webs at you, you made yourself do twists and turns to dodge them. She kept calling your name, saying what she will do to you will be far worse if you ran, but you continued onward.

Her words no longer mattered to you, nothing else mattered but one thing as you jumped onto the rope and out of one of the guard’s reach.

Him.

Leonard sent the bird up and flew you above the large coliseum, the DIGG band following gradually behind, giving out howls and thanking the guards and Big Mama for being a good audience.

Your fingers and waist were wrapped around the rope as you were taken over the city, you and the guys waved good-bye to the band DIGG as they flew back to their apartment and the ogre steered the bird towards home. You took in the musty and polluted breeze and looked up to see Danny looking down at you.

“Aren’t ya gonna climb up?”

“And risk falling? No thanks.”

He opened his mouth to answer back but you interrupted him by saying, “and don’t say you’ll catch me because last time that happened I fell on the floor while we were dancing.”

“Oh, that was one time, doll.”

“And it will be the only time I will get off this rope when we land.”

He let out a breezy chuckle as you situated his hat back on his head and then Mickey came into view, waving his left nub at you.

“Hiya Y/N! Did ya miss us?”

A faint laugh rumbled in your throat as you looked up at the Mud Dogz, at your boyfriend and your friends. Just mere hours ago you were crying, believing that they were all dead, that Danny was gone. And here you are, soaring over the city, a new enemy to track you down and an infinite pocket full of treasure. There were new tears sparkling in your eyes as you looked up at them.

“Of course I did.”

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

Danny carefully wiped the cut that was on your arm outside of his apartment. Leonard and Mickey were counting and almost rolling in the money they had taken out of the vacuum. You had taken a shower once you got there, cleaning off the dirt and sweat, your new wounds stung against the hot water. After it, your boyfriend called you to the balcony of their apartment to clean your wounds in peace, but you knew it was to get you two alone.

You winced against his touch as he placed a binding around it, the alcohol burned into your body as he tugged your sleeve down.

He placed a tender kiss on your shoulder as a way to say sorry and started to examine another wound on your leg when you finally spoke.

“I thought you were gone.”

The rat paused in his place, the alcohol wipe in his hand had gone stiff. You looked away when he looked down at you, your eyes gliding over the hanging lights of the town, the liquid gold dripping over you and consuming you.

“I know that this life is dangerous, we’ve had our fair share of beat downs and injuries,” you commented, the laughs of your friends barely reaching your ear as you continued.

“But when I saw you go down, I thought that was it. No more heists, no more dates, no more seeing you every day, no more hearing your voice or dancing in the kitchen at one in the morning.” He held up a hand to calm you, but you continued, new tears spilling from your eyes.

“We never got to get married, to have kids, that I would never get to see you become a father and it killed me to the point that I accepted that Big Mama was going to-”

“Stop.”

You closed your mouth as Danny lifted your head up, his long fingers gently curling around your chin and you let out a heavy sigh as you dropped your weight into it, taking in his touch, the warmth in his hands. He put the medical stuff down and scooted himself closer to you, the shiny tears that shot down your face continued as his other hand ran through your hair and he kissed you.

Every kiss from Danny was different. There were the kisses before work, they were quick and meaningful, the kisses during good news, how he held you without effort and his mouth gave you goosebumps, as if he was saying good job within the kiss. The kisses in the bedroom were deep and he hunted for your lips every second to feel your moans, to taste his name on your mouth. And then this kiss, the kiss he gave when you came back to the apartment beaten up or when you both had a fight and he would crawl in bed, his tail lightly wrapping around you as you cave in and dashed into his arms, entangling your mouth with his.

It honestly hurt that he kissed you like this, the importance behind each one filled you up with love, with something you never had while on the streets, the one thing you’ll always be greedy for, not money or the adrenaline of being a thief, it was him.

When you separated, you swore that his eyes were watery, but he bent back down to go back to work on your wound. After he banaged up the last gash he turned back to you, his hands going into yours as he carelessly brought his face close to yours. His comforting scent slowed down your senses as his whiskers once again brushed across your face.

“I’m not going anywhere, doll. Not without you. So, don’t be worrying about marriage and children and stop passing the buck onto ya. I’m here with you, I promise.”

“Good, I need at least someone to handle these emotional outbursts.”

“Well, I do know a yokai that would do the job perfectly. He’s tall, got a tail, and wears a suit that makes everyone swoon.”

“Oh he sounds charming, can’t wait to meet him.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

You giggled into his whiskers as his arm wrapped around you. As you got comfortable under his arm, Danny finally felt his body loosen up. He didn’t know that you felt like that, of course he knew that you cared, that you worried, but when the tears started to form and how each fear about him started to bubble up and out your throat.

He never knew his heart could break like that.

You were a whole new significance to him. He has had lovers, but no one like you, no one has stuck around as long as you, no one has talked about marriage or children with him. Even with being a criminal, Danny still wanted a family someday, and to hear that you wanted one with him was now going to be his reason to get up everyday, to get enough money until you both have enough to live without worry. Images of living somewhere with just you and your children came over him and he brought you closer.

You both still had a long way to go, your futures weren’t drawn-out and he feared that you wouldn’t be in his life in the long-run. But with how you curled into his touch and planted a kiss against his neck and then settled yourself into his chest, he knew he would fight for you. After today, he would fight for you and with you to reach what you wanted: Happiness.

#rottmnt #rottmnt mud dogs x reader #rottmnt mud dogs #tmnt #rottmnt dastardly danny x reader #rottmnt dastardly danny #rottmnt danny x reader #Spotify #rottmnt mud dogz #rottmnt mud dogz dastardly danny

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dearlazerbunny · 4 years

Text

Let it Go (Ch. 1 of ?)

Pairings: platonic avengers team x reader, potential background loki x reader

Words: 1800

Genre/Ratings: -WARNINGS- there will be an (unsuccessful) suicide attempt by reader- chapter will be explicitly marked in advance. Drug (pills) and alcohol abuse, lots of negativity and self loathing. There will be an arc, but said arc is going to start in the eleventh circle of hell and inch up from there.

Summary: *not far enough into this one to give an accurate summary, so this’ll have to be updated eventually. enjoy for now!*

If I see another ad for Frozen, I might go homicidal.

I pass at least five of them as I work through rush-hour Manhattan at a snail’s pace. Smash Hit! Instant Classic! #1 Movie in the World! Awesome. Fantastic. Happy for you, Disney. Now please, dear god, get it the fuck out of my face.

I jerk away from narrowly shoulder-checking a businessman hustling down the sidewalk, speaking rapid-fire into the phone glued to his ear. It’s like a very, very fucked up dream; everyone in the world is in on the joke, and I just didn’t get the invite. Maybe they were spying on me. Sure, it could’ve been inspired by a fairytale, but who knows? I could sue. Demand fifty percent of the profits for copyright infringement. That’d be more than enough to set me up with a cabin in Alaska, somewhere all I’d have to worry about is making friends with the polar bears.

On the subway, I notice someone has Let it Go blaring from their earbuds. No less than three little girls are wearing something blue and covered in glitter. One has a cheap blonde plait clipped into her hair, accented by a snowflake charm dangling from the end. I suppress the urge to rip it off her head.

It isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, I want to say. It’s not Disney-dreamy like the mouse has made it out to be, living in a palace and making magical snowmen and singing power ballads about self-acceptance and overcoming your demons. In the real world, you quell those demons with a fistful of benzodiazepines, because if you don’t, something like a car alarm or a slammed door will make spikes of ice splinter through the floor around you. It’s constantly wearing three hoodies at a time, so that way if a stranger on the seat next to you brushes your arm, they don’t immediately get third-degree frostbite. It’s getting a papercut and watching the blood freeze on the tip of your finger, then melt back to liquid when you break it off and toss it away. It’s getting hospitalized when an inner-city charity doctor takes your temperature before you can object and your body temperature is barely higher than freezing, so they pump you full of warm saline and cover you in foil blankets and all that heat makes you sick, so you have to rip the IV out of your arm and walk yourself back to your apartment in your hospital gown while dodging orderlies and strange looks from passerby at 2 AM.

The kid and her parents get off at the next stop. The subway clicks along. I try to make myself smaller as the car fills up with more people.

Maybe if they’d had Xanax in Arendelle, Elsa wouldn’t have had to deal with all that “conceal, don’t feel” bullshit. She wouldn’t be able to feel anything with all the pills and booze she’d be mainlining. Take it from me, babe, it’s a lot easier to drug those demons away. Much more effective than a song.

Something in me feels a weird flare of pride for handling this… whatever the hell it is better than a fictional cartoon princess. Then I want to laugh, because goddamn, my life is pathetic.

My meeting spot is in a back alley near Bryant Park. Some NYU kid is pawning his Klonopin for party cash, I guess. I think if you’re rich enough to be a frat boy at NYU you probably don’t need the extra fifty from your prescriptions, but whatever. I don’t have a ton of other avenues at this point.

I scan the neon bottle, then shake it open and count the pills inside. “These are only a half milligram? Fifteen.”

“Dude, we said forty.”

“Yeah, for a milligram pill. These will barely last me a week.”

“Twenty.”

“Fine.”

I don’t think the universe agrees with my choices.

The sky splits open with a shriek that balances the world on the edge of a knife. One heartbeat. Two. He and I both look up at the clear blue, unsure. Between the skyline, I see something- somethings- begin pouring from a split in the universe, ugly and black and hungry.

I wrench the bottle from the kid’s hands and run.

Run, run, run, don’t look up, don’t look back, oh jesus what the FUCK IS THIS- Midtown is a nightmare. Not from Friday traffic this time. People are scrambling, screaming and crying, trying to flee the scene. An entire side of a building gets shaved off and falls to the ground like an iceberg. A gas line broke somewhere because everything is hazy with fumes and starts shimmering rainbow colors. I round a corner, cursing and trying to keep my ratty converse on my feet as I dodge rubble and ash- don’t look up don’t look up don’t look up. I can see my breath starting to crystallize around me as my anxiety spikes, and I try to force it down. Don’t think about it. Now is so not the time for that.

In the middle of the street, six brightly clad superheroes stand with grim but determined looks on their faces. There’s Tony Stark in his mechanical suit, Captain America brandishing his shield. The star stands out like a beacon in the smoke. Cool, coolcoolcool, they’ve got this, right? They’ve totally got this. Everything is going to be fine. Everything is going to befineohholyshitthat’sabigalien-

I try to use an overturned car as cover. Dart to one, breathe, press my back to steel and try to shake my body back from shock, wait for a moment of silence between the chaos- run to the next pile of rubble. My footprints are outlined in frost on the cracked pavement, clean white against the ash raining from the sky. As I slam myself up against another car, heaving, I have a prime few of Captain-freaking-America bashing three ugly aliens in the face with his shield, battering them to the ground. He stops for a moment to flex his fingers, wipe some of the grime from his face.

He doesn’t see the alien rushing him from behind, mouth open and yawning in some sort of hideous grin, poised to shove a glowing blue gun against the Captain’s muscly back.

I don’t think. My feet move without my telling them to. I can taste the ash as I dart to the middle of the street, as close as I dare. The air around me is impossibly frigid. I’m not controlling anything at this point, but I can deal with that later. Hopefully.

“DUCK!” I scream as loud as I possibly can over the sound of metal and roaring monsters.

His eyes snap up to meet mine. He heard me, somehow, and then he actually heeds a random girl standing amidst the carnage and hits the deck so fast I can hear the whiplash. It’s hot enough to make my skin boil, but if I stretch my hand out and pull, I can feel something begin to crystallize in my waiting palm-

Fissures crack open in the concrete beneath me. In my hand, a thin lance of ice extends to a deadly point, too weighty for its slim frame, and while I should have all the grace and skill of an alcoholic drug addict, my aim is good enough that the alien now has an unforgiving pole of ice sticking through its breastbone. Frost creeps from the hole in its chest, discoloring its sickly black armor to a grey tint. For a moment, it's suspended in time, unmoving- then gravity takes hold and with one last nightmarish shriek it crumples to the ground in a heap.

Huh. Whaddya know. I flex my fingers, breathing hard. Take that, Elsa. Screw the power of love, I just single-handedly saved a national icon.

Said icon is picking himself up off the ground, a new layer of dust coating the front of his uniform. He looks behind him, at the ugly corpse and the ice that inexplicably hasn’t started to melt in the city’s heat. Then his eyes are on me, hard and curious.

Oh. Fuck.

Instinctively, I pull my hood up further over my head, hopefully obscuring more of my face than before. What did he see? Could he memorize my face? He knows I’m a freak show, that’s for sure. Fuck. My brain kicks in and I run, skidding over broken pavement and letting the sheer terror of a crumbling New York fuel my steps. Either we’ll all be dead by the end of this, or the strange girl with ice coming from her hands will be little more than a hazy memory after all this is said and done. I hope. Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it- cold prickles on the back of my neck and pushes me back towards being just another face in the crowd.

There are over a dozen police blockades to try and control the battlefield, and between them and the rubble raining from the heavens, it takes me what feels like hours to crawl back to my underside of the city. It’s punctuated by the grinding of metal and shattering of glass and sickening cracks of lightning from Midtown, making me flinch and wring my hands deep into my sweatshirts to keep them busy with something other than frosting the ground over. Don’t think about it.

I shove my shoulder into the door, forcing it open, then close it the same way from the opposite side. I flick the locks closed, secure the ball and chains. Each one is encased in frost by the time I’m done, and the doorjamb is clogged with ice. I’m suddenly irrationally thankful that there’s only one window in the apartment. It’s a stupid comfort- those things were leveling skyscrapers, a ratty building like this would be flattened in an instant-

I wrench open the nearest drawer, sending the contents rolling. Bottles clack against each other; pills rattling against the plastic. It’s the most comforting thing I’ve heard all day. I pull one out at random, pop the lid, down it dry. In the back of my mind, the large green monster roars. I shudder and swallow another, this time chasing it with swigs from the obscenely large bottle of booze on the desk. It burns all the way down in the best way, chasing the little orange tablets and promising the sweet release of nothing.

That should last a day. Maybe more. I fall into the bed, already feeling the combo tug at my system, making me heavy and slow. Maybe Manhattan will still be standing when I wake up. Or better yet, Manhattan will still be standing, but I won’t. I’ve never been that lucky, but it never hurts to hope.

#marvel fic #marvel fanfiction #avengers fic #avengers fanfiction #avengers x y/n #avengers x oc #loki x reader #reader insert #Steve Rogers #natasha romanov #tony stark #bruce banner #Thor Odinson #clint barton #Loki Laufeyson #angst #avengers x reader

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