#it's kinda sweet that max as much as he looks like his dad has hints of his mom in his face

[glassartpeasants]

Like Father, Like Son

Overhaul x F!Reader

Warnings: Angst, unhealthy/toxic relationships, child abuse, mentions of needles

A/N: This is a post based on a head cannon made by @yandereacademia which you can see here. I promise I will continue the DDLC AU but I needed to get this angst outta my system because I’ve been really stressed lately lol. Also the original storyline is kinda bumped up to fit the story

~~~

The only reason you were with the sociopath called Overhaul is because of a stupid mistake you made about 5 months ago. If you could go back in time you would’ve never drank that much until you were blackout drunk. You had somehow managed to sleep with the germophobic man after you both crossed paths when you both were blackout drunk. Which leaded where you are now. In the Shie Hassakai base, pregnant with his child. 

Once you showed him the test he demanded- no, MADE you quit your old job ad live in the base with him. Not in his room of course.Who knows what germs you could be carrying! You don’t get special treatment even if you are the mother of his child. And If we’re being honest, he doesn’t really see it as his child. More like an heir. How else would the Shie Hassakai live on? 

He doesn’t even see you that often. He sends either Chrono or Mimic to look after you. Sometimes Setsuno. You liked Setsuno since he actually treated you like a human rather than a burden. Chrono was a bit better than mimic. Mimic was just a plain ass. 

Your entire pregnancy was all about check ups. Healthy food, did I mention checkups? It was almost every Tuesday and Friday that he made you come into a little doctors room and inspect you and give you ultrasounds. You felt more like an incubator rather than a mother, but you digress. Once you got the news that the child was a boy you bet your ass Overhaul was way more worried about you than he originally was.

You wanted to run really. You saw what horrible things Overhaul had done. You didn’t want your child to end up like Eri or to turn into a shit human being like Overhaul. You wanted your child to grow up compassionate and kind, not a stone cold murderer with no remorse for human life.

Maybe once your child is born you can teach him those things in secret...

~~~

2 years after the child is born

You were right, Overhaul wanted nothing to do with the baby until it was old enough to be taught the ways of the yakuza. He wasn’t even impressed when the baby started talking and walking! You wanted to yell, scream, argue, and just hurt the man in general. A child needs support, not a unimpressed look everytime they do an accomplishment. 

You always supported your son. Showing him how proud you were whenever he handed you a drawing of him and you. Overhaul barely even saw the kid which affected him to the point where the kid didn’t even draw him in pictures.

You were happy that your baby didn’t see/look up to Overhaul as a fatherly figure. Man didn’t deserve to be called one or be one. You were worried if Overhaul would use your son as a experiment like he was using Eri.  

Speaking of Eri, you finally convinced Overhaul to let you see her and comfort her after he used her for the bullets. She was such a sweetie and especially loved how you would sing her to sleep whenever she has a bad day. You didn’t get to see her a lot, but you did what you could when you did. If only you could make Overhaul see what he was doing to everyone around him...

~~~

Your son just turned 8

Everyday your son looked more and more liked his father. Not to mention he inherited Overhaul’s quirk It wouldn’t have bothered you that much if it weren’t for the fact that he started looking up to his father. Whenever your so was getting put to bed by you, he would always tell you about how much he wanted to be the next leader. He would tell you how he watched Overhaul to paperwork, sat next to him in meetings and such. The finally straw for you was when he told you that Overhaul let him use his quirk on a living breathing human being. To say you were furious was an understatement. All you saw was red. 

You smiled at the boy before pressing a kiss to his head and walking out his door while whispering goodnight before your started your expedition to give Overhaul a piece of your mind. You’ve stayed quiet for to long. You couldn’t just let him expose your child to such violence at such a young age! All you saw was red as you walked to his office door. Giving it a harsh knock you were allowed entry.

Upon entering you notice that you are the only one there with him. Just the two of you. You were afraid yes, but your anger out did it.

“Did you seriously let our son use his quirk on someone at such a young age?! He’s only 8! He doesn’t need to be exposed so early!” You yelled at him with your hands on your hips. You knew if you pointed at him you could say goodbye to that finger.

“He’s going to be the next leader. It’s only natural to start him off early. And I don’t remember giving you a say in the matter.” His voice cold and stoic but a hint of annoyance caught your ears.

“8 is way to early! Please Overhaul, Just give me 2-3 more years without him experiencing what you do.” You begged him. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes. You only wanted what was best for your son. Your heart stopped when you heard Overhaul get up from his desk and his footsteps come near your now slightly shaking form.

“Bold of you to assume I would let him miss out on very needed skills to become the next leader. We both know that if it weren’t for him, you would have been dead the second i found out I slept with you. That boy is the only thing that kept you alive. So, from now on, I expect you to never come to my face. Talking about him needing to be kind and compassionate, is not the way of the yakuza. One more incident like this, than I’ll make him kill you myself.” Your eyes widened as you looked at the man in front of you. You can feel your blood run cold in your veins as it circulates through your body. Tears streaked down your face as you felt so defeated. Your entire body felt like you’ve been crushed by a car. 

You turned around and walked out the door and into your room. Locking the door your jumped onto your bed, grabbing the pillow before screaming into it. Your tears stained the pillow case as your body shook. You felt so hopeless and so helpless. Where was a hero when you truly needed one?

~~~

The next day

You were just finished changing before your son barged into your room. You were about to say good morning to him before he started screaming at you. Shocked you told him to calm down, but in the corner of your eye you saw the purple feathers that you have learned to fear walk by.

“What are you saying? Please calm down!” You say as you try to soothe your screaming child.

“How dare you try and take me away from dad! Dad told me everything!” Your son flailed his arms up and down while stomping on the ground. His screams soon turned incoherent.

“Baby! I would never-”

“Liar! Dad told me that you wanted to leave him! He said that you thought he didn’t deserve a son!” You didn’t say that what was he on?! You only wanted to protect him! You loved your son to the point you would die for him! What had Overhaul said to him!

“Please sweetie calm down-”

“No! I never want to talk to you again!” Your son ran out the door before slamming it shut. Your heart felt shattered as you heard Overhauls voice on the other side, ’calming’ your distressed son. You felt your world crumbling around you as your son was the only thing that kept you happiness in these dark times. Him and Eri. Oh Eri, if he grows up that means...

You felt vomit rise in your throat at the thought of your own son hurting such a sweet, innocent, little girl. You fall to your knees as tears spill down your cheeks. You couldn’t just run away from the Shie Hassakai ever. The base is fully guarded, and has high max security cameras. Not to mention the probability of them finding you and your son right away. If you even tried, you would probably get you and your son hurt. Maybe even little Eri. 

Your whole body felt numb. You just wished it was a horrible nightmare.

~~~

5 months later

As the weeks pass by, you felt your hurt break more and more everyday. Your son had kept his word when he said he ever wanted to talk to you again. You haven’t heard your baby's voice since that day. Hell, now you barely even see him! You see Eri more than your actual son now. ANd seeing Eri was not that often.

You felt hopeless. You wanted nothing more to do than crawl in a hole and die. Every night was spent crying over your son and how your life and gone so down hill so quickly. You didn’t even feel like moving. You just sat in the corner of the room since it felt like the only warm spot in the entire room. This little corner felt like some sort of sanctuary in this horrible place you call home. 

~~~

Your son just turned 13

Day whatever of the last time your son talked to you. And day whatever since you’ve left your room. You had no reason anymore. Overhaul officially banished you from ever seeing Eri again. Your world was crushed once more. At this point you felt like your whole existence was useless. 

Your days grew darker by the minute as your mental health seemed to be slipping through your fingers. You only ever moved when you needed to go to the bathroom or to drag the food plate that was brought to you by some employee of Overhaul. You barely ate anything anyways so you really saw no point in doing anything anymore. 

It only hurt more knowing that today was his birthday. You had asked the employee that brought you food if he had a party or just something to celebrate. You felt the last of your hope crushed once you heard his answer.

“The only thing he got was a official Shie Hassakai mask.”

~~~

Your son turned 15

You body was weak. You had refused to eat anything seeing no point in it anymore. You were always tired. Only getting up to go to the bathroom then sitting back in the corner that once gave you sanctuary. 

You heard footsteps on the outside of your door as the familiar voice of Overhaul was on the other side. Another voice rang in your ears and it hit you like a train once you realized who’s it was. It was your sons. His voice was so much deeper than the little boy’s you had once heard. It only deepened your sadness. You blinked but didn’t even turn your eyes once you heard the door opening. 

“We can test the serum out on her first. She’s too weak to fight back.”

“I didn’t know my mother had a quirk.” You couldn’t even make your eyes turn to look at them. You didn’t want to see the monster your son had become. Your heart couldn’t take anymore heartbreak, You felt like you would crumble into nothing.

You felt a light get shine into your eyes. You didn’t even blink during it. Once the light was gone you got a clear look at your once loving son. A mask covered his face just like his fathers did. He looked you in the eyes and you did the same. You wanted to cry but held it down. 

A latex hand grabbed your arm before you felt the needle being poked into it. You didn’t even flinch or wince. Almost as if you were a lifeless doll. A hand moved up and down your face as if to see if you were even alive or ‘there’.

“She isn’t responding to anything. She didn’t even wince. She’s breathing but she looks like she’s sick.” All that was one ear and out the other. Finally you felt the needle leave your arm as a sigh escaped Overhaul’s lips. 

“Well wait for about an hour or two and see the effects. For now, we have to do more tests on Eri. Lets go.” So...he was apart of the team experimenting on Eri. You felt like throwing up. How could the boy who you raised to be kind and compassionate turn into such a disgusting monster.

The sound of their footsteps leaving the room hit your ears. From the corner of your eye you say your son about to leave before you spoke up,

“You are not my son.” You saw him stop in his tracks as he turned to look at you. His eyes a bit wide but said nothing.

“I never want to hear you call me your mother ever again. Your a monster undeserving of one. I can’t believe I gave birth to someone like you. I never want ot see your face again.” In your monotone words they’re were spikes laced in venom. You couldn’t even look your own son in the eyes. As they we’re the same as his monster of a father. 

“Get out of my room and never come back.” You heard him close the door slowly as you let out a breath once you finally saw him gone. You can barely stand to see the monster your child had become. But, you didn’t see nor hear the way his breathing became ragged. Or how his eyes felt like spilling tears. Or how his body slowly shook at your words. 

‘It shouldn’t hurt. This shouldn’t hurt me. Why does it hurt so bad? Please stop it. Her words shouldn’t affect me. Why does it hurt?’

#overhaul x reader #bnha overhaul #mha #bnha #overhaul #chisaki kai #shie hassaikai #kai chisaki #kai chisaki x reader #mha angst #bnha angst #kai #angst #yakuza

[mikenewtonhateblog]

My oc’s aka too long of a gd post

The “BL” Crew (does not stand for boys love I’m just a moron who made that abbreviation before knowing what it stands for). My main crew and main series, a lot is a big WIP right now as I’m slowly redoing the first book and all the lore. Why? I love torture. Book is fantasy type but I won’t specify what.

Lacie, the protagonist. God tier idiot, bisexual bipolar depressed MESS, insomniac, former theater kid, doesn’t know what she wants out of life but currently it is not This(plot of book). Hot headed, impulsive, crude, rude, Mommy IssuesTM, would rather be taking a nap right now, rules are made to be broken, absolutely fucking FERAL, more bags under her eyes than the airport lost and found. 5’5, 130lbs, Aries, age 18, white as shit like literally the whitest human you have ever seen, strawberry blonde hair in a 2011 Hayley Willaims haircut with long bangs, the darkest brown eyes you’ve ever seen that stare directly into your soul. Lanky, no curves, body of a 12 year old boy but works out so she can and will kick your ass and thats a threat. Not human?

Josh. Soft boy, smart, Lacie’s cousin and only friend for like the first 18 years of her life, autistic anxious mess who’s special interest is anchient egyptian history, is in honors classes, despises math, passes out when his girlfriend looks too cute, just needs a hug. Can eat a whole carton of easy mac if left alone, whole wardobe is the same outfit just different colors/hoodies, sensory issues, seriously can someone give this guy a hug. 5’9, 150lbs, Pisces, age 18, mixed (half whatever flavor of white Lacie’s family is [they don’t even know its just some scandanavian shit and irish], and half mexican on his mom’s side), medium olive skin with freckles and moles, dark chocolate brown hair that’s a bit of a 2009 Beiber cut, warm brown eyes, not beefy, a lil thicc and self concious about it but squishy boys are GOOD. Gets bit by a werewolf so now he is one his mood on it is “thats a lot to unpack but let’s just throw the whole suitcase away”.

Zander. There is not one braincell in this man, himbo KING, pansexual dumbass with undiagnosed ADHD, no impulse control, head empty and full at the same time, PTSD, his fashion sense should be an actual crime, gets in fights to feel something, basic requirements for him to be attracted to you: kick his ass. Drinks his respect women juice, sees a folding table and must immediately launch himself on it, chaotic, cannot drive a car and will not, food aggression and eats enough for 3 people but never gains weight which is ILLEGAL, him and Lacie may be a couple.....but in this house we stan slow burn, he talks in caps and every sentence either ends with a question mark or exclaimation point, likes romcoms. 6’2, 190lbs, Sagittarius, age 19, austrailian roots and has the accent but is from [REDACTED FOR STORY REASONS], white, dorito shaped with long legs, blueish black hair that’s long and messy, dark navy eyes that match his hair, bigass neck scar from [REDACTED]. Not human

Peter. Gay dad friend who is TIRED of having to be in charge of a bunch of teenagers, only one with full functioning braincells, lowkey a genius who loves engineering, mixes magical technology with human technology because he likes to play god, is he ever sober? No one knows, will kill for a bottle of single malt, his fashion sense? Tastefully expensive suits perfectly tailored. Likes building his own weapons that no one else knows how to even use, generally non-threatening but can get scary if needed. 6’4, 140lbs string bean man, Scorpio, age 179 but looks early 30s, I know I said Lacie is the whitest human but he’s even paler like a literal sheet of paper with scandanavian roots/ancestors were vikings or some shit, blonde hair styled like 2013 Brendon Urie lmfao, light crystal blue eyes. He’s a vampire and was born one.

Danielle. Tiny, sweet, queen of girls supporting girls, comments on all her friends instagram posts with 20 emojis, LOVES fashion and has a wardrobe that would make anyone jealous, oozes feminine energy, only child and parents are in love still, gets exactly 8 hours of sleep each night and wakes up looking like a disney princess. Just because she is small and cute doesn’t mean you should underestimate her she WILL fuck your shit up. Quiet when angey which is terrifying. Josh is her bf and she loves him so much but also loves teashing the shit out of him. Legally cannot cuss, polite, used her high heels as a weapon once, speaks like 5 languages because studying them is her hobby, gardens, hugs everyone. 5’0, 110, Taurus, age 18, mixed (half french-american, half Korean-american), glowy skin always, PETITE frame aka the friend everyone can pick up when they hug, long past her waist curly brown hair, bright green eyes. She’s not fully human as she has fae blood in her and this gives her the ability to talk to and control plants. Flower crowns for everyone

Becca. Theater kid who would die to sing in Wicked and has the vocal range to do so, cannot wait to graduate and go to her dream college which she got into and a scholarship, closeted lesbian bc her whole giant family is extremely catholic and she feels like not dealing with it, “no boys allowed in bedroom” rule is her favorite joke, chill, middle child of 5 siblings and just wants some peace and quiet for ONCE. Her fashion sense is “I’m dropping subtle hints I’m gay but only to other gays”, has a black belt and took self defense classes. 5’6, 145lbs, Virgo, age 18, Latina (cuban and mexican mix), darker brown skin with light freckles over her nose, athletic build, eyebrows on POINT, bright caramel eyes, short light brown hair cut in a bob, has a tiny nose stud, always wears a blue friendship bracelet her gf made her. Human

Anika. Calling her a bitch/slut is a compliment, bisexual, a bit of a mean girl but she grows out of it give her time!!! Is always Too Much, the horny friend, favorite color is red so thats almost all of her outfits, loves to show off her body as much as she can because she’s hot and knows it and thrives in her own confidence. Her mom is literally like Regina George’s mom from Mean Girls but married a rich man 20 years older than her, Anika doesn’t know her bio dad but thats fine neither does her mom and her step dad is nice and does his best to be a dad. Becca’s gf, always hanging out at her home so Becca can get some quiet because Anika’s an only child and has a pool. 5’9, 135lbs, Gemini, age 18, white, long layered dark reddish brown hair, teal-blue eyes, swimmers body type (I normally do not mention bust size but she would want the internet to know she was blessed with big bahoogles so there you go), can sprint in heels. Half mermaid (boy was that a surprise considering her mom doesn’t know who her father is LOL)

Rex. Nb uses they/them he/him pronouns but honestly will respond to any, goth lite, only attracted to men and ace, can read minds so knows all your secrets, mischevious little shit, great friends with Zander and enjoys his dumbass thoughts and that he’s basically a human version of Jackass, wears too many rings, goth boots for kicking and fashion babey, always has the freshest memes and will not hesitate to roast in the group chat, hangs with the girls most of the time. Chaos god who loves making art, be gay do crime, skateboard and spraypaint. 5’8”, 165lbs, Leo, age 18, Native American, masculine frame, dark brown skin, blue eyes, firetruck red shoulder length hair that’s usually in a ponytail, knock-off gucci sunglasses just for judging their friends. Has magic in their blood so not entirely human and can cast spells and shit (don’t roast me its a wip and I’m doing my research)

Sam. Boho goddess, aromantic, makeup and nails are always instagram worthy, quiet and stoic type but losens up around close friends, Rex is her best friend, has some trauma and doesn’t want to talk about it, emotionally numbed out a bit and wants to purely vibe. Has seen some of the worst parts of humanity and wishes she hadn’t, finds no point in being bitter or resentful though because that won’t change anything, loves cats and once she moves out shes adopting one or three. Has wine aunt energy. 5’4, 200lbs PLUS SIZE QUEEN, Scorpio, age 18, Filipino (her parents are immigrants fun fact!), really olive skin sometimes has a grey/green tinge to it, dark brown almost black shoulder length hair, gold-hazel eyes. Sam’s the victim of a family curse that requires her to consume human hearts to survive, she can transform into a pretty scary looking being and uses this curse to hunt down pedoph*les, r*pists, murderers, and abusers. The less often she feeds the less human she looks, hence the constant grey/green tinge to her skin. 

Andy. Baby of the group, must be protected at all costs, 100% didn’t sign up to be in a friendgroup of 90% monsters but highkey loves it, trans, bi, anxiety MAXED, just wants to draw comics and cosplay spiderman, has to babysit his two younger sisters a lot because his parents are....not great, and as a result now knows all the lines to Tangled and The Little Mermaid. Big nerd energy, has to draw on everything including homework, gets inspiration for comics from his friends, awkward and socially anxious, drinks way too much tea and will accidentally steal your pens. Fears include: crowds, thunder, tall angry men, tiny spaces. Just trying his best. 5’2, 100lbs BEANPOLE BOY, Leo, age 16, white (irish and scottish roots), freckles absolutely EVERYWHERE, orangey red hair thats in desperate need of a haircut, chocolate brown eyes, braces, chronic nail biter. Human and kinda wishes he wasn’t.

That’s it for now if you read all this bless u thank u here is my whole heart. Please no discourse, literally these are fictional people I’ll never publish the books they go to.

#no i am not looking for critiques on them #i get my critiques elsewhere lmao #my ocs

[hellyeahomeland]

“In Full Flight”: an HYH recap

The most delightful Homeland episode since “Two Minutes” picks up with Mike, Jenna (in a chambray shirt), and Alan in Kabul station, observing drone footage of Carrie, Yevgeny, and crew. Jenna deduces that they’re probably going to Kohat, and she is correct for the first time all season.

Mike asks about an exfiltration team from Islamabad but they won’t be there until later tonight. Saul interrupts their pow-wow to ask what’s going on:

Saul: What is this about grabbing Carrie Mathison? Mike: Oh, hello, sir. Let’s go into my office. Saul: Fuck your office and fuck you, too. What are y’all talking about? Mike: No problem, sir. A special ops team is planning to grab Carrie. You know, because she’s a defector. Saul: FOR FUCK’S SAKE SHE IS NOT A DEFECTOR. Actually she’d be right here telling you that herself if you hadn’t cornered her like an animal three hours ago without telling me. Mike: Actually actually she was supposed to be back in America like a week ago but then she broke custody and started her adventure with a GRU officer. Now they’re out there doing God knows what. Sir.  Saul: I’ll tell you what they’re doing. They’re finding the flight recorder. Mike: What’s a flight recorder? Saul: I can’t believe I’m still having this conversation with you. Do any of y’all have brains or critical thinking skills? Mike: By the way, sir, you’ve been called back to DC. Saul: Fuck my whole life. Fuck all of you too.

Carrie and Yevgeny are very much on their way to Kohat. It’s been just a few hours since Carrie turned her back on Saul and her loaded expression as she stares out the window is very much “questioning all my past life decisions.” That could take a while, Carrie!

Carrie and Yevgeny arrive in Kohat and begin driving under a series of … I have no idea what they are, basically overhangs in the street so you can’t tell where their car is. It’s very “From A to B and Back Again” when Quinn lost Haqqani in the classic baseball stadium game “Which hat is the ball under?” trick. The team in Kabul is annoyed and prepares for a grid search.

Carrie & Co. are checking into a hotel for the night. Yevgeny makes a very obvious performance of leading Carrie to her room and what ensues is the most sexually tense scene on this show… ever. First he offers her some Ambien and Carrie cracks a joke for the first time in eight years and says she could open up a pharmacy of her own.

She apologizes for not telling him about the flight recorder sooner. At first it was all personal, she needed to find Max, she couldn’t focus on anything else. Yevgeny asks what she thinks actually happened to the presidents’ helicopter, since she certainly doesn’t believe Jalal was involved. She thinks it was probably just a freak accident: pilot error, mechanical failures, shitty weather, any or all of the above. Then she reveals that detail from the fifth episode, that the Black Hawk fleet has had a series of mechanical issues. Oh, I should add that this conversation all takes place in the doorway of Carrie’s hotel room and every fifteen seconds or so Carrie and/or Yevgeny glance back toward the bed. You can cut the sexual tension with a knife.

Yevgeny asks if there are any more secrets she’s been keeping from him. She smiles, pauses… it’s the most interesting moment. Then she says very quietly, “I think I’m fresh out of secrets.” They stare at each other for a long time, Yevgeny probably wondering if Carrie is going to invite him in and Carrie probably wondering if Yevgeny can take a fucking hint. Finally, I exhale, and Yevgeny says to just “bang on the wall” if Carrie needs anything, which at least elicits a laugh.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, a Pakistani military officer named Aziz has come to see Bunny to ask just where the fuck Tasneem is. Aziz is pissed because Tasneem was supposed to control the Taliban—first Haissam, then Jalal—and her “incompetence” has led to the Americans threatening to invade. Bunny is the opposite of worried. The Americans are all talk, no bite. They won’t actually invade Pakistan for failing to produce a man they claim they can’t find. I guess he hasn’t met John Zabel. Anyway, he says Tasneem is off to find Jalal somewhere in the mountains.

Instead, she actually meets (Haissam) Haqqani’s right-hand. She is beyond pissed that he just let Jalal control the shura last week. This is all so fucked. He doesn’t have much of a response, beyond, “well, he was the emir’s son, so I guess so?” He offers to take Tasneem to Jalal but only if she puts a hood over her head and lemme tell ya, Tasneem is none too pleased about that either!

It’s the next morning in Kohat and Carrie and Yevgeny really are going shopping, just like the logline said. They’re winding their way through the bazaars on the street but still no luck finding this flight recorder. Enter A Kid. He’s all “pardon me, excuse me,” and Yevgeny puts on his best Dad Hat and tells him to get lost. It’s very touching. Then he says he knows what they’re looking for, which is enough to get their attention.

He takes them to a shop where Mr. Shop Owner #1 is like, “Hi, do you like flight recorders? Because I’ve got lots!” Unfortunately he doesn’t have the one they’re looking for and he also seems pretty skittish because a) what the hell are a Russian and an American doing together? and b) is this official government business or something private or, like… just generally what the hell?

Saul has arrived back to DC and meets Hayes in the Oval Office with our favorite Odd Couple, Linus and Zabel (this should really be the name of a sitcom). Saul passively aggressively says he knows of Zabel “by reputation.” Aside from that jab, the meeting unfortunately goes from meh to ugh to wtf for Saul. He has to play bad cop and tell Hayes that the video of Jalal is unvetted intelligence, completely lacking in context, and probably just a straight-up lie. Hayes has the expression of someone who’s never followed Thought A to Thought B—which is true, obviously—and Zabel has to jump in to say of course POTUS has already done the Thought A to Thought B exercise, he just arrived at a different conclusion. You know, mine! The best part of all THIS is that as Saul grows increasingly incredulous at the conversation, Linus sits there, silently, looking like he’d like to be swallowed up by an alligator. Afterward:

Saul: Wow a bit of warning would have been helpful. Or maybe just an assist there, Linus. Linus: I didn’t even know you were coming back. I’m outside the ~information flow~ Saul: God, we’re so fucked. Linus: I wish I’d get swallowed by an alligator.

Back in Kohat, Carrie has entered another shop, this time sans Yevgeny. This one proves a bit more fruitful. She actually finds Max’s rucksack, which means that flight recorder had to have been here recently. Mr. Shop Owner #2 feigns ignorance, but Carrie is relentless.

Yevgeny enters all of a sudden to let her know that that special ops team from Islamabad is here, so they need to get out of there, pronto. He leaves quickly to lose the tail and instructs her to go back to the hotel and wait. His absence gives her the perfect opportunity to keep grilling Mr. Shop Owner #2, whom I actually love and seems really sweet. Poor guy is just no match for Carrie. He finally reveals the flight recorder was there but he sold it to a broker he works with. Carrie offers him a lot of money to find the broker and get the flight recorder back there for a trade at midnight.

Tasneem gets the black hood off her head in exchange for an audience with Jalal, but homie remains pissed. Jalal is sort of confused at her reaction. A few episodes ago she was plotting to put Jalal in the place he’s currently in. What changed? Well, for starters, now the Americans are threatening to invade Pakistan. She says he’s got to go to ground, but he refuses to run.

Jalal: Who do you think I am? Tasneem: You’re the loser whom I picked up on the side of the road. I bandaged your feet and listened to you crying about your daddy issues for hours. Jalal: You think that you control us. Actually it’s the other way around.

He leads her up to a rooftop where hundreds of Taliban fighters have gathered. He says the last time the ISI got in the way, they killed a thousand of their officers on the street. And now they’re twice as strong, so you do the math. Tasneem has a general “oh fuck” expression on her face and… same.

In Kohat, Yevgeny finally shows back up in Carrie’s hotel room. He reveals that eight men are hunting her and they need to leave, now. She says they can’t, as they haven’t found the flight recorder yet. Of course we know Carrie has found it—and in hindsight, at this point Yevgeny probably does as well—but she needs to stick around a few more hours to make the trade. For a split second you think maybe Carrie is going to preoccupy Yevgeny for a few hours in her bedroom but instead she calls Jenna.

Carrie: Hey, how’s it going? Jenna: OH MY GOD I STILL HATE YOU. Carrie: Chill for a second. Also I know you’re walking toward Mike and do yourself a favor and pause and just listen to me. Jenna: Ugh, fine, I’m listening. Carrie: I need you to give up the location of the exfil team that’s looking for me. Jenna: Are you high? Carrie: I am not, but you are if you think this will end up any other way than me convincing you. Jenna: You’re putting me in an impossible position. Carrie: You must do this. I compel you. Jenna: If I give up their location, you’ll turn yourself in there? Carrie: “Sure.” Jenna: Ok I’ll call you back.

This entire conversation transpires with Yevgeny sitting on the sofa in Carrie’s hotel room, legs crossed. It’s… I’ll be honest, it’s hot. When Carrie hangs up he applauds her performance and says she was clever and convincing. That’s right, Carrie played Jenna… again. Again! Again again again!

Carrie is kinda down on selling out her own people but Yevgeny says she did it for all the right reasons and in any case, the local police will only hold them for a day (uhhhh yeah right). He starts to compliment her strong instincts. He really respects her for that.

“Why, how do you do it?” Carrie asks.

“Me? I am more of a planner,” Yevgeny answers.

The alarm bells start ringing in her head and Carrie asks him all speaking of which whether he arranged for them to “run into each other” outside G’ulom’s office way back in the season premiere (show time: 10 days???). Before he can answer, Jenna rings back and tells Carrie the safe house location. Carrie says “you did the right thing” and the amount of self-disgust in her expression for this just being too fucking easy is … significant.

A few minutes later, Mike is on the phone with one of the special ops team members in the Kohat safe house. Local police have surrounded the building. Exasperated, Mike tells them to stand down. One by one, they file out and are led into custody. Jenna watches in horror and the amount of self-disgust in her expression for this just being her life is… also significant.

In Rawalpindi, Tasneem is at Bunny’s house and freaking out. Jalal has consolidated power extremely quickly. She’s concerned, but Bunny says they just need to take him out, root and branch. Bunny is offended by the prospect of being ordered around by a smarmy teenager but Tasneem thinks they need to protect him. If Pakistan protects Jalal, they’ll protect themselves too. And they need to respond to the Americans not with concessions but with threats just as strong. Remember when they were three minutes away from a generation-defining peace agreement?

Back in her hotel room, Carrie is growing restless. She decides to get some fresh air and by that I mean she jumps out the window to get the show on the fucking road. On the way she calls Saul, to whom she is apparently still speaking. She asks if their protocols for transferring money over the dark web are still a go and he says yes. She says she’s got a lead on the black box and he promises to arrange the funds ASAP.  

Carrie winds up back at Mr. Shop Owner #2’s shop. Mr. Shop Owner #1 is there, too! Plus the broker. They do a little thing, Carrie says she won’t pay any more than $999,999, she is very In Charge and it’s pretty great to see. Not that we needed any more convincing, but the kind of instincts and improvisation Yevgeny admired just a few hours earlier are on full display here. She knows exactly what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. It’s breathtaking.

What’s also breathtaking is Carrie doing something correctly with a computer. Apparently the black box just hooks up to her Macbook with a USB-C cord… whoulda thunk?! After pulling a gun on Mr. Broker and telling him to beat it, she starts listening to the cockpit recording.

Then Yevgeny arrives! She starts to apologize but he stops her—he just wants to listen. They each share an earbud like goddamn Jim and Pam and continue listening. Turns out, Carrie was right. No one shot down that helicopter. A freak mechanical malfunction, “brace for impact,” etc. “Fucking helicopters,” Yevgeny says.

Carrie attempts a segue and says, “So… what now?” She wants to get this to the embassy in Islamabad. He wants to do the opposite of that. Then Carrie starts on him. Maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all. Maybe he’s actually… good.

Carrie: Plus, I’d owe you a favor. Yevgeny: Carrie, if I drop you off at the embassy I’ll literally never see you again. Carrie: Not true. I won’t betray my country, but I’d still move to Scottsdale with you. Yevgeny: I still don’t believe you. Carrie: Why not? You’ve already helped me a ton, and it’s cost you nothing! There has to be a way where we can make a “mutually beneficial arrangement.” Yevgeny: Is that what they’re calling it these days? Carrie: What? Yevgeny: What? Carrie: …anyhow, aren’t you sick of all this bullshit? Shitty bosses, shitty politicians, clearly the current way of business isn’t working for us. We could do better. You and me. We could chart something new here. You and me. God, we’re already halfway there! Yevgeny: Our own private network, huh? That would be nice, but it’s a pipe dream. Also, I like what you’re saying, but you still lied to me. Carrie: Technically, I just withheld the truth. Which is exactly what you did to me. Yevgeny: Heh? Carrie: The asylum, Yevgeny. What actually happened? We just took long walks in the woods and shared our life stories and you just happened to be the there the day I tried to hang myself? Give me a fucking break.

She moves closer and mentions the whole “picking up where we left off” thing. Well, will he or won’t he? Because she’s already decided.

There is a long pause and then they start making out. It’s exactly what you’d expect it would be, by which I mean it’s really hot! The scene is fraught with the unknown. How much are they playing each other? How much are they being genuine? Like Carrie says, they’re living in the grey areas. And who’s the first to blink?

Evidently it’s Carrie. After a few moments she breaks away and says they need to wait until after Islamabad. “Ok,” he says quietly. She tries to kiss him again, but he pulls ever so slightly away.

She hops off the table and begins to pack up the flight recorder. At that moment, he stabs her in the neck from behind with a tranquilizer. “Sorry, baby,” he says as she falls unconscious.

In DC, Saul is waiting anxiously by the phone. It rings. It’s not Carrie, but Linus. Everyone’s in the situation room, there’s some sort of activity in one of Pakistan’s nuclear facilities. Saul’s day goes from bad to worse.

In the situation room, resident hottie Scott Ryan is giving a PowerPoint presentation about said activity. Hayes is trying to understand literally anything that’s happening. Zabel explains that Pakistan only has the nukes in the first place to defend against a possible invasion from India. They’ll never actually use them. Saul growls that that’s because India isn’t fucking stupid enough to invade Pakistan. Hayes is beginning to understand the whole concept of “consequences” but before his mind can dwell on that for too long, he decides to just up the ante. More troops, more preparations for war, more of the same.

Saul’s day is not possibly as bad as Carrie’s has wound up. Yevgeny carries her, still unconscious, back into the hotel room. He places her gingerly on the bed and then kisses her forehead. He shuts off the lights as the camera moves in slowly on her her peacefully sleeping face.

#homeland #homelandedit #an hyh recap #in full flight #* #by: sara #homeland spoilers

[adhdslugcrimes]

Being weird with characters

Me being weird to fandom characters. Persona 4 is my start. Leggo

Yu/Souji- looks calm and collected, is a cat whisperer. Has at least a box of fancy feast in his bag at all times, has a six sense of a cat nearby in his area. Ten strays always follows him. A great cook. That weird silent friend that makes you rethink why you look up too him. Leader of everything. Speak cat. Protecc friends from themselves. Literally fought god and won. Love his trash can prince. Moronsexual. Mr. steal your cat. Another man trash is another man treasure

Yosuke- the prince of junes, literally everyone mood. Best boi #2. Nurse kink. Headphones are apart of his body. Would die if he lost his headphones. Learn how to fix them because he’s clumsy. Bi disaster. That friend what hides how hurt he his because he’s afraid of being laughed at. The friend everyone hugs even for no reason. The one who stayed up drawling or making mixtape then studying. Begs leader to help him study. Awkward. Hates his drawings but they are actually wonderful. Dance for no reason. Draws his crash but never finishes because he “messed up.” Likes frogs. Wear v-neck in the middle of winter because he can. Very loud when flustered. Actually is a romantic dork. Calls up big lesbian when Yu/Souji does literally anything. Stan for leader breathing. Dances with Yu/Souji when he can. Is the cat whisperer moron. Makes music for everyone taste. Draw his friends on a regular basis.

Chie- big lesbian. Has a crush on her best friend since they were ten. Wakes up yosuke to tell him all about Yukiko. Act tough but really a soft butch. Would shave her sides to look more gay. Bring up how gay she is to a dense princess. Meat. Karate movie fan. Likes her legs. Kick any creep looking at her princess. Lifts her princess any chance she gets. Wears a skirt but still can kick your ass. Learns to cook so they don’t eat takeout all the time. Tries to be romantic but fails in a adorable way. Wears anything too show she’s gay. Slides in and kiss her girlfriend in front of a boy that can’t take a hint. Scared of horror films but acts tough to her girlfriend.

Yukiko- very gay too. Pillow lesbian. Most likely to laugh at horror films then the actual evil character. Loves her girlfriend a lot. Dance like beautiful swan. Is gay but look straight. Tries to turn down guys nicely. Flusters easily. Was dense about the girl she liked liking her back. Weird like Yu. Is romantic. Very sappy. Remember the first date in detail. When married to her wife she brags about her wife. Loves being carried. A princess in her girlfriend eyes. Tries to adopt every dog she sees. Cuts you with a fan. That friend that said the weirdest shit constantly. Wear black lace undergarments. Looks innocent but is not.

Teddie- the only straight one in the bunch. Lives in the closet. Likes to look cute. But fuck gender roles. Wear dresses and flirt with your gurl. Says bear a lot. Eats a lot but never gain a pound. Mr. steal your girl. The baby brother to everyone. Extrovert too the max. Very sweet. Shadow form is nightmares. ADHD af. Matchmaker for his brother and Sensei. Doesn’t understand why people hates his friends being their beautiful selfs. Has killed the homophobes and Tranphobes too make the world better. Killed as in destroyed them with logic and knowledge. Makes glasses and fix them.

Kanji- local gender roles breaker biker dude who loves the prince of detectives. Good at sewing, room decor, and other “girly” stuff. Bleached hair means business. Best boi #1. His shadow was pretty funny though. Cooks for everyone. Takes his lover to bed. Beat up anyone that hurts his family. Likes cute things. Precious baby. Makes things for friends. Tries to not be edgy anymore. Still weak for punk rock styles. Loves animals. Would stop listening to the conversation to pet animals. Has no filter. Dyes hair again for his wife. Every child favorite uncle/dad. Cries over not having enough hands to pet all the animals in the petting zoo.

Naoto- Is obviously a Tran’s boy but the creators chicken out. So if we can’t have transgender then genderfluid. Actually seen tapping her breast to look more masculine. Carries a water gun. Naoto shadow even wants to be a boy. It didn’t go away either she expected it. Very badass. Will shoot you if you mess with her family. Talks to Yu in a different language when she’s flustered. Mostly French. Let her friends call her he and likes it. Best detective ever.

Rise- very bi. Elegant bi. Has a lot of money and spoil her friends with it. Begs them to dance in her come back show. Destroy media when she came out bi and has a boyfriend and a genderfluid girlfriend (kanji and Naoto). Flirts with Yu too help push yosuke confession. Very romantic. Very flirty. Dress to impress. Forced Yosuke in a Santa dress for Yu present. Looks like angel is actually a demon too pranks. Badass boss lady. Prefer to be called queen of the idols as a joke. Helps get Kanji work in fashion and other things to help him out. Helps get Yosuke art and music seen with the brunette asked for her help. Rocks high curly pigtails like no other.

Nanako- everyone little sister. Must protecc at all times. Bring her to junes like she wants. Punched a man for almost killing her. Cried when she died. Cried when she lived. Sing the junes theme till you repeat it on beat with the commercial. Magic tricks. Plant things. No sleep till she’s out of the dungeon. Stay with her when she’s sick. Cry when she calls you big bro even if you are a female playing the game. Let her help cook. Eat the burnt omelette too make her happy. Love on the girl. If she says she’s a princess then she’s a fucking princess. Worry when she ran away. Be the best big bro. Support her dreams.

Ryotaro- tired dad. Best dad. Great husband. Tired of your shit. 99.9% of his blood is coffee. Black coffee like his mood. Gets you swim trunks for reasons when you really wanted that platypus tee. Talks about changing your dippers as a conversation starter. Hits you on the head as a sign of affection. Need a vacation. Need to sleep. Becomes your father then an uncle. Cares for his sister not so much who she married. Loves you unconditionally. Best dad. Very sassy.

Marie- goth chick. Don’t read her pathos. There actually poems. Can’t remember anything. Nobody knows her. You see her at the train station and then mysteriously she’s in the limo. Probably died? Sold her soul? Who knows. So much potential for a deeper backstory wasted. Kinda a dork. Likes steak. And dramas.

Margaret- mom too all of these idiots and Naoto. Loves her job. Makes people gay. Very pretty. Very serious. Smart. Very strong. Dance like a goddess. Makes you wanna talk about anything just to hear her voice. Lives in a limo like a boss. Makes it easier to understand what’s happening. Not really but you listen because other dimension calls for it. Likes books.

Igor- weird nose guy. Eyes that are on all the drugs that’s what they are bulging. Handsome voice actually. Surround himself with ladys this time. Tells you shit you better listen too. Very short. Very distracting nose. Probably smells colors at this point. Also smells bull shit. Talks about topics that you careless about. Make him say you’re name. Let’s you name yourself whatever you like. Sick limousine. In your dreams.

Adachi- cabbage boy. Literally an asshole. Murders for fun. Very gay for Ryotaro. Threw up at the body he murdered. Fooled people. Top ten anime betrayals. Is in prison. A spit lip and a black eye before handing him off to the police for almost killing Nanako and revenge for Saki. Still a slightly lovable guy.

That’s all the main ones. Might continue this or not who knows. But I might do another fandom next or another persona. Also any ideas for a name of this?

#persona 4 #p4 #yu narukami #yosuke hanamura #yukiko amagi #chie satanoka #kanji tatsumi #rise kujikawa #naoto shirogane #teddie #nanako dojima #ryotaro dojima #igor #marie #margaret #tohru adachi #how i see them #idk i was bored #lol #tho idc if it gets zero likes i had fun doing this #slight ships #souyo #kannao #kanji x naoto x rise #yukichie #i hate calling Naoto a she tho #they are cleary a trans boy #atlus you cowerds! #my new thing

[soulerflaire]

So I beat the story of Pokemon Shield yesterday, and now I’ve had time to think about everything. Spoilers below the cut. Also super long post.

First I wanna focus on gameplay.

Overall, fantastic Pokemon game. I liked a lot of the new Pokemon, I felt there was a really good variety of Pokemon available throughout, graphics were good, the gym missions were (mostly) clever and (mostly) fun.

I heard people had complaints about the starters, but I like them. I picked Scorbunny and was terrified he’d end up Fire/Fighting, but Cinderace (and all the starters) remained single-type. I think their designs are cool! I love Rillaboom’s drum and Cinderace’s soccer fireball attack. I like Inteleon the least of the three, but I still think his design is neat. It is basically finger guns: the Pokemon, which is funny, but not particularly interesting to me. I’m glad I picked Scorbunny.

I liked the set up of the Gym Challenge, though the pacing was a bit weird. Not sure if that was me or the game, but I felt like there was very little story between each gym. That led to me doing several gyms in rapid succession, then spending 3 hours in the Wild Area doing nothing, then tackling another set of gyms. But the gym challenges were fun! Except the fire one. I hated that. And the battles themselves felt awesome! The crowd cheering (especially in the final part of the music, oh my god that was so good), the huge Pokemon, the dialogue, it all made for a match that felt like it mattered. Even if I one-shot all their Pokemon, the match still felt meaningful. It wasn’t just stomp and move on.

I think the Wild Area was a cool experiment, but either make the whole game like that, or don’t have it. It feels like the Safari Zone; an area disconnected from the rest of the game, with the express purpose of catching Pokemon and nothing else. Except it’s so huge and seems to have every single Pokemon in the game, so long as the weather is right, that I feel like there was no point in catching Pokemon anywhere else. Why bother even touching the tall grass when I’m travelling through the regular world, when I can just catch whatever would be in there in the Wild Area later? And frankly, I never really got punished for that mentality. I can just catch them all in the Wild Area later. The only hurdle is they all turn level 60 after you become champion, which I have very mixed feelings about. I would like to hear their explanation for doing that, tbh.

Max Raid battles feel really cool, but god damn, Nintendo, you have got to get a better connection system. Half the time, I can’t find any raids to join because there are no shout cards popping up and the button to get new cards isn’t there for some reason. Even when I can see the cards, most of the time I fail to join, either because the raid already started or the person cancelled the raid. There’s only a 3-minute window to join, and with the infrequent appearance of cards (with no timestamps) I have no idea if any of the cards I see are even from the past 10 minutes, let alone past 3. And the NPCs are randomly selected and use their moves randomly, so once you get to the 5+ star raids, you cannot use them at all. One of them is a friggin’ Magikarp that uses Hydro Pump for no damage and misses half the time anyway. Why!? That was funny exactly zero times!

The music, however, I have zero complaints about. Fantastic soundtrack! I love the gym battle music, and the Team Yell fight music, and the Wild Area bagpipes, and the legendaries fight music, and just pretty much all of it. If they release the soundtrack, I’m buying it immediately.

Graphics were good. I wasn’t blown away by them, but it’s a pretty game.

One thing I noticed is how rushed things started to feel towards the end. Initially, the world feels enormous. Routes are long and winding, and it really feels like exploring things. But the further into the game you go, the shorter the routes get. And there’s no Victory Road at all. Just an extremely short route called White Hill, with, like, 6 trainers and a couple grass patches. You take a train to the White Hill Station, and if you look at the map, you see you ended up skipping an entire mountain and a stretch of land twice the length of the actual route. Kinda feels like they planned to do something with all that space, but cut it later on. The forest that they did the 24-hour stream of, Glimwood Tangle? It’s tiny. Like a third the size of Viridan Forest. It’s gorgeous, sure, but I spent more time exploring the first town than I did in that place. The final town certainly looks enormous, but then it turns out you can’t access half of it, and a huge chunk in the middle of the part you can access is taken up by the rail station. Which has nothing important inside it. Just a generic mart and some NPCs to talk to. There was honestly a lot of stuff the seemed like it was gonna be something later, and ended up being nothing. If it’s all content that got cut to release the game sooner, that’s extremely disappointing. Frankly, I wonder if they bit off more than they could chew, turning Pokemon into a console game. They clearly were trying to make it worth being on console, but ended up running out of time.

Now for the story. This is probably the first Pokemon game I feel this way about, but honestly: I loved the characters, but found the story to be pretty lackluster.

Hop has a wonderful character arc, where he’s boastful and energetic, but slowly loses confidence as he keeps losing Pokemon battles, and falls into a depression after a particularly hard defeat. He seems to pull out of it after encouragement from friends, but then he spirals into it again when you beat him in the finals. He spends most of the endgame putting himself down and saying he can’t do anything to help, but as you travel together stopping the Dynamaxed Pokemon, he perks up again (thanks in part of Piers being a really good Dad despite having no kids), and all this culminates in him saying he’s realized being champion isn’t really for him; instead, he’s gonna become a Pokemon professor and travel around helping people and Pokemon wherever he can. It’s really sweet, and I like that we see a rival who actually does get upset that they keep losing to you all the time, without turning them into a villain. Hop is never not your friend during all this; he’s just sad and needs so many hugs.

Marnie was a lot more fun of a character than I was expecting. From the official art, I thought she was gonna be the super reserved, stoic character who gets angrier and angrier as she loses to you over and over. But she’s actually outgoing and fun, and loves battling the player even if she loses. And her brother Piers is just as good at subverting expectations. He’s all dressed up as a super punk rocker who’ll be a terrible influence on everyone, but he’s definitely the Tired Adult of the group when you’re travelling around trying to fix things, and he’s a good Dad friend. Team Yell is much less creepy now that I have context. Piers is a gym leader, and Team Yell is the gym staff that he asked to go help cheer Marnie on during her gym challenge. They’re overzealous, but they’re just trying to help her. Some of them even start cheering for you instead, once Piers acknowledges your skill.

Bede can go fuck himself. I know they tried to give him some kind of backstory or whatever, and some vague punishment/redemption with Opal making him the new Fairy Gym leader, but dude’s a dick, through and through.

I could go on and on about the characters, but this post is already getting too long, so I’ll talk about the story itself now. Through most of the game, you get hints that something bad is happening or going to happen, or something is going wrong, but every time one of those hints pops up, the adult say “Let us handle this, you focus on your gym challenge.” And that kind of bothered me at the time, because it’s like if you get the guard station outside Saffron City and start to argue with the guard, then Lance shows up and says “Hey, why not skip down to Vermillion City? I’ll take care of this.” And that’s the end of it. Next time you try to pass through, it’s open and there’s nothing wrong. You know something is going on, but no one will let you near it, so you just keep going on your gym challenge.

Later you find Leon (the champion) in an argument with Chairman Rose (owner of every corporation in the region) about an energy crisis. Rose says we need to start dealing with it now, Leon says it won’t happen for a thousand years, why do we need to bother right now. Then of course the Chairman triggers the Darkest Day right before your championship match with Leon, ranting about the energy crisis and whatnot, then you have to go stop the super powerful legendary Pokemon he released for Real Reasons That Definitely Make Logical Sense And Don’t Need Explained No Sir. At first, I thought this with a super shitty take on the energy crisis, that we’ll run out of fossil fuels and not have renewable energy ready. But if that’s the case, it’s extremely clumsy, because 1) no owner of a corporation gives two shits about anything a thousand years from now and 2) they had the guy warning everyone about the future crisis also be the guy who almost destroys the whole country. I chalked it up to being rushed and tried not to think about it too hard.

But now I’m thinking differently. There’s something Leon says, after the whole Darkest Day thing is averted: he’s gonna start thinking about the future now, and start working on ways to make the future better (or something to that effect). I think maybe the “moral” of the story is that we shouldn’t just let problems be until they come to a head, and we shouldn’t rely on others to take care of the problems. We relied on the adults to handle things in a reasonable manner, and it nearly led to the apocalypse. So maybe that’s the point? Don’t rely on others to take care of things; if you see a problem, try and fix it. And likely specifically talking about climate change and the destruction of the environment. Galarian Corsola is a bleached, dead coral for a reason.

If that’s the case, then A+ for message, D- for execution. But it’s Pokemon, I know they can’t get too serious about things. But it mostly led to a story I didn’t really enjoy, full of characters that I loved. While I would prefer to finally have the remake of Gen 4, I wouldn’t be sad to see a Sword and Shield 2.

#I really did enjoy the game #and I'm still enjoying it #gonna complete that Pokedex and play through my Sword version #though preferably after I have some way of transferring pokemon between my two versions #fingers crossed for pokebank

[talesfromthesnogbox]

Can you add to the pregnancy story and this time mike and el tell the party?

Wow, finally, I know I got this prompt like 84 years ago, but life got in the way sweet anon. Anyways, I hope you like it! I’ve upped the rating to T on AO3, just due to some swearing found in this chapter. As always, lemmie know if you like it, and my inbox is always open for prompts!

The Party 2.0

Pregnancy was not nice to El.

She chalked it up to the lab and everything they’d done to her, but her doctor assured her that everything she was experiencing was perfectly normal. But she felt like she was sick for most of the day, every day, she’d already gained like ten pounds, and she always felt miserable.

El being who she was, always tried to keep a sunny disposition, especially because of how excited they were to bring this baby into the world.

Of course, their parents had been ecstatic about the whole thing. His mother would now have two grandkids to run after since Nancy had her boy earlier in the year, and Mike had never seen his mother show so much attention to his wife.

Every time they went back to Hawkins, even just for dinner, Mike wouldn’t see El the entire time. Karen Wheeler was a mother through and through, and she wanted to know every little nitty gritty detail of El’s pregnancy. (There were times Mike had to step in, Mom, you can’t just ask that; mom that’s personal; mom, can we not talk about this at the dinner table).

This particular visit home was special, because it was the first time in months that the party would all be getting together again.

After lunch with Joyce and Hopper, they’d all be heading down to Dustin’s (his mom had moved into a smaller retirement condo and left her house for him and his fiancée Jennifer). Lucas and Max were visiting from California, and Will from New York.

El held Mike’s hand nervously as they walked up the steps to the Hopper-Byers residence. Jim and Joyce had been over the moon when they told them they’d be grandparents (again), Jim even cried a little. But Will was still in the dark.

Their doctor had advised them to wait until they’d passed the three-month mark before telling anyone outside their immediate family. This was a normal thing that every pregnant woman was told of course, but it still scared El to death. Alas, she made it through her first trimester, and the baby appeared to be healthy with a strong heartbeat. Mike and El decided this was as good a time as any to tell their friends. Besides, she was finding it harder and harder each day to hide the bump.

“Will!” El jumped into her stepbrother’s arms as he opened the door for them.

“Hey guys!” Will had always been supportive of Mike and El’s relationship. He stood with Mike as they read their vows, hell, he’d even crashed countless dates (of course he didn’t quite realize they were dates until after he’d crashed them). Will knew the two of them inside and out, and he knew that something was different.

“El, your skin looks amazing, what have you been using?”

She shook her head, smiling at Will’s question. “Nothing out of the ordinary really, the summer is just agreeing with me I guess.”

Mike smirked and led her through the house, not noticing Will’s eyes immediately land on El’s waistline.

She’d always had a petite figure, and after living with El for a solid 6 years, Will was able to see that she’d gained weight. Her dress was loose and flowy, but he could see it hug her stomach a little more than that dress usually would have. He shook his head, but dropped the thought; his sister was beautiful, who cares if she’d gained a little weight.

“There she is! How are you doing mamma?” Hopper took El and hugged her tight.

“Mamma?” Will frowned, but the frown was quickly replaced by a smile as realization hit him. “Mamma?! El, are you…?”

“Oh shit, you haven’t told him yet?” Hopper pulled away, his face pale.

El rolled her eyes at her clueless father, but she still turned to Will with a smile. “Surprise! You’re gonna be an uncle!”

Will shrieked in excitement and pulled his sister close. “Oh my god that’s amazing! How far along? When’s the due date? Is it a boy or a girl?”

“Chill Byers, she’s 14 weeks today, due date is January 15th, and we have no idea. We’ll probably ask that at our next visit, but for now, it’s kinda nice to be in the dark.”

The man shook his head and pulled his best friend in for a hug. “Wow man, that’s… that’s incredible. Congratulations guys.”

El’s heart soared as her brother embraced the couple.

“Alright, enough of this sappiness, lunch is on the table.” Hopper had been the most emotional of the family that knew about baby Wheeler. El was anticipating the emotions from Hop, but she wasn’t anticipating just how protective he’d get. He called her nearly every day for updates, even came out to one of her doctor’s appointments when Mike couldn’t be there. He was the definition of supportive father, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. El just knew that now Will knew, he’d be just as supportive.

The couple tried to spare Will the gory details to the questions he’d asked all through lunch. Some of her experiences made Joyce cringe, her stepmother knowing how rough she’d had it in the first trimester, but most were heartwarming, like how Mike found out, how they’d told their parents, and soon, they’d have the story of telling their friends.

El was anxious as the three of them left for Dustin’s. Somehow, telling more than just her immediate family made everything seem even more real than it already was.

Mike’s thumb gently rubbed over El’s engagement ring as they waited for their friend to answer the door. “Ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Mike! El! Will!” Dustin pulled all three of them into a hug as he led them into the house. “Come in guys!”

The party was all smiles as they greeted one another. El was careful not to let her stomach get in the way of too much… she didn’t want to spoil the surprise just yet.

Max eyed El carefully; her intuition regarding El was uncanny, the two were practically sisters. But if she suspected anything, she didn’t say it.

“Alright, Jennifer brought back a little something from her trip to France, and I was waiting until we were all together to crack it open. No time like the present, right guys?” Dustin reappeared in the living room holding a bottle of fancy looking champagne, and El’s eyes went wide. She glanced over at Mike who shook his head.

The party cheered as the cork popped, and Mike looked at El expectantly as Dustin passed each guest a full glass. She took it graciously, smiling at her friend.

Mike’s eyes darted around the room. Nobody had taken a sip yet, all were waiting for the inevitable speech that would come from their Bard.

“Well ladies and gents, this reunion has been a long time coming, but I’m glad we’re all here. Look at us, married, jobs, lives together… distance could never break our friendship, and that’s why I love you all.”

Dustin’s speech normally wouldn’t phase El, but she found her hormones playing tricks on her again as tears sprung to her eyes. “Dustin that was beautiful.”

“Thank you Ellie. Now, if you’ll all raise your glasses—” Mike looked around nervously. “To the party!”

“Wait!” Mike stood, his face suddenly going red. He took the glass from El’s hand and set it on the table.

“Mike… I wasn’t—”

Five pairs of eyes carefully watched Mike as he floundered for words. “Guys, we have something to tell you.”

“Well obviously. Come on, spit it out, the champagne is gonna get warm.” Lucas rolled his eyes as everyone lowered their glasses again.

Mike turned to his wife, heart pounding. They’d have to say something eventually, especially now that Will knew. It was fun having their own little secret for a bit, but it would get harder and harder to hide the bump. Besides, this is what they’d planned to do that day; someone would notice El wasn’t drinking so it was now or never.

She could sense his nervousness, so El stood up to join her husband, intertwining their fingers.

“Holy shit, are you guys getting a divorce?” Dustin’s face fell.

Mike’s face scrunched up, looking at his friend incredulously. “What! No. We would never—”

El finally chimed in, sensing her husband would beat around the bush until one of them dragged it out of them. “I’m pregnant!”

The room was silent for a split second before everyone erupted in shouts of joy.

“Oh my god man, are you serious?” Dustin asked, losing his shit with the biggest grin stretching across his face.

“Yeah… yeah it was a surprise to us, but here we are.” Mike’s nerves dissipated as he saw his friends embrace his wife. A smile slowly lifted his cheeks, and he didn’t realize he was crying until his friends blurred together as they lovingly caressed the hint of El’s bump.

“You… you’re gonna be a dad!” Lucas, his oldest friend, whispered in Mike’s ear as they embraced. “How do you feel?”

“I’m kind of in disbelief to be honest. There was a time where we didn’t think she’d be able to have kids after our little scare when we were first married. She has to be really careful, I’m terrified that something might happen, but she’s a fighter, and baby Wheeler is too.”

“Baby Wheeler, oh my god you’re gonna have a little nerd of your own.” Dustin’s smile took over his whole face as he pulled Mike into a hug. “By the way, congrats on the sex.”

“Ew Dustin, fuck off.” Dustin only shrugged, heading back to the kitchen once more and returning with a champagne flute filled with juice for El instead.

“Alright, looks like we’re toasting to a completely different thing altogether, something way more toastable than just all of us being home at the same time. To Mike and El, as you start your new phase in life. I hope the little one looks more like their beautiful mother than their unfortunate looking father.” Mike flipped him off. “El, don’t forget the beautiful wedding vows you read to your husband as your pushing a watermelon from where the sun don’t shine.” Max chuckled as El paled. “And please don’t break his hand, they’re already weird and alien-y enough as it is. So if everyone will raise their glasses, here’s to the Party 2.0!”

“The Party 2.0!”

#mileven #Anonymous #mike x eleven #stranger things fic #my writing

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - WonderCon 2018 Panel

This week’s episode is the Talks Machina Live panel from WonderCon 2018, with guests Travis Willingham, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Sam Riegel, Liam O’Brien, Laura Bailey, and Matt Mercer!

This episode (and this recap) contains spoilers for the first campaign.

Meanwhile, back on the TM set, Max is keeping busy...

Gif and fanart of the week are awarded before the panel! An attempt at information-gathering and a steamy romance novel cover are featured. Congratulations to the winners!

Brian: “Look under your seats, everybody. If anyone finds Sam, let us know.”

Biggest adjustment in the new campaign?

Travis: Starting from scratch and not knowing how everyone else would react to their characters. Even 11 episodes in, only a tiny percentage of their backstories have been revealed. Sam hopes the fans are cool with the slow burn.

Matt slips into McCree voice. Brian: “That’s all you get. If you ask a high noon question, you’ll get a water bottle thrown at your fucking face.”

Brian, on Taliesin’s careful planning: “Yeah, Taliesin started working on this character when he was 12 years old.” Travis: “You mean when he was 1,200 years old...”

Marisha: “We’re all frickin’ liars right now.” Laura: “Not all of us.” 

Travis: “I have not told a lie yet.” Everyone else: doubt. 

Matt points out how weird it is that the Trickery Domain cleric has been the most up-front and honest thus far.

Sam had no idea Mollymauk had the Charm Person ability and wasn’t expecting to reveal that much of his motivations so early. Sam: “We all have to spill the beans at some point, so why not by magical means?”

Sam wonders why Jester hasn’t been using Zone of Truth constantly. Laura, bitterly: “I’ve gotta save my spells for healing.” Also Laura, positively exuding bitterness: “I’m not bitter.”

Molly was so startled by Pumat because he’d never encountered anything like this before. “Taste is so rare in this world, and you come across it, and you’re like, ‘You’re delightful!’”

Brian asks if Pumat is “the new Gilmore” and the cast does not take it well. Taliesin: “You’re not my real dad!” Sam: “But yes.”

Laura and Liam realize they accidentally wore very similar outfits, in true twinnie fashion.

Laura is about to reveal Jester’s age, then thinks better of it. “But if I say it now, I can’t change it later...”

Matt pre-prepared about five smutty novel titles (including the infamous Tusk Love). “I was like, that should be plenty...”

Liam mentions that he and Sam don’t know each other’s character backstories at all. Caleb and Nott broke out of a podunk jail together and wound up just sort of sticking together and eventually running scams to get cash. Sam: “And make sweet, sweet love every night. ...that’s Liam and Sam. Not the characters.”

Fjord’s both trying to trip Molly up by making him redo the praying-over-his-swords ritual and kind of hoping to figure out what’s up with his own sword in the process. “I was hoping it would turn into a waterpark.”

If they had Frumpkin as a familiar IRL, what animal would they have him be? Travis instantly goes for an otter. Marisha wants a wolf. Taliesin wants a big bird of some sort. Sam wants an octopus, since he knows it’s possible. Laura wants a raccoon, unless red pandas have opposable thumbs. Laura: “But pandas are stupid...” Brian, taking his life into his hands: “Oh yeah, because Trinket was a genius.”

Favorite part of making a new character? Travis: the ability to do absolutely anything you want, change it, make it anything you want to be. It’s what sucked him in at the start of the first campaign.

If she could play a D&D monster, Laura would want to be a succubus. Travis: “No, what kind of villain would you want to be?” Laura: “You have to drive home with me.”

Laura put together a loose backstory for Jester before the Kinda Funny oneshots and picked the Traveler as her deity then, but she and Matt wound up adapting him to the current campaign when they transferred Jester over. The Traveler’s not the deity from D&D canon.

Taliesin’s advice on playing a gunslinger character: “Don’t be cautious. Wait, what level are you going to be at?” “Level 3.” “Okay, no, be cautious.”

Marisha is enjoying getting to just punch things instead of dealing with so much magic.

Taliesin hates that he has to take notes again now that he’s no longer sitting next to Marisha.

Sam sings some of his D&D Beyond jingle again!

Liam: “Maybe campaign 2 will just be the D&D equivalent of Cheers and we’ll never leave the Leaky Tap.” Matt: “We’ll see how long that tavern lasts...”

Laura’s stricken look every time Matt hints at having to plan for the possibility of player character death is priceless and also relatable.

Travis talks about how much more responsibility there is now that he’s not playing INT 6. He’s still working based on instinct, but now he’s tapping into his creative side this time around.

Matt loves the side of DMing that is creating something for his friends and watching them get immersed in it. “It’s one of my favorite forms of gifting that exists out there.”

On dealing with unruly players as a DM: communication outside the game is key, as is knowing when to bring up that this might not be the game they’re looking for.

Brian asks about who everyone would cast as Senokir (his favorite character from last game) in a movie. Matt: “Willem Dafoe.”

Sam: “A pile of dirty diapers could be Caleb.” Liam: “...what changes?”

On minimizing paper-shuffling as a DM: Matt organizes his notes with bullet points and bold font, notecards taped to the back of the screen, etc. Liam: “I snuck a look at Matt’s notes recently, and it’s just the word ‘Pumat’ over and over.”

Caleb’s main focus going to Chastity’s Nook (Caleb’s focus; Liam was mostly just wanting to troll Matt) was swap-meet searching for magical stuff. Laura wonders if Caleb was just thinking about porn when he was staring into the fire. Liam: “Tusks...”

After episode 68, Taliesin came up with the idea for this carnival barker character telling a “monster story about Percy, who had just died. I thought that would really fuck them up. They’re going to hate him immediately.” Marisha: “Vox Machina didn’t have a history of dealing with new people well. Sorry, Sam.”

Travis on lifting at the gym and playing a tabletop RPG on the internet: “I’m my best me when I’m working out or staying active or pushing myself physically, but it lends itself to D&D specifically, because I love the physical imagination of melee combat and things like that. I think people can be as many things as they want to be.”

Matt points out that lower-level D&D has a lot of action on the players’ parts as they putter around, whereas higher-level D&D starts getting into reaction to major events that have been unfolding without their knowledge.

Liam: “The part of Caleb that I can say is I was curious about making a character who is his own worst enemy.”

Matt talks about juggling the desire to bring back old guest players while at the same time wanting to bring on the new guests they’ve been trying to schedule since last campaign.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post