#I just think them being silly idiot buddies is neat

[a-local-idiots-shitpost]

Malleus sometimes just picks Yuu up under their arms and holds them so they can look each other in the eyes, which in turn causes Yuu to make funny faces and Malleus sometimes drops them from laughing to hard

#local is tired and thinks they are funny #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst malleus #twisted wonderland malleus #malleus draconia #I just think them being silly idiot buddies is neat #but I also feel like I'm about to fall asleep any second now #so who knows

[rainypebble07]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ME!

Today, August 30th, is my birthday and (conveniently) also the day I posted my first fic, It Wasn't A Bad Thing (Do not read it, read the rewrite), on Ao3 and entered the Byler community as a writer and eventually artist.

It's strange to think that I've been here for 365 days now. I mean, that's a lot of days, but it's honestly been so fun to get to know some of the people here and I just love you guys. All of you. Seriously.

As a birthday gift, maybe read one of my fics and leave a fun comment (I have them all listed in my pinned past, but I recommend the superspy, pirate, and zombie Will ones)! If not that, give me a silly drawing request I'll take days to finally get around to or even just a fun little ask!!

And I love to talk about myself, but over the year, there have been some very impactful people I've met on this site, and I'd just like to thank all of them for being so wonderful (if you're not on the list, I still love you, I promise. I'd name every one of my followers if I could), so without further ado...

Rainy's Thank You List of Very Awesome People:

@foodiewithdahoodie you, my friend, are the best. One of my first ever followers, even before I was an artist. I've had your support since day 1 and I'm so grateful to call you my mutual!! You're seriously the kindest ever <333

@microwaveonwheels You're just the most fun person, my favorite kitchen appliance. You've got the best (and sometimes the most challenging) drawing requests and you never ever fail to make me laugh with your tags. Keep your energy forever and ever, my biology genius mutual :)))))

@sillylittlerock If I have one fan, it's you. If I have 100 fans, you're one of them. If I have no fans, you have left the building. SILLYLITTLEROCK you are THE ROCK and genuinely the sweetest person ever. Absolutely my favorite and I hope you have the most beautiful of days. Rock gang, rock gang.

@callmetheidiot I hope the ex fight was worth it, you've let me become a wattpad fiend (jkjk I haven't even touched wattpad in over a week). You are the kindest and most wonderful of people, callmetheidiot. And I would never ever call you an idiot bc you are the absolute definition of the opposite.

@th3-third-duffel-bag You're the coolest ever. And it makes me laugh when you leave angry comments on my Ao3. Much, much love <333

@cringengl I don't interact with you much, but every time you like one of my posts, I feel like you're saying it's cringe and it makes me laugh every time. Have the most amazing of days today! I love you!

@runninguplenorahills If I had to have my first pointless internet beef with anyone, I'm glad it was you. I'll admit, I was wrong about the barbie movie thing. I'm just stubborn. I think you're awesome though, even if we're worst enemies now. (jkjk we're not enemies... unless...) (no jk again) Have a wonderful day!!!!

@elsbianism You know what? I just think you're neat. Even before I started following you I was just like gee, they're pretty neat. And then I did follow you! And now we're mutuals! And you're still the neatest person here, El, so congrats on that one.

@miaisagirllover MIA I LOVE YOU! Thank you for helping me to break the barrier between dimensions. I look at your pinterest every day like ahhhh my stuff. And you've just got the best takes, I'm sorry so many people like Billy. I'll try to stop them. Have a lovely day, friend!!

@chaoticbyler Just had to give a quick shoutout to my pinterest spy on the inside. Never would have even known my art was breaking barriers without your help. Thanks, soldier. I owe you one.

@midget-is-a-simp I don't think I have one post you haven't liked. And I've had minimal interaction with you, but if my life was a TV show, you'd be the character who showed up once a season and you're somehow everyone's favorite character.

@yearninginblue you are my superspy buddy for life and I love you so so so much <3

@phaniella your comments make my day and I love you for it <3

@howtobecomeadragon IDK HOW I ALMOST FORGOT YOU OMG YOU'RE THE BEST. BEST FOR LAST, I GUESS. YOU, my friend, are the sweetest ever and I'm so happy to be your mutual. The fact that you like dragons so much is so cool. Never ever lose your passion! Dragons are awesome (and so are you)!!

Alright, sorry it's long, but I had a lot of people to be thankful for (and, trust me, so many more who I couldn't fit to the list). If you see this, just know I love you more than anything and I hope EVERYONE had the best day ever.

Bye-bye for now,

Rainy Pebble

#stranger things #byler #byler fanfic #BIRTHDAY TIME #YAYAYAYAY #one year anniversary!! #that's just so cool #thank you all for making it such a good experience

[spadaaces]

For the character ask think I would like to ask about DBK or MK, if that's alright!

I cannot choose one so you get both!

DBK:

favorite thing about them: This is kinda hard to put into words but I just. Really love how his character changes throughout the seasons I love how while he's still short-tempered and stuff he's also kinda chill and me just thinks he's p cool c:

least favorite thing about them: His treatment of Red Son in the start like bro be nice to your son - but that also peeves me because. In jttw the demon bull family is so loving they're so cute and even in the chinese dub of the show him and pif are NOT as mean to their son and it makes me >:(( Glad to see he's better in s3 tho I love a husband and father <3

favorite line: "Useless offspring..." 2 seconds later "I didn't doubt him for a second!" (That scene just. made me laugh so hard the first time the timing is SO well done bHSDHDH)

brOTP: HIM AND SUN WUKONG they're buddies in jttw I want them to be buddies in monkie kid too THEY HAVE SUCH A FUN DYNAMIC BRO

OTP: Of course it's princess iron fan this man loves his wife so much he's so married

nOTP: I mean aside from obvious gross ones no one rlly? Again he's super married I don't think people ship him with anyone else hbshdgs

random headcanon: Has a collection of regular ass mugs they're so small in comparison to him but he does not care

unpopular opinion: idk if this is unpopular but I think he's a bit underappreciated. He's a fun villain and his design is SO cool - I dunno I feel like he gets a bit overshadowed sometimes

song i associate with them: I've not really thought abt this at all I don't know but now I want to find some

favorite picture of them: When you when the when when you when

Qi Xiaotian

favorite thing about them: WHERE DO I EVEN STAAART he's a very classic goofy protagonist type, but he's so delightful and I love that while he's silly and stuff he's not an idiot and won't hesitate to get serious, he feels very real. He's just a really good dude I love him so much bro that's my SON

least favorite thing about them: I can't really think about anything, even things that peeve me are things I appreciate because it makes sense for his character and stuff ya know

favorite line: SO MANY GOOD ONES IT'S VERY HARD TO PICK but one of my favs is the "Ugh I'm so stupid! OHH I've got mOnkEy kiNg pOwErs, I tHink I'll be fiNe"

brOTP: HIM AND XIAOJIAO 100% your honor they're besties. Their dynamic is everything they're so sweet I love how much their care for each other. I'm keeping this spoiler free but god. s3 man. They had so many good moments

OTP: I'm not super big on the shipping side of lmk I don't have many strong opinions or care too much, but spicynoodles is cute c:

nOTP: Obvious gross ones don't be a freak. Also wouldn't call it a notp cuz I don't mind it at all, but I prefer him and Xiaojiao as platonic

random headcanon: Transmasc Xiaotian so true <3 Also one Kat introduced to moi is him not being 100% human and I am very much here for at least half demon xiaotian. Also(2) methinks he has a lot of bottled up frustration

unpopular opinion: Again dunno if this is unpopular but I prefer his chinese nickname SOO much more than mk I'm really sad they changed his and Xiajiao's names for the eng dub :( "Qi Xiaotian" being derived from Wukong's "great sage equal to heaven" title is literally so neat I love it so much

song i associate with them: Six feet - Patent Pending

favorite picture of them: I litrerally have so many especially from s3 but I'm keeping this spoiler free so have one of my all time favs from the s2 special hES JUST A LITTLE GUY.

#asks #monkie kid #THANK YOU FORT HE CHARACTERSS THIS WAS FUN!! #dbk isn't a character I think abt a lot it was rlly fun to write things for him #lego monkie kid

[botslayer]

Heroes Reborn: Opinion piece.

So Marvel recently announced an interesting event, time, as it tends to in comics, has broken down on the side of the road and been rebooted. There are no Avengers in this new timeline. Instead, the world is generally protected by the “Squadron Supreme.” 

For those who don’t know, the SS is a team of “Superheroes” (rant incoming) from... Honestly, it depends. Sometimes they’re from another reality, at least in part, other times they’re just regular humans (Save for Hyperion, the man with the atom on his chest) who all get powers later or what have you. Their primary five members are Hyperion, Nighthawk, Zarda the Power Princess, Whizzer(Or “Speed demon”), and Dr. Spectrum. These are, of course, parody characters based on the Justice League from DC. Problem though: These are supposedly “Heroes” but they just about always turn stupid evil or at best into the Justice Lords, and while the latter was the plot of the original book they came from, I want them to actually BE heroes.  Even when they are heroes they still discuss taking over the world for whatever insane reason and it makes it hard to believe they ever wanted to be heroes sometimes, let alone were... And sadly this event seems to at least partly continue this trend. What am I referring to?  “Heroes Reborn,” The event I explained above Is still showing Hyperion And from my research: The rest of the squadron, being monsters to an extent considering they killed at least some of what the prime continuity calls the X-Men and most likely many more in “The Mutant Massacre.”

Already a point off. But this combination of characters working under Magneto is at least interesting enough that I want to read this. The established lore of this universe has my attention, what else is there? How about... exactly what I asked for? 

Hyperion and the Imperial guard Is about our buddy Hyperion and the Shi’ar deciding to go on a quest through the Negative zone... Aight. I’m down. Maybe this will deepen his character. and justify him being an authoritarian idiot.  If the Avengers never assembled though, what about some other Marvel heroes? Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man is basically Jimmy Olsen. 

He exists in a state of Hyperion Hyper fanboying and actually pals around with him a bit. There wasn’t much else to what I read of it but I’m curious how that premise might go south. Up next: A Villain book that looks neat if nothing else. 

Various heroes and villains in the prime universe are now a cabal of villainous anti-heroes and the like opposing Nighthawk’s branch of the Squadron in Europe. Saber Tooth, Hawk eye, Scott Lang, and others all working together like this is a fascinating sight to behold, I must say and I’m curious about their team dynamic. Finally we have the one I’m the most interested in, “Young Squadron.”

This comic examines newer faces of prominence in the Marvel comic universe, namely Miles Morales, Kamala Kahn, and Samuel Alexander in this universe as the sidekicks of three particular SS members... And I wanna talk about their personas.

Samuel Alexander: As a member of the Nova corps, of course becomes Dr. Spectrum’s apprentice. Who else? But I will say... And I know you’re all thinking it: Google Chrome. Despite the weird color scheme I like the patterns and I’m curious how, if he doesn’t have the prism, he actually has these powers even though I don’t know much about Alexander as a character. Up next: Kamala. 

Cringy name aside (I know it’s a silver age-grade silly name and that’s the point but it’s still goofy in kinda the wrong way) I also have to wonder what her powers are in this universe. I doubt Zarda would just pick up some random kid and not at least give her a power-up via gear or a spell or something. And this outfit... Hm... Okay, look: I understand there might be touch of a cultural thing to the overall look that I’m not seeing but to me it just looks kinda lop-sided and... Under-armored? Like Kid Spectrum has a helmet and knee pads at least and you can make up a material for his suit but Kamala’s looks like the torso should be armor even though it’s more obviously made of cloth except for the metal sash thing? If they can trim the skirt a little and give her some gold/black shoulder pads, I would say that would look good because it might also help balance the colors. As it stands the black gold and blue, while they can be striking, all look more like they’re trying to fight for what the main color is. But what do I know? Finally, Miles Morales:

I’m just gonna come out and say it: The fact that he’s Falcon in this time line feels like slightly racially inclined type-casting. But it also makes sense given Falcon’s original color scheme and the fact that Night Hawk is supposed to be Batman. But I feel like making his own thing like the other two might have better move... Off the top of my head: “Hawk wasp” Which would still lend itself very well to crazy colored costume and the Squadron Supreme’s penchant for being intimidating and evil. But again, what do I know. Still very interested in this series and I hpe to read it when it comes out in friggin’ May.

#Marvel #Heroes Reborn #A bit hyped #Miles Morales #Kamala Kahn #Samuel Alexander #Young Squadron #Squadron Supreme #Peter Parker #Seige Society #Hyperion #Magneto #Rogue #Emma Frost #Comic Book News

[goatpaste]

i love your art and all and maybe this sound silly but,,, what is exactly warriorcats? i want know more of the fandom

ty!

and its a book series! its called warriors but yknow for easier searching and it sounds better everyone just says ‘warrior cats’ lol

but its a book series that got super popular! and its being going on, and it still on going for nearly 20 years

and its just about 4 groups of cats living out in the woods and they got cat laws and stuff. and fun names where their name usually start off as like (blank)kit. Usually their prefix name is colors, flowers, nature, animals and ect. then they become apprentices and are renamed (blank)paw and they train to be warriors to fight for their clan and whatever and get the suffix in their name from paw to something else and whatever. like theres bluefur, jayfeather, flipclaw and swiftbreeze and stuff like that. and their leaders get nine lives and their suffix changes to star.

and the first six set of books is about this one pet named rusty renamed firepaw is prophecies to help the clans and whatever. and he becomes a super swaggy warrior and kicks ass or whatever. 

and after the first series where firepaw becomes fireheart and ofc firestar, (because you shouldn’t be surprised that the main character prophecies to be super swaggy in a young teen novel becomes the leader) its about his daughter squirrelflight and her friends but mostly her and brambleclaw (son of the least series main villian) and their stupid not that interesting or good relationship despite what you would hope would come from it.

then the next series is about squirrelflights kids jayfeather, lionblaze and hollyleaf and they have super powers maybe. tbh i dont remember a lot about that series, it had iconic scenes and stuff and cringe idiots. some of those cats sure had super powers and was a lot of build up to the next series.

and then the next series is aLSO about squirrelflights babies but now their not her babies because “surprise” they were her sister leafpool’s kids and for some reason even tho leafpool has been nothing but kind to the said kids and squirrelflight raised them with love, the kids treat them both like their dirty and terrible liars and not their moms. also dovewing is there and shes like the great niece of firestar and she’s hanging out with the cats from the last series

then the fifth series i didnt read but i think its about squirrelflight actual kid alderheart but i dont really know if thats true, again i didn’t read the books after some point in the fourth series

and if its not about alderheart then i think its about his adopted daughter uuuuh twigbranch or something and her sister violetshine, but more about violetshine i think. she seems important. and i think both of them change clans once or twice maybe, violetshine hangs out with an anime villian and i think her and twigbranch have THE most convoluted backstory from what i understood from their wiki.

then violetshine marries a stoner named tree and the next series about their kid stoner baby jr AKA rootpaw who is full of rage. also supporting main characters are dovewings son shadowsight and dovewings sister’s boring incest baby bristlefrost.

and i say incest baby because at this point in the series if you cant tell everyone is related to firestar or firestars nephew and the gene pool is entirely them, i think at least 80% of the group their apart of is their family. and remember how i said their was stupid forest cat rules? one of those rules was no having babies from outside the clan idiot! which is a dumb rule and has lead to stupid forbidden romances and so many incest babies. hardly anyone can have babies without being related anymore. the writers of the books series have accidentally made siblings mate, made uncles and nieces mates without realizing it.

look at this 

its a mess! and bristlefrost parents had parents/siblings who were apart of a prophecy about being related to firestar

also i havent even mentioned ghost cats because theres a variety to chose from! theres starclan which is cat heaven and the cats seek guidance from starclan through dreams, omens and prophecies despite all of starclan being made of dead cats they once knew. like their drinking pool water and holding a sayonce to ask their friend ted who died last year how much sugar goes in the recipe but fuck dude, ted is just a dead he doesn’t know. he shrugs and him and your other dead buddies get together and make a rough estimation of maybe a cup or two 

and then theres the dark forest where cats that starclan deemed bad and wrong go. its hell! its hell for cats! but starclan and the clans in general are kinda dick heads and I believe has sent some cats there unfairly while letting other shit heads into cat heaven. but thats me

and then theres just straight up ghost cats, i think its purgatory for cats? i havent read the part were ghost showed up. by the way didn’t mention this earlier, but the cat named Tree i mentioned earlier can see ghost and summon them i think. its just a thing that the group he was from can do, and his son rootpaw can also do it. its a big part of the series as a ghost is pillowing around a deadmans rotting corpse.

also tree was from a group that wasn’t apart of the clans named the sisters, they were an all female group who could see ghost or something. they seem neat. again, showed up in book i didnt read

and the starclan thing is only for clan cats, if you dont believe and dedicate yourself to starclans magic ways and rules you dont go here. where do you go? iuhknow somewhere dummy, you dont need to know.

theres two cats who dont believe in starclan which is funny to two extents which, one is a healer who are meant to talk to starclan and receive prophecies and stuff. Two, both were in a big war were starclan manifested in the real world with the dark forest and they killed each other. yes! the ghost manifested and made each other double super forever dead. and these cats still dont believe in starclan. but yknow what their fair, starclan is dumbass

this isn’t important but im on a roll now, and i just need to mention there was a group of cats who did yoga.

also! theres four clans!

the main one we only see for three-four series is thunderclan. their known for being the main character! their just very good and perfect and heroic and again, have main character syndrome. you will only see what thunderclan is up to for 4 series AT LEAST without reading the side books.

theres shadowclan, which when introduce at the series start is introduced as villians, their said to be evil and very very bad. they eat rats and stalk around at night like weirdos. however through reading the side books and the progression of the series you realize shadowclan had two evil rulers and MANY idiots. i love them, their very good at hiring clearly evil cats with bad ideology as their leaders and just blindly following them.

riverclan, they can swim! thats their gimmick! their lazy, pretty and arrogant. i love them their dumbasses and this one line of their wiki pages is enough said on them and is the funniest thing

then theres windclan, they sleep on the moor and run really fast. the first book series their fucking missing because shadowclan bullied them into leaving. we really dont see a lot of windclan until the second series, despite how often the cats have to walk through their lands to get places. tallstar is the first leader you meet in the series and i love him, he fucked firestars dad shitlips. 

all in all i think you probably wanted a short simple explanation but i got into it

the book series is bad, but very fun and very stupid. its so funny and bad.

its got its issues! i have a lot of complaints about it and its writing. but if you want an easy read to get into! i recommend it! if you have better things to do however, do that. theres better things out there than warriors I promise

#long post #i like to make fun of warrior cats #Anonymous

[ohwereusingourmadeupnames]

"Come on! Another round!" and "God, we stink"

do the thing - send in all the prompts.

Thanks for the prompt, nonnie! I took this in a weird direction, I hope that’s okay! 

warnings: mention of a vehicular accident & pain

Tony didn’t like to think about the accident. It was hard to imagine what his life was like before he crushed his right leg. All of the things he took for granted were now things he missed so very dearly – like walking without trouble to the kitchen or driving the many cars that sat waiting for him in his extensive garage. Getting onto that motorcycle was one of the stupidest things he could have done – but then again, it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal if he wasn’t an actual idiot.

Every time he thought about it, Tony got a little green around the gills. He’d been drinking whiskey neats all night, even he understood that consuming too much alcohol and trying to operate any machinery wasn’t a good idea. He’d almost cut his hand off too many times to be perfectly aware of that. Despite that, he got onto the bike, anyway. There’d been a man in the cluster of people at the party that he wanted to impress. It didn’t matter that being a dumbass wasn’t sexy, his brain was addled, and he was running on instinct.

In the end, it was probably lucky that he was alive. The tech he built into his watch picked up on his body’s distress and got an ambulance to his location as quickly as the public medical transportation possibly could. There’d been a lot of black time for Tony, so he didn’t remember much of anything other than waking up in pain every now and again. While taking a dive into the concrete, he landed heavily on his right leg and did some pretty terrible damage to it. Torn ligaments, fractured bones, and nerve damage waited for him when he finally came to.

Three surgeries and a lot of pain medication later, Tony was finally able to get back into the bedroom in his own home. It didn’t take long for Pepper to demand he let her hire an in-home professional, the doctor’s orders of getting up and moving still fresh in both of their minds. Although they weren’t a couple any longer, she still took care of him when she could. The need to mother him would never go away – Pepper spent too much time doing day to day things for him to simply drop that because they weren’t romantically inclined.

The very next day, Tony was woken by a soft voice – his eyes blinking a couple of times before he saw the figure in the door. “Sorry to wake you, Mr. Stark. Your door just opened automatically when I walked up to it. Which was wicked, by the way.” Tony sat up a little, the last comment almost getting a smile to pull at his cheeks.

“Yeah, that’s Jarvis. Say hi, buddy.” Tony said, his voice still pretty scraggly from the depth of sleep he’d been in.

“Good morning, Mr. Stark – Mr. Parker.” Jarvis responded promptly, the voice never ceasing to bring a warmth to Tony’s gut. He missed the human Jarvis very much – the imitation of him was almost good enough.

“Mr. Parker, huh. Do you have a first name?” Tony finally let himself smile, his eyes taking in the little smirk on the brunette’s face. Now that he was awake more, Tony could see brown eyes, red cheeks, and plump lips. The man couldn’t be any older than 25, his youth still sitting like a beacon in his features and stature.

Watching the boy smile was enough to make him want to actually get out of bed – the thought making him cringe a little. It felt nice to be motivated, but he knew the second that he started to move, all of the pain would come flooding back. “I’m Peter, sir. Everyone usually just calls me Pete, though.” He let a hand run down the doorframe a little, the man obviously used to the constant pace of moving around all day.

“Okay, Pete. What kind of torture do you have in store for me? And can I get some water on my face before this fun begins?” Tony asked the questions with as much sass and sarcasm as he could pack into them – the tone enough to pull another smile out of Peter.

And so, it began. At first, it was hard just to get out of bed and into the bathroom. Every morning, Peter would wake him up, sometimes earlier than he was used to, and help him up and off the mattress. He wasn’t supposed to put too much weight on the leg – but even the littlest of movements was complicated with a limb that didn’t understand what movement was in its injured state.

Slowly, Tony started to gain a little bit of strength back. Once the bog of the pain medication slipped away, he was better able to get his feet under him. His brain was one of his biggest assets and he used it to his advantage. He’d always been an overachiever and he didn’t let the fact that his leg was physically unable to do some of the things he was demanding from it stop him from trying.

All the while, Peter stood by him and helped him through all of the shitty days that made him want to slam the crutches down and give up completely. One such day, Tony fell to the floor in defeat – his leg throbbing and his mind totally fed up with the pep talks and chanted words. That day, he couldn’t do it – he didn’t want to push past the pain.

Peter crouched down before him, Tony rolling his eyes with jealousy at the younger man’s movements and the ease in which he could perform them. “That it? Giving up, Mr. Stark?” Peter questioned bluntly; his eyes boring into Tony’s.

Blinking, Tony wanted to use his nonexistent strength to kick the kid in the face – the smugness of his words probably funny any other time, but not today. “Fuck you, Pete. My leg hurts,” Tony mumbled, the words lacking the heat he wanted them to have. He clenched his right hand, the tremor in it only coming around when he let himself lose control. Fuck it all, he thought.

The other man wasn’t deterred – Tony’s words bounced off of him like he didn’t even hear them. Offering up a hand, Peter helped him to his feet. “Come on. Another round. I’ll help you.” Peter’s voice was gentle this time, the joking atmosphere gone with the snap of Tony’s words. “Take one of the crutches and hold onto my arm with the other hand – we’ll transfer some of the weight to me and still get the reps done.”

Tony grit his teeth and leaned heavily into Peter’s side – his body trying to rebel against him. Taking in a deep breath, Tony got himself under control and focused on the sound of Peter’s shoe hitting the floor and the transfer of his weight from the good leg over to the bad. They did another couple of lengths before Peter guided him into a chair – Tony reluctant to let go of Peter’s arm.

With all of the time they’d been spending together, Tony found himself drawn to the other man. When they weren’t doing laps of his hallway or working with some of the equipment Peter brought with him, they sat around and talked. Tony hadn’t been this idle in his entire life and it was nice to get some stimulation outside of the shitty thoughts in his head. He came to rely on the other’s presence, not just because of the way he was healing his body, either.

A bottle of water was thrust into his hand, Peter taking the seat across from him a couple of moments later. “Thanks, Pete. Sorry, y’know – about what I said. I didn’t mean that. You’re great – I’m just a grumpy old man.” Tony muttered his apology, the man covering it up a little by lifting the water bottle to his mouth, the cooling slug of water a nice way to douse the flame starting to climb within him.

“It’s okay. I don’t take any of the stuff you say when you’re in a pain cycle to heart. I get it. I’ve never experienced your level of pain, so I can only imagine what a punk like me pushing you more than you want to be pushed might feel like. You’re good, Tony,” Peter answered, his hand reaching across the space between them to squeeze Tony’s shoulder.

Something changed in Tony that day. He stopped trying to push himself and just went with what his body wanted from him. When he could, he went – and when he couldn’t, he didn’t. Peter was very good at his job and had lots of alternatives to replace the walking during the times when Tony knew he wasn’t going to be able to get up, let alone walk around.

Little by little, Tony finally started to feel better. All of his pins were out, all of his stitches were healed, and he was actually able to put his entire body weight on both of his legs. When Peter asked him to go for laps, he did them with the slightest limp, a smile on his face every time his steps got a little straighter.

One day about eight months after the accident, Peter tossed his shoes at him, a happy look on his face. “We’re taking it outside today. Put those on and grab your cane – I want you to have it just in case,” Peter spoke with such clarity, Tony could do nothing but comply. His stomach felt like it was in knots, he hadn’t been outside of his apartment in a long time – he couldn’t bear to be unable to do things on his own, so he locked himself away.

Standing out in the warm sunshine, Tony let all of his worries disappear – the air was crisp and Peter’s hair caught the sunlight in a way that made it shine like a halo on top of his head. His silly crush evolved the longer they were in each other’s presence – the vision in front of him felt just as exciting as the prospect of being outside and actually moving around. Peter offered up his arm for Tony to slip his own through and started a leisurely pace.

It took a lot more effort than he figured it would, but they made it a couple of blocks down the road and back. He felt like he might die from the effort – his brow completely soaked, the clothes on his back sticking to him from the wetness. On the other hand, it was nice, to be out and about – to be able to walk when not that long ago, the prospect of it wasn’t very likely.

They got back up to the apartment, Peter helping him a lot more than he did when they left the apartment. By the time they got back up to the penthouse, they were both sweating profusely – Peter could only do so much with the slackness of Tony’s body the last 200 meters of ground they needed to cover. “God! We stink!” he panted out when they crashed against the couch in a heap. The other man leaned into the cushion and closed his eyes, his face scrunching with a laugh.

“Yeah, well – you’re not light by any means. And it’s hot as hell outside. I didn’t know New York got this warm,” Peter replied, his hands running through the curls on his head, sweat brushing from the ends of his hair and down his neck, some of it flinging into the air. “I’m proud of you, though. I can’t believe you’ve come as far as you have.” He smiled then, the look on his face genuine.

Without much thought, Tony narrowed the gap between them. He left the slightest bit of room for Peter to close the final bit of distance, Tony unwilling to ruin their professional relationship if Peter wasn’t in the same head space. “Means a lot, Pete. I couldn’t have done it without you.” Tony tilted his face a bit, the brush of Peter’s breath against his face making him want to move in and take what he’d been wanting for a while now.

A soft hand cupped his cheek, Peter’s nose brushing against his own. Tony held his breath, the seconds between the touch of Peter’s hand and the softness of his lips on his own made his heart hammer against his chest – the anticipation of it making him feel like a kid again. He let out a muffled breath against Peter’s lips and pressed into the contact. The immediate feeling of rightness pulled him closer and before either knew it, they were sucking face on the couch – their sweat and body heat tangling together in the excitement.

Peter pulled back first – a groan leaving his lip. “You’ve been the most frustrating client I’ve ever had – and none of it has been because of your leg,” Peter admitted. Tony laughed at the comment, his lips pressing against Peter’s again briefly.

“Yeah, well – I’m a pain in the ass.” Tony shrugged his shoulders, a shit eating grin on his face.

Peter patted his cheek, the smack of it sounding around the room. “Oh, I know. I can’t wait to see what else you’re going to throw my way.”

#starker #ironspider #ask prompts #bobbie writes #do the thing #au prompts #all the aus #anonymous #nonnie

[luv4fandoms]

Laying Claim (Castiel x Witch!Reader)

@ladyofhellhounds

So with that in mind, this is what my brain came up with, idk why XD, I hope you like it 😊

(Also guys, my mom and I finally got to the Godstiel part of Spn I've heard so much about, and pretty much our reaction was the same, just "oh sweety, no, what are you doing?)

Word count: 2,476

Pairings: Castiel x Reader

Warnings: Cussing, Demons being asshole, unknown claiming? Fluffly Cas, Angry Cas

Today's the day! The anniversary of when you first joined the Winchesters and their guardian angel one year ago. You had met when a coven in your town had started killing people, you were going to find out for yourself but...Well after all, if they wanted to do the dirty work of searching, why not let them?

Though you still did some digging of your own after you found a hex bag in your gutter, silly little girls, just a bunch of soccer moms who thought Harry Potter was real. Needless to say the demon they had sold their souls to at their little slumber party wasn't the type to give them back, and with a little help from one of your spells, the pieces fell right into place for the Winchesters to slay the demon...

Only problem was the bitch knew about you, and used her last breath to spill the beans, so you really weren't surprised when the trio came barging up to your house. The two boys seemed to want nothing more than your head on a platter as well, thinking you were linked to the coven, but the third, the third simply stared at you, seemingly trying to decipher you as well as commit you to memory. It wasn't hard to know what he was, the gift of sight as your grandmother called it, allowed you to see the large black wigs that rose behind him.

'Interesting' you had thought, remembering everything you had ever read about angels.

"Tell you what" you spoke, stopping the argument the boys were having.

"Have your little friend here read my mind, or memories, which ever he prefers, and see that I have never harmed anyone" the boys looked to the angel who seemed to have broken out of the trance he was under at the sound of your voice.

"Cas?" The shorter man asked, to which 'Cas' simply nodded and made his way over to you, he lifted his fingers, placing two on your forehead while closing his eyes, a moment later he opened them and nodded at the boys.

"She's telling the truth, she hasn't hurt anyone, she actually helps people, and was a target of the coven herself" he told them.

"See? I told you, now, would you care to join me for some tea?" You asked, eyes never leaving his blue ones, oh you could get lost in those babies.

"I even have pie" you added with a smile as you finally turned to the other two.

 That had been the first time you had a civil conversation with the trio; Sam and Dean, two orphan hunters following in Daddy's footsteps. And Castiel, the angel who decided to fight his own kind to protect humanity, interesting. You offered your services should the boys ever need it, figuring they would never take you up on it, but hoping to be able to see the stoic angel once more, and low and behold...

They called. For almost a year now you had been helping them, being a researcher, going with them on cases, even using your magic to take down baddies. The work made your feel alive, but not as alive as when Cas would come around. Something about the angel's presence alone makes your body feel electrified, and when his piercing blue orbs met yours you swore your heart stopped. Lately though, he started treating you like a child who was incapable of keeping herself safe.

The first time was while you were helping the boys with some demons, a reason for Cas to be present, and you hadn't thought much past trying to slow down your heart rate when he grabbed you and pulled you to his chest, shielding your eyes as he let out a blinding light that killed them all.

The second time though, you had been against a neat of vamps, one which you and the boys were handling just find, but just as you were about to drop the vamp that was advancing towards you, a silver blade pierced it's neck, quickly taking it's head, and when it fell it revealed Cas standing behind it. He stated that he needed to speak with Dean and Sam about something, so that is why he located you all, but you began to wonder when you were the first one he healed, and he stood extra close to you as he spoke.

The third time you started to grow annoyed. You were just fine by yourself, could handle yourself against the werewolf, and in your opinion, kicking ass. Sure you had taken a few scratches, and your arm hurt like hell from the deep claw marks, but you held your ground...And then right as you were about to give the killing blow with your magic, that all too familiar angel blade made an appearance once more.

"What the hell Cas that was my kill!" You told him, less angry about the fact that he finished the fight and more about the fact that he had done it so often recently. 

"You're injured" he simply stated.

"So? I was still kicking its ass!" You defended as he walked over to you and healed you, causing you to groan and walk away from the confused angel.

The final straw had been tonight, the whole day throughout the hunt for a pack of demons who had intel on Lucifer, the boys and you had been in a somewhat good mood after you had bought them breakfast and explained the anniversary. The hunt had gone well, you found the demons, killed all but one and was grilling it for information. It was a tough nut to crack, even an exorcism didn't scare it. 

"We're not getting anywhere, let me try" you told them, causing Dean to immediately shake his head.

"Hell no, I'm not letting you near that thing alone"

"Funny, you say that like you can stop me" you stated while looking over at him, there was a silent stare before you sighed

"Just five minutes Dean, I promise you I'll be fine" before Dean could even open his mouth Sam spoke in your defence

"She's right Dean, and besides, he's in the trap, what can he do?" 

Dean was silent for a moment before his eyes met yours again.

"Fine, but five minutes is all you got" nodding, you made your way back into the room. 

"Ok buddy, here's how it's gonna go down" you started as you stood in front of him, but he only laughed while looking around.

"Boy toys now coming?" He asked

"Sorry pal, just you and me, now you're gonna-"

"You know I'm surprised your mate leaves you alone with them, he must trust you a lot, or he's an idiot"

"What the hell are you even talking about?" You asked, confused as to why he would state you have a "mate"

"Oh….Oh you don't know" he started laughing hysterically.

"Shut it!" You yelled watching as his laughter died down, but the smirk stayed.

"Sweety, you reek of him. His sent his all over you. Desperate protectiveness, longing, it's enough to make me gag, the best part is that he did this without you even knowing. A do not touch sign to anyone else, a claim on you, really that's horrible, and I'm a demon" he laughed again, while you digest the information, something had laid a claim on you? You felt like you needed a shower thinking that it could be any of the creatures you encountered in your year with the boys. 

"You know though, I'm not surprised you didn't know" it stated, causing you to look at it once more.

"You're such an idiot" and with that he lunged at you, knocking you back into the wall and knocking the air from your lungs. You were pretty sure you heard your shoulder pop while your vision blacked out for a moment. When you looked around you noticed the slow steady drip of water from a nearby pipe that had washed away part of the devil's trap, before your eyes were brought back to the demon's face as he straddled you, leaning in and taking a deep breath.

"I wonder how he would like it...If I laid my own claim to you" he smirked, and you tried to push him off as he leaned down, him somehow over powering your magic, but just as he was about to reach your neck, his weight disappeared from you and a crash was heard from the other side of the room. 

"W-wait I-I didn't know!" It started to plead as you watched Castiel slowly walk towards him.

"I didn't know she belonged to an angel I swear!" He pleaded again.

'Belonged to…' your mind started to remember little things that happened these past couple of months. Cas giving you his coat when you stood outside watching the boys do a salt and burn, Cas sitting next to your while you explained your favorite shows to him, by the end of the night you would be leaning against him and his arm would be on the back of the couch, fingers lightly resting on your shoulder. Cas listening to your music with you from your ipod in the back of the impala despite the fact he could easily poof to the location. And then there was Cas always swooping in when you were fighting things...did Cas...Lay claim to you?

You watched as he easily got the information and killed the demon, only then noticing that the boys had been pounding on the door trying to get in, upon the demon's death, it unlocked and they rushed into the room. 

"Y/N!" Dean started but Cas was quick to cut him off.

"Why were you not with her?" His voice rising slightly, the only indication besides the fire still burning in his eyes that he was pissed.

"We figured she" Sam started, but was also cut off by Cas.

"That she what? Was your bait to get information? You put her in danger!" A light blew out in the room.

"And we told her" Dean tried

"And you know she would not listen! You should have been in her presence at all times!" Another light, the bright flash momentarily illuminating the shadow of Cas's wings, oh, he was very pissed.

"Cas" you started

"This is exactly why I have to keep-"

"CAS!" You yelled, turning the room silent as you stood, grabbing your arm that you could clearly tell was broken.

"I came here alone of my own accord, they didn't want me to, but I did it anyways, it's not their fault"

"They should have protected you" he started, coming forward to heal your wounds, his eyes showed a different story, and in that moment you knew what he was really trying to say.

'I should have protected you'

"We need to talk by the way" you stated, looking at the boys then him.

"Alone" with a nod he grabbed your hand.

"I'll take her back to the hotel" he told the boys, and in a blink, you stood in your hotel room. You let go of his hand, making your way over to the bed and sat down, Cas didn't move as he stared at the carpet.

"Cas did you…."you started before realizing that this was going to be really embarrassing to ask.

"Did you ...Lay claim to me?" you asked, not meeting his gaze when you saw him look at you from the corner of your eye.

"...Not...Fully" he spoke after a moment, this caused you to look at him.

"What does that even mean?" You gave a short laughed and watched as he sighed before coming to sit next to you. 

"Y/N I...I have feeling for you...Ones that someone would only have in the presence of a potential mate" he states turning to look at you.

"Wow sweety we gotta get you into now days language" you said with a chuckle, before adding.

"So..You have feelings for me?"

"Yes, I thought it was wise to push them away at first, you would be in danger if anyone after me, found you. But as time went on I found them...Harder to repress, and I found myself claiming you before I even realized it" He states, looking down as if weighted by shame.

"We have different versions of claiming"you laugh, thinking back to what the demon had said

"He said I smelled like you" Cas nodded, still not meeting your eyes.

"It's the first stage of claiming someone, we cover them in our scent, it's not perceivable to your senses, but to other beings it lets them know that you belong to someone" he explained, "So every time you sat next to me or gave me your coat?" He nodded, before adding.

"My grace also leaves behind a scent" he added.

"Your grace? Do you...Use it often?" You asked.

"To protect you yes" He nodded

"So this was why you have been jumping in front of monsters for me?" You asked, again he nodded.

"You know I can take care of myself" you smiled

"But it's my job to protect you" he stated, finally meeting your gaze.

"Because you're my mate?" You asked with a laugh, but noticed his cheeks darken at your words.

"I'm not your mate…"

"Yet" You smirked when he looked at you with wide eyes.

"I have feelings for you that someone would only have in the presence of a potential mate" you smiled, watching as he scanned your eyes for any sign that you were untruthful.

"But I can still take care of myself" to laughed.

"But It's my-"

"Job to protect me, tell you what, if it's your job to protect me, than it's my job to protect you" you told him as you leaned in, watching his confused expression as you pressed your lips against his, they were just as soft as you always imagined they would be, and your hand came up to cup his face, his stubble lightly scratching your palm as you felt his hand rest against your hip. You pulled away and looked into his eyes, the striking blue swallowed by black pupils. 

"As your mate" you smiled, watching as a smile spread across his lips.

"So...if putting your scent on me is the first stage...what are the other stages of..Laying claim to a mate?" You asked with a smirk, watching as his smile turned playful.

"There are a lot of stages, it could take all night" he replied.

"Well, guess we better get started" you spoke before pulling him down for another kiss, you were in for a long, blissful night with your new mate. Happy anniversary to you.

Hope everyone enjoyed it! Let me know what you think.

#supernatural imagine #supernatural oneshot #supernatural castiel #castiel #castiel x reader #castiel imagine #castiel oneshot #spn #laying claim #claiming #supernatural

[deltaengineering]

Summer Anime 2019 Part 2: let’s play cops & vikings

Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou

❓ 💩

💩 This saves the backstory for later, but rest assured it is very much a 💩. It particularly loves RPG stats because how else could you tell that someone’s awesome.

💩💩 It’s also particularly in the Shield Hero vein, i.e. written by someone who got their lunch money stolen a couple of times too many and is now getting revenge by annoying the shit out of me with shitty self-insert fiction.

💩💩 While powering up in the darkness the dude gets white hair and GUN’s so I think it’s safe to say that this is featuring Donte from the Devil May Cry series. 

💩 There’s some bits of the ol’ THIS CHAIR suffering monologues. Which Higurashi ripped off from Tsukihime, then got ripped off by Re: Zero and now every Web Novel hack thinks it’s très deep.

💩💩 I was about to say that it’s visually whatever (i.e., mostly too dark to make out how bad it looks), but then the CG monsters appeared and OH BOY.

Cop Craft

❓ A portal to the fairy dimension opened and now we have FAIRY CRIME. A loose cannon cop with nothing to lose gets paired up with a haughty fairy princess to get to the bottom of FAIRY CRIME.

✅ If this all sounds vaguely familiar, yeah it’s the FMP guy writing a love letter to 80s buddy cop movies. It has absolutely all the clichees of that genre, but since it’s not a genre I see every day that’s okay and in fact a little bit novel again. I did not watch Bright.

✅ It’s pretty competent at it too, the leads have good chemistry and the tone is good. It’s more serious than something like Red Heat, I’d compare it more to Lethal Weapon.

♎ Directed by Shin Itagaki, who does a competent job with the first episode but is known to be involved with production disasters lately. There’s already signs of slight jank and I hope this doesn’t fall apart really quickly.

Ensemble Stars!

❓ Nondescript girl enters idol school, which happens to be full of hunky boys. Things happen and she joins a movement to seize the means of stage production.

❌ The first half of this episode is just dreadfully dull, generic and features one of the most annoying genkiboys ever on top of it. And going by the old rule that if idol shows must have a producer it has to be a memorable one, Ensemble Stars scores a big fat zero because that girl is a void.

✅ However, then it turns out that this is also a fighting shounen somehow, because part of idol curriculum is hitting each other with guitars. Not to mention that we then reveal that there’s a revolution brewing because the system is corrupt and rigged.

♎ So yeah, there’s some shit going on in this show and it’s quite amusing. I’m just somehow not convinced that it’s more than window dressing because the basics are so bad. 

♎ Even if it turns out to be Revue Starlight (which it won’t), that one was well made enough to beat Ikuhara at his own game. Ensemble Stars doesn’t have the money or the style.

Hakata Mentai! Pirikarako-chan

❓ A super short mascot anime where a cute girl sprays cod roe everywhere, with sensibilities straight from 1964.

❌ ...

Kawaikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasuka? / Hensuki: Are you willing to fall in love with a pervert, as long as she’s a cutie?

❓ Highschooler is surrounded by girls, gets a pantygram from some unknown party. Turns out they’re all horny. Hijinks ensue?

❌ This is just a basic-ass ecchi harem all around. I don’t think it needs much more explanation. Except...

❌ For some reason, it seems to attempt to treat its pantsu and boob shenanigans with the intellectual aspirations of a Monogatari or Oregairu. Needless to say, that causes it to fail on both sides.

♎ Basic shit for basic bitches, but I’ve seen worse in the genre. It’s less pretentious than e,g, Monogatari but also lacks the style. Or any style, for that matter.

Kochoki - Wakaki Nobunaga

❓ Before Oda Nobunaga became a warlord and recurring anime character, he apparently was a smart teen with a propensity to not wear shirts.

♎ This is about as good as an anime about a teen Nobunaga getting up to Tom Sawyer adventures while not wearing a shirt could probably be. Which is to say, it’s not as terrible as it sounds.

✅ In particular, the character writing is decent. I can imagine that this can actually pull of drawing a throughline from these silly adventures to the Nobunaga we know and don’t want to see any more of in fiction ever.

♎ Yeah, it’s basically alright-ish but you really, really have to care about these Sengoku clowns to get anything out of it. I still don’t.

Nakanohito Genome [Jikkyouchuu]

❓ It’s Danganronpa, only about a bunch of streamers, LPers and speedrunners stuck in an MMO. Because 2019.

♎ Why not a turd? Well, isekai is so rigid as a genre that something that isn’t about some dude getting hax & harem barely seems to count anymore.

♎ Still, this setup is so brazenly shameless and idiotic that I can’t help but respect the hustle.

✅ There’s some neat SHAFT-y visuals going on here, reminiscent of how Reincarnated as a Slime tried to pretend to not be the most boring thing ever.

❌ Kenjiro Tsuda is entirely wasted as the least threatening Monoalpaca ever. Please don’t give the guy comedic roles. The rest of the characters are very bland, which is not a good thing in a genre that thrives on its outsized personalities.

❌❌ I just realized I didn’t give this any double Xs, which it definitely deserves. Just look at this shit. The only upside is of course that this is SO dumb it could be the next Caligula or something.

Re Stage! Dream Days

❓ School idols. MIDDLE school idols. In the middle school idol club.

♎ This is another basically competent show that also doesn’t really feature anything to set it apart. They took a mobile game about middle school idols and animated it.

♎ Well okay, I have to admit that for a show about middle schoolers it features more yuri undertones than usual, and shows like this usually feature quite a bit of that.

♎ But yeah, apart from that... seems watchable but nothing special. Looks alright, characters are alright, everything’s just fine. But you have to be a REAL afficionado of the genre to bother.

Vinland Saga

❓ VIKINGS BRUH

✅ Not gonna lie, I was negatively predisposed towards this show because the manga is very popular with the intersection of MANIME idiots and viking-adjacent metalheads. So while this does feature some sick & gnarly viking fights right away, overall it’s more about people sitting around in Iceland being cold and miserable.

❌ So about these sick & gnarly viking fights though? Sorry to report they look very subpar, with a ton of floaty CG and not much of a point to them.

✅ Apart from that, it’s looking pretty good. Nothing really flashy, but I think Wit’s house look works pretty well here. Better than in Titans at least.

♎ That said... I don’t really find people being cold and miserable in Iceland all that compelling either. I understand that this is a huge saga that goes places, but that doesn’t get me all hyped right now. This is one of those times where I’d say this show is (probably?) good and a recommendation, but it’s not really something I feel compelled to watch because it would have to be outright brilliant to overcome my apathy towards the subject.

#anime #impressions #summer2019 #arifureta #cop craft #ensemble stars #pirikarako-chan #hensuki #kochoki: wakaki nobunaga #naka no hito genome #re stage dream days #vinland saga

[thedepthsremember]

TRR 3.21: “Taken” aka ten minutes before this chapter dropped I woke up abruptly so I was shaky from adrenaline LET'S DO THIS

Ahhhh we're starting off with the SAD MUSIC oh boy :( 

Ah yes. We are definitely kidnapped. IF Y'ALL HURT MAXWELL I AM BURNING YOU TO THE GROUND 

This place is giving me flashbacks to the dungeons in Dragon Age: Origins. Where’s my dumbass buddy Jowan? god I really have a type huh

Wassup, Anton? Oooo he got a new outfit! He kinda looks like a priest with my glasses off.

I'm gonna put my glasses on.

My skin crawls hearing him describe Olivia as his wife. Olivia agrees and threatens dismemberment. Stab him, STAB HIM GIRL

The people love me, he can't make me a martyr and expect the people to just go with it. 

He disregards this. But he honestly likes Riley, which I guess is...….. nice... But not worth much since he’s still trying to murder her and everyone she cares about. :////

Also hurts to hear him say that in front of Maxwell who honestly liked Justin. :/ Maxwell just kinda. quietly sad in his corner. 

Liam's coming for us, and sounds like they've got Gladys locked up, now that she's done playing her part. Oh dear. I’m betting diamond choice for if we get her out or not.

Wassup Claudius. So this is the SOB who shot Drake (and almost me).

As a Hufflepuff and admittedly a bit removed from the situation, I remain more offended that he shot my friend than me. Riley doesn't share my feelings and is still rather personally offended. 

Sure, remove your mask from your face so I can punch it. 

Oh he's older than I thought he’d be. Hello jerk Zaeed. 

Do I defend Drake or do I insult his dumb face. Ughhh fine I'll be slightly more mature, I bet it’s cooler anyway. [it is]

Yep. Here's what this whole story comes down to. Are Liam's emotions his strength that's going to make him the King who’s right for Cordonia, or a weakness that'll doom us all?

If you have any doubt, you haven’t been following along. (But it’s fun to worry about it anyway.)

Claude: *calls Olivia a shrew*

SHREW?? SHREW MOTHERUFCKER ESCUSE ME I am about to rip myself free from these ropes and scratch out your eyes.

Ooo TCATF reference~ (this is like the only one I’m going to catch, I’m only 2 chapters in)

Olivia’s trauma conga line continues. :( God, it hurts me to think about how she grew up trying to live up to her name and her parents’ legacy, and of course loving them and wanting to know more about them... and now the more she finds out about it the more it only hurts her. 

Way back in chapter 10, if you ask Olivia’s aunt what Olivia’s parents were like: 

Sorry I just had to drag someone down that road with me to know what I was thinking about when...…. 

OLIVIA CALLED ME HER FRIEND. HER ONLY FRIEND. (sorry Liam you're out I'M IN) I'M HONESTLY CRYING HARDER THAN FOR THE WEDDING.

ahhhhhh, she’s just come so far. 

Anton gets in close to gloat. Idiot is in HEADBUTTING RANGE and I am TAKING IT. 

DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH MAXWELL DON'T YOU DARE 

THEY KNOCKED HIM OUT. OLIVIA FIND ME A SWORD, NOTHING WILL SAVE ANY OF YOU NOW. 

They leave us alone. Olivia says this isn’t how she expected the evening to end. Considering it is Riley’s wedding day, I have to say she had a fairly different idea of how she wanted this night to go as well. 

Yes Olivia, mediate on the image of PUNCHING ANTON'S STUPID FACE in a nice lovely field with a breeze. :) :) :) ahhh. relaxing.

(If you panic instead, MC cries that they’ll never kiss their LI or wear another fancy hat again!!! Olivia is unmoved by our nonsense.) 

Riley remembers her Cinderella roots and considers asking the mice for help chewing through the ropes. Dude, you’re trapped with Olivia. In this dress her earrings are knives. I think we'll be okay.

It is possible to mess up the escape real bad and get Olivia stabbed twice before you leave. It is hilarious, but throughout this whole thing my best efforts never got Riley killed. Bummer. 

MAXWELL'S OKAY!!! excuse you Olivia, this display of affection is totally necessary, did you not see the soulmate point. The game agrees with me.

Nggghh we have to solve a riddle to get outta here. Or else deadly traps. "The best offense requires a personal touch...” Shield because heraldry? But also like all Nevrakis stuff is stabbing, but here our only option is a sword and not knife. Uhhhhhhhhh ok sword.

Holy shit I did it! 

[Even if you mess up and hit all the options, the traps mostly stab at you a bit. Nobody actually dies. Bah.]

But if we did... How awkward. They come down to take us to mock Liam and we’re dead already. ‘mmm yes this is uhhh exactly as planned.’ 

Hey it's the lighthouse background! NIKOLAI WE'RE COMING FOR YOU Oh wrong book.

GLADYS?!!! Guys it’s Gladys! Wait uh no i’m not happy to see her. She tarnished my Rogue Leader title. 

*sighs* ........Guys I am such a fucking sap. I've forgiven her already. It's ok just like, stop using the sad sprite. 

THAT’S RIGHT YOU MADE MAXWELL SAD sympathy retracted.

My priorities are so messed up, guys. What even.

*sighs* Ok Gladys, just take us to the weapons.

If she stabs me in the back again, I deserve it at this point. 

“Olivia is it just me or does this look like your armory?” Yes guys, it is the Same Background.

Aww Gladys. It’s about what I thought. You got a crap deal and were very foolish and trusting about finding a way out of it. She didn’t even realize she was working for Anton. This was dumb and you're still super fired but I can’t really be mad. 

It’s a good look at how wacky nobles with their silly obsessions can actually hurt people without thinking about it. You’re in a position of power, you’ve gotta think about more than yourself. 

Looking at the different playthroughs, each of the LIs chooses a different weapon. Maxwell got a fancy knife (it kinda looks like it swings from the handle?? wild). Hana gets the double-bladed sword (hot). Drake picks up a sword (and they mention his duel with Neville). Neat detail. 

EYYY Olivia picked the pretty dagger that iirc looks like the one I used to open champagne at the Beaumont Bash :D bestiesssss 

....Damn. This means I can’t use it. I personally also prefer either the small stabbables or a bow, but I considering the boutique battle, I guess Riley's style is more swing vigorously. Axe it is! The other ones are too heavy and I’d probably be more likely to hurt myself than someone else honestly. 

Riley finds your weaponry expertise hot, Olivia. Maxwell probably does too. 

…...Oh my god for a minute I thought Olivia was going to stab Gladys in front of me.

I'm doing what's probably the dumb thing and letting her go to cause a distraction but WHELP. Gotta stay true to my brand. i just wanna trust!!!!

Gladys pulls through and keeps guards away from us! I hope she’s okay. [oh my god wait do we ever find out what happens to her??? Gladys??????]

(If you don’t let her go, you see a guard and accidentally almost stab your friends but there isn’t really danger. boooo)

speaking of friends IT’S DRAAAAKE AND HANAAAAA

MY BUDDIES MY GOOD DUDES ♥__♥ *GRABS BOTH OF THEM AND CRIES* 

LIAM YOU BIG.... DUMB.... GRYFFINDOR 😭 He’s gone off BY HIMSELF to stall Anton while Hana and Drake try to find us. Clearly none of them trust the king’s guard and who can blame them. but GOD I AM STRESSED. 

Anton: 'you want to see the hostages? Well uh I... would too, fuck where are they. Guysssss who was watching the hostages D:'

CLAUDIUS DON'T YOU TOUCH LIAM WITH YOUR FILTHY DRAKE SHOOTING HANDS 

Olivia says to wait for the right moment. Uh Olivia is now the moment LIAM'S GONNA GET HIMSELF SHOT

goddddddd he really doesn’t care if he dies as long as it gives us time to get out. L I A M

……… I just realized, if we hadn’t already freed ourselves and Hana and Drake were still looking for us, Liam would’ve definitely gotten himself killed. NO

Oh man Olivia and I vaulting over the banister, weapons in hand, dresses trailing behind us........ What an image 😍

Wh. Why. How could you make me choose who to help WHY I CRY

Ok we're going with Maxwell but if ANY OF THE REST OF YOU ARE DEAD I'M GOING TO BURN CORDONIA TO THE GROUND

“THIS ONE’S FOR RILEY. AND THIS ONE’S ALSO FOR RILEY.” God I love him. I’d be willing to bet that doesn't even change if you're not romancing him either. [I looked it up and it doesn’t! he is so ride or die]

Anytime Riley or Maxwell call each other partner my heart swells and I want to die. ♥

ANTON PULLS A GUN AND MAXWELL JUMPS IN D: Flashbacks to Maxwell being sad he couldn't protect us at the Homecoming ball like Drake did. Noooo baby you don't gotta 

Maxwell: [john mulaney voice] THAT’S MY WIFE!

If we get outta here you know he’s doing that all the time. 

Riley jumps in AND --- what she doesn’t chop Anton's arm off with her freaking battle axe? i guess she didn’t wanna get too gory while she’s wearing white. i mean. knocking things over on him works too.... i guesssss

Riley: AND STAY DOWN Anton: [immediately gets up] Riley: …..godddd dude learn to listen.

What kind of.... secret fighting dance move nonsense is this :'D 

[Drake voice] self defense and dancing aren’t all that different! 

Friends team up and talk the goons out of fighting us. Goons sense we are ANGRY and HOPPED UP ON WEDDING CAKE and VENGENCE and are prepared to BITE OUR WAY OUT OF HERE IF NECESSARY. 

Fukkin Claudius is still here and Drake …… recognizes his voice or something, I’m guessing. 

(dramatic inner monologue about how Drake probably hears that voice in his nightmares when he flashes back to that night... oh no) 

Hell yeah DRAKE REVENGE HEADBUTT!!!

Part of me deeply appreciates him being more vengeful for himself (who actually got shot) than me (who got scared but not at all shot). Everyone here cares about me way too much. 

WHOA

NO

YOU DO NOT STAB OLIVIA ON MY WEDDING DAY ABSOLUTELY NOT D8 

IF YOU CAN BREATHE YOU CAN STAND

AND IF YOU CAN STAND YOU CAN FIGHT

TEARS

(sidenote since I’m pretty sure like. everyone picked that option (and you should it’s hella good), but if you pick “You can’t kill her you need her!” Anton muses that he can just say you did it, and he can get sympathy points from the public for avenging his dead wife. he’s the fucking worst god stab him already Olivia THANKS YOU DID GREAT)

Olivia: “Riley, I’m hurt...” oh god the fact that she’s even admitting that …….. my eyes just won’t stop leaking. 

Oh god ALL these one liners are so fucking good AUGHHHH can I just say them all in succession as he's being dragged off????

YOUR PUN LEVEL IS NOTHING AGAINST MAXWELL, FAKE JUSTIN. NOTHINGGGG

~~~~~VICTORY GROUP HUG~~~~~~

Olivia is horrified by this show of affection. Drake, unwilling group hug veteran, comforts her.

This is all very touching but I wonder who Olivia's bleeding on. It had better not be me. We should probably get her medical attention.

HEY LOOK IT'S THE KING’S GUARD late as always.

I think it's all those edits but I cant help interpreting Liam's neutral face as sarcasm now. ‘Yes Bastien. We're here and fine :| So nice of you to show.’

Nah Bastien, screw propriety, you go ahead and yell at your foolish king. You can be his dad now. He at least should’ve had some kind of backup plan.

Honestly I’m thinking Bastien’s gotten so rusty not having to watch out for Leo that sneaking away was probably super simple for Liam.

Whelp, back the party! 

Awwww Reginaaaa ;-; Liam YOU JERK IF YOU DIED YOU WOULD HAVE LEFT HER ALL ALONE

Well. Alone with Leo. ...well. 

BERTRAND IS HUGGING US BOTH. ON PURPOSE. THIS DAY IS SO BLESSED. 

My dog! hi baby!!!! 

I am a sucker for every time they pull the “who’s a good boY!!!??” ":o?” “IT’S YOUUU” god I love doggos. 

Hell YES THIS IS THE TIME FOR DANCING. It’s called a victory dance for a reason. 

Drake just said the words "Maxwell is right." While smiling. what even is this day

We get some pairs interacting! 

Penelope and Kiara are always the best :D 

neville is like still fukkin here for some reason??? roast him madeline 

Regina and Olivia share a nice moment :) 

Olivia is still bleeding and annoyed about it. Olivia..... babe........ maybe like....... lie down a bit.............

Team Riley has another sweet moment~~~ 

Ok this is all very nice but Riley has gotta be getting tired and she still needs to bang Maxwell to within an inch of his life. When is that happening. 

FINALLY Madeline comes up like “hey ok I’m resigning my position as your official cockblocker, go, leave.”

girl ARE you serious. Are you. I GOT KIDNAPPED PROBABLY BC YOUR COCKBLOCKING SHENANIGANS WORE MY GUARD DOWN, AND NOW HERE YOU COME ok you know what I'm taking it

Riley: *GRABS MAXWELL AND THROWS HIM OVER HER SHOULDER* BYEEEEEE

Finally alone!!!! bless 

You have the option to succumb to giggles or tears or jump in his arms, and while I picked laughter because this whole thing is absurd as hell if you go for tears, he is very comforting and he gets many points for that. ♥

whelp, here they go. (this isn’t going to get detailed, don’t worry/sorry) (lol)

Different music than normal! It's the sexy club track instead of the '😏 yee we're getting busy 😏' ones. I like it! Sets the tone for this very well, it's celebratory! We are well past anyone needing to be seduced. In one option Maxwell jokes he's glad you guys got advance practice in (lol), and the difference here does show. Neither of them are trying to impress each other, this is pure culmination of 'I love you, I want you, we went through hell for this, get over here.'

I appreciate that even though Maxwell likes to be on top, every time he brings them to the floor or here with the couch, he cushions her fall. Sweet as hell. 

He's back in his fucking jeans I can't djdjjfjgjgjg 

if they’re so determined not to make him one with boxers, at least get one with the fancy pants. It doesn’t even have to be the same fancy pants, just like. try slightly harder. 

There's no way I was wearing that bra under that dress. 

Ok this recap is going to fade to black here.

...

Maxwell, I know we’ve got to work on your self-esteem, but you can’t give me credit for the sex, it’s a team effort. (and let’s be honest it kinda seems like he does most the work. Not that I’m complaining.)

Maxwell, whilst being adorable, accidentally flings his ring off and freaks out. Don’t even worry about it man, do you know how many rings I’ve just left on sinks in public bathrooms? I was happy with the dang twig 

.............he got 

he got us ROSES im

Mmdmmfmdn

this almost makes up for that dirty trick  they pulled on us at the beginning of book 2. 

Did

He

Write us a poem???

Flowers and champagne and mood lighting... babe it’s like you're about to propose all over again.

ok it was not a poem but it was...……………...very good and destroyed me

G o o d b y e  I love him so much

I want to physically fight the entire Cordonian court for making him think he wasn’t worth it. 

The amount of self-depreciating things he says with a smile on his face is.... unacceptable. 

Luckily he has Riley now and she’s damn well going to spend the rest of her days helping him build up that confidence he deserves. 

this entire scene is my cause of death. it’s been an honor and a privilege. 

♥♥♥

♥♥

♥

actually

speaking of 

the logical part of my mind felt like 3 books was a good place to bring the story to completion, but now that it’s becoming a reality...……… I’m not ready. :( 

#trr #the royal romance #playchoices #maxwell beaumont #olivia nevrakis #riley brooks #v plays trr #v plays choices #v recap #this is absolutely the wrong time to post this but I want it out of my drafts

[oldboyjensrps]

Jensen’s Preferences

Themes and Preferences

tagged by the rad: @bluteamblueprints

aka, things i’ve always wanted to ask people / have people ask me. please remember to repost rather than reblog!  Getting put under the cut as to not clog dashboards.

what types of genres do you gravitate towards?

Well jeepers I’m a fan of balancing comedy and serious shit, and also a fuckin sucker for romantic shtuff. Found family? HOO YEAH THAT’S THE SHIT. I also enjoy a good spicy thread as long as it’s balanced with humor and actual character work.

Action/adventure? Sign me the funck up. Add in magic or fantasy? Sure why in the not? Monstrous characters that can be sweeties also? Check mate, mate. Also just monsters can be fun.

Tragecomedy is neat. I like to mix my genres like a child at soda fountain.

what types of genres do you gravitate away from?  

Angst for angst’s sake. Like I said above, I really am more of a “mix and balance” type writer, and often overly angsty threads die fast or at least get... very tiresome. Doesn’t mean I won’t accept an angst based starter or send one, but it might turn a little silly as well since I’m rping in the tf2niverse. in order to keep things gloomy it takes a lot of negating character progression (since people tend to remain sad for a while in real life) and I’m trained to “yes and.” Also it brings back cringey memories from olden days.

Smut without chemistry or character development. Rushed romance lands here too.

What type of characters do you play often?

    Oh boy uh. Mmmm.... sarcastic. Characters. Women who are very terrifying and dangerous but also goofy and awkward? Also men who are terrifying and dangerous but also goofy and awkward. And nonbinary characters who are terrifying and dangerous but also goofy and awkward. Characters heavily inspired by the Golden Girls and Hawkeye Pierce. Uh, and self inserts. It’s actually really interesting to try and look at what you, as a character, would do via stepping back and looking at your basic traits and experiences etc.

What kind of characters do you tend not to play?

Flat characters. I’ve tried with dnd npcs. They always complicate and become gremlins with actual purpose.

Any pairing tropes you particularly enjoy?

Both parties being awkward idiots and not seeing the very obvious signals that the other person likes them. Partly because it makes observer characters just so done.

Enemy to lover occasionally as long as it’s not..weird.

Being insufferable together in terms of puns and chaotic antics

Cuddling, lots of physical affection.

Buddy cop type romance

Being trapped in a space somehow together and shenanigans.

Platonic tropes?

Lotta physical affection and being like... cats in a pile.

You know? A good good cat pile.

Getting up to antics like stealing a mannequin from a store going out of business.

Just being super close

FOUND FAMILY (especially found dad/child dynamics)

Being ready to throw down for each other.

Throwing down for each other.

Being honest with each other, even if the other person doesn’t want to hear it as long as it’s for their sake.

Antagonist tropes?

Ahahah hahahah...

Sorry you just ever uh, make a character so awful, vile, and reprehensible that even you cringe when thinking about them? I did. It’s an NPC for one of my blogs, but he has influenced the lives of all my main Tf2 muses.

Frenemies is fun

Antagonists that are equally in the right as the protagonist but with different methods

True redemption arcs like Zuko.

Also Vegeta type redemption arcs. Those amuse me.

Be mean to Messenger I wanna know how she works.

Prefered thread type?

Paragraphs. I ramble occasionally but tend to match length though I never expect my partner to do the same. Not one liners though, just can’t do it in the tumblr format. I don’t regularly use icons (mainly because I OC a lot) but I hope to do that some more with my Spy blog.

Favorite types of Interactions?

Ones where the muses agree to give both muns the middle finger and just randomly go completely off the rails? Like so in character that they get away from us.

Hurt/comfort

Stuff with MEAT and multiple facets/layers

Wishlist.

For @Oldboyjensenrps

Even more interaction with canon characters for Messenger

To eventually actually get “The Jack” interacting on the blog

Familial threads 

AUs

Specifically working with Messenger’s 10th class Verse-Mercsenger (under [merc au] tag)

More frands/more stupid, questionably-legal antics

Fight the messenger

adopt the messenger

seduce the messenger-sucker for well done romance and/or smut threads

For @dastardlydapperbastard

Interaction with other mercs

franship with other mercs

fights with other mercs

All the above with ocs too

Good luck romancing him but that would be interesting to see if anyone succeeds

accidentally adopting but he’ll never admit it ocs

awkward scout threads if anyone needs a spy

buddy cop type Scout threads

Interacting with Scouts that aren’t his Scout and accidentally (but again he’ll deny it) adopting them

Crack him open and feast upon his emotions somehow

Open the can of worms that is Jolene. (see bio)

let me be the grumpy old stab man

tagging: I think everyone I interact with is spoken for on this one, so if you’re reading this and haven’t done it you, I tag you pikachu.

#About Jensen #[mun meme] #[munday] #very long and it took a while because my compy's been sick

[talesofzero]

Daiba/Yama #7, Bulge/Zero #12, Zero/Wataru(???!?!?!?!?!) #19

Modern AU; Already did the other two, but here’s Bulge/Zero for 12 - Love Bite. Featuring Harlock having a bad time. It’s all very silly.

Mildly inappropriate warning

~1600 words

I must have been cursed. After several unlucky roundsof Rock, Paper, Scissors, I was slapped with the designated driver position forthe night. As if things weren’t bad enough already, everyone got wasted. Unusuallywasted.

I had no proof that anything had been spiked, but Zerocould hold his alcohol better than anyone I knew, and he was laughing with hischeek against our table after just a few drinks. Even when Zero did get drunk,he was always all moody about it. Seeing him giggling like a little kid made mewonder if someone had slipped something in my water too.

Bulge, usually our designated driver, never drankmuch. Said he didn’t like to get drunk, but he was collapsed against Zero’s sidecackling about whatever stupid thing had riled the two of them up.

Everyone was having a good time, sure. I just didn’ttrust the place. After twenty minutes of coaxing, begging, bribing, anddragging, I got them all back to the car. At each apartment stop, I made surethey made it through their door alright after making them promise they’d neverhave me as a designated driver again. Not like they’d remember.

Bulge and Zero’s shared apartment was last, theclosest to mine and Tochiro’s and furthest from the bar I didn’t think I’d begoing back to. Their heads were knocked together in the backseat, lookingasleep except for the occasional murmur from one of them.

“Alright, come on,” I called back as I parked by theircars. “Let’s get you useless drunks inside.”

The car’s overhead light kicked on as I opened mydoor, and I found them squinting as I popped their door open for them. Theyboth wore pouts but complied when I grabbed them by the arm and dragged theminto the parking lot.

“Are you staying the night, Harlock?” Bulge asked in asweet, sleepy slur of a voice as though dripping with honey. He got all sappyand affectionate when drunk.

I expected Zero to object, but he was too busy tryingto find where he put his front door key in his million coat pockets.

“I’m not staying,” I said. “I’m just dropping you off.There’s only so much being around drunk people I can stand without being drunkmyself.”

“Sorry,” Bulge said like a kicked puppy. “Do you wantsome food or something? I’m real sorry. You were so helpful.”

I was starting to see why he didn’t like to get drunkoften. “It’s fine,” I said. “Let’s just get you both inside.”

Zero continued fumbling for his keys even as wereached the door, until I was tapping my foot and sighing. Before I could offerto just kick the door in, Bulge shoved his hand into one of the coat’s lowerpockets with a slurred, “Babe, you always put it in the same pocket.”

Zero looked as startled as I did, though he may havebeen more shocked by the awkward placement of Bulge’s grabby hand. I wasconcerned with Bulge calling him babe. Bulge didn’t call anyone babe, not hisoccasional dates, not any hapless baby animals, and especially not hisroommate.

I hoped neither of them would remember this in themorning because I was already hurting knowing that I would. It was all tooweird.

I snatched the keys from Bulge, knowing how long we’dbe there if I let them try to put the key in the lock. Once I had the dooropen, I turned on the lights for them and made sure there weren’t any strayshoes on the floor they could trip over. There weren’t, of course. Bulge andZero were both too neat for that. They both looked like something was crawling aroundon them when they visited my apartment. Bulge was too polite to comment, butZero always said, “Clean your goddamn house, Harlock.”

I tried to hang on the door and let them stumble pastme into the apartment, but Bulge pushed me farther in. “You should eatsomething,” he said. “Or get a drink. We have lots of things.”

If by “lots of things,” he meant water, then they suredid.

He seemed so anxious about it that I figured I wouldhave to take some crackers and a water bottle to make him happy. With a sigh, Iclosed the door behind me, muttering, “Fine-fine.”

Bulge’s eyes lit up as though it were his birthday,and I turned into their small kitchen area. I swear, I was in there for tenseconds tops. I thought I heard something like one of them stubbing their toeagainst the couch, but I sure as hell was not prepared to come back to themmaking out on the couch.

Something had definitely been slipped into my water.

For a minute, I could only stare, my whole body lockedup against me. It looked like Zero had shoved Bulge over the armrest, boththeir knees resting on it. Bulge had his arms locked around Zero’s back, hisfingers digging into that damn coat. Zero hands were latched on Bulge’ssquirming hips, and damn the two of them were going at it. Even when my bodystill wouldn’t move, my eyes flicked away on their own as my mind whirled.

I felt the need to stop them, but I would have muchpreferred just running out the door and leaving them to their devices. Ifsomething had been slipped into their drinks, this was not good. They wouldn’trealize what they were doing. Unless they did? Maybe they did this all the time.I didn’t know. They could have been fuck buddies. Neither of them were thetypes to go around advertising it.

But if that weren’t true, I had to pry them apartsomehow. And then what if they just climbed back on top of each other as soonas I left? Dammit, I was not staying here all night playing chastity belt.

I opened my mouth to say something. I hadn’t plannedout whatever it was, but when Zero’s hand shoved into Bulge’s pants, my voice justcame out as a yell.

Sure didn’t stop them. Bulge just moaned over me. Heactually moaned. Bulge. Oh my god. He was so loud and unrestrained, they weregoing to wake the damn neighbors.

When they broke away gasping for air, their faces allflushed – goddamn, I needed a drink – I finally kicked my legs into motion. Myhand outstretched, I was ready to put a stop to these useless, drunk,starting-to-get-me-grossly-turned-on idiots.

But Bulge did that for me. Sweet, stupid, Bulge.Something got ahold of him – probably Zero’s hand. He leaned up and bit downhard on the side of Zero’s neck. Zero yelped and rolled off of Bulge, hittingthe floor with a thunk.

“Oh thank god,” I said through a wheeze.

Zero had his hand on his neck, his brows furrowed ashe stared up at the ceiling.

“I’m sorry!” Bulge howled, held up on one arm as helooked to Zero in horror. “Did I bite too hard? I thought you liked biting! I’msorry!”

I blinked. Bulge hadn’t done that intentionally. “Idon’t know what I expected,” I muttered, rubbing a hand across my face.

When Zero pulled his hand back to look, his palm was coveredwith blood like a fresh coat of red paint. Bulge broke into a yell and a dozenscreamed apologies.

If the neighbors weren’talready awake, they sure as hell were up now.

I woke with a splitting headache which drowned out theache in my back. After a few minutes of trying to pull my eyes open, I was ableto squint enough to realize I’d slept on the couch. For some reason, Harlockwas curled up on the recliner across the room. The bottle of water on the floornear him entranced me too much to care, and I rolled off the couch to dragmyself toward it.

A quiet “oof,” reached my ears as my knee landed onsomething that wasn’t the floor. Looking down, I found Zero, his expressionscrewed up with pain and his hand against his head.

“Sorry,” I mumbled in a hoarse voice that must havebeen mine, and I pulled myself off of him.

“S’okay,” he answered, his eyelids heavy. As heyawned, I noticed a huge adhesive bandage slapped against his neck, the kindusually reserved for kids who scraped their knees. Our first aid kit sat openon the floor nearby.

“We must have done something stupid,” I said.

“Yes,” a voice hissed behind me.

I turned to find Harlock glaring from his seat, thoughhe didn’t look all that threatening with how he’d curled up. He reminded me ofa puffed-up cat.

“I am never, nevergoing to be a designated driver for you two again,” he said.

“What happened?” Zero asked as I padded over on allfours to the water bottle.

When I looked up at Harlock’s silence, I found himredder than Zero’s favorite sweater. He couldn’t look at either of us.

Oh.

I looked at Zero, who was trying to hide his smile ashe looked back to me.

“And you didn’t even join in?” Zero asked.

I wished he wouldn’t taunt Harlock like that. The poorguy looked close to a heart attack. “I’m leaving,” he said like the wind hadbeen knocked out of him.

“At least take some food or water before you go,” Icalled as he rushed to the door.

He just gave a shortscream and slammed it behind him.

#Galaxy Railways #Cosmo Warrior Zero #Captain Harlock #Zero fic #Schwanhelt Fic #Harlock fic #AU fic #galaxy railways fic #cwz fic #request fic #Anonymous

[some-triangles]

PART 4

Utena has turned into a car.

I think it is incumbent on the viewer at this point to try to unravel both why this makes sense as a gesture and why it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Point 1: It’s a magical girl transformation sequence.  Ikuhara, having worked on Sailor Moon, knows all about this stuff.  The beats of a transformation sequence are as follows: upon activation of an arcane device, a girl loses all her clothes and emerges clad in fetish gear.  The ideal transformation sequence from a commercial perspective ends up with a girl wearing an outfit which appeals as much to young girls as it does to grown men.   As has previously been established, grown men like cars – but this car is hot pink, shaped like a uterus and is trying as hard as it can to be a horse.  Or two horses.   It is a “car” in the same sense that Sailor Moon is a “high school girl”.   It has been optimized to serve all of the needs of the academy at once.

Point 2:  What we are dramatizing here is the fact that despite her avowed wish to leave the academy Utena has still been socialized in patriarchy and therefore cannot fully transcend her status as a player of the academy’s game.   When she took Anthy’s hand and led her in the general direction of “out” she was still playing prince, saving the damsel in distress.  This gesture does not work because the academy owns it.   When she attempts it, she is revealed as what the academy forces her to be: an object.  An exciting, ambiguously-gendered object, admittedly, an object which is absolutely up to date and this year’s model, but an object that is nonetheless made to please a particular audience.  As long as Utena can still be the receptacle of male fantasy – as prince or princess – the story cannot work.

Point 3: Back in the old academy Anthy’s role in the final confrontation was to get stabbed a whole lot and lie in a coffin.   Of course, something important and transformative did take place there, and the gesture that changed the academy did come from Anthy in the end; but she didn’t look cool doing it.  Utena did all of the on-screen work.   If Anthy is retelling the story here she wants to emphasize that despite all of Utena’s princely self-sacrifice the most difficult thing anyone did in that room was reach out of that coffin.  She also wants to emphasize that she’s the top.

Akio killed himself earlier because he was unable to find his “key”.  He lost it when he realized that Anthy was, if not enjoying herself, at least tacitly “consenting” to what he had been doing to her, which was, as far as he was concerned, not nearly as hot as the whole drugged princess routine. Anthy, however, already has Utena’s key. Get it?  What we are emphasizing here, in case anyone got the wrong idea from the TV-mandated chasteness of the original series, is that queer desire is actually an integral part of the revolutionary moment.  Anthy is able to go through with this because she really, sincerely wants to fuck Utena’s brains out.

So Utena’s sex car is saved from rusting away from disuse.   The shadow puppet girls arrive to give Ikuhara’s old buddy Anno a shout-out and the race is on.

It’s worth considering whether there might have been a way to do the car metaphor without going full bananas zany with it – whether we might have found some kind of tonal harmony between Touga in the cabbage patch and Anthy in the driver’s seat.    It would probably not have worked but I would have loved to see an attempt.  As it is, the narrator has gone manic and we are flying, buddy, we are up in the clouds.

The shadow puppet girls (who apparently all have pink hair in this universe – emphasizing their artificiality, I suspect) complete their setup and a new challenger enters the race.

Shiori’s car looks kind of like Soundwave from Transformers.  I always liked Soundwave.  Her car is also considerably more phallic than Utena’s, having as it does a cycloptic bull for a figurehead.   Shiori is acting as an agent of the academy here simply by making this a race, rather than an obstacle course - the idea that only one special person gets to leave the academy at a time plays right into the prince/princess narrative.  It’s not a part of the story that Anthy particularly wants to dispel, either, which may be telling.

Shiori says the line of century, which I’m going to render literally for maximum effect: “It’s a big mistake to think that you were the only one who was able to turn into a car.”

Behind the bull Shiori is a big ol’ Chrysler station wagon with frilly upholstery. She underscores the crabs in a bucket motif by saying that only she is cool enough to do something as neat as escaping the world before crashing into a retaining wall and exploding in a completely unforced error, which makes sense when you consider that nobody’s driving her.

Anthy has a nasty sense of humor.

Next up are the thousand drone tanks of the world’s resentment.  The jokes are flying thick and fast now – the shadow puppet girls pick up the encroaching horde on a “vegetable scanner” which superimposes the danger on a picture of a salad, and the three filler dudes who were so fillery that I never mentioned them once in my recap of the original series show up with radar guns. The drone horde also makes a lot of really high-pitched honking sounds.  The director wants us to know that he knows that this is stupid.  The viewer may well ask what all that trauma from before was about, in that case, but there’s no time, the drones are attacking.

Utena’s chassis is effed up in much the same way that her uniform was back when she fought Touga that one time.  Like the opening theme says: “what I want is to find my place in life and my self-worth, taking who I've been up until today and heroically stripping her down until she's bare, like the roses whirling in freedom.”  Cast off that magical girl fetish gear, and be free!  And nude. While we continue to film you.  Trust us, it’s all very liberating.

Just as our heroes are about to be splatted by the biggest drone of them all, a tow hook shoots out from nowhere.  It’s our heroes’ friends!   Or… people who we can assume they made friends with, off screen, at some point!

Ikuhara shouting in the distance: “Oh, the whole bandminton game thing was too subtle for you, huh?  Need to have everything spelled out for you, huh? FINE”

They are driving Wakaba, a Jeep.  (The utility vehicle is truly the plain friend of the motorsports world.)  Explaining their presence, Juri says that high ideals attract noble companions. (I like overtly conceited Juri, and wish her incarnation from the original academy had had a little bit more of that going on.)  Miki tells Anthy that they will definitely follow her outside at some point.  I do not believe him.

The final challenge approaches.  It’s a giant Disney castle on wheels.

Thanks, Ikuhara.  I am beginning to see a Point 4 emerging to complement points 1 through 3 above, straight from the director: “If I make this as shiny, noisy and overt as possible, maybe you idiots will pay attention this time.”

The castle hoves massively into the lane in front of them as somewhere in the distance the bongo player goes nuts.   The shadow puppet girls implore Anthy to turn around and head back, but she’s not running anymore.  Suddenly, the car is wearing a dress.  Car Utena gets a secondary transformation - like, that wasn’t even her final form – like, you got your DBZ in my Sailor Moon, you got your Sailor Moon in my DBZ – like, we are now somehow even more uterus-shaped –

The extended dance mix of Rinbu Revolution starts playing, and let me just say that it is an incongruous choice for a car chase/demolition derby.  Anthy makes it through the castle, to general rejoicing, but there remains one final obstacle.

Point 5: to make all this masculine bullshit appear as silly as possible.

Akio tells Anthy that if she goes out there all she’s going to find is the end of the world.  Which is true, of course – the point of the whole castle palaver, the point of all this fetishizing of youth and innocence, is to keep death at bay.    If you can’t grow, you can’t die; but of course if you can’t grow, you can’t live, either. 

Akio tells Anthy to go back to being a living corpse.  (He can’t find his key, otherwise.)  Anthy tells him to fuck off so he squeezes them between some giant tank treads.

 Utena there, getting denuded again, of course.

Then this happens.

The prince is very, very dead.  The castle collapses in a hail of rose petals and eurodisco.  The shadow puppet girls lose their animating essence and become straw dolls named “Tenjou Utena” and “Himemiya Anthy.”  Cause they were puppets the whole time, see?

“Real” Anthy and “Real” Utena chat about how there are no roads in the outside world and so they will have to make one themselves.  They say this as they are literally driving on a road.   Still on screen and still being filmed, the two girls recline naked on a speeding motorcycle and make out, as you do once you have been freed from the male gaze.  

We end on a shot of another castle in the distance, which seems like a hopeful sign but should be the most ominous fucking thing in the world, if you’ve been paying attention.

The only possible conclusion is that they have not actually escaped.

In the end I can only interpret the last act of this movie as a titanic shrugging of the shoulders, an admission of a failure to envision what escape from this milieu actually looks like.  In this failure it invited other authors to take a crack at the same problem using the same kind of symbol language, which is how we got Madoka and its “let’s reframe choosing to be the Bride, who is still absolutely necessary to the functioning of the universe, as a revolutionary act in and of itself” thesis, among other things.   Ikuhara has a lot to answer for.

The problem of course is that a genuine escape from the academy should probably not be written by someone who has a vested interest in the academy’s continued existence; and so I think if anyone does end up writing the Utena story with an ending that works, it won’t be Ikuhara, or, not to put too fine a point on it, dudes generally.

Then again it’s possible that outside the academy there are things besides writing and rewriting the same old story to worry about.

#utena #utena liveblog #which is done done done #so what next

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #119: Night of the Collector

January, 1974

Oh gee, I wonder who the mystery villain this time is going to be?

Bonus points for the Collector using high tech pins to literally pin up the Avengers like they were insects. Although he was nice enough not to stick the pins through their flesh parts.

A villain did that to Hank Pym once. It was not pleasant.

We start off our issue with the Avengers having to bum a ride from SHIELD since they hitched a teleport from Dr. Strange to the Los Angeles battle. Along for the ride is Loki, ‘mind-drained’ as a result of having Dormammu blasted right through his brain in the penultimate issue of the Avengers/Defenders War.

There’s some casual conversation that serves to keep some plot points active. Cap reassures Vision that anyone can freeze up in a moment of danger like Vision did with the quicksand. Mantis worries about Swordsman’s wounds but he says he just feels a little weak. Iron Man privately hopes Scarlet Witch isn’t still on her anti-human kick after how she blew off Nick Fury’s thanks.

And there’s immediately an action scene as the Avengers accidentally set off their own defenses like idiots. I guess because the SHIELD jets were not recognized?

Everyone except Black Panther gets pinned down or blasted in some way. Black Panther manages to make his way to the door and activate the security panel and deactivate it.

Wanda is still in some mood so she criticizes Thor for how easily he was blasted, saying he’s no better than a human.

But since they’ve all just been through a stressful situation, Cap advises to just let it go.

Thor isn’t really that concerned since he has other things on his mind. Like what to do with Loki. Well, he’s gonna keep him.

Can’t return him to Asgard. Odin banished him. And I guess he won’t change his mind just because of a little Dormammu-brain-blasting. But in his childlike state, he can’t just be left to wander free. So Thor is going to confine Loki to a special top-security chamber. But he’s going to get Jarvis to make sure its a comfortable top-security chamber.

Gee! Thor as Loki’s keeper sure is going to change things around here.

Meanwhile, Black Panther pulls Mantis to the side to speak with her on a little one on one. But its nothing serious. Its just... well, nobody knows anything about Mantis’ background and that is a potentially interesting subject to the young absentee king.

During his studies, he was mostly interested in what Western technology could do for his people and never had time to study Eastern philosophies.

According to Black Panther or rather Steve Englehart speaking through Black Panther, Africa is neither Eastern nor Western but as an emerging continent able to profit from the knowledge of both.

So he just wants to know where Mantis studied and what she studied. Stuff like that.

She dismisses her story as an uninteresting recital and slips into some I’s. “As I have said, I am nothing to speak of.”

An answer that a caption highlights as evasive.

But no time to probe deeper. The plot is calling!

Mantis goes into a trance and gets a premonition of sorts that there’s.... danger! In Rutland! Tonight! Halloween!

Oh Rutland. You’re always with the danger on Halloween.

But also, Rutland is where Loki and Dormammu met. It could be connected!

Luckily, Iron Man and Vision had already finished taping a report on the ‘why everything went to hell for about an hour’ crisis for the news networks.

So off the Avengers go, to that most insidious hive of black magic and evil forces. RUTLAND, VERMONT!

And Jarvis watches them go in dismay. He had just finished cooking them a celebratory banquet with individualized dishes for everyone. And now they’re probably just going to stop at McDonald’s on the way.

Poor Jarvis. The forces of evil and sometimes the Avengers just don’t appreciate the work he puts in (Dude is really an unsung hero).

Anyways, Rutland! Its where the Rutland Halloween Parade takes place. Remember it? I talked about it before? It was a famous event organized by real life guy Tom Fagan? It appears in comics frequently and was home to one of the first unofficial crossovers between Marvel and DC?

Rutland!

The Avengers arrive and are greeted by Tom Fagan (dressed as Nighthawk in a little goof that he always dressed as Batman in the real life parade). He wonders if they’re here to join the fourteen annual Halloween Parade.

Scarlet Witch and Vision beg off. There’s danger here and they can find it more easily by themselves.

Swordsman and Mantis beg off too. Mantis doesn’t like the limelight and Swordsman gets itchy when there’s trouble afoot. But they might stop by the party at Fagan’s house afterward.

To that, Tom Fagan smiles deviously and thinks to himself that they have all walked into his most deadly trap! The caption box gets a bit panicked at its old buddy being so sinister.

You and me both, caption box. You and me both.

Thor, Cap, Iron Man, and Black Panther can’t think of an excuse to duck out. Or probably more likely, they love to help out and stand on a thing and wave at crowds. And that’s what they do for the next two hours.

Plus, they had also hoped that a public appearance in the parade would draw out the phantom menace. Which. I mean. Don’t use a parade as bait, you guys. So many bystanders. I shouldn’t have to tell you this.

With the parade over and the townspeople gone, Tom Fagan suddenly turns on the heroes! Just like foreshadowed in that panel on the previous page!

He throws down some pellets which grow into living animal hides that attack the Avengers!

Ostensibly the legendary coats of Hercules (‘from which no truly mortal being can break free!’). The animal hides wrap around the four Avengers and pin them down in what must be a snug, cozy embrace. They work a lot like constrictor snakes apparently. Tightening whenever they Avengers take a breath.

Hmm... who do we know that likes to use crap from mythology as a weapon?

Is Tom Fagan really Hercules in disguise?

No, that would be silly. Although, having the actual Hercules as a recurring character does kind of make it a bit weird to be busting out his wardrobe.

Tom Fagan is really and astoundingly the Collector in disguise!

He’s on the cover. And he’s the one that likes to use mythological crap as a weapon. It was not a hard conclusion to draw.

He was using the tendency for superheroes to show up in Rutland for Halloween to his advantage. Really, he just wanted to capture any superhero to use as a lure for the Avengers but having the Avengers themselves show up just simplifies the plan really.

But once again I’ll curse flawless latex masks. They should turn everyone in the Marvel universe into helpless trembling balls of paranoia.

Kinda impressed that the Collector could fit his dumb outfit under a skintight disguise.

We cut to the Collector already having the four Avengers pinned up in his trophy case. Yes, like on the cover.

And since he failed to get the Avengers twice before, he’s been preparing a long time for this. He acquired Tom Fagan’s old house in Spring and has been modifying it since.

Like most villains, the Collector loves talking to himself.

He explains to the unconscious Avengers that he has spent his lifetime secretly collecting the greatest prizes throughout space and his interstellar ship stores the best objects of all possible worlds.

But apparently what he really needs to highlight his collection is the Avengers. And he’s not picky. He’ll just take the current roster. Which does mean he’s missing four Avengers before he possesses the crowning trophies of his triumphant career.

But enough of that nerd and his shifting motivations (later it will turn out that he wanted the Avengers for a specific task and not just because they’d look neat on his mantle but y’know what they would look neat on his mantle).

We have to meanwhile over to see what Scarlet Witch and Vision are up to. And they are being accosted by fans who want them to sign shit. And Wanda is fed up to here with being harassed so she blasts them away. Probably non-lethally.

Swordsman decides that outburst of violence is as good a time as any to give Wanda and Vision some alone time and skedaddle.

Alone, Wanda rants to Vision. Yes the way she handled the crowd was probably an overreaction but every human always overreacts to them. All she wants is the same rights humans get. But she feels she’s just treated as a thing. Loved as a hero, hated as a mutant. With nobody seeing her as a real being with real feels. She’s just sick of their bigotry.

She wishes that she and Vision could just find an island somewhere and escape the rat race.

Vision replies that running away never truly solves anything. And Wanda says that he doesn’t understand her very well. Humans have been trying to get rid of her all her life and now she’s ready to take them at their word and go. And she thought that Vision would feel the same way and want to come with.

CUTTING AWAY FROM THAT AWKARD, lets see what Swordsman and Mantis are up to. They spend a little time talking about Mantis’ team-up with T’Challa against Dr. Strange but what Swordsman really wants to talk about is them.

“Let’s talk about how much your concern and faith have meant to me in my new life -- how much I’ve come to rely on you, when I never relied on anyone before! I love you, Mantis!”

Awww.

She says she loves him too. And starts to say that all her life she has wanted a strong, heroic man when the smooching couple is interrupted by muffled groans.

Yup. Definitely muffled groans. Swordsman has spent enough time in dark places to know what a gagged person sounds like.

(Swordsman brings so much expertise to the table!)

And they find... the real Tom Fagan?! Just tied up and left in the woods. The Collector, that is no way to treat Tom Fagan.

Mantis cuts Tom loose while Swordsman calls over Vision and Scarlet Witch for a huddle.

Tom confirms that he wasn’t the Tom Fagan that welcomed them to the parade. Tom apologizes. By starting the parade that superheroes would hang out at, he accidentally created the perfect opportunity for a trap. Unfamiliar country, surrounded by people in costumes, superheroes known to chillax here. It was only a matter of time before a supervillain capitalized on it.

But Vision says Tom has done nothing wrong. He provided pleasure for thousands of adults and kids alike. But someone tried to pervert that pleasure for evil and Vision will not let that stand.

He takes Halloween parades very seriously. He practically ‘in the name of the moon’d’ that.

But he also has a plan.

We jump forward twenty minutes later as the Collector prepares his trap. His foolproof plan goes thusly: disguised as Tom Fagan, he invited the Avengers to his party, the Avengers don’t know that Tom moved houses during the past year and that the real party is elsewhere. So they’ll come to this trap house and get trapped.

And he has just the trap for them. Four birthstones that will produce half-mythical Vultures of Nepenthe! (How can something be half-mythical?) But anyway, their electrically-charged talons means that even Vision will fall before them.

And when someone knocks on the door, the Collector prepares to greet his prey...

Tom Fagan?! And a bunch of children? Possibly some drunk adults? What’s going on here?

Well, the party-goers decided to bring the party back to its origins.

And the Collector is immediately besieged by his secret weakness. SOCIAL SITUATIONS (hahaha right there with you buddy)!

Party-goers surround him and insist on shaking his hand and complimenting his costume and trying to share anecdotes with him and

Nope. Nope nope nope. The Collector can’t take it anymore. He flees into the back room.

“Now more than ever, I know why I chose the life of a Collector! It is a solitary life!”

Right there in the black and white. The Collector is an introvert.

He doesn’t want to waste his mint-in-box arsenal on party-goers so he decides he’ll just lock himself in with the trophies and wait until the other heroes arrive

Oh. Hey. Hi guys. Um. Kind of awkward.

Okay. Yeah. Realizing now this was all a diversion.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN COLLECT THE COLLECTOR, DO YOU?”

And he pulls out some infinite bat rocks and bangs them together to summon thousands of vampire bats.

The bats will destroy Rutland unless the heroes let the Collector escape. And just to make sure they don’t get any funny ideas about taking the stones from him, the Collector drops them down a secret shaft. Its all bendy so nobody can climb down it but also wired to explode if the Vision tries to pass through the walls. There’s another secret way to stop the bats but its known only to the Collector. Checkmate, idiots.

Mantis has a counter offer.

And just kicks him right in the face.

She’s been kicking a lot of old people recently.

Mantis tells the other Avengers to protect people from the bats while she climbs down the shaft.

Because. Total bodily control means she’s really flexible.

Meanwhile, Iron Man rewires part of his armor to create an ultra-sonic signal to blanket the area and confuse the bats echolocation and possibly somewhere Matt Murdock has the worst minute of his life. But the power drain is bad so Iron Man can’t keep it up for long.

Thankfully, Mantis has finished wriggling through the mystery tunnel and brings out the two bat stones.

She slams them together and the day is saved, all thanks to Mantis being super flexible.

Afterward, Tom Fagan thanks the Avengers and wonders if there’s anything other than a parade the town can do for them. And Thor does think of something.

So after less than one day of being Loki’s ward, Thor dumps him off on Tom Fagan and Rutland to take care of. Perhaps the life of an Avenger is too hectic for the brain-wiped Loki, perhaps the peaceful cool forests of the Northlands will be a better environment for him, or perhaps Thor just didn’t want to be his brother’s keeper.

Seriously. Thor just passes responsibility for his brother off to Tom Fagan.

Geez, Thor.

Overall though, I really liked this issue. This is one of my favorite appearance for the Collector. Dude doesn’t want to rule the world. Dude just wants the best stuff and the best stuff includes the Avengers.

Also he’s an introverted nerd who uses random mythological crap as his weapons. He’s always doing new stuff because his abilities are only limited to his collection and his collection is only limited by the imagination of the writers which is probably why his stuff tends to be from Earth.

I like this Collector better than when he has an ulterior motive for trying to collect the Avengers or when its revealed he’s an Elder of the Universe, a secretive cabal of old people engaging in weird schemes. I like him as this super old guy, probably an alien, who collects random deadly knickknacks.

I fear that if he tried to collect all the Avengers these days, he’d have a coronary. Almost everyone has been an Avenger at some point now.

#Avengers #the Collector #Tom Fagan #Mantis #Thor is a bad brother #Wanda is going through some stuff #the first time that social anxiety was used to defeat a supervillain #the Collector had kind of an animal theme this time #the animal hides the vultures and the bats #Essential Avengers #Essential marvel liveblogging #mantis really carried the team this issue for someone not technically on the team

[imagines-for-the-hamilfans-soul]

Always-Alexander X Reader

Request: Could you do an Alexander x reader with prompts 30 and 62? 

30- “Do you ever think if people heard our conversations they’d lock us up?” 

62- “Hey, I’m with you, okay? Always.” 

Trigger warnings-none, just fluff and a bittersweet ending. Kind of.

((A/N; My first one shot! Hope everyone enjoys it! It got kinda long, oops.))

//Modern times//

Y/N L/N and Alexander Hamilton were there for each other all the time. 

your friendship had started when you were twelve, when he’d moved in next door with the Washingtons. Your parents had told you to try and be friendly to the new boy, so you’d gone over to introduce herself. Alexander had been a small kid, and you ended up taking it upon yourself to be his guardian. You followed him everywhere at school, sitting next to him in classes and during lunch. Initially, Alexander had been bothered by your constant presence, but as time passed, he grew to accept it.

Alexander’s adoptive father, George, had built him a treehouse when he’d first come over. That was where you and Alex had their real bonding moments. All through your teen years, you’d sneak out and meet him there. The treehouse was filled with blankets and pillows, and the you two would lay them out over the whole perimeter of the room. You’d lay side by side and talk about just about anything, as long as they wanted. Alexander would come up with his greatest plans there, and you would always offer your opinions on them. Some nights George and Martha could hear the now fourteen year-olds laughing like idiots in the dead of night.

“But all I’m saying is that it would be the greatest way to get rich quick,” Alexander was saying, trying to look offended as you practically rolled all over the floor in laughter.

“Your plan is to sell spots in line?” you giggled.

“It doesn’t sound as cool when you say it like that,” Alex huffed. “Seriously, think about it. People would do anything for a good spot in line for Black Friday. So, we can go super early and get really good spots in line, then sell them to whatever idiot would be willing to buy it!”

“No one’s gonna buy it,” you chuckled, grinning up at him. “You’re crazy.” He smiled, sitting up beside you.

“No, I’m a genius,” he corrected you. You rolled her eyes.

“Sure. Here’s a real good idea for getting rich quick; make some little trinket everyone will go crazy for.” Alexander snorted.

“Like what?”

“I dunno....Someone made big bucks on silly bands. And someone else made a lot of money with a bra you can color.” Now it was Alexander’s turn to burst into laughter.

“A doodle bra? Why would anyone buy that?”

“Because they’re cute, you idiot. I happen to think they’re cool.”

“Well, I’m not making money off of a bra, thank you. What if we just robbed a bank?”

“Alex!” Your e/c eyes stared at your friend in an amused horror. “We’d get caught!”

“No way!” he chuckled. “We could drive off and live our lives on the road, like Bonnie and Clyde.”

“Okay, Clyde, where are we gonna get a car?” you asked, arching an eyebrow. Alex gave you a look that said the answer should have been obvious.

“We’ll steal one, duh.”

“Alexander!” Alex laughed at your reaction, and you crossed your arms. “But what if I end up deciding I want, like, a house and kids?”

“Then we can steal a mobile home and have kids. It’ll be great.” You couldn’t help but smile.

“Do you ever think if people heard our conversations they’d lock us up?” Alexander tilted his head thoughtfully.

“considering the fact we’re talking about leading lives of crime, most likely,” he finally replied. “But at least we’d be locked up together.”

“I’m not the one suggesting theft here,” you pointed out with a smile. Alexander laid back down beside you, his wide, brown eyes staring at you intently.

“But you’d come with me anyway, right? Because we go everywhere together.” You didn’t answer right away, just stared at him. It was at that moment you realized you really wold go anywhere with him. Because you couldn’t imagine being anywhere without your best friend.

“Of course I’ll go with you,” you replied, your smile widening. “Always.”

The two of you continued growing up, and you started to come to the realization that Alexander was more than your best friend. He was your other half, your better half. You were each other’s opposites at times, but you both fit each other like pieces of a puzzle. He began to get into politics and writing; she found your joy in art and music. His world was becoming a mess of papers and textbooks; yours was neat stacks of sketchbooks and canvases and music, organized meticulously. He grew to be bold and outspoken; you matured into a quiet, timid person. 

Yes, at times you couldn’t be more different. But you two still worked together perfectly. you were often annoyed by his loudmouth tendencies and cluttered workspace, but you loved Alexander anyway, mess and all. And as luck would have it, it seemed your feelings were not returned.

Alexander had always shown interest in other people, like the beautiful Eliza Schuyler and the sweet-tempered John Laurens. You had done everything you could to convince yourself that it was okay with you. And yet every time you heard him flirt with John, and every time you saw him sidle up beside Eliza, your heart would sink. 

Your friend, Gilbert de Lafayette, was the only person who knew how you felt, and he did his best to comfort you when you got particularly upset about it. His warm eyes were always full of concern for you as he would rub your shoulders comfortingly.

“Don’t get yourself so worked up over Monsieur Alexander,” he would say. “I can promise you someone else will come along and you’ll wonder why you spent so much time crying over him.” Gilbert gave you a small smile. “I mean, you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Someone out there is going to fall in love with you, mon papillon.”

Gilbert always made you feel better, and you spent a lot of time with him. While you still considered Alexander your best friend, you two sixteen year-olds seemed to be drifting apart. Between hanging out with the French teen, applying for scholarships (College was only two years away, and you wanted to be ready.), and working on writing your own music, you were finding it harder than ever to keep up with Alex. 

You hardly ever noticed the jealous look that would flash across his face when you’d skip up to Gilbert to hug him, your beautiful smile on display, you didn’t notice the sad way he’d frown when you’d tell him you couldn’t hang out with him because you had something else to do. In fact, the only time any of it came to your attention was when Alexander came to your house at three in the morning and practically dragged you back to the treehouse you’d bonded in.

“Y/N, Are we still friends?” he asked her, a serious look in his chocolate orbs. You blinked in surprise.

“Of course, Alex. What would make you think we weren’t?” He crossed his arms.

“When’s the last time we’ve done anything together?” you frowned as you tried to think back to the last thing they’d done together.

“We all met up at the library last week to study, remember?” you finally said, and Alexander ran his fingers through his long hair. When had he started growing it out? You realized you couldn’t remember when he’d decided to let his hair grow.

“I mean, when’s the last time we did anything together, Y/N? Without Lafayette following you around like a lovesick puppy?” You crossed her arms, a frown forming on your lips as you immediately went on defense.

“Lafayette? Since when does it bother you that I hang out with him?”

“Because you always hang out with him! Literally all the time! He’s with you all the time!” 

“What am I supposed to do while you flirt your heart out with John and Eliza?” you snapped, her brow furrowing. “They’re all you ever talk about, why shouldn’t I go talk to Gilbert?”

“They are not the only thing i talk about, Y/N!” Alex argued. You glared at him.

“They’re the only things you talk to me about, Alex! Why is that?” Alex’s eyes grew wide, and his shoulders dropped. He attempted to find a response, but you weren’t done. “Did it ever occur to you that I don’t wanna hear you talk about your lovers, huh? Maybe I just wanna talk about life, about what the future’s gonna be like. Maybe it actually hurts me to hear you talk about them like they’re your whole world. Did you think about that, Alexander? I don’t think you did!”

“Why didn’t you say something to me about it?” he asked.

“Because I didn’t know how to!” you snapped, throwing your hands up in the air. You’d never been particularly good at keeping quiet when you were upset, so you went all out on him. “What was I supposed to say, Alexander? ‘Oh, hey, buddy, can you stop talking about your boyfriend and girlfriend for five goddamn seconds, please?’ Or should I say ‘Oh hey Alex I happen to love you can you please stop breaking my heart by talking about the people you love?’ Or should I say-”

“What did you just say?” Alex stared at you, and only then did you realize your mistake. Your cheeks flushed immediately, and you ran your fingers through your messy h/c hair. Well, that was it. You’d just ruined your longest friendship with one sentence. You mentally cursed yourself for not shutting up as you sucked in a deep breath.

“You know what, I’m just gonna go...” You moved to leave Alexander and hide in your room to cry and wallow in your new misery, but Alexander darted forward, grabbing your arm and turning you to face him. His face was just inches away from yours, and his eyes burned with an intensity that made the blush on your cheeks grow even redder.

“Say it again.” His voice was a whisper, but there was a ferocity to it that made you shiver. 

“Say what again?” you asked hesitantly.

“Say you love me.” Your cheeks were redder than ever as you closed your eyes and opened your mouth.

“I love you, Alexander Hamilton. I’ve loved you forever now,” you admitted. You opened your eyes to look at him. Alex’s eyes were wide and unreadable as he searched your e/c orbs. And then he crashed his lips against yours.

You could swear you felt fireworks go off in your stomach when he kissed you. His arms wrapped around your wait, holding you close to his body, and your hands moved to cup his cheeks. For a moment, everything seemed right in your world. At least, everything seemed right until you thought about John and Eliza. As upset as you had been about the way he’d always talked about them, but if he was serious with either one of them, you didn’t want to make things complicated. You pulled back to give him a soft look.

“But-but what about-” He cut you off with a soft laugh.

“Honestly, I was trying to make you feel jealous,” he admitted. “I didn’t think you’d ever love me the way I love you, so I decided to try and make you jealous. Eliza and John like each other, they knew what I was doing.” You shook your head, a small smile crawling onto your face. 

“Alexander Hamilton, how could I not love you?” Alexander then proceeded to launch off into a long list of why someone wouldn’t like him, and you rolled your eyes.

“Hey,” you cut in, holding his face again to make him focus on you. “I’m with you, okay? Always. I love you. I always will.” Alex leaned into your soft touch, a smile spreading across his face.

“And I love you, Y/N L/N. Always.”

The treehouse was the place you shared your first kiss. So Alexander thought it was only fitting to have your first date. And years later, he decided that the treehouse was the perfect place to propose to you. Some time after the two of you’d married, you’d bought his childhood home, and got to watch your own children make their own memories in that treehouse. Eventually, you two were watching your grandkids playing in the old treehouse. 

You and Alex stayed together through everything life threw your way. You refused to leave his side, even on his dying day. He’d gotten very sick, and somewhere deep down inside of yourself, you knew he wouldn’t get better. It had been snowing the night it happened. Your hand had been holding his tightly, and the two of you had been sharing stories about your lives again. Alexander chuckled at something you said, before giving you the gentle smile you’d grown so accustomed to seeing every day.

“I’ve done a lot of things in life,” he told you. “But I know for a fact the best thing I’ve ever done is you.” You made a face.

“Hamilton, we are getting too old for those jokes, don’t you think?” Your husband laughed softly, squeezing your hand.

“But I’m serious, Y/N. You’re the best decision I ever made. You’ve made every day of my life worth living.” Something in your chest told you this was his goodbye, and you found yourself choking back tears. “I love you, Mrs. Hamilton.”

“I love you too,” you whispered. “Always.”

The snow had stopped by morning. Alexander had gone with the snow.

Your daughter sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. “I’m not surprised, honestly,” she said to her brother, who raised his eyebrows.

“Why not?”

“Mom and Dad did everything together. Of course she was going to follow him to the grave.” The pair was quiet for a moment as they looked at the two headstones marking the burial spots for their parents. “It’s almost romantic, you know. She couldn’t live without him.”

You hadn’t been able to live without your Alexander. You’d died two days after him, your kids had found you in bed. They made sure you were buried right beside your lifelong companion. Your daughter wiped the tears that were starting to spill down her face.

“At least they’ll still be together,” she sighed. “For the rest of eternity.”

She was right. Even in death, you were going to stay by his side.

Always.

#hamilton x reader #alexander x reader #always #this is longer than I thought it'd be #oops #hope you enjoy it