#and i have definitely improved ! but...its slow and...i dunno

[scootsaboot]

im in the middle of a vacation in a whole ass other country and just thinking about how i wish i had an art style that was good and people liked it :/

#i wish *i* liked it #i guess #only answer is to get better at art of course but i feel like ive been trying to do that for so long #and i have definitely improved ! but...its slow and...i dunno #i feel old..... #and shitty #lol #often

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary17

9/21-22/2023

a pleasing series of numbers above. i'm chilling and listening to kreayshawn.

recently i saw a guy say kreayshawn is like super embarrassing. that's so lame, she's so dope to me. that guy just can't #gohard i guess. it was just funny seeing him articulate that, it's really an opinion that can't actually bother me that much cuz it's like, whatever.

i did 3 songs today. not 5 but today was heavy on trying to improve guitar sounds in one song, and 2 songs that basically sound good already i think, just getting them a bit clearer. so that's like, 21/25, i think. i don't know if i'll finish up by tomorrow or slow a bit, i shouldn't introduce that possibility but these upcoming songs are definitely the ones which are the most different, i think, but they might also need a ton of work because they aren't intensive on a sound that's complex like the guitar synths, which still elude me somewhat when it comes to getting riffs that sound like, idk, orchid/jerome's dream and so on out. i think some of the older super fucked up high gain ones might be good but they have a feeling of cheapness, i could possibly get them more articulate with all that distortion still with these new mixing tools though, and get them sparkling right. the sounds i'm going after are cheap anyways, or are pretty simple as far as getting them from a guitar (a lot of these guys had amp distortion only i think) so it's just about getting things to not sound, i dunno, wrong is the only way to put it. i could go do that, maybe, but i have brian eno on now (third uncle).

last night i did go look at stuff on flickr, not too much for collages but some funny photos of people.

i need to find more photos people took of awful maggots and grubs and things.

other news is that i'm thinking about the youtube trend, not trend, it's i guess taken its place as a genre, fully, the videos of people basically discussing lolcows and just any person really, explaining everything to you, everything wrong they did and how crazy they went and how funny (in some cases) the tragedy of someone basically reaching a point in their life that they will never be okay again is, and how these get millions of views. the people who make these videos are basically in the grip of this terrible need to always say that they're just being neutral and not trying to peddle any ideology, theirs or any other, just trying to present the story. they keep a tight mouth about what they do believe, but i get distinct senses about where they are. it's basically terrifying to me that this stuff reaches huge amounts of people and that sort of blindness to what ideology even is, how it works, and how it is spread. the idea that you can be without ideology/that you aren't complicit in its spread (especially in that sphere) is basically part of the ideology, a reactionary turn against the idea of thinking about why you want to tell a story in the first place, what that person's life is being made to mean by the telling of the story (almost always these people are examples of what should elicit total disgust, people fashioned into caricatures through harassment and so on, or people discovered for the purposes of carrying around and saying: be aware, we share our world with this, be vigilant and attack). the fear of being taken as saying anything, adherence to an outward friendliness and simply being someone who wants to tell 'strange' stories about people who only just happen to represent some kind of failure to the vast majority of everyone on earth, and told from the position of not being involved, a real outsider passing on something that resembles a folk-legend of some terrible figure, it's weird. i am basically lying in wait/terror of the reactionary turn among the people younger than me obsessed with that kind of shit, when it becomes evident to them that these things were saying something, and that they think it's good.

plenty of nazis will tell you how important 'lolcow' culture is to them.

anyways, an ugly topic to be certain, but it's weird to see how popular that shit is on yt. i should think it over more, there's probably more to it, how the videos are structured/edited. there's potential for a more whole kind of analysis of this. but it's an evolution of the classical kind of sideshow horror thing.

maybe i am just overthinking it on some level though. surely not even 10% of these people are going to internalize this in a violent way. just the normal way where they find some people gently disgusting and keep it hemmed in, behind their lips forever.

this stuff really shouldn't matter.

it's crazy how many people are into this stuff though. i wonder if i count, i used to read about all this as a kid on ed. after a certain point i quit giving a shit.

i like regular gossip, about people i know, in real life.

it's crazy to hear, from gossip, about people who are really quite awful, and evil, and then you see them, regular as anything else, and knowing that they did something unforgivable, and that they don't care at all.

i'm just going to listen to jerome's dream and think about guitars instead of continuing these trains of thought. i'm sure they will return. everything comes back in my head.

ohwell oh well.

byebye!!

#Youtube

[anno-1800-cheats-mod-zw]

Anno Royal Edition Trainer [18 Cheats] - OPTrainers - PC Game Mods & Cheats

💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 Anno is the game that fans of the series have been waiting to play for a while. It marks a return to the historical setting and naval combat that made the franchise popular in the first place. And it comes with plenty of new features that make the city-building experience more realistic, and way more fun than before. Despite the game being quite good, there are a few mechanics that could have been better. Especially those that rely on random chances that can make things quite frustrating. Not to mention introducing new mechanics and tweaks that make Anno even better than it already is! Check Out This Mod. Every city worthy of its name requires a proper zoo. A place where citizens can spend time looking at animals. The animals found in the vanilla version clearly have something that makes them look off… like wrong icons, bad 3D models, and some frankly strange coloring patterns. All things of the past with this Animals mod, which introduces new 3D models for select animals and a whole lot of tweaks to boot. Not an essential mod by any means, but one that perfectionists will want to install. Old Town gives us a selection of new buildings taken from previous entries in the series, fully integrating them in the experience so they come with actual features that do not make them look out of place. Which had a high chance of happening, considering the oldest new building came from an era when industrialization was not a dream, but something truly inconceivable. City Ornaments is the mod to download if you want to make your city become the best looking city in history. It adds a lot of new objects like three new street types, statues and fountains, plants, an upgradeable marketplace, and a few more ornaments that look just gorgeous. No matter what players need, modders always provide. Need a better-looking city? You get the City Ornaments mod. Nature Ornaments makes a huge difference for parks, without totally overhauling the vanilla elements. Better yet, each new element comes with multiple variations that can be accessed on the fly. If you cannot make your city look great with a mod like this, well I dunno man. Maybe just keep reading? Does it surprise you to see a mod that improves harbors in Anno ? It should not, and this is definitely one worth checking out. Harbour Ornaments, like the City and Nature Ornaments mods, introduces new ornamental buildings and objects that vastly improve how a harbor can look. Greatness requires effort, after all. This Battleship mod adds a marvelous steam-based warship coming with a custom mesh and textures, also featuring a high hitpoint and damage rating… but very slow movement. Trying to get Legendary Specialists in Anno may be more difficult than actually conquering the sea, due to the randomness of the process. This mod adds a new type of building to the game which comes with a couple of benefits, including new items sets that make it much easier to get the Legendary Specialist you need to bring your city to the next level. If a monumental town hall is not enough for your virtual delusions of grandeur, you definitely need something bigger. So get to work! This should prevent you from having to change roads and other building placements, and let you create the superfarm to bring your city to new heights. Train Stations and Hotels adds new buildings to Anno Stuff like central stations, small stations, hotels, post offices, and even investor residences. All these buildings have a specific function that works in tandem with another, effectively adding new mechanics to the game. Dealing with pirates is never the right thing to do. If you really need the pirate ships, as well as a couple of other rare ones, you can install the Ship Unlocker mod and unlock all of them by simply having a single Artisan and the respective shipyard. Like boosting production, increase starting funds, and so on. It does feel a bit like cheating, to be honest… but does it really matter when you can make the game more fun? This mod makes it so Old World traders always offer a selection of 12 Legendary or Epic Items, which is very convenient considering how difficult it is to get these items in the vanilla game. With this mod, creating the city you always dreamt of will no longer take the better part of your life! As such, even their buildings should be different. Project Distinction adds new visual effects, colors, and slightly different models for Engineer and Investor residential buildings. These additions not only differentiate these buildings from all the others, but they also blend much better with the rest of your city. And you even get some new variations for Workers and Farmers buildings. No complaints here. Instead of building more power plants contributing heavily to global pollution, why not install this mod enjoy the benefits of technological advancements? These tweaks range from resident capacity increases to better range of influence for select buildings, better warehouses, and better ships. And really, why bother? Increased Production and Enhancements is a mod that not only doubles production and quadruples storage amounts, but also lets you tweak the game in several other ways to get rid of tedium and repetitiveness. The Anno Mod Manager is a very handy application that makes managing all your installed mods much easier. And it even provides a quick launch option with news from the lovely Anno community. Which we all should be thankful to, having improved the game quite a bit with their efforts. All for free, too! It includes a metric ton of quality-of-life changes, new addons, and gameplay tweaks that make the game way more enjoyable. And if you want things to get funny, you can even access some memes that will have you crying from laughing so hard. Until pirates arrive to spoil the fun, that is. If you buy something we may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Learn more. Image source Anno is the game that fans of the series have been waiting to play for a while. Stay Connected.

[anno-1800-multiplayer-hac41]

ANNO DIPLOMACY: TIPS, TRICKS & CHEATS - Forum | PLITCH

💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 Anno is the game that fans of the series have been waiting to play for a while. It marks a return to the historical setting and naval combat that made the franchise popular in the first place. And it comes with plenty of new features that make the city-building experience more realistic, and way more fun than before. Despite the game being quite good, there are a few mechanics that could have been better. Especially those that rely on random chances that can make things quite frustrating. Not to mention introducing new mechanics and tweaks that make Anno even better than it already is! Check Out This Mod. Every city worthy of its name requires a proper zoo. A place where citizens can spend time looking at animals. The animals found in the vanilla version clearly have something that makes them look off… like wrong icons, bad 3D models, and some frankly strange coloring patterns. All things of the past with this Animals mod, which introduces new 3D models for select animals and a whole lot of tweaks to boot. Not an essential mod by any means, but one that perfectionists will want to install. Old Town gives us a selection of new buildings taken from previous entries in the series, fully integrating them in the experience so they come with actual features that do not make them look out of place. Which had a high chance of happening, considering the oldest new building came from an era when industrialization was not a dream, but something truly inconceivable. City Ornaments is the mod to download if you want to make your city become the best looking city in history. It adds a lot of new objects like three new street types, statues and fountains, plants, an upgradeable marketplace, and a few more ornaments that look just gorgeous. No matter what players need, modders always provide. Need a better-looking city? You get the City Ornaments mod. Nature Ornaments makes a huge difference for parks, without totally overhauling the vanilla elements. Better yet, each new element comes with multiple variations that can be accessed on the fly. If you cannot make your city look great with a mod like this, well I dunno man. Maybe just keep reading? Does it surprise you to see a mod that improves harbors in Anno ? It should not, and this is definitely one worth checking out. Harbour Ornaments, like the City and Nature Ornaments mods, introduces new ornamental buildings and objects that vastly improve how a harbor can look. Greatness requires effort, after all. This Battleship mod adds a marvelous steam-based warship coming with a custom mesh and textures, also featuring a high hitpoint and damage rating… but very slow movement. Trying to get Legendary Specialists in Anno may be more difficult than actually conquering the sea, due to the randomness of the process. This mod adds a new type of building to the game which comes with a couple of benefits, including new items sets that make it much easier to get the Legendary Specialist you need to bring your city to the next level. If a monumental town hall is not enough for your virtual delusions of grandeur, you definitely need something bigger. So get to work! This should prevent you from having to change roads and other building placements, and let you create the superfarm to bring your city to new heights. Train Stations and Hotels adds new buildings to Anno Stuff like central stations, small stations, hotels, post offices, and even investor residences. All these buildings have a specific function that works in tandem with another, effectively adding new mechanics to the game. Dealing with pirates is never the right thing to do. If you really need the pirate ships, as well as a couple of other rare ones, you can install the Ship Unlocker mod and unlock all of them by simply having a single Artisan and the respective shipyard. Like boosting production, increase starting funds, and so on. It does feel a bit like cheating, to be honest… but does it really matter when you can make the game more fun? This mod makes it so Old World traders always offer a selection of 12 Legendary or Epic Items, which is very convenient considering how difficult it is to get these items in the vanilla game. With this mod, creating the city you always dreamt of will no longer take the better part of your life! As such, even their buildings should be different. Project Distinction adds new visual effects, colors, and slightly different models for Engineer and Investor residential buildings. These additions not only differentiate these buildings from all the others, but they also blend much better with the rest of your city. And you even get some new variations for Workers and Farmers buildings. No complaints here. Instead of building more power plants contributing heavily to global pollution, why not install this mod enjoy the benefits of technological advancements? These tweaks range from resident capacity increases to better range of influence for select buildings, better warehouses, and better ships. And really, why bother? Increased Production and Enhancements is a mod that not only doubles production and quadruples storage amounts, but also lets you tweak the game in several other ways to get rid of tedium and repetitiveness. The Anno Mod Manager is a very handy application that makes managing all your installed mods much easier. And it even provides a quick launch option with news from the lovely Anno community. Which we all should be thankful to, having improved the game quite a bit with their efforts. All for free, too! It includes a metric ton of quality-of-life changes, new addons, and gameplay tweaks that make the game way more enjoyable. And if you want things to get funny, you can even access some memes that will have you crying from laughing so hard. Until pirates arrive to spoil the fun, that is. If you buy something we may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Learn more. Image source Anno is the game that fans of the series have been waiting to play for a while. Stay Connected.

[devilbrakers]

@kittyspotatoes I accidentally deleted your ask requesting a dmc pairing. Sorry for the wait, I hope this suffices :)

Each Time You Fall In Love

Dante, to his surprise, is the first to wake. The sun is still low in the sky, splashing across the wooden floor and the foot of Gray's bedding. Gray's breathing was slow and steady, a comforting sound amongst the quiet music in the background. Cigarettes After Sex, he thinks Gray told him.

He's warm, almost uncomfortably so with Gray laying on his chest and the soft blanket covering the right half of his body and most of Gray's. But it's a welcome feeling, a rare one too, he almost never sticks around after these escapades, as he calls them, but Gray's just… different. They make him feel things that he's never felt before, cliche as it sounds. He's never gotten the warm, fuzzy feeling from anyone until Gray took their scythe to brick walls around Dante's heart.

They shift, likely sensing a change in Dante's heart rate. Also something new. A deep breath goes in before their eyes slowly peel open, pools of brown falling on Dante's form. A fond smile immediately stretches across their full lips. Dante rests a heavy palm on their head, a lazy smirk making its way onto his face.

"Mornin' sunshine." Dante's voice is a low rumble in his chest, raspy from sleep.

"Morning." They mumble.

"How'd ya sleep?"

"Much better than usual, thanks to you."

There's a faint blush across their features and Dante can't help but to grin.

"Jackpot."

Gray let out a soft laugh at the catchphrase before leaning up to press a soft kiss to Dante's lips. Dante slides his hand to the back of Gray's head, keeping them in place so he can place a quick kiss on their nose. Their features immediately scrunch up, a giggle escaping them as they pull away slightly. There's a tightness in Dante's chest that he doesn't quite understand but he laughs too.

"Your lips are so warm." Dante mumbles, the lazy smile never leaving his face.

Gray hums at that, their eyes never leaving Dante's face as they examine his features with a certain fondness that Dante has only heard about before.

"What are you thinking about?" Dante asks, his voice low though he's trying to silence his thrumming heartbeat.

"How nice it is that your voice was the first thing I heard this morning."

Christ. Dante's chest feels tight again as he looks up to the ceiling.

"What do ya usually hear?" It's a deflection and Gray knows that, but they don't seem to mind.

Gray shifts to rest their head on Dante's pectoral once again. "Dunno, usually my cat farting or something."

Dante snorts at that. "Don't know if I'm much of an improvement, sunshine."

Gray rolls their eyes. "Of course you are. You don't fart half as much."

"That you know of. I'm silent but deadly, babe."

"That explains the smell."

Dante laughs again, wrapping an arm around Gray's form to pull them closer. Calloused fingers run down their spine, a soothing pattern as Dante stares up at the ceiling. He could get used to this, he figures. A place where he's desired, a place where he's just Dante - not the devil hunter, but just a regular guy. Human, almost. Where both he and Gray are understood on a level that neither have found elsewhere.

Yeah, he can definitely get used to this.

#devil may cry #dante x oc #dante sparda #dante imagine #writing #idk what to tag this as fhdhdj #my writing #my ocs #gray #also posted on mobile so if the format's weird that's why

[marvel-m-lee]

Fire, Note books and a- kid? •Part 1 of M-Verse•

Warning! This series will include gruesome descriptions of blood, bodies etc. These may be rare but they will be graphic. (This one doesn't have much tickling but it has a⁸ little haha)

This Series is also a tickls series, so if you dont like it, sorry oof.

Fandom: Marvel

-

"CRAP" Sam yelled as he flew right under a collapsing tie beam. "Language!" The cap yelled through the intercom, they were on a mission. There had been an explosion in an old warehouse building, no one knows how it happened but once they got there the place was covered with fire and dead bodies.

They were now in the building, fighting what they believed to be ex hydra workers that went into hiding for more experiments.

Cap fought from the ground whilst Sam was trying to get some shots from above while reading looked for any potential prisoners.

"Ain't seeing nothing from RedWibg Cap, the place is about to blow, we've gotta get out" Steve had just taken out about 17- now 18 Hydra agents, throwing them in the burning flames or beating them in combat.

"Alright, have one more look around the perimeter. Nat get the Jet prepared for exit incase the place actually does blow" He yelled, fighting off the last two Hydra agents in his area, throwing one onto another knocking them into a large fire screaming.

"K, sam make sure there arent any survivors" Nat ran back to the jet and started it up, the lights turning on as it slowly began to hover over the ground.

"Will do Widow" Sam flew up above the collapsing building to get another view of the area.

"Black Widow or Natasha" A sassy voice explained down the intercom.

"Okay Spider Lady" A grunt was heard that made both Cap and Sam laugh. Sam was looking through Redwing and his own eyes and couldn't seem to spot anything. "It all seems clear" Just as he were about to fly back down though he noticed something.

A young girl, her hair stuck together with some blood, mixed with dirt and wood. Her skin covered with brown mud and small cuts, she wore a white ripped hospital gown, too no longer white- or had seemed to be in years?...

"Holy shit-"

"Language!"

"There's a kid- west bound, see if you can get her. Covered in dirt and seemingly blood, right near where the fire seemed to have started from the burnt wood scraps and dying fires around her"

"A kid? West bound? Nat how long we got left?" Steve asked, running through the flames, dodging their burns and running as fast as he could.

"Before the place explodes? From my view about 150 seconds, just over two minutes. But you're gonna need to be fast so we can all get out." Nat watched over the intercoms and the computers showing where Steve was.

"Take a left"

"What?"

"Take a left! I'm giving you the fastest route to the west bound. Keep running until you find large doors, go through them and the last one at the end should lead to the girl"

Steve stopped asking the questions and complied. It wasnt his first time saving a kid, but the closer he got, the more he saw about the place. Cages, torture chambers, training halls.

This place wasnt a good one, especially for a kid... He thought.

He found the large doors, chained shut. Before he reached them he threw his shield, breaking the locks almost instantly. He ran through, but stopped in his tracks. The room was full of blood, the sticky walls glossed over, there were bones, some shattered, some scattered. Not hundreds, probably enough for the bodies of a good couple of people though... it was gruesome. Some of the worst things he had seen in a while, probably since... well. The blip?..

How was a kid kept here? How did we not know sooner?...

The thoughts span round the super solider head, taking up more time than he would have cared for.

"Steve? What's happened why'd you stop? We've got a minute!" Nat asked, she was getting impatient, the adrenaline was rising and so were the flames, everyone felt on edge here, as soon as they stepped down something felt very wrong.

"Shit, yeah. Alright, I'm going!" Steve ran and soon found the young girl, she didn't seem too strictly harmed for being so close to the flames. And for surviving in this, this prison.

"Got her, how long have I got left?"

"45 seconds"

Steve now had the young girl over his shoulder, he was trying to run even faster than he had before. This place. Something else had been happening here.

As the 100 year old ran though, he seemed to notice the fire die down wherever he ran to, creating a simple path for him to run in. He spotted the jet, Sam was standing in the open doorway, waiting to see if cap would make it. Silently cheering him on.

"10 seconds Cap"

"Start taking off now, we'll make it."

"FUCK NO! HURRY UP MAN" Sam yelled, this time to Captain America ratger rgan through the intercoms.

Time felt like it was going in slow motion, Steve got close enough just to jump and as soon as he did the whole place behind blew up. It all went so quickly after that, Sam grabbed his hand, holding on with all his might as Steve held the young girl. Nat, quicker than ever, sped off into the sky, miles from the ground to make sure the explosion wouldn't hit them as harshly as it should have.

Steve lay on the floor, with the young girl cradled in his arms behind the shield so she wouldn't get burnt. He was staring at her, even though she was covered in- well not so flattering things, she was beautiful. Something within began stirring. Something warm, familiar...

"Holy shit my dude. We almost died!" Sam droned, going to sit down on the chairs they had.

"We usually almost die, its part of our job" Nat explained, walking in and rolling her eyes. "Nahhh, Nat even you know that place was off" Sam looked over to the spy who sighed and walked over to Steve to help him up.

"How's the kid?"

Steve stood up and pulled away the shield to show off a little girl with y/c/h hair, covered in mud and pieces of blood, tucked up into his chest, breathing gently. "Wow" Sam sighed from the back.

"She's not in as much bad of a state as I would have imagined?" Nat said, watching over the little girl. "She wasnt too close to the big fire, must have been thrown into the mud and spotty snow from the explosion." Sam suggested.

Steve just held onto the small angel in his arms. He felt as though it were only he and she in the world, that time was no longer relevant. He memorized every piece of her face, even the pieces with dirt, cuts and bruises.

Suddenly Nat snapped him out of it, "Alright, I'm going to go get Bruce over. See if she's alright. For now just but her on a bed." Steve nodded as the Spider left to go call Dr. Banner.

"We haven't got beds though?- oh fuck you man" Steve laughed at Sam, he had just pulled out a bed from the sides of the ship. "You didnt know?" He teased. He and Nat had let sam sleep on the chairs or ground for the past few years. It seemed to be a secret agreement not to tell him amongst the avengers.

"Nah man, that's cold" Steve placed the little girl down and pulled up the walls of the bed to make sure she wouldn't fall out. Watching her little breaths as Sam's words started to fade away.

"Oi you even listening to me?" Sam asked unamused sitting up and looking at the fallen solider. "She's gonna be alright Steve" Steve sighed, deep down he knew she'd be fine. But he felt something strange. Fear. Like he had just found an old journal or someone he hadn't seen for a very long time.

He sighed and stood up, walking over to the bird man who was now sitting up watching the soldiers actions. They both heard Natasha in the background talking with Bruce.

"She's gonna be alright Steve"

"I hope so..."

It was a while till they had all landed at the compound. Rogers and Wilson played some card games- dont question it, Roger's made Tony buy him loads for each mission. He enjoyed the games. He also won most of them.

Steve picked the young girl up and brought her to Bruce as the doors opened up, they lauded her down on a hospital bed and hurried off. Bruce stayed back checking in on everyone. "The mission?"

"A success as always"

Steve seemed quiet, Sam answering fir him rather than fir himself. He watched the girl be scurried along into the building.

"Did you clean all her wounds?"

"Mhm"

Steve looked down and nodded before they all began walking. He didnt mean to seem any less- well captain america-y, but he definitely had something on his mind. Bruce began to follow quickly to ask what's up.

"Hmm? Oh.. nothing. Just worried for the child" Steve tried to brush the feeling off but couldn't his gut had other plans. They wanted to see the girl, see if she was okay.

"She's gonna be alright, she only needs a few tests done- safe ones of course, blood pressure, cut cleansing etc" Bruce smiled at the much taller man. Oh god he was short. Steve smiled back to the Dr with 7 PHD's.

"Thanks Banner, I'm gonna go see Stark"

"Okay, stay safe, I'll tell you when she's improved"

Steve nodded and walked into the building, turning an opposite way to Banner and going to go see Stark. Steve was secretly very grateful Bruce would tell him about the child once she was improving. He felt a connection.

"Stark?" The 100 year old asked, knocking on the doors to the Lab.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y, Open the Doors for Roger's Pleade and Thank you" The billionaire didnt move from his seat, he had been working on some new tech as usual.

"Thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y" Steve walked in, still in his spandex from the mission covered in blood and dirt with little scuff marks all over from the fire flames.

"Its an 8 Code Pin Rogers"

"I know I know, I just can't seem to remember it"

Tony rolled his eyes and looked up leaning on his chair with one arm resting over the top.

"What's up?"

Steve furrowed his brows. "Hmm?"

"You, you seem... less Super, more Man"

Steve rolled his eyes, "I'm not Super Man Tony!" Tony just shrugged and chewed the side of his cheek.

"Dunno there Cap" The genius stood up and walked over to him, the man was much seemingly smaller without his heals on, just bare foot walking around. He got extremely close to the Cap and got on his tip toes leaning in. If he wanted he could have kissed the man he were so close, though they both knew it wouldn't happen, Tony just liked getting close to annoy people.

That's when the billionaire squealed and almost fell to the ground with a jump back, a light blush on his face. "Dick" Steve smirked at the man, he sure was one ticklish man, billionaire, genius who cares. He was still ticklish. Tony went to go sit back down.

"So what's up?" This time, happily keeping his distance.

"I saved a kid today"

Tony furrowed his brows and chuckled, slowly clapping his hands. "Well done soldier, you saved a kid"

"Tony im serious"

"Well I didn't really think you were lying-"

Steve stepped forward making the Billionaire loose his confidence. He never minded being tickled, but then again it didnt help his reputation being melted into a giggly mess. He was still really nervous. Steve smirked at the man but then continued.

"She was covered in dirt and bits of blood. But before I found her, I ran through a hall. It was Dark, but the raging fires lit it up. There were bones, scattered. Probably enough for a good few people, some big some small. And blood, all over the walls..."

Steve tensed up, remembering the place. "It reminded me of the war with Thanos."

Tony stayed quiet, no longer fearful of childish tickles. It seemed horrifying. Even for them. "Okay, send me the Locations, I'll get F.R.I.D.A.Y up and working on it alright?" Tony wasn't the best when it came to comforting, but he knew he could do something.

Steve looked up at him and smiled thankfully, but Tony coukd tell there was something else bothering. Yet he didn't want Steve to be too focused on it all.

"Hey, here" Tony grabbed something from within a draw, it had a captain America's shield on the front, he handed it to steve. Just a normal sketch book. And some pencils. "You're welcome to use these and sit down at the window or something while I work. Keep your mind off things.

"Thanks Tony" Steve smiled at the billionaire, he wasnt great at comforting, but he knew what Steve wanted. It was a strange friendship that's for sure.

"Look at the first page too! I did a little something" The billionaire smirked as Steve turned the book open, on the front was an IronMan helmet with a little speech bubble saying "I Am IronMan" and a little stick figure with a shield in a cage in the bottom corner saying "I stink!"

Tony burst out laughing at Steve's expression. Let's just say his laughing continued for longer than expected...

#steve rogers #y/n #tony stank #bruce banner #hulksmash #the avengers #endgame #tickling #tickle community #natasha romanov #sam wilson #gore tw #bucky barnes #steve x reader #tony x reader #dr banner #marvel mcu #marvel

[hooved]

bro what's the best order to watch star trek? bc your quark-posting has gotten me super interested 👀

i’m one of those ppl tho thinks it’s fine to watch it however you want but also personally i think either TOS or TNG is best to start with depending on your taste. TOS has that fun 60′s cheesiness but it’s got some genuinely good episodes and is overall just really entertaining no matter what imo (i will say tho that the pilot does feel a bit slow). it’s also referenced sometimes in later shows and a few characters even make appearances in them so it’s good to have context for that. definitely has its flaws but i’d still recommend it based on the fact that it’s probably the most influential piece of sci-fi media in history TNG is still plenty cheesy (all star trek is honestly) but with more of an 80′s action drama edge to it. i feel like this one’s generally easier to get hooked on and it’s also many ppls introduction to the series (it was mine too, like....10 years ago), but the first season can be reeaally hit or miss. as a whole, simultaneously a lot more flawed but also better in many ways than TOS, tho i love them pretty equally for different reasons. if you’re interested in something slightly more modern, i’d recommend this as your first since some ppl just can’t really get into the campy 60′s acting of TOS. i also feel like TNG is just good at preparing ppl for the weirdness of star trek in general again tho, you’re not obligated to start with either of these and i’d love to recommend DS9 to everyone but for the most part it has a much more serious tone than the two before it (but also manages to be even goofier at times too), and there’s a few characters you might appreciate more and conflicts that’d make more sense if you have more backstory/context (most of which you’d get from TNG) but if you’re really that hype for quark then i’m not gonna stop you lmao. my only warning about him in particular is that i’m not exaggerating when i say he’s a (lovable) scumbag, but like most characters, he does improve. a lot less that others, but an improvement nonetheless (and also i adore his dynamic with odo but i’m not gonna get into that rn). anyway, i think it’s a fantastic show, my absolute favorite, and i’d go as far as saying it’s the best in the whole series but you’d definitely get more out of it with some prior knowledge of star trek canon. that being said, i know lots of ppl whose first star trek was DS9 and they absolutely loved it either way. not to mention the whole cast is just SO good aaand i don’t have many positive opinions on the shows after that except for voyager (not counting the few i haven’t seen but am still interest in, i don’t know enough about them yet) but i still wouldn’t recommend it as anyone’s first. i dunno what else to say and i’m not sure if this helps at all but whichever one you wanna start with, i definitely hope you enjoy it

#i'm so bad at words and i definitely left out a lot of good points but i didn't want this to be too long uhhh

[infini-tree]

FANFIC: against all odds - part 2

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Summary: One time they dwell on the thought of being caught, and the one time they were. It all works out, kind of. (Piqua Mystery Dungeon)

A/N: ‘i make no promises,’ i say, immediately writing the third fic for this au in one week? have I ever mentioned that the first thing I made fancontent of was the first pmd game?

Also, this really is just an opportunity to practice writing more scenes with the boys and figure out their tone.

_____________________________

George recalled a time when his dad called him precocious. 

What does that mean, he remembered saying. 

It means that you’re very smart for your age, his dad replied with a grin. You already get basic type matchups and dungeon theory better than most groups your mom’s mentoring in the guild she’s workin’ with!

The snivy had let out a laugh at the mental image of himself trouncing a bunch of grown-ups. Whoa, really?

Swear on the Lake Trio’s jewels, he said, putting up a hand to his chest, and he let out a little giggle as he lifted him up, up, up.

Experiencing the real thing was a bit of a-- well, maybe disappointment wasn’t the right word. Accurate, but not fitting. Tedious, maybe. The long stretches of nothing in-between took up more time than the actual dungeons themselves. He looked over to Harold, and he knew he felt the same.

The walk was silent and oppressive. George unfurled his vine-tie slightly and something fell out and onto his palm. It was a shiny half of a disc, but upon closer inspection its lustre had flaked away to reveal the clay underneath.

Sometimes he would turn the thing over in his hands, but if he had to be honest he had no idea why he kept the remains of the novelty hypno pendulum.

When the snivy first used it, he hadn’t expected anything to happen. He heard tales of the line being able to hypnotize its foes to sleep, and in the more outlandish stories suggest them to do something. Ultimately, it was a desperate act, and maybe that desperation was the thing that made it work.

It wouldn’t be the strangest thing that happened to them, but it had the distinction of being one of the first.

The latest strange thing was the quiet. Him and Harold knew Krupp-- knew how to get under his skin in record time, how to avoid him, the works. They knew how explosive his temper was-- even for an ice-type!

They also know that he was at its worst when he was quiet, so when the abomasnow didn’t react to the bombshell that was being Captain Underpants, it was... unnerving.

For the past few minutes, the boys were giving each other a Look, nudging the other into asking what was on both of their minds. Eventually, hesitance wore into mild frustration. George sighed, then pointed a glance Harold-wards that meant you owe me before breaking the silence with a long “Uuuuuuuh...”

“Yes?” Krupp cut in.

The snivy flipped the pendulum piece to his other hand. “Aren’t you mad?”

“About what?”

“About, you know-- hypnotizing you?” When no answer came, he prodded with, “Being Captain Underpants?”

The pine needles on his arm adjusted themselves in agitation. The snow on it sloughed off at the sudden motion and the boys had to step around the snow drift that was now on the middle of the road.

“You are mad!” Harold interjected.

The abomasnow’s tail slammed to the ground. “Of course I’m mad.”

“What he means is, we kind of expected, I dunno, yelling?” George explained. “Something about how we’re literally the worst-- anything!”

His pace slowed down. Krupp finally looked back at them for the first time since they explained the whole thing, but the expression was all wrong. His brow was more pinched in confusion than frustration. “What, you want me to yell at you?”

“No, but we’re kind of expecting it and would like to get it over with,” the snivy said with a shrug.

The temperature dropped several degrees. There was the frustration. Harold brought himself closer to George, and he leaned into the fluffy warmth.

“Get it over with--” Krupp spluttered. “We are literally being hunted down by every team this side of the region. Someone claiming to be one of my students from the future is spearheading that hunt and not only are pokemon listening to that, but he ripped my guildmaster title from me in what is essentially a forceful takeover.”

A thin layer of frost began forming on the path.

“I’m sorry I’m not dedicating every moment of my time being the World’s Worst Guildmaster, but some of us here have priorities. Like, say keeping himself and two children from not dying on his watch? From not getting caught?” He narrowed his eyes. “Do you know what they’re going to do to us if they catch us?

“I know those idiotic comics were a parody of the actual stories, but do you know what you’re parodying in the first place?” Puffs of frost breath punctuated each breath. “I know neither of you like applying yourselves, but you have to be at least a little aware.”

Harold had taken to picking at the ground with one of his front hooves. George traced a digit over the edge of the broken piece anxiously. Neither of them spoke up.

“Are you satisfied with that lecture?” And just like that, the frost started to melt. It slowly got warmer. “Because I’m not.”

(The boys never liked the quiet in general. Maybe that was why they were always so offput whenever he was.)

_____________________________

It wasn’t long before Krupp and Captain Underpants started talking. They kind of expected that. More often than not, they would wake up to scratching noises as one of them tried to write in the dirt with one of their pine needles.

What was more surprising was how quickly they had compromised on the whole switching thing.

“I’m good at fighting, and Guildmaster is good at planning travel stuff,” Captain explained as he floated them over to where the stairs were. “Neither of us are good at puzzles, but at least we haven’t encountered any!”

“Just like that?” Harold tilted his head.

The abomasnow ground his teeth in what was his attempt at a grimace. It looked weird on his face. “He said it was a matter of practicality, and working with what we’re good at makes sens-- ACH!”

His body tensed up in pain, and he instinctively held them closer to protect them. Harold began to struggle in his tight grip, eyes darting in every direction to figure out what had hit them.

“Captain? What’s wrong?” Panic began to creep into George’s tone.

“Hey, guys,” a familiar voice cut in.

George and Harold paled at the sight of Erica clambering up on the abomasnow’s shoulder. Even in the gloom of the dungeon, the violet crest around her neck glinted.

And Captain was going down, down, down. They braced for impact.

_____________________________

Erica, out of the boys’ circle of friends, was one of the ones who was more in-tune into their misadventures and ready to lend a helping hand. Erica was also the scariest guildmember-slash-student they’ve ever met; she had a cool head and popped up where you least expected. 

It was honestly no surprise that out of everyone, she was the first one who cornered them, and right between the stairs out of this place, too!

“What did you do to him?” Harold yelled, nudging the abomasnow to his feet. 

Captain looked, for a lack of a better word-- terrible. He looked like one more hit would do him in. While landing face-first would definitely leave a mark, they knew him long enough that it shouldn’t leave him straining.

And that’s when George finally noticed what was in the axew’s hands. In one hand was the three-pronged pounce wand that brought her up there with them, whining as the last vestiges of its power left it. In the other, the spiked two-edged wand also making a dying down noise-- it was most likely the thing that brought them down.

“Relax, I just didn’t want you guys to immediately fly off.”

Still, there were more pressing questions, like, “Why are you helping Melvinborg?” George made a face like the name was as bitter as the duosion’s personality.

“We all... kinda got no choice,” Erica replied with the nonchalance of listing off the day’s errands. The only thing that betrayed her was how she gripped the now-defunct wands in a vicegrip. Then, belatedly, “Sorry.”

“Wait, wait, wait, um-- uh--” Captain rushed forward in front of them, his arms spread out to protect them despite his fatigue. His face was scrunched up in the way he does when he was overthinking and none of them could tell whether it was because of the abomasnow’s fatigue or because he really didn’t know that he settled on, “Before you, uh-- take us in-- Plungerina can we talk, one human-turned-pokemon to another?”

To Erica’s credit, she was only tripped up for a moment before she steeled herself for a bit of improv. “Sure, right after I catch you.” She lunged forward and--

Tripped. Somehow. She poked her head up to look at the one entrance to the room, then seeing that no one was there, she opened her backpack and threw a box at their feet.

“Oh no, I am petrified,” she said, practically announced for all the floor to hear. Then, in a more regular speaking volume, “I hope they don’t take the care package I dropped that has supplies and letters from their friends and family.”

There was a moment of silence as the three of them processed what she said. And when they did, George put it in his satchel. “I... thanks, Erica.”

“You’re not welcome, because you stole from me, remember?” she said with a conspiratorial wink. She turned her attention to Captain. “You got one question before the rest catch up.”

“Do you know what they’re going to do to us once you turn us in?” The abomasnow was concerned, to put it mildly. But his tone reminded Harold of the same one he had when he asked long ago where dad went. Naïve, but you knew deep down.

Considering his talks with Krupp, he probably knows in some capacity.

“I figured you’ve been in tough scrapes like this, but I suppose maybe not?” His arms lowered. Harold looked at him worriedly; his pine needles were still shot up and pierced through his cape, despite the lull.

The axew appraised him for a moment, and she noticed the needles, too. “It’s weird to see you think this hard about anything.”

The boys grimaced at how blunt she was, but its definitely crossed their minds.

“It’s weird to think hard about anything!” Captain laughed.

“To answer your question, no, I don’t,” she frowned. “Knowing Melvin, and by extension Melvinborg, it’s probably something else than the, uh... standard. You know how he is with tinkering dungeon items to be more potent.”

And just like that, Captain’s cheery mood was back, even if it was a little more sedate than usual. The needles settled to its more natural position. “Okey-dokey, thanks Plungerina!”

All four of them tensed up at the sudden sound of shouting.

“Time’s up,” she gave a half-smirk half-smile. “Also, there’s a petrify orb in the package. Gotta make this look convincing, you know?”

“O-- oh!” George floundered for a moment before opening the box and taking it out. It let out a low hum.

“Don’t expect this to be a repeat thing,” she added, in the tone of voice that mean to definitely expect it. She stared at him, sensing his hesitance. “Relax, I’ll be fine-- the other teams are coming up and will bring me back first before getting to you. It’ll buy you a bit more time.”

The snivy was still a bit unsure about the whole prospect, but he held it high anyway. It flashed and it froze Erica in place before disappearing in a puff of smoke. And then they ran for the stairs.

(And then they continued to run.)

#mellsian fanfics #captain underpants #piqua mystery dungeon #me holding up the three (3) fics i made for this au in just a week: LOOK AT IT #its rambly but i ltierally wrote this in a day. WACK #i probably should have rewatched tetocu for this but SSSSSSH

[circumstellars]

14. How long does it usually take you to make a set? and 49. How much would you say you’ve improved since you first started giffing? for the gif ask!

Questions for gif-makers ask game

14. I wish there was an easy answer to this but there’s so many things that affect time. One day I swear I’ll do like a speed gif process video or something to show how many things there are.

> Find footage (ie. scroll through 20 episodes of TUA finding one or more scenes/clips dependent on the theme)

> Cut and clean footage. Narrow down the few seconds or minutes needed into one or more shortened clips (which I refer to as stock). Some gif makers might do this slightly differently but I use a script based editor so I clean my stock when I cut it, rather then after. There’s a lot of little technical stuff I don’t need to babble about here. Either way this takes a *long* time, but part of the blame on that is my weak laptop. A lot of waiting around, which is extended if I’m cutting in 2160p/4k. Longer stuff I’ll use a good 1080p for the sake of my sanity.

> Load into PS, and preliminary editing, I decide size and shape, and fine tune the frames/video/speed, cutting it into smaller gifs sometimes.

> Lighting, colouring, sharpening and any further cleaning. The more fun stuff of giffing that I like. If this is a simple set like of Rob Sheehan looking sexy and nothing else, skip to encoding once satisfied.

> For specialty sets, with special effects, textures, timing effects, any and all weird things you sometimes see my gifs do, all of that is done here. Add several hours to the project depending on how well I know what I’m doing, if I’m winging it or not. Sometimes, like writing and drawing or other art, you go through a bit of trial and error and scrap things until it works tho. Sometimes I have a clear design in my head. It all depends, but either way its fairly labour intensive on the usual. 

> Encoding. THE WORST. Equally tedious as processing and de-interlacing, but again, a lot of this may be my crap computer and poor RAM, which photoshop eats like it’s its job. This can take anywhere from 5-45 minutes per gif, it sucks. Then once it finishes and alows you to save, I usually find problems that need tweaking, mainly if the size exceeds tumblr’s limit, or timing errors or any number of fixes.... so you have to go back edit, try again, and see what comes out lmao. The life.

So I dunno if writing it out like that gives you an idea of the time. Definitely some of it is on my slow computer so I might sound melodramatic that it takes centuries to do, ‘cause not always lmao.

So in the end, simple cut and colour sets maybe a couple hours depending on if it’s 4 or 8 or 10 right, and artsy/specialty sets vary greatly, but it’s usually upwards of 5 hours, or more but spread out over a couple days (I hyperfixate and tend to try and finish in one sitting like a lunatic sometimes tho.)

--- 49. This is a lil easier to answer hurhur. I think my sharpening game is a little more involved and that’s improved, and I think since shedding my bad habits and learning to gif in timeline (in PS) has greatly expanded my ability to do things I already knew how but were too labourious manually, and also gave me an opening to learn and experiment with new effects in the last few months, so I’m pretty happy about the upgrade in that respect!  Thank you for the ask I’m so happy :> I always like to talk about gifs like a nerd.

#stellar answers #about #ask games #fudgemutt #my nonsense

[iatheia]

EDA reviews Part 6 - books 47-55

Previous part 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

47) The Slow Empire - Uh, couldn't really follow this one at all. There are books when the first person narration works, but not here - too many jumps in setting, too little connective tissue, most of it told from the POV of a person who is barely connected to the protagonists? And that's even before they started repeating chunks of text wholesale between various parts - and I couldn't figure out if it was intended, or if it is the ebook was acting out on me. More than half way through the book, I still couldn't entirely tell what the story is supposed to be about, or if the plot has even started yet. Even having finished it, I find myself somewhat aghast. There are a few glimpses of something interesting, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what. 4/10

48) Dark Progeny - Also not really feeling it. It's not a bad story, but I do rather prefer a Doctor Who story to actually feature the Doctor and the companions front and center, whether they are POV characters or not. Here, though, they are barely in it - it's even more egregious than the previous one in actually giving the supposed protagonists stuff to do, and even on rare occasions we do switch back to them, it is all pretty generic. Anji developing telepathic abilities and the Doctor trying to calm her down all the while Fitz is freaking out in the background? Yes, please, more of that. Following around 20 interchangeable OCs that have nothing to do with the trio? No thank you. 6/10.

49) The City of the Dead - If you are invoking magic in a sci-fi universe, you need to be able to handwave it. It doesn't need to be awfully complex, "something something aliens, something something energy" is usually enough, but without it, you can't just throw magic about willy nilly. There are rules.

There are moments when it is a beautiful story, evoking a lot of dream-like wonder, and if it managed to remain a hazy dream, it probably would have been better for it. At the same time there is something very uncomfortably cynical about it, to the degree it left a bad taste in my mouth. There is a narrow line between not shying away from the ugliness of the world and deliberately making something ugly just for the sake of it, and often it felt like it was leaning towards the latter. Dunno, I started out wanting to like it, and feeling rather conflicted about it, but by the end became utterly indifferent. 7/10

50) Grimm Reality - Pure crack. Mind Robber wishes it could be as hilarious and off the wall as this story is. It throws every cliche fairy tale narrative device in the book at the characters and expects them to take it with the straight face, all the while realizing that the rules of the world are completely bonkers. And it manages to sustain this energy throughout, which is a no small feat. It's actually pretty exhausting by the end of it. Fairy tales stories do not belong to a lengthy literary genre, and even taking time deconstructing them, at 95K words becomes it becomes just too much - figuratively, and, on occasion, literally. Still, pretty great, I wish more books had its energy 9/10.

51) The Adventuress of Henrietta Street - *sigh*. My expectations were pretty low to begin with, and I still am somehow disappointed. Credit where credit's due - it is probably most coherent of the books from Miles. And at least it's better than Interference. That's really not saying much, though.

Honestly, if you've read any story about prostitutes, murder, satanic sex rituals bordering on blatant pornography, eastern culture and "mysticism of female sex" used for fetish fuel, written by a dude who clearly gets off on all of this - you've read all of them. There is really nothing revolutionary or compelling about it. On the list of "plots I never want to see in Doctor Who", they are definitely up there. And the Doctor is dying again, because it wouldn't be Miles's book without it. And he's, uh... living in a brothel, trying to marry someone, in order to, uh..... ritualistically tie himself to Earth, for, reasons? Did I read that right? After over 100 years of living on Earth and wanting to do nothing else than seeing the back of it, right. And writing books not quite about sex but definitely about sex. Because that's the thing the Doctor apparently does now. Self insert what self insert. And Fitz and Anji are just... there. On an occasion. All of it exposed on in a dull faux academic style without a shred of characterization, all the while absolutely nothing of note is happening, despite being a singularly longest EDA.

Just, if you hate the characters so much. If you don't understand what makes them tick to this degree. If you don't even care to learn. If you consider any established emotions they should have about the plot you are putting them through beneath you. Why are you writing in a shared universe to begin with? 2/10

(I did have an unintentional moment of hilarity with it, though. There is a character that is referred to as Lord ______, as if his name is censored. TTS would always pronounce it as Lord Underbarunderbarunderbar. Always gave me a chuckle).

52) Mad Dogs and Englishmen - A hilarious story, a very easy read, flowing from scene to scene. There are several occasions of fridge horror treated with levity that I would have rather have avoided. Plus, it is as incestuous as a book about books can get, and yet.... It is just absurd enough to work.

Plus, the whole, “His books are full of black magic, mind control...and perversion - moral and ethical and sexual. He is polluting the atmosphere of our group”, “What’s next? Rewrite War and Peace so it’s about guinea pigs?” - Oh, the shade. It is a good book in its own right, but just for this alone, 10/10

53) Hope - It's a pretty average book. Not outstanding, not horrible. Would have made a decent episode, all things considered, in a bread and butter sort of way. It does have some great ideas - the refuge of humanity, the conflict between Anji and the Doctor finally coming to light - not quite the type of conflict I was hoping for, though. If only it had a bit more nuisance, without neatly delineated black and white, if the antagonist didn't end up being a mustache twirling villain, if the Doctor didn't end up strong-arming everyone in a much more macho manner than he normally goes for (with a rather clunky dialogue). It had potential, even if it didn't end up being realized in full. 8/10

54) Anachrophobia - Very meh. The set up was fairly contrived, it never made me care about any of the characters, including whatever the hell the Doctor and co were doing, not to mention any of the secondary characters. Not terribly engaging, after a point I was mostly flipping through it. There is some big conflict brought up at 95% mark, and it is resolved in just couple of pages via a deus ex machina and a paradox. Overall, I might have said that I would have liked it better if I was in a mood for existential horror, but I took a break in the middle to listen to the Lease of Life - and it actually touches upon several similar themes, but with and outstanding character drama and much more graceful execution, which made this book look even more poor in comparison. 5/10

55) Trading Futures - I will give the author all the points for keeping an eye on the future. Perhaps, in 2002, predicting tablets being used as menus in fancy restaurants wasn’t that big of a reach, but I absolutely had a spit take when TTS has read to me something about “eye-phones”. There are some modestly clever moments throughout the book. Too bad that the rest of it is a complete rubbish. Not terribly original, either - a lot of ideas are copied directly from other books and other franchises. Reasonably entertaining, all things considered, but in a much more slapstick sort of way than was probably intended. 7/10

Overall impressions so far - This batch is, for the most part, fine. Some stories are worst than others, some better. With one exception, nothing horrendous, but nothing to write home about, either. They are, for the most part, serviceable. Individually, they have decent enough plots. But. There is very little character work. They can generally be read in any order, or dropped entirely, and you wouldn’t miss anything. The Doctor is mostly coasting from the excellent streak in the last batch, always in a spot light. I am starting to tire of the whole amnesia arc, though - it was good, but it ran its course, and at this point, with everything functionally back to norm, with barely a stray mention of it here and there, we are starting to be overdue for some semblance of resolution of all that. Henrietta Street is entirely a step in the wrong direction - not only it does nothing worthwhile for the characters, it’s just getting unnecessarily further into the weedworks, adding yet another plot thread that is forced on other writers to carry (they mention it occasionally, but it’s not like there is much to build upon) - rather viciously reminding of the previous mess of an ark “don’t you dare to think that it is over”. And I am so over it. Just, move on.

The companions fare rather worse. They are decent enough, they participate in action, in each book, they are mostly staying in character, with a handful of neat moments here and there (in a blink and you’ll miss it sort of way, though), they aren’t written off as an unnecessary burden to carry, which is an improvement. There is nothing meaty given to them though - they ask the necessary questions, do the things required of them, and generally stay out of the way when they are not needed. I guess Anji has at least some character driven moments, even though most of them are reduced to “I miss my dead boyfriend”. Which is... fine, we’ve all lost people, we all mourn them in our own way, but it has been 14 books since her introduction, and she is leaving in another 10. To have her character reduced to just that bit from her first book, with barely anything else to offer.... Plus, all the while, she rarely felt like she integrated into the team - because she is constantly eying her exit and returning to normality (even though she always decides to stay just a little while longer due to circumstances), it’s like from the very beginning she had one foot out of the door.

But while Anji is a bit of a one trick pony, at least she has that much. Poor Fitz gets absolutely nothing to do. The last meaningful book that addressed his character in any way was all the way back around book #42-43, and even that was just catching up on plot after his prolonged absence. He’s been essentially frozen since early 30s books. He is generally a fun character to have around, and does good supporting work, but can he please get something more impactful any time soon? Heck, by this point I’ll even take the recurrence of “finding a new love interest number 20 who will inevitably die by the end of the book” - it has been overdone, and it is certainly not a very exciting plot, not to mention reductive, but at least it’d be something. Though, I guess only one companion is allowed to carry that staple at the time, and right now Anji is it, two dead lovers is just an overkill.

And it is an absolute shame - especially when considering that on the other side, Big Finish was in the middle of streak of some of the best stories. Over the same time that these novels were published, we had audios such as Project Twilight, Eye of the Scorpion, Colditz, One Doctor, Chimes of Midnight, Seasons of Fear, which were full of character.

#doctor who #eighth doctor #eighth doctor adventures #eda

[thetriggeredhappy]

74 for speeding bullet😍

aye aye captain. (warnings for severe sauciness but a fade to black before anything more happens. free of sauce up until the line break in the middle)

#74: Kisses Where One Person Is Sitting In The Other’s Lap.

“Is this your way of hinting that you want attention?” Sniper asked, raising an eyebrow at the Scout that had just deposited himself in Sniper’s lap right there in the middle of the common room and looking down at the magazine he’d just tossed to the floor from out of Sniper’s hands.

“It’s my way of tellin’ you that you forgot,” Scout corrected, and that was when Sniper realized that Scout’s glare was a lot less pouty and dramatized than usual, and had some very real irritation underlying, and he realized that he might be In Trouble.

“Uh,” Sniper started, already frantically searching his brain for whatever he forgot. “Well. Er. The thing is. That. Well. That’s the thing. Um.”

Scout let him stammer for a few more seconds before sighing hard through his nose. “Six-thirty? My room?” he prompted impatiently. “Like, every week? For the past three months, unless you tell me you’re busy? With something more important than the fuckin’, the bi-weekly issue of—“ he looked over his shoulder at the magazine on the ground, “Of generic Australian hunting magazine?”

“Oh god,” Sniper managed. “It’s Saturday.”

“Yeah. It’s Saturday,” Scout deadpanned. Over Scout’s shoulder, Sniper could see Heavy and Medic exchanging a pointed look over their game of chess, and Engineer trying and failing to muffle his laughter, burying himself further in the notebook he was writing in.

“Um.” Sniper lifted his arm to look at his watch, and his eyes widened. It was past eight PM. “How long were you… waiting?”

“An hour and a half,” Scout said, expression tightening, and Sniper felt like he’d swallowed his own kukri. “Then I went to try your camper. Then I was gonna go to the kitchen to get something to eat because I was hungry but I was gonna wait until you showed up then we could both get something to eat. And on the way to the kitchen, there he is! The man himself.” Scout looked pointedly down at the plate that was sitting on the table just to one side of the chair Sniper occupied. “Having eaten already.”

Some amount of the intense, lava-hot guilt burning its way out of his chest and into his face must have shown, because Scout only glared for another few seconds before he softened, the anger giving way to just hurt.

“I got worried,” Scout murmured, much too quietly for anyone else to eavesdrop on the two of them. “I thought something happened. It ain’t like you to forget stuff. Don’t scare me like that.”

“I’ll, er. I can cook you something if you’d like,” Sniper managed, voice a little choked. “To make it up to you.”

“That’d be a good start,” Scout acquiesced, relaxing slightly. He leaned in to give Sniper a kiss, which Sniper returned, also relaxing slightly at the show of affection, fierce and crowded with concern as it was. When they pulled back again a minute or so later, Scout had apparently calmed down enough to make a joke. “Oh, you motherfucker, you had mac and cheese too, didn’t you? God damn it.”

“There’s more left,” Sniper assured quickly, hands squeezing at Scout’s sides briefly before he tugged upwards, encouraging Scout out of his lap.

Scout led the way towards the kitchen. As Sniper passed by him, Engie commented quietly, “Boy’s got you whipped, son.” Sniper did not argue that point.

He heated back up the extra mac and cheese, even going so far as to fire up the toaster so Scout could do the ridiculous thing he liked where he’d butter toast and put the mac and cheese between the slices to eat like a sandwich. Sniper didn’t get it, but it was one of the younger man’s favorite meals. Apparently it reminded him of home. Scout, meanwhile, mostly just took to sulking a little ways down the counter. He brightened a little bit when Sniper finally set food out in front of him, and his mood visibly improved as he started wolfing down his meal. He only slowed down about halfway through the second sandwich he’d made, and Sniper felt the guilt reverberating around his chest again, because wow, Scout had clearly been really hungry.

“Y’know why I’m extra mad?” Scout finally said, breaking the silence between bites of macaroni sandwich (or, as he’d unfortunately named it, the Maccy Sand). “I was really excited to show you a surprise.”

Sniper blinked. “What?”

“I had a surprise for you. And you fucked it up because you just, you didn’t show up.”

“What was it?” Sniper asked.

“I dunno if you deserve it now,” Scout said petulantly, taking another significant bite of his third and final sandwich.

“C’mon, Bilby, please?” Sniper asked, more earnest than he usually allowed of himself.

Scout looked him up and down. “We’ll see,” he finally decided, and went back to eating.

-

Once he was done eating and Sniper had rinsed off their plates, they moved to Scout’s room, where it became immediately obvious that, in Scout’s increasing stress, he’d started cleaning up to try and get his mind off of things. Sniper took a cautious seat on Scout’s actually-made bed, and Scout promptly moved to sit in his lap again, legs perpendicular to Sniper’s.

“Scared the hell outta me,” Scout muttered, kissing Sniper hard to emphasize the point. When he drew back again, that frown had returned. “Don’t do that again.”

“I’m sorry,” Sniper said, honesty in his tone and in his face and in the way he squeezed at Scout’s hip where he’d put a hand to keep him stable.

“I know,” Scout sighed, and leaned in to press his face into the crook of Sniper’s neck. “Just… damn it. I had plans and everything and now I can barely remember them. I’m all frazzled.”

“For the surprise?” Sniper inferred.

“Yeah. I… it’s gonna take me a minute to remember what all I wanted to do.”

Sniper was starting to get a little confused about what the surprise was. Nevertheless, he stayed quiet and still to let Scout think, even as the other man kissed his way idly up the side of Sniper’s neck, ending at his temple.

“Okay,” Scout finally said, kissed him on the lips briefly. “Okay. So there’s a surprise.”

“Right,” Sniper said.

“And you’re gonna look for it,” Scout said next. “You’ve gotta find it.”

Sniper looked around the room, deciding that the task would probably be infinitely easier since Scout had apparently cleaned. “…Right.”

“So we’re gonna play hot or cold so you can find it easier.” Scout added.

Sniper laughed. “Right? So it’s a gift, then?”

“Yeah, sorta. You’re gonna love it. Or… or maybe not, I dunno. I hope you’ll like it. Anyways.” Scout kissed Sniper again, still briefly, before he moved to sit next to Sniper instead of across his lap.

Sniper stood up and moved to the center of the room after a moment of consideration. “Ready when you are,” he said.

“Cool. You’re cold.”

Sniper thought for a moment, then took a few steps towards Scout’s closet.

“Ice cold.”

He paused, then moved over in the direction of the dresser.

“Still cold. Hypothermia. Frostbite.”

Sniper rolled his eyes, taking a few steps towards where Scout was.

“Warmer. Warmer,” Scout intoned.

Sniper nodded, moving to walk to the bedside table, taking a knee.

“Warmer, but not hot,” Scout said quickly.

Sniper raised an eyebrow at that, moving to look under the bed now.

“Still just warmer.”

He looked up at Scout, eyebrows furrowing.

Scout was grinning. “Hotter.”

He felt a grin pulling at his own face, and he moved to shove Scout down, leaning over him in a way that would be menacing were they not dating.

“Hot,” Scout laughed.

“You are,” Sniper agreed, and that just made a Scout laugh more. “Is it you?”

“I’m not a surprise,” Scout tried and failed to deadpan, startled into giggles as Sniper assaulted his neck with ticklish little kisses.

“But you are an absolute treasure,” Sniper pointed out, pulling back enough to press a kiss to Scout’s rapidly-reddening cheek.

“True,” Scout agreed. “But no, I’m not the gift. Close, though.”

Sniper raised an eyebrow at him, shifting to get a bit more comfortable in the way he was leaning, a hand finding its way to Scout’s side.

“Hotter.”

A moment of consideration before a Sniper grinned, that same hand tugging on Scout’s shirt to untuck it before migrating beneath to deliver a pinch to his nipple under his shirt.

Scout gasped, arched despite himself. “C-cooler,” he said, voice wobbly. Sniper pinched at the other one for good measure. “Still cooler—Snipes, why do I feel like you’re messin’ with me?”

“I’m not messing with you, I’m playing the game,” Sniper defended, pinching the first again and laughing at Scout’s enthusiastic yet frustrated reaction for a moment before he relented and his hand returned to Scout’s waist, then tentatively slid down towards his hip.

“Warmer,” Scout said, and was he flushing further from Sniper’s messing around, or was he getting embarrassed? To test Sniper’s growing theory, his hand skipped down to Scout’s thigh, then just above his knee. “Colder again, I think.”

Finally Sniper just moved to rest his hand on Scout’s lower hip, looking at him knowingly, and Scout was flushed clear up to his ears.

“Hot. Burning hot,” he self-corrected, and Sniper only hesitated for a second before he moved to pop the button on Scout’s pants.

His breath mysteriously disappeared. He quickly moved to try and pull fabric down and away to get a better view of what he was looking at, and once he was sure his eyes weren’t decieving him, he looked back up at Scout.

“Found it,” Scout said weakly, managing a tight smile, reaching down behind himself presumably to adjust the way that the—the goddamn lingerie was sitting on him, maybe for comfort.

For a moment, the euphoria gave way to that knife-like guilt again. Because Scout had waited around his room for well over an hour, sitting around and almost definitely worrying about whether Sniper would enjoy his gift, and Sniper knew he was impatient on a good day and would damn near tear his own hair out on a bad one, and for over an hour he’d sat around hungry and self-conscious and waiting and eventually worrying and fearing the worst and—

“Gorgeous,” Sniper said the moment he caught back up with the present moment, hand smoothing down Scout’s flank again, and the nervousness disappeared from Scout’s expression slowly over a few moments. “A bloody beaut, look at you. Get—get out of these,” he implored, pulling meaningfully on Scout’s baggy uniform pants.

He got up to allow Scout room to get free of them, and suddenly it occurred to him—had Scout been wearing those all day? He’d have to ask later. In the meantime, Scout pushed and pulled him to maneuver him so he was sat against the pillows at the headboard before straddling him again, wearing much the same expression he’d worn when he’d done so earlier that evening, but this time with a very different subtext, with his shirt hanging down to tantalizingly hide the gorgeous view from him. “Sitting around all day excited to show you this, and you forget,” Scout muttered, echoing Sniper’s earlier thought process.

“Sorry,” Sniper repeated simply, throat dry, having a hard time keeping his eyes away from the place where he could just catch sight of lace below that shirt if he really craned his neck.

“I’m still kinda mad at you,” Scout seemed to decide aloud. “So y’know what we’re gonna do now?”

“Hmm?” Sniper managed, voice threatening to break.

Scout smirked, tilting his chin up. “You’re gonna make it up to me.”

#tf2 #team fortress 2 #speeding bullet #sniperscout #shut up me #everybody talks #ft. i make scout eat things i eat #my fanfiction

[almaasi]

I wanna watch Star trek but I don't know where to start! Is there a series that's most popular? Do I have to watch them in order?

OOH YES. it’s all on netflix so watching it is EASY PEASY

i’ll tell you about each of them, personal opinions included.

so!

there’s “star trek”, the original series, made in the 1960s, which is what my mama grew up watching. this is the one with kirk and spock and uhura etc. this is the fandom that kickstarted Fandom. it’s perhaps worth watching for the historical revolution aspect. i haven’t seen more than few episodes here and there (i found its pacing slow these days, yet adored the ones i saw as a kid, and would rewatch them over and over). you could watch “the trouble with tribbles” as a stand-alone. it’s 10/10 and hilarious. i intend to get back to watching the rest sometime. i’ve enjoyed this series mostly through tumblr gifsets and fanart. as far as i can tell, not watching all of it doesn’t really affect the watching of the rest… because…

imo, the 90s era of star trek shows were the best (the next generation, deep space nine, voyager…. and enterprise, which i haven’t seen yet). they’re mostly weird, cheerful, and upbeat. tng comes first, which gives some context to ds9, but besides a few crossover characters and storylines, you could watch either without the other. voyager occasionally has characters from the others but it’s pretty stand-alone (you could definitely watch this one with zero context).

show concepts (of the ones i’ve watched, sorry enterprise):

the next generation (tng): utopian adventure looking at space!! people trying to be perfect and being like ooooh aliens. ooh planets. this is the basic 90s trek. some bad stuff happens, but not a lot. mostly wacky spaceship antics/intrigue and people trying to do their jobs even when space shit hits the space fan. (season 6 of tng runs parallel with season 1 of ds9, and there’s one ds9/tng crossover episode in tng. the character of worf is developed here and is later introduced to ds9.) definitely a good one to start with!

deep space nine (ds9): everyone lives on a broken space station. this show is the edgy goth cousin, but the one with the heart and soul that i am so freaking in love with right now. my favourite star trek by far. the characters have SO MUCH DEPTH and i swear they’re all queer or autistic or both. this one gets plot-heavy as it goes on, but it maintains its underlying warmth and still has those ridiculous fun episodes that make everything okay again for 45 minutes. i love the characters so muh-hu-huuuch and the FOUND FAMILY vibe is literally out of this world. there’s only maybe 3 episodes out of 176 that i didn’t like, and they’re all one-off-romance episodes that squick me for personal reasons (compulsory heterosexuality, ableism?? ew ew ew, scrubbed forever from my personal canon). overall the writing is phenomenal. like maybe one of the consistently best-written shows i’ve ever seen, including modern stuff. plus i found another otp (garak/bashir) and that’s undoubtedly a big part of why i love this show so much. i am deeply compelled by character relationships, and this one has oodles of exactly that. you can ship anyone with anyone else and you’d be right.

voyager (voy): just a bunch of nerds tryna get home for 7 years straight. a lot of funky weirdness happens along the way. this is my second favourite after ds9. found family, but in a more professional way than ds9. i dunno if it’s just my opinion formed after not seeing this show for a few years, but i remember the writing of this one seemed kinda all over the place. always fun though, maybe because of its changeability. lady boss captain, hell yeah. (season 2 of ds9 runs parallel with season 1 of voy.)

then…

well, there’s the new shows, discovery (dsc) and picard (pic)

and i haven’t watched picard yet, but i’m getting the impression it has a similar vibe as discovery, and i just……. don’t like it. discovery is dark, violent, emotionally harrowing, and i guess there’s a time and place and audience for that, but it’s not me, or any time i want to watch something. it’s supposed to be ~reflecting the modern zeitgeist~ or whatever, but imo in these trying times i’d rather watch something soft and hopeful that makes me think about how to improve things, rather than something that hits a little too close to home and makes me think about oh god where are we headed if this keeps happening. i mean, it’s still going for the “help humanity improve” schtick of the 90s shows, but in a very different way.

and then there’s the modern jj abrams movies…….. eh, i guess they’re okay. lens flare and explosions, man. give me seven-season arcs with hundreds of ridiculous plot concepts any day.

tl;dr:

i conferred with my sister, and she gave some very good advice: start with tng, and if that doesn’t vibe with you, try voyager, and then ds9, since it’s good to get the context of how star trek deals with morality before ds9 knocks the entire concept on its ass.

but no, you don’t have to watch the series(es?) in the order they were made. background world-building storylines would make more sense if you did, but each show is generally unrelated. my family even found it kinda rewarding to watch them out of order (tng, voy, ds9) and piece together plot threads laid down in other shows.

but you can just pick one and go. c:

–

sister (@sweetdreamspootypie) adds which question each show attempts to ask and answer:

tng: how can we grow into the best of humanity? / what does it look like to be the best of humanity?

voy: what will we give up to stick to our principles?

dsc: what principles will we give up to stay alive?

ds9: capitalism, war, religion, diversity, real people just tryna live, leaning into the grey morality of Being Good. this isn’t a question. “how dare you infect me with morals!!”

#star trek #ishachan #ds9 #tng #voy #Elmie watches things #post of postiness #replies #long post

[hamliet]

(1)What do you think about Natsume Soseki? I personally don't know what's my opinion. I am amazed by how he managed to indirectly convince Odasaku to stop killing. He has great influence over both Fukuzawa and Mori. He was essential for the ADA's birth. If it wasn't for him, Fukuzawa would have died. Yet, isn't he kind of unsettling?

(2) He was the one to estabilish the Tripartite Pact, and he was the one to ask Mori to become the next boss (more precisely, he asked him to take part in the Pact). But Mori has done so much evil. He traumatized Yosano; he was atrocious wit the soldiers. He loves killing people, is a pedophile. After he became boss, he messed up Dazai's mind, killed Odasaku's kid, the same man who Soseki met and helped as a boy, the man he often saw at Lupin, drinking with Ango and Dazai.            

(3) What is happening may not concern him personally, but he wanted this pact to create an equilibrium in the city. Do you think he is an utilitarian like Mori? And also, if he could tell Mori what to do and influence him to a certain extent, how could he not tell Mori to, I dunno, slow down, don't kill Odasaku's children, or better don't call Mimic in town? I know that Yokohama desperately needs peace, but at what cost?            

(4) I think what bothers me the most is that he let all that shit happen to Odasaku. I mean, you  know you have changed his life, gave him a second chance, you see often (without him knowing) and you let him die? Plus, I am really really curious to know how he met Mori. Okay, I really needed this rant lol

I too have mixed feelings and think I need to see more of him before I come to a definite opinion! I personally can’t speculate on if he’s a utilitarian at this point because there are so many questions, but he does use his ability to the utmost of its potential, so we’ll see.

I will say that I think that BSD does include various generations improving on the past ones. I wrote about this a bit in my “Three Shades of Double Black” meta on Fukuzawa-Mori, Chuuya-Dazai, and Akutagawa-Atsushi. Natsume seems to be a generation above even Fukuzawa and Mori (not literally in terms of age, but in terms of being a mentor/authority figure). I think each generation does a little better than the previous. I do think Fukuzawa and Mori’s relationship is bound to end up doomed, Chuuya and Dazai’s will have some kind of understanding, and Atsushi and Akutagawa will work together in all the ways the previous two “soukokus” failed.

But, as I’ve speculated before, I can see Fukuzawa realizing that his ideals and Mori’s methods are just so opposing that they cannot maintain the tripartirate pact (we’re already seeing the groundwork laid for that with Mori lying to Fukuzawa about forcing Yosano into the mafia). If he realizes that, I think that might be intended to show that he’s made some strides that Natsume has not. But that’s pure speculation as of now!

#ask hamliet #bsd #bsd theory #soukokus #natsume soseki #eurekapendragon

[psychosistr]

Talk to Me- Chapter 5

Summary: A brilliant idea on Steelbeak’s part leads to a fun time involving one of Domino’s favorite pastimes.

Notes: Another chapter of bonding and fluff before something more dramatic begins >:3

-First Chapter-

Steelbeak finished taking off the cap on the bright red fire hydrant, looking through the fence at his partner waiting on the other side. “Ready?”

Domino, standing a couple feet off to the side to avoid the incoming spray, nodded. “Do it.” He had both of his pistols out and loaded.

That was all the go-ahead Steelbeak needed to bring the thick wrench up to the pressure valve on top of the hydrant and start twisting it, releasing a fierce stream of water that rushed through the fence and all over the ground on the other side. It had been a while since he’d broken open a fire hydrant without his metal beak but, after some fumbling with the spare wrench from the emergency repair kit in the trunk of Domino’s car, it all started to come back to him. The struggle had been worth it, though, to see the excited gleam of anticipation in the loon’s eyes at what was to come.

Once there was a sufficient pool spread out across several feet ahead of him, Steelbeak gradually eased the water pressure until he was able to screw it shut again. “Alright, Dee- it’s all you!” He gave the darker bird a thumbs up once the cap was back on the hydrant.

“This should only take a minute.” Domino aimed his guns at the large pool of water and began firing at it. Instead of lead bullets, though, what came out of the pistols were small capsules that burst when they hit the water’s surface. Anywhere the capsules hit began to rapidly freeze over and, after firing enough shots to empty both clips, the ground was covered in a large, semi-even sheet of ice. “There.”

While Domino holstered his guns once more, Steelbeak tossed the wrench back into the trunk of the other bird’s car and made his way back through the open gate. “Lookin’ good, Dom.” He looked over the icy ground before giving the loon a wink. “And the ice ain’t lookin’ too bad, neither.”

“Smooth.” Domino chuckled quietly, giving the taller bird one of those charming smirks that made blood rush to his face. “If the ice is anywhere near your level, then this should be fun.” He returned the wink before stepping onto their improvised ice-rink, gliding across it with ease on his bare feet.

Despite the whole thing being his idea, Steelbeak was a little more hesitant to step out onto the ice. “Just don’t laugh at me too much when I start fallin’ on my face, alright?” He took a cautious step onto the slippery surface. So far so good. Now just add the other foot and push forward to- “Woah!”

Steelbeak, predictably, ended up sliding forward a few inches before his feet started to slide out from under him and he fell forward onto the ice. While he thankfully avoided hitting his face, the impact still knocked the wind out of him and left him momentarily dazed.

“Do you really expect me NOT to laugh after that performance?” Looking up from his sprawled out position on the ice, Steelbeak saw his partner standing in front of him. The loon was smirking down at the prone rooster with an amused smirk on his face, clearly enjoying the other’s misfortune.

With a grumble Steelbeak attempted to get back up, succeeding in getting as far as his knees without falling. “Well, ex-cu-use me- we can’t all be figure skaters.” He tried to get his feet under him and managed to get a few inches off of the ground before slipping again and falling back into a seated position. “Son of a-!”

He heard laughter and looked back up to see Domino practically doubled over and holding his midsection. While Steelbeak wanted to be mad over someone laughing at his clumsiness- and he really, really, REALLY wanted to be mad about it- he found himself just staring, instead.

Sure, he’d heard Domino laugh before, particularly tonight while they’d been talking, but the other man was usually so much more..reserved about it. A quiet laugh here, a chuckle there, maybe even a few seconds of more joyous laughter once in a while if something was particularly funny.

This, though…this was different. This was more like at the restaurant right after he’d revealed the trick he’d played on Steelbeak: It was raw and open and just so genuinely joyful between the sound and the smile on his face that it warmed something in Steelbeak’s chest and made it impossible for him not to smile and laugh along with him.

It took a while for both of them to calm down, having to wipe tears of joy from their eyes once they’d settled into quiet, breathless chuckles. “Here.” Steelbeak was surprised to see a long strip of purple fabric being dangled down in front of him. He realized quickly enough that it was Domino’s scarf and that the other end was being held in its owner’s hand while he looked down at him with a calm, patient smile as he waited for him to take the other end. “Or do you prefer having frostbite on your tail feathers?”

“Nah, can’t say that I do.” With a grin on his beak, Steelbeak grabbed the free end of the scarf. “Don’t go off on me if I pull ya down too, short fuse.”

Domino rolled his eyes, but the fond smile on his face made the action ultimately pointless. “You of all people should know that I’m stronger than I look.” Well, Steelbeak definitely couldn’t argue with that one after everything he’d seen the other bird do to guys more than twice his size. With that in mind he gripped the scarf firmly in one hand and pushed off of the ice with the other, managing to get all the way up to his feet with Domino pulling the scarf taut to offer him a counterbalance. “Three seconds without falling- you’re already improving.” The darker bird joked with a smirk. Steelbeak was about to say something snappy back in return- “Why don’t you hold on to that?”

“Huh?” Steelbeak looked at his partner in confusion, then down to the scarf still being held in his hand. “Ya sure ‘bout that, stripes?”

“If you keep falling like that, you’ll break the ice.” Domino said while wrapping his end of the scarf around his left hand twice. Once he was done, he held his hand up for the other man to see. “This way we can make it last a bit longer.”

“If ya say so, Deedee.” Steelbeak shrugged and mirrored the shorter bird’s actions with his right hand, wrapping the scarf around it twice. “Just don’t go too fast, alright? Im kinda rusty.”

“Wow, I never would have guessed.” The shorter bird said sarcastically before he pushed off of the ice with one foot to glide forward.

The sudden motion startled Steelbeak a little at first, but he was silently grateful that the other man at least heeded his request to go slow. It took him a while to get used to the feeling of skating over the ice, lots of long strides back and forth before taking slow turns around the edges to go back the other way. It had been a really long time since he’d been skating- at least two or three years, if he was remembering it correctly. Every now and then he’d start to lose his balance and nearly fall, but a firm tug on his hand would always level him out before he reached the point of no return. The quick pulls and feeling of tension around his palm were more than welcome and, after a while, a slight flush bloomed across his cheeks when he realized what it reminded him of.

He snuck a glance down, his eyes trailing along the purple fabric connecting his off-white feathered hand to the black feathered one on the other end. Even with the ends of the scarf wrapped twice around each of their hands, there was still a foot or two of space between them- just enough to avoid bumping into one another if they ended up falling. Still, despite the distance between them and the lack of warmth in his palm, the pressure around his hand and the bright smile on the other man’s face left him with a feeling better than every instance of the real thing put together.

“Dang…you’re amazin’..” It wasn’t until red eyes were looking at him with a quirked brow that Steelbeak realized he’d said those words out loud. He felt his whole face go red and he looked away in embarrassment, trying to recover from his slip of the tongue. “I mean, you’re, y’know, amazin’ at this skatin’ stuff! Haha, yeah, that’s it! Dunno how ya can do it so good with no shoes on or nothin’!”

When he hazarded a glance back at his partner, he saw the aquatic fowl was looking at him with an amused smirk. “Uh huh.” He said sarcastically before guiding both of them around another turn. “If you’re really interested,” The teasing tone of his voice clearly communicated that he knew the other wasn’t actually that interested in it. “It’s mostly because of how much I’ve practiced.” They got around the turn and started skating back the other way, the loon even showing off a little by skating backwards so he could face his partner properly as they talked. “My base up north was in a colder climate and we dealt with snow and ice quite a bit throughout the year. I spent a lot of time on breaks and between missions going out for walks and skating on the lake nearby. It was refreshing after spending so long cooped up in the academy.”

Feeling that the embarrassed flush on his cheeks had calmed down significantly, Steelbeak regarded the loon curiously. “Thought ya said your academy was up north, too?”

The amused smile on Domino’s face quickly turned to a grimace at the mention of his old training camp. “Yes, but I only ever got to go outside for training exercises..the instructor kept me too busy for anything else..”

“Real stick in the mud, huh?” Now Steelbeak really WAS interested.

“More like a thorn in my side.” The grimace turned into a full-blown scowl as he spoke, still keeping an even pace across the ice. “I don’t know what I did to piss him off, but the general in charge of my class had it out for me from day one: He always singled me out for extra work to do around the base, so I never had time to study. When I started my firearms training he shot me in the leg and gave the excuse of ‘The first thing to train on is how to handle BEING shot’. Not to mention he took every opportunity to hit me from behind or pull out my feathers.” He rubbed at his head with his free hand, clearly remembering the feeling all too well. “Then, even after I passed my final exams with some of the best marks in my class, he STILL refused to give me my agent status and tried to make me an eggman.”

“Geez, what a prick.” Steelbeak was scowling now, too. “What’s the guy’s name?” He’d have to pay the jerk a visit sometime in the future, maybe see if he could pull a few strings to have him reassigned or put on a suicide mission or something..

“General Rover.” Domino huffed and shook his head. “I already-”

“Wait, wait, wait- hold it!” Steelbeak cut him off before he could continue, his earlier scowl replaced with a curious look bordering on bewilderment. “General Rover? As in General ‘Red’ Rover? Old dog, dark brown-but-kinda-red fur, some sorta Australian breed?” He moved a finger vertically over his left eye with his free hand. “Real bad scar right about here? Eye’s kinda milky lookin’ an’ don’t work that well?”

Domino looked a little baffled, but nodded nonetheless. “Yes, that’s him. Was he a friend of yours or-?”

The loon was interrupted once again, though this time it was by Steelbeak laughing so hard that he had to stop and grab the bars of the fence at the end of their path rather than turn as they had been. “You’re pullin’ my leg!” He wheezed out between his uncontrollable fits of laughter. “I-I’m dyin’! Oh-ho man, I’m dyin’ here!”

Domino eyed the taller man with a look somewhere between confusion and caution, likely thinking the other was in the process of losing his mind with how hysterical he was acting. “I think I’m missing the joke here..”

Steelbeak made an effort to calm down, he really did, but the whole thing was just so FUNNY that the best he could do was look at his confused partner with a face-splitting grin and gasp out a few words here and there between barely-restrained chuckles. “That..That’s the chump whose wallet I stole!!”

Red eyes blinked and widened in surprise. “Wait, are you serious?”

“Yeah!” Steelbeak tapped the eye that he’d indicated earlier. “I gave the old dog that scar when I was a kid! Cut ‘im an’ left my knife right in his eye- messed the old dog up for life!”

“That was YOU?” Domino’s confusion was quickly turning into amusement. “Wow…what are the chances?”

“I know, right?!” It still took a few more deep breaths for the rooster’s fit to finally stop. “O-ho man, that’s the best laugh I’ve had all night.” He used his free hand to wipe a stray tear from his eyes before looking at the darker bird with a grin. “Yeah, I think the guy’s got a problem with birds or somethin’, and what happened with me probably didn’t help any- sorry ya got the fallout from it.”

“Don’t, it wasn’t your fault he was a terrible person- I’m fairly certain he’s ALWAYS been like that.” The loon shook his head with a chuckle, a deadly smirk slipping onto his beak. “Well..I suppose I should say he was like that..”

Steelbeak smirked back at his partner, already getting an idea of what happened from that blood-thirsty gleam in the other bird’s eyes. “Ya blew up on the guy didn’t ya, short fuse?”

“Making me an eggman was the last straw.” The short-tempered bird sighed with a tone of mock sympathy. “He just pushed me one too many times. Such a tragic accident.”

“I can hear the world weepin’ over it.” Steelbeak matched the other’s mock-pity before they both broke the façade and started to chuckle and snicker again. “Wish I could’ve been there t’ see it.”

“Do you remember the man that grabbed my shoulder in the hall right after we started working together?” He continued when he received a nod from the taller bird. “Imagine that, but about fifty times worse.”

If Steelbeak had less self-control, then he would’ve trilled at the other’s words- the more sadistic side of his mind just adored what his partner was capable of (as long as he wasn’t the target of it, of course). “O-ho-ho, you DESTROYED ‘im, didn’t ya? C’mon, c’mon: I need details.”

“Well, if you insist.” Domino smirked as he began to recount the full story of how he brutally attacked his former instructor/tormentor.

Steelbeak had every intention of listening, too, more than happy to hear all the gory details…but a spec of red on the shorter bird’s shoulder distracted him. Normally he wouldn’t think anything odd about seeing red on his partner since it was one of the main accents on his usual outfit, but the loon wasn’t wearing any red tonight. What was even more out of place was the fact that it was moving like a bug, going up from his shoulder towards his head, but he couldn’t see any legs or wings moving. If anything, it looked more like a la-

“MOVE!” He acted without thinking and practically tackled the darker bird.

If what he saw didn’t kill him, his partner probably would.

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

End Notes: Will I ever write a story where these two don’t end up in some kind of danger?...Probably not x3

Also, just wanted to add that I consulted @thefriendlyfour regarding the general from Domino’s training days to get a better idea of what a jerk he was and was granted free reign to come up with a name and design for him. I went with the name “Red” Rover to fit in with the children’s game theme that seems to follow any OC’s associated with Domino’s past x3 He’s an Australian Kelpie with dark brownish-red fur, contributing to his nickname.

#darkwing duck #dwd #steelbeak #Dominic Domino #steeldomino #100 follower giveaway! #talk to me

[bwayfanficblog]

Opinions on the BMC OBCR!

(Friendly reminder this is just my opinion! I think this cast recording is over all insanely good, I’m just being a little nit picky because I’ve loved BMC for a while. I had the privilege of seeing BMC in NYC in March, which was amazing and the live performance did influence my opinions a bit. If you have doubts about Will Roland as Jeremy, seeing it live will flip your opinions. Trust me. ❤️)

(edit: my overall opinion of this is that it’s great, but it’s trying WAY too hard. Am I the only one who thinks that the try hard sound completely erases the actual message of BMC? that you don’t have to be someone or soemthing you’re not to impress someone? I feel like the old score was just as amazing and the new actors could’ve done it justice without all of these wild changes. They basically took the creepy retro vibes out of BMC to keep up with modern broadway. I don’t have a problem with it, I just think that it erases the actual message of the show to an extent. I am so in love with Will Roland! He was wonderful live. Feel free to message me and discuss this!)

More Than Survive

- Inclusion of more dialogue is good but I kinda think it breaks up the flow a little

- Will Roland yesss, this song is actually how he sounded live, I wish you could see how incredible he looked and acted during this song

- Inclusion of the “Boyf” dialogue is cute and definitely should’ve been added to begin with

- The new harmonies on “Christineeee” where Jeremy goes up a step is so nice

- Michael’s new part is just as adorable as before, kinda sad they took out the “so own it!” line tho

- Buttt more sweet giggles from Michael makes up for it!

- I don’t like how they cut off the last Canigula so quickly to make room for the chorus singing though idk

- The louder beat slaps tho

- I don’t like how Chloe’s last “I like gay people” is isolated unlike the original cast recording

- Will gives a heartbreaking “I’m never gonna be the cool guy” performance though like damn I almost cried

- The “na na na” is now “na ahh ahh ahh” if that makes sense and it doesn’t give as much impact which makes me wanna die bc that part was so pretty

- Will’s riffs at the end make up for it

I love play rehearsal

- There’s more instruments at the start and I think a flute which is so pretty!!

- Stephanie yessss with those improved vocals

- I think the extra instruments overpower her soft sweet sound at some points in the song tho

- YESS the dialogue that’s now included yesss

- The extra instruments at the end actually add more tho I love it

- A little more dramatic

More than survive (reprise)

- ICONIC

- IM SO HAPPY THEY INCLUDED THIS

- nothing bad to say other than I’m not a fan of the weird pop-y instrumental at the end, when I saw it I think it was a little more spread out instead of included in the song but I could be wrong

The Squip Song

- Gerard’s vocals have gotten even better like yes

- The instrumental sounds about the same as the old recording which makes me glad they didn’t change it too much

- Jeremy sounds scared when he says “you got quick” and I don’t know why ? That’s kinda odd like buddy are you good

- Is rich ok like at all in this song

- The song isn’t as like soft if that makes sense

Two Player Game

- Michael sounds like wants to die when he says “apocalypse of the damned” at the start shaksksks

- BUT THIS SONG IS SO GOOD it’s another one they didn’t change very much

- The instrumental is a little more pop-y but otherwise it’s still got that retro vibe

- George was keeping it real and not changing his vocals in the song for us thank u

- Will Roland come thru with those harmonies once again

- Jeremy’s verse is really soft and sweet and I love it he just sounds done

- The extra lil video game sounds are spot on

- The “You know that you are my favorite person” lines are done so perfect but I’m sad Michael’s little giggle isn’t as prominent

The Squip Enters

- Jake’s “that freak is freaking out” isn’t that funny in this recording sjsksksksk I’m sad

- The Squip’s surfer voice was less prominent live and more realistic and I’m not sure I like it that much in the recording

Be More Chill PT 1

- The Squip has a solo part at the start!! It’s adorable

- Jason Tam yessss

- The Squip calling Jeremy Bae and Boo makes me wanna die tho

- The first part isn’t sung anymore which makes me wanna die too bc he has such a nice voice

- The Squip’s vocals in the chorus tho yes ma’am

- Instead of Jeremy saying “Jesus” he just has a lil panic attack that poor boy

- The Squip kinda sounds British in some parts of it

- You can hear George doing a funny voice for his mall character which makes me laff

- “Jerry?” —“jerry-ME” I love Will

- Chloe is a lot more pissed in this song

Do you wanna ride

- The instruments overpower Brooke in some parts

- They didn’t change the vocal lines too much but they did slow the song a bit ?

- The harmonies are really nice though come through Brooke and Chloe

- The end is also sped up a little

- Brooke’s giggle and the little French at the end was so cute

Be More Chill PT II

- “Everything about me makes me wanna die” LINE WAS SO SAD

- the instrumental build up was so incredible !!

- This is probably my favorite song for the Squip he just brings it vocally

- JEREMY’S LITTLE GIGGLE AFTER “be mORe CHILL” I CRIED

Sync Up

- This replaces the original More than survive reprise

- I don’t like how it takes Michael’s little part out of it because I think it was necessary plus the instrumental part of that slapped

- Also I think it gives us a good insight into the characters but it could’ve been placed somewhere else maybe?

- I also think the beat isn’t very uniform and is kinda messy and the dialogue is more interesting than the actual song

- It shows how nice Jeremy is tho

- I liked this song live better because the actual song just isn’t interesting enough to be a song on its own

- Jeremy and Brooke’s interactions in the song is really nice

- I love the distorted little “na na na” from more than survive though you can tell it’s slightly off

- I don’t like “head to play rehearsal” instead of “drama practice” though I don’t think it flows well

- I’m sad they changed one of my favorite songs !!

A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into

- Once again stronger instrumental, especially guitar

- The vocal track doesn’t seem to be changed very much again thank u god

- Weird clappy sounds ??

- The harmony on “absolutely” YES

- Christine’s little breathy laugh after “I guess there’s a part of me that wants to” yes sir

Upgrade

- Brooke speaking French at the start SNSKSKSKSOSK

- I think the dialogue gives more insight into Brooke and Jeremy’s relationship

- “Jere-Bear” NAJAKAKA

- THEY TOOK THE LITTLE “damn” OUT NO

- Jake and Christine’s part is cute but it felt a little out of place for some reason and I don’t know why, like the little sad dialogue they have about Jake’s parents feels weird but it’s really

- “I’m tired of being the person everyone thinks that I am” feels like it should’ve been a part of sync up instead of upgrade

- Brooke saying she was happy Jeremy looking at her instead of Chloe first made me wanna bawl

- Also it makes me wanna punch Jeremy

- Poor Jenna got like 1 like in this song

- I feel like it wasn’t smooth transition into Loser Geek Whatever at the end I don’t like the whole weird chorus thing leading into it at all

- Feels out of place without Michael’s little part at the end, I’m sad they’re cutting significant Michael parts, I know they kept it in LGW but it felt more in place in upgrade

Loser Geek Whatever

- It’s great and Will re recorded it for the album because it seems to have more emotion and be more genuine

- He sounds super excited at the start and it makes happy

- One of the few songs that managed to keep BMC’s kinda creepy computer tech vibe which is weird because it wasn’t even in the original album I wonder if it was written newly or was a draft from the first run back in 2013-2015

- A little more upbeat but in a good way

- Will’s vocals sound a lot better than the first recording

- Extra beeping at “my one real friend” was nice

Halloween

- Brooke does a little bark at the start awe

- The beat doesn’t go as hard as the OG cast recording which sucks bc it went hard

- Everyone kinda sounds like they wanna die at the start again which seems like common theme??

- The chorus doesn’t slap either what

- The song also got cut a little short I think unless I’m crazy but I feel like it was longer than this?

- Extra verse at the end and I don’t really like it

- Kinda boring now and doesn’t give you a panic attack vibe like the OG one did

Do You Wanna Hang

- Only song where they changed a lot that made it better

- Included the dialogue at the start which makes the song make more sense

- The Squip’s Voice is so smooth ssnskskskw

- Chloe’s losing her mind a little but I love it

Michael in the Bathroom

- Jesus George’s vocals OWN MY WHOLE ASS

- He’s only gotten better somehow

- No to the new pop-y sounds in it it takes sad creepy feel out of it

- Too much instrumental added bc it doesn’t sound like ballad anymore

- I dunno how I feel about it because George’s vocals are perfect but the instrumental is doing him dirty and not making it sad enough

- This song gives me anxiety now wjsjsksks and I don’t know if that’s good or bad?

- The few lines and instrumental lines are the same as the OG which is good

A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into (reprise)

- SO HAPPY THEY INCLUDED THIS TOO

- Whoever’s playing that flute was told to play that shit LOUD

- Jeremy’s “Christineee” omg he’s so in love

The Smartphone Hour

- The new instrumental sounds at the start sound bonk

- The phone sound effects make me wanna die dndkjssk

- Tiffany Mann’s voice COME THROUGH

- The “whoaaaa” was changed which makes me sad

- I’m glad they specified it was Jake’s house because when I listened to the OG one at first I was like did he just burn down a random house ??

- The dialogue between Chloe and Brooke is kinda dramatic now but it’s not a bad thing

- KATHYLN CARLSON’S VOICE IN HER SOLO CHORUS YES SIS

- the whistle noise has gotta go that’s what my track coaches whistle sounded like when I wasn’t running fast enough

- I’m scared now the dance break sounds like salsa music

- “Matches, ashes” was changed to “drama, drama” girl what

- Brooke’s screams yes

- The random auto tune voices in the back are trying to capture the creepy vibe that this song originally has but isn’t doing it

- This song isn’t changed much though and still has the OG vibes which is good

The Pants Song

- The weird piano at the start scares me

- The lyrics have changed a bit too

- I’m not too familiar with this song because I don’t listen to it so often but it doesn’t sound too different from the OG cast recording which is good instrumental wise

- The chorus sounds different though I don’t know how I feel about it

- The “Michael in the bathroom” melody playing in the back during the dialogue YES

- Omg the dialogue where Jeremy’s dad tells him to say it like he’s in the army omg I’m weak

- YES THE HARMONY RIGHT AFTER RHAY DIALOGUE

The Pitiful Children

- My fav song

- Not this version I don’t think but

- I don’t mind the lyric changes but I think it takes the dark creepy techno vibe out of the song

- If it was anyone other than Jason Tam singing this version I wouldn’t like it

- The chorus lost its punch with this new pop sound

- I’m really confused as to why the lyrics had to change tho these make less on an impact, I think a solo song with Jeremy and the Squip about Christine would’ve cooler

- The Squip and Jeremy’s harmonies tho like fuck me up

- The techno voice singing “lets save the pitiful children” is eh like it makes it cheesy

- I’m scared of the Squip singing “Squip Squip Squip”

- “Everything about us” run is still amazing as always

- I just realized the Squip is using Christine to manipulate Jeremy into squipping everyone that makes sense that’s why the lyrics are changing

The Play

- The dialogue at the start is different but it makes sense, it’s Jeremy realizing the Squip made him Squip the whole cast

- The instrumental sound is the same thankfully

- “Michael makes an entrance” sounds like Michael wants to die is he good

- It adds Michael and Jeremy’s fighting dialogue in it which I like and adds the two player game melody in the back

- Jake’s “living the upgrade” line was cut short :((( I love his voice

- They changed the “having sex” convo between Brooke and Chloe which doesn’t make it relevant to that scene anymore ?? But they also validate each other so idc

- The “I love play rehearsal” melody playing when Christine talks yes ma’am

- “I’m stronger than you think I am” I LOVE JEREMY

- The LGW melody playing when Jeremy is telling the Squip to fuck off

- Jeremy and Michael saying “oh god” back and fourth to each other in different tones of voice is an accurate representation of having a best friend conversation

Voices in my head

- The start sounds like pac-man and I’m so here for it

- RICH HAS HIS LISP YES QUEEN also his harmonies !!

- This instrumental is kept pretty much the same too which I’m happy about

- “Don’t dump her on Halloween” BYE I love u Brooke

- “We are your squad” AWE

- It’s so pure

- The second verse has some lyric changes but I like them more

- LGW melody is playing when he and Christine talk which is so soft bc he’s like owning being a loser?

- The “bowling alley performance art” line wouldn’t make sense if you haven’t watched the show but it’s cute

- The loud flute is present again shsksksksks

- Awe the ending harmonies are soft

- The Squip was tripping balls in the end of that wtf

- The “na na na” runs at the end don’t sound like the more than survive ones sjsksksk

- “You ready?” I LOVE

- Jeremy is such a dork and I love that so much in this song

#be more chill #bmc #be more chill broadway #be more chill cast recording #bmc obcr #bmc cast recording #jeremy heere #michael mell #brooke lohst #chloe valentine #jenna rolan #rich goranski #christine canigula #jake dillenger #bmc musical #boyf riends #bmc revival #george salazar #will roland #dear evan hansen #broadway musicals #musicals #musical review #bmc on broadway

[ohblackdiamond]

the end of the world tour (kiss/endgame crossover, r) (part 2/5)

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

In this chapter: KISS begins its training regimen. Unfortunately, there's no Rocky montage.

Or,  four washed-up former rockstar superheroes don the spandex of old in a last-ditch effort to save an already half-gone world. They just need a little support from a billionaire who’s not too keen on KISS interrupting his private life. Somewhat Endgame compliant. 

The old wooden box looked just the same as it always had. Just as ordinary as ever. Not the barest smear of dust. Gene cracked it open almost casually, setting it down on the living room table, the talismans of Khyscz glowing too brightly in the dim room. Better preserved than any of the four of them. Of course they were. Peter took a deep breath, just staring at the talismans, hand hovering over the box.

“They’re not gonna eat you,” Ace said dryly.

“I know that,” Peter snapped. “Just give me a second.”

Aside from the glow, the talismans never had looked too special, anyway. Crude little carvings of a cat head, a star, a dragon, and a lightning bolt. Like an elementary school kid’s art project. They didn’t look as though they’d give any more powers than the Superman curtain they’d obsessively hung by their dressing room for decades. But they had. But they did.

Peter could swear he felt electricity start to course through his fingers. Should’ve been exhilarating. Instead, it was frankly terrifying. He could feel three sets of eyes right on him, expectant. And why shouldn’t they be? He’d been the one to push it, insist that they put their powers to decent use. If he got cold feet now—if he couldn’t even take hold of his own talisman, well—

“Okay, we’ll do it on three,” Paul said from behind him. He was breathing hard right up against Peter’s ear. Nerves as shot as always. Peter had never been quite so grateful for someone else’s terminal case of anxiety. Paul stuck his hand out to the box, Gene and Ace following suit. “One, two, three—”

Peter’s fingers closed around the cat talisman and the world went white around him.

Briefly. Just briefly.

Then he opened his eyes.

He was back in his Destroyer outfit. Every last rhinestone on the jumpsuit intact. The layered, crystal-studded choker, the huge cross necklace, the six-inch platforms. The dry, cloying feel of greasepaint and talcum powder spread across his face, a face that barely had any crevices or wrinkles for the makeup to sink into.

He dropped the talisman back into the box, where it managed a few more pulsating twinkles before the light faded. Then he yanked off his gloves, surprised at his own shock at what he saw. Not the knobby, swollen fingers he was used to. No arthritis or carpal tunnel or tendonitis. Nothing. He felt like he could play a twenty-song setlist the next five nights in a row. He felt like he could do anything, any fucking thing he wanted, bounce back without even the remote fear of injury. Each movement felt crisp and painless. That underlying ache that’d plagued him so much longer than he’d ever confessed to any of the guys was gone.

Peter’s palms were starting to sweat. He shoved the gloves back on, insanely, trying to force an evenness to his breaths that he couldn’t manage.

“Holy shit,” he said, shaking his head. Nothing else really encompassed it. Shit, he could almost, almost understand why the other three had misused the talismans now. So much pent-up energy, he felt like he was high off his own breathing. The urge to laugh, to cry, something, was digging a furrow within him.

Behind him, he could hear Ace cracking up. Peter turned around, slowly, almost as if he was afraid of what was behind him. Which was ridiculous. He’d seen the guys before. He’d seen Gene and Paul the way they used to be just yesterday. He knew all three of their costumes and faces and makeup nearly as well as he knew his own. There was just this weird feeling somewhere in his gut that as soon as he took a glance, the deal was on. Like when they’d signed their first contract. Like when they’d first closed their hands around the talismans in ’73. No turning back.

He faced Paul and Gene first. Unsurprisingly, they both looked remarkably better when they weren’t in the middle of fucking random girls. He stared from Paul’s asymmetrically-painted face, the black star over his right eye, to the nearly-batwing swoops of black paint that spread from Gene’s forehead down almost to the tip of his nose. Then there was Ace, behind both of them, the silver starbursts making his face practically gleam.

He didn’t know how to describe it. Seeing the guys like that. It took him back—it took them all back, decades upon decades. The nostalgia trip of the Reunion Tour hadn’t been like this. Nothing could compare to this.

“You look great, Cat,” Ace said, offering his standard thumbs-up. But there was a warmth, a sincerity to his expression. Those brown eyes held some fondness, maybe. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen that look cross Ace’s face for longer than a few seconds. “You ready?”

Peter nodded. Ace kept his hand extended, fist out, hovering in the air. It took a moment or two for Peter to catch on and reach out his fist to meet Ace’s, then Gene and Paul immediately following suit. It took a few tries before all four of them managed to connect for the fistbump simultaneously, but they managed, amid a few headshakes and snorts. Then the room just went dead silent, the four of them just staring deflatedly at each other. The same stupid hesitation that had kept Peter from grabbing the talisman straight off was paralyzing them all again. No, it wasn’t just that. Sure, the talismans could dredge up the true selves of the holders, something Peter was slowly starting to realize was insulting to each of them, but they couldn’t make it ’73 again. They couldn’t put KISS in that old team mindset. That wasn’t part of their magic.

“Is anybody going to say anything? C’mon, somebody pump us up,” Peter said finally.

“I forgot all our catchphrases,” Paul confessed.

--

KISS’ last intense experiences with personal trainers had been over twenty years prior, getting in shape for the Reunion Tour. They’d been expensive, and the overall effect had left a lot to be desired—probably because the routines had been more about avoiding fat Elvis comparisons than strength training. But this time was different. A haphazard blend of Tae-Bo workout videos and P90X DVDs, protein shakes and energy bars, Nordic Tracks and barbells soon littered the entirety of the basement, crowding out the KISS memorabilia that had crept into the corners. Paul and Gene had cancelled out indefinitely on FER, despite being hounded on a near-daily basis by both the girls and the program.

The workouts were the easy part, really. The superpowers were hazardous.

As it turned out, after forty years of disuse, Gene’s firebreathing abilities weren’t much more than enough to light a menorah. Ace’s teleportation had fared a little better—but he wasn’t getting any farther than the city limits of New Haven without an extreme amount of effort. Paul’s eye beam still had great accuracy… and a range of about three feet.

“Can you still do that other eye thing?”

“What other eye thing?”

“Seeing the future.”

Paul just rolled both eyes.

“Ace, I hate to tell you, but most of those premonitions were vague to begin with.”

“I’m pretty sure you used them to bet on Secretariat in ’73. I only remember ’cause you made us all put in for it.”

“Yeah, but that was so we could afford to rent out that ballroom. And the odds were 3 to 2, so we had to put up a lot to get the benefits.” A pause. “See, Peter, we’ve definitely abused the talismans way before the FER thing…”

Peter grimaced but let it go. His powers weren’t in good shape, either. Catlike reflexes, sure, if the cat had been dosed up on morphine prior. The claws were… just okay. Ace had joked about getting a scratching post for him at some point, when a lot of practice was probably the only thing that could improve them. Any of them.

“It doesn’t make sense. We never had to work on them before. The powers were just there.” Peter was staring dismally at his target—a pink rubber head and torso, mounted on a heavy stand—and absently slashing its face up as he spoke. “One day we were at band practice and the next day we were—what was that Superman shit, Gene…”

“Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.”

“No, we did better than that, we could fucking fly.” Peter glanced at the other three. “Has anyone even tried that one yet?”

“I’m too depressed with what we have tried,” Paul said dryly. “And I really don’t want to break a leg.”

Ace shrugged.

“I think we just gotta be patient with it, y’know? Maybe it’s a mental block. Maybe we’re putting limits on ourselves.”

“Since when have any of us ever done that? Look, man, we want this. All of us want this.”

“Could be the problem. We’re too anxious, I dunno.”

Not the most satisfying explanation. Gene started digging through his VHS collection for news clips of their crimefighting activities, and they added reviewing the tapes onto their training activities. They were even slowing the tapes down to get the hand movements and gestures exactly right—it was weird; all of it was weird. Copying poses they’d done forty years prior. Even, occasionally, copying catchphrases in an effort to get the proper intensity. It felt kind of stupid. Paul seemed like the only one who’d really get into the catchphrase bit—then again, he’d done the same stage raps for decades without losing an ounce of enthusiasm. Maybe to him it felt like he was pumping up an invisible crowd. Gene, unsurprisingly, seemed to enjoy imitating the poses.

But the only things that always felt entirely right to Peter were the outfits and makeup. Sure, it wasn’t bad, staring at a mostly-lineless face in the mirror before starting the day’s training, just like it wasn’t bad, diving into a punching bag without worrying about arthritis, but honestly, a couple stolen hours of youth were secondary to actually feeling like part of KISS again.

It just hadn’t felt the same over the last five years. Living together, being together—without performing together or crimefighting together. It had been like playing house in a morgue. Not always. Not every day. But the difference was palpable. The occasional jam sessions they’d do in the basement couldn’t compare to how it felt to really be working together again.

Peter was doing a few more chinups out back when he heard the familiar, giddy sounds of Ace’s laughter from further out in the backyard. Gene and Paul had already gone back inside, Gene exhausted after managing to spit about a two-foot column of fire, his best effort yet, and Paul taking the opportunity to volunteer to make dinner. Just as well.

“Pete, Pete!” Ace was bounding over, looking as apt to trip in his boots as ever. Peter immediately let go of the bar. “I got it, I got it.”

“You’ve got what?”

“I’ve got it unlocked.” And a big, goofy grin. “I had to let you know first. You’ll never believe this.”

“You’ve got your teleporting under control?”

Ace laughed.

“Even better. Trust me.”

“You got the shooting lightning with your hands thing back.”

“Better.”

“Jesus, Ace, just tell me, would you?”

“You know how we keep ending up in the Destroyer outfits, right?”

“Yeah?”

They weren’t bad outfits, exactly. They’d been famous enough to be reprised for the Reunion tour. Peter hadn’t ever minded his any, at least, even if the jumpsuit did feature a gigantic bedazzled arrow pointing straight to his crotch.

“I figured out how to change costumes.”

Peter couldn’t bite back a groan.

“That’s what you’ve got unlocked?”

“Hey, it’s great! You haven’t even seen yet! Look, look, which one do you want? C’mon, I’ll let you pick. Love Gun? Dynasty?”

“KISS’ first tour.”

“You’re no fun, man,” Ace retorted, but he nodded, idly cracking his knuckles. For a second, nothing happened. Then there was a flash of blue smoke, and Ace was standing there in the comparatively plainer black leotard, v-shaped chestpiece, corseted belt, and lightning-bolt boots from their first tour, looking intensely pleased with himself. “What do you think? Pretty good, right?”

Peter managed a few mildly begrudging claps, eyes locked on Ace’s waist. Fuck, he’d forgotten how skinny the guy used to be. The corset belt just accentuated it. If Ace noticed where he was looking, though, he didn’t acknowledge it, breathing out a low sigh.

“You’re not excited.”

“Look, Ace, changing outfits is not gonna help us fight—”

“I think it is gonna help us fight.” Ace’s face was scrunched up slightly. “See, I thought about it. Why Destroyer? We didn’t completely quit the crimefighting gig until, well.”

“Until I left.”

“Yeah. And that was in ’80. Destroyer was ’76.” Rocking back and forth on his heels like a Sunday School kid, clearly unused to this costume’s boots, Ace grabbed his arm. “Think about it. What happened in ’76?”

“You got married.”

“Well, yeah, but—nah, c’mon, Peter, I thought you’d get it right off. ’76 was when we came out with ‘Beth.’ When we started getting really huge.”

Peter nodded, still baffled.

“It was the last hurrah before things fell apart, y’know? It was the last time we were really all cool with each other, all four of us. That’s why Destroyer’s what we got stuck with. And I’ll bet that’s at least part of why all our powers aren’t doing so hot.” Ace squeezed Peter’s arm. “We’re in stasis.”

“You think that’s really it?”

“I think we gotta… okay, lemme put it this way. I think we all gotta trust each other more.”

“Ace, we trust each other plenty. You and me, we—”

“Yeah, see, that’s the problem. ’S not just you and me. It’s Gene and Paul, too.” Ace paused briefly, letting go of Peter’s arm. “We always kinda acted like we were on one side of the fence and they were on the other, and—”

“Aren’t we?”

“Uh-uh. Can’t work like that anymore. Four who are one, Pete.”

“What, do you want us all to have some stupid heart-to-heart bullshit sessions?”

Another puff of blue smoke. Another costume change. This one to the loose silver dress he’d worn during the Hotter than Hell photoshoot. Peter stared, shaking his head, but Ace shrugged amicably. “Nah. We’re just gonna swap room assignments. Lemme go tell Gene.”

--

Peter hadn’t shared a bed with Paul since 1974, and every moment spent lying two feet from him now only reminded him of why.

It wasn’t that Paul drooled or snored or anything like that. He even kept his hands and his hard-ons to himself. Peter couldn’t recall ever waking up to Paul sleepily attempting to spoon him. No, Paul just…

Given too much proximity, Paul just got on his nerves. And the feeling was mutual. And the feeling had been mutual, off and on, since about 1980.

It hadn’t always been that way. They used to go on vacations together back in the seventies. Hawaii, France, all sorts of shit like that. Used to spend hours talking on the phone when they weren’t on tour, like high school girls. Paul had almost been some kind of needy but semi-sweet little brother to him, until Peter’s cocaine habit had turned into an obsession, Peter’s song had turned into their biggest hit, and Paul’s fragile ego couldn’t take any of it. That was Peter’s opinion, at least.

KISS’ downward spiral turning into an outright crash landing after Peter’s firing probably had a lot to do with it, too, at least on Paul’s part. Gave him someone concrete to point to as the beginning of the end. Peter hadn’t exactly watched with relish as KISS sunk under the weight of its own leather heels without him, at least not for those first few years—he’d been too busy watching his own would-be solo career implode. At least KISS was still able to release albums, even if their sales were depressing as hell. Half of Peter’s records couldn’t even get a U.S. release.

He and Paul didn’t really talk to each other much the whole rest of that decade. Instead, they’d sniped at each other through the press over everything from drug use to (lack of) musical talent starting in the late eighties, made vague amends just in time for the Reunion Tour, and then… well, then, they’d unleashed their autobiographies on each other and the world like a plague of mosquitos. Committed to print every single instance either of them could think of that made the other one look like a hack, a degenerate (not overly difficult), or worse. Peter liked to think Paul had given him plenty of material with each pre-concert pants-stuffing and his tendency to doodle disembodied, veiny dicks while on tour. Unfortunately, Paul had shot right back with more tales of Peter threatening to quit the band and sabotaging concerts than Peter could count.

The too-accurate-to-be character assassinations didn’t make things tense in the house anymore, but to say they weren’t something they were both still sore about would’ve been a lie.

Of course, it didn’t help that Paul currently had a large, framed poster of himself mounted on his bedroom ceiling. It also didn’t help that the whole room smelled faintly of cologne. Or that there was a clear dent in the wall from those stupid FER extracurriculars of his.

Peter had turned in early, or tried to. Paul had actually seemed amicable, at first, moving a bunch of sketches out of the bedroom and dusting off the nightstand. Confirmation of what Peter already long since knew. Paul still didn’t actually sleep in his own room.

He wondered how Ace and Gene were doing. Ace had always really hated sharing hotel rooms with Gene because of how much of a slob he was, but most of Ace’s animosity towards the guy had been a front at best. Honestly, Ace had always kind of dug Gene, though why, Peter didn’t know. Probably because Gene wasn’t neurotic like Paul or hotheaded like Peter himself was. Probably because Gene was as close to well-adjusted as a rockstar could manage. Gene saving Ace from drowning twice on tour probably hadn’t hurt.

Now here Peter was, lying in bed with just the lamplight on, not sure whether to be looking at Paul-on-the-ceiling or the actual Paul next to him. Ceiling Paul was in full Starchild makeup, of course—with his cheek resting against a blood-streaked guitar, looking doe-eyed and winsome for the camera. Actual Paul was decidedly worse for wear and tear and smelled like toothpaste.

“Why is that even here?” Peter had to point. Unnecessarily.

“Pretty beautiful guy, right?” Paul grinned. “I used to have a mirror on the ceiling back in California.”

“Used to? What, did you start scaring yourself?”

Paul bristled.

“Erin said it was a little embarrassing.”

“A little?” Peter shook his head. “I think the poster’s worse. I got two pairs of eyes staring at me from different directions.”

“Just pretend it’s a threesome. I’ll even do the vocals.”

“Fuck, no. Take that thing down.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know I put it there myself—”

“I don’t care. I’m not sleeping with both of you.”

Paul started laughing, and got up, digging around under the bed and yanking out a sketchbook. He tore part of a page out, then wandered off, returning a minute or two later with a roll of tape.

“Cheer up, I’m about to fix it.” Peter watched as Paul stood up on the bed and started taping the piece of paper to his own face on the wall. Peter exhaled, vaguely relieved, until Paul climbed back into bed properly and he realized—

“You left the eyes!”

“Well, yeah, I always thought they were the best part—”

“Paul, you fucking egomaniac! Cover up the whole thing!”

“If you don’t wanna see it, then turn off the lamp.”

Peter had been about to do it, but Paul’s stare on him was so amused that he kept the lamp on out of spite. Paul kind of shrugged and stretched, eyes moving back to the poster on the ceiling before long.

“We’re getting a lot done, I think. I’m proud of us.”

“You’re proud of Gene.”

“I’m proud of you, too, Peter.” He paused. “I am. I’m proud of all of us.”

“Forget it. Every time you force out a compliment, it still sounds as canned as Fancy Feast.”

“Pete, I’m trying here.” Paul shifted. God, he was directing every single comment up at the ceiling. Frustrating as all hell. It just made Peter stare at him all the harder as Paul continued. “I think Ace is right. I think we won’t be able to do any real superhero shit until we fix our relationships.”

“They’re not that bad.”

“They’ve been better. You remember when we first talked about moving to Connecticut during that one board meeting?”

“Yeah, ’cause we’d save so much a year on taxes if we were living there instead of in New York.” Despite himself, Peter couldn’t help but laugh.

“We were gonna go all in and buy one house together. But the board shot us down. They said that was too obvious an abuse of a loophole and we’d just pop in like it was a vacation home. Said it wouldn’t fly for state taxes. Thing is, we probably would’ve done it, back then. We would’ve actually lived together, at least sometimes.”

“We’re living together now, Paul, I dunno if you noticed.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed.” Paul was still looking away. At the bookcase now, instead of the ceiling. His voice was softer. “I’m real grateful.”

“You are?”

“Well, yeah.” Paul shifted. “Look, I… I was a mess. After. Shit, I’m still not doing great. If Gene hadn’t come over that night five years ago, I…”

“You wouldn’t have.” Peter swallowed. “Hell, no. You’d never deprive the world of your own face like that. Much less yourself.”

Paul laughed softly.

“Whole lot of good a face does without a family. I was thinking about it. I was thinking, I finally had my life together and now I don’t. Now it’s gone. Now it’s all gone.” An exhale. “Thank God I couldn’t shut my mind off long enough to get out of bed. Much less do anything serious. I just—lay there. Then there’s Gene pulling up to my place and pretty soon I hear him running up the stairs, yelling because I haven’t answered the phone. Says he knows I haven’t disappeared. He throws the bedroom door open, right, and tells me to get my ass out of bed and—”

“And?”

“And get in the car, because we were going to your place.” Paul took another breath. “I ask him, how do you even know Peter’s alive, and he says Ace just updated his twitter and he’s over there with you now. Then he throws me his phone and tells me to text both of you right now and say we’re coming.”

“I barely remember when you showed up.” Paul flinched, and Peter added, quickly, “It’s like you said. I was pretty fucked-up, too.”

“You sure were. When I walked in, you were wrapped up in a blanket next to the fridge.”

“Paul, you wandered around in that stupid blue bathrobe for two weeks. Ace was trying to attach car fresheners to your neck.”

Without turning to look at him, Paul flipped him off. Peter returned the gesture.

“Shit, forget me trying to tell you something important, then.”

“I’m just saying, you don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to being fucked-up after—”

“Okay, okay, fine. You got me. Anyway, that whole drive over… it was… God, it was horrible. Gene’s not that great at driving and… all those cars everywhere, just crashed alongside. I don’t know how we made it. At first, I kept trying to grab the wheel, can you believe that? I was so sick of seeing everything because every empty car made me think of—”

“I know. I know, Paul.” Peter swallowed. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“I do have to tell you. I haven’t told you anything in nearly forty years.” Paul shook his head. His dark eyes were watering up. “Gene had to pull over at one point. He looked like he wanted to smack me. He told me my parents hadn’t fled Nazi Germany and his mother hadn’t survived the Holocaust just for me to try and kill us both. I told him he was a fucking asshole. But after that, I stopped trying to take the wheel.”

Peter didn’t know how to answer, or even if he should try. Part of him wanted Paul to just shut up, not bring any memories of five years ago back. Not to dare. Every time he thought about it for too long, every time he thought about Gigi, watching her fade out in front of him, calling Jennilee, calling Lydia, getting nothing—nothing—he wanted to vomit, even now. He wanted to smash up everything, everything, in a desperate, stupid bid to bring them back, or bring him to them.

He probably would’ve by now. Would’ve been another of those cracked-up hellraisers that’d committed suicide by cop or by mob by the millions, if it wasn’t for Ace coming up to his door, and Paul and Gene following suit only a day later. He could still conjure up Ace rapping at the door, yelling his name. Deep down, he’d known all along that Ace hadn’t disappeared, the same as Gene had known Paul hadn’t. A connection that went past living together on the road for over a decade. A connection that went past friendship and supernatural talismans and into something else. Peter’s throat felt heavy and hot, each swallow harder to manage.

“He saved you.”

Peter heard a sharp inhale of breath from Paul, and then, finally, quietly—

“Gene’s been saving me for fifty years. He still doesn’t realize it.”

“You saved him, too.” Peter shook his head. “You never really give yourself credit for anything that isn’t KISS.”

“I dunno about that.” Paul pointed dryly to the poster on the ceiling.

“Still KISS. Have you ever taken a picture of yourself out of the makeup that you actually liked?”

“Don’t change the subject, Pete—”

“I’m just curious—”

“Don’t be. Look, what I’m trying to say is, I owe Gene a lot. I… I owe you and Ace a lot, too.” He shifted. “I want you to know that.”

“Just the last couple years. I know we’re not in Gene’s category.”

“Now you’re the one not giving himself enough credit.” Paul closed his eyes. “You know, after you guys were gone, I got the same question every damn interview for years. ‘Do you miss Ace and Peter in the band? Do you miss KISS being on top? Do you miss crimefighting?’ And every time, I’d have to say no. And every time, I’d be lying through my teeth.”

“That was always a stupid question. We all missed KISS being on top.”

“That wasn’t all I missed.” Paul hesitated. “I had a better time when it was the four of us than I did with anybody else. Here or onstage.”

“I did, too."

Paul was back to looking at him again, tongue just slightly past his lips for a brief moment, a nervous gesture Peter hadn’t seen out of him in years.

“I’m sorry about calling you a miserable asshole in my book,” Paul said quietly.

“I’m sorry I called you a bisexual pants-stuffer in mine.”

“You weren’t wrong.”

“Neither were you.”

---

They talked a long time after that. Long enough that Peter forgot to turn off the lamp before falling asleep, and by the time they both woke up and slogged down the stairs, it was past ten and Ace had—actually made breakfast. Gene was at the table scarfing down a stack of omelets three deep. He’d added maple syrup like a heathen, turning the omelets into islands soaking in the sticky gunk.

“Curly,” Ace drawled out, waving with his spatula. “Didja have fun last night?”

Peter had come down in nothing but pajama bottoms. Paul had just tied his bathrobe around his waist. Neither of them had shaven. Both of them looked like they were ten seconds from passing out in their chairs. Peter managed a noncommittal noise that wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy Ace.

“C’mon, I gotta have details, man. Paulie, you’ll tell me, right?”

“Don’t call me Paulie before noon,” Paul mumbled, reaching for his glass of orange juice. “Just give me an omelet.”

“Was it that bad?” Gene, through a mouthful of food. “Ace and I had a good time.”

“I haven’t stayed up past four in probably twenty-five years, unless I was on tour,” Peter managed.

“That’s only because you were smart enough to stop having kids in the eighties,” Paul said with a grimace. “Ace, you’re about to burn—”

“I got it, I got it,” Ace said, flipping the two omelets over, smushing them both briefly with the spatula before dropping one each on Peter and Paul’s plates with a wink. “We’re getting somewhere. I can feel it.”

Peter nodded, then dug into his omelet. Not too bad, surprisingly. Fluffy enough, and mixed in with enough bacon and cheese that the near-burnt exterior was forgivable.

“Costumes and powers and press releases. That’s where we’re headed,” Gene intoned dreamily, gulping down a glass of apple juice.

“We’re going to do a press release?” Peter asked. Immediately, he glanced accusingly at Paul, except Paul looked as bewildered as Peter felt.

“Gene, seriously? That’s a terrible idea. Let’s just approach Stark directly like we’ve been saying all along.”

“Since when does KISS do anything without fanfare?” Gene reached over the table, grabbing the maple syrup, thoroughly drowning what little was left of his omelets. “I’ve been in contact with a couple of journalists. We might get that second Rolling Stone cover.”

“I don’t care about the cover—”

“C’mon, Gene’s right.” Ace was flipping another few omelets as he spoke. One was dribbling and burning onto the stovetop. “We could use the attention here. Make us seem legit.”

“You want to do a tell-all? Demonstrations?” Paul shook his head. “Nobody would believe that stuff out of us anymore. They’d say it was just theatrics.”

“Exactly. They’ll think we’re being tasteless. Or trying to figure out if anyone wants to see us tour,” Peter said, eating another bite of his omelet. Beside him, Paul winced.

“We’re always tasteless,” Gene retorted. “It’s our trademark.”

“No, our trademark is being shills. Well, yours and Paul’s, anyway—”

“Pete—” Gene started again, then shook his head. “Listen. I’m not saying we have to do it now. And I’m not saying it has to be a big deal. But we need to let the public know we’re back, and we better do it soon.”

Soon turned out to be two weeks later. Not even the Rolling Stone cover they’d coveted years ago, either. Instead, all they’d ended up with was a short blurb of an online article. Up top was a vintage photo of them in full costume, posing around New York. Beneath the text was a picture taken just for the article—out of costume, standing with their arms around each other. The peace sign Ace was flashing with his free hand didn’t make the disparity any less depressing.

KISS Makes Up (Once More, With Feeling)

The acrimonious quartet of sometimes-superheroes, mostly-rockstars has been out of the public eye for the bulk of the decade. Best known for their outlandish costumes, Kabuki-style makeup and bombastic shows, KISS’ latest exposure leaves much to be desired. The glam-rocker baby boomers met with Associated Press—customary platform heels of yesteryear swapped for crocs and loafers—right in their backyard.

“Oh, we’re prepping for a final tour right now,” bassist and proverbial face of the band, Gene Simmons, 70, insists with a smile. “KISS is here. No stage needed.”

KISS’ most successful tenure, from ’73-’80, saw an unheralded intermingling of crimefighting and commercialism. “We’d put ourselves on anything,” frontman Paul Stanley, 67, admits. “Lunchboxes, thermoses… I can’t tell you I’m ashamed of it, because the demand was there. And in many cases, it continues to be.” While Stanley’s coy on the numbers, KISS remains profitable enough that the four original members enjoy a luxurious New Haven estate spanning eight acres. Much of their backyard space, however, is reserved for esoteric training. The lawn is covered in holes and debris, and the band refuses to offer a proper explanation.

“Let’s just say we’re getting our game faces on,” is almost all Ace Frehley, lead guitarist, 68, will admit to. “This isn’t just for the fans anymore. It’s for everybody.” Drummer Peter Criss, 73, barely elaborates, “We spent the last five years the same way everyone else did. Then we woke up.”

He isn’t clear on what waking up entails. KISS’ stint as superheroes has long been overshadowed by their rockstar antics and market oversaturation. Poor ticket sales and IRS run-ins forced a return to the makeup and spandex in the late ’90’s and the readmittance of Frehley and Criss to the group, only for the original KISS to fracture again a few years later amid infighting and contract negotiations. But if the destroyed state of their backyard is any indication, KISS is planning something—even if they’re only manufacturing their own smoke bombs.

“What the hell kind of article is this?”

“Luxurious New Haven estate, my ass, Gene. We’re here because of the taxes.”

“I know you didn’t want a big reveal, but shit, now we just look like a bunch of lunatics! Blowing up our own yard… throwing in our ages like we’ve gone senile…”

“They didn’t even mention my spaceship,” Ace muttered.

“They did, that’s the ‘debris.’” Paul closed his eyes. “We spent a whole hour with the guy and he yanks one quote from each of us. This isn’t going to make anyone take us seriously.”

“It’s not supposed to,” said Gene. “It’s just supposed to make them talk.”

“They’re not going to talk! This isn’t like the seventies, Gene! We’re not getting a follow-up interview to explain ourselves! Not unless this really blows up—”

“It doesn’t have to blow up. All we need is the right people reading it.”

Over the next few weeks, there was talk. There were snickers, at least. Peter got the groceries on his assigned day, as usual, with Ace in tow, cheerfully piling twelve-packs of soda into the cart amid the protein powders and energy bars. Ordinary enough, until the teenage girl at the check-out counter a few feet away looked at both of them smugly.

It wasn’t that Peter wasn’t used to being recognized. Despite how defeated the world had become, he’d still occasionally get asked for a selfie, even while doing the shopping. Especially when one of the others was with him. He’d oblige. They’d always oblige. Gene, Paul, and Ace hadn’t toured in five years, and for Peter, it had been even longer. Funny how being as thoroughly away from the spotlight as they’d been made them all way more receptive to what fan reaction they received.

But this wasn’t a typical fan reaction. Those, he could deal with. A guy coming up to him, telling him he’d been sober for five years now, or saying he’d gotten checked for breast cancer because of him, or a girl telling him she was named after “Beth”… all that was fine, even good. Stuff he was grateful to hear. But this girl was different. It was the sneer that threw him, the way she suddenly pointed a finger at them and waved her coworker from the other counter over. She hurried to her, they mumbled something Peter couldn’t quite get at, and then, walking up to them, said—

“We wanna see the holes in your yard.”

“The holes—”

“Yeah.”

Peter looked the girls up and down. He hadn’t been heckled since he’d done his club tours. He never had quite figured out how to take it on the chin.

“Sure. We’ll bring you up there, right, Petey?” There was Ace, abandoning the cart to get a little closer, smiling. Peter shot him an aggrieved look.

“You will? What, in your spaceship?” The first girl snorted.

“Nah, nah, it’s still out of commission. You wanna take my hand, though? Yeah, there you go, you hold hers—”

“Ace, the hell?”

“You too, Pete. Yeah, right, okay—”

Peter realized what Ace was about to do about a second before he saw an abbreviated flash of Ace’s old Destroyer costume and felt his guts try to lurch past his skin. Then all he saw was their backyard—Paul and Gene nowhere in sight, thank God. Peter let go of Ace’s hand as soon as the lingering, nauseous feeling from the teleport passed, indignation spreading like butter across his face.

“What the fuck? Ace, you can’t teleport a couple of kids just because they made fun of us!”

“Oh, my God, oh, my God!” one of the girls screamed, grabbing the other one, who looked as if she was seconds from puking. “Where are we? We’re not on break! We’ve gotta get back to the store!”

“Didn’t you wanna see the holes in the yard first?” Ace sounded as lazily amiable as ever, already pointing at the nearest lawn damage. “I think that one was Gene’s, I dunno how, but—”

“Where’d the other fat, old guy go?”

Ace started cackling and waved his fingers as the girls stared.

“Holy shit,” one of them whispered, stumbling backwards. “Holy shit!”

“Ace, put them back!” Peter yelled.

“Okay, okay…” Ace reached over, offering his hand back to the girls. “I’ll getcha back, just—"

Two cut-off yelps and the three of them vanished. A few minutes later, Ace popped back into the yard alone, bags in hand.

“I got the groceries, Petey.”

“What about the car, idiot?”

 Ace winced.

“I can’t teleport a car, man. That’s a couple thousand pounds, y’know? It was kinda hard just lugging you and the girls, if I’m gonna be honest…”

“Then drive it.” Irritably, Peter dug the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Ace, who barely managed to catch them. So much for all the training. Ace sighed.

“Pete, sometimes you’re really no fun.” Fifteen minutes later, Peter watched from the window as Ace pulled back into the driveway. He was back in the house before long, out of costume, stepping right into the kitchen where Peter was waiting, plastic bags full of groceries still on the table.

“Why did you do that, Ace?”

“They were pissing you off.” Ace shrugged, then noticed the table. “Hey, you didn’t put up the groceries.”

“I brought them in. Figured you could handle them after that stunt.”

Ace looked as if he were about to argue, but then he just shook his head.

“All right, Cat, I’ll get ’em.” He stretched absently, yanking out a pack of Pepsi. “That shit takes a lot out of you, a couple times in a row like that… I needed the practice.”

“You could’ve practiced with us anytime! Hell, you have!” Granted, the last few times had gotten a bit more involved than Peter might have liked. About a week prior, Ace had teleported himself and Peter both to the dim destination of “as far as he could go.” That destination had turned out to be an apple orchard in Pennsylvania. Whatever else was going on, Ace’s powers were definitely getting stronger.

Peter’s were, too. He’d never had as much to show for them, nothing too flashy about most of what he’d been granted, but he had managed to slice the last several rubber dummies to shreds without much effort. Gene was about to cause infernos now. Paul’s eye beam had mostly gotten its old range back. Peter didn’t honestly know if all that was enough, if it could make them formidable enough for the likes of Stark and whatever was left of the Avengers to take notice, but he hoped it could be.

“I know. Guess it was kinda mean, but… I wanted to try it on someone who wasn’t expecting it, y’know? In case we had to fight somebody and I had to take them out of the area or whatever.”

“Is that why you made us all hold hands?” He’d never needed to before. Proximity was enough for Ace to catch someone else in a teleport.

“Nah. I just wanted them to feel like they had something to do with it.” Ace grinned. “And maybe I wanted to cop a feel off of you.”

“All you did was hold my hand, asshole.”

“Aw, Petey. I had to keep it classy.” And a wink. “… There’s another reason, too.”

“For the hand-holding?”

“Nah, for borrowing the girls.” Ace stuffed a box of protein powders into a cabinet with a wince. “Gene was right about the article bit. But it never was the press that got us started in the first place. ’S always been word of mouth. ’S always been us doing stupid shit like wander around Manhattan in full fucking costume before people even knew who we were. You really think those chicks are gonna stay quiet about what they just saw?”

“Ace, if we end up with a bunch of assholes stopping by the yard—”

“Hey, hey. We gotta play the game. We said KISS was back. Now we just have to prove it.”

#kiss the band #kiss fanfiction #peter criss #gene simmons #ace frehley #paul stanley