#i would probably avoid my own codename for life | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tehuti88-art · 2 years

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9/16/22: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." Two portraits today.

This week's (first) character from my anthro WWII storyline is Corporal Gold Rat. Hm, can't think of much to say about him here, there'll be some stuff about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se.

TUMBLR EDIT: Ratdog already has an entry, albeit not nearly as detailed as I've been getting into them lately, but I don't feel like rehashing things; that will end up on Toyhou.se sometime. So, Gold Rat. His story's not nearly as dramatic or developed as some of the others, but here it is anyway.

Gold's real name is Arthur! He's one of the very few codenamed characters whose actual name I bothered to find out. (The other one I can think of is, incidentally, Ratdog, whose first name is Adel, though he frustratingly never gives his last name--Klemper is the one who asks his real name, and Ratdog replies, "Doesn't matter. I'm the last, it dies with me"--indicating that it's an unusual/very rare surname, so I'll probably never know what it is. Ironically, he's here making reference to his deceased son, and assuming he'll never have any other children, because he's unmarried and mostly interested in men rather than women (yep, his son was a drunken oopsie)...when in fact he does end up fathering two more children by Didrika. So, his name doesn't die with him after all. Anyway, after he refuses to give his surname, Klemper asks for his first name, and Ratdog tells him it's Adel. Klemper refers to him by his real name throughout the rest of the story, and is the only one to consistently do so.)

Gold's mother must die when he's relatively young because his childhood is spent in just his father's company (I guess divorce is possible, though unlikely). His father isn't really father material, in fact he has a lot in common with Klemper's dad. He's frequently drunk, and when he's drunk, he gets mean. Klemper's father targeted him for being rather effeminate and for kissing a boy; Gold's father targets him because he's angry about Gold being "stupid." No, Gold isn't "stupid" the way Kolten Himmel is, but there's definitely something wrong. He's bright and friendly and sociable, but the grades he gets in school are just miserable. No matter how hard he tries to study, he keeps failing lessons and tests. Teachers express concern. Maybe he needs to see a doctor. Gold's father is just pissed. He has a low-paying job (Gold is basically a latchkey kid and sees him only in the evenings, when he's usually busy getting drunk) and so of course he can't afford any frivolities like taking his stupid kid to a fancy doctor. (He'd also never be caught dead using a word like "frivolities.") So he does the only other thing he can think of to fix the problem: beats his son to convince him to try harder.

Gold does try harder. But it doesn't help. In fact his grades slip even further, and not only that, but he slowly becomes more withdrawn, isolated, and anxious, too. Not so chatty and sociable anymore, he keeps to himself, and goes out of his way to avoid connecting with others lest they see just how stupid he is. Because his father has yelled the words at him so many times--stupid--slow--dumb--lazy--idiot--that by now he fully believes himself to be so. Surely he should be getting good grades if only he wasn't so stupid. And surely he's lazy for his efforts to try harder to not be working. It can't be anyone's fault but his own. His father's voice is the only one he has to listen to on a daily basis; none of the teachers bother to take him aside and really talk to him (he would lie to them by now anyway, and say everything is fine), and he has no more friends. Of course he'd take these words--stupid--lazy--idiot--to heart; there's nobody else in his life to contradict them.

A terrible incident is actually what leads to a silver lining. Gold's father gets especially infuriated one night and forgets, or doesn't care, to beat him and leave bruises only where nobody can see. Gold shows up at school with his eyes blackened. He insists everything is fine, but the school calls the authorities, and Gold is removed from his father's custody. It would probably be easy, considering the time period (children had very few rights) and the fact that Gold has no other family, for his father to merely raise a fuss and be given him back; but he doesn't. The way he sees it it's one less mouth to feed, one less hassle to deal with; he effectively abandons Gold to the custody of the state. Gold ends up in a sort of group home; he's not beaten anymore (maybe just a smack or a paddling now and then), but knowing that the father he tried so hard to appease no longer wants him doesn't encourage him any. He withdraws even more, becoming nearly mute. His grades don't improve, either, so now he KNOWS he's just an idiot.

He barely ever notices the affluent, smart-dressed woman who often visits the home, looking over the kids and their work with great interest. Takes her a while to notice him as well, he keeps to himself so effectively. When she finally sees him, she approaches and asks what he's making; he'd been writing and doodling on a piece of paper, but he covers it with his hands when she tries to look. She wheedles him into showing it to her and his ears burn with shame as she examines it because he knows it isn't good. Perplexingly, the woman asks if she can have it. He nudges the paper toward her and she takes it and puts it carefully in her purse. Asks him his name, then says, "I'll be stopping by again the day after tomorrow. Do you think you could make another little story and drawing especially for me, Arthur? Pretty please?" He's mystified by the request, but whispers, okay. She offers a big bright smile and thanks and says, "It's been a pleasure, Arthur. I'll see you soon," and departs. He can't quite get over being called by his name rather than being called "stupid," but it sure is a nice feeling.

He works extra hard to write the rich lady with the wide-brimmed hat and fur stole an especially good story and make good drawings to go with it. Just looking at his own work, though, he feels crushed inside. He knows it's awful because when he makes similar things in school, the teachers cluck and shake their heads disapprovingly. He tears it up and hides it away. When the lady visits again, though, she insists on seeing it, so he pulls out the torn pieces and meekly hands them over. She pieces it back together to look it over. He waits, head down, for her to criticize it. Instead, she smiles at him and says, "Oh, I love your little story SO much, Arthur. It's exactly what I hoped for. Could I keep it? Do you think?" Again he agrees and she takes the torn pieces. She won't be visiting again for a little while, but in the meantime, "I do hope you keep making these lovely little stories! I look forward to seeing some more when I return."

Although Gold knows something is wrong with all the work he produces--the teachers always react with disapproval to the same sort of things the woman praises--he keeps at it. Because her words are just so kind, and it's the only sort of encouragement, positivity, and acceptance he's gotten...ever, really. He doesn't want to let her down. She's equally delighted with the new work he shows her, then says in a confidential tone, "Arthur, can I tell you a secret...?" He nods. She tells him that she showed his work to a friend; he cringes, but she hurriedly reassures him it's all right. She then explains what she's been doing.

She noticed something in Gold's work that was familiar to her, had him make a few more pieces to be sure, then took them to her friend, a specialist. The long story short is that he isn't stupid or lazy, he just sees the words differently from other people. She can help him learn to adapt, but he'll have to come stay at her place to do so. Of course he agrees. This woman is well known for fostering "problem children" and works wonders with them, plus she has lots of money to donate, so the process for taking Gold in is significantly smoothed out. He's given various tests to rule out visual and memory problems before the specialist tells him what the woman did, that he isn't slow--he's actually quite smart, with non-reading-related tasks--he merely sees words a way others don't. No, he can't be cured or fixed. But yes, he can be taught how to deal with it and cope better. Gold still isn't convinced he isn't an idiot but he's desperate to do better, so he settles in to an entirely different mode of teaching. It isn't long before his marks on the mock tests they give him start to improve, and then his grades in school begin to go up, as well. The teachers in school are impressed because they don't know or understand these progressive teaching techniques Gold's tutor is using but it hardly matters--they work, and he gradually realizes that no, he isn't stupid after all. He finds his voice again, though it's a bit of a struggle. And when the woman asks if he'd like to stay with her, permanently, he again agrees.

(Unknown to him, she'd asked the authorities if Gold hadn't any other family who might want to take him in. Nope, there was only his father, who liked to beat him--they were willing to return the child to him despite this, which she finds horrifying, but he never came asking for him. She decides to double-check that he's genuinely relinquished custody of his son to the state, and pays him a visit. Suspicion toward this well-off woman quickly turns to outright hostility as Gold's father believes she's criticizing and looking down on him. He doubles down on Gold being a "stupid little ingrate" he'd never even wanted. When she outright asks if he's truly abandoned Gold and won't be coming back for him, he says, "You know what, lady? F**k you," and slams the door in her face. So...that answers that question.)

Well, long story short, this lady officially takes Gold in and raises him. He grows up socializing with the other children she fosters (most of whom go on to other family after she's worked her magic), and regains his former chatty, outgoing attitude, though he can never quite eliminate the thread of intense insecurity that winds through his interactions with others; as a result he tends to overcompensate at times, coming across as a little TOO chatty and friendly. He's especially sensitive to the word "stupid" being used as a casual insult, even if no malice is intended; it's like a mental slap in the face and he always has to pause and recover himself whenever and in whatever context he hears it. He makes sure to never, ever refer to anyone else by any derogatory or minimizing terms, because he knows just how small that can make a person feel. And he does still struggle occasionally with writing and especially reading, but he manages, and has his other skills to fall back on as well.

He enlists in the military, and when rumors of war in Europe start rumbling, he prepares to ship out. An experimental battalion called the Trench Rats has recently suffered devastating losses and is recruiting new members; Gold obtains the position of corporal, or second in command. (This is a rather weird battalion composed of low-ranking NCOs and enlisted men, I'm assuming because the people in charge originally assumed they'd all end up as cannon fodder. They weren't entirely wrong. This is the retcon I'm going with to explain away my ongoing difficulty understanding military ranks and duties. *shrug*) He decides to pay his father a visit before he leaves. He runs into him on the street before he can reach his old home, which means he doesn't have to knock and introduce himself. The two haven't seen or communicated with each other since Gold was taken out of his custody; it's obvious his father doesn't recognize him, and Gold decides not to inform him. They share a few words of smalltalk (something Gold has gotten skilled at). Gold realizes just how small and empty and miserable his father is, and rather than the anger or anxiety or hurt he'd expected to feel, he just feels sad. They part ways and he returns to his foster mother to tell her how the meeting went and wish her farewell. She makes him promise to write her (he rolls his eyes and gives an exaggerated sigh), and he heads out.

(Gold's father, BTW, belatedly realizes who was the young soldier he was talking to. And like Gold, all he has left in him is to feel sad.)

Gold receives his new nickname and an odd Prussian-style uniform (this has been explained in previous entries). He's introduced to Sergeant Black Rat, who'll be in charge. Like the previous sergeant and corporal, the two are quite different, with Black being introverted, serious, and taciturn, meaning the two of them often disagree over how to do things, yet this also means they often compromise and agree on a middle road which is more suitable. The main difficulty they have to deal with is the distrust of the "first generation" Trench Rats who survived the German attack on Headquarters; they're used to the previous sergeant and corporal. Plus there's remaining resentment on the part of one of their more well-known members, Lance Corporal Silver; when the Trench Rats originally formed, Silver and LC Indigo were the two with the combined highest rank and time served in the military, meaning they felt they should be in charge rather than newcomers. Indigo was satisfied taking a medic position, but Silver is still rankled, especially when ANOTHER two newcomers assume the lead ranks. So while he grudgingly tolerates and obeys Black, he never really gets along with Gold, especially since he, like Black, isn't the terribly chatty sort.

One odd task Gold acquires is "coaching" his sergeant on how to properly interact with others, since something about Black strikes him as being "off." Though Black isn't malicious or outright rude, he does occasionally come across as inappropriately unconcerned or disinterested during situations that require the opposite, and as distrustful and borderline hostile during situations that shouldn't elicit such a response. (One example is when he draws his gun on a target who turns out to be a young child, yet even after this is revealed, he keeps his weapon drawn. Gold coaxes the child out and picks him up, then says to Black, "What're you doing?--he's just a kid." "They let kids fight for them, you should know," Black says, to which Gold replies, "Yeah, well, obviously that's not the case here, so cool off.") He's good at giving orders and commanding obedience, but he's not good at the whole camaraderie and inspiration thing. Gold knows diplomacy and mentally disarming people is a far more effective approach than accusatory confrontation, so he manages to gradually figure out that Black's odd behavior isn't him just being an a-hole, like 2nd Lt. Burgundy (the surgeon) often is. Black genuinely seems to not know how to act toward others. Gold usually ends up taking charge of such things in the hopes that Black will pick up some pointers, and it seems to help somewhat, as well as leaving the sergeant more opportunity to act behind the scenes, something he's MUCH better equipped for. So Gold effectively becomes the public face of the Trench Rats and engages in most of the diplomatic measures they need to secure the assistance of the various resistance groups.

(What exactly is going on with Black? He's a high-functioning sociopath. He literally doesn't "get" most of the emotions and experiences of other people because he can't put himself in their shoes. His lack of empathy is why he often comes across as unconcerned or reacts with unwarranted distrust. Unlike the common stereotype of sociopaths, he's not interested in taking advantage of others--not out of any innate sense of decency, but because he's just not interested--though he does get easily bored and lacks the ability to experience most strong emotions, including fear. He knows he needs to blend in with others, especially in his role as sergeant, so he learns how to fake emotional responses by observing others, such as Gold, though he never quite masters this skill. So he's content to let Gold deal with this business.)

I already mentioned Gold's tendency to overcompensate. One aspect of this is being overly flirty with women, in a manner that nowadays would at least border on sexual harassment. The only female Trench Rat, a relatively new recruit, is a British nurse named Lyndsey Skye. She works alongside Burgundy, and the two secretly crush on each other, but since she's the only woman, she bears the brunt of Gold's obnoxious attention. Fortunately for him, she puts up with it and knows how to put him in his place without offending him (Gold has a thick skin for any insults other than being insinuated to be stupid or slow), but hers is a rare case. He oversteps his bounds with other women a few times, though he does know how to back off, even if it takes him a bit to figure it out. For example, he flirts with Mirela, a rescued Roma woman, which she REALLY despises; he pushes his luck one too many times until she explodes at him and then he lets her be, genuinely sorry for making her uncomfortable. He also tries bantering with Didrika, the Roma leader of a resistance group; this is especially awkward, as Didrika has a habit of "testing" the men she comes into contact with by propositioning them. Men who accept, she may follow through or not, but she regards them as weak willed and loses respect for them. Men who decline, she treats respectfully. When Gold flirts with her, and she actually flirts back...he has NO IDEA what to do. He's literally struck dumb for a moment, before hemming and hawing and REALLY backing off. The truth is, he's not that interested in actually hooking up with any of these poor women he hassles, he's just overdoing the whole friendly thing. So of course when one of them takes him up on it, it just confuses the hell out of him. (Didrika can read men pretty well, and she'd already quickly figured this out about Gold. So her flirting back was more of a prank than anything.)

Gold makes a few efforts to get along with Silver, but is constantly rebuffed; Silver's attitude rubs him the wrong way, so he decides to mostly avoid him. Burgundy grudgingly tolerates him though Gold's chattiness and tendency toward jokes exasperate him. He ends up working alongside LC Mahogany Rat more than once; Mahogany is rather socially awkward, tending to think of people more as names or numbers, which sometimes doesn't sit well with the rescued prisoners and refugees who pass through Trench Rat custody, since the Nazis tend to think of them as numbers, too. Mahogany means no harm by this, and often misses social cues expressing disapproval, so he feels awful sometimes; Gold takes it upon himself to "translate" Mahogany's tone-deaf actions and others' offended reactions to try to help him minimize his embarrassment, since he knows how it feels. They don't exactly become fast friends, but they get along pretty well.

The Trench Rats' primary function is to gather intel on the Nazis' "Project Doomsday," a medical experiment focused on increasing the subjects' intelligence, strength, stamina, and endurance, in hopes of creating a race of super soldiers. The Trench Rat Doomsday, or D-Day, underwent this treatment and displays various signs of the serum having worked, but it's successful on only a very rare blood type, and the people it's worked on can literally be counted on the fingers of one hand with room to spare. The Trench Rats succeed in capturing another test subject, Kolten, who is greatly feared even by the Nazis for his hulking size and hair-trigger temper, not even mentioning what the serum has done to him. The circumstances of his capture, however, are odd. D-Day was involved in keeping watch over him, as it was thought he might be the only one who could subdue him if need be; when the Nazis arrived, they showed signs of wanting to kill Kolten themselves. D-Day threw himself in front of Kolten just as they fired their guns and was grievously wounded. Kolten reacted...by turning on the Nazis, hurling them around like toys and bellowing in a fury. The other Trench Rats returned to the alarming scene and aimed their own guns at Kolten, who was standing in an old trench with the unconscious D-Day at his feet; when they started discussing how best to retrieve D-Day for medical treatment, Kolten picked him up and handed him to them. He didn't protest being put in restraints, even though they broke--twice--when placed on him, and placidly followed the Rats back to Headquarters, where he was placed in a cell and kept under strict watch since the Rats weren't sure if the bars would hold. Anyway, Burgundy informs Black that he can't do much to help D-Day without a blood transfusion--and D-Day has like the rarest blood type there is. They reason that Kolten should be a match, so Black goes to ask him if he'll help. Kolten speaks simple, stilted English; when Black starts to mention D-Day, he asks if the "little Rat" is all right, seeming genuinely concerned about him. Black explains that D-Day needs blood in order to live, at which Kolten sticks his arms through the bars and announces that his "magic blood" can help. He's brought to the medical ward and hooked up to an IV along with D-Day for a direct transfusion. (Oh neat, I Googled to see what this is called and it turns out it's called direct blood transfusion, haha. Well then.) D-Day begins to recover, and after a while Kolten is returned to his cell.

Gold goes to visit him there. He'd been quite wary of Kolten when he was first brought in, even expressing alarm when Black decided to speak with him. Something about Kolten's oddly passive demeanor has piqued his interest, especially considering how fearsome he was believed to be, that even the Nazis would rather kill him than bring him back with them. And there's what he did to the Nazis themselves--obviously, the stories about his massive strength haven't been exaggerated, but he's directing it at the wrong people. Gold finds him huddled back in the corner of his cell; he asks if the little Rat is doing better, and Gold says yes. He doesn't say anything more, so Gold rolls an apple into the cell, repeating what Black had done when visiting earlier; Kolten grabs it and eats it in two bites, core and all. Gold introduces himself--Kolten slowly repeats his name as if to remember it, offers his own, and Gold repeats it in return. He then notices the prisoner ID badge Kolten has sewn onto his striped shirt, which Burgundy had attempted to remove earlier, only for Kolten to protest so stridently--"Nein! Mein Winkel!--mein!"--he had to give up. (Holy Jeez you wouldn't believe the twists and turns I just had to take to figure out what the Germans called those things. Thanks, German Wikipedia...and Google Translate.) He asks what it is and Kolten says, "It tells what I am." "What are you?" Gold asks, and Kolten points out the word on the badge, Blöd, sounding it out a few times until Gold gets it. "What's it mean?" Gold asks, to which Kolten proudly replies, "It means I am stupid."

This hits Gold like a slap in the face, and he actually cringes back a little. Not just the word itself, or the fact that Kolten is being made to wear it like it's a crime just to be stupid (to the Nazis, it is), but Kolten's own reaction when announcing the meaning of the word, like it's something to be proud of. He's obviously had it instilled in him so deeply that by now he doesn't even question it, it's just a fact that he's stupid, it's literally his identity. All of this is just a little too familiar. After attempting to convince Kolten he doesn't have to believe that he's stupid, Gold goes to Skye and asks for a favor. ("Not THAT kind of favor," he grouses when she raises an eyebrow.) He returns to Kolten with a new embroidered patch and offers to trade it for Kolten's triangle. "What does it say?" Kolten asks curiously, and realizing that he can't read, Gold points to and sounds out the letters: "K-O-L-T-E-N." "It says what you are," he explains. "Now how about you give me your 'stupid' badge and I give you this? Even trade?" Kolten mulls this over a moment before tearing the triangle off his shirt and handing it through the bars, taking the KOLTEN patch in return. Gold leaves him looking over the little piece of cloth admiringly while quietly sounding out his name, and stashes the STUPID badge away out of sight. (Much later, he gives this patch to Kolten's father.)

After Kolten is determined to not be the threat to the Allies that they'd assumed he was--Burgundy estimates that, despite his savantlike abilities and the influence of the serum, he basically has the intelligence and mentality of a child around five or seven years of age, and far from being a killing machine, he just wants to make drawings, look at picture books, and build things with blocks--the Trench Rats arrange for him to live with a couple out in the country for the time being. Gold is glad he won't be in a cage anymore. Not long after, however, while attempting to confiscate documents from Project Doomsday headquarters, Silver Rat is captured and tortured for information (which he doesn't provide). Another subject of Project Doomsday (though the Rats don't know this yet), Jakob Wolfstein, assists in Silver's escape, and they miraculously make it out of the city and into the countryside, where Didrika's men come across them and take them back to their camp. The Trench Rats are contacted and send a small contingent to retrieve Silver. Despite being allies, relations between the different groups are always strained and fraught with suspicion, so the Rats try to be on their best behavior to avoid triggering any unpleasant reactions. (There IS one awkward moment, when LC Skye warns Didrika not to dare hit on Burgundy when he arrives; not used to being warned, Didrika makes a risqué quip, and Skye responds by slapping her across the face. EVERYONE freezes, eyes wide; even Didrika's right-hand man, a hulking Red Army deserter named Boris (who really dislikes the Rats, and is involved with Didrika), doesn't dare say a word. Skye and Didrika stare each other down for a moment before Didrika storms off (Boris quickly steps out of her way).) Didrika refuses to let Silver leave with them until he's well enough to get around on his own; Burgundy (whom no one ever informs of the incident between Didrika and Skye) arrives and confirms Silver is in pretty rough shape and shouldn't be moved just yet. Gold walks on eggshells to keep on good terms with Didrika. Silver finally insists on leaving himself, and Wolfstein insists on accompanying them. Gold attempts to express concern for the other Trench Rat's wellbeing, but as usual Silver brushes him off; he can't really take offense this time, as it's obvious Silver is preoccupied with what just happened. Everyone heads back to HQ.

(Sort of an aside, this is described in an out-of-date adult scene I wrote--the exact circumstances will be changed but this detail still holds, I believe. Gold accidentally learns that Silver has gotten involved in a relationship with another Trench Rat in his company, LC Reseda--a male Rat, of course. Gold finds this weird but decides not to out the two.)

Well, I'm sure there are various incidents I will remember later. (For example, I just remembered an EARLIER incident, how Black Rat loses his eye to General Schavitz and sustains other injuries. In an older version of the story, it was basically Gold who was to blame for Black losing his eye, getting his ear torn up, and being partially crippled in one leg (um, yeah...I kinda overdid it on beating the crap out of poor Black); I think Schavitz did still shoot out his eye, but the rest of it was from Gold recklessly driving his motorcycle and sidecar into a pile of wood which weirdly exploded (hahaha, yeah, I had fun pretending this scene by the brushpile behind our garage when I was a kid), and Gold felt immense guilt over this. This has since been modified; I think Gold bears no responsibility for Black losing his eye, though I'm unsure. Black still ends up with at least one slash to one ear (this is in his artwork, though recall the ear markings in my art are conjectural in most cases); he does NOT suffer permanent injury to his leg, though he might still suffer a temporary injury, and I think in fact Gold is connected to this, again, possibly a motorcycle accident. Gold is torn up (metaphorically) over it but Black shrugs it off. Oh, regarding this motorcycle--which Gold jokingly calls a Goldsmobile, mwaha, mwaha, mwahahaha--it plays an indirect role in endangering the Trench Rats, so maybe this is how Black gets injured and Gold feels responsible. It turns out German sniper Lt. Ratdog has been informed--i. e., lied to--by Gen. Schavitz (actually his chauffeur/fixer, Sgt. Eisen, but Schavitz makes great use of the lie) that a pair of Trench Rats in a motorcycle with sidecar were responsible for running down and killing his toddler son, when in truth it was Schavitz and Eisen themselves who did this. Whenever Gold and Black go out with this particular vehicle, they're effectively wearing a giant target on their backs, and Ratdog fires at them whenever he sees them. So it's safe to say this is how they get into an accident. Takes them a while to figure out why Ratdog holds such a grudge against them.) But let's get going.

Further along in the storyline, Black and Schavitz confront each other, and after Black ends up disarmed, Schavitz shoots him in the forehead at point-blank range. (In a possibly related incident, Gold is injured and loses sight in his eye--similar to both Black and Schavitz.) Gold witnesses this from too far away to help; he attempts to chase Schavitz, but Schavitz escapes. Black is brought to the medical ward but Burgundy can do nothing for him, and he dies soon after. Gold is racked with guilt but doesn't have any time to process what happened; as the former second in command, he's promoted to sergeant and abruptly thrust into a position of authority for which he's not entirely prepared, and it almost overwhelms him. (Mahogany prods him along a few times.) He has to drop his former cheery, chatty attitude--and at the same time, shove down his grief and desire to withdraw--and become responsible for some very important tactical decisions, since by now the war is coming to a head. He's asked to appoint a new corporal and after a little thought he names Silver. Silver is especially caught offguard by this, he's so used to being overlooked for promotion and figures by now that Gold hates him, but accordingly steps up. Not long after, Gold, Ratdog, and Schavitz confront each other atop a train (don't ask me why, I haven't figured it out yet); Ratdog aims at Gold, but Gold deliberately drops his rifle--the Rats have figured out that (to Schavitz's annoyance) he has a particular code of honor and follows certain self-imposed rules that include not shooting unarmed people. "Pick it up," Ratdog orders, then yells, "Pick it up! Pick it up!" Gold refuses, saying, "We didn't have anything to do with that (his son's death)." Ratdog refuses to believe him until something (maybe a noise from the train) jars his memory: Although he never saw the motorcycle and sidecar that ran down his son, he did hear the distinctive sputter of its engine as it sped past. He's seen (and heard) the "Goldsmobile" and it has a relatively smooth-sounding engine. A bit earlier in the story, he'd heard Eisen start up Schavitz's motorcycle, and it had let out a distinctive sputter--Ratdog had a startle response, glancing at it but not quite able to figure out why the sound had that effect on him, or why Eisen reacted by widening his eyes and hurrying off. Now, he remembers. He looks at Schavitz. Schavitz gets fed up and snaps, "Oh, move on! What sort of father lets his stupid kid run around in the road, unless he doesn't want him? I probably did you a favor getting rid of the brat." He then abruptly kicks Gold's rifle out of his reach and takes aim at Ratdog right as Ratdog takes aim at him. After a tense moment Schavitz smirks and lowers his gun, holding up his hands and saying, "You won't even shoot an unarmed man, will you?" Ratdog hesitates, when a shot suddenly strikes Schavitz through the head; he topples and Gold, who had managed to pull out his pistol unnoticed, says, "I would...stupid." He and Ratdog shove Schavitz's body from the train and Ratdog returns Gold's rifle. They disembark the train to go their separate ways but one thing is obvious now, Ratdog will no longer be taking potshots at the Trench Rats.

Then comes the Trench Rats' raid on Project Doomsday headquarters. This time, they're armed with knowledge of the layout of the complex, gleaned from Kolten, Wolfstein, and Silver, and the assault is successful, the Trench Rats taking over command of the complex, capturing its lead doctor (Kammler) and the SS officer overseeing the project (Capt. Himmel), and freeing the remaining test subjects, which include PFC Teal Rat and the Trench Rat whose place Gold had taken, Corporal Drake Rat. Dr. Kammler doesn't last long--while he, Himmel, and Teal are waiting in a study for the raid to complete, Teal stabs him to death in a rage. Himmel is brought back to Trench Rat Headquarters and placed in a cell like Kolten had once been while Drake and Teal--Teal's striped shirt still covered in Kammler's blood--are taken to the medical ward. Teal himself doesn't last long, either; he's had the Trench Rats' suspicion on him for years, as the possible leak which revealed the location of HQ to the Nazis (leading to the raid which killed a third of their number and got Sgt. Camo and Cpl. Drake captured), but he insists he wasn't responsible for this. He DOES, however, assume blame for Silver's capture (his reasoning for ratting out Silver, no pun intended, to the Nazis is simply "Better him than me," hinting that he'd undergone much the same sort of torture Silver did), asking Burgundy to give an apology on his behalf before jamming a scalpel in his neck. He bleeds out before Burgundy and Skye can save him; Drake, who witnessed this from the neighboring bed, has to promise the rattled surgeon that he won't attempt the same thing himself.

While Gold and Mahogany are transporting Teal's body through the woods to find him a resting place, a mysterious figure in a gas mask and German uniform--whom they've come across earlier, and despite his appearance seems to be assisting the Allies--confronts them, looks at Teal, then leads them to a suitable location. He reveals that he's Camo Rat, who escaped the Nazis not long after his capture and has been aiding the resistance effort since. He returns with them to Trench Rat Headquarters. They go to question Himmel about the project. After it becomes clear he's long had a hand in attempting to sabotage the project from the inside, Himmel promises to tell them everything he knows, but only if they let him see Kolten, first; they reluctantly agree and take him to where Kolten has been staying. They're startled to learn that Kolten and Himmel are very familiar with each other, not just from the project--Kolten is Himmel's son, whom Himmel's been attempting to protect from the other Nazis, who often kill off the mentally disabled. Once he's sure Kolten is safe and well cared for, Himmel bids him goodbye and returns with the Rats to Headquarters. Here he explains not only the project but his role in it and how it stalled after Kammler was unable to modify the serum for use on more blood types (a direct result of Himmel's sabotage); the Trench Rats' raid, and the approach of the Allied forces, will surely spell the complete demise of the project. He claims his own work is done and all that's left is for him to stand trial and accept his sentence.

Gold and Camo effectively assume joint command of the battalion in the war's final days and afterward. As the camps are being liberated Gold comes across a familiar face--Mirela. She'd joined Didrika's partisans for training and is by now quite skilled at defending herself, but she never had any luck locating her missing father, who was captured by the Nazis while both of them were attempting to flee, and she's more desperate than ever to find him. Mirela, remembering Gold's overly flirtatious attitude, isn't thrilled to see him again, but he's changed quite a lot--new rank, new uniform, new appearance (his blinded eye), and especially a new, much more subdued personality. He's glad to see her again but he doesn't flirt, doesn't joke around or banter (even when Mirela herself makes a slight sarcastic comment that leaves the door wide open for a joke response, his reply is quite toned down). She's rather surprised by all the changes. When he finds out she's still looking for her father Nikolas, he offers to help. He and Mahogany do a little sleuthing and manage to track down Nikolas's last location to the nearest camp, which has just recently been liberated, most of the SS guards having fled; the commandant, however, is in the Trench Rats' custody, in rather rough shape but alive. Wolfstein, who earlier spent time in his camp, informs them that he has a tendency to make bargains when it suits him, so he may be willing to help them locate Nikolas.

Gold visits the commandant, Maj. Konstantin Klaus, in the cell where they're keeping him. His eyes are blackened and swollen, a rib broken, and his knee smashed--his inmates beat the s**t out of him before the Americans intervened--but he listens attentively when Gold outlines the situation; the guards took most of the camp records with them when they fled, so the Allies have no way to determine who passed through or even still is in the camp, without it possibly taking a very long time, and many of the inmates remaining aren't physically well off, themselves. Gold promises to help Klaus avoid execution and serve a prison sentence instead if he helps them. Klaus has a wife and two little boys, so he agrees to help. It turns out he has a lot in common with Mahogany and while he's no good at remembering his "sticks" (prisoners) by their names (a note, I know I read somewhere that the Nazis sometimes referred to the Jews as sticks or bundles of wood--as in something nonhuman, which you stack up and burn--morbid I know, sorry--but after a quick Google search I can't locate this at the moment), he's VERY good at remembering numbers, dates, and locations, and he manages to narrow things down to Nikolas's most likely location still within the camp. As Gold turns to go, though, Klaus advises him to hurry, as his Zigeuner (Roma and Sinti) inmates weren't in very good shape last he saw of them; he adds that killing them off would have probably been for the best. Gold bites down his anger at this callous comment and leaves.

Klaus's flagrant racism notwithstanding, his memory is flawless, and Gold, Mahogany, and Mirela manage to quickly locate her father in the camp, very ill with tuberculosis and infected feet but overjoyed to be reunited with his daughter, whom he'd feared was dead. Gold and Mahogany force an opening through the fence to get at him more easily, and Gold orders a stretcher to be brought to transport him to their medical ward for treatment. As Burgundy gives him antibiotics and prepares to work on his feet (one needs to be amputated), Nikolas notices the way Mirela keeps looking at Gold, immense gratitude--and something else--in her eyes. He hints to Mirela that he doesn't mind if she's interested in a gadjo (non-Roma); Mirela denies it at first, but it's true, Gold's interest in her in the past piqued her own interest a little and now that he's gone to such lengths to help her and her father, she finds that she's developed feelings for him. She assumes he isn't interested anymore, though. She decides to directly confront him about it, asking him if he likes her. Gold is caught offguard; he hasn't thought about it much, assuming as well that it wouldn't be reciprocated, but he realizes he feels the same way. When Mirela accuses him of never saying anything about this, Gold exclaims, "You never asked!"

Gold decides, along with a handful of other Trench Rats, to remain in Germany following the war and help with sorting out the records the Nazis left behind. He's dismayed to learn that several of them are still alive and free, apparently continuing work on Project Doomsday under a new name, Ultima Thule. He and Camo call for those still remaining in the area to report in to discuss the matter. Himmel, who was stripped of his military rank at trial but then set free to go live near Kolten, identifies one of the missing Nazis as his former boss, Maj. Jäger, to whom he reported on Project Doomsday; although Jäger was good to him, despised the camps, and even called for the punishment of an Einsatzgruppen unit which committed an unauthorized massacre in his jurisdiction, Himmel believes that, being slavishly devoted to the SS, he's the one most likely to have stolen Project Doomsday records to use in the rebooted project. The Allies determine the project has been relocated to the Alpine Fortress, which was supposedly just a creation of the Propaganda Minister but turns out to be genuine. Camo and the women remain behind to man the radios and keep in touch with Gold, Himmel, Ratdog, D-Day, and the others who go up into the mountains; they find that the focus of the project has shifted from creating a super soldier to conferring immortality, with Jäger himself having taken the serum and now taking up the mantle of project leader. The Allies again manage to crush the project and miraculously reclaim one of their own (Lance Corporal Indigo Rat, who had been killed by shrapnel near the end of the war and his body then confiscated by the Nazis, was resurrected by the project, yet then rehabilitated by the Rats), though at great cost: After Jäger's likely death ("immortality" lasts only so long as the brain remains intact, and Jäger is presumed crushed to death in an ice collapse), his wife Magda, devoted to the last, murders their nine children and then kills herself (she's pregnant at the time, making this eleven deaths in addition to Jäger's). Himmel, who had been fond of the Jäger children, is particularly devastated--"Why did they do this?" he weeps at the sight of the dead family, "I would have taken them."

Everyone heads back down out of the mountains, victorious yet heart heavy, and returns to their respective homes, though most of them do keep in touch. Gold and Mirela live together and help care for Nikolas, often going to visit Himmel and the Wolfsteins (along with Kolten and the various children Himmel has adopted), and Ratdog and Didrika, at Himmel's home; they have no children of their own, but are content.

[Gold Rat 2022 [Friday, ‎September ‎16, ‎2022, ‏‎4:00:08 AM]]

#artists on tumblr #ibisPaint x #SketchDaily #original characters

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avaritia-apotheosis · 3 years

Text

Phantom Children Ch.4

In Which: exposition for exposition's sake exists, and Vlad looks way more suspcious than he ought

| AO3 | Prologue | 3 | [4] | 5

VLADIMIR MASTERS. Human male in his mid-forties, and most notably the founder and CEO of VladCo, a billion-dollar industry that mostly specializes in manufacturing weapons and technology. Graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin despite having to drop out due to a lab accident in his second year, landing him in the hospital. Despite being based primarily in Wisconsin, he made an unexpected move to Amity Park Illinois shortly after reuniting with his college friends Drs. Madeline and Jack Fenton.

Not even a year later, Masters ran for mayor of Amity Park and won the election by a landslide. Suspicious, considering Masters being an unknown and the former mayor Montez being quite popular. It’s during Masters’ tenure in office that reports of ghost attacks to the Justice League steadily died down.

“Why?” Damian asked.

Barbara shrugged, pulling up a few files on the screen. “I originally had a theory that related to VladCo’s buyout of Axion Labs—a technological research and manufacturing company that’s mostly local to Amity—being a factor. Within the last couple of years, they had been experimenting with highly volatile chemicals with hallucinogenic properties. Amity had always been known for being extremely superstitious with its ghosts, and if Axion Labs had somehow accidentally released that chemical into the city, well…” She leaned back into her chair, hand twisting in the air. “You could bet how that ended up. The hysteria around ghosts only grew worse in the last two years, with suspected sightings from once every few weeks to multiple in a single day. Early attempts to capture sightings were unsuccessful, and soon enough Amity Park was just written off.”

Much like the mass hysteria surrounding the urban legend of the kuchisake-onna in Japan in the late 1970s, Bruce thought. He pulled up some news footage from Amity Park dated a few years back of citizens being interviewed about their ghostly encounters. Beside these videos were a few photos taken by a shaky camera, showing bright blurs of light streaking across the sky or vaguely humanoid shapes rising from the ground.

“So VladCo., bought out Axion Labs, improved its security, and slowly helped detoxify the town?” Damian shifted his weight onto his other leg and crossed his arms.

“That’s what I thought, but—”

“But the ghosts ended up being real.” Bruce pulled up a video of a field reporter-slash-weatherman taking cover as a figure dropped from the sky, breaking through the walls of a building. The figure—features distorted by an eerie glow—shot out of the rubble just in time before a green blast hit it.

Oracle enlarged other news footage with a few taps on her keyboard. Beings zooming through the air. Massive plants erupting from the ground. Technology coming to life. Each video more worrying than the last, and most showing some footage of a figure bathed in a white glow. “I’d be hard pressed to call any of these faked.”

It begged the question as to how Amity Park survived this long unscathed. Since, if he remembered correctly, even the Dark Leaguers tended to avoid Amity Park like the plague. “They have their own heroes, then?”

“Think along the lines of vigilantes with unofficial support.” A few more files popped up on screen. One showcased a female in a full-length black and red body suit on top of a hover board. The other was a male; young, perhaps a teenager, with white hair and a black and white suit. Hazmat? “The Red Huntress and the Phantom of Amity Park.”

“Partners?”

“More like enemies working on the same turf. Sources place Phantom as appearing first, though it seems Red Huntress has more government support in the end despite there being no official statement. They seem to be the most effective ghost hunters in town, though far from the only ones. The Fentons of Fenton Works are also acting as ghost hunters, though their track record of success leans more towards their anti-ghost tech than any hunting. The town’s even attracted visitors from the Ghost Investigation Ward; a side branch of Cadmus though a now defunct organization.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Damian said. “If anything, this should be more than enough reason for a League intervention. Why the Justice League didn’t come sooner is the real question here.”

Bruce’s lips thinned. “That’s because we were warned off it.”

“What?”

While there was no rule against heroes entering another hero’s city, there were certain unspoken rules that demanded that JL members avoid claimed cities or stay just outside of city lines until given permission to enter. Some were especially strict about it such as Batman’s ‘no metas or outsiders’ rule. Others were more lenient, simply requesting a warning before entering.

Amity Park, despite having no listed heroes in the database, was marked with heavy ‘Do Not Interact’ warnings for humans and metas alike.

“Justice League Dark said that under no circumstances should the League interfere in Amity. The situation was never explicitly laid out for us except to say that everything was being handled.”

“Oh yeah,” Oracle chimed. “Constantine even had it bolded, underlined, italicized, and in all caps. The occult community was very clear about everyone staying away—and apparently this decision had support from Amity Park too.” She pulled up another document. “That’s probably what led to the decline in their ghost reports, actually. Amity’s claims were considered bogus and brushed aside. No one outside their town—not even their sister town of Elmerton—believed them, so they simply stopped asking for help.”

Strangely, it reminded Bruce of Gotham. Both cities existed in its own isolated sphere, unwilling to let any outsiders interfere in its business.

“It’s safe to assume, then, that whatever Ra’s al Ghul wants with Amity, it has to do with these ghosts. Do we have anyway to contact the town’s vigilantes?”

Oracle shook her head. “Ghost attacks within the past few months have slowly died down along with sightings of Phantom and Red Huntress. Your best bet is asking Masters directly.”

Damian glowered. “Masters blatantly sent out an invitation for Batman to my father. How do we know that Masters hasn’t somehow found our secret identities?”

“Unlikely,” Bruce said. “Vlad Masters, despite his wealth, has done well to keep a low profile. He’s met Bruce Wayne a total of three times within the last decade and Batman not at all.” That, and with the kind of spyware Batman has, he’d be able to tell when, where, and who was trying to dig deep into Batman’s past. Masters hadn’t even registered as a ping.

“Besides, there’s always a few rumors of Wayne Enterprise’s involvement with Batman. All this tech has to come from somewhere, no?”

“How long is Masters staying in Gotham?”

“Umm…” Oracle leaned forward in her chain and flipped through a half-dozen windows. “Going by his reservations at the Gotham Royal Hotel, he’s leaving tomorrow.”

Bruce pivoted on his heel, heading deeper into the Cave. “We better make this count, then.”

------

According to Oracle’s intel, Vlad Masters was staying at one of the executive suites in the Gotham Royal Hotel. A titanic structure with forty-eight floors, two towers, and the gothic aesthetic that never seemed to leave Gotham’s architecture.

Scaling the building as well as entering the suite proved no challenge for Batman and Robin. But upon entrance, it was abundantly clear that the room was vacant.

“Are you sure you guys are in the right room?” Bruce could hear the clicking of Oracle’s keys through their comms. “Masters had reserved the suite on the west tower.”

“Yes we’re in the correct room, Gordon,” Robin hissed.

“Codenames only, Robin.”

Robin clicked his tongue, sweeping the common room for any hidden bugs or cameras as Batman scouted out the rest of the room. The bed was made to hotel standard and the bathroom towels all completely replaced. There were no clothes in the hotel closet or dresser.

The only thing left that indicated occupancy of the room was an unmarked manila envelope unsubtly tucked within a pillowcase.

Robin tensed at the sight of it. “A detonator of some sort?”

Batman rotated the package, holding it up to his scanner. “Doesn’t seem to be. Regardless, it might be better to take it back to the Batcave and locate Masters ag—” The envelope started ringing. A standard ringtone found in most phones. Quickly, but carefully, Batman opened the manila envelope and dumped its contents onto the bed. A ringing burner phone and a flash drive came tumbling out.

Batman threw the flash drive at Robin before answering the phone, holding it up against his ear but saying nothing.

Silence. Then, Masters’ voice filtered in through the phone with a strange echo-like quality. “Good evening, Batman! I’m so glad my invitation managed to get passed along.”

Batman growled into the speaker, “What do you want, Masters?” He signaled Robin to do another sweep of the room for any signs of Masters they might have missed.

“I sincerely apologize for not being there to meet you myself; incredibly rude of me, I know. But it cannot be helped, the shadows are growing ever bolder.”

“So, you are aware then, of the League of Assassins’ presence in Amity Park?”

“A league of assassins? What a terrifying notion that is.” Batman frowned. It was unlikely that they had misread his words at the gala, so why was he acting unaware now? Could he be watched? “Why such a group would appear in my little town, I wouldn’t even dare to guess.”

Robin came back into the room and signaled back ‘negative.’

“Why did you call for us, Mayor Masters?”

“Do you know what is so very tragic, Batman?”

“This is strange,” Oracle said. “I can’t pick up his signal. He’s not appearing on any of my cameras, either.”

“When someone so young dies much to soon.” A pause. “Could you even imagine such a thing? A parent burying their own child.”

Batman could. He had no need to even imagine it because he lived it.

“Some very close friends of mine have been weighed down by the shadows of death and I require help in providing them the closure they need.”

“Are the Fentons the targets, then?”

Masters paused. Then let out a breathy laugh over the phone. “Oh, if only it were that simple.”

“So a different target.”

“Everything you need to know is in the flash drive I’ve enclosed in that envelope Whether you take up the case is entirely up to you—though I do hope you take it. Regardless, if he is not returned soon then I assure you that a disaster unlike any you have seen before will arrive.”

Batman narrowed his eyes. “Is that a threat, Masters?”

“No,” He laughed. “That was no threat. That was promise.”

The phone line disconnected just as Oracle exclaimed that she finally found Masters boarding his flight back to Amity Pak.

#danny phantom #batman #danny phantom x batman crossover #dp fic #phantom children.txt

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mochegato · 4 years

Text

The Illusion of Innocence

Written for Jasonette July’s “Innocence” prompt.

“That was… cute? No rough. That’s the word, rough. That was incredibly rough to watch.” Tim said moving to lay his arm on Jason’s shoulder. “When did you become such a wimp?”

“What the Fuck, Replacement?” Jason tore his eyes away from Mari’s retreating figure to duck away from Tim’s sudden appearance next to him. His eyes quickly, discretely returned to Mari.

“Wow. Just wow.” Tim shook his head. His hair was going to look like Jason’s if he had to continue to watch these two.

“Fuck you”

“Just ask her out already. It’s torture watching you two dance around each other like this.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jason said finally turning away and seeing Tim’s deadpan expression. “I don’t want to ask her out. If anything, I’m trying to figure out how to get her away from us so you aren’t putting her in danger. There is no reason she had to know about us just to make us some suits. We could have come up with some bullshit excuse why we needed them to be Kevlar lined.”

“Maybe not. But she will if she’s going to help us in the future.”

“What!? Fuck that shit. You should’ve discussed it with us before you decided to bring in an innocent. She shouldn’t be involved with that or with any of us at all. You’re endangering a civilian just by letting her know, let alone whatever the fuck else you have planned. She is going to get killed helping us,” he growled out at Tim. “AND, she is sweet and innocent. We should be helping to protect that in people, God knows Gotham destroys it enough, and I’m not going to let you destroy it in her.”

“Okay, first Mari doesn’t need you to protect her. I know her a lot better than you do and she can do just fine on her own. Second, that’s just stupid. Third, she knows what the risks are and agreed to help. Fourth, since when do you think before you decide to go after someone you like? Or was it just a gut reflex, ‘what is that feeling? I think it might be real happiness. I could actually build a future with this one. Well, let’s nip that shit in the bud.’” He said in a deep voiced imitation of Jason. “Fifth, even if you were right, you’re not, but even if you were, I’ll make sure you’ll be there to protect her the first few missions. You’re welcome for that opening, by the way. Sixth, you’re an idiot, a continuation of two really, but needed to be reiterated. Seventh, talk to her before you decide to harass her out of our lives. Ask her about her… miraculous record. It’s going to come out pretty quickly, but you might want to be up on it sooner. Eighth, eighth? Yeah, eighth. Man this list is getting long. Eighth, Bruce knows and agreed already. Ninth, refer back to numbers two and six, they are really important. And finally, you think Mari is innocent? That's hilarious." Tim doubled over in exaggerated laughter, pretending to wipe away a tear and clapping Jason on his back, “Oh, my sweet summer child.”

“Okay, A I don’t talk like that. B ‘miraculous record’? What the fuck does that mean? Who talks like that? You’ve been watching too many of those magical girl shows. C you might think you know more than the rest of us but we still should have been involved in this decision. D what do you mean you ‘know her a lot better’?” He narrowed his eyes at Tim and moved into his space, towering over him.

“You did it that way just to be an ass, another reflex for you. But, God I wish I could have recorded that to play back to you later. And right, since when had Bruce ever consulted with us before making a decision?” he scoffed. “And I mean I know her like I know Steph… Barbara!! Like I know Barbara. I absolutely trust her, absolutely platonically.” He said attempting to placate Jason. “I am not in your way. You are wide open to ask her out. Or to chicken out, like a little bitch.”

“Screw you, Timbers.”

“I’m not the one you want to screw,” he sing-songed jumping away to avoid Jason swiping at him.

Marinette had had enough. She and Red Hood had been standing on the roof of Wayne Enterprises for the last half an hour, which should have been extremely enjoyable. But instead of their usual easy, flirty banter and lingering looks, Jason seemed to be avoiding looking at her. When he did happen to look her way his whole body seemed pained and uncomfortable. When he actually gave a response to her attempts at conversation, it was in short, curt responses.

Letting out an aggravated groan Marinette finally spoke up. “Okay Jase. What is going on?” she demanded.

“Red Hood,” he muttered back at her. He continued to look out over the city pretending to focus on patrol.

“What?”

“When we are in the field you are supposed to use our codenames, not our real names. How are you going to manage in an actual mission if you can’t even remember the basics?” He bit out a bit more aggressively than was necessary. He finally turned to face her with… a glare? Maybe? It was hard to tell with his helmet on.

She stared at him in shock for a few moments before responding. “Oooo, you’re being extra assholey tonight. It must be something really bad,” she bit back. “Also, if you’re going to yell at me, at least have the decency to take off the helmet. It’s degrading to have it on when you’re starting a fight.”

He yanked the helmet off violently leaving just the domino mask to protect his identity. She could now see the anger radiating off of his features. “I’m not being an asshole. I’m taking my job seriously. I’m concerned we’re bringing an innocent into all this. A civilian that is not remotely prepared for it in any way. I’m frustrated that I’m going to have to spend my time protecting and worrying about you whenever you are helping instead of doing the mission, which is a really good way to get killed, for both me and for you,” he growled out stalking closer to her with each sentence, forcing her back to avoid him physically colliding with her. “And, you and Tim are making plans to get you in the middle of all this shit and you can’t even remember basic protocol for keeping yourself and us safe. You’re going to put us all in danger, including yourself.”

Marinette reeled back like she had been slapped. “Says the guy that called Red Robin by his name before he left,” she returned angrily. “Who asked you to worry about me? I don’t need or want you to worry about me instead of focusing on a mission. That’s on you. That’s your fucked up priorities, not mine. And what makes you automatically assume I’m not prepared for any of this?”

“You can’t possibly be prepared. You can’t possibly understand what it is like. I know you think it will be just a bit of an adventure, but it’s dangerous. You could die or end up in a wheelchair like Barbara.”

“You think I don’t know the risks? I’m well aware of what is on the line, but I can’t stand by and watch bad things happen and not do something about it, not when I’ve been given the chance to act. Not when I’ve been asked for my help.”

“Yes you can!” He voice getting louder again. “You can when the alternative is you die.”

“I know what I’m doing Ja… Hood,” she corrected herself. “I know what I’m getting into and I’m willing to take on the risks. Paris had our own supervillain for years, you know. I know how to protect myself.”

“No, you don’t. I’ve seen you trip over air. This isn’t a Disney movie, Pixie! People die. I’ve died! Most of the Robins have. I don’t want you to, too. I know you believe that good always wins and the bad guys always get punished, but that isn’t the way the world works. Bad guys win sometimes, frequently. Good guys die, frequently. This is a terrible world that destroys people. You don’t have to be a part of it.”

“Okay, I’ve seen you accidentally swing into a billboard, so you might want to be careful casting those clumsy stones. And, I’m a part of it already whether you want me to be or not. You think I don’t know the consequences? Do you think I’m an idiot? I see the consequences every day. I have for a long time. Years before I even came to Gotham. I know this isn’t a Disney movie. If it was, those rats over there would be singing right now. Do you hear singing? I don’t, so it must be real life.” She stopped for a beat to think about what she just said. “Actually, I’ve seen rats singing in real life so that’s not such a good gauge,” she added shuddering. “Remind me to tell you about Mr. Rat sometime.”

“This isn’t a joke, Pixie. I know you’re not an idiot but you are naïve,” he gave her a gentle look and reached out to touch her cheek. “You are still determined to see the best in people. You still have a chance to keep your innocence and that childlike view of the world. You can stay naïve. You deserve to.”

She looked at him in shock, her jaw falling open. What the hell just happened? She took a breath to think about what to say next and how to respond to whatever that was that just happened. The condescending jackass. Naïve? She wasn’t the one that was naïve. And he wasn’t the one that knew more than her. Is that really what he thought of her this whole time? Now she was livid. That arrogant, patronizing asshole. She was not stupid or naïve. She slapped his hand away to growl out, “Believing that people can change does not make me naïve. Believing there is good in this world does not make me some wide-eyed, ignorant airhead. I’ve seen good in this world. I’ve even seen it here in Gotham. I’ve seen it in you, despite being the egotistical, disrespectful bastard that you are.” She looked back up at him and gave him a wicked smirk. “Also, it’s cute that you think I’ve never died.”

“Excuse me? What does that mean?”

“There’s something you should probably know. We were going to tell you soon anyway, but I think you might need to hear it now.”

“Okay…”

“Hmmm… I don’t think I want to tell you here though. I think I want to tell you over there,” she said pointing to a building across the street. “There’s something poetic about revealing your secrets surrounded by gargoyles, don’t you think? And somehow, Gotham seems to have more of them than Paris. That’s just weird,” she frowned at the thought.

“Pixie…” he noted the determination in her eyes and decided this particular argument was less important than the larger battle. “Fine! Just let me get my grappling hook out and we can swing over.” He said reaching for it on his belt.

She looked over at him and grinned, a dangerous glint in her eye, “No thanks. I have my own ride. Race you!” She took off like a shot running to the edge of the building then jumped off the edge.

Jason’s heart stopped. What was she doing? What the hell!? Jason took off after her. Was she expecting him to rescue her? What if he couldn’t get to her in time? This was a stupid and beyond dangerous game she was playing. After he saved her he was going to kill her.

He pulled out his grappling hook as he ran and leaped after her streamlining his body so he could fall faster. She had the audacity to be smiling at him as she fell. He was almost close enough to grab her. His eyes left hers looking up to find the best target for his grappling hook. He noted a flash of pink in his vision’s periphery but ignored it, focusing on the task at hand. Nothing else mattered but saving Marinette. Finally finding the best option, he turned back towards Marinette and stretched the last final inches to grab her but found Marinette was no longer there. Instead there was a woman dressed in a deep red and a mask. The woman grabbed his waist and launched a… was that a yo-yo?... toward the same spot he had identified earlier.

Suddenly he was tugged up as they arced to the roof of the building. They landed on the roof with a thud, rolling to a stop in a tangle of limbs.

He pulled back slightly to stare down at her in confusion, not able to form coherent thoughts yet. After what seemed like a few minutes Marinette finally broke the silence. “Hood? You going to survive this, handsome?” she asked with a smug grin.

Jason’s brain finally caught up with what was going on and his jaw dropped, “Mari?” He asked incredulously.

“No names in the field, remember? How are you going to survive any missions if you can’t follow basic safety procedures?”

“What the fucking fuck, Mari!!” He looked at her again running his hands along her face, trying to confirm what he already knew. It was her. Marinette was safe… and a superhero. He let out a breath he had been holding since she jumped and shook his head. “You’re terrible."

“I thought I was innocent and naïve?”

“No, you are a terrible, evil person. That jump proved it. You almost killed me all over again.”

“You deserved it. You were being a condescending ass.”

He let out a huff, “Please never do anything like that again” he begged softly, lowering his forehead to hers.

“Don’t be an ass and I won’t have to.”

"You were supposed to be innocent” he said giving her a lopsided smile.

“I don't know what gave you that impression," she smiled innocently and batted her eyes.

“That. That damn smile. It's a lie.” He looked back over at the Wayne Enterprises building and shook his head. “And I thought you were going to have trouble with grappling and swinging through the air.” He chuckled lightly and lowered himself back down so his face was a few centimeters from hers, glancing down to her lips.

“Have I ever told you what it’s like riding a dragon?” She whispered licking her lips.

“I'd love to hear about that som… wait a dragon? Like a dragon dragon?" She nodded giving him a small, coy smile. Jason ran his fingers across her cheek and along her mask. He grinned happily. His Pixie was a badass and he couldn’t wait to hear more. “but later" he said closing the distance and crashing his lips into hers.

Tag:

@fsketchart @jasonette-july-2k20

#maribat #jasonette #jasonette july 2k20

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voltage-vixen · 3 years

Note

Are any of the newer forgotten titles worth the coins? Some of them are tempting but have reviews that are hit or miss.

Hey there!

I’m assuming you are referring to the titles that were already in the JP app but more recently translated for our app? Working off of that assumption, my short answer is that overall I’ve enjoyed reading a majority of them!

(There will be some spoilers mentioned below the cut, so please proceed at your own caution.)

Exclusively Yours: An Office Affair

Arata & Taizo

I actually ended up really enjoying both of their stories a lot more than I thought I would! You sent in this ask before I had read Taizo, but he was such a sweetheart! Arata was a fun read as well.

The basis for their stories is that the MC is posing in as an executive assistant for her twin sister. This title is nice if you’re looking for something that’s not as heavy in the drama department, but still provided enough plot to keep the story moving and for the read to be an enjoyable one.

Forget Me Not, My Love

Sohei

I’ve only read Sohei’s stories from this title, but oh my goodness, do I adore him! However, I do need to mention that his Main Story felt a bit incomplete at times. His story starts off very strong and promising, but towards the end there seem to be a few parts of the plot that they fail to share a resolution for, or they’re never mentioned again. In fairness, his PoV story does an exceptional job of putting together the missing pieces, but I would strongly recommend you plan on reading the PoV in addition to his Main Story in order to get the full picture. Overall, I actually ended up really liking him, and his other stories are too precious for words!

My Lady Juliet

Keiji

I LOVE HIM! I’ll admit I’m a sucker for the childhood friend to lover trope, but I really love his character to the point where I ended up buying his icon in the app. If you’re looking for a playful character that teases the MC, yet always is watching over them, then he’s a great contender!

This is only a personal quip, but his Main Story was a tad difficult for me to continue on with at first because the MC did go along with the whims of her parents a bit too much for my taste. However, she does eventually overcome that and her and Keiji end up being such a good pairing together and the MC’s dad does end up redeeming himself. His epilogue is very cute as well.

Haruto

I liked him and his personality. He’s very open and teases the MC a lot. However, I can’t recall much about his Main Story since it didn’t feel as exciting to me? I’m not sure how to explain it. It was a decent read, but probably not one I’m racing back to reread anytime soon.

Wanted: Romance Renegades:

Mikiya

*Trigger warning mentioned below*

Where to start with this one? I guess for starters, Mikiya himself as a character was not the issue I took with his Main Story. He is sweet and kind, and also must have the patience of a saint to put up with the MC for as long as he did. Seriously, this MC easily made my personal list of Kristen’s Top 5 Worst MCs, to the point where had I been Mikiya I would have let the authorities taken her away so I didn’t have to deal with her anymore. 😅

(TW) There also is a scene where the MC does try to walk into the ocean and Mikiya stops her. If that type of situation is something you may find triggering, it would probably be best to avoid this one then.

I can’t tell you if the MC ended up getting any better, since I was so turned off I couldn’t even continue on with his other stories. (And believe me as a story completionism that kills me, which should tell you how strongly I felt about it.)

Keigo

GIVE ME MORE KEIGO!!!! I had almost given up on this title after the less than ideal opening with Mikiya, but I’m so happy I didn’t because of this man right here! The MC actually has a brain in this story, and I felt like her and Keigo were a partnership during the story, rather than she needed to rely on him for saving. Keigo is also a sweetie in all of his stories, and I love his cgs! He’s especially precious in his Epilogue story, so don’t sleep on him, all!

Codename: Cupid

I’m not the best person to talk about this title. For the life of me, I could not get into it. The prologue didn’t do much to snag my attention, and neither did any of the preview chapters from the Main Stories themselves. This is likely a me thing though, because I’ve heard some decent things about it.

I believe this is all of them, and I hope this breakdown helps you out a bit! If you do end up giving any of them a try, let me know which one(s) you end up reading!

Thanks for the ask! 💞

#ask vv #exclusively yours: an office affair #my lady juliet #forget me not my love #wanted: romance renegades #voltage inc #spoilers

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flowersandskeletons526 · 3 years

Text

“The Harshest Future We Could Have Imagined” - Lumity Future AU Fanfic Part 4

Luz catches up on training.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

---

Luz yelped and dodged three massive stone spires that sprung from the ground.

“Spikes?!”

Eda cackled, doubling over and almost dropping her paper and pencil. Scrambling to her feet, Luz huffed and glared at her teacher. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Amity sit on a stump and hide a laugh behind her hand.

“You know, when I imagined your training, I thought it was going to be more smelling moss and eating snow,” Luz panted.

“Oh please, I did enough of that trying to teach the new troublemaker over there.” She pointed to Amity, who rolled her eyes. “She’s the one who found that glyph.”

Luz frowned. Amity shrugged.

“Eda had me licking rocks in a cave and I angered a rock demon. It broke a stalagmite and I found the glyph inside. It was growing like tree rings.”

“And now Eda can attack me with spikes.”

“Hey, you wanted to show Willow that you know how to fight. You don’t have the same range of magic as Belos’ soldiers and you’re not ready for a staff yet, so you need to learn as many glyphs as you can and use them to fight inherent magic. You have to train outmatched because you’re going to be outmatched on the battlefield.”

“Give me a staff! Then I won’t be outmatched and I won’t have to worry about running out of paper or getting skewered!”

“You’re not ready, Luz. If you’d been here…” Eda’s voice trailed off. Luz bit her lip and glared at her feet, avoiding looking at Amity. The reminder sent a pang through her heart. Eda sighed. “Maybe it would be different. You’d complete your education and have your staff, but right now, you have to catch up. This war changed things. It changed everything.”

A hush fell over the yard. Luz nodded slowly and sighed.

“I know,” she murmured. “So let’s learn some new glyphs. How do I do the spikes?”

“What, you think you’re going to skip learning from the island? Geez, kid, how much did you forget? No, you’re going to learn the same way you used to. From little Miss Perfect, this time.”

Amity choked, face going red. “What?”

“I’m too old to be traipsing all over the Boiling Isles finding new glyphs with you. This is how it’s going to be: I’ll teach you to fight, Lily will teach you history and the inner workings of the Emperor’s coven, and Amity will train you in magic the same way I trained her.”

“Amity doesn’t use glyphs.”

“But we do.” She tapped beneath her one gray eye. “She learned glyphs with us after you left. That was one condition of learning from the strongest witch on the Boiling Isles.”

Luz looked to Amity. Amity shrugged one shoulder.

Eda clapped her hands together. “Speaking of which, that training starts today. Now. Amity, it’s up to you where you want to take her, but you’re going to be doing this every day that you have the time. Willow already agreed to start handling more of the rebellion.”

“You asked Willow for permission to let me train Luz?” Amity asked.

“No, I told her to be aware that she would be taking on more leadership responsibilities. I don’t ask permission from anyone. You know that.” Eda crossed her arms. “Luz, she does want you to fight with them. She just wants you to be ready first.”

“We all do,” Amity chimed in. She stood next to Luz, staff in one hand and the other resting on Luz’s shoulder. “You’ll get there.”

“You will. Now, you two get going. I am going to go take a nap.”

Amity passed Luz her staff as Eda disappeared into the house. “I’ve never shown you Raja, have I?”

“Not yet.”

“Take her.”

Luz took the staff and inspected the palisman sitting on top. It wasn’t simply a snarling tiger; two goat horns sprang from its head, and a pair of feathery wings was folded against its back. Luz rubbed a thumb over the tiger’s paw and turned to Amity.

“A winged tiger?”

“She found me when I was looking for a tree. I started carving her, thinking I was going to do a falcon, and then my mind went blank and she turned up.” She smirked and patted the wooden animal’s head. “I already had the codename Tiger, so it was only fitting.”

“Where did you get that name, anyway? I understand Willow and Gus being Thorn and Clone, but how did you get Tiger before you found your palisman?”

Amity chuckled wistfully, flashing her fangs. “I was wearing face paint for camouflage on a stealth mission that sort of looked like stripes. One soldier was about to find me so I tackled him and let him go but scared him half to death. He started running around saying the rebellion had a tiger demon after that. It’s on my wanted posters. I’m the ‘Tiger Demon.’”

Luz guffawed, studying the palisman once again. “That’s awesome.”

“Emira thought it was funny.” Amity’s smile disappeared. “Edric would have, I think. Before.”

Luz touched Amity’s hand. “Hey, you don’t have to think about that right now.”

“I’m always thinking about it, Luz.”

“Well, now’s your chance to not think.” She swung around the staff and stopped inches from Amity’s face, oblivious to how the shorter girl blushed. “Take me to the cave where you found the spikes!”

Amity giggled and hopped on the staff, holding out a hand. “Come on.”

Luz grinned from ear to ear. She sat behind Amity and wrapped her arms around her waist. The wooden wings on the palisman extended, just like Owlbert, and they launched into the air. Luz let out a loud, whooping laugh as they rose to the clouds, clinging to her old friend as the staff carried them over the Isles.

She rested her chin on Amity’s shoulder. “I forgot how much I missed this!”

“Not everything on the Isles is bad now,” Amity laughed. She covered Luz’s hands on her stomach with one of her own. “All the magic is still here, figurative and literal.”

Luz leaned back. She took in the rising bones of the ancient fallen giant, the wispy yellow clouds and purple sky, the oddly colored trees. Between the great fossilized islands below her and the beautiful witch wrapped in her arms, a double edged blade of elation and longing struck her heart. She held Amity tighter.

Amity stiffened and tried to ignore Luz’s head resting between her shoulder blades.

“I missed this place, Amity,” she sighed. “The human world is my home, but… I think I always belonged here. With you.”

Amity gripped her staff tighter. “With me,” she mumbled under her breath.

“What?”

“I-I said probably!”

Luz lifted her head. “You think so?”

Amity sighed. “Yeah, I do. Even though life’s gone to shit, I… I mean, we, we really, well… needed you. Here. W-We needed you here.”

Luz smiled and gave Amity a quick squeeze. “I wish I was. Do you really think Willow will let me fight once I get back into magic?”

“She will. Willow’s just worried right now. Worried about you, worried about the rebellion. I’m a commander but she’s the real leader. She’s always been.”

“Because she tried to assassinate Belos?”

“She almost succeeded. I’m just glad she got out of there before he hurt her worse than the scar on her face. But, we did learn one thing from it.”

“What?”

“He bleeds.”

Luz shuddered, then startled. “Oh! I forgot!” She reached under her shirt and retrieved a small triangular pendant, strung on a fraying cord. She handed the souvenir to Amity. “I’ve kept this since we rescued Eda. I want to give it to Willow now. Show her I’m ready and I’ve been ready.”

“What is it?”

“A piece of Belos’ mask. I hit him in the face with an ice spike.”

Amity chuckled. “Of course, you did.”

“Do you think Willow will reconsider when I show her this?”

“It depends, Luz. That was a long time ago and you are out of practice. It’s a new world.”

“I know. That’s all you guys keep telling me.”

Amity sighed but didn’t press further. Luz huffed, closing her eyes and leaning on Amity until they began their descent.

They landed outside the mouth of a large cave. Thin stone spines hung from the ceiling and sprouted from the floor, gashed with deep claw marks. Luz shuddered at the thought of what could have made those. Amity nodded into the cave and sparked a jet of pink fire in her palm, leading the way into the depths. Luz followed, listening to their echoing footsteps and the click of Amity’s staff against the stone floor.

They weaved between the rocks by the light of Amity’s fireball. After about a half hour of walking, Amity glanced over at Luz. A tiny smile graced her lips.

“Y’know,” she said, “when Eda first brought me down here and started training me with her methods, I thought she was insane. Well, more so than normal. Compared to Lilith’s teaching, it was a little, well…”

“Unorthodox?” Luz suggested.

“That’s it. I didn’t think I would ever learn about magic by licking rocks and eating snow.”

“Yeah, learning from Eda was always a little odd. It teaches you a lot, though.”

“It taught you how to steal my wand and anger a Slitherbeast.”

Luz laughed in surprise. “You remember that?”

“Of course, I remember that. That’s when we made the Azura book club. I’d never forget that.”

Luz smiled fondly, thinking of Amity’s blushing face and the twins teasing her…

Her heart sank. The twins. Edric.

Titan, Edric.

“Luz, are you listening?”

“Hm? Oh, sorry. Spaced out. What did you say?”

“I asked if you were ready to get the glyph.”

“Yeah! Okay, what do you want me to do? Fire magic? Karate kick the stalagmite in half to get it?”

She struck a pose as Amity tilted her head. “I have no idea what a karate is. No, Eda told me to train you exactly how she trained me. Which means that we are going to be using that to get the glyph.”

Amity drew another spell circle and sent a large light orb into the air. A ways down the tunnel, the light reflected off shiny brown scales. Luz sucked in a sharp breath, and Amity put a finger to her lips. A six legged creature faintly resembling a large dog lay sleeping between the spikes. Armored scales puffed and flattened as it breathed, and one large eye was situated in the center of its long face. Haphazard fangs poked out of its mouth. It kicked one leg in its sleep, which Luz found reminiscent of King and by extension very cute.

Nudging her with her elbow, Amity smiled at Luz and slowly drew another circle as she spoke. “When I did this,” she whispered, “I accidentally stepped on it. I’m not doing that again, so we’re going to improvise.”

“Improvise how?”

She completed the circle. A firework blasted from her hand, whistling down the tunnel, and exploded on a far wall. Luz covered her ears as the explosion echoed. The rock demon jolted awake. Its single eye fixed on them.

“Uh, Amity? What now?”

The creature roared.

“Run!”

They took off back towards the mouth of the tunnel with the monster crashing after them. Luz screamed as Amity laughed, the creature snarling and snapping at their heels. Barely managing to outpace the rock demon, they hurdled over spikes and ducked low hanging ceilings by the light of Amity’s fire spell. Luz stared at her old friend in terrified shock.

“This is how you learned the spell?!” she squawked.

“More or less!” Amity replied.

“How did you not die!”

“I almost did a few times! Training with Eda, remember?”

“What do we do now?”

“Try to get it to hit a spike!”

Luz glanced behind her at the demon. It glowered at her savagely. She pushed Amity’s shoulder.

“Go left!”

Whistling to the demon, Luz grabbed its attention as Amity split off. She weaved between spikes and watched the demon do the same. A towering stone loomed ahead of her.

“Luz, look out!”

She leapt to the top of the spine at the very last second.

The demon jumped too late.

It slammed head first into the rock with a thundering crack. Luz jumped aside as half of it came crashing to the floor, shattering into pieces. Amity grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back while the rock demon staggered to its feet. It shook its head, whimpering, and slunk back into the midnight depths of the cave. Luz let out a tired, relieved laugh as Amity dropped her arm. The witch stepped over to the broken spike and gestured to the now flat surface revealed.

“Come get your glyph,” she said, smiling.

Luz grinned and stepped up beside her. Amity was right; the glyph sat inside the stone like a ring in a tree. Fumbling for her paper, Luz hastily copied it down and slapped her new glyph on the ground. Amity yanked her back as the paper glowed.

A thin, sharp spike shot up and smashed into the ceiling. Luz burst out cheering while Amity crossed her arms and smiled.

“Spikes! I can do spikes now!” She jumped into Amity’s arms. Amity stiffened in shock, face going red. Luz pulled back, still holding Amity as she grinned down at her, Amity’s hands resting against her chest. “Thank you so much!”

“As long as you keep them away from me,” Amity chuckled.

Luz smiled sheepishly, remembering their early rivalry days. “Hey, you tried to squish me with an abomination.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

They smiled, reminiscing, holding each other in gentle silence. Luz dragged a hand down Amity’s arm as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Her fingers bounced over a long, raised scar running down her bicep. She frowned and looked down at the strip of pale tissue. Amity looked away.

“What’s this from?”

“An old fight. It was just a flesh wound, it wasn’t anything serious.”

“It looks serious.”

“It wasn’t, really. I’m okay now, anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

Luz bowed her head with a sigh. She pulled Amity closer and rested her chin on her shoulder. Amity disentangled her arms, wrapping them around Luz’s neck as tears pricked her eyes. Luz rubbed Amity’s back as she closed her eyes.

“You have no idea how much I missed you,” the human mumbled. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you guys. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise to you.”

“What promise?”

“I’m your fearless champion, remember?”

“Luz, that was for Grom.”

“I meant it for more than Grom.”

Amity held her tighter. “You had to go back. You know you did.”

“There’s nothing for me in the human world besides my mom. I should’ve stayed here.”

“Well, you’re back now. That’s all I care about.”

Luz sighed and buried her face against Amity’s neck. Amity, hardly able to think with Luz’s warm breath on her skin, carded her shaking fingers through the human’s hair. She couldn’t remember how many times she had imagined this, imagined Luz in her arms, holding her tight amidst the disaster their world had become. She shuddered and let herself relax into Luz’s embrace.

“I can hardly believe you’re here,” she admitted without thinking. “I missed you for fucking years, Luz. I didn’t know if you were ever coming back, or if you were safe in the human world, I didn’t know anything.”

“I’m sorry. I should’ve been here with you, Amity.”

“Don’t apologize.”

A huge roar split the quiet. The two jumped apart in time to see the rock demon barreling at them again.

“Ah okay heartwarming discussions can wait until later!”

----

The next few weeks continued like that. Luz would follow Amity all over the Isles, retracing the years of training she missed from Eda. With each new glyph she added to her repertoire, she added new memories to make up for all the years she missed, most of them to do with a certain golden eyed witch.

Amity, laughing beneath a forcefield that Luz summoned in the boiling rain.

Amity, covered in abomination goo after another failed attempt to find a glyph in it.

Amity sitting in the sunlight.

Amity grinning at her.

It was amazing until Amity was called away to lead the rebellion. She would disappear for a day or two, sometimes longer, only to come back without an explanation and a myriad of new scars. She didn’t talk to Luz after; she didn’t talk to anyone, save a quick hushed briefing with Eda and Lilith before disappearing into her room.

Luz left her alone when she got like that, after a few warning looks from Eda and a fumbling, patchy, halfhearted explanation from Lilith. But in the end, Luz got the message herself. Amity’s haunted, shadowed eyes were explanation enough.

The outbursts were worse. Out of nowhere, any little inconvenience would have Amity shouting and cursing at the top of her lungs, eyes alight with pain and rage. Only Eda and King could calm her down when she got like that. Luz watched sadly as Amity curled up on her sleeping bag, hiding her face in trembling hands, with King draped over her back with sad eyes.

Sighing and shutting the door quietly, Luz left them alone and went to sit between Eda and Lilith on the couch. Eda nudged her with her elbow and passed her a mug. Luz took a swig and almost spat it out.

“Oh gross, what is that?” she coughed.

“Apple blood.”

“How do you drink that?”

“It’s an acquired taste.”

“Everything you consume is an acquired taste,” Lilith chimed in, sipping a cup of tea.

“Hey, remember when you cursed me?”

“Oh for the love of the Titan!”

Luz managed a tired giggle as the sisters squabbled over her head. Her grin disappeared as soon as it arrived, and she slumped into the cushions. Eda noticed and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Kid, what’s wrong?”

“Does this always happen now?” Luz asked.

Eda sighed and leaned back, sipping her apple blood. Lilith cleared her throat.

“Amity has seen too much for someone your age,” she began. “They all have. It has taken a toll on them, and, for Amity, at least, this is how it manifests. Just let her work through and she’ll be fine.”

“How long has she been doing this?”

“Since her first few battles. The big ones, anyway,” Eda answered. “They’ve all got their own way of coping. This is Amity’s.”

Luz sighed and looked over her shoulder in the direction of their shared room. “I don’t get it. She seems so happy when we’re training and then out of nowhere, this.”

“Huh, wonder,” Eda snorted. Lilith shot her a look, and the younger Clawthorne turned aside. Luz frowned at her feet.

Lilith tapped Luz’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go talk to her?”

“Weren’t you two just saying to leave her alone?”

“We said that this is how she copes. She’s never been all that open to us, but she might say more to you.”

“I’m going to talk to her.”

“Luz,” Eda called, “don’t push.”

“Okay.”

She knocked lightly on the door to their room and stepped inside. Amity was curled into a ball on her bed with King laying on her. King jumped up to meet her, hopping into her arms and climbing onto her shoulder.

“She hasn’t said anything since she got home,” he whispered. “It keeps getting worse.”

Luz gently pushed him off. “Hey, Amity,” she said gently.

“What?” Amity mumbled into her hands.

“Do you want to talk?”

“About what?”

“Anything.” Luz sat down on her own bed beside Amity. The witch uncovered her eyes, and Luz offered a smile. Amity sat up.

“Did Eda and Lilith send you up here?”

“Not necessarily. I wanted to check up on you.”

“I’m fine, Luz.”

“Really? You don’t seem fine.”

“I am.”

Luz sighed. “Okay.”

Amity pulled her knees to her chest and sighed. Luz sat back, idly drumming her fingers on her legs. Amity hid her face.

“Three people,” she mumbled.

“What?”

“There were three casualties today. Not dead, but too hurt to fight. One has a broken leg, another was cut to shreds, and the third…” Amity shook her head as her voice trailed off. “There was so much blood, Luz. There’s always so much blood. I can’t stand to be in that fucking healer’s building just because it stinks so fucking badly. I can’t stop smelling blood…”

Luz touched Amity’s arm. When she didn’t pull away, she wrapped her arms around her and flopped down onto the bed. Amity stiffened, ready to thrash her way out of Luz’s grip, but the gentle hand that found hers calmed her within a moment. She screwed her eyes shut and tried not to cry as Luz pressed her face against the back of her neck.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She pressed her front against Amity’s back. “I wish I was there to help.”

Amity shook her head. “I never want you to see shit like this.”

“I’m sorry you have to.” She pressed closer. “Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Good. Promise me you’ll be safe if I can’t be out there with you.”

“I don’t need you to protect me, Luz.”

Amity’s scroll buzzed. She sat up out of Luz’s arms to look at the message and frowned.

“What is it?” Luz asked.

She stood. “Willow wants to see us.”

“Us?”

“Yes, both of us. Let’s go.”

#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #amity blight #willow park #gus porter #eda clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #king toh #emperor belos #future au #rebellion #tw blood #tw violence #lumity

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zecretsanta · 3 years

Text

Fic: Christmas at the Kashiwabara's

To: @miiversian

From: @bookworm-2692

I used the following prompt: the 999 cast hanging out together again for the holidays! (sans Ace bc… obvious reasons). There’s also bonus Nona and Ennea, since Hazuki is hosting the party!

This possibly isn’t quite as happy as you were hoping for - but as we know from VLR and ZTD, post-999 Junpei isn’t in a good place, so a bit of angst snuck its way in. I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Thanks for this prompt! I love the 999 cast, so this was really fun to write. I hope you enjoy it, and I wish you a wonderful rest-of-December!

AO3 Link

Summary: After the Second Nonary Game, Hazuki Kashiwabara hosts a Christmas Party for the other participants of the Nonary Game. They try to enjoy themselves and get into the Holiday Spirit, but as they’re still processing what happened last month, this doesn’t always go to plan.

———

Hazuki places the last knife and fork on the table, and sighs. It’s mid-December, mere weeks after the ordeal in Nevada, where she had been kidnapped and made to play some sick game, all to ensure the survival of some paradoxical girl’s existence. That same game was also where she finally learnt what her daughters had gone through nine years prior, and why they had returned from those nine days as shells of their former selves.

She still wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about the other participants of the Nonary Game. Two of them had caused the original game her daughters went through – Hazuki was free to hate them unreservedly, and feel gleeful that one was in jail and the other dead, blown to smithereens. Seven was the detective who had rescued Nona from the incinerator all those years ago – for all that he was annoying and loved to rile her up, she would be forever grateful that he had saved her daughter’s life.

Clover and Light were also victims of the first Nonary Game, the same game that Nona and Ennea had been kidnapped for. Hazuki felt nothing in particular towards them, other than pity that they had been forced to go through the game twice, and relieved that they had survived. The other set of siblings during Hazuki’s game, Aoi and Akane, had also gone through Nona and Ennea’s game as well. However, while she didn��t feel much specifically towards the Fields, she felt much more strongly about the Kurashikis, even though most of those emotions were conflicting and confusing. She felt the usual pity that as children they had been forced into such a cruel game, but she also felt anger that they then staged their own version of the game, endangering a further seven people (or nine, depending on how one counted). Their game however ultimately punished the four behind the first Nonary Game, with death and life in prison, and for this Hazuki was grateful. Nine years ago, Hazuki wanted anything to punish the culprits of her daughters’ kidnapping – now she had it, and she wasn’t sure if the price was worth it.

Then there was also the question of the paradox surrounding the siblings. Surrounding Akane Kurashiki in particular. Apparently, she had died on the boat nine years ago, but Hazuki had gone with Akane (and Aoi) behind every single door during the Nonary Game. Door 4. Door 8. Door 6. One of the Door 9s. She definitely seemed real behind each of those doors, and between the doors themselves. Somehow she had died nine years ago, and also masterminded the game six weeks ago in order to save her own life when she was twelve years old. This really increased Hazuki’s anger towards the siblings – that they would put on such a dangerous game, but then not even fully explain why, or how actions now could save a life in the past. Hazuki deserved a better explanation. But she was still glad they had ultimately survived. Probably.

The final participant of the Nonary Game was Junpei. Junpei, who had been friends with Akane when they were children, before Akane had died (or something. Hazuki had resolved to not think about that part of it too much). He had apparently not seen her or even thought about her for years, and yet now he cannot stop obsessing over her. He had immediately quit school to go find her. Hazuki wishes Junpei would just let it go and get over her. She was ultimately glad that Akane had decided not to be part of their lives anymore – she just wants Junpei to join the rest of them in moving on. As it is, every time she speaks to Junpei now, he’ll either be talking non-stop about her, or otherwise moping because she hasn’t gotten in contact with him yet. He had joined Seven’s detective agency, so Hazuki hopes he will be able to keep a closer eye on Junpei, and keep him from going further over the edge.

So, despite feeling conflicted or neutral about most of the others who had been kidnapped for the Nonary Game last month alongside her, they had all decided to keep in touch, and this evening’s Christmas Party was born. Since Aoi and Akane could not be contacted, they had not been invited. Junpei was devastated when he found out, although Hazuki is privately relieved. She isn’t sure she wants to confront the Kurashiki siblings about what had happened anytime soon, so knowing they won’t be here will give her some much needed space to process those emotions. Hazuki still isn’t entirely sure why she got stuck with the hosting job – until Seven pointed out that they were the two “most adulty” adults, and thus had the most established homes out of the group, and that his was a small flat since he lived alone, whereas her house was the largest because it was where she had raised Nona and Ennea. So here she was, setting the table, and hoping that tonight would not go horribly wrong somehow.

Just then, Hazuki hears the door unlock, followed by a loud “We’re home!” in Nona’s voice, and a smaller “With Clover and Light” in Ennea’s. Hazuki looks up, and indeed sees all four of them entering.

After the Nonary Game last month, Hazuki had learnt that her daughters had been kidnapped nine years prior in order to participate in an almost-identical Nonary game. Hazuki was shocked to learn that the morphogenetic field, pseudoscience she brought up to distract Junpei from whatever his funyarinpa nonsense was, was real, and that Nona and Ennea were intimately embedded within it. More disturbing was that their abilities with the fields were the reason they, and the other sixteen children, were kidnapped for that Nonary Game. Nona had met Light during their Game, and Ennea had met Clover, although somehow (Hazuki wasn’t sure she’d ever fully understand it) they were all aware of each other through the fields.

After escaping the Game, the Egyptian woman, Alice, had directed the car to the SOIS base for questioning. Following that, SOIS had attempted to track down all 18 children from the first Nonary Game, and offered them jobs. From what Hazuki could gather, Aoi and Akane could not be found, but the other 16 young adults now, all accepted the government job. Hazuki’s daughters had been reunited with their friends from those nine hours, nine years ago, and they were all workmates now. Nona and Ennea had thus offered Clover and Light a lift back to the Christmas Party following work that day, and now they had all arrived.

“Hello, hello!” Hazuki calls out. “Welcome to my home!”

“Hello, Lotus! It’s great to see you again.” Clover ran over to give Hazuki a hug, while Light walked over more calmly, and shook her hand.

“Thank you for agreeing to host us, I’m sure your home is very beautiful.”

“I’d appreciate being called Hazuki now, rather than Lotus, but you’re quite welcome.”

After Nona and Ennea each give her a hug, Hazuki directs Clover and Light to place the Kris Kringle gifts on the coffee table, where three brightly wrapped boxes already sit.

“I’m so surprised we’re the first to arrive,” Clover comments, “since it usually takes me forever to get ready.”

“It helps that we came straight from work though,” Nona adds.

“True.”

“Even so, I would have expected Seven to be more punctual – or even early,” Light interjects, looking thoughtful.

As if on cue, Hazuki’s phone buzzes with a message from Seven. He had told the group his real name after the SOIS questioning, since by that point everyone else’s was known, and codenames no longer mattered, but then Clover had declared that he would always be “Seven” to the group, and since he hadn’t introduced himself nine years ago when he was rescuing her brother and the others, then he lost the privilege of being known by a name (or at least, it would take at least another nine years for his name to sound like a usable name). Seven just shrugged at that, and said he didn’t mind the nickname anyway, and only disclosed his name to be fair. So Seven he still was.

Seven was texting Hazuki to explain he would be late, since Junpei was more unresponsive as usual. Junpei was extremely erratic when it came into keeping in touch – he would often go a week at a time before saying anything. Seven had taken to checking on Junpei when he didn’t respond to texts, and so he was giving Junpei a lift to Hazuki’s place (even if he, quote, had to drag him kicking and screaming).

“You’re right,” Hazuki announces to the group. “Seven was intending to be right on time, but he’s picking up Junpei, and today is apparently not one of Junpei’s better days.”

Nona and Ennea glance at each other as she says this, while Clover purses her lips and looks away. It’s Light who responds.

“Well, Junpei will be coming to the right place. We’re his friends, hopefully we can distract him tonight with food and jokes.”

Noises of affirmation heard all around, Hazuki sighs with relief as the conversation smoothly continues on. As a mother to children Junpei’s age, she worries about him. He rarely seems to discuss his parents or other family, or even other friends. His focus is completely trained upon Akane, and little else seems to occupy his time. She doesn’t want to baby him, though, and does her best to treat him as a regular adult, and avoids mentioning Akane Kurashiki whenever she can.

After about twenty minutes of conversation, the ringing of the doorbell cuts through and interrupts. Hazuki excuses herself, opens the door, and finds herself face to face with a grim Seven and a sullen Junpei. Upon seeing her, Seven grins, says “Merry Christmas”, and holds out his gift for the Kris Kringle. Junpei offers a small “Hi”, and Hazuki ushers them both inside.

“Ayyyy! They’re here!” Clover calls out.

“Junpei! What are you wearing?” Light says. “The colours clash horribly – I think it’s going to blind me!”

Junpei looks down at his all black outfit and scowls at Light but doesn’t say anything. Hazuki still chalks it up as a win – he doesn’t look as listless as he did before anymore.

Nona then steps up with Ennea following. Hazuki smiles when she sees this, as it has been their dynamic ever since they were small, Nona charging up and speaking for both of them, and Ennea being quieter behind.

“Hello Seven! And you must be Junpei. I’m Nona, and this is Ennea,” Nona introduces. “Nice to finally meet you after all these years.”

“Y- years? What do you mean years?”

“Akane mentioned you nine years ago. You were the one who told her about checking if the elevator was dry, to make sure we wouldn’t drown.” Nona steps closer to Junpei. “I was one of the four who went down the elevator at first, to check on Door 2 with Ren. Because of you, we didn’t drown. Of course we’d remember your name.”

“Of course,” Ennea adds, stepping forward as well, “we didn’t imagine at the time that you’d be an adult. But it was only weeks ago for you, wasn’t it? And not years, like it was for us.”

“And what on Earth did you mean by ‘boys don’t drown’? Of course boys drown! You idiot!” Nona flicks Junpei on the nose, and giggles when he takes half a step back, eyes wide and bewilderment clear on his face.

“Wh- what? You heard all that?”

Light smirks. “We didn’t hear your conversation, but Akane certainly repeated it for the rest of us.”

Junpei groans, and drops his head into both palms, just as Clover pouts and bemoans how it’s not fair that she didn’t get to witness that conversation, and that it’s not fair that her connection to Light is not two-way, like Ennea’s is to Nona. That’s news to Hazuki. She assumed all morphogenetic field connections were two-way, since that’s what she’s witnessed for years in her daughters. Hazuki raises an eyebrow and glances at Seven, who just smiles fondly at the others.

Ice broken, they begin to move to the table. The turkey is sitting in the middle, surrounded by various dishes, including a whole leg of ham and a potato bake. There are slices of cured salmon, meatballs and lingonberry jam, roasted vegetables, halved boiled eggs, bread rolls, and frankfurter sausages. Sitting on each plate are the Christmas crackers.

Soon enough, cracks fill the air as the crackers are pulled. Brightly coloured tissue paper crowns rest atop of everyone’s heads, and terrible jokes are being shouted across the table. The plastic items inside the crackers are looked at with mild curiosity before being forgotten for the rest of the meal. Long after all the crackers are gone, Junpei, Seven, and Nona have engaged in a heated pun and dad joke war. There’s a comment shouted over that din that the terrible jokes are supposed to end when the crackers end, as everyone digs into the food.

The clatter of cutlery against the plates begins to die down as everyone finishes. Hazuki is feeling comfortably full as she looks around the table, a feeling of satisfaction at seeing almost everyone’s empty plates. Junpei’s is still mostly full of food, and it looks as though he barely touched it. Hazuki doesn’t take it as a slight against her cooking, as Junpei’s appetite has been lacking lately, and mostly feels sorry for him. She doesn’t dwell on it though, as she doesn’t want to lower the otherwise lively mood – Clover and Ennea are excitedly chatting and practicing some of the ASL that Sachiko has taught them, while Nona, Light, and Seven are chatting about what each of them got up to in the nine years since they first met.

Nona glances over at Hazuki, then looks at Ennea, and then both of them get up to start clearing the table, telling Hazuki to stay sitting. Hazuki still can’t quite believe that the “twin thing” she had joked about all those years ago was real, and not just limited to twins.

“Ah, is it Kris Kringle time?” Seven says. “I’ll grab the gifts, you four stay put”

Junpei complies – Hazuki isn’t entirely sure he was even paying attention – but Light grumbles that being blind and missing an arm doesn’t make him incapable of helping, and gets up anyway to assist Seven. Clover takes one look at her brother, and stays seated, explaining that when he’s like this, he’d rather not have help either, so it was simpler to just… let him be.

Soon enough, the table is cleared and the gifts are in a pile in the centre of the table. Ennea fetches a couple of dice and Clover takes one look at them and bursts into laughter. She points to Junpei and says “no dice”, continuing to laugh. Hazuki smiles in wry amusement and Seven chuckles at this, when the doorbell rings unexpectedly. Still standing, Ennea goes to the door and opens it, silent shock radiating from her. A shout of “No way!” from Nona, before she leaps up and runs to the door.

Curiosity piqued, Hazuki begins to rise from her seat, when Nona says, “Well don’t just stand there, let them in Ennea!”

It’s two people Hazuki was beginning to think she’d never see again. The two people who orchestrated the entire game last month.

“Aoi? Akane?”

At the mention of “Akane”, Junpei finally looks up, and sees her.

“Akane? You’re here? Why?” Junpei is just staring in shock and disbelief – which is exactly what everyone else is doing, too.

“I’m sorry for turning up uninvited,” Akane begins, but Junpei interrupts her.

“Don’t apologise for that! I’m just so glad you’re here! But… why didn’t you come find us sooner? How did you know we would all be here?”

“We couldn’t come earlier,” Aoi says sternly. “What we did was not exactly within the bounds of legality, and we couldn’t be sure you wouldn’t turn us into the police. And if you start to do so now we’re marching straight back out again. I didn’t even want to show up here and now, but Akane… she insisted. She said we had to do this.”

“Junpei, I’m so sorry. I just. I had to disappear like that.” Akane tries to be gentle but Hazuki can detect a hint of impatience in what she is saying.

“Okay so you had to leave or whatever, that’s fine,” Clover interrupts. “But like, I know Lotus wasn’t able to contact you two. Because you left. So how on Earth did you know we’d all be here? Like not to make you feel unwelcome or anything but…?”

Akane places her head in her hands, and sheepishly says “I got it from Junpei, via the Morphogentic Fields. We’re still connected.”

“Wait… you got my location via the field? Why couldn’t I get yours?”

“Well um, Junpei… I have a bit more experience with the fields…”

“What she means to say,” Aoi interrupts, “is that she’s amazing at them and your abilities are non-existent. You were only able to connect to her before because she was able to reach across the nine years and connect. You can’t do jackshit on your own. She was able to read the invitation Lotus sent you, but even if Akane was standing in a room with flashing neon lights saying ‘we are here’ you would get nothing from her, unless she chose for you to get it”

“So Akane is able to spy on Junpei whenever she likes, and he gets no say in the matter?” Light asks quietly.

Akane says nothing, and looks to the ground. Junpei glares at everyone and no one. Aoi freezes, as though he hadn’t considered it in those words before.

“No… I don’t think that’s quite right,” Ennea pipes up.

“Yeah. We’re able to block each other out if the other is annoying us too much,” Nona adds.

“So if we don’t want to be connected… then we won’t be.”

“And since we know Junpei quit uni to search for Akane, he wants to find her. He opened himself up to her. She can connect to him through the morphogenetic field because, on some level, he wants her to.”

“No!” Junpei suddenly shouts. “I don’t want her to, to, to spy on me! I just… don’t want her to disappear!”

“I can’t block Light though.” Clover turns to her brother. “Can I?”

Light looks thoughtful. “Well, I can’t say I’ve ever been aware of you blocking me. Sometimes I don’t get anything from you, but I don’t know if that was intentional on your part or just…”

“So can we only block each other because our connection is equal in each direction?” Nona asks.

“But so was ours!” Junpei bursts out. “Back in the incinerator, I could hear her, and when I spoke, she responded! It’s like we were talking in real time!”

“She’s just that much better at it then you. She can transmit and receive powerfully enough that she could simulate that. I don’t think you can block her,” Aoi says. “For what it’s worth, I don’t get a choice either. She either chooses to give me something, or get something from me, and otherwise I can’t connect to her either.”

“I don’t want to be spied on,” Junpei repeats in a quiet voice, staring at the floor.

There’s silence for a moment, as though no one knows how to respond to that.

“Well, you’re here now aren’t you? So you may as well join us and sit down, right?” Seven looks at Hazuki in confirmation, and she nods. “Have you eaten yet? Yes? That’s good, I think we pretty much demolished everything here, we were just about to get on to the Kris Kringle game. Perfect timing for you to show up, Santa Claus. What have you got in your sack of goodies?”

“My. Name. Is. Aoi.” Aoi says through gritted teeth. “Yes, we did bring gifts, but stop calling me Santa!” He holds up two wrapped boxes, a cylinder and a flat rectangle, and places them on the table sharply.

“Is that another thing you stole from my brain?” Junpei retorts.

“I mean,” Akane begins, “it is a Christmas party, is it not? So gifts were an obvious thing to bring.” Junpei’s glare doesn’t abate, and Akane sighs and adds, “Okay yes, I read that on the invitation too. Happy now?”

Before another argument could get under way, Clover picks up the dice Ennea brought over earlier, and says, “Okay forget about all that. Let’s play! I’m the youngest so I should start!”

Relieved by the distraction, Hazuki raises her eyebrow and says “Sure. Provided you don’t insist on age order for the rest of it, and settle for a simple clockwise direction.”

Clover says “Deal” at the same moment that Junpei mutters “You just don’t want it to be obvious that you’re like the oldest one here or close to.”

“Oi! Just because you’re grumpy is no excuse to turn on me young man!”

Before Hazuki could continue yelling at Junpei’s blatant disrespect (how dare he!), Clover throws the dice down onto the table, perhaps harder than necessary, where they clatter for a few seconds before turning up as a one and a three.

“Aww,” Clover whines, as she pushes the dice to her left to Nona. Nona rolls the dice less forcefully than Clover, and ends up with a three and a five. She just smiles, and passes the dice to Light, making sure they drop into his hands. He rolls, and Nona cranes over to see what he got.

“First double,” she announces. “Two ones.”

“Wait, seriously?” Clover asks, and gets out of her seat to see for herself.

“She’s right,” Seven, to Light’s left and at the head of the table, says. “Snake eyes, huh? What are the chances of that?”

Light smirks. “Clearly I chose the right name for myself six weeks ago.” He reaches out and grabs the closest gift in the pile, as Seven grabs the dice and rolls.

The game continues. Doubles on the dice are rewarded with choosing a present from the centre, until they’re all gone, and then the players are free to steal the gifts from each other. Hazuki doesn’t miss how Junpei keeps on snatching the gifts brought by the Kurashiki siblings, despite the intermittent glares he keeps on sending them.

Soon enough, the timer on Ennea’s phone goes off and the game ends. Everyone stops to take in each other’s hoards. Clover has a pleased grin on her face as she notices that she has the largest hoard, with three gifts. Light and Ennea managed to snag two each, while Aoi and Junpei each have a single gift. Hazuki, Seven, Nona, and Akane all have no gifts. Ennea immediately hands one of her gifts to Nona, seated across from her, while Light offers one of his gifts to Hazuki, seated across from him. After a beat, Clover notices everyone looking pointedly at her, sighs long-sufferingly, and gives a gift each to Seven and Aoi.

The group then opens the gifts. Hazuki unwraps the small package from Clover, and finds a deck of playing cards. Hazuki turns to Clover to thank her, but is greeted by the sight of Clover staring suspiciously at a packet of chips, and then putting one in her mouth. Almost immediately, she yells at Junpei about the chilli flavour while simultaneously offering them to everyone around her. Aoi absent-mindedly takes a chip and eats it without flinching while fiddling with the three-dimensional puzzle he received from Light, trying to pull it apart. Next to Aoi, at the end of the table, is Akane with the mini succulent that Ennea bought.

Just then, a loud shout sounds out. Nona is holding what appears to be a Pringles can, but instead of Pringles inside, is a giant stuffed snake. Nona glares at Aoi, while he just grins and offers her a thumbs up, leaning back on his chair and thoroughly enjoying himself. She stuffs the snake back inside the Pringles can, closes the lid, and throws it at Aoi. It hits him in the face, dislodging the lid, so the snake leaps out again. Aoi falls off his chair, and glares at Nona, and then at his sister when she also starts laughing.

Hazuki tears her eyes away from the sight, and looks back at Light. He received the bottle of wine she had bought, and is sniffing it to identify it. He seems to sense that she is watching him, as he turns to face her and thank her for the gift.

“A joke book!” Ennea exclaims from Hazuki’s left. “And they’re not even good jokes. They’re terrible puns and dad jokes. Almost worse than the Christmas crackers earlier! Seven, why do you wish for me to suffer in this manner?”

Seven just laughs and holds up the notebook and coloured gel pens he received from Nona. “Your sister has just granted me the means to create even more jokes, and worse ones. Just you wait for next year!”

Ennea groans, dropping her face into her arms. “Just kill me now. End my suffering, please,” she jokes.

Hazuki laughs and looks beyond Ennea to Junpei to see what he received. He’s holding yet another book, looking between it and Akane and back again.

“What’s wrong with it, Junpei?” Hazuki asks.

“It’s a Sudoku book!” Junpei exclaims. “It’s like she’s taunting me about last month!”

Clover starts laughing. “Oh man. That would’ve been terrible for any of us to receive since we’ve all been in that incinerator – but especially you!”

Junpei glares again. “Akane! Did you do this on purpose?”

“Do what?” Akane asks serenely. “I did indeed exchange money to obtain that book… but I didn’t purposely give it to you. You kept on grabbing it yourself!”

Aoi smirks. “She was pretty sure you’d go for the one from her though.”

“Hey! Don’t expose me like that!” Akane turns in her seat and playfully hits her brother, before turning back to Junpei. “I’m sorry, this wasn’t meant to cause distress. You at least don’t have a time limit for any of these.”

Junpei scowls. “I guess.”

“Junpei – you’ve been trying so hard to find Akane,” Hazuki begins. “Now that she’s here, why are you being so hostile towards her?”

“I- I don’t… she’s just confusing! Why a Sudoku book? Why does she get to disappear and then come back without warning? Why is she allowed to spy on me? I don’t understand!”

Aoi leans over to Akane, and quietly says, “I think we’ve overstayed our welcome. We should go before we make things worse.”

Akane nods and stands. “Hazuki, thank you so much for opening your home to us. It was lovely seeing you all again one last time but it’s time for us to go.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Aoi adds. “Merry Christmas, happy holidays, all that jazz.”

“Wait.” Junpei gets out of his chair. “What do you mean by ‘one last time’? Are you leaving again? Why’d you come back if you’re only going to leave again? Why are you leaving me?”

Akane just looks heartbroken as Junpei keeps on talking. Junpei’s arm reaches up, reaches for her, but stops before touching her. Akane doesn’t look at Junpei, mumbles another apology, and turns around and back towards Hazuki’s front door. Aoi offers Junpei a final, “Sorry, man, we both wish we didn’t have to do this,” before following his sister out the door. Junpei’s arm continues hanging in the air where Akane used to be, before it drops to his side. Junpei bows his head, and Hazuki can see his body shaking, while everyone else stays sitting at the table in stunned silence.

Clover is the first to break the silence. “They’re… gone. Just like that. They’re gone.”

Seven gets up, walks past Hazuki to Junpei and grips his shoulder. “Hey man. How are you holding up?”

Silent sobs continue wracking Junpei’s body as he struggles to draw breath, let alone respond. Seven draws him into a hug, enveloping him and shielding him from the stares of the others.

“I think we’ll head home now,” Seven says, not releasing his hold upon Junpei. He meets Hazuki’s eyes over the top of Junpei’s head. “Thank you so much for your hospitality. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Thanks everyone for an enjoyable evening. Come on, Junpei.”

One arm still around Junpei, and they too leave.

“Poor Junpei,” Ennea whispers.

“How did Akane change so much?” Nona wonders. “She’s nothing like what she was nine years ago.”

“The incinerator,” Light says. “None of us can know exactly what she went through in there.”

“But… she survived, didn’t she?” Clover asks. “She’s here now, we did the Nonary Game last month to save her life. So she shut it off. So it’s just like what happened when Junpei shut it off for us last month, or when Reed solved it for Ennea’s group nine years ago, right?”

“There are infinitely many timelines where she died,” Light says. “There’s only one where she survived.”

“But that’s this timeline! She survived here!”

“I still remember her dying. I remember her screams and I remember Aoi collapsing on the floor when the door opened and all he saw was ash. I also remember Akane surviving. I imagine if I can remember Akane dying, so can she. She probably fully remembers burning to death until she no longer existed. That would change a person.”

“I remember her dying,” Ennea mumbles. “Nona remembers her surviving.”

“Y-yeah. I think I can understand how she would remember dying too,” Nona says.

Hazuki doesn’t know what to say. She didn’t even find out about the first Nonary Game until she had already been through her Nonary Game, and even during her game she didn’t have the pressure of either finding or sending information through a, a, a pseudoscience! These four had that extra pressure, as well as being actual children at the time.

The silence stretches for a moment longer, and then Light says, perhaps a little too brightly, “This was a wonderful evening, Hazuki. However, I think we need to head home now as well. It’s late.”

Clover startles out of her thoughts and agrees. “You’re a wonderful cook, Lotus! If that’s what Nona and Ennea had growing up, they’re so lucky.”

Hazuki smiles. “Thank you. Happy holidays, and get home safe.”

“We will! I’m driving!” Clover grins. “Bye Ennea! Bye Nona!”

“Bye! See you soon!” Nona and Ennea chorused.

Once the door closes behind the Field siblings, Hazuki begins chewing her lip, worried.

“Did I somehow make it worse for Junpei, doing this?” she asks her daughters.

“No, Mum,” Nona says. “I think it was good for him to actually interact with people again.”

“Besides, you couldn’t know that Akane would show up, nor that that would affect him like that,” Ennea adds.

“I suppose,” Hazuki concedes. She still isn’t entirely convinced, but it isn’t just Junpei she worries about. Everyone who has been through a Nonary Game will carry those scars for life. They just have to take this one day at a time.

She wraps her daughters up in a hug, reminding herself that they’re still here, still alive. One day, this will all get easier. They just have to get there.

#zero escape #9 hours 9 persons 9 doors #miiversian #bookworm-2692 #zecret santa 2020 #submission

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stillness-in-green · 4 years

Text

MLAWeek Coda: The Lore Post

Sorry this is a few days late! To the surprise of absolutely no one who has read some of my longer meta posts, I just don’t know how to shut the F up. (Spoilers: this post is only a few hundred words away from being as long as everything else I wrote for the week put together.)

Anyway, hit the jump for, in order:

A quick breakdown of the Liberation Army’s general structure.

A list of members, broken down by broad generation, including the ones we have gotten explicitly IDed in canon, the ones I based on figures we see in canon, and the ones I completely made up.

The basic tenets of the MLA and some discussion about their views on quirk supremacy. (feat. fandom salt)

An overview of the way the Advent shook up the political landscape in Japan and the Hearts & Minds Party’s place in that landscape. Pretty much the same material Trumpet’s victory speech from Day 4 covers, but modestly more in-depth, removed from the need to play well to a crowd, and with some added explanation about the structure of the Diet for readers who are less familiar with it than Trumpet’s audience would be.

A timeline (with only moderately arbitrary dates!) covering the birth of the glowing baby up to the first year of the manga. Mostly concerned with detailing the events the MLA would care about, but with a few other points of reference to contextualize things for the rest of us.

Bonus Fun Facts: discussion of the considerations that went into the timeline, a look at All For One’s actions re: the MLA, and some miscellaneous blurbs on terminology, worldbuilding and characterization.

A smattering of asides in the form of footnotes.

Note that while this material is based in and accurate to canon as much as I could remember at the time that I was doing my notes on my fills for the week, there’s a lot in here that is based entirely on supposition, interpretation and, at times, just plain-old guessing.

Thanks to @codenamesazanka and @robotlesbianjavert for their assistance in naming, brainstorming, and just generally putting up with me while the Liberation Army was completely devouring my attention.

@red-the-omnic Somewhat belatedly, here’s that list of MLA members you asked for back during the middle of the week. Sorry to make you wait so long!

Enjoy!

———– ———– ———– ———–

ORGANIZATION

Grand Commander: Destro and Destro’s line of descendants.

The First Families: Those who fought at Destro’s side and escaped to continue the fight, and their descendants. Veritably all high-ranked within the MLA, their tie to the original incarnation of the Army marks them as elites, whether or not their quirks would do so otherwise. The elders of the First Families do a certain amount of collective decision-making when and if the Grand Commander is unable to do so and has left orders otherwise.

Sanctum: “Sanctum” is a special position in the Army. The name denotes the person who’s tasked with remembering the MLA’s history, practices and lore—the position is considered contiguous, so even when someone is new to the name, they’re still considered “the longest-serving member of the Liberation Army.”. When they’re getting on in years, they select an appropriate protégé, to whom the name will pass upon their death/capture. The name must always go to a member of the First Families (though in truth, they’re only on their third one, so it’s more of a pattern so far than a hard rule).

Commanders & Lieutenants: People in charge of major operations, liberated districts, etc. Frequently, though not always, members of the First Families. Have discretion over their own assignments, but may not have much influence in the Army’s operations on the whole, depending on who they’re connected to otherwise.

Advisors: This title denotes those who are specifically tapped to give advice and aid to the MLA leadership. Levels of authority vary depending on who they’re advising. Advisors of lieutenants, if any, are a step above the rank and file, advisors of commanders are about on par with lieutenants, and advisors to the Grand Commander are considered commanders in their own right, regardless of any other rank they may hold.

Rank and File: Pretty much everyone else.

———–

KNOWN MEMBERS [1]

The original MLA—

Destro: Yotsubashi Chikara. Established the Meta Liberation Army in his mid-30s in response to the development of what he felt were overly restrictive laws on the usage of meta-abilities. Having observed evidence that meta-abilities grew stronger generationally, he was particularly concerned that no oppressive laws could be enforced by the generation that established them because the next generation would always be more powerful. Thus, he believed that establishing the use of meta-abilities as a fundamental right was the only way for society to avoid indefinite intergenerational strife. He was particularly incensed by the government co-opting the message that got his mother murdered to put a pretty, self-congratulatory sheen on laws that did the exact opposite of what she wished for. Allegedly committed suicide after some months in prison. The MLA is highly suspicious of this claim—they’re correct to be, but not for the reasons they think. His quirk, which his entire line would inherit, turns a key emotion into enhanced strength and resilience in the form of a characteristic ink-blot marking. While it would develop over time, the basic nature of the quirk remained the same. Chikara’s driving emotion was resolve.

Fathom: Destro’s lover, she dedicated a decade of her life after his capture to building up the survivors he’d left behind. It’s said her son got his drive from Destro, but his anger from Fathom. Had a large hand in raising her son to be the sort of man he was, particularly in her decision to commit what many considered to be suicide-by-hero when he was in his teens. A large part of that choice was wrapped up in her never-fully-assuaged grief over Destro’s loss (and, she believed to the end, his murder), but there was also a cold calculation to it—her making a big show of it would lead the police to believe that her attack was the last gasp of the Liberation Army, ending their investigations into MLA activities. It would also stoke the fires of her son’s rage, honing him into a stronger weapon against their enemies. Her judgement in both cases proved broadly on-point, though her death did serve to make her son more cautious than she might have hoped. Meta-Ability: Antennae. A pair of insectile feelers emerging from her forehead that give her a passel of sensory boosts, particularly in the taste and smell categories, and which also make her able to detect shifts in the air from quite some distance.)

Cascade: A man whose meta-ability lets him turn body parts into loosely controllable masses of water. Can’t transform fully. A quick-thinking type able to make hard calls.

Sweeper: A woman with a radio-scanning quirk. Caught by police in the same fight as Destro.

Sanctum I: The first bearer of the codename. Had a protective ability of some sort.

Sanctum II’s father: The same quirk as his daughter; see below. Known for getting some eight people safely out of a police raid by carrying them all out at once despite not actually having superhuman strength of any kind. (Probably tore several muscles in the process, but adrenaline is a hell of a thing.)

The Second Generation—

Destro’s son: Raised to deeply resent heroes and the government that put them in place, but he was also very cautious of them. He was profoundly aware that his death would mean the end of the dream that his father had begun and his mother had cultivated, so he was very meticulous in spreading the MLA’s influence underground, rebuilding their numbers before he even began to consider starting to make attacks again. Destro’s army had been a guerilla force; his son’s would be something much more dangerous. His driving emotion was anger, and he had two children before being killed by a cerebral aneurysm at 43. Was able to use his power to make his body larger.

Sanctum II: A woman with an unusual fondness for the traditional Japanese arts, particularly tea ceremony. Meta-ability: Stride. Teleport to any location she can directly see by taking a single step forward. Can take whoever she can carry under her own power. (First Families lineage)

Anchor: An advisor to Destro’s son. Prominent bull horns. Meta-ability: Immobilize. Similar to Lock Rock’s Lockdown quirk, except it only works on his own body. Very good at wrestling holds (and holding his breath), he tends to fight with backup that can deliver finishing blows to opponents once he has them pinned down. (First Families lineage)

The Third Generation—

Yotsubashi Kyouyuki: The elder child of Destro’s son. Deemed an unsuitable Grand Commander for his driving emotion of joy. Always presented a façade of being cheerful and upbeat, but the ever-present rhetoric that the MLA pushes about the ongoing suppression of quirks and the misery and injustice it leads to left Kyou always struggling with guilt. In college, it finally got so bad that he resolved to run away, enlisting the help of a friend with a swap-based teleport quirk to get him out of a party undetected. His fate thereafter is a secret that’s been taken to the grave by the MLA members involved in it, but given the typical reactions of illegal underground cults to members wanting to leave, it’s unlikely that he’s living somewhere in happy anonymity. (Name means Unyielding Happiness, following in his grandfather and nephew's patterns of having characters in their names meaning power/strength.)

Yotsubashi Yukie: The younger child of Destro’s son, and Rikiya’s mother. With a driving emotion of sorrow, and having been steadily losing family her entire life, Yukie wrestled with depression for most of her life. The presumptive heir to the title of Re-Destro, she spent considerably more time in training than her older brother, but she never much had the temperament for it. When her father died only a few scant years after Kyouyuki’s disappearance, she expressed her fears that she was incapable of being the leader the Army needed. This led to her becoming a mother at a relatively young age, continuing the bloodline rather than picking up the banner. For all her struggles with her grief, Yukie was very determined to at least be there for the son on whom the weight of leadership would fall. The world of My Hero Academia is a dangerous one, however, particularly before All Might established himself as Japan’s pillar, and Yukie was a casualty of the chaos of a villain attack when Rikiya was ten. (Name means Glittering Conqueror, ditto the note above about the family pattern for name kanji.)

Rampart: Guardian and general caretaker for Rikiya in his younger years. Hand-picked for the role by Yukie, who had considered him a close friend since their school days. Meta-Ability: An earth manipulation power akin to Pixie-Bob’s, though less powerful. (First Families lineage)

Shinseigi: Trumpet’s uncle, unspecified code name. Also in politics, though of a more local variety. Meta-ability: His speaking voice makes listeners suggestible. (The phonetic pronunciation of his name sounds like “New Justice,” but the kanji are “Sleeping Voice Technique.”)

The Fourth Generation—

Yotsubashi Rikiya: The current Re-Destro (42); CEO and President of Detnerat. He took up the former title when he was only 6 years old. With the succession of losses that were his uncle, grandfather and mother, the MLA has been fairly careful with him, grooming him with care and rarely leaving him without some form of supervision, be it Rampart when he was young or Trumpet in college. An extremely dutiful child grown into an urbane man whose good humor disguises a morose—and occasionally volatile—inner character. Always under a lot of stress (his MRIs are clear so far, though, haha!), but there’s only so much effort dedicated to mitigating that, since stress is his key emotion. The first in the family line to be able to separate his power from his own body, in the form of his Stress Bomb attack.

Trumpet: Hanabata Koku (44). One of Rikiya’s advisors and party leader of the Hearts & Minds Party (see below); has known Rikiya since their preteen years. The Hanabatas were a political family of old, but largely saw those fortunes crash and burn when they started manifesting quirks a few generations into the Advent. They’ve been clawing their way back into politics ever since and were an early target for the MLA’s project to infiltrate and/or start their own political party. It was decided very early on that Koku’s quirk and his family connections made him a good choice to groom for leadership of the HMP, so he and Rikiya bonded over their similar positions. They would go on to attend the same university, during which time they became romantically involved. In truth, Koku’s university was functionally chosen for him on the basis of which one Rikiya would be attending; the First Families were not about to lose another Yotsubashi to college life. Koku is more aware of this particular fact than Rikiya. Still a little wistful about their college days, his opinions regarding Re-Destro’s big starstruck crush on Shigaraki are borderline unprintable.

Sanctum III: Twice’s No. 1 advisor, the dude with the big imperial handlebar moustache and what looks an awful lot like a dress uniform for the Japanese navy. A few years older than Trumpet. (First Families lineage)

Curious: Kizuki Chitose (36). RD advisor and Shoowaysha Publishing Executive Vice President.[2] From a relatively small liberated district up near Sendai; the MLA connections plus her own profound ambition got her moving very quickly up the MLA chain of command. Daughter of a wlw couple; got her blue skin from her bio mom. One younger sibling, a sister. Masterminded the dinners we see the group having in Chapter 218, originally to make sure Rikiya was getting at least one well-apportioned meal a week and a chance to socialize with the closest thing he has to peers, but also because it proved to be an invaluable opportunity to swap information and rumors.

Skeptic: Chikazoku Tomoyasu (31). RD advisor and Feel Good Inc. board member. On the bottom end of the generation age-wise, a prodigy in every sense save his broadly terrible people skills. Recognizes Rikiya’s stress tells because he shares several of them himself, and is also the only person of Rikiya’s generation with the confidence to verbally push him around a bit. It’s regarded as borderline scandalous by their elders, but Rikiya himself finds it bracing, and anyway, Skeptic’s ability to organize a schedule for maximum efficiency is nothing less than miraculous. Got Rikiya onto fidget toys.

Toryu: Toryu is the family name of Galvanize (aka Taser Face aka Kaminari’s Dad). Mr. Compress’s No. 1, the dude who strolls out onto the lawn after Cementoss rips the hotel a new one and immediately gets his smarm repackaged and returned to sender by Kaminari and Edgeshot. Great for morale before that, though! In Rikiya’s age group, his mother’s side of the family (from which he gets the electricity powers) has been in the Army for at least as far back as her school days. (The name comes from the characters for leaping/rising and current/flow.)

Slidin’ Go: Tokoname Tatsuyuki (37). He’s Slidin’ Go! Skeptic’s No. 2, possibly because Slidin’ Go strongly resembles the puppets Skeptic is so used to barking orders at and there’s comfort in familiarity.

Aozono: Family name for another of Rikiya’s childhood peers, nothing is known but that green skin runs in the family as far back as her father. May or may not be related to Curious’s family.

The Fifth Generation—

Geten: Real name unknown. Family status unknown. Age unknown, but I’d peg him in the 18-23 area. Seems to be allowed to attend the weekly dinners without contributing anything but his incredibly terrible table manners. Can talk an impassioned game about the Liberation Army’s goals (though he pushes the quirk supremacy line a good deal harder than anyone else in the Army is shown to; it’s not even close), but it’s fairly clear that he’s more personally dedicated to Re-Destro than he is the MLA’s cause in and of itself. I’ll be honest; I have no idea what Geten’s deal is. My tentative headcanon is that he’s an orphan—the English meaning of his name, Apocrypha, refers to sacred writings of uncertain authorship/authenticity—who’s in some kind of Batman-and-Robin guardian-and-ward situation with Re-Destro, but I didn’t wind up writing enough about him to come up with much beyond that.

Nimble: Spinner’s No. 1, the woman with the weird paper-strip-esque hair who doesn’t seem to be in possession of a nose or mouth. (She absorbs air through her skin like a frog, which is why no one has ever seen her with that sweater covering both of her shoulders.) Nimble is a friendly sort, though she regards her outgoing good cheer as being a simple matter of social networking. Ambitious, but sensible about it. Meta-ability: Sky Write. Allows her to project letters and pictures into the air around her, giving her a way to communicate she would have otherwise lacked. She can create words in air she can’t see, but it takes some concentration, and the closer the better.

Scarecrow: Spinner’s No. 2, 21 years old. Born with amelia (see link in Day Two’s author’s notes) that disfigured his face and severed his arms in the womb. His quirk-based forelegs—a pair of spider legs emerging from his shoulders—can do a certain amount of basic object manipulation, but it tends to wig people out, so they push him to use his prosthetics like he’s “supposed” to (see Stray Notes section for more on this). He was viciously angry about it even as a kid, and his parents were frustrated, making them easy pickings for cult indoctrination. A family friend recommended that they look into Detnerat, where it wasn’t long before Re-Destro himself took an interest in their situation (or at least in making a good impression on them). Scarecrow joined the Army as quickly as he was allowed to—16. Meta-ability: Webbing. The bug legs can project silk like a webspinner (the insect on which he’s based), allowing him to do anything you might broadly understand Spider-Man to be able to do with his webbing, though he certainly lacks Spider-Man’s strength.

Red: Named in passing in the manga, he’s the laid-back dude with the fluffy hair who serves as Skeptic’s No. 1 post-merger. Probably invaluable in helping Skeptic maintain what bare vestiges of chill he can muster. (First Families lineage)

The Sixth Generation—

Every child currently under the age of 10 being raised in MLA households with a picture of Destro over the mantle. It’s not a small number, representing a group that neither the fandom nor the Hero Commission seem to have even realized exist.

———–

CORE TENETS & THE MATTER OF QUIRK SUPREMACY

Re-Destro is not (contrary to popular fandom belief) in favor of full-throated, might-makes-right, survival of the fittest Quirk Darwinism.[3] Destro’s will was for people to be able to use their meta-abilities as they saw fit to the extent that that freedom did not interfere with the freedoms of others. He was against the regulation of meta-abilities, but he was not—to the best of our knowledge—against the regulation of crime. His belief was that one murderer with a fire ability killing people did not justify barring everyone else with fire abilities from using those powers to fire clay, start campfires, engage in fire-themed performance art, use fire to char wood in artistic patterns for money, help park rangers set and direct controlled burns, coordinate explosions for the movie industry, light cigarettes in public, or any other of dozens of possible uses for a fire ability that don’t involve burning people alive.

The MLA do believe that meta-abilities have an impact on one’s personality, but they also believe that that’s okay; that it should be understood and accepted, not feared and repressed—Curious would not have wanted to turn Toga into a tragedy about the consequences of repression if she didn’t think that a spree of bloodletting murders was a tragedy. Their belief as an organization is that people should be free to use their powers as they see fit in the same way that they would any other natural talent or cultivated skill. They believe that people will, if free to do so, naturally gravitate to ways of improving their own lot in life via use of their meta-abilities.

Freedom from regulation and freedom from discrimination—these are the core tenets that the vast majority of the rank and file hold to. A great many of them are laborers, blue collar types who just want to be able to better support themselves and their families. Many others are those who suffered discrimination because of their quirks and want better for both themselves and their children. Of course, the further back their connections go, the more likely they are to both be higher-ranked in the cult (with attendant greater resources) and to have grown up soaking in generations’ worth of resentment, groupthink, and radicalism.

Geten, a particularly virulent and single-minded MLA attack dog, has parsed the tenets to mean that people with strong, well-trained meta-abilities will naturally be able to use their powers to do more and raise their status in the MLA’s ideal society, and thus that those who can’t or don’t choose to will not be able to live lives that Geten personally thinks are worth living. Likewise, Trumpet doesn’t fault Spinner only for his weak ability, but also for his anti-social tendencies. Of course a politician who’s deeply invested in a narrative of people uniting to throw off their chains and better themselves would be disdainful of someone who locked himself in his bedroom for years and emerged only to violently lash out at society. (Spinner’s right to call Trumpet a huge hypocrite on this, mind; terrorist cult members have no business lecturing other terrorists about the correct way to violently reform society.)

The MLA does have a problem with quirk supremacy, but it’s not quite the problem fandom thinks they do, and it’s certainly more nuanced than fandom thinks.[4] Frankly, I could write a whole post dissecting this, but rather than analyzing the canon at length in a post intending to be about my fanon for a series of slice-of-life MLA fics, let me just lay out some issues I think the MLA have. Note that these opinions may vary member to member, particularly as you work your way up the chain of command.

Many in the MLA believe that people with poor quirks are less capable of asserting their will and becoming whatever they want to be. They are not, notably, alone in that that sentiment—we hear versions of it not only from villains like Trumpet and All for One, but from the paralleled parents of Midoriya Inko and Shimura Kotarou, the would-be hero Bakugou, and even the iconic hero paragon All Might. While it’s not universal, My Hero Academia’s Japan is full of people who believe to some extent or another that people with weak or no quirks are inherently less capable of making their mark on the world. The MLA is just more blatant about it than most.

The MLA are, as a group, not concerned about the fate of the quirkless. My suspicion is that this is because they think quirklessness as a trait is on its way out—that the touted 20% of the world population that’s quirkless is hugely weighted towards the elderly, those who are from generations when quirklessness was more common. Think about it: 20% is two out of every ten people. Statistically speaking, that’s a huge portion! You only have to look at Deku’s middle school classroom in Chapter 1—thirty kids, exactly one of whom is quirkless—to begin to suspect that there’s something a bit off with the 20% figure.

Further, the MLA follows Destro’s beliefs, and we know from Destro’s manifesto that he believed meta-abilities were growing stronger over time. So to their mind, not only is quirklessness becoming a thing of the past, but so are weak quirks in general. While their clear disdain for both is damning—and certainly discredits them as a group suited to decide how society should be structured!—please understand that, “We’re not very concerned with the rights of the quirkless because we think that there won’t be any such thing as quirkless people within a few more generations,” is not the same statement as, “We are A-OK with 20% of the world’s population being second-class citizens for the entire rest of human history,” and it is really not the same statement as, “People with no quirks, or bodies that can’t handle their quirks, need to be proactively removed from the gene pool and we are actively advocating for a systemic, organized culling.”

That said, their disdain, if blown out to society at large, would absolutely lead to discrimination and, undoubtedly, incidents of the same sort of violence that the MLA themselves were forged from. That they haven’t thought or don’t care about this is one of many things that make them villains.

Further, there is an ugly strain within the MLA that still recognizes quirk marriages. Because the MLA values freedom, they’re not as ubiquitous as you might think (at least if you think the MLA is a bunch of quirk supremacists with no other goals or values)—“freedom” does nominally include the freedom to marry who you want rather than let your own meta-ability trap you in a life you hate. However, it’s equally true that in a group that believes very strongly in the value of quirks, the power of quirks in the future, and the necessity of fighting a war to bring about that future, there will obviously be members who support the practice. There are absolutely men and women who have been bullied and guilted by their families into loveless marriages for the sole purpose of producing children with powerful, desirable quirks. How likely this is in any given location mostly depends on the commander’s opinion on it, though it’s a very rare one indeed who would go so far as discouraging it entirely.

———–

THE HEARTS & MINDS PARTY

(Considerations on Japan’s political landscape.)

The current monolith of the Diet, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, managed to hold onto power for a full century after the Advent, but their grasp grew shakier and shakier over time. Initial measures to bar meta-humans from voting proved increasingly unpopular as the percentage of the population with meta-abilities grew both larger and older. People with easily-concealed powers gained office, sometimes being outed, sometimes not, but on the whole, decades of oppression and violence led to an ever-more-popular opinion that the LDP had mishandled the whole mess. They lost their supermajority in the Diet when their longstanding alliance with the Komeito party splintered, regained it again for a few electoral cycles, lost it again when Komeito itself fractured, and so on, their once implacable numbers shrinking year by year. Still, they managed to hold onto a coalition majority right up until Saneki Yuuichi was elected to the House of Representatives.

Saneki headed up a small party based almost entirely on the issue of meta-human basic rights. Like many meta-humans of the period, he believed that the best way for meta-humans to attain those rights was to live like so-called “normal humans,” to show that meta-humans were just like everyone else. His party advanced the ideology that meta-humans should only use their powers to help others or better society, not to advance their own self-interest. They pushed stringently for metas to be allowed equal recognition under the law as any Japanese citizen, but also supported measures such as requiring licenses for the use of meta-abilities and limiting those licenses to those actively engaged in assisting police. Deeply tied to respectability politics, Saneki’s party contained virtually all emitters, a scant number of transformers, and no heteromorphs, who the party felt were an impediment to reaching their legislative goals, but whose particular needs could be brought back up at a later, more receptive time.

Saneki’s politics gained him many supporters, but also drove many into the arms of the Meta Liberation Army, who vocally loathed him and everything he stood for. The confluence of public dissatisfaction with the spike in violence represented by the MLA, Saneki’s coalition gathering popular support among both metas and non-metas, and the rise of named, organized hate groups trying to roll back what few advances had been gained in meta-human rights finally spelled the end of the LDP’s majority.

The LDP falling apart prompted a scramble for power that would stretch on for nearly half a century. Old alliances whose only common ground had been opposing the LDP found themselves free to seek groups with more compatible goals. Young single- or dual-issue parties leapt at the chance to address their issues with more fervor. New parties sprung up across the country. Not only meta-humans, but minority groups of all kinds saw new avenues to press for substantive positive changes that had been dead in the water under the LDP. Voting numbers surged as they had not for decades.

The old, conservative elements of the Diet were not gone, of course—they remained a substantial powerhouse!—but no longer could they muster the undefeatable veto-proof numbers that they had once enjoyed.

Like everyone else, the remnants of the MLA saw opportunity in the new, ever-shifting status quo. With the place of metas secured for the time being, there was no longer a need for metas to form coalitions in the Diet merely to get their basic needs addressed. A single-issue party from its inception thirty years prior, Saneki Yuuichi’s party was fragmenting, unable to decide on a single direction now that their uniting issue had been resolved to their satisfaction. In recognition of meta-humans reaching population parity, the MLA launched a project to begin seeding the ideals of Liberation at the highest levels yet—the Hearts & Minds Party.

Beginning as a local party in a prefecture in which the MLA had gained significant underground support, the HMP campaigned on a platform championing individual freedoms and a wide range of improvements to Japan’s battered and overworked social safety nets. They made an effort to showcase diverse representation in their leadership and gave impassioned speeches promising to reach across party aisles in searching for nuanced solutions to the various difficulties facing the country.

It’s impossible to say exactly how large the Hearts & Minds Party is compared to the Meta Liberation Army, which is claimed by Re-Destro to have 116,000 action-ready warriors (the “warriors lying in wait, ready to rise to action” description presumably indicating that his count does not include uninducted children).

On the one hand, one can presume that everyone who’s a member of the MLA is voting for the HMP on every ticket they can, but not every member of the MLA—who induct combat-ready warriors as young as 16—is old enough to vote, and many probably live in districts or prefectures where the HMP has yet to establish a campaign-ready foothold. On the other hand, while the HMP certainly serves to funnel people towards the MLA, it doesn’t require membership—indeed, it’s far better for their goals for them not to do so. Therefore, it’s also probable that the Hearts & Minds Party has many supporters who are not (yet) counted among the Liberation Army’s number. Thus, for the purposes of ballparking estimates, I opted to simply suppose that the two areas lacking overlap (MLA members who can’t vote for the HMP and HMP supporters who aren’t members of the MLA) are relatively equal.

That established, we’re working with a party that has 116K voters/supporters/members. The closest thing to that number that I could find numbers for is the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), which counted 300K members as of 2017. Using their total membership compared to their representation in the Diet (as well as a willingness to viciously bastardize anything resembling reliable political math), I plugged in my estimate for the HMP’s membership and wound up with the Hearts & Minds Party holding four seats in the House of Representatives, five seats in the House of Councillors, and sixty-odd assembly members in various prefectural positions.

For some context to those numbers, the House of Representatives (more powerful, but more vulnerable to sudden electoral shifts) has 465 members, 233 of which are required for a majority, and 310 of which are required to override vetoes imposed by the House of Counsillors. The House of Counsillors (less powerful, but serving longer terms and unable to be dissolved for general elections like the House of Representatives can be) has 245 members, with 123 required for a majority.

As you can see, the HMP holding a handful of seats isn’t going to tilt the My Hero Academia world on its axis. Still, it’s more seats than any number of real-life Japanese political parties hold, and right up until the one-two punch of Shigaraki taking over the MLA and Hawks outing Trumpet’s allegiances to the Hero Commission, the Hearts & Minds Party was well on-track to continue growing its power and influence.

———–

TIMELINE

(For ease of calculation, most dates are rounded to the nearest five years.)

1980: A glowing baby is born in Qing Qing City, China, heralding the Advent of the Age of the Extraordinary. For almost two decades, meta-abilities remain rare and poorly understood—incidents are widespread and show huge variance, so most people write them off as anomalies or hoaxes. As the years go on, however, meta-abilities become more widespread, moving out of the realm of the odd headline that many people think is an elaborate hoax into an alarmed spotlight as it gradually becomes apparent that this is a thing that all humanity is undergoing. Most major technological development pivots to trying to understand, undo, document or control this new phenomenon.

2030: The child who will become All for One is born. By this time, society is breaking down into chaos. Across the globe, measures from outlawing all meta-ability use to internment are seen. Eugenics laws are discussed or put in place. Communities attempt to run out metas and, in response, groups of metas attempt to form their own communities. Infanticide rates are rising alarmingly.

2060: Yotsubashi Chikara and Ujiko (original name unknown) are born. Japan is in complete disarray, awash in mob violence, with organized groups of both metas and non-metas attacking victims indiscriminately. Developing an ability can get you disowned. Divisions among the meta minority are developing a noticeable strain of respectability politics rhetoric.

2065: AFO forces an ability on his younger brother, unintentionally creating One for All. Chikara’s mother is murdered by an anti-meta mob for attempting to speak out in defense of the normalcy of her child’s ability.

2085-2090: Saneki Yuuichi becomes the first meta-human to attain a seat in the Diet. Despite nearly a century of violence, meta-humans are becoming a larger and larger percentage of the population, and the people of Japan are tired. The prevailing sense is that it’s time to make peace; however, the peace that is being forged involves laws sharply restricting the use of meta-abilities for those who haven’t been formally licensed. These restrictions see markedly mixed reactions from metas. Chikara rallies the most vehement dissenters to create the Meta Liberation Army, calling himself Destro. Disagreement over how to handle the MLA finally finishing the job of rattling the Diet free of the death-grip of the LDP. Many years of fractious elections will follow as new coalitions form to try and seize majority power.

2095: Japan signs an international accord acknowledging the fundamental rights of meta-humans. This gesture begins to splinter both internal support and public sympathy for the MLA.

2097: Destro is captured by police and their newly designated Quirk Unit. Other surviving members of the MLA are hunted down or go into hiding.

2100: The term “Hero” is formally adopted, having been casually in use for some time. A Hero is one who is licensed to use their power to fight quirk-based crime in accordance with local and federal laws, assisting the police when requested. The Hero Commission is established as an agency with oversight in the licensing and regulation of Heros. Destro dies in prison. Though the matter is questioned, no proof of foul play is ever brought forward, and the death is ruled a suicide.

2110: Ujiko presents his paper on the Paranormal [5] Singularity Theory. The paper suggests that the power of quirks is continuing to grow with each generation and will, in time, become more powerful than the human body can control. His evidence is inconclusive, however, and his citation of some of Destro’s observations on the phenomenon becomes a particular sticking point. In a country that is finally beginning to get its feet back under it, no one wants to see another widespread panic. Ujiko is stripped of his position; having been living on campus at the time, he’s left functionally homeless and is approached by All for One not long after.

2120: The population of those with quirks and those without reaches parity in Japan. Seeing an opportunity, the MLA launches the Hearts & Minds Party as a local political party, intending to grow it over time.

(2125: Yagi Toshinori is born.)

2138: Yotsubashi Rikiya is born.

(2148: Debut of All Might.)

(2165: Shimura family tragedy.)

(2174: All Might “defeats” AFO.)

2175: Hanabata Koku is elected to the House of Representatives. He’s not the youngest party leader in the Diet, but he’s close.

2180: The events of Deku’s freshman year at UA lead the MLA to turn their attention to the League of Villains.

———–

STRAY FACTS

Why 1980/2180?—

It’s an even number for ease of calculation, triangulated between a few considerations.

Firstly, tasers are mentioned in the One for All dream, so the events of the dream (which themselves are happening far enough into the Advent that society’s had time to slide into all-out chaos) must post-date the invention of the taser, which was in 1993.

Secondly, Spider-Man’s silhouette is seen amongst the group of characters who represent the “fantasy” that became reality. If we assume that those media properties existed in-universe (since the narration is delivered by Midoriya) and were assumed to be fantastical at the time, they must predate the Advent—Spider-Man is the newest of them and his first appearance was in 1962, his material being translated into Japanese by the 1970s.

Lastly, technological and societal development crashed to a halt with the Advent. The world of My Hero Academia generally reflects a modern-ish Japan, so I wanted modern technology—and modern social reforms—to still feel modern to the characters. Thus, the point at which society stopped developing needed to predate the Digital Revolution, which really began to hit its stride in the mid-80s. Hence, 1980.

The opening period is, admittedly, fairly generous on my part, and does assume a certain amount of modern advances were probably underway, but then were lost, sidelined or rolled back as the chaos spread. You could probably trim off twenty years by stepping up how quickly quirks begin to appear and spread, but the very beginning is the best window to do so. I’d still peg the Advent at 1980 based on the calculations above (again, it has to fall somewhere between the mid-70s and 1993) but, for example, maybe All for One is from that first generation, and society only takes 30 years to reach the lowest point of its collapse instead of 80.

As to the 2180, the older characters introduce several requirements for the post-Advent timeline. Ujiko was 50 at the time that society was beginning to stabilize, while AFO dates to its days of utmost chaos. AFO also needs to be running on at least one anti-aging quirk prior to meeting Ujiko; if the only one he were running on was Ujiko’s own, then based on his appearance and the mechanics of Ujiko’s quirk, I’d peg AFO at merely 85, and he needs to be not only over 100, but far enough over 100 that he’s described that way rather than as “a century-old evil” or something to that effect.

Meanwhile, All Might can’t really be any younger than 50, and seven generations of OFA bearer predated him, even if they did all die relatively young. Destro’s mother was killed in those early chaotic days, while Re-Destro (himself no spring chicken) is told as a child that the MLA has been in hiding for generations. “Generations” implies at least two; I further suppose that Rikiya needs to be at least the original Chikara’s great-grandson for him to describe himself simply as Destro’s descendant, rather than use a more specific relationship term. All of this points to a fairly lengthy stretch of time, much more than is glossed over by Midoriya’s series-opening narration.

AFO and the MLA—

I mention in the very first story of this series that the MLA’s contacts all go “mysteriously missing” after the capture of Destro. While the police certainly did their own measure of work in tracking down the Liberation Army’s members and allies, there was another figure with a significant hand in the MLA’s downfall.

All for One, then in his early sixties, had watched the rise of the MLA in some interest. On a personal level, he admired Yotsubashi’s charisma and resolve, and, of course, he wholly supported the free use of quirks (well, his own free use of quirks, anyway)! On the other hand, All for One also sought to restore order to society, albeit order as he himself envisioned it. While he was confident that there was no one who could stand up to him no matter whose ideals won out, Saneki Yuuichi’s way promised a more stable society, and bribable and/or blackmailable bureaucrats seemed easier to manipulate than ideal-driven zealots ready to give their lives for the cause. Thus, AFO decided to help the police a bit behind the scenes, offering a few tip-offs and hints to guide their efforts to end the threat of the Liberation Army.

Of course, as long as Destro was alive, the cause of Liberation still had its focal point. And AFO was still a bit curious to meet this man, who’d inspired so very many loyal followers. It was an easy thing to arrange. An interesting man, and an interesting quirk.

Destro did commit suicide in prison. A man who had always embraced his meta-ability for motivation, and whose ability transformed that motivation into power in turn, AFO stripped him of in the same moment. Isolation from other contact, separation from his lover, his friends and allies, and his cause, a gap in his psyche like no pain he’d ever experienced--all of these piled up on one another into a fatal despair. After AFO’s visit, there was no need for anyone to arrange a convenient death for Destro.

(And if in later years, the monstrous Noumu, who are driven entirely by pre-programmed, single-minded resolve, are flint-skinned from head-to-toe, well—who would ever even think to connect those dots?)

The Mother of Quirks—

An interesting thing I observed from Re-Destro’s confrontation with Clone!Shigaraki is that, based on their exchange, it doesn’t seem to be common knowledge that the Mother of Quirks is the mother of the Meta Liberation Army’s leader? Re-Destro’s apology for assuming Shigaraki wouldn’t recognize the story suggests that it’s a matter of fairly basic historical education, but he then goes on to explain her connection to Destro at some length—if that connection were taught at the same time her story was, surely he’d see no need to do this? Clone-a-raki’s response backs this up—unlike the general existence of the Mother of Quirks, which was such basic knowledge that he was insulted that Re-Destro thought he wouldn’t know about it, her connection to Destro was unknown to him.

Re-Destro describes the connection as “an inconvenient truth.” This, in turn, suggests that the connection has been actively obscured. The MLA’s place in history is taught; the originator of the term “quirk” is taught, but the two are not connected to each other. Kids in school aren’t taught that the very child whose mother was murdered for her words hated what his country was using those words, that message, to do. It’s naked appropriation that continues to this day, and it’s no wonder that the MLA is furious about it.

The Quirk Unit—

An early term for the group that would, in relatively short order after their formation, officially be dubbed Heroes. Composed of both meta-humans already on the police force and vigilantes willing to remit themselves to legal oversight, they fought quirk-based crime in many forms, from the common mugger to the terrorists of the MLA, and even former allies in vigilantism. Well-regarded by history thanks to their efforts in reining in crime and disorder, but quite a controversial group in their early years.

MLA Age of Induction—

Being raised in the MLA means being raised with the goal of eventually being assigned a codename and tasked with supporting the Great Cause in whatever fashion your superiors think you best suited. The minimum age for this is 16, though 18, being the age at which students graduate from high school, is more common. At no point is there really a safe way to leave once you’re involved; they are, after all, a secret army. There’s no aging out of the MLA—it’s a lifetime tour—but disability, injury or general decrepitude can get you assigned to work that generally won’t expect you to see open combat. The Army is composed of a great many lifetime-of-service families, after all, which means they need teachers and caretakers; another option is dedicated work for the Hearts & Minds Party, who always have room for community organizers.

Liberated Districts—

Settlements that are at least 85% MLA-inducted. At their largest, they’re small towns; rural villages are far more common. Without exception, they’re isolated or out of the way. Tend to have unusually good access to city services compared to similarly-sized settlements. Deika was one of the largest districts the Army had, chosen for the Revival Celebration due to its combination of a sizable population and a particularly closed-off location. The MLA knew they’d need many warriors to fight the League of Villains, but they also needed a site that was not merely remote, but that had controllable points of access.

It can take well over a decade to hit the 85% saturation mark in even small villages; Deika and the MLA’s handful of other full-fledged towns are the work of generations. They begin by moving people into an area and setting up gatherings on some useful pretext or another, enthusiastically welcoming newcomers and very, very gradually indoctrinating people further into the ideology. Financial support, an accepting environment for difficult quirks or those with patchy legal histories, the odd homeless shelter or food kitchen, a robust presence in the foster care network—the MLA is very, very good at making themselves a warm, sincere, reliable presence in peoples’ lives, a group that encourages everyone under their banner to be their best selves. They think everyone deserves that kind of support!

They are also willing to shed quite a lot of blood to make sure that everyone can get it.

On the Intersection of Disability and Quirk Suppression—

There are a few factors contributing to why Scarecrow can’t use his quirk to do things others would. First, his quirk is the kind of off-putting that gets Gang Orca ranked third-most villainous-looking hero and leads Shoji to wear a mask because his face disturbs people. So Scarecrow’s quirk is already the kind of visible that makes people look at him askance. Compounding this, his prosthetics are obvious, visible to any old person, and people have a very ugly tendency towards bootstrap, “you can do it if you try” mentalities around people with disabilities. These two factors mean that people who are disturbed by his creepy articulate bug legs would much prefer that he use his significantly less-creepy prosthetics, to the degree that they’re willing to suggest that he’s being lazy if he doesn’t. They cite the quirk-use laws as a deflection tactic, but Scarecrow—whose pattern recognition functions just fine, thanks—is keenly aware of the underlying mindset.

Nimble is in much the same boat—she literally can’t talk without falling back on a visual representation of some kind (sign-language, a text-to-speech reader, etc), and why on earth shouldn’t she be able to use the fastest and most convenient one without people getting up her ass about it?

None of this is the kind of thing that would likely get either of them arrested (though Scarecrow’s creepy enough that the odds are higher for him, “villain quirk” bias being what it is), but the laws-as-written, nonetheless, are discriminatory, and that makes people justly angry. Angry people are easier to radicalize, and the Liberation Army has been working that angle since their very inception.

Re-Destro and Trumpet’s College Days—

RD��s an Engineering major with a focus in Manufacturing; Trumpet’s in PoliSci. They’re two grades apart, with Koku being the older. Those two years of greater experience shift the power balance between them significantly when Rikiya arrives for his freshman year, facing a new place, a new workload, an entirely new rhythm to his life. For the first time, Koku is not merely a friend in similar circumstances who is still—as they’re both reminded near-constantly—subordinate to Rikiya’s every word. Rather, he’s a senpai, someone with specific experience in every aspect of this new stage of life—and someone who’s had two years to become more eloquent, more well-studied, more confident, more mature.

Removed from the immediate supervision of the First Families for the first time in his life, Rikiya allows himself to lean on Koku in ways he never would have back home. Koku, for his part, has had his responsibilities here impressed on him by the First Families at some length, and has spent his entire life being groomed to devote himself to his Grand Commander. Having said Grand Commander looking to him with such glowing esteem in his eyes—well, there’s no denying that it’s pretty enticing. The two of them enter a romantic relationship that will endure for several years until Rikiya gets his head back around the idea that Koku’s ability to say no to him is fundamentally compromised.

The Bindi Connection—

I had no reason to develop them any, and thus I don’t have names to assign, but it seems that Twice’s No. 3, the smiling old woman with the gingham dress and the rough-and-ready attitude to combat, and Geten’s No. 2, the short-haired woman whose face is being devoured by her out-of-control sweater neck, are related. Note the bindi on both of them, as well as the similar hair color, particularly in the page introducing all the advisors. Mutual connection to Dabi’s No. 3, the guy who got into a fight with a hole punch and lost, is uncertain but possible based on the confronting-the-heroes page spread in which Hole Punch dude’s hand lays familiarly on Grandma Bindi’s back while Big Sis Bindi turns partly towards him as if to whisper some sarcastic observation about how lame Cementoss’s ponytail is.

———–

FOOTNOTES

1: Regarding codenames, the first generation of the MLA tended to have names that reflected their meta-ability in some way. From the second generation on, at the behest of Destro’s son, the codenames have become less literal, and thus less revealing.

2: Viz renders the job tile “Executive Director,” but having checked the raw, the Japanese term, senmu, is associated with a fairly specific level of executive authority, and it’s lower than I would peg “Executive Director,” which to my ear sounds synonymous or slightly below Chief Executive Officer. Executive Vice President is wikipedia’s translation; Google returns Senior Managing Director. In any case, she’s near the top, but not at the top.

3: At least, he wasn’t prior to meeting Shigaraki. Now he’s pretty much in favor of a very organized and coherent belief structure that can be summarized as, “Watch Shigaraki tear down the world ‘cause he’s beautiful and I love him,” and honestly, mood.

4: I’ll just come out and say it: fandom blew Geten’s words way out of proportion because a bunch of people got mad that he was being mean to Everyone’s Favorite Serial Killer Dabi.

5: An archaic term by this period. Even “meta-human” saw more use in academic parlance, while the term “quirk” had become much more widespread among the general population since its official adoption during the period of legislation twenty years prior.

#MLAweek2020 #meta liberation army #boku no hero academia #bnha #bnha spoilers #bnha meta #so much meta #my writing #my hero academia

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rawritzrobin · 4 years

Text

Angel Amongst Bats Chapter 4

Title: Angel Amongst Bats

Pairing: Jason Todd x Stella Covington (My OC)

Warnings: Cursing, past major character death, a little bit angsty, fluff.

Summary: Tim spills the beans as Stella finally gets the answers she is looking for.

Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

A/N: Yes, I am aware that Renegade was Dick's character. But I liked the name for Jason instead (:

Chapter 4: Answers

Stella stared at Tim’s outstretched hand for a few seconds.

She was confused at the gesture. What did he mean by nice to meet you? They have been friends for years. Just then, it hit her. If she really died when she was a teen in this world, she never would’ve met him.

She shakes her head, rubs the back of her head with her left hand and shakes his right hand with her other hand. “Stella! Sorry. I kinda forgot where I was for a second there.”

They shook hands for a few seconds and pulled apart.

“Alfred. Do you mind if I steal Stella from you for a while?”

Alfred smiles down at Tim. “Of course not.” He nods in Stella’s direction. Stella smiles nervously.

“That is, only if you want to.”

“Of course!” Stella was more than willing. Maybe Tim would finally tell her why everyone is avoiding her questions about Jason in this universe. She stepped behind Tim’s wheelchair and wheeled him towards what she knew was Tim’s favorite place in the manor.

Once they were settled deep inside the gardens of Wayne Manor, Stella took a seat on one of the many wicker chairs surrounding them. It was a nice sunny fall day. There was a chill to the air, but that just made the sun more welcoming. Stella and Tim both stared into the beautiful greenery around them for a few moments. The silence was welcomed.

Stella was the first one to break the ice.

“So. You said Jason threw you off a building? Care to elaborate?” Stella asked curiously. Her elbows resting on her thighs and her chin resting on her hands.

Tim chuckles. “Do you want the full story that leads up to that? Or just that part of the story.”

“What do you think?”

“Well I can’t give you the full story since I joined the team late. But I can tell the things I have heard. It all started when you died.”

Stella nods. It was still weird for her to hear that she was dead in this universe. She was dead and yet life goes on. The world continues to function without you. It was surreal.

“Jason blamed Bruce. He kept repeating over and over again that he should have went for you first. It was already too late by then. And well, after the funeral, Jason sort of snapped. He left the manor one night and broke into Arkham.”

Stella listened intently, leaning closer to Tim. He went on.

“He took the Joker from his cell, and broke him out. Jason ripped the tracker in his arm off so that made it impossible to track him. It took them nearly 2 weeks to find him. By that time it was too late. Based on what they found it looked like Jason tortured him for a few days before leaving him to die, drowning in his own blood.”

Stella covered her mouth with her hands in shock. Jason hated the Joker, but she could never imagine him torturing Joker until he died. But then again, he had Stella to calm him down when he lost his temper. She wondered if he could really pull that off if she was the one who died that night. She thinks back to the day she tried to take her own life, how empty she felt without him.

Yeah, she could see Jason snapping the same way she almost did.

“He disappeared for a few years after that.” Tim continued. “That was when I joined. I only heard stories about what happened. I never even met him at that point. A year in we ran across a string of murders. Each as violent as the next. The only thing connecting them was the fact that they were all drug dealers. We didn’t put two and two together until one day we caught him, in the middle of killing Black Mask.”

Stella was silent. Her brain still trying to comprehend everything Tim has told her so far.

“He was wearing a black motorcycle type helmet. Called himself ‘Renegade’. It wasn’t until we caught a sample of his blood off Black Mask’s corpse that we realized it was him. The first time Dick and Bruce confronted him Dick ended up with a broken leg and Bruce nearly came home in pieces. Ever since then he’s just been sort of around. His latest victim was the Penguin.”

Stella gasped. “What?!” She asks.

Tim sighs. “Yeah. After that he sort of took over Gotham as one of the big crime lords. We tried to talk to him. One by one. But he wouldn’t listen. Well, when it was my turn he was furious. Called me ‘replacement’ before beating the shit out of me, and throwing me off a building. And well, here we are.” He says gesturing to his wheelchair.

At this point Stella was at the edge of her seat. She wanted nothing more than to return to her own world. Hearing such stories about the man she loved, even in a different dimension, was heartbreaking.

“The fall severed my lower nerves from my vertebra. I landed directly on the side of a trash can. The pain was excruciating, at first. But then everything went numb. Doctors are trying to find a cure, but I know better. I’ve actually gotten used to this by now. I kinda hated patrol anyways. I would much rather be on the computer supporting the team you know? Like a sort of watcher. Or…”

“Oracle.” Stella finished.

Tim smiles, “Yeah. Thats a good codename actually. Might have to take that one from you.”

“Well it’s not mine to take. You see back in my world…” Stella goes on, telling Tim the details from her world.

The two talk for hours. Exchanging stories from their own world. Stella tells Tim her Jason’s story. How he died, came back to life, and went mad before finally settling down with the Bat family once more. She told him how the Tim in her world was currently donning the name ‘Red Robin’. How the Joker in her world took away Barbara’s ability to walk..

Tim listened intently. Taking in every story and noting every difference between their worlds. Little did they know, Bruce was also listening in from the Batcave, through a few bugs he had planted in the garden.

By the time Stella was finishing her part of the story, Dick, Barbara, Damian, and even Alfred were gathered around the Bat computer. Barbara shivered at the Joker story, Dick pulled her into his arms.

“And that’s that. I was actually waiting for Jason to get back from patrol when I was sent here. By who and how I still don’t know. And believe me, even though my Jason seems a lot less violent than yours, there’s a running list of people who would love to get revenge on him.”

Stella lays back on the chair she was sitting in and sinks in. Closing her eyes, she slowly takes in everything Tim has just told her. So Jason did exist in this universe. He was just a psychotic murderer who was also a crime lord, but he also kills bad guys. Not to mention the fact that he has tried to murder each and every member of the family. Even Alfred apparently.

Tim studied her. To him she seemed like just your average girl. He couldn’t believe that this was the girl Jason went on a murder rampage for. She seemed so, normal. Sweet even. How did Jason land a girl like her? What was their story?

Stella sits back up. “Wait. So now that I have the full story. Can you tell me why Conner seems to despise me? By the looks of it he never even met this worlds version of me.”

Tim rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, he blames Jason for what happened to me. I have told him over and over again that Jason’s not in his right mind, but he still wants to kill him. I guess to him, knowing that you were the reason Jason snapped, he blames you for what happened to me.”

Stella raises her eyebrows. “First off, I am not the same Stella in this world, though she does sound cool. Second, it’s not like I did it on purpose. And third, IM NOT EVEN FROM THIS WORLD! And it’s not like I wanted to die!” She screams as she crosses her arms in and angry puff.

Tim smiles at her sheepishly. “I know. But he’s been extra protective of me ever since it happened.”

Stella wiggles her eyebrows at him. “Im guessing you two are dating in this universe too?”

Tim blushes. “Yeah. Is the Tim in your world with Conner too?” He asks.

“Pftt. No. They both have the hots for each other. But they’re both too proud to admit anything. It will probably take a life changing moment for those two to get together. Like..”

“Like the accident that brought Conner and I together in this world.” Tim finishes.

Stella looks at Tim sadly. “I’m sorry.” She looks down at her feet.

Tim rolls his chair closer to where Stella was sitting. He places his arm gently on her shoulder. She looks up.

“It’s not your fault. It’s not any of our faults.”

“Except that stupid clown.” Stella mutters under her breath.

Tim sighs. “Yeah.” He says as he turns to face someone. “Hey Alfred.”

Stella turns around to see Alfred approaching them. It was then she realized the sun had set, and it was already night time.

“Master Tim, Bruce is looking for you. Something has come up and they require your help.”

#Jason Todd #Jason Todd x OC #Stella Convington #Red Hood #DCU #Alternate Universe #Fanfiction #iwritethings #alfred pennyworth #Tim Drake #Renegade

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johannstutt413 · 4 years

Text

(requested by calligomiles)

“Why are you dragging me out of the Doctor’s office, Gummy?” Istina grumbled, head still buried in her book. “I told you I was busy.”

“I know, but I want you to try something and I can’t bring it in the Doctor’s office!”

She gave her friend a curious glance. “Why not?”

“He said he throws up whenever he smells onions.” Gummy waltzed into the kitchen, depositing Istina in a chair, and greeted the other chef who was working. “Hey, Blue! Oh, did you need to move that tray I put out? Sorry!”

“It’s okay, Gumm...” Blue Poison looked up to continue forgiving her, but as she did, her eyes locked onto the other Ursan in the room, and something short-circuited in her brain.

The chef seemed unfazed by this. “Thanks for putting it somewhere easy to find, though! Alright, Istina, tell me what you think!...Hey, Istina? Helloooo?”

“Hmm?” She’d sat her book in front of her and completely engrossed herself in it. “Oh, right. What did you...” Much like the Anura whose eyes she’d just met, suddenly words failed her.

“Are you two okay?” Gummy looked from one to the other as she set a strongly onion-scented pastry-like thing the size of the plate itself.

Istina nodded. “I’m okay...Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon.” Blue’s eyes darted to the side, hoping looking at the floor would help her face cool off faster. “Gummy, um, could you introduce us?”

“Oh, you two haven’t met? Istina, this is Blue - her desserts are a-ma-zing! Blue, this is the founder of the USSG and one of my dearest dearest friends, Istina!”

The advisor adjusted her chair so she could eat while looking into the kitchen. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Blue. Is that your full codename?”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head, turning her attention back to pouring out the cupcakes she’d just finished making the batter for. “My full codename is Blue Poison, but I prefer people call me Blue. Not everyone does, even so...”

“Really? That’s rather rude of them. Gummy, this is really good, but I think you should try less onion next time. The Doctor would probably like this a lot.”

The chef nodded. “I’ll remember that for next time! Well, I’ve got to get to defender training, so I’ll see you later~”

“See you, Gum...Hey, wait a minute...Oh well. Are you baking for a special occasion, Blue?”

“Nothing in particular, no.” She settled them into the oven and walked over to the table Istina was sitting at. “I keep making things for people to enjoy, but only three or four people will.”

The advisor closed her book and cocked her head, her curiosity piqued. “Why wouldn’t people take free desserts?”

“They...They think it’s poisoned, because I’m ‘toxic.’”

“Because you’re an Anura who specializes in poisons?” Istina shook her head. “That’s simply unfair.”

Blue nodded with a sigh. “It is, but there’s nothing I can do to convince them...So, I bake for those who will eat. The Doctor, Gummy, and a few others.”

“Hmm...I’m sorry about earlier.”

“I am, too.” She blushed again. “It was just...I’ve never seen eyes like yours.”

She adjusted her glasses. “Oh? It isn’t an uncommon color for Ursus.”

“It’s not so much their color as their depth. They remind me of a crystal-clear lake - at a passing glance, such a lake seems shallow because you can see the bottom, but in truth it could be a quarter of a kilometer deep and you would only know when you tried to swim to the bottom...I was born near a lake like that. It was very soothing to sit by after a long afternoon.”

“That sounds lovely.” Istina took the compliment about as well as she could, considering it came out of left field. “I admit, your eyes tied my tongue as well. I’ve never seen another like them, and they suit you so well.”

“Oh, thank you...Um, am I keeping you from your book?”

The advisor shook her head. “No, I’ve read this one before. Do you read detective literature, Blue?”

“I’ve read a few, but not often. Most of my reading is recipe or research related.” Blue smiled. “Are you a detective, Istina?”

“I have the reasoning for it, and May would like me to be her assistant, but as much as I enjoy the novels...no, I’m no detective.” She looked down at her half-finished food as she said it, a dark cloud falling over her. A voice, a reaching hand stopped halfway, a moment with irreversible consequences...A choice, half-baked but firm as iron...Baked?

Blue Poison had left her to her thoughts; by the time she broke free of them, Gummy’s meal had a friend on the plate: a pink-frosted cupcake dotted with black orbs. “You seemed to be having a moment, and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you for your patience.” Istina confronted the dessert with an analyzing stare and a small smile. “It’s cute. You like pink, I see.”

“When I was young, I wanted to dye my hair a more normal color, but then I realized I would need to buy a new wardrobe to accommodate it, so I’ve grown to like it. If I can’t, I’m not sure who else will.”

She picked up the cupcake, looking up at Blue as she did. “I do. The pastel and your smile match quite nicely.”

“Do they teach flattery in those novels?” The Anura went back to blushing. “If so, maybe I should read a few. I don’t know how else I would match you.”

“If matching is a concern, I can wear a pink charm of some kind...Gummy didn’t do your baking justice.”

Blue blinked. “She didn’t?”

“I have never tasted a cupcake so perfectly balanced.” Truly, this was the sort of thing one would expect to find in Victoria. “The blackberries contrast with the cake and keep the sugary sweetness from being cloying without adding any untoward accent flavors, and there’s a citrusy note in the frosting that has a similar effect. On the one hand, I feel as though there are twenty or so different minor flavors, but on the other hand, they all serve to complement the cake itself and do so without intruding on its flavor or each others’. You’re as excellent a baker as Gummy is an Ursus-style chef...and sweet things remind me of better days.”

“Do you not enjoy being at Rhodes Island?” It was a sincere question, spoken with sympathy and genuine concern.

Istina shook her head. “No, I like it here, but...but there was a time I felt less burdened. Before my hands were stained red, before I knew how it feels to lose friends to war, life was much simpler. Of course, without those dark times, I would not have come to Rhodes Island...and I would not have met someone as sweet as you.”

“Oh my.” The Anura fanned herself.

“Sorry, I feel like I’m babbling on.” She finished the cupcake in three bites including the first, looking at the wrapper sadly when it was done. “Did you want some of this dish Gummy made? It needs to be warmed up, but I don’t think I can finish it myself.”

Blue took the plate and walked to the microwave. “Will the Doctor be expecting you back at some point?”

“Between the USSG and my studies, my time in his office is rather inconsistent, so I don’t expect him to come looking for me. After we’re done with Gummy’s ‘taste test,’ left to my own devices I would return to my room to finish reading...But if you’re not busy, maybe we can talk instead?”

“I would like that.” She debated for a moment mentioning something else, but decided against it for now. The microwave beeped, and after retrieving a second fork for herself she brought the now not-quite-rectangular dish back to the table. “Do you have a preference as to where I sit?”

Istina gestured to her immediate left. “Come as close as you like.”

“Funny you should say that...” The Anura moved a chair and made herself comfortable, leaving enough room for the Ursan to move her arms without interfering with each other while still being close enough to feel her presence next to her.

“Funny, you say?” She looked towards her as she dug in once more. “How so?”

Her first bite was delightful. “Mmm. If she and I are equals, I’ve never received a higher compliment. As for the proximity comment, um...You haven’t heard any of the rumors about me?”

“Now that you mention it, I think I may have. I believe I dismissed them as baseless hyperbole. They think touching you is dangerous, somehow?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Blue sighed. “Where I’m from, physical displays of affection are common - we greeted our coworkers with handshakes and our friends with hugs, held hands as we walked, only avoiding one another when not doing so might get other sick - but since arriving at Rhodes Island and displaying my abilities, no one feels safe doing so, and I...I miss it.”

Istina nodded. “I see. Based on foundless rumors and speculation?”

“I don’t know if they think I’m constantly exuding toxins or simply misunderstand my power, but I can’t say they’re entirely baseless. The primary component of the serum I coat my darts with is a derivative of a toxin I naturally produce. However-”

“You say you’re safe to touch?” The advisor reached with her free hand and took Blue’s. “I believe you.”

The Anura stopped her trail of thought and squeezed her hand. “I...You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I didn’t realize how much it would mean to me, either...This is nice. Whenever you need a hand to hold, Blue, find me, okay? I’ll make time for it.”

“I...” She set her fork on the table and her head on Istina’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

The advisor likewise set her fork down and let her hand settle on her new friend’s head, gently playing with her pastel locks. She had plenty of time to get back to her book, but moments like this were far too precious to let slip through her fingers. This time, rather than see an all-too familiar face at the thought of that metaphor, she saw Blue smiling at her, holding out her hand.

Istina took it, and she promised herself she’d never let go.

#arknights #istina (arknights)#blue poison (arknights)#another pair i never would have devised on my own #so uh yeah #after this there's a lot of not-bear stuff #event will be over by the time we get back to them #but believe me #i'm gonna have some fics to write for myself when it ends...#arknights fic

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crimsonbluemoon · 4 years

Note

Mafia Au, childhood friends, “Hold your fire!” for Ohmtoonz? Love ya Crim! 💙

Aww fluffy!! I hope you enjoy this!

AU: Mafia Trope: Childhood friendsPrompt: “Hold your fire!”

Pairing: Ohmtoonz

Ryan was always the sweet one of their friend group. A little quieter, and a heart made of gold, he’d been the one that Luke felt like he needed to protect. They were friends from the start of second grade, and even though Delirious was his best friend, Ryan came pretty close (or maybe it was a different feeling, one that Del could never cause in his heart). Luke was the first one to stand up to any bully that tried to talk down to Ryan. He made sure to keep band-aids and medicine in his truck once they hit high school and then college, since his friend tended to get bruised up or bloody from gym or after school activities without Luke hearing about it until the next morning.

Ryan would never tell him who it was that tripped him or what exactly caused the slice on his arm. But he always looked so grateful for Luke’s gentle first aid afterwards, that the southerner never had the spine to press the matter. Plus, Ryan always assured that he told someone, and that the situations were properly handled. Luke wanted to come with him to the police a time or two (the broken arm their first year of college really pissed him off), but Ryan never wanted Luke to get involved. It bothered him to see his cru-his friend in such rough shape. Ryan didn’t deserve to be treated so poorly, and when Luke discovered who it was that hurt him, they were going to have a not-so-friendly conversation. Ryan told him not to worry, that so long as Luke patched him up, he’d be just fine.

Which Luke believed until he walked into Ryan’s apartment and a gun was pointed at his head.

“What the-” His spine tensed in panic as he stared down at the barrel, eyes crossed and lungs frozen. His head felt fuzzy from wanting to pass out, yet he refused to move, too focused on taking in the scene in front of him. A grumpy man who looked closed to Luke’s age stared at him from behind the gun, the blue eyes narrowed with murderous intent.

“You got a reason to be barging into Ohm’s apartment?” The growl of his voice proved that this wasn’t a joke, and Luke’s throat dried up. He wanted to ask who ‘Ohm’ was, and what he had to do with Ryan, yet he knew he didn’t have any control in the current situation.

“Hold your fire, Wildcat!” The familiar voice of his childhood friend was enough to loosen his shoulders, though air didn’t come back to his lungs until ‘Wildcat’ grunted and dropped the gun to his side. Ryan popped into Luke’s line of sight, his hands quickly cupping his bearded face and rubbing worried thumbs over his paled cheeks. “Oh my god, Luke, I’m so sorry. I texted you earlier saying I couldn’t hang out tonight.”

“Phones broken,” Luke finally forced out, his face leaning into the calming caresses. Ryan’s touch was always soft, even with rougher hands than Luke’d expect from an accounting major. But from someone who held a gun…Luke’s eyes flickered back over to the man towering behind Ryan, finally picking up on the other people in the room. Their ages seemed pretty close, maybe a few years between, but none seemed as high strung as Wildcat.

“Do you need some water? Do you want to sit down?” Ryan fretted like there weren’t three other people in the room watching them, and though normally Luke would preen under the undivided attention, now he squirmed in his shoes.

“What the hell did I just walk into? And why do they call you Ohm?” He didn’t like making Ryan wince, but he couldn’t ignore what had just happened. Someone had put a literal gun to his face.

“That’s…Luke, if I tell you the truth, it’s important to know that I’d never do anything to put you in harm’s way.” Ryan’s eyes flickered over to Wildcat, who rolled his eyes and turned away. “Well, intentionally.”

“What, did you make a deal with the mob or something? Do you need me to help you find some cash to pay something off? Because me and Del ain’t got much, but-”

“He doesn’t know who you are?” The exclamation came from one of the men sitting on the couch, his glasses almost falling off his face when he pushed to his feet. “Ohm you told me you were gonna tell him two years ago with the broken arm-”

“Mini,” another man from the couch started, seeming to be the oldest of the group.

“No, Moo, this is bad. Our boss’s partner doesn’t know about us, which means he’s a sitting duck for other gangs to kidnap him. He’ll be bait! Then what’ll Ohm do? Probably kill half of Manhattan to get him back-”

“I’m sorry, did you say the boss of a gang?” Then the second part of the ramble caught up to Luke, who turned his stunned eyes back to Ryan. He could see the nerves running over Ryan’s face, teeth nibbling on his lower lip and thumbs smoothing Luke’s beard. “Did he say I’m your partner?”

“Yet he’s not worried about the murdering part? Maybe we should keep him as our gang’s mascot.” The final member spoke, and Ryan’s eyes cut a cold edge Luke had never seen before when glaring at the couch.

“Smiity, enough.” Ryan’s demeanor relaxed after a prolonged stare, closing his eyes with a sigh. “You three go back to base and check in with the others. Wildcat’s in charge until I get there. Tell Vanoss to wait on the meeting with the Crows and see if Kryoz got any more dirt on the last boss’s widow. She’s gonna flip on them, and I want to make sure we get to her before anyone tries to shut her up permanently. I’ll be there in an hour.”

“Got it.” The three made it seem natural to take commands from Ryan, which was another whirlwind for Luke. He’d seen this man get bossed around by kittens, and now he was being told that he ran a gang? The apartment fell silent for a few moments, both men taking time to collect their thoughts. Finally, Luke pulled himself together enough to step back from Ryan, trying not to look into how much he missed the other’s fingers on his skin.

“Ryan, what the hell is going on?”

“Um.” Gone was the force of a man that’d commanded four others without a hint of fear, leaving the kind and soft spoken Ryan that Luke knew. His eyes flickered around the room before settling back to Luke with a hesitant smile. “Remember how I told you that I was going to go into my family’s business?”

“Your family is the mafia?” Luke’s hands laid limp by his side when Ryan nodded. “So, all those times you got hurt-”

“Training,” Ryan replied quickly, but the wince that followed proved that they weren’t pleasant memories. “And sometimes scouting missions that went a little sideways. But I’ve been given the reigns of my own branch now. They’re really nice guys once you get to know them, and we tend to try to avoid violence if possible. Really, Luke, we’re not like the movies at all.”

“That Mini guy just said I was going to be used as bait,” Luke replied flatly.

“Mini is dramatic,” was the quick answer, which Luke could see.

“Why would I be used for bait, Ohm?” He tried out the codename, and his eyebrow rose when he caught the flush on Ryan’s face.

“That’s cause…well, I was planning on taking you out. Like, on a date. And telling you all of this.” A pause came after, but before Luke could fully process that, Ryan blurted out more. “Because I’ve been in love with you since third grade but I didn’t want to be because of my family!”

“Oh.” Luke tried not to let his heart jump through his chest at the confession, but his head was far too fuzzy to stay logical. This was more intense than the gun to his head. Ryan, the boy he’d been protecting for years because of how in love he was with him, had also been doing the exact same thing. Except his had the mafia. Luke kept forgetting that piece over the feelings aspect. He wasn’t sure what that said about him.

“I’m so sorry.” The look of guilt on Ryan’s face was obvious, and his fingers curled into the bottom of his threadbare sweatshirt. “If you don’t want to talk to me again, I get it, I just wanna make sure you’re safe-”

“Hey, who said anything like that?” He didn’t hesitate to move back to Ryan, grabbing his waist and pulling him close until Ryan dropped his forehead onto Luke’s shoulder. “You think a couple guns and some wanna be tough guys are going to keep me from you? I’ve been trying to protect you my whole life; now I get to actually help out.”

“What do you mean?” Ryan’s voice was soft against his collarbone, Luke running his fingers through the back of Ryan’s hair.

“It means, boss-”

“Lu-luke, that’s-” The little noise and squirm of Ryan’s hips proved that was a keeper. He pulled him back enough to catch Ryan’s faint blush, daring himself to run his thumb over the man’s lower lip and grin.

“Where do I sign up?”

#fluffy-papaya #Ohmtoonz #Sultry boys #Ohmwrecker #Cartoonz #Crimson drabblez #<3

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secret-engima · 4 years

Note

I am horribly sick and just want to stab everyone that tries to make me use my incredibly sick throat. May I get a ramble on fangs and feathers? Or even Prompto-Cloud thingy bit thing. (Uuughgi. Sickness makes my memory WORSE. I can't remember its name and honestly F&F was a hit or a miss but it LOOKS RIGHT SO.)

I’m so sorry to hear that!! Ummm let’s go with the Prompto-Cloud thing (Clouds and Moonlit Skies verse btw). Actually *grins* let’s go with a nutty xover.

-Zack and Cloud are ten years old in this. They trip into another dimension and at first don’t realize it. They were busy exploring an old part of the Citadel, Seph is with them, having abandoned his paperwork on Zack’s puppy eyes and Cloud’s teasing. They have fun for a while, poking around dusty old rooms and discovering a new, spacious training ground to trash later.

-Then they get hungry and troop their way for the kitchens to grab a snack.

-They enter the populated part of the Citadel and come face to face with a Crownsguard.

-The Crownsguard isn’t human.

-Well, the upper half of him is, but his lower half is some kind of fluffy tabby house cat, like a centaur, but a cat.

-Both sides stare at each other in astonishment for several very long seconds before the guard shouts in shock and rears back, tail puffing out to stupidly huge proportions as he reaches for his com to ... alert someone.

-Seph acts on pure instinct, lunging for the guard and tackling him to the ground. He knocks the guard out, but not before getting a nasty claw-made gash on one arm and the guard screaming into his link something about “Drautos is here!” Which really shouldn’t be cause for alarm because he works here- except he doesn’t, because he’s half sitting on an unconscious, man-sized half HOUSE CAT person.

-A frantic game of keep-away-what-is-going-on starts up with Noctis, Prompto, and Titus all ducking into rooms and through camera blindspots to avoid the Crownsguard who are ALL centaur cat people (Zack: Cataurs? Cloud: Not the time Zack) eventually though, they get caught, because of course they do, the Citadel is different and the cameras are too many. They get cornered in a very large, grand hallway with lots of very potentially breakable art, surrounded by wild-eyed and tense Crownsguard who range from cat people to deer people to ... is that a ferret over there? Cloud is pretty sure that’s a ferret person.

-Also Cor Leonis is there, tail swishing madly as he clutches at his sword and eyes them, fur bristling slowly as their hunters all seem to finally realize that the “Drautos and unknown intruders” they’ve been chasing are NOT half animal of some kind.

-Zack is the one to break the silence by stage whispering to Cloud, “I thought he’d be a lion. You know, with the name and all.” Seph, uncaring of leaving himself open to attack, takes a moment to facepalm with a heavy sigh while someone in the Crownsguard gives a nervous, semi-hysterical laugh.

-Tension now thoroughly ruined, the three allow themselves to be herded by a stiff-legged, bristling Cor to the Throne Room where the Regis and Clarus of this dimension are. Zack smothers (badly) a giddy laugh at seeing his dad with lion hindquarters (so cliche! Lion King!) and ooing softly over Clarus’s tiger stripes.

-Seph notices something subtly relax in the king despite his bristling tail and the way everyone keeps staring at them like they’re cryptids. That is CONVENIENTLY when Gentiana shows up (as an actual centaur???) and explains that the three of them accidentally slipped through the boundaries between worlds from a nearby world, and that it should wear off within three days time.

-She disappears and the awkward conversations start. It quickly becomes apparent that the ... Taurs are a little bit in awe at the sight of their two-legged status (apparently, as the king explains, all taurs used to be humans but were turned into taurs at the FALL OF SOLHEIM. Cloud wonders if this was how Aerith felt when people gushed over her being an Ancient). It also becomes evident that none of them trust Seph. At all. They keep their eyes on him far more than Zack and Cloud (though Regis does stare at Zack a bit, no doubt it’s weird looking at his son with human legs). Cor looks two steps away from murder at all times while glaring at Seph even as Clarus and Regis argue over where to house them for the three days that will be secure and how to keep this from getting all over the media.

-Finally Cloud snaps at Cor that if he has a problem, come out and say it. Everyone stares at him in astonishment for reasons he can’t fathom (yet) and finally Clarus explains that the Titus Drautos in their universe was a traitor who tried to assassinate Regis and conquer Insomnia. Seph blinks very slowly at that because wat. Why would he work for the people who experimented on him AGAIN. Then he realizes that without his past life memories he probably would have been brainwashed into it yeah. “I can see that,” Seph muses aloud while Zack sputters and Cloud spaces out dangerously at the distance. At the sudden tensing he waves a hand and drawls, “Niflheim and I do not get along.” He pauses, then adds just in case it come up somehow, “I cannot speak for your Titus, but I was forcibly captured out of the Crownsguard, experimented upon, and implanted with an armor unit codenamed Glauca. It did nothing to endear them to me.”

-Zack flings his arms around Seph’s and yells loudly before anyone else can say a word, “He’s mine! You gotta problem with them then fight me!” Zack pauses then adds, “Actually, you gotta problem with him then I’ll sic Prom on you.”

-“I don’t think that’s a very intimidating threat unless you know our Prompto,” Seph points out dryly but Zack loudly shushes him.

-They end up in a guest suite meant for visiting royals, with a few Crownsguard outside to make sure they don’t leave and aren’t disturbed. Of course, because their luck is their luck, the rumors have spread far enough that Regis, Cor, and Clarus are unable to run damage control before the Chocobros of this world hear about it.

-A day into their stay, Regis reluctantly takes the children to visit with Clarus, Cor, and Aulea all as backup. They enter to find all the furniture pushed to the far sides of the room, Titus on one end of the room, all three having what appears to be a mini war complete with battle lines. All three pause in their war, Noctis-Zack calmly dangling from Titus’s fist by his ankle while Prompto-Cloud lies sprawled near the door, feet up by his own head, arms splayed like he’s just been kicked in mid-air and didn’t have time to land right.

-“Are we interrupting something?” Cor asks stiffly. Noctis-Zack just laughs and Cloud attracts more than a few stares as he flips himself upright in a smooth movement utterly impossible for a Taur. Seph casually drops Zack without warning and the boy easily twists to land on his feet. Regis ... reluctantly asks if they would mind meeting their child counterparts plus a few friends, which Zack is all for and the other two fold to his whim. So Regis reluctantly lets the children enter. Noctis thunders up to Zack with bright eyes and gapes at his two-legged status while Cloud finds himself suddenly face to face with 10,000 Rays of Sunshine wearing his face and wagging a tail like a mad thing. Gladio trots up to Noctis while Ignis just kinda watches from next to the adults as the Nocti exchange greetings and then Zack hastily goes to extract Cloud from Prompto, because Cloud looks two inches away from a panic attack and stabbing is not recommended right now (Cor sees the sheer difference between his son and this human version and something in him growls. Why is the human Prompto so quiet, so alert and wary, watching everything, even himself, like it might attack?)

-Prompto deflates a bit at his counterpart’s silence and wariness, not understanding why and Seph breaks the tension by humming, “You know, Zack,” (who is Zack? The Taur adults wonder until human Noctis perks up), “I find myself a bit surprised. I would have been certain that your counterpart wouldn’t be a lion.”

-“Why’s that?” Noctis asks with a head tilt.

-Seph smirks, cool and smug and positively catlike, “Because he’s nothing but a big Puppy.”

-“Oi!” Zack yells but he’s laughing, “I make a great lion!”

-Cloud’s lips twitch against his will and he adds, “Well, this is another dimension. Some differences in temperament are to be expected.”

-Zack puts his hands over his heart with a gasp, blue eyes big and watery, “Cloud- Cloudy- My Cloudy Prompto Cloudy Spiky Buddy! How could you betray me like this??”

-Cloud just raises an eyebrow very slowly.

-Their banter is interrupted by a laugh from Prompto, “You guys are weird,” he says with a tail wag.

-Zack grins back and despite having known his son as a lion cub all his life, Regis can almost see the matching wagging tail on the boy, “You don’t know the half of it! Wanna play something?”

-The kids end up playing a strange mix of tag and the floor is lava (which Ignis RULES at because Ibex and Cloud rules over right behind him because Stubborn Mountain Boi) while Seph watches with fond eyes and finds himself slowly dragged into a conversation with Aulea.

-Some questions are exchanged and answers given, Cor snarls under his breath at the news of Prompto being given up to a neglectful home until finally being adopted by Cor where he belonged, and Regis and Aulea clutch hands when Seph slowly admits that Zack (they’re going by Zack, Cloud, and Seph to differentiate counterparts, claiming it’s an “in joke” and “nicknames”) hasn’t noticed her because he doesn’t recognize her. Queen Aulea died when Zack was a year old.

-But it’s not all sad things with the adults, Seph tells them little anecdotes of his world, and Regis notes how much more ... mellow this Titus is. Cunning yes, and somewhat cold, but not pushy and angry. Much more patient, and there is clear devotion in his eyes as this Titus watches his Noctis and Prompto play.

-Cor ends up sparring with this Titus, because Seph isn’t going to turn down the chance to Throw Hands with a cheetah man anymore than Cor will a human.

-It’s a tie that ends with both of them wheezing and tired on the floor.

-Cloud ends up falling asleep at one point and Prompto flops down next to him and soon they are both out and cuddling. All the Pictures are taken.

-Regis and Aulea are bemused and horrified by just how much of an Energizer Bunny Zack is. Like- HOW. Where do you store it all child and they thought Prompto was bad in his puppy stage.

-The three days end and the three disappear as swiftly as they came, and Zack is gleeful to have all the photo evidence Seph thoughtfully took to prove that YES they went to a world with Taur people and LOOK DAD YOU MAKE AN AWESOME LION. SO DOES MOM. SO DO I. AND HAH IGGY IS A GOAT (Ibex, Cloud corrects with a sigh and is ignored by Zack).

Tagging @robininthelabyrinth because I’m pretty sure Nocturne is your fic? Hope you don’t mind this little silly xover. I just loved the story too much to resist.

#SE asks #oliverslewty asks #Secret Engima Rambles #Clouds and Moonlit Skies verse #nocturne #long post

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cryptocism · 4 years

Note

ive been scrolling through ur blog for a while (cuz ur dc opinions are Top Fucking Notch) and i saw what you said abt bart in tt 03 and f:fma and while i totally agree (it killed tt 03 for me lol) im super curious abt how youd do his development if given the opportunity?

I’ve been thinking about this one like A Lot so buckle up this is long:

it would kind of depend? On whether or not he’d be in an ensemble team like Teen Titans or with his own solo series.

I understand metatextually why he became Kid Flash in TT, since they needed him to be more mature and a more recognizable character and having him upgrade costumes/codenames is a good shortcut for both. But I’ve already talked about why it didn’t sit right with me.

So, lets flip the script a little bit - the start of TT would be largely the same. Our boy Bart is on the new Titans team, and things are kind of awkward after YJ disbanded, also Max is gone and Bart’s relationship with Wally is still not doing great. Things are rough, Bart has newfound doubts to deal with, especially now that the world seems to have gotten harsher and everyone seems to have a lot less patience to deal with him. The pressure to be more mature and a recognizable character is coming from other characters now rather than an authorial need: he’s reminded to take things seriously, or that he should know better by now, that he needs to slow down and think more. So Bart decides a change is necessary, and we get the library scene. He reads all the books, he reappears as Kid Flash, saves Tim via bullet catch, disassembles a gun, takes down Slade, etc. etc. Here’s my departure from canon though: it doesn’t work.

Kid Flash is not a solution, or a magical cure for immaturity. Reading a whole library so he’s miraculously smarter and more mature and capable is, at its core, a pretty naive conclusion. And it makes sense he would think that. But it doesn’t work. He’s still impulsive, distractible, hasty. He can’t put a lid on his own sense of humor. People still think he’s annoying or lazy or careless. And he keeps trying - he knows all this stuff now, he read a whole library! - but he’s still apparently too much the same person as he's always been. And even though he’s trying very hard to live up to the Kid Flash name, it still doesn’t feel like him. Wally doesn’t like it, since Bart is literally just imitating him now, which makes things between the two even worse. And Bart keeps worrying about what’s supposed to come afterwards, since “Kid Flash” is inherently temporary, and while Impulse was only peripherally related to the flash legacy, Kid Flash comes with expectations.

Bart is trying very very hard to be ‘grown up’ and ‘mature’, but he hasn’t actually learned anything other than a bunch of facts (which are still useful, but) he’s just trying to be who everyone expects him to be.

And this is what i mean about the ensemble thing, because this arc would be in conversation with the rest of the core four, who are also trying very hard to be people they’re not, but all in different ways. Bart obviously with the codename change, but Cassie, Tim, and Kon all have similar issues, they’re all trying to imitate people.

Tim is doing his Batman jr. routine, reverting back to the persona he had at the start of YJ. He’s cagey and mysterious and does questionable things without telling anybody, because he’s de-facto leader of the team again, and he has to be better than he is. No more kid stuff, the Titans are serious, he has to treat it like a job, not like a sleepover. And this whole act is putting distance between him and his friends.

Cassie is trying her hardest to put herself in a support role. Donna’s gone and she has some big shoes to fill (she and Tim could probably bond about that if he weren’t stubbornly trying to brood at all hours of the day) and she’s doing her best to just Be Donna. Cassie and Tim would work better with their team roles swapped, and they both sort of know this - Cassie is naturally charismatic, thinks on her feet, can maintain good PR, and when she’s confident in herself is great at leading. Tim is partial to planning ahead, secrets, and keeping in the shadows, and is better at being a confidant and emotional problem solver among the team (when he allows himself to be open among friends, that is).

But they’re both trying to fit themselves into what they see as pre-ordained roles: Robin is leader, Wondergirl is a supportive mediator. But Cassie’s got a temper and little patience for people being idiots, and Tim’s not predisposed to spotlights.

Kon on the other hand has a story that’s less about who he should be and more who he shouldn’t be. The Lex Luthor dad storyline is here (minus the mind control shit, although the threat of it is still brought up) and Kon is doing his level best to do nothing that could be interpreted as something Lex might do. While everyone is doing their best to Not be their own person, Kon has no idea if he ever was his own person. He’s questioning everything he does, wondering if it’s some kind of evil gene showing through when he’s angry or petty or selfish. He’s going through lots of clone angst.

So they’re all dealing with expectations and who they are or aren’t supposed to be, trying to fit themselves into boxes that don’t suit them and then convincing themselves that this is how it ought to be. Kon ought to avoid feeling or acting in any negative light because any sign of Luthor is a sign of evil, Cassie ought to tone herself down and act like Donna, Tim ought to step up and lead the team and act like Dick, and Bart ought to listen better and be smarter and slow down and grow up and do his level best to just Be Wally.

Throughout the issues they’d all get a spotlight on their various crises, taking them through complimenting character arcs. Kon would realize through a couple close encounters and chats with ma and pa and talks with his friends and citizens of metropolis that nobody is all good or all bad. Clark can be a real asshole sometimes and Luthor’s actually done a fair bit of good (usually in his own interests, but still we’re gunning for nuance). Turns out he doesn’t have a dark side to be tempted by, he was made from 50% complex person and 50% complex person, just like everyone else. Which means he isn’t destined to be the next Superman, or Superman’s next supervillain. He’s just like, a person. With his own thoughts and feelings that have nothing to do with genetics.

Tim would wear himself out and hide it from everybody until he killed himself, but it’s only when he sees Cassie also wearing herself out too that his ‘somebody needs somebody’ instincts kick in and they’re actually able to talk about how miserable they both are. Through some trial and error they’re able to figure out a good co-leader system for leading the team, having each other’s backs along the way, which allows for them both being able to help out the other members of their team with their own shit i.e. Kon and Bart’s identity issues.

Bart is, like Cassie and Tim, wearing himself out trying to be this perfect version of Wally that never actually existed. He actually hates the recognition the new name gives him, because people have expectations for him now, ones he can never seem to live up to. He’s bad at following orders still, which makes him a pretty shit sidekick for Wally, in fact he’s just pretty shit at being a sidekick in general. But, he reasons, he’s supposed to be grown up and responsible now, and responsibility is all about doing shit you hate until you die, so he’s probably on the right track.

It’s only later, once he gets some support from his friends, who help him deal with things like Max and YJ disbanding and stuff that he’s able to actually sit down and have a heart-to-heart with Wally. Wally confesses that he understands the pressure to live up to a legacy, and how he did his best to just Be Barry when he became the flash. In fact while Bart was trying to live up to Wally and be a good sidekick, Wally was trying to live up to Barry and be a good mentor. Wally’s the one to tell him that Bart’s always done his own thing, and is at his best when he does. They both agree they suck as partners, but maybe they should’ve tried to be family first. And there’s probably a racing metaphor in there somewhere because speedsters love their racing metaphors.

ANyway Bart returns to Impulse, forging a new path, getting along better with Wally now and hanging out with him just as civilians with no pretense. He learns some valuable lessons about how maturity can’t be learned in a book, and that he’ll get it himself the more he lives and learns from experience. The Titans all get along better now that they’re all sure of their places in the group, and they can all go on just being themselves without worrying about expectations or roles to fill or whatever.

...If Bart still had his solo series instead though, id actually want it to go in a sort of different direction? The thing about living up to predecessors and trying to be some ideal version of another person works well for the Titans because they can all deal with a similar issue in different ways, but I think it would also be interesting to do the complete opposite.

Lots of shitty things happened in very quick succession in Bart’s life that he had no control over: Max’s disappearance, having to move in with Jay and Joan (who are nice, but whom he barely knows,) leaving his friends in Alabama, Young Justice breaking up… Basically, things kind of suck for Bart, and all he wants is for them to go back to the way they were. Instead of trying to be grown up or mature or whatever, Bart is resisting every single encroaching thing about coming adulthood. Because all growing up ever seems to mean is that everything changes and either you have to leave the people you love or they have to leave you.

So this series would focus mostly on that, both in his civilian life; going into high school, not knowing anybody, the few friends he does make are less interested in ‘kid stuff’ and more focused on dating and interpersonal drama, high school itself seems to be geared entirely toward the “what are you going to do with your life” question, when he visits his old friends back in manchester, they’ve all kind of grown up without him. And in hero life; everyone from Young Justice is trying to move on and not talking to each other, his father figure and mentor is gone and he's not really jiving well with the rest of the flash family, and people just seem to have less patience for Impulse now that he’s older.

Growing up is hard. It’s hard and no one understands. Especially not when you’re also a superhero and have dealt with some quality trauma like losing loved ones and feeling yourself die. So it makes sense that Bart would resist that in every way possible, do his best to pretend like everything is still how it used to be, for once in his life just trying to make everything stay put. He refuses to get rid of his old stuff, he doesn’t want to treat any villainous threats seriously, people in school keep talking about college and jobs and tuition fees and Bart wants none of that, he acts out, refuses responsibility, gets reckless under the pretense that he never used to have to be cautious.

And this is the part where I’d bring in Inertia, cause Thad was robbed and I want him to have an actual arc that doesn’t end with infant-splosion. Also he can have a good ol companion arc to Bart. Welcome to foils everybody, where two identical boys with opposing life experiences get to thematically compare and contrast with each other as they deal with the trials and tribulations of growing up.

So, I’m ignoring every appearance Thad ever made after Impulse 1995, picking up instead where his story left off where he swore vengeance on his creators and disappeared into the speed force. And he’s off to do exactly what he said; Thad Thawne II is going to kill his namesake/grandfather/creator - the president of Earthgov.

But, turns out assassinating the president of a whole fucking planet is a lot harder than he thought - Thad has planned extensively for every moment of his life, so once he starts going off script things predictably go a little off the fuckin rails. Thad fails, obviously. For one because despite how much President Thawne might deserve to die, Thad at this point hasn’t done anything worse than attempted murder, and making him a killer would put a wrench in any kind of redemption arc he could have. Also he’s acting on rage, in a highly emotional state, basically going up against the entire government. Of course he’s going to get caught by the science police and brought into custody.

Bart, meanwhile is jumping with both feet into any kind of escapism he can find, which involves various time travel shenanigans and lands him in the 30th century. He gets to reunite however briefly with his mom, but the mission he had gets derailed by the appearance of Inertia.

Every time Bart and President Thawne interact, the president always seems to make a bid to sway Bart to the Thawne side. This never works, which is part of the reason Inertia exists in the first place; a version of Bart that the president could control. When Inertia landed in the 30th century, hell bent on assassinating his creator, the President subdued him and eventually coerced him back over to the Thawne side of the family feud. No longer a rogue agent, Inertia is back to his old self, all about destroying Bart and the rest of the Allens.

They have a battle, taking place all over the 30th century city, and Bart does his best but Inertia has the entire Earthgov police force on his side, and Bart eventually gets captured. He gets taken to some kind of holding facility, meets with the President who monologues as him while Inertia stands beside him like a good lackey. Then suddenly the speed-inhibiting cuffs or whatever Inertia had put on Bart to stop his speed malfunctions, and Inertia drops the act, now Impulse and Inertia working together to take down the Earthgov people holding them there.

Turns out as soon as Inertia knew he couldn’t take out the president, what with all the military force President Thawne had on his side, he bided his time until he could. He uses Bart’s help to finally get President Thawne cornered, and the assassination plan is back on track. Except now Bart is the thing stopping him. He makes the argument about how murder bad. Heroes don’t kill, etc. Inertia insists he isn’t a hero. But Bart reminds him that that’s not how Max saw him.

Inertia hesitates just enough that President Thawne is able to get away, and now the two of them have to make an escape attempt back to the past. Bart insists on trying to take Meloni with them, and they try but ultimately fail somehow (maybe someone has to stay behind to make sure they can make the trip safely, idk. At first Thad is willing to stay behind, since there’s nothing really for him in the past. But Meloni knows that President Thawne would destroy him if he did, and she can’t let harm come to either of her sons - and she does consider Thad her son, just like Bart. She’s had far too little time with either of them, but she loves them all the same. She tells them to take care of each other, and is the first to encourage them to be like, actual brothers.)

After yet another tearful goodbye, Bart swearing he’ll find a way for them to all be together again, Bart and Thad go back. And they do end up having to lean on each other, because shit’s tough for the both of them. Thad initially wants to apologize and possibly reunite with Max and Helen, and then finds out Max is gone. And Bart has someone who understands exactly what he’s going through.

Things get a little more lighthearted from here. Bart and Thad don’t get along well at first, since they’re both going through rough times and lots of changes and their first instincts are to lash out at each other. But eventually they form a sort of camaraderie through shared grief, then shared fish-out-of-water experiences. Which evolves into shared inside jokes and video games and comic books and they become slow but steady friends.

They upgrade into brothers when Bart defends Thad against the repeated (and not entirely undeserved) suspicion he receives from the rest of the Flash family. Jay and Joan take him in, but it’s clear they don’t trust him, and neither does Wally. Bart stands up for Thad, arguing that he’s as much of a Thawne as Thad is, and treating Thad like he’s the next Cobalt Blue is just going to ensure that history never changes and stupid family feuds are forever. After this, Thad starts trusting Bart a little more, and kind of solves Bart’s problems regarding encroaching adulthood with his friendship. Neither of them really had a childhood, and Thad hasn’t experienced 21st century life at all, much less the societal expectations to grow up. So Bart gets to have fun again, and Thad won't judge any of his games or his books or his attitude or interests for being childish or lame because he’s fascinated by the experience of anything regardless of the target audience.

And from there it's a series about these two becoming brothers and growing up and the different lessons they learn and wacky characters they meet along the way. Thad ironically also puts Bart in a position where he has to take on more responsibility, since even though Thad can imitate heroic actions and is actually pretty good at it, he doesn’t understand what makes them heroic. Bart has to draw on a lot of the things Max taught him and now has to teach them to Thad.

There’s crossover comics with Superboy, where Bart laments about having to deal with grown up stuff, and Kon gives him a new perspective on the whole “being young forever” thing, since that was a reality Kon actually had to deal with and it sucked.

Through various misadventures they meet new and familiar characters to give them different perspectives on the whole passage of time thing. Villains who despise children or childish things, villains who embrace it but probably too much. People who talk about growing up as the worst time of their lives, others talking about it like it was the best. Kids and adults alike trying to force Bart and Thad to act a certain way while treating them another.

The two of them come to opposing conclusions about this; Thad wants to embrace change completely, partly because he wants to experience firsthand all that life has to offer, but also his worldview depends on believing that anyone can change, and anyone can be better, because he has to believe he can be redeemed for all the shitty stuff he did. Bart, on the other hand, knows his life isn’t perfect but thinks, based on recent events, that it’s all just going to get worse from here, and so resists change as much as possible.

Thad, in his haste to experience everything, sometimes ends up going too far, either burning both of them out, or pushing them into situations that they’re not ready for or are ill-equipped to handle. Bart, on the other hand is so resistant to change or responsibility that he stops them from doing actual necessary things like planning their futures or doing chores or making new friends. This acts as the crux for their main conflict that slowly builds throughout the series, and then in a finale to the arc, they both figure out a way to get Meloni back to the past, and to raise some stakes they have a falling out in the middle of the mission about it.

Bart accuses Thad of trying to leave him behind, or trying to be the better version of him again, and that old insecurity about Thad replacing him crops up. Thad thinks Bart just can’t handle anything outside his personal bubble and wants to force him to live in the real world. Plus he also feels kind of abandoned by Bart, who often would leave Thad to do the scary adult things on his own.

Tensions still high, there's suddenly an external threat to deal with - probably president thawne and the science police - and they attempt to continue arguing even while fighting the president. I’m making this up as I go so lets say yada yada big climactic moment it's looking like the two might fail to get Meloni back and they’re both still angry with each other and Bart just… can’t take it anymore.

He keeps losing people, and the ones he keeps he always seems to screw up with. And at the end of the day he’s just a kid who wants his mom. Is that really so much to ask? So there’s a reversal, a parallel, if you will, of the assassination attempt from the beginning of the series, this time with Bart. Or, because I don’t think many people would buy that Bart would actually ever for real kill someone, maybe he’s finally about to get his mom back, but she doesn’t want to go (since she made that deal with the president that he wouldn’t harm anyone of the Allen family so long as she stayed with him) so he’s trying to force her, risking the lives/well-being of the entire Allen bloodline across all of time.

This time it’s Thad who has to talk him down, who has to remind him about being a hero, who has to remind him that trying to go back to some magical time in the past where things were better is just going to stop him from learning and growing as a person, and that doing anything and everything possible to get there is just going to lead to Bart doing something he Actually Can’t walk back from.

Alright but here’s the thing because having Bart be forced to leave his mom again for like the billionth time is tired and overdone, and personally the whole message about heroics involving extreme and damaging amounts of sacrifice can only go so far. So here; Thad and Bart are both right.

Like on the one hand, yeah, it’s childish and selfish for Bart to want to be with his mom at the expense of literally everyone else in his family. On the other hand, the fact that they can’t be together because some asshole is upholding a stupid grudge is bad and unfair and wrong. The issue needing to be fixed is not the kid who wants his mom, it’s the jackass keeping them apart (and who also wants to kill/imprison people). So Bart convinces Thad that they have to save Meloni, and Thad convinces Bart that there has to be another way - one where they get their mom back and the Allens don’t have to be hunted.

The whole story would be leading up to the two of them coming to this conclusion; the healthy middle between the two extremes. Where they have the maturity to plan ahead and sort through their differences and figure out the best course of action with the least amount of collateral, but they don’t let go of that adolescent need for justice and fairness - that thing that makes you dig in your heels and say “no. That’s not fair, that’s not right.”

SO here’s where I’d put the title card: “Bartholomew and Thaddeus Take Down The Government”. How do they do it? No idea! I’m flyin by the seat of my pants here! Do they run for office? Do they publicize the president’s crimes in such a way he gotta go to jail? Do they somehow turn public opinion against him enough to get him out of office? idk!!! And I don’t remember enough about Earthgov’s political situation to put an accurate read on what exactly they might do to disrupt it.

Either way they don’t kill him, manage to free their mom, and they all go back to the past together. And a new arc would involve the three of them getting settled in the past; Meloni would be a main character now, and hers is a two-pronged fish out of water story where she’s trying to figure out how shit works in the past, with overtones of the struggles of being a single parent.

And... I’m not going to say any more about that because this is long enough already oof.

TL;DR I think a coming of age story would be cool for Bart, and having to deal with growing up when he never really had a childhood. Also the comic itself would be aimed at younger audiences, who can probably relate to having a Bad Time in the Teens and wacky hijinks with friends and siblings.

#soapbox #anonymous #asks

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sunaddicted · 4 years

Text

007 Meet 007 (Bond 25)

Item #11 Scavenger Hunt 2020

The ability to work well under pressure had been one of the requirements for the job; Q hadn’t thought much of it at the beginning: hacking generally was the kind of activity that put one under the kind of pressure that felt like a sword being dangled above one’s head, waiting to fall as one battled to get in and out of someone’s precious system and data as soon as humanly possible.

He obviously hadn’t been very familiar with the pressure of watching an agent court death, anxiety squeezing his heart at every shot that rang too loud in his headset and at any splotch of blood that widened far too quickly on a tailored shirt; he couldn’t have prepared for it in any way if not on the job, building resistance to the sight of his agents crippled by enemy fire or their own stupidity.

But Q had nerves of steel and while he did feel for the men and women out there, risking their lives for civilians who didn’t even know the kind of horrors they were being sheltered and protected from, he had quickly adapted to shutting his emotions out while the headset was on: the calmer he managed to stay, the higher the probabilities he could actually help the agents to get out of the field alive - even if a bit banged up or in need of serious medical attention.

However, he hadn’t been prepared to deal with the kind of tension that sprouted from excessive posturing between two titans.

Of course, he had been warned that Bond and the new 007 hadn’t exactly clicked it off and Q had to wonder how anyone had expected them to when James had refused for so long to even entertain retirement, clearly extremely attached to his title and his career - he obviously wouldn’t take it well to being confronted by someone wearing what had been his codename and his identity for literal decades: he was only human, afterall.

Still, Q definitely had underestimated the pressure that would end bottled up in his office, seemingly permeating every single atom of air in a way that felt rather suffocating - the only thing missing was sparks of energy crackling along their skin, set off by a catty remark or by the arch of an eyebrow; they were strung tight, ready to snap as the moved around in cautious steps that made Q feel like he was being circled by a pair of lions.

It was rather uncomfortable - especially for someone as aware as he was of what James and Nomi were capable of, healthily scared enough that he wouldn’t want to be caught in a battle of wills and limbs between the two of them. Q kept calm, however: they were in the depths of MI6 and he was their Quartermaster - no matter how thirsty they were to taste one another’s sweat and blood, they would listen to him.

They were trained to associate his voice with reason; with safety; with light.

Not even M was as safe as he was from the wrath of a Double-Oh.

“007 meet 007”

“We’ve already had the pleasure”

“ Questionable pleasure ”

Q arched an eyebrow at the heat in Nomi’s voice; he was used to her smarmy attitude and words permeated with sarcasm, not with anger - though, he supposed that if anyone would ever be able to get on her nerves, that was James fucking Bond: they were too similar for either of them to see anything else but their own flaws in each other, rubbing them in all the wrong ways “Maybe I just wanted to say that out loud, it’s not the kind of thing I predict will happen again in my career”

“He’s not even 007 anymore”

“I am 007 - I made those numbers mine, I shaped them into my legacy you are resting on”

Oh, there it was one of the point of contention “Stop baring your teeth, please. I know you both have been trained to be politer and more charming than that” he might not have been particularly weak when it came to Nomi’s charms because of the mere fact that the seduction of a woman was bound to be wasted on a gay man, but he had guided her out in the field and he knew her smiles could be as lethal as Bond’s.

Q wasn’t going to think about that now, though: he couldn’t afford being distracted by the memory of how a pair of crystal blue irises had made him feel, their cold stare a knife that had been repeatedly twisted into his heart until just the whisper of the man’s name was enough to make him bleed. He loved and he hated the man for it even if he knew that, in the end, it all was his own fault: Q had been the one to fall for empty flirting and charming smiles that rarely reach the eyes and now he was paying the price for it, nursing a broken heart that refused to heal as long as the man insisted on walking back into his life - arrogant and sassy and beautiful.

“I can handle this mission alone”

He forced himself to focus back on the conversation, skilfully ignoring the telling way the older man looked at him - whether Q liked it or not, and he really didn’t, James Bond could read him like the well-worn pages of a beloved book, spine cracked by years of devoted readership “I know you can but time is of essence and he knows what we are up against better than either of us” he reasoned, not even attempting to be persuasive - that wasn’t the ace up his sleeve. Forcing them to use their brains and follow his reasoning until they got to the same, most likely and satisfying conclusion? That was his talent and one of the few reasons why he still managed to have a decently sized budget despite the fact that his department arguably was the worst one when it came to the handling of finances - but one couldn’t exactly lesinate on equipment, right? The life of the agents and of those they were sacrificed to protect depended on its quality - the functionaries at Finance just needed to be lead to that conclusion by the hand sometimes and Q had become rather expert at that.

“I can-”

“-No, you can’t” Q raised a finger towards Bond, silencing him before he could claim his ability to handle the mission on his own; again, there was no doubt about that but it was true that, legally and officially speaking, the man wasn’t 007 anymore and therefore didn’t exactly have a licence to kill - M was working to restore it temporarily to avoid sending Bond out with such a handicap but Q didn’t know how far the negotiations had already been taken or if they were stagnating “What the both of you can do is to be professional and make my life easier - understood?”

“Yes, Q”

“Of course, my dear Quartermaster”

The pressure loosened its hold a little, the air actually felt breathable now “Perfect. Let’s go over these mission specs then”

#007 fest 2020 #007 fest #teambondvillains #2020 writing #scavenger hunt 2020 #scavenger hunt #bond 25 #somewhat bond 25 related #my writing #007 #james bond #Q #quartermaster #nomi

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emilyschoi · 3 years

Text

Falling

From First to Last Series Included: Eunha (Emily), Jupiter (Lucas), Serenity (Jane), Venus (Minah) Daehyung (Daniel) Mentioned : Endymion (M), Sungjae

⁺˚*･༓☾ kitchen ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Jupiter stood by Princess Serenity as the Elysian’s elite gathered around her, gawking like she was some sort of exhibition. Prince Endymion had held a ball in their, well Princess Serenity’s honour. The night had been tense, to say the least, half of the earthlings thought they had the right to ask whatever they wanted not showing any of them an ounce of respect while the other half were more forthcoming about the disdain for them. The other Senshi were spread out across the room, Mars was leaning against a scowl permanently scarring around most people away from him as he eyed the exit. Mercury was a bit more civil but Jupiter could tell she was forcing a smile while dealing with them. Venus was nearby but surrounded by Elysian men who were making passes at her, he half expected her to pull her sword out and slice them up. The prince’s royal guard were also around each of them watching over their Prince and Princess Serenity.

“Are you okay?” Jupiter asked as the latest hoard left Serenity to no doubt go gossip with their friends about the princess from The Moon Kingdom. Serenity turned to him a small smile on her face as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I am fine,” she assured him but Jupiter knew better, there was sadness in her eyes. “I am just-” she said eyeing Prince Endymion who was stuck talking to bureaucrats and court officials. “I know the Prince means well, I can see it in his eyes. He truly believes that we can have peace but -’ she frowned as more people walked past her hushed whispers escaping their lips. “I have to wonder if it is worth it for him?” she said.

“Of Course it is, these people are probably stuck in the old ways and don’t want to change it because they might lose their power,” Jupiter said. “Plus they are jealous that I have managed to nab the prettiest girl in the room,” he said nudging her lightly. Princess Serenity smiled a real smile at him.

Venus finally made her way over to the pair muttering about how she needs a drink. Princess Serenity giggled turning to Jupiter with her eyes wide. “Lu-Jupiter, sorry i keep forgetting i meant to use your codenames, but could you get Venus and I something to drink, oh and maybe one of those delicious cakes we had at lunch?” she asked. Jupiter looked to Venus waiting for her permission, Serenity was their Princess of course but Venus was their leader. Venus nodded, her hand casually grazing over her waist where her whip was wound around unnoticeable to the untrained eye.

Jupiter walked away not trusting any of the already filled glass of champagne, Venus was still wary of the royal staff and until she was sure they would take no liberties. He made his way out of the ballroom heading in what he had hoped was the right way to the kitchens. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed he had a shadow following him.

Once he was far enough away from the party, in a dimly lit empty corridor he turned catching his new shadow and pinning it against the wall. His eyes widened as he recognized one of the royal guard, Eunha, the only female Knight. “What are you doing?” he asked softening his grip but not letting her escape.

“Getting my arm broken by you apparently,” she said through gritted teeth. “What are you doing sneaking around in the hallways?” she asked, pushing him off. Jupiter blinked, surprised that someone so small could push him away. “Well?” she asked her hand moving to reach for her sword.

“Stop,” Jupiter said holding his hands up. “Look i am trying to get the princess a bottle of champagne or actually she prefers wine, i don’t suppose you have any Plutonian red?” he asked.

“No sorry the ship hasn’t come in yet,” Eunha responded sarcastically. “And why do you need to get her a bottle there is more than enough in the ballroom,” she pointed out.

“Don’t take this the wrong way but your people have been a little hostile,” Jupiter said. He knew he shouldn’t explain anymore, Venus was still not sure about the royal guard, she believed that Sungjae was loyal to the Prince so, for now, they could trust him but the other three not so much.

“Oh so you want to make sure it’s safe,” Eunha said nodding, “Makes sense,” she said. Jupiter let out a relieved sigh at least she understood. “But can you explain why you are headed towards the Astronomy tower?” she asked raising an eyebrow

“I may be a little lost,” he admitted scratching the back of his neck. Eunha giggled and it might have been the sweetest thing he had ever heard. “Can you show me to the kitchen, the princess also wants cake,” he said.

“Well i can but first we are going to make a pit stop to the wine cellars, I know it’s not Plutonian red but we have a lovely Sauvignon from Komo,” she said. “I think Princess Serenity will like it,” she said with a grin. “Come on,” she said turning around and walking in the opposite direction that he had been headed. “Are you coming or should i let you just wander around on your own?” she asked tilting her head to the side as she looked back at him.

“Huh, no I,” he started to say before Eunha raced back grabbing his hands and pulling him along.

“Just come on,” Eunha said pulling him along. Jupiter smiled to himself that he would follow this girl anywhere, at least for the rest of the night.

☾

“Are you sure you can reach it?” Jupiter asked as Eunha climbed the least sturdy ladder he’d ever seen.

“Give me some credit,” Eunha laughed, “I got it,” she said, she turned to show him the bottle proudly. Jupiter gave her thumbs up, wishing she would just get down. As she moved to climb the room shook, the wine bottle fell to the ground with a crash as Eunha clutched onto the ladder for dear life. A second wave hit the room and the ladder lunged backwards, Eunha falling off with it. Without a moment hesitation Jupiter raced forward catching her in his arms.

“Uhm,” Eunha said, her cheeks heating up. “Guess Princess Serenity is going have to drink something else,” she muttered, tapping Jupiter’s arm to be put down. “What the hell was that?” she said as he placed her firmly on the ground. “We should have known if there was an earthquake,” she mumbled a frown on her face.

“I am glad you are okay, we are lucky we didn’t get hurt,” He said, a wine cellar full of glass bottles, they could have been covered in glass shards. Eunha turned to him a small smile on her face.

“Thank you for before,” she said. “That would have been a real pain in the -” she trailed off with the laugh. “Anyway should we just grab something and get out of here, i think they might need our help up there,” she said going to the door trying to open it but nothing happened. “Ah i hate to say it but do you think you could -” she said gesturing the door.

Jupiter nodded trying to open it himself but frowning it seemed the Earthquake seemed to have lodged into place. He tried to put his whole body into it but it still didn’t budge.

“Okay change of plans then,” Eunha frowned, walking over to a nearby barrel. “Come sit,” she said tapping the leftover space.

“Shouldn’t we send for help?” Jupiter said siting down. “I can try and get one of the guys to come down,” he said, pulling his communicator out, frowning as he looked over the screen, it was glitching, he couldn’t even get it to turn on.

‘I take it, it didn’t work,' Eunha said looking over his shoulder. “I guess there are worse places we could be stuck, at least we won’t dehydrate,” she joked. Jupiter continued to frown as hit the side of his communicator. “Hey, I’m sorry you are stuck down here, I should have just shown you to the kitchen like you asked,” she said softly.

“No you were just trying to help,” He said. “I am sure the will come to find us eventually, they are probably just helping everyone else get to safety,” he said. “So…. you look nice,” he said. “I mean you look good in a uniform, no that's still not right,” he said, shaking his head ignoring the giggles that were coming from beside him.

“Thank you, your suit looks very nice as well,” Eunha said, “It must be nice to be able to wear whatever you like,” she pouted. “But i guess since you are royalty you can -” she said, frowning. “Though the four heavenly kings title, though it would have to be changed to a queen - sorry i should stop talking,” she said closing her eyes.

“While i am sure you would have looked beautiful in a dress you look great in what you are wearing now,” He said. “Plus it’s pretty cool that you are the only female knight, your family must be proud,” he said, eyes widening as Eunha frowned. Did he say something wrong? “I’m sorry-” he started to apologize.

“No you did nothing wrong,” Eunha said softly. “It's just my family should be proud but apart from my cousin who is also part of the royal guard but they aren’t,” she frowned. “Infact, I am pretty much disowned until I give up on this foolish escapade and accept Lord Gideon’s proposal, be a proper lady of society, live the aristocratic life,” she said fiddling around with her bracelet.

“Well they are stupid,” Jupiter said, grabbing her hand and threading his fingers through hers. “On my planet, you’d be praised for your bravery and hard work,” he said. “And what are you talking about, you are a queen aren’t you,” he said causing Eunha to laugh. “A queen should not be slumming it with a lord,” he pointed out.

“Do you happen to know any single princes?” she joked.

“Just one, I think you’d like him, he wouldn’t care that you are a royal guard he’d think it’s pretty cool,” he said. “Plus he is very handsome,” he said.

“Oh really, well you will have to introduce me to him one day,” Eunha giggled.

“Hi I’m Lucas, Prince of Jupiter, “ He said squeezing her hand lightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said letting go of her hand to stand up and bow.

“Oh,” Eunha said purposely avoiding eye contact, her falling to frame her face trying to her pink cheeks. “Is Lucas really your name?” she asked not looking at him. “It doesn’t sound very Jupitery.’ she said as Jupiter snorted. Jupitery.

“It’s the Elysian version,” he shrugged. “You wouldn’t be able to pronounce my name,” he said.

“Well that somehow sounds you like are insulting me,” Eunha said as Jupiter spluttered ready to apologise to tell that he didn’t mean it like that. “But I’ll allow it since your very handsome”“ she laughed.

‘I have been told i look good in a suit,” Jupiter laughed.

They both stopped as the door opened, one of the royal staff, Eunmi, a friend of Eunha’s stood there a look of confusion gracing her features as she took in the scene in front of her. They weren’t in a compromising position by any standard but still, the look on Eunmi's face was one of disapproval.

“Eunmi,” Eunha called, “You are okay? Is everyone else okay? How bad was the Earthquake?” Eunha rushed over as her friend’s brows furrowed.

“What are you talking about? There was no Earthquake?” she said looking from Eunha to Jupiter barely hidden her very obvious distrust.

Eunha frowned, “Yes there was, I almost fell off a ladder, if it wasn’t Jupiter i would have broken my neck,” she said. Eunmi shrugged pushing past them and grabbing two bottles of champagne

“I think you should go back to guarding Prince Endymion,” she said as she walked past them. “Maybe he’ll know about this earthquake,” she said with an eye-roll. Eunha scowled at her friend, wondering what her problem was.

“Sorry about her,” Eunha apologized to Jupiter. “She just really hates most people actually,” she said frowning. “It’s not as good as the Komo but that Antares is pretty good, very sweet though,” Eunha said nodding to a bottle a lot closer to a reachable level.” Jupiter nodded, grabbing it. “Do you still want to go to the kitchen?” she asked.

“Hmm I am feeling a little peckish how about you?” he asked.

“I could eat,” Eunha said with a grin.

“Ladies first,” Jupiter said holding the door open for her.

“Age before beauty,” Eunha said with a giggle as Jupiter rolled his eyes walking out of the wine cellar. Eunha followed, looking down the hall to see Beryl, one of the workers sneaking out of a room. She frowned.

“Are you coming?” Jupiter called out with an eye roll Eunha followed after him thinking nothing more of Beryl or the weird not quiet Earthquake.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

“Daehyung you can’t let them to this me,” Eunha cried as she was thrown into to the cell, soldiers ordered by her so-called leader, locked her way with a harsh glare. “Dae please,” she whispered looking at her cousin desperately hoping some remnant of her cousin was left.

“Oh Eunha,” Daehyung spoke, his normally vibrant brown eyes were cold and maniac. “This is only temporary just till we defeat those bastards and get you free from his control,” he said, stepping forward and trying to reach out to her, she stepped back a cold glare of her own thrown his way.

“Right,” Eunha said. “I am the brainwashed one,” she said rolling her eyes. “You are so stupid Daehyung,” she said mockingly.

“I am going to forgive you for saying that because i know it’s not you,” Daehyung said eyes narrowing. “But i would suggest thinking very hard about what you say next, actions have consequences,” he warned.

“Threatening me now Dae?” Eunha laughed darkly. “So when exactly did my cousin die? Was when you decided to betray our prince or -” she trailed off. “Just go, i never thought i would have something in common with your father but just seeing your face right now is making me sick,” she spat. For the briefest second her Daehyung came through, her harsh words managed to get through if the hurt look on his face was anything to go by.

‘And your mum is right you should never become a member of the royal guard, you are too emotive, too easy, one guy gives you a little attention and you’re ready to betray your entire planet,” he spat and like the Beryl controlled Daehyung was back. “I’ll make sure to bring back lover boys corpse, maybe that will snap you out of this,” he said.

Eunha said nothing, turning away from him instead of looking at the wall. Was it to make a statement? Sure, but it was mostly to hide her tears. She waited until she heard his footsteps disappear to turn around. She couldn’t stay here, she had to get out of here and warn Endymion and Serenity.

She was about to enact her escape plan when she heard footsteps coming down to her. She frowned, who was left. Daehyung had surely gone.

“You should have just agreed to marry me,” Gideon said, stepping out of the shadows. Eunha bit back an annoyed groan, seriously. She looked over at him dressed in the new Elysian uniform. “If you did you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Gideon?” she said softly, “My head hurts,” she lied as he stepped forward. She felt bad for playing on his emotions, sure he was arrogant normally but deep down he was a good guy, well normally, now he had been corrupted Beryl who knows. “What is happening?” she groaned grabbing at her stomach. “Make it stop,” she whined. Gideon stepped forward putting his hands throw the bars only for Eunha to grab the back of his head and slam it against the bar, knocking him out.

The idiots, in a rush to get out of the way, didn’t check for weapons, well they thought they did but they didn’t look at her jewellery, an anklet from the Mercurian Royal Family, one Lucas had given to her on their last visit, just incase something happened to her. Well, this definitely counted as something happening to her. She stood as far away as from the bars as she could before breaking the chain off her anklet and throwing it at the bars blowing them straight out of the way. The blast wasn’t as large as she expected but it did the job and thankfully left Gideon and his uniform completely unscared.

“I am sorry Gideon,” she whispered as she stripped him of his uniform, smiling as she found his credentials. She threw his uniform in a rush racing out the garden where ships we being filled with Elysian soldiers. She couldn’t go with them she would be found out in instant but the transporter pods, those would be useful. She saw Parker one of Sungjae’s right-hand men about to take forward, she ran forward pushing him out of the way stepping on the pod and instantly being transported to the moon.

She looked around seeing wave after wave Elysian soldiers storming through the moon kingdom. To her left, she saw a Lunarian family quivering in fear staring at her wide-eyed and shaking. She shook her head removing the dagger Gideon had on his uniform and passing it to the mother who looked at her unsure. “Use it protect your family,” she said. The woman said nothing grabbing the dagger and looking at once more before nodding.

Eunha nodded racing forward pushing past Elysian soldiers as she got into the castle. It seemed the Elysian army had already managed to make it’s way into the castle because all she saw was ruins and bodies. She shook her head looking around for anyone she knew, ideally finding Prince Endymion would be the best option but she would take anyone right now. She saw sparks coming from further inside, Jupiter, she ran forward spotting him.

“Jupiter,” she called out running forward. “Look it’s not them, they are being controlled by Beryl,” she said as she got to him. She didn’t notice the look Jupiter and Mercury shared, “We have to find Endymion and Serenity, Beryl wants them -” she said, Jupiter grabbed her holding her still. “What are you doing? They are coming? They are going to-” she spoke as realization hit her like a punch to the gut. He didn’t believe her or he thought she was part of it.

“Lucas, you have to believe me, I am still me,” she said. Jupiter whispered that he was so sorry. She looked up at him, a frown on her face as she felt the dagger pierce her skin, her eyes widened as her hand went to her chest, she felt the warmth of her blood being spilled.. Stumbling forward Jupiter’s arm wrapped around her, she choked trying to speak but her mouth was full of blood. She tried to push away from him, desperately trying to breathe but her body had stopped working.

#story

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