#// he's weird he's quick to trust but just as quick to distrust

[slackerlifewhere]

The subtlety of Cale Henituse

SPOILERS for those who haven't finished the first part of the novel. If you don't like spoilers, please don't continue. Thanks!

- This is kind of a review about the novel but it's basically my analysis of Cale/KRS.

___

For someone who has trust issues with people, I first had an initial distrust with Cale Henituse/Kim Rok Soo as a reader.

I think it's because of how he was first introduced.

As a first-time reader of the novel back then, Cale/KRS was introduced as a very indifferent person. He was calm at the face of a sudden transmigration and acted like nothing could surprise him (aside from Ron and Choi Han). And of course, like anyone who was fooled, I also thought that he was selfish. He's not the trash that he thinks he is but he's selfish and I didn't place my full trust in him because I still didn't know him yet. And I like it that way. The author kept me on my toes and didn't force fed me a truckload of information about Kim Rok Soo.

Like I said in my previous post, he didn't actually give us his whole introduction. He left a few crumbs here and there that told us he didn't have a great childhood but it wasn't enough for me to build an image of him in my head. There were still some blanks and question marks about Kim Rok Soo.

Sure, there were moments when he gave a bigger tip to someone without blinking an eye and acting all smug about it but I really just thought that he was happy because he's finally rich. Or when he was being so polite and gentlemanly in front of an old man that Venion was disgusted with and then later on went back to being indifferent and I thought it was just him being extra petty and angry (which he was) at Venion for being an asshole. He's very quick to change from smug to indifference and it made me switch back and forth on how I see him as a person.

Yeah, you need to read between the lines when reading this novel.

[side note: Actually, If I remember correctly, I thought that I wouldn't like his character because I find it weird when MCs in KR manhwa and novels easily shrug off the isekai bullshit they're in. The influence of KR manhwa on me affected my opinion about him and it shows.]

So when he first met the kittens and Choi Han, I was reading it with the feeling of "Run away, guys! Run while you still can!" lingering at the back of my mind. He was nice to them, as much as he could with random strangers he just met, but he's very distant with them.

Another thing about him that makes it harder to understand him is because he's always distant with people. He relies on them and helps them but he's always at arms-length when dealing with them. This, if you didn't think of or was reminded of his thoughts about his abuse and pity, simply makes him look indifferent.

Before I continue, I don't like tsundere characters. I absolutely find them cringe and sometimes, I just wanna bash my head when they blush at the bs they're spouting at someone they like.

Because that's the thing with Cale. He is a tsundere. He says one thing and does the opposite. And he's so in denial about it which makes it more hilarious and sad.

He's subtle about it at first. He didn't even give me the vibe that he's more complex than what he shows because he's so quick to disprove my sudden epiphany that there's something deeper than what he's showing. He's so good at hiding his emotions EVEN WHEN I'M READING HIS POV.

This bastard is so in denial about himself that he fooled me so bad! I think I only realized it when he saved Raon but even then, there were still some doubts about his character. I liked his words to Raon and thought about how kind he is for giving the dragon the freedom of choice but because he later thinks of making Raon do things for him, it shook my trust in him just a little bit. Just a little, I promise.

...Maybe I just have major trust issues.

Taylor Stan

The weirdest thing to me that actually snapped me from my doubts that he's actually a kind person is oddly enough, because of Taylor Stan.

Remember when Taylor and Cage suddenly arrived at the area they were camping in and he finally talked to Taylor face to face? Yeah, he was indifferent there but it's when his tsundere traits actually exploded at my face.

He, while trying to hide from everyone, told them to give Taylor and Cage the best care and protection as if it's the most normal thing in the world.

Mind you, they don't even actually know him aside from OG Cale's reputation as trash. And he also technically isn't supposed to know them because, in the duo's POV, this is their first time meeting him so he didn't have to help or care for them.

He basically acted as if what he was doing was bad in their eyes but in reality, it's not???

He's just helping them and he's in denial about it? He's genuinely being a kind person and he thinks he's trash?

He later gives them money (and acts cool about it) and helps with smuggling (lmao) them to the Roan Kingdom so they can arrive there safely and he thinks he's trash???

He gave this man hope to finally heal himself and fight against his brother and he thinks he's trash?????

Seriously?

Self-hatred

It's why whenever he calls himself trash, I shake my head because it's amusing but I also want to cry because, as I go further into the novel, he fully believes that he's actually trash.

I don't know if this is ever talked about but Cale is hiding a huge self-hatred about himself.

Cale pointed to himself with his index finger.

“I have lived my life as trash. That is my dream.”

- Chapter 33: You

At first, when he called himself trash, I thought it was because his soul is in OG Cale's body and thus, he inherited the title and uses it to cause chaos. It's a part of the reason why but, if I think about it, he doesn't have to call himself that??? He can still cause chaos without using that title.

It's why I think he fully believes it. That he's trash.

I didn't understand back then and thought it was just him loving the title and the chaos that comes along with it.

Him and his smirks or "selfish" ideals made it seem like he's fully embraced the title and liked it that way.

And the way the author hides a deeper meaning behind his words and actions is by making it feel humorous or comical. The author makes it feel extra.

We laugh and find it amusing because it's chaotic. The secrets behind those wild ideas and explosive destruction are brilliant and subtle.

It's why I fully believed back then, that it's a simple story about a man who just wants to cause mischief in a strange world.

And then...his past as Kim Rok Soo is finally revealed by the author.

And it suddenly turns all this humor about himself into a freaking tragedy.

Kim Rok Soo is a tragic character. He's a person who has lost far too much and can only react in indifference even when he's hurting. He's cold in another person's perspective because he doesn't cry when in front of those he lost.

He hates himself for something he couldn't control. He hates himself for being weak. He hates himself for a lot of things. And he hates the scars Kim Rok Soo has because they're the reminder of all his failures and all his sacrifices that only ended up with making him alone. Like he will always be alone. (Which makes his distant personality in the beginning make sense too wtf)

So he takes in their words of him being cruel enough not to cry in a funeral of his friends and fully believes it.

He believes, as Kim Rok Soo and Cale Henituse, that he's trash.

And it absolutely made me cry like a kid when he, as he woke up surrounded by those he befriended and could call family, finally cries with a smile.

This is the first time they and us readers see him cry and smile and it's just heartbreaking.

The whole lead up to this reveal was me seeing him as a tsundere and a freaking crazy bastard that utters "slacker life" like it's comic relief.

It's completely unexpected and I love it.

Because him crying and smiling for the first time is him finally shedding his shields and walls from these people who see him as a kind person.

Cale Henituse, for all his masks and secrets, is just a broken but endlessly kind person.

It's why those who meet him, trust him. His actions are a big reason why they trust him but his words, when it feels hopeless, are eye-opening and full of wisdom of a 36 year old man. He's straightforward in front of those he trusts and tells them something that flips over everything they think about the current situation. And he says it with the experience of Kim Rok Soo.

I believe the only times he lies to them is when he was given the thing that he was gonna use to stab himself and also when he hides his identity as Kim Rok Soo. There's actually a hint of his guilt sometimes...or maybe I'm just thinking too much about it.

Anyways, that's all my thoughts for now.

This subtle bastard made me cry, damn it.

___

That one scene of him crying and smiling is etched in my mind and was reminded of it when I recently saw a fanart. So I decided to write about my feelings about his character and personality.

It's not a mindblowing post or anything new and it goes from humor to angst pretty fast but I think it's just like him. If you analyze his words in one way, it's just hilarious but if you analyze it in another way, it's sad.

I like how the author wrote him. He's a crazy bastard and a tsundere (the only tsundere I'll ever like) and I'm so glad I found this novel.

[f1goat]

his teammate + lando norris x part thirteen

In which you find yourself getting closer to your brothers new teammate who's a dick.

lando norris x fem!verstappen (sister) + cursewords + smut

masterlist - playlist

“I really need to get some air,” you say to Lando and Layla, “I uh, I will see you later.”

Before either of them can react you’re already walking away. You almost run through the crowd from the night club to get outside. You need air. Fresh air. You know that you don’t have all the information, but at this moment it’s enough for you. Lando ignored your messages, made no effort to find you tonight and all because he’s talking with an ex. Maybe not an ex girlfriend, but at least some girl he used to fuck regularly. 

When you’re finally outside you’re quick to find a bench on the street. You take place on it and let out a big sigh. In what sort of mess have you gotten yourself? You pull out your phone and notice that it’s filling up with notifications from Lando. Multiple messages are coming in. You already feel drenched, but still you start to read them. 

Lando: babygirl where did you go to?

Lando: she doesn’t mean anything

Lando: tell me where you are so I can explain

Lando: babygirl?

You don’t reply to his messages. You need time to think about everything that happened. What does Lando mean with his text? She doesn’t mean anything. What is that saying? You feel yourself getting panicked. What if Pierre is right? Could it be that Lando is still sleeping around? You don’t want to think about it, you know you should trust Lando and you really try to do so. But he’s making it so hard for you tonight.

You think back about last weeks. He never gave you a reason to distrust him. Not once. Then why are you this quick to run away from him? Maybe it’s because you haven’t talked about everything that happened between him and Maisie yet. You should talk about everything she has said when you spoke her. Lando needs to tell you what’s true and what isn’t. 

When a girl takes a seat next to you on the bench, you don’t even realize it at first. 

“I told Lando that you’d probably rather hear it from me right now,” the girl says suddenly. When you look at her you realize that it’s Layla. Without the people around her and the colored lights from the club, you notice how beautiful she is. “Since it looked bad,” she continues to speak, “and Lando is drunk and will probably make things even worse right now.”

Make things worse? What can he make worse? Your mind shifts to the worst case scenario’s. 

“What do you mean?” You ask Layla.

“Lando wasn’t flirting with me, he didn’t want to take me back to his hotel or anything like that,” she tells you, “and I can promise you that he’s a total different person then when I saw him last time. A year ago.”

“He wasn’t?” You ask.

Layla simply nods. “He was apologizing.”

“Apologizing?” You ask even more confused.

“I know this sounds weird,” Layla tells you with a soft laugh, “but he has gotten it into his head to apologize to every girl he has hurt. Apparently one of his exes showed up in his drivers room and acted all crazy? He’s trying to protect you from that I guess.”

“Promise?” You ask her, “It was really that?”

She simply nods and takes your pink to intertwine it with hers. “Pinky promise,” she says. 

After that you take your time to talk with her. Layla tells you about her and Lando. She had sex with him a couple times - “He didn’t even take his time with me, I never came” - and was around him for a bit of fame now that she was honest about it. Lando always told her that it would be a just sex thing with no strings, which she agreed onto. Last formula one season was the last time she saw him. He didn’t plan to meet her here tonight, but they walked into each other. 

“I swear I didn’t believe him when he told me he was dating somebody,” Layla tells you laughingly, “but then he started to apologize for how he treated me and everything. I haven’t spoken that long with him, but he actually seems like a whole different person.”

You show her a small smile. 

“You did a good job with him,” Layla tells you, “I always knew there was more to him then this player bad boy type. You brought the real him back.”

“He did it himself,” you tell her shyly, “I didn’t do anything.”

“He did it for you,” Layla interrupts you, “I know you didn’t tell him to change and deserve you, but he decided that he wanted you and that he needed the best version of himself to get you. You’re a lucky girl.”

Before you can respond to Layla the boy you’re busy talking about shows up himself. Lando is quietly standing in front of Layla and you. He looks at you. He looks nervous. 

“This is my sign to go,” Layla speaks up while she stands up from the bench, “It was nice meeting you y/n and Lando thanks for the apologies. Everything is forgiven.” With those words she walks away, leaving Lando and you alone.

“I overreacted,” you confess to Lando, “I’m sorry Lan, I shouldn’t have thought like that without asking you first.”

“And I should have reacted to your texts and found you before her,” Lando tells you, he takes a place next to you on the bench. He wraps his arm around your body and pulls you close to himself. “I was so surprised to see her that I forgot about the rest,” Lando adds, “and maybe I should have introduced you different to her.”

“Can you take me back to the hotel?” You ask Lando.

“I can’t drive, but I can fix us a cab,” Lando jokes before pulling out his phone.

+++

The following two weeks are hard on you. Lando is busy with simulator work and apologizing to every girl he can find. That means your Instagram is full with photos from Lando and those girls. Every time you open Instagram some gossip account has posted a new photo from Lando with another girl. You’re constantly reminded of how beautiful the girls all are. They are always influencers with a lot of followers, models or strangers who still look like they should be a model. You trust Lando, but you’re missing your time with him. 

And you’re having a hard time with the fact that it’s still not official between the two of you.

Y/N: when are you back?

Lando: patience babygirl

Lando: I’ll be back in your arms in no time ;)

Y/N: what’s no time?

Lando: depends how tomorrow will go

Y/N: i miss you

Lando: i miss you too

Messages like that are almost getting too familiar to you. Sometimes you wonder if you can actually do this. You thought it would be easier. Sleepless nights are nothing new for you lately, you can already guess that tonight will be another one. Hours you’re spending awake while doubting everything. Is it supposed to be like this when you’re not even officially in a relationship?

You let out a sigh. For the tenth time you turn yourself around in bed. You miss Lando his presence next to you right now. It would be much better if he was laying here with you. He doesn’t even need to say anything, just him being here - next to you - would solve everything right now. You scroll on your Instagram. Of course the first thing you see is a new picture from Lando with a girl. Why did he decide to apologize to everyone? You can’t stand the idea anymore. Mainly because there are so many girls.

Slowly you feel your cheeks getting wet. You didn’t even realize you were crying. A couple tears roll down on your cheeks. Before you know it, you’re sobbing as well. Fuck what a mess. It’s not like there’s anything wrong between you and Lando. There’s no fight or anything like that. You just miss him and you have the feeling you have so much to talk about with him. And all those girls he’s with aren’t helping. You know he means well by apologizing to them, but you’re done with it.

You hear a soft knock on your door. It’s probably Max. He has been worried about you the last days. Of course he knew before you even realized yourself that you weren’t great at the moment. You wipe away some tears and try to look a bit more positive before answering.

“Come in,” you say.

When the door opens you’re taken aback by surprise. It makes you only cry harder. You have no idea if those tears are from happiness or sadness anymore. 

“Babygirl?”

Lando rushes inside your room when he sees your state. He is fast to close the door and kick off his shoes, before he sits down on the bed next to you. Without saying anything he takes you into his arms. Softly he caresses your back. He presses soft kisses against your face. He can taste the saltiness of your tears. It hurts him to find you like this. He expected the opposite. He thought you would be happy when he entered your room after barely seeing each other lately. But it seemed like he only made you cry (harder?). 

“What’s wrong baby?” Lando asks you softly. 

You don’t react at first. You try to, but you can’t get a normal word out. The only sounds leaving your mouth are sobs at the moment. 

“Take your time,” Lando tells you. He presses another kiss against your head. This time at your forehead. He presses you against his chest. 

“We.. we,” you try to say, but again it’s mostly sobs, “we uh, we really need to t.. talk.”

“Talk?” Lando asks you confused. This is something he really didn’t expect. The words sound bad. Why do you really need to talk with him? Is there something wrong? He knows he wasn’t around as much the last two weeks, but he tried to make amends with multiple exes and was busy with simulator work. “About what?” He asks further.

“Everything,” you cry out.

Lando starts to feel nervous. This sounds bad. You try to calm yourself so you can properly tell Lando what’s on your mind. In the mean time you notice Lando his confused - and nervous, looks. Fuck, this isn’t what you wanted.

“I can’t stand it anymore,” you tell Lando honestly, “I missed you like cray and all I see are pictures from you with exes. I know you’re apologizing, but I don’t want to see all those pictures every time.”

“I’m doing this for you babygirl,” Lando states, “What if there’s one who’s crazier then Maisie? What if they will search you out? And it’s helping me to better myself. Otherwise I never deserve you.”

Those words make you cry again. 

“Stop,” you sob, “stop bettering yourself for me.”

Lando looks confused at you. 

“You’re more then enough,” you tell him, “and I need you to realize that.”

“I’m more then enough but when I try to surprise you I find you crying about me,” Lando mutters, “Then I’m doing something wrong. This can’t be more then enough.”

“It’s,” you try to explain yourself but you can’t find the right words. “Fuck,” you mutter, “I don’t know how to explain.”

“Explain what?”

“How I’m feeling,” you sigh. 

“Fuck this is what I meant,” Lando says, he raises his voice a bit. “Look at what I caused,” he continues, “you’re a crying mess because of me.” After saying those words he stands up. He walks away from your bed. “I know what you’re feeling,” Lando sighs, “and you don’t have to say it or explain it. I understand. I’ll leave you alone from now on.”

After hearing those words you’re quick to stand up as well. Before Lando can take another step, you grab his arm. “Stop,” you tell him, “Stay here. I don’t want any of that. I’ll try to explain myself, but please stop thinking so negative about yourself.”

“What do you want?” Lando asks you confused.

“You Lando, I still want you and that won’t change anytime soon. I want to know why we aren’t official yet. I don’t want to miss you as much as I did last weeks. And I really want you to stop fixing things with all those girls. I really can’t stand all those pictures.”

Together you sit down on your bed again. 

“We aren’t official yet because I didn’t dare to ask you before I fixed everything about myself,” Lando confesses, “There are girls who will hate you for being with me because of what I did to them. Every fan will think that I use you. And I can’t offer you everything you deserve, like a nice family in law.”

“I don’t care about all that,” you tell Lando.

“After Max found out about us I asked him permission to make it official,” Lando confesses, “and now I’m doing some sort of shit tour to fix problems from my past. After that I was going to ask you. I have planned it out already.”

“Stop planning it and start doing it,” you state, “I don’t want any grand gesture, I just want you Lan.”

“You want to be my girlfriend?” Lando asks confused, “Even when everyone will have an opinion about us?”

“I thought you didn’t care about opinions,” you say confused.

“I don’t, but I do care about you getting hate reactions because you’re dating me.”

“I don’t care about that,” you sigh.

“I still won’t ask you,” Lando states. You can’t help it and let out another soft sob. “I have planned something great for tomorrow, then I’ll ask you,” Lando continues. 

“Promise?” You ask Lando hopefully.

“Promise.”

The rest of the night you spend in your bed with Lando. The two of you talk about everything that happened lately. Lando told you about all the conversations he had with exes. The one would forgive him on the spot, others would still hate him. You told him multiple times that he could stop with his apology tour. “I’m glad,” he said eventually, “because some of those used me even more then I used them.” You told him about everything that was upsetting you. Finally you talked about everything that happened with Maisie. Lando could confirm to you that almost everything she told you were lies. You’ve told Lando multiple times that he deserves you. Things finally felt alright again. That night you slept like a baby. You were finally back in Lando his arms.

+++

The following day Lando kept his promise. He took you out on an amazing date - in public. The two of you spend some time walking through the streets of Monaco before he took you with him to a luxurious restaurant. It was located on a small boat. You have never eaten that well somewhere. After that you walked back to Lando his apartment, which he transferred into a romantic place. 

There were candles everywhere and he even sprinkled around some rose petals on the floor. There was a giant bouquet of roses waiting for you as well, together with a small teddy bear who was wearing a mini LN4 shirt. The cutest teddy bear you have ever seen. 

Then Lando finally asked you the question you had been waiting for. Of course you didn’t even let him finish and said yes. It’s finally official. The same night he posted multiple pictures from you two on his socials. Captioned with ‘still don't know how I pulled this off, but so fucking glad i did'. It was his first own Instagram post in years.

You have never been happier.

The following race week Lando made sure that everyone who didn’t knew already that you were his would know by now. After finally getting his deserved first place, you were the first one he searched for. He ignored Christian and ran right up to you. You don’t know how many people watch the race, but every single one of them saw Lando running up to you to kiss you.

that was it everyone! thank y'all so much for all the interactions <3 next story will be out soon!

[nutzgunray-lvt]

I will FOREVER be salty about how Hori paints his characters with valid criticisms against the status quo as in the wrong:

Monoma - hates Bakugou, therefore hates 1A by association and is painted out to be some over the top arrogant asshole who freaks out every time they so much as breath (Monoma's not my favorite, but he's 100% right when it comes to Bakugou).

Rock Lock - doesn't want the first years (maybe also the third years, idk?) involved in the Shie Hassaikai raid due to how dangerous it is and due to having recently had a newborn son, is painted as someone who's being overprotective and unfair to these heroes in training.

Inko - isn't comfortable with Izuku continuing at UA after the Forest Camp Attack, is painted as being overprotective (I have my issues with Inko, but she had an incredibly valid point here).

The media - rightfully criticizes UA's utter inability to protect their students and reign in Bakugou's behavior (the hill I will die on), is painted as trying to unfairly persecute UA/Aizawa.

Present Mic - uses common sense to deduce that there's a traitor in UA's midst, is portrayed as being a shit stirrer who's quick to distrust his colleagues and students (another hill I'll die on).

Gran Torino (a minor one) - calls Aizawa's high expulsion rate as what it is: nasty (showing that even he has standards), is immediately corrected by Present Mic that the expulsions are "only on paper" and Aizawa truly cares deep down (which actually makes it WORSE since it stays on their permanent records regardless).

Other students taking the Provisional Exam - call out Bakugou for being an obnoxious asshole, are immediately painted as "not understanding how hard he works."

Pro Heroes and Present Mic - call out Bakugou for not taking Ochako seriously in the Sports Festival, are told to RETIRE for not understanding how Bakugou clearly works harder than anybody else to be a hero (but then Bakugou proceeds to get the second highest amount of internship offers, so idk what the fuck point Horikoshi was trying to make here).

Vlad King is a weird one because while his one-sided rivalry with Aizawa/1A is obnoxious and unprofessional, he IS a better teacher than Aizawa is and it's a point not focused on aside from an off hand comment by Aizawa. You'd think this would make him examine whether or not his beliefs are truly benefiting his students or have Nedzu call him up and say, "what's up with your class consistently underperforming against 1B?"

Best Jeanist is perhaps the ONLY Pro-Hero to see Bakugou's behavior for what it is and takes him as an intern to rectify it... but proceeds to focus on all the wrong things (his style being the main one) and not really get to the core of his goal.

Society as a whole doesn't trust heroes for a myriad of reasons (some unreasonably, some for extremely valid reasons) and are painted as being unfair and incredibly biased against heroes as a whole.

Izuku leaves UA due to AFO having Ragdoll's Quirk, is essentially ganged up on and beaten/shamed into submission by Class 1A who completely disregard his POV (I don't agree with him putting himself in this position, I'm just pointing how it makes sense narratively).

Me, trying to make sense of all of this -

Like... how is your story supposed to be nuanced and your characters three-dimensional if you paint the complainer as always in the wrong?

[analogwriting]

Star-Crossed

Chapter 7: Cœur

Donquixote Rosinante x gn!reader word count: 2k a/n: bet you weren't expecting a twofer, huh next

When you were back in your office, Marco was already there, perched on your desk as usual. You assumed he saw you leave with your father and made a beeline for the room to wait for you. He knew you’d want to talk to him. He looked at you with a raise of his eyebrows. You shook your head.

“I’m still unsure. He mostly just came to ask if I wanted to come back to the family?”

“But why?”

You shook your head. “Said he’s gonna start looking for a successor but…he already told me that he was some time ago. Maybe he forgot? It was a few years ago.” You tapped your chin. “Though, doing a task like that, it’s unlikely he just forgot.”

“Maybe he’s not having luck finding someone and thought he’d try you one more time?” Marco suggested, leaning back on his hands. He watched as you plopped into your desk chair. “I suppose.” You shook your head.

“The timing is just weird, I guess. Puts me on edge.” You let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. Nothing about this meeting was sitting right with you. It was all too specifically timed to you.

“I’m saying. We almost got C-” Your head snapped in Marco’s direction as his own eyes widened. He clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Almost got who to do what?” You narrowed your eyes at Marco. “I fucking knew you were up to something! You and Law!” 

Marco put his hands up. “Fine.” He rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a laugh. “Got me. We were trying to set the two of you up. Apparently, he’s got quite the crush on you. Always asks about you when Law gets home.” 

Your ears suddenly felt like they were ablaze. You folded your arms and sighed. “Well, I’m sure that’s no more.” You shook your head. “I suppose it’s better that he found out now instead of me explaining things later.” You still couldn’t believe this happened in the manner that it did. 

“However, knowing you, you probably would’ve spilled everything if he had successfully asked you out.” You nodded. He was right. If Corazon succeeded, you’d tell him everything. With him being who he was and you being who you were, you weren’t going to start a relationship off with secrets.

“It’s no matter now. I’m sure we won’t see him again. Fate had her fun. Now things can go back to normal.”

Marco just looked at you, narrowing his eyes at you. “So quick to dismiss.” He shook his head, folding his arms across his chest.

You stared at him with a confused expression. “There’s literally no coming back from this, Marco. It’s over. Done for. We’re from opposite families.”

“You both left.”

“But it’s going to be natural distrust.” 

“Do you not trust him?”

You paused for a moment. “Well, naturally.”

“You hesitated.”

“You threw me off.”

“Uh huh.”

You rolled your eyes, folding your arms and pouting slightly. “Whatever.” You weren’t even sure what you were talking about anymore. What you did know was that you were getting a headache. You closed your eyes, sighing.

“Got a bad feeling though.” Both of you spoke at the same time. You opened your eyes, locking eyes with him. “Awesome. Great. You know what that means.”

Marco chuckled, nodding. “Shit’s about to get wiiiild.” Whenever you both had the feeling and ended up syncing up, it was always a recipe for disaster. You fell into a fit of laughter with your best friend. Honestly, everything was such a fucking shit fest right now, all you could do was laugh. 

You could only imagine what was going to happen.

--

The rest of the day went by rather smoothly - a little too smoothly. You didn’t like it; Marco didn’t like it either. You were just waiting for the other shoe to drop, only it never did. No surprises, nothing too crazy, a smooth, uneventful afternoon. 

Which was weird for a hospital to begin with so you knew something was wrong. At least something was going to happen to really just throw a wrench into things. Marco was on edge too. Nothing was more stressful than easy days because there was always a catch. You two never had it easy.

But, the day was fine. Nothing happened and next thing you knew, it was time to go home. Everyone showed up for their shifts on time, so you didn’t even need to stay late. It was…unsettling.

You stuck around an extra hour or so just to make sure nothing bad happened, but time came and went. So, you decided to finally leave. Marco had left a couple hours ago, letting things just be. He tried to get you to leave too only to fail in that endeavor. Just in case, you kept telling yourself.

On your way to your car, you thought about the day’s events once more. It was all just…weird. You couldn’t get over your father’s entire visit. It just didn’t feel right. It was off. He was off. Could it be because he saw Corazon? You wouldn’t be surprised if that threw him into a loop.

You were about to open your car door when you suddenly felt something behind you. Something hard pressed against the back of your head and it didn’t take a genius to know what it was. You didn’t feel fear. It was something that you’ve unfortunately experienced before.

“Don’t move.” You didn’t. Not with a gun pressed to your head. And you already knew who was at the other end of it.

“Corazon.” Your voice was flat, but you sighed softly. 

“You know, most people would be terrified to have a gun pointed to their head. Guess you really are that bastard’s child then, huh?” You made a face as he called your father a name. You really didn’t want to deal with this but you also had no choice. What if someone saw him? You were still in the hospital parking lot!

You moved quickly, turning around. You grabbed his hand with the weapon, twisting it towards the ground in an angle that made him loosen his grip. In moments, the weapon was in your hand, the magazine taken out and the chamber unloaded. You looked at him. “Are you fucking serious right now? The fucking parking lot? Are you insane?” You shoved the pieces of gun into the pocket of his jacket.

Corazon cradled his arm, just staring at you. “What the hell are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who just does that without a second thought? I’ve never seen anyone so easily disarm and render a weapon useless like that. It looked as easy as breathing to you.” The man was absolutely dumbfounded. He looked impressed but he also looked like he was trying not to be for the sake of the argument.

“Cause it is.”

He just stared at you like you grew a third head before he finally stood back up. He easily towered over you and you could tell he was trying to use that to his advantage. You looked up at him, folding your arms. You didn’t give two shits how tall he was. “So, what’s the meaning of-”

“What’s your angle?” He narrowed his eyes at you, gaze intense. 

“I don’t-” You shook your head as you spoke, only to be interrupted.

“Bullshit.”

The way he was looking at you and the dominant way he spoke made your heart race. And not with fear. Jesus fuck what was wrong with you? Now was not the time for that.

“You knew who I was the whole time, didn’t you? Played me like a fiddle.” He scoffed, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I-” He clenched his jaw, the look of hurt and betrayal in his eyes.

You just looked at him for a moment, trying to gather your own thoughts. Also giving him a moment to say what he needed to. After he was quiet, you spoke up. “Rosinante.” He seemed to tense as you called him that. He narrowed his eyes at you.

“It is true. I did know who you were. But, I assumed, like me, you weren’t in that scene anymore.”

“Oh don’t give me that bullshit either. I clearly saw your father earlier. You’re still in the scene.” You paused, pursing your lips together. He was right on that one. You licked your teeth in thought.

“Okay. Here’s everything…” You told him. You told him just about everything. Who you were in association to your father. How you took on the Newgate last name to stay incognito. The hospital. Both sides. You told him about how you helped people from all families but you also helped people escape that kind of lifestyle. You told him all of it. When in doubt, tell the truth.

Except the whole saving Law thing. You were still keeping that one a secret. You didn’t feel like it was time to reveal that quite yet.

Corazon was silent as you spoke, looking at you with an expression you couldn’t decipher. He let you talk at him but something told you it wasn’t going to matter anyway. You were currently talking to a brick wall, but you couldn’t stop rambling.

“So, you mean to tell me that you’re neutral in all this? That you just help out all the families with no drawbacks? I’m having a hard time believing that one, chief.” He rolled his eyes at you and, for some reason, that made your blood boil.

“You know what, Rosinante?” His eyebrows raised and he looked at you. “If I really wanted to kill you for whatever reason - or kill Law - don’t you think I would have already done that? I’m a fucking doctor. I’m trusted by just about everyone in this city. I can make just about anyone fucking disappear and I have. I know you’re out of the scene. You have been out. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to bring up any bad memories. I wanted you to feel comfortable at my hospital just like everyone else.”

He started to look slightly guilty which wasn’t even what you were going for - you were just frustrated by everything. You were starting to bubble over. This day just wouldn’t fucking end.

“The lifestyle is terrible and toxic. I didn’t want to be a part of it and it was obvious you didn’t want to either, so I didn’t say anything. And if it’s a fucking crime to want to make my hospital a safe space, then arrest me.” 

He just looked at you for a long time before he shook his head. “I don’t even know if I can trust all that. You could be covering your ass.”

You took a deep breath, closing your eyes. You were trying to keep your own temper in check but you were struggling with that. You opened your eyes, looking at him. “Believe what you fucking want, Rosinante. I know my truth.” You didn’t have to prove anything to him. Why waste your time when it was clear he already made up his mind?

You turned, opening your car door. “Now, if you don’t mind. I’m going home.” With that, you climbed in your car and took off without even glancing back at him.

Well, you supposed the other shoe finally dropped.

[yourbestpalpercy]

Operator walked through the quiet, white hallways of the Kamabo Co. Labs. Unfamiliar faces stared at it with…almost angry looks. Distrustful looks. No one trusted or liked it and…unfortunately, it didn’t even understand why. …Operator took a breath. It needed to find Everest…no matter what.

“Is- Is there a 7 around here? I need a number 7 to come here?? …Please????” He said in a louder tone of voice than usual. Operator didn’t like shouting that much. Before, Operator didn’t like it because it just felt weird. Now that Operator knew who he once was, it made Operator wonder if he was acting just like the old commander.

Operator caught a look at a deep blue axolotl with mint green frills. Operator had never once seen them before. The axolotl– what was her name? She seemed familiar to Operator almost but…not quite. Whatever. Point is, Operator watched as she ran off and disappeared. “Axolotl?” Operator tilted their head, confused, “Where are you going?” Operator shook their head a moment later.

“7! Uhm, Number 10,007?? Do you prefer that name!? Please come here!” Operator stood up on its tiptoes and used its hand to make its yell come out louder. ‘Maybe I should be more commanding? Tartar probably did that to make people come to him, yeah? Oh…but I don’t want to be mean about it…’ Operator messed with its fingers and gave polite yelling another go. It really didn’t want to be commanding…

“I need an Applicant 10,007 to PLEASE come here!?”

Still nothing. Operator became worried. The sanitized all around him studied his actions closely…coldly. It felt like they were waiting for Operator to mess up. They wanted to see Operator act just like their old commander. They want him to be just like Commander Tartar. They all waited for a command. Operator wiped a quick tear from his eye, staring at all of them. Operator stared at his hands before taking a deep breath.

Just as Operator went to yell out a command, they heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. 2 people, from the sounds of it. The axolotl came back with a sanitized octoling in tow that looked…more tired than anything. Operator stood there, watching the axolotl now. “Hi uhm…sorry, very, very sorry to bother you,” Operator started, approaching the octoling that the axolotl had in her hands, “But are you 7?” They pushed their fingertips together with a nervous look on their smile.

“Mmmmhh…” the octoling groaned, “Whaddya want…?” They rubbed their eyes.

“I need to talk to Everest, please? The little, ‘new human’? With the white hair and amber eyes? Do you know where she is?”

7 shook her head. “Haven’t seen her since–” She was interrupted by a yawn– “the…rainmake…r test… Can I go back to sleep now?”

“Oh! Sorry, I hadn’t realized I woke you up, I am…v-very sorry…” Operator put its hands together, “Yes. Yes. You- you may head back to sleep. A-Again, very, very sorry…” Operator turned on its heel quickly and started wandering down the hallways once again. The surrounding sanitized just seemed disappointed and hostile minus a few octolings here and there. Everest’s room had to be somewhere in these labs, right? Somewhere…

As Operator walked, he soon found a room with a large splotch of sanitized ink on the handle. Eek-!! How disgusting-! Hazardous–! Operator scrambled to get a rag out of his pocket and spray it with a spray bottle from his chest’s storage compartment. Once the handle was fully clean, Operator let out a relieved sigh. “Fixed, much better…” Operator would’ve moved on from the room if he hadn’t heard the slightest groan echo from inside the room.

‘Everest…?’

Operator slowly pushed open the door and…stared from the doorway at Everest resting inside an old bed that Operator recognized near instantly as their own once upon a time. Everest rested with her entire body underneath the covers. “…Everest?”

There was a groan from the bed, “Leave me alone, Operator…I know it’s you…” Everest curled up tighter in the bed’s soft sheets. Operator now started to approach the bed, shutting the door to make the room dark once again. It didn’t turn on the light.

“Please, show your face, Everest. I want to talk to you,” Operator slowly sat down at the edge of the bed. He had a saddened look on his face. The covers tensed up.

“Do you really think I’m going to listen to you? You’re not him. An imposter. Just like him.” There was the slightest hint of tears in her sad voice. Operator just wanted to hug Everest and never let go.

“Everest, please. I just want to talk…” They reached their hand forward to pat her back.

The sheet shuffled again and curled tighter; Operator drew its hand away quickly, “What don’t you understand about ‘Leave me alone’?” Everest let out a rough hiss.

“…Everything I suppose. I don’t understand a lot actually. I barely understand a hug even still. I just…I want to help you.”

“Help with what?” Everest revealed her head, sitting up as she spat at Operator, “Making me feel better o’er the death and disgusting replacement of my dad!?” Everest jabbed Operator’s shoulder, “You’re not my dad and you’ll NEVER be! Stop trying, you dam lasshole!” Everest shouted, slamming her hands on the bed.

Operator stayed silent, just staring at Everest’s angry face. She was bright red and it was obvious that she was holding back more tears. “Everest…”

She drug her arm across her eyes, sniffling, “SHUT UP! Stop talking!! I’m tired of listening to you! You’re. Not. My. Dad!” Everest threw the blanket over her head again, curling up once again.

“…I’m not trying to be your new dad, Everest. That’s what you’re misunderstanding. That’s what I’m trying to explain to you…Snowflake?” Operator’s memory was all fuzzy but it suggested that Tartar would use snowy nicknames to tease Everest.

She responded coldly though. “Don’t you dare start with the snow-related nicknames…” Everest grumbled.

“Sorry,” Operator looked away, rubbing his arm with a sorrowful expression on his face, “I just-…thought it would help.”

“It would help if you were my real dad,” Everest huffed, trying to hide her obvious tears from Operator. Her breathing hitched in her throat repeatedly as hard as she tried to make it stop. Operator felt that tug in their chest once again. That tug that made them want to pull Everest into their arms and not let her go until she understood that they wanted to help.

“…I know I’ll never be Tartar to you,” It finally said. Its voice was somber. “I am still that telephone to others though. I’ve noticed how CQ talks with a shaky voice when giving me orders to clean areas and tests. Pinn, 8, is ever distant towards me. The train goers pretend to not notice me. Some of the…applicants? Tartar’s soldiers? *Ahem*, some of them down here still tense up when they see me. No one trusts me. They all expect me to go back to his old ways.” It was all true. Whether it would make Everest feel better or not, Operator had no idea. It hoped it would help at least a little.

“Are you really trying to make me trust you more because other people still see you as the commander?” Everest sat up under the blanket, her arms holding her knees close to her body. She wiped another few tears from her eye, “Ha…! That’s cheap.”

Operator let out a laugh following Everest’s sad one, “It's obvious that I’m not that good at comforting people, isn’t it?”

“Haha…” Everest’s laughs were still sad, “You were never good at it. Do you want to know what Tartar said to Mr. Grizz when he got him back down from space? After he failed to bring mammals back to Earth? ‘Well, you’re still not alone! There’s still Judd and Lil Judd!’. Mr. Grizz nearly dismantled Tartar on the spot.”

Operator let out a slight giggle. Now that was unbelievable! “Mr. Grizz? The large, large bear? I almost don’t want to believe you. He still lets me snuggle him. Bury my face in his fuzzy, fuzzy, brown fur.” Operator sometimes sneezed when he snuggled Mr. Grizz too hard but the bear never seemed to mind much and, if Operator was lucky, he’d let him fall asleep on his back, or his stomach, or- or his chest! Operator would’ve drifted into a happy little day if Everest didn’t speak up once again.

“…He knew about Tartar’s reset too?” Everest finally removed the blanket from her face, huffing; her eyes carried a heavy sense of betrayal, “Why did nobody tell me? Did people really think that the daughter of the commander himself wouldn’t care about his disappearance, death and replacement?”

Operator frowned, “Guess not. Someone should’ve told you though. It wasn’t fair to you, to let you find out the hard way,” Operator slipped his hat off, looking over every detail, “I-…am so sorry for the 2 weeks that everyone made you go through…all that worry. All that secret keeping…” Operator put their feet on the bed and wrapped their arms around themself. A hole formed in their stomach.

“…Tartar’s disappearance was a mystery to myself as well. I had no idea that he ever ‘disappeared’. I-I knew that he was dead but- I really, truly believed that us looking the same was just a mere coincidence. Nothing more. …I only learned earlier when you were yelling at me, the truth. I noticed 8’s face. How her eyes widened and then quickly shifted about to look at things in the statue. Everyone hid the truth from me too; expecting me to never discover the truth about myself. They figured I would stay oblivious to my origins forever. That no one would tell me that,” Operator crossed its arms tighter and its lever spun to imitate Pearl’s voice, its supposed creator’s girlfriend, “‘Oh, by the way, you used to be an evil, absolutely maniacal commander hellbent on killing EVERYONE with a mega death laser because you wanted to bring back humanity!’” Operator’s face darkened into a real scowl; it clenched its fists, its voice changing to Marina’s voice, “‘Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the blender. You killed thousands of sea creatures using it, promising them you’d bring them to a utopia called The Promised Land,’” Operator loudly huffed, feeling truly angry for the first time in a…ever. It had never felt truly angry before. Its lever spun one last time, mimicking both of their voices, “‘Thank Cod you’ll never find out though because that would certainly suck!’” Operator put its fists to its eyes and groaned loudly.

“I hate it when people hide things from me. The last time someone hid something from me, it was about the disappearance of my Uncle Treeline from the mountain cult. I found out with my own eyes that he had been killed, sacrificed to The Leviathan and cut up for stew by the village, more specifically, his own brother…my defective father,” Everest didn’t look at Operator, she only stared at the bed.

“Is your real father the reason why you clung onto Tartar so much?”

“Nooo, I clung on because he would hurt me! OF COURSE THAT’S WHY!” Everest screamed, “He was the ONLY one that treated me like the human I was! He was proud of me! Really proud! Nothing like my dad or my mom! I was alive to him! I wasn’t a prop for power to him! I was a real, breathing, living person to him! He- He promised that I never had to go back to the mountain. He cared about me…!” Everest sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“I-...I miss him so much…I want my real dad back, Operator…” Operator couldn’t fight the tug anymore. He gently scooped Everest into his chest, letting her cry large, warm, runny tears into his chest. Operator should’ve snapped to clean it but something in him refused to let it happen. Operator fought against his strange programming to hold Everest close to him and comfort her.

“...” Operator’s lever spun, pitching their voice this way and that until they finally spoke up.

“I’m proud of you, Everest,” Tartar’s voice came from Operator’s mouth, “You might not have been successful with the NILS Statue but never, ever forget that I am always, always proud of you. I’ve been proud since we first…met,” Operator struggled momentarily to try to dredge up the correct memory.

The way Everest untensed was in a negative way, “...Stop being fake, Operator. You can’t just switch your voice to Tartar’s and expect everything to be fine. Just talk normally.”

Operator’s lever pitched again, regaining its voice, “Well…what would you like from me? What would help you right now…?” Operator started to stand up as Everest kept her face shoved into Operator’s chest.

“…Can you watch me do a test…?” Everest murmured, “Maybe all of Line M? I just…wanna see someone be proud…” Everest mumbled.

Operator smiled, “I can do that. Let’s go get the train!” Operator grabbed Everest’s hand quickly. As Everest stumbled out of bed, following Operator, he noticed something was missing from Everest. “You’re…missing something, Everest…” Operator made a small, grabbing motion. It was on the tip of his tongue, Operator was sure.

“I’m missing my golf club, Operator. My main weapon. …The weapon Tartar customized for me.”

“Oh… Where’s your golf club?”

“…” Everest paused with a solemn expression on her face. She rubbed her shoulder. Her lip quivered ever so slightly as if holding back tears. “At the ocean floor. It fell down…really far down…” The smallest tear pushed its way from Everest’s eye. Operator stopped Everest outside of Tartar’s room. Raising a finger, Operator carefully pushed the tear away. He gently raised Everest’s head to look at his genuine smile.

“Then let’s find it together, Everest. I know how much that golf club meant to you. Tartar made it just for you.”

“It’s gone. Forever, Operator. No point in trying to find it.”

Operator gently wrapped his arms around Everest and pulled her close, “...Nothing’s gone forever, Everest. Let’s go find it…” Operator sighed softly. They were glad…Everest was feeling at least a little better now. Operator turned away and started to guide Everest through the halls of the labs.

[ghost-proofbaby]

“Do not,” he whispers to her in a low tone, face still impassive as he presses himself just close enough so that she’s the only one that can hear him, “Get involved in this. Unless, of course, you’re going to swing on one of the poor saps. In that case, I fully support you, my dear.” 

summary: when the party finally encounters a proper fight, aruna only has one thing on her mind: save astarion. and if she finally starts to piece together a few things about herself and her magic, well - that can't possibly hurt, can it?

wc: 5.3k+

warnings: continued memory loss, fighting, spoilers for the game (play by play description of scenes from emerald grove in act 1), aruna and astarion can't decide if they'll play nice with each other or not lol

a/n: this fic is about to be just a constant cycle of aruna taking a spray bottle to astarion as her weird way of trying to keep him alive truly

masterlist | previous chapter | next chapter

Aruna is beginning to believe the tadpole in her head was the least of the inconveniences she’d had to encounter on her journey.

When they’d left camp for the day, they’d have a very straightforward objective: discover a form of civilization, find a healer, and get the damned worms out of their heads. 

Simple. Easier said than done, but certainly simple. 

Or so she thought. 

It starts when they’re wandering the trails of the wilderness leading out of camp. They’re not going towards the beach this time, she promises Shadowheart that much, but what they come across is far worse than having to face off with anymore intellect devourers. 

Actual people. Tieflings, Gale identifies, who had a familiar githyanki held high above them in a cage. 

Aruna would never say she has a bleeding heart based on her choices so far on their journey, but she still doesn’t hesitate to decide to help the githyanki. Shadowheart confirmed she was on the ship, with much distaste, and made it clear she wasn’t keen on helping her. Aruna didn’t care. Astarion also seemed less than pleased at the prospect of helping, but his hands were twitching for his daggers, and she realized he’d only kept his mouth shut due to the clear opportunity for a fight to break out. 

Gale had been the only one on her side as she’d approached the situation. 

One painful merging of her tadpole to the githyanki’s (although, notably less painful than her connection with Gale, and certainly less agonizing than that with Astarion) and a failed attempt at diffusing the situation in hopes for no blood to be shed later, Astarion got his wishes. A fight. That they’d won, quite easily. Whether it was thanks to Gale’s quick trigger of his magic or Astarion’s flashing daggers was up for debate (it wasn’t really – she just couldn’t bear to boost either man’s ego by saying as much out loud.)

Lae’zel. The githyanki’s name was Lae’zel, and Aruna didn’t hesitate to dismiss her in the direction of their camp, much to everyone’s disdain. 

Aruna didn’t care. She had an end goal in mind for the day – she was going to find a healer, daylight be damned. 

“I still don’t trust the gith,” Shadowheart is continuing to complain at her side as they trek further along these paths. There are paths. Leading somewhere. And those tieflings had mentioned something about a grove. There had to be civilization somewhere nearby, “I respect your choice, but I’ll continue to sleep with one eye open with her at camp.”

“Be my guest,” Aruna mutters, growing tired of the complaints. 

She gets it – she has no former memories on how ‘distrustful’ githyankis are, but Shadowheart has made it abundantly clear they shouldn’t drop their guard around her. She got it about ten damning sighs and wistful comments ago. 

“And how are we to trust all her talk of purification? What if it’s nothing more than a trap, luring us in to lead us to certain death?” Shadowheart tsks, voicing a lingering concern that Aruna already had. But that bit of information that Lae’zel had offered was the first real lead they had on getting rid of the tadpoles, and she wasn’t about to dismiss it as Shadowheart was, “We simply can’t tr-”

“I’d hate to interrupt, but may I have a word with our fearless leader? I’ll only be a moment, I swear.”

Astarion had been lingering towards the back of the group for most of their walk. Quiet, occasionally humming to himself and smirking at others' comments here and there. Less out of real amusement, Aruna senses, and more in a belittling way. 

But suddenly, he had picked up his pace and fallen into step on Aruna’s left, leaning over and looking to the cleric who had been complaining endlessly on her right. 

Shadowheart, surprisingly, takes the hint well. 

The moment she’s fallen back to join Gale instead, probably still airing her superficial issues, Aruna is shooting a glance in Astarion’s direction. “If you’re here to say you also don’t trust Lae’zel, please just- save it for when we’re back at camp, please.” 

She doesn’t think her headache could handle anymore. 

“What? Oh, no,” Astarion scoffs, scrunching his nose for a moment, “I could care less about the gith. I just knew if Shadowheart’s yapping was getting on my nerves, you must be in desperate need of a break.”

Yapping. It was a cruel way to put it, but it still made a smile nearly break on Aruna’s face. 

“What was it you needed to discuss, then?” she asks, a little less on edge now. 

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“As I said, it just seemed as though we all needed a break from talk of the gith.”

That was… oddly kind. Even if Astarion had clearly done it in part for his own sanity, Aruna found herself appreciating the gesture regardless. 

They walk in silence for a while. Only a few mutters escape from Gale and Shadowheart from behind them, but Aruna chooses to block them out. With Astarion at her side now instead, she was able to better focus on leading them somewhere useful. Somewhere with answers, somewhere with a healer-

She should have known the peace wouldn’t last. 

Shouts sound up ahead, but the entire group’s view is entirely blocked from a large hill. 

“That doesn’t sound good,” Astarion notes the obvious, offering a quick side glance, as if observing Aruna’s own reaction to guarantee it aligned with his own. 

And it did. Well, sort of. “We should check it out.”

The entire group stares at her as if she’s finally grown tentacles. 

“We’ll be careful about it, obviously-”

“Obviously,” Astarion cuts in sarcastically.

“-But I have a feeling wherever that yelling is coming from, is… is…” 

Civilization? A step in the right direction?

“A healer,” she finally settles on it, which only makes everyone’s faces twist even further at her, “The shouting must mean people, and the more people, the higher likelihood of a healer.”

That seems to convince them all well enough. 

They creep up the hill and easily break off into natural pairings – Astarion stays at Aruna’s side as they find a hiding place in bushes near the hill’s peak, Gale and Shadowheart find a safe spot behind a tree on the opposite side, a bit further back. 

In the clearing below, Aruna spots the commotion easily. Three people – seemingly human – banging on a large wooden gate covered in vinery. At the top of the gate, there stands multiple tieflings, all arguing besides a large wheel that Aruna can only presume opens the gate.

And she can finally hear the words being shouted.

“Open the bloody gate! Goblins are coming!”

She feels Astarion tense beside her, clearly hearing what she had. Goblins. She can’t exactly visualize them, her memory predictably failing her once more, but she doesn’t have to wait long before the horde shows themselves. 

A large group. Foul creatures of all kinds, not just these goblins, are snarling in the direction of those humans. 

Finally, as if seeing were truly believing, a tiefling begins to open the gate. But Aruna already knows it’s far too late before the arrow that ends him has flown through the air – they had hesitated, and it just cost one of their own their life. 

The gate drops, despite the humans efforts to hold it up. The tiefling falls, a scream echoing from someone nearby. 

And amongst it all, as Aruna’s heart begins to race at the action, a realization strikes her. 

P.S. DO NOT FORGET – SAVE ASTARION. 

She hadn’t been sure of what to do with that in the last day, when they weren’t in danger. When it was nothing more than brains with legs and small bickering amongst the camp so far that posed the most threat, Aruna couldn’t comprehend why she was supposed to save the elf that clearly had an upper hand with his skilled hands and sharp daggers. 

But here, watching the beginnings of a battle unfold, she understood. 

Maybe this was it. Maybe this was the danger. 

Astarion is hardly a breath of a step ahead of her, crouched into a thicker part of the bush. Closer to the action – closer to the danger. Her hand flies out to land on his bicep without another thought.

“What are you-” he turns to look at her, clearly startled, but she’s determined.

He gets on her nerves. He’s impossible to read at times. She’s pretty sure he’d betray her the moment a better option of safety arose. But the letter said to save him, so save him she shall. 

“Get behind me,” she commands in a low voice, leaving no room for argument.

He still finds the space to argue. Of course he does. 

“Excuse me? I am not-” he begins to hiss at her, but he’s cut off when one of those wretched goblins have climbed to the top of the hill. 

They were only looking for higher ground, but Aruna isn’t quite as well-hidden as the rest of them. 

“Well, well, well,” the goblin snarls, “Thought yourself sneaky, did ‘ya?” 

She only sees Aruna. Not Gale, not Shadowheart. And most importantly – not Astarion. 

Her hands fly to her daggers just as the goblin reaches onto her back and produces a bow. At the sight of it, Aruna’s stomach plummets. She can hardly wield her daggers against brains – better than someone who’s never held a weapon a day in their life, but not by much. And her daggers are for close fights; that bow will end her life without the goblin having to take so much as another step towards her. 

Aruna has the disadvantage here; Aruna is going to die here. 

She still lets her shaking fingers wrap around the hilt of her dagger, deciding it’s better to go down with a fight rather than simply lay here and die, but then-

The goblin hardly had the time to string her bow, an arrow not even properly secured in it, when two daggers are easily cutting through the skin of her neck. 

Aruna hadn’t even noticed Astarion move, as if he had blended in with shadows she hadn’t seen existing on this hilltop. One moment, he’d been beside her, and now he stood behind the goblin, holding on for an extra moment before he let the lifeless body drop. 

“You expect me to believe I should allow you to protect me,” he nearly spits out, looking at her less in anger and more in disbelief, “When you just nearly got yourself killed.”

“I had it under contro-” she starts to argue back, but she cuts herself off when she looks over his shoulder. Most of the goblins and other creatures are focused on the four humans below, a new helping hand having joined them as he blasts his foes with red strikes that resemble lightning, but across the way stands a goblin with his eyes narrowed right at Aruna and Astarion. He’s quick, his arrow firing off in their direction just as Aruna notices him, “Duck!”

For once, Astarion doesn’t argue. Thank the Nine Realms. 

He drops to the ground with perfect timing, the arrow narrowly missing his back before it pierces the ground just beside Astarion’s splayed hand. 

In his shock, Aruna makes an easy decision. 

Fuck the daggers. 

Her magic still burns in her veins, humming gleefully as she calls to it with an outstretched palm and her focus set on the goblin that had sent the arrow in Astarion’s direction.

DO NOT FORGET – SAVE ASTARION. 

It’s the only thing on her mind as she recalls incantations that had fallen from Gale’s lips just the day prior, and she repeats them effortlessly, “Tormentum.” 

In an instant, three red spheres burst from her palm in a straight line, heading straight to the goblin.

They hit him without miss, in the center of his chest, back to back. 

Just as Astarion is rising back to his full height, he witnesses the goblin fall to her magic. His neck nearly snaps with the speed in which he looks back to her, “You have magic? Bloody Hells-”

She ignores his outburst, quickly slipping herself in front of him on the cliff’s edge, making herself all but a meat shield for the quick-footed elf. Most attention continues to evade them, but she’s able to spot the next goblin that has set his sights on them before he has a chance to draw his weapon in their direction. This time, as she outstretches her hand in his direction, she decides to shout a different spell.

“Ignis!” 

She’s more confident this time, power thrumming through her as the familiar bolt of a flame flies from her fingertips and heads straight for their enemy. Her aim is less on par, but it doesn’t matter – even when the flame hits the goblin’s legs rather than chest, the sparks of the magic catch fire to everything around it, effectively burning the goblin to nothing more than ash and bone. 

She can’t tell if her heart is racing with exhilaration of using her magic – magic she knows for sure now that was never learned nor gifted to her by some deity, but is hers entirely – or if it’s from the fear of keeping Astarion safe. 

And he’s making the latter exceptionally more likely when one of the creatures that resemble a distorted wolf finally looks up to them with bloodlust in its eyes, and he’s quick to step out from behind her. 

“No,” she gasps, turning to him just long enough that when she looks back, the animal is already clambering up the stones, nearly arriving to them, “Astarion, do not-”

All at once, it feels as though she loses control of her magic. As though it’s reached such extensive heights that her grasp on it slips, and between that and her swirling emotions, she has no control over what happens next. 

Her mind is a mess. Between the power, the worry of this being what she was meant to be saving Astarion from, the anxiety of him no longer being behind her so that she could fool herself into thinking she might be capable of shielding him – it’s a mess. 

Not a single incantation has to fall from her lips when the magic erupts from her, turning the innocent plants around them into enchanted greenery. Viscous vines, glowing as they ensnare both the creature clambering up to them and Aruna. 

They should have ensnared Astarion too. She thinks they’ve done as much until she watches him dart down to where the animal is one step below, and his daggers find deathly purchase in its fur. 

Blood splatters about the vines that Astarion is still able to avoid somehow, and when he pulls back, the creature falls just as limply as that goblin did. 

He looks up at her, small spatters of the blood marking his cheeks, a smug grin painted across his face, “As you were saying?” 

Damn him. Damn him to the deepest depths of the Hells, and back. 

“I… You…” she can’t finish her snappy comeback, can’t even formulate a proper thought as a sudden drain from her use of magic hits her all at once. The snarling vines still encase her lower half, and her headache blooms so painfully that she fears she might lose consciousness from it. 

The grin is short-lived when he realizes what is inevitably about to happen once her own self-made trap lets her go. 

He’s at her side before the vines have even finished retreating, catching her just before she tumbles over the edge of the small cliff. He yanks her backward, leveraging himself behind her for a moment so that she’s flush his chest before he spins. Suddenly, roles have been reversed. Astarion has become the meatshield, and she doesn’t even have the energy to fight it. 

“Gale,” his voice is stoic as he nearly carries her, “Shadowheart. Be dears and take over for us on the front lines, yes?” 

There’s not much more fight to be had. Between the goblin and creature Astarion had taken down, and the two goblins that Aruna’s magic had fell, the fight is mostly left up to the humans below.

Gale and Shadowheart listen to Astarion regardless. 

He manages to get them to the tree where the other two had been hiding with ease, finally maneuvering her so that she’s leaning against its bark. When she slides down to sit on the ground, it leaves biting scratches that she feels the sting of, even through her clothing. 

“I’m fine,” she gasps out, a clear lie when the edges of her vision were still spotted, “I’m fine, just let me-”

When she goes to stand, he’s quick to press two cold palms on each shoulder. Had he always been so cold? 

“Not so fast, my magical friend,” Astarion tuts, crouching to be eye level with her, “I’m sure the wizard will suffice in ending the bloodbath. He can walk without a helping hand.” 

“I’m fine,” she repeats herself, but it sounds like she’s trying to convince herself more than him. 

At the edge of the hill, Gale is firing off magic missiles, just as Aruna had been. 

Astarion’s entire face goes hard, and she realizes that this may not be a fight she’ll win. His sarcasm is venomous as he says, “Ah, yes. You’re currently the picture of health – impossibly pale in the face, too weak to stand on your own, eyes so dazed I highly doubt you’d be able to tell me how many fingers I’m holding up. Shall I go on?”

Her silence is his answer.

“Now, I’m far more concerned with the fact that you have magic. And lots of it, if we’re to go off of your little display with the vines. When exactly were you planning on sharing that with the class?” 

“Gale and Shadowheart already know,” her vision is finally fully coming back to her, entirely focused on Astarion’s face, centimeters from her own, “It’s not my problem you were more concerned with insulting my mapping skills last night rather than asking more personal questions.” 

“You wound me. Is there nothing more personal than sharpening charcoal for someone who’s deficient with their own daggers?”

“Go to Hell.”

Gods, they were going to end up fighting each other, letter be damned, before she ever figured out the truth behind her mysterious savior quest. Maybe the true meaning was for her to avoid burying her daggers into his chest. Save him from her, it seems. 

Astarion only smiles at her, leaning back, creating distance as his palms fall from her, “I’ve already been, my dear. Can’t say I enjoyed it.”

She rolls her eyes, and it worsens the pounding in her temples, but it’s worth it.

At the most opportune of times, Gale and Shadowheart return back to their sides. Gale is the epitome of worry as he kneels beside her where she continues to sit against the tree trunk, and Shadowheart’s eyes are already examining her for wounds.

“Are you hurt?” Shadowheart’s words come out harsh, but only with concern.

“Never been better.”

“She could have killed us both with those enchanted vines,” Astarion says, although no one certainly asked him.

“I might have some salve back at camp for any rash from the vines-”

“She could have gotten us all killed.” 

Shadowheart is ignoring Astarion with ease as Gale lifts each of her arms methodically, flipping them as if to assure that there really isn’t any injury. 

“That wasn’t my intention,” she whispers, being the only one to acknowledge Astarion even though his anger is clearly directed at her, “I just- I don’t know why my magic did that.”

Gale’s eyebrows shoot up at that, “Did what exactly?” 

Astarion’s glare is hard to ignore, but Aruna manages as she swallows hard and chooses to focus on the wizard offering her far more kindness for the time being.

“I was using incantations – just, I guess I knew them from you, hearing you use them during the fights yesterday. But then, suddenly, I just… I just…”

“Decided that enchanted vines were the solution.”

“I don’t know how I did that, Astarion.” 

She really, really doesn’t. That surge of magic had ripped from her unpredictably, tearing out of her veins as if she couldn’t stop it if she tried. She doesn’t even know what incantation could conjure those dangerous plants.

“Interesting,” Gale murmurs, leaning back on his heel. He looks far less concerned than Aruna feels, “Very interesting, indeed.” 

She’s beginning to recognize that look – the look of a hungry mind. She’s starting to believe that every time it crosses Gale’s face, it’s actually just spelling out trouble for her. 

“You’re not going to elaborate on why it’s all so interesting, are you?” she asks with a sigh, deflating in defeat.

He shakes his head, a smile still on his lips. “Not a chance – not here, at least. Perhaps it’s a better conversation to have at camp.” 

Her eyes dart up to Astarion first, against better judgment considering he still looks to be fairly irritated, and then to Shadowheart. Eventually, though, her line of sight wanders to that gate covered in vines. Normal vines, not magical. 

Whatever that gate was protecting, she’d bet all two gold pieces in her pack that it was a civilization. That there was a healer. 

Her problems could wait.

“Fine,” she says, digging the heels of her palms into the ground and beginning to stand. She doesn’t miss the way Astarion flinches, hands twitching as if readied to catch her despite his angry facade. “Keep your secrets, o’ wise old wizard. For now, I think we have a healer to find.” 

Gale frowns, but over his shoulder, she can see Astarion lose the fight against his amusement in her words. 

At least he still finds her funny, even after she nearly ‘got them all killed’, as he had so eloquently put it. 

—

Emerald Grove. 

It’s an interesting place, to say the least. 

When they approach the gate (after carefully descending down the hill, during which Astarion’s hands continued to stay near Aruna in case of any more fainting episodes), the tiefling manning the wheel above opens it without question for them. They fall into a formation eerily similar to the one they’d approached the fight in – Shadowheart and Gale bringing up the rear, and Astarion sticking to Aruna’s side. He keeps a little distance, but hardly much.

She’s sort of glad that it’s him, of all the companions, that’s choosing to be her shadow. As they walk through the short tunnel to properly enter the grove, he’s the only one to breathlessly laugh as she jokes, “Think we’re about to get a hero’s welcome?” 

She likes his laugh. Painful to admit, but she can’t deny that her heart swells with a specific type of pride when she hears it fall from his lips, even in a whisper. 

Besides, it’s far more encouraging than Gale’s, “I sincerely hope you know what you’re doing.” 

She doesn’t respond to that comment. She doesn’t know what she’s doing. 

One of the tieflings she’d caught sight of fighting during the battle stands just uphill of the entrance, face to face with one of the humans. An obvious new fight is taking place. 

She can feel Gale falter in his steps behind her as she approaches, even Shadowheart slowing in her faithful following. The only person who sticks by her side is Astarion. Probably just eager to see if they can make it worse, really. 

“There are children here, you fool!” 

The tiefling is furious. And it almost frightens Aruna for a second, until she feels that reassuring presence of the elf that had just saved her life at her back. If things go south, she’s sure Astarion will be the first to draw his weapon. Whether it’s for her safety or not, she’s quickly learning that it might benefit her to have a dagger-happy friend on her side. 

“We was running, for our lives.” 

The human is red in his face, voice breathless, still clearly recovering from the fight outside the gate. If Aruna was wise, she’d hang back and not interrupt this argument.

Wisdom isn’t her forte, she guesses. 

“You led them straight to us. And you let them take the druid, too. Unbelievable!” 

Druid? Had the goblins taken any hostages? By the looks of the bloodbath outside, it hadn’t seemed like there were any survivors to take a hostage. 

Astarion closes the space between them even further as she steps up to the plate. She could ask about the druid, point out her astute observation, but her quick tongue works faster than her mind does. 

“One fight just ended, and the two of you are already picking another one?” she questions, eyeing both of them in disbelief, “Relax.” 

Astarion snorts at that. Ever so helpful. 

“Tell that to the dead at the gate,” the tiefling snarks back in a low tone, his glare hardening further on the human before him. 

“Shut it, horns. I’d be lying dead at the gate next to the goblins if you’d stalled any longer.” 

And- well, the human has a point. Aruna has no idea what dynamic is at play here, but the human would have been dead if everyone inside the safety of the gate that had chosen to aid them had put off intervening any sooner. 

She’d also be dead, possibly. Astarion as well. The thought alone sends a shiver of fright up her spine. 

“My duty is to this camp,” the tiefling anger grows to palpable levels, enough that Aruna is carefully taking the slightest step back. 

Unfortunate for her, her shadow seems to be getting more comfortable with impossible closeness. It’s a small step that would’ve gone entirely unnoticed, but her foot finds purchase on top of his as her back brushes in near collision with his chest. She’s quick to glance over his shoulder, expecting some sort of reaction, but he’s still as stone. If her stepping on his foot has caused him even the slightest bit of pain, she can’t see it as his focus remains entirely on the fight in front of them. She even glances down to see that his palm is already hovering over the hilt of one of his daggers. 

Yes, indeed. Having a dagger-happy friend on her side was going to be very beneficial. 

“God forbid you risk your precious tail,” the human sneers, and Gods, she notices all the jabs he’s making endlessly at the other’s race. Low blow after low blow, she’s starting to wonder if these two men even have any sort of alliance to begin with, “But I shouldn’t be surprised. Foulbloods ain’t known for courage.” 

She has no memory nor reason to feel defensive over tieflings. She’s unaware of the deeper history at play. But as far as she knows, tieflings are nothing more than another race in this world that she’s being forced to relearn. Horns and tails, sure, but foulblood? 

It’s as if Astarion can feel her defensiveness beginning to boil beneath the surface. 

“Do not,” he whispers to her in a low tone, face still impassive as he presses himself just close enough so that she’s the only one that can hear him, “Get involved in this. Unless, of course, you’re going to swing on one of the poor saps. In that case, I fully support you, my dear.” 

It’s certainly a tempting idea. Part of her wonders how it would feel to crack her knuckles against the face of the human, to wipe the indignation right off his face. But he has a point. And so does the tiefling. She can’t just pick a side – she can’t just choose given what she knows of the situation.

Aruna is well aware that Astarion’s insistence for her to not get involved is probably to avoid him having to carry any extra load, to have to come to her rescue if her punch doesn’t land. He couldn’t care less about the entire ordeal. It’s not his problem unless Aruna makes it his problem. 

If she doesn’t swing, however, she knows one of the men before her will. She can see it easily in their faces. Both twitching with anger, both buzzing with hatred. She needs to diffuse the situation, and quickly.

In her most persuasive tone she can muster, she interjects, much to Astarion’s disapproval, “More violence won’t bring back those you lost. Stop and think.”

She ends the plea in a bit more desperation than she means to, but only because her mind has begun to run a mile a minute in considering what a fight breaking out between the two might mean.

More danger. More fighting. More possible situations in which she’s supposed to save Astarion. 

“You’re right,” the tiefling’s eyes flicker to her as he sighs, and she’s realized that her words have worked, “There’s too much at stake.” 

“Worried about your precious hides. The both of you.” 

Her words have worked on the tiefling. Not the human, clearly. 

She braces herself as the fight begins to feel just a little too inevitable, and out of reassurance to herself, she decides to glance back down at Astarion’s hand by his dagger. It’s no longer just hovering – he’s fully made contact, fingers curling eagerly around the leather grip. He’s tense as ever, but not with the same anxiety that Aruna is. His tenseness is simply readiness. It dawns on her momentarily that whoever wrote that note to her, whoever tasked her with saving him, is an absolute idiot. It’s becoming abundantly clear with every moment they spend together that Astarion is the one more equipped to save her than she is him. 

She’s so caught up in the thought that she misses the resolution of the argument, some exchange of words that unexpectedly lead to both men walking away. And embarrassingly, she only notices when Astarion’s fingers release his dagger, flexing for a second, before wiggling as if taunting her.

“See something you like?” he practically purrs, suddenly too close for comfort.

She jumps, stepping forward into the new empty clearing before them and giving herself a little space to simply breathe. Shadowheart looks entirely unimpressed when Aruna looks to their companions for help, and Gale only shrugs. 

She spins to face Astarion head on now, trying to even her breathing, “Never. Someone just has to make sure you don’t go on a stabbing spree for your own entertainment.” 

“Oh, mother may I?” he taunts, stepping forward and making her effort of space entirely useless. He’s fast to unsheath a dagger, twirling it in his hand, blade flashing in the sunlight. She knows he’s not going to do anything with it, though. Not when his face melts into something a little more serious, a little more genuine, “You do realize we’ll never find a cure to our little…. problems if you try to involve yourself in every fight we come across?”

Yes. “It might do us well to have a few favors to call in. Just in case.” 

“I highly doubt either of those men would offer us a favor for your interjection.” 

“Guess we’ll just have to find out, won’t we?” 

The tiefling is hanging back, not far off from there, and she senses he’s only staying back for the time being due to the way Astarion still holds his blade, carelessly letting it wave around during their conversation. And she’s starting to sense it’s purposeful on Astarion’s part. 

He presses his lips together tightly as he looks down at her, garnet eyes flashing momentarily before he simply gives in. He’s picking his battles to win the war. “I suppose we will. And I do suppose you’re wanting to talk to that tiefling now, aren’t you?” 

She answers wordlessly with a smile as he sheaths his dagger. He’s learning quickly.

[weregreatatcrime]

I think the Hamatos all have one general reaction to changeling Karai showing up with baby Miwa and depending on how much explanation they get it ranges from "What the FUCK" to "HOW the FUCK-" But I mean they do all have some differing reactions and Karai’s changed relationships with them definitely is weird

I think Splinter, while definitely in shock, is thankful beyond belief to have his Miwa back and wishes he could claim Karai as his daughter too because this may be some ancient assassin monster but she! Brought! Him! His daughter back! At GREAT risk to herself. But he can obviously see she's like, BEYOND skittish and distrustful of any positive emotions so he approaches it from a perspective he realizes very quickly on works for anything: Miwa Needs Her.

Miwa #1 panics when her changeling isn't near because Karai is the only person she's known outside of goblins for 16 years. She's been a baby for 16 years so all she knows is Karai is Good and Warm and Hers and she throws a fit if Karai isn't in reach. #2 Miwa also didn't recognize Splinter at ALL because of that time apart (and being mutants) and while Karai is quick and easy to assure her, Miwa is still a baby with a buttload of trauma and not very keen on all these strangers.

It hurts Splinter but Miwa's slowly warming up- and you can make Karai do ANYTHING if you use Miwa as an argument. You HAVE to stay here with us, Miwa misses you! You HAVE to let us care for your wounds- Miwa is obviously upset when you're injured! You don't need to be so on guard all the time at home, Miwa picks up on it and gets fussy! It's a very obvious tactic and Karai isn't positive WHY Splinter keeps using it but he clearly loves and adores Miwa so. Whatever. She WILL do anything for Miwa, so at least SHE knows HE knows he can trust SHE isn't dangerous so long as Miwa is happy and healthy. Changeling Logic!

Splinter is just exasperated and sad that Karai is literally incapable of understanding human things like basic kindness and empathy. It's okay he'll get through to her eventually. She IS a very good guardian though, and very very loyal to a tiny baby. It's both adorable and terrifying.

Some of the guys are conflicted but it doesn't take too long for them to come to some similar realizations as Splinter when they see how she reacts around Miwa. Plus, they WERE trying to get her to join the family back when they thought SHE was Miwa. So. It got confusing at the end there but it was still the intended result?

Karai likes the turtles like you like idiot younger relatives who don't know shit. They're so innocent and naive it hurts to see. If they intend to be good brothers to Miwa they gotta learn some shit.

Raph and Donnie are her favorites just because #1 Raph is like interacting with a troll, full of honest emotions and little hesitation in showing them. And #2 Donnie is the first to Really figure out how she thinks because changeling thought processes are pretty much Overthinking As A Culture. He is smart enough to think in the sort of twisty turns that Karai does without getting tripped up, and has an easier time putting aside morals to understand what she's getting at. He still reminds her of those morals but hey he'll learn eventually. Raph just likes getting to rough house with someone who he genuinely can't hurt without serious intent. She's very tough and sturdy and not afraid to teach him how to properly grapple. It's like teaching a baby changeling their first instinctive combat skills, she's having so much fun

Leo is hilariously the one who interacts with her the LEAST because he does Not understand anything about her. She has no real morals and isn't afraid to tell them how many times she could have killed them. He can't figure out why she would say all this terrifying stuff and Karai can't figure out why he's not recognizing this vital information and training she's offering. Like Leo gets that she won't hurt any of them because they take care of Miwa, but he does not understand why or how this is when she's like. Practically threatening to kill them all the time. Silly Leo, that's how changelings show affection!

Mikey and Karai have a weird relationship that consists of him trying to love her as his new big sister and Karai, confused and baffled, running away because she doesn't understand this cheerful idiot. Changelings who act like this are the most terrifying because underneath the cheerful they're the most deadly there are. She knows he's NOT that dangerous but it is Hard To Internalize. He makes good food though. Her changeling half needs a Weird diet and it's like impossible to poison her, so she enjoys his... "cooking". Horrifies everyone else in the process

[x-authorship-x]

i am begging you to expand on your shisui/harry thoughts. please my family are starving ❤️

✨👏✨👏✨ i will GLADLY rant

So lets switch things up a bit and start with Harry.

Harry.

I love Harry.

He's this boy with the weight of prophecy, heroism, impossible expectations, and such attention on his shoulders. He knows so little about the magical world, for all he slowly proves pretty damn talented, and his muggle background is about as far from supportive as you can get.

He's abused and this fundamentally rewrites his love map, his perception of himself and his own worth; he's not some theory genius because he'd rather be doing, acting, making a tangible difference, because he's always had to think on his feet and school has never been his friend. Getting grades too high and he's punished, his teachers turning a blind eye or actually believing the Dursleys...! And then! Hogwarts isn't much better when everyone thinks he's supposed to be as smart and cool and strong as the stories say, when teachers hate him and want him dead, when so many other things seem more important!

Harry is smart, though, but there are things he doesn't pick up on; he's so quick to identify suspicion, resentment, fear, danger, because that was his life for so long. Affection, admiration, love are foreign concepts and that in itself makes him feel uncomfortable and wrong footed, not even getting into the distrust of positivity.

He spends his time just trying to survive and living is a secondary thing. Nothing good stays, it all feels underscored by the cruelties (like deaths, Voldemort, the Dursleys) that he can't escape. His life is only pricked by little glimmers of happiness, when he gets to forget for a short time, and it's hard to keep that mentality on straight.

Harry is kind. He's so bewildered and lost and out of his depths in so many things, like when confronted by aspects of magical society he's never been exposed to but so many people take for granted, and he's never handled with the same understanding that other muggle-raised get (Hermione probably unwittingly adds to this because she's a Muggle-born but she's read more than most purebloods have). Harry is never cruel to people, when he lashes out it's usually because he's been provoked. He is friends with Luna, he is fiercely loyal to Ron, he encourages Neville, he is patient with Hermione.

Harry doesn't understand social queues or positive emotions very well - and, when confronted by an awkward or dubious social situation, like Ron complaining about Hermione, he doesn't agree but he also doesn't know how to speak up whilst navigating other kids and new friendships... Squaring up to Draco is much much easier - but there is a reason the hat wanted him for Slytherin and I don't believe that stupid house-essentialism for a fucking second.

But Harry is shrewd. He knows the moment someone has dodgy designs on him, moody sets his wires off even if harry then chalks it up to him just being fucking weird to everyone, and quirrell is not a threat as much as he is uncomfortable and strange.... Tom Riddle couldn't get harry to really trust him, so I think we should give some credit where it's due and not just... Make Harry swerve between "blindly hotheaded and oblivious" and "manipulative Slytherin-core". Harry has a temper but he's quiet, watchful, and intensely private. He also has a very honorable core in him, even if his morals can flutter around depending on the situation, and he is intensely lonely.

Enter: Shisui.

Shisui, specifically in this AU as a Hufflepuff Heir Black, is such a good pairing for Harry and Harry is very good for Shisui. Regulars will know my favoured Shisui qualities so, instead of regurgitating that list for the Nth time, I'll use Shisui to explain the pairing instead.

Expectations: Shisui is the bastard Heir Black, his father a turncoat DE and his uncle the man who betrayed the Potters, half his family dead or in Azkaban, and it's just a wreck. Shisui's memories mean that he's pretty okay with managing the attention, with cultivating a friendly persona, and then SHOCKER- Heir Black is a fucking Hufflepuff?! Everyone thinks he must be bit of a waste of space and this helps take the heat off him a bit. These two boys will absolutely understand each other, the shame of horrible families and the terrible weight of legacy that has done nothing but offer heartache, the fickleness of the Hogwarts staff and population, the carefulness about making friends to be really vulnerable with...

School logistics: Hufflepuff and Gryffindor don't rub shoulders much but they do sit back to back on their benches in the great hall so there is a good chance for meal-time chatter, especially when shit hits the fan. in class, shisui is gonna be a genius. This is just what will happen, he has the memories of a previous lifetime as a prodigy, and this might be a whole new world with no Sharingan but his mind knows what to do. Shisui devours magical books. He's driving Hermione up the wall. He's somehow (😏) Hogwarts champion and he's actively helping Harry and omg they're working together is this allowed? During second year, shisui is one of the few who barely bats an eyelash at the parseltongue and he's setting his housemates straight about Harry and Harry is actually noticing and thinking... Omg... Who is this guy to be helping me... And then in third year, Shisui is convinced to try for seeker so he and Harry play matches against each other, Shisui is under intense pressure because of Sirius's escape, he catches harry when he falls from his broom... Like are you starting to get the picture here?

Personalities: feral loyal. Honorable but willing to bend morals. Understand the weight of destiny, of legacy, the hunted feeling of an enemy. Shisui will absolutely kill for Harry and Harry would be so relieved because holy shit they're actually in it together, not just emotionally but actually in it. And Harry is hot tempered and suspicious and Shisui gets it, holy shit he GETS it, and Harry is so ride or die and so is Shisui, and Harry is running the DA and Shisui stays behind and shows Harry how to throw punches and break noses and flip assailants and... 😫🤌✨

Quidditch boyfriends... Quidditch adrenaline junkie boyfriends, Shisui is so fucking fast at apparating that he can hop around in a duel and Harry's patronus always wanders to Shisui every single time and they gut Grimmauld Place together and they hold each other so tight and swear 'I will hold on, I'm beside you' and that's beautiful to me

[aquanthis]

may I hear more about death…..

YOU ABSOLUTELY MAY!!! my fruit gummy look at them RIGHT NOW

they're an orphaned street rat from baldur's gate who grew up alongside their fraternal twin sister (who i don't have a picture of on-hand right now). they chose their name because they thought it sounded cool and now they're stuck with it (though they do have an infernal name: davari! mostly so i don't always have to call them "death" lol).

they are generally pretty agreeable and level-headed, not one to get angry easily. however they're not easily swayed by other people's opinions or traditional morals of what's wrong and right, so sometimes they can be a bit morally gray. on the other hand, they're usually one to stray away from trouble, so they tend to be the "voice of reason" in their traveling party (though they can be persuaded if it seems fun enough...). they're also not quick to trust people, but when they do, they're ride or die as fuck. even if someone they trust does something bad, they tend to just assume they did it for a good reason before assuming betrayal

they used to be a circle of the land druid, self-taught (as in, they just tried stuff and did whatever worked). until one day they were trying a ritual and their sister accidentally interrupted it, causing them to be irreparably damaged and subsequently infested with fungal spores. so their body is just kind of permanently infused with Mushroom™. so now they're a circle of spores druid :) a weird take on the "died and came back wrong" thing

they have a lot of hatred for authority and being controlled, both from having been poor and watching rich people in the city, as well as yknow. becoming part mushroom and partially losing control of their bodily autonomy. so the parasite/emperor is VERY, VERY unwelcome! they struggle against it a lot and are very distrustful of the emperor lol.

they're also so badly in love with wyll :') deathgard my favoritest thing in the whole world. they're so so sweet. death thinks he's so so cool despite the fact that wyll is a huge nerd <3 i've wanted to write them for a while but brain doesn't work. it's okay though deathgard is real in my heart

anyway i love my fruit gummy. so does wyll :3 <3

[kiddstellas]

I’m going to slightly disagree with anon about the Fire fandom being obsessed with biological children but I see where they are coming from. I do agree with people wishing Brett was pregnant before leaving so “they could finally be a family” was weird. That would’ve been so strange in my opinion. They just adopted Julia. She’s like 8 months old. They don’t need another baby right now. I also don’t like the idea that only a biological baby will complete Brettseys family. Feels icky, especially knowing that Brett herself is adopted. It gives the vibe that an adopted child can never be as loved as a biological child.

But, I don’t think it’s right to say we prefer biological children over adopted. With Stellaride, yes we want them to have a baby. But keep in mind that of the 4(?) main characters that have gotten pregnant, 3 were miscarriages across all of One Chicago. Natalie was the only one who had a successful pregnancy and she was pregnant before the show started. I just want one main couple in One Chicago to have a successful pregnancy because their track record is awful right now. If One Chicago had a better track record, I wouldn’t care if Stellaride adopted or if they had a biological baby. I’d be fine with either because they’d be terrific parents either way. I could personally see them fostering an older troubled teenager who they both can relate to.

Also, I think it’s just a very interesting storyline for Stella to be pregnant and then come back to work. Because that happens in real life. Women in the fire industry, even a firefighter, get pregnant, give birth, and still come back to work. It would be very interesting to see Stella being temporarily stepping down as Lieutenant, how she and Severide deal with the pregnancy, and how Stella deals with the aftermath of becoming a firefighter again after having given birth. I think it would be an interesting arc for Stellaride.

I don't interact much with fandom anymore so I'm not sure what was going on before the ep aired but the narrative that a family is only "complete" with a biological child or that an adoption should be last resort is disgusting. Yes, there are many problems with adoption as it's conducted in most countries but that's also due this whole narrative in the first place. And as you said, Brett was adopted. Julia is her child. Matt agreed to that when he asked her to marry him. That should've been the end of the story. It's a good send off. Just take the win and leave it at that. We all know how One Chicago exits can be controversial and badly executed so this one (and again I'm not a fan of them so this isn't biased in any way) is a great one.

As you pointed out and I've said before, I don't trust One Chicago writers with pregnancies storylines. I'll admit that I'm scared if that's the direction they'll go with Stellaride. Would I love to see them have a family? Yes. Would I love to see them tackle a woman in a male dominant career be a mother and still kill at her job after birth? Absolutely!!

Personally, I don't think Stella is there? With Gallo leaving she's building her team again. I think I'm also a bit against it right now because of how much drama plots they've given them lately with both Miranda's and Taylor's absences. I hate both (which is the same) reasons they've given. It's super out of character for either Stella or Kelly to go radio silent on the other. It's even more out of character for Stella to be this distrustful of Kelly after EVERYTHING they've been through, after how much Stella suffered from her last relationship. It doesn't add up. But since that was their way to explain the actors time off, it'd be super quick to throw a baby in the mix. A couple who didn't know whether the other would return home wouldn't in their right mind decide to have a baby. I'd prefer for them to build their trust and relationship back up before getting to that.

But after that, I'd love to see them form a family in any shape or form. I think it's important to show a female firefighter tackle all of that as you pointed out, specially as she's the only one in the show. We had Dawson and she stepped down as a paramedic right before the miscarriage if I'm not mistaken.

In my opinion, I believe Kelly would be far more ready to have a family and a baby than Stella. The man almost had one with his gay best friend like he wants it, it's clear and he's meant to be a dad and heal and break all the generational traumas his dad passed on to him.

[ask-kyoya-hibari-and-kyo-kun]

hi there haru o/ <- im waving, how are you? a tinsy question for hibari! Why does he care about having to wear the Mare Ring? Does it really matter either way??

Prologue Part 5

"hi there haru o/ <- im waving, how are you?"

Irie's fingers fly across his keyboard, highly concentrated, yet he still flinches when new words appear on the tiny screen he's analyzing. Spanner is calmer, but that doesn't mean he is any less invested. He immediately turns to Haru, addressing her through the glass that seperates them. "Whatever it is, it's asking how you are and waving to you."

Haru swallows thickly, struggling to keep her cool while standing inside the weird glass tube they pushed her into. The little sticker-diodes they stuck to her wrists and head don't really help. She still answers just to get it over with, tearing up and waving one hand hesitantly for a moment. "I mean... I've b-been better..?"

Fortunately for Haru, that's the moment Kyoko walks past the engineering laboratory. She immediately abandons whatever she was on her way to do, entering the room instead and frowning in concern. "Haru-chan are you okay??"

In the next moment, her ire and distrust instantly turns on Irie and Spanner. Afterall, these two were their enemies not even two months ago. And not everyone forges bonds as easily as Tsuna. Kyoko certainly has no reason to trust these men with her best friend. "What are you doing."

Irie's stomach immediately lurches in alarm and he barely suppresses his groan, but Spanner is already answering. "We were just running basic analysis on-"

Kyoko cuts him off pretty smoothly when she walks over and simply pulls open the glass tube Haru was put into. She holds her friend's hands and asks again, softer this time. "Are you okay?"

Haru sighs deeply, tugging back some strands of her hair, a nervous habit. "I... I don't know. Weird things are happening Kyoko-chan..."

Luckily, that's when one of the computers chirps brightly and prints out a length of paper. Irie rushes to it as soon as he's able and takes a quick look, before sighing sharply in relief. He barely gets the words out at an acceptable volume. "Miura-san is fine. Thank God..."

They all heave a deep sigh of relief, before Kyoko and Haru already made quick work of removing the sticker diodes from Haru's skin. Kyoko holds Haru hands, helping her out of the odd glass tube, but Haru is distracted, looking towards Kyoya's phone. Her voice is uncertain. "There's another question again..?"

And indeed, the still glowing screen once again shifts to reveal new words.

"A tinsy question for hibari! Why does he care about having to wear the Mare Ring? Does it really matter either way??"

Kyoko has no idea what's going on, but even she feels an odd compulsion to answer the question. She holds Haru's hand, turning to her, curiously. "That... Cloud ring? Is Kyoya even wearing it..?"

Haru doesn't remember seeing that ring on Kyoya earlier, so she is about to reply. But that's when a soothing, familiar voice speaks up from the doorway. When did Tsu-kun get here? "No, Hayato has that ring this week."

Tsuna seems a bit stressed, but he answered Kyoko's question instinctively anyways. Haru and Kyoko immediately rush to hold his hands, because they want to and Tsuna's seems to need the comfort. Tsuna holds their hands easily and gives them a soft, affectionate smile. "Are you okay Haru-chan?"

Haru nods, tugging herself into her Sky's side and basking in the warmth and comfort he radiates. Tsuna's presence is just very soothing after a stressful situation... Tsu-kun puts an affectionate kiss in her hair, before Kyoko's questions claims his attention. "Why does Haya-kun have that ring? I thought he has other spare rings?"

Tsuna blinks, before putting a kiss on Kyoko's forehead, just to keep things equal between them all. He thinks for a moment longer, enjoying Kyoko-chan's adorable giggles, before he answers, his voice soft. "Hayato isn't using it. He has it on a chain around his neck, to make it feel more like family."

Kyoko and Haru shoot each other confused looks, walking along as Tsuna approaches Irie and Spanner. Kyoko ask the question that's on both women's minds. "Why make that ring feel like family..? And why isn't Kyoya wearing it?"

Tsuna heaves a little sigh, taking the paper Spanner hands him as he answers them, shrugging halfheartedly. "I don't know why exactly it's different this time, since Kyo-san's fine wearing the rings of enemies he took out, but I'm guessing because he didn't have a part in taking Kikyo out and didn't witness it... His flames still register that ring as an active threat?"

Tsuna scans the paper, his lips pinching, before he finishes his explanation absentmindedly. "Kyo-san refused to even wear it on a chain. So I'm having everyone carry it around for a week or so, just until his flame stops throwing such a fit about it being hostile."

Haru gasps faintly, frowning a little because she's worried. Kyoya didn't seem troubled when they talked, but maybe he was acting unbothered so as to not worry her? Having a flame that powerful has to be difficult sometimes, right..?

Before Haru can find the words to ask that question, Tsuna sighs and looks at Irie and Spanner. He's still holding that paper Spanner gave him. It has some bar graphs on it, most of them short, except for two, which are well beyond the limits of the graph. Tsu-kun sounds just a bit perplexed. "So what's the meaning of this?"

Irie and Spanner lock eyes for a second, before Irie sighs deeply and just looks somewhat defeated. "Hibari-san's phone has somehow been turned into a stable connection between our dimension and another that is almost entirely unidentifiable by our means."

Tsuna's eyes narrow, not with anger, or annoyance, just with focus. Haru and Kyoko feel themselves blush a bit whenever they get to witness Tsuna in his element of leadership. Even his voice somehow sounds stronger... "So we can't tell who or what is sending these Questions."

Irie nods empathically, just as Spanner sighs briefly with what seems to be annoyance. These Scientists are odd... "We can't even tell how or why."

Tsuna looks at Kyoya's phone, for all of a second, before he seems to come to a decision. His voice comes out sharp, almost like an order. "Is it safe to handle?"

Irie blinks rapidly, before he takes another look at some papers and screens. He sounds unsure. "It should be okay. The device itself is not in any way unstable."

At that Tsuna simply reaches out, opening the little glass door and taking the phone out of the odd analysis case Irie and Spanner put it in. He takes a look at it, narrowing his eyes briefly, before shrugging mildly. "Whatever it is, if it's hostile, my intuition will react."

In the end, even Spanner and Irie can't disagree with that...

[arrancxr]

So, I know this is gonna be weird and crazy, but I wanted to know how you feel about potentially nnoitra being an omega, but he's so distrustful that he cannot allow anyone to ever take care of him which deeply bothers him? The fact that he cannot allow himself to have anyone take care of him because of the dangerous environment he's in twists his worldview even more. It's a sick contradiction that makes for more angst. I hope this comes across the way I intend because I do love your blog. I enjoy that you see him as an alpha (and really this is my fist introduction to a/b/o dynamics ever in any fandom) and you also mentioned maybe wanting to see other people's hcs.

Oof, just a quick add on to the omega nnoitra message. Maybe he doesn't even feel he can allow tesla to take care of him because of it!?

I like that idea! >:Dc It definitely fits Nnnoitra to have, just, all of his biology hate him so much. And while I'm still partial to the idea of him using violence and killing to spite his own instincts (self-sabotage at its finest), I can also see him overcompensating so hard because he wants to be taken care of so badly but can't ever let himself have nice things. Nnoitra is allergic to his own happiness, and Omega!Nnoitra would be the incarnation of trust issues and self-loathing.

Nnoitra is convinced he doesn't deserve to get what would make him feel in any way not miserable. It'd be stupid for a Hollow to let someone else get close to them, anyway— going against his self-imposed nature as a monster that's only good for killing. Tesla's suicidally brave and keeps trying to be nice, and Nnoitra hates it, but he's also not stopping it for reasons he doesn't want to think about.

[tiptapricot]

1 antez, 5 romero, 18 nona, and 24 moses

(i saw the numbers in a ✨️vision✨️)

(ID in ALT)

1. Does your character have any siblings or family members in their age group? Which one are they closest with?

Antez does have family and siblings and they are uh. Other angels and God. Essentially. Or what humans perceive as those things. They’re more weird interdimensional beings that can’t quite be nailed down as one thing, and also don’t line up well w specific religions. They also aren’t all family they’re kinda a race or species but there are some family dynamics that could be applied. It’s generally hard to define they’re just vibing, but Antez is closest to hiss “father,” or “God.” He can’t return to hiss dimension anymore since being turned and that fucking sucks! But he can still interact with others when they visit or reach out to hymn in their own ways.

From discord: “Was just smacked w like how [weddings are] usually tied to religion n like… while “God” in this isn’t exactly the same, like He’s a being but has been interpreted by humans differently than He truly is bc they can’t comprehend Him, but like… at whatever wedding [Antez and Romero] have Antez like kind of asking for His blessing, for Him to recognize their union, except it’s more like reaching out to a distant relative or parent n you don’t know if they’ll respond. Bc like antez through hiss own actions has been made solid, grounded on earth and essentially excluded from going back to wherever home was so just…. Ough.”

5. On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

Romero doesn’t carry much to Do stuff with, but he does a lot of work around the house and ranch so little things find their way in. Nails, a handful of picked cherry tomatoes, some flowers that have gotten a bit squished, a pocket knife. If he’s doing more rigorous work or work with stuff that snags, he takes his wedding ring off the cord around his neck and puts it in a pocket that buttons, just to be safe.

18. Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?

Bona absolutely admires wisdom more. She doesn’t like rash choices that lose sight of the present, the here and now, and having lived for so long and through so much one of her favorite things is hearing stories, of people’s lives and their pasts and their most mundane desires and joys. She clicks more with people who’ve had long lives than those in a rush to get through theirs, though she respects drive and passion, she just thinks it needs a grounding line.

24. How quick is your character to trust someone else?

He doesn’t. Moses has a hard time forming connections with anyone. He keeps his walls firm and himself isolated, and his professional and personal relationships are highly calculated and performative. The only reason he’s gotten so close to Romero and Antez and Bona is because they’re so inhuman and separate from the things that scare him (ironically, as they’re all monsters). It removes his worry of human distrust, of societal judgements and connections. But even then his paranoia and boundaries cause things to grow and fester because that’s the space he’s found himself in. It’s possible that over time he could lose what he’s built there, but it hasn’t happened yet, and he’s clinging to that desperately.

Antez and Moses drawn by tira3sii, Romero drawn by spicyboelives, Bona… attempted vibe by me

Send me a character developing OC ask!

[suspicious-pools-of-blood]

9, 24 and 42 for whoever you want!

I didn't forget about this ask I swear! OK maybe I did forget that I hadn't posted it but sshhhh.

I couldn't choose just one person and I'm physically incapable of shutting up about my OCs so I'm gonna answer these for several: Elvan and Calyx because they're all I ever think about and Hakan and Leyla because the pirates don't get enough time being rotated in my brain.

9. Is your character’s current socioeconomic status different than it was when they were growing up?

Elvan's a weird one in this context because she has technically been royalty from birth, having grown up as the eldest child of the khagan of Atalar, but that was nothing like being the king of Korsan, neither in wealth nor in social implications of the position.

From a legal standpoint, Calyx isn't much different from what they used to be; technically slaves are considered the lowest members of society, but in practice their situation improved greatly from living on the streets.

Hakan and Leyla's socioeconomic statuses both changed quite a bit, in opposite directions to meet in the middle. Hakan was the scion of the ruling family of Atalar and Leyla was a slave for almost as long as she could remember, and they both ran away from people who would have them killed if they were found now, and not just because piracy is punishable by death.

24. How quick is your character to trust someone else?

Elvan does not trust. The last person she trusted fully was Asenath, and it's been several years since then. All her relationships are calculated. When she meets a new person, she tries to figure out how much of a threat they are and how she can use them. The closest thing she gets to trust is a cost-benefit analysis that shows a person is more useful than they are dangerous. Still--she might think her personal guard is loyal and paid enough to protect her, but she still bolts her door at night. She doesn't engage sexually with anyone she couldn't easily overpower. She doesn't trust other people; she trusts herself to avoid and be able to get out of potentially bad or dangerous situations.

Calyx is not as quick to trust as one might think; they just tend to put their trust in the wrong people. They trusted Xayanat and he let them be used as a pawn in a political game they didn't want to be a part of. Now they only trust Elvan, but in a weird way--they trust that she doesn't lie to them and that she will act predictably, which at this point is all they want. They know what they're there for, and they trust that the rules governing their world won't change without warning.

Hakan trusts comparatively readily, but only on a superficial level. Initially he did not trust anyone for fear of them finding out who he was, but over time he built up his persona as Hakan solidly enough that he is more comfortable trusting new people, although he still never talks about his past. Additionally, this doesn't really apply to outsiders. He trusts Khiana more than anyone else, so anyone on the crew is presumably someone she trusts, so he's more likely to be okay with them.

Leyla is extremely distrustful. Her past isn't a secret she can keep--anyone who sees her can see from the brand on her face that she's a runaway slave. Her mistrust comes less from someone finding out something she wants to keep hidden, and more from having been owned, abused, and sold by anyone who had power over her.

42. Has your character ever had a parental figure who was not related to them?

Unrelated to them, no, but Elvan and Hakan were both partly raised by their aunt due to their mother being the khagan; (1) she didn't have time to be their mother and (2) maintaining emotional distance reduces the danger of, say, children being used for blackmail or the like.

Calyx never really had a parental figure of any kind. This probably is why they are so desperate to be loved and to feel wanted, which sometimes leads them to pretty bad life choices.

Leyla didn't really have any parental figures either, unless you count her first master and mistress, to whom she was not related. One could argue that Khiana is almost like a parental figure, though I'd say she's got more older sibling or cousin vibes.

[doberbutts]

Re: tags @xaira-gabvi

While they are NPCs that I'm complaining about, they're not companions. They're just randos. However there's a horde of them and I'm honestly finding this specific bit of the game to be incredibly grating.

It's partially a point I've had kicking around in my head that I think it's funny that this character or that character gets online complaints about fantasy racism when literally everyone is at least a little bit fantasy racist in Faerun. Like yes, Astarion is a massive asswipe about the Gur and also about vampires and also about gnomes. Also are we forgetting that literally everyone had a race problem with Lae'zel the moment they met her and more than one of them approves of making fun of her while she's trapped in the cage being goaded by tieflings? Despite the fact that (in her own way) she's the first companion you meet that's actually offering to help you?

How about Wyll's ability to take Mizora at face value and kill Karlach because, well, she looks like a devil so she must be one. And his subsequent whining about "looking evil" if he doesn't do it and sprouts horns and ridges... all of which are traits tieflings have... which he would know because he's been spending his time in a tiefling encampment. The entire party's immediate distrust of Astarion the moment he says he's a vampire (or the potential for them to threaten or attack him if playing as his origin and he bites someone in battle prior to revealing it). Shadowheart's line about preferring suicide to becoming a myconid? How many times has a companion pulled me aside and gone "hey they're a [race] you can't trust them"?

The game itself even calls this out- I just found the second hobgoblin that blatantly stated they end up having to hang out with more evil-aligned people because no one is willing to give them a chance. You can find propaganda fliers about the dangers of interacting with tieflings. Literally no one has treated any of the drow characters I've met so far with any amount of kindness. Fantasy racism is simply part of this world, and it's weird to me to see fandom drama about this character or that character when they're all doing it.

But for the most part it's been quick little quips and things like that, and also for the most part my companions have stopped doing that. Unfortunately I have stepped into Act 3 to be greeted by 20 or so different NPCs more or less saying one of Trump's Buld the Wall speech lines But Fantasy This Time. Combined with the slow pace and the annoying character interactions, I'm not loving the opening segments of Act 3 as a result. I don't think it's bad storytelling necessarily, I just am done hearing it.

I know I'm setting myself up for the dude to be the worst person on earth imaginable but the guy in the refugee camp that's like "but I have to take care of my sweet little doggy who is so so scared from the war"... that's me 100%

[dnawield--a]

WHICH PREDATOR DOES YOUR ANGER BRING OUT?

Black Mamba

For the most part, you are totally shy and don't go looking for any trouble, but when someone confronts you, it is game on. When someone makes you mad, you don't stop until that person is destroyed entirely. Just like the Black Mamba, when you bite back, it is pretty much always fatal for your opponent.

tagged by: I STOLE IT!!! A BUNCH OF PEEPS DID IT THAT I HAVE LIKED SO I JUST- tagging: BE GAY DO CRIME